31 Jan

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

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2010

Davos ends with recovery warning after banking bust-up

SAFAR 16, 1431 AH

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150 FILS

Serena beats brave Henin to win Australian Open

Nigeria beat Algeria to finish third at Nations Cup

Toyota chief apologises for massive vehicle recall

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China retaliates over US-Taiwan arms deal

Houthis accept truce

Beijing slams ‘crude interference’

Rebel chief urges Yemeni soldiers to be ‘free men’

BEIJING: China lashed out with a raft of reprisals yesterday after Washington announced a $6.4-billion arms package for Taiwan, escalating the biggest SinoUS crisis yet under President Barack Obama. Berating the year-old Obama administration for “crude interference” in its affairs, China said it was suspending military and security contacts with the United States, and imposing sanctions on US firms involved in the Taiwan deal.

The furious riposte came a day after the Pentagon approved the sale of Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters, mine-hunting ships and communications equipment for Taiwan’s F-16 fleet of fighter jets among other weaponry. Chinese defence ministry spokesman Huang Xueping said the reprisals reflected the “severe harm” posed by the deal with Taiwan, which Beijing says is a part of its territory and must return to the mainland fold. But US State Department spokeswoman Laura Tischler told AFP the sale “contributes to maintaining security and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou,

who has overseen a marked warming in trade and political relations with China, said Beijing had nothing to fear from the arms sale. “It will let Taiwan feel more confident and secure so we can have more interactions with China,” Ma said, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency. However, the Chinese response underscored a rapid degeneration in relations with the United States following recent strains over trade, climate change and Google’s threat to quit China.

Observers said China could yet go further by rejecting new UN sanctions on Iran. Hours before the announcement on Taiwan, the United States urged Beijing to help curb Iran’s nuclear program. “Cooperation between China and the US on key international and regional issues will also inevitably be affected,” China’s foreign ministry said. At the defence ministry, Huang said the US package “runs counter” to commitments on cooperation outlined by the two governments when Obama visited China in November.

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Oppn urges protests on Iran anniversary 16 protesters put on trial TEHRAN: Opposition heads yesterday implicitly called for demonstrations on the Feb 11 anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution, as the elite Revolutionary Guards warned that any such protest will be crushed. Iran, meanwhile, put on trial 16 anti-government protesters, two of them women, who were arrested in late December on the Shiite mourning day of Ashoura, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who have spearheaded protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, met and invited supporters to demonstrate on the anniversary day, Karroubi’s website Sahamnews.org said. The two opposition leaders said Thursday’s hangings of two dissidents, Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmani Pour, for allegedly plotting to topple the Islamic regime after Iran’s election dispute broke out in June was a bid to keep

people away from the Feb 11 demonstration.

“It seems that such a move is to scare people so they do not take part in the demonstration of 22nd of Bahman (Feb 11),” the website quoted the two as saying, an indication of possible anti-government protests during regime-sponsored annual marches.

The website said Mousavi and Karroubi agreed that the executed pair appeared to have been arrested months before the June 12 presidential election and had nothing to do with the post-poll violence.

The two dissidents belonged to the banned monarchist group Tondar (the Kingdom Assembly of Iran), according to Iranian media reports. Their hangings were the first reported executions of people tried since the wave of protests that erupted following the reelection of hardliner Ahmadinejad to a second four-year term.

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SANAA: The leader of the Shiite rebels in north Yemen said yesterday that he will accept the government’s conditions to end the war if attacks against them cease. “I announce our acceptance of the (government’s) five points, after the aggression stops,” Abdel Malak Al-Houthi said in an audio message released on the Internet. “The ball is now in the other party’s court.” He said the rebels would accept the terms “in order to stop the bloodshed and the genocide against civilians, and to end the catastrophic situation in the country”.

The statement came on the heels of an announcement from the rebels on Monday that they would withdraw from Saudi territory they had occupied since November. Houthi, who said he was renewing his acceptance of the Yemeni government’s conditions, had previously expressed willingness to end the fighting. But this was the first time he said directly that he would accept Sanaa’s terms.

Among the government demands are the withdrawal of rebels from official buildings, the reopening of roads in the north, the return of weapons seized from security services and the release of all military and civilian prisoners. Houthi also said the government’s offensive against the rebels had accomplished “none of its objectives” since it was begun in August. And he urged Yemeni soldiers to “show themselves to be free men, if only once,” by refusing to attack the rebels.

Last September President Ali Abdullah Saleh said the government was ready to fight the rebels for “years,” although he also said hostilities could end if the Zaidis themselves agree to a ceasefire. He spoke at a celebration marking the anniversary of the 1962 revolution that overthrew the Zaidi Shiite spiritual leadership and established the republic, and after two Continued on Page 14

KUWAIT: Security personnel and vehicles surround the Laila Gallery mall in Salmiya yesterday after a bomb threat was made over the phone. A bomb-disposal squad thoroughly searched the premises but no explosives were found. — Photo by Joseph Shagra

25 killed in Pak attack, US strike KHAR, Pakistan: A suicide bomber killed 16 people yesterday at a police checkpoint in a northwest Pakistani tribal area where the military declared victory over the Taleban and AlQaeda last year, highlighting the difficulty Islamabad has in holding regions once the battle phase of its army offensives end. Elsewhere in the lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, suspected US missiles killed nine alleged militants, officials said.

Fourteen civilians and two police officers died in the suicide attack in the Bajur tribal region, while 20 people were wounded, local government official Bakhat Pacha said. The attacker, on foot, struck a market area in the region’s main town, Khar, he said. Some of the

wounded were in critical condition at hospitals, he said. The attack came a day after officials said security forces had killed 44 militants in three days of battles on the outskirts of Khar.

Pakistan waged a major military offensive against Taleban and Al-Qaeda insurgents in Bajur in 2008, declaring victory over the militants by Feb 2009. But in recent weeks, clashes and now this latest suicide attack have signaled a deteriorating security situation in the area. The violence comes as Pakistan’s army has focused on an offensive in South Waziristan tribal region, the primary stronghold of the Pakistani Taleban. That military operation is believed to have led many militants to flee to other parts of the tribal belt.

Salvage crews hunt for jet’s black boxes

Survival and death in desperate Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE: A suspected looter lies dead after being shot in the head by a private security guard inside a home appliance store Friday. — AP

PORT-AU-PRINCE: They are the latest scenes of survival and of death in Haiti’s deadliest disaster - a looter shot dead for breaking into an appliance store and crowds erecting new houses on shaky ground. More than two weeks have passed since an earthquake destroyed much of Haiti’s capital and left a vacuum of power over who should rebuild the country.

In a snapshot of the growing desperation, a private security guard fatally shot a looter who joined with others in breaking into a damaged appliance store in the commercial district Friday. As young scavengers carted away ovens, refrigerators and an air conditioner, an AP journalist watched as the guard arrived firing an automatic pistol. About a dozen soldiers from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division rushed to calm the situation but it was too late. The looter lay dead, face-down at the bottom of the stairs, splattered in blood.

Other Haitians are trying to focus on getting on with life, but the mood is grim everywhere.

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The US has praised the Pakistani operations, but also wants Islamabad to pursue militants in North Waziristan, where many of the insurgent groups are focused on battling Western troops across the border in Afghanistan. Washington has waged its own fight in Pakistan’s tribal territories through its covert CIA-led missile program. Overnight yesterday, three suspected US missiles hit a compound and a bunker in the Mohammad Khel area of North Waziristan, part of a surge of the drone-fired strikes, intelligence officials said. The mountainous area is where a suspected US drone is reported to have crashed on Jan. 24, they added.

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CAIRO: An Egyptian student wearing the niqab exits Cairo University during exam week on Jan 27, 2010. — AFP

Egypt veil wearers see it as barrier to harassment CAIRO: Female students at Cairo University are defying religious and state efforts to ban the controversial niqab from schools and colleges, saying that wearing the controversial face veil is a religious obligation that also protects against sexual harassment. “I wear the niqab essentially to avoid harassment on the street and on public transport,” said law student Marwa

Mohammed, 19, her eyes visible only through the slits in the black veil that covers her entire face.

But if conditions changed and she was not subjected to harassment would she take it off? She would not, because “the veil gives me respect, and people look at me differently.”

She implied that sexual harassment would exist as long as young men looking for

work and housing remained frustrated in their efforts.

“What will change? The cost of living? Unemployment? Or the excessively high cost of housing?” Marwa asked, her kohl-stained eyes giving away a hidden smile. “As long as young people don’t have the means to get married, harassment will continue,” she added.

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BEIRUT: Salvage teams turned over debris to the Lebanese army yesterday as they scoured the seabed for the black boxes of an Ethiopian airliner that crashed off Beirut, leaving 90 people presumed dead. Among the remains of the wreck handed over were personal effects and plane seats recovered from the area where the Boeing 737-800 crashed into the sea soon after takeoff during a raging thunderstorm on Monday.

Lebanon said the Odyssey Explorer, a vessel operated by a private US firm that specialises in underwater recovery, would be sent in as soon as the exact location of the black boxes was determined.

The cabinet had “asked that the Odyssey Explorer... be sent to intervene as soon as the block boxes are located,” Information Minister Tarek Mitri told AFP. Searchers on Wednesday picked up the signals of the black boxes from the Ethiopian Airlines jet, and have been trying to pinpoint their exact location ever since. Mitri had said the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, which are Continued on Page 14

BEIRUT: A Lebanese army soldier carries debris from the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed on Monday into the sea as he walks on the sea defense barrier of Beirut international airport’s runway yesterday. — AP

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NATIONAL

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Sheikh Salem reiterates Kuwait support for Saudi

Put aside all differences to earn world respect RIYADH: President of the Kuwaiti National Guard His Highness Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah has reiterated support of the Amir, leadership and people of Kuwait for the noble and brave initiatives led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdelaziz for settling Arab differences and reforming the “Arab House” in order to become capable of confronting

KUWAIT: Economic Advisor at the US Embassy in Kuwait Oliver John pictured with Chairman of the Board for Kuwait Red Crescent Society Barjas Al-Barjas.

US diplomat lauds Kuwaiti aid to Haiti quake victims KUWAIT: Economic Advisor at the US Embassy in Kuwait Oliver John lauded here yesterday the Kuwaiti contribution to the victims of the earthquake stricken nation of Haiti. John said after meeting with Chairman of the Board for Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) Barjas AlBarjas that Kuwait was always on the frontline when it came to providing relief aid to countries affected by crises.

This reflected Kuwait’s keenness on expanding its charitable efforts all around the globe and such notion must be saluted, stated the official.

Haiti was in desperate need for any kind of aid available and donations are highly recommended, concluded the diplomat.

The Kuwaiti cabinet ordered KRCS to send relief aid to Haiti which was affected by an earthquake on

January 12th, with a 7.0 in magnitude. The quake devastated the capital city Port-auPrince.

Reportedly more than 150,000 people were killed, although the exact number is unknown and the reported number fluctuates, and a large number are homeless. The Presidential palace, Parliament and many other important structures were destroyed, along with countless homes and businesses. — KUNA

He added that such relations are now at their best thanks to the wise guidance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and his brother His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah.

“Those eternal fraternal ties between the two countries have been embodied in several circumstances perhaps the most prominent of which was the courageous and historic stance adopted by the King, government and people of Saudi Arabia during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait and its firm support for the war to liberate Kuwait from the hands of the invader”, he stressed.

On the local front, Sheikh Salem stressed the need for cooperation between the executive and legislative branches in Kuwait so that democracy could ensure a bright future for generations to come and to benefit from the experiences of others to absorb the lessons.

On the other hand, Sheikh Salem said he felt “very happy and joyful for those huge crowds that came out to receive him, in

the forefront His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, my family members, elders and all the people of Kuwait.”

“This hospitality is not strange for the people of Kuwait, men and women who have chosen HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah to be their ruler and a father for all,” he asserted.

“Kuwait is moving in the right way and does not have a secret policy that is different from its stated policy, on both domestic or international fronts.

It even supports sisterly countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, led by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.

On the events on the southern Saudi border with Yemen, HH Sheikh Salem considered those infiltrators who attacked the border of the southern kingdom as “mercenaries” who have committed an unpredictable adventure, but they were taught a lesson they will never forget by the courageous Saudi army. — KUNA

the current challenges and crises that afflict the world. Sheikh Salem’s remarks came in an interview with Saudi daily “Okaz” newspaper published yesterday. Sheikh Salem said that it was important to put Arab differences aside in order to earn respect of the international community, describing at the same time Saudi-Kuwaiti relations as “deep-rooted”.

Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah

Sheikh Sabah brought a leap in Arab joint action: Bin Hilli CAIRO: His Highness the Amir of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah brought a leap in Arab joint action, and particularly in the economic domain, a key Arab League figure said over the weekend.

League Deputy Secretary General Ahmad bin Hilli said the most important example in this respect is His Highness’ call for and successful sponsorship of the Arab Economic, Social, and Development Summit in January 2009.

There is also the setup of the fund to finance small and medium projects across the Arab world. This is a very unique initiative, and the Kuwaiti contribution was also substantial, at USD 500 million out of the fund’s overall $2 billion, the official said.

Following suit in this spirit of generosity, Saudi Arabia later put in $500 million, and Egypt, Jordan, Algeria and the other states followed and the fund’s capital had been secured.

Still on the fund, bin Hilli noted “This is an unprecedented gesture in Arab joint effort, and would considerably boost Arab economic development and bring us closer to Arab economic integration in the face of mounting challenge.

“Bin Hilli sought the opportunity to extend congratulations to His Highness on a successful and impressive four years behind the helm and congratulated the Kuwaiti people as well on this occasion, as they are about to mark the state’s

national day.

The league official also recalled other accomplishments, specifically recalling his role in restoring harmony among Arab leaders and among parties in the region. “Sheikh Sabah is not called ‘Amir of Diplomacy’ for no reason,” and brings great expertise and wisdom on all Arab causes and in all summits and gatherings.

“We are always in need of His Highness’ insights and expertise,” the official stressed. — KUNA

Lawmakers blame MOI for Doha accident KUWAIT: A number of MPs expressed their sympathies regarding the tragic accident that claimed the lives of many young Kuwaitis on the Doha highway while watching a stunt and race show.

MP Khaled Al-Adwah blamed the Ministry of Interior for the accident and said it could had been avoided if the concerned traffic police had better monitored these roads, reported Annahar.

He pointed out that hundreds of lives have been lost over the years because proper measures have not been taken by the police to prevent the loss of lives. He urged the Interior Minister to carry out an investigation and punish those responsible for the lost lives.

MP Khaled Al-Sultan extended his condolences to the victims’ families and expressed sadness over what he described as a decline in the performance of police forces.

He added that security forces should have taken complaints from citizens regarding the gathering of youths more seriously and was seconded by MP Daifallah Buramya.

MP Dr Jamaan Al-Harbash said that he would file a formal request to the Parliament and ask for the immediate formation of a special committee to investigate the accident and determine who should be held accountable for the loss of lives.

MILAN: Kuwait’s Consul General in Milan Sami Abdulaziz Al-Hamad met here yesterday director of Milan security Vincenzo Indolfi. Indolfi congratulated AlHamad on taking up his diplomatic mission in this northern Italian city, wishing him complete success in strengthening the friendly ties between the two nations.

Zakat House offered KD165m in relief aid since inception KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Zakat House has provided monthly financial aid to needy families in the amount of some KD 165 million benefiting 110,478 families since founding the House in 1982 and till the end of 2009, director of the house’s Public Relations and Information Dr Khaled Youssef Al-Shatti said here Thursday. Shatti said at a press statement today that the House also pitched soft loans amounting to some KD 39 million that benefited 12,882 families in addition to providing 5295 monthly and undated subsidies to the unsoliciting families at a value of KD 7 million benefitting 7525 people representing about 2472 families.

On the Health Care Charitable Fund established in 2003, Shatti pointed out the House provided, since the inception of such fund and till the end of 2009, health security and insurance for 47,640 people at a total value of about KD 3 million.

He also said that the House carried out the projects social assistance and cash donations over the year to help the underprivileged families, besides the projects of joint fiscal funds, Ramadan breakfast banquets, Greater Eid sacrifices, Zakat Eid Al-Fitr, con-

stant alms-giving of ceaseless rewards and public water fountains.

The House took over the charitable projects of subsidizing underprivileged students and some charities, besides some projects outside Kuwait like sponsoring scholars, orphans, building mosques and schools and development centres and digging wells etc. He pointed out that the Zakat House gained the confidence of His Highness Sheikh Salem Al-Ali AlSabah, Commander of the National Guard, who bestowed upon it an unprecedented donation that exceeded KD 100 million for eligible citizens in a generous gesture.

Shati concluded with saying Zakat House emanated from the heart of the Kuwaiti society and out of the good intentions of Kuwaiti benefactors, so it took the lead in philanthropy, the voluntary collection of Zakat funds and in managing money and directing it toward its legal Islamic ways of dispense.

Thus the House works according to a perspective that aims at playing pioneering and distinctive role in the service of Zakat precept and charitable work whether at home or abroad. — KUNA

KSSC thankful to Amir KUWAIT: Head of the Kuwait Sea Sports Club, Lt Gen Fahad AlFahad, conveyed congratulations on the occasion of the 4th Anniversary of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah’s governance. He indicated that this occasion is an opportunity to demonstrate the country’s true patriotism and honor its unity and good relations between its people and their rulers, reported AlQabas. Al-Fahad acknowledged HH the Amir, Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah for his success in promoting safety and security to Kuwaiti citizens and protecting the country’s heritage.

He praised HH the Amir for his yearly patronage of the annual traditional pearl diving event which allows younger generations to honor their ancestors and relive their experiences.

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KUWAIT: In continuation of preparations for the upcoming Hala February Festival, ceremonies were held yesterday at various places around Kuwait.

— Photos by Joseph Shagra

Premier sues columnist KUWAIT: HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad, has reportedly filed a complaint with the Attorney General Consultant Hamed AlOthman against columnist Mohammad Al-Jassam on defamation charges.

The complaint was made through the prime minister’s attorney, Emad Al-Saif. Al-Jassem was accused of alleging that the Premier “conspired with the Iranian intelligence in pursuit of governance.”

This case has been classified by the Interior

Ministry as a ‘misdemeanor’ will be referred for investigations by the Public Prosecution Department this week. The investigations will focus on the violation of clause number 15 of the internal state security law, which pertains to spreading incorrect news about the country’s internal situation, reported Al-Qabas.

The Public Prosecution Department had recently investigated two other cases filed by the Premier against Al-Jassem. He was bailed out for KD 1,000.

in the news Price increases requests KUWAIT: The manager of the Commercial Control Department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Rashid Al-Hajri announced that he has received a list of companies that officially applied to co-ops requesting to increase the price of their products. He said he referred the list to a specialized committee headed by the Assistant Undersecretary for Commercial Control for further study, reported Al-Anbaa. Al-Hajri explained that the committee will study the requests and decide whether the price hikes were justifiable or not. He added that the final decision will be ready within a few days.

Any company caught with unjustified price increases would be referred for legal actions, he concluded.

Kuwait financial center KUWAIT: Turning Kuwait into a regional center is one of the most significant expected economic and political changes, said Al-Hamra Company CEO Khalid Al-Othman. His remarks were made following the inauguration of the exhibit ‘Our Beautiful Country’ late Thursday under the sponsorship and presence of Voluntary Work Center Chairperson Sheikha Amthal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. The exhibition is a tour of Kuwait’s history and documents the country’s development through historical photographs. The 10-day event mainly attempts to gather support for efforts to capture the beauty of Kuwait by using interactive technology, he said. He commended Kuwaiti youth for taking exquisite and charming photos of Kuwait.

Public smoking penalties KUWAIT: The Cabinet’s legal committee is reportedly studying a list of amendments that were submitted by the Health Ministry. It has suggested that stricter penalties be imposed

kuwait digest

Police which cannot control offenders on the road

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riter Khalid Sultan AlSultan expressed his deep dismay in his article that appeared in Al-Watan at the recent tragic road accident that took place at the Doha junction in which youngsters lost their lives. ‘I believe that the body that should be first blamed for this incident is the Ministry of Interior. It is due to its negligence and inability to

control such mindless races that take place at Doha, Kabad, Sabhan road and Al-Wafra that such tragedies recur,’ he wrote.

‘One of the most outrageous stories I have heard is the one that a friend told me. He told me that while driving his SUV once, a police officer stopped him, and asked if he could use his vehicle to chase the offenders as

his police patrol car is no match for them. Of course, my friend declined this request in order to avoid incurring damage to his vehicle,’ Al-Sultan remnisced. Such incidents ensure that the police are already aware of the illegal racing activities carried out. However, they remain unable to address the issue. Furthermore, this problem is bound to escalate after the start of the

spring break, the writer observed.

‘On this occasion, it’s important to ask whether the ministry had made future preparations to protect people from dangers posed by reckless drivers,’ he underscored.

Hopefully, the Minister of Interior will take prompt actions that includes more stringent procedures against offenders on the country’s roads.

against smoking in public places. The Ministry feels that the current KD 50 fine penalty has been ineffective in deterring the public from public smoking, or limiting the activities of stores that sell cigarettes in public places, reported AlQabas. Furthermore, the Ministry is said to have contacted the Information Ministry and the Kuwait National Cinema Company (KNCC) to assert the importance of abiding by anti-smoking laws.

KD30m fodder support KUWAIT: The Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) has stated that the budget allocated for fodder support during the past decade, has increased from around KD 2.750 million in 2000/2001 to KD 30.600 million in 2008/2009. The PAAAFR has diversified their means of support provided to cattlemen to include allocating grazing areas in Kabad, AlWafra and Al-Jahra, providing jakhours (animal farms) at reasonable prices, reported Al-Watan.

It also supported the private sector to establish veterinary hospitals and clinics.

FM leaves UK LONDON: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Dr Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah and the delegation accompanying him departed from London yesterday after taking part in the Yemen-Afghanistan conference which was held during Jan 27-28. Sheikh Mohammad said that the special conference was aimed at supporting both countries in their quests to reinforce security and peace, adding that the economic and political aspects of the equation was also part of the discussions during the conference. Sheikh Mohammad was seen off at the airport by Kuwaiti Ambassador to the UK Khaled Al-Dowaisan and members of the embassy’s staff.

KUWAIT: Ahmadi Governor, Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Duaij, during a special ceremony to hoist Kuwait’s flag, marked the commencement of national celebrations of the fourth anniversary of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah’s succession to power, the Hala February Festival and the upcoming National and Liberation anniversaries.

Residential area named after Sheikh Salem Al-Ali KUWAIT: A new residential area will be named after the State’s Chief of the National Guard, HH Sheikh Salem AlAli Al-Sabah. The announcement was made by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, State Minister for Development and Housing Affairs, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.

On a separate note, it was recently revealed that the government project

on Kuwaiti women’s housing only supports women’s right to obtain housing, and not the right to ownership of the house in which they reside.

The blue print of the project, which Al-Fahad had recently shown to members of the housing committee of the National Assembly, also grants the children of Kuwaiti women married to nonKuwaitis the right to reside in the

house until the event of their mother’s death. The law will be applicable on male children who have reached the legal age of 21, and daughters who are unmarried.

Furthermore, the project also set aside four categories for women who are entitled to receive housing welfare.

This includes Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis, widows, non-married

women who are over 45 years of age, and non-married women whose fathers have passed away. In order for candidates to be considered eligible, an applicant should not have previously received any form of housing, reported Al-Rai. The project is currently being discussed by parliament members who are expected to pass a decision after the spring break.

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Press freedom in peril

Proposed government amendments criticized

Audio-Visual Law and the remote control l-Soor TV stirred discord in Kuwait, led by its ‘hero’ Mohammad Al-Juwaihel. The Information Ministry chose not to take action against it until chaos spun out of control and threatened to cause sectarian tension,’ wrote Mustafa Al-Sarraf in Al-Qabas.

He goes on to state that after sectarian violence ebbed down, the Ministry suggested that amendments be made to the audio-visual law that only restrict freedom in order to protect MPs and cabinet members from attack.

In the land of the intellectual freedom and home to democracy, the American Congress approved a bill that banned the broadcast of TV channels that condemned the United States and Israel. The list contained the names of the following channels Al-Mannar TV owned by Hezbollah, Al-Aqsa TV owned by Hamas, and the Al-Furat and AlRafidain Iraqi channels. ‘With this action, they have proved that they only face problems with channels that fight the intellectual spread of Zionism,’ he pointed out.

While Al-Alam Iranian TV channel also indulges in USIsrael bashing, the American Congress did not feel the need to include it in the banned list.

‘That’s because they already have other people who can carry out this mission on their behalf, ‘ Al-Sarraf wrote. The Arab Information Ministers had passed a decision to ban the broadcast of this channel through the ‘Nile Sat’ and ‘Arab Sat’ satellites.

Meanwhile, the Arab League has asked the information ministers to discuss the possibility of agreeing on a common law that will control the activities of TV channels and online blogs in the region. Efforts are also being made to establish a commission for Arab information. It will work toward protecting Arab intellect from extremism. The Arab information ministers claim that it is aimed at stopping the attempts of the US House of Representatives to enforce their rules on Arab media.

‘From this, it’s clear that America does not want any form of ideology that contradicts with theirs, while they seek to globalize the Zionist ideology,’ he concludes.

‘A

kuwait digest ultimedia has an issue of vital importance for Arab governments, just as it has been for super powers around the world,’ wrote Dr Abdul Mohsen Jamal in his column in AlQabas yesterday.

While the freedom of the media is essential, it’s important to note that fear from the

‘M

The Multimedia media has become a global issue, Jamal pointed out. Western countries that always call for protecting freedoms are now starting to ban a number of Arabic and Islamic TV channels, he continued. ‘These channels conflict with western opinions and are accused of promoting terrorism,’ he wrote.

He questioned whether politicians should

be allowed to restrict the spread of different cultures and promote only one perspective.

‘Should the entire world follow the western intellect and ditch their own intellect in order to avoid being accused of terrorism?’ he questioned.

The west did not ban any Israeli TV channels, even though they contain terrorist

messages against Arabs and Muslims, he pointed out.

‘Arab intellectuals should stand together against restricting freedom and civilization,’ he wrote, ‘hopefully they will be joined by other intellectuals from around the world.’

Technology has allowed all to express their opinions and it’s illogical for western politi-

cians to enforce regulations that defy ideology and culture, he wrote.

‘We must be optimistic and promote a world where all intellectuals are able to exchange their cultures and opinions without any restriction, Jamal wrote. ‘The freedom of expression should be the air that all free humans around the world breathe’.

Audio-Visual Law and the easy-going man huge public movement should be formed comprising all Kuwaiti sects that have real dignity to counter the enemies of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and the easy-going man,’ wrote Omar Al-Tabtabae in his Al-Rai column. He pointed out that so many people had been calling for ‘breaking the pens’ of iconic writers like Mohammed Musaed Al-Saleh, Mohammed Al-Jassim, Soud Al-Samakah, Suad Al-Mejel, Mohammed Al-Weshaihei, Saad Al-Ajmi, Mohammed Al-Mulla, Yousif Al-Mubaraki, Dr Sajed Al-Abdali, Waleed Al-Ghanim, Fahad Al-Mutairi, Adel AlQassar, Jafar Rajab, Ali Khajah, Meshari

‘A

Al-Adwani, Zayed Al-Zaid and many others.

He added that such oppressive measures were also imposed on bloggers who recently helped shape public opinion and have every right to express themselves freely.

‘This silly campaign against minds and pens is completely contradictory with the state’s development plans. How can we call for development and still fight the development of minds?!’ he wondered. He underlined that Kuwaiti journalists were always regionally envied for the freedom practiced in Kuwait. ‘If one media figure made a mistake, others should not be all

blamed and punished for it,’ he stressed.

He called for only punishing those involved in violations and those who stood behind them. ‘The problem is that the government is massively punishing us all for a mistake committed by an ignorant man who was installed by the government itself to carry out a certain agenda,’ he remarked.

He also warned detractors that, along with someone he described as the ‘easygoing’ man, they would have to deal with an overwhelming reaction that is way beyond their control. ‘Kuwaitis were not brought up to tolerate leniency or turn a blind eye to the wrong,’ he added.

Kuwait's path

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

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Positive role in Arab arena

Kuwait democratic atmosphere, media freedom ‘a role model’ AMMAN: Jordanian mass media have praised Kuwait’s remarkable role in the Arab arena through its launching of several initiatives that have contributed to uniting the Arab nations. A number of media figures stressed in various remarks the importance of the close ties between Jordan and Kuwait at various levels, by the wise directives of both countries’ leaderThe Director General of Jordan News Agency (PETRA) Ramadan AlRawashda said that His Highness the Amir greatly contributed to developing his state on various fields and improving its position in the regional and international arenas.

He added that His Highness is a great diplomat, who cherishes special relations with other Arab leaders, and help in the development of the Arab nations, especially with the decisions of the latest Arab Economic and Social, Development Summit held in Kuwait.

The editor-in-chief of Jordanian Dostor local newspaper Mohammed Al-Tall noted that His Highness the Amir strengthened and

KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti volunteer diving team fished out a boat near the shores of Khubbar Island despite the worsening weather conditions, said an official yesterday. The Head of Operations in the Kuwaiti Environment Society Faisal Al-Harban told the press that the team used special equipment to salvage the boat which posed a hazard to marine life. Well-experienced for such tasks, the team, established in 1986, managed to execute the mission with success, said the official.

Health sector to witness changes WASHINGTON: The Kuwaiti health sector will witness dramatic changes in the near future, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health for Allied Health Care Affairs Dr Qais Al-Dwairi said.

He said upon the conclusion of the tour of the Minister of Health Dr Hilal Al-Sayer to Canada and the United States that his delegation signed a long-term partnership memoranda of understanding that aim at developing the health services in various fields.

The Ministry is seeking to develop the health sector by encouraging and supporting medical training, researches and education, besides the application of information technology, Al-Dwairi noted.

He added that the joint cooperation with the

Kuwait plans increased cooperation with Malaysia KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister for Legal Affairs and Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs Justice Rashed Abdulmohsen Al-Hammad discussed here yesterday with Malaysian ambassador to Kuwait Dato’ Ashaary Sani the aspects of joint cooperation.

The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs said in a press statement that this meeting tackled the aspects of joint Islamic cooperation and upgrading the ways of strengthening the bilateral relations between Kuwait and Malaysia.

The statement added that the Malaysian ambassador proposed the conclusion of a bilateral agreement between the two countries concerning the study of Islamic and legal issues, exchange of expertise and joint cooperation in the interest of both countries. It pointed out that the Malaysian ambassador called on Minister Hammad to visit Malaysia to watch on the ground the care given to Islam and Muslims, besides getting acquainted with the processes of restoring mosques and the latest progress achieved by Malaysia on Islamic cultural aspects. — KUNA

highly-reputable international institutions would contribute to the improvement of the local health services, praising the generous support from the Kuwaiti leadership to the health field.

Kuwait signed a number of MoUs with the two countries to improve its health services in curing cancer, heart diseases with leading Canadian medical centers and universities in Toronto and Montreal, besides Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

Al-Sayer signed a number of memoranda of understanding with a number of Canadian health institutions and universities to manage visits of professors and experts to Kuwait to work in improving management as well as medical performance. — KUNA

Endorsement of amendments on statute of PUIC unlikely KAMPALA: Speaker of Kuwait’s National Assembly Jassem AlKharafi expressed concern yesterday the 12th session of Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Member States (PUIC), due to get underway today, may not be able to adopt amendments in its statute due to the lack of quorum.

These proposed amendments include proposals drafted by the Kuwaiti parliamentary caucus, during a meeting held in Cairo on Dec 20-21. “Now we are suffering from a shameful problem, that is the prospect that there will be no quorum for the adoption of these amendments at the meeting of the union due to start tomorrow,” Al-Kharafi said in a statement following a consultative meeting of the heads of the parliamentary delegations taking part in the session of the federation.

Any amendment on the union

statute warrants approval of two thirds of the members, “and this is not available for the time being,” the speaker explained.

Till this moment, the number of the arriving representatives of the member states has not reached two thirds, he added.

Although the speaker appeared pessimistic regarding prospects of endorsing the aspired modifications, he expressed hope that the number of the attending delegates would increase and secure a quorum.

He confirmed that today’s consultative meeting was designed to draft the agenda of tomorrow’s board meeting, and indicated that the UAE delegation proposed forming a committee for resolving disputes among Islamic states and maintaining the provision in the charter that prohibits the state that hosts the headquarters of the union from nominating a secretary general for the federation. — KUNA

enhanced inter-Arab relations to face the regional and international challenges.

He added that JordanianKuwaiti relations greatly serve a distinguished example for other nations to follow, hailing His Highness the Amir’s support to the freedom of media, authorizing new publications and TV channels.

Chairman of the board of directors of Jordan Radio and Television Saleh Al-Qallab said that the last four years in the history of Kuwait witnessed progress and stability, and he hailed the efforts of His Highness the Amir in reducing tensions between Arab countries.

He noted, the Kuwait Summit in January 2009 was one of the most important conferences that gathered

ships for the best interest of the two peoples. On the 4th anniversary of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s assumption of power, they said that the democratic atmosphere and media freedom embodied by the state of Kuwait made it an example for other countries of the region to follow.

the Arabs and reduced the margins of disputes, commending Kuwait’s great support for all Arab countries.

Kuwaiti Ambassador to Jordan Sheikh Faisal AlHmoud Al- Malik Al-Sabah said yesterday the celebration of the 4th anniversary of His Highness the Amir’s assumption of constitutional powers is a celebration of the high standing achieved by the State of Kuwait during the reign of His Highness as an inveterate state in democracy, justice and human development whose contribution has reached various parts of the earth.

Sheikh Faisal said Kuwait, while celebrating the Fourth anniversary of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-

Jaber Al-Sabah’s assumption of his constitutional powers, had made during the past few years a model of a democratically-established system that had come out strong from the historic turning points in its national unity and its regional and global levels.

He said the political experience of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait made the State of Kuwait the focus of attention and a meeting point that unite and not divide, recalling in this respect the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit, which had constituted a significant station in the history of the joint Arab action, followed by Arab, Islamic and international initiatives that have strengthened the position of the State of Kuwait between

world nations.

Sheikh Faisal stressed the strength of the approach and process that continue in the reign of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah to build on the achievements of the ancestors who have made the state of Kuwait a leading country in various fields.

He recalled the achievements of His Highness Sheikh Sabah and the move he has achieved in building a modern state according to principles of justice and equality of opportunities as well as his role in the development of the country’s constitution, youth care, conservation of folk arts, heritage, promoting the media and raise the status of women and promoting their participation in political life. — KUNA

NATIONAL

6

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Gunman interrogated

Three girls in police net for bomb hoax KUWAIT: Three female citizens were arrested and charged in connection with making a hoax bomb call to the college they attended in Ahmadi. The institution was temporarily closed while bomb squad officers searched the premises. Detectives were able to trace the call to a particular number, which lead to the arrest of the three suspects. The girls admitted to having made the call. They argued that they only wanted to disrupt a day in school and did not wish to cause trouble to security authorities. The offense is punishable with a jail term between three to eight years.

Citizen arrested A citizen has been referred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in connection with charges of possession of an unlicensed AK-47 machine gun. During interrogation, the man said that he had purchased the weapon for self defense after receiving death threats following his brother’s imprisonment for murder.

Bootleggers nabbed

KUWAIT: Fuel tanker accident on Al-Salmi highway. —Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Fuel tanker accidents on highways

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

Passport forgery Immigration officials have arrested three Bangladeshi expatriates in connection with forging passports with the aim of selling them to fugitives. The arrests were made as part of the Immigration Department’s strategy to eliminate visa(iqama) trading.

A security official said that after being tipped-off about a Bangladeshi expatriate who offered forged passports to Asians who wished to leave the country. Brigadier Abdullah Al-Rashid, Head of the Immigration Department ordered an investigation. Security personnel discovered that accomplices in Bangladesh purchased passports from individuals who had left Kuwait permanently but still had valid work permits. These were then sent to con men in Kuwait, who altered the passports to be used by individuals who wished to leave the country but were wanted by the security authorities here.

Detectives struck a deal with the one individual who wanted a forged passport and through him, stormed the suspects’ apartment in Mangaf. Large quantities of forged passports, equipment, along with vast amounts of cash were seized. The suspects also confessed to procuring the documents of deceased individuals.

KUWAIT: A fuel tanker loaded with 32,000 liters of fuel turned over on Al-Salmi highway.

Firefighters from Jahra and members from the Mubarak AlKabeer hazardous substances divisions responded to the emergency. Sources noted that about 8,000 liters of the fuel had leaked. Special foam was used to prevent any ignition and special detergents were used to wash away the fuel. The driver was unharmed.

In a similar incident, a collision occurred between a private vehicle and a fuel tanker loaded with 36,000 liters of gasoline on Fahaheel expressway. Special firefighting teams from Mangaf and Mubarak Al-Kabeer responded to the emergency and discovered that fuel had already leaked. The response teams blocked the road and stopped the leak. The fuel was washed away and another tanker was dispatched to relieve the damaged one of its contents. No injuries were reported.

KUWAIT: Fuel leak on Fahaheel expressway.

France-Kuwait nuke deal caps leaders’ talks PARIS: A French-Kuwaiti cooperative deal for peaceful nuclear development is the outgrowth of talks between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in Kuwait last year, a French official said here Saturday.

The deal came as a result of the very favorable atmosphere of talks between both leaders within the framework of a bilateral strategic agreement, French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) Director General Bernard Bigot said.

By hammering out such a 20-year strategic deal, France seeks to establish scientific, technical and industrial cooperation with Kuwait and to double two-day

trade exchange, the French official said.

Earlier in mid-January 2010, Kuwait and France initialed a cooperative agreement for developing peaceful nuclear uses in Kuwait. It was signed by the CEA chief and head of Kuwait’s national committee on peaceful nuclear uses Ahmad Beshara.

The deal shows France’s commitment to helping those countries which seek to tap its successful nuclear experience for peaceful purposes, Bernard said.

It is mainly bearing on power generation, seawater desalination, diagnosis and treatment of several diseases, basically cancer, and training of Kuwaiti scholars, engineers and technicians, he added.

The French nuclear official noted that bilateral talks were also underway for

establishing cooperation in several other significant sectors, including defence.

France is a pioneering peaceful nuclear developer in the world, boasting a clear, safe and technological record.

Bernard laid it bare that France would play host to an international conference on peaceful nuclear development in March in light of the increasing number of those countries seeking nuclear help for peaceful purposes.

Some 65 countries, including Kuwait, Egypt, Bahrain, UAE, Israel, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen, together with several international atomic and nuclear agencies, have been invited to attend the gathering, he said. —KUNA

Kuwait takes part in ‘World Book Fair’ in New Delhi NEW DELHI: Kuwait is participating in the nine-day “19th World Book Fair,” being organized in New Delhi

by India’s National Book Trust (NBT).

A total of 35 foreign publishers are exhibiting their books, encyclopedias and journals at the Book Fair from as many as 15 countries.

Kuwaiti books being exhibited here include those on art, literature, culture, industry, education, heritage and economics.

Head of the Kuwaiti delegation to the fair Mohammad Hasan Al-Badah said that the purpose of participating in this Book Fair is not merely to make Kuwait’s presence felt, “but because India is the third leading publishing market in the world after the US and the UK.” He added: “This Book Fair gives us an opportunity to

interact with a wide of range of publishers of international repute, besides avid book readers both from India and other countries. Secondly, Kuwait has had age-old historical and cultural ties with India. People on both sides have a curiosity to know each other through exchange of art and culture, and books remain the best way of such exchange.”

Hasan Al-Badah further stated that India is important to Kuwait not only in terms of art and culture, “but also because it is being viewed as the future market in the publishing industry. The world sees India as a leader in the global publishing market.”

“We have got tremendous response from the visitors, both from India and other nations, right from the first day of the Book Fair. “People are so curious to see Kuwaiti

books that they want to buy the books off the shelves, but unfortunately we are here only to display our books,” added Al Badah.

The World Book Fair was inaugurated by India’s Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal.

Spread over an area of 42,000 square meters, the Fair has 2400 stalls and 1199 participants, besides representation from international bodies like ILO (International Labor Organization), WHO (World Health Organization) and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

The highlight of the Book Fair is a special section on India’s first and longest serving prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, featuring more than 150 books on his life, politics and philosophy. —KUNA

Spring break ‘outflow’ KUWAIT: After students finished their midterms and as the spring break started, several citizens and residents decided to spend their vacation time abroad. On the first day of break several people went to the Nuwaiseeb and Salmi Ports

Two men, an Iraqi and an Asian, have been remanded in custody on charges of possessing 350 bottles of liquor. An amount of KD 13,000 in cash was also seized. The Iraqi man admitted to procuring the money from liquor sales.

as well as the Kuwait International Airport, reported Al-Watan.

More than 100 thousand people left the country during the first 48 hours of the official spring break.

Overcrowding at the ports forced some travelers to go

home and return the following day to avoid lengthy waiting periods.

Preparations and security procedures were utilized to their fullest capabilities during this period in order to handle the surge of travelers.

KFAED organizes trips to Egypt, Lebanon for top students KUWAIT: Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) has organized trips to Egypt and Lebanon for top students, to encourage them to sustain their academic excellence.

Director of Media department in (KFAED) Mona AlAyyaf said in a statement that those trips are dedicated to high school students who were chosen by the Ministry of Education from the six governorates of Kuwait.

They are divided into two groups; the first includes 12 male students to head to Egypt while the second group of 12 females would travel to Lebanon, saying that they will be accompanied by supervisors from the Ministry and KFAED. She added that the organization of those trips stems out from the great care extended by the Fund towards the educational sector and to introduce the students with the various cultures and traditions of friendly and brotherly nations.

KFAED will arrange annually similar one-week trips for top students to visit countries that benefit from the KFAED’s funds in order to become acquainted with the Fund’s various activities in those countries. —KUNA

Drug dealer caught Farwaniya detectives arrested a Bangladeshi expat in connection with possession of opium and heroin that were con-

cealed in a medicine bottle. Farwaniya Security Director Brig Ghloum Habib received a tip-off about the man’s activities, and sent an undercover police officer who posed as a customer and struck a deal with the suspect. They agreed to meet at a prearranged meeting point in Jleeb AlShuyoukh. However, the suspect sensed danger at the time of delivering the contraband and attempted to flee. However, he was quickly apprehended. The man admitted to working with an accomplice employed at the Amghara scrapyard.

store’s door behind them in order to prevent anyone from following them or informing officials. Eventually, one of the customers broke the door and set everyone free. Police were informed about the incident.

Intoxicated driver Jahra police arrested a citizen in the area after he tried to break through a checkpoint and almost hit one of the officers. After the driver was arrested it was discovered that the driver was under the influence of drugs.

He was taken to the proper authorities.

Juvenile killed

Drug abuse

A 17-year-old juvenile on an ATV and a motorcyclist were killed in Al-Zoor when their two vehicles collided. Police and paramedics responded to the emergency and the bodies were taken to the coroner for autopsies.

General Department for Drug Control officers arrested two Iraqi men in their Hawally apartment for possessing and abusing drugs. Authorities raided the drug dealer’s apartment and found 13 envelops filled with heroin. During the raid one of the men tried to escape by jumping out of a window on the second floor but was caught after he sustained multiple fractures. The other man was caught before being able to escape.

Officials also arrested two intoxicated female citizens found inside the apartment.

Fatal accident Two citizens suffered fatal injuries after their vehicle overturned in Al-Julaiah.

Police and paramedics responded to the emergency and discovered the two passengers had died after sustaining skull fractures and cardiac arrests.

Body found Farwaniya police and paramedics were informed that a 52-year-old Indian man died in his apartment. An autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause and time of the man’s death.

Youngsters saved Rescue teams saved eight young citizens from drowning after responding to their distress signal when their boat began sinking.

The boat, which the youngsters rented from a shop in Salmiya, started sinking despite assurances from its Egyptian operator. Two young men were injured in the incident and taken to the hospital.

Cell phones in jail After an anti-cell phone campaign was carried out in the Central Jail, security guards found seven cell phones in the possession of seven separate inmates. The inmates confessed during interrogation that they purchased the phones while inside the jail. Investigations are ongoing to determine the identity of those who supplied them with the phones.

Suicide attempt Rescue teams talked a 39-year-old Indian man out of throwing himself off a building in Hassawi. After being rescued the man was taken to the police station where a case against him was opened.

Unlicensed weapon Armed robbery Three masked men wearing dishdashas robbed a computer store in Mangaf. The criminals stole cash and cell phones from the shopkeeper and customers at knifepoint before escaping. The thieves locked the

Three citizens were arrested on Wafra road after police found an unlicensed shotgun with ammo inside their vehicle. The weapon was found during a routine search at a checkpoint. They were taken to the proper authorities.

Call to use solar, nuke power KUWAIT: “Fighting pollution in the country requires the establishment of a supreme committee composed of all the ministries and institutions that study the possibility of using nuclear and solar energy in addition to utilizing modern technology instead of polluting power resources,” said the Environment Public Authority (EPA).

Furthermore, Head of the Air Pollution Detection Department Dr Saud Al-Rasheed said that there are other methods that help eliminate or reduce pollution rates. It included the readjustment of the current structure of the EPA to include three positions which are: Deputy General Director for Environmental Development Affairs, Deputy General Director for Financial and Administrative Affairs, and Deputy General Director for Environment Protection Affairs.

Among the other proposals are: Increase financial allocations for EPA employees, increase their work production, establish a center for environmental emergency detection at Al-Shuaiba Industrial Zone, another center to collect complaints and assessment that pertained to environmental situation, reported AlWatan.

KUWAIT: Deputy Premier for Legal Affairs, Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Rashid Al-Hammad received the Turkish Ambassador Helmi Dawood Uglo and discussed cooperation between both countries.

Step to develop IT, telecom CAIRO: Participants in the Arab regional committee of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held a meeting here yesterday to discuss preparations for the world conference on telecom development for 2010 to be held in India on May 24 till June 4.

A statement by ITU issued in Cairo said that the conference in India would aim at broadening the sphere for digital media and broadcasting.

Head of the union’s office here Sami Bashir Al-Murshed said that the Arab states had

gone a long way considering development within the IT and telecom domains, affirming that much more development was needed to further pursue integration within this field.

The ITU is the oldest organization in the UN family still in existence. It was founded as the International Telegraph Union in Paris on May 17, 1865 and is today the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues, and the global focal point for governments and the private sector in developing networks and services. —KUNA

Wataniya takes part in ‘InfoConnect’ KUWAIT: Following its annual pattern, Wataniya is taking part at the “InfoConnect” exhibition; an annual exhibition displaying the latest technological advancements in the fields of telecommunication and information technology.

Marking today to be the first day of the exhibition, Wataniya is welcoming all its customers and everyone interested in getting to know Wataniya at close and those eager to find out the latest services and offers.

All visitors are sure to catch sight of Wataniya’s distinct and unique appearance at its “Futuristic” like booth. Arriving at the booth, audience will be given the opportunity to enjoy the unique activities offered by Wataniya such as a caricaturist for Wink and a balloon modeling

Abdul Aziz Al Balool performer. Each activity will be carried with different kinds of enjoyment, along with an interactive experience on state-of-theart touch screens to enhance customer’s knowledge about Wataniya’s services and technologies.

MC Mishal Al Shaya will be present at the exhibition from

5:30- 9:30 PM to entertain the audience, engage in games as well as run a daily quiz about Wataniya, and in return winners will receive some valuable presents ranging from Laptops, Nokia cell phones to free prepaid vouchers!

Moreover, and as part of Wataniya’s entertaining program, Al Shaya will be hosting different guests’ everyday from 7:00- 9:00 PM. Guests like Khaled Abu Sakhr, Mohammad Al Shuai’bi, Hussein Al Mehdi and Mishal Maarafi will be there.

In addition to the above, at the Wataniya futuristic booth customers will have the opportunity to check out the variety of attractive offers tailored especially for the “Infoconnect” exhibition and therefore benefit from purchasing the packages that well suit

their different needs.

‘Taking part at Infoconnect is very crucial to Wataniya, as we constantly aim to get connected with our customers on every level by highlighting our latest services and technological innovation that is applied to all aspects of our work.” Abdul Aziz Al Balool, Wataniya PR Manager stated.

He added saying that “Firsthand experience for our customers with Wataniya’s innovative products is an approach we aim at considering that it, over the years, elevates customer’s experience.”

Info connect will take place on January 31st - February 6th 2010, opening hours are scheduled from 10 AM- 1 PM, and from 5 PM- 10 PM at the Kuwait International Fairs- Mishref.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

INTERNATIONAL

7

Sudan’s govt dismisses US ‘irresponsible’ allegations North-south ties deteriorate, both sides arming

GAZA: A Palestinian girl plays in front of a house destroyed during Israel’s 22-days military assault over Gaza in January 2009 at the in Jabalia refugee camp. Israel denied committing war crimes in a response it was to present to a UN demand, which it previously rejected, that it probe alleged war crimes in its Gaza offensive. — AFP

Israel defends Gaza actions at UN UNITED NATIONS: Israel submitted its response to a UN report that accused it of deliberately targeting civilians during last year’s Gaza offensive, but an Israeli spokesman sidestepped a key UN demand for an independent commission to investigate war crimes allegations. UN associate spokesman Farhan Haq said Israel’s 46-page document had been received at UN headquarters and will be considered in a report by SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon to the General Assembly in early February. “The secretary-general is working on his own response,” Haq said.

The document, later released by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was Israel’s official response to a UN investigative report published in September. That report, which had been requested by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, was put together by an expert panel headed by respected South African jurist Richard Goldstone. The panel’s 575-page document based on its fact-finding mission accused both Israel and Palestinian militants of committing war crimes during last winter’s Gaza fighting.

“Israel is committed to ensuring that every such incident is fully and fairly investigated, to ensure that lessons can be learned and that, if justified, criminal or disciplinary proceedings initiated,” the Israeli government said in its submission to the UN on Friday, titled “Gaza Operation Investigations: An Update.” Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, said Friday that the Palestinian leadership also provided Ban’s chief of staff with its response to the UN panel’s investigation, including a preliminary report by a Palestinian commission established just days ago.

“There is no symmetry between the occupying power, Israel, and their criminal actions, including

war crimes against our people, and any acts that may have been committed by the Palestinian side, those who live under occupation,” Mansour said.

In November, the 192-nation General Assembly endorsed the so-called Goldstone report, urged Israel and the Palestinians to investigate alleged war crimes in Gaza, and raised the possibility of Security Council action if they don’t.

The assembly approved an Arab-drafted resolution insisting there must be some accountability, especially from Israel, for alleged violations of international law during the Gaza conflict in which 13 Israelis and almost 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including many civilians. Action by the Security Council, where the US has veto power, is considered unlikely.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said at a tree-planting ceremony for the Jewish arbor day in southern Israel that Israel’s submission to the UN on Friday “emphasizes again the fact that the Israeli military acts responsibly, ethically, morally and precisely even under the most impossible conditions.” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the response defends Israel’s investigations of last year’s Gaza war, but does not address the international body’s key demand, the creation of an independent commission of inquiry.

“Our response includes a description of the Israeli legal system, the fact that it is responsible and independent and acts in accordance with international law, how it operates and why it can be trusted,” he said. The decision to establish a commission of inquiry must be made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said. Israel’s government has long rejected such a move, which is seen in Jerusalem as justifying allegations many Israelis see as unfair. — AP

Iraqi sheikh threatens to boycott votes in protest RAMADI: A prominent sheikh and US ally is weighing whether to urge fellow Sunnis to boycott upcoming elections in protest of the government’s ballot purge of hundreds of candidates suspected of links to Saddam Hussein’s regime. Such a call by Ahmed Abu Risha risks derailing Obama administration hopes that the March 7 parliamentary elections will bring stronger reconciliation between Iraq’s majority Shiites and minority Sunnis who want to reclaim more political power.

It would also set back the clock on Iraqi politics - using the same protest tactic that Sunnis used in 2005 parliament voting that left them with only a few lawmakers and a weakened voice in key debates. In an interview with The Associated Press, Abu Risha acknowledged that a boycott could throw Iraq into disarray. But the Awakening Council leader said the candidate blacklist likely will result in a low turnout among voters in Anbar, the mostly Sunni province that covers most of Iraq’s western desert.

“They will not care about the election - they will ignore it, maybe, if these decisions stand,” Abu Risha said in an interview this week at his sprawling compound just outside Ramadi, about 70 miles west of Baghdad. “I will make my decision later about encouraging people to go to vote or not,” he added. Abu Risha leads the Anbar province Awakening Council, a Sunni tribal militia that joined the US-led fight against insurgents in 2006.

Anbar was the birthplace of the uprising against Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which is seen as a critical turning point of the war. Iraq’s Shiite-led government has banned about 450 candidates with suspected links to Saddam’s now-outlawed Baath Party. At stake in the March election is 325 seats and control of Iraq’s parliament as the country prepares to stand alone when the US military leaves at the end of 2011.

Iraqi officials say many Shiites also are banned from the ballot, but Abu Risha claimed the vast majority are Sunni - reflecting fears that the blacklist is a government attempt to undercut Sunnis, who once controlled Iraq under Saddam and have felt polit-

ically marginalized since his ouster in 2003. US officials say no more than 60 percent of the banned candidates are Sunni.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd, has asked for a legal ruling on the legitimacy of the panel that is vetting the candidates.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh dismissed the threatened boycott as “futile.” “Many others called for boycotting the previous elections, and this has led to nothing and even losses,” al-Dabbagh said.

“Boycotting will not help and will not build a national project.”

Sunni Arabs widely boycotted the last parliamentary election in January 2005 and now only hold about 75 of the current 275 lawmaker seats. Spurred by insurgent threats against voters and calls from hard-line clerics to skip the polls, many Sunnis shunned the election in protest of US and other foreign troops in Iraq. Sunnis make up about onethird of the country, US data show. Retired Army Lt Col Nathan Freier, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, called it “critically important” for Iraq’s government and security for Sunnis to vote.

Further marginalizing Sunnis could trigger violence by onetime insurgents. In turn, he said, that could lead to a counterpunch by Shiite extremists bringing back the sectarian bloodshed that once gripped Iraq.

“The Iraqi government has to come to some accommodation with the Sunnis,” said Freier, a former adviser to Gen Raymond Odierno, the commander of US forces in Iraq. Nearly 6,600 candidates have been cleared to run in the election.

Of the 456 who have been banned, Abu Risha said that seven are members of the Awakening Council he heads.

Another 70 are candidates for the Unity Alliance of Iraq political coalition that Abu Risha helps lead along with Interior Minister Jawad Al-Bolani. The sheikh dismissed claims that the ballot purge targets suspected Baathists. “I don’t think any followers of Saddam Hussein are still in government or are trying to take power. — AP

UNITED NATIONS: Sudan’s UN ambassador has dismissed as “irresponsible” US allegations that weapons from northern Sudan were going to armed groups in the semi-autonomous south ahead of a nationwide April election. Earlier this week the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said Washington was concerned about the flow of arms, including heavy weapons, into southern Sudan, and believed they were coming from northern Sudan and neighboring countries. Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem told Reuters that Khartoum “categorically denied” Rice’s allegations.

“The statement by the US ambassador to the UN attributing arms flows to south Sudan to the north is most irresponsible,” he said in an interview. “It demonstrates that Susan Rice is still imprisoning herself in the past and failed to move from an activist position to that of a worthy representative of a superpower.” He added that it was US arms sales that were making the world less safe, not weapons from his oil-rich African nation. UN officials have said privately that they, too, suspect the north was supplying southern militants with weapons.

The oil-producing nation’s north and south fought each other for more than two decades until a 2005 peace deal that promised national elections, due in April, and a referendum on southern independence in January 2011. The International Crisis Group (ICG), an independent multinational group, has said relations between the two sides have broken down and Sudan needed more time to prepare for a widely expected ‘yes’ vote for southern independence if it wanted to avoid a violent break-up.

Armies from both sides, and an array of rebel groups and militias, are also stockpiling arms ahead of any conflict, despite UN and European Union arms embargoes, according to a December

2009 report by the Small Arms Survey. The Enough Project, a US-based anti-genocide group, has been saying for months that increasingly sophisticated attacks by the same ethnic-based militias that were used by Khartoum in the south during the civil war was cause for great alarm.

EUROPE’S GUANTANAMO The Sudanese envoy also reacted angrily to comments from the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who said this week that he expected a genocide charge soon against Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir.

Abdalhaleem said that “the enemies of Sudan” were trying to use Moreno-Ocampo to destroy the peace process for Sudan’s western Darfur region and insisted that Khartoum would never cooperate with The Hague-based court.

He said Moreno-Ocampo was “just a screwdriver in the workshop of double standards and injustice and the ICC is the European Guantanamo.” He was referring to the controversial US military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir in March 2009 for alleged war crimes in Sudan’s western Darfur region in connection with mass killings and deportations, but it said there were insufficient grounds to charge him with genocide.

Moreno-Ocampo appealed that decision to press for a genocide indictment. The ICC has said it will issue a decision on the appeal on Feb 3.

Bashir described the warrant against him as “all lies” last year and ordered major aid agencies out of Sudan in response. Estimates vary widely on how many people have died in the Darfur conflict, which began when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the government in 2003. The United Nations says as many as 300,000 have died, but Sudan’s estimate is 10,000. — Reuters

KHARTOUM: Former Sudanese premier and opposition candidate Sadiq Al-Mahdi speaks during a press conference in Khartoum. Mahdi said he would contest the upcoming April election with a plan to dismantle “totalitarianism” and resolve the conflict Darfur. — AFP

Qaeda claims crime lab bombing in Iraq BAGHDAD: An Al-Qaeda front group in Iraq claimed responsibility yesterday for a suicide car bombing earlier this week at Baghdad’s main crime lab that killed at least 22 people. The claim for the Tuesday blast, posted on militant websites, was the second this week from the Islamic State of Iraq. The

group previously said it carried out suicide car bombings at three Baghdad hotels on Monday that claimed at least 41 lives.

The Islamic State of Iraq, which includes Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other allied Sunni insurgent factions, has now claimed responsibility for all major bombings in Baghdad

since August attacks at the Foreign and Finance ministries. The latest claim could not be independently verified, but the group has used such Web sites in the past to take responsibility for attacks. The statement described the bombing on the Interior Ministry’s forensic lab as the “second phase” of

its campaign this week. It also vowed more strikes against offices and institutions of the Shiite-led government.

The attacks appear aimed at rattling and embarrassing the US-backed leadership in Baghdad before national elections on March 7. Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has

made the overall drop in violence around Iraq the centerpiece of his campaign. But his government has faced an outcry from parliament members and political critics for security lapses that have allowed a string of high-profile attacks in the heart of Baghdad over the past six months. — AP

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

German embassy police recalled from Tehran BERLIN: Two German policemen working at their country’s embassy in Tehran have been brought home after being targeted by Iranian intelligence, according to the weekly Der Spiegel. The report, to appear tomorrow, follows an Iranian claim to have arrested two German diplomats for allegedly having a hand in deadly anti-government protests last month as relations plummet between Berlin and Tehran.

According to Der Spiegel the policemen had been subject to checks by their Iranian

counterparts and one had email exchanges with an Iranian woman said to be close to the opposition monitored by intelligence agents.

Iran’s state television website on Wednesday quoted an unnamed deputy intelligence minister as saying that two German diplomats using fictitious names were arrested” during the Shiite commemoration of Ashura on December 27.

Their role in the Ashura incidents “has been established by the Islamic republic of Iran,” the official said in a separate ISNA

news agency report, with specifying whether the diplomats were still detained. “No German diplomats were arrested on December 27 last year,” German foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke told a Berlin news conference. “If the accusations turn out to have been made, we reject them categorically,” Peschke said on Wednesday.

At least eight people were killed on December 27, when tens of thousands of opposition supporters protested against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in what

turned into the bloodiest clashes since his disputed June 12 re-election. Iran charged Western powers with fomenting the unrest and expelled two British diplomats. Iranian officials revealed they had detained a Swedish diplomat for 24 hours on December 27, the final day of the Ashura rites.

In Wednesday’s reports, the deputy intelligence minister said Iran would “diplomatically protest to the German embassy in Tehran through the foreign ministry.” The official alleged unidentified German diplo-

mats set up a network of young Iranians to collect information on events in the country, adding members of this network had also been arrested. “This network was affiliated to the German intelligence service,” he said.

“The riots... were pre-planned and the ‘current of sedition’ (anti-government protest movement) and the network affiliated to Western intelligence services were involved,” he said on the official news agency IRNA. Also Wednesday, German industrial giant Siemens said it would stop signing new

business deals in Iran from mid-2010 as tensions grew between Berlin and Tehran. On Tuesday German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that time was running out before the international community considers sanctions against Iran, adding that February would be the “crucial month” in the UN Security Council. Sanctions on Iran for its alleged attempts to develop nuclear weapons would only work if applied “over the broadest possible basis,” Merkel added, following talks with Israel’s President Shimon Peres. — AFP

Rivals seek breakthrough in N Ireland knife-edge talks A deal would give Belfast its first justice minister HILLSBOROUGH: Rival Northern Ireland parties resumed talks for the sixth day yesterday, breaking a deadline set by Britain and Ireland, as they strove to hold a power-sharing government in place. A definitive rift between the

predominantly Roman Catholic Sinn Fein and the mainly Protestant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) almost certainly would trigger a snap election in the British province, where the former foes share power.

On Friday, they talked until 0230 GMT and were expected to reconvene for a few hours yesterday, a British government spokesman said.

This week’s marathon discussions at Hillsborough Castle, outside Belfast, have continued night and day with only brief interruptions and mark the longest period of negotiation between the two sides.

Debates were shorter in the run-up to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended three decades of violence that cost 3,600 lives.

Fault lines have been opened up by the charged issue of transferring police and justice powers from London to Belfast. A deal on devolving police and justice powers would give Northern Ireland its first justice minister and be one of the boldest steps since the Good Friday accord. That was signed at Hillsborough Castle by the then British and Irish prime ministers and both governments are eager to keep that HILLSBOROUGH: Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams arrives at Hillsborough Castle, Northern Ireland legacy intact. Prime ministers yesterday. Rival leaders of Northern Ireland’s faltering Catholic-Protestant administration resumed Gordon Brown of Britain and Brian Cowen of Ireland flew talks yesterday. — AP into Northern Ireland on Monday to try to broker a deal.

EXPIRED DEADLINE They left on Wednesday, saying both sides had until Friday to find a solution or Britain and Ireland would publish theirs. Asked about the expired deadline, a British government spokesman said: “Talks are continuing between the parties and the government will review the MADRID: At least seven small Spanish of lodging an appeal against two small coun- 6,700 tons of spent fuel and will no longer outcome of these talks.” towns had submitted bids to build a nuclear cils in his region who tendered bids this have storage room on site as of 2013.

Throughout the week, the Parliament voted in 2004 to build a central, waste dump by a deadline yesterday, but week. mood at Hillsborough has Barreda’s counterpart in northeastern purpose-built site for high-level radioactive opposition from regional authorities cast swung from optimism to pesdoubt over the long-delayed project. About a Catalonia, Jose Montilla, opposes a bid by waste, and the United Nations nuclear simism and back again. dozen towns in all have bid for the dump, the town of Asco, home to two of Spain’s watchdog urged Spain to step up efforts in Northern Ireland’s uneasy according to press reports yesterday, most eight nuclear power stations. “Catalan 2008. Spain’s nuclear power plants are power-sharing system has with populations of 500 or less, all hoping power stations produce 40 percent of all of owned in varying proportions by Iberdrola, fallen apart before, but both the 700 million euro plan will bring much- Spain’s power. We’ve done our bit,” he said. Endesa, Union Fenosa and Hidrocantabrico.

Sinn Fein and the DUP are The project won little support from local needed jobs in a country with some of the Three towns in northerly Castilla-Leon considered anxious to avoid a have submitted bids, but their regional gov- politicians and cabinet ministers did not call longest dole queues in Europe. snap election. The timing Spanish voters generally shun nuclear ernment head said he would agree only if for bids from town councils to house the would be bad for the DUP, power and regional authorities, wary of the the central government reversed a decision dump until last month. Many councils locatwhich is mired in a scandal project, have substantial autonomy from the taken last year to close a local nuclear power ed near the bidders have voiced their oppoinvolving the wife of Peter central government and some have plant in 2013. “The Prime Minister has sition and environmental groups have Robinson that has forced him announced their opposition. “I am willing to appealed to consensus,” Jose Antonio de staged protests, saying the waste will to temporarily stand aside as take every political, social and legal mea- Santiago-Juarez said. “He may begin to remain toxic for hundreds of thousands of first minister even though he sure, whatever it takes, to stop the nuclear count on it when he reconsiders Garona years. “If the government wants to solve the is overseeing the devolution nuclear waste problem and close the nuclear dump being built in Castilla-La Mancha,” (power station).” talks. debate once and for all, it will have to table a PLANTS FILLING UP said Jose Maria Barreda, who is government Sinn Fein might be more The government estimates Spain’s good plan for closing nuclear plants,” a head in the central-southern region. He has relaxed about a snap election, ordered his legal team to study the legality nuclear power stations have accumulated Greenpeace statement said. —Reuters but the outcome is uncertain and it would be wary of incurring international opprobrium for undoing years of progress.

On Friday, both sides said there was still hope of a deal.

“I think there has been progress over the last number of days, but there are still matters which need to be resolved, which we need to be certain about,” Robinson said.

“We don’t have an agreement, BERLIN: Heavy snow driven by but it’s not over until it’s strong winds brought road and over,” Sinn Fein leader Gerry rail services to a halt in northAdams said. “We are at a fairly eastern Germany yesterday, sensitive and defining point in authorities said. A police all this and hopefully we will spokesman at Stralsund on the get the business done.”

Baltic coast said nearly 40 cenSinn Fein, which eventualtimeters of snow had fallen on the ly wants to see the province offshore island of Ruegen, while united with Ireland, has drifts up to three meters deep pressed for an early date for blocked roads in Mecklenbergtransfer of the powers most Pomerania.

Public transport was off the associated with British conroads in the cities of Rostock and trol during the years of vioGreifswald, while state railway lence. It has accused the DUP, company Deutsche Bahn reportwhich wants Northern Ireland ed numerous delays and cancellato remain part of Britain, of tions in the northeast. In Hungary stalling. The DUP denies the meanwhile weather services charge. Brown said on declared a red alert in the centre Wednesday he believed it was of the country, saying up to 20 feasible for the Northern centimeters of snow was expectIreland Assembly to consider ed, adding that the eastern region plans on devolving policing would be affected yesterday. With and justice powers in March snowfall already causing transand to implement them port delays, Budapest airport was the beginning of OBERKRAEMER: A pedestrian walks while a car passes on a rural road “around temporarily closed for snow to be May”. —Reuters

Spanish nuke waste plans draw bidders and protests Dump to cost 700 million euros

Snowstorms batter Germany, Hungary

cleared from the runways. —AFP

during a snowstorm in Oberkraemer, eastern Germany yesterday. — AFP

FROMELLES: Australian soldiers carry the coffin of a fellow comrade, killed during the World War I during a ceremony of re-burials in Fromelles, northern France yesterday. —AP

250 World War dead laid to rest in France FROMELLES: The first of 250 Australian and British soldiers whose remains were unearthed from a World War I mass grave was laid to rest yesterday with military honors in a village in northern France. Australian, British and French flags flew at half mast as the coffin was lowered into a grave in a snow-covered new military cemetery built in Fromelles, a quiet village once on the frontlines of the Great War. Several hundred French villagers gathered alongside Australian and British guests in the bitter cold to remember the sacrifice of the soldiers who died in the disastrous Battle of Fromelles in 1916. “Today we gather to honor those who were lost here and thought never to be found,” said Australia’s Minister for Veterans Affairs Alan Griffin, standing under a large white cross dominating the new cemetery.

“After almost 100 years, these soldiers can finally be laid to rest with honor,” said his British counterpart Kevan Jones. The cemetery was built specially not far from a muddy field where for five months archeologists and forensics experts carried out the painstaking work of recovering the remains from the mass grave discovered in 2007.

German forces buried the bodies in several pits at the grave site known as Pheasant Wood, a forest surrounded by fields of grazing cows and not far from the village church.

After an amateur Australian historian identified the site, the British and Australian governments ordered the excavation work to be carried out and DNA testing to try to name as many of the remains as possible. Over the coming weeks, all but one set of remains will be buried in unmarked graves while DNA experts press on with analysis of samples and try to match them with living relatives. The final soldier will be re-buried at a cere-

mony on July 19 to mark the 94th anniversary of the battle. “For my country, Fromelles represents a tragic chapter in our history,” Griffin said.

More than 5,500 Australians were killed, wounded or went missing in the Battle of Fromelles on July 19, 1916, cut down by German machine guns as they advanced in open fields. The date stands out as Australia’s bloodiest day. “This for a new nation still in the process of establishing itself, a nation then of only four million people,” the minister recalled. “Our troops had come halfway around the world and sadly many were never to make the trip home again to those who they loved and who loved them,” he said.

British losses were more than 1,500 in the failed bid to seize a German position and prevent the enemy from sending reinforcements to the Battle of the Somme, a few dozen kilometers away. Tests on bones recovered from the clayish mud have revealed that most of the soldiers were under 20 years of age-teenage boys, some of whom probably lied about their age when they signed up. Boots, army badges and belt buckles along with keepsakes and a folded return train ticket from Fremantle to Perth were also recovered from the muddy pits.

Fromelles Mayor Hubert Huchette told the gathering that “by welcoming the soldiers at the heart of our village, we wish to remember daily what they did for our country.” Providing a fitting burial for the Australian and British soldiers is “the gesture that every nation makes for its heroes,” said French General Bruno Cuche.

Results of the DNA tests will be known in March and officials from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission then hope to put names on some of the headstones at the war cemetery, the first to be built in 50 years. —AFP

Italian magistrates walk out of courts Magistrates protest ‘government aggression’ ROME: Magistrates walked out of courts across Italy yesterday in protest against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s judicial reforms and what they see as aggressive language used against them.

“An execution squad, sewer, cancer, metastasisthese are some of the words that the prime minister and his deputies have used to describe us,” said Gioacchino Natoli of the National Magistrates Association union, which organized the protest.

“We don’t want to be subject to this continued aggression.” Berlusconi has been on the warpath against the magistrates whom he accuses of being “communists” out to destroy him- for months and has vowed to overhaul the judiciary with reforms that critics say are tailor-made to shield him from prosecution.

In appeals court ceremonies from Sicily to Milan to mark the start of the judicial year, magistrates walked out with copies of the constitution in hand when government representatives began their speeches. Magistrates have been particularly incensed by a draft bill that would drastically cut the maximum duration of Italy’s slow-moving trials, which would terminate two corruption and tax fraud trials against Berlusconi.

The billionaire prime minister denies all charges and says he is the victim of magistrates who hound him. Many magistrates agree reforms are needed-the chief justice of the Supreme Court on Friday attacked Italian trials of moving “slower than those in Gabon”-but argue that an artificial time limit is counterproductive and may boost crime. Government officials described the protest as lacking in credibility and urged magistrates to engage in dialogue instead. “When criticism is blind and refuses to acknowledge anything, it is less credible,” Justice Minister Angelino Alfano said during a ceremony in L’Aquila, attacking the protest. Berlusconi lost his immunity from prosecution in October when Italy’s top court ruled that legislation passed by his government to shield him from trials while in office violated the constitutional principle that all are equal before the law.

That ruling allowed two court cases against him to resume. Since then, the 73-year-old conservative leader has pledged far-reaching legal reforms. He says that over the past 15 years he has been saddled with 109 trials and 200 million euros ($280.8 million) in legal fees, and was never convicted. —Reuters

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Pentagon starts clock on lifting the gay ban Obama seeks to end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policies

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Suspected looters lie with their hands tied as they are detained in an appliance store in downtown Port-au-Prince. Sporadic looting continues as earthquake survivors scavenge for anything they can find in the rubble left by Haiti’s Jan 12 earthquake.—AP

Disease spreading in earthquake-hit Haiti Ecuador president blasts aid ‘imperialism’ on Haiti trip PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haiti’s desperate earthquake survivors faced a new deadly threat as the United Nations reported a rise in cases of diarrhea, measles and tetanus in squalid tent camps for victims.

A vast foreign aid effort is struggling to meet survivors’ needs 17 days after the disaster, which killed around 170,000 people and left one million homeless and short of food, water and medical attention.

And with medicine running low amid efforts to treat hundreds of thousands of injured and homeless cramped into makeshift camps, officials and aid groups are scrambling to avoid a potential public health calamity that could push the death toll higher. “Several medical teams report a growing caseload of diarrhea in the last two to three days,” World Health Organization spokesman Paul Garwood said.

“There are also reports of measles and tetanus, including in resettlement camps, which is worrisome due to the high concentration of people,” he told journalists in Geneva. UN agencies and Haiti’s government aim to launch a vaccination campaign against measles, tetanus and diphtheria next week. Just 58 percent of Haitian infants were immunized before the quake, Garwood said.

He highlighted a “critical” need for surgeons, with an estimated 30 to 100 amputations being carried out every day in some hospitals, while supplies of anesthetics and antibiotics were also needed.

The 7.0-magnitude quake on January 12 decimated Haiti’s already meager health system, creating conditions

for disease to thrive in the cramped refugee camps. Only one person in two among the Haitian population of more than nine million people has access to clean drinking water, and only 19 percent have decent sanitation. On Friday, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa became just the second foreign leader to visit Haiti since the quake, lending his voice to international calls for more emergency relief and assistance with reconstruction.

“This is a tragedy, a humanitarian tragedy. Haiti at this moment represents the pain of victims but also hope,” Correa said.

He also highlighted what he called the “imperialism” of aid efforts, echoing criticism leveled by other leftist Latin American leaders.

“There is a lot of imperialism among the donors. They donate first, but most of it goes back to them,” he said at a joint press conference with Haiti’s President Rene Preval.

Without naming specific programs, he criticized both military relief efforts and those of foreign non-governmental organizations.

Haitians living in sprawling makeshift camps in the ruins of Port-au-Prince and elsewhere complain that the flood of international aid arriving in the country is trickling down too slowly.

Many are trying to rebuild their lives, with marketplaces springing up on streets around the capital, although business is tough.

“It’s very hard-there aren’t many buyers, but there are lots of sellers,” said 24-yearold Rose Gardy-Joseph, sitting next to a basket full of colorful sweets, soft cheese and nap-

kins. But survivors also face rising insecurity, with thousands of criminals on the loose after the main jail collapsed in the quake and reports of rape and violence plaguing the weak and vulnerable. The deputy head of the UN mission in Haiti, Anthony Banbury, said the United Nations did not want huge tent cities later turning into slums where there was poor sanitation, no security and child abuse.

The United Nations, along with aid agencies and security forces, must “do things smart, as well as fast, and that’s a big challenge for us now”, Banbury said.

The US State Department said it was spearheading a coordinated effort together with UNICEF, the Haitian government, the Red Cross and other agencies to combat the potential trafficking of children. The aid effort has also been dogged by complaints over a lack of coordination between UN officials, the 20,000 US forces in Haiti, and a swarm of aid groups helping the country.

There were no signs of further survivors beneath the rubble after a 16-year-old girl was pulled alive from the ruins Wednesday after surviving 15 days without any food or water. Rebuilding the western hemisphere’s poorest nation could take decades, said Edmond Mulet, the acting head of the UN mission in Haiti, whose predecessor was killed in the quake.

“I think this is going to take many more decades than only 10 years and this is an enormous backwards step in Haiti’s development. We will not have to start from zero but from below zero,” Mulet told the BBC. — AFP

Japanese protest US military presence TOKYO: Thousands of protesters from across Japan marched yesterday in central Tokyo to protest the US military presence on Okinawa, while a Cabinet minister said she would fight to move a Marine base Washington considers crucial out of the country. Some 47,000 US troops are stationed in Japan, with more than half on the southern island of Okinawa. Residents have complained for years about noise, pollution and crime around the bases.

Japan and the US signed a pact in 2006 that called for the realignment of American troops in the country and for a Marine base on the island to be moved to a less populated area. But the new Tokyo government is re-examining the deal, caught between increasingly adamant public opposition to American troops and its crucial military alliance with Washington. Yesterday, labor unionists, pacifists, environmentalists and students marched through central Tokyo, yelling slogans and calling for an end to the US troop presence.

They gathered for a rally at a park - under a banner that read “Change! Japan-US Relations” - for speeches by civil leaders and politicians.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has repeatedly postponed his decision on the pact, with members of his own government divided on how to proceed. Last week he pledged to resolve the conundrum by May, just before national elections. “The Cabinet is saying that it will announce its conclusion in May. For this rea-

son, over the next few months we must put all of our energy into achieving victory,” Cabinet minister Mizuho Fukushima said at the rally, to shouts of approval from the crowd.

Fukushima - who has a minor post in the Cabinet and heads a small political party - wants the base moved out of Japan entirely.

Hatoyama’s government must appease such political allies to maintain its majority coalition in parliament, and the public are increasingly vociferous on the US military issue, even outside of Okinawa.

“I’m against having troops here. I’m not sure we can get them all out, but at least some of them should leave,” said Seiichiro Terada, 31, a government tax collector who attended the rally.

Terada said he traveled from his home in the central prefecture of Shizuoka, which hosts a Marine base at the foot of Mt Fuji. The deal with Washington calls for the Marine base in a crowded part of Okinawa to be moved to a smaller city called Nago. But last week residents of Nago elected a new mayor who opposes the move, ousting the incumbent that supported a US military presence. On the other side of the debate, a steady stream of US officials have petitioned Tokyo to follow the agreement and maintain American troop levels in Japan, with US Ambassador John Roos on Friday calling them “front-line forces” in case of emergencies or security threats. —AP

WASHINGTON: The US Defense Department will start the clock next week on what is expected to be a several-year process in lifting its ban on gays from serving openly in the military. A special investigation into how the ban can be repealed without hurting the morale or readiness of the troops was expected to be announced Tuesday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

While the review is likely to take the better part of this year to complete, and even more time to implement, its initiation will advance President Barack Obama’s goal of repealing the ban and bring a divisive issue for the military back to the fore. At the White House, officials continued reviewing options for the Clinton-era policy. The administration still believes that any repeal should start in Congress and have the backing of top military leaders.

To that end, Obama and Gates planned a meeting next week to discuss, among other topics, ending “don’t ask, don’t tell” policies.

The president was also likely to speak with Mullen, who has signaled he would carry out a repeal if ordered by Obama and Congress. Lifting the ban poses some emotional questions that go to the heart of the military’s com-

mand structure and the trust relationships within military units. Among them: Will US troops and leaders tolerate openly gay members in their midst?

And if they don’t, what should the Pentagon do about it?

The military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was imposed by a 1993 law intended as a compromise between President Bill Clinton, who wanted to lift the ban on gays entirely, and a reluctant Congress and military that said doing so would threaten order.

Under the policy, the military can’t ask recruits their sexual orientation. In turn, service members can’t say they are gay or bisexual, engage in homosexual activity or marry a member of the same sex. Between 1997 and 2008, the Defense Department discharged more than 10,500 service members for violating the policy.

The review to be announced next week was expected to delve into practical issues that surround changing the law: Can a soldier be forced to room with someone who is openly gay if they are the same sex? Would the military recognize civil unions and how much would it cost to extend benefits to a service member’s partner? Would quotas be imposed to ensure openly gay service members aren’t passed over for promotions? Obama has promised to repeal the law but

did little to press the issue in his first year as president. In his national address on Wednesday, Obama received a standing ovation from some members of Congress and Gates when he suggested that would change.

“This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are,” Obama said during his State of the Union address.

“It’s the right thing to do.”

While his promise is being hailed as a good start by gay rights activists, Obama is finding resistance in several corners. Some high-ranking military officers are reluctant to embrace the change while the forces are stretched thin at a time of two wars.

Democrats in Congress are also unlikely to press the issue until after this fall’s midterm elections. This will probably satisfy Gates, who has long suggested that change shouldn’t come too quickly. In a speech last year at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Gated noted that the 1948 executive order for racial integration took five years to implement.

“I’m not saying that’s a model for this, but I’m saying that I believe this is something that needs to be done very, very carefully,” he told the audience. — AP

Police find six headless bodies in West Mexico MORELIA: Authorities found the decapitated bodies of six men in the western Mexico state of Michoacan, a hotspot of drug violence where armed men later ambushed a federal police patrol, killing five officers and wounding seven. State prosecutors said in a statement that six bodies and severed heads were discovered at the entrance to the Michoacan town of Acahuato. The victims had not been identified.

Later Friday, state Public Safety Secretary Minerva Bautista said a group of at least a dozen armed men attacked a federal police convoy, opening fire on the vehicles from a highway overpass near the city of Maravatio.

Two of the wounded officers were reported in serious condition.

Michoacan is the cradle of La Familia cartel, which authorities blame for a string of recent beheadings and the killings of police and soldiers. Also Friday, four severely beaten men were seen walking along a busy street in the Michoacan town of Zamora carrying messages signed by La Familia. “Society, don’t judge us. We’re cleaning your city,” read one note.

Last week, four men who had been beaten and tortured marched near Zamora’s train station carrying similar signs and yelling that they were rapists and thieves. President Felipe Calderon first launched his crackdown against drug cartels in Michoacan, sending thousands of federal police and soldiers to his home state after taking office in late 2006.

Drug violence has killed more than 15,000 people throughout Mexico since then. — AP

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China sees sexual frustration causing social problems BEIJING: Sexual frustration amongst migrant workers in China’s booming southern province of Guangdong is leading to a host of social problems and must be tackled, state media yesterday cited a local official as saying.

Guangdong, China’s export powerhouse, is home to about 30 million migrant workers, the most in the country. Many leave wives, husbands or children in their native villages to seek the higher wages factories pay compared with agricultural work.

The China Daily quoted Zhang Feng, head of Guangdong’s provincial

commission of population and family planning, as saying these migrant workers suffered from “severe sexual repression”.

“Sexually transmitted diseases are spreading faster among migrant workers, whose sex lives have long been neglected,” Zhang said. Many migrant workers turn to sex workers during long periods of separation from their spouses, he said.

“Unsafe sex by migrant workers will lead to a rise in venereal diseases and other social problems,” Zhang said.

The newspaper cited a recent survey on migrant workers’ sexual habits as showing that up to 36 percent of married men had experienced severe sexual repression.

The problem was not limited to men. “Many young women who have migrated from rural areas, where sex education is nonexistent, experience a culture shock in bustling cities.

They may follow in their friends’ footsteps by adopting a more open attitude toward sex,” the China Daily said.

“Some women reportedly take

modeling jobs, and others end up married but accepting their husbands’ second wives or mistresses.

Other women may even go as far as participating in the online sex industry, such as chatting to men online while nude.” Zhang said he was asking Guangdong’s provincial assembly to tackle the problem by thoroughly investigating it. “Again this year, I am asking for the government to do the research. Migrant workers will develop less interest in work if they cannot satisfy their sex needs,” Zhang said. — Reuters

Kazakhs protest government’s burgeoning ties with Beijing Government denies plans to rent land to China ALMATY: Kazakh protesters scuffled with police yesterday at a rally against their government’s burgeoning ties with neighboring China. Many in Kazakhstan, a vast but thinly populated nation, are suspicious of China’s growing influence in resource-rich Central Asia and accuse the government

of selling out oil riches to their giant, energy-hungry neighbor. President Nursultan Nazarbayev said last month China had proposed renting a million hectares of Kazakh land to grow soya and other crops. The government later denied any plans to lease land to China.

PREAH VIHEAR: A Cambodian soldier covers an anti-aircraft gun system at a position near the Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, on the border with Thailand. — AFP

Thai, Cambodian troops clash on disputed border PHNOM PENH: Cambodian and Thai troops have had a brief shoot-out on their disputed border, a Cambodian defense ministry spokesman said yesterday, in the latest such flare-up. Chum Socheat said that soldiers from the two countries exchanged fire for two or three minutes on Friday evening.

“We are now further investigating into the problem to find out how it started. We can’t tell who started it first,” he said. He added that Cambodian troops reported a Thai soldier was killed in the skirmish, however Thai military officials were not immediately available to comment. Troops from the two countries briefly exchanged fire in disputed territory near an ancient Khmer temple last Sunday.

Cambodia and Thailand have been at loggerheads over their border for decades.

Nationalist tensions spilled over into violence in July 2008, when the Preah Vihear

temple was granted UNESCO World Heritage status. Four soldiers were killed in clashes in the temple area in 2008 and three more in a gunbattle last April. The border has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.

Relations plunged further in November after Cambodian PM Hun Sen appointed ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives abroad to escape a jail term for corruption, as an economic adviser.

Two shot dead in Thai restive south Suspected separatists shot a couple of rubber tappers yesterday in Thailand’s troubled south, police said. The couple were shot on their motorcycle as they were on their way to tap rubber in Pattani, one of the three southern provinces bordering Malaysia where more than 3,900 people have died in violence since 2004 blamed

mostly on separatist insurgents. The husband was shot dead instantly while the wife died later in hospital, police said. Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces were part of an independent sultanate known as Patani until annexed in 1909 by predominantly Buddhist Thailand.

On Friday, a bomb also killed a soldier in the compound of a mosque and two other soldiers were wounded in a gun battle that subsequently broke out with suspected insurgents in Pattani. No credible group has claimed responsibility for attacks in the region, where a majority of the people are Muslims who speak a Malay dialect as their first language and have long complained of discrimination, especially in education and job opportunities. A massive counterinsurgency effort has occasionally slowed down the pace of the attacks but has shown little sign of ending the violence. — Reuters

Shouting “Down with Nazarbayev!” and carrying banners depicting China as a threatening dragon, hundreds of people gathered in the biggest city Almaty.

“Handing over land to foreigners should be forbidden,” opposition activist Marzhan Aspandiyarova told the rally.

Dozens of people tried to stage a march across Almaty and clashed briefly with police who blocked their way. Police detained one protester and broke up the crowd.

Nazarbayev has been in power since 1989 and enjoys sweeping powers in the former Soviet republic.

He tolerates little dissent and public criticism of the veteran leader is taboo.

Analysts say China now controls nearly a quarter of Kazakhstan’s annual oil output of 75 million tons.

Kazakh oil is shipped to China via a pipeline with capacity of 10 million tons a year and there are plans to expand it.

In 2009, China invested more than $10 billion in projects in Kazakhstan.

“They (the government) borrowed $13 billion from China and now they want to pay it back with our land,” Bolat Abilov, a leader of the opposition party Azat, said at the rally.

China has lent Kazakhstan about $13 billion in sectors ranging from oil to metals over the past year, a welcome infusion of liquidity for the Central Asian state’s crisis-hit economy.

A wary attitude towards China is deeply rooted among Kazakhs whose nomadic ancestors fought many wars against their eastern neighbor.

Ties with China were also strained during Soviet times when Kazakhstan was under Moscow’s rule. At the protest, anti-China sentiment ran high. “No Chinese soya beans on the Kazakh land!” shouted one protester. “Death to the Chinese panda!” — Reuters

Russia Guard attacks Malaysia blogger charged Japan fishing vessels with insulting the royalty

TOKYO: Japan lodged a protest with Russia yesterday after two Japanese fishing vessels were shot at by the Russian Coast Guard near four disputed islands.

The two countries have a decades-old dispute over the chain of Pacific islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kuril islands in Russia, which has prevented them from formally ending World War Two hostilities. The Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement Russian forces fired flares at two Japanese fishing vessels on Friday. When the boats returned to port in Hokkaido, they were found to have what looked like bullet marks in their hulls, it said.

The boats were fishing in an area agreed on by the two countries, Yasuaki Tanizaki, the Foreign Ministry’s European Affairs chief, said in his protest to the Russian Ambassador to Japan, Mikhail Bely. Japan’s Kyodo news agency said the two vessels appeared to have a 20 bullet

marks on their hulls. Russian media also reported the incident, saying the Coast Guard shot at the two Japanese vessels with flares from a helicopter because they were suspected of operating illegally in Russia’s exclusive economic zone near the islands, no one was hurt in the attack, Itar-TASS newswire said.

Russian state newswire RIA Novosti said the two boats, identified as Taka Maru 58 and Kiyomi Maru 63, were shot at near Kunashir island after they refused to stop. “The fishing boats were in the waters of the Russian Federation, about one and a half miles from the shoreline of Kunashir, which is a violation of the rules set out by the Russian and Japan governments on Feb. 21 1998,” RIA quoted Irina Shebeko, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Coast Guard, as saying. In 2006, a Japanese fisherman died after a Russian patrol boat fired on a fishing boat. — Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court has charged a blogger with posting comments that insulted a late state sultan. In recent years prosecutors have charged several bloggers with writing derogatory comments, rescinding an earlier promise that Malaysia would not censor online content.

Khairul Nizam Abdul Ghani, a freelance computer technician, pleaded not guilty Friday at a court in central Negeri Sembilan state.

He was accused of insulting Sultan Iskandar Ismail of southern Johor state, who died Jan 22, The Star and New Straits Times newspapers reported. He was charged with “improper use of network facilities” by transmitting comments deemed “obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive.” The offense carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a fine.

The court did not set a trial date.

Khairul Nizam, who was detained Monday, confirmed the charge on his blog. It was unclear what Khairul

Nizam wrote. It has been removed from his blog and lawyers and court officials could not immediately be reached for comment yesterday.

Sultan Iskandar was Malaysia’s king from 1984 to 1989 under a rotation system among the country’s nine titular state heads. Though the sultans’ roles are largely ceremonial, they command wide respect and insulting them can be deemed seditious.

Last year, several people were charged with posting allegedly derogatory comments. One pleaded guilty and was fined 10,000 ringgit ($3,000).

The others are on trial. One blogger was charged with sedition over an article in which he allegedly linked Prime Minister Najib Razak to the murder of a Mongolian woman. The blogger has gone into hiding. Blogs and online commentary - often offering strong anti-government criticism - have flourished as an alternative to Malaysia’s tightly controlled mainstream media. — AP

SHANGHAI: A woman carries a child at the central railway station in Shanghai. — AFP

How arms sales to Taiwan will impact Sino-US ties BEIJING: China warned the United States yesterday that a new proposed sale of US arms to Beijing’s political rival Taiwan would seriously harm relations between the superpowers, another test of already strained ties. China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists fled to the island. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.

Taiwan says it needs US arms to update its military as China aims 1,000 to 1,500 shortrange to mid-range missiles at the island just 160 km away at the closest point. Here are questions and answers about the arm sales issue.

WHAT ARMS ARE IN THE PIPELINE? An agency under the Pentagon proposed on Friday five separate sales, including 60 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, 114 Patriot “Advanced Capability-3” anti-missile missiles and a command-and-control enhancement for Taiwan. Another round of Patriots, which are part of a larger $6.4 billion weapons package approved in 2008, was cleared on Jan 6. Still pending is a study on whether Washington could upgrade Taiwan’s ageing submarine fleet. Taiwan also has asked for dozens of F-16 jet fighters, a model the island’s military already uses, but the United States has shown little sign of moving on this item.

HOW WILL CHINA REACT? China loudly protests any US arms sales to Taiwan and is likely to retaliate over the latest proposal, possibly by curtailing military-to-military relations with Washington.

China swiftly warned the United States yesterday that the weapons packaged unveiled on Friday would seriously damage cooperation between the two global powers. After the separate Patriot missile deal was approved earlier this month, Beijing announced it had successfully tested emerg-

ing military technology aimed at destroying missiles in mid-air. The two sides are already at odds over currency, trade and Internet censorship issues. China’s “red line” would be the sale of F-16s, said Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief with Defense News, meaning it would take action against the United States. China might, for example, decide to reduce cooperation with Washington on a number of important international issues such as Iran’s nuclear program or cancel official visits. This month, a Chinese Vice Admiral even suggested putting sanctions on US firms that sell arms to Taiwan.

WHY DOES WASHINGTON KEEP SELLING ARMS TO TAIWAN? Washington is home to a vibrant proTaiwan lobby, which wants the United States to beef up assistance for democratic Taiwan.

Accusations China intentionally keeps its currency undervalued and tramples on religious or other freedoms fuel pro-Taiwan sentiment among US lawmakers, as well.

Washington, though it recognizes “one China” and backs Beijing over Taipei diplomatically, is also obligated under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to help defend the island. Taiwan has long seen the United States as its staunchest ally. “There are legal issues and there are moral issues involved,” said Bruce Jacobs, an Asian studies professor at Monash University in Australia.

HOW DO US SALES CHANGE THE BALANCE OF POWER? Analysts say the balance of military power between China and Taiwan is shifting decisively towards Beijing, leaving the island few options without US aid in the event of attack. Taiwan needs more advanced air and naval defenses to counter the modernizing Chinese armed forces.

Even with these new weapons, analysts say that without rapid, massive US help, a concerted Chinese assault on Taiwan would eventually succeed. — Reuters

EAGLE RIVER: In this file photo, six Alaska Army National Guard UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters bank over Eagle River. The United States is planning to sell US$6.4 billion in arms, including Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, mine hunter ships and information technology, to Taiwan, a move that will infuriate China and test whether President Barack Obama’s efforts to improve trust with Beijing will carry the countries through a tense time. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

Sunday, January 31, 2010

11

NATO kills four Afghan troops in ‘friendly fire’ Afghan interpreter kills 2 US troops SALAR: NATO troops clashed with their Afghan allies in a so-called “friendly fire” incident early yesterday morning, calling in air strikes that killed four Afghan soldiers and stoked anger among villagers. NATO and

TORA BASE: Arry, a 4-year-old French army sniffing dog, inspects a trailer truck at the entrance of the Tora Forward Operating Base housing the French Foreign Legion in eastern Afghanistan. — AP

‘Dogs of war’ saving lives in Afghanistan SOUTHEAST OF MARJAH: For the US Marines patrolling the dusty footpaths of southern Afghanistan, a bomb-sniffing black Labrador can mean the difference between life and death. These “dogs of war” have saved countless lives and their record for finding hidden explosives has won them a loyal following. “They are 98 percent accurate. We trust these dogs more than metal detectors and mine sweepers,” says handler Corporal Andrew Guzman.

Trained to detect five kinds of threat, from military grade C-4 plastic explosive to common chemicals used by the Taleban to make improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the dogs play a vital role alongside their human comrades. Bomb expert Sergeant Crush is all concentration as he leads a foot patrol by two squads of US Marines deployed to Afghanistan as part of Washington’s fresh surge to

end an eight-year insurgency by the Taleban. His job along with Corporal Goodwin is to lead the men to safety through dusty footpaths and compounds where Taleban militants plant deadly bombs that have left many troops dead in recent months.

They are from a group of four Labradors, who are on average four years old and have all seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan. “These dogs are great. They keep our Marines alive,” says First Lieutenant Aaron MacLean, 2nd Platoon commander of the Marines 1st Battalion, 6th Regiment Charlie Company, to which the dog team is attached. Crush suddenly goes on a swift bound, sniffing out a corner of a compound in the outskirts of a Taleban stronghold in Helmand province. There is a quick change in his demeanor, his muscles tense up, he freezes, sticks out his tail and then lies down with his paws extended

up front.

The area turned out to have been a former storage place for ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer compound recently banned by the government that the Taleban commonly use in making powerful homemade bombs. “It’s better safe than sorry,” Guzman says. Just days earlier two squads of Marines were ambushed and trapped in a compound. Two Marines died after stepping on the pressure plates of IEDs, just minutes before the dogs were to have cleared the area. The force of the explosion threw the handlers and the dogs to the ground, but they quickly got up and resumed their jobs.

The dogs also provide an emotional crutch for young Marines facing death every day. They crowd around the dogs and play with them inside the camp. There are frequent questions about adopting them after the Labradors end their tour. — AP

“Four army soldiers were killed and six wounded when a foreign forces air strike hit their post,” said Shahedullah Shahed, spokesman for Wardak’s governor. “We don’t know why it happened, but it is deeply regrettable.” He said the strike had targeted an Afghan Army outpost that had been newly established.

Foreign forces and Afghan troops were both separately conducting overnight operations when they started shooting at each other, he said. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said its troops had come under fire and called in air strikes, without realizing they were engaging Afghan security forces.

“Initial post-operational reports indicate the small arms fire originated from an Afghan National Army (ANA) combat outpost and the subsequent air support called in by the joint force likely killed at least four ANA soldiers,” it said in a statement. “We work

Gandhi ashes scattered off South Africa’s coast DURBAN: Ashes of Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, kept for decades by a family friend after his assassination, were scattered yesterday off South Africa’s coast, his family said.

“About 200 people attended.

Everything went well, it was a beautiful ceremony,” said Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of the apostle of non-violence.

An AFP photographer said the predawn ceremony was “dignified”.

“Before the immersion took place, the Hindu priest recited hymns. Gandhi’s great grandson poured the ashes into the sea and afterwards people threw flowers as a sign of their final goodbyes,” he said. A radical nationalist shot Gandhi on January 30, 1948 in India, just months after he led the country to independence from Britain. He was cremated according to Hindu custom. Normally, ashes are immersed in rivers or the sea within days, but Gandhi’s ashes were divided and put in several urns and sent around India and across the globe so his followers could hold memorials. One urn came to South Africa, where Gandhi had come to practice law in 1893, living in the country on and off for 21 years.

Goa tries to improve image PANAJI: The government of the Indian resort state of Goa may ban tourism ads featuring bikini-clad women to improve its image after a string of crimes against women, an official said yesterday. The proposal, which has received backing from tourism authorities, was made to counter popular perceptions of Goa as a destination where there is easy access to sex and drugs, said state Tourism Minister Francisco Pacheco. Russia this week slammed local authorities after repeated attacks on its nationals in Goa, including a case where a nine-year-old Russian girl was allegedly raped. “We will make sure government ads don’t have bikini clad women and we will also ask private tour operators to desist from having such images,” Pacheco

COLOMBO: International human rights groups are urging the Sri Lankan government to stop what they say is postelection harassment of journalists and news media. New-York based Human Rights Watch said that since Tuesday’s presidential election, authorities have detained and questioned several journalists, blocked news Web sites and expelled a foreign journalist. At least one journalist has been assaulted and several have been threatened. President Mahinda Rajapaksa won a resounding victory in the balloting, beating former

said. The ban has yet to be approved but the edict would apply to print advertisements which are part of the Goa government’s 4.5-million-dollar global campaign to draw visitors to its famed sandy beaches and nightlife. Russia has threatened to warn its citizens not to travel to Goa unless the government can ensure their safety and Moscow’s consul general to India last month raised fears over the “criminal situation in Goa”.

12 drown, 20 missing as India boat capsizes HYDERABAD: Twelve people drowned and 20 others were missing yesterday after a crowded boat carrying Hindu pilgrims capsized in a river in southern India, police said. The pilgrims were crossing the Godavari River to reach a village temple on the other side when the boat overturned in midriver, said V Balakrishna, a local police superintendent in southern Andhra Pradesh state. Villagers and police helped pull many pilgrims from the river, while some passengers swam to safety, he said. Rescue efforts were continuing for 20 people still unaccounted for. The boat with a capacity of 50 had around 70 people on board.

The accident occurred near Narsapur Mandal, around 350 kilometers east of Hyderabad, the state capital.

New Delhi softens stand on Taleban India sets there conditions NEW DELHI: India is willing to back efforts to seek peace with Taleban to stabilize Afghanistan, foreign minister SM Krishna said, indicating a softening of stand towards a group known to be close to rival Pakistan. “We are willing to give it a try,” Krishna told the Times of India in an interview published yesterday.

“If the Taleban meets the three conditions put forward- acceptance of the Afghan constitution, severing connections with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups and renunciation of violence, and are accepted in the mainstream of Afghan politics and society, we could do business.”

India has sought to retain influence in Afghanistan to deter anti-India militant

training camps there-which it accuses rival Pakistan of backing-and to more generally try and counter a militant Islamic surge threatening regional security.

It seeks to do so in part with a $1.2 billion aid spent on building roads and power lines that has won popular support.

Pakistan, which considers Afghanistan as a fall back position in the event of a war with India, says New Delhi is expanding its presence there to stir discontent inside Pakistan. Krishna’s comments come after ministers from 60 countries met in London on Thursday to endorse a plan to win over Taleban foot soldiers with cash and jobs in a renewed effort to turn the tide in the eight-year-old war. While accepting the

WARDAK: An Afghan National Army soldier stands guard on a road as armored vehicles of US army are parked at a scene where NATO and Afghan soldiers began fighting each other after a “misunderstanding” following an operation in the Sayed Abad district yesterday. — AP

extremely hard to coordinate and synchronize our operations,” said Canadian Brigadier-General Eric Tremblay, the force’s main spokesman. “This is a regrettable incident and our thoughts go out to the families of those killed and wounded.”

“Friendly fire” incidents and killings of Afghan civilians are among the biggest sources of tension between the Afghan government and the Western troops fighting to protect it.

MINISTRY DEMANDS COURT MARTIAL “As you can see, they dropped bombs on the outpost.

It was the Americans of course. Who else can bomb us?” an angry grey-bearded village elder told Reuters television in the town of Salar, gesturing towards the sky above the site of the incident.

The NATO-led force, which is about two-thirds American, did not identify the nationality of the troops involved in the operation on the ground or in the air. The Afghan Defense

Ministry called for a court martial for any troops found responsible. “The soldiers involved in the horrific incident must be dealt with according to martial law, without any hesitation, so that they receive punishment for their action,” it said.

In a separate incident, a NATO official says an Afghan interpreter killed two US service members before he was killed himself at a combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan.

The new details emerged yesterday, a day after the deaths were announced in a brief statement. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information, says the attack occurred in Wardak province. First reports indicated three Americans were killed but the official said one of the dead was an Afghan. It wasn’t immediately clear why the interpreter opened fire. — Agencies

Sri Lanka government ‘harassing’ journalists

in the news Zoo visitors flee as tigers escape GUWAHATI: Around 10,000 frightened visitors were evacuated from a zoo in northeastern India yesterday when two Bengal tigers slinked out of their cage to mingle with the crowd, officials said.

The tigers opened the door to the iron enclosures and sneaked out while keepers disinfected the cage at the zoo in Guwahati, the main city in the state of Assam. “Fortunately the two cats remained inside the zoo complex and did not try to venture out in the streets,” zoo warden Narayan Mahanta said. “We immediately evacuated the visitors and tried to locate the cats before tranquilizing one of them relaxing by the side of a pool inside the zoo,” he added. The second tiger was tranquilized shortly after. None of the estimated 10,000 visitors was injured but many ran for their lives upon seeing the tigers stealthily walk by. The zoo, the largest in India’s northeast, was packed with families and students on a weekend break. In 2007, a 50-year-old man was mauled to death by a tiger in the same zoo when he scaled a barricade to take photographs of the cats.

Afghan officials both confirmed the incident in Wardak province southwest of Kabul, and tried to head off tension by announcing a joint investigation.

reality of the new plan on the Taleban, Krishna made clear the Indian discomfort with the group, saying its fundamental assessment of the Taleban remained unchanged. “We consider them to be terrorists who have close links with the AlQaeda and other terrorist groups,” he told the daily. “We are next door and our experiences make it difficult for us to differentiate between good or bad Taleban,” he said, adding the West saw the group “from far away”. Besides trying to lure away Taleban fighters from the insurgency, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has also offered to hold talks with the top leaders of the Taleban. The Taleban have not yet responded to his latest appeal. — Reuters

army chief Sarath Fonseka by 17 percentage points.

“Now that the president has been reelected, there appears to be a settling of scores with critics of the government,” Human Rights Watch’s Asia director, Brad Adams, said in a statement Friday night. “Just days after the election, some officials seem to be on a campaign to abuse their power.” “This wave of postelection violence could cast a lasting stain on the start of President Rajapaksa’s second term and bodes ill for the political climate during the coming

years,” said Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

Meanwhile, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called on Rajapaksa to ensure journalists’ safety, and “to use his new mandate to reverse the repressive trends of the past several years.” Government spokesmen could not be immediately reached for comment. Yesterday, police sealed off the office of “Lanka” - a newspaper that backed Fonseka and has reported on alleged government corruption - a day after detectives questioned its editor,

Chandana Sirimalwatte.

Police spokesman I M Karunaratne said it was sealed off following a court order, pending a special police inquiry.

He did not provide details of the inquiry.

Authorities also ordered a Swiss radio journalist to leave the country by Monday after she asked critical questions at a postelection news conference, said Andreas Notter, a spokesman for the national broadcaster. Notter said the Sri Lankan government gave no reason for the expulsion of South Asia correspondent Karin Wenger. — AP

OPINION

12

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issues

Would world economy miss financial ‘froth’?

By Mike Dolan

T

he political backlash against profligate global banks is underway; regulators everywhere are sizing up “hot” cross-border money flows; and capital controls in developing economies are back in vogue.

Financial globalisation, in short, is on the back foot.

The questions for policymakers, and for investors, is whether it is possible to skim the froth off global finance without undermining the benefits of “real” globalization in trade and direct investment.

And for many emerging economies, is slightly lower but more stable growth a price worth paying for damping volatile and destabilising financial flows? To judge by the International Monetary Fund’s world growth projections this week, the risks to underlying growth so far appear to be modest. The IMF boosted this year’s global growth projection by almost a full percentage point to 3.9 percent and upped next year’s to 4.3 percent - far in excess of the average 3.3 percent rate of the past decade and the fastest clip since the 5.2 percent peak of the boom in 2007.

That’s clearly not the full picture. Apart from moves by emerging giants such as Brazil to tax capital inflows flooding their local markets, most of the post-crisis proposals to rein in global banks and finance are still in gestation. But US President Barack Obama’s bombshell in proposing to ban US banks from proprietary trading unrelated to customer business was the clearest sign yet that months of postmortems and suggestion are finally gaining traction among policymakers and other proposals should be taken seriously.

The downsizing of global mega banks, previously seen too big to fail or bail, has many fans abroad and could have far-reaching implications for cross-border capital over time. The thinking also tallies with calls for more “host country” rather than “home country” regulation, as outlined by economists writing for the UK’s Warwick Commission last November.

This would see global banks being forced to replace foreign branches with fully-capitalised subsidiaries, regulated by the host country rather than the regulator in the parent’s country - moves flagged

by Bank of England governor Mervyn King as making life “a whole lot easier for the national regulators.”

What is more, one new proposal from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision excludes the banks’ use of minority stakes in affiliates - typical of how many Western banks operate in emerging markets - from being used as capital buffers.

All the above would have the effect of raising the cost of cross-border banking and finance and could well see it retreat, but they remain looming intangibles and hard

to quantify.

To benchmark how fast and big global finance has become in step with trade globalization, the IMF estimates that between 1980 and 2007, the ratio of goods and services trade to global gross domestic product - currently about $60 trillion - rose to 62 percent from about 42 percent. But foreign direct investment rose to some 32 percent from just 6 percent.

And the stock of international bank loans and other financial claims rose to 48 percent from 10 percent.

The recent credit and banking crisis clearly took a toll on cross-border capital moves, but flows to emerging economies in particular have already rebounded sharply and many estimates of the shock are already being revised higher. Global banking association the Institute of International Finance (IIF) this week revised up its estimate of net private capital flows to emerging markets last year by almost $100 billion to $435 billion and expects the total to jump further this year to $722 billion above 2008 levels even if still shy of 2007’s peaks of over $1 trillion.

The IIF highlighted several headwinds to these flows ahead, including capital controls in developing countries as well as banks’ higher capital requirements and reluctance to finance interest rate “carry trades” by themselves or for clients such as hedge funds. “The prospect of this tighter regulatory environment is, of course, already being factored into current lending decisions,” it said in a report on the findings.

Significantly, the rebound in capital flows over the next two years is expected to be driven by direct investments and equity investments, with portfolio flows expected to decline again this year and next. So, from that, it seems possible that a tightening of the regulatory screw on banks and curbing excessive “hot money” flows can be done without too much of a hit to overall growth, something borne out by many recent prominent studies.

In a paper entitled “Why did Financial Globalization Disappoint?”, Harvard economist Dani Rodrik and Peterson Institute fellow Arvind Subramanian concluded that the real economic benefits of financial globalization are hard to find.

“Countries that have grown most rapidly have been those that rely less on capital inflows. Financial globalization has not led to better smoothing of consumption or reduced volatility.”

Uneven sovereign and regulatory regimes mean international financial flows are condemned to suffer distortions far worse than domestic finance, they argue.

“The appropriate role of policy will be as often to stem the tide of capital flows as to encourage them.

Policymakers who view their challenges exclusively from the latter perspective will get it badly wrong.” — Reuters

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

Road to Afghan peace must involve Taleban

By Jon Hemming

T

he Afghan government and its Western allies now have their eyes set on ending the eightyear war, and recognise the only way of achieving peace is to talk to the Taleban and give them a role in the nation’s future. President Hamid Karzai told an international conference in London he will first set up a National Council for Peace, Reconciliation and Reintegration to look at ways of engaging with the Taleban. That will be soon followed by a loya jirga, a meeting of elders that traditionally resolves disputes.

Karzai will invite the Taleban to be represented at the jirga, a government spokesman said, a tacit recognition that the austere Islamist insurgents have a role in the political future of the country which has been traumatised by 30 years of successive conflicts. “You have to be willing to engage with your enemies if you expect to create a situation that ends an insurgency or so marginalises the remaining insurgents that it doesn’t pose a threat to the stability and security of the people,” said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Kabul is keen the peace process is “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” and wants to keep foreigners at bay. That will both increase the likelihood that the Taleban will send representatives to the meeting and also allows the United States and its European allies to say with hand on heart that they are not negotiating with the Taleban themselves.

“The real $64,000 question is that since the Taleban is in a strong position, why should they negotiate? Why don’t they simply wait it out and wear their opponent down?” said Paul Rogers, professor of peace studies at Britain’s Bradford University.

Contacts though, have already begun. Members of the Taleban’s leadership council secretly met the United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan in Dubai on Jan. 8, a U.N. official told

Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“They requested a meeting to talk about talks,” the official said.

Following a re-election marred by widespread charges of fraud, Karzai still needs to hold the jirga, even if the Taleban do not turn up, to get a mandate from Afghan leaders not in the insurgent camp to proceed with talking to the Taleban. Much has been written about Western troops getting bogged down in a never-ending fruitless fight with the Taleban, but it takes two to make a stalemate.

The Taleban are also not achieving their objective of driving foreign troops off Afghan soil. Far from it, the number of US and NATO troops has climbed steadily from 40,000 two years ago to more than 100,000 now and is set to rise further.

The number of Afghan government forces is also set to rise by about twothirds to around 300,000 by the end of 2011. Veteran observers detect a measure of Taleban war-weariness and see hints of a willingness to compromise amid the rhetoric of insurgent statements.

The key demand for the West is that the Taleban cut ties with Al-Qaeda; the original target of the war following the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Saudi Arabia also wants the same thing in order to agree to play the role of mediator.

While the Taleban have not made that break, their statements now repeatedly stress they pose no threat to the West, indicating they would not again let Al-Qaeda use Afghanistan as a base for attacks abroad.

For their part, the Taleban’s main demand has always been the withdrawal of foreign troops as a pre-condition to talks. US President Barack Obama’s pledge to start withdrawing troops in 2011 could help to persuade them to compromise on their demand for a full pull-out as a prelude to negotiations. If there is a diplomatic route out of the impasse, it is certain to be just like Afghanistan’s roads - tortuous and filled

with potholes.

There will also be many breakdowns along the way. At the very least, Afghanistan’s Western backers have

now come round to the idea that it is a journey worth starting.

“It’s far too early to say whether this is a turning point. Historians will

make that judgment. But we hope that it might be,” said Mark Sedwill, NATO’s new civilian representative to Afghanistan. — Reuters

Muslims helping Haiti

By Wajahat Ali

H

aiti is experiencing unimaginable suffering from its devastating earthquake, with more than 150,000 dead and one to three million individuals displaced.

Individuals, groups and governments from around the world have stepped in to do what they can. United by their religious tradition of charity, Muslims have emerged as effective partners in aid and relief work.

The international effort to aid Haiti by individuals, Islamic relief organisations and the governments of Muslim-majority countries reflects a proactive generosity and empathy espoused by the Prophet Muhammad and the teachings of the Holy Quran. Charity, in fact, is one of the five obligations for Muslims, and Muslim organisations have been working alongside other faith-based groups to fulfil this duty.

Islamic Relief, one of the most respected and successful disaster relief charities in the world, has used technology, new media and social networking sites to mobilise people.

Along with “Seekers Digest”, a popular Muslim community blog run out of Canada, Islamic Relief hosted the “Muslim Online Haiti Fundraiser” and raised over $100,000 in two hours.

The organisation also used its existing partnership with the Mormon Church to send hygiene kits and temporary shelters to Haiti, in addition to pledging a total of $2.5 million. Islamic Relief also sent an emergency response team to directly assist victims in Haiti. These Muslim aid workers have been updating a daily blog with sobering first-hand accounts of the tragedy. Assisting Islamic Relief, Muslim American artists and community activists convened to put on a concert in New York City, hosted by the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), and used the opportunity to raise donations for Haiti. In Chicago, IMAN partnered with a local synagogue and church to raise aid money.

Governments and non-governmental organisations (NGO) of countries that are more often known as recipients of aid have also reached out. Two Pakistani NGOs, AlKhidmat Foundation and Edhi Foundation, are mobilising relief efforts to help Haitians despite the country’s own political and economic volatility. Both organisations have considerable expertise in this area due to the massive 2005 earthquake that killed nearly 80,000 in northern Pakistan. The

Edhi Foundation has already pledged $500,000 to assist Haiti. Speaking on Haiti’s catastrophe, the president of AlKhidmat Foundation, Niamatullah Khan, said, “Islam exhorts us to help those who are in trouble.... Humanity comes first.”

In the Middle East, Dubai Cares, a non-profit dedicated to ensuring education for young children, is providing immediate assistance to 200,000 children in Haiti through its international partners who are already on the ground. And the governments of Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco and Turkey have each pledged $1 million in aid, in addition to sending cargo planes filled with medical supplies, food, tents and blankets.

Iran donated 30 tons of humanitarian aid, including food, tents and medicine through its Red Crescent Society. And Palestinians, through the Red Cross, have begun an effort to send donations.

Furthermore, Lebanon sent a plane with 25 tonnes of tents and three tonnes of medical supplies. And Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation, sent $2.1 million in aid.

“As a country that has been itself devastated by a similar situation, we are absolutely saddened by what’s happening in Haiti,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Vietnam. “We call on the ASEAN community, including ourselves, of course, to do what we can do to assist them.”

According to Habiba Hamid, a Fellow of the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics, this pattern of charity is not an aberration but the norm for Muslim communities. She says, “Without [Muslim countries], we would not have the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) today, which is proving critical in Haiti currently.” In 2008, when the WFP issued an urgent call for funds in light of increased food and fuel prices that raised global hunger and poverty levels, Saudi Arabia pledged $500 million, leading the WFP to recognise King Abdullah as a “Champion in the Battle Against Hunger.”

Although the journey to rebuilding Haiti is long and painstaking, Muslim relief efforts worldwide prove that sometimes our most reliable and effective partners in humanitarian endeavours are not always the ones we expect.

NOTE: Wajahat Ali is a playwright, attorney and journalist — CGNews

Sri Lanka president must heal ethnic rift

By Amal Jayasinghe

S

ri Lankans opted for stability in their first post-war presidential poll, but analysts say the results underscored simmering ethnic tensions that could once again tear the country apart. President Mahinda Rajapakse was re-elected with a resounding 57.9 percent of the vote on Tuesday despite vociferous local and foreign criticism of his human rights record, alleged nepotism and corruption.

While the island’s politically fractured Sinhalese majority united to give Rajapakse a second term, the Tamils concentrated in the war-ravaged northern and eastern provinces rejected him in favour of his opponent Sarath Fonseka. In his first statements after re-election, the president sent a conciliatory message to the minority community, as well as former allies in the West with whom relations were badly damaged last year over Colombo’s handling of the conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels.

The United Nations estimates 7,000 civilians died in the final stages of the fighting, and the United States and European Union have called for an inquiry to probe war crimes allegations.

Rajapakse staked his re-election bid on

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s supporters celebrate his re-election in the main market in Colombo on Jan 28, 2010. – AFP his military victory over the Tigers last May which ended a 37-year armed struggle for an independent Tamil homeland.

Analysts said Rajapakse would now have to address Tamil political demands and residual bitterness after

the war to prevent another ethnic insurgency. “The Tamils have shown anger over their treatment after the war. The president must read the message clearly and try to reach out,” said political commentator and retired foreign secretary Nanda Godage.

Rajapakse was roundly rejected by voters in the northern Tamil heartland, two-thirds of whom cast their ballots for Fonseka.

Victor Ivan, political analyst of the Ravaya weekly, said the president now had a fresh mandate to press ahead with reforms and address issues of governance and human rights. He also noted that the resounding “No” to Rajapakse from Tamil areas showed they could not be bought with campaign promises of mega-reconstruction projects. “They have shown that they have more fundamental political problems,” Ivan said. “Post-war, there can be new political mechanism to share power. He must make that a priority otherwise there could be trouble brewing.”

AFP interviewed dozens of Tamils on election day in the north and found overwhelming support for Fonseka, who commanded the military campaign against the Tigers last year. He was seen as being more open to the demands of ethnic minorities and was backed by the main Tamil political coalition. “The results shows the clear ethnic divide and this could lead to more tensions,” said political analyst Gnanasiri Kottigoda of the Haraya paper. Some observers had predicted that Tamils could be the kingmakers if Rajapakse and Fonseka split the

Sinhalese vote equally, but in the end the majority community opted overwhelming for the president. Analysts and diplomats believe Rajapakse now has an opportunity to repair relations with the West and improve the country’s image abroad. Sri Lanka distanced itself from the West as it came under fire for its human rights record. It has built ties with China and Iran and last year hosted Myanmar’s reclusive military leader Than Shwe.

Diplomats say Rajapakse’s antiWest rhetoric may have paid off with a nationalist electorate, but now he needs to build bridges to exploit the full economic potential of the island. “He didn’t pay much attention to relations with the West during the election. He saw them as interfering, especially during the height of the war,” a Western diplomatic source told AFP. “Now that both are over he has an opportunity to mend fences. He needs their money for post-war recovery.” Soon after his reelection, Rajapakse said Sri Lanka was ready to address any concerns of “foreign friends”. “We have a way forward,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “Most of our misunderstandings were due to the fighting. It is over now. I am on my second term and we can work together to address any outstanding issues.” — AFP

ANALYSIS

Sunday, January 31, 2010

13

Obama’s jobs focus offers no fast fix

By Emily Kaiser

E

ven with President Barack Obama’s attention firmly focused on jobs, it will be years before US unemployment is back to pre-recession levels. With 15.3 million people unemployed and thousands more so discouraged they’ve given up looking for work and are no longer counted in the unemployment rolls, elevating jobs to the top of the agenda was a political imperative, particularly with November congressional elections looming.

In his State of the Union address on Wednesday, Obama backed up his pledge to make jobs the number one focus in 2010 with proposals to free up $30 billion in small business lending and offer tax incentives for hiring. Both make sense, economists say. Neither will work fast. Small businesses are the biggest source of job creation and hold the key to reducing unemployment, so funneling money their way is a smart approach. The problem is, even though the economy has resumed growing, confidence is in short supply, leaving these companies reluctant to hire, economists say.

Washington has added to uncertainty with a drawn-out debate on healthcare reform and what is shaping up to be a 2010 fight over tax policy and how best to ease the debt burden. “Businesses don’t thrive in uncertainty,” said Kyle Hannon, vice president of public policy at the Elkhart, Indiana, Chamber of Commerce. Obama mentioned Elkhart in Wednesday’s speech and has visited it twice in his first year in office, holding it

US President Barack Obama delivers first State of the Union address before a joint session of the US Congress Jan 27, 2010 in Washington. – AP up as an example of a small Midwestern industrial city that has suffered with unemployment but was fighting its way back to growth. Elkhart was hit hard when the recession and high gasoline prices crushed demand for recreational vehicles, its major industry.

“I’ve talked to several companies around here that are really busy,” Hannon said. “Orders are picking up, but they’re not sure it’s going to last so they’re hesitant to hire people. They need confidence. Is this going to be a lasting recovery or is it going to be a troubled one?” That was a common sentiment in Reuters interviews with business owners around the country, and it

bodes ill for Obama’s economic agenda and Congress members’ campaign hopes. “I don’t know if I am looking at an upswing or am I just looking at a flat prairie and somewhere there is a precipice out there and it will all fall over the edge,” said Art Daniel, head of AR Daniel Construction in the Dallas suburb of Cedar Hill. The company employs about 45 people.

Jim Pettit, owner of A-One Signs & Graphics in Elkhart, said demand was starting to improve after a devastating year. His business fell by 50 percent in 2009, and he is down to six employees from 10. “I’m still hanging in there by my fingertips,” said Pettit, who

described himself as an optimist who firmly believes the economy will come back. Yet he does not want to risk hiring workers now only to find the recovery was a false dawn, possibly forcing him to let them go. “One or two orders isn’t going to do it,” he said. “I want to see on the horizon a reliable growth pattern and then I would consider adding to the work force.”

Economists estimate it will take at least four years of above-average economic growth to get the jobless rate back to its pre-recession level of around 5 percent. The economy must generate more than 100,000 new jobs a month to make a dent in the unemployment rate.

In 2004-2005, for instance, when unemployment drifted lower after the socalled “jobless recovery,” monthly payroll gains were often in the 200,000 to 300,000 range as it was falling.

Just getting unemployment down to 9 percent by November’s elections looks ambitious considering that economists polled by Reuters expect economic growth of 2.7 percent this year, near the average performance in the decade before the recession. For small businesses, the labor pain has been particularly acute. Companies with fewer than 50 employees have lost 2.7 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007, according to data from the ADP Employment Report.

The National Federation of Independent Business’s monthly smallbusiness survey suggests that trend won’t improve any time soon. Over the next three months, 15 percent of small businesses plan to cut jobs, and only 8

percent intend to create new ones. “The job generating machine remains in reverse,” NFIB said. Brian Bethune, an economist with IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, said Obama’s proposal to direct $30 billion to small-business lending, if properly structured, could produce a significant benefit.

By putting the money into community banks in the form of capital - the same thing Washington did with the largest banks in 2008 to shore them up - it could generate $300 billion in lending. Banks routinely lend out $10 for each $1 in capital. But Bethune said Obama has a long way to go to win back the confidence of business owners, many of whom are independent voters who helped him win the presidency in 2008 and are now discouraged by the direction of policy.

Healthcare reform ranks high on the list of worries for many business owners because they aren’t sure how much it will cost them. Taxes are close behind. Although Obama has pledged not to raise taxes on those making less than $250,000, there are questions about how that will apply to businesses.

The hundreds of billions of dollars spent on Wall Street bailouts have also left many small businesses feeling resentful, Bethune said. “Somehow he’s going to have to reverse some of the bad feelings that have been created that the administration is kind of up in the clouds and not really connected with Main Street,” Bethune said. “The president has to play catch-up and do it in time so that there is not a midterm (election) disaster.” — Reuters

Obama: Bloodied warrior for change

By Stephen Collinson

B

arack Obama came across as a defiant and slightly caustic warrior for change, but it was unclear whether his debut State of the Union address had righted his listing presidency. After a brutal political year, Obama on Wednesday set out to show that his sweeping agenda would survive his diminished approval ratings and a wall of Republican opposition. “We do not give up. We do not quit. We do not allow fear or division to break our spirit,” Obama said, trying to conjure up the spirit of reform that electrified American politics during his 2008 campaign.

But Obama offered few clues as to how he will get his stalled healthcare plan, financial regulation and global warming legislation through a viciously partisan Congress in the tumult of mid-term election year. Robert Lehrman, a former White House speech writer, said Obama was targeting voters who chose him in 2008 but defected to Republicans in the Virginia governor’s race last year and in a Massachusetts Senate poll last week.

“He was showing that he hasn’t abandoned the big plans that he came to Washington with, and I think that was what people wanted to see. “I think he looked like a leader there.”

Obama, in front of millions of television viewers, also tried a dose of contrition in a bid to win a second look from those independent swing voters.

He admitted the pace of change was slow, and that his administration had made some mistakes.

But in commanding language, he then called on lawmakers to ditch the petty games that annoy voters. “What frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day,” he said, using the time honored political tactic of standing with the people against warring factions of the US capital.

After spending a year failing to pass

health reform, Obama shuffled his political deck, prioritising jobs and pushing foreign policy to the end of the 68-minute speech, despite two wars and a year of break-neck travel abroad. Though the economy is beginning to recover, America is suffocating under 10 percent unemployment - the top concern of voters. “The biggest challenge we have is translating GDP growth into jobs,” said Jason Furman, a senior White House economic advisor.

But the question lingering when the House of Representatives emptied out, was - did Obama do himself any good? Clearly, one speech cannot change political mathematics, but it might have bought Obama time to take his narrative of defiance on the road, and could help insulate him from personal damage if Democrats slump badly in November’s polls.

“I think it will help him a small amount,” said Lehrman, a professor of communications at American University. “But I would not hold up a speech as having a lasting effect if it is not coupled with action,” he said.

Obama laid down a gauntlet to Republicans, who have opposed every step of his agenda so far, but now risk being seen as blocking reform and change. He also demanded some steel from panicky Democrats, warning them to work for change and not “run for the hills”. But Obama needs a swift political victory to back up his hardened edge. “If you have this kind of adversarial rhetoric, you need a quick win,” said Jennifer Reem, professor of communications at Nova Southeastern University, Florida.

Obama also tried to draw a line under the worst of the crisis, saying he had headed off the threat of a second Great Depression and that the time for recovery and reform was nigh.

“He appeared as someone who was taking on adversity, as a fighter,” said Reem, who noted a more brittle Obama tone in several asides to

Republicans.

“I think that his humor was a little more bitter, a little more cynical, and little more sarcastic,” Reem said. In

his quest to debunk criticism that he is a cold, and distant, Obama also offered small glimpses into his character. He informally referred to First Lady

Michelle Obama in the gallery as “honey” and quipped that banking bailouts were about as popular as a “root canal”. — AFP

Humbled Obama checks boxes

By Ron Fournier

US

President Barack Obama checked every political box needed to restart his troubled presidency Wednesday night, from humility to bipartisanship to jobs, but that may not be enough to consider his State of Union address a success. Did he strengthen his connection with the American public? Or did he sound like a politician with a stack of prescriptions for his political ills? At his best, Obama rekindled his campaign 2008 message of hope and resilience, with a dash of what he’s not known for: contrition.

“I campaigned on the promise of change - change we can believe in, the slogan went,” he said. “And right now, I know there are many Americans who aren’t sure if they still believe we can change - or at least, that I can deliver it.” A steady decline in Obama’s approval ratings along with a stunning election rebuke last week - populist Republican Scott Brown captured Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat from Massachusetts - convinced Obama it was time to change course. The president used his prime-time address to essentially concede that he had failed to communicate his empathy for hard-luck Americans. And so he said of Americans battered by the economy: “Change has not come fast enough.” Of the bank bailout program: “I hated it. You hated it. It was about as popular as a root canal.” And of the healthcare debate: “I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people.” Obama message Wednesday night: I hear you.

He opened the next critical stage of his presidency by covering many of the same bases by former President Clinton touched a few months after his presidency was rocked by the 1994 midterm elections. In his 1995 State of the Union address, standing before a Congress suddenly in Republican hands, Clinton vowed to shrink government, keep the economy growing and help the middle class. He urged an end to “partisanship, pettiness and anger.” This is how it broke down for Obama: * Small government. The nation’s debt stands at more than $12 trillion, a fiscal hole that many voters lay at Obama’s feet even thought he inherited much of it. Obama’s answer: A three-year spending freeze that would apply to

only about one-sixth of overall spending. He pledged to create a task force to recommend politically tough actions to reduce the debt. * Good government. A year ago, Obama promised to bring sweeping change to Washington but bent his own anti-lobbying rules, cut deals for votes and became one of the nation’s most polarizing presidents. Obama’s response: He renewed his plea to “overcome the numbing weight of our politics” and fix Washington. * Populism. Independent voters have swung away from Obama largely because of their frustrations over financial bailouts sponsored by the Bush and Obama administrations.

A CNN poll found that by a 2-to-1 margin voters thought Obama had paid more attention to the problems of banks than the problems of the middle class. Obama answered by underscoring his proposal to levy a fee on big banks. He unveiled plans to give community banks $30 billion in money Wall Street banks have repaid the government. * More jobs. While Obama has devoted much of his time and political capital to keep the economy afloat, the public’s attention has been drawn to the lengthy, messy drive in Congress to pass health care legislation. That has raised the question, Does he care about the issues that matter to me?

Only 39 percent of voters believe he has the right goals, according to the NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll.

That may be why he was, at times Wednesday night, as empathetic as Clinton. He spoke of economic “devastation” and the “anguish” of working-class Americans. “I know the anxieties that are out there right now,” he said. “They are not new.” The last phrase was a reference to economic woes he inherited from Republican President George W Bush. Obama pointed back at Bush - a subtle passing of the buck - at least a half-dozen times. And yet he addressed head-on the criticism that the Obama administration has not lived up to its hype and hope.

Winding up the address, Obama noted the public’s lack of faith in US institutions - including corporations, the media and the government - and said the cynicism gets worse every time a CEO cashes in, a banker takes a selfish risk, a lobbyist games the system and “politicians tear each other down instead of lifting this country up”. “No wonder,” he said, “there is so much disappointment.” — AP

Bernanke’s Senate fight may undercut Fed

By Jeannine Aversa

F

ed Chairman Ben Bernanke survived a Senate battle, bruised.

The question is whether the Federal Reserve was scarred, too. The anti-bailout anger that eroded Bernanke’s support in the Senate on Thursday produced the most “no” votes ever on the confirmation of a Fed chairman. That could have lasting impact on the Fed’s ability to manage the economy without regard to the political winds.

To shore up his support, Bernanke made the rounds with congressional leaders, meeting privately with senators including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat leader in the Senate, in the days leading to Thursday’s 70-30 confirmation vote. Bernanke was in the awkward position of having to lobby for his own job and defend the Fed against efforts to strip it of some of its regulatory authority.

Those meetings alone raise at least the perception of a Fed codependency with Congress.

What, if any, assurances did Bernanke give lawmakers about interest rates and other Fed policies?

“We don’t know what Bernanke agreed to do in those meetings, what he promised,” said Allan Meltzer, a professor at Carnegie-Mellon University and author of a history of the central bank. “The Fed’s job is to be independent, and the Fed isn’t doing that.”

The Fed often must make decisions, such as raising interest rates to keep inflation in check, that are unpopular with individuals and companies. Its role in bailing out Wall Street banks to prevent a broader crisis angered the public, too.

That’s why economists say the Fed’s political independence is essential to its mission. Its interest-rate policy can have huge consequences, affecting everything from large companies, to a homebuyer’s ability to get an affordable loan, to the price of cereal. Any influence from the political arena risks compromising the Fed’s credibility. Keeping rates too low for too long could unleash inflation

and

trigger another speculative bubble like the one in housing that plunged the country into a recession in the first place.

Senate opposition to Bernanke intensified after Republican Scott Brown’s upset victory in the Senate race in Massachusetts.

Brown’s election jolted congressional Democrats and led some to reconsider their support for Bernanke.

The Fed chairman’s critics cast him as a symbol of the Wall Street bailouts.

“This is a perfect example where the world of politics collides with the world of economics, and the result is not good,” said Kenneth Thomas, a lecturer in finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. If the Fed were to lose credibility on Wall Street and from investors around the globe, it would fan inflation pressures and send up interest rates, choking the US economic rebound. Bank indus-

try lobbyists say Congress’ increased scrutiny could lead the Fed to weigh the political consequences of its regulatory actions.

“They will be more aware of the political forces,” said Scott Talbott, chief lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable, a trade group whose members include the largest banks.

Bernanke’s confirmation comes as Congress is writing an overhaul of financial regulations aimed at avoiding another financial crisis. A House of Representatives bill would remove its power to oversee consumer protections and subject it to a congressional audit.

A Senate bill would create a single banking regulator that would strip the Fed of its supervision of bank holding companies, such as Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. Even Bernanke’s supporters worry about the longterm consequences of his nomination fight. It sends “the message that the Federal Reserve and its monetary policy decisions are under the thumb of Congress,” said Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, who voted for Bernanke.

The Fed wasn’t always inde-

pendent.

The Treasury Secretary used to serve on its board. Congress changed that in 1935. And past Fed chairman have battled with Congress and presidents. Some lawmakers called for Paul Volcker’s ouster when the country was gripped by soaring inflation and high unemployment in the late 1970’s and early ‘80s.

“Congress would always love to get its paws on monetary policy,” said economic historian John Steel Gordon.

President Lyndon Johnson was so angered by a Fed rate increase that he feared would make it too expensive to expand social programs and fight the Vietnam War that he ordered staffers to find a replacement for Fed Chairman William McChesney Martin. But Martin refused to yield and didn’t back down on the rate increase.

He became the longest-serving Fed chairman ever.

President Harry Truman also tried to influence the Fed to keep rates low. He summoned the Fed’s policy-making committee to the White House, the first and the only president to do so. — AP

focus

Obama takes some steps toward center

By Steve Holland

U

S President Barack Obama took some tentative steps toward the political center in his State of the Union speech. Wary Republicans are interested, but not yet ready to dance. The bottom line? No significant reconciliation between the battling parties is evident yet. But there may be room for compromise on some issues. Obama, forced to refocus his agenda in response to voter anger over the high jobless rate in an election year, opened a new search for common ground after spending his first year relying largely on Democrats to push his agenda forward.

With healthcare stalled after the election of a Republican senator from Massachusetts created a subtle shift in power in the Senate, Obama switched gears, giving secondary roles to priorities like healthcare and climate change. In his State of the Union address, he dangled some tempting treats to Republicans: more nuclear power plants and offshore drilling, more US exports and small business tax credits. “He moved center-right,” said presidential historian Douglas Brinkley. “Instead of bailouts and stimulus money being thrown at the economy, the reset is going to be government working for big infrastructure projects, to get Republicans and corporate support.”

Republicans did make some encouraging noises. “It was welcome news that the president was for more offshore drilling, more domestic production of oil and gas. I don’t think I’ve heard the president be more forceful when it comes to the expansion of nuclear energy in the United States,” said the Republican leader in the US House of Representatives, John Boehner.

And Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell liked the focus on jobs. “The president and I agree on the need to meet in the mid-

dle to find bipartisan agreement to grow jobs,” he said.

But Republicans who have managed a comeback from the political graveyard by resisting Obama were intrigued only to a point. They hope they can convert voter disenchantment with Obama into big gains against Democrats in November congressional elections, and have little inclination to help a man they feel blames them for most of what ails America.

“Republicans are wary,” said Norman Ornstein, a political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. “They don’t want to cooperate if they can avoid it because they’ve gone from oblivion to a solid, strong position by being completely uncooperative in the last year.”

Obama, addressing a crowd in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday, denounced what he called the “you win, I lose” mentality that he said Republicans are practicing. “I mean, that can’t be a platform. Even if you disagree with me on some specific issues, all of us should be rooting for each other - all of us should be rooting for America and solving problems,” he said.

Hammering home that point showed he is mindful that independent voters who helped elect him but have been leaving him in droves and that he needs to entice them back. Obama has a long way to go to convince the other side to the dance floor.

David Dreier, a Republican House member, said he cannot remember a more partisan State of the Union speech, criticizing Obama for “looking over to us and saying to us that, rather than listening to the polls, we should ‘do what’s right.” In the end, however, Ornstein said he thinks Republicans will move Obama’s way on a limited basis to address the “Party of No” label that Democrats try to pin on them. “A lot of them are growing nervous that the ‘Party of No’ image of obstructionism will stick,” he said. — Reuters

I hear you: Obama to angry Americans

By Steve Holland

US

President Barack Obama had a message for Americans frustrated at high unemployment and skeptical of his handling of the US economy: I hear you. Facing strong pressure to change the course of his presidency after a year devoted to a now-stalled healthcare overhaul, Obama had no choice but to make a tactical shift.

“Jobs must be our number one focus in 2010,” Obama declared in his first State of the Union speech. The president entered the chamber of the US House of Representatives in the biggest trouble since he took power a year ago.

His vision of hope and change has given way to voter anger over a stuttering, jobless recovery, bank bailouts and government spending, and polls show that Americans consider the country on the wrong track.

Looking to restore Americans’ confidence in him, Obama adopted an apologetic tone in acknowledging political setbacks and admitting he did not properly explain the complicated healthcare legislation.

But, in line with a populist approach he has taken lately, he made no apologies about pursuing an overhaul of the US health system that he said is needed now more than ever and vowed “we will not quit” trying to help the middle class. And he spread the blame around, saying an ugly partisan tone infects Washington, fed by both parties and urged on by a willing news media.

He once again pointed fingers at his predecessor Republican George W Bush for the economic mess he inherited, without mentioning him by name. That drew fire from critics who believe Obama has contributed to the problems by driving up the budget deficit with a $787 billion stimulus.

“I think it was unfortunate,” Republican Senator John McCain told Reuters in response. “He said, ‘I’m not here to look back’ then on several occasions blamed it on Bush. I was disappointed.” Just two weeks ago Obama was on the verge of a major victory on

healthcare and had planned to celebrate passage of the legislation in his speech. But Republican Scott Brown’s win of a US Senate seat in traditionally liberal Massachusetts changed all that. Democrats suddenly looked like a party under siege and vulnerable in November congressional elections. Obama did not back down from his ambitious domestic agenda, but took pains to make it secondary to jobs. “People are hurting,” he said, and he emphasized the need for a multi-billion-dollar jobs bill along with $30 billion in small business tax incentives and a three-year spending freeze on domestic spending. Will independent voters who helped elect Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey last November and Brown last week give Obama a second chance?

Economist William Galston of the Brookings Institution said they might, citing Obama’s emphasis on spending restraint and deficit reduction. “I think independents will continue to have doubts about the course of the administration but I think at least some of them will be at least be willing to give him a second chance,” he said. Obama urged members of the US Congress to take another crack at healthcare reform “as temperatures cool” and told fellow Democrats they still hold a strong majority in Congress and should “not run for the hills.”

But he offered no proposals on how to break a partisan deadlock on the issue, whether to fight on for an expansive overhaul or focus on a scaled-back plan. “There were a lot of mixed messages in that very long speech,” said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. Obama also ceded ground on climate change, another item at the top of his 2009 list.

He acknowledged it will be difficult to pass in an election year and called for energy efficiency measures. But he did not mention the item at the heart of the debate, the cap-and-trade market on emissions blamed for warming the planet and considered by Republicans a likely route to higher taxes and energy bills. — Reuters

NEWS

14

Sunday, January 31, 2010

BUDAPEST: A lion jumps over Ukraine’s Vladislav Goncharov during a rehearsal for the final show of the 8th International Circus Festival on Friday.

Selected artists of this week’s festival were to perform in the final show yesterday. – AP

Houthis accept truce Continued from Page 1 separate ceasefires lasted just a few hours before fighting erupted again.

The Zaidi rebels, also known as Houthis, have been engaged in sporadic clashes with government forces since 2004. The latest round of fighting broke out on Aug 11, when the military launched “Operation Scorched Earth,” an all-out assault against the rebels. Saudi Arabia joined the fighting on Nov 4, a day after Houthi forces killed a Saudi border guard and occupied two villages inside Saudi territory. The Zaidis, whose faith is an offshoot of Shiite Islam, are a minority

25 killed in Pak attack, US strike in mainly Sunni Yemen but the majority community in the north. President Saleh is himself a Zaidi.

The UN refugee agency warned on Friday that a humanitarian crisis in north Yemen was getting worse as the number of people displaced by the conflict has grown to about 250,000. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the fighting has moved gradually from Saada city farther northwest, while more people were fleeing the province because they could not sustain themselves. “The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is deepening and we now estimate that 250,000 civilians have been

displaced since the country’s internal conflict flared in 2004,” UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said. “This represents a more than doubling of the number displaced as of August 2009 when the latest round of fighting erupted,” he told journalists.

The tally of displaced from the area, which near the border with Saudi Arabia, has grown by about one fifth in just over two weeks. About 12,000 of them have sought shelter in the capital Sanaa, according to the UN agency. The international Red Cross warned on Monday that the worsening impact of the conflict was largely neglected. — AFP

Salvage crews hunt for jet’s black boxes Contoinued from Page 1 known as the black boxes and emit an electronic signal to facilitate recovery, were thought to be about 14 km off the coast south of the airport at a depth of 1,500 m.

But an army spokesman said the exact location of the black boxes was yet to be pinpointed. “The search still hasn’t uncovered anything,” the spokesman told AFP. “The decision is to continue searching,” he said, adding rescuers were “following the signals emitted by the black boxes.”

Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi told reporters the search was proving both “difficult and complicated”. “We did not expect

depths of more than 1,300 metres a dozen kilometres off the coast,” he said. “The operation will take time.” Aridi said on Friday that two-thirds of the area where the black boxes are thought to be located had been searched.

The Ocean Alert, another vessel operated by the same US company that owns the Odyssey Explorer and specialises in undersea recovery, has been sweeping the area where the signals were detected. After retrieval, the boxes will be sent to a decoding centre overseas, possibly in France, sources close to the investigation have told AFP. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 was bound

for Addis Ababa when it went down early on Monday morning. All 83 passengers and seven crew are presumed dead. Most of those on board were Ethiopians and Lebanese. Only 14 bodies, including those of two toddlers, and body parts have been found so far. Rescue officials have said a number of the victims may still be strapped into their seats underwater. There were conflicting reports as to whether the jet exploded while airborne or after it hit the water, and officials have said there will be no answers until the data from the black boxes is analysed. Officials want to know why the plane veered off course after takeoff, but they have ruled out sabotage. — AFP

Survival and death in desperate Haiti Continued from Page 1 “The situation is only getting worse,” said Josielle Noel, 46, who was among dozens of people pooling their labor to start rebuilding in the concrete slum of Canape Vert, an area devastated by the quake. Noel’s house partially collapsed in the Jan 12 earthquake. Two more small aftershocks shook parts of the capital Friday, although new damage is hard to spot in a landscape of buildings cracked, partially collapsed or flattened.

Tired of waiting for government help, the families lugged heavy bundles of wood and tin up steep hillsides to start rebuilding new homes on top of old ones. Few tents have been supplied to the quake’s survivors, rubble remains and signs begging for help in English - not Haitian Creole - dot nearly every street corner in Port-au-Prince. It could take weeks to get the 200,000 tents needed for Haiti’s homeless, said Marie-L aurence Jocelyn Lassegue, the culture and communications minister. Haiti now has fewer than 5,000 donated tents and coordinating the aid operation remains a problem.

“I have 44 years’ worth of memories in this house,” said Noel Marie Jose, 44, whose family was reinforcing crumbling walls with tin and wood in Canape Vert.

Houses on their side of a mountain were nearly all destroyed while dwellings on the other side remained intact. “I got married here. I met my husband here. My mother braided my hair there, where these walls used to stand,” Jose said. “Even if it’s unsafe, I can’t imagine leaving. Even if the government helps, it will come too late. This is how it is in Haiti.”

Surrounding her, concrete homes were either crushed or had toppled down a hill.

Jose and other families said they were worried both about the coming rainy season and fear they may lose their plots after demolitions because they either lack clear title or the government does not want them to rebuild on land it considers unsafe. Reconstruction, resettlement and land titles are all priorities of the government of President Rene Preval - but so far in name only.

The government has been nearly paralyzed by the quake - its own infrastructure, including the National Palace, was destroyed - and so far it has been limited to appeals for foreign aid and meetings with foreign donors that have yet to produce detailed plans for the emergencies it confronts. Its first priority is moving people from areas prone to more quakes and landslides into tent cities that have sanitation and security but have yet to be built.

Preval held dozens of meetings with potential outside contractors to discuss debris removal, sanitation and other longterm needs.

Albert Ramdin, assistant secretary of the Organization of American States, has offered help in creating a new Haitian land registry - a process that could take months if not years because countless government records were destroyed in the quake.

Haitians ardently defend their property rights. If a family has occupied land for more than 10 years, they gain ownership rights even without a deed. For some families, small homes have been passed down through generations. Few Haitians have insurance, and the loss of what few assets they have has crippled countless families.

Many have tired of living in tents improvised from tarps, sheets and bedspreads, opting to rebuild their homes rather than find new plots.

Continued from Page 1 Two missiles in yesterday’s attack hit the compound being used by the militants, killing seven of them, the intelligence officials said. The third killed two more insurgents in the bunker, they said.

Another such missile strike early this month targeted a meeting of militant commanders in an apparently unsuccessful attempt to kill Pakistani Taleban chief Hakimullah Mehsud.

The Pakistani Taleban are believed to

have played a role in the Dec 30 suicide bombing of a remote CIA base in Afghanistan’s eastern Khost province that killed seven of the agency’s employees. Analysts suspect the Haqqani network, an Al-Qaeda-linked Afghan Taleban faction based in North Waziristan, also helped carry out the CIA attack. Since the CIA was hit, the US has carried out 13 suspected drone strikes in North and South Waziristan, an unprecedented volley of attacks since the missile program began in earnest in Pakistan two years

ago. The three officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to the media.

The US does not usually comment on the strikes or their targets, but officials have said in the past that they have taken out several senior Al-Qaeda and Taleban leaders. The Pakistani government publicly condemns the strikes as violations of its sovereignty, yet it is thought to have a secret deal with Washington allowing them. — AP

Oppn urges protests on Iran anniversary Continued from Page 1 The executions drew strong condemnation from the United States, the European Union and human rights group Amnesty International.

Sahamnews said the two leaders also invited people to turn out in “massive numbers” on Feb 11 for the 31st anniversary. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians march each year to mark the revolution which toppled the pro-Western shah but next month’s event is expected to turn into another stage for anti-government protests.

Yesterday, a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards paramilitary force warned that any attempt by opposition groups to protest against the government on Feb 11 will be crushed. “We will by no means allow anything known as the ‘green movement’ to make an appearance” on the anniversary, Brigadier General Hossein Hamedani was quoted

as saying on ISNA news agency.

Protesters would be considered as “foreign agents”. “Any voice, colour and gesture which is different from that of the Islamic revolution and from Iranians’ voice should be driven out of people’s marches ... and if there a few people who want to do something, they will be severely dealt with,” he said.

Opposition supporter and ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani urged people to maintain calm on the anniversary day.

“Those who love the regime ... should try that this year’s march be held calmly ... because any conflict and violence will serve the interests of enemies,” Rafsanjani said, quoted on state television’s website. The most recent protests were held on Dec 27, the Shiite mourning day of Ashoura. The Ashoura demonstrations turned into the bloodiest showdown in months between protesters and security forces. About 1,000 people were arrested and eight killed, including a

nephew of Mousavi.

The state’s IRNA agency reported that 16 of those arrested on Ashoura were put on trial yesterday. Five of the defendants are accused of being mohareb (enemies of God) and corrupt on earth, both crimes punishable by death under the Iranian legal system, which is based on Islamic sharia law, IRNA said. The anti-Ahmadinejad protests which erupted after his re-election have shaken the pillars of Iran’s Islamic regime and divided the clergy.

Meanwhile, German news weekly Der Spiegel reports in its latest edition due to appear on Monday that two German policemen working at Berlin’s embassy in Tehran have been brought home after being targeted by Iranian intelligence. A top Iranian official said on Wednesday that two German diplomats were detained on Dec 27 for involvement in the Ashura riots, an accusation later denied by Berlin. — AFP

Egypt veil wearers see it as barrier to harassment Lassegue, the communications minister, said such rebuilding won’t be tolerated - and the government wants to develop and implement a comprehensive reconstruction plan that might feature building codes, an anomaly in this impoverished nation. “We’ve been sleeping outside but the rains will come soon,” said Merilus Lovis, 27, taking wooden planks and erecting them for walls inside the foundation of his former home, where his wife and daughter died. “I’m scared of the floods on this hillside but I don’t think that God would let such bad things happen twice.”

Paul Louis, a 45-year-old porter, has started a business buying wood from scavengers and selling it on the street.

He purchased a cracked and worn 1-by-8foot board for about $2 and was selling it Friday for $3. “People are afraid to build with concrete now,” Louis said. In another neighborhood, people dug through destroyed homes to salvage materials.

Women did the wash amid the ruins. “I have stayed, but I lost my home,” said Thomas Brutus, who lives perched precariously on a debris-strewn hillside in a shack made from the remains of destroyed homes. “So I made this little house, even though I know it’s dangerous.

We have been here for 14 days and have received no help.”

Many residents say they’re staying because they grow vegetables on their small plots. Thousands of others have swarmed to improvised tent camps, where Elisabeth Byrs, an official of the UN’s humanitarian coordination office, said there is a “major concern” about sanitation. About 200,000 people are in need of post-surgery follow-up treatment and an unknown number have untreated injuries, she said. — AP

Continued from Page 1 The hijab, the Islamic headscarf that covers the hair and neck, is worn by most Muslim women in conservative Egypt, and religious authorities say that wearing it is an obligation of the faith. But the niqab, which has been gaining in popularity, has been driving a wedge between women such as Marwa and Egypt’s highest religious authorities. In October, Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, Grand Imam of the prestigious Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning, ignited a heated debate when he said the niqab was merely a tradition not linked to religion, and that women would be banned from wearing it in schools and universities.

But on Wednesday, an Egyptian court caved in to opposition to the religious ruling

and placed a stay on the ban. Now, religious authorities who oppose the niqab and women who favour it are polarised over the issue. The niqab-wearing students at Cairo University say they are adhering to a precept and repeat what seems to have become their mantra: “Of course the niqab is an obligation.” It is an Islamic duty, “particularly in the times we live in, where sexual harassment is so common,” explained 18-year-old Aya, who studies Arabic literature and has been wearing the niqab for three months.

Sexual harassment is common in Egypt.

According to a 2008 study by the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights, 83 percent of the country’s women had experienced sexual harassment. There is growing concern by the government and Al-Azhar authorities over the niqab, which is associated in Egypt with the ultra-conservative Salafi

school of thought that is practised mostly in Saudi Arabia and parts of Yemen.

Authorities say the niqab is also linked to security, allowing anyone to hide behind the veil. In schools, they say, anyone can pose as a student and sit for an exam in the place of another.

Some university officials have even cited instances in which male students have tried to enter female dormitories by wearing the niqab as a disguise. One female student at Cairo University charged that the authorities are trying to ban the niqab to paint Egypt’s conservative society in a different light - one more acceptable to the West. “The government wants to ban the niqab to copy Americans and foreigners, to say that Egypt is a modern, developed country,” said student Fatma Nasser. — AFP

China retaliates over US-Taiwan arms deal Continued from Page 1 “The Chinese side will never make concessions and compromise on this issue (Taiwan),” Huang told Xinhua.

The last US arms package for Taiwan, announced under Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush in Oct 2008, also led China to cut off military relations with the United States temporarily. But this time the sanctions were more biting, and analysts said they reflected China’s increased clout at a time when its economy looks set to overhaul Japan’s and its military budget is surging year by year.

The foreign ministry said China was suspending regular military exchanges, along with scheduled high-level talks on strategic security, arms control and non-

proliferation. US arms firms would be specifically targeted, it said. In Washington, officials said the White House was committed to Taiwan’s defence and denied it was picking a fight.

Obama’s national security advisor, former general James Jones, said the administration was being “transparent” with Beijing, which the United States recognises as the legal government for all of China.

“But we are bent towards a new relationship with China as a rising power in the world, with influence on a variety of issues that go beyond the arms sales,” he said, calling China a “very, very high priority” for the administration. The Pentagon said it regretted Beijing’s suspension of military exchanges. “We regret that the Chinese side has curtailed military-to-military and

other exchanges,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told AFP. “We also regret Chinese action against US firms transferring defensive articles to Taiwan.”

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei made an urgent official protest to the US ambassador in Beijing, Jon Huntsman, Chinese officials told AFP. In a statement delivered to Huntsman, he urged Washington to cancel the deal, which he said constituted “crude interference in China’s internal affairs that seriously endangers China’s national security and damages China’s peaceful reunification.”

China refuses to rule out the use of force to reacquire Taiwan, and has hundreds of missiles deployed against the self-governing island of 23 million people, which split from the mainland in 1949. — AFP

SPORTS

Sunday, January 31, 2010

15

NHL results/standings NHL results and standings on Friday.

New Jersey 5, Toronto 4 (OT); Washington 4, Florida 1; Buffalo 2, Boston 1; Anaheim 2, Tampa Bay 1 (So); Detroit 4, Nashville 2. (OT = Overtime, SO = shootout).

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division GP W L OT PTS New Jersey 53 35 16 2 72 Pittsburgh 55 33 21 1 67 Philadelphia 52 26 23 3 55 N.Y. Rangers 54 24 23 7 55 N.Y. Islanders 54 23 23 8 54

GF GA 144 119 173 156 158 148 138 150 142 168

Buffalo Ottawa Montreal Boston Toronto

Northeast Division 53 32 14 7 71 55 30 21 4 64 55 25 25 5 55 52 23 21 8 54 55 17 27 11 45

149 154 141 128 146

127 155 149 133 192

Washington Atlanta Florida Tampa Bay Carolina

Southeast Division 54 36 12 6 78 53 24 21 8 56 54 23 22 9 55 53 22 20 11 55 53 18 28 7 43

211 162 147 136 141

147 170 158 159 174

Western Conference Central Division Chicago 54 37 13 4 78 Nashville 53 29 21 3 61 Detroit 54 26 19 9 61 St. Louis 54 24 22 8 56 Columbus 56 21 26 9 51

178 147 141 141 146

125 149 145 150 186

Northwest Division 53 33 18 2 68 53 30 17 6 66 54 26 20 8 60 54 27 23 4 58 52 16 30 6 38

173 155 137 151 136

129 140 141 158 178

Vancouver Colorado Calgary Minnesota Edmonton

Pacific Division San Jose 54 35 10 9 79 182 132 Phoenix 54 31 18 5 67 147 141 Los Angeles 53 31 19 3 65 160 147 Dallas 54 24 19 11 59 155 173 Anaheim 55 25 23 7 57 152 172 Note: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.

TAMPA: Lightning defenseman Mattias Ohlund (5), of Sweden, checks Anaheim Ducks left winger Matt Belesky (39) off his feet during the first period of an NHL hockey game.—AP

Capitals down Panthers, Stars see off Avalanche WASHINGTON: The Washington Capitals streaked to their ninth straight NHL win with a 4-1 defeat of the Florida Panthers on Friday.

Mike Knuble had two goals and an assist, and Niklas Backstrom had a goal and two assists for the Capitals, who led 2-1 after two periods before taking control in the third.

The winning streak is the second-longest in franchise history, one short of the 10 straight in 1983-84. Washington has won 12 times in January to tie the team record for a

month, set in December 1984.

The Capitals, who lead the NHL in goals, have outscored the opposition 44-19 during their nine-game run. Jeff Schultz also scored for Washington, while Florida’s goal came from Steven Weiss — his 20th this season.

The 39-year-old Modano has 1,351 points, moving past Mats Sundin into sole possession of 25th place on the career list.

Jamie Benn also scored for the Stars.

Colorado’s goals came from Matt Duchene and TJ Galiardi.

Stars 3, Avalanche 2

In Buffalo, New York, Ryan Miller made 30 saves to help Buffalo edge slumping Boston. Henrik Tallinder and Thomas Vanek got Buffalo’s goals. Milan Lucic scored for Boston, which lost its sixth

Sabres 2, Bruins 1 In Dallas, Mike Modano scored his 554th and 555th career goals to lead Dallas to its fifth consecutive home victory, sinking Colorado.

straight — the team’s longest winless drought since 2007-08.

for Nashville, which has lost a season-worst five straight games.

Red Wings 4, Predators 2

Devils 5, Leafs 4

In Detroit, the hosts beat Nashville to end a run of three losses and move level with the Predators for a playoff-yielding eighth place in the Western Conference.

Jimmy Howard made 46 saves, and Jason Williams, Nicklas Lidstrom, Drew Miller and Henrik Zetterberg scored for the Red Wings.

Francis Bouillon and Shea Weber scored

In Newark, New Jersey, Travis Zajac scored in overtime after assisting on three goals in regulation, giving New Jersey victory over Toronto.

Zach Parise set up the winner and finished with two goals and two assists, and Dainius Zubrus and Patrick Davis also scored for the Devils. Alexei Ponikarovsky and Matt Stajan scored in the final minutes

Casey, Dredge share Qatar Masters lead DOHA: England’s Paul Casey staked his claim for a first Qatar Masters title after stroking a fluent six-under-par 66 in the third round at the Doha Golf Club yesterday.

The World No. 9 shot seven birdies and a bogey in brilliant sunshine to vault into joint lead with Welshman Bradley Dredge on 10-under-par 206 after being five shots off the pace at the end of the second round on Friday.

European number one Lee Westwood was in second spot on nine-under-par 207, while overnight leader Brett Rumford shot a one-over-par 73 to slip down the leader board to be in joint third with Swede Robert Karlsson with 208.

Casey, one of the hottest players in Europe had been mystified by his lack of success in Qatar where he missed the halfway cut on all his three previous appearances.

“I like the course in Qatar but for some reason I’ve not done well here at all, but this time I am very determined to not just make the cut but to have a crack at the title itself,” he had told journalists before the tournament.

And sure enough he appears to be living up to his word, producing three sub-par rounds of 71, 69 and 66 that gave him a solid platform to go for the kill on Sunday.

Casey had three birdies on the front nine and four on the back during which he dropped a shot on the par-4 15th, but that was enough to give him a share of the lead along with Dredge. Dredge shot a 70 yesterday, his card ruined by a double bogey on the fifth and a bogey on the 13th Casey claimed his ninth European Tour title when he became the first player to win the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship twice by following his 2007 victory with a second win in 2009.

He followed that success with a breakthrough victory on the US PGA Tour, at the Shell Houston Open, before the biggest victory of his career at The European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club.

His string of successes propelled him to the third position in the world rankings, but a rib injury which sidelined him for three months saw him knocked off the top of the European rankings.

He made a comeback at the Volvo World Match Play Championship and was in the mix for the Dubai World Championship when a recurrence of the injury forced him pull out of the event eventually won by Westwood.

Westwood, who missed the cut in Abu Dhabi last week after being forced to play with a new set of clubs following new rulings on grooves, was in a decent position to top the leaderboard on Saturday but was denied by a double bogey on the eighth hole and a bogey on the 15th.

Defending champion Alvaro Quiros of Spain and Oliver Wilson of England were also challenging the leaders with a total of seven-under-par 209, with former winner Retief Goosen and Richard Bland a shot behind on six-under-par 210.—AFP

to pull Toronto even at 4-4, while Carl Gunnarsson got his first NHL goal, and Colton Orr also scored for the Maple Leafs.

Ducks 2, Lightning 1 In Tampa, Florida, defenseman James Wisniewski scored in regulation and added the shootout winner for Anaheim, who downed Tampa Bay. Martin St. Louis scored for Tampa Bay, while goalie Antero Niittymaki had his career-high scoreless streak end at 146 minutes, 13 seconds.—AP

Points, Imada tied at San Diego Open

QATAR: Paul Casey of England drives the ball to the 18th hole during the third round of the Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club.—AP

SAN DIEGO: Little-known American DA Points took advantage of another calm, sunny day at Torrey Pines to charge into a tie for the lead in Friday’s second round of the San Diego Open.

Despite playing on the more difficult and longer South Course, Points recorded five birdies and an eagle three at the sixth on the way to a flawless, seven-under-par 65.

The 33-year-old covered his homeward nine in five under for an 11-under total of 133 to finish level with Japan’s Ryuji Imada, who carded a 68 on the South layout. Australian Michael Sim eagled the par-five 18th on the easier North Course for a best-of-the-week 62 to lie two strokes off the pace with PGA Tour rookie Matt Every (70).

Tournament favorite and three-times champion Phil Mickelson fired a 67 on the North layout to share 10th place at seven under, two shots better than South African Ernie Els, after a 69 on the North.

Points, seeking his maiden PGA Tour title, was delighted to flourish at a venue where he has always felt at home.

“I’ve played this course a lot more than I’ve played the other one and I feel pretty comfortable out here,” he told reporters after totalling only 25 putts.

“The main thing here is obviously just making putts and driving the fairway and those are two things that I’ve done the last two rounds, especially today I made a lot of putts.

“My iron game isn’t quite as sharp as I would love it to be but certainly making putts is always a good way to make up for a little bit of a sloppy iron game.”

Imada, whose only victory on the PGA Tour came at the 2008 AT&T Classic, was also pleased to fare well on the brutal 7,698-yard South layout.

“I’m very happy,” said the 33-year-old, who has not made a bogey this week. It did play a little easier today without the wind and the warm weather but 68 on that golf course is a great round.

“My irons have been really good. I’ve hit a lot of greens and my putts from long range have been really good as far as judging the distances.”

Mickelson, playing his first tournament of the year, covered his outward nine in three under before losing a bit of momentum around the turn.

“I missed putts on one, three and four and I thought I had made all of those,” the three-times major winner said of his 10th, 12th and 13th holes. “That may have taken a little momentum out.

“Afterwards I didn’t have very many birdie putts but I was able to make all the tough par putts and kind of salvage the round.”

The cut fell at two-under 142 with 2004 champion John Daly, US Ryder Cup player Chad Campbell and Australians Jason Day and Stuart Appleby among those missing out.—Reuters

SPORTS

16

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Warner brings end to stirring 12-year NFL career TEMPE: Kurt Warner has called an end to one of the great storybook careers in NFL history. The 38-year-old quarterback announced his retirement from the game on Friday after a dozen years in a league that at first rejected him, then revered him as he came from nowhere to lead the lowly St. Louis Rams to two Super Bowls, winning the first of them.

Written off as a has-been, he rose again to lead the long-suffering Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl a year ago.

Warner, a man of deep faith who carried a Bible to each post-game news conference, walked away with a year left on a two-year, $23 million contract, knowing he still had the skills to play at the highest level. “It’s been an amazing ride,” he said.

“I don’t think I could have dreamt it would have played out like it has, but I’ve been humbled every day that I woke up the last 12 years and amazed that God would choose to use me to do what he’s given me the opportunity to do.”

Warner had one of the greatest playoff performances ever in Arizona’s 51-45 overtime victory over Green Bay on Jan. 10, but sustained a brutal hit in the 45-14 divisional round loss at New Orleans six days later.

“He has had a dominant career. He’s a good person,” Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said. “He’s got to do what’s best for his family. He played long enough. He took us to the Super Bowl last year. We had a great season this year. It’s

a good thing. If you’re going to go out, go out on top.”

The Cardinals signed Warner to a oneyear contract in 2005 largely because no other team would give him a chance to be a starter. His opportunities over the next two years were scattered and even when coach Ken Whisenhunt took over in 2007, Warner was the backup to Matt Leinart.

But when Leinart went down with an injury five games into the season, Warner got his chance. He started 48 of the remaining 49 games of his career.

Warner leaves the game with a legacy that could land him in the Hall of Fame even though he didn’t get his first start until he was 28.

In a comparison with the 14 quarter-

backs to make the Hall of Fame in the last 25 years, Warner has a better career completion percentage, yards per pass attempt and yards per game. Only Dan Marino had more career 300-yard passing games.

In 124 regular-season games, Warner completed 65.5 percent of his passes for 32,344 yards and 208 touchdowns. He and Fran Tarkenton are the only NFL quarterbacks to throw for 100 touchdowns and 14,000 yards for two teams. He has the top three passing performances in Super Bowl history.

His 1,156 yards passing in the 2008 playoffs broke the NFL record of 1,063 he set with St. Louis in 1999. Warner’s rise from obscurity seems the stuff of sports

fiction. He played three seasons in the Arena Football League and one in NFL Europe, mixed in with a stint stocking grocery shelves back in Iowa.

Warner made the Rams as a backup in 1998, then was thrust into the starting role in 1999 when Trent Green was injured.

What followed was a masterful and wholly unexpected season, when he led the Rams to a 13-3 regular-season record, then a Super Bowl triumph over Tennessee. He was named the league and Super Bowl MVP. St. Louis was upset in the first round of the playoffs the following season, but Warner had them back in the big game in 2001, where the team nicknamed “The

Greatest Show on Turf” lost a squeaker to New England. The season earned him a second NFL MVP award. But within two years he was let go by the Rams, plagued by injuries.

He signed with the New York Giants and was replaced midseason, then landed with Arizona and couldn’t secure a starting spot for two years until 2007. The next year he led the Cardinals all the way to the Super Bowl, where he threw for 377 yards in a narrow loss to Pittsburgh.

Off the field, Warner has been just as impressive. He and his wife Brenda operate the First Things First Christian charitable foundation. Last year, he was named the NFL’s Man of the Year for his off-field and onfield accomplishments.—AP

Hawks soar over Celtics, Thunder pound Nuggets ATLANTA: Joe Johnson scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to guide the Atlanta Hawks to a 100-91 win over Boston on Friday, completing their first season sweep of the Celtics in 11 years. Johnson finished with 27 points while Jamal Crawford had 28 as the Hawks recovered after Boston cut a 14-point deficit to one in the third quarter.

The Hawks completed the four-game sweep of the regularseason series to move half a game ahead of Boston for second place in the Eastern Conference. Paul Pierce led Boston with a season-high 35 points, but only two Celtics reached double figures.

American Bernard Lagat seen in this file photo wins at Millrose Games.

Lagat wins record eighth Wanamaker mile in NY NEW YORK: American Bernard Lagat ran a blistering last quarter-mile to overtake Olympic 1,500 meters champion Asbel Kiprop and win a record eighth Wanamaker Mile at the 103rd Millrose Games indoor meet on Friday.

Lagat burst past Kenya’s Kiprop on the last lap to win in 3:56.34 and break his tie with Irishman Eamonn Coghlin for most victories in Madison Square Garden’s mile race.

Kiprop clocked 3:58.03 to finish second, ahead of Britain’s Andy Baddeley in 3:58.09.

After a victory lap before a cheering Garden crowd of 11,510, Lagat found Coghlin on the side of the track and gave him a warm embrace.

“He told me: ‘If there was

somebody I would wish to break my record it would be you. You are a true gentleman,’” Lagat told Reuters. “Those words really mean a lot to me and I really respect that.”

Lagat, 35, who has won two Olympic medals and five at world championships including an unprecedented golden double in the 1,500m and 5,000m in 2007 in Osaka, said winning the race was among his greatest career achievements.

“To me, it’s like winning the Olympics today. I’ve been here since 2001,” he said about the Madison Square Garden meet.

“I was signing autographs tonight from kids not even born yet then.”

Hannah England of Britain won the women’s mile, holding

off late-charging American Sara Hall by two-hundredths of a second with a winning time of 4:31.48.

In the sprints, American Lisa Barber returned to the track after being sidelined for 11 months because of an Achilles’ injury and edged two-times Olympic gold medallist Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica in the 60m.

They both were timed in 7.24 seconds, one-hundredth of a second ahead of third-placed American Muna Lee. American Ivory Williams won the men’s 60m in 6.59 seconds and compatriot Terrence Trammell won the 60m hurdles in 7.49 seconds. World champion Christian Cantwell won the men’s shot put at 21.95m.—Reuters

Athlete’s suspension could cost US 2004 Olympic gold RALEIGH: The United States could lose another Olympic relay gold medal because of a doping suspension handed down to the 2004 women’s 4x400 metres relay alternate Crystal Cox on Friday.

Cox was suspended for four years and all her competitive results since 2001 were disqualified because she used banned anabolic agents and hormones between 2001 and 2004, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said in a statement.

Traditionally, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stripped national relay teams of medals when a team member, including alternates, has been suspended for or admitted to doping.

Cox ran in the preliminary round of the 2004 Athens Games women’s 4x400 relay where the American team of Monique Henderson, Monique Hennagan, Sanya Richards and Deedee Trotter won gold.

Russia took silver and Jamaica bronze. USA Track & Field (USATF) spokeswoman Jill Geer said the US governing body was aware of Cox’s suspension.

“Ultimately the determination of what to do with the medals will be in the hands of the IOC, and we defer to them,” Geer said in a telephone interview from New York. The US Olympic Committee (USOC) did not have immediate comment.

If the United States were to be stripped of the Athens gold because of Cox’s suspension, it would be the fourth Olympic relay medal an American team has lost because of doping since 2000.

The IOC stripped the 2000 Olympics US women’s 4x100 bronze medallists and 4x400 gold medal winners because of doping admissions by sprinter

Marion Jones.

Her team mates have appealed the decision. The IOC also took the 2000 Sydney Games gold medals of the US men’s 4x400 relay team that included Michael Johnson because of doping violations by Jerome Young and Antonio Pettigrew.

Cox’s acceptance of her fouryear sanction resulted from information recently received

by USADA during separate investigations into the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) doping scandal of the early 2000s, USADA said in its

statement.

“Ms. Cox clearly competed under the pressures of her sport that accompanied one of the worst doping chapters in history and unfortunately gave in to the temptation to use performanceenhancing drugs,” USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart said in a statement.

“However, to her credit, when confronted by USADA with evidence of her violation of sports anti-doping rules Ms. Cox promptly admitted her involvement in doping and accepted responsibility.”—Reuters

Thunder 101, Nuggets 84 In Oklahoma City, Denver’s nine-game winning streak came to a sudden end, held to its lowest score of the season by Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant scored 30 points and Jeff Green added 15 for the Thunder. Chauncey Billups scored 19 points for the Nuggets, who were without NBA scoring leader Carmelo Anthony for the third straight game due to injury.

Cavaliers 94, Pacers 73 In Indianapolis, Cleveland notched a seventh straight win by routing Indiana, and maintained its hold on the NBA’s best record. LeBron James delivered a season-high 13 assists. He also had 22 points and nine rebounds _ the third time in five games he’s missed a triple double by a single rebound. Shaquille O’Neal also had 22 points for his season high. Danny Granger led the Pacers with just 13 points, but he shot 6 for 23 from the field.

Rockets 104, T’ Blazers 100 In Houston, the hosts won their first home game in four, sneaking home against Portland. Aaron Brooks scored 33 points — his fifth 30-plus score this season — and Carl Landry added 21 for the Rockets, who’ve won 12 of the past 13 regular-season meetings with the Blazers in Houston. Rudy Fernandez scored 25 points for the Blazers.

Spurs 104, Grizzlies 97 In San Antonio, a strong effort by bench players meant San Antonio overcame the absence of injured Tony Parker to down Memphis. Tim Duncan scored 19 points for the Spurs, whose depth was a keyr. San Antonio had a 42-21 edge in points off the bench. Roger Mason scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and Manu Ginobili finished with 14 points and seven assists. OJ Mayo led Memphis with 28 points.

Lakers 99, 76ers 91 In Philadelphia, Kobe Bryant scored all but two of his 24 points in the second half as Los Angeles won its third straight, defeating Philadelphia. Pau Gasol had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers. Allen Iverson scored a season-high 23 points for the Sixers.

Bulls 108, Hornets 106 In New Orleans, Luol Deng scored 26 points, including a putback with 0.2 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and Chicago went on to beat New Orleans. Derrick Rose added 18 points for the Bulls, including two free throws that put Chicago ahead for good in overtime. The Bulls finished a season-long, seven-game road trip with their fifth consecutive victory. David West led New Orleans with 29 points.

Jazz 101, Kings 94 In Salt Lake City, Paul Millsap tied his career high with 32 points in his first start of the season and added 14 rebounds and seven assists as Utah downed Sacremnto to win its fifth straight. Andrei Kirilenko scored 18 points, pulled down seven rebounds and blocked five shots — including one in the final minute as the Kings came up short in one final rally. Kevin Martin led Sacramento with 33 points.

Heat 92, Pistons 65 In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Dwayne Wade scored 22 points to lead Miami over punchless Detroit. Udonis Haslem added 16 for Miami. Charlie Villanueva led the Pistons with only 15 points.

Bobcats 121, Warriors 110 In Oakland, California, Stephen Jackson scored 30 points in his return to Oracle Arena as Charlotte overcame Golden State. Jackson, who was acquired from the Warriors in a November trade after a falling out with Golden State management, was booed throughout the night but responded with his fifth game of 30 points or more since landing in Charlotte. Gerald Wallace had 30 points and 13 rebounds for the Bobcats. The Warriors, who have lost five of six, were led by Corey Maggette’s 25 points.

MINNEAPOLIS: Timberwolves’ Al Jefferson (right) reacts as Los Angeles Clippers’ Baron Davis tries to wrestle the ball away in the second half of an NBA basketball game.—AP

NBA results/standings NBA results and standings on Friday.

Cleveland 94, Indiana 73; LA Lakers 99, Philadelphia 91; Atlanta 100, Boston 91; Miami 92, Detroit 65; Minnesota 111, LA Clippers 97; Washington 81, New Jersey 79; Chicago 108, New Orleans 106 (OT); Oklahoma City 101, Denver 84; Houston 104, Portland 100; San Antonio 104, Memphis 97; Utah 101, Sacramento 94; Charlotte 121, Golden State 110. (OT Denotes Overtime) Western Conference Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Northwest Division W L PCT GB Denver 31 15 .674 Boston 29 15 .659 Utah 28 18 .609 3 Toronto 25 22 .532 5.5 Portland 27 21 .563 5 NY Knicks 18 27 .400 11.5 Oklahoma City 25 21 .543 6 Philadelphia 15 31 .326 15 Minnesota 10 38 .208 22 New Jersey 4 41 .089 25.5 Cleveland Chicago Milwaukee Indiana Detroit

Central Division 37 11 23 22 19 25 16 31 15 30

Atlanta Orlando Miami Charlotte Washington

Southeast Division 30 15 30 16 24 22 23 22 15 30

.771 .511 12.5 .432 16 .340 20.5 .333 20.5

LA Lakers Phoenix LA Clippers Sacramento Golden State

Pacific Division 36 27 20 16 13

.667 .652 .522 .511 .333

Dallas San Antonio Memphis Houston New Orleans

Southwest Division 30 16 27 18 25 20 25 21 25 21

0.5 6.5 7 15

11 21 26 29 32

.766 .563 9.5 .435 15.5 .356 19 .289 22

.652 .600 .556 .543 .543

2.5 4.5 5 5

T’wolves 111, Clippers 97 In Minneapolis, Minnesota led by as much as 23 points en route to an easy win over Los Angeles. Al Jefferson scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Timberwolves made hay against a similarly underperforming outfit, and notched only their tenth win of the season.

Two nights after losing to New Jersey — the worst team in the East — the Clippers lost to the team with the Western Conference’s worst record. Baron Davis scored 23 of his 28 points in the third quarter for Los Angeles.

Wizards 81, Nets 79

Crystal Cox

In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Earl Boykins hit a jump shot with less than a second to play to give Washington a tight win over New Jersey. It was the Wizards’ first win since guards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton were suspended over a guns-in-the-locker room controversy. Boykins finished with 15 points and Andray Blatche added 14 for the Wizards. Courtney Lee had 19 points for the Nets.—AP

Shumenov wins WBA title LAS VEGAS: Kazakhstan’s Beibut Shumenov set a boxing record Friday by winning the WBA light heavyweight title in just his 10th professional bout, outpointing Spain’s Gabriel Campillo in a splitdecision. Shumenov’s effort outdid Michael Spinks, who held the previous mark by winning a championship in his 17th pro fight.

The scorecards revealed a peculiar discrepancy. Judge Levi Martinez scored the fight strongly

in favor of Campillo (117-111), while both other judges went for Shumenov: Jerry Roth had it 115113 while Particia Morse Jarman scored the fight 117-111.

Shumenov started strongly, controlling the action in the early rounds before Campillo rallied in the middle rounds. “I’m not surprised by the decision,” Shumenov said. “I had the better trainer and he told me what to do to win.”

“This win is for my friends and

family back in Kazakhstan.”

Friday’s bout was a rematch of their title fight last August when Capillo won a contentious mixed decision, and this time around it was the Spaniard who was angered by the scoring.

“I got robbed,” Campillo said.

“I want an investigation of the judges.” Shumenov upped his record to 9-1 with six knockouts.

Campillo, from Spain, fell to 19-3 with five KOs.—AP

Sunday, January 31, 2010

SPORTS

17

Serena defeats Justine to win Australian Open KUWAIT: Abu Qassem, Al-Farisi, Jamal and Mahmoud with the winners.

KSSC ‘Free Throws’ tourney concludes KUWAIT: The ‘Free-throws’ basketball tournament, held by the sports committee of the Kuwait Sea Sports Club (KSSC), recently concluded according to a press release.

Alissar Ghassan came in first place, followed by Rawan Mohammed in females’ competition, while Talal Al-Qabandi won the first place in the male’s competitions, followed by Wisam Shassan. The tournament was held at

the KSSC courts under the patronage of the committee’s head of sports activities, Nassir Jamal, and athletic supervisor of the women’s team, Haif Mahmoud.

At the conclusion ceremony, head of the public relations department of the club, Mahmoud Abu Qasem, in addition to assistant secretary, Mohammad Al-Farisi, awarded the winners with their trophies.

SWITZERLAND: Maria Riesch from Germany speeds down the course during the women’s alpine ski World Cup downhill race in St. Moritz.—AP

Riesch ends Vonn’s unbeaten run ST MORITZ: Maria Riesch put an end to Lindsey Vonn’s unbeaten run in downhills this season with victory in St Moritz yesterday, two weeks ahead of the Winter Olympics.

The German slalom world champion, Vonn’s closest friend and main rival on the World Cup circuit, had not won a downhill for more than three years but her third victory in the discipline, in one minute 41.31 seconds, came at just the right time, with the Vancouver Games on the horizon.

Vonn’s clean sweep of the first five downhills of the winter had given the American the edge in the World Cup standings but Riesch kept alive her chances thanks to her unexpected feat on a terrain which appeared to suit Vonn better.

Riesch, whose last victory in the discipline dated back to December 2006 in Lake Louise, won ahead of France’s Ingrid Jacquemod and Switzerland’s Fabienne Suter. Jacquemod was 0.79 behind for her third podium of the season while Suter finished 0.96 adrift.

Vonn lost her pace halfway down the Corviglia slope and had to be content with fifth place behind Sweden’s Anja Paerson, winner of a super-com-

bined on Friday.

Riesch had failed to finish the super-combined and said that disappointment had fired her up for yesterday. “There were tears of rage and they helped me fight back today,” she told reporters.

In the overall World Cup standings, Vonn leads Riesch by 61 points on 1,211, while Paerson lies third, on 886 points.

“I was in great form in downhills but the victories were missing because Lindsey was always there on top,” Riesch added. “It’s a great a joy and a form of relief so close to the Olympics”.

Vonn, who will be chasing her first medal at her third Olympics, said: “I take it as a timely warning that you should never rest on your laurels.

“It was bound to happen someday. Yet I’m disappointed because I made exactly the same mistake as I did two years ago,” added Vonn, who has never won a race in St Moritz.

Vonn, Riesch and Paerson will battle it out again in a super-G on Sunday before turning their minds to the Olympics, which start on Feb. 12.—Reuters

Hirscher boosts Olympic hopes SLOVENIA: Austrian Marcel Hirscher boosted his Olympic hopes when he won the last World Cup giant slalom before the Vancouver Games yesterday.

Hirscher, the slalom and giant slalom junior world champion in 2008, won in a combined time of two minutes and 21.30 seconds, for his second World Cup victory after taking the giant slalom in Val d’Isere in December.

Fifth after the first leg, Hirscher executed a near-perfect run in the afternoon to beat Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud and American Ted Ligety, who won Friday’s giant slalom.

“Kranjska Gora is a good place for me, I love the slope and the facilities,” said Hirscher, who earned his first World Cup podium in the Slovenian resort in 2008 and finished second on Friday. “The second run was probably the best I ever made and this was probably my best weekend ever.

“This was even more emotional than my first win in Val d’Isere and I owe it entirely to my team, who gave me the right instructions to ski this well,” added the 20-year-old.

Ligety, who finished 0.58 adrift of the Austrian, leads the World Cup giant slalom standings by 43 points from Italy’s Massimiliano Blardone with one race left. The last men’s race before the Vancouver Olympics is today’s slalom on the same mountain.

“This gives me extra motivation for tomorrow,” said Hirscher, who faces strong opposition from team mate Reinfried Herbst and Frenchman Julien Lizeroux. Austrian team leader Benjamin Raich finished sixth to retain top spot in the Word Cup overall standings. “My programe in January was probably a little bit too heavy but I can’t afford to let a point slip away if I want to win the World Cup,” he said. Raich, on 967 points, leads Swiss Carlo Janka by 70.—Reuters

Fans demand Pakistan chief’s sacking after poor showings KARACHI: Furious Pakistani cricket fans Friday staged a protest and burnt bats and stumps after the team’s defeats in the Test and one-day series in Australia, demanding the removal of the cricket chief.

Around 250 young cricketers from various academies in Karachi chanted slogans against the team and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) during the hour-long protest under the banner of the “Save Pakistan cricket campaign.”

The protesters chanted “Go, Butt, Go!”, “President Zardari, save Pakistan cricket”, and “Goodbye Pakistan cricket” as they burnt dozens of cricket bats, stumps and an effigy of PCB chairman Ijaz Butt.

Pakistan’s national team were blanked 3-0 in

the Test series and trail a five-match one-day series 4-0 on their dismal tour of Australia.

Amir Akram, chairman of the recently-formed campaign, said President Asif Ali Zardari must remove Butt, blaming him for destroying the game. “Cricket is our love and the recent defeats have disheartened millions of fans across the country, so we demand President Asif Zardari to remove Butt, who is too old to run the board,” Akram said of the 71-year-old PCB chairman.

Zardari is the patron of the PCB and appointed Butt in October 2008.

Butt has also come under pressure from the National Assembly’s standing committee on sports, which has been demanding his removal since last year.—AFP

MELBOURNE: Serena Williams defeated Belgium’s Justine Henin 6-4 3-6 6-2 yesterday to win the Australian Open for the fifth time after a match of unrelenting tension between the two best players of their generation.

The American weathered the storm after Henin sent the match into a deciding third set to wrap up victory after two hours and seven minutes and retain the title she won last year.

Both players were suffering from nerves at the start then battling exhaustion at the end but still managed to provide the packed Melbourne Park centre court crowd with some exquisite shotmaking and intense drama in their first grand slam final meeting.

“It was a great final and it could have gone any way,” Williams said after receiving the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup from Margaret Court, who won a record 24 grand slam singles titles.

Williams, wearing a citruscolored outfit, thumped down 12 aces and 32 winners while Henin provided a reminder of the form that earned her seven grand slam titles, including the 2004 Australian Open, with 28 winners of her own.

Despite the loss, it was still a triumph of sorts for Henin, who only returned to the professional circuit this month after quitting the game in May 2008.

The 27-year-old needed an invitation to get into the tournament because she does not have an official ranking yet but rode a wave of emotion and support to become only the second wildcard to make a grand slam final.

Henin’s compatriot Kim Clijsters won last year’s U.S. Open after making her own fairytale comeback, beating Williams in the semi-finals.

“It’s been a very emotional couple of weeks for me,” Henin said. “I’d like to congratulate Serena, she’s a real champion.”

“I thought it would never happen again and finally I could really come back on the court and enjoy the tournament.”

Wearing an aqua-blue shirt and traditional white skirt, Henin looked in danger of being overpowered by the world number one when Williams won the opening set in 51 minutes.

However, the Belgian reeled off four games in a row to snatch the second set as the American started showing signs of fatigue.

Williams had also played in the women’s doubles, which she won with her sister Venus, and was wearing bandages on both legs but just when it seemed she was fading, she regained her composure as Henin started to wilt.

Williams won the last four games on the trot then sealed her win with a backhand deep into the court that Henin was unable to retrieve.

“I thought I just gotta man up, this is my chance, no matter what I’ve got one more set and I just gotta get through it and I did,” Williams told the Seven Network.

“I thought I was just giving it to her at that point... I literally said to myself I need to man up and keep playing better.”

The win gave Williams her 12th grand slam singles title and she joined American Billie Jean King, who was watching from the Rod Laver Arena stands, in equal sixth place on the list of female grand slam singles champions.

She also became the first woman to win five Australian Open titles since the game turned professional in 1968 and the first to successfully defend her title since Jennifer Capriati won in 2001 and 2002.

Williams almost missed the championship after landing in hot water following her foulmouthed attack on a lineswoman during her loss to Clijsters at last year’s U.S. Open.

She escaped a suspension after the Grand Slam Committee opted to fine her but remains on a two-year probation.—Reuters

MELBOURNE: Serena Williams of the United States holds the trophy after beating Justine Henin of Belgium, to win the Women’s singles final match at the Australian Open.—AP

Bryan brothers clinch doubles title MELBOURNE: Mike and Bob Bryan defended their Australian Open doubles title yesterday with a 6-3 6-7 6-3 win over Canada’s Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia.

The win gave the top-seeded American brothers their eighth grand slam title and fourth at Melbourne Park, where they also won in 2006 and 2007.

The Bryan brothers, who defeated India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas for the title last year, also ended a five-match losing streak against Wimbledon doubles champions Nestor and Zimonjic.

The Bryan brothers are now the second highest grand slamwinning pair in the open era, behind Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, who won 12.—Reuters

MELBOURNE: Bob Bryan (left) and Mike Bryan (second left) both of the US, hold the winner’s trophy along with runners-up Daniel Nestor (second right) of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia after the final of the Men’s doubles match.—AP

LoYAC starts AC Milan football academy

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Starting from February 2010 youths between the ages of 6-16 may join the Louthan Youth Achievement Center (LoYAC) Soccer Academy in Kuwait.

Two Italian soccer coaches will be training the youngsters, who will then meet in Italy for a tournament. These youths will have a good opportunity to show off their football skills and become professionals.

LoyAC held a press conference to announce the opening of their soccer academy in Kuwait. The conference was attended by Enrico Granara the Italian Ambassador to Kuwait, Michele Ferraris the Product Manager of Milan Junior, Faria Al Saqqaf, the Vice

Chairperson and Managing Director of LoYAC, and Faisal Al-Haroun the new Managing Director of the Soccer Academy.

The Academy was scheduled to be launched in late 2008 or early 2009 but was postponed because of the recent economic crisis. “We already received applications to join the Academy and all soccer lovers are welcome to register,” said Faria Al-Saqqaf.

“Each course is three months long. The next course will start this February and end in May. Participants can join for one month, but if they sign up for the whole three month course they will get a discounted price. The Academy will start playing in the Hassan Abul fields and will resume again in October this year.”

Al-Saqqaf highlighted the longstanding

KUWAIT: Michele Ferraris, Enrico Granara, Faria Al-Saqqaf, and Faisal Al-Haroun during the conference.

KUWAIT: A group photo of LoYAC officials, with the coaches of the academy. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

relation between LoYAC and AC Milan when, in 2006, LoYAC started sending young Kuwaitis for soccer training in camps run by the soccer club in Cortina, Italy.

“This relation was always supported by Ambassador Granara, who was keen on developing a partnership between Kuwaiti and Italian entities. This partnership was further enhanced in Spring 2008 when LoYAC hosted a Junior camp in Kuwait with AC Milan,” she added.

The football academy is in line with LoYAC’s major objectives. “Our goal is to enhance the physical well being of youth and encourage them to participate in sports. We keep in mind the value of sports and its positive impact on building self confidence and encouraging team building. LoYAC has many other sports activities and even its own soccer team,” Al-Saqqaf pointed out.

Stressing on the need to positively encourage youth, Al Saqqaf said that such a relationship with a highly reputable and international club like AC Milan will certainly help develop the sport in Kuwait. It will also help find professional Kuwaiti players at an early age. “We need to enhance the sensitivity and responsiveness of youth to humanitarian issues, especially to the current crisis in Haiti. We announced that a percentage of the Academy fees will be donated to LoYAC’s ‘Help Haiti’ campaign,” she explained.

LoYAC’s football academy will offer training at the highest level. “LoYAC has invested in attracting highly qualified and experienced Italian coaches like Alessandro Pasquali, Claudio Balesini and the Kuwaiti champion Jassim Al-Huwaidi. We have also appointed supervisors of the highest standards,” expressed Al-Saqqaf.

Italian Ambassador Enrico Granara expressed his appreciation for choosing Italy for this joint cooperation. “I believe in connecting young people through sports. Sports are a powerful way to communicate and build character. We are following the progress of the relationship with AC Milan,” he noted.

The Milan Junior Football Academy has branches in countries around the world. “We have branches in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe (Spain and Switzerland), in Cairo, Damascus and now we are launching one here in Kuwait and Jordan,” stated Michele Ferraris.

“Later this year we will launch another one in Australia. This is a huge program and the children are at the heart of our program. They will be the next fans and maybe even the next players. The children from all of these academies will gather for a five week tournament in Italy over the summer,” he said.

SPORTS

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Togo suspended for next two African Nations Cup LUANDA: Togo, who pulled out of the African Nations Cup after a terrorist attack on their team bus, have been banned for the next two competitions in 2012 and 2014, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said yesterday.

CAF president Issa Hayatou told AFP the decision was based on “governmental interference”, which led to Togo’s pull out of this year’s edition.

The sanction was immediately attacked by Togo midfielder Thomas Dossevi, who urged the Togo Football Federation to lodge an appeal.

In another development the families of the two people killed in the

attack are reportedly taking legal action against CAF and the Angolan state.

Togo quit the 2010 Nations Cup after two members of their delegation were shot and killed during the ambush on the team convoy as it arrived in the restive Angolan enclave of Cabinda.

The armed wing of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), embroiled in a decades-long separatist struggle, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Togo, captained by Manchester City star Emmanuel Adebayor, initially wanted to compete in Group B with Ivory Coast, Ghana and

Burkina Faso, but quit on their national government’s orders.

They left Cabinda to return home on the evening of the start of the competition on January 10.

Togo midfielder Dossevi said Togo should appeal against the ban.

“We are a group of footballers who came under fire and now we can’t play football any more. They are crushing us,” Dossevi said in quotes on the BBC’s website.

“Togo should appeal the suspension. When we said we were going home for a three-day mourning they said they were with us in this ordeal and now they punish us.”

Families of the assistant coach and the press officer who were

killed are suing CAF and the Angolan government, their lawyer said.

“We are taking legal action because our compatriots were killed because of the mistakes of the Confederation of African Football (and) its president Mr Issa Hayatou,” lawyer Alexis Aquereburu told the BBC. “(The legal claim is) also against the Angolan state for putting in danger the life of our compatriots by organising this African Nations Cup in a war zone.” Hayatou explained why CAf had issued the ban.

“I told the players that we understood their position,” the CAF boss told AFP. “We asked

them to remain, but that if they decided to leave we would take action. And the players told us they would remain. Up to that point we were in agreement. “But when there was political interference we couldn’t accept that.”

He said the Togo case was identical to one involving Nigeria who were withdrawn from the 1996 edition on their national government’s orders.

“That was political interference and we banned the Nigeria team for the next two editions under article 78 of our rules.”

Hayatou continued: “There are no exceptional circumstances where political interference to withdraw a

team is concerned.

“If the Togo players had decided to quit due to their emotion and suffering then we would have been understanding.”

CAF’s decision to punish Togo appears to be at odds with their position on the matter four days after the attack when Togo coach Hubert Velud revealed: “Hayatou came to us to offer his condolences.

“He confirmed to us, but I’m wary about it all the same, that Togo would not be suspended for the following Africa Cup of Nations.”

The attack occurred as the Togo convoy drove into Cabinda from Congo-Brazzaville on the Friday, leaving players cowering under

their seats during a 20-minute gunbattle with security forces.

Communications chief Stanislas Ocloo and assistant coach Abalo Amnalete were killed and goalkeeper, Kodjovi Obilale, was among the injured.

Obilale was airlifted to a hospital in Johannesburg where he is receiving treatment after gun shots to the back and abdomen. “They fired on us like dogs,” reported Togo squad member Thomas Dossevi at the time.

Despite fears of more attacks the competition, which reaches its climax with today’s final between champions Egypt and Ghana, has passed off peacefully. —AFP

ANGOLA: Nigeria’s players pose for photographers after winning their third place of the African Nations Cup soccer match at the Ombaka National Stadium in Benguela. Niigeria beat Algeria 1- 0. —AP

Super Eagles finish third in African Nations Cup BENGUELA: Nigeria pipped Algeria 10 to claim third place at the African Nations Cup here yesterday. Obinna Nsofor scored the match winner in the 55th minute when he sprinted through a crowded Algerian defence before slotting past a diving goalkeeper Lamine Zemmamouche.

This was the Super Eagles’ seventh third-place finish at the Nations Cup as they also finished third best in 1976, 78, ‘92, 2002, 2004 and 2006.

Nigeria made several changes from the team that lost 1-0 to Ghana in the semi-finals with Portsmouth forward Nwankwo Kanu, Nsofor and Seyi

Olofinjana among the players who started their first game of the tournament.

Algeria were missing three players suspended from their semi-final loss to Egypt. Nigeria would have gone ahead after 10 minutes but Nsofor’s shot from inside the box was deflected by

Algerian defender Slimane Raho for a corner.

Kanu also fired at the Algerian goal after 31 minutes but goalkeeper Zemmamouche held it first-time.

Algeria’s best chance at goal in the first half came two minutes from the interval, when Lazio midfielder Mourad

Meghni hooked his shot over the bar from almost the top of the 18-yard box.

Just before the break, Nigeria again came close to going in front but Kalu Uche’s pass inside the area after a clever ball from Kanu rolled away from goal after Nsofor lost his footing at the crucial moment.

In the 50th minute, Algeria goalkeeper Zemmamouche failed to hold on to a powerful Taye Taiwo freekick from distance, the lively Nsofor got to the rebound only for his effort from eight yards out to crash against the crossbar.

Hassan Yebda was on target in the

Champions Egypt, youthful Ghana clash in Cup climax LUANDA: Defending champions Egypt have steamrolled their way into today’s Africa Cup of Nations final where they must now overcome a youthful Ghana side to claim a third consecutive continental crown.

Beset by injuries Ghana have excelled themselves, the eight youngsters from the Under-20 World Cup winning side belying their inexperience to manfully step into the shoes of the likes of injury-hit stars Michael Essien, Stephen Appiah, John Pantsil and John Mensah.

Ghana started out with an opening loss to Ivory Coast, but then rattled off wins against Burkina Faso, Angola and Nigeria to make it to their first final in 18 years.

Egypt for their part have looked invincible, brushing aside Nigeria, Mozambique, Benin, Cameroon and old foes Algeria to set themselves up for a third straight title and seventh in all.

The smart money must be with Hassan Shehata’s Pharaohs pulling off an amazing treble to offer them handsome compensation for missing out on the World Cup. But Ghana won’t prove easy pickings, as they have shown scant regard for reputation here in Angola, witness the way they dug deep and defended after Asamoah Gyan’s decisive first half goal in the semi-final against Nigeria.

For Gyan, 2010 has proved a far more enjoyable experience than the 2008 edition on home turf.

In Ghana the in-form Rennes striker was psychologically and mentally knocked for six by the attacks directed by fans and media who slated him for his lack of form.

“I felt bad two years ago in Ghana,” he said. “But I’m a strong man - mentally strong — and as a strong man I have to keep on going. “I believe in my qualities - I’m scoring for my club - I’m also scoring for my country - I know they are happy back home.

“I’m not angry, I’m confident because I’m scoring goals - that’s what everyone is expecting of me.”

Egypt have scored 14 goals to two conceded in their path to today’s climax, but Ghana coach Milovan Rajevic was unperturbed by the free-scoring opposition lying in wait.

“People are saying we need to score at least two goals against Egypt to win, but I say we only need to score half a goal more than them to win the title.

“Egypt are a very polished team. They have been playing together for a long time and their coach has also been there a long time.

“We played a friendly against them in Cairo last year and so we know them well, but we’ll prepare our team to achieve a result.”

The Serb added: “In the quarter-finals Angola, playing at home and with all their experience, were favourites. Nigeria were favourites, now Egypt are favourites. They’ve won the last two titles, but we’re not thinking about that.

“What’s more important, playing beautiful football or the result?”

Ghana are hopeful inspirational skipper and goalkeeper Richard Kingson will have recovered from a groin problem to face Egypt - the Wigan stopper was receiving treatment in a Luanda hospital on Friday.

Egypt turn up at the 11 November stadium their confidence sky high after Thursday’s 40 semi-final wipe out of eight-man Algeria.

Star player Mohamed Zidan, said: “We were one million times better than Algeria.

We haven’t won five games here in this competition to lose the final.”

Captain Ahmed Hassan, in his 171st international, warned Ghana to expect more of the same silky smooth football from the kings of Africa.

“Against Ghana we will continue to play as we have started. We don’t care how they play, we are here to defend our title, and we’ll do everything to succeed. “Our 4-0 win over Algeria has proved we are the best team in Africa, without argument.” —AFP

Preview

72nd minute but Victor Enyeama in the Nigerian goal gathered the low shot as the Algerians now played with more urgency following Nsofor’s opener.

Nigeria then held on to their slender advantage to take some consolation out of Angola 2010 ahead of the World Cup. —AFP

Robben puts Bayern back on top of table

MUNICH: Bayern Munich’s Argentinian midfielder Martin Demichelis (center) vies for the ball with Mainz’s striker during the Bundesliga football match. —AFP

German League results/standings Borussia M’gladbach 4 (Reus 4, Colautti 13, Bodadilla 18, 35) Werder Bremen 3 (Oezil 26, Pizarro 40, Frings 85-pen); Eintracht Frankfurt 1 (Chris 76) Cologne 2 (Maniche 59, Russ 84-og); Hertha Berlin 0 VfL Bochum 0; Bayern Munich 3 (van Buyten 58, Gomez 75, Robben 86) Mainz 05 0; Hanover 96 1 (Stajner 65) Nuremberg 3 (Banjaku 30, 64, 69);

Schalke 04 v Hoffenheim - late kick-off.

German lLeague table

Mainz 05 Hoffenheim VfL Wolfsburg Borussia M’gladbach Cologne VfB Stuttgart VfL Bochum Freiburg Hanover 96 Nuremberg Hertha Berlin

BERLIN: German league table after yesterday afternoon’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Bayern Munich 20 12 6 2 42 17 42 Bayer Leverkusen 19 11 8 0 42 15 41 Schalke 04 19 11 5 3 29 15 38 Borussia Dortmund 19 10 6 3 27 19 36 Hamburg 20 9 8 3 37 21 35 Werder Bremen 20 7 7 6 37 24 28 Eintracht Frankfurt 20 7 7 6 25 27 28

Playing today VfB Stuttgart v Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen v Freiburg Friday Hamburg 1 (Trochowski 90+2) VfL Wolfsburg 1 (Dzeko 34) 20 19 20 20 20 19 20 19 20 20 20

7 7 6 7 6 5 5 5 4 4 2

6 4 7 4 6 7 6 3 5 4 5

7 8 7 9 8 7 9 11 11 12 13

24 27 36 29 17 20 22 19 22 16 16

29 22 39 34 21 24 36 36 34 35 39

27 25 25 25 24 22 21 18 17 16 11

BERLIN: Dutch winger Arjen Robben scored his second goal in two matches to seal Bayern Munich’s 30 win over Bochum yesterday to put his side top of the Bundesliga and give them their seventh straight league win.

Having scored the winner in the 3-2 win at Bremen the week before, Robben curled in another free-kick to give Louis van Gaal-coached Bayern three more Bundesliga points.

With Leverkusen facing strugglers Freiburg today, Bayern can expect to lose their place at the top of the table, but for now they enjoy a single-point lead.

Bayern’s Mario Gomez and Daniel Van Buyten had fired the German giants into the lead before Robben stepped up with the third goal.

The home side took the lead amidst heavy snow when Van Buyten headed home after a cross from Robben on 58 minutes.

French winger Franck Ribery, who continues to work his way back to fitness after a knee injury, came off the bench with 30 minutes remaining.

Ribery and Robben combined to free Germany defender Philipp Lahm down the right flank who fired in a cross which Gomez slotted home on 75 minutes before Robben

struck with four minutes remaining.

Elsewhere, Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf is in a precarious position as his side have now gone seven German league games without a win after they went down 4-3 at midtable Borussia Moenchengladbach.

The home side raced into a 3-0 lead after just 18 minutes before Mesut Oezil and Claudio Pizarro pulled goals back for Bremen and captain Torsten Frings converted a penalty with six minutes left to guarantee a frantic finish.

Second from bottom Nuremberg picked up only their second win in their last 10 games when they won 3-1 at Hanover and the result leaves bottom side Hertha Berlin five points adrift after they drew 0-0 with Bochum in the capital.

Cologne are up to 12th after their second consecutive win having beaten Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1.

With defending champions Wolfsburg drawing 1-1 at Hamburg on Friday, fourth-placed Dortmund face Stuttgart today.

Under former Tottenham Hotspur boss Christian Gross, who took over from Markus Babbel in December, Stuttgart have moved up to 13th in the table. —AFP

SPORTS

Sunday, January 31, 2010

English Premier League results Birmingham 1 (Ridgewell 90) Tottenham 1 (Defoe 69); Fulham 0 Aston Villa 2 (Agbonlahor 40, 44); Hull 2 (Vennegoor of Hesselink 11, Hunt 52-pen) Wolves 2 (Gardner 49-og, Jarvis 67); Liverpool 2 (Kuyt 37, K.Davies 70-og) Bolton 0; West Ham 0 Blackburn 0; Wigan 0 Everton 1 (Cahill 84).

Terry’s England captaincy questioned after ‘affair’

Morecambe 0 Chesterfield 1; Northampton 1 Burton 1; Notts County 2 Barnet 0; Port Vale 2 Hereford 0; Shrewsbury 0 Accrington 1; Torquay 1 Bradford 2.

Burnley 1 (Fletcher 50) Chelsea 2 (Anelka 27, Terry 82).

Postponed (frozen pitches) Cheltenham v Darlington; Lincoln City v Dagenham and Redbridge; Rotherham v Macclesfield.

Playing today Arsenal v Man Utd Man City v Portsmouth

Scottish Premier League results

Playing tomorrow Sunderland v Stoke English Football League results Championship Cardiff 2 Doncaster 1; Coventry 1 Blackpool 1; Crystal Palace 2 Peterborough 0; Derby 1 Nottingham Forest 0; Middlesbrough 0 Bristol City 0; Preston 2 Ipswich 0; QPR 0 Scunthorpe 1; Reading 1 Barnsley 0; Sheffield Wednesday 2 Plymouth 1; West Brom 3 Sheffield Utd 1.

Playing later Leicester v Newcastle Postponed (frozen pitch) Watford v Swansea League One Brighton 0 Millwall 1; Bristol Rovers 2 Wycombe 3; Carlisle 2 Leyton Orient 2; Charlton 1 Tranmere 1; Gillingham 0 Walsall 0; Leeds 2 Colchester 0; Milton Keynes Dons 1 Exeter 1; Norwich 2 Hartlepool 1; Southampton 2 Stockport 0; Southend 2 Swindon 2; Yeovil 0 Huddersfield 1.

Postponed (frozen pitch) Oldham v Brentford League Two Aldershot 1 Grimsby 1; Crewe 1 Bournemouth 2;

Aberdeen 0 Motherwell 3 (Sutton 29, 53, Jutkiewicz 50); Hamilton 0 Celtic 1 (Rasmussen 67); Hibernian 2 (Miller 33, Ross 90-og) St Mirren 1 (Bamba 9-og); Kilmarnock 4 (Ford 20, Kyle 41, Pascali 55, Bryson 64) Dundee Utd 4 (Buaben 16, Conway 28, 33, Daly 66-pen); Rangers 3 (Davis 18, Fleck 57, Whittaker 62) Falkirk 0; St Johnstone 1 (Deuchar 51) Hearts 0.

Scottish Football League results First Division Dundee 0 Ross County 1; Inverness CT 2 Partick 1 Postponed (frozen pitches) Ayr v Raith; Dunfermline v Queen of South; Morton v Airdrie Utd.

LONDON: John Terry’s future as England captain was called into question yesterday when British newspapers responded to reports about his infidelity by demanding he be stripped of the role.

But despite the controversy surrounding his alleged extra-marital affair with the ex-girlfriend of a former Chelsea team-mate, the Premier League leaders insisted they had no qualms about selecting him to play against Burnley yesterday.

“John has got his football head on,” Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins told ESPN shortly before kick-off at Turf Moor.

“He is a fantastic professional as far as the footballing side of his life is concerned,” former England midfielder Wilkins added. “He has done so wonderfully well for us and he will play today

with no problem whatsoever.”

Earlier, Terry briefly signed autographs as Chelsea left their team hotel but refused to comment about the allegations. Terry, 29, who was voted Britain’s Dad of the Year last year in a sponsored survey, has two children with his wife Toni.

The central defender was named on Friday as the sportsman behind a gagging injunction involving his private life. A judge at London’s High Court subsequently lifted the order and Saturday’s papers alleged Terry had an affair with the ex-girlfriend of former Chelsea teammate Wayne Bridge, Vanessa Perroncel.

Bridge, in a statement issued through his lawyer, said yesterday: “I have read the press reporting in the last two days.

The reports deal with matters which are of a deeply personal and private nature.

“My primary concern is the welfare of my son. Therefore, I intend to make no comment whatsoever either now or in the future about these reports and ask that my privacy is respected,” added Bridge, who now plays for Manchester City.

The Daily Telegraph’s chief football writer Henry Winter, a prominent member of the England press pack, led the calls for Terry to hand in the captain’s armband.

“I like Terry, the one natural leader in the England dressing room, a player so passionately committed to the cause of St George that he willingly endures jabs just to get his stiff back through games, but this really is an embarrassment too far.

It’s time for him to stand down,” Winter wrote.

Bridge played with Terry for six years

during his time at Chelsea before leaving to join Manchester City in January 2009.

The left-back is widely expected to be called into Fabio Capello’s squad for this year’s World Cup in South Africa as cover for Terry’s Chelsea team-mate Ashley Cole.

Terry was named England captain by former England coach Steve McClaren in August 2006 and Capello confirmed he would continue in the role shortly after the Italian took charge in August 2008.

Vice-captain Rio Ferdinand and his Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney have been touted as the favourites to replace Terry as skipper if Capello, a renowned disciplinarian, decides to strip him of the captaincy.

England begin their World Cup campaign against the United States in Rustenburg on June 12.—AFP

Terry slams Chelsea winner Chelsea 2

Second Division Alloa 1 Arbroath 0; Brechin City 2 Stenhousemuir 2

Burnley 1 Postponed (frozen pitches) East Fife v Clyde; Cowdenbeath v Stirling; Peterhead v Dumbarton.

Third Division Berwick 0 Montrose 2; East Stirling 2 Stranraer 0 Postponed (frozen pitch) Annan Athletic v Albion; Forfar v Elgin; Livingston v Queens Park.

English Premier League table LONDON: English Football League tables after Saturday’s 1500GMT matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Chelsea 23 17 3 3 57 19 54 Man Utd 23 16 2 5 53 19 50 Arsenal 23 15 4 4 59 25 49 Tottenham 24 12 6 6 45 25 42 Liverpool 24 12 5 7 42 26 41 Aston Villa 23 11 7 5 31 18 40 Man City 21 10 8 3 42 30 38 Birmingham 23 9 7 7 22 23 34 Everton 23 8 8 7 33 34 32 Blackburn 24 7 7 10 25 40 28 Fulham 23 7 6 10 26 28 27 Stoke 21 6 7 8 19 26 25 Sunderland 22 6 5 11 30 40 23 Wigan 22 6 4 12 24 47 22 West Ham 23 4 9 10 29 38 21 Bolton 22 5 6 11 29 44 21 Wolverhampton 23 5 6 12 19 40 21 Burnley 23 5 5 13 23 46 20 Hull 23 4 8 11 22 48 20 Portsmouth 21 4 3 14 19 33 15 Championship Newcastle 26 16 7 3 43 16 55 Nottingham Forest 28 14 10 4 44 21 52 West Brom 27 14 8 5 55 29 50 Cardiff 27 13 6 8 52 30 45 Swansea 27 10 12 5 23 20 42 Sheffield Utd 27 11 8 8 40 36 41 Blackpool 27 10 10 7 43 33 40 Leicester 25 10 8 7 29 27 38 Middlesbrough 28 10 7 11 39 32 37 Bristol City 27 8 12 7 33 37 36 Preston 26 9 8 9 31 33 35 QPR 27 8 10 9 40 44 34 Doncaster 26 8 9 9 33 34 33 Coventry 28 8 9 11 32 40 33 Barnsley 26 9 6 11 32 40 33 Scunthorpe 27 9 6 12 33 46 33 Watford 26 8 8 10 36 42 32 Derby 28 9 5 14 29 40 32 Sheffield 28 8 7 13 33 45 31 Crystal Palace 27 10 10 7 31 29 30 Ipswich 27 5 14 8 31 39 29 Reading 27 6 8 13 28 44 26 Plymouth 26 7 3 16 23 37 24 Peterborough 28 3 9 16 32 51 18 Note: Crystal Palace deducted 10 points for entering administration League One Norwich 29 19 6 4 64 30 63 Leeds 27 18 6 3 48 19 60 Charlton 28 15 10 3 51 31 55 Colchester 27 14 7 6 41 28 49 Swindon 26 13 9 4 40 32 48 Millwall 28 12 10 6 40 29 46 Huddersfield 26 13 6 7 49 29 45 Milton Keynes 28 13 4 11 40 36 43 Bristol Rovers 26 12 2 12 36 39 38 Brentford 27 8 10 9 26 29 34 Southampton 27 11 10 6 46 31 33 Carlisle 26 8 9 9 34 37 33 Walsall 25 8 8 9 34 33 32 Yeovil 28 7 10 11 36 41 31 Southend 28 8 7 13 32 39 31 Hartlepool 29 8 7 14 35 45 31 Leyton Orient 27 8 7 12 33 43 31 Exeter 29 7 9 13 33 44 30 Gillingham 28 7 8 13 31 38 29 Brighton 27 7 7 13 33 46 28 Oldham 25 6 8 11 20 30 26 Tranmere 27 7 5 15 24 46 26 Wycombe 29 5 8 16 30 52 23 Stockport 27 3 7 17 22 51 16 Note: Southampton deducted 10 points for entering administration League Two Rochdale 27 17 5 5 58 25 56 Bournemouth 27 15 4 8 32 29 49 Rotherham 24 13 6 5 37 24 45 Bury 26 13 6 7 37 35 45 Notts County 24 12 7 5 52 21 43 Shrewsbury 28 11 9 8 39 34 42 Chesterfield 27 13 3 11 38 34 42 Aldershot 26 11 8 7 43 33 41 D’ham & Redbridge 26 11 7 8 39 34 40 Accrington Stanley 24 12 3 9 38 34 39 Morecambe 27 9 11 7 46 41 38 Port Vale 26 8 13 5 30 25 37 Northampton 28 9 10 9 38 37 37 Burton Albion 27 10 7 10 41 41 37 Crewe 27 10 4 13 43 44 34 Bradford 26 8 9 9 37 42 33 Macclesfield 25 6 11 8 30 37 29 Barnet 27 7 8 12 27 36 29 Lincoln City 25 8 4 13 19 32 28 Torquay 27 6 8 13 36 40 26 Hereford 25 6 8 11 27 36 26

19

Cheltenham 26 5 10 Grimsby 27 3 11 Darlington 24 3 2 Scottish Premier League table Rangers 23 16 6 Celtic 22 13 5 Hibernian 22 12 6 Dundee Utd 23 10 9 Motherwell 22 7 9 Hearts 23 7 7 Aberdeen 21 7 6 St Johnstone 20 6 5 St Mirren 22 5 5 Hamilton 21 4 5 Kilmarnock 22 3 7 Falkirk 21 2 8 Scottish Football League tables First Division Dundee 23 12 8 Ross County 20 11 5 Inverness CT 21 9 7 Queen of the South 19 9 6 Partick 22 9 5 Dunfermline 20 8 5 Raith 19 7 5 Morton 20 6 0 Ayr 18 2 6 Airdrie Utd 20 2 5 Second Division Cowdenbeath 19 10 5 Alloa 19 10 4 Stirling 18 9 6 Brechin 19 8 6 East Fife 20 6 7 Dumbarton 18 7 4 Peterhead 18 7 3 Stenhousemuir 20 5 7 Arbroath 21 4 5 Clyde 18 4 3 Third Division Livingston 18 12 2 East Stirling 18 12 2 Berwick 19 10 3 Forfar 17 8 5 Queens Park 19 7 4 Albion 17 5 8 Annan Athletic 17 5 5 Stranraer 19 5 5 Elgin 18 3 6 Montrose 20 1 6

11 29 43 25 13 20 41 20 19 13 51 11 1 4 4 4 6 9 8 9 12 12 12 11

54 14 44 23 35 19 35 31 29 29 20 25 17 22 29 37 21 32 16 34 16 31 16 35

54 44 42 39 30 28 27 23 20 17 16 14

3 4 5 4 8 7 7 14 10 13

33 20 30 22 32 22 31 18 34 28 29 25 20 21 22 39 12 29 19 38

44 38 34 33 32 29 26 18 12 11

4 5 3 5 7 7 8 8 12 11

31 18 22 16 32 24 28 18 26 26 24 28 22 26 23 24 19 36 15 26

35 34 33 30 25 25 24 22 17 15

4 4 6 4 8 4 7 9 9 13

34 14 24 18 29 19 27 19 21 24 14 12 15 17 20 29 22 34 15 35

38 38 33 29 25 23 20 20 15 9

Todayʼs matches on TV (local timings) African Nations Cup Ghana v Egypt (final)................19:00 Al Jazeera Sport 2 English Premier League Man City v Portsmouth..............16:30 ShowSports 1 ShowSpors 2 Arsenal v Man United ................19:00 ShowSports 1 ShowSports 2 Spanish League Villarreal v Osasuna..................19:00 Al Jazeera Sport +7 Getafe v Racing ........................19:00 Al Jazeera Sport +5 Atletico v Malaga.......................21:00 Al Jazeera Sport +2 Sevilla v Valencia.......................23:00 Al Jazeera Sport +2 Italian League AC Milan v Livorno....................17:00 Al Jazeera Sport +6 Parma v Inter.............................17:00 Al Jazeera Sport +1 AS Roma v Siena........................17:00 Al Jazeera Sport +7 Gagliari v Fiorentina...................17:00 Al Jazeera Sport +5 Juventus v Lazio ........................22:45 Al Jazeera Sport +1

LONDON: Chelsea captain John Terry put the controversy over his private life to one side by scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory at Burnley as his side went four points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Terry, whose position as England captain was called into question after newspapers published details of his alleged affair with the ex-girlfriend of former Blues team-mate Wayne Bridge, scored eight minutes from time yesterday when he headed in a corner for only his second goal this season.

“It was a very difficult game,” Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti told ESPN. Turning to Terry, who did not celebrate his goal, the Italian added: “He’s a fantastic player. Every game, he plays very well. “He’s an important player for us. All of Chelsea support him.”

Nicolas Anelka had given Chelsea a 27th-minute lead at Turf Moor when the France striker turned in Florent Malouda’s cross while, seven minutes later, Terry was booked for a clumsy challenge on Robbie Blake.

Relegation candidates Burnley levelled in the 50th minute when a ball over the top of Alex found Steven Fletcher who beat the defender before shooting past Petr Cech.

Chelsea’s victory means they will still be top of the table regardless of the result of today’s clash between title rivals Arsenal and Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.—AFP

Garcia rescues Espanyol 1-0 BARCELONA: A Luis Garcia strike saw Espanyol overcome Athletic Bilbao 1-0 in a scrappy match to give them breathing space at the bottom of La Liga yesterday.

The home side dominated from the start a match in which injury-hit Athletic were never able to get into their stride. They lost playmaker Fran Yeste after 18 minutes while Ustaritz Aldekoaotalora battled through the first half with a head injury before eventually being substituted after the break.

The Athletic keeper Gorka Iraizoz made a couple of important interventions in the first half but he was powerless to block Garcia’s close-range winner on 58 minutes after good work from Javi Marquez down the left wing.

The result moves Espanyol six points clear of the relegation zone but for Athletic, who are chasing a place in Europe, they have now lost back-to-back games.

Later yesterday, Barcelona travel to Sporting Gijon looking to continue their relentless form at the top of the table which saw them go unbeaten during the first half of the season. However, Barca coach Pep Guardiola is still looking for more from his team.

“I think that we can play better. We can create more goalscoring chances and control the play better,” he explained.

“Sporting are very strong at home and concede few goals - just six at home so far. Their style is very team orientated and they work hard together.”

Real Madrid travel to Deportivo La Coruna still hanging onto the coat tails of the leaders and hoping from a slip-up to close the five-point gap.—AFP

LONDON: Burnley’s Kevin McDonald (centre) fights for the ball against Chelsea’s Yuriy Zhirkov (left) and Florent Malouda (centre right) during their English Premier League soccer match. —AP

Everton ride luck to snatch win at Wigan Wigan 0

Everton 1 LONDON: Tim Cahill’s late goal earned in-form Everton a smash-and-grab 1-0 victory at Wigan yesterday that extends their unbeaten run to nine matches in the Premier League.

The visitors were indebted to off-colour finishing from a string of Wigan players, with Hugo Rodallega, Jason Scotland and substitute Paul Scharner all unable to convert presentable chances before Cahill struck in the 84th minute.

The Australian international midfielder, who also scored in the 2-0 mid-week win over Sunderland, was allowed to run unchecked onto Leighton Baines’s corner and he beat Vladimir Stojkovic with a powerful header.

Everton’s crossbar was rattled deep into injury time when Charles N’Zogbia crashed a rising drive against the woodwork, giving Everton their final let-off on an afternoon of close shaves.

Victory allows David Moyes’s side to edge to within two points of eighth-placed Birmingham, while Wigan remain 14th.

The visitors saw most of the ball in the game’s early stages but Wigan soon began to find gaps at the other end and their forwards Scotland and Rodallega both spurned chances to put the hosts in front.

First Rodallega was denied

by Tim Howard in the Everton goal after Scotland set him free and when Rodallega returned the favour moments later, the former Swansea man blazed well over.

Everton handed a first start to on-loan Arsenal centre-back Philippe Senderos and his timely touch prevented Rodallega from putting Wigan in front just short of the half-hour as the

Colombian prepared to pull the trigger.

Louis Saha had a strong penalty appeal waved away after tussling with Wigan new boy Gary Caldwell shortly before half-time, while Wigan old boy Baines tested Stojkovic from a free-kick early in the second period.

Controversy ensued shortly after when N’Zogbia was bundled over by Jonny Heitinga right on the edge of the Everton area.

The Wigan players appealed for a penalty but Alan Wiley gave a free-kick and the home side were unable to take advantage.

In their push for a breakthrough Wigan introduced Scharner, who has scored four of his 13 Premier League goals against the Toffees, and he twice went close, volleying over the crossbar and then shooting straight at Howard with 18 minutes to play.—AFP

LONDON: Everton’s Tim Cahill (left) and Wigan Athletic’s Henry Thomas (right) battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match.—AP

Hull 2

Wolves 2

Wolves rob precious Hull points HULL: Hull City remained in the Premier League relegation zone after twice squandering the lead in a 2-2 draw at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday.

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink gave Hull, who remained second bottom, an early lead only for Wolves, now a point above the bottom three, to draw level through Anthony Gardner’s farcical own-goal at the KC Stadium.

Stephen Hunt restored the Tigers’ lead from the penalty spot but there was still time for Matthew Jarvis to rescue a point for Wolves.

Former Celtic striker Vennegoor of Hesselink opened the scoring in the 11th minute with a 20-yard shot after the Dutchman had been played in

by American forward Jozy Altodore, who had held off two defenders.

It was a lead that lasted until four minutes after half-time when Wolves drew level in comical fashion. Hunt allowed Wolves’ Ronald Zubar to chase down a ball the Republic of Ireland midfielder felt was going out of play.

Zubar’s hopeful cross appeared easy enough for Gardner to clear but his sliced kick spiralled over Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill and into the net.

Minutes later, however, Zubar returned the favour when he clattered into Altidore and Hunt scored from the penalty spot.

But Hull were pegged back again when Matthew Jarvis’s right-footed shot beat Myhill in the 67th minute. The visitors then had a chance to win it late on but Myhill saved well from new Wolves on-loan signing Geoffrey Mujangi Bia after a free-kick caused problems in the Tigers’ box.—AFP

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Liverpool uphold quest for Champions League Liverpool 2

Bolton 0

LONDON: Birmingham City’s Scott Dann (left) competes for the ball with Tottenham Hotspurs Gareth Bale during their English Premier League soccer match at St. Andrews stadium. — AP

Ridgewell’s late strike frustrates Spurs Birmingham 1

Tottenham 1 BIRMINGHAM: Birmingham defender Liam Ridgewell frustrated Tottenham’s push for the Champions League as his lastgasp equaliser earned a 1-1 draw at St Andrew’s yesterday.

Jermain Defoe looked to have consolidated Tottenham’s position in fourth place with a 69thminute strike-his first Premier League goal of 2010.

But Birmingham avoided a second successive defeat when defender Ridgewell stole in at the

far post to volley home in the last minute.

The draw left Tottenham just one point ahead of Liverpool as the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League hots up.

The only consolation for Harry Redknapp is the confirmation that defender Younes Kaboul will resign from Portsmouth in a five million pounds (5.8 million euros) deal that could save his former club from slipping into administration. Birmingham’s recent form has been so impressive that Alex McLeish’s players, furious at losing for the first time in 16 games, reportedly confronted each other in the Stamford Bridge visitors’ dressing room in the aftermath of their 3-0 loss at Chelsea on Wednesday.

However, far from damaging

the tremendous spirit that has made Birmingham a revelation this season, that defeat did not appear to have affected McLeish’s players.

Lee Bowyer almost gave the home side a fourth-minute lead when he was teed up by James McFadden but he shot straight at Heurelho Gomes.

Christian Benitez, the Ecuador international striker, bamboozled Michael Dawson on the edge of the area before sending a tame shot right into the arms of Tottenham’s keeper.

There was no Roman Pavyluchenko in the Spurs team for this encounter, with Birmingham’s second bid of nine million pounds for the Russian international reportedly having been turned down by Redknapp.

But David Bentley remained in the team after his impressive performance, and goal, against Fulham. And the midfielder produced Spurs’ first genuine chance in the 34th minute when he cut inside and drove in a shot that was clawed around the post by Joe Hart. Bentley also came close to shattering the boredom of a tedious game early in the second half when Gareth Bale’s cross eluded the Birmingham defence to find the England international, but his shot was kept out by Hart.

Spurs somehow failed to take the lead in the 57th minute. Defoe danced past a hesitant home defence and lost balance as he prepared to shoot, the ball rolling into the path of Peter Crouch who inexplicably placed his shot wide.—AFP

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool maintained their quest for Champions League football with a 2-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers at Anfield here yesterday.

Dirk Kuyt’s 37th minute goal and Kevin Davies’s second-half own goal left Liverpool just a point behind fourthplaced Tottenham in the Premier League.

The game, which had been overshadowed by Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez’s revelation he was being courted by Italian giants Juventus, ultimately brought the Merseysiders their second win of 2010 although there were still some anxious moments for a team clearly low in confidence at present.

Bolton made a bright start with Tamir Cohen - son of former Liverpool favourite Avi chasing onto Matthew Taylor’s early flick as Bolton looked for their first Anfield win in 56 years.

However, the game soon settled down into a pattern of Liverpool dominating possession without producing the necessary quality in and around the Bolton penalty area.

But it was the visitors who had the first real chance when South Korean international Lee Chung-yong collected a loose ball on the halfway line and set off on a mesmeric run, past Emiliano Insua, Martin Skrtel and eventually keeper Pep Reina before his shot was cleared off the line by Sotirios Kyrgiakos.

It would prove a vital clearance by the Greek defender as Liverpool’s pressure intensified. Kuyt’s 20-yard strike flew well over before Alberto Aquilani had a shot blocked from Jamie Carragher’s 34th minute ball into the area.

Bolton then finally succumbed to Liverpool’s next meaningful attack. Albert Riera’s cross-field pass found Insua, whose far post cross looked to be floating out of play until Aquilani leaped impressively and headed back across goal to leave Kuyt with the simple task of scoring from close range.

Liverpool showed great urgency, if not great finishing, at the start of the second half.

Javier Mascherano’s perfect cross-field ball set Steven Gerrard clear but the ball hung just long enough in the air for Mark Davies to get back and make a covering tackle.

The next Liverpool attack really should have brought results as Riera sped down the left and picked out Gerrard with a low, accurate cross into the Bolton area.

The England midfielder’s fierce, first-time shot was well saved by the diving Jaaskelainen but, with the goal at his mercy, David Ngog followed up and succeeded only in striking the top of the Bolton crossbar.

Aquilani almost set up a second goal, for team mate Gerrard, when he robbed Mark Davies of the ball in midfield with Gerrard’s venomous 20yard strike forcing Jaaskelainen into another diving stop.

But the second goal Liverpool so desperately needed duly arrived, in fortunate fashion, in the 70th minute.

Lucas did well to keep a corner in play with a header back into the area and Ngog laid the ball back to the edge where Insua was lurking.

His 20-yard shot would have passed well wide of the mark but took a wicked deflection off Bolton forward Kevin Davies, wrong-footing Jaaskaleinen on its way into the net. There were further half-chances for Kuyt and substitutes Lucas and Maxi Rodriguez but, against such mediocre opposition, the two goals Liverpool had already scored were enough to secure victory.—AFP

LONDON: Liverpool’s Albert Riera (left) vies for the ball against Bolton’s Gary Cahill during their English Premier League soccer match at Anfield.—AP

Blackburn hold West Ham West Ham 0

Blackburn 0 LONDON: Blackburn earned a gritty 0-0 draw against struggling West Ham yesterday to frustrate the east London club’s hopes of kick-starting the new era at Upton Park.

Gianfranco Zola’s side were playing at home for the first time since co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold finally completed their takeover of the Hammers, but there was precious little for the watching duo to get excited about.

Blackburn, who have scored just eight times in 12 away league matches, would have

won with better finishing and West Ham - in 15th place remain precariously close to the relegation zone.

Sullivan and Gold are well aware of West Ham’s troubles and have been attempting to sign several new players before Monday’s transfer deadline.

A deal for Blackburn striker Benni McCarthy is still in the pipeline but Zola may need more than that to save his side from the drop.

Rovers started well and appealed for a penalty when Nikola Kalinic went down under pressure from Jonathan Spector, but referee Peter Walton waved away their protests.

After 35 minutes, an inswinging corner from Morten Gamst Pedersen forced West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green to tip over the crossbar at fullstretch.

Rovers came agonisingly close to taking the lead just before half-time when Pedersen’s free-kick flashed past Green and cannoned back off the bar.

Zola sent on England forward Carlton Cole, in action for the first time since November following a knee injury, with 30 minutes to play but even he couldn’t spark West Ham into life.

Green was called into action again to push Pedersen’s goalbound drive away, then Cole cleared Gael Givet’s shot off the line after it appeared to hit Mark Noble on the arm.

Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson had barely been troubled all game but he was finally forced to save in the final minutes as he pushed Alessandro Diamanti’s free-kick over to preserve the draw.—AFP

LONDON: West Ham United’s Alessandro Diamanti (right) competes with Blackburn Rovers’ Martin Olsson during their English Premier League soccer match at Upton Park.—AP

Global Direct to participate in InfoConnect expo

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China ‘ready’ to move on yuan when world exits stimulus

23

Toyota chief apologizes for vehicle recall

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

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Bankers fret at Davos as regulators chart rules DAVOS: Government regulators from the United States and Europe laid out their financial reform plans yesterday before a skeptical banking industry, asking financiers for input but adamant that change was coming with or without their support.

Emerging from the two-hour meeting as its unofficial spokesman, US Representative Barney Frank made it clear that governments were now calling the shots after spending billions to bail out the industry.

Top bankers, by contrast, who came into this week’s World Economic Forum buoyed by signs of economic recovery, left somewhat subdued even as they called the closed-door meeting constructive.

“No one got up and said, ‘Don’t regulate us,”‘ said Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who heads the US House Financial Services Committee. “It would have been a waste of their time if they did.”

The meeting comes after days of tension at this Swiss Alpine resort over government plans for stricter controls on the financial industry to limit speculation and avoid a repeat of the 2008 meltdown that plunged the world into recession. Bankers have protested the new proposals, saying the US and other countries risk choking off a gradual economic recovery with regulation they see as heavy-handed. The event was not on the forum’s official agenda, but quickly became the most significant development of the day. It also brought to mind some of Davos’ previous high-profile conflict resolution efforts, including a Greek-Turkey accord to avoid war in 1988, as well as meetings between South African President F W de Klerk and the recently freed Nelson Mandela, and between Israel’s thenForeign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.

“We are determined to do strong, sensible regulation,” Frank said, rejecting any notion that President Barack Obama’s administration could sink the economy again with too many new controls on the banking industry. “That’s nonsense,” Frank told reporters. “What we’re trying globally to recover from is a total lack of regulation.” On the government side, in addition to Frank, those at the meeting included Lawrence H Summers, Obama’s top economic adviser, British treasury chief Alistair Darling and French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.

Bankers attending the private talks included Josef Ackermann, chief executive of Deutsche Bank AG, Bank of America Corp.CEO Brian Moynihan, JPMorgan Chase & Co Chairman Jacob Frenkel and Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, which oversees the 16-nation euro zone.

“It was the most constructive dialogue I’ve seen between policymakers and industry officials and hopefully that’s a base people can build from,” said Duncan Niederauer, CEO of stock exchange operator NYSE Euronext Inc. “It was the first time I’ve seen both sides go beyond the rhetoric. There were practical suggestions being discussed.” The banks were asked for their input, Frank said, adding that he believed they got the message that tighter controls were coming.

“Frankly it doesn’t matter if they did or didn’t,” Frank said. “They aren’t in charge of this.” Frank said the most important element of the meeting was coordinating and better understanding the various approaches that governments are taking to stabilize and prevent excessive risks in their financial industries. The aim was not to push for a global financial governing system, Frank said, saying each country could deal with the crisis on its own terms.

“A large part of the discussion was on the regulators, to talk about how we can coordinate so we don’t create opportunities for (banks) to move from one place to another to escape regulation,” he said, adding that some of the strongest concerns over US developments have come from international regulators.

Frank earlier told The Associated Press that some countries “got used to the US being the least regulated and they almost resent the fact we are going ahead with regulations, that we are taking the lead.”

He declined to say which national regulators he was referring to. No one at the meeting elaborated on any concrete proposals or agreements that were discussed, and the head of Britain’s Financial Services Authority said the banks didn’t ask for anything at the talks. “It was not a negotiation or a debate,” Adair Turner said. Frank and Turner later held one-on-one discussions.

Ackermann of Deutsche Bank called it an “excellent, useful” meeting, while Joaquin Almunia, the European Union’s commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, said it “was not the place to make decisions.” “It was constructive. Not conclusive, but constructive,” Almunia said.

Moynihan of Bank of America and Frenkel of JPMorgan Chase declined to comment. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the International Monetary Fund chief, said financial sector reforms should be bold but handled in close cooperation so that no countries suffer as a result. “My fear is that we may ... forget one of the key lessons of the crisis, which is coordination,” he said later on a separate panel. — AP

Change coming with or without support from financiers

DAVOS: (From left): Japanese Minister in charge of national policy, Yoshito Sengoku, Montek S Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, India, Zhu Min, Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, are seen during a session on the Global Economic Outlook at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland yesterday. Zhu Min, Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, is seen on the giant screen. — AP

Obama says deficit could jeopardize US recovery WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama renewed his pledge yesterday to make job creation his top priority in 2010 but said it was also critical to rein in a record budget deficit that threatened economic recovery.

Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address to remind Americans of the various proposals he put forward in the last week to spur job growth and tame a $1.4 trillion deficit.

The White House has said Obama is still committed to a promise he made last year to halve the deficit by the end of his term in 2013. But in his radio address yesterday, he talked only of “reining” in the deficit. Obama is due today to unveil his proposed budget for fiscal 2011 that

begins Oct 1, and has said it will include a three-year spending freeze on some domestic programs.

“We’ll launch an unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars,” Obama said.

A Pew Research Center study published this week showed 60 percent of those polled viewed reducing the budget deficit as a top priority for 2010, up from 53 percent in 2009.

Obama acknowledged these concerns in his address. “As we work to create jobs, it is critical that we rein in the budget deficits we’ve been accumulating for

far too long- deficits that won’t just burden our children and grandchildren, but could damage our markets, drive up our interest rates, and jeopardize our recovery right now,” he said.

The size of the deficit is a political hot potato in an election year, with Republicans seeking to paint Obama as a big spender and the White House countering that the president inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit when he took office.

Democrats face a tough time in holding on to their majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives in the mid-term congressional elections in November. High unemployment, now at 10 percent, and the size of the deficit could hurt them, analysts say.

Obama welcomed new data released on Friday showing that the economy grew at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009. He called it a sign of progress and evidence that his policies to stimulate the economy were working.

“But when so many people are still struggling-when one in 10 Americans still can’t find work, and millions more are working harder and longer for lessour mission isn’t just to grow the economy,” he said. That was why he had proposed tax credits to help small businesses hire new workers and invest in new equipment, as well as the elimination of all capital gains taxes on small business investment, he said. — Reuters

Trade ministers downbeat on WTO prospects DAVOS: Trade ministers were skeptical yesterday about the prospects of concluding stalled global trade liberalization talks this year, with some blaming the United States for foot-dragging.

Ministers from about 20 major economies held informal talks on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum meeting in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, but Egypt’s trade minister said they made little progress.

“I don’t think very much came out of this meeting unfortunately,” Rachid Mohamed Rachid said. “If we don’t have the participation at ministerial or even ambassador level from the United States, of course it doesn’t give us a positive signal,” he said. Washington sent only a deputy ambassador and no political representative. Rachid said there was very little prospect of meeting a G20 goal of concluding trade negotiations this year.

“We are not optimistic, we are very concerned,” he said. Leaders of the G20 grouping of major economies, including US President Barack Obama, agreed in Pittsburgh last September on the goal of wrapping up the Doha round of World Trade Organization negotiations in 2010.

But there has been scant progress since then and many participants say domestic politics and the impact of the financial crisis and high unemployment in the United States and Europe have made chances of an early trade deal more remote.

David Shark, deputy U.S. ambassador to the WTO, who represented Washington at the meeting, declined comment on complaints at the level of U.S. representation.

“It was interesting as always,” he told reporters. “It was just a conversation.”

India’s Trade Minister Anand Sharma described yesterday’s meeting as a “free and frank exchange”-diplomatic code for a robust argumentand said there was an urgent need for trade negotiators to learn lessons from the global financial crisis. “One thing that has come out very forcefully and clearly is that a multilateral rules-based trade regime must be put in place at the earliest,” Sharma said.

“It was a rules-based system that has prevented the world trade from collapsing during the economic crisis and the global economy stands to gain much.” The long-running 153-nation talks collapsed in 2008 over a dispute between the United States, India and China on protection for farmers in developing countries. Other unresolved issues include cotton subsidies, trade in services and in environmental goods and services.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told reporters he was encouraged that there had been no retreat into protectionism so far in the global recession, but the political momentum to make the final trade-offs needed in the Doha Development Round, launched in 2001, had still not materialized. The Obama administration has said big emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil must open their markets more to make a global trade deal worthwhile for US business.

“We would like to see the (Doha) round completed as soon as possible, but for that everybody will have to be there,” European Union Trade Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told reporters: “We cannot expect more than that because of course one of the main partners is not represented at a ministerial level. —Reuters

KAB launches operations in Kuwait

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The Kuwait Asia Brokerage (KAB) launched its operations in Kuwait yesterday with the unveiling of various investment tools for its global clients.

On this occasion, the Vice Chairman of KAB in Kuwait K C Chan stated that the company is able to provide a variety of investment opportunities for Kuwait in particular and the GCC market in general.

“We can also provide all what is related to the modern brokerage services through exploiting the good investment atmosphere available in the giant China market,” said Chan.

The company’s strategy involves the clients to invest in stocks and bonds in different areas of the world such as stock markets in China and Hong Kong.

“The Company also opens the opportunity to invest in the gold markets in addition to promoting the China Islamic and Conventional Funds. This is done through the experienced analysts and experts who are able to read and analyze the market,” he added.

Kuwait Asia Brokerage is wholly managed

by KAB International Holdings Ltd. The name KAB was derived from the initials of the three founders, KC Chan, Alan Chan and Billie Lam in 2001. In the last Decade, KAB became a leading group of regulated companies and affiliates striving to provide a solid investment platform for investors from Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

All subsidiaries under KAB International

Vice Chairman of KAB in Kuwait K C Chan speaks during the ceremony.

Holdings Ltd hold Brokerage licenses. “KAB is not a market making company. Therefore, it is to our best interest to provide our clients with valid investment advice that would contribute to their wealth accumulation. KAB is a reliable and secure hub of financial products and services, providing golden investment opportunities and adding value to its clients through convenience, reliability and stability of the offered investment platforms. At KAB,

the core objective is to bridge investments between China and the Gulf, providing access to unrealized low risk/high return investment opportunities and developing long-term partnerships with all clients,” Chan pointed out.

The subsidiaries are: KAB Asia Securities Limited, KAB Strategy (Cyprus) Limited, Kuwait Asia Brokerage, KAB Bullion Company Limited, KAB China Limited.

Investing in China is important. “China is

Agnes Lam, the Marketing Manager, during the function still preserving its economic position with the increase of the total national product by more than 8 percent nevertheless of the weak economic growth around the world. The Shanghai Stock Exchange has grown by 80 percent in 2009. And China has replaced Japan from the second position in the international markets,” concluded Chan.

2010 is the year of tiger according to the Chinese calendar. “The KAB always believes

in prosperity of the economic condition of China this year,” noted Agnes Lam, the Marketing Manager, who also explained the economic situation and the mechanism of making profits in the stock market in China through economic analyzes.

Recently, KAB has been promoting KABMayfair Greater China Islamic Fund, the first Sharia-compliant Islamic Fund to be focused on the China market.

BUSINESS

22

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Orbit-Showtime merger offered exceptional business opportunity

Global Direct to participate in InfoConnect-10 Exhibition KUWAIT: Global Direct, the most prominent company in Pay TV enterta inm ent in Kuw a it a nnounced their pa rticipa tion in the 29th Interna tiona l Inform a tion technology, Office System s a nd

Wael Al-Sutan, Gulf net General Manager

Amal Rhali, Kuwait Country Director, said “Global Direct has been a regular participant of this event since 2001 and we are proud to continue our support this year especially that is an exceptional business one for the industry with the merger of Orbit and Showtime in July 2009 and the most recent brand relaunch as OSN - Orbit Showtime Network. OSN subscribers will be able to enjoy like never before superb entertainment on our exclusive 75 channel platform with a wider selection of channels from award winning movies, series and international sports. The extensive channel lineup and packages will all be available at our newly attractive designed booth. We promise to offer an exceptional customer experience.

OSN has exclusive deals with the leading Hollywood studios such as Disney, Paramount, DreamWorks, Sony Columbia, NBC and Universal. OSN also has the exclusive rights for Premium Sports including the world’s most popular football league the Barclay’s Premier League as well as other major sporting events. OSN also takes the lead in broadcasting the best International Series, showing the latest episodes of Desperate Housewives, Lost, Prison Break, Heroes, 24 and Ugly Betty, and many others, one full year before any other channel.

OSN Arabia will be one of 8 new the channels that OSN will launch on February 1st that will be the exclusive and first of its kind channel that is completely dubbed into Arabic.

Rhali went on to say that we will dedicate a corner for the sales of ART (Arabic Radio & Television) the popular TV bouquet in the Middle East.

Aramex gears up for 2010 expansion after good Q4 DUBAI: Dubai-based logistics firm Aramex posted a better-than-expected 28 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit and said it financially stood ready to expand this year after previous revenue declines bottomed out.

The firm, which competes with global giants such as Fedex and DHL, said net profit rose to 49.5 million dirhams ($13.5 million), beating the most optimistic forecasts by analysts in a Reuters survey earlier in January.

“The fourth quarter was the first quarter in 2009 to witness positive revenue growth, marking a bottoming out of the preceding revenue decline,” Aramex said in a statement.

Revenues for the fourth quarter rose 5 percent to 524.8 million. The company said on Dec. 7 it expected fourth-quarter profit to be better than in the same period one year ago, due to its cost base declining as a result of the financial crisis.

The firm said a “strong cash position is ideally placing it to support development and expansion plans for 2010”.

“Aramex continues to maintain a very healthy balance sheet with a cash balance of 502 million dirhams as of December 31, 2009, coupled with an extremely low debt-to-equity ratio of 1.4 percent,” it said. Chief Executive Fadi Ghandour said: “In 2010, we will continue to broaden our investments and expansion in emerging markets such as those in Africa, Southeast Asia and (former Soviet republics) CIS countries by partnering with strategic local companies, as we did recently in Sri Lanka and Oman”.

“We will also remain focused on strengthening our capabilities in third party logistics services to meet the increasing demand as outsourcing trends continue in our core markets,” he added. For all of 2009, revenues dropped by 6 percent to 1.96 billion while net profit rose 25 percent to a record 184.3 million dirhams helped by cost cuts. “(2009 was) marked with impressive performance despite the volatile economic conditions,” it said. — Reuters

Com m unica tions Exhibition (InfoConnect-10) orga nized by Globa l Connection held at the International Fairs Ground, Hall 6; under the patronage of the Minister of Communications.

Gulf net will also be present in the booth that continuously provides competitive DSL prices and services and Wael Al-Sutan, Gulf net’s General Manager added that Gulf net DSL services provide cost effective and reliable Internet service to residential users in Kuwait Gulf net is the region’s leading solutions and service provider in the communications and media sectors. The company offers convergent communication solutions that optimize and support real-time delivery channels for voice, video and data. The company develops and deploys innovative and secure business communication products with positive benefits such as enhanced interactivity, quicker turnarounds and cost-efficiency. Gulf net activities encompass broad technological areas, from leveraging emergent IP technology to enabling broadband services which enrich business and entertainment environments.

Moreover, Rhali stressed the fact that our continuous support and participation in this exhibition, comes from a history of success, with many thanks to the professional organizers, and the visitors as we were successful in getting closer to our customers to hear their feedback and comments, as well as introducing our services to wide range of visitors.

Global Direct’s Wide range of products and services are designed to cater to the needs of individual and corporate subscribers and to be consistent in its ability to offer fast, reliable and high quality services to all its clients. OSN is equally owned Panther Media Group a company registered at DIFC and is owned by KIPCO and Orbit Group.

Seminar to explain new laws for non-domiciled UK residents

NBK’s Chief Executive Officer Kuwait Isam Al-Sager

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait will be holding a seminar tomorrow (Monday, February 1, 2010) to explain to their clients the tax laws affecting non domiciled residents in the United Kingdom. The changes are contained in the UK 2008 Budget and have been a matter of concern since they were announced.

The event to be held at the Sheraton Hotel at 6.30 in Al Dana Hall, will be hosted by NBK’s Chief Executive Officer Kuwait Isam Al-Sager. The guest speakers will be Robert Blower and Piers Master from Charles Russell, a leading London law firm.

Al-Sager explained that the purpose of the seminar is to outline the new laws for our clients and to give them the opportunity to have their questions and concerns addressed by an expert in this field.

Build leverage into our social service system, says Green Richard Quest’s interview with Bill Green QUEST: I asked Accenture’s Chief Executive Bill Green what he thinks of Apple’s latest gadget and whether there is a market for it.

BILL GREEN, CEO, ACCENTURE: Well, I’m impressed by all the new forms of delivery ideas. There are a lot of them, but here’s why.

Because whether you are talking about health care, you are talking about education, you are talking about social services, our current way of doing things isn’t getting it done. And we have to reinvent our delivery system. We have to leverage technology to do it and the device at the end of the line is going to matter. And that is why the tablet and other devices like it are important.

QUEST: But you put your finger on the problem. It is squaring that circle, if you like, to find the right device. And some years ago, Bill Gates, famous, he said no one device will do all that needs to be done.

GREEN: Well, I think that is true. I thinkand we have to have inter-operability, as they call it between the devices. But more important than that, it isn’t the device, right? It is how we reinvent the process of getting knowledge and know-how from where it is to fairly remote places, or to masses of people. That is where technology is going to provide the significant advantage.

QUEST: So we start with the computer, we then go to the phone, we then go to the smart

phone, and then we end up with some hybrid in between?

GREEN: Well, I think in the end they will be hybrids, and they will be fit for purpose. If you are trying to teach young children in India, where we have 350 million people under the age of 17, how are you going to reinvent the education system there? You are going to have to use a different form factor than teachers, classes and books. You are going to have to leverage technology.

QUEST: Leveraging technology and social media, whether it be Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or any point in between?

GREEN: Uh-huh?

QUEST: Are they yet where you see they are going to go?

GREEN: Well, no, I think that we need to industrialize them.

QUEST: But what does that mean?

GREEN: Well, we are still in the invention phase, right? We are still-we still have a new idea every couple of weeks. And every time there is a new idea we all get excited about it.

But at the end of the day what we need to do is have industrial, repeatable processes. We have to build leverage into our social service systems. So we can get repeat of use and we can get leverage about networks, about devices, and most importantly about knowledge over the network.

Egypt woos Indian tourists NEW DELHI: Egypt has made an all-new bid to woo Indian tourists by launching a new logo and engaging a leading Indian film-actress, model, and a former beauty queen Celina Jaitley as its brand-ambassador.

The renewed bid was made at a glittering function in New Delhi in the presence of Egyptian Ambassador Mohamed Higazy. The inauguration ceremony was followed by a fabulous belly-dance performance by Egyptian dancers.

Speaking on the occasion, the Egyptian envoy said, “India is very important to us not only as a tourism market, but also as a coun-

try with which we share strong political and cultural ties. India and Egypt have cultural synergies and affinities that go far back in history.

It is for this reason that we are launching our new campaign and logo here.”

According to him, Indian tourists’ inflow into Egypt during 2009 increased to 100,000 from 88,000 during 2008. “We want more and more Indians to visit Egypt and experience for themselves the warm hospitality of Egypt,” he stated further. Also present on the occasion was Egyptian Tourism Authority Director Adel El Masry.

He said: “The new brand campaign,

logo and slogan signify that Egypt is not only the origin of a great civilization that helped in shaping universal culture, but as a tourist destination it is the source of new experiences, rich personal inspiration and has outstanding stories to tell.”

Encouraging her countrymen to visit Egypt, Jaitley said on the occasion that Egypt is a place with which anyone can fall in love. “I would urge all the young married couples to consider Egypt as a honeymoon destination. Cruising the river Nile is a lifetime experience, and its beauty is easy to fall in love with,” she told KUNA. — KUNA

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

.2830000 .4620000 .4010000 .2720000 .2680000 .2550000 .0045000 .0020000 .0776790 .7568070 .4020000 .0750000 .7419170 .0045000 .0500000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2861500 .4638860 .4034570 .2741930 .2699760 .0541910 .0392950 .2572790 .0368280 .2038330 .0031820 .0062610 .0025100 .0034060 .0041920 .0779470 .7594070 .4046970 .0763460 .7436230 .0062200

.2920000 .4700000 .4090000 .2810000 .2770000 .2640000 .0075000 .0035000 .0784600 .7644130 .4180000 .0790000 .7493730 .0072000 .0570000 .2882500 .4671630 .4063070 .2761360 .2718890 .0545740 .0395730 .2590960 .0370890 .2052770 .0032040 .0063050 .0025280 .0034300 .0042220 .0784440 .7642510 .4075640 .0768330 .7483660 .0062640

US Dollar Sterling pounds Swiss Francs Saudi Riyals

TRANSFER CHEQUES RATES .2882500 .4671630 .2761360 .0768330

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 287.450 Euro 406.310 Sterling Pound 467.300 Canadian dollar 272.500 Turkish lire 193.140 Swiss Franc 276.400 Australian dollar 258.430 US Dollar Buying 285.000 ASIAN COUNTRIES Japanese Yen 3.208 Indian Rupees 6.255 Pakistani Rupees 3.396 Srilankan Rupees 2.508 Nepali Rupees 3.905 Singapore Dollar 205.620 Hongkong Dollar 37.021 Bangladesh Taka 4.159 Philippine Peso 6.181 Thai Baht 8.717 Irani Riyal - Transfer 0.301 Irani Riyal - Cash 0.292 ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 55.500 Egyptian Pound 52.783 Yemen Riyal 1.381 Tunisian Dinar 215.200 Jordanian Dinar 406.120

Lebanese Lira Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

194.220 6.321 36.480 GCC COUNTRIES 76.694 79.013 747.110 763.800 78.324 GOLD 220.000 113.000 58.000

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer 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 Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees

Selling Rate 287.300 273.340 465.470 408.400 275.470 704.180 761.850 78.200 78.845 76.640 405.415 52.940 6.230 3.405 2.510 4.170 6.205 3.200 8.715 5.540 3.950

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency 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

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 287.350 3.405 6.220 2.520 4.170 6.210 78.275 76.750 764.000 52.715 479.000 0.0000306 1.550 408.200 5.750 410.200 277.500

Al Mulla Exchange Currency 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

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 287.200 402.500 464.000 272.000 3.198 6.210 52.710 2.508 4.159 6.175 3.405 765.200 78.200 76.550

BUSINESS

Sunday, January 31, 2010

23

Beijing’s procurement policy deepens strains: Experts

US-China economic ties heading into the rocks WASHINGTON: The United States’ economic relations w ith China are headed into the rocks, w ith Beijing’s new government procurement policy delivering a major blow , US experts said Friday. “I think w e’re going

India, an attractive growth and investment destination: Expert Risk aversion seen at corporate, individual levels

By R Kuppanna KUWAIT: The world is in an economic and financial mess. The proximate causes of the current, global meltdown have their origin in the USA’s sub-prime mortgage crisis. But the fundamental causes of the various financial and economic crises, over decades and across the globe, stem from , among others: state monopoly on money, state control, regulation and ownership (if not de jure, de facto) of banks, state guarantees of bank liabilities, move away from free markets toward socialist banking, and big , omnipotent governments. A satisfactory explanation and clarity on several of these and related issues could be found in the analysis and writings of the Austrian School of Economic Thought.

With no discernible signs of recovery, lower business and consumer confidence, risk aversion both at the corporate and at the individual levels, volatility in markets (across all assets), decline in wealth and rapidly eroding value of currencies it is no surprise that everyone is perplexed and worried.

Are we in for further crises?

Against this background, how does one preserve and enhance one’s wealth. What investment strategy needs to be adopted? Where and what assets does one look at? Amidst this chaotic concatenation of events and situation, I believe there is a strong case and hope, an anchor as it were...

IND1A. India has tremendous growth potential, is an attractive destination for investors from around the world (foreign direct investments - FDIs; foreign institutional investments -FIIs) and for NRIs to participate in its markets.

Why is the India story so compelling?

The India growth story is not of recent vintage.

In fact, for over 25 years it has been growing at a fairly high, healthy clip: The population growth is slowing, literacy is rising, poverty is declining, per capita income (in PPP terms) is on the rise and the proportion of ‘middle class’ is burgeoning. It is the 4th largest economy in the world (after USA, China and Japan) and the prognosis is that it would replace Japan, by 2014, to become the 3td largest.

Key reforms undertaken by India include opening of economy to trade and investments; dismantling of controls; lowering of tariffs and taxes; breaking up of public sector monopolies; opening up of’ governmental and public sector investments in infrastructure to the private sector.

India has a demographic advantage - younger population. Also, according to Professor David Crystal, By 2010, India will have the world’s largest number of English speakers”. “When 300 million Indians speak a word in a certain way, that will be the way to speak it. (Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language).

India has a competitive, services sector (esp software) and the rise of globally competitive Indian corporates like Reliance Industries, infosys, Bharti Airtel and Tata Steel bode well for India’s growth and future. India’s private sector is vibrant indeed : over 100 Indian companies have market cap of US $1bn ; nearly 125 Fortune 500 companies have R & D bases in India.

India vs China Very often India (elephant) is compared with China (tiger). India’s success is market-led whereas China’s is state induced. The entrepreneur occupies a central place in India. Little noticed and an unappreciated fact is the primacy placed on the “rule of law” in India. Bad loans in Indian banks are, on an average, at 2% ( v - 20% in

China); 80% bank credit goes to private sector (v 10% in China).

The pain of the global turmoil has been less in India than in China. India’s growth fell to 6.7% in 08-09; expected to be about 7% (or a shade less) in 09-10. Competitive companies have recovered faster in India. Recovery is likely to be ahead in India. The verdict on China is mixed. However, most analysts and observers speak of the China bubble and the troubles ahead.

India became a democracy before opening its economy, though very partially, to the markets.

Its growth pace has been slower than that of China, hut surer. However, an elephant at 8% growth is indeed a formidable beast!

What can put the brakes?

Infrastructure-Fiscal Deficit - Governance; the last one being the key. A compelling case for the wise elephant. you’ll agree.

Investment strategy Having established the raison d’etre of India as an investment destination, the next question is: how to go about it. Here, I’ll confine myself to the needs of an individual/retail investor.

Investment planning would depend upon one’s specific, personal needs; risk propensity and station in life. On the risk-reward spectrum, one can choose from various asset classes as follows: To build wealth, over the long term, ceteris paribas, equities (stock investment) are the best asset class from a risk-return perspective. To quote Benjamin Graham, the pioneer of ‘valueinvesting’: In the short term, the market is a ‘voting’ machine whereon countless individuals register choices that are product partly of reason and partly of emotion. However, in the long-term, the market is a ‘weighing’ machine on which the value of each issue (business) is recorded by an exact and impersonal mechanism.”

Wealth is generated, over the long haul, by a systematic. disciplined, patient , diligent, and well-informed approach. The key attributes are independence in thought and action. And there is no substitute for study. An attitude to segregate the emotional aspects from investment decisions assumes primacy. Of course the power of compounding cannot be overlooked. We should endeavor to make our money earn money.

Rightly, Einstein described compounding as “the eighth wonder of the world.’’

For those who do not have the wherewithal to independently pick and choose stocks, a proxy, for participation in the markets by way of “mutual funds”, is available. There is no gainsaying the importance of choosing the right type of fund and the fund house. Personal and professional ethics are of crucial significance in this regard. A portfolio approach (i.e. a mix of’ investments in various asset classes) might help to balance risks and rewards. A typical mix could include: cash (savings accounts, money market funds), fixed income securities (guts, bank and company deposits/debentures) and equities. In the context of the massive erosion in the values of currencies, worldwide, it makes strategic sense to include precious metals (silver, gold) in one’s portfolio.

Gold is an effective hedge against inflation and does preserve wealth. Investments in gold/silver could be made in the physical form (bars/coins) or through exchange traded funds (ETF’s) in the stock markets.In the ultimate analysis, as Benjamin Franklin so eloquently put it - An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

— R Kuppanna, general manager, Kuwait India International Exchange Co.

The increasingly strained relations with China were mostly Beijing’s fault because the Chinese authorities have backed away from a market-oriented direction and resorted to more subsidies and investment restrictions, Reinsch said. “We’re going to head into a period of both sides testing the other,” he said at a roundtable discussion hosted by the Washington-based business association. Reinsch predicted that attacks against China’s economic policies “will escalate” in Congress, especially as the country faces mid-term elections in November.

“For a country like ours whose strength is innovation... being able to exploit your own intellectual property is absolutely critical to our future economic growth,” said the head of the council, which represents more than 300 companies, including General Electric and Chevron. The National Foreign Trade Council was among 19 groups this week that petitioned top US officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, in a letter protesting China’s “indigenous innovation” programs that they say shuts out American companies.

The latest Chinese policy, announced in November, requires that eligibility for Chinese government procurement is based on whether the products contain intellectual property that is developed and owned in China.

“The Chinese government has promulgated a series of ‘indigenous innovation’ programs as part of a long-term plan that threaten to exclude a wide array of US firms from a market that is vital to their future growth and ability to create jobs here at home,” the groups wrote. “We urge you to make this a strategic priority in our bilateral economic engagement with China.”

Growing trade frictions between the world’s largest developed and developing countries have produced a spate of new tariffs and finger-pointing in recent months. John Stubbs, the head of the Global Innovation Forum, a GE-backed council project, said his group was created to “inform” the political debate about the importance of intellectual property and intellectual property rights. He said that China’s procurement policy “was top of the list” for the forum’s so-called “brain trust” of leaders, ranging from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to the University of Pennsylvania’s The Wharton School.

The controversial policy hurts China, too, he argued. “It walls off the vast engineering community” in China from cooperating and participating in joint research and development (R&D) projects on a number of issues.

Reinsch forecast a shift in investment patterns. “Over five years you’re going to see more and more investment going to India, Brazil and other places and not in China because people are just getting frustrated and tired and want to be someplace where there’s rule of law,” he said. Alan Wolff, a US ambassador who leads law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf’s international trade practice, cited a study by his firm that found that little of US semiconductor firms’ R&D investments went to China.

Wolff, a former US Trade Representative negotiator under the Carter administration in the 1970s, said investment went to central Europe, where he said there were a lot of good engineers and “not the concerns over intellectual property protection.” “The Chinese policies have their own direct impact. Companies actually vote where they place their investments. There are negative aspects to these policies that have immediate costs,” he said. — AFP

‘Growth must touch every one’s life’ John Defterios, CNN International correspondent, interviews Indian minister Kamal Nath John Defterios, CNN International correspondent: I'm joined now by a very key minister in India, Kamal Nath, who is a former minister of commerce and trade and has now taken on a new portfolio, and that is for highways and road transport.

This adds a lot to the Indian economy. He's going to jump into that right now. We were talking before the interview. You have a $150 billion, five-year plan on highways and rural road. And this is going to contribute, what? One-and-a-half to two percent each year to the Indian bottom line.Kamal Nath, Indian union cabinet minister: Because of the 2 percent, this will add 2 percent to our GDP. And besides that, besides those numbers-those are just main numbers, but in terms of the grand situation, it will be creating economic activity.

Because in India today, it’s not just the challenge of attaining and sustaining role. The challenge is a managing

weak against the dollar, a strategy which critics say is aimed at keeping Chinese exports competitive, and which is fueling massive trade imbalances with the West.

Zhu pointed out that even if the yuan was allowed to appreciate, it would not solve the issue of imbalances.

“Exchange rate is an issue within this rebalancing issue. Exchange rate will not be able to change the whole thing,” he said. Zhu said that Beijing has recognized the need to wean itself from dependence on exports. “The crisis tells us that a purely export model is not sustainable and we’re working on it,” he said.

“Things has improved, but it takes time,” he noted. However, persuading the traditionally thrifty Chinese to consume more will not be easy, he noted.

“I’m still an old fashioned person. If the glass is OK, I’m not going to throw it away to buy a crystal one even if my income increases.

DAVOS: The deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, Zhu Min, a ttends the session ‘Globa l Econom ic Outlook ’ a t the W orld Economic Forum yesterday. — AFP

have held India back, which has held India from unleashing itself even more. It’s got to happen.

DEFTERIOS: What’s the target, very quickly, in 15 seconds, where you are today and where you want to go?

NATH: ... we had about 10 kilometers, and we wanted to do 20 kilometers a day, which means 7,000 kilometers a year in order to complete.

Besides that, we have our district roads, we have our rural roads. But just in national highways, traversing across the country, which is going to add being incremental to trade, industry and agriculture.

DEFTERIOS: Good. Nice to see you. This is-you have been coming to Davos since 1993. And you don’t look worse for the wear. (laughter) DEFTERIOS: Nice to see you.

Again, the minister of road transport and highways in India.

role. The main trouble in the managing growth, you’ve got to see that growth touches everyone’s lives in all parts of the country.

DEFTERIOS: And, in fact, there is the challenge of unclogging the famous Indian democracy. And people, many wondered why you took an international portfolio and went back home. But this is a key domestic portfolio that the prime minister wanted you to take, I think.

NATH: Well, domestic politics and I thought (inaudible) too much. I’d really almost run the last mile in the previous job. India was there on the map, was on the-was being recognized. People were comprehending everything about India. But now, if you wanted to move on, as they say, you’ve got to do it on the road. And this is the road that’s going to really lead India to taking off. And if we can build if we can achieve our targets, I think the infrastructure deficit will

Qatar Shipping, Navigation boards approve merger DUBAI: Qatar Shipping Co and Qatar Navigation are proceeding with a merger after their board of directors approved the deal, a joint statement said yesterday. Qatar’s government has ordered Qatar Shipping and Qatar Navigation to merge to protect the firms during the global financial crisis.

“The boards of directors have approved an exchange ratio of 2.2 shares of Qatar Shipping for each share of Qatar Navigation,” the firms said, adding the evaluation process was now complete.

The merger is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, the firms said. HSBC Bank Middle East is the lead consultant on the merger.

Consolidation in the oil-exporting Gulf Arab region has been on the rise as the financial crisis and an oil price slump ended an economic boom, forcing firms in sectors ranging from property to investment to search for ways to weather the downturn. — Reuters

China ‘ready’ to move on yuan when world exits stimulus DAVOS: China will be “ready” to deal with the currency exchange rate issue when its global partners begin to withdraw their stimulus packages, the deputy head of China’s central bank said yesterday.

Zhu Min said that for China, maintaining a stable exchange rate for its currency is “a stimulus package” on its own. He pointed out that Beijing is committed to the G20 Pittsburgh agreement that countries will coordinate exit strategies from their respective massive stimulus packages adopted to combat the global downturn.

“If global (partners are) ready to do exit strategy, China is ready... including various issues-liquidity issue, exchange issue,” he told the Davos forum.

He insisted that China’s move to keep the yuan stable, “when crisis comes, is good for China and also good for the world.” China has been under fire for keeping its yuan currency

to see the bilateral economic relations w ith the Chinese deteriorate over the next year or so,” said Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council.

I’ll still use it,” he said.

In a separate session, Standard Chartered bank’s group chief executive Peter Sands also noted that a revaluation of the yuan is not the only solution to the global trade imbalance.

“I think there (are) a lot of simplistic things said about the renminbi. Some seem to believe that if it were revalued, all the macroeconomic imbalances will disappear instantly. That’s just wrong. It’s far too simplistic,” he said.

However, he pointed out that the value of Asian economies has increased, and that “value is going to be reflected in the way Asian currencies are valued relative to the western” currencies.

“I believe that over time, the renminbi and other Asian currencies will get more valuable and managing that in an orderly way is important to reconciling some of the macro-economic imbalances in the world,” he added. — AFP

Amer Najem, BKME Area Husain Abdullah Kakooli

Manager w ith the w inner Haider

BKME announces lucky winners KUWAIT: BKME has announced the results of the weekly draw of its MyHassad savings scheme. Six lucky customers won with Haider Husain Abdullah Kakooli winning the Grand Weekly prize worth KD 20,000. The following MyHassad customers won cash prizes of KD 1000 each: Yaqoob Yousef Al Awadi, Yousif Abdali Nasser Alebrahim , Euna Aguiar , Isa Jassim Ali Nasser and Abdulaziz Abbas Abdulla Hussain.

The biggest-ever MyHassad savings scheme features 6,000 prizes worth KD 10 million in total. The scheme’s new structure gives eligible customers the opportunity to win KD 1 million in each of the two quarterly prize draws, offering a single ‘Grand Salary for Life’ prize of KD 4000 a month for the next 250 months.

Other ‘Salary for Life’ prizes include quarterly KD 500,000 prizes (KD 2,000 paid out every month) and KD 250,000 prizes (KD 1,000 paid out every month).

With a total of three winners announced

each quarter, all prizes convert to a stable source of monthly income for the winner over the next 250 months.

Apart from the quarterly prizes, one Grand Weekly prize of KD 20,000 and five weekly cash prizes of KD 1,000 each will be given away every week.

Customers with KD 1000 and above invested in the MyHassad scheme are eligible to win KD 500,000 in each of the four loyalty draws held over the scheme period.

The concept behind the savings scheme is giving customers the opportunity to win a “salary for life”. BKME’s objective has been to create a lifetime change for the winners and allow them to invest their winnings in things that will make a lasting difference to the well being of their families.

For more information on the MyHassad savings account, its prize structure and eligibility criteria, customers may visit any BKME branch or call BKME Hayakom 1802000.

p24:p36 1/30/10 8:52 PM Page 1

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BUSINESS

Sunday, January 31, 2010

KSE continues to fluctuate amid uncertainty KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) continued to fluctuate around the 7,000 points level for the fifth consecutive week, while its daily closings during the past week were mostly in the red zone.

In addition, KSE performance was similar to the activity that was witnessed in most neighboring stock markets, which also fluctuated during the week and recoded overall losses. All of GCC stock markets started-off the week by registering significant losses following sharp declines recorded in international stock markets by the end of the previous week, which was the result of the proposed American plan to restrict the activities of the banking sector in the United States. On the other hand, speculations and profit taking transactions continued to dominate the course of trading in KSE during the week. Nevertheless, trading activity declined last week after three consecutive weeks of continuous growth, as average of daily turnover decreased by 5.50% to reach KD 63.52 million, whereas trading volume average amounted to 543.54 million shares, at a decline of 18.12% compared to previous week’s levels.

By the end of the week, the price index closed at 7,034.7 points, down by 0.39% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 2.11% weekly loss after closing at 375.88 points.

Sectors’ indices Six of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone, while the other two recorded increases. The Food sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 2.32% to end the week’s activity at 4,356.3 points.

The Investment sector was sec-

BAYAN INVESTMENT WEEKLY MARKET REPORT

ond on the losers’ list, which index declined by 2.11%, closing at 5,402.9 points, followed by the Real Estate sector, as its index closed at 2,814.3 points at a loss of 1.52%. The Industry sector was the least declining as its index closed at 5,542.0 points with a 0.09% decrease. On the other hand, last week’s highest gainer was the Services sector, achieving 1.53% growth rate as its index closed at 15,191.4 points.

Whereas, in the second place, the Insurance sector’s index closed at 2,814.1 points recording 0.46% increase.

Sectors’ activity The Services sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 871.88 million shares changing hands, representing 32.08% of the total market trading volume.

The Investment sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded

shares were 31.96% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 868.67 million shares. On the other hand, the Services sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 104.53 million or 32.91% of last week’s total market trading value. The Investment sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of KD 83.48 million represented 26.28% of the total market trading value.

Market capitalization KSE total market capitalization declined by 1.96% during last week to reach KD 28.73 billion, as six of KSE’s sectors recorded a decrease in their respective market capitalization, whereas the other two recorded increases. The Food sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization reached KD

696.96 million, decreasing by 6.93%. The Services sector was the second in terms of recorded decline with 3.79% decrease after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 7.44 billion. The third place was for the Industry sector, which total market capitalization reached KD 2.59 billion by the end of the week, recording a decline of 1.91%. The Investment sector was the least declining with 1.17% recorded decrease after its market capitalization amounted to KD 3.06 billion.

On the other hand, the Insurance sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached KD 336.17 million, increasing by 0.49%. The Non-Kuwaiti companies sector was the second in terms of recorded growth with 0.44% increase after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 3.02 billion.

BUSINESS

Sunday, January 31, 2010

25

EU to tell Greece to do more to reduce deficit Measures include civil sector pay cuts, pensions ceiling ATHENS: The European Union will tell Greece this week to take extra measures by May 15 to shore up its finances and cut a spiralling deficit, Greek newspaper Ta Nea said yesterday, citing a draft of the recommendations.

The European Commission’s recommendations, due to be made public on Feb. 3, include cutting nominal wages in the public sector and setting a ceiling for high pensions, Ta Nea said.

Greece is seeking EU approval for an austerity plan it presented this month to reduce its budget deficit to below 3 percent of GDP by 2012 from 12.7 percent in 2009 and avoid a debt crisis seen as a threat to the euro-zone. The Greek finance

ministry said in a statement the measures outlined in the report were already included in its own deficit-cutting program. It added the European commission had already expressed its backing for the government plan.

“There is no issue of the EU rejecting the Greek growth and stability program,” it said.

The European Commission declined to comment. The Greek plan does not envisage nominal pay cuts but it includes reductions in special allowances which make up a large chunk of Greek civil servants’ overall income. This would translate roughly into a 3 to 4 percent cut in the public wage bill, labor unions say.

Under the headline “Urgent measures to be taken by 15 May

2010”, the EU document will tell Greece to “cut average nominal wages, including in central government, local governments, state agencies and other public institutions.”

The EU will also urge Greece to introduce advance tax payments for the self-employed and possibly a tax on luxury goods, according to the document, excerpts of which were printed by Ta Nea. Most other recommendations, as reported in the paper, are already part of the Greek plan.

Greece has been hit hard on international markets, with bond yields soaring and shares plummeting, after the country’s new Socialist government revealed in October its budget deficit was twice as big as previ-

ously announced and more than four times the euro zone ceiling of 3 percent of GDP. Concerns that Athens may not be able to service its debt have put pressure on the euro and raised questions over whether fellow euro-zone member states would come to Greece’s rescue.

There are also growing worries that the Greek debt crisis could spill over to other weak members of the currency bloc, such as Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy.

German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung quoted an EU draft memorandum as saying the situation in Greece was a “big challenge and in the long term risky”, and could force other euro-zone countries to pay higher risk premiums on their

bonds.

Prime Minister George Papandreou’s government, which came to power on a promise to tax the rich and help the poor to get Greece out of recession, has announced nominal wage freezes for civil servants earning more than 2,000 euros a month. It plans to award pay increases in line with inflation to all others. The biggest public sector union, ADEDY, has called a 24-hour strike for Feb. 10 to protest against the austerity measures.

Papandreou said in Davos this week he would speed up introduction of a tax reform, by the end of February, and that he would also introduce changes to the pension system by the end of April. —Reuters

DAVOS: George A Papandreou, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, gestures during the session entitled “rethinking the euro-zone’, at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The World Economic Forum is turning toward earthquakeravaged Haiti and steering Africa to prosperity as more world leaders arrive for the annual event in this Swiss Alpine resort. —AP

Honda recalls 646,000 due to potential fire risk

Toyota chief apologizes for huge vehicle recall NORTH HOLLYWOOD: A sale at Toyota of North Hollywood was planned before a recall of several Toyota models Friday in North Hollywood, California. —AFP

Toyota US sales halt seen well into Feb DETROIT: Toyota Motor Corp’s crippling sales shutdown of eight models due to a US safety recall will continue until at least mid-February, sources briefed on the matter said on Friday.

Competitors moved to profit from rising consumer frustration as models that represented more than half of Toyota’s 2009 US sales are not for purchase because of accelerator pedals that may stick.

The sales resumption assumes a smooth and swift rollout of a remedy to fix faulty accelerators in vehicles already sold or at dealerships, said the sources, who wished to remain anonymous because Toyota’s plans are still developing.

“The third week of February is very optimistic,” said one of the sources. Toyota said this week that it was stopping sales of the eight models covered by the recall involving the sticking accelerator pedals until a fix was in place.

Toyota on Friday was close to announcing details of a repair for the safety risk that has been reviewed by US safety regulators, an official with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

Also on Friday, Toyota said it would recall as many as 1.8 million vehicles in Europe. This increases the global recalls of Toyota cars and trucks to about 7.5 million vehicles, almost as many as it sold worldwide in 2009. The total includes a recall for a separate issue involving

floor mats becoming stuck under accelerator pedals.

With Toyota potentially unable to sell some of its most popular models including the Camry for a month or more, rivals readied new plans to poach sales from the world’s largest automaker and the topselling brand in the United States.

“Everybody’s going to pile on now,” said Jim Ziegler, a dealer consultant in Atlanta. “Toyota just fumbled the ball in the red zone.” Ford Motor Co, Hyundai Motor Co and Chrysler Group LLC said they were rolling out incentives targeting Toyota customers. Volkswagen, jockeying with Toyota for the title as global sales leader, also is considering incentives to convert Toyota owners in the United States.

The companies are following the lead of General Motors Co, which on Wednesday began offering Toyota customers payouts of up to $1,000 or zero-percent financing for up to five years if they trade in a Toyota for a GM vehicle. GM Chief Executive Ed Whitacre said the program was the first example of a “new, more aggressive’ GM and said the reaction from its dealers has been good. “We will react quicker than GM is used to reacting, so we’ll do something first, and get out there first,” Whitacre told reporters in San Antonio.

“The reaction (from the dealers), was good,” Whitacre said. “They said, ‘we can’t believe this is GM,’ so that’s

good.” In a blow to Toyota’s reputation for quality, Consumer Reports said it was suspending its recommendations for the Toyota models at the center of the accelerator pedal recall. The nonprofit magazine is an influential guide to car purchases and its endorsement of Toyota vehicles over the years was one important factor in the automaker’s rise to 17 percent U.S. market share, just behind GM. “We are taking this action because the vehicles have been identified as potentially unsafe without a fix yet being available to consumers, and in general our position is that you shouldn’t compromise on safety,” said Jim Guest, president of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports.

Separately, a second congressional committee launched an investigation into the Toyota recalls.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has requested that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood testify at a Feb 4 hearing.

“There appears to be growing public confusion regarding which Toyota] vehicles may be affected and how people should respond,” said Representative Edolphus Towns, chairman of the oversight committee chairman. “In short, the public is unsure as to what exactly the problem is, whether it is safe to drive their cars, or what they should do about it,” Towns said.

US electric carmaker Tesla files for IPO SAN FRANCISCO: US electric sports car maker Tesla Motors filed for an initial public offering of up to $100 million, aiming to cash in on growing investor interest in battery-powered vehicles and green technology.

The IPO filing on Friday from the six-year-old start-up, best known for its $109,000 all-electric Roadster, marks the first public offering from a US automaker since Henry Ford’s Ford Motor Co made its share debut in 1956. It also represents a landmark in the resurgence of electric car technology that most carmakers until recently had dismissed as impractical.

Tesla’s IPO, with underwriters including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank Securities, should generate enthusiasm for IPOs generally, analysts said.

“People are going to be watching this one move through the pipeline,” said Matt Therian, analyst with Connecticut-based IPO research firm Renaissance Capital. “It’s probably a good sign for the IPO market.”

Ben Holmes, founder of Morningnotes.com, said an IPO is sometimes the best form of advertising, especially if the deal is successful, for companies like Tesla.

“Venture-backed deals were kind of derailed and this might be what we call a bell cow-a deal that’s so steady and so well-done and so impres-

sive it brings other deals to market that were waiting,” he said.

Reuters reported in November that Tesla was preparing to file for an IPO. In the nine months ended Sept. 30, Tesla said, it lost $31.5 million, down from a loss of $57.3 million in the same period a year earlier. Revenue jumped to $93.4 million from $580,000.

The company said it would continue to post losses until it begins making “significant” deliveries of the Model S, which is not expected to launch until 2012.

Tesla, in the US Securities and Exchange Commission filing, did not provide details on IPO pricing or its timing. Tesla will compete with established carmakers such as Ford, General Motors and Nissan Motor Co Ltd, all of which are racing to launch electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Tesla is a small player with a high-end market and limited production, but hopes the Model S electric sedan will broaden its potential market. It has received about 2,000 reservations for the car, which is being designed as a four-door, five-passenger premium sedan with an additional third row with two rear-facing child seats. It has a base price of $49,900. The appetite for IPOs has picked up since mid-September this year, with a robust pace of new filings. —Reuters

TOKYO: Toyota’s president has apologized for the recall of millions of cars on the sidelines of the Davos forum in Switzerland, in his first public remarks around the world due to faulty accelerator pedals, in a setback that has tar- on the recall since it went global this week. “Right now, we are trying to nished the Japanese giant’s reputation for quality. “We’re extremely sorry to establish the facts and preparing for giving an explanation so anxiety among have made customers feel uneasy,” Akio Toyoda told public broadcaster NHK customers would be removed as soon as possible,” he said. a widening safety recall.

Toyota pulled up to 1.8 milThe Toyota president had lion vehicles in Europe on kept a low profile during the Friday-the latest in a series of week as the company founded recalls that have affected by his grandfather more than almost eight million Toyota 70 years ago battled to contain cars worldwide-more than its the fallout from the accelerator entire 2009 global sales of 7.8 pedal problems. million vehicles. Toyota, which How Toyoda-an avid motor overtook General Motors in racing fan-handles the quality 2008 as the top-selling problems is seen as key to his automaker, has been bedevilled legacy and the future of the by a series of safety issues that company, long lauded for its have raised questions about vehicles’ safety and reliability. whether it sacrificed its legThe only statements posted endary quality to become world on the company’s global webnumber one. site this week relate the Toyota’s woes went into group’s sales plan for next year overdrive last week when it and a tree-planting project in announced a recall of 2.3 milthe Philippines. Toyoda-at 53 lion cars in the United States years old relatively young for a due to the accelerator pedal top Japanese executive-was fears, the same problem that long groomed for the top job affected over 75,000 Toyota and became the first member of cars in China. the founding family in 14 years It is also recalling almost 5.3 to take the reins. million US vehicles to replace “The way Toyota has dealt floor mats that could trap accelwith the problems shows the erator pedals. At least 1.7 milcompany got possibly overconlion of the cars already recalled fident in itself to slack off as it outside Europe potentially suftopped the world over General fer from both problems, accordMotors,” the influential Asahi ing to Toyota. daily said in its editorial yesterIn another hit to Japanese day. The Nikkei business daily makers’ reputation for safety, said: “The vital step for Honda recalled 646,000 of its Toyota’s recovery is to regain cars worldwide Friday due to a the reliability in safety and potential fire risk linked to a quality, which is the basic of window switch problem that is the basics for carmakers.” reported to have killed a child Toyota’s shares suffered in South Africa. another drop on Friday, closing The move affects Fit/Jazz cars made between 2002 and TOKYO: Toyota Motor vice president Akio Toyoda, a grandson of Toyota Motor down 1.96 percent at 3,490 yen-having plunged about 14 2008 in Japan, China, Brazil, founder Kiichiro Toyoda, speaking at a press conference in Tokyo. —AFP percent during the week.

Thailand, Malaysia and India, A key US House of Honda said. Toyota for its part two firms were testing a reme- insert a “spacer” in the pedal scion named a year ago to steer mechanism in order to increase the Japanese automaker Representatives panel said on said Thursday that parts suppli- dy.

Engineers were believed to the tension in a spring and through the global economic Thursday that it would hold a er CTS had begun making pedals based on a new design that be putting the finishing touches reduce the risk of sticking. downturn, faces perhaps his hearing on the accelerator resolved the problem and the to a repair whereby it would Toyoda, the Toyota family biggest challenge yet handling issues on February 25. —AFP

‘Underemployment’ tops 20% in three US states WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union Wednesday that “one in 10 Americans still cannot find work.” But in nine US states the figure is much worse — closer to one in five, according to Labor Department data released Friday.

The figures are a stark illustration of how tough it is to find a full-time job, even as the economy has grown for two straight quarters. The official unemployment rate of 10 percent doesn’t include people who are working part-time but would prefer full-time work, or the unemployed who have given up looking for work.

When those groups are included, the devastation in many parts of the country is clear: Michigan’s so-called “underemployment” rate was 21.5 percent in 2009, the highest in America. California’s was 21.1 percent, while Oregon’s was 20.7 percent. Many companies and state governments have cut back on workers’ hours during the recession. And in the past six months, nearly 2 million unemployed workers have given up on their job hunts. Nationwide, the underemployment rate was 17.3 percent in December, just below the 17.4 percent reached in October, the highest on records dating from 1994.

In another three states — South Carolina, Nevada, and Rhode Island — the underemployment rate is above 19 percent. And in three more — Arizona, Florida and Tennessee — it’s above 18 percent.

The figures also illustrate how much higher the official unemployment rate could go in these states. Many of the discouraged workers are likely to start looking again as the economy improves.

That would have the effect of raising the unemployment rate.

Michigan’s economy is still struggling from the downturn in its battered automotive sector. The state lost 15,700 jobs in December, according to government data released last week, but the unemployment rate dropped slightly to 14.6 percent from 14.7 percent.

That’s because 31,000 people left the labor force. Michigan has the nation’s highest unemployment rate. California, meanwhile, was hit hard by the housing slump and its ports have suffered from last year’s downturn in international trade. Its unemployment rate is 12.4 percent. —AP

FDIC clocks 15 bank failures so far in 2010 LOS ANGELES: Six more US banks were seized on Friday as regulators continue to close the doors of banks struggling to cope with fallout from the financial crisis. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) said First Regional Bank in Los Angeles, Florida Community Bank, First National Bank of Georgia, American Marine Bank in Washington, Marshall Bank in Minnesota and Community Bank and Trust in Georgia had failed-pushing the tally to 15 banks that have failed this year.

The FDIC expects 2010 to be a peak for bank failures as a result of the financial crisis. Last year, 140 banks failed, compared to 25 in 2008 and three in 2007.

First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co, of Raleigh, North Carolina, will purchase $2.17 billion in total assets and $1.87 billion in total deposits from First Regional Bank, the FDIC said.

The eight branches of First Regional Bank, whose parent company was First Regional Bancorp, will reopen on Monday as branches of First-Citizens. SCBT, NA of Orangeburg, SC will assume $1.1 billion in total deposits and about $1.21 billion in total assets from Community Bank and Trust, of Cornelia, Ga., FDIC said.

Community Bank’s 36 branches will reopen during normal business hours as branches of SCBT but will continue to conduct business under its own name, FDIC said. Florida Community Bank, of Immokalee, Fla., will be taken over by Premier American Bank NA, of Miami, but will continue doing business under

its old name. The bank’s branches were due to open yesterday. As of Sept. 30, 2009, Florida Community Bank had $875.5 million in total assets and $795.5 million in total deposits.

Premier, which was acquired on Jan. 22 by Naples, Florida-based Bond Street LLC, will pay the FDIC a premium of 0.4 percent to assume all deposits of Florida Community Bank and will buy $499 million of the failed bank’s assets.

The 11 branches of First National Bank of Georgia, in Carrollton, will reopen on Saturday as Community & Southern Bank branches. As of Sept. 30, 2009, First National had $832.6 million in total assets and $757.9 million in total deposits. Community & Southern Bank, also in Carrollton, will pay FDIC a premium of 1.25 percent to assume all of the deposits of First National and will purchase essentially all of its assets.

American Marine Bank, of Bainbridge Island, Washington, had total assets of $373.2 million and total deposits of $308.5 million as of Sept.

30, 2009, which will be assumed by Columbia State Bank in Tacoma, Washington.

United Valley Bank, of Cavalier, ND, will take over $59.9 million in total assets and $54.7 million in total deposits from Marshall Bank, of Hallock, Minnesota.

US regulators have said the banking industry’s recovery will lag the overall economy. The FDIC has said it expects the total bill for bank failures to reach $100 billion for the period of 2009 through 2013. —Reuters

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Investors’ dilemma: Are US stocks set for a down year?

NEW YORK: The adage ‘as January goes, so goes the year’ bodes ill for equity investors after the S&P 500 closed out its worst month in almost a year. In the coming week, they will have to contend with fears of sovereign defaults and the potential for unpleasant surprises in the US labor market.

US corporations have so far handily beat analysts’ earnings forecasts. With heavyweights like Exxon Mobil Corp and United Parcel Service Inc set to report next week, investors will be looking for that to continue, going some way to offset the perception that political risk is on the rise.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 3.7 percent in January and is off nearly 7 percent from its high this month. Investors are worried that Greece’s debt troubles may herald a wave of sovereign defaults in the euro zone that could derail an economic recovery.

“There’s a lot of concerns going on as far as the sovereign debt is concerned in a lot of the nations, specifically in the euro-zone,” said David Lutz, managing director of trading at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets in Baltimore.

A heavy week for economic data will culminate in Friday’s non-farm payrolls report. Analysts

believe the economy added 5,000 jobs in January, according to a Reuters poll. Another negative surprise after the previous month’s unexpected surge in job losses could roil markets.

“The next headline is going to be this unemployment data that is coming out, and there is no indication it is going to be moving in the direction in which we want it to move,” said Jonathan Corpina, senior managing partner of Meridian Equity Partners in New York.

Friday’s jobs number will be presaged by the ADP private-sector jobs report on Wednesday.

Around 500 US companies have reported quarterly earnings so far and of those, 73 percent have beaten earnings estimates, exceeding the 68 percent that beat in the last two quarters, according to data from Bespoke Investment Group.

But that positive earnings picture has not translated into gains for the stock market this time around. Bespoke Investment Group’s data shows the average stock of a company whose earnings beat estimates gained only 0.8 percent, compared with a 2.9 percent drop in those that missed.

“The companies beating aren’t being rewarded by nearly as much as the companies that miss are

WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOK

being punished,” Bespoke Investment said in its research note.

After consecutive quarters when better-than-expected earnings helped drive stocks up more than 66 percent from last year’s lows, fourth-quarter numbers may have already been factored into the market.

Highlights in the second full week of earnings will include Exxon Mobil on Monday, which is the first of a number of energy companies reporting, as well as delivery service UPS on Tuesday.

UPS, viewed as a window on the economy’s health, raised its profit forecast earlier this month.

Exxon is expected to post earnings per share of $1.19, while UPS is seen reporting 73 cents per share.

The US economy grew at its fastest pace in more than six years in the fourth quarter of 2009, expanding at an annual pace of 5.7 percent-much more than most economists had expected.

There will be an early indication of the sustainability of growth when the Institute for Supply Management releases its manufacturing report for January.

Economists in a Reuters poll are expecting a reading of 55.2, showing an expanding sector for the

sixth straight month.

That will be followed by the ISM’s service sector survey on Wednesday, expected to edge into growth mode after the largest segment of the US economy struggled to find its footing in the fourth quarter of last year. “The economy is showing no signs of a self-sustaining recovery,” said David Wright, portfolio manager at Sierra Core Retirement Fund in Santa Monica.

“Essentially the fuel was used in sustaining the rally as far as it did, and we are now beginning a down cycle that I expect to be prolonged and severe.”

For the final week of January, the S&P 500 slid 1.7 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average declined 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.6 percent.

For the month of January, the blue-chip Dow average dropped 3.5 percent-close to the S&P 500’s 3.7 percent decline- and the Nasdaq lost 5.4 percent.

If this January is anything to go by-and the Stock Trader’s Almanac shows only six major occasions since 1950 when January’s performance has not been an indicator for the rest of the year-Wright’s prediction may come true. —Reuters

Investors fret over Obama’s regulation plan

Argentina’s Central Companies face hard time as Bank president quits

shaky market weighs on IPOs NEW YORK: Companies trying to sell their shares in initial public offerings had a hard time finding willing buyers in January — a trend that will likely continue until the stock market stabilizes. Of the 10 IPOs scheduled for January, only seven made it to market as investors fretted over the Obama administration’s plan to increase regulations on financial companies, growing budget deficits across the world, the Chinese government’s efforts to curtail When stocks calm down, investors should see good stuff: IPOs of companies with at least $100 million in annual sales and strong growth trends. Bard is watching for Internet and alternative energy companies, and smart grid developers. A lot of the companies that have been attempting offerings, so far this year, have been bogged down by high debt and some have had no operating history. IPO trackers expect the IPO market to improve in about a month or so.

But for now, executives of private companies wanting to go public may be wary of pursuing an IPO because they’re concerned about getting a good price in a declining market, said Sam Stovall, Standard & Poor’s chief investment strategist. Meanwhile, investors are “sitting on their hands, just waiting to get a better feel for where the direction is,” he said. In that environment, companies are reducing the size of offerings, accepting a lower price than they wanted or just pulling their deals altogether.

In recent days, real estate investment trust Terreno Realty Corp. threw in the towel after a reduced share offering still didn’t attract buyers. China-based Daqo New Energy Corp. postponed a pareddown IPO, citing market conditions.

And a health care information technology company which had filed to go public,

credit, high unemployment and concern that U.S. stocks got overheated. The Dow Jones industrial average swung more than 100 points in either direction in about a third of January’s trading sessions. Seventy percent of the big moves were declines. “It’s hard right now,” said Paul Bard, vice president of Renaissance Capital. “The IPO market does not respond well to volatility or uncertainty.”

SANTA CLARA: A job recruiter (left) talks to a job applicant at a job fair in Santa Clara, California. The number of new claims for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week, fresh evidence the job market remains a weak spot in the economic recovery.— AP HealthPort Inc, said it was withdrawing its offering due to unfavorable market conditions, two months after delaying the IPO for the same reason. Another four slashed the size of their offerings. Most

priced at the very bottom, or below expectations, to lure buyers.

Only two companies are trading above their offering prices: Warren Buffettlinked insurer Symetra Financial Corp,

up 7 percent, and Chinese real estate broker IFM Investments Ltd., which slashed its offering to get to market, is up 2.5 percent. A $107 million IPO from Imperial Capital LLC, a small investment bank based in Los Angeles, is the only deal with potential in next week’s lineup, said Scott Sweet of IPOBoutique.

The other companies up next week aren’t all that attractive. Workers’ compensation insurer Patriot Risk Management Inc’s client base may not stay in business, he said. It focuses on small- to mid-sized companies, which have been hard-hit by the recession.

Biotechnology company Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. only has one drug in late-stage development. And a holdover from this week, Penthouse magazine publisher FriendFinder Networks Inc., is swimming in debt. The company delayed its IPO to answer questions from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Even in a subdued economic recovery, fast-growing companies will be in demand, Renaissance Capital’s Bard said.

IPO watchers expect social-networking site Facebook, jobs site LinkedIn and solar energy company Solyndra Inc. to go public this year.

Of those, only Solyndra has signaled its intent to go public with the Securities and Exchange Commission. — AP

Mexico GDP down 6.8 percent in 2009 MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s economy shrank 6.8 percent in 2009, the worst result in at least 30 years, the Treasury Department said Friday. The decline in full-year gross domestic product outpaced the 6.2 percent fall during Mexico’s currency and debt crisis in 1995. A bright spot was a 1.2 percent

expansion in the fourth quarter of 2009 from the third quarter, although the level of economic output was 3 percent lower than the same period of 2008, the report said.

Still, it was the second consecutive quarter of GDP growth. The economy expanded 2.9 percent in the third quarter.

The report represented something of a comeback from the steep 10.3 percent decline in the second quarter, and officials had previously estimated a full-year 2009 contraction of around 7 percent.

The Treasury Department said it expects GDP to grow about 3 percent for all

of this year, while noting “the recent evolution of the economy suggest the probability that growth may be greater than that prediction is considerable.” It said the country lost 181,271 formally registered jobs in 2009. Many of Mexico’s 107 million people work in the informal sector. — AP

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s Central Bank chief resigned Friday, saying he could do no more to protect the nominally independent institution from the president’s efforts to control its dollar reserves. Martin Redrado claimed credit for bringing Argentina monetary stability for the first time in 30 years, but said President Cristina Fernandez had disregarded this achievement while unconstitutionally ordering his removal. “I went through all the institutional steps,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the government didn’t do the same and disregarded the independence of the Central Bank.” The president ordered Redrado fired this month after he refused her decree to make the bank’s reserves available for paying off $6.6 billion in national debt and also for spending of undefined “excess reserves” for other purposes.

The Central Bank has about $48 billion in reserves, and some analysts said the decree’s wording would enable the president to unilaterally use more of it for other spending.

A judge blocked Fernandez’s decree and a congressional panel had been considering whether to approve or reject it. Fernandez had urged the panel to rule quickly to resolve the crisis. Her Cabinet chief refused to accept Redrado’s resigna-

tion Friday, in effect saying the bank president can’t quit because he has already been fired. “For us, the resignation doesn’t exist,” Anibal Fernandez told the C5N news channel, adding that the government would wait for the congressional panel’s decision.

Fernandez wanted the reserves to be used for a “Bicentennial Fund” to resolve court battles over bond payments after Argentina defaulted on its debt in 2001. The bond holdouts have sued in New York, becoming a key obstacle to Argentina’s return to international debt markets.

Redrado refused to make the transfer, reasoning that if the central bank isn’t seen as an independent institution, the bond holdouts could persuade courts to freeze Argentina’s US accounts.

Redrado also argued that the president could not fire the Central Bank chief without the approval of Congress. “We’ve reached this situation because of the constant disregard of the institutions by the national government,” Redrado said. He had been blocked by police from entering the Central Bank since Sunday, and the institution was in the hands of its vice president, Miguel Pesce. Argentina has Latin America’s third largest economy, after Brazil and Mexico. — AP

Treasurys rise as investors doubt economic growth CHARLOTTE, North Carolina: Interest rates fell in the bond market as investors questioned whether the US economy will continue to grow at the fast pace it clocked in the fourth quarter.

Gross domestic product expanded 5.7 percent in the last quarter of 2009, the government reported, the fastest pace in six years. Despite the positive headline number, US stock indexes ended the day down and bond prices rose. Many economists expect growth to slow this year as companies finish restocking inventories and as government stimulus efforts fade. A consensus that the Federal Reserve isn’t concerned about inflation has also increased demand for Treasurys. On Wednesday, the Fed left short-term interest rates at their record lows.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note that matures in November 2019 — a benchmark for interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans — fell to 3.60 percent from 3.64 percent late Thursday. Its price rose 11/32 to 98 6/32. The GDP report, which topped forecasts of 4.5 percent, reas-

sured investors that the economy is continuing to recover. However it also raised questions about how durable the recovery is since much of the growth came from companies replenishing low inventories.

Disappointing earnings in the technology sector dragged down stocks, increasing the appeal of safehaven assets like Treasurys. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 53 points, or 0.5 percent.

The yield on the two-year note maturing in January 2012 fell to 0.82 percent from 0.87 percent.

Its price rose 3/32 to 100 3/32.

The yield of the 30-year bond that matures in November 2039 fell to 4.50 percent from 4.55 percent, while its price rose 29/32 to 98 1/32. The yield on the three-month T-bill that matures April 29 fell to 0.06 percent from 0.07 percent. The discount rate was 0.07 percent. The cost of borrowing between banks was unchanged. The British Bankers’ Association said the rate on the three-month loans in dollars — the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor — was at 0.24906 percent. — AP

Struggling Wall Street eyes jobs data NEW YORK: With Wall Street struggling to keep upward momentum, investors will keenly await a report on the US labor market in the coming week that could be a key driver of market action.

Friday’s data on US unemployment and job creation may provide clues on whether the economy, which is showing strong growth, can sustain its recovery. In the week to Friday, market action was choppy, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.04 percent to 10,067.33, as the market closed January with its worst performance in 11 months.

The technology-dominated Nasdaq composite slipped 2.63 percent to 2,147.35 the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 index declined 1.64 percent to 1,074.87. Many analysts say the latest declines are the start of a “correction,” which is usually a pullback of around 10 percent that can take some of the froth out of the market, rather than an end to the bullish period.

“The current correction is coming hard and fast, which is more typical of corrections than bear markets, which in the beginning tend to sneak down without much notice or fanfare,” said Bob Dickey at RBC Wealth Management.

“We expect the correction low will come over the next week or two... However, the Dow first may have to go below the psychological floor of 10,000 in order to trap more of the bears out in the cold.”

Fred Dickson, market strategist at DA Davidson & Co., said Friday’s report on US gross domestic product surging to a 5.7 percent

pace in the fourth quarter was a big positive for Wall Street.

The GDP data “report reinforces our assessment that the economy hit the bottom point of the recession late last summer and is slowly gaining traction,” Dickson said.

“In addition, the report reinforces the notion that the current stream of positive earnings reports hitting the tape this month are real and should be sustainable going into the first half of 2010. Bottom-line, this is bullish news for the stock market.”

Others noted that GDP was boosted by special factors such as inventory adjustment and that the economy may not be growing fast enough to create jobs.

Augustine Faucher at Moody’s Economy.com said it will take more time for the economy to get on a sustainable track. Based on the latest data, he argued that “growth in the first half of 2010 will be below that needed to keep pace with an expanding labor force, and the unemployment rate will move higher, peaking at close to 11 percent in the fall.”

The upcoming employment data thus becomes critical to the outlook for the economy and the markets, say analysts.

The consensus forecast calls for the report to show a net gain of 50,000 jobs, following a loss of 85,000 in December. That would be a big positive, although not enough to bring down the unemployment rate from its level of 10 percent.

“For the first time in a very long time, the consensus is expecting a gain in employment,”

said Gina Martin at Wells Fargo Securities.

Dean Maki at Barclays Capital said he expects the economy is gaining momentum, highlighted by strong business spending, that will translate into job growth.

“We view this improvement in business fixed investment spending as a clear signal that a self-sustaining recovery is underway, as businesses are feeling confident enough to spend more,” Maki said.

“We think this confidence will translate soon into steady job growth; we look for consistently positive job growth starting in the first quarter.”

Avery Shenfeld, economist at CIBC World Markets, said Wall Street nerves are being frayed by a variety of issues, ranging from moves in China to cool an overheating economy to Greece’s fiscal woes to President Barack Obama’s effort to curb risky bank actions.

But he said these may have been excuses to sell “after a nice run-up in stocks that has investors feeling that they have priced in a lot of good news.” Bonds were mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond rose to 3.609 percent from 3.598 percent a week earlier and that on the 30-year bond held steady at 4.510 percent.

Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

In the coming week, investors will also mull earnings from a number of US firms including ExxonMobil and Pfizer, among others.

Economic data on personal income and spending, manufacturing activity and factory orders are also on tap. — AFP

NEW YORK: Joseph Murray (right) works with fellow traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks rose moderately Friday after the government’s gross domestic product report showed that the economy grew at its fastest pace in six years.— AP

TECHNOLOGY

Sunday, January 31, 2010

27

New technology gives 3-D views of arteries WASHINGTON: Cardiologists could soon have 3-D images of patients’ coronary arteries at their fingertips and better treat heart disease thanks to a new software unveiled by researchers recently.

The technology, which has just been tested for the first time on people, remains in the early stages

of testing, according to a feasibility study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions, an American Heart Association journal.

“This is very exciting technology that holds great promise,” study investigator John Carroll, a professor of medicine and director

of interventional cardiology in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Colorado in Aurora, said in a statement.

The study allows doctors to assess more accurately and rapidly the length, branching pattern and angles of heart arteries, as well as any blockages.

Cardiologists currently use two-dimensional X-ray images shot from different angles to visualize arteries inside the body.

They also inject contrast dye into a thin tube-a catheter-inserted into a patient’s leg artery and threaded up to the heart to produce shadow images during a car-

diac catheterization procedure.

Although it uses existing X-ray systems, the new software could reduce the need for several of the images, thus reducing patients’ exposure to radiation and contrast dye while also decreasing the time doctors need to analyze the images, the study’s authors

explained.

The researchers compared standard 2-D images to automatically generated 3-D computer images of the coronary artery systems of 23 patients.

“This is the first in-human use,” Carroll explained. “The next step is to test it in multiple centers

around the world. In addition, we’ll formally test it to see the impact on clinical care.”

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the United States. It is responsible for 17 million deaths worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization. —AFP

Cyber crooks cashing in on iPad frenzy

Apple’s iPad not just a bigger iPod Touch WASHINGTON: A journalist checks out the TechCrunch internet site on January 26, 2010 in Washington, DC. TechCrunch, a leading Silicon Valley technology blog, was attacked by hackers overnight, it said Tuesday. TechCrunch, in a blog post, said it was hacked and came back online around an hour later, but went down once again. It said the site was back up and stable. —AFP

Crisis-hit Hungarians reach out to the needy online BUDAPEST: Istvan Joos in Hungary believes the economic crisis which hit the world and his country actually had a positive side: it revived an urge in people to value togetherness and help others in need.

Joos started off a non-profit website called “favours” (www.szivesseg.net) in 2008, just after Hungary narrowly escaped financial meltdown with international aid. The website connects people who need help with others who have something to offer.

People registered on the site ask for food, for baby clothes, for appliances like washing machines, or in many cases simply for a job. Few asked directly for money.

One of the latest requests logged on Jan. 28 comes from a family with children in eastern Hungary asking for a stove or fireplace as water freezes in their kitchen.

Joos believes the economic crisis, however painful it is, has forced many people to make changes in their lives.

“People connect, they pull closer together and I think this

is definitely a value,” he said.

“It forces people to rely more on each other and therefore strengthens this kind of social responsibility.”

Joos, who started off a successful IT business in the late 1990s, saw his own life change radically a couple of years ago when his business failed.

“I failed in a very selfish career as an entrepreneur-I just wanted to earn money and have expensive cars,” he said.

His website was originally meant to work as a profitbased forum for small and medium-sized firms but it quickly evolved into a place of exchange for “favours”.

Now it has around 5,300 registered members, whom Joos never meets as people get in touch with each other directly and only post letters expressing gratitude for help they have received.

“Every little help has exceptional value. For those, who are just starting to lose all their hope, and their trust in ... good will and compassion, this is a great feeling. And for those as well, who give,” Joos said.

NEW SLEDGE Other websites have sprung up linked to www.szivesseg.net since its creation, offering a place for people to air their misfortunes-one of them is called “I have fallen apart” (www.szetestem.net).

Eva Papp, 41, who lost her job at a printing press two years ago, asked for a sledge for her 10-year old son Bence on www.szivesseg.net and got one from another family just after the snow arrived last week.

“My son is really happy as he was nagging me that he wanted to go sledging and unfortunately I would not have been able to buy one for him,” Pap said.

Another website called “You can give, you can get” (www.ad6kap6.hu) was started off by Eva Csiby who says these forums could teach people to reach out and help others in need.

“This site continuously calls the attention of the better-off to that yes, they should look around at home, how many pairs of jeans and shoes they have which they don’t use- and give them to those who don’t have any or who would like to have a better one.” —Reuters

Startpage launches Web search service LONDON: Search-engine company Startpage launched a service allowing users concerned about privacy to carry out Web searches and click on linked pages without being identified, tracked or recorded.

Unlike mainstream search engines that gather commercially valuable information about user behaviour, privately held Startpage (www.startpage.com) has focused on privacy since 2005.

Startpage-also known as Ixquick outside the United States and Britain-had already offered private searching, but users would leave the company’s protection when they clicked on a search result and entered a third-party website.

The new service offers use of a Startpage proxy that means the user is invisible to all websites, though pages load more slowly since Startpage must first retrieve the contents and then redisplay them.

“My wake-up call came last year,” says Katherine Albrecht, who runs U.S. media relations and marketing for Startpage and who says she noticed Google Inc had installed a programme monitoring users who typed in terms indicating they had influenza-and was sharing the information with the U.S. Center for Disease Control.

“I had been a privacy advocate for 10 years, but even so I was using Google just like everybody else,” she said.

The chief executive of Google, which dominates the global Web search market, outraged critics last month with comments

in a TV interview. “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place,” Eric Schmidt said in a interview on news channel CNBC. “The reality is that search engines, including Google, do retain this information for some time,” he said. “We are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act. It is possible that that information could be made available to the authorities.”

In 2006, however, Google was the only major search engine to reject a U.S. Justice Department subpoena to hand over data, saying the demand violated the privacy of users’ searches and its own trade secrets.

Rivals Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc complied. Startpage does not keep information about its users on file, so it could not be forced to hand anything over.

Startpage says it has been profitable for the last five years. It is funded by advertising including sponsored links that are matched to the content of Websites and searches, but not to user profiles.

Startpage, which was founded in New York and is owned by private Dutch company Surfboard Holding BV, does not publish user numbers but says it had served over 1.2 billion searches as of December 2009.

It also competes with Infospace’s Dogpile, WebCrawler and MetaCrawler in metasearch, or returning results from multiple search engines. It is also exploring ways to offer private email. —Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO: After just an hour with an iPad, I came away with a pre- said the $499-and-up iPad is “so much more intimate than a laptop and so liminary verdict: Despite some flaws, this is one slick device. Steve Jobs much more capable than a smart phone.” The comparison to an iPhone makes intrigued me in his slow, showman-like presentation Wednesday when he sense, given the minimalist silver-and-black style of the iPad. The first thing I wanted to do when I held it was browse the Web and check out the iPad’s on-screen keyboard.

My favorite Web sites looked great on its crisp screen, which is 9.7 inches (24.6 centimeters) on the diagonal — while the iPhone is just 3.5 inches (8.9 centimeters). When you hold the iPad with the wider side down, in landscape mode, it’s nearly big enough for touch typing — an improvement over the virtual buttons that can sometimes cause typing errors on the iPhone.

As on the iPhone, the iPad’s screen is extremely responsive to finger swipes and taps, which made it easy to scroll through Web sites like Facebook and select photos and articles I wanted to read on news sites. It also seems like it would be a great way to read a book, curled up on my couch. The iPad comes with Apple’s new iBook software, which opens up to reveal a realistic-looking wooden bookshelf stocked with all the titles in your e-book collection.

Click on a book cover, and the book will open. You can read SAN FRANCISCO: In this Jan. 27, 2010 file photo, the iPad is shown after it was unveiled at the Moscone one page at a time in portrait Center in San Francisco. —AP mode, or, turn the iPad to either side and it will show you two pages of text. The screen is sharp and the pages turn crisply, more like a real book than on electronic ink screens found on devices like the mass-into its component sugPARIS: Gene scientists have for example, it must be distilled cost,” Keasling explained.

Kindle.

In addition, “the biodiesel is ars. coaxed bacteria into eating agri- from a fermentation broth.

Like Amazon.com Inc. did “The importance of this But biologists in the United insoluble in water, which means cultural waste and secreting for its Kindle, Apple is rolling diesel, offering a potentially States say they have invented a that it forms a separate phase development is that the organout its own online bookstore, cheaper, greener energy source genetically-engineered version when it is secreted from the ism can produce the fuel from a iBookstore, that can be used to than present-day biofuels, a of a humble bacterium called engineered E. coli-it floats to very inexpensive sugar supdownload books straight to the Escherichia coli that could pro- the top as any oil would. This ply,” said Keasling. study released recently said. iPad. More than 7.6 billion litres Soaring demand for the cur- vide a cheaper, more effective also saves on processing costs.”

I had fun checking out videos The study, published in the (two billion gallons) of biofuels rent mainstay source for alternative. and photos on the iPad, too.

It feasts on the simple sug- British science journal Nature, were consumed worldwide last biodiesels-corn, sugar and other You can watch high-definition starchy crops-has caused the ars found in wood chips, straw is a “proof-of-concept” piece of year, and demand continues to clips on YouTube, and they increase. prices of some staple foods to and other biomass waste and research. looked great magnified on the Finally, the study showed It did not detail any potential soar as farmland is turned over secretes molecules of fuel. iPad’s screen. It was simple to “We incorporated genes that environmental impacts or esti- that with “just a few genetic to fuel crops, and worsened scroll through photos, and I manipulations” the malleable enabled production of biodiesel mates of costs. deforestation. could imagine enjoying sharing Keasling, though, said the microbe can produce two other Some researchers also doubt directly,” lead author Jay a slideshow with accompanying were significant classes of chemicals-fatty alcowhether there is a significant Keasling of Lawrence Berkeley findings music piped out of the iPad’s Laboratory in enough to warrant commercial hols and aldehydes-used to net reduction in emissions of National small built-in speakers. greenhouse gases, given the California said in an email to products within one or two make soaps, detergents, cosA glance at the device’s years, provided further increas- metic additives, scents and inputs needed from fossil fuels, AFP. music player showed a simpleflavouring compounds.

“The engineered E. coli es on yield are met. in ploughing, fertilising, harlooking interface that was easy E. coli exists naturally-in The researchers further vesting and processing and so secretes the biodiesel from the to navigate. I probably wouldn’t cell, which means that we don’t engineered E. coli to secrete some strains, it notoriously on, to make biofuel. use an iPad as my main music One problem is that oil from need to break open the cell to enzymes that would degrade causes food poisoning-and is player — I’m guessing it wouldimportant commonly used in industrial plants must first be chemically get the diesel out. This saves hemicellulose-an n’t do well strapped to my arm transformed. To purify ethanol, substantially on processing component of cellulosic bio- microbiology. —AFP during a run — but I would like to use it to listen to music while reading a book.

I quickly noticed some limitations, though. The iPad’s operating software is based on that of the iPhone, so it, too, does not support Flash animation. This means you can’t watch videos on some Web sites like Hulu - a big negative for something with such a pretty screen.

And the pretty screen can’t make everything look great.

Apple said that nearly any of the more than 140,000 applications available through its App Store will work on the iPad, and you can either view them in their original small size in the center of the screen or magnified. I tried the magnified version on several apps and it was simply too pixelated to bear.

If you want to use a keyboard with the iPad for, say, writing the next great American novel, you’ll have to buy a special keyboard that doubles as a charging dock (Apple announced this accessory but did not reveal its price or availability). Overall, though, I was impressed by the iPad in the short time we had SAO PAULO: Brazilian Omar Majzoub, 22, student of computer networking, watches US serial ‘Lost’ on his together. I can’t yet say if I’ll be computer, stylized and assembled by himself, at the world’s biggest online electronic entertainment event called among the first in line to buy ‘Campus Party’, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. All six thousands pre-registrated internet users are gathering for a weekone, but I’m definitely looking long annual event to share ideas, experiences and all types of activities related to computers, communications forward to playing with it some and new technology. —AFP more. —Agencies

Gene-altered bugs make biodiesel

HEALTH & SCIENCE

28

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Endangered animals get new lease of life in Singapore SINGAPORE: Sporting spiked hair and silver earrings, Samuel Tay hardly looks like a typical midwife.

The 25-year-old zookeeper beams with quiet pride as he watches over his “babies”-row upon row of snakes bred for Singapore’s popular zoo.

“These are my kids. Why do I need kids when I have so many already?” he told AFP, gesturing to tanks where newborn reptiles, including some from highly endangered species, receive tender loving care.

From jaguars and chimpanzees to Komodo dragons and manatees, heavily urbanised Singapore is gaining a

reputation as a successful nursery for some of the world’s rarest animals.

With a breeding programme for 315 species, around one in six of which are threatened, the Singapore Zoo is seeing a steady stream of locally born additions to its collection, currently numbering more than 2,500 animals.

Tay, a zoologist by training, is one of Singapore’s frontline warriors in the battle against animal extinction, and visitors from around the world help fund the campaign.

The Singapore Zoo and its attached Night Safari, dedicated to

nocturnal animals, each welcomes more than a million visitors a year.

Last year, 142 animals were born in the zoo, 32 of which were threatened species, officials said.

Experts from Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), the operator of the city-state’s zoo, night safari and bird park, do not rely on Mother Nature for results.

“We are very pragmatic, in the sense that if we need to make things happen, we will go all out to make things happen,” said the group’s assistant director of zoology Biswajit Guha.

The latest star of the programme is a baby Komodo dragon hatched in December-the first born in an Asian zoo outside the giant lizard’s native Indonesia.

The hatchling was the culmination of three years of effort by zookeepers watching over every step of its parents’ courtship and mating to make sure everything went as planned, said Tay. “It’s always supervised contact, we never leave them alone together,” he said.

This interventionist approach is extended to other creatures at

Singapore’s wildlife attractions, including the Jurong Bird Park, another major tourist draw.

“We don’t take a wait-and-see approach. We will give it a certain amount of time for the animals to decide for themselves if they do want to mate, but if things don’t go right, then we usually come in,” Guha said.

Aside from making enclosures look and feel like native habitats, cutting-edge technology and scientific methods are deployed to make sure animals mate with the best possible partners at the most opportune time.

They include matching viable

females with genetically superior males using semen analysis and monitoring the females’ fertility cycles through regular ultrasound testssomething that not all zoos can afford to do.

“Diagnostic facilities are not cheap,” noted senior veterinarian Abraham Mathew. “You need the manpower and you need the expertise to do this. All zoos actually want to do this type of work, but whether they can do it or not would depend on their management,” he said.

A mobile ultrasound machine used by the zoo costs around 20,000

Singapore dollars (14,200 US) and includes an expensive probe that allows veterinarians to accurately check female animals’ fertility out in the field.

Such resources have helped make the city state a breeding hub for threatened animals, said Guha.

Zoo staff hope a pair of pandas to be loaned by China will produce offspring in the coming years.

“For us, captive populations form an insurance population, so it is our objective to make sure that there are sustainable numbers in captivity,” Guha said. —AFP

Parents encounter great difficulties in obtaining access to their children

Eight countries press Japan on parental abductions

TOKYO: Accompanied by ambassadors and diplomats from other countries, French Ambassador to Japan Philippe Faure (3rd L) speaks with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada (unseen) at the beginning of their talks at the foreign mimistry yesterday. Envoys of eight countries in Tokyo met with Okada, pressing the government to sign a treaty to prevent international parental child abductions. L-R: British Ambassador David Worren, Australian Ambassador Murray McLean, French Ambassador Philippe Faure, interpreter, New Zealand Ambassador Ian Kennedy, US Ambassador John Roos and Canadian Acting Ambassador Robert Derouin. —AFP

New US rules set parity for mental health care WASHINGTON: Employer-provided group health plans must offer the same level of coverage for mental illness and drug abuse treatment as for other ailments, according to federal regulations issued on Friday.

The measures, known as mental health parity, ban group health plans from applying different coverage standards for mental health disorders or substance abuse treatment than those for general medical treatment or surgery.

“The rules we are issuing today will, for the first time, help assure that those diagnosed with these debilitating and sometimes life-threatening disorders will not suffer needless or arbitrary limits on their care,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

Some 150 million Americans are enrolled in employer-provided group health insurance plans, the government says. The

new rules, which stem from a bill passed by Congress in 2008, exempt group plans covering 50 or fewer workers.

Under the parity system, group plans that offer mental health and substance abuse treatment cannot charge higher deductibles or place different limits on frequency of treatment than they would for medical and surgical care.

“These rules expand on existing protections to ensure that people don’t face unnecessary barriers to the treatment they need,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin.

The rules could take effect as early as July 1, after federal agencies review comments from the public, industry and other interested parties.

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, a Washington-based advocacy group, said the regulations begin the final chapter in an effort to ensure that Americans with mental illness have equal

access to health care.

“Now people in need won’t have to go without treatment because of discriminatory insurance policies,” president and chief executive Linda Rosenberg said in a statement.

The rules will implement the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.

The law is named for the late Democratic Senator Wellstone, who was a strong advocate of equal treatment of benefits, and former Republican Senator Domenici, who first introduced parity legislation in 1992.

The late Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy was another driving force behind the bill Congress passed after a decade-long effort by advocates for the mentally ill who said insurers often shortchanged people with conditions ranging from depression to schizophrenia. —Reuters

DALLAS: In this Jan. 4, 2010 photo, pastor Matt Chandler receives radiation treatment for brain cancer in Dallas. Chandler, a rising star in evangelical Christianity, is used to preaching to 6,000 people. But these days, he spends time each day at a hospital, hands crossed over his chest, wearing a special mask that keeps his head still as a radiation machine delivers the highest possible dose to his brain cancer. He wants to grow old, to see his children grow up. Whatever happens, he says, is God’s will. For Chandler, that does not mean waiting for his fate. It means fighting for his life. —AFP

TOKYO: Envoys of eight countries met the Japanese foreign minister yesterday to press the government to sign a treaty to prevent international parental child abductions.

Activists say that thousands of foreign parents have lost access to children in Japan, where the courts virtually never award child custody to a divorced foreign parent.

Japan is the only nation among the Group of Seven industrialised nations that has not signed the 1980 Hague Convention that requires countries to return a child wrongfully kept there to their country of habitual residence.

In the latest move to urge Tokyo to sign the convention, envoys from Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and the United States expressed their concerns to Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.

The ambassadors visited the foreign ministry to “submit our concerns over the increase of international parental abduction cases involving Japan and affecting our nationals,” they said in a joint statement.

“Currently the leftbehind parents of children abducted to or from Japan have little hope of having their children returned,” said the statement.

Such parents “encounter great difficulties in obtaining access to their children and exercising their parental rights and responsibilities,” it said.

“This is a very serious issue, to which we have to find a solution,” said Okada as he received the delegation including French ambassador Philippe Faure and US envoy John Roos.

“This comes from the different legal systems between Japan and the countries of North America and Europe,” Okada said.

The envoys’ visit to Okada followed their meeting with Justice Minister Keiko Chiba in October, as they hope Japan’s new centre-left government, which ended a half-century of conservative rule in September, will review the issue.

Activist groups estimate that over the years up to 10,000 dual-citizenship children in Japan have been prevented from seeing a foreign parent.

The United States has said it has listed cases of more than 100 children abducted by a parent from the United States and taken to Japan.

Japanese courts usually award child custody in divorce cases to just one parent, usually the mother, rather than reaching joint custody agreements with parental visitation rights.

Japanese courts also habitually side with the Japanese parent in an international custody disputesometimes even awarding a child’s Japanese grandparents custody rights over a foreign parent. —AFP

SINGAPORE: Photo taken on January 13, 2010 shows a white tiger roaming around within its enclosure at the zoological garden in Singapore. Sporting spiked hair and silver earrings in each ear, Samuel Tay hardly looks like a typical midwife.

The 25-year-old Singaporean zookeeper beams with quiet pride as he watches over his “babies” — row upon row of snakes bred by Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), operator of the city-state’s popular zoo and bird park. —AFP

‘Club drug’ ecstasy risky for healthy youth: Study LONDON: The so-called “club drug” ecstasy is more likely than other stimulants like speed or crystal meth to kill young, healthy people who are not known as regular drug users, British researchers said on Friday.

A study of stimulant-deaths in Britain between 1997 and 2007 found that those who died after taking ecstasy were mainly younger and healthier than those who died after taking amphetamines.

Fabrizio Schifano of the University of Hertfordshire, who led the study, said his results were worrying because they appeared to show young people are particularly vulnerable to ecstasy-and this age group is the most likely to take it.

“This is a big public health concern,” he said in a telephone interview.

Schifano used data from the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths database and the British Crime Survey. He found 832 people died from taking amphetamines and methylamphetamines, such as speed and

crystal meth, over the 11 year study period, while 605 deaths were related to ecstasy.

Deaths from ecstasy were more common in “victims who were young, healthy, and less likely to be known as drug users”, he wrote in the study in the Neuropsychobiology journal.

Schifano said the results suggested young people aged between 16 to 24 “seem to suffer extreme consequences after excessive intake of ecstasy”, but it was not clear why.

“Ecstasy and amphetamines are very similar-they are part of the same pharmacological group,” Schifano said. “But ecstasy does seem to show an intrinsic toxicity that is higher than that of amphetamines.”

Schifano said it may be that young peoples’ brains, which are still developing at the age of 16 and 17, are more vulnerable to the effects of the drug.

Ecstasy is currently ranked in Britain as one of the most dangerous Class A drugs, alongside heroin and cocaine. —Reuters

Running shoeless is better PARIS: If running is your thing, you may want to throw away those pricey sports shoes and just do it barefoot, according to a study released recently.

Three-quarters of runners who wear shoes land squarely on their heelsabout 1,000 times for every mile run.

But even well-cushioned sports shoes that help distribute weight across the foot cannot fully absorb the shock of these blows: 30 to 75 percent of regular runners each year suffer repetitive stress injuries.

By contrast, the vast majority of unshod runners don’t hit the ground with their heels, landing instead on the sides or balls of their feet, the study found.

The practice is especially common in several east African countries where long-distance running is nearly a national past time.

In 1960, for example, a shoeless Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the 1960 Olympics marathon in record time.

By not “heel-striking,” barefoot runners avoid painful and potentially damaging impacts that concentrate the equivalent of two or three times one’s body weight on to a coinsized surface.

“People who don’t wear

shoes when they run have an astonishingly different strike,” said Daniel Lieberman, a professor at Harvard University and lead author of the study.

“By landing on the middle or front of the foot, barefoot runners have almost no impact collision,” he said in a press release.

The merits of shoelessness are hotly debated in specialty magazines and online forums, and major manufacturers have started to make thin-as-skin shoes in anticipation of new markets.

But up to now, there has been little scientific evidence supporting the claim that barefoot is better.

Lieberman and colleagues helped fill this void by studying the gaits of three groups of runners in the United States and Kenya: barefoot, shod, and those who had converted to shoeless running.

“Most people today think that barefoot running is dangerous and hurts, but actually you can run barefoot on the world’s hardest surfaces without the slightest discomfort and pain,” the study found.

“All you need is a few calluses to avoid roughing up the skin of the foot.”

But making the switch to barefoot running is not

simply a matter of kicking off one shoes, the authors caution.

Running unshod or in so-called “minimal shoes” requires the use of different muscle groups. “If you’ve been a heel-striker all your life, you have to transition slowly to build strength in calf and foot muscles,” Lieberman said.

The study, published in the British science journal Nature, also bolsters evidence suggesting the human foot evolved for rapid upright motion, said William Lungers, a professor at Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York.

“Bipedalism”-walking on two feet-”has been around for millions of years, and we have been unshod for more than 99 percent of that time,” he wrote in a commentary, also in Nature.

A radical reshaping of the foot about two million years ago, including shorter toes and a fully-arched foot, probably occurred to enhance our ability to move quickly over sustained periods.

“Our endurance running abilities may have evolved to enable our ancestors to engage in ‘persistence hunting’,” the ability, in other words, to run down one’s prey, he said. —AFP

WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

30

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Embassy information EMBASSY OF SRI LANKA The Embassy of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka will celebrate the 62nd Anniversary of Sri Lanka’s National Day at the Embassy premises at 8:30 am on 04.02.2010. The ceremony will include the hoisting of the national flag, reading of National Day messages, remembrance of national heroes, religious ceremonies followed by a reception. All Sri Lankan nationals and wellwishers are cordially invited for the event. Sri Lanka Embassy - Block-l0, Jabriya, Kuwait.

(Tel. 25339140, 25339150) EMBASSY OF KENYA

KES students enjoy trip to Italian circus F

or the fourth consecutive year, Kuwait English School Preparatory Department enjoyed an exciting trip to the Italian Circus at Shaab Park. Staff and students were thrilled by the performances, which included both the old fantastic favourites and some fabulous new attractions.

All 16 classes in KES Prep.

Department, 9 from KG and 7 from Reception, boarded the school buses and put on their seat belts for the trip from Salwa. All the children were wearing their green PE kit, which kept them warm on the chilly morning.

Mrs Iwona said she appreciated circus staff coming to welcome KES to the premises. “It was very organised”, she said. Ms Lana, Arabic teacher, agreed.

Nurse Ivy Laughton took lovely photos.

“The kids had a magical time. They enjoyed the clowns and the trapeze artists”, said Reception Year Leader Mrs Richmond. Mrs Kelly joined in the antics when the clown confiscated her handbag, which disappeared. The ringmaster jogged his memory, and the clown produced the bag from inside his trousers and planted an apologetic kiss on Mrs Kelly’s cheek.

“I thought that the trapeze artist was beautiful. She had so much trust and confidence in her,” said Mrs Barbara. “I loved

Greetings

the littlle poodles. They had as much fun as we did”.

“I thought it was good,” said Mrs Doris.

“A little bit of relaxation from a hectic school day. The children enjoyed the show”.

“My class were very very well behaved. The whole department was”, said Ms Lorraine. “They changed the show. My children were interested in the juggler, the snakes and the crocodiles,” she added.

“I saw a very big white snake” said Abdulwahab Al Ragem. The children enjoyed their snack during the break, while the circus hands erected the tiger caging.

“It was very good” said Mrs Jeniffer, adding that all the kids loved the tigers.” It was very enjoyable. They certainly liked the tigers” said Mrs Sarah. “I liked the tigers because they were so brave” said Yousef Khaleeli, a student in Mrs Zara’s class. Mrs Zara’s children remembered seeing three tigers, three crocodiles, two snakes, lots of dogs, two horses, a pony and a monkey. Sohail said he liked the monkey riding the pony. “I want to go with the horse and ride”, he said.

“It was nice. The children really enjoyed it” said KG Year Leader Mrs Kismet. “I wish there had been more animals for the children”.

Kuwait TDP release New Year calendar n occcasion of membership enrollment, NRI Telugu Desam Party (TDP) prepared a 2010 calendar and released it yesterday.

They have distributed it to all the Telugu people who reside in Kuwait.

Kuwait NRI Telugu Desam Party leaders Daruru Balaram, G Ramakrushnam Naidu, M Chandra Sekhar Naidu, Y Venkata Sudhakar, K Rangaiah Naidu, Gulf Nandamuri Fans Association office bearers Darla Srinivasaachari, S Mubarak, Medamalli Srinu, B Subba Reddy, D Kishor Chowdary, Eswaraiah, S Mahaboob Bhasha, Srinivasulu, P Gopala Krishnam Naidu, K Uma Maheswar, P Murali played an important role at the event.

Activity Day at JIS

t was a fun filled day of ‘Sandwich Making’ for the Upper K .G. children of Jabriya Indian School during their Activity Week. Children were happy and excited when teachers made fresh sandwiches for them in class and served them with love and affection while explaining why sandwiches are good for health and how a good breakfast activates our brains. This activity taught them sharing, togetherness and healthy food habit indeed!

I

Bangladesh Awami Seschsa Sebak League

H

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

o

appy birthday Mrs Lilit Ezukam. May the good Lord bless you and your family Amen. Greetings from friends and well-wishers.

The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya is happy to inform the general public and visitors to Kenya of a reduction in the cost of tourist visas by 50%, continuing through all of 2010. Additionally, in recognition of the family travel segment, Kenya is giving a complete waiver of visit fees to children aged 16 years and below. Visitors are urged to take this opportunity and experience unique Kenyan beach holidays on palm fringed, sandy beaches, safaris in the country’s famous national parks, and activity based tourism. For more information contact the Kenya Embassy located at Surra, block 6, Street 9, Villa No.3. Tel. 25353314/ 25353362 or visit the Mission’s websites www.kenyaembkuwait.com & www.magicalkenya.com. Official timings are 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Sundays through Thursdays.

angladesh Awami Seschsa Sebak League and Joybangla Sankskritik Oikkojote Kuwait chapter jointly have expressed there overwhelming satisfaction and offered prayer to Almighty Allah over the execution of long waited Bangabandhu murder trial verdict that lead five of eleven self confessed murderer to the gallows initially.

The somber celebration took place on 28th January at Gulshan hotel, Kuwait City. Bangladesh Awami Seschsasebak League Kuwait chapter General Secretary

B

Lak Miah has thoroughly presented the program and it was presided over by Mohammed Masud Karim The President of Awami Seschsasebak League, and Joybangla Sankskritik Oikkojote Kuwait chapter. Gallant freedom fighter Engineer Abdur Rab the chief patron of Awami Seschsasebak LeagueKuwait chapter and the founding president of Bangladesh Awami league Kuwait chapter attended the celebration as chief guest. A number of activists, followers of Bangabandhu attended the program.

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.

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

Sunday, January 31, 2010

WHAT始S ON IN KUWAIT

31

INFORMATION

32

Sunday, January 31, 2010 FIRE BRIGADE Operation Room 777 Al-Madena 22418714 Al-Shohada始a 22545171 Al-Shuwaikh 24810598 Al-Nuzha 22545171 Sabhan 24742838 Al-Helaly 22434853 Al-Fayhaa 22545051 Al-Farwaniya 24711433 Al-Sulaibikhat 24316983 Al-Fahaheel 23927002 Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh 24316983 Ahmadi 23980088 Al-Mangaf 23711183 Al-Shuaiba 23262845 Al-Jahra 25610011 Al-Salmiya 25616368

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw

For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 HOSPITALS Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha始a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

24874330/9 CLINICS

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

4892674

Al-Omariya

4719048

N.Kheitan

4710044

Rabiya

4732263

Fintas

3900322

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988 AIRLINES

PHARMACIES ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE Ahmadi

PHARMACY Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

ADDRESS Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

PHONE 23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Hawally

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554

EMERGENCY 112

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists: Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea Dr. Masoma Habeeb Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy Dr. Mohsen Abel Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly

25622444 25752222 25321171 25739999 25757700 25732223 25732223

Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT): Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners: Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists: Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Plastic Surgeons: Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf 22547272

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari Dr. Abdel Quttainah

22617700 25625030/60

Family Doctor: Dr Divya Damodar 23729596/23729581

Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr.

Zahra Qabazard Sohail Qamar Snaa Maaroof Pradip Gujare Zacharias Mathew

25710444 22621099 25713514 23713100 24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari 22635047 Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan 22613623/0 Gynaecologists & Obstetricians: Dr Adrian Harbe 23729596/23729581 Dr. Verginia s.Marin 2572-6666 ext 8321 Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan 22655539 Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami 25343406 Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly 25739272 Dr. Salem soso 22618787 General Surgeons: Dr. Abidallah Behbahani 25717111 Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer 22610044 Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher 25327148

Paediatricians: Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed 25340300

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi 25330060 Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah 25722290

(2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535 Dentists:

Dr Anil Thomas

3729596/3729581

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

Neurologists:

Internist, Chest & Heart: DR.Mohammes Akkad 24555050 Ext 210 Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Tel: 25339667 Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Consultant Cardiologist Tel: 2611555-2622555 Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri 25633324 Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

Internists, Chest & Heart: Dr. Adnan Ebil 22639939 Dr. Mousa Khadada 22666300 Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan 25728004 Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra 25355515 Dr. Mobarak Aldoub 24726446 Dr Nasser Behbehani 25654300/3

Physiotherapists & VD: Dr. Deyaa Shehab 25722291 Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees 22666288

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly 25322030 Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Endocrinologist: Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman 25339330 Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari

25658888

Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr

25329924

Psychologists/Psychotherapists Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688 info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677 William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Kuwait Airways Wataniya Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines

22433377 24379900 177 22477631 22423888 22425747 22434940 22420002/9 22418064/5/6 22433388 22425635 22430224 22425566 22438184 22424444 22421578 22421516 22426306 22423073 22422493 22421044 22414427 22416474 22452977/8 22417901/2433141 22456700 22412284/5 22453820/1

INTERNATIONAL CALLS Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antiga Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Cyprus (Northern) Czech Republic Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (UK)

0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345 00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044

Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guyana Haiti Holland (Netherlands) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Ibiza (Spain) Iceland India Indian Ocean Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Liberia Libya Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia

00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594 00689 00241 00220 00995 0049 00233 00350 0030 00299 001473 00590 001671 00502 00224 00592 00509 0031 00504 00852 0036 0034 00354 0091 00873 0062 0098 00964 00353 0039 00225 001876 0081 00962 007 00254 00686 00965 00996 00856 00371 00961 00231 00218 00370 00352 00853 00389

Sunday, January 31, 2010

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ACCOMMODATION One room to let in a three bedroom flat in Khaitan on the airport avenue. Suitable for a Westerner ,a young couple or a single male high flying executive. Call 97850290 Sharing accommodation available for decent Indian bachelor at Salmiya near Edee store, rent KD 60.

Contact: 99838117, 25635450. (C 20264) Furnished single room accommodation available in a 2 bedroom and 2 bathroom flat for Muslim working lady in Farwaniya. Contact: 67056991. (C 20265) 31-1-2010 Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya. Only for Keralite couples and ladies bachelors. Contact: 97134824. (C 20258) Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya with Malayali family, for decent bachelor or couples. Contact: 66332875. (C 20262)

Sharing accommodation available in a C-A/C flat near Jabriya Indian school for decent family or working ladies, Jabriya, area 10.

Contact: 99606946.

(C 20257) 30-1-2010 Separate room available in Hawally Tunis street, Near Al Ghanim in 2 bedroom/bathroom C-A/C new flat with separate bathroom & balcony with family.

Contact: 99380453.

(C 20252) Furnished single room accommodation available in a flat for executive Muslim bachelor in Abbassiya, near Hi Dine supermarket. Contact: 99702105. (C 20254)

SITUATION VACANT

FOR SALE Toyota Camry, 1997 in excellent condition, registered until Jan 2011. Price KD 1,200 for interested buyers only. Call: 67056666.

remaining KD 1444, golden insurance. Call: 99820216.

(C 20260) 30-1-2010 Toyota Corolla, model 2006, golden color, very good condition, insured up to 11/2011, km only 80,000.

Price KD 3,000. Mobile: 99316392.

No: 14626

Required cook for house, good experience all kinds of food continental, good salary. Part time/ full time. Contact: 66519719, 23901053. (C 20261) 30-1-2010

MATRIMONIAL

Seat Toledo, model 2003, 1.6cc, mileage 81,000, good condition, owned by KFH, lease to own KD 56,

Toyota Corolla Xli 1.6L, model 2009, silver color, excellent condition, done 25,000 kms only, cash price KD 3,850.

Contact: 66211779. (C 20250)

Groom wanted for RC girl, 23, 5.4, from Ernakulam, MBA (HR & MKT), working as Assistant HR Manager in a reputed MNC, seeking alliance from Roman Catholic family, professionally qualified persons. Chavara matrimonial ID: er15509. Contact: mailzbnj@gmail.com (C 20263)

Jazeera Qatari Kuwait Kuwait Royal Jordanian Jazeera Emirates Gulf Air Saudi Arabian A/L Etihad Jazeera Arabia Jazeera Wataniya Airways Jazeera Sri Lankan United A/L Jazeera Wataniya Airways DHL Wataniya Airways Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Jazeera Kuwait Kuwait Indian Kuwait Kuwait Jet A/W Wataniya Airways Oman Air Saudi Arabian A/L Jazeera Gulf Air Kuwait Middle East Qatari Emirates Kuwait Jazeera Jazeera Global Jazeera Jazeera Egypt Air Egypt Air Shaheen Air Lufthansa Wataniya Airways Wataniya Airways Wataniya Airways Pakistan

Damascus Doha Dhaka Alexandria Amman Dubai Dubai Bahrain Riyadh Abu Dhabi Amman Sharjah Deirezzor Beirut Riyadh Colombo/Dubai Washington Dc Dulles Bahrain Cairo Baghdad Dubai Cairo Dubai Doha Paris/Rome Dubai Bahrain Riyadh Chennai/Goa New York/London Amman Mumbai Jeddah Muscat Jeddah Damascus Bahrain Jeddah Beirut Doha Dubai Beirut Doha Bahrain Baghdad Abu Dhabi Dubai Cairo Luxor Lahore/Karachi Frankfurt Amman Dubai Bahrain Karachi

Departure Flights on Sunday 31/01/2010 Airlines Flt Route Time Egypt Air 607 Luxor 00:01 Jazeera 0528 Assiut 00:05 India Express 390 Mangalore/Kozhikode 00:30 United A/L 981 Washington Dc Dulles 00:40 Tunis Air 328 Tunis 01:00 Indian 982 Ahmedabad/Chennai 01:05 Pakistan 206 Lahore 01:10 Bangladesh 044 Dhaka 01:15 Lufthansa 637 Frankfurt 01:20 Safi A/W 216 Kabul 02:30 Kuwait 283 Dhaka 02:55 Turkish A/L 1173 Istanbul 03:15 DHL 371 Bahrain 03:15 Emirates 854 Dubai 03:50 Etihad 0306 Abu Dhabi 04:10 Ethiopian 622 Addis Ababa 04:15 Qatari 0139 Doha 05:00 Air France 6770 Dubai/Hong Kong 06:20 Jazeera 0164 Dubai 07:00 Wataniya Airways 1020 Dubai 07:00 Royal Jordanian 803 Amman 07:05 Jazeera 0524 Alexandria 07:20 Wataniya Airways 2000 Cairo 07:30 Jazeera 0112 Abu Dhabi 07:35 Jazeera 0446 Doha 07:40 Gulf Air 212 Bahrain 07:45 Wataniya Airways 1120 Bahrain 07:50 Jazeera 0422 Bahrain 07:55 Wataniya Airways 2300 Damascus 08:10 Kuwait 545 Alexandria 08:30 Jazeera 0256 Beirut 08:35 British 0156 London 08:55 Jazeera 0170 Dubai 09:00 Kuwait 671 Dubai 09:00 Kuwait 551 Damascus 09:10 Jazeera 0456 Damascus 09:25 Arabia 0122 Sharjah 09:35 Emirates 856 Dubai 09:40 Kuwait 117 New York 10:00 Qatari 0133 Doha 10:00 Etihad 0302 Abu Dhabi 10:20 Kuwait 173 Frankfurt/Geneva 10:20 Wataniya Airways 2002 Cairo 11:30 Gulf Air 214 Bahrain 11:40 Kuwait 743 Dammam 11:55 Kuwait 541 Cairo 12:00 Jazeera 0172 Dubai 12:00 Wataniya Airways 2100 Beirut 12:05 Jazeera 0366 Deirezzor 12:20 Jazeera 0238 Amman 12:25 Kuwait 103 London 12:30 Iran Air 618 Lar 12:50

1992 model Cressida Gl, excellent condition, price KD 600. Tel: 99687598.

Flight Schedule Arrival Flights on Sunday 31/01/2010 Airlines Flt Route Jazeera 0263 Beirut Tunis Air 327 Tunis/Dubai Wataniya Airways 2011 Sharm El Sheikh Royal Jordanian 802 Amman Wataniya Airways 2103 Beirut Gulf Air 211 Bahrain Kuwait 544 Cairo Jazeera 0513 Sharm El Sheikh Turkish A/L 1172 Istanbul DHL 370 Bahrain Jazeera 0241 Amman Emirates 853 Dubai Etihad 0305 Abu Dhabi Qatari 0138 Doha Ethiopian 622 Addis Ababa/Bahrain Air France 6770 Paris Jazeera 0503 Luxor Jazeera 0527 Alexandria Kuwait 416 Jakarta/Kuala Lumpur Jazeera 0529 Assiut Jazeera 0481 Sabiha British 0157 London Kuwait 352 Cochin Kuwait 206 Islamabad Jazeera 0161 Dubai Kuwait 302 Mumbai Kuwait 676 Dubai Kuwait 362 Colombo Emirates 855 Dubai Kuwait 286 Chittagong Arabia 0121 Sharjah Qatari 0132 Doha Etihad 0301 Abu Dhabi Gulf Air 213 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 1121 Bahrain Jazeera 0447 Doha Jazeera 0165 Dubai Jazeera 0425 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 1021 Dubai Jazeera 0113 Abu Dhabi Iran Air 619 Lar Middle East 404 Beirut Yemenia 825 Sanaa Pakistan 239 Sialkot Egypt Air 610 Cairo Jazeera 0171 Dubai Kuwait 672 Dubai Wataniya Airways 2301 Damascus Jazeera 0525 Alexandria Jazeera 0257 Beirut Wataniya Airways 2001 Cairo Kuwait 552 Damascus Kuwait 744 Dammam

Time 00:05 00:10 00:15 00:35 00:50 01:05 01:15 01:25 02:15 02:15 02:30 02:35 03:00 03:25 03:30 04:35 05:35 06:10 06:25 06:30 06:35 06:40 07:40 07:40 07:45 07:55 08:10 08:20 08:30 08:35 08:55 09:00 09:35 10:45 10:45 11:00 11:05 11:10 11:20 11:20 11:50 11:55 12:35 12:50 12:55 13:05 13:25 13:35 14:05 14:10 14:20 14:35 14:40

0457 0134 284 546 800 0173 857 215 510 0303 0239 0125 0367 2101 0497 227 982 0427 2003 473 1025 542 674 618 166 0177 614 774 575 102 562 572 1201 0647 506 0459 217 786 402 0136 859 502 0449 0429 081 0117 0185 612 606 441 636 2201 1029 1129 215

14:45 15:00 15:10 15:30 15:40 16:05 16:55 17:05 17:15 17:15 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:50 18:00 18:05 18:15 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:50 18:55 18:55 19:00 19:05 19:20 19:30 19:30 19:35 19:40 20:05 20:15 20:20 20:35 20:40 21:05 21:10 21:20 21:35 22:00 22:00 22:10 22:15 22:20 22:25 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:05 23:30 23:40 23:45 23:55 23:55

FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION 161

Middle East Yemenia Pakistan Egypt Air Wataniya Airways Kuwait Kuwait Jazeera Jazeera Wataniya Airways Jazeera Jazeera Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Royal Jordanian Qatari Gulf Air Etihad Emirates Arabia Jazeera Saudi Arabian A/L Jazeera Jazeera Wataniya Airways Jazeera Global Jazeera Wataniya Airways Sri Lankan Wataniya Airways Kuwait Kuwait Wataniya Airways Jet A/W Oman Air Kuwait Gulf Air Saudi Arabian A/L DHL Kuwait Middle East Jazeera Qatari Kuwait Emirates Jazeera Jazeera Egypt Air Jazeera Kuwait

405 825 240 611 1024 673 561 0496 0176 1200 0426 0458 617 785 501 773 613 801 0135 216 0304 858 0126 0262 511 0184 0116 2200 0448 082 0428 2102 228 1028 361 343 1128 571 0648 331 218 507 171 675 403 0188 0137 301 860 0636 0526 613 0502 411

Beirut Doha/Sanaa Sialkot Cairo Dubai Dubai Amman Riyadh Dubai Jeddah Bahrain Damascus Doha Jeddah Beirut Riyadh Bahrain Amman Doha Bahrain Abu Dhabi Dubai Sharjah Beirut Riyadh Dubai Abu Dhabi Amman Doha Baghdad Bahrain Beirut Dubai/Colombo Dubai Colombo Chennai Bahrain Mumbai Muscat Trivandrum Bahrain Jeddah Bahrain Dubai Beirut Dubai Doha Mumbai Dubai Aleppo Alexandria Cairo Luxor Bangkok/Manila

12:55 13:35 13:40 13:55 14:25 14:30 14:35 14:40 15:05 15:10 15:25 15:30 15:35 15:45 16:10 16:10 16:20 16:25 16:30 17:55 18:00 18:10 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:40 18:50 18:50 19:00 19:05 19:15 19:30 20:20 20:50 21:00 21:10 21:20 21:25 21:55 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:20 22:30 22:35 22:45 23:10 23:20 23:25 23:45 23:50 23:55

SPECTRUM

34 CROSSWORD 886

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Calvin Aries (March 21-April 19) You have the ability to

turn a negative situation into a positive one with your insights. You will have a big influence within group meetings or with authority figures. Your emotional strength may come from your strong friendships. When a loved one comes to you with a quandary, ask them first what they consider the smart answer might be if a friend needed help with that same question. You will be helping them to help themselves and discover a good way to prevent an emotional overload for yourself. Your creative side is at a high this evening. This, along with the ability to put your thoughts into words, allows you to bewitch and transport others. Perhaps you have a story time around your household. Good for you—you encourage the young.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You will find trustworthy

people to help you with your ideas today. Your abilities in guiding groups may find you interested in helping a Scout group or in some volunteer group later today. If this does not fit your definition of a way you could help—find one for yourself. It is important to share your spirit and your knowledge in a volunteer program. Start out slowly but add additional days when you can. Albert Schweitzer once said that people that are happy serving others in some unconditional way. Others may find you especially witty and eccentric this evening. You may have insights or breakthroughs concerning your living situation or life circumstances. You find ways to be entertaining—no one is interested in the television.

Pooch Cafe

ACROSS 1. (Old Testament) The eldest son of Isaac who would have inherited the Covenant that God made with Abraham and that Abraham passed on to Isaac.

5. A federal agency established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products.

8. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

11. Harass with persistent criticism or carping.

12. A former agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United States.

13. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

14. A compact mass.

15. Nocturnal mouselike mammal with forelimbs modified to form membranous wings and anatomical adaptations for echolocation by which they navigate.

16. An interest followed with exaggerated zeal.

17. (informal) Being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition.

18. A public promotion of some product or service.

23. A rotating disk shaped to convert circular into linear motion.

25. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

30. Squash bugs.

34. Being ten more than one hundred ninety.

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

36. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

39. An enclosed space.

43. An ornamental jewelled headdress signifying sovereignty.

47. American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942).

48. A small cake leavened with yeast.

50. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet.

51. A metric unit of volume or capacity equal to 10 liters.

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

53. United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters.

DOWN 1. (used as a sentenced connector) Therefore or consequently.

2. United States virologist who developed the Salk vaccine that is injected against poliomyelitis (born 1914).

3. Relating to or containing the azo radical.

4. A member of a Turkic people of Uzbekistan and neighboring areas.

5. Extremely pleasing.

6. Lacking or deprive of the sense of hearing wholly or in part.

7. A legal document codifying the result of deliberations of a committee or society or legislative body.

8. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

9. Divulge information or secrets.

10. An informal term for a father.

19. 1/10 gram.

20. A benevolent aspect of Devi.

21. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

22. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

24. An associate degree in nursing.

26. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

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

28. Before noon.

29. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

31. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

32. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

33. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

37. A river that rises in western New Mexico and flows westward through southern Arizona to become a tributary of the Colorado River.

38. Precipitation of ice pellets when there are strong rising air currents.

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

41. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

42. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

44. The compass point that is one point south of due east.

45. (British) A waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric.

46. Call upon in supplication.

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

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

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You have a great deal of understanding and sensitivity to the needs of others and as usual, you may find yourself listening to a multitude of problems. If your schedule is tight, you might ask these people to meditate on how they would help others if someone came to them with the same problem—then come and talk again. More than likely, they will find the answer they need, as they will be thinking without frustration. Your communication abilities are easily understood and accurate. Where you have been and what you have acquired comes into play as you think about the future. You may have some psychic visions this afternoon. Stay in the moment and avoid the traps of worry, especially about things you cannot control.

Non Sequitur

Cancer (June 21-July 22) You will assert yourself with confidence today—others need your guidance.

People will listen and see the importance of doing things with your guidance. You stay up-to-date with the times as you constantly gain information through reading upto-date reports and through educated friends in the business world. You know a little about almost everything and you enjoy conversations that increase your information. This temporarily quenches your need for mental stimulation. This is one of the best days for work, love and passion. Take lunch with a friend or loved one today. Spend special, uninterrupted times with this a loved one each day—even if it is of short duration. Whatever it takes, begin a habit that will help to deepen your relationship now.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Wisely giving yourself time to think through tough situations at work will help you create some positive opportunities for growth.

You can demonstrate great understanding and sensitivity to the needs of others just now and you are in a good position to lead or guide others to a positive outcome.

Broadening your intellectual and spiritual horizons takes on a high priority. You are intent on seeing the big picture and getting to the point. You can bring this about through travel and further education.

Being in touch with ideas and people on a grand scale keeps your mind busy. This is a good money day. You use your common sense and help influence others.

Zits

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Your career will get a boost today and many doors of opportunity will openthere are lots of choices. Seemingly, all of a sudden— everything is going your direction. Now is when the energies to succeed are most active; moving forward with your goals is a good thing and possible and you should take advantage of every moment. Plan an excursion with your loved one/s soon; something that would create uninterrupted time together, such as time working together in camping or bicycling, touring or visiting a tourist attraction. This time presents the opportunity to talk and get to know each other’s dreams and hopes.

This evening is a good time to face unfinished business, calls you need to make, letters you need to write, etc.

Libra (September 23-October 22) Secondary jobs are as much a part of your life as a regular job routine.

Now that the holiday job opportunities are over, you may be looking for another type of second job. Setting up a small business in your home may take priority. Taking chances with your creativeness can bring big rewards your way. You could be lecturing or writing today—you will find that your ideas are easy to understand. Young people play a big part in this afternoon’s agenda. You are appreciated and admired for your thoughtful ways. New ways to communicate will bring a lift to your mental energies. Listen to the advice that a partner or loved one gives to you this evening. There may be some small adjustment to make that will help you work out some on-going problem now.

Mother Goose and Grimm

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) If you work for a large

company, you may want to find ways in which to influence the superiors to put in an exercise room in the building for the employees. You will be thinking along improvements in your health as well as some stress relief techniques for all.

This is a good workday with lots of interaction and problem solving successes. Insights and ideas come easily but may not find expression just yet. Writing down your thoughts is the best way to get a focus on your ideas. You can plan and express clear thoughts after a review of your notes. After some research, you will find answers that will help you complete a task that has been hanging. Friendships and involvement in group activities play an important part in your life now.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) An attitude of flexibility will help you to accomplish what you set out to accomplish today—especially with young people. Authority figures are watching and although you have not received much attention lately, do not think that you have been forgotten. Keep that sense of humor—you could turn an angry customer into one of your best advertisers.

Investment opportunities may be presented to you this afternoon. You may decide to make changes in your budget today; allowing you some different ways to invest. Before giving up any green colored paper, check out the credentials of this new company. Take some time to listen to those around you—at work and home. Tonight is important for sharing with loved ones.

Romantic plans can be made.

Yesterday’s Solution

Capricorn

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

(December

22-January

19)

Business partnerships need your concentration now. There are conferences, reviews, encouraging news and plans to be constructed. Plans could be written out each day and reviewed the next morning. Long-range and long-distance matters will be in focus soon so any plans along these lines can be coordinated soon. Social get-togethers can wait awhile so your concentration should be either on work or home; now is the time to do a bit of work.

Away from work, your relationships are important—other matters will grab your attention later. Create a comfortable area to converse and chat with those your love. Read, see a movie, update your paper work or clean the refrigerator—and all those things that you decided not to handle last year.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) There is some nervous frustration today that could make it difficult to make wise decisions in the work place just now. Work, achievement and ambition have a deep meaning for you now and you put a lot of effort into getting things organized and completed. Any difficult clients or coworkers are easier to experience than you think. You will be able to handle emotionally charged issues and may even be able to look at the lighter, more positive side of difficult situations. Consider a shopping trip today, but do not splurge as a way to vent your emotions.

Perhaps a friend would like to join you. Compare prices and you will be pleased with the results. With your batteries recharged, you may want to enjoy a movie this evening.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You may feel that you do not want to involve yourself in some moneymaking opportunity today. Others may make you feel that you may have made a mistake. Do not spend so much time wondering if you did the right thing—you did. Wait a day or so—you will have a better idea of how you want to invest your money. You will be clearing away old debts and paper work today. Anything that slows you from your goals may need to be reassessed or discarded. Clear thoughts about the past may be on your mind just now. This afternoon you will have a better focus on what you want to relate to others and goals for yourself.

You have support from your family for whatever you want to do at this time. Show people your lighter side this evening.

TV PROGRAMS

Sunday, January 31, 2010

35

Orbit listings / Show listings AMERICA PLUS 00:00 Cold Case 01:00 Janice Dickinson 02:00 ER 03:00 The Closer 04:00 One Tree Hill 05:00 Cold Case 06:00 GMA Recorded 07:00 Inside the Actors Studio 08:00 Cold Case 09:00 One Tree Hill 10:00 The Closer 11:00 Ally McBeal 12:00 One Tree Hill 13:00 The Closer 14:00 Ally McBeal 15:00 Inside the Actors Studio 16:00 GMA Live 17:00 Cold Case 18:00 One Tree Hill 19:00 ER 20:00 Law & Order 21:00 ER 22:00 Cold Case 23:00 Nip/Tuck ANIMAL PLANET 00:50 Night 01:45 Animal Cops Houston 02:40 Untamed & Uncut 04:30 Animal Cops South Africa 05:25 I’m Alive 06:20 Animal Cops Houston 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 The Snake Buster 14:40 Planet Earth 15:35 RSPCA: On the Frontline 16:30 Pet Rescue 17:25 Crime Scene Wild 18:20 Into the Pride 19:15 K9 Cops 20:10 Escape to Chimp Eden 21:10 Planet Earth 22:05 Untamed & Uncut 23:00 Into the Pride 23:55 Austin Stevens Adventures

17:10 18:00 18:10 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:10 22:00 22:15 22:30 U 23:00 23:10

Cambodia Surgical Ward - U Bbc World News - U The World Debate - U Bbc World News - U Reporters - U Bbc World News - U Talking Movies - U Bbc World News - U My Country - U Bbc World News - U Sport Today - U Middle East Business Report Bbc World News - U The World Debate - 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

02:30 Talkasia 03:00 World Report 04:00 World Business Today 04:30 World Sport 05:00 World Report 05:30 Worldview 06:00 World’s Untold Stories 06:30 International Correspondents 07:00 The Screening Room 07:30 World Sport 08:00 World Report 08:30 Best Of Backstory 09:00 World Report 09:30 The Screening Room 10:00 World Report 10:30 World Sport 11:00 World Report 11:15 Cnn Marketplace Middle East 11:30 Vital Signs 12:00 Political Mann 12:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: Global Edi 13:00 Larry King 14:00 World Report 14:30 World Sport 15:00 World’s Untold Stories 15:30 Inside Africa 16:00 Fareed Zakaria Gps 17:00 State Of The Union With John King 18:00 World Report 18:30 International Correspondents 19:00 Vital Signs 19:30 World Sport 20:00 Prism 20:45 Cnn Marketplace Middle East 21:00 African Voices 21:30 The Screening Room 22:00 World Report 22:30 World’s Untold Stories 23:00 Amanpour.

DISCOVERY CHANNEL 00:00 Time Warp 01:00 Mythbusters 02:00 Dirty Jobs 02:55 Brainiac 03:50 Smash Lab 04:45 Factory Made 05:10 Ultimate Survival

BBC ENTERTAINMENT 00:05 Carrie & Barry 00:35 Jack Dee: Live At The Apollo 01:20 The Fast Show 02:20 Little Britain 02:50 Green Green Grass 03:20 Massive 03:50 Carrie & Barry 04:20 Jack Dee: Live At The Apollo 05:05 The Fast Show 06:05 Canterbury Tales 06:55 Cash In The Attic 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 Doctors 14:30 A Year At Kew 15:30 Life In The Undergrowth 16:20 Sensitive Skin 17:20 Popcorn 18:15 The Weakest Link 19:00 Casualty 20:40 A Year At Kew 21:40 Life In The Undergrowth 22:30 The Whistleblowers 23:20 Goldplated BBC LIFESTYLE 00:30 Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes 01:20 Come Dine With Me 03:25 The Restaurant Uk 05:55 Ainsley’s Gourmet Express 08:05 Antiques Roadshow 09:45 Saturday Kitchen 10:45 Coleen’s Real Women 11:30 10 Years Younger 12:15 The Clothes Show 13:00 Saturday Kitchen 14:00 Living In The Sun 14:45 Coleen’s Real Women 15:30 10 Years Younger 16:20 The Clothes Show 17:05 It’s Not Easy Being Green 17:30 Ainsley’s Gourmet Express 19:10 Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes 20:50 Come Dine With Me 22:55 The Restaurant Uk BBC WORLD 00:00 Bbc World News - U 00:30 Talking Movies - U 01:00 Bbc World News - U 01:30 Newsnight - U 02:00 Bbc World News - U 02:30 Fast Track - U 03:00 Bbc World News - U 03:30 This Week - U 04:00 Bbc World News - U 04:10 The World Debate - U 05:00 Bbc World News - U 05:10 Cambodia Surgical Ward - U 06:00 Bbc World News - U 06:10 My Country - U 07:00 Bbc World News - U 07:30 Hardtalk - U 08:00 Bbc World News - U 08:30 India Business Report - U 09:00 Bbc World News - U 09:30 Fast Track - U 10:00 Bbc World News - U 10:10 The World Debate - U 11:00 Bbc World News - U 11:10 My Country - U 12:00 Bbc World News - U 12:30 Dateline London - U 13:00 Bbc World News - U 13:30 Talking Movies - U 14:00 Bbc World News - U 14:30 India Business Report - U 15:00 Bbc World News - U 15:30 Newsnight - U 16:00 Bbc World News - U 16:15 Sport Today - U 16:30 Fast Track - U 17:00 Bbc World News - U

04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:00 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

Jonas Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Little Einsteins 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 Mulan II 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 Pixel Perfect Hannah Montana The Suite Life of Zack & Cody The Replacements Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana

E! ENTERTAINMENT 00:15 Wildest Tv Show Moments 00:40 Ths 02:20 Sexiest 03:15 Ths 05:05 Dr 90210 06:00 Ths 07:45 25 Most Stylish 08:35 E! News 09:25 E!es 11:05 Ths 12:00 E! News 12:50 Thsc 13:40 E!es 15:25 Ths 17:10 Behind The Scenes 18:00 E! News 18:50 Ths 19:40 E!es 21:20 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 22:10 E! News 23:00 Perfect Catch 23:50 Reality Hell EXTREME SPORTS 00:00 Strikeforce 01:00 Strikeforce 02:00 Fim World Motocross Championships 2009 04:00 FIM World Supermoto 2008 05:00 F.I.A European Drag Racing 07:00 FIM World Supermoto 2008 08:00 F.I.A European Drag Racing 10:00 FIM World Motorcross MX3 Championships 2009 10:30 FIM World Motorcross MX3 Championships 2009 11:00 FIM World Supermoto 2008 12:00 X Games 15 2009 13:00 Disposable Hero 14:00 Breitling Airsports 2009 17:00 X Games 15 2009 18:00 FIM World Motorcross MX3 Championships 2009 18:30 FIM World Motorcross MX3 Championships 2009 19:00 Disposable Hero 20:00 United By Fate 21:30 Kenny Belaey’s Big Time 1 22:00 Kenny Belaey’s Big Time 2 22:30 Kenny Belaey’s Big Time 3 23:00 X Games 15 2009

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SUPER COMEDY 00:30 The Jay Leno Show 01:30 SNL 2009-2010 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 Simpsons 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 Simpsons 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 Drew Carey Show 20:00 Curb Your Enthusiasm 20:30 Two And A Half Men 21:30 SNL 2009-2010 23:00 Weeds 23:30 Jimmy Kimmel Live SUPER MOVIES 01:00 Franklyn - 18 03:00 Malice in Wonderland - FAM 05:00 Franklyn - 18 07:00 Winged Creatures - PG15 09:00 The Day the Earth Stood Still PG 11:00 Martian Child - PG 13:00 Taking Chance - PG 15:00 Star Wars: The Clone Wars PG 17:00 Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who - FAM 19:00 Momma’s Man - PG 21:00 Street Kings - PG15 23:00 Rendition - PG15 TCM 00:30 The Screening Room 01:00 Where Eagles Dare 03:30 Point Blank 05:00 The Screening Room 2009 05:30 Vampira (1975) 07:05 The Screening Room 08:00 The Big Sleep 09:50 Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm 11:55 It Happened at the World’s Fair 13:40 Cimarron 16:05 Where Eagles Dare 18:35 Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm 20:45 Some Came Running 23:00 Angels & Insects (1996) THE HISTORY CHANNEL 00:40 Surviving History 01:30 Surviving History 02:20 Surviving History 03:10 The Universe 04:00 Crap: A Short History 05:50 Ancient Discoveries 06:40 Surviving History 09:10 The Universe 10:00 Crap: A Short History 11:50 Ancient Discoveries 12:40 Surviving History 15:10 The Universe 16:00 Crap: A Short History 17:50 Ancient Discoveries 18:40 Surviving History 21:10 The Universe 22:00 Evolve 22:55 Dead Men’s Secrets 23:50 The Oracle Of Delphi THE STYLE NETWORK 00:00 Dr 90210 - PG 15 01:00 Clean House - PG 02:00 My Celebrity Home - PG 03:00 How Do I Look? - PG 03:50 Split Ends - PG 04:40 Clean House - PG 05:30 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

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09:00 FOX Report Saturday 10:00 Geraldo At Large with Geraldo Rivera 11:00 Huckabee with Mike Huckabee 12:00 FOX Report Saturday host Julie Banderas 13:00 Geraldo At Large with Geraldo Rivera 14:00 Glenn Beck with Glenn Beck 15:00 The Journal Editorial Report 15:30 Fox News Watch 16:00 FOX and Friends Sunday 17:00 FOX and Friends Sunday 18:00 FOX and Friends Sunday 19:00 America’s News HQ National Geographical Channel 20:00 D-Day:Men And Machine 1 21:00 Convoy - War For The Atlantic Death Blow 4 22:00 Adventure Wanted -White Water Challenge S1-6

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

he Brazilian supermodel delivered son Benjamin while submerged in water at the Beacon Hill penthouse, in Boston, which she shares with her American football star husband Tom Brady. She told Brazilian magazine Fantastico: “I gave birth in the bathtub.” Gisele delivered the tot on December 3 2009 and just weeks later the catwalk beauty has regained her incredible figure. The publication reports: “Gisele gives off simplicity, spirituality and shows that she is concerned with living well,

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Rihanna devastated by death of six-year-old girl

he ‘Umbrella’ singer helped find Jasmina Anema - who was diagnosed with NK cell leukaemia, a particularly aggressive and rare form of the cancer, 13 months ago - a compatible donor for her bone marrow transplant last year and is “heartbroken” after she lost her fight for life. Rihanna said: “I am incredibly heartbroken that Jasmina has passed away. She was such a brave and special child. She showed more strength and spirit than many adults I

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have met. I feel blessed that I was able to have her in my life, and know that through her example she has saved many lives. She was truly an angel on earth.” Jasmina was admitted to NYU Langone Medical Center after experiencing trouble breathing.

Doctors diagnosed her with having pneumonia in both lungs and her condition quickly deteriorated. Following her death, Jasmina’s mother posted a message on the twitter page she had set up for her daugh-

ter. She wrote: “At 10:55 on January 27th, after a long battle, Jasmina lost her fight with leukaemia. Thanks for all of your support.” After hearing about Jasmina’s plight last February, Rihanna got involved with charity DKMS Americas to help find a compatible bone-marrow donor for her. She was joined in her cause by singer Kelly Rowland and New York Governor David Paterson and they soon found a match before Jasmina had the surgery in June.

being happy and, now, with being an excellent mom.

She is in shape as always, weeks after the birth of her baby.” It was recently reported that Gisele, 29, was planning to cut back on her modeling work so she can focus on being a good mother and wife to Benjamin and Tom, 32, respectively. A source said: “With the exception of her few contracts, she’s definitely taking a break. Why not? She has tons of money and a rich, gorgeous husband she adores and she wants a large family and more children.”

Miley Cyrus to star in French film remake he 17-year-old actress has already been cast in the movie and is rumored to be appearing alongside 47-year-old Demi Moore. The original film - which starred former Bond girl Sophie Marceau -tells the story of a moth-

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appearance in ‘Sex and the City 2’ and this year she will appear in drama ‘The Last Song’ alongside her boyfriend Liam Hemsworth. Miley recently indicated she wanted to step away from being a teen idol. She said: “My job is to be a role

er and daughter struggling to maintain their relationship following a marriage breakdown. It is the latest in a string of movie roles Miley has landed which will move her into mainstream cinema following the success she enjoyed as the star of the ‘Hannah Montana’ franchise.

Last year, she filmed a cameo

model, and that’s what I want to do, but my job isn’t to be a parent. “My job isn’t to tell your kids how to act or how not to act, because I’m still figuring that out for myself. So to take that away from me is a bit selfish. “Your kids are going to make mistakes whether I do or not. That’s just life.”

he 62-year-old rocker - who is currently the guitarist for The Rolling Stones - will rejoin his old group in March as they start preparation for a 2011 tour. He told the Daily Star newspaper: “I want to reform my band The Faces. There’s a new line-up but it’s going to go really well. We’re going to start getting together in March to rehearse for shows next year.” The Faces was formed with members from two bands, the Small Faces and the Jeff Beck group, in 1969 and included singer Rod Stewart, keyboard player Ian McLagan, drummer Kenney Jones and Ronnie Lane on bass alongside Ronnie. They split in 1975. Ronnie has been itching to return to the stage and recently

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revealed he was planning on embarking on a solo tour, as his Rolling Stones bandmates have decided against scheduling any live dates for the foreseeable future. The musician’s work has been overshadowed by his turbulent personal life in recent months.

Last December, Ronnie split from his 21year-old waitress girlfriend Katia Ivanova.

Their 15-month romance - which began when he walked out on his wife of 23 years Jo Wood - ended after he was cautioned for common assault following a drunken public row between the pair. He said: “I’m getting so much attention all the time. It’s annoying to see myself in the papers practically every day.”

Kidman donates $250,000 to Haiti

he actress was one of five Hollywood stars to promise the earthquakestricken Caribbean island $50,000-a-year over the next five years to help the people of Haiti rebuild their lives.

Nicole’s ‘Nine’ co-star

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Penelope Cruz and her partner Javier Bardem - who are believed to be engaged - have committed to hand over the same large sum each. The ‘Bounty Hunter’ hunk Gerard Butler, ‘James Bond’ star Daniel Craig and ‘Milk’ actor

Sean Penn matched the monetary donation and have also pledged $250,000 of their earnings to the Artists for Peace and Justice’s Haiti relief fund.

The donations were made during a fund-raising bash held by filmmaker Paul Haggis - who also founded the charity. Paul who worked on ‘Terminator Salvation’, ‘Quantum of Solace’ and ‘Casino Royale’ - has pledged to spend every penny donated on emergency relief and on the purchase of muchneeded medical supplies. Since Haiti suffered two devastating earthquakes earlier this month, many of the world’s biggest stars have rallied around to help raise funds. Last week, Madonna, Beyonce Knowles and Tom Cruise joined George Clooney and other celebrities for a TV telethon appeal.

Sandra Bullockʼs husband hires pet detective

Ronnie Wood wants to reform his old band he ‘Blind Side’ actress and her biker spouse Jesse James - who wed in 2005 are so distraught their beloved pet dog Cinnabun is missing, they have enlisted the help of a pet recovery service. Colleen Busch, from pet detective agency Find Toto, told website E! Online: “I’m in contact with Sandra and Jesse all day. We’ve been going back and forth checking on tips.” As well as hiring a detective, the couple have started an online campaign to raise awareness of the missing mutt and help bring her home safely after she went missing from their home in Seal Beach, California. In a plea for information, Jesse - who runs West Coast Choppers motorcycle company - wrote on the company’s website: “We’ve had a few leads, but all dead ends so far, but the search is still definitely on.

She’s a great little dog, and we want to find her as soon as possible. “Please keep your eyes out for our little gal, she’s a light brown and white pit bull, 9 months old, cropped ears, full tail, hazel eyes. Last seen wearing a large pink collar near West Coast Choppers and Cisco Burger on Anaheim Street.” Jesse also offered a $2,000 reward to anyone who safely returns the pooch.

This is not the first time a celebrity has hired a pet detective to find a missing beloved animal.

Last year, Jessica Simpson also telephoned Find Toto after her dog Daisy was snatched by a coyote. Sadly the Maltipoo was never found.

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Elaine Paige thinks Susan Boyle is a ‘virus’ he musical singer - who recorded a track with Susan for her album and duetted with her on television special ‘I Dreamed A Dream: The Susan Boyle Story’ doesn’t feel any pride for Susan’s achievements just because she came from nowhere and conquered the charts. Speaking of Susan, Elaine, 61, said: “She was like a virus, really, that spread across the world in a nanosecond. “She is a girl with no experience of anything to do with theatrics, the music business, or art in any way. “I don’t particularly feel any pride for her - I’m sure she is proud of what she has done.” The criticism is bound to hurt Susan whose first appearance on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ was a YouTube sensation - all the more as she has maintained from her very first public audition that Elaine is her idol, and she has always aspired to be like her. Elaine added to the Daily Mail newspaper: “It’s all about turning someone into an immediate celebrity at the expense of longevity and working hard and experience. “Susan Boyle is doing terribly well considering she literally came to the attention of the world overnight with the advent of YouTube.” Elaine was also skeptical as to whether 48-year-old Susan who was the biggest selling artist of last year in the UK and the US, selling over five million copies of her debut album ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ can sustain her phenomenal success.

When asked if she thought the ‘Wild Horses’ singer will continue to ride high in the charts. Elaine said: “That’s a good question. She is a major star because of YouTube.

Longevity is gained through knowledge, experience and effort so it will remain to be seen. “When I started, YouTube didn’t exist but even then with 15 years of experience prior to my success with ‘Evita’ it was difficult, so I admire the way she handled her sudden success. “‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and ‘The X Factor’ just take a bunch of people from real life who think they can sing and try and turn them into overnight ‘stars’ with a couple of songs. It’s not entertainment.” —Bang Showbiz

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Malaysian Hindus celebrate colorful Thaipusam festival alaysian Indians pierced themselves with hooks and skewers yesterday as they celebrated a Hindu festival hailed as a show of religious freedom after a spate of attacks on places of worship. Huge crowds of devotees converged on the Batu Caves temple, a spectacular limestone cavern on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur that is expected to draw some 1.5 million people over the annual three-day Thaipusam festival.

Some devotees carried heavy ornate structures called kavadis as they walked up 272 steps to the temple, while hundreds of others had their tongues, cheeks, chests and backs pierced with hooks and skewers. While some worshippers walked quietly and recited prayers, others went into a religious trance, chanting and whirling as supporters held them back by ropes tied onto the hooks placed in long rows down their backs.

“We are here to fulfill our vows and to pray for peace for our country,” K Thana, a female devotee who carried a milk-pot offering, told AFP as she walked barefoot up to the temple with her mother. “I have been doing this for more than five years and for this year, I don’t think we are disturbed by the incidents that happened recently,” said the 38-year-old bank officer, clad in a yellow costume symbolizing purification.

Nineteen people have so far been arrested for their roles in the attacks on churches, mosques and Muslim prayer halls, and three of those were charged in court on Friday. The

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incidents did not deter devotees and tourists from attending the Thaipusam festival, which is also celebrated in several other locations in mainly Muslim Malaysia.

About one in fourteen of Malaysia’s 28 million population are ethnic Indians-mostly Hindus but also Christians and Sikhs. “This is my first time at Thaipusam festival. This is a very colorful event that I have never experienced before,” said Uberto Scotto, an Italian expatriate engineer. “This is an

A Hindu devotee gets pierced with a metal rod during the Thaipusam festival in Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, yesterday. — AP

example of tolerance among Malaysians,” he told AFP. Lisa Wong, a Malaysian Buddhist and mother of two, said she took her children every year to join her Hindu friends at the festival. “I like this spirit and I want my children to understand the culture of different races in this country,” said Wong, who wore a dot of holy red powder on her forehead. Thaipusam commemorates the day when, according to Hindu mythology, Goddess Pavarthi gave her son Lord Muruga an invincible lance with which he destroyed evil demons. — AFP

Top chefs ditch molecules and embrace producers Controversial da Vinci art work sells for $1.5 million portrait once believed to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci sold for more than $1.5 million in New York on Thursday, around treble the top price estimated ahead of the auction. Auction house Sotheby’s said another version of the portrait, “L a Belle Ferronniere”, is in the Louvre in Paris and it is that painting that is now generally agreed to have been by da Vinci himself or one of his pupils, while the painting sold in New York was a later copy.

The painting is thought to be of Lucrezia Crivelli who was a mistress of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, and was painted sometime before 1750 by a follower of the Renaissance master. But for more than 80 years the identity of the artist was in dispute and the controversial work was the subject of a slander trial in the 1920s, as well as two books.

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This undated photo provided by Sotheby’s shows “Portrait of a Woman, Called La Belle Ferronniere” whose claim to fame is that it’s not

by Leonardo da Vinci.

— AP

“The story of “La Belle Ferronniere” is as much about the aesthetic and scientific foundations of modern art history as it is about the authenticity of the painting itself,” Sotheby’s said in a catalogue note. Sotheby’s said on its website that the painting, artist unknown, sold on Thursday for $1.538 million, compared to pre-auction estimates of $300,000-$500,000. It did not give details of the buyer.

“La Belle Ferronniere” was brought to the United States in 1920 by newlyweds Harry Kahn, an American serviceman during World War One, and his French wife, Andree, who received the painting in 1920 as a wedding gift from her grandmother. It was thought to be have been painted by da Vinci and authenticated by a French art expert.

But when Kahn later tried to sell it to the Kansas City Art Institute in the United States for $250,000, Joseph Duveen, a leading art dealer in London, told a reporter who questioned him about the sale that he was sure it was a fake. This sparked a decade long legal battle that brought into question Duveen but also the very foundations of connoisseurship, according to Sotheby’s.

The deal fell through and Kahn’s wife sued Duveen for slander, claiming he was trying to control the art market.

The case riveted the art world. Although other art experts supported Duveen’s assessment, because of a lack of scientific and archival evidence the jury failed to reach a verdict. Duveen settled out of court before a retrial.

Experts believe the portrait must date before 1750 because it contains lead-tin yellow, a color that was used in paintings up until the late 17th century. Unlike the Louvre version, which was painted on a poplar panel, typical during da Vinci’s time, the Hahn painting was done on canvas, which was commonly used much later.— Reuters

fter years of enthusiasm for “molecular gastronomy”, with its battery of gels and emulsions, many leading chefs are turning back to focus on ingredients and where they come from. A number of Michelin-starred chefs at this week’s Madrid Fusion, an annual gastronomy fair in the Spanish capital, said they were now looking to take more care in sourcing their ingredients-by getting to know the producers, for example.

Ferran Adria, the Spanish chef who began the muchtalked-about molecular approach to cuisine, recently announced his acclaimed elBulli restaurant is to close for two years as he looks into new creations. “For me there are limits to culinary expression. That is to say, you can only go so far in transformation and expressing yourself as a chef,” Michel Troisgros, the owner of the Maison Troisgros restaurant in Roanne, central France, told AFP.

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“In traditional cooking too, there were obsessions, techniques, ways of presenting the food, stupidities, mistakes, excesses, ignorance,” he said.

Troisgros believes more care should be taken over ingredients, saying he recently went to meet caviar producers in Granada, southern Spain. “It was the first time I’d ever seen sturgeons being farmed or watched the caviar being taken from the fish,” he said, calling the experience “wonderful”.

“Now when I make endives with caviar, I know where the caviar came from, I know it is organic and I know the endives came from my local producer-I know the people and I know the product,” he said. “We are still only at an early stage, but it is a trend that will establish itself, and not only in high-end gastronomy.” The same view came from Alain Ducasse, the head of an international empire with a total of nine Michelin stars

Spanish chef Ferran Adria gives a press conference at Madrid Fusion, the annual international culinary conference focusing on the cuttingedge in haute cuisine gastronomic fair in Madrid. — AFP for his restaurants in London, Paris and Monaco.

“I stopped using bluefin

tuna in my restaurants three months ago. I started making a point of buying fish that are

Calling ET may not be a smart move n 2008, NASA beamed the Beatles song “Across the Universe” into deep space, sending a message of peace to any extraterrestrial who happens to be in the region of Polaris, also called the North Star, in 2439.

“Amazing! Well done, NASA!” Paul McCartney said. “Send my love to the aliens.” Who could argue with such a wellmeaning, positive initiative? Quite a few, actually. As the citizens of Planet Earth strive ever more enthusiastically to reach ET, some experts say numerous messages zipping through the cosmos are confusing or little more than space spam.

Others ask who has the right to represent our world to the galaxy-or question the wisdom of bellowing out our presence in what may be a hostile neighbourhood. “A lot of the stuff is very responsible, but I do wonder about some of the other stuff that’s being transmitted,” Albert Harrison, a professor of social psychology at the University of California at Davis, said at a conference at the Royal Society in London on Monday.

“There’s pictures of celebrities, of two political candidates-one identified as good, the other identified as evil-snack-food commercials, love letters to rock stars and so on.” He added: “When you start broadcasting and drawing attention to yourself, you have to be very cautious about the image you give. We might appear as a threat to them. “We don’t know what will be made of these messages and it could be years and years before we find out.”

The thirst for contact with alien civilizations has a long history. The US probes Pioneer 10 and 11, launched in 1972 and 1973, bear plaques of a naked man and

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This 1977 NASA file image shows a gold aluminum cover that was designed to protect the Voyager 1 and 2 “Sounds of Earth” gold-plated records from micrometeorite bombardment, but also serves a double purpose in providing the finder a key to playing the record. — AFP woman and symbols seeking to convey the positions of the Earth and the Sun. Voyager 1 and 2, launched in 1977 and now on the outer fringes of the Solar System, each carry a gold-plated copper phonogram disk with recordings of sounds and images on Earth.

But, relative to the vast distances of

interstellar space, these four scouts are crawling along. It will take around 40,000 years for Voyager 1, the most distant manmade object in space, to get anywhere close to a star. No-one knows if there is any intelligent life there to pick up the time capsule... or whether our species will still be around to get a reply.

As a result, the electromagnetic spectrum offers a far quicker channel. For the last 50 years, enthusiasts have been listening out for signals, discernible in the background noise of space, that might point to another civilization. Apart from a couple of brief, intriguing events, nothing has really shown up, which has prompted the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) to shift more and more from “passive” to “active” mode.

We are already spewing out diffuse signals through TV and radio broadcasts that pass through the ionosphere. With “active SETI”, the idea is to use powerful radio astronomy transmitters to beam out to interesting stars or extrasolar planets in the hope of eventually hitting paydirt. The transmitters are operated by space agencies or institutions, which in some cases are paid for the service.

Projects have included a tiny 1,679-bit message beamed in 1974 to star M13, 25,000 light years away; two “Cosmic Calls” in 1999 and 2003; a 2006 TV show by the Franco-German channel ARTE which beamed messages from the public to the star Errai, 45 light years distant; and a “Message from Earth” to a planet orbiting the star Gliese 581, incorporating contributions from users of social networking site Bebo. —AFP

not in danger of extinction a long time ago, and buying them from small producers,”

he said. Chefs have a role to play in leading opinion in this field, Ducasse said, and must “realize that if they want to work for a long time, they have to protect the planet”.

Ducasse said he agreed to take part in Madrid Fusion this year because “for the first time we are talking about ingredients, producers, sustainable development, the planet-things I have supported for a long time.” A number of chefs showing off their skills at the event were following a similar line. The Italian Igles Corelli stood up for authentic ingredients, making white truffles and organic eggs in filo pastry, while Japanese chef Yoshihiro Narisawa included sawdust from Japanese oak in his dish.

Striking a blow for originality, the young Spanish chef Andoni Luis Aduriz bathed his salsify and Jerusalem artichokes in water and lime-the chemical, not the fruit-before cooking them. — AFP

Source of antique canal discovered near Rome This handout picture released by Meon HDTV Productions shows a Sestertius coin dating from 109 AD issued by the Emperor Trajan, representing the Nymphaeum at the source of the Aqua Traiana.

— AFP ritish and Italian experts Friday revealed the chance discovery of the source of a 1,900-year-old Roman aqueduct complete with nymphaeum near the Italian capital. “The existence of the aqueduct was known, but we thought it was from the medieval era,” Edward O’Neill told AFP. “Not only is it Roman, but it is from Trajan’s time and we found its source,” O’Neill said of the discovery some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Rome in June last year.

O’Neill, who was filming a documentary on Roman aqueducts with his father Michael at the time, teamed up with Italian ancient topography professor Lorenzo Quilici of the University of Bologna to authenticate the find. Quilici, a foremost expert on Roman aqueducts, explained that the source of the aqueduct had been forgotten for centuries after the artificial waterway was partially diverted in the 16th century and said it was found in “extraordinary and adventurous circumstances.”

A video compiled by the O’Neills captures the spirit in the title, “Roman Aqueduct Hunting in the 21st Century.” Culture ministry official Mario Lolli Ghetti underscored the site’s “extraordinary interest given the state of conservation of the systems for capturing and filtering the water.” But much of the site is in urgent need of restoration. Notably, it is threatened by the roots of a giant fig tree. “We are documenting a crumbling treasure,” said Michael O’Neill. —AFP

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Beyonce? Taylor? Lady Gaga?

Who is the Grammy diva? ans and the sentimental favorite - and that is the DMB.

his year’s Grammy Awards seem to be shaping up as the battle of the blond divas. In one corner Beyonce, the fierce veteran who already has won a dozen Grammys but has yet to grasp the most prestigious Grammy honors - album and record of the year. She is up for those trophies and more, with a leading 10 nominations.

In the other corner - Taylor Swift, the relative newbie whose outstanding sales have made her the reigning queen of pop, despite her proud country tilt. Though she was nominated for best new artist, she also has the chance to become the Grammys’ top artist this year, with eight nominations for her best-selling CD, “Fearless.” Yet something tells us these two power-hitters may end up knocking each other out, allowing some winners few anticipated. We’ll see how it all goes tonight, when CBS airs the Grammys live from Los Angeles in a show that will feature performances by Swift, Beyonce, Lady Gaga and more, plus a 3-D tribute to Michael Jackson. But here’s how we’ve scripted the night:

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Song of the Year NOMINEES (songwriters): “Poker Face,” Lady Gaga and RedOne; “Pretty Wings,” Hod David and Musze; “Single L adies (Put a Ring On It),” Thaddis Harrell, Beyonce Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart; “Use Somebody,” Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill and Nathan Followill; “You Belong With Me,” Liz Rose and Taylor Swift.

Moody: Until Beyonce stops writing with a team, she’s not likely to win a song of the year nod, no matter how great the tune. “Poker Face” is too edgy for voters, and “Pretty Wings” too urban. While Swift has proven her songwriting mettle, the song is likely to be seen as too lighthearted. “Use Somebody” is both gritty and romantic, which will put it over the top.

Fekadu: It would be lovely to see Maxwell win his first (and overdue) Grammy in this category - but he won’t, since he didn’t write the song! Though “Pretty Wings” deserves this award, at the same time, how could the Recording Academy deny three kings (and their cousin)? “Use Somebody” will be crowned song of the year.

Record of the Year NOMINEES: “Halo,” Beyonce; “I Gotta Feeling,” The Black Eyed Peas; “Use Somebody,” Kings Of Leon; “Poker Face,” Lady Gaga; “You Belong With Me,” Taylor Swift.

Moody: “Halo” was a great anthem, but when you think of Beyonce songs that defined 2009, you think “Single Ladies” and this ain’t it. “I Gotta Feeling” is a better bet, but it’s also probably one of the weakest Peas songs. Swift’s “You Belong With Me” has more momentum, but it’s likely she’ll split the blonde Grammy vote with Lady Gaga and Beyonce, so the Kings of Leon benefit.

Fekadu: If Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” had been nominated here, it would win.

But it’s nominated in the song of the year category - a songwriter’s award, when it really deserves recognition for its production. That’s the only song I could see competing with “Use Somebody,” which will win here.

Beyonce guess the Grammy oldheads will go with them. Plus, it’s also a sentimental one since the disc comes after the death of band member LeRoi Moore.

Moody: So disrespectful, young man!

And what’s an iPod anyway? Beyonce,

Lady Gaga and Swift had the year’s most successful records and they truly provided the soundtrack to 2009. One of them would be the obvious choice - but the Grammys don’t do obvious. Instead, Grammy voters tend to go for the veter-

Jaguar Love loses drummer, goes on to find new label

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NOMINEES: “I Am ... Sasha Fierce,” Beyonce; “Intuition,” Jamie Foxx; “The Introduction of Marcus Cooper,” Pleasure P; “Ready,” Trey Songz; “Thr33 Ringz,” T-Pain.

Moody: It’s inexplicable to have only one great album going against a bunch of sub-par CDs, yet have fantastic works like Anthony Hamilton’s “The Point of It All” in a separate R&B album category. Of course, since they’re not in this category, look for the standard Sasha Fierce win.

Fekadu: Ditto.

Rap Album

Taylor Swift

NOMINEES: Zac Brown Band, Keri Hilson, MGMT, Silversun Pickups, The Ting Tings.

Fekadu: Though she’s talented, Keri Hilson didn’t really show the world she was the brightest newcomer on her own.

The likeness of the Silversun Pickups, the Ting Tings and MGMT would make you believe that none of the rockers will win.

But though they are similar, MGMT has the most buzz. That leaves the trendy rockers versus the country mob. MGMT will prevail.

Moody: Agreed that Keri Hilson won’t win, but not because of her collaborations.

Not sure I agree with the idea that MGMT has the most momentum. The Zac Brown Band has been getting lots of attention lately, and MGMT’s buzz peaked sometime last year. Plus, MGMT, the Ting Tings and Silversun Pickups will split the hipster vote. So the Zac Brown Band is likely to win out.

Pop Vocal Album NOMINEES: “The E.N.D.,” The Black Eyed Peas; “Breakthrough,” Colbie Caillat; “All I Ever Wanted,” Kelly

NOMINEES: “Universal Mind Control,” Common; “Relapse,” Eminem; “R.O.O.T.S.,” Flo Rida; “The Ecstatic,” Mos Def; “The Renaissance,” Q-Tip. Fekadu: While Q-Tip’s album is the best from the list, and Mos Def follows, the others show that the Recording Academy is so far gone from where hiphop really is. With that said, this award will probably go to Eminem since this was his “comeback” album. Plus, all of his CDs, excluding “Encore,” won this award too - though those records were actually good.

Moody: Hello, where have you been?

Nas buried hip-hop like two years ago!

Actually, it still has some life in it, but it’s not represented here, especially with “Relapse,” Eminem’s worst album. But look for it to get a Grammy anyway; he owns this category.

Country Album

Lady Gaga Clarkson; “The Fray,” The Fray; “Funhouse,” P!nk. MOODY: If the Grammys gave the Black Eyed Peas a Grammy for “My Humps” - and they did they’re guaranteed to win in a year where they had two of the year’s biggest hits.

NOMINEES: “The Foundation,” Zac Brown Band; “Twang,” George Strait; “Fearless,” Taylor Swift; “Def ying Gravity,” Keith Urban; “Call Me Crazy,” Lee Ann Womack.

Moody: The Zac Brown Band, Womack, Strait and Urban have about as much chance as Kanye to win against Swift’s “Fearless.” Swift wins for her amazing year - and amazing album.

Fekadu: I don’t think the Grammy voters want to break Swift’s award-winning streak with her CD “Fearless.” If they do, she might write a song about them too! — AP

(From left) bassist Karl Peters, percussionist Karsh Kale, pianist Kevin Hays, Rolling Stones saxophonist Tim Ries and IranianAmerican vocalist Katayoun Goudarzi, pose for photographs at a press interaction in New Delhi yesterday. Ries will perform at a concert in New Delhi today. — AP

Lucinda Williams (left) Emmylou Harris (center) and Patty Griffin perform at the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute honoring Neil Young on Friday, Jan 29, 2010, in Los Angeles.

— AP

hen Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolatobetter-known as the Portland, Oregano, indie rock duo Jaguar Love-took the stage at a South by Southwest (SXSW) showcase last March, they weren’t exactly on solid ground. The longtime friends and bandmates had parted ways with drummer Jay Clark in January, just two months before the music festival and weeks before opening for Nine Inch Nails on club dates in Australia. “We were unsure of how our live show would work, but we pulled it together out of necessity,” guitarist Votolato says of the gigs.

“There were some personal issues, but the change mostly had to do with the fact that the way I always compose songs is through a drum machine,” says Whitney, who plays keyboard and is also responsible for Jaguar Love’s jarringly high-pitched, howling vocals. “Cody and I were just starting to like the way our songs sounded before the drum machines were taken out.” Matador Records had released Jaguar Love’s debut album, “Take Me to the Sea,” in 2008, but after seeing the band as a duo at SXSW, it

Contemporary R&B Album

New Artist

Album of the Year NOMINEES: “I Am ... Sasha Fierce,” Beyonce; “The E.N.D.,” The Black Eyed Peas; “The Fame,” L ady Gaga; “Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King,” Dave Matthews Band; “Fearless,” Taylor Swift.

Fekadu: I’m 23, I speak for the younger generation - and the only album in this category that’s not on my iPod is the Dave Matthews Band. So I’m gonna

That’s too bad for Pink, whose artistry is often overlooked yet deserves to be richly rewarded.

Fekadu: And they also gave Pink a Grammy for the lackluster “Trouble” in 2003, which means they’ll reward the singer for her impeccable work on “Funhouse.”

passed on putting out a followup set. As luck would have it, though, another indie label was waiting in the wings.

“The guys from Fat Possum were at the same SXSW show Matador was at,” Votolato says. “We hooked up with them there, then got home and recorded some demos and they were interested.” Fat Possum will release “Hologram Jams,” Jaguar Love’s sophomore set, March 2, and label founder Matthew Johnson says he had no reservations about the lineup change. “Their live show was a big reason we signed them,” he says.

Produced by John Goodmanson (Owl City, Los Campesinos!), “Hologram Jams” leans away from the post-punk of “Take Me to the Sea,” which has sold 8,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and more toward hook-driven, aggressive dance music like Whitney’s recent work with duo Neon Blonde.

It’s also yet another step removed from Whitney and Votolato’s musical roots as members of hardcore act the Blood Brothers (along with Neon Blonde’s other half, Mark Gajadhar). —Reuters

Music world parties ahead of big event rom parties to rehearsals to gift suites, Grammyrelated activities are taking over Los Angeles’ weekend scene in advance of tonight’s awards show at the Staples Center. Here’s a tour around town: Birthday bash: Grammy nominee Anthony Hamilton was in celebration mode even before tonight’s show - he turned 39 this week. And to celebrate, Nike’s Jordan Brand threw the R&B crooner a party at the swank restaurant Phillipe in Beverly Hills, with a guest list that included Common, actress Victoria Rowell, DJ Beverly Bond and MC Lyte. Hamilton joked with friends and happily posed with some of the gifts Jordan got him, including high-tech headphones.

Hamilton is nominated for three Grammys, including best R&B album for “The Point of it All.” Suite of swag: Leery of looking gauche, some celebrities shy away from having their photo taken when they hit up gifts suites and get free stuff. All-American Rejects singer Tyson Ritter is not

who are doing this ... they’re like, here, take this free. I’m like, all right, we both know what we’re

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Music mogul Clive Davis arrives to his pre-Grammy party in Beverly Hills, California. — AP

among them. He happily posed for photos Thursday as he visited the Grammy’s official gift suite for talent, put on by Distinctive Assets. “Who gives a (expletive)?

You gotta give something back.

Why would you just get something for free?” he said. Ritter said the gift suites, where celebrities are showered with free goods ranging from beauty products to electronics, are the highlight of awards week. “It’s the best part, because the people

doing. I love it.” Also in the gift suite Thursday was George Clinton, sporting a multicolored hairstyle, and Grammy nominee Charlie Wilson. He was there with his wife, who shared her input on his choices. “She gets a chance to tell me what not to get.

‘Don’t get that, that’s ugly. Get that purse, because I want it,”‘ Wilson said, laughing.

Prepping for a pre-party: Music mogul Clive Davis likes to wait until after the Grammy nominations are announced to decide on the talent for his exclusive pre-Grammy party - but he’s not always looking for the top nomi-

nees to fill the bill. “I think about who was robbed?” he said on Thursday during preparations for Saturday’s annual event at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. “Who didn’t get Grammy nominations?

Who should be part of the celebration of music of the year?”

There will likely be a mix of top talent at the gala - past performers include Whitney Houston, Kanye West, Annie Lennox, Kelly Clarkson, the Foo Fighters, Johnny Mathis and Aretha Franklin. Davis usually keeps the list of performers close to the vest, but he did reveal one name Harry Connick Jr, who was with him to talk about the party.

Connick, who worked with Davis on his recent album “Your Songs,” which received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, said he’s looking forward to the bash because he usually doesn’t mix with his fellow music colleagues.

“I don’t have a lot of close friendships in the industry because I don’t go out much,” said Connick.

“I don’t go to a lot of parties, I’m usually working.” — AP

R&B crooner Etta James hospitalized with infection rammy-winning R&B singer Etta James has been hospitalized for about a week near her Southern California home for treatment of various ailments, including a bloodstream infection, her son said Friday. The 72-year-old recording star, best known for her bluesy hit ballad “At Last,” grew ill after entering a detoxification center a month ago for treatment of an addiction to painkillers and over-the-counter medicine, Donto James told Reuters. As her condition worsened, she was moved to a nursing facility, and then to Riverside Community Hospital, near her home east of Los Angeles, he said.

“She’s been in a pretty big battle,” said Donto James, her eldest son. The performer is being treated for a number of ailments, including sepsis, a potentially fatal infection spread through the bloodstream, which in her case is believed to have started from a urinary tract infection, her son said. He said that illness may have been a recurrence of an infection that she had around the time she performed “At Last” on the ABC show “Dancing with the Stars” last April.

Donto James, who played in his mother’s backing band and

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is CEO of an addiction-recovery home in Riverside, said his mother also is suffering from speech difficulties, the cause of which he said had yet to be pinpointed. He believes that lingering illness may have contributed to her public outburst last year over Beyonce’s performance of “At Last” at an inaugural ball for President Barack Obama. James expressed anger that someone else sang her signature song for the president.

Her son said doctors at the Riverside hospital are planning to discharge James “very soon” and transfer her to a skilled nursing facility for follow-up care. He is not sure she is well enough to be released.With songs like “The Wallflower” and “Good Rockin’ Daddy,” the three-time Grammy winner was a key figure in the early days of rock ‘n’ roll. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, though she diversified throughout her long career into mainstream blues, soul and R&B. James had numerous ups-and-downs in her career and personal life, struggling with obesity and heroin addiction. In 2003 she underwent gastric bypass surgery and lost more than 200 pounds. — Reuters

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Actress Anne Hathaway performs in a skit during the annual Hasty Pudding Pot Woman of the Year award January 28, 2010 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Hathaway joins a long list of actresses who have been feted by the Harvard University theatrical group for their contributions to the arts. — AFP

(From left) actor Curtis Jackson also known as 50 Cent, director Joel Schumacher, actress Emma Roberts and actor Chace Crawford attend the premiere of “Twelve” during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival on Friday, January 29, 2010 in Park City, Utah. — AP

Iranian taekwondo star in spotlight at Sundance he arduous journey of the first woman to represent Iran at the Olympics has been brought to life in a documentary being screened at the Sundance Film Festival. Fatima Geza Abdollahyan’s film-”Kick In Iran”-follows taekwondo fighter Sara Khoshjamal as she prepares to take part in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and strike a blow for female athletes in her male-dominated homeland. Although Khoshjamal’s exploits were widely reported in Iran,

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Abdollahyan said she was prompted to make the film after discovering many Iranians were not aware of what hurdles the athlete had overcome to reach Beijing.

“My first thought was maybe that I can tell a story about Iran and about Iranian society,” Abdollahyan said. “Sara and her coach have to pay a higher price for what they want to do,” the director explained, noting that Khoshjamal is required to wear a headscarf during train-

ing and competition and was forbidden from using a male trainer. At the heart of the documentary is the relationship between Khoshjamal and her female coach, Maryam Azarmehr.

Azarmehr’s support of her young protege comes after a lifelong love affair with taekwondo which began when the coach was 18. “(Azarmehr) learned everything from her husband,” Abdollahyan explained. “At that time, it was really hard. It was after the revolution and

women were not allowed to go out when it was dark and they were much more limited to their houses than they are today. “Azarmehr and Sara’s relationship is so special because they understand each other so well. One understands what the other one wants to achieve in life.”

Azarmehr, said Abdollahyan, cannot fulfill her life-long dream or goal without Sara. “And Sara would not be able to do what she’s doing without Azarmehr,

because there are not many women in this country who would be able to make her achieve her goal.” Despite the obstacles-some of them Iranian hardliners-to her pursuit of a career as an Olympic athlete, Khoshjamal had never dreamed of furthering her ambitions by going into exile overseas.

“She has an extremely good family that supports her, she has a very good coach,” the director said. “Of course, she has a lot of problems in comparison to

The moment is now for rising Lady Antebellum t was a party to celebrate Lady Antebellum’s success, and singer Charles Kelley thought the stream of plaques and praise would never stop. “This is getting embarrassing,” Kelley joked as he prepared to pose for another picture. He better get used to it. Lady A is the band of the moment. Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood proved they were buzzworthy with a platinum debut, and expectations are extremely high for their second album, out Tuesday, after

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Association Awards: best vocal group, in an upset over six-time winner Rascal Flatts, and best single. Their debut CD is still near the top of the country charts.

The trio also is up for best country performance by a duo or group with vocals and best country song at the Grammys tonight, and they will perform as well. “Need You Now” appears to have the band poised for more. It was the only song by a group to sit at No 1 on the country charts for five weeks in 2009 and just

(From left) Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood, of Lady Antebellum, at the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute honoring Neil Young on Friday, Jan 29, 2010, in Los Angeles. — AP a supercharged run at No 1 for first single “Need You Now.” “‘Need You Now’ has opened us up to such a bigger audience just in general in country music and even other genres,” Kelley said.

“So we definitely feel that, and we’ve had a conscious effort to go in this year and create a bigger show and try to take advantage of that momentum and try to take it to that next level.” The next level is rarefied air, but Lady A seems to have the something special needed to get there. It is not often that bands get so hot this quickly, after all. The single “I Run to You,” from their self-titled debut hit No 1 on the country charts seven months ago, and life has been on fast forward since. Lady A scored two wins at the Country Music

the third to reach that plateau in the first decade of the century, according to Billboard. It joined Lonestar’s “I’m Already There,” which was No 1 for six weeks in 2001, and Rascal Flatts’ “Bless the Broken Road,” a chart-topper for five weeks in 2005.

The single also showed crossover appeal, reaching the top 10 of Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 with little promotion beyond country radio. Despite the success of Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, it can still be tough for a country act to break into the pop world.

Producer Paul Worley believes, however, that Lady A has the juice. “In terms of the rise and sort of viral popularity of this group, I would compare it to The Dixie Chicks,” said Worley, who won two Grammys as that

band’s producer. “There was this sort of really quick and enthusiastic acceptance of the music back then, and just kind of watching it explode, it’s the same kind of feeling I had with The Dixie Chicks.”

Popularity leads to pressure, and the band’s members are aware that everyone is watching.

They hear the dreaded words “sophomore slump” in almost every interview, and there have been dozens lately.

They drop into a comical patter when asked about expectations for their second year.

“Why does everybody keep saying that?” Kelley asked.

“It’s like, don’t remind us,” Scott said. “Everybody keeps reminding us.” Added Haywood: “Everything has come kind of quick and we all feel blessed. I do feel like we’re kind of coming up on that moment, especially with a sophomore record. You either have a chance to sink or swim. So we felt like we kind of needed to do our best to pour our heart in this record and put everything we have on the line.” Worley said bands often are right to worry about the second album, but he feels L ady A only got stronger between releases.

They wrote or co-wrote eight of the 11 songs on the record and relied as well on good material from outside songwriters. Worley said they made a conscious effort to explore the possibilities of the group, which features Kelley and Scott trading vocals with Haywood arranging the music.

“Second albums are problematic because it’s hard to do something better than the first album, especially in a time when the artists are suddenly busier than they’ve ever been, and their lives are more fragmented,” Worley said.

“One thing I’m able to say is the second album is better than the first one and we feel that’s a huge success in and of itself. The second thing is if you listen to their singing, they’re better singers, they’re focusing on the cohesiveness of the songs.” The band also wrote songs with improving its live show in mind. They noticed early on that if they wanted to play in front of large crowds - the kind they encountered on tour with Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban - they would have to strengthen their sound and fill the wide open spaces arenas offer.

Scott points to “Stars Tonight,” a song written with Monty Powell as a tribute to fans, that will be featured when they hit the road with Tim McGraw late this year.

“It’s basically saying that this is your show more than it is ours,” Scott said. “If you show up and do your part, we will show up and do ours.

Enjoy yourself, kick back, stand up.” — AP

other athletes in other countries, but you know, people in Iran are also very aware that once they leave the country, they are second-class citizens in other countries.” Khoshjamal also remains resolutely apolitical, Abdollahyan stressed.

“Sara herself is not openly a very political person. She’s very intelligent and she understands everything that goes (on) around her, but to be honest, she knows that she can’t change it anyway,” the director said. — AFP

Barbara Orbison (front center) who is the wife of deceased singer Roy Orbison and his sons Wesley (front left), Alex (front second left) and Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President Leron Gubler (front right) and (left-right back row) T Bone Burnett, Jeff Lynne, an unknown Councillor, Joe Walsh, actor Dan Aykroyd and Roy Orbison Jr, watch as the star to the music legend is unveiled outside the Capitol Records building at the Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in Hollywood on January 29, 2010. — AFP

Roy Orbison gets Hollywood Walk of Fame star ate rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Roy Orbison has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Orbison’s widow Barbara accepted the star in front of the Capitol Records building on his

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behalf on Friday. Orbison died in 1988 at the age of 52, in the midst of a comeback with The Traveling Wilburys, a whimsical supergroup that included Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.

Celebrity Big Brother’ bows out in Britain elebrity Big Brother” bowed out with its final show on Britain’s Channel 4 on Friday, after the broadcaster decided to ax the series amid falling ratings. The regular “Big Brother”, a pioneer in the reality TV genre with versions all over the world, also has its swansong this year as ratings shifted from the survival format to talent competitions like “The X Factor” and “Britain’s Got Talent.”

When the final “Celebrity Big Brother” series launched earlier this month, it drew an average of 5.8 million viewers, fewer than the show’s heyday although well above recent lows. But it lagged behind the BBC’s “So You Think You Can Dance?,” which attracted an average of 6.4 million viewers.

Also affecting ratings have been the personalities on the shows. The Mirror tabloid was scathing about the status of this year’s contestants, saying that, “with one or two exceptions, (it) really involved scraping the celebrity barrel.”

The winner on Friday was Alex Reid, a cage fighter famous for his relationship with glamour model Katie Price. A rank outsider when the series opened, Reid was favorite by the final night and beat other finalists including soccer playerturned-actor Vinnie Jones, singer Dane Bowers, Swedish dance music star Jonas Altberg and actress Stephanie Beacham.

Launched in Britain in 2000, “Big Brother”, in which the public votes to evict contestants from a house where they are continuously filmed by surveillance cameras, made celebrities out of Jade Goody and “Nasty” Nick Bateman. It was at the center of a broadcasting scandal in 2007, when contestant Goody was accused of racist bullying of Indian housemate Shilpa Shetty, prompting tens of thousands of complaints and dominating media headlines.

Goody was evicted in a public vote and Bollywood actress Shetty went on to win the series. Commentators have said “Big Brother” never fully recovered from the race row, after which they said it was “watered down.” Others believed the show had grown stale and failed to win over the “Facebook generation” of young viewers more likely to find their entertainment on the Internet. Estimates show that as few as two million people tuned to some episodes of the 2009 “Big Brother” series, the 10th-a fraction of its peak audience of around 10 million. Its creator Endemol suggested last year that it may seek a deal with another broadcaster. — Reuters

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Lynne attended the ceremony, as did Eric Idle, Chris Isaak, Joe Walsh and Dwight Yoakam. Orbison was famous for the wide range of his distinctive and emotional voice, especially in his songs about unrequited love like

“Only the Lonely,” “Crying,” “In Dreams” and “Oh, Pretty Woman.”

Actor Dan Aykroyd says Orbison was a great balladeer and a great rock ‘n’ roller who could be both gentle and vicious. — AP

Mel Gibson returns to screen after 7 1/2 years T

he last time Mel Gibson starred in a movie, he was grappling with alien invaders and a misplaced faith in the sci-fi thriller “Signs.” That was 7 1/2 years ago. Since then, Gibson has become a cultural firebrand, directing the controversial 2004 box-office hit “The Passion of the Christ” and the violent 2006 action epic, “Apocalypto.” He also became a cultural pariah in July 2006 when, after being pulled over in Malibu, outside Los Angeles, for speeding and driving under the influence, Gibson made obscene, anti-Semitic remarks to the arresting officer after being handcuffed and put inside a police car. Gibson largely disappeared after the incident but returns to theaters Friday with a new movie, “Edge of Darkness,” a thriller about a Boston police detective seeking revenge for the murder of his 24-year-old daughter.

Receiving lukewarm reviews so far, the movie is similar in tone with past blood-drenched Gibson films such as “Ransom” and the “Lethal Weapon” franchise.

“It was time,” Gibson, 54, tells The Associated Press. “I felt like getting back in the saddle. I felt like I was getting stale about seven or eight years ago. Stepped back, did some things I wanted to do. Did a few things I didn’t want to do. And then time to come back.” “I don’t think Mel eases his way back into anything,” says “Edge of Darkness” producer Graham King.

“Sure, we discussed very early on, ‘Is this the right role for him to come back in?’ I think it is, and hopefully moviegoers will agree.” Will they?

Hollywood.com box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian believes Gibson picked the right movie for his comeback.

“In revenge roles, Mel Gibson has few peers,” Dergarabedian says. “If you’ve been away for awhile, it’s smart to go back to what people are comfortable seeing you do.” Some, though, question whether Gibson’s public standing has not suffered permanent damage. “I think that drunk-driving tirade confirmed a lot of people’s suspicions about the kind of person Mel Gibson is,” says Matthew Traub, managing direc-

Actor Mel Gibson (right) and Oksana Grigorieva at the premiere Of Warner Bros “The Edge Of Darkness” held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. — AFP tor at Dan Klores Communications. Traub, who specializes in crisis management public relations, believes people are willing to forgive celebrities for substance abuse or sexual indiscretion but draw the line at bigotry.

Publicist Michael Levine, whose agency has represented Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson among others, agrees. “I think he’s done,” Levine says of Gibson’s career prospects. “He’ll work, he’ll exist, but I think he’s seared his obit for life.” Gibson defiantly rejects the notion that he’s damaged goods. “It’s 30 years ago that I lost my own personal anonymity,” Gibson said. —AP

www.kuwaittimes.net

Disgraced designer Anand Jon faces new sex charges allen fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander was charged Friday with molesting at least nine victims - some drugged - in a new case that echoes crimes that already sent him to prison. The one-time rising design star, known professionally as Anand Jon, said nothing but “not guilty” as he was arraigned in a New York court on a raft of rape and other charges dating to 2002.

At least two victims were minors, prosecutors said.

‘Roman’cing Style

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This file photo shows fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander in New York. — AP Alexander was convicted in Los Angeles in 2008 of sexually assaulting seven girls and women, some of them aspiring models lured with promises of jobs. The victims were as young as 14.

The India-born Alexander launched a fashion line in 1999. He was featured on “America’s Next Top Model” and worked with such celebrities as Paris Hilton before the charges surfaced against him.

Alexander’s lawyer, Adam Freedman, said he was new to the case and couldn’t shed more light on the new allegations. Alexander maintained his innocence throughout the California case. His lawyers argued many of women were lying about what happened to them and sought revenge against Alexander when they didn’t get modeling jobs. He was sentenced to 59 years to life in prison, and Los Angeles prosecutors said there were similar allegations in New York. — AP

Models showcase creations by Sharad Raghav during the second day of the Bangalore Fashion Week in Bangalore, India, Friday, Jan 29, 2010. —AP

Bangalore’s got IT! Models wear creations

by Italian fashion designer Fausto Sarli for his Spring-Summer 2010 high fashion collection unveiled in Rome yesterday. — AP

Models showcase creations by Babita Malkani during the third day of the Bangalore Fashion Week in Bangalore, India yesterday.

—AP

Swe Zin Phyo smiles with her trophy after being crowned the 2010 Miss Myanmar yesterday in Yangon, Myanmar. — AP