21 Feb

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

40 PAGES

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2010

RABI ALAWAL 7, 1431 AH

Niger opposition urges junta to hold elections

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United title bid dented

by Everton, Drogba double fires Chelsea

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Venus beats Azarenka, retains Dubai title PAGE 17

Meknes minaret collapse kills 41 Tragedy stirs anger among residents

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti special forces climb down a helicopter near the Kuwait Towers as they show their skills during celebrations marking the state’s National and Liberation days yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat (See Page 2)

Local radio offers diverse programs KUWAIT: Local Kuwaiti radio has been providing expatriates here an opportunity to listen to broadcasts in their native tongues, and to remain in touch with their religions and cultures. Local stations broadcasting in foreign languages first aired back in June 1964.

Today, broadcasts cover a variety of languages such as English, Persian, Urdu and Tagalog for foreigners to tune in to.

FM 93.3 is a local station run by expatriates and serves as a mediator to help expatriates get a sense of what is going on in the country through covering events and stories in their lan-

guages, explained Director of Radio Kuwait’s Foreign Programs Department Sheikha Shojoun Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to KUNA. Although the programs are translated in foreign languages, the Kuwaiti identity is maintained through programs that narrate the country’s history alongside entertainment and talk shows, she said. English programs are aired on FM 93.3 from 8:00 am to 11:00 am, followed by Persian from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, Tagalog from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, Urdu from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm and finally an English broadcast Continued on Page 14

US mosques debate on English sermons Meals on Wheels offers halal menu VILLA PARK, Illinois: Sana Rahim was born in the cowboy country of southeastern Wyoming, to Pakistani parents who had emigrated so her father could earn a doctorate.

She speaks Urdu with her family, but can’t read or write the language. She recites prayers in Arabic, but doesn’t know exactly what each word means. Now a 20-year-old junior at Northwestern University, she, like many other American-born Muslims, is most comfortable with sermons and lectures in English, although they can’t always find US mosques that offer them. “I don’t really get the time to study Arabic,” Rahim said. “With all the different groups in America, English is a unifying thing that ties us together.”

Like Jewish immigrants who fought over English-language prayer and Roman Catholics who resisted the new Mass in English, US Muslims are waging their own debate about how much English they can use inside mosques without violating Islamic law and abandoning their culture. Imam Hassan Al-

VILLA PARK, Illinois: Sana Rahim, a student at Northwestern University, is seen at the Islamic Foundation in this Feb 5, 2010 photo. — AP Qazwini leads the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, a community with a mix of recent immigrants and families who have been in the US for generations.

Continued on Page 14

MEKNES, Morocco: Moroccan King Mohammed VI yesterday ordered experts to check the safety of the country’s historic mosques as the death toll from the collapse of a centuries-old minaret rose to 41 people, the official news agency said. The minaret fell onto a crowded mosque during prayers Friday in the city of Meknes, a UNESCO heritage site and a walled city that is a maze of winding narrow streets. Some 75 people were injured, 17 of whom are still hospitalized, the North African nation’s official MAP news agency said.

A day after the accident, a police officer with a sniffer dog patrolled the site, but the main search operations appeared to have wrapped up.

The falling tower toppled onto about three-quarters of the mosque, leaving behinds piles of rubble and sand.

Family members carried victims’ bodies through the streets en route to burials yesterday. Thousands of people, many sobbing, marched to a local cemetery.

Officials blamed the accident on heavy rain that weakened the minaret at the Bab Berdieyinne Mosque, according to an official Interior Ministry release. But a senior official at the state weather service dismissed that theory.

“The weather was not especially bad in Meknes. It would be fair to look for another factor than the weather,” he said.

“The authorities wrapped up the rescue operation and they had cleared the rubble.

The last body was pulled out early on Saturday,” parliamentarian Abdallah Bouanou told Reuters from the scene.

Angry residents accused authorities of ignoring earlier warnings about the dilapidated state of the mosque and also complained about the slowness of the rescue operation. Soldiers were eventually Continued on Page 14

Group prefers gold as dollar loses shine JAKARTA: Guided by a Scottish-born convert to Islam, a group of devout Indonesian Muslims is shunning “worthless” paper money in favour of gold and silver coins for their daily transactions. The followers of Sheikh Abdalqadir As-Sufi - born Ian Dallas trade goods such as food, medicine, clothes and phone cards with gold dinars and silver dirhams in line with a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Their anti-modern views sit uneasily with the naked capitalism of

JAKARTA: Sabeni, an Indonesian pharmacy shop owner, displays a gold dinar coin used in daily transaction at the Cilincing district in north Jakarta Jan 27, 2010. —AFP

Indonesia’s teeming capital, the financial and political centre of one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

“History has proven that, since the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the value of one gold dinar for thousands of years has always been equal to the value of one goat,” said 33-year-old Kurniawati, who runs a shop in southern Jakarta. Hoping to follow the example of Muhammad (PBUH) and the first generations of Muslims, the sheikh’s followers do their shopping with dirhams worth around 30,000 rupiah ($3.20) and dinars worth 1.43 million ($153). And they want the government - or preferably a worldwide Islamic caliphate - to replace paper currencies with the dinar that was used, in the words of the sheikh, “until the incursions of the kafir financiers in the Muslim lands”.

Wakala Induk Nusantara (WIN) is the body responsible for regulating the issuance and distribution of the dinar in the world’s most populous Muslimmajority country. Coins minted in Indonesia are also in circulation in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, WIN official Riki Rokhman Azis said.

The number of dinars on the local market more than doubled in 2009 to 25,000 pieces, reflecting the movement’s growing popularity, he said.

“We decided to mint silver and gold coins in Indonesia following a fatwa Continued on Page 14

MEKNES, Morocco: People vent their anger in front of a collapsed historic minaret in Meknes’ old quarter yesterday. — AFP

Biggest US medical team to visit Kuwait KUWAIT: The biggest US medical team from various specialities is to visit Kuwait soon, director of the Retirees Service and Overseas Medical Treatment at the Kuwait Ministry of Defense Sheikh Sabah Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah said yesterday. Sheikh Sabah Al-Abdullah said in a press statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that this team is made up of 25 medical consultants from Memorial Hermann hospital in Texas

who will carry out some unique surgical operations at Jaber Al-Ahmad Armed Forces Hospital, besides providing prescriptions to patients and training the Kuwaiti doctors.

Sheikh Sabah said that the team consists of doctors from various specialities including cancer, osteology, cosmetology, cardiovascular, gynecology, obstetrics, internal medicine and sterility Continued on Page 14

Shortage of gas raises Egyptians’ ire at govt

BERLIN: Turkish film director Semih Kaplanoglu receives his Golden Bear award for Best Film for the film “Bal” (Honey) during the awards ceremony of the 60th Berlinale Film Festival yesterday. — AFP

Turkish film wins Golden Bear Polanski named best director at Berlin fest BERLIN: A Turkish movie starring a seven-year-old boy as a struggling pupil who loses his father in a freak accident won the Golden Bear top prize at the Berlin Film Festival yesterday, jury president Werner Herzog said.

“Honey” is the third in a trilogy by director Semih Kaplanoglu tracing the life of Yusuf and his development as an artist and a person in rural Turkey, played here by

Bora Altas.

The runner-up prize was awarded to Romanian entry “If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle”, a tough prison drama about a teenager who escapes jail in order to stop his mother taking his brother away to Italy. Roman Polanski, under house arrest in Switzerland and fighting extradition to the United States where he is wanted for an underage sex case dat-

ing back 33 years, won a best director silver bear for political thriller “The Ghost Writer”.

Russia’s “How I Ended This Summer” was a multiple winner, with Grigori Dobrygin and Sergei Puskepalis sharing the best actor award and director Alexei Popogrebsky picking up an outstanding artistic contribution prize.

Continued on Page 14

CAIRO: It’s something Egyptians rely on daily: the “ambooba”, the steel canister of government-subsidized cooking and heating gas, hooked to the stove or water heater in the cramped homes of nearly everyone in this country’s large population of poor. So in recent weeks, when the amboobas stopped coming, the angry outcry spread fast. A winter shortage has sent authorities scrambling to find a solution and has once again fueled criticism that the government of this key Mideast US ally is unable to deal with the problems of its people. For many, it raises memories of acute shortages of cheap subsidized bread in 2008 that raised similar frustration and anger.

“Every year this butane crisis gets a little worse, so why doesn’t the government take a stand and provide for its people,” said Mahmoud AlAskalani, a spokesman with the consumer group Citizens Against the High Cost of Living. In Cairo’s lowincome neighborhood of Bashteel this week, women helped each other balance the empty 12-litre cylinders on their heads as young boys pushed bicycles laden with cylinders to a government distribution center, where they are supposed to get them refilled or exchange them for new ones at a subsidized price.

Hundreds of men and women lined up for hours into the night waiting for fuel tanks and trucks carrying cylinders to arrive. “All the women here

have walked here to sit for hours hoping that a truck of butane will show up today,” said one woman, Um Ahmad, sitting on her empty ambooba as she waited in line for two hours at Bashteel. When the trucks did arrive, people swarmed over them, elbowing their way to grab a cylinder before they all disappeared.

Continued on Page 14

CAIRO: Egyptian women sit on their empty steel canisters of government-subsidized cooking and heating gas while waiting for gas supplies Feb 16, 2010. — AP

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NATIONAL

Sunday, February 21, 2010

First ever conference

Arab academics discuss Kuwait citizenship issue

By Ahmad Saeid KUWAIT: Kuwait’s first ever conference on the issue of citizenship opened yesterday in the Movenpick Beda’ Hotel. The two-day conference is hosting a number of Arab academics and activists, who will be addressing the realities and challenges surrounding citizenship in Kuwait and other Arab coun“The social, cultural and ideological tensions we are currently witnessing are alien to our society, and they represent a threat to our national unity and social structure,” Al-Ali warned. The first day included four lectures in which a number of Arab academics presented papers detailing their research into the issues surrounding citizenship in the Arab world.

Among the speakers was the head of trustees in the Alliance of Citizens for Development Sameh Fawzi, who said that a number of obstacles currently stand in the way of achieving complete and productive citizenship in the Arab world.

“The lack of prosperity on all fronts, economic, political, social and cultural, is undermining the foundation that citizenship builds on,” Fawzi asserted, adding, “The lack of democracy that limits people’s rights to participate in their countries

also creates a problem in the rooting of citizenship values in the Arab world.”

Another speaker, Saeed Hareb, a doctor of international Islamic relations from the UAE, said that political aspects in the Gulf countries lag behind the social and economic aspects of development, adding that although these countries are run by modern institutions, they are still driven by a tribal mentality.

“Citizenship is a partnership between the members of society, and also between them and the government, but this concept is not clear in the Gulf,” Hareb said. Many people confuse citizenship and patriotism, he said, while others associate it solely with the documents of citizenship.

The conference will today host four more lectures on citizenship-related issues before concluding this evening.

28 bedoons to retain Kuwaiti nationality KUWAIT: Twenty-eight of the 35 naturalized Kuwaitis who formerly held bedoon (stateless) status, whose citizenship was called into question by the ‘Thamer Committee’ are reportedly to retain their Kuwaiti nationality, while the remaining seven will have their citizenship withdrawn.

There has been some speculation that the Director General of the Nationality and Passports Department, Brigadier Sheikh Faisal Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah, in his capacity as the chairman of the ‘Faisal Committee’ to which the

‘Thamer Committee’ referred the cases, attempted to intervene in the assessment of the cases.

After the ‘Faisal Committee’ completed its assessment of the cases, however, its report has been submitted to interior minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Khalid AlSabah, reported Al-Rai. The minister will in turn refer the committee’s report to the chairman of the higher committee, First Deputy Premier and Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, for consideration.

Arab experts okay peace council restructuring CAIRO: A panel of Arab experts have approved proposals put forward by Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa to develop and restructure the Arab Council for Peace and Security.

The suggestions, which involve making ‘holistic’ changes to the council’s statute, were applauded during a just-concluded two-day meeting held at the league’s headquarters in the Egyptian capital.

The council is viewed as an initial step towards creating an Arab peacekeeping force.

During the meeting, the Arab experts called for raising the number of the council member states from the current five to nine. The council’s reforms cannot be carried out unless all the Arab countries approve the council’s statute, the delegates pointed out, calling on those countries which have not yet approved the statute to do so at the earliest opportunity.

Experts from Kuwait, Syria, Tunisia, Jordan, Algeria, Sudan, Qatar, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Morocco and Yemen were present at the meeting. Established in June 2007, the council incorporates several features to help its members, including an information databank, an early warning system and a panel of prominent intellectuals. — KUNA

Forgery gang busted

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti citizens and expatriates celebrate the country’s National and Liberation Day on the Gulf Street yesterday. National Day commemorates the creation of Kuwait as a nation in 1961 while Liberation Day marks the end of the Iraqi occupation in 1991 during the Gulf War. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: Jahra police have arrested a five-man gang responsible for several forgeries of residential and work permit papers registered with a ‘front’ company. The gang, comprising four Egyptians and a Kuwaiti, reportedly charged ‘clients’ KD 1,500 per transaction, with 15 forged work permits found in their possession.

An investigation was launched into the men’s activ-

ities after Jahra detectives received a tip-off from an informant, reported Al-Watan.

The investigation eventually led detectives to the four Egyptians, who were working with the Kuwaiti citizen, who was an employee at the Jahra immigration department.

After one of the Egyptian men was arrested in a sting operation, he informed of his accomplices. All five are now in custody awaiting trial.

tries, as well as examining possible developments in this issue in the foreseeable future. The conference’s opening ceremony included the screening of a documentary film entitled ‘Kuwait - A Journey of a Country and Citizenship.’ The conference is being held under the patronage of Sheikh Fahad Salem Al-Ali, who said in his inaugural speech that Kuwait had recently been subjected to sectarian division.

KUWAIT: The panel of speakers at the second lecture. — Photo by Ahmad Saeid

local spotlight

The new labor law

By Muna Al-Fuzai hat a relief?

Finally the new private sector labor law is getting close to being made reality and this old era of masters and servants will be over.

Henceforth, anyone who see his rights being violated by any boss can take that person to court and use the law to obtain their lawful rights. This will also be a golden opportunity for Kuwait’s lawyers, who will be kept busy and make a lot of money due to the expected number of court cases between business owners and employees.

After many years of anxious waiting, the new labor law has come to fruition, ending an era of the bosses having full control in a master servant system governing private sector employment established in the 1960s that totally disregarded workers’ basic rights. Under the old law, business owners were given the right to do whatever they wanted to their workers, even when this involved clear violations of their human rights and concerned sensitive issues such as working overtime or giving maternity leave to pregnant women, as well as very fundamental Islamic rituals such as going on the Hajj pilgrimage.

Maternity leave was something that married female workers worried about and had many doubts over, with numerous women reportedly losing their jobs due to taking maternity leave; of course, employers might not give the woman’s pregnancy as their actual reason for dismissal, citing poor job performance or another reason.

Personally, I see no justification for anyone to be removed from their post simply because they practice their natural right as a human being to have a child.

Under Article 24 of the new law, ‘a pregnant female employee will get a paid leave period of 70 days,’ with this period not being included in her other leave allowances, such as for delivery and postnatal leave. According to the previous law, the mother-to-be would get 14 days and the possibility of dismissal due to taking them!

It is unarguable that a working woman deserves the same wage granted to men if she is doing the same job, according to the new law - well said; this is what actual

W

equality means.

Under the new legislation, it is also forbidden to dismiss an employee due to their sex, race or religion. At the same time, it also guarantees a widowed Muslim woman the right to fully paid leave for four months and ten days following her husband’s demise. During this leave, the widowed woman should not carry out any form of work for others either. A non-Muslim woman who is widowed, however, gets only 21 days paid leave. Companies will not get away, however, with considering hiring female employees based on their religious beliefs, especially since they are in an Islamic country and because the mandated percentage of Kuwaiti employees in all companies has been made clear and will not allow for any such attempts at manipulation.

I see the new private sector labor law as a step forward - but of course we shouldn’t trust all that we read in the papers. We can, however, call for, dream of and perhaps even demand to see workers rights being protected and business owners making a profit, although not at the ultimate expense of people’s dignity and needs.

Email: muna@kuwaittimes.net

Letters to Muna Al-Fuzai Dear Muna, was moved to reply to your article this Friday because last week I heard an animal being tortured outside my apartment.

It was about 9.30 PM and a group of boys aged about 9 to 11 years was teasing a very young kitten by barking at it. They obviously got bored as their cruelty was not having the desired effect, so from what I heard I can only speculate that the defenseless animal was strangled, judging by the 30-second wail it gave out followed by complete silence, after which the boys tossed it in the bin, and went to bed.

What a pleasant way to spend the evening.

I would be ashamed of my children if they treated animals in this way, but there is a more serious consideration. Very often, when children torture and kill animals, they will go on to abuse first other children, and later adults. Many murderers began by killing animals.

I agree that schools should do more to educate students about respect for animals, but so should the parents.

Athena

I

Sunday, February 21, 2010

NATIONAL

3 Business delegation in town

Thailand hopes to boost trade ties with Kuwait

By Ahmad Saeid

KUWAIT: Azerbaijan Ambassador Shahin Abdullayev, Fareah Al-Saqqaf and Zain Nezar at the ceremony.— Photos by Joseph Shagra

LoYAC hosts exhibition on Khojaly

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Lothan Youth Achievement Center (LoYAC) hosted ‘Khojaly: War Through the Eyes of the Kids,’ an art exhibit, last Wednesday at Bait Lothan. The exhibition was held under the patronage of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Kuwait and the ‘Justice for Khojaly’ campaign.

The exhibit portrayed the tragedy of the Khojaly massacre and communicated the public’s rejection of violence against children and war crimes against civilians. About 30 pictures drawn by children and youth in Azerbaijan were displayed at the exhibition. The paintings describe the tragedy with different scenes from this small town.

These pictures were brought to Kuwait by the Embassy of Azerbaijan for the exhibition.

Khojaly is a small town in Azerbaijan where thousands of Azerbaijanis were exterminated and captured. On the night of Feb 25, 1992 the seizure of

Khojaly resulted in the death of 613 civilians, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly. Another 1,000 people were wounded and 1,275 were taken hostage. To this day, 150 people from Khojaly remain missing.

“We gathered here to review the tragedy of a city and a nation,” said Al Saqqaf. “First, let us review the beauty of Azerbaijan and the hospitality of its nation. In fact I carry more than that in my heart for this country and if I want to talk about its beauty and richness I won’t stop talking.”

LoYAC has hosted a number of insightful exhibitions, and plays an important role in raising awareness and promoting peace amongst youth of different nations. The exhibition was launched by Fareah Al-Saqqaf, the founder, Vice-Chairperson and Managing Director of LoYAC and Shahin Abdullayev, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Kuwait. The exhibition was well attended and many praised the artwork.

Azerbaijan Ambassador Shahin Abdullayev

KUWAIT: A Thai trade delegation held talks with members of the Kuwaiti Chamber of Commerce and Industry yesterday morning to increase commercial cooperation between the two countries.

The visiting delegation discussed possible investment opportunities in Thailand as well as the prospect of importing various products and services from Thailand to Kuwait.

Head of the visiting delegation, Srirat Rastapana, said that Kuwait is a very important partner in this part of the world. “It can be mutually beneficial for both countries to strengthen economic ties,” Rastapana said.

“We can be of help to Kuwait in their development plan and we have a very hospitable environment for foreign investment.”

Rastapana, who is the Director General of the Department of Export Promotion in Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce, added that Kuwait is becoming increasingly important for Thailand, especially with the instability of other markets in the region.

She invited Kuwaiti business owners to invest in the southern, Muslim part of the country to help the people there.

Anas Al-Saleh, board member of the Kuwaiti Chamber of Commerce, said that Kuwait is in need of health industry technologies and that this is an area where the two countries can enjoy a very beneficial relationship.

12 hoax bomb calls in one month in Kuwait KUWAIT: The recent spate of hoax bomb calls, with 12 such calls in the last month alone, has brought back memories among some Kuwaitis of a similar series of such calls in the country in the 1980s, which also took place during a period of increasing political and sectarian tensions in the region.

An Information Technology (IT) expert explained, however, that in the modern day, with the use of more advanced communications technology, it’s possible for such hoaxers to make these calls from within Kuwait using computer programs which make it appear that the calls originate abroad.

A Ministry of Communications (MoC) official explained that the ministry is unable to trace the calls due to a lack of specialist equipment,

which was “lost during the Iraqi invasion 20 years ago.”

Kuwait’s security services have been frustrated in their efforts to apprehend the culprits, having uncovered the identity of only one of the hoax callers among the 12 over the last month, with only the culprit behind the Box Hill College calls traced.

This frustration is compounded by senior officials’ previous assertions that they are near to identifying and apprehending the hoax callers, reported Al-Watan.

The calls have targeted a wide variety of facilities, with some speculating that the large number of such calls may be part of an organized campaign by “outside influences” to destabilize the country.

KUWAIT: The visiting Thai trade delegation holding talks with members of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce.

KUWAIT: Srirat Rastapana receiving memento from Anas Al-Saleh.

— Photos by Ahmad Saeid

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NATIONAL

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Police get hint from driving licenses

Three-member Asian gang in net for dealing in drugs

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A new drug case revealed that some expats are getting driving licenses without meeting the required rules and conditions.

The investigation of three expats with Article 20 residencies (house servants) revealed that they were given licenses illegally. The case began when a female Asian drug dealer was approached by an undercover police officer. The officer asked to buy 12 grams of heroin at a cost of KD 400. She was arrested delivering the drugs.

When questioned, she informed authorities about her accomplice, an Asian who she lives with. When investigating their living quarters police found more drugs. Police then proceeded to another apartment she lives in at Mahboula with a friend who works for a citizen in Al-Dhar. After searching his room, police found 75 grams of heroin hidden in a stereo speaker. A sensitive scale for weighing drugs was also found in his room. He confessed to working for a drug dealer from Pakistan and explained that his job is to receive orders from buyers and transfer money into the Pakistani drug dealer’s bank account.

Abbassiya fire A fire occurred in a ground floor apartment of a building in Abbassiya. Firefighters from Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh responded to the emergency and extinguished the flames before it could spread to any other apartment. The apartment was used to store large quantities of cleaning and electrical equipment. Public Relations Director for the fire department, Colonel Khalil Al-Amir, called upon citizens and expats to be more careful when storing potentially harmful equipment.

Three hurt Three people were hurt in road accidents that took place on Friday, with both accidents caused by excessive speed and reckless driving. One 29-year-old Kuwaiti man was rushed to hospital after suffering various injuries, including fractures to both legs, when he lost control of his motorcycle which overturned on the Fifth Ring Road, reported Al-Qabas. In another case, two men, a Gulf national and another Arab, had a narrow escape, managing to evacuate the car they were in after it crashed in a Shuwaikh street shortly before the vehicle burst into flames. They sustained only mild injuries and were treated at a local hospital.

KUWAIT: The apartment in Abbassiya in which fire erupted yesterday.

450 recommended for amnesty KUWAIT: The committee responsible for putting prison inmates’ names forward for consideration for the Amiri amnesty has submitted 450 names of the 1,800 first suggested.

All those selected meet the rigorous criteria that applicants must comply with before receiv-

ing amnesty, which is conferred annually by HH the Amir to coincide with National Day. Another 430 prisoners will see their sentences commuted under the yearly pardon, reported Al-Rai. The committee is continuing its work in order to complete it before February 25.

KUWAIT: Members of the drug gang pictured after their arrest.

—Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Cabinet to decide on public sector wage rises soon KUWAIT: The cabinet will provide a comprehensive report on proposals for salary increases for civil servants within the next fortnight in order to help reach a final decision on the matter as quickly as possible, said a senior parliamentary official on Thursday.

MP Dr. Yousef Al-Zalzalah, the head of the parliamentary finance committee, revealed that the cabinet had committed itself to this action in discussions with the

committee during their latest meeting. The cabinet is keen to achieve a fair balance in salary issues, said Dr. Al-Zalzalah, noting that the committee has put forward 37 proposals for civil service salary amendments.

During its weekly meeting today, the parliamentary finance committee is due to discuss the bill to organize the privatization process, reported Al-Watan.

The meeting will be attended by the finance and commerce ministers, as well as

senior Audit Bureau officials, Dr. Al-Zalzalah revealed.

On another issue, the cabinet seems more willing than it was previously to accept a reduction in the amount that can be deducted directly from indebted citizens’ salaries by creditors before they qualify for assistance from the insolvency fund, reducing this percentage to 40 percent of their salaries.

The cabinet is committed to this strategy as part of its commitment to finding the best

ways to resolve this issue, said the State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Roudhan AlRoudhan.

A number of MPs, meanwhile, are urging amendments to the citizens’ loans write-off bill in order to allow all those who have incurred debts up until February 2010 to qualify. If the bill was to be passed in its current form, only those whose debts were incurred up until December 2009 would be eligible.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

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Adoption of development plan signals end of financial crisis KUWAIT: Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Dr Fadhel Safar Ali Safar said the adoption of the development plan by the National Assembly signaled the country’s emergence from the financial crisis.”The circulation of funds among the key projects envisaged by the plan will help revive the economy,” Safar said in a press con-

ference over the weekend after signing six contracts and an agreement.

The documents involve KD 31 million of investments as part of the government’s action plan and development program. “The private sector has an essential role to play in the implementation of the long-term action plan,” the minister

Kuwait backs IFAD role in rural development ROME: Kuwait’s representative in the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Governing Council’s ongoing conference stressed yesterday the significant role played by IFAD in rural development and poverty reduction.

Hisham Al-Wuqian, Deputy Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) made the remarks on the sidelines of the IFAD conference, voicing Kuwait’s support for the IFAD’s new policy based on helping small farmers and boosting their role in the effective economic system for developing rural areas and providing food in developing nations.

The gathering comes at a very critical time as the recent world food crisis and the poor worldwide increasing to one billion show the necessary role of the IFAD, he said.

In November 2009, the IFAD’s executive council increased the fund’s resources by 50 percent to roughly $3 billion allocated for supporting and helping the poor and small farmers, he added. He lauded as ‘encouraging’ reforms and changes in the IFAD’s structure and system in the first year of the President of IFAD, Kanayo Nwanze. Al-Wuqian reiterated Kuwait’s strong commitment

towards the reduction of poverty across the world by means of supporting the IFAD which was established 32 years ago upon initiative from Kuwait.

In this context, he recalled a call made by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah during the first Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Kuwait in January 2009 for establishing a $2 billion fund for supporting small and medium-sized projects in the Arab world, to which Kuwait contributed $500 million, and a $100-million Decent Living Fund.

Meanwhile, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) plans to adopt a fresh development strategy for the five years to come within the coming few weeks, focusing on health, education and food security, he announced. The new strategy will also involve the social aspect within the framework of the UN Millennium Development Goals, mainly aimed at reducing poverty all over the world, he added. The KFAED, which is investing more than $14.5 billion in all world countries, mostly in the Arab world, plans to raise its investments, he said. The IFAD meeting will wind up in Rome later in the day. — KUNA

Endowment forum soon KUWAIT: Under the auspices of His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Public Endowment Authority will hold its 16th forum on Feb 21 and 22. The forum will be themed ‘Stop and think of endowments’.

His Highness Sheikh Nawaf will be represented at the inauguration ceremony by Deputy Premier for Legal Affairs, Minister of Justice, and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Justice Rashed Abdulmohsen Al-Hammad. The event will kick off at the Sheraton Hotel at 10 am today. —- KUNA

affirmed. “The government committee on the enforcement of the plan has started preparing for tenders for a package of key projects under the BOT system which will help prod the economic growth and create numerous job opportunities,” Safar said, noting that the tenders would be announced soon.

The government and the banking sector play pivotal role

in funding such projects. The investors should not hesitate about taking part in the economic movement because the circulation of funding is the key to survive the ramifications of the crisis, he argued.

As for the cost of the rehabilitation of Meshref sewage recycling station, the minister said the final assessment of

the operation put the cost KD 15 million at most. “The major part of the sewage has been diverted to another station in Sabah Al-Salem area and the remaining part is being drained to the sea after passing through a treatment process at the recycling units there,” he said, noting that the sewage going to sea is environmentally safe. — KUNA

NATIONAL

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Sunday, February 21, 2010

Two held for issuing fake checks

Five in police custody for drug possession KUWAIT: Ahmadi police arrested a driver in Mangaf after he was found in possession of 36 illegal drug pills. He was arrested after he was pulled over and searched for driving suspiciously.

He was taken to the General Department for Drug Control (GDDC). Meanwhile, two people were arrested in Farwaniya for being in possession of 30 illegal drug pills. They were also taken to the GDDC. On a separate note, customs officials at the Kuwait

Domestic disputes After a dispute, a citizen attacked his exwife and her children from another marriage in Al-Waha. He also hit her vehicle with his car before fleeing the scene. Afterwards, she went to the local police station and filed a complaint. In an unrelated incident, a female citizen filed a report against her exhusband at the Jabriya police station. She accused him of kidnapping their 4-year-old son after her maid informed her that her exhusband had taken the child. Police are looking into the incident.

Customs official held A case was opened against a customs official in Abdali Port after he allowed an Iraqi man to leave the country. The Iraqi had been banned from traveling as a result of an ongoing case against him. The Iraqi man was also held.

Fugitives nabbed Two men were arrested for issuing fake checks. One of them, a bedoon was arrested at his residence in Farwaniya for issuing a fake check worth KD 3,400. The second man, an Egyptian national, was arrested in his Hawally apartment. They were both taken to the proper authorities.

Sexual assault A young man escaped from his two friends who attempted to sexually assault him in one of their homes in Saad AlAbdullah. They also threatened to physically harm him if he informed authorities about their assault. Nevertheless, the youngster went directly to the local police station and filed a complaint.

International Airport arrested a med school student and a restaurant worker when they were each found in possession of four bars of hashish. They were searched after arriving to Kuwait from their respective countries on two separate flights.

The student, who arrived on a flight from Cairo to visit his family, told officials that he brought the drugs for personal use only.

The two were taken to the GDDC. Violators in custody occurred in an expatriate’s apartment in Farwaniya police arrested 22 Asians in Salmiya. The fire resulted in severe mateFarwaniya and Khaitan in violation of labor rial damage. Firefighters were able to and residency. The arrested were taken to extinguish the fire before it could spread to any further locations. The injured firethe proper authorities. fighter was treated at the scene.

Bootlegger held Investigations revealed that an electric An Asian man was arrested by Ahmadi short circuit was the cause of the fire.

In another incident, an Asian man suspolice after a car chase in Mahboula. He was found with 17 bottles of homemade tained 4th degree burns while trying to put liquor in his car. The chase started when out a fire in a restaurant he works at in the bootlegger sped away quickly when he Hawally. Firefighters extinguished the noticed police were nearby. He was taken flames and made sure the place was evacuated. It was later determined that an to the proper authorities. incorrect use of cooking oil caused the fire.

Fire at KOC Firefighters of the Kuwait Oil Company contained a small fire at Unit 29 of the Ahmadi oil refinery. Investigations revealed that the fire was started by an electric short circuit. The fire was extinguished before it could spread and cause material damage.

Suicide attempt An Asian man attempted to kill himself by consuming a large amount of medicinal pills at his sponsor’s animal farm in Kabad.

Paramedics responded to the emergency call made by the Asian man’s sponsor and brought him to Farwaniya Hospital. Once there he was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit. Eventually doctors announced his medical status was stable. A case was opened to look into the incident further.

Salmiya fires A firefighter suffered smoke inhalation after helping to extinguish a fire that

Court cases A total of 7,948 cases have been referred to the Public Prosecution Service within the past six months, with half of these being shelved due to insufficient evidence or because the allegations contained were false or made maliciously. One PPS insider said that numerous police and security officers had got into the habit of referring cases to the prosecution service without conducting any prior assessment or investigation or providing the names of potential suspects or witnesses, reported Al-Qabas. In addition, the statistics indicate that around 90 percent of the drug abuse-related cases referred, 132 out of a total of 139, were based on false allegations, with a number being made by families resorting to truly desperate tactics to get rid of their children. The percentage of cases of drug or alcohol possession selected for prosecution was far higher, however, with 469 of the 584 cases referred being taken to court.

GCC proud of achievements CAIRO: Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Abdulrahman AlAttiyah said yesterday that the council was proud of its achievements, the highlight of which came during the recent summit hosted

by Kuwait.

In an interview with the weekly ‘Akhbar Al-Youm’ newspaper, he said that the achievements of the council covered educational, economic development, social development, military and security, health and environmental fields. All of these efforts aim

at instilling peace in the GCC states and bringing prosperity to its people, he explained.

Asked about the decision of the GCC leaders to establish a swift intervention force, AlAttiyah said that this reflected the joint vision of the GCC leaders, adding that this force was part of the Desert Shield Force.

Moreover, Al-Attiyah said that initiatives to improve and develop action mechanisms within the GCC was a “health phenomenon” that reflected the wisdom of the leaders and

their keenness for boosting joint GCC action in all areas.

As for the common Gulf currency, he said that this would be a great achievement and explained that it was now past the legislative stage, noting that work was now underway to create the institutions of the monetary union. And on the railway project, he said that the feasibility study had been completed and that it would link the six member states, allowing for passenger and cargo transport. —KUNA

American behind airport hoax bomb call KUWAIT: The recent hoax bomb threat received by officials at Kuwait International Airport was reportedly made by an American man who threatened to detonate a bomb that he said he had hidden there if he was unable to see his children, who he said are staying with their Asian mother in the country.

The man, who called airport

security officials with the threat at around 2 AM on Friday told them that they had a certain amount of time to meet his conditions before he detonated the device.

An operation was immediately started to evacuate the building, with police and bomb squad officers searching the facility for the bomb. After an

exhaustive and intensive search, however, no explosive device was found. Airport officials emphasized that flight traffic was unaffected by the hoax call, reported Al-Watan.

A search is underway to trace and prosecute the caller.

Two other calls were received by the country’s security services on the same day

from unidentified individuals claiming that bombs had been planted in the Abu Hlaifah Restaurants Complex, which were set to explode an hour after the calls. The facilities in question were evacuated, but both calls turned out to be hoaxes. An investigation is underway to trace the hoax callers.

A traditional Lebanese ‘Dabka’ dance.

Ras Al-Ardh members enjoy Open Day KUWAIT: The ‘Ras AlArdh’ club, one of the Touristic Enterprises Company’s (TEC) top facilities, held an open day for its members and guests in the Jalaiah open area, as part of their efforts to provide their members with the best quality of service.

The event featured a variety of activities, including competitions with wonderful prizes for the winners, helping to create a cheerful atmosphere among all the participants.

At the conclusion of the Open Day, Hussam AlZawawi, the club’s supervisor, expressed his pleasure with the success of the event.

Winners with their prizes.

Male contestants in one of the competitions.

Hussam Al-Zawawi

Participants in one of the competition.

Abdullah Fowzi says thanks to TEC

INTERNATIONAL

Sunday, February 21, 2010

7

Sunni party drops out of Iraq’s national elections Statement almost urging Sunni voters to boycott election BAGHDAD: Iraq’s main Sunni party said yesterday it is dropping out of next month’s national elections, seizing on US concerns about Iran’s influence in the political process as proof that the vote will not be legitimate. A statement from the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue stopped short of urging Sunni vot-

AMMAN: Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams sprays holy water on worshippers during his visit to the baptismal site on the Jordan River, west of Amman, Jordan yesterday. — AP

Anglican leader worried about Mideast’s Christians BAPTISMAL SITE: The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has voiced grave concern over the eroding Christian presence in the Holy Land at the start of a four-day pilgrimage to the region.

Williams, who is the spiritual leader of the Anglican commu-

nity worldwide, was surrounded by hundreds of faithful at the River Jordan yesterday as he dedicated the cornerstone of an Anglican church.

Tradition says Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist at the site. Williams said he “worried deeply” about the dwin-

dling numbers of Christians in the Mideast. He said it was the church’s duty to support Christians who face hardship from the region’s conflicts.

Williams will also visit Gaza, the West Bank and meet the Chief Rabbinate of Israel as part of an interfaith dialogue. — AP

in the news Israeli fire wounds 6 Palestinians on border GAZA CITY: The Israeli military says troops fired at Gaza gunmen moving near the territory’s border fence with Israel. Palestinian health official Moawiya Hassanain says six Palestinians were wounded. He says two were militants and the rest were farmers. The Israel-Gaza border has been relatively quiet since Israel’s military offensive against Gaza last winter. Gaza militants occasionally fire rockets and mortar shells toward Israel, and Israel troops fire at suspicious figures near the border fence. A tiny PLO faction, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, says its members were involved in yesterday’s incident. The group claimed it fired six mortar rounds. The military says it’s unaware of mortar fire.

US State Department lifts travel warning for Syria DAMASCUS: A US Embassy official and Syria’s

official news agency say the US State Department has lifted an advisory warning American travelers of security concerns in Syria. However, Syria remains on a US list of countries supporting terrorism, a designation made in 1979. In a sign of warming ties, President Barack Obama announced this week that he would nominate a career diplomat to become the first US ambassador to Damascus since 2005.

Hamas: Assassinated operative put himself at risk GAZA CITY: A Hamas legislator says a member of the Islamic militant movement assassinated during a visit to Dubai put himself at risk by booking his trip through the Internet. Hamas legislator Salah Bardawil also told a news conference yesterday that the slain man, Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, also took a risk by informing his Gaza family by telephone at which hotel he would be staying. The Syria-based Al-Mabhouh was found dead in a Dubai hotel Jan 20.

US and United Nations diplomats have expressed fears that a Sunni boycott that hands victory to Shiites would throw the results of the election into doubt. In turn, that could open the door to a new round of violence and delay plans for American troops to leave Iraq.

“The Iraqi Front for National Dialogue cannot continue in a political process run by a foreign agenda,” party spokesman Haidar Al-Mullah said in a statement, referring to Iran’s alleged interference. He said the party decided to pull out of the vote after US Ambassador Christopher Hill and Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top American military commander in Iraq, each described the Shiite leaders of a candidate-vetting panel as having ties to Iran.

The vetting panel is led by Shiite politicians Ali Al-Lami and Ahmed Chalabi. It banned more than 440 candidates whom it described as loyalists to Saddam Hussein’s outlawed Baath party. Most of the blacklisted candidates are Sunni, although some are Shiite.

Among those barred from running is Sunni lawmaker Saleh Al-Mutlaq, the head of the National Dialogue party. AlMutlaq has said he quit the Baath party in the 1970s.

In a speech last week to the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, Odierno said the US has direct intelligence that Al-Lami and Chalabi “are clearly influenced by Iran.” Odierno also accused Al-Lami of having been “involved in various nefarious activities in Iraq for some time.” A day later, Hill told reporters in Washington that “absolutely, these gentlemen are certainly under the influ-

Tough punishment for campaign vandals: Iraq BAGHDAD: With tempers high ahead of Iraq’s national elections next month, even tearing down a campaign poster is a flash point between Sunnis and Shiites. A spate of defaced, torn down or otherwise trashed posters of candidates across the country has prompted the Shiite-led Iraqi government to vow to impose prison sentences of up to a year on vandals. But others, particularly Sunnis, see the harsh punishment as just the latest display of power by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and his allies. It comes on the heels of a ballot purge of more than 440 candidates, most of them Sunni, who are accused of being loyalists to Saddam Hussein’s former Baathist regime.

“Democracy allows for any citizen to express his or her feelings,” Abu Harir, 33, who would only identify himself by his nickname, said in Azamiyah, a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad. “It is unfair to impose this punishment.” Vandals burned some of Al-Maliki’s posters and threw black paint on those of former Premier Ayad Allawi in at least two Shiite-dominated Baghdad neighborhoods this week.

Other posters were ripped.

Both Al-Maliki and Allawi are Shiite. “One-year punishment is not harsh because of the corruption caused by this act,” said Shiite lawmaker Abbas alBayati, a member of Al-Maliki’s political coalition, said. “They turn the legal competition to a violent one because when they rip the posters of one list, this list might react and by this they create violence in the street.

“In fact, one year is not enough as punishment,” Al-Bayati said.

His posters were among those that were torn.

Yesterday, independent election monitor Uday Al-Sahlani said the stiff penalties aim to counter an increase in campaign-related vandalism this year. He said party posters and other propaganda have been ripped or disfigured in the cities of Baghdad and Kirkuk and in eastern Diyala province.

“But these incidences were reduced after the procedures taken by the security forces,” said al-Sahlani of the independent monitoring group AlRaqeeb Network. So far, at

least eight people in Baghdad have been charged with defacing election posters since the campaign season began Feb. 12, said Maj. Gen. Qassim alMoussawi, Baghdad’s top military spokesman. Additionally, two policemen were caught tearing what Interior Ministry Undersecretary Lt. Gen. Aiden Khalid described as election publicity leaflets. They were transferred from Baghdad to an

outpost in eastern Diyala province as punishment, Khalid told reporters this week.

With just over two weeks before the March 7 parliamentary elections, campaign posters representing Iraq’s many and myriad political parties are plastered on buildings, blast walls and fences across the country.

Overall, most have been left alone.

Yet many have been torn,

ripped down or defaced with mud or other ooze slung across candidates’ faces. Most of those vandalized belong to Shiite candidates , in large part because few Sunnis have put posters up.

In one example, however, a poster for Sunni candidate Haidar al-Mullah was punctured with bullet holes near the Baghdad provincial council headquarters in the city’s Salihaya area. — AP

ers to boycott the March 7 parliamentary election. But the party called on other political groups to join it in withdrawing from the ballot. Yesterday’s announcement raises the likelihood that the results of the vote will be called into question.

BAGHDAD: In this Sept 5, 2006 file photo, Saleh Al-Mutlaq, a Sunni politician who has been barred from running in the election because of alleged ties to the Baath party, is seen at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq. — AP ence of Iran.” Hill added: “We remain concerned about Iran’s behavior toward its neighbors.

Iran should have a good relationship with its neighbor, but it needs to do a much better job of respecting its neighbor’s sovereignty.”

US and UN officials in Baghdad did not immediately respond to requests for comment yesterday. A perception among Sunnis that they are being shut out of the election could set back progress the US military has made since 2007 in reversing the insurgency, which threatened Iraq with civil war. A breakdown in security could

also hamper US plans to withdraw all combat troops by the end of August, a step that is critical to President Barack Obama’s new focus on Afghanistan. Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has blamed Baathists, in part, for a spate of horrific attacks on government buildings, hotels and religious sites since August that killed hundreds of people. Like most Shiite politicians in Iraq, AlMaliki has had a close relationship with Iran. But the prime minister has also tried to distance himself from Tehran recently, and said yesterday that protecting Iraq’s sovereignty is

one of his highest priorities.

“He who is unable to keep the security of Iraq and its sovereignty should resign and announce his failure,” Al-Maliki told supporters in Basra, located 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad.

The National Dialogue currently has 11 members in parliament, including Al-Mutlaq. It is the main Sunni wing of the Iraqi National Movement, the nation’s top nonsectarian coalition. The Shiite wing of the National Movement is headed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Shortly after al-Mullah issued his statement yesterday

morning, another party, the National Council for Tribes of Iraq, said it also would drop out.

The party includes both Sunnis and Shiites.

With freshly printed ballots already being delivered to local governments across Iraq, it was not clear how the Sunni party planned to advise supporters who still could vote for the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue.

Multiple attempts to reach AlMullah yesterday were unsuccessful. Iraqi election officials say they expect about 19.8 million voters on March 7, and have opened 10,000 polling centers across the country. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

8

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Agreement would set terms for peace talks, say rebels

Darfur rebels say ready for temporary ceasefire

NIAMEY: Supporters of a military coup, including a youth holding a sign reading ‘Long live the army,’ gather in front of the National Assembly in Niamey, Niger yesterday. —AP

Niger demonstrates in support of coup NIAMEY: Standing atop trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns, leaders of Niger’s military junta rallied thousands of people in Niger’s capital who came out yesterday in support of a coup that ousted the West African nation’s dictatorial president.

The demonstration came hours after a delegation from the 15-nation regional bloc led by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar arrived overnight to press for a peaceful restoration of civilian rule. “The army loves the people and will always stand beside Niger,” leading junta member, Col. Djibril Adamou Harouna told thousands of demonstrators cramming streets surrounding a Niamey roundabout. “We wanted to come here today to thank you for your support.”

On Thursday, the army turned on President Mamadou Tandja, raking the presidential palace with gunfire and whisking the ousted leader to a military barracks outside the capital. The soldiers swiftly announced a coup and said it was being led by Salou Djibo, a little known commander of a platoon just outside the city.

The junta has vowed to turn Niger into “an example of democracy” after Tandja stayed in office past his legal mandate, which expired in December. But the country’s new rulers have not said how long they will hold power and some worry the move could increase the uranium-rich country’s isolation.

Residents, at least those in the capital,

appeared to overwhelmingly support the military action. Tandja had grown deeply unpopular here after pushing through a referendum in August that established a new constitution which removed presidential term limits. It also gave him greatly boosted powers and an unprecedented three-year extension of his rule before another round of elections could be held.

Before the referendum, Tandja had been criticized for imposing rule by decree and dissolving parliament and the constitutional court because they opposed his plan to stay in power past his legal Dec. 22 mandate. “We’re proud of our military!” screamed one woman at yesterday’s rally, where demonstrators held up hastily made signs scrawled with the words: “Long Live the Army.” “Tandja let everything go,” said Amadou Madi, a 27-year-old electrician. “He was a thief and a crook. Our military was right to remove him.”

Tandja first rose to power in democratic elections in 1999 that were organized by a military junta which took control that year. Many of the military masterminds responsible for organizing that ballot also took part in Thursday’s coup, apparently disillusioned with Tandja’s refusal to step down.

Tandja’s attempt to stay in power prompted the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS, to suspend Niger from its ranks, and the US and Europe cut

off aid to the uranium-rich nation. Resumption of aid is likely dependent on the nation holding new elections. In New York on Friday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the coup, reiterating “his disapproval of unconstitutional changes of government as well as attempts to remain in power through unconstitutional means,” UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. Ban noted the junta’s statement saying it intends to restore constitutional order and called on its members “to proceed swiftly with these efforts through a process that is consensual and that includes all segments of Nigerien society.”

Senegal’s Foreign Affairs Minister Madicke Niang told reporters in Niamey late Friday that ECOWAS was “hoping for a peaceful transition after the events of the last few days.” Niger has gained notoriety in recent years with a spate of kidnappings in its lawless northern deserts, where a low-level rebellion led by ethnic Tuareg insurgents finally calmed last year. Al-Qaida’s North Africa branch has claimed responsibility for taking a handful of foreigners hostage in the same region, including a Canadian later freed who was the UN ‘s special envoy. The desert country of 15 million is ranked at the bottom on the UN ‘s worldwide human development index and has an astounding 70 percent illiteracy rate.

The nation on the Sahara’s southern edge has been perpetually battered by drought and desertification. —AP

No misconduct for Bush interrogation lawyers WASHINGTON: Justice Department lawyers showed “poor judgment” but did not commit professional misconduct when they authorized CIA interrogators to use waterboarding and other harsh tactics at the height of the US war on terrorism, an internal review released Friday found. The decision closes the book on one of the major lingering investigations into the counterterrorism policies of George W. Bush’s administration.

President Barack Obama campaigned on abolishing the simulated drowning technique of waterboarding and other tactics that he called torture, but he left open the question of whether anyone would be punished for authorizing such methods.

Liberal Democrats had pressed for action against the authors of the so-called torture memos, and they indicated they aren’t finished discussing the matter.

Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said he was “deeply offended” by the legal memos and planned to hold a hearing Feb. 26.

An initial review by the Justice Department’s internal affairs unit found that former government lawyers Jay Bybee and John Yoo had committed professional misconduct, a conclusion that could have cost them their law licenses. But, underscoring just how controversial and

legally thorny the memos have become, the Justice Department’s top career lawyer reviewed the matter and disagreed. “This decision should not be viewed as an endorsement of the legal work that underlies those memoranda,” Assistant Deputy Attorney General David Margolis wrote in a memo released Friday.

Margolis, the top nonpolitical Justice Department lawyer and a veteran of several administrations, called the legal memos “flawed” and said that, at every opportunity, they gave interrogators as much leeway as possible under US torture laws. But he said Yoo and Bybee were not reckless and did not knowingly give incorrect advice, the standard for misconduct.

The Office of Professional Responsibility, led by another veteran career prosecutor, Mary Patrice Brown, disagreed. “Situations of great stress, danger and fear do not relieve department attorneys of their duty to provide thorough, objective and candid legal advice, even if that advice is not what the client wants to hear,” her team wrote in a report that criticized the memos for a “lack of thoroughness, objectivity and candor.” The internal report also faulted then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and then-Criminal Division chief Michael Chertoff for not scrutinizing the memos and recog-

nizing their flaws, but the report did not cite them for misconduct.

Yoo is now a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and Bybee is a federal judge on the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco. The decision spares them any immediate sanctions, though state bar associations could independently take up the matter.

The memos authorized CIA interrogators to use waterboarding, keep detainees naked, hold them in painful standing positions and keep them in the cold for long periods of time. Other techniques included depriving them of solid food and slapping them. Sleep deprivation, prolonged shackling and threats to a detainee’s family were also used.

The memos have been embroiled in national security politics for years. The memos laid out a broad interpretation of executive power, one the previous administration also used to authorize warrantless wiretapping and secret prisons. Democrats say the Bush administration used shoddy lawyering to legitimize such policies.

Republicans said the memos, authored by two wellrespected attorneys, gave the CIA the authority it needed to keep America safe in the panic-filled months after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The memos were

hurriedly put together in days, and supporters of Yoo and Bybee note that investigators have had years to dissect them. Many have criticized the Obama administration for trying to politicize legal advice.

“We can only hope that the department’s decision will establish once and for all that dedicated public officials may have honest disagreements on difficult matters of legal judgment without violating ethical standards,” Bybee’s lawyer, Maureen Mahoney, said Friday. Yoo’s lawyer, Miguel Estrada, was more pointed. During the lengthy investigation, Estrada accused internal investigators of trying to be “Junior Varsity CIA” that second-guessed intelligence decisions. Friday, he said the two lawyers never deserved to be investigated in the first place.

“The only thing that warrants an ethical investigation out of this entire sorry business is the number of malicious allegations against Professor Yoo and Judge Bybee that leaked out of the department during the last year,” Estrada said.

Obama has said CIA interrogators who relied on the memos will not face charges for their behavior. A separate criminal inquiry is under way into whether a handful of CIA operatives crossed the line, leading to the death of detainees. —AP

KHARTOUM: Darfur’s rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said yesterday it was ready to sign a temporary ceasefire with Sudan’s government, saying a “framework agreement” on the terms of future peace talks could be imminent.

JEM, thought to control Darfur’s most powerful insurgent force, said the deal would be a step forward but would not mark the end of its struggle with Khartoum.

“This is not the end of anything. This is just the start,” spokesman Ahmed Hussein Adam told Reuters from Chad’s capital N’Djamena, where he said the insurgents had held talks with a Sudanese government delegation for the last three days. “This would just be a primary agreement, a set of guiding principles-one short document to be used as a reference for all the detailed issues we will discuss later,” he said. “We are ready to sign a temporary ceasefire when the terms of the framework agreement are agreed.”

Khartoum has agreed to a series of ceasefires during the seven-year conflict, but some have fallen apart days after their signing and distrust between the warring parties remains deep. Talks between JEM and Khartoum, hosted in Qatar, have been stalled for months. But there has been a flurry of activity between the two sides in recent days, some analysts say, against a background of thawing relations between Sudan and neighboring Chad.

Sudan and Chad, both preparing for elections, agreed earlier this month to end their long-running proxy war, fought by arming rebels on each other’s territory.

Chadian President Idriss Deby shares ethnic links with JEM’s leadership and many have accused him of backing JEM. No one in the government was immediately available for comment.

President Omar Hassan alBashir told supporters on Friday they should expect good news from Darfur soon and state media said a deal with JEM could be imminent.

JEM and Darfur’s rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) took up arms against the government in 2003, accusing Khartoum of leaving their western region marginalised and underdeveloped. SLA founder Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, with strong support among the region’s displaced population, is refusing to talk to Khartoum, demanding an end to violence before negotiations. JEM officials said the framework agreement would include a list of areas for negotiation, including compensation for Darfuris, humanitarian access and the broad topics of “power sharing” and “wealth sharing”.

“Once Khartoum signs the framework agreement, it would be committed to paying compensation ... the amount and the mechanisms would be up for discussion,” senior JEM official Al-Tahir Al-Feki told Reuters, speaking by phone from Germany.

Khartoum has agreed to the principle of compensation and giving Darfuris better representation and a greater share of resources in previous failed agreements. “The difference this time is the political will and determination. We want to see the end of our people’s suffering,” said JEM spokesman Ahmed Hussein Adam.

“We will not play their (Khartoum’s) game if they are only interested in buying time, in tactics, in just signing papers to make it easier for them in the elections ... The vicious circle can begin again and we can resume our armed struggle.” Adam said it was unclear whether JEM and Khartoum would be able to sign a framework agreement in Chad over the next couple of days, or later in Doha. “I would say something is imminent”. —Reuters

HAGUE: Netherlands’ Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende talks to the media to announce that the second largest party in his three-party alliance is quitting, in The Hague, Netherlands, yesterday. —AP

Dutch govt collapses over Afghan mission AMSTERDAM: The Dutch coalition government collapsed yesterday over whether to extend the country’s military mission in Afghanistan, leaving uncertain the future of its 1,600 soldiers fighting there. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende announced that the second largest party in his three-party alliance is quitting, in a breakdown of trust in what had always been an uneasy partnership.

Balkenende made no mention of elections as he spoke to reporters after a 16-hour Cabinet meeting in The Hague that ended close to dawn.

However, the resignation of the Labor Party, which has demanded the country stick to a scheduled withdrawal from southern Afghanistan, would leave his government in the minority, and political analysts said early elections appeared inevitable. Balkenende said his center-right Christian Democratic Alliance would continue in office together with the small Christian Union, and would “make available” Labor’s cabinet seats.

But he did not spell out his intentions. The coalition, elected to a four-year term, marks its third year in office tomorrow.

“Where there is no trust, it is difficult to work together. There is no road along which this cabinet can go further,” Balkenende said. The Dutch debate comes as opinion polls in many troop-providing European countries indicate growing public opposition to sending more soldiers to Afghanistan amid a global financial crisis and shrinking defense budgets. Dutch soldiers have been deployed since 2006 in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan on a two-year stint that was extended until next August. Labor demanded that Dutch troops leave Uruzgan as scheduled.

Balkenende’s Christian Democratic Alliance wanted to keep a trimmed-down military presence in the restive province, where 21 Dutch soldiers have been killed. “A plan was agreed to when our soldiers went to Afghanistan,” said Labor Party leader Wouter Bos. “Our partners in the government didn’t want to stick to that plan, and on the basis of their refusal we have decided to resign from this government.” NATO recently sent a letter to the government asking if it would consider staying longer , a move that the Western alliance normally would do only if it had a clear signal of agreement.

In Brussels, alliance spokesman James Appathurai said NATO would not comment on the internal political debates in member countries.

“Of course, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen continues to believe that the best way forward would be a new smaller Dutch mission, including a provincial reconstruction team in Uruzgan to consolidate the success that the Dutch have had and to transition to Afghan lead,”

Appathurai said.

He said that whatever happened, the Afghan people should know that the alliance will “continue to provide support to them as long as necessary.” Still, any Dutch withdrawal would be a worrying sign for the alliance, which has struggled to raise the 10,000 additional troops that its top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has demanded to accompany the 30,000 American reinforcements being deployed there.

Balkenende’s allies argued that a pullout would damage the Netherlands’ reputation as a nation that carries more than its weight in international peacekeeping missions, and could encourage other countries wavering over their military contributions to also withdraw. “The future of the mission of our soldiers in Afghanistan will now be in the hands of the new Cabinet,” said Deputy Defense Minister Jack de Vries.

The split came after a buildup of tension over several weeks between Balkenende and Bos, the finance minister, mainly over Afghanistan and the government’s earlier political support for the war in Iraq. “This is the end of this cabinet,” said Andre Rouvoet, leader of the third coalition party.

He said Queen Beatrix, Holland’s ceremonial head of state, who will formally accept the resignations of the Labor ministers yesterday, “will ask the remaining ministers to prepare for elections.”

It was an uncomfortable alliance of convenience from the start, with Balkenende and Bos exchanging unusually sharp barbs during the 2006 election campaign. The acrimony surfaced again during a parliamentary debate Thursday over Afghanistan, with the two government leaders in open discord in the face of concerted attacks by the opposition parties.

Opinion polls suggest the Afghan war is deeply unpopular. Labor, which has been dropping in the polls, appeared determined to take a stand with next month’s scheduled local elections in mind.

Bert Koenders, the Labor minister for overseas development aid, said his party was abiding by the government’s promise when it prolonged the Afghanistan mission last time , that it would be the last extension. “We are sticking the Cabinet decision of two years ago,” he said.

The Labor walkout leaves the coalition with just 47 seats in the 150-member parliament.

Elections can be held as early as May under Dutch law, one year ahead of schedule. An election within the next few months could see a further rise in power of the extreme anti-immigrant populist Geert Wilders, whose ranking in the polls rivals Balkenende’s. Balkenende has been prime minister since 2002, but he resigned twice before because of the country’s fractious political alignments. —AP

Five killed in Ivory Coast anti-government protests ABIDJAN: Police fired on demonstrators at an anti-government rally Friday, killing five people and wounding a dozen others in Ivory Coast’s latest protest since the president dissolved the government a week ago, the opposition said. Demonstrations spread to at least eight cities in the West African nation on Friday. Moussa Dembele of the opposition RDR party said the deadly protest took place in Gagnoa, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) northwest of the economic capital, Abidjan.

President Laurent Gbagbo had set a Friday deadline to form a new government but the prime minister on Thursday evening asked for a 48-hour extension. Dembele said late Wednesday that the death toll had increased to five people, from three earlier in the day. “The police were aiming directly at the protesters,” he said. “These weren’t stray bullets.” Augustin Gehoum, a spokesman for Gbagbo’s party, said the deaths were “regrettable,” but said police were not to blame. He also said the

protests were part of an opposition strategy to destabilize the country after Gbagbo’s decision to dissolve the government.

“Now they are crying ‘dictatorship,”‘ he said. “It’s nothing of the sort. Mr. Gbagbo dissolved a body that had lost the confidence of the Ivorian people.” The dissolution of the government has thrown into doubt the political reconciliation process in Ivory Coast, which was about to hold elections. Five years after the president’s term ended, Ivory Coast has yet to hold a ballot to replace him.

The now-defunct government was the fruit of a peace agreement signed by Gbagbo’s government and the New Forces rebels in 2007 following a civil war that had split the world’s No. 1 cocoa producer into a rebel-held north and a government-controlled south. The unity government was composed of 33 ministers from all political parties and rebel factions.

At the heart of the impasse that has delayed elections for five years is the question of

who is really Ivorian. Before its brief civil war, Ivory Coast was one of Africa’s economic stars boasting a modern, cosmopolitan capital which lured tens of thousands of immigrants from poorer neighboring nations. At least a quarter of the nation’s 20 million people have been disqualified from voting based on the electoral law’s convoluted definition for determining eligibility, stoking tension.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed “grave concern” at the Ivorian political situation, according to UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe. “The secretary-general is concerned about the clashes that occurred today in Gagnoa, which resulted in a number of deaths and injured people and are a reminder of the volatility of the situation,” Okabe said. “The secretary-general urges the Ivorian people to remain calm and the Ivorian political actors, authorities and the media to refrain from any action and rhetoric that could result in more violence,” she said. —AP

INTERNATIONAL

Sunday, February 21, 2010

9

Forty-eight students aboard the vessel

Canadian ship sinks off Brazil; all rescued PORT-AU-PRINCE: American missionary Laura Silsby, 40, center, and Charisa Coulter, 24, left, both of Meridian, Idaho, are escorted by police officers towards the courthouse in Port-au-Prince, Friday. — AP

Missionaries worry about Haitians, describe jail KANSAS: American missionaries who faced allegations of child trafficking in Haiti but were freed from jail described their trip to the earthquakeravaged country as a simple humanitarian effort that left them even more concerned about the Haitian people. “It seemed like everyone in the group (was) legitimately really concerned about the children and helping them, to the point that it was almost amazing to me that they were so concerned about helping them,” missionary Jim Allen of Amarillo, Texas, told Oprah Winfrey on Friday’s episode of her talk show.

Allen was among eight American missionaries freed Wednesday after three weeks in custody in Haiti. Two were left behind in jail. Four of the eight are now in Kansas. Three are home in Idaho, while Allen is back in Texas. The 10 missionaries were charged with kidnapping for trying to take 33 Haitian children to the Dominican Republic on Jan. 29 without Haitian adoption certificates. The group denies the child trafficking accusations, arguing the trip was a do-it-youself “rescue mission” for young victims of the massive Jan. 12 earthquake. “We’re four guys , well, we’re a group of 10 people , that are convinced that it’s better to get up off the couch and go and help people than just sit on a couch and do nothing,” missionary Paul Thompson, of Twin Falls, Idaho, said during a segment taped from Topeka and aired Friday on NBC’s “Today” show.

Allen, who appeared with his wife, Lisa, on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” said the missionaries slept on a concrete floor in jail and received one hot meal a day. Still, he said, the group was treated well. He said when it rained, water would drip through little holes in the ceiling. “What I was thinking of at the time is that there are millions, it seemed like, people on the street that were getting poured on,” Allen told Winfrey. “They were sleeping on the ground.” Thompson said he does-

n’t want the missionaries’ detention to take the focus away from Haiti and its recovery from the quake. “The need is incredible,” he said.

After flying Thursday from Miami to Kansas City, Missouri, Thompson traveled to Topeka, the hometown of one of the other missionaries, youth pastor Drew Culberth. With them was Thompson’s son, Silas, and Steve McMullin, also from Twin Falls, Idaho. They had a private celebration at Culberth’s church, Bethel Baptist, after a briefing with their attorney.

In a portion of the “Today” segment posted online by KSHB-TV, the NBC affiliate in Kansas City, Culberth described his reunion with his wife and children as “amazing.” “Very indescribable, the emotions that took place when I first saw them and got to hold them again,” Culberth said.

Allen told Winfrey the missionaries planned to take the children to a temporary orphanage in the Dominican Republic.

The missionary group’s leader originally said the children were orphans or had been abandoned.

But The Associated Press determined that at least 20 were handed over willingly by their parents. That helped persuade a Haitian judge to free the eight without bail, releasing them with the understanding that they will return to Haiti if the judge requests it. They could still face charges.

The judge said Friday that he is investigating whether the other two missionaries, Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter, who visited Haiti in December, went to orphanages to seek children before the earthquake.

In Kuna, Idaho, Kim Barton, the sister of Laura Silsby, issued a statement on behalf of the family that read: “We are certainly hopeful that any further questions for Laura and Charisa can be answered in a quick manner and they will be released also, as soon as possible. As a family, we are very anxious for their return.”— AP

US officials ask Cuba to release jailed American HAVANA : Top US diplomats used a high-level meeting with their Cuban counterparts Friday to call for the release of an American held in a maximum security prison without charge for nearly three months. Cuba alleges Alan P. Gross is a spy whose arrest proves Washington is still out to topple the island’s communist government. Gross’ family maintains he is a veteran development worker who came to Cuba to distribute communications equipment to Jewish groups. Both the US and Cuba also offered restrained praise for the discussions, which lasted about five hours and focused on migration issues. The Cubans said the talks at an undisclosed location in Havana were positive and respectful, while the US called them part of a larger, constructive process.

The US also said in a statement that its delegation, led by Craig Kelly, deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs and the highest-ranking American official to visit in years, “raised the case of the US citizen detained in Cuba and called for his immediate release.” In its own assessment, Cuba made no mention of Gross’ arrest or of American officials’ broaching the issue, saying only that the meeting “took place in an atmosphere of respect.”

Elizardo Sanchez, head of the independent Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said he and other dissident leaders were invited to talk to the US delegation later Friday. Such a meeting is not unusual when US diplomats visit , but is sure to rankle Cuban leaders, who describe dissidents as Washington’s paid stooges. The regularly scheduled migration talks came at a low point in relations between two Cold War enemies that have been at each other’s throats for months about a range of issues, especially the arrest of Gross, who was in Cuba on a program funded by the US Agency for International Development.

He has been held since early

December at Havana’s highsecurity Villa Marista jail. The little-known USAID program in Cuba was begun under President George W. Bush and devotes millions of dollars to the promotion of democracy on the island.

Gross’s company, DAI of Bethesda, Maryland, says he was distributing communications equipment to Cuba’s tiny Jewish community, not to dissidents. Nonetheless, such equipment is tightly controlled by the communist government. US officials questioned the timing of Gross’ arrest, saying he had been to Havana before on the same program and never had a problem. Gross’ wife, Judy, issued a video statement saying he was a humanitarian, not a spy.

The Gross case aside, “engaging in these talks underscores our interest in pursuing constructive discussions with the government of Cuba to advance US interests on issues of mutual concern,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in a statement. There has been speculation Cuba will seek to exchange the 60-year-old Gross for five Cuban agents imprisoned in Miami since the 1990s after being convicted of spying.

Cuba considers them anti-terrorist fighters who were trying to shut down a bombing campaign by anti-Castro CubanAmericans.

Parliamentary leader Ricardo Alarcon refused to answer questions about Gross on Friday, but said Cuban authorities would use the immigration talks to bring up the fate of their agents.

“We mention them at every meeting,” he said. Alarcon added that Havana has offered to widen bilateral discussions with the United States and is still waiting for an answer.

“What we are hoping for is that the United States one day will respond to the additional proposals we have made, seeking to reach agreements in other areas like the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and also the possibility of perfecting the

migration accord we already have,” he told journalists.

US officials have had a different take on the Cuban offer, describing it as a vague proposal to hold talks about talks, not concrete policy changes. They say Cuba should respond to good-faith gestures Washington has already taken, such as loosening restrictions on travel and remittances to the island.

In its statement, Cuba said it hopes that in future talks it can persuade Washington to abandon its “wet foot, dry foot” policy , in which Cuban refugees reaching American soil are granted asylum, while those stopped at sea are sent home.

Cuba says granting so many Cubans asylum encourages its citizens to try to flee the island.

The migration talks are intended to monitor adherence to a 16year-old agreement under which the United States issues 20,000 emigration visas to Cubans a year. Cuba and the United States have been in a nonstop war of words in recent months over nearly every issue imaginable, from President Barack Obama’s performance at climate talks in Copenhagen, which Fidel Castro called “deceitful” and “demagogic,” to the US relief effort in Haiti, which he termed an occupation.

Cuba was particularly angered by Washington’s decision to continue including it on a list of state sponsors of terrorism. There are also perennial issues, such as Washington’s insistence that Cuba open its political system to democratic reform and free jailed political prisoners, and Cuba’s demand that Washington drop its 48-year trade embargo and stop meddling in what Havana considers its internal affairs. Daniel Erikson, a Cuba expert at the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington, said the imbroglio over Gross “adds another sensitive issue to a long list.” “Anything that further complicates the US -Cuba relationship is inherently not going to help,” he said.— AP

RIO DE JANEIRO: A Canadian sailing ship filled with high school and college students sank off the coast of Brazil in strong winds, but officials said all 64 people aboard were rescued Friday after about 16 hours in rafts tossed by rough seas. A distress signal was picked up from the three-masted SV Concordia about 5 pm Thursday, the Brazilian Navy said in a statement, and a Brazilian Air Force plane later spotted life rafts in about 300 miles (500 kilometers) off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

Forty-eight students, in grades 11, 12 and university freshmen, were aboard the vessel, said Kate Knight, head of West Island College International of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, which operates the Class Afloat program.

Edgardo Ybranez, captain of the Philippine flagged Hokuetsu Delight cargo ship, told The Associated Press via satellite phone that his ship rescued 44 of the victims in rough, dangerous seas. The remaining people were picked up by another ship. Ybranez said the Concordia’s doctor had suffered an injury before the rescue, “but he is OK now.” He gave no more details. All the rest were unhurt, Ybranez said: “You can tell their parents that everything is OK; everybody aboard my ship is fine.” The captain declined to put one of the survivors on the telephone. “They are all downstairs sleeping because they are exhausted, so I don’t want to call any of them up,” he said before cutting off the call to communicate with his employers.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement thanking the Brazilian Navy and the merchant crews “for their swift and heroic response.” “The skill and compassion demonstrated by Brazilian rescuers is a tribute to their training, spirit and seamanship,” he said.

School officials said 42 of those aboard were from Canada.

Knight said others hail from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Europe and the West Indies. “At this point we can’t confirm at all what circumstances led them to abandon ship, or the status of the vessel,” she said.

The Brazilian Navy, however, said the ship sank. Juan Cruz Margarita, captain of the SE Stao Knutsen that assisted in the rescue operation, told the AP via satellite phone he saw no sign of the Canadian ship by the time his vessel arrived.

Navy spokeswoman Maria Padilha said the students spent up to 16 hours on life rafts before they were rescued between 4 am and 9 am. She later said that some of those rescued were transferred to a Brazilian Navy ship late Friday and that the first of two ships carrying the passengers back to Rio was expected to dock around 9 am.

Shelley Piller, whose 17year-old stepdaughter Elysha was on board, told the AP in a telephone interview from Kenilworth, Ontario, that she was worried despite hearing news that everyone was safe.

“That’s my kid. For me I need to actually physically see her, feel her and have her in front of me to understand that she’s safe,” Piller said. “We’re petrified, absolutely petrified.”

The ship had visited Europe and Africa since leaving Canada in September, and it had just begun a five-month semester program on leaving Recife in Brazil’s northeast Feb. 8. It was scheduled to dock Tuesday in Montevideo, Uruguay, then head to several islands in the Atlantic and to southern Africa and the Caribbean before returning to Canada. The school’s Web site says the 188foot-long (57.5-meter-long) Concordia was built in 1992 and “meets all of the international requirements for safety.” It carries up to 66 passengers and crew and also can operate under motor power. The college’s Web site says it gives high school and college students the chance to study while sailing the world. Tuition is listed as 42,500 Canadian dollars ($40,600) a year.— AP

RIO DE JANEIRO: Students from Canada’s West Island College arrive at the Mocangue naval base in Rio de Janeiro aboard Brazil’s Frigate Constituicao yesterday. — AP

Austin plane crash exposes gap in US air security GEORGETOWN: After 9/11, cockpit doors were sealed, air marshals were added and airport searches became more aggressive, all to make sure an airliner could never again be used as a weapon. Yet little has been done to guard against attacks with smaller planes.

That point was driven home with chilling force on Thursday when a Texas man with a grudge against the IRS crashed his single-engine plane into an office building in a fiery suicide attack. One person inside the building was also killed.

“It’s a big gap,” said R. William Johnstone, an aviation security consultant and former staff member of the commission that investigated the Sept 11 attacks. “It wouldn’t take much, even a minor incident involving two simultaneously attacking

planes, to inflict enough damage to set off alarm bells and do some serious harm to the economy and national psyche.” The suburban Georgetown Municipal Airport that pilot Joe Stack entered hours before his airborne attack in nearby Austin had the casual atmosphere of a sleepy parking garage. Pilots were not subject to baggage checks, metal detector scans or pat-downs. And they are usually not required to file flight plans.

“How are they going to stop it? This guy had a hangar, and he had access to the airport,” said Beth Ann Jenkins, president of Pilot’s Choice, a flight school near where Stack kept his Piper.

Travis McLain, manager of the airport, said: “I don’t know of a rule or regulation or safety precaution that could have prevented what happened yesterday.”

TEXAS: NTSB investigators assess damage on Friday to a building in Austin, Texas, housing offices for the Internal Revenue Service, caused by a plane that crashed into the building on Thursday. — AP

The easy access and lack of security are the result of years of debate , and stalemate , over how much of a threat small aircraft pose as terror weapons and how they could be regulated without stifling commerce and pilot freedom. While the airlines quickly accepted tougher security after Sept. 11, the general aviation industry, which includes everything from privately owned propeller-driven planes to large corporate jets, have aggressively fought new measures.

The proposed rules would require that operators of medium and large general-aviation aircraft demonstrate that flight crews have undergone a criminal background check. They would also be required to verify passengers are not on the no-fly lists already used by large airlines. Private pilots fly approximately 200,000 small and medium-size planes in the US , using 19,000 airports, most of them small. The planes’ owners insist the aircraft have nothing in common with airliners but the sky. “I don’t see a gaping security hole here,” said Tom Walsh, an aviation security consultant.

“In terms of aviation security, there are much bigger fish to fry than worrying small aircraft.”

He said most would-be terrorists would draw the same conclusion , that tiny aircraft don’t pack a big enough punch.

Planes like Stack’s weigh just a few thousand pounds and carry no more than 100 gallons (378 liters) of fuel, he noted. A Boeing 767 weighs 400,000 pounds (181,439 kilograms) and carries up to 25,000 gallons (94,633 liters) of fuel.

Walsh and other general aviation advocates argue that stringent security and bureaucracy would deter recreational fliers and slow down a vibrant, multibillion-dollar general aviation industry, causing economic damage. “What it comes down to is that the cure could be worse than the decease,” he said.

Jeffrey Price, a Denverbased aviation expert, said: “If I own my plane, I can drive to the airport, get in and just take off.

Pilots want that sense of freedom. ... Like motorcycle riders.” Every pilot, from the beginner student to the commercial airline pilot, is checked against the government’s terror watchlist. Also, under federal rules imposed after Sept. 11, people enrolling in flight schools must show proof of US citizenship or, if they are foreigners, must undergo a back-

ground check.

All pilots of every stripe must have with them every time they fly a medical certificate attesting to their health.

The certificate is based on a physical exam, but the application form also includes questions about the pilot’s mental health. Stack’s medical certificate was current, dated May 2009. He was an instrument rated pilot, able to fly singleengine and multiengine airplanes, and no enforcement action had ever been taken against him. Beyond that, however, most security measures at general aviation airports are voluntary.

The Transportation Department’s inspector general, Richard L. Skinner, reviewed security at several general aviation airports last year, including three in the Houston area, and concluded that general aviation “presents only limited and mostly hypothetical threats to security.” Skinner did endorse efforts to lock or disable parked planes to prevent people bent on mayhem from stealing them.

Tougher restrictions were debated after Sept. 11 and after a few incidents in which pilots deliberately crashed small planes into buildings.

In 1994, a Maryland truck driver with a history of instability crashed a plane on the south lawn of the White House. In 2002, a 15-year-old boy stole a plane and crashed it into a downtown skyscraper in Tampa, Florida. Pilots of small planes have also frequently flown into the secure airspace over the key government buildings in Washington. The general aviation lobby has exerted its considerable clout to fend off new measures. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, or AOPA, National Business Aviation Association, National Air Transportation Association and General Aviation Manufacturers Association spent $6 million lobbying in Washington last year.

“There was no way to impose one overall security structure that would fit every general aviation airport’s needs,” said AOPA spokesman Chris Dancy. The association has about 400,000 members.

At the Georgetown airport, where 240 small aircraft are based, manager McLain said she hopes Stack’s suicidal attack doesn’t lead to an overreaction.

“I would hope that common sense and cooler heads would prevail,” McLain said.—AP

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INTERNATIONAL

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Endowment for supporting a democratic govt in exile

Dalai Lama awarded in US despite China anger WASHINGTON: The Dalai Lama was bestowed Friday with a US award for his commitment to democracy, the latest honor for the Tibetan spiritual leader despite China’s angry protests over his White House welcome. One day after President Barack Obama met the exiled monk at the White House in defiance of Chinese warnings, the National Endowment for Democracy gave the Dalai Lama a medallion before a packed crowd at the Library of Congress.

The Endowment, which is funded by the US Congress, hailed the Dalai Lama for supporting a democratic government in exile and his willingness to even abolish a centuries-old spiritual position if Tibetans so choose. “By demonstrating moral courage and self-assurance in the face of brute force and abusive insults, he has given hope against hope not just to his own people but also to oppressed people everywhere,” Endowment president Carl Gershman said before placing the Democracy Service Medal around the monk’s neck.

The Dalai Lama, who fled his Chinese-ruled homeland for India in 1959, voiced admiration for US and Indian democracy and said China’s authoritarian system was unsustainable.

“The Chinese Communist Party, I think, did many wrong things. But at the same time, they also made a lot of contribution for a stronger China,” he said.

The Dalai Lama pointed to the growing interest of many Chinese in getting rich. Calling himself a Marxist in his support for a strong social safety net, the Dalai Lama joked: “Sometimes I feel my brain is more red than those Chinese leaders.”

“Sometimes I express now the time has come for the Communist Party should retire with grace,” he said in English, laughing that Chinese leaders would be “furious” at his comments.

China earlier protested Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama, saying the United States had “grossly violated basic norms of international relations”

WASHINGTON: The Dalai Lama speaks at the Library of Congress in Washington Friday where he was honored by the National Endowment for Democracy with the Democracy Service Medal. — AP and summoning the US ambassador, Jon Huntsman. “The US action seriously interfered in Chinese internal affairs, seriously hurt the feelings of China’s people and seriously harmed China-US relations,” foreign ministry spokesman

Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement. In Washington, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said the Dalai Lama’s meetings with Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were part of a longstanding US dialogue with

the Tibetan leader.

“I think on this issue, obviously we just agree to disagree,” Crowley told reporters. The International Campaign for Tibet, which works closely with the Dalai Lama, quoted witnesses as saying that residents in Tibet and historically Tibetan areas of China’s Sichuan province chanted prayers and set off firecrackers to celebrate the White House meeting, despite tight security.

Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of trying to split China, although the exiled leader has repeatedly said he accepts Chinese rule. In a nod to Chinese sensitivities, the Obama White House prohibited cameras from entering the meeting, which took place in the Map Room, not the seat of presidential power in the Oval Office. But the White House later issued a statement voicing support for the Dalai Lama and his nonviolent quest for greater rights for Tibetans.

With Obama, the Dalai Lama has now met every sitting US president since George H.W. Bush in 1991. Offering one tidbit from Thursday’s meeting, the Dalai Lama revealed that Obama gave him a memento from a much earlier interaction with a US president-a copy of a letter Franklin Roosevelt sent him in 1942.

Roosevelt mailed the Dalai Lama, who was then seven, the letter and a golden Rolex watch as a gesture to seek relations with the remote Himalayan land. “At that time, my only interest is the gift of the watch, not the letter,” the Dalai Lama said with a laugh. “I actually don’t know where that letter goes.

Now after 68 years, just yesterday, President Obama gave me a copy of that letter.” The monk frequently tells the story of the watch, saying that fiddling with it helped spur his lifelong interest in science. In 2007, he carried the gold watch in his pocket when George W. Bush presented him with the Congressional Gold Medal, the only time a sitting US president has appeared with him in public.— AFP

Fireworks destroy ancient gate in northern China

YANGON: UN Special Envoy on Human Rights Tomas Quintana is seen at Yangon International Airport Friday in Yangon, Myanmar. — AP

Myanmar gives monk seven years in jail as envoy visits YANGON: A Buddhist monk in Myanmar was quietly sentenced to seven years in prison during the visit of a United Nations envoy, who had little positive to say about the junta’s progress on human rights, a lawyer said yesterday. The sentencing of the monk on Wednesday also came after four activists were ordered to serve prison terms with hard labor on Monday, the day that UN envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana arrived in the country to assess the human rights situation.

During his five-day trip, the ruling military further refused him permission to see detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as on his two previous visits. Opposition figures say the latest jailings illustrate the continuation of human rights violations, the lack of an independent judiciary and the junta’s disregard for the demands of the United Nations.

A court sentenced monk Gaw Thita to seven years’ imprisonment, saying he was guilty of violating immigration

laws by taking a trip to Taiwan last year, said Aung Thein, a lawyer known for defending political activists. Gaw Thita was also convicted of unlawful association and failing to declare possession of foreign currency. The monk had a valid passport for traveling to Taiwan and committed no known immigration violation, the lawyer said.

He was jailed in August upon his return from Taiwan with a group of other monks. It is common for monks to take overseas trips for religious reasons. It was not immediately clear why the monk faced such a harsh penalty, and whether authorities suspected he was involved in political activism.

Members of the Buddhist clergy were in the vanguard of mass pro-democracy protests in 2007.

“Myanmar doesn’t have an independent judicial system. The courts are passing judgments based on the charges put up by the prosecution rather than on legal facts,” said Aung Thein.

Quintana gave a glum assessment as his visit ended Friday. As well as being barred access to Suu Kyi, he said senior junta officials he met gave no indication of when a general election planned for this year would take place, or when an election law guiding it would be passed. It will be Myanmar’s first election in two decades.

Quintana said the junta is holding almost 2,200 political prisoners and reiterated UN demands that all be released and allowed to take part in the election. “I have not received any indication that the government is willing to release all prisoners of conscience,” he told reporters before leaving. “The government of Myanmar does not accept there are any prisoners of conscience in Myanmar.” Quintana said he met 15 political prisoners during visits to three prisons, including activists, journalists, community leaders from the Shan ethnic minority and Muslim minority and political party members.— AP

BEIJING: Fireworks set off to mark the Lunar New Year started a blaze that destroyed a 1,600-year-old city gate in northern China. No deaths or injuries were reported in Friday’s fire, which gutted the restored structure on the city wall of Zhengding, about 150 miles (250 kilometers) southwest of the capital Beijing, the China Daily newspaper reported yesterday.

Financial losses were estimated at 1 million yuan ($150,000), the paper said. The gate was originally built in the fifth century and heavily restored in 2001 at a cost of 4 million yuan ($600,000), the paper said.

Zhengding, which sits in the southern part of Hebei province, is famed among Chinese tourists for its ancient houses and Buddhist temples.

The fire recalled the inferno that destroyed a nearly completed hotel adjacent to state broadcaster CCTV’s landmark new office building in downtown Beijing, leaving one firefighter dead. The Feb. 9, 2009 blaze was sparked by an illegal fireworks display ordered by a top executive, now among 44 people facing criminal prosecution.

Another 27 others have been given administrative punishments, and the broadcaster ordered to pay a 3 million yuan (US$450,000). One year on, the luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel remains a charred wreck and CCTV has yet to announce when it will move into its new Z-shaped headquarters, a project that helped transform the capital’s skyline for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.— AP

20 hurt by turbulence on United flight TOKYO: About 20 people have been injured by turbulence aboard a United Airlines plane flying from Washington, DC, to Japan.

Tetsuya Shinozuka, a police official at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, says many of the injuries were bruises, but at least one person may have broken a leg. He gave no further details.

United Airlines spokesman Mike Trevino in Chicago says about halfway into the 13hour flight, the pilot advised passengers to put on their seat belts. A short time later, the plane “experienced moderate turbulence.” He declined to discuss any injuries but says United is cooperating with health officials. The Boeing 747 with 263 people on board landed on schedule yesterday in Tokyo. — AP

SYDNEY: Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada (L) meets with Australian Defense Minister John Faulkner at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices in Sydney yesterday. — AFP

Whaling in Australia’s sights as Japan FM visits SYDNEY: A row about whaling hung over a visit to Australia by Japan’s foreign minister yesterday, coming a day after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned of legal action to stop Japan’s annual whale hunt. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada met with Rudd in Sydney and the pair had a “friendly discussion of a wide range of shared interests and a frank discussion on whaling,” a spokeswoman for the prime minister said.

“They agreed on the deep and strong links that had been developed over many decades of friendly and mutually beneficial relations,” she added.

Australia, along with New Zealand, has consistently opposed Japan’s killing of hundreds of whales each year via a loophole in an international moratorium that allows “lethal research”. But Japan’s new government has maintained its support for whaling, which has deep cultural significance for the Japanese people, since coming to power in September.

Okada made no comment to the press but a Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said Tokyo hoped for a diplomatic resolution to the dispute which Rudd on Friday threatened to take to the International Court of Justice. Before coming to Australia, Okada said Japan’s research whaling was a legal practice carried out in public waters under the international convention. His visit prompted a protest outside the gates of the Japanese embassy in Canberra at which about 30 people called for an end to the annual hunts in the Southern Ocean during which hundreds of the giant creatures die.

For the past six years the Japanese whaling fleet has also been pursued by protesters, militant environmental activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and this year clashes between them have been particularly fierce.

Australian officials have previously stressed that the whaling dispute would not harm the strong defense and business links between the countries which are major trading partners.

In addition to whaling, Rudd and Okada also discussed the strong complementarity between their two economies and agreed on the value in concluding discussions on a free trade agreement, the spokeswoman said. “They discussed security cooperation, including the value of Australia and Japan working more closely bilaterally and multilaterally, including in trilateral cooperation with the United States,” she said.

Okada also met with Defence Minister John Faulkner who said he highlighted the strength of Australia’s defence relationship with Japan during their meeting, during which they discussed a military logistics accord.

“This agreement... will allow Australia and Japan to better coordinate their cooperation in a range of areas, including disaster relief and peacekeeping,” Senator Faulkner said in a statement.

Japan is considering presenting a bill to parliament to allow the sharing of services during overseas military missions but some lawmakers have urged the government to reconsider in light of the recent harassment of Japan’s whaling fleet by the environmental activists.

“The Japanese government has made clear that the two issues are separate,” a spokesman for Faulkner told AFP, adding that the governments hoped to begin formal talks on the agreement next month.

Okada will meet with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith in the western city of Perth today with North Korea, Australia’s abundant energy resources, climate change and the strengthening of economic ties set to be on the agenda.— AFP

North Korea vows to bolster nuclear force as deterrent SEOUL: North Korea has vowed to bolster its nuclear force unless the United States drops its “hostile policy” toward the reclusive communist nation, adding that its atomic program could not be traded for economic aid.

Pyongyang also designated eight new naval firing zones near its eastern and western sea borders with South Korea in a move that could raise tensions. North Korea quit the disarmament-foraid negotiations and conducted a second nuclear test last year, drawing tightened UN sanctions.

North Korea has demanded a lifting of the sanctions and peace talks formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War before it returns to the negotiating table.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency yesterday urged the US to make a political decision to establish peace on the peninsula and change what it calls a policy to stifle the North.

The North’s “nuclear deterrent for selfdefense will remain as ever and grow more powerful ... as long as the US nuclear threat and hostile policy persist,” KCNA said Friday in a dispatch from Pyongyang. The North’s “dismantlement of its nuclear weapons can never happen ... unless the hostile policy towards the (North) is rolled back and the nuclear threat to it removed.”

North Korea claims it was compelled to develop atomic bombs to cope with US nuclear threats.

The US, which denies making any such threats against the North, has called on North Korea to return to the disarmament talks that also involve China, South Korea, Russia and Japan. KCNA’s comments came amid diplomatic efforts to jumpstart the stalled disarmament talks.

North Korean envoy Kim Kye Gwan plans to attend a seminar in San Francisco before heading to New York to meet with Washington’s lead nuclear negotiator Sung Kim either late this month or next month, the South Korean cable news network YTN reported Friday, citing an unidentified source in Beijing.

In Washington, State Department spokesman PJ Crowley on Friday denied the report and reiterated that the US has no current plans to meet with North Koreans officials. Officials from the US and North Korea last met one-on-one in December, when President Barack Obama’s special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, visited Pyongyang.

Bosworth is considering visiting China next month for talks on how to resume the disarmament talks as part of a trip that could also take him to South Korea and Japan, Japan’s Kyodo News agency reported Friday, citing unidentified US government sources. The newly designated “naval firing zones” are effective Saturday through Monday, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday. The JCS, however, said there was no immediate signs of particular movement of North Korean troops. Last month, North Korea fired artillery shells near its disputed western sea border, prompting the South Koreans to fire warning shots. No injuries or damage were reported. The North has since deployed dozens of multiple rocket launchers in major bases along its west coast, Yonhap news agency reported, citing a Defense Ministry report submitted to the legislature.

The Defense Ministry said it could not immediately confirm the report. Associated Press writer Christine Simmons in Washington contributed to this report. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

Sunday, February 21, 2010

11

Son of alleged Al-Qaeda member reported killed

Pakistan kills 30 militants in strike HELMAND: Afghan elders from the Trikh Nawar farming area arrive at a US Marine base in the northeastern outskirts of Marjah yesterday for a meeting with the Marines’ commanding officer. —AFP

Afghan police deployed in wake of NATO offensive MARJAH: Afghan police were deployed yesterday in an area recaptured from the Taleban by US Marines this week, in the early phase of a plan to put the country firmly under the control of Afghan authorities. Nearly 200 Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) arrived in the town of Marjah in Afghanistan’s violent southern Helmand Province, which until the start of a US led NATO offensive a week ago was the last big Taleban bastion there.

NATO a week ago launched Operation Mushtarak in Marjah, a big opium poppy production centre, aiming to flush out militants and then leave Afghan police and authorities in charge. The offensive is the first since US President Barack Obama sent an extra 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to tame the Taleban ahead of a planned US troop drawdown in 2011. The crux of the plan is for Afghan authorities to win support from a public that has long viewed the government as incapable and police as corrupt.

“We are here to bring peace and security to your town, we want to help you,” Captain Mohammad Kazem, commander of a company of Afghan police, told residents of Marjah who gathered in the bazaar of Koru Chareh yesterday. US Marines in Koru Chareh faced stiff resistance from the Taleban in the first few days of their assault on Marjah. A week later they still take regular potshots from snipers and every day they find insurgents planting bombs on nearby roads. A Marine air assault killed six militants spotted planting bombs on Friday, and two more were killed when the bomb they were planting exploded accidentally, a Marine officer said.

The arrival of Afghan police in Marjah, which had been held by the Taleban and described by NATO commanders as a festering sore where there had been no government presence, was broadly welcomed by villagers in Koru Chareh’s

bazaar. “I’ve seen plenty of Taleban in Marjah before. It’s good the police have arrived,” 45-yearold Jumegol Abdolah told Reuters.

The operation to secure Marjah is a major test for NATO and President Hamid Karzai’s government, which is under pressure from Western leaders to provide its own security ahead of a July 2011 deadline for the start of withdrawal by US troops. “I’m happy that they (the police) have come. They have to work with us and cooperate and bring security,” 22-year-old farmer Taj Mohammad told Reuters.

Afghans in dangerous provinces like Helmand have complained about police in the past, accusing them of stealing and extortion through “taxes” on civilians. “If the Afghan army or Afghan police want money from you, you can complain to us and tell us. You should inform us that someone is doing this to you,” Kazem told the meeting yesterday. “We’re here to help you, to work with you.” Kazem said his officers were trained in Kabul and came from 34 different Afghan provinces. “Those problems from before were because the police were local and locally hired.

My company has men from all over Afghanistan and we are here just for peace and security,” he told Reuters.

Despite the remaining pockets of resistance in Marjah, the bazaar in Koru Chareh was the scene of the first meeting between civilians and the US Marines’ Bravo Company, First Battalion, Sixth Marines, which cleared the town of Taleban insurgents. The Marines want to re-open the bazaar and are encouraging shopkeepers, many of whom have been holed up in their homes because of the fighting, to return to the market.

“It is my hope that this village becomes the jewel of Marjah,” Bravo Company’s commander, Captain Ryan Sparks, told villagers through a translator.— Reuters

Karzai: NATO still causes too many civilian deaths KABUL : Afghan President Hamid Karzai said yesterday that NATO’s efforts to prevent civilian deaths during its operations are not enough because innocent people keep dying, as the military alliance continued its offensive in a key Taleban stronghold.

In a speech at the opening session of the Afghan parliament, Karzai also repeated his call to Taleban fighters to renounce al-Qaida and join with the government , an appeal that may have more resonance after recent arrests of Taleban leaders in Pakistan. Karzai held up a picture of an 8-year-old girl who he said was the only one left to recover the bodies of her 12 relatives, all killed when two NATO rockets struck their home during the offensive in the southern town of Marjah. He called the incident a tragedy for all Afghanistan. Karzai said NATO has made progress in reducing civilian casualties and air bombardments , which have been responsible for some of the largest incidents of civilian deaths. And he thanked NATO commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who attended the speech, for “standing with us honestly in this effort.”

However, Karzai stressed that the effort is not sufficient.

“We need to reach the point where there are no civilian casualties,” Karzai said. “Our effort and our criticism will continue until we reach that goal.”

His comments came as NATO reported that its troops killed another civilian in Marjah, bringing the civilian death toll from the operation to at least 16.

NATO troops fired on the man after he dropped a box that they believed held a bomb and started running toward them, NATO said in a statement. They later found that the box contained materials that could have been used to make a bomb, but no explosive.

Despite the presence of the suspicious materials, NATO categorized the dead man as a civilian. The unit involved will meet with local leaders to discuss

KABUL: In this photo released by Presidential Palace, Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during the opening session of Afghan Parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan yesterday. —AP how to keep such incidents from happening again, and make a traditional condolence payment to his family, NATO said. The week-old operation in Marjah is a major test of a new NATO strategy that stresses protecting civilians over routing insurgents as quickly as possible.

But it has proved difficult. The painstaking process of separating out innocent people from militants has also slowed troops’ progress in gaining control of the town. In Marjah yesterday, small arms fire and single sniper rounds intensified in a pocket near the center of town as insurgent gun squads tried to close in on Marines, who fought back with their own sniper fire and grenade launchers.

“Fighting remains difficult in the northeast and west of Marjah, but insurgent activity is not limited to those areas,” NATO said in a statement, a reminder that they continue to face stubborn resistance in the town of 80,000. The massive operation in Marjah , a major southern Taleban stronghold and drug hub , is the biggest since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan. Twelve NATO troops have died so far in the offensive in Helmand province, and senior Marine officers say intelligence reports suggest more than 120 insurgents have

died. The plan is to secure the area and then rush in a civilian Afghan administration, restore public services and pour in aid to try to win the loyalty of the population and prevent the Taleban from returning.

Outside of town, government workers are already signing up people for jobs working on rebuilding the area, NATO said. Meanwhile, compounds are being identified for schools, and the district governor has recorded a radio message urging insurgents to reintegrate. He provided a dedicated phone number for them to call if they want to switch sides. But residents are also still dealing with the toll of the fighting.

In a cemetery marked by green and white flags in the nearby provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, men yesterday buried one Marjah resident who died of his injuries sustained in what his brother said was coalition bombing three days ago. “I buried him here, because I couldn’t take him back to my village,” the brother, Sayed Wali, a thin man in a faded blue tunic, told APTN. Men used pics and shovels to break up the dry ground and covered the grave with a mound of rocks. Wali said his father was also killed in the strike, and his body is back in Marjah. — AP

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani air strike killed 30 militants in mountains on the Afghan border yesterday, the military said, as one of NATO’s biggest offensives against the Taliban continued in Afghanistan itself. Pakistani security forces launched a major campaign against the al Qaedabacked Pakistani Taliban in their main haven of South Waziristan in October and the military has captured most militant bases in the region.

The air raid was in Shawal, a militant bastion near the border of the South and North Waziristan regions, where many Taliban are believed to have sought refuge from the October offensive. Al Qaeda militants are also known to be in the area. The security forces, as well as attacking indigenous Taliban who are trying to bring down the US backed government, have also stepped up action against Afghan Taliban in Pakistan, arresting at least three senior members, including their number two man, this month.

“The hideout in Shawal was targeted after we were tipped off that terrorists were hiding in the mountains,” a military spokesman said, adding 30 of them had been killed. There was no independent verification.

Pakistan’s ethnic Pashtun tribal areas have been a global militant hub since Islamist fighters flocked there to battle Soviet forces over the border in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding somewhere along the AfghanPakistani border.

Apart from the Afghan campaign, the United States has also been attacking militants in northwestern Pakistan with missile-firing unmanned drone aircraft. A son of the leader of a major Afghan Taliban faction attacking Western forces in Afghanistan was killed in a strike by a drone in North Waziristan on Thursday. The killing of Mohammad Haqqani, son of veteran Afghan guerrilla commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, came days after the arrest of the Afghan Taliban’s top military strategist, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in a joint Pakistani-US operation in Karachi.

Two other senior Taliban members have been picked up in Pakistan in recent days, according to Afghan officials.

On Wednesday, the son of an Egyptian-born Canadian militant was killed in a US drone attack in North Waziristan, Pakistani security officials and Taliban said. They identified the dead man as Mansoor and said he was the son of ALQaeda figure Ahmed Said Khadr, nicknamed al-Canadi, “the Canadian”. Khadr was killed in a Pakistani army attack in South Waziristan in 2003.

Pakistani cooperation with the United States is a sensitive issue for the government of a country where many people are suspicious of the US led campaign against militancy. The Pakistani army was being far more robust and cooperative with the United States, a security analyst said.

“There is a definite qualitative change in the relationship ... there is a greater level of cooperation,” said Talat Masood, a retired army general turned analyst. But the militants are fighting back. A policeman was killed and three wounded in a suicide bomb attack in the northwestern town of Balakot, police said.

Police shot dead another bomber in the nearby town of Mansehra as he tried to force his way into a police station. — Reuters

MANSEHRA: Officials of Pakistan Bomb Disposable squad members diffuse a suicide vest from the dead body of an attacker outside a police station in Mansehra, Pakistan yesterday. Teams of coordinated suicide attackers struck two police stations in northwestern Pakistan yesterday, killing a local police chief and wounding four officers in the latest assault on government officials, authorities said. —AP

Death toll rises to 12 in India bombing NEW DELHI: The death toll from a blast that ripped through a packed restaurant last weekend in western India, which was claimed by a previously unknown Islamist group has risen to 12, a report said yesterday. The explosion at the German Bakery restaurant in the city of Pune was the first major attack on Indian soil since the 2008 Mumbai massacre in which 166 people died.

The latest fatality was a 26-year-old Sudanese student, Amjad Elgazoli, who was

studying at college in Pune, the Press Trust of India reported. His death in hospital late Friday brought to three the number of foreigners killed in the February 13 blast at the neighborhood bakery in which at least 60 people were injured.

The other two foreign victims who died in the explosion, which authorities said was caused by a bomb concealed in a bag, were an Italian woman and an Iranian man. The report of the latest death came as students in New Delhi held prayers and lit candles

yesterday to pay tribute to victims of the blast. Four men have been detained by Indian police for questioning in connection with the explosion, which came a day after India and Pakistan said they would resume peace talks in New Delhi.

A hitherto unknown Islamist outfit, which said it had splintered from a larger Pakistan-based outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call earlier in the week to the Indian newspaper The Hindu. — AFP

OPINION

12

Sunday, February 21, 2010

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Political jockeying to raise risks in Vietnam

By John Ruwitch

V

ietnam’s Communist elite have begun preparing for a leadership reshuffle next year and factional jostling for power in the coming months could raise the risks for businesses and possibly trade with the United States. The party chief, state president and several others are expected to retire at the 11th Party Congress, slated for next January, creating a chain of plum vacancies that will be filled through a secretive process of factional horse trading. “The jockeying for positions starts now and will intensify as the year goes on, and as a result the real business of government, of developing policy, will suffer,” said Jacob Ramsay, regional analyst at the consultancy Control Risks.

The macroeconomic risks are seen as small because the party is unified in its interest in stable economic growth and subdued inflation. Those statistics will be watched as a kind of “report card”, said one wellconnected Vietnamese source.

Still, the stakes are high. One question some businesses and analysts are watching is whether Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will stay on, which has a bearing on the level of continuity one of Asia’s most dynamic economies can expect after the congress.

It may be impossible to calculate the economic cost of what one Western analyst referred to as the Party’s “primary season”, drawing a parallel with the start of the US election cycle. The congress happens once every five years.

But with policymakers and their factions increasingly preoccupied with the pending reshuffle, executives and politics experts anticipate things like approvals and licensing for new businesses or major projects will get more difficult to obtain.

In October, party chief Nong Duc Manh felt the need to implore the party’s top 160 members, the Central Committee, to “absolutely not neglect guiding production, stabilising and raising the livelihoods of the people... because of preparations for the Party Congresses”. Vietnam’s ties with the United States, its biggest single investor and export market, could also face new hurdles with potentially negative implications for the economy. For most portfolio investors, Vietnam is seen as a risky “frontier market”.

Sovereign 5-year credit default swaps for Vietnam are trading at a spread of around 244, implying the second-highest level of risk in the Thomson Reuters Emerging Asia Index after Pakistan.

If history is anything to go by, the perennial conflict between economic conservatives in the leadership and those pushing for more reform and integration with the global economy will bubble up this year. Ahead of the 8th Party Congress in 1996, frictions spilled into the economic arena when anti-foreign sentiments sparked a campaign against foreign logos and advertising, said Vietnam expert Carlyle

Thayer of the University of New South Wales. “In a dramatic move, local officials in Hanoi swept through city streets and painted over billboards and offending advertising signs. Efforts were also made to restrict further the operations of foreign representative offices,” he said.

Conservatives also cranked up pressure that year on South Korean firms reportedly mistreating Vietnamese workers, and tried to delay the opening of the country’s stock exchange, he said. One foreign businessman who has been in Vietnam for more than a decade and worked with a wide range of foreign and local companies recalled that the government even suspended issuing visas to foreigners for about a month before a recent congress.

As in past years, he expects investments requiring highlevel government support or involving staged approvals over time, like real-estate and infrastructure projects, to be vulnerable. “The main source of concern is among investors who are at critical stages of their investments,” said the businessman, who declined to be identified out of concern that commenting on the country’s sensitive political process could hurt his work. “It can throw a monkey wrench into the works because you’ve got this one year period of uncertainty when it was supposed to be business as usual,” he said.

Businesses on the factional battlefield may be at risk, too.

A litany of woes has befallen budget airline Jetstar Pacific, 27 percent owned by Qantas, making many in the foreign business community here nervous, and raising questions about the business environment during a sensitive year.

The airline, launched in mid2008 in a deal that privatised failing state-owned carrier Pacific Airlines, has in recent months had its safety record scrutinised, been denied fuel by the state-run jet fuel monopoly and ordered to change its logo.

Most troubling to some, however, was an economic police probe into loss-making fuel hedging at Jetstar that led to the detention of an executive and the decision to bar two Australian officials from leaving Vietnam. The case is still pending. Vietnamese and foreign observers speculate that Jetstar’s troubles have roots in personal and turf battles that the long shadow of the coming congress may be exacerbating.

The case “reflects the tensions in the party that will surface as socio-economic policies for the next 10 and 20 years are hammered out”, said Thayer.

Political observers also point to things like the wave of convictions in political cases, a heightened tone of paranoia in state newspapers and the blocking of Facebook as linked to political posturing and jockeying before the congress.

Few argue that the congress alone is responsible, and many note that the Party is worried about new challenges that have cropped up in the past couple of years, like public protests against China’s claims to disputed maritime

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.

The importance of Kashmir for regional peace

By Riyaz Wani

A

t long last, a series of conferences and engagements has given us tentative hope for the resolution of the 62-year-old Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. If these efforts reach their goal, it could not only transform long-troubled relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, but also substantially contribute to peace in nearby Afghanistan.

Kashmir has been at the centre of a long-standing territorial dispute between Pakistan and India, resulting in several wars, as well as ongoing military operations by India against Kashmiri separatist militants. The decades-old rivalry and suspicion between India and Pakistan has persuaded them to act at cross-purposes in Afghanistan. Pakistan wants a proIslamabad regime in Kabul to achieve its goal of strategic depth as a cushion against India. India, on the other hand, seeks a pro-New Delhi government to deny Pakistan this advantage.

A solution to Kashmir would considerably reduce the trust deficit between India and Pakistan and most likely promote cooperation on Afghanistan. Over the past few months, India and Pakistan have engaged in closed-door dialogues on Kashmir in Bangkok, bringing together such individuals as former Pakistani Ambassador to India Aziz Khan and A S Dullat, the former chief of India’s external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

Simultaneously, the process is being supported by back-channel discussions between New Delhi and Kashmir’s moderate separatist conglomerate, the All Parties Hurriyat [Freedom] Conference, to resolve those issues that are specific to IndiaKashmir relations. Even though not publicly acknowledged by the United

States, these efforts are seen as part of the broader remit of the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke. Even Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently stated that US interest in the region is served by encouraging all steps that “these important nations [India and Pakistan] take to regenerate their ‘back-channel’ process on Kashmir.”

On the civil society side, several conferences were held between September and December 2009 addressing the controversy over Kashmir, attended by leading intellectuals, politicians and civil society activists from both the countries. One such conference, “A Roadmap to Peace”, held in December in New Delhi, called for the resumption of stalled dialogue between the two countries. Before this, two intra-Kashmir conferences were held in October in Srinagar and London. The larger aim of these initiatives was to find a way for India and Pakistan to reconcile their differences and focus on jointly tackling terrorism in the region, from Kabul to Kashmir.

Although the cumulative effect of these efforts has helped both countries advance toward peace in South Asia, there is still a long way to go. There is also the constant danger of the entire process unravelling if India and Pakistan’s governments fail to act and build upon the ongoing efforts. The two countries are now looking towards yet another summit meeting during the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) conference in April in Bhutan. And India has already indicated its readiness to begin a formal dialogue through the Pakistani and Indian foreign secretaries who are meeting later this month.

There are several factors at play in

the renewed engagement. One is the larger geo-politics of the region with the war in Afghanistan at its core. The unfolding situation in Kabul, where the Taliban are now being considered as part of the political solution, has suddenly reduced India’s capacity to influence the outcome in the war-torn country. Accordingly, Pakistan is suddenly in a greater position of leverage, and safeguarding India’s interests in

Afghanistan and its role as a party to the ongoing struggle for peace and security may provide incentive for normalised relations between India and Pakistan. On the other hand, Pakistan would benefit from a friendly India to ensure continued stability on its eastern flank.

The challenge before India and Pakistan is not only to address the dispute over Kashmir, their long-standing

bitter bone of contention, but also to bring their divergent policies and positions on Afghanistan in line. With stakes in Kabul getting bigger with every passing day, much hinges on this new round of bilateral contact.

NOTE: Riyaz Wani is a Kashmirbased journalist working for the leading Indian daily, The Indian Express – CGNews

UN climate process now in limbo

By Richard Ingham and Anne Chaon

T

he UN process for tackling global warming is now captainless as well as rudderless after climate chief Yvo de Boer suddenly announced his resignation two months after the ill-starred Copenhagen summit. De Boer, 55, announced on Thursday he would step down as executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to pursue a career in the private sector.

His abrupt departure - and the search for a successor able to satisfy 194 nations - adds another thick layer of problems for the UN as it grapples with what many experts describe as the greatest challenge of this century. “There is drift and hesitation, and the resignation will add to the mood,” said a senior European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Dec 7-19 conference in Copenhagen bitterly disappointed those clamouring for a new offensive against climate change. It was supposed to unlock a historic pact that, from 2012, would unite all nations in rolling back greenhouse gases and defending poor countries from the damaged weather systems. But it ended in near-fiasco.

Desperate for a face-saving result, the leaders of the major carbon emitters cobbled together an outcome of the lowest common denominator. Warming should be limited to two degrees Celsius and $30 billion would be mustered in aid by 2012, with potentially hundreds of billions more by 2020, they declared. But the agreement set down no roadmap for reaching the goal and in any case, the pledges made by nations are simply voluntary.

Barely was the ink dry on the accord than countries began to tiptoe away from it. China and India have so far

failed to endorse the document, which entails declaring that they wish to be “associated” with it. Today, momentum and direction seem to have drained out of the climate process, say negotiators. The Copenhagen Accord lacks traction, for it raises suspicions of a rival forum, driven by an elite group, to the global format.

And hopes that the United States, the world’s second biggest polluter, will give a dynamic push are fading as President Barack Obama’s domestic political problems worsen. “There is a post-Copenhagen daze. Everyone is trying to take stock of what’s going on,” said Laurence Tubiana, director of the Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in Paris.

After initially talking up the outcome of Copenhagen as a useful consensus, some governments are now openly admitting it was a setback. “We need to admit that it was a failure,” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday. “But at the same time it was a lesson. Such events require a different kind of preparation in the future.”

European Commission chief, Jose Manuel Barroso, in a letter to the 27 leaders of the European Union (EU), described Copenhagen as “a reality check” for the EU’s ambitious but unilateral - climate strategy.

But these are only the first signs of what could be a long, messy rethink about how to put the UNFCCC process back together, a business that will be further complicated by the choice of the right individual to take the helm. Only two meetings have been scheduled this year - one in Bonn, at the relatively low level of technocrats, the other in Mexico, climaxing at ministerial level. “The real problem is a lack of political guidance. Who is giving the lead?” complained a European climate negotiator. — AFP

Pak shows action, eyes talks, with Taleban arrest

By Zeeshan Haider and Robert Birsel

T

he arrest in Pakistan of a top Afghan Taleban commander should bolster Pakistan’s position as it manoeuvres to play a leading role in any Afghan peace process, but probably does not signal a fundamental Pakistani policy shift. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the most senior Taleban commander ever arrested in Pakistan, was picked up in the southern city of Karachi this month in a raid by Pakistani and US agents.

He was captured as US forces spearheaded one of NATO’s biggest offensives against the Taleban in Afghanistan. It also came as momentum builds for talks with the Taleban to end a war Western commanders say they cannot win militarily. Pakistan has said little about the rare arrest of a top member of a Taleban leadership council the United States says has been operating in Pakistan for years.

The army confirmed the arrest in a terse statement on Wednesday, but gave no details, citing security reasons.

Despite its denials, Pakistan has long turned a blind eye to Taleban members and support networks on its soil in the belief the Taleban represent the only leverage it has over Afghanistan. Some analysts said the Pakistani security establishment realised it must demonstrate cooperation with the United

A Pakistani paramilitary soldier searches a commuter by the side of the street in Karachi on Feb 18, 2010. The arrest of a top Taleban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Pakistan highlights the militant nexus in Karachi. – AFP States to stake its claim to a role in any Afghan peace process. “What they want to do is assuage the reservations and fears of the international community and to have a stronger bargaining position with respect to developments in Afghanistan,” said Khadim Hussain of the Aryana Institute think tank.

With old rival India forging strong ties with Kabul’s US-backed government, Pakistan’s nightmare is a hostile India on its eastern border and an unfriendly Afghan government supported by India on its western border.

The main question is how the move against Baradar fits in with Pakistan’s

objectives of securing a friendly government in Kabul and keeping Indian influence at bay. “This could be a gesture to show the international community that Pakistan is capable of dealing with the Taleban. They’d like to take this opportunity to exert their position vis a vis Afghanistan and vis a vis India,” Hussain said.

In another sign Pakistan might be doing that, an Afghan official said two Afghan Taleban provincial “shadow governors” had also been arrested in Pakistan this month. But some analysts suggest Pakistan’s hand could simply have been forced by US agents who had tracked Baradar down. “I think the Americans would have intercepted him and told Pakistan to arrest him. Then, naturally, the Pakistanis would have had no option,” said Asad Munir, a retired officer of Pakistan’s main InterServices Intelligence (ISI) agency.

Whatever the reason for Baradar’s arrest, Pakistan’s links with the Taleban made it pivotal for peace in Afghanistan and Baradar could be used to approach top Taleban leaders, he said. Pakistan realises the world would not tolerate its backing of another Taleban takeover of Afghanistan. Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani recently said Pakistan did not want to see the “Talebanisation” of its western neighbour. Baradar’s arrest came weeks after an international conference in London where Afghanistan’s allies and

neighbours backed a Kabul plan to reach out to the insurgents.

Though not official US policy, this process could lead to talks with hardcore Taleban leaders. The arrest of Baradar could have been a Pakistani message to the Taleban to talk or else, said another analyst. “The London conference gives some opening to Pakistan to reach out to the Taleban. On the other hand, you deliver them a blow by arresting someone who has been a master strategist,” said Imtiaz Gul, chairman of the Center for Research and Security Studies think tank. “It’s like a pincer approach.”

Some analysts have suggested Baradar may have been promoting talks that excluded Pakistan so Pakistan took him out of the equation. But while the arrest appears to signal a more cooperative Pakistan, it was unlikely to herald a shift in policy. “I don’t see any major change in Pakistan’s policy on links with the Taleban as yet because things are still very fluid,” said Rahimullah Yusufzai, a veteran journalist and expert on militancy. “Talks with the Taleban have not made any headway and Pakistan itself is engaged in military operations. At this point, it can’t annoy the Afghan Taleban,” he said.

Hussain also said he did not envisage an end to Pakistan’s use of non-state actors for “political mileage” in Afghanistan. “I don’t see any hope for that right now,” he said. — Reuters

ANALYSIS

Sunday, February 21, 2010

13

Celebrity, yes, but can Palin be more?

By Liz Sidoti

F

ormer Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin lacks many of the traits of a typical American presidential candidate. She is unconventional, unpredictable and, to hear some tell it, unprepared. What she has, though, is potent: an enormous dose of celebrity, striking good looks, an ability to captivate America with witty one-line zingers. And above all, a constantly developing story line tailormade for a drama-hungry culture of continuous media and instantaneous Twitter updates.

A half-century ago, historian Daniel J Boorstin described a celebrity as “a person who is known for his wellknownness”. Some would dismiss Palin that way, but she has shown staying power. A year and a half after her vicepresidential nomination and a year before the next presidential race begins in earnest, she spoke and acted like a national political figure at a recent convention of an ad hoc group of fiscal conservatives called the “tea party.” Not only did she act like a national figure at the convention, she was treated like one. Could she become a serious contender for US president? At a time in America when the distance between obscurity and celebrity is shrinking, the journey between celebrity and the White House may be growing shorter as well. That is why, no matter how unconventional she is, Palin cannot be counted out as a credible 2012 competitor, even if it is difficult to see her path to the presidency.

We cannot say that Palin is a creation of the media; John McCain put her on the national map when he named her his running mate in 2008.

We cannot say conservatives are pushing her to the front; there is deep division within the Republican Party about whether she is ready to be president.

We cannot even say that she is a certain White House candidate; she says it would be absurd to close that door, but there is no guarantee that she will walk through it.

At a time when the Republicans lack a leader, Palin is a phenomenon who occupies a unique space in the political discourse of a society that feeds on fame. And as long as she is coy about her future, Palin will remain a political force simply because people will not stop paying attention. So is it Sarah Palin, political celebrity? Or Sarah Palin, serious contender?

“She could be both, but we just don’t know yet,” said Eric

Dezenhall, an image consultant who has worked with everyone from Hollywood stars to business moguls. “These days, the political leaders who make it have both the celebrity and they have the capacity to lead.” That is the big unknown about Palin, who resigned as Alaska governor last summer after just 21/2 years in the job.

Any speculation about a possible President Palin raises a broader question: Is the United States moving toward an era when it picks interesting figures over people with traditional political careers and governing skills - an epoch where sudden fame trumps the Congress? If so, it has been a long time coming. The line between celebrity and politician has been blurring for more than a generation.

B-movie actor Ronald Reagan parlayed his fame into the California governor’s mansion, then the presidency. And think Minnesota: Its voters sent pro wrestler Jesse Ventura to the governor’s office and “Saturday Night Live” comedian Al Franken to the

US Senate. Today, fame arrives in American homes almost instantly. With the ascent of Internet sites like YouTube and the boom of reality TV shows, anyone from British singer Susan Boyle to the cast of “Jersey Shore” can claim their 15 minutes. The public’s attention span, though sometimes short, can be intense, making the future less certain for celebrities who aspire to political office without established, quantifiable skills.

“We have democratized celebrity,” said Darrell West, co-author of “Celebrity Politics.” “And it’s a very personal era in which we live. We want to know everything about everyone.” In such an environment, he says, “Political leaders have the potential to be celebrities, but not every celebrity has the potential to be a political leader.”

That is where Palin comes in. She finds herself on the cusp of trying to figure out which mold she fits. She was largely unknown nationally when McCain plucked her from Alaska and turned her into an overnight sensation.

Before long, she was packing stadiums with fans from coast to coast and energizing the Republicans’ conservative base.

Since the Republican ticket lost, she has become a $100,000 attraction on the speaking circuit and a best-selling author with her memoir. She and her family have been the constant subjects of supermarket tabloids, most notably over her feud with her grandchild’s daddy. She has signed on as a Fox News analyst and has fired broadsides against President Barack Obama and his fellow

Democrats on her Facebook page.

Palin also has tapped into antiestablishment, populist anger brewing in the right wing of the Republican Party over a perceived erosion of individual freedoms and loss of conservative principles. She electrified disciples at the national “tea party” convention in Tennessee with a speech filled with potshots at the president. She became the butt of late-night TV jokes when she appeared to read notes written on her hand while answering questions; her backers rushed to defend her.

But her fans, while passionate, are a sliver of the diverse coalition of Republicans she would need to claim the party’s nomination, let alone a general election against a popular incumbent Democrat who is a major celebrity in his own right. And her political standing, once strong, has deteriorated.

A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found more than half the people surveyed viewed her unfavorably, while only a third viewed her favorably.

Perhaps even worse: More than 70 percent of people, including a majority of Republicans, saw her as unqualified to be president. Which comes back to the original question. Can Palin the celebrity become Palin the contender by turning her ideological fans into a true political base and targeting the government’s top job? Will she even try? The media and the public will pay attention to every move she makes between now and when she makes a decision. Right now, by the standards of Tabloid America, this is one celebrity whose story is too good to put down. —AP

Republicans have many voices, messages

By Liz Sidoti

“T

ea party” darling Marco Rubio raised the roof.

Presidential aspirants Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty tested campaign themes. Dick Cheney and John Boehner had their say, too, at this week’s big gathering of conservatives.

Not to mention TV’s Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter. Some other Republican Party stars including 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and radio personality Rush Limbaugh didn’t attend the Conservative Political Action Conference - but no one doubts their words carry considerable weight in the Republican Party. Among the cacophony of voices, just who speaks for the Republican Party?

That’s the question Republicans are asking. “It’s a good one. And I don’t think there’s an answer yet,” says Frank Thomas, 64, a Republican who stopped by the tea party convention in Nashville last weekend. “There are a lot of Republicans who talk about the philosophies of the party,” he adds. “Ultimately, it will be the person who runs for president and wins the Republican nomination. But we’re not there yet, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing that no one speaks for the party.” These days, everyone seems to be the Republican Party’s spokesman, intentionally or not.

There’s a vacuum that’s existed since George W Bush, the head of the party for eight years, left the White House, and since 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s brief and rocky - tenure at the top. The result is a leaderless party, and a mishmash of people offering a mishmash of messages to the public heading into critical midterm elections this fall. This is not really unusual. Republicans are experiencing growing pains and undergoing an identity crisis somewhat typical for an out-of-power party trying to find its footing after devastating national elections.

The Republican Party lost control of

both the White House and Congress in just two years, and the party was seemingly in tatters.

“We lost our way,” the Washington gathering was told by Mike Pence, an Indiana congressman who is beloved on the right and eying a possible presidential run. Now, he said, “Republicans are back in the fight!” Indeed, an energized Republican Party is rallying against President Barack Obama, and Republicans are poised for gains in Congress; it’s the Democrats who now are on their heels.

The contrast Friday was striking: Obama was in Nevada campaigning for vulnerable Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as thousands of cheering conservatives packed a Washington hotel ballroom to hear from such favorites as US Rep Ron Paul and former Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Also on tap during the three-day conference: Newt Gingrich, Michael Steele and a slew of others.

When it comes to a leader, the Republican Party finds itself in a somewhat similar situation to the Democrats during the Bush era, and, particularly, after US Sen John Kerry lost the presidential election in 2004. Back then, there was no shortage of Democratic heavyweights weighing in on the state of the party. Howard Dean was the outspoken party chairman. Sen Hillary Rodham Clinton was considered the presidential frontrunner. And there was a new senator named Obama who was getting a lot of attention.

It wasn’t until Obama became the Democratic nominee - and the party embraced his message of hope and change - that he assumed the role as the Democrats’ chief spokesman. Today, it’s the Republican Party facing questions about its future leader: Should the party embrace a person favored by the antiestablishment tea party coalition? A more mainstream conservative? An oldguard establishment type? And what about all those other voices? Do the ver-

bal bomb-throwers on TV and radio keep the Republican Party energized or divide it?

There were plenty of people at this week’s annual gathering of conservatives offering their takes on how to bring the Republican Party back to lasting prominence, particularly those Republicans positioning for possible 2012 presidential runs. “Government is not the solution to all our problems,” declared Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. He laid out three pillars of a traditional conservative

agenda: “strengthen the economy, strengthen our security and strengthen our families.” Pawlenty mapped out his own vision of limited government and strong defense. The Minnesota governor also trumpeted individual responsibility, free markets and the rule of law, telling the crowd: “We’re planting the flag on constitutional grounds, and if they try to take our freedoms we will fight back.” Among the Republican Party’s rising stars, Rubio - the tea party-backed Republican challenging Florida Republican Party Gov Charlie

Crist for a Senate seat - advocated strict adherence to conservative principles and put Republicans who stray on notice.

“America already has a Democrat Party,” he said. “It doesn’t need two Democrat parties.” It may be a while before the Republican Party’s next leader emerges; Republicans don’t choose their 2012 nominee for another two years. For now at least, Republicans seem to be taking some comfort in the size of the chorus. As Thomas put it: “A lot of voices are better than none!” —AP

US open to Syria as peace player

By Barry Schweid

F

or five years, the United States has shunned Syria, denying the Arab country the prestige and access that come with having an American ambassador in Damascus. The instant explanation was to protest the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who was killed in 2005 in a Beirut truck bombing that his supporters blamed on Syria. Syria denied involvement and has expressed interest from time to time in being involved in US efforts to promote peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

By all accounts, Syria now will get the opportunity.

Depending on Senate confirmation, a seasoned ambassador, Robert Ford, will be sent to Damascus as US envoy and the door will be open for Syria and Israel to negotiate with US blessing - assuming talks can be arranged. “It’s a clear sign, after five years without an American ambassador in Damascus, of America’s readiness to improve relations and to cooperate in the pursuit of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace between Arabs and Israelis,” Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, said Wednesday.

The Syrian Embassy spokesman welcomed the move.

Ahmed Salkini said in an interview, “We face some thorny issues in our region. It is imperative for a regional player like Syria and the world’s superpower to maintain a deep dialogue.” Since December 1979, Syria has been on the department’s list of countries that support terrorism. The ongoing accusation includes suspicions Syria collaborates with Iran in supplying munitions to radical Islamist groups

for use against Israel. That listing has not been erased.

State Department spokesman P J Crowley said Thursday “we continue to have concerns about Syria and its ongoing support of terrorist elements in the region.”

“There are a variety of actors in Damascus we think should not be there,” he said. Crowley said if Syria makes progress in this area “we will evaluate” the listing. But he said he was not aware of any effort now to consider removing Syria from the list. All the while, though, there has been no denying that Syria is a front-line state in the ArabIsraeli dispute. It wants to regain the strategic Golan Heights, an enclave Israel captured during the 1967 Mideast War. It has offered peace in exchange.

Aaron David Miller, a longtime Middle East negotiator and State Department adviser, said in an interview Wednesday that every president since then, with the exception of George W. Bush, has been “fascinated with the possibility of an Israeli-Syrian peace treaty.” “None has managed to bring it to fruition,” Miller said, “and without an active peace process involving the United States, the chances for an improved US-Syria relationship are very, very slim with or without a new US ambassador.”

The decision to appoint a US ambassador coincides, however, with rising administration disagreement with Iran and a US effort to unite the Arab world in opposition to the regime in Tehran, isolating it if possible. Syria’s strong ties to Iran work against that kind of union. The Obama administration could be betting the ties could be loosened with some serious coaxing from Washington and a determined effort by the administration to drive home terms for a settlement between Israel and Syria. — AP

Portuguese politics get rowdy, no govt crisis yet

By Axel Bugge

H

arassed by the opposition and under investor pressure to fix the economy, troubles are piling up for Portugal’s minority Socialist government but bets against Prime Minister Jose Socrates may be premature. Socrates’ minority in parliament has left him in the uneasy position of relying on the Social Democrats to pass the 2010 budget just as the main opposition party relentlessly dogs him over allegations that he attempted to manipulate the media.

The balancing act forced on Socrates could not have come at a worse time as Portugal attempts to cut its budget deficit to prove it is not the next weak link in the euro zone after Greece. Bond investors are watching and civil servants plan a strike on March 4, fearing the austerity to come. The government has promised spending cuts, which it will outline in a plan to be presented to Brussels by the end of the month, to bring the budget deficit to below 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2013 from 8.3 percent this year.

But, politically at least, time is on Socrates’ side. The Social Democrats (PSD) can make as

much political noise as they like, but right now they are unable to govern as they find a new leader after losing last year’s election, analysts say. “The PSD is cleaning up their act, they are in no condition to govern,” said political scientist Rui Oliveira Costa, who heads Eurosondagem pollsters. “The opposition is taking advantage of it all to wear down the government, that is inevitable, it will continue. But a motion of no confidence is out of the question,” he said.

“Socrates can deal with pressure well.”

Making the point, a number of leading Socialists have taunted the PSD to launch a motion of no confidence in recent days. No such motion has materialised but if all opposition parties united the government would lose such a vote and fall. Parliament launched hearings this week into allegations that the government had tried to interfere in the media sector, including by using Portugal Telecom, where the state has an indirect stake, to buy into a television station.

A state-appointed member of Portugal Telecom quit on Wednesday.

Socrates, a marathon runner, denied the attacks on Thursday, calling them politically-motivated lies and an attempt to under-

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates addresses journalists at the Sao Bento palace in Lisbon on Feb 18, 2010. – AFP mine his rule. He has also called meetings of Socialist leaders this week to rally the troops in a show of unity. Socrates knows that he has other advantages as well - for now opinion polls show his party in the lead with about 40 percent support against just under 30 percent for the PSD. Marina Costa Lobo, a political analyst, said the economic

trouble prompted by the Greek debt crisis could in itself help Socrates as the PSD may want to wait to see if the economy rebounds or not.

If there is no strong rebound after the worst recession in decades last year, the PSD may calculate that it is a better strategy to wait before forcing an election so that the Socialists are left dealing with the down-

turn and not them. “It is difficult to make any political forecast because the economic situation could worsen,” Costa Lobo said, adding though that minority governments have no history of lasting in Portugal.

Also complicating the picture is the role of President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who is the one that has the power to dissolve parliament and call elections

under the constitution. But that power is limited to certain time frames after and before elections - only in early April can he now exercise that power because Portugal held a general election in September. Cavaco Silva, a former PSD leader, has so far urged cooperation between government and the opposition. By then the PSD should have a new leader and the 2010 budget should have been passed by parliament - failure to pass it would almost certainly lead to a collapse of the government.

In the meantime, debt markets could come under pressure again - especially if there is a renewed knock-on from concerns over another southern euro zone member, especially Greece. And the situation has begun to take a toll on Socrates.

“I think these are very serious problems (over press freedom) and I think they could bring the prime minister down,” said Jose Marinho, a painter working in central Lisbon. Fernando Madrinha, a columnist in weekly Expresso, fears that a stalemate will emerge. “What we are facing is a prime minister who is increasingly weak and an opposition that lacks the courage to bring him down,” he wrote. — Reuters

focus

Philly, where rogue traders dare not tread

By Matthew Goldstein

A

n office building that sits atop an upscale shopping mall in downtown Philadelphia is not the sort of place that would ordinarily strike fear into the hearts of bad guys on Wall Street. But that is home turf for the little-known regulator who has built a better mousetrap: an increasingly sophisticated computer database which is already helping the US Securities and Exchange Commission catch insider traders. Last month, Daniel Hawke, an energetic, guitar-playing 46-year-old lawyer, was named head of a new task force charged with cracking down on a variety of market abuses.

Even before the promotion, Hawke, who remains director of the SEC’s Philadelphia office, cast a surprisingly long shadow over the financial industry from his perch a twohour or so drive from the canyons of Wall Street. A few weeks after hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam was arrested in New York last October in the most significant insider trading investigation in two decades, Hawke and his team of lawyers were busy working to reel in the next big catch.

In mid-November, his crew handed out more than a dozen subpoenas to hedge funds and Wall Street investment firms seeking information about trading activity in shares of several drug manufacturers and consumer products companies that were buyout targets in 2006 and 2007. Hawke, who has more than a decade of regulatory work under his belt, won’t discuss the details of the subpoenas or the nature of the ongoing investigation.

But the flurry of activity last fall is indicative of the new, aggressive approach Hawke said he and his team are using to unearth cases of insider trading. And in the months to come, Wall Street firms and hedge funds likely will receive more of these regulatory calling cards from Philadelphia.

“Our focus is on conducting trader-based investigations, rather than going security by security,” said Hawke, who has run the Philadelphia office since 2006 and will now also serve as director of the new market abuse unit. The goal, he said was to discover “hard-todetect frauds.”

Much of the initial detective work that Hawke’s group is doing relies heavily on computers. The team cross-checks trading data on dozens of stocks with personal information about individual traders, such as where they went to business school or where they used to work. Hawke said his investigators are looking for patterns of “behavior by traders across multiple securities” and seeing if there are any common relationships or associations between those traders.

His stock sleuths then try to determine whether those traders who are wheeling-anddealing in the same group of securities are doing so because they are simply smarter and luckier than other investors, or have benefited from improper access to confidential information. Looking for connections and past associations among traders at hedge funds and Wall Street firms may not sound like an entirely novel way to conduct an investigation. But it is a marked departure from the way insider trading investigations tended to get going at the SEC. Historically, the agency has pursued such cases only after being tipped off by an informant or receiving a referral from a market surveillance team at a particular exchange about unusual trading in some stock.

“Our goal is to be better masters of our own destiny by making the most informed decision about what conduct to investigate,” said SEC Enforcement Chief Robert Khuzami, in a recent interview. “And one way to accomplish that is to have the broadest and deepest information about what is going on in the markets.”

Even the sprawling Galleon Management insider trading investigation, which has led to criminal charges filed against against Rajaratnam and 21 others, began with a tip from an exchange and the help of an informant. Federal prosecutors didn’t begin placing wiretaps on some of the defendants’ cell

phones until well after the SEC began gathering evidence of potential wrongful trading by Galleon co-founder Rajaratnam and others. “A decade ago there wasn’t a whole lot of computer assistance when it came to matching up names or matching up employers,” said Bruce Carton, a former SEC senior counsel and now editor of Securities Docket, an online securities law blog. “That’s extremely helpful.”

This newly elevated status for Hawke’s crew may come as a surprise to some on Wall Street, where the SEC’s Philadelphia office is often seen as playing second fiddle in regulatory matters to New York and Washington, DC. After all, the Galleon case has been almost entirely a New York and Washington operation. And while Hawke’s office has jurisdiction over firms operating in five mid Atlantic states and the nation’s capital, no one could confuse Philadelphia’s Market Street district with Wall Street.

Four years ago, security was so lax at the building where Hawke works that a group of self-styled anarchists stormed the entryway of the SEC’s offices and staged a protest. But tapping Hawke to oversee the SEC’s new market abuse task force is a way for the agency’s bosses to acknowledge that the Philadelphia office has come up with innovative ways to investigate insider trading. The agency is giving Hawke the authority to pull in SEC lawyers across the nation.

Indeed, his deputy in the market abuse unit is Sanjay Wadhwa, who is currently the assistant regional director of the SEC’s New York office.

Hawke began briefing the agency’s top brass about his computer-assisted forensic work in late 2007. During a meeting with then SEC Enforcement Chief Linda Thomsen and others, he explained how his team had begun compiling trading records kept by Wall Street market makers on dozens of stocks that were buyout targets. He told his superiors they were looking for common trading patterns to begin an initial inquiry.

A year ago, Hawke’s strategy of combing through these so-called “blue sheet” trading records scored its first big success. The Philadelphia office, in tandem with federal prosecutors in New York, filed civil and criminal charges against seven people in conjunction with an insider trading scheme that reaped more than $11 million in profits. The case arose from an analysis of trading patterns in stocks of several companies involved in buyouts in which UBS kept coming-up as one of the deal advisors.

Federal prosecutors got a big break in that investigation when one of the defendants, former UBS investment banker Nicos Stephanou, pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against his alleged coconspirators.

Stephanou is charged with providing some of the defendants with confidential information about the impending buyouts of supermarket chain Albertsons and construction materials manufacturer ElkCorp.

In his cooperation agreement, Stephanou also admitted providing some of his co-conspirators with confidential deal information as far back as 1997. Before the arrests in Galleon, the Stephanou case was one of the bigger insider trading busts by prosecutors and securities regulators in recent memory.

Over the years, Hawke, a Washington native, whose father John was a former US Comptroller of the Currency, has earned a reputation for taking on complex cases. He joined the SEC in 1999, after walking away from a lucrative job as a partner with a Washington law firm.

One of his first assignments was a case that led to the SEC filing administrative charges in the summer of 2001 against the now defunct accounting firm Arthur Andersen, which the agency accused of producing faulty audits of trash hauling giant Waste Management Inc. A few months later, Arthur Anderson would again be in the news for its improper audits of Enron.— Reuters

NEWS

14

Sunday, February 21, 2010

US mosques debate on English sermons C o n t i n u e d f ro m Pa g e 1

HYDERABAD: Indian police react as a student S Yadaiah set himself on fire during a protest for a separate Telangana state yesterday. —AP

Hundreds welcome return of ElBaradei CAIRO: Hundreds of supporters greeted former U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei at the airport upon return to his native Egypt on Friday, singing songs, chanting pro-reform slogans and calling on the Nobel prize winner to run for president. ElBaradei touched down in Cairo Friday evening for the first time since leaving his post as head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Association after 12 years in office. Supporters hope to use the publicity to boost speculation about his potential candidacy for 2011 elections.

Egypt has been ruled for nearly 30 years by Hosni Mubarak, who appears to be trying to set up a political dynasty by grooming his son to succeed him.

Respected worldwide and untouched by the corruption tainting much of Egypt’s current regime, ElBaradei, who won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, could be the most credible opposition leader to emerge as this U.S.-allied country prepares for 2011 presidential elections.

And many Egyptians hope ElBaradei’s international standing will make it difficult for the current government to persecute him for trying to bring reform to the country.

The crowd at the airport - made up of actors, intellectuals, opposition leaders, and regular Egyptians - broke into loud applause when word of ElBaradei’s ar rival spread, and then sang the Egyptian national anthem. Many suppor ters car ried large posters with ElBaradei’s face and the word “YES!”

signifying their desire to see him run for president. Bloggers and activists followed his arrival with a live stream on the Internet of what was happening on the ground at the airport.

ElBaradei tried to leave the VIP lounge at the airport shortly after his arrival, but the sheer size of the crowd blocked the exit of the lounge and prevented him. He was briefly glimpsed getting into a car and driving off, waving to his supporters through the car window. Despite the enthusiasm his

retur n has sparked among many Egyptians hungry for change, ElBaradei has been guarded about a potential presidential run. In an open letter responding to an effor t by young Egyptians urging him to run for president, he said he would only join the race if guaranteed that elections would be free, fully supervised by the judiciary and monitored by the international community. He also wants the constitution amended to remove restrictions on who is eligible to run. — AP

In the past two weeks, local papers reported clashes between frustrated consumers armed with switchblades. Police say two people were killed last week, crushed as they clung to a moving truck loaded with cylinders. On a radio show, a young boy called in saying all he hoped for was for his family to get an ambooba so his mother could cook dinner - prompting the host to mourn, “Is this what Egyptians’ hopes are reduced to, gas to cook with?”

The troubles fuel what has been a frequent public refrain in recent years - that the government, headed for the past 29 years by President Hosni Mubarak, has grown out of touch with the population as the influence of powerful businessmen has grown. More than 40 percent of Egypt’s population of 80 million lives on less than $2 a day. At the same time, the government is burdened with a rickety, decades-old system of subsidies and other benefits meant to provide cheap basics of food and supplies for the poor. The system is riddled with inefficiency and disorganization, as well as corruption and black markets.

“The crisis of the gas cylinders embod-

Continued from Page 1

CAIRO: Egyptian supporters surround former UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei as he arrives at the airport Friday. — AP

ies the government’s failure to draw up a realistic plan to resolve the problems in Egypt,” wrote Mohammad Shordi in the daily Al-Wafd newspaper. “It is a simple matter of supply and demand, and the government should simply close the gap between the two.”

The cause of the shortage remains unclear. According to a study performed

by Al-Askalani’s group, demand for butane only increased by 8 percent this winter, which he said shouldn’t have caused such stark shortages in poor neighborhoods in Cairo, where some were left without butane cylinders for weeks.

The study found that government delays in paying for imported butane caused a delay in shipments sent to Egypt. The government, in turn, has blamed bad weather, which it said forced ports to close this month, delaying gas shipments.

The shortage was exacerbated by the black market, where factory owners buy the subsidized butane meant for home use.

The government has ordered four more distribution stations set up to handle the spike in demand, and while residents of some areas closer to downtown Cairo claimed the crisis was slightly lifting, oth-

ers are still waiting in lines for as long as eight hours in many suburbs of the city.

The shortages at distribution centers, where a cylinder costs the equivalent of about 50 cents, has forced many people to resort to the black market, where the price soars to nearly $12.

Even though Egypt produces close to 48 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year, it lacks the refineries to process the gas into usable butane. For this, Egypt must import 2 million tons of butane at a cost of $3 billion from countries like Algeria and Saudi Arabia. For many Egyptians the current gas shortage smells similar to 2008’s subsidized bread crisis in which at least seven people died in clashes while waiting in bread lines. It got so bad, Mubarak ordered the army to increase the production and distribution of subsidized bread to cope with the shortages. The army and the Interior Ministry, which controls the police, own bakeries that they normally use to feed their own employees. “We dealt with the bread crisis by eating rice and pasta,” Badreya Hamdy, a woman from the Cairo slum of Kit Kat, told local media. “But what should we use to make up for this kind of shortage?” — AP

Local radio offers diverse programs Continued from Page 1 from 9:00 pm till midnight, she noted.

As for the Short Wave 72.5, she said that it covers the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and some surrounding Arab countries and it aims at highlighting major events in Kuwait.

Programs vary from local and international news segments to songs and sport shows, documentaries, art, medicine and environment-oriented programs, she said, adding that some programs aim to raise awareness among foreigners in domains such as traffic and health among others.

On his book on the history of media in Kuwait, Yousef Al-Surei said that the English program ranked third in the timed foreign broadcast competition in 1973. Around 45 stations were participating in the tournament of the stations most listen to in Europe and Scandinavia. — KUNA

Best actress went to Shinobu Terajima for the harrowing Japanese war drama “Caterpillar”.

“Honey” is a slow-burning but deeply affecting story offers tender scenes between Yusuf and his beekeeper father Yakup, whose struggle to provide for his young family is threatened when the bees suddenly disappear from the region.

Meanwhile Yusuf is falling behind in school, crippled by shyness when asked to read

aloud, despite the kindness of an attentive teacher.

Kaplanoglu thanked the festival for the honours and called attention to Turkey’s threatened wilderness, the setting for much of the film. “We shot this film in an astonishing region with beautiful landscapes,” he said. “The natural environment there is stunning but it could be destroyed because power stations are to be built there, hydroelectric power stations are planned for the region and I hope with this prize we have received this evening, we manage to pro-

sent to help. “A young man could be heard asking for help last night but he had been pulled out of the rubble dead this morning,” Bouanou said.

Civil defence commander Alaoui Ismaili said the operation was slow because of the narrow streets in the old city’s medina district, which prevented heavy equipment from being brought in. “We told them many times before that there were widening cracks on the walls and that its minaret had begun tipping over but they ignored the warning,” said one man, who gave his name only as Mohamed. Mohamed and other residents said they believed the accident could have been averted if the warnings had been heeded.

“We believe in God and what the fate bring for us but this time lives could had been spared if the authorities did not show they do not care about what people say,” said resident Zouhaier, who did not

tect the environment there as well.”

The Hollywood Reporter called the somewhat languorous film “exquisitely produced but dramatically erratic”. “Slowpaced and without music other than the calls and cries of the forest creatures, ‘Honey’ suggests that while nature is not full of human kindness humans may find salvation there,” its critic Ray Bennett wrote. The picture was the favourite of the 20 pictures in competition among German critics polled by Berlin’s daily Der Tagesspiegel. — Agencies

want to give his full name. Neglected old buildings in the old quarters of Morocco’s cities collapse fairly often but the fall of a minaret is rare. “The residents’ anger is justified because there were reports by government experts backing the necessity of shutting the mosque down,” parliamentarian Bouanou said.

Some also questioned why the mosque had not been renovated like other neighbourhood landmarks. Local activist Younes Chaker said the minaret figured in a list of some 520 buildings described in a municipal survey as needing immediate renovation. “What happened to the budget set aside for this work?” Chaker asked.

“Local authorities did not listen to the people,” another resident, Imad Nabali, said. “What are our elected officials there for?”

Journalists were allowed to enter the part of the building that had not collapsed.

Amid the rubble were dozens of shoes, apparently left behind by worshippers

scrambling to escape. The old town of Meknes - 120 km east of the capital Rabat - is a pedestrian zone with narrow streets, which made rescue efforts more difficult.

The king asked officials to carry out “urgent studies” of historic mosques nationwide to check their safety, MAP said. Local officials put together teams including engineers and experts to study them, it said.

Abdeslam Bouchikhi, a local official with the religious affairs ministry, said King Mohammed VI had visited the mosque and prayed there several years ago. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Morocco’s former colonial ruler, was among those who sent condolences to the king. The king said after the collapse that the mosque, built under Sultan Moulay Ismail, who ruled in the 17th and 18th centuries and made Meknes his capital, would be rebuilt. The mosque was built at the initiative of the country’s first woman minister, Khnata bent Bakkar. — Agencies

Group prefers gold as dollar loses shine Continued from Page 1 issued by Sheikh Abdalqadir As-Sufi in Cape Town of South Africa, banning Muslims from using paper money,” Azis told AFP. Abdalqadir, a former playwright and actor who converted to Islam in the late 1960s, bitterly opposes modern capitalism and advocates a return to forms of Islamic law practised by the first generations after Muhammad (PBUH). These include seventh-century systems of trade and, in particular, the requirement of “zakat”, or obligatory sharing of wealth, which he says must be done with gold or silver if it is paid in money.

Recent global economic upheavals, with their origins in the US mortgage and derivatives markets, have confirmed in the eyes of the sheikh that the final victory of Islamic finance is at hand. In a blog on his website dated Feb 7, the sheikh pronounces the “historical, demonstrated end” of capitalism, and claims Western governments are using the threat of ter-

rorism to distract people from this failure.

“It is time for the enslaved billions of our world today to fear no more the exploding shoes and underpants of the idiot agents of capitalism and to learn what Islam really is,” he writes. One of the key elements to being Muslim, he continues, is “following the messenger in all trade and contracts with honour (and) ... with real-value instruments of exchange like gold and silver”.

Some Muslims have countered that a world economy based on gold coins would lead to a powerful cartel of goldproducing countries, while others have noted the potential for market chaos if gold replaced the greenback. But for the sheikh’s followers, such issues seem remote compared to the straightforward injunction to obey the Holy Quran and emulate Muhammad (PBUH).

“At least four people on average shop here every week with dinars, mostly buying things like rice, cooking oil, soap and clothes,” said Kurniawati, a mother-ofthree who also runs a dinar exchange

service. She became convinced of the wisdom of using dinars after her husband gave her a wedding dowry in gold coins eight years ago. “A gold coin was worth 400,000 rupiah in 2002 but now it’s at 1.45 million,” she said proudly.

Several dinar users expressed a belief that gold never lost value, even though the currency has dropped 14 percent over the past year, according to rates tracked on local website Gerai Dinar. The rupiah, meanwhile, has gained 29.17 percent against the US dollar since February 2009, while inflation last year was a record low of 2.78 percent. Consumer prices rose 11.07 percent in 2008.

Despite its recent gains, dinar users expressed a deep distrust of the rupiah, which tanked during the 1998-1999 Asian economic crisis. “The value of the dinar and the dirham always goes up because the price of gold never falls,” said food vendor Faturrahman. “The price of food in rupiah, in contrast, is always rising. It gives me a headache as my income is becoming smaller and smaller.” — AFP

Biggest US medical team to visit Kuwait Continued from Page 1

Turkish film wins Golden Bear Continued from Page 1

impossible and a grandson who helps her had to cut back to devote more time to school. Plus, as a Muslim, she could keep halal. Wehbe, 70, who lives in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, is among the recipients of a new halal Meals on Wheels program. It’s the first in the country to work with a national halal food distributor and comes after a lengthy effort by nonprofit agencies that serve area senior citizens as well as Muslim- and Arab-Americans.

Like other Meals on Wheels programs, it’s designed for people who are at least 60 years old, confined to their homes and unable to make their own meals. But the halal meals also are deemed permissible or lawful for Muslims because they are prepared according to Islamic teachings.

Amne Talab, social services director of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services in Dearborn, said the need has grown as the population ages and more elderly lose help from family members working more to make ends meet in a tough economy.

She also was inspired by the success of a local kosher Meals on Wheels program.

She was “aware of the regular Meals on Wheels program and wondered ... if they could make it halal,” said Talab, who is also a member of the state’s Commission on Services to the Ageing. Talab said finding money for the program had been a challenge until the area nonprofit Senior Alliance Area Agency on Aging 1-C identified federal funding available through a state agency. She said it took three years to get the service off the ground.

The program, a joint effort of Talab’s center and the Senior Alliance that started last month, has about 20 recipients. But Talab expects the number will grow as word spreads. The food is delivered to eligible people in southern and western Wayne County. The Detroit area is home to the nation’s most concentrated Muslim population. The meals come from two Iowa companies: Midamar Corp of Cedar Rapids and Ankeny-based Mom’s Meals.

Midamar started its prepared meals program last year when the two companies started providing food for a New York City health program. Von Kennedy, Midamar’s director of sales and marketing, said Michigan’s Halal Meals on Wheels program is his company’s first.

He said prepared halal meals are “really going to gain traction” in states with large Muslim populations such as New York, Texas, California and Illinois. Midamar said it’s the first company to work with the US Department of Agriculture to develop an accredited halal food program. Entrees include tandoori-style chicken thigh with rice and onions and lentil stew with lamb.

Wehbe said through a translator that the meals are “not bad” - though she thinks the low-sodium, low-fat meals could do with a bit more oil, the way she used to make it. — AP

Meknes minaret collapse kills 41

Shortage of gas raises Egyptians’ ire at govt Continued from Page 1

When he first arrived at the center in 1997, he noticed most of the mosques in the Dearborn area used Arabic only. He decided to give his ser mon first in English, then in Arabic to serve English speakers. He also lectures in English on Friday nights for young Muslims and again on Sundays, even though some older attendees speak only their native language. “Some people say I’m too Americanized,” said Al-Qazwini. “I would say I’m being realistic. We have to be realistic. There are more and more Muslims who are born into this faith in America and there are more and more people who are converting to this faith in America and these are non-Arabic people.”

The issue is part of a broader discussion within the Muslim community about young US Muslims and their alienation from American mosques. Houses of worship founded by older immigrant Muslims often held fast to the culture and language of their native countries. For them, English in the mosque threatened Muslim identity. Their American-born children, however, can’t relate. “This is a constant problem talked about - young people in mosques,” said Shahed Amanullah, cofounder of salatomatic.com, which lists thousands of mosques and reviews from users. “It’s not just about the Friday prayers. It’s the response that mosques have to the cultural reality of growing up Muslim in America. If young people don’t find what they need in the mosque, they’ll find it on the Internet.”

The language of obligator y Friday prayers, called juma, is not part of the debate; those prayers must be in Arabic, the language of the Quran. The disagreement focuses on whether that requirement should extend to the sermon, or khutba, on Fridays, the Muslim day of congregational prayer, and other assemblies in the mosque. Imams and scholars who insist on using Arabic say it’s mandatory because Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) gave his sermons in the language. Others say that Muhammad (PBUH) used Arabic only because it was what he and his community spoke, and that Islam is a universal faith.

On suhaibwebb.com, a Web forum for Muslims in the West, writer Abu Majeed said in a post last month that while his English-language sermons were accepted without protest at several US mosques, he was derided by one South Florida congregation as a modernist who violated Islamic law. Foreign-born imams, or prayer leaders, who moved here to serve immigrant communities, have sometimes reinforced the thinking that only Arabic is acceptable.

Other mosques might use Arabic and Urdu - a language from Pakistan, India and elsewhere in Asia - but no English.

“My worry is that younger people who do not find the mosque a satisfying experi-

ence, and women who find it a hostile environment, will drift away from the mosque,” said Abdullahi An-Na’im, a specialist in Islamic law at Emory University School of Law. “That means the mosque will become the exclusive domain of a very archaic understanding of Islam.”

On a recent Friday, at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, Imam Mohamed Shamsi Ali climbed the narrow stairs to the top of the mimbar, or pulpit, and began his sermon in English. The mosque is one of the largest in the city and attracts a diverse group of Muslims who sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the carpeted floor. Shamsi Ali spoke about the need for a positive outlook, human dignity and connecting prayer and fasting with behavior. He underscored his points by quoting Arabic verses from the Holy Quran. The imam is Indonesian and a fluent English speaker who said later in an interview that he struggles with all the invitations he receives to lecture Muslim student groups.”My schedule is tight because I’m among the very few who can address the English-only speakers,” Shamsi Ali said.

Some imams bridge the language gap by giving a lecture in English and a short sermon in Arabic at Friday prayer. But only the sermon and the prayer are obligatory. As a result, many people skip the English-language talk, even if they don’t understand the Arabic sermon, said Asad Ba-Yunus, 35, an attor ney in For t Lauderdale, Florida, and board member for the Islamic Society of North America.

Muslims of South Asian descent often have a particularly strong attachment to using Arabic for sermons because it is a tradition in mosques in their native countries. About one-third of Muslims in the United States are of South Asian descent.

Amanullah, 41, said he found a particularly dramatic example of the problem in a predominantly South Asian mosque he visited one Friday in California. The prayer leader read a sermon written in Arabic, even though neither he nor the worshippers understood the language. “It was the blind leading the blind,” Amanullah said.

“Nobody in the room knew what the sermon was about. It could have been a recipe for baba ghanoush and no one would have been the wiser.”

Location matters. In small communities comprised of immigrants from many countries, the prayer leaders have no choice but to use English so they can be understood. However, in major cities, immigrants usually arrive in such large numbers that they can find a mosque where their native language is spoken. The growing number of American-born Muslims is likely to force a resolution of the issue.

Separately, Mariam Wehbe learned about a program offering home-delivered meals made according to Islamic law at a good time - poor health made cooking

treatment, besides neurology, otolaryngology, dentistry, contagious diseases and the digestive system. The health official asserted that inviting such consultants helps activate Kuwaiti health relations with world health centers and plays a major role in exchanging expertise and carrying out sophisticated surgery that push the medical services provided for those working in the military apparatus to new highs.

Sheikh Sabah also said that bringing international experts from abroad opens the door wide for training Kuwaiti doctors

on cutting-edge treatment methods in what brings benefits to doctors and patients alike, stressing that a large number of Kuwaitis - whether doctors or patients - have taken advantage of the visits made by foreign medical consultants to Kuwait. This spares patients and their families the toil of traveling abroad and the high expenses of medical treatment.

Sheikh Sabah asserted that the Kuwaiti political leadership is keen on upgrading the level of the health services in Kuwait through making use of the world expertise in this field along with developing medical systems, which positively reflects on the health of individuals in the society.

Finally, he hailed the support lent by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and his instructions on contracting world renowned doctors and specialists in order to upgrade the level of medical services provided in the medical services authority and make use of foreign expertise. He also expressed his thanks for the Ambassador of Kuwait to the US Sheikh Salem Al-Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and military attache at the embassy Lt Col Nabil Al-Roudhan for their cooperation and efforts in facilitating the procedures of this medical mission. — KUNA

SPORTS

Sunday, February 21, 2010

15

McMurray on pole for auto club 500 FONTANA: Jamie McMurray has gone from winning the Daytona 500 to sitting on the pole in California, topping qualifying Friday for NASCAR’s Auto Club 500.

After a whirlwind week of appearances and interviews as the champion of NASCAR’s season opener and biggest race, McMurray got back into the cockpit of his No. 1 Chevrolet on Friday and qualified first at the 3.2-kilometer (2-mile) speedway.

“I am so amazed at the week I’ve had, and then to come here to be able to be on the pole,” McMurray said. “I really can’t believe it. It’s just pretty awesome.”

McMurray captured his fourth career pole, his first at California, and will be joined on the front row by Earnhardt Ganassi teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Clint Bowyer qualified third in another Chevy, which has an engine also built

by Earnhardt-Childress Racing, like the ones in McMurray and Montoya’s cars.

Kasey Kahne was fourth in his Ford, followed by Dave Blaney in a Toyota. The highest-qualifying Dodge was Sam Hornish Jr. in eighth.

Matt Kenseth, who won at California the last two Februarys, qualified 20th.

Kenseth hasn’t won a race since opening last season with victories at Daytona and California

and this week changed crew chiefs.

Roush Fenway drivers have won the past five February races at California, with Kenseth winning three of the past four. Greg Biffle won in 2005 and Carl Edwards went to victory lane three years ago.

Edwards qualified 31st, five spots ahead of Biffle.

When McMurray got to the track Friday morning, he described it as “just a different feeling that I’ve ever had in the garage area.”

After all the responsibilities that came with winning at Daytona, which he said he definitely enjoyed, McMurray still looked forward to getting back into the car. He was feeling even better after he won the pole.

“Getting in the car ... it was going to be easier than what I had to do Monday through Thursday. I was like, I can’t want to get back to the race track so I can rest,” McMurray said. “It’s just been so busy. I’ve been on such a high the last four days. And I don’t think that’ll go away if you happen to have a bad run because fortunately you always get to be the Daytona 500 champion.”

McMurray woke up Friday morning finally feeling rested but with a sore throat. He took antibiotics to feel better. “I just didn’t want to get sick for Sunday,” he said. —AP

OAKLAND: Utah Jazz’s Deron Williams (right) drives to the basket as Golden State Warriors’ Monta Ellis defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game. —AP

Mavericks defeat Magic ORLANDO: The Dallas Mavericks rode a surprisingly strong defensive effort to beat the Orlando Magic 95-85 in a clash of NBA divisional leaders on Friday. Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points and new additions Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood had 16 and 15 respectively for Dallas, which opened a two-game lead atop the Southwest Division.

Dwight Howard had 29 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks for Orlando, which could not improve on its 1-1/2 game advantage in the Southeast Division. After allowing Orlando to shoot 65 percent and score 33 points in the first period, the Mavericks limited the Magic to just 34 percent shooting and 62 points the rest of the game.

CALIFORNIA: Jamie McMurray drives the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway. —AFP

Jagr hints of return to NHL VANCOUVER: With a big grin and a quick start to his Olympics, 38-year-old Jaromir Jagr is flirting with a return to the NHL. The two-time Stanley Cup winner with Pittsburgh and 18year veteran of the league until he left for Russia’s top professional division in 2008 seemed delighted Friday night by the idea of a return season in North America, after he scored again for the Czech Republic in its 5-2 victory over Latvia.

“They treat me so well in Russia, but at the same time, maybe I want to try to play here,” a shrugging Jagr said while being far more expansive and engaging than he’d been in his initial days of the Vancouver Games.

Jagr confirmed his two-year contract worth about $7 million tax-free to play for Avangard Omsk of the Russian Kontinental Hockey League ends this year, with no option years to negotiate.

The man who ranks ninth on the NHL list with 1,599 points (646 goals, 953 assists) in 1,273 career games split between the Penguins, Capitals and Rangers said for now he is focused on getting his Czech team ready for today’s showdown with rival and tournament co-favorite Russia.

“And when we get back (to Russia) we have to start the playoffs,” he said. “Then, I have to make a decision. If it happens, it happens.” His formerly flowing mane is now much shorter _ unlike during his Pittsburgh heyday, one can easily see his name on the back of his Czech jersey. And the stubble on his chin now looks as much like salt as pepper. “Hey, it’s not gray. I just did it to make me look older,” Jagr joked. Yet his game still looks young.

“Up to now, he’s played very well,” Czech Republic coach

Vladimir Ruzicka said through an interpreter. “And I believe his time will still come. We still expect more.” Jagr scored his second goal in two games on a wicked slap shot that zinged over the shoulder of Latvia’s helpless goaltender.

He later aggressively locked an arm around the back of the neck of a Latvian in front of the Czech goal, drawing a holding penalty. Latvia converted the ensuing power play to get within 4-2.

He spent some of the third period on the bench playfully joking with and slapping the shoulder of teammate Roamer Cervenka. Then Jagr sped past three defenders at least 10 years younger before sending one of his team-high seven shots into the side of the net.

Late in the game he gathered his own rebound, zoomed around the back of the net and thought he had his third goal of the Olympics on a quick backhand — until Latvia goalie Edgars Masalskis made a diving save. A handful of other, similar rushes in his 16:37 of playing time bolstered Jagr’s postgame claim that practicing and playing on bigger ice in Russia have made him a better player than he was for the New York Rangers in 2007-08.

“I think after the two years I’ve spent in Russia I can be a better player than I was when I left,” he said. “I know that.”

Jagr was drafted fifth overall by the Penguins in 1990.

The NHL held that year’s draft at BC Place, a domed stadium next door to Canada Hockey Place.

Asked if maybe coming back “here” meant to Vancouver, to truly complete his NHL life cycle, Jagr chuckled and smiled some more. “I don’t know,” he said. “I love Russia. I love the NHL. Whatever happens, happens.”—AP

Bobcats 110, Cavaliers 93 In Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte took advantage of Antawn Jamison’s miserable debut for Cleveland in a result that sent the NBA-leading Cavaliers to back-to-back defeats.

Two days after being acquired from Washington in a key trade, Jamison came off the bench and promptly went 0 for 12 from the field. He was blocked five times and tossed up two airballs, while looking out of sync with his new teammates.

Stephen Jackson scored 29 points to lead the Bobcats, who used a big run to end the third quarter to beat the Cavaliers for a third straight time and take the season series 3-1 in a possible first-round playoff preview. LeBron James had 22 points and nine assists for Cleveland.

Celtics 96, T’ Blazers 76 In Portland, Oregon, Ray Allen scored 21 points, including eight straight early in the fourth quarter to stymie a run by Portland and guide Boston to victory. Kevin Garnett scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half, helping the Celtics on the second night of a difficult West Coast two-step.

After holding off the Lakers 87-86 Thursday night in Los Angeles, the Celtics easily dispatched a rested Portland team and handed the Blazers their biggest loss of the season.

Garnett and his frontcourt mates dominated the interior in the first half, as Boston built an 18-point halftime lead.

Suns 88, Hawks 80 In Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire scored 22 points for his ninth straight game over 20, leading Phoenix over Atlanta. Grant Hill added 16 points for the Suns, who used a 13-0 run in the

fourth quarter to pull away.

Josh Smith’s 21 points the Hawks, who were outrebounded 50-36 and shot just 39.5 percent for the game.

Stoudemire also had eight rebounds, one night after the Suns decided to keep him in Phoenix rather than trade him, risking losing him this summer with no compensation if he opts out of the final year of his contract.

Heat 100, Grizzlies 87 In Memphis, Tennessee, Michael Beasley scored a career-high with 30 points as undermanned Miami won its season-best fifth straight by defeating Memphis in double overtime.

The Heat, playing without Dwyane Wade and Rafer Alston, blew an 18point lead in regulation than pulled away in the second overtime behind Udonis Haslem, who scored eight points in the final five minutes. Marc Gasol led Memphis with 22 points.

Wizards 107, Nuggets 97 In Washington, Al Thornton scored 21 points in his Washington debut, leading the Wizards over Denver.

Thornton, acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in the Antawn Jamison deal Wednesday, and Dwight Howard (20), starting for the first time since being acquired from Dallas, spear-

headed a spirited fourth-quarter rally.

Howard had nine points in the period as Washington erased an 82-73 deficit.

Bulls 100, T’wolves 94 In Minneapolis, Chicago stayed balanced after a couple of rotation-altering trades, downing Minnesota. Kirk Hinrich had 20 points and Derrick Rose scored 19 for the Bulls, who had Hakim Warrick and Flip Murray make their debuts in a game that was ragged from start to finish.

76ers 106, Spurs 94 In Philadelphia, Lou Williams scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, fueling a decisive run that lifted Philadelphia over San Antonio.

Andre Iguodala had 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Philadelphia. Elton Brand added 18 and seven rebounds for the Sixers, who outscored the Spurs 33-18 in the final 12 minutes.

Jazz 100, Warriors 89 In Oakland, California, Utah extended its longest road winning streak in eight years, overcoming Golden State.

Carlos Boozer had 30 points and 16 rebounds and Andrei Kirilenko scored 22 for the Jazz, who won for the 16th time in 18 games and moved within a

half-game of first-place Denver in the Northwest Division.

Hornets 107, Pacers 101 In New Orleans, rookie Darren Collison registered his first career tripledouble with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists for New Orleans in the victory over Indiana. Collison joined injured star Chris Paul as the only Hornets to record triple-doubles since 2004-05. David West scored 29 for New Orleans.

Bucks 91, Pistons 85 In Auburn Hills, Michigan, John Salmons had 18 points, including a gameclinching 3-pointer, in his Milwaukee debut, downing Detroit.

Former Piston Carlos Delfino added 16 points for Milwaukee, which won despite Brandon Jennings shooting 1-for13.

Raptors 106, Nets 89 In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Toronto cruised to a win that condemned New Jersey to a 5-50 record. Rasho Nesterovic scored a season-high 16 points replacing a sidelined Chris Bosh, Jarrett Jack added 18 as the Raptors had seven players in double figures. Toronto shot nearly 60 percent from the field in extending its franchise record for consecutive 100-point games to 19. —AP

Al-Ahli Bank top KBC bowling tourney

Al-AHLI Bank of Kuwait team.

Bank of Kuwait and Middle East team.

KUWAIT: Al-Ahli Bank came on top of the triple competition of the 11th annual bowling tournament held by the Kuwait Banks Club, after collecting 1810 points ahead of Bank of Kuwait and Middle East who collected 1598 points. National Bank of Kuwait came in third place with 1589 points.

The head of the KBC’s sports committee, Mohammad Al-Meil, applauded the performance of the top teams, and all other participants in all competitions held as part of the tournament.

The National Bank of Kuwait team.

SPORTS

16

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Britain breaks drought as Plushenko row rages

WHISTLER: Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway races on his way to clinch the gold medal in the Men’s super-G, at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. —AP

Even Aussies cheer ski-crazy Kiwi WHISTLER: A New Zealander being cheered on passionately by hordes of Australians at a major sporting event?

Strange things can happen at the Olympic Games.

While New Zealand is more famous for its rugby passion, ski-crazy Kiwi Tim Cafe is getting plenty of support at the 2010 Winter Olympics, not least from the legion of Australian workers at the Whistler ski resort, 100km from Vancouver, where the Alpine events are being held.

“It has been overwhelming, unbelievable fun and emotions the whole way through and I am so happy to have experienced it,” said the 22-year-old Cafe.

“There’s heaps of support for the Kiwis, even the Aussies are supporting us and this town is full of them. “Our team spirit is great, everyone is supporting each other, there has been no chance for a Haka (the traditional Maori war dance), but you never know, we might spring one.”

Having learned to ski at Coronet Peak, near his Queenstown home in New Zealand’s South Island, the marketing grad-

uate finished 38th in the men’s Super G on Friday.

He was more than five seconds behind gold medal winner Aksel Lund Svindal, but did well just to finish the race unlike 19 other skiers, including Canada’s Robbie Dean and fellow Kiwi Benjamin Griffin, from Wellington.

Spending five months a year training at the picturesque Austrian resort of Zell-amSee, Cafe has picked up plenty of experience racing in Europe this winter.

“My progression is starting to pick up,” he said. “I am thinking in the next few years I will ski some (second tier) Europa Cup and get some more experience in the technical disciplines and then hopefully in 2014 (the next Olympics), I can look at the top ten.”

He added: “I learned to ski at Coronet Peak, just outside Queenstown, which is a ski town and they are really getting behind me, I love that and it means a lot.”

When the winter season finishes in March, Cafe will be heading home and looking for a part-time job, but says he is lucky

to be able to train at his home resort.

He said: “We are based in Europe for five months essentially, then we have our off-season in April and June, but I am lucky enough that when we train in the southern hemisphere, we train in Queenstown, so I can go home.

“The conditions at Coronet are really iced up to replicate World Cup conditions, so we have a lot of World Cup teams train down there.”

With America’s skiers excelling at these Games, Cafe said the six medals they had won before Saturday’s women’s Super-G is testimony to their sporting mentality.

“The US have had a pretty good season overall, everyone knows about Lyndsey (Vonn), but the individuals have picked it up for the big events,” he said.

“That is real testimony to their sporting mind. They have really picked up from the Austrians, but you can bet they will come back. But the Americans have filled their place. “They must be doing something right - maybe they are training in Queenstown,” he grinned. —AFP

VANCOUVER: Xinxin Guo, of China, soars through the air off a jump during aerials training at Cypress Mountain in Vancouver. —AP

Chinese aerials skiers flying high VANCOUVER: Renowned for their prowess in gymnastics and acrobatics, the Chinese are playing to their strengths as they bid for more Olympic glory in aerials freestyle skiing.

Over the years China’s Olympic Winter Games haul includes medals in speedskating, short-track, figure skating and one silver in aerials but Han Xiaopeng’s win in 2006 was their first gold in a skiing event.

The Chinese currently dominate the World Cup aerials standings, filling five of the top six berths, with 27-year-old Li Nina leading the way ahead of Guo Xinxin, 26, and Xu Mengtao, 19.

Their men are also strong, with four of the top seven in the rankings including Qi Guangpu, 19, in second place with 18year-old Jia Zongyang just one

spot behind.

Dustin Wilson, the Canadian coach of the Chinese team, told AFP that Han’s win in Turin raised the profile of the sport, adding: “There’s more focus and more money and a better programme.”

Han, 26, also competing on Vancouver’s Cypress Mountain, agreed that aerials now has a greater following.

“They have paid more attention to the sport. Before they didn’t know what was an aerialist.

Now they know,” he said.

Wilson, who has been coaching the Chinese since 2004, said the secret of China’s success was that sports chiefs targeted areas in which Chinese athletes were traditionally strong.

“We get most of our athletes through gymnastics and acrobatics and start them when

they’ve retired from that sport at a young age and then progress them.

“We go after acrobatic sports because then we don’t have to teach them how to flip and twist. They already have that ingrained and we teach them how to ski and adapt to the environment.”

The Chinese are also reaping the rewards of their policy in snowboarding, where the top four berths in the women’s halfpipe World Cup standings are filled by Chinese athletes.

Liu Jiayu finished just outside the medals on Thursday.

“The sports system in China is a very good system. They know what they’re doing. They live and breathe what they’re doing so with aerials they jump every day,” said Wilson, who added that training takes place in Inner Mongolia.

“When they’re young and learning they focus on the basics and then once they’ve got the basics then we move them up to competition and put them on show.”

Han puts the rise of China’s aerials team over the past decade down to teamwork.

“China has very good teamwork, we work together, our coaches work together. It’s very good,” he said.

Speaking about the success of his younger teammates, he said: “As young athletes they have no fear, and lots of energy, more energy.” Wilson picked Li Nina, Turin silver medallist and three-time defending world champion, as the favourite in the women’s competition.

“Li Nina is the most consistent jumper on tour and she has a great chance no matter what the conditions,” he said. —AFP

VANCOUVER: Britain claimed its first individual Winter Olympic gold in 30 years on Friday as Aksel Lund Svindal landed the super-G title and figure skater Yevgeny Plushenko’s failure to defend his crown sparked a furious backlash.

Amy Williams rocketed to victory in the women’s skeleton in a combined time of three mins 35.64sec to achieve what no Briton has managed since Robin Cousins won the men’s ice-skating title at Lake Placid in 1980.

Germany’s Kerstin Szymkowiak finished second at 0.56sec with compatriot Anja Huber taking the bronze.

“Amazing. I’m not quite sure if it’s real or not, I feel like I’m in a little bubble, I’m still not quite sure what is happening,” said Williams. “Half the track is a blur, I can’t even remember what I really did.”

Williams’s gold came despite protests by the United States and Canada over the legality of her helmet, both of which were dismissed by the International Federation of Bobsleigh and Tobogganing.

Canada won its fourth gold of the Games with Jon Montgomery hurtling down the men’s skeleton track to pip Latvia’s Martin Dukurs by just 0.07sec, with Russia’s Alexander Tretyakov settling for bronze.

Norway’s Svindal blasted down a technically testing run in the Whistler mountains in 1:30.34 to win the super-G gold and leave downhill champion Didier Defago languishing in his wake in 15th spot.

On a glorious day for the Scandinavian nation, Marit Bjoergen joined teammate Svindal on top of the world by winning the women’s 15km cross-country pursuit to go with the sprint crown she captured on Wednesday.

While Defago flopped, it was another day to remember on the pistes for America with Bode Miller winning silver behind Svindal and Andrew Weibrecht claiming bronze in a speed event where no pre-race training on the course is permitted.

“It was good but it’s hard to talk about perfect,” said Svindal, who crossed the line 0.28sec ahead of Miller on an icy and rutted course.

“I knew I was going to take risks. At the start I thought, ‘Put a smile on your face you already have a silver. Go for the gold and see what happens.’

“I prepared well. I’m in top form and am just enjoying it.”

Bjoergen was another one on fire, taking her title by 8.9sec from Sweden’s Anna Haag and Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk.

Meanwhile, Plushenko’s failure to win the figure skating title on Thursday evening saw accusing fingers being pointed at the judging system.

Even Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin weighed in, saying Plushenko’s silver medal finish “was worth a gold medal,” while others decried injustice.

Plushenko’s wife demanded that Russian authorities publicly defend her husband who was relegated into second by world champion Evan Lysacek despite the American’s more conservative performance.

“This is a gross mistake by the judges,” Plushenko’s wife, Yana Rudkovskaya, told the Russia-24 television network.

“We need to defend our sportsmen and protect their honour.”

Plushenko too slammed Olympic judges and threatened to quit. “I am not prepared to skate well and lose,” he complained. Lysacek insisted Friday that he deserved his gold and called the Russian, his idol, a bad loser.

“It was perfect. I felt that the way I was skating was a winning performance,” he said.

“I’m disappointed that someone who was a role model for me would take a hit at me at the greatest moment of my life.”

In men’s ice hockey, defending champions Sweden beat Belarus 4-2, Czech Republic cruised to a 5-2 win over Latvia while Finland crushed Germany 5-0.

The Finns’ Teemu Selanne became the all-time Olympic ice hockey scoring leader when he assisted on his team’s third goal, scored by Kimmo Timonen, to reach 37 career points in the Olympics. —AFP

VANCOUVER: Germany goalie Dimitri Patzold (32) and Christian Ehrhoff (10) fail to stop a goal by Finland’s Tuomo Ruutu (15) in the first period of a preliminary round men’s ice hockey game. —AP

Selanne is scoring king as Swedes, Czechs win VANCOUVER: Teemu Selanne became the all-time points leader in Olympic hockey history, collecting an assist on Finland’s third goal Friday as the 2006 silver medallists trounced Germany 5-0.

The Finnish Flash assisted on Kimmo Timonen’s second goal of the game for his Olympic-record 37th point, surpassing the previous mark held by Russian legend Valeri Kharlamov, Czechoslovakia’s Vlastimil Bubnik and Canada’s Harry ‘Moose’ Watson.

“It is a big honor,” said Selanne, who is playing with a plastic face mask to protect a broken jaw. “But it is one of those situations where you really enjoy it more when your career is done and over.”

Finland joined Sweden and the Czech Republic in the win column Friday as all three medallists from four years ago at the Turin Games won their preliminary round matches.

Gold medal winners Sweden beat Belarus 4-2 and the bronze medalists Czechs cruised past Latvia 5-2.

Selanne, who turns 40 in July, has a silver medal from Turin and bronze at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and would like nothing better than to end his Olympic career with a gold.

Selanne helped set up Timonen’s goal on the powerplay late in the second for his 17th assist to go with 20 career goals. His wife and children were among the crowd at Canada Hockey Place to witness the event.

“If somebody had told me 30 years ago what’s going to happen I would say you’re crazy,” Selanne said. “I played a long time with a lot of good players and that is what makes it all happen.”

Selanne’s teammate on the Anaheim Ducks Saku Koivu made sure he retrieved the historic puck from the referee and gave it to Selanne.

“Teemu has been the same for Finnish hockey as Jari Kurri,” said defenceman Sami Salo who got the other assist on the Timonen goal. “He’s a stable guy and the numbers he has put up are unbelievable.”

Heading into the tournament Selanne needed two points to break the record. He tied it on Wednesday,

getting another assist in a 5-1 Finland victory over Belarus. When he was growing up in Finland, Selanne got a chance to see Kharlamov’s Red Army team.

“When I was a young boy we were always in the rink when the Red Army would come to our city,” Selanne said. “I was a big fan of those guys. I watched Kharlamov and (Boris) Mikhailov and those guys.”

Selanne has had his share of injuries in his career but the past two NHL seasons have been especially gruesome. He is playing with the face mask to protect the jaw he broke in mid-January when he was hit by a deflected puck.

The incident happened as he was still recovering from a badly broken left hand a month earlier that required surgery. At the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Selanne lost three teeth when he took a stick to the mouth but didn’t miss a game.

In the earlier game, Jaromir Jagr, David Krejci and Tomas Plekanec scored in the opening period to power the Czech Republic over Latvia.

Tomas Kaberle, with his first goal of the tournament, and Patrik Elias also scored for the Czechs who moved to 2-0 in Group B of the preliminary round.

Defenceman Marek Zidlicky finished with three assists.

In the first Olympic meeting between the two countries, the Czechs jumped out to 4-0 lead before Latvia came storming back with two goals late in the second period.

The win moves the Czechs into first place in Group B with six points, just ahead of the Russians who have five. The Czechs and Russians square off on Super Sunday in a trio of marquee showdowns that also includes Canada against the USA and Sweden versus Finland. Daniel Alfredsson scored two goals and Daniel Sedin finished with a goal and an assist as defending champion Sweden beat Belarus.

He added his second with just 11 seconds left in the game, taking a pass from Sedin’s twin brother Henrik.

Belarus kept the game close thanks to a pair of goals by Dmitri Meleshko. —AFP

WHISTLER: Pascal Oswald of Switzerland competes during the men’s skeleton competition at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. —AP

Olympics medals table VANCOUVER: Olympic Games medals table yesterday: United States Norway Germany Canada South Korea Switzerland France China Sweden Austria Russia Netherlands Australia

Gold 6 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1

Silver Bronze Total 6 8 20 3 2 10 5 4 13 3 1 8 2 0 5 0 1 4 1 4 7 1 1 4 1 1 4 2 2 5 2 2 5 1 1 3 1 0 2

Slovakia Czech Republic Great Britain Poland Latvia Italy Japan Belarus Estonia Finland Kazakhstan Croatia Slovenia

1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 0 0 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0

0 1 0 1 0 3 2 1 0 0 0 1 1

2 2 1 3 2 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 1

SPORTS

Sunday, February 21, 2010

KUWAIT: Men’s double trap winners with Eng Duaij Al-Otaibi (front center), Colonel Abdelraman AlHaqan (right).

17

Bahrain’s Al-Zayani (center) with Malaysia’s Zulkifil (right) and Kazakh Snegirevich (left).

Al-Zayani grabs first gold for Bahrain, IPSC concludes today

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: The First International Police Shooting Championship will conclude today at the Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Olympic Shooting Complex.

Bahrain’s Al-Zayani said she is very happy as her gold medal is the first for her country and the first at the international level, adding that this gives her the motivation to go for more.

She said the competition proved strong as the best were here.

Qatar’s double trap shooter described his third place finish as the “seed” of development for shooting in Qatar and the Arabian Gulf. He said he faced tough competition and results were very close.

He said this is the first time he faced such a strong performance by all shooters especially that this is the first police

international competition at this level.

Meanwhile Kuwait’s Double trap shooter Olympian Fuhaid Al-Daihani, who is also the world champion, who finished fourth in this event with a score of 189, said he participated in the competition with a broken hand, and did not listen to his doctor’s advice to keep it in a cast until it is fully healed.

He said that he also did not use his own shotgun that is being repaired in Italy and borrowed the gun of one of his teammates. He said the start was not good for him as he lost concentration slightly and that was enough to make him slip behind.

The third day results of the first International Police Shooting Championship are as follows: 50m Rifle Prone Men Alexander Yermakov from

Italy with a score of 781.1, the 2nd place to Roman Bondaruk from Ukraine scoring 766.6 and 3rd place went to Rashid AlAthba from Qatar who had a score of 190 targets.

Skeet shooter Afrah Mohammad (Kuwait).

Kazakhstan won 1st place by scoring 696.9 points with the 2nd place going to Yurii Sukhorukov from Ukraine who had a score of 695.6 and 3rd place being awarded to Yuriy Yurkov from Kazakhstan who scored 691.5 points.

50m Rifle Prone Women The 1st place was awarded to Bahraini Lulwa Al-Zayani who scored 586 points, 2nd place to Muslifah Binti Zulkifili from Malaysia who had 585 points and 3rd place went to Olessya Snegirevich from

Al-Daihani checking the shotgun during the competition.

Kazakhstan scoring 584 points.

Rapid Fire Pistol Men The 1st place was awarded to Christian Reitz from Germany with a score of 192 targets, the 2nd place to Daniele Di Spigno also from

Italy scoring 191 targets and 3rd place went to Hasli Amir Hassan from Malaysia who had a score of 763.4.

Double Trap Men The 1st place was awarded to Francesco D’Aniello from

The final results of the women’s skeet event were as follows: Russia’s Svetlana Demina was first, followed by Deena Al-Tebaishi from Qatar and Sheikha Al-Rashidi from Kuwait.

The Russian shooter who is well experienced said that she played comfortably and did not allow competition to get to her nerves. She said that the surroundings were very good and she wished to come back to Kuwait for more competitions, as organization and facilities are excellent.

Qatar’s Deena Al-Tebaishi said she was nervous at times as this is her first time to

compete in such an international level. She said that this event gave her a good opportunity to feel the international atmosphere with highly talented shooters adding that she has been practicing shooting for five years only.

Kuwait’s Afrah Mohammad who finished sixth said the completion was really tough and this was also her first participation. She said the competition gave her the determination to keep on practicing and be dedicated to the sport bearing in mind her relatively new involvement to the sport.

She said the care and technical support shooters are receiving from the shooting club headed by Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem AlHumoud Al-Sabah will ensure the continued success of the sport at both local and international levels.

Venus clinches Dubai Open

DUBAI: England’s Joe Denly in action against Pakistan during the International Twenty20 match in Dubai.— AP

Razzaq-inspired Pakistan level Twenty20 series DUBAI: Abdul Razzaq single-handedly changed the course of the match with a brilliant innings as Pakistan beat England by four wickets to level their two-match Twenty20 series 1-1 here yesterday.

At the Dubai Sports City stadium, England scored 148-6 from their 20 overs after being put in by Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, who was second time lucky with the toss. In reply, Pakistan looked down and out after being reduced to 78-5 in 13 overs, mainly due to a superb bowling effort from Graeme Swann.

The spinner took 3-14 in his four overs, a haul which included the wickets of Umar Akmal (36), Shoaib Malik (13) and Shahid Afridi (8).

However, Razzaq smashed five sixes in his 46 not out in 18 balls, as Pakistan reached the target with one over to spare.

He first added 48 important runs for the sixth wicket with Fawad Alam, and then hit two sixes in the penultimate over of the match from debutant Ajmal Shahzad to seal the issue in favour of his team.

Malik was full of praise for Razzaq. “He was just awesome. England set us a very good total. We didn’t start off well, but Razzaq batted really well to get us this game. The way he has come back, I am just speechless and very happy about it,” he said.

“We really needed this win after the series we had in Australia. This is a great start as we prepare to defend our title at this year’s ICC World T20 Cup.” Collingwood was upbeat despite the loss, and said things looked good for the World T20 Cup, which will be played in April-May in the Caribbean Islands.

“We are improving every moment, I congratulate my boys for what they have been doing on the field for quite sometime. Our batting is looking especially stronger. There are some areas we need to work on, but we are definitely becoming a better T20 team,” he said.

After being hit for a boundary off the very first ball in his international career, Shahzad picked up both the openers in his first over.

Imran Nazir was the first to go, trying to heave him over mid-wicket, but the top-edge flew to Tim Bresnan at third-man. Two balls later, Imran Farhat tried to pull a fullish length delivery, but only succeeded in giving a catch to Stuart Broad at mid on.

Pakistan were 4-2 at that stage. — AFP

Scoreboard DUBAI: Complete scoreboard of the second Twenty20 match between Pakistan and England at the Dubai Sports City stadium here yesterday: England: J. Trott run out 39 J. Denly b Arafat 5 K. Pietersen lbw b Ajmal 62 E. Morgan c Malik b Gul 9 L. Wright c Afridi b Arafat 13 P. Collingwood not out 11 T. Bresnan c Nazir b Arafat 0 M. Prior not out 1 Extras (nb1, w7) 8 Total (for six wickets; 20 overs) 148 Did not bat: S. Broad, G. Swann, A. Shahzad Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Denly), 2-110 (Trott), 3-120 (Pietersen), 4-125 (Morgan), 5-144 (Wright), 6-144 (Bresnan) Bowling: Razzaq 4-0-17-0, Arafat 4-0-32-3 (w1), Afridi 4-0-27-0, Ajmal 4-0-29-1, Gul 4-0-43-1 (nb1, w2).

Pakistan: I. Nazir c Bresnan b Shahzad 4 I. Farhat c Broad b Shahzad 0 U. Akmal c Morgan b Swann 36 S. Malik c Collingwood b Swann 13 S. Afridi c Morgan b Swann 8 F. Alam c Morgan b Broad 28 A. Razzaq not out 46 Y. Arafat not out 5 Extras (b4, w2, lb3) 9 Total (for six wickets; 20 overs) 149 Did not bat: S. Ahmed, U.Gul, S. Ajmal Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Nazir), 2-4 (Farhat), 3-40 (Malik), 4-64 (Afridi), 5-78 (Akmal), 6-126 (Alam) Bowling: Shahzad 4-0-38-2, Bresnan 3-0-25-0 (w1), Broad 4-0-24-1, Swann 4-1-14-3 (w1), Wright 2-0-210, Collingwood 2-0-20-0.

Result: Pakistan win by four wickets.

DUBAI: Venus Williams became the most successful active woman player on the WTA Tour when she secured her 42nd title by successfully defending the Dubai Open here yesterday.

Williams, who beat Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 7-5 in an absorbing final, thus overtook Justine Henin’s record of 41 titles, only two months after achieving another notable statistic-a career total of 25 million dollars in prize money.

She and her sister Serena are the only two women to have achieved this feat, but both Venus’s resilient performance and her optimistic words suggested that further remarkable statistics are in the pipeline.

Asked if she now hoped to add to her tally of Grand Slam titles, the five-time Wimbledon champion replied: “Absolutely.

I am so happy to have added to my collection here. And I am keen to keep adding every time.”

Venus also made reference to the diplomatic success of a tournament which accommodated the first Israeli woman, Shahar Peer, ever to compete in the United Arab Emirates.

“It was a great tournament to have everyone included,” she said. Later she added: “Obviously we had issues with everyone getting included,” referring to the refusal of Peer’s UAE visa in 2009. “But this year it was great to show a spirit of inclusion and equality.”

Venus went on: “I definitely think her playing has an influence on things outside the tennis. We need government to do the right thing like they did here and people of courage to come here and play, to play so well with focus.”

Venus felt her good form was in significant measure due to having found a way of managing her long-lasting fitness problems, especially with a knee, and she delighted, she said, in being able to throw away the bandages she had to wear for much of last year.

The match was full of noisily powerful rallies-Azarenka usually trying to work an initiative, Venus more likely to win the rally with one blow, Azarenka accompanying everything with a loud coo, Venus

DUBAI: Venus Williams from US (center) holds the trophy next to Sheikh Hashar bin Maktoum, President of Dubai Tennis Association (left) and Princess Haya, wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, after she beat Victoria Azarenka from Belarus during the final of Dubai Tennis Championship.— AP with an ominous roar.

The first set hinged on the pressure Venus placed on her opponent’s second serves, which brought an Azarenka double fault on game point at 23 — though it required Venus to make a successful appeal to Hawkeye to prove that the second serve was too long.

Having closed out the first set, Venus’s momentum accelerated. She struck the ball with even more confidence, broke again immediately, and the feeling of the contest changed dramatically as she hurtled to 3-1.

However, as against Anastasia Pavluchenkova and Shahar Peer, Venus’s serve wobbled a little with the end in

sight. A creaky double fault at 3-2 gave Azarenka a break back point, and a moderate second serve allowed the fourth seed to make a return which converted that chance immediately.

But Venus broke again for 65, courtesy of an ill-timed foray to the net by the 20-year-old Azarenka, and closed out the match in the next game at the third attempt. “I’m definitely starting to feel better,” Venus concluded. “It’s been a learning curve in managing the playing and keep the swelling (of the knee) down. I don’t usually talk about my injuries this much, but I am excited about what is happening.”—AFP

Salwa T-T Cup to attract players from 38 countries KUWAIT: The organizing committee of the Salwa International Table Tennis Cup said yesterday that the tournament would attract at least 180 players from 38 states.

Competitions will begin on February 23. Deputy Chairman of the Committee Mohammad AlMatoog told the press that the participating players

and delegations would arrive next Saturday to play in the tournament that is scheduled to be held at Qadsiya Sports Club.

The cash prizes for the tournament are set at $300,000, revealed the official who called on table tennis fans to come along and take part in the prestigious tournament. — KUNA

SPORTS

18

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Alleged mistress demands own apology

‘Sorry’ Tiger not yet out of the woods Life and career: MAKING HIS NAME • Born in Cypress, California on Dec. 30, 1975.

His full name is Eldrick Tont Woods.

• A child prodigy, he won three consecutive US junior titles and three successive US amateur championships before turning professional in late 1996.

• Ended that year with PGA Tour victories at the Las Vegas Invitational and Walt Disney Classic.

EARLY MAJOR IMPACT • Became the youngest Masters winner with a tournament record aggregate of 18-under-par 270 at Augusta National in 1997. His victory margin of 12 shots was the biggest in the tournament’s history.

• After a lean spell in 1998, when he revamped his swing with coach Butch Harmon, Woods won eight titles in a golden run on the 1999 PGA tour, including his second major at the PGA Championship where he held off a charging Sergio Garcia.

• In 2000, Woods produced one of the most successful seasons in golfing history. Romped to victory by a record 15 strokes in the US Open, coasted home by eight shots in the British Open and claimed his second PGA Championship.

• Became the fifth and youngest player to win a career grand slam of all four majors. Ended the year with nine titles on the PGA Tour, having completed his sixth in a row at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February.

• Woods won his second Masters crown in 2001 to become the first player to hold all four professional major titles at the same time.

LOSES NUMBER ONE RANKING • Over the next four years, Woods piled up four more major victories after embarking on the second revamp of his swing since turning professional.

• He broke Greg Norman’s record for most weeks as world number one with a combined tally of 332 but his five-year reign at the top finally ended in September 2004 when Fijian Vijay Singh took over.

GLOBAL DOMINANCE • In 2005, Woods won his fourth Masters title, a second British Open and reclaimed the world number one ranking in June, which he has held ever since.

• Suffered an emotional 2006, having to deal with the illness and death in May of his father Earl before winning the last two majors of the year, the British Open and the PGA Championship. Ended that season with 11 titles worldwide, including six in a row on the PGA Tour.

• Clinched his fourth PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in 2007 and finished second at the 2008 Masters before undergoing knee surgery two days later.

KNEE PAIN • In his first tournament back after an eightweek break, he defied stabbing knee pain and a double stress fracture of his left tibia to win his 14th major title with a playoff victory over fellow American Rocco Mediate in the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines.

• Woods then shut down his 2008 campaign to have reconstructive knee surgery.

COMPETITIVE RETURN • Returned to competitive golf at the WGCMatch Play Championship in Arizona in February 2009.

• Missed the cut in a major for the second time as a professional at the British Open and lost for the first time while leading a major into the final round at the US PGA Championship when he was overtaken by South Korea’s Yang Yongeun.

• Still won six PGA Tour titles, was unbeaten for the US at the President’s Cup and won the year-ending Fed-Ex Cup and the Australian Masters.

CAR CRASH • Was taken to hospital after he crashed his car into a fire hydrant and tree in the early hours of Nov. 27. Wife Elin Nordegren was said to have smashed the car’s back window with a golf club to get him out of the car.

• Issued with a ticket for the crash, although US media began reporting he and Nordegren had been arguing prior to the crash.

• On Dec. 1, he withdraws from the Chevron World Challenge, a tournament he hosts to benefit his charitable foundation, citing injuries from the crash as media speculation begins to circulate about his personal life.

• Admits on Dec. 2 that he “had let his family down” after reports of extra-marital affairs with several women begin to emerge.

• Issues statement on his website on Dec. 11 that he had committed infidelity and was taking an “indefinite break” from golf.

THERAPY • On February 19, 2010, in his first public appearance since the scandal erupted, he formally apologizes before a small group of reporters carried live on U.S. TV and says: “I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don’t know when that day will be. I don’t rule out that it will be this year.

• He says he had undergone 45 days of inpatient therapy for “guidance for the issues I’m facing”, but did not elaborate. He said he had “a long way to go” in repairing his personal life and was returning to the treatment center. —Reuters

NEW YORK: This was one spotlight he never sought, probably never dreamed of, and most definitely avoided for as long as humanly possible. When Tiger Woods claimed the stage for his TV apologyand make no mistake, it was a stage, pure and simple-his mission was to be authentic and sincere.

Or, at least, as authentic and sincere as managing and repairing a multinational, multimedia, multimillion-dollar brand can ever be.

“There are some things I want to say,” golf’s most towering figure told us, his eyes wide, his tone low, his backdrop blue velvet. If only it were that simple. This may indeed have been a sincere apology. It certainly felt moving at times.

Tiger Woods may be genuinely remorseful and desperate to make amends to all those people, from his wife to his fans, who have been demanding some kind of resolution after those ugly revelations of infidelity and months of silence.

But the circumstances of his mea culpa-the infomercial manner in which it was set up, teased, stylized and delivered as regularly scheduled programming-obscured any genuine message struggling to punch through.

Woods, or the people managing him, certainly took pains to cover all of the cultural bases. His statement

Veronica Siwik-Daniels

Mixed reactions PONTE VEDRA BEACH: Golf superstar Tiger Woods made his first public statement Friday since taking an indefinite break from the game in December after admitting he cheated on his wife. Here is some reaction to his remarks: ■ “As a human being everyone has faults, makes mistakes and sins. We all do. But, we move on when we make a mistake and learn from it,” said Wood’s mother Kultida. “He will come out stronger, a better person.”

■ “We look forward to seeing Tiger back on the golf course when the time is right for him and his family,” said one of his major sponsors, Electronic Arts Inc, adding that its relationship with Woods “remains unchanged.”

■ We look forward to him returning to golf,” said Nike Inc, another major sponsor. Nike said it “fully supports him and his family.”

■ Trading was already quiet, but when Tiger came on everybody was looking at the TV screens,” said Peter Adams, livestock trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. “They were mocking him,” Adams said of the Chicago traders. “Only rich guys go to therapy for sex addiction, everybody else gets hit in the head with a frying pan.”

Heartfelt or phony?

Pundits divided on Woods apology. Woods’s apology was the highest-profile televised mea culpa since former President Bill Clinton confessed to an “inappropriate” relationship with Monica Lewinsky in 1998. ranged from place to place, wounded party to wounded party, managing to invoke all of the requisite images of recovery in modern America.

He said sorry three times and took the blame, shifting it to no one except the safe scapegoat of the media. He talked about the “the issues I’m facing,” the work he had to do on himself and the people he’d let down.

He used the language of the 12-step program. He admitted he had a problem. He said family came first. He even invoked old-time religion - Buddhism, in this case, reflecting his status as not only a cultural symbol but a multicultural one.

And yet ...

He went on too long. He didn’t allow questions. He wanted to talk to the public but kept everyone out of the room except the exact 40 people his handlers picked. He made an obvious play to keep womenthe interest group he has most offended-front and center, including his mother.

The choreography was hardly surprising from a man who built his career around controlling the message. But in the end, this scripting reveals a key trait about Americans and their idols. In a culture that has arrived at a curious three-way intersection of therapy, authenticity and Hollywood endings, closure is everything.

Look at the scripted truths of reality TV and the carefully managed sensibilities of weekday morning programming: We hunger to be handed a feeling that no matter how messy lifemarried life, in this casebecomes, things ultimately make sense. The sad fact is that it almost doesn’t matter whether Tiger Woods’ apology was sincere. What matters-for his business, for golf, even for plain old us-is that it appeared to be.

“The American people are incredibly forgiving of those who ask for forgiveness. But you have to ask for it in a sincere way,” said Gerald Patnode, a branding expert at York College in Pennsylvania.

So forget whether you think the apology was any good; for its purposes, it was good enough. It reconciled private and public, puritanism and prurience, condemnation and forgiveness. It was enough verisimilitude for the moment at hand.

Woods’s apology was the highest-profile televised mea culpa since former President Bill Clinton confessed to an “inappropriate” relationship with Monica Lewinsky in 1998.

The golfing superstar’s statement received blanket coverage across broadcast and print media on Friday, with almost

WASHINGTON: A porn star numbered among Tiger Woods’ alleged mistresses demanded her own “face to face” apology from the golf great on Friday after his televised appeal for forgiveness over his sex scandal.

“I would be open to a telephone apology from Tiger, but I really feel that I deserve to look at him, in person, face to face, in his eyes, because I didn’t deserve this,” said Veronica Siwik-Daniels, better known as Joslyn James. “I’ve had to deal with a lot and too much from him and because of him,” James, who says she had an affair with Woods and quit her adult movie career at his request, said in remarks broadcast by Fox News Channel.

■ “It’s tough to get any man in America just to go to marriage counseling let alone go into a 45-day rehabilitation. Plus he’s going back tomorrow, and that tells me that he’s trying to learn about the issues ... to learn about the thought processes that caused the actions, so that he can cut them off next time,” said Notah Begay, PGA golfer and friend of Tiger’s from Stanford University days.

■ We’re supportive of whenever he comes back, whether it’s three weeks from now, or three months from now, that’s less important than when he comes back, he’s prepared to play to resume his career in a positive way so that he’s there for the long haul,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, who called Woods’ public address “a good step.”

■ We wish Tiger well as he works through these private matters,” said a spokesman for sponsor Gatorade, which is part of PepsiCo Inc. ■ Tiger spoke today and addressed the issues he felt were most important. His words stand on their own. We wish him and his family the best,” said a spokesman for Procter & Gamble’s Gillette brand, adding that its sponsor relationship with Woods remained unchanged.

■ It sounded heartfelt to me. It sounds like it was a really difficult thing for him to do. From a guy that’s done a lot of tough things in golf over the years, it was probably one of the most difficult things he’s ever had to do,” said British Open champion Stewart Cink of the United States. “You have to make amends to the people you’ve hurt and you have to start the bridge to the other side. And I think that’s where Tiger is.”

■

I think it was a sincere apology. He made it very clear that he wants media to leave his family alone, which I kind of agree with,” said British golfer Luke Donald. —AP

WINDERMERE: Tiger Woods practices golf outside his home on Feb 18, 2010 in Windermere, Florida. —AFP

every major network interrupting their programming to beam Woods’s comments live to a captivated audience.

On Wall Street, the trading floor ground to a virtual halt as dealers looked up at television screens broadcasting Woods’s statement, part of a global audience estimated at tens of millions.

From former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer to talkshow host David Letterman, the sight of public figures apologizing for sexual indiscretions has become a familiar one in the modern

media age. But no public apology has ever been transmitted as far and wide as Woods’s dramatic confessional, which was also streamed live on dozens of websites such as Youtube, Hulu and Livestream.

Woods’s comments divided the army of talking heads deployed by networks around the world to provide instant analysis. Some pundits applauded Woods’s honesty while others dismissed it as a cynical exercise in media manipulation.

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos described Woods’s words as “one of the most remarkable public apologies ever by a public figure.” “He (Tiger) left nothing on the table. This is a man who has thought a lot about what he did,” Stephanopolous said.

Debert Cook, publisher of African American Golfer’s Digest, said Woods’s statement signaled a turning point in the superstar’s fortunes.

“I think he was very genuine in his responses and his statement,” Cook told BBC television in London. “I think we are entering a whole new era spiritually and emotionally for Tiger Woods.

There’s always going to be the doubters out there but I think we have to take him at his word and watch his actions,” he said. CBS analyst and former professional David Feherty said he believed Woods apology was sincere.

“I have never seen him appear so vulnerable... I was very impressed with what he said,” Feherty said. “The vast number of people just want their Tiger Woods back,” Feherty said.

But Rick Cerone, former chief of public relations for the New York Yankees, took an opposite view. “What I saw was arrogance,” he told CNN. “It was basically an infomercial.”

One of the most scathing reviews of Woods’s performance came from Washington Post opinion writer Eva Rodriguez, who branded it “disgusting.”

“I’ve never been more disgusted with Tiger Woods,” Rodriguez commented. “I found his apology unbelievable, insincere, self-serving, self-indulgent, and narcissistic.

“You don’t need an internationally televised apology to become a better man, a better husband, a better father-the things he claims are most important to him. But you do need such a spectacle if you’re going to remain a multi-billion dollar marketing machine. —Agencies

James tearfully declared said she never wanted to cause Woods’s wife Elin or the Woods children any pain and proclaimed “I’m so sorry” for any hurt. But “Tiger pursued me, and over time I fell in love with him, and he told me he loved me too,” she said. “I can’t help that I fell in love with him. You can’t help who you love.”

Her comments came af ter the sports superstar, in his first public comments since sordid revelations of his extramarital affairs surfaced in November, told a television audience of millions that he was sorry for his infidelity and that he was not sure when he would return to professional golf. —AFP

Timeline of fall from grace November 27, 2009 Woods suffers facial lacerations in a car crash outside his Florida home after colliding with a fire hydrant and a tree.

November 28, 2009 Florida Highway Patrol say they have been unable to speak to Woods and his wife, Elin Nordegren.

November 29, 2009 Woods issues statement taking full blame for crash, lashes out at rumors of domestic disturbance.

“I’m human and I’m not perfect,” he says on website.

“Many false and malicious rumors circulating about my family and me are irresponsible.”

November 30 Woods pulls out of his own tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, in California. Florida Highway Patrol say they have yet to get his version of crash.

December 1 Police issue Woods a traffic citation for careless driving and a 164-dollar fine, say “there are no claims of domestic violence by any individual.”

December 2 Cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs claims she had a twoand-a-half-year affair with Woods, who says via website: “I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.”

December 4-11 Several women come forward with claims of flings with Woods, including a porn star and a waitress. At least 10 women allegedly linked to Woods.

December 8 Woods’ mother-in-law, Barbro Holmberg, is rushed to hospital from Woods’ home, but is later discharged.

December 9, 2009 Lawmaker Joe Baca retracts bid to get Tiger recognized with Congressional Gold Medal.

December 11, 2009 Cocktail waitress Jamie Jungers claims she was “broken-hearted” after alleged relationship with Woods.

Woods says via website he will take an “indefinite break” from golf and apologizes for “infidelity.”

December 13, 2009 Consulting firm Accenture ends six-year sponsorship of Woods, saying he is “no longer the right representative for its advertising.”

Other sponsors including Nike and Tag Heuer stick with Woods.

December 31, 2009 US telecom giant AT&T ends sponsorship deal with Woods, saying only that they “wish him well in the future.”

January 4, 2010 Video game maker Electronic Arts Incorporated announces it will go ahead with plans to roll out an online game featuring Woods.

January 19, 2010 Woods is reported to be receiving treatment for sexual addiction at a clinic in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

February 19, 2010 Woods makes first appearance since the scandal broke, apologizing for “selfish and irresponsible” behavior in a statement televised around the world. —AFP

SPORTS

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Bayern go top of Bundesliga table

Soccer results/standings English Premier League results Arsenal 2 (Bendtner 27, Fabregas 90-pen) Sunderland 0; Everton 3 (Bilyaletdinov 19, Gosling 76, Rodwell 90) Manchester United 1 (Berbatov 16); West Ham 3 (Behrami 3, Cole 59, Faubert 90) Hull 0; Wolverhampton 0 Chelsea 2 (Drogba 40, 67);

Portsmouth 1 (Piquionne 35) Stoke 2 (Huth 50, Diao 90) Playing today Aston Villa v Burnley; Blackburn v Bolton; Fulham v Birmingham; Manchester City v Liverpool; Wigan v Tottenham.

English Football League results Championship Blackpool 2 Reading 0; Cardiff 0 Barnsley 2; Crystal Palace 0 Coventry 1; Derby 0 Swansea 1; Newcastle 3 Preston 0; Nottingham Forest 1 Middlesbrough 0; Plymouth 1 Leicester 1; QPR 2 Doncaster 1; Scunthorpe 2 Watford 2; Sheffield Wednesday 0 Ipswich 1.

Postponed Peterborough v Sheffield United Division One Charlton 2 Yeovil 0; Colchester 1 Oldham 0; Exeter 0 Stockport 1; Gillingham 1 Bristol Rovers 0; Hartlepool 0 Huddersfield 2; Leeds 1 Brighton 1; Milton Keynes Dons 3 Southend 1; Norwich 0 Southampton 2; Swindon 2 Carlisle 0; Tranmere 2 Leyton Orient 1; Walsall 2 Brentford 1; Wycombe 1 Millwall 0.

Division Two Accrington 2 Bradford 0; Aldershot 1 Notts County 1; Bournemouth 1 Macclesfield 1; Cheltenham 2 Morecambe 0; Crewe 3 Northampton 2; Darlington 2 Chesterfield 3; Grimsby 2 Lincoln 2; Hereford 3 Burton 4; Port Vale 0 Barnet 2; Rochdale 3 Dagenham and Redbridge 1.

Played Friday Bury 1 Shrewsbury 0; Rotherham 1 Torquay 1 English Premier League table English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):

Chelsea Manchester Utd Arsenal Manchester City Liverpool Tottenham Aston Villa Everton Birmingham Fulham Stoke Blackburn West Ham Sunderland Wigan Wolverhampton Hull Bolton Burnley Portsmouth

27 27 27 25 26 26 25 26 25 26 26 26 26 26 25 26 27 25 25 26

19 18 17 12 13 12 11 10 10 9 8 8 6 6 6 6 5 5 6 4

English Football League tables Championship Newcastle 32 19 Nottingham Forest 33 17 West Bromwich 31 17 Swansea 32 13 Cardiff 31 14 Leicester 31 12 Blackpool 33 12 Sheff Utd 32 12 Middlesbrough 33 12 Coventry 33 11 Barnsley 32 12 Doncaster 31 10 Watford 30 10 Derby 32 11 Preston 32 10 Bristol City 31 8 QPR 31 9 Scunthorpe 32 10 Ipswich 31 7 Reading 31 9 Sheffield Wednesday 32 9 Crystal Palace 31 11 Plymouth 31 8 Peterborough 32 5

4 4 9 5 7 9 8 7 7 10 7 9 8 7 6 9 8 5 4

9 10 9 14 7 12 11 9 8 10 6 10 9 6 9 14 10 7 15 8 7 10 5 9

4 6 6 4 8 7 5 8 8 10 8 11 11 12 1 14 13 12 14 18

63 63 63 48 43 45 32 38 24 30 26 26 35 32 26 21 25 29 25 21

4 6 5 5 10 7 10 11 13 12 14 11 11 15 13 9 12 15 9 14 16 10 18 18

56 48 62 29 56 38 50 44 43 37 42 38 43 38 37 35 43 39 36 35 36 34 29 36

22 24 30 33 27 26 19 37 26 28 29 43 40 44 49 44 54 46 50 44

61 57 55 45 44 43 42 38 37 34 34 31 27 26 25 24 24 23 23 16

22 24 32 22 38 31 40 43 37 45 48 38 45 45 48 43 49 58 44 49 50 35 43 55

66 61 60 53 49 48 47 45 44 43 42 40 39 39 39 38 37 37 36 35 34 33 29 24

Note: Crystal Palace deducted 10 points for entering administration Division One Norwich 32 20 6 6 67 35 66 Leeds 31 18 9 4 53 25 63 Colchester 32 18 8 6 49 31 62 Charlton 32 16 12 4 56 35 60 Swindon 30 15 11 4 49 37 56 Huddersfield 31 15 9 7 56 33 54 Millwall 31 14 10 7 43 31 52 Milton Keynes Dons 31 15 4 12 46 43 49 Walsall 31 11 10 10 40 37 43 Bristol Rovers 31 13 3 15 38 47 42 Brentford 30 9 11 10 32 32 38 Southampton 29 12 11 6 49 32 37 Carlisle 31 9 10 12 42 44 37 Leyton Orient 31 9 9 13 41 47 36 Yeovil 32 8 11 13 40 45 35 Gillingham 32 8 9 15 32 43 33 Tranmere 31 9 6 16 28 49 33 Southend 31 8 8 15 34 45 32 Oldham 29 8 8 13 24 35 32 Hartlepool 31 8 8 15 37 49 32 Exeter 32 7 10 15 34 47 31 Brighton 31 7 10 14 36 50 31 Wycombe 32 6 9 17 33 57 27 Stockport 30 4 8 18 26 56 20 Note: Southampton deducted 10 points administration Division Two Rochdale 30 19 5 6 Bury 31 17 6 8 Bournemouth 32 17 6 9 Chesterfield 31 17 3 11 Rotherham 29 15 7 7 Shrewsbury 32 14 9 9 Notts County 28 13 9 6 Accrington Stanley 29 14 4 11 Burton Albion 32 13 7 12 Aldershot 30 12 9 9 Morecambe 31 11 11 9 Northampton 32 11 10 11 Dagenham and Red. 30 12 7 11 Crewe 31 12 5 14 Port Vale 30 9 13 8 Barnet 31 9 9 13 Hereford 30 9 8 13 Bradford 29 8 10 11 Lincoln City 31 9 6 16

for entering

63 42 38 46 43 45 56 44 50 47 53 45 41 49 33 33 36 37 26

27 37 33 38 31 36 25 42 49 39 48 43 40 50 31 39 43 45 42

62 57 57 54 52 51 48 46 46 45 44 43 43 41 40 36 35 34 33

19

Scottish Premier League results Celtic 1 (Keane 20) Dundee United 0; Falkirk 3 (Moutinho 13, Barr 42, Showunmi 70) Aberdeen 1 (Mulgrew 5); Kilmarnock 1 (Maguire 33) St Mirren 1 (Mehmet 82); Motherwell 1 (Murphy 82) Hibernian 0.

Postponed St Johnstone v Rangers Scottish Football League results Division One Dundee 1 Partick 0; Dunfermline 0 Ayr 1 Postponed Airdrie v Raith; Inverness CT v Queen of the South; Morton v Ross County Division Two Postponed Cowdenbeath v Alloa; Dumbarton v Clyde; East Fife v Arbroath; Peterhead v Stenhousemuir; Stirling v Brechin.

Division Three Berwick 0 Annan 2; East Stirling 0 Livingston 2; Montrose 0 Elgin 4; Queen’s Park 1 Forfar 3.

Postponed Stranraer v Albion German League results Hamburg 0 Eintracht Frankfurt 0; Borussia Dortmund 4 (Subotic 43, Eggimann, 60-og, Valdez 77, Grosskreutz 88) Hanover 1 (Kone 81); Nuremberg 1 (Gundogan 54) Bayern Munich 1 (Muller 38); Mainz 0 Bochum 0; Cologne 1 (Schorch 44) Stuttgart 5 (Cacau 13, 31, 38, 74, Pogrebnyak 69).

Friday Hoffenheim 2 (Ibisevic 69, Eduardo 89-pen) Borussia Moenchengladbach 2 (Daems 31-pen, Colautti 51) Playing today Freiburg v Hertha Berlin; Werder Bremen v Bayer; Leverkusen, Wolfsburg v Schalke Macclesfield Cheltenham Torquay Grimsby Darlington

29 30 31 31 28

6 6 6 3 4

Scottish Premier League table Rangers 25 17 Celtic 26 15 Hibernian 26 12 Dundee United 26 11 Motherwell 26 9 Hearts 25 8 Aberdeen 25 7 St Johnstone 23 7 Kilmarnock 26 6 St Mirren 25 5 Hamilton 24 5 Falkirk 25 4 Scottish Football League tables First Division Dundee 24 13 Ross County 21 11 Inverness CT 22 10 Queen of South 21 10 Partick 24 10 Dunfermline 22 8 Raith 20 7 Morton 21 7 Ayr 20 3 Airdrie United 21 2 Second Division Alloa 22 12 Stirling 19 10 Cowdenbeath 22 10 Brechin 21 9 Dumbarton 20 8 Peterhead 20 8 Stenhousemuir 22 6 East Fife 22 6 Arbroath 22 5 Clyde 20 4 Third Division Livingston 23 16 East Stirling 21 14 Forfar 21 11 Berwick 23 10 Queens Park 23 8 Albion 20 6 Annan Athletic 21 6 Stranraer 20 6 Elgin 22 5 Montrose 22 1 German League table Bayern Munich Bayer Leverkusen Schalke 04 Hamburg Borussia Dortmund Eintracht Frankfurt Werder Bremen Mainz 05 VfB Stuttgart Hoffenheim Borussia Moen.

VfL Bochum VfL Wolfsburg Cologne SC Freiburg Hanover Nuremberg Hertha Berlin

23 22 22 23 23 23 22 23 23 23 23 23 22 23 22 23 23 22

14 13 13 10 11 9 9 8 8 8 8 6 6 6 5 4 4 2

13 12 10 14 3

10 12 15 14 21

32 32 39 23 18

41 45 45 45 57

31 30 28 23 15

7 6 7 9 11 7 8 6 8 7 6 8

1 5 7 6 6 10 10 10 12 13 13 13

58 51 38 37 32 23 24 37 22 24 18 22

15 28 30 35 30 29 32 42 34 36 35 40

58 51 43 42 38 31 29 27 26 22 21 20

8 6 7 6 5 6 5 0 6 5

3 4 5 5 9 8 8 14 11 14

34 32 36 35 36 31 20 24 13 19

20 24 22 20 29 28 25 40 32 40

47 39 37 36 35 30 26 21 15 11

5 6 6 7 4 3 8 7 5 3

5 3 6 5 8 9 8 9 12 13

27 36 33 32 29 25 25 28 21 15

18 26 23 19 34 30 24 31 36 30

41 36 36 34 28 27 26 25 20 15

3 2 6 4 4 8 6 5 6 6

4 5 4 9 11 6 9 9 11 15

45 29 37 32 26 17 21 25 29 16

18 22 22 29 35 18 23 31 38 41

51 44 39 34 28 26 24 23 21 9

7 9 6 10 6 8 7 8 7 5 5 8 7 7 4 5 5 6

2 0 3 3 6 6 6 7 8 10 10 9 9 10 13 14 14 14

49 48 33 43 35 30 44 26 32 32 33 25 38 21 21 25 19 18

20 18 15 25 30 30 26 30 30 29 38 38 44 31 41 45 40 42

49 48 45 40 39 35 34 32 31 29 29 26 25 25 19 17 17 12

Matches on TV (local timings) English Premier League Blackburn v Bolton ShowSports 2 Aston Villa v Burnley ShowSports 3 Fulham v Birmingham ShowSports 4 Man City v Liverpool ShowSports 1 ShowSports 2 Wigan v Tottenham ShowSports 3

15:00 17:00 18:00 18:00 19:15

Spanish League Almeria v Atletico Al Jazeera Sports +2 Real Madrid v Villarreal Al Jazeera Sport +2

21:00 23:00

Italian League Bari v AC Milan Al Jazeera Sport +1

22:45

BERLIN: Bayern Munich went top of the Bundesliga table yesterday after a 1-1 draw away at lowly Nuremberg but failed to extend their winning streak to what would have been a record-equalling 10 league victories.

Meanwhile, Stuttgart warmed up for Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg against Barcelona with an impressive 5-1 drubbing of Cologne, with German striker Cacau burnishing his World Cup credentials with four goals.

A visibly furious Bayern coach Louis van Gaal defended his team saying: “We created several chances but we didn’t hit the target.”

He attacked an interviewer who suggested his team were lacking in passion, saying: “I cannot believe you can say that”, adding that the interviewer had seen the match “completely wrong.”

Midfielder Marco van Bommel was more philosophical, saying: “Obviously you can’t win every game in the Bundesliga.”

“We can’t say that we were careless yesterday. We deserved more and we didn’t play all that badly,” added van Bommel.

Thomas Mueller, 20, replacing French international star Franck Ribery, who was absent with a foot injury, gave the German giants the lead, slotting home a cross from striker Mario Gomez into the top right corner after 38 minutes.

But local rivals Nuremberg equalised on 54 minutes as striker Ilkay Gundogan took advantage of confusion in Bayern’s defence to tap the ball home from short range.

And despite throwing on German striker Miroslav Klose in the second half, the 21-times Bundesliga champions were unable to deliver the telling blow, bringing to an end a run of 13 consecutive wins in all competitions.

The result means Bayern go one point clear at the top of the table, but Bayer Leverkusen could overhaul them when they face sixthplaced Werder Bremen today.

Despite the unexpected point, the draw leaves newlypromoted Nuremberg in a precarious position, second from bottom with only 17 points from 23 games. They will be hoping that bottom side Hertha Berlin fail to beat 15th-placed Freiburg today.

Meanwhile, Stuttgart and striker Cacau were irresistible in Cologne, in a performance that will set alarm bells ringing in the Nou Camp, as Barcelona prepare to travel to Germany in midweek.

Cacau stabbed home a cross from Italian defender Cristian Molinaro on 13 minutes, before curling a superb long-distance effort into the top right corner after 31 minutes.

Another toe-poke in a goalmouth scramble on 38 minutes completed the Stuttgart man’s hat-trick and he made it four on 74 minutes, a performance that will not have gone unnoticed by German coach Joachim Loew.

Russian attacker Pavel Pogrebnyak completed the misery for the hosts, who are too close to relegation for comfort, in 14th place.

Fifth-placed Borussia Dortmund also bolstered their chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League with a 4-1 win at home to Hanover, who remain in relegation danger.

Hamburg, in fourth, who were missing new signing Ruud van Nistelrooy with a thigh strain, failed to pressure the leaders with a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Frankfurt.

Mainz and Bochum also played out a 0-0 draw. In Friday’s match, a last-minute penalty from Brazilian midfielder Eduardo snatched a point in the mid-table clash at home to Borussia Monchengladbach.

Third-placed Schalke travel to last year’s Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg today, hoping to keep up the pressure on the top two. —AFP

Genoa thump Udinese to boost Euro hopes

GERMANY: Nuremberg’s Albert Bunjaku (left) and Bayern Munich’s Martin Demichelis (right) challenge for the ball during the German First Division Bundesliga soccer match. —AP

Keane lifts Celtic past Dundee GLASGOW: Robbie Keane’s first-half goal was enough to seal a narrow 1-0 Celtic win over Dundee United as they reduced Rangers’ lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League to seven points yesterday.

The Hoops took full advantage of their rivals’ game away to St Johnstone being called off due to a frozen pitch to cut the gap going into next week’s crucial Old Firm derby.

Tony Mowbray’s men had the lion’s share of possession with Polish keeper Artur Boruc barely being called into action while his opposite number Dusan Pernis produced a number of outstanding saves to keep United in the game.

However Celtic only had Keane’s 21st minute goal to show for their dominance despite a plethora of opportunities to increase their lead.

His side’s failure to convert their multitude of chances will be causing the Hoops gaffer some worries as he prepares his side for Ibrox next Sunday.

Both sides made three changes with Celtic bringing in Ki Sung-Yeung and Thomas Rogne for the suspended pair of Aiden McGeady and Darren O’Dea while Andreas Hinkel returned at right-back.

Celtic dominated early possession but failed to create any clear cut chances. Edson Braafheid fired in two free-kicks in quick succession from the right but he couldn’t find his way past a well-drilled United defence to break the deadlock.

South Korean international Ki Sung-Yeung wasted an opportunity in the 20th minute when he made space for himself at the edge of the box but hit a soft

effort that rolled to Pernis in goal.

However the Hoops didn’t have to wait long to make the break through when Keane opened the scoring a minute later.

Diomansy Kamara won possession just inside United’s half and his clever pass quickly released Keane who raced past the static United defence and slotted low past Pernis from 12 yards out for his first goal at Parkhead.

United attempted to hit straight back but Webster’s header was off-target from Craig Conway’s corner. Rogne was inches away from doubling the lead when he sent his header from South Korean international Ki’s corner before Pernis threw his body in front of a Scott Brown drive.

Hinkel’s cutback found Marc-Antoine Fortune but he couldn’t direct his shot away from Pernis as Celtic ended the half strongly.

United were being restricted to long-range efforts and neither Prince Bauben nor Jon Daly tested Boruc with shots from outside the box just after the break.

Brown and Ki played a neat one-two but with Fortune screaming for a cutback the Celtic captain sent a shot crashing off the legs of Pernis.

The Slovakian keeper then kept United in the game when he produced a point-blank save from Keane’s shot on the spin.

Sub Jennison Myrie-Williams made fired wide of the post in a rare forage forward by United. Pernis again showed his worth when he somehow got a finger to Landry N’Guemo’s fierce drive which looked to be flying in. —AFP

ROME: Robert Acquafresca scored a brace as Genoa boosted their Champions League hopes with a comprehensive 3-0 rout of lowly 10-man Udinese yesterday.

Rodrigo Palacio added the third after Christian Zapata had been dismissed early into the second period for a second booking.

The victory moves Genoa to within one point of fourth spot and right in the heart of a group of five teams battling it out for the final Champions League qualification place who are separated by just two points.

Udinese, meanwhile, remain just a point above the relegation zone ahead of Sunday’s full programme of matches.

Acquafresca opened the scoring on the half hour mark, mopping up the loose ball after Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic failed to hold onto Giuseppe Sculli’s shot.

The striker doubled his and Genoa’s account eight minutes into the second half, picking himself up after he was fouled by Andrea Coda in the area to stroke home the spot kick.

Zapata was then dismissed for his second yellow card and Palacio rounded off the scoring as he headed home Sculli’s cross from close range.

In yesterday’s late game leaders Inter Milan host fifth-placed Sampdoria hoping to move 11 points clear of second-placed AS Roma. —AFP

www.kuwaittimes.net

Everton put dent in Utd’s title challenge Everton 3

Man United 1

LONDON: Everton’s Louis Saha (centre) fights for the ball with Manchester United’s Patrice Evra (left) and Jonny Evans during their English Premier League soccer match.—AP

Arsenal blank struggling Sunderland Arsenal 2

Sunderland 0 LONDON: Arsenal remain firmly in the Premier League title race as goals from Nicklas Bendtner and Cesc Fabregas clinched a 2-0 win over struggling Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.

Arsene Wenger’s side trail leaders Chelsea by six points and are now just two points behind second-placed Manchester United after the champions lost at Everton.

The Gunners looked to be

out of the reckoning after their defeat at Chelsea earlier this month, but United and Chelsea have both slipped up at Goodison Park to put the north London club back in the hunt.

After their error-strewn 2-1 midweek defeat at the Porto in the Champions League, Arsenal captain Fabregas was openly critical of the way his side conceded their goals, with goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski particularly guilty.

As a result, Polish international Fabianski lost his place in the starting line-up with Manuel Almunia recovering from his finger injury in time to feature.

Alex Song also returned to the starting eleven, while injured duo Andrey Arshavin and William Gallas remained

sidelined.

Arsenal’s problems in Portugal should be less damaging in the long term compared to Sunderland’s worrying slide towards the relegation zone.

Steve Bruce’s team have not won in the Premier League since November - their last three points ironically coming against Arsenal at the Stadium of Light thanks to a 1-0 win.

Bruce was boosted with the news that Kieran Richardson, Anton Ferdinand and John Mensah recovered from their respective injuries.

But it was Mensah’s defensive partner George McCartney who was tested first as Fabregas played in Theo Walcott. The winger beat McCartney for pace but pulled his shot wide.

LONDON: Arsenal’s Mikael Silvestre (left) and Sunderland’s Darren Bent battle for the ball during their English Premier League soccer match at the Emirates Stadium.—AP

The home side dominated the opening 20 minutes with Samir Nasri seeing his shot deflected narrowly wide.

Walcott again left McCartney trailing in his wake only to see his shot blocked by Craig Gordon before Bendtner fired wide. Bendtner came even closer to opening the scoring in the 17th minute when his effort deflected off McCartney and looped onto the crossbar.

The Denmark striker was celebrating his first goal since October 28 as he made it 1-0 in the 27th minute. Emmanuel Eboue made a strong run into the box and his scuffed shot found its way through to Bendtner at the far post, who tapped into an empty net.

Kenwyne Jones had a great chance to level for Sunderland five minutes before the break but fired wide with only Almunia to beat.

Arsenal started the second half with a flourish and could have been 2-0 up inside the opening three minutes. Thomas Vermaelen was fractionally away from connecting with a Fabregas free-kick.

Walcott then showed a good turn of pace before producing a low shot which drew a fine save from Gordon. Arsenal continued to apply the pressure yet for all their industry in midfield they were lacking a clinical finisher up front, as Fabregas, Bendtner and Walcott wasted chances.

Sunderland meanwhile saw a rare opportunity go begging when Darren Bent planted his shot straight at Almunia. Referee Steve Bennett awarded Arsenal a penalty in the 90th minute when Fabregas was fouled by Fraizer Campbell. Fabregas kept his composure to side foot past Gordon with virtually the last kick of the game.—AFP

Hammers tame Tigers West Ham 3

Hull 0 LONDON: West Ham’s Premier League revival continued as a convincing 3-0 win over fellow strugglers Hull yesterday boosted their chances of avoiding relegation.

A first-half strike from Valon Behrami along with goals from Carlton Cole and Julien Faubert capped a dominant Upton Park display from the Hammers, who move four points clear of the bot-

tom three, although they have played a game more than their rivals.

Hull face a tough struggle to avoid slipping back into the Championship after a dispiriting display which left them just one point above the drop zone.

Gianfranco Zola’s side were looking to build on their moraleboosting victory against Birmingham in their last outing and got off to the perfect start.

The east Londoners could have taken a first minute lead when an audacious free-kick from Italian winger Alessandro Diamanti looked to be sneaking inside the post, but Boaz Myhill just managed to keep it out.

Hull’s relief was short lived as

Switzerland midfielder Behrami took advantage of a good piece of fortune to put the hosts into the lead in the third minute.

An attempted one-two rebounded off a Hull leg, putting the former Lazio player in the clear in the penalty area where he kept his cool to finish past Myhill.

Diamanti shot over the crossbar after being released by Mexico striker Guillermo Franco before Myhill once again came to the rescue, tipping Behrami’s powerful drive around the post.

Myhill produced an even better save moments later, somehow keeping out Behrami’s header after a superb cross from Diamanti. The away team’s first effort of note didn’t arrive until

the stroke of half-time with Rob Green in the Hammers goal pushing George Boateng’s long-range shot over the bar.

Hull’s task became even more daunting in the 54th minute when midfielder Craig Fagan picked up a second booking for an unnecessary tug on Diamanti.

The game was effectively sealed on the hour mark when England forward Cole doubled United’s advantage. French fullback Faubert played a superb ball through the Tigers defence which Cole latched onto before confidently finishing past Myhill.

Faubert turned scorer in injury time to put the icing on the cake, hitting a superb drive into the top corner of Myhill’s goal.—AFP

LIVERPOOL: Everton dealt a potentially telling blow to Manchester United’s attempt to retain the Premier League title as David Moyes’s side claimed a shock 3-1 win over the champions yesterday.

Goals from Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Dan Gosling and Jack Rodwell cancelled out Dimitar Berbatov’s strike at Goodison Park and left United one point behind Chelsea, having played a game more than the leaders.

Berbatov gave United an early advantage with an emphatic finish but Bilyaletdinov levelled just two minutes later with a longrange drive for his seventh of the season.

Gosling touched in at the far post with a quarter of an hour remaining for Everton and Rodwell came off the bench to fire in Everton’s third to inflict a sixth Premier League defeat of the season on United, who came back down to earth with a bump after their mid-week Champions League win over AC Milan.

It was also just Everton’s second win over United in their last 30 Premier League matches.

Jonny Evans found life difficult in Milan and the United defender had another awkward moment when he was easily beaten by Leon Osman, only for the Everton midfielder to scuff his shot in the early moments.

Wes Brown was forced to head over his own bar to prevent Louis Saha reaching Bilyaletdinov’s flick as Everton continued to shade the opening exchanges. Saha also hit a drive from 25 yards that Edwin van der Sar palmed away.

After 15 minutes, United pulled ahead through Berbatov.

Wayne Rooney found Antonio Valencia with a cross-field pass and the Ecuador winger’s cross was controlled by Berbatov and thumped in off the bar. But Everton hit back just two minutes later with a strike of real quality.

A long ball forward from Johnny Heitinga was won by Saha against Evans, allowing Bilyaletdinov to hit a shot from 25 yards that left Van der Sar with no chance.

The Russian should have given Everton the lead when Landon Donovan lifted the ball through to Leighton Baines and Saha dummied the cross from the left-back, only for Bilyaletdinov to slice well wide from six yards.

South Korean star Park JiSung then cut in from the left and had a low shot saved by home goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Donovan also wasted a great opportunity when Baines’s cross from the left was not dealt with by Brown but the American failed to get a shot away. From a Rooney lay-off, Darren Fletcher just failed to hit the target with a powerful effort from just outside the area.

In-form Rooney was struggling to influence the match against his old club and poked wide after he was played through

by Fletcher.

Fletcher also glanced wide with a header from Patrice Evra’s cross as United failed to work Howard, before substitute Gosling produced the breakthrough that shattered United’s resolve with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Donovan played Steven Pienaar in behind the United defence and the South African crossed for Gosling to touch in ahead of Evra.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson threw on Michael Owen as United desperately searched for an equaliser. And they threatened when a deflected Michael Carrick shot ricocheted around the Everton area.

Rooney also had a free-kick deflected wide but Rodwell made the game safe with a fine late strike. The midfielder was fed by Mikel Arteta and burst past Evans before driving low into the bottom-left corner of Van der Sar’s net.—AFP

LONDON: Chelsea’s John Terry (left) competes for the ball with Wolverhampton Wanderers Ronald Zubar during their English Premier League soccer match at the Molineux stadium.—AP

Drogba double fires Chelsea clear at the top in EPL race Wolves 0

Chelsea 2 LONDON: Didier Drogba enabled Chelsea to build a four-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League title race as the Ivory Coast striker’s double earned a 2-0 win at Wolves yesterday.

Drogba has been in fine fettle since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola this month and made it six goals in five matches to help Chelsea put an end to their recent poor away form and capitalise on United’s slip against Everton earlier in the day.

Chelsea had only managed six points from their previous six away games, a sequence that was threatening to hand the title initiative to Sir Alex Ferguson’s team, but Drogba wrestled that back in impressive fashion.

Drogba is in the form of his life and finding their feet on their travels again could not have been more timely for Carlo Ancelotti and his squad as they prepare for a midweek showdown with for-

mer Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan.

Drogba is giving United star Wayne Rooney the biggest run for his money to win the Player of the Year award and he was the crucial difference here as Wolves were handed another harsh lesson at this level.

Chelsea rarely found peak form, but still managed to collect maximum points and deliver the perfect response to Ancelotti’s reading of the riot act in midweek.

Chelsea have not lost to a side joining the top flight that season since a defeat to Charlton in April 2001 - a sequence stretching 54 games - and, while their image off the pitch has taken a battering with lurid revelations and allegations about captain John Terry and England international Ashley Cole, they appear to be powering relentlessly towards the title on the field.

Yet Wolves can consider themselves hugely unfortunate not to have at least been level at the interval, after creating the better chances for Kevin Doyle.

Chelsea had been well below par up until the 40th minute when Drogba struck.

In one rare move of quality, Yury Zhirkov exchanged passes with Michael Ballack and the Russian’s cross to the far post

was slid over the line by Drogba.

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy said earlier in the week that there was no fear factor about the top four and they are not “invincible” anymore.

You could see the reason for his argument as Chelsea struggled to put together any kind of fluency on a poor surface, but for all their struggles, Wolves could not take advantage, mostly because of the excellent form of Petr Cech.

Cech wants to remain at Stamford Bridge for another ten years and on this form he has a chance of getting his wish.

The point blank save he pulled off to deny Kevin Foley from ten yards was exceptional. Even then Chelsea had their slice of luck as Karl Henry slipped as he tried to force home the rebound.

Cech made another excellent save at point blank to deny Adlene Guedioura and that proved to be the difference as Wolves were hit by a sucker punch on the counter attack that ensured Chelsea will go to the San Siro on bouyant mood. Cech’s long punt down the field set up the chance as Christophe Berra totally misjudged the bounce and Drogba pounced to round Marcus Hahnemann and roll in his 25th goal of the season.—AFP

Stoke stun Portsmouth Portsmouth 1

Stoke 2 PORTSMOUTH: Stoke delivered a hammer blow to Portsmouth’s hopes of avoiding relegation as Salif Diao’s stoppage time strike gave City’s 10-men a 2-1 win at Fratton Park yesterday.

Avram Grant’s beleaguered side had taken the lead in the first half through Frederic Piquionne, but Robert Huth equalised for Stoke soon after the interval.

Portsmouth appeared to have a golden chance to close the gap on their relegation rivals when Stoke defender Andy Wilkinson was sent off in the second half, but Senegal midfielder Diao left the hosts eight points from safety with his last-gasp goal.

Stoke made a typically muscular start and bombarded the Portsmouth penalty area with a

stream of set-pieces. Ryan Shawcross smashed over the bar from Glenn Whelan’s free-kick, then Rory Delap’s long throw was flicked on by Huth for Whelan to shoot high and wide.

Stoke threatened again when Wilkinson lofted a long ball to Shawcross and he headed down Mamady Sidibe, only for the Mali striker to drive wide.

Portsmouth thought they had taken the lead when Piquionne raced on to Quincy OwusuAbeyie’s through ball and shot home but the striker had been flagged offside.

Algeria defender Nadir Belhadj nearly gave Portsmouth the lead when his long-range shot just cleared the bar. The hosts kept pressing and it was Piquionne who broke the deadlock in the 35th minute.

Owusu-Abeyie played a onetwo with Jamie O’Hara on the edge of the Stoke area before firing in a powerful shot that Thomas Sorensen spilled to Piquionne and he tapped into the empty net.

But Piquionne was replaced by Nwankwo Kanu at the interval and Portsmouth lost some of their rhythm with his departure.

Stoke drew level five minutes after half-time when Whelan’s corner found Huth and the German defender out-jumped Pompey centre-back Marc Wilson and headed into the top corner.

Sidibe almost put Stoke ahead when Steve Finnan lost the ball in his own box but Wilson deflected his effort over the bar.

Pompey’s hopes of getting back into the lead were given a major boost after 73 minutes when Stoke had Wilkinson dismissed for a second yellow card.

Wilkinson had fouled Aruna Dindane in the 68th minute and a similar tackle on the Ivorian five minutes later saw referee Mike Dean show him a second yellow card in quick succession.

Portsmouth couldn’t make the most of their numerical advantage however and, in the first minute of stoppage time, Ricardo Fuller set up substitute Diao to net the winner.—AFP

LONDON: Stoke City’s German defender Robert Huth (second right) scores the equalizing goal during the English Premier League football match.—AFP

Japan hopes Toyoda can clear image

Lufthansa cancels flights, strike looms

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India Homes Fair of HDFC a great success

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Sunday, February 21, 2010

www.kuwaittimes.net

Up to 25 billion euros in aid mooted for Greece Germany foresees euro nations sharing burden BERLIN: The countries using the euro currency will together provide aid worth between 20 billion and 25 billion euros for Greece, according to Germany’s Finance Ministry, a magazine reported yesterday.

Citing “initial considerations” by the ministry, German weekly Der Spiegel said the share of financial aid for Greece would be calculated according to the proportion of capital each country holds in the European Central Bank.

A spokesman for the German finance ministry said he would not comment on the report, which stated that the financial assistance should take the form of loans and guarantees. The report said all euro countries would shoulder the burden and that Germany’s share in the package would amount to four billion or five billion euros, and be handled by state-owned bank KfW. According to the German planning, the aid should be tied to strict conditions, the magazine said, adding that loan tranches should only be paid out once

these are met.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has so far resolutely deflected appeals to promise Greece aid despite fears that failure to help Athens could threaten the euro.

In public, Germany argues that leniency would take pressure off Athens and other euro zone debtors to cut their budget deficits. Behind the scenes, lawmakers acknowledge that Berlin has prepared measures if a rescue becomes inevitable.

A senior financial official in the ruling coalition told Reuters last week Germany was considering using the KfW to buy Greek government bonds.

A separate proposal saw the KfW issuing guarantees to German banks that bought the Greek bonds. Separately, Der Spiegel said that an internal report by Germany’s financial market watchdog BaFin concluded that Ger man banks could be seriously threatened if Greece or other countries including Spain, Portugal and Italy become insolvent. —Reuters

ARGYROUPOLI: Cars line up at a gas station in the eastern Athens suburb of Argyroupoli. Many gas stations have run dry in Greece due to a nearly weeklong customs strike protesting government austerity measures, while taxi drivers have stayed off the streets in a 24-hour walkout protest. — AP

20 banks shut down by US regulators Meltdown brings an avalanche of soured mortgage loans WASHINGTON: Regulators shut four banks from California to Florida on Friday, boosting to 20 the number of US bank failures this year following the 140 closures last year in the worst financial climate in decades. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp took over La Jolla Bank, FSB, in La Jolla, California. The bank had 10 branches and about $3.6 billion in assets and $2.8 billion in deposits. Also seized was George Washington Savings Bank in Orland Park, Illinois. It had four branches and about $412.8 million in assets and $397 million in deposits. The FDIC said OneWest Bank in Pasadena, California, agreed to assume all deposits and essentially all assets of La Jolla Bank.

The takeover is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund an estimated $882.3 million. The FDIC and OneWest will share losses on about $3.3 billion of the failed

bank’s loans and other assets. Meanwhile, FirstMerit Bank, National Association of Akron, Ohio, agreed to take over deposits at George Washington Savings Bank.

FirstMerit is also taking over essentially all the assets. For George Washington, the FDIC predicts the takeover will cost the insurance fund $141.4 million. The losssharing agreement for George Washington covers $324.2 million in assets.

The other seized banks were smaller and located in Florida and Texas. They were Marco Community Bank, with a single office on Marco Island, a wealthy barrier island near Naples on Florida’s Gulf Coast, and La Coste National Bank of La Coste, Texas. Marco Community Bank had about $119.6 million in assets and $117.1 million in deposits. Mutual of Omaha Bank, a division of the big insurance company Mutual of Omaha, agreed to assume the

assets and deposits of Marco Community Bank.

The failure of Marco Community Bank will cost the deposit insurance fund an estimated $38.1 million. In addition, the FDIC and Mutual of Omaha Bank, which is based in Omaha, Neb., agreed to share losses on $104.8 million of the failed bank’s loans and other assets.

Florida is among the states with the highest concentration of bank failures and where the meltdown in the real estate market brought an avalanche of soured mortgage loans. Last year saw the failure of 14 banks in the state. Also high on the list are California, Georgia and Illinois.

La Coste National Bank had a single branch and $53.9 million in assets. Deposits totaled $49.3 million. Community National Bank of Hondo, Texas, agreed to buy the deposits and assets of La Coste National

Bank - whose failure is expected to cost the insurance fund $3.7 million. As the economy has weakened, with unemployment rising, home prices tumbling and loan defaults soaring, bank failures have accelerated and sapped billions of dollars out of the federal deposit insurance fund. It fell into the red last year.

The 140 bank failures last year were the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis. They cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. There were 25 bank failures in 2008 and just three in 2007. The FDIC expects the cost of resolving failed banks to grow to about $100 billion over the next four years.

The agency mandated banks prepay about $45 billion in premiums last year, for 2010 through 2012, to replenish the insurance fund. Depositors’ money - insured up to $250,000 per account - is not at risk, with

the FDIC backed by the government.

Besides the fund, the FDIC has about $21 billion in cash available in reserve to cover losses at failed banks.

Banks have been especially hurt by failed real estate loans, both residential and commercial. Banks that had lent to seemingly solid businesses are suffering losses as buildings sit vacant.

As development projects collapse, builders are defaulting on their loans.

Smaller banks are more vulnerable to the losses than their bigger Wall Street counterparts, because commercial real estate makes up a larger portion of their portfolio.

If the economic recovery falters, defaults on the high-risk loans could spike.

Many regional banks hold large concentrations of these loans. Banks face as much as $300 billion in losses on loans made for commercial property and development,

according to a report issued last week by the Congressional Oversight Panel, which monitors the government’s efforts to stabilize the financial system. The report said the defaults could crimp lending and cause the eviction of families from rental properties. Bank failures also could contribute to job losses and hurt the economic recovery.

President Barack Obama recently promoted a $30 billion plan to provide money to community banks if they boost lending to small businesses. The program, which must be approved by Congress, would use money repaid by banks to the $700 billion federal bailout fund.

Hundreds of banks, including major Wall Street institutions, received taxpayer support through that politically unpopular rescue program, enacted by Congress in October 2008 at the height of the financial crisis. — AP

Getting back lost jobs can take 5-plus years

DAMASCUS: (From left to right) French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde, Syria’s deputy premier for economic affairs Abdallah Al-Dardari, French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand and his Syrian counterpart Riad Naassan-Agha attend a forum of businessmen yesterday. — AFP

Syria economic progress tied to peace: French PM DAMASCUS: Syria can make economic progress by helping Middle East peace efforts, including finding an agreement on Iran’s nuclear drive, visiting French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said yesterday. “One of the conditions of continued economic development in Syria is peace and security in the region,” Fillon said at the opening of an economic forum in Syria’s capital Damascus. “If France decides to resume and strengthen dialogue

with Syria, it will be because we believe Syria has a key role in establishing peace in the Middle East,” said Fillon. “What must prevail is truth and transparency.

To improve the situation, everyone must make an effort.”

Fillon, the first head of a French government to visit Syria in more than 30 years, singled out world powers’ standoff with Syria’s ally Iran over its nuclear drive as an issue in which Damascus can play a positive

role. “Peace requires a change in attitude of the Iranian government,” said the French premier, adding that “Iran is not complying with international rules and constantly violates UN Security Council resolutions.”

“We have reached out to the Iranian government without success” so far, he said, referring to Tehran’s rejection late last year of an offer from the UN atomic watchdog regarding the enrichment of uranium by the Islamic

republic. “We hope that Syria will help us in this effort for Iran to renounce decisions that endanger world peace,” said the French prime minister.

Fillon said France also was “very attentive” to Palestinian reconciliation between the Islamist group Hamas and Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority led by president Mahmoud Abbas.

He added that France also was “available” to facilitate dialogue

between Syria and Israel with Turkish mediation. “We will do all that is necessary for the resumption of the dialogue,” he said.The last round of Turkish-mediated indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel collapsed in Dec 2008, and the two neighbours have been locked in a recent war of words. Fillon also called for “a process of disarmament” for all militias in Lebanon, clearly alluding to Hezbollah, which is backed

by Syria and Iran. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Job creation in the US is stuck on an uphill treadmill. So many jobs have been lost that the US must run hard just to keep from losing more ground. Despite the election-year emphasis on job creation by both parties, the short-term outlook is bleak. While many economists believe the recession is technically over, nearly 15 million Americans remain unemployed. Six million of them have been out of work for more than half a year.

President Barack Obama is asking for almost $300 billion more for recession relief and job formation. The House last December passed a $154 billion spending bill focused on jobs. The Senate is due to debate a far more modest version on Monday, but appears bogged down in partisan bickering. With or without new legislation, reducing a jobless rate that’s now just under 10 percent to prerecessionary rates of about half that won’t happen soon, especially as government efforts to prop up the economy begin to wind down.

It could take up to five years or more just to get back to even. There are limits to how many jobs can be created by government action - either directly or with tax and other incentives for the private sector and how quickly. “We’ve gone through a period of enormous job loss,” said Robert Shapiro, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton and now chairman of Sonecon, an economic advisory firm. “The longterm problem is exacerbated by the fact that credit’s still not available because we really haven’t reformed the financial system. People don’t have confidence in the future and people are poorer so demand is down. All these things are coming together,” Shapiro said.

Returning to prerecession employment levels and keeping up with working-age population growth will require the creation of 10 million or more jobs.

It’s a very big order. Under the administration’s own estimate, the economy will create an average of just 95,000 jobs a month this year; that’s not enough to make much of a dent in the jobless rate.

“You can argue, rightly, that we haven’t made as much progress as we need to make when it comes to spurring job creation,” Obama acknowledged last week in marking the first anniversary of his $787

billion stimulus package. When he took office, the jobless rate was 7.6 percent. After topping 10 percent in the last three months of 2009, it retreated to 9.7 percent in January. The White House predicts it will stay above 9 percent well into 2011. Senate Democratic leaders were struggling to build support for a pared-back $15 billion jobs bill that would exempt companies from paying Social Security payroll taxes for new hires, fund highway and public works projects and extend tax benefits to small businesses.

Efforts to craft a larger, bipartisan $85 billion package that included more Republican-supported business tax breaks collapsed amid Senate infighting. Republicans are planning election attacks intended to club Democrats for lack of progress on jobs and portray the stimulus measure as ineffectual and wasteful. House Minority Leader John Boehner keeps asking, “Where are the jobs?” Well, where are they?

There are some crucial reasons why jobs are so slow to return this time: • While employment always lags other parts of the economy in bouncing back from recessions, this time the depth and length of the worst downturn since the 1930s means the process will take extra long.

• Projected near-term growth isn’t strong enough to speed the process. Generally it takes a 2 percentage point rise in the gross domestic product above a “normal” level of about 2.5 percent to drive the unemployment rate down each single percentage point. With unemployment near 10 percent and GDP generally forecast to grow at no more than 3 percent to 4 percent, it could take five or more years for employment to get back to prerecession 2007 levels.

• Continuing weakness in home construction and US auto manufacturing removes two major engines of past recoveries from the equation.

• By holding interest rates at historic lows for so long, the Federal Reserve has lost its usual power to jump-start job creation by slashing interest rates.

Instead, it must now weigh gradually raising them to keep potential inflation at bay. — AP

BUSINESS

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Sunday, February 21, 2010

Singapore expects strong ME tourist growth in 2010 SINGAPORE: Despite the headwind generated by the global economic downturn and the H1N1 virus, Singapore was able to record its fifth consecutive year of increase in tourist arrivals from the Middle East in 2009.

Singapore welcomed 117,000 visitors from the Middle East in 2009, a 2.7

percent growth over 2008, while total visitor arrivals to Singapore reached 9.7 million visitors, underscoring the strong performance in the final quarter of 2009 and exceeding the year’s forecast of 9 - 9.5 million visitor arrivals.

Interest rates dip after tame inflation report NEW YORK: Interest rates inched lower in the bond market Friday after a new report showed inflation remains benign.

The Labor Department said the Consumer Price Index rose by a smallerthan-expected 0.2 percent in January. The index actually dropped for the first time in 27 years when volatile food and energy prices are stripped out. The “core” index fell 0.1 percent.

The CPI report comes as a relief for investors, a day after the Producer Price Index shot up much higher than expected.

That measures prices at the wholesale level. “Inflation is not a problem,” said Burt White, chief investment officer at LPL Financial. Inflation is one of the biggest concerns for bond traders because it eats into the value of the fixed returns on bonds over time. Investors were comfortable adding to bond positions, which in turn pushes yields on the bonds lower.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury

note maturing in February 2020, which is a basis for rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, fell to 3.78 percent from 3.81 percent Thursday. Its price rose 7/32 to 98 23/32.

A lack of inflation also means the Federal Reserve is unlikely to increase its benchmark federal funds rate soon, analysts said. That rate is used as a benchmark for short-term interest rates. The yield on the three-month T-bill that matures May 20 rose to 0.09 percent from 0.08 percent. Its discount rate was 0.10 percent.

The better-than-expected report on inflation more than offset any carry-over concerns after the Fed said it would raise its “discount” rate, the interest rate it charges banks for emergency loans.

The Fed announced near the end of Thursday’s trading session it would increase the rate, which helped push interest rates higher for the second

straight day. Rates had been rising in recent days following signs of economic growth. Three reports on the manufacturing and industrial sector throughout the week showed the economy was getting stronger.

When the economy improves, investors will typically move out of safer investments like Treasurys and into riskier assets like stocks, which have the potential for bigger returns.

The yield on the two-year note that matures in January 2012 fell to 0.93 percent from 0.95 percent and its price rose 1/32 to 99 29/32. With yields on both twoyear and 10-year notes falling, the difference between the pair - known as the yield curve - eased off a record set a day earlier.

The yield on the 30-year bond that matures in February 2040 fell to 4.71 percent from 4.74 percent. The price rose 12/32 to 98 21/32. — AP

Tourism receipts from January to December 2009 were estimated at S$12.4 billion, reaching the upper-bound of the forecast of S$12 -S$12.5 billion. In December 2009, Singapore received 971,000 visitors, which is the highest visitor arrivals ever achieved in a month.

The rebound in tourism arrivals in the last quarter of 2009 and the continual increase in visitors from the Middle East reaffirms Singapore’s position as a top global destination for family vacations and business trips, with its everchanging offering of top tourist attractions, bustling retail, delectable dining, world-class business events facilities, and wide selection of quality accommodation.

Last year saw Singapore host a slew of successful events, such as the APEC Economic Leaders Summit, the 1st F1 RocksTM concert series, and the launch of new products, including The Capella Hotel Singapore - a luxurious hotel resort - and Singapore’s latest shopping icon ION Orchard.

Tourism is expected to rebound strongly in 2010, with the highly anticipated opening of Singapore’s two new multi-billion dollar Integrated Resorts; the first Resorts World Sentosa’s Universal Studios theme park is expected to open in the coming days and is expected to draw strong crowds to South East Asia’s 1st Universal Studios Theme Park. www.rwsentosa.com.

The second integrated resort, Marina Bay Sands, with its luxurious Marine Sands ShoppesTM and panoramic Sands SkyPark, is scheduled to open in April 2010.

The luxury destination includes high-end hotels, a casino, theatre showing West-end productions, a state-of the-art exhibition and conference centre, and six celebrity chef restaurants offering world-class dining. www.marinabaysands.com.

In 2010, Singapore can look forward to the honor of hosting the first-ever Youth Olympics Games, which takes place between 14-26 of August, just a month ahead of the Singapore Formula One night race, the only night race on the Formula One race calendar. “Middle East visitors are continuing to discover Singapore’s unique tourism appeal and I am confident that this trend will accelerate in 2010,” said Jason Ong, Area Director Middle East and Africa, Singapore Tourism Board.

“2010 promises to be a fantastic year for all to visit Singapore, with the launch of the new Integrated Resorts, and global events such as the Singapore Airshow and the Youth Olympic Games, Singapore will be the destination to watch in 2010,” Ong concluded.

Singapore Airlines operates four-time weekly flights between Kuwait and Singapore, via Abu Dhabi.

Nick Vujicic at Holiday Inn Speaks Motivational!

Nothing prevented Nick from allowing him to lead a normal life. Nick thoroughly enjoyed his stay at the Holiday Inn and relished the mouthwatering dishes from its different restaurants like the Ayam Zaman, Lebanese restaurant, Tang Chao Chinese restaurant and Rib Eye Steak House, American restaurant.

Nick delightfully said, “I had a very fruitful time here in Kuwait meeting a lot of people from companies, universities and schools. I am happy to see the people in Kuwait who are very friendly and generous as this is what I have seen at the Holiday Inn Kuwait.

It gives me immense pleasure to see and experience such wonderful service combined with generous hospitality. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank BlueLink Company for giving me the chance to meet Kuwait’s amazing people”.

KUWAIT: Nick Vujicic, the renowned physically challenged motivational speaker and icon of millions all over the world, visited Kuwait on 12th February 2010 for a seminar. Nick was born with a congenital defect without arms or legs. Facing countless challenges and obstacles, Nick surfaced against all odds with his determination and strength to surmount what others called impossible.

It was Nick Vujicic’s first visit to the state of Kuwait and the 29th country for him to visit since he started his promotional tour. Nick made sure that he stayed at his favorite hotel, the Holiday Inn Kuwait. Holiday Inn Kuwait appreciates and recognizes gifted people such as Nick, accommodating him at the Royale suite that gained his gratitude.

What was striking about Nick was how he turned his physical disability into a blessing.

NBK recognized as the ‘Best Foreign Exchange Provider’ KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the leading bank in Kuwait and the highest rated bank in the Middle East, was recognized by Global Finance magazine as the “Best Foreign Exchange Provider for 2010”. Commenting on the occasion, NBK Treasury Group General Manager George Richani said: “It is indeed an honor to be awarded this highly coveted and prestigious award. Best Foreign Exchange Provider for 2010, which comes in recognition of NBK’s unique and leading position in the market as well as its impressive achievements management expertise”.

It is worth mentioning that NBK reported net profits of $925 million (KD265.2 million) for 2009, up 4% from the previous year. The increase in profits was attained even after taking additional and voluntary general provisions as a precaution against any further deterioration in economic conditions and financial markets due to the global financial crisis.

NBK’s operating income rose to $1,808 million (KD518 million) from $1,773 million (KD508 million) in 2008, total assets reached $45 billion at the end of 2009 and shareholders’ equity rose to $6 billion. Other profitability indicators remained strong by regional and international standards: Return on Assets (ROA) was 2.2% while the Return on Equity (ROE) recorded 18.4% for the year.

George Richani

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

.2830000 .4510000 .3930000 .2670000 .2730000 .2570000 .0045000 .0020000 .0781130 .7610300 .4020000 .0750000 .7460570 .0045000 .0500000

.2930000 .4600000 .4000000 .2750000 .2810000 .2640000 .0075000 .0035000 .0788980 .7686780 .4180000 .0790000 .7535550 .0072000 .0580000

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

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2872500 .2893500 .4531430 .4563440 .3957000 .3984940 .2695620 .2714710 .2750480 .2769960 .0531580 .0535350 .0400390 .0403230 .2588840 .2607120 .0369700 .0372320 .2047320 .2061820 .0031800 .0032020 .0062780 .0063220 .0025190 .0025370 .0033990 .0034230 .0042080 .0042380 .0782460 .0787450 .7623220 .7671830 .4062500 .4091270 .0766390 .0771280 .7464770 .7512370 .0062780 .0063220

US Dollar Sterling pounds Swiss Francs Saudi Riyals

TRANSFER CHEQUES RATES .2898500 .4548470 .2696150 .0772620

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 289.050 Euro 396.900

Sterling Pound Canadian dollar Turkish lire Swiss Franc Australian dollar US Dollar Buying Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound Yemen Riyal Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

450.920 281.310 191.320 271.920 259.840 287.000 ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.200 6.229 3.400 2.523 3.921 205.300 37.240 4.176 6.242 8.718 0.301 0.292 ARAB COUNTRIES 56.250 52.651 1.363 208.900 408.400 195.310 6.322 35.600 GCC COUNTRIES 77.121 79.453 751.300 768.040 78.760 GOLD 215.000 112.000 59.000

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY SELL CASH SELL DRAFT Australian dollar 263.800 262.300 Bahraini dinar 768.520 768.520 Bangladeshi taka 4.460 4.180 Canadian dollar 281.700 280.200 Cyprus pound 567.500 Czek koruna 15.800 Danish krone 53.300 Deutsche Mark 167.800 206.400 Egyptian pound 56.280 52.681

Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal 10 Tola Sterling Pound US Dollar

397.600 37.900 6.600 0.034 0.291 0.260 3.250 410.080 0.195 87.720 48.000 4.260 206.300 2.183 49.800 750.690 3.500 6.420 79.920 77.160 206.370 40.350 2.776 452.700 41.000 272.500 6.400 9.070 217.900 78.850 289.400 1.410

396.100 37.750 6.235

408.490 0.194 87.720 3.920 204.800 750.510 3.420 6.250 79.490 77.160 206.370 40.350 2.524 450.700 271.000 8.900 78.850 289.000

GOLD 1,215.880 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 450.700 289.000

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 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

288.900 279.015 449.590 394.070 264.980 708.110 766.105 78.635 79.270 77.070 407.675 52.675 6.220 3.405

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

2.515 4.175 6.200 3.145 8.690 5.562 3.905

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Candaian Dollars

288.550 3.410 6.280 2.530 4.175 6.305 78.545 77.115 766.700 52.565 460.500 0.0000312 3.900 1.550 409.600 5.750 402.900 283.400

Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer rate (Per 1000) US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

288.800 395.350 456.850 277.900 3.235 6.228 52.675 2.522 4.170 6.235 3.405 768.400 78.675 77.000

Sunday, February 21, 2010

BUSINESS

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Metals, energy lead commodities higher Commodities Review

Muscat stock market review MUSCAT: Last week the market opened at the 6591 point’s level and that level itself was the low of the week. It then rose to register a high of the week at the 6805 point’s level on Thursday. It finally closed the week at the 6795 point’s level. During the whole week the market moved in a range of 214 points. Sentiment was bullish and on a week on week basis the index

gained 203 points (3.08%) after having gained 60 points in the previous week.

In our previous report we had stated that “the charts are displaying strength and a further rise can be expected to or around the 6800 points level”. That assessment proved correct and the index rose to the 6805 points level last week.

China retail sales soar BEIJING: Retail sales in China during the Lunar New Year holiday rocketed by more than a sixth on last year, state media reported yesterday, in a possible sign of growing confidence among the billions of Chinese consumers. Shops across the country rang up 340 billion yuan ($49.8 billion) in sales, up 17.2 percent from the same period in 2009, Xinhua news agency said, citing figures from the commerce ministry.

As families across the country reunited to celebrate the Spring Festival, an important holiday marking the beginning of the Lunar New Year, people splashed out on food, tobacco and liquor. Food sales jumped 16.5 percent while sales of tobacco and liquor were up 13.2 percent during the holiday period, which ended Friday.

Communications equipment, jewelry and home appliances were also popular, with sales up 19.2 percent, 19.1 percent and 15.4 percent respectively. On Friday a record 6.33 million passengers took the train as swathes of the country prepared to return to work, Xinhua said, citing the railways ministry.

A total of around 210 million passengers are expected to have taken trains during the new year travel period, which ends on March 10. Nearly 30 million more will have travelled by air. —AFP

Chairman of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd visits Al Mulla Exchange KUWAIT: Al Mulla International Exchange Co KSCC received at the Al Mulla Group Headquarters in Kuwait Free Trade Zone, the Chairman of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd, Prof Abu Nasser Muhammad Abduz Zaher. The Chairman had a detailed discussion with Hormuzda Davar, Director of Financial Services, Al Mulla Group, and General Manager- Al Mulla Exchange, Faisal Athar Hussain on improving and introducing new services for customers from Bangladesh.

The Chairman complimented Al Mulla Exchange on the stellar growth and the various initiatives that were undertaken to increase the growth of Bangladesh transactions and in particular Islami Bank.

He was also impressed with the technological expertise offered by Al Mulla Exchange and the customer centric solutions being implemented by them.

The Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited was established on March 13, 1983. This Bank is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. It is committed to conduct all banking and investment activities on the basis of interest-free profit sharing system.

In doing so, it has unveiled a new horizon and ushered in a new silver lining of hope towards materializing a long cherished dream of the people of Bangladesh for doing their banking transactions in line with what is prescribed by Islam.

With the active co-operation and participation of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and some other Islamic banks, financial institutions, government bodies and eminent personalities of the Middle East and the Gulf countries, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited has by now earned the unique position of a leading private commercial bank in Bangladesh.

Al Mulla Exchange, a 100% subsidiary of Al Mulla Group, has emerged as a leading Exchange of choice for customers in Kuwait due to its excellent services and use of cutting edge technology.

States turning to Internet to sell surplus property BURLINGTON: US states looking to unload surplus property used to do little more than take out an advertisement in the local newspaper, hang an “Open” sign at a warehouse and set up a cash register. This spring, Vermont will begin selling its surplus goods on eBay, the online auction site. The goal is to attract more bidders and bring in more revenue to state coffers, says Mark Casey, the state’s Surplus Property Programs assistant.

“We can move a lot more stuff,” Casey says from his office at the warehouse in the central Vermont town of Waterbury. Vermont will be joining a number of states that have turned to the Internet or plan to do so - to sell surplus and unclaimed property.

Rhode Island and Georgia are the most recent to do so. Other states turning to online auctions include Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Texas, according to an eBay search, state officials and surplus-property websites. “More and more states are seeing a better return on their investments because, with a simple photograph and description, you can reach tens of thousands of people,” says Curt Howard, president of the National Association of State Agencies for Surplus Property.

Howard, who also is the administrator of the State and Federal Surplus Property Program for Illinois, says his state is considering Internet-only sales within the next year to 18 months. In Rhode Island, the General

Treasurer’s Office concluded a successful experiment with an eBay sale of unclaimed property Dec 14-Jan 11, says David Salvatore, a manager at the office.

Rhode Island pulled in $40,000 from the eBay sale, which included 80 items declared unclaimed in 2007, Salvatore says. In comparison, the last in-person auction, featuring items from the past decade, generated $300,000 or an average of $30,000 per year of property, he says.

In Georgia, the Department of Administrative Services switched in 2008 to online-only surplus sales, and the result has been fantastic, says Rodney Jenkins, the department’s marketing and communications director. “We have sold to 43 states and nine countries,” he says, and since going online, Georgia has pulled in $2 million in revenue.

Oregon moved to eBay exclusively in 2001, says Nole Bullock, acting operations manager for the Oregon State Agency for Surplus Property. Since then, the state has averaged $10 million a year in annual sales, compared with $4 million per year with in-person auctions, Bullock says. Costs to states are lower, too.

Rhode Island eliminated the need to pay overtime to employees who ran the live auction, Salvatore says; Georgia cut costs by eliminating a central collection point and having individual departments ship items direct to buyers, Jenkins says.— MCT

NEW YORK: Metal and energy prices led a broad rally in commodities Friday after the dollar retreated from its highest levels of the day. “The commodity trade today was all about the dollar,” said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial Group. Even though the dollar remained higher in late-day trading, it fell sharply throughout the session from the peaks it reached in the morning.

As the dollar fell, commodity prices rose. A weaker dollar makes commodities more attractive, especially for foreign investors, because they are priced in the US currency.

The ICE Futures US dollar index, which measures the dollar against six other currencies rose 0.3 percent. It had been up as much as 1 percent Friday morning. Metals all rose, with copper again among the biggest gainers. Copper for May delivery rose 7.35 cents to settle at $3.379 a pound. Copper has surged 18.3 percent in the past two weeks because investors expect demand to remain high as the global economy recovers.

Gold for April delivery rose $3.40 to settle at $1,122.10 an ounce. March silver gained 35.3 cents to settle at $16.413 an ounce.

Energy prices also mostly rose, led by crude oil. Like copper, oil has been rallying in recent weeks on hope for an economic rebound. Benchmark crude for March delivery rose 75 cents to settle at $79.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price has climbed 12.1 percent over the past two weeks. The March contract closes on Monday. A lot of volume has already rolled over to the April contract, which rose 64 cents to close at $80.06 a barrel.

In other Nymex trading in March contracts, heating oil rose 1.83 cents to settle at $2.0699 a gallon, and gasoline added 1.65 cents to settle at $2.0857 a gallon. Natural gas was the lone energy contract to fall. It dropped 12.8 cents to settle at $5.044 per 1,000 cubic feet. Elsewhere, most grains rose. May wheat rose 4.5 cents to settle at $5.04 a bushel, while corn gained 2.75 cents to settle at $3.7175 a bushel. Soybeans dipped 3 cents to close at $9.545 a bushel. — AP

HARARE: John Dzvinamurungu (left) chooses products in a supermarket in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare.

Shops in Zimbabwe are full again after the country’s three main political rivals formed a power sharing government last year which saw the economy stirring back into life. Before, the unity government shops resembled empty sheds as basic commodities such as cooking oil, bread and milk were in short supply.

More than any single action, dollarization stabilized the economy, allowing once-bare supermarkets to restock at least basics like salt, sugar and cooking oil - items that had become luxuries. — AFP

Iran new gas field has 12.4 trillion cubic feet reserves TEHRAN: A recently discovered gas field in Iran has reserves of 12.4 trillion cubic feet, with an estimated 249 million barrels of condensate gas, an energy official said yesterday. Iran said earlier this month it had discovered the Soumar oil field and Halgan gas field with total value of reserves at $85 billion.

Mahmoud Mohaddes, director of exploration at the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC), told oil ministry website SHANA that around 70 percent of the gas was recoverable and less than half of the condensate gas was recoverable. “Considering that the recovery at gas fields usually stands at 7075 percent, it is projected that about 70 per-

cent of the field’s in-place reserves, equivalent to 8.938 cubic trillion feet, are recoverable.”

The gas field’s in-place gas reserve stands at 12.4 trillion cubic feet, or 355 billion cubic meters, with the volume of condensates estimated at 249 million barrels, he said. He said that of the 249 million barrels of condensates, 98 million are recoverable.

“At current prices, the Halgan gas field’s reserves is valued at more than $83 billion,” Mohaddes said, adding Iran had spent $36 million on discovering the field over a period of 2.5 years. He said that once the field is developed, NIOC will be able to produce 50

million cubic meters of gas a day over a 20year period.

Iran sits on the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia, but US and UN sanctions imposed over its disputed nuclear work have delayed development of major exports. Western firms are increasingly wary of investing in Iran, the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, due to the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.

Iran rejects the charge.

But Iran is still drawing interest from Indian, Chinese and other Asian firms seen as less susceptible to international pressures. — Reuters

Japan hopes Toyoda can clear image, cool friction TOKYO: Japan is looking to Toyota president Akio Toyoda’s appearance before US lawmakers next week to help burnish an image marred by a flood of recalls and to prevent grievances over the issue from fanning broader political tensions.

With his company facing the worst crisis in its 70-year history, Toyoda will appear before the US House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee next Wednesday. By issuing an invitation, the committee had essentially forced Toyoda, who earlier had said he did not plan to attend, into testifying.

Commentaries yesterday

and statements by officials here since Toyoda announced he would accept the request to testify reflect the unease over possible wider damage from Toyota Motor Corp’s troubles. “I hope Toyota will soon regain the trust of their customers around the world,” Japan’s Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told reporters Friday. “Although this is a matter of one individual company, we wish to back them up as much as we can as it could become a national issue,” Okada said.

Japan’s industry and transport ministers also publicly applauded the decision, saying that Toyoda should take the opportunity to help reassure and

mollify customers angered over the recalls of about 8.5 million vehicles over sticking gas pedals, accelerators jamming in floor mats and momentarily unresponsive brakes. “We should not make this issue a political matter between the Japanese and US governments,” said Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima, himself a former Toyota group employee.

While so far the recalls remain a safety and business issue, Japanese officials are keen to ensure it stays that way at a time when ties with Washington already are strained by a dispute over plans to move a US Marine base on the south-

ern island of Okinawa. Many in Japan have voiced suspicions that the uproar over the recalls might be driven by political motives, given the US government’s stake in General Motors Co and its costly bailouts for the domestic motor industry.

But opinion favoring Toyoda’s choice to publicly answer questions over the company’s handling of the problems leading to the recalls seems for now to be outweighing dismissals of the crisis as evidence of “Japan bashing.” “Will Toyota Motor Corp. be able to quell the rising tide of sentiment against the carmaker over its massive recalls?

Undoubtedly, the world’s biggest automaker has

KENTUCKY: The open letter that was sent to Toyota owners is displayed in the visitor center at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky plant in Georgetown. — AP

reached a moment of truth in grappling with its current adversity,” the mass-circulation newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun said in a Saturday editorial.

“The planned public hearing is drawing a good deal of attention from around the world, and we hope Toyota will with full sincerity explain its stance on the problem. This in turn would help restore the public trust in its car business as early as possible,” it said, contending that Toyoda could have forestalled much of the criticism by showing his willingness to testify from the start. In both Japan and in the United States, Toyota has been chastised for a tepid response to the recalls, and Toyoda was accused of being largely invisible as the problems escalated, until giving three news conferences in recent weeks. A Toyota spokeswoman, Mieko Iwasaki, refused to comment on a report by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper saying Toyoda would leave for the US yesterday, saying the company would not disclose details of his schedule. The company has pledged full cooperation with investigations by the US National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration and Congress and promised upgrades to help prevent future problems.

In Japan, where Toyota has recalled 223,000 Prius hybrids for braking problems, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is considering beefing up its recall system to require manufacturers to file reports on problems more quickly, the Yomiuri said in a report yesterday. Calls to the ministry rang unanswered yesterday, and officials were not available to comment on the report, which did not name any sources. —AP

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BUSINESS

Sunday, February 21, 2010

KSE registers a significant weekly boost KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) registered a significant weekly increase by the end of the past week despite profit taking transactions that were witnessed in the last two sessions of the week. KSE price index managed to overcome the 7,300 points level as it closed at 7,396.5 points, up by 3.06% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index strongly surpassed the 400 points level, registering a 6.15% weekly gain after closing at 424.58 points. Last week’s gains were driven by the continued inflow of news of positive impact on the course of trading, as Mobile Telecommunications Co (Zain)

announced approving an offer by which it would sell its operations in Africa for $10.7 billion.

This deal became a part of a number of factors that contributed to the improved performance of the market during the month of February, namely the cabinet’s approval of the annual development plan for the year 2010-2011, authorizing K.D. 4.78 billion capital spending, which was then followed by the parliament’s approval of both the Development Plan and the Capital Market Authority bills in their second deliberation. In addition to promising annual results for a number of listed banks and Central Bank of Kuwait’s decision to cut

down the discount rate by 50 basis points to 2.50%.

Furthermore, growth in KSE’s main indices was accompanied by a noticeable increase in trading indicators for the second consecutive week, as average of daily turnover grew by 62.35% to reach K.D. 138.12 million, whereas trading volume average amounted to 777.21 million shares, at an increase of 51.98% compared to previous week’s levels.

Sectors’ indices All of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the green zone except for one sector. Last week’s highest gainer was the Food sector, achieving

8.92% growth rate as its index closed at 4,925.9 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Industry sector’s index closed at 5,893.8 points recording 5.01% increase. The Services sector came in third as its index achieved 3.70% growth, ending the week at 16,135.4 points. The Real Estate sector was the least growing as its index closed at 2,833.9 points with a 0.01% increase. On the other hand, the Insurance sector was last week’s only loser as its index declined by 1.26% to end the week’s activity at 2,747.8 points.

Sectors’ activity The Services sector dominated

total trade volume during last week with 1.17 billion shares changing hands, representing 30.21% of the total market trading volume. The Investment sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 28.44% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 1.11 billion shares. On the other hand, the Services sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of K.D. 227.57 million or 32.95% of last week’s total market trading value.

The Investment sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of K.D. 135.33 million represented 19.60% of the total market

trading value.

Market capitalization KSE total market capitalization grew by 5.74% during last week to reach K.D. 32.31 billion, as six of KSE’s sectors recorded an increase in their respective market capitalization, whereas the other two recorded declines. The Services sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached K.D. 9.16 billion, increasing by 11.47%. The Food sector was the second in terms of recorded growth with 10.83% increase after the total value of its listed companies reached K.D. 832.93 million.

The third place was for the Industry sector, which total market capitalization reached K.D. 2.91 billion by the end of the week, recording an increase of 8.23%. The NonKuwaiti companies sector was the least growing with 1.90% recorded growth after its market capitalization amounted to K.D. 3.11 billion.

On the other hand, the Insurance sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization decreased by 1.79% to reach, by the end of the week, K.D. 324.90 million. The Real Estate sector was second on this list, which market value of its listed companies declined by 0.17%, reaching K.D. 2.06 billion.

BUSINESS

Sunday, February 21, 2010

25

Fewer Americans falling behind on home loans WASHINGTON: The end of the foreclosure crisis is finally in sight. For the first time in almost three years, the number of US homeowners falling behind on their loans is declining. The drop means the number of people losing their homes will start to fall. But some pain from the crisis is sure to persist.

Because millions of people are already in foreclosure, deeply discounted houses will put pressure on home prices for years.

“Housing is on a path to recovery,” said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst with Weiss Research. “It’s going to be a very long, gradual process.” In high-foreclosure cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Miami, homes have lost roughly half

their values from their peaks.

But a report Friday from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed Nevada, Arizona and Florida had some of the biggest declines in new delinquencies.

The figures probably mark “the beginning of the end” of the crisis, said Jay Brinkmann, the trade group’s chief economist.

However, more than 15 percent of homeowners with a mortgage have missed at least one payment or are in foreclosure, a record. Worse, nearly half of all delinquent borrowers were at least three months behind on their payments, up from a typical level of less than 20 percent.

“The bad news is that we still have a big problem,” Brinkmann said. “The good

news is it looks like it may not get much bigger.” That’s because the percentage of borrowers who missed just one payment on their home loans fell to 3.6 percent in the October-to-December quarter from 3.8 percent in the third quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

That decline was even more surprising because delinquencies usually rise at that time of year due to higher heating bills and holiday spending.

In another encouraging sign, the number of borrowers who had missed at least one payment but were not yet in foreclosure also fell for the first time since the beginning of 2007. Banks are delaying the foreclosure

process, traditionally between four and six months, as they evaluate borrowers for help under the Obama administration’s $75 billion mortgagerelief effort. It lowers borrowers payments to as low as 2 percent for five years and extends loan terms to as long as 40 years.

But experts warn that hundreds of thousands of borrowers will not be eligible or will not complete the process. So far, only 116,300 borrowers out of 1 million who enrolled have had the terms of their mortgages changed permanently. Despite the government’s efforts, there may be 6 million foreclosed homes that are put on the market over the next three years, according to Barclays Capital.

Timing is key. If banks unload them suddenly, “it will be much more detrimental to the housing recovery than if it’s a slow, gradual bleed,” said Michelle Meyer, a Barclays economist.

On Friday, Obama announced that housing agencies in the five hardest-hit states of Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada will receive $1.5 billion in financial rescue money. It will go to local programs to help unemployed homeowners, “under water” borrowers who owe more than their home is worth, or to give lenders incentives to assist borrowers with second mortgages. The programs will need to be approved by the Treasury Department. — AP

Lufthansa cancels flights Pilots’ strike looms

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: An airplane of German flag carrier Lufthansa taxies on the runway at the airport in the central German city of Frankfurt am Main. Lufthansa braced itself for what is set to be its biggest pilots’ strike in nine years, triggering more turbulence in Europe’s crisis-hit airline industry. —AFP

Chu: Energy initiatives could bring jobs to US AURORA: Promoting the renewable energy industry is key to generating jobs and easing dependence on foreign oil - but the US is lagging behind China in its investment in renewables, US Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Friday. Chu tried to rally support for the Obama administration’s energy plan, which promotes renewable energy, clean coal technologies and nuclear power.

“America has the opportunity to lead the world in a new industrial revolution,” Chu said at an energy jobs summit in Aurora. But he warned that China’s investment of $9 billion per month to diversify energy sources away from coal far exceeds America’s spending.

He announced Friday that $8 million in

federal stimulus money will go to help 43 communities across the country make emergency plans to restore power systems in the event of natural or other disasters.

While promoting wind, solar, biofuels and other clean energy production, the administration announced last week more than $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to build two nuclear reactors in the state of Georgia, kicking off a plan to build 100 new reactors in the U.S. over the next 20 years.

Obama calls nuclear power a key part of comprehensive energy legislation that assigns a cost to the carbon pollution of fossil fuels, giving utility companies more incentives to turn to cleaner nuclear fuel.

Orders for nuclear reactors have been halt-

ed since the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979. Chu noted Friday nuclear energy can be generated on demand, unlike wind and solar power, which are dependent upon weather changes.

Obama also announced a new task force to study coal’s role in US energy needs. US Sen Mark Udall told the forum he would welcome construction of a nuclear reactor in Colorado if it were built “in a safe manner.”

The Colorado senator said 20,000 jobs have been created in the state because it is requiring large utility companies to produce one-third of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. A bill pending in Congress would extend similar rules to utility companies across the country. — AP

FRANKFURT: German flag carrier Lufthansa announced it had cancelled 800 flights daily from tomorrow to Thursday due to a planned pilots’ strike. “Twothirds of the Lufthansa flights affected by the strike have been cancelled as a pre-emptive measure,” a company statement said.

Around 800 flights a day will be cancelled, but regional flights would not be affected, it said, adding that about 1,000 flights would go ahead daily. The announcement came after the airline, Europe’s biggest, failed to reach a deal with the Cockpit union. The strike could cost Lufthansa more than 65 million euros ($88 million), based on an estimate given Thursday which said the airline would lose around 100 million euros if all flights were grounded.

Before announcing the cancellations, the airline stressed that it remained “ready for constructive talks concerning job security” but said the union had rejected an offer to prelaunch negotiations.

Cockpit plans a four-day strike from midnight tomorrow (2300 GMT on Sunday) to press for a 6.4 percent pay rise, more say in company decisions and commitments that pilots would keep their jobs when Lufthansa shifts passengers to cheaper foreign affiliates.

A list of the flights still running during the stoppage can be found on the Lufthansa websitewww.lufthansa.com-while tickets booked for the strike period before Thursday can be changed once for no charge. Lufthansa’s subsidiary Germanwings said that despite the strike, it would run two-thirds of its flights. A demonstration by union members has been scheduled for early tomorrow at the Frankfurt airport, Europe’s third busiest after London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle. The German railway Deutsche Bahn said Friday it was ready to carry some of Lufthansa’s passengers. “In liaison with Lufthansa, Deutsche Bahn is prepared to transport passengers affected by the strike,” a statement said, adding that it would exchange Lufthansa tickets for its own. Lufthansa, which employs around 100,000 people, was hit nine years ago by the worst strike in its history, one which caused travel misery for passengers and cost the firm millions of euros. —AFP

GM CEO to receive $9 million package NEW YORK: General Motors Co CEO Ed Whitacre will receive a salary of $1.7 million this year, plus stock awards that will bring his total pay package to $9 million at a later date, the automaker said. GM also said former CEO Fritz Henderson, who was forced out of the job in December, has been rehired as a consultant and will be paid $59,090 a month. He will work 20 hours a month, the company said. Whitacre’s total compensation is larger than Henderson’s when he was CEO. Henderson received a total pay package worth nearly $5.5 million.

Whitacre’s pay package includes a cash salary of $1.7 million that took effect Jan 1. It also includes $5.3 million in stock awarded in increments starting in 2012, plus another stock award worth $2 million. The details, including the timing, of the $2 million stock award still need to be worked out, a GM spokeswoman said. GM is 60 percent owned by the federal government and has received $52 billion in federal aid. The company plans to repay as much of the money as possible by issuing stock to the public, possibly as early as this year.

Initially named interim CEO by the board of directors in December, Whitacre was officially awarded the title in January. At the time, Whitacre, who is also chairman, said the main reason he was taking the job was to bring stability to the top of the struggling Detroit automaker.

Whitacre, a former CEO of AT&T Inc., made $350,000 as chairman, but his salary as CEO had to be set by the board and approved by the US government. GM said Whitacre will not receive any additional compensation as chairman.

Whitacre’s pay package exceeds the limits imposed on companies that have received US government aid, but the an exemption was worked out with government pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, GM said. New GM Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell will get a salary of $750,000 next year. He’ll get up to another $5.45 million in stock starting in 2012 if GM successfully sells shares to the public, the company said in December. GM also is paying former Wall Street adviser Stephen Girsky $1.1 million a year in cash and company stock for his dual roles as board member and special adviser to Whitacre. — AP

Crude prices up 12% in 2 weeks US dollar drops after surging over rate increase NEW YORK: Oil prices are again flirting with $80 a barrel after a two-week rally fueled by promising economic reports and worries that troubles in Europe and the Middle East could eventually tighten supplies. Benchmark crude for March delivery added 75 cents to settle at $79.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The price of the March contract, which ends tomorrow, has increased by 12 percent since Feb 5.

Most of the trading already has moved to the April contract, which added 64 cents Friday to settle at $80.06 a barrel. In London, Brent crude added 41 cents to settle at $78.19 on the ICE futures exchange. The rally in crude comes even though the US is still flush with very large supplies.

Reports of growth in home construction, industrial production and manufacturing have boosted confidence among investors that Americans will regain their appetite for fossil fuels in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, investors continued to focus on problems with refineries in France, where workers at a refinery for oil giant Total have been striking since Jan 12. The US imports gasoline and other fuels from Europe, and concerns over disruptions in European refining have helped push energy prices higher.

Also, the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday that Iran may be working on a nuclear warhead, raising concerns about a military build up in the region and the availability of oil supplies from the Arabian Gulf. “The fear of Iran has always been instrumental in the price run-ups of 2007 and 2008, fueling the ‘what-if’ scenarios that are necessary for bull runs and this year might not be different,” said analyst Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland.

Energy prices dipped earlier in the day following Thursday’s Federal Reserve announcement that it will bump up the rate that banks must pay for emergency loans. The dollar soared to its highest level since May following the announcement. And crude, which is priced in dollars, tends to fall in price as the

dollar rises and makes oil barrels tougher to buy for investors holding foreign money.

The Fed announcement was followed by a Labor Department report Friday morning that said consumer prices excluding food and energy fell in January for the first time since December 1982. That tempered concerns about future inflation, analyst Phil Flynn said. In other Nymex trading in March contracts, heating oil rose 1.83 cents to settle at $2.0699 a gallon, and gasoline added 1.65 cents to settle at $2.0857 a gallon. Natural gas gave up 12.8 cents to settle at $5.044 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Meanwhile, the US dollar fell Friday against the euro on profit taking after climbing to a nine-month high following the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise the interest rate it charges for emergency bank loans. The euro traded at 1.3608 dollars around 2200 GMT in New York compared with 1.3535 dollars late Thursday, when the US central bank abruptly announced its decision to raise the discount rate effective Friday.

The dollar also dipped against the Japanese currency, to 91.57 yen from 91.75 yen. Tame US inflation figures on Friday also gave some consolation to the market that the Federal Reserve could keep the more significant benchmark fed funds rate unchanged for some time. The Labor Department said its consumer price index rose by a lower than forecast 0.2 percent in January while the core CPI, which excludes the prices of food and energy, dropped for the first time since 1982.

“This lower-than-expected increase in prices weighed on the dollar as it gave back more of the gains it had taken yesterday,” said foreign exchange analyst Andy Douglass of PNC Bank. “A lower CPI reading would give the Fed less of a need to raise the Fed funds rate.” Kathy Lien, director of currency research at Global Forex Trading, said the euro had been oversold against the dollar for some time “but the drop to a fresh yearly low proved to be a capitulation point that triggered end-of-the-week profit taking.”— Agencies

Hungary Socialists pledge more jobs, lower taxes

WISCONSIN: John Dohner feeds his cattle at his farm in Edgerton, Wis. Dohner, who was laid off from his job at the General Motors plant in Janesville, Wis., now commutes to Fort Wayne, Ind, to work at a GM plant there. —AP

BUDAPEST: Hungary’s ruling Socialists pledged more jobs, lower taxes and sustainable welfare benefits yesterday in a bid to increase their support in the run-up to an election in April they are widely expected to lose. The Socialists, in power since 2002, face an uphill battle going into the two-round elections on April 11 and 25 as tough budget cuts under the terms of a $25.1 billion IMF/EU loan secured in 2008 have mauled their public support.

Opinion polls indicate the centre-right Fidesz party, which has a nearly three-to-one lead over the Socialists, will win the election and inherit the task of steering the economy out of its worst downturn in almost two decades. Socialist prime minister candidate Attila Mesterhazy said renewed economic growth would create 2,000 billion forints ($10 billion) of extra revenue over the next four years, which his party would use to cut taxes and debt and boost investments.

“We should not loosen purse strings but make investments,” Mesterhazy told a meeting of party delegates. “We must give the benefits of growth to

those hit hardest by the crisis but in a way that does not threaten the country’s development.”

Mesterhazy said his party, which has backed the crisis handling measures of a minority government over the past year, would uphold fiscal discipline to avert forint volatility and ensure sustained economic growth.

International lenders said this week that Hungary’s 3.8 percent of GDP budget deficit target for 2010 looked achievable but warned of risks and said the government should be ready to take additional measures if needed to avert a bigger shortfall.

Mesterhazy said the Socialists would cut payroll taxes by four percent over the next four years, which the party expects to increase employment by one percent per year and raise real wages by 12 percent by the end of the next government term.

The Socialists have also promised to launch a new pension adjustment program in 2011 to revive their support among the elderly, their key voter base, rocked by tough pension cuts over the past year to hold down the deficit. — Reuters

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Sunday, February 21, 2010

KUWAIT: Home seekers interact with a large variety of renowned developers during the ‘India Homes Fair’ exhibition.

‘India Homes Fair’ in Kuwait a great success

By Abdullah Al-Qattan KUWAIT: HDFC Kuwait at the weekend hosted its second ‘India Homes Fair,’ an exclusive property exhibition for non-resident Indians (NRIs) at the Hotel Ramada, Kuwait. The two-day exhibition, which concluded yesterday, featured 23 of India’s leading property developers exhibiting over 100 projects based in and around 13 cities across India including Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi and Pune amongst others.

The objective of the show was to provide a platform for home seekers to directly interact with a large variety of renowned developers under one roof, allowing them to seek information on the developers’ existing and upcoming projects, which are all HDFC approved, and also to seek assistance on HDFC’s Home Loan Advisory Services. Shri K. Narsing Rao, the Indian Embassy in Kuwait’s Counselor for Labor and Community Affairs, inaugurated the show, while HDFC was represented at the event by a Mr. Ignatius, the firm’s Regional Manager for Kerala, along with Vivek Darni, the head of the company’s GCC branch and Kapil Kapur, the head of its Kuwait operation.

The show created a lot of interest amongst Kuwait’s Indian population, with almost 1,000 families visiting the show over the two days. The visitors who toured the event held informative meetings with the Developers and also took details of possible funding arrangements from HDFC. HDFC’s experience in Kuwait has been excellent and the present is the right time to move investors to India, said Rajnish Oswal of the Nahar Group in Mumbai, one of the developers exhibiting at the event.

Anuj Malik from Unitech, another of the developers exhibiting properties at the event, told the Kuwait Times that one of the differentiating factors between other property fairs and those organized by HDFC is the brand recognition factor among visitors, with HDFC’s fair attracting higher numbers of visitors than similar events held by less well-known companies due to the trust which the expatriate community has in the firm. He added that this helps to attract a large audience for the developers to sell their projects to.

One of the visitors to the show, design manager Yogi Desai, said that the event had been well planned and organized, but suggested that there should have been a larger number of developers from Gujarat present.

Another visitor, Ajesh Chadha, told the Kuwait Times, “The exhibition layout was good with quite a diverse set of developers and locations on offer,” voicing hope that HDFC would continue to stage such events for Kuwait’s Indian community.

KUWAIT: Roa-Counsller Labor & Community Affairs of the Indian Embassy K Narsing (center) inaugurating of the India Homes Fair of HDFC. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

KUWAIT: The team of Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited with the regional manager C V Ignatius (center) along with Kapil Kapur (center right) & Vivek Dharni (second left) the branch managers.

KUWAIT: Participants seen during the Indian house Fair.

Wall Street faces cautious outlook

GE’s workforce down WASHINGTON: General Electric’s overall work force fell by about 6 percent worldwide as it struggled to deal with the deep recession and financial crisis, company regulatory filings out today reveal. GE’s annual report shows the company reduced its employee head count by about 19,000 jobs to 304,000 workers. It’s the second year in a row that jobs have fallen at one of the world’s largest companies after several years of job growth earlier in the decade. A company spokeswoman says much of the reductions came from jobs left unfilled after retirements or other voluntary separations. But a large portion came from layoffs.

Biggest hit was the company’s GE Capital lending unit, which lost about 25 percent of its work force. — AP

Romania to get $3.32 billion loan from IMF WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund said it would provide 3.3 billion dollars to Romania, part of a massive loan aimed at helping the EU member recover from a severe recession.

The IMF, the World Bank and the European Union last May forged a rescue package of 20 billion euros (27.2 billion dollars) for Romania, hard hit by the global economic crisis.

The latest installment brings to 12.6 billion dollars the money Romania has received under a 24month loan, the Washingtonbased institution said in a statement. The IMF executive board completed reviews Friday of Romania’s economic performance under the program, which allowed the “immediate disbursement” of the 3.32 billion dollars, the fund said. John Lipsky, the

IMF deputy managing director, said the Balkan country faces major fiscal challenges amid “a difficult political and economic environment.” Lipsky noted that the deficit needed to be reduced to stabilize the ratio of public debt to economic output “and to comply with the criteria for accession to the euro area.” “The adjustment strategy entails politically difficult spending decisions and will require strong and steadfast implementation,” he said.

“Additional reforms to strengthen fiscal controls are crucial, including in expenditure commitments, contingent liabilities, and public entities outside the central government.” The IMF projects the Romanian economy will grow 1.3 percent in 2010, after shrinking more than 7.0 percent last year. — AFP

Saudi stock market review RIYADH: Last week the market opened at the 6225 point’s level and then declined marginally to register a low of the week at the 6221 point’s level on the same day itself. It then rose to register a high of the week at the 6439 point’s level on Wednesday. It finally closed the week at the 6411 point’s level.

During the whole week the market moved in a range of 218 points. The index rose on all the 5 days of the week. Sentiment was bullish and on a week on week basis the index gained 185 points (2.99%) after having lost 56 points in the

previous week.

OUTLOOK AND STRATEGY Technically, after displaying some weakness in the previous week, the charts are again displaying strength (reflecting a whip-saw) and a further rise cannot be ruled out. More so because, the index has risen above its 5 and 15 weeks moving averages in a single week. And, since the downwards risk again seems to have reduced, Investors may consider Buying in small quantities in shares that are fundamentally sound and have a long- term potential.

NEW YORK: US stocks posted solid gains the past week on the back of positive economic data and mostly improved company earnings with attention focused on any easing of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve. Wall Street will be looking forward to congressional testimony by Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke the coming week after the markets were rattled by the central bank’s sudden decision to raise the interest rate from Friday on emergency loans provided to banks.

Investors were concerned that the rise could set the pace for an increase in the more significant fed funds rate, the benchmark interest rate that banks charge each other for loans now at virtually zero percent. “In essence, the Fed’s bid to return to a more normal operating environment is a tacit indication that the Fed feels the financial system is on more stable ground,” said Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com. “Nonetheless, when a policy that has been in place for an extended period is changed, it naturally creates some uncertainty...” he said.

Rate increases would hike up costs and eat into earnings of companies that are emerging from financial difficulties following a brutal recession. “Rising rates inhibit stocks due to multiple compression, but as long as earnings move higher, stock prices can advance albeit potentially at a slower rate,” said financial consultancy Janney Montgomery Scott. “Stocks that manage to post higher earnings often jump higher once a credit tightening cycle ends.”

Janney expected the focus for the next few months to be on earnings instead of rates as more companies beat Wall Street earnings forecasts. In

the past week, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.0 percent to end 10,402.35, posting gains all four days in the holiday-shortened week. The technology-dominated Nasdaq composite added 2.8 percent for the week to 2,243.87 and the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 index jumped 3.1 percent to 1,109.17.

Stocks posted solid gains across the board as the economic calendar and equity front yielded plenty of sustenance for the bulls and the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrials moved close to breaking above the flatline for the year, analysts at Charles Schwab and Co said. In the past week, industrial production rose more than economists expected, while housing starts and building permits posted annual rates that came in above forecasts. The January Index of Leading Economic Indicators of the Conference Board, a business research firm, posted the 10th-consecutive monthly increase to contribute to economic optimism.

“Longer-term, we continue to believe the stock market is in the early stage of an extended bull market that should extend further as the US and global economies continue to strengthen,” said Frederic Dickson, chief market strategist for DA Davidson & Co. The coming week will have a fairly busy schedule of economic data, including new and existing home sales and revision of fourth quarter 2009 Gross Domestic Product, considered a proxy for corporate profits. Economists are expecting the growth rate to be revised down to 5.6 percent from the 5.7 percent initially reported, which used estimates of some data that have been subsequently released. — AFP

TECHNOLOGY

Sunday, February 21, 2010

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Climate science alive and well despite scandals: Scientists SAN DIEGO: Climate science is alive and well despite the scandal of leaked emails in Britain and “glitches” in a report by the UN climate change panel, top scientists said yesterday.

“There’s consensus that action is justified, indeed imperative to reduce the problem of a really serious long-term global effect on the climate,” said Lord Martin Rees, president of the British academy of science, the Royal Society.

“My personal take is the key bit of evidence is the rise in CO2 concentration plus simple physics. If we had no data other than that, that would be enough,” Rees told reporters at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Climate change sceptics seized on a leak of thousands of emails and other documents from researchers at the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East

Anglia in Britain, which appeared to show scientists saying global warming was not as serious as previously thought.

That scandal, dubbed Climategate, came just weeks before UN talks on climate change in Copenhagen in December.

Several weeks after the talks, another scandal rocked the world of climate science, when the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was accused of basing a report about ice disap-

pearing from the world’s mountain peaks on a student essay and an article in a mountaineering magazine.

But scientists weren’t out for the count; they just can’t, ethically, “go into the gutter” the way the media have in attacking the science world over the leakks, said Jerry North of Texas A&M University.

“It’s easy vilify scientists but scientists cannot go into the gutter and turn the

attacks the other way.

“But the climate science paradigm is in fact quite healthy. We just have a lot of challenges about how we communicate,” said North.

Scientists may be good at crunching numberss and data, but they’re bad at doing their own public relations, said Ralph Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences.

“There are a lot of smart people work-

ing on climate change right now, but we’re not doing a good job of translating what we’re learning to the public,” said Cicerone.

“Instead when we have a major snowstorm on the east coast of the US, jokes are proliferating about how wrong all this global warming stuff was. And yet you turn on your television and look at the winter Olympics in Canada and you find no snow...” — AFP

Will pirated books become as common as illegal music and films?

Who’s afraid of digital book piracy?

NEW YORK: For years, we have been able to combine our taste for music and film with our desire to stick it to the man, and all from the safety of our PCs. Our literary habits, however, have perforce remained largely legal. The closest we could come to the same thrill is by wearing a deep-pocketed coat to WH Smiths - which is such an analogue approach to theft. Soon, however, even the bookish will be able to frustrate Lord Mandelson because, at long last, thanks to the iPad, digital book piracy is almost upon us.

NEW YORK: US researchers unveiled a vehicle February 18, 2010 that earns money for its driver instead of guzzling it up in gasoline and maintenance costs. The converted Toyota Scion xB, shown at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science here, is the first electric car to be linked to a power grid and serve as a cash cow. — AFP

HK leader’s housekeeper sacked over Facebook pics HONG KONG: Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang’s housekeeper has been sacked after photos of his friends fooling around in restricted areas of Tsang’s official residence were posted on Facebook, a report said yesterday.

The group of teenagers posted 40 photos on Facebook and other websites showing themselves goofing around and posing as Tsang during a barbecue hosted by the housekeeper, the South China Morning Post reported.

The housekeeper had his contract terminated effective from yesterday following an investigation into how the visitors were allowed into off-limits areas of the 19th

century Government House, which is closed to the public apart from on annual open days.

“The matter was handled in a solemn and fair manner, and an investigation has been conducted,” a spokeswoman for Tsang told the paper.

Tsang had been informed of the decision and no compensation was paid, she said.

The pictures showed the young visitors enjoying a barbecue and fooling around in private areas of the house. Some posed as Tsang and a recipient of an award in the ballroom where government honours are presented in an annual ceremony, the Post said. — AFP

Fiction film technology to shine at Academy Awards SAN FRANCISCO: No matter which captivating film wins the Oscar for visual effects at next month’s Academy Awards ceremony, software savants at Autodesk will be taking a bow.

And if blockbuster “Avatar” or the compelling “District 9” take top honor as Best Picture, engineers at the Northern California firm will be able to bask in knowing that their technology helped make it possible.

The two films are among 10 nominated for Best Picture at the 82nd Academy Awards taking place March 7 in Los Angeles.

The movies join “Star Trek” to make up the three nominees vying in a Visual Effects category at the Oscars.

Software built by Autodesk was used by studios behind each of the films, which seamlessly blend live acting and computer imagery to immerse viewers in enthralling fictional worlds complete with aliens and adventure.

“All three films are stateof-the-art in terms of technology used to create visual effects,” Maurice Patel of Autodesk media and entertainment division said Friday while providing a behind-the-scenes look at parts the firm’s software played.

“We want to provide technology that allows artists around the world to express their creativity in different ways.” Founded in 1982, Autodesk has grown into a multinational firm

specializing in 2-D and 3-D software for designing nearly everything from skyscrapers and cars to Lego sets and granite sculptures.

Autodesk boasts nine million users of its software and racked up 2.3 billion dollars in revenue last year.

“We essentially let people create experiences,” Patel said, noting that stunning effects are spilling into videogames. “In the entertainment industry, it is about creating experiences that seem real but that are bigger than reality.”

James Cameron has told of having the idea for “Avatar” long before the technology existed to fulfill his vision of a 3-D film set in a colorful, lush planet inhabited by towering blue, nature-loving beings.

Autodesk technology made it possible for Cameron to aim a camera at actors wearing motion-capture suits in a studio but see them as characters in the fictional world of Pandora in the film.

Cameron directed action as if capturing live scenes instead of animators, later adding trees, creatures or other imagery around actors. “This is not an animated film, it is captured performance,” Cameron said at an Autodesk gathering in Las Vegas last year.

“The virtual camera was used to look around in the scene, then we’d bring in the actors and I’d use the virtual cameras to block the scene.” Cameron’s team at Lightstorm Entertainment studio customized the filming technology on top of

Autodesk software, according to Patel. “‘Avatar’ would not be possible if not for Autodesk; it made the impossible possible and for that Jim and I are eternally grateful,” Cameron’s producing partner Jon Landau said at the Las Vegas gathering.

Film titans Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson dabbled with the camera technology at the Lightstorm studio and decided to use it in an upcoming “Tintin” movie, according to Landau.

Autodesk technology was also put to work weaving alien refugees into science fiction thriller “District 9.”

The firm’s software was also behind black holes, warp speeds, transporter beams, and other wonders in “Star Trek,” according to Industrial Light and Magic visual effects supervisor Gordy Cofer.

“We are seeing the degree to which technology and visual effects can aid in storytelling and help create better films,” Cofer told AFP after showing the painstaking work behind stunning scenes in “Start Trek.” Special effects techniques are putting focus on actors that can be directed by film makers peering into fictional worlds, according to Cofer.

“It is all going in the direction of real-time visualization and performance capture,” Cofer said.

“The film maker is framing the action right there and it is the artists driving those tools. It is all kind of astounding.” — AFP

The surest sign of this is that industry figures have started producing dubious statistics to show how endemic it is. In the US, it’s just been announced that 10% of books read are now pirate texts. The same report claims that piracy has cost US publishers $3bn. But the source of the statistics was a company named Attributor, who provide online piracy protection for the publishing industry. Like a plumber tutting over the state of your pipes, they have a vested interest in finding problems.

A glance at the top seeded ebooks on Pirate Bay shows that Christopher Ricks isn’t about to lose much sleep over the downloaders. Filling the top slots are Windows 7 Secrets, Adobe CS4 for Photographers and, shamelessly playing up to the stereotype of all geeks being lonely boys, the Jan/Feb edition of Playboy magazine.

According to Freakbits, the only non-technical or sexual downloaded book in 2009 was the Twilight series - a choice that only goes to show how masturbation and Photoshopping mess with the mind.

More mainstream books are found on Scribd, a site you might well use - it’s great for finding free books, citations and excerpts. It’s also home to an awful lot of copyright infringements. You can find everything: Tintin in America, Martin Amis’s Time’s Arrow, Alastair Campbell’s The Blair Years, Richard Brautigan. Heck, there’s even a bunch of Guardian book bloggers, bundled together in a self-published book of literary quotations.

The interesting thing is just how openly available these books are from the site’s servers. In fact, Scribd has a very old-school approach to piracy. It pitches itself as a document-sharing service, just as Napster pitched itself as a way of sharing sound files - a euphemism as transparent as a newspaper ad offering “escorts”.

Publishers’ lawyers will most likely eventually compel Scribd to close, or to turn it into a legal online shop (authors such as Stephen King already sell their digital copies through the site).

Certain juicy targets for piracy, such as Stephanie Meyer or JK Rowling, have already had their legal battalions ensure no illicit Potters or vegetarian vampires appear online. That the rest of the industry hasn’t yet bothered shows how small the impact of piracy has been on publishers thus far. Faber clearly don’t see the need to police the Alan Bennett plays available on Scribd, since most of their audience still prefer physical copies.

The blog The Millions recently hosted an amazing interview with an American book pirate who provides ecopies of books because of his open-source, anti-copyright beliefs. Dutifully, he scans and proofs every book he uploads. The thought of all that repetitive effort, a kind of digital ironing, is quaintly charming - like a farmer tending to his patch with a sickle, his back squarely turned to the rolling Google combine harvester. It’s such a lot of work and, outside textbooks, it makes so little impact that publishers haven’t needed to pay the lawyers’ fees to stop it.

But this is about to change. As e-readers become ubiquitous, publishers know they need to go digital. And being digital, no matter how

much drm you shove in, means content will be pirated.

Anyone will be able to get any new book you want if you know how to look for it.

But, despite the statistics, I don’t believe book piracy will ever be as endemic as it has become with music and film.

We’ve moved on from the preiTunes days when the only way of getting an MP3 of a

song was to find it on Napster.

Publishers were keen to get on board with the iPad straight from launch because they knew it was the safest way to protect and to disseminate their product. One editor at a big publisher told me just how desperate his company have been to woo Apple over the last 18 months.

More importantly, though,

publishers have a headstart on the music and film industries and already have some experience of what happens when controlled content is made widely available for free.

Victorian publishers were convinced public libraries would ruin them: they didn’t.

Lending libraries brought books off the estates and into the tenements, and publishers

were suddenly selling a lot more books to a lot more people. This happened as the result of a system that, like Spotify, allowed readers to legally obtain books for free while the authors still received some money. If the publishing industry can remember its own history, digitisation should be a doddle. — Guardian

Steve Jobs with an Apple iPad.

NY Times executives discuss plan to charge online readers NEW YORK: Top New York Times executives expressed confidence Friday that a plan to start charging readers of the newspaper’s website from next year will not result in a significant loss of traffic.

“We are, and have been for quite a long time, the largest newspaper-owned website in the world,” said Martin Nisenholtz, the senior vice president for digital operations at the Times.

“We intend to remain the largest newspaper-owned website in the world,” Nisenholtz said at “paidContent 2010,” a daylong conference here hosted by technology and media website paidContent.org.

The Times Co. announced last month that it would begin charging readers of NYTimes.com in early 2011, using a “metered model” that will offer users free access to a set number of articles before they will be asked to pay.

“We have reached a point where we have enough scope and scale to make this move,” Nisenholtz said, adding that the goal is to “maximize

overall revenue” through online subscriptions and online advertising.

“The metered model will allow us to remain a very, very large website at the same time as we get a second revenue stream,” he said.

Nisenholtz, Times Co. chairman Arthur Sulzberger and Times Co. president and chief executive Janet Robinson answered questions about the plan during a panel discussion at paidContent 2010 but revealed few new details.

Their move is being closely watched by others in a US newspaper industry faced with declining print advertising revenue, falling circulation and the migration of readers to free news online.

The Wall Street Journal and Long Island’s Newsday are currently the only major US newspapers charging readers for full online access.

A number of other US publishers are considering the move but fear it may drive readers away and result in a loss of revenue from online advertising.

“We believe the direction

we’re headed is going to be the direction that quality information, and maybe not quality information, is going to be going,” Sulzberger said.

“It’s a question of seeing what works, adapting it, making it work better,” he said.

“This is the next step on a journey of transformation.”

Sulzberger cautioned that charging readers may not be for everybody.

“The answer we’re coming up with is not necessarily the right answer at this moment in time for other news organizations. There are other opportunities that might work for them,” he said.

“This is an answer, we believe, for The New York Times in its particular place in society in the United States and globally,” he said.

The executives defended the newspaper’s last experience with making readers pay, a system called TimesSelect which involved putting columnists and editorials behind a pay wall.

TimesSelect was aborted after 18 months.

“It was not a failure,”

Robinson said. “It proved that people were willing to pay for content, certainly of a premium nature.”

“We were making good money off of TimesSelect,” Sulzberger added. “We simply knew we could make more by taking it down.”

Nisenholtz declined to specify how many users the Times had determined would be ready to pay for the newspaper online.

“The research tells us that a sufficient number of users are open to the idea to make this a viable model,” he said.

“That’s all we’re going to say.”

Citing Nielsen figures, Nisenholtz said NYTimes.com receives about 21 million unique visitors a month from the United States and “some will pay because they’re heavy users of our site.”

Nisenholtz also said the Times’ currently free Apple iPhone application had been downloaded 3.2 million times and would likely be included in the metered model when NYTimes.com begins charging next year. — AFP

Endeavour undock from International Space Station WASHINGTON: The space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station late Friday after completing a nine-day mission, which consisted in delivering a module dubbed Tranquility.

Endeavour left the station at 7:54 pm EST (0054 GMT Saturday) as it was cruising above the Atlantic Ocean west of Mauritania, NASA officials said.

After undocking, shuttle pilot Terry Virts performed a fly-around of the station, enabling his crewmates to conduct a photo survey of the complex.

The station is now 98 percent com-

plete by volume and 90 percent by mass, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Weather permitting, Endeavour will be landing at Kennedy Space Center at 10:16 pm today.

The mission, one of just five remaining for NASA’s three shuttles before the program ends later this year after a 29year run, came as the US space agency re-evaluates its future.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama effectively abandoned a US plan to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020.

Constrained by soaring deficits, Obama submitted a budget to Congress that encourages NASA to focus instead on developing commercial transport alternatives to ferry astronauts to the ISS after the shuttle program ends.

The ISS, a joint project involving 16 countries, has cost around 100 billion dollars, mostly funded by the United States.

Under Obama’s new budget, the orbiting research station could see its life extended by five years until 2020.

NASA has set the next shuttle mission, by Discovery, for March 18. — AFP

HEALTH & SCIENCE

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Sunday, February 21, 2010

Europeans eye deep underground nuclear waste repositories SAN DIEGO: Three European countries will within 15 years begin disposing of their nuclear waste deep underground, even though the public is not solidly behind the move, officials said here Friday.

In Finland, a deep geological repository where spent nuclear fuel will be disposed of is due to come onstream in 2020, said experts who addressed a forum at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Sweden will follow three years after its Nordic neighbor, and “France plans to start operating a deep geological reposito-

ry for vitrified high-level waste from reprocessing in 2025,” Roland Schenkel, deputy director general of the European Commission’s Joint Research Center, said.

France, along with Britain, Japan and Russia, currently reprocess their nuclear waste and then hold it in an interim storage facility, before the “intended disposal in deep geological repositories,” which is the final resting place for high-level radioactive waste, Schenkel said.

But according to Allison Macfarlane of George Mason University in Virginia and Klaus Luetzenkirchen of the Joint Research Center in Karlsruhe, Germany,

storing nuclear waste directly in deep underground repositories without reprocessing it is the best and safest way to go.

Reprocessing is expensive, said Macfarlane, adding: “Geologic repositories are generally agreed to be the best solution for high-level nuclear waste.”

Luetzenkirchen said: “It’s easier to safeguard nuclear waste that is all underground.”

For the one in five people in Sweden who are against having a such a repository in their town or region, the experts had few words of reassurance.

“We can never say it is completely safe. If we start to speak like that, sooner

or later, people will understand we are not telling the truth,” said Claes Thegerstroem of Sweden’s Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management group.

“But we can say, of all the options, this is the best option. Everything else is less safe,” said Thegerstroem. Roland Schenkel of the European Commission said there is a “growing consensus both in Europe and in other parts of the world that deep geological disposal is the most appropriate solution for long-term management of spent fuel, high-level waste, and other long-lived radioactive wastes.”

Other countries in the EU, where some 145 reactors were operating in 15

countries as of 2007, and nearly one third of the electricity consumed is produced by nuclear power, are also expected to unveil plans in the coming decades for deep geological nuclear waste repositories.

The forum on what to do with the growing volume of nuclear waste produced largely by power plants around the world came shortly after US President Barack Obama announced plans to build the first new nuclear power plants on US soil in nearly 30 years.

On the same day Obama made the announcement, the Department of Energy was granted a stay on license applications for the controversial Yucca

Mountain nuclear waste depository in the state of Nevada, which would have been the first deep geologic repository for highlevel nuclear waste in the United States.

US Energy Secretary Steven Chu in late January tasked a high-level commission with finding a solution for managing used nuclear fuel and weapons waste in the United States.

Chu excluded the panel from considering the Yucca Mountain site, which is not only sacred ground to some native Americans but also sits in a part of the United States that has “active earthquakes and volcanoes,” Macfarlane said. —AFP

NEW YORK: In this file photo of Jan. 18, 2002, firefighters in New York working on recovery efforts at the site of the World Trade Center disaster wait for their shift to start. A federal judge has set the stage for the first civil trials over illnesses caused by ash and dust from the World Trade Center. The court on Friday picked 12 workers whose cases will go to trial first, starting in May. — AP

US judge sets stage for Sept 11 illness trials NEW YORK: A US judge has picked 12 responders to the Sept 11 attacks whose cases will be the first to go to trial over illnesses caused by ash and dust from the destroyed World Trade Center.

More than 9,000 people who played a role in the massive rescue and recovery operation after the 2001 attacks have filed lawsuits against New York City, claiming they developed a wide variety of health problems after being exposed to soot at the site.

US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein on Friday announced the select few that will go first, and perhaps serve as bellwethers for resolving the rest. The group includes a firefighter who died of throat cancer and another who needed a lung transplant, several police officers with asthma, and a sampling of other laborers worried about

their health.

Collectively, the workers have argued that the city and the dozens of contractors it hired to move mountains of debris should shell out more than $1 billion (euro 740 million) in damages for failing to give responders proper protective equipment.

Public sentiment has landed largely on the side of the workers, but the details of these first cases suggest that not every one will be a slam dunk with a jury. One Consolidated Edison worker in the group, Richard Calderon, never worked on the debris pile, wore a full respirator for almost all of his time near the site and acknowledged in a deposition that he might not actually be sick.

“I don’t know if there’s any injuries,” he said, when asked why he was suing. He added that he was still worried about his

health. “I don’t know what’s going on inside my body.” Utility worker Robert Galvani also donned a respirator for all his work near the trade center and weighs around 400 pounds, raising questions about whether his breathing problems were due to the aftereffects of Sept. 11.

Other plaintiffs have more compelling stories. Firefighter Frank Malone, 39, commandeered a city bus to get to the trade center from Brooklyn on Sept. 11 and arrived just after the second tower collapsed. He found chaos, a smashed chain of command and a sky dark with ash.

“Everything was on fire,” he said in a deposition. “All the surrounding buildings were just burning. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.” He stayed for two days, digging with his hands with only a flimsy painter’s mask for protection, stop-

ping occasionally to blow black soot from his nose. “I slept for probably two hours on the sidewalk,” he said.

Later he returned for another eight days on the pile, searching for body parts and passing buckets of dust. There was no respirator for him then, either. He finally got one when he returned for a third tour in December. Lawyers for the city have argued that it can’t possibly held accountable for what happened in the initial hours and days after the attacks, given the enormity of the disaster. From the start, they say, the city tried its best to protect everyone, working with federal authorities to ultimately provide 130,000 respirators to the workers — more than three for each person.

The city’s legal team has also complained that thousands of people have

added their names to the lawsuits even though they aren’t sick or have health conditions unrelated to Sept 11.

One plaintiff — not included among the 12 selected for trial — was a woman who suffered a heart attack while watching the trade center attack at home on television.

Another was a limo driver who had nothing to do with the recovery effort and wasn’t in the vicinity of the site until 2003.

An Associated Press review of dozens of ground zero cases revealed that some contained legal papers with inaccurate descriptions of worker illnesses or time spent at ground zero.

Some plaintiffs were listed as having cancer, when they do not. Others were recorded as having worked nonstop at the trade center for many months, when other documents showed they spent only occa-

Obama: Health meeting a test of problem-solving WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said yesterday the health care meeting he’s holding next week with Democratic and Republican lawmakers will test their ability to solve not just this problem, but other problems, too.

Republicans said lawmakers must scrap current proposals and start over, lest the meeting turn into a charade. “After debating this issue exhaustively for a year, let’s move forward together,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. “Next week is our chance to finally reform our health insurance system so it works for families and small businesses. It’s our chance to finally give Americans the peace of mind of knowing that they’ll be able to have affordable coverage when they need it most.” A starting point for talks at Thursday’s meeting at Blair House, across the street from the White House, is a yet-tobe-seen version of two health care bills passed separately by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and Senate.

Speaking for Republicans in their weekly address, Rep. Dave Camp said people want Obama and the Democrats to

“scrap their misguided plan of a government takeover of health care” and start over by taking a step-by-step approach.

“For those families and small businesses looking for a sign that Washington is ready to wake up and find common sense on this issue, next week’s White House health care summit may not be it,” said Camp, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, one of several congressional panels that helped draft the House version of the overhaul bill.

He charged that the newest bill was being written in secret and said that “if the starting point for this summit is more of the same backroom deals and partisan bills, then this meeting will likely be a charade.” Obama said the session, to be televised by C-SPAN, will test whether the executive and legislative branches of government can work together.

He said people are fed up with a partisan sourness that is causing gridlock. “What’s being tested here is not just our ability to solve this one problem, but our ability to solve any problem,” Obama said. — AP

sional days there. The trials, set to start in May, will likely include testimony from experts who will question why some plaintiffs seemed healthy for years after the attacks, and only recently developed health problems. Malone said in his deposition that he felt fine for years, until he began wheezing while out for a jog in 2004. Within days he was treated in an emergency room for shortness of breath and tightness in his chest. He was diagnosed with asthma and spent months on medical leave before returning to light duty.

His lawyer, Andrew Carboy, said he was looking forward to trials that would showcase “the city’s systemic, deeply rooted dysfunction” when it came to protecting workers. — AP

Chemicals suspected in breast cancer: Experts

WASHINGTON: In this Feb. 9, 2010, file photo President Barack Obama speaks in the White House press briefing room in Washington. Obama has summoned both Democrats and Republicans to a White House summit to be cast live on C-SPAN and perhaps cable Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010, gambling that he can save his embattled health care overhaul by the power of persuasion. — AP

SAN DIEGO: US experts called Friday for toxicity tests on chemicals they suspect play a role in the development of breast cancer, a leading cause of death in American women.

“We’re currently not identifying chemicals that could be contributing to the risk of breast cancer,” said Megan Schwarzman, a physician and health environmental researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.

According to Schwarzman, only a handful of the more than 200 chemicals in the environment linked to mammary tumors in lab animals have been regulated by the US authorities “on the basis of their ability to cause breast cancer.”

She was speaking at a major science gathering, the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego.

Schwarzman is part of a panel of experts set up last year to identify which chemicals cause breast cancer and to develop toxicity tests to identify them.

Cancer Breast The Chemical Policy Project is expected to submit a report to health authorities in April.

As the incidence of the most common invasive cancer

in women has skyrocketed in a generation, a flurry of studies have looked into the role of chemicals in breast cancer.

Treatment and survival rates have improved, but scientists have been running to stand still when it comes to pinpointing what causes breast cancer, said panel member Sarah Janssen, a physician and scientist with Resources Natural the Defense Council.

“Although we’ve made great strides in improving treatment and breast cancer survival rates, really we don’t know much about preventing breast cancer... and most of the causes are not well understood,” she said, noting hypotheses that environmental exposure affects breast development and the risk of disease.

“People are exposed to dozens of chemicals in their daily activities and biomonitoring has detected hundreds of chemicals in the fetal cord blood, in breast milk, adult blood and urine.”

Only around a quarter of more than 186,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 were genetically predisposed to the disease, and other breast cancer risk factors, including the early onset puberty in girls, have been linked to chemicals.— AFP

WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

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Sunday, February 21, 2010

Embassy information EMBASSY OF BANGLADESH The Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait will remain closed today on the occasion of the Shahid Dibash and International Mother Language Day. The Embassy will arrange the following programmes to observe the Shahid Dibash and International Mother Language Day at the Chancery today Art competition. Sunday 21 February, 0800. Roof top of the Chancery.

National Flag will be flown at half-mast. Hall Room of the Chancery, Recitation from the Holy Quran. Dua and Munajat Reading out of the messages. Discussion on Ekushe and International Mother Language Day, Refreshment. All Bangladeshis in Kuwait are cordially invited to attend the above function.

EMBASSY OF UKRAINE The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait informs that it has started updating the information about Ukrainian citizens, who live and work in Kuwait. In this connection, we are asking you to refer to the Embassy and update your file in consular register in order not to be excluded from it.

Please note, that the last day of updating your data is 20th of March, 2010. For additional information please call: 25318507 ext.106 or visit the embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait (address: Hawalli, Jabriya, bl.10, str.6, house 5).

The consular section of the Embassy open every day from 09:30 till 14:30 except Friday and Saturday.

Parents’ Day at GIS he Primary Section of Gulf Indian School recently presented a colourful cultural program at the school auditorium to the great delight of their parents. All the children from classes I and II and a majority of students from classes III, IV and V participated in the program and displayed their artistic talents through various dances, skit and songs. The dazzling costumes and the fast and rhythmic steps to the beats of melodious music made each dance an unforgettable experience. The Hindi skit in the form of a puppet show, the sweet welcome song and the soulful rendering of ‘I have a dream...’ were the other highlights of the day. The Individual Champions (Primary Section) of the Annual Athletic Meet were awarded the Championship Trophies at the same function. The entire show was compered by the students of class V with great ease and confidence.

T

EMBASSY OF KENYA 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. ter or call: 25318507 ext.106 EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed on Thursday, February 25 and Monday, March 1, 2010 on account of “National Day of Kuwait” & “Holi”.

Mohammed Vakil live-in-concert in Kuwait

O

‘My Kuwait’ fest inaugurated

A

s a mark to celebrate National & Liberation days, we have come up with an exclusive promotion from 18th February to 28th February ‘My Kuwait’ where promotions of Kuwaiti products are focused.

More than 100 varieties of Kuwaiti

brands are on display. Customers can pick their favorite products from here at very attractive and competitive prices.

In addition to the above promotions there will be traditional Kuwaiti cultural activities such as Dazzah, Ardah, Habban and other songs.

Special stall for children’s face painting, henna, nail polishing, tattoo and hair braiding.

So why wait! While you have all the reasons to celebrate this Hala February with LuluHypermarket.

‘My Kuwait’ fest was inaugurated

by Dr. Hani M Al Mazeedi, Associate

Research Scientist, Biotechnology Department, Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research, in the presence of Luluhypermarket Kuwait operations Regional Director Mohammed Haris, Regional Manager Sreejith, General Manager Abdul Khader and other management staff.

WOW cleans the beach WOW( Womens Overall Welfare) will be organizing series of events ‘“Save The Earth”. Come and join hands with us on 27th Feb from 10 am to 12 noon at TGI FRIDAYS beach.

International expatriate community would like to express thanks and gratitude to Kuwait. All ladies are welcome! For more information contact arshia.wow@hotmail.com or call 66113282

P

rincipal Hussein Nasser Ahmadi, Senior ELT Supervisor Suzan Al-Bishti, ELT Supervisor Jawad Al-Omrani and other officials of the Hawally Educational Zone observe a Scrabble game between two teachers at the Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah School in Jabriya recently. The goal of the Hawally inspectorate is to widen the game to all public schools in Kuwait under the banner of the Ministry of Education.

n the occasion of Kuwait Liberation day, Harmony Entertainment group presents a live-in-concert by Mohammed Vakil in Kuwait on February 26th.

The live-in-concert will be held at American International School auditorium, Maidan Hawally from 7:00 pm onwards. This exclusive event is to introduce Muhammed Vakil to the music lovers in Kuwait.

Mohammad Vakil belongs to the exclusive club of ‘young classical singers’, who reminds one of the late renowned singer Mohammed Rafi.

Vakil belongs to Jaipur (Rajasthan) and comes from a musical family of renowned classical Ghazal singers. His uncles were, Ustad Ahmed Hussain and Ustad Mohammed Hussain were renowned classical musicians. They have composed the music for Keh Do Keh Do too. For him, it was dream come true since they are famous ghazal singers and have to their credit nearly 50 ghazal albums. Vakil learnt music from them and to have his gurus composing music for his own album was an overwhelming experience. Vakil also did playback singing in Yash Chopra’s ‘Veer Zara’ accompanied by his Gurus Ustad Ahmed Hussain, Ustad Mohd. Hussain.

Vakil was the winner of ‘TVS Sa-Re-GaMa’ Final, 1997 (Zee TV) and Winner of ‘TVS Sa-Re-Ga-Ma’ Mega Final, 1998 (Zee TV). Also released various albums such as ‘Sapnay’ by Zee Music, ‘Kasak’

by Magna Sound, ‘Kehdo Kehdo’ by Magna Sound and Guzarish by Times Music.

Entry for the event is restricted by invitation. For further details, please contact 65552765 / 25629898 / 66371331

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, AlOthman 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

31

WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Announcements FEBRUARY 23 Lecture on diabetes: Correlation between diabetes and obesity by Dr. Dhari Al-Own. What is the definition of obesity? What are its side effects, how can one calculate his BMI (Body mass Index? How can we calculate our calorie requirements? And how can we avoid obesity and diabetes? In his 20-minute presentation, Dr. Dhari will answer all this questions and many more. When?

Tuesday February 23rd at 7pm at AWARE.

FEBRUARY 26 IOC fest ’09 winners: Indian Overseas Congress, Kuwait is conducting its 16th Annual day celebrations on Friday, 26th February 2010 at Indian Central School Auditorium, Abbassiya.

Various Senior Congress leaders from Kerala including K.C Joseph MLA, E.M Augasthy Ex. MLA, V.D Satheeshan MLA will be attending the function. IOC as an organisation of equally minded people from India, have been anchored with a vision of imparting the spirit of economically prosperous, socialy just, politically united and culturally Harmonious India to the expatriate Indian Community. The uncomparable public speeches of V.D Satheeshan, E.M. Augusthy and KC Joseph will be memorable talks to the Congressmen in Kuwait.

Since few years IOC is conducting Arts festival for all the Indians in Kuwait.

More than one thousand participants from all States of India are participating in various competitions organised. every year.

The winners of IOC Fest ‘09 will be awarded with prizes and certificates at the function. Various committees under the leadership of M.A Hilal, Somu Mathew Geevarghese Abraham, Raju Zakarias, K.J. John, John Abraham, Tony Mathew, Adv. John Thomas, C. Ramachandran, Thajudeen, Alex Bino Joseph, Varghese Mamparampan, Shaji Kavalam, are actively working to make this a memorable event among the Indians in Kuwait. IOC requests all the IOC Fest ‘09 winners to contact Tony Mathew (66853100) or Raju Zakarias (99234968).

MARCH 26 CRYcket 2010: The 13th annual crycket tournament is scheduled to be held on Friday, 26th March 2010 at the KOC Hockey Grounds, Ahmadi. This tournament is organized by FOCC (Friends of Cry Club). Friends of CRY Club (FOCC) is associated with CRY (Child Rights and You), India and its main objectives are to create awareness of the underprivileged Indian children, help restore their basic rights, strive to provide support in personal development of the Indian children in Kuwait and bring out the qualities of social commitment in them. FOCC has been organizing CRY awareness programmes for children through its two annual events - CRYcket (Cricket match for children below 14 years organized annually since 1997) and CRY chess tournament (for children of all ages organized annually since 2005) - and ‘Brain Bang’ programme which is an ongoing bi-weekly Accelerated Learning activity. CRYcket will be played by 24 teams of children and about 500 spectators are expected for this special one-day event. The deadline to receive the registration forms is 18th March 2010, however registration may be close earlier if the available slots of 12 teams in each category are filled. A colourful souvenir will be released to mark the 13th year of FOCC’s activities in Kuwait. For details how to become a sponsor and/or to advertise in the Souvenir or to volunteer as a FOCC member, pls visit www.focckwt.org or email focckwt@yahoo.com APRIL 16 Friends of Kannur holds drama competition: Friends of Kannur Expatriates Association (FOKE) is arranging a drama competition for their forthcoming fifth anniversary celebration. Competition will be held on April 16th at Daiya Auditorium. Applications are invited from all art lovers in Kuwait to participate in this drama competition. Drama should be in Malayalam language and should be less than 40 minutes duration. All those who wish to participate in this competition are requested to submit their application along with a copy of their script before February 15th 2010. For further details you may contact 65071434, 99860832.

Winners with guests and KKMA officials.

KKMA drawing contest award ceremony

K

uwait Kerala Muslim Association (KKMA), the largest organization of Indian nationals in Kuwait concluded its 2009 World Peace KKMA-Tiffany drawing contest with a colorful award ceremony.

The contest was organized under the kind patronage of His Excellency Mr. Ajai Malhotra, the Ambassador of India to Kuwait.

A total of 56 best performers and highest scoring schools have been conferred with trophies and certificates in a spectacular evening program which was attended by the school children, teachers, parents and general public.

Winners were chosen based on a grading matrix and announced in three categories of Excellent, Merit and Recognition awards from each categories respectively.

United Indian School of Kuwait bagged the KKMA-Tiffany Winners Trophy for winning the highest number of points in the contest by winning 11 prizes out of total 56 prizes and earning 43 points.

The Indian Educational School (IES) emerged as the runner up by achieving seven with 21 points, whereas the Carmel School of Kuwait became 3rd in the row with 5 winners and 16 points.

Children from 18 Indian schools in Kuwait participated in this contest. A total number exceeding 3000 entries were received during the first phase of the contest held in SeptemberOctober 2009. Of which 1000 finalists were selected and invited for an on-the-spot final contest on a theme related to water.

Sageer Trikarpur, the chairman of KKMA in his introductory speech explained that the contest was organized to promote a culture of nonviolence and peace by raising awareness among young children about these concepts. He also gave a brief account of KKMA activities and programs implemented for the benefit of Indian community in Kuwait.

The Consular for Community Affairs at the Indian Embassy in Kuwait K. Narsing Rao inaugurated the event and presented the Champions Trophy to United Indian School. He congratulated winners and commended KKMA effort for inculcating values of life in young generation. Rao also applauded KKMA’s newly launched “Model NRI Project” which aims to create awareness about the situation of NRIs and to address their problem in real earnest by changing their lifestyles. With regard to the embassy services, Rao requested general public to avail the services offered by the revamped Legal Clinic Services at the Indian Workers Welfare Center.

Mr. K. Shriniwas, the general manager of Iffco, the guest of honor at the award ceremony presented 1st Runner Up trophy

Greetings

FEBRUARY 24-27 Islamic seminar: Kuwait Kerala Islahi Centre is organizing a 4 day-long Islamic Seminar at Farwaniya Garden Ground starting from February 24 to 27 and will be under the patronage of His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister for Legal Affairs, Minister of Justice and Awqaf & Islamic Affairs Advisor Rashid Abdul Mohsin Al Hammad. Assistant Undersecretary for Cultural Affairs Ibrahim Al-Saleh, Advisor for Minister of Awqaf & Islamic Affairs Shaikh Jassem Muhammed Al Farhan, Director of Department of Justice Salem Abdullah Al-Hassan, Shaikh Yousuf Shuaib and Shaikh Khalid Sinan from Ministry of Awqaf & Islamic Affairs will be attending the Islamic Seminar Inauguration program. Indian Ambassador Ajay Malhotra will be inaugurating Exhibiton, Vision-2010 on Feb 24. All are invited to attend this program with your families and friends.

United School receiving Champions trophy from KN Rao.

Oppana by IMLA kids to Indian Educational School.

Shriniwas received a felicitation memento from K.N. Rao as an appreciation for being the main sponsor of the event.

Mr. T.A. Ramesh, general manager of Gulf Mart presented 2nd Runner Up trophy to Carmel School Kuwait. He congratulated the winners and commended the efficient organizing of the event.

The Indian Community School and the Kuwait Indian School received appreciation memento from the organizers for their continuous support to KKMA drawing contests in consecutive years. S. Ilango, principal of ICSK Amman branch and Mrs. Kalyani Mukherji, principal of Kuwait Indian School received the awards respectively for each school.

Artist Srinivasan received a felicitation memento from A.P Salam, Working President of KKMA and Artist M.V John received a felicitation memento

from Ali Matara, CFO of KKMA for their support in organizing the contest.

The event was made colorful by oppanna dance program performed by the IMLA Kids Group choreographed and directed by IMLA, the ladies wing of KKMA. Singing Artists from Breeze Band Faisal and Raafi as well as Vinay, a Gulf Voice winner performed the popular patriotic songs.

The program also witnessed award distribution program for the winners of Mehandi contest held on the Eid day last year.

The award was presented by by IMLA President Mrs. Arifa Abdul Fatah and General Secretary Mrs. Namira Hisham.

N.A.Muneer, KKMA president along with leaders of KKMA Ibrahim Kunnil, Sayed Rafiq, Shabeer Mandoli, Basheer K, K.C Rafik, Hamza Payannur and B.M Iqbal presented the trophy, certificates and special gifts

H

appy birthday to Abu Nader.

Best wishes from wife and family.

for the winners.

The Association thanked all class teachers and the art/drawing teachers of your school for their kind support without which we could not have received such an immense response.

EXCELLENT AWARD Category 1: Primary School (Class I to IV): GOUTHAM SURESH (Indian Community School Kuwait - ICSK Amman), GRIFFIN GEORGE PUTHENPURAYIL (Indian Community School Kuwait - ICSK - Khaitan), MALAVIKA VIDHUGOPAN (Carmel School Kuwait), NANDAKRISHNAN MUKUNDAN (Indian Educational School IES), SHAWN ANNA SAJAN (United Indian School).

Category 2: Upper Primary (Class IV to VII): AAWANI JAYAPRAKASH (Indian Educational School - IES), ABITHA GEORGE THOMAS (Indian Educational School IES), GAVIN GEORGE (Indian

Community School Kuwait ICSK Khaitan), LAVANYA LILLY GEORGE (Gulf Indian School), SIBIL SARA SEN (United Indian School).

Category 3: Secondary School (Class VIII to X): AISWARYA BALAGOPAL (United Indian School), DIVYA MAHADEVAN (Indian Educational School - IES), M H S GULZAR AHMED (Indian Central School), TESSA SUSAN JOHN (United Indian School), VIVEK UNNIKRISHNAN (Indian Community School Kuwait - ICSK Amman).

Category 4: Senior Secondary School (Class XI and XII): LUBAINA WAHID ALI (United Indian School), MARIYAM BEGUM (United Indian School), RASEL AHMMED (Indian Central School).

MERIT AWARD Category 1: Primary School (Class I to IV): AYMAN TANVEER PALOJI (Indian English

Academy School - IEAS), GAYATRI DEVI (United Indian School), ISRA M.D SHALIM (Integrated Indian School), MOHAMMED EMON (Indian Public School), RICHA ABRAHAM (Carmel School Kuwait).

Category 2: Upper Primary (Class IV to VII): ADITYA JAYPAL (Indian Educational School - IES), ARJUN NARAYANAN KUTTY (Indian Community School, ICSK Senior), FLENCY THANKACHAN (Indian Community School - ICSK Khaitan), HANAN ABDULLA (Fahaheel Al Watanieh Indian Private School - FAIPS), KRUPA ANN MATHEW (United Indian School), RESHMA ABRAHAM (Carmel School of Kuwait), VINAYAK UNNIKRISHNAN (Indian Community School - ICSK Amman).

Category 3: Secondary School (Class VIII to X): FIONA SUNNY KURIAN (United Indian School), GRESHMA LIZ GEORGE (Indian Central School), MUHAMMAD MANSAF KHAN (Indian Community School - ICSK Senior), PRATYUSH.V (Indian Educational School (IES), REHANA MAHFUZ (Fahaheel Al Watanieh Indian Private School - FAIPS).

Category 4: Senior Secondary School (Class XI and XII): IMMANUEL AMRITA RHEMA (Fahaheel Al Watanieh Indian Private School - FAIPS), SHOBHA SAM ATTUPURATH (Carmel School Kuwait).

RECOGNITION AWARD Category 1: Primary School (Class I to IV): ABDUL SALAM (Integrated Indian School), ABHINAYA SRINIVASAN (Indian Educational School IES), CHETAN RAJESH (Gulf Indian School), JOEL SAJU (India International School), MALVIKA KRISHNA. K (Integrated Indian School), MEGHA CHANDRAN (India I n t e r n a t i o n a l School)MOHAMMED RUSHDI (Integrated Indian School).

Category 2: Upper Primary (Class IV to VII): JULIA ROSE PANIKULAM (Gulf Indian School), NADIYA NUR FAIZA (Jabriya Indian School), NETRA RADHAKRISHNAN (United Indian School), RANLI WARANGANA LIYANAGE (Carmel School Kuwait), SEBASTIYAN AHILAN (Al Rashid Indian School), SHAMID KHAN SULTAN (Kuwait Indian School), SHAYAN IQBAL (Kuwait Indian School).

Category 3: Secondary School (Class VIII to X): Afia M PATHAN (United Indian School), GOLDAN NIVETHITHA (Fahaheel Al Watanieh Indian Private School FAIPS), KAMAR AYMAN AL YOUNIS (Al Amal Indian School), KEVIN PONNACHAN (Indian Central School), NEHAL AMIT JAJAL (Fahaheel Al Watanieh Indian Private School FAIPS).

F

irst happy birthday to Ahmad Hussein. Best wishes from family and friends in Kuwait and Egypt.

TV PROGRAMS

32

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Orbit / Showtime Listings

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

Kathy Griffin Prison Break Friday Night Lights Dawsons Creek Prison Break Inside the Actors Studio Heroes Kathy Griffin Hotel Babylon Saving Grace Friday Night Lights Dawsons Creek Heroes Inside the Actors Studio Friday Night Lights Prison Break Hotel Babylon Saving Grace Kathy Griffin Heroes Criminal Minds Cold Case One Tree Hill Rescue Me

00:50 I’m Alive 01:45 Night 02:10 Night 02:40 Untamed & Uncut 03:35 Untamed & Uncut 04:30 Animal Cops Miami 05:25 I’m Alive 06:20 Animal Cops Houston 07:10 Aussie Animal Rescue 07:35 Vet on the Loose 08:00 Lemur Street 08:25 Pet Rescue 08:50 All New Planet’s Funniest Animals 09:15 All New Planet’s Funniest Animals 09:45 Animal Precinct 10:40 RSPCA: On the Frontline 11:05 Miami Animal Police 11:55 Animal Cops Houston 12:50 Dolphin Days 13:15 Pet Rescue 13:45 Animals Like Us 14:40 Secret Creatures of Jao 15:05 Secret Creatures of Jao 15:35 Wildlife SOS 16:00 Wildlife SOS 16:30 Big Cat Diary 16:55 Big Cat Diary 17:25 The Real Lost World 18:20 Stranger Among Bears 18:45 Stranger Among Bears 19:15 Max’s Big Tracks 20:10 Escape to Chimp Eden 20:40 Escape to Chimp Eden 21:10 Austin Stevens Adventures 22:05 Untamed & Uncut

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

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:30 03:15 04:00 04:50 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:50 07:15

21:25 21:50 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15 23:40

Broken News Jack Dee: Live At The Apollo The Fast Show The Fast Show Little Britain Green Green Grass The Alan Clark Diaries Broken News Jack Dee: Live At The Apollo The Fast Show The Fast Show Little Britain Cash In The Attic Balamory Tweenies Fimbles Teletubbies Yoho Ahoy Tommy Zoom Balamory Tweenies Fimbles Teletubbies Yoho Ahoy Tommy Zoom Balamory Garden Rivals Garden Rivals Doctors Doctors Doctors Doctors Doctors Mission Africa Mission Africa The Life Of Mammals Child Of Our Time 2006 Doctor Who The Weakest Link Casualty Casualty Mission Africa Mission Africa The Life Of Mammals The Inspector Lynley

Come Dine With Me New British Kitchen New British Kitchen Saturday Kitchen Saturday Kitchen Living In The Sun Coleen’s Real Women 10 Years Younger The Clothes Show It’s Not Easy Being Green Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me

00:15 Wildest TV Show Moments 00:40 E!es 01:05 Tempted 01:30 THS 02:20 Sexiest 03:15 40 Smokin’ On Set Hookups 05:05 Dr 90210 06:00 THS 07:45 25 Most Stylish 08:35 E! News 09:25 Young, Beautiful And Vanished 11:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 12:00 E! News 12:50 Leave It To Lamas 13:15 Leave It To Lamas 13:40 Glamour’s 50 Fashion Do’s And Don’ts 14:30 Kendra 14:55 Kendra 15:25 E!es 17:10 Behind The Scenes 17:35 Behind The Scenes 18:00 E! News 18:50 Perfect Catch 19:40 15 Remarkable Celebrity Body Bouncebacks 21:20 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:45 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 22:35 Kendra 23:00 Kendra 23:25 Kendra 23:50 Wildest TV Show Moments

Transporter 3 on Show Movies 07:40 08:00 08:50 09:45 10:15 10:45 11:30 12:20 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:45 15:30 16:20 17:05 17:30 17:55 18:20 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:30 21:00

Come Dine With Me Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Saturday Kitchen Saturday Kitchen Coleen’s Real Women 10 Years Younger The Clothes Show Saturday Kitchen Saturday Kitchen Living In The Sun Coleen’s Real Women 10 Years Younger The Clothes Show It’s Not Easy Being Green Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me New British Kitchen New British Kitchen The Naked Chef The Naked Chef

01:15 West Of Here - 18 02:45 The Contender - 18 05:00 Casualties Of War - 18 07:00 There’s Only One Jimmy Grimble - PG 15 09:00 Hardball - PG 15 11:00 Beyond The Mat - PG 15 13:00 Nicholas Nickleby - PG 15 15:15 Stolen Summer - PG 17:00 The Andromeda Strain - PG 19:15 Dialogue Avec Mon Jardinier 21:15 The Indian Runner - PG 15 23:30 Kiss Of Life - PG 15

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

Time Warp Mythbusters Dirty Jobs Brainiac Smash Lab How Stuff Works River Monsters Mythbusters Fifth Gear Fifth Gear Street Customs Biker Build-Off How Stuff Works Destroyed in Seconds Destroyed in Seconds River Monsters Extreme Fishing with Robson

00:40 01:30 01:55 02:20 03:10 04:05 05:00 05:25 05:55 06:20 07:10 07:35 08:00 08:50 09:40 10:30 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:40 15:30

Psychic Witness Crime Scene Psychics Crime Scene Psychics A Haunting Solved True Crime Scene Crime Scene Psychics Crime Scene Psychics Real Emergency Calls Fbi Files Ghosthunters Ghosthunters Forensic Detectives Fbi Files Csu Forensic Detectives Forensic Detectives Fbi Files On The Run Extreme Forensics Diagnosis: Unknown Forensic Detectives

Extreme Fishing Extreme Fishing How Stuff Works Brainiac Smash Lab Dirty Jobs

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

Fbi Files Csu Forensic Detectives Forensic Detectives Fbi Files On The Run Extreme Forensics Diagnosis: Unknown

00:40 Sci-Trek 01:30 Mighty Ships 02:20 NASA’s Greatest Missions 03:10 Human Body: Ultimate Machine 04:00 Sci-Trek 04:50 Mighty Ships 05:45 Weird Connections 06:10 Weird Connections 06:40 Test Case 07:10 Download: The True Story of the Internet 08:00 Scrapheap Challenge 09:00 Sci-Fi Science 09:30 Sci-Fi Science 10:00 Robocar 10:55 Space Pioneer 11:50 Space Pioneer 12:45 Space Pioneer 13:40 Space Pioneer 14:35 Space Pioneer 15:30 Space Pioneer 16:25 How Stuff’s Made 16:55 Human Body: Ultimate Machine 17:50 Discovery Project Earth 18:45 Engineered 19:40 How It’s Made 20:05 How It’s Made 20:30 What’s That About?

21:20 Sci-Trek

00:00 00:20 00:45 01:10 01:35 02:00 02:25 02:45 03:10 03:35 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 12:00 12:25 12:50 13:15 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

The Suite Life of Zack & Cody The Replacements Phineas & Ferb Replacements Kim Possible Sonny With A Chance Hannah Montana

Jonas Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Fairly Odd Parents Replacements Phineas & Ferb Little Einsteins Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny Lazytown 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 Princess Protection Program Phineas & Ferb Replacements Kim Possible Sonny With A Chance 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 Minute Men Hannah Montana The Suite Life of Zack & Cody

00:00 Best Thing I Ever Ate 00:30 Best Thing I Ever Ate 01:00 Best Thing I Ever Ate 01:30 Best Thing I Ever Ate 02:00 Food Network Challenge 03:00 Food Network Challenge 04:00 Throwdown With Bobby Flay 04:30 Throwdown With Bobby Flay 05:00 Teleshopping 05:30 Teleshopping 06:00 Teleshopping 06:30 Teleshopping 07:00 Teleshopping 07:30 Teleshopping 08:00 30 Minute Meals 08:25 30 Minute Meals 08:50 Giada At Home 09:15 Giada At Home 09:40 Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger 10:05 Rescue Chef with Danny Boome 10:30 Rescue Chef with Danny Boome 11:00 Barefoot Contessa 11:30 Barefoot Contessa 12:00 Barefoot Contessa 12:30 Barefoot Contessa 13:00 Nigella Express 13:30 Nigella Express 14:00 30 Minute Meals 14:30 30 Minute Meals 15:00 Rescue Chef with Danny Boome 15:30 Rescue Chef with Danny Boome 16:00 Chefography 17:00 30 Minute Meals 17:30 30 Minute Meals 18:00 30 Minute Meals 18:30 30 Minute Meals 19:00 Nigella Express 19:30 Nigella Express 20:00 Best Thing I Ever Ate 20:30 Best Thing I Ever Ate 21:00 Barefoot Contessa 21:30 Barefoot Contessa 22:00 Food Network Challenge 23:00 Food Network Challenge

00:55 03:00 05:00 06:40 08:05 10:15 11:45 13:55 15:40 17:10 18:45 20:25 22:00 23:50

Coming Home Cuba Sonny Boy Love At Stake The Hawaiians Ski School The Pride And The Passion Nobody’s Fool Sticky Fingers Parker Kane The Mechanic Doc Something Wild Strictly Business

00:00 How I met you mother 00:30 Gary Unmarried 01:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 01:30 The Colbert Report 02:00 The Tonight Show With Conan OBrien 03:00 Bored to Death 03:30 Entourage 04:00 Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 05:00 How I met you mother 05:30 The Tonight Show With Conan OBrien 06:30 Tyler Perry’s House of Payne 07:00 Home Improvement 07:30 Note from the underbelly

08:00 Coach 08:30 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 09:00 The Colbert Report 09:30 George Lopez 10:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 10:30 Frasier 11:00 Seinfeld 11:30 Teachers 12:00 Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 13:00 Gary Unmarried 13:30 Tyler Perry’s House of Payne 14:00 Home Improvement 14:30 The Simpsons 15:00 Coach 15:30 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Drew Carey Show 17:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 17:30 Frasier 18:00 Eight Simple Rules 18:30 All of us 19:00 Better Off Ted 19:30 Will and Grace 20:00 Best of Late night with Jimmy Fallon 21:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Saturday Night Live 23:30 Sit Down & Shut Up

14:00 Labou - FAM 16:00 Doctor Dolittle 4: Tail To The Chief - PG 18:00 My Favorite Martian - PG 20:00 Aussie And Ted’s Great Adventure - FAM 22:00 Robin Hood: The King’s Return - FAM

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

Life Law & Order: Criminal Intent Every Body Loves Raymond My Name is Earl Sex and the City Sex and the City In Treatment In Treatment Ally Mcbeal Emmerdale Coronation Street Every Body Loves Raymond My Name is Earl 24 In Treatment In Treatment Ally Mcbeal Law & Order Emmerdale Coronation Street Every Body Loves Raymond My Name is Earl Life Law & Order: Criminal Intent Law & Order 24 Emmerdale Coronation Street Law & Order The Ex-list C.S.I: Miami C.S.I Sex and the City

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 17:30 18:00 20:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 23:30

Premier League Premier League Premier League Premier League Premier League Premier League Premier League Premier League Futbol Mundial Live Toshiba Super Sunday Live Premier League Live Toshiba Super Sunday Premier League World Futbol Mundial Premier League Live Portuguese Liga

00:30 Things We Lost In The Fire PG 15 02:30 Somers Town - PG 15 04:00 Red Riding 1980 - PG 15 06:00 Saving God - PG 15 08:00 How About You - PG 15 10:00 Space Chimps - PG 12:00 The Good German - U 14:00 The Old Curiousity Shop - PG 16:00 How About You - PG 15 17:30 Looking For Fidel - PG 15 19:30 The Assassination Of Jesse James - PG 15 22:15 Transporter 3 - 18

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 17:30 18:00 20:00 22:00

Premier League Premier League Portuguese Liga Premier League Premier League Premier League Scottish Premier League Premier League Premier League Classics Live Toshiba Super Sunday Live Premier League Premier League Premier League

01:00 Smokin’ Aces - 18 03:00 Boot Camp - 18 05:00 The Scorpion King 2: Rise Of A Warrior - PG 15 07:00 Ba’al - PG 15 09:00 Stargate: Continuum - PG 15 11:00 Somebody Help Me - PG 15 13:00 The Host - 18 15:15 Stargate: Continuum - PG 15 17:00 Shifty - PG 15 19:00 Room 6 - PG 15 21:00 Red Sands - 18 23:00 Clive Barker’s Book Of Blood

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 10:30 14:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 19:15 21:30

Scottish Premier League Scottish Premier League Super League Super 14 Super 14 Live Twenty20 Cricket Super League Futbol Mundial Premier League World Live Premier League Live Premier League Twenty20 Cricket

00:30 01:30 02:00 04:00 04:30 05:30 06:00 09:15 10:00 12:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 23:00

UFC 110 Countdown UFC All Access WWE SmackDown UFC All Access UFC 110 Countdown Live UFC 110 Countdown Live UFC 110 WWE ECW WWE SmackDown NCAA Basketball WWE Vintage Collection WWE Bottom Line WWE SmackDown Live Premier League UFC 110 UFC The Ultimate Fighter

00:00 What’s Good For You 01:00 Downsize Me 02:00 The Ellen Degeneres Show 03:00 The Monique Show 04:00 Chef’s Table 04:30 Fresh 05:00 The Best of Jay Leno 06:00 GMA Weekend Live 07:00 Mom Gets Real / Now you know / Amplified 08:00 GMA Health 08:30 What’s the Buzz 09:00 The Martha Stewart Show 10:00 Jimmy Kimmel 11:00 The View 12:00 The Ellen Degeneres Show 13:00 Huey’s Cooking Adventure 13:30 Fresh 14:00 The Martha Stewart Show 15:00 Parenting 15:30 Popcorn 16:00 GMA Weekend Live 17:00 Ahead of the Curve 17:30 Amplified 18:00 Downsize Me 19:00 Mom Gets Real / Now you know / Amplified 20:00 The Ellen Degeneres Show 21:00 The Best of Jimmy Kimmel 22:00 The Best of Jay Leno 23:00 The Monique Show

00:00 Kettle Of Fish - 18 02:00 The Deal - R 04:00 The Mighty Ducks - FAM 06:00 Curse Of The Jade Scorpion PG 15 08:00 More Of Me - PG 15 10:00 Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid PG 12:00 Serendipity - PG 15 14:00 My Sassy Girl - PG 15 16:00 Kettle Of Fish - 18 18:00 The Last Request - R 20:00 Mama’s Boy - R 22:00 Michael Mcintyre Live At Hammersmith - PG 15

00:00 Barbie - And The Diamond Castle - FAM 02:00 Labou - FAM 04:00 Felix 2 - FAM 06:00 High School Musical 3: Senior Year - PG 08:00 Tom And Jerry: The Magic Ring - PG 10:00 Felix 2 - FAM 12:00 Robin Hood: The King’s Return - FAM

17:00 Heavy Metal In Baghdad - PG 15 19:00 Kit Kittredge: An American Girl - PG 21:00 Kisses - PG 15 23:00 Saw V - R

01:00 03:05 05:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:55 12:00 13:40 15:40 17:30 19:15 21:20 23:00

Mandela The Asphalt Jungle The Executioner The Screening Room The Screening Room The Bad and the Beautiful The Unsinkable Molly Brown The Wizard of Oz Mandela Eight on the Lam Masquerade The Yellow Rolls Royce Singin’ in the Rain Only When I Laugh

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

Battles B.C. Egypt: Land of the Gods Rise & Fall of the Spartans Cities Of The Underworld The True Story of Hannibal Ancient Discoveries Battles B.C. Egypt: Land of the Gods Rise & Fall of the Spartans Cities Of The Underworld The True Story of Hannibal Ancient Discoveries Battles B.C. Egypt: Land of the Gods Rise & Fall of the Spartans Cities Of The Underworld The True Story of Hannibal Ancient Discoveries Battles B.C. Egypt: Land of the Gods Rise & Fall of the Spartans Cities Of The Underworld Evolve Dead Men’s Secrets Deep Wreck Mysteries

00:00 Dr 90210 01:00 Clean House 02:00 My Celebrity Home 03:00 How Do I Look?

04:00 Split Ends 05:00 Dr 90210 06:00 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 06:30 Area 07:00 How Do I Look?

08:00 Style Star 08:30 Style Her Famous 09:00 Clean House 10:00 My Celebrity Home 11:00 Ruby 11:30 Ruby 12:00 Giuliana And Bill 12:30 Giuliana And Bill 13:00 Dallas Divas And Daughters 13:30 Dallas Divas And Daughters 14:00 Glamour’s 25 Biggest Do’s And Don’ts 15:00 Dallas Divas And Daughters 15:30 Dallas Divas And Daughters 16:00 Dallas Divas And Daughters 16:30 Dallas Divas And Daughters 17:00 Dallas Divas And Daughters 17:30 Dallas Divas And Daughters

01:00 Sunshine Cleaning - PG 15 03:00 Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden - U 05:00 Evening - PG 15 07:00 Hoot - PG 09:00 Wall-e - FAM 11:00 Dancing Trees - PG 13:00 Center Stage 2: Turn It Up 15:00 Hancock - PG 15

18:00 22:00 23:00 23:30

Dallas Divas And Daughters How Do I Look?

Giuliana And Bill Giuliana And Bill

01:00 01:04 01:35 02:00 02:45 05:00 05:04 08:00 08:04 08:35 13:00 13:04 15:00 15:14 16:00 16:04 16:35 17:00 18:00 18:45 20:00 20:04 20:35

Code Sound System Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Code Playlist Code Africa Playlist Code Urban Hit Code Compilation Playlist Code New Playlist Focus Urban Hit Playlist Code French Only Playlist

00:00 Globe Trekker - U 01:00 Julian And Camilla’s World Odyssey - U 02:00 Chef Abroad - U 02:30 Chef Abroad - U 03:00 Planet Food - U 04:00 X-quest - U 05:00 Globe Trekker - U 06:00 Globe Trekker - U 07:00 Angry Planet - U 07:30 Photoxplorers - U 08:00 Globe Trekker - U 09:00 Swiss Railway Journeys - U 10:00 Down The Line - U 11:00 Intrepid Journeys - U 12:00 Intrepid Journeys - U 13:00 Globe Trekker - U 14:00 Planet Food - U 15:00 Chef Abroad - U 15:30 Feast India - U 16:00 Floyd Uncorked - U 16:30 Essential - U 17:00 Globe Trekker - U 18:00 Planet Food - U 19:00 Raider Of The Lost Snow - U 19:30 Skier’s World - U 20:00 Angry Planet - U 20:30 Photoxplorers - U 21:00 X-quest - U 22:00 Intrepid Journeys - U 23:00 Croissants In The Jungle - U

00:00 Greatest Albums Ever The Result - U 01:00 Saturday Night Fever - U 03:00 Vh1 Music - U 07:00 Chill Out - U 09:00 Smooth Wake Up - U 11:00 Vh1 Music - U 13:00 Vh1 Pop Chart - U 14:00 Top 10 Manic Street Preachers -U 15:00 Cover Power - U 16:00 Pure Rock And Roll  weekend - U 19:00 Music For The Masses - U 20:00 Vh1 Music - U

Hoot on Super Movies

Star Listings (UAE Timings) STAR Movies 21:25 Nuclear Hurricane 22:55 Alien (Director’s Cut) 00:50 Joshua 02:35 No Way Out 04:30 Speed 2: Cruise Control 06:35 Alien (Director’s Cut) 08:30 Joshua 10:15 No Way Out 12:05 Speed 2: Cruise Control 14:10 The Sixth Man 16:00 The Darjeeling Limited 17:30 At First Sight 19:35 Total Eclipse STAR World 20:00 American Idol 21:00 Kyle XY 22:00 [V] Tunes 23:00 [V] Tunes 00:00 Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

01:00 [V] Tunes 02:00 7th Heaven 03:00 The Simpsons 03:30 The King Of Queens 04:00 According To Jim 04:30 According To Jim 05:00 East West

06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:50 17:00 17:50 18:00 18:50 19:00 19:50

Brothers & Sisters Rules Of Engagement Rules Of Engagement Australia’s Next Top Model Worst Week The Bold And The Beautiful 7th Heaven Brothers & Sisters [V] Tunes Asia Uncut The Goode Family The King Of Queens According To Jim According To Jim 90210 Jackie Chan Adventures Ugly Betty Charlie’s Angels Ghost Whisperer Bewitched Ghost Hunters International Jackie Chan Adventures

Granada TV 21:00 Beyond Boiling Point 21:30 City Cabs (Series 1) 22:00 Total Emergency 23:00 Come Dine With Me (Primetime

Series 1) 00:00 The Colour Of Money 01:00 Don’t Try This At Home (Series 2) 02:00 Prime Drama: Prime Suspect (Series 7) 04:00 Come Dine With Me (Primetime Series 1) 05:00 Vroom Vroom (Series 2) 06:00 Coronation Street WEEKEND OMNIBUS 07:30 Airline (Series 5) 08:00 For One Night Only 09:00 Pets From Hell 10:00 Neighbours From Hell (Series 3) 10:30 Motoring Madness 11:00 Come Dine With Me (Primetime Series 1) 12:00 Who Dares Wins (Series 1) 13:00 I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!

(Series 7) 14:15 Parkinson (Series 7) 15:15 All About George (Series 1) 16:00 Come Dine With Me (Primetime Series 1) 17:00 Who Dares Wins (Series 1) 18:00 I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!

(Series 7) 19:15 Parkinson (Series 7)

Channel [V] 22:00 The Playlist 00:30 Double Shot 01:00 Loop 02:00 [V] Plug 04:30 Keys To The VIP 05:00 Backtracks 06:00 [V] Tunes 09:00 [V] Plug 11:30 Double Shot 12:00 Videoscope 13:00 [V] Countdown 15:00 [V] Tunes 17:00 Loop 18:00 Backtracks 19:00 [V] Special 20:00 Amp Around Asia 21:00 [V] Tunes Fox News 00:00 FORBES on FOX 00:30 Cashin’ In 01:00 America’s News HQ Host host Brian Wilson 02:00 America’s News HQ Hosts Kelly Wright and Jamie Colby 03:00 The Journal Editorial Report 03:30 Fox News Watch

04:00 Glenn Beck with Glenn Beck 05:00 America’s News HQ hosts Gregg Jarrett and Uma Pemmaraju 07:00 America’s News HQ hosts Rick Folbaum and Juliet Huddy 08:00 FOX Report Saturday host Jamie Colby 09:00 Huckabee with Mike Huckabee 10:00 Glenn Beck with Glenn Beck 11:00 Geraldo At Large with Geraldo Rivera 12:00 The Journal Editorial Report 12:30 Fox News Watch 13:00 FOX Report Saturday 14:00 Geraldo At Large with Geraldo Rivera 15:00 Huckabee with Mike Huckabee 16:00 FOX Report Saturday host Julie Banderas 17:00 Geraldo At Large with Geraldo Rivera 18:00 Glenn Beck with Glenn Beck 19:00 The Journal Editorial Report 19:30 Fox News Watch 20:00 FOX and Friends Sunday 21:00 FOX and Friends Sunday 22:00 FOX and Friends Sunday 23:00 America’s News HQ National Geographic Channel 20:00 Perilous Journeys -Crossing The

Himalaya 1 21:00 Helicopter Wars -Vietnam Firefight 22:00 Ground War -Firepower 23:00 History’s Secrets -CIA Secret Experiments S2 -2 00:00 Against All Odds -Buried Alive S1-6 01:00 Engineering Connections Guggenheim Bilbao 02:00 World’s Toughest Fixes -Blown Away 03:00 Nat Geo Junior -Monkey Thieves : The Apartment Job 1 03:30 Nat Geo Junior -Hayden Turner’s Wildlife Chall : Lesser Flamingos 3 04:00 Food Lovers Guide To The Planet -Hi Tech Taste 13 04:30 Food Lovers Guide To The Planet Hong Kong 4 05:00 Animal Autopsy -Crocodile 06:00 Built For The Kill -Night S2-2 07:00 The Border -Under Siege 08:00 Food Lovers Guide To The Planet Food Magic 9 08:30 Food Lovers Guide To The Planet Grill Masters 10 09:00 Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy -Mexico 10:00 Animal Autopsy -Elephant 11:00 Somewhere In China -Ice City 3 12:00 By Any Means -India To Nepal 3

Sunday, February 21, 2010

33 ACCOMMODATION One room available for Keralites or Indian bachelors in Sharq Kuwait City with cooking and satellite facilities. Contact: 97964063.

(C 20362) Sharing accommodation with kitchen facility available for three months from 15th March, 2010 in Chitra studio building, next to Faiha store for a non-smoking, decent couple: KD 75/month. Contact: 97973657. (C 20361) Sharing accommodation available in Jleeb near Tourist garden, 2 bed, 2 bath, bachelor/couple or working ladies. Contact: 97506913. (C 20363) Sharing accommodation available for Christian couples or working ladies in Abbassiya near United Indian School and opposite to Jas restaurant, Madeena Supermarket, in a central A/C new building with double bedroom, double bathroom with Keralite Christian family. Contact: 94060249.

(C 20364) 21-2-2010

AC, separate bathroom, spacious room ready for occupancy. Call: 99412951.

(C 20358) Accommodation available for Indian bachelors, central A/C, big room, near UAE Bank building, old Riggae.

Contact: 99709823.

(C 20356) Furnished sharing accommodation available in Mangaf Block 3, for working ladies & executive bachelor, two bathrooms, internet connection.

Contact: 67008764, 99468018.

(C 20359) One furnished room available near Indian Central School, Abbassiya, for decent bachelor or small family from 25th Feb. Indians only, reasonable rent.

Contact: 99764178.

(C 20360) 19-2-2010 Sharing accommodation available for single girls.

Contact: 97527233.

(C 20348) Sharing accommodation available for Christian couples or working ladies in Abbassiya. Please contact: 66538532. (C 20347)

Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya near Classic typing center, for a bachelor.

Contact: 66829585. (C 20355)

Sharing accommodation available in Salmiya behind Appolo, for Indian bachelors. Contact: 97961405/ 66176090. (C 20349)

Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya C-

Sharing accommodation available for executive

bachelor/ couples/ visiting family (preferred Christian) in a 3BHK, 2 bathroom centralized A/C flat near Shara Amman, Salmiya. Interested may please call 66624123.

(C 20346) Rent for a single family, new building C-A/C, attached bathroom, water & electricity charge is free, rent KD 90, location is near Abbassiya Indian Integrated school & Bharatia Vidya Bhavan.

Contact: 66548128. (C 20350) Room in C-A/C flat with separate bathroom in Sharq near Mughal Mahal restaurant for working ladies from March 1st. Please contact: 99567689 or 55197093.

(C 20345) To let, a spacious furnished room in a flat, to a decent executive bachelor, rent KD 75, payable from March 2010. Independent toilet & to avail kitchen facility.

Location B始neid Al Gar. Call 97407275 for more details.

18-2-2010

FOR SALE BMW 740i black 1996 model, 220,000 kms with beige leather seats in good condition. Contact: 97201151.

(C 20353) Furniture with household items 2 dish antenna two bedroom flat with two toilets central A/C near City Center, Salmiya with land line telephone transferable rent.

Contact: 97201151.

(C 20352) 18-2-2010

MATRIMONIAL RC girl 24/165, BTech, born and brought up in Kuwait, worked with Wipro as software engineer for 2 years, currently employed in a nationalized bank in India, invites proposals from parents of professionally qualified and well-settled boys.

Contact email: frmprop@gmail.com (20354) 19-2-2010 Seeking alliance for a Ker-

alite RC 27, 152 cm Palai Dioces working staff MoH in Jahra (GNM) looking for alliance preferably working in Kuwait from Kottayam district. Email: sthomas@qnetstaff.com (C 20337) 17-2-2010 SITUATION VACANT

Required cook for house, good experience on all kinds of continental food , good salary, part time or full time. Contact: 66519719, 23901053. (C 20357) 19-2-2010

Looking for home nurse to take care of old Kuwaiti male. Salary 150 KD, send your CV immediately to fax: 24836310 contact Mob: 97687707. (C 20343)

SITUATION WANTED Indian male, American citizen (MBA in finance and hospital administration), 10 years of international experience including in USA with Bank of America in the field of finance, HR, administration, banking. Well versed in

all software applications and computers.

Contact: 55354081. Email: guy_great32@yahoo.com (C 20331) Indian male MBA, B.Com (27 years) having 4 years experience in finance and investment in Kuwait seeking suitable placement. Proficient in MS Office & Tally.

Fluent in English, Arabic, Hindi. Article # 18, transferable visa.

Contact: 55492163. Email: abdul_sudheer@yahoo.com (C 20336)

No: 14647

Flight Schedule Arrival Flights on Sunday 21/02/2010 Airlines Flt Route Jazeera 0263 Beirut KLM 0447 Amsterdam/Bahrain Wataniya Airways 1129 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 2103 Beirut Gulf Air 211 Bahrain DHL 370 Bahrain Turkish A/L 1172 Istanbul Emirates 853 Dubai Etihad 0305 Abu Dhabi Qatari 0138 Doha Ethiopian 622 Addis Ababa/Bahrain Jazeera 0637 Aleppo Falcon 201 Dubai Jazeera 0503 Luxor Jazeera 0527 Alexandria Jazeera 0529 Assiut British 0157 London Kuwait 412 Manila/Bangkok Kuwait 206 Islamabad Kuwait 352 Cochin Jazeera 0161 Dubai Kuwait 382 Delhi Kuwait 302 Mumbai Kuwait 676 Dubai Kuwait 284 Dhaka Kuwait 362 Colombo Emirates 855 Dubai Arabia 0121 Sharjah Qatari 0132 Doha Etihad 0301 Abu Dhabi Kuwait 344 Chennai Wataniya Airways 1121 Bahrain Gulf Air 213 Bahrain Jazeera 0447 Doha Jazeera 0165 Dubai Jazeera 0425 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 1021 Dubai Jazeera 0113 Abu Dhabi Middle East 404 Beirut Iran Aseman 6521 Lamerd Egypt Air 610 Cairo Kuwait 672 Dubai Jazeera 0171 Dubai Wataniya Airways 2301 Damascus Nas Air 745 Jeddah Jazeera 0525 Alexandria Jazeera 0257 Beirut Wataniya Airways 2001 Cairo Saudi Arabian A/L 500 Jeddah Kuwait 552 Damascus

Time 00:05 00:10 00:25 00:50 01:05 02:15 02:15 02:35 03:00 03:25 03:30 05:05 05:25 05:35 06:10 06:30 06:40 06:45 07:40 07:40 07:45 07:50 07:55 08:10 08:15 08:20 08:30 08:55 09:00 09:35 10:35 10:45 10:45 11:00 11:05 11:10 11:20 11:20 11:55 12:35 12:55 13:25 13:35 13:35 14:00 14:05 14:10 14:20 14:30 14:35

Jazeera Qatari Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Royal Jordanian Jazeera Emirates Kuwait Gulf Air Saudi Arabian A/L Etihad Jazeera Jazeera Arabia Jazeera Wataniya Airways Srilankan United A/L Wataniya Airways DHL Wataniya Airways Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Jazeera Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Indian Kuwait Jet A/W Oman Air Jazeera Wataniya Airways Gulf Air Middle East Qatari Emirates KLM Wataniya Airways Jazeera Jazeera Global Jazeera Jazeera Tunis Air Pakistan Lufthansa Wataniya Airways

0457 0134 548 546 678 800 0173 857 118 215 510 0303 0493 0239 0125 0367 2101 227 982 2003 473 1025 502 542 674 0177 618 786 614 744 774 575 104 572 0647 0459 2103 217 402 0136 859 0445 1129 0449 0429 081 0117 0185 327 239 636 1029

Damascus Doha Luxor Alexandria Muscat/Abu Dhabi Amman Dubai Dubai New York Bahrain Riyadh Abu Dhabi Jeddah Amman Sharjah Deirezzor Beirut Colombo/Dubai Washington DC Dulles Cairo Baghdad Dubai Beirut Cairo Dubai Dubai Doha Jeddah Bahrain Dammam Riyadh Chennai/Goa London Mumbai Muscat Damascus Beirut Bahrain Beirut Doha Dubai Amsterdam Bahrain Doha Bahrain Baghdad Abu Dhabi Dubai Tunis Islamabad/Sialkot Frankfurt Dubai

14:45 15:00 15:15 15:30 15:30 15:40 16:05 16:55 16:55 17:05 17:15 17:15 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:50 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:55 18:55 18:55 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:30 19:35 20:05 20:20 20:40 20:55 21:05 21:20 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:15 22:20 22:25 22:40 23:10 23:20 23:30 23:45

Departure Flights on Sunday 21/02/2010 Airlines Flt Route Jazeera 0528 Assiut India Express 390 Mangalore/Kozhikode United A/L 981 Washington DC Dulles Indian 982 Ahmedabad/Chennai Pakistan 206 Peshawar/Lahore Bangladesh 044 Dhaka Lufthansa 637 Frankfurt KLM 0447 Amsterdam Turkish A/L 1173 Istanbul DHL 371 Bahrain Emirates 854 Dubai Etihad 0306 Abu Dhabi Ethiopian 622 Addis Ababa Qatari 0139 Doha Wataniya Airways 1020 Dubai Jazeera 0164 Dubai Jazeera 0524 Alexandria Wataniya Airways 2000 Cairo Jazeera 0112 Abu Dhabi Jazeera 0446 Doha Gulf Air 212 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 1120 Bahrain Jazeera 0422 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 2300 Damascus Kuwait 545 Alexandria Jazeera 0256 Beirut Kuwait 677 Abu Dhabi/Muscat British 0156 London Kuwait 671 Dubai Kuwait 551 Damascus Kuwait 547 Luxor Jazeera 0456 Damascus Jazeera 0170 Dubai Arabia 0122 Sharjah Emirates 856 Dubai Qatari 0133 Doha Etihad 0302 Abu Dhabi Wataniya Airways 2002 Cairo Gulf Air 214 Bahrain Kuwait 165 Rome/Paris Jazeera 0172 Dubai Kuwait 541 Cairo Wataniya Airways 2100 Beirut Jazeera 0492 Jeddah Jazeera 0366 Deirezzor Jazeera 0238 Amman Kuwait 103 London Middle East 405 Beirut Kuwait 501 Beirut Iran Aseman 6522 Lamerd

FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION 161

Time 00:05 00:30 00:40 01:05 01:10 01:15 01:20 01:25 03:15 03:15 03:50 04:10 04:15 05:00 07:00 07:00 07:20 07:30 07:35 07:40 07:45 07:50 07:55 08:10 08:30 08:35 08:40 08:55 09:00 09:10 09:15 09:25 09:30 09:35 09:40 10:00 10:20 11:30 11:40 11:45 12:00 12:00 12:05 12:15 12:20 12:25 12:30 12:55 13:00 13:35

Kuwait Egypt Air Wataniya Airways Kuwait Nas Air Jazeera Wataniya Airways Jazeera Kuwait Saudi Arabian A/L Kuwait Kuwait Royal Jordanian Qatari Kuwait Gulf Air Etihad Emirates Arabia Jazeera Kuwait Saudi Arabian A/L Jazeera Jazeera Jazeera Global Jazeera Wataniya Airways Srilankan Wataniya Airways Kuwait Kuwait Jet A/W Oman Air Gulf Air DHL Kuwait Middle East Kuwait Jazeera Falcon Kuwait Qatari Kuwait Emirates KLM Jazeera Jazeera Jazeera Kuwait

785 611 1024 673 746 0176 2102 0458 617 501 773 613 801 0135 743 216 0304 858 0126 0262 543 511 0184 0116 0448 082 0428 1128 228 1028 283 331 571 0648 218 171 675 403 203 0188 102 381 0137 301 860 0445 0480 0526 0502 411

Jeddah Cairo Dubai Dubai Jeddah Dubai Beirut Damascus Doha Jeddah Riyadh Bahrain Amman Doha Dammam Bahrain Abu Dhabi Dubai Sharjah Beirut Cairo Riyadh Dubai Abu Dhabi Doha Baghdad Bahrain Bahrain Dubai/Colombo Dubai Dhaka Trivandrum Mumbai Muscat Bahrain Bahrain Dubai Beirut Lahore Dubai Bahrain Delhi Doha Mumbai Dubai Bahrain/Amsterdam Sabiha Alexandria Luxor Bangkok/Manila

13:40 13:55 14:25 14:30 14:55 15:05 15:10 15:30 15:35 15:45 16:10 16:20 16:25 16:30 16:40 17:55 18:00 18:10 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:50 18:50 19:00 19:15 19:15 19:30 20:15 21:00 21:10 21:20 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:20 22:30 22:30 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:50 22:55 23:00 23:25 23:50 23:55

SPECTRUM

34 CROSSWORD 907

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Calvin Aries (March 21-April 19) Today is the day you

decide to put an end to some discourse in the office.

This could be with anyone from a higher-up, a coworker or a maintenance person in your office building. Whatever the case, now is the time to improve negative conditions. Tonight may be the big night for a camping trip and this or some other fun activity will be on your mind much of the day. The comradeship, the stars, the campfire, the fish and the coffee made out-of-doors are all parts of this trip. This will be a good time to let yourself feel free and unencumbered. You will gather fun memories to take you through the rest of this winter. You may have decided recently that you would like to move. This is a good time to talk and plan about where, how and when.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You are in the mood to argue

with a higher up in your place of business today. You may, however, be just as determined to maintain control of your emotions—this is good. You will eventually succeed in having the last word. This endeavor to prove a point may turn out to be more positive than it began—perhaps, because of the ability you both have to compromise. You have a tiger in your tank and a desire for all sorts of group activities. If you have neglected your health over the last few months, you would be wise to schedule in some checkup appointments. You may enjoy a creative adventure this afternoon. This may involve keeping young people busy, gardening, creative writing, sewing, music, etc.

Pooch Cafe

ACROSS 1. 10 hao equal 1 dong.

4. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

8. The compass point that is one point south of due east.

11. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium.

12. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

13. (Scotland) A small loaf or roll of soft bread.

14. Electrical conduction through a gas in an applied electric field.

15. A fine grained mineral having a soft soapy feel and consisting of hydrated magnesium silicate.

16. The compass point that is one point east (clockwise) of due north.

17. The state prevailing during the absence of war.

19. The residue that remains when something is burned.

21. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

23. One of the five major classes of immunoglobulins.

26. An amino acid that is found in the central nervous system.

30. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

33. A workplace for the conduct of scientific research.

34. An alloy of copper and zinc (and sometimes arsenic) used to imitate gold in cheap jewelry and for gilding.

36. A heavy brittle metallic element of the platinum group.

37. A light touch or stroke.

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

43. Port city of Denmark in eastern Jutland.

46. Any of various coarse shrubby plants of the genus Iva with small greenish flowers.

49. A former agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United States.

50. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

51. Offering fun and gaiety.

52. A hormone secreted by the anterior pituitary gland that controls the degree of pigmentation in melanocytes.

53. A metallic element having four allotropic forms.

DOWN 1. A collection of objects laid on top of each other.

2. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

3. Predatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin.

4. Liver or meat or fowl finely minced or ground and variously seasoned.

5. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

6. West Indian tree having racemes of fragrant white flowers and yielding a durable timber and resinous juice.

7. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

8. The compass point that is one point north of due east.

9. A small cake leavened with yeast.

10. A detailed description of design criteria for a piece of work.

18. A radioactive transuranic element.

20. Hormone produced early in pregnancy by the placenta.

22. An indehiscent fruit derived from a single ovary having one or many seeds within a fleshy wall or pericarp.

24. Informal terms for a mother.

25. A small ball with a hole through the middle.

27. A white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves.

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

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

31. A soft heavy toxic malleable metallic element.

32. A person who announces and plays popular recorded music.

35. An anti-TNF compound (trade name Arava) that is given orally.

38. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

39. The third day of the week.

40. United States writer (born in Poland) who wrote in Yiddish (18801957).

42. A room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter.

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

45. Thigh of a hog (usually smoked).

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

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

48. (astronomy) The angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing.

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

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You are lucky enough to pick and choose when it comes to dating. For now, however, play it low key and let others come to you. One good birth sign for you is your exact opposite and one with whom you both may enjoy living life together. Even though this is a work day, your mind may be on finding that right person as a mate—relax. You will manage to get many things accomplished, even though you may again be thinking about how to enhance or achieve a love relationship. Your sense of humor is top-class and any problem today will be met with a bit of your own humor. You are intelligent and full of light as you can be—you may become more involved with the politics in your neighborhood—it is right up your alley; so-to-speak.

Non Sequitur

Cancer (June 21-July 22) You seem a bit absent minded today. It seems to take extra energy to stay in focus. In order to achieve your goals in the professional or educational activities that you are involved with now, you will need to stay focused. Write down your chores and then move forward. Writing little notes to yourself may free you from any confusion. You will mentally see things in a better light as well. By late morning, you will have work under control—it does require all of your attention. By late afternoon, a call from a loved one may leave you wanting more. This afternoon, take time to listen to that special person in your life.

By asking questions, you will come to understand how to reach a solution to some situation about which you may have had concern.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You will soon find the right job that will stimulate your mind. Keep on keeping on . . . there are plenty of rewards ahead—you are one to persevere. When communicating today, act from knowledge as well as a bit of intuition—you will be pleased with the results. There may be a great deal of financial panic with your monetary situation at this time because it is so difficult to gauge. However, if you have a plan and stay within your budget—you will be pleased at the results. This weekend there will be a few important things to attend to before running off for a little R & R. While you may not realize it, you are a mentor to many. There are opportunities to deepen an important relationship tonight.

Attempt to create a whistling, kazoo or rhythm-guessing contest.

Zits

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Your attitude today is one of gratitude. Everyone seems to be in a state of change or focused on work. Make a concentrated effort to bring and keep a balance in your day. Someone is still trying to get you to loan money or invest with them in the greatest money-making deal you will encounter—so they say. It is best that you say no to this most wonderful sounding proposition and keep busy in other directions. Your sense of humor turns a negative situation into a positive happening around the work place. Good for you! You may want to begin a dream journal soon.

Set a small flash light, a pen and a notebook upon which to record your dreams. Your dreams have deep insight into the progress you are making toward your goals.

Libra (September 23-October 22) You may be elected to guide a new co-worker today. You help them become acquainted with their surroundings. It is certain that they will feel at home right away. If challenged in any way today, you will have to bite your tongue before speaking. Find time to think things through before speaking, if possible—you will be pleased with the results. You could be getting ready for a weekend trip this afternoon. Packing is in order . . . do not forget to check the tires and fluids before starting out in bad weather. You and your loved one/s will have fun planning the upcoming events for this weekend. This is a wonderful time to deepen a relationship. Giving flowers or some other token of your esteem to a loved one at this time will bring rich rewards.

Mother Goose and Grimm

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You may not be like

certain comedy entertainers, but you have fine wit. While you can be very serious when appropriate, you tend to lighten the stress by adding a few light-hearted words.

Feeding the positive parts of you—you are able to stay on track with your wonderful attitude towards life. In continuing to be successful in your profession and personal life, you must remain flexible. You are very nurturing and could probably be a stay-athome Dad, or Mom; as well as a workaholic Mother or Father. Take care to nurture those at home as well as the friends you have in other places.

This is a good time to enjoy some type of activity that helps others. You may decide to help in some sort of food bank service. Music is invigorating later this evening!

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You should love being around people today. This may prove to be a great day! Whether you are a substitute teacher or a full time lecturer, you love politics and may be looking forward to involving yourself in some political involvement this evening. This may be community service or a theology meeting. Whatever the case . . . you shine through clear communication. This is a rewarding day—there are still many tasks to complete before this day has ended. This evening, you may celebrate someone else’s success. Through their success, your little light will also shine. This evening, you could meet a great person that will become your mate. If you are already involved with a great companion, this evening is a great time to show appreciation of each other.

Yesterday’s Solution

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Your

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

health is good now and you may be feeling on top of the world—this is a good time to begin the habit of physical exercise. Walking will do nicely!

Someone may pull you into teaching or taking a creative class soon; perhaps a fun cooking class.

Work does not end at five o’clock today—a volunteer group may want your attention this evening. This could turn out to be one of those life situations that you will never forget. A little bit of work in this volunteer group will give you more return for your effort than you ever thought possible. This could mean that you will learn more about the people in this volunteer group—music, physical therapy, animals, etc., etc. While your work supports you, you may find the volunteer group is your inspiration.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) The anticipation of a special date this evening makes it hard to concentrate in the work place today. However, you are none-the-less, able to make work your top priority. You are able to create work—talk with representatives and complete tasks successfully. This evening you are home in time to change into that new outfit you have been planning to wear. You can make positive impressions and turn heads at a social affair this evening. Do not hesitate to network in your social surroundings, it will help you to focus and define your own goals. Of course, this evening your date will be your upper most priority. If you are not in an artistic career now, and you want to be, a guest at this party could help you reach that goal—network.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Work progress may be a bit slow today. It seems as though there are plenty of interruptions. Much power and creative expression can be enjoyed. Don’t be afraid to show others what you can do. You may find new ways to advertise or you will write a news release for your company that will create firm profits. By using your creative talents and abilities, you will stand out from the usual and gain some positive recognition. You welcome the chance to let-your-light-shine. Professional attention is possible. Your health can be vastly improved by some physical activity—begin today. Also, this is a day when you could meet that special love. If you are not involved in a love relationship, one will enter your life soon; smile.

INFORMATION

Sunday, February 21, 2010

35 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

SPECTRUM

36

Sunday, February 21, 2010

N Kidman and Urban to fund a school in Haiti

Freeman’s left hand paralyzed he ‘Invictus’ actor was involved in a car crash in August 2008 and revealed his left hand has never fully recovered, leaving him unable to move it.

Speaking at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Invictus’, 72year-old Morgan said: “I suffered nerve damage and it hasn’t gotten better. I can’t move it. “If you don’t move your hand, it will swell up. Do you know you move your hand about a million times a day?” The Oscar-winning star was taken to hospital after he suffered a broken arm, broken elbow and damage to his shoulder after the accident which occurred as he was driving his 1997 Nissan Maxima car in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. The car went off the shoulder of the road and flipped over “several times”, according to one onlooker. Morgan was removed from the car wreck using the ‘jaws of life’, a hydraulic rescue tool, and was airlifted to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee. His representative said at the time: “He has a broken arm, broken elbow and minor shoulder damage but he is in good spirits.”

T

Loneliness is DiCaprio’s ‘personal demon’ eonardo DiCaprio says being alone is his “personal demon”. The 35year-old actor admits he struggles to cope when he is not surrounded by his friends and family and suffered from depression when he shot latest movie ‘Shutter Island’. He said: “The loneliness is my personal demon. During the shooting of the movie it was like I fell into a black hole and was totally depressed. “You’re cut off from friends, family - and your girlfriend. That’s brutal. The world kept turning while I was stuck on the set. It’s like a strange form of everyday amnesia.” The movie is directed by Martin Scorsese and Leonardo admits he has became like a father to him after working together on several movies including ‘Gangs of New York’ and ‘The Departed’. He told TV movie magazine: “We share a special relationship. Martin trusts my instincts. “He is also Italian, from the same neighbourhood and at the same age as my father. He gives me as an actor always the feeling of security.”

L

Cattrall isn?t like her Sex and the City? character

Gyllenhaal’s movie demands keen for her three-year-old daughter Ramona to grow up in the spotlight, and hopes Ramona’s life will be similar to her own upbringing with her director father Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter mother Naomi Foner. Maggie - whose brother is ‘Brothers’ star Jake Gyllenhaal told website HeraldSun.com.au: “I don’t think it was as intense as the life my daughter is leading, in the sense that my parents weren’t well-known. Yes, they made small movies, but we didn’t lead a big, glitzy, fancy life. “I think my daughter’s life will be more like that, although I’m trying to keep it as laid-back and calm as possible for her.”

aggie Gyllenhaal can’t make big demands on movies. The ‘Crazy Heart’ actress, who has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in the movie, claims she does not command the same respect as some other actors do. Maggie who is engaged to actor Peter Sarsgaard - said: “If we were Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, we could say, ‘Oh yes, I’ll make that movie, but it must be in New York and it must be filmed before midsummer break,’ but we’re not. “If Martin Scorsese calls and tells me I need to be in Nova Scotia for six months, then I probably need to do that.” The 32-year-old star isn’t

M

Johansson’s wedding was like a drug deal carlett Johansson says planning her wedding to Ryan Reynolds was like conducting a “drug deal”.

The actress - who married the ‘Adventureland’ actor in an intimate ceremony on Vancouver Island, Canada, in September 2008 - admits the pair had to do a lot sneaking around so they could keep their big day private. During an appearance on the ‘Late Show with

S

Miller wearing engagement ring again ienna Miller has reportedly been wearing her engagement ring again. The actress who rekindled her romance with exfiance Jude Law last year after they split in 2006 following revelations he had cheated on her with his children’s nanny is said to have donned the piece of jewellery he gave her when he proposed in 2004, and friends believe it is only a matter of time before they get engaged again. One told Life and Style magazine: “She wore it for fun, probably as jewellery. But she wore it with close friends, and everyone saw it - there’s no denying it. “They aren’t engaged yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she and Jude go all the way. She’s very happy.”

It was recently claimed Jude was set to propose to Sienna, as he doesn’t want to lose her again. A source said: “Sienna was always the one. And now she is back in his life he never wants to let her go again. “He needs a good woman to look after him. Sienna’s fed up of the single life and wants to be with Jude for good.” Jude and Sienna spent the festive period on the Caribbean island of Barbados together with his three children, Rafferty, Iris and Rudy, from his marriage to Sadie Frost. Last year, Jude became a father for the fourth time after American model Samantha Burke fell pregnant following a brief relationship.

icole Kidman and Keith Urban are to fund a school in Haiti. The Oscar-winning actress and the country singer who have a 19-month-old daughter Sunday Rose - are keen to help the earthquake-stricken nation by giving money to an education facility.

Keith said: “We’re actually going to be funding a school down there for the next five years.” As well as providing an education, the school will also help provide the children with basic medical needs. Keith added to radio station CatCountry 96: “It’s in Port-Au-Prince. The kids will also have one hot meal a day. They’ll have all of their medical taken care of by the school, and clothing, as well.” The couple will be working with Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis and the Artists for Peace and Justice organisation on the project. Nicole and Keith are not the first stars to help Haiti, which was hit by two devastating earthquakes last month. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Aniston and George Clooney have all donated vast sums of money, as have John Mayer and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Partick Swayze’s widow is set to sell the New Mexico ranch where the actor spent his final days. Lisa Niemi - who was married to the ‘Dirty Dancing’ star for 34 years - reportedly wants to put the property on the market because she can no longer cope with being there on her own. A source told the National Enquirer: “The ranch holds a lot of good memories for Lisa of her life with Patrick, but she is having a hard time continuing to live in the house where he died.” Lisa was devastated when Patrick lost his battle against pancreatic cancer last September and is said to be seeing a psychic to help ease her pain.

The source added: “Lisa is so lost without Patrick, she has consulted a psychic. She wants to know he is at peace or if there is any way to get a message to him or if she can hear anything Patrick has to say to her. She has flown the psychic to California and also talks to her frequently on the phone. She seems to feel better after their sessions.” Lisa, 53, recently revealed she still feels the ‘Ghost’ actor’s presence when she’s at their home. She added: “And I remember sitting on our porch and saying to myself: ‘See, there’s nothing to be afraid of.’ “

David Letterman’, she joked: “I never thought that I’d be planning my wedding in a dark alley somewhere but it turned out that way. It was really quite secretive and I felt like I was doing a drug deal - without all the fun.” Scarlett, 25, also revealed the small number of guests at the ceremony also included the local wildlife. She added: “It was a very remote part of Canada. Where we got

married there were bears and whales and eagles.” Scarlett has previously admitted marrying 33-year-old Ryan cemented the couple’s love and brought them closer together. She said: “We’re enjoying evolving our relationship together. I feel that my life and my work are heading in the right direction.

“Being married is a bit like being part of a tribe.”

Brown praised

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he 53-year-old actress plays maneater Samantha Jones in the TV series and films and admits people often assume she shares the same characteristics as her on screen persona. She said: “People used to ask me to come and speak to women about sex issues and relationships and women running businesses. “That’s not what I do - I am none of those things. It’s a character! “I got an award and joked, ‘This is what I got for sleeping with so many men.’ People believed that, even though it was a joke.” Kim - who is currently starring in stage comedy ‘Private Lives’ - admits she sometimes struggles to connect with her sex-mad character. She told the Daily Mail newspaper: “I don’t think it’s me. There’s a clear separation. I can’t relate to it in the way other people do.” Kim also revealed she was responsible for the first ‘Sex and the City’ movie being delayed because she was unhappy with the money offered to her compared to her co-star Sarah Jessica Parker. She said: “I thought we should all be well paid. The money we were offered for the film wasn’t acceptable and I felt we should all make lots more, not just one of us.” —Bang Showbiz

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cker. The good trash pi t his ” ly al re , lly ng ou is a “rea rrently carryi hris Brown er, who is cu g his attack on now exng si d ol rea win 20-y ress hearing bor order follo community la 2009, had his second prog d for his comanna in as praise es girlfriend Rih ment was passed and w at Los Angel ing realsh ni ld pu he s as hi w ch do hi since e w ’r g ou in said: “Y the hear the last mitment. At , Judge Patricia Schnegg in ss re og pr rt t of munity m Superior Cou I think you’ve made a lo co of s 80 hour l. ly, really wel l as being sentenced to enced to five years nt wel month.” As er was also se mestic violence counith You’ sing do labor, the ‘W ust attend a 12-month here d, Virginia, w dm probation an . Authorities in Richmon nfirmed he has comco m seling progra ng out the service, have out of 52 domestic yi 17 rr d ca an is r n fa lowed Brow bor so nsequently al ys of hard la pleted 32 da s. Judge Schnegg has co perform at a series of se to violence clas the US in May and June ed for his actions, iz e Chris to leav n has repeatedly apolog jured following a prein w d ro B an . d ts se er ui ly said: “I conc severely br na He previous at I’m an . ih 08 R 20 ft y ar ru th eb which le u F I’m telling yo ation ards party in tu Grammy aw na countless times and si e th le hand an have told Rih y in that I wasn’t able to unacceptable.” as rr w so d y di ul I tr t y, ha trul better. W d an ly nt re both diffe

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Sunday, February 21, 2010

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Lifestyle Moore, Bening lesbian comedy takes Berlin gay prize

Cupcakes take the cake for US entrepreneurs he cupcake, a small, round sponge that fits in the cup of a hand, has replaced bed-andbreakfasts and restaurants as the eldorado for entrepreneurs, with some of the boldest eyeing conquests abroad. A traditional dessert in America, the cupcake is nothing new, but in recent years it has morphed into a must-have gourmet treat, popularized in part when a heroine on the trend-setting television series “Sex and the City” ate one in a 2000 episode. This calorie-laden dessert, usually colorfully decorated, has taken the United States by storm through specialized cupcake retail chains, like Magnolia Bakery and Crumbs, and outlets such as chocolate retailer Godiva and the Cinnabon cinnamon bun chain that are looking to cash in on the boom.

Cupcakes are popping up like mushrooms at the grassroots retail level, too, as entrepreneurs open shops and online stores. In New York, there are even cupcake trucks snaking through the city’s streets, alongside those selling Greek sandwiches and other goodies. The New York Times declared in a recent article that the rich cake, usually coated with frosting, is the “latest entrepreneurial fantasy.” The Wall Street Journal recently dedicated an entire page to the phenomenon.

Blogs are flourishing-cupcakeblog.com and cupcakestakethecake.com among

a dazzling variety of cupcakes as customers watch. But competition has become fierce, she said, and so her shop branched out into selling gifts and other types of cakes and cookies. Kim, a medical worker in

T US film director Lisa Cholodenko poses for a photo after receiving the Teddy Award for her film ‘The Kids Are All Right’. —AFP US comedy starring Julianne Moore and Annette Bening as a lesbian couple whose kids seek out their sperm donor won the Teddy prize for best gay movie at the Berlin Film Festival, organizers said yesterday.

Awarded ahead of the festival’s Golden Bear prize for best picture Saturday night, the Teddy Bear went to “The Kids Are All Right”, chosen by a jury of eight organizers of gay and lesbian film events around the world.

“The Teddy for the Best Feature Film goes to Lisa Cholodenko’s ‘The Kids Are All Right’ for being a well-crafted and humorous take on the issues facing contemporary lesbian parents and the complexity of sexuality, relationships and family bonding,” the jury said in a statement. In one of the biggest crowdpleasers of the festival, Cholodenko’s picture sees Moore and Bening as a happy couple of two decades whose relationship begins to falter when their teenagers’ biological father enters the picture.

The film shows the sperm donor Paul, played

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by Mark Ruffalo (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), as a ladies’ man who finds himself drawn in by the loving family of two women and two adolescents. Moore, 49, told reporters after the Berlinale screening that she found the film refreshing for taking a lesbian-led household for granted and offering an honest look, with a light touch, at the dynamics of a long-term relationship.

“For me the movie is very much a portrait of a marriage and a family and about what it’s like to be married for a long time and have children,” she told reporters.

“I don’t think it matters what your sexuality is. I think all families are the same that way.”

Cholodenko, 45, who has worked on television series including “Six Feet Under” and “The L Word” and made the feature films “Laurel Canyon” and “High Art”, said that she hoped the door was opening to more films about unconventional families. “It’s difficult but hopefully the atmosphere will change,” she said. — AFP

Lifetime achievement award

Cupcakes on display at the Magnolia Bakery February 19, 2010 at Rockefeller Center in New York. —AFP

them-as people go online to discuss favorite iterations, such as Red Velvet (a reddish chocolate cake), Fluffer Nutter (vanilla cake with peanut butter and marshmallow frosting) and Peppermint Everything (frosting laden with peppermint candies, marshmallows covered in chocolate sprinkles and wafers).

Cupcakes even have their own reality television show, “Cupcake Wars,”

in which bakers pit cupcake versus cupcake to win a prize.

The cupcake craze is sweeping Europe, especially in France, where the little sweets are snapping at the heels of the traditional macaroon, and is spreading into the Middle East. Magnolia Bakery, a pioneer of the trend whose shop in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village is known for its long queues, now has four stores,

Duff engaged to hockey player ere’s something for “Gossip Girl” to talk about. Actress and singer Hilary Duff, who had a recurring guest role on the popular CW series last season, is engaged to Edmonton Oilers forward Mike Comrie. Publicist Nanci Ryder says the two were engaged last weekend while vacationing in Hawaii.

She says in an e-mail distributed by the Oilers on Friday that the two “are very excited to share this happy news.” The proposal comes during the National Hockey League’s two-week break for the Olympics. The 22year-old Duff and 29-year-old Comrie had been dating for over two years. —AP

Lysacek-Plushenko showdown was snakes and sizzle

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In this Oct 16, 2009, file photo, actress/singer Hilary Duff, foreground, celebrates af ter her boyfriend Edmonton Oilers’ Mike Comrie scored a goal.—AP

360 mall celebrates the beauty of Arabian horses

(Left) Egypt’s veteran actor Hisham Salim receives a lifetime achievement award at the 85th Catholic Centre Film Festival in Cairo late on February 19, 2010.

(Right) Salah al-Saadani —AP photos

Leila Alwi

KUWAIT: 360 MALL, Kuwait’s latest luxury shopping centre recently held Kuwait’s first Arabian Horse Art Exhibition, ‘The Arabian Horse- A Touch of an Artist’. The exhibition at 360 MALL aimed at celebrating the beauty, history, and the relationship of Arabian horses to the region, and across the world. The art gallery coincided with Bait Al Arab’s ‘Arabian Horse Championship’ that was held under the patronage of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, and took place at the Hunting & Equestrian Club.

For the first time in Kuwait, the unique opening of the art exhibition witnessed a live exhibit of the stunning Arabian horse at 360 MALL’s exhibition area. This took place during the opening day. This renowned exhibition showcased over 50 unique paintings that captured the essence of this rare and valued breed. The exhibition celebrated the beauty, nobility and grace of this breed, which has come to symbolize the special relationship between Arabs and Kuwaitis with horses. The exhibits that were on display were the private property of Kuwaiti breeders within the State of Kuwait, and were generously contributed for the art exhibition.

including one in Dubai. The bakery has even inspired career switches.

Fadi Jaber, a Saudi of Palestinian origin, gave up a career at Unilever to open Sugar Daddy, a chain of cupcake stores in the Middle East, after tasting one at Magnolia’s.

Rachel Thebault resigned from an investment bank to follow her culinary dream and opened in 2007 Tribeca Treats, a bakery that makes

Washington who did not want to give her last name, began selling cupcakes a year ago “to make a little extra money to pay my three kids’ college tuition.” “People have been crazy about the cupcakes,” said Kim, who is doing the business on the side and for now does not dare resign from her regular job. But for Kim, who earns a hefty profit of 1.75 dollars on each cupcake sold at 2.50 dollars, competition is not a problem. “The demand is strong even though there are a lot of cupcake places opening up.” And Kim suspects the economic downturn has something to do with her own good fortune: “Because the economy is so bad, so people sometimes want to treat themselves rather than buying a whole cake.” —AFP

The exhibits were painted by internationally renowned artists from England, the United States, Germany and Iraq.

Mohammed Al Marzouq, Chairman of the organizing committee commented: “This region is known for its love towards all things related to horses, along with a passionate feeling that is aimed towards Arabian horses. Horses from this part of the world are renowned and valued worldwide, and their bloodlines are to be found in almost every modern breed of riding horse.

As a race we can be proud of the contribution we have made through our devotion to Arabian horses. This exhibition celebrated that unique connection between man and horse, something we feel is as much a part of our heritage as any architectural development or archaeological artifact.”

The two-day exhibition was held at the 360 MALL’s Sun Court. The Arabian Horse Exhibition was the latest initiative hosted by 360 MALL, to bring together renowned artists who specialize in Arabian Horses paintings. With a focus and commitment to bringing new and exciting cultural, artistic and educational events, 360 MALL is fastbecoming the must-visit destination for shoppers in Kuwait.

t was a tight-and very stretchy-showdown on Olympic ice for Evan Lysacek and Evegni Plushenko. In the end, Lysacek’s snakes alive beat out Plushenko’s sparkly, red sizzle during the frosty Olympic showdown sartorially dubbed “La Cage aux Follies” by one insider. Two bulky serpents of Swarovski crystal bounced around the American’s neck and up the back of his Vera Wang one-piece. “Thank you, Vera,” Lysacek offered as he sweated out his winning scores Thursday night.

“The tall, raven-haired Lysacek cut a riveting figure on the ice,” said InStyle magazine’s fashion director, Hal Rubenstein. Were the snakes too much? “A bit too heavy in close-up, but striking on the ice.” Still, the look was tamer than Lysacek’s costume for the short program, another Wang piece in all black with sequins up top and long, bushy feather cuffs. Lysacek called that one his favorite.

Nick Verreos, the “Project Runway” alum and red carpet designer, said Lysacek and his King Cobra buddies were “dark and dramatic” — and definitely gold medal-worthy.

Plushenko’s tight unitard with a red vest design left the fashionistas cold. Same for Jef Billings, a longtime skating designer who has dressed Peggy Fleming, Michelle Kwan and Sarah Hughes for competition.

“How odd that the one skater who gracelessly questioned the masculinity of any competitor who was not going to attempt a quad in their long program should hit the ice dressed like the master of ceremonies at a drag club,” Rubenstein said. “If there is ever a version of La Cage aux Follies on ice, Plushenko is ready for rehearsal.” Verreos called Plushenko’s outfit as he earned silver a “‘High School Musical’ costume that matched his ‘High School Musical’ performance.” More spin on the big skate from our experts:

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Johnny Weir Weir went home without a medal, befitting his “fallen angel” theme of silvery crystals in a toned-down look-at least by Weir standards.

Rubenstein: “With a style and manner unlike any other figure skater, if Weir wanted to appear otherworldly, he succeeded.”

Billings: “I’m sure the design had a significance to Johnny since he always attempts to convey some idea in his clothes but not sure it was evident to the audience.”

Verreos: “I’m happy, and I’m sure PETA is, too, that Johnny lost the fur. It showed his elegant restraint and maturity mirroring his almost flawless performance.”

Nobunari Oda Japan’s Nobunari Oda, evoking Charlie Chaplin’s silent “Little Tramp,” could have used a costume assist when one of his skate laces broke loose.

Verreos: “Can you please give me a couple sequins?! I get the Charlie Chaplin reference but I was falling asleep until the lace snapped. Never before have I been so excited about a wardrobe malfunction.”

Gold medalist Evan Lysacek (right) of the US and silver medalist Evgeny Plushenko (of Russia pose on the podium after the men’s 2010 Winter Olympics figure skating competition at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver on Feb 18, 2010. —AFP

Daisuke Takahashi —AP Rubenstein: “You need to hit the ice looking commanding, not adorable.”

Billings: “I like that it was not enhanced with beads, etc Just the essence of the original done a bit simply and adapted as a costume that could be skated in.”

Daisuke Takahashi Takahashi, also from Japan, won bronze in bland checks with matching wraparound scarf.

Rubenstein: “The vested checked shirt gave the vibrant skater the air of the guy who walks into a room knowing who and what he wants. But the untucked shirt at times appeared a little sloppy on the ice, and at times seemed in conflict with the clarity of his jumps. Next time, Takahashi should tuck himself in. He can look cool after he wins.”

Verreos: “Cirque de Soleil gone wrong. ...

I give Takahashi points for always bringing us over-the-top costumes, but this one looked like a tablecloth from a cheap Greek taverna.”

Billings: “It was a bit distracting because there was a lot of extra fabric pieces flying around. The folded scarf around his neck was a bit overpowering for his small frame.” —AP

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Sunday, February 21, 2010

Fashion

NY Fashion Week gets serious with less glitz, glam here was more serious fashion and less glitzy show at New York Fashion Week, the designer runway previews that begin to shape the trends for fall. Fewer celebrities filled front rows for previews that ended Thursday, and there were no white-hot parties on the calendar as there had always been a few short seasons ago. That left nothing for the editors, buyers and stylists who spent eight days watching more than 100 collections to focus on but the clothes.

And they were serious clothes at that-lots of black, longer hemlines and menswear-inspired looks.

The serious tone was thrown into starker relief by the death of one of fashion’s consummate showmen, Alexander McQueen.

Though New York tends to be more businesslike than the European catwalks favored by McQueen, there was a sense that this week was even more no-nonsense. In other seasons since the Great Recession began, designers have essentially thrown spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks: Harem pants? Shoulder pads? Bright colors? An ‘80s revival? But in the fall 2010 collections, the down economy no longer seemed the elephant in the room so much as an altered reality. Many designers returned to their heritage looks instead of focusing on the next big thingperhaps an effort to win back fullprice consumers who had been loyal until their wallets were drained in the recession.

“There’s a more modest look to the clothes,” said Cindy Weber Cleary, InStyle’s fashion director.

“There’s a shift in attitude. It’s not a downer just because of the economy. The times demand a more elegant presence.”

The fashion industry itself is in “recovery mode,” said Joanna Coles, editor in chief of Marie Claire magazine. “Fashion is aimed at women not girls this season. ... It’s not aimed at necessarily an older woman, but one that is more ‘grown up.”‘ It’s why there were so many trousers and longer skirts instead of minis on the runway, she said. Weber Cleary pointed to Marc Jacob’s always-influential collection that put models in romantic, somewhat nostalgic clothes, as well as boldface names Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein by Francisco Costa, all of whom stuck to classics without too many bells and whistles. Even those considered to be the upand-comers-Rag & Bone, Alexander Wang and Rodarte, among them-softened the edges that at first made them famous in favor of sophistication.

“All the flashy, trendy stuff of the last few years feels so wrong.

There’s a new sobriety, but the clothes are attractive-they’re luxurious without being ostentatious,” said Weber Cleary. Well, there were a lot of furs and metallics, too, but those didn’t seem gimmicky-just a way to make the outfits special. “The customer likes casualwear but wants to feel the luxury,” Tommy Hilfiger said in an interview as he was putting final touches on his Ivy-Leager-goes-to-work collection.

Ken Downing, fashion director for department store Neiman Marcus, thought his customers “will absolutely want to wear” oversized boyfriend coats over the many layered knits, which was another key trend. The fall will be about the mixing and matching of otherwise familiar pieces-a feminine blouse with a tailored pantsuit, or a military jacket with a long skirt, said Downing.

It might take a second or even third look to appreciate the details of the New York collections, said Ariel Foxman, InStyle’s editor, who wanted to reserve judgment of the biggest trends until French and Italian designers were done with their previews in March. Much of the fashion crowd has already moved on to London, which opened its fashion week on Friday with tributes to McQueen, who died in an apparent suicide last week. “At first glance, these collections seem dark, somber, neutral, but upon closer inspection, you’ll see the intricate detail, the texture, the lame, the layering, the construction,” Foxman said.

Suze Yalof Schwartz, the executive fashion editor of Glamour magazine, dubbed the dominant style “serious with a twist.” Even if there were more gray dresses and trenchcoats, that doesn’t spell the end of creative fashion, she said. It’s a plus that real women won’t dismiss the catwalk as theater-and might actually pick up some styling tips.

“No one wants to look at a boring gray dress on the runway, but what the designers do is take that wearable gray dress and then put it with heels-that are then covered with a clear bootie,” she said. “How cool is that?”—AP

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A model presents an outfit from Italian designer Kinder Aggugini Autumn/Wi nter 2010 collection show.

—AFP

19th century France crashes London Fashion Week French woman who defied Napoleon was the inspiration for Kinder Aggugini’s show at London Fashion Week yesterday, as sweeping silk gowns and military-style tunics mixed with laser-sharp prints. The Savile Row-trained designer worked with Vivienne Westwood, Calvin Klein and Versace before launching out on his own in 2007, and is now one of the hottest tickets of the six-day fashion event that began here Friday. There was no repeat of last season’s riot of color and print, largely because this is the autumn/winter 2010 collection, and the muted palette fits with the subdued atmosphere here caused by the death of Alexander McQueen.

McQueen was found hanged earlier this month and the loss of one of Britain’s

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most famous and innovative designers has cast a shadow over the whole event.

On a catwalk decorated with 19th-century candelabra, Aggugini’s models wore rigid cashmere tunics inspired by period war uniforms over floaty colorful silks, while others were draped in elegant gowns in blacks, greens and pinks.

“A lot of the silhouettes were taken from the historical, but the techniques in which they were manufactured were cut with laser machines-it’s ultra modern,” the designer told AFP backstage. He said the mix of structured jackets and floaty dresses reflected the constraints upon Juliette Recamier, a French woman who held literary and political meetings which eventually saw her exiled from Paris by Napoleon I. “This woman was constricted

by the power of Napoleon and yet she was very easy and free,” he said.

Earlier in the 18th century Somerset House where London Fashion Week is based, British luxury brand DAKS made its debut on the catwalk here with a collection of classic pieces in black, asphalt grey, navy and camel. Belted long shorts in the 100-year-old label’s signature checks were matched with a simple white shirt and grey cardigan, and-in a further nod to one of this season’s trends-there was a pinstripe shorts suit in navy. Taking inspiration from the world of aviation, there were also black leather capes worn over jumpsuits, black leather jackets and a military-style cropped box jacket in grey, matched with camel-colored drainpipe trousers.—AFP

Hassan Sheheryyar Yasin

Sibia Nazir

Pakistan Fashion Week

Models present creations by Pakistani designer Nomi Ansari on the last day of Pakistan Fashion Design Council Sunsilk Fashion Week in Lahore. The Fashion week has showcased more than 32 local designers over the four-day event with twists on traditional Pakistani dress and western styles. —AFP

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Sunday, February 21, 2010

39

Fashion

London Fashion Week mourns a star’s passing he opening of London Fashion Week on Friday was darkened by the giant shadow cast by the death of Alexander McQueen, long the enigmatic toast of the London fashion world.

McQueen, who died in an apparent suicide last week, was honored with a remembrance wall that quickly became the center of attention in the mammoth fashion tent pitched in the courtyard of Somerset House.

Hundreds of messages were posted to the late superstar, regarded as the provocative enfant terrible of the once staid London design scene. Some simply said, “RIP Lee McQueen” — using his given name-while others lamented the loss of his considerable talent.

“So many memorable moments-a real British hero,” read a note written by Clara Mercer of the British Fashion Council. “We will miss him.”

Many stopped to be photographed standing in front of the McQueen wall. Tributes to McQueen touched on his genius and his lasting influence. “My favorite McQueen creations are his skull clutches and scarves which fuse contemporary edginess and ladylike chic,” wrote Marigay McKee, the fashion and beauty director at Harrods. “His sculptured dresses are also an artform.” Once fashion week is done, the notes will be collected in a book and given to McQueen’s family. Focus will then likely shift to Paris, where his final collection-finished by his assistants-is expected to be shown early next month.

The organizers of London Fashion Week paid tribute to McQueen, who last showed here in 2001, in opening remarks, but there was an attempt to move forward with business as usual — show business that is-despite McQueen’s shocking death, which came several days after his mother succumbed to a lengthy illness.

Sarah Brown, the wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, opened the festivities by praising the designers responsible for building Britain’s fashion industry, a source of both jobs and pride. “I have no doubt this will be a creative and inspiring

might keep people warm next winter, but they won’t necessarily leave customers looking hot.

Many of the women wore puffy brown lampshade dresses pulled down over black leather leggings. His men’s coats were huge, some skimming the floor and billowing as the models strode across the catwalk. Martina Gallagher, a friend of the show’s organizers, said she found the men’s coats “very swish” but too big.

“He was bit a drowning,” she said of one of the models. The 38-year-old also criticized the wool-like material used in some of the women’s clothing.

“Honestly I think the women were done too heavy,” she said. Highlights included a set of silvery dresses centered around the stomach and an elegant, semitransparent black top with lines of ruffles running from the wrists to the waist.

CAROLINE CHARLES Charles started off with a rigorously classic look, with tweed, fur, gloves, pearls, and oodles of black: black gloves, black hats, and black leggings.

A stray flash of green or leopard print kept things from getting too grim, and the collection came into its own when it started experimenting with combinations of black and tarnished gold. Many of the clothes seemed very wearable, and-unusually —the models wearing them seemed at ease, dropping their usual sneers and pouts for war m smiles than perfectly complemented the chirpy-looking earmuffs and cutely cut tweed jackets.

PAUL COSTELLOE

skintight leopard print leotard snarled for the cameras, showing off massive shoulder pads studded with spikes and severed Barbie doll heads.

Despite the reflective mood, there were plenty of canapes and champagne at several receptions. The fashion-familiar sound of champagne corks popping offset a bit of the gloom.

The long list of prestigious catwalk events set for the next five days emphasized that London’s talent pool is still deep. Anticipation is building for shows by Paul Smith, Burberry, Vivienne Westwood, Matthew Williamson and other stalwarts.

A dizzying list of parties was planned, with the festivities kicking off Thursday night with Naomi Campbell’s “Fashion for Relief” charity gala. Party invitations-especially to the more exclusive, less-publicized bashes-were rare and valuable commodities in the quest for status and reassurance. Inside the darkened exhibition space Friday, it fell to fashion week veteran Paul Costelloe to turn attention away from the fashion world’s loss and focus people again on designs, color, fabric, fit and the future. The Dublin-

BORA AKSU Aksu, a Central St Martin’s graduate, described his show as an effor t to mix Marie Antoinette with Edward Scissorhands. The models wore pastel colors paired with black leggings, and some outfits were set off by gold metallic effects. The shor t cut dresses, many with sheer tops, had a layered effects, and some of the skirts of the dresses had a puffed up look, giving them a distinctive profile.

CAROLINE CHARLES born Costelloe showed a trenchcoat-heavy camel and caramel colored collection, while designer Caroline Charles offered a defiantly classic look that mixed smartly cut gray tweed coats with touchable white ear muffs. On Friday afternoon Bora Aksu impressed the crowd with unusual knitwear featuring pale pastel colors set off by dramatic black leggings. He used some sequined armor on top of textured brocades and silk tulle, and used Brazilian fish skins in place of leather to striking effect. In the evening, Sass & Bide captured the imagination of the crowd, which included ‘60s supermodel Twiggy. The show featured unusual outfits worn by models on exaggerated platform heels, giving them extreme height-altitude with attitude.

PAUL COSTELLOE Costelloe’s collections

SASS & BIDE The final show of opening day saw Sass & Bide claim center stage with a series of black-and-white outfits on models who were tall to begin with and given extra height with extreme platform shoes.

The effect was often exaggerated with vertical stripes, at times making it appear as if the models were on stilts. But they were not circus figures.

Elegant, sexy and otherworldly, they dominated the runway, their hair often set up by goldplated headpieces. Some wore armor-style shoulder pads, giving them a strange, warriorlike appearance. A few wore lacy, sheer tops, adding a feminine touch to the slender silhouette. Others wore long black leather gloves that extended almost to the shoulder. It was a striking conclusion to the day, and gave hope for more surprises as the week unfolds. —AP

SASS & BIDE

London Fashion Week and also a reflective time with the passing of Lee McQueen,” she said.

Fashion Council chief Harold Tillman, elegant in a gray double-breasted suit, said fashion fans can honor McQueen by showing continued support for London’s designers. “He has inspired so many to follow and establish their own collection and has influenced many designers,” Tillman said. “To ensure London, his home city, continues to grow as a global fashion center will be a fitting tribute to this brilliant man.” Somerset House was thronged with fashionistas from early morning, with many of the women wearing tight black mini-dresses and stiletto heels. A few who bucked the all-black trend wore leopard skin print dresses or coats-including one who wore black knee socks matched with a leopard print dress and impossibly high heels. Bright red lipstick seemed to be in vogue. Some styled their hair with bangs-or a fringe, as the British call them. One brunette said she had styled her hair like Bettie Page, a famous American pinup girl from the 1950s. One of the eye-catching outfits also relied on the jungle theme. A striking woman in a

BORA AKSU

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www.kuwaittimes.net

Chinese villagers dressed up in traditional costumes perform the ‘gallopping horse’ dance as part of a local ritual to mark the Lunar New Year festival in Wuhu, in the eastern Anhui province, on February 17, 2010. The Chinese have been celebrating Spring Festival, an important holiday marking the beginning of the Lunar New Year, during which families across the country reunite, sometimes for the first time in months. —AFP

Religious rite worries conservationists in Taiwan he small group gathered after dark at Taipei’s Tamshui River with tanks of catfish could be easily mistaken for fishermen if not for their sombre looks and what they do to the animals. Reciting Buddhist prayers, they haul one tank after the other to the river’s edge and tip it over, releasing the meaty, shiny fish into the black water. “May good karma come back to us,” they chant at the end of the ceremony, one of hundreds that take place every year in Taiwan.

Freeing captive animals is an age-old religious tradition and is intimately linked to Buddhism, Taiwan’s predominant faith, reflecting its emphasis on protecting life in all its precious forms. But the ceremony, known as “mercy release”, has raised concerns as conservationists warn the practice hurts the environment and, paradoxically, often involves cruelty to animals.

Many followers believe they can get better karma through freeing animals, and that it can help them overcome illness or other suffering, said sociologist Lin Penhsuan at Taiwan’s National United University. Birds, fish, turtles, frogs, crabs,

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These combo photos show volunteers with tiger-painted faces during the Tx2 Tiger Conservation Campaign Face Painting in conjunction with the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Tiger at Fo Guang Shan Dong Zen Buddhist Temple. —AFP

crickets and even earthworms are among a variety of animals used in the ceremonies, which have become larger and more specialized in recent years, Lin said.

However, with millions of animals being released into the wild each year largely without supervision, conservationists fear the practice will inevitably do little good and much damage. “Wild birds have been captured and sold to religious groups to be ‘set free’ and the result has been massive injury and death,” said Chen Yu-min, director of the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan.

The society said that nearly 60 percent of bird shops it interviewed for a study in 2004 admitted to catching or breeding animals to cater to the vast “mercy release” market. The island’s fragile ecosystem is also endangered when huge numbers of animals are released into the wild at the same time, critics warn. “There is neither enough space nor sufficient food when hundreds of thousands of fish are released into a river or a reservoir for example. They could all end up dead and pollute the environment,” Chen said. —AFP

Architect on a mission to save Kathmanduʼs soul N

epal’s ancient capital Kathmandu is famed around the world for its intricately carved medieval temples and ancient royal palaces. But as the once-sleepy city hurtles into the 21st century, the distinctive architecture that visitors once flocked to see is rapidly being replaced by the high-rise concrete structures favored by modern residents. It is a trend the Nepalese architect Rabindra Puri bitterly opposes-and he is on a one-man mission to prevent the disappearance of what he calls the “soul” of Kathmandu and its surroundings.

Puri, a former sculptor, was struck by the city’s transformation when he returned from a two-year study trip in Europe in 1995. “My heart wept to see so many concrete buildings, they were ugly and had no substance,” the 40-year-old told AFP in an interview. “These new building models are an act of arrogance, of alienation from our history. But they are popular with the wealthy elite.”

Puri had developed a passion for the traditional architecture of Nepal when he worked as a model-maker on a project to restore ancient buildings in Patan, the historic city that adjoins Kathmandu. So, four years after his return and much to the astonishment of friends and colleagues, he quit a highly-paid job with the German government development agency to try his hand at restoring old properties. His first case was a 150-year-old dilapidated farmhouse in Bhaktapur, around 13 kilometers (eight miles) east of Kathmandu, that for the last five years had been used to keep chickens.

The house was a classic example of the architecture of the Newars-the indigenous inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley who are renowned for their striking brick work and

unique form of wood carving.

The restoration began in 1999 and won the prestigious UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award five years later, with the judges saying it “paved the way for the conservation of similar traditional buildings throughout Nepal.”

The house, which now functions as a museum as well as Puri’s studio, is equipped with a modern kitchen and bathroom to show that living in an old building need not mean skimping on creature comforts.

Puri-the first Nepalese architect to win the UNESCO award-prides himself on reusing as many of the original materials as possible, and believes this is the secret of his success. “The basic theory of conservation is to make only minimal change and to use traditional methods for restoring,” he said.

“You do not destroy anything unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Since then, Puri has worked on 35 other projects, at times restoring old buildings and at times transforming the concrete structures he hates to ensure they blend in with the

This undated handout photograph shows a view of the Sankhu Shivalaya before restoration by the architect in Kathmandu. city’s traditional architecture.

“Conservation of our cultural heritage would probably be the best way to describe what I do,” said Puri, who makes no attempt to disguise his contempt for most of his colleagues in the industry. —AFP

This photograph shows a view of the 150 year-old farmhouse before restoration, Puri’s first project which now functions as a museum as well as his studio, in Bhaktapur, a city 13 kilometres east of Kathmandu. —AFP photos