29 Sep

ON IP TI SC R SU B

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

Fugitive US hijacker caught in Portugal

www.kuwaittimes.net

THULQADA 1, 1432 AH

Amazon launches iPad rival, Kindle Fire

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‘Finished’ Tevez denies refusing to play for City

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10Popular, 27 Reform 38 blocs 18 Buramia discloses wealth • Saadoun slams Iraqi demands

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By B Izzak

Nuke engineer killed in Syria BEIRUT: A Syrian nuclear engineer was assassinated in a hail of bullets in central Syria yesterday, the latest casualty in a string of murders this week of academics and scientists, Syria’s state-run news agency and activists said. SANA said engineer and university professor Aws Khalil was shot in the head by an “armed terrorist group” operating in Homs, but activists accused the regime of going after academics in an attempt to terrorize the city’s rebellious population. His killing came as fighting raged in the nearby town of Rastan for the second day between troops trying to enter the town and army deserters who have switched sides and joined the mass revolt against President Bashar Assad that began in mid-March.

Activists say there are hundreds of soldiers who have defected in Rastan and other areas on the outskirts of Homs. The Local Coordination Committees activist group and London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a defected lieutenant died in yesterday’s clashes. Khalil is the fourth Syrian academic to be assassinated in Homs since Sunday. The city, a hotbed of dissent against Assad’s autocratic regime, has witnessed some of the largest anti-government protests since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad began six months ago.

In the past month, it has witnessed almost daily clashes between Syrian troops and army defectors.

There also have been increasing reports of attacks on security forces and police patrols by some who have taken up arms to fight the military crackdown. Mohammed Saleh, an opposition figure in Homs, said Khalil’s assassination yesterday is part of a string of killings - all in the same Continued on Page 13

Saudi police seize drug-laden glider RIYADH: Saudi border police seized a glider packed with drugs from Iraq that flew into the kingdom’s airspace last week, the interior ministry said in a statement yesterday. Northern border police detained the pilot and seized more than 700,000 captagon stimulant pills from the motorised glider, said the statement carried by the official news agency SPA. Interior ministry spokesman Mansour Al-Turki said the craft flew across the Saudi border at dawn last Tuesday. Ten people were arrested over the drug smuggling attempt, the first time a glider had been used for criminal activity in Saudi Arabia.

Captagon is classified by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime as an “amphetamine type stimulant” and usually blends amphetamine, caffeine and other substances. It is particularly popular in Middle Eastern countries, with regional captagon seizures there and in southwest Asia rising steadily, according to the UNODC. The Saudi government regularly seizes hundreds of thousands of captagon pills each year.

The use of the glider raised fears among officials that militant groups could carry out attacks using similar tactics. “The goal of this particular group was confined to smuggling drugs, but the idea itself poses the danger that such methods could be used to threaten the security of the kingdom...which has been the target of terrorist acts,” Turki said in the statement.

Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: Activists of the ‘Fifth Fence’ opposition group stage a silent protest in Mishref yesterday demanding a new government and prime minister. They also protested against a government crackdown on bloggers and users of social network sites. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: The opposition Popular Action Bloc and the Reform and Development Bloc have decided to grill the prime minister over a corruption scandal of multimillion-dinar illegal deposits involving a number of lawmakers, MP Faisal Al-Mislem said yesterday. Mislem said the two blocs have agreed to jointly submit the grilling within the coming few days and have offered the National Action Bloc to join, and they said they will study the offer. The two groups have eight MPs in the National Assembly but they also have several supporters and the backing of several others. If the National Bloc agrees to participate, the number will certainly be greater than 20 MPs. The grilling could lead to a motion of non-cooperation with the prime minister and this requires the support of at least 25 MPs to pass. A number of opposition lawmakers have already claimed that they have the required number to vote the prime minister out of office. Mislem said that the government has not done enough in the face of the deposits scandal in which the bank accounts of several MPs allegedly received close to KD 100 million in the past few months.

The lawmaker said that if the “government’s hands were clean” in the scandal, it would have led efforts to dissolve the Assembly and then resigned. At least two local banks have referred the accounts of nine MPs to the public prosecution for an investigation into the huge deposits. More bank accounts are expected to be referred to the prosecution in the coming weeks.

Continued on Page 13

Tribesmen shoot down Yemen jet SANAA: Tribesmen fighting Yemeni troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh shot down yesterday an army fighter jet, as a sea of protesters demanded the under-fire leader’s ouster and trial.

A Sukhoi SU-22 “fell during a regular mission” and opposition leaders were “responsible for the incident,” said a military spokesman quoted by Saba state news agency. Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated near Sanaa’s Change Square, the focal point of antiregime protests in the violence-wracked Arabian Peninsula country, an AFP correspondent reported. “We shall not rest until the butcher is executed,” the demonstrators chanted as they marched in a neighbourhood of the capital con-

trolled by dissident General Ali Muhsen Al-Ahmar’s First Armoured Division.

Security forces loyal to Saleh blocked the road leading to government offices beyond Qiyadah roundabout, forcing the protest to stay within the area controlled by the defected division. Demonstrations also took place in the cities of Taez, Hudayda and Ibb, but all ended peacefully, witnesses said. The fighter jet was downed by anti-aircraft guns near Arhab, 40 km north of Sanaa, where armed tribesmen have been locked in combat with the elite Republican Guard, led by Saleh’s son Ahmed, witnesses said. “We saw the downed plane in flames on the ground,” one witness said.

Continued on Page 13

SANAA: A defected Yemeni soldier chants slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemen’s president Ali Abdullah Saleh yesterday. — AP

Bahrain feels heavy weight of tensions MANAMA: In the rubbish-strewn streets of Sanabis, the police are on the prowl for the culprits. A group of Shiite teenagers and women, some of them mothers, some of them single, scuttle into a nearby house, putting out the lights as men get out of cars and drag some boys down from a rooftop across the street. The incriminating item is hurriedly stuffed down the back of a sofa, letting out a small noise which threatens for a few seconds to give the game away. But the danger passes. The police move on and the small plastic bugle is whipped out once more.

The vuvuzela - used here to pipe out the phrase “Down with Hamad”, Bahrain’s king - has become one of the mundane props in a game of brinkmanship between the Sunni Muslim ruling elite and majority Shiites who see confirmation in the daily clashes with police that they are oppressed. “All people are doing is shouting slogans or using a bugle. But police are entering people’s houses and arresting them,” says one of the women, an unmarried government employee. Bahrain has been in turmoil since pro-democracy protests, inspired by revolts in Egypt Continued on Page 13

KARZAKAAN, Bahrain: A Bahraini woman passes a wall with graffiti reading ‘God free our prisoners’ below flyers of jailed opposition leaders in this western Shiite village yesterday. Bahrain’s special security court yesterday upheld sentences for 21 activists convicted for their roles in Shiite-led protests for greater rights, including eight prominent political figures given life terms on charges of trying to overthrow the kingdom’s Sunni rulers. — AP

in the

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Central Bank workers rally for better pay KUWAIT: Several dozen of Central Bank employees held a demonstration yesterday, demanding improved employment and financial conditions, the latest in a wave of strikes by government employees in the state.

“Central bank employees suffer from the deterioration of conditions... in the light of a notable increase in prices and services... until we get to a point where we can’t bear these burdens,” the employees said in a statement distributed to reporters at the demonstration, held after work hours. The employees, protesting outside the central bank building in Kuwait City, said that they would hold another demonstration on Oct 26, if their demands were not met. Central Bank officials could not be reached for comment. On Tuesday, employees of the Kuwait Stock Exchange agreed to give authorities three weeks to meet their demands, delaying a planned strike yesterday, which could affect trading on the Arab world’s second largest bourse.

Fire rages in industrial zone near Dubai port DUBAI: A major fire engulfed part of an industrial district near Dubai’s main seaport, raging for hours yesterday, but it did not appear to pose any threat to shipping operations. There were no immediate indications of casualties either, according to an executive at the company where the fire broke out. Towering flames and thick plumes of black smoke poured from the factory at the center of the blaze near the Jebel Ali port, about 25 km southwest of central Dubai. The building held acrylic blankets for Wonu International, a bed covering and textile manufacturer, said the company’s general manager, Choon Park. “Everybody came out,” he told AP, saying that none of the company’s workers were injured in the blaze. The company employs more than 160 people, he said. The area where the fire occurred is packed with factories, warehouses and offices, but is separated from the port by a major highway linking Dubai and Abu Dhabi. There appeared to be no direct threat to the port itself.

DUBAI: Smoke rises from a fire raging in the Jebel Ali industrial zone yesterday. — AP

2,900 arrested in US immigration sweep WASHINGTON: US authorities arrested 2,900 illegal immigrants with criminal records during a seven-day nationwide sweep, the biggest of its kind, immigration officials said yesterday. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said the operation, which it dubbed “Cross Check”, “led to the arrest of more than 2,900 convicted criminal aliens”. The operation was carried out over a one-week period in all 50 US states and overseas territories, as part of the US administration’s strategy to focus on people with criminal records who are in the country illegally. “The estimates vary but (there are) somewhere around a million people with criminal convictions who are subject to removal under the law,” said ICE director John Morton. Of those detained in the latest operation, 1,282 had multiple convictions to their name, and more than 1,600 had served sentences for crimes like armed robbery, attempted murder, kidnapping or drug trafficking, ICE said. It said 681 of those detained had been expelled from the US after being convicted of crimes but returned to the country illegally, it said.

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KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah received at Bayan Palace yesterday credentials of the ambassadors of Malaysia Dato Adnan Bin Othman (top left), of Malawi Younis Abdulkareem (top right), of Egypt Abdulkareem Mahmoud Sulaeiman (left) and United States Mathew H Tueller (right) The ceremony was attended by the Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, the Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, Amiri Diwan Undersecretary Ibrahim Mohammad Al-Shatti and a number of senior officials.

South African envoy congratulates KT KUWAIT: The Kuwait Times yesterday received the following congratulatory message from the Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to Kuwait, Delarey Van Tonder, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the newspaper’s establishment: “The South African Embassy to the State of Kuwait presents its compliments to the Editorial Board of the Kuwait Times and wishes to congratulate the Editor and Staff on the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Kuwait Times.

“Through its visionary leadership, dedicated teamwork and high standards of ethical journalism, the Kuwait

Times has become synonymous with democratic values in the State of Kuwait. Your balanced approach and objective, fair and accurate reporting have also served the national interest by promoting national esteem and nationbuilding while at the same time strengthening relations and cooperation between Kuwait and the many nations represented in your country.

“Please remain assured of my highest consideration and recognition on reaching this historic milestone.”

Delarey Van Tonder Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa

Three hurt in crashes

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A 60-year-old Indian man was rushed to Adan Hospital yesterday after suffering multiple injuries, including a head trauma, in a car crash in Fahaheel. In a separate incident, a 23year-old Kuwaiti man sustained various injuries when he lost control of his motorbike which crashed on Ghazali Street on Tuesday evening. He was taken to Sabah Hospital. Meanwhile, a 31year- old Kuwaiti man was taken to Mubarak Hospital after suffering a broken left leg and a number of other injuries in a collision on King Fahad Road near Bayan yesterday morning.

Border bother Traffic using the Nuwaiseeb border crossing between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia was held up for five hours yesterday morning when a power cut hit the Kuwaiti border station between 5:00 AM and 10:00 AM, forcing staff there to suspend work. Although the problem was repaired as quickly as possible, customs officers had to work hard to process the large tailback of vehicles that accumulated during the shutdown.

phone calls despite her pleas to desist.

An investigation is underway.

Citizen jailed The Ahmadi governorateís senior prosecutor has ordered a citizen to imprisonment in connection with insulting and attacking an employee. An Arab doctor told police that a man whose relative had passed away, sought permission to see the dead body. However, the doctor directed him to meet the hospital director. The furious citizen insulted the doctor and attempted to beat him.

Theft A citizen accused his friend of theft and breach of trust. He found out that his car keys were missing but did not lodge a formal complaint. Later, he learned that his friend had stolen his car and altered its features. He then filed a complaint with the nearest police station.

Pilgrimage dispute An elderly man, his son and four others accused employees of a Hajj convoy of physically attacking them, after a dispute arose over whether it can arrange a pilgrimage for the victims.

Elections rigged Dirty phone calls A Kuwaiti woman yesterday lodged a complaint at Naeem police station about an obscene caller who subjected her to a barrage of sexually suggestive

In Rabiya, two opposition groups in Rabiya co-operative elections accused each other of committing fraud. One of the groups accused the other of stealing votes from ballot boxes.

Kuwait plans to trim down Egyptian, Indian labor forces Economic situation might suffer a blow

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Kuwait’s immigration authorities are studying the possibility of imposing new limitations on issuing work permits to Egyptian and Indian laborers. In a report that appeared in AlShahed newspaper, quoting officials from the Ministry, the move is being considered to curb the rapid population growth of the two main expatriate communities in Kuwait.

Indian nationals continue to dominate the number of expatriate residents in Kuwait, with 624,841 residents as of Sept 6, out of whom 19,457 work in the public sector, 282,568 are employed in the private sector and 238,000 are employed as drivers and housemaids. The Egyptian community comes in second place with a strength of 439,845. At least 44,614 are employed in the public sector, 269,122 work in the private sector, and 124,259 are in the country on dependant visas.

When contacted for comments, Vinod Kumar, Head of Public Relations at the Indian Embassy noted that no official confirmation has been received, “We don’t know about it and no official statements have been received from the host government regarding any limitations of sorts; so it’s premature to react.”

According to sources, the Ministry of Interior’s

Migration General Department is considering enforcing a regulation that could restrict the issuance of work permits for specific professions, focusing strictly on labor force that is highly professional and academically qualified. A decision is expected to be made within a few days, sources said.

Indian expatriates have mixed feelings about the decision. Bino, an administrative staff at a private company in Shuwaikh said, “First and foremost, we are here because they need our skills. We are numerically stronger because they allow us to come and work here.”

“Maybe it is because they trust us, they are pleased with our contribution to their economy.

We are known to be a hardworking and peaceloving community. Besides, we don’t create any trouble or flout the Kuwaiti law like other nationalities.” An Indian woman working as executive secretary in a furniture shop said, “I think it will create a negative impact on Kuwait’s economy if they pursue the plan because we are employed in jobs that the locals shy away from being engaged. If they stop, then, we cannot do anything about it,” she said. “I don’t mind, and I think, Indians would not mind as well. Anyway, the news say only ‘to limit’ not ‘to stop.’ They are free to do whatever they want when it comes to their country’s affairs.”

Labor unions stage strikes across the country KUWAIT: Labor strikes being staged in the country, currently in the second week, are escalating. More workers’ unions are joining the call demanding increased pay.

Employees from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) on Tuesday held a brief demonstration, while Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) and Customs General Department (CGD) unions threatened to stage strikes on Oct 9 and 10 if their demands are not met. With anger rising, October looks set to suffer greater work stoppages.

An MCI staff statement, released on Tuesday read, “The strike will continue everyday from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm until the ministry meets our reasonable demand of enacting a 100 percent pay raise.” Ajmi AlMutalaqem, Head of the Labor Union also accused Samira Al-Ghareeb, Assistant Undersecretary Financial and Administrative Affairs of “releasing misleading reports,” in reference to Al-Mutalaqem’s statement. AlMutalaqem stated that the ministry supports workers’ demands and has discussed them with the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

Meanwhile, at a gathering held at the Kuwait Trade Union Federation, Ahmad AlEnizy CGD Labor Union head invited all CGD staff to participate in a strike scheduled to be

held on Oct 10. “It’s time for the government to take note of the conditions that customs employees are working in,” Al-Enizy said.

KAC Labor Union announced its own strike, planned for Oct 9, stating that the strike will be repeated and increased by an hour daily up to five hours “unless previously approved allowances are finally paid.”

In a breakthrough, Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) staff abandoned a strike scheduled for yesterday after Dr Amani Buresli, Minister of Commerce and Industry approved their financial demands. KSE staff have now issued an ultimatum of three weeks to implement the changes, after which further strikes have been threatened. Kuwait Central Bank staff held their own strike yesterday to demand pay raises, reported Al-Rai. Following threats of staging mass strikes, the Cabinet increased oil sector salaries two weeks ago, and last week commissioned a three-month CSC study into their demands.

In related news, an Al-Qabas report published on Tuesday alluded to growing frustrations within a government committee formed to curb government overspending. The highlevel committee, formed last month, is purportedly annoyed with the Cabinet’s inaction over resolving government overspending.

Moroccan official praises Kuwait’s support for Morocco

KUWAIT: The Commercial Bank of Kuwait has sponsored a ceremony to award winners of a weight loss competition organized by the Hadiya Family Medicine Center. It is part of the Ministry of Health’s efforts to raise awareness against weight gain and obesity.

RABAT: A senior Moroccan official yesterday praised Kuwait’s distinguished role in supporting economic and social programs in her country.

Following a meeting with the visiting Kuwaiti Parliamentary Speaker Jassem AlKharafi, Latifa Akharbach, the Secretary of State to Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, lauded the solid basis of the distinguished relations between Kuwait and Morocco. The senior officials’ talks dealt with bilateral relations and prospects for mutual cooperation between the two countries, she added, pointing out that this relationship has become even closer as a result of the “common perspective of the inspired leaders, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-

Jaber Al-Sabah, and his brother, the Moroccan Monarch Mohammad VI.” The discussions in yesterday’s meeting also touched on the activities of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) in support for Moroccan development projects, which are spread across a number of sectors, including infrastructure, transport, water and agriculture, Akharbach told KUNA. The minister also praised the Kuwaiti parliament’s leading role in promoting the crucial importance of democracy and legislation. The official expressed satisfaction at the GCC’s calling on Morocco to join the council, saying that this overture “affirms the depth of the strategic relationship between the country and the states of the council.” —KUNA

An Egyptian national told Kuwait Times that the regulation will affect all expatriates, “The authorities are going to impose the so-called selective hiring in order to balance the population between locals and expats,” he said. “There is no such specific plan for specific nationalities. I think it will be applied to all expats not only to us,” he added.

The statistics, which was released last week, also shows that Bangladeshi nationals form the third largest expatriate community in Kuwait with 192,178 (6,674 working in the public sector, 115,646 employed in private sector, 62,000 domestic workers and 6,000 holders of dependant visas). It is followed by the Filipino community with 131,735 (3,198 working in public sector), 46,000 in private sector, and 74,000 domestic workers). The Syrian community meanwhile occupies the fifth place with 130,189 nationals (4,867 employed in the public sector, 15,669 employed in the private sector). Pakistani nationals come in the sixth place with 121,109 citizens (2,751 employed in public sector, 88,000 employees in the private sector, 2,695 domestic workers and 6,000 are holders of dependant visas). Sri Lankans are in seventh place with 106,684 nationals (566 employed in public sector and 85,616 nationals employed as domestic workers).

MoI reviewing deportees’ conditions KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has formed a specialist committee to individually review the case of every inmate held at the deportation detention center in order to help remove problems facing them and ensure that no detainees there are subject to injustice.

According to a copy of a directive reportedly issued by interior minister Sheikh Ahmad AlHumoud Al-Sabah, which was seen by local daily AlQabas, the new committee will conduct comprehensive investigation of the cases of all individuals facing deportation and assess the reasons behind the travel ban orders issued against them which prevent them from being deported. The committee has also been tasked with renewing the residency visas of those detainees who face problems when their visas expire whilst they are in custody, which currently leaves them in the Catch 22 position of being unable to leave the country due to facing criminal charges over the expired visas, but unable to renew them due to being imprisoned.

The moves follow disturbances at the deportation center last month when detainees attacked guards and threatened to commit suicide in protest at their continued detention, sometimes for years, long after deportation orders were issued against them.

In other news, meanwhile, the MoI is reportedly preparing to open a shelter in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh for abused expatriate workers in the next three months.

The new refuge, built on the site of a former state school, will have places for 800 male and female residents, with numerous workers, particularly housemaids, facing problems after fleeing abusive sponsors, revealed an MoI insider. The new facility, which will be managed by the MoI in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, along with other relevant bodies, will meet all the necessary criteria, the insider explained.

The shelter is also expected to include an information center for expatriate workers which will allow the state to launch programs to better organize the recruitment of overseas workers, thus improving overall stability in the domestic labor market. — Al-Qabas

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Kuwaitis keener on saving, despite growing consumerism, travel

By Lisa Conrad

MoI official welcomes visiting British defense delegation KUWAIT: A senior Ministry of Interior (MoI) official yesterday received a high-level delegation of British Ministry of Defence representatives.

Acting MoI Undersecretary, Gen Suleiman Fahad Al-Fahad, received the British delegation, headed by the Undersecretary of State, Lord Astor of Hever, at his office, welcoming the guests and emphasizing the excellent cooperation in the fields of security and defense between the friendly nations of Kuwait and the UK.

During the meeting, the senior officials discussed the current security situation in the Gulf and the wider Middle East region and related issues of mutual interest, with Lord Astor emphasizing Kuwait’s crucially important role in supporting peace and security in the Middle East and the world.

Also present at the meeting were MoI Assistant Undersecretary for Information Technology Affairs Sheikh Meshaal Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Director of Kuwait’s Special Forces, Brig Ali Al-Mahdi, and other senior Kuwaiti security officials.

KUWAIT: Jasim Al-Azmi, Saji Baby, Dr. Mohammad Al-Sarawi, and Alia Al-Shalan.— Photo by Joseph Shagra

Kuwait to host environmental impact assessment conference

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Kuwait faces numerous environmental issues that need to be rectified urgently. To address this issue, the GEO Environmental Consultant Office will organize a conference and exhibition entitled ‘The Role of the Private and Public Sector in Development, Environment and Sustainability,’ scheduled to be held between April 23 and 25, 2012.

Speaking at a press conference convened to announce the planned event, committee spokespersons encouraged specialized institutions to participate in the three-day session. It was also announced that the conference will be held under the patronage of Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamed AlSabah, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Environment.

Professor Mohammed Al-Sarawi, Chairman and General Manager of the GEO Environmental Consultant Office, elaborated on the themes and objectives of the conference, explaining that, “The evaluation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the main theme. The conference will cover subjects relating to environmental issues, impact assessment and sustainable development, methods of environmental monitoring, mitigation and control measures, environmental risk, rehabilitation, health and safety, and

environmental authorities, legislations and standards.”

The conference hopes to bring together scientists, research scholars, environmentalists, managers, engineers and policy makers at the local, regional and national levels. AlSarawi added optimistically that, “We are expecting government authorities and departments, universities, academic and research institutions, representatives from the oil, petroleum and petrochemical industries and construction contractors to participate in this important event. They are free to present scientific papers or to sponsor the event or the exhibition.”

The three-day conference will be convened around three sessions-each with its own focus and subset of subjects to cover-in an effort to maximize input and return from the diverse academic, commercial and public sector representation it is due to attract.

‘Environment and Sustainability,’ will cover a wide range of pertinent issues It will highlight the role played by private and public sectors to create sustainable development. It will explore ongoing and future projects that will be implemented in Kuwait . It will give an opportunity to discuss the involvement of national and international institutions and their contribution towards protection of environment that will be supported by education, training and awareness.

Kuwaiti MP slams Iraqi lawmakers’ call

By A Saleh KUWAIT: Kuwaiti MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun yesterday reacted angrily to demands from more than 100 Iraqi parliamentarians for their government to reject the current United Nations border demarcation between Kuwait and Iraq. “We are used to reading or hearing statements by Iraqi individuals or groups regarding some cases related to Iraqi-Kuwaiti ties just like we are used to the Kuwaiti government’s low key response to such statements,” said Al-Saadoun. However, he continued, “this uncertain silence cannot be accepted while Iraqi MPs continue making such statements in regards to Security Council Resolution Number 833/1993 and the call for what they describe as friendly talks between

Iraq’s and Kuwait’s parliaments to redraw the borders.” The MP insisted that “it is necessary to confirm that neither Kuwait’s parliament nor Kuwait’s government have the right to discuss this subject after it was decided by UN Security Council Resolution 687/1991 in regards to the ceasefire which was issued on April 3rd, 1991 and following resolutions.”

Al-Saadoun continued, “The Republic of Iraq implemented that and deposited its compliance document, and the procedures the Security Council asked for in its resolution 949/1994, and that became a UN document.”

Meanwhile, a senior Kuwaiti official said that the statements of the Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari asserting that Kuwait’s Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port project will not harm Iraq were absolutely correct.

Backdated pay rises for KPC employees KUWAIT: The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) on Tuesday formally notified the directors of all its subsidiary companies of the guidelines to be followed in paying the agreed wage and bonus increases to all staff from October, with the payments to be backdated to July.

The formal notification is considered to be the government’s final approval of paying the recently approved wage and bonus rises long sought by 16,000-plus employees in the country’s oil sector, which were green-lighted after a lengthy negotiation process and support from KPC’s senior management, as well as threats of strike action by oil sector workers.— Al-Anba

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti residents have grown fonder of saving money over the past few months, according to a new National Bonds GCC Savings Index study.

The study, released earlier this week, found that more people than previously in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman have taken to regularly saving money during 2011, whilst Qatar has shown the largest decline in regular saving in the region during the same period. Across the GCC as a whole, however, 64 percent of respondents said that they save less than a fifth of their salary each month.

For the Omani respondents, recent changes included increased spending on groceries, utilities and dining out at restaurants, but less expenditure on luxury goods and international travel. Kuwait, however, saw an increase in levels of international travel this year, with a Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) report noting a three percent increase in travel during the month of May as compared with 2010, followed by an eight percent increase in June. The expenses Kuwaitis are cutting back most on, according to Kuwaiti national Aicha AlFaraj, are costly restaurants, and designer clothing and accessories, although she added that “there’s also extreme budgeting on groceries.”

Groceries appear to be an expenditure set to continue rising in cost as inflation carries on increasing, according to Kuwaiti

economist, Hajjaj Bukhadour, who said that the study’s findings aren’t an indication that Kuwaitis are making any specific efforts to save money: “Kuwaiti nationals are allocated a certain amount of food free of charge to cover the needs of basic foods,” he explained. “This can reduce the impact of paying for the more expensive goods, as they don’t have to rely on them fully and get considerable support in alleviating expenses on gro ceries. This can certainly assist in helping with savings.” Bukhadour added, “The impact of the rising cost of groceries will hit expatriates more, because they don’t have this support to offset the increasing inflation.”

The economist further noted that the KD1,000 gifted to every citizen by HH the Amir earlier this year to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Kuwaiti independence, along with significant increases in public sector workers’ salaries, may have contributed to an increased desire among Kuwaitis to save.

However, he pointed out, given that credit and loans are often used to fuel spending, it seems odd that Kuwaitis’ enthusiasm for saving has suddenly increased. This, according to Bukhadour, is down to new limitations, “The Central Bank has put a limit on spending on credit cards; you cannot spend in credit higher than the value of 40 percent of your salary each month,” he revealed.

Aicha has also noted changes in credit management, “Credit helps these days because you

can always manage by setting limits on your cards, as well as making sure your card deducts from an account with limited cash instead of your savings account. There’s always a way if you’re not too reckless.”

However, attitudes are a vital consideration, as the Index uses attitudes to determine changes in sentiments towards saving.

Aicha said, “I believe that people smartened up after the economic crisis [of 2008], since it was so hard to get a job. Some people were dismissed, and a lot of people didn’t have money saved for tr ying times.” She added, “Another central factor is that real estate is extremely expensive these days, so people are more likely to save so they can buy a house or even pay their rent rather than be in endless debt.” This may well explain the study’s finding that 63 percent of Kuwaiti respondents said they intended to star t saving or increase the amount they regularly save in the next 6 months.

Bukhadour, however, insisted that the changes are a result of the additional support received, as opposed to any real seachange in Kuwaitis’ attitudes, “It’s not because of attitude or philosophy, but because there are so many supportive measures, which makes it easier,” he asserted,” warning, “but it isn’t safe to assume that such measures will be continuous.”

The economist continued, “I’d estimate that this [support] will be reduced next year, because government support will change and the demands for higher

salaries will fuel inflation further.

Kuwaitis will suffer next year because they won’t receive as much support as they did this year, and they aren’t prepared for such changes yet.”

According to Bukhadour, the key to encouraging regular saving lies in the mentality and attitudes of society, “A salary should be considered as an investment, it should be used as a tool of development, a tool of saving. It is impor tant that people see their salaries differently. The culture and values in Kuwait dictate that salaries are for consumption alone.” He continued, “Salaries are for achievements, not just for being present at the job. If they are more achievement-based, it will encourage people to work harder, which will improve values and thus encourage people to save and spend responsibly.”

Kuwaiti national Sara commented, “There isn’t pressure to save from your salary because you live with your family until marriage, so the only expenses for many are entertainment.”

The study found that 8 percent of Kuwaiti respondents use gold as a savings instrument and, should positive sentiments towards saving continue to rise, Bukhadour indicated that it’s a good investment, “Gold can rise and fall in value, but the overall direction of it is on the up. If you have to spend on luxury goods, at least spend on gold because it’s valuable and will bolster your savings because it can be sold later. Most other luxury products, however, depreciate in value rapidly.”

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Anti-govt blocs to file joint grilling motion Youth activists hold sit-in in Mishref KUWAIT: MP Faisal Al-Mislem announced yesterday that his Development and Reform Bloc (DRB) will file a joint grilling motion along with Popular Action Bloc (PAB) against the prime minister. This is despite an earlier report which suggests that the two oppositionist groups were unable to reach a consensus on how to handle the cash deposits scandal. Quoting insiders, an Al-Qabas report published yesterday indicates that the DRB rejected the PAB’s proposal to delay initiating the interpellation motion until the Constitutional Court announces its verdict.

Ahmad Al-Saadoun and MP Abdurrahman AlAnjari had filed a previous motion. The DRB is also reported to have rejected another proposal that the PAB had submitted to file multiple motions that target ruling family members in the Cabinet.

The DRB, according to Al-Qabas, is concerned that a delay in filing the grilling motion-which addresses the multimillion-dinar deposits in MPs’ bank accounts -could weaken the Parliament’s

stance on the case. Officials within the DRB fear that the simultaneous filing of multiple grilling motions will deflect attention at a time when the Parliament is focused on the bribery scandal.

“Therefore, the DRB has decided to prepare the grilling motion alone to avoid wasting time or opportunities,” sources said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the same insider elaborated that the DRB’s unilateral preparation does not mean that it will not be co-presented with the PAB. A separate source reported that Al-Mislem held discussions on Tuesday with members the National Action Bloc (NAB) and received word that the third most prominent anti-government bloc is considering jointly submitting the motion with the DRB and PAB, once its members return from vacation.

If the DRB, PAB and NAB were to join ranks, the three main oppositionist blocs will be submitting a joint grilling motion against the prime minster for the first time in Parliament. If it opts not to do so, the NAB is expected to speak in sup-

port of the motion. It was also reported yesterday that the DRB is working to convince the three oppositionist blocs to unify their efforts to focus on the said grilling motion. To this end, the DRB is working to persuade PAB Head Al-Saadoun and NAB member Al-Anjari to withdraw an earlier motion that the two blocs had sponsored. AlAnjari, who insisted that a majority agreement between MPs was required so that the previous grilling could be withdrawn, indicated that he would support any action “that could lead to political reform,” reported Al-Qabas. In related news, youth activists held a silent sit-in in Mishref yesterday to protest the current scandals. A statement published by the group, Fifth Fence, stated that the sit-in was organized after Kuwaiti citizens campaigned online to “send across the message that young citizens object the current conditions, and are committed to living up to their constitutional duties of protecting freedoms and public funds.”

The statement also invited MPs and political groups to attend the sit-in, reported Al-Rai.

NBK launches a new term of training program KUWAIT: The Medical Contingency Department conducted a mock evacuation drill at Infectious Diseases Hospital on Tuesday. Six patients were evacuated, and two were admitted to Al-Sabah Hospital. — Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Protecting foreign workers’ rights ‘a vital issue’

NBK Management in a group photo with the newly hired employees KUWAIT: The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has launched a new term of ‘NBK Academy’ for newly hired employees. Twenty three new staff members, second batch of trainees this year, are enrolled into this intensive program. It is aimed at developing the skills of young Kuwaitis, and falls within the framework of NBK’s strategy to attract and hire qualified nationals.

NBK has organized a special ceremony to

welcome the new employees.

The ceremony was attended by NBK CEOKuwait Shaikha Al-Bahar, NBK General Manager, Consumer Banking Group Mazin Saad AlNahedh and NBK General Manager Human Resources Group Adel Hechme along with a group of senior leaders. Al-Bahar urged the employees to exert maximum effort during training and wished them success in their career at the bank. Al Bahar said, “The launch of

‘NBK Academy’ is the first initiative of its kind in the private sector in Kuwait and is part of NBK’s strategy to attract young Kuwaiti talent and improve their skills in order to prepare them as highly qualified Kuwaiti banking leaders of the future.”

The program extends over a period of six months and is specially tailored to provide the trainees with theoretical and practical skills covering different aspects of the banking industry.

Fatal accident on Ghazali Street KUWAIT: A 37-year-old Bangladeshi man died on Tuesday after being hit by a speeding vehicle on Ghazali Street. Paramedics, who arrived with police shortly after the accident was reported, pronounced the man dead at the scene. The body was removed for autopsy and the Arab driver of the vehicle was arrested.

Abduction tale An investigation is underway into disputed allegations of abduction and enforced imprisonment. The case began when a young Kuwaiti woman called police to report that she had been abducted by a male compatriot and was being held against her will in a Salmiya apartment. Police rushed to the scene and freed the woman, who told them that her desperation at the situation had led her to contemplate suicide. When they tracked down and arrested the accused man, however, he insisted that he and the young woman were romantically involved and planning to marry in the near future, and had been living in the flat happily together. Subsequent investigations revealed that the young

woman had previously survived a suicide attempt in 2010 when she leapt from a window of a seventh-floor apartment used for “suspicious activities.” The investigation is continuing.

Attempted rape A female Ministry of Education (MoE) employee has brought charges against a male colleague, accusing him of attempting to rape her in his office. The woman told officers at Shuwaikh police station that she had gone into her colleague’s office whilst passing to say hello, only to find that he locked the office door and attempted to sexually assault her. Her screams alerted other coworkers to what had taken place and they rushed to her aid, at which point the would-be rapist released her. The accused man is facing charges of sexual harassment and attempted rape.

‘Investment’ scam A Kuwaiti man was arrested in Salmiya after several people brought criminal charges against him.

According to the accusers, the fraudster persuaded them to part with sig-

nificant sums of money, KD19,000 in total, promising them fast and substantial returns on their investments.

After receiving two monthly payments from the conman, however, the investors heard nothing more and received no more money. Police arrested the man in a store he owns in Salmiya and he faces multiple charges.

Wedding gunfire Police are hunting for a gunman who fired off his weapon during a wedding in Sulaibiya. Police responding to reports of gunfire found that the over-enthusiastic gun-wielding wedding guest had fled the scene. The groom is being questioned to attempt to identify and locate the gunman.

Phone thief caught A teenager has been arrested for stealing cell phones from unwary customers at Hawally cafes. The 17year-old was apprehended by police while attempting to sell a stolen phone in the area shortly after it was reported stolen by a customer at a nearby cafe.

VIVA observes Chinese National Day KUWAIT: In its ongoing participation to commemorate worldwide events and international national days, Kuwait Telecommunications Company VIVA is pleased to offer Chinese citizens residing in Kuwait, the opportunity to celebrate China’s national day by reducing international call rates to 50 Fils per minute, after the third minute on all calls.

VIVA will remain keen on acknowledging and participating in the National Holidays of international countries, in persistence to recognize each customer’s needs, as well as create awareness to the importance of worldwide events as it has with previously celebrated national days.

The three days offer for China’s National Day is open to prepaid VIVA subscribers starting on Sept 30, until Oct 2, 2011. Customers can make calls to family and loved ones living in all parts of the Republic of China for 50 fils per minute after the third minute on each call, and enjoy this service for three days.

Kuwait Telecommunications Company VIVA would like to express its sincere congratulations to the people of the republic of China and all Chinese citizens residing in Kuwait as well as worldwide. We aim to embody the joy and happiness of the people

of the Republic of China on this special occasion of China’s National Day, and hope that our participation in this event will stress our feelings towards brotherhood and friendly affairs.

Subscribers interested in this three days, special celebration promotion can visit any of the available VIVA branches in Kuwait or visit the VIVA website for more information.

To find out more about VIVA’s numerous competitive promotions, products and packages visit any of the twelve VIVA branches or visit our website at www.viva.com.kw. VIVA is the newest, most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider in Kuwait.

Launched in December 2008, VIVA makes things Possible for our customers by transforming communication, information and entertainment experiences. The company has rapidly established an unrivalled position in the market through our customer and employee centric approach. VIVA’s quest is to be the mobile brand of choice for Kuwait by being transparent, engaging, energetic and fulfilling. VIVA continues to take a considerable share of the market by offering an innovative range of best value products, services and content

propositions; a state of the art, nationwide network and world-class service. VIVA offers Internet speed up to 42.2Mbps due to the implementation of the most advanced third generation (3G and HSDPA) network in Kuwait resulting in superior coverage, performance and reliability.

KAC board not reinstated KUWAIT: All is not well with the Kuwait Airways Corporation(KAC) following the expiry of its board of directors term on Monday.

Importantly, no decisions have been made to renew members’ tenure or appoint new ones.

According to a report quoting sources, Salem Al-Othaina, the minister of communications, did not arrive at a decision to renew now former Chairman Hamad AlFalah to appoint a caretaker in his place until a new board is selected, reported Al-Qabas.

“This situation places the KAC in a legal dilemma from the operational standpoint, since the corporation does not have any legal representatives in and outside Kuwait,” said officials.

SOLO, Indonesia: Protecting expatriate workers’ rights in Asia is an issue of vital importance for Asian nations, said a Kuwaiti lawmaker here yesterday.

MP Saleh Ashour, who is heading the Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation attending the International Conference on Principles of Friendship and Cooperation in Asia, said that the increasing number of overseas workers hosted in Asian countries has led to increasing incidences of negative phenomena such as human trafficking and abuse. Speaking during the meeting of the special committee on expatriate workers’ rights, Ashour added that Kuwait has signed a number of interna-

tional conventions regulating the employer-employee relationship, adding that in February 2010 Kuwait introduced new legislation ensuring the rights of expatriate workers.

Ashour called for coordinated national campaigns in all Asian countries to ensure domestic and expatriate workers’ rights, stressing the importance of complying with the principles laid down by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) concerning the protection of expatriate workers’ rights.

The conference currently taking place in Solo (also known as Surakarta), a city in central Java, began on Tuesday and concludes today. — KUNA

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local

MEW upgrading its power, water networks: Minister Plans to replace asbestos pipes

KUWAIT: Dr Mohammed Al-Mulla (left), Dr Thalaya Al-Fouzan, Abdullatif AlSuraie and Dr Salah Al-Najem during the press conference held yesterday.

—Photo by Joseph Shagra

Kuwait to host IT, Communications security conference next week

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The security of information and telecommunications is an increasingly crucially important issue nowadays not only for governments, but for private sector bodies and individuals worldwide.

Demonstrating its keen interest in this issue, the Kuwaiti government will be hosting the two-day Arabian Conference on Information and Communications Security (ACICS), which begins next Monday, October 3, and ends on Tuesday. The event will be held under the patronage of the Prime Minister, His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah.

Announcing the upcoming forum at a press conference held yesterday at its headquarters, the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT ) revealed that the event will feature the participation of experts from a number of international specialist IT and telecommunications firms. “ The Arabian Conference on Information and Communications Security coincides with CAIT’s efforts to build a secure and safe information and communications technology infrastructure that supports the e-government programs executed by all government agencies in Kuwait,” explained CAIT’s Director General, Abdullatif AlSuraie. “The conference also aims to raise awareness with regard to the value and criticality of information security on a nationwide scale.”

In addition to featuring discussion of a large variety of relevant papers and studies, the conference will also host a number of panel and roundtable discussions. “Attendees will find out about the latest information security industry trends including the everchanging landscape of threats and risks and how these can be countered,”

Al-Suraie explained. “Many government agencies and the sponsoring companies will showcase their products and services at the accompanying exhibition. The conference is expected to attract managers and information security officers responsible for the egovernment programs, who will benefit from the presence of leading global information security solutions providers and specialists.”

Al-Suraie also revealed that, thanks to the security measures put in place by the CAIT, the official Kuwait Government Online (www.egov.kw) website has not been hacked to date.

“We haven’t received any complaints from any of the institutions included, although there are 453 information service provided by 36 public institutions on this website,” he said. “This is due to our protection and security plan which meets international standards.

With the development and improvement of modern technology, however, the security may be penetrated so we support the idea of establishing a computer emergency center that will be directly connected to a global center for protection against viruses.”

Another speaker at yesterday’s press conference, Dr. Thalaya Al-Fouzan, a lecturer in Computer Sciences at Kuwait University and the head of the conference’s scientific committee, explained that the event will play an important role, as well as helping to shape future governmental projects. “This conference has attracted many international companies which specialize in the field of IT, and all the participants will present interesting working papers,” he said.

“We faced difficulty in selecting the participants as we received a massive quantity of excellent presentations, but we have chosen the best and we hope that both the public and the private sectors will benefit from it.”

KTS launches anticorruption group offering help to Kuwaitis, expats KUWAIT: The Kuwait Transparency Society (K TS) recently launched a group dedicated to investigating reports of administrative and financial corruption and providing specialist legal advice to Kuwaiti and expatriate complainants on issues of this nature. The new body, Markaz AlFazaa, whose objective is to help minimize or eradicate public sector corruption, revealed in a statement issued yesterday that despite only recently being established, has already received 64 complaints, reports and allegations of public sector corruption.

In the statement, Markaz Al-Fazaa

revealed that it has dealt with a number of the complaints and reports through the standard complaints procedure, adding that a number of the bodies accused have responded to its communications on the issues.

The group urged Kuwaiti and expatriate residents to call any of its hotlines to report any incidents of corruption or visit its headquarters in Block No. 4 of Yarmouk at House No. 26, Street 1 between 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM. The group can be contacted by phone on 25358902 or 25358902, or by fax on 25358903, whilst its website can be found at www.transparency_kuwait.org.alac.

Kuwait signs accord with Mongolia KUWAIT: Senior Kuwaiti and Mongolian officials yesterday agreed on an exchange program of media and information expertise, to be undertaken as a further expression of the two nations’ wish to strengthen the friendly relationship that binds the peoples of both countries.

Following a meeting with the Mongolian Ambassador to Kuwait Sairran Kader, Abdullah Zaid Al-Khaldi, the director of the Ministr y of Information’s department of foreign states’ media, told KUNA that the accord was achieved in compliance with the wishes of His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, to bolster mutual cooperation with Mongolia in various fields.

According to the agreement, Kuwait will host a delegation representing the Mongolian media in the second half of October, with a Kuwaiti media delegation set to also visit Mongolia. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) is preparing to launch four new projects established to improve the efficiency and capacity of Kuwait’s electricity and water distribution networks, at a total cost of almost KD17 million. “One of the projects comes as part of the ministry’s plans to replace asbestos pipes in the water distribution network with more efficient and eco-friendly ductile iron pipes”, explained minister Salem Al-Othaina on Tuesday. In a statement issued to announce the new projects, Al-Othaina also revealed the MEW’s plans to open bidding for a tender for maintenance work on high voltage 400 kilovolt electrical cables in the country’s power network.

In an interview with local daily Al-Qabas meanwhile, Abdulwahab Al-Turki, the Assistant Undersecretary of the MEW’s

Electricity Distribution Network Department, asserted that the ministry’s regular maintenance operations have helped greatly in significantly reducing the number of transformer failures and explosions, which he explained take place as a result of excessive demand and overloaded circuits.

“The work done, including regular maintenance operations at secondary transformers and replacing old transformers, has helped reduce the number of explosions and power cuts this year,” said Al-Turki. The senior MEW official also revealed that the ministry plans to recruit an international consultant to help with drawing up plans to further improve Kuwait’s power network.

Meanwhile, sustainable development has become a top issue preoccupying decision makers and strategists across the

globe, said Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, the managing director of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

Sheikh Talal, in a statement addressed on his behalf by the director of the KPC public relations, Mahmoud Al-Ajmi, at the conference, themed “Kuwait convention for companies collective responsibility,” here yesterday indicated that civil associations in Kuwait have contributed to the national development.” The KPC is seeking to be a main partner in the development process, he said, indicating that the corporation has been granting social and humanitarian aid to citizens, independently from bureaucratic channels. The corporation is also involved in programs for improving the quality of life for its staff and the society as a whole, he added. The convention, on Sept 28-29, addresses social role of companies.

Municipality removes abandoned cars

By Nariman Moucer KUWAIT: The Jahra Municipality has launched a campaign to remove cars abandoned in parking lots and public squares, held in cooperation with the Municipality’s

Public Relations Department.

Head of the team, Faihan AlMutairi said that the campaign resulted in the removal of 16 abandoned cars, adding that 67 warning letters were issued before the campaign was launched. The cars

displayed for sale were also seized and will not be released until fines are paid.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Al-Sinan Assistant Director General for Development and Planning said that the department will conduct a

study on cleanliness levels with the support of Minister Dr Fadhel Safar, Public Works and Municipality Affairs. Al-Sinan explained the manner in which the study should be conducted and urged them to continue the good work.

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LOCAL

kuwait digest

Local Spotlight

The Arab Awakening

Will Kuwait vanish by 2020?!

By Dr Ghanim Al-Najjar s there a certain significance about the number 2020? It has been said that Kuwait will vanish by that year - the same year, as I indicated previously, in which the new Kuwait University campus in Shaddadiya is scheduled to be completed, as the KU Rector recently admitted, the first official honest enough to admit that it will take that long. Surely, however, if we’re doomed to vanish by that date, we’d be best to call the project off!

In the mid-1980s, I wrote a rather pessimistic series of articles under the title ‘Contemplations in a Nation Committing Suicide.’ At that time, I could feel how fragmented our society was becoming, and how run down the government services were. I could easily see corruption everywhere and believed that we were voluntarily on our way to committing suicide. I even thought the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was a phase within the same context. However, deterioration, sectarianism and malfunctioning of various state bodies, whether legislative or executive, continued, though the state is still hanging on, despite its many failings.

Back in the 1960s, so many artists and writers liked talking about the future, with the year 2000 seeming to them iconic and possibly apocalyptic, foretelling the end of the world.

In that period, one of the greatest Kuwaiti plays, ‘Kuwait In The Year 2000’ was written by the country’s iconic playwright Saad Al-Faraj. In the play, Al-Faraj imagined how Kuwait would look like when the oil runs out. Meeting him one day, I told that we were already past the year 2000 and nothing had happened.

“On the contrary, oil revenues are increasing,” I pointed out, asking him to rewrite his play taking into account this new spirit. In fact, we both agreed to cooperate on rewriting it, although unfortunately we have been too busy to date to do so. Of course, we don’t know whether we’d make new history and look as if we were trying to ‘move the goalposts’ whenever the ball approaches them.

Having worked overseas in other parts of the world, I now view things differently. I see that countries like Somalia, Afghanistan and Liberia still exist and had UN membership. This is a matter that requires both politicians and the international community to reconsider their concept of how a ‘state’ is defined. Personally, I don’t think that Kuwait will literally vanish, but we are certainly witnessing bizarre and devastating political conduct as we’re led into the unknown by an unwise government and a misguided parliament; may Allah help us! — Al-Jarida

Muna Al-Fuzai

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kuwait digest

Cause and effect

By Waleed Al-Rujaib he demands made by Kuwait’s labor forces the main reason for recent strikes—are often and mistakenly thought to contribute to state overspending. People usually focus on the cost of these demands yet ignore the reason for which they are made, such as the increase in prices and the spread of corruption.

The issue isn’t the cost of employees’ demands or their level of productivity. Rather, the main problem is the political management that created a situation in which employees found themselves victims of injustices.

To solve the problem, we must diagnose its root cause and eradicate it; only after that can reform be achieved. The root cause of our problem is the corruption to have infiltrated the legislative and executive authorities, resulting in violations of laws and the Constitution.

Kuwait already has laws mandating that public sector wages must be reviewed every three years and adjusted in line with changes in living costs.

These regulations, however, were never enforced properly. In the meantime, the state failed to monitor prices of commodities and services and cap rent costs for private or commercial property - failings that hurt property renters and merchants, respectively.

Meanwhile, fixed-wage employees see that millions of dinars from state oil wealth are wasted on bribes that boost corruption and push the country to the point of no return.

Employees’ demands may not always be reasonable, but such demands would not be allowed to grow into a big problem in this country.

Dissolving the Parliament or the Cabinet will not help solve the issue, as the problem will allow the same MPs to be re-elected. The solution can be found in restructuring Kuwait on the basis of enforcing laws and constitutional regulations so as to achieve social equality.

This will help turn people’s focus—currently dominated by financial demands—back to building a modern state. — Al-Rai

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muna@kuwaittimes.net

hat of the future though? What will happen once all this chaos is over and the tyrants gone to their graves or to prison cells? I believe this to be the most important consideration because we have much to consider here with the triangle of Israel, Iran and Turkey.

They may not seem to be a good match - but this is not a love marriage, but more an arranged marriage for the sake of expedience.

I think that strategically Israel is unaccustomed to scenes of uprising or to being in favor of any change in this part of the world due to its fears for its own safety, security and survival. I think the Israeli leadership has been comfortable in dealing for many years with administrations they knew how to handle, whilst maintaining their policy of greed and seizure of others’ land. Besides, the role of Islamist parties might be perilous and possibly fishy; although the Islamist parties have their own political agendas, beliefs and differences, after all, they can never publicly claim to be in favor of Israel or call for peace with it. Iran also has its own agenda, yet its domestic situation and upheavals are the primary obstacle to any attempts on its part to establish itself as a role model that would be acceptable to the rest of the Middle East. The differing beliefs among Muslims would slow or reduce any rapid spread of change based on religious principles.

Turkey may be a winner in this aspect, I think. It has established itself as a symbol of successful modernization and a new power far ahead of Iran. While Turkey has its own priorities, of course, it has a far better chance than other nations of taking the lead in the new Middle East.

I believe the peaceful Gulf region will deal effectively with the results of any conflicts or uprising or Arab Awakening in order to avoid possible future conflict.

In the end, however, I guess that most of what is being said now is speculation, based on history and the current status of the Middle East. There is no hidden agenda; while one can cover up a leader’s or a regime’s greed, one cannot cover up the aspirations of a nation or a people, not for long and certainly not now.

W kuwait digest

Kuwait at a crossroads ublic outrage over the dodgy deposits scandal to realize that the case has been pursued entirely has sparked a counter-outburst from the legally since the first suspicions were referred to the forces of corruption who are focusing their PPS. At the same time, this is not the first occasion attacks on three targets in particular in their battle on which corrupt individuals find themselves fighting those seeking reform - although this time the against reform.

Firstly, local daily Al-Qabas, which first exposed Kuwaiti people will not rest as long as political the scandal back in August 20, has come under bribes continue to steal away people’s democratic heavy pressure to deny its claims, as well as being choices.

Kuwait is not a remote island isolated from the the subject of a smear campaign to question the paper’s integrity, despite its long record of expos- world’s other countries. It is part of the global banking network and thus subject to monitoring by the ing corruption.

Second, the corrupt officials have targeted the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and country’s two largest banks after they approached other financial and transparency organizations the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) concerning the worldwide.

In order to ensure that Kuwait stays on the safe suspicious and massive deposits in certain MPs’ side, it is the duty of accounts. Since it ’s every individual to supimportant to give credit where credit is due, Despite their deliberate attempts to por t ever y effor t to bring those involved in of course, it should be ignore the public’s outrage, however, the dodgy deposits noted that the bold the corrupt officials failed to realize scandal to justice. decisions taken by the management of both that the case has been pursued entirely These duties include staying strong in face of banks was pivotal in legally since the first suspicions were attempts by those corthe process of uncoverreferred to the PPS. At the same time, rupt officials to thwart ing the mystery behind the scandal. this is not the first occasion on which these proceedings.

It is important that Unfortunately, howcorrupt individuals find themselves we don’t belittle the ever, the forces of corfighting those seeking reform issue at hand and preruption realize that as well, which is why they although this time the Kuwaiti people tend that nothing has gone wrong. If there launched an ugly camwill not rest as long as political bribes does indeed turn out paign against the bankcontinue to steal away people’s demo- to have been political ing sector, which is the corruption, those backbone of the cratic choices. responsible must be national economy. held responsible and However, the banks ignored all the threats and attempts at defamation, the anti-money laundering law must be enforced remaining committed to complying with the anti- against them to the highest degree.

So far, the case is going through the proper money-laundering law, with the support of the legal channels, a great achievement for the state Central Bank of Kuwait.

The third target of the corrupt officials’ attack has given the fact that the forces of corruption will been those activists and politicians who oppose not surrender without a fight.

Hopefully, the anticorruption and wealth discorruption. As part of this campaign, the intentions of politicians who formed alliances against corrup- closure laws the Cabinet recently enforced will a tion were questioned, while skepticism was voiced message to the corrupt that the government is regarding the mass gathering last Wednesday at the joining forces with the determined public in their Irada Square including questions over the number battle against corruption. Attempts to combat of participants as well as the true aims behind the corruption are supposed to unite people behind the primary cause of revealing the truth. Kuwait gathering.

Despite their deliberate attempts to ignore the today is at a historical crossroads. The main quespublic’s outrage, however, the corrupt officials failed tion is, are we up to the challenge? — Al-Qabas

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kuwait digest

British and French civility

By Ahmad Yousuf Al-Duaij here are great differences between the civilized British and the French. The British, in contrast to the French, exhibit great patience in their treatment of foreigners despite the multitude of their own sufferings. Foreigners in Britain lead a full life and do not spend time dreaming of their homelands, even if they dislike the British people themselves. Foreigners in Britain enjoy freedom of expression, lead their personal lives in complete freedom and practice their religion without harassment. A British citizen who oversteps the law in his dealings with foreigners will in turn face strict British law.

The situation varies greatly in France, where many French citizens discriminate against foreigners, especially those from the third world. A visitor to France will detect a significant difference between the better-civilized and forgiving British and the angry-looking French, few of whom you will witness smiling at a visitor.

French racism showed its ugliest face when the law was passed that bans Muslim women from wearing the niqab (the veil that fully covers the face). This law in turn paved the way for other European nations to pass similar laws. Any woman that does not comply with the French law will face a fine; meanwhile we are left wondering where the personal freedoms, which these hyp-

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ocrites claim to be proud of, have gone. Where are the human rights and religious freedom groups amid this racism and hypocrisy, currently practiced by the racist French government?

The French government severely criticizes legislations passed in ‘third world countries’ on the basis of human rights and religious freedoms. What goes on in civilized France, meanwhile, is a war against Muslims with large support from Nicolas Sarkozy, a Jew who became a Catholic.

The British newspaper, The Guardian, has published a report on the suffering of veiled Muslim women stemming from harassment of an unimaginable scale at the hands of the racist French (where, incidentally, the original Crusader were born). What if Muslim countries, where the niqab is worn, were to treat French women similarly (this is only a fantastical proposition) and impose a law that required them to cover their hair and would impose fines on those who didn’t comply? How would Mr Sarkozy react? All hell would break loose and they would launch a media war to instigate action from relevant international organizations. Perhaps some UN organizations will meet to warn against a new Islamic expansion and will pass legislation that contravenes personal freedoms. They only understand the logic of power and treatment alike.— Al-Watan

kuwait digest

Save Kuwait’s reputation

By Dr Yaqoub Al-Sharrah oney laundering is a crime committed varyingly in all corners of the world - and continues to be committed despite international efforts to halt the practice. Money laundering carries the same criminal weight to other illegal activities, be it theft, bribery or murder.

While it is true that corruption permeates almost everywhere, it would constitute a huge blow to national reputation if individuals elected by the people to represent them in the Parliament were to be involved in this practice.

The most troubling aspect of the current case concerning millions of dinars’ worth of suspicious bank deposits is neither the number of people involved in the scandal nor the amount of money, but rather the fact that parliamentarians are the suspects. Were an MP to be eventually be convicted, it would be devastating to the legislative authority and to the reputation of the country.

Meanwhile, the volume of money and the status of the individuals involved dictates the necessity for deep cooperation between government, banks and prosecuting authorities if the suspects are put on trial. The anti-money laundering law must be applied to all, regardless of the position or reputation.

There is no doubt that bringing the criminals to trial is what the public desires. The people will accept nothing short of punishing the criminals, who—if indeed they are parliament members misled the public when they claimed during election campaigns that they were committed to maintaining integrity.

Enforcement of the anti-money laundering law is the natural process by which the criminals involved in this case will be held accountable. This in turn means that not only those who received funds but also those who provided the funds are the perpetrators of crime.

Hopefully, legal procedures will continue uninhibited until the criminals are sentenced, and this in order to protect the country’s reputation from the stain of money laundering. This, after all, is a crime that grabs the attention of international organizations, especially those that tackle terrorism funding. — Al-Rai

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

West backs off from Syria sanctions call

Battered NTC fighters urge more NATO strikes Page 8

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Egypt jails ex-information minister Fekky drew wrath for state media coverage of uprising CAIRO: An Egyptian court sentenced fo rm er info rm a tio n minister, Anas El-Fekky, to seven years in prison for squandering public funds from the state television union, the latest prison sentence for a member of Hosni Mubarak’s cabinet. Fekky was one of the most high-profile targets for protesters in part because of how state media vilified them during an uprising that forced

Al-ARISH: A pipeline delivering gas from Egypt to Israel burns following an attack which left one person injured in the north of the Sinai Peninsula. At least three gunmen in a van opened fire on a gas installation before an explosion hit the pipeline, witnesses said. —AFP

Israel raises alarm over Sinai-Gaza cooperation JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak both warned in interviews published yesterday that the situation in Egypt’s Sinai poses a “very troubling” threat to Israel. After Egypt’s revolution which toppled President Hosni Mubarak, security in the Sinai peninsula has deteriorated, with Cairo sending troops into the area to try to bring it back under control.

Israel says a deadly attack on its south last month was staged partly from Sinai, and Netanyahu warned that forces hostile to peace between Egypt and Israel were exploiting the security vacuum in the area. “There are a lot of forces that are seeking to undermine that peace, seeking to roll it back, seeking to use the Sinai not merely as a staging area for attacks from Gaza but seeking to use Gaza as a staging area for attacks from Sinai,” he told the Jerusalem Post in an interview published yesterday.

“This is obviously a very troubling development,” he said. “I hope that the importance of maintaining the peace is understood by all the parties in Egypt. I think this message was given to the Egyptians very clearly by the United States.” Meanwhile, in an interview with the Maariv daily, Barak also sounded the alarm over the situation in Sinai, saying it had prompted Israel to agree to an increased Egyptian military presence in the area-as required by the terms of the 1979 peace treaty-in a bid to improve security there.

“But can I tell you that it is solved? It is not solved,” he said. “Sinai is an important asset for every Egyptian leadership, but I don’t think that the leadership is in full control.” Barak said a tug-of-war was under way between the mili-

tary council now ruling Egypt and the protesters who overthrew the Mubarak regime earlier this year. Netanyahu also spoke of Israel’s broken relationship with Turkey in an interview with the Israel HaYom newspaper, saying the Jewish state “had not given up on Turkey” although he said it was unlikely the once-close relationship between the two would ever be the same.

“I don’t know if Turkey will ever return to the place it was. Turkey has decided to take a different path. If it wishes to check this escalation and normalize ties, we will, of course, be prepared to do so immediately,” he said. “The present Turkish government has decided to adopt a belligerent foreign policy,” he said. Ties between the once-close allies were badly damaged by an Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship which was part of Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May 2010, in which nine Turkish nationals were killed. The diplomatic crisis has worsened in recent weeks with Ankara expelling the Israeli ambassador and suspending all military ties and defense trade.

Barak blamed Turkey’s increasingly hawkish foreign policy vis-a-vis Israel on Ankara’s desire for status in the region which he said was ignited by its failure to join the European Union.

“This did not begin yesterday or with the Mavi Marmara. The formative event was what happened with the European Union,” Barak said, insisting: “We have no interest in quarrelling with Turkey. “Turkey is one of the four most important states in the Middle East, along with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran. When Saudi Arabia is shrinking, and Egypt is undergoing what it is undergoing, and Iran is hostile, we have no interest in heating up the crisis.”—AFP

Israeli Labor party popularity up: Poll JERUSALEM: Israel’s Labor party, fresh from electing a new leader, is rising in opinion polls, with a survey published yesterday showing it would become Israel’s second party if elections

were held today. The poll, published in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, found the party would increase its seats in the Knesset (parliament) to 26 from the eight it now holds, were

elections held today. That would lift the once-dominant political party into second place in the Knesset, behind the Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which the poll found would increase its seats to 32 from 27.

Labour’s rising popularity would come at the expense of the Kadima party, the centrist party led by Tzipi Livni, which would lose 10 seats, falling to 18, the poll said.

Yisrael Beitenu, the ultranationalist party of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, would lose five seats in an immediate election, falling to 10 from its current 15, the survey said. However, pollster Keevoon Research said Russian voters, who are a key constituency for Yisrael Beitenu, were under-represented among respondents and the survey might not accurately depict the party’s popularity.

The survey comes two days after a similar poll, published in Haaretz newspaper, also indicated that Labor would become Israel’s second party if elections were held immediately. —AFP

Mubarak from power.

The cour t also sentenced Osama El-Sheikh, the former head of the union, to five years on the same charges. Fekky was detained in February on suspicion of profiteering and wasting public funds. The ruling, which was aired on state television, was related to a case in which the pair were accused of squandering 9.5 million Egyptian pounds ($1.6

million) by paying over the o d d s fo r te l e v i s i o n d r a m a series.

The prosecutor had also charged Fekky with depriving the Radio and Television Union, which he ran, of about $1.9 million by exempting private television stations from fees for live broadcasts of the 20092010 football season and the start of the 2010-2011 season.

It said Fekky had done this to

further his “personal interests as par t of an attempt to impose his control and media policies on these stations”. That case is still being heard.

Earlier this month, he was acquitted of separate corrupt i o n c h a rg e s t h a t h e h a d demanded 36 million Egyptian pounds from the finance minister for media campaigns promoting Mubarak and his ruling party. —Reuters

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Battered NTC fighters urge more NATO strikes BANI WALID: Anti-Gaddafi forces yesterday urged NATO to intensify its air war as they took heavy losses in a push on the ousted despot’s birthplace of Sirte and his other remaining bastion, Bani Walid. In a radio message, meanwhile, Muammar Gaddafi hailed the resistance put up in Bani Walid,

where the NTC said 11 of their fighters were killed Tuesday by a hail of rockets fired by forces loyal to the former strongman. Among those killed in the barrage was senior commander Daou Al-Salhine AlJadak, whose car was struck by a rocket as he headed towards the front late in the day, NTC chief

negotiator Abdullah Kenshil said.

Jadak, one of the highest ranking NTC commanders in Bani Walid who hails from the town itself said two days before his death that he had been imprisoned for more than 18 years for helping organize a 1993 rebellion. NTC field commander Captain Walid Khaimej said

SIRTE: Libyan revolutionary fighters gather outside Sirte yesterday. Thousands of revolutionary fighters wait around Sirte to enter the home town of Libya’s ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi. —AP

that the fierce resistance of Gaddafi’s loyalists had stalled the advance by his fighters in the desert town, some 170 kilometers southeast of Tripoli. “ There is always incoming missile and artillery fire. We are returning fire with heavy weapons but we are not sending in infantry. We are waiting for reinforcements to come from Tripoli and Zawiyah,” said Khaimej.

“NATO is here but is not doing enough. They take out the rocket launchers firing at us, but they are immediately replaced. We need more help from NATO,” he added.

The Western military alliance has under a UN mandate being giving air suppor t to a popular revolt against Gaddafi launched in February which saw the veteran strongman toppled from power after 42 years by NTC forces last month. Gaddafi has gone into hiding since Tripoli was overrun on August 23 but he and some of his sons are still believed by the NTC to be in Libya, possibly even in Bani Walid or Sirte.

The losses were almost as bad in Sirte, where NTC fighters are battling their way to the heart of the sprawling Mediterranean city, site of a Gaddafi compound and bunkers. Fighting centered around Mahari Hotel in eastern Sirte where NTC combatants engaged loyalist troops in close quarter skirmishes, a commander said. “More than 10

of our fighters have been killed (on Tuesday) in face-to-face fighting near Mahari Hotel,” said the commander, who asked not to be named as the information was sensitive.

The NTC fighters and Gaddafi’s diehards clashed “in street fights and shot at each other from close range with Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades,” he said. At a field hospital east of the city, Dr Yusuf Al-Badri said the NTC casualties continued yesterday to mount after “a very bad day” on Tuesday when eight of them were killed and almost 50 wounded. “One fighter was killed today and five wounded so far. The wounded were taken to Ras Lanuf hospital,” he said.

The NTC fighters had early on Tuesday captured Sir te’s por t, marking a key victory in the battle for control of Gaddafi’s hometown.

But they expected a ferocious fight for control of the compound, the ner ve centre of the remaining resistance where some of Gaddafi’s family are thought to be holed up.

NTC fighter Fateh Marimri, who drove out of Sirte’s eastern gate in what he said was a captured Gaddafi 4X4, also reported heavy fighting around Mahari Hotel.

“They are using heavy weapons but we are not, as we want to cause minimum damage to civilians,” Marimri said. “They are now fighting us in civilian clothes and there are African mercenaries ever y-

where in Sirte.”

He also said Gaddafi’s family members were inside Sirte, backed by a “large number of his forces”, but did not give names. Thousands of fearful civilians have been fleeing Sirte, 360 kilometers east of Tripoli, as the new regime’s forces close in from the east, south and west. NATO said the plight of civilians is worsening by the day in Sirte and Bani Walid, with supplies running short and snipers preventing escape. The populations of the two Gaddafi strongholds are “under enormous pressure” with access to drinking water, food, electricity, medicine and fuel “severely impeded,” an alliance spokesman said.

“Media, eyewitness accounts and intelligence reports reveal the worsening situation in these two towns,” Colonel Roland Lavoie said in Brussels. In Gaddafi’s radio message, a transcript of which was carried by a loyalist website on Tuesday, he said he was still fighting and was ready to die a martyr.

“Heroes have resisted and fallen as martyrs and we too are awaiting mar tyrdom,” Gaddafi said. He praised the fierce resistance put up in Bani Walid, which had been a major recruiting ground for his elite army units. “You should know that I am on the ground with you,” he said. “Through your jihad, you are imitating the exploits of your ancestors.”—AFP

Iran equips its navy with cruise missile US threatens sanctions on Chinese banks over Iran TEHRAN: Iran has equipped its naval forces with a short range “cruise missile,” able to hit targets in costal areas and warships within “200 kilometers, the country’s defense minister was quoted as saying yesterday. “Today we are witnessing the equipping of the Guards navy and army navy with ample numbers of the Qader cruise missile,” General Ahmad Vahidi said, quoted by his ministry’s website referring to the elite Revolutionary Guards who are tasked with defending Iranian waters in the Gulf. “It has 200 km range and has ability to be launched quickly against warships and costal targets. It flies in low altitude, has high destructive power, (and is) lightweight with high precision,” he added.

He added that it could be fired from the coast or from vessels of different classes, increasing considerable the operational ability of the forces. The Qader missile was unveiled last month by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with Iranian officials dubbing it a “cruise missile” built entirely by local experts.

The president said Iran’s military arsenal was defensive, aimed at ensuring the country’s “enemies do not dare attack.” Iran in the past two years has increased development, testing and unveiling of new “indigenous” military equipment, including missiles.

The Iranian navy recently boosted its presence in international waters, sending vessels into the Indian Ocean to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates. It also sent two ships into the Mediterranean for the first time in February, via the Suez Canal, to the annoyance of Israel and the United States. Iran’s navy commander, Admiral Habibollah Sayari, said on

Tuesday that Iran was planning to deploy ships close to US territorial waters, without saying when.

Iranian naval forces are mainly composed of small units equipped

sanctions. David Cohen, US Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, was in China to discuss measures to prevent Iran from obtaining

TEHRAN: An Iranian woman tries out a rifle simulator, at the “10th International Police, Safety & Security Equipment Exhibition”, at the Imam Khomeini grand mosque, in Tehran. —AP with missiles in the Gulf and operating under the control of the Revolutionary Guards.

Meanwhile, a top US envoy said yesterday that Washington could penalize China’s four biggest state banks if they were found doing business with an Iranian insurance firm in violation of US nuclear

financing for its nuclear weapons program and means to spread its hardware.

His China trip followed a stop in Hong Kong, where he met with representatives of the four banksBank of China, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Agricultural

Bank of China. Speaking to journalists Wednesday, Cohen said he told the banks that if they accepted payment from Moallem, an Iranian insurer, they could be cut off from the US financial system under a 2010 US law promoting tighter sanctions on Iran.

Moallem insures Iran’s national bulk container carrier, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), a company with three subsidiaries, in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. Both Moallem and IRISL have been designated as violators of anti-nuclear proliferation rules set by the United States and the European Union. Many European countries no longer do business with IRISL and have closed their ports to its ships, but the vessels still make calls in Asia, Cohen said. In January, the US Treasury identified several Hong Kong-based shipping companies as having strong links with IRISL. Cohen also met with 20 financial institutions, local port authorities and shipping companies in Hong Kong to encourage them not to deal with IRISL or Mohallem. “Any foreign bank that receives payment from Moallem on behalf of a client, risks losing its ability to do business in the United States,” he said. In two days of meetings in Beijing, Cohen met with officials from China’s Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ruling Communist Party. The United States and other world powers accuse Iran of seeking to acquire a nuclear weapons capacity under the guise of its civilian atomic work, a charge Tehran strongly denies. Iran is under five sets of UN Security Council sanctions, as well as US ones, over its nuclear program.—Agencies

Tribesmen shoot down Yemen army warplane SANAA: Tribesmen fighting Yemeni troops loyal to under-fire President Ali Abdullah Saleh shot down yesterday an army warplane north of Sanaa, witnesses and tribal sources said. A military spokesman said a Sukhoi SU22 “fell during a regular mission” and held opposition leaders “responsible for the incident,” Saba state news agency. The jetfighter was downed by anti-aircraft guns near Arhab, 40 kilometers nor th of the capital, where armed tribesmen have been locked in combat with the elite Republican Guard, led by Saleh’s son Ahmed, witnesses said.

“We saw the downed plane in flames on the ground,” one witness said. The plane crashed in the village of Beit Azar, and the pilot who had ejected was captured by tribesmen, tribal sources said. Heavy air strikes have targeted the tribal area of Arhab after a gen-

eral and six other soldiers were killed Sunday i n cl a shes b et ween t r i b esm en and t he Republican Guard. G eneral Abdullah AlKulaibi, head of the 63rd brigade of the elite Republican Guard unit, was k illed in the attack by tribesman opposed to Saleh’s rule in the strategic town of Nihm, the defense ministry said.

Four of the attackers were killed during the assault on the military base, about 60 kilometers from the Yemeni capital, it said. Tribal sources claimed on Monday that 33 troops we re c ap tured i n t he co nf ro nt at io n.

Meanwhile, three more gunmen were killed in overnight clashes with the guard, tribal sources said. Nihm is one of several villages and towns that collec tively make up the strategic northern gateway into Sanaa and is site of at least five Republican Guard bases.

The elite unit has so far prevented dissident General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, who now controls part of the capital, from calling in reinforcements from Yemen’s northern provinces where parts of his division are deployed.

The tribesmen who carried out the assault on the military base late Sunday are allied with General Ahmar and have been battling government troops for control of the area.

Saleh, who is under international pressure to relinquish power and allow new elections, returned to the country last week, sparking violence in which scores have died. The 69year-old president has repeatedly refused to sign a power transfer deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in terms of which he would hand power to Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in return for immunity from prosecution.—AFP

TAWARGA: A destroyed portrait of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi lies at the entrance to the local headquarters of Libya’s former regime in Tawarga. —AFP

Bitter payback for pro-Gaddafi town TAWARGA: “Gaddafi used you and then he ran away.” The graffiti on a wall next to a looted grocery store neatly sums up the plight of a small Libyan town whose entire population fled in fear of reprisals by the rebel forces now in power. The people of Tawarga-who are mostly black-sk inned Libyans-are accused of having played a major role in the siege by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces of nearby Misrata, the bloodiest event in Libya’s revolution.

Misratans, who say men from the town of around 30,000 people eagerly signed up to kill and rape, like to show mobile phone footage of uniformed Tawargans climbing aboard trucks and chanting that they are ready to take Misrata. The same images are repeatedly shown on Misrata’s television station, fanning the animosity that many Misratans feel-and readily expresstowards their departed neighbors. As Gaddafi forces retreated from Tawarga last month, the town’s residents quickly fled en masse, terrified that their neighbors would take revenge. They sought refuge in Tripoli and Sirte and other cities.

Tawarga is now a ghost town, with goats, donkeys and a few cows wandering streets whose buildings are pockmarked by bullets and rockets. Shops and many homes have been looted, and some have been torched. In one home, above which two green flags of the Gaddafi regime still flutter, photos of children adorn the wall of a ransacked bedroom and a portrait of the parents lies among the debris on the floor in the next room. Abandoned goats and chickens jostled in a pen in the yard, trying to reach the fruit on a pomegranate tree. The town lies on the road between Misrata and Sirte, where fighters loyal to the new National Transitional Council regime are battling the remnants of Gaddafi’s loyalists.

At a check point on that road on Monday, NTC fighters gave a typically angr y reac tion when asked about Tawarga. We don’t want them living next to us, they said. “They raped our women, killed our children, they cut their throats. They’re not normal human beings,” said Yusuf Ali Mohamed. “We want to take those who killed to court.

Those who raped, we will never forgive

them. One of his colleagues then produced a mobile phone and showed a video of dark-skinned men in Gaddafi uniforms slapping prisoners, and he said these were Tawargans abusing rebel fighters Tawargans admit that many of their men did fight for the Gaddafi forces but they are angry about what they see as a collective punishment being inflicted upon them.

They point out that other pro Gaddafi towns captured by the rebels did not suffer the same fate and say they were singled out because most of the residents are black and therefore associated with the sub-Saharan mercenaries the dictator employed. Sleman Mohamed Saleh, 46, was raised in Tawarga but lived in Tripoli over the last few years. He has brought five familiesaround 50 people-from his hometown to live with him in the capital. He said a clan from Tawarga had fought with Gaddafi forces in Misrata and that “6070 percent of people (in Tawarga) were for Gaddafi.”

“It’s a small town, if you didn’t put the flag up for Gaddafi they would torture and kill you,” he told AFP in Tripoli.

“They (the new NTC authorities) should do something, they should help us. Noone can go back to their homes, they are too scared. We need to be protected,” he said.

A group of around 150 Tawargans who had moved to Sirte took refuge in a mosque just beside an NTC frontline position a week ago when fighting there intensified. “A human being doesn’t do the things our people did in Misrata. It’s not right,” said one of them, Sabri Saad. But he insisted that many Tawargans, like the group in the mosque, had done no wrong.

The NTC fighters holding the frontline position nearby have been supplying the group in the mosque with food, water and medical aid. While many Misratans vehemently insist they will never let Tawargans return home, the new authorities are taking a more conciliatory approach. “We have a list of people who committed crimes and they will be tried. As to those who committed no crimes, they will be allowed to return to their city,” said Ibrahim Bait Al-Maal, a spokesman for Misrata military council. —AFP

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Obama sees narrow path to 2012 victory US president crossing swords with Republican rivals DENVER: President Barack Obama is crossing swords with potential Republican rivals and demanding demoralized Democrats wake up as he plots what appears a narrow but possible path to reelection. Hemmed in by an obstinate Congress, Republicans who want to make him a one-termer and a sickly economy, Obama is waging a kind of private primary campaign to shore up his standing with Democratic Party powerblocks. The strategy appears to be a recognition that the president, sullied by economic malaise and Washington gridlock, cannot run again as the transformative, charismatic figure who swept to power in 2008.

While Obama crushed Republican John McCain in 2008, his path to victory this time looks tougher and relies on him turning out Democratic base voters and picking off a number of swing states. “It is about the only strategy left to him politically,” said John Straayer, a Colorado State University political science professor. Analysts said Obama’s base vote strategy is reminiscent of the approach Karl Rove framed for president George W Bush in 2004, which produced a slim Republican victory.

After a summer of political feuds which soured the public on both parties, Obama is accusing Republicans of cozying up to the rich. His foes, Obama told a fundraiser in Washington state Sunday, back policies that would “cripple America in meeting the challenges of the 21st century.” The president has also thrown himself into the febrile Republican nominating race, bemoaning a debate crowd which booed a gay soldier in Iraq and cheered the idea of a man dying without health insurance.

“That’s not reflective of who we are,” Obama said. “This is a choice about the fundamental direction of our country.”

The move reflected Obama’s need to portray Republicans as extreme and unacceptable choice, in the knowledge that with unemployment not expected to dip much below the current 9.1 percent, he can’t run on economic recovery. In a stepped up travel schedule, the president is engaging sections of the Democratic party’s traditional power base, rural voters, the midwestern middle class, Hispanics and African Americans. In an appeal Saturday to African Americans, who

have suffered disproportionately in the economic crisis, he invoked Martin Luther King, vowing to “press on” for change. “Put on your marching shoes.

Shake it off. Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying,” he told the Congressional Black Caucus.

The process is reminiscent of a primary nominating race where candidates court party power bases, then track to the center in a general election. Obama’s challenge will be to capture independent voters, who often swing presidential elections but deserted him after 2008. Polls show moderates support Obama’s idea of

requiring the wealthy Americans to pay more in taxes to support his $447 billion jobs program and social programs for the elderly. Tony Robinson, a professor of politics at the University of Colorado said Obama’s populist approach may attract some independents who feel Obama has capitulated too much to Republicans. “He has been seen as a weak president ... that is particularly what is turning off swing voters,” Robinson said. In the process of piling up electoral votes, state-bystate to reach a winning score of 270, swing states, like Florida and Ohio will be crucial.—AFP

4 Americans get pot from US government EUGENE: Sometime after midnight on a moonlit rural Oregon highway, a state trooper checking a car he had just pulled over found less than an ounce of pot on one passenger: A chatty 72year-old woman blind in one eye. She insisted the weed was legal and was approved by the US government. The trooper and his supervisor were doubtful. But after a series of calls to the US Attorney’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Agency and her physician, the troopers handed her back the card - and her pot.

For the past three decades, Uncle Sam has been providing a handful of patients with some of the highest grade marijuana around. The program grew out of a 1976 court settlement that created the country’s first legal pot smoker. Advocates for legalizing marijuana or treating it as a medicine say the program is a glaring contradiction in the nation’s 40-year war on drugs maintaining the federal ban on pot while at the same time supplying it.

Government officials say there is no contradiction. The program is no longer accepting new patients, and public health authorities have concluded that there was no scientific value to it, Steven Gust of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse said.

At one point, 14 people were getting government pot. Now, there are four left. The government has only continued to supply the marijuana “for compassionate reasons,” Gust said. One of the recipients is Elvy Musikka, the

chatty Oregon woman. A vocal marijuana advocate, Musikka relies on the pot to keep her glaucoma under control. She entered the program in 1988, and said that her experience with marijuana is proof that it works as a medicine. They “won’t acknowledge the fact that I do not have even one aspirin in this house,” she said, leaning back on her couch, glass bong cradled in her hand. “I have no pain.”

Marijuana is getting a look from states around the country considering calls to repeal decades-old marijuana prohibition laws. There are 16 states that have medical marijuana programs.

In the three West Coast states, advocates are readying tax-and-sell or other legalization programs. Marijuana was legal for much of US history and was recognized as a medicine in 1850.

Opposition to it began to gather and, by 1936, 48 states had passed laws regulating pot, fearing it could lead to addiction.

Anti-marijuana literature and films, like the infamous “Reefer Madness,” helped fan those fears. Eventually, pot was classified among the most harmful of drugs, meaning it had no usefulness and a high potential for addiction. In 1976, a federal judge ruled that the Food and Drug Administration must provide Robert Randall of Washington, DC with marijuana because of his glaucoma - no other drug could effectively combat his condition. Randall became the nation’s first legal pot smoker since the drug’s prohibition.—AP

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

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Belarus exile urges tougher EU sanctions on Minsk WARSAW: After being beaten and jailed for her coverage of Belarus’s disputed presidential election, Natallia Radzina fled her country refusing to believe a fellow independent journalist died there by his own hand. “Our friend Oleg Bebenin disappeared and was found hanged the next day on September 3, 2010 in his country cottage,” Radzina said recently in Warsaw.

She spoke as the city was gearing up to host the European Union’s Eastern Partnership summit today, focused in part on Belarus. “He was 37, he loved his family, he was a passionate journalist. I don’t believe it was a suicide and I never will,” she said of Bebenin, the outspoken founder of charter97.org.

The website is Belarus’s most popular independent Internet news portal, providing the coverage of opposi-

tion to strongman Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, which his stranglehold on state media prevents. Radzina, 32, who took over as charter97.org editor-in-chief says she fled her homeland in April. She was convinced Bebenin’s death meant “Belarusian authorities can kill opposition activists or journalists with impunity by fabricating suicides.”

Neighboring Lithuania granted her political asylum. Radzina was among dozens jailed in an unprecedented crackdown Lukashenko launched on the opposition and independent media after his landslide re-election in December 2010 prompted mass street protests over alleged fraud.

Protesters, journalists and presidential candidates were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for opposing Lukashenko-often dubbed Europe’s

last dictator. Radzina is also convinced the threat of international sanctions being slapped on Minsk hastened her release from prison in late Januar y. “ The regime is ver y scared of real economic sanctions,” she said.

She hoped hoped the European Union would follow in the footsteps of the US in targeting the state owned companies that are Lukashenko’s lifeline. His regime is now facing the biggest economic challenge in its 17 years of existence, as an unraveling currency crisis has led to unprecedented inflation and shortages of various products. Ahead of the EU’s two - day Eastern Partnership summit with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, current EU chair Poland is echoing Brussels in demanding the

unconditional release and rehabilitation of political prisoners still held by Minsk.

The 27-nation bloc has agreed a travel ban and assets freeze on nearly 200 senior regime figures, including Lukashenko and his close circle and several judges. But Brussels has stopped short of turning up the heat with trade sanctions. “Europe is still doing business with the Lukashenko regime for its own pragmatic reasons,” Radzina said. “We’re grateful for the sanctions in place now, but they’re totally insufficient,” she added.”We need more of the kind of economic sanctions imposed by the US-if Europe joins those kinds of sanctions there is a chance things will change,” she said. “This means sanctions on state-owned companies which are the financial back-bone of the

Lukashenko regime,” she added.

She rejects the argument that trade sanctions would only cause greater hardship for average Belarusians in the country of 9.7 million sandwiched between Poland Lithuania, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine.

“The fact is, Belarusians are already living on the verge of poverty and are in constant danger of being harassed and jailed for no reason, but this doesn’t seem to worr y Europe,” Radzina said. Lukashenko’s woes grew Tuesday when a British law firm launched a bid to encourage private prosecutions against him for alleged crimes against humanity. Londonbased McCue and Partners have created a prosecution “kit” of evidence against him so lawyers abroad can start proceedings should he travel to their jurisdictions. — AFP

NATO reinforces tense Kosovo border crossing Serbs in northern Kosovo don’t recognize Pristina

HOMS: An image posted on a Facebook page shows a portrait of the 18-yearold Syrian woman whose mutilated body was discovered in a mortuary last week two months after her arrest, according to Amnesty International. — AFP

Western powers back off from Syria sanctions call DAMASCUS: Western powers dropped calls for sanctions against Damascus at the UN Security Council in the face of veto threats from China and Russia, even as existing curbs began to impact Syria’s economy. A new draft resolution drawn up by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, with US backing, a copy of which was obtained by AFP late Tuesday, threatens to adopt sanctions if the deadly crackdown by Syrian forces on antiregime protesters does not end.

The formulation was aimed at overcoming opposition from Russia and China, who have threatened to veto any sanctions resolution brought to the council, which has so far only agreed one statement on the crackdown since midMarch. “There is a need for a strong Security Council response to the repression,” said one European diplomat explaining the resolution. “There are hopes that this resolution can quickly get a majority in favor on the council,” said a diplomat from a second council member.

The European Union has in the past week tightened the screws on President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, banning new investments in Syria’s oil sector at home and abroad, and prohibiting delivery of bank notes to the central bank. The latest measures marked a seventh round of EU sanctions on Damascus for its refusal to halt a brutal crackdown on protest in which 2,700 people have already been killed according to the United Nations. It has also listed 56 Syrians and 18 entities subject to travel bans and asset freezes.

Washington for its part has imposed three sets of punitive measures on Assad and top government officials while President Barack Obama has called on Assad to step down.

The measures are already having an effect, with the Damascus government surprising the world last Thursday by announcing the temporary suspension of imports of products that are subject to tariffs of more than five percent. The curbs have sent prices of cars, furniture, clothes, household appliances and certain foodstuffs rocketing, with consumers complaining they will have to make do with locally-produced goods. Syrian cen-

tral bank governor Adib Mayaleh said the import restrictions would save Syria $6 billion (4.4 billion euros) annually. “This is a precautionary measure to protect our currency reserves, which are currently more than $17 billion,” he said.

The unrest rocking the country has slowed economic activity, with analysts predicting negative economic growth in 2011 as a result of a decline in tourism and investment. Rights groups said that the violence on the ground was continuing. Syrian forces killed at least six civilians in raids on dissidents Tuesday, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “Three civilians were killed and seven others were injured during an assault by the army and security agents against the Homs district of Bayada,” it said.

The attack came after soldiers who had deserted government forces burned a tank in the area, the rights group said.

Government forces killed two civilians during raids in the northern town of Jabal Al-Zawiya, and another civilian was killed and five wounded in a dawn operation Tuesday in southern Daraa province, where the protests began in mid-March.

Powerful guns, some mounted on tanks, were turned on people in Rastan, Talbisseh and Tir Maala, all in central Homs province, the Observatory added.

In a blog he launched on Tuesday, British ambassador to Damascus Simon Collis said Assad’s regime saw “only one way out-the return to authoritarian rule where fear surpasses a desire for freedom. “This is a regime that remains determined to control every significant aspect of political life in Syria,” Collis wrote. “It is used to power. And it will do anything to keep it.” Damascus does not accept the existence of popular opposition to the authorities, instead blaming “armed gangs” and “terrorists” for trying to sow chaos. On Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, speaking at the annual UN General Assembly, accused foreign governments of trying to undermine the co-existence among Syria’s different religious groups and of seeking to create “total chaos that would dismember Syria.” — AFP

Experts sound alarm on Bulgaria ethnic violence SOFIA: A recent flare-up of inter-ethnic violence in Bulgaria is a taste of things to come because of glaring inequalities, rampant corruption and the weakness of the justice system, experts fear. The latest incident began in Katunitsa, a southern village with a large Roma minority dominated by Kiril Rachkov, a local patriarch known as “King Kiro” suspected of involvement in a wide range of criminal activities. A minibus containing several of his grandchildren on Saturday hit a local youth, who was involved in a dispute with them, killing him. Angry locals, believing it was a premeditated attack, set upon the kingpin’s house.

Supporters from two football teams from the neighboring town of Plovdiv descended on Katunitsa, 165 kilometers south-east of Sofia, shouting Nazi and anti-Roma slogans. Numbers eventually swelled to around 2,000 people, with

three empty houses owned by Rachkov set on fire. After some time, police intervened and arrested almost 130 people.

Three policemen and two civilians were hurt, while a 16-year-old who suffered from heart problems was taken to hospital where he later died. Over the next two days, demonstrations spread across Bulgaria, many of them organized on Facebook groups like “Against impunity for lazy, thieving Gypsies”, and many involving minors.

Two police officers and a civilian were injured and about 100 people detained in a dozen cities, including outside the national parliament in the capital Sofia, in the second city Plovdiv, in Varna and in Burgas.

In Varna on the Black Sea in the east, Roma armed themselves with knives, guns, clubs and iron bars, and skinheads attacked three Roma women. — AFP

BELGRADE: NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo (KFOR) brought in more troops to a contested border crossing in Kosovo’s ethnic Serb north yesterday, a day after a clash that left more than a dozen soldiers and civilians hurt.

Sixteen Kosovo Serbs and four peacekeepers were hurt on Tuesday during a confrontation between KFOR troops and a Serb crowd rallying against the removal of a Serb-held barrier.

Witnesses said KFOR soldiers used fire arms, teargas and rubber bullets. Serb officials said six protesters received serious gunshot wounds while others suffered minor injuries.

NATO said KFOR positions came under fire and that pipe bombs were thrown at peacekeepers.

Yesterday a Reuters eyewitness said KFOR troops reinforced their positions around the Jarinje border crossing, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Kosovo’s capital Pristina, deploying armored vehicles, sand bags and barbed wire. NATO also warned it would use lethal force to protect its troops. The clashes prompted Belgrade to cancel EU-mediated talks with Pristina in Brussels aimed at mending daily cooperation, such as over the flow of people and goods, property rights and personal documents.

The talks will resume “when the Serbian side is ready to re -engage,” said Rober t Cooper, who mediates the talks on behalf of the EU. NATO spokesman Ralph Adametz said the confrontation started when Serbs drove a vehicle at troops and attempted to steal a weapon. Kosovo Serbs pulled back several hundred meters from the Jarinje crossing yesterday, but remained at other barricades that prevented road access to the border post. In the tense northern Kosovo city of Mitrovica, divided between ethic Serbs and Albanians, Serbs late on Tuesday and early stoned two police cars, a bank and attempted to burn two internationally-owned shops, Kosovo police said.

KOSOVO TIES AND EU ACCESSION Officials in Belgrade, which is opposed to Kosovo’s independence, three years after it

seceded from Serbia, said they were concerned there may be more incidents. “We will try to prevent potentially explosive situations, but this is now becoming increasingly difficult,” government spokesman Milivoje Mihajlovic said. “Violence there was senseless and we want to know who ordered it.”

Belgrade wants to join the EU and it will

response Kosovo Serbs blocked all the key roads leading to the border and built a separate dirt track near Jarinje to bypass the crossing into Serbia.

Violence in Kosovo’s north also flared in July when Pristina tried to enforce a trade ban with Serbia. One ethnic Albanian policeman died and Serbs torched the Jarinje border

JARINJE: A Serbian flag is seen as the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) soldiers stand guard on a barricade at the border crossing Jarinje between Serbia and northern Kosovo yesterday. — AFP likely be granted the status of a candidate by end-October, but it must mend ties with Kosovo to secure the date for accession talks.

But Serbia faces parliamentary elections, tentatively expected in April 2012 and Kosovo will play high on the agenda. The Pristina government wants to reinstate its presence in the largely lawless northern area. On Sept 16, Pristina sent police and customs officials to two northern crossings, Brnjak and Jarinje, previously staffed mostly by ethnic Serbs. In

post. Since 2008, Kosovo has been recognized by more than 80 countries, including the United States and most of the EU, but northern Kosovo, with a population of about 60,000 still pledges allegiance to Belgrade.

The remainder of Kosovo’s 120,000 Serbs are living in enclaves in Kosovo proper. Serbia which cherishes Kosovo as its historic heartland lost control over Kosovo in 1999, when NATO bombing ended a counter-insurgency war against ethnic Albanians. — Reuters

Fugitive US hijacker caught in Portugal NEWARK: A fingerprint on a Portuguese ID card was the break that led a US fugitive task force to a 1970s militant who carried out one of the most brazen hijackings in US history and had been on the run for more than 40 years.

George Wright, 68, was taken into custody by Portuguese authorities in a town near Lisbon at the request of the US government, said a member of the fugitive task force that had been searching for him for nearly a decade. The following day Wright made an initial court appearance. Wright was convicted of the 1962 murder of gas station owner Walter Patterson, a decorated World War II veteran and father of two, who was shot during a robbery at his business in Wall, New Jersey.

Eight years into his 15- to 30year prison term, Wright and three other men escaped from the Bayside State Prison farm in Leesburg, New Jersey, on Aug 19, 1970. The FBI said Wright became affiliated with an underground militant group, the Black Liberation Army, and lived in a “communal family” with several of its members in Detroit. In 1972, Wright - dressed as a priest and using an alias - hijacked a Delta flight from Detroit to Miami. With him were several members of his communal group, including Wright’s companion and their 2year-old daughter.

After releasing the 86 passengers in exchange for a $1 million ransom - delivered by an FBI agent wearing only swim trunks, as per the hijackers’ demands the hijackers forced the plane to fly to Boston, where an interna-

tional navigator was taken aboard, and then on to Algeria, where they sought asylum. The group was taken in by American writer and activist Eldridge Cleaver, who had been permitted

by Algeria’s Socialist government to open an office of the Black Panther Movement in that country in 1970. The Algerian president at the time professed sympathy for what he viewed as

worldwide liberation struggles.

The hijackers had identified themselves to the airplane passengers as a Black Panther group, police had said at the time. They said the hijackers smoked marijuana continuously during the flight. At the request of the American government, Algerian officials returned the plane and the money to the US They briefly detained the hijackers before

ALMOCAGEMA: A woman who said she was Maria Do Rosario Valente, the wife of fugitive George Wright (inset) is seen outside the house where neighbors said Wright lived in Almocagema, near Lisbon yesterday. — AP

allowing them to stay. Coverage of the hijackers’ stay in Algeria said their movements were restricted, and the president ignored their calls for asylum and requests to return the ransom money to them.

The group eventually made its way to France, where Wright’s associates were tracked down, arrested, tried and convicted in Paris in 1976. The French government, however, refused to extradite them to the US, where they would have faced longer sentences. Wright remained at large, and his case was among the top priorities when the New YorkNew Jersey Fugitive Task Force was formed in 2002, according to Michael Schroeder, a spokesman for the US Marshals Service, who worked with New Jersey’s FBI and other agencies on the task force.

The Department of Corrections (DOC) brought along all its old escape cases nine years ago when the task force began operating, Schroeder said, and investigators started the case anew, never taking a prolonged break from working on it. They reviewed reports from the 1970s, interviewed Wright’s victims and the pilots of the plane he hijacked. They had age-enhanced sketches made and tried to track down any communications he may have made with family in the US. An address in Portugal was one of several on a list of places they wanted to check out. But Schroeder said there was nothing about it that made it seem especially promising. “It was another box to get checked, so to speak,” he said. — AP

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News

in brief

Floods claim 79 lives BHUBANESWAR: The death toll from severe flooding in the eastern Indian state of Orissa has risen to 79 with an estimated five million people affected, local officials said yesterday. Two bouts of extremely heavy rain this month have led rivers to burst their banks, submerging thousands of villages and leading to a relief effort from local and international aid agencies. “At least 79 people are confirmed dead from the two phases of heavy flooding. I’m afraid the toll might go up,” Orissa Disaster Management Minister Surya Naayan Patra said. “We now have close to five million flood-affected people spread across 19 of state’s 30 districts needing relief and rehabilitation. The government is trying its best,” he added. Over 170,000 people living in low-lying areas in the worst-affected areas near the coast have been evacuated, but 3,460 villages remain waterlogged, he said. The weather has improved in recent days as India approaches the end of its rainy season and the flood waters are starting to recede.

8 killed in Kashmir SRINAGAR: At least eight people have died in three days of fierce fighting between rebels and government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said yesterday. The fighting erupted Monday after soldiers and police raided a militant hide-out in Kralpora, a remote area about 80 miles north of Indian Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar, army spokesman Lt Col JS Brar said. He said five suspected rebels, two police and an army officer have been killed so far. “It’s a dense forested area and very difficult terrain. So it’s taking a long time,” Brar said. There was no independent confirmation of the gunbattle. In a separate incident, suspected rebels killed a policeman on guard duty in Srinagar yesterday, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Police and paramilitar y soldiers were hunting the assailants, the officer said. The Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan but is claimed by both. Since 1989, an armed uprising in Indian Kashmir and subsequent crackdown by Indian forces have killed an estimated 68,000 people, mostly civilians.

7 die as building crumbles in Delhi NEW DELHI: Broken beams and mounds of clay lay in heaps yesterday where a four-storey residential building collapsed in the Indian capital, killing at least seven people and highlighting the dangerous housing conditions among the city’s poor. Residents said they feared some people may still be trapped in the rubble from the decades-old building that fell Tuesday night in Old Delhi around the time when people would have been home for dinner or getting ready for bed. Rescuers using diggers to remove the debris yesterday freed a young boy trapped as he was passing by the building when it fell in the congested Chandni Mahal area of Old Delhi. The area is known for its overcrowded buildings and loose wires crisscrossing narrow streets. Locals said they believed the building, built about eight decades ago from old construction materials, had been undergoing construction work that might have weakened the foundation. Police said seven people were killed and dozens injured, including four critically. Authorities were investigating, while critics accused the city of ignoring the state of Old Delhi’s dilapidated buildings.

Taleban militants slay 8 police with insider help Insecurity, civilian casualties on the rise KABUL: Eight Afghan police were killed yesterday when Taleban militants apparently helped by an insider overran their checkpost in troubled southern Afghanistan, an official said. Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the local administration in Helmand province, blamed the insurgent group for the killings but said the militia had help from at least one police officer conspiring in the attack. “The attackers were helped by one policeman who now has fled with his gun,” he said, referring to the attack in the Nahri Sarraj district of Helmand.

“Three other policemen are injured and the one who was a Taleban informant, the Taleban accomplice, has fled with the attackers,” Ahmadi said.

On Tuesday, five people were killed in a suicide car bombing near the police headquarters in Helmand’s provincial capital Lashkar Gar, two months after British troops handed the Afghan government control. Afghanistan is plagued by a deadly 10-year insurgency that has increased each year since it was launched by the remnants of the Taleban following their ouster from power in late 2001. The rebels have carried out several attacks, some of them high profile, helped by infiltrating the Westerntrained Afghan security forces. Late Sunday, one American was killed and another injured when an Afghan employee opened fire at an annex to the US embassy in Kabul used by the CIA. It was not known if the shooter was a Taleban infiltrator.

HERAT: A wounded Afghan man receives treatment at a hospital in Herat. Sixteen people including 11 children were killed when a bus returning from a wedding party hit a roadside bomb in western Afghanistan. —AFP Civilian casualties Afghanistan saw a near 40 percent rise in the monthly average number of security incidents recorded for the year through the end of August, compared with the same period of 2010, a United

Nations repor t said yesterday. The report to the UN Security Council by the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also said civilian casualties, already at record levels in the first six months of the year, rose 5 percent for the period from June

to August compared with the same months of 2010. Around 130,000 people were displaced by the conflict in the first seven months of the year, up nearly two-thirds from the same period a year earlier. —Agencies

‘Mother’s home’ saves smuggled sex slaves KATHMANDU: The unassuming, slight, 62-year-old may look every bit the timid retiree but to the thousands of Nepalese girls she has rescued from a life of sex slavery she is the heroine they call “savior”.

Anuradha Koirala left teaching 18 years ago to devote her life to waging war on the traffickers who smuggle women and children into the brothels of India, where they are often raped, assaulted and starved.

From setting up a safe house in Kathmandu to a daring undercover raid on a Mumbai brothel, Koirala says she has helped more than 10,000 victims of a cruel underworld which sees victims trafficked daily across the border. “I wish for a day when I don’t have to look after any more victims,” she said. “I want the sex trafficking to end.” An estimated 12,000 Nepalese girls are trafficked each year, the victims of a cycle of unemployment, poverty, gender discrimination and a 10-year Maoist insurgency which wrecked the economy and ruined countless lives. Some estimates put the number of victims trapped in India’s lucrative sex industry at 200,000, while local NGOs in Mumbai have reported that about 40 percent of girls rescued from Mumbai brothels were Nepalese. Koirala decided the misery had to end and in 1993 set up a charity she named Maiti Nepal-using the Nepali word for “mother’s home”. In August 1999 she risked her life to travel to Mumbai’s most notorious streets, where mostly underage Nepalese girls are forced by brothel owners to sell their bodies to locals, businessmen and sex tourists.

In Kamathipura, the city’s red light district, she pretended to be a fan among the entourage of the late actor and lawmaker Sunil

Dutt, who was well-known for his social work visiting brothels and talking to sex workers. But her cover was blown and the visit turned violent. “The rescue was quite bizarre. The majority of the brothel owners turned out to be Nepalese who had themselves once been victims,” said Koirala. “It turned violent. The brothel owners and their aides started to hurl shoes and kitchenware at us. They even tried to hide the girls. “They were mostly underage girls, many of them barely 12, and were kept in a structure where it was difficult even to breathe,” she added.

‘She’s like my mother’- Koirala, a mother of one, set up Maiti Nepal in Kathmandu after meeting dozens of homeless victims of domestic violence whose children were identified as a prime target for sex trafficking rackets. She launched a network employing the women to sell cigarettes, chocolate and snacks from woven bamboo trays, and then rented a house to shelter 80 of the women’s children. Koirala’s work now extends to the countryside around Kathmandu, where a centuries-old trade in sex trafficking is burgeoning. —AFP

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

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New rule could prolong race for GOP nomination WASHINGTON: Don’t look for a quick winner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

After watching Democrats successfully ride their historic primary battle between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama all the way to the White House in 2008, the Republicans quietly adopted a new rule designed to extend their nominating process this time around. The rule limits the ability of candidates to win large numbers of delegates in early primaries and caucuses - those held before April - because delegates must be awarded in proportion to the votes a candidate receives.

Many Republican state parties like to hold winner-take-all primaries because they create buzz and put a premium on candidates finishing first. Those states, however, will have to wait until April, at the earliest, to hold their nominating contests. “The top two or three candidates have a real chance now to go deep into March and maybe early April,” said Bob Bennett, a member of the Republican National Committee from Ohio. “I could see it going deep into April with a two-man contest.” Bennett served on the RNC panel that wrote the new rule in 2010.

Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada the first states expected to hold nominating contests - were exempt.

Texas Gov Rick Perr y has emerged as the Republican front-runner, with former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney his chief rival.

Far ther back in the polls are Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Despite the change, the expectation is low that GOP race will go all the way to June, like the battle between Clinton and Obama. The Democratic race in 2008 was exceptional, pitting two well-funded, resilient candidates who were able to survive multiple losses and emerge with enough campaign money to continue. In one stretch, Clinton lost 11 contests in a row. Her cam-

paign was wounded, and she eventually lost the nomination to Obama, but she was able to stay in the race for several more months.

No one in the GOP field could withstand 11 straight losses and still raise enough money to remain a viable candidate, said Rich Galen, a veteran Republican campaign strategist. But they could lose a majority of those races, and if they still pick up a substantial number of delegates, they might be able to persuade donors to stick with them, he

said. “If there were 100 delegates available and you got zero, then it looks like hell,” Galen said. “But if there are 100 delegates and you got 40, even though you didn’t come in first, you did pretty well.

That translates into money and that allows you to keep going.”

Another impor tant difference between Democrats and Republicans: Democratic Party rules require all states to award delegates proportionally. In 2008, that made it harder for Obama to

CALIFORNIA: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie delivers remarks during the Perspectives on Leadership Forum at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. Influential Republicans are urging Christie to run for president and are prepared to raise money. — AFP

put Clinton away earlier. It also hurt Clinton’s ability to catch up, once she fell behind. Republican state parties can schedule winner-take-all primaries, starting in April, which should help decide the GOP contest before June. “We felt that it would be helpful to the process to go a little longer, but not all the way to June,” said John Ryder, a member of the Republican National Committee from Tennessee.

He chaired the panel that wrote the new rule.

“At some point, the advantages that are gained by extending the process begin to yield diminishing returns because it begins to drain your financial base and perhaps leave the kinds of primary scars that are very difficult to heal for the general election,” Ryder said. The new delegate rule was adopted after an intense debate among GOP activists.

Some worried it would extend the contest too much, increasing the possibility that the Republican candidate would emerge bloodied and broke. Others believed that a longer contest could energize the party for the general election. The rule does not define proportional, so there will be some variation among the states on how they divvy up delegates.

For example, New Hampshire Republicans plan to allocate all 20 of their delegates proportionally, based on the statewide vote. Oklahoma Republicans plan to award some of their 40 delegates based on statewide results and the rest based on vote totals in individual congressional districts.

It’s unclear which Republican candidate might benefit from the new rule because the dynamics of the race could change dramatically, depending on the outcome of early primaries and caucuses. The election calendar is also in flux. State parties have until Saturday to submit their primary and caucus plans.

Once the RNC reviews the plans, the party will set the number of delegates needed to win the nomination. —AP

Bolivian minister quits over police crackdown Morales apologizes, hits out at media LA PAZ: Bolivia’s interior minister resigned on Tuesday as leftist President Evo Morales battled to limit political damage from a police crackdown on protesters opposed to the construction of a road through the Amazon. Interior Minister Sacha Llorenti is the second member of Morales’ Cabinet to resign since police broke up the monthlong march in a weekend raid condemned by opposition leaders, the ombudsman and several government officials.

Morales’ defense minister quit on Monday to

protest the operation, which prompted Morales to suspend work on the 185-mile highway until a referendum is held in the two provinces that the road will link. Llorenti, a close presidential ally who had become a focus of opposition-led criticism over the police response, said he decided to step down “because I don’t want to become a tool for the right.”

Police fired tear gas and briefly detained protesters when they raided an encampment in the Yucumo, region 185 miles north of La Paz late on

LA PAZ: Bolivia’s President Evo Morales (left) greets Wilfredo Chavez after he was sworn in as Bolivia’s new interior minister as Bolivia’s new Defense Minister Ruben Saavedra looks on at the government palace in La Paz. —AP

Sunday, according to local media. Several people suffered minor injuries, the reports said.

Students and community activists took to the streets of many towns and cities to show solidarity with the Amazon road protesters on Tuesday, intensifying pressure on Morales. Naming new defense and interior ministers, Morales lambasted local news outlets for reporting that several protesters had been killed. “I want to know where these dead people are,” he said, though he did apologize for the handling of the protest.

“On my own behalf and the government’s, many apologies,” he said in a speech. Strong opposition to the government’s road plan has proved especially uncomfortable for Morales because it was led by Indian communities who normally back his pro-indigenous reforms.

Morales, Bolivia’s first president of indigenous descent, peppers his speeches with references to Mother Earth, but the highway has tested his priorities. He says the $420 million road, which neighboring Brazil will help finance, is vital to economic development in one of the countries most isolated regions.

Center-right opposition leader Samuel Doria Medina said Llorenti’s surprise resignation showed the government was “in a profound crisis because of the cruel attack on the indigenous demonstrators.” “The president’s credibility has been damaged and in order to reverse that, the only thing he can do is change his cabinet,” Doria Medina said. Protests are common in the natural gas-exporting country, but tensions that toppled two governments in 2003 and 2005 have eased since Morales was elected in late 2005 on pledges to give more political power to the poor, indigenous majority. — Reuters

Beijing: US-Taiwan arms deal to impact exchanges BEIJING: Beijing said yesterday Washington’s decision to upgrade Taiwan’s F-16 fighters would damage military ties between the United States and China, impacting military exchanges and high-level visits. China has repeatedly condemned the $5.85 billion US deal to upgrade Taiwan’s fleet of F-16 fighter jets, summoning the US ambassador and warning the move would undermine warming military relations if it was not revoked. Yesterday, the defense ministry warned that military relations would suffer

direct consequences from the deal, without specifying what action it would take. “In light of the serious damage resulting from the US arms sale to Taiwan, planned China-US militar y exchanges, including high-level visits and joint exercises, will definitely be impacted,” said ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng.

Geng also urged Washington to “stop arms sales to Taiwan” to avoid “serious damage” to USChina military ties. Beijing still considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification by

South seeking ‘road to war’: North Korea UNITED NATIONS: North Korea has accused the rival South of seeking “the road to war” but called again for international talks on its nuclear arsenal. South Korea’s conservative government has taken relations with the North “to their worst state with widespread atmosphere of war and confrontation,” the North’s Vice Foreign Minister Pak Kil-Yon told the UN General Assembly. Pak blamed what he called the South’s plan to achieve unification of the Korean peninsula “through absorption” after a collapse in the Stalinist North. “ The so-called ‘unification through absorption’ is the road to war,” he said, while a federal formula for an eventual merger agreed by their leaders in 2000 “leads to peace.” Pak’s conflict warnings reflect the icy state of relations between the two, who have never formally ended the 1950-53 Korean

War with a full treaty. The South has taken a hard line with its neighbor over the past year since two deadly attacks blamed on the North’s military-the sinking of a warship in March 2010 and the shelling of a frontier island last November. South Korea, a close ally of the United States, has also resisted the North’s calls to hold new six nation talks on its nuclear weapons program.

While the North’s revelation of a uranium enrichment program has heightened international concerns, South Korea has demanded an apology for the attacks and a sign that the North is serious about wanting to disarm. The North’s minister said “the Korean peninsula stands at the crossroads of either relaxation of tension or the vicious cycle of aggravation of tension.” He reaffirmed decades old calls to the United States to hold full-fledged dialogue. —AFP

force if necessary-even though the island has ruled itself since 1949 at the end of a civil war.

Washington recognizes Beijing rather than Taipei, but remains a leading arms supplier to the island of 23 million inhabitants, providing a source of continued US-China tension. Under the deal announced last week, Taiwan will get a retrofit of 145 F-16 A/B fighter jets, which will be equipped with modern weapons and radar capable of detecting China’s new stealth aircraft.

Taiwan and US officials have said the upgrade would improve the island’s defenses as it faces a rising China, which has ramped up military spending and widened its strategic edge over the self-governing territory. The move fell short of Taiwan’s request for 66 new and more powerful F-16 C/D fighters. Analysts have said the US offer was a piece of diplomatic craftsmanship which showed commitment to the defense of democratic Taiwan, while averting a furious Chinese reaction to a sale. China froze military exchanges with the United States in 2010 over an earlier arms package, but relations have improved over the past year. In July, Mike Mullen became the first chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff since 2007 to visit China.

A top US officer on Tuesday played down the potential effect of the latest US arms sale to Taiwan, saying he did not expect Beijing to cut off all military relations. Admiral Robert Willard, head of the US Pacific Command, said China might delay or cancel some meetings, but would not sever all contacts with the US military. “I think that regardless of the effects of this particular round of Taiwan arms sales and disagreement between our two governments on that issue, China will be very likely to retain the highest-level visitation that will enable us to continue those strategic level discussions,” Willard told reporters in Washington. — AFP

SHANGHAI: A family member and a rescuer (right) help a female passenger out from the subway station after a train collision in Shanghai on September 27, 2011. — AFP

Shanghai subway crash revives safety concerns SHANGHAI: A crash on one of Shanghai’s newest subway lines is the latest stumble in China’s rush to roll out modern services, often sacrificing safety for fast results. The collision Tuesday, which injured 271 people, has also focused attention on a stateowned venture that supplies signal systems, including one implicated in a deadly bullet train crash in July. The subway operator, Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, said the line which opened last year was experiencing signal problems when one of its trains crashed into another near the city’s scenic Yuyuan Garden. It was not the first problem on the line. A mishap involving the misdirecting of a train two months earlier had resulted in assurances of no more accidents from the maker of the signal system, Casco Signal Ltd. “We certainly intend to get to the bottom of this,” the metro’s chairman Yu Guangyao told reporters.

Casco, a joint venture of China Railway Signal and Communication Corp., or CRSC, and France’s Alstom, SA, was set up in the mid-1980s and is a major supplier of signal systems and other electronic equipment for China’s railways and subway systems. It also supplied a centralized traffic control system for the railway in east China’s Zhejiang province where two bullet trains crashed on July 23, killing 40 people and injuring 177.

While the two systems are not the same, the problems with signaling and communica-

tions on the subway line raised eyebrows: At the time of the crash, the crowded trains were operating at lower than usual speeds and being directed via phone by subway staff rather than by electronic signals.

As with the bullet train crash, which experts say resulted both from equipment and human error, its problems likely are not limited to the signaling equipment. “There is no doubt that the signaling equipment is the most direct and obvious cause,” said Li Hongchang, a professor of economics and management at Beijing Jiaotong University.

“The deeper cause lies in maintenance, management and even in whether contracts were awarded in a fair an open way in the first place.”

Staff at Casco’s headquarters refused comment yesterday. China’s multi-trillion dollar building boom is knitting the country together as never before, with high-speed trains, smooth new super highways, cruise terminals and brand new airports. But many of the projects, built at hyper speed to meet deadlines that often appear geared more to political grandstanding than safety, have fallen prey to quality and safety problems.

“Given the serious traffic jam problems in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, generally it is better to have more subways and have them earlier,” said Li, the professor. “But the rush is too hot in some places, too many subways built too quickly,” Li said. —AP

Killings spread fear on Mexico social networks MEXICO CITY: The brutal killing of a third person in apparent retaliation for reporting crime on social networks has raised fears of further censorship of Mexico’s drug violence. The beheading of journalist Maria Elizabeth Macias on Saturday came two weeks after the half-naked bodies of a man and a woman were found hanging from a bridge also in the northeastern border city of Nuevo Laredo, along with messages threatening people who report drug violence on the Internet.

The use of social networks to spread information in parts of Mexico is often a matter of survival-without a political agenda as in China or the Arab revolutionsbecause newspapers no longer dare to report on drug violence. “In the context of violence against the press present in Mexico ... social networks ... break the silence imposed on journalists,” the Mexican branch of the Article 19 rights watchdog said in a statement Tuesday.

“That’s why it’s urgent to guarantee the security of those who use those tools.”

Around 10 journalists have been killed this year in Mexico, according to different

media watchdogs, alongside eruptions of violence amid a military crackdown on drug gangs that started in 2006. Officials and media reports blame more than 40,000 deaths on drug violence since 2006.

Press freedom groups condemned the killing of Macias, whose decapitated body and head were found near a message citing posts she wrote on a local anti-crime website, “Nuevo Laredo en Vivo.”

Tamaulipas state authorities said a criminal group had claimed responsibility for the crime while news reports said the message was signed ‘ZZZZ,’ using the letter associated with the Zetas drug gang.

The two bodies found on September 13 were also accompanied by a message signed ‘Z.’ The Zetas-who started as ex-elite army officers working as hitmen for the Gulf cartel in the 1990s-are blamed for many attacks in Tamaulipas and beyond since they broke off from the Gulf gang in early 2010. Macias, 39, worked for daily newspaper Primera Hora but her Internet posts were on public forums where locals seek information about gang fights in the area. —AFP

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

PANIKHATI, India: A fisherman paddles his boat after checking his fishing net at the Brahmaputra river near this village on the outskirts of Guwahati yesterday. As the water level of the Brahmaputra River starts to recede, villagers living nearby turn to fishing to meet their consumption needs. — AFP

Saudi police seize drug-laden glider Continued from Page 1 He added that the drug smugglers were intercepted thanks to increased border security measures launched two years ago. In July 2009, Saudi Arabia signed a deal with the European aerospace and defence contractors EADS to build a high-tech security fence on 9,000 km of the country’s border. The so-called MIKSA project was

first envisaged in the 1990s in the wake of the first Gulf War to secure Saudi Arabia’s border with Iraq with physical fencing and high-tech monitoring. But with increased worries over infiltration into the country by anti-government militants and Al-Qaeda operatives, the Saudi interior ministry expanded the scope of the program to fence and electronically monitor all the country’s borders. — AFP

Nuke engineer killed in Syria Continued from Page 1 manner - of Syrian academics. They include Hassan Eid, chief of chest surgery at the Homs hospital who had treated wounded Syrian protesters in the past months.

Also shot dead were professors Nael Dakhil, 54, and Mohammed Aqeel, 49, who was assassinated by bullets that struck his car in the Ghouta neighborhood of Homs. The dead men came from different religious backgrounds - Shiite, Alawite and Christian - and it unclear whether the killings had any sectarian motives.

None of those killed were Sunni, Saleh said. The killings are reminiscent of assassinations in Iraq following the 2003 US invasion of that toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime, when the country was hit by a wave of assassinations that claimed the lives of scores of physicians, professors and nuclear experts in what led to a brain drain from the country.

Syria, like Iraq, has a volatile sectarian divide, making civil unrest a frightening prospect. The Assad regime is dominated by the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, but the country is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim.

Saleh said it was not clear who was behind the killings, adding there were gunmen operating in Homs and that the situation was fluid.

Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso blamed the regime was for the assassinations. “They are trying to sow

chaos, fear and terror in the hope that protesters will be cowed into retreat,” he said.

A statement by the Al Ghad coalition, an umbrella group of Syrian activists, said it was yet another attempt to crush the Syrian people’s peaceful revolution. “The regime has failed until now to create sectarian strife in Homs and it’s trying again now to do so in a brutal way, disregarding the importance of scientific experts to Syrian society,” a statement said. SANA, the state-run news agency, said Khalil, like the other three academics, was killed by armed terrorist groups which it blames for the unrest in Syria.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch group, meanwhile, called for an international investigation into the possible role by Syrian security agents in the recent decapitation of an 18-year-old Syrian woman. Zainab Al-Hosni from Homs was beheaded and mutilated early this month, and her body returned to her family. She is believed to be the first woman to die in Syrian custody since the uprising started.

Activists said she had been detained by security agents to pressure her activist brother to turn himself in. “Syrian security forces either killed and mutilated Zainab Al-Hosni or are turning a blind eye to gangs committing gruesome murders against anti-government activists and their families,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. — AP

Bahrain feels heavy weight of tensions Continued from Page 1 and Tunisia, took to the streets in February. But a fight that started as an attempt to foster the Gulf region’s first real democracy now often looks more like a sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shi’ite, as well as a power struggle between the two powers who seek to champion them - Saudi Arabia and Iran. The government invited Sunni neighbour Saudi Arabia to send troops to help crush the movement in March, saying the mostly Shiite protesters had sectarian motives and backing from Iran, but the island state has remained tense ever since. Around 30 people died during the disturbances earlier this year, mostly Shiites protesters but also some police and Asian expatriates, but the figure has risen to around 40 in ongoing clashes in Shiite villages as government measures to calm the situation fall flat.

By-elections were held last week to fill parliamentary seats vacated by the leading opposition group, the Shiite-based Wefaq party, after security forces first killed activists in February, but a Wefaq boycott managed to embarrass the authorities. Only 17 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, effectively ruining government efforts to delegitimise Wefaq as the main voice of the Shiite electorate who demand ceding real powers to parliament and removal of a prime minister - an uncle of the king - who has been there for four decades.

The women in Sanabis, a lower-middle-class suburb of the capital that has developed into one of the strongholds of anti-government feeling, say there can be no compromise with a government that looks down on them as rural Shiites of second-class status. “The government has to go, the crimes are too big now. Through continuous revolution, we cannot stop and cannot surrender,” says Fatima, a mother of one. Most Shiites look to Bahrain’s most senior Shiite cleric Issa Qassem for guidance in religious affairs, though others may follow clerics in Iraq, Lebanon or Iran.

In this home, where the women take refuge from the police, a small frayed sticker of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sits above a door. Iran once sought to inspire Shiites with its 1979 revolution, but its ability to impress has faded. “Most Sunnis are afraid because the government tries to show them we belong to Iran, so they don’t support us,” says Umm Haidar, denying claims that clerics abroad give them orders. “We follow them on religion, not politics.”

Sunnis, who tend to reside in the more affluent areas around Manama, view things through an entirely different lens. Saud, a young IT lecturer at a private university who did not want to be identified by his full name, says Wefaq and most Shiites want an Islamic republic and

they are escalating violence against security forces to get it. He denies that Sunnis are the minority. Gullible foreign powers such as the United States are helping them, he said, evidenced by US President Barack Obama citing Wefaq in a recent UN speech. Secular opposition parties, such as Waad, led by Sunni politician Ibrahim Sharif, were misled into joining with Wefaq in demands for democracy, he said, talking in a hotel of the upscale Juffair neighbourhood.

“Wefaq doesn’t issue statements condemning violence. Every single night there are policemen injured by rocks, buckets of paint are thrown on them and they face Molotov cocktails,” he says. “If they don’t condemn, that means they agree. Is Wefaq trying to ignite sectarian war by ignoring this? People on the ground are asking for reforms, but how about reforming their actions, their minds, their beliefs? Change starts at the individual level.” He recalled how he found his students separating out into Sunni on one side and Shiites on the other at one stage in March, though things have returned now to normal. “This is a lovely country and it really doesn’t deserve what’s happening to it,” he said.

With entrenched views like these now dominating Sunni and Shiite thinking, Bahrain seems headed for more communal strife. Shiites who voted in the by-election and rejected Wefaq say they are witnessing radicalisation in Shiite villages.

“People in the streets want someone to hear them and say at least ‘we want to speak to you’. We in villages see these things happening every night and it’s spreading to areas where nothing used to happen,” said Isa Mohammed, who works in corporate communications, citing clashes in Malkiya. “What is happening now is like mass punishment.

The police come in big numbers and rain villages with teargas and that’s attracting many others who are not close to this,” he said, adding his father’s home was recently damaged by police actions.

One of the main gripes was dismissals of Shiites from many companies for taking part in the protests, Mohammed said. King Hamad promised many would get their jobs back but his orders had not been fully implemented, he said, hinting at disputes inside the ruling Al-Khalifa family over how to proceed. Michael Stephens, a Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) researcher based in Qatar, said the king - facing a Shiite street demanding more reforms and Sunni hardliners demanding no compromises - needed to take action to stop the escalating violence. “We’ve reached the point where the regime knows it can’t afford more dead people on its hands, so it will use detention and teargas,” Stephens said. “The king has to come forward and show strength.” — Reuters

Saudi men vote as women wait JEDDAH: Saudi men are to vote today in municipal elections, the last all-male affair in the Muslim kingdom after a royal decree this week giving women the right to cast ballots in four years. Some 5,324 candidates will compete for 816 seats in the elections - only the second in Saudi Arabia’s history - to fill half the seats in the country’s 285 councils.

The other half are appointed by the government. The first elections in the Gulf kingdom, which has a population of around 27.5 million, including around 19 million Saudis, were held in 2005, but the government extended the existing council’s term for two years.

Around 1.2 million male voters have registered to take part. The election is just four days after Saudi Arabia’s absolute monarch Abdullah granted women the right to vote and run in the next municipal elections in four years, a historic first for the ultra-conservative country. Women’s rights activists had long fought for the right to vote in the kingdom, which applies a strict version of Sunni Islam and bars women from driving or travelling without the consent of a male guardian.

And despite their frustration at having to wait until 2015 to exercise that right, female activists were rejoiced by the decision by the 86-year-old king, who was spared Arab spring protests that toppled autocratic regimes in Tunisia and Egypt. “We are heading towards a new era that will see women obtain their rights,” said Maha Futaihi, spouse of the kingdom’s Labour Minister Adel Faqih, who is also a community activist.

Candidate Othman Al-Othman also welcomed the king’s decision. “It is an honour for us to compete with our sisters and I think they are more serious and interactive than men,” he said. In addition to participating in the only public polls in the country, King Abdullah announced Sunday that he has decided to admit women to the Shura Council, an all-appointed, consultative body. Saudi Arabia’s

does not have an elected parliament.

Abdullah’s move was hailed by the United States and Britain, which both called it a significant “step forward” for the Saudi people. However, Saudi steps towards gender equality were seen by some as insufficient. Hussein Sharif head of the human rights association in the western city of Makkah said: “Women still have a long way to go” to gain their rights in the kingdom. “The road for women to gain their rights is still too long. She is still marginalised... in terms of her rights and duties,” said Fahad Al-Harithi, head of Asbar Centre for Studies, Research and Communications.

Advocacy group Human Rights Watch also welcomed the decision but said it came too late. “King Abdullah’s promise that women will finally be allowed to vote is a welcome move away from the discrimination and exclusion that Saudi women have suffered for so long,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East director. “Sadly, King Abdullah’s promise of reform in 2015 doesn’t come soon enough for women to vote in upcoming municipal elections,” said Whitson.

Amnesty International, which cautiously welcomed the decision, said the kingdom was moving much too slowly on women’s rights. “It is a welcome, albeit limited, step along the long road towards gender equality in Saudi Arabia,” said Philip Luther, the global rights watchdog’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa. “It is, however, much overdue and does not go nearly far enough. While moving in the right direction, Saudi Arabia is moving far too slowly.

Ultimately, it is no great achievement to be one of the last countries in the world to grant women the vote,” Luther said. More than 60 intellectuals and activists had called in May for a boycott of the September ballot because “municipal councils lack the authority to effectively carry out their role” and “half of their members are appointed,” as well as because they exclude women. — AFP

Tribesmen shoot down Yemen jet Continued from Page 1 Tribesmen captured the pilot after he ejected when the plane crashed in the village of Beit Azar, tribal sources said. The tribal area of Arhab has been targeted by heavy air strikes since a general and six other soldiers were killed Sunday in clashes between tribesmen and the Republican Guard. General Abdullah Al-Kulaibi, head of the 63rd brigade of the elite Republican Guard unit, died in the attack by tribesman opposed to Saleh’s rule in the strategic town of Nihm, the defence ministry said. Four of the attackers were killed during the assault on the military base, about 60 km from the Yemeni capital, it said. Tribal sources claimed on Monday that 33 troops were captured in the confrontation.

Meanwhile, three more gunmen were killed in overnight clashes with the guard, tribal sources said.

Nihm is one of several villages and towns that collectively make up the strategic northern gateway into Sanaa and is site of at least five Republican Guard bases.

The elite unit has so far prevented dissident General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, who now controls part of the capital, from calling in reinforcements from Yemen’s northern provinces where parts of his division are deployed. The tribesmen who carried out the assault on the military

base late Sunday are allied with General Ahmar and have been battling government troops for control of the area.

Saleh, who is under international pressure to relinquish power and allow new elections, returned to the country last week, sparking violence in which scores have died.

The 69-year-old president has repeatedly refused to sign a power transfer deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council under which he would hand power to Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in return for immunity from prosecution.

Youth groups said they plan to march today from their encampment at Change Square in the north of Sanaa to the southern part of the city which hosts the Saleh’s residence. “There will be an escalation during the coming two days.

The youths will march... to Hedda Street, where the president’s residence is,” Walid Al-Amari, a leading activist from the youth revolution committee, told AFP. He said protesters wanted to march peacefully and have asked the leadership of the defected First Armoured Division not to provide any armed protection that could provoke Saleh loyalists. “We have asked the troops of the First Division not to accompany us,” he said. —AFP

Popular, Reform blocs to grill PM...

Continued from Page 1 The decision to grill Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah came after opposition MPs called at a gathering Tuesday night for a joint effort to force the premier to quit. Islamist MP Waleed AlTabtabaei vowed at the gathering that if the grilling does not lead to ousting the prime minister, “I will resign my seat in parliament. This is a promise”. The grilling cannot be debated before the Assembly starts its new term on Oct 25 amid many rumours and unsourced reports that the house could be dissolved before then. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali declined to provide details about the bank deposits scandal in an answer to questions submitted by MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun. Saadoun had asked for details about the cases of illegal deposits into the accounts of MPs and the role of the Central Bank, but Shamali in a lengthy answer provided general information about the role of the Central Bank as stipulated in the anti-money laundering law and other legislation. But

Shamali stressed that the Central Bank has not given permission to any bank to make exceptions to the law regarding any deposits, particularly those of MPs. Also, in an unprecedented move, opposition Islamist MP Dhaifallah Buramia yesterday disclosed his wealth based on bank accounts of him and his children, saying he wants to clear his name in the corruption scandal.

Buramia was responding to reports in some newspapers and on Twitter implicating him in the illegal deposits scandal. He showed the details of his bank account to reporters to show that his account never exceed KD 4,000 in any month.

MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun meanwhile called on the government not to remain silent against a demand reportedly made by 100 Iraqi MPs to renegotiate the border demarcation which was made by the UN Security Council in 1993. Saadoun said the government should immediately act to respond to such moves by Iraqi MPs and make it clear that the demarcation was based on a Security Council resolution and cannot be changed.

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

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Yemen soldiers blur lines of peaceful protests

By Erika Solomon he line between protesters and mutinying soldiers backing them is becoming increasingly blurred in Yemen’s eight-month revolt against President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule, raising the risk of a more violent conflict that may presage civil war. As they march past troops at the ready holding machine guns, rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, Yemeni protesters holding up peace signs are joined by groups of armed deserters.

“There are definitely more of them with us these days. I was surprised how many soldiers were around today. I wonder if something is happening,” said Omar, a 20-yearold student who looks warily over his shoulder at dozens of troops standing by.

Around Omar, protesters shout “Peaceful, peaceful, no to civil war”. In the alleys of the capital Sanaa, near the march, anti-Saleh forces wait in armoured trucks with machine guns. The city is carved into enclaves between soldiers loyal to Saleh and troops following a general who backs the opposition, and is still reeling from a week of shelling and shooting which killed more than 100 people. Global powers have been pressing Saleh to sign a Gulf-mediated deal to hand over power to stem spreading chaos in Yemen, a haven for Al-Qaeda militants and neighbour to the world’s biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia.

Saleh returned to Yemen last week after spending three months in Riyadh recovering from an assassination attempt. Until recently, the line was clear. Civilians protested against the government while General Ali Mohsen’s soldiers watched on from afar, a buffer against attack. But protesters, frustrated by months of political deadlock, left Mohsen’s demarcated zone last week and marched into government-held territory flanked by the general’s forces. For diplomats trying to negotiate a longstalled peace deal, the threat of military escalation was their worst nightmare.

Despite a return to tenuous calm, last week’s fighting already derailed one near deal, and it has further unsettled a volatile, impoverished nation where Al-Qaeda is seeking to gain a larger foothold amid the unrest. In last week’s violent collision, protesters suffered most of the deaths and casualties. “They can protect us, I believe that,” Omar said, his voice shaking. “Maybe it’s dangerous to have them here, but it is dangerous not to have them too. I just hope this won’t cause more trouble.”

Many observers accuse General Mohsen and the powerful tribal leader Sadeq Al-Ahmar, both formerly among the government elite, of exploiting the protesters by allowing them to march into the danger zone that ignited a massive battle. “This is part of the hijacking of the youth revolution,” said Yemeni analyst Abdulghani AlIryani. “The day the big massacres took place the youth were clearly interspersed with a number of First Armoured Division (Mohsen) fighters.” Diplomats say that both Mohsen’s forces and divisions led by Saleh’s son and nephew are testing the waters to see who would prevail should they ditch political transition plans that would mean both government and opposition leaders could see their grip on power loosened.

Protesters refuse to believe they are merely pawns.

“The soldiers are here for us, to protect us and our revolution,” said unemployed protester Abdelsalam, 40, waving to soldiers who have joined the march. “We need them,” he says, echoing a popular sentiment in Change Square, the four-kilometre encampment that is the heart of Yemen’s protests. But only last week, the camp was dotted with pools of blood and pocked-marked by bullets.

Protesters were hit by mortar fire and attacked by snipers lurking on rooftops. “We hope if they are around they can scare away the snipers. But then, they are also a target, so maybe they are a risky form of protection,” laughs protester Mohammed Mashni, 34. “I just don’t think we have any other choice.”

Along the rows of ramshackle plastic tents in Change Square, soldiers with rifles slung on their backs sit crosslegged and share lunch with protesters. Armed Mohsen troops zip past the crowds on trucks with mounted automatic rifles. When the imam calls out to the crowd, soldiers lay their weapons on mats and pray with the protesters. “We are part of the peaceful revolution, we are not here to fight” says Abdullah, a scrawny 19-year-old soldier, sitting in a tent with a group of young protesters.

As he gets up to leave, he picks up his rifle, and slings a long bullet-belt across his chest. His companion, a young soldier Rashad Shirayi is less diplomatic, “If the president wants war, he’ll get it.” —Reuters

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How close is Iran to the bomb?

By Fredrik Dahl ither Iran could build a nuclear bomb in a matter of months or it is unlikely to get such a weapon any time soon - depending on which Western expert you talk to. The differing estimates show the difficulty in trying to assess how long it could take Iran to convert its growing uranium stockpile into weaponsgrade material and how advanced it may be in other areas vital for any bomb bid. The answers to those questions could determine the major powers’ room for manoeuvre in trying to find a diplomatic solution to a dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions which has the potential to spark a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Western-based analysts generally agree with their governments that Tehran is developing technology that could be used to make a bomb, but they disagree about just how close it is to success. US defence analyst Greg Jones gave one of the more urgent warnings this month, arguing that if Iran decides to make a bomb it could produce enough highlyenriched uranium (HEU) in about eight weeks.

“The timeframe will shrink to only about four weeks by the end of next year as Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles and enrichment capacity continue to increase,” Jones, of the conservative

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Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, said.

Iran “needs to be treated as a de facto nuclear power simply by virtue of being so close to having a weapon”, he added in an article in US political magazine New Republic.

Other experts say such estimates are unrealistic, given the hurdles Iran must still overcome.

“I think that we tend to overstate sometimes how close Iran is to being able to develop a nuclear weapon,” said senior researcher Shannon Kile at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a think-tank based in the Swedish capital. “I just don’t see how you can credibly say they are going to be eight weeks away or even 18 months away.”

Jones is not the only expert to suggest that Iran may be very close to producing the refined uranium material necessary for a weapon, should it decide to do so. A paper published by the US Bipartisan Policy Center think-tank said Iran could make 20 kg of HEU - a quantity it said would be enough for one device - in two months. It said it remained unclear if Iran had mastered the technology to turn the HEU into a weapon, but that history suggested this could be achieved in less than six months.

But another Washington-based think-tank, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), said Jones’s calculation method was “unreliable” and a breakout in such a short

time at Iran’s Natanz enrichment site was not realistic. Other experts stressed that Iran would also need to turn any weapons-usable uranium into the core of a nuclear missile if it wanted more than a crude device, adding to the timetable. Mark Fitzpatrick, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), said he now believed Iran could make a nuclear weapon in less than two years’ time.

“Suggestions that Iran will be able to produce weapons in a matter of months are irresponsible,” Fitzpatrick, a director of the IISS Non-proliferation and Disarmament Programme, said. But, “just as exaggeration is irresponsible, so too is complacency,” he added.

Iran’s refusal to halt its enrichment activities has drawn four rounds of U.N. sanctions since 2006.

Refined uranium can be used to fuel nuclear power plants or provide material for bombs if processed much further.

The West fears that Iran’s move last year to enrich uranium to a fissile purity of almost 20 percent - up from the 3.5 percent normally needed for reactors - takes it significantly closer to the 90 percent level needed for arms. Iran says it needs this higher-grade material for a reactor producing radioactive isotopes to treat cancer patients. ISIS said that in the fastest scenario, Iran could have enough of the 20 percent material for a nuclear weapon in 2012 if it

refined more. But even if Iran were to produce bomb-grade uranium, it would also have to transform it from gaseous into metal form, miniaturise it to squeeze into the nose cone of a missile and fit it with a trigger system.

Sanctions and possible sabotage - such as the Stuxnet computer virus and killings of nuclear scientists that Tehran blames on Israel may have slowed Iran’s atomic work, but its stockpile of uranium is steadily growing. Iran “is moving ahead in all of the ways that you would need to if you wanted a nuclear weapon,” Fitzpatrick said. Raising the pressure, UN nuclear watchdog chief Yukiya Amano this month said he was “increasingly concerned” about possible work in Iran to develop a nuclear missile. He hoped to give more details soon about the basis for those concerns. Israel and the United States, Tehran’s arch foes, have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the row. Israel bombed an Iraqi reactor in 1981 and launched a similar sortie against Syria in 2007. “Israel has no doubt that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons,” the head of the Jewish state’s atomic energy commission, Shaul Chorev, told member states of the U.N. nuclear agency last week. Israel’s chief of military intelligence, Aviv Kochavi, said in January that Iran could produce bombs within two years. — Reuters

Pak double-game: Treachery or strategy?

By John Chalmers ashington has just about had it with Pakistan. “Turns out they are disloyal, deceptive and a danger to the United States,” fumed Republican Representative Ted Poe last week. “We pay them to hate us. Now we pay them to bomb us. Let’s not pay them at all.” For many in America, Islamabad has been nothing short of perfidious since joining a strategic alliance with Washington 10 years ago: selectively cooperating in the war on extremist violence and taking billions of dollars in aid to do the job, while all the time sheltering and supporting Islamist militant groups that fight NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has angrily denied the charges, but if its critics are right, what could the explanation be for such duplicity? What strategic agendas might be hidden behind this puzzling statecraft? The answer is that Pakistan wants to guarantee for itself a stake in Afghanistan’s political future. It knows that, as US forces gradually withdraw from Afghanistan, ethnic groups will be competing for ascendancy there and other regional powers - from India to China and Iran - will be jostling for a foot in the door.

Islamabad’s support for the Taliban movement in the 1990s gives it an outsized influence among Afghanistan’s Pashtuns, who make up about 42 percent of the total population and who maintain close ties with their Pakistani fellow tribesmen. In particular, Pakistan’s powerful military is determined there should be no vacuum in Afghanistan that could be filled by its arch-foe, India.

Pakistan has fought three wars with its neighbour since the bloody partition of the subcontinent that led to the creation of the country in 1947, and mutual suspicion still hobbles relations between the two nucleararmed powers today. “They still think India is their primary policy,” said Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general and prominent political analyst. “India is always in the back of their minds.” In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani - unprompted - complained that Washington’s failure to deal even-handedly with New Delhi and Islamabad was a source of regional instability. Aqil Shah, a South Asia security expert at the Harvard Society of Fellows, said Islamabad’s worst-case scenario would be an Afghanistan controlled or dominated by groups with ties to India, such as the Tajik-dominated Northern Alliance, which it

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fears would pursue activities hostile to Pakistan. “Ideally, the military would like Afghanistan to become a relatively stable satellite dominated by Islamist Pashtuns,” Shah wrote in a Foreign Affairs article this week.

Although Pakistan, an Islamic state, officially abandoned support for the predominantly Pashtun Taleban after the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001, elements of the military never made the doctrinal shift. Few doubt that the shadowy intelligence directorate, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has maintained links to the Taleban that emerged from its support for the Afghan mujahideen during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation of

US joint chiefs of staff, Mike Mullen, last week.

Mullen described the Haqqani network, the most feared faction among Taleban militants in Afghanistan, as a “veritable arm” of the ISI and accused Islamabad of providing support for the group’s Sept 13 attack on the US embassy in Kabul.

The reaction in Islamabad has been one of stunned outrage. Washington has not gone public with evidence to back its accusation, and Pakistani officials say that contacts with the Haqqani group do not amount to actual support. However, Imran Khan, a Pakistani cricketer-turned-populist-politician, said this week that it was too much to expect that old friends could have become enemies

Women activists of Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) torch a US flags during a protest to condemn US threats in Multan yesterday. — AFP Afghanistan.

Until recently, there appeared to be a grudging acceptance from Washington that this was the inevitable status quo. That was until it emerged in May that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden - who was killed in a US Navy SEALs raid - had been hiding out in a Pakistani garrison town just two hours up the road from Islamabad, by some accounts for up to five years. Relations between Pakistan and the United States have been stormy ever since, culminating in a tirade by the outgoing

overnight. He told Reuters that, instead of demanding that Pakistan attack the Haqqanis in the mountainous border region of North Waziristan, the United States should use Islamabad’s leverage with the group to bring the Afghan Taleban into negotiations.

“Haqqani could be your ticket to getting them on the negotiating table, which at the moment they are refusing,” Khan said. “So I think that is a much saner policy than to ask Pakistan to try to take them on.”

The big risk for the United States in berat-

ing Islamabad is that it will exacerbate antiAmerican sentiment, which already runs deep in Pakistan, and perhaps embolden it further.

C Raja Mohan, senior fellow at New Delhi’s Centre for Policy Research, said Pakistan was probably gambling that the United States’ economic crisis and upcoming presidential elections would distract Washington. “The real game is unfolding on the ground with the Americans. The Pakistan army is betting that the United States does not have too many choices and more broadly that the US is on the decline, he said.

It is also becoming clear that as Pakistan’s relations with Washington deteriorate, it can fall back into the arms of its “all-weather friend”, China, the energy-hungry giant that is the biggest investor in Afghanistan’s nascent resources sector. Pakistani officials heaped praise on Beijing this week as a Chinese minister visited Islamabad. Among them was army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, arguably the country’s most powerful man, who spoke of China’s “unwavering support”.

In addition, Pakistan has extended a cordial hand to Iran, which also shares a border with Afghanistan. Teheran has been mostly opposed to the Taleban, which is dominated

by Sunni Muslims while Iran is predominantly Shiite. But Iran’s anti-Americanism is more deep-seated. “My reading is the Iranians want to see the Americans go,” said Raja Mohan, the Indian analyst. “They have a problem with the Taleban, but any American retreat will suit them. Iran in the short term is looking at the Americans being humiliated.”

The supremacy of the military in Pakistan means that Washington has little to gain little from wagging its finger about ties with the Taleban at the civilian government, which is regularly lashed for its incompetence and corruption. “The state has become so soft and powerless it can’t make any difference,” said Masood, the Pakistani retired general. “Any change will have to come from the military.”

Daniel Markey, a senior fellow for South Asia at the US Council on Foreign Relations, said the problem lies with a security establishment that continues to believe that arming and working - actively and passively - with militant groups serves its purposes. “Until ... soulsearching takes place within the Pakistani military and the ISI, you’re not likely to see an end to these US demands, and a real shift in terms of the relationship,” Markey said in an online discussion this week. “This is the most significant shift that has to take place.” — Reuters

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

sp orts

Platini urges new laws to combat match-fixing STRASBOURG: UEFA President Michel Platini urged European countries to introduce tougher laws to curb match-fixing in a speech to the Council of Europe yesterday. The former France captain, who has described matchfixing orchestrated by gambling rings as the biggest threat to the sport, said a few countries had introduced laws but others needed to follow suit.

“European football is in danger and I believe I could even say that the whole of sport in Europe is in danger,” he said. “The growing number of fixed matches connected to online betting is alarming, it doesn’t spare any discipline and no country is safe.

“These fixed matches are orchestrated by criminal organisations,” he added. Platini named Italy, Portugal, Spain, Britain, Bulgaria and Poland as some of the countries which had passed laws to make what he described as “sporting fraud” a criminal offence. —Reuters

AIBA hits back at critics AZERBAIJAN: Amateur boxing body AIBA rejected criticism of the seedings for the world championships in Azerbaijan yesterday and accused critics of landing a ‘cheap shot’ and lacking understanding of the rules.

All nine Azeri boxers in the championships, which serve as qualifiers for the London 2012 Olympics, are seeded in their weight divisions under a system introduced last month.

The decision means some boxers are seeded above their world rankings and should have an easier passage to the medal rounds than would otherwise be the case.

“AIBA objects to the insinuations contained in recent media reports that changes...in relation to the seeding of boxers at the World Championships were introduced for any improper pur-

pose,” AIBA said in a statement.

“The insinuations are nothing more than a cheap shot and demonstrate unfamiliarity with the rules, structure and ethos of AIBA and AIBA competitions.”

The draw has fuelled further controversy after the BBC last week aired allegations, strongly denied by AIBA, that Azerbaijan was promised two gold medals at the Olympics in exchange for a $9 million loan to World Series Boxing run under the auspices of AIBA. Damian Collins, a British member of Parliament, has called for the International Olympic Committee to ensure all competitors in London next year are there on merit. AIBA has promised to set up an investigation committee into the allegations.—Reuters

Simmonds in slur allegations NEW YORK: Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds will not be disciplined over an alleged anti-gay slur directed at a player because the claim could not be substantiated, the National Hockey League said on Tuesday.

New York Rangers forward Sean Avery complained Simmonds had made an anti-gay remark toward him during the first period of their pre-season game on Monday. Television cameras appeared to show Simmonds making a remark at Avery, but the league said it was unable to verify its nature after conducting a probe. “Since there are conflicting accounts of what transpired on the ice, we have been unable to substantiate with the necessary degree of certainty what was said and by whom,” Colin Campbell, the NHL’s senior executive vice president of hockey operations, said in a statement. “Specifically, Flyers player Wayne Simmonds has expressly denied using the homophobic slur he is alleged to have said. “Additionally, none of the on-ice officials close to the altercation in question heard any inappropriate slurs uttered by either of the primary antagonists.” The allegation against Simmonds drew the attention of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). —Reuters

Braves rout Phillies 7-1

ST PETERSBURG: New York Yankees’ Brett Gardner (11) steals second base as Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Reid Brignac waits for the throw during the third inning of a baseball game. — AP

Surging Rays win again ST. PETERSBURG: Matt Joyce and Ben Zobrist homered Tuesday to help the Tampa Bay Rays continue their improbable chase for the American League wild card with a 53 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday.

The Rays, seeking their third playoff berth in four seasons, began the night tied with Boston after making up nine games in the standings since Sept. 4. The two teams remained tied after Boston edged Baltimore 8-7.

Joyce’s three-run homer off former teammate Rafael Soriano (2-3) was the All-Star’s first in more than three weeks and wiped out a 3-2 deficit in the seventh. Zobrist hit a two-run drive off Bartolo Colon in the second, and the Rays kept the score close by turning the third triple play in franchise history after falling behind in the sixth.

Red Sox 8, Orioles 7 At Baltimore, the Red Sox maintained a share of the AL wild-card lead, using four home runs to beat Baltimore and set up a dramatic conclusion to the regular season.

The skidding Red Sox were 6-19 in September before rebounding to edge the last-place Orioles. The win, combined with Tampa Bay’s 5-3 victory over the New York Yankees, kept Boston and the Rays tied with one game left.

After blowing a nine-game lead in the span of 23 days, the Red Sox will send Jon Lester (15-9) to the mound against Baltimore on Wednesday night in an effort to get into the postseason for the fourth time in five years. Lester, Boston’s most successful pitcher, will be throwing on three days’ rest.

Rangers 10, Angels 3 At Anaheim, California, Adrian Beltre, Mike Napoli and Nelson Cruz hit consecutive homers in the fifth inning as Texas stayed on track for homefield advantage in the AL division series with a victory over Los Angeles.

The Rangers (95-66) have won five straight and nine of 10 while holding off Detroit (94-67), which beat Cleveland 9-6, for the AL’s second-best record.

If Texas wins late yesterday’s season finale or if the Tigers lose to the Indians, the Rangers will host the AL’s wild card winner on Friday. Detroit holds the tiebreaker if the clubs finish even. A day after the AL West champion Rangers eliminated the Angels from the wild card race, Napoli hit two of the Rangers’ five homers among their 15 hits.

Tigers 9, Indians 6 At Detroit, Wilson Betemit hit a 423-foot home run in his first game back from left knee soreness as Detroit beat Cleveland.

Detroit remained one game behind Texas for the No. 2 seed in the AL after the Rangers beat the Angels 10-3. Betemit hadn’t played since Sept. 16, and manager Jim Leyland said Monday he was concerned about the third baseman. But Betemit was in the lineup Tuesday, and he gave AL Central champion Detroit a 4-0 lead in the second inning with the towering homer to right field.

White Sox 2, Blue Jays 1 At Chicago, Mark Buehrle pitched seven shutout innings in possibly his final start for Chicago and Tyler Flowers homered in a victory over Toronto. The White Sox played their first game since Ozzie Guillen was released from his contract after Monday night’s victory over the Blue Jays. Pitching coach Don Cooper served as interim manager. Buehrle (13-9) allowed six hits, struck out six and walked none. He left to an ovation before throwing a pitch in the top of the eighth.

Buehrle will be a free agent after the season. General manager Ken Williams said before Tuesday night’s game he didn’t know yet whether Buehrle fit into the team’s future plans.

Twins 7, Royals 4 At Minneapolis, Rene Tosoni hit a grand slam and Chris Parmelee also went deep to lift Minnesota over Kansas City. Anthony Swarzak (4-7) gave up two runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings for the Twins (62-99), who are hoping to avoid becoming just the second team in franchise history to lose 100 games in a season. Sean O’Sullivan (2-6) gave up six runs on nine hits with one strikeout in five innings for the Royals. Johnny Giavotella had two doubles and a triple and Salvador Perez added two hits and an RBI for Kansas City.

Athletics 7, Mariners 0 At Seattle, Trevor Cahill and two relievers held Seattle to just four hits while Josh Willingham and Scott Sizemore hit home runs in Oakland’s big win.

After allowing a pair of singles in the first inning, Cahill (12-14) retired the next 13 batters in a row. No base-runner advanced past second base. He struck out seven and walked one. Cahill’s 40 career wins in his first three seasons are second most in Oakland history - behind Vida Blue’s 42 - for a pitcher before his 24th birthday. —AP

MLB results/standings Major League Baseball results and standings on Tuesday.

Boston 8, Baltimore 7; Detroit 9, Cleveland 6; Tampa Bay 5, NY Yankees 3; Philadelphia 7, Atlanta 1; Florida 3, Washington 2; Cincinnati 5, NY Mets 4 (13 innings); St. Louis 13, Houston 6; Milwaukee 6, Pittsburgh 4; Chicago Ws 2, Toronto 1; Minnesota 7, Kansas City 4; Texas 10, LA Angels 3; Oakland 7, Seattle 0.

American League National League Eastern Division Eastern Division Philadelphia 101 60 .627 W L PCT GB Atlanta 89 72 .553 12 NY Yankees 97 64 .602 Washington 79 81 .494 21.5 Tampa Bay 90 71 .559 7 NY Mets 76 85 .472 25 Boston 90 71 .559 7 Florida 72 89 .447 29 Toronto 80 81 .497 17 Baltimore 68 93 .422 29 Central Division Milwaukee 95 66 .590 Central Division St. Louis 89 72 .553 6 Detroit 94 67 .584 Cincinnati 79 82 .491 16 Cleveland 80 81 .497 14 Pittsburgh 72 89 .447 23 Chicago W Sox 79 82 .491 15 Chicago Cubs 71 90 .441 24 Kansas City 71 90 .441 23 Houston 56 105 .348 39 Minnesota 62 99 .385 32 Western Division Western Division Arizona 94 67 .584 Texas 95 66 .590 San Francisco 86 75 .534 8 LA Angels 86 75 .534 9 LA Dodgers 81 79 .506 12.5 Oakland 73 88 .453 22 Colorado 72 89 .447 22 Seattle 67 94 .416 28 San Diego 70 91 .435 24

ATLANTA: Derek Lowe had another miserable outing, surrendering five runs in four-plus innings, as the Philadelphia Phillies romped to a 7-1 victory Tuesday that left the Atlanta Braves on the brink missing the playoffs.

Chase Utley, Hunter Pence and Jimmy Rollins homered for the playoff-bound Phillies to back a three-hit outing by Roy Oswalt (9-10), who tuned up for the playoffs with a strong performance in a largely disappointing season.

The Braves lost their fourth in a row and eighth in 11 games, sending them to the final day of the regular season assured of no more than a onegame lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, who were at Houston.

Cardinals 13, Astros 6 At Houston, the Cardinals are tied with Atlanta for the National League wild-card lead, getting a vital two-run triple from Ryan Theriot in the seventh inning of a victory over Houston.

The sliding Braves lost 7-1 to Philadelphia, sending the race for the NL’s final playoff spot to the final day of the regular season. If the teams are tied after late yesterday’s game, St. Louis will host a one-game playoff on Thursday night.

The Cardinals trailed 5-0 early and appeared to be headed for a second straight loss to the Astros.

But St. Louis scored five times in the fourth and erased a 6-5 deficit with a four-run seventh.

Lance Berkman hit a two-out single and scored on Allen Craig’s tying double. Yadier Molina walked before Theriot’s triple made it 8-6.

D’backs 7, Dodgers 6 At Phoenix, Ryan Roberts’ grand slam capped a six-run 10th inning that gave Arizona the most amazing of its 48 come-from-behind victories this season.

The Dodgers had scored five runs in their half of the 10th and retired the first two batters in Arizona’s half of the inning.

But the Diamondbacks loaded the bases and scored a run on an error. Los Angeles closer Javy Guerra (2-1) came on and walked in a run, then Roberts lined the first pitch he saw over the fence in left field. It was Guerra’s second blown save in 23 tries.

Brewers 6, Pirates 4 At Milwaukee, Prince Fielder homered three times in a game for the first time in his career, including a two-run shot in the seventh inning that lifted Milwaukee to a victory over Pittsburgh.

Fielder’s final homer was the least impressive of the three, barely sailing over the wall in right field after he hit monster shots in the third and fifth innings. But it was the last one that made the biggest difference, breaking a 4-4 tie. The Brewers stayed one game in front of Arizona for the No. 2 seed for the NL playoffs.

Reds 5, Mets 4 At New York, Jose Reyes hit two solo home runs

ATLANTA: Philadelphia Philliesí Hunter Pence follows through on a two-run home run in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves. — AP in his bid for the NL batting title, but Cincinnati beat New York on Drew Stubbs’ squeeze bunt in the 13th inning.

Reyes began the next-to-last game of the season with a minuscule .00003 lead over Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun. Reyes went 3 for 6 and raised his average to .336, finishing the evening one point ahead of Braun, who went 1 for 2 in a 6-4 win over Pittsburgh.

Juan Francisco, who entered after Reds star Brandon Phillips exited early with a strained left quadriceps, hit a tying double with two outs in the ninth. He then hustled for a triple in the 13th and scored on Stubbs’ bunt.

Giants 7, Rockies 0 At San Francisco, Madison Bumgarner and two relievers combined on a three-hitter and Brandon Belt homered into McCovey Cove as San Francisco beat Colorado.

Conor Gillaspie, making a rare start at third base in place of Pablo Sandoval, hit an inside-the-park home run in the seventh while Brandon Crawford added two hits and an RBI for the Giants, who have won two straight following a four-game losing streak.

That’s little consolation for the defending World

Series champs, who will still miss the postseason a year after claiming their first title in 54 years.

Marlins 3, Nationals 2 At Miami, Bryan Petersen homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and Javier Vazquez pitched a five-hitter as Florida beat Washington. Petersen hit the first pitch from reliever Doug Slaten (0-2).

The 35-year-old Vazquez (13-11) may have pitched the final game of his career as he is likely to retire at the end of the season. The Marlins also had only five hits.

Cubs 6, Padres 2 At San Diego, Starlin Castro had two singles to extend his NL-leading total to 206 hits, Alfonso Soriano hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth inning as Chicago beat San Diego in a matchup of 90-game losers. Castro has 12 more hits than Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On Wednesday, Castro will become the youngest player ever to lead the NL in hits in a season, at 21 years, 188 days. He’ll also become the third Cubs player in seven seasons to lead the NL in hits, joining Juan Pierre (2006) and Derrek Lee (2005). Castro reached base for the 39th straight game, extending his career-high streak.—AP

Woods ready for Presidents Cup NEW YORK: Tiger Woods and Bill Haas were both named on a powerful United States team for this year’s Presidents cup while the Australian pair of Robert Allenby and Aaron Baddeley filled the two International places as the rival captains revealed their wildcard selections on Tuesday.

The American team’s non-playing captain Fred Couples had already announced he was reserving one of his two spots for Woods while Haas provided a compelling case for his inclusion on the 12-man roster by winning last weekend’s season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta and the $10 million bonus as FedExCup points champion.

Norman also kept true to his pledge that he wanted two of his countrymen with experience of playing the tricky Royal Melbourne Golf Club layout where the Ryder Cup-style competition will be contested from Nov. 1720.

He gave the nod to the two Australians ahead of last year’s British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and Fijian former world number one Vijay Singh to bolster a lineup already overflowing with talent.

The addition of Baddeley and Allenby boosts the Australian contingent on the International squad to five with Jason Day and Adam Scott, the joint runners-up at this year’s Masters, and former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy having already earned automatic selection.

“Knowing we were playing in the backyard of Australia I wanted to load up the team with as many Aussies as I possibly could,” Norman said on a conference call.

Baddeley, who came up one shot short of joining Haas and Hunter Mahan in the playoff to decide the Tour Championship, did enough to pip John Senden for the last spot while Allenby, a Melbourne native, has a brilliant record at the course he first played when he was 12 years old and has since won two professional titles on.

“The way Aaron and John Senden performed at the Tour Championship, I put them on notice that whoever played the best would get the final nod and Aaron put on a tremen-

AUGUSTA: In this April 5, 2010, photo, Tiger Woods shakes hands with Fred Couples’ caddie, Joe LaCava, during a practice round. —AP

dous performance there,” Norman said.

“The reason I picked Robert is his performances around Royal Melbourne over the years have been extraordinary....he was an automatic pick for me.”

No player will be under more scrutiny or pressure than Woods, who has seen his ranking and form plunge since his last tournament win, in Australia two years ago, while trying to rebuild his golf swing and private life following the breakup of his marriage.

The former-world number one has played on every US Presidents Cup team since 1998 but has not won a tournament since the 2009 Australian Masters at Kingston Heath, located on the same reknowned Melbourne Sandbelt as the Presidents Cup course.

The 14-time major winner failed to qualify for the PGA Tour playoffs after missing the cut at the PGA Championship and, at Couples’

urging, will return to action next week at a Fall Series tournament in California to sharpen his game before heading Down Under for the Australian Open then the Presidents Cup. “Things are going great, I’ve been practising very hard and playing as much as I can, which is something I hadn’t done all summer,” said Woods.

“My strength has come back, my explosiveness has come back...it feels great.” With Woods already assured of a spot, the battle for the final place on the American squad came down to a fight between Haas, Brandt Snedeker and PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley but Haas made the decision easy for Couples.

“Bill Haas knew he had to win and he did,” Couples said. “I could not leave him off the team after that. Second place wasn’t good enough.” — Reuters

A

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

S P ORT S

Dream beat Fever, advance to finals

INDIANAPOLIS: Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings (top) and Atlanta Dream’s Lindsey Harding battle for a rebound during the second half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball Eastern Conference finals. — AP

INDIANAPOLIS: Angel McCoughtry embraced her role as villain, constantly taunting Indiana’s fans while carrying her team to the WNBA finals.

The forward scored 26 points, and the Atlanta Dream defeated the Fever 83-67 on Tuesday night to win the Eastern Conference finals series 2-1 and advance to the championship round for the second straight year.

Atlanta will play at Minnesota on Sunday in the opener of the best-of-five series.

McCoughtry was vocal and demonstrative in Game 1 of this series, earning her status as public enemy No. 1 at Conseco Fieldhouse. She was booed loudly during pregame introductions before Game 3 at a venue where WNBA fans rarely respond to anyone that way.

At one point, the animated McCoughtry threw a towel toward the crowd after coach Marynell Meadors took her out of the game.

The drama was just fuel for the superstar who finished second in league scoring during the regular season. “You get used to it, but you have to use it to motivate you,” she said. “It’s do or die. What else can you do? You just use it as motivation and pump your team up.”

Iziane Castro Marques scored 23 points, Lindsey Harding scored 16 points and Sancho Lyttle added 10 points, 11 rebounds and five steals for the Dream.

Indiana fought valiantly, but couldn’t win with a hobbled Tamika Catchings. The league’s MVP was limited to 24 minutes because of plantar fasciitis in her right foot.

“We went out there and played hard,” Catchings said. “We didn’t play as smart as we normally have. We had way too many turnovers and gave up way too many offensive

rebounds.”

McCoughtry shot 19 free throws - eight more than Indiana’s entire team. Fever coach Lin Dunn didn’t care for the way the game was called.

“I’m sure I’m going to be fined by the league, but I thought the officiating was horrendous,” she said. “If they’re going to have 33 free throws, they can have them, but at least give us more than 11. It was a physical game. It was a knock down, drag out game, and for whatever reason it seemed like the officials were all from Atlanta.”

Dunn thought the only foul the officials didn’t call against Indiana was the one she wanted.

“I don’t know why I didn’t get a technical, I sure tried,” she said. Indiana enjoyed a similar advantage in free-throw shooting in Game 1, something Dunn thinks the officials noticed.

“I’m sure that after Game 1 with all of the complaining that the coaches from Atlanta did and all of the players whining and everything, maybe it got to the officials, I don’t know,” she said. “I certainly didn’t think that it was fair.”

Atlanta won without starting center Erika de Souza, who left to play for Brazil in an Olympics qualifying tournament in Colombia.

Castro Marques, the Brazilian guard who took de Souza’s place in the lineup, made 5 of 7 3-pointers on Tuesday. She scored a seasonhigh 30 points when the Dream beat the Fever 94-77 in Game 2 on Sunday to even the series.

Indiana’s inability to contain Marques in the final two games was key.

“She’s been huge the last two to three weeks,” Meadors said. “When Erika went with the Brazilian team, she (Castro Marques) moved into the starting lineup and she never looked

Bolt in California to raise money for his foundation BEVERLY HILLS: Usain Bolt said he was kidding when he said “all the tutoring stopped” after training partner Yohan Blake ran the 200 meters in 19.26 seconds earlier this month. “I was laughing when I actually said it,” Bolt said Tuesday.

Blake’s time in a meet at Brussels was the second fastest 200 in history, just 0.07 seconds off Bolt’s world record.

Bolt was in California to raise $100,000 for his foundation and talked about his false start at the world championships and his plans between now and next summer’s London Olympics. Bolt said he believes people are looking for controversy.

He and Blake are countrymen, and some believe it’s Blake who’s Bolt’s toughest competition in London. Bolt said it wasn’t true.

“Everything’s right with me and Blake,” he said before calling Blake “the future of Jamaica. He’s the one. ... If he beats me, so be it. I don’t want him to.”

Bolt said no one in particular is his biggest rival and that he doesn’t focus on any single competitor.

“First they said it was Tyson Gay, and then they said it was Asafa Powell. Then all of a sudden, they said it’s Blake,” Bolt said.

“You can’t focus your energy on one person, and then they drop out. What do you do? I focus on the seven people in the lanes with me.”

Bolt also looked back at last month’s default out of the 100 meters in Daegu, South Korea, for jumping the gun, an event that caused him to rethink the sport’s policy of disqualifying anyone who false starts.

He said it never was a problem for him because he had never done it before. Now, “they really should go back to one false start and charge it to the field. It’s easier. Somebody makes one mistake and everybody can relax.” Up next for Bolt is a vaca-

tion to Las Vegas this weekend, a place he has never visited.

Training for the Olympics begins next month.

Once the Olympics come, he has a goal: not just

run fast enough to win the gold medal, but to amaze and leave everyone awestruck. “I want to go to the Olympics and wow people,” he said. “I want to be a legend.” — AP

DAEGU: Jamaica’s Usain Bolt (second left) celebrates his team (from left) Yohan Blake, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter after winning the gold and setting a new world record in the Men’s 4x100m relay final at the World Athletics Championships in Daegu on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011. — AP

Blues again banking on youth ST. LOUIS: The advertising theme for the St. Louis Blues this season is “Don’t Stop Believing.” The plea is appropriate. The front office and the loyal fan base are still awaiting results from a roster built around the high draft picks from a few years ago.

The Blues have missed the playoffs four of the last five years, finishing 11th in the Western Conference and 10 points out of the money last season.

“I think that’s my biggest motivation, to get to the playoffs, to live up to the hype that’s kind of around St. Louis,” forward TJ Oshie said.

David Backes, a second-round draft pick in 2003, enters his first season as captain after a 30-30-30 performance - 31 goals, 31 assists and a plus-32 rating. At 27, he’s hitting his stride.

Chris Stewart had 15 goals in 26 games after arriving from the Avalanche in a trade for former No. 1 overall pick Erik Johnson and is just 23. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, the fourth overall pick in ‘08, had 43 points and averaged 22 minutes his first full season and is only 21. The other youngsters may have some growing, and healing, to do.

Patrik Berglund, a first-rounder in 2006, is the star of the team’s preseason TV ad campaign, pretending to play a piano at center ice to Journey’s 1980s hit. Berglund picked it up in the second half of last season and finished with a career-best 52 points, earning a two-year contract extension entering his fourth season.

Oshie, a first-rounder in 2005, also is entering his fourth season but got only a one-year contract. In addition to missing time with a broken ankle, he served a twogame disciplinary suspension and had 34 points in 49 games. “You don’t want to compare team to team, but we have bona

fide superstars in here,” veteran forward Scott Nichol said. “I don’t know if they know that yet. I think they have to believe in it themselves.”

The eventual return of David Perron, a first-rounder in 2007 and entering his

fourth full season, is a bonus. The 23-yearold Perron rejoined the team Monday more than nine months after sustaining a concussion, although it’ll be a while before he is ready.

“I want to stress he’s back to square

DALLAS: St. Louis Blues center Alexander Steen (20) and Dallas Stars center Ondrej Roman (45), of the Czech Republic, skate for the puck in this file photo. — AP

one,” general manager Doug Armstrong said. “We’re going to push him but only to the point that he’s comfortable.”

Perron, the team’s most creative skater, had five goals and two assists the first 10 games last season before being felled by Joe Thornton’s check in a game against San Jose.

“Great to have him around, great to see him back,” coach Davis Payne said. “Still got a ways to go, obviously, but he’s one of us.”

There’s a veteran presence, too. Alex Steen was third on the team with 51 points and Andy McDonald had 50 points in only 58 games. Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner, who have both played for Stanley Cup winners, each signed oneyear, $2.5 million deals.

“This is a team that I feel is on that doorstep and has the ability to take that next step into that upper group of teams,” Langenbrunner said.

Along with Pietrangelo and 22-yearold Kevin Shattenkirk, there are veterans Barret Jackman, Roman Polak and Carlo Colaiacovo on defense.

Staying power was the biggest ingredient lacking last season. A blazing 9-1-2 start was followed by a five-game losing streak, and the roster couldn’t overcome significant injuries. Goalie Jaroslav Halak had three shutouts in that opening sequence but had his cold stretches, too.

The early going promises to be challenging. The first two games are at home, Oct. 8 against Nashville and Oct. 10 against Chicago, and then eight of the next nine are on the road. “I’ve just felt like it’s been a really long summer,” Stewart said. “I think if we come in and have a healthy year, there’s no reason why we can’t win our division.” — AP

back. She played really, really well for us.”

Katie Douglas had 16 points and nine rebounds and Tammy Sutton-Brown added 11 points and nine rebounds for top-seeded Indiana.

Catchings had six points, five rebounds and four fouls as a reserve. She said the injury didn’t affect her much. “I think once the adrenaline got going, I was just kind of like, out there going,” she said.

Indiana entered the series known for its defense, but Atlanta took control of the game by shutting Indiana down. The Fever shot 10 for 20 from the field in the first quarter, then 11 for 36 in the middle two periods.

“I think we just used our speed and our quickness,” Meadors said. “We didn’t do a lot of things different. We switched a lot, we trapped a lot. We just mixed it up.”

Atlanta led 39-35 at halftime and could have led by more. The Dream made just 7 of 14 free throws in the first half and nearly squandered a nine-point lead in the second quarter.

The Dream started the second half on a 7-0 run that forced two Fever timeouts. Indiana got off few quality shots in that stretch, failing to score for the first 3:54 of the third quarter.

Atlanta continued to roll. Castro Marques hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Dream up 57-39 with 3:11 left in the third quarter. Atlanta led 61-47 at the end of the period.

Atlanta opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to extend its lead to 68-49, and the rout was on. “I’m not going to take anything away from Atlanta and what they did,” Catchings said. “I thought they had a good game plan. They all bought into it and they did what they needed to do for this game.” — AP

Big 12 committed to find stability for league GRAPEVINE: Big 12 athletic directors discussed ways during their meeting Tuesday to stabilize their league before they can determine if and how much they might expand.

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard, the chairman of the Big 12 ADs, said there were “healthy discussions” about what might happen numberswise in the future.

“There’s a lot of possibilities.

It could be nine, it could be 10, it could be 12, it could be 16, pick a number,” Pollard said.

“I think what we’re more focused on is doing what we all believe is right for the membership of the Big 12 and the most important piece right now is the solidarity among the nine and finding a way to make sure that we provide that solidarity so that we can be stabilized before we entertain whether that should be nine, 10, 12, 16.”

The regularly scheduled fall meeting of the Big 12 ADs came a day after Texas A&M was formally introduced as the SEC’s 13th member, a move that takes effect for the 201213 school year. The Aggies are the third member to leave in the past 15 months. Nebraska (Big Ten) and Colorado (Pac-12) began play in their new leagues this season.

Newly appointed interim commissioner Chuck Neinas took part in the meeting even though he will not officially take over his new role until next Monday.

Pollard, who spoke on behalf of the league, said there is a process for stabilization. He wouldn’t go into specifics, but said there was a clear consensus among the nine schools on the items discussed.

“Ultimately we have to prove it because there will always be doubters,” he said.

“All I can say is the people we were locking arms with in that room feel pretty committed to me. I take people on their word. I’m not worried about it at all.”

Pollard said formal agreements to ensure that stability were “still a work in progress” but insisted “all nine member institutions are fully engaged and committed” to putting those together.

He said everything would have to go through the normal chain of command with decisions made by the league’s board of directors, which is made up of the presidents and chancellors of the member schools.

The athletic directors spent a lot of time talking about ways to provide input to a special four-member committee appointed by the league’s board that is working on initiatives designed to provide soli-

darity and stability to the Big 12’s future.

That committee will be made up of the presidents or chancellors of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Iowa State. When the nearly fourhour meeting ended late Tuesday, Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds declined comment and referred all questions to Pollard.

“It’s a crazy time,” said Missouri athletic director Mike Alden, who also deferred to Pollard. There have been persistent rumors that Missouri might be a possibility to follow Texas A&M to the SEC. SEC commissioner Mike Slive, thought, reiterated Tuesday that his league’s presidents and chancellors are not currently considering any other schools for admission and that Texas A&M was the only one to submit an application.

Slive said he anticipates having just 13 members in 2012-13.

Pollard said there wasn’t much time spent talking about what other leagues were saying or doing, and that the focus was on what the remaining nine Big 12 schools needed to do to make their league viable for an extended period.

“You go through these processes and it’s an inward look and each institution has to figure out what really matters to them and you come out of it I think stronger on the other side. It feels like that today,” Pollard said.

“The nine of us in that room, we’ve been through a lot together, an awful lot together. Our obituary has been written several times and hasn’t come to fruition, and I think that’s strengthened us and we said this a year ago, that ultimately we have to prove it.”

Oklahoma president David Boren said last week that the nine remaining schools had “agreed” to give a six-year grant of their first- and secondtier television rights to the Big 12 for the next six years.

That means all revenue from the top television games - shown currently on networks owned by ABC/ESPN and Fox would continue to go to the Big 12 even if a school left for another league.

The six-year term runs past the next negotiating period for the top-tier contract, currently with ABC/ESPN, in a bid to keep the nine schools together for the next contract.

While Pollard again didn’t get into specifics about what the ADs talked about regarding those TV rights, he said “everybody has been very forthcoming about doing what we know we need to do in order to get the stability that this league so deserves.” — AP

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

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Kanepi sends Wozniacki packing to enter q-finals

TOKYO: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark returns a ball to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during their third round match of the Japan Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament. —AP

Simon struggles in Thailand Open BANGKOK: Gilles Simon of France needed nearly three hours to edge out Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 6-4 in his opening match at the Thailand Open yesterday. “I was down a set and a break and he had points for 5-2,” said third seed Simon, who is now through to the quarter-finals. “It was an amazing match. His level was really high and I had the feeling that I was also playing well.”

The match went down to the wire as Simon, the world number 12, earned a break to go 5-4 up before serving out the victory against a player ranked 56 places below him.

“I knew I had to play the maximum on every point against him,” said the Frenchman. “I was almost on the plane back home at one point, I’m very happy to win this match.”

The number one and two seeds, Andy Murray and Gael Monfils, who have byes to the second round, are due to play their first matches today.

Simon, who won the title in 2009, will

next play German Matthias Bachinger, who beat Danai Udomchoke 7-6 (7/5), 63. Udomchoke, on home soil, received a good luck blessing from a Buddhist monk a week ago, but it was not enough to stop the 30-year-old crashing out.

He said he would use any advantage he could, although he admitted his tennis fate was always in his own hands. “It takes more than that. The spell is something good for the mind but it stills comes down to physical fitness and hard work,” said the player, who has been dealing with a recent shoulder injury.

“I’ve prepared really well for three weeks because this could be my last Thailand Open. I want to retire next year and don’t know if I can last the whole (2012) season.” Germany’s Tobias Kamke upset eighth seed Pablo Andujar from Spain with a 6-0, 6-1 thrashing drubbing.

Kamke, ranked 103 in the world, next plays Japan’s Go Soeda, a comeback winner over Slovak Karol Beck 3-6, 7-6 (7/0), 7-6 (7/4).—AFP

TOKYO: Kaia Kanepi eliminated topranked Caroline Wozniacki 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 yesterday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open.

The 43rd-ranked Kanepi rallied from three games down in the third set and won the match when she broke the defending champion with a forehand down the line.

After a sluggish start, Wozniacki dominated the second set but was unable to keep the momentum in the third when she was broken three times by the Estonian player.

“I played some good tennis in the second set and the first half of the third but then I couldn’t get my serve in,” Wozniacki said. “Kaia played a good match today. I’ll try to do better next time.”

K anepi will face ninth-seeded Agnieszk a Radwansk a of Poland in today’s quarterfinals. Radwanska beat eighth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Also, second-seeded Maria Sharapova earned a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) win over 13thseeded Julia Goerges of Germany.

Sharapova came back from a 3-1 deficit in the first set and then rallied from 5-3 down in the second.

“It was a tough match,” Sharapova said.

“Two sets go to tiebreak, I was pleased that although I really didn’t play my best in the match I stepped it up in the tiebreaks and that was the difference.”

Sharapova will face fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic on Thursday in a rematch of this year ’s Wimbledon final. Kvitova beat Vania King of the United States 6-1, 7-6 (4).

“It was a tough loss against her at Wimbledon,” Sharapova said. “I thought she played great tennis. She hit the ball big and deep, had a great serve. I hope I can learn from that match and I’m looking forward to it.”

Maria Kirilenko of Russia also advanced, beating Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-1, and seventh-seeded Marion Bartoli of France defeated Peng Shuai of China 6-2, 6-1. Kirilenko, who knocked out US Open champion Samantha Stosur on Tuesday, broke her opponent in the first game of the second set and never looked threatened by the 12th-ranked Serb, who took a medical time-out midway through the second set because of a sore back.

“To be honest, I was a little bit tired today when I woke up,” Kirilenko said. “I didn’t have that much time to recover because we finished so late yesterday.”

Kirilenko broke Ivanovic again to go up 4-1 in the second set and took advantage of her opponent’s sixth double fault in the last game to close out the match in 1 hour, 19 minutes at Ariake Colosseum.

Kirilenko will next face compatriot and fourth-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia, who defeated Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2.

“You do get more and more confident with each win,” said Kirilenko, who has yet to beat Zvonareva in five matches. “I’ve had so many tough matches against Vera.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be another tough one.”

Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus defeated Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 and will face Bartoli today.—AP

TOKYO: Maria Sharapova of Russia celebrates a point won against Julia Goerges of Germany during their third round match of the Japan Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament. —AP

Memmel has shoulder surgery INDIANAPOLIS: Chellsie Memmel, the 2005 world all-around champion, expects to miss the next three months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn right biceps tendon, USA Gymnastics said yesterday.

Memmel underwent the operation last Friday and hopes to begin physical therapy next week. She is using a sling to help the tendon near her right shoulder heal and keeps her arm in motion with the help of a special chair.

The injury was discovered in an

MRI exam Memmel under went after returning to her home near Milwaukee from the world championship team selection camp.

Memmel, a member of the 2008 Beijing Olympic silver medal US team, chose to skip next month’s Pan American Games and have surgery now to help make certain she recovers in time for the 2012 London Olympics.

“I’m really focused on next year and I’m happy this procedure wasn’t that involved. I’m hoping to

come back even stronger,” Memmel said. “With next year in mind and considering the recovery time, my doctors decided the best course of action was to have surgery right away instead of waiting until after competition and taking the chance I could have made it worse.”

Doctors said they think Memmel, who injured the same shoulder in 2006, tore her tendon on the last day of the US championships last month, her first national event after a post-Olympic break.

“I was really happy with how far I had come after taking time off. I was looking forward to competing in a larger competition, but unfortunately it didn’t work out that way,” Memmel said.

“I’m going to do what I can to stay in as good a shape as possible.

“I’ll go to the gym for leg and stomach conditioning and when I can start moving my arm I’ll do as much as I can. I don’t want to have to get back into gymnastics shape again.”—AFP

Colombian international Falcao signs for PUMA NEW ZEALAND: Georgia’s Revaz Gigauri passes the ball as Romanian defenders tackle him during their Rugby World Cup Pool B match at the Manawatu stadium. —AP

All Blacks threaten World Cup boycott AUCKLAND: Boycotts and breakdowns featured at the rugby World Cup yesterday as the All Blacks threatened to sit out the 2015 tournament and France were urged by their defence coach to compete more effectively at the ruck.

On the field, Georgia won their first match of the tournament, defeating Romania 25-9 in their Pool B match in Palmerson North.

New Zealand Rugby Union head Steve Tew set alarm bells ringing at the International Rugby Board (IRB) early in the day by saying the All Blacks could pull out of the 2015 event because competing in the current edition had led to a loss of more than NZ$13 million ($10.3 million).

Tew said the deficit was a result of the IRB, who employ strict rules on advertising during the World Cup, forcing the curtailment of regular test matches and Tri-Nations internationals and thus preventing teams from showcasing their regular sponsors.

The IRB were quick to issue a statement saying they were committed to negotiating with teams to address the financial issues.

“I think you’d have a pretty good idea of how the country would respond, they wouldn’t be too happy about it,” said New Zealand hooker Keven Mealamu.

“It would be devastating for us as rugby players to know we wouldn’t be able to make it to the next World Cup.” Another team who could miss the 2015 tournament is Romania. Their loss to Georgia consigned them to last place in Pool B and forces them to qualify for 2015. Georgian flyhalf Merab Kvirikashvili kicked 17 points and openside flanker Mamuka Gorgodze scored the only try in a scrappy encounter where referee Dave Pearson took centre stage.

The English official awarded 14 firsthalf penalties as the two sides repeatedly infringed at the breakdown, which, despite directives at the start of the tournament, continues to be ruled in consis-

tently.

Georgia finish their campaign on Sunday against Argentina who announced a strong lineup on Wednesday for the final Pool B match with Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino selected at fullback after his late try helped beat Scotland.

Argentina, England and Scotland are in contention for a quarter-final place from Pool B and rugby’s oldest rivals will name their teams on Thursday for their eagerly awaited clash at Eden Park on Saturday.

England are favorites to get the two points they need against Scotland to win the pool and set-up a likely quarter-final against France, who were warned by their defence coach Dave Ellis that they were too being too clean at the breakdown.

France were overrun 37-17 on Saturday by the All Blacks who were afforded quick ball throughout after dominating the key breakdown exchanges.

“Other teams are leaving their hands in or pushing at the back of the ruck or doing things to slow down and we’re not doing that, we’re being a bit too clean,” Ellis said ahead of Saturday’s clash with Tonga. “We’ve got to be a bit more streetwise and look at slowing the ball down so we can attack it afterwards.”

Another side to struggle at the breakdown during this World Cup has been Japan who ended their tournament with a 23-23 draw with Canada on Tuesday.

Japan Rugby Football Union Chairman Tatsuzo Yabe said they had par ted company with coach John Kirwan after the disappointment of failing to end a 20-year wait for a second World Cup victor y. Russia’s hooker Valery Tsnobiladze will also make an ignominious exit after he was banned for three weeks for head-butting Irish flanker Sean O’Brien.—Reuters

GERMANY: PUMA announced today that it has signed a long-term contract with Radamel Falcao.

Hot on the heels of Sergio Aguero, Falcao is the latest international star striker to join PUMA’s growing football player portfolio, meaning the sportlifestyle brand has signed two of the top three football transfers of 2011.

Atletico Madrid’s record signing has chosen to wear the PUMA v1.11 Speed boot in the lead green colourway, and debuted the boot on pitch this weekend during AtlÈtico Madrid’s game against Barcelona.

Falcao will feature prominently in PUMA’s global football communication as another top tier asset spearheading communication around the PUMA v1.11 Speed boot. With his pace, skill and trickery, he has made an explosive start to his La Liga career scoring five goals in four games already this season, these attributes make him the perfect player for this marketing programme. Falcao joins Sergio Ag¸ero, Samuel Eto’o, Mario Gomez, Ibrahim Afalley, Loic Remy and other lead players who have chosen the PUMA v1.11.

Speaking about the new partnership, Falcao said; “I have made two great moves this past couple of months, one to Atletico Madrid and the second to sign this partnership with PUMA. Both are big steps towards moving my career forward and achieving my goals. I have always had big ambitions in football - I am proud to be playing in La Liga, and working with PUMA on the global marketing campaigns they have developed is very exciting for me. I fully believe in the plans they have developed, and love the PUMA v1.11 boots.”

Christian Voigt, Senior Head of Global Sports Marketing at PUMA commented, “Falcao is another fantastic addition to our player roster in football. He is such an exciting talent, the impact he has made in La Liga already speaks volumes for his ability and determination to succeed. He was the top scorer of the Europa League last season and is quickly establishing himself as one of the top strikers in the game.

PUMA has some big plans for Falcao in the coming months and years, which we’re very much looking forward to working on.”

The PUMA v1.11 Speed Boot that Falcao will wear is amongst the lightest football boots PUMA has ever made. It is the third generation boot that uses the special UNI technology, where the upper material is stitched rather than glued to the sole, providing the perfect fit by perfectly replicating the unique PUMA Aptolast. In addition, the v1.11 enables greater playing stability, through an external heel counter and a Pebax frame that provides support to the outsole.

This increased stability also enables an optimal traction as well as manoeuvrability, provided through the pointed stud configuration featured on this new boot. The PUMA v1.11 also features a super soft premium lightweight microfiber upper material.

A carbon fiber composite in the forefoot helps provide optimal pressure distribution, reactivity and flexibility.

Shoaib Akhtar

Pakistan’s Akhtar riles India again NEW DELHI: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has ruffled feathers in India again in a new headline-grabbing autobiography that also contains candid admissions about ball-tampering and corruption.

The book, from the man who was once the fastest bowler in the world, takes a swipe at Indian heroes Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, as well as unnamed figures who have “ruined” the game in Pakistan.

His comments about the star duo in “Controversially Yours”, excerpts of which have been released to the media, have especially made waves in India, Pakistan’s neighbor and great rival.

Akhtar, 36, claimed that Tendulkar and Dravid, two of the world’s top Test batsmen, played for their own records and rarely won matches for India. “I can’t recall a series from Tendulkar’s earlier playing days when he helped win matches. He might have had more runs and records but he lacked the ability to finish a game,” he wrote. Akhtar, who played 46 Tests and 163 one-day internationals between 1997 and 2011, recalled that on India’s tour of Pakistan in 2006 Tendulkar was “distinctly uncomfortable” facing him. “We managed to psychologically browbeat him,” the fast bowler wrote. “We bounced the ball at him and were able to unnerve him.”

The book was released in New Delhi last week, but its launch in Tendulkar’s home city of Mumbai on Sunday was cancelled by organisers without any explanation. The bowler, whose career was marked by allegations of drug abuse and ball-tampering, wrote that he did not feel guilty about “working” on the ball.

“The game has become very unequal and only favours the batsman,” he wrote. “If you bowl a no-ball, the batsman gets a free-hit; bouncers have been curtailed. “They have restricted us so mercilessly that I find it very

difficult to feel entirely guilty about ball tampering.” Akhtar goes on to describe how the ball can be tampered with.

“There are so many ways to prepare the ball, it’s not just a matter of scratching it,” he wrote. “I have used my boot nails and zip of my back pocket. Many bowlers use vaseline or gum on the ball. “ The only way to stop this is for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to ensure that at least some pitches are prepared in favor of bowlers.” His other solution is to legalise it and “set rules for it”.

“Perhaps some manipulation of the ball, like scratching it with your nails, could be legally allowed,” he added. Pakistan cricket has been hit by a series of controversies, including the lengthy bans handed to three players-Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif-over a betting scandal last year. Pakistan have been forced in recent years to play home series abroad after a militant attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009. “I wish I had played under (former captain) Imran Khan,” wrote Akhtar.

“He was the last man who cared about the game and the Pakistan team. Unfortunately, our seniors were the most corrupt people I have known in my whole life.

“Barring a few like Rashid Latif and Moin Khan, the rest indulged in activities that certainly did not help the game, yet most of them were let off with fines.

“It was not the board alone that ruined Pakistani cricket, it was the team itself.” Senior Indian cricket official Rajiv Shukla reacted angrily to Akhtar’s claims about Tendulkar and Dravid. “Sachin does not need to prove anything to anyone, least of all to Shoaib,” said Shukla, a former cricket board vice-president who now heads the Indian Premier League. “Shoaib must apologise to both Tendulkar and Dravid.”—AFP

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

S P ORT S

A millionaire footballer strikes? Pathetic LONDON: In 2009, Carlos Tevez was hailed with a giant billboard reading: “Welcome to Manchester.”

Now, it could be time for a new poster of the Argentine star in the football-mad English city: “Good Riddance.”

Tevez broke a fundamental rule of sport - that no individual is more important than his or her team when he sat moodily on the bench at a time of dire need for Manchester City, seemingly refusing to play on Tuesday night in the Champions League.

A millionaire striking. How pathetic and how distasteful at a time when so many less fortunate than Tevez are feeling the economic pinch.

If City manager Roberto Mancini is telling the whole truth here and Tevez really did mutiny, then football has witnessed a saddening new low.

Football clubs and managers have long complained that players and their agents are becoming too powerful, too unruly, as their wages - and by extension their egos - have grown ever bigger thanks to football’s bonanza of income from television, modern marketing and global popularity.

In Tevez’s apparent moment of madness in Germany, the sport and its fans saw just how far that balance of power has shifted. It also showed that the 2008 takeover of City by Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan isn’t a guarantee of success for the club.

His vast wealth has brought an enviable collection of players. But money cannot buy the sort of team

spirit that Alex Ferguson has spent 25 years nurturing cross-town at Manchester United - where Tevez played before disregarding the city’s football divide by joining rival City.

City needed two goals to draw level with Bayern Munich in the Champions League. With 30 minutes to get them, Mancini called on Tevez, his top scorer last season.

At his rampaging best, the muscular, boxy Argentine can turn matches around with his penetrating runs on goal. Given how well Bayern were playing and how dispirited Mancini’s team looked, even Tevez might not have been able to rally City. But he is used to thriving in adversity. He grew up in a rough Buenos Aires neighborhood known as “Fort Apache.” He carries a childhood burn scar on his neck with some pride, refusing to hide it with plastic surgery. Because of his background, Tevez should be more aware than most how lucky he is to be so handsomely paid for kicking a ball. Besides, his teammates needed him.

But astoundingly, said Mancini, Tevez’s response when he called him was, “No.” “He refused to do a warm-up again and he refused to go on the pitch,” the Italian said later, clearly fuming and shaken.

The reasons weren’t clear. Tevez disputed Mancini’s claim that he refused to play - even though his crossed-arm body language on the bench suggested otherwise. In a statement Wednesday, Tevez apologized to City fans for “any misunderstanding”

and said: “I had warmed up and was ready to play.

This is not the right time to get into specific details as to why this did not happen.”

In hindsight, this was a crisis waiting to happen.

Tevez has for months made clear that he wanted to leave City. Northern England in the dark of winter can be cold and damp and his wife, Vanesa, and their two young daughters struggled to adapt.

But Tevez’s hoped-for move didn’t happen. In jumping from club to club over the years, scoring many goals but also making headlines for the wrong reasons along the way, Tevez has increased his market value and pay-packet so much that only the wealthiest teams like City can afford him. This season, Mancini hasn’t used Tevez so often partly because, he said, he “is not ready to play.”

Mancini also has plenty of other players to choose from and keep happy by giving them time on the pitch, too. If that means Tevez must sit, so be it. As boss, Mancini is perfectly entitled to pick the team he feels is best for City. And Tevez can always while away the hours on City’s bench by dreaming about what he will do with all his cash, while remembering that there are bigger hardships in life.

France’s players disgusted their nation when they went on strike at the World Cup in South Africa last year. But that was in training. This was during an actual game, which makes Tevez’s apparent rebellion worse. It is tempting to suggest, as former Liverpool star-turned-TV commentator Graeme Souness did,

that Tevez’s apparent insubordination “epitomizes what the man in the street thinks is wrong with modern footballers.” In other words, spoilt and overindulged. But that is not wholly fair on Tevez’s peers. There are plenty of other footballers who do not throw childish fits of petulance even if they have cause to be unhappy. Professionals like Manchester United striker Michael Owen, who rarely gets a game these days but still scored twice when Ferguson put him in against Leeds in the League Cup, and midfielder Luka Modric, who seems ready again to give his all for Tottenham despite not getting his hoped-for move this August to Chelsea.

The Wayne Rooney saga last year also showed clubs and players can make up after a particularly unpleasant episode of brinkmanship. The Manchester United striker seemed on the verge of quitting but then accepted a nice new contract. This season, he’s knocking in goals as if he and United had been friends all along.

Mancini said in heat of the moment Tuesday that he would never play Tevez again. “With me, he’s finished,” he said. But Tevez’s statement that “there was some confusion on the bench and I believe my position may have been misunderstood” could offer a path for compromise. The Italian and the Argentine could blame language, not themselves. Or City could sell Tevez at the next opportunity. In which case he will have got his way, as millionaire footballers so often do. — AP

Tevez denies Man City’s claim he refused to play

LONDON: London 2012 Olympics long jump hopeful British athlete J.J Jegede successfully jumps over the roof of three MINI cars in central London yesterday during a photocall to promote a new MINI vehicle. —AFP

Brazil’s World Cup rush fuels spending blowout RIO DE JANEIRO: It is a project that should symbolize the transformational benefits of hosting the 2014 World Cup-a sleek new monorail train gliding above Brazil’s steamy Amazon city of Manaus.

But Athayde Ribeiro da Costa has a different take on it. With just under 1,000 days before the first ball is kicked, the chief public prosecutor in Amazonas state sees the monorail as part of a trend of overspending and poor planning as Brazil rushes to make up for a slow start to its preparations.

“We are very worried about overspending,” he said. “We are in favor of the Cup-it can bring lots of opportunities for people and help resolve infrastructure bottlenecks, but this can’t be done at the expense of misuse of public funds or corruption.”

Concerns are mounting that Brazil’s push to speed up its preparations for the soccer tournament risks fueling corruption and an explosion in costs dwarfing other “megaevents.”

Last year’s World Cup cost South Africa about $4 billion but Brazil’s official estimate already stands at about $13 billion, including transport projects, stadium construction and airport expansions, making it certain to be the most expensive in history.

President Dilma Rousseff spoke in March of 33 billion reais ($18 billion) in World Cup investments and some private estimates are already way higher, putting the final bill at an eye-popping $60 billion in one case-bigger than neighboring Uruguay’s annual economic output. Legal cases are proliferating as prosecutors like Da Costa investigate suspected overspending and abuses of bidding processes. Da Costa heads a group of 12 prosecutors focusing on World Cup cases-one for each host city-and says there are more than 80 civil investigations under way throughout Brazil.

A Sao Paulo federal judge this month ordered work suspended on the expansion of Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos international airport, saying that bidding rules had been ignored under the excuse of urgency. Another judge overturned that decision.

The legal cases could help save Brazilian taxpayers a lot of money but also risk causing yet more delays to a schedule that is already pushing the limits of just-in-time readiness.

“If you make it more transparent you might slow it down, and therefore increase the costs,” said Christopher Gaffney, a visiting professor of urbanism at Rio’s Fluminense Federal University. “If you don’t make it more transparent, you’re guaranteed to increase the costs because everyone’s going to have their hand in the till.”

Spiraling costs are a familiar ritual of World Cups and Olympic Games. In this case, though, they are sharpened by some very Brazilian problems-endemic corruption, bureaucratic and legal hurdles and high construction costs driven by a lack of capacity in its robust economy.

Some projects, including another planned monorail in Sao Paulo, are not due to be ready until just weeks before the start of the tournament in June 2014. Delays have already drawn rebukes from world soccer body FIFA and ruled out two of Brazil’s 12 host-city stadiums being ready in time for the curtain-raising Confederations Cup in 2013.

Work has yet to begin on five of the 13 airports that need to be expanded for the

month-long World Cup, this soccer-crazed nation’s first on home soil since 1950.

The government said this month it was confident that stadiums and airports would be ready on time, but that it was concerned over slow progress on “urban mobility” projects like the Manaus monorail. Seven of the host cities have yet to start any of their planned projects.

The risks to the fragile timetable were rudely exposed this month when Rousseff visited Belo Horizonte to start the 1,000-day countdown only to be greeted by a strike by workers building the southeastern city’s stadium.

Rousseff’s government has injected some urgency into its World Cup plans, rushing through Congress in July a law that streamlines the bidding process for events related to the World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

That was a red flag for transparency groups and public prosecutors, who have slammed the change as opening the floodgates for over-spending and corruptionalready a common problem in major construction projects in Brazil.

“The risks of having projects without the correct procedures and transparency are rising exponentially,” said Caio Magri, a public policies adviser at the Ethos Institute, which works to promote corporate responsibility.

“The amount spent itself doesn’t matter — 50 billion reais ($28 billion) would be very small to make up for what is lacking in Brazil’s cities. It’s not the size that’s important, it’s the legacy.”

Prosecutor General Roberto Gurgel has asked the Supreme Court to declare the new bidding rules unconstitutional, saying they risk a large-scale repeat of the Pan-American Games in Rio in 2007, whose budget rose to 10 times the original estimate.

Back in 2009, the Brazilian Football Confederation estimated the 12 stadiums being refitted or built for the World Cup would cost about 2.2 billion reais-a figure that two years later seems quaint. The government now sees them costing more than triple that at 6.9 billion reais.

Take the overhaul of the Maracana stadium, which will host the World Cup final. Its budget has doubled since 2009 to 859 million reais and the TCU federal accounting authority said in February that the Maracana’s contract process had been opaque and its budget was “verging on fiction,” risking a major inflation of costs. Gaffney calculates that as of May stadium costs had risen by 27 percent since 2009 based on lower estimates and by 82 percent given higher estimates. The biggest budget blowouts are occurring in stadiums being built with public money, such as the Maracana.

With construction costs and wages running high as annual inflation tops 7 percent, further rises seem likely. Since January, the cost of World Cup projects has risen by more than 10 percent to 26.5 billion reais, according to a Senate study. Da Costa, the Manaus prosecutor, sees such forces at work in his city 4,300 km (2,670 miles) northwest of Rio. He calls the monorail project, budgeted at 1.46 billion reais, “totally illegal” because it was approved by state authorities without thorough enough studies of potential demand, the number of stations or the fares for passengers. —Reuters

LONDON: In the latest episode of his turbulent career in England, Argentina striker Carlos Tevez claimed yesterday that he was “misunderstood” and did not refuse to play for Manchester City in a Champions League game that could spell the end of his time at the Premier League club.

City manager Roberto Mancini said Tevez’s career at the club was over for refusing to come off the substitutes’ bench in the second half of the 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich in Germany on Tuesday night.

“With me, he’s finished,” Mancini said. Tevez issued a statement yesterday insisting it was all a misunderstanding.

“I would like to apologize to all Manchester City fans, with whom I have always had a strong relationship, for any misunderstanding that occurred in Munich,” Tevez said. “They understand that when I am on the pitch I have always given my best for the club.

“In Munich on Tuesday I had warmed up and was ready to play. This is not the right time to get into specific details as to why this did not happen.

But I wish to state that I never refused to play.”

Mancini wanted to bring Tevez on for Samir Nasri with about 30 minutes left and City already trailing 2-0. “There was some confusion on the bench and I believe my position may have been misunderstood,” Tevez said. “Going forward I am ready to play when required and to fulfill my obligations.”

Mancini said he plans to speak with City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak in the coming days to discuss Tevez’s future.

“He refused to play,” the Italian said. “I cannot accept this behavior from him. I decide the substitutions, not Carlos.”

Mancini’s stance was supported by FIFA Vice President Jim Boyce, who described Tevez’s apparent petulance - broadcast live around the world as “despicable.”

“His club would be better off without him,” Boyce told British broadcaster Sky Sports. “FIFA should have the power, as they do for drugs-related cases and other cases, to ban the player from taking an active part in football.”

If City fired Tevez for gross misconduct - as is in its power - he could potentially profit by receiving a lucrative signing-on fee at a new club.

“I don’t think it would be right if he could go

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez and earn a considerable amount of money somewhere else,” Boyce said. “I would have no problems if some sanctions were imposed by FIFA ... if Carlos Tevez does it, who’s to stop someone else doing it?”

The souring in relations has echoes of Tevez’s final days at Manchester United when he complained of a lack of playing time before bolting to rival City two years ago.

His career has remained no less volatile at City, which has invested more than $1 billion on players since the 2008 takeover by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour.

The 27-year-old Tevez captained City last season and lifted the FA Cup in May, the club’s first major trophy since 1976. The Wembley success came after Tevez asked to leave the club in January. This summer, Tevez publicly pushed for a transfer to be closer to his family in Argentina.

But no club met City’s reported 50-million pound ($79 million) fee. He has started just one Premier League game of six so far this season, playing 61 minutes in the Sept. 10 victory over Wigan.

“Carlos didn’t play at the start of the season because he didn’t do a preseason for three years,” Mancini said. “He is not ready to play.”

Tevez’s act of insubordination in Munich was met with a sense of disapproval at the English players’ union. “I think you are going to see a lot more instances of top players getting upset,” Professional Footballers’ Association chairman Gordon Taylor said. “They will either think they don’t deserve to come off, or not be happy at being asked to retrieve a situation.

“But it is part and parcel of being in a large squad. You have to be professional.” Tevez’s arrival in England at West Ham from Brazilian club Corinthians in 2006 was mired in controversy.

It led to rule changes on third-party ownership and a string of bitter legal cases that saw the London club fined nearly $11 million.

Tevez joined Manchester United on a two-year loan deal from West Ham in the 2007 offseason, but left after two years despite winning the Champions League and Premier League to become Manchester City’s highest-paid player. — AP

RENNES: Atletico Madrid’s players warm up during a training session on the eve of the UEFA Europa League football match against Rennes. —AFP

Bilbao looking for Europa League win against PSG LONDON: Atletico Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa will be trying to get his team back to its winning form against Paris Saint-Germain in the Europa League today, and Irish club Shamrock Rovers will play its first competitive match in England in more than 50 years at Tottenham.

Both Rovers and Spurs are winless in Group A, while Bilbao’s lone victory in seven games under Bielsa this season was a 3-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava to open Group F. PSG is at the top of the French standings and unbeaten in 10 matches, with eight victories.

The Argentine coach is already under pressure to turn around a young squad brimming with talent and expected to challenge for a Champions League place next season. Bilbao sits near the bottom of the Spanish standings

with two points from five games. “Nobody likes where we are but you’ve got two options: hide away and feel depressed or get motivated by it,” Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez said. “Many people are motivated by adversity, including myself and many in the team who are feeling the same way.” A new-look PSG continued to impress with Saturday’s 3-0 win over Montpellier. It hasn’t lost since an opening-day defeat and beat Salzburg 3-0 in its opening Europa League game. Shamrock Rovers’ last visit to England was during the 1957-58 season to face a Manchester United team made up of the Busby Babes, many of whom would die in an air crash in Munich later that season. If this visit results in a second straight group defeat - it lost 3-0 to Rubin Kazan - Shamrock will be in a tough spot

in Group F. Tottenham drew against PAOK in its first game but has recently found its form domestically, sitting six th in the Premier League.

England winger Aaron Lennon has recovered from a groin injury and is set to start at White Hart Lane, while Danny Rose (knee) and Steven Pienaar (groin) could also return for Tottenham.

“We’ve (got) a stronger, more experienced team tomorrow and a chance to play some of the lads who didn’t play at the weekend,” manager Harry Redknapp said yesterday.

Schalke coach Huub Stevens makes his debut against Maccabi Haifa in Group J after R alf R angnick stepped down on Tuesday because of burnout. —AP

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Shirokov double helps Zenit past 10-man Porto SAINT PETERSBURG: Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg battled back from a goal down to record a 3-1 win against ten-man Porto in their Champions League Group G clash here yesterday.

Midfielder Roman Shirokov was the hero for the hosts, scoring twice, while Portuguese international Danny also netted for Luciano Spalletti’s side.

Colombian winger James Rodriguez got Porto’s goal, but that could not prevent last year’s Europa League winners from slumping to a first defeat on Russian soil.

“I’d like to praise my players for their performance as they played a great match,” Spalletti said. “We were under pressure in the first halftime and failed to perform our best but nevertheless our team’s spirit and desire to win allowed us to level before the break.

“Of course, Porto were shorthanded but anyway we played a terrific match. I’m sure that we would play the same style even without that advantage. And, I believe, the result would be the same.” The result was a welcome boost for Zenit following their defeat to APOEL in their opening game a fortnight ago, and it puts them on top of their group on goal difference ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk’s meeting with APOEL later. Meanwhile, Porto manager Vitor Pereira pinpointed Jorge Fucile’s exclusion as the main reason for the defeat. “ The result could be different if the teams were both playing in full strength,” Pereira said.

“The things went pretty well for us from the start but after Fucile was sent off we began making mistakes. “Anyway there are plenty matches ahead and we have chances to get some good results.”

Porto, Champions League winners in 2004, got off to a lively start and took the lead ten minutes in

when Rodriguez converted a Hulk cross from the right-hand edge of the penalty area.

The hosts, spurred on by a sellout crowd at the 21,000-seat Petrovsky stadium, pushed for-

Kerzhakov almost put them in front for the first time on the night, hitting the woodwork from inside the area.

Kerzhakov then did put the ball in the net only to see his effort just

ST PETERSBURG: Zenit’s Viktor Fayzulin (left) fights for the ball with FC Porto’s Joao Moutinho during the UEFA Champions League Group G soccer match. —AP ward in search of an equaliser and were rewarded on 20 minutes when Shirokov converted the rebound from the edge of the box after Porto ‘keeper Helton had deflected a Viktor Faizulin cross into his path.

Shortly after Alvaro Pereira missed a chance to restore Porto’s lead with a powerful shot from the edge of the area that was turned behind by Vyacheslav Malafeev.

However, the hosts ended the first half on top and Porto were dealt a major blow when Uruguayan right back Fucile was dismissed for a second bookable offence just before the whistle.

Zenit stepped things up a gear after the restart and Russian international striker Alexander

before the hour mark ruled out for offside. But Zenit were not to be denied for long, with Shirokov scoring his and his side’s second when he latched on to Faizulin’s freekick and fired past a helpless Helton fron point-blank range.

Danny then put Zenit out of sight when he netted their third goal on 72 minutes, turning home a Kerzhakov cross.

Three minutes later Shirokov missed a golden chance to complete his hat-trick, sending a rebound over the crossbar from six yards, while Danny missed another late chance, as Spalletti’s men were forced to settle for a 3-1 win that revives their campaign ahead of a double-header against Shakhtar. — AFP

Ibrahimovic inspires Milan to Plzen victory MILAN: Zlatan Ibrahimovic starred on his injur y comeback as he inspired AC Milan to a 2-0 victory over Viktoria Plzen yesterday to keep them on Barcleona’s heels in Champions League Group H. The big Swede came straight back into the team following two weeks out with a groin strain and scored a penalty before setting up Antonio Cassano for the decisive second.

Milan coach Massimilano Allegri praised his star forward and admitted the group should come down to the crunch clash at San Siro between Milan and Barca on November 23.

“Ibra had a good comeback, he played well and helped the team.

He gives us a physical presence; he’s technical, has important qualities and he’s a point of reference,” said Allegri.

“I’m happy with how he played, given he hadn’t played for a while.

“Winning is never easy. Tonight we did it our way. They were organised and did well on the counterattack, attacking with five men.

“Over time I think it will come down to the Barca match, but we’ll see and take it one game at a time.”

The Czechs’ coach, Pavel Vrba, was reasonably happy with his team but suggested the penalty was harsh. “ We created many chances to score but obviously we played against a team who are on another level,” he said. “ We showed our quality.

Unfortunately we missed chances, but Milan also had other chances.

I’m quite satisfied.

“I haven’t seen (the penalty) again yet but I think it was very severe from the referee. These things can happen but obviously it influenced the game.

“The biggest problem for us was that Ibrahimovic was fit and came back into the team. He effectively decided this game.” A thrilling opening 45 minutes remained goalless but could have produced a rugby score.

Vaclav Pilar sent a cross over from the left for Marek Bakos to meet with a header but Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati made a flying one-handed save.

Ibrahimovic then got down the right and picked out Cassano right in front of goal but Marek Cech saved his low shot with his legs.

Again the Swede almost put Cassano through but David Limbersky slid in to save the day

and moments later Cech plunged to his right to beat away Cassano’s curler from 20 yards.

Ignazio Abate crossed for Mark van Bommel but his stooping header went high before, at the other end, Pavel Horvath’s shot was deflected over.

Cassano had another low shot saved by Cech, who then made an amazing stop to deny Ibrahimovic on 32 minutes when the Swede was picked out, alone and unmarked 10 yards out, by another good cross from Abate.

Ibrahimovic was also guilty of dallying with a chance before Cech saved his left-foot effort.

Viktoria opened up Milan like a tin on 39 minutes after a good move involving Bakos and Daniel Kolar, but Horvath was too precise in his finish and placed his shot wide of the upright.

Clarence Seedorf sent a crosscum-shot flashing along the sixyard box but no-one followed it in.

It was a tailor-made opportunity for Filippo Inzaghi, watching on

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

frustrated in the stands as he has not even been included in Milan’s 25-man Champions League squad.

Milan took the lead in contentious fashion in the 53rd minute after German referee Florian Meyer awarded a penalty against Marian Cisovsky when a flick from Ibrahimovic hit his arm from point-blank range.

Ibrahimovic made no mistake from the spot. Milan almost got a second on a rapier counter but after good work from Seedorf and Ibrahimovic, Cassano fired over.

Plzen were not out of it though, and Abbiati had to get down well to save from Horvath.

The killer second goal on 66 minutes was pure class.

Ibrahimovic held off his marker in taking down a long ball, teased the defence and then slipped in Cassano to dink the ball over Cech. It was Milan’s 2,000th goal since Italy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi bought the club in 1986. —AFP

Arsenal ride luck to see off Olympiakos LONDON: Arsenal survived a chaotic defensive display to secure a 2-1 win over Olympiakos as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain announced his arrival on the Champions League stage with a fine goal at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger paid £10 million to sign OxladeChamberlain from Southampton during the close -season even though the 18-year-old winger had only a year’s experience in League One on his CV. It is quite a jump from English football’s third tier to Europe’s elite club competition, but Oxlade Chamberlain showed no signs of being overawed as he marked his Champions League debut with a cool strike early in the first half.

Andre Santos’s first goal for Arsenal should have finished off Olympiakos but David Fuster got one back for the Greeks as the Gunners’ defence went into meltdown.

Only the woodwork and some excellent stops from Wojciech Szczesny prevented Olympiakos from snatching a draw.

Wenger will know there is still plenty of room for improvement, but his side remain on course for the last 16 after taking four points from their first two Group F matches. “It was a really good experience,” Oxlade -Chamberlain said after becoming the youngest ever English goal-scorer in the Champions League.

“It’s a big step up, but I want to play at the top level and I have plenty more time to play in the Champions League. “It’s my first time in the Champions League and I’m glad we’ve achieved three points.”

Beating Bolton on Saturday had provided a much-needed boost to Arsenal’s flagging morale after the club’s worst start to a season for 58 years. Olympiakos, who had lost all nine of their previous visits to England, initially seemed to pose no

danger to that revival.

Ernesto Valverde’s team were so shaky in defence that they made Arsenal’s notoriously fragile backfour look rock solid in comparison.

There was no need to fear these Greeks bearing gifts.

Arsenal took the lead in the eighth minute when Ivan Marcano’s sloppy attempt to clear Alex Song’s pass allowed Oxlade-Chamberlain

LONDON: Arsenal’s Marouane Chamakh (right) tackles Olympiakos’ Jose Holebas during their Champions League Group F soccer match at the Emirates stadium. —AP to seize possession on the edge of the area and shoot low into the corner of Franco Costanzo’s net.

Yet Olympiakos could have been level moments later when Arsenal failed to deal with a clever short corner and Rafik Djebbour stabbed goalwards, only for Mikel Arteta to come to the rescue with a tremendous goalline block.

Arsenal took advantage of that escape with a second goal in the 20th minute. Tomas Rosicky sent Santos surging away down the left but when his cross was half-cleared back to the Brazilian, Marcano provided only the flimsiest barrier as Santos skipped past him before beating the flat-footed Costanzo at

cross past Szczesny.

Olympiakos were causing havoc on the counter-attack and Djebbour ’s power ful drive was tipped over by Szczesny, while Kevin Mirallas forced the keeper into another good save.

Mirallas went close again soon after half-time, this time with a dipping half-volley, before OxladeChamberlain squandered an opportunity to extend Arsenal’s lead with a tame finish.

Olympiakos captain Vassilis Torossidis almost made him pay for that miss when he cut in from the right and rattled the Arsenal crossbar with a curling effort, but the Gunners held on. —AFP

Champions League results/standings Group E At Valencia, Spain Valencia (ESP) 1 (Soldado 86-pen) Chelsea (ENG) 1 (Lampard 56) At Leverkusen, Germany Bayer Leverkusen (GER) 2 (Bender 29, Ballack 90+1) Genk (BEL) 0 Group F At London Arsenal (ENG) 2 (Oxlade-Chamberlain 8, Andre Santos 20) Olympiakos (GRE) 1 (Fuster 26) At Marseille, France Marseille (FRA) 3 (A. Ayew 20, 69-pen, L. Remy 62) Borussia Dortmund (GER) 0

Group G At Donetsk, Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 1 (Jadson 64) APOEL Nicosia (CYP) 1 (Trickovski 61) At Saint Petersburg, Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg (RUS) 3 (Shirokov 20, 63, Danny 72) Porto (POR) 1 (Rodriguez 10) Group H At Minsk BATE Borisov (BLR) 0 Barcelona (ESP) 5 (Volodko 19og, Pedro 21, Messi 37, 55, Villa 90) At Milan, Italy AC Milan (ITA) 2 (Ibrahimovic 53-pen, Cassano 66) Viktoria Plzen (CZE) 0

Champions League tables Champions League group stage tables after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Group E Chelsea 2 1 1 0 3 1 4 Leverkusen 2 1 0 1 2 2 3 Valencia 2 0 2 0 1 1 2 Genk 2 0 1 1 0 2 1 Group F Marseille 2 2 0 0 4 0 6 Arsenal 2 1 1 0 3 2 4

Dortmund Olympiakos Group G APOEL Zenit FC Porto Shakhtar Group H AC Milan Barcelona BATE Plzen

Ballack seals Leverkusen’s win

ITALY: AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Sweden (left) celebrates flanked by his teammate forward Antonio Cassano after scoring during a Champions League, Group H soccer match against Victoria Plzen. —AP

his near post. Arsenal’s defending remains their Achilles heel, especially with injuries to Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen forcing Wenger to deploy midfielder Song at centre-back.

And the Gunners’ rearguard was exposed as Olympiakos grabbed a lifeline in the 27th minute when Fuster was left completely unmarked to head Ariel Ibagaza’s

LEVERKUSEN: Ex-Germany captain Michael Ballack came off the bench to seal Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-0 Champions League win over Belgian champions Genk yesterday to put the Germans second in Group E. Having gone down 2-0 to group leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago, Leverkusen picked themselves up from the defeat with midfielder Lars Bender scoring the opener in the first half.

Ballack, who turned 35 on Monday, netted the second in added time to claim his first goal in more than 18 months, having spent much of this season on the bench due to the after-effects of back-to-back injuries in 2010.

The three points ease some of the pressure on Leverkusen coach Robin Dutt, whose side also lost their last two German league games following the defeat by Chelsea. “It was an important victory for us,” said Dutt.

“When you have lost the last three games, there is no such thing as an expected victory.

“We weren’t prepared to take a few risks and that was obviously to do with our self-confidence. “Not everything worked out for us on the pitch, but I saw a certain mentality from the players.”

This was Genk’s first defeat of the season in any competition, after they held Valencia to a goalless draw at home a fortnight ago in their Champions League opener.

Leverkusen took the lead after Genk’s Brazilian defender Nadson blocked a shot from Stefan Kiessling and Germany squad member Bender was on hand to slam home his shot from a tight angle on 30 minutes. After the break, Germany forward Andre Schuerrle was denied Leverkusen’s second after he fired straight at Hungary goalkeeper Laszlo Koeteles with an hour played. Genk’s Belgium striker Marvin Ogunjimi almost put his side level with just over 12 minutes left when he managed to get a powerful header on target, but Leverkusen’s teenage goalkeeper Bernd Leno pulled off a good save. — AFP

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APOEL hold Shakhtar to 1-1 draw DONETSK: Jadson’s equalizer for Shakhtar Donetsk three minutes after APOEL Nicosia had taken the lead secured a 1-1 draw for the Ukrainian champion in the Champions League yesterday.

Ivan Trickovski gave the Cypriot visitors a surprise lead in the 61st minute with a fine strike after a rare APOEL attack. Shakhtar hit back almost immediately when Jadson fired in from a Willian cross.

But the home team will be disappointed not to have won after dominating possession and creating a number of chances to win the game.

Shakhtar, a quarterfinalist last season, now finds itself bottom of Group G with only one point from two games, while APOEL went top with four points.

The home side pushed forward from the start, while APOEL set out to defend. “Shakhtar dominated, applied pressure. We knew that this team would control the game,” APOEL coach Ivan Jovanovic said. “However, we thought we’d have more chance to attack, which didn’t happen. A 1-1 draw against Shakhtar is good luck for us.

We’ll take the table home and hang it up.”

In the ninth minute, Willian launched a shot from 25 yards, but goalkeeper Dionisis Chiotis dived to his right to save. APOEL was sitting deep and trying to hit on the break but Shakhtar’s defense, despite missing regulars Yaroslav Rakytskiy and Dmytro Chygrynskiy, easily dealt with Ailton, who was largely isolated in attack. The quick feet and quick passing of Brazilian midfielders Willian and Jadson were causing problems for the visitors’ defense, but Shakhtar failed to create any clear chances until the final 15 minutes of the half. Henrikh Mkhitaryan drove forward past two players in the 31st minute, collected a layoff from Luiz Adriano, but couldn’t get enough power behind his shot on the turn. — AP

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MINSK: Argentine Lionel Messi (center) of Barcelona vies with Edgar Olekhnovich (left) of BATE Borisov during the UEFA Champions League Group H football match. —AFP

Barcelona rout BATE Borisov 5-0 Messi makes more history MINSK: Lionel Messi scored once in each half as Barcelona routed BATE Borisov 5-0 in the Champions League yesterday for the defending champions’ first victory in Group H. With his double, Messi joined Laszlo Kubala as Barcelona’s second all-time leading scorer with 194 goals. “Each day playing with Messi and having him as a teammate is a blast,” Barcelona right back Dani Alves said. “We are going to do ever ything we can to help him break all the records he can.”

Barcelona took advantage of the hosts’ defensive errors to cruise to a comfortable win. An own goal

by BATE midfielder Aleksandr Volodko put Barcelona ahead before Pedro Rodriguez and Messi sent the Spanish giants into half-

time with a 3-0 lead.

Messi got his second just after the restart with a cracking strike from inside the area, and David Villa capped the win in the 90th.

The 24-year-old Messi, now in his eighth season, has the chance to surpass Kubala on Sunday at Spor ting Gijon in the Spanish league. Kubala played for Barca for a decade from 1951.

Barcelona’s top scorer Cesar Rodriguez scored 235 goals from 1942-55. If Messi keeps scoring at the same rate he did last season, he could pass that mark before this campaign is over. “(Messi) has equaled a legendary player for Barcelona, and he has done it at just 24 years old. I can’t say anything more, only con-

gratulate him,” Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. “The only way that he won’t catch Cesar is if he leaves.”

Barcelona has four points, even with AC Milan after the Italians beat Viktoria Plzen 2-0. BATE and Viktoria Plzen were left with one point each.

In a mild surprise, Guardiola left center back Gerard Pique on the bench again, despite him returning from injury as a substitute at the weekend, and selected midfielder Javier Mascherano in the center of defense with Carles Puyol.

Seydou Keita also got the nod over Sergio Busquets in midfield, while Thiago Alcantara started in place of Cesc Fabregas.

Mateja Kezman spearheaded a BATE attack that was without

injured striker Vitali Rodionov, but the former Chelsea player rarely received the ball as Barcelona dominated possession from the outset.

BATE put 10 men behind the ball and for the first 15 minutes succeeded in limiting the visitors to a long strike by Thiago and a Messi free kick.

With its short passing game frustrated, Barcelona broke through BATE’s defense by uncharacteristically going over the top.

Volodko tried to clear Alves’ cross for Messi but ended up sending the ball into his own net to give the visitors the lead in the 19th.

Three minutes later, Villa followed Alves’ example and picked out Pedro at the far post for the Spain forward to guide his header

over goalkeeper Aleksandr Gutor to double Barcelona’s advantage.

“We faced a team that played very far back in defense, and we were lucky enough to score early,” Guardiola said. “I didn’t expect they would play so defensively. It was one of those games that if you don’t score early, you get nervous.”

A lapse in defense almost let BATE pull one back, but Puyol scrambled to block Volodko’s closerange strike before Villa drew a diving save from Gutor.

But an error by the BATE keeper put the result beyond doubt in the 38th when Gutor let Pedro’s tame cross slip through his hands for Messi to tap across the goal line.

Ten minutes after halftime Messi scored his second with a rising left-

Late penalty denies Chelsea win VALENCIA: Frank Lampard proved his worth to Chelsea yesterday with a goal in their Champions League Group E clash with Valencia, but a late Roberto Soldado penalty earned the hosts a 1-1 draw.

The build-up to the game had focused on the diminishing role that Lampard is having in the Chelsea team under Andre Villas-Boas, with the England midfielder having played in only one of his side’s previous four games.

In the pre-match press conference VillasBoas angrily replied to a barrage of questions by insisting that Lampard does have a future at the club and he underlined the point by including him in the starting lineup.

Lampard had a quiet game but crucially found the back of the net on 56 minutes after the ball was played back to him inside the box by Florent Malouda.

The game opened up in the final stages and Soldado converted a penalty three minutes from time following a handball by substitute Salomon Kalou.

“It was a solid performance,” said VillasBoas. “After the break we came out strongly and had good chances to make it 2-0 but we couldn’t hit the back of the net. It was unlucky and then they scored and got a draw.

“I t was a good per formance from Lampard and there is nothing more to say.

He is one of the best players in our squad and I was very happy with him. The team worked well collectively and individually

and so I was very happy.

“It was a good time for him to score. He has always been a good goal scorer. We trust in him a 100 per cent and he found the back of the net.”

After just two minutes a sloppy back pass from David Albelda put Fernando Torres clear but Rami got back to nudge him off the ball, and moments later confusion in the Valencia backline saw Rami put

the ball just past his goal.

Gradually Valencia began to find their composure but even so the Chelsea midfield was finding it relatively easy to cut through their defence. Victor Ruiz was forced into upending Ramires as he was about to burst into the penalty area and was booked.

Valencia offered little attacking inclination and their forays forward came mainly d o w n t h e w i n g s t h ro u g h f u l l - b a c k s

SPAIN: Valencia’s Pablo Hernandez (top) duels for the ball with Chelsea’s Florent Malouda from France (bottom) during their Group E Champions League soccer match. —AP

Jeremy Mathieu and Miguel.

Valencia did go close to breaking the deadlock though when Pablo Hernandez flicked a Mathieu cross just past the near post ten minutes before half time.

Chelsea raised the tempo after the break and for a while it was ‘keeper Diego Alves who kept the home side in the game until Lampard scored.

He denied Torres twice as well as Ramires with excellent blocks before Lampard was left unmarked to slot home. Chelsea appeared to have the game under control with Soldado, who has had a strong start to the season, an isolated figure in attack, but Valencia belatedly responded.

Soldado rounded Petr Cech but there was nobody to meet his knock back and it was the introduction of Pablo Piatti that really lifted Valencia’s rhythm.

The Argentine went close to an equaliser with a shot that Cech tipped over the cross bar and Cech also denied Jonas.

However, from the resulting corner Kalou, who had only been on the pitch for four minutes, handled and Soldado coolly sent the ‘keeper the wrong way.

At the end of the game the Chelsea players angrily confronted the referee over the penalty decision and Ashley Cole was given a yellow card.

Chelsea are now clear at the top of the group on four points, while Valencia sit on two, one behind Bayer Leverkusen, who they face next in Germany. —AFP

footed shot after Alves slid him the ball inside the area for his eighth goal in his last four matches and 14th goal in 10 games overall this season.

The two-time Ballon D’Or winner came close to setting up another Barcelona goal with a perfectly placed diagonal pass to Eric Abidal, only to see Gutor block his low strike. Villa slotted home his late goal after a counterattack, with the BATE defense in tatters.

“We’ve played the best team in the world,” BATE coach Viktor Goncharenko said. “We failed to defend strong or attack hard. The game was mostly in our box and we couldn’t change this situation. But it was a helpful experience.” —AP

Marseille blank Dortmund MARSEILLE: Marseille put their domestic struggles to one side with a timely 3-0 win at home to German champions Borussia Dortmund yesterday that put them in charge of Champions League Group F. A 20-yard strike from Andre Ayew gave the hosts a 1-0 half-time lead and they survived a Dortmund rally to prevail after a composed Loic Remy finish and a second goal for Ayew.

Victory kept OM two points clear of Arsenal in the group, ahead of the double-header against Arsene Wenger’s side that starts with a home game on October 19.

“To have six points after two games is good,” Marseille coach Didier Deschamps told Canal+. “In the last two seasons, we had zero points (after two games). But to qualify you need a minimum of 10. “We’ve made a good start, but we’re not there yet.”

Asked about the contrast between his side’s form in the league and in Europe, Deschamps joked: “I might have to put the (Champions League) music on in the changing room for league games.”

This fixture was a haven for both teams after early-season domestic disappointments, with Marseille 10 points behind the leaders in Ligue 1 and defending champions Dortmund already eight points off the pace in Germany.

Marseille had been stung by an injury-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Valenciennes on Saturday but they began with purpose and saw Ayew head over the bar from Lucho Gonzalez’s corner in the eighth minute.

The visitors got a sight of goal in the 19th minute but goalkeeper Steve Mandanda rose to the occasion, blocking with his legs after Mario Goetze had cut inside Nicolas N’Koulou.

A minute later, Marseille took the lead. A slip from Neven Subotic gave Remy time to pick out Ayew and from just outside the box he found the bottom-right corner with a precise low shot. —AFP

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MELLITAH, Libya: A file picture shows the new Eni (The Italian oil and gas company) gas compression plant settled on the shore of Mellitah. — AP

Gulf may tolerate oil below $90 Kuwait, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi have nothing to worry DUBAI/LONDON: Oil prices may be $20 off April’s $127-abarrel peak but there is no panic in Riyadh, Kuwait City or Abu Dhabi. Far from it. Oil policy officials in the capitals of OPEC’s Gulf Arab price doves Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are relaxed and won’t be losing sleep if prices fall further. One senior official in the region told Reuters those producers are unlikely to reduce supplies to try to stem a decline in oil prices unless crude falls below $90 a barrel for a sustained period. Others did not specify an ideal price range but said they would maintain high output and could tolerate a further decline in prices. Brent crude, trading around $107 yesterday, has fallen some $15 since the start of August as the economic outlook darkened and following the release of strategic consumer reserves and extra supplies from Gulf OPEC producers in June.

The prospect of Libyan oil returning to the market after a first post-war cargo shipped on Tuesday is also beginning to weigh on prices. Libya is hoping to restore full output in 1215 months. “The price has come down but it is still above $100,” said an official from one Gulf Arab OPEC member. “$90 is still high,” the official said. The three Gulf producers lifted

supply sharply in June after failing to convince the rest of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, at a badtempered meeting, to back a proposal for a formal increase.

Despite forecasts for a double-dip recession , Gulf Arab supplies remain high and Saudi and its Gulf allies do not appear ready to intervene and prop up prices by withdrawing supplies any time soon. “I don’t see Gulf countries cutting back too much from their production. This will be more of a gradual process and I really don’t think Libya will be back in the timeframe that was given,” an official from a second Gulf OPEC producer said. “As for the price, it’s still high for now.”

OPEC’s Gulf members are typically the 12-member organization’s most moderate on prices because they do not want high energy costs to restrict economic growth and long-term demand for their main source of export revenue. Others like Iran, Venezuela and Algeria, who opposed the call for more oil from OPEC in June, have lesser oil reserves and bigger populations and prefer to keep prices as high as possible.

Saudi finances flush The fall in price towards $100 a barrel has raised specula-

Gold climbs as lower prices stoke demand LONDON: Gold prices rose yesterday, continuing the previous session’s consolidation after Monday’s heavy losses, as price-sensitive physical buyers bought into the market at lower prices, and as assets seen as higher risk retreated. Spot gold was up 0.6 percent at $1,658.60 an ounce at 0913 GMT. It has steadied in a broad $40 trading range since early Tuesday after sliding to a near three-month low on the previous day.

Monday’s dramatic $120 price drop has washed out some less committed investors from the market, analysts said, while its resilience at lower levels has fuelled some tentative confidence that higher prices can be sustained. “ We reached the 200 day moving average, which should now be the line in the sand,” said Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen. “The only worry is obviously how burnt investors have become of this 20 percent correction, as something which was perceived to be safe suddenly was not anymore.” “ The downside may need to be tested and rejected one more time in order to give bulls enough confidence to re-enter,” he added. “Strong physical demand should helped the market

to find support relatively soon.” Gold bar premiums in India, the world’s biggest bullion consumer, hit their highest in more than a year to top $2 an ounce after prices fell from the record highs, three importers and a supplier said yesterday.

Premiums for gold bars elsewhere in Asia jumped to their highest level since at least February after a drop in prices spurred buying from jewelrs and speculators, leading to tight supply, according to dealers. Volumes on the Shanghai Gold Exchange hit levels not seen since the Lunar New Year in Januar y, UBS said in a note.

“Directional buyers with a long-term horizon have been active in the market,” it said. “Such demand and physical buying will do a lot to help gold rebuild its reputation after the recent ugly selloff.” “ The panic displayed over the past few days has dissipated to a great extent, though there certainly hasn’t been a stampede back into gold.

Instead, the market remains hesitant and gold continues to consolidate. We believe this is healthier than a steep push higher.” — Reuters

tion in oil markets about what price level might cause Saudi Arabia to step in to protect its revenues. Many oil analysts have said that Riyadh now needs a higher price to balance its budget and pay for the extra social spending by the Saudi government to insulate its population from the Arab Spring.

Saudi finances, though, remain strong. Riyadh is on course to earn nearly $300 billion in oil revenue this year, $50 billion more than planned and has $550 billion in foreign reserves, former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki Al-Faisal said in a speech on Tuesday. “They’re sitting pretty at the moment.” said oil consultant Bill Farren-Price of Petroleum Policy Intelligence of the Gulf Arab group.

“Anything above $90 is fine. They want to support the economy and they appear to have no appetite for re-engaging with the rest of OPEC until December.”

“Given the Kingdom’s interests in satisfying fiscal requirements and maximizing over time the revenues from its massive oil reserves, we think a price range of between $70 and $90 per barrel is currently a ‘sweet spot’ for Saudi Arabia,” said Jadwa Investment, a company founded by

Saudi royalty, in a report on Saudi finances. Demand, driven by economic growth or lack of it, will determine the pace at which Saudi, the UAE and Kuwait dial back supplies. “We are looking closely at demand figures and this is what will determine how much and when to cut,” said the second Gulf official.

Oil output from OPEC hit a 3-year high in August above 30 million bpd, a Reuters survey found. It indicated no sign of Saudi or its Gulf allies cutting back the output they provided to offset missing Libyan oil. Having provided extra barrels without a formal OPEC decision in June, they may choose to reduce their output quietly through the monthly sales process if demand weakens. Although concern about the US economy and Europe’s sovereign debt problems have weighed on oil prices, demand remains robust in faster-growing regions such as Asia and the Middle East. “If you look at the non-OECD, yes it is slower than last year but it is still strong,” another OPEC member country official said.

OPEC’s next scheduled meeting to set formal policy is in December and, delegates say, it is highly unlikely to gather before then. — Reuters

Growth in Gulf states to slow in 2012 DUBAI: Economic growth in key Gulf Arab states will slow markedly next year because of a sluggish global economy but remain well above recessionary levels, a Reuters poll showed yesterday. Gross domestic product in Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy and the world’s top oil exporter, is expected to expand 4.5 percent in 2012 after 6.2 percent this year, according to the median forecast of 16 analysts surveyed between September 14 and 27.

The country’s central bank governor reined in his expectations for growth yesterday, saying he was “optimistic” that the economy would grow at an annual rate of up to 5 percent this year and next compared to a previous forecast for this year of around 6 percent. However, analysts in the Reuters poll lifted their forecast for Saudi growth in 2011 by 0.5 percentage point from the last poll taken in June. That was because of the surprising resilience of oil prices this year.

“The real GDP growth figures in 2011 are higher than we thought earlier. But in 2012, because these countries will not increase oil production, you will see the oil sector’s contribution to overall GDP flat,” said Giyas Gokkent, chief economist at National Bank of Abu Dhabi. Growth in Qatar, although still the strongest Gulf economy, is expected to plunge to 7.7 percent in 2012 from 18.9 percent this year, as the benefits of most of its increase in gas production have already been booked this year. The June poll predicted 7.8 percent growth for 2012.

The United Arab Emirates, the second

largest Arab economy, is likely to grow at 3.8 percent next year instead of the 4.0 percent forecast in the June poll. “The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) economies can easily weather the storm because the price of oil still trades above $80 per barrel, and hence the region’s export accounts are very healthy,” said Farah Ahmed Hersi, senior economist at Masraf Al-Rayan in Doha.

However, Bahrain’s growth outlook was slashed for the third time in a row in the latest poll to 2.0 percent in 2011, from 2.7 percent forecast previously. Political tensions and economic uncertainty persist in the island kingdom following its worst civil unrest since the 1990s. Its GDP growth is forecast to rebound modestly to 3.2 percent next year. Oman, hit this year by more limited protests demanding jobs and an end to corruption, should see its economy expand by 4.2 percent in 2012, the poll found.

Inflation Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are likely to see the highest levels of inflation in the Gulf next year, with rates of 5.0 percent, the poll showed. However, the forecast for Saudi Arabia was cut from 5.7 percent in the previous poll. In the UAE, inflation is seen accelerating to 3.0 percent in 2012 from 2.0 percent this year. Increased government spending on social issues is pressuring governments’ fiscal balances this year, but all Gulf countries except for Bahrain are expected to remain in surplus.

Because of high oil prices, Saudi Arabia’s

fiscal surplus this year is now forecast at 11.0 percent of GDP, up from the June forecast of 6.9 percent. Next year, the surplus is predicted to stay extremely high at 9.2 percent, even though the kingdom has pledged to spend an estimated $130 billion, or around 30 percent of its annual economic output, over several years on new houses, creating jobs and other areas. —Reuters

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business

Egypt inches towards food subsidy reforms Reform would make mills, bakeries buy at market prices

James Hogan

Etihad celebrates 5 years of service to France

E

tihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, is celebrating five years of its non-stop services between Paris and Abu Dhabi. The airline commenced operations to the French capital in May 2006, and since then has carried more than 770,000 travellers and nearly 51,500 tons of cargo on the route. The Abu Dhabi-Paris route has enjoyed average passenger loads of 75 per cent over its first five years and has grown to 77 per cent so far in 2011.

The amount of cargo carried has tripled since the start of operations to France, from 5,000 tons to 15,000 tons annually. James Hogan, Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our Paris operation has exceeded our expectations over the past five years, and we are pleased to be able to build on this success with the additional frequency we put in place in July this year, going double-daily.

“This year we will carry 200,000 travellers on the Abu Dhabi-Paris route, up 16 percent from 173,000 in 2010. By April 2012, we expect to have carried one million travellers overall on the route since its inception. “A logical step for us is to open a signature Etihad premium lounge at Charles de Gaulle airport, and I’m delighted to announce that we have started planning this.” Etihad operates a three-cabin Airbus A330 and a three-cabin Airbus A340 aircraft

between Abu Dhabi and Paris. This configuration means 7,124 seats a week - 304 Diamond First, 912 Pearl Business, and 5,908 Coral Economy seats.

The state-of-the-art aircraft used on the Abu Dhabi-Paris sector ensure Etihad guests enjoy the in-flight comfort and operational reliability of one of the world’s youngest fleets. Paris is one of the top destinations on Etihad’s network of 72 destinations. In addition to carrying passengers between Abu Dhabi and Paris, Etihad offers seamless connections to many popular onward destinations including Bangkok, Chennai, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Narita, Sydney, the Seychelles and Maldives.

“By year end, we forecast we will turnover $4 billion, have carried 8.4 million travellers, and have 1.3 million Etihad Guest members. “All this will have been achieved despite a still fragile global economy and, at times, challenging operating conditions.

“We remain committed to building the Etihad brand in the French market, offering customers great choice, connectivity, and value. Working closely with our new codeshare partner SNCF French Railways, the travel industry, the business community and governments, we look forward to deepening the strong relationship between France and the United Arab Emirates.”

Burgan Bank’s re-launched Al-Yawmi Account a big hit KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday that its re-launched Yawmi Account has been recently witnessing positive increased demand and feedback from customers across its network of branches. Customers are now opening Yawmi accounts and are receiving added value benefits as well as more chances to become daily winners. The new Yawmi account was launched earlier with new key features that aim to provide customers more benefits, and an excellent opportunity to become daily winners of KD5,000.

Burgan Bank recently has introduced new changes to its new Yawmi account with an aim to strengthen its offering, and allow it to become more convenient, easier, and faster for customers to benefit from. With the re-launch of the new Yawmi account, the minimum period for customers to become eligible to enter

the draw is 48 hours only. Customers will now be able to deposit KD100 or equivalent only to enter the daily draw, and the coupon value to enter the draw stands at KD10 instead only.

Burgan Bank encourages everyone to open a Yawmi account and/or increase their deposit to maximize their chances to become a daily winner. The more customers deposit, the higher the chances they receive of winning the draw.

Opening a Yawmi account is simple, customers can visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch and receive all the details, or simply call the bank’s Call Center at 1804080 where customer service representatives will be delighted to assist with any questions on the Yawmi account or any of the bank’s products and services.

Customers can also log on to Burgan Bank’s www.burgan.com for further information.

CAIRO: Egypt, once the breadbasket of the ancient Roman empire and now the world’s biggest wheat importer, is paying a hefty price to keep its citizens fed with cheap loaves and other foodstuffs. The $5.5 billion which it spends each year on food subsidies, mostly on wheat, is a burden that it can ill afford as the economy falters and the budget deficit balloons after the uprising that ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February. But the financial pressure is not the only cost of the subsidy system; subsidies have distorted Egypt’s agriculture. Bread is so cheap that it is sometimes used as animal feed. A focus on imports has led to neglect of farms at home. Produce often rots before it ever reaches market.

Now the country’s postMubarak government is inching towards far-reaching reforms of the system. No one talks of scrapping subsidies altogether-the uprising against Mubarak was partly fuelled by anger at the deep divide between rich and poor. But experts say the financial burden could be reduced and cash more usefully spent on strengthening the agriculture sector. “We need a radical shift in the way we deal with our bread subsidy system,” Social Solidarity Minister Gouda Abdel Khaleq told a seminar this month on food security in Egypt. His ministry is in charge of the country’s main wheat buying organization and other bodies that handle subsidized foods, though any reform will also need input from the finance and agriculture ministries.

More than three quarters of Egypt’s 80 million people can buy, via their ration cards, saucer-sized flat loaves of 130 grams at 5 piasters (less than 1 US cent) each.

Abdel Khaleq said this system was unsustainable. In the fiscal year ended on June 30, the government spent about 33 billion Egyptian pounds ($5.5 billion) on wheat, sugar, rice and food oil subsidies. It forecasts a budget deficit of 8.6 percent of gross domestic product for the current year, and analysts say it might exceed that level.

“It is like someone climbing to the top of the Cairo Tower, sticking their tongue out and jumping,” Abdel Khaleq, who joined the army-appointed government from a party with Socialist roots, said of the subsidy system, referring to an iconic building in the centre of Egypt’s capital. Few dispute the need for change. But tampering with the system, set up in the 1950s by president Gamal Abdel Nasser, is tricky. In 1977, president Anwar Sadat’s bid to raise bread prices led to riots. Mubarak also faced protests in 2008 over shortages.

Even before Mubarak’s ouster the government talked about subsidy reform, but it made little progress. A plan to set up a voucher system for butane cooking gas cylinders, so that only the most needy could buy the most heavily subsidized cylinders, was due to be implemented before the uprising. It was postponed and the current, army-backed government has now said a trial scheme will start in October. Anything which the current government does to change food subsidies will be liable to reversal. Parliamentary elections, to be held in stages, are due to start in November and end in January; a date for a presidential vote has yet to be set. With roughly 50 political parties competing in a new electoral landscape, predicting the shape of the new government is highly uncertain.

Social justice But the fact that the current

holders, Abdel Khaleq said.

However, subsidized bread would still be cheaper than animal feed, a price distortion which encourages waste. “The people who don’t need the subsidy are taking the bread anyway and feeding it to their animals,” Kandil said.

With bread so cheap, Egyptians have one of the world’s highest rates of wheat consumption per capita in the world. Egyptians consume about 180 to 200 kg of wheat a year, compared to an estimated 51 kg for Mexicans.

“We need to change consumer habits so that we are not consuming so much bread. In Mexico, for example, they rely more on potatoes. Why can’t we start shifting towards that?” said Saad Nassar, adviser to the agriculture minister.

So along with subsidy reform, Egyptian officials and experts are discussing how to change farm production and make it more efficient. “Forget the word self-suffi-

CAIRO: An Egyptian street vendor displays pottery products yesterday. — AP government is willing to tackle the issue shows widespread support for the idea of reform. Many experts believe the bloated system is too broad to help people most in need. “The subsidy system is not a reflection of social justice; around two-thirds of the people benefiting from it are not poor,” Magda Kandil, executive director and director of research at the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, told the seminar.

Mills produce subsidized flour for the government for as little as 160 Egyptian pounds a ton, while its market value would be around 2,000 pounds. Experts say subsidized flour is often leaked into the open market at a big profit. To stop this, the government is considering making mills and bakeries purchase wheat and flour at market prices.

The government would then buy the bread at market prices but sell it on with a subsidy to ration card

ciency-what we really need to be looking for is agricultural efficiency,” said Adel Beshai, an economics professor and agriculture specialist at the American University in Cairo.

“We have been ignoring agriculture.”

Reclaiming land Egypt consumes about 14 million tons of wheat each year but usually produces about half that amount. Beshai said Egypt needed to produce at least 70 percent of its wheat needs if it wanted greater food security. He said that could be achieved by expanding agriculture beyond the Nile Valley and Delta, where it is now concentrated.

Agriculture on the northern Mediterranean coast, which was cultivated in Roman times, could be expanded, he said. Much of the area, dotted with holiday resorts, is now a summer retreat for affluent

Egyptians. “You have 1.5 million acres behind these resorts that are readily cultivable with underground water. You can grow wheat there,” Beshai said. So far, Egypt has had mixed results with land reclamation for agriculture. The Toshka project to reclaim tracts of desert fed from the Aswan dam in the south of the country was launched in the 1990s but has made limited progress. Even without expanding farmland, however, Egypt could cut imports, improve its domestic production and generate more cash from exports by improving its distribution system to reduce the amount of food lost before it reaches the consumer.

“Currently, post-harvest losses result in the destruction of 30 percent of the produce. In the case of tomatoes, post-harvest losses can reach 60 percent,” said Angie Helmy, vice chairman of Egyptian Agrofoods Co. “Produce is improperly packaged, it is stacked in a random way on trucks, travels exposed and does not receive any cooling,” she added. Helmy, who has been exporting fresh produce to European markets for a year and a half, said addressing these problems would save large volumes of produce. Water efficiency is another pressing issue. Most irrigation is now done by flooding fields from canals. Experts say this results in waste that Egypt cannot afford when it depends almost solely on the Nile for fresh water, and when upstream African states want to use more for themselves. Advanced irrigation techniques, such as pivot systems that sprinkle water more efficiently, would mean more water available for land reclamation.

Experts say farmers using these techniques and helped by private investment could expand output of cash crops for export to Europe and elsewhere. That might not cut the wheat import bill, but it would generate more hard currency to pay for it. “We need to adopt the agriculture for export concept,” Beshai said. Such reforms of agriculture have been discussed for years in Egypt but have often failed because of poorly functioning government bureaucracies and red tape, which make investing in the sector a challenge.

Many of Egypt’s farmers own very small holdings which make changing growing practices and the creation of large, economically efficient farms difficult. But success with food subsidy reform could encourage the government and the private sector to press ahead with wider changes to the agricultural sector, while freeing up some government money to promote them. — Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2730000 .4280000 .3720000 .3040000 .2670000 .2710000 .0040000 .0020000 .0746990 .7277750 .3810000 .0700000 .7134510 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2751500 GB Pound/KD .4309540 Euro .3744650 Swiss francs .3067280 Canadian dollars .2692930 Danish Kroner .0503170 Swedish Kroner .0408040 Australian dlr .2731000 Hong Kong dlr .0352970 Singapore dlr .2143910 Japanese yen .0035980 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0749420 Bahraini dinars .7301310 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0733930 Omani riyals .7149540 Philippine Peso .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.643 5.654 3.160 2.505 3.523 215.720 35.485 3.686 6.349 8.923 0.271 0.273

.2800000 .4390000 .3815000 .3140000 .2770000 .2790000 .0072500 .0035000 .0754500 .7350900 .4010000 .0760000 .7206220 .0072000 .0530000 .2772500 .4342430 .3773230 .3090690 .2713480 .0507010 .0411160 .2751840 .0355670 .2160280 .0036250 .0057400 .0025230 .0031780 .0037020 .0755140 .7357040 .3921500 .0739530 .7204110 .0064100

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 73.776 76.017 718.590 734.820 75.334

Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 49.300 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.319 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.266 Tunisian Dinar 195.030 Jordanian Dinar 390.690 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 185.600 Syrian Lier 5.973 Morocco Dirham 34.100 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 276.550 Euro 378.040 Sterling Pound 433.770 Canadian dollar 271.930 Turkish lire 149.840 Swiss Franc 310.730 Australian dollar 272.870 US Dollar Buying 275.350 GOLD 305.000 153.000 79.000

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

COUNTRY

SELL CASH

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal

276.000 735.100 3.870 272.900 542.900 36.700 51.200 167.800 47.780 379.200 36.140 5.990 0.034 0.242 0.240 3.710 392.140 0.187 90.410 47.700 4.250 220.900 1.874 49.200 717.950

SELL DRAFT

274.500 735.100 3.683 271.400

215.800 46.342 377.700 35.990 5.650 0.033

10 Tola

75.260 276.400

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Selling Rate

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

276.300 270.840 432.855 377.540 307.890 732.565 75.200 75.840 73.640 388.925 46.334 2.501 5.661 3.171 3.687 6.334 677.742 3.705 9.000 5.820 3.620 91.780

Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

277.49 273.57 311.46 377.42

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

276.300 3.160 5.645 2.525 3.695 6.390 75.330 73.835 734.600 46.315 437.300 3.190 1.550 392.500 5.750 380.800 275.300 3.690

Al Mulla Exchange

UAE Exchange Center WLL Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro

433.16 3.67 3.711 5.594 2.507 3.516 3.155 75.25 735.35 46.36 393.30 718.47 76.23 73.82

434.50 3.62 3.750 5.970 2.612 4.200 3.220 75.39 735.37 47.80 392.28 718.21 76.49 73.83

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 434.000 278.400

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Currency

717.770

309.900 5.700 9.130

Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

Currency

390.670 0.186 90.410 3.530 219.400

3.170 6.350 75.030 73.800 215.750 37.040 2.504 434.000

GOLD 1,701.330

Rate for Transfer

Bahrain Exchange Company

3.220 6.580 76.460 73.800 215.750 37.640 2.611 438.000 41.600 311.400 5.700 9.440 198.263 75.360 276.800 1.230

276.70 273.20 309.80 378.60

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

275.950 378.800 434.900 272.200 3.650 5.660 46.300 2.504 3.670 6.336 3.164 734.975 73.500 73.700

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business

Auditors back to Athens as debt deal hits crunch Merkel suggests new bailout deal may change

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank’s Management team is pictured along with KOC’s Management team during the event.

Gulf Bank’s Quarterly KOC Draw winner announced KUWAIT: Gulf Bank yesterday announced the winner of its third KOC quarterly prize draw for 2011. The lucky customer to win the 2011 GMC Yukon was Ibrahim Ismael Al-Tamimi, who was presented with the keys to the automobile by Yaser Sulaiman, Executive Manager, Consumer Banking Group, Gulf Bank. On winning the brand new GMC Yukon, Ibrahim Ismael Al-Tamimi said, “I would like to extend my gratitude to Gulf Bank for this amazing prize. Gulf Bank does not only provide me with convenient service at the KOC branch but simultaneously gives me the opportunity to win such an outstanding prize. I am very excited to drive away with my new car.” Gulf Bank’s Quarterly Prize Draw for the GMC Yukon is part of the benefits offered in the KOC salary package. The KOC salary package is a specially designed banking package for KOC

staff members and is a non interest bearing current account.

Gulf Bank offers this tailored package to KOC employees, where they can enjoy several benefits including: a chance to participate in an exclusive quarterly draw to win a brand new GMC Yukon; receive vouchers from Tanagra; free issuance charges for Visa and MasterCard credit cards; special discounts upon using Gulf Bank debit and credit cards at over 300 outlets across Kuwait; and a 10 percent discount on both motor and travel insurance. All KOC staff that transfer their salaries and have a valid Gulf Bank credit card will be eligible to enter the quarterly draw. Gulf Bank is the only branch present at the KOC Head Office and the Bank invites all KOC staff members to visit the branch to find out more about the KOC salary package.

KUWAIT: (Right to left) Yaser Sulaiman, Executive Manager at Gulf Bank congratulates the 3rd quarterly KOC draw winner, Ibrahim Ismael Al-Tamimi along with Salah Al-Zaabi, Executive Manager from the Consumer Banking Group at Gulf Bank.

ATHENS: EU and IMF inspectors will return to Greece on Thursday to decide whether Athens has done enough to secure a new batch of aid vital to avoid bankruptcy, while Germany suggested a new bailout may have to be renegotiated. Facing a wave of strikes and protests, Greece’s Socialist government is accelerating budget measures to meet the terms of an International Monetary Fund and European Union rescue deal so it can receive a new loan next month. The “troika” team of inspectors, which had threatened to cut off aid if Athens did not move faster, will hold talks on a plan to deepen budget cuts and raise taxes which has driven protesters back onto the streets for the first time since June.

“I can confirm the Eurogroup (of euro zone ministers) will hold an additional meeting as soon as possible, still in October, to discuss the situation of Greece and consider the disbursement of the next tranche,” a European Commission spokesman said in Brussels, announcing the troika’s return. German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested that parts of a planned new 109-billion-euro ($148.6 billion) rescue for the debt-laden country could be reopened, depending on the outcome of the troika’s audit. “We have to wait and see what the troika ... finds and what it will tell us (whether) we will have to renegotiate or not,” she told Greek state television NET, without elaborating.

Several hundred activists affiliated with the Greek Communists converged on the finance ministry yesterday waving a banner saying “We won’t pay!”. They burned bills for a new one-off income tax introduced this summer, while Athens and other parts of the country were hit by transport strikes. If deemed adequate by the inspectors, the new austerity drive will secure an 8-billion-euro loan Greece needs to pay bills and salaries in October and bring it closer to moving on to a second bailout agreed in July.

As a condition of the visit and to resolve the row with the lenders, the Greek government had promised to send a written assurance outlining its new plan to meet its bailout targets. Its contents have not been made public. “Instead of coming and going, the troika should spend a month with a pensioner, a family-man and then tell us whether these measures are human,” said 50-year-old aviation worker, Costas Papalambros, a father of two.

“The next tranche will just be an aspirin, it won’t cure the patient. What we need is growth and I don’t see it happening They need to change policies,” he told Reuters. Even Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos, who said he faced selling real estate to pay a new property tax, admitted Greeks’ pain threshold was being tested. “I think that the tax-paying limits of Greek society have been exhausted. I would say they have been exhausted for some time now,” he told Mega TV. “But I think that we should act on the other side of the problem which is spending.” Germany has repeatedly said negotiations about the details of the second rescue deal can begin only when the troika says Greece has qual-

UAE oil shake-up opens door to East DUBAI: Asian companies are well-placed to take more stakes in Abu Dhabi’s upcoming oil and gas concessions as the oil exporting emirate seeks stronger ties with its biggest customers and better financial terms for itself. Western oil majors ExxonMobil , Shell and Total hold large stakes in concessions that pump most of the oil and gas which has helped transform Abu Dhabi from a sleepy fishing village into one of the world’s largest oil exporters and richest countries over the last five decades. Abu Dhabi plans to invest $60 billion over the next five years in a bid to boost UAE’s oil production capacity from 2.7 million to 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) and may welcome eastern companies into the cosy western oil club to make it happen.

“You are not going to have a small club anymore.

You will have some more upstream presence from the consumer countries. I would expect some other partnerships from Japan, South Korea and even China,” Thaddeus Malesa, a Dubai-based independent energy analyst, said. “If you want to be tied into the future, if you want to have ties with countries with higher demand growth, you will have to let them in. That is really the consideration within the government in terms of getting the ebst all-around deal for Abu Dhabi,” Malesa said.

Almost all of crude exports out of UAE, the world’s third largest crude exporter, is sold to Asian countries, but when it comes to concessions Japanese Oil Development Co. (Jodco) is the only Asian company with a major stake in one of its four largest oil concessions. Cosmo Oil Co, also from Japan-the leading importer of emirati oil-was awarded a minor concession in early 2011 and has stakes in a few small fields .

But analysts, sources close to the government and industry observers say companies from South Korea and increasingly import-dependent China are likely front-runners when the concessions come up for renewal in 2014. Analysts and sources close to the government expect some shift in concession control from West to East point to a memorandum of understanding signed by ADNOC and South Korea in March which secured access to at least a billion barrels of reserves for one of the UAE’s biggest crude consumers.

Break up The UAE’s oil concessions have an unusual structure which allows producers to acquire equity stakes in return for providing much of the investment and accepting profit margins that analysts say are very tight by international standards.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) holds a controlling stake in each concession which it operates with several partners-a system which irks some oil companies who do not want to share their technol-

ogy with rivals. In October last year, the senior vice president of ExxonMobil, one of the largest stake holders in the big concessions, said the multi-partnered structure prevented the U.S. energy giant from bringing in its “best” technology.

“The biggest company pushing for change is Exxon,” a senior industry source based in Abu Dhabi said. “They have been lobbying for that for quite some time.” But Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Energy Council (SPC), the highest authority on energy policy, will not shift readily from a concession system which has worked well for the wealthy emirate for decades. “We are going through a very conservative period in terms of investment. I would be really surprised if they broke up the concessions,” a senior government source said. “If we are going to allow any new players, I would say it would be for small fields,” he added.

With the first expiry of Abu Dhabi concessions looming in 2014, international oil company (IOC) executives hope ADNOC and the SPC will announce their plans for the renewals this year. “They are supposed to be making a decision in the next 3-4 months. But knowing the pace of things in Abu Dhabi, I’d double that time,” the industry source said.

Technology and price Fuel-thirsty Asian companies may also offer more price-competitive bids for pumping out the oil and gas, which could prove key in swaying ADNOC’s decision in their favor. “I can tell you from experience that whenever there is any kind of bidding, ADNOC would consistently pick the lowest price,” Malesa said.

“Even if (a rival bid) is within a 10-percent band it would be rejected, even if the other bidder has better technology,” he added. US-based Occidental Petroleum beating front-runner Shell in January to develop the large but technologically challenging Shah Gas field was seen by many analysts as evidence of ADNOC’s sensitivity to price. The complex nature of future oil and gas extraction in the region should ensure western IOCs with experience extracting fuel from tricky deposits in other parts of the world continue to play a major role in the UAE. “ADNOC will explore its options,” a source at ADNOC said. “But you will still have the likes of BP, Shell involved.” With Asian oil demand rising while consumption in the western hemisphere wanes, Asian companies with long-term supply concerns may out bid the established IOCs to secure fuel they need to drive rapid economic growth. “The concessions are not about profits for the next 10 years but more about what this region will look like in 50 years time,” a western oil industry source said. “They recognize this will be very important in 60 years time so they start the relationship today.” — Reuters

ified to receive the tranche expected in October, the sixth under a first bailout agreed in 2010. At the same time, leaders from around the world have urged euro zone capitals to end a tortuous debate and create a safety net big enough to prevent Greece’s problems from spreading to other euro members and triggering a fresh global downturn.

Debt swap debate deepens The second bailout aims to ease Greece’s debt burden by imposing a 21 percent loss on private Greek bondholders. After intensifying debate among economists and policymakers that only a 50 percent loss would make the country’s debt viable, more investors have signed up to the bond exchange plan, Greek financial daily Naftemporiki reported. Citing an unidentified finance ministry official, it said

approved, damaging her authority.

Strikes grip Greece Late on Tuesday, police dispersed about 1,000 anti-austerity protesters with tear gas in Athens’ Syntagma Square, the epicentre of antiausterity protests. Taxi drivers, bus and tram operators staged strikes yesterday, causing long traffic jams leading into the ancient city centre and forcing luggage-hauling tourists scrambling to find rides to the airport. Other trades ranging from craftsmen, printers and tax officials also staged stoppages and activists planned marches on parliament and the port of Piraeus later in the day.

“I’ve been trying to find a job for a year now and it’s impossible,” said Maria Kappa, a graduate of the School of Philosophy in Athens. “I don’t see the rich people hurt by this austerity, it’s always the poor who have to pay.” Lawmakers

ATHENS: Greek pensioners march in the center of Athens yesterday during a protest against further austerity measures, pension cuts and a reduction of the public health system. — AFP Greece’s weeks-long struggle to lure private bondholders into the rescue plan had ended with it reaching the 90 percent participation target. The finance ministry declined to comment on the report.

There is no agreement yet among euro zone governments on whether a renegotiation is needed, including more pain for Greece’s bank creditors, or on a US-sponsored plan to leverage the bloc’s rescue fund to give it more firepower.

Germany’s Bundestag (lower house) will vote today on widening the scope of the European Financial Stability Facility bailout fund, as agreed by the EU leaders on July 21. Merkel faces a revolt within her conservative camp and may have to rely on support from the opposition Social Democrats and Greens to get the measure

opened the way to the troika visit on Tuesday by passing a property tax bill. That piles the pressure on Greeks suffering from several waves of belt-tightening and deepens an economic downturn heading into its fourth year. Prime Minister George Papandreou’s 154 Socialist deputies forced the measure through in the 300seat parliament. In the accelerated strategy, the government will cut the 730,000 public workforce by a fifth, reduce the public wage bill by 20 percent, as well as lower overall pensions by 4 percent in addition to a 10 percent cut already agreed in previous plans. It will also now extend the new real estate tax until 2014, two years longer than originally planned, after the troika judged Greece’s estimate that it would raise 2 billion euros a year to be too high. — Reuters

UAE to host IPRA’s Public Relations World Congress DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host the 20th Public Relations World Congress of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the world’s most influential professional association for senior international public relations executives. Slated to be an intense brainstorming session covering all aspects of the public relations industry, the Public Relations World Congress 2012 will be held in Dubai from February 29 to March 2, 2012.

The bid for the UAE to host this prestigious event was led by the IPRA-Gulf Chapter (IPRA-GC), which had recently hosted the second Annual International Public Relations Conference in Abu Dhabi during April 13-14, 2011, attended by nearly 200 PR industry professionals and media executives from around the world.

The last edition of the Public Relations World Congress was held in 2010 in Lima, Peru, and attended by industry representatives from 39 countries, while the 2008 Public Relations World Congress was held in Beijing, China. In both instances, the event brought significant media and industry attention to the host country with the world’s foremost communications professionals and media experts attending the sessions. The first ever Congress was held in Brussels, Belgium in 1955.

Richard Linning, IPRA President 2011 said: “UAE’s hosting of the Public Relations World Congress 2012 has the resounding support of IPRA. It not only marks the growing importance of Public Relations in the Middle East region and the evolution of local PR practice and practitioners, but also underlines the UAE’s ability to host truly

Faisal Al-Zahrani global events.”

Faisal Al-Zahrani, President of IPRA-GC said: “We are delighted that IPRA has selected the UAE as a host country for the Public Relations World Congress 2012. This is the first time that this event will be held in the Middle East and marks the evolution of the region as a key player in the PR industry internationally. The Congress will establish Dubai as the PR capital of the Middle East, bringing the finest minds in communications to the city.”

Sunil John, Chief Executive Officer of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, member of the Global Governing Board of IPRA and Vice President for Educational Programmes of IPRA-GC, has been appointed as Chairman of the Organising Committee of the 20th Public Relations World Congress in Dubai.

The Congress will witness several prominent keynote speakers addressing a variety

Sunil John of topics that will help government representatives, corporate entities, educators, the media and PR professionals gain a better understanding on the shifts in the sector including the impact and reach of social media.

The IPRA-GC executive board, besides AlZahrani and John, also includes: Sultan AlBazie (Executive Vice President); Jassim AlShuwaikh (Managing Director); Khaled AlKhulaifi (Vice President - Kuwait); Dr Fahad Al-Shihabi (Vice President - Bahrain); Hassan Al-Saleh (Vice President - Oman); Jassim Fakhroo (Vice President - Qatar); Sarah AlAyed (Vice President for the Western Region of Saudi Arabia); Homoud Al- Ghobaini (Vice President for the Central Region of Saudi Arabia); Etedal Al-Ayyar (Vice President Membership); Ahmed Abed Shaikh (Vice President of Media Relations) and Salah AlDhahri (Treasurer).

S Africa lost 395,000 jobs in 2010 PRETORIA: South Africa lost 395,000 jobs in 2010, the government said yesterday, despite the expected windfall from hosting the football World Cup and the nation’s recovery from recession. The poor showing last year followed the loss of 870,000 jobs in 2009, according to Statistics SA, meaning most of the job gains of the last six years have been wiped out. About 13.1 million people were employed in 2010, compared to 12.8 million in 2005, the government’s statistical agency said. “This indicates the country has not yet fully recovered from the economic downturn

in 2009,” Stats SA official Kefiloe Masiteng told reporters. Last year also saw a shift of jobs from the formal economy to the informal sector. The number of jobs in the formal economy slipped 3.5 percent last year, while informal jobs increased by 1.4 percent, it added.

The research also found that whites in the work force tend to be better educated, with 43 percent holding a tertiary qualification, against 12 percent of blacks.

Among the South Africans who have jobs, 70 percent are black, against 15 percent for whites. But blacks make up 78 percent of the

national population, against 10 percent for whites. President Jacob Zuma has made tackling unemployment his top priority, announcing in February that the government would spend nine billion rand ($1.4 billion, 942 million euros) over the next three years to create new jobs. The country has struggled to add jobs despite rebounding in 2009 from its first recession since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Unemployment currently stands at 25.7 percent, but that counts only those actively seeking work, does not capture the full extent of the jobless problem. — AFP

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business

KSE price index down 4.7 points

Q3 earnings approach, Egypt eyes elections

GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT

Q3 earnings likely to be positive

KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended yesterday’s session on a mixed note. Banking sector and gains during the session helped the weighted index to close up while the mid and small cap stocks put more pressure on the price index to close down. Although officials confirmed that Greece dept crises will have little impact on the local bourse, it is still a concern in the trading rings. The big news was when employees of Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) agreed on Tuesday to give authorities three weeks to meet their demands, a representative said, delaying a planned strike yesterday that could affect trading on the Arab world’s second largest bourse.

Market indices Global General Index (GGI) ended the day up by 0.16 percent, at 181.08 point. Market capitalization was also up for the day, reaching KD29.57 billion. On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 5,849.1 point, shedding 4.70 points (0.08 percent) to its previous close.

Market breadth During the session, 100 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 35 equities declined versus 30 that advanced.

Daily trading activity The retreat was accompanied by decreased trading activities. Total volume traded was down by 26.98 percent with 141.17 million shares changing hands at a total value of KD27.16 million (9.92 percent lower compared to Tuesday’s session). Investment sector was the volume leader, accounting for 32.26 percent of total shares exchanges.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait was the session’s most traded stock with 11.54 million shares exchanged. The banking sector was the value leader, having 47.23 percent of total traded value.

Top gainers and biggest decliners In terms of top gainers, Burgan company for well drilling, trading and maintenance was the top gainer for the day, adding 7.81 percent to its share value and closing at KD0.345.

It’s worth mentioning that, the company

announced that it has been awarded a fiveyear, KD48,296,600 tender offer by Kuwait Gulf Oil Company to drill and maintain wells.

On the other hand, Safwan Trading & Contracting Company shed 8.33 percent and closed at KD0.550, making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sectors wise On a sector-by-sector basis, three out of the eight sectors inched higher during the day. Banking stocks spearheaded advancers, with the sector’s index adding 0.39 percent.

Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait was the biggest percentage gainers in the sector, clocking an 3.17 percent climb and closing at KD0.650.

Elsewhere in the banking sector, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) approved the Kuwait Finance House (KFH) request to extend the buyback period of 10 percent maximum of its outstanding shares for another six-month period starting October 19, 2011. The scrip closed flat at KD0.910.

Within the services sector, Gulf Petroleum Investment Company (GPIC) witnessed increased interest, with 6.24 million shares

changing hands. The company saw its stock grow by 6.85 percent during the day, closing at KD0.039. It is worth mentioning that, the BOD of GPIC met on September 22, 2011 and approved a KD10 million capital increase through the issuance of 100 million shares.

Heavyweight, Zain Company also rose by 1.04 percent to close at KD0.970. Consequently Global Services Index added 0.25 percent in gains. Non-Kuwaiti stocks led the pack of decliners, with their index ending down by 0.68 percent. Ahli United Bank lost 1.01 percent of its value, closing at KD0.196.

Corporate news Oil news The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $104.53pb on Tuesday, compared with $101.81pb the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The price of Kuwaiti crude increased in Tuesday’s trading reaching the level of $102.16pb compared to $99.16pb on Monday. Oil prices hiked up after a drop the day before, due to the European leaders’ announcement of reaching a solution for the European debt crisis.

DUBAI/CAIRO: Middle East stock markets were hit early this week by a fall in oil prices and concern about a slump in the global economy, but many investors continue to think the Gulf region will escape the worst of the slowdown, limiting downside for markets. “If between now and Q4, it becomes clear that the global economy is slowing down and problems in Europe and the US are not resolved, chances are that prices will continue to see downward pressure,” said Haissam Arabi, chief executive and fund manager at Gulfmena Investments in Dubai. “Ultimately demand for oil will slow down and prices will catch up.”

For now, however, many funds believe governments’ fiscal spending programs in the Gulf, and the fact that valuations are already quite low, will prevent regional equities from falling as much as other global markets in the event of a further slide. Companies will start announcing third-quarter earnings results in about two weeks, and funds positioning for this might give stocks a minor boost, although thin turnover is likely to prevent any extended rally.

“I have a feeling that we are still going to see a positive continuation in Q3 numbers as we had in Q2,” said Arabi.

“The idea of a global growth slowdown is exaggerated-China still has domestic growth.” Tarek Lotfy, Arqaam Capital’s head of equities for the Middle East and North Africa in Dubai, said: “Banks in Qatar are generally strong-announcements like increasing salaries in the public sector will have a positive impact on banks.” “ The sector has a strong macro driver as banks are benefiting from the activity in infrastructure. We are seeing some rotation in some names but are generally going strong.” Qatar National Bank is up about 7 percent so far this year, and stayed almost flat in the past week despite the global volatility. Valuations have convinced some long-term investors to hang on to many stocks in the region regardless of shortterm swings. “We’re still overweight in

petrochemicals-valuations are still great in Saudi. I’ve never seen SABIC trade this ridiculously low, while it is posting a record growth rate,” Arabi said.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), the world’s biggest petrochemical firm by market value, posted a 61 percent rise in second-quarter net profit due to increases in output and prices, beating analysts’ forecasts. But its stock is down 12 percent on the year, and its trailing price/earnings ratio is 10.3, compared to levels near 20 during more normal times. “We are opting to hold on to these positions with a long-term conviction in place that markets will adjust to reflect true fundamentals. It all depends on the global macro situation,” Arabi said.

Egyptian politics Egypt’s military rulers, who came to power after the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February, announced on Tuesday that parliamentary elections would start on Nov 28, launching the process of handing back power to civilian rule. Egypt’s benchmark stock index has dropped nearly 5 percent in the past week, weighed down by political uncertainty and a slide in Orascom Construction , which hit its lowest level since March. Orascom was apparently sold because it is a liquid blue chip, not for any fundamental reason; Deutsche Bank raised its rating of the stock to “buy” from “hold” and lifted its price target to 270 Egyptian pounds from 250, compared to a price of 213 late yesterday. However, some funds believe the approach of the elections could boost Egypt’s market as it becomes clear the transition to civilian government, which will be able to focus more on economic policies and reforms, will go ahead soon. “We were expecting disturbance and uncertainty. But now we see hope and a road map after the military set a date for a parliamentary vote,” said Mohamed Seddiek, head of research in Prime.— Reuters

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

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BUSINESS

787 lands in Japan Fleet of 787s to play ‘key’ role in int’l expansion

SHANGHAI: An investor smiles at the stock price monitor at a private securities company yesterday. — AP

Asian markets mixed HONG KONG: Asian markets were mixed in edgy trade yesterday after Wall Street and Europe rallied on hopes that eurozone leaders are close to a solution to the region’s debt crisis. But early gains were pared as caution set in due to a lack of concrete evidence of a plan, while dealers also looked ahead to a key vote today in Germany, where MPs will decide on expanding a rescue fund for debt-mired European countries. Tokyo ended flat, edging up 5.70 points to 8,615.65 and Sydney was 0.87 percent, or 34.9 points, higher at 4,039.5. Seoul ended 0.73 percent, or 12.62 points, lower at 1,723.09, a day after surging more than five percent, while Shanghai was 0.74 percent off in the afternoon.

And Hong Kong slipped 0.19 percent as profit-takers stepped in after the market soared 4.15 percent in the previous session.

Despite the gains there seemed no clear sign of a solution to the crisis, which has sent global markets spiralling downwards and raised fears of another crippling financial crisis. Only France let slip signs of a new plan to end the crisis, with Prime Minister Francois Fillon saying any announcement would be made after Germany’s parliament approves boosting the eurozone rescue fund today. European leaders’ dithering over the long-running sovereign debt saga has stoked concerns in markets that they lack the will or unity to avert economic disaster.

US and European markets finished in positive territory for a second day. On Wall Street, the Dow closed up 1.3 percent, the broader S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq added 1.2 percent. But in early trade yesterday in Europe dealers were not as keen to buy. London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.68 percent, the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.50 percent and Frankfurt’s DAX lost 0.65 percent. “Fundamentally, nothing has changed and we are really none the wiser over what the next act will be in this longrunning Greek tragedy,” said Khoon Goh, senior economist at ANZ Bank in Wellington.

“Headlines will still drive markets for some time,” he told Dow Jones Newswires.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday again gave her backing to Greece and pledged every assistance to Athens,

which is seeking the latest tranche of bailout cash to help it avoid a devastating default. “We want a strong Greece in the euro area... Germany is ready to give all the help required,” Merkel said after talks in Berlin with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

And the Greek leader said he was determined to implement reforms “not only to overcome the present crisis, but to make Greece more competitive”. Greece was making a “superhuman effort” to bring down its debt, he insisted. Deputies in Athens approved a controversial property tax Tuesday in a bid to plug its budget hole and help unlock the latest tranche of bailout funds needed to prevent a default that could come as early as next month.

The next installment of debt aid due under its May 2010 bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund is in the balance until EU and IMF officials have reviewed the country’s finances to their satisfaction. Chief auditors from the IMF, EU and the European Central Bank was set to0 return to Athens yesterday or today, eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker told the European Parliament.

They broke off their review of Greece’s finances nearly a month ago, over reported concerns about reform implementation.

The next big event in the diary for the eurozone is today’s vote in the Bundestag on expanding the the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a plan agreed in July as part of negotiations over a second bailout for Greece. A failure to expand the fund, which has been put in place to help other struggling and indebted nations, could send markets tumbling again. On foreign exchange markets the euro edged up to $1.3630 in European trade yesterday from $1.3590 in New York late Tuesday. The single currency was at 104.17 yen compared with 104.43 in New York. The dollar edged down to 76.45 yen from 76.84 yen.

New York’s main oil contract, West Texas Intermediate ( W TI) for delivery in November, slipped 60 cents to $83.85 a barrel in the afternoon. Brent North Sea crude for November delivery shed 47 cents to $106.67. Gold was at $1,655.95 an ounce by 0900 GMT, up from the $1,653.85 it was at by 0800 GMT Tuesday. — AFP

Mongolia’s herders warily eye coal truck road UKHAA KHUDAG: A lone cement ribbon bisecting hundreds of miles of shale and scrub on the high plains of Mongolia’s Gobi Desert may be a talisman or curse for nomadic herders who trace their lineage to the empire of Genghis Khan.

Carved into the Gobi by the Hong Konglisted Mongolian Mining Corporation (MMC), the 147-mile (245-km), two-lane road is due to open next month, allowing the company to speed up cargoes of coal to China from its expanding Ukhaa Khudag mine. Ukhaa Khudag is not wellknown but is situated on the northwest corner of Mongolia’s Erdenes-Tavan Tolgoi, the world’s biggest untapped coal mine with as much as 7.5 billion tonnes of reserves. Some bankers say plans for an IPO in 2012 to develop the prospect could fetch as much as $15 billion.

The freshly paved highway is one of the first glimpses of a mining boom that will transform Mongolia’s fortunes. But many, including President Tsakhia Elbegdorj, are worried that mining has already put the country’s fragile pastoral economy under strain and left a million nomads behind. “Hundreds of rivers, streams and lakes have disappeared because of deforestation, climate change, and also partly because of irresponsible mining,” Puntsag Tsagaan, the president’s senior adviser, told Reuters.

“Our challenge is how to diversify our economy. I don’t want my children and my grandchildren to live in a different country called Minegolia-it has to be Mongolia. Therefore we have to manage the mineral wealth in a better way.”

Environmental impact The road will remove a major logistical hurdle for MMC. “We will start using it next month and it will have a total throughput capacity of about 18 million tons per annum-this year our total production will be 7 million tonnes so we no longer have logistics and transportation

problems,” said Adilbish Gankhuyag, MMC’s chief financial officer. It is also a key part of the company’s commitment to protect the region’s ecosystem, which has been damaged by hundreds of overloaded coal trucks churning up grazing land, said Shurka Baigalmaa, MMC’s onsite manager at Ukhaa Khudag.

MMC is also committed to using the parched region’s water supplies efficiently, with Baigalmaa saying that 95 percent of water used at the mine’s washing plant would be recycled. The open-cast mine is already 70 meters deep, and will eventually descend 300 meters, but she said the company would limit the impact by refilling exhausted seams using peat excavated from new mining areas further west. But mining can never be completely clean.

Clouds of sulphurous dust drift across the site and Baigalmaa said they had not yet built screens to help contain the problem.

Apart from the thirsty crows circling the mine’s reservoir, there are few signs of life in South Gobi, where about 50,000 herders roam an area the size of England and Wales. MMC said it was obliged to resettle people disrupted by mining construction, but many have abandoned the region already, frustrated by having to move their tents 20 times a year just to keep herds nourished. Further north, at the Hustai National Park, 150 km (100 miles) west of Ulan Bator, people are also paying the price of mining, said Khagvadorj, a herder with a large family and dozens of horses.

Sipping fermented mare’s milk in a crowded ger, a felt tent that many Mongolian nomads call home, Khagvadorj said dwindling pastures were having to support bigger and bigger herds as land concessions are handed over to miners. “We are nomads, and we move from one place to another-the mining stops us from moving around. Mining is not a good thing for us because it is spoiling our pastoral land.” — Reuters

TOKYO: The first 787 Dreamliner to go into service landed in Japan yesterday, greeted by media, excited plane spotters and high hopes that Boeing’s gamble on a mid-sized, lightweight aircraft will pay off. The plane-painted in the blue and white All Nippon Airways livery with red highlights-touched down at Tokyo’s Haneda airport shortly after 9:00 am (0000 GMT), three years after it was originally promised to ANA. The delivery comes after a string of technical mishaps and delays that have cost US-based Boeing billions of dollars in lost or cancelled orders and seen it give ground to fierce rival Airbus.

But Shinichiro Ito, president and CEO of ANA, who travelled on the aircraft from the US after receiving it from Boeing, declared himself “delighted” with “the aircraft’s first touchdown... after a trouble-free flight”. Boeing says the twinaisle 787’s construction, partly from lightweight composite materials, means it consumes 20 percent less fuel than comparable planes, an attractive proposition for airlines facing soaring fuel costs.

The company has also been touting the larger windows, bigger luggage storage bins and greater cabin humidity than conventional jets, a factor it says will reduce passenger fatigue. “It is an honor to have participated in a historic program for ANA and I have been extremely moved,” pilot Hideaki Hayakawa told a news conference following the arrival. “I feel there is a potential that the aircraft will make changes in the aviation industry,” Hayakawa said, citing its fuel economy, cost performance and comfort.

The windows are 30 percent larger than those on the similar-sized Boeing 767 and have an electric sunshade function that enables passengers to control the amount of sunlight coming in at the touch of a button. One of the plane’s more striking features are the toilets which are equipped with electric seats with a bidet function commonly found across Japan, but not usually on international flights.

“The bidet toilets are actually an option for ANA. But this is something that obviously Japanese customers are used to having at their home,” said Rob Henderson, communications director at Boeing Japan. “So I suppose what we could say is that flying in the air is now an expe-

rience that’s much closer to their homes than it would have been before,” Henderson said. The 787 represents a big bet by Chicago-based aerospace and defense giant Boeing on cuttingedge technology and materials for commercial aircraft.

The mid-sized, long-haul plane-which has an average list price of $202 million-is crucial to the company’s future. It is the firm’s first new design in more than a decade, drawing on huge advances in aviation technology. With seating for up to 330 passengers, the 787 is Boeing’s gamble that airlines will demand mid-size aircraft, rather than planes in the category of the mammoth A380, Airbus’s star.

Its development has been far from smoothANA had originally been told to expect the first of its 55 ordered planes in early 2008.

But Boeing says that by the end of July this year it had 827 of the new aircraft on order from

TOKYO: Economy class seats on board the first All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 787 Dreamliner are displayed during a press preview at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport yesterday. — AFP

Pakistan’s breadbasket spells economic misery MIRPURKHAS: Monsoon floods that sunk Pakistan’s arable belt for a second year running have piled economic woes on top of a humanitarian catastrophe facing up to eight million people in the south. Crops of grain, cotton, sugarcane, fruit and vegetables have been submerged, clocking up nearly $2 billion in farming losses, and experts say the disaster could worsen the country’s already dismal growth and inflation prospects. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that nearly three quarters of southern Sindh province’s crops have been damaged or destroyed by the waters, while two thirds of food stocks have also been hit.

One year after the country experienced its worst-ever floods, affecting 21 million people, farmers were again viewing their fields with despair. In Mirpurkhas, one of the most fertile and badly-flooded districts, the branches of the cotton plants were blackened with water damage, and the usually white buds were colorless and droopy.

Rice plants that usually bloom above watery paddy fields were completely submerged, while stalks of sugarcane were miserably short at five feet tall. “This catastrophe struck before families affected by last year’s flooding were able to even start recovering,” said FAO Pakistan representative Kevin Gallagher. “The floods and rain deepen the risk of losing more vital livestock assets and for some, missing another opportunity to plant wheat and other essential crops.”

Sindh’s agriculture ministry said the financial cost of crop losses so far was estimated at 163 billion Pakistani rupees ($1.87 billion). Cotton faces losses of $998 million, income from chilli crops will be down $427 million and both rice and sugarcane will lose an estimated $135 million, said Aghah Jan Akhtar, the ministry’s secretary.

“Besides that, we have lost $180 million through the destruction of tomato, onion, banana and other vegetable crops,” he said.

Agriculture makes up 23 percent of Pakistan’s GDP and a senior finance ministry official, who did not want to be

dozens of carriers and leasing companies around the world. ANA president Ito said the new fleet of 787s will play a “key part” in his plans for international expansion. The Japanese carrier is planning to begin the world’s first commercial 787 service on the Tokyo to Hong Kong route in October, followed by regular flights to Beijing and Frankfurt.

ANA, in common with other high-end carriers, is facing increasing competition from budget airlines and is banking on the 787 to boost demand and cut costs. The company was hit particularly hard by the impact of Japan’s March 11 quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, which suffocated the nation’s tourist industry and crimped domestic demand. It logged a group operating loss of 8.1 billion yen ($106.1 million) in April-June and responded by cutting services and using smaller planes to cope with the postquake drop in passenger numbers. — AFP

named, estimated that the country’s overall growth rate could fall from 4.5 to three percent on current trends. “It could (also) increase inflation by two to three percent by the end of this calendar year - from 13 to a maximum of 16 percent,” the official said. Exports are likely to be hit as Pakistan struggles to provide enough food to feed its own population in the wake of the floods, said independent economist Rauf Nizamani. Pakistan’s largest agricultural trading customers are the United States, which takes more than one fifth of cotton, textiles and rice exports, and China, which takes 15 percent. “The floods will certainly affect the trade and may cause a loss of at least $3 billion to the Pakistani exchequer,” Nizamani said, leaving export receipts at $25 billion for the fiscal year.

Badar Khwaja, a farmer in Tando Bago town in Badin district, forlornly pointed at his flooded paddy fields. He had planned to harvest them just one day after the heavy rains began to fall in August.

“The rains have destroyed farmers and peasants alike,” said Khwaja. In nearby Tando Allahyar, known for its quality vegetable production, only 2.5 percent of its usual haul is being trucked to market in Karachi, said local grower Qamar Zaman.

“The situation is too critical. We normally feed everyone, but now are ourselves hungry finding no one to feed us,” he said.Kunri town in Mirpurkhas will lose the distinction of being one of the prominent chilli production areas in Asia as 100,000 acres of the red chilli crops have been submerged, said provincial agriculture minister Ali Nawaz Shah. “It is yet another blow to our economy,” he said.

In a bitter irony for the farmers, their August harvest due to take place before the floods arrived had been delayed due to water shortage. A lack of irrigation on Sindh’s flatlands had already reduced chilli output from one million tons 10 years ago to half that in recent years. “Earlier we suffered because there was no water, but now a deluge has destroyed us,” said grower Ghulam Akbar Dars. — AFP

SINDH: Pakistani villagers clean cotton at a factory in Mirpurkhas in the flood-hit Sindh province yesterday. — AFP

Investors welcome Nestle’s new CFO ZURICH/LONDON: Investors gave a cautious welcome yesterday to Nestle’s appointment of an American female executive from Wal-Mart Stores Inc to be the new chief financial officer of the world’s biggest food group. Nestle shares gained around 1 percent as analysts said Wan Ling Martello’s experience of the retail industry and emerging markets would be boost for the Vevey-based maker of Nescafe coffee and KitKat chocolate bars. Martello, 53, a US citizen of Chinese and Philippine origin, currently at the world’s biggest retailer, will take over on April 1 from the 65-year-old Canadian James Singh who is retiring after 35 years with the Swiss food giant.

“In addition to the further welcome modernization of Nestle’s male-dominated upper echelons, we think the appointment makes sense,” said Kepler Capital Markets analyst Jon Cox. “She comes from Nestle’s biggest customer, she has experience in e-commerce ... emerging markets (key growth driver) and obviously brings a female multi-ethnic, emerging-market/Asian face to the world as Nestle’s representative,” he added.

The Swiss group has a wide range of nationality across its senior management team and four of its fifteen board members are females.

However, Martello will become the first female on Nestle’s 14-man executive committee since Petraea Heynike retired as head of all strategic business units in April. Nestle made the announcement late Tuesday that Martello, executive vice-president of global e-commerce for emerging markets at Wal-Mart since 2005, will join Nestle next year after a career in which she previously worked for Kraft Foods, Borden Foods, and NCH Marketing Services, a former subsidiary of Nielsen.

Martello follows a string of recent senior female appointments at European consumer goods groups such as Alison Cooper taking over as chief executive at Imperial Tobacco in May 2010, Diageo appointing Deirdre Mahlan as CFO in October 2010, and Liz Doherty taking over as Reckitt Benckiser CFO in January this year. “The surprise is that the new CFO is from outside Nestle... We believe however that Ms Martello will bring a breadth of knowledge in finance, emerging markets, retailers and e-commerce, among others,” said Vontobel analyst JeanPhilippe Bertschy. Bernstein analyst Andrew Wood said the fact that Martello came from outside Nestle with emerging market experience were positives, but her profile at Wal-Mart was not too high and she did not appear to be a high-profile CFO appointment like Paul Polman in 2005, who came from Procter & Gamble and then went on to become chief executive at Unilever. “It is tough to make a fully informed judgment on the news, principally based on a lack of knowledge of Martello. We therefore wish to reserve our judgment although we would certainly say we are not bowled over by this announcement,” Wood said. Nestle shares gained 1 percent to 49.93 francs by 1030 GMT outperforming a 0.6 percent firmer European food and beverage sector. — Reuters

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

BUSINESS

French refinery workers debate possible strikes European refiners seeking to exit struggling sector

NEW YORK: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Sept 27, 2011. —AP

US consumer morale stagnates WASHINGTON: Americans worried about their incomes as they struggled to find work this month, holding consumer confidence near 2-1/2-year lows and pointing to weak spending in the months ahead. Other reports on Tuesday on regional manufacturing and services showed some improvement this month, and house prices stabilized in July, supporting hopes that slow growth will continue as long as Europe’s debt crisis does not escalate. But depressed consumer and business sentiment is holding back recovery. The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes was little changed at 45.4 this month from 45.2 in August.

Economists had expected a rise to 46.0.

“Consumers appear to have lost some hope in this recovery and may cause them to retrench spending, which could augur poorly for the recovery,” said Millan Mulraine, a senior macro strategist at TD Securities in New York. Details of the confidence report were mixed. More Americans plan to buy houses over the next six months, but fewer intend to purchase cars and other big-ticket items. The steep stock market sell-off, political bickering in Washington over budget policy and the worsening debt crisis in Europe all have eroded confidence, viewed as a key gauge of consumer health.

Consumer spending data on Friday will shed more light whether the decline in equities-with the Standard & Poor’s 500 index down 13 percent since late July-caused households to hunker down.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, slowed sharply in the second quarter. Consumer pessimism and a tough jobs market are creating a “titanic” struggle for President Barack Obama in his bid for reelection, his senior campaign adviser, David Axelrod, said on Tuesday. Markets, however, were focused on Europe’s debt crisis, and hopes the euro zone would beef up a rescue fund lifted US stocks for a second day and pushed government debt prices lower, while the dollar lost ground to the euro.

Business morale sinks Increased economic uncertainty is also weighing on confidence among small US businesses. Vistage International said its confidence index, which surveys 1,700 chief executives, fell to a two-year low in the third quarter at 83.5 from a 92.9 reading in the second quarter. There were glimmers of hope for the economy, which barely grew in the first half of the year, with data showing

manufacturing activity in the US central Atlantic region contracted at a slower pace this month.

The Richmond Federal Reserve’s manufacturing index improved to -6 from -10 in August, while activity in the Texas services sector grew solidly this month.

The Dallas Fed service sector revenues index rose to 14.1 from 3.2 in August.

There were signs of stability in the housing market, with the S&P/Case Shiller composite index of single-family homes in 20 metropolitan areas unchanged in July on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Unadjusted prices in the 20 cities rose 0.9 percent. But Yale University economist Robert Shiller, who co-founded the index, said US house prices might fall further given the range of uncertainties hampering the market. “There’s a lot of people that are worried about their jobs and that’s why the outlook for housing is not for any resumption of a boom any time soon,” he told Reuters Insider.

Help wanted In a sign that the labor market remains challenging, the jobs-hard-toget index in the Conference Board survey rose to 50.0, the highest level since May 1983, from 48.5 the previous month. The labor market differential-the percent reporting jobs plentiful less the percent reporting jobs hard-to-get- widened to 44.5 in September from -43.7 in August.

“It’s a bad sign for September payrolls.

It’s consistent with what we saw in the trend in jobless claims, which have risen also in recent weeks,” said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York.

The government will issue its closely watch monthly payrolls report for this month on Oct 7. Nissan Motor Co Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said US auto sales are holding their ground and should improve in 2012. “So far there is no sign of weakening in the automotive sector, so at the end of September I think this industr y is going to be way in advance compared to last year,” Ghosn said in a Reuters Insider interview.

Retailers gave mixed views on consumer spending. Walgreen Co, the largest US drugstore chain, reported a healthy rise in sales in its latest quarter and an increase in the number of shoppers. But the chief executive of Best Buy Co, Brian Dunn, told Reuters that the weak economy makes the retail outlook for the holiday more difficult. “The consumer is being really careful about where he or she is spending the dollars, and I think that will continue through the holidays,” Dunn said. —Reuters

Christie says economy, gridlock harm US future SIMI VALLEY: New Jersey Gov Chris Christie hasn’t changed his mind: He reaffirmed in a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Tuesday that he’s not running for president. Christie urged a capacity audience of about 900 to look at the website Politico, which had pieced together a long string of video clips of him saying he’s not a candidate for the White House. “Those are the answers,” he told the crowd. Christie later said he was flattered by suggestions he should run in 2012, but added, “that reason has to reside inside me.”

Nonetheless, the speech - delivered at a shrine to America’s 40th president, with former first lady Nancy Reagan in the audience was likely to stoke fresh speculation about his presidential ambitions. The Republican governor warned that the nation’s credibility abroad was being damaged by troubles at home. He charged that an indecisive White House has deepened the nation’s economic pain, and he accused President Barack Obama of preparing to divide the country to win re-election next year.

Christie didn’t spare Congress: In a scathing indictment of Beltway politics, he said the failure to compromise, along with Obama’s lack of leadership, had set the country dangerously off course. In Washington “we drift from conflict to conflict, with little or no resolution. We watch a president who once talked about the courage of his convictions, but still has yet found the courage to lead,” Christie said. “We watch a Congress at war with itself because they are unwilling to leave campaign-style politics at the Capitol’s door. The result is a debt-ceiling limitation debate that made our democracy appear as if we could no longer effectively govern ourselves,” he said. Christie’s appearance came during a three-day national trip in which the

governor is raising money for Republicans and networking with party rainmakers.

With a reputation as a blunt-talking budget-cutter, the Reagan stage gave Christie the opportunity to extend his influence in a party that views him as a rising star. His remarks could stoke a fresh round of speculation about his White House ambitions, but his brother was the latest confidante to tamp down talk of a presidential bid. “I’m sure that he’s not going to run,” Todd Christie told The Star-Ledger of Newark, NJ. The newspaper also reported that the governor told wealthy donors earlier Tuesday in Santa Ana that he was not entering the race, echoing his previous statements. Christie, the first Republican elected New Jersey governor since 1997, repeatedly contrasted Reagan’s leadership skills with the dysfunction in Washington.

Obama has positioned himself as a compromiser and deal-maker, but Christie cited his work in Trenton as the successful model, saying “leadership and compromise is the only way you reform New Jersey’s pension and health benefits system.”

He mocked Obama as “a bystander in the Oval Office” who was preparing to divide the nation along economic lines to win another four years in Washington, apparently alluding to the president’s jobs bill, which proposes that wealthy Americans and big corporations pay more in taxes. Obama is “telling those who are scared and struggling that the only way their lives can get better is to diminish the success of others,” Christie said. He’s “insisting that we must tax and take and demonize those who have already achieved the American Dream.” After the speech, Christie was asked repeatedly during a question-and-answer session if he would reconsider a presidential run. He declined, as he has many times before. —AP

PARIS: Workers at French refineries debated going on strike, torn yesterday between anger over moves to restructure the sector and memories of last year’s month-long stoppage that disrupted global flows of oil but left unions drained and divided.

Employees at eight of France’s 10 operating refineries held meetings to discuss taking industrial action after the decision by commodity chemicals maker Lyondellbasell to shut its Berre L’Etang refinery after failing to find a buyer. Workers at Total’s 230,000 barrels-per-day Donges refinery voted to reduce production to a minimum level for 24 hours, a representative at France’s powerful CGT trade union told Reuters. Total operates five refineries in France.

But staff meeting at Total’s plants of Gonfreville, La Mede, Feyzin and Grandpuits did not decide on action, according to local union representatives contacted by telephone. They all said

discussions would continue in coming days. “We are calling for mobilisation. We are stepping up the pressure but we are still at a stage of information,” said a CGT representative at the Petroplusowned refinery of Petit Couronne near Rouen. Brent crude oil prices were little changed, shedding 0.07 percent at $107.07 by 1040 GMT, with traders paying close attention to developments in France.

“I think the market is concerned,” said one trader in London, but two refined product brokers said their clients were not worried “at this early stage.” “A possible impact hinges on the duration and spreading of the strike action,” said Carsten Fritsch at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. “A multi-week long nationwide strike could lead to local supply bottlenecks and push European product prices up. On the other hand, it could ease the supply situation in the European crude market.”

The European refining sector

has been struggling for years due to poor margins and weak demand for fuel products, prompting Total to shut its Dunkirk refinery at the start of 2010 and Petroplus to end refining at its Reichstett plant in eastern France in May 2011. French refinery workers blocked production for a month in October 2010 amid nationwide protests over wider pension reform and underlying concern about the future of the industry in France.

The marathon strike disrupted global flows of crude oil and liquid fuels and cost the French oil sector an estimated 230 million euros ($313.6 million), further weakening an industry that has come under pressure from new rivals in the Middle East and Asia.

It also left many striking workers bitter as union leaders appeared unable to obtain guarantees from European refiners that they would continue their activity in France.

Total, which has tried to sell its Lindsey refinery in Britain for

nearly two years, has summoned a group works council on Oct 10 to unveil a project to merge its refining and chemical businesses, fanning new restructuring worries among workers. Workers at the Ineos Lavera plant were due to hold a general meeting at midday, a CGT representative said, adding discussions would cover both recent developments at Berre L’Etang and the general conditions of the industry in France.

“This is not just solidarity with LyondellBasell. We are all concerned,” the representative said.

A CFDT union representative at Exxon Mobil’s Fos-Sur-Mer refinery said there was no workers meeting planned today in the plant located on the outskirts of Marseilles. “We are just pondering. So far it doesn’t look like we have momentum,” the representative told Reuters, adding however that worries about job losses were more acute in the industry now than they were a year ago. —Reuters

French budget targets deficit

PEPPER PIKE: In this photo, a new home is shown for sale, in Pepper Pike, Ohio. Sales of new homes fell to a six-month low last month. The fourth straight monthly decline during the peak buying season suggests the housing market is years away from a recovery. —AP

Barclays receives most UK banking complaints in H1 LONDON: British customers made more complaints about Barclays than any other banking brand in the first half of the year, according to data released by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) yesterday. Barclays was the subject of 251,563 complaints, with 53 percent of closed cases upheld in customers’ favor, the regulator’s figures showed. Next on the list was Lloyds TSB Bank Plc - a division of the part-nationalized Lloyds Banking Group-which received 181,907 complaints between January and June.

Santander UK was third, with 168,888 complaints. Banks remain in the firing line of the general public and politicians around the world, with memories still fresh over the billions of pounds of taxpayer money that was spent to prop up the system during the global credit crisis.

Barclays said it was working hard to improve its service and pointed out that the number of complaints about it during the first-half of this year was down 14 percent from last year. “Delivering excellent service to our customers is our goal every single day, in every single way a customer interacts with us. We want to get it right every time. When we do get it wrong, we apologise, try to correct it quickly and identify how to prevent it from reoccurring ,” said Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclays’ retail

and business banking arm.

This month, figures released by Britain’s financial ombudsman showed that disputes over controversial loan repayment insurance had caused a surge in consumer complaints about British banks and other financial companies. The ombudsman, which acts as mediator when banks and their customers fail to resolve disputes, had 149,925 complaints referred to it in the first half of 2011, a 54 percent increase from the previous six months.

Complaints about payment protection insurance (PPI), which allows borrowers to keep up debt repayments in the event of a loss of income, accounted for two-thirds of the total. Regulatory investigations have revealed that PPI, typically taken out alongside loans, was widely mis-sold to consumers. Britain’s leading banks this year took billions of pounds in charges to cover compensation payments to customers after losing a court appeal in April. “Banks are now facing a ‘perfect storm’ in terms of how they sell products in future, formed of three different elements-PPI mis-selling, regulatory changes to complaints handling and the FSA’s tougher stance on overall financial regulation,” said Paul Clark, chief executive of customer feedback management software firm Charter UK. —Reuters

NEW DELHI: (From left to right) President Expedia Worldwide Scott Durchslag, Bollywood actress Diana Hayden and chief executive officer AirAsia Expedia pose during a function yesterday. Expedia, an online travel company, has joined hands with low-cost airline Air Asia to launch a new joint venture company offering cheap flights, hotels and holiday options to the Indian traveler. —AFP

PARIS: The French government yesterday presented a 2012 austerity budget, promising to balance strained public finances but warning that eurozone debt “turbulence” could yet derail timid growth. France’s public deficit will reach 5.7 percent of gross domestic product this year, before dropping to 4.5 percent in 2012 and then to the European Union limit of 3.0 percent in 2013 and 2.0 percent in 2014.

For the first time, the government also undertook to bring the deficit down to 1.0 percent in 2015 as it seeks to put the public finances in order.

However, France’s total, accumulated debt will be higher than previously expected, largely because of its contribution to rescue funds for bailed-out eurozone countries such as Greece, Por tugal and Ireland. Already expected to reach a record 85.5 percent of GDP this year, accumulated debt will hit 87.4 percent in 2012, half a percentage point higher than the previous estimate. Debt will be 87.3 percent of GDP in 2013 before dropping to 86.2 percent in 2014 and 84.1 percent in 2015 — leaving it still well above the EU ceiling of 60 percent.

France has already revised down its growth forecast for this year and 2012 to 1.75 percent, although many experts believe that figure still to be over optimistic. President Nicolas Sarkzoy ’s right-wing government admitted that only “a dissipation of current turbulence will allow us to reach 1.75 percent growth in 2012,” leaving the door open for a further revision downward. Volatility caused by “bad news” over the summer, including the slowing of the US economy and market tensions due to the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, could increase consumer and business caution, the government said.

The budget forecasts that the cost of servicing the public debt will come in at 48.8 billion euros ($66.5 billion) in 2012, down from the last government estimates in July of 50 billion euros. But the debt payments will still account for the largest slive of the budget, ahead of the 45.5 billion euros spent on education. The tax burden is set to rise to 44.5 percent of GDP next year from the 43.2 percent in last year’s budget, and reach a record 45.4 percent of GDP in 2015 — beyond the level when Sarkozy took office in 2007.

Sarkozy had then made an election pledge to reduce the tax burden by four percentage points. France’s national statistics office said yesterday that the economy stagnated in the second quarter with zero-percent growth.

World markets have been rocked by rumors that France might be stripped of its top triple-A credit rating and that its banks were overexposed to the debts of weaker eurozone countries, especially Greece.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon on August 24 unveiled a 12-billion-euro deficit cutting package that raised taxes on the rich and closed tax loopholes in the hope of preserving the envied rating. The defense budget will grow 1.6 percent in 2012 to 30.63 billion euros, excluding pensions.

France is hoping to reduce the costs of overseas operations in countries such as Afghanistan, where it is to start withdrawing its troops. The cost of France’s contribution to NATO’s operations backing the Libyan rebellion was estimated at around 350 million euros. The government is also to create a one-off tax on the turnover of large companies that are subject to carbon dioxide quotas, as called for by European Union rules, with the measure set to bring in around 200 million euros —AFP

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

TECHNOLOGY

Activists meet to defend Internet from state control LONDON: Internet activists will this week make an 11th-hour attempt to stop governments seizing more control of the Web that has fuelled Arab revolutions, enabled mass leaks of US diplomatic cables and allowed online piracy to thrive.

The Internet Governance Forum that begins in Nairobi on Tuesday brings together companies, non-profit groups, academics, engineers, government representatives and ordinary citizens. They hope to show they are best placed to write the rules of the road ahead for the World Wide Web, an increasingly important driver of economic growth in a world on the brink of recession.

In a study published this year, consultancy McKinsey found the Internet accounted for 21 percent of GDP

growth in mature countries, and that almost $8 trillion changes hands through e -commerce each year.

“Stronger influence of governments seems inevitable.

The Internet has simply become too important for them to ignore it.

They prefer a top-down approach,” Markus Kummer of the Internet Society, which campaigns for the open Internet, told a recent London seminar.

Groups like the Internet Society fear the creeping use by governments of tools like “three strikes and you’re out” laws to cut off Internet access from citizens caught breaking copyright rules, already passed by France and being considered in several other European countries.

Some countries have tried more

radical measures, like Egypt cutting itself off from the Internet during the Arab Spring to stop flash protests being coordinated on websites like Twitter. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who applauded the Arab Spring, hosted the e-G8 in Paris this year, a conference of political leaders and Internet company bosses at which he put the case for more government regulation while paying lip service to an inclusive approach to governing the Internet.

“It was ver y exclusionar y. For women and the global South there was virtually no consultation. It was a hand-picked group of white, male billionaires,” Internet lawyer and consumer advocate Jeremy Malcolm told Reuters. “The IGF is really the last best hope for this process. If it fails, what

we’re going to get is India, Brazil, South Africa, China, Kazakhstan, Russia and so on putting forward the idea that we need an intergovernmental process.”

The Internet’s potential to raise living standards is under-exploited in the developing world where just 21 percent of the population have access, compared with 69 percent in the developed world. Its role as a catalyst for development will be a key theme of the IGF, a United Nations-sponsored event where speakers will include World Wide Web inventor Tim BernersLee and EU digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes.

If it is to succeed in keeping governments at arm’s length, the IGF will also have to show it is serious about cybersecurity which companies now

view as a bigger threat than traditional crime, natural disasters and terrorism. The forum comes at a time of technical upheaval for the Internet where top-level domains such as .com or .org are about to be liberalised, enabling companies and communities to buy, create, name and run their own domains.

Web addresses in languages like Arabic and Russian have also recently been made possible, a move expected to transform the Internet and give more power to non-English speakers. “ The technology continuing to change is a given that we have to accept,” said Jeff Brueggeman, who runs public policy for US telecoms operator AT&T and will attend the IGF. “ The idea is always to be looking ahead at the next issue.” — Reuters

Apple expected to unveil new iPhone next week New iPhone expected to have bigger screen

NEW YORK: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos introduces the new Kindle Touch in New York, yesterday. Bezos introduced a line of four new Kindle products, the Kindle Fire tablet, the Kindle Touch 3G, the Kindle Touch and a new lighter and smaller Kindle. — AFP

Amazon launches iPad rival, the Kindle Fire Unveils $199 tablet NEW YORK: Amazon, maker of the popular Kindle electronic book reader, unveiled a tablet computer, the Kindle Fire, yesterday in a challenge to Apple’s market-leading iPad. The Kindle Fire, which has a seven-inch (17.78-centimeter) screen, smaller than the iPad’s 9.7 inches (24.6 cm), will cost $199 and be available on November 15, the US online retail giant said at a launch event in Manhattan.

The Kindle Fire features Wi-Fi connectivity and is powered by Google’s Android software. It does not have a camera like many other leading tablets, including the latest iPad. Presenting the new tablet to the press, Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos said the Kindle Fire features a new Web browser called Amazon Silk. According to technology analysts, an Amazon tablet could pose the most serious challenge yet to Apple’s dominance of the fast-growing market for touchscreen tablet computers. “More than any other recent tablet introduction, Amazon’s entry is set to shake the still-solidifying market to its very core,” independent technology analyst Carmi Levy told AFP. “Unlike hardware manufacturers who lack the pockets and the resolve to slug it out with Apple in a protracted war over market share, Amazon has both the resources and the will to stay in the game as long as it needs to,” he said.

According to technology research firm Gartner, the iPad will account for 68.7

percent of the 69.7 million tablets sold this year and will remain the top-selling device over the next few years.

At $199, Amazon is significantly undercutting Apple with the price of the Kindle Fire. Apple’s cheapest iPad sells for $499. The Seattle-based company is hoping to drive Kindle Fire buyers to its online store, which features books, music, movies, TV shows and games for the device.

“Over the past few years, Amazon’s customers have gotten used to one-click purchases of books and other published content via the Kindle,” Levy said. “(Amazon’s) goal is to drive as much business as possible to and through its online retail presence,” he said. “Amazon doesn’t need to maximize its profits on every tablet sold. “It’ll take thinner margins-or even per-unit losses-if that means getting as many Amazon tablets into consumers’ hands before the all-important Christmas shopping season,” the analyst said. Bezos, at the launch event, said Kindle Fire owners would have access to 11,000 movies and television shows-plus 17 million songs-at Amazon.com.

Technology research firm Forrester has forecast that Amazon could sell 3-5 million tablets in the fourth quarter alone. Apple sold 9.25 million iPads last quarter and has sold nearly 30 million since launching the device in April of last year. Amazon shares were up 3.18 percent at $231.34 in early trading on Wall Street. — AFP

SEOUL: In a picture taken on September 19, 2011 a collection of spying equipment is seen on a table at Mismiz, a paparazzi school, in Seoul. Many South Koreans, especially middle-aged women, have joined a growing number of “paparazzi” snoopers. They cash in by videotaping minor lawbreaking by fellow citizens, instead of the lives of the rich and famous. — AFP

Swiss, Nissan research car that reads the driver’s thoughts GENEVA: In the future, thinking about turning left may no longer be just a thought. Japanese auto giant Nissan and a Swiss university are developing cars that scan the driver’s thoughts and prepares the vehicle for the next move.

“The idea is to blend driver and vehicle intelligence together in such a way that eliminates conflicts between them, leading to a safer motoring environment,” said Jose del R. Millan, a professor at Swiss technological university EPFL who is lead-

ing the project. The project uses “brain activity measurement, eye movement patterns and by scanning the environment around the car in conjunction with the car’s own sensors” to forecast the driver’s next move. The vehicle then prepares itself for the manoeuvre by slowing down if necessary, or positioning slightly left or right. An EPFL spokesman said the research would last four years, and that “at the end of that period, we hope to have a prototype ready.” — AFP

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc looks set next week to unveil its much-awaited new iPhone, which analysts say will have a bigger screen and work better with remote computing services. Apple on Tuesday invited media to a “special event” called “Let’s talk iPhone” on Oct. 4 at its Cupertino, California headquarters, an unusual location for a company that typically introduces major products at larger venues in San Francisco.

The invitation did not have any other details, and an Apple spokesman would not provide further information. “ This is the iPhone 5,” ThinkEquity analyst Mark McKechnie said of the event. The new iPhone would be the first major product launch under Tim Cook, who took over full-time as chief executive after co-founder Steve Jobs resigned last month.

It was unclear if Jobs, who is now chair-

man, will take the stage at the event. Though a good product, the current iPhone 4 could use some improvements, McKechnie said. “We talked about it having a bigger screen, a dual core processor, and probably integrates pretty well with the iCloud.”

The iPhone-introduced in 2007 with the touchscreen template now adopted by its rivals-remains the gold standard in the booming smartphone market. The new model, which some have dubbed the iPhone 5, will have a bigger touch screen, better antenna and an 8-megapixel camera, one source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters in August.

Hon Hai Precision Industries Co Ltd and Pegatron Corp of Taiwan will make the new phone, and have been told to gear up capacity for up to 45 million units in total, the source said. Apple launched the iPhone 4 in June

2010 in black 16 gigabyte and 32 gigabyte versions, and added white ones in April. The company typically refreshes its iPhone lineup during its developer event in June, but delayed the new model this year.

Apple sold 20.34 million iPhones in the third quarter ended June 25, which analysts say helped it vault past Nokia and Samsung Electronics to become the world’s biggest smartphone maker. Some analysts are expecting another version of the iPhone 4 to be launched along with the next model.

“The new (iPhone) 4 will tackle the prepaid market and the (iPhone) 5 will have the A5 chip that’s in the iPad and be faster, thinner and possibly with a bigger screen,” Colin Gillis, analyst with BGC Partners said. He cited possible voice-recognition features as well. Shares of Apple rose 0.6 percent to $405.66 on Nasdaq early Tuesday afternoon. — Reuters

IBM looks to take pain out of parking

TOKYO: Models display Japanese mobile communication telcom KDDI’s new smart phones ‘Digno’ (L) produced by Kyocera, ‘Evo 3D (C) produced by Taiwanese electronics manufacturer HTC and the ‘Photon’ (R) produced by Motorola as KDDI announced their new range in Tokyo. — AFP

Sony to stop paying theaters for 3-D glasses LOS ANGELES: Sony Corp.’s movie studio has put theater owners on notice that it will stop paying millions of dollars per film for disposable 3-D glasses starting next May, just before it is to release a couple of summer blockbusters - “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “Men in Black III” - in 3-D. The move was announced in a letter sent to theater owners, according to a person with the studio.

The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity. The abrupt policy change comes as studios are struggling to adapt their business to falling DVD sales, while digital sales have not made up the difference.

Moviegoers, who already pay an additional couple dollars or more for 3-D movie tickets, could be annoyed if they are burdened with a new expense amid high unemployment and a weak economy. Sony’s move was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter earlier Tuesday.

Sony’s worldwide president of distribution, Rory Bruer, told the magazine that the studio was trying to give theater owners a long lead time before the move goes into effect.

It is unclear who will pay for the glasses: theater owners, who are financing the billions of dollars necessary to equip theaters with 3-D and digital equipment; advertisers; or even by consumers who might have to buy 3-D glasses and keep them for their next visit.

Spokespeople for major theater

chains Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc. did not immediately respond for a request for comment. John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, also did not respond to a message seeking comment.

At least one rival studio said it is not jumping on the bandwagon. Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., said it was keeping its current system in place for now, although it wouldn’t specify what its deals were with theater companies.

“The glasses issues are complicated and they vary from studio to studio,” said Warner Bros.’ head of domestic distribution, Dan Fellman. “We certainly will do what’s right for us. Right now, we really don’t have any plans to change the way we do business.”

Average ticket prices in the US and Canada rose 6 percent to $7.89 in 2010, according to Hollywood.com, but the price in major cities like New York and Los Angeles can easily double that. Last year, some New York theatergoers saw red when it appeared that several theaters flirted with a $20 ticket price for “Shrek Forever After” in 3-D, before dropping prices.

Overall US box office revenue in 2010 was only kept from falling due to higher prices helped by 3-D upcharges as attendance fell. So far this year, attendance is down nearly 6 percent and revenue is down nearly 4 percent at $7.8 billion. — AP

SAN FRANCISCO: US technology stalwart IBM and Internet startup Streetline yesterday will begin courting cities with a system designed to take the pain out of parking. “Smarter Parking,” which has been touted as a way for cities to reduce driving hassles while optimizing parking revenue, combines IBM’s data analytics capabilities and Streetline’s innovations in parking sensors and software.

Power-stingy Streetline sensors placed at parking spaces detect whether vehicles are present and then relay the information in real time to city networks and to free “apps” available for Android or Apple smartphones. City traffic handlers can use the data to track trends or set parking rates, while drivers can steer to available spaces. “Parking is one of those universal challenges that most people around the globe can relate to,” said Streetline chief executive Zia Yusuf. “Cities now have a turn-key Smarter Parking solution that can produce tangible results and happier citizens.”

An IBM survey of 20 cities, including Beijing, Paris, and Los Angeles, confirmed what many drivers have long believed-that parking is a pain. Six out of ten motorists polled said that at times in the past year they had grown so frustrated hunting for parking that they gave up and changed plans. More than a quarter of those surveyed said they had argued with other drivers over a parking spot. An estimated 30 percent of city traffic is people driving around in search of parking, according to IBM. “Clearly, drivers worldwide are facing frustration and pain, not only during the daily commute, but also when searching for a parking spot,” said IBM director of intelligent transportation systems Vinodh Swaminathan. — AFP

MUMBAI: An Indian officegoer speaks on his mobile phone in Mumbai yesterday. India’s telecom watchdog the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) exempted various service providers, including the dealers of telecom operators, e-ticketing agencies and social networking sites, from the new limit of one hundred Short Message Service (SMS) per day per SIM, which was imposed to block pesky calls and messages. — AFP

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H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

WHO: Iran, South Asia worst for city air pollution GENEVA: Cities in Iran, India, Pakistan and the capital of Mongolia rank among the worst on the planet for air pollution, while those in the US and Canada are among the best, according to the first global survey by the World Health Organization.

The southwest Iranian city of Ahvaz walked away with the unfortunate distinction of having the highest measured level of airborne particles smaller than 10 micrometers. WHO released the list Monday to highlight the need to reduce outdoor air pollution, which is estimated to cause 1.34 million premature deaths each year. The global body said investments to lower pollution levels quickly pay off due to lower disease rates and, therefore, lower healthcare costs. The list, which relies on country-reported data over the past several years, measures the levels of airborne par ticles smaller than 10 micrometers - so-called PM10s - for almost 1,100 cities.

WHO recommends an upper limit of

20 micrograms for PM10s, which can cause serious respiratory problems in humans. They are mostly sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide from power plants, auto exhausts and industry.

Ahvaz’s annual average of PM10s was 372 micrograms per cubic meter.

Heavy industry and low-quality vehicle fuel are the main causes of air pollution in this desert city of 1.3 million.

The study found that the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator had an annual average PM10s density of 279 micrograms per cubic meter, followed by another west Iranian city, Sanandaj, with 254 micrograms. Cities in Pakistan and India, such as Quetta and Kanpur, as well as Botswana’s capital Gaborone, also ranked high on the pollution scale.

Mohammad Hasan, 39, of Karachi, Pakistan, said attempts to improve air quality in the port city of 18 million such as by replacing heavily polluting buses with vehicles using compressed natural gas - are being undermined by bigger polluters who are “playing hav-

oc with the lives of Karachi populace.”

“Industries and factories are emitting thick clouds of smoke, and no government agency is out there to check them or correct them,” the bank employee said. WHO said the reasons for high pollution levels varied, but that often rapid industrialization and the use of poor quality fuels for transportation and electricity generation are to blame.

In India, major metropolitan areas such as New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata have banned the construction of new power plants within city limits, and existing ones are being shut down or relocated.

But at the same time, a lack of public transport has led to an explosion of privately owned cars and SUVs as the economy booms, with the number of heavily polluting diesel vehicles increasing 10-fold as diesel is highly subsidized by the government.

In Ulan Bator, the air pollution is mainly related to the burning of coal,

wood and everything else for heating, cooking, and electricity generation.

Coal-fired power plants spew smoke over the city, which lies in a valley surrounded by mountains that trap and hold the pollution, much like Beijing.

Ulan Bator has also seen a huge influx of former herders and farmers who live in felt tents known as gers or wooden shacks with no heat and little electricity, relying on the burning of coal, wood and dried dung to keep warm and cook meals. Combined with vehicle emissions, that creates a heavy blanket of smog that smothers the city for most of the year and grows especially noxious in winter.

At the other end of the list are cities in Canada and the United States, which benefit from lower population density, favorable climates and stricter air pollution regulation. Yukon territory’s capital Whitehorse had a yearly average of just 3 micrograms of PM10s per cubic meter, while Santa Fe, New Mexico, measured 6 micrograms.

“It’s absolutely wonder ful,” said Whitehorse Mayor Bev Buckway. “A lot of people come up north and they smell the air and the say “‘Oh wow.

Amazing. The air smells so good,’” she said. “And we tend to take it for granted because we just have that all the time.”

Santa Fe Mayor David Coss said Monday that he’s pleased but not surprised as the city consistently gets high rankings from the American Lung Association. He said the clean air is one of the things he loves about living in Santa Fe. Washington, D.C., had a level of 18 micrograms, Tokyo measured 23 micrograms, and Paris had 38 micrograms of PM10s per cubic meter.

WHO also released a shorter table comparing levels of even finer dust particles, known as PM2.5s. The level considered harmful there is 10 micrograms per cubic meter.

This list contained no measure ments from Asia apart from Ulan Bator, which again ranked worst with 63.0 micrograms. — AP

Antipsychotics get mixed review for unapproved use More doctors are prescribing antipsychotics off-label

MANASSAS: This October 19, 2009 file photo shows a physician with stethoscope on October 19, 2009 in Manassas, Virginia. Company-provided health insurance, one of the largest costs of US businesses and households alike, rose nine percent over the past year despite the sluggish economy, according to a new study released yesterday. — AFP

CALIFORNIA: Newer antipsychotic drugs are often prescribed for conditions they aren’t approved to treat, with questionable benefits, according to a study. The medications, known as atypical antipsychotics, include risperidone, sold in the United States as Risperdal, aripiprazole (Abilify), olanzapine (Zyprexa) and quetiapine (Seroquel).

While those drugs have been approved in the United States for a few psychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, doctors may also prescribe them “off-label” to other patients, including people with substance abuse and eating disorders, typically when they haven’t responded to more standard treatments.

“There are several conditions in psychiatry that are pretty difficult to treat,” said Alicia Ruelaz Maher from RAND Health in

Santa Monica, California, the study author. “Often in psychiatry we think, if something works for one condition, it could possibly be effective for another one.”

People with anxiety or obsessive -compulsive disorder, for example, are often treated with antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), but those don’t always work.

More and more, doctors are prescribing atypical antipsychotics off-label, experts say.

Yet, Maher said, there’s a general lack of evidence on whether atypical antipsychotics can help patients who don’t have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

She and her colleagues looked at scientific literature and combined data from 162 studies that compared an atypical antipsychotic to a drug-free placebo pill

for conditions that fell outside the drug’s approved uses. They found another 231 studies that kept track of side effects linked to the drugs. Nearly all of the research was funded by drugmakers.

Taken together, the studies showed that atypical antipsychotics had no effect in patients with eating disorders or drug and alcohol abuse, and it wasn’t clear if they helped people with personality disorders or post-traumatic stress disorder. The drugs did have a small but consistent benefit for dementia patients with psychotic symptoms, however.

More people with an anxiety disorder taking Seroquel in particular got better compared with patients who took a placebo.

And for those with obsessivecompulsive disorder, Risperdal worked better than a placebo.

Still, those specific findings came from just three studies each. But according to the findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the drugs also had side effects.

For instance, one in 10 elderly people treated with Zyprexa developed tremors and one in 53 on Risperdal suffered a stroke.

Younger people on the drugs experienced weight gain, fatigue and other side effects.

Maher said that the decision to use one of these drugs for a nonapproved condition should be based on a discussion between patients and their doctors, especially because some people may be more susceptible to side effects than others.

“Each individual patient needs to be considered as opposed to, ‘ This is good for this condition,’”she said. — Reuters

Sleep-deprived teens Body contouring in riskier behavior rare after weight-loss surgery NEW YORK: Patients who have had weight loss surgery rarely have excess skin removed, although it can be such a bother for people who have shed a lot of weight that it has a negative impact on their quality of life, a poll said. Plastic surgeons said patients either don’t know about this extra surgery, called body contouring, or simply can’t afford it-yet doctors say it’s more than just a cosmetic procedure.

“It is surger y that improves patients’ quality of life,” said Jason Spector at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, to Reuters Health. The excess skin that is left after severe weight loss can get in the way of exercising, inter fere with patients’ ability to wear clothes properly, and cause rashes and serious infections.

Spector said weight loss surgery, also called bariatric surgery, is just the first step. “In order to complete the journey, patients really do need to undergo the appropriate postbariatric body contouring. Even though that has a slightly cosmetic ring to it, it’s certainly something that we, as plastic surgeons, would consider reconstructive,” he added.

To get a sense of how many patients were actually going on to have body contouring surgery, Spector and his team mailed a survey

to 1,158 patients whose operations were done by two surgeons between 2003 and 2011. They received 284 responses.

Only a quarter of the patients said they discussed body contouring with their surgeon around the time of the operation, with about 12 percent actually undergoing the procedure, said Spector, who presented the findings at the annual meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

The most frequent reasons for not having body contouring were expense and lack of awareness of the procedure. Nearly 30 percent of the patients said they might have chosen differently if they had received more information. The excess skin can pose a very real danger, Spector said. He described a patient whose overhanging skin was caught underneath the electronically controlled seat of her car as she was adjusting it.

“A large piece of skin was ripped off and caused a big open wound and subsequent infection. UP to that point, her insurance company had told her, ‘sorry, you can’t have the surgery. You don’t need it.’” According to Healthcare Blue Book, a consumer guide to healthcare costs in the United States, body contouring comes with a price tag of about $13,000. — Reuters

ATLANTA: The two-thirds of US teenagers who get less than eight hours of sleep on school nights are more likely to smoke, drink and fight, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In a survey of more than 12,000 teens, 68.9 percent reported that they sleep less than eight hours on an average school night. In 10 of 11 categories, those students were more likely to engage in risky behavior than students who sleep more than eight hours on school nights, the study found.

Those behaviors include smoking cigarettes and marijuana and drinking alcohol. For example, 50.3 percent of students who slept less than eight hours reported drinking alcohol in the prior 30 days, compared to 36.7 percent of those who slept more than eight hours. Students who slept fewer hours also were less likely to exercise, more sexually active and more likely to fight and contemplate suicide. They were more likely to use computers more than three hours a day as well. Sleep-deprived teens did not watch more television than their counterparts, the study concluded. The study, published online by the Preventive Medicine journal, is believed to be the first large, national survey of its kind, the CDC said.— Reuters

Colon cancer advances faster in men: Study WASHINGTON: Men with colon cancer tend to have more advanced tumors than women of the same age, said a study out yesterday that suggested screening guidelines may need to be adjusted for sex and age.

Currently, men and women age 50 and older are urged to get a colonoscopy to screen for growths or polyps that could form into tumors.

Colorectal cancer is the fourth leading cancer killer worldwide, taking 610,000 lives per year.

The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association examined 44,350 participants in a national screening colonoscopy program from 2007 to 2010 in Austria. The screenings look for adenomas, which are polyps or benign tumors as well as for particularly advanced adenomas and colorectal cancer.

The analysis found “a significantly higher rate of these lesions among men compared with women in all age groups, suggesting that male sex constitutes an independent risk factor for colorectal carcinoma,” according to the study.

For instance, five percent of men age 50-54 had advanced adenomas compared to just 2.9 percent of women.

The rate of colorectal cancer in 55-59-year-old men (1.3 percent) was about the same as in women a decade older (65-69-year-old women were diagnosed at a rate of 1.2 percent). The prevalence of colorectal cancer overall was twice as high among men, at 1.5 percent, compared to 0.7 percent in women.The researchers noted that “deciding whether to adjust the age at which screening begins also requires considering whether the recommended age for women should be older or the recommended age for men younger.” — AFP

Killer cantaloupes leave 13 dead in US: Officials

DENPASAR: An Indonesian man holds his dog for a rabies vaccine during aworld rabies day campaign in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, yesterday. — AP

WASHINGTON: Cantaloupes grown in the US state of Colorado have been linked to a outbreak of listeria monocytogenes that has killed 13 people and infected dozens more, US health authorities said Tuesday. The whole cantaloupes were from Jensen farms in the western US state which has recalled its Rocky Ford brand of cantaloupes grown in Granada, Colorado, said the Atlanta, Georgia-based US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To date, deaths have been reported across much of the country in the case: two in Colorado; one in Kansas; one in Maryland; one in Missouri; one in Nebraska, four in New Mexico, one in Oklahoma, and two in Texas, the CDC said in a statement. They were among the total 72 reported infections in a total of 18 US states, the CDC added. The illnesses started on or around August 15, the statement added. Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium, is an agent that causes listeriosis, and is among the most virulent food-borne pathogens.

Some US media, including The New York Times, called the case the deadliest outbreak of food-borne illness in a decade. — AFP

MEXICO CITY: A pro-abortion activist holds a sign reading “For health, on violation or by decision. Legal abortion is a right” during a demonstration within the International Day of Abortion, at the Hemiciclo a Juarez monument in Mexico City, yesterday. — AFP

Cigarette warnings OTTAWA: Canada’s tobacco manufacturers and importers on Tuesday were given until March 2012 to adopt new austere warning labels on cigarette packages featuring a woman dying of lung cancer. The graphic health warning will cover 75 percent of the front and back of cigarette packages, up from 50 percent, and for the first time will include stories of people affected by tobacco use.

Two of the messages will feature images of anti-smoking activist Barb Tarbox taken while she was dying of cancer. She died at age 42 in 2003. “The new Tobacco Act regulations will put new, updated health warnings and information into the hands of millions of smokers,” said Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.

“I applaud the courage and commitment of those who are sharing their experience with tobacco use through these messages,” she said, adding Tarbox’s “unforgettable image has become a symbol of the hazards of smoking.” Smoking is blamed for the deaths of 37,000 Canadians annually, including 30 percent of all cancer deaths and 85 percent of lung cancer deaths, according to the government. — AFP

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H E A LT H

US debt panel eyes ‘dual healthcare’ patients WASHINGTON: Government health benefits for some 9 million of the sickest and poorest US citizens will come under scrutiny from the congressional “super committee” seeking to cut the nation’s debt. These are Americans who qualify for both the Medicare and Medicaid programs for the elderly and the poor, based on their disability, age and low income.

In bureaucratic parlance they are called “dual-eligibles” and both Democrats and Republicans see their care as one major area for potential savings. The super committee panel, with six members from each party, is taking a look at proposals to reduce spending on this group, a congressional aide said.

Medicare and Medicaid spend about $300 billion a year for dual-eligibles, about half of whom are under treatment for five or more chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension. While tackling either Medicare or Medicaid has proved politically unpopular, the higher proportion of cost for dual-eligibles, and their status may make them an easier segment for the two parties to agree on. “If they do anything in the super committee, it seems to me this is ... such an obvious area,” said William Hoagland, a former Republican aide for the Senate Budget Committee who is now with the health insurer CIGNA Corp. These Medicareand Medicaid-eligible patients represent about 15 percent of enrollees in Medicaid but account for 39 percent of program costs. They also account for 16 percent of Medicare enrollees and 27 percent of program costs.

President Barack Obama is proposing shifting federal drug reimbursements for this group to lower Medicaid rates rather than paying the higher Medicare prices, a move strongly opposed by the pharmaceutical industry.

Insurance companies and states are pressing for policy changes to encourage more use of managed care which would in turn encourage less costly forms of treatment, from closer scrutiny on the need for specific services to incentives for preventive care.

Obama’s healthcare overhaul created a new office within the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to develop cost-saving models of coordinated care.

Melanie Bella, who heads the new office, told the Senate Finance Committee last week that it would take time before any savings are realized.

Cash-strapped states are pushing for more, particularly the power to put dual-eligibles into managed care plans.

They have won support from the National Association of Medicaid Directors and officials within the insurance industry. Emory University professor Ken Thorpe, in a report sponsored by America’s Health Insurance Plans, said up to $125 billion could be saved if all dual-eligibles were placed in managed care.

“Once you get them into an integrated system where everybody’s working together, as opposed to a body part by body part style of managing it, then you can improve care and reduce costs,” AHIP President Karen Ignagni said in an interview. Democrats and some healthcare advocacy groups say they are wary of forcing people into managed care plans overseen by a private insurance industry that has reaped billions in profits without necessarily improving care or reducing costs.

They want to protect benefits and choice for people who want to stay in traditional fee-for-service Medicare.

“We need to find ways to reduce the cost of healthcare, not just cut the benefits that seniors paid for,” said Democratic super committee member Representative Xavier Becerra. Because Medicare and Medicaid cover different medical services, care can be fragmented with little checking up on patients to ensure they are following medical advice and taking prescribed medicines. Studies have shown that hospital readmissions among this group are high. Many end up in nursing homes, which are covered

by Medicaid.

Doctors are also fighting a move to lower their reimbursement rates according to Medicaid’s standards for this

New New e H Hope ope …

New Life

group, and warn more patients may just be shut out of physicians’ offices. “Medicaid rates are going so low ... that we sort of live in denial that just because someone is on Medicaid, they are going to be adequately covered,” said Ted Okan, executive director of the Community Oncology Alliance. The complexity of these plans also works against a deep change and it takes time to rewrite federal laws, especially when it comes to healthcare. The super committee has until Nov. 23 to come up with $1.2 trillion in 10-

year budget savings. Ignagni said the super committee could include proposals to reduce Washington’s bureaucratic hurdles for states that want to shift more people into managed care plans. “The super committee could put a wind at the backs of regulators,” Ignagni said adding that regulators are already moving into the direction of more coordinated and managed care for this population. Only about 100,000 of the 9 million dual-eligibles currently are in managed care plans, she said. — Reuters

Bill Gates in Nigeria to boost anti-polio drive LAGOS: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has arrived in Nigeria to take stock of a campaign to rid Africa’s most populous nation of polio following a resurgence this year, his foundation said yesterday. Gates held talks with government officials and influential traditional leaders in Nigeria’s worst-hit northwestern region on Tuesday.

It was his first stop in a three-day trip, Michal Fishman, spokeswoman for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, told AFP. In 2009 and 2010, polio cases fell by 95 percent in Nigeria. The foundation said Nigeria’s commitment to eradicate the crippling, but vaccine-preventable disease was at its peak during that period.

But in 2011, it said, “attention to polio waned” and the disease has now re-emerged as a serious threat to children’s health,

with 30 polio cases reported in six northern states.

However Gates was upbeat that Nigeria would win the war against the disease. “Nigeria has achieved important success with polio over recent years and we are confident it can finish the job,” said Gates.

Nigeria is one of four countries-including India, Pakistan and Afghanistan-where polio transmission has never been stopped. The UN has blamed the resurgence of polio in Nigeria on a drop in the number of vaccines while vaccination campaigns have also been met with resistance in parts of the country on suspicion the serum could be harmful to children.

The disease once crippled children worldwide and killed or paralysed 350,000 children in 1988. That was the year that a global effort was kicked off to try to make the disease only the second after smallpox to be eradicated. — AFP

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

W H AT ’ S O N

Announcements

The circus is back

T

he Italian Circus is in town in Salmiya, Qatar Street, behind Gulf Mart, across from Marina Mall. For more info: 9991-4607 or 9991-4807 (1st show: 6pm - 8pm and 2nd show 9pm - 11pm)

Nafo Onam National Forum Kuwait (Nafo Kuwait) is all set to celebrate “Onam and anniversary with its full spirit and fervor on Friday, September 30, 2011, at the Indian Community School (Sr. Girls), Salmiya from 9.30 am onwards, according to officials. For more derails please contact 99660428/97824780/66415157/ or contact@nafoglobal.com

Konkani drama

K

uwait Goan Association (KGA) after presenting popular Konkani tiatrs ‘Ghor Bandlem ghorabo Modlo’ and ‘Tujea Moga Passot’, now all set to present Tragedy King Mario Menezes most popular Konkani drama “Hatachim Panch Bottam” in Kuwait on Friday, 18th November 2011 with full troupe.

Await for more details or email: kgakuwait@gmail.com

Laif annual convention Here comes LAIF Annual Convention. The Life Abundant International Fountain Kuwait is holding its first annual convention at the National Evangelical Church, Kuwait (Neck Compound-Hall of Faith), Near Parliament House, Kuwait City from Thursday, October 6-9, 2011. It will commence on Thursday at 7 pm, Friday at 10 am, Friday at 10 pm, Saturday at 6 pm and Sunday at 6:30 pm. For more information, contact and transport, call 66332844 50611737, 66922052, 665SO209 or e-mail: laifkuwait@yahoo.co.uk, www.facebook.com/L.A.I.F.CHURCH. Annual competition Tulu Koota Kuwait has great pleasure in inviting its valuable members to Tulukoota Kuwait annual competitions on 14th October 2011. It’s a unique opportunity to our members & their children to showcase their talent at the varied competitions. There will be singing, dance, fancy dress competitions for all age group, cute baby photo contest etc. Competitions will be held on Friday 14th October from 10 am onwards in Indian Community School (Senior Girls), Salmiya. For details, competition rules and registrations please contact 65044521, 65013887, 66958848, 97834578 Or visit our website www.tu1ukootakuwait.org or mail us at secretary@tulukootakuwait.org.

Tulukoota talent hunt Tulukoota Kuwait will hold a “Talent Hunt 2011” a chance to prove an inborn trait in you that confirms your individuality, uniqueness. So step forward to grab this opportunity to show your caliber and entertain. Dance, music, art or any special talent- now is your chance to showcase it - and be part of this year’s Talent Hunt & Tulu Parba. Talent Hunt event is open to all Tuluvas.

For more information and registration form kindly log on to our Website: www.tulukootakuwait.org or visit our facebook page - Tulukoota Kuwait Talent Hunt 2011. You could also email your form request to: secretary@tulukootakuwait.org or contact our area coordinators mentioned below. Mangaf, Fahaheel, Abuhalifa : Ronald Dsouza- 60035824, Shalini Alva- 23726164, Suma Bhatt- 97834578 Salmiya & Hawally: Swarna Shetty- 99006934, Kripa Gatty- 66044194 Kuwait City, Jahra, Sharq : Rekha Sachu- 65044521,97862115 Farwaniya, Abbassiya, Shuwaikh & Khaitan: Sathyanarayana- 66585077 Sanath Shetty67712409.

Charity golf tournament

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ICS conducts mathematics workshop

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he Indian Central School, Kuwait, organized a Mathematics workshop on 24th Sep 2011 in the school auditorium. Teachers from around fifteen schools of Kuwait attended the workshop. Principals, Mrs Susan Roy from United Indian School and Mrs Shyamala Divakaran from Gulf Indian School were also present. It commenced with a prayer, ensued by the Kuwait and Indian National Anthems.

The welcome address was administered by our principal, Mrs Shantha Maria James, who honoured the special guests with bouquets. She reinstated the need for understanding the basics of Mathematics at the primary level.

The Chief Guest, H.K. Mohan, First Secretary to Community Affairs, addressed the gathering.

After the address and the photo session, our special resource person, I.C. Ahuja, initiated the workshop with his bountiful ideas and exhilarating teaching techniques, giving the teachers an insight into the special ways of handling the classes with tips for easy teaching.

Galleries in Kuwait

He also laid stress on the importance of understanding the basics of mathematics at the primary level.

He advised the primary teachers to start their teaching process first with a pattern of lines and then move on to numbers. Similarly, the number names also require a set pattern which was discussed. He emphasized the necessity of the knowledge of multiplication tables as well as comprehensive understanding of the four fundamental

Modern art sculpture

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ami Mohammad is a pioneer sculptor. A key founder of the modern art of sculpture in Kuwait. His work is the embodiment of human epic. The use of “Bronze” Symbolizes strength, resilience and strong will. Opening reception: October 2, 2011 at 7 pm. Exhibition hours: 3 - 13 October 2011, 10 am 2 pm, 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm.

‘Mother’s Day’ Theater Xavier-Manuel productions presents a super hit theater of this season from Goa titled “Mother’s Day.” It will be a Konkani drama dedicated to all mothers with loads of comedy, solos, duets, trios, etc. and all new songs! The event is tomorrow September 30th at 3:30pm at Kuwait Medical Association Hall (Beside Blood Bank, near Mubarak Hospital, Jabriya).

YMCA membership YMCA Kuwait is conducting membership campaign from 1st September to 30th November, 2011.

Persons who wish to become members of YMCA Kuwait and person who would like to contribute their time, efforts and services for the society and humanitarian causes may please contact: 97542985, 99498369, 99046751, 99607230, 55120208.

Brain Bang Calling all students aged 11 and above, Support Group for Accelerated learning under the umbrella of FOCC (Friends of CRY Club, Kuwait), BRAIN-BANG invites you to join us in our fortnightly Friday Class from 11.45 am to 13.45 pm in Salmiya starting October 7th for the next 6 months. Successfully running for the seventh consecutive year.

Areas of development are : lMemory tools to Understand and Learn Better lTools and Techniques to empower your mind lActivity, fun, games and worksheet based assignments lPractical Experiments lMind Gymnastics lApplication of Learning Techniques to conventional study. Register before October 5th 2011.

Limited seats. Register early to avoid disappointment. Website: www.focckwt.org E-Mail: brainbang@focckwt.org Phone no: 25660835/25618471/97677820

operations by every primary level student. He mentioned that any child who has meticulously mastered the class six Mathematics is a commendable and competent student. A briefing on the various activities of CBSE, Mathematics was also shown through white board and PowerPoint presentations. The Examination Syllabus for Class X Mathematics for the year 2012 was discussed. The workshop culminated with the vote of thanks by our beloved principal.

Sultan gallery established 1969 to promote Arab contemporary art. Sabhan, Sadeer company. Block 8, street 105, building 168. 24714325 ext. 110 Dar Al-Funoon, Behbehani Compound, House 28near the Christian Church off of Gulf Road. Tel: 22431338 Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah, Shaab, next to Shaab Leisure Park. Tel: 22400963 AWARE Surra Street, Block 3, Villa 84. Tel: 25335260/80 or www.aware.com.kw The Strip, across Al-Seif Palace Jibla Tel: 99666533 www.the-exhibition.com.kw Located on ‘The Strip’ Across from Al-Seif Palace Jibla, Kuwait Tel: + (965) 9-406-6226 Fax: + (965) 2-534-4061 Email Address: info@the-exhibition.com.kw Mailing Address: P.O. Box 17919, Khaldiya, Kuwait

Free Arabic courses provided by IPC

Creative discussion Steve Sabella will give a follow-up discussion to discuss his life and work. The talk includes a screening of a 10-minute documentary film among other videos, and will deal with the idea of constructed identities, imagined cities and hyper-realities today September 29th between 7pm-9pm at Life Center (Industrial Shuwaikh, Block 2, Street 28, Top floor).

YMCA Onasangamom YMCA Kuwait is conducting Onam Sangamom & Arts nite today 29th September at 6.30pm at Indian Community Senior Girls School Salmiya. The programs include Comedy Skit “Pravasa Charitham Onnam Bhagam”, Vanchipattu, Thiruvathirakali, Maveli, Chendamelam, Ganamela etc. OnaSadhya is also arranged for the attendees. For Onasadhya please take the coupon before the program. For details please contact.97542985, 99498369, 99046751, 99607230.

reast cancer affects everyone. A charity golf tournament will be held on Friday, October 14 at 9 am at Kuwait International Golf & Country Club. Four person “Texas Scramble”. Shotgun start 10 am - BBQ - Prizes A ladies’ Pre-Tournament Clinics (3 sessions) will begin from Saturday 24 September 8 am, Saturday 01 October 8 am, Saturday 08 October 8 am, fully swing, chipping & putting, specialty shots. To register and ensure your spot in the tournament, please call 99076721 /99073710. Email: info@kigcc.com www.kigcc.com

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ake your opportunity to learn and improve your Arabic skills. The women section of Islam Presentation Committee will be conducting FREE Arabic Language Course in Basic & Advance Level for non-Arab LADIES commencing on September 30, 2011.

Islamic subjects and Quran classes are also offered in different languages. Classes are offered only once a week.

Register now! For more information: Rawdah22512257-97290278; Salmiya-2573326397533263; Khaitan-24730137-99285459; Mangaf-23723002; Jahra-24558830-67720696.

Tulu Parba Merit scholarship

Executives of BEBA, Kuwait

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he Members of Bangladeshi Expatriate Businessmen Association (BEBA), Kuwait, unanimously selected Jahangir Hussain Patwary, Chairman & CEO of Diamond Group of Companies, as President of the association and Mr. Lutfur Rahman (Mukai Ali), Chairman & CEO of Ambassador Group, was selected as Secretary General.

BEBA Members look forward to the leadership skills & business expertise of Jahangir Patwary & Lutfur Rahman, during the year 2011/2012, and thanked the outgoing President, Mohammed Hussain, & Secretary General, Jafar Ahmed, for their contribution during the tenure in office.

BEBA’s objective is to promote

business, trade, investment and relevant activities for Bangladeshi businessmen in Kuwait; and encour-

age and expand economic and trade relations between Bangladesh and Kuwait.

NSS anniversary tomorrow

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SS-Kuwait (National Service Society) formed in Kuwait in 2001 is celebrating its 10th Anniversary and Onam under the banner “NSS-Kuwait 10th Anniversary - Onanilavu” on Friday, 30th September at Integrated Indian School Auditorium, Abbassiya from 5 pm onwards.

The celebrations will commence

with a public meeting followed by variety of entertainment programs.

The program stages 9 leading Cinema and TV serial artists performing classical, fusion and folk dances

by Shalu Menon and Team, Cinematic & Western Dances by Subi Suresh and Firoz Khan, Comedy Skits by Kalabhavan Mani, Pisharady, Sajan Palluruty and Subi Suresh, variety of

musical entertainment rendered by Pradeep Babu & Varsha with an accompanying orchestra lead by famous keyboard artist Jose. The Signature folk tunes from Kalabhavan Mani will be the highlight of the show. The four hours continuous entertainment show will start at 5 pm. For further details please contact 97254493, 65738498, 90921980.

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ulu Koota Kuwait is pleased to announce its Merit Cum Means Scholarship Award to be awarded during Tulu Parba which will be held on 4th November 2011 in American International School Auditorium, Maidan Hawally.

Tulu Koota Kuwait firmly believes in the great value of education and is strongly committed to helping needy students to achieve their educational goals. Application accepted from minimum one year valid members children studying either in State of Kuwait or in India, scoring high grades at X and XII standard Board Examination held during Academic year 2010-2011. Contact Tulukoota Kuwait Welfare officer Suresh Shyam Rao on 65976789 or email: shyamson@yahoo.com to submit the copies of marks sheet & proof of income with the application. Candidates obtaining high grades but not eligible for merit cum means scholarship shall be honored with Merit Certificate and Medal. For further information please contact: Harish Bhandary Tel. 50264416

Pathanamthitta Onam

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he executive committee of Pathanamthitta District Association has decided to hold 2011 Onam Festival celebrations on Friday October 28, 2011 with a grand public function attended by Member of Parliament from Pathanamthitta Loksabha Constituency, Anto Antony and other prominent dignitaries from Kerala and Kuwait. All residents of Pathanamthitta District and persons of Pathanamthitta District origin are hereby invited to attend this function and friends and families.

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

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Embassy Information EMBASSY OF ARGENTINA In order to inform that 23rd of October 2011, will be Argentine national election where all Argentinean citizen residents permanently in Kuwait can vote only if they are registered at the Electoral Register of the Argentine Embassy. The procedure of inscription ended on 25 of April 2011. To register it is necessary that Argentinean citizens should come personally at the Argentinean Embassy (Block 6, street 42, villa 57, Mishref ) and present the DNI and four personal photos (size 4x4, face should be front on white background). For further information, contact us on 25379211. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF BRITAIN The Visa Application Centre (VAC) will be closed on the same dates above. The opening hours of the Visa Application Centre are 0930 - 1630 Application forms remain available online from the UKBAs’ website: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk or from the Visa Application Centre’s website: www.vfs-ukkw.com. And also, from the UK Visa Application Centre located at: 4B, First Floor, Al Banwan Building (Burgan Bank Branch Office Building), Al Qibla area, opposite Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City. For any further inquiries, please contact the Visa Application Centre: Website: www.vfs-uk-kw.com E-mail:info@vfs-uk-kw.com Telephone:22971170. The Consular Section will also be closed on the same dates. For information on the British Embassy services, visit the British Embassy website: www.ukinkuwait.fco.gov.uk

Nabil Hammoud with the volunteers.

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Marina Hotel Kuwait organizes annual beach cleanup drive

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arina Hotel Kuwait in its continuous efforts to build awareness on environmental initiatives recently organized its annual Beach Cleanup Drive at the Marina Public Beach.

This initiative undertaken by the hotel’s social committee brought together a cadre of staff and volunteers and was kicked off at 5 pm by distributing gloves, t-shirts, trash bags and rakes and concluded at 8 pm with a Barbeque dinner for all the participants.

Nabil Hammoud, General Manager, Marina Hotel Kuwait thanked each and every employee who volunteered to take part in the drive. He said “This planned environmental campaign is a manifestation of Marina Hotel’s deep commitment to the community. Our goal for the cleanup is not only to pick up every piece of trash we can reach, but also to educate the public on the responsibility of keeping the surroundings clean.”

“We have been organizing the

beach cleanup annually, it is our way of getting together as one family and show that we care for our mother nature”, further concluded Hamm Marina Hotel Kuwait strongly believes in the importance of environmental initiatives that have a direct impact on the community.

The hotel encourages organizations and individuals to take part in these eco-friendly causes, helping to increase the level of awareness amongst the community.

PAUL celebrates ‘Chocolate Fantasy’

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here are probably very few other foods known to man which enjoy such an unrivalled popularity across the world as chocolate; liked in equal measures by young and old, man and woman, on your own or when sharing. Of growing importance since the 16th century, chocolate is steeped in history and has always been perceived as this special something, eaten when it is time to enjoy the sweeter things in life.

It is therefore only fit for PAUL, well-known for its fine patisserie, to dedicate a whole month to this special ingredient during which they will be offering tempting cakes and mouth-watering desserts never before available at Paul. October will see their “Chocolate Fantasy” month kick off with special treats bursting with chocolate goodness, combining interesting flavours such as nougat and white chocolate or using fruit and other ingredients to highlight the delicate taste of chocolate.

IWG meeting

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nternational ‘Women’s Group’ will hold its first meeting of the season will be held on Sunday, 02 0ctober at The Radisson Blu-Boubiyan Room, Al Hashemi and will include a presentation of Armani Autumn cosmetics. Doors open at 9:30 am. We would like to remind all current members that membership renewals are due at this time. Renewal is essential by this date for members to be included in the Blue hook and to be able to attend the December Seasonal Dinner. We would also like to announce two date changes: The November 06 meeting will now be on November 13 and the December 11 meeting will be our annual Seasonal Dinner meeting.

We look forward to seeing all of you.

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Sreenivasan poses in front of a video grab from his short film, ‘The Loss.’

Indian art teacher makes 5-minute film

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reenivasan, the art teacher at Indian Community School, Khaitan has always been PingPonging between his classes and the urge to do something on his own. Last year he was given an assignment to make a documentary on his school which he directed, using teachers and students as actors. The half an hour documentary was made much to the approval and delight of the management as well as the student community, but Sreenivasan's

impulse to do an independent creative story-structured and message conveying film remained a dream until he went for vacation to his native Kodungalloor, Kerala where he made his maiden feature film The Loss.

The 5-minute, dialog less 'Loss' is a simple story on the outer line, meant for any type of audience but the movie is also embedded with deeper meanings of losses at various levels. Sreenivasan's friends offered the acting roles but 'no

compromise was made on the professional quality of the film', as he puts it.

'The Loss' is getting readied for short film festivals across the world.

Sreenivasan also sees the Youtube as a medium to run the film which has no dialog but sensible music that fills the varying moods of the movie. "I want to make the younger generation think what they have lost in the past and what harm is imminent if they don't act", says the short filmmaker-painter-teacher.

K’S PATH WEEKLY ADOPTION

EMBASSY OF GERMANY The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (Al-Babtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed on the following dates during the month of October 2011. October 2, 2011 (Sunday) - Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday; October 6, 2011 (Thursday) - Dussehra; and October 26, 2011 (Wednesday) - Diwali. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to request all Kenyans resident in or training through Kuwait to register with the Embassy. We are updating our database. This information is necessary in order to facilitate quick assistance and advise in times of emergency. Kindly visit in person or register through our website www.kenyaembkuwait.com. The Embassy is located in: Surra Area - Block 6 - Street 9 Villa 3 Tel: 25353362 - 25353314; Fax: 25353316.

Paritala Yuvasena organizes blood donation camp

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aritala Yuvasena, Kuwait is organizing a blood donation camp on September 30 at 2:30 pm in Jabriya Blood Bank. On this occasion Yuvasena released a blood donation campaign poster yesterday in Hawally. Speaking on the occasion, Ratakonda Laxmipati Naidu, the President of Paritala Yuvasena, Kuwait along with others said, “The generosity and helping hand extended by Paritala’s family can never be forgotten by his constituency members. It is now up to us to help his family by supporting his wife Sunitha Paritala, the sitting MLA of Raptadu”. Vegi Venkatesh Naidu, Mohan Babu Kottapalli, Reddeiah Naidu Chundu, Nagendra Naidu Maratu, Narasimha Naidu Nallapaneni, Rajendra Naidu Enduri, Chandra Babu Nagineni, Deva Prasad Chavana, Naresh Naidu Talapaneni D Pattabhi, P Manohar Naidu, D Chalapati, Chavana Sudhakar Naidu, Kovuri Prasad Naidu, Nagineni Ravindra, Gandra Siva, Siddavatam Ravi, Payyavula Siva, Koti, Chandra Sekhar Naidu, Golla MaheshEeswaraiah Nagineni, Srinu Maratu, Bhaskar Chitturu, Laxmi Narsaiah, Kanna, Kancharla Naresh Naidu, Paladugu Srinu played a lead role in this event.

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca.

Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form.

All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants. Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed. To ensure that the most recent version of the Temporary Resident Visa application form is being utilized, applicants should refer to the CIC website. As of January 15, 2011, forms are to be filled in electronically.

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk nnnnnnn

Moa the Lab-Beagle mix

Charlie the Persian cat

oa is a friendly and affectionate one-yearold Lab-Beagle mix girl. She loves playtime and running around. She will be a great addition to a family which gives her the love and exercise she needs and with children of all ages. To adopt Moa, contact K'S PATH at 6700 1622 or visit the website www.kspath.org

harlie is a friendly and independent threeyear-old Persian male. Charlie loves being the centre of attention but also likes to be by himself, observing surroundings with his charming eyes. Charlie will go well in a family with children aged over 10. To adopt Charlie, contact K'S PATH at 6700 1622 or visit the website www.kspath.org

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EMBASSY OF PERU Embassy of Peru in Kuwait has the honor to announce the opening of its office soon in Sharq area, Ahmed Al-Jaber street, Al-Arabiya Tower, 6th Floor, Kuwait City.

Moreover, please be notified that there will be “Peru Expo-Tour, Trade & Invest” and the working hours will be from 09:00 till 14:00 (SundayThursday). You are cordially invited to visit us in order to know why Peru should be your new touristic destination and your best business partner.

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00:45 Untamed & Uncut 01:40 Black December 02:35 Wildest Africa 03:30 I’m Alive 04:25 Dogs 101 05:20 Animal Cops Houston 06:10 Dogs 101 07:00 Meerkat Manor 07:25 The Really Wild Show 07:50 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Bad Dog 10:05 Dogs 101 11:00 Animal Cops Houston 11:55 E-Vets: The Interns 12:20 Wildlife SOS 12:50 New Breed Vets With Steve Irwin 13:45 Crocodile Hunter 14:40 Black December 15:30 Monkey Life 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Crocodile Hunter 17:25 My Cat From Hell 18:20 Breed All About It 18:45 Crocodile Hunter 19:40 Echo And The Elephants Of Amboseli 20:10 Dogs 101 21:05 Sharks: Anatomy Of An Attack 22:00 Big Five Challenge 22:55 I Shouldn’t Be Alive 23:50 Uakari Secrets Of The English Monkey

00:00 01:05 01:50 02:40 03:30 04:00 04:30 04:50 05:05 05:25 05:35 05:45 05:50 06:10 06:25 06:45 06:55 07:00 07:20 07:35 07:55 08:05 08:15 08:20 08:40 08:55 09:15 09:25 09:35 09:40 10:40 11:25 12:15 12:45 13:15 14:10 15:40 16:30 17:15 17:45 18:15 19:10 20:00 20:45 21:15 21:45 22:35 23:35

00:40 01:05 02:00 02:50 03:45 04:10 04:40

Last Of The Summer Wine The Weakest Link Casualty Full Circle With Michael Palin Doctors Last Of The Summer Wine Balamory The Roly Mo Show Me Too Tellytales Tellytales Poetry Pie Balamory The Roly Mo Show Me Too Tellytales Poetry Pie Balamory The Roly Mo Show Me Too Tellytales Tellytales Poetry Pie Balamory The Roly Mo Show Me Too Tellytales Tellytales Poetry Pie Last Of The Summer Wine The Weakest Link Lark Rise To Candleford Doctors Eastenders Casualty Last Of The Summer Wine Lark Rise To Candleford The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Casualty Lark Rise To Candleford The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Casualty Coast True Dare Kiss

The Naked Chef Come Dine With Me What Not To Wear Come Dine With Me What To Eat Now - Autumn The Naked Chef New Scandinavian Cooking

With Andreas Viestad 05:05 James Martin’s Brittany 05:30 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 06:15 Antiques Roadshow 07:10 Daily Cooks Challenge 07:40 Come Dine With Me 08:30 What To Eat Now - Autumn 08:55 The Naked Chef 09:25 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 09:50 James Martin’s Brittany 10:10 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 10:55 Antiques Roadshow 11:50 Come Dine With Me 12:40 Daily Cooks Challenge 14:40 Bargain Hunt 15:25 Antiques Roadshow 16:15 Antiques Roadshow 17:10 Come Dine With Me 18:00 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 18:25 What To Eat Now - Autumn 18:55 The Naked Chef 19:20 James Martin’s Brittany 19:45 Come Dine With Me 20:35 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 21:20 Antiques Roadshow 22:15 Come Dine With Me 23:05 Masterchef Australia

00:00 BBC World News 00:30 World Business Report 00:45 Sport Today 01:00 BBC World News America 01:30 Asia Business Report 01:45 Sport Today 02:00 BBC World News 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Sport Today 03:00 Newsday 03:30 Asia Business Report 03:45 Sport Today 04:00 Newsday 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Sport Today 05:00 Newsday 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Sport Today 06:00 Newsday 06:30 Hardtalk 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 World Business Report 07:45 BBC World News 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 Sport Today 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 Sport Today 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 Hardtalk 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 World Business Report 12:45 Sport Today 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 GMT With George Alagiah 14:30 GMT With George Alagiah 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 World Business Report 15:45 Sport Today 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 16:30 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 19:30 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 21:30 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World Business Report 22:45 Sport Today 23:00 BBC World News America 23:30 Hardtalk

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

TV PROGRAMS

00:20 00:45 01:10 01:35 02:00 02:25 02:50 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:35 05:00 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:15 06:40 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 08:35 09:00 09:25 09:50 10:15 10:40 11:05 11:30 11:55 12:05 12:20 12:45 13:10 13:35 14:00 14:25 14:50 15:15 15:35 16:00 16:20 Doo 16:45 17:10 17:35 18:00 18:25 18:50 19:15 19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:55 23:05 23:30 23:55

Droopy: Master Detective The Flintstones Johnny Bravo Duck Dodgers King Arthur’s Disasters The Scooby Doo Show Popeye Classics Tom & Jerry Popeye The Jetsons The Flintstones Looney Tunes Pink Panther & Pals Scooby Doo Where Are You! New Yogi Bear Show The Garfield Show The Addams Family Popeye Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes The Scooby Doo Show Wacky Races The Garfield Show Dastardly And Muttley The Flintstones Tom & Jerry Pink Panther and Pals Puppy In My Pocket New Yogi Bear Show The Scooby Doo Show The Garfield Show Tom & Jerry Top Cat Popeye The Jetsons Duck Dodgers Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Tom & Jerry The Perils of Penelope Pitstop Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races Scooby-Doo and ScrappyDastardly And Muttley The Flintstones Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show Pink Panther and Pals Puppy In My Pocket New Yogi Bear Show Looney Tunes Tom & Jerry Top Cat The Scooby Doo Show Wacky Races Dastardly And Muttley Tom & Jerry Johnny Bravo Dexters Laboratory The Garfield Show Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Perils of Penelope Pitstop

00:05 Robotboy - Elements 00:30 Squirrel Boy 00:55 George Of The Jungle 01:20 Cramp Twins 01:45 Chop Socky Chooks 02:10 Best Ed 02:35 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 03:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 03:25 Generator Rex 03:50 Adventure Time 04:15 Flapjack 04:40 Chowder 05:05 The Powerpuff Girls 05:30 Ed, Edd n Eddy 05:55 Cow & Chicken 06:20 Squirrel Boy 06:45 I Am Weasel 07:00 Eliot Kid 07:25 Angelo Rules 07:50 Best Ed 08:15 Flapjack 08:40 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 09:05 Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 09:30 Courage The Cowardly Dog 09:34 Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 09:40 Courage The Cowardly Dog 09:55 Cow & Chicken 10:20 I Am Weasel 10:35 Adventure Time

THE DESCENT 2 ON OSN ACTION HD

11:00 Ben 10 11:25 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 11:50 The Secret Saturdays 12:15 Samurai Jack 12:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 13:05 Codename: Kids Next Door 13:30 Skunk Fu! 13:50 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 14:15 Flapjack 14:40 Ed, Edd n Eddy 15:05 Camp Lazlo 15:30 Chowder 15:55 Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 16:25 Cow & Chicken 16:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog 17:15 I Am Weasel 17:40 Adventure Time 18:05 Codename: Kids Next Door 18:30 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 18:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 19:20 Generator Rex 19:45 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 20:10 Hero 108 20:35 Bakugan: New Vestroia 21:00 Total Drama Island 21:25 Adventure Time 21:50 Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 22:00 Ben 10 22:25 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 22:50 The Secret Saturdays 23:15 Samurai Jack 23:40 Megas Xlr

00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 Call 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00

Backstory World Sport The Situation Room World Report World Business Today Piers Morgan Tonight Anderson Cooper 360 World Sport Talk Asia World Report Backstory World Report World Report World Sport The Boss World Business Today American Morning: Wake-Up

00:15 01:10 02:05 03:00 03:55 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:45 09:10 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10 15:05 15:30 16:00 16:25 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

Flying Wild Alaska Extreme Fishing Dirty Jobs Ultimate Survival Wheeler Dealers Mythbusters How Do They Do It? How Stuff’s Made Dirty Jobs Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Flying Wild Alaska How Do They Do It? Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Auction Hunters Dual Survival Ultimate Survival Ultimate Survival Extreme Fishing Sons Of Guns Cash Cab Us Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Mythbusters Flying Wild Alaska Cake Boss Border Security Auction Hunters How Stuff’s Made How Do They Do It? Cash Cab Us Who Survived?

Ultimate Survival Kidnap And Rescue

00:05 00:55 01:45 02:35 03:25 04:15 04:45 05:40 06:10 07:00 07:55 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:35 11:30 11:55 12:25 13:15 14:05 14:30 14:55 15:45 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:15 18:40 19:30 20:20 21:10 22:00 23:15 23:40

Smash Lab Building the Biggest Extreme Bodies Killer Outbreaks Thunder Races How Stuff’s Made Building the Biggest One Step Beyond Engineered Thunder Races Sci-Fi Saved My Life The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Smash Lab Brainiac Sci-Fi Science How Stuff’s Made Extreme Bodies Killer Outbreaks One Step Beyond Stunt Junkies Building the Biggest Weird Connections Thunder Races Sci-Fi Saved My Life Sci-Fi Science The Gadget Show Prototype This Bang Goes the Theory Smash Lab The Gadget Show Prototype This Bang Goes the Theory The Gadget Show

00:00 00:25 00:50 01:15 01:35 02:00 02:25

Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Stitch Stitch Replacements Replacements

Icon World One Piers Morgan Tonight News Stream World Business Today International Desk The Brief World Sport Prism International Desk Icon Quest Means Business Piers Morgan Tonight Connect The World

02:50 03:35 04:25 05:15 06:00 06:20 06:45 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:35 09:00 09:10 09:30 09:40 10:05 Cody 10:35 10:50 11:15 11:35 12:00 12:25 12:45 13:10 13:30 13:55 14:20 14:55 15:20 15:45 16:10 16:35 17:00 17:25 17:50 18:15 18:45 19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15 23:35

Emperor’s New School Stitch Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Emperor’s New School Suite Life On Deck Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction Handy Manny Imagination Movers The Suite Life Of Zack And Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Phineas And Ferb Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Sonny With A Chance Good Luck Charlie Hannah Montana Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Phineas And Ferb Fish Hooks Shake It Up Jake & Blake Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Shake It Up Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Jake & Blake Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Suite Life On Deck Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Jonas Los Angeles

DRAG ME TO HELL ON OSN CINEMA 00:25 Kendra 00:55 Then And Now 01:25 E!es 02:20 THS 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Khloe And Lamar 10:15 15 Remarkable Celebrity Body Bouncebacks 12:05 E! News 13:05 Fashion Police 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:35 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Holly’s World 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 19:55 Giuliana & Bill 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Khloe And Lamar 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:50 04:45 05:15 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:05 09:30 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:15 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:55 20:20 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:50 23:40

Ghost Lab A Haunting I Almost Got Away With It Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghosthunters Ghost Lab Diagnosis: Unknown Murder Shift Forensic Detectives Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Diagnosis: Unknown Ghost Lab FBI Files On The Case With Paula Zahn I Was Murdered I Was Murdered Diagnosis: Unknown Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Ghost Lab FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Diagnosis: Unknown Street Patrol On The Case With Paula Zahn I Was Murdered I Was Murdered Cuff Me If You Can Fugitive Strike Force Dr G: Medical Examiner

00:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 01:00 Eccentric Uk 01:30 Eccentric Uk 02:00 Chasing Che: Latin America On A Motorcycle 02:30 Chasing Che: Latin America On A Motorcycle 03:00 Endurance Traveller 04:00 Departures 05:00 Departures 06:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 07:00 Eccentric Uk 07:30 Eccentric Uk 08:00 Chasing Che: Latin America On A Motorcycle 08:30 Chasing Che: Latin America On A Motorcycle 09:00 Endurance Traveller 10:00 Departures 11:00 Departures 12:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 13:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 13:30 Bondi Rescue 14:00 Bondi Rescue: Bali 14:30 Travel Madness 15:00 City Chase: Argentina 16:00 Adventure Wanted 17:00 Ultimate Traveller 18:00 Reverse Exploration 19:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 19:30 Bondi Rescue 20:00 Bondi Rescue: Bali 20:30 Travel Madness 21:00 City Chase: Argentina 22:00 Adventure Wanted 23:00 Ultimate Traveller

00:00 Bad Guys-18 02:00 The Descent 2-18 04:00 Child’s Play 3-18 06:00 The Fast And The FuriousPG15 08:00 The Hunt For Red OctoberPG15 10:15 Coach Carter-PG15 12:15 The Librarian: The Curse Of Judas Chalice-PG15 14:00 The Hunt For Red OctoberPG15 16:15 The Order-PG15 18:00 The Librarian: The Curse Of Judas Chalice-PG15 20:00 Bad Boys II-PG15 22:30 Tortured-PG15

01:00 Swansong: Story Of Occi Byrne-PG15 03:00 Three Investigators-PG15 05:00 Dean Spanley-PG 07:00 Skellig-PG15 09:00 The Front-PG15 11:00 MacHEADS-PG15 12:15 Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea-FAM 14:30 Love N’ Dancing-PG15 16:30 The Last Airbender-PG15 18:45 The Brothers Bloom-PG15 21:00 Dinner For Schmucks-PG15 23:00 Drag Me To Hell-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 State Of The Union 02:00 Louie 02:30 Entourage 03:00 Friends 03:30 Friends 04:00 Two And A Half Men 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Will And Grace 06:00 Coach 06:30 Weird Science 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Two And A Half Men 08:30 Friends 09:00 Will And Grace 09:30 The Simpsons 10:00 Parks And Recreation 10:30 Coach 11:00 Weird Science 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 Two And A Half Men 13:00 Friends 13:30 Will And Grace 14:00 Coach 14:30 The Simpsons 15:00 Parks And Recreation 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Weird Science 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Friends 18:30 Friends 19:00 Outsourced 19:30 Community 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Funny Or Die Presents 22:30 Entourage 23:00 State Of The Union 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00

Terra Nova Terra Nova Drop Dead Diva Warehouse 13 One Tree Hill Good Morning America Persons Unknown Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View Terra Nova Warehouse 13 Live Good Morning America One Tree Hill The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale

18:30 19:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

Turn Back Your Body Clock Bones The X Factor (US) Treme Persons Unknown

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

Psych Mildred Pierce Terra Nova Terra Nova Warehouse 13 Alias Psych According To Jim Coronation Street Body Of Proof Warehouse 13 Terra Nova Terra Nova According To Jim Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Body Of Proof Psych According To Jim According To Jim The Ellen DeGeneres Show Body Of Proof Bones The X Factor (US) Treme No Ordinary Family

01:00 Jennifer’s Body-18 03:00 Outpost-18 04:30 Julia’s Eyes-18 06:30 Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen-PG15 09:00 2012-PG15 11:45 Superman/ Batman: Apocalypse-PG15 13:45 Spiderman 2-PG15 16:00 2012-PG15 19:00 Se7en-18 21:15 Menace II Society-18 23:00 Orphan-18

00:00 PG15 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 PG15 18:00 20:00 22:00

It’s A Wonderful AfterlifeFinding Lenny-PG15 Old Dogs-PG Indian Summer-PG15 All’s Faire In Love-PG The Boys Are Back-PG Heart And Souls-PG Hope Springs-PG15 It’s A Wonderful AfterlifeDragnet-PG15 Land Of The Lost-PG15 Mallrats-18

01:15 The Prince Of Tides-18 03:30 Witch Hunt-PG15 05:15 Cheri-PG15 07:00 End Of The Spear-PG15 09:00 Star Trek III: The Search For Spock-PG15 11:00 Free Style (2008)-PG15 13:00 Sweet Liberty-PG15 15:00 Jesse Stone: No RemorsePG15 17:00 The Cake Eaters-PG15 19:00 The Fog Of War-PG15 21:00 Titanic-PG15

01:00 Seven Years In Tibet-PG15 03:15 Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant-PG15 05:00 Antwone Fisher-PG15 07:00 Nanny Mcphee And The Big Bang-PG 09:00 All About Steve-PG15 11:00 Stone Of Destiny-PG15 13:00 You Again-PG15 15:00 Astro Boy-FAM 17:00 All About Steve-PG15 19:00 The Devil’s Teardrop-PG15 21:00 Dinner For Schmucks-PG15 23:00 Dare-18

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00

Dr. Dolittle-PG Queen Of The Swallows-FAM Like Mike-PG The Nutty Professor-FAM The Amazing Zorro-FAM The SpongeBob SquarePants

Movie-PG 12:00 Pocahontas & The Spider Woman-PG 14:00 Planet 51-PG 16:00 A Simple Wish-FAM 18:00 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie-PG 20:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 22:00 Planet 51-PG

01:15 Rugby World Cup 03:30 Speedway FIM World Championship 04:30 Powerboats F1 H2O World Championship 05:30 WWE Tough Enough 06:30 Futbol Mundial 07:00 Rugby World Cup 09:15 Rugby World Cup 11:30 WWE SmackDown 13:30 Speedway FIM World Championship 14:30 Trans World Sport 15:30 Live European PGA Tour 19:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 20:00 The Ultimate Fighter Season 14 21:00 Futbol Mundial 21:30 Live Premier League Snooker 23:30 RWC Weekly Highlights

00:00 European Tour Weekly 00:30 Premier League Snooker 02:30 Spirit of Yachting 03:00 Golfing World 04:00 Rugby Union Currie Cup 06:00 Five Beach Volley Ball 06:30 European Tour Weekly 07:00 Rugby World Cup 09:15 Total Rugby 09:45 Masters Football 12:45 RWC Highlights 13:00 Trans World Sport 14:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 14:30 World Hockey 15:00 AFL Highlights 16:00 RWC Highlights 16:15 Scottish Premier League 18:15 Beach Volley Ball 18:45 Total Rugby 19:15 Rugby World Cup 21:30 Live Premier League Snooker 23:30 Super League

00:15 RWC Highlights 00:30 Futbol Mundial 01:00 Golfing World 02:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 02:30 Scottish Premier League 04:30 RWC Highlights 04:45 FEI Equestrian World 05:15 Spirit of Yachting 05:45 PGA European Tour Highlights 06:45 RWC Highlights 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Super League 10:00 Euro Tour Weekly 10:30 World Hockey 11:00 AFL Highlights 12:00 Total Rugby 12:30 The Challenge Series Golf 13:00 European Challenge Tour Highlights 14:00 Golfing World 15:00 Euro Tour Weekly 15:30 Live PGA European Tour 19:30 Total Rugby 20:00 Trans World Sport 21:00 NRL Full Time 21:30 PGA European Tour

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Speedway FIM World V8 Supercars Championship Powerboats F1 Championship WWE Tough Enough UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed WWE SmackDown WWE Bottomline WWE Tough Enough Le Mans V8 Supercars Championship WWE Vintage Collection WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 135

Classifieds THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for single bachelor near Khaitan Garnatha Cinema bus stop with a Mangalorean R/C bachelor, KD 25. Contact: 66036893.

(C 3658) 29-9-2011 Sharing accommodation available for Indian bachelors in two bedroom two bathroom flat near Garanada cinema, Khaitan.

Call 99775589 / 66141908.

(C 3652) 28-9-2011

FOR SALE

Mercedes S350L model 2009, one owner from AlBisher, black color - Beige leather inside - full options + AMG body kit + panorama sun roof + 2 TV in the back seats + 20 inch alloy wheels, low mileage, 16,000 km, price KD 22,000.

Contact: 90000162.

(C 3653) Volkswagen Tiguan 2010, manual gear box, special order from Bahbahani white color - black/beige cloth inside - 21,000 km like new, price KD 5,750.

Contact: 99283882.

(C 3654) Volkswagen Passat R36, model 2009, silver color brown leather inside special options, original price KD 14,750 - include special seats + navigation + many other options, mileage 32,000 km.

Selling price KD 6,900.

Contact: 90080013.

(C 3655) Toyota Prado 2008 VX limited silver color - beige leather inside - options No.1, 81,000 km, with navigation system, price KD 8,750. Contact: 66161766.

(C 3656) 29-9-2011

Nissan Sunny 2009, white colour, KD 2,350/-.

Contact: 66729295.

(C 3650) Honda Civic 2003, golden colour, excellent condition, 90,000 km, price KD 1,350/-.

Contact: 55323839.

(C 3651) 27-9-2011

CHANGE OF NAME I, Sukhraj Singh, holder of Indian Passport No. F9950973 hereby change my name to SUKHRAJ SINGH BRING. (C 3657) 29-9-2011

Kuwait from parents of professionally qualified girls of Marthomite/ Orthodox. Email: welcomingproposal@gmail.com (C 3647) 27-9-2011

SITUATION VACANT I, Firoj Latif Shaikh S/O Abdul Latif Shaikh would like to state that I have changed my name from FIROZ LATIF SHAIKH to FIROJ LATIF SHAIKH. Henceforth all my dealings & documents will have the name as FIROJ LATIF SHAIKH. (C 3649) 27-9-2011

MATRIMONIAL Orthodox well-settled parents invite proposals for their son, 28 years, 180 cm, fair, MBA (Finance) from a reputed institution, employed in a reputed bank in Kuwait from parents of professionally qualified God-fearing girls. Email: dr.matt32@gmail.com (C 3652) Inviting proposals for Marthomite boy B.Com, MBA, 26/172 employed in MNC

Required English speaking maid/nanny. Please call 99824597. (C 3648) 27-9-2011

SITUATION WANTED Sri Lankan housemaid looking for a part time / full time job for European or American family, have experience.

Contact: 97413349. (C 3645) 25-9-2011

LOST Policy No. 633001847 for Mehmood Ul Hassan Chohan issued by State Life Insurance has been lost, if anybody found please contact: 22452208-9. (C 3643) 22-9-2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR THY ETH UAE ETD DHX MSR FDB GFA QTR THY JZR FAH JZR KAC BAW KAC KAC IRA KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY ETD GFA MEA JZR MSC KNE MSR JZR SYR KAC MSR UAL SHY RJA MSR FDB OMA JZR QTR SWT KAC KAC SVA KAC

Flt 267 772 622 853 305 370 614 67 211 138 770 503 201 555 412 157 206 382 605 302 53 332 352 284 362 855 132 125 301 213 404 165 9621 789 623 561 341 672 610 982 4125 640 621 57 645 357 140 93 562 546 500 788

Arrival Flights on Thursday 29/9/2011 Route BEIRUT ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA DUBAI ABU DHABI BAHRAIN CAIRO DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA ISTANBUL LUXOR DUBAI ALEXANDRIA MANILA/BANGKOK LONDON ISLAMABAD DELHI ISFAHAN MUMBAI DUBAI TRIVANDRUM COCHIN DHAKA COLOMBO DUBAI DOHA SHARJAH ABU DHABI BAHRAIN BEIRUT DUBAI ASSIUT JEDDAH SOHAG SOHAG DAMASCUS/DEIREZZOR DUBAI CAIRO WASHINGTON DC DULLES ANTALYA AMMAN ASSIUT DUBAI MUSCAT MASHAD DOHA DUBAI/KANDAHAR AMMAN ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH JEDDAH

Time 0:35 1:15 1:45 2:25 2:55 2:55 3:05 3:10 3:15 3:20 4:10 5:15 5:30 6:10 6:15 6:30 7:15 7:20 7:40 7:50 7:55 7:55 8:05 8:10 8:20 8:25 9:00 9:10 9:30 9:35 10:55 11:10 11:15 11:20 12:10 12:30 13:00 13:15 13:20 13:30 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:50 14:00 14:10 14:15 14:15 14:20 14:30 14:30 14:40

KNE JZR QTR JZR KAC MLR ETD KAC UAE GFA SVA JZR TAR JZR ABY RBG FDB ALK JZR MSC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JAI SIA IRA FDB OMA JZR MEA KAC MSR DHX KLM UAE GFA QTR UAL AIC JZR MSR JZR JZR MSR DLH AXB JZR BBC PIA

745 257 134 535 118 403 303 154 857 215 510 777 327 239 127 3553 63 227 177 9623 104 502 542 618 786 614 674 774 572 458 617 61 647 179 402 178 618 372 445 859 217 136 981 981 135 606 513 185 612 636 389 539 43 205

JEDDAH BEIRUT DOHA CAIRO NEW YORK COLOMBO/DUBAI ABU DHABI ISTANBUL DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH TUNIS/DUBAI AMMAN SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA DUBAI COLOMBO/DUBAI DUBAI SOHAG LONDON BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH MUMBAI SINGAPORE/ABU DHABI AHWAZ DUBAI MUSCAT DUBAI BEIRUT GENEVA/FRANKFURT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA BAHRAIN CHENNAI/AHMEDABAD BAHRAIN LUXOR SHARM EL SHEIKH DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT KOZHIKODE/MANGALORE CAIRO DHAKA LAHORE

14:45 15:10 15:15 15:50 16:15 16:40 16:50 16:55 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:50 17:55 18:00 18:00 18:30 18:35 18:45 18:50 18:55 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:35 19:35 19:45 20:00 20:10 20:10 20:15 20:45 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:15 21:25 21:35 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:15 22:20 22:35 22:50 23:00 23:10 23:30 23:45 23:55

Airlines 394 DLH AIC KLM PIA THY ETH UAE FDB DHX ETD MSR QTR THY JZR JZR GFA KAC JZR BAW FDB IRA JZR KAC KAC KAC JZR KAC UAE ABY KAC QTR ETD GFA KAC MEA KAC JZR KNE JZR MSC KAC MSR KAC JZR SYR MSR RJA SHY FDB MSR UAL

Departure Flights on Thursday 29/9/2011 Flt Route 737 0:15 637 FRANKFURT 976 GOA/CHENNAI 447 AMSTERDAM 216 KARACHI 773 ISTANBUL 622 BAHRAIN/ADDIS ABABA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 306 ABU DHABI 615 CAIRO 139 DOHA 771 ISTANBUL 560 SOHAG 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 545 ALEXANDRIA 356 MASHAD 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 606 MASHAD 534 CAIRO 787 JEDDAH 153 ISTANBUL 671 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 561 AMMAN 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 101 LONDON/NEW YORK 133 DOHA 302 ABU DHABI 214 BAHRAIN 165 ROME/PARIS 405 BEIRUT 541 CAIRO 776 JEDDAH 790 JEDDAH 238 AMMAN 9622 SOHAG 501 BEIRUT 624 SOHAG 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 342 DEIREZZOR/DAMASCUS 611 CAIRO 641 AMMAN 4126 ANTALYA 58 DUBAI 622 ASSIUT 982 BAHRAIN

Time 0:40 0:50 0:55 1:10 2:15 2:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 4:05 5:00 5:10 5:55 6:55 7:10 7:40 8:20 8:25 8:40 8:40 8:50 8:55 8:55 9:00 9:10 9:15 9:40 9:50 9:55 10:00 10:15 10:20 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:00 12:05 12:10 12:15 13:00 13:10 13:30 13:40 14:00 14:20 14:30 14:30 14:35 14:40 14:45

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

OMA KAC KNE KAC SVA JZR JZR KAC QTR KAC JZR VOS ETD MLR QTR UAE GFA TAR ABY JZR JZR RBG SVA FDB ALK JZR KAC MSC KAC JAI FDB IRA KAC KAC OMA MEA SIA KAC MSR DHX KLM UAE FAH GFA QTR KAC KAC JZR JZR MSR UAL KAC KAC MSR

646 673 746 617 505 178 512 773 141 613 538 82 304 404 135 858 216 328 128 184 266 3554 511 64 228 134 283 9624 361 571 62 616 331 351 648 403 457 543 619 373 445 860 102 218 137 301 205 502 554 607 981 411 415 613

MUSCAT DUBAI JEDDAH DOHA JEDDAH DUBAI SHARM EL SHEIKH RIYADH DOHA BAHRAIN CAIRO BAGHDAD ABU DHABI DUBAI/COLOMBO DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN TUNIS SHARJAH DUBAI BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA RIYADH DUBAI DUBAI/COLOMBO BAHRAIN DHAKA ASSIUT COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI AHWAZ TRIVANDRUM COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT ABU DHABI/SINGAPORE CAIRO ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN/AMSTERDAM DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD LUXOR ALEXANDRIA LUXOR WASHINGTON DC DULLES BANGKOK/MANILA KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA CAIRO

15:00 15:10 15:30 15:35 16:00 16:00 16:05 16:05 16:15 16:20 16:40 17:00 17:35 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:30 18:35 18:40 19:10 19:10 19:30 19:30 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:45 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:20 21:55 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:15 23:40 23:40 23:50 23:50

34

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

stars CROSSWORD 453

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You are in a mood of self-enjoyment and can appreciate your own better qualities. You communicate with skill and it is stimulating to be around you. Your high degree of mental concentration makes you an excellent student—able to excel in speaking, writing and all types of communication skills.

Your ambitions go hand-in-hand with communication and using the mind and the two should never be far apart. You may see value in or feel love for an older person or someone in authority today. Ask questions and take notes; this elder has seen many interesting things. This evening is a good time to study—you have a real appreciation for science. You may find yourself enjoying a long conversation, writing a letter, or making a special phone call.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) This could be a stressful day but you have the opportunity to rise above the stress. Take a moment to surrender your agenda and become centered or focused. You are able to succeed in whatever you set your mind to do at this time. Look for ways to avoid confrontations with co-workers or superiors.

Your ideas can be presented on paper and this will help others to think before they question your techniques or ideas. Given time, your ideas will win approval—do not push. Writers, salesmen and performers shine during this time. Involvement with special interest groups will help your progress in the work field now. Your ideas have a strong influence. True wisdom lies in discovering that there are no ultimate answers, only good questions.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. United States writer (born in Poland) who wrote in Yiddish (1880-1957).

5. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter and the positron (1902-1984).

10. A police officer who investigates crimes.

13. Informal terms for money.

14. English aristocrat who was the first wife of Prince Charles.

15. Group insurance that entitles members to services of participating hospitals and clinics and physicians.

16. At right angles to the length of a ship or airplane.

18. An anti-inflammatory drug that does not contain steroids.

20. An awl for making small holes for brads or small screws.

23. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

24. A heavy ductile magnetic metallic element.

25. A game in which numbered balls are drawn and random and players cover the corresponding numbers on their cards.

28. Tropical tree of Central America and West Indies and Puerto Rico having spikes of white flowers.

32. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

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

37. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

38. The cry made by sheep.

40. Surrealist Spanish painter (1904-1989).

42. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.

43. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

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

49. An informal term for a father.

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

53. A confusion of voices and other sounds.

57. A ballistic missile that is capable of traveling from one continent to another.

59. United States tennis player who was the first Black to win United States and English singles championships (1943-1993).

62. Capital city of the Apulia region on the Adriatic coast.

63. The highest level or degree attainable.

64. Horny plate covering and protecting part of the dorsal surface of the digits.

65. A hardy cabbage with coarse curly leaves that do not form a head.

66. An aromatic ointment used in antiquity.

67. A prearranged fight with deadly weapons by two people (accompanied by seconds) in order to settle a quarrel over a point of honor.

68. In addition.

DOWN 1. Jordan's port.

2. A native-born Israeli.

3. Clear to the mind.

4. (of persons) Highest in rank or authority or office.

5. A doctor's degree in religion.

6. Being one more than one.

7. The airforce of Great Britain.

8. An associate degree in nursing.

9. A genus of Malayan tree.

10. Of or relating to or characteristic of Thailand of its people.

11. Expel, as of gases and odors.

12. The closing section of a musical composition.

17. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

19. Be expected to.

21. English writer and a central member of the Fabian Society (1858-1943).

22. A ductile gray metallic element of the lanthanide series.

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

27. An amino acid that is found in the central nervous system.

29. South American armadillo with three bands of bony plates.

30. The arch of bone beneath the eye that forms the prominence of the cheek.

31. Harsh or corrosive in tone.

33. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

34. A small cake leavened with yeast.

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

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

41. An enclosed space.

44. The capital and largest city of Bangladesh.

45. Given or having a specified name.

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

48. A coffee cake flavored with orange rind and raisins and almonds.

49. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively.

51. The (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb.

52. (Old Testament) The eldest son of Isaac who would have inherited the Covenant that God made with Abraham and that Abraham passed on to Isaac.

54. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

55. (Greek mythology) Goddess of discord.

56. (trademark) A type of inflatable air mattress.

58. The rate at which heat is produced by an individual in a resting state.

60. Step on it.

61. An extension at the end and at right angles to the main building.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You do a lot to fulfill the popular stereotype of a genius. You have such an outpouring of insights that having a conversation with you can be a real experience. Your mind works like lightning. Words and thoughts come quickly, illuminating whatever subject is at hand. You really do have very different ideas and ways of expressing them. If you are looking for a job or an upgrade within your company, now is the time to make your move. There may be a sustained interest in communication, computers, electronics and all that is electrical. Updating or purchasing electronic equipment may occupy your mind this afternoon. Compare prices and talk to people that are using the brand that you want to purchase in order to have a recommendation.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Luxury is desired just now. Growth and success could be tied to your possessions or to the way you possess and respond to the various ideas and impulses in your life. You could benefit through material support. With material support you tend to invest wisely. You could save a little here and there and be your own support person. Investments take on a whole new perspective when you use your own saved funds. You may find you enjoy making your own fortune. Home, family and real estate are some of the interests that require a lot of discipline and responsibility. If you get serious about these things and think long-term, you come out ahead; otherwise, you could find yourself in a tight situation. Tidy up—company’s coming.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You can expect a little encouragement today, some sort of extra support or recognition from those around you is a possibility. You may feel that you are in touch and in harmony with others; the lines of communication are open. Cooperation is the secret word to your progress and you are willing to do just that—cooperate. The power of organization on a social scale, business, political and such, seems to take on a larger-than-life aura as you enter into a new period. It’s as if ambition and authority are answers in themselves, rather than only a means to an ideal objective. This can lead to duplicity, ambitious schemes that tend to be lost along the way. Stay on track and remember, what you see is not always what is real.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Independence, as well as anything unusual or different, is valued this Thursday. You may enjoy getting away from routine and doing something completely different for a change. You draw emotional nourishment and a sense of security from ideals, friends and social involvement.

There is a need for change, a desire to break with outmoded patterns from the past and a longing for the new, the different and the unique. This could be anything from a new chair to some new communication equipment. Dance, creative arts or an exercise group will keep your energy in balance so that any future stress can be worked through quickly. You and a loved one may plan a future camping trip and enjoy a new environment or territory together.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) A bit of restlessness in the wee hours this morning may find you wishing there had been better rest. Instead of allowing your mind to control you—learn ways to control your mind. Your birth sign shows you have an active mind and keeping your mind busy will help you focus. While you are working you could have a notebook handy for ongoing short story ideas or projects that you want to work on either now or in the future. When you are not working, you would be wise to set aside time for walking or bicycling. While walking, bicycling or driving, you might enjoy listening to recorded stories or self-help ideas. While at home, you may want to work with your hands in some creative activity. You will be able to take care of any restlessness in the future.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Those around you, or the situation you find yourself in, may not feel right to you. Saying the right words could be of the utmost importance. You could, however, be challenged. There is a great opportunity to use your problem-solving skills today. Some new techniques may be in order. Reading books on solving problems or on communicating with difficult people may be helpful. You could find these books in the business or self-help department of your library.

You seem to shine when it comes to practical matters or those involving work and career. You have an easy way with superiors or those in authority and can always get the most out of any skill or ability you have. You like work but it is important to relax with a different interest this evening.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

A friend, who may also be a co-worker, comes up with ideas today that will help both of you get ahead in the work field. Your fear of taking risks can be set aside when there is someone with whom you can share the risk taking. In both your personal and private lives you are highly organized—others seek you out for advice regarding business affairs. When you become cognizant of what you are doing and the power you have to accomplish your goals, your thinking ability will become most positive. Rest, fun and exercise are important this afternoon.

You are an excellent planner with a real head for detail, including keeping up with your money. Good insight into personal investments is possible today. A sense of harmony is in your home.

It is important to concentrate on work-related problems today. Exercise gurus have always suggested a discipline in thinking, because thoughts are things like anything else. They manifest themselves in what you are. In other words, energy follows thought. Create in your mind how you want your day to go and let nothing distract you. Your organizational abilities and sense of responsibility will be what guides you and proves successful. Your career, or educational path could assume a much more determined and solid form—a firm foundation. Your home environment, friends and surroundings in general receive encouragement now. You will notice that your work or career is in real harmony with the rest of your life.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You take time to think and study, for you have a real appreciation for the creative mind. Making your mark on the world has special significance now. Achievement, ambition and authority take on a greater importance. Organizing and administering to people and projects will become central to your lifestyle. Save a little time for having lunch with a friend. Getting away from the workplace for a while will help you have renewed energy when you return. This friend may be someone that works in a neighborhood shop—lovely to have a different perspective. Through this friend you may learn new and positive ways to view certain things in your life. Time and thought, not necessarily money, will resolve problems in a love relationship.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

You are very much your own boss. You are at your most practical when it comes to dealing and working with others. You know just what to do and can act without haste. You are called on to make use of your natural problem-solving skills during group meetings. You are very careeroriented and your personal reputation and honor is of the utmost importance.

You possess a natural sense of organization and practical insight and may excel at managing or supervising others. So now that you know this . . . it is time to create a better job for yourself by updating that resume, requesting a job change, etc. You naturally gravitate toward positions of power and authority. Your home life is full of laughter and sweet music this evening.

A

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Years

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

i n f o r m at i o n

FIRE BRIGADE

112

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

24812000

Al-Jahra

25610011

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha’a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

AIRLINES

PHARMACIES ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Hawally

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Psychologists /Psychotherapists

22547272

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist 25340300

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

Dr Anil Thomas

3729596/3729581 22641071/2

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Salem soso

22618787

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

Neurologists

Dr. Adnan Ebil

22639939

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Mousa Khadada

22666300

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists

25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291 22666288

Rheumatologists:

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

Dentists

Internists, Chest & Heart

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25655535

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

General Surgeons

22433377 177 22924455 22414400 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 22958787 22453820/1 22404838/9

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

Kuwait Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways FlyDubai Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines Aeroflot

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677

Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

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

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

Central African 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) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia

00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044 00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594 00689

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lifest yle G o s s i p

he ‘Contagion’ actress was joined by her husband, Coldplay singer Chris Martin, and the superstar couple, who are currently expecting their first child together, for an intimate dinner at Spanish restaurant Tertulia in New York’s West Village on Monday. However, the long-term friends - who recently spent time together at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK where both Beyonce and Chris performed - did not stay out late, with Gwyneth up in the morning to take her daughter Apple, seven, to school. She was also quick to thank her fans for their birthday wishes, writing on twitter: “Thank you for all of my happy birthday wishes, just read so many ... you guys make

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my life great, thank you xgp (sic)” Gwyneth - who also has five-year-old son Moses - has been giving Beyonce pregnancy tips, urging her to pick the right food supplements.

A source said: “Gwyneth has known about this pregnancy for over a month and has been telling Beyonce to drink a shot of wheatgrass each morning and to rub her belly with coconut oil to prevent stretch marks. “She’s also advised her to meditate for an hour every day and soak her feet in ice water to prevent swelling.”

he singer-and-actress - who has shed over 80lbs and five dress sizes following the birth of her son David in August 2009 - launched the Weight Watchers Jennifer Hudson Center in her native Chicago. Jennifer - who became the face of Weight Watchers last year - said: “I never thought I would make it to have my own centre. I’m so honored to be here and see this day.” A portion of the facility’s profits will go to children’s charity the Julian D King Gift Foundation, which was set up by Jennifer in memory of her late nephew, Julian King.

The seven year old’s body was found in a car just three days after her mother, Darnell, and brother, Jason, were shot dead at the family’s Chicago home in October 2008. Jennifer is extremely proud of her weight loss but recently claimed she was unaware she was overweight until she moved to Hollywood.

She said: “I didn’t even know I was considered plussized until I came to Hollywood. I thought I was the perfect size! “[One day] an interviewer asked, ‘How does it feel to be plus-sized in Hollywood?’ I looked around, like, ‘Who is she talking to? Oh, me? I’m plus-sized?’ In the neighborhood I’m from in Chicago, a 16 is normal. But in Hollywood, everyone looks exactly the same, so I stood out.”

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he socialite went ten pin bowling with her sister Kourtney Kardashian and her boyfriend Scott Disick, and their friends, celebrity make-up artist Joyce Bonelli and Sheiva Ghasemzadeh, but she had a lot of trouble on the lane. Kim - who is married to basketball player Kris Humphries - accepts she needs to practice more and is hoping someone will get her a new ball when the holidays roll around. She wrote on her twitter page: “I used to be kinda good at bowling! I now officially suck! Maybe its time to get everyone bowling balls for xmas like I did one year. (sic)” Despite Kim’s problems,

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she and her sister had a great evening but missed seeing their brother Rob Kardashian make it through to the next round of ‘Dancing with the Stars’.

Kourtney tweeted: “Fun night bowling with @ScottDisick @KimKardashian @jOYCEBONELLi @SheivaG and the rest of my crazy peeps!!” After discovering Rob and his dancing partner Cheryl Burke had got through, she wrote: “YeS!!! Thank you everyone for your votes! We did it! Another week ... RT @SheivaG: Let’s start a twitter chant ... Rob k! Rob k! Rob k! Lol (sic)”

he soccer star is to release his latest scent, David Beckham Homme, and admits he wanted to get the opinions of Brooklyn, 12, Romeo, nine, and six-year-old Cruz before making any final decisions. David - who also has 11-week-old daughter, Harper Seven, with fashion designer wife Victoria - told Us Weekly magazine: “Anytime I get a fragrance to try, I give all of my sons a tester. Kids are so honest, so they say they love it or they hate it. As soon as they smelled this one, they were like, ‘We love it!’ “ The 36-year-old athlete describes the citrus-based scent as “masculine” and “very fresh” as it was influenced by what he normally wears. He said: “It has always got to be something I like, based on something I know another man would like or that women like to smell. I always try to go for a scent that is kind of my personality and the things I do day in and day out.”

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Shakira, Roger Waters buy Caribbean island together he reality TV star and husband Lamar Odom - who star in ‘Khloe and Lamar’, a show which documents their lives as a married couple - celebrated their two-year wedding anniversary last week and she admits she still gets “giddy” every time she sees her man. The 27-year-old beauty paid tribute to the 31-yearold basketball player on her blog by posting several photographs of the couple with an accompanying message She wrote: “Two years ago today I married my best friend and the love of my life. WOW. “Can you believe it’s been two years?! 730 days, and I still feel like a newlywed, I still blush when my hubby says my name, and I still get giddy when he’s about to walk in the door. “I truly am the luckiest girl in the world and I count my blessings every single day. Happy Anniversary to the love of my life!” The Los Angeles Lakers star took to his twitter account to thank his fans for all their well wishes on their anniversary. He tweeted: “I appreciate everyone reaching out and sending mad love today! You inspire us to beat the odds.

Marriage is a gift from God! “2 years down and an eternity to go.

Even in the after life there will be Khlo and LO (sic)”

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he former ‘Baywatch’ star - who is dating Welsh beauty Hayley Roberts - plans to ask her to marry him while he leaps attached to a string, after she turned down previous proposals done in a cage in the ocean, in front of a herd of elephants and in his dressing room. He is quoted by website ZimEye.org as saying: “I proposed to her when we were in South Africa when we were under the ocean in a cage watching sharks and she refused even after I had told her that I was going to open the gate of the cage and we

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will be eaten by sharks. “I even proposed to her in front of charging elephants and she still said no so I will again propose, as I do bungee jumping or the swing,” David - who has daughters Taylor Ann, 21, and Hayley, 19, with ex-wife Pamela Bach - is currently taking a vacation by Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Africa, with girlfriend Hayley and his cousin, and is enjoying his time there as he believes it to be a “very spiritual” place. He added: “For the next three days we are here in Victoria Falls and we intend to do a lot of adventure

he Colombian singer - who is currently dating Barcelona soccer star Gerard Pique - has joined forces with the musician to purchase the $16 million site of Bonds Cay, north of the Bahamas, in order to build a resort which will cater for millionaire holidaymakers. Shakira, 34, and Roger, 68, are reportedly hoping to “reinvent the concept of tourism” by building both a set of luxury holiday homes which will also include private beaches and a number of hotels with plans to sell prime seaside property on the island. Bonds Cay has five beaches and three bays, along with a number of waterfalls and Shakira and Roger have also made plans to build an artists’ retreat which will house a series of artists-in-residence, galleries populated with up-and-comers’ works and a programme offering semesterlong sabbaticals. Arturo Rubinstein, a Miami-based investor involved in the project, said: “It’s not about having 200 speedboats and an 18-hole golf

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activities as we have a lot of fun with my fiancee and my cousin, as we see the world together. “So basically we are having more of fun than anything here in Victoria Falls it is very spiritual. I think that sitting on the edge of the falls is the closest that you’ll ever come to God. And you’re going to want to jump. It is so powerful, you’ll just want to give yourself back to God.”

course. I would say it is an explosion of the senses. It’s a concept more related to art and culture.” Shakira’s former boyfriend Antonio De La Rua and New York City financial services firm Guggenheim Capital were also involved in the purchase when it was first proposed in 2006 but it is unclear if this is still the case. John Christie, vice president of Caribbean real estate brokerage H.G. Christie told Bahamas4u.com: “It’s a beautiful island. It’s got some height to it, which means as you build up, you get better views. There is the ocean to the east of it so you’ve got reefs and views of turquoise water. On the other side of the island is limey, light turquoise water because it is shallow. It’s a great fishing area.”

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Years

lifestyle

Did Joe Jonas steal the shots for his new music video?

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Fleetwood

celebrates musical legacy, new eatery

he middle Jonas Brother may have successfully navigated puberty, but now has to contend with charges of plagiarism. Joe Jonas’s new video is so similar to the low-budget indie drama “For Lovers Only” that it has ignited a furor among that film’s rabid fans, and could even lead to legal action, TheWrap has learned.

The video, which presents a more mature and sexual side of the former teen star, now 22, features Jonas and French model Angele Sassy cavorting in Paris. Much of the time, they do so in situations that are nearly identical in content and composition to scenes from “For Lovers Only,” a romance inspired by the French New Wave and made in France for virtually no money by Michael and Mark Polish with actress Stana Katic (“Castle”). “It’s very disheartening that a fellow director would go to those lengths to copy ‘For Lovers Only’ and not credit us,” writer and star Mark Polish told TheWrap exclusively on Tuesday.

Polish said he has tracked the comments from the Jonas camp and from the video’s production company, HSI Productions, since he was alerted to the video over the weekend by outraged fans who initially thought he and his brother must have given permission. Nowhere, he said, has anyone associated with the video mentioned “For Lovers Only.” “If they had said our film was their inspiration, we would have been flattered,” Polish said. “But nowhere in any of their materials do they say that we were an influence on them, which is upsetting to us as artists. And it makes this feel like plagiarism.”

HSI Productions said its music video executives were on location on Tuesday, and none responded to TheWrap’s request for comment. Kevin Jonas Sr, the manager of Joe Jonas, did not respond to messages left at his office. The video’s director, Jaci Judelson, could not be reached. The video premiered on iTunes last week and entered the video charts at No. 4, with more than 3 million online

views. Polish would not discuss on any further action, but a source close to the filmmakers told TheWrap that the Polish brothers do have legal counsel and are exploring the idea of a copyright infringement lawsuit.

In 2004, Madonna paid more than $600,000 to the family of French photographer Guy Bourdin after admitting that she had used his work for inspiration in her “Hollywood” video. Here’s a comparison of the Jonas video with the trailer for “For Lovers Only.” The trailer includes a few but not all of the many scenes that pop up in similar form in the video. “For Lovers Only,” which director Michael Polish freely admits was inspired by the French New Wave, and particularly by Claude Lelouch’s “A Man and a Woman,” was made for no money by the brothers, who used equipment they already owned and piggybacked the shoot onto a French vacation they had already planned to take.

It became a bestseller on iTunes after its July release, and accumulated a rabid group of followers who still sing the movie’s praises on Twitter. Those followers have bombarded HSI’s Facebook page with demands that the production company acknowledge the video’s inspiration.

“There is nothing wrong with getting inspiration from other artists’ beautiful works, like you did with Mark & Michael Polish’s ‘For Lovers Only’ movie for this video, but there is everything wrong in not acknowledging that inspiration,” wrote one fan. HSI has not responded on its Facebook page. Fans have also posted side-by-side comparisons of scenes from the video and the film. In the interviews he’s done about the video, Joe Jonas has talked about how excited he was to shoot the video in Paris (“like a dream come true”), how he was the only one on the set who didn’t speak French and how he thinks the video’s sexual aspects may shock some of his longtime fans.

He has not spoken about the video’s inspiration, though Mark Polish said he saw an interview where someone else

associated with the video “said it was inspired by the French New Wave. But the French New Wave is a style, not the content. “In their video, the content is a man and a woman meeting on the stairs, taking a boat ride, running through Paris, sitting in a bathtub And so much of that is straight from our movie that the first time I watched it, I thought, ‘Somebody really loved ‘For Lovers Only.”“ The HSI Productions website includes a running Twitter feed including all the recent comments about its productions. As of Tuesday afternoon, nine of the 10 comments upbraided the company for not acknowledging “For Lovers Only.”— (TheWrap.com)

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ong before the success of Fleetwood Mac, when band founder Mick Fleetwood was a kid in the UK learning how to play the drums, he dreamed of having his own restaurant.

His parents entrusted the then 9-year-old with the stable of the old farmhouse they lived in, and young Fleetwood turned it into something of a children’s speakeasy that he called Club Keller.

Instead of booze, he poured Coca-Cola. “I used to serve up Smith’s crisps and fish and chips and stuff for other children to come round,” the bearded rocker recalled during a recent interview, his eyes twinkling at the memory. “I had my radiogram and my drums in there and it was my world.”

Now, five and a half decades later, Fleetwood is creating a new world for himself and his music: He’s opening a restaurant in his adopted hometown of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

Fleetwood’s on Front St. is set to open early next year, and its namesake sees it as the next professional chapter in his life: A place where he can indulge his taste for fine food and drink (including his own Mick Fleetwood Private Cellar wines), perform with his friends and run the whole show. He plans to showcase local musicians and artists and invite the occasional famous rock star. The new establishment is essentially a large-scale, soupedup version of his old Club Keller.

“I’ve always wanted to do this,” Fleetwood said on a visit to his manager’s office in Beverly Hills.

“I’m like one of those weird Chinese creatures where you see something 30 years ahead. It’s petrifying and exciting and fulfilling, because... if you keep focused, and it’s a corny thing, but if you visualize and visualize and visualize, a lot of stuff really does come to you.” Club Keller itself may actually be resurrected, said Fleetwood’s business partner, Jonathan Todd. “We have an option on a smaller place downstairs and, if we get it, I swear we’re going to call it Club Keller,” Todd sai Developing the restaurant is dominating Fleetwood’s time. He helped choose the site (a historic building dating back to 1916 - the year his mother was born), select the decor and create the menu, but he insists “it’s not a shrine to Mick Fleetwood.”

“You’ll know that it’s my place but it will be very tastefully done,” the 64-year-old said. “It’s not a museum for Mick Fleetwood. This is a real working restaurant.” He says he’ll draw on the “heritage of Fleetwood Mac” to inform its atmosphere. “All of this is a responsibility to do it properly, and selfishly a responsibility to something that’s very precious to me, which is everything I’ve done with Fleetwood Mac and my partners and the music,” he said.

The restaurant has taken him away from music a bit, and he expects that to continue, but that’s fine with him: “Now I will have a place to play when I want to or need to.” Besides Fleetwood Mac, the musician has two other bands, the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band and Mick Fleetwood’s Island Rumours Band. With or without his bandmates, Fleetwood plans to play at the restaurant often - and there’s at least one more Fleetwood Mac tour planned.” We’re going out next year,” he said. “We’re all creatures of habit and we love what we do ... Whatever has happened, we are together. “The whole thing is powerful, and all of that is somehow resonating into what I’m doing with the restaurant, Fleetwood’s,” he continued. “It can’t help but have that filtering through it. It’s my place.”

But as his beloved band slows down, Fleetwood said he’s excited to devote himself to his new endeavor. “It’s a sense of plugging who I am and what I am into something,” he said, “and for me it’s the perfect vehicle.”—AP

A Japanese visitor beside the wax figure of late US pop star Michael Jackson at a preview of the Madame Tussauds museum in Tokyo yesterday. The world’s 13th Madame Tussauds museum will open in Tokyo on September 30 and will exhibit wax figures of 19 movie stars and musicians. —AFP

Jackson doctor trial to Surprise! resume after opening drama T

he trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor, accused of negligence leading to the pop star’s death, was to resume yesterday after dramatic opening statements and chilling evidence from beyond the grave. Conrad Murray’s manslaughter trial opened Tuesday with a haunting photo of Jackson’s body draped in white on a hospital gurney and an audio recording of the star, slurring and apparently heavily drugged, two months before his death.

But the court also saw a video of Jackson rehearsing “The Way You Make Me

Judge Michael E. Pastor gestures at the start of the Conrad Murray involuntary manslaughter trial in downtown Los Angeles, California Superior Court on Tuesday. —AFP Feel” days before his death, and heard that he had plans for a world tour and a feature film version of his famous “Thriller” video.

Murray’s lawyer argued that Jackson died “instantly” of a massive overdose after taking two different drugs while the doctor was out of the room at the star’s Holmby Hills mansion on June 25, 2009.

“He did an act without his doctor’s knowledge, without his doctor’s permission, against his orders. He did an act that caused his own death,” Murray’s lawyer Ed Chernoff argued. Chernoff said Jackson took eight two-milligram lorazepam pills-

enough to put six people to sleep-without his doctor’s knowledge, and then gave himself an extra dose of the powerful sedative propofol. The combination of drugs “killed him instantly... He died so rapidly, so instantly, he didn’t even have time to close his eyes,” he said. Murray, 58, faces up to four years in jail if convicted by a jury of seven men and five women of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Jackson, who was preparing for a series of comeback concerts. The physician is alleged to have given Jackson an overdose of propofolwhich Jackson himself referred to as “milk”to help alleviate his insomnia. Murray, trained as a cardiologist, has never denied giving Jackson propofol, which typically is used as an anesthetic during surgery, but he denies having “abandoned his patient” at a critical, and ultimately fatal, moment.

The doctor wiped tears from his eyes at one point during Tuesday’s testimony. The prosecution claims the doctor has Jackson’s life on his conscience. In his opening statement, deputy district attorney David Walgren said: “The evidence... will show that Michael Jackson literally put his life in the hands of Conrad Murray. “ That misplaced trust... cost Michael Jackson his life,” he added, claiming Murray was motivated more by his $150,000 a month contract with Jackson than by his duty of care to the singer. The doctor made a series of phone calls-and even emailed an insurance agent dismissing media reports that Jackson was too sick to play the London concerts-while Jackson lay dying, Walgren said.

Walgren also played a recording of an apparently heavily drugged Jackson talking in a slurred voice to Murray a month and a half before his death-suggesting this showed the doctor was well aware of how ill Jackson was. But Chernoff claimed that Murray only gave Jackson propofol after the star begged for it. —AFP

Rascal Flatts invited to join Opry

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ountry music super group Rascal Flatts is the latest member of the Grand Ole Opry. The trio was surprised with the news Tuesday night during their performance on the Opry.

Twenty-year Opry member Vince Gill made an unscheduled appearance, interrupting singer Gary LeVox, bassist Jay DeMarcus and guitarist Joe Don Rooney mid-performance. After starting with a joke about an unpaid golf debt, Gill extended an invitation to join the Opry.

The men had tears in their eyes and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.

They will be formally inducted Oct 8.

Rascal Flatts is the top-selling country group of the last decade. The trio joins a recent slate of longtime stars invited to join, including Blake Shelton and The

Oak Ridge Boys. Opry membership is among the highest honors for a country musician. It comes with an ambassadorlike commitment to the history of the genre and a requirement to perform at least 10 times a year.

Rascal Flatts has sold tens of millions of albums and is one of country music’s largest touring acts, but DeMarcus said Opry membership probably surpasses it all. “I used to vacation here with my family and I can remember being a little kid sitting in the very back at the very top of the Opry house and looking down at that stage and that circle and wanting so bad to hopefully someday be on that stage, so for it to come full circle like it has tonight is very emotionally overwhelming,” he said. —AP

Gary LeVox, right, and Joe Don Rooney, left, of the band Rascal Flatts perform during the iHeartRadio music festival on Saturday in Las Vegas. —AP

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retired British decorator has transformed his home by covering its interior in renaissancestyle murals to emulate the Sistine Chapel after being inspired by a book about the Vatican. Robert W. Burns, 64, swapped his roller for a more delicate paintbrush after buying the book from a car boot sale. “I’d never painted anything, I mean other than I was a decorator,” Burns said. “With a bit of sort of trial and error, I surprised myself that I can actually paint a renaissance picture.”

He began the ambitious redecoration of his council-owned home in 2003. Eight years later, nearly every surface in his state-owned two-bedroom house in Brighton, on Britain’s south coast, is covered in intricate paintings in the style of famous masters such as Michelangelo. Unlike the artists who inspired his work, Burns paints in watercolor, not oil. He also allowed himself some modern touches including a portrait of his wife and another of controversial British actor Russell Brand as Jesus.

During the transformation, Burns questioned whether he had gone too far, but his wife urged him to see it through. “I had to say to her, at one stage, is this a bit over the top, because the house was sort of slowly morphing into the Vatican, and she said, ‘No, you’ve started, carry on!’” Now it’s complete, Burns is delighted with the outcome. “I’m very proud of it, I’d show anybody around the house, which I do, even when workmen come in, I always do the tour. They’re actually blown away!”

Burns is worried his hard work may be erased should he and his wife move out of their home.

“Obviously, you have to leave the house in the condition that you found it, so I’ll probably have to paint it out, just white ceilings and magnolia walls,” Burns said. He is now painting on canvasses so he will have something to take away if they choose to relocate.

But the council say they will not ask Burns to repaint for new tenants. A council spokeswoman said: “Mr Burns’ decoration would not be painted over if and when the property became available to be re-let.

“However, in such exceptional circumstances as these, if the incoming tenant objected to the designs, the council could offer some assistance with the cost of redecorating.” Until then Burns is looking for a way to keep his precious paintwork in place permanently. “I’d like to try and get the national newspapers in to buy it for the nation,” he said. — AFP

Artist Robert W. Burns poses for photographs at his councilowned home in Brighton, south east England, on September 15, 2011. A retired British decorator has transformed his home by covering its interior in renaissance-style murals to emulate the Sistine Chapel after being inspired by a book about the Vatican. —AFP photos

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Artist Robert W. Burns poses for photographs at his council-owned home in Brighton, south east England.

ancy an unusual new pet? Perhaps a tiny shrimp that glows turquoise and commands prices higher than that of a gram of gold is just the ticket. Or maybe a fairy mermaid fish with a human-like face and long tail. Both are among the new generation of aqua pets, expensive new breeds of shrimp and fish, set to star at a Taiwan aquarium expo opening later this week.

The “Blue Velvet shrimp,” featuring a turquoise glow, was developed from the popular Rili shrimp, which has a transparent body and a red head. “We discovered the blue-color genes in these transparent Rili shrimps, so we tried to stabilize the gene,” said Lee Chi-tai, the breeder.

“After a year the blue color is showing up very well, but of course there is still room for improve-

In this Dec 15, 2010 file picture cross-eyed opossum (didelphis) Heidi sits in its interim enclosure, in the zoo in Leipzig. The Leipzig zoo says Heidi, the cross-eyed opossum who became an unlikely international celebrity, has died. The Leipzig zoo said yesterday that Heidi’s keepers decided to put the three-and-a-half-year-old animal to sleep after trying unsuccessfully for weeks to treat her for arthritis and other symptoms of old age. —AP

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acebook friends and fans across the Twittersphere are mourning the loss of Heidi - the cross-eyed German opossum whose cute but confused countenance warmed hearts around the world. The Leipzig zoo said yesterday that the marsupial had been listless and unable to move for several weeks. A decision was made to put the three-and-a-half-year-old animal to sleep following repeated attempts to treat her.

“We carried out every possible test and treatment,” zoo director Joerg Junhold said in a statement. “We made the final decision ... to relieve the animal from suffering and pain.”

Within minutes of the announcement, Heidi was trending on Twitter and thousands of fans were leaving an outpouring of condolences on her Facebook page. “How sad,” wrote Rene Schaaf, from Heidi’s home city of Leipzig. “This lovable creature enriched our daily lives, showing us that ‘imperfect’ can also be interesting and even beautiful.” Heidi first attracted attention at the end of last year after she was featured on a local television report about the nocturnal enclosure where she spent her final days.

A clip of the report went viral, giving rise to a fan page on Facebook that attracted more than 332,000 admirers from across the globe. She was also featured on a TV show in the United States alongside the Oscars awards ceremony in February. The furry forecaster was asked to predict the winners - and correctly chose both the best actress and best actor.— AP

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sh falling from his cigarette, the Syrian poet taps his finger to the beat of a chant he recently heard from the southern town of Deraa, where an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad started in March. “It’s very creative and witty,” said Mohammad Diab, who now lives in neighbouring Lebanon. “They write their poems in colloquial Arabic, not the formal Arabic us poets normally use. The beat and melody are very important in colloquial (language). I’ve tried to write in this style, but it’s too hard for me.”

In living rooms across Syria young men and women are creating revolutionary poems, chants, cartoons and films, which they say provides an expressive outlet to protest and keeps up morale in the face of government bullets and torture. When the protests started, dissidents turned a simple loyalist tune entitled “God, Syria and only Bashar,” into a protest song titled “God, Syria and only freedom.” “It sent a clear message,” an activist in the capital, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters. “We want freedom and we want Bashar out.”

Protesters in Syria are demanding an end to 41 years of Assad family rule, but the president has responded by sending troops and tanks into cities and towns across the country, killing at least 2,700 people, according to the United Nations. Syrian authorities refute the claims and say 700 police and army have been killed during the unrest which they blame on “terrorists” and “mutineers.” Poet Diab is most interested in the revolutionary poems that are often read out by old men or children during sit-ins, and the songs and chants.

“It’s public poetry. People take proverbs from ancient Arab literature and make them anti-Assad. They change well-known stadium chants into anti-regime slogans.” he said. “We have a proverb that goes, ‘If a cold wind enters the window, close it and relax’,” Diab

ment.” Another new breed that Lee developed is the “Chocolate shrimp,” which is a cross between a Tiger shrimp, Bee shrimp and an aboriginal Taiwan shrimp species from the mountains.

Brown colours appear on shrimp, but they usually don’t stay It took six to seven years to stabilise the genes to produce the tiny, dark-brown coloured animal, Lee said. Also on offer at the exhibition will be tiny fluorescent fish, genetically modified by inserting the genes of jelly fish and coral. “They only grow up to two centimetres, but their bodies glow very brightly when they are only one centimetre long,” said Lin Yu-ho of Jy Lin Trading Co Ltd, who developed the fish.

“They are especially suitable for small aquariums for children.” Taiwan exports more than 80

said. “Protesters now shout, ‘If the regime attacks people with thugs, topple it and relax’.” Although some anti-government songs have been repeated for months and become famous, others change quickly with the pace of events, mocking an Arab leader who refused to condemn Assad or vowing defiance after a particularly bloody massacre.

“The chants are different in (the city of) Homs than in Deraa. Deraa has Bedouin heritage, they listen to different music and speak in a different accent,” said Diab. He slides his beer bottle to the side and starts singing in high-pitched Arabic, ignored by the other patrons in the smoky central-Beirut bar. “It means ‘Death is better than humiliation’,” he said.

In the northern province of Idlib, where thousands of Syrians have fled the violence into neighbouring Turkey, Abdullah spends his nights writing revolutionary songs using melodies from famous Arabic tunes. In his twenties, the aspiring artist has become famed across the province for his satirical verses. “I change some words from an old song and keep the melody,” he said, speaking on condition that only his first name be used to protect his identity.

“The songs I write are about sad things, but at the same time they invite people to continue to demonstrate and inflame passion,” he added. One activist, who helps coordinate protests in the capital city of Damascus, said chants help keep up morale.

“There are chants with jokes, aggression, strong words. They help people let out stress. A lot of Syrians are boasting that our chants are more artistic and poetic than those shouted in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt,” he said. Popular revolts in those countries have successfully overthrown their leaders in what’s come to be known as the “Arab Spring”.—Reuters

percent of its aqua pets overseas, and the Taiwan fisheries agency has been encouraging breeding of the shrimp because farms take up only small plots of land and generate little pollution. The payoff is not small. The genotypes of the two shrimps were auctioned for up to16,000 Taiwan dollars ($525) online, and while each shrimp weighs less than a gram, the centimetre-long creatures are more expensive than a gram of gold-which yesterday was going for roughly $1,640 an ounce (28 grams).— Reuters

In this photo taken on Sept 23, 2011 bronze sculpture of late Pope John Paul II stands outside Rome’s main train station. Pilloried by the Vatican for creating a sculpture some mockingly said more resembled Benito Mussolini than beloved John Paul II, a Rome artist has been given a chance at redemption. Sculptor Oliviero Rainaldi said he will soon tackle changes decided upon earlier this month by a committee of Vatican art experts, Rome culture officials and scholars. —AP

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ith a spring-summer 2012 ready-to-wear collection that seemed drawn from the same well of retro-futuristic cool as the ne plus ultra of Paris labels, Balenciaga, Brazilian wunderkind Pedro Lourenco underscored his status as one to watch. Lourenco, who was just 19 years old when he made his impressive Paris debut a year and a half ago, ratcheted it up a notch with yesterday’s collection of colorblocked dresses and low-slung skirts and cropped trousers that couldn’t have been cooler if they’d tried.

A-line skirts hung with long leather fringe, like straw, were paired sheer tank tops and punctuated at the waist by over-

sized rectangular panels in shiny silver lurex. Sleeveless vests with sculptural collars were worn with oatmeal-colored pants that had just the right dose of slouch. Though Lourenco’s collection felt fresh, the sweet spot he hit between a kind of hokey but appealing retro look and something sleek and futuristic was not uncharted territory: Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquiere has been mining it for seasons. Still, there are worse things than winning comparisons with Paris’ hottest label.— AP

Damir Doma polishes raw aesthetic

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ost children love to collect things.

This year, toy makers are banking on it. Taking a cue from last year’s hits, many holiday offerings are sets or figures that kids can collect. But unlike last year, when Squinkies or Zhu Zhu pets attracted mostly girls, this year’s collectible toys are targeting boys.

Among them are Hasbro’s Beyblade Metal Fusion, a battling spinning top game for $5.99 to $39.99; Spin Master’s Redakai, a trading card game, for $5.99 to $19.99; Cepia’s DaGeDar collectible rolling balls for $4.99 to $19.99; and Lego’s Ninjago construction sets for $3.49 to $119.99.

Jim Silver, an analyst at Time to Play Magazine, which offers an influential list of hot toys each year, says the wide price range of the collectible toys is important since many families are remaining cautious in their spending because of worries about the global economy. At the same time, he says, toy makers want to be able to offer more expensive toys to parents who can afford it “Take Ninjago, they have $100 sets, but basic sets start at under $10,” Silver said.

• • • • • • • • • •

Here’s a complete look at the toys that made Time to Play Magazine’s 2011 “Most Wanted” toy list, out Tuesday: • Cepia’s DaGeDar, $4.99 to $19.99: collectible decorated balls that come with track sets.

• Hasbro’s Beyblade Metal Fusion, $5.99 to $39.99: battling spinning top game.

• Hasbro’s Nerf Vortex Line, $12.99 to $49.99: Foam dart guns.

• iStar Entertainment’s FyrFlyz, $10: yo-yo like toy that glows in the dark.

• Jakks Pacific’s Spy Net Stealth Video

• • •

Glasses, $39.99: sunglasses that record video.

LeapFrog’s LeapPad Explorer, $99.99: tablet for tots, with games, e-books and a camera.

Lego’s Alien Conquest and Ninjago Lines, $3.49 to $119.99: popular construction sets with alien and ninja themes.

Mattel’s Angry Birds Knock on Wood Game, $16: block game based on the popular smartphone app.

Mattel’s Fisher-Price Big Action Construction Site, $59.99: construction site play set.

Mattel’s Hot Wheels Wall Tracks, $29.99: car track set that can attach to walls.

Mattel’s Monster High Dead Tired Line, $14.49: dolls that are the offspring of different monsters.

Mega Brands 3D Breakthrough Puzzle, $19.99: 3D jigsaw puzzles.

MGA’s Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Doll, $34.99: rag-like doll with bendable hair.

Spin Master’s Logo Board Game, $24.99: board game that tests player’s knowledge of popular brands.

Spin Master’s Redakai, $5.99 to $19.99: collectible trading-card game.

Thinkway Toys’ Lazer Stunt Chaser, $39.99: remote-control car that follows a laser.

Vtech’s Innotab, $79.99: tablet for kids that lets them play games, color and read books.

WowWee’s Lite Sprites, $19.99: dolls that light up in different colors with the touch of a wand. —AP

Models present creations for Damir Doma’s spring-summer 2012 ready-to-wear collection presented yesterday in Paris. —AP

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ike a stone tumbled and polished into a gleaming gem, Damir Doma buffed his signature raw, hermetic aesthetic until it shone with understated sophistication. For spring-summer 2012 ready-to-wear, the Croatian-born, German-raised designer delivered yesterday simple-lined dresses in supple washed silks, their raw edges embellished with flashes of hammered gold hardware.

The heavy raw fabrics and bulky shapes that

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oo old to learn taekwondo? Not for a group of Hong Kong grandmothers who became black belts after demonstrating their kicking and punching prowess, according to a report yesterday.

The seven women, aged 63 to 74, received the top ranking in the Korean martial art after passing a test at the southern Chinese city’s first taekwondo class for the elderly, the South China Morning Post reported.

The main challenge, said the eldest woman in the group, was not physical but mental as they had to memorize all the moves. The test included standard kicks and four pre-set patterns of attack and defensive movements. “Luckily, we have a very nice classmate who wrote down every pattern in detail,” Lam Sai-mui, 74, told the Post, saying the written notes made it easier for her to practice the punching and kicking every day.

Doma has built his name on were still there, but in more refined incarnations, as if he’d taken a buffer to his signature stone-hewn silhouettes.

And whereas his previous collections have felt earthy - their nubby fabrics heavy and almost loamy - yesterday’s collection was more connected to the air.

Whisper-light trench coats that billowed like capes were worn over shorts in gleaming gold lace, and square-cut pillowcase dresses were fit-

ted out with panels like floating tails. Doma also branched out from his usual palette of somber shades and neutral tones, delivering fetching pairings of navy and ocher that were themselves a breath of fresh air. It was another strong showing from one of Paris’ most unique new talents.— AP

“I was very lazy, and afraid that I couldn’t learn something new,” said Lam, who said she had a sore foot problem for a long time but the pain was gone after she took up the taekwondo class last year.

Taekwondo has different-colored belts to indicate skill levels, ranging from white for beginners to black for masters. Chan Pikchau, the chief instructor of the Hong Kong Practical Taekwondo Association said he was inspired to set up the elderly program after seeing similar classes in South Korea, where taekwondo is the national sport.

— AFP

This product image provided by Cepia LLC, shows the action-packed, supercharged battle balls, DaGeDar. —AP

Models present creations

by Portuguese designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista during the Spring/Summer 2012 ready-towear collection show yesterday in Paris.

— AFP photos

Jackson doctor trial to resume after opening drama

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

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German painter and sculptor Georg Baselitz poses next to three of his sculptures, “Women from Dresde” yesterday at Paris Modern Art museum, two days before the start of his sculptures exhibition.

This retrospective interpretation of one facet of the German artist — initially a painter and engraver — includes almost his entire sculptural output, covering a period of more than thirty years. —AFP

Twelve-year-old UK expert reconstructs two-faced cat ‘missing’ Beethoven movement is world’s oldest A movement from a Beethoven string quartet which was discarded by the composer and replaced by a new version has been reconstructed by a musical expert in Manchester, northern England. The piece, originally composed by the German maestro in 1799, will be performed by Manchester University’s resident string quartet today, when the academic involved, Professor Barry Cooper, will also give a seminar.

“We have something probably very close to what Beethoven wrote out, although not exactly the same,” Cooper told Reuters. The “lost” piece of music was part of the “String Quartet in G, Opus 18 Number 2,” and today’s recital will “almost certainly” be the first time it has been performed since Beethoven’s lifetime, said Cooper, the uni-

versity’s professor of music. He reconstructed the movement based on surviving detailed “sketches” for every one of its 74 bars.

The existence of the sketches was established in 1977, but in the 1980s a receipt was found that showed the composer, then aged 28, had delivered the manuscripts for three new quartets in October 1799. The works-Op 18 Nos 1-3 — were sold to a Prince Lobkowitz for 200 florins. But the following year Beethoven revised Nos 1 and 2, including a completely new slow movement for No 2 in which little of the original material remained and the rhythm was completely different. “During the period that Lobkowitz had the early version of Nos 1 and 2, it seems inconceivable that he would not have arranged for a performance of them, or

more likely several performances, since that was the whole point of commissioning them,” Cooper explained. While the receipt for the works showed that Beethoven must have written out the music in full, that version has been lost, prompting Cooper to reconstruct it based on the sketches.

“In the early 1990s, I thought it could be possible to reconstruct the movement, but while it was possible, I had lots of other things to do,” he said.

Asked how accurate he thought the reconstruction was, he replied: “All modern performances are approximations, and mine is a bit more approximate than those.” He added that the sketches were probably “very close” to the finished version, although he had to fill in “quite a few” of the lower parts. — Reuters

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CONWAY: Frank and Louie, a gray feline with two mouths, two noses and three eyes, just turned 12 years old and is the world’s oldest, living two-faced cat. Sara Wilcox, a Guinness World Records spokeswoman said he is the “longest surviving Janus cat,” referring to the name coined by British zoologist Dr Karl Shuker, based on the two-faced Roman god of transitions, gates and doorways.

Frank and Louie has craniofacial duplication, an extremely rare congenital condition. The disorder, also known as diprosopia, can cause part or all of an individual’s face to be duplicated on its head. It has been recorded multiple times in the domestic cat, but few two-faced kittens survive into adulthood, Wilcox said. Frank and Louie was born on Sept 8, 1999. His remarkable life will be commemorated in Guinness World Records’ new 2012 edition, Wilcox said.

The cat’s owner, a woman only identified as Marty, lives near Worcester, Massachusetts. She was a veterinary technician in 1999 when a day-old, twofaced kitten about the size of her thumb was brought into her clinic to be euthanized. The life expectancy for a two-faced cat is about four days because they usually suffer from other disorders.

“When he was first born, every day was a blessing,” Marty told a local radio station on Tuesday. She immediately adopted Frank and Louie. The cat has one brain so both faces act in unison. Two of his eyes-the outermost ones-are normal, while the middle eye is larger but doesn’t function. The cat eats on the right side, using Frank’s face, which is connected to his esophagus, while Louie’s nose twitches at the same time, his owner said. Marty told the local radio station that the cat is more like a dog because it walks on a leash and loves car rides.” — Reuters

56-year-old Montreal man looking to shake off a mid-life depression walked around the world in 11 years, returning this week to Canada, looking radiant after realizing a dream. A bit thinner and with a few more gray hairs, Jean Beliveau was pushing a threewheel stroller that carried his sleeping bag, clothes and a first aid kit when AFP caught up with him 290 kilometers (180 miles) west of Montreal.

Walking at a brisk pace, he expects to come full circle, arriving in Montreal on October 16 after skirting the north shore of Lake Ontario and passing through the capital, Ottawa. He stopped only briefly to nibble on some food and described some of his adventures on this trip to curious strangers, radiating a joy and peacefulness he gained from total freedom.

He did not know where he would sleep that night, depending on no-one and with little money in his pocket. But he was not worried in the least-it has been this way for the past 11 years and he is fine with it.

In Montreal, he will reunite with his longtime girlfriend Luce Archambault, who has suppor ted him throughout his extraordinary adventure and even created a website detailing his travels: wwwalk.org Beliveau left Montreal on the day of his 45th birthday, August 18, 2000, after his small sign business went bankrupt. He decided to run around the world to try to escape that painful episode in his life. Archambault and his two children from a previous marriage did not try to hold him back. “It was cool,” said his son Thomas Eric, who was 20years-old at the time.

Beliveau ran all the way to Atlanta, Georgia before slowing his stride for what would become the longest uninterrupted walk around the world: 75,000 kilometers (46,600 miles) across 64 countries. At one point, Archambault encouraged him to use his voyage to promote peace and non-violence for the benefit of children in support of a UNESCO proclamation. Suddenly what started as an escape from his weary life had a purpose.

Over 11 years, he traveled across deserts and mountains. He fell in love for nine days in Mexico, wore a turban and a long beard in Sudan, ate insects in Africa, dog in South Korea and snake in China, and was escorted by armed soldiers in the Philippines. Beliveau only fell seriously ill once in Algeria, was mugged only once by two

the world in 11 years Jean Beliveau, a 56 year-old Canadian takes a little rest and a chat on the shores of Lake Ontario, Ontario, Canada on September 22, 2011. Eleven years ago, Jean Beliveau fled before his midlife crisis and after walking 75,000 miles through 64 countries has finally made it back to his homeland. —AFP

young drunks in South Africa, and was detained only once in Ethiopia for no apparent reason (he was released the next day). It was also in Ethiopia that he was once gripped by despair, which nearly caused him to quit and go home. He said he felt very alone. Archambault back in Montreal egged him on, convincing him to persevere.

“After food and shelter, man needs to feel like he belongs,” Beliveau explained. In the end, he would be enthralled by the sympathy of strangers, the huge number of people he met along the way. Certainly, Beliveau slept under a few bridges and in shelters for the homeless, and even saw the inside of a rough prison, but much more often he was invited to eat with people intrigued by his adventure and to sleep in their homes. He left Montreal with CAN$4,000 in his pocket and ended up

spending that amount each year (graciously provided to him by Archambault, with whom he kept in constant contact through online telephone service Skype), and also relying on the kindness of strangers to get by.

Today, he is penniless, but insists he is richer for his experiences. “I left with nothing, but I return now with a wealth of knowledge and understanding,” he said.

Beliveau said he aims to write a book and give lectures on his experience, and extol “harmony between people, listening to one another and accepting of others’ differences.” On a personal level, his is a love story that ends well. “I’m his Penelope and he is my Ulysses,” said Archambault, who flew to join Beliveau wherever he was once a year to spend Christmas together, but is giddy that he is finally almost home.— AFP