SUNDAY, JANUARY 1, 2012
NEWS
Fireworks explode in downtown Jakarta’s sky during the New Year 2012 celebrations yesterday where thousands of people gathered to witness the coming of new year 2012. — AFP
Revellers celebrate the New Year in Hong Kong’s Times Square early today. — AP
Two men fish at sunset on the last day of 2011 along the beach front off Gulf Road in Kuwait City yesterday. In the background is the Oil ministry and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) building. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat
People gather to celebrate the New Year 2012 at the Temple of Heaven, the city’s historic landmark, in Beijing early today. —AFP
World welcomes 2012 after turbulent year Continued from Page 1 set off and the Tokyo Tower lighting up in blue. It was then Hong Kong’s turn in the limelight with the city’s harbour lit up by a barrage of fireworks fired from several of its iconic buildings, delighting partygoers crammed on to the waterfront and in pleasure boats on the water. Russia’s Far Eastern regions of Chukotka, Kamchatka and Magadan, eight hours ahead of Moscow, became the first parts of the vast country to see in the New Year at 1200 GMT. Russian state news agencies reported that among the first revellers in 2012 were border guards on Ratmanov island in the Bering Strait that lies just four kilometres from US territory across the international dateline. Some in Europe were already tamping down their hopes for a year that promises more financial pain. German Chancellor Angela Merkel set the tone for a continent hammered by an unprecedented economic crisis: She warned in her New Year’s message that despite her country’s comparatively stable economic situation next year will be more difficult than 2011. In Spain, which on Friday unveiled a brand new batch of austerity measures that include surprise income and property tax hikes, 53-year-old Joaquin Cabina, was going to celebrate at home with his wife and sons - but otherwise didn’t feel he had much to look forward to. “The government has just hit us with higher taxes and says it’s going to cut spending,” he Madrid car mechanic said. “What I see is that prices are going up and all I hope for is to keep working and for my family to enjoy good health.” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s New Year’s greetings came mixed with sarcasm toward those protesting his 12 years in power and his plans to return to the presidency for at least six more years. Putin yesterday used crude sexual innuendo to wish well-being and prosperity “to all our citizens regardless of their political persuasion, including those who sympathize with leftist forces and those situated on the right, below, above, however you like”. In Russian, the sexual innuendo was clear. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who starts his second term on New Year’s Day, said he wants to help ensure and sustain the moves toward democracy that protesters sought in the Arab Spring. The mood was festive in the South Pacific island nation of Samoa, where, for once, revelers were the first in the world to welcome the new year, rather than the last. Samoa and neighboring Tokelau hopped across the international date line at midnight on Thursday, skipping Friday and moving instantly to Saturday. The time-jump revelry that began at 12:01 am on Dec. 31 spilled into the night. Samoa and Tokelau lie near the date line that zigzags vertically through the Pacific Ocean, and both sets of islands decided to realign themselves this year from the Americas side of the line to the Asia side, to be more in tune with key trading partners. For Japan, 2011 was the year the nation was struck by a giant tsunami and earthquake that left an entire coastline destroyed, nearly 20,000 people dead or missing and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in meltdown. “For me, the biggest thing that defined this year was the disaster in March,” said Miku Sano, 28, a nursing student in Fukushima city. “Honestly, I didn’t know what to say to these people, who had to fight sickness while living in fear about ever being able to go back home. The radiation levels in the city of Fukushima, where I live, are definitely not low, and we don’t know how that is going to
affect our health in the future.” More than a million revellers were expected to flock to New York’s Times Square where pop diva Lady Gaga and tenor Placido Domingo are among the star-studded lineup, and the traditional crystal ball drops at the stroke of midnight. Mounted officers, bomb-sniffing dogs and police patrol boats were part of a massive police deployment to ensure the party passes off without a hitch. “2012 is going to be a better year. It has to be,” said Fred Franke, 53, who was visiting the city with his family even after losing his job in military logistics this month at a Honeywell International division in Jacksonville, Florida. In Rio, two million white-clad party-goers - Brazilians and foreign tourists - were expected to ring in the New Year on Copacabana beach, watching a spectacular “green” fireworks extravaganza. Authorities in Berlin expected a million revelers to gather around the city’s landmark Brandenburg Gate for a massive party complete with live performances from the Scorpions and other bands, as well as a 10-minute long firework display. Merkel said in her annual speech which was prerecorded and released in written form before being broadcast on national TV - that despite the problems Europe is facing, the financial crisis will eventually bring the continent closer together. “Germany is doing well, even if next year will no doubt be more difficult than 2011,” Merkel said. Across France, 60,000 police, firemen and other emergency personnel were on standby to assure the New Year’s celebrations went off safely, the Interior Minister said. In the Paris area the purchase of alcohol was banned along with petrol in cans in a bid to prevent a wave of car burnings that occurs annually in some quarters, while 10,000 police were mobilised. In Amsterdam, revellers were gearing up for the first “kiss” between two giant inflatable puppets representing a Dutch boy and girl, which will “walk” towards each other as the seconds tick down to 2012. At the stroke of midnight, the puppets will kiss as fireworks explode in an event organisers hope will become a yearly tradition in the city. Thousands of revelers are expected to descend on Scotland’s capital to attend the world-famous Hogmanay street party, where around 80,000 partygoers will welcome 2012 at the stroke of midnight, before erupting into a mass rendition of Auld Lang Syne. In London, round 250,000 people were expected to gather to listen to Big Ben strike twelve at midnight during London’s scaled-back New Year’s celebrations. Fireworks are set off from the London Eye, the giant wheel on the south bank of the river. Revelers in Spain greeted 2012 by eating 12 grapes in time with Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol clock, a national tradition observed by millions who stop parties to follow the chimes on television. Tens of thousands of young people in the Spanish capital were expected to gather at six indoor “macro-parties” the city council had authorized in big venues such as the city’s main sports hall. Milena Quiroga was among the many there happy to move on. “I am glad to see 2011 go because it was a tough year; my restaurant laid off almost half of the staff,” said the 25year-old waitress. New Zealand was among the first places to see in the New Year but heavy rain over most of the country put a damper on parties, with two major celebrations in the North Island cancelled due to the weather. In the Philippines, where killer floods spawned by tropical storm Washi have swept away whole villages in the country’s south, the normally festive New Year’s Day was also expected to be a sad and sombre occasion. — Agencies
A Pakistani barber gives a 2012 hair cut on a man to celebrate New Year at a barber shop in Rawalpindi yesterday. — AFP
A firework display explodes off Taiwan’s tallest skyscraper Taipei101 to usher in the New Year early today in Taipei. — AP
Registration closes, battle lines drawn Continued from Page 1 2. The number of women candidates is also larger than the previous two election. This year 29 women filed nomination papers against 19 in 2009 and 28 in 2008. The third constituency topped the list of candidates with 83 followed by the first with 79, the second with 78, the fifth with 76 and the fourth in last place with 73 candidates. The largest number of women hopefuls registered in the second district with 10, closely followed by the third district with nine hopefuls. Four female candidates registered in the first and fourth districts while only two women signed in the fifth constituency. So far, 10 MPs from the Assembly have dropped out. They are Yousef Al-Zalzalah and Hussein Al-Huraiti from the first constituency, former speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi and Mohammad Al-Mutair from the second while Adel Saraawi did not bid for re-election from the third constituency. Former MP Hussein Mizyed dropped out from the fourth district and Khaled Al-Adwah, Saad Znaifer, Ghanem Al-Azemi and Dulaihi Al-Hajeri decided against contesting from the fifth electoral district. A total of 40 MPs from the outgoing Assembly are contesting along with as many as 17 former MPs from previous assemblies. Prominent among former MPs who are contesting are Ossaimi, Abdullatif Al-Ameeri, Mohammad Al-Saqer and Mohammad Al-Abduljader from the second constituency. They also include Ahmad Lari from the first district and Mohammad Al-Khalifa and Ahmad Al-Shuraian from the fourth and Abdullah AlBarghash from the fifth district. The toughest contest is expected to take place in the second constituency between liberals, Salafists and other Islamists. The Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, is fielding former MP Jamaan Al-Harbash and candidate Hamad AlMatar, who narrowly lost in 2009. The Salafists have fielded former MPs Khaled Al-Sultan and Ameeri, while former MP Fahad Al-Khannah is running as an independent.
A large number of liberal candidates are in the fray. They include former MPs Ossaimi, Saqer and Abduljader, in addition to former MPs Marzouk Al-Ghanem and Abdulrahman Al-Anjari. Some of these are backed by the National Democratic Alliance. Other leading liberal candidates include lawyer Abdullah Al-Ahmad, Faisal Al-Yahya and Mohammad Bushehri. A similar tough race is also expected in the third constituency with former MPs Ahmad Al-Saadoun, the leader of the opposition, Rula Dashti, Naji Al-Abdulhadi and Roudhan Al-Roudhan contesting. Islamist candidates include former MPs Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, Faisal Al-Mislem and Ali Al-Omair while liberals include former MPs Aseel Al-Awadhi and Saleh Al-Mulla. The race in the first constituency is expected to be sectarian in nature with Sunni and Shiite Islamic groups fielding candidates. Shiite candidates include former MPs Hussein Al-Qallaf, Adnan Abdulsamad, Lari, Salah Ashour, Faisal Al-Duwaisan and Maasouma Al-Mubarak. Sunni Islamist candidates include Salafists Mohammad AlKandari and Adel Al-Damkhi and ICM candidate Osama Al-Shaheen. Former liberal MP Abdullah Al-Roumi and tribal former MP Mukhled Al-Azemi are in the race too. Tribal primaries and alliances are expected to impact the races in the fourth and fifth electoral districts. In the fourth, former opposition MPs Musallam Al-Barrak, Dhaifallah Buramia, Mohammad Hayef and Mubarak AlWaalan, all from the Mutairi tribe, are contesting. Former MPs Ali Al-Deqbasi and Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, from the Rasheedi tribe, are also in the field. Pro-government former MPs Saad Al-Khanfour, Mubarak Al-Khrainej and Askar Al-Enezi are other key contenders. Former opposition MPs Khaled Al-Tahous, Falah Al-Sawwagh, Saifi AlSaifi and Salem Al-Namlan are all bidding for re-election. Pro-government MP Mohammad Al-Huwailah is also running while former MP Saadoun Hammad has moved to the third district. All the former four women MPs Dashti, Awadhi, Mubarak and Salwa Al-Jassar are bidding for re-election.