6 Jan

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

Outrage as boyfriend of Delhi rape victim speaks

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SAFAR 24, 1434 AH

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Dubai makes bid to be City of Gold

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Van Persie’s late leveller rescues United

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UAE refuses to free detained Egyptians Brotherhood insists arrests part of ‘unjust campaign’

Saudi officer arrested over Vegas assault LAS VEGAS: A sergeant in Saudi Arabia’s air force was jailed in Las Vegas on charges that he pulled a boy into a hotel room and sexually assaulted him the morning of Sin City’s big New Year’s Eve fireworks extravaganza. Mazen Alotaibi, 23, faces charges including kidnapping, sexual assault with a minor and felony coercion that could get him decades in state prison, according to police and Mazen Alotaibi charging documents obtained Friday. The boy, who is younger than 14, told police the man forced him into a room at the Circus Circus hotel on the Las Vegas Strip and raped him. Police arrested Alotaibi after being called to the hotel before 9:30 am Dec 31.

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DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates has rejected a request by Egypt to free 11 of its citizens held on suspicion of training Islamists in how to overthrow governments, local newspapers reported yesterday.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood last week said some of the detainees were its members and demanded they be freed, saying they had been wrongfully arrested.

Relations between Egypt and the UAE soured after veteran Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak - a longtime Gulf ally - was toppled in 2011. The UAE has voiced distrust of the Muslim Brotherhood that helped propel Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to power last year.

Egypt sent a presidential aide and its intelligence chief, General Mohamed Shehata, to the UAE for talks following the arrests. “They (UAE officials) explained that a suspect cannot be released before the case goes to court,” the English-language Gulf News reported, adding the Egyptian delMANAMA: Bahrainis cheer prior the start of the opening ceremony and football match between Bahrain and egation was told the UAE had a Oman in the 21st Gulf Cup tournament in the capital yesterday. Eight nations are taking part in the games — robust legal system. The ArabicKuwait, Qatar, UAE, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, along with Bahrain and Oman. — AFP (See Page 20) language Al-Khaleej newspaper

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said the 11 suspects were under investigation by state security prosecutors over “serious charges”.

Citing an unnamed source, AlKhaleej last week said there were close ties between Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and leaders of the Islamists in detention. It said the detained Egyptians had given “a number of courses and lectures ... on elections and ways to change systems of government in Arab countries”. The oil-producing UAE arrested about 60 suspected Islamists last year, accusing them of plotting to undermine governments in the Gulf region.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, at a news conference in Riyadh with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Saud AlFaisal, yesterday said Egypt does not interfere in the affairs of other countries. “This is a firm position

by Egypt and what happens in Egypt concerns only the Egyptian people and we have no interest in transferring what happened in Egypt to another country,” Amr said. “Egypt has no interest in exporting any of that.”

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

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KUWAIT: Former speaker of the National Assembly, Jassem Al-Kharafi receiving condolences at the funeral of his grandson, Jassem at Sulaibikhat cemetery yesterday. — Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

Bureaucracy widespread at public institutions

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Many people are complaining about the bureaucracy at the public institutions which is accused of delaying the paperwork. Some public institutions have also been complaining about the same problem. A local Arabic newspaper published an article about complaints by the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) which has said their paperwork was being delayed by the Municipal Council. It said some of their files were still lying with the Council for years now, awaiting approval. This has paralyzed the development plans of the PAAAFR. A member of the Municipal Council who preferred to remain anonymous explained that the accusation of the Chairman of PAAAFR about files not being approved was correct but the problem was not on the part of the Council. “The paperwork mentioned by the PAAAFR was not complete. All the files that were not approved lacked approval from other institutions and ministries involved with the case. So in this case, these files remain incomplete but the delay cannot be attributed to the Council,” he told the Kuwait Times.

He illustrated his explanation with an example. “For instance, a project in Wafra area block 9, demanded by PAAAFR, has no approval from the Environment Public Authority. Thus,

Municipal council accused

it is against building rules and the Municipality did not approve of it.

How can we pass such incomplete paperwork?” the member wondered.

He explained that the law No. 5/2005 made the situation worse, as it limited the responsibilities and authority of the Council. “ The Municipality is responsible for execution, while the Municipal Council is responsible for supervision and legislating, preparing studies and issuing approvals. The bureaucracy is the problem, and it was not specific to the Council. Even in other ministries, it remains the issue but at the end, everybody is blaming the Council,” he further said.

According to the member, the Council finished about 50 to 60 percent of the paperwork. “For instance, the most recent cases we approved were regarding the cow farms in Kabad area, and the natural reserves that we approved for PAAAFR,” he added.

Most of the problems which figure in the complaints are in the execution phase that lies with the municipality. “They always blame us, but we are not responsible for execution . We at the Council have no legal powers to solve these problems. The Council is the last institution in the process to give the final approval after the file is approved by other institutions. Still, they blame us for having problems with other institutions and ministries,” concluded the member.

‘Governmental routine delays road projects’ KUWAIT: At least 1.7 million vehicles are registered in Kuwait which has a road network with a maximum capacity of 900,000 vehicles, according to a study carried out by the Ministry of Public Works in preparation of projects aimed at ameliorating the traffic congestion in the state. The figures were provided by an MPW insider who called for more cooperation from concerned state departments to help ease traffic and eliminate the hurdles in finalizing major road projects as soon as possible.

“Several projects have been stalled by the routine bureaucratic work followed by several state departments,” the source who spoke to Al-Qabas on the condition of anonymity said.

He added that the stalled projects “mostly aim

to tackle the traffic jams’ problem which continues to escalate as a result of demographic expansion in the country.”

A routine procedure would require to and fro correspondence between the MPW and bodies such as the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, the Ministry of Electricity and Water, the Ministry of Communications and the Kuwait University before the project can move one step forward.

“Such unjustifiable delay reflects negatively on the projects which as a result fail to achieve their desired goals,” the source lamented.

The traffic department carried a number of surprise checks in the six governorates over the weekend, resulting in 6432 traffic citations. A total of 412 vehicles were detained.

In the capital governorate, 1,195 citations were issued while eight vehicles were detained while Farwaniya governorate witnessed 1,239 citations being issued and 37 vehicles detained.

In the Hawally governorate, 1,840 citations were issued and 130 vehicles detained while 584 citations were issued in Ahmadi governorate and four vehicles were detained. In the Mubarak Al Kabeer governorate, 92 citations were issued and one vehicle was detained. In Jahra governorate, no vehicle was detained but 419 citations were issued.

The operations department issued 877 citations over the weekend and detained 232 vehicles. At the Kuwait airport only, 184 citations were issued.

KUWAIT: The ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait, Syed Shahed Reza held a special reception at his residence to celebrate the New Year. The ceremony was attended by a number of diplomats, dignitaries and other officials. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

LOCAL

PM promises ‘new approach’ at gathering Top priority to cooperation

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah promised that the Cabinet will adopt “a new approach” with the goal of “making achievements,” a goal that can only be reached “through cooperation” with the members of parliament. The premier’s statements came yesterday during a gathering held by Parliament Speaker Ali AlRashid at his farm in Al-Wafra, featuring members of the executive and legislative authorities. “You can expect a completely new governmental approach,” he said, mentioning in specific the loans issue which he confirmed “will be decided by the parliament.”

Lawmakers are expected to vote on at least one draft law calling on the government to purchase citizens’ loans in local banks, then reschedule them for easy payments and writing off the accrued interest. “Kuwaiti citizens must live a luxurious life in their own country, which means that the loans issue needs to be resolved,” MP Khalid Al-Adwa said in this regard, adding at the same time that the stance of the prime minister “is a reason for optimism.”

Al-Rashid described the meeting as an opportunity to “discuss different opinions and agree on issues which need to be given priority when it comes to legislation.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs and State Minister for Municipality Affairs, Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, described the gathering as “a social meeting to bring the two authorities together, away from political entanglements,” but later confirmed that the two sides were likely to end up “discussing various topics... with the hope of maintaining the relationship to ensure collective work under the Kuwaiti constitution.”

In another development, Minister of Oil Hani Husain proclaimed that he was prepared

to face a potential grilling motion that could be filed by MP Saadoun Al-Otaibi over alleged mismanagement in recent promotions in the Kuwait Oil Company. “In order to achieve transparency, I have ordered an investigation committee to look into the allegations,” Husain said in a statement yesterday, recognizing AlOtaibi’s “right to file an interpellation.”

Meanwhile, rapporteur of the parliament’s legislative and legal committee, MP Yaqoub AlSane’a, announced that the committee planned to discuss several issues at its meeting today, including a draft law pertaining to human trafficking.

Separately, government insiders revealed that the cabinet planned to form a team to follow up the development projects “while having the authority to resolve any obstacles causing the delay in any project.”

The sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity indicated that the team comprised ministers involved with development projects, and will be directly supervised by the Prime Minister.

GCC summit nixed?

A Gulf Cooperation Council summit which Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Kaled Al Khalifa had recently announced will take place later this year to announce a form of GCC unity, will not take place as planned, according to sources with knowledge of the development. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the sources explained that the GCC member states are expected to meet for the annual consultative summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “GCC unity can be discussed during the consultative summit which is scheduled for May,” the sources said, adding that an official declaration regarding the GCC unity concept would not be made “until after discussions between the GCC Secretary General, Abdullatif Al-Zayani, and member states regarding the points of difference.”

No naturalization in Jan The government has no plans to naturalize 2,000 stateless residents anytime this month as suggested by earlier reports, but a list for naturalization could be ready by either April or May, according to government insiders.

Earlier reports had indicated that a list containing the names of 2,000 Bedouins who meet the condition for naturalization was ready to be passed before the end of January.

“The list has already been submitted by the government and is being studied by the parliament’s interior and defense committees,” said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. They said an issue has arisen “as the government refused a panel’s request to add an additional 2,000 candidates to the naturalization list this year.” The source said a “further study by the committee to avoid any error” was likely to push back the naturalization date by at least two more months.

Former speaker’s grandson dies Former Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi mourned the death of his grandson, Jassem Anwar AlKharafi, 14, who passed away yesterday at the hospital. The deceased succumbed to his injuries sustained in an accident at the Chalets Road in southern Kuwait after fighting for his life for two weeks.

Missing citizen found Lebanese authorities announced yesterday they had found a Kuwaiti citizen reported missing outside the Marriott Hotel at the Ramla Suburb recently. Search operations were carried out in cooperation with the Kuwaiti Embassy in Beirut after Mu’een Khursheed, 25, disappeared. Later, authorities were able to find his BMW car. Investigations will continue to determine the circumstances behind the man’s disappearance.

Interior minister to attend security session KUWAIT: The First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah, confirmed that he will attend next Thursday’s parliamentary session in which lawmakers plan to exclusively discuss the state of law and order in the country.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Al-Sabah told Al-Jarida on Friday that his remarks during the session “will depend on questions, notes and inquiries made by MPs.” The minister further told the newspaper that the ministry planned to deal with tomorrow’s scheduled procession by the opposition “with calmness and openness” the same way they had dealt with “similar unlicensed processions in the past.” MP Yaqoub Al-Sane’a announced in the meanwhile that MPs plan to meet Thursday “in order to agree on the recommendations to be forwarded during the session.”

Al-Sane’a also announced his support for holding the session behind closed doors, something echoed by rapporteur of the interior and defense committee MP Abdullah Al-Tamimi “in order to give the Interior Minister more flexibility in explaining his opinions given the current regional conditions.”However, the proposal for in-camera session was being opposed by several other lawmakers, including Safaa Al-Hashim, who said the open session was necessary to safeguard the “citizens’ right to know, judge and feel reassured.” According to lawmakers who spoke to Al-Rai on Friday,

multiple issues were set to be included in Thursday session’s agenda including unlicensed processions held in residential areas, the Avenues Mall crime and the rising number of crimes in which blade weapons were used. The agenda will also include the recent announcement in the United Arab Emirates about the arrest of certain sleeper cells belonging to religious political parties. (Rai) In other news, Al-Qabas reported yesterday quoting parliamentary insiders who indicated that the foreign affairs committee was likely to “reject” an emergency decree passed by th e gover n men t wh ic h effec tively en ded pen din g issues between the Kuwait Airways and its Iraqi counterpart.

S peak in g on th e con dition of anonymity, the sources indicated that the panel felt that the $500 million settlement money agreed upon to make the KAC drop legal charges was “too little in comparison with the losses” that resulted from the destruction of i t s f l e e t d u r i n g t h e 1 9 9 0 / 9 1 I ra q i Invasion.

New instructions on projects proposals

KUWAIT: As part of its preparations to review the state general budget and government’s move to forward its plan of action to the National Assembly Council in the next few days, the Ministry of Finance asked all concerned government organisations to ensure that the projects sent to it for approval should be within the time and cost limits set in the growth plan which is now in its fourth year.

It circulated a letter in this regard, asking all government organizations that in case of any amendment in any project, the Ministr y of Finance should be informed of the reasons and justifications behind the amendment. Enough time should be factored in to study the required amendment and approve it.

The Ministry of Finance emphasized that no estimation of cost should be made for any construction

project without studying its various aspects. It particularly stressed the time factor and said coordination among all concerned parties must be ensured so that projects can be finalized within the pre -defined time period. No amendment will be allowed in this respect, it said.

Approval for each project should be obtained well in advance before execution begins, in accordance with the general budget of the state.

General cooperation lines drawn between NA, govt KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker Ali Al-Rashed said “general lines” of relations between the legislative and executive authorities have been put in place, foremost importance of what he called “language of dialogue” and understanding.

He was speaking in a press statement following a lunch banquet he held for members of the Parliament and government in his ranch in Wafra.

“The meeting has been friendly and away from politics except regarding the general framework of cooperation between the two authorities. We have not address any particular issue but (discuss) the general lines” of cooperation, he added. “ The Kuwaiti people want us to achieve especially they (people) brought us to the National Assembly for the sake of development and reforms.

This require cooperation between the two authorities in line with article 50 of the constitution,” said Al-Rashed.

On holding secret or additional sessions, Al-Rashed said requests should be tabled to the house to be discussed, then “we will see about them.” —KUNA

Venezuela hunts for fashion boss’ plane Missoni opens hotel in Kuwait CARACAS: Venezuelan emergency services mounted a sea and air rescue mission on Saturday after a plane carrying fashion executive Vittorio Missoni went missing off the coast of Venezuela. The plane carrying Missoni, 58, his wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, another couple and two Venezuelan crew members disappeared after taking off from the resort of Los Roques, an archipelago off the coast of Venezuela, Italian media said.

“It disappeared yesterday. They have been looking for it with helicopters and ships, but have not found anything yet. They are still searching for it this morning,” the Italian consul in Venezuela, Giovanni Davoli said by phone. Missoni is the oldest son of the founders of the fashion house famous for its exuberantly coloured knits, featuring bold stripes and zigzags.

He is co-owner with siblings Luca and Angela, who handle the technical and design sides of the firm. “The Missoni family has been informed by the Venezuelan consulate that Vittorio Missoni and his wife are missing, but we don’t know any more,” said Missoni spokeswoman Maddalena Aspes. Other members of the Missoni family are travelling back to Italy from a holiday in France, Aspes said. Missoni and his siblings took over managing the company from their parents Ottavio and Rosita in 1996, aiming to relaunch the brand to a larger, younger market as rivals Gucci and Burberry have done.

Under Vittorio’s tenure, Missoni has opened hotels in Edinburgh and Kuwait and launched the Missoni Home collection. By 2011, the brand’s appeal was wide enough for US mass-market retailer Target to ask it to design a collection. The brand will celebrate its 60th anniversary this year. —Reuters

KUWAIT: Municipality officials pictured during the inspection campaign.

Order to close six shops

By Hanan Al Saadoun KUWAIT: Surprise inspection of restaurants, cafes and supermarkets carried out by a Hawally municipality emergency team as part of its field inspection campaign in the governorate resulted in the closure of six shops, and ten citations. One of the citations was for opening a shop even before a license from municipality was obtained.

Team’s chief Riyadh Al Rabie said that the restaurants and cafeterias were ordered to shut down because inspectors found rats and insects. Such poor state of hygiene could endanger the lives of consumers. The kitchens of these restaurants were not clean. The cafes were closed since they occupied an area more than what was allocated during licensing.

The team issued citations for failure to abide by the cleanliness rules at the place where the food was being prepared. One of the shops was ordered to close as its license had expired and it was employing a laborer without having obtained the necessary health papers.

Al Rabie said that inspectors closed these restaurants as they were in violation of the municipality rules and conditions. He said the campaign and surprise checks will continue as the health of the consumers was paramount. He said all items on display were subject to inspections and samples were being recorded for lab tests.

Traffic accident Four youth died and a Philippino trailer’s driver was injured when a Japanese car sporting a Kuwaiti number plate collided head-on with a trailer at Hafr Al Baten road in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The vehicles had been diverted to this road due to traffic issues. Flames engulfed the car immediately after the impact, and the four youth who could not escape were charred to death.

The Philippino trailer’s driver was injured but not seriously. He was rushed to the King Fahad Hospital in Hafr Al Baten.

The Hafr Al Baten, Dammam road has become particularly accident prone ever since the traffic diversions were ordered.

The road is under maintenance.

More medicine for citizens KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health will import unavailable medicine to the country free of charge for citizens who provide the necessary medical report stating the need for such drugs, said an official here yesterday. Undersecretary at the Health Ministry Dr Khaled Al-Sahlawi said that the Ministry was keen on the health-

care for Kuwaiti citizens, noting that that the imports of unavailable medicine to Kuwait would be under the regulations of the World Health Organization’s ( WHO). The Health Ministry spends over KD 150 million annually to make medication available at hospitals and other health institutes. —KUNA

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Gang of bikers stabs jogger on Gulf Road Teenager sexually assaulted KUWAIT: Four men assaulted the son of a senior government official, with one of them stabbing him with a pocket knife, on the Gulf Road on Friday. Mohammad Al-Falah, the son of Undersecretary of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Adel AlFalah, reportedly confronted the bikers droving on the pavement where he was jogging by the beach. An altercation soon ensued in which one of the bikers stabbed him near his kidney. They assaulted him physically and then fled, leaving him bleeding from a stab wound and with a broken nose.

The victim, who had arrived in Kuwait a few days ago from the United States where he is a final year college student, was rushed to the Mubarak Hospital. His condition was described as stable. In the meantime, detectives reportedly succeeded in identifying the suspects and are intensifying search operations to arrest them.

Senior dies in fire An old man died in a fire reported recently in Al-Doha. The 84-year-old Omani man suffered fourth degree burns on his face, back and limbs

before paramedics arrived at the scene. The body was taken to the coroner for an autopsy while an investigation was opened to determine the circumstances behind the incident.

Drug possession Two addicts were arrested from the Gulf Road where they were caught for possessing drugs. The suspects were pulled over by patrol officers who decided to search them after they betrayed nervousness. They were arrested after police recovered 70 drug pills from their possession.

They were referred to the Drug Control General Depart-ment to face charges.

Fugitive nabbed A fugitive was arrested from the Nuwaiseeb border checkpoint after she tried to leave the country on Friday.

Authorities at the southern border arrested the Kuwaiti woman after records showed that she was wanted in a criminal case. She was referred to the Criminal Investigations General Department for further action.

Kidnap, sexual assault A teenager accused three unidenti-

fied men of kidnapping her to a remote location where one of them sexually assaulted her.

The 14-year-old was found standing alone in Hawally in the wee hours of Friday when she was approached by a passerby whom she told about her ordeal. She explained that she had run away from home the previous night and was kidnapped from outside a restaurant on the Gulf Road where she had dinner with her friends. The man escorted the girl to the nearest police station where officers launched investigations and contacted the victim’s mother.

Fake policeman A teenager was arrested in Kuwait City where he masqueraded as a police detective to steal money from pedestrians on Friday. Police rushed to Al-Soor Street where a group of men claimed to have caught a fake detective. The officers found the bedoon youth all tied up and in the custody of Bengalese workers who had overpowered him after realizing he was not a real detective. The teenager was taken to the proper authorities for further action.

Kuwait plans to cement Trade links with Mexico MEXICO CITY: Kuwait’s ambassador to the United Mexican States Samih Jawhar Hayat has held talks with the Constitutional Governor of the Mexican State of Baja, Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millan, on means of boosting bilateral ties.

The ambassador, speaking at a news conference, following the meeting at the governor’s palace, late on Friday, expressed satisfaction at results of the talks and hoped the meeting would signal start for establishing cooperation in the investment, trade and economic sectors. He also called on Mexican entrepreneurs to explore investment opportunities in Kuwait where the government is masterminding execution of a major development strategy.

Ambassador Hayat has been touring Mexican states and holding talks with local decision-makers in an effort to examine investment opportunities and lay basis for business cooperation with the State of Kuwait.

During the talks with the Mexican governor, Hayat urged for facilitating Kuwaiti investments in mega projects in the infrastructure, railways and tourism.

For his part, Millan expressed desire to boost such cooperation and expressed gratitude to the ambassador for visiting the state. The diplomat arrived in Baja on Wednesday, on a visit in

response to a previous invitation from the governor for sake of exploring avenues for boosting bilateral ties and mutual cooperation in the trade and investment sectors. He had already held talks with senior local officials and prominent business figures in the state. — KUNA

Kuwait -Myanmar ties on right track Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Government of the State of Kuwait donated $2 would like to extend, on this very auspicious day of the millions for the victims of the Cyclone Nargis during the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, my best wishes to visit of the Prime Minister H.H. Sheikh Nasser Alour fellow citizens and the people of the State of Mohammad Al-Sabah. As cooperation between Myanmar and Kuwait, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Kuwait for their well-beings, happiness and success.

From the 11th centuary, Myanmar stood as inde- Development has given the generous assistance to the development projects in agriculture and pendent kingdom with many dynasties. energy sectors of Myanmar.

But in 19 centuary, Myanmar had been fallIn trade, 2010 the total amount of trade en under colonial rule for nearly 100 years. between Myanmar and Kuwait has With sweats and bloods, struggles and sacreached $6,784,176 and Kuwait imports rifices, Myanmar regained its independamounted to $6,726,327 while exports ence in 4th of January 1948. was $57,849. Main items of imports from Since independence, Myanmar has Myanmar are frozen fish, lentils, beans, been practicing theindependent, active peas, cotton and textile materials and and non-aligned foreign affairs policy.

Myanmar imported polymers of Myanmar maintains friendly relations with polypropylene, clothings, shoes, and world nations in accordance with the prinhousehold goods and cars. It is noteworciples of peaceful co-existence. thy that the trade volume was only $ Diplomatic relations between the 2,794,533 in 2001 and the trade voulme Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the has been increasing over double fold in State of Kuwait were established in Ambassador Ko Ko Latt 2010 amounting to $6,784,176.

December 1998 and our embassy opened With the main objectives of promoting here in May 2009. I was appointed as my country’s first ambassador to Kuwait in December 2010 and expanding exports, attracting foreign capital, introand arrived to assume my appointment in January 2011. ducing new production technologies and creating more Kuwait appointed its ambassador to Myanmar in the local employment opportunities, the government, in beginning of 2012 and His Excellency Essa Yousef Al- November 2012, introduced the new Foreign Investment Shammali assumed duties as Kuwait’s first ambassador to Law. Several sectors, including agriculture, forestry, minour country in February 2012. The mutual establishment ing, infrastructure and industry, have been identified for of embassies and exchange of ambassadors are consid- foreign investment through the new FIL. With the aim of ered significant milestones in diplomatic relations simplifying investment procedures and getting better opportunities in doing business the government has also between our two countries.

While we now have diplomatic relations with 110 issued special notifications on the foreign currency transcountries around the world, it is noteworthy that in the fer to and from the state.

Various exemptions and tax reliefs for investors and GCC countries Myanmar currently have diplomatic relations with all GCC countries except the United Arab their investments are applicable under the new FIL. An Emirates and out of these GCC countries we have diplo- investor can also lease land for an initial period of 50 matic representation in Kuwait and in Riyadh, Saudi years, followed by two consecutive extensions of 10 years, Arabia. I deeply believe that these developments are depending on the type of business activity and investreflecting the good relations and cooperation between ment amount.

Most importantly, the new FIL explicitly guarantees our two countries and hope that further enhancing and promoting of the cooperation and friendly relations in all foreign investments against nationalization or expropriaspheres. I would like to express our sincere gratitude to tion by the government. We are now working on inviting the Government and the people of the State of Kuwait for trade and business delegations from Myanmar to Kuwait the invaluable assistance and high level support and and for reciprocal visits by Kuwaiti investors and businesscooperation been extending since the opening of men to our country with the cooperation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kuwait.

Myanmar Embassy in Kuwait in 2009.

And we are very hopeful for the increasing of the bilatThe former Prime Minister of the State of Kuwait H.H. Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah visited Myanmar eral cooperation between our two countries in all sectors in August, 2008. In October 2011, H.E. U Maung Myint the such as economic, trade, science and technology, comDeputy Foreign Minister of Myanmar visited Kuwait and munication, transportation, tourism and culture etc. will attended the Ministerial Meeting of Asian Cooperation develop with the assistance and cooperation from the Government and the people of the State of Kuwait.

Dialogue held in October 2011.

On behalf of the Government and the people of the As a founding member of Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Myanmar actively involves its activities and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, I would like to take delegation headed by H.E. U Thant Kyaw, Deputy Minister this opportunity to extend our sincere wishes for the perof the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attend the First Summit sonal well-beings and good health to the His Highness of ACD which was held in the State of Kuwait in October the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His 2012 as special representative of His Excellency U Thein Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sein, President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.”

To promote economic cooperation and trade, Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and His Highness Myanmar and Kuwait signed agreements between the the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Government of the Union of Myanmar and the Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and Members of the Government of the State of Kuwait for Economic and Kuwaiti Government and the Members of the New Technical Co-operation, for the Encouragement and National Assembly and the people of the State of Kuwait.

Reciprocal Protection of Investments and Memorandum And wish for thecontinued success and prosperity for the of Understanding signed between the Union of Myanmar State of Kuwait and its people.

(Independence Day message by Ko Ko Latt, ambassador of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar)

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‘Cleaning Our Beaches in an Hour’ KUWAIT: The organization committee for a comprehensive campaign to clean the beaches will organize a meeting of supervisors next Tuesday at the Kuwait Teachers Society building in Dasma.

In an announcement yesterday, the committee explained how its ‘Cleaning Our Beaches in an Hour’ campaign will work, and also drew a plan for student distribution along Kuwait’s shores, KTS Treasurer, Abdulmuhsin Al-Sane’a, said in a press statement.

The operation, dubbed the largest in Kuwait’s history in terms of the number of volunteers and targeted beaches, will begin on the morning of Tuesday, January 15, 2013.

Several volunteers including those from the United Nations Development Program, the Ministry of Education, the KTS, the Environment Voluntary Foundation, the Ministry of Interior,

the Kuwait Municipality, the Ministry of Health, and the Touristic

Enterprises Company will take part in the campaign.

The campaign’s official poster.

Call for quick action to meet surging housing demand KUWAIT: An average of one and a half houses must be built in Kuwait every hour in order to meet the increasing public demand for housing. At least, 100,000 young Kuwaiti families are waiting for an opportunity to build their own house, a Kuwait University professor said in a recent statement.

Meanwhile, the KU architecture professor and president of the architectural committee at the National Project for Construction Codes, Dr. Mohammad Al-Ajmi, referred to “official state statistics” which indicated that Kuwait’s population was expected to reach 3.8 million by 2015, warning at the same time that the country’s urban area was set to have a maximum capacity of 2.3 million by then.

The solution to this predicament lies in speeding up the operation for launching land expansion projects announced by the state in Al-Zoor, AlSubbiya and Al-Wafra, in addition to other “radical and realistic solutions” mentioned during a recent study by Dr. Al-Ajmi.

“Kuwait’s entire housing mechanism is flawed and requires immediate solutions that protect the privacy and identity of the Kuwaiti society. At the same time, there was a need to update the construction specifications by

adopting up-to-date international standards which can help create a clean environmental system,” Dr. AlAjmi said in a recent statement.

In order to achieve the desired results, the professor believes that the Municipal Council needs to live up to its “main role” in the country’s housing system, urging members to “coordinate in order to put pressure on the government to pass necessary housing plans as a top priority.”

Dr Mohammad Al-Ajmi

Dr. Al-Ajmi said in his study that government housing officials need to focus on new formulas for housing care “which are in line with the economic circumstances and financial surpluses that the country enjoys currently.” He also suggested the creation of “renewable financial resources to fund housing projects” and linking the government’s housing activity with the national economy “through boosting the private sector’s role and creating an integrated housing market to help utilize available land as properly as possible.”

He also called for “eliminating the obstacles” facing the Public Authority for Housing Welfare in meeting citizens’ demands.

“A new, more realistic philosophy that is in line with the capabilities available and which gives full opportunity to the private sector to take part in housing projects will prove to be effective in helping the PAHW overcome its obstacles,” he added in a statement made recently to the press.

Dr Al-Ajmi also called for “improving designs and architecture of government houses in line with the latest developments in the field, taking into account the development in technology and telecommunications.”

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

LOCAL

Iraq keen to close files of missing Kuwaitis, property Full support for Ban’s proposal UNITED NATIONS: Iraq has reiterated its keenness to close the file of the Kuwaiti missing persons and property, and reaffirmed its support for one of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s proposals to assign a representative from the UN Secretariat to take over the responsibilities of the High-Level Coordinator Gennady Tarasov who left his post in late December for another UN job in Geneva.

In a letter to the Security Council President, Iraqi Ambassador Hamid Al-Bayati said “on the basis of the positive developments in IraqiKuwaiti relations and the sustained fulfilment

by Iraq of its (UN) obligations ..., the most recent being the arrival of the (Iraqi) technical representatives in Kuwait to join the UN in initiating the third stage of the Iraq-Kuwait boundary maintenance project on Dec 17, the Government of Iraq reaffirms its commitment to continue the search for missing Kuwaitis and its keenness to resolve this humanitarian and emotional issue, which is of great importance to Kuwaiti families”.

He insisted that his government “reaffirms its support for (Ban)’s proposal that the file of Kuwaiti missing persons and property be ... managed by a bilateral joint committee or by a Representative of the Secretar y General assigned to that purpose”.

“My Government reiterates that such a step would facilitate the closing of this file,” he added. As Tarasov’s mandate ended on Dec 31, 2012, Ban suggested to the Council for consideration a number of options to make sure those humanitarian issues are taken care of during the next six months.

Based on his consultations in both Kuwait and Iraq early last month, Ban suggested in his report to the Council folding Tarasov’s mandate under that of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), appoint an interim Coordinator during the next six months, replace the current Coordinator, or asking someone from UN Secretariat to assume this mandate.

The Council is still consulting on which option to approve. While the Western countries

in the Council prefer that an official from the UN Secretariat takes care of the issues, Russia prefers the appointment of an interim HighLevel Coordinator.

Diplomats told KUNA that given the fact that no decision was made so far, the Secretary General may end up appointing a successor to Tarasov until those humanitarian issues are resolved, as required by resolution 1284 which established the post.

According to Ban, Kuwait had expressed hope that the Council would establish a new mechanism either through the appointment of a new High-Level Coordinator; the appointment of a new Special Envoy; or the expansion of the UNAMI mandate to include those issues, but only after Iraq fulfils its other outstanding obligations, specifically those related to the border.

Also according to Ban, Iraq prefers not to have a new High-Level Coordinator, and wants to address the issues bilaterally with Kuwait, and, if need be, would not object to folding the files into UNAMI’s mandate. — KUNA

News

in brief

Environmental catastrophes KUWAIT: Kuwait has witnessed a number of environmental catastrophes, like gas leakage, pollution on the seas where tons of dead fish were noticed afloat and drifted towards the sea coast, in addition to fire disasters due to used tiers being burnt. The ground water pollution due to lack of treatment at the oil wells burnt during the Iraqi invasion was also part of this series of catastrophes. In spite of Kuwait having surplus financial resources, rehabilitation of environment is very slow and suffers from bureaucratic red tape and routine government delays which are proving to be an obstacle for vital projects to end such catastrophes. Environmental pollution poses serious threat to the lives of people, flora and fauna in general, besides affecting the quality of life.

Health ministry evaluation KUWAIT: Health sources revealed that the Ministry of Health started evaluating more than 46,000 employees working in different outlets of the ministry from January 1st. The evaluation will be finalized by mid-Februar y and the results will be announced in the beginning of March. Sources said the ministry has instructed that every employee must receive what is rightfully his and no discrimination should be allowed. The basis of evaluation will be good work and output. Some other rules and regulations have been laid down by the ministry in the evaluation booklet.

Jaber causeway KUWAIT: Sources at the Ministry of Public Works said that a committee has been formed comprising personnel from the Ministry and the Environment Authority to follow up on the execution of the Jaber Causeway Bridge and ensure that the ongoing work does not affect the environment. The supervision and follow up will continue throughout till the project’s conclusion. Sources added that the project was currently under a design phase, which will take one year. The cost of the design will be 5% of the contract value amounting to KD 837 million and the project will need four years for completion.

Treaty on joint fields KUWAIT: At a time when officials at the foreign ministry refused to comment on recent statements made by some Iraqi MPs who made certain accusations against Kuwait regarding matters related to oil-drilling, the ministry’s coordination and follow up manager, Ambassador Khaled Al-Maghamis, said the issue of the joint oil fields with Iraq would figure alongside ten other treaties to be clinched during the next visit of HH the PM, Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak, to Baghdad. Al-Maghamis pointed out that the joint oil fields treaty would focus on hot to run these fields in a fair manner for both countries.

He added that all unresolved issues would be handled by the joint supreme committee that meets regularly under the chairmanship of both countries’ foreign ministers.

Kindergarten teacher Donna Moore opens up a package sent from US Army Major Anthony Scerri of the 325th Combat Support Hospital at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, as four year-olds Myra Torres, David Guzman and Isaiah Noriega look on at the Covina Development Center on Friday.

Covina KG receive package from soldiers in Kuwait COVINA: Even small tykes from a kindergarten class in Covina can help make a difference to the men and women still overseas.

Since September, a kindergarten class of 10 students from the Covina Development Center have been sending care packages, candy, art work and photos to Capt.

Anthony Scerri and his Army reserve unit in Kuwait.

On Friday, the class received a nice surprise of their own - a package from the 349th Combat Support Hospital filled with coffee for teachers and toys and candy for the boys and girls.

“They talk about Anthony all the time,” teacher Donna Moore of La Verne said.

“When the kids get packages, they get real excited.” Especially excited was Scerri’s 21year-old daughter Chelsea, who is a teacher’s aide at the school.

“He loves it. They love support from kids and know they’re still cared about,” the Downey resident said. “I feel so attached to this school because they took my dad under their wing.”

In the Army for 24 years, Scerri, 54, and his 200-member unit were deployed to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait in August. They began their training at Fort Hood Texas in June. The Bell-based unit’s mission is to provide in-patient and outpatient medical services to injured soldiers and civilians.

Chelsea and Moore, who had been

donating candy to soldiers for the past four years, arranged for the students to begin directly corresponding with Scerri.

“It’s really helped as a history lesson,” Moore said. “Kids nowadays don’t show respect and this is a way to show respect for the people who are helping us. It’s about helping others. It’s a motivator.”

The class has sent the unit 22 pounds of Halloween candy, posters and are currently working on creating a Christmas DVD using class photos. Scerri and his unit, in turn, have mailed back Army t-shirts.

“They wear the shirts and tell me, `I want to be just like your dad someday,”‘ Chelsea said. In a letter written to the class two days before leaving for Kuwait, Scerri said he would cherish their gifts.

“I am so happy that your class will be keeping in touch with me throughout my deployment,” Scerri wrote in the Aug. 8 letter. “I will be hanging up all the pictures, letters, and artwork that you guys send to me in the hospital for ALL of the soldiers to see and enjoy.”

“We love all the support, especially from you children,” Scerri continued. “It is a daily reminder of why we are here, away from our families, protecting the freedom and future of America.” Moore said the class will continue to sponsor the unit until May, when they are expected to return and visit the preschool students in time for their graduation ceremony.

Kuwait donates KD 30,000 to Islamic Union HONG KONG: Kuwait’s Consul in Hong Kong Bader Al-Tunaib handed over Friday a donation of KD 30,000 to the Islamic Union of Hong Kong (IUHK) to help IUHK carry out renovations in the Islamic

Center building. Al-Tunaib, dean of diplomatic corps in Hong Kong and Macau, handed over Kuwait’s Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairsí donation to IUHK’s president Abdulaziz Safayed. Safayed

expressed gratitude for the State of Kuwait for the ‘generous donation’ which reflected Kuwait’s keenness on Islamic affairs in Hong Kong.

Safayed also spoke about IUHK’s religious and social activities in Hong

Kong in particular and China in general. Al-Tunaib, meanwhile, said the ministry of awqaf and Islamic affairs and the Consulate were keen on further cementing relations and cooperation with the IUHK. — KUNA

Stage set for Qurain festival KUWAIT: Kuwait’s 19th Qurain Cultural Festival is due to begin tomorrow with a schedule of diverse activities namely honoring of the country’s distinguished artistic and literary figures.

The festival that would conclude on 26th of the month would kick-start with a ceremony for honoring authors Leila Al-Othman, Abdul Aziz Al-Suraye’, actor Mohammad Al-Munaye’ and musician Gannam AlDeikan, all winners of top national awards. Other renowned figures famous of works in arts, literature and acting will be also honored during the festival. They include poet Ibrahim AlKhaldi and author Saud AlSanousi. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Archbishop Petar Rajic, Apostolic Nuncio to Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE, visited Kuwait Times over the weekend and discussed matters of mutual concern with Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan.

Labour exploitation, main reason for human trafficking: IOM GENEVA: Half of the human trafficking cases brought before IOM for assistance in 2011 involved victims of labour exploitation according to IOM’s first report on counter trafficking and assistance to vulnerable migrants.

The report which looked into human trafficking trends in 2011, by way of assistance, collected information from more than 150 IOM Missions including Gulf countries.

During the period, IOM provided assistance to some 3,014 victims of labour exploitation, which represents a 53 percent of all recorded instances of assistance sought by victims of human trafficking.

By contrast, only 27 per cent of the cases assisted by IOM involved trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Since 2010, labour trafficking has overtaken sexual exploitation as the main type of trafficking, seen in cases assisted by IOM. IOM keeps the world’s largest case level statistics on human trafficking.

Labour trafficking is a feature of many economic sectors, particularly those requiring manual labour such as agriculture, construction, domestic work, fisheries, and mining. In many cases, the exploitation takes place under the guise of legal and contractual work, but with degrading conditions of work which are different from the promises given to the workers.

Though assistance to female victims of trafficking has remained fairly on the same

level as that of 2008, the report says there has been an increase of demand for assistance from male victims of trafficking from 1,656 individuals in 2008 to 2,040 in 2011.

Women however, says the report, continue to represent the majority of trafficked persons receiving IOM assistance, making up nearly two thirds (62 percent) of cases assisted by IOM. This includes cases involving sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, and a combination of sexual and labour exploitation.

During the 2011 period, IOM provided help to around 2,700 trafficked and exploited migrants, the majority, 835, were Ukrainians. The figure shows a decline of seven percent in assisted cases, compared with the number of persons assisted in 2010.

The decline is attributed to external factors rather than being a reflection of the actual drop in cases of human trafficking.

The main countries of destination for human trafficking victims according to the report are the Russian Federation, Haiti, Yemen, Thailand and Kazakhstan. Top countries of origin were named by the report as Ukraine, Haiti, Yemen, Laos, Uzbekistan and Cambodia.

IOM provides a wide range of assistance to victims of human trafficking including legal and medical assistance, voluntary return , reintegration assistance, protection and shelter prior to voluntary repatriation. — KUNA

Call for Gitmo shut down KUWAIT: Col Barry Wingard, the attorney assigned by the Pentagon to defend Fayez Al-Kandari, the Kuwaiti detainee at Guantanamo Bay, announced that protests would be organized in Washington DC on Jan 11 to demand the closure of the infamous prison and release of all detainees including the two Kuwaitis, Al-Kandari and Fuaiz AlOudah.

Wingard urged the Kuwaiti government to work towards the release of both Kuwaiti detainees who have already spent 11 years in prison without trial. Wingard also called for both public

and parliamentary movements for the same cause.

Explaining why the US administration had been ignoring Kuwaiti demands for the release of the two detainees, Wingard said the US would continue to do so as long as commercial exchanges between both the countries were not affected.

He said he was amazed that the Kuwaiti government kept silent whereas countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia and even the Taliban movement were working relentlessly to ensure release of their detainees.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

LOCAL Local Spotlight

kuwait digest

Let’s do them the old way!

Crime rate increasing

By Hamad Nayef Al-Enezi

P

eople in Kuwait do not fight any longer by merely exchanging a few curses or fisticuffs. Such a way to settle a brawl is considered old fashioned and hardly satisfies the new generation’s taste that is more inclined towards committing crime, even murder.

First, a man killed a young dentist at the Avenues mall, using a cleaver, just because of a petty argument over a parking slot. The very next day came the news about a murder at a gas station, only to be followed up by tragic news about an assault outside a wedding hall a few days later. In one case, a man actually pulled out a Kalashnikov machine gun in a fight with another and fired three shots at him.

Luckily the target escaped death.

Peaceful observers, people like you and me, are wonder-

By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

F

ew weeks ago, I received an inquiry about recent crimes in Kuwait and whether we are facing an organized crime wave since an increasing number of stabbings and rapes were happening in Kuwait.

At that time, I did not give the issue much of a thought and said these were random incidents that led to violence, rape and death just as it happened anywhere else in the world, and the Ministry of Interior did follow up with some action.

Let us do things the old way and hang the criminals publicly so that people can watch them receiving their just desserts in person, through TV or via newspapers. ing how will they manage in such an atmosphere since we are hardly adept at using knives, daggers, cleavers and machine guns. Are we now set to watch scuffles where hand grenades, Molotov cocktails or armored vehicles will be used to settle a disagreement over someone’s perceived rightful place in a queue at a coop or a baker’s shop?

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, news about murders would be so few and far between that we still remember the details of such tragic incidents. Journalists used to keep us informed about the pace of prosecution, as well as the execution of the death penalty in public.

Such publicity of the entire justice dispensing mechanism used to act as a deterrent for any one reckless enough to think of attempting any crime. Such a deterrent works no more. Nowadays, we read about the arrest of a murderer and that’s the end of it.

We never hear about him again and people gradually forget all about the crime that he committed, and no one keeps track of whether he was penalized or not.

Punishments are now pronounced secretly for reasons I fail to understand. Maybe the authorities believe that’s the civilized way to do things or they have become extraordinarily considerate towards the killers’ rather delicate feelings.

No wonder, an entire generation has grown up without the fear of law, prosecution or punishment. Even in murder cases, sentences hardly exceed a year or two. A generation that has never seen somebody being hanged for his own doings, or has never watched perpetrators of serious crimes begging for mercy when faced with a death squad, is likely to plump for crime. Meting out punishment in secret has resulted in people not getting a chance to witness such scenes and realize what a moment of recklessness or stupidity can lead to.

I know that violent crimes have been on the rise lately due to various reasons, be they social, educational, economic or, maybe, even political. This calls for a thorough study to probe the motives and find suitable solutions. In my opinion, the absence of the deterrent effect that public executions achieved, has greatly contributed to younger generation becoming so reckless.

That is why young people think it is so easy to extinguish a human life for a petty reason. Let us do things the old way and hang the criminals publicly so that people can watch them receiving their just desserts in person, through TV or via newspapers. That will make anyone think twice before using knives, cleavers or machine guns to decide others’ fates.— Al-Jarida

kuwait digest

No support for security treaty

By Dr Sami N Khaleefa

W

e cannot peruse the security treaty which the government intends to present to the National Assembly in few weeks’ time. It is the worse such treaty that the government adopted during a critical period of Kuwait’s political history, particularly when the treaty has been rejected by Kuwait since the 80s on the grounds that it violated national sovereignty.

What new development made the government adopt the idea of presenting this questionable security treaty now? Who stands to benefit from the treaty now?

We should be circumspect about it because it lacks popular legitimacy in most of the Gulf countries, and is a result of some mysterious arrangements that have nothing to do with the supreme strategic interests of a country like Kuwait which governed by a constitution and has a democratic regime where people have a right to make a choice without any foreign interference.

We categorically oppose the treaty because it is in conflict with

the principle of transparency and is shrouded in mystery. The government was supposed to declare the amendments, as being claimed by the GCC council secretary general since its May 2012 Riyadh meeting so that a public opinion could be elicited. That would have enabled us to understand its negative repercussions instead of surprising the people by suddenly presenting it to the Assembly MPs behind closed doors.

The security treaty today stands in conflict with Article 70 of the constitution as far as the principle about openness and selective secrecy was concerned. It is also being opposed because it approves the handover of politically wanted persons among Gulf countries, a provision that contradicts Article 46 of the constitution.

It also clashes with Articles 28 and 30 in regard to personal freedom and right to travel.

The treaty also clashes with the sovereignty principle as explained in Article one of the constitution, and also clashes with Articles 31, 33, 34 and 36 in regard to personal free-

doms. It also contradicts Articles 163 and 177 in regard to the freedom and judiciary and the country’s commitment to treaties with international organizations at the civil rights level.

Moreover, when we see the volatile situation in our area and foreign inter ference in the internal affairs of the region’s countries, and also realize what may happen if our countries were to become involved in complex issues, we understand that we may be forced to respond to foreign pressure that may force us to take sides in an event that has nothing to do with us, such as the long awaited Iran-US clash.

We also do not want to bless a treaty that has the smell of confrontation with the spring movement of the Gulf people in general.

The strange thing is that the security cooperation already exists at the highest levels among GCC countries.

Why do they want to bring in a law at this critical juncture? And what is the wisdom behind accepting interference of countries without eliciting the will of the people? — Al-Kuwaitiya

kuwait digest

Enemies of happiness

kuwait digest

Cautious optimism

By Iqbal Al-Ahmad

A

whole year went by in which we arguably went through more troubled times than good ones with many events happening on the local and Arab scene, yet we went to bed each night hoping that the next day would be better.

Kuwait witnessed several events and changes on the political and social horizon, which indicate that a new pattern in lifestyle is making inroads into our society. The Kuwaiti politician is not what he used to be 20 years ago.

Nor has the Kuwaiti citizen remained what he was two decades ago. Kuwaiti young men and women are a lot different than the young people in the fifties, sixties and seventies. Even the Kuwaiti child today is very different from what children used to be during the past decades.

The multitude of changes affecting our way of life are declaration enough that we need a new way to deal with the Kuwaiti society in its entirety. What was acceptable in the sixties, seventies or eighties may not be necessarily acceptable today. And likewise, what was vehemently rejected back then is not frowned upon as strongly today as it used to be. Many ‘taboos’ of the past decades are par for the course today, and people nowadays openly indulge in behavior that at one point required extreme caution.

The changes affecting our society indicate that the time has come to start listening. The whispers we could barely hear yesterday have become too loud today to ignore. The scary sounds that we feared till yesterday no longer seem intimidating today. Frameworks and parameters have changed completely, and many suppositions have been turned around. We need to change things to an earlier position slowly because sudden change can lead to unpleasant reactions.

A new year carries a number that many find pessimistic.

But what did the years ending with the optimistic numbers 12 or 10 bring us? We still lived through political turmoil year after year until we hit 2013 with the hope that it would mark the beginning of stability and achievement in the country. I am not receiving the New Year with pessimism, but with cautious optimism. I will be very cautious with the hopes I nurture because it needs a little while for the boiling water to calm down even after the fire is extinguished.

At the same time, cold water needs some time before it starts boiling. This time can be used to realize a dream or burn our ambitions. It could be used to cure a painful illness, or reopen past wounds that had almost completely healed. Hopefully, 2013 would be a year of hope, joy and love not only for Kuwait, but the entire world. I hope humanity and freedom become the dominant elements in people’s lives so that everyone living on earth can have a fair chance to live a decent life. —Al-Qabas

By Dr. Shamlan Y. Al-Essa

W

e congratulate the people of Kuwait, the Arab nation and all of humanity on this New Year and hope it will turn out to be a year of security, stability, peace and love for all people.

New Year was greeted with various celebrations across the world to usher it in. The first country to usher in the New Year was Australia, then New Zealand, followed by Dubai, the United States, and South America. Firework displays marked the celebrations this year. I watched most of them on TV, and we congratulate Dubai for its spectacular display at Khalifa Tower.

Why do various countries in the world celebrate the New Year? They celebrate this happy occasion to renew their commitment and optimism about the New Year and also as a means for boosting tourism and shopping. Such celebrations also lead to spreading happiness and joy among the youth who are the backbone of every society. I remember very well that when I was a student in the United States, we used to go out as a group of young men to celebrate in public squares to mark the advent of a New Year.

Authorities tasked with security are keen to protect the revelers whose numbers often run into thousands.

Shops, restaurants and hotels owners come up with their best offers to attract customers. The aim is to create an economic momentum from which everyone can benefit and contribute to the local economy in the end.

In Kuwait, for reasons unknown to us, the government deliberately stands against any kind of joy and happiness in the country. Music is banned in cafes, hotels and restaurants, while the government allows late night parties in restaurants and hotels, but posts detectives there to arrest anyone who dares to dance or move his shoulders with the music.

The interior ministry mobilized its entire security sectors, and particularly asked the detectives not to go after criminals, drug smugglers, those speeding on the roads or trading in Iqamas, or arrest the corrupt or the bribe takers but go after the New Year revelers.

The Kuwaitiya newspaper said on the eve of the New Year, the security men were deployed across all hotels, camps, chalets and residential areas largely inhabited by bachelors.

What prompted mobilizing all this force? Was it for security, as the ministry claimed? Or was it for political reasons so that the government and interior minister could appear as righteous and concerned about religion and conduct in order to appease political Islam groups in the country?

On of the ironies in this country is that the government claims that it is fighting the Muslim Brotherhood and the political Islam groups following the latest events in the UAE, while we practically see that the government is still flirting with this faction, is doing everything to appease it. It is continuing with its old policy of supporting the political Islam movement while going after the Kuwaiti youth who want to celebrate.

What is the message that the government wanted to deliver to the Kuwait youth who were looking for joy and happiness, and sought to celebrate the New Year in their own way at a private place without causing any harm anyone? The government delivered more than one message by banning the youth from celebrating.

It sent signals that it no more recognized the constitution and the laws that allow the holding of private parties at homes or camps as long as they do not harm others. The government did not go after extremist young men, some of whom are involved with extremist political parties that train and send them for carrying out Jihadi activities abroad.

The question is which are these youth who the government is trying to keep away from celebrating? Of course, they are not from the well-to-do class that holds parties in their palaces and homes, as no one approaches those. Are these middle class youth? Surely not, since they left Kuwait for Dubai, Bahrain, Cairo and Beirut as their number is estimated at 54,000 and they make 100 outbound trips.

These are all children of the poor. These are the youth are being targeted by the interior ministry.

The government was supposed to do what it used to during Kuwait’s days of glory, which was to advise the people not to drive their cars at night after partying, especially when drunk, to avoid accidents. There are many security issues that need to be tackled instead of going after the youth on the New Year’s eve. — Al-Watan

Why do various countries in the world celebrate the New Year? They celebrate this happy occasion to renew their commitment and optimism about the New Year and also as a means for boosting tourism and shopping. Such celebrations also lead to spreading happiness and joy among the youth who are the backbone of every society.

Attacks on innocent civilians, Kuwaitis or expats are really becoming a worrisome issue, regardless of the reason involved.

Some cite one or the other reason or allegations that someone was abused. Some are being attributed to a mentally sick person.

Today, I think I am going to change my view due to an increasing number of crimes, particularly murders.

Attacks on innocent civilians, Kuwaitis or expats, are really becoming a worrisome issue, regardless of the reason involved. Some cite one or the other reason or allegations that someone was abused. Some are being attributed to a mentally sick person. The fact remains that these remain unacceptable and fit into the definition of terrorism.

A Filipina woman, Marissa, was raped by a police man. How scary can things become? If you cannot trust a police man, then whom should one trust? She came to Kuwait in 2006 for work. It is 2013 now. She has not seen her family since then. Recently, she claimed she was raped by a policeman.

Marissa has spoken to the local media where she stated that on the evening of Sept 30, she and her female friend came out from a mall and while they were in a cab on their way home, they were stopped by a police car. At that time, her visa had expired and it was under renewal and with her new sponsor.

The police man let her friend leave while she was taken in the police car to a deserted place where she was raped inside the police patrol car. She was also stabbed with a knife on the neck and back and was left bleeding along the roadside. Later, someone found her and took her to a hospital. It sounds like a horror movie’s plot.

Such crimes are damaging the reputation of Kuwait. A corrupt and sick policeman did this.

Now, I would assume that this woman hopefully will do her best to make it easy for the police to catch that beast because if he was to go free, there is every possibility that he will again indulge in such crimes.

Recently, a cop killed his colleague at the police station. I believe the Ministry of Interior is responsible for all its force and if they fail to catch a suspect who was not one of their own men, I doubt if they will be able to catch someone who worked for them.

Clearly, here was a policeman with a dirty and sick mind who must receive severe punishment.

I salute the courage of this lady who fought for her life and still remains determined to fight until this man goes to jail, inshallah for life.

She prays that she is able to see her family soon and that this man receives his punishment.

kuwait digest

Gulf Cup of Nations

By Mubarak Al-Maosharji

S

ince its inception in 1970 in Bahrain, the Gulf Cup of Nations has been one of the most anticipated events for people in the Gulf States. The competition proved to be a positive exercise that helped in improving the level of the sport in all seven participating countries who prepared for it to best standards. The effort ultimately helped four nations to qualify for the World Cup. With the 21st edition of the tournament around the corner, many are asking for ending this biennial tradition citing significant drop in performance as well as the fact that football enthusiasts in the Gulf region have shifted their attention to European competitions.

In their words, people behind these calls say that the Gulf Cup was no longer the platform for regional football stars to shine, such as Jassem Yaqoub and Fathi Kameel from Kuwait, Mohammad Da’iya’ and Saied Al-Owairan from Saudi Arabia, Fuad BuShaqr and Hmoud Sultan from Bahrain, Adnan Al-Telyani and Zuhair Bkhait from the United Arab Emirates, Husain Saied and Ali Kazim from Iraq, Hani Al-Thabit and Ismail Ajmi from Oman, and Ali Al-Nunu and Waleed Al-Oufi from Yemen.

Instead, they argue that the competition has become an opportunity for ‘sheikhs’ and ruling family members to wallow in the spotlight after the on-field performance became discouraging for fans.

On the other hand, there are people who continue to back the Gulf Cup since they believe that the benefits go beyond the football field. The ‘Khaliji’ tournament for some is a symbol of the anticipated unity among Gulf States. The argument is that the current lackluster performance seen in the field was only a temporary phase that will soon take a happy turn. After all, performance swings are not something strange in the world of football.

I hope Kuwaiti fans continue to support the national team which looks forward to retain the title they won in Yemen in 2010 and return home with the Gulf Cup of Nations which is synonymous with Kuwait’s national football team. — Al-Rai

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

Venezuela assembly meets amid Chavez health crisis

Fugitive Saddam deputy lends support to Sunni protests Page 8

Page 9

NEW DELHI: Indian children paint messages during a gathering to mourn the death of a 23-year old rape victim in New Delhi, India, yesterday. Passers-by refused to stop to help a naked, bleeding gang-rape victim after she was dumped from a bus onto a New Delhi street, and police delayed taking her to a hospital for 30 minutes, the woman’s male companion said in an interview. — AP

Rape victim’s friend recounts attack Revelations stir anger on Delhi streets NEW DELHI: Passers-by refused to stop to help a naked, bleeding gang-rape victim after she was dumped from a bus onto a New Delhi street, and police delayed taking her to a hospital for 30 minutes, the woman’s male companion said in an interview. It was his first public account of the gruesome attack that killed the 23-year-old student and prompted demands for reform of a law enforcement culture seen as lax in crimes against women.

The gang-rape victim’s brother blamed a delay in medical treatment of nearly two hours for her death last week in a Singapore hospital.

The woman’s male companion, who has not been named, sat in a wheelchair with a broken leg in his interview aired Friday on Indian TV station Zee News. He recounted the 2 1/2 hour rape and beating by a group of men on a bus, which the pair had boarded as they were returning from seeing a movie together.

“I gave a tough fight to three of them. I punched them hard. But then two others hit me with an iron rod,” he said. The woman tried to call the police using her mobile phone, but the men took it away from her, he said. They then took her to the rear seats of the bus and one-by-one began raping her, beating and violating her with an iron rod.

Afterward, he overheard some of the attack-

ers saying the woman was dead before dumping both onto the street, he said. Yesterday, police officer Vivek Gogia denied the companion’s assertion that police officers debated jurisdiction for 30 minutes before taking the rape victim and her friend to a hospital. In a statment, Gogia said police vans reached the spot where the rape victim and her friend were dumped within three minutes of receiving the alert. “Police vans left the spot for hospital with the victims within 10 minutes,” he said.

That time was spent in borrowing bed sheets from a neighboring hotel to cover the naked rape victim and her friend, he said.

Meanwhile, the rape victim’s brother said the delay in providing medical treatment led to complications which perhaps caused her death. “She told me that after the incident she had asked passers-by for help but to no avail, and it was only after the highway patrol alerted the police that she was rushed to hospital, but it had taken almost two hours,” the Press Trust of India quoted the brother as saying in his ancestral village, Medawara Kala, in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

“By then a lot of blood was lost,” he said. The 23-year-old woman died last weekend from massive internal injuries suffered during the attack. Authorities charged five men with her

murder and rape and were holding a sixth suspect believed to be a juvenile. A hearing in the case was scheduled for yesterday.

On the night of the attack, the woman and her companion had just finished watching the movie “Life of Pi” at an upscale mall and were looking for a ride home. An autorickshaw driver declined to take them, so they boarded the private bus with the six assailants inside, the companion told Zee News.

After the pair were on the bus for a while, the men started harassing and attacking them.

“The attack was so brutal I can’t even tell you ... even animals don’t behave like that,” the man said. The men dumped their bleeding and naked bodies under an overpass. The woman’s companion waved to passersby on bikes, in autorickshaws and in cars for help, but no one stopped. “They slowed down, looked at our naked bodies and left,” he said.

“My friend was grievously injured and bleeding profusely,” he said. “Cars, autos and bikes slowed down and sped away. I kept waving for help. The ones who stopped stared at us, discussing what could have happened.

Nobody did anything.”

After about 20 minutes, three police vans arrived, but the officers argued over who had jurisdiction over the crime as the man pleaded

for clothes and an ambulance, he said. Finally, he said, they were taken to a hospital.

The man said he was given no medical care.

He then spent four days at the police station helping police investigate the crime. He said he visited his friend in the hospital, told her the attackers were arrested and promised to fight for her. Authorities have not named the man because of the sensitivity of the case. Zee News also declined to give his name, although it did show his face during the interview. Indian law prohibits the disclosure of the identity of victims in rape cases, and police have opened an investigation into the TV station for broadcasting the interview, New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said yesterday. Violators of the law can face up to two years in prison and a fine. The woman’s companion said he gave the TV interview because he hopes it will encourage rape victims to come forward and speak about their ordeals without shame. He said his friend was determined to see that the attackers were punished. “She gave all details of the crime to the magistrate - things we can’t even talk about,” he said. “She told me that the culprits should be burnt alive.”

He added, “People should move ahead in the struggle to prevent a similar crime happening again as a tribute to her.” Most people in

India are reluctant to get involved in police business because once they become witnesses, they can be dragged into legal cases that can go on for years. Also, Indian police are often seen less as protectors and more as harassers.

On Friday, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde called for changes in the law and the way police investigate cases so justice can be swiftly delivered. Many rape cases are bogged down in India’s overburdened and sluggish court system for years.

In the wake of the rape, several petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court to take an active role in the issue of women’s safety.

On Friday, the court dismissed a petition asking it to suspend Indian lawmakers accused of crimes against women, saying it doesn’t have jurisdiction, according to the Press Trust of India.

The Association for Democratic Reforms, an organization that tracks officials’ criminal records, said six state lawmakers are facing rape prosecutions and two national parliamentarians are facing charges of crimes against women that fall short of rape. However, the court did agree to look into the widespread creation of more fast-track courts for accused rapists across the country. — AP

Shell hits Damascus Christian district

BEIRUT: A shell hit a Christian area of Damascus and a car bomb exploded elsewhere in the Syrian capital yesterday, a watchdog said, as clashes raged around an airport in the north of the country that rebels have sought to capture.

“A shell was fired on Bab Tuma,” a Christian quarter of Damascus’s old city, said the Syrian Observatory for Human rights, without specifying exactly where it landed or where it was fired from.

Bab Tuma was targeted for the first time in the 21month conflict by a car bomb in October that killed at least 13 people, but has been spared the violent clashes that have torn apart the rest of the country.

Early yesterday, a car bomb blast rocked the Rokn Eddin neighbourhood in the north of the capital, the Observatory said, but gave no further details. In the north of the country, President Bashar al-Assad’s army bombarded rebels positions in Aleppo province and clashes broke out between insurgents and troops in the areas around Aleppo international airport, the Observatory said. Rebels have launched numer-

ous assaults over the past few days to try to take the strategic airport of Syria’s hard fought-over second city. The airport was closed for two days from Tuesday after repeated insurgent attacks, and had to shut again on Friday due to “thick fog,” the authorities said.

It would reopen later yesterday, an airport official told AFP, saying the army had successfully repelled the attacks and driven off the rebels. The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground for its information, said 50 people were killed in fighting across the country yesterday, according to preliminary figures. It gave a death toll of 130 for Friday, in a conflict which started out as a peaceful uprising in March 2011 and which the UN says has killed 60,000 people since it turned violent early on. Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi will visit Egypt on January 9 for a two-day trip aimed at discussing the Syria crisis and Tehran-Cairo bilateral talks, media reports said yesterday. Salehi will meet his counterpart Mohammed Kamel Amr and President Mohamed

Morsi during his stay in Cairo, said Mojtaba Amani, the head of Tehran’s interests section in the Egyptian capital, according to the ISNA news agency. Egypt’s official MENA news agency, quoting Amr who is on a visit to Riyadh, said Salehi’s visit was taking place in the context of “reviving the initiative of President Mohamed Morsi as per the contact group on Syria.”

Salehi was in Cairo in mid-September for a meeting of the contact group on conflict-stricken Syria. The group also includes Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Iran staunchly supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, in contrast with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey which have all called for his ouster amid the unabated violence gripping the country. The ISNA report did not specify whether Salehi’s visit is part of a specific diplomatic mission or was taking place within the framework of the Syria contact group. Iranian diplomat Amani said only that Salehi is expected to discuss “bilateral issues, the issue of Syria as well as other regional and international matters” with Egyptian officials. —AFP

ALEPPO: Syrians walk in the courtyard the St Elie Rest Home, founded in 1863, in Aleppo on January 02, 2013. The ageing Christians holed up inside the retirement home in the devastated northern Syrian city of Aleppo have no light, no telephone lines, and little idea of what is happening in the outside world. — AFP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

US begins deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey IZMIR: The US deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey began yesterday to help the country defend against any possible threats from neighboring Syria in the throes of a civil war. “The deployment started early this morning into Incirlik” in southeastern Turkey, Peter Woodmansee, missile defense chief of the US European Command said yesterday.

“Several aircraft landed very early this morning with the advance party personnel from 3-2 Air Defense Artillery (ADA) - the Patriot unit-arriving as well.” US military personnel and equipment began arriving Friday at Incirlik Air Base to support NATO’s Patriot batteries deployment at Ankara’s request. The United States will transport some 400 troops to Turkey in the

next several days to operate two Patriot batteries, the Stuttgart, Germany-based US European Command said in a statement on Friday.

Additional equipment will arrive by sea later in January. The Americans will be based at Gaziantep, 50 kilometers north of the Syrian border. “The 23 US team members at Gaziantep are determining specific site preparations the US and the government of Turkey must complete before we put the Patriot firing batteries at Gaziantep,” said Woodmansee. “Specifically, living area requirements, logistics, communications, safety and operational aspects of protecting the population in and around Gaziantep in support of the NATO defensive mission.”

Germany, The Netherlands and the United States agreed to supply the ground-to-air missile batteries, which Turkey requested after repeated cross-border shelling from Syria, including an October attack that killed five civilians. The Germans will be based at Kahramanmaras, located about 100 kilometers north of the Syrian border; the Dutch at Adana, about 100 kilometers west of the border. The Patriot systems are expected to become operational later this month.

Syria’s allies Iran and Russia however are opposed to the Patriot deployment, fearing that it could spark regional conflict also drawing in NATO. “This mission is purely defensive in nature,” said Woodmansee.

The Patriots would be deployed “50 kilometers

from the border in the vicinity of the town of Gaziantep for the NATO defensive mission to augment Turkey’s air defense to de-escalate the situation along the Alliance’s border.”

Woodmansee said that the deployment of the Patriot systems 50 kilometers from the border would not compromise the effectiveness of the systems. “Not at all-the NATO mission is to protect the population.

This is why the US, Dutch and German units will deploy near population centers,” he said. NATO-member Turkey, a one-time Damascus ally, has turned into one of its most vocal opponents over the 21-month civil war in Syria that monitors say has killed about 60,000 people. — AFP

Fugitive Saddam deputy lends support to Sunni protests Douri warns of ‘Safavid project’ to destroy Iraq

Jalal Talabani

Iraq president Talabani recovering from stroke BAGHDAD: Iraq’s ailing president is responding to treatment and is making progress in recovering from a stroke last month, the leader’s office said yesterday.

The brief statement described Jalal Talabani’s condition as “reassuring” and said his medical team has started him on a course of rehabilitation. It added that he “has passed the difficult stages faster than expected,” but the statement did not provide details about the president’s current health nor did it say whether he is able to communicate.

The president’s office released the statement following a report late Friday in the French newspaper Le Figaro that described Talabani as “clinically dead,” citing unnamed Kurdish officials. Talabani’s office rejected the report, calling it “totally baseless.”

Talabani, a 79-year-old senior Kurdish leader, was flown to Germany for treatment more than two weeks ago. The Berlin hospital where he is being treated declined yes-

terday to comment on Talabani’s health, citing patient confidentiality. It would only confirm that he is still being treated there.

Telephone calls to Talabani’s spokesman yesterday went unanswered. Questions have swirled about the seriousness of the president’s condition, with several officials saying Talabani slipped into a coma soon after he was rushed to a Baghdad hospital on the evening of Dec. 17. No images of him have been released since that date.

The president’s illness has injected further uncertainty into Iraq’s political future as unrest grows in the country’s Sunni areas over detainees held by the Shiite-led government and the Sunni minority’s complaints of perceived second-class status.

The Iraqi presidency is a largely ceremonial role, with the prime minister acting as the head of government. But Talabani has at times played an important role in mediating disputes among Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian factions. — AP

BAGHDAD: The most senior member of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s entourage still at large has urged Sunni Muslim anti-government protesters to stand their ground until Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is toppled.

Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri heads Saddam’s Baath party, which was banned after the US-led invasion in 2003 that overthrew the Sunni strongman and empowered majority Shi’ite Muslims.

Over the past two weeks, tens of thousands of Sunnis, some waving Saddam-era flags, have staged demonstrations in a show of anger against Maliki, whom they accuse of marginalising their community and monopolising power.

“The people of Iraq and all its nationalist and Islamic forces support you until the realisation of your just demands for the fall of the SafavidPersian alliance,” said Douri, addressing the protesters in footage broadcast on Alarabiya television. Safavid is a reference to the ruling dynasty of Shi’ite Iran from the 16th to 18th centuries that at times also controlled parts of modernday Iraq. Since Maliki came to office in 2006, Iraq has edged closer to neighbouring Iran, which wields strong influence over several Iraqi Shi’ite parties.

Surrounded by men in military uniform, Douri said the Baath party leadership was considering launching a campaign to “justly and decisively” punish civilians and soldiers who supported what he described as Iran’s “Safavid project” for Iraq. “It is a clear plan to destroy Iraq and annex it to Iran,” he said. “We warn those traitors, agents and spies ... who support the dangerous project ... that the national resistance will confront them before Maliki and his evil alliance”.

The authenticity of the video could not be verified. Douri said he was speaking from the Iraqi province of Babil.

Influential Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a rival to Maliki who has voiced support for the Sunni rallies, said Douri and his followers were agents of the United States and Israel and urged protesters to denounce him.

“If the government is not able to seriously and urgently capture (or kill) him, this will be our job, we the soldiers of God upon earth,” he said in a statement on his website.

Douri, seldom seen since 2003, was the deputy head of Iraq’s Revolutionary Command Council under Saddam, and took over the Baath Party leadership after Saddam was executed in

An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on Friday allegedly shows Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, Saddam Hussein’s vice president and the highest-ranking member of his regime still on the run, reading a prepared statement behind a desk with a small Saddam-era flag atop it at an undisclosed location, in the video, witch authenticity and date could not be verified, Duri backed ongoing rallies in Sunni-majority areas of Iraq. The 70-year-old voiced support for protests being held in mostly-Sunni areas in west and north Iraq that have been airing a multitude of grievances with the Shiite-led government. — AFP 2006. After the 2003 invasion, he was ranked sixth on the US military’s list of 55 most wanted Iraqis and a $10 million reward was offered for his capture. US officials accused him of organizing the insurgency that peaked in 2005-07.

The conflict in neighbouring Syria, where a Sunni-led insurgency is fighting to remove a leader backed by Shi’ite Iran, is whipping up sectarian tension across the region and straining a precarious political balance between Iraq’s Sunni, Shi’ite and Kurdish factions.

That has raised concern about a relapse into intercommunal slaughter in Iraq just over a year since U.S. troops withdrew. A car bomb parked near a vegetable and fruit market in the town of Kanaan in Diyala province killed two people yesterday, police said, in an attack the mayor blamed on Baathists seeking to ignite sectarian strife by targeting mixed areas.

The protests in Iraq’s Sunni Muslim heartland pose a new challenge to Maliki, who is already at

odds with the autonomous Kurdish region in the north. Iyad Allawi, the head of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya political bloc, on Friday called on Maliki to resign and for an interim government to be formed until early elections.

Failing that, Maliki’s alliance should select an alternative prime minister and form a government that would respect the constitution, Allawi said in a statement. “The continuation of this government will not produce anything except more crises and waste of public money.”

The latest crisis gathered pace just hours after President Jalal Talabani, seen as a steadying influence On Iraq, suffered a stroke and was flown abroad for medical care.

Talabani’s medical team said yesterday the 79-year-old Kurd was responding very well to treatment and had “passed the difficult stages more quickly than expected”, but gave no details about his health or whether he is able to communicate. — Reuters

Egypt ex-minister cleared of graft

SANAA: Yemeni Military Police show off their skills during a ceremony to inaugurate the first phase of combat and operational training for 2013 in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, yesterday. — AFP

Centre-left parties to join forces against Israel’s PM JERUSALEM: Israel’s main centre-left parties may join forces against conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Jan 22 election that he is currently forecast to win easily, one of the challengers said yesterday. Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, head of the centrist Hatenuah party, said on Twitter that she would meet counterparts from the kindred Yesh Atid and left-leaning Labour “to discuss the creation of a ‘united front’ to work together to replace Netanyahu”.

Opinion polls see the three parties taking around 37 of parliament’s 120 seats in the vote - collectively, enough to best the some 35 projected for Netanyahu’s joint rightist list and, potentially, to form the next Israeli coalition government.

Netanyahu is a two-term premier who takes credit for the relative stability of the Israeli economy and appeals to the Jewish state’s burgeoning religious-nationalist sectors by championing the settlement of occupied land. He has sounded hawkish on the Palestinians and Iran but avoided big conflicts.

Israel’s festering international isolation has been seized on by Livni, who as top diplomat in the former government pursued inconclusive talks on founding a Palestinian state. The leaders of Yesh Atid and Labour, Yair Lapid and Shelly Yachimovich, are new to politics and known to much of the public from their former jobs as television commentators. Their campaigns have focused largely on social

reform. Any alliance of the Netanyahu challengers would likely require that they agree power-shares and policies in advance.

Yachimovich said this week she intended either to be the next prime minister or to sit in opposition, and that Labor would not join a Netanyahu-led government. Livni and Lapid have yet to do the same.

“A unified move by ... all those who seek to change the government will be real and meaningful only if such parties act as we did,” Yachimovich said in a statement confirming that she had agreed to meet Livni.

By collectively ruling out a future coalition partnership with Netanyahu, Yachimovich said, challengers could “plant enormous hope in the heart of the public ... and bring about grassroots mobilization for a determined and spirited struggle”.

Lapid played down his scheduled meeting with Livni, telling Reuters that he would go at her invitation “because I’m a polite man”. He said he had not agreed to discuss uniting the parties. The Netanyahu government was unfazed by Livni’s initiative. “I wish that the other side, to the left, would coalesce, because that would hone the differences between us,” Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon of the ruling Likud said in a speech. In an apparent dig at Lapid and Yachimovich, Yaalon rued “the immodesty and immaturity in the desire of certain people to jump straight into the cold water of being prime minister, without passing through any stations along the way”. — Reuters

CAIRO: Faruq Hosni, who was Egypt’s culture minister for more than two decades under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, was cleared yesterday of corruption charges, a judicial source said.

A criminal court in the Giza suburb of Cairo “found Faruq Hosni not guilty on charges of corruption and illegal enrichment,” the source said.

In September, state media reported that he had been accused of illegally acquiring 18 million Egyptian pounds (nearly $3 million).

Hosni was also accused of “abuse of power in the exercise of his duties.” The judicial source said that yesterday, Hosni denied all the charges against him. He told the court he had “worked for 23 years in the culture ministry, overseeing cultural works worth billions, and without the slightest temptation to monopolise them.”

Hosni was placed on a travel ban, along with a host of officials, shortly after the uprising that brought Mubarak’s regime down in February 2011, but the ban was later lifted. The decision to prosecute him came after a long investigation during which Hosni “could not provide legitimate sources for the wealth he accrued,” the official MENA news agency said.

The former minister stirred controversy abroad over statements in which he told an Islamist MP that he would personally burn any Israeli books found in Egyptian libraries. Many

believe that those remarks cost him his bid to head the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 2009.

He blamed a “Zionist lobby” for his defeat after Bulgarian diplomat Irina Bokova won the post. Egypt’s national heritage was reported to have suffered under Hosni, with many buildings and establishments neglected during his long tenure.

In 2010, a painting by Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh valued at more than $50 million was stolen from the Mahmoud Khalil museum in central Cairo. Several hours after the theft, Hosni announced that the painting had been recovered, but was forced to backtrack later and sought to divert blame for the premature announcement to a ministry employee.

The investigation into the theft showed that of 47 surveillance cameras installed in the museum, 30 had not been working since 2006 and that most of the time, only one security guard was on duty.

The theft exposed the deplorable security in several Egyptian museums, many housing priceless artefacts that date back to the Islamic and ancient Egyptian periods.

Hosni found himself on a long list of Mubarak-era ministers, officials and businessmen facing prosecution on corruption charges.

Egypt’s Culture Minister Faruq Hosni Former prime minister Ahmed Nazif was sentenced last September 13 to three years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of nine million Egyptian pounds ($1.5 million) for illegal enrichment.

Mubarak himself and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal-once the country’s symbols of wealth and power-were acquitted in a corruption trial on a technicality. But the deposed despot was later jailed for life in June last year for his part in the deaths of protesters seeking to overthrow his regime. — AFP

Saudi denies hitting Al-Qaeda in Yemen RIYADH: Saudi Arabian fighter jets have not attacked Al-Qaeda targets in Yemen, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said yesterday, denying a newspaper report that some strikes attributed to US drones were made instead by the kingdomís air force. Britainís Times newspaper on Friday cited an unnamed US intelligence source as saying ìsome of the so-called drone missions are actually Saudi Air Force missionsî.

Asked to comment by reporters in Riyadh on Saturday, Prince Saud said, ìThis is not true.î He did not elaborate. Any evidence of Saudi involvement in air strikes in Yemen risks damaging Riyadhís efforts to target militants there by complicating its relationship

with the government in Sanaa and with Yemeni tribal leaders, who control large parts of the country, including areas where AlQaeda members are present.

Washington and Riyadh fear turbulence in impoverished Yemen could allow Al-Qaeda a launchpad to attack Saudi energy targets and crude tankers in the Red Sea, a major oil shipping route. US drones are used to target suspected militants in Yemen and other countries without risking ground troops or air crews. US officials acknowledge the use of drones against Al-Qaeda internationally but do not discuss operational details. Some of the leaders of regional wing Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are Saudi nationals

and they have sworn to bring down the kingdomís ruling Al-Saud family.

Western intelligence agencies have credited Riyadh with foiling attacks planned by AQAP on international targets, including airlines. In November two Saudi border guards were shot dead in a fight with suspected militants attempting to cross the long, porous desert border. Security experts in the No 1 oil exporter say Saudi Arabia views militants in Yemen as its most immediate security threat.

The last time Saudi Arabiaís air force was actively deployed was during a late-2009 conflict with Houthi rebels in north Yemen who had carried out cross-border raids into the kingdom. — Reuters

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

No rush by US women in military to join infantry WASHINGTON: If or when the Pentagon lets women become infantry troops - the country’s front-line warfighters - how many women will want to? The answer is probably not many.

Interviews with a dozen female soldiers and Marines showed little interest in the toughest fighting jobs. They believe they’d be unable to do them, even as the Defense Department inches toward changing its rules to allow women in direct ground combat jobs.

In fact, the Marines asked women last year to go through its tough infantry officer training to see how they would fare. Only two volunteered and both failed to complete the fall course. None has volunteered for the next course this month. The failure rate for men is roughly 25 percent. For the record, plenty of men don’t want to be in the infantry either, though technically could be assigned there involuntarily, if needed. That’s rarely known to happen.

“The job I want to do in the military does not include combat arms,” Army Sgt. Cherry Sweat said of infantry, armor and artillery occupations.

She installed communications equipment in 2008 in Iraq but doesn’t feel mentally or physically prepared for fighting missions. “I enjoy supporting the soldiers,” said Sweat, stationed in South Carolina. “The choice to join combat arms should be a personal decision, not a required one.” Added Marine Gunnery Sgt Shanese L Campbell, who had administrative

duties during her service in Iraq: “I actually love my job. ... I’ve been doing it for 15 years, so I don’t plan on changing my job skills.”

She’s an administrative officer at Twentynine Palms in California, serving in a once all-male tank battalion as part of a Marine Corps experiment to study how opening more jobs to women might work. A West Point graduate working in the Pentagon estimates she’s known thousands of women over her 20-year army career and said there’s no groundswell of interest in combat jobs among female colleagues she knows. She asked to remain anonymous because in the military’s warrior culture, it’s a sensitive issue to be seen as not wanting to fight, she said.

But her observations echoed research of the 1990s, another time of big change in the military, when interviews with more than 900 Army women found that most didn’t want fighting jobs and many felt the issue was being pushed by “feminists” not representing the majority, said RAND Corporation sociologist Laura Miller.

Much has happened for women since then in American society and the military. Foremost in the military is perhaps that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars changed the face of combat and highlighted the need for women to play new roles. Women already can be assigned to some combat arms jobs such as operating the Patriot missile system or field artillery radar, but offensive front-line fighting jobs will be the

hardest nut to crack. Many believe women eventually could be in the infantry, but the Pentagon for years has been moving slowly on that front. In April 1993, the Pentagon directed the opening of combat aviation occupations and warship assignments to females; the Navy and Air Force responded by opening thousands of jobs. Neither of those steps put women in the most lethal occupations such as infantry or tank units. Policy barred them not only from specific jobs but also from doing traditional jobs in smaller units closest to the front.

That arrangement came apart in Iraq and Afghanistan, where battle lines were jagged and insurgents could be anywhere. Some women in support jobs, including logistics officers bringing supply convoys to troops, found themselves in firefights or targeted by roadside bombs. Women were sent on patrol with men to search and get information from local women whose culture didn’t allow male soldiers to do so. Developments over the past decade have been a main argument from those wanting more openings for women. So has the issue of equal opportunity and the fact that combat service gives troops an advantage for promotions, the lack of it leaving women disadvantaged in trying to move to the higher ranks.

“If there are women able to meet the required standard, then why not let them fight if they so desire?” said Maj Elizabeth L Alexander. Since 2002, she’s served in Pakistan

Venezuela assembly meets amid Chavez health crisis Chavez can be sworn in by court CARACAS: Venezuela’s National Assembly met yesterday to elect its leadership and to thrash out the country’s political future as President Hugo Chavez battles cancer in Cuba and debate rages over whether he can be sworn in to a new term next week. The lawmakers’ vote will be a key political test for the assembly’s current leader Diosdado Cabello, the regime’s number three and a perceived rival for power with Vice President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez’s handpicked successor. Both men have denied persistent reports of a power struggle between them and vowed to maintain party unity.

In convening the session, Cabello called on Chavez supporters to rally outside the parliament building “to exhort revolutionary unity and head off the campaign of rumors.” Cabello was expected to win reelection as president of the assembly, which is controlled by Chavez’s United Socialist

Party of Venezuela (PSUV). But if he fails to keep his post, it would give credence to the view that a fight for dominance in a post-Chavez Venezuela is already under way. So far, Chavez has refused to relinquish power despite four rounds of surgery and debilitating complications that have kept him out of public view in Havana for nearly a month, the longest stretch in his 14 years in power.

“The official version of what is happening is unsustainable,” the head of the main opposition coalition, Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, said in an interview with AFP and digital news outlet Noticias24. Aveledo said it would make more sense for the government to acknowledge “the truth” and use it to prepare the country for what is to come. But it “doesn’t want to admit that the president is absent.” Maduro, for his part, vehemently rejected that position in a television appearance late Friday, laying out a legal rationale

CARACAS: Supporters of the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez shout slogans outside the National Assembly in Caracas yesterday. Venezuelan lawmakers gathered yesterday for a key leadership vote and debate as President Hugo Chavez’s battle with cancer appeared almost certain to delay his swearing-in for a new six year term. — AFP

for delaying the president’s swearingin to a new six-year term for an unspecified period of time while keeping Chavez in office.

With a pocket-sized constitution in hand, Maduro argued that the charter provides “a dynamic flexibility” that allows the president to take the oath of office before the Supreme Court at some later date. It was the clearest signal yet that Chavez, who is fighting off complications from cancer surgery in Cuba, will not be taking the oath of office as scheduled on January 10.

Chavez, 58, was re-elected on October 7 despite his debilitating battle with cancer and the strongest opposition challenge yet to his 14-year rule in Venezuela, an OPEC member with the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

He underwent his fourth round of surgery more than four weeks ago and has developed a “severe pulmonary infection” that has raised doubts about his fitness to continue serving. He has not been seen in public in nearly four weeks, and only his family, a handful of senior officials and his Cuban medical team are known to have seen him as he battles to regain his health in a Havana hospital. Under Venezuela’s constitution, new elections must be held within 30 days if the president dies or is permanently incapacitated either before he takes office or in the first four years of his six-year term.

The rector of the Central University of Venezuela, Cecilia Garcia Arocha, proposed sending a team of medical experts to Havana to assess his condition. Opposition leader Antonio Ledezma said it should include opposition figures. Cancer was first detected by Cuban doctors in June 2011, but the Venezuelan government has never revealed what form of the disease Chavez is battling. Beyond the constitutional controversies surrounding his prolonged absence, Venezuelans also are coming to terms with the death or disability of their longtime leader. — AFP

Ex-congresswoman visits shooting victim’s families NEWTOWN: Former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, nearly two years after being critically wounded in a mass shooting, has met with families of victims in last month’s shooting that left 26 people dead inside an elementary school. Giffords was accompanied Friday by her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, at the private meeting in Newtown that was also attended by US Sen Richard Blumenthal.

“As always, I was deeply impressed by the strength and courage and resolve of the families and the extraordinary caring and generosity of Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly in visiting with them,” Blumenthal said. Giffords, a Democrat, met earlier in the day with officials including Connecticut’s lieutenant governor and Newtown’s first selectman. Giffords was left partially blind, with a paralyzed right arm and brain injury, when a gunman opened fire at a constituent meetand-greet outside a Tucson grocery store on Jan 8, 2011.

Arizona’s chief federal judge and five others were killed and 13 people, including Giffords, were injured.

The gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, pleaded guilty to 19 federal charges and was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years. Kelly has become a vocal advocate for gun control in recent months, most notably at Loughner’s sentencing in November. He lashed out at politicians for avoiding a “meaningful debate” about gun laws and called out Arizona Republicans, including the governor, for taking a pro-gun stance in the months after the shooting. “As a nation we have repeatedly passed up the opportunity to address the issue. After Columbine, after Virginia Tech, after Tucson and after Aurora, we have done nothing,” he told the court.

He has issued strongly worded statements many times since the massacre in Connecticut, including a harsh response to the National Rifle Association’s reaction to the shooting. He often begins statements with “Gabby and I” as he makes pointed comments about the direction of the gun debate in America. Kelly said on the day of the Newtown shooting that it should lead to better gun control. “This time our response must consist of more than regret, sorrow, and condolence,” Kelly said on his Facebook page, calling for “a

meaningful discussion about our gun laws and how they can be reformed and better enforced to prevent gun violence and death in America.”

Blumenthal said he is eager to find allies as he pursues tougher gun control laws. “I’m hopeful that everyone who cares about this issue or has a stake in it will be active in supporting our effort in gun violence prevention legislatively,” he said. Giffords’ visit came one day after Connecticut Gov Dannel P Malloy announced the creation of an advisory commission that will review and recommend changes to state laws and policies on issues including gun control in the wake of the Dec. 14 rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The gunman, Adam Lanza, shot and killed his mother, then drove to the school and slaughtered 20 first-graders and six educators before committing suicide as police arrived.

Giffords has appeared in public a few times since the shooting. She came face-to-face with Loughner when he was sentenced and attended ceremonies for the anniversary of the shooting. She received tributes and ovations when she returned to the House in January 2012 to say goodbye as she resigned her seat and she delivered the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic National Convention in September. On Wednesday, two days before she visited the Newtown families, she and Kelly met for an hour with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a longtime and vociferous gun control advocate. Bloomberg’s office tweeted a photo of the meeting but wouldn’t elaborate Friday on the discussion.

President Barack Obama invoked the Tucson and Newtown elementary school shootings when he spoke at Newtown shortly after the attack. He said four shootings, including those two plus the attacks at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, marked his first term in office. A recent Pew Research Center report says gun policy accounted for almost 30 percent of discussions examined on blogs and Twitter in the three days after the school massacre. It compares the response to the Newtown rampage with the Arizona shooting, saying that in the three days after that, just 3 percent of social media conversation was about gun laws. — AP

once and Iraq three times in supply and maintenance jobs and is now with the 3rd Army in South Carolina. More than 200,000 US women have served in the wars, 12 percent of the Americans sent. Of some 6,600 Americans killed, 152 were women; 84 of them were killed by enemy action and 68 in non-hostile circumstances such as accidents, illness and suicide.

In February, the department altered rules to reflect realities of the decade, opening some new jobs and officially allowing women into many jobs they were already doing, but in units closer to the fighting. The new policy still bans women from being infantry soldiers, Special Operations commandos, and others in direct combat, but opened some 14,000 previously male-only positions, mostly in the Army, such as artillery mechanic and rocket launcher crew member. More than 230,000 positions remain closed to women, who are 15 percent of the 1.4 million in all branches.

Hundreds of female soldiers began moving into once all-male battalions, taking jobs they already had trained for, such as in personnel, intelligence, signal corps, medicine and chaplaincy. Forty-five women Marines similarly went to battalions as part of a large research effort to gauge how women might do. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has been studying reports from the services to update him on progress with the newly opened positions, what’s being done to pursue gender-neutral

physical standards and what barriers remain and whether more positions can be opened.

Panetta could announce the next step in the coming weeks, which might mean anything from further openings to simply further study.

“Yes, there may be a small number of women who are interested,” said Katy Otto, spokeswoman for the Service Women’s Action Network, an equal opportunity advocacy group. “But does that mean they should be barred from entry?” Lory Manning of Women’s Research and Education Institute says female interest could be greater than expected. “I think they’ll be surprised by the number that will come forward,” said the 25-year Navy veteran who retired in the 1990s. She said the Navy faced a similar question then: Did women want to go to sea?

“If you asked someone in 1985 about going to sea, she would have been thinking: ‘Girls don’t do that and so I don’t want to do that,’” Manning said. “But when push came to shove, they did it, they loved it.” Changing the rules for a potential future draft would be a difficult proposition. The Supreme Court has ruled that because the Selective Service Act is aimed at creating a list of men who could be drafted for combat - and women are not in combat jobs American women aren’t required to register upon turning 18 as all males are. If combat jobs open to women, Congress would have to decide what to do about that law. — AP

Earthquake sparks tsunami warning JUNEAU: A powerful earthquake sparked a tsunami warning for hundreds of miles of Alaskan and Canadian coastline, but the alert was canceled when no damaging waves were generated. The magnitude 7.5 quake and tsunami warning that followed caused concern in some coastal communities, with alarms sounding and people rushing to higher ground for safety. But the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center later said the waves were too small to pose a threat, reaching just six inches above normal sea level in places such as Sitka and Port Alexander. “Initially, in the first 15 to 20 minutes, there might have been a bit of panic,” Sitka Police Chief Sheldon Schmitt told The Associated Press in a phone interview. But he said things calmed down as the town waited for the all clear.

The temblor struck at midnight Friday and was centered about 60 miles west of Craig, Alaska, the US Geological Survey said. “Houses shook; mine had things tossed from (the) wall,” Craig Police Chief Robert Ely said.

But he added that there were “no reports of any injuries, no wave, no tidal movement seen.” The tsunami warning was eventually expanded to include coastal areas from Cape Fair weather, Alaska, to the northern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada - an area extending more than 700 miles. The center had warned that “significant widespread inundation of land is expected,” adding that dangerous coastal flooding was possible. In its cancellation statement, the center said that some areas were seeing just small sea level changes. “A tsunami was generated

ALASKA: Charles Bingham heads back home with his cats after a tsunami warning was canceled yesterday in Sitka, Alaska, following a magnitude 7.5 earthquake. — AP during this event but no longer poses a threat,” the center said. The Alaska Earthquake Information Center said the quake was widely felt but it received no reports of any damage. “It was the most intense earthquake I’ve felt in my 10 years here. I’m pretty sure there was stuff falling off of shelves,” Chief Schmitt said. “There is no report of any wave activity here.” He said that an evacuation sirens and announcements came shortly after the quake, prompting the temporary rush to higher ground. — AP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

American Eagle pilot fails blood-alcohol test MINNEAPOLIS: An American Eagle pilot was suspended after failing a blood-alcohol test as he prepared to fly on Friday from Minneapolis to New York City, authorities said. Police at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport said officers and a Transportation Security Administration agent smelled alcohol as they passed the pilot waiting to get on an elevator. The pilot was conducting preflight checks at about 6 am when police boarded the aircraft, airport spokesman Patrick Hogan said.

Officers made him take a breath test and arrested him on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol, Hogan said. Passengers had not yet boarded the flight to New York’s LaGuardia Airport, he said. Hogan said airport police will wait until blood tests are processed before deciding whether to file charges against the pilot. Police identified the pilot as 48-year-old Kolbjorn Jarle Kristiansen. He was

released to airline employees several hours after his arrest. Federal rules prohibit pilots from flying within eight hours of drinking alcohol or if they have a blood-alcohol level of 0.04 or higher, half the level allowed for motorists.

Hogan said preliminary results from the breath test were well over the legal limit, but he declined to release the results. He said the “more precise” results from the blood test would be released when they’re available. The pilot has been suspended pending an investigation, said Matt Miller, a spokesman for American Airlines, which uses American Eagle to operate shorter connecting flights. Both airlines are owned by AMR Corp. Miller said the company is cooperating with authorities and will conduct an internal investigation.

A woman who answered the phone at a North Carolina number listed in Kristiansen’s name

referred inquiries to the Air Line Pilots Association, his union. She said he has been a member of the union for 23 years, but she declined further comment or to identify herself. Messages left with union officials were not immediately returned. The flight, with 53 passengers on board, was delayed about 2 1/2 hours while a replacement pilot was arranged, Miller said. It arrived in New York after noon. The pilot was taken to Fairview Southdale Hospital to have a blood sample taken, then was returned to airport police before being released, Hogan said.

Pilots face drug and alcohol testing when they seek a job, are involved in an accident or return from alcohol rehabilitation. Some are selected for random tests. More than 10,000 pilots are tested each year and about a dozen flunk the alcohol part a number that has remained mostly steady for more than a decade, according to federal statistics.

Twelve pilots failed the breath test in 2011, 10 in 2010, and 11 in 2009, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. “Your odds of having an impaired driver on the highway are much higher, but there’s a smaller margin for error in aviation,” said James Hall, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Drinking among pilots got more attention after notorious cases in the 1990s, including one in which a jur y convicted all three pilots of a Northwest Airlines flight of flying under the influence. Federal rules were tightened. Hall said most airlines and other transportation companies now have effective programs to identify and get treatment for employees with drug or alcohol problems.

But, he said, an incident like Friday’s should lead to a re-examination of protocols, including the 0.04 standard to testing procedures. — AP

C Africa rebels capture more towns ahead of talks ‘Talks would proceed as planned’

BELFAST: Loyalists flying British Union Flags march outside Belfast City Hall in protest over Belfast city council’s decision to restrict the number of days the Union Flag can be flown over the city hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland yesterday. Nine officers were injured and 18 people arrested in fresh violence overnight on the streets of Belfast, police said yesterday. —AFP

Officers hurt, 18 held in Belfast violence BELFAST: Some nine officers were injured and 18 people arrested in fresh violence overnight on the streets of Belfast, police said yesterday.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) used water cannon against a crowd of up to 300 people in the second consecutive night of violence by pro-British protesters. The renewed wave of disorder follows several weeks of Protestant loyalist unrest sparked by the December 3 decision by Belfast City Council to limit the number of days it flies the British flag.

More than 30 petrol bombs, along with fireworks, ball bearings and masonry, were hurled at officers in east Belfast. None of the police injuries are life threatening, however one female officer required medical treatment at the scene.

Elsewhere, three attempted vehicle

hijackings were made while a business premises was also broken into by several masked men, who stole a sum of money.

Northern Ireland’s First Minister Peter Robinson said Friday: “The violence and destruction visited on the PSNI is a disgrace, criminally wrong and cannot be justified.

“Those responsible are doing a grave disservice to the cause they claim to espouse and are playing into the hands of those dissident groups who would seek to exploit every opportunity to further their terror aims.”

The December flag vote has raised tensions in the province, which endured three decades of sectarian violence until 1998 peace accords led to a power-sharing government between Protestants and Catholics. — AFP

BANGUI: Rebels in the Central African Republic captured two more towns overnight yesterday, just days before talks were due to open in an effort to resolve the crisis in the impoverished country.

“The rebels took two towns near Bambari,” a town already under the control of the Seleka rebel coalition, Territorial Administration Minister Josue Binoua told AFP. “This shows their intent to wage war even during negotiations,” he said. There was no immediate reaction from the rebels themselves to the claim. The comments came just days before the central African regional bloc CEEAC hopes to start hosting talks between the rebels and President Francois Bozize in an effort to solve the nearly month-long crisis in the mineral-rich but impoverished and unstable country.

The rebels had thrown those plans into doubt on Friday when they contradicted claims by CEEAC officials that they had agreed to the talks due to begin in Gabon’s capital Libreville on Tuesday, and said instead that they hadn’t been informed of the initiative by the Economic Community of Central African States.

Yesterday, Binoua said that the talks, which have the support of the UN Security Council and the United States, would proceed as planned.

“There will be three delegations of 15 members each,” he said. “The government, rebels and opposition.”

Bozize will head the government delegation while the one from the opposition will be headed by the lawyer Nicolas Tiangaye, he added.

The rebels, who charge that Bozize has not abided by terms of earlier peace deals, launched an offensive on December 10 in the north and easily overran an ill-equipped and poorlytrained army, marching across a large part of the country before halting their push within striking distance of the capital Bangui, in the south.

Rebel troops were stationed at Sibut, some 160 kilometres (100 miles) from the capital.

The unrest has alarmed the country’s neighbours and the international community, with the UN Security Council twice calling on Seleka to halt its offensive and engage in peace talks. “The

BANGUI: Central African Republic’s Prime Minister Faustin-Archange Touadera (center) speaks to the media at a demonstration held by several hundred merchants calling for peace as negotiators prepare for talks with rebels from the north. — AP Security Council reiterated their demand that the banner of multinational African force the Seleka coalition of armed groups cease all FOMAC, which CEEAC launched in 2008 in a bid hostilities, withdraw from seized cities, and to stabilise the coup- and rebellion-prone councease attempts to advance further,” said a state- try. Northern neighbour Chad, whose President Idriss Deby is an ally of Bozize, has contributed ment released by the 15-nation body on Friday.

Washington on Friday urged all sides to use most of the troops to the force, which is due to the talks proposed by CEEAC as an opportunity reach its full strength of 760 by the end of the “to really try to negotiate a comprehensive, week. The violence in the country has affected inclusive, political resolution”. Binoua charged on more than 300,000 children, including through Saturday that the seizure of two more towns was recruitment as child soldiers, family separation, “screaming proof” that the rebels’ word could sexual violence and forced displacement, UNICEF has said. not be trusted.

The Central African Republic is a mineral-rich, “The government asks the international community to draw the consequences of their landlocked nation of a population of about five million and is notorious for unrest including (rebels) not respecting their own word,” he said.

Central African nations have begun sending coups, army mutinies and rebellions. Bozize himreinforcements to Damara, the last major town self took power in a coup in 2003 and has since between the rebels and the capital, to bolster been twice elected into office.

The country ranks 179th out of 187 countries the Central African Republic’s army against the rebels. The regional troops are fighting under on the UN’s latest development index. — AFP

Police capture second inmate who escaped

VAL-DE-REUIL: French President Francois Hollande visits a district in renovation in Val-de-Reuil, near Rouen, with Val-de-Reuil’s mayor Marc-Antoine Jamet (2nd right) yesterday. — AFP

Six Russians die in snowmobile crash ROME: Six Russians were killed and two others were seriously injured when their snowmobile, pulling a sled, veered off an Italian Alpine ski slope during a nighttime drive, slammed into a fence and was hurtled through the air for hundreds of meters. When rescuers arrived Friday night, the six victims were already dead on the slope of Mount Cermis, in the Trentino-Alto Adige region of northeast Italy, said Cavalese Fire Department Cmdr. Roberto Marchi. “It is clear that the fundamental cause is recklessness and imprudence,” Marchi told Sky TG24 TV in an interview on the slope yesterday. The slope is labeled “pista nera” or black ski run, indicating a level of steepness and other difficult conditions suitable only for the most experienced skiers.

Cavalese Mayor Silvano Welponer said that putting eight persons in the vehicle - a driver and passenger in the snowmobile and six passengers in the sled behind - “made for a very heavy load. You have to know what you are doing and have the experience” to safely handle that, he said.

The ANSA news agency said authorities were performing tests to determine if the snowmobile’s driver - who survived the fall was drunk. The sled-towing snowmobile cut a spectacular trajectory after it veered off the slope on a curve, hit the barrier on the slope’s edge and was sent hurtling through the air, Italian news reports said. The vehicle sheared

off the tips of tree branches as it flew through the air, and its occupants landed dozens of meters away.

RAI state radio reported that the slope was unlit. The Russian consul general in Milan, Alexei Parmonov, said on Russian state television that he was in contact with Italian investigators, who he said suspect the crash was caused by excessive speed. They also were checking the possibility of a mechanical malfunction. Following procedure for cases of fatal accidents, Italian prosecutors formally opened a probe to see if manslaughter charges should be filed, Italian news reports said. Parmonov identified the four men and two women who died in the crash. Five of them and also one of the injured men were tourists from Krasnodar, a region in southern Russia that includes Sochi, which is preparing to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics.

One of the dead women and the other injured man worked in Italy in the tourist industry. The Russian diplomat gave the names of the dead: Denis Kravchenko, Irina Kravchenko, Vyacheslav Sleptsov, Yulia Yudina, Lyudmila Yudina and Rafilya Pshenichnaya.

The injured, he said, were Boris Yudin and Azat Agafarov. All except Pshenichnaya and Agafarov were tourists from Krasnodar. Yudin’s 17-year-old son, who stayed behind in the hotel, lost his mother and sister in the accident, while his father was hospitalized with multiple fractures, Parmonov said. —AP

CHICAGO: Police captured the second of two men who made a daring escape from a downtown Chicago high-rise jail, but didn’t notice him at first because he had disguised himself as an older person.

Kenneth Conley was arrested Friday in the Chicago suburb of Palos Hills after a short foot chase. Palos Hills Deputy Chief James Boie said Conley was dressed like an old man, wearing a beret and glasses, and walking with a limp when officers approached him. He said Conley pushed one of the officers and led them on a foot chase. He said the fleeing man tried to break into an apartment to avoid being captured, but was caught and had a BB gun in his possession.

Conley, 38, escaped the Metropolitan Correctional Center last month with Joseph “Jose” Banks, apparently by smashing a hole in a wall at the bottom of a narrow cell window and squeezing through before scaling down about 20 stories using a knotted rope made out of bed sheets.

Banks was arrested two days later at a home on Chicago’s North Side, about 5 miles from the jail. Conley managed to elude authorities for 17 days, but was still in the area when he got caught - about 18 miles southwest of the federal facility. The apartment complex where Conley was nabbed is across the street from the police department in Palos Hills.

Boie said officers checking on a report of someone sleeping in the basement of a building saw Conley, but he was disguised. “One officer outside saw a guy who looked like an old man,” the deputy chief said. “He had a beret. He was walking with a limp and he had glasses on.” The officers approached Conley to verify his identity and Conley claimed he “was just visiting and didn’t have any identification,” Boie said. At that point, Conley pushed one of the officers and there was a small struggle before Conley ran off and tried to break into an apartment, Boie said. Two officers chased after him and caught him about a block and a half away.

Both Conley and the officer who was shoved were taken to a hospital. Their injuries weren’t serious. A man who answered the phone at a number listed for Conley’s brother, Nicholas Conley, in the Chicago suburb of Orland Hills asked that the family be left alone. A message left for Conley’s mother was not immediately returned. On the morning of the escape, it took jail officials hours to notice Conley and Banks were gone. Surveillance video from a nearby street showed the two hopping into a cab shortly before 3 am on Dec 18.

They had changed out of their orange jail-issued jumpsuits.

When the facility did discover the two men were gone around 7 am, what was found revealed a meticulously planned escape, including clothing and sheets shaped to resemble a body under blankets on beds, bars inside a mattress and even fake bars in the cells. A massive manhunt involving state, federal and local law enforcement agencies was launched, as SWAT teams stormed into the home of a relative of Conley only to learn the two escapees had been there and left. The authorities searched other area homes and businesses - even a strip club where Conley once worked.

Law enforcement officials left a host of questions unanswered, including how the men could collect about 200 feet of bed sheets and what they might have used to break through the wall of the federal facility. Conley pleaded guilty last October to robbing a Homewood Bank last year of nearly $4,000. He wore a coat and tie during the robbery and had a gun stuffed in his waistband. Banks, 37, known as the Second-Hand Bandit because he wore used clothes during his heists, had been convicted of robbing two banks and attempting to rob two others. Authorities say he stole almost $600,000, and most of that is still missing. — AP

ALGIERS: In this file photo, Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia promises continuity if his party, the National Democratic Rally, is re-elected, at the final party rally in the capital Algiers. One of Algeriaís most powerful politicians has resigned his post as the head of his political party under pressure from political rivals. — AP

Top Algeria politician resigns as party head ALGIERS: One of Algeria’s most prominent politicians has resigned his post as the head of his political party in the latest political maneuverings ahead of next year’s key presidential elections. Ahmed Ouyahia, who was once considered a frontrunner for the country’s top post because of his backing by this oilrich nation’s powerful generals, announced Thursday his resignation as secretary general of the National Democratic Rally.

“My resignation is not in service of a personal agenda, but rather its sole motive is to preserve the unity of our party,” he said in his message. For much of the past year, several major figures in the party have been pushing for Ouyahia to step down. Algeria regularly holds presidential and parliamentary elections, but true power is believed to be held by a shadowy collection of generals working behind the scenes.

The pro-democracy uprisings of the Arab Spring largely passed Algeria by leaving the political structure of this North African nation of 35 million intact. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in power since 1999,

announced he would not run for a fourth term next year, leaving the race for the presidency wide open. In November, several other rumored front-runners for the post were implicated in widely publicized corruption scandals. Political analyst Ahmed Adimi of Algiers University, said Ouyahia was pushed out of power by the generals to clear the way for new faces ahead of elections to give the country’s politics some semblance of change amid popular discontent.

“The powers that be need stability in the parties of the ruling coalition but with new personalities at their head,” he said. “Ouyahia’s mission is over.” On Friday, the Algerian daily ElKhabar, reputed for its close contacts to security services, suggested that Ouyahia was pushed out because of his barely concealed presidential ambitions. Ouyahia represented Algeria in the UN Security Council in the 1990s before taking control of the National Democratic Rally in 1999 soon after it was formed. He was prime minister from 2003 to 2006 and again from 2008 to 2012 and was often seen as a rival to the president. — AP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Thousands flee wildfires in southern Australia SYDNEY: Thousands of people have fled wildfires raging on the Australian island of Tasmania that have destroyed at least 80 properties amid fears that at least one man died in the blaze, police said yesterday. The fires flared on Friday as much of the country suffered a summer heatwave that pushed temperatures above 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in Tasmania, a southern island state known for its cooler climate.

One of the worst affected areas was the small community of Dunalley, some 55 kilometres (34 miles) east of Hobart, where police estimate about 30 percent of buildings have been destroyed, including the police station and school.

In nearby Connelly’s Marsh, about 40 percent of buildings have been ruined.

Police said a firefighting crew was trapped by a bushfire on Friday at Dunalley, where there are fears that a man may have died in the blaze.

“They had to take shelter in their vehicle as the fire burned over their vehicle and they were, from that location as I understand it, able to see a gentlemen who was trying to protect his property and they couldn’t get to him, it was too unsafe,” acting Police Commissioner Scott Tilyard said.

Police said there were no confirmed deaths or major injuries as of late yesterday, but a priority was to search dam-

aged properties. “We are hoping there have been no deaths associated with these fires but until we have the opportunity to get in and literally go through property by property we can’t confirm there hasn’t been one or more deaths,” Tilyard said.

Dunalley resident Tony Young told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he realised the seriousness of the wildfires when he spotted plumes of smoke and a helicopter overhead. “All I could do was drive the car out of the shed, drive across the other side of the road and stand back and look at the whole place just being engulfed in flames, just like a movie,” he told the broadcaster.

Further south on the Tasman Peninsula east of Hobart, about 2,000 people have taken refuge in the town of Nubeena, while another 600 are sheltering at the nearby historic Port Arthur site. Others have been ferried to emergency accommodation in Hobart.

Authorities said while temperatures had dropped from Friday ’s peak of 41.8 Celsius-the hottest day in Hobart since records began in the early 1880s-the fire danger had yet to pass, with several bushfires still burning out of control elsewhere in the state.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said it was a “tragic time for those who have suffered loss in the devastating Tasmanian

bushfires” and that the government would help support those affected.

“We want to make sure now, as the fire’s still there, that people are safe, and then we’ll support communities,” Gillard told ABC TV. Gillard said the images of destroyed homes were heartbreaking, particularly coming after the 2009 bushfires in southern Victoria state, known as the “Black Saturday” disaster, in which 173 people died.

“It’s a very Australian thing to fear and also to understand the devastation of bushfire,” she said. Bushfires are also burning in other parts of Australia, including South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. — AFP

US pushes to finish Afghan dam as challenges mount $500m effort to refurbish massive Kajaki dam

PATNA: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama (second from left) and Bihar state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (left) light a lamp with other Buddhist leaders at the Buddha Smriti Park in Patna, India yesterday. The Dalai Lama is in the city to participate in the three-day International Buddhist Conference which began yesterday. — AP

Taleban threatens ‘war’ if US stays beyond 2014 US draws plans for troops in Afghanistan KABUL: The Taleban yesterday warned of a prolonged ‘war’ in Afghanistan if any foreign troops stay after the end of 2014, as Kabul and Washington prepare to discuss the “residual” US security presence.

President Barack Obama and President Hamid Karzai will hold talks in the US next week on a long-term security pact between the two countries, with US troops remaining in Afghanistan at the top of the agenda.

“If America wants to leave a small or large number of its troops for whatever length of time then it means war and destruction will continue in the region for that same length,” the Taleban said in a statement. “If Karzai and the Kabul regime agree with the presence of even a single American soldier then, just as presently, they shall also be responsible for all future hostilities, casualties and destruction.” The latest media reports suggest the US Department of Defense has prepared plans that leave either 3,000, 6,000 or 9,000 troops in the country, focused on striking at Al-Qaeda militants.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the slimmed-down force would focus on preventing Al-Qaeda, which was sheltered by the 1996-2001 Taleban government, from regaining a foothold in the warshattered nation. Troops would also continue training the Afghan army and police, who will be responsible for national security more than a decade after a US-led alliance ousted the Taleban regime. General John Allen, commander of US and NATO forces, had earlier suggested leaving up to 15,000 troops, and the new forecasts would mean scrapping a plan for diplomatic posts across Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal said.

Fewer soldiers would also heighten US reliance on drones to monitor and target militants after most manned aircraft and their pilots pull out, the paper added. The NATO coalition, which has been fighting an insurgency by Taleban Islamists since 2001, reduced troop numbers by about 30,000 in 2012 and is due to end its mission by the

end of 2014. The 100,000 international forces still in Afghanistan are mentoring the army and police to gradually take over all security duties, while the Afghan government has appointed negotiators to open peace talks with the Taleban.

The US Defense Department has prepared plans for a smaller presence in Afghanistan after the White House insisted on examining the option of leaving fewer troops in the country after 2014 than was initially proposed, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday. The newspaper said the plans now prepared by the Pentagon call for leaving roughly 3,000, 6,000 or 9,000 US troops in the country.

Those troops would launch strikes against militants and continue training the Afghan army and police, who will be responsible for national security more than a decade after a US-led alliance ousted the Taleban regime in 2001. US Defense Secretar y Leon Panetta has said the slimmed-down force would focus on preventing Al-Qaeda, which was sheltered by the 1996-2001 Taleban government, from regaining a foothold in the war-shattered nation.

General John Allen, commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, had earlier suggested leaving 6,000 to 15,000 US troops, the Journal pointed out. Afghan President Hamid Karzai prepares to visit Washington this week to discuss the US security presence after 2014. The United States and its allies are currently negotiating future troop commitments to Afghanistan on the basis of a formula that calls for US troops to make up two-thirds of any follow-on force, The Journal said.

According to the paper, with a smaller US troop presence, the State Department would also be forced to cut plans for largescale diplomatic outposts across Afghanistan. The new plans would heighten the US reliance on drones to monitor and target militants after most manned aircraft and their pilots pull out, the paper said. — Agencies

ALLAHABAD: Indian sadhus purchase wood from a government stall at the Kumbh Mela area in Allahabad yesterday. The Kumbh Mela, which is scheduled to take place in the northern Indian city this and next month, is the world’s largest gathering of people for a religious purpose and millions of people gather for this auspicious occasion. — AFP

KAJAKI: In the approaching twilight of its war in Afghanistan, the US is forging ahead with a giant infrastructure project long criticized as too costly in both blood and money.

It’s a $500 million effort to refurbish the massive Kajaki dam and hydro-electric power system with an extensive network of power lines and transmission substations. It is supposed to bring electricity to 332,000 people in southern Afghanistan, increase crop yields and build up a cohort of trained Afghan laborers in a region badly in need of them.

But completion, which originally was envisaged for 2005, now is projected for some time in 2015, the year after most combat troops will have left the country. And there are some crucial ifs: If a convoy carrying 900 tons of concrete can make it up a dangerous road to the dam site without being attacked by the Taleban. If the Afghan army can hold out in an area that took thousands of U.S. Marines to secure. If the Afghan government can take on the management of the dam.

“It’s a long-term bet. I’ve said to people: We have to be patient and we have to persevere,” said Ken Yamashita, the head of USAID in Afghanistan.

The desire to succeed is understandable. The Kajaki dam on the Helmand River symbolizes for both the Afghans and their American backers what they had hoped the infusion of US troops and cash would produce nationwide: an Afghan government that can provide for its people and in turn count on its support against the Taleban insurgency. The U.S. has spent $22.34 billion on governance and development in Afghanistan since it invaded the country following the Sept.

11 attacks, much of that on projects to build roads, schools, power plants and irrigation systems. In the past two years alone, $800 million was earmarked for infrastructure projects.

Kajaki is also a symbol of the American presence in Afghanistan dating back to the 1950s and the Cold War. That was when the U.S. built the original dam, with a powerhouse added in the 1970s. But before the three turbines could be installed, the Soviets invaded and construction stopped. The dam was still squeezing out a bit of power in 2001 when the US attacked and, ironically enough, bombed the dam’s power transmission line.

In the latest phase of the Kajaki saga, fighting as well as limited oversight of spending has led to huge delays and cost overruns. Now Helmand province, home of the dam, is seeing the first and largest wave of US troop reductions, with 10,000 of 17,000 US Marines already gone. That means most of the Kajaki project is going forward with Afghan forces providing nearly all the security in an area that was a Taleban stronghold until a year ago.

Afghans here are already hedging their bets.

The number of workers on a U.S.-funded construction project next to Kajaki has dwindled from 200 to 20 since last fall, and those

KAJAKI: In this Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012 photo, construction worker Abdul Razziq speaks during an interview in Kajaki, Helmand province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan. The number of workers on a US-funded construction project next to Kajaki has dwindled from 200 to 20 since last fall, and those remaining say workers feel the risk isn’t worth the $6 daily paycheck. “They can’t come here because all the routes to the district are controlled by the Taleban,” said Razziq, a 28-year-old villager working on construction of a new district government center next to the dam. — AP remaining say workers feel the risk isn’t worth the $6 daily paycheck.

“They can’t come here because all the routes to the district are controlled by the Taleban,” said Abdul Razziq, a 28-year-old villager working on construction of a new district government center next to the dam.

His family supports the government, so he at least doesn’t have to lie to keep his place of work secret. Not so Timur Shah, who spends a couple of months at a time working at Kajaki. “My immediate family knows I am here. But if anyone else asks they will make something up,” he said.

Shah said security improved when US Marines flooded the province, but is deteriorating as the Marines leave. “Just at the time the American forces started leaving here, the Taleban started to appear again, in the whole area,” Shah said.

Cellphone service also stopped working in Kajaki district in late fall. It is common for insurgents to disrupt service in areas they control, though the construction workers say they’re just as ready to believe to say the Americans blocked calls. US officials say the wariness is to be expected at a time of transition. They point out that Afghan security forces have increased their presence around the dam and that attacks, while still regular, appear to be decreasing.

“There’s an ebb and flow,” said Marine Capt.

Glen Baker, one of a small group of Marines who continue to hold an outpost in Kajaki and advise

News

in brief

Bombs explode in Dhaka DHAKA: Police say homemade bombs have exploded in parts of the Bangladeshi capital ahead of an anti-government general strike. Police official Shah Alam says no injuries have been reported in Saturday’s blasts in at least six spots in central Dhaka. No one has claimed responsibility for the violence on the eve of today’s nationwide dawn-to-dusk general strike. Police blame the blasts on opposition activists. An alliance of 18 opposition parties, led by ex-premier Khaleda Zia, has called for the strike a day after the government raised the fuel price by about 9 percent. The government says the hike was necessary to cut down subsidies on fuel.

The opposition says it will increase inflation. In Bangladesh general strike is a common opposition tactic to highlight demands.

Japan, China dispute TOKYO: Japan scrambled fighter jets yesterday to head off a Chinese state-owned plane that flew near islands at the centre of a dispute between Tokyo and Beijing, a Japanese Defense Ministry spokesman said. The Japanese jets were mobilized after a Chinese maritime aircraft ventured some 120 kilometers north of the Senkaku islands, which China calls the Diaoyus, at around 12:00 pm, the spokesman said. The Chinese Y12 twin-turboprop later left the zone without entering Japanese airspace over the islands, he added. It was the first time Japanese fighter jets had been scrambled this year to counter Chinese aircraft approaching the islands, the spokesman said. Japan dispatched fighter jets last month after a Chinese state-owned plane breached airspace over the islands, while Chinese government ships have moved in and out of waters there for the past few months. The confrontations have become commonplace since Japan nationalized the East China Sea islands in September, a move it insisted amounted to nothing more than a change of ownership of what was already Japanese territory. But Beijing reacted with fury, with observers saying riots that erupted across China in the weeks following had at least tacit government backing. — AFP

Afghan forces in the area. “There was an increase when the Marines pulled out and there has been a decrease subsequently.”

The company working on building the dam has also been able this year to send supplies via road - four convoys of trucks have made the trip without incident. Previously, equipment was being helicoptered in at enormous cost.

The core of the project is the installation of a third power-generating turbine at the dam, an effort that planned since 2002. The installation was originally budgeted at $18 million. Now it is getting another $85 million and is scheduled to be installed in March, after being delayed by efforts to weed out subcontracting applicants suspected of having Taleban ties.

But many in Afghanistan have already given up on Kajaki. “It is 10 years now that Kajaki dam has been as it is. Too much money has been spent there in the name of reconstruction ... all of that money wasted,” President Hamid Karzai said in a speech in December.

Shah, the construction worker, echoed the complaint.“When the international forces first came here they told us, ‘In one year you will have the dam, you will have power, you will have roads.’ But that didn’t happen. ... and we are still waiting,” he said.

Even if the project now overcomes the security and logistical barriers, there are questions about whether it’s worth the cost. — AP

British police charge Nepali colonel accused of torture LONDON/KATHMANDU: British police charged a Nepali army colonel with two counts of torture during the Himalayan nation’s decade-long civil war, despite the Nepali government’s demanding his immediate release.

Nepal summoned the British ambassador earlier on Friday to express its “strong objection” to Kumar Lama’s detention.

Rights groups accuse both the security forces and former Maoist rebels of committing abuses including torture during the conflict that killed more than 16,000 people. The Maoists ended the conflict in 2006 under a peace deal with the government, won elections four years ago and are now heading a coalition ruling the young Himalayan republic.

London’s Metropolitan Police said it had arrested Lama, 46, in the southern town of St. Leonards-on-Sea and charged him with committing acts of torture in 2005. Media reports said he was detained while on vacation from a UN mission in Sudan.

The police statement accused Lama of intentionally inflicting “severe pain or suffering” on Janak Bahadur Raut between April 15 and May 1, 2005, and on Karam Hussain between April 15 and Oct. 31, 2005. Lama is due to appear in court in London yesterday. “We express strong objection to this mistake and urge that it be corrected ... and Lama be released,” Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha told reporters in Kathmandu after the colonel’s arrest. — Reuters

China freezes BEIJING: Thousands of angry passengers were stranded after heavy fog delayed flights at a Chinese airport early yesterday, as the country was shivered through its coldest weather in almost three decades. Ten thousand passengers were stuck in Changshui International Airport in the southern Chinese city of Kunming yesterday morning after thick fog grounded more than 280 flights, state-run Xinhua news agency said. Angry passengers stranded at the airport for more than a day struggled with airline staff, damaging computer equipment belonging to an airline, while police broke up scuffles, a photographer present at the scene late on Friday said. “The passengers were really furious, they kept going to the service desk to ask for information, but didn’t get any answers,” the

photographer said. Flights at the airport resumed yesterday afternoon after the fog lifted, Xinhua said. China is suffering its coldest winter for 28 years, the news agency yesterday quoted China’s Meteorological Administration as saying. Temperatures recorded over the country since November have averaged minus 3.8 degrees Celsius (25 degrees Fahrenheit), while northeast China saw average temperatures of minus 15.3 degrees Celsius, its coldest winter for 43 years.

Plunging temperatures trapped around 1,000 ships in sea ice off eastern China’s Shandong province this week, Xinhua reported, while snowfall delayed more than 140 flights in Beijing last month, the China Daily said. — AFP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

New law points to Philippine church’s waning sway MANILA: Twenty-six years after Roman Catholic leaders helped his mother marshal millions of Filipinos in an uprising that ousted a dictator, President Benigno Aquino III picked a fight with the church over contraceptives and won a victory that bared the bishops’ worst nightmare: They no longer sway the masses. Aquino last month signed the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 quietly and without customary handshakes and photographs to avoid controversy. The law that provides state funding for contraceptives for the poor pitted the dominant Catholic Church in an epic battle against the popular Aquino and his followers.

A couple with links to the church filed a motion Wednesday to stop implementation of the law, and more petitions are expected.

Still, there is no denying that Aquino’s approval of the legislation has chipped away at the clout the church has held over Filipinos, and marked the passing of an era in which it was taboo to defy the church and priests.

Catholic leaders consider the law an attack on the church’s core values - the sanctity of life - saying that contraceptives promote promiscuity and destroy life. Aquino and his allies see the legislation as a way to

address how the poor - roughly a third of the country’s 94 million people - manage the number of children they have and provide for them. Nearly half of all pregnancies in the Philippines are unwanted, according to the UN Population Fund, and a third of those end up aborted in a country where abortion remains illegal. Rampant poverty, overcrowded slums, and rising homelessness and crime are main concerns that neither the church nor Aquino’s predecessors have successfully tackled. “If the church can provide milk, diapers and rice, then go ahead, let’s make more babies,” said Giselle Labadan, a 30-year-old roadside vendor.

“But there are just too many people now, too many homeless people, and the church doesn’t help to feed them.”

Labadan said she grew up in a God-fearing family but has defied the church’s position against contraceptives for more than a decade because her five children, ages 2 to 12, were already far too many for her meager income. Her husband, a former army soldier, is jobless.

She said that even though she has used most types of contraceptives, she still considers herself among the faithful. “I still go to church and pray. It’s a part of my life,” Labadan said. “I have prayed before not to have another child, but the condom worked

better,” she said.

The law now faces a legal challenge in the Supreme Court after the couple filed the motion, which seems to cover more ideological than legal grounds. One of the authors of the law, Rep. Edcel Lagman, said Thursday that he was not worried by the petition and expected more to follow.

“We are prepared for this,” he said. “We are certain that the law is completely constitutional and will surmount any attack on or test of its constitutionality.” Over the decades, moral and political authority of the church in the Philippines is perceived to have waned with the passing of one its icons, Cardinal Jaime Sin. He shaped the role of the church during the country’s darkest hours after dictator Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law starting in 1972 by championing the cause of civil advocacy, human rights and freedoms. Sin’s action mirrored that of his strong backer, Pope John Paul II, who himself challenged communist rulers in Eastern Europe.

Three years after Aquino’s father, Benigno Aquino Sr., a senator opposing Marcos, was gunned down on the Manila airport tarmac in 1983, Sin persuaded Aquino’s widow, Corazon, to run for president. When massive election cheating by Marcos was exposed, Sin went on Catholic-

run Radio Veritas in February 1986 to summon millions of people to support military defectors and the Aquino-led opposition.

Marcos fled and Aquino, a deeply religious woman, was sworn in as president.

Democracy was restored, but the country remained chaotic and mired in nearly a dozen coup attempts. The economy stalled, poverty persisted and the jobless were leaving in droves for better-paying jobs abroad as maids, teachers, nurses and engineers.

After Aquino stepped down, the country elected its first and only Protestant president, Fidel Ramos. He, too, opposed the church on contraceptives and released state funds for family planning methods.

Catholic bishops pulled out all the stops in campaigning against Ramos’ successor, popular movie actor Joseph Estrada, a hero of the impoverished masses who made little attempt to keep down his reputation for womanizing, drinking and gambling. But few heeded the church’s advice. Estrada was elected with the largest victory margin in Philippine history. Halfway through his sixyear presidency, in January 2001, he was confronted with another “people power” revolt, backed by political opponents and the military, and was forced to resign.

His successor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, styled herself as a devout Catholic and

sought to placate the church by abolishing the death penalty and putting brakes on the contraceptives law, which languished in Congress during her nine years in power.

It mattered little. Arroyo’s mismanagement and corruption scandals set the stage for Aquino’s election on a promise to rid the Philippines of graft, fix the economy and lift millions out of poverty. The scion of the country’s democracy icon took power several years after Sin’s death, but it was a different era in which the church was battered by scandals of sexual misconduct of priests and declining family values.

The latest defeat of the church “can further weaken its moral authority at a time when this is most badly needed in many areas, including defense of a whole range of family values,” said the Rev. John J. Carroll, founding chairman of the Jesuit-run John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues.

He said he wondered how many Catholics have been “turned off” by incessant sermons and prayers led by the church against the contraceptives law, and how much it contributed to rising anticlericalism and the erosion of church authority.

“People today are more practical,” said Labadan, the street vendor. “In the old days, people feared that if you defy the church, it will be the end of the world.” — AP

Man held as Philippines investigates gun rampage Arrested suspect helped reload pistol

DOMPU: Armed Indonesian police secure the area in Dompu, West Nusa Tenggara, yesterday after a special anti-terrorism unit raided a militant training camp. Five suspected terrorists were killed in the raids on military camps in eastern Indonesia, the latest in a series of anti-terror operations, police said. — AFP

Indonesia police kill 5 alleged terrorists JAKARTA: Indonesia anti-terror police shot and killed five suspected Islamist militants in eastern Indonesia, the latest assault against a network of extremists behind deadly attacks on officers, authorities said yesterday.

The men were killed in raids on Friday night and Saturday morning on the remote island of Sumbawa, police spokesman Lt. Col. Agus Rianto and state news agency Antara reported. They followed the killings of two suspected militants earlier Friday on Sulawesi island, also in the east of the country.

Antara reported that the Sumbawa operations were targeting militants who had fled the Makassar. Police said those victims were behind the recent killings of two police officers in Poso district, a long established hub for Islamist militants and the scene of a vicious war between Muslims and Christians in 2001 and 2002.

Rianto said the men “were endangering the lives of officers” when they were shot but gave no more details. Indonesia, a mostly Muslim country in Southeast Asia, has struggled against Islamist militants since its independence.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, some came under the influence of al-Qaida after waging jihad in Afghanistan and carried out four major bombings against foreign targets between 2002 and 2009. A sustained police crackdown, assisted by Western countries, has reduced the threat significantly.

However, small groups of local terrorists have carried out several attacks on police around the country over the last two years, and jihadi propaganda and legal support groups exist throughout the country. While hundreds of terrorists have been convicted, police have also killed at least 70 suspects since 2002, leading to anger among some in the Muslim community, who accuse police of not doing enough to arrest suspects.

Suspected militants have killed at least 10 police officers in incidents around the country this year.Poso remains a vital staging ground for militants, with police saying they broke up a camp in December there.

Its proximity to the southern Philippines, which is also home to Islamist extremists with known links to Indonesian ones, makes it especially significant. — AP

Excavators hunt for WWII Spitfires in Myanmar city LONDON: An airplane-obsessed farmer, a freelance archaeologist and a team of excavators are heading to the Myanmar city of Yangon yesterday to find a nearly forgotten stash of British fighter planes thought to be carefully buried beneath the former capitalís airfield. The venture, backed with a milliondollar guarantee from a Belarusian videogame company, could uncover dozens of Spitfire aircraft locked underground by American engineers at the end of World War II. “We could easily double the number of Spitfires that are still known to exist,” said 63year-old David Cundall, the farmer and private pilot who has spent nearly two decades pursuing the theory that a batch of the famous fighter planes was buried, in pristine condition, in wooden crates in a riverbed at the end of an airport runway. “In the Spitfire world it will be similar to finding Tutankhamenís tomb,” he told reporters Friday, ahead of his flight. Not everyone is as convinced. Even at the conference, freelance archaeologist Andy Brockman acknowledged that it was ‘entirely possible’ that all the team would find was a mass of corroded metal and rusty aircraft parts - if it found anything at all.

But Cundall said eyewitness testimony from British and American veterans as well as elderly local residents of Myanmar - coupled with survey data, aerial pictures, and ground radar soundings left him in no doubt that the planes were down there. And others not involved in the trip have expressed cautious optimism.

“There is a high percentage chance that something is buried there,” said Charles Heyman, who edits the reference book, “The Armed Forces of the United Kingdom.”

Heyman said it wasnít unusual for British forces to leave behind high-grade equipment

in former war zones - even in recent conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Spitfire remains the UK’s most famous combat aircraft, its reputation cemented by the Battle of Britain, when the fast-moving, sleek-looking single-seater aircraft helped beat back waves of German bombers. Britain built a total of some 20,000 Spitfires, although the dawn of the jet age at the end of World War II meant that the propeller-driven planes quickly became obsolete. Many were written off as the British war effort wound down, but why a batch of Spitfires would have been boxed and buried, as opposed to scrapped and dumped, remains the biggest question hanging over the project. Cundall, who has long scoured crash sites to recover buried aircraft, said he first heard of the Myanmar theory from a fellow plane hunter Jim Pearce, who was at a party in Jacksonville, Florida, when two American veterans approached him with an unusual story.

The men said they had worked as engineers in what was then known as Burma when they were tasked with carving out a large pit burial pit for the aircraft.

“It was the craziest thing you Brits asked us to do,” Cundall quoted the men as saying.

Cundall said he believed the story immediately. Advertisements seeking more information were placed in magazines with names like FlyPast and Warbirds, and soon other witnesses came forward.

One, a British veteran named Stanley Coomb, described driving along the air fieldís perimeter while engineers lowered huge wooden boxes - described as the size of double-decker buses - into a pit. Radar soundings appeared to show large, plane-sized objects lurking roughly 25 feet (8 meters) below the surface, Cundall said. — AP

MANILA: A man accused of helping a Philippine gunman kill seven people and wound 12 others has been detained as police investigate the motive for the drug-fuelled rampage, officials said yesterday.

Witnesses told police the arrested suspect helped reload a semi-automatic pistol as the gunman, later shot dead by police, went house to house in search of people to attack at a slum neighbourhood in Kawit town outside Manila.

Police arrested John Paul Lopez in Imus town near Kawit late Friday, hours after gunman Rolando Bae was killed in a firefight with police, national police spokesman Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo said. “We are investigating the level of his involvement, but definitely he faces criminal charges,” Cerbo said of the alleged accomplice.

Lopez said Bae forced him at gunpoint to load the clip of the .45-calibre pistol between the shootings, Cerbo told AFP. “If that is proven false, he would be charged with many murders,” Cerbo added.

Juanito Victor Remulla, the governor of Cavite province where Kawit is situated, said relatives led police to Lopez. Remulla also said in an interview on local radio that the authorities doubted the suspect’s version of events.

“He changed the clip three or four times as Bae broke into houses. He (Lopez) could have easily escaped,” Remulla told DZMM radio. Calls to the governor’s office and mobile phone by AFP were not returned. Cerbo said 12 people were being treated for gunshot wounds in hospitals in Manila and Cavite following the rampage.

Police said a pregnant woman and four children were among those shot, and that two of the children had died. Police said yesterday they still had not established the motive for the attack.

They said Bae had been an elected member of the village council but left the community after being defeated in a 2010 ballot for the post of village chief. Bae and Lopez, described by

police as the gunman’s employee, began drinking and taking the banned stimulant methamphetamine on New Year’s Eve, according to Remulla.

Frequent methamphetamine use can lead to anti-social or even psychotic behaviour, said Derrick Carreon, spokesman for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

“They may start seeing demons during withdrawal. You take it from there,” he told AFP yesterday. Methamphetamine is the most common-

ly used narcotic by the nearly two million illegal drug users in the country, Carreon added.

Friday’s shooting rampage followed the New Year’s Eve deaths of two children by celebratory gunfire in Manila, which has triggered outrage and condemnation of the Philippines’ poorly enforced gun laws.

There were 1.2 million registered firearms in the Philippines last year, with another 600,000 unlicensed weapons in circulation, according to police. — AFP

MANILA: In this late Friday, John Paul Lopez, left, a house caretaker who reloaded the pistol of Ronald Bae, who went on a shooting rampage near Manila that left nine people dead, points to a pistol as he surrenders, at Imus township, Cavite province, 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Manila, Philippines. Officials said yesterday that Lopez is facing multiple murder charges. Eleven people were also wounded in the incident in Cavite province’s Kawit township. —AP

Bus ads aim to explain the meaning of ‘jihad’ SAN FRANCISCO: An ad campaign on San Francisco buses is aimed at trying to change public perception of the word “jihad,” which the program’s founder says has been distorted by extremists-Muslim and anti-Muslim alike. Ahmed Rehab, a 36-year-old political activist, started the campaign in Chicago in December and expanded it to 25 San Francisco buses last week.

Rehab, who heads the Chicago office of the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations, says his MyJihad campaign, which defines jihad as a personal struggle in many areas of life, is aimed at redirecting a debate over a word that has become synonymous in many quarters with armed struggle and terrorism.

He says the debate has been taken over “more or less by two extremes-Muslim extremists and anti-Muslim extremists.” The voices of moderate Muslims in the mainstream, he says, are “either drowned out or diluted.” Here’s a sample of some of the MyJihad ads, featuring attractive young men and women, plastered on the side of city buses: “My Jihad is to build friendships across the aisle. What’s yours?”; “My jihad is to stay fit despite my busy schedule. What’s yours?”

The campaign has its own website-myjihad.org-YouTube offering and Facebook page. Similar campaigns are planned for the East Coast and South, Rehab says.

Merriam-Webster defines “jihad” as:- A holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty; also: a personal struggle in devotion to Islam especially involving spiritual discipline; A crusade for a principle or belief. “The intention of the campaign is to educate our fellow

Americans about what the word jihad means,” Zahra Billoo, the executive director of the Bay Area office for CAIR tells KGO-TV. “A common misconception of the word jihad is that it means armed struggle or holy war, and that is something that has been perpetrated by many who’ve made careers out of pushing anti-Muslim sentiment.”

Rehab said the project comes in response to a campaign first

mounted in New York City subways by conservative blogger Pamela Geller that includes such ads as: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat jihad.”

According to KQED, the San Francisco transport system, called Muni, began running the Geller ads after a federal judge ruled that New York City had accepted them on public transit there. Muni later post-

ed its own ads on the same buses explaining that Muni disavowed the Geller message, KQED reported.

Geller, meanwhile, plans another round of ads in New York City subways, CBS New York reports.

“A new anti-Israel campaign is currently running, which virtually everybody ignores,” she said. “But if you speak against jihad, or you take a pro-Israel stance, everybody seems to be outraged.” — MCT

BEIJING: Parents of missing children open doors of a mini-van, covered by photos and information about abducted and missing children, while they leave an art gallery that holds a painting exhibition of an artist who supports anti-human trafficking campaigns in Beijing, China, yesterday. — AP

NEWS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

UAE refuses to free...

Saudi officer arrested...

Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

The Brotherhood has sought to reassure Gulf states that it has no plan to push for political change beyond Egypt’s borders. Mahmoud Ghozlan, a Brotherhood spokesman in Cairo, rejected the charge that the 11 were seeking to destabilise the UAE. Ghozlan said the arrests were part of an “unjust campaign” against his compatriots, most of whom are doctors or engineers. The son of one of those arrested said his father, Ali Sonbol, was a doctor and not involved in political activities. Last month, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed AlNahayan summoned Egypt’s ambassador over claims carried by Egyptian media that the UAE was behind a plot against Egypt’s leadership, saying they were “fabricated”.

Thanks to their state-sponsored cradle-to-grave welfare systems, the UAE and other Gulf Arab monarchies have largely avoided the unrest that has unseated long-serving Arab rulers elsewhere in the past two years, and any suggestion of regime change is extremely sensitive. During the past year, the UAE announced it had broken up several cells it said were plotting against its security. It continues to ban all political parties.— Agencies

“There was a kidnapping and sexual assault with force,” Las Vegas police Lt Dan McGrath said. “The victim said he was forced into the room and sexually assaulted. We have a strong case based on the evidence.”

The boy, who lives out of state, was staying at the hotel with his family, McGrath said. He was taken to a hospital for medical treatment and evidence collection and released later to family members. His name was not made public.

McGrath said Alotaibi produced a Saudi Arabian military identification and said he was stationed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland near San Antonio, Texas. US federal authorities and Saudi military officials were notified, the police lieutenant said. Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland spokesman Brent Boller told AP that records showed Alotaibi is currently stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss. Boller said he could not immediately verify if Alotaibi had been at Lackland, but noted that

A girl walks over a bridge at the Starnberger See lake near Niederpoecking, southern Germany, yesterday. — AFP

international military students attend a Defense Language Institute English Language Center on the base to improve their English-language skills.

Alotaibi’s lawyer, Don Chairez of Newport Beach, California, said Friday he had been in contact with US military authorities at both air force bases and with the Saudi government. He said Alotaibi had come to Las Vegas for the New Year’s celebration and will plead not guilty.

Alotaibi also is charged with burglary, which in Nevada can stem from a person entering a building with intent to commit a felony.

The alleged attack took place on the sixth floor of a 15-storey hotel tower. Circus Circus has a total of 3,767 guest rooms in three towers and five three-storey motor lodgestyle buildings dubbed Circus Circus Manor. The arrest was first reported by the Las Vegas ReviewJournal. It cited a police report saying the boy was 13. Alotaibi was being held without bail at the Clark County jail pending an evidence hearing Jan 17. — AP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

ANALYSIS

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Issues

Alawite area Assad’s last resort

By Rita Daou

T

he last option for Syria’s President Bashar AlAssad, who is determined not to back down after 21 months of deadly conflict, is to battle to the end from a fortified Alawite statelet, analysts believe. Driven from large swathes of territory in the north and east by rebels, the army is now focused on maintaining its grip on the key axis stretching from Damascus to the central province of Homs and on to the coastal Alawite heartland. The embattled Assad will “cling to power until the end, even if it means more massacres,” said Middle East analyst Agnes Levallois of the prolonged crackdown and fighting that the United Nations says has left more than 60,000 dead.

“The longer he hangs on the more assured he becomes of his ability to stay in power... not through retaking the whole country but by holding onto Damascus, the key junction of Homs province and the route to the Alawite mountains,” she said.

According to Andrew Tabler, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy: “Bashar’s options are to stay put in Damascus and try to retake areas lost... or perhaps a reconstituted Alawite-dominated area on the Syrian coast.” “The regime will be forced out of the north and east soon, although it seems at a terrible price... with more artillery and missiles and the threat of chemical weapons,” Tabler said.

The regime has since mid-2012 claimed to be launching its final crackdown on rebels in the Damascus suburbs. Levallois said Assad “still has the ability to control Damascus for months before considering the option of the Alawite region”, a coastal stronghold of his co-religionists from the offshoot branch of Shiite Islam. It is an open secret, Syrians and analysts told AFP, that the army had arsenals throughout the Alawite mountains between the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartus, long before the outbreak of the uprising in mid-March 2011.

These arms depots have not yet been used by the some 120,000 troops still loyal to Damascus, analysts say. With these strengths, “Assad is not considering dialogue because he feels wrongly of course - that he can win and that he still has the resources to reject negotiations on his departure,” Levalois said.

She believes Assad is squandering his chances to leave on his own terms. “He could have capitalised on (international envoy) Lakhdar Brahimi’s visit to Damascus and the openings by the Russians to explore the possibility for dialogue. Instead, he resorted to even greater violence,” she said. “If Assad refuses the Brahimi initiative it means he is really living in a total bubble, cut off from the world with zero sense of reality, or thinks that forces on the ground can still ensure his survival,” Levallois said.

On the heels of a flurry of diplomacy, including trips to key Damascus ally Moscow, UN and Arab League envoy Brahimi announced a proposal to end the conflict in Syria through a ceasefire, the formation of a new government and elections. But the plan did not specify the fate of Assad, whose departure is a given for the Syrian opposition before any national dialogue can take place. Peter Harling, a Syria specialist at the International Crisis Group, said the Assad regime has stuck to the same logic since the crisis began. “He believes he is defending himself, and by extension Syria, against an aggression that leaves him no other option,” Harling said.

It follows that the violence is not Assad’s fault but the product of a conspiracy, for which there is a solution. “That solution will not come from him, but from his enemies, who will at some point realise that the price of change is too high and abandon their undertaking.” The regime, which maintains a cohesive core and military power, can “continue to raise the stakes as it has done for nearly two years in the hope that someone will offer a solution that takes their interests into account,” Harling said. The recent UN announcement that 60,000 people have been killed so far will do little to deter Assad. “He is relying on the logic of a scorched-earth policy, even if it means 300,000 people are killed,” Levallois said. —AFP

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The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary.

Washington Watch

Act for Syria, Palestine, before it’s too late

By Dr James J Zogby

D

uring the next few months, the Arab World will have its hands full with problems requiring urgent attention. Chief among them are the ongoing crises in Syria and Palestine, both of which are fast approaching their respective “points of no return”. Instead of acting as spectators, enablers, or waiting for the United Nations or the United States to provide solutions, there are practical steps through collective Arab action that might make a real difference.

The continuing tragedy of Syria will be front and center for months to come, with both regime and opposition appearing determined to continue their “dance until death”. UN Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi’s dire warnings should be heeded. If no political solution is found, the situation will only worsen. With the regime increasingly desperate and brutal, and the opposition better armed but lacking control of some its elements, the future promises only an accelerated casualty rate and a deepening of sectarian animosity.

Brahimi has tabled a plan that proposes a political process that transitions the government away from single party domination. The Russians have been given the responsibility for bringing the regime to the table. Key Arab states should assume the parallel responsibility of pressing the opposition to agree to a peaceful transition.

To date, opposition leaders have refused to consider any form of negotiations or compromise with the regime. While their anger at, and distrust of, the Assad government is understandable, holding out for a decisive win is neither responsible nor is it a politically sound strategy. Given the reality of a divided Syrian polity, compromise and a transitional approach to change appears to be the wisest path forward.

The solution envisioned by Brahimi won’t provide a clear-cut victory for any side, but it will end the blood-letting and

pave the way for a political solution that can bring real change and an end to authoritarian rule by the Assad family. Arab states have leverage here since they are funding, arming, and supporting the opposition. Instead of merely enabling more conflict, Arab states should use the leverage they have with their allies in Syria to take the lead in ending the killing and destruction, before the country collapses, fragments, and/or the violence spills across the border destabilizing an already fragile region.

This will not be easy - compromise never is and success cannot be guaranteed. But it is the least horrible outcome to a terrible two year long war that with time can only get worse and most certainly will not get better. Compromise will require leadership that, at this time, only Arabs can provide.

Another area where the region’s leadership must play an active and supportive role is in the effort to achieve an IsraeliPalestinian peace. The Palestinian situation was near tragic four years ago and has not improved since then. The Palestinian house remains in disarray, with leaderships in the West Bank and Gaza both physically and ideologically divided. Gaza, under the control of Hamas, continues to be strangled by an oppressive embargo. The West Bank itself is being slowly strangled by neverending settlement growth, hundreds of intrusive and humiliating checkpoints, and an oppressive wall/barrier snaking in and out of Palestinian lands.

The failed paths chosen by Palestine’s two leaderships, though contradictory, are both flawed. Hamas has made a religion of “resistance” which has won nothing but death and hardship for Palestinians, insecurity in Israel and reinforcement for hard-line Israeli policies. Meanwhile the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to diplomacy and negotiations, while commendable, has become pointless, since negotiating without leverage (and without control over the constituency for which they are negotiating) becomes an empty exercise.

Meanwhile, the hard-line Israeli government, hell-bent on conquest, continues to act with impunity - expanding settlements and tormenting Palestinians under their control. The far-right in Israel has come to define Israeli politics, while the “peace camp” has floundered. If this dynamic remains unchecked, in short order, one of two outcomes may occur: either Israel will complete its plan for the physical domination of the West Bank and the total transformation of Jerusalem - making separation into two states impossible; or there will be renewed violence with devastating consequences for the Palestinian people.

Our recent polling in Israel and among Palestinians both in the occupied lands and refugees in Jordan and Lebanon establishes that peace remains possible. The two publics, though divided on many issues, show important points convergence. What is required is a vision that can move opinion and leadership. These will not come from the U.S. or Israel, and cannot come from the Palestinians. But leading Arab states can provide leadership that could alter the dynamic and change opinion.

The first priority must be to achieve Palestinian reconciliation, and the establishment of an effective and unified Palestinian government that can command both popular support and the respect of the international community. This will require more than a redux of the Mecca Accords. Up until now, Arab reconciliation efforts have focused exclusively on political matters, with hollow threats of sanctions for the party that interfered with implementation. Instead of threats, the Arab leadership ought to create incentives for acceptance.

Clearly what both the West Bank and Gaza desperately need are job creation, infrastructure and capacity-building projects, as well as immediate relief. The Arabs already participate in international efforts to subsidize the Palestinian Authority budget and individual Arab states finance projects in both Palestinian territories. But

these funds given this way merely serve to underwrite the two divided Palestinian leaderships maintaining the unacceptable status quo. To move the reconciliation process forward, I would propose the creation of a massive multi-billion dollar “Peace and Reconciliation Incentive Fund” that would provide immediate relief and job-creating investment once the parties have agreed to and taken steps to implement a unity plan. The bottom line purpose of the fund would be to support the Palestinian people and to create the incentive and pressure for their divided leaderships to agree on a new government which, with Arab backing, is ready and able to make peace.

In addition, the Arab League, instead of merely reaffirming their 2002 and 2007 peace plan, would do well to enlarge upon it by putting, as it were, “meat on the bone”.

They could, for example, spell out in greater detail for Israelis the types of investment and/or trade incentives that would accompany final peace and/or normalization. And they could even create a staged sequencing (for example, with the signing of an Israeli-Palestinian framework, stage one will occur; with removal settlements and checkpoints in compliance with agreement, stage two will occur, etc.). Our polling shows that the Arab Peace Initiative has strong support among Palestinians and has the potential to positively change Israeli opinion. Spelling out, therefore, the benefits and vision that accompany final peace could be of benefit. If Arab leaders were then to “go on the road” selling their plan to world public opinion, it would have a tremendous impact in advancing peace and transforming views of Arabs.

Promoting a peaceful transition in Syria, Palestinian reconciliation, and a comprehensive Middle East peace will not be easy.

Demonstrating leadership, making a difference, and changing the trajectory of history, never is.

NOTE: Dr James J Zogby is the President of the Arab American Institute.

US irked by Google chief’s N Korea plans

By Matthew Pennington

G

oogle chief Eric Schmidt’s plan to visit North Korea has put the Obama administration in the awkward position of opposing a champion of Internet freedom who’s decided to engage with one of the most intensely censored countries. The administration is wary for a reason. It fears that Schmidt’s trip could give a boost to North Korea’s young leader, Kim Jong Un, just when Washington is trying to pressure him. It was only last month when North Korea launched a long-range rocket in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. While the US and its allies are seeking harsher penalties against the reclusive communist government. That effort is proving difficult because of a resistance from China, a permanent member of the council. Beijing probably worries that its troublesome ally could respond to any new punishment by conducting a nuclear test.

US officials are also concerned that the high-profile visit could confuse American allies in Asia and suggest a shift in US policy as the administration prepares to install a new secretary of state to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama has nominated Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004. An imminent change of government in South Korea, a close US friend, is raising questions about whether the

two countries can remain in lockstep in their dealings with the North. Newly elected leader Park Geun-hye is expected to seek a more conciliatory approach toward North Korea after she takes up the presidency in February.

This helps to explain why the State Department, which has been a vigorous advocate of social media freedoms

spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Thursday.

Richardson, a seasoned envoy and a former US ambassador to the United Nations, said Friday that the State Department should not be nervous. In interviews with CBS and CNN, Richardson said they had been planning to visit in December but postponed the trip at the department’s

around the world, particularly last year during the Arab Spring, made clear it was displeased by the planned “private, humanitarian” visit by Schmidt and former New Mexico Gov Bill Richardson. Their trip is expected this month. “We don’t think the timing of the visit is helpful and they are well aware of our views,” State Department

request because of the presidential election that month in South Korea.

Richardson said he would raise with North Korea the matter of an American detained last month on suspicion of committing unspecified “hostile” acts against the state; the charge could draw a sentence of 10 years of hard labor. He’ll also try to meet with the

detainee. He also said he was concerned about North Korea’s nuclear proliferation and this was a “very important juncture” to talk and try to move the North Koreans in the “right direction”.

Schmidt, Richardson said, was traveling as a private citizen. But the trip raises questions about whether Google has plans for North Korea.

Schmidt, the company’s executive chairman, is a staunch advocate of global Internet access and the power of connectivity in lifting people out of poverty and political oppression. There are few countries where the obstacles are as stark. North Koreans need government permission to interact with foreigners - in person, by phone or by email. Only a tiny portion of the elite class is connected to the Internet. US law restricts American companies’ dealings with North Korea, which is subject to tough penalties because of its nuclear and missile programs.

Imports of North Korean goods are prohibited, but travel to North Korea, exports of US goods and investment in the country are allowed, subject to some restrictions, such as on exports of luxury goods. Richardson has been to North Korea at least a half-dozen times since 1994, including two trips to negotiate the release of detained Americans. His last visit was in 2010.

The detainee, Kenneth Bae, is the fifth American held in North Korea in the past four years. That includes two

US journalists who were freed in 2009 after former President Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang and met with thenleader Kim Jong Il. Richardson said it was doubtful he and Schmidt would meet with Kim Jong Un, but he expected to talk with officials from the foreign affairs and economic ministries and the military.

North Korea could show good will by freeing Bae. But detainees risk becoming bargaining chips for the North in its tumultuous relationship with Washington. The US retains nearly 30,000 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. Kim Jong Un’s elevation to leadership after his father’s death a year ago offered some hope of better relations. But after agreeing last February to an offer of US food aid in exchange for nuclear concessions, North Korea derailed the deal weeks later when it attempted to launch a satellite atop a rocket that the US believes was a test of ballistic missile capabilities. Relations were set back further by the latest launch, this time successful, which the North again insisted was for a purely peaceful space program. In the past year, Kim has made at least stylistic changes that hint at more openness, leading some commentators to call for a fresh outreach

by US diplomats. That’s something that the nominee for secretary of state, Kerry, might support. But there’s still little sign of substantive reform. —AP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

S P ORT S Drogba could move to Italy ROME: Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba could move to either AC Milan or Juventus in the January transfer window, according to his agent Carlos Arino Bajo. In an interview with the Italian website tuttomercatoweb.com, Bajo said Drogba had been in contact with both Serie A clubs over a potential transfer after only six months with Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua.

“I think there is a good chance that he might come to Italy now,” Bajo said.

“There is genuine interest from Juventus, AC Milan and Didier himself regarding the transfer. “There has been contact with Milan and Juventus to understand the contract situation with the Chinese and we will have further contact and meetings with them both next week.

“He would love to compete in one of the world’s best leagues like the Italian Serie A.” However Juventus coach Antonio Conte said on Saturday he knew nothing about a possible transfer by the 34-year-old Ivory Coast captain.

“I keep reading about Drogba but the club have never proposed him to me or vice versa,” he said at Juve’s prematch news conference yesterday ahead of their clash with Sampdoria. “There are economic issues that need to be taken into account. Any transfers must be smart and low cost.” AC Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri said club president Silvio Berlusconi’s policy was to work with young players. —Reuters

Armstrong may admit to doping, report says

Mourinho coy about return of Casillas

NEW YORK: Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping, is weighing whether to admit he used performance-enhancing drugs, The New York Times reported yesterday.

Armstrong has told associates and anti-doping officials he is considering admitting publicly that he used blood transfusions and banned drugs during his cycling career, in an effort to restore his credibility so he can become a competitive athlete again, the newspaper reported. The Times did not name its sources but cited “several people with direct knowledge of the situation.” The International Cycling Union (UCI) late last year effectively erased Armstrong from the cycling history books when it decided not to appeal sanctions imposed on the American by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). A damning report by USADA concluded that Armstrong helped orchestrate the most sophisticated doping program in the history of sport. The report included hundreds of pages of eyewitness testimony, emails, financial records and laboratory analysis of blood samples. Armstrong has vehemently denied ever having doped. Tim Herman, a lawyer for Armstrong, told the Times he was not aware of any admission plans. “I do not know about that. I suppose anything is possible, for sure. Right now, that’s really not on the table,” Herman was quoted as saying.—AFP

MADRID: Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho spoke about the need for competition in the squad when he was asked yesterday about the possible return to the starting lineup of goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas against Real Sociedad.

Mourinho stirred up controversy when he dropped Spain’s number one and played reserve keeper Antonio Adan for the last La Liga game before the mid-season break away at Malaga in December, when the champions slipped to a 3-2 defeat. “To be permanently in the comfort zone isn’t good for players,” Mourinho told a news conference ahead of their return to action on Sunday at home to the Basque club. “All positions on the pitch are about confidence, it is fundamental for all the players, not only for the keepers. “This translates into performance, but just as confidence is important so is competition, and we will try and strike that balance.” The former Chelsea and Inter Milan boss refused to be drawn on whether Casillas or Adan would start between the posts at the Bernabeu. “They don’t even know who is going to play in goal yet,” he said. “All I can say is, whoever plays against Real Sociedad will not play on Wednesday (in the King’s Cup).” Meanwhile, Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain has returned to the Real squad for Sunday’s game after around two months out with a hamstring injury. —Reuters

Clippers roll, Bulls advance LOS ANGELES: Chris Paul had 30 points and 13 assists, Blake Griffin added 24 points, and the Los Angeles Clippers led all the way in beating the Lakers 107-102 on Friday night.

Kobe Bryant scored 38 points and Dwight Howard had 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who lost for the second time this season to their Staples Center co-tenants.

Bryant carried the Lakers in the fourth quarter when they closed to 99-97 on his 23-foot jumper with 1:29 left. But Paul scored the Clippers’ final eight points to seal the victory and drop the Lakers two games below .500. The Clippers lead the Lakers by 10 games in the standings. The Lakers continue to struggle under new coach Mike D’Antoni. They’ve lost three of their past four games. The Clippers shot 50 percent and dominated the paint, 52-36.

Bryant scored 16 points in the fourth, when the Lakers rallied from 19 points down. The Clippers fouled for much of the final 5:51.

Howard missed two free throws but then made two to get the Lakers within four before Bryant’s jumper left them trailing 99-97.

ATHENS: Olympiakos’ Kyle Hines (right) jumps to score against Besiktas during their Euroleague top 16 basketball game. — AFP

Euroleague favorites stutter BELGRADE: A blistering individual performance by Euroleague’s top scorer Bobby Brown gave Montepaschi Siena a 98-92 win at Fenerbahce Istanbul on Friday while several big guns were rocked by surprise defeats in the second round of the top 16.

Khimki Moscow stunned 2010 champions Barcelona 78-65, six-time winners Panathinaikos Athens went down 78-64 at Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Maccabi Tel Aviv, the winners of four titles, were edged 71-70 at home by a rejuvenated Caja Laboral Vitoria.

Holders Olympiakos Piraeus strolled to a 77-64 home success against Besiktas Istanbul to register their first win in the second group stage of the competition, featuring two pools of eight teams, as former champions CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid and Zalgiris Kaunas also enjoyed easy wins. The 28-year old Brown, a journeyman who plied his trade at several NBA teams as well as little known sides such as Germany’s Oldenburg, equalled Euroleague’s record of 41 points as Siena overcame an 11-point third quarter deficit in the cauldron of Fenerbahce’s Ulker Sports Arena. Brown, who has averaged 19.2 points per game, nailed 12 of his 18 shots from the field and all 13 from the foul line while he also dished out seven assists, overshadowing Croatian forward Bojan Bogdanovic who led the home side with 31 points.

“It was a special night for me and my team mates and I was happy to help the team win,” Brown told the competition’s official website (www.euroleague.net).

“We played very well at a crunch time and stayed calm in the end to get a very important road win, but this is just the beginning and we still have plenty of games which we need to play the same way.” Fenerbahce’s Italian coach Simone Pianigiani, who led Siena to six successive domestic league titles before he took over at the Turkish club this season, said: “Tonight we played one of the best games of the season but lost it in the critical last moments over small details.

“Bobby Brown had an incredible night, we did everything to stop him but we failed.” Barcelona sorely missed injured guard Juan Carlos Navarro on the outskirts of Russia’s capital, where Khimki have proved to be tough customers even for more heralded rivals.

They blew away the Spanish side on

the back of 16 points by Croatia guard Zoran Planinic. Panathinaikos also felt the absence of inspirational playmaker Dimitris Diamantidis, who helped them to three titles in Europe’s premier club competition, with former Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar leading the way for Efes with 13 points.

Caja Laboral were heading for an early exit after losing six of their opening seven games in the preliminary group stage and having squeezed through with three wins in a row, they continued their impressive comeback with a second successive victory in the top 16.

Spain forward Fernando San Emeterio settled a rip-roaring contest in Maccabi’s jam-packed Nokia Arena with an audacious lay-up with eight seconds left on the clock after the home side had overturned a 12-point halftime deficit.

Serbia’s Nemanja Bjelica was Caja’s top scorer with 17 points and American guard Brad Oleson added 10 as the Basque outfit buried 13 three-pointers and combined for 18 assists, six more than Maccabi.

“I knew it would be a tough game and in the end my players had the mental toughness to fight back and I congratulate them,” said Caja’s Croatian coach Zan Tabak, who turned around the team’s fortunes when he took over from Montenegrin Dusko Ivanovic after their dreadful start. “We will continue to take it one game at a time and not worry about the standings,” he added.

Olympiakos, who also endured a patchy start to the season, led from start to finish in front of 9,000 home fans and ran out comfortable winners against Besiktas Istanbul after versatile guard Vassilis Spanoulis netted 18 points for the Greek and European club champions.

CSKA Moscow made light work of their 75-57 win at Alba Berlin thanks to 17 points by playmaker Milos Teodosic and 15 from fellow Serbian centre Nenad Krstic, while Nikola Mirotic led Real with 19 points in an 82-67 away defeat of Brose Baskets Bamberg.

Zalgiris, who won the title in 1999 and emerged as one of the dark horses this season, downed Unicaja Malaga 75-63 thanks to a strong final quarter as Mindaugas Kuzminskas scored a game -high 14 points and Paulius Jankunas chipped in with 11 for the Lithuanians. — Reuters

Bulls 96, Heat 89 In Miami, Carlos Boozer scored 27 points and the Chicago Bulls dominated on the boards to become only the third visiting team to win in Miami this season, beating the Heat 96-89 Friday night. Chicago outrebounded Miami 48-28. The Bulls had 19 offensive rebounds to four for the Heat. The Eastern Conference-leading Heat fell to 15-3 at home. Their other home losses came against the Knicks and Warriors.

Miami’s LeBron James scored 30 points, extending his streaks of scoring at least 20 points to 31 consecutive games this season, and 52 games in a row overall when including last year’s playoff run. He has scored at least 25 in eight consecutive games.

The first meeting between the teams this season was a bruiser, and the Bulls repeatedly outfought and outfoxed Miami on the boards. The Heat had won four games this season when outrebounded by 15 or more, but this time the disparity beat them.

Nets 115, Wizards 113 In Washington, Joe Johnson’s jumper with 0.7 seconds left in the second overtime lifted Brooklyn over Washington. Bradley Beal’s two free throws tied the score at 113 with 9.1 seconds to play before Johnson, who had 18 points, hit the shot that improved Brooklyn to 4-1 under interim coach PJ Carlesimo.

Brook Lopez had 27 points and 13 rebounds for the Nets, and Deron Williams added 24 points and 10 assists. Beal had a career-high 24 points. Jordan Crawford scored 23 points and Nene, who fouled out in the first overtime, had 20 for Washington, which lost its fourth in a row and is now 4-27.

After Martell Webster’s jumper gave the Wizards a 106-104 lead to begin the second overtime, Gerald Wallace made a layup and Keith Bogans converted a three-point play and a layup for a 111-106 lead with 3:21 to play.

Beal hit a 3-pointer as the first overtime ended to tie the score at 104. It was the second time Washington extended the game at the horn.

Nene hit a hook shot to tie it at 93 in regulation.

Thunder 109, 76ers 85 In Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook scored 27 points, Kevin Durant added 26 and Oklahoma City bounced back from a rare home loss to beat Philadelphia. Oklahoma City made eight of its first 10 3-point attempts in the second half and never trailed after scoring the final five points before halftime. Serge Ibaka chipped in 15 points and 10 rebounds and Kevin Martin had 16 points off the bench for the Thunder, who haven’t lost consecutive home games since dropping two of the first three to start the 201011 season.

Nick Young led Philadelphia with 21 points, and Jrue Holiday had 15 points and nine assists.

The Sixers fell to 2-5 on their eight-game road trip, which started before Christmas and concludes Saturday night at San Antonio.

Cavaliers 106, Bobcats 104 In Charlotte, Kyrie Irving scored 33 points, including a pull-up jumper from the foul line with one second left, to lift Cleveland over Charlotte. Irving had 14 of his team’s final 16 points and 26 points in the second half as the Cavaliers snapped a three-game losing streak.

Irving was 10 of 21 from the field and converted all 10 free throws while scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter. He also had six assists and five rebounds. Tristan Thompson added 19 points and C.J. Miles added 18 for the Cavaliers.

Ben Gordon led Charlotte’s second-half charge, finishing with 27 points. Ramon Sessions added 20 points and Gerald Henderson had 17, including a career-high four 3-pointers for the Bobcats, who have lost 19 of 20.

LOS ANGELES: Steve Nash No. 10 of the Los Angeles Lakers is guarded by Chris Paul No. 3 of the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. — AFP

Celtics 94, Pacers 75 In Boston, Kevin Garnett scored 18 points before he was ejected for a flagrant foul in the fourth quarter, and the Celtics snapped a fourgame losing streak. Rajon Rondo added 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds for Boston, which had lost eight of 10 to fall a season-worst three games below .500. Garnett also had seven rebounds.

Tyler Hansbrough scored 19 points and David West and Roy Hibbert had 10 rebounds apiece for the Pacers. The Central Division leaders had won six of seven and nine of 11. The Celtics used a 17-3 run in the second quarter to take control of the game.

Pistons 85, Hawks 94 In Auburn Hills, Austin Daye had a seasonbest 20 points and Detroit earned its fourth consecutive victory. The Hawks, who trailed by as many as 19, had the ball in the final seconds, but Andre Drummond blocked Lou Williams’ jumper at the buzzer to preserve the win.

The Pistons have won six of seven overall, with the only loss coming in double overtime at Atlanta. The second unit has powered the surge, outscoring the starters in several games, and the reserves outscored Atlanta’s backups 41-14, led by Daye. Josh Smith had 20 points for Atlanta, while Al Horford had 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Trail Blazers 86, Grizzlies 84 In Memphis, Wesley Matthews scored 21 points, J.J. Hickson added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Portland beat Memphis. Rudy Gay’s jumper from near the top of the key was off the mark, allowing the Trail Blazers to escape a closely played game that saw nine ties and 21 lead changes. LaMarcus Aldridge had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Portland, while Nicolas Batum and Damian Lillard added 11 points apiece, Lillard also handing out eight assists.

Marreese Speights had a season-high 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Grizzlies in place of Zach Randolph, who missed the game with flu-like symptoms. Gay had 19 points, but was 8 of 21 from the field. Marc Gasol scored 12 points and had a career-best eight blocks. Darrell Arthur contributed 10 points off the Memphis bench.

Kings 105, Raptors 96 In Toronto, DeMarcus Cousins scored a sea-

son-high 31 points and matched his career high with 20 rebounds, John Salmons scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and Sacramento beat Toronto.

Jason Thompson scored 14 points and Isaiah Thomas had 11 as the Kings won their second straight road game. Sacramento had gone 1-13 away from home before winning at Cleveland on Wednesday.

The Kings have won six of eight overall following their second five-game losing streak of the season. Kyle Lowry scored 24 and Ed Davis had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors, who came in having won eight of nine and a season-best five straight at home. Alan Anderson scored 20, DeMar DeRozan had 14 and Jose Calderon added 13 for the Raptors.

Jazz 87, Suns 80 In Phoenix, Al Jefferson scored 21 points and Paul Millsap added 19 to lead Utah past slumping Phoenix. Gordon Hayward added 14 points off the bench for the Jazz, who have won consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 5-12.

Utah was without center Enes Kanter, who sprained his right ankle in a win Wednesday against Minnesota. Marcin Gortat had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix. Goran Dragic added 17 points, but only six after the first quarter.

Rockets 115, Bucks 101 In Milwaukee, James Harden scored 29 points to lead Houston over Milwaukee. Harden shot 11 of 18 from the floor to go with seven assists and four steals for Houston, which has won 10 of its last 13 games.

The Rockets, who shot 54 percent from the field, also got 22 points from Carlos Delfino in his return to Milwaukee. He played for the Bucks from 2009-12 before signing with Houston as an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

The Rockets’ Jeremy Lin was taken to the locker room with 10:34 left in the third after the left side of his head was slightly bloodied after he collided with the right cheek of Milwaukee’s Larry Sanders as the two scrambled for a loose ball near half court. He returned to the bench with just under 3 minutes left in the period and started the fourth quarter. Milwaukee equaled a season worst by losing its third game in a row despite 16 points from Brandon Jennings. — AP

NBA results/standings Sacramento 105, Toronto 96; Brooklyn 115, Washington 113 (OT); Cleveland 106, Charlotte 104; Detroit 85, Atlanta 84; Boston 94, Indiana 75; Portland 86, Memphis 84; Oklahoma City 109, Philadelphia 85; Chicago 96, Miami 89; Houston 115, Milwaukee 101; Utah 87, Phoenix 80; LA Clippers 107, LA Lakers 102.

Western Conference Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Northwest Division W L PCT GB Oklahoma City 25 7 .781 NY Knicks 22 10 .688 Portland 17 15 .531 8 Brooklyn 18 15 .545 4.5 Denver 18 16 .529 8 Boston 15 17 .469 7 Minnesota 15 14 .517 8.5 Philadelphia 15 19 .441 8 Utah 17 17 .500 9 Toronto 12 21 .364 10.5 Pacific Division Central Division LA Clippers 26 8 .765 Chicago 18 13 .581 Golden State 22 10 .688 3 Indiana 19 14 .576 LA Lakers 15 17 .469 10 Milwaukee 16 15 .516 2 Detroit 13 22 .371 7 Sacramento 13 20 .394 12.5 Cleveland 8 26 .235 11.5 Phoenix 12 22 .353 14 Southwest Division Southeast Division San Antonio 26 9 .743 Miami 22 9 .710 Memphis 20 10 .667 3.5 Atlanta 20 11 .645 2 Houston 19 14 .576 6 Orlando 12 20 .375 10.5 Dallas 13 20 .394 12 Charlotte 8 24 .250 14.5 New Orleans 7 25 .219 17.5 Washington 4 27 .129 18

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

S P ORT S Monty would be mad to captain again — Harrington LONDON: Colin Montgomerie would be mad to entertain the thought of returning as Europe’s captain for the 2014 Ryder Cup, according to triple major winner Padraig Harrington.

The players committee will meet during the Jan. 17-20 Abu Dhabi Championship to decide on the successor to Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal at the biennial team event, with 2011 British Open champion Darren Clarke and Ireland’s Paul McGinley the frontrunners.

Clarke, however, said last month that he believes Europe should appoint a leader with a “huge presence”, suggesting 2010 skipper Montgomerie should be considered.

“There’s not a chance, after what he went through last time, that Colin would ever take the captaincy again,” Harrington told Reuters in an interview.

“He puts so much more on the line than anybody else - it would be madness for him. He’s had a great Ryder Cup playing career, he’s been a successful captain why risk all that?

“I can’t see in any shape or form him agreeing to do it again.” The United States, desperate to halt a run of seven defeats in nine editions, appointed eighttimes major champion Tom Watson as captain last month.

“That was a big statement and brilliant for the event,” said Clarke. “There are few more iconic figures in golf...and it sends out a statement they are serious about winning the trophy back. “Maybe we have to consider other people.

Whoever it is standing on that stage opposite Tom Watson needs a huge presence.”

But Harrington, who won the British Open in 2007 and 2008 and the US PGA Championship in 2008, said half of Montgomerie’s career would go out of the window if he lost as skipper. “I had a long chat with Monty the evening we won the Ryder Cup in 2010,” said the 41year-old Irishman. “I could see the relief Colin had when he won.

“I don’t think he quite realised until then the enormity of being captain for him. Most players who take the captaincy, whether they win or lose, it doesn’t change people’s perception of their overall career.

“Monty’s career though is based on his eight order of merit wins and his

Ryder Cup per formances,” added Harrington who has just signed a new multi-year deal with his club manufacturers Wilson Golf.

“By taking the captaincy he’s putting far more on the line than anybody else because it would be hard to mention that he’s unbeaten in the singles in the competition but, oh, he’s also a losing captain as well. That would take the shine off his great record.”

Harrington, a stalwart of six Ryder Cup campaigns, wants fellow-Irishman McGinley to take over as skipper at Gleneagles in Scotland next year before handing over to Northern Irishman Clarke for the 2016 version in the United States.

“Everybody’s talking about it on the European Tour,” said Harrington. “My own personal opinion is that McGinley should take it this time and for Clarke to do it in the US. “I think Darren would be a better captain in America because of his stature over there. McGinley would be a better option to go up against Watson.

“He can’t match Watson in terms of his stature in the game - nobody can do that. The only way McGinley would tackle a Ryder Cup is to knuckle down and do his own business and organise things he would be ideal for Gleneagles.”

Harrington, who launches his 2013 European Tour campaign at this week’s Volvo Golf Champions event in South Africa, said he had heard on the golfing grapevine that Watson was going to be named as US captain.

“That was the word, so it was no surprise when I found out he was appointed,” said the genial Dubliner. “I had kind of heard earlier that they were going to do something different. “I can understand it - they’re not dominating the Ryder Cup and they need to bring in the heavyweight hitters to get the trophy back.

“They don’t have the luxury at the moment of going through the ranks to pick the captain - they have to go right to the top of the pile and unless you pick Jack Nicklaus, there’s no one else who carries the stature of Tom Watson,” added Harrington. “It will be fascinating for the US players because if you can learn anything from Tom Watson, anything at all during Ryder Cup week, it would be a career highlight.” — Reuters

HAWAII: Webb Simpson walks under an umbrella on the first tee as he waits to start the first round at the Tournament of Champions golf tournament on Friday. After a morning of severe wind and rain, tournament officials suspended play and scratched the day. — AP

Strong winds wipe out first day at Kapalua HAWAII: The 2013 PGA Tour got off to a false start on Friday when first-round play at the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii was abandoned because of strong winds.

Following an earlier suspension in play due to adverse conditions at the Kapalua Resort, the players were summoned off the course as winds gusted up to 45 mph (72.4 kph) and balls oscillated on the exposed green at the par-three second.

With no realistic hope of a resumption on Friday, PGA Tour rules official Slugger White announced the interrupted first round would be washed out and that the players would try to complete 36 holes yesterday with a two-tee start.

“We started in almost unplayable conditions and it just got worse,” White told reporters. “We tried to play and Mother Nature just wouldn’t help us. We have decided to scrub this round, wash it out completely. No shots count.

“We are going to start the first round tomorrow morning. I can honestly say the forecast isn’t real good but maybe we’ll get lucky. That’s the hope.” US Open champion Webb Simpson had been the early leader in Friday’s aborted round, moving to three under par after just seven holes in the elite, winners-only event on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

Swede Jonas Blixt was at one under after five holes, a stroke in front of compatriot Carl Pettersson (after one hole) and Americans Kyle Stanley (four), Ryan Moore (three), Johnson Wagner (two) and Scott

Piercy (one). “It stinks for me,” American Simpson said of the abandoned round. “I got off to a great start but that’s the way it goes. I’m sure they made the decision that’s best for all the guys. “But the good news is, I had a good start and I’m playing well. I was able to make a couple of putts and that’s what you have to do on a day like today.”

Earlier Simpson described how brutally challenging the wet and windy conditions had been on the hilly, par-73 Plantation Course. “I feel like I’m in a hurricane ... my umbrella is breaking,” he said.

While Simpson was bitterly disappointed by the decision to wipe out the opening round, compatriot Scott Stallings had every reason to celebrate after battling to seven over par after just four holes.

FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker, one of six players in the 30-man field who did not tee off in the opening round, had already prepared himself for a daunting afternoon at Kapalua. “I just striped an eight-iron on the range that went about 50 yards,” Snedeker said. “I probably could have caught it.”

Also among those yet to tee off was veteran American Steve Stricker, who won last year’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions by three shots to clinch his 12th PGA Tour title. Stronger winds and intermittent rain have been forecast for yesterday, though conditions are expected to ease at Kapalua today and tomorrow. Weather permitting, the fresh first round will start at 7:30 a.m. local (1730 GMT) late yesterday. — Reuters

SYDNEY: Australia’s Matthew Wade (second from left) runs out Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews (center) for 126 runs on the third day of their cricket Test match. — AP

Australia on verge of series whitewash over Sri Lanka SYDNEY: Australia were closing in on victory in the final Test and a series clean sweep after a Sri Lankan batting collapse on the third day in Sydney yesterday.

For a time it looked as if Sri Lanka, well beaten in Hobart and Melbourne, could make a contest of it as Dimuth Karunaratne and skipper Mahela Jayawardene almost wiped out the 138run innings deficit with a century stand before wickets tumbled.

At the close, Sri Lanka were a shaky 225 for seven and leading by 87 runs with two days left with Dinesh Chandimal on 22 and Rangana Herath not out nine. “It could have gone the wrong way for us this afternoon but luckily enough our bowlers were good enough and they did well to pull it back,” said Australia wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, whose thrilling century set up a pre-lunch declaration. “We’ve got to take three wickets as quickly as we can because we don’t want to be chasing too many runs on that wicket.”

After lunch, opener Tillakaratne Dilshan failed for the fifth time since his 147 in the first Hobart Test when he was caught centimetres from the ground by Phil Hughes at third slip off Johnson in the seventh over.

Jayawardene then watched four batting partners depart as he tried to keep his team’s innings together, but upon his dismissal just inside the final hour it was all downhill for Sri Lanka.

Karunaratne edged Jackson Bird to Wade for 85 to end a 108-run stand with Jayawardene in the 34th over when Sri Lanka were still trailing by six runs. First innings topscorer Lahiru Thirimanne survived a leg before wicket review before he fell hooking Mitchell Johnson to Bird at fine leg in the 41st over. Thilan Samaraweera completed a wretched series when he went after spinner Nathan Lyon and skied to long-on where Mike Hussey took the catch to a huge roar from the home crowd celebrating the Australian veteran’s farewell Test.

Samaraweera’s reckless third-ball duck followed scores of 7, 49, 10, 1 and 12 in the threeTest series. A dreadful mix-up led to Angelo Mathews being run out for 16 after he failed to beat the throw from David Warner.

Jayawardene was out four balls later ending his 200-minute resistance when he edged Peter

Siddle to Michael Clarke at first slip and the tourists had tumbled to 178 for six and only a lead of 40.

Dhammika Prasad became Mitchell Starc’s first wicket when caught behind for 15 heading into the final half-hour. “We were very disappointed with the batting in the last session,” Karunaratne said. “If Chandimal can put some runs on the board tomorrow, we can do something on this track. I think (a lead of ) 150, 175 would be a good target for us.”

In the morning session Wade scored a thrilling unbeaten century batting with the tail as Australia added 90 more runs before declaring to lead Sri Lanka by 138 runs.

Wade opened up in a last-wicket stand of 39 with Bird to grab his second Test century and gave skipper Michael Clarke the opportunity to declare his team’s innings at 432 for nine in the

half hour before lunch.

Wade rushed towards his teammates in the Sydney Cricket Ground Members Stand and kissed his helmet after crashing Suranga Lakmal for a boundary to raise his century off 158 balls, after setting out on the third day on 47. He was dropped by Prasad at fine leg two balls later going for another big heave before skipper Clarke called a halt with the declaration.

Bird provided staunch support to give Wade his chance to go after his against-the-odds century. Wade was on 70 when the fast bowler came to the crease. Bird remained six not out.

Left-arm spinner Herath, who could still play a prominent role in Australia’s second innings, finished Sri Lanka’s leading wicket-taker with four for 95 off 31 overs. Australia lost the wickets of Siddle (38), Starc (2) and Lyon (4) on the third morning. — AFP

SCOREBOARD SYDNEY: Scoreboard at the close on the third day of the third and final Test between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday: Sri Lanka 1st Innings 294 (L. Thirimanne 91, M. Jayawardene 72; J. Bird 4-41) Australia 1st Innings (overnight 342 for 6) D. Warner c Prasad b Dilshan 85 E. Cowan run out (Pradeep) 4 P. Hughes c Chandimal b Herath 87 M. Clarke c Karunaratne b Herath 50 M. Hussey run out (Karunaratne) 25 M. Wade not out 102 M. Johnson c Chandimal b Pradeep 13 P. Siddle c Chandimal b Pradeep 38 M. Starc lbw b Herath 2 N. Lyon b Herath 4 J. Bird not out 6 Extras (lb6, w7, nb3) 16 Total (9 wkts declared; 107 overs) 432 Fall of wickets: 1-36 (Cowan), 2-166 (Warner), 3-195 (Hughes), 4-251 (Hussey), 5-271 (Clarke), 6-307 (Johnson), 7384 (Siddle), 8-387 (Starc), 9-393 (Lyon) Bowling: Lakmal 24-4-95-0, Pradeep 20-1-114-

2 (3nb, 5w), Prasad 11-0-53-0 (2w), Mathews 2-0-11-0, Dilshan 19-2-58-1, Herath 31-3-95-4 Sri Lanka 2nd Innings D. Karunaratne c Wade b Bird 85 T. Dilshan c Hughes b Johnson 5 M. Jayawardene c Clarke b Siddle 60 L. Thirimanne c Bird b Johnson 7 T. Samaraweera c Hussey b Lyon 0 A. Mathews run out (Warner) 16 D. Chandimal not out 22 D. Prasad c Wade b Starc 15 R. Herath not out 9 Extras (b1 lb2 nb3) 6 Total (7 wkts; 62 overs) 225 Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Dilshan), 2-132 (Karunaratne), 3-155 (Thirimanne), 4-158 (Samaraweera), 5-178 (Mathews), 6-178 (Jayawardene), 7-202 (Prasad) Bowling: Starc 10-0-48-1, Bird 15-2-51-1 (3nb), Johnson 9-3-19-2, Siddle 14-3-35-1, Lyon 13-163-1, Hussey 1-0-6-0.

Herath alive, bowling despite death rumors SYDNEY: As Mark Twain might have said, rumors of the death of Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath which spread like wildfire across social media late on Friday proved to be greatly exaggerated.

Far from lying in a Sydney morgue alongside former Test bowler Chaminda Vaas after perishing in a car crash as the reports had suggested, Herath was very much alive when he pitched up for work at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.

The most prolific wicket-taker in test cricket last year, the 34-year-old leg spinner claimed two Australian wickets to seal a haul of four for 95 and

then contributed nine runs with the bat. Team mate Dimuth Karunaratne told reporters at the conclusion of the day’s play that the team had been dumbfounded by the rumors.

“I heard about it when we having breakfast but I had no idea where that came from,” he said with a laugh. “Guys from Sri Lanka were calling us asking ‘when is the funeral?’ and stuff like that.

“Rangana is alive,” he added, somewhat unnecessarily. Herath’s efforts were not enough to prevent Australia taking an iron grip on the third Test match yesterday and move to the brink of a 3-0 series sweep. That could all change, however, if he and Dinesh Chandimal, who finished the third

day unbeaten on 22, are able to dig in on Sunday, inflate their lead beyond the current 87 and give Sri Lanka a decent target to bowl at.

The Sydney track has traditionally offered a lot of turn for spinners in the last couple of days of a test and, as Herath’s 60 wickets last year showed, there are few better spinners operating in test cricket at the moment.

“The wicket is turning a lot now and the Aussie guys are playing the fourth innings, so I think Rangana... can do something,” said Karunaratne. Vaas has no position with the test team and remains, also unharmed, in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan reporters said. — Reuters

US wins gold at junior ice hockey worlds UFA: The United States won the junior ice hockey championships yesterday after Rocco Grimaldi scored twice and Vince Trocheck added an empty-net goal to clinch a 3-1 win over Sweden in the final.

Filip Sandberg put defending champion Sweden ahead on power play early in the second period, but Grimaldi then scored twice in a three-minute span to swing the game in the Americans’ favor. He powered from behind the net to score an equalizer from a narrow angle, and then redirected Jacob Trouba’s slap shot from the blue line midway through second period. Sweden pulled its goalie for an extra player with 1:42 left but failed to capitalize. Instead, Trocheck rounded off the win with 16.7 seconds left. John Gibson made 26 saves for the victory and was named the MVP of the tournament. Niklas Lundstrom had 31 saves for Sweden. It was the third title for the Americans, who also won in 2004 and 2010.

Earlier, Valeri Nichushkin scored an overtime winner to give Russia a 6-5 victory over Canada in the bronze-medal match. Canada trailed throughout the match, but Brett Ritchie scored an equalizer with 9 minutes left of the third period to force overtime.

In the extra 10-minute period, Nichushkin broke down the right flank on a solo effort and skated in front of the goal to score into the left corner after just 1:35. Russia goalkeeper Andrei Makarov made 40 saves for the victory. —AP

UFA: Team USA captain Jake McCabe (centre) hoist the World Junior Trophy after his team defeated Sweden during the gold medal hockey action at the IIHF World Junior Championships.— AP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

S P ORT S

Three extraordinary rookie quarterbacks in playoffs NEW YORK: Rookie quarterbacks will command center stage today with Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson extending superb National Football League (NFL) seasons in wild-card playoff games.

At least one from the extraordinary rookie class of 2012 will reach the second round of the postseason as Griffin leads the NFC East champion Washington Redskins against the visiting Seattle Seahawks and signal caller Wilson.

Sunday’s Redskins-Seahawks showdown featuring two of the new breed of run-and-gun quarterbacks follows a game between Luck’s Indianapolis Colts and the AFC North-winning Baltimore Ravens and concludes the first-round of the playoffs.

Grizzled Ravens veteran Ray Lewis aims to weigh in for the older generation. The inspirational, 13-time Pro Bowl linebacker tries to come back from a torn triceps for one last postseason run after announcing

he will retire following the playoffs.

Age and injuries have slowed the vaunted Ravens defense, which ranked 17th this season in total defense, but they made their way to the playoffs with help from multi-talented running back Ray Rice and big-armed quarterback Joe Flacco.

Indianapolis (11-5) have inspiration on their side as well with the recent return of head coach Chuck Pagano, a former Baltimore defensive coordinator, who was sidelined early in the season to undergo treatments for leukemia.

Lewis and his cohorts are making their fifth successive trip to the Super Bowl tournament, while the Colts are capping a sensational turnaround campaign after going 2-14 in 2011.

That woeful season, logged with quarterback Peyton Manning sidelined for the year after neck surgery, turned out to be a blessing for the Colts, who used the number one overall pick of the NFL Draft to

select Luck. More of a classic pocket quarterback than Griffin and Wilson, Luck has thrown 23 touchdown passes and 18 interceptions and has shown his mettle by leading Indy to an NFL record seven fourth-quarter and overtime comeback wins this season. With Luck coming on board, Indianapolis believed they would be instantly competitive again in the AFC. “Coach Pagano told us before the season that we are not in a rebuilding phase. It’s more like reloading, because we’re here to play now,” Indianapolis tight end Dwayne Allen said.

Momentum could favor the Colts, who have won five of their last six games, while the Ravens (10-6) lost four of their final five. Luck, however, is wary of Baltimore’s ball-hawking skills safety Ed Reed, who has eight career postseason interceptions. “He seems to have an unbelievable feel for the game of football, almost to know what you are doing before you know what you’re

doing,” Luck said.

The NFC clash pits two of the league’s new look offenses. The arrival of Griffin, who the Redskins traded up to take number two in the draft behind Luck, moved coach Mike Shanahan to install a new offense to utilize the jaw-dropping running speed possessed by RG3 along with his strong, accurate arm.

Using an option-style rollout out of an abbreviated shotgun formation called the pistol, the threat of Griffin helped open up holes for hard-running Alfred Morris, a sixth-round draft pick who set a club record with 1,613 yards rushing.

Griffin, often the fastest player on the field, set an NFL rookie quarterback record by rushing for 815 yards to go along with 20 touchdown passes and just five interceptions.

The exciting Griffin, however, has been hampered by the effects of a strained knee and will face a swarming Seahawks

defense that allowed the fewest points in the NFL with a secondary led by Richard Sherman, with eight interceptions.

Wilson, less highly touted in the draft because of concerns he was too short at 5foot-11 (1.80 m), was drafted in the third round but has come up big this season.

Producing a similar one-two punch with the complementary rushing of Marshawn Lynch (1,590 yards), Wilson tied an NFL rookie mark by tossing 26 TD passes and showed a gift for dodging pass rushers and throwing on the run.

“I knew my height doesn’t define my skill set,” said Wilson, who passed for four TDs in one game and ran for three in another. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll foresees a special game.

“They have just been amazing to take their teams into the playoffs,” he said of the rookie quarterbacks. “It’ll be great to see how it goes, and we hope our guy does really well.” — Reuters

Manziel sets Cotton Bowl record

CLERMONT-FERRAND: Montpellier’s Georgian flanker Mamuka Gorgodzel (left) runs with the ball during a French Top 14 rugby union match between ASM Clermont Auvergne and MHR Montpellier. — AFP

Montpellier fail to crack Clermont’s ‘fortress’ PARIS: Clermont extended their unbeaten home streak to 53 games yesterday with an ultimately convincing 36-18 victory over 2011 French championship finalists Montpellier.

Victory saw the 2010 champions consolidate second place in the Top 14 table, three points behind Toulon, who are at home to Racing-Metro today Montpellier, who have not won in 12 visits to Clermont and conceded 34 points on average, will remain in the top six regardless of results later yesterday.

Clermont had been on the back foot early on when Argentinian prop Maximiliano Bustos charged over to touch down after a fine pass by France fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc had created the opening — it was converted to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.

However, Clermont hit back as a superb inside pass by Brock James sent Wesley Fofana bursting through to touch down under the posts and Morgan Parra converted to level the scores.

Parra and Montpellier’s place kicker, Argentinian Martin Bustos Moyano, swapped penalties to keep the sides all square but a moment of magic by Fofana set up Clermont’s second try.

The France centre took the ball outside the Montpellier 22, eyed up visiting scrum-half Julien Tomas then stepped up a gear and breezed past him before offloading the ball to fullback JeanMarcellin Butin, who touched down in the corner. Parra converted for 17-10.

Clermont were reduced to 14 men shortly before the break when veteran Nathan Hines was sin-binned but the visitors were unable to take advantage and it was the hosts who extended their lead to 23-13 by the time the Australiaborn former Scottish international returned to the fray.

Parra made it 26-13 in the 54th minute leaving Montpellier head coach Fabien Galthie staring pensively at the ground - his frown deepened as the metronomic Parra converted another penalty for 29-13. The visitors had fallen apart and their woes were compounded when Charles Geli was yellow-carded with 12 minutes remaining.

Clermont were shortly afterwards awarded a penalty try which Parra converted to take his points tally to 19 for the match with the visitors replying with a nicely worked try by replacement Benoit Paillaugue in the dying minutes.— AFP

Stevens looks to emerge a better rider than before LOS ANGELES: Happy, healthy and chock-full of confidence, Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens says he is returning to the track after a seven-year hiatus for one reason: because he can. In fact, Stevens believes he can return to the saddle as a better rider than the one who won the Kentucky Derby three times and over $221 million in purses. “My body and my brain are telling me I can come back,” Stevens told Reuters on Friday in a telephone interview from Santa Anita Park outside Los Angeles. “It’s not something that just happened overnight.

“I’ve spent the better part of the last three months preparing for what’s about to happen. I’m basically trusting my instincts.”

Stevens announced Thursday his intention to ride again and that his first time in the starting gate will be aboard Jebrica on Sunday in a $50,000 claiming race at Santa Anita.

The affable jockey had hung up the tack in

Gary Stevens

late 2005 with a battered body and a right knee that caused so much pain it was hard to walk. His road back was almost by accident.

“It started out I just wanted to get on a couple horses in the morning for exercise and fun-for my own well-being,” he said. “The way I felt I was thinking, ‘Man, I wish I felt like this the last six or seven years I was riding.’ “My body just continued to improve.”

A three-time winner of the Belmont Stakes and a two-time Preakness champion, Stevens captured 4,888 races during his illustrious career, which began in 1979. “If I get any inkling I’m not a shadow of what I once was and that I’m not an asset to the horses I’m riding, the boots will get hung up as quick as they’re going back on,” he said. “I don’t plan on going out there and cheating the public, the owners or myself.”

Stevens, who will turn 50 in March, weighed 133 pounds as a racing analyst for HRTV last year and Friday was at 119 — a few more pounds than he will have to carry today.

He attended a 12-week program at a Seattle facility ostensibly for obese people and finished it in six weeks. His body fat went to 15 percent from 25 percent.

Stevens said he will “cherr y pick” his mounts and will not be a regular rider at any track. The Idaho native said he is committed to be an analyst for NBC during the 2013 Triple Crown. “I’m not going into some intramural league,” he said. “I’m coming in at the highest level. There’s no warm-up. I’m diving into the deep end. I’ve got faith in my body and my reaction time.

“Whatever I lack in physical abilities that I had when I was twenty-something, I can make up in experience. It’s like watching a veteran quarterback, like Peyton Manning.

“He may not be able to run as fast but it doesn’t matter. My reaction time is there. And I can read a defense pretty good. That’s what I’m relying on. Stevens said it was too early to tell if he would ride in this year’s Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita. —Reuters

ARLINGTON, Texas: At one point early in the Cotton Bowl, with “Johnny B. Goode” blaring through the stadium speakers, Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel peeked up at the accompanying highlights on the huge video board hanging over the field.

Texas A&M’s exciting dual-threat quarterback known as Johnny Football sure puts on a show worth watching. “Best player I’ve ever played. He does so many good things. He’s got magic,” Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. “He’ll have a chance to win four (Heismans) if he stays healthy.”

Manziel tiptoed down the sideline for a 23yard TD on the game’s opening drive and went on to an FBS bowl record for quarterbacks with 229 yards rushing on 17 carries. He also set a Cotton Bowl record with 516 total yards as the 10th-ranked Aggies beat No. 12 Oklahoma 41-13 on Friday night to wrap up their first SEC season.

With first-year coach Kevin Sumlin and their young star quarterback after leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, the Aggies (11-2) overwhelming won the only bowl game matching teams from those two power conferences. They won 11 games for the first time since 1998, their only Big 12 title season. The Aggies never trailed while winning their last six games and became the first SEC team with more than 7,000 total yards - 7,261 after gaining 633 in the Cotton Bowl.

“It’s huge for this program, and for me especially, with the kind of woes A&M has had over the past decade or however long it’s been since they had 11 wins,” Manziel said. “For us to get up tonight and watch them battle back, it’s good when we strike first. That’s what we like to do. It was good to do that and not really look back.”

Texas A&M led by only a point at halftime, but scored on its first three drives of the second half on drives of 91 and 89 yards before Manziel threw a short pass to Ryan Swope on fourth-and5 that turned into a 33-yard TD and a 34-13 lead.

Oklahoma (10-3), which like the Aggies entered the game with a five-game winning streak, went three-and-out on its first three drives after halftime in what was quarterback Landry Jones’ 50th and final career start. “Feel just disappointed that he’s going out this way, getting beat like that,” Sooners center Gabe Ikard said.

Jones completed 35 of 48 passes for 278 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He won 39 games and three bowls for the Sooners, in a career that started on the same field in the 2009 season opener when he replaced injured Heisman winner Sam Bradford in the first college

IRVING: Texas A&M defensive backs Tramain Jacobs (left) and Steven Terrell celebrate with the trophy after the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game against Oklahoma. — AP game at Cowboys Stadium. But Jones missed out form after the Heisman and about the layoff and becoming only the third NCAA quarterback to go all of that,” said Manziel, who set an SEC record with 4,600 total yards in the regular season.

4-0 as a starter in bowl games.

“It was obvious tonight that we didn’t play the “There wasn’t anything holding us back. No rust, way we should have played,” said Jones, whose there was no nothing. We played as a unit.”

The chants of “S-E-C! S-E-C!” began after frustration was evident when he yelled at a teammate after a failed fourth-down play. “We Swope’s TD catch with 4 minutes left in the third couldn’t run it. We couldn’t throw it. It happens, quarter. They got louder and longer after that, and Manziel spread both his arms out and ran off you know.”

SEC teams have won the last five Cotton the field like he was flying.

Oklahoma was in the Cotton Bowl for only the Bowls, all against Big 12 teams, and nine out of 10. That included Texas A&M’s loss to LSU only second time. It was the first bowl matchup two years ago. It had been six weeks since the between the former Big 12 rivals, but the 17th Aggies played their last game, and four weeks consecutive season they have played each other.

The Sooners had won 11 of 13 in the series since Manziel became the first freshman to win since Bob Stoops became their coach. That college football’s highest individual award.

Manziel got it started with an electrifying included a 77-0 Oklahoma win in 2003 that was 24-yard run on third down on the opening the most-lopsided loss in Texas A&M history.

Sumlin was the A&M offensive coordinator in drive. Then on a third-and-10, Manziel rolled to his left and took off, juked around a defender 2002 when the Aggies upset the top-ranked and got near the sideline. He tiptoed to stay in Sooners. The next year, Sumlin was hired by bounds and punctuated his 23-yard score with Stoops as an assistant, and he stayed there five a high-step over the pylon for a quick lead. seasons before going to Houston as head coach Officials reviewed the play to make sure he did and now the Aggies. “I think tonight was really stay in bounds, and the replays showed clearly indicative of this season,” Sumlin said. “It’s one of the teams I thought in the country that truly got that he did.

“There is too much talk about how you per- better every week.” — AP

Shiffrin wins WCup slalom ZAGREB: Mikaela Shiffrin lived up to her billing as skiing’s next big star by becoming the first American woman to win two World Cup races before the age of 18.

The 17-year-old Shiffrin won a night slalom Friday by a massive 1.19-second margin, backing up her first career victory in Sweden last month with another dominating performance.

“Everything went really well today,” Shiffrin said after putting down the fastest time in both runs. “It felt great.” She now tops the World Cup slalom standings and even went ahead of Lindsey Vonn as the top American in the overall table. Vonn resumed training Thursday after a month-long break from the circuit but skipped this race. Shiffrin has 426 points in the overall standings, compared to 414 for Vonn. Both are way behind the leader, Tina Maze of Slovenia, who has 1,139 points despite going out in the second run on Friday.

“It’s definitely one of my goals to win the slalom title,” Shiffrin said. “And then the GS (giant slalom) title, and sometime the overall.

Right now, I am taking it day by day and race by race.”

It might still take some time for Shiffrin, who only competes in the technical disciplines, to challenge for the overall title. But she can already classify this as her breakthrough season after becoming the youngest woman since 1977 to win two slalom races in one season. She also has six more top-10 finishes so far.

“I had a tricky time last year, a couple of races where I straddled (a gate),” Shiffrin said.

“This year I fixed that and have found my groove.” Shiffrin leads the slalom standings with 336 points, followed by Veronika Velez Zuzulova of Slovakia with 312 and Maze with 310.

Shiffrin led by nearly half a second after the first run and only extended her advantage in the second, finishing in a combined time of 2 minutes, 1.73 seconds.

She became the youngest winner in nine editions of the Zagreb event, which is billed as the Snow Queen Trophy. The winner is awarded a crown of glass and a robe. The

ZAGREB: Mikaela Shiffrin, of the United States, clears a gate during the first run of an alpine ski, women’s World Cup slalom. — AP

crown, however, broke into pieces in a transpor tation box. “I think I have a new Halloween costume for next year,” Shiffrin joked. “First I need to glue (the crown) back together.”

Shiffrin was helped by mistakes from her closest challengers after the opening leg, Slovenia’s Tina Maze and Sweden’s Maria Pietilae-Holmner, who both failed to finish their final run.

Frida Hansdotter of Sweden came second, and Erin Mielzynski of Canada was 1.76 behind in third. The rest of the field finished more than two seconds off Shiffrin’s winning time.

Hansdotter was full of praise for Shiffrin, calling her “an amazing skier.” “And she doesn’t think too much, she just goes for it,” Hansdotter said. Shiffrin called her skiing “solid.” “I was just letting my skis taking me to the bottom and that is what I am looking for,” she said. Velez Zuzulova won the last two races in

Semmering and Munich but finished only 24th Friday after a mistake in her second run brought her to a standstill. Maze straddled a gate in the second run.

Slalom world champion Marlies Schild of Austria, who won here the last two seasons, has been ruled out for three months after knee surgery in December. Shiffrin said she was back to full strength after fighting a persistent cold in December.

“I was a little bit sick, I think I have my energy back now,” she said after the first run.

Shiffrin’s American teammate Resi Stiegler finished ninth for her best result since recovering from knee surgery following her crash at last year’s World Cup finals.

The course was in excellent condition despite rising temperatures over the last couple of days. A men’s slalom on the same course is scheduled for today. The women’s circuit travels to St. Anton, Austria, for speed races next week. — AP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

S P ORT S

Gasquet wins Qatar title

PERTH: Spain’s Fernando Verdasco and Anabel Medina Garrigues hold the Hopman Cup after defeating Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic, winning the tennis tournament in Perth. — AP

Spain upsets Serbia to bag Hopman Cup PERTH: Spain upset Serbia’s world number one Novak Djokovic and teammate Ana Ivanovic 2-1 to win their fourth Hopman Cup in an emotional final which finished in the early hours today.

The Spanish pairing of Fernando Verdasco and Anabel Medina Garrigues were underdogs against the top-seeded glamour Serbian pairing of Djokovic and Ivanovic. However, the Spaniards came from behind to clinch the title in the deciding mixed doubles rubber. The Spanish pair’s massive edge in doubles experience came to the fore as they won in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, to deny Serbia their first title.

Verdasco and Medina Garrigues were particularly effective in capitalising on Ivanovic’s shaky play at the net and even though Djokovic tried desperately to lift his team-mate his efforts were in vain.

Medina Garrigues ranked the win up there with her doubles wins at the French Open in 2008 and 2009. “Winning the Roland Garros doubles was exciting also, but here I didn’t expect to be in the final and then win, so I am really happy,” she said. Verdasco paid tribute to the efforts of Medina Garrigues. “She won three singles matches and she played really good in the mixed,” he said. “Today Anabel was unbelievable.” It was a third near miss for the Serbian pair in Perth, who played together at the event in 2006 and 2011. At their first appearance, representing Serbia and

Montenegro they missed the final on a countback of sets won during the week, and in 2011 they qualified for the final but were then forced out by an abdominal injury to Ivanovic.

“We were unfortunate last time, this time we were beaten by a better team,” Djokovic said. Djokovic had appeared to put Serbia on track to claim the title when he won the men’s singles clash with Verdasco, 6-3, 7-5.

However, Medina Garrigues, who battled a back problem early in the tournament, then levelled the tie with a 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 win in a marathon match that went on for two hours and 38 minutes.

World number 13 Ivanovic had been in superb form in her singles matches all week and was expected to easily account for the 50th-ranked Medina Garrigues.

Ivanovic started well when she broke ser ve early in the first set, but the Spaniard dug deep to break back and then took the set after securing another break in the ninth game. An unhappy Ivanovic called for the trainer early in the second set, but put aside any discomfort to level the match, before the Spaniard steadied in the third set as Ivanovic continued to make too many unforced errors.

The 30-year-old Medina Garrigues, who collapsed to the court immediately after her singles win, said it was the best victory of her career. — AFP

DOHA: Richard Gasquet, the world number 10, raised hopes of a climb towards the top five during 2013 with a gutsy fightback which carried him from the brink of defeat to the Qatar Open title yesterday.

The second-seeded Frenchman snatched an improbable 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 victory over Nikolay Davydenko, the unseeded Russian, who led by a set and a break of serve and seemed to be heading towards a notable triumph when he had points for 5-2 with a double break of serve in the second set.

At that crucial stage Gasquet hung in without ever playing his best tennis, and after Davydenko needed an injury time out in a final set during which he also appeared to tire, Gasquet surged through to the eighth title of his career. “This is a big success for me, and it was very tough,” Gasquet of the two-and-a-half hour struggle. “Nikolay was tired and I fought as much as I could. It was a good win against him because he plays so fast. “It’s also incredible to win here where so many famous players have won in the past.” Past fields included Rafael Nadal, who belatedly had to withdraw this year, and Roger Federer, both of whom Davydenko beat to win the title three years ago.

It would have been a remarkable effort, after so little tennis in recent months, and at the age of 31, to have won again. Gasquet was encountering frustrations against Davydenko’s hustling style in the first set.

He lost his opening service game after being unluckily penalised for a line judge’s wrong call, and then was narrowly prevented from making the break back. That happened after Davydenko’s return of serve was mistakenly called out, denying Gasquet the chance of making a comfortable put-away, and allowing the Russian to get the rally replayed after an appeal to the Hawkeye computer replay system succeeded.

This helped Davydenko accelerate to a 3-0 lead, but only after Gasquet had pressed hard on his advantage point and still saw Davydenko escape with a sudden dashing backhand winner down the line.

That brought gestures of annoyance from the Frenchman, but he had another chance to break back when Davydenko was closing the set out, and could not take that either.

The second set began with further missed chances. Davydenko sank to love-40 but still Gasquet could not capitalise, which appeared to

DOHA: France’s Richard Gasquet kisses the trophy after winning the final match of the 2013 ATP Qatar Open.— AFP This was another turning point. Soon have a doubly serious consequences. Soon he was a break of serve down again, and then trail- Davydenko was having treatment on a hip flexor problem, and was no longer imposing his highing 2-4.

At 30-40 in the seventh game, within one speed, flat-hit attacking game. When Gasquet blow of a double break deficit, he seemed on his broke serve in the fifth game, the die was cast, way to defeat. But Gasquet’s attitude in adversity and without over-pressing the Frenchman conwas good. He began to make better mixtures of tinued to make the Russian work harder as the his twin tactical priorities-slowing down the finishing line appeared.

“I am proud of my tennis, but disappointed in Davydenko attack, and then creating his own my physical condition,” said Davydenko, down to pressure from further up the court.

He may also have been fired up by the 44 in the rankings after two injury-hit years. “But umpire incorrectly announcing “game to I shall work in the next week to get it as good as I Davydenko” in that vital seventh game. Instead can,” he added, referring to his hopes of doing Gasquet held on for 3-4 and then broke back at well at the Australian Open starting on Monday last, after four failed attempts, reaching 4-4 as week. Davydenko had scored excellent wins over David Ferrer, the top-seeded Spaniard, and Davydenko appeared to tighten up.

Gasquet also looked the more buoyant and Mikhail Youzhny, his fourth-seeded compatriot, the more mobile player in the tie-breaker, win- in Qatar. Gasquet, meanwhile, will take a break ning it comfortably, noticing in the process instead of competing in Sydney next week, preDavydenko suffering physical discomfort on the ferring to rest a sore elbow in time for the Melbourne Grand Slam event. — AFP eighth point.

Nishikori injury hands Murray berth in final BRISBANE: Defending champion Andy Murray was handed a berth in the final of the Brisbane International yesterday when Japan’s Kei Nishikori retired from their semi-final with a knee injury.

Murray had taken the first set 6-4 and was up 2-0 in the second when Nishikori, who had treatment on his knee at the end of the first set, decided he couldn’t continue and conceded the match.

The 25-year-old Murray will now play Grigor Dimitrov in Sunday’s final after the rising Bulgarian star edged out Cyprus’s Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7/5) in the first semi.

Nishikori started brilliantly against Murray and leapt out to a 4-1 lead before the reigning US Open champion began to find his range. He quickly broke back then took control as Nishikori struggled with his movement around the court. “I didn’t know he was injured until late in the set,” Murray said. “He was tr ying to play aggressively and keep the points short.

“When I made him play the ball more I had him in trouble.” Murray said he was relatively pleased at how he was playing a week out from the first Grand Slam of the year. “I’m playing okay, a bit up and down,” he said. “I served pretty well for the majority of the tournament. “I’ve moved better every single match. Returning could have been better and my groundstrokes, I think

with more matches, I’ll start to hit them cleaner.

“When I’ve come up to the net I’ve volleyed relatively well... there is stuff for me to work on.” Dimitrov progressed after a thrilling win over 2006 Australian Open runner-up Baghdatis.

The young Bulgarian has been in superb form this week and looked on track for another convincing win after dominating the first set and going up an early break in the second.

But Baghdatis has always performed well in Australia and he began to trouble Dimitrov, putting enormous pressure on his opponent’s serve with his aggressive returning. Dimitrov’s serve dropped off as Baghdatis raised his game and there was nothing between the two men as the third set went to a tiebreak.

Dimitrov got the early break at 4-2 when Baghdatis became unsettled by a time violation, only for the Cypriot to storm back and level proceedings at 5-5.

However, the 21-year-old Dimitrov won the next two points to make his first final on the ATP tour. “I think it will be a fun match for me (against Murray), I have nothing to lose tomorrow,” Dimitrov said.

“I just want to go out there and compose myself and say, ‘Okay, it’s your first final, don’t be nervous at least’. “I think it’s going to be a good match.” —AFP

Tipsarevic, Agut in Chennai Open final CHENNAI: World number nine Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia and unseeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain set up a title clash in the ATP Chennai Open with hard-earned wins yesterday.

The second-seeded Tipsarevic fought back after losing the first set to oust 23year-old Aljaz Bedene of Slovania 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in a semi-final that lasted two hours and five minutes.

The 80th-ranked Agut, who knocked out top seed Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals, entered his maiden tour final by beating fifth seed Benoit Paire of France 36, 6-1, 6-4. Tipsarevic, a losing finalist last year against big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, stayed on course to win his first Chennai Open title in his fifth appearance in the southern Indian city.

The tall Serb appeared shaken when Bedene, ranked 86th, secured a break in the ninth game of the first set with two superb passing shots. But Bedene, who beat fourth seed Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarterfinals, was outplayed in the next two sets as Tipsarevic served solidly and raised his game from the baseline.

“I knew I was playing well, but after a good start I took two steps backwards and just started pushing the ball,” Tipsarevic said

of his loss in the first set.

“I think I played some of my best tennis in the next two sets and look forward to continue the same way in the final. “I will be the favourite tomorrow, but I know my opponent will be motivated to win his first final, so I cannot afford to be complacent.”

Bedene, whose only other quarter-final appearance of his career was also ended by Tipsarevic in Vienna last year, said his lack of experience made all the difference.

“It had to be Janko again,” the soft-spoken Slovenian said. “He is one of the best players in the world and knows what it takes to come out of a tight corner and win a match.

“But I am feeling great and positive. I go from here after playing my first semi-final. I am also excited at being placed in the main draw for the first time at the Australian Open.” Agut continued his giant-killing run in the $430,000 season-opener as he overcame the loss of the first set to win seven of the next eight games to take a 1-0 lead in the third set. The 47th-ranked Paire broke back in the second game, before Agut produced three cross-court forehands to break the Frenchman in the ninth, and then held his serve in the next to wrap up the match. — AFP

BRISBANE: Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US (left) and her partner Sania Mirza of India (right) hold the trophy after defeating Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic in the women’s doubles final at the Brisbane International tennis tournament. — AFP

Serena races to Brisbane title BRISBANE: Serena Williams confirmed her eagerness to get started at the Australian Open as she demolished Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-1 in just 50 minutes to win the Brisbane International yesterday.

Third-seeded Williams served notice that she will be the one to beat at the first Grand Slam of the year with a ruthless display against Pavlyuchenkova, the world number 36.

The 31-year-old said she felt “in the zone” at times during the final and said she couldn’t wait to get to Melbourne, where she will be aiming for her sixth Australian Open crown. “That was really good-I think I just kind of zoned and I felt like I really wanted to do well,” Williams said.

“I really felt like I was playing a top player because she’d taken two top 10 players out, so I knew that I couldn’t give her a chance.

“It was a really good week for sure. I definitely worked hard for this week, and I’m going to do a little more work so I can be ready in eight days.”

Williams took control of the final at 2-2 in the first set when she went on a run of seven straight games and never looked like losing against an increasingly demoralised opponent, who had no answer to Williams’ power and aggression.

“She put so much pressure on from the start, so I felt like I had to go for winners or aces or these amazing serves,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “When I slowed down a little she was there. She was returning, making winners, serving aces, so you cannot stop.

“You have to play your best level every point, which is quite tough to keep it up, so then at 3-2 I didn’t serve aces, I didn’t serve as well, and then she was there.” Williams sent down nine aces and won 91 percent of

her first serves, blasting 24 winners past Pavlyuchenkova, who looked shell-shocked at times with the pace of the American’s groundstrokes.

The 15-time Grand Slam winner has now won 47 titles on the WTA tour and lost only once since the French Open last year, winning 35 of her past 36 matches.

Although ranked third in the world, Williams is firm favourite for the Australian Open on the strength of her efforts in the

second half of 2012, when she won Wimbledon, the US Open, the W TA Championship and the Olympics.

And in a blunt warning to her opponents, Williams said she was probably in the form of her career. “I was looking at a lot of old matches on YouTube and I feel like right now I’m playing some of my best tennis,” she said. “I feel like I want to do better and play better still, and I’ve always felt like I could play better.” — AFP

BRISBANE: Serena Williams of the US (left) poses with the trophy after defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia (right) in the final at the Brisbane International tennis tournament. — AFP

19

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

SPORTS

Van Persie keeps United in FA Cup

LONDON: Crystal Palace’s Welsh striker Jermaine Easter (right) clashes with Stoke City’s German defender Robert Huth (left) during the English FA Cup third round football match.—AFP

Preview

Mansfield hoping Reds taste Hammer horror MANSFIELD: Geoff Hurst may have won the 1966 World Cup for England but he still smarts from a defeat at lowly Mansfield who are out to cause another famous FA Cup upset against Liverpool today. The Reds’ trip to Field Mill is the third round’s standout tie, a classic David-versus-Goliath encounter where the glamour clubs enter the draw and have to slum it with the minnows.

It pitches European and domestic title-laden Liverpool against fifth-tier Mansfield, an unremarkable club relegated from the Football League in 2008 and still struggling to get back out of the Conference National.

They call such encounters the romance of the FA Cup-and there will be plenty of that on hand as Mansfield manager Paul Cox, who celebrates his 41st birthday today, was due to marry his fiancee the day before the match.

Last year’s finalists Liverpool might give a debut to £12 million new striker Daniel Sturridge and need to win the FA Cup to salvage a poor season. But if Reds stars like Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard want to avoid a giant-killing, they might do well to heed the advice of World Cup legend Hurst, who scored a hat-trick in England’s 1966 final win against West Germany.

Mansfield’s finest hour came on February 26, 1969, when Hurst’s West Ham visited Field Mill in a fifth-round tie and lost 3-0. The Stags were a third-tier club who narrowly avoided relegation that season, while West Ham were fourth in the old First Division.

The Hammers featured three World Cup winners: Hurst, England captain Bobby Moore and Martin Peters. Trevor Brooking, Harry Redknapp and Billy Bonds were also on the teamsheet.

The giant-killing left such an impression that Hurst has an entire chapter in his autobiography entitled “Memories of Mansfield”. “Some things stick in your mind, especially people and places,” he wrote. “I’ll never forget Pele and Bobby Moore, for instance, nor Wembley, Hampden Park, the Maracana in Rio, the Azteca in Mexico City and the Field Mill ground at Mansfield.

“The good people of Mansfield have never let me forget Field Mill. I have tried.” Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson has got the message. “They’ll be really up for it. It’ll be a cup final for them, so we have to treat it as a cup final for us and do the job properly,” he said. Mansfield winger Louis Briscoe said: “They are a huge football club coming to little old Mansfield and it’s going to be a tough ride for them. “It’s a chance of a lifetime so you have to grab it with both hands.”

Mansfield is a former mining town of 100,000 people in England’s east Midlands. The coal industry’s demise in the late 1980s hit hard and the Nottinghamshire town remains ranked among those most vulnerable to the economic downturn.

And Liverpool’s stars will find Field Mill a far cry from their plush Anfield fortress. Three redeveloped sides of the ground were opened in 2001 but Reds manager Brendan Rogers will sit in front

of the narrow, condemned Bishop Street Stand, a boarded-up, ramshackle shed wedged up against terraced houses with a gaping hole in the roof.

The ground has some history though, hosting Britain’s first competitive game under floodlights in 1930, and English football’s first match with the winter yellow ball in November 1998.

Relegated from the Football League amid a bitter, long-running spat between fans and the then-chairman, Mansfield is now in the more stable hands of insurance firm owner John Radford, 46. He made headlines in 2011 by appointing fashion businesswoman Carolyn Still, 30, as England’s youngest football club chief executive in a world where women in the boardroom are rare. They announced their engagement two weeks later.

She has denied reports that she worked as an escort while a student. The odds of Mansfield winning are 11/1. Do Liverpool have anything to worry about? Perhaps ask Hurst.—AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

Gulf Cup Kuwait v Yemen Kuwait Sport Saudi Sports 1 Saudi Sports HD 1 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 8 Dubai Sports 1 Saudi Arabia v Iraq Abu Dhabi Sports 2 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 8

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19:15

England FA Cup Swansea v Arsenal Aljazeera Sport +5 Mansfield v Liverpool Aljazeera Sport +5

16:30 19:00

LONDON: Substitute Robin van Persie netted a dramatic injurytime equaliser as Manchester United clung to life in the FA Cup third round by rescuing a 2-2 draw at West Ham United yesterday.

Tom Cleverley had given the visitors a 23rd-minute lead at Upton Park, but Joe Cole, making his first West Ham appearance since his return from Liverpool, twice set up James Collins to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.

Alex Ferguson’s side were drifting towards a second thirdround exit in three seasons, after a 1-0 loss to Leeds United in 2010, until van Persie finished from Ryan Giggs’ raking pass to take the tie to a replay. Earlier, debutant Demba Ba scored twice as holders Chelsea roared back from behind to beat Southampton 5-1.

Ba, who signed from Newcastle on Friday, cancelled out Jay Rodriguez’s 22nd-minute opener and then added a second as Chelsea ran riot, with Victor Moses, Branislav Ivanovic and substitute Frank Lampard also on target.

“It is always important for a striker to score goals, but more than just the goals was his contribution for the team,” said Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez.

“His movement and understanding of things we were wanting to do was really good. He was very clever and he could understand the movement of the players. He did everything well on the pitch.”

English champions Manchester City enjoyed a similarly straightforward afternoon against second-tier Watford, with Carlos Tevez scoring a ferocious free-kick before Gareth Barry and Marcos Lopez completed a 3-0 success.

The third round had opened with an upset as second-tier Brighton and Hove Albion beat Newcastle 2-0 to knock Alan Pardew’s side out of the competition for the second year in suc-

LONDON: Manchester United’s Dutch striker Robin Van Persie (left) controls the ball in the build up to his late equalizing goal as West Ham United’s English defender James Tomkins (right) closes in during the English FA Cup third round football match.—AFP cession.

Andrea Orlandi and Will Hoskins scored in either half at the AMEX Stadium, while Newcastle, who fielded a weakened team, had captain Shola Ameobi sent off for two bookable offences.

“If I am being honest, that team is a shadow of the team we put out last season,” said Newcastle manager Pardew. “We need to get some bigger players back, who can handle the situation of carrying the Newcastle jersey.”

The biggest upsets of the day saw Macclesfield Town and Luton Town of the fifth-tier Conference National overcome Championship sides Cardiff City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, 2-1 and 1-0 respectively.

“It was probably the most emotional I’ve been in a game

and to come from behind with eight minutes to go was incredible,” said Macclesfield manager Steve King after his side’s victory over the Championship leaders.

Premier League sides Fulham, Sunderland, Wigan Athletic and Stoke City were all taken to replays by lower-league opponents. Jordi Gomez levelled for Wigan in a 1-1 draw against thirdtier Bournemouth, while Sunderland hit back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Championship representatives Bolton Wanderers.

Giorgios Karagounis’ stunning 80th-minute volley rescued a 1-1 draw for Fulham at home to Blackpool, and Stoke City were held to a 0-0 draw by Crystal Palace despite giving a first start to close-season signing Michael Owen.

Aston Villa fought back at

home to Ipswich Town to prevail 2-1 through goals from Ipswich old boy Darren Bent and Andreas Weimann, while Reading also had to come from behind in a 3-1 win at Crawley Town.

Tottenham Hotspur avoided a repeat of their 1987 cup final loss to Coventry City with a 3-0 success at White Hart Lane that saw Clint Dempsey claim a first-half brace.

In one of four all-Premier League encounters in the third round, Kieron Dyer’s injury-time effort earned QPR a 1-1 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion.

Seventh-tier Hastings United saw their campaign ended at Championship club Middlesbrough, who prevailed 41 despite seeing on-loan Hastings goalkeeper Liam O’Brien save an 18th-minute penalty from Ishmael Miller.—AFP

Levante and Valencia win MADRID: Levante and Valencia made the most of red cards for their opponents yesterday to come from behind and record wins that keep them in the hunt for the European places in La Liga.

Levante won 3-1 at home to Athletic Bilbao to secure sixth place with 30 points from 18 games, while Valencia climbed to seventh with 27 after a 2-1 victory at Granada.

Levante were trailing from the sixth minute after Aritz Aduriz headed Bilbao in front with his 11th goal of the campaign, but the overlapping Christian Lell blasted an equaliser into the top corner after 26.

The visitors had young defender Aymeric Laporte sent off a minute before the break and Vicente Iborra headed in from close range before the teams went in for halftime.

Nabil El Zhar’s low shot from outside the area ended the game as a contest in the 69th.

Bilbao’s Spain striker Fernando Llorente, who is negotiating a possible move to Juventus, received a warm reception from Levante fans when he came on as a substitute, but was unable to dispel the doubts surrounding Marcelo Bielsa’s stewardship of the club.

Bilbao, last season’s King’s Cup and Europa League finalists, are 13th with 21 points.

Granada were a man down from the 34th minute, when Mikel Rico was harshly shown a second yellow card for a handball against Valencia. The hosts took the lead in the 50th minute, however, when Brayan Angulo’s

Christian Lell

audacious shot with the outside of his left foot looped into the top corner. The game was threatening to boil over as Granada sought to break up the flow, but Valencia levelled when Jonas powered in a header from a

corner in the 59th.

Ernesto Valverde’s side kept up the pressure and were rewarded when the lively Pablo Piatti slotted in at the back post to seal the victory eight minutes from time.—Reuters

Spanish League Celta v Valladolid Aljazeera Sport +3 Real Madrid v Sociedad Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport +3 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD Barcelona v Espanyol Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport +3 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD Mallorca v Atletico Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD

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21:00

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Italian League Udainese v Inter Aljazeera Sport +1 Chievo v Atlanta Aljazeera Sport +10 Juventus v Sampdoria Aljazeera Sport +1 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD Parma v Palemo Aljazeera Sport +8 Florentina v Pescara Aljazeera Sport +7 AC Milan v Siena Aljazeera Sport +6 Napoli v AS Roma Aljazeera Sport 1 HD

Preview

19:00

14:30 17:00 17:00

17:00 17:00 17:00 22:45

FA Cup can hold key for Wenger’s Arsenal SWANSEA: Arsene Wenger’s record in the FA Cup means the competition will always be special to the Arsenal manager but this season it could be critical to his efforts to prove he is still the right man to lead the club.

Wenger has already emerged from one sustained bout of criticism this season that intensified when his side were beaten at home last month by Swansea. A month on from that defeat, Arsenal will head to South Wales for today’s FA Cup third round meeting with Swansea in better shape following an improved run of form in the league.

However, they remain in sixth place in the Premier League, 18 points adrift of the leaders Manchester United and destined once again to play a supporting role in the title race.

Eliminated from the League Cup by League Two minnows Bradford and facing Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the Champions League, the FA Cup represents Arsenal’s best chance of ending their eight-year wait for silverware.

Their last trophy came in this competition in

2005 — the fourth time Wenger had lifted the cup with Arsenal-and another triumph this season would rekindle some of the support the manager has lost in recent years.

An early exit though, would put increased pressure on the Frenchman’s transfer dealings this month, with Arsenal’s supporters frustrated at the failure to adequately replace favourites like Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas.

And Wenger, who has allowed striker Marouane Chamakh to join West Ham on loan until the end of the season, admits this is not a time to rest players. “I will play the team I think has the best chance to win the game, without considering any rotational desire,” Wenger said.

“If you look at Queens Park Rangers’ victory at Chelsea on Wednesday, you see there is nothing between the teams now. “The teams are well-organised, they are physically strong and if you are not at your best, you don’t win the game. It is the same for everybody.

“Manchester United are top of the League but they have already lost three games this sea-

son, so I believe the teams at this level are very competitive. Then, the FA Cup is something special because it is something exciting.

“It is watched all over the world and it has a special history in England which I have always respected. “I am always sad when we don’t win it or when we go out and we will put in our maximum effort today to win the game.”

Swansea’s victory at the Emirates Stadium was achieved thanks to two goals from Michu and the Spanish forward will again pose the greatest threat to Arsenal’s chances of making the fourth round. That result will ensure Arsenal approach the game with a degree of trepidation and Swans boss Michael Laudrup is in no doubt the pressure will be on Wenger’s side.

“When you are a top team, you are obliged to at least compete until the end to win things,” Laudrup said. “There can only be one winner in all competitions and two teams in a final, and they are expected to at least be in the semifinals, so there is more pressure at this stage on Arsenal than on Swansea, that is obvious. —AFP

Clippers roll, Bulls advance

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

Gasquet wins Qatar title

18

Australia on verge of series whitewash over Sri Lanka

Page 16

21st Gulf Cup of Nations

MANAMA: Fireworks lit the sky during the opening ceremony ahead of the football match between Bahrain and Oman in the 21st Gulf Cup tournament in the Bahraini capital Manama. Eight nations are taking part in the Cup and they include Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iraq along with Bahrain and Oman. —AFP

UAE defeat Qatar, host Bahrain held by Oman

MANAMA: United Arab Emirates players jubilate after scoring their first goal against Qatar during the two teams match in the 21st Gulf Cup. — AFP

MANAMA: The 21st football Gulf Cup of Nations got underway here yesterday in a ceremony attended by King Hamad bin Isa AlKhalifa of Bahrain. The opening ceremony was held at the Bahrain National Stadium in the city of Rafaa, attended by senior officials including FIFA President, UEFA President, Chairman of the West Asia Association and Chairman of the Asian Olympic Council.

The musical inauguration was followed by a speech by the chairman of the executive committee Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, who said the Gulf Cup contributed to further unity among the Gulf people. The idea of the Gulf Cup came from Prince Khaled Al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia and the first championship was held in Bahrain in 1970.

Bahrain and Oman were goalless in the first match. The Bahrainis and Omanis, each with one point now, were cautious throughout the clash with no real threats on goals by both teams. The referee gave six yellow cards, five of them to Bahraini players.

In the second match of the day in Group B, United Arab Emirates defeated Qatar 3-1 with goals for UAE coming from Omar Abdul Rahman (13), Ali Mabkhout (28) and Mohammed Ahmed (66). Khalfan Ibrahim shot the lone goal for Qatar in a penalty kick.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Sheikh Ahmad Fahd Al-Sabah said yesterday the financial revenues of the Gulf football Cup tournaments surpassed other Gulf championships.

Sheikh Ahmad, also Chairman of the Olympic Council of Asia, told reporters after arrival in Manama to attend the Gulf Cup opening that the event has been a huge success “so we should support it relentlessly.” He said the Gulf Cup, which was launched some 40 years ago, contributed to bringing out talented players into the limelight. Sheikh Ahmad wished best of luck to Kuwait in defending its title.

Director General of the Public Authority of Youth and Sports (PAYS) of Kuwait Faisal Al-Jazzaf said the Gulf Cup helped the Gulf national teams to reach international competitions. Speaking to KUNA and Kuwait TV following his arrival, Al-Jazzaf said the tournament also contributed to better sports infrastructure, creation of training centers and recruitment of international coaches. AlJazzaf hoped the Gulf Cup in Bahrain would be a success.

Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti soccer team is due to play against Yemen team today. The match constitutes an easy opportunity for the national team to clinch three points ahead of the more challenging encounters vis-a-vis the Iraqi and Saudi teams.

Although spirits are high among the players and managers to make such a record start of the games, there are some worries as to preparedness and formation of the team. The Yemenis, for their part, may give their best efforts on the field, eager to prove their qualification which is worth considering, rather than as a mere participant or an added guest in the championship.

Today’s match would be the fifth between the two teams since 2003, when the Yemenis took part in the 16th Gulf Cup for the first time. The Kuwaiti team defeated them 4-0. The Kuwaitis proved superiority over the Yemenis, anew during the 17th Gulf Championship, scoring 3-0. However, in the 18th tournament, the two teams ended the match with a 1-1 draw. The Kuwaiti team, in the latest championship at this level, revived the previous victories with a 3-0 result. — KUNA

MANAMA: The King of Bahrain Sheikh Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa speaks with an unidentified guest during the opening ceremony and football match between Bahrain and Oman in the 21st Gulf Cup tournament yesterday. —AFP

Business

Morocco likely to launch subsidies reform in June Page 22 KSE ushers in 2013 on positive note Page 24

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

QNB Group raises Qatar’s 2012-13 growth estimate

US job market shrugs off fears of ‘fiscal cliff’ Page 23 Page 26

DUBAI: A customer uses his calculator to convert a jewelry price at a jewelry shop in the gold souq in Dubai. —AP photos

Dubai makes bid to be City of Gold From a sleepy Gulf port to a world-famous business hub

A gold press operator collects 10-gm gold blanks to press them with the logo of the Emirates Gold company.

DUBAI: Dubai is sometimes called the “City of Gold” because of its stunning growth from a sleepy Gulf port to a world-famous business crossroads in the space of a single generation. Its nickname has a literal meaning for traders in the precious metal.

The city is building itself up as a center for the gold trade, between sources in Africa and consumers in the rising economies of China and India. Dubai now has about a 29 percent market share of global gold trade with nearly 1,200 tons - worth about $41 billion - changing hands at the city’s gold markets, according to the gold industry website bullionstreet.com.

That’s up from around $6 billion worth traded in the emirate in 2003, said Malcolm Wall Morris, CEO of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, set up by the emirate to oversee the trade. “There’s no doubt the geographical location of Dubai has played an important factor,” he said.

Dubai’s tax-free status has made it one of the cheapest places to buy gold in the

world. The emirate has set up gold refineries and vaults and jewelry-making facilities, importing gold - including scrap from India - and melting it down to produce gold bars. At the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange, traders and speculators buy and sell the metal on the futures market.

Gold prices remained relatively steady in 2012, close to $1,700 an ounce. Some traders predict prices could once again rise toward the record high of nearly $1,900 an ounce, as central governments and investors look to gold as a safe bet in the unsteady world economy. The city has also become a retail center with 600 shops selling gold - half of them crammed into the gold souq, drawing tourists, traders and local residents.

Lola Oyekola, from Lagos, Nigeria, came to Dubai especially to buy gold. “Because I know I will get what I want, unique ones,” she said. “I can tell them what I want and they will make it for me.” —AP

A Saudi customer discusses his purchases at a jewelry shop in the gold souq in Dubai.

Obama warns against ‘dangerous game’ WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama warned Congressional Republicans yesterday against playing a “dangerous game” with the economy as lawmakers prepared for a new battle over the national debt ceiling. But the Democratic president also congratulated lawmakers for passing an 11th-hour deal that avoided the so-called fiscal cliff.

Signed into law Thursday, the compromise raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans while avoiding a tax hike on the middle class that “could have thrown our economy back into recession,” Obama said in his weekly radio address.

But new battles are brewing after the deal delayed by two months a debate over raising the country’s $16.4 trillion borrowing limit and more than $100 billion in automatic spending cuts for military and domestic programs.

If Congress fails to clinch a deal to allow more government borrowing, it risks causing the government to default on its bills and financial obligations. Republicans, who accepted the fiscal cliff deal without any significant spending cuts, are now demanding concessions on expenditures in return for allowing the ceiling to rise.

Yet Obama vowed that he “will not compromise” on insisting that Congress raise the federal debt ceiling. The

US credit rating was downgraded in 2011 when lawmakers threatened to leave the debt ceiling as it stood. “If Congress refuses to give the United States the ability to pay its bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy could be catastrophic,” he said.

“Our families and our businesses cannot afford that dangerous game again.” House Speaker John Boehner has warned Republicans will ask for “significant spending cuts” and reforms of expensive programs that provide pensions and health care services for the elderly.

Obama said he backs spending cuts, but insists he will not shortchange education, job training, research and technology. “Spending cuts must be balanced with more reforms to our tax code,” he said. “The wealthiest individuals and the biggest corporations shouldn’t be able to take advantage of loopholes and deductions that aren’t available to most Americans.”

In the Republican address, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp of Michigan said that in addressing the debt limit, lawmakers “must identify responsible ways to tackle Washington’s wasteful spending.” And he said American families know that “when you have no more money in your account and your credit cards are maxed out, then the spending must stop.”

China is the largest foreign holder of US debt, owning

about $1.2 trillion in US treasury bills, notes and bonds, according to the Treasury Department. In total, China owns about eight percent of publicly held US debt.

Camp accused the president and Democratic lawmakers of refusing to take “any meaningful steps to make Washington live within its means” and urged them to reconsider their position and join the fight on “wasteful spending.” Obama repeated that he would not negotiate on the debt ceiling, hoping to avoid the 2011 conflict that led to a credit rating downgrade and pushed the country close to default. “If Congress refuses to give the United States the ability to pay its bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy could be catastrophic,” he said. “Our families and our businesses cannot afford that dangerous game again.”

Obama said he was willing to do more on deficit reduction and suggested that the hike in tax rates for wealthy Americans was not the last tax change he expected to make.

“Spending cuts must be balanced with more reforms to our tax code,” he said. “The wealthiest individuals and the biggest corporations shouldn’t be able to take advantage of loopholes and deductions that aren’t available to most Americans.” —Agencies

Saudi Dec business activity growth rises DUBAI: Growth of business activity in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector accelerated last month from November’s one-year low, a survey showed yesterday. The SABB HSBC Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed to 58.9 points on a seasonally adjusted basis in December from 57.0 in November, when it was dragged down by extended public holidays.

A reading above 50 points in the survey of over 400 private companies indicates expansion of business activity, and below 50, contraction. Output growth rose to 62.6 points in December from 60.2 points in the previous month, while new order growth accelerated to 67.3 from 64.0. New export orders gained at their fastest rate in 17 months.

Employment rose at the fastest rate in three months, while the rate of input price inflation slowed slightly. Saudi Arabia is enjoying an economic boom on the back of high oil prices and heavy government spending. Gross domestic product grew 6.8 percent last year, according to a preliminary official estimate. —Reuters

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

BUSINESS

Morocco likely to launch subsidies reform in June Cash payments to poorest to replace current system RABAT: Morocco is prepared to start reforming its expensive system of subsidies for food and energy in June if a political decision to do so is taken, the minister in charge of the issue said.

State subsidies on food and energy shot up to 53 billion dirhams ($6.25 billion) in 2012 - 15 percent of total public spending - from 48.8 billion in 2011 and 29.8 billion in 2010, as the government spent heavily to ensure social peace in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings elsewhere in the region.

In a step supported by the International Monetary Fund, the government now aims to repair its finances by reducing the subsidies and shifting the focus of spending to the poorest Moroccans.

The reform is politically sensitive in a country which saw street protests demanding democracy and better economic management in the wake of the Arab Spring.

The protests faded after the king introduced constitutional limits to his powers and allowed an Islamist party to form a cabinet after elections. The monarchy still plays a key role in decisions on major issues.

“Technically, the reform of the subsidies system is quite ready,” general affairs and governance minister Mohamed Najib Boulif said in a statement carried by the state news agency late on Friday.

“Once talks are concluded and the political decision is taken, it will be launched,” he added. Morocco plans to replace the current subsidy system with monthly cash payments of 1,000 dirhams to as many as 2 million of the most needy families; if the reform goes ahead in full, this could reduce the annual bill to 24 billion dirhams. Boulif said the reform would take around four years and could in itself eventually raise inflation, now officially running below 2 percent, to 7 percent.

“The risk of the reform is the impoverishment of the middle class,” finance minister Nizar Baraka has said in a parliamentary debate.

Last August, the IMF approved a $6.2 billion precautionary line of credit for Morocco over two years while urging action to reform the subsidy system, although it did not formally tie the reform to the aid.

The cash-strapped country raised $1.5 billion with an international bond issue in early December, which lifted its foreign currency reserves to 146 billion dirhams - but they only cover about four months of import needs, which economists say is an uncomfortably low level.

Rabat aims to cut the state budget deficit to 4.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2013 from an estimated 6.0 percent last year.

It is projecting GDP growth of 4.5 percent this year, after 3.4 percent in 2012. — Reuters

IMF chief urges Malawi to diversify economy LILONGWE, Malawi: IMF chief Christine Lagarde yesterday urged Malawi to diversify its economy, saying a reliance on agriculture left the country’s economic recovery under President Joyce Banda vulnerable.

“Agriculture still accounts for 30 percent of GDP and tobacco still accounts for almost half of total export earnings,” Lagarde said in prepared remarks on the second day of an official visit.

“What this means is that Malawi and its people are too vulnerable. Vulnerable to the forces of nature.

Vulnerable to the vagaries of global commodity markets. Vulnerable to people slipping back and forth between poverty and just getting by.”

Lagarde praised reforms introduced by Banda and her government which she said had restored stability after inheriting a crisis characterized by foreign exchange shortages that crippled key imports such as fuel. After taking office last April, Banda has overseen the devaluation of the kwacha currency by 50 percent, the easing of foreign exchange restrictions, and the raising of fuel prices and cutting of subsidies.

“Following these reforms, the economic wheels started spinning again,” said Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund managing director. “But progress is threatened anew by a slump in agriculture-from a weather-related decline in maize production and a halving of the tobacco crop brought about by lower planting during the period of overvaluation.”

The fund has halved its 2012 growth forecast for the impoverished nation to around two percent but predicts a rate of 5.5 percent this year. The country’s economic recovery plan set a foundation for improved growth, said Lagarde. Private sector investment must be made easier and poor infrastructure in areas such as electricity and transport upgraded, she said, with Malawi scoring 129 out of 144 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index.

“I believe that the key to unlocking Malawi’s potential lies in making it more competitive,” said Lagarde.

“This should help with diversification, allowing the country to rely less on agriculture and gain a foothold in newer and promising areas.”

The IMF, one of the main backers of the country’s reforms, gave Malawi a three-year $157 million loan package in June after ties had broken down amid a spree of global aid suspensions. In 2011, the global lender suspended a $79.4 million credit facility during the administration of the late president Bingu wa Mutharika, who died in April last year. Donors provide up to 40 percent of the development budget and salaries for nearly 170,000 civil servants. — AFP

JALALABAD: Afghan laborers carry aluminum pots at a factory on the outskirts of Jalalabad yesterday. Over a third of Afghans are living in abject poverty, as those in power are more concerned about addressing their vested interests rather than the basic needs of the population, a UN report said. — AFP

Morsi to meet IMF aide on $4.8bn loan request CAIRO: A senior official in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet Egyptian President and other top officials tomorrow to discuss Cairo’s request for a $4.8 billion loan, a major state-run Egyptian newspaper reported yesterday. The IMF loan is seen as crucial to easing Egypt’s budget deficit and an economic slump caused by the turmoil that followed the popular uprising that ousted autocratic president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. “Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will receive on the day after tomorrow Masood Ahmed, the IMF director for the Middle East and Central Asia... and it is expected that the meeting will include talks about the IMF’s loan to Egypt,” the Akhbar AlYoum daily reported.

It said Masood would also meet Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, some ministers and the central bank governor.

Officials from the cabinet, presidency and IMF were not immediately available to comment on the report. Egypt’s currency has lost about 10 percent against

the dollar since the start of 2011. But about a third of that plunge has come in the last week alone, since the central bank began auctioning $75 million a day out of its reserves on Dec 30.

The pound slid further on Thursday at the central bank’s fourth auction of foreign currency, with $74.9 million sold to banks at a cut-off price of 6.386 pounds, weaker than Wednesday’s 6.351 to the dollar. The cabinet spokesman said on Thursday that an IMF mission would visit in January to discuss the loan deal, which was postponed last month at Cairo’s behest because of violent antiMorsi protests raging at the time.

The IMF said last week that it welcomed steps Egypt had taken to stop a drain on its international reserves, which had driven the Egyptian pound down to record lows. Egypt’s budget deficit in the year to end-June 2013 could widen by 50 percent from the original forecast made in July, according to a figure released by the planning minister last Monday. — Reuters

Bayt.com weekly report

Choosing your career wisely: Market insights

By Lama Ataya

W

hen it comes to choosing the right career, some are lucky enough to have found their true calling. Yet, for those who still feel like knowing the right career choice is a longing daydream, the following tips from Bayt.com, the Middle East’s #1 jobsite, should help. Franklin D Roosevelt once said: “It is common sense to take a method and try it.

If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” Thankfully, we live in trial-and-error times where growth and change are expected and employers are increasingly becoming more tolerant, and appreciating the diversity in background and skills that come from career changers.

In fact, data obtained from Bayt.com’s Top Industries Survey 2012 indicate that professionals change industries for a myriad of reasons. One out of every four professionals surveyed said that the main motivators for changing industries are better salaries and career growth opportunities. Interestingly, one in four professionals also opined that they made this decision because their work was not being recognized. About one-in-six opted for a change in industry due to lay-offs in their own sector. Whatever the motivation, career change is now more frequent and information about alternate career paths is available more freely and a booming global economy means opportunities are abound. According to Bayt.com’s Top Industries Survey 2012, professionals voted for the Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals industry as the most desirable in their country of residence.

But how can you tell which career is best for you? Below the career experts from Bayt.com offer some pointers as you approach this important topic: Dream - Examine your passions and interests 1. Read the current literature on career change - the why’s, how-to’s and when’s.

2. Ask yourself what you would do in an ideal world if money was not imperative. What would you do if you had a year away from work or if you could emulate someone who in your opinion has a dream job? Would you write poetry, compete in athletics, publish literature, start your own little business, work with children, with the elderly, teach, heal, perform?

3. Ask yourself what tasks you ideally like to immerse yourself in. Do you prefer the analytical aspects of your current (or past) job, the administrative aspects, the leadership aspects, the coaching aspects, problem-solving aspects, decision-making, writing, designing, managing, creating, trouble-shooting etc.

Where do you find yourself happiest and most comfortable?

4. Make a list of those aspects of your job or other jobs that you don’t like and wish to avoid.

5. Be honest with yourself, be creative and dare to dream as you think of what you would really like to do. At this stage, allow yourself to really explore all avenues of interest and be curious about new paths and possibilities.

Determine - Examine your values, priorities and skills 1. Determine what your priorities really are.

How important is work-life balance to you versus career growth or financial stability? How important is leisure versus work versus learn-

ing for you? Are you willing to put one or two on hold while you pursue a third or is your ideal life plan a blended one that includes the three? Are you content with financial stability or are you interested in huge financial gain?

Are you interested in a job or a career?

2. Determine your real values and ask what career is consistent with those.

3. Make an inventory of your skills and strengths.

4. Take self-assessment tests to even more deeply understand what it is that motivates, drives and inspires you.

Dig deep or dissect Examine alternate career paths 1. Research alternate career paths - look at growth potential, job profiles, pay, benefits, mobility, work/life balance and all other issues that will determine your longevity in the career.

2. As you hone in on potential career paths obtain the maximum amount of information about these careers. Read industry blogs and websites, talk to people in the field, subscribe to industry journals and newsletters and familiarize yourself with the potential new territory.

3. Map your personal inventory of skills, interests and values against the requirements of alternative career paths.

4. Realistically analyze and make contingencies for those factors that impede your career mobility. These may be geographical mobility issues, financial limitations, family considerations, or education/ training issues.

Look at occupational and non-occupational barriers to career entry and determine realistically how you can/will overcome those.

5. Seek counseling and advice. As you seek to reinvent yourself you may want to talk formally or informally to a professional counselor, to someone in your new area, an old colleague or a peer. Formal counseling is useful when trying to overcome mental blocks to career growth and advancement. Often, the biggest detriment to career development is low selfesteem, anxiety, fear, inertia and the inability to deal with change meaningfully and constructively.

Decide - Select the ultimate career path 1. Let your natural instincts, your introspection and the fruits of your intense research guide the way.

2. Don’t be swayed by external pressures.

Often family, friends and society place undue pressure on a person to conform to or follow a certain career path.

3. Don’t let financial considerations alone guide you unless of course you have determined that financial gain in itself is your overriding value, interest and goal in life.

Dare - Confidently stride into your new career 1. Believe in yourself. Have faith and be bold and brave as you follow your aspirations.

Don’t let negative self-perceptions and external diatribes detract you from your true calling. After the homework, the reading, the research, the introspection, soul-searching, networking and analysis, close your eyes and find the person you always wanted to be.

Robert Kennedy famously once said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” Arm yourself with your dreams, your invaluable newly acquired self-knowledge, your research into the many opportunities out there and don’t hesitate in pursuing the career of your dreams for 2013.

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

.2740000 .4510000 .3680000 .3050000 .2800000 .2890000 .0040000 .0020000 .0761760 .7421590 .3880000 .0720000 .7275550 .0430000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2807000 .4535550 .3706080 .3069940 .2821390 .0496650 .0431080 .2914930 .0362120 .2296300 .0032590 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0764540 .7448590 .0000000 .0748730 .7293750 .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.205 5.128 2.895 2.212 3.224 232.220 36.453 3.523

.2840000 .4630000 .3780000 .3130000 .2910000 .3020000 .0067500 .0035000 .0769410 .7496180 .4060000 .0770000 .7348670 .0510000 .2828000 .4569480 .3733810 .3092910 .2842500 .0500360 .0434310 .2936740 .0364830 .2313480 .0032830 .0051910 .0022300 .0029200 .0035670 .0770260 .7504310 .4000000 .0754330 .7348320 .0069430

Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - transfer Irani Riyal - cash

Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

6.903 9.277 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 75.363 77.653 734.050 759.630 76.955

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 282.500 Euro 372.190 Sterling Pound 456.800 Canadian dollar 289.300 Turkish lire 158.730 Swiss Franc 309.080 Australian dollar 298.800 US Dollar Buying 281.300 GOLD 311.000 157.000 81.500

SELL DRAFT 297.98 288.89 308.31 370.27 282.40 455.27 3.27 3.544 5.130 2.215 3.221 2.895 76.82

Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar terling 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

Selling Rate 281.850 283.480 456.305 373.085 309.060 746.190 76.715 77.365 75.125 397.310 44.735 2.213 5.144 2.900 3.496 6.847 691.380 4.270 9.370 3.695 3.370 92.045

Bahrain Exchange Company

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams

749.500 47.200 399.500 734.000 77.500 75.600

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 46.950 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 43.902 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.318 Tunisian Dinar 181.320 Jordanian Dinar 398.650 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.896 Syrian Lier 3.070 Morocco Dirham 33.751

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

750.60 43.91 401.61 733.67 77.85 75.38

SELL CASH 299.000 289.000 312.000 373.000 283.000 461.000 3.690 3.680 5.450 2.370 3.550 3.000 77.700

COUNTRY 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

SELL CASH 296.600 749.820 3.840 286.900 553.700 45.900 50.900 167.800 47.740 376.400 37.070 5.490 0.032 0.161 0.242

SELLDRAFT 295.100 749.820 3.518 285.400

232.000 45.261 374.900 36.920 5.145 0.031

Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

3.380 399.560 0.191 95.420 45.900 4.330 235.700 1.826 51.600 732.370 3.050 7.270 77.990 75.280 231.970 35.220 2.686 459.600 44.400 312.100 3.400 9.570 198.263 76.870 282.300 1.360

10 Tola

GOLD 1,764.990

Sterling Pound US Dollar

399.520 0.190 94.420 3.240 234.200

732.190 2.902 6.870 77.560 75.280 231.970 35.220 2.218 457.600 310.600 3.400 9.410 76.770 281.900

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 457.600 281.900

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 281.850 370.400 455.400 287.400 3.240 5.133 44.090 2.211 3.525 6.899 2.893 750.600 76.650 75.150

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

BUSINESS

US crackdown on tax-evasion forces Swiss bank to close GENEVA: The US government has raised the stakes in its crackdown on Swiss banks through a hard-charging prosecution that has forced the closing of a 272-year-old Swiss firm for offering tax-evasion services to wealthy Americans. Tax lawyers and former prosecutors said on Friday the closing of Wegelin & Co, Switzerland’s oldest private bank, served as a stark warning for some Swiss banks under investigation, especially smaller firms such as Wegelin.

Wegelin, founded in 1741, said on Thursday it would shut its doors permanently after pleading guilty to an indictment charging it with helping Americans dodge taxes through secret accounts.

It was the first time the United States forced a foreign bank to close because of its sale of tax-evasion services. “The Justice Department wanted a scalp to send a message to all the other banks, in particular the small cantonal and private banks,” said Christopher Rizek, a tax lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, DC, and a senior former Treasury Department tax official.

Around a dozen banks are under criminal scrutiny by the Justice Department, including Credit Suisse AG, which dis-

closed last July it had received a target letter saying it was under a grand jury investigation. Zurich-based Julius Baer and some cantonal, or regional, banks are also under scrutiny, US sources familiar with the probes previously told Reuters. So are UK-based HSBC Holdings Plc and three Israeli banks, Hapoalim, Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank Ltd and Bank Leumi, US sources briefed on the matter said previously.

Those banks have not commented on the inquiries.

The widening probe grew out of an investigation of Swiss bank UBS AG, which in 2009 entered into a deferred-prosecution agreement and paid a $780 million fine after admitting to wrongdoing in selling tax-evasion services to wealthy Americans. Unlike UBS or Credit Suisse, both major global players widely regarded as “too big to fail,” Wegelin and the cantonal banks are smaller institutions unlikely to pose any systemic risk to the global financial system if indicted or put out of business.

As such, the old model in which UBS averted indictment and survived does not appear to be a road map going forward for smaller banks, tax lawyers said.

Jeffrey Neiman, a former federal prosecutor involved in criminal proceedings against UBS, said that “the cantonal banks that have similar exposure now have a blueprint to look at in order to see how to resolve their liability.” The prosecution and closing of Wegelin, however, did not sacrifice a significant number of jobs. Although Wegelin had about a dozen branches, all in Switzerland, at the time of its indictment, it moved quickly to wind down its business, partly through a sale of its nonUS assets to regional Swiss bank Raiffeisen Gruppe. In contrast, after Arthur Andersen was found guilty for its role in the failed energy company Enron Corp, the accounting firm went out of business in 2002. A 2005 Supreme Court ruling later overturned the conviction, but it was too late to save the firm.

Wegelin’s plea offers other hints of things to come. The Swiss government has been at odds with the United States over secrecy laws that govern bank client data and the plea leaves open the question of how or whether the bank will disclose client data in coming months. Going forward, the role of the Swiss in resolving the logjam could be magnified.

Neiman said the plea, which ended the case against Wegelin, but required it to preserve client data, suggested the US government had decided to take the issue of client data “head-on with the Swiss government” and not with the Swiss banks.

“Clearly there is another process at work here and it’s one in which there is now not going to be a compelled disclosure in connection with a plea,” said Scott Michel, a tax lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, D.C. with many wealthy clients of Swiss banks. A Justice Department spokesman did not return calls requesting comment.

As part of its agreement, UBS was required to turn over some 4,450 client names, a long process that involved Swiss financial and legal authorities and rattled sacred Swiss secrecy laws. U.S. authorities have long maintained that client data is their prime quarry.

But by leaving open the question of how or if Wegelin will disclose client data, the Wegelin plea magnifies the new role the Swiss government will likely have to play in resolving its logjam with the United States over secrecy laws protecting bank client data.

A Swiss government source declined to comment on long-running talks between Switzerland and the Justice Department and US Internal Revenue Service regarding a handover of American client names.

The two sides are set to meet “shortly,” the source said.

US authorities already hold more weapons in their arsenal following the 2009 agreement with UBS. Since then, tens of thousands of Americans have come forward to the I R S to voluntarily disclose their hidden offshore accounts, providing a road map to the inner workings of Swiss banks, and prosecutorial leverage over them. Last December, Switzerland agreed to comply with new US disclosure rules on offshore accounts controlled by Americans, a new enforcement regime known as FATCA, or the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. “The Justice Department has a lot more leverage now than it did with UBS,” said James Mastracchio, a tax controversy lawyer at Baker Hostetler in Washington, DC. Unlike UBS, whose case dragged out over several years, Wegelin, indicted less than a year ago, “had a very fast acceptance of responsibility.” —Reuters

US job market shrugs off fears of ‘fiscal cliff’ Manufacturing sector leads hiring

SAINT-PETERSBURG: People walk past advertisement posters of a small Russian bank called Sovetsky (The Soviet) showing French actor Gerard Depardieu in Saint-Petersburg, yesterday. —AFP

Fed suggests possible end to asset purchases in 2013 SAN DIEGO: The Federal Reserve could halt its asset purchases this year, two top Fed officials suggested on Friday, a view also gaining traction among economists at Wall Street’s top financial institutions.

St Louis Fed President James Bullard, a voting member of the Fed’s monetary policy panel in 2013, said a drop in the unemployment rate to 7.1 percent would probably constitute the “substantial improvement” in the labor market that the central bank seeks.

That’s the bar for the Fed’s policy-setting committee to halt the current round of asset purchases that it began in September.

The Fed is currently buying $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities and $45 billion in Treasuries each month in a bid to push down borrowing costs and spark faster growth.

“If we get even moderately good growth this year I would expect unemployment to continue to tick down,” Bullard later told reporters. “I would say that that would put the committee in a good position to think about doing a pause with the balance sheet policy.”

Bullard also acknowledged that he had a more optimistic view on unemployment than some other Fed officials, and sees it in the “low 7’s” by year-end. Thousands of economists have gathered in San Diego for the annual American Economic Association meeting, drawing some of the biggest names in the profession as well as top policymakers.

Bullard stressed that the Fed would decide about changing its bond-buying program on the basis of the outlook for the labor market, and said that if it decided to pause, and then saw conditions weaken, it might resume the purchases.

The Fed has also promised to keep interest rates at their current near-zero level until unemployment drops to 6.5 percent, as long as inflation does not threaten to rise above 2.5 percent.

Philadelphia Fed Bank President Charles Plosser, who spoke separately at the conference, said he expects unemployment to drop to between 6.8 percent and 7.0 percent by the end of 2013.

As a result, he hopes the Fed will stop buying bonds before the 6.5 percent threshold, implying he anticipates the asset

purchases could halt this year.

Unemployment registered 7.8 percent last month.

Economists at nine of 16 primary dealers-the large financial institutions that do business directly with the Fed- told Reuters on Friday they expect the Fed to end its Treasuries purchases in 2013.

Fed policymakers are increasingly concerned about the impact of their monthly purchases, which currently total $85 billion.

Minutes from their December policy meeting showed that “several” top officials expected to slow or stop the so-called quantitative easing program, dubbed QE3, “well before” the end of the year - news that surprised some on Wall Street and prompted a drop in stocks and bonds, and a rise in the dollar.

Meanwhile, another top Fed official warned the US central bank’s aggressive easing plan threatens the Fed’s credibility.

Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Richmond Fed, on Friday held his ground opposing QE3, arguing that continued monetary policy is not the appropriate way to tackle the problem.

“It is unlikely that the Federal Reserve can push real growth rates materially higher than they otherwise would be, on a sustained basis,” Lacker, who dissented on all Fed easing moves last year, told a meeting of the Maryland Bankers Association.

The US economy expanded 3.1 percent in the third quarter on an annualized basis, but growth is believed to have slowed sharply to barely above 1.0 percent in the last three months of the year.

“I see an increased risk, given the course the committee has set, that inflation pressures emerge and are not thwarted in a timely way,” he said.

Bullard, speaking on a panel in San Diego, warned that central bankers, in fighting to stabilize financial markets, have sacrificed some of their cherished independence, an attribute many Fed historians and policymakers argue is key to keeping inflation under control.

Bullard singled out the European Central Bank as one of the worst offenders, but warned more broadly about the “creeping politicization” of central banking globally-something that he said would deliver disappointing economic results.

WASHINGTON: The US job market proved resilient in December despite fears that a budget impasse in Washington would send the economy over the fiscal cliff and trigger growth-killing tax hikes and spending cuts. Employers added 155,000 jobs last month, roughly matching the solid but unspectacular monthly pace of the past two years.

The gains announced weren’t enough to reduce unemployment, which remained a stillhigh 7.8 percent. The November rate was revised up a notch from the 7.7 percent the government had originally reported. The stable pace of December hiring suggested that many employers tuned out the fracas in the nation’s capital. The threat wasn’t averted until a deal won final passage on New Year’s Day. Rather than hold back until the fiscal cliff was resolved, many employers kept hiring, most likely in anticipation of higher customer demand.

“What would hiring have been if we had not been facing the fiscal cliff in December?” said Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. “We might have seen quite a bit stronger job growth” - something closer to 200,000 a month.

That’s an encouraging sign for the job market, because an even bigger budget showdown is looming: Congress must vote to raise the government’s $16.4 trillion borrowing limit by late February. If not, the government risks defaulting on its debt. Republicans will likely demand deep spending cuts as the price of raising the debt limit.

Robust hiring in construction and manufacturing drove last month’s job increases. Construction firms added 30,000 jobs, the most in 15 months. In part, that increase likely reflected hiring needed to rebuild from Superstorm Sandy. And the housing market’s gradual recovery has energized homebuilding. Manufacturers added 25,000 jobs, the most in nine months. Economists found other hopeful news in the report. Americans were given more work hours in December - an average 34.5 hours a week in December, up from 34.4 in November. And their pay outgrew inflation.

Hourly wages rose 7 cents to $23.73 last month, a 2.1 percent increase compared with a year earlier.

Over the same period, inflation rose 1.8 percent.

“Perhaps (the) underlying economic performance is accelerating, and even Washington can’t screw it up,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG. One company that hired last year and would like to add more jobs in 2013 is Arteriocyte, a Cleveland-based stem-cell therapy and medical device company. But CEO Don Brown is concerned about potential cuts in government spending, which he says could erode Arteriocyte’s revenue. One such cut is a 2 percent reduction in the reimbursements Medicare gives doctors and hospitals. That reduction was delayed by the budget deal reached this week. If the reimbursement cut is imposed later this year, it would lower revenue for the hospitals and surgeons that buy Arteriocyte’s advanced products.

“Our entire customer base is unsure about what their reimbursement landscape is going to be,” Brown said. The Obama administration’s health care reform law also imposed a 2.2 percent sales tax on medical devices. Brown estimates that will cost his company $400,000. He had hoped the tax would be eliminated as part of a fiscal cliff agreement.

Arteriocyte hired 10 workers last year and now employs 76. The new hires included research scientists, two marketing specialists and a sales representative. Brown hopes to make five to 10 additional hires this year, but he might be unable to do so if the Medicare cut takes effect.

Despite last month’s hiring gains, Friday’s report pointed to some weakness in the job market. For example, the number of unemployed actually rose 164,000 to 12.2 million. About 192,000 people entered the work force last month, but most did not find jobs.

The unemployment numbers come from a government survey of households. The number of jobs added comes from a separate survey of businesses. A broader category that includes not only

has remained stuck at a tepid pace: It averaged 153,000 in both 2011 and 2012. That isn’t enough to lower unemployment to what economists regard as a “normal” rate of 6 percent or less. The Federal Reserve doesn’t expect unemployment to drop that low until after 2015. The economy has replaced just 4.8 million, or 54 percent, of the 8.8 million jobs lost between January 2008, when the job market peaked, and February 2010, when it bottomed during the recession.

It has been, by far, the weakest jobs recovery since the Great Depression of the 1930s. “A status quo report in today’s labor market represents an ongoing jobs crisis,” says Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute. Still, the economy has been showing broad improve-

SAN JOSE: People looking for work attend a job fair in San Jose, California. Every January, the US government updates the formulas it uses to calculate unemployment data, which sometimes results in a revision of the monthly unemployment rates. —AP the unemployed but also part-time workers who want full-time jobs and people who have given up looking for work was unchanged in December at 22.7 million.

The government revised up its estimates of job growth for October and November by 14,000 jobs.

October’s job increases were revised down from 138,000 to 137,000 but November’s were revised up from 146,000 to 161,000. Economists said the pace of hiring almost certainly isn’t strong enough to lead the Federal Reserve to cut short its bondbuying program. The Fed is spending $85 billion a month on bond purchases to try to drive down long-term borrowing costs and stimulate economic growth.

The job market is being held back by government cutbacks. Governments at all levels cut 13,000 jobs in December. Since the Great Recession ended in mid-2009, governments have eliminated 645,000 jobs - an average of nearly 15,400 a month.

By contrast, during the recoveries from the recessions of 1990-1991 and 2001, governments added an average of more than 15,000 jobs a month. If governments were hiring at that pace instead of slashing payrolls, the USeconomy would be generating more than 180,000 jobs a month.

Instead, for two full years, monthly job growth

ment. Layoffs are down. Banks are lending a bit more freely. Companies have built up a nearrecord $1.7 trillion in cash. Consumers have cut their debts to pre-recession levels. Europe has avoided a financial catastrophe.

The once-depressed housing market is rebounding. A gauge of US service firms’ business activity expanded in December by the most in nearly a year. Manufacturing is benefiting from the best auto sales in five years. And Americans spent more at the end of the crucial holiday shopping season.

“There is little doubt that the seeds of faster growth are being planted,” James Marple, an economist at TD Bank, said in a note to clients. That said, most economists expect slight improvement at best in hiring this year. A 2 percentage point cut in the Social Security tax expired Jan. 1. That means a household with income of about $50,000 will have about $1,000 less to spend. A household with two high-paid workers will have up to $4,500 less. And the government may impose spending cuts this year. Higher taxes and less government spending, along with uncertainty about future budget fights, could restrain growth and hiring.

That “likely means acceleration in the labor market will remain elusive for the time being,” said Ellen Zentner, an economist at Nomura Securities. —AP

Hollande rules out buying troubled Petroplus refinery VAL-DE-REUIL, France: France will not take over insolvent Swiss refiner Petroplus’ oil refinery in Normandy, but could help the plant financially once a suitable buyer is found, President Francois Hollande said yesterday.

About 500 jobs at the 161,000 barrels-a-day Petit-Couronne refinery are at risk, the latest industrial headache for the Socialist leader who has vowed to stem rising unemployment by the end of the year. “It’s difficult to find a serious buyer. We must do everything to find one,” Hollande told reporters after meeting union leaders in Val-DeReuil, a town about 110 kilometers (70 miles) north-west of Paris. “The state will do its duty, but it cannot take the plant over, and the workers know that,” he said. He added the state could at some point provide financing.

Petroplus poses a major test for Hollande’s government after it faced criticism over the tactics it used in a two-month battle over the future of ArcelorMittal’s Florange steel plant, which unnerved investors in the euro zone’s second largest economy and confused France’s unions.

His administration is struggling to stop a haemorrhage of industrial jobs which has helped push unemployment to 15-year highs, while curbing public spending and raising taxes to help slash debt in a stagnant economy. A French court set a deadline of Feb. 5 for interested parties to submit bids for the Petit-Couronne refinery.

Shell, which had a six-month oil processing deal with the troubled plant running to mid-December, has not extended its contract, making the refinery less attractive for buyers due to expensive restart

costs. So far only NetOil, a company led by Middle Eastern businessman Roger Tamraz, has submitted an offer while 7 others have filed letters of intent to buy France’s oldest refinery.

Net Oil’s offer includes an oil supply deal with BP and an agreement with Hyundai to upgrade the plant. Union spokesman Yvon Scornet told reporters after the meeting that Hollande had promised to do everything possible to push the project forward, but had given no guarantees.

Hollande is trying to win back voters who are increasingly unhappy over the government’s handling of the economy and disillusioned by communication gaffes. A survey by BVA for ITele on Friday showed two-thirds of respondents were not convinced by Hollande’s New Year’s address aimed at reassuring the country over his policies. —Reuters

FREMONT: Tesla workers cheer on one of the first Tesla Model S cars sold during a rally at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California. A healthier economy and more new model introductions should push US auto sales above the 15 million mark in 2013, predicts an auto industry research firm. —AP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

BUSINESS

KSE ushers in 2013 on positive note BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the green zone. The price index ended last week with an increase amounted to 1.06%, and the weighted index advanced by 0.79% compared to the closings of the week before. In addition KSX-15 index increased by 0.93%. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover decreased by 36.35%, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 22.54 million, whereas trading volume average was 215.32 million shares, recording increase of 3.07%.

Kuwait Stock Excahnge ended the first New Year’s week of trading in the green zone. The market performance was supported by the purchasing power appeared in the last two sessions in particular, and included many largecap and small-cap stocks of most sectors. As a result, the market three indices realized good gains by the end of the week, specially the Price Index which closed at 6,004.41 points, the highest closing since last October 7th session. On the contrary, the selling operations effect on the market performance was not absent last week, as trading witnessed limited profit collection operations during the sessions, which limited the market gains, however did not succeed in pushing the indices to close in the red zone.

In addition, the market realized its gains despite the negative trading start of the week, as the last two sessions of 2012 witnessed a declining performance due to the selling pressures, which concentrated on leading and large-cap stocks, and negatively affected the Price and KSX-15 Indices.

However, the market was able to compensate its total loss by the end of the week, whereas the three market indices closed in the green zone.

By the end of the week, the price index closed at 6,004.41 points, up by

sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 0.12% to end the week’s activity at 838.01 points. The Oil & Gas sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 0.003%, closing at 934.40 points.

1.06% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 0.79% weekly gain after closing at 422.69 points. Moreover, the KSX-15 index closed at 1,024.17 points, increasing with 0.93%.

Sectors’ Indices All of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the green zone, while the other two recorded declines. Last week ’s highest gainer was the Insurance sector, achieving 3.31%

Google and FTC reach deal in anti-competition probe SAN JOSE: Ending an 18-month investigation, the Federal Trade Commission said Thursday that it did not find enough evidence to warrant legal action against Google over its search results, but it said the Internet giant had voluntarily agreed to change some other practices.

Google will no longer “scrape” reviews from competitors to use as its own and also will make it easier for businesses to advertise with competing search engines, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said. In a separate matter, Leibowitz said Google had agreed to license patents for standard mobile technology that are essential to devices including Xboxes and iPads.

“Undoubtedly, Google took aggressive actions to gain advantage over rival search providers,” Beth Wilkinson, FTC’s outside counsel said in a statement. “However, the FTC’s mission is to protect competition, and not individual competitors. The evidence did not demonstrate that Google’s actions in this area stifled competition in violation of US law.”

The announcement follows nearly 18 months of investigation by federal authorities and vociferous complaints from Google’s competitors, who had urged the FTC to file an anti-trust lawsuit against Google over allegations that the Internet

search giant was unfairly favoring its own online services over those of its rivals when displaying search results.

Google welcomed the announcement in a company blog post Thursday. “The conclusion is clear: Google’s services are good for users and good for competition,” wrote David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer. Referring to the agreements announced by the FTC, Drummond went on to say that “we’ve always been open to improvements that would create a better experience” for users of its search engine.

The FTC’s voluntary agreement with Google is significant, but falls far short of the more sweeping enforcement action that some had anticipated when the FTC announced its investigation. The commission at one point had hired outside legal experts to prepare for what some expected to be a legal battle that would match the scope of the government’s farreaching anti-trust battles with Microsoft a decade ago.

Microsoft, in fact, was one of several competitors that had urged the FTC to pursue its investigation.

Google’s rivals have also complained to European authorities, who are still mulling a legal settlement with Google. In recent weeks, some Google critics also have urged the

US Department of Justice to intervene, since the Justice Department shares anti-trust enforcement authority with the FTC. Legal experts, however, say it’s unclear whether the Justice Department would pursue a case if the FTC has concluded it does not have evidence to proceed.

Some Google critics said Thursday they still hope for other agencies to take further action. In a statement, the online review service Yelp said the FTC’s decision, “represents a missed opportunity to protect innovation in the Internet economy, and the consumers and businesses that rely upon it.” Yelp, which has complained that Google displays Google’s own services more prominently than competing sites, added: “We look for the regulatory bodies continuing their investigation to have greater success.” Leibowitz had previously said he hoped to announce a resolution of the Google case by the end of 2012. But news reports citing unnamed sources said the commission decided to postpone an announcement last month so it could have more time to confer with European regulators as well as state officials in Texas and other states that have been examining similar issues. —MCT

growth rate as its index closed at 911.46 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Real Estate sector’s index closed at 1,010.90 points recording 1.58% increase. The Industrial sector came in third as its

index achieved 1.27% growth, ending the week at 946.23 points. The Basic Materials sector was the least growing as its index closed at 982.46 points with a 0.10% increase.

On the other hand, the Technology

Sectors’ Activity The Financial Services sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 374.68 million shares changing hands, representing 43.50% of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector ’s traded shares were 32.04% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 275.99 million shares.

On the other hand, the Banks sector’s stocks were the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 28.20 million or 31.27% of last week’s total market trading value. The Financial Services sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of KD 23.08 million represented 25.60% of the total market trading value.

—Prepared by the Studies & Research Department Bayan Investment Co.

Merkel highlights economy in German election year BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel highlighted Germany’s economic strength as she kicked off campaigning yesterday for an important state vote that comes months before national elections, and she brushed aside worries about the weakness of her party’s coalition partner.

Merkel’s center-right party faces a tough battle to extend its 10-year hold on Lower Saxony state, a northwestern region of 8 million people, in the Jan. 20 election there. Polls suggest the center-left opposition has a good chance of winning, which would give it a significant boost ahead of September national elections in which Merkel will seek a third term.

Merkel made clear that her Christian Democrats will make “economic competence, together with jobs - and jobs that are wellqualified and fairly paid,” along with economic strength, a keystone of this year’s campaigns.

She identified opposition plans for tax increases as one battleground.

“We believe that we do, of course, need income for the state, so we are not talking about tax cuts at this point,” Merkel said at a televised news conference after her party’s leadership met in Wilhelmshaven, a port city in Lower Saxony.

“But we believe that tax increases ... are not good for current economic developments, for medium-sized companies in particular but

WILHELMSHAVEN: German chancellor Angela Merkel delivers her speech at a party leaders’ meeting in Wilhelmshaven, northern Germany yesterday. Chancellor Angela Merkel is highlighting Germany’s economic strength. —AP

also for big companies,” she added.

The number of Germans out of work averaged just under 2.9 million last year, the lowest since 1991. Germany’s jobless rate of less than 7 percent contrasts with figures well over 20 percent in troubled euro-zone partners Greece and Spain. The strong German economy, and Merkel’s hard-nosed management of Europe’s debt crisis, have helped keep her popularity high and her party ahead in polls.

But the weakness of the pro-market Free Democratic Party, her junior coalition partner, means that her center-right alliance lacks a majority in surveys. The party, which campaigned at Germany’s last election for tax cuts that it failed to obtain, has taken much of the blame for frequent coalition squabbling.

In Lower Saxony, polls show the FDP short of the 5 percent support needed to stay in the state legislature, which endangers popular conservative governor David McAllister’s chances of keeping his job. However, Merkel said she is “very optimistic that the (Free Democrats) will, on their own strength, with their ideas and their share in the success of the work of both the Lower Saxony state government and the federal government, be able to convince people.”

The Lower Saxony election follows a rough start for Merkel’s center-left challenger in the national elections, former Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck.

He drew criticism this week for saying the chancellor earns too little and that Merkel has an advantage because she’s a woman adding to earlier controversy over his high earnings from public speaking. Merkel coolly dismissed a question about her challenger’s performance.

“To be honest, I take care of my own performance and I’m very satisfied with that,” she said. “The rest is for others to comment on.” —AP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

BUSINESS

‘Cliff’ concerns give way to earnings focus WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOK NEW YORK: Investors’ “fiscal cliff” worries are likely to give way to more fundamental concerns, like earnings, as fourthquarter reports get under way this week.

Financial results, which begin after the market closes on Tuesday with aluminum company Alcoa, are expected to be only slightly better than the thirdquarter’s lackluster results. As a warning sign, analyst current estimates are down sharply from what they were in October.

That could set stocks up for more volatility following a week of sharp gains that put the Standard & Poor’s 500 index on Friday at the highest close since Dec 31, 2007. The index also registered its biggest weekly percentage gain in more than a year. Based on a Reuters analysis, Europe ranks among the chief concerns cited by companies that warned on fourth-quarter results. Uncertainty about the region and its weak economic outlook were cited by more than half of the 25 largest S&P 500 companies that issued warnings.

In the most recent earnings conference calls, macroeconomic worries were cited by 10 companies while the US “fiscal cliff” was cited by at least nine as reasons for their earnings warnings.

“The number of things that could go wrong isn’t so high, but the magnitude

of how wrong they could go is what’s worrisome,” said Kurt Winters, senior portfolio manager for Whitebox Mutual Funds in Minneapolis.

Negative-to-positive guidance by S&P 500 companies for the fourth quarter was 3.6 to 1, the second worst since the third quarter of 2001, according to Thomson Reuters data.

NEW YORK: A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York. — AP

Belgium airport fears TNT departure, eyes FedEx deal BRUSSELS: Belgium’s Liege airport, one of Europe’s busiest freight hubs, hopes to entice US parcel delivery firm FedEx away from Paris airports should Dutch firm TNT Express depart for Germany.

The head of the Liege airport board, Jose Happart, told daily newspaper La Libre yesterday that the airport was eyeing a deal with FedEx should the Dutch company go as the result of a looming tie-up with US delivery giant United Parcel Service (UPS).

UPS launched a 5.16-billion-euro ($6.71 billion) takeover bid for TNT Express last year.

If approved by EU anti-trust authorities, UPS could well decide to move the Dutch firm’s Liege operations-involving some 2,000 jobs-to its own UPS hub in Cologne, in order to streamline services and management.

“If TNT goes there is another big company, FedEx, which is currently based in Paris,” said Happart. “We will try to attract it here in part.” But he added that “if TNT were to leave Liege Airport, it would likely not be a total withdrawal.”

UPS said in November that it had amended its multi-billion-euro bid for TNT

Express to meet EU conditions and close the deal by next year. The European Commission competition authorities said last year they were worried that the proposed merger would reduce the number of so-called integrators from four to three and lead to a highly concentrated market for domestic and international express delivery services.

UPS and TNT Express are major players in the sector for delivery of small packages and are two of four firms with a comprehensive air and road delivery network on the continent.

Others present in Europe are DHL, owned by Deutsche Post, and FedEx, a USbased company. The deal is expected to put UPS ahead of its two competitors as it would strengthen its position in Europe and globally.

TNT Express is a global player operating in more than 200 countries and maintains a leading role in the road freight network in Europe. UPS is the world’s biggest package-shipping group, with annual revenues in 2011 of $53.1 billion and 400,000 employees. —AFP

Dollar mixed after US jobs report NEW YORK: The dollar was mixed Friday after the United States reported unemployment was unchanged at 7.8 percent in December and job growth continued at a modest pace.

Some analysts said the stable picture of the ailing US labor market eased concerns that the Federal Reserve could end its economic stimulus this year, spurred by the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s latest policy meeting.

“The US dollar is firmer on balance after yesterday’s FOMC minutes, but is giving back some of those gains on today’s nonfarm payroll reports,” said Nick Bennenbroek of Wells Fargo Bank. The euro gained against the dollar after the release of the jobs report. Around 2200 GMT, it was buying $1.3067, up from $1.3052 at the same time Thursday. The yen was under selling pressure after Japan’s new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, vowed to push

US lawmakers narrowly averted the “fiscal cliff” by coming to a last-minute agreement on a bill to avoid steep tax hikes this weeks-driving the rally in stocks-but the battle over further spending cuts is expected to resume in two months. Investors also have seen a revival of worries about Europe’s sovereign debt problems, with Moody’s in

for aggressive monetary easing. The dollar fetched 88.15 yen, after earlier hitting a peak of 88.41 yen, its highest level since mid-July 2010. In late trade Thursday, the greenback bought 87.19 yen.

The European currency also rose against the yen, to 115.19 yen from 113.80 yen. The US Labor Department said the jobless rate was unchanged at 7.8 percent in December while only a modest 155,000 net jobs were added. “These figures don’t fit in with the sentiment that brewed yesterday that the Federal Reserve would reduce its stimulus efforts in 2013; this hardly fits in with the idea of a strong recovery,” said Christopher Vecchio of DailyFX. The dollar slipped against the Swiss currency, to 0.9246 francs from 0.9266 francs late Thursday, while the pound fell to $1.6068 from $1.6108. —AFP

November downgrading France’s credit rating and debt crises looming for Spain and other countries.

“You have a recession in Europe as a base case. Europe is still the biggest trading partner with a lot of US companies, and it’s still a big chunk of global capital spending,” said Adam Parker, chief US equity strategist at Morgan Stanley in New York.

Among companies citing worries about Europe was eBay , whose chief financial officer, Bob Swan, spoke of “macro pressures from Europe” in the company’s October earnings conference call.

One of the biggest worries voiced about earnings has been whether companies will be able to continue to boost profit growth despite relatively weak revenue growth.

S&P 500 revenue fell 0.8 percent in the third quarter for the first decline since the third quarter of 2009, Thomson Reuters data showed. Earnings growth for the quarter was a paltry 0.1 percent after briefly dipping into negative territory.

On top of that, just 40 percent of S&P 500 companies beat revenue expectations in the third quarter, while 64.2 percent beat earnings estimates, the

‘Fiscal cliff’ deal budget help or hindrance? Yes, says CBO Up to $800bn in 10-year deficit cut versus tax cut extension WASHINGTON: So does Congress’ landmark deal to avert the “fiscal cliff” by canceling tax hikes on most Americans increase or decrease long-term US budget deficits?

The answer is a definitive “yes,” the Congressional Budget Office said on Friday. It all depends on the comparison. And by the way, it also helps - and hurts - the economy. As it said earlier last week in its official budget scoring of the legislation passed on Jan. 1, the deal adds $4 trillion to deficits over a 10-year period compared to allowing all income tax rates to jump back to their pre-2001 levels and allowing automatic spending cuts to bite-effectively a leap off the fiscal cliff.

Add in the increased debt service costs through 2022, and you have $4.6 trillion in new debt burden. The main culprit is simple: the legislative deal brings in less revenue than called for by tax laws that would have reinstated the old rates. But few in Washington believed it was realistic to allow a full return to Clinton-era tax rates, sharply lower Medicare payments to doctors and a failure to stop the dreaded alternative minimum tax from ensnaring ever-larger numbers of middle-class taxpayers. So the CBO last year came up with an alternative scenario, which assumed that all tax rates were left unchanged and the AMT indexed for inflation. Had this been enacted, deficits would have risen $4.5 trillion, or $5.2 trillion including debt service costs, CBO estimated in August.

After making some adjustments in the agency’s calculations due to the fiscal cliff legislation, CBO director Doug Elmendorf said in a blog posting that the deal would produce 10year budget savings of $600 billion to $700 billion compared to this alternative tax-extension scenario.

Add in lower debt service costs, and the savings would be $700 billion to $800 billion.

CBO also had predicted that going over the fiscal cliff had dire consequences for the economy, plunging it back into recession. This would have caused US gross domestic product to shrink by 0.5 percent in 2013 - a huge plunge

from Federal Reserve forecasts of 2.3 percent to 3.0 percent growth.

An economy in recession generates less tax revenue and prompts higher spending on unemployment benefits, which widens a deficit and forces more borrowing.

But due to this week’s deal, the CBO’s estimate is now back in the black, with the office expecting 2013 GDP growth of around 2.5-2.75 percent. This could decline due to some further fiscal tightening still on the books for this year, however.

The CBO’s analysis does not include any further spending cuts that Congress may make in the next two months as a looming battle over

Wall Street cheers ‘cliff’ deal, but only for now

Freetown undergoes an image makeover British colony in the 1950s.

Koroma, who was re-elected as president with almost 59 percent of the vote last November said the move was a turning point for Sierra Leone. He railed at length against a culture of public lawlessness, saying Sierra Leone needed to build a disciplined society.

“It’s us who must take the driving seat.

It’s us who must take command and control and move this country forward,” he said. Representatives from various sectors of society endorsed the operation, including the unions for motorbike taxi drivers - whose operations would be restricted in parts of the central business district - and market traders.

But street vendors in central Freetown said that until the government provided them with alternative locations to carry out their business, Operation WID will leave them jobless and unable to support their families. Fatima Sahid, 28, sells plastic jewelry and flip-flops on Sani Abacha Street. She is the sole breadwinner of her family, with two children and an unemployed husband. She said that without the income from street selling, many like her would end up turning to prostitution.

Her neighbor Isata runs a small stall selling cheap kitchen utensils. “I am not happy because they have not made any preparations for us,” she said. “There is nowhere for us to go.” — Reuters

the federal debt limit heats up. Longer term, however, CBO estimates that the fiscal cliff deal will reduce GDP output compared to allowing all of the tax rates to snap back to Clinton-era levels.

While some short-term pain will be avoided, it will do little to halt the growth of US debt in the long run. The debt service costs and the lower national savings and reduced capital stock associated with this will eventually start to sap economic growth, the CBO said.

By contrast, the CBO had previously predicted that the greater amount of deficit reduction achieved by going over the fiscal cliff would start to pay dividends in higher growth by the end of the decade. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: The dome of the Capitol is reflected in a skylight of the Capitol Visitor’s Center in Washington. By delaying hard choices on spending, the fiscal cliff deal guaranteed more confrontation and uncertainty this year, especially when Congress must vote later this winter to raise the government’s borrowing limit. — AP

Sierre Leone to clear vendors from streets FREETOWN: Sierra Leone’s president Ernest Bai Koroma said yesterday security forces will evict traders, street-garages and food vendors from the cramped streets of the capital Freetown in an effort to improve the city’s image. Parts of the crumbling seaside capital have become almost impassable to vehicles, with market stalls spilling over the pavements, and traders hawking goods of all sorts wandering through crowds of shoppers.

“We must all must say business must not continue how it has been continuing,” he said at a news conference. “The play-play don don,” he said in the local language, Krio, meaning playtime is over.

Sierra Leone is among the world’s least developed nations after a 19912002 civil war left its infrastructure in tatters, but boasted one of the fastest growing economies in 2012 due to the restart of iron ore exports.

The project, known as Operation WID (Waste Improved Decongestion), is seen as a step towards improving the country’s road safety record and is also hoped to improve Freetown’s image in the eyes of investors and tourists.

It came into effect yesterday. The head of a council of tribal leaders, who endorsed the project, spoke of “returning Freetown to its past glory”, recalling the heady days in the main city of the former

Thomson Reuters data showed.

For the fourth quarter, estimates are slightly better but are well off estimates for the quarter from just a few months earlier. S&P 500 earnings are expected to have risen 2.8 percent while revenue is expected to have gone up 1.9 percent.

Back in October, earnings growth for the fourth quarter was forecast up 9.9 percent. In spite of the cautious outlooks, some analysts still see a good chance for earnings beats this reporting period.

“The thinking is you need top line growth for earnings to continue to expand, and we’ve seen the market defy that,” said Mike Jackson, founder of Denver-based investment firm T3 Equity Labs.

Based on his analysis, energy, industrials and consumer discretionary are the S&P sectors most likely to beat earnings expectations in the upcoming season, while consumer staples, materials and utilities are the least likely to beat, Jackson said.

Sounding a positive note on Friday, drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co said it expects profit in 2013 to increase by more than Wall Street had been forecasting, primarily due to cost controls and improved productivity. — Reuters

LOS ANGELES: A construction worker builds a metal scaffold at a new apartment building site in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles Friday. — AP

NEW YORK: When lawmakers delivered a long-delayed, last-minute agreement on the budget, Wall Street celebrated. And it would be easy to think that the surge in the Dow the following day meant that investors had put their concerns about Washington’s political gridlock behind them.

The Dow Jones industrial average surged on the news, but that doesn’t mean the volatility is over. In fact, there could be more turmoil in the market soon because decisions on cutting the federal budget deficit have been put off until March, when the government will reach its borrowing limit.

Republicans have already said they will demand cuts to spending as a condition for extending the limit.

“The uncertainty is still there, the key issues are spending cuts and entitlement reforms and, for the most part, those were not addressed,” says Terry Sandven, chief equities strategist at US Bank Wealth Management. “This sets the stage for sharper rhetoric and increased market volatility as these discussions evolve.”

The last time lawmakers tussled over the debt limit, the stock market plunged and the US government lost its AAA debt rating.

The Dow fell almost 7 percent in the two weeks before an agreement was reached Aug 3, 2011. Many business leaders objected to the agreement lawmakers reached late Tuesday. The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading US companies, said that although it addressed some of the immediate negative consequences that the economy would have faced going over the “fiscal cliff,” it failed to address the “serious and fundamental” reforms the economy needs. The National Retail Federation said that the deal was welcome, though it was only the first

step in necessary tax reform.

Companies are likely to remain wary of investing until they get more clarity from Washington, says Joe Heider, a principal at Rehmann Financial in Cleveland, Ohio. He likens the current US business climate to a sporting event where the referees tell the players to take the field before telling them that the rules of the game will only be decided on once the final whistle has been blown.

“Washington needs to get out of the way of the financial markets and American business,” said Heider. “They need to create some certainty over how businesses should best deploy all the cash that they’re sitting on.”

And corporations are sitting on a lot of cash.

Companies have been steadily building up their reserves over the last five years and are now sitting on record cash piles. By the end of the third quarter of last year, S&P 500 companies had accumulated more than $1 trillion in cash, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices.

At least for now, companies are unlikely to invest much of that money back into their businesses simply because demand just isn’t strong enough, says US Bank’s Sandven.

Instead they will spend it on acquisitions, stock buy-backs and pay higher dividends.

Those are all actions that should boost stock prices in the near term, despite the ongoing uncertainty and increased volatility that will be caused by political wrangling.

Investors should take advantage of any volatility in the market created by the political wrangling to seek out stocks that have a history of growing their dividends, says Sandven. He estimates that half of the stocks in the S&P 500 have a dividend yield that is higher than the current 10-year US Treasury note. The 10-year Treasury note was at 1.90 percent Friday. — AP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

BUSINESS

Mindshare conducts service excellence training in Kuwait KUWAIT: Mindshare, an agency dedicated to innovative brand development for its clients, recently held a Service Excellence training workshop for clients in Kuwait. The training, taking place at the Swiss-Belhotel in Kuwait City, was designed to provide media suppliers the skills needed to achieve the best possible results for themselves, their clients, their colleagues, and their partners. The workshop focused on the interpersonal interactions that media suppliers have as a part of their profession, along with looking critically at common policies, practices, and procedure.

Over the course of two days, the workshop offered various techniques in a number of different areas, ranging from psychology and sales training to scientific observation of behavior.

Participants learned how to reduce conflict and increase cooperation with others, apply a framework for managing client-colleague interactions, and gain a greater understanding of behavior and how to influence it.

Throughout the workshop, participants developed their communication skills to understand the needs

and issues of others, while learning to set reasonable expectations and become more solutions- orientated.

Finally, the workshop taught participants how to foster a sense of commitment to projects in order to meet pre-determined expectations.

“This was an eye-opener for me, in terms of looking at all of the small

details of how I am doing my job throughout the day,” commented Mazen Arab, Advertising Development Manager from Al-Watan newspaper: “The training team from Mindshare was excellent and provided a unique perspective on how those of us in the media supplying business interact with each other and with our

clients. It was definitely a worthwhile two days, and it was a pleasure working so closely with Mindshare in such a positive learning environment.”

Pierre Chawa, Account Manager from Kuwait United Company added, “If participants only apply 20% of this course to the way they do business, then it is well worth their time. More

people should attend this course in our industry.”

Mindshare, part of the WPP global communications group, was launched in 1997 and now has over 100 offices around the world. In October 1999, Mindshare MENA was the first independent agency launched in the region. Today Mindshare has over 13

QNB Group raises Qatar’s 2012-13 growth estimate Assessment based on GDP data, oil price forecasts DOHA: QNB Group has revised its forecasts for Qatar’s GDP growth in 2012-13. The new forecasts take into account Q3 2012 GDP data, released last week by Qatar Statistics Authority, as well as a slight downwards revision in oil price forecasts.

The Q3 GDP data was broadly in line with QNB Group’s overall expectations, albeit slightly weaker in the oil and gas sector and stronger in the non-oil sector. As a result, QNB Group has revised up its estimate for overall real GDP growth in 2012 to 6.1%, from 5.6% previously, and revised its 2013 forecast down marginally to 5.0%.

The volume of activity in the oil & gas sector, as represented by real GDP, grew by 0.6% during Q3 2012. The increase came despite a slight easing in crude oil production, by about 11,000 barrels per day (b/d), and scheduled maintenance work on some of Qatargas’s LNG trains in September, which would have reduced LNG production.

The real increase is, therefore, most probably due to higher gas-to-liquids (GTL) production as the second Pearl train ramped up and required greater gas feedstock from the North Field. This would also help to partly explain the 4.7% quarterly increase in manufacturing sector real GDP, where the value-added by the GTL process is categorized.

QNB Group expects that there was a pickup in oil & gas GDP in the final quarter of 2012. This is because of an expected increase in crude production and the ending of most of the LNG maintenance downtime (although one train was offline in October). In addition, Pearl GTL is expected

to have approached close to its full capacity of 140,000 b/d during Q4, therefore further increasing its gas draw and also the amount of condensates extracted from the wet gas.

Nonetheless, because Q3 GDP was low-

non-oil real growth estimate to 9.4%, from 8.0%. Although the non-oil growth rate decelerated in both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year terms in Q3, after a particularly strong first half of the year, it did so less than had been expected. In particular,

er than expected, QNB Group has revised down slightly its estimates for full year real GDP growth in the oil & gas sector to 2.1%.

Conversely, the non-oil sector performed better than expected in Q3, which has led QNB Group to revise up its full year

manufacturing, trade & hospitality and government services all performed above expectations. Nominal non-oil growth, meanwhile, was slightly below expectations, suggesting downwards pressure on prices in some sectors.

Portugal ‘on right track’: Lagarde LISBON: Portugal is “on the right track” in meeting economic reform targets set by its international creditors in exchange for rescue funding, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said in an interview released yesterday.

“The program is on the right track. A significant part of fiscal adjustment has been carried out,” Lagarde told the Portuguese weekly, Expresso. While noting high unemployment and remaining risks due to the continuing crisis, Lagarde said she was “very confident.” “The Portuguese authorities and people of Portugal have been extremely courageous and firm in carrying out tough and painful reforms,” she said.

Portugal, which obtained a 78 billion euro ($102 billion) bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund in May 2011, in exchange agreed a three-year reform program that has thrown the country into recession and sent unemployment soaring to a record 16 percent.

“We are of course very worried by the rise in unemployment but we are working with the authorities and our European partners to ensure that structural reforms help in creating jobs and lead to growth,” Lagarde said.

“However now that the work is two-thirds through, the main aim must be to complete the adjustment program,” she added.

The country’s centre-right coalition government in November adopted a tough belttightening budget that included wide-ranging tax hikes. In an announcement this week, President Anibal Cavaco Silva said he had asked Portugal’s highest court to decide whether the 2013 austerity budget was constitutional.

“The execution of this budget will bring about lower income for citizens through higher taxes and lower social payments.

Everyone will be affected, but some more than others, which raises doubts on the fairness of redistribution efforts,” he said. —AFP

Looking ahead to 2013, oil & gas growth is forecast to pick up marginally, to 2.8%, owing to higher oil and LNG output and a full year of Pearl GTL operating near its rated production capacity. Nominal growth in the sector is expected to be flat in 2013 because average oil prices are forecast to ease to $108 in 2013, compared to $111 in 2012. However, oil price volatility makes it more difficult to accurately forecast prices and the correspondingly nominal GDP. The real GDP growth, by contrast, is less subject to the oil-market volatility, and would only differ substantially from the forecast if there were unforeseen production problems in some part of the sector or a very substantial fall in prices that led to production cuts.

Meanwhile, the non-oil sector is forecast to achieve about 6.6% in real growth in 2013, led by a buoyant construction sector as major infrastructure projects gather pace. The financial sector will also benefit from the resulting financing needs.

Overall, QNB Group forecasts that Qatar will achieve real growth of 5.0% in 2013.

This slowdown has been long expected given the scheduled completion of all major oil & gas projects. With Pearl GTL fully operational, there will be no significant additions to production in the sector until the launch of the Barzan gas project, in 2014/15. Until then, only small increases in oil and LNG production will be possible through operational efficiency gains.

However, Qatar ’s non-oil growth rate remains high by both regional and international standards, and will drive the economy during the coming years.

SIA asks pilots to volunteer for unpaid leave SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines has asked its captains to volunteer for unpaid leave amid a global economic slowdown that has dented long-haul travel demand, the airline said yesterday. The move came nearly a year after the companyconsidered a bellwether for the full-service airline industry-made a similar offer to its first officers.

The airline has also frozen its intake of cadet pilots as part of a slew of cost-cutting measures.

“Singapore Airlines (SIA) began offering voluntary no-pay leave to first officers in March last year and subsequently to captains who expressed interest,” company spokesman Nicholas Ionides said in a statement emailed to AFP. SIA has “a temporary surplus of pilots and are managing it through

this scheme, which is entirely voluntary”, Ionides said. He added that “the surplus of captains is limited and we regard it as temporary”. SIA has more than 2,400 pilots-mostly captains and first officers. The global financial crisis had led to excess capacity and slower growth that anticipated, Ionides said. “This voluntary scheme will enable us to address the short-term surplus, while at the same time provide staff with the opportunity to take leave for personal reasons should they wish to do so,” he said. SIA saw its net profit in the first-half of the current fiscal year ending March fall by 30 percent year-on-year, weighed down by high fuel prices and weak demand in the travel and cargo markets. —AFP

offices in 10 countries across the GCC, Levant and North Africa.

Mindshare works collaboratively with clients to increase brand awareness among consumers. The goal is to heighten brand recognition and exposure - thereby increasing profits - by creating unique solutions for clients’ communications challenges.

Agostino Renna named President, CEO of GE Lighting Europe, MEA KUWAIT: GE Lighting yesterday announced that Agostino Renna has been named president and CEO of GE Lighting Europe, Middle East & Africa effective immediately.

Renna, who will report to GE Lighting president & CEO Maryrose Sylvester, succeeds Phil Marshall who has led GE Lighting Europe, Middle East & Africa, since 2008.

Marshall has left GE Lighting to pursue a position outside of the company.

“Agostino Renna’s experience, leadership and significant sales and marketing background make him an outstanding person to continue the transformation of the Lighting business in the region,” said GE Lighting president & CEO Maryrose Sylvester. “Agostino has demonstrated outstanding Agostino Renna management qualities and has the ability to sharpen our strategic focus to lead GE Lighting Europe, Middle East & Africa to achieve strong, sustained growth in 2013 and beyond.

Renna most recently was Vice President, Growth & Market Strategy for GE-Canada with responsibility for the long term growth and market positioning of all GE’s businesses in Canada.

Prior to joining GE, Renna spent 14 years at Johnson Controls Inc., where he worked in Canada, the US and Europe. He held leadership roles in sales, marketing, strategy and general management culminating with a position leading Johnson Controls’ Energy Solutions division for Europe, the Middle East and Africa based in Brussels, Belgium. Renna was born in Montreal, Quebec and holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University. He speaks 4 languages fluently. He is a regular speaker at conferences and roundtables that focus on addressing global energy challenges. While in Belgium, Renna was an Executive in Residence at the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, where, in his lectures, he brought a strong practitioner’s perspective to the topics of sales, marketing, strategy and leadership.

Four days to announce Al-Danah millionaire KUWAIT: The upcoming KD1 million Al-Danah draw will take place on Thursday, 10 January 2013, at the Avenues, where an exciting event will be hosted by Khaled Al-Ansari and Ossama Fouda. During the event, the winner of KD1 million will be announced in the presence of a Ministry of Commerce representative, the 2013 Al-Danah draw line up will be disclosed, and Gulf Bank invites the public to enjoy an evening filled with on the spot prizes.

Every Al-Danah account holder with a minimum of KD200 maintained in their account before the closing date is eligible and automatically entered into the Al-Danah draws. Conditions of opening an Al-Danah account

are very simple as no salary transfer is required. Minors require their parents or their legal guardian to open the account on their behalf.

Al-Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al-Danah Deposit Only ATM card, which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al-Danah online calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al-Danah winner.

For further information customers are advised to visit one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 or log on to www.egulfbank.com/aldanah for more information about the event and Al-Danah.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

technology

Italian teacher who kills celebrities on Twitter ROME: Fidel Castro, Mikhail Gorbachev and Pope Benedict XVI-Italian Tommasso Debenedetti has killed them all in fake tweets aimed at exposing shoddy journalism that have earned him global notoriety.

The latest victim of Debenedetti’s unusual hobby is British author JK Rowling, whose death in an accident he announced from a fake Twitter account purporting to belong to fellow writer John Le Carre.

“Death works well on Twitter,” Debenedetti, who is in his 40s and says he teaches literature at a school in Rome, said in a phone interview.

Debenedetti said that when he saw his Le Carre account had 2,500 followers including journalists from major British, German and US media, “I decided to

“Tommaso”. Among his many claims to Internet infamy, Debenedetti boasts of having forced Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi to deny the pope had died after sending a false tweet purportedly from the Vatican’s Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone.

He claims his tweet announcing the death of Syrian President Bashar alAssad made the price of oil go up and that another one about the demise of last Soviet leader Gorbachev prompted someone to go and update his Wikipedia page with the day of his death.

Debenedetti calls these his “games” and appears unconcerned about any unease they may cause, saying that he comes out and claims the rumour as his

make John Le Carre say JK Rowling had died”. Debenedetti said the tweet was then retweeted hundreds of times and a Chilean television station even gave the false news as fact.

The literary fake artist says his aim in all of this is to “show that Twitter has become a news agency-the least reliable in the world.

“Unfortunately, journalism works on speed. False news spreads exponentially,” he said, pointing out that retweets by journalists lend credibility to rumours even if they are not actually published.

“In the end, everyone forgets what the original source was,” said Debenedetti, who in perhaps another sleight of hand insists his first name be spelled “Tommasso” and not the more usual

own invention within an hour of sending the first tweet.

“I only target leading figures who have all the means at their disposal to respond very quickly. I would never announce the death of a lesser-known writer or my next door neighbour,” he said. “I don’t want it to go too far. I’m not a crook.”

Journalists “should be more prudent and carry out all the necessary checks, particularly in local media, local radio and Internet sites which fall most easily into this trap,” he said.

“I just want to show up the fragility of social media, where anyone can be anyone,” he said.

Debenedetti also has a more postmodern literary side and he has created

false Facebook pages for writers Umberto Eco and Mario Vargas Llosa, quoting them saying improbable things that they never said.

The grandson of a famous Italian literary critic, he has also authored dozens of fake interviews with famous writers which he says he has managed to place in a variety of media as the real thing.

It was Debenedetti’s made up interview with Philip Roth that revealed his elaborate ruse after some US journalists asked the famous writer about some comments against US President Barack Obama quoted in some media that he had in fact never made.

Debenedetti does not regret his actions, saying only: “I just wanted to see how far I could take it.” —AFP

New search engine tailors its results for tablets Great alternative to Google

Super computer heads to the academic chop shop NEW MEXICO: Moore’s Law puts supercomputers out to pasture because power - not just the cost of electricity, but the availability of juice - is the biggest constraint at the big supercomputing centers. And sometimes the lack of budget helps lock the gate, and HPC cloud computing butchers the cow.

That’s the case with the massive 28-rack supercomputer at the University of New Mexico nicknamed “Encanto,” which was supposed to be a foundation for high-tech investment and research in the Southwest state with the motto “Land of Enchantment.”

The idea with the Encanto project was to rent out capacity on the box, as El Reg reported when the Xeon-based cluster, built

by Silicon Graphics using 3,500 of Intel’s fourcore Xeon processors and actually running in an Intel data center, was first fired up.

The Encanto project was allocated $14m by the New Mexico state government in 2007, with $11m of that going for the system itself and $3m going for gateways - presumably a mix of networking gear and telecom services - to link into the system from around the state. At the time Encanto was first turned on, it cost $2m a year to keep it running. So over five years, it cost as much to run the supercomputer as to buy it.

The Encanto Altix ICE cluster currently has 14,336 cores, a peak theoretical performance of 172 teraflops, and a sustained performance or 133.2 teraflops on the Linpack Fortran benchmark. That gives it a ranking of 185 on the most recent Top500 supercomputers list from November 2012. The largest machines have between 50 and 100 times more oomph than Encanto, and also big budgets from the larger national or transnational supercomputer organizations that can afford to pay and run these monstrous machines.

According to a report in the Albuquerque Journal, New Mexico state information technology secretary Darryl Ackley is going to chop up Encanto into bits and put it out to pasture in various research universities in the state. No one wants to buy Encanto as-is because of the high cost of running the machine.

The irony is that six years ago, when Encanto was being conceived, the Altix ICE 8200 machines were reasonably power-efficient. Since then, however, Intel, AMD, and IBM have cranked up the core count and

lowered the thermal envelopes of their floppiest processors, helping machines burn significantly less juice.

Encanto burns 861 kilowatts, which works out to 154.7 megaflops per watt sustained performance. The 17.6 petaflops hybrid CPUGPU “Titan” supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory burns 8.21 megawatts, delivering 2,142 megaflops per watt. That’s performance per watt improvement by a factor of about 13.8.

The irony is that we are going to need a much larger leap in efficiency to get to exascale computing in a 25 megawatt power budget, as the major HPC players are working together to accomplish by 2018 to 2020.

That’s a factor of 50 times the performance increase in only three times the power budget to get around 40 gigaflops per watt in something on the order of 200 to 300 racks.

The Encanto machine was supposed to have rented out enough capacity to New Mexico’s universities, industrial companies, and consultants to be self-sufficient in five years, and as El Reg pointed out five years ago, this all had a pie-in-the-sky feel to it, and Encanto would be a rather run-of-the-mill supercomputer by 2013. And so it was, and so it is. Ackley told the Albuquerque Journal that a few tire-kickers came looking at Encanto, seeing if they might want to buy it, but it was too expensive to operate. The University of Mexico is slated to take ten racks of the box, with New Mexico State University taking four and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology taking two.

If the machines are free or have a modest price, then this makes sense. Otherwise, those schools should simply buy a modern Xeon or Opteron cluster - maybe with Tesla GPU or Xeon Phi coprocessors - and stop living in the past.

The lesson here is that if you want to build a supercomputer processing and application development center, your budget has to be sufficient to not only run a supercomputer but also to upgrade it and make it appealing for modern applications.

As usual, it takes money to make money.

And for a lot of companies, buying some capacity on Amazon makes a lot more sense and is probably easier - and cheaper - than whatever New Mexico could come up with for Encanto. Moore’s Law might have killed Encanto, but AWS is nailing the coffin shut.

SAN FRANCISCO: The makers of Blekko believe they’ve built a great alternative to Google, but they’re also realistic. They know their two-yearold Internet search engine won’t ever supplant Google as the most popular place to search on laptop and desktop computers. But Web surfing on tablet computers is a different matter, creating an opportunity that Blekko hopes to exploit with a new product called Izik - a search engine designed especially for Apple Inc.’s iPads and tablets running Google’s Android software.

Izik, whose name is a riff on 17th-century scientist Isaac Newton, debuted Friday with the release of free apps for the iPad and Android tablets. To cater to the more visual format of tablets, Izik displays search results in rows of information capsules that can be easily scrolled with a swipe of a finger. Users scroll vertically to look at different categories related to a search request. Scrolling horizontally displays more capsules within each category, which vary depending on the request.

Blekko CEO and founder Rich Skrenta likens the experience to a hybrid service that is part search engine, part magazine and part discovery tool. Izik also shares some similarities to a tablet search app called Axis that longtime Google rival Yahoo Inc. released last May in an attempt to shake up the market. Like Izik, Axis also relies on visual thumbnails to list search results.

Izik’s system is much different from Google’s.

Entering “Apple” into Izik on Friday produced a set of results sorted into these easily navigable categories: “Top Results,” “Images,” “Recipes,” “News,” “Reviews,” and “Tech.” Most of the information and pictures either pertained to Apple the company or the fruit.

Searching for the term at Google generated a map pinpointing the location of several nearby Apple stores. The rest of the results page was mostly devoted to a stack of blue links to other websites — a familiar format that has become the industry standard.

But Skrenta believes search will have to change as more people become tablet owners and start to use them more frequently than their laptop computers. With more than 100 million of the devices already sold since the iPad’s April 2010 debut, tablets already have contributed to declining sales of traditional PCs and printers. Skrenta is betting it’s only a matter of time before the technological upheaval triggered by tablets hits the search market and people start to break their Googling habits.

Google so far has been able to extend its dominance to tablets, largely because its search engine is the built-in option on the iPad and most Android devices.

But the algorithms and format that Google uses on tablets and laptops are basically the same. Skrenta doubts Google will switch to a format as dramatically different as Izik ’s

approach because it still makes most of its money from online advertising displayed on traditional PCs. The tendency to stick with a longestablished product that is still bringing most of a company’s money while challengers are introducing breakthroughs that threaten the status quo is sometimes referred to the “innovator’s dilemma.”

Blekko’s namesake search engine also sought to address a problem that Skrenta didn’t think was being adequately addressed by Google. By relying on humans to highlight the most useful information under frequently searched topics, Blekko, which is based in Redwood Shores, Calif., tries to remove the rogue websites that have learned to how to manipulate search formulas to gain a prominent ranking in search results.

Although Blekko began working on its technology five years ago, its search engine didn’t debut until late 2010. About four months after that, Google unveiled sweeping changes to its search algorithm in an effort to reduce the rubbish showing up in its results.

Although its search engine has yet to undercut Google’s dominance, Blekko has attracted a loyal following. It draws about 12 million monthly visitors and has raised about $50 million in venture capital from a group of investors that includes actor Ashton Kutcher and Yandex, a Russian search engine that is more popular in its home country than Google. —AP

Spaceport wants protections from tourist lawsuits ALBUQUERQUE, N.M: Spaceport America officials are urging legislators to limit potential lawsuits from wealthy outer space tourists who take off from New Mexico, saying such a bill is crucial to the future of the project.

Legal experts, however, say there is no way to know whether the so-called informed consent laws will offer any protection to spacecraft operators and suppliers in the event something goes wrong. “Since this has never happened yet, we have no precedent,” said Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz, director of the space law program at the University of Mississippi.

Such measures are being pushed by states trying to compete in the fledgling commercial space travel arena, and Spaceport America officials say that New Mexico risks losing out on a project that was intended to boost the economy in the mostly rural state.

They say New Mexico needs to pass a bill to retain anchor tenant Virgin Galactic and to recruit new space business to the state.

At issue is liability for passengers who pay to take spaceflights - like those planned by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic for $200,000 a head - from the spaceport near the city of Truth or Consequences.

New Mexico lawmakers several years ago passed a bill that exempts Virgin Galactic from being sued by passengers in the event of an accident provided

they have been informed of the risks.

Officials have refused, however, to follow a handful of other states in expanding that exemption to suppliers.

Spaceport America Executive Director Christine Anderson has blamed New Mexico’s refusal during the last two legislative sessions to expand the law as the reason the spaceport has been

laws cover adventure sports or amusement parks - and their effectiveness varies.

If someone gets hurt on a roller coaster, for example, Gabrynowicz said, the operator generally is not exempt from liability just because a posted sign says passengers at their own risk.

Those “don’t hold up” in court, she

passed over by companies in favor of states such as Texas and Florida.

Virgin Galactic, meanwhile, has hinted it will leave New Mexico if an expansion isn’t passed this year. “I understand the impetus to try to match other states, but right now there is no guarantee it’s enforceable,” said Guigi Carminati with the Weil Law Firm in Houston. “That really is the bottom line.” She and Gabrynowicz said the only comparable

said. She added that while there is “lot of case law regarding those kinds of activities. There is none yet for state law for space launches.” The effectiveness of laws protecting extreme and adventure sports operators is harder to know, said Carminati. “Nobody has sat down and actually looked at the nitty gritty of what does immunizing legislation that works look like,” she said.

There are also many questions,

Gabrynowicz said, about whether federal law pre-empts state law in this area, whether state law would still apply if the accident happened over another state or country and whether it would cover passengers from countries that don’t allow such exemptions.

Federal law exempts spacecraft operators from liability, requiring them to warn passengers in writing of associated risks.

Gabrynowicz said that states are now trying to create an even more advantageous position for operators “so they can promote the industry.”

In New Mexico, the strong trial lawyer lobby has been successful in persuading the Democrat-controlled legislature against expanding the exemption. Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez says he is hopeful an agreement can be reached this year, but he emphasizes “you always have to be careful about precluding someone from being able to file an action.”

Despite the uncertainty, aerospace consultant Patti Grace Smith, a former FAA official responsible for regulating the US commercial space transportation industry, says that since other states have extended the liability exemption to suppliers, New Mexico must do the same to remain competitive.

“The whole sector is an evolving sector,” she said, noting the legal frameworks are needed “enable the industry to go forward in a positive way.” —AP

Artificial intelligence, powered by many humans ROCHESTER: Automated assistants such as Apple’s Siri may be useful, but they don’t have nearly the smarts or conversational skills of a person. Now researchers have demonstrated a potentially better approach that creates a smart chat partner out of fleeting, crowdsourced contributions from many workers.

Crowdsourcing typically involves posting simple tasks to a website such as Amazon Mechanical Turk, where Web users are paid a few cents each to complete them. The tasks are often simple, repetitive jobs that are easy for humans but tough for computers, such as categorizing images. Crowdsourcing has become a popular way for companies to handle such tasks, but some researchers believe it can also be used to take on more complex ones.

When a person opens an instant messaging window using the new crowdpowered system, which is called Chorus, the experience is practically indistinguishable from that of chatting with a single real person. Yet behind the scenes, each response emerges from the work of multi-

ple people all performing individual small tasks, including suggesting possible replies and voting for the best suggestions submitted by other workers.

In tests, Chorus was asked for travel advice and came up with smarter responses than any one person in the crowd, because around seven were contributing to its responses at any time.

Services built this way might also be cheaper than paying a conventional oneon-one assistant. “It shows how a crowdpowered system that is relatively simple can do something that AI has struggled to do for decades,” says Jeffrey Bigham, a member of the team that created Chorus at the University of Rochester. Bigham jokes that Chorus is more likely than conventional chat software to pass a Turing test, which challenges an artificial-intelligence system to fool someone into thinking it’s human, even though Chorus wouldn’t meet most definitions of artificial intelligence.

In trials of the system, people quickly received suggestions when they asked for advice on restaurants to visit in Los

Angeles and New York. Feedback such as “Hmm. That seems pricey” was quickly taken on board by the crowd, which came up with alternatives. AI systems such as Siri typically have difficulty following this kind of back-and-forth conversation, particularly in colloquial language.

Bigham worked with Rochester colleagues Walter Lasecki and Rachel Wesley as well as Anand Kulkarni, cofounder of the crowdsourcing company MobileWorks.

“What we’re really interested in is when a crowd as a collective can do better than even a high-quality individual,” he says.

The intelligence of Chorus comes from combining different people’s work on many simple tasks into a coherent whole.

First, each piece of a chat entered by a human user is passed along to many crowd workers, who are asked to suggest a reply.

Those suggestions are then voted on by crowd workers to choose the one to be sent back. A final mechanism creates a kind of working memory to ensure that Chorus’s replies reflect the history of a conversation, crucial if it is to carry out long

conversations-something that is a challenge for apps like Siri. Crowd members are asked to maintain a running list of the eight most important snippets of information discussed, to be used as a reference when other workers suggest replies. “A single person may not be around for the duration of the conversation-they come and go, and some may contribute more than others,” says Bigham.

Bigham says Chorus has the potential to be more than just a neat demonstration. “We want to start embedding it into real systems,” he says. “Perhaps you could help someone with cognitive impairment by having a crowd as a personal assistant,” he suggests. Such an assistant would always be on hand, ready to answer a question.

Another possibility is to combine Chorus with a system previously developed at Rochester, which has crowd workers collaborate to steer a robot. “Could you create a robot this way that can drive around and interact intelligently with humans?” asks Bigham.

Michael Bernstein, an assistant profes-

sor at Stanford University who is currently doing research at Facebook, agrees that Chorus could lead to real-world applications. “You could go from today, where I call AT&T and speak with an individual, to a future where many people with different skills work together to act as a single incredibly intelligent tech support,” he says. He believes the Chorus software could become a true expert if it were able to direct incoming questions to members of the crowd with particular knowledge or skills.

However, Bernstein adds that it may be necessary to add more reviewing steps to Chorus in order to filter a crowd’s suggestions, so that it does not develop a split personality when faced with difficult questions. This is a familiar problem in applying crowdsourcing. For example, when the Rochester researchers built their crowd-controlled robot, one of the biggest challenges was preventing it from crashing into obstacles dead ahead because half the crowd steering it wanted it to go left and the other half wanted it to go right. —MCT

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Longer-life gene variant found in study SANTA ANA: If you lead an active, extroverted life and are something of a thrill seeker, you might be genetically primed to live into your 90s or longer, according to a new study by a team that included University of California, Irvine researchers.

A variation of a much-studied gene involved in transmission of dopamine, a key component of the brain’s reward and learning system, was found to be far more frequent among the very old. And the same gene variant was also linked to longer life in mice.

The variant itself might not extend lifespan directly, said Robert Moyzis, a UCI biological chemistry professor and an author of the study. Instead, it appears to

predispose those who bear it to a more vigorous lifestyle. “This particular variation has already been associated with personality traits that are much more outgoing, much more socially engaged,” Moyzis said.

“We think it’s a simple as that. Obviously, if you are much more likely to be engaged in physical and intellectual activities as you age, there have been many studies that have shown that is a good predictor of adding a few more years to your life.”

The human subjects in the study came from Laguna Woods, part of a group involved in the Leisure World Cohort Study that began in 1981. It included people who were 90 years old or older in 2003; most of them have since passed

away, Moyzis said. But their genes, as well as cell lines, live on, perpetuated in laboratories so they will be available for a variety of research projects. In this study, genetic samples from 310 people 90 years old or older were checked for the gene variant, known as the DRD4 7R allele.

Sixty-six percent more people possessed the gene variant in the 90-plus group when compared with a control group of nearly 3,000, aged seven to 45.

For the mouse component, researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory found that mice that had the gene variant “knocked out” of their DNA had their lifespans decreased by 7 percent to 9.7 percent compared to mice that carried it.

“Even in a fairly enriched environment, you take out this gene and the mice just don’t live very long,” Moyzis said.

The gene variant is something of a double-edged sword. While it appears to promote long life, it also has been associated with high-risk behavior, drug addiction and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD - although children with the variant, causing them to be more restless and easily bored in a classroom setting, might not properly belong under the broad umbrella of ADHD, Moyzis said.

Despite the large number of children diagnosed with ADHD shown to have the variant, “they really don’t have the cognitive deficits and attention deficits diag-

nostic for this disorder,” he said. The discovery of the gene variant’s association with longevity might inspire people to become more active as they age, potentially extending their lives - even if they don’t harbor the variant themselves, Moyzis said. And more work must be done to learn about potential risks the variant could bring in adolescence, and other traits that might come with it. “The story isn’t totally done,” he said. “I get the impression this is the story of all the blind men and the elephant. We have little snippets of what this gene seems to be strongly associated with, but it’s hard to say, to totally specify, what the whole pathway is yet.” — MCT

‘Green’ issues weighing increasingly on sport Environmental campaigners raise alarm

KRATIE: A Cambodian man and children look at dolphin conservation posters at a tourist site along the Mekong river in Kratie province, some 300 kilometers, northeast of Phnom Penh. — AFP

Cambodia battles to save rare dolphins KRATIE: The sight of two dolphins twisting playfully in the murky waters of the Mekong river elicits barely-stifled squeals of delight from a boatload of eco-tourists.

But a short distance upstream, river guard Pech Sokhan sighs as he holds up two large, tangled gill nets recently pulled from the river-evidence old habits die hard despite a ban on the practice that ensnares many dolphins.

“We have to keep educating people every day,” said Pech, one of 77 unarmed guards who patrol the Cambodian stretch of the Mekong river on the lookout for activities that could harm the dolphins.

Entanglement in gill nets-vertical mesh nets left in the water for long periods-is the main cause of death in adult Mekong dolphins, according to experts, who believe the grey mammals with distinctive blunt beaks are in imminent danger of extinction. Estimates for the number of remaining adult Mekong river freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins range from 85 up to 180. Although there are no comprehensive studies, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature classes the species as critically endangered. The dwindling population faces numerous challenges including unexplained high rates of calf mortality, as well as disease, inbreeding and habitat loss. But “gill nets are the biggest of these threats,” said WWF conservationist Gordon Congdon. Freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins exist in only three river systems in Southeast Asia, with Cambodia hosting the largest population.

Community-based eco-tourism initiatives that allow poor villagers to generate revenue from the “smiling face of the Mekong”, mostly through boat tours and souvenir sales, are central to protection efforts. And business is good. The region welcomed some 30,000 dolphin tourists this year, up from around 20,000 in 2011 and just 50 in 2000, said Touch Seang Tana, who heads a government commission to protect the species. Kampi dolphin pool in eastern Cambodia’s Kratie province, where tourists can get up close with small groups of the mammals, is one of the success sto-

ries of government efforts to save the critically endangered creatures.

But not all locals can get in on the act, and despite plans to open two more dolphin viewing sites, many find that cheap and efficient gill nets remain the best way to put food on the table. “It is unending until the poverty is gone,” Touch said about the battle against the dreaded nets, which ensnare dolphins as easily as they trap fish.

“People already know that gill nets kill dolphins. But they are thinking about their own stomachs.” In what WWF hailed as “a huge step forward”, the government in August approved a dolphin protection zone in a 180-kilometre-long river stretch from Kratie to the border with Laos.

While fishing with small scoop nets, cast nets or hooks is still allowed in the safe zone, dolphin-unfriendly fishing methods such as gill nets and fish cages are banned.

Offenders are not arrested or fined, but their destructive fishing gear is confiscateda heavy loss for poor families. But despite these efforts, river guards confiscated some 8,000 meters of gill nets over just a few days in early December, Touch said, evidence the practice is still common. Worse still, since the ban came into effect at least two adult dolphins have been found dead, ensnared in netting, he added.

The race is now on to educate the dozens of villages dotted along the Mekong about the new rules and offer incentives for traditional fishing communities to diversify their income and reduce reliance on fishing. But the efforts have yet to reach fisherman Eam Mao, 55, who lives a few kilometers north of the popular Kampi dolphin pools and earns just over $2 a day from his catch.

“It’s much more difficult for us to make a living than for those who live nearer the dolphins,” he told AFP as he sat outside his modest home repairing a small cast net.

Still, river guard Pech is optimistic that the new rules can make a difference. “Now when we confiscate the gill nets people dare not object because they know it’s illegal. Before, they would chase us with knives,” he recalled, laughing. — AFP

KRATIE: Photo shows a dolphin in the Mekong river in Kratie province some 300 kilometers, northeast of Phnom Penh. — AFP

PARIS: The Dakar rally got under way in South America this past weekend, amid concern about the potential damage that the 8,400-kilometre trek through Peru and Chile could cause to the local environment. Organizers the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) have already had to reject claims that the 459 cars, bikes, trucks and quad bikes taking part in this year’s edition will cause irreparable harm to ancient archaeological sites.

ASO, which also organizes cycling’s most prestigious and grueling race, the Tour de France, is becoming used to dealing with such questions, as sport in general is increasingly scrutinized about its “green” credentials. The Dakar rally first revealed its carbon footprint in 2007, trumpeting the fact that the 43,000 tons of greenhouse gases it produced was nearly a quarter of that at the French Open tennis tournament (156,000 tons). Motorsport and in particular Formula One-long demonized because of its reliance on the fossil fuels thought to contribute to global warming-has led the way in publicizing environmental attributes.

“We’ve got this image of waste but we don’t pollute any more than other events,” said Bernard Niclot, technical director at the International Automobile Federation (FIA) governing body. “Motorsport has always contributed to the development of road cars. Even today, we still want it to help make cleaner, more fuel efficient cars and to respond to the challenges of diminishing oil supplies and protecting the environment.” FIA president Jean Todt, who formerly led the Ferrari F1 team, has been at the forefront of attempts to use renewable energy sources and staging quieter, more fuel efficient races.

Next year will see the launch of Formula E, with single-seater electric cars racing at speeds of up to 180 kilometers an hour on city circuits such as Rome. Fuel limits will also be introduced in 2014 in endurance racing, following on from existing restrictions on wind tunnel tests, plus the number of engines and gearboxes available for drivers. The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) aims to reduce its overall carbon footprint by 15 percent in the coming years. The use of artificial snow, tree felling and soil erosion in ski resorts or heavy water consumption on golf courses have long been targets for environmental campaigners.

But even apparently “green” sports cannot afford to rest on their laurels. In 2009, there was

LIMA: The Director of the Dakar Rally, Etienne Lavigne, listens during a press conference on the Dakar measures related to the environment and the protection of archaeological and paleontological areas in Peru. Paleontologists have warned that the Dakar Rally, which will thunder through Peru, Argentina and Chile poses a serious risk to whale and dolphin fossils dating back more than 20 million years. — AFP outrage after images were shown of some 20 lated, over-using water and electricity or not tons of rubbish left on Mont Ventoux after the readily accessible by public transport. advertising caravan on the Tour de France came Yachtswoman Isabelle Autissier, who is also head through, distributing free gifts to the tens of of the French branch of the World Wide Fund for thousands of fans parked by the road. Some 50 Nature (WWF,) said environmental damage was tons of rubbish was produced during the 2011 the paradox of the modern day sports industry.

“We’re building more and more big strucNew York Marathon while about 20,000 of the 47,000 participants came from abroad, most of tures. We’re getting people to come from farther them by high polluting air travel. According to afield,” she said. “By attracting more people we campaigners, serious thought has to be given to obviously generate more waste and damage big sporting events, no matter how much organ- because transporting sportsmen and women izers claim to be meeting environmental targets and spectators has more of an impact.”

French Green Party lawmaker Jean-Luc on use of sustainable materials or recycling.

“Tens of thousands of spectators pollute Bennahmias said any steps taken were currently more at an autosports competitions than the no more than a smokescreen, highlighting world racing cars,” said Edouard Donnelly, a sustainable football governing body FIFA’s decision to award development expert at Paris-based sports con- Qatar the 2022 World Cup. The Gulf state is sultancy firm Keneo. “ There’s no difference building 12 new air-conditioned stadia. Foreign between the Tour de France and a motorsport fans will all travel by plane while the venues will race.” In France, an estimated 50 percent of become white elephants after the competition, 260,000 sports venues are said to be poorly insu- he said. — AFP

Being moderately overweight might not pose health risk LOS ANGELES: It’s a common medical refrain: Carrying extra pounds raises the risk of ills such as heart disease and diabetes and therefore the risk of a premature death. But does that heightened risk of early death apply across the board to those who are merely overweight? A new analysis of nearly 3 million people suggests maybe not. The finding, published online Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, pooled data from 97 studies encompassing adult men and women in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, China, Taiwan, Japan, Brazil, India and Mexico.

A total of 270,000 people died of any cause during the studies. When the scientists crunched the numbers, they found, as expected, that people who were significantly obese - with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or more - had shorter life spans on average than those who were of normal weight, defined as having a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9. But the scientists also found that people classed as overweight (with a BMI of 25 to 29.9) died at slightly lower rates - not higher - than those of so-called normal weight. And they found that those who were mildly obese (with a BMI of 30 to 34.9) died in no greater numbers than did their normal-weight peers.

Study lead author Katherine M Flegal, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said she and her colleagues could not say what lay behind the apparent survival edge for overweight people. But she noted that it had been observed before in other studies. Flegal added that smoking, which raises the risk of early death but also tends to keep people thinner - doesn’t appear to be the explanation, since that factor was carefully controlled for in the analysis.

The paper didn’t make any recommendations for doctors or members of the public, Flegal added. “Our goal is really to summarize existing information and not conclude what people should do, other than follow good health practices, no matter what their weight,” she said. There are a range of possible reasons why people who are overweight might fare better in studies than those who are of normal weight, said obesity researcher Dr Steven B Heymsfield, executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. Only some of those explanations suggest that carrying a few extra pounds truly makes someone healthier.

For example, some studies suggest that people who are overweight or mildly obese are treated more aggressively by their doctors for blood pressure or cholesterol problems than those who are of normal weight, said Heymsfield, who was not involved in the study but cowrote a commentary that accompanied it. — MCT

BANGKOK: Former Thai ‘scavenger’ Peerathorn Seniwong selects used milk cartons at his shop in Bangkok. — AFP

Thai ‘scavengers club’ turns trash to treasure BANGKOK: Thai grandmother Nom Prom-on rummages through rubbish bins looking for bottles, cans and paper to trade for food and other goods at a recycling cooperative providing a lifeline for Bangkok’s poor. Riding an old motorcycle with a rubbish cart attached, the 61-year-old and her husband Rai rise early to beat rival scavengers to claim the best of the city’s recyclable trash, which they take to a cash-free “zero baht shop”. The couple have combed bins for decades, but their earnings of less than 10 dollars per day are not always enough to live on, so they have turned to the cooperative.

“When we’re starving, we can find rubbish to exchange for rice to eat, detergent, soap and everything,” said Nom, who also has grandchildren to raise and feed. By selling to the recycling plants in bulk, the cooperative gets a better rate than individual scavengers would manage on their own. Profits are then paid back in dividends and other benefits to its members such as life insurance, interest rates from its “rubbish bank” and help paying medical fees. It is the brainchild of former scavenger Peerathorn Seniwong and his wife Buarin. “We thought of how we could help the poor-then we thought of rubbish-at least every house must have rubbish,” Peerathorn, 45 said. The scheme’s 800 members include 35 households of scavengers along with other

local people who heard about the shop in an area of eastern Bangkok and now bring their recyclables to trade. A former security guard and motorcycle taxi driver, Peerathorn came up with the idea after six years of living homeless under an elevated road in Bangkok.

“Sometimes we would have to buy things like fish sauce or rice on credit at shops,” said Buarin. “But people looked down on us as we’re poor and they’d wonder whether they would get their money back-that’s why we started our own shop.”

Fish sauce, rice, eggs, instant noodles, toothpastes and detergent are among the goods most sought by members, about 2030 of whom visit the shop each day, Buarin added. There are several hundred thousand scavengers in Thailand earning about 200300 baht ($6.5-10) a day, according to Thailand’s Institute of Packaging and Recycling Management for Sustainable Environment, which has provided education schemes for members on issues such as hygiene and sorting rubbish. An estimated quarter of Thailand’s 15 million tons of garbage in a year is recycled-largely thanks to scavengers rather than efforts by consumers to separate their waste. The cooperative’s success is inspiring others too, with several similar cash-free shops opening up in the capital and elsewhere. — AFP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Scientists identify first meteorite to originate from Mars ‘NWA 7034’ found LOS ANGELES: Scientists have identified the first meteorite to originate from the surface of Mars, a 2.1-billion-year-old specimen that contains about 10 times more water than any other space rock from Mars.

Discovered in the Sahara Desert, the rock - called NWA 7034 - is unlike any of the 110-odd Martian meteorites yet found on Earth, according to a report published online by the journal Science. Experts said it provides an unprecedented close-up view of the Red Planet’s surface and may help scientists understand what NASA’s Curiosity and Opportunity rovers are seeing as they roam the Martian surface.

“This opens a whole new window on Mars,” said Munir Humayun, a cosmochemist at Florida State University in Tallahassee who was not involved in the study. Though planetary scientists have sent several spacecraft to Mars - most recently Curiosity, which is equipped with an on-board chemical laboratory there’s no substitute for a sample in hand, said study leader Carl Agee, director of the Institute of Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Scientists on Earth can run sophisticated tests and glean a wealth of information about the rock’s history and the environment in which it formed tests no rover could do.

NWA 7034 came to Agee in 2011 by way of a meteorite collector who bought it from a meteorite dealer in Morocco. The planetary scientist said he was immediately struck by the 319.8-gram sample, which is about the size of a baseball and twice as heavy. Even though most space rocks become blackened on the outside during their blazing descent through the Earth’s atmosphere, they often remain light on the inside. NWA 7034, on the other hand, was dark all the way through,

earning the nickname “Black Beauty.”

“I had never seen anything like it,” Agee said.

Perplexed by the strange specimen, he put it on his bookshelf and let it sit there for about a month as he wrestled with the best way to approach his analysis. Once he got started, he examined the meteorite for nearly a year. At first, NWA 7034 appeared to be very un-Mars-like.

Laser fluorination revealed that its ratio of heavier-to-lighter oxygen isotopes, usually a handy fingerprint of a meteorite’s origins, didn’t match any of the Mars meteorites described in the scientific literature. Those meteorites seemed to come from volcanic deposits formed deep inside Mars, because their chemical makeup was different from the data sent back by rovers and spacecraft examining the Red Planet’s surface.

If Agee’s team had looked no further, the space rock might have been classified as an oddball piece of asteroid and quite possibly forgotten. But rubidium-strontium dating indicated that NWA 7034 was just 2.1 billion years old - far too young to come from an asteroid.

Meteorites that come from asteroids are typically more than 4 billion years old, since these small rocky bodies quickly cooled after the solar system’s formation. Planets, on the other hand, were volcanically active for much longer, and many of their rocks formed much later.

Black Beauty must have come from a planet, the team members concluded. The meteorite had too much iron to have come from Mercury and it had too many traces of water to have come from Venus.

But when they analyzed minerals called pyroxenes, they found that the ratio of iron to manganese did match those of other Martian meteorites. Further analysis showed that Black Beauty was rich in sodium and

potassium, giving it a striking resemblance to rocks on the Martian surface examined by Curiosity’s lasershooting ChemCam instrument, Agee said, as well as those of Gusev crater, which was explored by the NASA rover Spirit before it broke down in 2010.

That makes NWA 7034 a one-ofa-kind sample from the Martian crust, Agee said. “What Carl Agee did was actually very courageous,” Humayun said. “They looked beyond what most people would have fallen for ... (and) recognized its Martian connection.” Additional analysis showed that Black Beauty contained roughly 10 times more water than any other named Martian meteorite - about 6,000 parts per million. That’s much more water than a rock its age should have. At 2.1 billion years old, it hails from the beginning of the Amazonian epoch, which is thought to be a dry chapter in Martian history.

Perhaps Mars was wetter for longer than scientists have thought, Agee said. There are even hints of organic carbon in the meteorite, Humayun pointed out, although further study will need to be done to determine whether it’s really of Martian origin or was acquired since arriving on Earth. The rock looks relatively fresh by Sahara standards, Agee said, guessing that it could have landed within the last few hundred years. It’s unclear why most Martian meteorites have come from the planet’s interior, he added, though it may be that crustal rock is more fragile and less likely to survive a journey through space or entry into Earth’s atmosphere. The find may inspire scientists to go back into their archives and reconsider other oddball meteorites. Perhaps there are more Martian specimens already in labs waiting to be identified, Humayun said. —MCT

SYDNEY: A man takes a nap under a tree in Victoria Park in Sydney. A recent report shows Sydney’s ranking has consistently placed in the top 10 liveable cities in the world, scoring well for having low pollution levels and abundant green spaces.—AFP

Dwarf galaxies around Andromeda pose questions for astronomers LOS ANGELES: A discovery that many small companion galaxies surrounding Andromeda seem to orbit in concert and aligned in a vast, thin disk - could change scientists’ understanding of how galaxies form, researchers said this week.

A team of astronomers led by Rodrigo Ibata of the Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France, made the discovery about the dwarf galaxies using observations collected by the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey, which studied the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies, also known as M31 and M33. The survey uses the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope in Hawaii.

Scientists are interested in studying Andromeda, which, at about 2.5 million light-years away, is the Milky Way’s closest neighboring giant galaxy because it allows them to examine

structures that we can’t view in our galaxy. The survey detected 27 dwarf galaxies in a region extending 114 to 1,305 light-years from Andromeda.

Fifteen of the galaxies aligned along a single plane, and 13 of those 15 appeared to “co-rotate” in the same direction. “The formation of this structure around M31 poses a puzzle,” Ibata and co-authors wrote in a study in this week’s edition of the journal Nature.

Current ideas of how galaxy formation work simply don’t explain how the dwarf galaxies, which are believed to be remnants of ancient structures that coalesced to form giant galaxies, could align in such a way, the team said.

Models suggest that they would have scattered more broadly over time. “The present detection proves that in some giant galaxies, a significant fraction of the population of dwarf satellite galax-

ies ... are aligned,” the team wrote, noting that “the implications for the origin and dynamical history of dwarf galaxies are profound.”

The team also wrote that “intriguingly” the band of co-rotating dwarf galaxies was also aligned with the Milky Way. That link could be a result of chance, they wrote, but was worth considering further as astronomers ponder how the current layout of our cosmic neighborhood might have come to be.

In an editorial in the same issue of Nature, astronomer R Brent Tully of the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy in Honolulu marveled at the discovery. “No theorist of galaxy formation would have dared to predict such a situation,” he wrote. “What’s more, the Milky Way is in the same plane as the 13 satellites. The discovery of this plane is a spectacular result.”—MCT

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! Let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

Greetings

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appy birthday to our dearest Mariyam Aina Shahima, who celebrated her 10th birthday yesterday. May Allah the Almighty bless her with good health and bright future.

Best wishes coming from Uppa, Umma and sister Ayisha Shahama.

Announcements

McDonald’s showcases talent of regional artists M

cDonald’s Kuwait has announced its partnership with artists from throughout the region who have been selected to lend their talents to a celebration of the iconic Big Mac. The budding artists have produced limited edition posters representing iconic moments throughout the years since the Big Mac first launched in 1967.

Participating artists have been designated a specific year between 1967 and 2011, and invited to design a poster around a monumental event that took place at that time. Poster themes include inventions, historical occasions, cultural phenomena, and sporting events, amongst others. The limited edition posters will be available on McDonald’s Arabia’s Facebook page for all to download and share with friends from Jan 5, 2013.

In addition to the campaign posters available online, members of the public will also have the chance to design a limited edition Big Mac 2012 poster of their own, with a chance to become part of Big Mac history. Posters will be evaluated by a panel of McDonald’s judges; the winner will receive a 15 inch MacBook computer, and his or her poster will be exhibited throughout the GCC. For details on how to submit artwork, and to view the current collection

of the posters, visit facebook.com/McDonaldsArabia.

George Khawam- Marketing Director commented: “Among the first double-decker hamburgers ever to be launched by a quick service restaurant, the Big Mac is an icon with such a unique flavour profile that its delicious recipe has remained unchanged since the day it first launched in 1967. We wanted to celebrate the success of the Big Mac in Kuwait with activation as distinct and exciting as the sandwich itself. We have been amazed by the overwhelming interest expressed by the participating artists, and astounded by the level of talent show cased throughout this initiative. These gifted young artists are leaving their mark on the community in a meaningful way, and McDonald’s is thrilled to be involved in that.”

McDonald’s is committed to serving the very best, and will not compromise on food quality. All products served at all McDonald’s restaurants in the Middle East are halal, inspected and approved by local authorities and halal officers at the countries of export and customs officials at the port of entry.

Meat used in McDonald’s restaurants can be traced back to a trusted supplier that shares its dedication to the highest quality standards.

Shirva feast

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hirva Welfare Association Kuwait (SWAK) will be celebrating their Shirva Parish feast-2013 here in Kuwait.

On this occasion there will be a mass offered at 9.15 am on February 8, 2013 at the Holy Family Cathedral.

Kuwait and the celebration / get-together with a of variety entertainment programme will he held from 4:30 pm - 9 pm on the same day at the Indian Community School, Salmiya.

SWAK members or their children who would like to participate in the variety entertainment programme and show their talent are requested to contact any of the SWAK committee members listed below to avail the opportunity before January 10, 2013. Likewise if any of members children have excelled in academics or any other extra curricular activities in the past 1 year will be appreciated and hence are requested to inform any of the SWAK committee members listed below before the 10th of January. Last date for enrollment in the talent show is January 15, 2013.

Annual celebration of Kuwait Continental Hotels Group Co

Arabic courses

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WARE will begin Winter 1 Arabic language courses with new textbooks and curricula on from December 2, 2012 until January 24, 2013. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. For more information or registration, please log-on to our website.

Charity show

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n the occasion of New Year Hangama 2013, which will be held tomorrow from 6:00 pm to 12:00 am at Carmel School, Khaitan. Rak Dance Academy is conducting dance competition in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi. The winners will be rewarded.

Goan Culinary Club

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he Goan Culinary Club - Goa encourages you to log on to their website where you can find a video of Odette and Joe Mascarenhas sharing their thoughts on Goan cuisine. These videos were recorded at the launch of the Goan Culinary Club in Goa on March 3, 2012. Thanks to support from all at the Goan Culinary Club, we have made great progress in six months.

Basketball Academy

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he new Premier Basketball Academy offers coaching and games every Friday and Saturday from 10 am onwards for 6 to 18 year olds, boys and girls.

Located in Bayan Block 7, Masjed Al-Aqsa Street by Abdullah Al-Rujaib High School. Free Basketball and Tee Shirts for all participants, with certificates and special awards on completion of each 6 week course. Qualified and experienced British and American Coaches, Everyone Welcome.

ICSK Khaitan wins at Islamic Festival

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he students of the Indian Community School Kuwait, Khaitan Branch, bagged the Inter-School Trophy at the Inter-School Islamic Festival, 2012 held at Najath Boysí School, Salmiya on Friday 23rd November 2012. Commendably, Mohammed Basit Habib of ICSK Khaitan won the Individual Championship trophy in the Senior category and Ayisha Wafia of ICSK, Khaitan clinched the Juniors Individual Championship trophy.

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

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he management of Kuwait Continental Hotels Co held the usual annual celebration of the hotels’ staff and their families to strengthen the loyalty of them and to highlight their role in advancing and success the work during 2012. The ceremony was held in Gardenia Hall of Kuwait Continental Hotel. The reception was opened by the hotel general man-

ager Kamal el-Din Hussein, who explained how the development and expansion witnessed by the hotel during the past fifteen years and the lobby, Gardenia Restaurant and rooms renewal. Hussein thanked and honored Mr Steven, the previous manager of Kuwait Continental Hotel.

Hussein thanked and commended the staff for their efforts during 2012

which boosted sales last year by 12 percent and average occupancy rate of over 80 percent, despite stiff competition and the emergence of many new hotels. Hussein honored staff from all departments as being ideal employees during all year of 2012, before leaving them to enjoy the ceremony, which included some children’s competitions, staff competition of most beautiful

national dress and an exciting game of knife with the wonderful magician.

Hussein also honored the companies who shared to present gifts to the staff that also contributed to the success of the concert. At the end of the ceremony Hussein delivered the annual bonus - a month’s salary for all staff of the hotel which was ordered by Fouad AlGhanim, the CEO.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

ACK organizes annual bazaar under the theme ‘Balloons’

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department.

All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm. � � � ��� � �

EMBASSY OF CANADA he Embassyof Canada in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada†should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca†or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca.

The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is open from 07:30 to 12:30. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00†until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday.

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he Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) gets ready for its 3-day annual bazaar that will take place on the 13th, 14th, and 15th of January.

This year’s theme will be dedicated to “Balloons”, with the entire event space set to be decorated with various shapes, colors and sizes of balloons. ACK wel-

comes everyone to book their booth and participate in this festive event over the three consecutive days from 10 am to 10 pm. Along with the cheerful

theme and the variety of the booths, there will be a range of entertaining activities ensuring that all students and visitors will enjoy their time.

PGA, Everton launch ‘football for all’

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he Premier Goal Academy in association with Everton FC and sponsored by Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company, has launched the 2013 ‘Football For All’ program of coaching courses and matches for young players aged from 3-18 years at Bayan Block 7 next to Abdullah AlRujaib High School. Under the patronage of HE the British Ambassador, Frank Baker, the PGA offers the Premier League Football experience here in Kuwait with a team of fully qualified and experienced coaches, the best facilities and equipment and opportunities to compete at the highest levels.

Youngsters in the program will follow a proven coaching program - the evertonway- that has helped develop some of the finest young players in England including Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) and Jack Rodwell (Manchester City). In addition to professional coaching from the fully qualified English FA and UEFA coaches there are regular tournaments and fixtures within Kuwait and Tournaments in Bahrain, Dubai, and UK for selected players.

The Premier Goal Academy aims to provide opportunities for players of all ability levels to maximise their potential with a Centre of Excellence programme

for advanced level players. There are also courses for Girls only, Goalkeepers and Freestyle. The best coaching, top facilities and equipment at their new Bayan Centre, international tournaments and tours and a partnership with Everton Football Club make this a really fantastic opportunity for youngsters in Kuwait.

Director of Football at the Premier Goal Academy, Mike Finn, has had many years coaching experience with some of England’s top teams. “The Premier Goal Academy and Everton Football Club are delighted to provide this exciting football development programme here in

Kuwait. We want to develop football in the community and provide opportunities for children to become involved in high quality, well organised coaching in a safe and fun environment, learning new techniques, making friends, being active and above all enjoying football”.

Members of the Everton coaching team will be visiting Kuwait regularly to support and monitor progress in the hope that players from Kuwait will be playing in the world’s top league in the future. Selected players will also have the opportunity to play in international tournaments in addition to training with Everton FC in England.

New style of afternoon tea at Hotel Missoni

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hoco Cafe invites you to come and enjoy one of its newest items on the menu, Afternoon Tea. A creative and modern method of presenting your tea and making it ready for the first sip, a 3-layer setup of finger foods which include scones and cookies at the top, fruit tarts in the center, and open sandwiches at the bottom. The Afternoon Tea also comes with two fresh juices, side of fruit jams, and of course your favorite type of tea, or

any hot beverage of your choice. It is served seven days a week at Choco Cafe at the cost of 8.950 KD, from the hours of 4:30 till 7:30. Come with your family or close friends to indulge in one of our many different types of teas and tasty mini sandwiches. Informed by Italian style, inspired by a love affair with great coffee, and rich, smooth, delicious chocolate. Choco Cafe is a dynamic, ever evolving fashionista runway; the place in Kuwait to see and be

seen. Inside and out, fabulously, frivolously, and fun. An exhilarating sensory experience with sensational signature Missoni stripes. Designer lighting. Airy by day and intimate at night, enhanced by the best of contemporary Italian casual food.

Indulgent pastries and the freshest salads.

Authentic, delicious, and rustic paninis.

Laughter, conversation, and conviviality all in one beautiful setting. Colleagues, family, old and new friends. So cool. So hot.

Inspired by the Italian tradition of passiaggata. Hotel Missoni Kuwait is combining the unique style of the iconic Italian fashion & interiors house. Designed to give guests a true taste of the Missoni way of life, Hotel Missoni quickly established itself as one of Kuwait’s leading hotels. The Hotel is located in Salmiya, Arabian Gulf Road and is part of the Symphony Complex, an adjacent luxury boutique shopping mall.

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EMBASSY OF CYPRUS In its capacity as EU Local Presidency in the State of Kuwait, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, on behalf of the Member States of the EU and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, would like to announce that as from 2nd October 2012 all Schengen States’ Consulates in Kuwait will use the Visa Information System (VIS). The VIS is a central database for the exchange of data on short-stay (up to three months) visas between Schengen States. The main objectives of the VIS are to facilitate visa application procedures and checks at external border as well as to enhance security. The VIS will contain all the Schengen visa applications lodged by an applicant over five years and the decisions taken by any Schengen State’s consulate. This will allow applicants to establish more easily the lawful use of previous visas and their bona fide status. For the purpose of the VIS, applicants will be required to provide their biometric data (fingerprints and digital photos) when applying for a Schengen visa. It is a simple and discreet procedure that only takes a few minutes. Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be recorded in the VIS central database. Therefore, as from 2nd October 2012, first-time applicants will have to appear in person when lodging the application, in order to provide their fingerprints. For subsequent applications within 5 years the fingerprints can be copied from the previous application file in the VIS. The Cypriot Presidency would like to assure the people of Kuwait and all its permanent citizens that the Member States and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, have taken all necessary technical measures to facilitate the rapid examination and the efficient processing of visa applications and to ensure a quick and discreet procedure for the implementation of the new VIS. � � � ��� � �

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform the Kenyan community residents throughout Kuwait and the general public that the Embassy has acquired new office telephone numbers as follows: 25353982, 25353985 - Consular’s enquiries 25353987 - Fax Our Email address: info@kenyaembkuwait.com. � � � ��� � �

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, Al-Salaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location. Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com. � � � ��� � �

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. � � � ��� � �

Carmel wins at chorals

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armel did it once again. In the eighth Don Bosco Inter School Choral Recitation competition held on the Nov 23, 2012, Carmel walked right up the victory stand with 1st place in both the categories juniors and sub-juniors. The sub-juniors with their well

selected poem, ‘Mother Nature’s Cry’, sent out a message reminding us that we have no one to blame but ourselves for misusing the beautiful Earth. The junior’s selection was ‘The Naughty Goldilocks’, a radically different yet refreshing outlook at the traditional fairytale.

Our little ones stole the hearts of the audience and judges with their facial expression, distinct articulation and clarity, bringing home the rolling trophy for the 3rd time. Kudos to the children and teachers for the hard work and dedication that went into this success.

EMBASSY OF PERU The Embassy of Peru is located in Sharq, Ahmed Al Jaber Street, Al Arabiya Tower, 6th Floor. Working days / hours: SundayThursday /9 am - 4 pm. Residents in Kuwait interested in getting a visa to travel to Peru and companies attracted to invest in Peru are invited to visit the permanent exposition room located in the Embassy. For more information, please contact: (+965) 22267250/1.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

03:25 Karina: Wild On Safari 03:50 Karina: Wild On Safari 04:15 My Cat From Hell 05:05 Kingdom Of The Elephants 05:55 Call Of The Wildman 06:20 Animal Kingdom 06:45 Wild Africa Rescue 07:10 Wild Africa Rescue 07:35 Wildlife SOS 08:00 The Really Wild Show 08:25 Deep Into The Wild With Nick Baker 09:15 Dogs 101 10:10 My Cat From Hell 11:05 Kingdom Of The Elephants 12:00 Wildest Arctic 13:50 Wildest Latin America 15:40 Wildwives Of Savannah Lane 17:30 The Magic Of The Big Blue 20:15 Monkey Life 20:40 Bondi Vet 21:10 Call Of The Wildman 21:35 Animal Kingdom 22:05 Profiles Of Nature 23:00 Gator Boys 23:55 Venom Hunter With Donald Schultz

03:00 Antiques Roadshow 03:50 Bargain Hunt 04:35 Masterchef: The Professionals 05:05 Masterchef: The Professionals 05:30 Home Cooking Made Easy 06:00 Home Cooking Made Easy 06:30 Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 07:15 Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 08:00 Home Cooking Made Easy 08:25 Home Cooking Made Easy 08:55 Antiques Roadshow 09:45 Bargain Hunt 10:30 Antiques Roadshow 11:20 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 12:40 Come Dine With Me 13:30 Home Cooking Made Easy 13:55 Home Cooking Made Easy 14:25 Fantasy Homes In The City 15:10 Bargain Hunt 15:55 Antiques Roadshow 16:45 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 18:05 Britain’s Dream Homes 19:00 Rhodes Across The Caribbean 19:50 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 21:10 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 21:55 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 23:15 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

03:00 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:30 05:45 06:00 06:30 06:45 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 08:45 09:00 09:30 09:45 10:00 10:30 10:45 11:00 11:30 11:45 12:00 12:30

Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Hardtalk BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News BBC World News Hardtalk

13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 BBC World News 14:00 BBC World News 14:30 BBC World News 15:00 GMT With George Alagiah 16:00 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 20:30 BBC Focus On Africa 21:00 BBC World News 21:30 World Business Report 21:45 Sport Today 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:30 World Business Report 23:45 Sport Today

03:00 03:25 03:50 04:00 04:30 04:55 05:20 05:45 06:00 06:10 06:35 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 08:40

Looney Tunes Duck Dodgers Dastardly And Muttley Dexter’s Laboratory Wacky Races Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show Moomins Looney Tunes Tom & Jerry Tales Tom & Jerry Tom & Jerry Kids Tom And Jerry Tales Tom & Jerry Tom & Jerry Kids

03:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 04:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 04:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:50 Adventure Time 05:15 The Powerpuff Girls 05:40 Generator Rex 06:05 Ben 10 06:30 Ben 10 06:55 Angelo Rules 07:00 Casper’s Scare School 08:00 Ben 10: Omniverse 18:25 The Amazing World Of Gumball 18:50 Adventure Time 19:15 Regular Show 19:40 Mucha Lucha 20:05 Total Drama Island 20:30 Total Drama Island 20:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 21:20 Young Justice 21:45 Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge 22:10 Grim Adventures Of...

23:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 23:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 23:50 The Powerpuff Girls

03:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:30

World Report World Sport Anderson Cooper 360 Piers Morgan Tonight Quest Means Business The Situation Room World Sport African Voices World Report World Report World Sport Talk Asia World Business Today Amanpour News Special World One Piers Morgan Tonight News Stream World Business Today International Desk Global Exchange World Sport News Special International Desk Quest Means Business Amanpour CNN Newscenter

03:00 03:55 04:20 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:05 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 11:50 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

Mythbusters Border Security Scrappers Auction Hunters How Stuff’s Made How It’s Made Ultimate Survival Border Security Scrappers Auction Hunters How Stuff’s Made How It’s Made Dynamo: Magician Impossible Sons Of Guns How Stuff’s Made How It’s Made Scrappers Auction Hunters Flying Wild Alaska Fine Dining With Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival

03:05 Pyros 03:50 Pyros 04:40 World’s Top 5 05:30 1,000 Places To See Before You Die 06:20 Solving History With Olly Steeds 07:10 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 08:00 Sunrise Earth: Viewer’s Vote 08:55 How We Invented The World 09:40 World’s Top 5 10:30 How Do They Do It? 10:55 1,000 Places To See Before You Die 11:40 One Of A Kind 11:55 Chasing Classic Cars 12:15 One Of A Kind 12:30 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 13:15 How We Invented The World 14:05 World’s Top 5 14:50 Solving History With Olly Steeds 15:35 World’s Most Expensive Rides 16:00 World’s Most Expensive Rides 16:25 1,000 Places To See Before You Die 17:15 Deadliest Catch 18:00 River Monsters 18:50 Wild Fisherman: Norway 19:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 20:30 World’s Most Expensive Rides 20:55 World’s Most Expensive Rides 21:20 1,000 Places To See Before You Die 22:10 Solving History With Olly Steeds 23:00 River Monsters 23:50 Wild Fisherman: Norway

03:05 03:30 03:55 04:20 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:15 06:40 07:05 07:30 08:00 08:20 08:45 09:10 09:35 10:00 11:25 11:40 12:05 12:15 12:30 12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10

Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Doc McStuffins Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck A.N.T. Farm A.N.T. Farm Austin And Ally Austin And Ally Austin And Ally Austin And Ally Austin And Ally Double Teamed Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Doc McStuffins Doc McStuffins Art Attack Jessie Jessie Austin And Ally Austin And Ally

14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:00 18:20 18:45 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:30 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:05 22:15 22:30 22:55 23:20 23:45 23:55

03:00 Lazytown 03:25 Special Agent Oso 03:40 Special Agent Oso 03:50 Imagination Movers 04:20 Handy Manny 04:40 Special Agent Oso 04:50 Special Agent Oso 05:00 Timmy Time 05:10 Lazytown 05:35 Little Einsteins 06:00 Jungle Junction 06:15 Jungle Junction 06:30 Little Einsteins 06:50 Special Agent Oso 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:30 Jungle Junction 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Imagination Movers 08:45 Handy Manny 09:00 The Hive 09:10 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 09:35 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 09:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 10:05 Doc McStuffins 10:20 Doc McStuffins 10:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 11:00 Mouk 11:15 Animated Stories 11:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 11:45 Art Attack 12:10 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 12:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 13:00 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 13:10 Doc McStuffins 13:25 Handy Manny 13:40 Jungle Junction 13:55 Timmy Time 14:05 The Hive 14:15 Mouk 14:30 Little Einsteins 14:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 15:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 15:45 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 16:00 The Little Mermaid 16:25 Art Attack 16:55 Imagination Movers 17:20 Handy Manny 17:35 Mouk 17:45 Winnie The Pooh 18:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 19:10 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 19:35 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 20:00 Animated Stories 20:05 Timmy Time 20:15 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 20:25 Doc McStuffins 20:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:10 The Hive 21:20 Timmy Time 21:30 Mouk 21:45 Handy Manny 22:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 22:25 The Hive 22:35 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 23:00 Timmy Time 23:10 Animated Stories 23:15 A Poem Is...

23:20 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 23:30 Jungle Junction 23:45 Handy Manny 23:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

07:00 07:25 07:35 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:05 09:30 09:55 10:20 10:45 11:10 11:20 11:35 12:00 12:25 12:50 13:20 13:45 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:05 17:30 18:00 18:10 18:25 18:35 18:50 19:15 19:40 20:05 20:30 21:49 22:10 22:35 23:05 23:30

BIKER BOYZ ON OSN ACTION HD

Austin And Ally Austin And Ally Austin And Ally Shake It Up Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Jump In! Austin And Ally Austin And Ally Austin And Ally Austin And Ally Austin And Ally That’s So Raven Cory In The House Kim Possible Hannah Montana Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Fish Hooks Fish Hooks

Kickin It Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Ultimate Spider-Man Pokemon: BW Rival Destinies Slugterra Kickin It Almost Naked Animals Pair Of Kings Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Zeke & Luther Lab Rats Kickin It Mr. Young Pair Of Kings Lion King 1.5 My Babysitter’s A Vampire Slugterra Slugterra Slugterra Slugterra Slugterra Almost Naked Animals Almost Naked Animals Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Slugterra Mr. Young Lion King 1.5 Cars Toons Phineas And Ferb Ultimate Spider-Man Kick Buttowski Scaredy Squirrel

03:15 Behind The Scenes 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 E!es

05:05 E!es 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 Giuliana & Bill 09:15 Giuliana & Bill 10:15 THS 12:05 Married To Jonas 12:35 Married To Jonas 13:05 Ice Loves Coco 13:35 Ice Loves Coco 14:05 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:30 Behind The Scenes 17:00 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 18:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 19:00 E!es 20:00 Married To Jonas 20:30 Giuliana & Bill 21:30 Giuliana & Bill 22:30 Fashion Police 23:30 Chelsea Lately

03:35 Giada’s Italian Holiday 04:25 Kid In A Candy Store 04:50 Unique Sweets 05:15 Charly’s Cake Angels 05:40 Chopped 06:30 Iron Chef America 07:10 Unwrapped 07:35 Unwrapped 08:00 Iron Chef America 08:50 Kid In A Candy Store 09:15 Unwrapped 09:40 United Tastes Of America 10:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 10:30 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 10:55 Cooking For Real 11:20 Cooking For Real 11:45 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 12:10 United Tastes Of America 12:35 Unwrapped 13:00 Iron Chef America 13:50 Tyler’s Ultimate 14:15 Andy Bates Street Feasts 14:40 Everyday Italian 15:05 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 15:30 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 15:55 Cooking For Real 16:20 United Tastes Of America 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:15 Kid In A Candy Store 19:40 Tyler’s Ultimate 20:05 Guy’s Big Bite 20:30 Chopped 21:20 Iron Chef America 22:10 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 22:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 23:00 Guy’s Big Bite 23:25 Guy’s Big Bite 23:50 Ultimate Recipe Showdown

03:05 03:30 03:55 04:45 05:30 06:20 06:45 07:10 08:00 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:30 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:15 14:40 15:30 16:20 16:45 17:10 18:00 18:50 19:40 20:05 Jones 20:55 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

I Married A Mobster I Married A Mobster Scorned: Crimes Of Passion Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab Crime Scene Psychics Crime Scene Psychics Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Murder Shift Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Murder Shift Disappeared Forensic Detectives Street Patrol True Crime With Aphrodite Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill Deadly Affairs Deadly Women

03:00 Keeping Up With The Joneses 03:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 4 04:25 Market Values 04:50 Weird & Wonderful Hotels 05:20 Weird & Wonderful Hotels 05:45 Weird & Wonderful Hotels 06:15 The Best Job In The World 06:40 The Best Job In The World 07:10 The Best Job In The World 07:35 The Best Job In The World 08:05 Bondi Rescue 08:30 Bondi Rescue 09:00 Bondi Rescue 09:25 Bondi Rescue 09:55 Danger Beach 10:20 Keeping Up With The Joneses 10:50 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 4 11:45 Market Values 12:10 Weird & Wonderful Hotels 12:40 Somewhere In China 13:35 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 14:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:30 One Man & His Campervan 14:55 One Man & His Campervan 15:25 Adventure Wanted 16:20 Bondi Rescue: Bali 16:45 On Surfari 17:15 Danger Beach 17:40 Danger Beach 18:10 Meet The Amish 19:05 Market Values 19:30 Weird & Wonderful Hotels 20:00 One Man & His Campervan 20:30 One Man & His Campervan 21:00 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 21:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 22:00 Somewhere In China 22:55 My Sri Lanka With Peter

A DANGEROUS METHOD ON OSN CINEMA Kuruvita 23:20 Exploring The Vine 23:50 Delinquent Gourme

03:45 04:10 04:40 05:35 06:00 06:30 07:25 08:20 08:45 09:15 10:10 11:05 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 21:30 22:00 23:00

Monkey Thieves Monkey Thieves Swamp Men Wild Chronicles Wild Chronicles Nordic Wild Fish Tank Kings Monkey Thieves Monkey Thieves Shark Men Python Hunters Animal Intervention Sharks In The City The Living Edens Fish Tank Kings Caught In The Act Shark Men Python Hunters Animal Intervention Monster Fish Fish Tank Kings Monkey Thieves Monkey Thieves Shark Men Python Hunters

04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

The Untouchables-PG15 Biker Boyz-PG15 Metro-PG15 Ip Man 2-PG15 Reign Of Fire-PG15 Metro-PG15 Drunken Master-PG15 Reign Of Fire-PG15 Dread-18 Go Fast-PG15

03:00 05:00 PG15 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 16:30 19:00 21:00 23:00

Honey 2-PG15 My Girlfriend’s BoyfriendCars 2-FAM The Hole-PG15 The Artist-PG Honey 2-PG15 Unmatched-PG15 Another Year-PG15 Vampires Suck-PG15 A Dangerous Method-18 The American-18

03:00 Two And A Half Men 03:30 Two And A Half Men 04:00 Hope & Faith 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Gary Unmarried 06:00 10 Items Or Less 06:30 Seinfeld 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Hope & Faith 08:30 Last Man Standing 09:00 Gary Unmarried 09:30 10 Items Or Less 10:00 Melissa & Joey 10:30 The Office 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Seinfeld 12:30 Hope & Faith 13:00 Gary Unmarried 13:30 Samantha Who? 14:00 The Simpsons 14:30 The Office 15:00 Melissa & Joey 15:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 16:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 16:30 Seinfeld 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 New Girl 18:30 The Simpsons 19:00 Melissa & Joey 19:30 The Office 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Community 22:30 American Dad 23:00 Bored To Death 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Burn Notice Homeland Good Morning America Covert Affairs Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Smallville Covert Affairs Revenge Burn Notice Smallville Live Good Morning America The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Grey’s Anatomy Hawthorne Pillars Of The Earth Homeland

03:00 04:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 15:00 16:00 16:30 18:00 19:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Six Feet Under Burn Notice Emmerdale Coronation Street Criminal Minds Grey’s Anatomy Burn Notice Emmerdale Coronation Street Parenthood Emmerdale Coronation Street Criminal Minds Grey’s Anatomy Hawthorne Pillars Of The Earth Six Feet Under

04:00 The Ladykillers-PG15 06:00 The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy-PG 08:00 Scooby-Doo! Curse Of The Lake Monster-PG 10:00 Held Up (1999)-PG15 12:00 The Ladykillers-PG15 14:00 Airheads-PG15 16:00 Held Up (1999)-PG15 18:00 Joe Dirt-PG15 20:00 Coldblooded-PG15 22:00 Barry Munday-18

03:30 The Fighter-PG15 05:30 The Memory Keeper’s Daughter-PG15 07:00 Senna-PG15 09:00 Uncorked-PG15 10:45 Seabiscuit-PG15 13:15 Le Syndrome Du Titanic-PG15 15:15 Uncorked-PG15 17:00 Jesse Stone: Innocents LostPG15 18:45 Quiz Show-PG15 21:00 Love And Other Impossible Pursuits-PG15 23:00 The Hit List-18

03:00 The Tender Hook-PG15 05:00 Ways To Live Forever-PG15 07:00 The Vow-PG15 09:00 Justin Bieber: Never Say Never-PG 11:00 The Vow-PG15 13:00 Hitch-PG15 15:00 Footloose-PG15 17:00 Justin Bieber: Never Say Never-PG 19:00 Dolphin Tale-PG 21:00 The Hangover 2-18 23:00 Your Highness-18

04:30 The Apple & The Worm-FAM 06:00 Hop-PG 08:00 The Fantastic Adventure Of The Ugly Duckling-FAM 10:00 Kung Fu Panda 2-PG 11:30 The Hairy Tooth Fairy 2-PG 13:00 The Nimbols: Part I-FAM 14:30 Shark Tale-PG 16:00 D’fenders-PG

18:00 20:00 22:00 23:30

Kung Fu Panda 2-PG Good Boy!-PG D’fenders-PG The Nimbols: Part I-FAM

04:00 Fat Albert-PG 06:00 The Cry Of The Owl-PG15 08:00 Source Code-PG15 10:00 The Phantom Of The Opera At The Royal Albert Hall-PG15 13:00 The Conspirator-PG15 15:00 The 16th Man-PG15 16:00 Source Code-PG15 18:00 Happy Feet Two-PG15 20:00 Columbus Circle-PG15 22:00 Mr. Nobody-PG15

03:30 European Tour Weekly 04:30 Cricket Twenty20 07:00 Trans World Sport 08:00 European Tour Weekly 09:00 Extreme Sailing Series 09:30 Extreme Sailing Series 10:00 Futbol Mundial 10:30 ICC Cricket 360 11:00 Live Cricket Twenty20 14:00 Trans World Sport 15:00 European Tour Weekly 16:00 Extreme Sailing Series 16:30 Extreme Sailing Series 17:00 Extreme Sailing Series 17:30 Futbol Mundial 18:00 ICC Cricket 360 18:30 Cricket Twenty20 21:30 Futbol Mundial 22:00 Live PDC World Darts Championship

03:30 HSBC Sevens World Series 06:30 Futbol Mundial 07:00 Top 14 09:00 PDC World Darts Championship 13:00 Top 14 15:00 Cricket T20 18:00 PDC World Darts Championship 22:00 The Ryder Cup Official Film 23:30 Top 14

04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 11:30 13:30 14:30 17:30 19:30 20:00 21:00 23:00

Golfing World Spirit of a Champion Golfing World AFL Highlights World Pool Masters World Cup of Pool Spirit of Yachting Spirit of a Champion Golfing World HSBC Sevens World Series Pro 12 Spirit of Yachting Golfing World Pro 12 World Pool Masters

04:00 WWE Bottom Line 05:00 WWE Experience 06:00 WWE Vintage Collection 07:00 WWE NXT 08:00 WWE Bottom Line 09:00 V8 Supercars Highlights 10:00 V8 Supercars Highlights 11:00 NHL 13:00 WWE Experience 14:00 European Le Mans Series 16:00 Prizefighter 19:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter The Smashes 20:00 UFC Unleashed 21:00 UFC

04:20 Tea And Sympathy-PG 06:25 Never Let Me Go-FAM 08:00 The Adventures Of Huckleberry...-FAM 09:45 How The West Was Won-PG 12:15 The Asphalt Jungle-PG 14:05 Meet Me In St. Louis-FAM 15:55 Two Weeks In Another Town 17:40 Ride The High Country-PG 19:10 Show Boat-FAM 20:55 The Wonderful World Of The...-FAM

Classifieds SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

FOR SALE Ford Mondeo, maroon color, model 2003, very good condition, price KD 800, kilometer 200,124. Phone: 99839184. (C 4276) 3-1-2012

to create your own website just in 3 months. Flexible schedule, join us to build your career as Web Designer. Call 60078629, 22403408.

(C 4264) 25-12-2012

SITUATION VACANT SITUATION WANTED M.A in English Literature having two years job experience, looking for a suitable job in HR & Admin.

Please contact: 66342097.

(C 4270) 6-1-2013

TUITION Learn Holy Quran in perfect way, private tuition available for elders and children by Hafiz-E-Quran.

Contact: 66725950.

(C 4262)

Required cook for house, good knowledge of cooking all kinds of food, good salary, good facilities, full time or part time. Phone: 23901053, 66519719.

(C 4273) Looking for a part time cleaning lady, 1-5pm 6 days/week.

Contact: 96942874. (C 4274) Looking for a part time nanny to help care for 2 young children. (4 1/2 + 1 1/2) 1pm - 6pm, Filipino preferred.

Contact: 96942874. (C 4275) 1-1-2013

Tuition available for Web Designing & Professional Graphic Designing. Learn

CHANGE OF NAME I, Jafar Mohammed Hussain Warekar, holder of Indian Passport No: E8758097 hereby change my name to Zafar Mohammed Hussain Warekar. (C 4266) I, Raguri Subbaiah Reddamma holder of Indian Passport No: F0419527 hereby change my name to Ravuri Reddamma Venkata Subbaiah. (C 4258)

Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is

1889988

Prayer timings Fajr: Shorook Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

05:18 06:43 11:52 14:43 17:02 18:24

No: 15680

I, Mohammed Pervaiz S/o Mohammed Jahangir, R/o 194-281/A/30, Sanjeev Gandhi Nagar, Hyd. Passport bearing No: H1841911 hereby changed my name to Syed Parvez S/o Syed Jahangir Parvez.

(C 4267) 27-12-2012 I, Suresh Dhanapal, Indian Passport No: E6840843 have converted from Hindu to Islam and changed my name to Barakath Ali Dhanapal (C 4265) 25-12-2012

112 DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JAI THY JZR JZR QTR ETH GFA MEA UAE ETD QTR FDB MSR RJA KAC CLX DHX THY JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB ETD GFA IRA IRC JZR MEA MSR UAE KAC KAC KAC FDB KNE KAC SVA SYR QTR JZR JZR

Arrival Flights on Sunday 6/1/2013 Flt Route 574 MUMBAI 772 ISTANBUL 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 148 DOHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 406 BEIRUT 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 138 DOHA 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 642 AMMAN 544 CAIRO 792 LUXEMBOURG 170 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 555 ALEXANDRIA 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 352 COCHIN 855 DUBAI 121 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 603 SHIRAZ 6666 AHWAZ 165 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 610 CAIRO 871 DUBAI 742 DAMMAM 382 DELHI 774 RIYADH 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 672 DUBAI 500 JEDDAH 341 DAMASCUS 140 DOHA 561 SOHAG 257 BEIRUT

Time 0:30 0:35 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:45 1:50 2:05 2:35 2:45 3:01 3:05 3:10 3:15 4:20 4:55 5:15 5:30 6:00 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:55 8:15 8:25 8:40 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:20 9:55 10:40 11:10 11:20 11:55 12:45 12:50 12:55 12:55 13:30 13:50 14:10 14:10 14:30 14:40 14:45 14:50 15:05

KAC QTR JZR UAE ETD RJA GFA SVA JZR QTR ABY UAL KAC JZR RBG KAC BAB FDB AFG KAC KAC KAC KAC OMA KAC FDB JAI AXB MSR ABY QTR ALK MEA QTR GFA ETD UAE KAC JZR JAI DHX FDB KAC KLM AIC JZR GFA KAC JZR UAL DLH

284 134 787 857 303 640 215 510 777 144 127 982 542 177 3553 786 438 63 415 166 618 102 674 647 562 61 572 393 606 129 146 229 402 136 221 307 859 172 135 576 372 59 514 417 981 239 217 502 185 981 636

DHAKA DOHA RIYADH DUBAI ABU DHABI AMMAN BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH DOHA SHARJAH WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO DUBAI ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI KABUL PARIS DOHA NEW YORK DUBAI MUSCAT AMMAN DUBAI MUMBAI KOZHIKODE LUXOR SHARJAH DOHA COLOMBO BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI FRANKFURT BAHRAIN COCHIN BAHRAIN DUBAI TEHRAN AMSTERDAM CHENNAI AMMAN BAHRAIN BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN FRANKFURT

15:10 15:30 16:10 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:45 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:45 19:00 19:10 19:20 19:35 19:35 19:55 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:45 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:30 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:25 23:55

Airlines AIC AXB DHX BBC UAL DLH JAI KAC ETH THY MEA KAC FDB UAE ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR GFA RJA THY CLX JZR FDB BAW JZR KAC KAC ABY UAE KAC FDB KAC ETD KAC QTR GFA KAC IRA IRC JZR KAC JZR MEA KAC MSR JZR UAE FDB

Departure Flights on Sunday 6/1/2013 Flt Route 976 GOA 390 MANGALORE 371 BAHRAIN 44 CHITTAGONG 981 WASHINGTON 637 FRANKFURT 573 MUMBAI 283 DHAKA 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 407 BEIRUT 381 DELHI 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 643 AMMAN 771 ISTANBUL 792 GIALAM 560 SOHAG 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 256 BEIRUT 171 FRANKFURT 671 DUBAI 122 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 741 DAMMAM 56 DUBAI 117 NEW YORK 302 ABU DHABI 773 RIYADH 133 DOHA 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 602 SHIRAZ 6667 AHWAZ 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 786 RIYADH 405 BEIRUT 785 JEDDAH 611 CAIRO 176 DUBAI 872 DUBAI 58 DUBAI

Time 0:05 0:15 0:40 1:00 1:10 1:20 1:30 2:25 2:45 2:55 3:00 3:15 3:45 3:50 4:00 4:10 4:50 6:05 6:55 7:00 7:05 7:35 8:15 8:15 8:25 8:45 9:05 9:10 9:35 9:45 9:55 9:55 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:05 10:30 10:40 11:30 11:40 12:10 12:15 12:20 12:55 12:55 13:00 13:45 13:50 14:15 14:30

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

KAC KAC KNE SYR SVA KAC QTR KAC JZR ETD JZR KAC QTR UAE RJA GFA JZR SVA ABY JZR QTR RBG JZR UAL FDB BAB AFG FDB OMA JAI AXB ABY MSR DHX ALK MEA ETD QTR GFA KAC FDB UAE JAI KAC KAC DHX KLM QTR KAC JZR GFA KAC KAC

561 673 473 342 503 617 141 501 238 304 538 513 135 858 641 216 184 511 128 266 145 3554 134 982 64 439 415 62 648 571 394 120 619 171 230 403 308 137 222 301 60 860 575 351 205 373 417 147 343 502 218 411 415

AMMAN DUBAI JEDDAH DAMASCUS MADINAH DOHA DOHA BEIRUT AMMAN ABU DHABI CAIRO TEHRAN DOHA DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH SHARJAH BEIRUT DOHA ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN JEDDAH DUBAI MUSCAT MUMBAI KOZHIKODE SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI DUBAI KOCHI KOCHI ISLAMABAD BAHRAIN DAMMAM DOHA CHENNAI LUXOR BAHRAIN BANGKOK KUALA LUMPUR

14:30 15:05 15:10 15:40 15:45 15:45 16:15 17:05 17:15 17:35 17:40 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:15 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:05 19:10 19:25 19:30 20:00 20:40 20:55 21:10 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:50 21:55 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:50 22:55 22:55 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:15 23:35 23:50 23:55 23:55

34

s ta rs CROSSWORD 61

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) ARIES Mastering your mood swing is an important part of your peace of mind today.

A bit of exercise to get the physical wellbeing into a good balance would be a good routine for you before your day actually begins. You are buoyed with confidence to try a new technique or project. Although you will experience success . . . you should remain realistic before diving too far into something you have not researched. You will find your own niche when it comes to your talent. Be enthusiastic but patient with yourself. A little extra income can be earned whenever you want. Consider some contract work or consultation work in the future. You have an interest in the motivations and desires of friends and family. You enjoy personal interactions with loved ones.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Learn to listen to your inner voice. Your plans and the way in which you carry out the methods with which to achieve these plans will become in harmony with each other.

Professionally speaking, you can be quite successful! You would be wise to marry after the age of thirty because of your determination for professional success. Your technical mind may be more comfortable with a permanent love relationship after there is a steadiness in your profession. Continue to keep your body nice and firm with consistent exercise—even if it is cold.

Dress appropriately to protect yourself. Advanced technology has your interest. You may decide the bookstore is a great place to hang out and who knows, you may meet a new friend.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. Piece of solid food for dipping in a liquid.

4. Feeling great rapture or delight.

12. Standard time in the 8th time zone west of Greenwich, reckoned at the 120th meridian west.

15. Thickening of tissue in the motor tracts of the lateral columns and anterior horns of the spinal cord.

16. A monastery for lamas.

17. The act of using.

18. (horseshoes) The throw of a horseshoe so as to lean against (but not encircle) the stake.

20. A short high tone produced as a signal or warning.

21. Bulky grayish-brown eagle with a short wedge-shaped white tail.

22. Type genus of the Polygalaceae.

24. Marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea.

26. A resident of Maine.

27. Conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection or excellence.

29. A bachelor's degree in science.

31. Closed with a lace.

32. A hard malleable ductile silvery metallic element that is resistant to corrosion.

33. A Hindu prince or king in India.

36. Cause to be attached.

39. A highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series).

40. The cry made by sheep.

41. Harsh or corrosive in tone.

44. Grind together, of teeth.

46. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

48. Any of several tall tropical palms native to southeastern Asia having egg-shaped nuts.

51. A fatal disease of cattle that affects the central nervous system.

52. A white crystalline double sulfate of aluminum.

53. French biochemist who (with Francois Jacob) explained how genes are activated and suggested the existence of messenger RNA (1910-1976).

56. Any of various aromatic herbs of the genus Monarda.

58. Render capable or able for some task.

62. Buildings for carrying on industrial labor.

63. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

69. Estrangement from god.

70. Someone paddling a canoe.

73. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

74. Something that allows access (entry or exit).

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

76. Edible tuber of any of several yams.

77. Arctic deer with large antlers in both sexes.

78. A light touch or stroke.

DOWN 1. Minute floating marine tunicate having a transparent body with an opening at each end.

2. A spread made chiefly from vegetable oils and used as a substitute for butter.

3. One of the 150 lyrical poems and prayers that comprise the Book of Psalms in the Old

Testament.

4. Resembling or characteristic of or appropriate to an elegy.

5. South American caracara.

6. A gray lustrous metallic element of the rare earth group.

7. A short sleeveless outer tunic emblazoned with a coat of arms.

8. The sign language used in the United States.

9. Abundantly filled with especially living things.

10. A strong emotion.

11. Large tropical American tree of the genus Cordia grown for its abundant creamy white flowers and valuable wood.

12. A city in south central Mexico (southeast of Mexico City) on the edge of central Mexican plateau.

13. An antidepressant drug that acts by blocking the reuptake of serotonin so that more serotonin is available to act on receptors in the brain.

14. Have a tendency or disposition to do or be something.

19. City in Sudan.

23. Towards the side away from the wind.

25. American professional baseball player who hit more home runs than Babe Ruth (born in 1934).

28. Small cubes with 1 to 6 spots on the faces.

30. French romantic writer (1766-1817).

34. A variety of leafhopper.

35. (Greek mythology) Goddess of wisdom and useful arts and prudent warfare.

37. Forbidden to profane use especially in South Pacific islands.

38. Chief port of Yemen.

42. Fabric dyed with splotches of green and brown and black and tan.

43. Extremely robust.

45. Terminate before completion, as of a computer process, a mission, etc..

47. Naked freshwater or marine or parasitic protozoa that form temporary pseudopods for feeding and locomotion.

49. Last of the seven canonical hours.

50. Become adolescent.

54. A stick that people can lean on to help them walk.

55. A ductile gray metallic element of the lanthanide series.

57. Chew the fat.

59. The basic unit of money in Nigeria.

60. A communist state in Indochina on the South China Sea. 61. A workman who laces shoes or footballs or books (during binding).

64. (prefix) Opposite or opposing or neutralizing.

65. Having edges that are jagged from injury.

66. (of persons) Highest in rank or authority or office.

67. A small cake leavened with yeast.

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

71. Used of a single unit or thing.

72. An informal term for a father.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

Most of this morning’s energy will be focused on your professional projects, even if only in your thoughts. You may find a new avenue to expand the business for which you work. You will still need to go through the correct avenues to gain attention in this matter. Correctly done, this can mean a raise or bonus for you. You are resourceful and creative. It would be a good idea to hold back some of your ideas until you have gotten some attention from your suggestion. This afternoon is full of opportunities to enjoy the young people around you. Now is a good time to express your love to someone special. Love is in full bloom and it is a good time to demonstrate this affection. Now is also a time of stability and harmony in relationships.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Your chores today may consist in taking care of pets: feeding and giving them baths, etc. Make sure they are nice and warm and have a good warm place to stay until they are completely dry. Relationships come into play this afternoon. Because you know what you want romantically, you will naturally attract a special person. If you are already involved in a love relationship, you may find yourself adding some special time to this relationship now. Perhaps this will include some fun entertainment that the two of you will enjoy together and remember for a long time. If you do not have a particular relationship just now, you will not have long to wait. There is optimism, foresight and an excellent time to plan your next project, trip, party, etc.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Your day is full of plans. Regular diet, exercise and personal chores will help create a happier you. While exercising today—work on flexibility. This may just mean something as simple as stretching before exercising. Be heart-healthy and abide by a good heart-healthy diet and exercise program. You can attract many friends through your compassion and you will show your compassionate side to a friend today. Parental instincts come to the forefront and you will make every effort to appease any disagreement wherever you are. In addition, there is a strong wish to make your surroundings as pleasant as possible.

This is a period of excess and you may be tempted to overextend the budget. Whatever you are doing, do it one step at a time.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Make a concentrated effort to set aside some extra time in your schedule for a teammate, school friend or child that is having a difficult time in school. Perhaps this is someone that is new to the school or your workplace. The energies that surround you now will be working in your favor toward organizing and disciplining your mind. Perhaps this is more of a time for becoming better organized or returning to the business world—you are ready. Going through books or literature, you may decide it is time to take some books to a book fair, library or bookstore. You might even have a used bookstore that will buy your old books and magazines. You will be traveling soon, be sure to have someone check under your vehicle’s hood.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) Ask questions and encourage others to do the same. Before you leave the house or obligate your time, make sure you are not forgetting a chore or an appointment that may have previously been arranged. A smart thing to do for the rest of this month is to create the habit of list making. Make sure you check the air in your tires and the fluid in your car. During the time spent in interaction with others today, pay attention to the tone of their voices. Teach respect by your own actions. Your consciousness will be raised when you practice optimism instead of pessimism. Your thinking is clear today for any project you may care to attempt—including art, shopping, repairing or maintenance. You may find yourself oriented more to the family this evening.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) This is a rewarding day and some of your rewards come through the accomplishment of other people in your household. Someone may be in some sort of competition and your tutelage has influenced their progress. Another may have musical talents that you have encouraged. Not one person in your family sees conflict; all is truth, growth, new discoveries and scruples. You have created a creative, strong family unit. Intuitive insights come and go but today’s insights are too much to resist! Keep track of, what seems to be, a psychic vision. Carry a little notebook for at least one month, perhaps longer. These visions may come as dreams but they teach visions. Communicating gives you much insight.

You might consider writing a story, poetry, book, etc.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) A change in activity or job may have you feeling a bit stressed. You will do very well with this new endeavor. Until you are adapted to the routine of this new activity, keep your personal life as simple as possible. Do not be afraid to open up your life to more than just one friend. A good way to add to your friendships would be through a favorite hobby. There may be many followers to the same hobby that you enjoy. Pay attention to the newspapers and to community events; eventually, you will be able to find and join a club with others that have your same interests. You will have good news regarding an increase in money, but wait until you see the green paper in your hands before you spend it. When it comes to loved ones, do not hide your dreams.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) You are very expressive and sociable today. You may have to remind yourself to maintain low tones, especially if you are a visiting a person in the hospital or you are in a working environment that needs a quiet surrounding to be productive. Artistic activities are favored today and you may enjoy an opportunity to be creative—you also may have ideas for your professional work. Your personal magnetism is high—you could easily sell an icemaker to an Eskimo. You enjoy a bit of a sense of humor today. It could be a good thing to write down a few of your jokes, especially if they are of your own making. Someone may want to buy those lovely creations of yours. This is a time when just about anything can happen. This is an excellent time for social activities.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) If you have been doing the bills or working at your own list of chores this morning, take a fun lunch break with your family or a friend. A bit of shopping for some items that bring color into your day would be fun. Just a simple flower in the lapel of a shirt or blouse or a vase could do the trick. Think about making your own cards ahead of time for Valentine’s Day . . . particularly if you think there will be quite a few inside weather days the next few weeks. Word or board games help encourage vocabulary as well as learning to give and take with others. Play a word or board game with young people; you will teach them more than you could imagine. If you do not have young people in your home just now, perhaps a neighbor and his or her kids would like to play.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You excel in your profession and you may find yourself interested in the study or the involvement of some art project. You have the ability to create harmony all around you. It will not be hard to pull on your creative side to achieve positive communication with difficult clients or customers. You like where you are and may be very careful to maintain your position. You should try during this time to relax a bit and enjoy each day with all its compliments and complications. You will seek answers deep within yourself, and this is how it should be for lessons learned well. You may ask for a definition on some subject or word, but it is up to you to accept or create a change. Your immediate family supports you— you will definitely feel the power of love today.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Kaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salem

22549134

Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Qadsiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Gar

22531908

Shaab

22518752

Qibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Al-Helaly

22434853

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Al-Faiha

22545051

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

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

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Hawally

ST TATE T OF KUW K WAIT A

Te el.: 161

DIRECTORA AT TE GENERAL GENE OF CIVIL AVIA V AT TION METEOROLOGICAL DEP PARTMENT A DA AY Y: Saturday

Ext.: 2627 262 - 2630

Fax: 24348714 WWW.MET.GOV V..KW

05/01/2013

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

07:00

Issue Time

Expected Weeather for the Next 24 Hours BY Y DA AY:

Fair with light variable wind changing to light to moderate south easterly wind, with speed of 06 - 26 km/h

BY Y NIGHT:

Cold with light to moderate south easterly to southerly wind, with speed of 06 - 26 km/h with a chance for fog forming at night No Current Warnings arnin a

WA ARNING

09 °C

KUW WA AIT AIRPOR RT

20 °C

06 °C

NUW WA AISEEB

21 °C

08 °C

WAFRA A

20 °C

05 °C

SALMI

19 °C

07 °C

ABDAL LY

20 °C

05 °C

JAL ALIY YA AH

19 °C

06 °C

25623444

FA AILAKA

19 °C

09 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

19 °C

11 °C

Mishref

25381200

UMM AL-MARADEM

19 °C

16 °C

W Hawally

22630786

WARBA A A - BUBY YAN A

19 °C

05 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

Sunday

06/01

West Jahra

24772608

Monday

07/01

South Jahra

24775066

Tuesday

08/01

North Jahra

24775992

Wednesday e

09/01

North Jleeb

24311795

ST TAT TION

SFC. CHART

05/01/2013 0000 UTC

4 DA AY YS FORECAST Temperatures DA AY

DA ATE T

WEA AT THER

MAX.

MIN.

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

sunny

21 °C

08 °C

VRB-SE

06 - 22 km/h

partly cloudy + chance for drizzle

20 °C

11 °C

SE

15 - 38 km/h

sunny

20 °C

11 °C

W-NW

10 - 32 km/h

sunny

21 °C

10 °C

VRB-SE

10 - 30 km/h

PRA RA AY YER TIMES

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WAIT A AIRPORT

Fajr

05:19

MAX. Temp.

19 °C

24884079

Sunrise

06:43

MIN. Temp.

06 °C

24892674

Zuhr

11:53

MAX. RH

83 %

Asr

14:45

MIN. RH

19 %

Omariya

24719048

Sunset

17:04

MAX. Wind

N Khaitan

24710044

Isha

18:26

TOT TAL AL RAIINF FA ALL L IN 24 HR.

Fintas

23900322

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

NW 28 km/h 00 mm V1.00

05/01/13 03:34 UTC

T1.06

PRIVATE CLINICS Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

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22617700

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25625030/60

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22635047

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25655535

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22562226

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25633324

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25345875

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22636464

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25322030

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22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

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25722291

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22666288

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Dr Anil Thomas

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Al-Shuwaikh

23915883 23715414 23726558

21 °C

Psychologists /Psychotherapists

22545171

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

KUW WA AIT CITY

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

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22418714

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25330060

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25722290

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24555050 Ext 210

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2611555-2622555

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Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

36

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Tulisa celebrates her boyfriend’s birthday

Victoria Beckham - Kim’s pregnancy inspiration

T

he ‘Young’ singer stunned revelers at the Rose nightspot with her sexy routine to Missy Elliot’s ‘One Minute Man’, watching her grind up against her lover, 26-year-old soccer star Danny Simpson - who is in a plaster cast after breaking two toes - in a VIP booth while sucking on a lollipop in the early hours of yesterday. According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, the couple - who have been together for two months - were inseparable all evening, kissing and taking pictures of one another and at one point even stood on a sofa to embrace. Tulisa, 24, was drinking £500-a-bottle pink champagne while Danny enjoyed vodka and lemonades. On Wednesday, Tulisa had called Danny her “gorgeous hubby” as she sent him birthday greetings on Twitter. She wrote: “Happy birthday to my gorgeous hubby @dannysimpson getting on now babes haha. Love u lots like jelly tots. hehe XxX (sic)” Danny replied: “Let’s have it, babe.

Looking forward to opening my prezzies. Love ya x. (sic)” Tulisa and Danny arrived at the club with friends at around 1am and left when it closed at 3am.

T

he 32-year-old reality TV star is expecting her first child with boyfriend Kanye West and has been studying pictures of the Spice Girls starturned-fashion designer - who has children Brooklyn, 13, Romeo, 10, Cruz, seven, and Harper, 18 months, with husband David Beckham - to get ideas on staying chic as her figure expands. A source told the Daily Star newspaper: “Kim loves Victoria’s VB range to complement her curves. Now with a burgeoning bump on the way, she is following her style closely. “Kim spent hours with her mum, Kris Jenner, and her glam squad going through pictures of what Victoria wore during all her pregnancies. “She wants to look classy and not frumpy while carrying her child.” This is not the first wardrobe overhaul the ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ star has undertaken in recent months.

Shortly after she began dating Kanye, 35, she allowed him to go through her closet and get rid of some of her clothes, as well as introducing her to his stylist, and she recently claimed he has made her more sophisticated as a result. She said: “I’ve grown up a lot this year. My style’s more sophisticated. And that’s from my boyfriend, who’s a designer, to just having my personality evolve.

Snooki won’t get married until she has own home

T

he ‘Jersey Shore’ star and her fiance Jionni LaValle are currently living in his parents’ basement and Snooki insists they won’t tie the knot until their own home is completed. She told MTV: “Me and Jionni want to have a house first, ‘cause we don’t want to get married and go back in his parent’s basement. So right now we’re in the process of building our home, so until that’s ready we’re just waiting on the wedding, not rushing it.” The couple became parents to Lorenzo last year and Snooki loves motherhood because he is such a good baby. She said: “Oh, it’s been a blast.

Being a mom is definitely more easier than I thought it would be just because Lorenzo’s amazing,” she shared with MTV News. “He’s a happy baby. He hardly cries... everything has been smooth sailing and it’s been so fun.” While she is best known for her wild ways on ‘Jersey Shore’, Snooki, 25, has no regrets about her former party filled lifestyle.

Pamela Anderson wants to live with rescued animals

T

he 45-year-old beauty - who has sons Brandon, 16, and Dylan, 14, with ex-husband Tommy Lee - is a staunch vegan and animal rights campaigner and would love to open her home up to abandoned pets in need of care in the future. She said: “I work with animal rights, so maybe I’ll go and live on a ranch with rescue animals some day.” Pamela can next be seen taking part in UK reality TV

contest ‘Dancing on Ice’ - which begins tomorrow - and admits she has no idea what the future holds once her time in the competition comes to an end. Though she is often given career advice by her pals, Pamela never takes it, which only adds to her uncertainty. She added to Closer magazine: “I’m not sure what I’ll do once the show is over. My friends always try to give me advice but I never take it.”

Emma Stone’s friends ‘jealous’

T

he 24-year-old actress recalled the day she was “writhing” around with the Hollywood heartthrob while auditioning for ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ and remembers how envious her pals were when she told them what she had been doing.

She said: “I can still remember the first time I auditioned with Ryan, for ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’. My friends took me to the airport that night and when they asked me what I’d been doing all day, and I said that I’d been writhing around all over Ryan Gosling’s bed, they were like: ‘Right - get on that plane!’ I guess that is pretty weird to hear.” Although the blonde beauty who is currently dating her ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ co-star Andrew Garfield is now confident enough to act out intimate scenes in films she admits it wasn’t always that way, describing one audition process for a small role in her bikini at 16 as “horrific”. She told Britain’s Glamour magazine: “We had to line up in bikinis in front of a bunch of middle-aged men, which was the worst. “I literally had the body of a tenyear-old boy back then. But the most horrific thing is that I wasn’t acting: I was just standing there in a bikini. I assume that’s what Bar Refaeli feels like, but then I’m not a Sports Illustrated supermodel.”

Chris Brown ‘dedicated’ to Rihanna T he ‘Don’t Wake Me Up’ singer has rekindled his relationship with the ‘Diamond’ hitmaker, even though he is still on probation for brutally assaulting her in 2009 and friends of Chris say he is determined to make the relationship work this time. A source told HollywoodLife.com: “He’s curled up with Ri and he been with her this whole time this month and he’s dedicated to her.

He’s trying to do the right thing with her and want to be right by her too. “He’s just trying to be a good man this year and so far he’s doing that. “Rihanna wants to spend everyday in January with him in 2013 because she thinks that will cement their relationship. She be on that whole sentimental stuff all the time.”

Chris dumped Karrueche Tran in order to get back together with Rihanna and although he has been spotted sharing romantic dinners with her, friends insist he only has eyes for Rihanna. The insider added: “Karrueche was always good to him and treated him like a king, but he’s on Rihanna hard right now so I guess KT knows that and she’s falling back.”

37

LIFESTYLE

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

G o s s i p

Taylor Swift believes in fairytale love

T

he 23-year-old singer - who is dating One Direction’s notorious womanizer Harry Styles says her optimistic vision of the world has been influenced by the story book romances she used to devour as a lonely teenager, and she is often left disappointed when the reality doesn’t match up. She sighed: “It can be heartbreaking when you find out that your fairytale image of the world doesn’t match the reality. I used to read fairytales when I was young and I grew up with such a vivid imagination, and all that has fuelled this little world of mine. “I was pretty isolated in school.

I had no place really to turn except inwards. We all want to believe in the ideal, even though we discover through bad relationships that it’s a difficult thing to

find.” The country singer admitted that after a string of failed relationships - including with Conor Kennedy, Jake Gyllenhaal and John Mayer - she has developed a more “cynical” approach to love and learnt to prepare herself for inevitable heartbreak. Taylor said: “I think you need to believe in the fairy tale otherwise you become cynical and close yourself off to love because you stop trusting those incredible feelings that come over you at the beginning. “But as you grow older, you learn to try to balance that faith in the ideal with the practical knowledge it can be very tough and heartbreaking when things don’t work out.”

Priscilla Presley felt Elvis voice ‘guides’

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Anna Faris to star in TV comedy ‘Mom’ T

he actress’ late ex-husband’s house in Memphis, Tennessee, has been preserved as a shrine in his honor and it is now a huge tourist attraction, but Priscilla had to fight hard to keep the property and its contents after Elvis’ death in 1977. She said: “I wanted to do the right thing, knowing what Elvis wanted and how much he loved Graceland. I had the forces against me. Attorneys, business and financial people just a him as someone who had passed away and would be forgotten about in a few months. I didn’t see it that way. I put my foot down. “They wanted me to sell Graceland and get rid of all the properties and artefacts, and I said, ‘No, it’s not happening. This is his legacy.’ He gave us too much for something like that to happen. It was almost as though his voice was guiding me.” Priscilla, now 67, also said Graceland serves as a great reminder of who Elvis was for his grandchildren; Riley Keough, Benjamin Keough, Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood, Finley Aaron Love Lockwood, all offspring of her and Elvis’ daughter Lisa Marie. She told Britain’s HELLO! magazine: “We go to Graceland and there are pictures, so we’ll tell them about that if they ask. If they hear music we’ll say, that’s your granddaddy singing.”

he ‘What’s Your Number?’ star will take on the lead role in the new show from ‘Two And A Half Men’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ creator Chuck Lorre, which will see her play a single and newly sober mom living in Napa Valley, California. The 36-year-old actress and her husband, ‘Moneyball’ star Chris Pratt, welcomed their first child, son Jack, in August 2012 and both are smitten with the tot. The couple were worried when Jack was born over two months premature but after spending the first month of his life in hospital, the baby is now healthy and at home with his proud parents. Chris, 33, said: “Oh, God, he is just ... he’s amazing. I love him so much. He’s just a ball of joy. He’s terrific. “He was born nine weeks premature, so we spent a month in the intensive care unit with him. “But he’s totally healthy now. He is just so perfect and I love him so much.”

Kim Kardashian worries about Kris Humphries

T

he ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ star is expecting her first child with boyfriend Kanye West but after discovering her estranged husband Kris Humphries could legally claim custody, Kim is upset her marriage is casting a shadow over this happy time. A source close to Kim told HollywoodLife.com, “Kim was shocked when she found out that Kris could technically try to get custody.

It sounds totally crazy! Why would he do that when it’s only going to make him look bad. But Kim wouldn’t put anything past Kris, all he cares about is hurting her, so of course she’s worried that he’ll do something to ruin the best moment of her life.” Kim is in the middle of divorcing Kris and wants to remove him completely from her life, so that she can focus on moving on with Kanye and their baby. The insider added: “It’s upsetting for her, but she’s still not going to give in. Kim’s a fighter and even though a lot of people think that Kim took advantage of Kris it was the other way around. She did love him and she gave him 100 per cent so there’s no way she’s going to turn around and say it was a fraud that would be lying to the court.”

Courteney Cox jokes about nudity T

he 48-year-old actress’ show will move from ABC to TBS when it returns to US screens this month and Courteney says moving to a cable network will allow her to have more nudity on the comedy.

She quipped: “You will not see one scene that I don’t show my boobs. “You know what? I’m getting older, so I’ve decided at this point I’m taking less focus [on] the face, and more [on my breasts. By the time I’m much older, I will just be absolutely nude. I think it’s [going to] work for me, I hope.”

Executive producer, Bill Lawrence, backed up Courteney’s claims, insisting she was ready to take more risks. He joked: “There is one difference [with the show going to cable. I think I’m allowed to say ... Courteney did declare this the year of her cleavage.”

Courteney has been single since splitting with husband David Arquette in October 2010 -and her sitcom co-stars have previously revealed they want to help her find a new man. When asked who he would pick for Courteney to date, co-star Brian van Holt pointed at Dan Byrd and joked: “She loves this man right here, she likes the cerebral hunk type.”

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

lifestyle Julia Roberts

Joe Biden, reality TV star? Huh?

K

Julia Roberts to star in HBO film J

ulia Roberts will star as a paraplegic physician treating patients early in the AIDS epidemic in the stage-to-screen adaptation of the Tony Award-winning drama “The Normal Heart,” US cable television network HBO said. “The Normal Heart,” set to air on HBO in 2014, tells the story of the dawning of the epidemic in 1980s New York. Oscar-winner Roberts plays Dr Emma Brookner, who treats several early patients infected

with the HIV virus that causes AIDS. Co-star Mark Ruffalo plays Ned Weeks, an eyewitness to how the disease ravaged the city’s gay community.

The film will be directed by “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy and was adapted by the play’s author, Larry Kramer, an early advocate for AIDS prevention and care.

“Ryan has assembled an extraordinary cast to bring Larry Kramer’s landmark theatrical achievement to the

screen for the first time, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to bring this important film to HBO,” Michael Lombardo, HBO’s president of programming, said in a statement. “The Normal Heart” debuted on stage in 1985 in New York and was revived on Broadway in 2011, winning the Tony Award for best revival. The movie version was originally envisioned as big screen release before HBO took it up as a television film.— Reuters

im Kardashian. Honey Boo Boo. Joe Biden?

Vice President Biden could join the ranks of the reality TV elite if the supporters of a new petition have their way. A petition published on the White House website is urging the Obama administration to authorize a recurring TV show on publicaffairs cable network C-SPAN that would chronicle Biden’s day-to-day antics as he interacts with the world at large.

The petition cites Biden’s winning personality and unifying presence as a selling point for the potential ratings-grabber. “Vice President Joe Biden has a demonstrated ability to bring people together, whether at the negotiating table or at the neighborhood diner,” the petition reads. “We, therefore, urge the Obama Administration to authorize the production of a recurring C-SPAN television program featuring the daily activities and interactions of the Vice President with elected officials, foreign dignitaries and everyday American families.”

The petition goes on to assert that the program would educate the public about the vice president’s duties and responsibilities, but also provide “a glimpse of the lighthearted side of politics even in the midst of contentious and divisive national debates.” So far, the petition has received just over 600 signatures - out of a goal of 25,000. Biden, who’s practically turned the verbal gaffe into an art form, wowed many with his theatrical flair at the swearing-in ceremony for the new senators on Thursday, which aired on CSPAN-2.

“I want you next to me,” Biden said to one senator’s wife. “You got a smile that lights up the chamber. Your smile lights up the room. Come on, sis, get in here.” North Dakota Sen. Mary Kathryn “Heidi” Heitkamp’s husband, meanwhile, was met with, “Spread your legs, you’re about to be frisked.” A Biden reality show would no doubt provide plenty of opportunity for other such gems. To say nothing of the Very Special Episode when Obama tells Biden that he’s not allowed to wash his Trans Am in the White House driveway anymore.—Reuters

‘Texas Chainsaw 3D’ review: One nice idea, dozens of stupid ones

“T

exas Chainsaw 3D” brings one interesting new facet to the nearly 40-year-old franchise and it’s not the half-hearted 3D, which adds up to little more than the occasional shot of the titular implement bursting out of the screen. What the movie does do, which horror buffs may or may not go for, is turn the terrifying, bloodthirsty Leatherface into a maligned and misunderstood monster.

He doesn’t throw daisies into a lake with a little girl, mind you, but we’re still meant to feel his pain and to side with him against the local redneck vigilantes who have hounded him and his kinfolk.

Beyond that curveball, however, “Texas Chainsaw 3D” is a dreary slog through the dreadfully familiar. You’ve seen it all in a million movies: attractive victims doing stupid things, foreboding secret passages, bifurcated corpses.

Previous attempts at reviving the franchise, particularly 1986’s “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2” and 1994’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation” (featuring up-and-comers Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey), at least tried to inject some of the gallows humor and pungent satire of the original. This new one, directed by John Luessenhop (“Takers,” “Lockdown”) isn’t just humorless; it’s witless.

Under the opening credits, we see highlights from “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974), and the movie begins moments later, with local deputy Hooper (Thom Barry, playing a character thuddingly named after the original film’s director) going to the Sawyer house to arrest Leatherface, who suddenly has lots more family members that we’ve ever seen before. A rowdy bunch of local goons, led by Burt Hartman (Paul Rae), take the law into their own hands, set-

ting the house on fire and seemingly killing everyone inside.

That night, when the yokels come to gloat over their victory, one of them finds a dying Sawyer and her baby; he kills the lady and steals the child. Two decades or so later - yes, it’s been almost 40 years since the first movie came out, but the movie’s chronology is just one of its problems - that infant has grown up to be Heather (Alexandra Daddario), who works as a butcher and makes art out of bones.

(Take that, nurture!) She learns she was adopted when she receives word that her grandmother Verna Sawyer has died and left her a Texas mansion.

Heather arrives in town - where Hooper is now sheriff and Hartman the mayor with her boyfriend (rapper Trey Songz) and a cadre of friends and hitchhikers, and the group is so busy exploring the house that Heather doesn’t bother to read the letter from her grandmother that explains that Leatherface (Dan Yeager) is alive and well in the basement and is now Heather’s responsibility. Cue carnage.

The movie’s none-too-subtle message is that family comes first, even when that family involves chainsaw-killers who sew human faces onto their own, and that we should cheer for Leatherface to prevail over the idiot townspeople who slaughtered his relatives. In a smarter movie, such a realignment of sympathies would seem bold and transgressive, but after watching idiots get picked off one by one for doing all the dumb things that characters in moronic horror movies do, the point is somewhat lost. The film ends with the implication that more sequels are to come, and that’s probably the biggest scare that “Texas Chainsaw 3D” can muster.— Reuters

Al Pacino inhabits Phil Spector in HBO film P

laywright David Mamet had little interest in legendary music producer and convicted murderer Phil Spector, dismissing him as a “freak” - until he watched a documentary that shed light on a complicated personality. Now, the “Glengarry Glen Ross” writer is bringing to HBO a movie inspired by Spector’s life that imagines his relationship with the attorney who defended him against charges of killing actress Lana Clarkson in Los Angeles in 2003.

The film, “Phil Spector,” written and directed by Mamet, stars Al Pacino as the music producer and Helen Mirren as his attorney.

When Mamet’s agent urged him to watch a documentary about Spector, the playwright said he felt he already knew enough about the eccentric producer who sported wild hair and was found guilty of murder. “You start out saying this guy’s a freak,” Mamet told reporters at a Television Critics Association meeting on Friday. Learning more about Spector, “you start to think, how could I be so

prejudiced? The guy sounds brilliant.” “Then you say, maybe he’s not guilty,” Mamet said.

In the TV film that debuts March 24 on Time Warner Inc-owned HBO, Mirren plays Linda Kenney Baden, who defended Spector in his first murder trial that ended in a mistrial with jurors deadlocked. He was convicted in a second trial in 2009 and is serving a sentence of 19 years to life. Spector, now 73, revolutionized pop music in the 1960s with his layered “Wall of Sound” production techniques, working with the Beatles, the Ronettes, Cher and Leonard Cohen at the height of his fame.

But for years before the trial, he had lived as a virtual recluse in a mock castle in suburban Los Angeles.

The HBO film starts with a disclaimer saying it is a work of fiction “inspired by actual persons in a trial, but it is neither an attempt to depict the actual persons, nor to comment upon the outcome.” It tells how Baden became intrigued by Spector and the challenges of defending him. She considers how

to raise reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury while the defense team wrestles with whether Spector should take the stand.

As his attorneys consider that Spector might hurt his own cause, Spector reminds them of his accomplishments. In one scene, he tells Baden: “The first time you got felt up, guess what? You were listening to one of my songs.” The real-life Baden told reporters on Friday that, as Spector’s attorney, she couldn’t tell Mamet about any conversations with her client. Instead, they were left to the playwright’s imagination. Baden said she felt the forensic evidence against Spector did not prove he killed Clarkson, who was found shot to death in the foyer of Spector’s home hours after the pair met in a nightclub. Spector denied murdering Clarkson but did not testify at either trial. Pacino said he didn’t try to perfectly mimic the real-life music producer or meet with him, though he did watch video footage of his statements around the time of the murder trial. —Reuters

Al Pacino

Joe Biden

Ex-governor stars TV show

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ormer Louisiana Gov Edwin Edwards will star on a new cable TV show with the woman he married after his release from federal prison on a corruption conviction. In a Facebook exchange Friday, Trina Scott Edwards told The Associated Press she’s currently filming for “The Governor’s Wife,” which will showcase the 34-year-old wife of the octogenarian former governor. According to A&E, the series will follow Trina Edwards as she tries to fit into the former governor’s upscale world while trying to get along with step-daughters almost twice her age and corral her teenage sons.

The series will include Edwin Edwards’ daughters: Anna, a 62-year-old four-time divorcee, and Victoria, described in a news release as “a hardened 60-yearold ex-showgirl.” Trina has sons from a previous marriage: Logan, 15 and Trevor, 13. Episodes will include school projects and Trina making a run for president of the local homeowner’s association. She also discusses the possible addition of a baby to the Edwards clan and skeptics who think she’s a gold digger, according to the news release. Edwards biographer Leo Honeycutt said the show has been shooting footage for more than a year.

Honeycutt, who acknowledges his distaste for reality TV, said he worried the series could damage the former governor’s legacy and his achievements in office. “I’m afraid for them. I’m afraid what it’s going to do to them. Nobody wants to be a laughingstock, and Louisiana has had enough of that kind of treatment,” Honeycutt said. Edwin Edwards served four terms as a Democratic governor in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. He married Trina in July 2011, shortly after his release from federal prison for his role in a bribery and extortion scheme to rig riverboat casino licenses during his fourth term, which ended in 1996.

Trina, who went by Trina Grimes Scott at the time, began writing him letters while he was in prison and visited him regularly. She is Edwards’ third wife.

Edwards also served in Congress and was known for his charisma in politics. Despite his link to a Korean rice scandal early in his congressional career, he was known for being able to broker deals between rural and urban interests. He was last elected governor in 1991, when he defeated former Ku Klux Klan wizard David Duke in a landslide. “The Governor’s Wife” is the latest in a string of Louisiana-set reality shows that include A&E’s “Duck Dynasty,” History’s “Swamp People” and CMT’s “Bayou Billionaires.” It premieres Feb 27 at 9 pm. CST.—AP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

lifestyle Angelina Jolie

Lance Armstrong

Persil Abaya Shampoo initiative engages consumers, designers

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Love the celebrity? Double-check the charity Y

ou don’t have to spend much time listening to Angelina Jolie or Bono to know that celebrities can help raise awareness for charities. Just about anyone with the name recognition to make it into “People” magazine has used that power to promote a cause or two. But the recent fall from grace of cyclist Lance Armstrong, who established the cancerfighting Lifestrong charity, highlights the risks of that approach. The charity that lives by fame can be hurt by it too.

Armstrong recently cut all ties to the organization after he was stripped of his Tour de France titles amidst charges that he cheated.

Perhaps even more illustrative of just how risky celebrity tie-ins can be is the recent collapse of musician Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Foundation, which collected more than $16 million to aid victims of the 2010 earthquake that crushed the capital city of Port-Au-Prince and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Yele closed its doors in September in the face of questions about how it deployed some of its money.

“We typically warn donors that ... (a celebrity connection) ... is a good way to learn about organizations, but it isn’t a seal of approval,” says Sandra Miniutti, vice president of Charity Navigator, a service

which evaluates nonprofits.

Not all charities with celebrity tie-ins have problems, and not all troubled charities have those famous figureheads.

Livestrong is likely to live up to its name, even without Armstrong. The charity has reported that donations are up, not down, since the scandal broke, and that fewer than a dozen donors have asked for refunds. Here are a few pointers for those who want to follow the lead of their favorite stars when they contribute: You’ve got plenty of choices. The website LookToTheStars.org lists over 3,000 celebrities linked to over 1,880 charities, with everything from Rihanna’s own Believe Foundation, which helps terminally ill children, to Daniel Craig’s public donations to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Dig deeper. Before making a donation, look up the charity of your choice on at least one of these sites: CharityNavigator.org; Guidestar.org, the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance (bbb.org/us/charity); the American Institute of Philanthropy (Charitywatchdog.org) and GreatNonprofits.org. A key item to consider in an organization’s financials: How much money goes to the actual cause versus administrative overhead? Charity

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Photo shows a statue of Adolf Hitler praying on his knees (‘HIM’) by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan in Warsaw, Poland. — AFP

Hitler statue in Holocaust site stirs controversy

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oland’s chief rabbi on Friday voiced outrage over a statue of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler kneeling at a Holocaust site in Warsaw, part of an installation by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. “When it comes to showing the figure of Hitler, we have an extra special responsibility to be sensitive to those who suffered because of what Hitler created, to Holocaust survivors, to nonJewish survivors, to those who didn’t survive,” Rabbi Michael Schudrich said. “To place it right here, on Prozna Street, part of the old Warsaw ghetto, is lacking in that sensitivity and therefore it creates a problem for me,” Schudrich said.

The wax statue depicts Adolf Hitler with a child’s body dressed in a grey suit, kneeling in prayer. It was installed in a courtyard of the former Warsaw Ghetto in midNovember. Only the back of the statue is visible, and the figure goes unnoticed by most passers-by. Cattelan was invited to create the installation titled “Him” by Warsaw’s Centre for Contemporary Art. The Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem also recently slammed locating the statue “in the centre of what was the Warsaw Ghetto as a tasteless misuse of art, which insults the Nazis’ victims.”

“A ‘praying’ Hitler purposely placed in the centre of the area of the Warsaw Ghetto is a total distortion of the history of World War II and the Holocaust,” Efraim Zuroff, the centre’s director, said in a statement published on its website. A year after its invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany imprisoned nearly half a million Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto inside a walled-off foursquare-kilometer area of the city, mostly around its traditional Jewish quarter. About 100,000 were to die inside from starvation, disease or summary execution, while others were deported to death camps. The Nazis razed the site in 1943 after the failed Ghetto Uprising.— AFP

Navigator says at least 75 percent of a charity’s funding should be spent on the do-good programs themselves.

Look beyond the finances. Not every organization that is involved in a specific cause will have the same focus. A cancerrelated organization might target education or patient care or research, for example. “It’s critical that donors really take the time to learn what the charity does so they don’t get burned on the back end,” Miniutti says. “Don’t assume.” It’s also worth noting what role celebrities play in the charity.

When a famous person attaches her name to a well-known and regarded nonprofit, that’s one thing. When the rock star establishes his own nonprofit, then you have to vet it with extra care as you would any new charity that doesn’t already have a track record.

Ignore your phone. It is routine for charitable calls to come from professional telemarketing companies that could take a large percentage of the donation. “People still haven’t gotten the message that they should just hang up,” Miniutti says. “They should not donate over the phone.” Phone solicitations also don’t allow you the time to evaluate the organization, and make it more likely you end up giving to a group with a name that sounds familiar but isn’t

the one you had in mind.

Look for expertise. Even well-intentioned boosters can hurt a cause if they don’t know how to run a charity, and a legitimate group may simply be ineffective if its leaders don’t know how to run it.

Check out the boards and executives who serve the charity you’re considering and make sure they have experience in the nuts and bolts of philanthropy. Avoid tricky approaches. The Better Business Bureau warns would-be donors to steer clear of charities that send pitches that look like invoices, or that exaggerate the financial need of their organization or its cause. Beware, too, of groups that substitute an emotional appeal from a star for the more detailed explanation of how they operate. Give more to fewer causes. You can make your charitable giving more effective if you focus it. When you make larger donations to fewer groups, you cut down on the number of groups that will spend money continuing to market to you.

And if you give larger amounts to smaller or local charities, you may have more influence on how they are deployed. Finally, you’ll have fewer groups to research and more money to support those causes that mean the most to you - and to Justin Bieber.— Reuters

Mexico’s ‘grand warlock’ makes 2013 predictions

ntonio Vazquez is a cherubic 72-year-old with twinkling eyes, a long white beard and a knack for predicting things that don’t actually happen. For more than three decades, Mexico’s selfproclaimed “Grand Warlock” has been doing tarot card and horoscope readings to reveal what’s in store for the coming year. Among past predictions: Fidel Castro would die in 2008. Germany would win the 2006 World Cup. Barack Obama would lose to Mitt Romney.

Despite Vazquez’s consistently incorrect record of prognostication, dozens of journalists swarmed Mexico City’s press club on Friday for the Grand Warlock’s latest round of predictions in what has become one of this country’s most reliably strange and inexplicably popular New Year’s traditions. On tap for 2013, according to the Grand Warlock: a new war in the Middle East, chaos in Venezuela and a tough year for Obama. But it’s not all bad news. Vazquez said 2013 will be a great year for Mexico, a country that has struggled with drug violence and a slow economy.

“Mexico is going to have a relevant place in the world, economically speaking,” he said. “Mexico will place itself as a paradise for investors.” The thick-browed warlock also said there will be a lot less people killed this year in Mexico.

According to some statements by the current Mexican administration, at least 70,000 people were slain

Van Der Beek takes to the stage in ‘The Gift’ Antonio Vazquez Alba, popularly known as the “Grand Warlock,” holds up Tarot cards as he gives his traditional predictions for the New Year during a press conference in Mexico City. — AP

between 2006 and 2012 as the government of then President Felipe Calderon battled drug traffickers.

After reading some of his dozens of predictions, Vazquez took questions from reporters and said tarot cards showed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is battling cancer, will make it to his inauguration but that he will be dead by April.

He also said cards showed him the death of Jenni Rivera, the Latin music superstar who was killed Dec. 8 in a plane crash, was not an accident. “The plane would not have

exploded the way it did if it hadn’t been carrying a bomb,” he said.

Investigators have not revealed any evidence the plane exploded in the air. Regardless of his shortcomings, his readings get wide coverage in the local media. And there have been times when he has been spoton. In 2006, he predicted Calderon would win the Mexican presidency.

Last January, the warlock accurately predicted that the world would not end in December, saying theories of doomsday in 2012 were “big fat lies.”— AP

Madonna, Springsteen biggest world tours

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op and rock music legends bested their younger chart-topping competition on the concert trail in 2012, according to data released on Friday by trade publication Pollstar. Pop matriarch Madonna, 54, led all competition, grossing some $296.1 million in ticket sales in her 88-show world tour.

She topped Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band ($210.2 million) and Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters ($186.4 million). The elder statesmen of the music world, while no longer topping the charts or scoring radio hits, are doing well because their older audiences can afford to pay higher ticket prices, Gary Bongiovanni, Pollstar editor said.

“Certainly the older acts charge more because they can get away with it,” he said. The Rolling Stones were able to command an eye-popping $529.51 average ticket price. Their five-show tour in November and December grossed

n an initiative which reinforces its commitment to innovation and consumer engagement, Persil Abaya Shampoo, a world-class product from Persil which offers the perfect Abaya cleanliness and black color retention, announced a new campaign on the Social Media platform on December 16. As part of the Persil Abaya world Social Media engagement, participants get a chance to directly engage with Rabia Z, one of the most renowned Abaya designers in the region, and influence her for the latest Abaya designs - from inspiration to execution - all on the Persil Abaya Shampoo Social Media platform.

Lisa Tohme, Brand Manager - Laundry Care at Henkel Arabia, said: “Persil, which has always believed in creating products tailored to the needs of the consumers has taken its consumer engagement to the next level through this Social Media initiative on all channels - be it Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest etc.” She added: “This initiative allows participants to influence the future Abaya trends through an interactive and engaging voting mechanism. Our initiative will go a long way in influencing the future design trends using Social Media and we are confident that our consumers will love this campaign.”

The new campaign will roll out with the launch of an inspiration video featuring Rabia Z by the sea, sketching in her atelier etc on various Social Media channels. This video is later broken down into mini streams - scenes of views that catches Rabia Z’s attention - be it a beautiful work of art, a motivational sketch, the warmth of a texture, the inspiration from a word or a book, the beauty of the sand and the nature or the solitude of the sea and fans would be asked to choose the mini video that inspires them the most.

The most-voted video is announced, and Rabia Z starts with her Abaya sketch based on the video content. Three shortlisted sketches will then be rolled out on the Persil Abaya Shampoo Facebook page and the participants will be asked to vote for the design they want Rabia Z to execute. Following this, three distinct Abaya fabrics will be uploaded, and the fans get to vote for their chosen one, depending on texture, season, occasion etc.

The next stage will involve fans to vote for the embellishments they want on the Abayas - lace, velvet, studs etc, which would be later adapted by Rabia Z on the designs. The winner will be randomly selected by Rabia Z through a raffle draw. Overall, there are three prizes to be won - one for the inspiration phase, one for the execution phase and one for the final winner of the Abaya for the whole competition. Fans who take part in all the stages will stand more chances to win as their names will be entered more than once. So, what are you waiting for? Please check out the videos on the Persil Abaya Facebook page on apps.facebook.com/rabia-z.

“The whole exercise is aimed at giving our consumers the voice in our decisions. We chose the Social Media channels to engage with our customers as we thought this was an effective medium to get their involvement in our outreach program,” added Lisa. The Persil Abaya Shampoo offers the perfect Abaya cleanliness & black color retention with its revolutionary German ‘Black Lock’ Technology, protecting the blackness of the Abaya and keeps it as good as new after every wash.

$35.5 million, good enough for No 33 on the list. British rockers Coldplay were No 4 on the list, taking in $171.3 million.

Lady Gaga placed fifth grossing $161.4 million while at No 6 Cirque Du Soleil’s tribute to late King of Pop Michael Jackson grossed $140.2 million during a 172-show tour. Teen sensation Justin Bieber, who played a 35-show tour, failed to crack the top 20, taking in $40.2 million, at No 23. Acts that cemented their reputations decades ago dominated the top-grossing tours even while playing fewer shows. Country stars Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw placed seventh grossing $96.5 million in 23 shows, while heavy metal pioneers Metallica were one spot lower at $86.1 million over 30 shows. Some artists have been enticed to jack-up their own ticket prices after seeing how much more resellers were able to command, Bongiovanni explained.—Reuters

Madonna seen at Macy’s Herald Square in New York.—AP

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ames Van Der Beek is following in the footsteps of his former “Dawson’s Creek” co-star Katie Holmes with an upcoming role on stage. The actor, who also starred in “Varsity Blues” and currently appears as himself in ABC’s “Don’t Trust the B—— in Apartment 23,” will hit the boards in the American premiere of Joanna Murray-Smith’s “The Gift” at the Geffen Playhouse. Emmy Award-winning actress Kathy Baker (“Picket Fences”) also will star in the play, directed by Maria Aitken. Opening night is set for Feb 6, with previews beginning Jan 29.

The play revolves around two couples who meet while vacationing at a resort and become fast friends. When one seemingly inconsequential event throws their lives into a tailspin, the couples find themselves wrestling with a moral dilemma. Chris Mulkey and Jaime Ray Newman round out the cast.

“The Gift” was commissioned by Melbourne Theatre Company, where it received its world premiere.

Murray-Smith’s “The Female of the Species” was seen at the Geffen in 2010, with Annette Bening and Merritt Wever of “Nurse Jackie.” It played to mixed reviews. Van Der Beek will next be seen in the Paramount film “Labor Day,” directed by Jason Reitman and also starring Kate Winslet.

The actor, who also starred in “Varsity Blues” and currently appears as himself in ABC’s “Don’t Trust the B— in Apartment 23,” will hit the boards in the American premiere of Joanna Murray-Smith’s “The Gift” at the Geffen Playhouse. Emmy Award-winning actress Kathy Baker (“Picket Fences”) also will star in the play, directed by Maria Aitken. Opening night is set for Feb 6, with previews beginning Jan 29. The play revolves around two couples who meet while vacationing at a resort and become fast friends.

When one seemingly inconsequential event throws their lives into a tailspin, the couples find themselves wrestling with a moral dilemma.

Chris Mulkey and Jaime Ray Newman round out the cast. “The Gift” was commissioned by Melbourne Theatre Company, where it received its world premiere. Murray-Smith’s “The Female of the Species” was seen at the Geffen in 2010, with Annette Bening and Merritt Wever of “Nurse Jackie.” It played to mixed reviews. Van Der Beek will next be seen in the Paramount film “Labor Day,” directed by Jason Reitman and also starring Kate Winslet.— Reuters

Mexico’s ‘grand warlock’ makes 2013 predictions

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013

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A gigantic, yellow rubber duck is prepared prior to being floated into Sydney’s Darling Harbor yesterday to kick off Sydney’s annual arts festival, a celebration which combines high-art with popular entertainment. — AFP

Giant rubber duck brings Sydney festival to life A

gigantic, bright yellow rubber duck floated into Sydney’s Darling Harbor on Saturday as part of the Australian city’s annual arts festival, a celebration where high-art meets popular entertainment. Each January hundreds of thousands of people attend theatre, music, dance, film, talks and other events for three weeks, often braving sweltering summer temperatures and thunderstorms for their dose of culture.

The 2013 festival, which will present 92 events from some 750 artists from 17 countries, kicked off Saturday under bright sunshine, with thousands lining Darling Harbor for the entry of artist Florentijn Hofman’s inflatable duck. “What

makes Sydney Festival unique I think is this amazing blend of serious art and quirky and playful entertainment,” festival director Lieven Bertels said. “And what better to celebrate that than with a really, lovely public art work such as the rubber duck.”

Bertels said the duck-a 15-metre high creation by Dutchman Hofman, models of which have appeared in other cities-appealed to the young and old, bringing back childhood memories for some. “This is the Sydney duck and for him (Hofman) what’s important about it is that it is not just a playful thing but also one that connects,” Bertels explained.

“Because his whole theory around this, which is quite beauti-

ful, is that all these harbors are connected to the local seas, and all these seas are part of one big ocean. So he says, well, really the whole world is one big bathtub. “And what better way to celebrate summer than to have a giant bathtub party?”

Many Sydney Festival events, such as the duck’s arrival, are free and family-oriented to showcase the personality of Australia’s biggest city. This year the big attractions will be a sexy Latino circus show from Circolombia and soul singer Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, but the January 5 to 27 festival will also present an interpretation of Handel’s opera “Semele” and encompass an exhibition of works by painter Francis Bacon. Quirky events include a performance by an

actor who will run a full marathon on a treadmill in front of spectators at Sydney’s Hyde Park while wearing gold sneakers and recounting an ancient Greek tale.

Sydney Festival was designed to bring life back into the city during the slow summer months. It first took place in 1977 and has since then grown to become one of the country’s largest annual cultural celebrations. “For me, from my European perspective, what made it really unique is this amazing way where you can combine high art and entertainment and very popular stuff all in one festival which is something you don’t often do in European arts festivals,” said Belgium-born Bertels. — AFP

Monster tuna sells for a record-breaking $1.8 m

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monster bluefin tuna sold for a record-breaking $1.8 million in the year’s first auction at Japan’s Tsukiji fish market yesterday, nearly three times the previous high set last year. The 222-kilogram (488pound) fish, caught off Japan’s northern city of Oma, fetched a winning bid of 155.4 million yen (about $1.8 million), said an official at the Tokyo fish market. The figure dwarfs the previous high of 56.49 million yen paid at last year’s inaugural auction at Tsukiji, a huge working market that features on many Tokyo tourist itineraries.

Yesterday’s winning bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, president of the company that runs the popular SushiZanmai chain, who also won the auction for last year’s record-breaking bluefin.

“I wanted to meet expectations of my customers who said they wanted to eat Japan’s best tuna again this year,” Kimura was quoted by Jiji Press as saying after

the intense pre-dawn bidding. “With this good tuna, I hope to help cheer up Japan,” Kimura said. Based on the price paid-around 700,000 yen per kilogram-a single slice of sushi from the monster fish would cost diners as much as 30,000 yen. But Kimura plans to sell it at a huge loss, for a more realistic price of up to 398 yen per portion, local media reported.

Bluefin is usually the most expensive fish available at Tsukiji. Decades of overfishing have seen global tuna stocks crash, leading some Western nations to call for a ban on catching endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna.

Japan consumes three-quarters of the global bluefin catch, a highly prized sushi ingredient known in Japan as “kuro maguro” (black tuna) and dubbed by sushi connoisseurs the “black diamond” because of its scarcity. A piece of “otoro” or fatty underbelly can cost some 2,000 yen at high-end Tokyo restaurants — AFP President of sushi restaurant chain Sushi-Zanmai, Kiyoshi Kimura, displays a 222kg bluefin tuna at his main restaurant near Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market yesterday. The bluefin tuna was traded at 155.4 million yen ($1.8 million) at the wholesale market, smashing a previous record. — AFP

A sushi chef (right) serves tuna sushi made from a 222-kg (488-pound) bluefin tuna. — AFP

Photo shows a block of meat from a 222-kg (488-pound) bluefin tuna. — AFP