24th Dec

CR IP TI ON BS SU

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

Community group crochets for charity

www.kuwaittimes.net

SAFAR 21, 1435 AH

Talks threatened as Syria pounds Aleppo, killing hundreds

Saudi Arabia unveils record $228bn budget for 2014

Manning sets TD pass record as Denver clinches playoffs

NO: 16026

Assembly declared legit

40 PAGES

150 FILS

20 3All ministers 7 21 resign after Dashti, Fadhl named winners, Maasouma, Tahous out

Max 17º Min 03º High Tide 02:55 & 16:42 Low Tide 09:23 & 21:42

By B Izzak ambassador’s message

Electronic visa waiver explained

By Frank Baker

British Ambassador to Kuwait

I

am sure many of you will have seen the announcement by British Prime Minister David Cameron that Kuwait is to be included in the rollout of a new ‘electronic visa waiver’ scheme during 2014. This news was reconfirmed by Foreign Secretary William Hague when he visited Kuwait earlier this month. This decision reflects the close links between our two countries, and in particular how welcoming the UK wants to be to the many Kuwaitis who visit us each year, whether for tourism, business, investment, healthcare or education.

Since the announcement of the scheme, many of my Kuwaiti friends have asked me how it will work and when it will come in. There is clearly still uncertainty, rumour and misinformation out there.

So let me explain.

Firstly, on the timing, the same visa waiver scheme will apply in four Gulf countries. It will come in on Jan 1 for the UAE, Oman and Qatar. The rollout to Kuwait will be later, once the technology works. The reason Kuwait is later is a simple matter of numbers and technology. Kuwait has more visitors than the other countries combined. If we added Kuwait to the scheme in January, the system might fail. Rather, Kuwaitis will get to benefit once we’re sure the system works. But until then, and including from Jan 1, Kuwaitis travelling to the UK still need a visa.

Secondly, on what a visa waiver will cover. It provides for a single entry visit to the UK for tourism, business, healthcare or study for a period of up to six months. However those travelling to work or to study for a period longer than six months will still need to apply for the relevant visas as usual.

Thirdly, on process - applicants have to submit a form online at least 48 hours before they intend to travel. There is no requirement to go to an application centre or submit biometrics. The online form has an account system which means you only have to submit personal information once (name, date of birth, passport number etc). You will also have to give travel details. You will then be sent a visa waiver which you need to print out and take to the airport. Each visa waiver is only valid for a single trip.

But, you are able to have as many as you need simultaneously and can apply in advance. So if you went to Brussels for the day, you could print out two separate visa waivers, one for when you arrive in the UK and the second for your return trip from Brussels. Getting a visa waiver is completely free.

This is the first time the UK has ever introduced such a system, and we’re delighted that the Gulf is the first place it will be used.

KUWAIT: Newly-declared MP Nabeel Al-Fadhl (left) is all smiles as fellow MP Abdulhameed Dashti flashes the victory sign at the National Assembly yesterday after the constitutional court declared them winners in the July polls. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: All 15 Cabinet ministers yesterday submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Sabah almost immediately after the constitutional court ruled that the current National Assembly is legitimate and can complete its four-year term. State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad AlAbdullah Al-Sabah said the ministers “placed their resignations at the disposal of the prime minister in order to enable him to prepare the necessary requirements for the next phase” amid reports that the premier is undertaking a Cabinet reshuffle.

Sheikh Mohammad said the prime minister decided to refer the matter to HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah to take measures that will serve national interests. The prime minister is expected to axe several members of the Cabinet that was formed less than five months ago after many of them came under fire from lawmakers who grilled several ministers and the prime minister himself. Sheikh Mohammad said the government will not be able to attend today’s parliamentary session because the ministers have resigned.

Assembly speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem said he has received an official letter from the government informing him that all the ministers have resigned and that the government will not attend the Assembly session today.

But Ghanem said he will come to the session and will announce its cancellation if the government does not attend. Under the law, parliamentary sessions cannot be held without the presence of at least one minister.

Ghanem said that it’s time to form a Cabinet that fulfills the aspirations of the Kuwaiti people. Lawmakers have already called on the prime minister to axe several Continued on Page 13

Outrage over limiting burials to locals Municipality denies plan • Rights group slams affront

By A Saleh KUWAIT: Kuwait Municipality has denied a report that it was considering limiting burials in Kuwait to citizens only. The report surfaced when a memo, dated Dec 18, was published in the local press.

Fahd Al-Musbahi, acting assistant director general of municipal services, wrote the memo to Kuwait Municipality Director General Ahmed Al-Subaih. It said that there has been a rise in the number of expatriate dead buried in Kuwait and as a result, land meant for Kuwaitis is being used to bury foreigners.

The memo recommends that the government bans all burials of expatriates, except in extreme cases.

Following the publication of the memo, the Municipality issued a strong denial. In a statement to the press yesterday, Subaih explained that the internal memo was simply a part of the annual proposals submitted by various departments within the governing body. “The Municipality continues its duties towards the dead and there is no discrimination between Kuwaitis and expatriates. We respect the dignity of all,” said Subaih.

President of Kuwait Human Rights Committee Khalid Al-Humaidi Al-Ajmi yesterday condemned the alleged plan, adding that “a human being has dignity and the right to be buried in a suitable grave, and what this official has said is

Russian punks vow to fight on after release MOSCOW: The two jailed members of anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot, whose imprisonment prompted a wave of global outrage, walked free yesterday and immediately vowed to fight injustice in Russian prisons. Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were released two months early under a Kremlin-backed amnesty after serving most of their two-year sentences. They immediately slammed the measure as a publicity stunt before the Olympic

Games Russia will host in February. “I don’t think the amnesty is a humanitarian act, I think it’s a PR stunt,” the 25year-old Alyokhina said.

The pair, who both have small children, and fellow activist Yekaterina Samutsevich were convicted on charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after staging a “punk prayer” in an Orthodox cathedral in Moscow in Feb 2012. During the event, they asked Continued on Page 13

Maria Alyokhina

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova

The alleged municipal memo that sparked the furore. very dangerous and extreme”. He said in a statement that such a move is an exaggeration of force against the weak expat, as Almighty Allah said in the Holy Quran that He alone has knowledge in what land a person will die.

Continued on Page 13

in the

news

AK-47 designer dies

UAE jails American

MOSCOW: Mikhail Kalashnikov, the designer of fabled AK-47 automatic rifle, died yesterday, the office of the presidency in the Udmurtia region where he worked said. He was 94. Kalashnikov designed a weapon that became synonymous with killing on a sometimes indiscriminate scale but was seen in the Soviet Union as a national hero and symbol of Moscow’s proud military past. Lavished with honours including the prestigious Hero of Russia prize for designing the iconic rifle, Kalashnikov has said he had never intended for it to become the preferred weapon in conflicts around the world. “I sleep well. It’s the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence,” he said in 2007. AK-47’s name stands for “Kalashnikov’s Automatic” and the year it was designed, 1947. Its variants are the weapons of choice for dozens of armies and guerrilla groups around the world. More than 100 million Kalashnikov rifles, which rarely jams even in adverse conditions, have been sold worldwide.

ABU DHABI: A UAE court jailed yesterday an American and four other men for one year after they made a YouTube video that mocked Dubai teenagers. Shezanne Cassim, a 29-year-old from Minnesota, has been held since April after being charged with endangering the security of the United Arab Emirates under a cybercrimes law. He was also fined 10,000 dirhams ($2,725).

Two Indian defendants were handed a similar punishment, while two Emirati brothers, already behind bars, were jailed for eight months and each fined 5,000 dirhams ($1,362). A Canadian woman, a British woman and an American man who were never detained were also sentenced to one year in jail, in addition to being fined. Their link to the spoof video was unclear. The 19minute video, called the “Satwa Comedy School”, gently parodies Dubai teenagers from the city’s Satwa district who styled themselves as tough “gangstas” wearing hiphop clothes and listening to rap music, but who in reality were known for very mild behaviour.

Mikhail Kalashnikov

Shezanne Cassim

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

LOCAL

Domestic helpers work through most holidays ‘Larger issue - no day off, ever!’

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: People all over the world will celebrate Christmas tomorrow. For many Christians in Kuwait, Christmas is the happiest time of the year as it is celebrated with joy just like Eid for Muslims.

While many would be celebrating with their loved ones and friends, many domestic helpers will not get a chance to celebrate at all. This reporter spoke to three housemaids who shared their sad stories.

“I informed my employer on my intention to take a day off this Christmas but he said ‘No’,” said Joan, a Filipina housemaid working with her Kuwaiti sponsor for over two years.

“I’ve not had a day off since I started work. This will be my second Christmas in Kuwait without attending church service,” added Joan. Asked for why her employer refused her request for a day off, she said, “They told me they don’t want any problem. I don’t know what problem they are talking about.”

But problems do sometimes arise where domestic helpers are kidnapped or run away with their boyfriends, become pregnant without being married or are physically harassed,

attacked or even raped. Absconding cases are common and local embassies are full of runaway maids.

Many employers here do allow employees off for special holidays including Christmas and New Year’s. Although there is no current law on domestic workers in Kuwait, the Ministry of Interior implements regulations and stresses the protection and well-being of foreign domestic helpers.

In 2007, while waiting for the approval of the domestic labor law, which never materialized, the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs launched a project to educate and enlighten both employees and domestic workers on basic rights including the culture and traditions of Kuwait and their domestic helpers’ origin. The Ministry of Awqaf initially provided the employer with the customs and traditions of their employees and urged the embassy officials to provide the same to their nationals.

Jocelyn, another Filipina housemaid, will again be celebrating Christmas not just away from home, but away from familiar traditions. “I was prepared for this scenario. I knew I could not

observe Christian religious festivities here including Christmas - so I don’t bother asking my boss.

But given the chance, I would really love to attend Mass,” she said. Jocelyn and her Filipina colleague have been working for their employer for the past four years but so far have never received a day off. “I think the reason why we survived was because we are at least going out with their children to leisure parks, so we are not very much concerned about the day off anymore. But I could only surmise what Kuwait looks like,” she said.

Brenda was lucky though. “Yes I don’t have any day off except three hours every Christmas and New Year. I am thankful enough,” she said. “I don’t need a day off anyway since I came to work and I don’t have any business to do outside. At least I can save money,” Brenda reasoned.

The larger issue is that many domestic workers receive no day off and often work 12-16 hour days without breaks. The Kuwait Human Rights Society has called on local politicians to approve a domestic workers law to protect their sector.

Draft laws have been submitted but still awaiting approval from the parliament.

Labour needs assessment complaints

KUWAIT: The local drug fighting department at the narcotics authority arrested two citizens and an Arab in possession of 120 kg of hashish after getting tips that the stash was to be brought in by sea. After coordination with the Coast Guard, the suspects along with the hashish and the boat used for smuggling were detained. The three said the drugs were brought in for sale. They were sent to concerned authorities. —Photo by Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: A number applicants at Farwaniya labor department filed complaints about the department’s assessment of the number of expatriate laborers employers and private company owners needed noting that the assessment was being done selectively according to the clerks’ personal decisions without specific regulations and regardless of the company’s nature of work and real need of manpower.

Commenting on the complaints, Hamad Al-Fadhli, owner of a shipment, loading, unloading and handling company stressed that his company loads and unloads thousands of tons everyday though it only has 38 employees and most of them do indoor administrative jobs. “I’m having a severe shortage of handling manpower and have applied for more workers more than once “but my request was rejected.....how can 12 workers unload thousands of tons every day?!”, he wondered.

Hussein Fadhel said that he owns light and heavy goods transport company and that he filed a request to increase the number of workers and was only allowed 15 workers though the company has dozens of trucks.

On his part, Hussein Ya’qoub, a company representative, stressed that the labor assessment department is understaffed and, accordingly, overcrowded. “How come checking a store to assess its needs takes over three months?!”, he wondered noting that such delay costs companies considerable losses. He added that some clerks treat applicants in a bad manner and sometimes drive them out of the office and stop receiving transactions.

Future Saudi Cities MOU signed KUWAIT: United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Kuwait announced yesterday, that Saudi Prince Dr Mansour Bin Miteb Bin Abdulaziz, Minister Municipal and Rural Affairs, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Joan Clos, Undersecretary General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UNHabitat, to bring 17 Saudi cities to another level of development that are more sustainable.

its cities development stand and how to move forward to increase the attractiveness, competitiveness, and the quality of life of cities in the Kingdom in order to achieve a better and sustainable life for its future residents.

Prince Dr. Mansour bin Miteb said, “Based on the approval of the Royal Court, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs represented by the Deputy Ministry for Planning,

view of the situation and their needs by focusing on individual cities. Measuring prosperity factors across five dimensions- productivity, infrastructure quality of life, equity and environmental sustainability, recommended by the World Urban Forum at its sixth session in Naples in 2012: to produce active urban towns with urban infrastructure, that allows promotion of social and civic engagements preserving cul-

Prince Dr Mansour Bin Miteb Bin Abdulaziz and Joan Clos signing the MOU. ‘Future Saudi Cities’ programme will prepare cities and equip them with necessary monitoring tools and capacities for prosperity as part of the Post 2015 Development Agenda preparations.

‘Future Saudi Cities’ programme is the largest programme of UNHABITAT in the region. It makes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the first nation in the Middle East to take active steps in preparation for implementing the New Urban agenda and initiate a comprehensive approach to assessing where

the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economy to jointly prepare a programme with UN-HABITAT. The programme will help the exchange of information in providing facts, figures, analytical plans and statistical studies in order to apply best practices to measure the readiness of the 17 selected major cities in the Kingdom to process localised transformation to economically viable, equitable and inclusive cities.

The cities selected will apply the ‘City Prosperity Index,’ urban indicators that help cities get a bird’s eye

tural identity, while ensuring easy access to urban mobility and connectivity.

He further added, the indicators will identify shortfalls faced by our cities, such as, the quality of programs and projects to be addressed and its deficiencies. Through projects that contribute to the transformation of ‘Saudi Cities’, that are both appealing and highly competitive in achieving a better life for its inhabitants.

Prince Dr. Mansour Bin Mitab emphasized, all programs will use

local and international expertise, both from local Municipals and private sectors to hold intensive workshops for this purpose. With the participation of youths or anyone interested in the development of their future cities of the Kingdom.

Degree of competitiveness “Saudi cities are currently initializing developmental programs towards modernizing itself to achieve a degree of competitiveness and economic transformation, achieving sustainable development in Arab cities, as followed by the recommendations of the “World Urban Forum - the sixth session, which was held in the city of Naples, Italy, in September 2012,” affirmed Dr. Joan Clos, Undersecretary General of the United Nations.

Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Sheikh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs for Town & Planning, ended by saying, “He’s looking forward to this program as the selected 17 major cities will be the first practical application of the new global urban agenda. In a comprehensive manner, being the first state in the world to take practical steps for the preparation and implementation of the new Development Agenda Post 2015 and starting preparations for the United Nations Housing and Urban Development Summit to be held in 2016. “ Turning them into sustainable prosperous cities, through the study of each city separately by determining available infrastructure and economic factors, social and cultural, and find out the strengths and weaknesses of each city and to draw a roadmap for these cities in order to address the weaknesses, as a first stage, and then will be applied to other cities in which the time-frame for this strategic programme will take approximately 4 years with the occurrence of several workshops and meetings with citizens and officials,” concluded Dr. AlSheikh

GCC plans unified medications code K UWAIT: M inistr y of Health Assistant Undersecretary for general health affairs Dr Qais Al-Duwairi said that GCC health ministries were currently preparing a unified code for purchasing medications in all GCC states.

He added that the code, that clearly defines the duties of the technical committees, the executive bureau and the companies partici-

pating in the program, has already become a reference for participating states and companies.

Duwairi stressed that the new code was a good step towards achieving joint GCC work in a bid to supply states’ needs of medications needed for public hospitals through collective tendering.

GCC ministries’ executive office manager Dr Tawfiq bin Khoujah said that the total values of the tenders made this year through the new code was $1,270,000 divided between medications ( $1,014,000,000), vaccinations ( $ 223 million), chemicals ( $ 440,000), pesticides ($ 6,979,000), radioactive isotopes ($2,252,000) and artificial kidneys ($21,495,000).

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Dive Team successfully removed a steel boat that was washed ashore off the Ushairej beach as a result of the strong winds. The team cooperated with the government’s Removal of Violations on State Properties Committee, and used heavy-duty equipment to put the 130-feetlong ship back to a vertical base.

‘Model contract’ stipulates domestic workers’ working hours, rights KUWAIT: A domestic worker will not be allowed to work more than 8 hours a day, will be entitled to one day off a week, and will no longer be referred to as a ‘maid’ or ‘servant’ in official documents. This can soon become a reality in Kuwait if the Gulf Cooperation Council approves a unified bill to organize the affairs of domestic helpers in GCC states. A copy of the proposal, written by the Council of Ministers of Labor and Ministr y of Social Affairs in the GCC Executive Bureau, was recently forwarded to the office of Abdulmuhsin Al-Mutairi, the undersecretary of the minister of social affairs and labor in Kuwait.

No date is set for when or even if the proposal might become a law. The draft bill must be examined by a committee and then approved by the parliament. The proposal stipulates a ‘model contract’ signed between a domestic worker and his or her employer. It is billed as a law that will enhance the status of domestic helpers “and shifts them to a whole new social rank”, while at the same time ends human right violations and criticism of GCC domestic labor policies, reported Annahar daily.

Details of the proposed law bring the issues of domestic workers closer to that of other private sector employees. For instance, in the proposal, a work contract must stipulate that a servant can be paid overtime and can trade their off day with pay or an extra day off at another time. The proposal also calls for the contract to be divided into six chapters - the first indicates that an employer must grant sick leaves to the worker in accordance to regulations of their country of residence, and pay compensation for injuries that happen at the workplace.

The employer is also required to pay for the worker ’s travel and work permit expenses, and must agree to avoid forcing a worker to work for someone else - for

extra pay or not. Furthermore, the employer is also compelled to guarantee an annual leave to the worker and pay for their travel expenses both to and from their country of origin. The proposed law also indicates that an employer must pay expenses for transferring the body of a deceased worker back home.

Duty commitments A worker’s duty commitments are explained in the second chapter. This suggests a servant must work with integrity, protect the employer’s possessions and avoid disclosing personal information about the employer or his/her family or to the public. A domestic worker signing the contract also agrees to avoid working for others during the duration of the contract, whether for extra pay or not. The chapter also points out that the employer must deposit a worker’s monthly salary in a bank account, or hand a signed receipt to a worker if the salary is paid in cash.

Work hours and leave days are explained in the fourth chapter, while the fifth addresses conditions in which the contract is voided. This happens by the death of an employer or employee, while an option is given to move the sponsorship to a working family member if the original employer passes away. The contract is valid for one year, and becomes automatically void if it is not renewed before it expires. A disability or sickness that renders a worker unable to work also allows the employer to terminate the contract.

Lastly, the sixth chapter stipulates that an employer is not allowed to confiscate a domestic worker’s passport which is considered a ‘personal document’. It also indicates that a contract can be made available in a foreign language that the worker requests.

There is no clear timeline as of how or when or even if the parliament will consider the proposal.

Court orders MoD compensate Asian shepherd KD 30,000 KUWAIT: The court of appeal has overruled the first instance court’s ruling mandating the defence ministry to compensate an Asian shepherd with KD 10,000 for having both legs amputated when he stepped on a landmine left over by Iraqi troops, and ordered the ministry to pay KD 30,000 instead.

Notably, the 45-year-old Asian had stepped on a landmine in Wafra while taking his sponsor’s sheep out to graze and passed out to wake up in hospital with both legs amputated (the left from below the knee and the right from above the knee). Lawyer Mohammed Kamal questioned the first instance court’s ruling on grounds that a single artificial leg costs KD 15,000 and the man needs two in order to keep on working to support his wife and chilLawyer dren. “He has 100 percent disability according to articles 230 and Mohammed Kamal 231 of Kuwait’s civil law,” he added.

Former Slovanian president Dr Danilo Turk with the Head of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce Ali Al-Ghanim

Slovenia woos Kuwaiti investments KUWAIT: Visiting former president of Slovenia Dr Danilo Turk has encouraged the Kuwaiti business sector to engage in a strategic partnership with his country to build an Islamic center in the capital Ljubljana.

During a meeting with President of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Ali Al-Ghanim, Turk said that his country is mostly active in therapeutic

tourism, oil refining and furniture manufacturing. Therefore, he encouraged Kuwaiti businessmen to invest in these sectors.

On his part, Al-Ghanim described ties between Kuwait and Slovenia as “excellent”, and hoped to promote the economic side of these ties.

He added that the Kuwaiti investor enjoys world-wide and successful experiences in investments. —KUNA

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

LOCAL

Khayt Group members crocheted more than 250 hats for the children of the NBK Hospital and for children at the Kuwait orphanage.

Members of Khayt Group distributed handmade crochet hats to the children of the NBK Children’s hospital during a recent visit. — Photos courtesy Khayt Group

Crocheting for charity

By Jamie Etheridge All it takes is a hook and pile of yarn to open a world of possibilities. From warm hats to cozy baby blankets, from delicate shawls to chunky scarves, from coffee cup cozies to stuffed dolls, you can create almost anything with crochet.

Crochet, along with outdoor markets and yoga, has become a popular new pastime in Kuwait. Locals and expatriate women alike enjoy the handicraft for the beautiful things they can create as well as the relaxing nature of the activity. A new crochet community, Khayt Group, has been established to help introduce the art to people in Kuwait.

Khayt group is a local voluntary handicraft group established under the sponsorship of Al

Sadu House in September 2013 focused on crochet. Khayt aims to introduce the art of crochet to Kuwait society by organizing exhibitions, workshops and classes for children and adults teaching crochet and crocheting projects. It also participates in a variety of charitable works, with members crocheting handmade items including granny squares, hats, scarves and more for charity organizations in Kuwait and the region.

“We have made hats, scarves, granny squares and other items for the children of the NBK Hospital, for orphans and flood victims in India and Syrian refugee children in Jordan and Turkey,” explained Nawal al Baker, Khayt founder. Some of the charity projects it has completed include: More than 500 granny squares donated to orphans and flood victims

Journalistic Creativity Contest KUWAIT: Kuwait Journalists Association (KJA) Secretary General and Head of the Kuwait Finance House Journalistic Creativity Contest Faisal Al-Qinae announced the launch of the contestís fifth edition. He said the contest has become an important event in Kuwait as it attracts hundreds of participants each year among those working in the business desks of various newspapers.

The contest succeeded during the last four years in honoring a large number of distinguished people and setting rules for journalistic professionalism and appreciation of creativity and good work in a way that enriches the journalism movement, particularly in the economic field. It is closely connected to its sponsor KFH, which is one of the biggest Islamic banks worldwide.

Qinae, in a press statement, said KJA will

start receiving articles published in local papers and magazines during 2013 from Jan 1 until the end of the month. The contest topics include news, journalistic investigation, columns, opinions and economic analysis. Each topic will have three prizes, which means the number of prizes is 12.

Every financial journalist who works in a daily paper or weekly magazine can participate in the contest provided that the article is published in local papers during the year 2013. The last day to submit publications is the end of January, and each journalist can participate with two items from the contest topics.

Prizes will be given to the first three winners of each topic as follows: First prize - KD 1000, second prize - KD 600 and third prize KD 400.

KUWAIT: The carpentry shop in Hasawi in which fire broke out yesterday.

Fire in Hasawi carpentry shop

By Hanan Al Saadoun KUWAIT: A huge fire broke out in a carpentry shop in Hasawi prompting five centers to respond in record time. It took firemen three hours to put out the fire, as the shop was in a house containing paints, highly flammable material and workers residence.

The efforts were led by Deputy Director General for Fighting and Human Resources Development Brig Khalid Al-Mikrad. Al-

Mikrad said that the fire was handled professionally and was contained in a record time. The building covered an area of 1500 sq meters, and there were many obstacles including random storage and the nature of stored material.

Director of Farwaniya Fire Center Col Tareq Al-Sabti said firemen have the experience in rescue and fire fighting, which allows them to move inside the burning building and look for trapped people.

in India. The granny squares will be assembled into blankets. More than 250 hats for the children of the NBK Hospital and for children at the Kuwait orphanage. Khayt members are now crocheting hats and scarves for Syrian refugee children in Jordan and Turkey.

“I love the feel of the yarn and crocheting is great to do when you are with friends or children or at home in the evenings watching TV or just chatting,” said a local crocheter who plans on teaching her daughters the handicraft. “I’m working on hats now for the Khayt Group to send to children in Syria. But guess what everyone is getting for Christmas!” she said.

There are also hundreds of YouTube videos for beginners that explain basic stitches and how-tos, even by male crocheters. There are

also a growing number of shops in Kuwait selling yarns, needles and books on crochet.

Crocheting a baby owl hat can take only a few hours for those who are experienced in crochet, however even beginners can complete simple projects fairly easily with a bit of guidance and trial and error.

Khayt Group is open to both Kuwaiti and expatriate women who crochet and meets weekly at Al Sadu House in Kuwait City. You can contact them at 9996-0005 or follow them on Instagram @khayt_group The group will meet Dec 25 at Sadu House from 4-7pm to collect and make items for Syrian refugee children. Bring your hooks and yarn and yarn will be given to those who want to donate hats, scarves, mittens or other items.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

LOCAL kuwait digest

kuwait digest

Kuwaiti traditions

Residential or investment?

By Mubarak Al-Duwailah

K

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

O

Pulling down the curtain

Const itutio nal co ur

Al-Anbaa

uwait is distinguished by social traditions that can never change regardless of time. Maybe the reason for this are the social links that bring people together, and the Kuwait society being generally religious and conservative and pays attention to what is halal and haram (right and wrong) in its relations. Today, I will speak about some of these traditions and concentrate on them because they are related to what the people are talking about in their diwaniyas!

Good nature, sincerity, mercy and respecting the brother and friend are instilled traditions in Kuwait’s society that fathers inherited from grandfathers, and now the children are maintaining them! This is the relation of senior sheikhs and the country’s elders with their peers and relatives, reflecting these Kuwaiti principles. So as soon as people started hearing the news about relieving Sheikh Nawaf AlAhmad, we knew that it was fabricated and untrue.

The reason, very simply, is that Kuwaiti traditions fixed the political leadership of the country represented in HH the Amir and HH the Crown Prince and only Almighty Allah can change it. We gave an example in a previous article on what we are saying when we mentioned that the late Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad rejected to relieve the late Sheikh Saad although he was unable to carry out his duties due to illness.

So how can this happen when we all know that HH the Crown Prince is fully fit?! The relieving of the crown prince at this particular time will be a precedent in Kuwait that can be used in the future, and will lead to the instability of the ruling house, and the spread of strife and division between its pillars! In addition, one of the country’s problems today lies in the extreme disputes between some of the family members, and I think that some of their ignorant ones are behind what is going on in the country in the form of rumors that disturb the friend and please the enemy.

The proof of what we are saying is what is being said about the return of some political symbols to the forefront once again! And this is highly impossible as I see it. The political arena has hardly calmed down, and to stir it again with such an incident - God forbid! The country is in a bad situation both internally and externally, so it is not smart to upset people under these circumstances. People today are waiting for the family elders to keep their young ones silent if they want their country stable and prosperous.

Finally, some of the opposition leaders could not wait and began dealing with the issue as if it was confirmed to them! They threatened bad consequences if what was being said in the tape about conspiracies about the country was true. I wish that we were patient to make sure the news was true, because maybe the one who spread it wanted to stir strife and compromise stability. The involvement of the opposition proved the credibility of the event, increasing the people’s fear about the future.

Although I understand the opposition’s fear that some of what was said in the tape may occur, but making sure was better before pre-judging false news!

There remains a question: What if the tape and its information is true?! —Al-Qabas

t

in my view

Gulf money squandering

By Dr Shamlan Yousuf Al-Essa

A

rabian Gulf countries lean towards taking people for a permanent economy and temporary one, unstudied, unsuccessful and aimless economic and to stay away from revenue economy by creating decisions with the only purpose to gain political an economy away from relying on oil and the state by loyalty of the people of the region amid the deterioraencouraging individual initiatives and encouraging the tion of the situation in the Arab world and avoid the private sector to work in various fields. A real economy protests that swept countries of the Arab world. News that depends on production and taxes with the aim of agencies and papers published that the UAE governproducing a productive citizen that rejects the idea of ment increased salaries of state employees with perexcess consumption and dependence on the state for centages varying between 30-100 percent according everything. Increasing salaries and wages is a wrong to their job titles. Qatar also increased salaries of policy that will definitely corrupt citizens and hinder employees by higher percentages, and some Kuwait their working in the private sector or self employment.

National Assembly members are demanding salary The majority of Gulf countries, despite the wealth of increases once again. some of them, remain marThese steps to raise ginalized, deeply involved in salaries and wages despite What we actually fear is what social and economic probwarnings from the World lems because of over conwe will do in case of another Bank and International sumption. GCC citizens are global economic recession, or still marginalized and do Monetary Fund about the dangers of raising salaries production of shale oil and gas not influence their counand increasing subsidies tries’ economic march on a large scale that will lessen because the majority of were expanded largely, which will create problems them are state employees demand for Gulf oil? for these countries if the who do not pay taxes and price of oil drops below do not serve in the army. $100. The Gulf countries will face major problems payWork and true production is done by Arab and foreign ing salaries to the armies of employees. workers who labor in the Gulf to a point where they What we actually fear is what we will do in case of have become a majority in our homelands. And it is another global economic recession, or production of very easy for ruling institutions to be independent shale oil and gas on a large scale that will lessen from their people because these people do not play a demand for Gulf oil? Can the Gulf countries reduce real role in the economic and political march of their salaries of employees after increasing them? This is countries. impossible, especially since our people are not used to We do not expect the government’s revenue poli“belt tightening” policies and austerity to avoid loomcies to change as long as oil keeps on flowing with ing economic crises. The Gulf “revenue” countries prices over $100 per barrel. True reform will start accustomed people to the policy of spending what is when oil prices drop below $80, and until that takes in the pocket, and getting what is known. place, you, the backward people, enjoy the salary The Gulf countries are supposed to prepare their increases. —Al-Watan

in my view

South Sudan stumble

By Basidia Drammeh

A

t the birth of the Republic of South Sudan two years ago, precisely on July 9 2011, following decades of a bitter civil war, which claimed an estimated two million people, there was an air of optimism that independence from Sudan would bring about a new era of development, reconciliation and reconstruction.

However, the world’s youngest country has been a failure. The hopes pinned on it have long evaporated and the aspirations were soon dashed.

Apart from the endless skirmishes with the elder sister, Sudan, the government of President Salva Kiir, who led the South Sudan’s Liberation Movement following the unceremonious death of John Garang in a plane crash, has demonstrated abysmal failure to steer the country in an efficient and competent manner. Bribery, mismanagement and corruption soon become the order of the day to an extent that the president himself came out accusing 75 percent of government officials of embezzling a staggering $4 billion from state coffers. Anti-corruption bodies indicate that the country performs extremely poorly in all areas of governance scoring well below 20, on a scale of 0 to 100!

While those in power are enjoying the oil wealth and aid money, ordinary citizens have been decrying and lamenting poor or lack of services, high levels of unemployment and incompetence, among others. However, of all those challenges, it was political exclusion that broke the camel’s back. Tribes such as the Nuer to which the ex-vice president Riek Machar belongs felt increasingly neutralized, excluded and isolated with the president concentrating power in his own hands and empowering the Dinka tribe from which he hails.

In July, he purged his Cabinet of potential rivals including Machar without

divulging any details amid reports of dictatorial tendencies. This is typical of some African leaders who are bent on surrounding themselves with their cronies from the same ethnic group, rather than fostering unity and inclusion as the state belongs to all. Doubtlessly, exclusion breeds a sense of disgruntlement that may eventually lead to civil strife.

When South Sudan achieved independence, it was widely believed that its new leaders, despite relative inexperience, would set an example for entire Africa on how to manage affairs in a competent and efficient manner as it has all the potential to do so, coupled with the sympathy the world has for it.

Today, the country is at a crossroads with mounting fears of civil war breaking out and eating up the country. If this happens, God forbid, it will render any remnant of hope for a turnaround unfeasible.

Reports have it that the troops loyal to Machar are now in control of large parts of the country. When the violence first flared, President Kiir, in a military uniform, claimed that a coup attempt was foiled.

Nevertheless, it soon transpired that the issue at stake is a political problem as said he was open to political negotiations with his rivals to restore peace.

It seems that Kiir lacks good judgment. If he had done his homework properly, the country wouldn’t have found itself in today’s pathetic condition.

He needs to learn from history in order to prevent another Somalia scenario unfolding under his watch. The international community should act before it is too late by forcing the government into negotiations with all stakeholders and sharing power with them. If the Central African Republic and South Sudan go unchecked, the entire region may be engulfed in a new wave of instability, lawlessness and anarchy.

ne of the main reasons that allowed the housing crisis to continue snowballing over the years is the fact that everyone, especially citizens with pending applications for a government house, continue to reject the idea of vertical construction, or apartments as a replacement for a house or a piece of land to build their house on.

There is nothing wrong in wanting to have your own house where you and your family can enjoy the privacy of living in your own building.

Personally speaking, I never even pictured living in an apartment and sharing a building with others. I believe that the same thought is shared by young men and women looking to have their own houses where they can enjoy privacy with their loved ones.

Furthermore, they deserve to have such places which provide sustainable stability and luxury that is rarely found in apartment buildings.

Kuwaitis transformed their areas into crowded cities, and houses into multi-storey buildings where children continue to live after marriage.

But model areas have lost the conditions to guarantee the environment they were designed to achieve. Is there a true ‘residential’ and model atmosphere in our areas today? Is there enough space and room for recuperation between and surrounding houses?

Kuwaitis transformed their areas into crowded cities, and houses into multi-storey buildings where children continue to live after marriage. The government went along with the process to transform houses that were originally dedicated for small families. Meanwhile, spaces and even parking spots between houses became very limited. Tall buildings were erected in their place regardless of residential or commercial controls. In the meantime, the government took over empty spaces that were originally dedicated for ventilation and plantation, and used them to build government buildings.

The point I am trying to make is this - there is little difference today between apartment buildings and houses divided between members of a big family or separated in partitions that are rented for financial gains. We need true residential areas that provide incentives for those looking for true housing, and at the same time have controls to limit overcrowding or turning areas into city-like districts like the current situation of our residential areas. —Al-Qabas

in my view

Burial of expatriates

By A Mohammad

I

could not believe my eyes when I saw a letter sent to the director general of Kuwait municipality from his assistant for municipal services. The letter was titled “Continued increase of the number of deaths of expats who are buried in the State of Kuwait’s cemeteries”. The letter ended with the recommendation that burial in Kuwait cemeteries be for Kuwaitis only, and that non-Kuwaitis should be allowed to be buried in Kuwait only in extreme necessity and in cemeteries decided by the department.

One can expect and accept anything in a country that he is a guest in, because it is only right for one to abide by the laws of the land he is in, but is death something one has control over? Whenever I go to Sulaibikhat for the funeral of a friend - be it a Kuwaiti or an expat - I always heard those present include prayers that bless Kuwait, its people and rulers for this service - the burial. How nice is it, with those in grief still remembering to ask Almighty Allah to protect Kuwait against all harm and evil. The efforts of Kuwaiti officials and people to liberate the country from a brutal occupation and ruthless tyrant were augmented by Kuwait’s charitable activities all over the world in all types, shapes and forms.

I hope that this proposal by the municipality official came during a time when he was under some sort of duress or was given false or inaccurate information about what is going on. Yes, it is a must for authorities to regulate expat labor. Yes it is alright to solve the problem of crowding at various state departments.

Yes, it is correct to ease pressure at clinics and hospitals. Yes it is alright to do something about traffic and control it...but, do you notice, my friends, that all that is under control of human beings? But, does anyone, anywhere around the globe have any control over his death and its place and time? Is it not mentioned in the Holy Quran that “no one knows where he’ll die”?

Kuwait is a Muslim country, its constitution states that. Kuwaitis are highly religious, and they are highly charitable as we are all aware of both at the official and individual levels. Kuwaiti scholars will for sure intervene to explain why this is not the right move and decision. Islamic tradition urges Muslims to bury their dead as quickly as possible to preserve the dignity of the deceased and the quickest way is to bury the dead where they die, unless they wanted to be buried somewhere else, like expats for example, because death is the only event in the world that does not discriminate at all between the old and young, man or woman, national or expat. What do you think?

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

LOCAL

Kuwait Airways may trim routes Economically unfeasible KUWAIT: Kuwait Airways may cut six destinations from its current list, according to local reports. The reports did not name the destinations up for elimination but noted that they were recommended by the IATA as economically unfeasible.

KAC’s executive team along with the marketing and sales department are discussing the recommendation to find out the amount of losses the company will incur if those routes remain operational.

Kuwait Airways recently inked a $4.4 billion deal to buy new Airbus jets - the first significant renewal of the airline’s ageing fleet since 1990.

The contract is expected to be signed in early 2014.

Kuwait Airways is currently undergoing a multi-year privatization process that has faced much resistance from vested interests both inside the company and in the government. The privatization plan must still be approved by parliament.

Repeated trouble with KAC flights - including mechanical failures, lengthy delays or flight cancellations due to unscheduled maintanance issues and other problems - has meanwhile damaged the airlines reputation among travellers in Kuwait and led many to choose alternative regional air carriers like Etihad, Emirates or Qatar Airways or Kuwait’s only private budget airline,

KUWAIT: Kuwait Airways is currently undergoing a multi-year privatization process.

Jazeera Airways.

KAC appointed a new Chairman, Rasha Abdulaziz Al-Roumi in early December after the previous chairman Sami Al-Nisf was suspended

by Communications Minister Eisa Al Kandari. The suspension led to a board reshuffle that included

West monitors funding of jihadists in Syria

KUWAIT: Officials of the Ahmadi fire department donating blood at a blood donation campaign at the Fahaheel fire center yesterday.

—Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: Western countries have a plan to monitor movements of funds in countries which support jihadists in Syria, including Kuwait. This was reported yesterday by a local daily quoting a European official who indicated that funding comes from individuals “and governments have nothing to do with it.”

“Saudi Arabia has a clear direction with regards to dealing with Syria,” the official said, adding that Arab Kingdom’s main goal is the removal of Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad “which is something that the West agrees on as well,” said an unnamed European official speaking to Al Rai newspaper’s correspondent in Brussels.

He also identified Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates as countries which share the same goal and at the same time have previously been accused of supporting global jihad. “We are completely aware of the activity of some individuals in the Middle East who provide support to extremists in Syria behind their governments’ backs,” the official said.

“We know that these countries face difficulties in achieving balance between their religions sectors, and between their interests with the West and extremists living on its lands who support global jihad”.

According to the official, this was the reason why Western countries worked on a “work plan to monitor money transfer and banks in the Middle East, including stricter measures to prevent financing jihad.”

“Several Middle Eastern countries expressed willingness to provide banking cooperation with regards to counter terrorism,” he added.

a new chairman and other changes.

Al-Kanderi named Jassar Abdulrazzaq AlJassar as Vice Chairperson, Khaled Abdulaziz Beshara, Nabeela Mubarak Al-Anjeri, Dr Abdullah Abdulsamad Maraafi and Rajaa Roudhan AlRoudhan as board members.

Appeals Court president dismissed KUWAIT: Consultant Ahmad Al-Ujail was dismissed from his position as president of the Appeals Court, an unprecedented step in the history of Kuwait’s judicial sector. The decision was made Sunday by the Supreme Judicial Council, with approval of four members and rejection of two others, Al-Qabas daily reported yesterday quoting sources with knowledge of the news.

The decision still needs to be signed by Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Sharida Al-Maosharji before becoming official. Al-Ujail refused to comment on the situation when contacted by Al-Qabas, but added in statements to AlJarida daily that he “worked and will continue to work for reform”.

Al-Jarida quoted ‘high-level sources’ in the meantime who said that the Supreme Judicial Council approved a recommendation to end Al-Ujail’s term as president of the Appeals Court during a meeting Sunday chaired by Consultant Yousuf Al-Mataw’ah, who is the president of the Cassation Court. “The council sought to put an end to the subject after hearing Al-Ujail’s opinion in a meeting last Monday, and after reviewing notes on decisions that he made during his tenure”, said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Al-Mataw’ah chaired Monday’s meeting on behalf of Supreme Judicial Court President Consultant Faisal Al-Mershed who was absent for personal reasons, Al-Jarida reported. The decision came following two-weeks of discussion after judges and consultants complained about decisions that Al-Ujail made and pertain with job distribution. No further information were mentioned in the report, however. Al-Ujail will remain a consultant in the Supreme Judicial Council.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

LOCAL

Foul play seen in youngster’s death Man accused of kidnapping children KUWAIT: A homicide investigation was opened following the death of a young Kuwaiti man in Kabd. Paramedics and police headed to a jakhour (a fenced-in farm) where a Kuwaiti man reported finding his son dead. The body of the 32-year-old was found inside a tent within the property, and detectives also found a syringe at the scene. The body was taken for an autopsy and the case was classified as murder.

Bus fire Investigations are ongoing to identify and arrest an arsonist who set fire to a bus owned by a contrac ting company in Fahaheel.

Criminal investigators were called to the scene after firefighters tackled the blaze and took the testimonies of a company official who said that the fire was most likely started intentionally.

Preliminary investigations confirmed foul play as traces of a flammable liquid were detected.

Fingerprints were taken from the scene. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Ex-husband charged A woman accused her ex-husband of kidnapping their children who are in her custody, according to a case she filed at the Sabah AlSalem police station. In her statements to police, the Kuwaiti woman said that her husband took their children for a trip but did not return them back on time, and also failed to answer her phone calls. Investigations are ongoing and a search is on for the Kuwaiti man.

Child molestation Fahaheel police are looking to summon two women on child molestation charges filed by the mother of two girls who are staying with the complainant’s ex-husband. In her statement to police, the woman said that her ex-husband’s new wife molested her daughters with help from her ex-husband’s sister.

She accused them of committing the crime out of ‘revenge’ for issues that both of them

Arabs pay tribute to Abdel-Meguid KUWAIT: Former secretary-general of the Arab League Esmat Abdel-Meguid, who died at the age of 90 on Saturday, will be remembered for his great positions and support for the right and justice, in addition to his efforts to spread amity and peace.

He was born in Alexandria in March 1924 and received a law degree from Alexandria University in 1944. He acquired several diplomas in law, politics and economy from the University of Paris. He obtained his doctorate in international law from the French university in 1951.

He then joined the Egyptian foreign ministry and became ambassador to France in 1970, deputy foreign minister in 1970, and Egypt’s permanent representative to the United Nations in 1972.

He was then foreign minister from 1984 to 1991, when he was elected secretarygeneral of the Arab League.

The late Egyptian diplomat, who was 90 years old, held the high-profile post from 1991 to 2001 under former president Hosni Mubarak. He was succeeded in the post by Amr Moussa.

He played a key role in EgyptianBritish negotiations which finally led to the evacuation of English forces from Egypt in 1954, and was a member of the Egyptian delegation who had negotiations with France for restoring bilateral relations which were severed following the Tripartite Aggression on Egypt.

Abdel-Meguid also played a significant role in the return of the Arab League to Cairo in 1990, and led the dossier of inter-Arab relations in the period that followed the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

He demanded Iraq to fulfill international legitimacy resolutions regarding the files of prisoners and missing persons of Kuwait and other countries.

The State of Kuwait appreciated the key role played by the late secretary general of the Arab League and was awarded Kuwait’s first-class order of merit by the late Amir Sheikh Jaber AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in recognition of his career at the Arab League.

He was also awarded several orders of merit from Egypt, France, Yugoslavia, Greece, Italia and Germany. —KUNA

have with her. The older of the girls is just six years old, according to the mother.

Investigations are ongoing.

Missing student Investigations are ongoing in search for a sixth grader who was reported missing in Ali Sabah Al-Salem Sunday. In his statements to local police, a Kuwaiti man in his forties said that his son never came back from a shopping trip, and that his cell phone was switched off when he tried to contact him.

Cat freed Firefighters freed a cat who was trapped in a narrow place in Mubarak Al-K abeer on Sunday. A Kuwaiti man made an emergency call after he failed to free the cat which was trapped outside his house between a wall and a piece of metal. Police used a saw during a 30-minute operation after which the cat was freed unharmed.

Kuwait plans higher level of cooperation with Nigeria KUWAIT: Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) aspires to lift the long-time political-social ties with Nigeria to a new level for cementing commercial and economic bonds, said a KCCI member yesterday.

Kuwait is seeking to bolster and activate the “investment ties with Nigeria and enhance the commercial exchanges between the two countries,” said Usama AlNisf in a statement to journalists during a visit by a Nigerian delegation to the chamber headquarters.

Reciprocal visits by Kuwaiti and Nigerian officials to the two countries can contribute to enhancing the commercial exchanges, he said, noting that such visits constitute an opportunity for the two countries to discuss obstacles facing bids to improve the commercial ties, namely with regard of facilitating flow of capitals and establishing necessary legal regulations for protecting entrepreneurs. The chamber receives many representatives of friendly nations for talks on prospective investments, he said, noting its keenness on getting acquainted with the legal rules in these nations.

Al-Nisf expressed hope the current Nigerian delegation’s visit would be successful and pave the way for further progress in the bilateral commercial and economic ties, as well as for activating links between Kuwaiti and Nigerian businessmen. For his part, the chairman of the Nigerian Exports Council shed light on investment potentials in his country.—KUNA

Microsoft partners with Ministry of Education on training program KUWAIT: In line with its commitment to broaden digital inclusion and promote technology in education, Microsoft recently collaborated with the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education to organize a Master Teacher Training Program in Kuwait. As many as 25 educators, including supervising teachers from across Kuwait, attended the four-day workshop during which all the participating educators were certified to become Master Teachers.

The Master Teacher Training Program is designed to actively increase access to technology and improve its use in the education sector through training sessions using the latest Microsoft technologies and software.

The Teacher Training program, which is part of Microsoft’s Innovative Educator Program and is implemented globally, aims to help educators across the world to collaborate and improve education through integration of ICT in classrooms.

The program will improve creativity and innovation in the classroom while finding effective ways to share information among educators across the country. After the completion of the program, the master teachers will have the opportunity to share their newly acquired skills with their peers through similar sessions within their schools.

Charles Nahas, General Manager of Microsoft Kuwait, said, “The training initiative reflects Microsoft’s long-term commitment to collaborate with academic institutions in Kuwait in order to contribute to socio-economic development and accelerate the evolution of a knowledge-based society. To compete successfully in the global marketplace, countries must invest in building a workforce that has the right technical skills and knowledge. Through the Train the Trainer methodology, we are seeking to help schools gain better access to technology and enable educators to explore the benefits technology can bring in the classroom”.

“These training sessions will provide education leaders in Kuwait with the tools to envision, implement and manage change.

Dr Khaled Al- Rasheed Together with the Ministry of Education, we aim to empower youth across the country through IT skills development that will enable them to compete in today’s global economy,” concluded Nahas.

Commenting on the program, Dr. Khaled Al- Rasheed, Assistant Undersecretary of Public Education Ministry of Education, said, “This initiative is aligned with the national ICT strategy that will transform Kuwait into a successful knowledge-based society. Putting technology to work for people throughout the country will enable us to strengthen our economy and create greater opportunities for young people to fulfill their dreams. We value Microsoft’s support and we look forward to a long-term association with the company to further support educators in Kuwait.”

The training initiative also encourages teachers, staff and students to use ICT to improve the learning process and includes programs to help provide cost effective software and learning resources for communities throughout Kuwait. In addition, Microsoft works closely with the government in Kuwait to help create a favorable environment for the development of the local software and technology industry.

KUWAIT: Kuwait Municipality continued its campaigns to remove abandoned vehicles from streets and open yards, as capital municipality, in cooperation with the Public Relations Department carried out a campaign in industrial Shuwaikh resulting in the removal of 10 trailers and 11 abandoned cars.

—Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Cairo hosts Arab Radio, Television Mondial CAIRO: The second session of the Arab Radio and Television Mondial kicked off Sunday evening in Salah Al-Din Castle in Cairo under the auspices of the Arab League, Union of Arab Producers and Egypt’s Ministries of Tourism and Investment.

Kuwait’s delegation from the Ministry of Information, headed by the ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary Dr. Haila AlMukaimi, and a number of Kuwaiti companies operating in media production took part in the Mondial.

The ceremony started with a speech delivered by Head of Arab Producers Union and Head of the Mondial Ibrahim Abu Thekra in which he welcomed and thanked the Mondial guests for their support.

The Mondial honored the Secretary General of the Arab League Dr. Nabil Al-Araby, Egypt’s Minister of Tourism Dr. Hashim Zaazou and Minister of Investment Osama Saleh, and Jordan’s Minister of Information Dr. Mohammad Al-Moumini.

The Cairo audio-visual exhibition has opened at the Egyptian Media Production City (MPC) Sunday evening, showcasing over 300 television and radio productions from more than 15 Arab countries.

The four-day session, with the participation of 130 media companies, including Egyptian and Arab channels and GCC Radio and TV body, is to conclude tomorrow.

The second day of the Mondial includes lectures by a number of Arab media specialists to discuss communication problems, media freedom, in addition to satellites and future challenges. —KUNA

Drug smuggling operation foiled DUBAI: Dubai Police revealed details yesterday of one of their biggest drug bust operations in history, which led to the seizure of 4.6 million Captagon pills worth about $31 million.

The operation also led to the arrest of three suspects, Dubai Police Commander-in-Chief Maj Gen Khamis Mattar Al-Mazeina said in a press conference.

Al-Mazeina stated that the “outstanding operation” which was code-named “nine ball,” is one of the biggest drug hauls in the world in 2013.

He said the operation is a big blow to a drug-trafficking gang, which comprised of five members, according to the confession of the three arrested suspects. He said the police mounted the operation after receiving and verifying information about their activities in the UAE, and code-named it “nine ball” referring to a place where the gang held a number of meetings.

Acting on their information, the police set up surveillance in a warehouse in Al-Aweer area.

They tracked the movement of two of the suspects, who arrived at the warehouse, loaded their car with the drugs and set off to Al Qusais area.—KUNA

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

In show of strength, Putin pardons foes

South Sudan army readies to wrest back rebel-held town Page 8

Page 9

Scores killed ahead of Syria talks Regime warplanes target Aleppo in brutal campaign

Man, woman shot dead at Paris bar PARIS: A man and a woman were shot dead at a Paris bar on Sunday evening by a gunman who then fled on foot, police said, labelling the crime as “mysterious”. The two were shot at point-blank range with one bullet each as they were in the outside terrace of the bar in a residential part of the French capital’s southern 14th arrondissement, or district. They tried to take refuge inside but the man died at the scene and the woman died as she was being taken to hospital, said police investigator JeanJacques Herlem.

Herlem called the shooting “mysterious” and said police did not yet know the motive. “All hypotheses are obviously open.

The investigation has just started,” said a source close to the probe. The identities of the victims were not immediately given.

The police crimes squad was handling the investigation. There was a heavy police presence at the bar where the shooting took place, the Cafe Chineur. “I saw a trail of

ALEPPO: A Syrian man mourns as he carries the body of a child who was killed following a Syrian government airstrike in the neighborhood of Marjeh in this northern city yesterday. — AP BEIRUT: Syrian warplanes have killed more than 300 people, including 87 children, in an eight-day bombing campaign in the second city of Aleppo a month before planned peace talks. The vicious air campaign has seen regime aircraft drop barrels of TNT onto rebel-held neighbourhoods - a tactic widely condemned as unlawful - flooding hospitals with victims, according to activists, medics and other witnesses. The attacks come as President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces have advanced on several fronts in recent weeks while Western nations have been preoccupied with Syria’s chemical disarmament and preparing for January peace talks.

“From December 15 to 22, 301 people have been killed, including 87 children, 30 women and 30 rebels,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group which relies on a network of activists and witnesses on the ground. It added later that five more people, including three children, were killed in a new attack on the district of Marjeh, in southeastern Aleppo. Activists released what they said was footage of a school targeted in the village of Marea near Aleppo.

Children can be seen running from the school and screaming as loud explosions rumble in the background. Inside, men pull children from the rubble, their faces caked in dust and blood. It was not possible to verify the footage.

Opponents of Assad say the bombing is aimed at demoralising their supporters and turning them against the insurgents. A security source told AFP yesterday that the army had adopted the tactic because of a lack of ground forces, and argued that the heavy civilian toll was because the rebels branded “terrorists” by the regime - are based in residential areas. Aleppo, the country’s second city and former commercial hub, has been split between opposition and government forces since a massive rebel assault in the summer of 2012.

Human Rights Watch has accused government forces of using weapons and tactics that fail to distinguish between civilians and combatants, making such attacks “unlawful”. On Sunday the main opposition National Coalition called on

Western states to impose a no-fly zone to halt such attacks. “Until Assad’s warplanes are stopped, the humanitarian disaster, regional instability and the rise of extremism will only continue to get worse,” said Munzer Aqbiq, an adviser to the Coalition’s president.

‘There are no more red lines’ The government has advanced on several fronts in recent weeks in an apparent attempt to strengthen its hand ahead of peace talks to be held in Switzerland next month. The UN-backed initiative is aimed at building on the momentum of a deal to eradicate Syria’s vast chemical arsenal by mid-2014, which averted punitive US strikes after an August gas attack near Damascus killed hundreds of people. But analysts argue US President Barack Obama’s failure to act after Assad allegedly crossed his “red line” against using chemical weapons has emboldened the regime, while the chemical arms accord has made Assad a vital partner in his own disarmament.

“There are no more red lines, there is a green light,” Salman Shaikh, the director of the Brookings Doha Center, told AFP, saying there is an “element of vengeance” in the fierce bombing of Aleppo.

“Any credible of use of force was taken off the table

by Obama and the international community.” The so-called Geneva 2 talks are intended to get the government and the opposition to agree on a political transition to end the civil war, which has claimed an estimated 126,000 lives since March 2011 and displaced millions of people.

But the increasingly fractured opposition has said Assad must step down as part of any deal, a demand rejected by Damascus. And several powerful rebel groups have rejected the peace talks altogether, raising concerns that even if the two sides reach an agreement the opposition would be unable to enforce it on the ground. Syria’s uprising began as a series of peaceful pro-democracy protests nearly three years ago but escalated into a full-blown civil war after Assad’s regime launched a brutal crackdown on dissent. — AFP

DAMASCUS: Syrian President Bashar Assad meets with Australian professor Tim Anderson and a delegation including academics, researchers, and activists yesterday. — AFP

blood that went from the entrance to the inside” of the cafe, said a local resident named Damien, who lives across the street.

A leading candidate for Paris mayor who lives nearby, Nathalie KosciuskoMorizet, went to the scene after learning of the shooting from friends. “My children go to two schools in the neighbourhood. I’m shocked,” said Kosciusko-Morizet, who is running on the ticket of the UMP party in polls set for March. “It’s impossible not to make the connection with the growing concerns over security issues, even if we don’t know anything at this stage,” she told AFP. France occasionally sees deadly scoresettling by armed criminals in bars, most often in southern cities such as Marseille, but sometimes also in Paris, though in places well away from the heavily policed centre favoured by tourists. Deadly disputes sometimes also erupt between couples, though not often involving firearms. — AFP

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

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

Jailings ‘blight Egypt’s march to democracy’ CAIRO: The jailing of three activists has triggered fears in Egypt of a return to the police rule that blighted the Mubarak era, eroding gains made in the march towards democracy. On Sunday, a court jailed Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel to three years for organising an unauthorised protest in a verdict seen as the military-installed government broadening the crackdown on dissent. It was the first such verdict against pro-democracy protesters since the July 3 overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi, whose Islamist supporters have borne the brunt of a deadly crackdown.

The three and Alaa Abdel Fattah, a vocal critic of the police and the military detained on similar charges, were at the forefront of the movement that toppled long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak in 2011, beginning Egypt’s march towards democracy. But analysts say gains achieved since then are threatened by

the targeting of such men and by other moves that could signal the return of a police state.

Pursuing these activists “is a deliberate effort to target the voices who, since January 2011, have consistently demanded justice and security agency reform,” Human Rights Watch’s Sarah Leah Whitson said in a statement.

“Almost three years after the nationwide protests that brought down Hosni Mubarak, security agencies feel more empowered than ever and are still intent on crushing the right of Egyptians to protest the actions of their government.”

Activists have lashed out at the authorities for arming themselves with a new law banning all but police-sanctioned protests, calling it an attempt to stifle freedom of expression - a core value in the fight that toppled Mubarak.

The interim authorities justified the overthrow of Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, as a response to mas-

sive protests against his turbulent yearlong reign, which critics said was marked by power-grabs and economic mismanagement.

More than 1,000 people have died in a crackdown on Morsi supporters and thousands have been arrested. The sentencing of Maher, Douma and Adel came days after Ahmed Shafiq, a premier under Mubarak, and the ousted strongman’s two sons were acquitted of corruption. That verdict underscores a sharp reversal of fortune not just for Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement, but for the pro-democracy movement itself.

‘A significant step back’ “These practices are far from the rule of law. In fact these practices are of a police state enforced more brutally than ever,” 14 Egyptian rights groups said in a joint statement. James Dorsey, Middle East expert and senior fellow at the

Singapore-based S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said: “The jailing of activists is a significant step back in what Egypt has achieved since the toppling of Mubarak. “Yesterday’s (Sunday’s) verdict strengthens an atmosphere of caution, if not intimidation.”

Dorsey said the regime is expanding the circle of people it is targeting beyond the Brotherhood. “It is signalling that it is not looking at broadening the rights and freedoms of the people,” he told AFP. Activists say the way the four were arrested, why they were detained, the acquittal of Shafiq and Mubarak’s sons and the midnight raid on an NGO last week to arrest Adel were all reminders of the Mubarak era. “In principle (the regime) is retaining an autocratic rule. This coupled with the protest law essentially means there is very little public space to express dissent,” Dorsey said.

Experts now question the government’s intentions on the roadmap it

announced to usher a democratic transition, the first step being the Jan 14 and 15 referendum on a new constitution, followed by parliamentary and presidential elections. Sunday’s verdict “is sabotage against the front that supports the road map,” said Hassan Nafea, professor of political science at Cairo University. He was referring to Maher’s April 6 youth movement which initially backed the roadmap after Morsi’s overthrow but on Sunday said it was withdrawing its support from the plan. “Now many questions are raised. Will the elections be free and democratic? Is Egypt heading towards a democracy?” asked Nafea.

“The first test on the ground will be the referendum.” Dorsey remains hopeful, however. “The military... does not understand that in Egypt...there has been a fundamental shift. No matter what happens, people are willing to question. The regime can’t legislate away this fundamental shift,” he said. —AFP

Militants kill 5 journos in Iraq TV HQ assault TIKRIT, Iraq: Suicide bombers assaulted an Iraqi television station headquarters yesterday, killing five journalists, the latest in a series of attacks against the media, police officers said. At least 17 more people were killed in other violence, including four officers who died when mortar rounds struck a military base. And the defence ministry announced that Iraqi

The dead from the attack on Salaheddin television in Tikrit, north of Baghdad, were the chief news editor, a copy editor, a producer, a presenter and the archives manager, the police officers said, while five of the channel’s employees were wounded. Two of the bombers blew themselves up during the attack, and security forces killed the other two

MOSUL: An image grab taken from a video yesterday, allegedly shows the mother of murdered female Iraqi TV presenter Nawras Al-Nuaimi meeting the alleged killer of her daughter, Saif Al-Mawlah, at her home where he was brought by the police after he visited the scene of his crime in this northern Iraqi city. Gunmen murdered Nuaimi near her home in Mosul on Dec 15. — AFP forces destroyed two militant camps, with officials saying the civil war in neighbouring Syria was driving the violence.

when they stormed the building. Last week, militants attacked the Tikrit city council headquarters, killing a council

member and two police.

Iraq has come in for repeated criticism over the lack of media freedom and the number of unsolved killings of journalists.

The country is experiencing the worst violence against journalists in years, with 12 killed in attacks since Oct 5. Other violence yesterday left at least 17 more people dead. Mortar rounds struck an army base in the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad, killing a brigade commander, three other officers and two soldiers, security officials said. Two days earlier, five senior officers, including a divisional commander, and 10 soldiers were killed during an operation against militants in the mainly Sunni western province of Anbar.

And bombings and shootings in Baghdad killed at least nine people and wounded 21 yesterday, while two more people died and eight were wounded in the cities of Mosul and Baquba.

Meanwhile, defence ministry spokesman Mohammed Al-Askari said Iraqi forces had destroyed two militant camps in Anbar province. On Sunday, the United States called for regional leaders to work to cut funding and recruitment for two jihadist groups - the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Al-Nusra Front - saying foreign fighters were going to Syria and then carrying out attacks in Iraq. —AFP

JUBA: United Nations’ non-critical staff board a UN plane to be relocate from Juba to Entebbe on Sunday. —AFP

S Sudan army readies to hit back at rebels Rebel leader ready for talks with president JUBA: South Sudan’s army was poised for a major offensive against rebel forces, the president said yesterday, as the country slid towards civil war despite international peace efforts.

Expectations of a major upsurge in fighting came as the United Nations warned that the situation in the world’s youngest nation was fast unravelling, with hundreds of thousands of civilians now at risk. Fighting has gripped South Sudan for more than a week, after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar, who was fired from the government in July, of attempting a coup.

Machar denied the claim and accused Kiir of carrying out a vicious purge of his rivals. Vowing to oust Kiir, his forces have since seized the town of Bor, capital of the powder-keg eastern Jonglei state and located just 200 km north of Juba, as well as the town of Bentiu, capital of crucial oil-producing Unity state. The army is “now ready to move to Bor,” Kiir told parliament, adding that the counter-attack was delayed until US citizens had been airlifted out.

Machar told Reuters yesterday he was ready for dialogue to end the conflict but said Kiir must first release his detained political allies. Machar said he had spoken yesterday to Ethiopia’s foreign minister, leader of a team of African mediators trying to end more than a week of fighting that has killed hundreds of people and driven thousands from their homes. “My message was let Salva Kiir release my comrades who are under detention and let them be evacuated to Addis Ababa and we can start dialogue straightaway, because these are the people who would (handle) dialogue,” he said by telephone.

Machar also said he had spoken to US National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Saturday and UN envoy Hilde Johnson before that. “A ceasefire is always part of the negotiation, it cannot be done through telephone, nor can it be done through shuttle diplomacy,” he said, adding that Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa was his proposed site for talks. Machar also said he controlled oil fields in Unity and Upper Nile States but did not want to halt production, saying revenue from the fields should be deposited in an escrow account so South Sudan did not lose the funds due to fighting.

Clashes have erupted in oil production areas, with conflicting reports of which side is in control. “We will protect the oil companies, we will protect the workforce in the oil fields, we will protect the facilities,” he said. “All we need is that there will be an international body that will market and sell the oil of south Sudan.”

Among those Machar listed should be released were Pagan Amum - chief negotiator during the recent oil shutdown with Sudan, which hosts the sole oil export pipeline; and Rebecca de Mabior, the widow of former South Sudanese leader John Garang.

Machar has said he aspires to be president. When asked if he would demand that post in any talks, he said: “Well, that needs to be agreed. The dialogue is not a dialogue of the deaf for one party, it is the dialogue of two parties in conflict.” Asked where he was based, he said: “I am in the bush, and I am trying my best to

have a better negotiating position.”

The comments came despite days of shuttle diplomacy by African nations and calls from the United States, Britain and the United Nations for the fighting to stop in the country, which won independence from Sudan just two and a half years ago, in July 2011. US special envoy Donald Booth arrived yesterday in Juba in a bid to push peace efforts, as the top UN humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan, Toby Lanzer, said the situation was rapidly deteriorating.

“It would have been difficult one week ago to imagine that things would have unravelled to this extent,” Lanzer told AFP. “There are hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese who’ve fled into the bush or back to their villages to get out of harm’s way.” Asked which areas of the conflict-torn country he was most concerned about, Lanzer said that “it would be quicker to talk about which areas I’m not worried about” - an indication that an all-out civil war was now a real prospect. “I hope to be wrong.

Otherwise, hundreds of thousands will need help very soon,” he said, admitting that UN peacekeepers were ill-equipped and lacking the numbers to protect civilians seeking shelter with them.

Ethnic killings The clashes have left hundreds dead - probably many more.

The European Union’s aid chief, Kristalina Georgieva, said the country was “at the brink of a humanitarian tragedy”. The young nation is oil-rich but deeply impoverished and awash with guns after the long war with Khartoum, and has grappled with corruption and lawlessness since independence. There are both ethnic and political dimensions to the fighting, as troops loyal to Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, battle forces backing Machar, a Nuer.

Fighting has also spread to Upper Nile state, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF Doctors Without Borders) said. An MSF hospital in Nasir treated 24 people for gunshot wounds on Sunday. Jok Madut Jok, of the Juba-based Sudd Institute think tank, said reported heavy fighting as well in Upper Nile’s state capital Malakal, although the government remained in control. One student, an ethnic Dinka, called “in panic to report that he and the rest of Dinka students at the university... will surely be killed if Riek’s (Machar’s) forces take control of Malakal,” Jok said. Nuer gunmen stormed a UN base last week killing two Indian peacekeepers and slaughtering at least 20 Dinka civilians, and there have been reports of ethnically motivated killings and attacks in the capital Juba and elsewhere.

Foreign governments, including Britain, Kenya, Uganda and the United States, have been evacuating their nationals. On Saturday four US servicemen were wounded when their aircraft came under fire in a rebel-held area. Britain was flying its third and final military aircraft yesterday to evacuate citizens, warning that those who chose to stay “may have difficulty leaving”.

UN peacekeepers have said they are also reinforcing their military presence in oil-rich Unity state to help protect civilians. As in Bor, a top army commander in Bentiu switched sides to join the rebellion. — Agencies

Libyans die in battle over key resources BENGHAZI: Three Libyan tribesman have been killed in fighting that grew out of disputes between army units under conflicting orders over who controls key resources in the country’s east, officials said yesterday. Another five people were wounded in the fighting between Toubou and Zuwayya tribesmen on Sunday night in Ajdabiya, 160 km south of Benghazi. The clashes were sparked by fighting on Friday between one unit made up of Zuwayya, under the

orders of the general staff, and a Toubou unit that takes its orders directly from the defence ministry, an official explained.

At stake was control over oil wells and an agricultural water reservoir in Al-Sarir, 600 km south of Benghazi, he added. Five soldiers were killed in the fighting on Friday, and clashes broke out between Zuwayya and Toubou in Ajdabiya the following day after the soldiers’ burial that spilled over into Sunday. The Zuwayya, who are Arab,

and the Toubou, who are black, have a long history of conflict.

Following the overthrow of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, tribal unrest broke out in parts of Libya, particularly in the south and west, prompted by a settling of grudges or competition for control of smuggling across the country’s borders. Since Kadhafi’s ouster, Libya’s authorities have struggled to impose their authority and stem rising lawlessness. — AFP

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

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

Freed tycoon leaves a different Russia MOSCOW: Mikhail Khodorkovsky may have trouble recognising Russia should he ever decide to return after a decade in prison that saw his oil empire dismantled and political ambitions smothered by arch foe Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin supremo pardoned post-Soviet Russia’s most famous inmate in an apparent bid to mute criticism of his own rights record ahead of February ’s Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Khodorkovsky’s release on Friday came only eight months ahead of schedule but still crucially saved the 50-year-old from the threat of more charges to keep him jailed through the remainder of Putin’s third term.

He flew to Germany in a cloud of secrecy and said this weekend that he would avoid his homeland for as long as a court order for him to pay $550 million in damages remained in place. “Our authorities can honestly say that they did not send me into exile and that I asked for it,” he said in reference to an appeal for clemency in which he cited his desire to see his cancer-stricken mother in Germany. “But knowing our realities, we can absolutely precisely

understand that they wanted me out of the country.” Should Russia’s former richest man decide to return, he would find a different country, in which Putin and his clique wield even greater power than before.

Onset of one-party rule Khodorkovsky - his sights then clearly set on clipping Putin’s spreading wings was snatched at gunpoint by state agents who stormed his corporate jet on a windswept Siberian runway in Oct 2003. His demise began when he dared to break a golden rule former spy Putin established upon assuming office from the late Boris Yeltsin on New Year’s Eve 1999. Putin then told Khodorkovsky and other “oligarchs” he had assembled for a fateful meeting that the Kremlin would let them keep the vast former Soviet industries they obtained for pennies on the dollar in the mayhem of Yeltsin’s 1990s if they only kept out of politics.

Khodorkovsky - championed by investors for turning Yukos oil into Russia’s first firm to adopt US accounting standards, and scorned by Putin’s circle for raising uncomfortable corruption

allegations - would have none of it. He first established a youth organisation aimed at generating future leaders bred on Western values and meant to replace the retired KGB colonels that Putin quickly installed at the Kremlin and the country’s “strategic” firms.

The multi-billionaire then pumped cash into opposition parties from both the left and right of the political spectrum to make sure that Russia maintained a vibrant democracy in which Putin’s ruling United Russia faction was kept at bay. The final straw for Putin perhaps came on February 19, 2003 when at a now famous meeting inside the Kremlin Khodorkovsky had the audacity to denounce the extent of official corruption in the face of the Russian strongman.

Khodorkovsky’s arrest was followed months later by the ruling party’s victory in elections that saw it establish a grip on parliament it holds to this day. The Yabloko faction of liberal economists Grigor y Yavlinsky backed by Khodorkovsky has since effectively vanished while the Communist Party he also supported is a ghostly presence with no

say on current events. Even the Yukossponsored youth movement was transformed into a Kremlin-run organisation whose annual summer camps at Lake Seliger get high-profile visits from Putin during which he promotes his vision of top-down command. And a new generation of leaders who emerged from fleeting protests that gripped Moscow in the winter of 2011-2012 now command the attention of politically-active youths who rely on social networks and have little interest in rich men who once stood in Putin’s way.

Rise of ‘Kremlin Inc’ The decade without Khodorkovsky has seen the Kremlin take as commanding a grip of the economy as it has of political rule. Yukos was slapped with a tax bill of more than $10 billion and then sold off in opaque auctions to state companies led by Rosneft. The government firm was then a bit player but today stands as the world’s largest publically traded producer of oil. Rosneft is currently led by Putin confident Igor Sechin - a man Khodorkovsky blamed for plotting Yukos’ demise and one of a slate of

Mikhail Khodorkovsky ex-security agents picked to head state corporations that Western media branded as “Kremlin Inc.” Meanwhile Khodorkovsky’s vision of forming a joint venture with ExxonMobil that could help secure his own political survival was cut short by his arrest. In a stunning irony, the US super-major has since linked arms with Sechin’s Rosneft and is soon expected to start pumping Russia’s Arctic oil. — AFP

African peacekeepers fire on CAR protesters

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev attend a joint meeting of the State Council and a commission on economic monitoring in the Kremlin yesterday. —AFP

In show of strength, Putin pardons foes Triumphant yearend for president MOSCOW: Boosted by successes on the domestic and international scene, President Vladimir Putin pardoned Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky and punk band Pussy Riot members in a display of strength seen as showing he is Russia’s undisputed master. After a rocky start to his third Kremlin term in 2012, Putin has enjoyed a triumphant end to 2013, with Moscow inspiring a deal that halted US air strikes on Syria and trumping Ukraine’s pro-EU protest movement with a bailout package.

Putin’s 2012 return to the Kremlin was marred by the biggest rallies against his rule but these have now died down and fiery protest leader Alexei Navalny is effectively sidelined for the moment - after being given a suspended sentence in a fraud case. In allowing the freedom of the highestprofile jailed opponents of his rule, Putin may have had in mind Russia’s image abroad as it prepares to host the Winter Olympic Games and chair the G8 in 2014. But like a mediaeval English monarch granting mercy with a flick of the finger or a Roman Emperor sparing the life of a slave gladiator, the releases are above all viewed as a display of sheer power by an autocratic ruler.

“It looks like an act of monarchical mercy offered by Putin at the very moment when he is celebrating foreign policy successes and does not fear this will be seen as a weakness,” said Nikolai Petrov, professor at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. “Putin feels like victor and in this way is able to demonstrate his

supreme power,” Petrov added.

Triumphant The year could hardly have ended better for Putin. Russia seized the initiative in the Syrian conflict with a proposal to rid the regime of its chemical weapons which warded off the threat of US air strikes against President Bashar Al-Assad and allowed Moscow to present itself as a peacemaker. Contrary to many expectations at the end of 2012, its ally Assad remains in power in Damascus and the Kremlin has every hope of retaining its influence when the warring sides sit down for a peace conference in January.

The deal on the Iranian nuclear program agreed under new President Hassan Rouhani has also removed the threat of militar y strikes against Tehran, something Russia has long bitterly opposed. The pro-EU protests in Kiev appeared to spell trouble for the Kremlin’s influence over Ukraine but the protest movement lost much of its momentum since Putin stepped in last week with a multi-billion dollar bailout deal.

Meanwhile after its winter of glory in 2011-2012, the Russian protest movement is floundering and lacking any kind of figurehead capable of offering a serious challenge to Putin nationwide. “One year ago it seemed that the regime was very weak. But now it seems solid,” said Petrov. “Putin needed to pardon Khodorkovsky as an acknowledgement of his right to punish and show mercy.” Seen by some as a potential opposition leader,

Khodorkovsky is now in exile in Germany and vowed not to get involved in politics. “Putin is sure, like never before, of his own strength,” said Carnegie Moscow Centre analyst Alexei Malashenko. “He has shown his unpredictability, which in itself is a sign of strength,” he said in a column for the Moscow Echo Radio.

Economic worries on road to 2018 Yet Putin would be mistaken to slip into a false sense of security as he continues on the long road towards Russia’s 2018 presidential elections which could yet see him seek a fourth term up to 2024. Russia’s economy is increasingly showing signs of a chronic malaise of low growth brought on not by outside factors but Putin’s failure to wean the country off oil and gas, help private business and reform the legal system. Growth is forecast to have been just 1.4 percent this year.

“For the moment we are in stagnation and, unfortunately, this is the reality. I don’t see the government taking any kind of decisive measures. We see that these last two years have been lost,” former finance minister Alexei Kudrin said yesterday, quoted by the state RIA Novosti news agency.

Putin’s ambitions seem to be longterm: at his mammoth end-of-year conference he declined to speculate about a successor, saying: “I have said nothing and there is nothing to say.”

But a survey by independent pollster Levada Centre found this month that 31 percent of Russians do not support Putin’s actions as president, the highest level in 12 years. — AFP

German weighs Russia ties after ‘coup’ of freed tycoon BERLIN: The release of Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky represents a resounding victory for German diplomacy just as the country is reassessing its complex ties with Russia, analysts said yesterday. Veteran top German diplomat HansDietrich Genscher worked in secret for more than two years to win the release of Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man and a political threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin. With the explicit support of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Genscher, 86, who served as foreign minister for nearly two decades during the Cold War, managed to keep a lid on his dealings even as he held two separate personal meetings with Putin, in Berlin and Moscow, in 2012 and 2013.

Khodorkovsky himself, whisked to Berlin on a German businessman’s private jet Friday upon his shock release after a decade behind bars, started a news con-

ference Sunday by thanking Merkel and Genscher for their crucial help, indicating he had “no idea” of Germany’s efforts while he was still in prison. The Kremlin for its part remained tight-lipped about Berlin’s part in the Khodorkovsky saga.

“Merkel will probably talk about her role herself, if there was any,” presidential aide Yury Ushakov told Interfax yesterday.

Merkel had on Friday hailed the success of Germany’s “behind the scenes” negotiations, which German media noted were a low-risk, high-pay-off endeavour.

“Unofficial contacts, such as those of Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton in North Korea or others in Iran or those of Hans-Dietrich Genscher in Russia can always be presented as non-committal talks where there can be an exchange of views but never failure because there is no official pedigree to them,” Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel noted. “And where there can

be no failure, there can be no embarrassment.” Left-wing daily Tageszeitung was also effusive in its praise for the Christmas surprise Berlin helped pull off. “It will take a long time, perhaps even decades, until all details of this masterpiece of secret diplomacy are released to the public,” it said in an editorial.

Highlighting the probable role played by the upcoming Sochi Olympics in focusing minds in Moscow, conservative daily Die Welt nevertheless called the stunning developments “a true diplomatic coup”.

“But it raises the question how things will proceed with Germany’s Russia policy,” it said. Hans Kundnani, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, said Berlin’s shuttle diplomacy fit into an old German tradition going as far back as 19th century chancellor Otto von Bismarck: the idea of Germany as an “honest broker”. — AFP

BANGUI: African peacekeepers fired into a crowd of protesters in the capital of the Central African Republic yesterday, killing one person and injuring around 40 more, in a shooting set to escalate tensions in the strife-torn country. The Chadian soldiers, part of a UN-mandated force, opened fire on stone-throwing protesters outside Bangui airport who accused them of complicity with rebels who have been terrorising the population, according to AFP reporters on the scene. Several hundred Christian demonstrators had massed to call for the departure of President Michel Djotodia, a former rebel who became the first Muslim leader of the majority Christian nation after a March coup that unleashed the current wave of sectarian violence.

They were also demanding the departure of Chadian troops within the 3,700-strong African Union’s MISCA force that, alongside French forces, is battling to restore order in the CAR. Demonstrators started throwing rocks at two 4X4 vehicles with AU troops from

Chad, who responded by firing their weapons in the air and towards the crowd, shooting one person dead, according to AFP reporters. French troops quickly intervened to evacuate the victims. Around 40 injured - three in a serious condition - were transferred to an emergency hospital facility set up by Medecins sans Frontieres at the airport, said the aid group’s on-site coordinator Lindis Hurum. “I came to see the demonstration and I got shot in the leg,” said one of the injured, who gave his name as Ludovic. Many in mostly-Christian Bangui accuse Chad - whose President Idriss Deby Itno has long been kingmaker in the CAR - of masterminding the Seleka rebellion behind the March coup.

Djotodia has officially disbanded Seleka but some of its members went rogue, leading to months of killing, raping and pillaging - and prompting Christians to form vigilante groups in response. Chadian and Sudanese mercenaries within Seleka are blamed for many of the worst crimes against the population. “We ask for our rights and

we get killed. There are too many abuses, we can’t take it anymore,” charged one demonstrator after the incident.

“The Chadians are terrorists.” “They are killing us like animals,” said another distraught young woman. “We don’t want these Chadian MISCA troops.”

Presidential guards ‘killed in cold blood’ In Paris the foreign ministry called for light to be shed on the shooting, while calling Deby “an essential partner” who “has the full confidence of France.”

“France hopes that light will be shed on the conditions of the use of force against demonstrators,” said the ministry’s deputy spokesman Vincent Floreani. But France’s own 1,600 troops in the country were under the spotlight after a weekend incident in which three former rebels were shot dead in the capital. The French army said its troops opened fire in Bangui on Sunday against “a group of half-a-dozen people suspected of being ex-Seleka” and who “were preparing to use their weapons”.—AFP

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

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

Man throws 3-yr-old son, himself off NYC roof NEW YORK: A man involved in a custody dispute who was supposed to turn his 3year old son over to the boy’s mother instead threw the child off the roof of a 52-story Manhattan apartment building before jumping to his death, police said.

Officers responding to an emergency call reporting two jumpers from the building on the Upper West Side around noon Sunday found Dmitriy Kanarikov,

35, and the boy on the lower rooftops of two separate nearby buildings.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene and his son, Kirill Kanarikov, was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. A witness said the boy was wearing Christmas pajamas. The boy’s mother had custody of the child and the father, who had visitation rights, was supposed to hand the boy over to the

mother at a police precinct Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Luis Ortiz told the New York Post that he was at the hospital when paramedics rushed the boy there and that they were pumping his chest and working on him.

“You could tell he was slipping away.

They said the father was up there, but they didn’t bring anyone else in. It was just heartbreaking. I have two kids of my

own. They tried to do the best they could,” Ortiz told the newspaper.

Ortiz told the New York Daily News that the tot was dressed in Christmas pajamas. Authorities said the father did not live in the building listed as South Park Tower, which is a short distance away from Columbus Circle and Lincoln Center. Police investigating the deaths left the building in the mid-afternoon to

photograph a gray Lexus RX350 parked nearby. It’s the second time this year that a parent and child have been involved in a fatal plunge from a New York apartment building. In March, a woman clutching her baby son in her arms plunged eight stories out of a Harlem apartment window to her death, but the 10-month-old survived. Authorities found a suicide note in her home. —AP

Rice: US will seek triggers to reimpose sanctions on Iran Tehran warned against making bombs

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel takes questions as he briefs reporters at the Pentagon in Washington. Veterans groups are fighting part of the new budget deal signed into law that curbs annual pension increases for military retirees under age 62. After a barrage of protests from the military community, lawmakers said they’ll review the cut next year and possibly reverse it. —AP

Utah’s same-sex marriage ban back in court SALT LAKE CITY: A federal judge was set to consider a request from the state of Utah to block gay weddings that have been taking place since Friday, when the state’s same-sex marriage ban was overturned. US District Judge Robert J Shelby ruled that Utah’s law passed violates gay and lesbian couples’ rights under the 14th Amendment.

Lawyers for the state want the ruling put on hold as they appeal the decision that has put Utah in the national spotlight because of its long-standing opposition to gay marriage. Shelby will hold a hearing Monday morning on the request. On Sunday, a federal appeals court rejected the state’s emergency request stay the ruling, saying it couldn’t rule on a stay since Shelby hasn’t acted on the motion before him. Following Shelby’s surprising ruling Friday afternoon, gay and lesbian couples rushed to a county clerk’s office in Salt Lake City to get marriage licenses. More than 100 couples wed as others cheered them on in what became an impromptu celebration an office building about three miles from the headquarters of the Mormon church.

Hundreds of couples are expected to arrive at county clerks offices early Monday morning in hopes of getting marriage licenses before a possible halt if Shelby grants the stay its request.

Legal experts say that even if a stay is granted, the licenses that have already been issued will likely still be valid.

For now, a state considered as one of the most conservative in the nation has joined the likes of California and New York to become the 18th state where

same-sex couples can legally wed. Utah is home to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was one of the leading forces behind California’s shortlived ban on same -sex marriage, Proposition 8, which voters approved in 2008. The church said Friday that it stands by its support for “traditional marriage” and that it hopes a higher court validates its belief that marriage is between a man and woman. In Shelby’s 53-page ruling, he said the constitutional amendment Utah voters approved in 2004 violates gay and lesbian couples’ rights to due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment. Shelby said the state failed to show that allowing same-sex marriages would affect opposite-sex marriages in any way.

The decision drew a swift and angry reaction Republican Gov Gary Herbert, who said he was disappointed in an “activist federal judge attempting to override the will of the people of Utah.”

The state quickly took steps to appeal the ruling and halt the process, setting up Monday’s hearing before Shelby. The ruling has thrust Shelby into the national spotlight. He has been on the bench for less than two years, appointed by President Barack Obama after GOP Sen Orrin Hatch recommended him in November 2011. Shelby served in the Utah Army National Guard from 1988 to 1996 and was a combat engineer in Operation Desert Storm. He graduated from the University of Virginia law school in 1998 and clerked for the US District Judge J Thomas Greene in Utah, then spent about 12 years in private practice before he became a judge. —AP

Seattle girl escapes serious injury when glasses deflect bullet OLYMPIA, Washington: A teenage girl avoided serious injury when her glasses deflected a bullet fired during a drive-by shooting at her Seattle home, police said on Sunday.

The 16-year-old girl was asleep on her living room couch at about 9:40 p.m. on Saturday (0540 GMT on Sunday) when shots were fired from a dark-colored sedan as it passed her house, Seattle police spokesman Detective Mark Jamieson said.

Several bullets went through the walls of the house and one through the front window, Jamieson said. One of the bullets struck the bridge of the teen’s glasses,

Jamieson said.

She suffered only minor injuries and was treated at a local hospital, he added. “She is very, very fortunate,” Jamieson said. Several other people were at the house at the time of the shooting, but no other injuries were reported, Jamieson said. Police believe the house was targeted in what was likely a gang-related shooting, but the girl was not the intended victim. No arrests have been made in the shooting and the police gang unit was investigating, Jamieson said.

Jamieson said police do not know how many people were involved in the shooting. —Reuters

OAKLAND: Mother of 13-year-old Jahi McMath, cries before a courtroom hearing regarding McMath, in Oakland, California. McMath remains on life support at Children’s Hospital Oakland nearly a week after doctors declared her brain dead, following a supposedly routine tonsillectomy. — AP

HONOLULU: The United States and its allies will have ways to reimpose sanctions on Iran if the Islamic Republic is caught making bombs after striking a deal to freeze its nuclear program, national security adviser Susan Rice said.

In an interview on the CBS news program “60 Minutes,” Rice rejected the idea that, once relaxed, the economic sanctions on Tehran would be hard to reinstate.

Any United Nations Security Council resolution that enshrines a final nuclear deal with Iran - not the interim six-month deal signed in Geneva in November - could have triggers to automatically reimpose sanctions on Iran if

they violate the deal, she said.

“We will not construct a deal or accept a deal in which we cannot verify exactly what they are doing,” Rice said. “And if they ’re caught, we will ensure that the pressure is reimposed on them.”

A mechanism for such “automatic triggers” has not been finalized, Rice said. Any deal beyond the current arrangement is still months away. “We haven’t designed that resolution yet. But this is something that’s quite doable,” Rice said. The United States does not want Iran to be “in a position to race towards a bomb undetected.” Rice said it was still unclear

if Iran was hurting enough from existing sanctions on its oil exports and other industries to give up its nuclear ambitions in a “verifiable way.”

“We don’t know. But the other half of the answer is we have every interest in testing that proposition,” she said. Under November ’s interim agreement, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program for six months in exchange for limited relief from sanctions.

The Obama administration has clashed with Congress over the sanctions issue; many lawmakers want to impose tougher sanctions on Iran. — Reuters

Winter’s start ices eastern Canada, US TORONTO: Approximately 200,000 people in Canada’s largest city were still without power following a weekend ice storm that wreaked havoc from southwestern Ontario to Canada’s Atlantic Coast, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said yesterday.

“We believe that the worst weather is over,” Ford said. About 75,000 people had power restored in the city overnight, he added.

Freezing rain across much of eastern Canada on Sunday turned roads and sidewalks into skating rinks and hit holiday plans at one of the busiest travel times of the year.

The first full day of winter also brought ice and high wind in the upper US Midwest and northeastern New England states and flooding in the South. Snow and ice knocked out power to 400,000 homes and businesses in Michigan, upstate New York state and northern New England. It could be days before the lights are back on everywhere.

At least nine deaths were blamed on the storm in the US, including five people killed in flooding in Kentucky, three traffic deaths on slick roads in Oklahoma, and a woman who died after a tornado with winds of 130 mph (209 kph) struck in Arkansas. Five people were killed in eastern Canada in highway crashes blamed on severe weather conditions. Ford called it one of the worst storms in Toronto’s history. Anxious passengers found themselves stranded in airports from Toronto to St John’s, Newfoundland. Police warned people to stay off the roads if possible. In the US, more than 700 airline flights were canceled Sunday and

NEW YORK: Heather Griffin, of Buffalo, New York and her dog Sal walk beneath ice-covered trees on Sunday in Buffalo. As Americans and Canadians ushered in the first official day of winter, the weather provided many with a variety of surprises. — AP more than 11,000 delayed, according to aviation tracking website FlightAware.com. Associated Press writers Mary Esch in Albany, New York, Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton, New Jersey, Ken

Miller in Oklahoma City, David Goodman in Detroit, Rick Callahan in Indianapolis and Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed to this report. — AP

Parallel Venezuela governments stoke polarized politics CARACAS: Opposition politician Ricardo Hernandez was elected mayor of Tariba, a small Venezuelan city near the border with Colombia, by a landslide. But he didn’t have long to bask in his victory. In the days after Dec. 8 municipal elections in which the opposition won 75 mayoralties, Hernandez discovered that the company that collects trash had stopped working - apparently on orders of his predecessor, a member of the ruling Socialist Party (PSUV).

And, the new mayor says, the state government of Tachira, which is controlled by the PSUV, ordered the police in Tariba to hand over its firearms and vehicles to a state force. Hernandez’ case is far from unique. Across the OPEC nation, new office holders in the 49 mayoralties that passed to the opposition from the PSUV complain about what they say are efforts by President Nicolas Maduro’s central government to strip their powers. The moves have included taking away responsibilities including the management of parks, theaters and other cultural centers - and removing assets from local authorities.

In some cases, they have prompted critics to accuse ruling party officials of trying to undermine and bypass opposition mayors and governors by setting up “parallel governments.” Hernandez, who won with 62 percent of the votes in Tariba, sees it as punishment for having defeated a PSUV candidate. “It affects the population and the communities which are using those services,” the 37year-old lawyer said this week during a rare meeting between Maduro and opposition politicians, appealing for an end to interference in his work.

But Jose Vielma, the governor of Tachira state and a PSUV stalwart, denied there was any ill intent. He said the temporary return of some equipment used by Tariba’s police, which had been provided by its owners, the state police force, was arranged with Hernandez’s predecessor.

“The weapons, bulletproof vests, patrol vehicles and motorcycles were returned by the (previous) mayor ... so that we can do maintenance and check them,” Vielma told local media. The central government denies it is setting up “parallel” administrations, and says it only steps in when local governments are not addressing urgent needs. Maduro, 51, narrowly won the election in April to succeed his mentor, Hugo Chavez, who died from cancer the month before. At the municipal polls this month, the PSUV won 242 - or 76 percent - of the country’s 337 mayoralties. Overall, the PSUV and its allies took 10 percentage points more votes than opposition parties, showing the strength of “Chavismo” in rural areas where more mayoral races were up for grabs. — Reuters

SEATTLE: Laura Brenner (left) laughs with her adopted daughter Ketia Brenner (9) on the couch of their living room in Seattle. Ketia was rescued and adopted in the wake of the massive January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. —AP

CIA helped Colombia hunt, kill FARC leaders: Report WASHINGTON: A secret CIA program helped Colombia kill at least two dozen leftist FARC guerrilla leaders, The Washington Post reported yesterday. Washington’s covert help in targeting Latin America’s oldest insurgency, funded through a multibillion-dollar black budget, also includes “substantial eavesdropping help” from the National Security Agency, the newspaper said.

The secret CIA program-separate from the $9 billion US aid package dubbed Plan Colombia, which launched in 2000 — was initially authorized by president George W. Bush around the same time. President Barack Obama has continued the assistance, the Post reported, citing its interviews with more than 30 current and former officials from both the United States and Colombia.

The covert program works in two ways: the US provides intelligence to help locate the FARC leaders, and it furnishes a special GPS guidance kit that helps convert standard bombs into highly-precise smart bombs. It was thanks to US intelligence that the FARC number two, Raul Reyes, was found and killed in 2008, the report said.

The Reyes operation was carried out on March 1, 2008, in neighboring Ecuador. “To conduct an airstrike meant a Colombian pilot flying a Colombian plane would hit the camp using a US-made bomb with a CIAcontrolled brain,” the Post said, adding that the United States justified the incursion in another sovereign country’s territory as selfdefense for Colombia.

In Bogota, Congressman Ivan Cepeda said lawmakers would ask President Juan Manuel Santos’ government for an explanation “as to just what information the government has about this.” The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia has conducted an insurgency against the state since its founding in 1964. Then president Alvaro Uribe waged a fierce war against the FARC during his 2002 to 2010 presidency, reducing Colombia’s largest leftist rebel group by half-it now numbers some 8,000 fightersand confining it to remote areas of the country. The FARC has been in peace talks with the government for over a year. The two sides are currently discussing drug trafficking as part of an attempt to reach a comprehensive peace deal. —AFP

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

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

‘Common man party’ set to take power in Delhi AAP’s deal with Congress could stymie its radical agenda

PESHAWAR: Pakistani Christians mourn the death of relatives killed in the September 22 bomb blast at the All Saint’s Church, after a service in Peshawar yesterday. — AFP

Shocking church bombing haunts Xmas in Pakistan PESHAWAR: For Christians in Pakistan’s troubled, violent northwestern city Peshawar, Christmas this year will be dominated by absent faces. Eighty-two people were killed when a devastating double suicide attack targeted their place of worship three months ago. All Saints church still bears the physical scars of the September 22 bombing, believed to be the deadliest ever against Muslim-majority Pakistan’s small Christian community. Two bombers blew themselves up in the courtyard of the church as worshippers exchanged greetings after a service in an attack that horrified even a country as hardened to violence as Pakistan.

The courtyard walls are still peppered with holes gouged by the hundreds of ragged metal ball bearings that were packed into the explosive vests to cause maximum carnage. Inside the church, a clock is stopped at 11:43 — the time the bombers struck and for some worshippers the pain of that day is still fresh.

Anwar Khokhar, 53, lost six members of his family in the attack, including three of his brothers. For him, the season that for most Christians represents hope and happiness brings no joy but only a keener sense of the bitterness of his loss. “As Christmas gets nearer I miss them more and more. I miss them as much as it is possible to miss anyone,” he told AFP after attending the last Sunday service before Christmas.

“I miss our relatives so sadly, one of my

brothers especially. It’s so hard that he’s not with us this Sunday and especially at Christmas.” In his sermon the vicar, Reverend Ejaz Gill, tried to offer comfort, saying the victims are at peace and will join with their loved ones spiritually to celebrate Christmas.

But for some the wounds are still too fresh and after the service a group of women gathered to weep in the courtyard, which is adorned with color posters of the dead, stifling tears in their brightly-colored “Sunday best” headscarves. One woman in particular was inconsolable, burying her face in one of the posters showing a brighteyed teenage girl, sobbing uncontrollably.

‘No happiness’ The seemingly senseless slaughter of so many innocent civilians shocked Pakistan and it is still not clear who carried out the attack. After an initial claim by a militant outfit allied to the Pakistani Taleban, the group’s main spokesman denied any link.

Christians have suffered attacks and riots in recent years over allegations of blasphemy, often spurious, but bombings such as the All Saints blast are very rare.

They make up just two percent of Pakistan’s overwhelmingly Muslim population of 180 million and most are poor, relegated to dirty, undesirable jobs. Being a small community they are close-knit and as housewife Nasreen Anwar explained, almost no Christian in Peshawar was untouched by September’s carnage. — AFP

NEW DELHI: The leader of India’s new “common man party” has struck a deal to become Delhi’s chief minister, promising to clean up politics after a stunning electoral debut that has shaken up the country’s two main parties. Arvind Kejriwal, the mild-mannered former tax official who leads the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), announced yesterday that it would form a minority government having secured “outside support” from the Congress party that leads India’s national coalition.

India’s capital has been stuck in a political impasse for three weeks after a local election on Dec. 4 failed to produce an outright winner. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the country’s main opposition party, won the largest number of seats in the Delhi assembly but fell short of a majority. The AAP, born out of the anti-graft movement that swept India two years ago, took second place, pushing the incumbent Congress to the third spot.

The new party, in an unusual move, consulted voters as to whether it should try to form a government with the support of the Congress party, which is mired in both national and state-level corruption scandals. “We asked people through our website, SMS and through public meetings in the last week,” Kejriwal said at a press conference.

“The result that has come is that people in big numbers are saying Aam Admi Party should form the government.”

The party has tapped into a growing middleclass anger towards India’s politicians, who are often perceived to be siphoning off public funds instead of providing public services.

Its success in Delhi is an alarm bell for the Congress and the BJP ahead of a national election due by May, underlining that an increasingly young and urban electorate is fed up. “The main thing (about AAP) is that they are different. Most of the political parties put up criminals as candidates and most of them just get into politics for money,” said Nikhil Ramdev, a 19-year-old law

NEW DELHI: India’s Aam Aadmi, or Common Man’s Party executive Arvind Kejriwal (center) speaks to media people after meeting Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung in New Delhi yesterday. — AP However, AAP’s deal with Congress could student from West Delhi.

“It’s a business for them. People are getting stymie this radical agenda. The incumbent parmore and more frustrated. That’s why a first-time ty’s “outside support” means that it will only back party got so many votes.” Kejriwal’s request to Kejriwal on an issue by issue basis.

“The support is not unconditional,” Sheila form his new government requires a final sign-off Dikshit, the outgoing chief minister of Delhi, told from Delhi’s lieutenant governor, Najeeb Jung. reporters. “As time progresses, and as their work starts, then we will take each issue separately.

Radical agenda The AAP promised in its manifesto that it will There is no bar in removing support in case we send the city’s corrupt lawmakers to jail within feel that it is anti-people or anti-government.”

Dikshit and the Congress party, which govone year. Nationally, almost a third of India’s lawmakers face criminal charges and many are erned Delhi for a record 15 years, faced voter shielded by a slow-moving legal system. Every anger over a range of issues such as a poor family in Delhi will get up to 700 litres water free record on women’s safety, which was highlighted every day. Electricity prices will be halved, partly by the brutal gang-rape and murder of a young woman last year. — Reuters by cracking down on falsely inflated bills.

Pakistani army launches attacks on Afghan border ISLAMABAD: Residents of Pakistan’s ethnic Pashtun region of North Waziristan accused government troops yesterday of killing dozens of civilians during a military operation against Taleban insurgents. The operation started just after a Dec 18 suicide bomb attack on a checkpoint in North Waziristan, a stronghold for AlQaeda-linked Taleban militants on Pakistan’s mountainous border with Afghanistan.

Speculation that the army might launch a major offensive in the frontier tribal areas has been building as the government’s attempts to engage the Pakistani Taleban in peace talks have floundered in recent

months. Military officials said more than 30 militants, most of them ethnic Uzbeks, had been killed in the operation.

“Security forces exercised utmost restraint to avoid any collateral damage,” the army said in a statement.

“The Pakistan military spokesman reiterated that the military action against the terrorists in North Waziristan on Dec 19 was in response to an attempt by terrorists to ambush a military convoy.

“The intelligence-based sting military operation later was specifically targeted against foreign terrorists holed up in a nearby compound.” Foreign militants

from various places including central Asia have long been known to be based in the region.

The army in its statement did not say anything about residents’ accusations of civilian casualties. The military’s media wing could not be immediately reached for comment. Pakistani authorities imposed a curfew and residents said many people had fled from their homes after days of shelling and raids by helicopter gunships in the Mir Ali region of North Waziristan following the suicide attack. Resident Muhammed Tayyab said he lost three of his children and his wife in the shelling. — Reuters

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

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

Crackdown stymies China church’s Xmas meeting BEIJING: Lawyers and Christian churchgoers said they were blocked from meeting in a central Chinese county yesterday to commemorate Christmas and draw attention to the detention of a pastor and his aides. The canceled meeting at the church in Henan province’s Nanle county came during a month-long crackdown on the church over a land dispute that pits its popular preacher against the county government.

Nanle’s congregation had wanted to hold a prayer meeting on Monday morning to mark Christmas. But they also

sought to use the gathering to rally support for their pastor, Zhang Shaojie, and more than a dozen of his aides who have been detained by police for more than a month and denied access to their lawyers.

Rights attorney Xia Jun said he and several other lawyers who had traveled to Nanle were on their way to the prayer meeting when they were blocked by about two dozen middle-aged women and some men.

The crowd blocked the road with a ladder and harassed the lawyers, preventing them from either going to the church or

heading in the direction from which they came. Xia said he believed local authorities hired the group to chase the visitors out of the county.

“The most serious problem in Nanle right now is that it is practically lawless,” Xia said by phone. “The atmosphere is dark and there are no human rights.” A Christian woman named Shi Ping said she and several others from Shanghai who had traveled to Nanle were escorted to a police station by plainclothes officers who guarded the church entrance. Nearly 100 people blocked the church’s entrance, Shi

and another churchgoer said by phone.

The case has drawn the scrutiny of rights lawyers and activists who say it exposes a county government’s ability to act with impunity against a local Christian church even if it is state-sanctioned.

Supporters of the church say the county government reneged on an agreement to allocate it a piece of land for the construction of a new building, leaving them without a place of worship.

Reached by phone, a man from the Nanle county government said he had not heard about the case, while calls to local

police and the Communist Party’s offices rang unanswered.

The dispute highlights the vulnerable position that religious groups hold in the Chinese political system under the communist government, an expert said. “A religious group in China, no matter what group, is a weak, marginalized social organization,” said Prof. Fenggang Yang, a sociologist and expert on religion in China at Purdue University. “They don’t have the power, they don’t have the social status.

Perhaps local officials feel that to take them on is not a big deal.” —AP

Thai protesters step up campaign to block polls Bid to banish PM, family from politics

TACLOBAN: A resident and survivor of super Typhoon Haiyan carries a wood as he walks amongst the debris along the coastal area of Tacloban City in Leyte province yesterday. —AFP

China to media: Don’t’ report ‘wrong views’ BEIJING: China’s ruling Communist Party told the already tightly monitored state media yesterday that they should not be reporting on “wrong points of view” and instead cover positive stories that promote “socialist values”. Traditionally, Chinese state media has been the key vehicle for party propaganda. But reforms over the past decade that have allowed greater media commercialization and some increase in editorial independence, combined with the rise of social media, have weakened government control, according to academics. However, since Xi Jinping became party chief and then national president, he has overseen a media crackdown to bring newspapers in particular back in line.

Under new guidelines to enforce “core socialist values”, the media must “steadfastly uphold the correct guidance of public opinion”. “Strengthen the management of the media, do not provide channels for the propagation of the wrong points of view,” read the guidelines, which were published by the official Xinhua news agency.

“News and publishing organs and those who work in the industry must strengthen self-regulation, and earnestly increase their sense of responsibility and ability to pro-

mote core socialist values,” it added. China media watchers have pointed to a flurry of editorials after Xi spoke to propaganda officials in August as evidence of concern within the party that control over public discourse was slipping. The official Beijing Daily described the party’s struggle to win hearts and minds as a “fight to the death”.

Some reporters and academics, however, have traced the start of the tougher attitude to a strike lasting several days in January by journalists at an outspoken newspaper, the Southern Weekly, after censors scrapped a New Year editorial calling for China to enshrine constitutional rights.

Xi had taken over the Communist Party only a few weeks earlier.

Xi has also taken a tough line on internet censorship, and the new guidelines implied that would continue. “Strengthen management of the internet in accordance with the law, including the management of new technologies and usages ... strike hard against online rumours and criminal activities to clean up the internet environment,” Xinhua said. Xinhua said that “core socialist values” included lofty ideals like democracy, equality and rule of law, but also the guiding position of Marxism in today’s China. — Reuters

Indonesia candidate tells US no tolerance for extremism WASHINGTON: With Indonesia preparing for elections in the new year, one underdog candidate is promoting himself in the United States as a president who would crack down on Islamist extremists.

The United States has taken a growing interest in Indonesia, with President Barack Obama-who spent part of his childhood in Jakarta-seeing the world’s largest Muslimmajority country as a ideal partner due to its embrace of democracy and its historically moderate brand of Islam.

But wealthy businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo, brother of candidate Prabowo Subianto, said that violence in recent years against Christian, Ahmadiyah and other minorities showed a “total failure” by outgoing

WASHINGTON: Djojohadikusumo speaks in Washington. The businessman is in the United States to promote his brother Prabowo Subianto, one of the candidates in Indonesia’s presidential elections in 2014. — AFP President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration on ensuring religious tolerance.

“I would give them an F-minus grade,” Hashim told AFP during a recent visit to Washington to promote his brother. Hashim said that Prabowo as president would enforce laws that protect religious freedom-a key foreign policy issue for many US lawmakers.

“The US government should be more active in voicing displeasure about the abdication of the Indonesian government in promoting minorities,” he said. Hashim’s billing of his brother as a defender of minorities comes despite charges that Prabowo, then a military commander, led the torture of pro-democracy activists during the fall of strongman Suharto

in the 1990s.

The United States has denied Prabowo a visa on human rights grounds. Hashim argued that his brother was not alone in his military role. He also defended his brother’s populist economic platform, which includes charges that the banking sector is too open. “Whether that’s considered nationalist, it’s certainly not considered xenophobic. We just want fairness,” Hashim said.

Prabowo, he said, supports foreign investment and “is not another Hugo Chavez,” the late leftist Venezuelan leader. None of the leading candidates in the July elections are considered close to Islamists or hostile toward the United States.

Joko Widodo, the laid-back mayor of Jakarta known for his love of heavy metal, is often considered the frontrunner. Other potential candidates include businessman Aburizal Bakrie and Dino Patti Djalal, who recently resigned as ambassador to the United States.

Hashim called for the United States to support election monitors, warning of a high potential for fraud. A senior US official said that the United States was open to providing election support but added that problems during the last vote in 2009 were technical in nature and not seen as an effort to rig the outcome.

“Overall, I think we’re pretty bullish on Indonesian democracy,” the official said on condition of anonymity. The official said that the Obama administration-which has made growing ties to Asia a key priority-was neutral in the election and expected warm relations no matter who wins. While the Obama administration has boosted defense ties that had been stalled on human rights concerns, the US official said that most areas of cooperation were in relatively uncontroversial areas such as the environment, health and education.

“Much of the stuff that we’re doing with Indonesia is not politically sensitive,” he said.

The official praised Indonesia for advising Arab Spring countries on their democratic transitions-”places where having an Indonesian face rather than a US face might be better”-and said that the United States may look to increase support for such training. Despite the calm in relations with Washington, Indonesia is in the midst of one of the worst crises in years with Australia after American intelligence leaker Edward Snowden revealed that the US ally tried to bug the phones of Yudhoyono and his inner circle. — AFP

BANGKOK: Thai opposition protesters yesterday stepped up their campaign to disrupt upcoming elections, trying to block candidate registrations as part of efforts to banish Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her family from politics.

The main opposition Democrat Party, which has not won an elected majority in parliament in about two decades, has vowed to boycott the Februar y 2 polls called by Yingluck following weeks of street rallies by her opponents.

It is the latest chapter in a yearsold political crisis which broadly pits a Bangkok-based elite against mostly rural and poor supporters of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a divisive former premier who was ousted in a coup in 2006.

Hundreds of demonstrators yesterday surrounded a stadium in Bangkok where representatives of political parties were trying to register to run in the polls ahead of the December 27 deadline.

Nine parties, including Yingluck’s Puea Thai, managed to enter although officials were unable to fully complete their registration, according to the country’s Election Commission. About two dozen parties filed complaints with the police because they were prevented from entering.

But it appeared to be only a temporary setback with the election authorities expressing confidence that the parties would be able to register in time. “For those parties that cannot enter the stadium we will contact them and made appointments for them to submit documents,” Election Commissioner Dhirawat Dhirarojvit said. Puea Thai party said that Yingluck was on top of the party’s list of candidates-a position that would usually make her Puea Thai’s pick for prime minister if it wins the polls.

Her candidacy is certain to anger the demonstrators, who want to rid Thai politics of the influence of her brother Thaksin-a billionaire tycoon turned premier whom protesters accuse of control-

LOEI: Thai caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (left) shakes hands with villagers during a trip in Loei province yesterday. —AFP ling the government from his home in Dubai. At least 150,000 people joined the latest anti-Thaksin mass protest in the capital on Sunday, according to an estimate from National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanatabut. Organizers said the turnout was much higher.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has vowed to “shut the country down” to prevent people voting.

The demonstrators’ self-proclaimed People’s Democratic Reform Committee is calling for an unelected “people’s council” to be installed to oversee sweeping but looselydefined reforms before new elections in around a year to 18 months.

They have vowed to rid Thailand of the “Thaksin regime” and oppose the election, saying it will only bring another government allied to the former premier, who fled the country in 2008 to avoid jail for a corruption conviction he

contends is politically motivated.

Thaksin’s “Red Shirt” supporters have voiced fears that the recent protests are aimed at encouraging the military to seize power, in a country which has seen 18 successful or attempted coups since 1932.

The protesters “want to push Thailand into deadlock and then invite the military to seize power in a coup before the election”, said one of the Red Shirt leaders, Nattawut Saikuar.

But if that happens “people will come out to fight back”, he warned.

Thaksin is adored among rural communities and the working class, particularly in the north and northeast. But the billionaire tycoon-turned-politician is reviled by the elite, who see him as corrupt and a threat to the revered monarchy. Pro-Thaksin parties have won ever y election since 2001 and Thailand has seen several bouts of political turmoil since he was

deposed, with rival protests sometimes resulting in bloody unrest. On Saturday members of the opposition Democrat Party-who earlier resigned as MPs en masse to join the street demonstrations-voted against participating in the elections.

The Democrats previously boycotted elections in 2006, helping to create the political uncertainty which heralded a military coup that ousted Thaksin. The party last took power in 2008 by parliamentary vote after a court stripped Thaksin’s allies of power, angering his “Red Shirt” supporters who launched mass street protests three years ago that ended in a military crackdown that left dozens dead.

Democrat leader and former premier Abhisit Vejjajiva has been indicted for murder over the crackdown along with his ex-deputy Suthep Thaugsuban who is leading the street protests. —AFP

China wants more party bosses reprimanded

This handout photo released yesterday by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan shows Emperor Akihito (left) and Empress Michiko posing at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. —AFP

Japanese Emperor Akihito turns 80 TOKYO: Thousands of people thronged Japan’s Imperial Palace yesterday to celebrate Emperor Akihito’s 80th birthday, as he lauded his wife for standing by him in his “lonely” pursuit of leading the world’s oldest monarchy. Empress Michiko, a wealthy flour magnate’s daughter, was the first commoner in modern times to marry into Japan’s imperial family.

Following their fairy-tale wedding in 1959, Michiko, now 79, also became the first empress to raise her children herself, famously making them “bento” lunch boxes to take to school. “Being an emperor can be a lonely state,” Akihito said in an interview released by the Imperial Household Agency yesterday. “But... it has given me comfort and joy to have by my side the empress, who has always respected my position and stood by me.

“And I feel most fortunate that I have been able to endeavor to carry out my role as emperor with the empress by my side,” said the ageing monarch, who inherited the Chrysanthemum Throne in 1989 upon his father Emperor Hirohito’s death. The softspoken monarch greeted well-wishers from a glass-covered balcony at the Imperial Palace overlooking the East Garden, flanked

by Empress Michiko and other members of the royal household.

“Thinking about disaster sufferers, I will spend my days wishing all the people happiness,” he said, referring to the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami and various other natural disasters that struck Japan in the past year. The Imperial Palace said around 24,000 attended his birthday address, braving the bitter cold and waving small Japanese flags as crowds shouted “Banzai” (long live).

In the afternoon, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe joined other dignitaries for a birthday banquet at the palace. While Emperor Hirohito was once worshipped as a living demigod, Akihito and Michiko have tried to be seen as an “ordinary couple” and narrowed the distance between the palace and the people. The Imperial Palace, surrounded by stone walls and mossy moats-is opened to the general public twice a year-on the emperor’s birthday and the second day of New Year-for the royal family to greet wellwishers. The Japanese throne is held in deep respect by much of the public, despite being stripped of much of its mystique and its quasi-divine status in the aftermath of World War II. —AFP

BEIJING: China’s ruling Communist Party would like to see more party bosses held accountable for allowing corruption to happen on their watch, something that rarely happens now, a senior official told a newspaper yesterday. The Central Commission for Discipline and Inspection, the party’s anti-graft watchdog, said in November it would target all senior officials as part of reforms to deepen its war on pervasive corruption. President Xi Jinping has pursued an aggressive drive against corruption since coming to power, vowing to pursue high-flying “tigers” as well as lowly “flies”, and warning that the problem is so serious it could threaten the party’s power.

In an interview with the party’s official People’s Daily newspaper, Li Xueqin, head of the anti-graft watchdog’s research division, said that the party still had a long way to go to hold officials accountable for ignoring corruption.

“We often hear that such-and-such a government leader has been held responsible and investigated for large safety incidents,” Li said, referring to officials being reprimanded for mine disasters or transport crashes which happen because rules have been ignored by underlings.

“But rarely do we hear about a local party boss or discipline inspection boss being investigated and held responsible for not effectively enforcing party conduct and clean government (rules),” he added.

“This situation has to change,” Li said. “If we discover the leadership or leading officials neglecting their duties on building up party conduct and clean government, we will trace it back to whoever is responsible, and certainly will not let them muddle through as a group.”

Regional governments and other departments will have lists drawn up clearly outlining who is responsible for what, he said, as the government targets an old problem of its orders being largely ignored at the local level. “At the end of the day, finding out who to blame is crucial for building up party conduct and clean government. If this does not happen, then the concept of responsibility means nothing,” Li said. Xi has not only targeted corrupt practices like bribe taking, but also extravagance and waste, as he seeks to assuage public anger over perceived corruption in the civil service and Communist Party offices. While many of those caught up in the anti-graft sweep have been relatively junior, Xi has begun to take on more significant figures. Last week, the party announced that a deputy minister in the powerful Ministry of Public Security was being investigated for “suspected serious law and discipline violations”, which normally means corruption.—Reuters

NEWS All ministers resign after...

Continued from Page 1 ministers including the ministers of electricity and water, development and planning, housing and municipality, social affairs and labour and others.

On the legal front, the constitutional court, whose rulings are final, yesterday rejected two petitions demanding to nullify the July Assembly election and dissolve the Assembly, citing procedural flaws. The court did not explain the basis of its rejection, which means that the current Assembly is legal and will not be dissolved through the court unlike what happened with the previous two parliaments.

Judge Youssef Al-Mutawaa said in a brief ruling that the two petitions had been rejected. The court also rejected around 50 other petitions challenging the results of the election but approved two petitions. The court nullified the election of Maasouma Al-Mubarak from the first constituency and Osama Al-Tahous from the third constituency, and scrapped their membership. In their place, the court declared Abdulhameed Dashti and Nabil Al-Fadhl winners of the two seats respectively. It based its rulings on mathematical grounds, meaning that there was an error in the manual sorting of votes.

Speaker Ghanem and a number of lawmakers welcomed the two main developments of yesterday, with Ghanem saying it is a good opportunity to form a strong government. New MP Dashti, who attended the court hearing, said outside the court that his first parliamentary action will be to submit a series of proposed laws to safeguard the election process. With the decision today, the number of female lawmakers will be reduced to just one after Mubarak was disqualified. MP Safa AlHashem remains the only female representative.

The prime minister is expected to form the new Cabinet, which will be the 13th government since Feb 2006, within the next two weeks. The main ministers likely to be left out are Planning and Development Minister Rola Dashti, Education Minister Nayef Al-Hajraf and Electricity and Water Minister Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim, and possibly Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Thekra Al-Rasheedi. The main ministerial posts are not expected to change.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

Russian punks vow to fight on after release Continued from Page 1 the Virgin Mary to get rid of President Vladimir Putin. Alyokhina was quietly whisked away from her prison colony in the city of Nizhny Novgorod while Tolokonnikova, 24, emerged in style and faced a media scrum a few hours later from a prison hospital in Krasnoyarsk in Siberia.

Wearing fishnet stockings despite temperatures of minus 25 degrees C and hair perfectly coiffed, Tolokonnikova said her prison time only made her more resolute in opposing Putin’s rule. “I don’t consider this time wasted,” the brunette said. “I became older, I saw the state from within, I saw this totalitarian machine as it is. Russia is built on the model of a penal colony and that is why it is so important to change the penal colonies today to change Russia,” she said. She pledged to defend prisoners’ rights along with bandmate Alyokhina, saying “we would like to pursue a joint project together. “Right now we will be discussing the structure and format of this project,” Tolokonnikova said in an interview with Echo of Moscow radio.

Tolokonnikova wants to spend at least a week in Krasnoyarsk where her grandmother lives, and Alyokhina planned to join her in the Siberian city today.

to boycott the Olympic Games. “As it stands, I appeal for a boycott, I appeal for honesty, I appeal for not being bought for oil and gas,” she said.

The Pussy Riot’s “punk prayer” was staged just prior to Putin’s re-election to the Kremlin in March 2012 and was aimed at denouncing the Orthodox Church’s support of the Russian strongman during the campaign.

The group also released a video clip of their performance which is now banned. All three were arrested in early March 2012. Samutsevich was later freed on appeal with a suspended sentence, but Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were sent to faraway penal colonies.

Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova, whose sentences would have run out in early March, were granted the amnesty last week after parliament approved a Kremlin-backed bill. Their jailing turned them from little-known feminist punks who staged a handful of guerrilla performances in Moscow to the stars of a global cause celebre symbolising the repression of civil dissent under Putin. They received support from luminaries ranging from Madonna to Yoko Ono to Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. The case also polarised Russian society, with Orthodox conservatives getting into fights with Pussy Riot supporters during the trial, and even staging rallies of their own. — AFP

Alyokhina used her first interview after her release to slam the amnesty as a mere publicity “stunt”, and said that she would have preferred to remain in prison but wasn’t given a choice. “If I had a choice to refuse (the amnesty), I would have, without a doubt,” Alyokhina told Dozhd television channel. The two women were freed three days after the shock release of anti-Kremlin tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who spent more than a decade behind bars.

Alyokhina’s release was marked by the same kind of security as the secret operation that freed Khodorkovsky, who was not seen after his release until he touched down at a Berlin airport on Friday afternoon. She was taken away from the prison without saying goodbye to her fellow inmates and eventually made her way to the offices of local NGO Committee Against Torture to discuss violations at the colony. Still wearing prison garb, Alyokhina said she had no regrets.

“I am not sorry, I am proud of what we did.” If the chance arose to stage the church stunt again, “we would sing the song to the end”, she said. “You have to listen to the whole thing, not just the first verse.”

Tolokonnikova, meanwhile, urged countries to boycott the February Olympics. If the amnesty were wider, she said, Western countries could view it as a reason not

Outrage over limiting burials to locals Continued from Page 1 Humaidi said Article 7 of the world human rights declaration says that all people are equal in front of the law and have the right to enjoy protection without discrimination. They also have the right to equal protection against any prejudice that violates the declaration. He asked the chairman of the municipal council and municipality director general to reject this

proposal because “Kuwait is generous and charitable and they are known as such since many years”.

The Municipality is responsible for a variety of municipal concerns in Kuwait including food safety and quality, control of restaurants and places serving food, removal of abandoned cars, licensing of businesses, advertisements, burials, the fire department and other public services. Kuwait along with other Gulf countries has witnessed a rise in anti expatriate

sentiment since 2008’s financial meltdown. Local politicians and government officials often point to the use of local government services and subsidized food and gasoline by expatriates as a rationale for the reduction of guest workers in the region. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have both launched campaigns aimed at reducing the numbers of illegal workers in their countries and others have tightened controls over visas and sponsors in a bid to reduce visa trafficking.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

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Issues

Ukraine oppn struggles after Russia deal

By Dmytro Gorshkov

U

kraine’s opposition is in disarray after failing to offer a clear agenda to their supporters in response to the signing by President Viktor Yanukovych of a bailout deal with Russia, analysts say.

While the protests against the authorities’ decision to scrap an integration pact with the EU under Kremlin pressure have continued in the streets of Kiev, opposition leaders appear unable to harness this support in an effective way. Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to buy $15 billion of Ukraine’s debt in eurobonds and slash its gas bill by a third to preserve Kremlin influence in its neighbour.

Tens of thousands rallied Sunday for the latest major weekend protest against Yanukovych but the turnout was the lowest since the mass protests started on Nov 24. “It is clear that Yanukovych has retained his standing and received an additional resource in the form of the deal with Russia,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, director of the Penta political research centre. The protesters have occupied Independence Square - known in Kiev as the Maidan - since late November and erected barricades to prevent security forces from entering the area. Several police attempts to shift the protest camp ended in failure and provoked outrage inside and outside Ukraine over the use of force against peaceful protesters. While it seemed in early December that Yanukovych might not be able to withstand the protests, the Moscow agreement could be a turning point as the authorities seek to gain the upper hand.

‘There is no leader’ The three main opposition leaders - world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, Arseniy Yatsenyuk who heads the faction of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and nationalist Oleg Tyagnybok - have appeared at a loss over how to respond. The three were taken aback by the lack of concessions offered in public

by Yanukovych to the Kremlin for the help, which would have provided them with a major weapon to mobilise supporters. “There is no leader, no personification of the Maidan,” said Ukrainian political analyst Vadym Karasev, adding the trio are also riven by internal divisions.

Their demands to punish policemen who beat up students during an early bid to disperse the protests on November 30 and the resignation of the current government are still unanswered. “Only Klitschko wants early presidential elections, but there is no support from others,” said Karasev, saying the three opposition leaders had presidential ambitions with no desire to yield to the other. Having missed the chance to shake Yanukovych from his perch, each of the opposition leaders may have already begun his campaign for the next presidential polls to be held in March 2015.

Experts believe that the opposition should have been more convincing in its closed-door negotiations with Ukraine’s oligarchs, who control a lot of pro-government members of parliament. Despite the annoyance of pickets outside their apartments and offices both in Ukraine and abroad, the Moscow deals show that the country’s super rich are still behind Yanukovych for now. “The backstage struggle failed. It was necessary to seek allies in parliament, among the oligarchs, but it was not done,” Karasev said. An expected flood of defections from MPs in Yanukovych’s Regions Party never happened.

Where is Yulia?

Another big problem is the lack among opposition trio of an obvious leader such as the jailed ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a feisty icon of the 2004 Orange Revolution, whose detention supporters say is aimed at eliminating her from politics. “There is no charismatic leader, no counterweight to Yanukovych,” said Karasev. The leader of the anti-Communist protest movement in the 1980s and former Polish president Lech Walesa told Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita that he did not “see a major social movement that would overthrow the government.”

Experts say the opposition should prepare for longterm actions. But Tymoshenko has urged them not to waste the Maidan’s protest energy by waiting for the 2015 polls to change the president. She was echoed by former emergencies minister in her cabinet, Viktor Baloga, who called on the opposition “to prevent a loss of tempo” and to prepare an action plan for the near future. “If this goes on, 2015 will not come. It’s about saving the country where we live,” he wrote on his Facebook page. —AFP

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

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

Domestic concerns drive Oman foreign policy

By Sami Aboudi

T

raditionally reticent Oman has become unusually assertive in opposing a Saudi plan for Gulf Arab states to close ranks against Iran, worried that a wider regional confrontation might threaten its own stability. Oman’s willingness to incur the displeasure of Saudi Arabia, its most powerful neighbour, reflects both the proximity of Iran and vulnerabilities of its domestic political, economic and religious makeup. The Sultanate sits on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which flows 40 percent of the world’s seaborne crude oil. Muscat has a history of constructive relations with Tehran, and recently agreed to buy Iranian gas for the next quarter century.

“Geography necessitates that we deal with Iran.

It is a Muslim neighbour located on the other side of the Gulf and therefore we must seek stability in this region,” said Anwar al-Rawas, a lecturer at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat. Oman has watched with alarm as rivalry between Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran has spread across the region. Riyadh and some other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of which Oman is a member, believe Tehran is using sectarianism to interfere in Arab countries and build its own sphere of Middle East influence.

Riyadh has backed groups opposing Iranian proxies in unrest or outright war in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen, and has tried to marshal the GCC into what a former Omani diplomat described as “a sectarian project to confront Iran”.

Muscat not only dismissed the Saudi idea last month, but also facilitated secret US talks with Tehran, leading to a deal on Iran’s nuclear program

that Riyadh sees as dangerous. “Omani foreign policy is basically at the service of Omani political stability, and Omani political stability needs regional stability,” said Marc Valeri, an Oman expert at Britain’s University of Exeter.

Factors in the new diplomatic assertiveness of a government that used to be discreet even by the standards of the tight-lipped region also include the sultanate’s religious makeup, which is very different from its Arab allies’, and wariness among many Omanis of Saudi influence. “They might be a bit worried about being crushed by the sheer weight of Saudi Arabia,” said a Western diplomat in Muscat. Omani concerns also stem from uncertainty over its dynastic succession and questions about how long an economic model built on dwindling oil production can last. Protests in several Omani cities during the Arab Spring in 2011 showed that public patience with the government of Sultan Qaboos, credited with rapidly modernising a medieval kingdom after he overthrew his father in 1970, has limits.

A Country Apart Saudi Arabia’s population and economy are larger than those of the other five GCC members put together. Viewed from Oman, Riyadh’s attempts to build a unified Gulf Arab position are overbearing and against its economic and political interests. Although differences were rarely aired in public, Oman has long stood out among its Gulf allies. While other GCC countries gave money and political support to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in his 1980-88 war with Iran, Oman maintained relations with Tehran and helped to mediate a ceasefire that ended the fighting.

Oman also arranged prisoner exchanges

between Tehran and the West, and helped to organise oil payments to the Islamic republic as it struggled with international sanctions imposed over its nuclear program. This was partly in return for Iranian help with putting down a Marxist uprising against Qaboos in the 1970s, even though it was the Shah who sent troops to Oman, rather than leaders of the 1979 revolution that overthrew him. “Qaboos is forever grateful to Iran for that,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an analyst in the United Arab Emirates.

Muscat officials remain keen to conciliate. “They consider any role they can play in calming down the situation in the region, in creating a kind of bridge between countries, is indeed in the interest of Oman,” said Valeri. Oman’s religious makeup also lies behind its unease at the sectarian nature of Gulf politics. Most Omanis including the Sultan adhere to the Ibadi faith, a Muslim branch unique to the country which has much in common with mainstream Sunni Islam.

A big Sunni minority and a smaller Shiite community are not at odds with the Ibadi majority, and Muscat is keen to keep it that way. Already some Omanis and foreign diplomats say the influence of Saudi Arabia’s conservative Wahhabi school of Islam sometimes causes friction. “From time to time, we see Wahhabi sheikhs on Saudi television channels brand Ibadis as heretics and that doesn’t go down very nicely,” said Saif Al-Maskery, a former Omani diplomat who held a senior GCC role from 1987-93. Sectarian gestures from Iranian Shi’ites were a problem too, he said.

Domestic Worries All this is happening as Oman faces a longterm fall in oil revenue, public anger about unem-

ployment and corruption, and worries about the political future. Qaboos, 73, has no children or designated successor. Omanis are not yet confident in the state institutions, such as an elected parliament with few real powers, that he has slowly built. Since the protests in 2011, Qaboos has accelerated efforts to strengthen political institutions and is pursuing a high-profile anti-corruption campaign, with trials of some senior executives and former officials on bribery charges.

The government has also taken steps to bolster employment at home, ordering a pay increase for Omanis and announcing new curbs on recruiting foreign workers. In the long term the country recognises it must diversify away from oil and expand trade outside the GCC, including with Iran. After the Arab Spring, the GCC pledged $10 billion in aid to Oman.

However, this will mostly be used on joint projects such as a railway stretching from Oman through the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to Kuwait.

Trade with Iran is now estimated at a modest $250 million a year, but in August Muscat signed a 25-year deal with Tehran to import gas, worth around $60 billion over its lifetime. This, together with a $16 billion project to develop Oman’s own gas reserves signed with BP this month, should help to relieve bottlenecks in infrastructure and industrial projects. It also shows the benefits to Oman of pursuing a conciliatory policy, and its worries that the political considerations of Saudi Arabia may not be in the Sultanate’s long-term interests. “Oman joined the GCC as part of its concern for regional stability,” Maskery said. “Neither the Omani people nor its leadership will agree to be dissolved in a larger entity.” —Reuters

US has some options in Afghanistan

By Missy Ryan

like Iraq, Libya, Somalia,” another US defense official said.

U

Targeted Missions and Small-Scale Support Even if all foreign troops do withdraw from Afghanistan, the United States might still send small numbers of special forces, such as Green Berets, to do limited, short-term training missions at the request of Afghan officials. They might also launch occasional raids against militants, as they have in Libya or Somalia. “This is a model that’s used around the world,” the first defense official said.

In October, US forces seized Abu Anas Al-Liby, a suspect in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies, in Tripoli, Libya.

It is unclear what sort of authority it received from the Libyan government.

The same weekend, US special forces launched an operation against an Al-Shabaab militant in Somalia but failed to capture him, US officials said. In Iraq, following the US military withdrawal in 2011, the United States set up a large security office attached to its embassy in Baghdad to oversee military sales and provide limited support and advising to the Iraqi government. US special forces have also been invited to return to Iraq to provide counterterrorism and intelligence support to Iraqi forces, the general who headed that office said last year, according to a report in the New York Times. The US military also is providing some training and equipment to security forces in Yemen, defense officials have said, as the Obama administration seeks to weaken al Qaeda and other militants in the Arabian Peninsula.

S officials have warned of the potential for catastrophe if Afghan President Hamid Karzai fails to sign a security pact to permit foreign forces to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014. Unless a deal is reached to enable a modest US force of perhaps 8,000 to stay in the country, the Taleban might stage a major comeback, AlQaeda might regain safe havens and Afghan forces might find themselves starved of funding, the officials say. The post-2014 US force envisioned would train and assist Afghan soldiers and go after the most dangerous militants. But even if the Obama administration abruptly pulls out its entire force of 43,000 a year from now, it would still retain a handful of limited security options in Afghanistan.

While US officials have not discussed a possible postwithdrawal scenario in public, the United States might still, even under those circumstances, continue to provide small-scale support to local forces, mount some special forces missions, and use drones to counter Al-Qaeda and help keep the Taleban at bay. A narrowed security mission would in many ways track a decade-long shift in US strategy, away from the counter-insurgency campaigns of the 2000s toward the Obama administration’s preference for low-profile support to local forces combined with occasional targeted operations.

Even so, full withdrawal of the main US force would make it more difficult to prevent al Qaeda militants regrouping along the wild Afghanistan-Pakistan border and to stop the Taleban from solidifying control of its southern Afghan heartland. “We have a lot of capabilities, but without the (Bilateral Security Agreement), we are very limited,” a US defense official said on condition of anonymity, referring to the bilateral pact the United States is seeking with Karzai. For now, US officials remain hopeful - in public at least - that Karzai will drop last-minute demands and sign the pact well before Afghan elections in April. They say they have not begun to plan for a full withdrawal or a possible post-withdrawal mission in earnest.

But General Joseph Dunford, who commands international forces in Afghanistan, told reporters in Kabul recently that, “If there’s not an answer in December, I expect that we’ll begin to do some more detailed planning about some other eventuality besides the (post-2014) mission.”

To understand what options the United States might have in Afghanistan following a full withdrawal, “you can look to places where we are already active countering terrorism,

Light Footprint Robert Grenier, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Counterterrorism Center, said that if withdrawal of the main US force from Afghanistan becomes necessary, the United States should consider putting some special forces under CIA authority to train local forces or perform limited counter-terrorism activities, possibly along with some members of the CIA’s small paramilitary force. “The US footprint would be much smaller, and we would have many fewer capabilities. But it might not be a bad thing,” Grenier said. A light US footprint would give Afghan forces more of a leadership role in pursuing militants than they have had in the past, he said.

Retaining even a very narrow ability to support elite Afghan soldiers could be especially important if plans for a larger training mission collapse along with US efforts to finalize the security pact. Top US officials have warned that the $4 billion a year in outside aid promised for Afghan

forces would be less likely to materialize if the full departure of foreign troops limits lawmakers’ ability to track US aid. The administration would also have to rethink much of its development aid as well as its diplomatic strategy if US troops depart.

Without outside help, Afghanistan’s central government will likely lack the means to pay police and soldiers, encouraging a fracturing of its military along ethnic or regional lines. “The biggest risk if we go to the zero option is that the Afghan military falls apart, and then the Afghan state falls apart,” said retired Lieutenant General David Barno, who commanded US and NATO forces in Afghanistan from 2003-2005.

Whither Drones The United States would likely seek approval from future Afghan leaders for most or all of post-withdrawal training activities and counter-terrorism activities - possibly including the use of drones, which have been a defining feature of the Obama administration security strategy in far-flung places. President Barack Obama said in May that he hoped progress against Al-Qaeda and other militants would “reduce the need for unmanned strikes” in the Afghan war theater by next year. However, the lack of a sizeable US troop presence in Afghanistan could mean that drones become one of the few remaining tools the United States has against militant groups in the region.

Micah Zenko, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, said it would be very difficult to continue the drone program if Karzai’s successors decide against allowing launches from Afghan soil after foreign troops withdraw. Central Asian nations that might allow such flights are too distant from likely target areas, while the US military currently has only limited ability to operate drones from ships in the Arabian Sea or elsewhere. “Short of receiving basing access from a neighboring state, and overt overflight support from Afghanistan and Pakistan, it would be a very difficult operational risk to conduct drone strikes into Afghanistan or Pakistan,” Zenko said.

In 2011, Pakistan’s then-defense minister, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, said his government had asked the United States to vacate an airbase in southwest Pakistan he said was used to launch US drone flights. Grenier said Pakistan might be willing to allow future drone launches, provided it was given substantial control over drone activities and targets. “Under those circumstances, the politics surrounding Pakistani sovereignty might not be a big issue,” he said. —Reuters

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

S P ORT S

Teen golfer Lydia Ko splits with coach WELLINGTON: Teenage golf star Lydia Ko has split with the only coach she has had since she took up the sport as a 5-year-old. Ko told Television New Zealand yesterday she was sad to have ended her partnership with Guy Wilson, who she called a great coach and friend. But she said she and her family had decided it would be impossible to continue the relationship because she will be based in the United States and he in New Zealand.

“It doesn’t really work, him being here and him coming on the weeks that I’m not playing a tournament means I’ll only see him like 10 times a year, and to me that kind of situation didn’t work out,” Ko said.

Wilson, who has worked with the 16-year-old Ko for 11 years, issued a statement saying he was “incredibly disappointed” the partnership is over. Michael Yim, her agent at IMG, said Monday that Ko worked with various teachers at the Leadbetter Academy in Florida before going to Taiwan for the Swinging Skirts tournament, an event she won two weeks ago in her second start as a professional. —AP

Shehzad fined 50% of fee for pushing Dilshan DUBAI: Pakistani opener Ahmed Shehzad has been fined 50 percent of his match fee for pushing Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan during the third one-day game, the sport’s governing body said yesterday. Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 113 runs on Sunday to go 2-1 up in the five-match series, with the last two games in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and Friday. The International Cricket Council (ICC) said Shehzad pleaded guilty to the offence.

“The opener was found to have breached Article 2.2.4 of the ICC code of conduct for players and player support personnel, which relates to ‘inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between Players in the course of play during an international match’,” said a ICC statement. The charge had been laid by the on-field umpires Johan Cloete of South Africa and Pakistan’s Shozab Raza, as well as third umpire Richard Illingworth from England and fourth umpire Ahsan Raza of Pakistan.

The incident happened at the end of the 19th over when Shehzad got involved in a debate with Dilshan, which ended with the former pushing the Sri Lanka opener’s shoulder.

Shehzad scored a brilliant 81 as Pakistan notched up a massive total of 326-5 in 50 overs before bowling out Sri Lanka for 213 in 44.4 overs. Pakistan won the first game in Sharjah by 11 runs while Sri Lanka clinched the second in Dubai by two wickets. — AFP

Mackay still need to sort out Cardiff future LONDPN: Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay said he has made numerous attempts to hold clear-the-air talks with Malaysian owner Vincent Tan to sort out his future with the English Premier League club but his efforts have been blocked. Tan told Mackay in an email early last week to resign or be sacked but chairman Mehmet Dalman said on Sunday that the manager would remain in his post for the foreseeable future.

“There are certain areas that have to be addressed that were in the email,” Mackay told a news conference ahead of sixth-from-bottom Cardiff’s Dec. 26 fixture at home to Southampton. “I wanted a meeting (with Tan) today but unfortunately that was declined. If not today, then tomorrow, but unfortunately that was also declined.

“I don’t know if we can talk. Mehmet has been trying to do this for three months, as have I,” added Mackay. “I will find out when I go to the meeting. At that point I will take stock of where I am.”

Mackay, who guided Welsh club Cardiff back into the top flight for the first time in 51 years last season, again reiterated that he would not quit as manager. “I did feel I was going to lose my job at the weekend,” he said. “The email deeply upset me. “I declined to resign and expected to be sacked. —Reuters

Stellar fleet set for Sydney-Hobart race SYDNEY: Wind conditions are expected to favour bigger yachts at the start of the gruelling Sydney to Hobart race on Thursday but some of the smaller new entrants fancy their chances against the supermaxis in the stellar field.

Some 94 boats, including 22 international entrants, will be competing in the 628 nautical mile dash down Australia’s east coast to Tasmania island. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia commodore Howard Piggott said it was one of the bluewater classic’s most impressive fields in years and a reflection of the Boxing Day race’s growing reputation as “one of the most famous ocean yacht races in the world”.

“We’ve assembled one of the best grand prix fleets for many years. A lot of people are going to be watching this race with keen interest, particularly yacht designers,” Piggott told AFP. “There will be in excess of 10 boats which could possibly vie for line honours.” Forecast conditions for the race, which sets off from Sydney Harbour before thousands of spectators on Thursday, favour the supermaxis, and 100-footer Wild Oats XI is a familiar favourite to win, perhaps in record time.

Wild Oats bagged an historic second triple crown in the 2012 edition crossing the line first and winning the overall handicap as well as setting a new record time of one day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds.

But back-to-back victories are far from assured, with substantial modifications to arch-rival Perpetual LOYAL and three new yachts built for the regatta: Patrice, a Ker 46, Ichi Ban which is a Carkeek 60 and Beau Geste, a Botin 80 belonging to Hong Kong businessman Karl Kwok.

Ichi Ban skipper Matt Allen said it was the first time with so many unknown quantities. “I

think it’s very hard to pick a winner, I don’t think there’s any race in the world that you go to to see such an eclectic collection of boats,” Allen told a pre-race briefing.

“A lot of them, such as Beau Geste, to some degree Patrice and Ichi Ban are almost unproven boats. I know Patrice has been winning a lot of races recently, but we haven’t seen Beau Geste race. There’s lots of unknown commodities out there.”

Beau Geste skipper Gavin Brady, who has contested five America’s Cups and 10 Sydney to Hobarts, said they were “probably the most prepared yacht entered in the race”, having sailed under race conditions from Auckland to Sydney for a test run.

“Quite frankly, we’re ready and we’re confident,” he said. As usual, it will come down to weather. Wild storms saw six sailors perish in the 1998 edition, with five yachts sinking and 66 retiring from a fleet of 115. Conditions are expected to be favourable to the big yachts, with an early nor-easter making for a quick run out of Sydney and down the coast and a cold front on Saturday morning pushing through the perilous Bass Strait between Tasmania and the Australian mainland.

The larger boats are expected to make it to Hobart before a southerly which is likely to pose significant challenges for the rest of the fleet. Wild Oats navigator Tom Addis said the conditions had thrown the field open to lighter fellow supermaxis Ragamuffin and Wild Thing, V70s Black Jack and Giacomo and Beau Geste.

“Beau Geste might be quite special downwind. They’ve only just launched her, so we don’t really know,” said Addis. “It used to be that a 100 footer was always faster than a 70 footer, but these days, with the latest designs and technology, on some angles they will be sailing faster than us.” —AFP

This file photo taken on December 26, 2012 shows yachts Ichi Ban (L) and Black Jack (R) sailing into open water shortly after the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Wind conditions are expected to favour bigger yachts at the start of the gruelling Sydney to Hobart race on December 26, but some of the smaller new entrants fancy their chances against the supermaxis in the stellar field. — AFP

ORCHARD PARK: Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson (22) celebrates his touchdown with teammates Lee Smith (85), Robert Woods (10), Frank Summers (38) and Thad Lewis (9) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, in Orchard Park, NY. — AP

5 things to know after Bills blitz Dolphins 19 ORCHARD PARK: Center Mike Pouncey and the Miami Dolphins can breathe a little easier.

Despite being bowled over by the blitzing Buffalo Bills, the Dolphins got the help they needed to remain standing in what’s become a convoluted race for the AFC’s final playoff spot entering the final week.

Now it’s time for the Dolphins (8-7) to do make something of their second chance in preparing to host the Jets this weekend.

“It’s disappointing. But we still have something to look for,” Pouncey said following a 19-0 loss to Buffalo on Sunday.

The Dolphins’ loss to Buffalo clinched the Patriots top spot in the AFC East. The Patriots repaid Miami by beating the Ravens to set up a frantic final weekend in which Miami, Baltimore (8-7), San Diego (8-7) and Pittsburgh (7-8) all have a chance.

That’s a relief for the Dolphins, who were left stung by a game in which they allowed seven sacks, managed just 103 yards of offense and six first downs. “It’s not acceptable. Those are the facts,” coach Joe Philbin said. “We’ve got to play a lot better next week. That’s the situation we’re in.” The Bills (6-9), who had been eliminated from contention a week earlier, took consolation in knowing they were able to put a dent in their division rival’s chances.

“It’s a bittersweet deal,” defensive tackle Kyle Williams said. “It’s a nice consolation for where

we are. I think you’ve seen today potentially what we can do.” Williams and cornerback Nickell Robey had two sacks apiece in helping Buffalo up its total to 56 to set a single-season record.

That eclipses the mark of 50 Buffalo had in a 14game season in 1964.

On offense, Fred Jackson had 111 yards rushing and scored on a 9-yard run. Dan Carpenter hit all four field-goal attempts, including a 45yarder. Here’s five more things that helped the Bills close their home schedule with a win: Sack attack: The Bills blitz took advantage of the Dolphins’ patchwork offensive line that has now surrendered a single-season worst 58 sacks.

“That was a pretty good beating,” Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said. “They were flying around. They were getting off the ball and they just looked a step faster than Miami did all day.” Mario Williams, Jerry Hughes and Da’Norris Searcy had a sack each. Add it up, and the Bills now have three players with at least 10 sacks Mario Williams (13), Kyle Williams (101/2) and Hughes (10) - for only the second time since 1995. And they’re the first NFL team with three since the 2000 Saints.

No offense: The Dolphins crossed into Bills territory only three times, and converted just two of 14 third-down chances. After managing just four first downs in the first half, Miami mustered two more. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill finished 10 of 27 for 82 yards and he briefly left the

game early in the fourth quarter after hurting his left knee following Kyle Williams’ second sack.

Matt Moore took over and wound up throwing two interceptions.

Thad to the rescue: Bills backup Thad Lewis started in place of injured rookie EJ Manuel (swollen left knee) and improved to 2-2 this season. Both wins have come against Miami, where Lewis grew up.

Lewis finished 15 of 25 for 193 yards and an interception. He helped secure the win by engineering a 19-play, 92-yard drive that took 9:16 off the clock and capped by Carpenter’s 21-yard field goal to put Buffalo ahead 13-0 with 12:01 left. Ejection: Bills rookie receiver Robert Woods was ejected in the third quarter for punching Dolphins safety Reshad Jones in the face mask following a play in the third quarter.

That left Buffalo down its top three receivers.

Rookie Marquise Goodwin didn’t return after hurting his right knee in the first quarter. Starter Stevie Johnson was excused to be with his family following the death of his mother.

Benched: Bills coach Doug Marrone revealed after the game that defensive tackle Marcell Dareus was benched for the first quarter for violating undisclosed team rules.

“We respect each other, me and Marrone. We don’t have any differences,” Dareus said. “You suffer the consequences, roll along with them the best you can.” — AP

Formula One forced to cut spending as costs pinch LONDON: Glamorous, high-tech and hugely profitable: With the lure of races from Monaco to Singapore, Formula One just keeps on giving so far as the money men controlling the motor sport are concerned.

The business, in which private equity firm CVC is the largest shareholder, had turnover of $1.35 billion in 2012 and generated an operating profit of $426 million once payments to its 11 teams had been deducted.

That might suggest unconstrained happiness up and down the paddock but appearances are deceptive. Behind the luxury brands, the celebrity guests and the lavish hospitality suites, many of the smaller teams are battling to survive.

“I don’t THINK there is one. There IS one,” AirAsia airline entrepreneur and Caterham team owner Tony Fernandes told Reuters last week when asked whether the sport faced a cost crisis.

“You hear about people not having been paid, suppliers taking a long time to be paid. These are certainly not happy days,” added the Malaysian, whose team finished last in 2013 and has yet to score a point in four years of trying.

Unique business model Four teams - champions Red Bull, runners-up Mercedes, Fiat-owned Ferrari, and McLaren - have budgets of $200 million or more and benefit most from the division of revenues overseen by Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, long the dominant figure in the sport.

Ecclestone, who is facing a series of legal battles linked to the deal that brought CVC on board eight years ago, has built a unique business model that

controls broadcasting rights, race hosting fees, sponsorship and licensing.

The teams shared around $750 million of the income last year but are questioning a structure that takes so much money out of a sport with a high cost base for teams flying around the world to 19 annual races. The division between the rich and the alsorans is evident on the track, where Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel ended the season winning the last nine races and his fourth title in a row, such predictability testing the patience of many fans.

“At the end of the day there may be only five Formula One teams if it carries on the way it is,” said Fernandes. COST CAP Teams come and go, more than 100 of them down the decades with Spanish-owned HRT the most recent to exit at the end of 2012, but this year has been more unsettling than usual.

When 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen told reporters that Lotus, winners of the season-opener in Australia and regular contenders, had not paid his wages all season he confirmed widespread concerns about the health of the sport. The talk now is of the urgency of taking costs in hand, with the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) announcing this month that teams will have a cost cap from 2015 with the precise rules to be drawn up by mid2014. The FIA has also sought expressions of interest from would-be teams wanting to come in from 2015, a move variously interpreted as a sign they feared losing a current competitor or that they already had a potential entrant waiting in the wings.

Previous attempts to curb spending have fallen apart, with companies such as Austrian soft drinks firm Red Bull prepared to bankroll a winning team to

build their brand.

“It’s a straightforward statement of fact that teams are under financial pressure,” said Marussia chief executive Graeme Lowdon, whose team has one of the smallest budgets on the grid at around 65 million pounds ($106 million) and has also never scored a point.

“There is a large disparity in the distribution of money and the controls on cost don’t appear to be as effective as they could be. It’s not good for the sport and it’s not good for the fans. Without them there is no commercial model.”

New engine cost The teams are facing an engine bill twice as big as the current rate next year, when a new and more complicated turbocharged V6 with energy recovery systems is introduced, and fear the gulf between rich and poor is becoming unbridgeable.

Even McLaren, one of the bigger teams, is yet to unveil a new title sponsor for next season after Vodafone ended a partnership dating back to 2007.

Swiss-based Sauber, the fourth-longest serving team, and Lotus - previously known as the title-winning Renault and Benetton outfits - have both hit trouble this year.

“There is something terribly flawed in the system,” Sauber principal Monisha Kaltenborn, whose team has struggled to pay suppliers, told reporters in Abu Dhabi in November.

“This is a competition and the best win. But if the best are simply defined by the financial resources you have, then something is not right.” Lotus finished fourth overall but raced against a backdrop of constant speculation.

The team’s Luxembourg-based owners Genii announced in June they had sold a 35 percent stake to a consortium of private investors, but then had to admit the deal was not done.

The shadowy would-be investors changed their name from Infinity to Quantum but month after month went by with no sign of any money despite regular assurances it was coming. Raikkonen meanwhile opted to rejoin Ferrari.

Saving teams from themselves “Of course it’s not a good sign, drivers not being paid and suppliers or employees not being paid. It’s not what we want to hear or see,” said Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff, whose team is backed

by German car giant Daimler. “The whole world is in bad shape, the whole environment is in bad shape and we have to all look at how we finance our operations and the same applies to us. You can’t overspend.” Formula One might be self-financing in an ideal world but past threats of rival series have come to nothing, with teams lacking the resolve, and the resources, to make the break from the business built by the 83-year-old Ecclestone.

“I have been an awful long time in Formula One and owned and ran a team for 18 years,” said Ecclestone, who has been in the sport since the 1950s as both poacher and gamekeeper.

“Ever since I have been in Formula One, there have been the haves and have nots. Whatever sport there is, people will spend what they think they have to spend in order to win,” the British billionaire told Reuters. “What we are going to try to do is set a cap on the amount a team can spend. We’re going to try to save them from themselves.” — Reuters

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

S P ORTS

Swann denies retirement comments aimed at team MELBOURNE: Graeme Swann has denied that his comments upon announcing his retirement from test cricket were a criticism of his England teammates. Swann surprisingly announced on Sunday that he had decided to immediately retire despite there still being two tests left in the ongoing Ashes series, which had already been won by Australia.

In comments to English reporters Swann said “some people playing the game at the minute have no idea how far up their own backsides they are. It will bite them on the arse one day and when it does I hope they look back and are embarrassed about how they carry on.”

Swann has since said he was not referring to any current members of the England team. Former

England cricketers Michael Vaughan and Derek Pringle, now both working in the media, were among those who questioned what they saw as Swann’s decision to publicly raise reservations about his teammates.

On Twitter, former England captain Vaughan said “this tour for England was already a disaster.... Now it’s a bloody joke. “As a respected senior player in the dressing room Swannyg66 why didn’t you sort players out who got too big for themselves?”

Swann also used Twitter to respond, saying his comments were not directed at current England players. “Don’t jump to conclusions Vaughney,” he said. “I wasn’t talking about the England dressing room or anyone in it. You too bbc.”

England add Borthwick, Tredwell to Ashes squad SYDNEY: Leg-spinner Scott Borthwick and off-spinner James Tredwell have been added to the England test squad for the remainder of the Ashes series following Graeme Swann’s surprise retirement, the country’s cricket board said yesterday.

Swann, 34, announced his retirement midway through the series on Sunday, days after England surrendered the coveted urn in the third test in Perth to fall 30 behind in the five-test series.

Durham leg-spinner Borthwick, 23, is expected to arrive in Melbourne on Monday and will be available for selection for the Boxing Day test starting on

Thursday, the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement.

The 31-year-old Tredwell, who played his only test for England in March 2010 against Bangladesh, will join the squad during the fourth test and will be available for selection for the fifth and final match in Sydney, starting on Jan. 3.

Swann, who took 255 wickets in 60 test matches for England, said his body was no longer up to the rigours of longform cricket and that it would be selfish for him to stay in a team that needed to rebuild. Left-arm spinner Monty Panesar is the other slow bowler in England’s Ashes squad. — Reuters

Swann directly attacked Pringle, saying “just because Derek Pringle writes something I find it astonishing that people buy into it?! Making stuff up sells papers I suppose.” Pringle replied “Swann could have made it clear that he was not talking about England but didn’t.”

Swann’s use of the term “people playing the game at the minute” led to speculation that his comments related to current England players.

Former Australian leg spinner Shane Warne quickly placed himself in Swann’s corner, suggesting he had made the comments in the hope of firing up an England team facing a 5-0 series defeat.”It’s an emotional time for Graeme,” Warne said. “And hopefully that was a way to lift the guys and say ‘come on, pull

your heads out and let’s finish the tour on a high’.”

Spinner Monty Panesar, who will take Swann’s place in the England lineup for the Boxing Day test, defended his former teammate.

“We know Swanny, we know where his heart is he’s right behind us and we’re right behind him,” Panesar said. Meanwhile, the England selectors announced Durham leg-spinner Scott Borthwick and Kent off-spinner James Tredwell have been added to the squad following Swann’s retirement.

Borthwick was due to arrive into Melbourne on Monday and will be available for selection for the test beginning on Boxing Day. Tredwell will arrive in Melbourne during the fourth Test and will be available for the final test at Sydney from Jan. 3. — AP

Australians vow no mercy against Swann-less England SYDNEY: Australia are vowing no let-up as they chase an Ashes clean sweep against troubled England, who have been forced to re-jig their line-up after the shock retirement of Graeme Swann just days before the fourth Test in Melbourne.

The off-spinner-sixth on England’s all-time list of Test wicket-takers on Sunday dropped a bombshell when he announced his immediate departure from international and first-class cricket, with the home side 3-0 up in the five-match series. Little has gone right for England Down Under. The tourists arrived in Australia as favourites just months after winning the Ashes 3-0 on home soil but lost them inside 14 playing days-stunned by the home side’s aggressive approach.

Swann’s abrupt exit follows batsman Jonathan Trott’s return home with a stress-related illness after the first Test and major questions hang over the form of senior players-captain Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Jimmy Anderson and Matt Prior.

Swann pointed to internal problems, saying: “Some people playing the game at the minute have no idea how far up their own backsides they are. “It will bite them on the arse one day and when it does I hope they look back and are embarrassed about how they carry on.”

England are battling to avoid a repeat of the 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia in 2006/07 following heavy losses in the first three Tests in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

Darren Lehmann, who has masterminded Australia’s dramatic turnaround after their defeat in England in July and August, wants his team to go for the jugular in the match starting on Thursday.

“I only worry about us. That’s how we deal with it and that’s all we can do,” Lehmann said. “I’m sure they weren’t worried about us last time either (when Australia lost in England). “They have a good coach and good support staff-I’m sure they’ll work through all those issues.

“Our point of view is to play the brand of cricket to win us cricket games and obviously it has been quite aggressive out there from both sides. It’s good, hard Ashes cricket.” Left-arm spinner Monty Panesar is expected to replace Swann for the Melbourne Test, in front of an anticipated world record first-day crowd. The current record of 90,800 was set in the 1961 Test between Australia and the West Indies.

Panesar suffered in the second Test in Adelaide, where England played two spinners, returning combined figures of two for 198 and he will come under pressure from the Australian batsmen keen to get on top and dictate. Seamer Tim Bresnan, who took six wickets in the corresponding Test on the 2010/11 tour as England retained the Ashes, admitted it will be tough halting Australia’s momentum. “As soon as a side gets in front there’s virtually no way back,” he said.

“We have pulled off some special comebacks over the years but against this team right now, they’re going for the jugular straight away, which was what we were doing (to them) last summer.”

Bresnan also voiced support for under-fire team coach Andy Flower, who has refused to confirm he will remain in charge of England beyond the Australian tour. “Regardless of what happens over the next six to eight weeks, Andy is the man to take us forward,” Bresnan said.

“The things he’s achieved with this team, from the outset when he joined us, is staggering when you consider the record of how England have played cricket over the last 30 years. “He still cares as much now as when he first took over - in fact probably a little bit too much at this

In this Dec. 14, 2013 file photo, England’s Graeme Swann practices his bowling during a warm up session on the second day of the team’s Ashes cricket test match against Australia in Perth, Australia. Swann retired Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013, from international and first-class cricket while on the Ashes tour of Australia, just four days before the start of the fourth test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. —AP

moment in time, because things aren’t going as well as they usually do. “But it’s up to the players to put that right, the 11 on the field, not the coach,” Bresnan said.

England have won four of the past eight Ashes Tests at the MCG and three years ago beat Michael Clarke’s team by an innings and 157 runs.

While the tourists are considering changes, with wicketkeeper Prior under pressure, Lehmann said it was likely Australia would name an unchanged eleven for the fourth straight match. — AFP

S Africa claim no regrets as debate rages on drawn test

SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates: Sri Lanka’s Kusal Janith Perera bats during the third one day international (ODI) cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at The Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah, on December 22, 2013.—AFP

Dropped Hafeez catch aided defeat: Mathews SHARJAH: Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews admitted dropping a catch off Pakistan centurion Mohammad Hafeez played a crucial role in his team’s defeat in the third one-day match in Sharjah.

Leg-spinner Lasith Malinga dropped a sitter at long-on when Hafeez was on 26 in the 18th over Sunday. The Pakistani vice-captain went on to hit a career best 140 not out in his team’s imposing total of 326-5 in 50 overs.

Sri Lanka were bowled out for 213 in 44.4 overs, losing by 113 runs and conceding a 2-1 lead. Pakistan won the first match by 11 runs while Sri Lanka took the second by two wickets.

Mathews said the dropped catch was crucial. “It was pretty crucial and Hafeez went on to get a big one. We let him go and he got them a big score and it was unfortunate we let him go,” said Mathews.

Mathews said his team’s otherwise good fielding was not up to the mark on Sunday. “We can’t blame it on one man, to be honest. I thought our fielding was also a let down and also chasing a total like 320 plus we needed a good start but

we kept losing wickets at regular intervals and we could not really get on from there.”

Mathews said Umar Gul’s return from injury was a boost for Pakistan. “We all know that Gul is a very good bowler,” said Mathews of the paceman who took two early wickets in his first spell of five overs, before finishing with 3-19. “He had been hit by injury we know what kind of a bowler Gul is and we had to be a bit cautious but unfortunately we lost a couple of wickets to him and he got us in the back foot early on,” said Mathews of Gul who was playing his first match since March after a knee operation.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq also hailed Gul’s return. “We were missing his experience in the death (final) overs and his return has certainly boosted our bowling,” said Misbah, who chipped in with a 26-ball 40 in Pakistan’s innings.

“We have to be at our best in the next two games to take the series,” said Misbah of the last two games in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and Friday. The two teams will also play three Tests after the one-days. — AFP

CAPE TOWN: Most of South Africa’s cricketers might have expected to wake up yesterday morning to headlines praising their valiant batting effort in saving the first test against India at the Wanderers.

But instead the country was locked in a heated debate over whether the hosts should have pushed on for a historic victory.

Set 458 to win on a wicket with variable bounce, the Proteas needed 16 runs from 19 balls at one stage but eventually fell eight short, having abandoned their chase in the fear of losing their final three wickets and the match.

Victory would have comfortably eclipsed the current world record of 418 runs chased down

by West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2003. And that Faf du Plessis (134) and AB de Villiers (103), whose 205-run fifth-wicket stand contained some of the most skillful test batting seen in difficult conditions and under extreme pressure, are being lauded for saving the match rather than winning it for South Africa has irked many.

Playing ‘brave cricket’ has become a mantra for this South African team in recent years and has helped them to back-to-back series wins in Australia, a series victory in England and to the top of the world test rankings.

But as Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn shouldered arms for the final three overs as boos from the home support rang out around the ground, questions were raised as to where that bravado had disappeared to.

It was only once the draw was secured that Steyn launched the ball over the boundary for six, an act that was perhaps ill-advised in that it incensed the crowd even more by not only taking South Africa agonisingly close to their target, but also showed what was still possible on the wearing pitch.

No team orders Captain Graeme Smith, who was jeered at the post-match presentation, was quick to say that though Steyn and Philander were not acting on team orders, he supported their decision.

“Ultimately the guys out in the middle did what they thought was in the best interest of the team,” Smith told reporters. Morne (Morkel) is struggling to stand really. And Immy (Imran Tahir) would probably say himself that you are not too sure what you are going to get from him.

“I think we as a team have to support the decision Dale and Vernon made in the middle.

The strength of this team is that there are good decision makers. Each guy is mature.

“They’ve made great decisions over a period of time which have won cricket games for South Africa. I think that’s how we have got to number one, by trusting each other and trusting each others’ decision making. Dale and Vernon have 100 percent support from me.”

India admitted their surprise that South Africa had taken their foot off the pedal having played themselves into a position of superiority, while a number of former players have expressed astonishment too. Former test captain Kepler Wessels used his column on the SuperSport website to suggest the team had more to gain than lose.

“In my view the Proteas should have gone for the win while Steyn and Philander were at the crease,” Wessels said. “Looking at the situation objectively and without emotion there was far more to gain going for the win than settling for a draw. “The team was chasing history by breaking the record for the highest run chase. After the efforts of De Villiers and Du Plessis they deserved it.” Herschelle Gibbs took to Twitter to suggest that the victory would have been greater than the famous ‘438’ one-day international during which South Africa chased down that number of runs to defeat Australia at the same venue in 2006.

The majority of South Africans across social media platforms agreed and suggested they would rather have seen their side go for the win and lose than play out the draw. — Reuters

JOHANNESBURG: India’s Virat Kohli, center, embraces bowler Mohammad Shami, second from right, for bowling out South Africa’s batsman Jean-Paul Duminy, right, for 5 runs during the fourth and final day of their cricket test match against India at Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sunday.—AP

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

S P ORTS

9 former Chiefs players join brain injury lawsuit KANSAS CITY: Hall of Famers Albert Lewis and Art Still are among nine former Kansas City Chiefs players who have joined a lawsuit that contends the team hid the risks of permanent brain injuries from repeated concussions.

The concussions happened between late 1987 and early 1993 when there was no NFL collective bargaining agreement in place. Five former players filed the initial suit against the Chiefs this month, saying the team ignored decades of scientific research indicating repeated head trauma causes permanent brain damage. In the amended suit filed Saturday in Jackson County Circuit Court, the plaintiffs said Arrowhead Stadium’s artificial surface contributed to the head injuries.

Also joining the lawsuit were Dino Hackett, Todd McNair, Fred Jones, Tim Barnett, Walker Lee Ashley, Emile Harry and Chris Smith, along with the wives of several of them. Ken McClain, a lawyer whose firm is representing the plaintiffs, said at least 10 more former Chiefs could join the suit by before the end of the year. “Certainly, Hall of Famers who contributed greatly to building the franchise add to the urgency for the team to find a just resolution, rather than try to ignore it or act like they had nothing to do with it,” McClain said.

Chiefs spokesman Ted Crews said the team had no comment. In recent years, a string of former NFL players and other athletes who suffered concussions have been diagnosed after their deaths with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, including Junior Seau and Ray Easterling, both of whom committed suicide. In August, the NFL reached a tentative $765 million deal to settle lawsuits filed by more than 4,500 former players who developed dementia or other concussion-related

health problems they say were caused by football. The settlement, subject to approval by a federal judge in Philadelphia, would apply to all past NFL players and spouses of those who are deceased.

McClain called the national settlement - which does not include an admission from the NFL that it hid information from players about head injuries - insignificant and said it provides compensation only to the former players with the most severe brain injuries. Rather than protecting players who sustained concussions, the lawsuit said, the Chiefs increased their risks by giving them “ammonia inhalants, caffeine cocktails and/or Toradol to abbreviate the need for concussed employees to miss working time due to a brain injury.” Toradol is an injectable, anti-inflammatory drug used short term to treat moderate to severe pain.

Players were even more prone to head injuries because of the concrete-like AstroTurf surface that was in place until 1994, the lawsuit said. That surface made the players faster and was cheaper than maintaining a grass field, the plaintiffs said.

Because of the heightened violence of high-speed hits, the suit says, the game became more attractive to fans and increased the team’s revenue. Missouri presented a “unique opportunity” to file the lawsuit because a state workers’ compensation statute was amended in 2005 to exclude cases of occupational injury that occur over an extended time. That exception more commonly applies in workplaces where smoking is allowed and workers suffer lung problems because of it. McClain also represented workers at a Jasper popcorn plant who were awarded millions of dollars in lawsuits. —AP

Photo of the day

Marc Marquez (ESP/ Honda) races at Moto Grand Prix 2013 at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan on October 27th, 2013 —www.redbullcontentpool.com

LA Clippers beat Timberwolves 120-116

SAITAMA: Japanese figure skater Kanako Murakami performs during the women’s single skating of Japan’s national championships in Saitama, suburban Tokyo yesterday. Murakami finished the women’s singles, while Akiko Suzuki won the championships. — AFP

GP Final champ Hanyu books Sochi berth TOKYO: Grand Prix Final champion Yuzuru Hanyu recovered from an early tumble to win the men’s title at the Japanese national figure skating championships, booking a spot at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. With a 9.88-point lead after the short programme, Hanyu fell on his opening quadruple salchow but nailed his next element, a quadruple toe loop, as he skated to “Romeo and Juliet”

by Nino Rota in Saitama yesterday.

The 19-year-old earned 194.70 points in the free programme for a total of 297.80, better than three-time world champion Patrick Chan’s world record of 295.27 set last month at the Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris.

But Hanyu’s new mark will not be recognised by the International Skating Union as the national event is not sanctioned by the world body.

Hanyu beat Canadian Chan into second spot at the Grand Prix Final this month in the Japanese city of Fukuoka with a world record short programme score of 99.84 but on Saturday the university student bettered that with a whopping 103.10.

Tatsuki Machida, with two Grand Prix wins under his belt this season, finished second overall with 277.04 points and Takahiko Kozuka third with 264.81.

Daisuke Takahashi, 27, who won Olympic bronze and the world championship in 2010, finished fifth.

Olympic silver medallist Mao Asada, who took the women’s title in Fukuoka, was in first place after Sunday’s women’s short programme with 73.01 points ahead of Akiko Suzuki (70.19) and Kanako Murakami (67.42).

Japan’s figure skating team-three men and three women-for February’s Sochi Winter Olympics was due to be announced later yesterday after the women’s free skate, with the men’s and women’s national champions earning automatic qualification. The remaining places are worked out based on factors including Grand Prix Final results and world rankings.

Japan’s former world figure skating champions and Olympic medallists Mao Asada and Daisuke Takahashi booked tickets to the Sochi Olympics Monday, despite their disappointing performances at the national championships over the weekend.

Asada, the 2008 and 2010 world women’s champion who was second to

South Korea’s Kim Yu-Na at the Vancouver Olympics, botched her trademark triple axel attempt twice in the free skate to finish third overall behind Akiko Suzuki and Kanako Murakami at the Super Arena in Saitama, north of Tokyo.

The Japan Skating Federation decided later Monday to give the trio the three berths alloted to Japanese women in the Sochi figure skating competition.

“I feel totally disappointed today,” said Asada, who will retire from competition after this Olympic season along with Kim, a fellow 23-year-old.

“I still have about one month to go. I will work harder still to perform my best,” said Asada, who won the Grand Prix Final women’s title after sweeping two events: Skate America and home event, the NHK Trophy.

Takahashi, 27, who took the Olympic men’s bronze medal and the world title in 2010, finished fifth overalll in the men’s competition on Sunday but the federation gave him one of the three tickets for Japanese men.

Men’s Grand Prix Final champion Yuzuru Hanyu, 19, retained his national men’s title with Tatsuki Machida, who won two Grand Prix events this season, second and Takahiko Kozuka third.

The other two men’s tickets went to Hanyu and Machida, with Kozuka made a reserve skater in the team bound for Sochi.

Hanyu beat three-time world champion Patrick Chan in the Grand Prix Final, breaking the Canadian’s short programme world record, after finishing second behind him at Skate Canada and the Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris.

According to criteria set in advance by the federation, the men’s and women’s national champions are given automatic qualification to Sochi.

The remaining places are worked out on the basis of factors including Grand Prix Final results, world rankings and personal best scores. Takahashi finished fourth in the season-opening Grand Prix, Skate America, but won the NHK Trophy, while Kozuka had no trophy to show this season. Japan will also send Narumi Takahashi and Ryuichi Kihara to the pairs event and Japanese American siblings Cathy Reed and Chris Reed to the ice dance in Sochi. The same line-up of skaters will represent Japan at the world championships to be held at the same arena in March. —Agencies

LOS ANGELES: The situation looked bleak at best for the coach Doc Rivers’ Clippers - down by four points with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Then a couple of defensive stops, a huge turnover

by Minnesota’s Kevin Martin, and two clutch baskets

by Jamal Crawford forced overtime.

That’s where Jared Dudley and Chris Paul took over. Dudley made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining in OT and Paul added five free throws in the final 19 seconds, leading Los Angeles to a 120-116 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.

“The biggest thing we learned as a team from Doc is, even in practice, he talks about ‘The game is not over,” Paul said. “When we got down three or four there with seconds left, we could’ve said we lost this one. But we fought hard.” Blake Griffin had 32 points and 10 rebounds and was 10 for 11 from the free throw line before fouling out with 4:08 left in OT. The defending Pacific Division champions extended their winning streak to a season-best five games while beating the Timberwolves for the eighth straight time, their longest current streak against any opponent. Jamal Crawford had 22 points for Los Angeles, 7-4 since losing starting forward J.J. Redick with a broken right hand and a torn ligament in his wrist but 5-0 since Crawford was moved into the starting lineup. Paul finished with 19 points and 13 assists.

Kevin Love had a season-high 45 points and tied a season best with 19 rebounds for the Timberwolves, back at Staples Center after their 104-91 loss to the Lakers on Friday night. It was Minnesota’s first overtime game since beating Orlando at home on opening night.

“We just blew it. Blew the game. I don’t know how else to say it. We blew the game,” Love said.

Nikola Pekovic had a career-high 34 points and 14 boards. Martin scored 16 points after averaging 29 in the Timberwolves’ other two meetings against the Clippers - also narrow losses. Point guard Ricky Rubio played 38 scoreless minutes with 12 assists.

“It was a tough loss for a lot of reasons. That’s all I have to say,” coach Rick Adelman said. “I don’t want to say anything. I don’t want to get fined.” “We need to know how to win and play hard all the way to the end,” Pekovic said. “Winning is a habit, like everything else. We still need to get over the hump to learn how to close out these games.”

Matt Barnes, in his second game back following an eye injury, was ejected with 56 seconds left in the third quarter after committing a flagrant 2 foul against Love on a drive to the basket with the Clippers leading 77-75. Love sank both free throws, then added a go-ahead 3-pointer when Minnesota retained possession. Minnesota was leading 106102 before the Clippers forced OT. Crawford made a driving layup and a dunk after Paul forced Martin into his critical turnover. Pekovic then missed an 11footer and a 20-footer in the final 2 seconds of regulation. Pekovic had a chance to redeem himself, but missed a 5-foot baseline hook shot and Paul canned two free throws at the other end to seal the victory.

“We just played so hard for something like that to go down,” Martin said. “But we’ll bounce back from it.” Griffin powered the Clippers to a 56-54 halftime lead with 20 points, offsetting 22 points by Love - the second straight game in which Love had at least 20 in the first half.

Referee Marc Davis made a questionable foul call against Griffin - his third of the game - as Love initiated contact while trying a desperation, buzzerbeating shot from at least 10 feet behind the midcourt line before intermission. Love made all three free throws.

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Clippers forward Matt Barnes (22) drives to the basket past Minnesota Timberwolves forward Corey Brewer, right, defending in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles on Sunday. — AP

NBA results/standings Indiana 106, Boston 79; Toronto 104, Oklahoma City 98; LA Clippers 120, Minnesota 116 (OT).

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT Toronto 11 14 .440 Boston 12 17 .414 Brooklyn 9 17 .346 NY Knicks 8 18 .308 Philadelphia 8 20 .286 Central Division Indiana 22 5 .815 Detroit 13 16 .448 Chicago 10 16 .385 Cleveland 10 16 .385 Milwaukee 6 21 .222 Southeast Division Miami 20 6 .769 Atlanta 15 12 .556 Washington 12 13 .480 Charlotte 13 15 .464 Orlando 8 19 .296

GB 1 2.5 3.5 4.5 10 11.5 11.5 16 5.5 7.5 8 12.5

double this season.

Avery Bradley scored 13 points for Boston.

Courtney Lee and Jeff Green each had 11 in coach Brad Stevens’ return to his hometown. Stevens grew

Western Conference Northwest Division Portland 23 5 .821 Oklahoma City 22 5 .815 Denver 14 12 .538 Minnesota 13 15 .464 Utah 8 22 .267 Pacific Division LA Clippers 20 9 .690 Phoenix 16 10 .615 Golden State 15 13 .536 LA Lakers 13 14 .481 Sacramento 8 18 .308 Southwest Division San Antonio 21 6 .778 Houston 18 10 .643 Dallas 15 12 .556 New Orleans 11 14 .440 Memphis 11 15 .423

0.5 8 10 16 2.5 4.5 6 10.5 3.5 6 9 9.5

up in Zionsville, an Indy suburb, and led nearby Butler to back-to-back national championship games as the Bulldogs’ coach. But there was no magic for the Celtics, who lost their third in a row. — Agencies

Raptors 104, Thunder 98 Kyle Lowry scored 22 points, making a pair of clinching free throws with 9.8 seconds left, and the Toronto Raptors handed the Oklahoma City Thunder their first home loss with a 104-98 victory on Sunday night. The Raptors outscored Oklahoma City 6-0 in the final 1:25, all from the free throw line, and ended the Thunder’s nine-game winning streak. Oklahoma City had been 13-0 at home, the NBA’s longest unbeaten stretch to open a season since the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first 23 home games during the 2007-08 season. Amir Johnson had 17 points and 13 assists for Toronto, which won its fourth straight road game, its longest such streak since March-April 2002. Oklahoma City lost for the first time since Dec. 4 at Portland. Russell Westbrook scored 27 points and Kevin Durant added 24 for Oklahoma City, which missed its final four shots.

Pacers 106, Celtics 79 Paul George scored 24 points and Lance Stephenson recorded his third triple-double of the season, leading Indiana over Boston. Stephenson had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as Indiana (22-5) won its second straight and maintained its grip on the Eastern Conference’s best record. He’s the only player in the league with more than one triple-

INDIANAPOLIS: Boston Celtics’ Avery Bradley (0) goes to the basket against Indiana Pacers’ Danny Granger (33) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday. — AP

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

S P ORTS

Premier League holiday pileup of games MANCHESTER: With their six-figure weekly salaries, flashy cars, plush houses and supermodel wives and girlfriends, sympathy is usually in short supply when it comes to players in the English Premier League.

Except, maybe, over the Christmas and New Year period. When you are sitting down to a big dinner, drinking wine and spending time with the family over the festive period, spare a thought for the likes of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Sergio Aguero.

They’ll most likely be practicing in the freezing cold. Or maybe on a bus traveling the length and breadth of England (and Wales for that matter). Or stuck in a hotel room with only a TV for company.

While the top leagues across Europe shut for two weeks or more at the end of each year, there’s no winter break for the hardy souls of the Premier League. British soccer persists with that proud, unique - some call it downright weird - tradition of piling up the matches over the festive period.

Players at Arsenal and Chelsea, for example, will play four games in 10 days from Dec. 23-Jan 1. “It’s a period where I think only the brave can survive, because

it’s hard,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says. “At Christmas, the accumulation of matches is so high.

You must do it with a special group with a special mentality, enjoying the situation and forgetting you don’t have a Christmas like the Spanish players, the Italian players, the German players.”

Mourinho says he missed being part of England’s hectic festive schedule when he left Chelsea in 2007 to manage first in Italy with Inter Milan and then in Spain with Real Madrid. But it certainly isn’t to every foreigner’s liking.

Take Marcel Desailly, for example. He arrived at Chelsea from AC Milan in 1998, the year he won the World Cup with France, and soon discovered Christmas would no longer be the same.

“I thought it wasn’t fair,” Desailly told The Associated Press. “Christmas Day should not be a day for football. When you believe in something, you shouldn’t have to do it, even for the good of the football and the business of football.

“I was coming from a Latin country where with Christmas, all the (religious) beliefs at that moment were particularly strong. There was no reason to play

on that day, even if it was the culture.”

Desailly can count himself fortunate he wasn’t playing in Britain in the 1950s - in those days, English clubs played on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day (Dec. 26). More recently, teams in the Scottish leagues played on Christmas Day in 1976.

For players these days that’s no longer the case, but it doesn’t mean Christmas Day isn’t ruined for them. There’s often training in the morning and a long coach journey if you are unlucky enough to be playing away on Dec. 26.

“I remember a couple of Christmases when I was at Sunderland, we had to go down to Southampton two years in a row,” former Arsenal and Manchester City striker Niall Quinn told the AP, recalling journeys from the north of England to the very south. “I can remember skidding my car on ice and having to get my in-laws to get me out of a ditch so I could get to training on Christmas Day. Then I get back home and the coach was leaving at 3 p.m. to go down to Southampton. Christmas was obliterated in many respects.”

Quinn recalls some foreign teammates not know-

ing there were matches then and making plans to go home for Christmas. “They thought they were getting their leg pulled in the dressing room that there were four games over Christmas,” he said, laughing. “It’s a bit of a culture shock for some. There were certainly cases down the years of players getting Christmas hamstrings.”

There’s no rest for stadium staff and club officials, either. Managers have to work overtime, too, rotating their squads and dealing with injuries. For fans, though, Christmas soccer is the highlight of the year.

Twelve points are up for grabs in a little more than a week, a frenetic period that can shape a season and provide momentum for the second half of the campaign. “It’s unique. Generally the stadium is full and it’s usually a brilliant occasion,” Quinn said. So who cares if it harms England’s chances of success in World Cups and European Championships? Who cares if it causes endless family feuds, with many fans preferring a trip to a match than to their inlaws?

Just sit back and enjoy the uniqueness of English soccer over Christmas. — AP

Suarez signs new contract at Liverpool LONDON: Only four months after publicly pleading to leave the club in the hope of joining Premier League rivals Arsenal, Luis Suarez has completed a remarkable U-turn and signed a new long-term contract at Liverpool.

The 26-year-old complained in August that Liverpool had broken an agreement allowing him to leave after the club failed to qualify for the Champions League. His complaint came shortly after Liverpool had rejected a transfer bid from Arsenal for the striker.

Liverpool stood firm however and Suarez began a dramatic period of rehabilitation. The Uruguay forward is the top scorer in the Premier League this season with 17 league goals in 11 starts, including a quadruple against Norwich and a hat trick against West Brom. Tipped to shine at the World Cup next year, his form has helped Liverpool climb to second in the division, two points behind Arsenal.

“We have some great players and the team is growing and improving all the time,” Suarez said. “I believe I can achieve the ambitions of winning trophies and playing at the very highest level with Liverpool. My aim is to help get us there as quickly as possible.” Suarez missed Liverpool’s first six league games this season as he completed a 10-match suspension for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. It was the latest in a long line of ugly incidents involving Suarez, who was banned for eight matches for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra in October 2011.

Despite his habit for creating controver-

sy, Liverpool supporters have remained loyal to their talisman. “Without doubt the backing I have received from the Liverpool fans has influenced my decision,” he said. “I am so proud to represent them and go out to do my best for them every time I pull on the shirt.

“We have a special relationship. They have love for me and in return I love them back. I will always do my best for them and hopefully we can achieve success together.”

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers made Suarez train alone after his outburst in August but the striker returned to the first-team squad before the start of the season. The Reds are aiming to finish in the Premier League’s top four to qualify for the Champions League and could mount a challenge for the title if the team maintains its current form.”This is fantastic news for everyone associated with the club; the team, the owners and most importantly the supporters,” Rodgers said.

“Luis is a world-class talent and securing his services is crucial for what we are trying to achieve here. “What’s most important and most exciting is that, at just 26 years old, his best years are still ahead of him and we now know we’ll be seeing him reach that potential in a Liverpool shirt.”

Suarez’s contract was due to expire in 2016. Liverpool owner John W. Henry added: “We are committed to working hard to keep our best players and this is an indication that we are moving in the right direction and moving at a pace that impresses one of the best players in world football.” — AFP

Schalke keep Keller as coach for 2014 BERLIN: Schalke 04 confirmed on Sunday that coach Jens Keller will remain in charge of the Royal Blues going into 2014, despite a string of erratic results. “All topics have been discussed constructively and openly with a clear analysis of what must be improved,” said the club in a statement.

“All this Jens Keller and his coaching team will work on when the preparations for the second part of the season begin on January 3.” The 43-year-old Keller was forced to watch Saturday’s goalless draw at Nuremberg on television at home after suffering with a stomach virus.

The result left Schalke seventh in the table — 16 points behind leaders Bayern Munich-after suffering five league defeats in the first half of the season. Although Keller has earned a reprieve from Schalke’s advisory board, only improved results after the winter break, which started Sunday, will safe-guard his future.

Although they have already been knocked out of the German Cup, Schalke have reached the last 16 of the Champions League where they will meet Real Madrid.

Having taken charge in December

2012, the 43-year-old Keller has fallen some way short of the club’s pre-season target of challenging for the league title.

“Overall, it’s been a turbulent half a year,” Schalke’s director of sport Horst Heldt told Sky Sports.

“There have been situations that we’ve not been so happy with.” But while Keller, who is under contract until June 2015, can breath a little easier, there is no such peace of mind for Hanover ’s Mirko Slomka over the festive period. Hanover, 13th, are already ten points off a targeted top six spot to claim a European place next season after suffering their eighthstraight away defeat on Saturday.

Slomka, 46, faces an uncertain start to 2014, knowing his future is being discussed behind closed doors. Having taken charge in January 2010, Slomka’s position has been undermined by poor results, including Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at strugglers Freiburg to leave them with just one win in their last 10 games.

“Christmas is the hardest time to make a decision like this,” Hanover’s director of sport Dirf Dufner told broadcaster Sport1.

“We will have more talks over the next few days.” — AFP

MILAN: Inter Milan’s Argentinian forward Rodrigo Palacio (R) fights for the ball with AC Milan’s midfielder of Ghana Sulley Ali Muntari during the Italian Serie A football match Inter Milan vs AC Milan at San Siro Stadium in Milan on Sunday. — AFP

NEW YORK: Cam Talbot #33 of the New York Rangers makes a save in the first period as teammate Michael Del Zotto #4 defends against Zach Parise #11 of the Minnesota Wild at Madison Square Garden on Sunday in New York City. — AFP

Eagles rout Bears 54-11 PHILADELPHIA: Knowing they have everything to play for next week, the Philadelphia Eagles never let up against a team with plenty on the line. Nick Foles threw two touchdown passes, LeSean McCoy ran for two scores and the Eagles routed the Chicago Bears 54-11 on Sunday night in a matchup of first-place teams with opposite stakes.

Instead of resting his starters for a winner-take-all game at Dallas next Sunday night, Chip Kelly didn’t pull them until they finished whipping the Bears.

“We’re from Philadelphia and we fight,” Kelly said. “If there’s a game on, we’re playing.” Chicago’s loss sets up two win-or-go-home games for NFC division crowns next week.

The Bears (8-7) came in needing a win to clinch the NFC North and secure the No. 3 seed while Philadelphia was just trying to stay healthy. But the Eagles (9-6) played like the team trying to lock up a playoff berth.

Now, the Bears must tie or beat the Packers (7-7-1) at home next week to win the North. “We knew what was at stake and the opportunity we had and we didn’t get it done,” Bears coach Marc Trestman said.

The Eagles (9-6) have to tie or beat the Cowboys (8-7) at Dallas next Sunday night to win the NFC East and complete a worst-to-first season under their rookie coach. Once Dallas rallied to beat Washington earlier in the day, the Eagles knew they were only playing for a No. 3 seed, that is, if they win the division.

Kelly played all his guys “This is our job. They pay us to play ball,” McCoy said. “The fans pay their hard-earned money to watch.

As a player, we never think a game is meaningless.”

Foles was 21 of 25 for 230 yards, and set a franchise record with a completion percentage of 84.0. In only nine starts, Foles has 25 TD passes and two interceptions. He was replaced by Michael Vick midway through the fourth quarter.

By that time, fans were chanting: “We want Dallas!”

“The playoffs start one week early,” Kelly said. “That’s how we approach it.” McCoy, trying to become the first Eagles player to lead the NFL in rushing since Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren in 1949, ran for 133 yards and leads Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles by 189 going into the last game.

Bryce Brown had 115 yards rushing, including a 65yard TD run. The Eagles dominated from the start.

Trent Cole sacked Jay Cutler to force a three-and-out on Chicago’s first possession, and the Eagles went right down the field and scored when Foles hit Riley Cooper going across the back of the end zone on a 5-yard pass.

Bradley Fletcher then forced Devin Hester to fumble after a 36-yard kickoff return and Cary Williams recovered at the Bears 39. Foles connected with Zach Ertz for 27 yards and McCoy ran in from the 1 to make it 14-0.

Foles tossed a 10-yard TD pass to Brent Celek to make it 21-0 in the first. “It was fun to play,” Foles said.

“That’s what I cherish. I don’t care about records.”

Cedric Thornton tackled Matt Forte in the end zone for a safety and a 26-3 lead in the third quarter. McCoy ran in from the 1 to make it 33-3.

Chris Polk had a 10-yard TD run in the fourth quarter and Brandon Boykin returned an interception 54 yards for a score to make it 47-11. Chicago’s only TD came when Cutler threw a 6-yard pass to Brandon Marshall on the final play of the third quarter.

“I thought we had a good game plan,” Cutler said.

“We had good practices this week. Obviously we didn’t play like it.” Bears seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs returned to the lineup after missing seven games because of a fractured shoulder. He wasn’t much help.

The Eagles racked up 514 yards. The Bears had a

chance to secure a division title because Green Bay lost to Pittsburgh and the New York Giants eliminated Detroit from playoff contention.

first period during a television timeout. He was replaced by Lack, who backstopped the Canucks to a 3-2 shootout win in Chicago on Friday.

Canucks 2, Jets 1 Defenseman Chris Tanev’s third-period goal gave Vancouver a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on a night the Canucks lost goaltender Roberto Luongo to a groin injury. Tanev broke a 1-1 deadlock at 10:23 of the third with a shot from the high slot.

The Canucks (22-12-8) posted their ninth win in the past 11 games, while the Jets (16-17-5) lost for the fifth time in the past seven outings. It was Vancouver’s sixth consecutive home triumph. Goaltender Eddie Lack picked up the win in relief of injured starter Luongo, who left the game late in the first period.

Lack recorded 21 saves on 22 shots for his second consecutive win. Winnipeg goaltender Ondrej Pavelec bore the loss while stopping 23 of 25 shots.

Luongo left the game with 3:30 remaining in the

Rangers 4, Wild 1 The New York Rangers, trying to salvage the remainder of a nine-game homestand, knocked off the Minnesota Wild 4-1. The win moved the Rangers (17-18-2) to just 2-4-2 on their longest ever home stand, which concludes on Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Minnesota (20-13-5) dropped their fourth game in their last six. The Rangers had not won a game in regulation since a 3-1 win at Buffalo on Dec. 5. Coach Alain Vigneault’s team overcame a 1-0 Minnesota firstperiod lead by scoring two goals in the second period and one in the third. Cam Talbot, making his first start in goal for the Rangers since Dec. 2, stopped 24 shots to improve to 7-2. Niklas Backstrom (2-7-2) recorded 32 saves for the Wild. — Agencies

VANCOUVER: Vancouver Canucks fans cheer on their team during the third period in NHL action against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. — AFP

NHL results/standings NY Rangers 4, Minnesota 1; Vancouver 2, Winnipeg 1.

Western Conference Pacific Division W L OTL GF Anaheim 26 7 5 124 25 8 4 104 Los Angeles San Jose 22 8 6 116 Vancouver 22 11 6 106 Phoenix 19 10 6 110 Calgary 13 17 6 91 Edmonton 11 24 3 95 Central Division Chicago 25 7 6 140 24 7 4 125 St. Louis Colorado 23 10 2 102 Minnesota 20 13 5 87 Dallas 17 12 6 101 Winnipeg 16 17 5 101 Nashville 16 16 4 83

GA 96 71 90 93 108 115 133

PTS 57 54 50 50 44 32 25

105 81 83 92 105 110 103

56 52 48 45 40 37 36

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Boston 24 10 2 100 75 50 Tampa Bay 22 11 3 100 86 47 Montreal 22 13 3 96 84 47 Detroit 17 12 9 99 105 43 Toronto 18 16 4 105 111 40 Ottawa 14 17 7 106 126 35 Florida 14 18 5 87 117 33 Buffalo 9 24 3 64 104 21 Metropolitan Division Pittsburgh 27 10 1 121 83 55 Washington 19 13 4 115 109 42 New Jersey 15 15 7 90 94 37 Philadelphia 16 16 4 89 103 36 Carolina 14 14 8 83 101 36 NY Rangers 17 18 2 86 101 36 Columbus 15 17 4 97 103 34 NY Islanders 10 20 7 93 129 27 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

S P ORT S

Messi criticizes vice president at Barcelona BARCELONA: Lionel Messi criticized a Barcelona vice president for saying the Argentina forward didn’t deserve a better contract. Javier Faus, the vice president in charge of Barcelona’s finances, said two weeks ago he didn’t see a reason to extend Messi’s contract. Last year, the club extended the 26-year-old Messi’s contract through 2018.

“Mr. Faus is a person that doesn’t know anything about football and wants to run Barcelona like a business, which it isn’t,” Messi told Catalan

radio RAC1. “Barcelona is the best team in the world and deserves to be represented by the best executives.”I remind him that neither I nor any of my representatives have asked for a contract extension at any moment, and he knows that very well.” Messi is Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer and a four-time world player of the year. He is in Argentina recovering from a hamstring injury and expected to return to Barcelona in January.

Messi rarely speaks about the business side of

his career. This is the first time he has openly criticized an important board member of the club since he joined as a 13-year-old.

Besides a series of injuries, Messi’s season has also been marked by legal problems. Messi and his father Jorge are being investigated for allegedly not paying all their taxes. Messi’s father made a payment of more than $6.6 million on Aug. 14 to cover back taxes and interest.

Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes called for

calm and downplayed any conflict between the club and its most valuable player. “We are all pulling in the same direction in this club,” Valdes said. Even so, it appears that a better deal for Messi could be in the works.

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell said Thursday he had not spoken to Messi about his contract, while adding “but my door is always open. I have no doubt that the best player in the world deserves to be the highest paid.” — AP

Ancelotti confident of success in 2014

BARCELONA: Spanish football international Andres Iniesta arrives with daugther Valeria before signing to extend his Barcelona contract until at least 2018 at the club’s offices in Barcelona yesterday. His current contract, which runs out in 2015, carries a 200-million-euro release clause. — AFP

High-flying Everton eye unbeaten home year LONDON: Goodison Park is undoubtedly “home sweet home” for the Toffees at the moment as Everton are two matches away from completing a remarkable calendar year unbeaten at their own ground in the Premier League.

Everton’s last home league defeat was a 21 loss to Chelsea on Dec. 30 2012, and that was their first in 14 games. Since then they have played 17 matches, winning 12 and drawing five, helping them to a sixth-placed finish last season and leaving them currently riding high in fourth.

To complete the 2013 sweep they need to avoid defeat against Sunderland on Dec. 26 and Southampton three days later. Those bald figures might suggest that team have carried on seamlessly this season from where they left off in May, but the reality is starkly different.

Not only has manager David Moyes been replaced by Roberto Martinez, but the Spaniard has revolutionised the way the team are playing. Despite the impressive nature of their home form, the most progress can be seen on their travels. Moyes had a lamentable away record against the league’s big guns but Martinez has already overseen a first club victory at Manchester United in 21 years and an impressive draw at Arsenal where they matched the league leaders pass for pass.

They have lost only one game all season, at Manchester City, and the fans are loving the way he has given his team licence to try to win with style rather than hang on and hope. His approach will not have come as a complete surprise to the Goodison faithful, however, whose home comforts were rudely punctured in March when Martinez’s Wigan Athletic team tore them apart in a shock 3-0 FA Cup quarter-final victory.

James McCarthy, one of Wigan’s key players that day and in their run to the Wembley victory over Man City, followed Martinez the few miles westward in the close season but the most impressive thing about his period in charge is that he is achieving success with pretty much the same squad.

True, the presence of on-loan Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku up front has given Everton a cutting edge that has been sorely missing since Nikica Jelavic lost his touch, and fellow loanees Gareth Barry and Gerard Deulofeu have added stability and zest respectively. But the likes of Leon Osman,

Steven Pienaar, Kevin Mirallas, Bryan Oviedo and Seamus Coleman have really stepped up to the plate and are displaying a confidence born from knowing the manager has given them freedom to try things.

Likewise, centre backs Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin, while still a rock solid defensive partnership, have bought into the Martinez way and look to build from the back with short passes rather than their more traditional, low-risk, long-ball approach of recent years. “It’s based on possession, a lot of passing, which starts from the back,” said Distin.

“Even last season we played a lot of good football but now it’s just constant.”

Good business The most exciting aspect of Everton’s progress is the emergence of Ross Barkley, a “diamond of English football” to Martinez, into a classy midfielder of the highest calibre.

Still only 20, Barkley has blossomed this season, also breaking into the England team, and is revelling in being the “main man”.

It is a situation that makes Everton’s decision to allow Marouane Fellaini to follow Moyes to Man United for 27.5 million pounds ($44.98 million) look very good business.

Martinez appears to be handling Barkley perfectly. He rests him when he needs to and does not shy away from reminding him of his weaknesses - notably in his decision-making.

But he knows he has a potential superstar on his hands. “In Ross, we have someone who, if we look after him properly, can give us something unique,” Martinez said after Barkley’s stellar performance against Arsenal earlier this month.

“He is someone that you can compare to any other nation...I mean the young Brazilians, Dutch and Spanish players. He has a gift and that talent. “I’ve never seen an English player with that sort of mentality and I have had the privilege to work with many youngsters who have been successful. We have to recognise a real English diamond. He isn’t ready yet but he has everything to mark a real era in our football.”

For Everton, whose last great era in the mid-1980s is becoming a too-distant memory for fans, the combination of Barkley and Martinez and a restored “fortress Goodison” mentality means that they can really start to believe that the next one might be just around the corner. — Reuters

VALENCIA: Valencia’s midfielder Sergio Canales (C) controls the ball during the Spanish league football match Valencia vs Real Madrid at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia on Sunday. — AFP

MADRID: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti insisted his side are still very much in the La Liga title race as they moved back to within five points of leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid with a 3-2 win away to Valencia on Sunday.

Valencia put up a strong fight as they levelled twice through Pablo Piatti and Jeremy Mathieu to cancel out efforts from Angel di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, Jese Rodriguez struck the all-important winner 10 minutes from time to keep Madrid within sight of the leaders. “Five points is not a small gap, but we had a lot of pressure before this game when we were eight points back so it is a very important win. “I am satisfied with how the first-half of the season has gone and I am very excited for 2014. The team has character, quality and fights until the end. “At the moment the table speaks for itself.

Barca and Atletico are doing very well and have a five-point lead, but I am very excited for the second part of the season. It could be a very good year for Real Madrid.”

It was a particularly good evening for Di Maria as he made his claim for a regular starting spot in the absence of the injured Gareth Bale with the opening goal and an assist for Ronaldo’s headed second just before half-time.

The Argentine international has been linked with a move away from Real after seeing his opportunities limited by Bale’s arrival, but Ancelotti stressed the importance of having competition within his squad.

“Di Maria deserves to play in this team, as do many other players. I can’t keep everyone happy all the time. “It is good that when their opportunity comes that they are concentrated. Competition for places at a big club is normal and I think the players are handling the situation well.”

Barcelona boss Gerardo Martino also hailed the depth of his squad as the Catalans came from 2-0 down to beat Getafe 5-2.

Pedro Rodriguez hit an eight-minute hat-trick just before half-time as he ensured Barca weren’t to miss the absent Neymar and Lionel Messi. The winger was also involved in both Barca’s goals after the break as he crossed for Cesc Fabregas to volley home the fourth before Fabregas converted from the penalty spot after Pedro had been brought down inside the area.

“Pedro has a great eye for goal, everyone in Spain knows that,” said Martino. “He has a great attitude, he never gives up and he understands that he is an important player, even if he does play in an area of the field where Barcelona have other great players.”

On top of the absent Neymar and Messi, Martino was also missing the injured Victor Valdes and Xavi. And despite his delight at his side’s response from 2-0 down, Martino is looking forward to having all four available again come January.

“I miss the absent players when we win as well as when we lose. I prefer for them to be playing and for the other players to be giving me a headache about not playing. It’s better when you have everyone available and can chose.” — AFP

VALENCIA: Real Madrid’s coach Carlo Ancelotti from Italy gesture to their players during their La Liga soccer match against Valencia at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia, Spain, Sunday. — AP

Tim Sherwood eager to pursue Spurs adventure SOUTHAMPTON: Tottenham Hotspur’s interim head coach Tim Sherwood hopes to be given the job on a permanent basis after a 3-2 victory at Southampton in his first Premier League game. Sunday’s success at St Mary’s got Spurs back on track after they were thrashed 5-0 at home by Liverpool in Andre Villas-Boas’s last game and Sherwood now wants to discuss his future with chairman Daniel Levy. “What would be ideal for me would be to have a chat with the chairman and see what’s best for the football club moving forward,” he said.

“I need to know what they’re thinking. I don’t want this job for five minutes. That’s no interest to me. Are we going to move it forward or not?

“There are some great candidates out there for this job. It’s a massive club with history and tradition. But whatever happens needs to be right for me, too.

“Whoever takes this job is in a good position.

Andre has left the club in a good state. There’s nothing wrong with the job he’s done. Top of the league in the European competition (Europa League). “Hopefully someone else can take it on to the next step.” Sherwood put down his own marker with the victory at Southampton, when his team could have won more convincingly after a shaky start. Key to the win was his decision to persevere with Emmanuel Adebayor, the Togolese striker who was frozen out by previous manager Villas-Boas but scored twice against Southampton.

“Listen, we all know Adebayor, we all know he’s a top player,” Sherwood said. “He doesn’t need any motivating to go and play now because he’s not played for a long time. I’ve not said anything to him, nothing. It’s down to him.

“I’ve not had to gee him up. I just said: ‘There you go Ade, go and play and attack.’ “He was never a moment’s problem with me, to be honest. I’m always honest with players. If they give me respect, I’ll give it to them back.”

Sherwood also brought on 19-year-old Frenchman Nabil Bentaleb for his debut as a second-half substitute ahead of more experienced and more expensive players on the bench.

“A lot of these new players I don’t even know,” admitted Sherwood, who has been promoted from his role as technical coordinator. “I’ve had three days training with them. It’s about the heat of the battle and knowing who you can trust, and the kid’s ready to play. “ That’s a problem at a big club. At Southampton, with the greatest of respect, their youngsters get a chance. “When you’re at a club like Tottenham spending £110 million ($180 million, 131 million euros) in the transfer window, it’s difficult to get an opportunity.

“But I knew what I was going to get. I knew

he wouldn’t be fazed. He was cool. He trains like every day is the last day in the world, listens, and has a fantastic attitude.”

Southampton have problems of their own.

They were without six first-team players against Tottenham and have not won for six matches.

“We’re going through a very tough time at the moment, lacking a full squad, players suffering injuries and illness,” manager Mauricio Pochettino said.

“I am concerned about that situation, because we need to rediscover our defensive solidity. That’s our main goal at the moment.

“The team has dropped its levels after losing against Arsenal and Chelsea. You need a full squad to maintain those levels, and we’re struggling to do that right now.”

It did not help that stand-in centre-back Jos Hooiveld scored his fouth own goal in 25 games to put Tottenham ahead early in the second half.

“These things can happen,” Pochettino said. “Not just him, but the whole team needs to regain the confidence we had at the beginning of the season. The game at Cardiff (on Thursday) is an opportunity to pick ourselves up and regain our winning ways.” — AFP

United’s Fellaini faces new spell out after surgery MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager David Moyes has confirmed that Marouane Fellaini is set to miss six weeks following surgery to his wrist but is hopeful the midfielder will return sooner.

The £27.5 million (33 million euros, $45 million) summer signing from Everton has been absent since the start of December due to a back problem. But he has also been hampered by a wrist problem for several weeks and has been playing with a cast.

As Fellaini was struggling to return to action from the back problem, United decided to bring the surgery forward. The Belgian international, who has struggled for form since his move to Old Trafford, is now likely to be absent until February. Moyes said: “He had his operation on Saturday morning. We couldn’t get him to recover from his back.

“We thought his back would be okay after 10 days but it wasn’t getting any better so we made a quick decision to get his wrist operated on and he has had that done now.

“We think he will probably be out for six weeks but there’s a chance it could be shorter.

His back problem was a muscle injury that wasn’t healing. “It’s unlucky. He doesn’t feel 100 percent fit because of his wrist and he was finding it difficult.

“I asked him if he could get over the Christmas period but it wasn’t right. There’s no doubt he will be a good player for us.”

Moyes is also hopeful that striker Robin van Persie and midfielder Michael Carrick can return over the festive period.

Van Persie is struggling with a thigh injury and Carrick has been out for several weeks with an Achilles injury. “There are always mir-

acles at Christmas so let’s hope there’s one for Robin van Persie and Michael Carrick,” Moyes added.

“This is the time when miracles happen.

You just never know.” Moyes has been pleased with the continued good form of Wayne Rooney, but the United manager admits there is no news on a potential new contract for the England striker, whose current deal expires in the summer of 2015.

“As far as I know it’s just the same as it was.

The club and Wayne’s people are speaking regularly. “He has played behind the striker in all of the games. He’s a goalscorer but he can make goals as well. That’s part of his job.

“Part of a centre-forward’s job is to make goals. He is scoring but also assisting.” The Scotsman has made no secret of his desire to make additions in the January transfer window after Fellaini was the club’s only addition in the summer.

But he says there is also potential for the club’s loan players to return and have an impact in the second half of the campaign.

Jesse Lingard, Nick Powell and Ryan Tunnicliffe have all impressed during respective loan spells at Championship sides Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Ipswich Town. Moyes said: “We will try in January. I’m quite actively looking at our own boys, the likes of Jesse Lingard, Nick Powell and Ryan Tunnicliffe. “We have quite a lot of boys on loan and they are the ones I am making sure to keep eyes on. They are the future.

“They are part of the club. They have been in the system and we hope they might be able to come back and help if we need it in January.” — AFP

LA Clippers beat Timberwolves 120-116

Swann denies retirement comments aimed at team

16

18

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

High-flying Everton eye unbeaten home year

Page 19

PHILADELPHIA: Philadelphia Eagles’ Bryce Brown, right, breaks free of Chicago Bears’ James Anderson, top left, and Roc Carmichael during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, in Philadelphia. (Inset) Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning smiles after throwing his fourth touchdown of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans during the fourth quarter yesterday. — AP

Manning’s big day leads Broncos Panthers, Patriots, Bengals clinch playoff berths INDIANAPOLIS: Not many players can overshadow a wild weekend of NFL playoff possibilities. Peyton Manning can. And did. Manning broke Tom Brady’s single-season record with his 51st touchdown pass, the last of four on Sunday in Denver’s 3713 win at Houston. New England’s Brady set the mark in 2007, beating Manning’s previous record of 49 in 2004 with Indianapolis.

“I think it’s a unique thing and a neat thing to be a part of NFL history, even though it may be temporary,” Manning said after the Broncos (12-3) clinched the AFC West and a first-round playoff bye. “So I’m going to enjoy it as long as it lasts, and hopefully the Hall of Fame will send the ball back once somebody throws for more.”

Manning might have seemed an outsider to re-establish the standard considering the neck injuries that required surgery and forced him to sit out the 2011 season with the Colts. But he’s been sensational in Denver and has more records in sight with one game remaining.

He has a career-high 5,211 yards passing this season, third in NFL history and 265 yards shy of the 5,476 yards Drew Brees gained in 2011.

“I’m grateful for people that helped me along the way and I’ve certainly put some time and work into it,” Manning said when asked if he could have predicted grabbing back the record. “But no, it would be hard to say you could have imagined this at that point, so we’re excited about the win and hopefully we can keep it going next week.”

Manning regained his record with 51 when he threw for 400 yards, with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The 51st was on a 25-yard pass to Julius Thomas with 4:28 remaining.

Just 21/2 minutes earlier, he tied the mark with a 20-yard pass to Eric Decker.

He entered the game with 47 and his first touchdown came on a 36-yard pass to Demaryius Thomas in the second quarter.

The second was a 10-yard throw to Decker earlier in the fourth period.

The loss extended Houston’s franchise-record skid to 13 games. Should they lose to Tennessee next week, the Texans (213) will own the first pick in the draft. The weekend concludes with Atlanta (4-10) at San Francisco (10-4) in the final game at Candlestick Park on Monday night.

Chiefs 23, Colts 7 At Kansas City, Andrew Luck threw for 241 yards and a touchdown, Donald Brown ran 51 yards for another score, and Indianapolis (10-5) assured Denver of the AFC West crown. The Chiefs (11-4) committed four turnovers. Jamaal Charles ran for 106 yards and the game’s opening score. Kansas City will be the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs and likely will visit the Colts in the wild-card round.

Eagles 54, Bears 11 At Philadelphia, Nick Foles threw two touchdown passes, LeSean McCoy ran for two scores and Philadelphia (9-6) set up a winner-take-all NFC East matchup at Dallas. That game has been moved to prime time next Sunday. The Bears (8-7) came in needing a win to clinch the NFC North and the No. 3 seed. But the Eagles (9-6) played like the team trying to lock up a playoff berth. Now, the Bears must tie or beat the Packers (7-7-1) at home next week to win the North.

Cowboys 24, Redskins 23 Dallas (8-7) staged a late rally to stay in the postseason picture. Tony Romo recovered from a bad interception and rallied the visiting Cowboys from a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit.

He found DeMarco Murray for a 10-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 1:08 remaining. The victory ended a fourgame December losing streak for Dallas. The Redskins (3-12)

lost their seventh straight, the second in a row by one point.

Pierre Garcon (11 catches, 144 yards) broke Art Monk’s singleseason franchise reception record, while coach Mike Shanahan clinched his worst record in his 20 seasons as a head coach.

Steelers 38, Packers 31 At Green Bay, the Packers blew a chance to grab the NFC North lead. Le’Veon Bell ran for a 1-yard touchdown with 1:28 left, then Pittsburgh withstood Green Bay’s last throw into the end zone. Bell’s TD came soon after scrambling Packers quarterback Matt Flynn fumbled while being tackled by Troy Polamalu.

The Steelers recovered at the Packers 17 and scored five plays later. Micah Hyde’s 70-yard kickoff return to the Steelers 31 gave the Packers one last chance. Green Bay got to the 1, but after a Packers penalty the game ended when Flynn’s pass to Jarrett Boykin sailed incomplete in the end zone. It’s a long shot, but the Steelers (7-8) are still mathematically in the hunt for an AFC wild-card spot. They need a lot of help.

Bengals 42, Vikings 14 At Cincinnati, Vincent Rey returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown as the Bengals clinched the AFC North. Andy Dalton threw four touchdown passes as the Bengals (10-5) remained perfect at home and secured an unprecedented third straight playoff appearance. In his past four home games, Dalton has thrown for five, three, three and four touchdowns.

The Bengals have topped 40 points in each of their past four home games, a club record. The Vikings (4-10-1) had allowed the second-most points in the league heading into the game.

They gave up 40 for the third time this season.

Patriots 41, Ravens 7 At Baltimore, Logan Ryan had two interceptions, LeGarrette Blount scored twice and the Patriots ended the Ravens’ fourgame winning streak. The previous time these teams met the AFC title hung in the balance and Baltimore used a strong second half to pull out a 28-13 victory. In this one, New England took a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter and never let up behind a defense that forced four turnovers and had four sacks.

It was Baltimore’s most lopsided loss since a 37-0 defeat at

Pittsburgh in 1997. The Patriots (11-4) earned their fifth straight AFC East title. The 11th division crown for New England coach Bill Belichick tied him with Don Shula for most since the 1970 merger. The loss dropped the Ravens (8-7) into a tie with Miami and San Diego for the final AFC wild card slot. Baltimore gets in with a win at Cincinnati.

Bills 19, Dolphins 0 The Dolphins had a three-game winning streak snapped and are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for a fifth consecutive season. With the loss, Miami (8-7) needs help from other teams, but must beat the New York Jets next weekend. Kyle Williams had two of Buffalo’s season-best seven sacks to key a stifling defensive performance. The shutout was Buffalo’s first since a 23-0 win over Washington at Toronto on Oct. 30, 2011.

And it was the Bills’ first shutout at Ralph Wilson Stadium since a 21-0 win over Miami on Dec. 17, 2006. The Bills (6-9) closed their home schedule with seven sacks for 56 this season, breaking their previous high of 50 during a 14-game season in 1964.

Panthers 17, Saints 13 Cam Newton threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Domenik Hixon with 23 seconds left to lift the host Panthers to the team’s first playoff berth since 2008. Carolina (11-4) can wrap up the NFC South and a first-round bye with a win next Sunday at Atlanta. The Panthers intercepted Drew Brees twice and sacked him six times to avenge a 31-13 loss two weeks ago. Still, the Panthers needed some big, last-minute plays from Newton. He led the Panthers 65 yards in 32 seconds for the winning score.

The Saints (10-5) still are in position to clinch a playoff berth.

They have dropped five of their last six games away from the Superdome.

Cardinals 17, Seahawks 10 At Seattle, Carson Palmer overcame four interceptions to throw a 31-yard touchdown to Michael Floyd with 2:13 left. The Cardinals kept their postseason hopes going while snapping the Seahawks’ 14-game home win streak. Arizona (10-5) had to win after Carolina beat New Orleans. And the Cardinals did thanks to a stingy defense that flustered Russell Wilson into one

NFL results/standings NY Jets 24, Cleveland 13; Indianapolis 23, Kansas City 7; Cincinnati 42, Minnesota 14; Denver 37, Houston 13; Tennessee 20, Jacksonville 16; Buffalo 19, Miami 0; Carolina 17, New Orleans 13; Dallas 24, Washington 23; St. Louis 23, Tampa Bay 13; Arizona 17, Seattle 10; NY Giants 23, Detroit 20 (OT); San Diego 26, Oakland 13; Pittsburgh 38, Green Bay 31; New England 41, Baltimore 7; Philadelphia 54, Chicago 11.

New England Miami NY Jets Buffalo Cincinnati Baltimore Pittsburgh Cleveland Indianapolis Tennessee Jacksonville Houston Denver Kansas City San Diego Oakland

American Football Conference AFC East W L T OTL PF 11 4 0 1 410 8 7 0 0 310 7 8 0 0 270 6 9 0 2 319 AFC North 10 5 0 2 396 8 7 0 1 303 7 8 0 0 359 4 11 0 0 301 AFC South 10 5 0 0 361 6 9 0 2 346 4 11 0 0 237 2 13 0 1 266 AFC West 12 3 0 1 572 11 4 0 0 406 8 7 0 1 369 4 11 0 0 308

PA 318 315 380 354

PCT .733 .533 .467 .400

288 318 363 386

.667 .533 .467 .267

Chicago Green Bay Detroit Minnesota

326 371 419 412

.667 .400 .267 .133

Carolina New Orleans Atlanta Tampa Bay

385 278 324 419

.800 .733 .533 .267

Seattle San Francisco Arizona St. Louis

Philadelphia Dallas NY Giants Washington

National Football Conference NFC East 9 6 0 0 418 8 7 0 0 417 6 9 0 0 274 3 12 0 0 328 NFC North 8 7 0 1 417 7 7 1 0 384 7 8 0 1 382 4 10 1 0 377 NFC South 11 4 0 0 345 10 5 0 0 372 4 10 0 0 309 4 11 0 1 271 NFC West 12 3 0 0 390 10 4 0 0 349 10 5 0 0 359 7 8 0 0 339

360 408 377 458

.600 .533 .400 .200

445 400 362 467

.533 .500 .467 .300

221 287 388 347

.733 .667 .286 .267

222 228 301 337

.800 .714 .667 .467

of his worst days as a pro, delaying any celebration of an NFC West championship. The Seahawks can clinch the division with a win over St. Louis next Sunday. Palmer twice was intercepted in the end zone, including Richard Sherman’s second pick of the game early in the fourth quarter. After Seattle (12-3) took a 10-9 lead with 7:26 left, Palmer led the Cardinals 75 yards and found Floyd for a juggling TD catch.

Giants 23, Lions 20, Ot At Detroit, Josh Brown’s 45-yard field goal lifted the Giants and knocked the Lions (7-8) from postseason consideration.

They lost for the fifth time in six games, blowing fourth-quarter leads in each setback that might seal Jim Schwartz’s fate. The embattled coach chose to play for overtime by running out the clock with 23 seconds and two timeouts left from the Detroit 25. When the crowd reacted with a chorus of boos, Schwartz turned his head toward the stands and appeared to angrily shout back at the fans. Schwartz has lost nine straight games in December or January. The Giants (6-9) overcame Eli Manning’s interception late in regulation and Andre Brown’s fumble on the opening possession in overtime.

Chargers 26, Raiders 13 At San Diego, the Chargers beat Oakland by overcoming three turnovers while benefiting from two turnovers and 12 penalties for 73 yards by the Raiders. Philip Rivers threw a goahead, 4-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Ryan Mathews ran for 99 yards and one touchdown, setting a career high with 1,111 yards. Nick Novak kicked four field goals for San Diego (8-7). The Chargers have won three straight games for the first time this season, but need more help to end a threeyear playoff drought. They have to beat Kansas City at home next Sunday and have Miami and Baltimore both lose. Oakland (4-11) helped San Diego, too, by committing all those penalties.

Jets 24, Browns 13 Geno Smith threw two touchdown passes to David Nelson and ran for another score. Smith had his first game with at least two TD passes since October, with no turnovers or sacks. The rookie was 20 of 36 for 214 yards and also ran for 48 yards including a 17-yard scoring scamper in the fourth quarter. Chris Ivory rushed for 109 yards on 20 carries for the Jets (7-8), who were eliminated from the playoff picture last week. Jason Campbell was intercepted twice as the visiting Browns (4-11) lost their sixth straight.

Rams 23, Buccaneers 13 At St. Louis, Robert Quinn got three of St. Louis’ seven sacks and set a franchise season record. Quinn leads the NFL with 18 sacks. He broke Kevin Carter’s franchise mark of 17 in the 1999 Super Bowl title season. Zac Stacy rushed for 104 yards on 33 carries and a touchdown, and the Rams (7-8) matched their victory total from last year. But left tackle Jake Long injured his knee on the first series. Coach Jeff Fisher believes Long tore a knee ligament. The Buccaneers (4-11) managed just 170 total yards, setting a season low for the second straight week.

Titans 20, Jaguars 16 At Jacksonville, Nate Washington scored on a 30-yard reception in the fourth quarter and Tennessee (6-9) got a muchneeded defensive stop late to end a three-game losing streak.

The highlight for the Jaguars (4-11) came when Jacksonville honored retiring center Brad Meester with a reception - the pass-catching kind. The Jaguars called a screen play for the 14year veteran center who announced Wednesday that Sunday’s game would be his home finale. Meester reported as an eligible receiver, lined up at tight end and then caught the screen pass to gain 9 yards. — AP

Business

Qatar fund plans to invest $200m in Kotak Realty Page 22

China cash squeeze stays despite CB reassurances

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

Page 23 flynas continues strategic expansion

Congress slices up trillion-dollar pie

Page 25

Page 26

ATHENS: A little girl stands in a plastic globe containing fake snow, as she smiles at two women standing outside, in Athens’ festively decorated Klathmonos Square, yesterday. Debt-crippled Greece is gearing up for its fourth austerity Christmas, amid hopes that 2014 may see a token return to economic growth after a six-year depression that has seen unemployment exceed 27 percent and left thousands depending on food handouts. — AP

Saudi unveils record $228bn budget Kingdom begins to curb spending growth in 2014 RIYADH: Saudi Arabia announced yesterday a record budget of $228 billion for 2014, slightly up from $218.7 billion set aside for this year. The world’s largest oil exporter said it also expected to conclude this year with a budget surplus of 206 billion riyals ($54.9 billion), after budgeting for a surplus of around $613 million. Revenues in 2013 were expected to reach 1.131 trillion riyals compared with expenditure of 925 billion riyals, according to a government statement. The kingdom had budgeted for revenues of $221 billion in 2013, and an expenditure of $218.7 billion. For 2014, Saudi Arabia is expecting a balanced budget of 855 billion riyals ($228 billion), said the statement carried by SPA state news agency.

A quarter of the budget is earmarked for education and training, including building 465 schools and revamping 1,500 others. The government will also spend 22 billion riyals in 2014 on 185,000 Saudis already on scholarships to study abroad.

The health sector will get 108 billion riyals. Oil continues to contribute the bulk of revenues for Saudi Arabia, which pumps 9.7 million barrels per day of oil, and has a capacity to produce more than 12 million bpd. The OPEC leader’s economy is expected to grow 3.8 percent this year, according to the statement.

Saudi Arabia has been using part of its large windfalls of

oil revenues to repay its public debt, which has dropped to 75.1 billion riyals ($20 billion), or 2.7 percent of its gross domestic product, according to the statement. Public debt stood at 98.8 billion riyals ($26.3 billion) at the end of last year.

Saudi Arabia’s 2014 state budget projects spending will rise a modest 4.3 percent from this year’s plan, the slowest rate in a decade, suggesting the kingdom is starting to curb expenditure after years of huge increases.

“I think they are demonstrating that there is discipline and commitment to a sustainable fiscal expansion,” said John Sfakianakis, chief investment strategist at MASIC, a Saudi investment company.

“Both budgeted spending next year and actual spending this year have a smaller increase than in previous years.

Although they are still overspending, they’re overspending by less.”

Actual expenditure and revenue in the world’s top oil exporter often turn out to be much larger than its projections, with the kingdom posting big budget surpluses, as oil prices generally come in higher than its conservative assumptions.

Nevertheless, the 2014 budget suggests Riyadh has decided to rein in fiscal policy after massive expansion driven partly by the 2011 uprisings in the Arab world. Saudi

Arabia escaped major unrest but boosted welfare spending sharply to buy social peace.

“The Saudi government has been spending generously to deal with the financial crisis, unemployment and housing problems. Now there is a need to press on the brakes,” said Saudi economist Abdulwahab Abu Dahesh. Next year’s 4.3 percent rise in planned spending is far smaller than the 19 percent leap envisaged by the 2013 budget plan, and the lowest increase since 3.5 percent in 2003, Reuters calculations showed.

IMF Warning The International Monetary Fund told Saudi Arabia this year it was spending more than it should if it wanted to preserve oil wealth for future generations, and that its state budget could fall into deficit by 2016 if expenditure continued rising fast. Lower state spending growth could now slow the economy. The Finance Ministry predicted yesterday that gross domestic product would rise only 3.8 percent this year, down from 5.8 percent in 2012.

The ministry did not specify the oil price which it is assuming in next year’s budget calculations, but investment bank EFG-Hermes estimated the plan assumes an oil price of $65-68 a barrel and average output of 9.6 million barrels a day.

Kuwait stocks jump before court ruling MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI: Middle Eastern share markets were narrowly mixed yesterday, struggling for direction amid a lack of new catalysts, although Qatar’s bourse recovered from a two-week low as bargain hunters returned. Kuwait’s index climbed 0.1 percent. After the close, the Constitutional Court ruled that parliamentary elections held earlier this year were legal, rejecting suits that could have caused the dissolution of parliament and fresh elections.

Later in the day, Kuwait’s cabinet ministers submitted their resignations, a move that could pave the way for a cabinet reshuffle. The market has become accustomed to political instability and is unlikely to react to any moderate reshuffle.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark climbed 0.1 percent to a new five-year high after trading flat for most of the session.

Petrochemical shares supported the market with the sector’s index up 0.2 percent. The market showed little reaction to the announcement of the 2014 state budget, which projected spending would rise a modest 4.3 percent from this year’s plan, suggesting the kingdom was starting to slow expenditure growth after three years of huge increases.

Elsewhere, United Arab Emirates markets edged up but

small caps led trading. Dubai’s index climbed 0.4 percent, leaving it fewer than 10 points away from Thursday’s fiveyear closing high.

Small cap Gulf Navigation rose 3.5 percent, accounting for a quarter of all market trading. Blue chip Emaar Properties added 1.0 percent.

“The market looks like it’s on the verge of a correction there’s not much buying interest in blue chips,” said Hisham Khairy, head of trading for the institutional desk at MENA Corp. “People are staying in banks for earnings and dividends. If we don’t see other catalysts, we could have a minor correction until year-end.”

In Qatar, the benchmark rose 0.5 percent, recovering from Sunday’s two-week low. Shares in Qatari Investors Group jumped 9.9 percent to a record high on what traders said appeared to be institutional firms buying to obtain more seats on the board.

“The company will amend its board member seats allocation to represent ratios of ownership,” a Qatar-based trader said on condition of anonymity. The market had dropped for three consecutive sessions from Dec. 15’s fiveyear peak, making prices attractive in key stocks. Qatar Electricity and Water gained 2.1 percent. — Reuters

Brent crude oil is now trading at $111, suggesting the Saudi budget may again be comfortably in surplus next year. In 2013, the government is set to post a whopping surplus of 206 billion riyals - equivalent to 7.4 percent of GDP - as actual spending exceeds the original budget plan by 13 percent but revenues come in 36 percent above target, the ministry said.

Between 2003 and 2012, state expenditure soared 14 percent on average every year, while budget plans were overspent by an average of almost 25 percent, Reuters calculations show.

The ministry’s 2014 budget shows authorities will continue to spend heavily on social welfare projects. It includes funds to build 465 schools and 11 hospitals, a 3 percent rise in education spending to 210 billion riyals, and a 25 percent jump in spending on infrastructure, including new roads and railways as well as upgrades of ports and airports. After big public sector wage increases in recent years, the budget figures suggest a fall in current spending - recurring expenditure such as salaries and consumable goods - by around 1.5 percent, said Monica Malik, chief economist for equity research at EFG Hermes Emirates. “This budget puts more emphasis on the private sector for job creation and investment. It is making a statement that it’s for the private sector to take the lead,” she said. — Agencies

Bargain-hungry shoppers buy less on weekend ELMHURST, New York: US consumers shopped less on the final weekend before Christmas despite deeper discounts, the latest sign of how difficult a season this is turning out to be for retailers.

Shoppers also showed signs they will do more of their spending after Dec 25 than they did in the same period last year in the hopes of snagging even more deals. Analytics firm RetailNext estimated on Sunday that US retail sales fell by a mid-single-digit percentage at brick-and-mortar stores on Friday and Saturday, two of the four most important shopping days of the season, compared with the same days last year. That does not include online sales, which have been strong. The number of visits to stores fell 7 percent on Friday and Saturday, RetailNext said. “Retailers recognize that consumers will wait as long as they need to,” said Charles O’Shea, senior analyst at Moody’s Investors Service.

Only two-thirds of Americans are all or almost finished with their Christmas shopping, according to a survey by consumer research firm America’s Research Group and Inmar. Of those not finished shopping, consumers holding out for bigger bargains is up 25.1 percent from 20.8 percent last year, the firm said. Analysts have said this is turning out to be the most competitive holiday season since the recession, forcing retailers to ramp up promotions. The season generates 30 percent of sales and

40 percent of profits for many stores.

Major retailers significantly ramped up the frequency of their promotions in the first part of December, according to data prepared for Reuters

by Market Track, a firm that provides market research for top retailers and manufacturers.

“I’m doing my shopping on a budget, which is why I’m digging through the clearance bin,” said Katrina Attis, 25, as she shopped on Sunday at a J.C. Penney Co Inc store in a mall in Elmhurst, New York.

Before Christmas, Attis will focus on her immediate family. For herself and other members of her family, she will shop next week when she expects bigger bargains.

O’Shea, who noted bigger discounts this weekend than in the corresponding weekend in 2012 as he did store checks in various cities, said the problem was particularly acute for specialty apparel retailers. He cited teen apparel chain Abercrombie & Fitch as one of the stores with the most noticeable increases in price cuts.

Rival Aeropostale Inc, which is trying to stanch deep sales declines, was touting up to 70 percent off everything in its stores on Sunday.

While electronics chains have benefited from best-selling items like Microsoft Corp’s Xbox One video-game console and Sony Corp’s rival product PlayStation 4, clothing has been a harder sell, he said. — Reuters

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

BUSINESS

Qatar fund plans to invest $200m in Kotak Realty Long-term investors see property prices bottoming out

HONG KONG: A Star Ferry (bottom) sails in front of the Hong Kong skyline yesterday.

Hong Kong’s economy grew “moderately” year-on-year in the third quarter as domestic demand and “resilient” growth in the mainland Chinese market offset a weaker environment in the West, officials said. — AFP

China’s Nov Iran crude imports second highest BEIJING: China’s daily crude imports from Iran in November more than doubled those in October to their second-highest point this year, customs data showed yesterday, bringing shipments for the year close to last year’s levels. The jump means Iran’s biggest oil customer and trade partner has very little room to boost shipments from the Islamic Republic further. A breakthrough agreement last month between Tehran and world powers allows the OPEC member to keep exports at the current reduced levels of about 1 million barrels per day (bpd), less than half the pre-sanctions level.

The deal also exempts buyers of Iranian oil, most of whom are based in Asia, from continually reducing purchases to earn a six-monthly waiver granted by the United States from sanctions.

However, China’s imports for the first 11 months are down just 0.6 percent from a year ago, leaving it with little scope for importing more without the risk of breaching sanctions.

In contrast, Iran’s second-biggest customer India has a lot more room to buy more and still win the next waiver from US sanctions because of the steep cuts made in imports earlier in the year.

The US State Department extended a six-month Iranian sanctions’ waiver at the end of November to China, India, South Korea and other countries for reducing purchases of Iranian crude oil earlier this year. China, Iran’s largest oil client, imported 538,513 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from the Islamic nation last month, up 25.9 percent versus the same month last year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed yesterday. The November imports more than double October’s 249,848 bpd, a 40-month low after one regular buyer skipped imports for maintenance.

For the first 11 months, China’s Iranian oil imports were down 0.6 percent year-on-year at 19.29 million tons, or 421,520 bpd, customs data showed. Chinese oil officials estimated late last year that domestic refiners would cut their Iran shipments at least 5 percent this year from 21.92 million tons, or an average 438,450 bpd for 2012, putting its maximum target for 2013 at around 416,400 bpd.

But that target did not include imports by Dragon Aromatics, an independent petrochemicals firm that started taking in condensate, a very light crude oil, from Iran around the middle of the year to feed its newly started condensate splitter. The firm, which has an annual import quota of four million tons of condensate, has brought in an average of 66,000 bpd of Iranian South Pars condensate in recent months, traders say.

Iran and six world powers clinched a deal in late November to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for initial sanctions relief, signalling the start of a game-changing rapprochement that would reduce the risk of a wider Middle East war. China’s total crude imports in November rose 0.8 percent from a year earlier to 5.73 million bpd. — Reuters

Iraqi Kurdistan crude test flows reach Turkish port ANKARA: Crude oil test flows via Iraqi Kurdistan’s new pipeline have reached Turkey’s Mediterranean export hub of Ceyhan and the pipeline is expected to be operational soon, Turkey’s Energy Minister said yesterday.

“The (operational) flows will be starting after this,” Taner Yildiz told reporters, adding that the start-up date will be discussed next week. Turkey has agreed with Iraqi Kurdistan on a comprehensive package of oil and gas deals, which will see the rich hydrocarbon resources of the semiautonomous region independently exported to world markets via Turkey.

The move infuriated Baghdad, which claims the sole authority to manage Iraqi oil, but Turkey has been working to have the central government on board before the exports start. Yildiz visited Baghdad in early December to have talks with Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Hussain AlShahristani, who has long opposed Turkey’s courtship of Kurds. “I believe this crude will flow via Turkey based on our talks with Shahristani in Baghdad,” he said. Iraqi Kurdistan officials have said repeatedly that the pipeline built by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is complete and should be operational this month. — Reuters

MUMBAI: Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the gas-rich Gulf emirate, is in talks to invest $200 million in residential property in India, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

QIA is holding “conversations” with Kotak Realty Fund, run by Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, which would manage the investments on behalf of the fund, said the source, who asked not to be named because the deal has not been finalized.

Kotak would also make a small investment and plans to focus on residential property developments in major cities across Asia’s third-largest economy for QIA, the source said. Kotak declined to comment. QIA did not respond to emails or telephone calls.

Sovereign wealth funds and other longterm investors are eyeing opportunities in India’s real estate sector, betting that property prices are bottoming out after slumping this year on the back of the slowest economic

growth in a decade. House sales in major Indian cities, including Mumbai and Delhi, fell 22 percent in the quarter ended Sept. 30.

House prices grew by 9 percent over the same period compared with double digit increases in the year-ago quarter, according to property data firm Liases Foras. Vikram Gandhi, founder of Delhi-based VSG Capital Advisers, which has been retained by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) to seek investment opportunities in the country, said the timing to invest in Indian property was ideal.

“If you have a long-term perspective and you believe that the need for capital in a country is quite high, which it is, and the supply is limited right now because people are not investing, then this is the best time to invest,” he said. In November, CPPIB said it would invest $200 million dollars to buy leased, income-producing office buildings in a joint venture with Indian construction com-

S Korea fines Denso, Continental, Bosch units for price collusion ment panels from January 2008 to March 2012. The panels were installed on 11 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles, the FTC said. Denso and a second Korean unit as well as Bosch’s unit colluded on the prices of wipers between August 2008 and February 2009, the FTC said.

The two Denso units face the biggest fine of 63 billion won, followed by Continental Automotive Electronics with 46 billion won and the Bosch unit with 5.6 billion won.

A spokeswoman for Continental in South Korea said she has not received any notice from the FTC on the fine, while officials for Bosch and Denso here were also not immediately available for comment. The US Justice Department and antitrust enforcers worldwide have been probing price fixing of more than 30 car parts in a probe that has involved 20 companies and 21 executives. The companies have agreed to pay a total of $1.6 billion in fines. —Reuters

SEOUL: South Korea’s anti-trust regulator has fined the units of Denso Corp, Continental AG and Bosch a total of 114.6 billion won ($107.99 million), saying they had fixed prices of parts sold to Hyundai Motor Co. The fine comes as antitrust regulators from the United States to Europe and Japan crack down on price collusion among auto parts makers. Among the components affected globally are seat belts, radiators, windshield wipers, air-conditioning systems, power window motors and power steering components.

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said yesterday the units of Denso, Continental and Bosch had rigged prices of instrument panels and wipers sold to Hyundai and affiliate Kia Motors. The vehicles affected were Hyundai’s Sonata (LF), Elantra (MD) and Kia’s Pride (UB) and Carnival (YP). Japan’s Denso and a South Korean unit as well as Continental’s unit were involved in price-fixing of instru-

Hyundai group to sell off financial units Merchant will borrow money overseas, while Hyundai Elevator will float new shares and Hyundai Logistics will be listed on the Seoul stock exchange.

In the wake of the 1997-98 economic crisis, Hyundai Group became a minor conglomerate after it spun off its lucrative auto-making unit, Hyundai Motor.

Hyundai Engineering and Construction also left the group and came under creditors’ control in 2001 as part of a bailout package. Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder, had been spun off earlier. The Hyundai group has been in trouble since former chairman Chung Mong-Hun committed suicide in 2003.

It controls Hyundai Asan, which used to operate tours to a scenic North Korean resort before it was shut down in 2008 when a South Korea female tourist was shot dead. — AFP

SEOUL: South Korea’s Hyundai group has announced a restructuring plan to sell off financial units for more than $3 billion in an effort to reduce its debt and focus on shipping, logistics and elevatormachinery businesses. The firm has put up for sale Hyundai Securities, Hyundai Asset Management and Hyundai Savings Bank as well as other assets including a luxury hotel.

The group said in a statement published on Sunday that the sale would help it raise up to 3.3 trillion won ($3.1 billion) and improve its liquidity. It promised to concentrate its resources on three main businesses-Hyundai Merchant Marine, Hyundai Elevator and Hyundai Logistics.

The debt ratio for the three main units stood at 493 percent in the third quarter of this year. The group plans to lower that to about 200 percent. Hyundai

pany, Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which will invest $50 million.

QIA’s investment comes after the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in July also appointed Kotak to invest $200 million in Indian real estate on its behalf, sources told Reuters at the time. Also in July, Singapore’s GIC Pte Ltd, Temasek Holdings and Oman’s State General Reserve Fund committed to investing a combined $200 million in a real estate fund run by Indian mortgage lender HDFC Ltd. The investments are a shot in the arm for India’s property developers, many of whom are burdened with debt that is expensive to service at steep interest rates. Banks are also reluc tant to lend because of fears of defaults, while private equity funds, which poured in billions of dollars at the height of the property market in 2007, have turned cautious after project delays impacted returns and exits. — Reuters

Turkey’s Halkbank denies wrongdoing in Iran deals ISTANBUL: Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank, whose chief executive was arrested in connection with a sweeping graft investigation, said yesterday it complied with the law when doing business with sanctions-hit Iran. “Our bank’s business transactions are regularly audited by relevant authorities,” the bank said in a statement. “The financial intermediation that our bank offers with regard to trade activities with Iran have been conducted in accordance with regulations,” it added.

The statement comes after Halkbank chief executive Suleyman Aslan was charged Saturday with taking bribes, while Azerbaijani businessman Reza Zarrab was charged with forming a ring that bribed officials to help disguise illegal gold sales to Iran via Halkbank. Police had also reportedly found $4.5 million in cash stored in shoe boxes in Aslan’s home. Twenty-four people have been charged so far in connection with the high-profile investigation including the sons of Interior Minister Muarrem Guler and Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan as well as several top business leaders. On Saturday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended Halkbank which he claimed was targeted by international plotters.

“We have raised the bank’s market value to $25 billion. They are targeting this successful state bank,” he said. “This bank is intimidating Turkey’s enemies.”

Halkbank has come under fire from some quarters in the United States for alleged illegal transactions to Iran. The bank said it stopped transactions to Iran as of June 10 after the United States announced further sanctions against the Islamic republic. Several pro-government media outlets claimed over the weekend that US ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone told some European Union ambassadors that Washington asked the bank to cut its ties with Iran-the allegations vehemently denied by the ambassador. The reports however infuriated the prime minister who warned he may expel some foreign ambassadors over “provocative actions”, in remarks considered a veiled threat to Ricciardone.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said Sunday that Halkbank has lost $1.6 billion in market value since the scandal broke out and branded the investigation as an operation aimed at undermining Turkey’s economic stability. — AFP

EXCHANGE RATES Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES 2.722 4.569 2.667 2.164 2.859 225.600 36.541 3.639 6.372 87.030 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES Saudi Riyal 75.590 Qatari Riyal 77.886 Omani Riyal 736.360 Bahraini Dinar 752.890 UAE Dirham 77.197 ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 40.000 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.570 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.322 Tunisian Dinar 172.410 Jordanian Dinar 400.300 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.902 Syrian Lira 2.020 Morocco Dirham 34.981 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 283.350 Euro 390.460 Sterling Pound 465.830 Canadian dollar 268.960 Turkish lira 135.700 Swiss Franc 319.810 Australian Dollar 255.580 US Dollar Buying 282.150 GOLD 20 Gram 231.000 10 Gram 117.000 5 Gram 61.000 Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal transfer Irani Riyal cash

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY SELL DRAFT Australian Dollar 262.45 Canadian Dollar 270.72 Swiss Franc 323.46 Euro 392.54 US Dollar 282.25 Sterling Pound 468.20 Japanese Yen 2.81 Bangladesh Taka 3.631 Indian Rupee 4.610 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.161 Nepali Rupee 2.885 Pakistani Rupee 2.640 UAE Dirhams 76.91 Bahraini Dinar 751.23 Egyptian Pound 40.97 Jordanian Dinar 401.71 Omani Riyal 734.03 Qatari Riyal 77.94 Saudi Riyal 75.40

SELL CASH 262.000 271.000 323.000 395.000 285.000 471.000 2.800 3.800 4.850 2.600 3.400 2.760 77.200 752.100 41.100 406.800 740.100 78.300 75.600

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat

Selling Rate 282.700 269.510 461.550 390.375 319.945 746.465 76.945 78.500 76.255 398.510 40.993 2.160 4.567 2.652 3.632 6.379 694.370 3.745 09.800

Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit Chinese Yuan Renminbi

3.010 3.855 88.370 46.975

Singapore Dollar South African Rand Sri Lankan Rupee Taiwan Thai Baht

Bahrain Exchange Company CURRENCY Belgian Franc British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Romanian Leu Slovakia Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Turkish Lira Australian Dollar New Zealand Dollar Canadian Dollar US Dollars US Dollars Mint Bangladesh Taka Chinese Yuan Hong Kong Dollar Indian Rupee Indonesian Rupiah Japanese Yen Kenyan Shilling Korean Won Malaysian Ringgit Nepalese Rupee Pakistan Rupee Philippine Peso Sierra Leone

BUY SELL Europe 0.007365 0.008365 0.455737 0.464737 0.006045 0.018045 0.047808 0.052806 0.381439 0.388939 0.041871 0.047071 0.081760 0.81760 0.008122 0.018122 0.039184 0.044184 0.309422 0.319622 0.140253 0.147253 Australasia 0.245537 0.257037 0.225801 0.235301 America 0.260773 0.269273 0.279250 0.283600 0.279750 0.283600 Asia 0.003584 0.004184 0.045180 0.048680 0.034450 0.037200 0.004392 0.004793 0.000019 0.000025 0.002636 0.002816 0.003355 0.003355 0.000257 0.000272 0.083372 0.089372 0.002978 0.003148 0.002448 0.002728 0.006407 0.006687 0.000069 0.000075

Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Iranian Riyal Iraqi Dinar Jordanian Dinar Kuwaiti Dinar Lebanese Pound Moroccan Dirhams Nigerian Naira Omani Riyal Qatar Riyal Saudi Riyal Syrian Pound Tunisian Dinar Turkish Lira UAE Dirhams Yemeni Riyal

0.220174 0.226174 0.021389 0.029889 0.001875 0.002455 0.009401 0.009581 0.008475 0.009025 Arab 0.745135 0.753135 0.037504 0.040604 0.000078 0.000080 0.000187 0.000247 0.395430 0.402930 1.0000000 1.0000000 0.000138 0.000238 0.022681 0.046681 0.001199 0.001834 0.728942 0.735622 0.077119 0.078332 0.074923 0.075623 0.002171 0.002391 0.167348 0.175348 0.140253 0.147253 0.076164 0.077313 0.001287 0.001367

Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) US Dollar 282.800 Euro 389.000 Pound Sterling 464.050 Canadian Dollar 267.550 Indian Rupee 4.575 Egyptian Pound 40.855 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.162 Bangladesh Taka 3.638 Philippines Peso 6.368 Pakistan Rupee 2.668 Bahraini Dinar 753.000 UAE Dirham 77.050 Saudi Riyal 75.500 *Rates are subject to change

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

BUSINESS

Egypt CB allows pound to weaken further CAIRO: Egypt’s pound fell yesterday for the third time in a row against the dollar at the central bank’s regular auction of foreign currency, and kept trading weaker on the black market.

The central bank last week allowed the pound to slip against the dollar at official prices for the first time since the army ousted Islamist President Mohammad Morsi in July. One economist said the authorities appeared to be adjusting policy to allow the pound to weaken as Egypt prepares to pay off debts of hundreds of millions of dollars in January, with more due later next year. The central bank has burned through billions of dollars supporting the currency since Egypt’s 2011 revolution, which cut into tourism revenues

and foreign investment. At yesterday’s dollar auction, the central bank sold $38.6 million to banks at a cutoff price of 6.9075 pounds to the dollar, weaker than the 6.8972 at the previous sale on Thursday. On the black market, which has flourished as supplies of dollars have dried up at official rates, a market participant said the greenback was offered for 7.45 pounds in comparison to 7.42 pounds on Thursday.

Official exchange rates for the pound are linked to its price at the foreign exchange auctions brought in by the central bank a year ago to counter a run on the pound. In the interbank market, the pound fell to 6.92 against the dollar three piastres weaker than Sunday’s close. At official rates a year ago, the

pound stood at 6.17 against the dollar. It weakened to around 7 in July before strengthening gradually until last week.

Further pressure on Egypt’s reserves is expected as the country has started paying back part of over $6 billion it owes to foreign energy companies.

Egypt is due to pay $700 million to the Paris Club countries in January 2014 and an additional $700 million in July, central bank governor Hisham Ramez was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview published this month. He added it would pay $2.5 billion, the value of bonds owed to Qatar, towards the end of 2014.

Reserves fell to $17.8 billion at the end of November, moving closer to the $15 billion mark seen as a critical level to

cover about three months of imports.

Relieving some pressure on reserves, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait pledged over $12 billion in aid to Egypt after the army toppled Mursi following mass protests against his rule.

“The central bank is having to bend policy a little given the general market constraints,” said Angus Blair, chairman of business and economic forecasting think-tank Signet. “It is paying off capital to the oil companies, and it knows what its commitments are in 2014, and while it knows Egypt can expect more help from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council states), this is not an infinite amount. I think the market should expect further weakness in the Egyptian pound.”

The central bank was not immediately available to comment. Currency traders said they were puzzled as to the reasoning behind the depreciation of the pound.

The central bank has cut interest rates three times by a total of 150 basis points since July, stressing growth over inflation and cutting borrowing costs for the heavily indebted state. Urban consumer prices rose 13 percent in November year on year. “For them keeping the currency stable or slightly appreciating was their only way of fighting inflation,” said one Cairo-based currency trader.

“The premium between unofficial and official rate has been widening now to about 8 percent. They’re trying to close that gap.” — Reuters

China cash squeeze stays despite CB reassurances Benchmark cash rate rises to 8.9%

MANILA: An aerial shot of Manila yesterday. The Philippine economy should grow 7.0 percent this year, and between 6.5 and 7.5 percent next year, despite the devastation caused by a killer typhoon and an earthquake, the government said. — AFP

To clean up coal, Obama pushes more oil output DE KALB, Mississippi: America’s newest, most expensive coal-fired power plant is hailed as one of the cleanest on the planet, thanks to government-backed technology that removes carbon dioxide and keeps it out of the atmosphere. But once the carbon is stripped away, it will be used to do something that is not so green at all. It will extract oil.

When President Barack Obama first endorsed this “carbon-capture” technology, the idea was that it would fight global warming by sparing the atmosphere from more greenhouse gases. It makes coal plants cleaner by burying deep underground the carbon dioxide that typically is pumped out of smokestacks. But that green vision proved too expensive and complicated. So the administration accepted a trade-off. To help the environment, the government allows power companies to sell the carbon dioxide to oil companies, which pump it into old oil fields to force more crude to the surface. A side benefit is that the carbon gets permanently stuck underground.

The program shows the ingenuity of the oil industry, which is using government green-energy money to subsidize oil production. But it also showcases the environmental trade-offs Obama is willing to make, but rarely talks about, in his fight against global warming.

Companies have been injecting carbon dioxide into old oil fields for decades. But the tactic hasn’t been seen as a pollutioncontrol strategy until recently. Obama has spent more than $1 billion on carbon-capture projects tied to oil fields and has pledged billions more for clean coal.

Recently, the administration said it wanted to require all new coal fired power plants to capture carbon dioxide. Four power plants in the US and Canada planning to do so intend to sell their carbon waste for oil recovery. Just last week, former Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced he was joining the board of a company developing carbon capture technology.

The unlikely marriage of coal burners and oil producers hits a political sweet spot. It silences critics who say the administration is killing coal and discouraging oil production. It appeases environmentalists who want Obama to get tougher on coal, the largest source of carbon dioxide. It also allows Obama to make headway on a second-term push to tackle climate change, even though energy analysts predict that few coal plants will be built in the face of low natural gas prices and Environmental Protection Agency rules that require no controls on carbon for new natural gas plants.

“By using captured man-made carbon dioxide, we can increase domestic oil production, promote economic development, create jobs, reduce carbon emissions and drive innovation,” Judi Greenwald told Congress in July, months before she was hired as deputy director of the Energy Department’s climate, environment and energy efficiency office.

Environmental benefits Before joining the Energy Department, Greenwald headed the National Enhanced Oil Recovery Initiative, a consortium of coal producers, power companies and state and environmental officials promoting the process. But the environmental benefits of this so-called enhanced oil recovery aren’t as certain as the administration advertises.

“Enhanced oil recovery just undermines the entire logic of it,” said Kyle Ash of Greenpeace, one of the few environmental groups critical of the process. “They can’t have it both ways, but they want to really,

really bad.”

That has become a theme in some of Obama’s green-energy policies. To promote new, cleaner technologies, the administration has allowed companies to do things it otherwise would oppose as harmful to the environment. For wind power, the government has shielded companies from prosecution for killing protected birds with giant turbines. For corn-based ethanol, the administration underestimated the environmental effects of millions of new acres of corn farming. The government even failed to conduct required air and water quality studies to document its toll on the environment.

The administration wants to make similar concessions to make carbon-capture technology a success.

The EPA last week exempted carbon dioxide injection from strict hazardous waste laws. It classified the wells used to inject the gas underground for oil production in a category that offers less protection for drinking water. Oil companies using carbon to get oil also aren’t subject now to the tougher reporting and monitoring requirements that experts say are necessary to ensure the carbon stays underground, and they’re fighting an EPA proposal that would require them to be if the carbon comes from power plants covered by the new federal rules.

“It amounts to looking the other way,” said George Peridas, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, which supports using carbon for oil extraction.

The group believes it replaces dirtier oil or oil produced in more environmentally sensitive places and reduces carbon in the atmosphere.

Global warming The administration also did not evaluate the global warming emissions associated with the oil production when it proposed requiring power plants to capture carbon.

A 2009 peer-reviewed paper found that for every ton of carbon dioxide injected underground into an oil field, four times more carbon dioxide is released when the oil produced is burned. “There is no form of energy that is free of impacts. It is always about trade-offs and someone will always be unhappy,” the paper’s author, Paulina Jaramillo, the assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said in an interview.

Administration officials counter by saying the oil was going to be extracted anyway, so the policy should only be seen as reducing carbon dioxide from coal plants.

The administration also promotes the benefits for energy security. Every barrel of oil produced here will mean one less produced abroad. “We are taking carbon dioxide that would have gone to the atmosphere in coal plants, storing it and displacing imported oil with domestic oil,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, asking a question posed by The Associated Press on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program in September.

In Mississippi, where Southern Company’s Kemper County power plant eventually will supply two oil producers with carbon dioxide, Denbury Resources Inc. says it would not be able to produce oil there otherwise.

Denbury is already using carbon dioxide trapped beneath a salt dome near Jackson to produce oil in the state. But it can use more carbon dioxide than nature can provide. That’s where the power plant comes in. The federal support for Kemper lowers the cost of installing the carbon capture equipment, and ultimately, the cost of carbon dioxide for the oil producer.— AP

SHANGHAI: China’s cash market squeeze showed little sign of easing yesterday, reinforcing the view the central bank has shifted to tighter monetary policy. The central bank appears to be trying to force banks to curb risky lending practices in the shadow banking system amid rising concerns about excessive debt. Rapid growth in the world’s secondlargest economy over the last four years has also fanned fears about a property market bubble.

The key seven-day bond repurchase rate initially opened lower but then spiked to 8.9 percent on a weighted-average basis by midmorning yesterday, up from 8.21 percent on Friday. The central bank announced after market close on Friday that it had injected 300 billion yuan ($49.41 billion) via short-term liquidity operations from Dec. 18 to 20. The seven-day rate reached as high as 10 percent on Friday, the highest level since June.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) also emphasized that excess cash reserves in the banking system-a key measure of liquiditystood at more than 1.5 trillion yuan, a high level by historical standards. But market players took a different view. “The PBOC appeared to stress that cash reserves are abundant in comparison to previous years, but the market has expanded sharply in recent years and demand in the interbank market has far exceeded the previous years’ levels,” said a money market trader at a major state - owned commercial bank in Shanghai.

A suspiciously low opening trade yesterday may also reflect the central bank’s attempt to calm the market. The seven-day repo opened sharply lower at 5.57 percent. In recent days traders have expressed suspicion that such low opening quotes on benchmark rates reflect intervention by the central bank in an effort to guide trading. The unusual timing of yester-

day’s opening trade bolstered such suspicions.

The opening trade on the seven-day repo came unusually early at 9:01 am Shanghai time (0101 GMT), but the next trade, at 7.60 percent, did not occur until nearly an hour later and, according to data from the National Interbank Funding Center. Rates continued to rise further.

Traders say that a large volume of maturing debt near the year-end, which banks need to roll over, have contributed to the spike in rates.

The market is interpreting the PBOC’s tough stance as an unofficial shift towards tighter monetary policy. “I think the PBOC understands the situation, but it is still eager to force banks to cut their leverage in the face of high property prices, which ignores official cooling steps,” said the money market trader. The market will be watching closely to see if the central bank injects cash at regular open market operations on Tuesday. The PBOC has skipped such operations for five straight sessions. — Reuters

N Korea purge sparked by mineral disputes SEOUL: The shock purge and execution of the North Korean leader’s uncle stemmed from his attempts to take control of the country’s lucrative coal export business, South Korea’s spy chief told lawmakers yesterday. Jang Song-Thaek, the oncepowerful uncle and political regent to young leader Kim Jong-Un, was executed on December 12 on charges which included plotting a coup and corruption.

The execution-the biggest political upheaval since Kim took power two years ago-sparked speculation that Jang had lost out in a power struggle with hardline army generals. But Nam Jae-Joon, the head of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, said Jang’s attempts to secure control of state-run natural resources businesses played a big part in his downfall.

Nam, briefing members of parliament’s intelligence committee on the situation in the North, also said the young ruler currently “appears to have no problem” in his grip on power-but may stage armed provocations against the South sometime between January and March to rally domestic unity. “Jang intervened too much in

lucrative state businesses...related to coal, which drew mounting complaints from other (related) state bodies,” lawmaker Jung Chung-Rae, a member of the committee, quoted Nam as saying at the closed hearing. Jang for years handled the country’s mineral exports, which go mostly to China. The impoverished but mineral-rich North has sought for years to bolster its crumbling economy by increasing exports of coal and other minerals, which account for the bulk of its exports to China.

But Jang and his associates angered other top party officials by rapidly expanding their control over the coveted mineral businesses, Jung quoted Nam as saying. “Kim Jong-Un was briefed about it...and issued orders to correct the situation,” Jung told reporters.

But many officials loyal to Jang did not immediately accept his orders, which eventually led an angry Kim to launch a sweeping purge, the lawmaker quoted the spy chief as saying.

The regime is currently probing officials in the ruling party’s administrative department once supervised by Jang as well as other state-run trad-

ing arms, Nam was quoted as saying.

“The North is now trying to erase any traces of Jang...partly by recalling many of his relatives and associates who lived overseas,” Nam said. Kim’s powerful aunt-Kim Kyong-Hui-currently showed no sign of serious illness, Nam said, adding she appeared to be shunning public appearances for a while due to the execution of her husband.

Jang’s execution raised questions about factional infighting at the top of the Pyongyang hierarchy and prompted both Seoul and Washington to warn of possible provocative acts by the nucleararmed state. Jang had been seen as Kim’s political mentor, but the 67-year-old’s growing political influence and power was increasingly resented by a leader barely half his age, analysts said.

About 88 percent of North Korea’s total foreign trade last year involved China, according to figures earlier this year from the South’s Korea TradeInvestment Promotion Agency.

It said exports to China-mostly coal and iron ore-were worth $2.4 billion in 2012. South Korea estimates the total value of all mineral deposits in the North at $6.3 trillion. — AFP

Ma’aden awards $2.25bn work on phosphate project

ROME: Italy’s Prime Minister Enrico Letta gives a press conference yesterday in Rome. — AFP

PM: Italy ‘stability dividend’ lowers borrowing costs ROME: Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta admitted yesterday his country was suffering from “social fatigue” but said his government had brought “a stability dividend” worth billions of euros due to lower borrowing costs. “We have to respond to social fatigue,” he said at an end-ofyear press conference, as the country tries to recover from its longest recession since World War II. “The shock of these years has been very tough. It is hard to recover even after figures improve,” he said. But Letta said that political stability meant Italy was now paying less in interest on its debt than before. The forecast for borrowing costs for 2013 had been 89 billion euros but the estimate now is 83 billion euros. “The stability dividend has been 5.5 billion euros,” he said, adding that this would be used to lower taxes. The figure is still higher than the 70 billion paid in 2010, 71 billion in 2011 and 78 billion in

2012. Italy “has turned the page” and 2014 will be “a year of recovery and growth”, he said, also promising a series of reforms like a new election law to replace one that has been widely criticized for fostering instability.

He also urged former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is now in opposition to the government, not to adopt an approach of “nihilistic, populist rhetoric”.

Letta, 47, also hailed a “generational changeover” in Italian politics this year which he said was unprecedented since the post-war period. “The country before was run by generations of 60 and 70year-olds,” he said, after the rise of a crop of younger centre-left and centre-right leaders. He said January would be a key month with a raft of proposals being prepared including an overhaul of the tax system and labor market, as well as a series of changes to Italy’s stringent immigration laws. — AFP

KHOBAR: Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) has awarded three contracts worth a combined 8.46 billion riyals ($2.26 billion) to Canadian and Asian companies concerning its new phosphate mining and production project, it said yesterday. The project in Waad alShimal City in the north of the country is a joint venture between Ma’aden, Saudi Basic Industries Corp and Mosaic.

Canada’s SNC Lavalin and China’s Sinopec Engineering Group have won a 2.86 billion-riyal deal to build a power plant and a sulfuric acid plant which has a production capacity of 4.9 million tons, Ma’aden said in a bourse filing. South Korea’s Hanwha Engineering & Construction Co won a contract to build a phosphoric acid plant worth 3.5 billion riyals. The plant will have a production capacity of 1.5 million tons. China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering Corp Co won a contract to build an ore beneficiation plant worth 2.08 billion riyals with a production capacity of 5.3 million tons. The projects are due to be completed in 2016, Ma’aden said.

Ma’aden aims to close fundraising for its $7 billion phosphate project before the end of the year, a timetable reiterated in yesterday’s statement. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: Janet Yellen of California, President Barack Obama’s nominee to become Federal Reserve Board chair, is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington in this file photo prior to testifying before the Senate Committee hearing on her nomination to succeed Ben Bernanke. The Federal Reserve celebrated 100th birthday at a time of unprecedented global influence yesterday.—AP

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

BUSINESS

Asian markets higher after US growth data HONG KONG: Asian markets climbed yesterday following a record lead from Wall Street after US economic growth figures came in well above expectations. Chinese shares picked up after the mainland’s central bank last week injected funds into financial markets to calm fears of a cash crunch.

Sydney climbed 0.51 percent, or 26.7 points, to end at 5,291.9 and Seoul rose 0.68 percent, or 13.54 points, to close at 1,996.89. Shanghai added 0.24 percent, or 4.91 points, to end at 2,089.71, the first positive close in 10 sessions.

Hong Kong closed 0.48 percent, or 109.38 points, higher at 22,921.56.

Tokyo was closed for a public holiday. US shares rallied on Friday after the Commerce Department said the economy grew 4.1 percent year-on-year in July-September, much faster than estimated and up from 2.5 percent in the previous three months.

It was the strongest growth in the world’s largest economy since the fourth quarter of

2011, when the pace hit 4.9 percent. The news came after a decision by the Federal Reserve to trim its stimulus program by $10 billion to $75 billion a month from January, citing a pick-up in the economy and falling unemployment. On Wall Street Friday, the Dow added 0.26 percent and the S&P 500 rose 0.48 percent-both ending at record highs-while the Nasdaq climbed 1.15 percent.

Chinese shares rose after suffering a sell-off Friday on concerns about a cash crunch similar to one that hit in June. Dealers welcomed a huge injection of liquidity into financial markets last week by the central People’s Bank of China after interbank borrowing rates-which lenders charge each other to borrow cash-shot up.

The bank pumped 300 billion yuan ($49.4 billion) into the market, sending rates falling from 8.2 percent on Friday to 5.57 percent in early trade yesterday. The turmoil last week came as banks and other investors scrambled

for cash as they approach the end of the year, when they typically have to meet regulatory requirements and funding demands from companies.

However, Amy Lin, an analyst at Capital Securities told Dow Jones Newswires: “The market is clouded by concerns of a liquidity crunch. Sharp rises in stock indexes are unlikely in the coming month. “All eyes are on the central bank now, with hopes it could continue to inject funds into the market.” In forex trade the dollar bought 104.00 yen compared with 104.06 yen in New York Friday. The euro bought $1.3670 against $1.3671, while it was at 142.30 yen from 142.31 yen. Oil prices were lower. New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for February delivery, was down 32 cents at $99.00 in afternoon trade, while Brent North Sea crude for February eased six cents to $111.71. Gold fetched $1,195.04 at 1052 GMT compared with $1,195.25 late Friday. — AFP

NEW YORK: Trader Kevin Lodewick (center) works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. World stocks traded higher yesterday, despite concerns over a cash crunch in China as investor sentiment remained buoyed by growing optimism over the US economy. —AP

Brent holds above $111, focus on South Sudan LONDON: Brent crude oil held steady above $111 a barrel yesterday amid slow activity ahead of the Christmas holiday as investors focused on ongoing refinery strikes in France and internal strife in South Sudan. February Brent crude edged down 30 cents to $111.47 a barrel by 0953 GMT after gaining 2.7 percent last week. It touched a two-week high of $111.93 earlier in the session.

US crude for February delivery was at $99.02 a barrel, down 30 cents. Escalating tension and violence in South Sudan threatened the country’s 245,000 barrels per day (bpd) oil output. The government said on Sunday rebels had seized the capital of a key oil-producing region.

This could add to the more than 1 million bpd of lost supply from Libya where key oil ports were shut by a group demanding greater autonomy for the country’s eastern part. South Sudan’s ambassador in Khartoum said on Sunday that oil was flowing normally although the country ’s main investor China National Petroleum Company has evacuated its oil workers from the fields to the capital Juba. “You’ve lost Libyan supply and you’ll lose Sudanese supply.

Although they are not large amounts,

they are significant enough to make people nervous,” said Jonathan Barratt, chief executive of commodity research firm Barratt’s Bulletin in Sydney.

Libya’s oil minister said on Saturday force should be used to reopen key oil ports in the eastern part of the country which have been closed for five months.

Workers at three of Totals’ five French refineries entered an 11th day of strikes, piling further uncertainty to the oil demand and supply picture in the region.

“With the refinery strikes, France is currently boiling 600,000 bpd less crude. If the strikes continue then the other European refineries are likely to run a bit harder... but the US will also contribute to replace the lost product output from the French refineries and net that should therefore result in lower crude oil demand in Europe,” said Oliver Jakob, analyst at Zug, Switzerland-based Petromatrix.

Little economic data is scheduled to be published this week. “The biggest input for the next two weeks is going to be lack of volume due to the holidays.

Trading flat prices with conviction in such an environment will be a difficult task,” Jakob said. — Reuters

Egypt pound slips at forex auction CAIRO: The Egyptian pound weakened at a foreign exchange auction yesterday, sliding for the third time in a row at the central bank’s regular dollar sale as it continued to trade weaker on the black market. The central bank sold $38.6 million to banks at yesterday’s auction, with a cutoff price of 6.9075 pounds to the dollar, weaker than the 6.8972 at the previous sale on Thursday. It had offered up to $40 million.

“The central bank is having to bend policy a little given the general market constraints,” said Angus Blair, chairman of business and economic forecasting think-tank Signet. “It is paying off capital to the oil companies, and it knows what its commitments are in 2014, and while it knows Egypt can expect more help from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council states), this is not an infinite amount. I think the market should expect further weakness in the Egyptian pound.”

Last week, the pound weakened against the dollar for the first time since July, when the army removed Islamist President Mohammad

Morsi after mass protests against his rule.

On the black market, a market participant said the dollar was offered for 7.45 pounds in comparison to 7.42 pounds in the black market on Thursday. The central bank introduced dollar currency sales a year ago to help counter a run on the pound. It has burned through at least $20 billion - or roughly half its reserves - supporting the currency since Egypt’s 2011 revolution, which cut into tourism revenues and foreign investment.

The central bank has limited Egyptians from transferring more than a cumulative $100,000 out of the country since the 2011 uprising unless they can demonstrate a pressing need for the funds. In January, this limit will be raised by another $100,000, Central Bank governor Hisham Ramez said this month.Depositors at banks can only withdraw a maximum of $10,000 in foreign currency per day under central bank rules, but in practice many banks restrict such withdrawals to much less and demand documents to show why the client needs the funds. — Reuters

Gold falls, set for biggest yearly loss since 1981 LONDON: Gold fell yesterday, on course for its largest annual loss in 32 years, as thin preholiday trade and signs of an improving US economy growth kept investors fretting over the impact of the Federal Reserve’s stimulus tapering. The metal posted its biggest weekly loss in a month after the Fed’s decision to start scaling back its bond-buying stimulus, which was followed by upbeat GDP data.

“Gold is in a bit of a limbo now because we know that the Fed starting to reduce their bond buying is a reality and the dollar should hold relatively strong from here,” VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said. “I would argue that there is support at $1,190 ... but there may be more downside as it doesn’t take much to move the market in thin holiday trading.”

Spot gold fell 0.6 percent to $1,195.00 an ounce by 1051 GMT. It had briefly rebounded above $1,200 an ounce in earlier trade as investors found value in the metal after prices lost 4 percent in the previous three sessions. Gold hit its lowest since June on Friday at $1,185.10 an ounce, closing in on a 3-1/2-year low touched earlier that month, after the Federal Reserve’s first step away from ultra-loose monetary policy further undermined the investor case for holding bullion.

The Fed said last week that the US economy was strong enough for its bond-buying scheme to be scaled back, winding down an era of easy money that saw gold rally to an all-time high of $1,920.30 an ounce in 2011. Gold was the hardest hit major financial benchmark by the US central bank’s taper, which will raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.

The metal has fallen nearly 30 percent this year, putting an end to 12 straight years of growth and reflecting expectations that economic recovery would bring an end to quantitative easing.

Fund holdings Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 5.40 tons to 814.12 tons on Friday - the first inflow since Nov 5. The fund, which accounts for around 40 percent of total ETF holdings, saw a record outflow of more than 450 tons in 2013 to the lowest level in nearly five years.

Outflows from the top eight gold ETFs have totalled about 720 tons as investors channelled more money to riskier assets like equities. “Unsurprisingly, nearly half of the December selling in ETFs occurred last week ahead of and immediately following the FOMC,” MKS Capital said in a note.

“This liquidation is likely to continue into year-end due to tax implications.” Hedge fund managers cut their bullish bets on gold only modestly in the week to Dec. 17, data released on Friday showed.

Physical demand picked up in Asia as prices fell towards $1,200 last week but not to the same level seen during earlier price drops this year. Volumes traded on the Shanghai Gold Exchange for the 99.99 percent purity gold contract were lower than Thursday’s two-month peak. Premiums edged up $2 to $18 an ounce from Friday. Silver fell 0.2 percent to $19.36 an ounce. Spot platinum was up 0.3 percent at $1,330.45 an ounce, while spot palladium rose 0.1 percent to $696.72 an ounce. — Reuters

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

BUSINESS

Congress slices up trillion-dollar pie US budget decisions in ‘cone of silence’

STRASBOURG: Horse riding workers and users demonstrate in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France yesterday to protest against a VAT rising for equestrian centers. From 2014, equestrian centers will no longer benefit the reduced VAT rate of 7% but the highest rate of 20%. — AFP

Optimism over US economy shores up global markets AMSTERDAM: World stocks traded higher yesterday despite concerns over a cash crunch in China as investor sentiment remained buoyed by growing optimism over the US economy.

However, with many traders already off for the Christmas break, volumes were low and are expected to remain so at least until the New Year. Figures Friday showed the US grew at an annualized rate of 4.1 percent in the third quarter of the year, up from the previous estimate of 3.6 percent. The unexpected strength prompted International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde to say the Washington DC-based institution would raise its 2014 US growth forecast from the current estimate of 2.5 percent.

“Sentiment was helped after it emerged the IMF said it will raise its outlook for the U.S.,” said Lee Mumford, a trader at Spreadex.

In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 index was up 0.4 percent to 6,635 by midmorning, while France’s CAC 40 was fractionally higher at 4,195. Germany’s DAX was the best performer, up 0.5 percent to 9,442.

US stocks moved higher, riding a wave of forward momentum after last week’s records, a positive outlook from the International Monetary Fund and a major Apple deal in China. About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen 56.52 points or 0.35 percent to 16,277.66. The broad-based S&P 500 increased by 6.98 points (0.38 percent) to 1,825.30, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 25.05 (0.61 percent) to 4,129.79.

The Dow and S&P 500 closed at record peaks last week after the US Federal Reserve announced it was trimming its stimulus in light of better economic data. Over the weekend, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde praised the Fed’s

move and said the body sees a “much stronger outlook for 2014” in the US economy. Apple shares climbed 2.9 percent after the tech giant announced a long-anticipated deal with China Mobile that will give the US company a much bigger entry into the huge Chinese market.

Facebook jumped 2.9 percent after Cantor Fitzgerald boosted its earnings estimates, citing a strong advertising performance during the crucial holiday shopping period.

US stocks appeared set for further gains after Friday’s record close, with Dow futures up 0.3 percent and the broader S&P 500 index futures 0.5 percent higher.

Stock markets have largely held their own despite worries over China’s credit markets.

Even though the Chinese monetary authorities injected more cash into the markets, the rate banks charge each other for 7 day loans has risen to 8.9 percent, from just 4.3 percent at the start of the month. “The tightening of liquidity conditions in China heading into year-end continues to attract some broader financial market attention,” said Lee Hardman, an analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. Chinese central bank’s action was linked to the US Federal Reserve Bank’s decision to cut back its $85 billion bond purchase programs next month, which could weigh on assets in emerging markets.

Earlier in Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite 0.2 percent to 2,089.71 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.5 percent to 22,921.56. South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.7 percent to 1,996.89. Tokyo stock markets were closed for the Emperor’s Birthday. Elsewhere, trading was fairly muted. In the currency markets, the euro was flat at $1.3680 while the dollar fell 0.1 percent to 103.93 yen. In the oil markets, a barrel of benchmark crude was 34 cents lower at $98.98. —AP

Burgan Bank provides staff with free dental checkup KUWAIT: Burgan Bank recently partnered with Maidan Dental clinic in Kuwait to provide free dental checkups as well as opening medical files for all staff members at the bank’s Head office.

The activity was carried out in an effort to extend the bank’s commitment to the general wellbeing of its workforce. A mobile clinic was located outside the Burgan Bank building to allow employees to benefit from the clinic’s dental services.

Maidan Dental Clinic is recognized as one of the biggest dental clinics today, and offers a variety of choices and alternatives for complete and comprehensive care. The clinic also owns and operates six dental centers that are backed by a medical crew of 70 specialist doctors across the dentistry field.

Burgan Bank continuously supports the needs of its staff, its most valued asset, by providing innovative services throughout the fiscal year.

Russia closes deal to buy Ukraine’s $3bn Eurobond MOSCOW: Russia closed a deal yesterday to buy Ukraine’s newly-issued $3 billion Eurobond, part of a $15 billion bailout of its smaller neighbor, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

Russia offered a lifeline to Ukraine last week, helping revive the country’s economy and keep it within Moscow’s orbit.

Moscow is tapping its National Welfare Fund, a rainy day reserve, to buy $15 billion worth of Ukrainian Eurobonds. It is also offering Kiev relief on the price of gas exports. “The deal was closed on Friday,” Siluanov told journalists yesterday, referring to the $3 billion bond. He added that another tranche of help will be set next year. The non-tradable Eurobond matures in two years and has a coupon of 5 percent.

Kiev needs cash to cover its external funding gap, while the central bank’s currency reserves are depleted by efforts to support the hryvnia and repay foreign debt.

The government owes around $8 billion in foreign debt payments next year. The amount due for gas imports, another part of its external obligations, is now unclear.

Ukraine paid out $1 billion per month in 2013 for gas imports, although the sum may change next year depending on the volume required. Russia slashed the price Ukraine pays for gas deliveries by about one-third.

The National Welfare Fund is intended to cover pension fund imbalances, which amounts to 4.2 percent of gross domestic product. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: As Washington empties out for the holidays, a final budget fight will play out in the nearly empty Capitol building as congressional staffers parcel out more than $1 trillion to fund everything from cybersecurity to student loans.

Unlike the knock-down budget battles that paralyzed government for much of the year, this debate will largely take place within what one lobbyist calls a “cone of silence” with Republicans and Democrats aiming to minimize discord as they race to set spending levels for thousands of individual government programs. It’s a chance for Congress to demonstrate that it is capable of doing its job after two years in which lawmakers let the government run on automatic pilot when they weren’t shutting it down or imposing indiscriminate spending cuts.

It has also touched off a lobbying blitz as defense contractors, hospitals, day-care providers and thousands of other groups push to maximize funding for the programs that affect them most directly.

Business groups will push to fund job-training programs, while advocates for the elderly will fight for increased Alzheimer’s disease research and teachers’ unions will argue to restore money that has been cut from education. There may be only so much they can do to influence the process as lawmakers retreat into their chambers to write the complex spending legislation.

“They absolutely know what our priorities are,” said Beth Felder, a lobbyist for Johns Hopkins University, the largest academic recipient of US research money. “At this point I don’t think their phones need to be ringing off the hook.”

For some, it’s a chance to restore funding that fell victim to across-the-board “sequester” cuts that took effect in March. For others, it’s a chance to launch new initiatives that have been sidelined for years as Democrats and Republicans have opted to renew old spending plans through temporary “continuing resolutions,” rather than write new ones. At Johns Hopkins, programs funded through the appropriations measures cover some hospital patients’ medical bills and help students pay for their education. Researchers build satellites and

develop missile-defense systems for the government and rely on federal money to fund medical research projects.

Federal spending is far and away the most important topic for lobbyists and their clients who hire them. Lobbying firms reported working on behalf of 3,076 clients this year for budget and spending issues, nearly twice as much as any other issue, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Collectively, those lobbyists can claim a partial victory. The budget deal that passed the House of Representatives and the Senate this week gives lawmakers authority to spend $45 billion more than would have otherwise been available.

Rising tide Now those interest groups will be essentially competing with each other for a slice of the same pie. “We cooperate because a rising tide lifts all boats,” said Emily Holubowich, who heads a coalition of 3,200 organizations that have pressed for more domestic funding. “Then we’re competing with one another for those limited resources.”

The deal provides a ceasefire in the budget wars that have consumed Washington since Republicans won control of the House in 2010 on a promise to cut spending. It gives lawmakers on the appropriations committees $1.012 trillion to spend, splitting the difference between the House and the Democratic-controlled Senate. It’s not clear how that money will be divided.

Lobbyists say they expect it will be split evenly between military and domestic programs, with the money being distributed proportionately between the 12 subcommittees that each oversee a portion of the government. But they’re not likely to learn much more than that over the coming weeks as lawmakers will try to keep their work as private as possible, said Jim Dyer, a longtime Republican appropriations staffer who now works as a lobbyist.

“If a decision gets out, there’ll be five people to preserve it and 10 people to overthrow it. You have to be very careful about the information that goes out in the public domain at this time,” he said.

Congress hasn’t written proper spending laws for most domestic programs since December 2011, opting instead to fund wide swaths of the government under continuing resolutions that freeze operations in place.

New initiative As a result, new initiatives have been put on hold. Among them, for example, is a plan that would use advanced molecular-identification techniques to identify and isolate outbreaks of food poisoning, influenza or other public health threats more quickly.

Obama requested $40 million for the program this spring, and the Senate approved spending for half that amount in the summer.

Lobbyist Peter Kyriacopoulos brought in state and local public health workers to pitch the program to lawmakers in March, and he’s following up with phone calls to staffers now. But he says it may be tough to convince Republicans to sign off on new spending.

“The House has been operating in a very unique way, so we go in and say what we can and we hope for the best,” he said. “But no one’s told me to go away,” he said.

Others are more optimistic. Armed with figures that show how many patients in each congressional district have been unable to get treatment due to the sequester cuts, David Pugach of the American Cancer Society has been pressing appropriators to restore medical research funding at the National Institutes of Health to its presequester level.

“When appropriators are making decisions based on what they say is most important, funding for cancer research and prevention should be at the top of that list and in all likelihood would do rather well,” he said. As the sequester forced sharp cutbacks in the Head Start early childhood education program, backers across the country ensured the cuts were covered in local media and pressured lawmakers to restore funding. Hopefully, that will have generated enough momentum to restore the $400 million that has been cut, said Yasmina Vinci of the National Head Start Association.

“Our first, biggest, most glaring priority is restoring the cuts that happened,” she said. “I’m hoping we have done our work.” — Reuters

US consumer spending rose 0.5% WASHINGTON: Americans increased their spending in November by the most in five months, and their income edged up modestly.

Consumer spending rose 0.5 percent from October, when spending had risen 0.4 percent, the Commerce Department said yesterday. It was the best showing since June. The gain was driven by a jump in spending on long-lasting durable goods such as autos.

Consumers’ income rose 0.2 percent, an improvement from a 0.1 percent decline in October. Wages and salaries, the most important component of income, rose a solid 0.4 percent. That gain reflected strength in the private sector and a modest gain in government pay.

Consumer spending is closely followed because it accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity. The strong November showing suggests solid economic growth this quarter. Steady hiring and modest wage gains have boosted consumer confidence and given Americans more money to spend. At the same time, higher stock and home prices have driven up household wealth and made some people more comfortable about spending. The big rise in spending and smaller income gain meant that the personal saving rate slipped a bit to 4.2 percent of aftertax income in November. That was down from 4.5 percent in October.

Inflation An inflation gauge tied to consumer spending that is closely followed by the Federal Reserve showed that inflation is still running well below the Fed’s target. Prices were unchanged in November and have risen just 0.9 percent over the past 12 months. The Fed’s target for annual inflation is 2 percent. The economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, grew at an annual rate of 4.1 percent in the JulySeptember quarter, the government said Friday in its third and final estimate. The government’s figure was up from its previous estimate of a 3.6 percent annual growth rate for the third quarter.

Nearly all of the upward revision reflected faster spending for consumers, a possible sign of momentum entering the final three months of the year. The 4.1 percent growth rate in the third quarter was the best performance in nearly two years. It was only the second time since the economic recovery began in mid-2009 that annual growth in any quarter has topped 4 percent.

Economists caution that growth will likely slow in the October-December period. That’s because two-fifths of last quarter’s gain came from an

LOS ANGELES: A shopper holds her purchases while shopping at a Gap factory store at the Citadel Outlets in Los Angeles. The Commerce Department reported how much consumers spent and earned in November yesterday.—AP unusually large buildup in business stockpiles - 1.5 percentage points from economic growth something not likely to be repeated this quarter. this year, which analysts think will be around 1.8 But analysts were encouraged by the recent percent.

But the effects will lessen next year, someacceleration in spending and say rising job growth could fuel more spending in coming thing economists note in their forecasts for months. Many analysts believe the economy’s around 2.5 percent growth or better in 2014. A annual growth rate will slow to between 2 per- stronger outlook for the economy and job marcent and 2.5 percent this quarter because of the ket led the Fed last week to begin winding down expected drag from slower stockpiling. But its bond-buying program. The Fed’s bond pursome said the better-than-expected spending chases have been intended to lower long-term could mean more strength than expected and a interest rates and encourage more borrowing and spending. stronger start to 2014.

The Fed said that it would begin reducing “Consumers are spending at the fastest rate this quarter than any time since 2010,” said Chris its $85 billion-a-month in bond purchases by Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of $10 billion in January. Chairman Ben Bernanke Tokyo-Mitsubishi. “With numbers like these, said that if the economy keeps improving, the tomorrow is shaping up to be the better tomor- bond purchases could be trimmed by similar row we have wanted to see ever since the reces- amounts at coming meetings. Jennifer Lee, sion ended almost five years ago.” President senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said Barack Obama took note last week of the the stronger spending in Oc tober and encouraging reports, including four straight November validates the Fed’s decision to pare months of solid job gains. That spurt of hiring its bond purchases and should boost growth has helped lower the unemployment rate to 7 this quarter. At the same time, tepid inflation allows the Fed to make only modest reducpercent, a five-year low.

The drag from higher taxes and across-the- tions in its bond purchases without fear of board spending cuts has shaved an estimated igniting price increases.—AP

Political uncertainty hits Thai currency, stocks

ATHENS: Farmers gather during a rally outside Greece’s parliament in Athens.

Farmers from the island of Crete clashed with police as lawmakers prepared to vote on a new property tax that will extend the levy to include farms. —AP

BANGKOK: The Thai baht plumbed its lowest in almost four years yesterday as a political crisis grew more intractable, with anti-government protesters trying to block candidates registering for a February election that is looking increasingly uncertain. Police estimated more than 200,000 protesters rallied across the capital on Sunday to demand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra resign. She has called a snap election for Feb 2 to defuse tension but the opposition Democrat Party will boycott the poll and demonstrators are determined to scuttle it. The stalemate is all too familiar after eight years of deadlock broadly between supporters and opponents of Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a tycoon whose populist political machine has won every election since 2001 with millions of votes from the rural poor in the north and northeast.

Opposed to Thaksin is a Bangkok-based establishment of top generals and old-money

families threatened by his rapid rise and angered by his ability to influence politics from selfimposed exile in Dubai. They have backed protests against Thaksin’s governments since 2005 and the party they favour, the Democrats, has not won an election in 21 years.

Yingluck refuses to quit and said the Democrats’ election boycott would complicate the political reforms all sides want. “Every parliament member needs to take part in the election to protect this democratic system,” she said on Sunday. “If they don’t participate ... how can anything concrete be made under this legislature?”

The seemingly irresolvable conflict has hit the currency in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy after the weekend rallies that left the outcome no clearer. The baht touched a low of 32.71 to the dollar, its weakest level since March 2010, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The protesters are led by Suthep Thaugsuban,

a former Democrat heavyweight whose campaign is less about policy than ridding politics of the billionaire Shinawatra family.

Watched by police and soldiers, several thousand protesters sat in front of the gates of a sports stadium to try to block the registration process, which lasts until the end of the week.

By mid-morning, only nine of the 34 parties that showed up to register were successful.

Election Commission member Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said the deadline could be extended if not enough candidates had registered, while police threatened jail terms or stiff fines if protesters impeded the process. Yingluck has spent the past week travelling in her party’s northern strongholds, shoring up support as her credibility in Bangkok dwindles amid persistent protests that seemed unlikely a few months ago, when even her brother’s fiercest critics appeared to tolerate her government.— Reuters

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

BUSINESS

Investment sector lifts Nov real estate activity NBK ECONOMIC REPORT KUWAIT: Real estate data for November show sales rising by 13 percent y/y to KD 312 million. This was the fifth month this year that sales surpassed KD300 million, supported by another strong performance from the investment sector. With one month to go before year-end, 2013 looks set to be a record year: overall sales values should average over KD300 million per month for the first time, while the number of transactions in the investment and commercial segments should reach all-time highs.

Sales in the residential sector reached KD140 million in November, a modest 2 percent y/y increase. This softness came despite a continued surge in average transaction values (+62 percent y/y), which was effectively offset by a sharp decline

in the number of transactions (-37 percent y/y).

These large swings are not uncommon in a property market where month-to-month trading volumes are relatively low. Nevertheless, the figures broadly support the interpretation that supply shortages in the residential market are pushing prices higher.

In terms of location, 40 percent of transactions were in Ahmadi Governorate, mostly in the Sabah Al-Ahmed Sea-City. Mubarak Al-Kabeer governorate accounted for a further 25 percent. Sales of land plots - as opposed to finished buildings - accounted for 60 percent of all residential transactions in November.

Sales in the investment sector - mostly apartments and apartment buildings - increased to KD147 million in November, more than doubling

their levels of a year earlier. The average transaction size reached KD1.2 million, up 77 percent y/y.

Again, these numbers can be volatile month-tomonth, but on a year average basis, both transaction numbers and average values are set to reach a record in 2013. Individual apartments, mostly in Mahbola, made up half of all transactions, followed by whole buildings, which made up 36 percent.

Shortages of residential housing may be supporting the market by boosting demand for apartments for both purchase and rental.

Sales in the commercial sector dropped to KD25 million from KD70 million a year earlier. Sales in this sector are particularly ‘lumpy’, and the decline came on the back of just four transactions, compared to nine a year earlier. Once again, however,

activity in the sector has generally been strong this year; both the number and value of commercial sector sales are set to reach record levels in 2013.

Away from sales, the Savings and Credit Bank (SCB) approved KD 34 million in loans during November, slightly down on the month but still up an impressive 75 percent y/y. The value of disbursed loans increased 56 percent y/y to KD14.3 million.

New construction received 87 percent of approved loans and 75 percent of loans disbursed. As we approach year end, we notice historically high levels of loan activity by the SCB. Both the value of loans approved and disbursed in 2013 could reach their highest since 2002, perhaps driven by an increasing pace of distribution of units under the government’s housing program.

Ford’s 3D-Printed auto parts save millions, boost quality DUBAI: One day, millions of car parts could be printed as quickly as newspapers and as easily as pushing a button on the office copy machine, saving months of development time and millions of dollars.

3D printing technology is making that day come sooner at Ford Motor Company. The development of the engine cover for the all-new Ford Mustang is the most recent example of the use of this technology.

Ford uses 3D printing to quickly produce prototype parts, shaving months off the development time for individual components used in all of its vehicles, such as cylinder heads, intake manifolds and air vents.

With traditional methods, an engineer would create a computer model of an intake manifold - the most complicated engine part and wait about four months for one prototype at a cost of $500,000. With 3D printing, Ford can print the same part in four days, including multiple iterations and with no tooling limits - at a cost of $3,000.

“For the customer, this means better quality products that also can be weight-optimized to help improve fuel efficiency,” explains Paul Susalla, Ford section supervisor of rapid manufacturing.

More creativity, faster prototypes 3D printing saves millions of dollars in the product development process by eliminating the need for special tooling, or dedicated molds, for parts likely to

Commercial Bank offers a unique promotion with Al-Hamra Thermae gym KUWAIT: Now and for a period of two months, CBK in partnership with AlHamra Thermae gym is offering its Premier Banking customers a unique offer. All customers must do is show their Premier Banking ATM card at the AlHamra Thermae Ladies gym and get a special offer.

Al-Hamra Thermae ladies gym opened its doors in 2013, and its state of the art facility is well known. With its one of a kind swimming pool and outdoor running track on the rooftop, makes it one of the top gyms in Kuwait. Over a period of two

months, and commencing from 22nd December 2013, CBK customers with a Premier Banking Debit card can get a special offer. The offer includes usage of the whole facility which includes the spa, gym; nail salon and pool and so much more.

CBK urges its customers to visit the website www.cbk.com to view what the offer includes, or visit any of the branches and pick up a brochure which further explains the offer. CBK always works on providing the best services for its customers, and strives to offer what best suits them.

Vietnam economy grew 5.42% in 2013 HANOI: Vietnam’s economy grew 5.42 percent in 2013, picking up speed slightly after its worst performance in more than a decade the previous year, according to an official estimate released yesterday. While growth narrowly missed the government’s target of 5.5 percent, the economy is “showing signs of recovery” compared with 2012 when gross domestic product came in at 5.25 percent, the weakest in 13 years, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said in a report.

Communist Vietnam is struggling with a host of economic woes, including sluggish domestic demand, a banking sector weighed down with high levels of toxic debt and record

numbers of bankruptcies.

In May, the central bank cut interest rates for the eighth time in little more than a year in an attempt to spur lending and boost consumption.

The authorities repeatedly raised interest rates in 2011 to cool down the economy and to rein in double-digit inflation, but last year were forced to reverse course and resort to stimulus measures.

Vietnamese inflation slowed to around 6.04 percent in 2013, from the previous year’s 6.81 percent, the GSO said, but warned of “potential risks” of a resurgence in consumer prices. Vietnam’s authorities said earlier they were aiming for economic growth of 5.8 percent for 2014. —AFP

change. The technology also allows engineers to experiment with more radical, innovative part designs inexpensively and quickly.

Ford now is looking to what’s next in its 3D printing strategy, including opportunities to print production parts in metal, rather than just plastic, for prototypes. “ This technology provides immense return for Ford and the entire manufacturing industry,” said Bill Russo, global director, Ford powertrain manufacturing and engineering.

How it works 3D printing works by printing one thin layer at a time from plastic, sand or other material, then gradually stacking the layers and building a finished piece to create a 3D object, similar to assembling a spool of CDs. “Today, 3D printing is not fast enough for the high-volume direct production manufacturing we do,” said Harold Sears, Ford additive manufacturing technical specialist.

“But it is ideal for test parts, or niche production applications, that go through frequent development changes.”

Ford has been at the forefront of 3D printing for 25 years and was involved with the invention of 3D printing in the 1980s. In 1988, Ford purchased the third 3D printer ever made. Today, Ford uses selective laser sintering, fused deposition modeling and stereolithography 3D printing applications. Ford also works with suppliers to bring more technologies to market, including 3D sand printing.

Saudi’s flynas continues strategic expansion Now four flights a week from Kuwait to Riyadh KUWAIT: flynas, Saudi Arabia’s national carrier, continues its program of strategic expansion by adding Riyadhto its fast growing list of key destinations. The flynas Kuwait/Riyadh (KWI - RUH -KWI) flight schedule starts on 13 January 2104 with four flights a week on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

“We are very pleased at bringing Kuwait into the flynas network since we consider it to be a key destination in our expansion plans and an essential part of our 20X20 strategy which aims at achieving our goal of 20 million passengers by 2020,” said Raja Azmi, CEO OF flynas. “This addition of his new route greatly enhances our service offering and contributes to fulfilling our commitment to fly our customers to where they want to go, in style and at the most competitive rates available.”

Kuwait is the latest destination in the flynas expansion program. Starting 15 December flynas commenced high frequency flights from Madinah to two new international destinations, Jordan and Turkey, with three weekly flights to Amman, three flights a week to Istanbul and three flights a week to Hatay, Turkey.

Since its launch in 2007, flynas has carried more than 12 million passengers on 110,000 flights, with the highest rate of passenger growth recorded in 2013 when the passenger load hit more than 3 million.

With its outstanding record of success based on its brand promise to be ‘Simply Better at everything we do’ flynas has become one of the fastest growing airlines in the region by making flying more comfortable, convenient and cost-effective for its passengers.

Golden Steering Wheel for KIA Motors’ chief design officer KUWAIT: Chief Design Officer of KIA Motors Corporation, Peter Schreyer, was honored in the 2013 Golden Steering Wheel awards in Germany for his outstanding lifetime achievements in the automotive industry. In one of the car industry’s most prestigious award programs, Peter Schreyer was given the Honorary Golden Steering Wheel, making him only the second designer in the 31-year history of the Golden Steering Wheel to receive the award.

Bavarian-born Schreyer has been Chief Design Officer at KIA Motors since 2006 with overall design responsibility for the KIA brand.

“I am exceedingly proud to receive this important award. It is a great honor for me personally, and at the same time it is recognition for our design teams all around the world who for years have been delivering such excellent work,” said Schreyer. The designer was responsible for creating KIA’s distinctive, multiple-award winning design language, and his ‘Tiger Nose’ - the signature KIA radiator grille - has since become a striking brand feature.

Peter Schreyer trained at the Munich University of Applied Sciences and the London Royal College of Art, which presented him with an honorary doctorate in 2007. Prior to joining KIA, Schreyer was responsible for the design of pioneering models such as the Audi T T, Volkswagen’s new Beetle and the Volkswagen Passat.

At KIA, Schreyer has developed a design philosophy that stands for simplicity and clarity, which has made a considerable contribution to the success of the brand - in the past five years, KIA has doubled its global sales and in 2012 sold

more than 2.7 million cars.

Under Schreyer’s leadership, the KIA Design Studios in Korea, the United States and Frankfurt have created a number of striking cars. These include the KIA SOUL crossover, the KIASportage compact SUV, the KIA Optima sporty midsize sedan and a series of inspiring concept models.

The entire KIA model range now features Schreyer’s design signature. The most recent model to be fully redesigned under Schreyer

was the new KIA Carens, which also won the Golden Steering Wheel 2013 and a 5-star safety rating by Euro NCAP, Europe’s leading road safety organization.TheCarenswas launched in Kuwait in April 2013 and brings a new visual dynamism to the family-oriented MPV segment.

KIA Motors is represented in Kuwait by National Agencies Group, a division of the Abdulaziz Al-Ali Al-Mutawa Group of Companies.

Toyota strikes a chord with Mideast consumers through ‘Akeed’ tagline DUBAI: Marking the start of a new chapter in Toyota’s relationship with Middle East car buyers, Toyota yesterday announced the launch of a new brand tagline called “Akeed” which encompasses the highest level of trust and confidence reposed in the brand by consumers throughout the region. This new tagline also reflects the evolution of Toyota and its new brand direction and commitment to develop more emotionally compelling products to connect with consumers. Toyota’s new advertising campaign with this new tagline is now engaging consumers on a Pan Arab basis with print advertisements and a brand new television commercial.

Explaining the concept behind the new

tagline, Nobuyuki Negishi, Chief Representative of Middle East & North Africa Representative Office, Toyota Motor Corporation, said: “Our communication objective behind Akeed is to assert that it’s the confidence gained through the absolute cer tainty and reassurance of Toyota ownership which gives consumers an emotional sense of satisfaction and attachment to the brand. Toyota tugs at the heart strings of car buyers in the region because it elicits a joy of ownership that comes from peace of mind, a legendary track record of fulfilled promises and an exciting range of vehicles which will continue to exceed consumer expectations well into the future.”

According to Toyota, the new tagline repre-

sented by the Arabic word “Akeed” was simply the best expression of the way the brand has been perceived in the region ever since its entry into the region so many years ago. In that time, Toyota has become synonymous with quality and a sense of reassurance that the expression “Akeed” is emblematic of, so much so that selecting Toyota is an easy decision for most consumers in the region when buying a new car or upgrading from an existing one.

With “Akeed”, consumers are making a definitive statement to say that Toyota is their car and will continue to be a key part of their lives.

Detailing the thought that has gone behind developing the tagline, Negishi added that results from extensive consumer research

across the region also validated this new tagline with car buyers placing a lot of importance on Toyota’s heritage, its commitment to quality and safety, its constant track record of innovation in addition to its proven technological expertise.

Elaborating on this link with the brand Negishi said, “An intimate emotional confidence has been forged in the brand through the entire seamless ownership experience along with the excitement generated from driving a Toyota. Thus, the rational promptings for buying a Toyota are superbly matched by the emotional satisfaction that is derived from owning the vehicle, leading to a unique bond that the region has created over time with Toyota.”

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

technology

Apple reaches deal to bring iPhone to China Mobile

NEW YORK: File photo shows a student at Archbishop Stepinac High School finds his literature, Latin and other textbooks online in White Plains. — AP

NY school all-in on trend of all-digital textbooks NEW YORK: At Archbishop Stepinac High School, the backpacks got a whole lot lighter this year because nearly every book - from freshman biology to senior calculus - is now digital, accessible on students’ laptops and tablets. “The last couple of years, this would have been like 30 pounds,” says sophomore Brandon Cabaleiro, whose load nowadays includes just his iPad, his lunch and a jacket.

But the lost weight and a book bill that dropped from $600 to $150 were not the main reasons the all-boys Roman Catholic school north of New York City has gone all-in on the growing trend of digital textbooks.

Except for books on religion, all the texts the school uses are part of a digital bookshelf kept on an Internet cloud.

“We went to digital because it makes for better learning,” says Frank Portanova, vice principal at Stepinac. “This is the way kids learn today. And the online content is a lot richer. You’ve got assessments, you’ve got virtual labs, you’ve got blogging.” The online history books, for example, include videos on subjects ranging from Woodrow Wilson to Malcolm X. The science books show scientific processes in motion. The English books grade an essay and offer a student a worksheet on the proper use of commas if it’s needed.

Students can highlight passages or leave notes to themselves in the margins, without ruining the book for anyone else.

All the books are available to all the students, so a junior can look back at the freshman algebra book to review a concept.

Students can click to find every reference to “osmosis,” say, in all the books. The school’s technology director, Patricia Murphy, says the textbooks have been updated three times this semester alone.

Lisa Alfasi of New Jersey-based Pearson Education Inc., publisher of the digital library, says Stepinac is the only school in the country, regardless of publisher, that arranged access to all books for all students. History teacher Joe Cupertino says having so much “enrichment” available in the digital text means homework is productive and “frees us to do more discussion, more analysis in class.”

Portanova says he’s already seen academic improvement: The list of students on academ-

ic probation “has shrunk substantially, which I really attribute to this digital textbook library.”

Going digital is not inexpensive At Stepinac, where tuition is $9,000 a year, the boys buy their own tablet or laptop. And the transition from paper to digital has hardly been noticeable for a student body of 700 that has grown up with Google and YouTube.

“It’s just natural,” says Terrence Tonnock, a freshman.

Freshman Michael Bilotta says he is particularly fond of a feature that allows the digital books to read themselves out loud. “So when you’re tired, on the bus or something, you can just put earphones on and hear the lesson.”

Ann Flynn, director of education technology for the National School Boards Association, says there’s no reliable data on exactly how many schools are going digital, calling it “very much an evolutionary trend now.”

She noted that several factors are only encouraging the move: Prices for tablets and laptops are dropping, more states are agreeing on a Common Core curriculum and online resources such as Khan Academy are becoming available. Some districts take a more creative approach than using just one publisher’s digital product. The Vail district in and around Tucson, Ariz., has pioneered a “Beyond Textbooks” curriculum that relies on materials that the teacher, not a textbook publisher, has either found or developed.

Going digital is not inexpensive. Stepinac had to invest $1 million in infrastructure, including increased bandwidth. The expense has been a barrier in getting most multischool public districts to make the all-digital leap.

This month, foundations run by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates sent $9 million to a nonprofit working to improve connectivity in schools. Even with expanded bandwidth, Stepinac had to block social media and gaming sites and has someone monitoring Internet use during the school day to make sure no student is downloading videos for fun or otherwise hogging bandwidth. “It’s all great,” said junior Joseph Terrigno. “As long as the Wi-Fi doesn’t go down.” — AP

BEJING: Apple and China Mobile announced a longanticipated agreement yesterday to bring the iPhone to the world’s biggest phone company. The deal might help to boost iPhone sales in a market where Apple Inc faces intense competition. The iPhone already is available in China through two smaller carriers but the latest deal links it with a bigger network and state-owned China Mobile Ltd’s marketing power.

The iPhone is popular with Chinese customers who can afford it but it has been eclipsed by lowerpriced smartphones from Samsung and local brands.

The iPhone 5S and 5C will go on sale in Apple and China Mobile stores beginning Friday, Jan 17. China Mobile customers can register for phones starting Wednesday. The companies didn’t announce pricing or the terms of the agreement.

The deal comes a month before China’s Lunar New Year holiday in late January, a big gift-buying season. That “will provide an immediate boost to Apple’s share in China,” said analyst Nicole Peng of Canalys, a research firm. Forecasts of possible increased iPhone sales under a deal with China Mobile vary widely, from 10 million to 40 million. A key issue is whether it leads to additional sales or only prompts existing users to switch to China Mobile.

iPhones tough competition The iPhone will help China Mobile promote a new fourth-generation network that received government approval this month. But analysts say Apple needed the agreement more than the Chinese carrier. That gave China Mobile leverage in negotiations over how to split costs, which for the high-priced iPhone usually includes subsidizing handset sales. The iPhone faces tough competition from cheaper smartphones running Google’s Android software. Collectively, Android phones far outsell Apple’s iPhone.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told the official Xinhua News Agency in January that he expects China to surpass the United States as its biggest market. About 50 million iPhones have been sold in China in the past 2 1 / 2years, according to analyst estimates.

China Mobile has more than 750 million mobile accounts. However, a survey by Bernstein Research said some China Mobile customers use smaller carriers for data service. Apple already has agreements with China Telecom Ltd and China Unicom Ltd, which have about 455 million mobile accounts.

Apple’s share of China’s smartphone sales declined to 6.2 percent in the third quarter from 7.9 percent a year earlier, according to Canalys. Samsung’s share expanded from 14.1 percent to 21.2 percent

over the same period. iPhone Vs Samsung The iPhone once was so popular with Chinese gadget fans that eager buyers in Beijing waited overnight in freezing weather for the 4S model. But that excitement had faded by this September’s release of the 5S. Customers said it offered too few improvements. Samsung’s advantages include being able to offer carriers a mix of phones priced as low as 1,000 yuan ($150) while Apple competes only in the highest market tier, according to Wang. Any boost Apple gets by becoming China Mobile’s new highend phone could quickly fade, he said.

“We expect this advantage can only last three months and Samsung will bring out its next flagship model soon,” said analyst James Wang of Canalys. As for subsidies, Unicom pays 2,500 yuan ($410) of the iPhone’s 5,499 yuan ($900) cost in exchange for a customer signing a two-year contract to pay a minimum of 186 yuan ($30) per month. Analysts say China Mobile will have to match those terms to achieve significant sales. China Mobile wants to have the world’s largest 4G network. It plans to have 4G services available in 16 cities by the end of 2013 and to provide coverage for 340 cities by the end of 2014. — AP

BEIJING: This picture taken on December 22, 2013 shows shoppers walking past the Apple store. — AFP

How to track Santa on any device Santa Claus is coming! Not this exact moment, of course - there’s a lot of prep work and reindeer maintenance going on at the North Pole right now. But soon, Santa will take to the skies in his sled, making yet another incredible around-the-world trip. Want to keep tabs on Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick? Here are several great options for locating Santa’s sleigh on a smartphone, tablet and PC. Perhaps the most famous of all the Santa Claus trackers is the one from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Founded in the 1950s to track the threat of Soviet missiles, the joint US and Canadian agency has been keeping tabs on Santa’s movements for decades now via radar. It’s always been my family’s go-to source for up-to-date Santa info.

There are plenty of reasons to check out the NORAD Santa Tracker before Christmas Eve, too. It features a virtual Santa’s village where kids can explore games, various videos explaining how Santa is tracked and Christmas music tracks courtesy of the USA Air Force Academy Band. You can check out the NORAD Santa Tracker on your computer by visiting noradsanta.org.

Smartphone and tablet owners can download the NORAD Santa Tracker app via the Apple App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android). You can also call NORAD directly for Santa info at 877-HI-NORAD (877-446-6723).

OnStar General Motors’ OnStar security and navigation service is once again collaborating with NORAD to provide subscribers with Santa updates this Christmas Eve. The OnStar Santa Tracking service will be available from 7 AM on December 24 to 5 AM on December 25.

Accessing it is as simple as pressing your vehicle’s blue

OnStar button and having your child request a “Santa Update.” A live OnStar advisor will tell your kids what country Santa is currently visiting, along with a healthy serving of holiday cheer.

“The kids constantly want to push the button, so we call in a few times to give everyone in the family a chance to ask the advisor about Santa,” explains OnStar subscriber Bethany Auth. “When my oldest son hears the update from the advisor, he goes right away to find the location on a map.” Since OnStar gets its data from the official NORAD command, you and your kids can rest assured that provided information is accurate. And don’t worry if all your kids want their own turn talking to the operator - the company keeps extra staff on hand during Christmas Eve to handle the increased call volume.

Many of us use Google Maps to help us find unfamiliar locations, avoid traffic snarls and help catch the next train. But on Christmas Eve, Google Maps will take on a far more important challenge: helping kids around the world find information on Santa Claus’s whereabouts.

In the run up to Christmas, kids who visit Google’s Santa Tracker page will be able to look around a cartoonish Santa’s Village, with new animations and games added every day. On Christmas Eve, the Santa Tracker shifts into full gear, allowing curious minds to not just find Santa on a map, but learn a little bit about each destination, too. Your family can explore the Google Santa Tracker by visiting google.com/santatracker. Want some more ways to help anxious kids pass the time while waiting for Santa? Check out these fun Christmas apps for your smartphone or tablet.

—www.techlicious.com

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Scientific research uncovers new DNA model to pinpoint cancer risk LONDON: People at high risk of bowel and womb cancer will receive a more accurate diagnosis due to a new model which can turn “previously uninterpretable DNA data into usable knowledge”, according to research.

A scientist from Cardiff University is part of an international research team which says it has developed a new way of identifying people at high

risk of cancer. The study focuses on the genes responsible for Lynch Syndrome, which is a rare condition that runs in families and is the most common form of hereditary bowel cancer. People with the syndrome also have an increased risk of developing other cancers, including womb cancer. It is hoped the research will enable doctors to give patients a

more accurate picture of their familial risk. “In the UK, bowel cancer kills about 16,000 people each year, and womb cancer - the commonest gynaecological cancer - about 2,000 women a year, with Wales having the highest rate,” according to Dr Ian Frayling from Cardiff University ’s Institute of Medical Genetics and a member of the International Society

for Gastrointestinal Hereditar y Tumours (InSiGHT), which organised the research.

“What we have been able to do is effectively refine genetic information in the InSiGHT database and provide a more accurate answer of the risk of getting cancer,” he said.

As a result of this study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, doc-

tors will be able to say “much more confidently” whether patients have Lynch Syndrome, and therefore whether they are at a higher risk of cancer, Dr Frayling said.

“This will help to save more lives, because by giving a definite answer to more patients they will be able to access the specialist screening that they need.” — Mirror

Okinawan plant holds promise of youth elixir Rich in anti-oxidant

WASHINGTON: In this photo, Bill Wavrin inputs a tracking number into a scanning device used to keep track of cattle at his dairy, Sunny Dene Ranch, in Mabton, Wash.

Ten years ago one of Wavrins’ cows was the first in the United States to be identified as infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease. — AP

Space suit issue prompts delay of second spacewalk CAPE CANAVERAL: Astronauts removed an old space station pump yesterday, sailing through the first of a series of urgent repair spacewalks to revive a crippled cooling line.

The two Americans on the crew, Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins, successfully pulled out the ammonia pump with a bad valve __ well ahead of schedule. That task had been planned for the next spacewalk, originally scheduled for Monday but now delayed until Tuesday, Christmas Eve, because of the need for a suit swap.

“An early Christmas,” observed Mission Control as Mastracchio tugged the refrigerator-size pump away from its nesting spot.

If Mastracchio and Hopkins keep up the quick work, two spacewalks may be enough to complete the installation of a spare pump and a third spacewalk will not be needed as originally anticipated.

Several hours after Saturday’s spacewalk ended, Mission Control bumped spacewalk 2 to Tuesday to give Mastracchio enough time to prepare a spare suit. His original suit was compromised when he inadvertently turned on a water switch in the air lock at the end of Saturday’s excursion. NASA officials said Saturday night that it’s unclear whether a third spacewalk will be needed and when it might occur, if required. A third spacewalk had been slated for Christmas Day before the latest turn of events. NASA requires a day off between spacewalks for astronaut rest.

Identical cooling loops The space station breakdown 10 days earlier left one of two identical cooling loops too cold and forced the astronauts to turn off all nonessential equipment inside the orbiting lab, bringing scientific research to a near-halt and leaving the station in a vulnerable state.

Mission Control wanted to keep the spacewalkers out even longer Saturday to get even further ahead, but a cold and uncomfortable Mastracchio requested to go back. The spacewalk ended after 51/2 hours, an hour short on time but satisfyingly long on content.

Earlier, Mastracchio managed to unhook all the ammonia fluid and electrical lines on the pump with relative ease, occasionally releasing a flurry of frozen ammonia flakes that brushed against his suit. A small O-ring floated away, but he managed to retrieve it.

“I got it, I got it, I got it. Barely,” Mastracchio said as he stretched out his hand. “Don’t let that go, that’s a stocking stuffer,” Mission Control replied.

“Don’t tell my wife,” Mastracchio said, chuckling, as he put it in a small pouch for trash. Mastracchio, a seven-time spacewalker, and Hopkins, making his first, wore extra safety gear as they worked outside. NASA wanted to prevent a recurrence of the helmet flooding that nearly drowned an Italian astronaut last summer, so Saturday’s spacewalkers had snorkels in their suits and waterabsorbent pads in their helmets.

To everyone’s relief, the spacewalkers remained dry while outside. But midway through the excursion, Mastracchio’s toes were so cold that he had to crank up the heat in his boots. Mission Control worried aloud whether it was wise to extend the spacewalk to get ahead, given Mastracchio’s discomfort.

Not quite two hours later, Mastracchio had enough as he clutched the old pump. When Mission Control suggested

even more get-ahead chores, he replied, “I’d like to stow this old module and kind of clean up and call it a day.” He said a couple of things were bothering him, not just temperature, and declined to elaborate when asked by Mission Control what was wrong.

Smoke alarm Flight controllers obliged him. Once the old pump was secured to a temporary location, the spacewalkers started gathering up their tools to go in.

Adding to the excitement 418 km up, a smoke alarm went off in the space station as the astronauts toiled outside. It was quickly found to be a false alarm.

The pump replacement is a huge undertaking attempted only once before, back in 2010 on this very unit.

The two astronauts who tackled the job three years ago were in Mission Control, offering guidance. Mastracchio promised to bring back a wire tie installed on the pump by the previous spacewalkers. “Oh, awesome, thanks Rick,” replied the astronaut in Mission Control who put it on.

The 780-pound (354-kilogram) pump is about the size of a double-door refrigerator and extremely cumbersome to handle, with plumbing full of toxic ammonia. Any traces of ammonia on the spacesuits were dissipated before the astronauts went back inside, to avoid further contamination.

NASA’s plan initially called for the pump to be disconnected in the first spacewalk, pulled out on the second spacewalk and a fresh spare put in, and then all the hookups of the new pump completed in the third outing.

In the days following the Dec. 11 breakdown, flight controllers attempted in vain to fix the bad valve through remote commanding. Then they tried using a different valve to regulate the temperature of the overly cold loop, with some success. But last Tuesday, NASA decided the situation was severe enough to press ahead with the spacewalks.

Although the astronauts were safe and comfortable, NASA did not want to risk another failure and a potential loss of the entire cooling system, needed to radiate the heat generated by on-board equipment.

NASA delayed a delivery mission from Wallops Island, Virginia, to accommodate the spacewalks. That flight by the private firm Orbital Sciences Corp., which should have occurred this past week, is now targeted for Jan. 7.

Until Saturday, U.S. spacewalks had been on hold since July, when an Italian astronaut’s helmet was flooded with water from the cooling system of his suit.

Luca Parmitano barely got back inside alive.

Engineers traced the problem to a device in the suit that turned out to be contaminated - how and why, no one yet knows. For Saturday ’s spacewalk, Hopkins wore Parmitano’s suit, albeit with newly installed and thoroughly tested components. Just in case, NASA had Mastracchio and Hopkins build snorkels out of plastic tubing from their suits, before going out. The snorkels will be used in case water starts building up in their helmets. They also put absorbent pads in their helmets; the pads were launched from Earth following the July scare. None of the precautions were needed, in the end.

Besides the two Americans, three Russian and one Japanese astronaut are living on the space station, all men. — AP

NISHIHARA, Japan: Sweet tropical smells drift through Shinkichi Tawada’s laboratory as he stirs an amber liquid that he believes could be the secret behind the historic longevity of people in southern Japan. The elixir is an extract from a plant known locally as “getto”, and he says experiments show it can prolong life by as much as a fifth. “Okinawa has for decades enjoyed one of the longest life-expectancy rates in the world and I think the reason for this must lie in the ingredients of the traditional diet,” said Tawada, a professor of agronomy at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa.

Tawada has been studying getto, part of the ginger family known variously as Alpinia zerumbet, pink porcelain lily or shell ginger, for the last 20 years and now believes his work is beginning to pay off. In a recent experiment on worms, those fed on a daily diet of getto lived an average of 22.6 percent longer than the control group. The plant, which has large green leaves, red berries and white flowers, has been a feature of Okinawan food for centuries and still grows in the wild.

And while the people of past centuries would not have known that it is rich in resveratrol-an anti-oxidant also found in grapes-they knew that it was good for them, said Tawada.

“Traditionally, Okinawans have always felt that eating muchi-a winter dish consisting of rice paste wrapped in a getto leaf-would protect us from colds and give us strength,” he said.

Too much fast food But things are changing in Okinawa and the traditional diet, which was rich in locally-grown vegetables, fish and seaweed, is losing ground to the steakhouses and burger chains that crowd the streets of Naha, the island chain’s capital city. Those fast food joints originally sprouted to serve the 19,000 United States servicemen who are based on the island as part of a defence treaty between Washington and Tokyo, but are now popular among the locals-even if the soldiers, sailors and airmen are not.

Women in Okinawa still live a very long time

Getto, part of the ginger family known variously as Alpinia zerumbet, pink porcelain lily or shell ginger.

— 87 years on average, one of the highest rates in Japan. But men have tumbled down the rankings and, at 79.4 years, are now 30th among the country’s 47 prefectures, and below the national average. The archipelago’s male obesity rate is now the highest in Japan.

“Today, people eat too much fast food,” said Tawada. “Life expectancy is going down. It’s time to reconnect with the culinary traditions of the region.” The health benefits of getto are beginning to spread, and a small cottage industry is growing up around Tawada’s research. Keiko Uehara, who looks considerably younger than her 64 years, swears by the stuff. Her boutique in downtown Naha sells a whole range of beauty products with getto as the main ingredient.

“I drink an infusion of getto, which I always find rejuvenates me, and I use an extract of the

plant in water to get rid of wrinkles,” she said.

Main producer Out of town, Isamu Kina stands in a field full of getto. His company, Rich Green, is the main producer in the area and he has high hopes for the future. “We don’t want to be limited to Okinawa; we want to be able to export this to countries around the world,” he said.

Back in his laboratory, Tawada said people are only just beginning to exploit the possibilities of the plant, which he thinks could prove transformative for the whole of Okinawa.

“Today, getto is used in cosmetics, but that’s only part of its potential I think it can also be used in the medical field and in other sectors,” he said. “Hopefully one day it will give a facelift to the economy of the islands.” —AFP

Anti-whalers dismiss ‘sham’ Australian surveillance

WASHINGTON: This image shows part of the HealthCare.gov website in Washington, that notes to enroll by Dec 23 for coverage starting as soon as Jan 1, 2014. Policies will soon take effect in new health insurance markets that have been trying to enroll customers. — AP

A second wind for health law? Or just hot air?

WASHINGTON: Whether you love it or hate it or are just plain confused by it, you’ve got to give the health care law this much: There’s plenty of drama.

The nail biting goes on. As the clock ticks toward the Jan. 1 start of insurance coverage under President Barack Obama’s big, bold and bedraggled creation, there are inklings it might get a second wind.

But that could turn out to be just hot air.

Time will tell, soon, as policies take effect in new health insurance markets that have been enrolling customers - or trying - for nearly three months.

Broad strokes A look at the law’s broad strokes, its brush with disaster and the roots of a possible rebound: No more denying people coverage when they’ve been sick. No more stratospheric premiums for the previously or currently ill, either. No more cutting off insurance payments because someone has used up a year’s worth of benefits. For all the headaches signing up, questionnaires are also notable for questions they do not ask: Have you been treated for cancer? What is your medical history? It won’t matter anymore.

Few in the polarized debate over the health care overhaul defend the history of an insurance system that can drive people into poverty when they get sick or steer them away from treatment they need. The critics quarrel with the means more than these particular ends. And families like the fact that adult children can stay on their parents’ plans until they are 26, an early consequence of the

law and one of its few visible effects until now.

More than 4 million people lost coverage because their policies fell short of new federal standards. Far fewer gained insurance in the new markets in that time. This happened despite Obama’s repeated and now discredited pledge that people happy with their insurance could simply keep it. He partnered that assurance with a promise that people happy with their doctors could keep them, too. Not so, in many cases. Another rude awakening.

After a wave of cancellations, the government revised its rules on substandard policies to let insurance companies offer them for one more year. It’s not clear how many plans will be retrieved from the dustbin as a result.

Some will be allowed to buy bare-bones catastrophic plans. And people who lost their insurance can shop for new plans that in many cases will offer better terms. But better coverage will often come at a higher cost.

Authentic response Ugly goes to HealthCare.gov, the federal government’s buggy online insurance portal, impenetrable for weeks for many if not most who tried to see what plans they could choose from and perhaps sign up for one. It’s on the mend. But until coverage begins for those who took that route, its prognosis remains uncertain. Washington can put a positive spin on almost anything, and federal officials did just that at the very start. Yes, HealthCare.gov is buckling under the user load. That’s because folks love it!The smiley face soon melted into a swamp of recriminations. —AP

SYDNEY: Militant anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd yesterday dismissed as a “sham” Australian government plans to track Japan’s annual whale hunt by air instead of by sea, saying it was a toothless and “cowardly” response.

Australia on Sunday announced an aerial Customs and Border Protection mission to the Southern Ocean as a showdown looms between Japan’s whaling fleet and Sea Shepherd activists, saying it would send a message to both sides that the world was watching. Environment Minister Greg Hunt had first promised to send a government ship to tail the warring groups but said the Airbus A319 would increase the surveillance mission’s reach and effectiveness.

Sea Shepherd criticised the move, with Australian chairman Bob Brown describing it as a “pretty, cowardly” backdown by the conservative government in a bid to appease Japan due to ongoing free trade negotiations. “They’ll fly over and look from a great height. What are they going to do if something’s going wrong down there? Where are they going to send a vessel from? Because those planes are not going to be able to intervene,” Brown told reporters.

“It’s a sham operation, this plane.”

Instead of patrolling the southern fisheries, Brown said the government’s custom-built Antarctic vessel ACV Ocean Protector was on border patrol duties between Australia and Indonesia as part of a militaryled crackdown on people-smuggling.

“It is dangerous down there, we’ve got a violent Japanese whaling fleet on the way with grenadetipped harpoons and it is dangerous to get in the way of that and uphold the law,” he said.

Surveillance operation Brown said Sea Shepherd’s fleet had “three good days sailing” since departing Australia last week and they would beat the Japanese harpooners to the Southern Ocean. “We’ll be there when they arrive,” he said. “Now Greg Hunt has said there will be a plane overhead sometime in January and February-the whaling fleet’s going to be there before new year and we warned the government of this.

“This surveillance operation should be there from the outset, (instead) it’s going to fail from the outset.”

High-seas clashes between the Japanese and Sea Shepherd are common, with the activists regularly pelting the whaling ships with stink bombs, attempting to foul propellers and manoeuvring their vessels between harpoons and whales.

Both sides claim to have been rammed by the other over the years and Sea Shepherd’s vessel Ady Gil sank during confrontations in January 2010.

Japan hunts under a “scientific research” loophole in the international moratorium on whaling.

Australia says this is illegal and has taken its key Asian trading partner to the International Court of Justice seeking an injunction against the harpoon programme. A ruling is due next year. — AFP

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Dietary supplements tied to liver injuries NEW YORK: When Christopher Herrera, 17, walked into the emergenc y room at Texas Children’s Hospital one morning last year, his chest, face and eyes were bright yellow - “almost highlighter yellow,” recalled Dr. Shreena S. Patel, the pediatric resident who treated him.

Christopher, a high school student from Katy, Tex., suffered severe liver damage after using a concentrated green tea extract he bought at a nutrition store as a “fat burning” supplement. The damage was so extensive that he was put on the waiting list for a liver transplant.

“It was terrifying,” he said in an interview. “They kept telling me they had the best surgeons, and they were trying to comfort me.

But they were saying that I needed a new liver and that my body could reject it.”

Not isolated case New data suggests that his is not an isolated case. Dietary supplements account for nearly 20 percent of drug-related liver injuries that turn up in hospitals, up from 7 percent a decade ago, according to an analysis by a national network of liver specialists. The research included only the most severe cases of liver damage referred to a representative group of hospitals around the country, and the investigators said they were undercounting the actual number of cases.

While many patients recover once they stop taking the supplements and receive treatment, a few require liver transplants or die because of liver failure. Naive teenagers are not the only consumers at risk, the researchers said. M any are middle -aged women who turn to dietary supplements that promise to burn fat or speed up weight loss.

“It’s really the Wild West,” said Dr. Herber t L. Bonkovsky, the director of the liver, digestive and metabolic disorders laborator y at Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte, N.C. “When people buy these dietary supple-

ments, it’s anybody’s guess as to what they’re getting.”

Though doctors were able to save his liver, Christopher can no longer play sports, spend much time outdoors or exert himself, lest he strain the organ. He must make monthly visits to a doctor to assess his liver function.

Americans spend an estimated $32 billion on dietary supplements every year, attracted by unproven claims that various pills and powders will help them lose weight, build muscle and fight off everything from colds to chronic illnesses. About half of Americans use dietary supplements, and most of them take more than one product at a time.

Dr. Victor Navarro, the chairman of the hepatology division at Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia, said that while liver injuries linked to supplements were alarming, he believed that a majority of supplements were generally safe.

Most of the liver injuries tracked by a network of medical officials are caused by prescription drugs used to treat things like cancer, diabetes and heart disease, he said.

High dose of vitamins CNBC’s Seema Mody reports on findings on mineral and vitamin supplements published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

A high dose of multivitamins and minerals did not reduce heart attacks, stroke or death in patients with previous conditions.

But the supplement business is largely unregulated. In recent years, critics of the industry have called for measures that would force companies to prove that their products are safe, genuine and made in accordance with strict manufacturing standards before they reach the market.

But a federal law enacted in 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, prevents the Food and Drug Administration from approving or evaluating most supplements

before they are sold. Usually the agenc y must wait until consumers are harmed before officials can remove products from stores. Because the supplement industry operates on the honor system, studies show, the market has been flooded with products that are adulterated, mislabeled or pack aged in dosages that have not been studied for safety.

The new research found that many of the products implicated in liver injuries were bodybuilding supplements spiked with unlisted steroids, and herbal pills and powders promising to increase energy and help consumers lose weight.

“There unfortunately are criminals that feel it ’s a business opportunity to spike some produc ts and sell them as dietar y supplements,” said Duffy MacK ay, a spokesman for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a supplement industry trade group. “It’s the fringe of the industry, but as you can see, it is affecting some consumers.” More popular supplements like vitamins, minerals, probiotics and fish oil had not been linked to “patterns of adverse effects,” he said.

The F.D.A. estimates that 70 percent of dietary supplement companies are not following basic quality control standards that would help prevent adulteration of their products. Of about 55,000 supplements that are sold in the United States, only 170 - about 0.3 percent - have been studied closely enough to determine their common side effects, said Dr. Paul A. Offit, the chief of infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and an expert on dietary supplements.

“When a product is regulated, you know the benefits and the risks and you can make an informed decision about whether or not to take it,” he said. “ With supplements, you don’t have efficacy data and you don’t have safety data, so it’s just a black box.” —CNBC

SYDNEY: An elderly woman uses a cane to walk in Sydney. Only one in five older people worldwide has a pension, according to the World Health Organization. —AP

Kidney stone: Symptoms, causes and treatments

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idney stones are hard mass deposits that form in the kidney or ureter. They are made up of tiny crystalline minerals and acid salts that settle out of the urine and stick together.

They could vary in size and texture and can usually go unnoticed until they cause a blockage. This can then cause excruciating pain as they make their way into the ureter (the urine carrying tubes that connect the kidneys and the bladder). Kidney stones are a common problem, that most people experience. Although this is not a life threatening disease, it can be very painful if you ignore it. In this article we highlight the symptoms, causes and treatments for kidney stones. There are no specific causes of kidney stones. They form when the urine cannot dilute crystal form-

ing minerals such as calcium, oxalate and uric acid. These crystals then stick together, creating kidney stones. Knowing the type of kidney stone helps determine its cause, which can help reduce future risks of developing them. Kidney stones go unnoticed, until they begin to move to the ureter and block the urine flow, causing severe pain. Here are a few symptoms of kidney stones that one should be aware of. Pain in the abdomen or back, Pain spreading to the groin area or testicles, Blood in the urine, Nausea or vomiting, Burning sensation during urination.

Kidney stone treatments depend on the type of stone and its severity.

Small kidney stones of about 5mm can be passed out through urine. Your doctor will recommend you drink plenty of water

so that the stone gets flushed out of your body faster. After the stone passes, you need to send it for testing.

If the stone is about 10mm, the doctor prescribes medicines that help break down the stone for it to pass through the urine.

Another common medical procedure is the Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL). During this therapy, shock waves are passed through the skin of your abdomen for your kidney stone to break up and pass out through the urine.

When the stone is large and cannot be removed through any of the above mentioned procedures, the doctor recommends a keyhole surgery. These surgeries include Percutaneous nephrolithotomy or a Ureteroscopy. —Times of India

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Group picture with NBK Public Relations team.

Puthuvalsarathanima 2014

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HANIMA, the prominent socio-cultural Group in Kuwait actively involved in promoting traditional art & cultural forms as well as striving for religious harmony is celebrating their New Year program Puthuvalsarathanima 2014 - on Saturday, January 4 from 6 pm onwards at United Indian School, Abbassiya. The main attraction of the event is a ‘Traditional Carol Singing Competition’ which is one of its kind in Kuwait. Winners will receive trophies & prizes sponsored by Thanima.

Leaders representing various religious beliefs will deliver New Year messages highlighting the importance of religious harmony and the need for peaceful co-existence. Thanima invites all to the program to share the nostalgic experience of traditional carol singing and New Year celebrations. Entry to the event is free.

NBK welcomes ICS students on banking familiarization tour

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ational Bank of Kuwait (NBK) welcomed a group of school students from The Indian Community School (ICS) at the bank’s head office in a banking familiarization tour.

NBK Public Relations team took the visiting group of students on a tour of the bank’s various departments, including

the main banking hall. NBK staff then presented to the students a brief lecture on the importance of saving, the services that NBK provides to its customers, the multi-benefits of Al Azraq and Al Shabab accounts and the importance of public relations within the banking sector.

At the end of the visit, the students expressed their

thanks for having the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the banking industry.

As part of its corporate social responsibility program, NBK regularly hosts students on field trips from both public and private schools in Kuwait and provides them with information about the banking industry and career opportunities.

Indian passport, visa fees reduced

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s a goodwill gesture, BLS International Visa Services Company Co (KSCC), which is operating as a sole partner for the Embassy of India in Kuwait to handle Passport and Visa Services, has reduced the Indian Passport processing fee from KD 1.500 to KD 1.000 and Indian Visa processing fee from KD 5.000 to KD 3.000. These rates have been implemented with effect from 17/12/2013.

A different festive season with Holiday Inn Salmiya First Filipino movie making competition

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FM Kapihan sa Kuwait’, the first Internet-based talk show, proudly announce ‘First Filipino Movie Making Competition: Short Film Festival 2014’ dubbed ‘First Cut’. TFM Kapihan sa Kuwait will accept short films, 5-7 minutes in length, from any OFWs and Filipino students (groups or individuals). Participants may submit one or two entries from three categories: 1) Real Life Story 2) Documentary 3)Comedy.

Submission of entries will be accepted until early February. Seminar/workshop on movie making will be conducted. Winners will receive trophies/lots of fabulous prizes from sponsors! For more details/queries please email us: kapihansaKuwait@gmail.com. Note: Please avoid subjects related to local politics and religion.

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s the festive season is approaching, Holiday Inn Kuwait Salmiya started its preparations to join its guests their celebrations with a bundle of special offers and irresistible promotions.

The preparations started with decorating the Hotel’s lobby and all the outlets with the Christmas trees and Christmas ornaments that reflects the warmth of this occa-

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YMCA Kuwait Christmas Carol

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MCA Kuwait is conducting its 4th Christmas Carol Celebrations on Thursday 2nd January 2014 at Indian Community School (Senior), Salmiya from 6.45 pm onwards. Along with the presence of heavenly angels in our hearts, various Choir groups in Kuwait will sing glory to the new born King. All are heartily invited. For more information please contact: 97542985, 66321499

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

dishes and Christmas cakes & sweets. And for the little ones, the hotel prepared beautiful Gingerbread Houses where you can buy and let your children unleash their creativity and spend joyful moments decorating their own Christmas gingerbread house.

For those who would like to enjoy the celebrations at their private place, Holiday

Inn Salmiya offers its outside catering services with menus that covers all that you may need from a Roasted Juicy Turkey to the Christmas Yule Log cakes all served & delivered fresh and tasty.

Holiday Inn Salmiya always aims to share the special moments with its guests and always strive to offer the best service to ensure creating a memorable moments!

Zafran launches its exciting Winter menu

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS 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

sion. Also the management of the Holiday Inn Salmiya hotel announced launching room night’s package that includes exclusive features such as a free breakfast for the couple, free access to EDGE fitness Center & enjoying free internet WiFi Access.

The hotel’s 5 splendid restaurants will also offer to its guest’s special upgraded set menus that include an array of delectable

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Local media indulged in a mouth-watering varieties

n the presence of local media representatives and invited guests, Zafran, the contemporary Indian restaurant by Foodmark yesterday celebrated the launch of its new autumn winter menu. The popular restaurant is now tempting food lovers with an exciting new winter menu with the introduction of an array of delicious creations from its culinary team which has become an instant hit with the connoisseurs of Indian cuisine. Zafran’s brand Chef Gaurav Singh has concocted a menu with seasonal delights, adapting classic traditional dishes and complementing the ingredients with the restaurant’s signature contemporary twist.

Chef Gaurav Singh along with the entire restaurant team welcomed the local media representatives and other guests to an afternoon of good food and friendly service.

Speaking about the new menu Chef Gaurav Singh said: “We’re delighted to introduce our

new dinner menu and hope that it is as well received as our original menu. We have put in a great deal towards maintain the spice levels of dishes and not using any preservatives or coloring. The new menu reveals an unmatched level of creativity and imagination as we have put together various recipes and ingredients to offer an unforgettable dining experience to our guests. We use a simplistic cooking approach treating ingredients with care and use the bestsuited cooking techniques. Ensuring the taste of each dish is kept clean and simple, our ground rule is to ensure the spices used are maintained to a level where they can be distinctly identified and enjoyed, and are not over-empowering.”

Since launching in 2011, Zafran’s fusion of exotic flavours and spices has led it to become a favorite across the city, and the new menu will please palates further. Among the new

appetizers are the ‘double mushroom’ (batter fried mushrooms with vegetables and cheese), ‘aloo tikki’ (fried potato cakes with cumin and green peas) and ‘lamb shammi kebab’ (lamb patties with mint and caramelized onion). New additions also include a sizzling platter for kebabs - choice of vegetarian, non-vegetarian and seafood designed for family dinners.

The main dishes have additional choices of biryani’s including the fish biryani and shrimp biryani. New tandoor items include ‘chicken malai tikka’ , ‘lamb seekh kebab’ and ‘tandoori prawns to name a few. Curries are the most important form of main courses in Indian cuisine and customers can expect some surprise element with the new ‘prawn coconut curry’ (Bengali style shrimp curry with mustard and coconut) and ‘chicken tikka masala’ (tandoori chicken tikka with tomato and fenugreek) The offer of a new beverage menu compli-

ments the food as well and has varied choices from a ‘lassi’ to the refreshing ‘citrus splash’. A new dimension has been given to the Indian tea known as ‘chai frappe’ which is served cold and is as interesting as cold coffee.

The restaurant has also enhanced the menu by adding a large selection of vegetarian dishes. The exhaustive menu offers as many as four vegetarian kebabs and eight main course dishes to choose from. The feast is not complete unless you enjoy the best in-house dessert ‘saffron and pista kulfi with rabri.

Zafran, located in Salmiya (Salem Al Mubarak Street), is known for its vibrant and modern setting, and is a warm and welcoming retreat for friends and family who wish to relax and enjoy good high quality food at pursefriendly prices. Come along and enjoy the world of aromatic flavours and taste or take advantage of Zafran’s home delivery service.

Kala (Art) Kuwait welcomes new ambassador of India

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ala (Art) Kuwait leaders visited the Indian Embassy and welcomed Sunil Jain, the Ambassador of India, to Kuwait.

The delegation have exchanged different views and matters faced by the Indian Community in Kuwait. They have raised several points for Embassy’s kind consideration and favorable action. The leaders expressed concern over the service charges of Passport & Visa Services and requested to reduce it and to open a Passport & Visa Service Center at Abbasiya or Farwaniya for better convenience as majority of the Indians are living

in these part of Kuwait. Also they emphasis to improve the accuracy of Embassy’s Information Center to deliver correct information and requested more attention in respect of delay in receiving Emergency Certificate to those who are willing to travel through Kuwait Emigration Department.

They have requested that the Embassy should convey the anxieties of Indian Communities to the Central Government as well as to the State Governments for their proper rehabilitation in India, who are jobless after being deported to India due to the ongoing crisis in

Gulf region. They have suggested to keep providing the Embassy Auditorium to the community organizations on rental basis. The envoy assured the delegation that the Embassy will provide all possible assistance and will interfere promptly in the matters.

The delegation expressed their gratitude and extended their wholehearted support. The mission was consisted of Kala (Art) Kuwait President Hassan Koya, General Secretary Mukesh V. P. Vice President Samkutty Thomas, Joint Secretary Jaison Joseph and Treasurer Sadikabdulaziz.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N Celebrate season with Sheraton at the Avenues

Embassy

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n the occasion of the festive season and the celebration of the first year success of the Sheraton Kuwait restaurants at the Avenues, we extend our sincere wishes to our guests and a happy and prosperous new year ahead.

On this special occasion, our authentic restaurants at the Grand Avenue, whether it’s Bukhara with a selection of flavors and dishes spiced with the best of what India has to offer, or the desire for an exquisite recipe of Persia, the place to take pleasure in the rich grill and unique taste is Shahrayar. Le Tarbouche the authentic Lebanese restaurant offers delightful main courses and flavorsome appetizers prepared with expertise to be enjoyed on the terrace or around the oriental fountain and Al Hambra is where everything comes together in a splendid selection of international dishes beautifully displayed for you to savor.

At the second Avenue, where The English Tea Lounge, presents the traditions of luxury and style in a marvelous cozy setting to be enjoyed with a cup of English tea and a selection of scones and light snacks to make it a perfect gathering.

Information

Be dazzled by the festive treats at Crowne Plaza Kuwait this season

EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Embassy of Australia has announced that Kuwait citizens can apply for and receive visit visas in 10 working days through www.immi.gov.au. All other processing of visas and Immigration matters are handled by the Australian Visa Application Centre located in Al Banwan Building, 4B, 1st Floor, Al Qibla Area, Ali Al Salem Street, Kuwait City. Visit. www.vfs-au-gcc.com for more info. The Embassy of Australia does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters is conducted by the Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: Info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VIS), immigration.dubai@ dfat.gov.au (Visa Office), Tel: +971 4 205 5900 (VFS), Fax: + 971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). Notary and passport services are available by appointment. Appointments can be made by calling the Embassy on 22322422. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA The Embassy of the Republic of South Africa has the honour to inform that on the occasion of the Christmas and New Year, the Embassy will remain closed from 24 December 2013 and will reopen again on 5th January 2014. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF SLOVAK The Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Kuwait would like to inform the public that on the occasion of the Christmas holidays the Embassy will he closed on Monday 24, Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26, December 2013, on the occasion of the New Year and the Independence Day of the Slovak Republic, the Embassy will be closed on Tuesday, December 31, 2013 and on Wednesday, January 01, 2014 and on the occasion of Catholic Epiphany Holiday, the Embassy will be closed on Monday, January 06. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF INDIA

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rowne Plaza Kuwait is ready and set to offer its guests with festive and cozy treats this season. With all its varied facilities and lavish culinary delights on offer, every guest has something to avail at the hotel and feel the festive cheer.

Rooms Step into the lobby of Crowne Plaza Kuwait and feel the season’s spirit flowing in with its exquisite and special décor. The lightings and Christmas trees in the lobby make way for a cozy ambience and a welcoming experience. A special festive getaway gift is planned for the guests intending to book their rooms. They can enjoy a cozy winter break with family and combine it with a relaxing moment at the award- winning Spa Aquatonic.

Have your choice of cuisine from any one of its 8 exquisite restaurants, each special in their own way. Experience an unforgettable festive celebration in style with friends and family to enjoy a superb range of festive dining options at any of the 8 restaurants. Come and indulge in the delightful set menus specially prepared by the Executive Chef and his brigade while the in-house “Latin Fire” band keeps the guests entertained. Enjoy the best steaks

Restaurants Enjoy an appetizing tour around the world at Crowne Plaza Kuwait this season.

India and Kuwait have enjoyed historically close, warm and friendly ties. The visit of His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Prime Minister of Kuwait to India in November 2013 has imparted a new thrust to the strengthening further of the bilateral ties. To facilitate travel of Kuwaiti nationals to India for business, tourism, medical and study purposes, the embassy has adopted the following visa structure for Kuwaiti nationals with immediate effect:

in town at Rib Eye Steakhouse, the food of the royals at the Shabestan Iranian restaurant, taste the true flavors of India at the Jamawar Indian Restaurant, the art of dining at the Sakura Japanese restaurant, the treasures of the seas at the Al Noukhaza Seafood restaurant and traditional food with nostalgic memories at the Ayam Zaman Lebanese restaurant. Delicious tidbits and cakes are available at the Espresso Café, when you want to just enjoy a coffee and relax.

Relish the international display of a sumptuous festive feast at the Al Ahmadi restaurant ensuring a great treat for your taste buds.

Spoil yourself with elegant and special festive offerings at the Fauchon Salon de the, serving special Yule- log cakes.

It is the season to be jolly and as it spreads happiness, Crowne Plaza Kuwait wishes all its guests a fabulous holiday season and looks positively ahead to the New Year with continued patronage from all its guests.

Please apply Indian visa online at www.bls-international.com and deposit visa application, with applicable visa fee and service charge, at either M/s.

BLS International Services, Emad Commercial Centre, Basement floor Ahmed Al-Jaber Street, Sharq, Kuwait city (Telephone: 22986607 - Fax: 22470006) or M/s. BLS International Services, Mujamma Unood, 4th floor, Office No.25-26 Makka Street, Entrance 5, Fahaheel, Kuwait (Telephone: 22986607 - Fax: 22470006). For additional information, please contact Second Secretary (Consular) in the Embassy at sscons@indembkwt.org.

In addition, a service charge of KD 5 will also apply for each visa service provided. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF US The US Embassy in Kuwait has new procedures for obtaining appointments and picking up passports after visa issuance.

We now provide an online visa appointment system, live call center, and in-person pick-up facilities in Kuwait. Please monitor our website and social media for additional information.

This new system offers more flexibility for travelers to the US and to meet the increase in demand for visa appointments.

The general application steps on the new visa appointment system are: 1. Go to www.ustraveldocs.com/kw (if this is the first time on ustraveldocs.com, you will need to create a profile to login).

2. Please complete your DS-160 Online Visa Application which is available at ceac.state.gov/genNIV. 3. Please print and take your deposit slip to any Burgan Bank location to pay your visa application fee.

4. Schedule an appointment for your visa interview online at www.ustraveldocs.com/kw or by phone through the Call Center (at +965-22271673).

5. If you need to change or cancel your appointment, please do so 24 hours beforehand, as a courtesy to other applicants. For more information, please visit the US Embassy website kuwait.usembassy.gov - as it is the best source of information regarding these changes.

Splendiferous sports day held at IIS

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he pleasant wintry morning of December 14 enfolded the exuberant array of spectacular events as it was the 6th glorious intramural Athletic Meet of India International School (IIS) in the sprawling grounds of Al Sahel Club, Mangaf. The vibrant ambience and gleeful spirit of the participants along with the emblazoned school flag added glory to the sport meet. The athletes and the participants had geared up for the events with spirit and ardent fervor.

The programme was graced by the presence of honorable chief guest Sunil Jain Ambassador of India to Kuwait, Guests of honour was Al Shaheen, K.G. Abraham, eminent dignitaries Mrs & Mr Ayoob Kecheri, MD, Grand Hyper Markets, Siddik Valivakath, Saleh Batha and Anees Ahmed, ex-principal India International School.

They were accorded a warm welcome and received cordially by the Director, Malayil Moosa Koya, Principal F.M. Basheer Ahmed, Senior Vice Principal Narender Kaur, other vice principals Saleem, Mrs Indulekha Suresh, Mrs Sapna Raoof, Mrs Sophy John, Kindergarten coordinators Mrs Yogitha Thomas & Mrs Nelofer Qazi.

The auspicious day began with an invocation to the Almighty.

The recitation of the verses from the holy Quran was presented perfectly by Saud Ali and its authentic translation was given

by Rasha Aamina Rasheed.

As a token of love and appreciation director, Malayil Moosa Koya reverently presented a bouquet to the chief guest. He also presented bouquets to all other eminent guests and dignitaries.

Following this was the flag hoisting ceremony subsequently leading to a vibrant March Past display by four houses of India International School, exhibiting the excellent example to build team spirit, discipline and coordination. Our deep felt thanks goes to the ambassador for setting the tone of the event through his insightful address and encouragement in declaring the meet open which was followed by traditional session of lightening the torch. Consequently, was the oath-taking ceremony. It was a solemn moment when the Oath was administered by the sports captain Hussain of class XII. The athletes vowed to discharge their duties to the best of their abilities.

Principal F.M. Basheer Ahmed

addressed the gathering. In his speech he wholeheartedly welcomed the chief guest ambassador Sunil Jain, guests of honour and other eminent and distinguished guests of the day for spending their precious time with us and making this remarkable day an extraordinary one.

In his speech he enlightened everyone with the charismatic portfolio of chief guest. He stressed that it was a unique honour and privilege to have such a legendary personality amidst us whose noble, gentle and humane deeds are a source of inspiration to everyone.

The ever vibrant cultural team of India International School enthralled the audience with a series of mesmerizing performances with “Health” as its theme.

The first segment was “Salubrious Charisma” by the students of primary section. It was a Yoga display - an amalgamation of physical, mental and spiritual health with artistic creativity and vibrancy. The audience traversed along the delightful journey towards health and fitness. The second segment of the cultural programme was “Zumba Beats” by students of classes VI, VII & VIII. It was an aerobics dance wherein

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our enchanting students displayed their talent, confidence and stylishness.

The most awaited moment of the day was the athletic events.

Our young dynamic athletes charged with the spirit of sportsmanship were geared up to display their athletic prowess.

Overall champion trophy was given to the Nalanda House and

Sarabhai House was declared as runners-up.

Following this Director declared the 6th Sports Meet closed. This sports Meet proved to be a mega event that gave vent to the irrepressible bubbling joy and enthusiasm of the students who were able to display their athletic prowess, hidden potentialities and caliber.

EMBASSY OF VATICAN The Apostolic Nunciature Embassy of the Holy See, Vatican in Kuwait has moved to a new location in Kuwait City. Please find below the new address: Yarmouk, Block 1, Street 2, Villa No: 1. P.O.Box 29724, Safat 13158, Kuwait. Tel: 965 25337767, Fax: 965 25342066.

Email: nuntiuskuwait@gmail.com.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

00:05 Threesome 00:30 Threesome 00:50 Threesome 01:15 Threesome 01:40 Threesome 02:00 Eastenders 02:30 Doctors 03:00 Whitechapel 03:45 Threesome 04:10 Kidnapped 05:00 Spot’s Musical Adventures 05:05 Show Me Show Me 05:25 Teletubbies 05:50 Charlie And Lola - Christmas Special 06:15 Tweenies 06:35 Teletubbies 07:00 Charlie & Lola: Special 2007 07:20 Spot’s Musical Adventures 07:25 Kidnapped 08:15 David Copperfield 09:00 Eastenders 09:30 Doctors 10:00 As Time Goes By 10:30 As Time Goes By 11:00 As Time Goes By 11:30 As Time Goes By 12:00 As Time Goes By 12:30 As Time Goes By 13:00 Last Of The Summer Wine: Xmas 2008 13:30 Eastenders 14:00 Doctors 14:30 Upstairs Downstairs 15:25 Upstairs Downstairs 16:15 Upstairs Downstairs 17:10 Eastenders 17:40 Doctors 18:10 Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol 19:10 As Time Goes By: Christmas 2005 20:00 The Turn Of The Screw 21:30 The Nativity 23:05 Carols From King’s 2010

00:35 Cash In The Attic 01:20 Nigel Slater’s Christmas Suppers 02:10 Nigel Slater’s Simple Cooking: Xmas 2011 03:00 Marbella Mansions 06:00 Nigel Slater’s Christmas Suppers 06:55 Nigel Slater’s Simple Cooking: Xmas 2011 07:45 Cash In The Attic 08:30 Cash In The Attic 09:15 Marbella Mansions 10:00 Marbella Mansions 10:45 Marbella Mansions 11:30 Marbella Mansions 12:15 Nigel Slater’s Christmas Suppers 13:05 Nigel Slater’s Simple Cooking: Xmas 2011 14:00 Cash In The Attic 14:40 Cash In The Attic 15:25 Cash In The Attic 16:10 Homes Under The Hammer 17:05 Homes Under The Hammer 19:40 The Hairy Bakers’ Christmas Special 20:35 Hairy Bikers’ Christmas Party 21:30 Come Dine With Me 22:20 Bargain Hunt 23:05 Bargain Hunt 23:50 Bargain Hunt

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:05 05:30

Man, Cheetah, Wild Bush Pilots Battleground: Rhino Wars Mythbusters Border Security Storage Hunters Flip Men How Do They Do It? How It’s Made

06:00 American Guns 07:00 Mythbusters 07:50 Flying Wild Alaska 08:40 Fast N’ Loud 09:30 Border Security 09:55 Storage Hunters 10:20 Flip Men 10:45 How Do They Do It? 11:10 How It’s Made 11:35 Man, Cheetah, Wild 12:25 Bush Pilots 13:15 Ultimate Survival 14:05 Border Security 14:30 Storage Hunters 14:55 Flip Men 15:20 Alaska: The Last Frontier 16:10 Fast N’ Loud 17:00 Ultimate Survival 17:50 Dirty Jobs 18:40 Mythbusters 19:30 Sons Of Guns 20:20 Storage Hunters 20:45 Flip Men 21:10 How Do They Do It? 21:35 How It’s Made 22:00 Get Out Alive With Bear Grylls 22:50 Swimming With Monsters: Steve Backshall

00:40 Squeamish 01:05 Squeamish 01:30 Food Factory 02:00 The Gadget Show 02:25 How Tech Works 02:50 Mighty Ships 03:45 Mighty Planes 04:35 Smash Lab 05:25 Fire In The Sky: A Daily Planet Special 06:15 The Gadget Show 06:40 How Tech Works 07:05 Engineering Thrills 08:00 Future Firepower 08:50 Brave New World 09:40 The Gadget Show 10:05 Tech Toys 360 10:30 Nextworld 11:25 Engineering Thrills 12:20 Smash Lab 13:10 Fire In The Sky: A Daily Planet Special 14:00 Mighty Planes 14:50 Food Factory 15:20 The Gadget Show 15:45 How Tech Works 16:10 Mighty Ships 17:00 Kitchen Chemistry 17:55 Kitchen Chemistry 18:45 Kitchen Chemistry 19:35 Kitchen Chemistry 20:30 Food Factory 20:55 Kitchen Chemistry 21:45 Kitchen Chemistry 22:35 Kitchen Chemistry 23:25 Kitchen Chemistry

00:00 00:20 00:45 01:05 01:30 01:50 02:15 02:35 03:00 03:20 03:45 04:05 04:30 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:45 07:10 07:35 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:05 09:30 11:00 11:05 11:25

The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Sonny With A Chance Sonny With A Chance Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Sonny With A Chance Sonny With A Chance Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Austin And Ally Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm A.N.T. Farm Gravity Falls My Babysitter’s A Vampire Jessie Good Luck Charlie Dog With A Blog Toy Story 2 Toy Story Toons Jessie Wolfblood

11:50 12:15 12:35 13:00 13:25 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:10 17:00 18:55 19:20 20:05 20:30 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:10 23:35

Suite Life On Deck A.N.T. Farm Austin And Ally Shake It Up That’s So Raven Jessie Good Luck Charlie Dog With A Blog Wolfblood Gravity Falls Jessie Violetta The Incredibles Dog With A Blog Violetta Jessie My Babysitter’s A Vampire Wolfblood Gravity Falls Shake It Up Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place

00:15 Charly’s Cake Angels 00:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:30 Heat Seekers 01:55 Meat & Potatoes 02:20 Outrageous Food 02:45 Siba’s Table 03:10 Siba’s Table 03:35 Charly’s Cake Angels 04:00 Charly’s Cake Angels 04:25 Food Wars 04:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 05:15 United Tastes Of America 05:40 Chopped 06:30 Iron Chef America Special 07:10 Food Network Challenge 08:00 Unwrapped 08:50 Food Network All-Star 09:40 Food Network’s Christmas Kitchen 10:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 10:30 Food Network Challenge 11:20 Jodie Prenger’s Christmas Cracker 11:45 Unwrapped 12:35 Winning Holiday Cookies 13:25 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 13:50 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:15 Barefoot Contessa - Specials 15:05 Guy’s Big Bite 15:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Special 16:20 Jodie Prenger’s Christmas Cracker 16:45 Chopped 17:30 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:00 Giada’s Family Christmas 18:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Special 19:40 Winning Holiday Cookies 20:30 Chopped 21:20 Iron Chef America Special 22:10 Iron Chef America Special 23:00 Chopped 23:50 Chopped

00:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 01:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 01:30 South Park 02:00 Louie 02:30 Veep 03:30 Go On 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 1600 Penn 06:00 Last Man Standing 06:30 Friends 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:30 1600 Penn 09:30 Two And A Half Men 10:30 Friends 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Last Man Standing 13:00 1600 Penn 13:30 Friends

NICK OF TIME ON OSN MOVIES MOVIES ACTION

02:30 Insane Experience - RideIculous 03:00 Off Limits 04:00 Hotel Impossible 05:00 Extreme Parking 06:00 Airport 24/7: Miami 06:30 Airport 24/7: Miami 07:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 08:00 Globe Trekker 09:00 Descending 10:00 Airport 24/7: Miami 10:30 Airport 24/7: Miami 11:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 12:00 Magic Man 12:30 Magic Man 13:00 Magic Man 13:30 Magic Man

14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00

Magic Man Magic Man Magic Man Magic Man Magic Outlaws Magic Outlaws Magic Man Magic Man Magic Man Magic Man Magic Man Magic Man Magic Man Magic Man Magic Outlaws Magic Outlaws Reza’s African Kitchen Reza’s African Kitchen Bizarre Foods America

Don’t shoot messenger, says documentary photographer

B

ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT ON OSN MOVIES HD 14:00 Go On 14:30 Two And A Half Men 15:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 16:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 16:30 Last Man Standing 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:30 Melissa & Joey 19:00 The Crazy Ones 19:30 The Mindy Project 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 The New Normal 22:30 Louie 23:00 Veep 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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Royal Pains The Blacklist The Newsroom Rescue Me Revenge Bunheads Royal Pains Drop Dead Diva Bones Revenge Bunheads The Blacklist Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Bones Royal Pains Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Bones Bunheads Grey’s Anatomy Top Gear (UK) Hemlock Grove Rescue Me

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Switched At Birth Scandal Boardwalk Empire Coronation Street C.S.I. Coronation Street C.S.I. Switched At Birth Live Good Morning America C.S.I. Switched At Birth Parenthood C.S.I. Switched At Birth Boardwalk Empire Treme

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Beverly Hills Cop 2 Primal Meskada Pizza Man Nick Of Time Beverly Hills Cop 3 Ultraviolet Brake Beverly Hills Cop 3 Riddle Brake Summer’s Blood

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Primal-18 Meskada-PG15 Pizza Man-PG Nick Of Time-PG15 Beverly Hills Cop 3-PG15 Ultraviolet-PG15 Brake-PG15 Beverly Hills Cop 3-PG15 Riddle-PG15 Brake-PG15 Summer’s Blood-18 The Last Stand-PG15

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Caddyshack-18 Ghostbusters-PG The Giant Mechanical Man-

Mrs. Miracle-PG15 Scrooged-PG15 3 Holiday Tails-PG Old School-18 Caddyshack-18

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I’ve Loved You So Long-PG15 Five-PG15 Saving Grace B. Jones-PG15 Class-PG15 I’ve Loved You So Long-PG15 The Iron Lady-PG15 Cinderella PT 1-PG15 Cinderella PT 2-PG15 The Wild Hunt-PG15 Argo-PG15 Albert Nobbs-18 The Raven-18

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The Caller-PG15 The Scarlet Letter-18 John Rabe-18 Why Did I Get Married Too?-

Gabe The Cupid Dog-PG Fun Size-PG15 Scrooged-PG15 The Giant Mechanical Man-

The Presidio-PG15 Look Again-PG15 Joyful Noise-PG15 Like Crazy-PG15 The National Tree-PG15 Joyful Noise-PG15 Falling In Love-PG15 Darling Companion-PG15 Troy-18

01:00 Taken 2-PG15 03:00 A View From Here-PG15 05:00 The Pirates! Band Of MisfitsPG 07:00 Will-PG 09:00 Ice Age: Continental Drift-PG 11:00 People Like Us-PG15 13:00 The Girl-PG15 15:00 Oh Christmas Tree-PG15 17:00 Ice Age: Continental Drift-PG 18:30 Les Miserables-PG15 21:15 Snow White And The Huntsman-PG15 23:30 The Awakening-18

01:15 Cinderella 02:45 Marc Logan 04:15 A Cat In Paris 06:00 American Girl: McKenna Shoots For The Stars 08:15 A Very Fairy Christmas 10:00 Happy Feet Two 11:45 The Missing Lynx 13:30 A Cat In Paris 14:45 Barbie: A Perfect Christmas 16:00 The Swan Princess Christmas 18:00 Happy Feet Two 20:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked 22:00 Barbie: A Perfect Christmas 23:30 The Swan Princess Christmas

00:00 Rewind-PG15 02:00 Chronicle-PG15 04:00 Stealing Paradise-PG15 06:00 Today’s Special-PG15 08:00 Superman vs. The Elite-PG15 10:00 The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom-PG 12:00 Cheerful Weather For The Wedding-PG15

14:00 Winx-FAM 16:00 The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom-PG 18:00 Here Comes The Boom-PG15 20:00 Total Recall-18 22:00 Age Of Heroes-PG15

02:00 ICC Cricket 360 02:30 HSBC Sevens World Series Highlights 03:00 Top 14 05:00 World Match Racing Tour 07:00 PDC World Darts Championships 11:00 HSBC Sevens World Series 15:30 ICC Cricket 360 16:00 HSBC Sevens World Series Highlights 16:30 Top 14 18:30 Top 14 Highlights 19:00 Trans World Sport 20:00 Euro Tour Weekly 21:00 Futbol Mundial 21:30 ICC Cricket 360 22:00 PDC World Darts Championships

00:30 PGA Tour Highlights 01:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 02:30 Trans World Sports 03:30 Live NHL 07:00 Trans World Sports 08:00 PGA European Tour Weekly 09:00 The Fedex Cup Playoffs 10:00 PGA Tour Year In Review 11:00 NHL 13:00 Trans World Sports 14:00 Darts 18:00 The Fedex Cup Playoffs 19:00 PGA Tour Year In Review 20:00 NFL 22:30 NHL

00:30 Pro 12 02:30 PDC Worlds Darts Championship 06:30 Asian Tour Golf 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Top 14 10:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 11:00 Asian Tour Highlights 12:00 Champions Tour 13:00 Golfing World 14:00 Pro 12 16:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 17:00 Trans World Sport 18:00 Pro 12 20:00 Asian Tour Highlights 21:00 Golfing World 22:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 23:00 Pro 12

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mass Participation NHL Ping Pong World US Bass Fishing European Le Mans Series mass Participation WWE NXT WWE Bottom Line Ping Pong World US Bass Fishing NHL European Le Mans Series European Le Mans Series mass Participation WWE Bottom Line WWE Experience WWE NXT NHL UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC

00:00 00:30 01:00 Rides 02:00

Airport 24/7: Miami Airport 24/7: Miami World’s Greatest Motorcycle Insane Coaster Wars

ritish documentary photographer Martin Parr doesn’t see it as his job to collude with other people’s view of themselves. It’s a stance that has left him open to charges of cruelty toward his subjects. Whether it be the rich at play or the poor in humdrum scenes of everyday life, Parr’s unvarnished, warts-and-all version of reality divides the photographic world. In his pictures, sagging flesh is mercilessly exposed, food shovelled into mouths, luxury flaunted, often with unflattering results that serve as a critique of modern consumer culture.

If people don’t like it, Parr has said, it is often because they have not come to terms with the way they look or the underlying issues raised by the images. British photo editor and writer Colin Jacobson once debated in print whether Parr should be hailed for his innovation or condemned as a “gratuitously cruel social critic who has made large amounts of money by sneering at the foibles and pretensions of other people”. The late French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson said he appeared to come “from a totally different planet”, in a comment not intended as a compliment.

Parr responded: “I always cherish this remark, and wrote back, ‘I know what you mean, but why shoot the messenger?’”. The 61-year-old, who declined to be photographed for this interview citing time pressure, defends himself by saying he welcomes all criticism and that the cornerstone of everything he does is “integrity”. Instead, he prefers to see his pictures not as cruel or satirical, but as “British irony” or containing a “sense of mischief”. He attributes much of the controversy surrounding his images to them not being what he calls “propaganda”.

“That (propaganda) is the role of most photography we see in the world,” he told AFP in an interview in Paris.

‘People question it’ “That’s why if you do something different like what I’m trying to do, people question it, it’s other things we should be questioning. “I’m not saying I’m telling the truth (in my pictures), obviously it’s very subjective, at least it’s my own little version (of the truth).” Modern-day photographic propaganda noted by Parr includes most people’s family photograph albums and Facebook pages.

“People have this fictional idea about what a perfect family should be like, most family albums and Facebook pages pursue that policy,” he said.

Parr’s latest book-he has published over 70 — is a return to one of his first major photographic projects.

“The Non-conformists” documents communities in and around the northern British town of Hebden Bridge in the late 1970s. Brought up in the suburban town of Epsom, not far from London, Parr said he was intrigued by the contrast with the more traditional north. The black and white images show a world where life appears to have changed little over the preceding decades.

A landowner shoots grouse on the moor, miners work down the pit, elderly worshippers attend services at a Methodist chapel. In other images, there are street parties to mark Queen Elizabeth’s silver jubilee, old ladies in hats take afternoon tea, while postmen relax over steaming bowls of porridge after an early-morning shift. Published in book form now for the first time simply, he says, because the opportunity arose, he added that the area had “changed quite dramatically” in the intervening years.

“It’s become a lot more touristy. Many of the chapels have closed. Some places are touristy anyway, this is one of the places that invented itself and became a tourist location,” he said. Probably more “respectful” of his subjects than his subsequent work, Parr says he understands people’s desire not to be cast in an unflattering lightindeed he has his own website which describes his work in positive terms. But Parr, a member of the Magnum photo agency since 1994, says the approval of his subjects is irrelevant to him.

“I don’t go around gauging what people think of my work, it’s not my job to do that, ever,” he said. Asked if his own work is guilty of stereotyping people, he laughs. “I welcome all criticism... being controversial is never something I particularly started out to do but it has been part of my career so the more I get of it the happier I am,” he said. — AFP

Country music artist Wynonna Judd performs in concert during her “A Simpler Christmas Tour 2013” at the Strand Capitol Performing Arts Center yesterday in York, Pa. — AP

Classifieds TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

Kuwait THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) NO FRITHE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG)

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (19/12/2013 TO 25/12/2013) 1:45 PM 1:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

SHARQIA-2 FROZEN (DIG-3D) FROZEN (DIG-3D) TARZAN (DIG-3D) FROZEN (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 12:15 AM

SHARQIA-3 HOURS (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) HAUNTER (DIG) HOURS (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) HOURS (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 6:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:15 PM 1:15 AM

MUHALAB-1 HOURS (DIG) HOURS (DIG) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) HOURS (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) HOURS (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM

MUHALAB-2 THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM

MUHALAB-3 FROZEN (DIG-3D) FROZEN (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG-3D) FANAR-1 HOURS (DIG) BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG) HOURS (DIG) HOURS (DIG) BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG) HOURS (DIG) BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG) FANAR-2 FROZEN (DIG) FROZEN (DIG) FROZEN (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) FANAR-3 DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI)

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DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG)

10:15 PM 12:30 PM 3:45 PM 7:00 PM 10:15 PM

FANAR-4 TARZAN (DIG-3D) TARZAN (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG-3D)

2:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 9:15 PM 12:15 AM

FANAR-5 A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

MARINA-1 THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG)

12:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

MARINA-2 HOURS (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) HOURS (DIG) HOURS (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) HOURS (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

MARINA-3 FROZEN (DIG-3D) TARZAN (DIG-3D) FROZEN (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:00 PM 12:05 AM

AVENUES-1 A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) THE CITIZEN (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

AVENUES-2 HAUNTER (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM

AVENUES-3 DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG)

1:00 PM 4:15 PM 7:30 PM 10:45 PM 10:45 PM

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Contact: 24745162 or 97523316. (C 4602) 24-12-2013

Pajero jeep model 1996, color red, used by a lady.

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17-12-2013 Ford Lincoln, 2009 model, excellent condition, full options, top price.

99081888. (C 4599)

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Please contact: 66232356/55862576.

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No: 16026

FOR SALE Selling Mazda 6 (2004 model) white color car, mileage 124,000 kms only.

Body, chassis, engine, gear, A/C, exteriors etc all in good condition and well maintained. Expecting KD 550. Call 66596645.

(C 4601)

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

Airlines BBC JAI KLM JZR JZR THY QTR PIA DLH ETH GFA THY UAE CVK ETD OMA MSR RJA QTR FDB THY DHX FDB BAW KAC KAC JZR FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD FDB IRA GFA MEA DHX JZR JZR TMA UAE MSR KNE FDB QTR KAC

Arrival Flightson Tuesday 24/12/2013 Flt Route 43 DHAKA 574 MUMBAI 411 AMSTERDAM 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL 1084 DOHA 239 SIALKOT 637 DAMMAM 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 764 SABIHA 853 DUBAI 7076 DJIBOUTI 305 ABU DHABI-INTL 643 MUSCAT 612 CAIRO 642 AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA 1076 DOHA 67 DUBAI 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 69 DUBAI 157 LONDON 416 JAKARTA 412 MANILA 503 LUXOR 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 206 ISLAMABAD 352 COCHIN 362 COLOMBO 332 TRIVANDRUM 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 1070 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI-INTL 55 DUBAI 619 LAR 213 BAHRAIN 404 BEIRUT 870 BAHRAIN 165 DUBAI 561 SOHAG 213 BEIRUT 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 480 TAIF 57 DUBAI 1078 DOHA 514 TEHRAN

Time 00:05 00:10 00:30 00:40 00:40 00:45 00:55 01:05 01:10 01:45 02:10 02:15 02:35 02:00 02:45 03:05 03:10 03:15 03:45 04:20 05:35 05:40 05:50 06:40 06:25 06:45 05:50 07:50 07:55 07:40 08:10 08:45 08:15 08:40 09:00 09:10 09:20 09:40 10:05 10:40 11:55 11:15 11:30 12:55 12:10 12:50 13:00 13:15 13:50 13:55 13:45

KAC KAC SVA KNE GFA SYR JZR QTR UAE KAC ETD RJA SVA ABY GFA JZR UAL KAC KAC KAC QTR FDB KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC GFA OMA FDB MSR JAI AXB ABY IRA ALK MEA ETD UAE GFA QTR FDB KLM JAI JZR JZR AIC UAL JZR

672 546 500 472 221 341 325 1072 857 562 303 640 510 127 215 777 982 284 786 542 1080 63 678 742 177 104 674 166 774 618 217 647 61 618 572 393 129 605 229 402 307 859 219 1074 59 415 576 239 135 981 981 185

DUBAI ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH JEDDAH BAHRAIN LATAKIA NAJAF DOHA DUBAI AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA ABU DHABI-INTL AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA RIYADH SHARJAH BAHRAIN JEDDAH WASHINGTON DC DULLES DHAKA JEDDAH CAIRO DOHA DUBAI MUSCAT DAMMAM DUBAI LONDON DUBAI PARIS RIYADH DOHA BAHRAIN MUSCAT DUBAI ALEXANDRIA MUMBAI KOZHIKODE SHARJAH ISFAHAN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI-INTL DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI AMSTERDAM COCHIN AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA BAHRAIN CHENNAI BAHRAIN DUBAI

14:00 14:05 14:30 14:35 15:00 15:10 16:05 16:40 16:40 16:50 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:25 17:30 17:55 18:00 18:00 18:45 18:05 18:40 18:45 18:55 18:20 18:20 19:35 19:25 19:10 19:30 19:00 19:30 19:55 20:05 20:05 20:10 20:15 20:20 20:25 21:10 21:20 21:35 21:40 21:45 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:15 22:20 22:05 22:30 23:10 23:20

Airlines AIC TAR AXB JAI KLM BBC DLH PIA ETH THY CVK UAE ETD OMA MSR QTR FDB QTR KAC JZR FDB JZR THY RJA GFA KAC THY FDB BAW KAC KAC ABY KAC UAE ETD QTR FDB IRA GFA KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR JZR MEA DHX KAC JZR TMA MSR

Departure Flightson Tuesday 24/12/2013 Flt Route 976 GOA 327 DUBAI 490 MANGALORE 573 MUMBAI 411 AMSTERDAM 44 DHAKA 637 FRANKFURT 240 SIALKOT 620 DAMMAM 773 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 7075 KARACHI 854 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 644 MUSCAT 613 CAIRO 1085 DOHA 68 DUBAI 1077 DOHA 283 DHAKA 560 SOHAG 70 DUBAI 164 DUBAI 765 ISTANBUL-SABIHA 643 AMMAN 212 BAHRAIN 545 ALEXANDRIA 771 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 513 TEHRAN 671 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 101 LONDON 856 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 1071 DOHA 56 DUBAI 618 LAR 214 BAHRAIN 561 AMMAN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 677 MUSCAT 776 JEDDAH 324 AL NAJAF 405 BEIRUT 521 BAGRAM 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 223 AL MAKTOUM INTERNATIONAL 611 CAIRO

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Time 00:05 00:15 00:15 01:10 01:45 01:45 02:10 02:20 02:45 02:55 03:30 03:50 04:00 04:05 04:10 04:15 05:00 05:15 05:30 06:20 06:30 06:55 07:05 07:05 07:15 07:15 07:30 08:30 08:45 09:25 09:30 09:40 09:50 9:55 10:05 10:10 10:20 10:55 11:25 11:25 11:30 11:50 12:20 12:25 12:40 12:55 13:00 13:00 13:45 13:45 14:00

KNE UAE FDB QTR KAC KAC KAC KNE GFA SVA KAC SYR JZR ETD QTR UAE JZR RJA ABY SVA GFA JZR JZR JZR UAL JZR FDB QTR GFA FDB OMA ABY KAC MSR JAI KAC AXB IRA KAC DHX ALK MEA ETD GFA KAC FDB UAE KAC KLM QTR JAI JZR KAC

481 872 58 1079 673 741 617 473 222 501 773 342 238 304 1073 858 538 641 128 511 216 184 266 134 982 554 64 1081 218 62 648 120 361 607 571 351 3942 604 343 171 230 403 308 220 301 60 860 205 415 1075 575 528 411

TAIF DUBAI DUBAI DOHA DUBAI DAMMAM DOHA JEDDAH BAHRAIN JEDDAH RIYADH LATAKIA AMMAN ABU DHABI DOHA DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN SHARJAH RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT BAHRAIN BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA DUBAI DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI MUSCAT SHARJAH COLOMBO LUXOR MUMBAI KOCHI KOZHIKODE ISFAHAN CHENNAI BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI DUBAI ISLAMABAD DAMMAM DOHA ABU DHABI ASYUT BANGKOK

14:10 14:15 14:30 14:55 15:05 15:20 15:30 15:30 15:45 15:45 16:05 16:10 16:55 17:35 17:40 17:50 17:50 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:40 18:50 19:10 19:15 19:20 19:25 19:40 20:15 20:45 20:55 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:10 21:15 21:20 21:30 21:50 22:10 22:20 22:20 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:50 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:15 23:25 23:55

34

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

s ta rs CROSSWORD 408

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) ARIES You may soon find a physical move or some other type of change pending.

There may be an opportunity for you to be in on the research that it takes to find new land for development. Consider the water systems and how your company will take care to maintain the nearby water system. Putting yourself in a position to gather and share information seems more important to you at this time. You understand hypothetical ideas and you know how to present them to those around you. You may feel that your life is very exciting. You make a big effort not to get your personal life too organized. Your idea is along the line of free flow. You may discover some new talent or aptitude as you help a young person with his or her creative ideas tonight.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) If for any reason you have been procrastinating or having a conversation with an authority figure concerning anything, now would be an ideal time to communicate honestly. The ethers of the universe are working with you in whatever changes you desire. Now is a time you can put your practical insights into understandable words.

Taking care of business is a major theme where your emotional orientation is concerned.

You crave organization and practicality and you want to get things accomplished. You aim to have a place for everything and everything in its place—and anything that gets in the way gets on your nerves. Health and work goals take on greater importance this afternoon. You understand and are sensitive to others’ needs tonight.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. A girl or young woman who is unmarried.

5. Large black diving duck of northern parts of the northern hemisphere.

11. An island in Indonesia south of Borneo.

15. The content of cognition.

16. (botany) Having a usually flat-topped flower cluster in which the main and branch stems each end in a flower that opens before those below it or to its side.

17. Armor plate that protects the chest.

18. Spiritual leader of a Jewish congregation.

19. A military trainee (as at a military academy).

20. Any of the short curved hairs that grow from the edges of the eyelids.

21. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

23. Goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld.

25. The branch of engineering science that studies the uses of electricity and the equipment for power generation and distribution and the control of machines and communication.

26. A member of a seafaring group of North American Indians who lived on the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southwestern Alaska.

30. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

33. Being ten more than one hundred ninety.

37. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

40. United States comedian and actor in silent films noted for his acrobatic skills and deadpan face (1895-1966).

41. An avalanche volcanic water and mud down the slopes of a volcano.

42. Largest known toad species.

45. Any of various coarse shrubby plants of the genus Iva with small greenish flowers.

46. Lake in northwestern Russia near the border with Finland.

47. Open-heart surgery in which the rib cage is opened and a section of a blood vessel is grafted from the aorta to the coronary artery to bypass the blocked section of the coronary artery and improve the blood supply to the heart.

50. New Zealand conifer.

52. A stick that people can lean on to help them walk.

53. Any of numerous hairy-bodied insects including social and solitary species.

59. A narcotic drug that contains opium or an opium derivative.

66. Informal terms for a mother.

70. Large sweet juicy hybrid between tangerine and grapefruit having a thick wrinkled skin.

71. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

73. The habitation of wild animals.

74. God of love and erotic desire.

75. A cooler darker spot appearing periodically on the surface of the sun.

76. Any of several related languages of the Celts in Ireland and Scotland.

DOWN 1. The basic unit of money on Malta.

2. The sixth month of the civil year.

3. The compass point that is one point east of southeast.

4. A region of Malaysia in northeastern Borneo.

5. A white trivalent metallic element.

6. Any tropical gymnosperm of the order

Cycadales.

7. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.

8. Scottish chemist noted for his research into the structure of nucleic acids (born in 1907).

9. The compass point midway between east and southeast.

10. Thinking again about a choice previously made.

11. A loose cloak with a hood.

12. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

13. A holding device attached to a workbench.

14. United States tennis player who was the first Black to win United States and English singles championships (1943-1993).

22. A tax on employees and employers that is used to fund the Social Security system.

24. Having come or been brought to a conclusion.

27. The capital and largest city of Ghana with a deep-water port.

28. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

29. Used in former classifications to include all ratite bird orders.

31. A small skullcap.

32. Be compatible or in accordance with.

34. Short and fat.

35. (Roman Catholic Church) A devotion consisting of prayers on nine consecutive days.

36. Widely distributed low-growing Eurasian herb having narrow leaves and inconspicuous green flowers.

38. The villain in William Shakespeare's tragedy who tricked Othello into murdering his wife.

39. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

43. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

44. (usually followed by `to') Having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something.

48. A brittle gray crystalline element that is a semiconducting metalloid (resembling silicon) used in transistors.

49. A temporally organized plan for matters to be attended to.

51. An accountant certified by the state.

54. Footwear usually with wooden soles.

55. The compass point that is one point east (clockwise) of due north.

56. The compass point that is one point north of due west.

57. A Bantu language spoken by the Kamba people in Kenya.

58. The main city of ancient Phoenicia.

60. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

61. (Islam) The man who leads prayers in a mosque.

62. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

63. Any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent.

64. Type genus of the Gliridae.

65. A republic consisting of 26 of 32 counties comprising the island of Ireland.

67. Large brownish-green New Zealand parrot.

68. A drug combination found in some overthe-counter headache remedies (Aspirin and Phenacetin and Caffeine).

69. (Sumerian) Sun god.

72. A metric unit of length equal to 100 meters.

You may be feeling very good about yourself just now and appreciating your own better qualities. You may see value in or feel love for an older person or someone in authority. You seem to appreciate feelings and movement in general and could possibly find yourself looking for a little romance, or at least comparing notes and making plans with a friend. You may just want to get out and about to walk or exercise at the noon break. It’s just a wonderful time to be in the company of others in play or work. A particular job this afternoon may be just right for someone with your credentials.

You certainly know how to manage and direct others. Your particular ideas and thoughts are exceptionally good today and have not gone unnoticed.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Taking the novel approach, trying out new ideas and advancing in breakthrough thinking could be what you are all about just now. You just simply feel like being different, trying out something new and unusual. Perhaps your life has felt too complacent lately. You may be getting bored with the status quo. Adding a little variety to one’s life is what gives it spice and adds interest. You may want to go where no one has gone, or may just want to travel a less traveled path. Growth comes from allowing your own self to make changes and to see things through different eyes, so to speak. You are unafraid of taking a completely unfamiliar path or journey into the unknown. Fear not what awaits you on the other side of any adventure for now; enjoy.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Expect some challenges coming to your attention today. You are prudent and you see the path ahead well enough to take the right precautions. You work a problem as one would work a crossword puzzle. Emotion is the instigator or the key that helps one recognize a problem exists. Cognitive thinking will find the truth of a matter and open up any fears or needless worries that can be released. You are pretty much on target when it comes to creating positive results. You may even discover the solution to a long-standing blockage or problem this day. Your mental attitude is very positive. The universal energies today are inviting you to write. Perhaps this would be a good time to see a pattern to your recent dreams. Begin a dream journal.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You may take on the job of orienting a newcomer to your work area. Your humor may be overshadowed only by your rather eccentric behavior just now. Those around you appreciate your independence and unique qualities. This should give you some new ways of looking at things or discover the changes you want for your living situation. Feel free to allow yourself to be creative today. Since you will not find these days coming too often, you should not ignore the opportunity to let your imagination loose.

Maybe a proposal or new advertising idea is in the making. Your ability to risk something may take you into an enchanting place. If you are inclined to enjoy murder mysteries, this place might just set the scene for a good mystery.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) Sometimes we all take turns at being unaware of what or how we really feel about some person, place or thing. This may not be the most appropriate time for you to make vocational or career decisions or to give practical advice to those around you.

However, you are one to bounce back rather quickly from any difficult quandary or experience and you will suddenly gain insights that other people long to see. Today you will have a new understanding. The point of all this chatter is for you to give yourself time and patience before making any final decisions about anything important, particularly with regard to work. You can impress an admirer with a kind word or note this evening. Tonight is indeed a great time to spend with loved ones and family.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You should find yourself in top condition when it comes to any kind of mental activity. You are full of wit and sharp ideas. This could be a time when you find some real discoveries in the idea department. Having a clear-cut idea of what the public wants and needs at this time is beneficial to you in making practical decisions with regard to group issues. Expect to make some crystal-clear decisions that affect others. You may find yourself wading cautiously through some difficulties, blocks or hot spots and not everyone will share your point of view. This will all work out just fine however, so relax—disputes and doubt come with the territory of whatever it is you are trying to do just now. This afternoon is a time of celebration. Your success is obvious.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You may find yourself working extra hard to get things and people organized. There is a feeling of ambition and responsibility. Wanting and needing to feel respected is an emotionally charged issue in your life at this time. You are ready for work and you like to think that the workplace is ready for you. Your input is very important and you like to feel that you make a difference. Achieving things, working especially hard and ambition are all things that are especially important now. This afternoon can be shared with a loved one. Great feelings and knowing how much you are loved should make this a very happy time. A young person needs a listening ear this evening. Give this person plenty of your attention.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Openings at work and changes in status give you new options. Follow rules as you work in areas that are new to you. Work ethics are very important and should you choose to take time off work you will probably do so by calling the time away, a vacation. You may find yourself very pleased at the choices you made recently regarding home and property development. The undercover action of the law enforcement in your area lowers the likelihood of being disturbed by difficult people. You might even look for ways to help with school social development programs. News about a health update or miracle vitamins and alternative therapies are subjects of conversation. Stress levels can build now, so laugh at the little problems.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) When some kind of recognition or extra support comes along for you, you can see that your efforts are worthwhile. You may have the feeling that you are very much in-touch with those around you today. All of the support that you need in order to lead or complete some difficult task will be there for you. Wow, what a fantastic natural high this can create for you! If you have a team that consistently backs you in your efforts, now would be a good time to consider a little bonus for them. Your taste in art and gratefulness in general are heightened. Your sense of value is to the fore and investment decisions can be beneficial. This evening is a great time to be around friends. You may be passing around pictures of each other’s families.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Watch out, as an independent streak seems to be surfacing at this time.

Others will admire your unique and rather unusual way of perceiving things. Your sense of humor simply shines just now. You give incentive and encouragement to others and you have a good attitude. You should find the benefit of new insights in your living situation or life conditions. Your friends or associates may come to you for help, or you may find that circumstances call for you to reorganize and be more conservative. This should all go rather smoothly. Your more reserved qualities make others wonder what has kept you so busy lately; you are not always so quiet. Whistle while you work! Tonight you might dive into some cooking experiment: a candy recipe!

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 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

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

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

Hawally

Al-Madeena

22418714

Al-Shuhada

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Faiha

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Al-Jahra

25610011

Khaldiya

24848075

Al-Salmiya

25616368

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

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Omariya

24719048

N Khaitan

24710044

Fintas

23900322

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062

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

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Dolly Parton to headline Glastonbury 2014?

D

Ed Sheeran was drunk when offered Hobbit track

E

d Sheeran was drunk when he was offered the chance to record a track for the new ‘Hobbit’ film. The 22-year-old singer wrote the song ‘I See Fire’ for ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ but almost missed out on the chance to work on the film after receiving an email from the movie’s director, Peter Jackson. Ed told the Daily Star newspaper: “I was off my face drunk.I looked at my email. It was like a dream. I didn’t process it. “So then I put my phone away and continued partying. “The next day I read it again and said: ‘OMG!’ Then I told my manager and he said: ‘OMG!’” Peter first met Ed, who also wrote the track ‘Drunk’, when he took his daughter to one of the musician’s shows. Ed previously said: “Then I was invited round for lunch the next day, we hung out, and it was fun.”About six months later I got a call asking if I wanted to be involved in the end credit song. “So I instantly got on a plane to New Zealand, met everyone that was involved in the film and watched the film. Then I wrote the song.” Ed played all of the instruments on the track, including the violin, which he had never played before. He explained: “We got a violin player in, but he didn’t get it right, so yeah, I thought I’d attempt to doing it myself.”

olly Parton is reportedly set to headline Glastonbury 2014.

The country music icon has been secretly booked to fill the Glastonbury Legends slot on the Sunday of the UK festival, according to The Sun newspaper. A source told the paper: “Dolly is perfect for the Sunday Legends slot. It didn’t take any convincing - she’s always wanted to play Glastonbury.” The ‘9 to 5’ hitmaker is expected to perform a setlist comprising her greatest hits from her lengthy career when she takes to the Pyramid Stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset, South West England, next June. Dolly is supposedly jetting in from London after performing at the O2 arena on the Saturday evening as part of her ‘Blue Smoke’ tour, and conveniently has a “day off” on the Sunday, according to her schedule.

The festival insider added: “It is being kept free deliberately. She’ll get a helicopter straight down on Sunday, or maybe even Saturday night after the show.” Arcade Fire were the first act confirmed to headline Glastonbury last week, with the indie rockers announcing the news by posting a picture online spelling out four dates for next summer, including the legendary three-day summer festival.

Gomez cancels tour to spend time on self

S

elena Gomez has cancelled her upcoming tour dates to “spend some time on myself”. The ‘Come and Get It’ hitmaker was due to visit countries including Australia, China, Japan and the Philippines on her ‘Stars Dance’ tour next year, but has now cancelled the entire slate of shows to reflect and “be the best person I can be”. In a statement obtained by Billboard, the 21-year-old star said: “My fans are so important to me and I would never want to disappoint them. But it has become clear to me and those close to me that after many years of putting my work first, I need to spend some time on myself in order to be the best person I can be. To my fans, I sincerely apologize and I hope you guys know how much each and every one of you mean to me.” The Asian leg of the tour - in support of her latest album, ‘Stars Dance’ - was due to touch down in Tokyo, Japan, on January 16, followed by dates in China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. Selena also booked five dates in Australia in February, visiting Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. The songstress completed the US leg of her jaunt in Michigan on November 26.

Gnarls Barkley reunite in 2014

G

narls Barkley are reuniting in 2014. The ‘Crazy’ hitmakers - which included Brian Joseph Burton, known as Danger Mouse, and CeeLo Green - were catapulted to fame after the release of their debut solo album ‘St Elsewhere’ in 2006, and had further success with their record ‘The Odd Couple’ in 2008, after which they decided to focus on their individual careers. Quizzed on the prospect of teaming up again, CeeLo told TMZ.com: “Yeah, like next year.” The gossip site report it is “highly possibly” they’ll team up at Coachella Valley Music Festival in California. During the duo’s hiatus, CeeLo, real name Thomas DeCarlo Callaway, has had huge success as a solo artist with hits including ‘Forget You’ and ‘It’s OK’. This year he’s been busy with Goodie Mob, releasing their fifth studio album ‘Age Against the Machine’, but has confirmed Gnarls Barkley’s plans to release more music in the upcoming year. Danger Mouse went on to work with the likes of U2 and the Black Keys and won a Grammy Award in the Producer of the Year category in 2011. The pair’s reunion has been in works for a while now with CeeLo previously announcing they would be releasing another album in 2012 during the Virgin Fest in America in September 2011.

Elizabeth McGovern: I was too young for Oscar nomination

E

lizabeth McGovern thinks she was “too young” to be nominated for an Oscar award. The 52-year-old actress was just 20 when her performance as Evelyn Nesbit in her second movie ‘Ragtime’ earned her a nod in the Best Supporting Actress category. Although she was flattered to be considered for the honor, she was unsure whether she deserved to be in the running for the prestigious prize. McGovern said: “I was thrilled to be nominated for an Oscar, but there was a part of me that thought, ‘I’m not sure I deserve this year.

I was very young and working with marvelous people.” The ‘Downton Abbey’ star - who was briefly engaged to her ‘Racing with the Moon’ co-star Sean Penn - admits she initially struggled with her success she began to achieve in the acting industry because she felt so “lonely”. She told Grazia magazine: “I was busy growing up and being a professional actor and, at times, that was difficult. Those two things are sometimes in conflict. You have to do all the stupid things kids need to do but you’re in the glaring light of public opinion and I think when I was first working it was more uncommon for someone so young to be successful.”In my day, I found it slightly lonely because my friends were in such a different place with their lives and the people I was working with were so much older. I was in the middle of both worlds.”

Paquin cut from X­Men: Days Of Future Past

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he ‘True Blood’ actress’ one and only scene has been scrapped from the upcoming timetravel sequel because director Bryan Singer felt it was “extraneous”. The scene in question saw Paquin’s character Rogue - who absorbs the memories, strength and powers of anyone she touches - in action alongside Sir Ian McKellen’s older version of Magneto, Sir Patrick Stewart’s older Professor X and Shawn Ashmore’s Iceman. Singer told Entertainment Weekly: “Through the editing process, the sequence became extraneous. It’s a really good sequence and it will probably end up on the DVD so people can see it. But like many things in the editing process, it was an embarrassment of riches and it was just one of the things that had to go.

“Unfortunately, it was the one and only sequence Anna Paquin was in, the Rogue character was in. Even though she’s in the materials and part of the process of making the film, she won’t appear in it.” The mutant movie comprises a huge ensemble cast, including the stars of the original ‘X-Men’ trilogy and the stars of 2011 prequel ‘X-Men: First Class’, featuring the likes of Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, so cutting Paquin out of the film was a “disappointing” but necessary move. Singer added: “She completely understood.

It’s very disappointing, but she’s very professional and she knows that stuff happens, particularly with material you shoot early on in production. Films evolve.” ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ is due for release in May 2014.

Julianne Moore’s red hair affects her style

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ulianne Moore says her red hair affects her style choices. The 53-year-old actress usually opts for black and neutral tones when it comes to her everyday clothes because her flame-colored tresses clash with bold hues. She said in an interview with Net-a-Porter’s online magazine The Edit: “I don’t wear a lot of color because, having red hair, I carry a lot of color with me. I read a quote from an actress who said, ‘Only wearing black is like not taking chances’, and I was like, ‘I guess I don’t take chances then! I wear a lot of black!’ “The striking star is close friends with designer Tom Ford, who cast her in his directorial debut, 2009’s ‘A Single Man’, but doesn’t think of herself as anyone’s “muse” and says she simply enjoys the creative and fun nature of his clothing. Julianne pondered: “I don’t know that I’m his muse. I’m definitely a friend. He’s not mysterious about fashion, which I love. I don’t think it’s a mysterious business. I think it’s something that should be a lot of fun, and expressive, and obviously have some cultural relevance. “It’s about who we are at that moment in time. He’s just a great, wonderfully creative and soulful person, and a really good friend.” The ‘Carrie’ actress always chooses “unusual” pieces because she likes to make a statement on the red carpet.

Recalling her favorite fashion moments, she said: “The yellow Dior dress I wore at the [2012] Emmys - oh my gosh. It was such a strong silhouette. The beautiful Balenciaga with the ruffle [at the 2010 Golden Globes], that was great. I like stuff that’s a little unusual. I like a dress with a bit of an edge.” —Bang Showbiz

Quentin Tarantino: No plans for ‘Kill Bill 3’

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uentin Tarantino says he has no plans for ‘Kill Bill 3’. The Academy Award-winning director claims he has no intention of revisiting the violent kung fu thriller starring Uma Thurman, which follows a former assassin seeking revenge on the ex-colleagues who massacred members of her wedding party and tried to kill her. Tarantino told Ireland’s Independent newspaper: “There are no genres I absolutely want to do any more, like ticking boxes - ‘This, done.’ I don’t think about ‘Kill Bill 3’ that much as we already visited them.” The 50-year-old director claims he is happy with the work he has produced throughout his 20-year career and would be keen to rework Japanese films or try his hand at producing a scary film.

He mused: “To me, the last 20 years have gone well; I’m happy with my career, I’m happy to be where I am now, I’m happy with the way my work has been received, inside the cinema industry and outside. “If there was something I would like to work on again, it would be Honshu’s movies, maybe. Or a horror movie, perhaps.” Tarantino has seemingly had a change of heart after hinting that there would be a ‘Kill Bill’ follow-up by suggesting he would revisit the series in celebration of its tenth anniversary. During a 2010 interview, he teased: “After ‘Kill Bill 2’ I said I would do ‘Kill Bill 3’ 10 years from now. And we’re not there yet!”

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

David Gandy ‘fell into fashion’

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he 33-year-old model was catapulted to the spotlight after his flatmate entered him into a modelling competition on British talk show ‘This Morning’, without his knowledge, and when David was just 21 he won a modelling contract with Select Model Management. The hunk took on modelling jobs went he finished university thinking it could be “an adventure” and eventually cemented his name in the fashion industry. He told shoe designer and friend, Natalia Barbieri, during an interview for Vogue magazine: “I didn’t know I wanted to go into fashion I just kind of fell into fashion, I think, more than anything. That’s [This Morning] how it started. We won the competition, from then I just finished university and then I thought me coming out of university could be bit of an adventure for a couple of years. “I always said those first few years you and I [Natalia] observed the industry and thought there could be something to this and went from there.“

Rolf Harris faces further sex-abuse charges

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eteran Australian entertainer Rolf Harris, who will stand trial in April accused of indecently assaulting two underage girls, will face three further charges of sexual assault, Britain’s public prosecutor said yesterday. “The three counts will be prosecuted in addition to the 13 alleged sexual offences with which Mr Harris was charged on 29 August 2013,” said a Crown Prosecution Service spokesman. “The alleged offences relate to one existing complainant and two new complainants,” he added.

The prosecutor said the additional charges are for assault, relating to a girl aged 19 in 1984; indecent assault on a girl aged seven or eight in 1968 or 1969; and indecent assault on a girl aged 14 in 1975. Harris, 83, who has long been a fixture on British television, already faced nine counts of indecent assault, as well as four counts of making indecent images of children. A formal plea hearing is set for January 14 and a trial date set for April 30. Harris is one of several older celebrities in Britain arrested under Operation Yewtree, the police probe into historical abuse set up in the wake of revelations that the late BBC star Jimmy Savile was a prolific sex offender. The charges against Harris are not connected to Savile. Harris, who moved to England in 1952, was a popular television presenter, artist and musician for decades. He painted an 80th birthday portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 and has received honours from both Britain and Australia. As a singer, he topped the Australian charts in 1960 with “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport” and the British charts in 1969 with “Two Little Boys”.

Kim Basinger lands modeling contract

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lec Baldwin’s ex-wife has been snapped up by IMG Models and joins their 18-year-old daughter, Ireland Baldwin, on the established agency’s books. Van Bart, managing director of IMG, told Variety.com: “We are proud to be working with a distinguished and talented actress such as Kim Basinger. “Kim has a powerful appeal on screen that will lend itself as a strong asset for us to seek innovative partnerships across the modelling and entertainment platform for Kim.” The Oscar winner was first spotted in 1969 by Ford Models co-founder Eileen Ford when she was 16 while taking part in a local beauty pageant in her hometown of Athens in Georgia. Kim initially declined the offer and instead enrolled at the University of Georgia, only to reconsider months later, leave university and move to New York to begin working in the fashion industry. She stopped modelling in 1976 when she felt the pressure of it begin to “choke her” and decided to focus her efforts on her acting career. The blonde beauty previously said of the job: “It was very hard to go from one booking to another and always have to deal with the way I looked. I couldn’t stand it. I felt myself choking.”

Niall Horan can’t get home for Christmas

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he One Direction heartthrob was planning to head back to his hometown of Mullingar, Ireland, to spend the festive season with his family but is finding it difficult to get a flight from London due to a storm. The 20year-old took to Twitter to vent his frustration after spending last night at The O2 to watch JLS’ final concert. His friend Willie Devine then tweeted: “Wanted: two spaces at a Christmas dinner table this side of the Irish Sea for myself and @NiallOfficial. (sic)” Fans responded in their dozens offering the pair a place to spend Christmas. One girl tweeted: “Always welcome at mine, a ton of food is here, lots of drink, and ace decorations. (sic)” ‘Directioners’ then got “#getniallhomeforchristmas” trending on the social networking website to try and help the pop star. Niall’s mother Maura Gallagher says Christmas is always a “big deal” and she keeps it traditional cooking “turkey, ham and all the veg” for her superstar son and his older sibling Greg.

Wilmer to propose to Lovato?

Williams is planning on having liposuction

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ilmer Valderrama has reportedly bought an engagement ring for Demi Lovato. The ‘That ‘70s Show’ actor, who secretly rekindled his romance with the former ‘X Factor’ USA judge earlier this year, has sparked speculation he may propose to the 21-year-old beauty after being spotted buying a diamond sparkler from Tiffany & Co. last month. An eyewitness told RadarOnline.com: “It looked like an engagement ring, but could have just been a nice expensive ring he was giving to Demi. “He was really low-key at the store and was trying to stay under the radar.” The 33-year-old actor allegedly engraved the ring with a special message reading, ‘With you and by you always’, which he also wrote in a Twitter message to mark Demi’s 21st birthday in August. He wrote: “I’ve been so proud of the strength & commitment you’ve gained 4 life, keep inspiring us all! Happy birthday my @ddlovato! With & by u always (sic)” The couple have dated on and off since 2010 but have remained quiet about their latest reunion since getting back together in February. Demi and Wilmer have been spotted out and about numerous times together as late as just last week when the actor hosted a private dinner to celebrate the end of Demi’s two-year stint on singing competition ‘The X Factor’. The couple dined with pals at West Hollywood’s RivaBella restaurant after Demi finished filming the show’s third season finale.

Gervais named PETA’s Person of the Year

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icky Gervais has been named PETA’s Person of the Year. Animal rights organisation PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) - has bestowed its annual honour upon the British comedian for his staunch support of animal welfare on his humorous Twitter account, which is followed by over five million loyal fans. PETA’s managing director Ingrid E. Newkirk said in a statement: “Ricky Gervais makes sure that animals have their say, tweet, growl or roar on Twitter. He finds humour in most things, but cruelty to animals isn’t one of them. As he says himself, ‘Animals are not here for us to do as we please with. We are not their superiors, we are their equals. We are their family. Be kind to them.’ “ The 52year-old star is a well-documented animal lover, often sharing funny pictures of furry creatures such as cats and dogs with his followers, and he has also used his considerable social media influence to promote the ethical treatment of animals.

In one tongue-in-cheek tweet, the comic wrote: “”We should free laboratory animals and only test cosmetics on internet trolls. They’d get the attention they crave and they’d look nicer.” Away from Twitter, the ‘Derek’ actor has also lent his voice to an anti-fur campaign and urged luxury British shop Fortnum & Mason to stop selling foie gras, which is made from duck or geese and often involves the birds being forcefed to fatten their livers. —Bang Showbiz

Blue singer Antony Costa has got engaged

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he 32-year-old singer - who is one quarter of the British boy band alongside Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe - popped the question to his girlfriend Rosanna Jasmin yesterday which is also her birthday, while on a romantic getaway to Paris, France. A statement on Blue’s official Facebook page reads: “It is with great pleasure we are pleased to announce the engagement of Antony Costa and his beautiful girlfriend Rosanna. Antony surprised Rosanna on her birthday today with a visit to Paris where he asked for her hand in marriage and she happily said yes.

“Everyone in Blue and the entire management team wish both Rosanna and Antony the very best for the future and we are all looking forward to the wedding.” Rosanna gushed about the news on her Twitter page, sharing a snap of her and Antony under the Eiffel Tower. She captioned the picture writing: “We’re Engaged!!!!!!!!! (sic)” Antony also thanked fans of the ‘One Love’ group for their influx of congratulations. He tweeted: “Thankyou for your lovely messages myself and @RosannaJasmin are so happy to announce our engagement!!! Bring on 2014 xxx (sic)”.

obbie Williams wants to have liposuction when he turns 40 next year. The ‘Candy’ hitmaker, who has already admitted to having a hair transplant, is planning to undergo a variety of plastic surgery procedures after he turns 40 on February 13 to stay looking young. He said: “I am going to have everything done. I am going to have a facelift, the chin can go, liposuction. The mid-life crises theory has been creeping up on me for some time.” Robbie has battled with his weight over the years but appears to have found his ideal weight and now knows how to keep it. The Take That star insists becoming a father to 15-month-old daughter Theodora - his child with wife Ayda Field - has encouraged him to live a healthier lifestyle. He said: “With arrival of Teddy my daughter, there is a different perspective on the world. I don’t smoke three packs of cigarettes any more, I got to bed earlier. There’s been physical things and mental stuff.” His comments about plastic surgery come not long after Robbie revealed he had a hair transplant despite not needing one. In a TV interview in November, he confessed: “I’ve lived in LA for a long time and they say, ‘If you sit in a barber’s shop for long enough you will get a hair cut.’ Well, if you live in Los Angeles for long enough you’re going to get some surgery. I’ve had a thatch done and I didn’t even need it. That’s the weirdest thing. I had three months off and got bored.”

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

lifestyle

Runway Music Meets

ISIS models display outfits by designer Deola Sagoe during the Music Meets Runway fashion show in Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday. — AP

US man skydives on 100th birthday

In this photo provided by Skydive Perris/US Parachute Association, Vernon Maynard, bottom, skydives with instructor James Perez to celebrate his 100th birthday over Perris, Calif. — AP

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hen Vernon Maynard’s friends asked him what he wished he had done in his 100 years of life, the Southern California man said he had always wanted to jump from a plane with a parachute. The retired car dealer got the chance to mark his centenarian birthday Monday by doing just that. Jean Walcher of the US Parachute Association says Maynard and his two great nephews made their first skydive along with

trained instructors from 13,000 feet (3,900 meters) southeast of Los Angeles.

Skydive Perris manager Dan BrodskyChenfeld says Maynard obtained a doctor ’s note before making the jump.

Maynard’s daughter Linda Hironimus says her father’s friends made arrangements for him to skydive after he said he always wanted to try it. Maynard, who hails from Nebrask a, lives in Palm Desert. — AP

Reiss presents the latest autumn/winter ’13 collection

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he Reiss AW13 women’s wear collection stands out for the sharp style and a contrasting subtle, innovative spirit.

Between the razor-sharp tailor cut suits and the timeless, atelier created, flawless dresses, a fun collision of shadows and light, radical cuts and adorable colours are clearly present.

The collection is a flexible wardrobe of timeless pieces that fashion lovers can play

Al-Mulla Exchange stages concert

by Philippine band Freestyle ish. Unique prints were drawn in house and developed in unison with specific garments for a completely cohesive range. The Reiss AW13 collection is available exclusively at the Reiss store at the 2nd Avenue, the Avenues.

with according to their mood while matching it with this season’s fashionable armours.

With this AW13 collection, Reiss becomes the capital of stylish possibilities... uniting past and present, with colour palettes of unexplored landscapes. It highlights modern, feminine interpretation of the 20s, modern separates and flawless wow statement garments thus generating perfect alignment of taste and style.

Reiss’s AW13 women’s wear reflects fresh direction for confident occasion wear; including graphic lace, bold jacquards, fine Lurex stripes with Grosgrain finish. Unexpected fabrications are used including draped jersey gown with satin plisse, bespoke jacquard and print mix jumpsuit with contrast bound fin-

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l-Mulla International Exchange Company, the leading money remittance house in Kuwait, staged for the very first time a concert by Freestyle, the renowned Philippine RnB and pop music group.

The musical concert, which was held at the American International School in Maidan Hawally, on the evenings of Friday the 20th and Saturday, 21st December, was inaugurated on the first day by the chief guest Attorney Raul H Dado, Consul General at the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait. The second day’s performance was flagged off by Lamberto V Monsanto, Ambassador of Philippines to Kuwait.

The band which has proven their popularity since the early 90s through one record-busting, chart-topping album after another, once again displayed their skills during the two-day exciting performance in Kuwait. Influenced heavily by poignant sounds of rhythm and blues and colorful urban pop music, the band has been a resounding success at nearly all of their performances, both on the Philippines and international stages.

On both evenings, more than 1,200 special guests of Al-Mulla Exchange were entertained to the musical bonanza. The band’s soulful

music, alternating with vibrant tunes, captivated audiences on both days. The vocalists, Ava Santos, Joshua Desiderio and Mike Luis, ably supported by the trio of Rommel dela Cruz on bass, Gerald Banzon on drums and Tat suzara on the guitar, with Desiderio and Luis adding their touch on the keyboards, gave the show

attendees a mesmerizing performance on both evenings.

The audiences were unequivocal in expressing their delight with Al-Mulla Exchange for hosting this exciting event in Kuwait and said they hoped more Philippine stage performances would be held in the future.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

lifestyle M U S I C

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M O V I E S

In these frame grabs from video provided by KRON-TV, famed rock guitarist Carlos Santana, left, greets his former bandmate Marcus Malone on the streets of Oakland, Calif. — AP photos

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Santana reunites with ex-bandmate, now homeless

news reporter for a San Francisco television station has reunited rock guitarist Carolos Santana with a former bandmate he hadn’t seen in decades and who now lives on the streets of Oakland. Reporter Stanley Roberts ran into percussionist Marcus “The Magnificent” Malone while working on a story about illegal dumping last week, KRON-TV in San Francisco reported. Although he initially was skeptical of the

homeless man’s claim that the Santana Blues Band got its start in his mother’s garage in the late 1960s, Roberts checked out the story and confirmed it. And on Friday, he took Santana for a surprise visit to the camper where Malone has been staying.

“You don’t know how afraid I am to let you see me,” Malone said softly after he and the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer embraced.

“We cherish you,” Santana replied. “It’s an honor to be in your

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according to Fong-Torres. The two men told Roberts they had not seen each other since then. During their meeting on Friday, Santana promised to bring Malone a set of congas and to help him get on his feet. Since Roberts’ story aired, another original member of the Santana Blues Band, percussionist Rod Harper, and producer Bobby Scott also have expressed interest in reuniting with Malone. — AP

Lawrence beats Cyrus, Netflix for top entertainer

‘Fast and Furious 7’ to be released in April 2015

ast and Furious 7,” the action film that was shut down after the sudden death in a car crash last month of actor Paul Walker will be released in April 2015, the star of the series, Vin Diesel, said on Sunday. Diesel posted a message on his Facebook page saying “Fast and Furious 7 will be released ... April 10th 2015!,” adding “Ps. He’d want you to know first ...,” in an apparent reference to Walker, who was killed on Nov 30 in a fiery car wreck in Santa Clarita in Southern California.

The film, the seventh in a series of hit films about car racing, was originally slated for release on July 11 next year, according to Universal Pictures, which is owned by Comcast Corp. Walker became a symbol of street-racing and car culture in his role as law enforcement officer Brian O’Conner in the “Fast & Furious” series.

Days after the accident, which killed the car’s driver as well as Walker, 40, Universal suspended production of the new movie. The Diesel-led “Fast & Furious” movies, which have grossed more than $2 billion at the global box office, are one of two major franchises, along with the animated “Despicable Me” films, that helped turn around Universal Pictures in recent years. — Reuters

presence.” Santana has credited Malone with being an important influence on his Afro-Latin sound, according to former Rolling Stone magazine writer Ben Fong-Torres’ book “Not Fade Away: A Backstage Ticket to 20 Years of Rock & Roll.”

Malone played congas on Santana’s eponymous first album, but left the band in 1969 shortly before its seminal performance at Woodstock when he was imprisoned for manslaughter,

he battle for AP entertainer of the year came down to the Girl on Fire and the Queen of Twerk. Jennifer Lawrence edged out Miley Cyrus by one vote in The Associated Press’ annual survey of its newspaper and broadcast members and subscribers for Entertainer of the Year.

There were 70 ballots submitted by US editors and news directors. Voters were asked to consider who had the most influence on entertainment and culture in 2013.

Lawrence won 15 votes. Cyrus had 14.

Netflix was a close third, earning 13 votes for altering the TV landscape with its ondemand format and hit original series. But Lawrence - who started the year with an Academy Award for best actress, fueled a box-office franchise as “The Hunger Games” heroine Katniss Everdeen, and wrapped 2013 with a critically acclaimed performance in “American Hustle” that just earned Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations - charmed fans everywhere with her candid sincerity.

She was also a fashion darling - a muse for Dior - who made headlines with her pixie haircut. (“That was the weirdest thing that ever happened to me,” she recently told Jon Stewart.) Lawrence declined comment for this story. The 23-year-old actress “is not only talented and beautiful, but comes off as incredibly intelligent, genuine, funny and well-spoken in her public appearances and interviews,” writes Kristi Runyan of The Derrick and The NewsHerald Newspapers in Oil City, Pa. “It’s refreshing to see a young woman not squandering her talent and success by succumbing to the temptations many do in Hollywood and who actively speaks about the ridiculous behavior of some of her peers.”

Speaking of ridiculous behavior, Cyrus raised eyebrows throughout 2013 with her embrace of twerking, nudity and public pot smoking. The 21-year-old “Wrecking Ball” singer also made news with her pixie chop, but her breakup with fiance Liam Hemsworth and highly sexualized (and scrutinized) performances made her watercooler chatter all year. “She made the biggest splash, without comment on whether I thought it was a good thing,” said Jim Turpin of KMPH-TV in Fresno, Calif.

Women have dominated the Entertainer of the Year contest. Past titleholders include

Adele, Lady Gaga, Tina Fey, Betty White and Taylor Swift. Stephen Colbert is the lone male winner in seven years of voting.

Netflix commanded votes for changing viewing habits (binge-watch “Breaking Bad,” anyone?) and challenging the traditional TV-release concept with its original series. The outlet eschewed typical TV pilots and released a season’s worth of

In this Nov 13, 2013 file photo, actress Jennifer Lawrence poses for the photographers during the premiere of the movie ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ at Callao Cinema in Madrid, Spain. — AP photos

This file image released by Netflix shows Taylor Schilling in a scene from ‘Orange is the New Black.’ episodes at once of its acclaimed series “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black.” “In a divided entertainment landscape that includes the fans of pop princesses like Miley as well as high-minded devotees of cutting-edge filmmaking, Netflix is the one common denominator,” said Sean Stangland of Paddock Publications in suburban Chicago. The beloved, Emmy-winning series “Breaking Bad” was in fourth place with 10 votes.

Justin Timberlake, whose year included a pair of albums and top-selling tours, seven Grammy nominations and two film roles, claimed fifth place. — AP

File photo shows Miley Cyrus performs at IHeartRadio Music Festival, day 2, in Las Vegas.

Lynda Carter: Gadot should Make it a classical 2014 with new CD/DVD releases have ‘fun’ as Wonder Woman

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ynda Carter wants Gal Gadot to have “fun “playing Wonder Woman. The 62year-old actress - who played the

superheroine in the famed ‘ Wonder Woman’ TV series from 1975 to 1979 - has given the ‘Fast & Furious’ actress her blessing ahead of her role in Warner Bros.’ upcoming ‘Man of Steel’ sequel and insists she is happy to see the iconic character’s legacy continued. Quizzed if it will be odd to see Gadot, she said:”I don’t think so. I care more about the character continuing than holding on to my piece of it. I hope she has fun with it.”

The upcoming comic book film will see Henry Cavill reprise his role as Superman alongside Ben Affleck who will take on the role of caped crusader Batman, but Carter disagrees with fans who have criticised Warner Bros. for not giving Wonder Woman her own film. She mused: “Maybe that’s better. She won’t have to carry the whole film. It takes the pressure off. I wish her well. I’m just glad she’s going to be out there again. Maybe she’ll get her own show again.”

Meanwhile, Carter credits the role for launching her acting career and claims that it is still opening up opportunities over 30 years later. She gushed to the Metro newspaper: “I can’t imagine life without her. I started as a singer and after ‘ Wonder Woman’, I was able to do a lot with that. I’ve done many TV movies and TV series since; it really launched my career. It’s never held me back. I’ve done pretty much what I wanted to do.” — Bang Showbiz

It’s probably too late now to order a classical music CD or DVD for Christmas, but why not take the New Year as a cue to freshen up your musical tastes? Here are some recent releases guaranteed to broaden your horizons.

1 - So you think nobody needs to hear another recording of Ravel’s “Pavane pour une infante defunte” (“Pavane for a Dead Princess”)? Think again. Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, with violinist Thomas Zehetmair playing and conducting (Naive V5345), takes you into the music in such microscopic detail that you feel you’re almost inside the instruments. The glorious playing and luminous sound extend to Ravel’s equally overplayed “Le Tombeau de Couperin” (“Couperin’s Tomb”) which sounds as fresh as when it was first performed. Another marvel is the harp playing of Emmanuel Ceysson on Debussy’s “Danses Sacree et Profane”, plus soloist Zehetmair giving his all in Ravel’s “Tzigane” - inspired by Romanian and Hungarian gypsy music heard in Paris during the composer’s lifetime.

2 - Missed/horrified by/ignorant of the recording of the world’s last castrato soprano, Alessandro Moreschi, made in 1902 and available for listening on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slhhg8sI6Ds) ?Fear not, the growth in interest for “historically informed performance” not only made it necessary to bring the tuba’s precursor, the ophicleide, out of retirement, but also required someone and, for authenticity’s sake, not female sopranos to tackle the music the castrati left behind. We are in the age of the countertenor, men who have trained their falsetto to sing powerfully and with full control right into the soprano range - as well as below it. New Zealand’s David Hansen is at the

top of his game on “Rivals” (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 88883744012). The name comes from the practice in the 18th century, the heyday of the castrati, of casting two of them in different roles in the same opera and letting them slug it out in song. Hansen provides world premiere recordings of eight arias in the nine tracks here. Five are by Leonardo Vinci, who did not have a “da” between his first and last name but did have plenty of musical talent. The distinctly male voice probing a range where you expect to hear Renee Fleming may sound odd at first, but the musicality wins the day.

3- The general take on the late Ukrainian-born pianist Vladimir Horowitz was that, if the devil had played the piano, he would have lost the Tchaikovsky competition to the Jewish virtuoso from Kiev.

Horowitz appeared for the first time at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1928 at age 24, and played his last recital there about a decade before his death in 1989. Sony has released all of his Carnegie Hall recitals in a sumptuous collection of 41 CDs and DVDs in a box shaped like the building itself. To know what the fuss is about for less, there is a two-CD highlights album, “Great Moments Horowitz Live at Carnegie Hall” (Sony 88883768602). It includes the prelude from Bach’s “Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major” (BWV 564) that rivals organ versions for sheer physical power, as well as Horowitz’s own “Variations on a Theme from Bizet’s ‘Carmen’”.A rousing John Philip Sousa number, “The Stars and Stripes Forever”, may

make even non-Americans stand to attention.

4 - If Horowitz represented the pinnacle of the 19thcentury piano virtuoso pioneered by Franz Liszt, then Chinese keyboard wizard Lang Lang is the new model pianist. Lots of ink has been spilled in the debate over whether he is just a pyrotechnician or there is a deep musical sensibility underneath. That debate can be continued after everyone has heard Lang Lang and British conductor Simon Rattle at the helm of the Berlin Philharmonic playing Prokofiev’s raucous Concerto No. 3 and Bartok’s more introspective and nuanced Concerto No. 2. No one will go away from these madcap renditions without wondering how they pulled it off - though for those who can’t believe their ears, there is a DVD of rehearsals (Sony 88883732262).

5-Everyone loves Mozart, his music supposedly makes babies smarter in the womb and no holiday list would be complete without him. But with so much out there, where to begin? A good starting place for collectors and novices alike would be Mozart’s six concertos for violin, as recorded by the German-Japanese violinist Mirijam Contzen and the Bavarian Chamber Philharmonic of Augsburg under the baton of Reinhard Goebel (OEHMS Classics OC 862). Mozart first trotted around Europe as a violin prodigy before he had turned 10, and his affinity for the instrument shines through in these youthful works. Contzen gives them her considerable all and the playing of the ensemble is delightfully nuanced. —Reuters

Santana reunites with ex-bandmate, now homeless

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

A staff member dressed as Santa Claus poses for a photo with Christmas decorations to celebrate the festival season at a shopping mall in Hong Kong yesterday. — AP

Battle of the Christmas decorations for Hong Kong malls I

n the race to extract cash from Christmas shoppers, Hong Kong’s myriad shopping malls have taken to heart the maxim that you must spend money to make money when it comes to decorations this festive season. From two-storey-high polar bears to giant Disney characters, the southern Chinese city is awash with increasingly elaborate displays as luxury outlets bid to outdo each other and get wealthy mainlanders through the door. The competition between shopping malls is “very fierce”, said Karen Tam, assistant general manager for marketing at the Harbor City shopping mall located on the bustling Kowloon waterfront.

Harbor City spent more than HK$5.0 million ($645,000) this year on a display that includes Disney characters from popular movies such as “Toy Story” and “Lilo and Stitch” placed among huge Christmas decorations. Tam said the mall’s budget will only increase in coming years, as it vies with its rivals to boost Christmas footfall and snare as many local and tourist shoppers as possible. “The budget for Christmas decorations has to go up because it is really serious competition in Hong Kong and China,” Tam said. “We have to be creative, we have to bring in new elements, we have to attract people’s eyeballs.”

The IFC Mall, located in the city’s Central financial district, has set up decorations inspired

by New York City’s Central Park, with grassy knolls and stationary bicycles that light up when shoppers climb on and pedal. APM in east Kowloon has constructed a whacky Christmas town featuring the Bear Dog characters from Japanese designer Shiro Nakano, as well as Warhol-esque soup cans topped with colorful Christmas trees. Malls have kept their holiday designs-and their budgets-a closely guarded secret until the last possible minute, adding to the pressure on those responsible for the overthe-top displays.

“We had tried to check what the other malls are doing for the season, but everyone keeps it all very confidential,” said Rebecca Woo, head of marketing at K11 Art Mall. K11, which doubles as a shopping mall and an art gallery in the tourist hotspot of Tsim Sha Tsui, had an environmental twist on this year’s festive installation which was

six months in the planning and costing HK$4.0 million ($516,000).

The mall opted for a two-storey tall polar bear made of steel pipes, accentuated with multi-colored lights and fake foam snow, which Woo said was designed to raise awareness of the impact of human activities on the environment. “We really want to bring something that is memorable for our customers,” she said, adding that the mall has recorded a more than 10 percent increase in customer visits since it went on display.

The city’s immigration department estimates around 11.11 million visitors from mainland China will enter Hong Kong from the end of December to the beginning of January, an increase of 7.6 percent compared to the same period last year. In a study by Jones Lang LaSalle conducted over the first half of the year, mainland tourists were found to spend over $1,100 each on average, 39 percent more than visitors from other countries. — AFP

An afternoon in a

Pakistani porn cinema T

Christmas decorations are displayed inside a shopping mall in Hong Kong.

— AFP photos

hree times a day dozens of men pack of videos, DVDs and the Internet acceleratthe auditorium, the air heavy with ed the decline and now of around 15 cinehashish smoke, to watch graphic sex mas in Peshawar 20 years ago, only seven movies: welcome to the Shama-a porno- remain. Three of them show pornography, graphic cinema in Pakistan’s Taliban heart- sometimes discreetly via clips hidden part land. For more than 30 years it has supplied way through mainstream action movies. erotic fantasies in Peshawar, the main city of The Shama, the best-known of the three, is northwestern Pakistan which borders the regularly full, with tickets three or four times tribal districts that are a haven for Taliban the price of normal films.

Key to its success is showing local-made and Al-Qaeda-linked militants. Terrified of being recognized, the Shama’s customers pornography, which is much harder to find hide their faces as they make their way to in Peshawar-or on the Internet-than the cinema between a goat market and a Western adult films. Coming to see bus station. There are three X-rated shows a “Dostana” for a second time, Khaliq Khan, day in the Shama’s discreet back room, 30, said: “Like a lot of people here I prefer while the main hall is reserved for main- films with Pakistani girls. It’s better, it seems stream movies-the only ones advertised more amateur, more real.” “Dostana” is ceroutside. “Class X” customers pay 200 rupees tainly amateurish, with actors regularly ($1.90) and after a brief search by a Kalashnikov-toting guard, they are whisked through a courtyard and down a concrete passageway. Inside the auditorium a thick cloud of cannabis smoke hangs over the 20odd rows of tattered fakeleather seats.

During one showing, the hall was more than half full, populated by laborers, farmers, students and others who had come to escape the day-to-day claustrophobia of life in a deeply conservative Muslim region where family and neighbors keep a close eye This photograph shows Pakistani street vendors and on everything. Most arrive pedestrians gathered outside the Shama cinema in alone and want to remain Peshawar. — AFP so, arranging themselves around the seats to avoid sitting next to turning to the camera quizzically, looking anyone. They are all soon gripped by the for direction for their next move.

The dialogue is dubbed in Pashto, the drama of the day’s offering, “Dostana” (“Friendship”), a semi-amateur production main language of the northwest, with an made for the Shama in the more liberal enthusiasm somewhat at odds with the eastern city of Lahore. The plot hinges on a bored, uninterested way the actors seem to romantic dilemma: the hero, Shah Sawar be speaking in the original Punjabi. But (“the Horseman” in the local language) can- Janus Khan is quite happy. After the screennot decide whether to marry his sweetheart ing the labourer, 22, admitted he regularly Gulpana or his cousin Doa, chosen for him came to the Shama “to enjoy myself, alone or with one or two friends”. “I’m not very as a wife by his family.

He decides to “test” his would-be brides pious but I’m not a rapist or unfaithful,” he and much of the film’s two hours is taken up told AFP. with long and extremely graphic sex scenes Powerful owners between the Horseman and his paramours.

The Shama has provoked controversy in A reverential hush reigns over the audience throughout, broken only by a few suspi- Pakistan, a constitutional Islamic republic cious noises from certain rows, while at with a very conservative attitude to sex and nudity. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), one of the counleast half sneak out before the end. try’s leading religious political parties, has demanded the closure of the cinema. But Sex sells The formula has made the Shama one of the cinema has powerful owners-the Bilour Peshawar’s most successful cinemas at a family, one of the most influential in time when many others have been forced Peshawar and a pillar of the Pashtun nationto close. The Islamisation that Pakistan wit- alist ANP party. Twice in the last 10 years nessed in the 1980s persuaded many that Islamist activists including JI students have the silver screen was a sinful depravation attacked the Shama, but both times the cinbad for the soul of a good Muslim. The rise ema has risen again. —AFP