Friday Times - 26 Nov

Kuwait Times

November 26, 2010

NO: 14920

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Arabian ʻprideʼ continues to charm citizens PAGES 4 & 5

Cambodia holds day of mourning PAGE 14

ABU DHABI: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, center, arrives to a ceremony as she is followed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed AlNahayan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, third right, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, Dubai ruler and UAE prime minister, fourth right, in Abu Dhabi. — AP

Queen unveils museum design Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II visits UAE, cements friendship

Douglas and Zeta-Jones take children to Disney World PAGE 55

Jazz swat Hornets, Mavs halt Thunder PAGE 64

ABU DHABI: Queen Elizabeth II took part in unveiling the design of the Zayed National Museum yesterday on the final day of her visit to the United Arab Emirates — her first in more than three decades.

Wearing a flowery white and green dress with a hat of the same pattern, the queen revealed the design by British architects Foster and Partners, accompanied by the UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed AlMaktoum. The Zayed National Museum, which is dedicated to the memory of the late founder of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan AlNahayan, is expected to be ready by 2014.

It will be built on Saadiyat island, off the coast of Abu Dhabi, in a district earmarked to become a centre for cultural tourism, with two other museums carrying the brands of the Louvre and Guggenheim.

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip had arrived in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday evening on their first visit since 1979. On her arrival, the 84-year-old monarch visited the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, which is also built in memory of the late president. In addition to her husband and her son, Prince Andrew, the queen was accompanied by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahayan

ABU DHABI: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, center left, accompanied by Prince Andrew, background right, watches young girls reading the Holy Quran in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. — AP and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahayan.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is also accompanying the queen, signed a number of agreements with his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed AlNahayan, including an agreement on

“civil nuclear cooperation”, state news agency WAM said without elaborating.

The British embassy had said earlier that such an agreement would be signed, but also did not disclose details. Queen Elizabeth II was later received by the UAE President

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahayan.

“This visit by the head of the Church of England to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is reflective of the multi-faith dialogue and tolerance that is common to both the UAE and UK,” the British embassy said.

“There is a very deep friendship between Her Majesty and the ruling families here,” British ambassador Dominic Jermey said. “The relation we have now” is based on “a common perception of our political interests, a shared analysis of threats, and very close business and investment links between our two countries,” said Jermey.

The UAE, which Britain considers one of its most important trading partners in the Gulf, is home to 120,000 British expatriates. British “companies have been here for a long time. Oil and gas is clearly an area of excellence: BP and Shell both have long roots here,” Frances Moffett Kouadio, the director of trade and investment at the embassy, said.

Yesterday evening, the queen was to fly on to neighboring Oman to mark the 40th anniversary of the rule of Sultan Qaboos. The seven emirates that make up the UAE were British protectorates until independence in 1971, while Oman has a history of close economic and military relations with Britain, home to 1.6 million Muslims. — AFP

LOCAL

Happy Birthday KLT!

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Friday, November 26, 2010

By Wendy Clayton

F

rom its humble beginnings in 1948, known then as ‘The KUOCO Independent Players,’ the Kuwait Little Theatre amateur dramatic society has persevered with limited space, survived an invasion to rebuild and become the busiest and best little theatre in town.

Supported primarily by the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), and other sponsors along the way, Kuwait Little Theatre has been a place where working expats who love to perform as a hobby can live out their acting dreams. Although the group is now made up mainly of teachers and others from all walks of life such as retail management, marketing, consultancy, and financial management, it used to be for members and families of KOC. This year the Kuwait Little Theatre is celebrating its 60th year of staged productions. The winter season kicks off with a new adaptation of the traditional tale of ‘Babes in the Wood’ pantomime. The script, written and directed by Meryl Bunce, promises ‘musical moments, madness, slapstick and audience participation’.

History It all began in 1947 when a group of Kuwait Oil Company employees calling themselves ‘The KUOCO Independent Players’ met at the old Magwa Club and staged their first production in the Ahmadi Industrial area. With very limited space, the group rehearsed in private homes and built the sets outdoors, only assembling them at the last minute as the allocated building was also used as the local cinema.

Later, the group was given a small hut known as the Nissan hut, which used to house a general store called Skinny’s.

Due to the size of the place, it became affectionately known as the ‘Kuwait Little Theatre’ and has gone on to become the permanent home of the amateur dramatic society renamed as the Kuwait Little Theatre.

Ann Mansell, a long time

abes in the Wood’ opens on Thursday December 2 at 7.30 pm at the Kuwait Little Theater in Ahmadi. Further performances will be held on the 3rd, 8th, 9th and 10th December with matinee performances held at 2.30pm on the 3rd, 4th and 10th December. For further information visit the Kuwait Little Theatre website at www.theklt.com

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KLT committee member and Wardrobe Manager said, “The theatre building hadn’t changed a lot over the years since 1976.

We did fix up the foyer and back stage we used porta cabins.”

The theater grew, building up an impressive facility including the foyer, larger backstage facilities, improved seat-

Mansell obtained permission from KOC to re-enter the building and begin the cleanup. “Just before the invasion, I had catalogued all our wardrobe costumes. When I got back they were either stolen or what wasn’t taken, was covered in oil. They even stole our pantomime cow,” she says. “We managed to salvage about thir-

New production The ‘Babes in the Wood’ production is set to enthrall audiences as rehearsals are underway and sets are being constructed. The cast includes old and new faces with the principle lead roles of Robin Hood and Maid Marion going to newcomers Liz Young and Sara Al-Kandery respectively.

great commitment to give up precious personal time.”

The group begins rehearsals for a new production immediately after closing down the previous production. Tunbridge said, “For this production, we are running on a very tight schedule of just five weeks for rehearsals, especially due to the Eid holidays. However, the

‘Babes in the Wood’ pantomime promises musical madness ing for audiences, air conditioning, stage lighting and sound equipment, a revolving stage, and a splendid wardrobe and props department.

The theater ran along the same lines as most amateur dramatic societies do worldwide. The group thrilled audiences with performances of plays from various countries such as Britain, France, Germany and America, which included musicals, operettas, pantomimes, farces, dramas and comedy. They even took their troop to places like Iraq, Bahrain and Beirut to perform.

The theater was then dealt a heavy blow with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, “Although I was here at the start of the invasion I left with my family back to the UK. My husband was the first to return to Kuwait and he took photos of the theater. So I saw the devastation and damage before I returned to Kuwait,” explains Ann. “There were no seats lef t, everything had been destroyed and scripts were left lying all over the floor.”

Mansell returned in 1992. She was the only committee member of KLT to return to the ransacked theater. In order to get back into the building, a new committee was formed to get the theater up and running again.

With two other KLT members,

ty percent of the scripts only.”

Although the building had been given the clearance, the clean-up team realized they still needed to take precautions, “The grass out of the back of the building had grown rather long,” explains Mansell.

“George, one of our Australian helpers, suggested we just

Keen to involve children in the next production, Babes in the Wood director, Meryl Bunce said, “I thought this would be the perfect production to fulfill that desire.”

Although the numbers were down on auditions for this production enough hopeful actors turned up to fill all the roles

cast is very committed and spends two nights a week for at least two hours each session and up to four hours during the weekend on rehearsals.”

Future It is hoped that eventually the theater will be rebuilt.

When and where are yet to be

Scenes from the sell out performance of Mama Mia in May, 2010. burn the grass down but when we lit it there was this zinging noise, which suggested there was residue powder from ammunition on the ground.”

The theater re-opened its doors in November 1993 to present the production of ‘She Stoops to Conquer.’ Since then the theater has regained full strength presenting to audiences productions such as The Rock Musical, ‘Buddy,’ and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Joseph’ and also traditional pantomimes such as Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Mikado,’ Neil Simon comedies and classic dramas by the likes of Albee and Ibsen.

with some still being turned away, “It would have been great to see more men try out and perhaps a few more children,” added Bunce. “We’re confident though we have chosen the right people for each role. It’s always a hard to choose though.”

As the saying goes ‘Many hands make light work’ and that’s just how it goes for the group when designing sets and costumes. Producer, Paul Tunbridge says, “Our biggest constraint is the time each volunteer can offer to assist with sets and costumes. A good majority of volunteers are full time workers and they make a

decided however, for prosperity sake on the existing spot is high on the list of locations.

Asked whether she will be sad to see the old building go Mansell replied, “No, because I don’t believe the theater is actually the building. It is and it isn’t. It’s the people. So if it’s knocked down and they build it again quickly we won’t lose momentum.” Mansell added, “As long as I’m here and a few other key people the Kuwait Little Theatre, we will keep putting on productions. Of course, it has changed over the years but one thing for sure is that we need new people to inject new life into the group.”

LOCAL

Friday, November 26, 2010

conspIracy TheorIes

FrIDay spoTlIghT

Is friendship a luxury?

By Muna Al-Fuzai have noticed lately that friendship has become almost a luxury to married working mothers. For men, keeping friendships and maintaining their social lives after marriage can be easily managed. With women, on the other hand, the situation differs. Perhaps it is our unfair patriarchal world that always works in favor of men over women, or perhaps it is just how things go.

I believe without a doubt that women are given quite a lot of responsibility when they are married, as they are expected to ensure the satisfaction and well-being of all the members of the family. They need to take care of the husband, the children, household chores, and on top of that they need to look after their job obligations. They need to keep everyone in their life happy and satisfied.

Due to the challenging living conditions, women must work in order for the family to be able to provide for its members. This means that on top of house obligations, they also need to focus on their job. A mother has to go home and help her kids do their homework no matter what physical or mental state

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she is in. Most men on the other hand, go home expecting their meals to be ready and a beautiful Cinderella waiting for them, with a quiet, clean home.

But what about the social life of this Cinderella? Does she enjoy a girl’s nights out every once in a while to relieve the pressure from her work? Sadly, once married, most women won’t have friends. They won’t have time for friends because work and family consumes most of their time and energy.

Friendship becomes something luxurious, only a few can afford. Men can still meet their friends in Diwaniyas and cafes, but women can probably only speak on the phone every now and then when the time allows.

By time, old friendships become a memory of something long gone. When women meet their friends and college classmates, it seems like a fleeting memory from the past, something she wishes she can keep but her family and work demand so much attention, it is impossible for her to do that. Women today are faced with a big, tough challenge of being the center of care and attention in families.

This is killing all the other aspects of life they can enjoy. So this Friday, I would like to send my appreciation and gratitude to all the patient, hardworking, loving mothers and wives. muna@kuw ait tim es. net

SATIRE WIRE

Do all men cheat?

By Sawsan Kazak ast week fans were shocked to hear of the untimely breakup of actress Eva Longoria and her basketball husband Tony Parker. The reason for the split? Infidelity! It seems to me that the cheating husband is the hot new trend in Hollywood. Just recently we heard of the separation of Courtney Cox and David Arquette and the divorce of Sandra Bullock and Jesse James, all because of men’s infidelity. And of course let’s not forget the cheating extravaganza of Tiger Woods.

This begs the question: Do all men cheat if given the opportunity? Famous men such as actors, singers and politicians as well as ‘non-famous’ men get caught cheating all the time. But why take such a big risk in your personal life? If there is more to lose than to gain with this particu-

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lar gamble, why do men decide to take it? If caught, not only do these men lose their wives, they lose their children and the family they tried so hard to build. Some men, like politicians, end up losing a lot more, such as their careers and public credibility.

Even with all these high stake risks, some men still decide to gamble on their relationships, and many of them lose.

Is losing everything you worked so hard for worth a few moments of pleasure? After a certain time, do all men function strictly on natural instincts and stop using logic?

What would possess a perfectly happily married man to look outside the marriage?

This topic seems to conjure up more questions than answers.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that only men cheat. Women do their fair share of cheating, but I guess they’re just better at it. Women do cheat, but they’re just more discrete when they do it. Whoever it is that is doing the cheating, they need to think long and hard and weigh their pros and cons. Most probably the cons will triumph. sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

The school of ethics and manners

By Badrya Darw ish thics and manners.

It is such a complicated issue. I am sure that all psychiatrists on earth, even Sigmund Freud, failed to analyze it correctly and thoroughly.

With my experience in life - by the way I am not trying to imitate or pretend to be a psychiatrist, I am rather eligible to be a patient discovered that manners cannot be taught.

For example, can you tech someone to be generous if he is stingy? I swear it has nothing to do with being poor or rich. If somebody is tight, he will live and die thrifty. While a generous person might have nothing, he will offer you a drink and share his food with you. He will act generously. Talking to my friend Velina about this, she agreed with me. She has met a Somali refugee surviving on handouts in a foreign country who offered her to join his big family of five for lunch, when she went to interview him. Lunch, for them was a jar of home-made soup. She said, “It touched my heart. I will never forget that.”

Can you teach someone cleanliness and tidiness if they are messy? Never. But by force, I guess, you can do this. You can force them to tidy up. To get my drift, just watch people in the cars on the streets when they roll down their windows and throw cigarettes, food leftovers and tissues on the streets. They treat the streets as if these are garbage bins. Can you never teach such a guy not to do so unless you

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monetarily penalize them? Why are there other people who keep their leftovers in the car until they reach a proper place to throw it, without being monitored or told what to do.

Now we come to one of the most sensitive and touchy parts in life. Can you teach somebody to be loyal or honest and act with integrity? I must be kidding! There are people who are nice to you because they need you for 110 reasons. Either you rank higher than them or they need you for a favor or wasta. Once they no longer need you, do you think you will get a SMS message from them, let alone a phone call for Eid, or a ‘hi’ on Facebook which costs nothing?

Can you teach people to be ethical at work when they are not being monitored?

If it is in them, then it is there. If their boss is away for a whole week, it won’t matter because they will do what they have to do. How many people in our life are blessed with such qualities? I think they are a rare breed.

Can you teach someone to be honest?

Never. You are either born with it or you will never have it. Unfortunately, schools and universities cannot teach you these.

There are hundreds of habits that we cannot learn - neither in school nor in the university or anywhere else.

In the span of my life, I think I have met two sincerely honest people. Somebody told me I was damn lucky, at this rate.

Sorry guys, I did not mean to preach but these are the bitter facts of life. Have a nice weekend! I hope you get luckier than me in life! www.badryadarwish.com

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By Ben Garci a

K

uwait is the natural habitat and a breeding ground for the Arabian horse - a famous breed that originated in the Arabian Peninsula. Just like the camel has been known as the ship of the desert, the Arabian horse was used as a major means of transportation by many in the past.

Kings, nobility, and Bedouins who were nomadic inhabitants of the Arabian desert, prized their Arabian horses. Owning a horse during ancient times was necessary to protect the tribes, people and properties.

To distinguish between Arabian horse breeds is quite puzzling these days. Most of the Arabian horses in Kuwait and even other

parts of the Arabian Peninsula like Jordan and Syria are believed to have a very strong and heavy skeletal structure, except of course, those from the southern Arabian Peninsula. They are then exported to the West and eastern Europe and re-imported here, bred with local horses, making them stronger in disposition.

In the new age of railways,

Country home to more than 6,000 horses

Friday, November 26, 2010

aircrafts and buses, the Arabian horses’ role has changed, to be used, for entertainment, equestrian activity (horse racing) and prestige.

In some parts of the world they are still used as a means of transportation. Many horses are kept for personal pleasure and self gratification. The people of Kuwait unreservedly admire horses—some of them posses one, two or even

more. In the words of Klaus Beste, General Manager of the Arabian Horse Center in Kuwait, horse population in Kuwait is growing significantly, “Kuwaitis are highly appreciative of this animal’s charm.

They are passionate about horses and rear it as a hobby, also considering it their partner and friend. In our experience, the demand for Arabian horse is

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Friday, November 26, 2010 steadily on the rise,” he said.

Klaus has been working with the Arabian Horse Center for more than five years. He has been keenly interested in horse breeding since his early childhood in Germany.

Bait Al-Arab Kuwait State Stud or simply called Arabian Horse (Breeding) Center is being run by the Hunting and Equestrian Club under the chairmanship of Sheikha Sarah Al-Sabah— grand-daughter of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

The center particularly concentrates on breeding ‘Straight Egyptian Arabian Horses,’ a horse breed native to the south Arabian Peninsula but raised and nurtured in Egypt, “So the Arabian horses reared here are cared and nurtured in Egypt. We call them ‘Straight Egyptian Arabian’ horses. These horses are strong and heavier compared to their peers,” he added.

“We breed only Straight Egyptian Arabian horses, a variety that the royals (Al-Sabah) want.

Our center is being funded by the Kuwaiti government. So, we are helping other private breeders for that purpose,” he added.

The Arabian horses are accustomed to the Gulf region’s weather conditions. They do not need much reconditioning unlike other breeds of horses. According to Klaus, the center was founded by late Sheikh Jaber Al-Sabah in early 1980s to rear some Arabian horses for personal use. During those times, no serious breeding programs were initiated. In the late 1980s, they purchased horses from the same bloodline and the breeding process begun in 1988.

However, breeding was interrupted during the 1990 Gulf War. In fact, many of their horses were stolen during the war and only three horses were recovered.

The Arabia n beauty Horses are members of Equus ferus caballus that generally mature to be 150 cm or taller, but many breed registries do accept animals under this height and classify them as horses.

Horse breed is a broad term with no clear consensus as to definition, but most commonly refers to selectively bred populations of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. Depending on definition, hundreds of breeds exist today, developed for many different uses. Horse breeds are loosely divided into three categories based on general temperament: spirited ‘hot bloods’ with speed and endurance; ‘cold bloods’ such as draft horses and some ponies, suitable for slow, heavy work; and ‘warm bloods’ developed from crosses between hot bloods and cold bloods, often focusing on creating breeds for specific riding purposes, particularly in Europe.

Beste named some breeds of horses that can be commonly sighted at horse farms including Arabian Horses, Thoroughbred, Anglo-Arabian, Shawl Jumpers, Appaloosa, Quarter Horse and Trakkener. But the choice of breed depends on personal taste of individual owners, “It really depends on individual (buyers) taste. There is no such specific breed that is ahead of the other.

The Thoroughbred for example could be very fast, but they can get tired easily. The Arabian horse is not as fast as Thoroughbred but

Klaus Beste, General Manager Arabian Horse Center in Kuwait. their endurance levels could last longer than the Thoroughbred,” he explained. With regard to the price tag, Beste says prices depend on auction proceedings, “For real horse lovers, price doesn’t really matter. The price will depend of how much you could spend for one horse you like and desire. If you like the horse and the other party wants the same, the bidding starts.

The higher the bid, the more chance you have of winning. There

is no specific price for one horse, buyers will name their price depending on how much they are willing to spend and pay for the horse they’d like,” the general manager explained.

The parents of the horse are also introduced (to bidders) during the bidding process so as to give the bidder ideas about its offspring.

Kuwaitis can buy horses anytime they wish; so can expatriates.

Expatriates face the problem of

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lack of suitable accommodation facilities for the horse, “Kuwaitis are obviously in a better position; they have farms to rear their horses; like in Wafra,” he said.

At home Currently, the Arabian Horse Center boasts of 60 adult horses at their government facility in Subhan. The most are female alongside three stallions (male horses) to fertilize the female.

They had one stallion (Arabian horse) born and raised in Europe

There is no specific price for one horse, buyers will name their price depending on how much they are willing to spend and pay for the horse they’d like,” the general manager explained.

Horses at the Equestrian Club. —Photos by Ben Gracia

but temporary acquired (lease) for breeding purposes, “As of today, we have 19 foals available here; our facility can accommodate as many as 30 births per year. So far, we got 15 births average per year so far,” he said.

Horses are fed basically grass or hay. They are supplemented with regular meals complete with vitamins and minerals three times daily. They are fully developed at the age of 3to 4 years old and live up to 25 years of age. Horses that are disabled and aging are kept and taken care of until they pass away, “We don’t administer euthanasia; we keep them alive until their last breath,” he said. The female horse can produce 10 to 15 off springs during their life time. Their period of pregnancy lasts up to eleven months. A female horse can be used for racing but are normally segregated. Males can only compete with males. They can be easily distracted by the smell of the opposite sex. Kuwait has approximately 2,000 pure bred Arabian horses and an estimated 4,000 mixed breeds. The center has its own veterinarian team caring for newly born foals and adult horses. Their stables are not air-conditioned but temperatures are regulated with electric fans.

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Friday, November 26, 2010

LOCAL

A place for better books

By Hussai n Al -Qatari

T

he first thing you will notice as you walk down the stairs to Maxine’s bookstore is the quotes inscribed on the walls.

Located in a basement, you might get the feeling that you are walking into a secret place, and indeed it is a never land for bookworms. As you descend the stairs, thousands of books sitting on shelves will greet you, welcoming you to Better Books, which truly lives up to its name. Offering over 75,000 books of all genres, the store ensures something for everybody.

Maxine Meilleur, the owner of the bookstore moved to Kuwait over 20 years ago, working mostly in the field of education. Like almost all bookworms in Kuwait, she found it difficult to find good books here in local bookstores. The idea of a place that offers a wide array of books has been on her mind for a while, but circumstances prevented putting this plan into action. Better Books offers an alternative to what you find on the shelves of the other bookstores.

Pluralism of ideas Among its many sections, the store offers a kids zone, which has plush rugs, colorful pillows and a collection of board books, comics and activity books for children to enjoy. There is also a section that is designated for spiritual and selfhelp books, located comfortably next to a small opening in the wall where a comfortable chair is placed with a table and a reading lamp. A similar space opposite to this one is dubbed ‘the poetry den,’ with inscriptions from poems written on walls, “Clients can come here, grab a book, sit down and read,” says Maxine. Maxine had been toying with the idea of starting this business for years, but the credit crunch dilemma which laid off many Kuwaitis pushed her to take action and start the business.

In love and w a r Maxine, a naturalized Kuwaiti, met her husband, a Kuwaiti military man during the Desert Storm operation in 1990. When she lost her job due to the credit crunch, she decided that it is time

Kuwaiti entrepreneur opens ‘never land’ for bookworms

Inside Better Books. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat to do something she loves and benefit from it, “I had a business license when I first got naturalized. I decided that since I have it sitting there, I might as well make use of it. The idea of a bookstore has been on my mind for many years, and I decided that it is about time that I actually turn this idea into a reality,” she says.

Another important part of the bookstore is the rare and collectibles section, which offers a number of historic books and first editions, as well as signed classic books written by renowned authors. The prices vary between KD10 to KD200, depending on the

books and the authors.

Book w orm ma tinee Better Books was launched in mid-October, and has witnessed a good turnout of clients. “I haven’t launched the store fully yet; I’m still getting shelves put up, sorting many books out of their boxes and tidying up the place,” she says, though the piles of books are inviting to any curious reader.

One of the specialties of Maxine’s bookstore is educators’ books. “The number of bookstores that have a selection for educators is too little in Kuwait,” she notes, adding that she imports books from

abroad for many teachers, “There aren’t enough books for children with special needs, and to have such books here helps these teachers in their careers and also helps the children,” she says.

Starting the business was not an easy task; there has been a lot of learning involved to get around the bureaucracy of Kuwaiti ministries, “Because I learned the ropes and am an honest straight-forward businesswoman, I managed to get all my books into Kuwait with no problems at all. It can be done, it’s not impossible, but you just need to learn how to do things the right way,” she explains.

Maxine wishes to hold many activities in the bookstore for bookworms and readers. She started a movie night, screening classic movies and having a discussion afterwards, “Students are welcome to come over, have their study groups, hold book club meetings or even to sit down for meetings in the bookstore,” said Maxine, stressing that Better Books aims to bring together all book lovers in a comfortable, homey atmosphere. Better Books is located in Salmiya, Block 10, behind Al-Rashid Hospital. hussain@kuw a ittimes.net

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Rights panel begins debate on maids draft law

By B Izzak KUWAIT: The National Assembly’s human rights committee began debating a draft law to govern more than 600,000 domestic helpers working in Kuwait yesterday, in what would be the first law for maids, head of the committee said.

MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan said that the bill was proposed by MP Saleh Ashour who stressed that the labor law in the private sector ignores a key section of foreign workers in the country who are domestic helpers.

He said that the committee decided to invite representatives for the ministries of interior and social affairs and labor to discuss the bill

Names of spoilt meat merchants demanded with them to arrive at a joint draft law.

Domestic helpers, almost all of them Asian, are covered only by a decree issued by the Interior Ministry which stipulates the signing of a contract between the employers and the helper. The decree also underlines the basic rights of domestic workers like a weekly rest day, end of service indemnity, working hours and others. Duwaisan gave no date for the next meeting of the committee.

International human rights

organizations have repeatedly criticized the treatment of domestic helpers in Kuwait, with some highlighting alarming abuse.

In another development, MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, Head of the interior and defense committee called on the government to announce the names of merchants involved in importing and selling expired meat into the country.

Muwaizri said that the government should boost supervision at entry points to inspect imported foodstuff, and form

inspection teams to inspect restaurants, shops and stores of commercial establishments to ensure the validity of food items.

He also demanded that the government immediately close down any restaurant, store or shop in which expired food was found.

The lawmaker also demanded that the government should publish the names of anyone who tries to negotiate on behalf of such corrupt traders.

Meanwhile, the public utilities committee agreed to give the

Communications Ministry three more weeks to issue a decision on the issue of the transfer of mobile numbers between the three operators and the issue of reducing charges on some services. MP Saadoun Hammad said that the ministry promised to complete the issue within three weeks.

MPs have been pressing the government to allow mobile users to transfer their service providers from their current ones while retaining the same number. MPs also complained that the charges of telecommunication services rendered in Kuwait were more expensive than the neighboring countries.

Ahmadi needs help? Just ask us

By Wendy Clayton KUWAIT: Issa Ramadan of Kuwait’s Meteorological Centre says measures to evacuate the people of Ahmadi’s block one is a move in the right direction, but he says they need more help and his team is ready. The government just has to ask and move faster.

“The biggest problem in Ahmadi is the fact that they do not know where the leaks are coming from ,” says Ramadan. “There are two main possibilities; one that it is from gas pipes leaking or from a natural geological formation.”

Another big factor in the ongoing gas leak problem is the changing weather conditions.

Ahmadi is traditionally an area of light winds and with the onset of winter it is about to get more serious in the area. “Up until now the people have been able to open windows and doors to release build-up of gas within their homes,” explains Ramadan. “However, now that it’s getting colder they are more likely to close everything up against the cold. Evacuating people from the area is the best thing to do to prevent major health issues arising.”

Ramadan explained to the Kuwait Times that as the colder weather arrives the density of the air becomes greater. This higher air density means that it absorbs more of the gases rather than dispersing it into the upper atmosphere.

Additionally, colder temperatures mean a lower inversion in the atmosphere pushing the gases closer to the ground.

He further went on to say that in the month of November it is usual to have a very low level of inversion causing pollution to be pushed to the ground. This coupled with the gas poses serious health threats to the community in Ahmadi.

“Until we know for sure the level of gas leaking and how intense it is we cannot move forward. There needs to be 24 hours a day monitoring of the area and beyond to determine the severity of the gas leaks,” says Ramadan.

“We have models existing and ready to go to measure all the necessary data to make qualified

assessments and then decide on the right course of action that needs to be taken.”

Ramadan explained that the Environmental Public Authority already has such models and by working with the Meteorological Centre they can together evaluate the wind speed, direction, and the amount of gas being dispersed into the atmosphere. However, he says they have yet to be called upon to assist in the matter.

Fresh weather predictions are on an increase in moderate to fresh winds starting Saturday which, says Ramadan, will assist in the dispersion of gases. Rain is not expected to arrive in Kuwait until after December 5 so authorities need to move fast to solve the problem in Ahmadi.

“We know that the gas pipeline has been blocked off to the homes but I saw on TV yesterday that some areas had readings of 100% gas saturation. This is really very scary,” said Ramadan. He believes that if the situation is not resolved within one or two weeks then more evacuations must be carried out. Ramadan says the team working on the problem needs to work faster as it is reminiscent of the sewage problem in Mishref. “This is not Mishref or sewage we are dealing with. This is gas, much more serious and much worse. My advice to the EPA and the Government is to install monitoring stations now.

We have the tools, equipment and expertise.

They just have to ask for help,” continued Ramadan.

Ramadan says that they are much more than just weather reporters. “We are scientists too and have a vast amount of knowledge that can help this situation. We need to call in outside help as well. Experts from the US or the UK are very experienced in matters like this. I am sure with their assistance we can put a stop very quickly to this problem.”

The Meteorologist further went on to say that he believed to date Kuwait has been very lucky to not have had a major explosion resulting from the gas leaks. “It is my hope that this is solved before something bigger happens.”

KUWAIT: Men extracting contaminated soil in Ahmadi, Block 1.

—Photo by Wendy Clayton

The creative duo is seen with the confiscated bottles

Creative liquor smugglers caught KUWAIT: The General Department Drugs Control, in cooperation with the customs department foiled an attempt by an Egyptian and a Lebanese to smuggle in 2000 bottles of liquor (Red Label) into the country by placing them in boxes of coal.

A security source said the liquor was brought from a Gulf country and was delivered to Kabd area.

—Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Expat women caught begging KUWAIT: Three female expatriates (two Syrian and an Egyptian) were referred to the Criminal Investigation Department, to be deported after being caught begging under the pretext of being ill.

The Egyptian woman possessed a valid residence visa, while the Syrians were in the country on family visit visas. An official said that the women arrested from a famous mall where they produced medical documents indicating that they were seriously ill and sought money for treatment from public.

Nigerian money launderers nabbed Two Nigerian expatriates were referred to the Public Prosecution Department in connection with financial fraud. Investigators learned that two Nigerians were trying to con citizens by selling counterfeit American currency in exchange for Kuwaiti money, reported Al-Anba. An undercover agent tried to strike a deal with the men - to exchange $100,000 for KD 10,000. The duo were arrested immediately. The notes given to the undercover agent were black, and confessed to having conducted similar transactions in other Gulf countries.

Woman deliberately jailed A police area commander is conducting an

investigation into the involvement of a police officer in detaining an absconding woman in favor of his bedoon friend. Following the discovery of his actions, he attempted to implicate two other policemen in the case. The bedoon friend apparently sought his assistance when an Asian woman failed to answer his repeated phone calls. In a previous altercation, the woman had apparently discovered that he had lied about working for a member of the ruling family. The policeman asked him to bring the woman to the police station, and ordered two policemen to imprison her. The woman spent several days in jail, until the area commander who visited the police station queried about the reason behind her incarceration.

Retraction In the article ‘The Arabic Way: Learning To Read from Right’, published Friday, November 19, 2010, Nasim Vp was wrongly quoted. The correct information is that the CAMS Institute is run by the Al Najat Charity Society. We regret the mistake.

Drive Now. Talk Later.

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Israel to vote on center to detain Africans JERUSALEM: Israel’s Cabinet, hoping to stanch the illegal flow of Africans through the country’s porous southern border with Egypt, is scheduled to vote Sunday on a proposal to build a massive detention center to hold the migrants.

Some of the Africans seek political asylum, but officials say most come looking for work and have become absorbed into the country’s sizable illegal work force. The center is meant to make infiltration a less attractive prospect, and will be voted on just days after Israel began building a barrier along the border.

Israel has become a popular refuge for migrants because of its relatively

open society and high wages.

Thousands have paid Egyptian smugglers to sneak them across a lightly patrolled desert border. And their numbers are mounting.

According to figures the government prepared ahead of the Cabinet vote, about 13,000 illegal migrants from Africa are expected to enter relatively affluent Israel this year, joining about 20,000 others who came between 2006 and 2009. At this rate, next year, “there will be more infiltrators than immigrants,” said Eyal Gabbai, a top aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Although they will be fed, housed and receive medical

care at the center, the illegals won’t be able to work. “This will weaken their economic incentive to come to Israel,” Gabbai told Israel Radio. Similar centers, he said, exist in Western Europe.

Construction of the facility, which would be run by the prisons service, is to begin within six months of Cabinet’s approval. The mounting numbers of non-Jewish residents worry some Israelis who think that might detract from the country’s Jewish character.

But others sympathize with the migrants and don’t want their country, which grew out of the Nazi genocide of the Jews, to turn away people from

conflict zones. Two advocacy groups The Hotline for Migrant Workers and The Association for Civil Rights in Israel - called the center “a refugee camp, nothing more than a ghetto.” In a letter to Netanyahu, they called the proposal “a particularly shocking layer in the Israeli government’s continued disregard for its ethical and legal commitments to refugees and asylum seekers and to (their) children.”

Human rights workers say most of the migrants come from Eritrea, Sudan and other impoverished African countries.

They say the Africans appear to be racing to cross the border before Israel builds a fence there. On Monday, Israel

began working on the barrier, which is also designed to keep out Islamic militants. The fence will be erected at especially porous points along the 130mile (220-kilometer) border that Egypt and Israel share, through the sand, rocks and hills of the Sinai desert. In addition to the African migrants, there are about 120,000 foreign workers with expired visas now in Israel, working illegally, the government and activists say. Employers are willing to hire them illegally despite potential penalties because they work at considerably lower wages than Israelis and are willing to perform menial jobs that Israelis shun. —AP

Egypt activists struggle to monitor election CAIRO: Rights activists in Egypt are struggling to ensure who witness any cheating, police intimidation or violence they will be able to monitor parliament elections Sunday will be able to send messages via mobile phones, Facebook that they expect to be plagued by rigging. But they are and Twitter to volunteers staffing a website called Uhoping for help from would-be voters themselves through shahid.com, who will then post the location and nature of an Internet map tracking violations at the polls. Egyptians the violations on a map of Egypt.

It’s a step, but even activists government passed a admit it’s only a small one to at constitutional amendment that least document what happens. removed the judiciary from the Past elections in Egypt have been polling stations and relegated riddled with vote rigging in favor them to only an indirect of the ruling party, ensuring its supervisory role. hold on parliament, according to Activists fear that will make human rights groups. The last tampering with the vote easier , parliamentary election, in 2005, though, ironically, it could reduce saw police closing off entire polling violence, since police would have stations to ensure opposition less need to close off stations to voters could not get in, sparking opposition voters, the cause of riots at some sites that left at least most of the clashes in 2005.

10 people dead.

The ruling National Rights activists expect this Democratic Party holds a powerful time will be no different, though majority in the current parliament, the government insists past but its top rivals the Muslim votes were clean and that this Brotherhood succeeded in seizing one will be fair as well. Already a fifth of the seats in the 2005 vote. before the voting, police and Many believe the government is armed gangs have broken up determined to ensure the campaign rallies by candidates of fundamentalist Brotherhood is the opposition Muslim squeezed out of the new 508-seat Brotherhood, and more than parliament. The Brotherhood 1,000 Brotherhood activists have believes that in 2005 it would have been arrested. The government won far more seats if the vote had has forced the closure of several been unmarred by violations. The independent TV stations. The group is banned, but is government has rejected calls , nonetheless Egypt’s strongest and including from its ally the United best organized opposition States , to allow in international movement, running its candidates monitors of the balloting. “When as independents. The recognized, media is being restricted, when CAIRO: An Egyptian stands at his balcony over secular opposition parties are monitoring is refused , all this elections banners showing candidates for the weak, with only a handful of puts a question mark over the in the current coming Parliamentary elections in Cairo, Egypt lawmakers elections,” said Hafez Abu Saada, legislature, and have little popular the head of Egypt’s oldest rights yesterday. —AP following. group who has mobilized 120 organization applied to monitor, have the same success as Egypt’s government staunchly Egyptian NGOs and trained but the committee has so far Kenya’s version, she’s realistic. rejected allowing international volunteers to try to monitor the approved only 69 for all of Egypt.

“We have our Plan B. The monitors in to watch the vote , vote.

“It’s obvious the He said that if further phone number may be turned off, even sharply rebuking a rather government wants to carry out accreditations don’t come, his our website may be shut down,” tepid call from Washington to let the elections in the dark and the monitors will try to work in the Abdel Fattah said. “But we have to them in. results won’t reflect the real field anyway on election day. “All try , we are documenting this for Last week, US State desires of Egyptians,” said Abu indicators show that we will fail history to tell the world that we do Department spokesman P.J. Saada, director of the Egyptian to monitor, but we have to try, to not have democracy or freedom Crowley told reporters that Egypt Organization for Human Rights. participate and then explain to and that the Egyptian people are should “put itself in the strongest Local monitors must get the world why we have failed,” being violated by their position possible, by acceding to permission to work from the Abu Saada said. The U-Shahid government.”

Worries are international norms and ensuring Election Commission, which has site is inspired by a Kenyan particularly high this year because that there is international set strict limitations on what they program called Ushahidi that in of new changes in how elections representation.” Egypt’s Foreign can do. They can enter the 2008 mapped reports of violence are handled. In the past, a judge Ministry replied angrily, saying in polling stations to watch voting, around the country in the wake of was present at each polling site, a statement that the US was acting but they are barred from elections there. The Egyptian acting as a monitor, and since like an “overseer” and was not questioning election officials or site’s name means “U-Witness” judges are seen as independent respecting Egypt’s sovereignty. voters or surveying the voters. in Arabic, while the Kenyans is a this was believed to at least “It seems that the US insists on And the commission has been related Swahili word meaning prevent tampering at the sites, not respecting the privacy of the slow in accrediting monitors. “testimony.” One of the U-Shahid though once the ballot boxes left Egyptian society and making Abu Saada said Wednesday that organizers, Israa Abdel Fattah, the building, it was a different statements that incense Egypt’s 1,116 volunteers from his said that while she hopes it will matter.

But in 2007, the nationalism,” it said. —AP

BEIRUT: Lebanese men of Armenian descent, tear up a poster showing Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as they protest against his visit, in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square, Lebanon yesterday. —AP

Armenians in Lebanon protest Turkish PM’s visit BEIRUT: Hundreds of Lebanese of Armenian descent have clashed with army troops during a protest over a visit to Beirut by the Turkish prime minister.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is on a two day trip during which he met with officials and visited the north and south of the country. He was inaugurating a hospital in the southern port city of Sidon yesterday as hundreds of protesters gathered in the

capital’s Martyrs’ Square. When demonstrators tore up a large poster of Erdogan and pelted troops with rocks, security responded by beating up a number of them. There were no reports of major injuries.

Lebanon has 150,000 Armenians, or nearly 4 percent of its population, which harbors deep animosity toward Turks over the 1915 killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians. —AP

Lebanese PM voices support for Hariri tribunal BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri expressed support on Wednesday for a UN-backed tribunal’s investigation of the assassination of his politician father, a process many fear could ignite factional violence.

Western diplomats and Lebanese political sources say expected indictments against members of Shi’ite guerrilla group Hezbollah in the 2005 killing of Sunni statesman Rafik al-Hariri could be issued by the end of this year or in early 2011.

The group, part of a fragile national unity government, denies involvement in the Hariri bombing and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said he will not allow the arrest of any members. He has called on Saad to repudiate the tribunal. “With regards to the international tribunal and the indictment, there are Security

Council resolutions concerning them. This is clear and nobody can change that,” Hariri said at a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“I see that every time we talk about this issue, the more we harm the country. We have to put dialogue ahead of tension.

No strife will happen and no one will drag us into strife,” he said.

Sectarian rhetoric has increased in the last few months as rumours swirl about the timing of the indictments. Adding to the tension was a Canadian media report last week linking Hezbollah to the Hariri killing, which plunged Lebanon into its worst crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.

At Lebanon’s request, the Security Council approved setting up the tribunal in 2007, but it has yet to indict anyone over the killing. —Reuters

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Iraq’s PM asked to form next government Palestinians pray on the rubble of a mosque which was demolished by the Israeli army in the West Bank village of Yarza near Tubas town, where the army destroyed at least five houses due to lack of Israeli permits, yesterday. —AP

Stuxnet could add to Iran’s enrichment problems: Experts VIENNA: A mysterious halt in Iran’s uranium enrichment activities earlier this month, as revealed in a new report by the UN atomic watchdog, may have been due to a cyber attack, experts suggested Wednesday.

But the enrichment program is vulnerable to wider technical problems-particularly since it uses outdated technology-as well as international sanctions, the experts argued.

A restricted report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, says no uranium-enriching centrifuges at Iran’s enrichment facility in Natanz were being fed with nuclear material on at least one day this month. Centrifuges are finely calibrated cylindrical devices that spin at supersonic speed to separate out an isotope of uranium used to make nuclear fuel or, if refined to a much higher degree, for the fissile material for an atomic bomb.

“On November 16, no cascades were being fed with UF6” or uranium hexafluoride, the nine-page report revealed, without offering any explanation as to a possible cause of the outage.

Uranium hexafluoride, a toxic gas, is the particular form of uranium used in the enrichment process. Most of the machines at Natanz are used to produce low-enriched uranium or LEU, which is used to make nuclear fuel.

A much smaller pilot plant where earlier this year Iran began enriching uranium to 20 percent purity-ostensibly to produce radioisotopes for medical purposes-was not affected.

The IAEA’s inspectors were not yet able to determine exactly how long the halt lasted: a few hours on November 16, an entire day or even longer.

The inspectors have not been back since, but Iranian authorities informed them that on November 22 nuclear material was being fed back into the centrifuges.

Iran quickly ruled out a possible cyber attack and denied that the enrichment work was experiencing

technical problems.

But experts see as “feasible” the theory that the stoppage was caused by a computer worm called Stuxnet that has infiltrated Iran’s nuclear facilities recently. Israel is suspected of designing Stuxnet to sabotage its arch foe’s nuclear programme, which the West believes is simply a cover to build an atomic bomb, though Iran denies it. “It’s certainly feasible, because of the kind of technical problems it can cause in the control systems for centrifuges,” said Mark Hibbs, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Centrifuges are very sensitive machines and if you disrupt one of them, you can cause a large number of others to crash.” Analysts say Iran’s enrichment equipment is even more vulnerable to a possible cyber attack because it is intrinsically flawed.

Most of the centrifuges, labelled as P-1 or IR-1, are based on a model dating back to the 1970s that is extremely prone to breakage.

“It’s very likely that the halt was in connection with efforts to overcome chronic technical problems,” said Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Stragegic Studies. “The Stuxnet malware appears to have contributed to these problems, but the P-1 centrifuges have intrinsic problems anyway.”

Hibbs at Carnegie suggested Iran could soon abandon the P-1 or IR-1 centrifuge in favour of more advanced and more reliable models. According to the IAEA report, there are 8,426 IR-1 centrifuges currently installed at Natanz-down from 8,856 at the end of August-with only just over half of those, or 4,816, being fed with nuclear material.

Significantly, Iran told the IAEA it intends to reduce by a third the number of IR-1 machines at its second enrichment site at Fordow, near Qom, the existence of which Tehran only declared after it was discovered by western intelligence services. — AFP

BAGHDAD: Ira q’s prime minister appea led to the country’s w a rring politica l fa ctions for unity a fter formally a ccepting yesterday a request by the president to form the next government, pa rt of a deal to end an eight-month deadlock over w ho w ould lead the country the next four yea rs. The long-aw a ited request from President Ja la l Ta la ba ni sets in motion a 30-day timeline to a ccomplish the daunting ta sk of finding a tea m that includes all of Ira q’s riva l fa ctions a nd w ill oversee the country during the departure of American troops.

“I know and you know well that the responsibility I am undertaking is not an easy task especially in the current circumstances that our country is passing through,” Al-Maliki said.

The new government is expected to include all the major factions, including the Kurds, Shiite political parties aligned with Iran and a Sunnibacked bloc that believes it should have been the one leading the next government.

Many of the politicians were in the room with Al-Maliki and Talabani when the announcement was made in a show of unity that belies the country’s often divisive politics.

Al-Maliki, a contentious figure in Iraqi politics who rose from obscurity to lead the government in 2006, called upon Iraqis and fellow politicians - many who view him with distrust and animosity - to support him in the task ahead. “I call upon the great Iraqi people in all its sects, religions and ethnicities and I call upon my brothers the politicians to work to overcome all differences and to put these differences behind us,” said the prime minister designate.

In an interview with The Associated Press, US Ambassador to Iraq James F. Jeffrey said Al-Maliki has “a long to-do list” over the next 30 days in selecting a broadly supported Cabinet that must be approved by a majority in parliament. “He’s in a strong position,” Jeffery said. “But it isn’t over until it’s over, and it’s essentially 325 members

BAGHDAD: In this photo released by the Iraqi Government, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, right, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri AlMaliki, left, are seen during a ceremony of asking al-Maliki to form the next government in Baghdad, Iraq yesterday. — AP of the parliament that have the final say.” Both Jeffery and Gen. Lloyd Austin, top commander of US forces in Iraq, said they expected democracy to prevail in Iraq despite doubt some may have about its survival. “You will hear episodes of, witness episodes of people having doubt about the future in terms of democracy,” Austin

said. “By the same token, you’ll witness a number of people who feel good about the prospects of democracy.

It’s what people want it will mature as time goes along.”

Al-Maliki will have to find substantial roles for all of those factions or risk having them leave his government, a possibly destabilizing blow for Iraq’s still fragile

democracy that is struggling to overcome years of violence and economic sanctions.

The president’s request yesterday was largely a formality, coming after Talabani was elected on Nov. 11 and at the time publicly asked Al-Maliki to form the next government. Talabani then had 15 days in which to formally extend the offer, giving al-Maliki some extra time to work out the details.

The announcement underscores what has been a stunning comeback for alMaliki, whose State of Law coalition came in second in the March 7 election to the Sunni-backed bloc led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi. But neither bloc gained the 163-seat majority necessary to govern, which translated into an intensive period of political jockeying.

As the political discussions dragged on, so did violence, raising concerns that insurgents were trying to exploit the political vacuum to bring about more sectarian warfare.

Allawi and his Iraqiya coalition were never able to gather enough support from Iraq’s political parties, which are still defined largely by their sectarian allegiances.

Although Allawi himself is a Shiite, his largely Sunni coalition was viewed with suspicion by many in Iraq’s political scene who still harbor deep resentment over the Sunni-dominant government that ruled Iraq under Saddam Hussein and worry about Sunnis returning to power. — AP

Jury finds Somalis guilty of piracy WASHINGTON: Five Somalis were found guilty of piracy for attacking a US vessel in the Indian Ocean, the first US convictions on such charges in nearly two centuries, the Department of Justice said Wednesday. A jury in the port city of Norfolk, Virginia found the men guilty of the April attack on the navy frigate USS Nicholas-which they mistook for a merchant vessel-from a small skiff in April.

The ruling marks “what is believed to be the first piracy trial conviction in the United States since 1820,” the US Department of Justice said in a statement. According to trial testimony, the men sailed from Somalia searching for a merchant ship to raid. “They used a larger ship full of supplies, along with two smaller vessels loaded with assault weapons and a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) that served as attack boats,” the statement read.

On April 1, three of the suspects boarded one of the smaller vessels “and

set out to pirate what they believed to be a merchant ship.” The men opened fire on a ship which turned out to be the Norfolk-based USS Nicholas. The men were caught when the Nicholas returned fire and chased down their small boat and the mother ship.

The defendants claimed that they were fishermen who had been kidnapped and forced into piracy at gunpoint, and sought to be rescued when they saw the vessel they were facing. “Does anyone really believe that three guys in an 18foot (5.5 meter) boat with two AK-47s and an RPG were going to take over a US warship?” asked Jon Babineau, one of the defense attorneys. Babineau said after the jury ruling that he was “disappointed in a system of justice that is supposed to be based on fairness.”

The Somalis were convicted on charges of piracy, attack to plunder a vessel, act of violence against persons on a vessel, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon

on federal officers, conspiracy to use firearms during a violent crime, and firearm counts including the use of a rocket propelled grenade (RPG). The convictions on piracy and use of a destructive device (the RPG) both carry a mandatory penalty of life in prison. The other convictions carry additional sentences of between 10 and 25 years prison.

The men will be sentenced on March 14, the Justice Department said.

Warships now patrol the Indian Ocean after a series of spectacular hijackings in the Gulf of Aden propelled Somali piracy to the forefront of international attention in late 2008 and early 2009. Piracy is a growing problem off the coast of lawless Somalia, with both the number of attacks and the ransoms demanded spiking over the past two years, according to the London-based International Maritime Bureau. Twenty-three vessels and around 500 crew members are currently held by Somali pirates, the bureau said. — AFP

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Spain’s Socialists set for beating in Catalan poll Loss punishment for economic woes MADRID: In Catalonia’s elections, many see the beginning of the end of the Socialists’ grip on power in Spain. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s party is expected to suffer a big loss in the rich northeastern region’s weekend ballot - punishment for the country’s economic woes that could snowball into a

string of setbacks culminating in defeat in national elections in 2012. Catalonia has long sought an independent voice, but is here seen as a speaking for a wave of national anger over Zapatero’s handling of a financial crisis that some fear will require Spain to seek a painful and humiliating bailout.

INGOLSTADT: The name of Dutch-born convicted Nazi Klaas Carel Faber can be seen on the doorbell panel of his house in Ingolstadt, southern Germany yesterday. —AFP

Dutch ask Germans to hand over Nazi convict AMSTERDAM: The Dutch government said yesterday it has issued a European arrest warrant for one of the most prominent unpunished Nazi war crimes suspects - a Dutch collaborator convicted in the Netherlands but living in freedom in Germany.

The 88-year-old Klaas Carel Faber was convicted in 1947 of murder and aiding the enemy in time of war for helping the Netherlands’ Nazi occupiers during World War II, Dutch prosecutors said. He was given a death sentence that was later commuted to life in prison, but he escaped and fled to Germany in 1952, where he was granted citizenship. He has lived in freedom there ever since, as Germany refused to extradite one of its own nationals, yet attempts by German authorities to prosecute him there foundered on legal technicalities.

Dutch prosecutors said yesterday they have decided to try to get Faber back on Dutch soil to serve his existing sentence using the new European arrest warrant system, adopted in 2002 to allow speedy transfers of suspects or convicts between European Union members.

Spokeswoman Tinneke Zwart said it was not certain the warrant system can be applied in Faber’s case. “There were contacts at the ministers’ level, and they decided they would do their utmost to let this person serve his sentence,” she said. “The goal is extradition.” Zwart said it was now up to German legal system to react to the warrant. “This is very good news,” said Efraim Zuroff, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s chief Nazi hunter, in a telephone interview from Jerusalem.

“This really puts the onus on Germany _ now there’s absolutely no reason this guy, who is a person who committed many murders, should be protected by German law.” German Justice Ministry spokesman Ulrich Staudigl said that the request had been received by his office Wednesday and was being “quickly” sent to Munich prosecutors, who are handling the case. Munich

prosecutor Alfons Obermeier said it was hard to say when the extradition request could be decided without the request in hand. But he said several aspects will have to be considered including Faber’s German citizenship and the fact that a German court had already rejected Dutch requests for his extradition before the new warrant system was adopted. “We will examine it speedily, but there are complex legal issues,” he told The Associated Press. Obermeier’s office reviewed Faber’s case in August at the request of German Justice Minister Sabine LeutheusserSchnarrenberger, but concluded Faber could not be prosecuted in Munich without new evidence.

Zuroff said Faber volunteered for Hitler’s SS, a paramilitary organization loyal to Nazi ideology, during the German occupation of the Netherlands in the 1940s. He worked for the death squad code named “Silbertanne,” or “Silver Fir,” which carried out killings of resistance members, Nazi opponents, and people who hid Jews. Zuroff said Faber is believed to have killed more than 20 people during the war, though it was not clear how many of those cases were included in his 1947 murder conviction. Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad reported yesterday Faber worked as a member of the firing squad at the Westerbork transit camp, where thousands of Dutch Jews including Anne Frank were held before being sent to labor camps or death camps in the East. The paper said Faber’s father was killed by the Dutch resistance in 1944, and his brother was sentenced for war crimes and executed in 1948. In the wake of the death of two other Nazi suspects - Adolf Storms and Samuel Kunz - Zuroff said Faber has now been elevated to No. 3 on the Wiesenthal Center’s “most wanted” list. Faber fathered three children and lives in the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt, where he worked for automaker Audi until he retired. —AP

Defeat for the Catalan Socialists would be a big blow for Zapatero as his party prepares to head into nationwide municipal elections and 13 regional government ballots in May. “The defeat of the Socialists is all but taken for granted. No one doubts it,” said Professor Javier del Rey Morato of Madrid’s Complutense University. “And it is likely to have repercussions on a national level, and may even be a foretaste of Zapatero’s defeat in the general elections of 2012.”

Catalonia, whose capital is Barcelona, is one of most powerful of Spain’s 17 semiautonomous regions and its ruling parties have always played pivotal roles in the national parliament in Madrid.

With some 7 million inhabitants, it is responsible for a fifth of the country’s production. But lately there appears to be a pall of gloom over this normally ebullient and dynamic Mediterranean coastal region.

“There’s a widespread sense of disaffection with politicians.

People here are very upset,” said Josefina Elias, director of the Barcelona-based Institute Opina polling agency.

With Spanish unemployment at a euro-zone high of 20 percent, Zapatero’s party has plunged in approval ratings. In Catalonia, the economic crisis is biting hard with unemployment at 17.4 percent. It is the region that has seen the most jobs lost during the crisis. Del Rey Morato said the fact that Zapatero denied for years that a crisis even existed and then made a major U-turn by introducing pro-business labor reforms and austerity measures has left people disconcerted.

“No one knows what Zapatero stands for anymore, he is naked, in absolute crisis and this affects the Socialist party everywhere,” he said.

Observers say many voters are equally displeased with what they view as the incompetence of the local Socialist-led government. Under its watch, Catalonia has suffered some of its most embarrassing moments - with colossal problems in its transport system and electricity and water supplies cropping up incessantly. Psychologically, the region also suffered a major blow this summer when Spain’s Constitutional Court trimmed a new charter giving the region more self-rule, most importantly rejecting its bid to refer to itself as a nation. The charter had been promised by Zapatero and protests against the ruling drew a million people on to the streets in Barcelona. —AP

BAVARIA: Pedestrians enjoy the sunny autumn weather with temperatures around five degrees Celsius at the Domberg in Freising, southern Germany, yesterday. — AFP

Report: Possible Sudan war could cost $110 billion NAIROBI: The economic cost of a return to conflict between northern and southern Sudan could be at least $110.3 billion over 10 years, a new report said yesterday. An independence referendum for oil-rich Southern Sudan is scheduled to be held Jan. 9. Sudan, with its rich resources and its great potential for conflict, has recently featured high on the US foreign policy agenda. Together with the United Nations and regional leaders, the Obama administration has been working to ensure the referendum is held on time and that tensions over it between north and Southern Sudan are reduced. The report by a group of think tanks breaks down the economic cost of possible future conflict between north and south Sudan into three parts: the cost to Sudan, the country’s neighbors, and peacekeeping and humanitarian programs that would be funded by international donors. It does not include the human cost of north-south Sudan going back to the battlefield after five years of restive peace.

“The report challenges the Sudanese parties and those governments who have influence over the situation to ask themselves: Are we doing enough to prevent a conflict that could cost over $100 billion and hundreds of thousands of lives?” the report says. It said Sudan may lose at least $52.1 billion over 10 years. Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda - three countries that border Southern Sudan and have in past conflicts suffered a spillover - are estimated to lose about $29.2 billion over the same period. Peacekeeping and humanitarian programs to deal with the effects of a 10-year conflict are estimated to cost an additional $29 billion. “Our figures are on the conservative side,” said Matthew Bell of Frontier Economics Ltd., a European economics consultancy group that co-wrote the report.

The report is based on recognized models used to calculate the economic cost of war and uses World Bank and International Monetary Fund data for Sudan and its neighbors Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. It is also based on current budgets of United Nations missions in Sudan. It takes the scenarios that any renewed conflict could take either up to 10 years before peace is restored, or 25 years, given Sudan’s experience. An ongoing conflict in Sudan’s western region of Darfur started in 2003. And the northsouth conflict ended in 2005 after two decades of conflict that resulted in the deaths of some 2 million people and ravaged the economy.

The 2005 peace deal that ended the conflict allowed Southern Sudan to share power in the national government and gave it a measure of autonomy, including its own president and legislature. The agreement also provided for an independence referendum at the end of the deal’s transition period.

In recent months, some northern Sudan leaders have questioned whether that referendum can be held on time, fueling concerns there may be attempts to delay it.

Southerners are widely expected to vote in favor of independence, splitting Africa’s biggest country into two.

Such a split would see a significant amount of Sudan’s oil resources remain in the south, but the only route Southern Sudan can export such oil is through a pipeline and port controlled by the north. —AP

Friday, November 25, 2010

INTERNATIONAL

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Mexico sending more troops to violent border zone MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s violent northeastern corner near the US border will get a boost in troops and federal police as the government tries to wrest back control of an area that has become a battleground for two rival drug cartels. The new mission, “Coordinated Operation Northeast,” aims to reinforce government authority in Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon - the two states under the

CARACAS: Handout picture shows Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speaking during a board of ministers meeting in Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on Wednesday. —AFP

Chavez: US harboring fugitive TV executive CARACAS: President Hugo Chavez accused the United States on Wednesday of harboring a fugitive opposition leader, saying the CIA let him enter US territory to help bolster a plan for removing Venezuela’s leader. “The United States is giving protection to a criminal,” Chavez said during a televised address, talking about television station owner Guillermo Zuloaga. “This man is saying whatever the CIA wants him to say.” Chavez, who describes himself as a socialist and is a longtime critic of US influence in Latin America, claims Zuloaga is involved in a plot to assassinate him. The president claimed last week, without offering any details, that he has intelligence that some of his opponents have offered $100 million for his assassination. Zuloaga “is one of them,” he charged.

Zuloaga, the president and majority owner of the opposition-aligned Globovision TV channel, has denied offering money for Chavez’s assassination. Chavez’s comments came after Zuloaga criticized the president’s order for the government to pursue legal measures against Globovision. “You know that any legal action that is tried against Globovision will be an attack for the company and its workers,” he said in remarks broadcast by the station Monday.

Zuloaga, who has recently been in the United States, fled Venezuela in June after a court ordered him jailed on charges of usury and conspiracy. He says he does not intend to return to face the charges because he wouldn’t receive a fair trial because Chavez holds sway over Venezuela’s justice system.

Chavez has waged a long-running battle with Globovision and has threatened the news channel before. Globovision has been the only opposition channel on the air in Venezuela since another one, RCTV, was forced off cable and satellite TV last January. RCTV had been booted off the open airwaves in 2007. —AP

Obama urges bipartisanship on Thanksgiving WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said that the United States was “hurting” yesterday as he used a Thanksgiving address to call for support for US troops and cooperation from his rivals in a divided Washington. “This is not the hardest Thanksgiving America has ever faced. But as long as many members of our American family are hurting, we’ve got to look out for one another,” Obama said in his address. We won’t do it as any one political party. We’ve got to do it as one people. And in the coming weeks and months, I hope that we can work together, Democrats and Republicans and Independents alike, to make progress on these and other issues.”

Noting a meeting with leaders of his Republican foes and fellow Democrats scheduled for Tuesday, Obama said it was time for “a real and honest discussion because I believe that if we stop talking at one another, and start talking with one another, we can get a lot done. For what we are called to do again today isn’t about Democrats or Republicans. It’s not about left or right. It’s about us. It’s about what we know this country is capable of. It’s about what we want America to be in this new century.”

The Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives in mid-term elections earlier this month, complicating Obama’s prospects of winning approval for a raft of legislation. Turning to the Thanksgiving holiday that will see millions of Americans traditionally gather around a roasted turkey, sweet potato, pie and other trimmings, Obama said the first family’s celebrations would be filled with friends, relatives, good food and football. —AFP

He answered no questions at a media briefing with Mexico security officials and the two state governors, and the government later said it would not provide numbers for its forces now in the area or the level after the reinforcements because of security reasons.

Intense cartel violence has gripped Nuevo Leon in and around the industrial, high-tech hub of Monterrey, once one of Mexico’s safest large cities.

Bloodshed also is high across all of Tamaulipas, which shares a 560-mile (900-kilometer) border with Texas and some of the busiest border crossings in the world opposite the US cities of Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville.

“These are geographic factors that have made the area a coveted route for organized crime in the trafficking of drugs and people and in receiving illegal money and arms coming into Mexico,” Poire said. Since the falling out between the Gulf cartel and the Zetas, its former arm of assassins, Nuevo Leon has seen regular gang roadblocks on city streets, assassinations of local politicians and shootouts and grenade attacks that have killed innocent civilians.

In Tamaulipas, where mayors and a gubernatorial candidate have also been killed, gang violence has closed schools, made roads unsafe for travel and blocked some government oil workers from reaching installations. Earlier this month, residents fleeing gunbattles in the state’s oncepicturesque town of Ciudad Mier ended up in Mexico’s first drug-war refugee shelter. In another part of Tamaulipas, 72 migrants trying to reach the United States were found slaughtered earlier in the year.

Residents have accused the federal and state government of being conspicuously absent, leaving them in the crossfire of military-strength weaponry wielded by drug gunmen. Local media has been intimidated or co-opted out of covering the drug war, leaving Tamaulipas cities such as Reynosa to warn residents during outbreaks of violence via Twitter and Facebook.

Poire said government forces are present and touted recent military and police blows against the two cartels: the killing earlier this month of Gulf cartel leader Antonio “Tony Tormenta” Cardenas Guillen, the 2008 capture of a founding member of the Zetas, Jaime “The Hummer” Gonzalez Duran, and the arrest of eight presumed Zeta members in the killing of the migrants.—AP

heaviest attack since the formerly allied Gulf and Zetas gangs split. The government also wants to keep the cartels from regrouping after the loss of key leaders, federal police spokesman Alejandro Poire said Wednesday. But Poire gave no details on the operation, saying only that there will be a “significant” increase in forces.

CANCUN: Members of Federal Mexican Police stand guard on Kukulkan avenue in Cancun, Quintana Roo State, Mexico, on Wednesday.—AFP

Police raid gang-controlled slums in Rio; 14 dead RIO DE JANEIRO: Police raided gang-ruled shantytowns Wednesday, setting off clashes that killed 14 people as authorities try to halt a wave of violent crime that has rattled rich and poor alike in a city that Brazil hopes to make a showplace for the 2016 Olympics. Police invaded the Vila Cruzeiro community and surrounding slums early in the day, engaging in intense gunbattles. Twenty-five people were detained.

“We didn’t start this war,” police spokesman Henrique de Lima Castro Saraiva said. “We were provoked. But we will emerge victorious.” Over the past three days, 21 people had been killed and about 150 arrested during sweeps by 17,500 officers, Lima Castro said. Two officers suffered minor wounds in Wednesday’s fighting. A wave of recent gang violence has shaken Rio. Authorities say gangs are lashing back in response to a lawenforcement drive to regain control of territory the past two years. The police force has been assigned an additional 1,200 officers to fend off attacks.

“We are stepping up our efforts,” Lima Castro said. “We will be even more trenchant tomorrow.”

Most of the violence was concentrated in the city’s poor northern and western neighborhoods. Robber gangs have erected roadblocks where they have stopped cars and buses and set 29 vehicles on fire since the clashes began Sunday. One man was killed Wednesday when he refused to stop at a roadblock. Police said they had not yet identified all the dead or determined what connection, if any, they had to drug trafficking or other crimes.

“Bystanders may be affected,” Lima Castro said.

As bodies arrived at the Getulio Vargas state hospital in northern Rio, desperate relatives insisted their loved ones were innocent victims and lashed out at police and drug dealers alike.

“Congratulations, congratulations for killing another innocent victim,” screamed a distraught man who identified himself as the father of 14-yearold Rosangela Barbosa Alves. Barbosa was killed by a stray bullet at her home in Vila Cruzeiro.

The father did not want to give his own name for fear of retaliation. “There are three children (who were shot and killed) ... and no one does anything,” added a weeping female relative of Barbosa who also declined to be identified. “The criminals are never killed.” The relatives of another victim, identified by the health department as Rafael Felipe Goncalves, 29, wrapped his body in a blanket and carried it down a steep slope leading to the hospital. He had been shot in the head and was dead on arrival.

“He is not a criminal,” cried a man who identified himself as the victim’s brother. Security officials say the roadblock robberies and other gang violence are aimed at bringing a halt to a police campaign to force the groups out of the city’s numerous shantytowns, where they have long ruled with impunity. Thirteen shantytowns have been freed of gangs over the past two years.

The plan is to liberate 40 - a small fraction of Rio’s more than 1,000 slums - in time for the 2014 World Cup.—AP

INTERNATIONAL

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Friday, November 26, 2010

South Korea’s defense chief resigns over N Korea attack President vows to send more troops to front-line YEONPYEONG ISLAND: South Korea’s defense minister resigned yesterday a mid intense criticism tw o da ys after a North Korean artillery a ttack killed four people on a small isla nd near the Koreas’ disputed frontier. The move came as President Lee Myung-bak vow ed to send more troops to the front-line South Korean isla nd and as residents tried to salvage belongings from the bla ckened w reckage of their homes. Pyongyang w arned of additional atta cks if provoked.

YEONPYEONG ISLAND: A South Korean police officer patrols near the destroyed houses on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea yesterday. — AP

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi to appeal in party dissolution case YANGON: Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will appeal the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear her lawsuit against the junta for dissolving her party, her lawyer said yesterday. The Nobel Peace Prize winner’s National League for Democracy (NLD) was disbanded for boycotting the military-ruled country’s first election in 20 years in response to rules that seemed designed to bar her from taking part.

Suu Kyi “has said to continue the legal process until it finishes,” said her lawyer Nyan Win. “We will file a special appeal at

the Supreme Court in Naypyidaw to hear the case,” he told AFP. The Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider the lawsuit.

Suu Kyi, who co-founded the NLD, had unsuccessfully filed an earlier suit with the Supreme Court aimed at preventing its abolition. Court verdicts rarely favour opposition activists in Myanmar, one of the world’s oldest dictatorships with more than 2,200 political prisoners. Myanmar’s courts also rejected a series of appeals by Suu Kyi against her house arrest before it expired on November 13, resulting in her release after seven straight years of detention. — AFP

Indonesia picks academic as new anti-graft chief JAKARTA: Indonesia’s parliament yesterday approved Busjro Muqoddas, seen as less aggressive of two possible candidates, to take up the vacant and challenging position of head of the country’s anti-graft body. Graft is a key investment risk in one of Asia’s most corrupt countries, but efforts to tackle it have faltered in the past two years as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has come under attack from vested interests and lost key

officials. The choice of Muqoddas, 58, a soft-spoken academic and former head of a judicial commission, as KPK head was seen by analysts as an effort by parliament to try to avoid an “attack dog” who would take on big tycoons and top government officials.

“It seems that a bulk of parties in the parliament regards the KPK with considerable fear because of the number of parliamentarians who have been jailed in KPK investigations,” said Jakarta-

based analyst Kevin O’Rourke.

Analysts said Muqoddas would need to be courageous to fight institutional graft, a deterrent to greater foreign direct investment, but at least the KPK had a chief for the first time in more than a year, after the previous incumbent ended up in jail for life on murder charges. “I think his appointment will bolster the KPK, and therefore strengthen clean governance effort in Indonesia,” said O’Rourke. — Reuters

Hours before Defense Minister Kim Tae-young’s resignation, lawmakers had lashed out at the government, claiming officials were unprepared for Tuesday’s attack and that the military response to the North’s barrage was too slow. Even those in Lee’s ruling party demanded Kim’s dismissal as well as those of military leaders and some presidential aides.

Lee accepted Kim’s resignation and a new defense chief will be announced today, presidential chief of staff Yim Tae-hee said. Skirmishes between the Korean militaries are not uncommon, but North Korea’s heavy bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island was the first on a civilian area, raising fears of an escalation that could lead to a new war on the Korean peninsula. South Korean troops had returned fire and scrambled fighter jets in response.

Seoul and Washington ratcheted up pressure on China to rein in its ally North Korea, and China yesterday urged both sides to show restraint. Reporters allowed for the first time onto the island found streets strewn with broken glass and charred debris. Blackened beer bottles lay beside what was left of a supermarket as coast guard officers patrolled in pairs past deserted offices and schools used by relief workers for meetings and meals.

Many residents fled as quickly as they could, but restaurant owner Lee In-ku, 46, joined a handful of villagers trying to salvage belongings from half-destroyed homes. “It was a sea of fire,” Lee said of Tuesday’s attack.

“Many houses were burning and many people were just running around in confusion. It was real chaos.” At an emergency meeting in Seoul yesterday, President Lee ordered top-level weapons for troops manning the tense Yellow Sea, a presidential aide said. “We should not ease our sense of crisis in preparation for the possibility of another provocation by North Korea,” presidential spokesman Hong Sang-pyo quoted Lee as saying. “A provocation like this can recur any time.”

Hong said South Korea will sharply raise the number of ground troops on Yeonpyeong and four other islands, reversing a 2006 decision to draw down forces. He declined to discuss specifics but said troops there currently are about 4,000. —AP

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, left, and his wife Bun Rany march during a memorial service near a bridge where festival goers were killed Monday in a stampede in Phnom Penh, Cambodia yesterday. — AP

Cambodia holds day of mourning for stampede dead PHNOM PENH: Crowds of mourners offered flowers and incense yesterday at the site of a stampede that killed almost 350 people after panic spread over rumors an overcrowded bridge was about to collapse. Prime Minister Hun Sen, dressed in black, wiped away a tear and burnt incense at the foot of the narrow bridge, as he led the country in a national day of mourning at a short service.

Flowers and food offerings for the souls of the deceased replaced the shoes, clothing and plastic bottles that were discarded by victims and had remained as grim reminders of Monday’s disaster.

Officials said throngs of revellers celebrating the nation’s annual water festival apparently panicked as rumours rippled through the crowds that the crossing to an island in Phnom Penh was about to give way.

The death toll was revised down to 347 from 456 because some victims had been mistakenly included twice, the social affairs ministry said. Of those who perished, 221 were women.

Hospitals reported 395 people were injured. At the memorial ceremony, Hun Sen’s wife, Bun Rany, stood at her husband’s side and cried as a military band played a sombre tune.

Flags flew at half-mast at government buildings across the capital, and many women wore white shirts, a colour of mourning in Cambodia.

Streams of people, including foreigners, lined up to lay out fruit, rice and water for the spirits of the dead. The offerings are part of Khmer tradition, said 28-year-old mourner Bou Rany, to appease the souls of the deceased. “We do not know where their spirits will go,” she said. Also laying flowers was Soth Chay Heang, who said she was angry about the incident. “I don’t want the bridge to reopen now. That

has to wait until the people have released all their sorrow,” the 23-year-old graduate said.

Om Yentieng, the premier’s top adviser, said the bridge would open to foot traffic again soon. “The use of the bridge will continue,” he told reporters at the memorial service. King Sihamoni did not attend the event, but his father, Norodom Sihanouk, the former monarch who is still highly revered by Cambodians, sent out a public letter of condolence from Beijing, where he is receiving medical treatment.

The message, which appeared in full on the front page of a local newspaper, said the event had filled him and his wife “with very profound sadness.” Initial findings from a probe into the stampede released Wednesday suggested a combination of factors was to blame.

“The deaths happened because the bridge was overcrowded and there was panic that the bridge was collapsing because it is hung by cables and it was swaying,” said Prum Sokha, who heads a panel investigating the tragedy.

The government has admitted it overlooked issues of crowd control but says a private firm was in charge of security on the island and bridge where the disaster unfolded. Phnom Penh’s police chief Touch Naruth estimated that at least 7,000 people were on the eightmetre (26 feet) wide, 100metre (328 feet) long crossing when the stampede happened. “It’s unfortunate, but even if we had had tens of thousands of policemen, we would still not have been able to help them because they were stuck on the bridge,” he told AFP. More than 4,000 police officers were deployed during the festival and thousands of other security personnel were on guard as well, he added. — AFP

iNterNatioNal

Friday, November 26, 2010

Page 15

No quick pardon for condemned Pakistani Christians call for abolishment of blasphemy law MUMBAI: A schoolgirl prays in front of a portrait of Rabbi Gabriel Holtzberg and his wife, both killed during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, during special prayers at the Jewish Center Nariman House in Mumbai, India yesterday. — AP

India wants action from Pakistan on Mumbai attacks NEW DELHI: India rebuked Pakistan yesterday for not punishing the alleged masterminds of the 2008 terror attack on the Indian financial capital of Mumbai that killed 166 people. None of the seven men arrested in Pakistan on charges of planning and executing the three-day assault - which began two years ago Friday has been put on trial. In a message conveyed to Pakistan’s envoy in New Delhi, India expressed its frustration that Islamabad had not followed up on intelligence given to it about the men, who allegedly belong to Lashkar-eTaiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist militant group.

Despite repeated assurances given by Pakistan’s leadership, “substantive and verifiable progress has not been made on bringing all the perpetrators and masterminds of the heinous attacks to justice,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. It urged Pakistan to announce a time by which it would take action against the suspects.

Fulfilling that pledge would

help build trust and confidence between the countries and demonstrate Pakistan’s commitment to combating terrorism, the ministry said.

Pakistan’s government had no immediate response to India’s criticism, but Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said the legal case against the suspects was continuing. “We are committed to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack to justice,” Basit said at a regular briefing yesterday.

Relations between the two South Asian rivals have been strained since the attacks, with India accusing Pakistan’s intelligence agencies of supporting militants who carry out terrorism in India.

Officials from the two sides have met in recent months to discuss a resumption of a slowmoving peace process, but the talks have made scant progress because India is not convinced that Pakistan is doing enough to punish the perpetrators or prevent more attacks.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since 1947, two over conflicting claims to the Kashmir region. — AP

Roadside bomb in NW Pakistan kills 1 soldier PARACHINAR: A roadside bomb hit a security convoy in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least one soldier yesterday and wounding six others, police said. The Pakistani security forces were driving in the Hangu district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province when the bomb exploded, police official Amir Khan said. No one claimed responsibility, but attacks on troops are usually blamed on the Taliban or other Islamist extremists that operate in the area, which has also seen sectarian clashes between majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslims.

The latest explosion came as Pakistan’s interior minister claimed that the majority of explosives come from across the border in Afghanistan. Rehman Malik was speaking at a national conference on reducing homemade bombs known as improvised explosive devices or IEDs. “IEDs are actually being transported from Afghanistan to Pakistan,” Malik said. “They are manufactured there and with the naked eye you can see on the border ... that terrorists are coming toward Pakistan along with arms and ammunition.” Afghanistan and Pakistan have each blamed the other in the past for roadside bombs. US and NATO troops in Afghanistan have said that the Taliban and other insurgents use safe havens in Pakistan to plot attacks across the border and also bring in explosives through Pakistan.— AP

ISLAMABAD: Pa kista n’s president w ill not immediately pardon a Christian w oman sentenced to die for insulting Isla m but ma y do so later if an a ppeals court delays her ca se too long, an official said yesterday. The case against Asia Bibi has infla med religious pa ssions in Pakista n.

Hard-line Muslims demonstrated again yesterday against any pardon for her, and minority Christians held their own protests calling for abolishment of the blasphemy law, which critics say is misused by some to settle personal scores and persecute minorities. Pope Benedict XVI has appealed for the release of Bibi, a 45year-old mother of five who has said she was wrongly accused by a group of Muslim women with a grudge against her. The pope said her case highlights the persecution of Pakistani Christians, who make up less than 5 percent of the country’s 175 million people.

Bibi, 45, is the first woman condemned to die under the blasphemy law. She has been jailed for 18 months and was sentenced Nov. 8 to hang for insulting Islam’s Prophet Mohammed. Her lawyer has filed an appeal with the Lahore High Court, and President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to let the appeal process play out instead of immediately pardoning her, said Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, who met with Zardari yesterday.

Pardoning Bibi would carry political risk for Zardari, whose broadly secular ruling party relies on the support of Islamist groupings in Parliament. However, the

MULTAN: Protesters burn a poster of governor of Punjab’s province Salman Taseer during a rally to condemn Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi in Multan, Pakistan yesterday. —AP president agreed to pardon Bibi later if the appeal case is unduly delayed, said Bhatti, who delivered a report to the president yesterday recommending Bibi be immediately freed. Zardari’s spokesman could not be

reached yesterday.

Bhatti said Zardari did not specify any deadline but he believes the president “will not wait months or weeks.”

About 100 Muslim demonstrators rallied yesterday in the central city

of Multan, warning against any presidential pardon for Bibi and burning an effigy of the Punjab provincial governor who has supported her appeal. “We will resist if the government moves against the court verdict and attempts to amend the blasphemy law,” warned Tariq Naeemullah, a leader of Citizen Front of Multan.

Dozens of Christians held their own protest in the southern city of Karachi, carrying a large crucifix and placards reading “Down with Black Law” and “Stop Discrimination Against Religious Minorities.”

Pakistan’s higher courts have always struck down lower courts’ death penalties in past blasphemy cases. Still, Bhatti said many who are falsely accused are unjustly jailed for months and often targeted by violence. Two Christian brothers in Punjab were gunned down earlier this year as they were leaving a court hearing on a blasphemy charge.

The minorities minister acknowledges that repealing the blasphemy law is politically unfeasible but has proposed changes to it including making it a crime to falsely accuse someone, abolishing the death penalty for the crime and requiring initial cases to be heard by higher courts instead of local ones. — AP

Afghanistan arrests 2 election workers KABUL: The Afghan attorney general’s office has arrested two employees of the nation’s electoral commission and two people working in the money transfer business on allegations of fraud in the September parliamentary elections, the deputy attorney general said yesterday.

The arrests are the latest problem to overshadow the vote, which has been seen as a test of President Hamid Karzai’s commitment to curb corruption in his government since last year’s fraud-ridden presidential election.

Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission and the Electoral Complaints Commission have the authority to investigate complaints of election misconduct and certify results, but the attorney general can probe criminal activity. He announced on Wednesday that he would investigate allegations of fraudulent vote counting and ballot manipulation.

The investigation by the nation’s top prosecutor, who was appointed by Karzai, has raised speculation among Western diplomats that the president or his advisers are upset with the election results and are pushing the attorney

general to probe election fraud and throw the victories of certain candidates into doubt. Not all western diplomats agree, saying they have seen no evidence that Karzai is behind the investigation.

Deputy Attorney General Rahmatullah Nazari denied allegations that Karzai had ordered the attorney general to investigate. He said that after the investigation was completed _ hopefully within a month _ the results would be handed to the Supreme Court.

A western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate political issue, said the court’s rulings on any cases could change the outcome of certain races.

Nazari said an arrest warrant has also been issued for a third employee of Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission. “One important person who has a role in this case has not yet been arrested,” Nazari said. “The person not yet arrested is an IEC employee - high-ranking - one who is making decisions.” He declined to name those arrested or which parliamentary races were involved. IEC spokesman

Noor Mohammad Noor declined to comment, saying the commission did not know which of its more than 85,000 employees had been arrested. Attorney General Mohammad Ishaq Alako claimed earlier this week that money from well-connected Afghans, many of whom keep their riches in Dubai, heavily influenced the election results.

Nazari told reporters at the attorney general’s office that prosecutors were investigating at least five cases of election bribery involving sums ranging from $80,000 and $220,000. “These are the papers that are written in the money market that prove there were bribes,” Nazari said, holding up papers that named candidates and people in the business of transferring money. Nazari criticized the IEC for releasing the final election results for 33 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces on Wednesday before the attorney general’s investigations were completed.

A statement issued by Karzai’s office said that in resolving the election problems, the president was respecting the constitution and “will act accordingly.” — AP

BUSINESS

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Kuwait’s exports to Japan up for first time in four months October imports from Japan to ME falls 13.9%

DuBAi: A picture shows Emirati men following the market activity at the Dubai stock market. —AFP

Debt-laden Dubai leans on major sectors for recovery DUBAI: A year after scaring global markets over its debt crisis, Dubai still has a huge legacy of debt to deal with over the medium term, and is leaning on its core economic sectors for recovery. The focus in the citystate has shifted to the traditionally strong sectors of trade, logistics and tourism in order to recover slowly from a crisis caused primarily by a boomto-bust real estate frenzy.

Financial markets woke up in the red last November 26 after Dubai signaled its need for a standstill on debt payments by its largest conglomerate, Dubai World. But Dubai succeeded in buying time, convincing its lenders to restructure some 14.4 billion dollars (10.8 billion euros) of debt over five and eight years, at low interest.

But it still needs to secure capital to meet debt repayments.

Monica Malik, chief economist at EFG-Hermes investment bank, says “we see fewer concerns over debt in the shorter term.

Restructuring the debt is reducing concerns about debt servicing over the short term.”

“In the medium term, they still have the issue of raising funds to reduce the debt levels. That will require some asset sales.” Dubai World’s wide range of assets include DP World, the world’s fourth largest container port operator, and Jebel Ali Free Zone, as well as stakes in Atlantis Hotel in Dubai, US retailer Barney’s and MGM Resorts.

It is trying to delay selling off assets until a hoped-for significant recovery in the global economy helps to lift values.

Meanwhile, other governmentrelated companies, known as Dubai Inc, are feeling the pinch of debt servicing, although not on the scale of Dubai World. Dubai Holding is a diversified group owned entirely by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al-Maktoum-the man behind the Emirate’s ambitious, yet extravagant development.

It has already been buoyed

with an injection of two billion dollars from the government, but its financial arm, Dubai Group, is said to have recently missed two scheduled payments on a 330million-dollar loan. Mohammed Al-Shaibani, who has emerged as Sheikh Mohammad’s lieutenant in the fight to sort out the Emirate’s debt crisis, told the Financial Times earlier this month that the government will intervene when needed. “I don’t want to put any more money in as the government, but I will do it as and when it’s required,” said the head of the ruler’s court, who is also a member of the Supreme Financial Committee, created to tackle the debt problem.

Thanks to a lifeline of 20 billion dollars from neighboring Abu Dhabi, the Dubai government managed to step in to avert a default by Dubai World and take control of its restructuring. Estimates for Dubai’s total debt vary, but it is put at a minimum of 100 billion dollars. —AFP

TOKYO: Kuwait’s exports to Japan rose 18.2 percent from a year earlier to 80.03 billion yen ($958.4 million) in October for the first increase in four months, official data showed yesterday. Imports from Japan plunged 32.9 percent to 8.31 billion yen ($99.5 million), marking the second straight monthly fall, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.

As Kuwaiti export prices to Japan far exceeded import prices, Kuwait ran a trade surplus with Japan for the 33rd straight month in October at 71.71 billion yen ($858.8 million), widening for the first time in two months. Japan is Kuwait’s major trading partner, with two-way trade reaching $10.53 billion in 2009.

The Middle East’s trade surplus with Japan went up 2.7 percent to 577.0 billion yen ($6.91 billion), with Japan-bound exports falling 1.5 percent from a year earlier to 739.10 billion yen ($8.85 billion). Crude oil and petroleum products, which accounted for 97.5 percent of Japan’s total imports from the area, edged down 2.0 percent year-on-year.

October imports from Japan to the Middle East fell 13.9 percent to 162.09 billion yen ($1.94 billion), largely due to a plunge in shipments of automobiles, manufactured goods, machinery and electrical components, which accounted for 92.8 percent of the region’s total imports from Japan.

Japan’s global trade surplus gained 2.7 percent from the year before to 821.90 billion yen ($9.84 billion), with exports growing at the slowest pace of the year amid the global economic slowdown.

Exports advanced 7.8 percent on year to JPY 5.724 trillion ($68.55 billion) for the 11th straight monthly increase, but the slowest growth since November last year, adding to concerns that Japan’s export-oriented economy may suffer a contraction if the yen continues to rise and overseas demand slows.

The worse-than-expected data was mainly due to declines in exports to Europe and Latin America, although shipments to China, Japan’s biggest market, gained 17.5 percent. Imports climbed 8.7 percent to 4.902 trillion yen ($58.71 billion), up for the 10th consecutive month, buoyed by demand for iron ore, coal and liquid natural gas. The trade data are measured on a customscleared basis before adjustment for seasonal factors. —KUNA

Friday, November 26, 2010

ADCB files suit against Credit Suisse and S&P DUBAI: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank said yesterday it is suing Credit Suisse and credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s, alleging it was misled over a 2007 investment that went sour. The case is the second filed by the Abu Dhabi governmentcontrolled bank in New York involving complex financial instruments known as structured investment vehicles that fell prey to the credit squeeze brought on by the subprime mortgage crisis in the US. ADCB alleges that Credit Suisse failed to disclose conflicts of interest and provided misleading information when packaging and selling the investment vehicle, which went by the name Farmington. The bank says it was pressured to invest in the deal in 2007 to protect its stake in an earlier, similar investment known as Stanfield Victoria that was coming under pressure at the time.

As part of the agreement, ADCB claims it was required to enter into another transaction known as a credit default swap designed to protect Credit Suisse’s exposure to the Farmington deal, which it believed “carried minimal risk.”

Structured investment vehicles were set up to borrow money by issuing short-term securities at a low interest rate. They would lend that money by purchasing long-

term securities at higher interest. Investors were able to profit from the difference, as were issuing banks that charged fees to structure them.

ADCB is suing S&P because it alleges the rating house made inaccurate assessments tied to the Farmington investment by assigning ratings to underlying assets that were “investmentgrade,” suggesting they were relatively safe. Ala’a Eraiqat, ADCB’s chief executive said the lawsuit aims to protect the bank from potential losses, but he doesn’t expect it to have a major effect on the company’s earnings.

“For the benefit of all our key stakeholders, it is appropriate to take action against parties who we believe misled ADCB,” he said in a statement outlining the lawsuit. “On close examination, the investment was sold to the bank in an unacceptable manner.” Representatives for Credit Suisse and S&P declined to comment.

ADCB is pursuing a separate suit involving structured investment vehicles against Morgan Stanley, S&P, and another rating agency, Moody’s Investors Service. That case, a class-action suit filed in 2008, seeks damages resulting from the collapse of an SIV known as Cheyne that was backed by US mortgages and other securities. —AP

Egypt has brief economic reform slot between votes CAIRO: Egypt has only a small window of opportunity after Sunday’s parliamentary election to push through politically unpopular economic measures to help it reach the 7 percent growth it says is needed to reduce unemployment. By borrowing to finance a large budget deficit, the government risks crowding out lending to private business.

Officials favor early action to reduce the gap, hoping that any discontent will cool before next year’s presidential contest.

After the parliamentary vote, attention turns to a presidential poll expected in the second half of 2011. Mubarak’s current six-year term runs to September. Neither vote is likely to weaken the ruling National Democratic Party’s grip on power, but the government remains sensitive to the timing of austerity measures that might cause public wrath to erupt in the runup to the presidential poll.

“Memory is short,” said a government official who asked not to be named. “If we do it now, they will have forgotten.”

Among deficit-cutting steps

on hold are a real estate tax, a value-added tax (VAT) and more effective targeting of subsidies to the poorest that would hike the price many consumers pay for subsidized petrol and cooking gas. Many Egyptians are deeply suspicious of any economic reforms, viewing them as designed to make the rich richer at the expense of the poor, analysts say. That may be one reason why cost-cutting measures have been deferred until the parliamentary election is out of the way.

“Any increase in prices now, given the current inflation and unemployment rates, would reflect badly on the (ruling) national party in the parliamentary election even if the government does forge the vote,” said political analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah. The government insists voting is free and fair. “It would be hard for it to convince the people that a big number of people voted for the national party after it raised prices,” said Abdel Fattah, who works at the Al-Ahram Centre For Political and Strategic Studies. —Reuters

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Friday, November 26, 2010

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India hit by yet another big corruption scandal 8 top public banking officials arrested TOKYO: This picture shows an employee of Japan’s leading jewelry shop, Ginza Tanaka, displaying the front and back of the company’s 2011 gold calendar with an illustration of “Miffy” (right) during a press preview yesterday. Ginza Tanaka produced the six-kilogram gold calendar with an illustration of the “Miffy” character to celebrate the “Year of the Rabbit,” on sale for 55,000,000 yen ($657,500). —AFP

Vodafone faces billion dollar Indian charges LONDON: Vodafone and other mobile phone companies operating in India could be forced to pay more than one billion dollars (750 million euros) each to the government, officials told yesterday’s Financial Times.

The Indian government came under fire for the alleged undervaluation of the secondgeneration mobile licenses it issued in 2008, forcing telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja to resign. A report by India’s national auditor found the government gave spectrum to existing operators-Bharti Airtel, BSNL and Vodafone-beyond the set time limit without

charging any upfront fees, resulting in eight billion dollars lost revenue.

“This is payback time,” a senior government official told the newspaper. “Those who were given more at less will have to pay something back to the government.”

“The exact amount is being worked out but BSNL, Bharti and Vodafone are the ones that benefited the most so they will pay the most,” the official added. Vodafone broke into the Indian market in 2007 when it forked out almost 11 billion dollars to purchase a controlling stake in a local operator, but has since been caught in a price war. —AFP

HK exchange ends long lunch breaks to race against rivals HONG KONG: The long lunch is coming to an end for Hong Kong’s stockbrokers.

The Chinese territory’s stock exchange, which has one of the shortest trading days among the world’s major markets, plans to halve its two-hour lunch break over the next two years. It also plans to start trading half an hour earlier in a bid to raise its competitiveness with its counterpart on the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai stock exchange, as well as regional rivals.

The plans announced this week will bring the Hong Kong exchange’s trading hours more in line with Shanghai’s so there’s less chance for investors to exploit the trading time differences between the two - differences that would increasingly favor Shanghai as its market gradually opens to more foreign participation. Hong Kong, a former British colony promised Westernstyle civil liberties in its

handover to China, has its own currency and markets as part of its special semiautonomous status.

Over the years, the Hong Kong bourse has become increasingly reliant on business from China, with more than two-thirds of trading turnover coming from its listings of mainland-based companies. Many Chinese stocks are traded in both Shanghai and Hong Kong and as the number rises, “investors in the Hong Kong market can only react to market news after their counterparts in the mainland market,” which may prevent stocks from being sold at fair prices, a consultation document on the proposed changes released on Tuesday said.

The Hong Kong exchange tried to introduce longer trading hours in 2003 but failed because of stiff opposition from brokers.

Not everyone is happy about the latest proposed changes either. —AP

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: India’s reputation as a place to do Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednedsay business took another hit after the scandal-tainted arrested five officials from state-run listed companies, government charged top public sector bankers of accepting including the chief executive of LIC Housing Finance, for bribes worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The federal taking bribes to facilitate large corporate loans.

Three senior executives from a listed private company were also arrested on charges of handing out the bribes.

The banking scandal is one of the biggest to taint India, potentially harming the image of Asia’s third-largest economy as destination for foreign investors, especially as it comes a few days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has had to defend his government in another graft scandal involving telecoms licenses sold at rock-bottom prices. “The message is not good, both for the market also for the economy,” said D.H. Pai Panandiker, head of private think tank RPG Foundation.

“All these things create a very bad image about the country and it’s kind of loss of faith in the system,” he said. The scandals are unlikely to deter investors from India, one of the four key KUALA LUMPUR: Guests take a closer look at Malaysian national carmaker BRIC emerging markets in the Proton’s Exora Range Extended Electric Vehicle in Cyberjaya yesterday. Proworld and a hot investment destination, analysts say. ton will roll out its first fleet of hybrid electric vehicles in January for a pilot Investors are keen to tap into a test before mass production targeted for 2012, officials said yesterday. —AP country with a population of 1.2 billion. Economic growth is forecast at 8.5 percent in 201011, and then between 9 and 10 percent every year after that, levels rivaled only by China.

India was ranked 87th in Transparency International’s 2010 ranking of nations based on TOKYO: Japanese exports Naoto Kan’s ambitions to rein in most of expiring subsidies and the perceived level of corruption. grew at their slowest pace of the world’s biggest public debt smokers stocked up ahead of a India lies behind rival China, the year in October, data at 200 percent of GDP. The tax hike. But analysts warn of which is in 78th place. Shares in showed yesterday, underlining October exports figure a looming payback in the fourth companies affected fell sharply fears for the country’s main compared with a 14.3 percent quarter without such one-off since the scandal broke, engine for growth as the trade- rise growth in September and a factors, amid doubts over the underperforming the Mumbai reliant recovery loses more 15.5 percent rise in August, the impact fresh stimulus measures stock index . “The gratifications steam.

The worse-than- finance ministry said. Amid planned by the government will are huge, more than thousands of expected data pointed to economic jitters in the have as firms aggressively cut crores (hundreds of millions of growing concerns that Japan’s eurozone, Japan’s exports to the costs to secure profits. dollars),” CBI Joint Director P economy faces a slowdown as a EU nations fell 1.9 percent, the Japan has reduced its official Kandaswamy told reporters on strong yen and slowing first fall in 11 months, while interest rate to almost zero, has Wednesday. overseas demand threaten to imports from Europe rose 1.9 earmarked a 5.1 trillion yen The Delhi government, further weaken exports as percent. “The fall in exports to stimulus package and in however, sought to play down the industrial production slows. Europe, in particular, reflects September intervened in scandal, saying it was an isolated Overseas shipments rose by a the softening of the eurozone currency markets for the first incident. “It is an insignificant slower-than-expected 7.8 economy, with most countries time in six years to weaken the amount... it is individual personal percent from a year ago, except for Germany struggling yen. greed, it is not systematic missing market expectations of recently,” said Yasuo Yamamoto, The currency has been failure,” R Gopalan, secretary for 10.2 percent growth, the senior economist at Mizuho trading at 15-year highs against financial services told NDTV finance ministry said.

Research Institute. the dollar, hammering the broadcaster late on Wednesday.

It was the slowest export US-bound shipments rose by competitiveness of the crucial Officials contacted by Reuters, growth since November last a modest 4.7 percent, the export sector. A strong yen not and who asked to remain year, which saw a 6.3 percent lowest pace of growth since only makes Japan’s growthanonymous, said the government contraction before shipments December 2009, when exports driving exports more expensive was not planning a special rebounded the following month. fell. The growth of Asian but erodes companies’ overseas meetings to discuss the bribery “We believe exports will turn demand was also waning, but profits when repatriated, with case and would leave it to the negative for the first time in China maintained a robust many firms considering sending CBI to handle. seven quarters in the October appetite for Japanese products. more production overseas as a The CBI said those arrested to December period,” Barclays China-bound exports grew 17.5 result. The country’s exports included senior officials at stateCapital chief economist Kyohei percent, rebounding from a 10.2 for the month reached 5.72 run Central Bank of India, Punjab Morita told Dow Jones percent rise in previous month, trillion yen (68.5 billion dollars), National Bank and Bank of IndiaNewswires.

“The yen’s while imports from China rose the 11th straight monthly all major banks with operations strength and economic 9.8 percent. With Japanese increase, led by automobiles across the country. The deceleration in the US and production already sliding, and engines, the finance executives in custody, and their China, as well as a deteriorating Yamamoto said the Japanese ministry said. Imports also rose institutions, have yet to shipment/inventory balance for economy was headed for 8.7 percent to 4.90 trillion yen, comment on the charges. Life IT-related goods in Taiwan and negative growth in the fourth expanding for the 10th Insurance Corp of India (LIC), South Korea” should have a quarter. consecutive month as they the parent company of LIC negative effect on Japan’s “With export growth were driven up by demand for Housing Finance, was the only exports, he said. slowing like this, it will be even iron ore, coal and liquid natural firm involved in the scandal to The latest data underscore harder for production to gain gas. Japan’s trade surplus rose speak out, saying it was looking fears for an economy mired in ahead,” he said. Japan’s 2.7 percent to 82.19 billion yen into the need to tighten internal deflation, with consumer prices economy expanded 3.9 percent (984 million dollars), marking operational systems, its continuing to slide, and in the third quarter as car the second consecutive chairman told CNBC TV18 challenges Prime Minister buyers rushed to make the monthly increase. —AFP yesterday. —Reuters

Japan export growth sluggish in October as worries deepen

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KSE ends trade in red GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: The short-lived gain did not last through yesterday, with KSE ending the session on a slightly lower note. The stock market was down three days out of five during this week as it wiped out all gains accumulated during the previous week.

Investors started to take new positions before the yearend results, and until then the market will see low activity unless some news popup.

In econmy front, Kuwait’s exports to Japan rose 18.2 percent from a year earlier to 80.03 billion yen ($958.4 million) in October for the first increase in four months. Imports from Japan plunged 32.9 percent to 8.31 billion yen ($99.5 million), marking the second straight monthly fall, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.

Market indices Global General Index (GGI) closed 1.10 points down (0.50 percent), at 217.52 point as the Market capitalization decreased reaching KD35.17 million. On the other side, Kuwait Stock Exchange Price Index closed in the red zone shedding 7 points (0.10 percent) from its value and closed at 6,928 point.

Market breadth During the session, 106 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 30 equities advanced versus 37 that retreated.

Daily trading activity Volume of shares traded on the exchange increased by 5.05 percent to reach 167.78 million shares, the value of shares traded decreased by 15.15 percent to stand at KD32.76 million. The services sector was the volume leader yesterday, accounting for 40.04 percent of total shares and the Services Sector was the value leader, with 40.30 percent of total traded value.

Company-wise, Kuwait

Investment Company was the volume leader, with a total traded volume of 17.98 million shares changing hands.

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was the value leader, with a total traded value of KD4.22 million.

Top gainers and biggest decliners In terms of top gainers, AlMowasat Healthcare Co was the biggest gainer for the day, adding 9.09 percent and closed at KD0.120. On the other side, Mena Real Estate Co came in as the biggest decliner, dropping by 7.69 percent and closed at KD0.060.

Sectors wise On a sector by sector basis, five out of the eight sectors of the market edged lower. Food stocks shouldered the retreat, shedding 1.99 percent, on the back of 2.56 percent drop in the stock price of Kuwait Foodstuff Company (Americana), at KD1.520. On the other side of the spectrum, Global Non Kuwaiti Index was yesterday’s biggest advancer, adding 0.54 percent in gains.

Egypt Kuwait Holding Co witnessed a 3.26 percent growth in its share price by the end of yesterday’s session.

Corporate news International Finance Co (IFC) will hold an extraordinary shareholder meeting (ESM) on Wednesday December 15, 2010, 11:00 am at headquarters. Shareholders will discuss the following issues: 1-The planned merger between IFC and both Jeezan Holding Co and Kuwait Invest Holding Co. 2-Raising capital through issuing 337,166,925 shares at 100 fils par value each for shareholders of both merged companies.

3-Amending Article No 5 of Articles of Incorporation and Article No 6 of Contract of

Dubai Properties won’t undergo restructuring Concerns about Dubai’s liabilities ease DUBAI: Dubai Properties, a unit of troubled conglomerate Dubai Holding, said yesterday it was not entering a restructuring after one of its partners had suggested that the builder may embark on one. “Dubai Properties Group (DPG) is not restructuring. DPG honors all of its commitments. We continue to maintain a good relationship with all our partners, including Arabtec,” the company said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Its comment came after remarks by Tom Barry, chief executive of Dubai-based builder Arabtec, who said on Wednesday Dubai Properties may enter restructuring. Barry clarified yesterday his remarks “were with particular regard to payments which are, or about to become, due to Arabtec”. Arabtec, the builder of the world’s tallest tower in Dubai and the Emirates’ largest builder by market value, is in talks with the developer over payment for four completed projects, Barry had said.

Restructuring of some units of Dubai Holding, Dubai Properties’ parent company, is under way. Concerns about Dubai’s liabilities, estimated at around $115 billion, have eased after stateowned Dubai World reached a deal in September to restructure almost $25 billion of debt. But worries persist about the debt owed by key firms such as Dubai Holding. Dubai and its firms face some $30 billion of debt maturing in 2011-2012. —Reuters

Association.

This recommendation is subject to the approval of the shareholder meeting and competent authorities.

Oil news The price of OPEC

basket of twelve cr udes stood at $81.16 a bar rel on Wednesday, compared with $80.14 the previous day, according t o O P E C S e c re t a r i a t calculations.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Kurdish oil minister sees exports early next year ARBIL: The government of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq expects to soon secure recognition of the oil deals it signed with foreign companies from a new government in Baghdad, the area’s oil minister said yesterday. Around 40 companies, such as Norway’s DNO, have invested in Kurdistan but their revenues have been curtailed by being unable to sell their oil for export because Baghdad has previously deemed the contracts illegal. Kurdistan Regional Government Minister for Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami told Reuters he expected talks in Baghdad to form a government to lead to an imminent breakthrough on the issue that has been stalled for over four years. —Reuters

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MIDEAST STOCK MARKET

Dubai’s index snaps two-day drop, Emaar Properties rises DUBAI: Egypt’s benchmark index ended slightly lower yesterday as investors spurned buying large-cap stocks, unnerved by clashes in Cairo ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections, traders said.

Orascom

Construction eased 0.1 percent and Commercial International Bank fell 0.5 percent. Teymour El-Derini of Naeem Brokerage said retail investors were selling shares to plough the money back into Egyptian real estate firm Amer Group’s $988

‘No fresh money coming in’ million initial public offering, which closed yesterday.

Dubai’s index snapped a two-day drop, but volumes slumped to a 12-week low.

Emirates NBD climbed 1.6

percent, its biggest rise since Oct 28. Emaar Properties rose 0.8 percent, but Aramex and Arabtec fell 1 and 0.5 percent respectively. “There’s no local catalyst-today’s gains are just a

follow through from what happened on US markets and there’s no major conviction, so we easily can turn downwards again,” said Haissam Arabi, chief executive and fund manager at Gulfmena Alternative Investments. “It’s just the usual suspects in our markets, with no fresh money coming in.”

Qatar Gas Transport Co (Nakilat) rose 2.5 percent to a 27-week high as investors rotated cash into the services sector following recent bank gains. Doha’s index climbed 0.4 percent, taking its gains to 5 percent in the past month.

“Qatar has done exceptionally well and the market might be getting ahead of itself, with people buying ahead of the World Cup vote-if Qatar doesn’t win then it will cause some negative sentiment and retailers are likely to sell off stocks,” added Global’s Hameed.

“Qatar’s recent rally is not just about the World Cup, but the overall economy and if there’s a correction it won’t change what is a good story going forward.”

Qatar is

bidding against the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea for the rights to host the 2022 World Cup, with FIFA delegates voting on Dec 2.

Yesterday’s highlights Kuwait The benchmark fell 0.1 percent to 6,928 points.

Qatar The measure rose 0.4 percent to 8,179 points.

Abu Dhabi The index edged up 0.04 percent to 2,757 points.

Dubai The benchmark rose 0.5 percent to 1,682 points.

Egypt The index eased 0.1 percent to 6,838 points.

Oman The index slipped percent to 6,551 points.

0.2

Bahrain The measure rose 0.1 percent to 1,439 points.

—Reuters

African bank to enhance Nigeria’s energy output ABUJA: African Development Bank president Donald Kaberuka said Wednesday that the bank was ready to scale up its support to help energystarved Nigeria boost its power generation. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, recently obtained 150 million dollars from the AfDB for policy reforms aimed at attracting private investment to the power sector.

“The 150 million dollars...is to enable power sector reform and we are prepared to scale up significantly our support to the government,” Kaberuka told a news conference at the end of a two-day trip to Nigeria. He said that while the maximum lending limit Nigeria is about a billion dollars per year, “we are prepared to go as much as the country wishes”.

Nigeria is plagued by daily power outages blamed on corruption and

mismanagement.

Its inadequate power production has been hit by theft and losses during transmission while rebel attacks on oil pipelines affect gas supplies to electricity plants. Those who can afford it run their businesses and homes on diesel-powered generators while most Nigerians go for days, even weeks, without power.

Kaberuka was in Nigeria to assess how the country has weathered the international financial crisis and to ascertain “whether the responses we and others have provided have been the right ones”. “I was very much impressed by the way the Nigerian authorities at all levels were able to take measures which minimized the external shocks on the Nigerian economy occasioned by the international financial crisis,” Kaberuka said. —AFP

Arab bank deposits rise 40 percent by 2010 end BEIRUT: Bank deposits in the Arab world are on track to grow over 40 percent, topping $1.8 trillion by the end of the year, the head of the Union of Arab Banks said yesterday. Adnan Youssif said the increase in deposits came as regional banks avoided “dangerous investments and complicated on obscure operations” that battered world financial markets in 2008.

Arab banks had little exposure to the subprime mortgagees and other risky investments that triggered the global financial crisis. A number of Gulf Arab banks, however, have booked higher provisions amid lingering concerns about the fallout from Dubai’s debt woes and analysts say the true extend of some banks’ exposure to bad loans is not yet entirely clear. —AP

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Ireland unveils austerity plan 15bn-euro package to secure bailout DUBLIN: Ireland unveiled a 15-billion-euro austerity package Wednesday required to unlock an international bailout, slashing public sector pay and pensions but refusing to raise corporation tax. With the eyes of Europe on his debt-ridden nation, Prime Minister Brian Cowen said his four-year package of cuts and tax The 20-billion-dollar plan, to be followed by a budget on December 7, is an essential step towards Ireland receiving a bailout of up to 85 billion euros (114 billion dollars) from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The aim is to slash the public deficit to below three percent of gross domestic product, in line with EU rules, after it ballooned to 32 percent of GDP this year.

Among the key points of the package, sales tax will be raised to 23 percent from 21 percent by 2014, but the 12.5percent corporation tax rate-a key attraction for foreign companies to invest in Ireland-will be maintained.

The government said it expected unemployment to be brought below 10 percent by 2014, from its current level of over 13 percent. The minimum wage will be cut by one euro to 7.65 euros an hour, but the government said it would still be one of the highest rates in the EU. The EU’s economic commissioner Olli Rehn said the package was “a sound basis for the negotiations” on the international bailout. As Ireland strove to prove it was trying to get its house in order, another heavilyindebted eurozone country, Portugal, was paralysed by a general strike on Wednesday called to protest against deep spending cuts.

The EU fears Portugal will be the next eurozone nation to require a bailout after Greece and Ireland.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany was prepared to help Ireland, but its support was conditional on

increases would restore shattered confidence, calling it a signpost on the road to recovery. “We can and we will pull through this as we have in the past,” Cowen told a news conference. “We are a smart, resilient, proud people and we are going to come through this challenge because we love our country.”

DUBLIN: Ireland’s Prime Minister Brian Cowen pauses during a press conference to announce the National Recovery Plan. Ireland kept its prized low corporation tax, but outlined plans to overhaul income and sales levies. —AFP Dublin “making clear what steps (it) must take to get back on a path of stabilization”.

Cowen meanwhile fought off calls from the opposition Tuesday to call a snap election, insisting the budget must be passed first.

Irish lawmakers are unlikely to vote on the budget until January, meaning that an

election could not take place until February or March. The EU has told the main Fine Gael opposition party that while the plan’s fiscal targets are non-negotiable it will renegotiate specific details with an incoming government, finance spokesman Michael Noonan said.

Noonan insisted the plan was “disappointing in its poverty

Thomas Cook buys Intourist Cook to invest $45 million MOSCOW/LONDON: Europe’s second-largest tour operator Thomas Cook said yeterday it had agreed to take a 50.1 percent stake in Russian travel agency Intourist in order to enter the fast-growing Russian travel market. Thomas Cook will invest up to $45 million, made up of $10 million in cash and $35 million in Thomas Cook shares, in the joint venture.

The British company said the deal would enable it to cater for Russia’s strong demand for beach and family holidays, particularly to Turkey and Egypt. In March,

two sources close to negotiations told Reuters that a full takeover of Intourist by Thomas Cook was being discussed as an option.

Thomas Cook and its rival, TUI Travel, majority owned

by Europe’s top travel agency TUI of Germany, are increasingly turning to emerging markets such as Russia and China for growth as cost savings from the creation of their companies in 2007 are close to being fully realised.

Also, the British and German tourist markets are considered relatively mature.

Intourist was founded in 1929

and was the monopoly provider of travel services in the Soviet era. Russia’s oilto-telecom holding company Sistema acquired the business in 1994. Following a significant restructuring in 2005, it became Russia’s biggest mass-market travel brand, selling holidays to Russian tourists travelling domestically and also to international visitors.

Thomas Cook will have an option to buy the rest of the company, which will be led by Intourist’s president Alexander Arutyunov, over the next five years. —Reuters

of ambition and detail.”

Experts warned that the plan would not immediately ease Ireland’s problems.

“Uncertainty caused by the collapse of the government... will continue to hang over Ireland in the coming weeks,” National Irish Bank economist, Ronnie O’Toole, said. IHS Global Insight economist Sonia Pangusion predicted “the downtrend in consumer confidence will accelerate,” adding that the plan for an export-based recovery “increases Ireland’s economic risk.”

The government has been under pressure since caving in and agreeing to accept the bailout on Sunday night.

Despite reports that it is worth 85 billion euros, Cowen told parliament earlier Wednesday the amount had still to be decided as negotiations were ongoing.

The international loans to Dublin are in part intended to shore up banks left with huge debts from the collapse of an overheated property market.

But the bailout is also designed to stem fears of contagion in other eurozone nations such as Portugal and even the far larger Spanish economy, which came under pressure on the markets.

Spain’s deputy finance minister Jose Manuel Campa insisted that “an abyss separates us from Ireland”.

Despite the efforts to shore up the single European currency, the euro fell slightly below 1.34 Wednesday after sinking below 1.33 dollars earlier because of fears over the eurozone and the Korean crisis. —AFP

Friday, November 26, 2010

Oil inches down, European debt concerns weigh heavy US federal holiday, financial markets closed LONDON: Oil edged lower yesterday on persisting concerns about European debt, with trading flat ahead of a US holiday and giving up some of the more-than-3percent gains made a day earlier on strong US economic data. A surprise crude inventory gain in top consumer the United States last week also pressured prices, with US crude for January down 20 cents at $83.66 a barrel by 0935 GMT, after rising $2.61 or 3.2 percent on Wednesday, the biggest single-session percentage gain in four months. ICE Brent declined 19 cents to $85.65. “It’s basically flat from yesterday’s close. With Thanksgiving today, whenever you’ve a public holiday in the US, people typically wait for NYMEX to reopen for direction,” BNP Paribas’ senior oil market analyst Harry Tchilinguirian said.

Trading volumes are set to be subdued as the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) combines trades for Nov 25 and Nov 26 into one single trading session because of yesterday’s Thanksgiving holiday. “It’s a short week and with the US closed, I don’t see much direction away from yesterday’s close,” Tchilinguirian said, adding that euro zone debt developments together with China’s inflation prospects will be the main two drivers behind risk-appetite.

In the absence of any major economic indicators, market focus lingered on Ireland’s debt woes after Dublin announced a 15 billion euro belt-tightening plan, but failed to quell fears other euro zone members will run into debt difficulties.

Debt worries kept the euro

close to a two-month low, while the dollar index a measure of its performance against six other major currencies, inched up 0.3 percent by 0934 GMT. Oil tumbled to 2010 lows under $65 in May as the Greek debt crisis dampened confidence about the global economic recovery, and rebounded to a two-year high of $88.63 on Nov 11.

Earlier this week, prices dropped to near $80 after North Korea’s deadly artillery barrage against a South Korean island that boosted the value of the dollar and reduced the appetite for riskier commodity assets.

US data supports Initial jobless benefits claims in the US fell to their lowest level in more than two years last week while consumer spending rose for a fourth straight month in October, reports showed on Wednesday, fuelling hopes the economic recovery is strengthening. US crude oil stockpiles rose 1.03 million barrels in the week to Nov 19 as crude imports jumped by more than a million barrels per day, the US Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected crude stocks to fall 2.1 million barrels, but the jump reported by the EIA was much less than the American Petroleum Institute’s report showing stockpiles increased 5.2 million barrels.

Gasoline stocks rose 1.91 million barrels, the EIA said, against expectations for a 600,000-barrel draw, and distillate stocks fell 541,000 barrels, much less than analysts’ expectations for a larger 1.2 million-barrel draw. —Reuters

Smartphones, Twitter top Japan hit product survey TOKYO: Smartphones and Twitter were the hottest products in Japan in 2010 and travel and leisure were back on the menu, an ad agency survey showed, as penny-pinching consumers rediscovered their fun side.

Flat-screen TVs equipped for digital broadcasting placed fourth in Dentsu’s annual “Hit Product Recognition Survey” and energy-saving appliances ranked eighth.

Overseas flights from Tokyo’s Haneda airport, which resumed full-fledged international services for the first time in 32 years and grabbed headlines with a glitzy new terminal, placed sixth, the survey showed. The 2010 soccer World Cup, in which Japan’s “Samurai Blue” surprised by advancing beyond the group stages, placed ninth.

Japanese consumers have in recent years been forgoing the latest designer brands

and cool gadgets in favour of bargain shopping as the economy continues to lag, but the latest crop of tech products has been generating considerable buzz. Tablet information devices, such as Apple’s iPad, came in at 19th, the survey showed, but rose to No.10 in a separate question that predicted hit products and services next year.

And don’t forget the 3D boom: 3D movies, TVs and other 3D products placed 15th this year, and are expected to jump to No.6 next year, the survey showed. On the other hand, the inexpensive retail merchandise that dominated last year’s survey vanished from the top 10. Lowpriced domestic-brand fashions, such as those found at casual-clothing retailer Uniqlo, slipped to No 13 from third place last year, and were absent from the top 20 list of next year’s predictions. —Reuters

Friday, November 26, 2010

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“I would love to see more stimulus funding come out for construction. The trickledown is more direct. Infrastructure is something everybody needs and uses.”

Jessica Distance, 25, and Eugene Laster, 34, are participants in Maryland’s subsidized employment program funded by the stimulus bill. Both were jobless before the program placed them in short-term positions with the state human resources department in Baltimore. They now help people to apply for public assistance-which they once needed — MCT

US stimulus funding a boon for local firms G

eorge R Cairns and Sons Inc’s biggest project ever is digging in the backyard. The construction firm in Windham is in the middle of a $26 million job on Interstate 93, about five minutes down the road from the company’s Ledge Road headquarters.

“It is so important,” company Vice President Glenn Cairns said. “Without this project, we would be a very different company today, given the lack of work out there.”

Growth and prosperity are two words to associate with Cairns and Sons. Glenn Cairns would put stimulus in there, too.

“This was a (federal) stimulus-funded job. It is an ideal example of what the stimulus was supposed to do,” he said. “We spend millions of dollars around the country on equipment, millions locally for materials, and millions of dollars are going out in wages and payroll.”

People see the company’s $26 million contract and think the money stays in their headquarters, Cairns said. “It doesn’t. Our margins are thin and it goes back into the economy,” he said. “And the taxpayers get something for it.”

Follow the money. It goes to workers, 40 to 50 workers on the I-93 site, about half of them on union salaries. It goes to subcontractors.

Brox Industries of Dracut is paving. Precision Drilling and Blasting of Lowell is on site.

There’s work for DeLucca Fence Co Inc of Methuen.

“There are local trucking companies we’ve hired throughout the project, mom and pop operator-types,” Cairns said.

“I would love to see more stimulus funding come out (for construction). The trickledown is more direct. Infrastructure is something everybody needs and uses,” Cairns said. “The trickledown is better than for any other program.” Cairns and Sons has deep roots in the

Construction companies see growth opportunities Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire.

Three brothers run the company. Bobby is president. Garry is vice president and treasurer.

Glenn is a vice president. It’s always been a family business. Their father started it digging swimming pools. Their mother kept the books.

Construction goes back three generations.

Both grandfathers built houses in Andover.

“So we’ve got building in our blood,” Cairns said. Their father built up Cairns in a BostonManchester-Worcester triangle. The brothers have brought it to all of New England.

They moved from Massachusetts to Windham seven years ago. That’s where they found land and easy access to the highway, critical for their growing business.

“We’ve had continuous, solid growth,” Cairns said. “You do that through being successful, taking care of business.”

Today, the company has 70 to 80 employees.

“We will do anything associated with civil construction: private site work, municipal projects, state and federal jobs,” Cairns said.

The I-93 job is their biggest yet. “This is the largest project our company has ever taken on,” Cairns said. “This particular job is geared to a lot of what we’re really good at: moving heavy earth.”

The project comes down to building a fourmile stretch of highway from the Windham weigh station to the Salem line over two years.

The numbers boggle. Four hundred thousand cubic yards of excavation. Four hundred twenty thousand cubic yards of rock. Fifty thousand tons of pavement.

Getting a big Windham job was a big deal for a Windham company. “There were a lot of happy campers around here,” Cairns said. “It is something we’re extremely proud of.”

The proximity of the I-93 job has helped in many ways. “When we’re in Vermont, you can’t say, ‘We need a pipe or tool, go get it,’” he said.

They’ve been able to act on issues more quickly, benefited from increased mobility, reduced costs, and been responsive to the town’s needs. Cairns believes the proximity of the I-93 work made the company more competitive on three bridge jobs it won in Salem and Derry. The I-93 project, paired with the company’s site and underground utility work on a $400 million power plant job in Bow, have been vital for the company.

“We’ve had those two key projects since the economy crashed,” Cairns said. “They’ve allowed us actually to grow.” Brox Industries has worked with Cairns and Sons for about 20 years, division manager Mike Reilly said.

“They’re just pros,” Reilly said. “Price is important, but quality is the big thing. Quality and getting the job done on their schedule is what they demand.”

The I-93 project was a good one for Cairns, said Gary Abbott, executive vice president with Associated General Contractors of New Hampshire, a contracting trade organization.

“This was a good fit for their company,” Abbott said. “They’ve done an excellent job making it happen.” He echoes Cairns on the importance of the stimulus funding.

“That project wouldn’t have gone forward if it wasn’t for the stimulus,” Abbott said. — MCT

Jimmie Hughes, president of Grand America, LLC, is photographed with 4 1/4 pounds of paper work that he has collected over a year while he was applying for an ARC loan under the federal government’s stimulus loan. After many delays and endless questions, the SBA funded only $8,100 of the $35,000 he requested. — MCT

CAREERS

Page 22

Friday, November 26, 2010

Rules for dealing with the holiday season at work

T

he holiday season can be a very tricky time in the workplace. There are holiday parties, gift giving, overeating, and holiday celebrations that could get in the way of normal work activities. Then there’s the matter of taking care not to offend those who don’t celebrate the holidays the same way you do. Here are some rules you can follow to help you deal with the holiday season at work.

1.

2.

Keep holiday gift giving reasonable: In some workplaces everyone exchanges gifts for the holiday. This can get way out of hand and cause serious financial problems for some people. Don’t break your budget or expect anyone else to break his or her budget. Consider starting a secret Santa, or secret gift exchange, where each person buys a gift for one other person instead of buying gifts for every person in the office. Set a price range and stick to it.

Keep Holiday feeding frenzies to a minimum: During the holiday season, food is everywhere, all the time-even in

the workplace. It’s hard to stick to a balanced diet when clients send goodies to the office and every person working there decides to bring in cookies and other treats to share with his or coworkers. Arrange a schedule that allows each person who wants to participate to bring in treats on a different day. Keep non-perishable gifts sent by clients for after the holidays when the cupboards are bare.

3.

Don’t let the holidays get in the way of work: Remember that you are at work to ... well ... work. With all the holiday cheer it’s sometimes hard to

get your job done. Don’t let yourself fall behind. If you must, get to work before everyone else so you can get a head start on your day.

4.

Be mindful of your workplace’s holiday culture: The holidays play a bigger role in some workplaces than they do in others. If your co-workers are pretty low key when it comes to celebrating the holidays in the office, keep in mind that may be exactly the way your employer wants it to be. If you want to celebrate with your coworkers consider getting together after work.

5.

Respect your co-workers’ religious beliefs: Not everyone celebrates the same holidays, and not everyone celebrates the holidays in the same way. There are even some people who don’t celebrate any holidays at all. Try not to offend anyone by forcing her to celebrate in a way in which she is not comfortable.

6.

Behave properly at the office holiday party: Remember to behave professionally at the office party.

— ww.careerplanning.about.com

Top office party don’ts A

ttending an office party? Don’t check your professional reputation along with your coat. An office party gives you the opportunity to celebrate the holidays or other occasion with your co-workers. You should have fun, but be careful about having too good a time. Follow these tips and you’ll be able to return to the office with your head held high.

Don’t treat the office party like a singles bar An office party gives you a chance to see another side of your co-workers. However, you shouldn’t try to get to know any of them too well. Jim (or Jane) from accounting may suddenly look a lot more appealing under bar lights than cubicle lights. Ignore your animal instincts.

Workplace romances - or worse, one night stands - can be disastrous.

Don’t flirt Your flirting may be entirely innocent but the message it sends to your colleagues isn’t innocent. If you want to be respected on a professional level, save this side of yourself for parties with friends.

Don’t wear suggestive clothing If you wouldn’t wear it to the office, you shouldn’t wear it to the office party. Of course, your clothes can be more festive than those you wear to work (think sequins, color, and sparkles), but they shouldn’t be revealing.

Don’t let your guard down People tend to relax at office parties. When relaxed, we let our guards down and reveal things about ourselves we don’t want our co-workers to know.

Don’t tell off-colored jokes This rule holds true in or out of the office. Dirty or off-color jokes may be offensive to others so avoid telling them.

Don’t use foul language You may feel so comfortable at the office party that you forget you’re really at work. Keep bad language in check as it could make you look unprofessional.

Don’t talk about people behind their backs Just because someone is absent from the office party it doesn’t give you reason to talk about him behind his back. In addition to the fact that it’s just not nice, this person’s friends may be present and word could get back to him.

Friday,november 26, 2010

technology

Page 23

Three cheers to free third-party apps that simplify life!

Get the best out of Windows 7

M

any say that Windows 7 is Microsoft’s most impressive operating system yet.

That does not mean, however, that the applications that Windows 7 provides are fullfeatured - or even desired. Read on for some ideas about how to make Windows better, at no cost, by using third-party replacement applications and how to get rid of features in Windows 7 that you don’t use.

Q: Windows Media Player in Windows 7 often hangs upon startup or fails to play songs after it crashes. I do have a large music collection on a drive attached to my computer by USB. Could this be the problem?

A: Windows Media Player is great when it works. But lockup problems such as the one you describe are common.

Windows Media Player stores information about your music and video collection in a series of database files on your local hard disk, and it accesses those database files upon startup. If your music and video collection is stored on a disk that’s not local - meaning one that is not physically located inside of your computer but rather attached by a relatively slow USB connection or by network - then there could be startup slowdowns as Windows Media Player accesses both its database files and tries to update that database by scanning your collection.

To solve the problem, you can try a couple of things. First, move your music and video collection to a locally-connected (internal) drive.

Note that after moving your library of files, you should delete the Windows Media Player database and allow the program to rebuild it with

the new location information. To delete the database, close Media Player. Then open the Start menu and type “folder options.” Click the Folder Options entry, and in the resulting Folder Options dialog box, click the View tab. From the list of options, select “Show hidden files, folders, or drives.”

Now use Windows Explorer to navigate to the following folder: C:\Users\<your user name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player, where <your user name> is the name you use to log on to your computer. You can select all the files and folders you see in that folder, and delete them. Don’t worry. Windows Media Player will rebuild everything when it starts up the next time. If you get tired of struggling with Windows Media Player, consider “upgrading” to the free and very capable open source media player called VLC (http://www.videolan.org/vlc). This little application plays everything that Windows Media Player can, in addition to providing support for file types that Windows Media Player will not play, including some lossless music formats, such as FLAC. It also appears to be considerably less prone to lockups and crashes.

Q: I know that it’s possible to burn CDs and DVDs with Windows 7, but I don’t find the procedure to be intuitive, and it takes a long time.

Is there free software that makes burning easier?

A: To burn a CD or DVD in Windows 7, you pop a disc into your burner and use Windows Explorer to copy or drag the files you want to burn to the CD or DVD drive icon. But you’re right: the process does not resemble that used by most standalone burning applications, and there

are no niceties such as label creation. Three notable, free burning applications that many people consider to be an upgrade to the burning capability built in to Windows 7 (and Vista) are BurnAware (http://www.burnaware.com), CD Burner XP (http://cdburnerxp.se/en/home), and the open source InfraRecorder (http://infrarecorder.org). All are simple applications that concentrate on disc burning alone. They do not contain bloatware - additional features or applications that you probably don’t need - and they are free from the annoying advertisements that mar so many other free applications.

Q: I no longer use Internet Explorer, Media Centre, and most of the other applications that come with Windows 7. Is there any way I can uninstall them? I don’t see them listed in the Programs and Features section of the Control Panel.

A: You’re right. The components you mention are considered part of Windows 7 - except in the case of the European “N” edition of Windows 7, which unbundles Media Player as part of Microsoft’s 2004 antitrust settlement with the European Union. Therefore these components are not listed in the uninstallation dialog box, now called Programs and Features. But for those who would like to effectively get an “N” version of Windows 7 by removing unwanted or unused components of the operating system, Microsoft has provided the new Windows Features dialog box, which makes it easy to get rid of “integrated” components of Windows 7.

You can access Windows Features from the

same Programs and Features dialog box that you use to uninstall applications.

The link “Turn Windows features on or off” is listed in the left-hand pane of Programs and Features. Click it, and from the resulting Windows Features dialog box, remove the check mark from any feature that you wish to uninstall.

You’ll find Media Features and Internet Explorer listed there, as well as other pre-installed components that you may not want. If you’ve upgraded Internet Explorer, however, you will need to visit the other link in the left hand pane of Programs and Features - the one labeled “View installed updates.” Click that, and you should find any upgraded version of Internet Explorer listed there.

Q: I know Windows 7 comes with the ability to read zipped files, but I don’t like the way it works.

At my office we use WinZip, but it’s more than I want to spend. Is there a free alternative?

A: The open source 7-Zip (http://www.7zip.org) is widely considered to be a suitable replacement for WinZip or other fee-based archiving and compression tools. 7-Zip has most of the features you’re probably seeking, including right-click integration with Windows Explorer.

Q: I use Notepad a lot, but it’s still a very limited text editor in Windows 7. What are the best free replacements?

A: For non programmers - those who don’t need special text or syntax highlighting - look at EditPad Lite (http://www.editpadlite.com), which offers full-featured search and replace functionality, tabs, and dozens of other features that Notepad lacks. — dpa

beauty

Page 24

Friday, November 26, 2010

6 pampering homemade natural skin care recipes with honey H

ere are some do-it-yourself, self-help, extremely easy to follow recipes to enjoy the benefits of honey in skin care. I recommend them also because all the ingredients that go along with them are so easily accessible.

1. Cucumber-Honey Toner: Puree 1 cucumber in a blender, drain and collect the juice. Add 2 teaspoons of honey into the juice and mix. Pour the mixture into a bottle.

Apply on the face and neck area with a cotton pad in the morning and at night. Air dry it and rinse clean. Store the bottle covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

2. Honey-Apple Toner: In a blender or food processor, combine 1 peeled, cored apple with a tablespoon of honey and pulse until smooth. Apply mixture to face and allow it to stay for 15 minutes, then rinse.

3. Honey-Oa ts Fa ce Scrub: Combine 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon finely-ground almonds, 2 tablespoons dry oatmeal, and some

lemon juice or yogurt to a luxurious and exfoliating facial scrub. Massage mixture gently onto face, then rinse with warm water. This blend gives a deeply emollient cleansing to the pores of your face. Almonds and oats are superb softening exfoliants.

4. Gentle Honey Cleanser: Mix 1?4 cup honey, 1 tablespoon liquid soap and 1?2 cup glycerin (found in drug stores). Apply gently on to face using a face sponge. Rinse with warm water and pat face dry.

5. Hot Honey Ba th: Perhaps the easiest natural skin care recipe using honey — Add 1/4 cup of honey to your hot bath water for silky and luscious skin. This is especially good for dry skin.

6. Honey Olive Hair Conditioner: For lustrous, silky, healthy hair and scalp, simply combine 1/2 cup honey and 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup olive oil.

Massage scalp with this conditioner, then put on a shower cap for 30 minutes. Shampoo and rinse as usual.

Good for hair revitalising. (www.benefits-of-honey.com )

How to remove mascara easily ascara is the best make-up item to wear on a daily basis.

It brightens the eyes by defining them and bringing emphasis to them. There is a dark side to mascara. This is the inevitable black eyes that result from washing your face to try and remove the mascara. Whatever is left on the lashes usually comes off onto the towel that you use to dry your face with.

This action adds to the mascara black ring that ends up around your eyes. There is an easier way to remove mascara from your eye lashes. By following this simple process you will be able to remove your mascara and do away with the mess that other methods leave behind.

M

W hat you w ill need: A well lit mirror. You can not properly remove mascara without being able to see if you go it all off.

Eye make-up remover.

The best types are hypoallergenic. For the method describe here a liquid remover will work better then a cream.

• Cotton Balls • Cotton Swabs • Face wash • Hand towel The Process: First thing you will need to do is wet a cotton ball with the eye make-up remover.

You will want to make sure that you fully saturate the cotton with the liquid.

Wipe the wet cotton ball over the eye lashes on one eye two to three times to remove the mascara. Wet another clean cotton ball and repeat this procedure with the mascara on the other eye lashes.

If you are wearing waterproof mascara, you will need to wet a clean cotton ball and go over both eyes a second time to make sure you

have removed all of the mascara.

Wet a cotton swab with the eye make-up remover.

Run the cotton swab under one eye to remove any mascara that may have dripped from the cleaning with cotton balls. Repeat this step with a clean cotton swab for the other eye.

Look in the mirror to make sure you have removed all of the mascara from both eyes. If there is any remaining, start at step one and repeat until there is no more. The final step in this process is to wash your face.

This will clean the rest of your face and remove any residue from the eye makeup remover that you used to take off your mascara.

Wet your face and lather it up with your face wash. Rinse your face thoroughly and dry.

If this process was done correctly, there will be no mascara on your hand towel.

There is a dark side to mascara.

This is the inevitable black eyes that result from washing your face to try and remove the mascara.

STYLE

Friday, November 26, 2010

Page 25

Pants shapes and styles to flatter any woman’s figure or body type W

ith cooler weather right around the corner, finding the perfect pants is becoming more important than ever before. Whether you’re a full figured woman in need of plus size pants or just looking for a way to flatter your legs, there are a few “pant tips” that will help you get the most flattering pants on the rack!

Get The Right Sla cks Cut and Style When it comes to finding the most flattering styles of pants, the cut of the fabric is an important area to focus on. Although each body type should focus on a specific cut of jeans or pants, there are a few cuts that will work for almost anyone. The “boot cut” trousers are ideal for many women and can be worn nicely by people with most body shapes. Boot cut pants flare slightly at the ankle, helping to create a more proportionate body visual line. Things to stay away from if you want your pants to flatter your lower half are pleats and high waist bottoms because they don’t work well on many body types. Look for mid-rise or even low rise pants (not ultra-low rise) for the best look.

Get The Right Pant Fabrics and Materials When choosing pants, do you most often go by touch alone?

Many women choose their clothing by texture and only purchase things that appeal to their senses when they touch them. While you should always stay comfortable, fashion is not all about soft fabrics. For example, no one would likely wear denim if they went on touch alone!

Modern designers understand the importance of bringing comfort into fashion and are now creating adorable pants in knit blends. Most often these comfortable options are best worn in casual environments, but some of the more expensive blends (or often higher-end discount brands like Target or JJill) can be appropriately worn to work as well.

Choose Pants Length Carefully When you think of your pants, you don’t have to be trapped in thinking all pants must skim the middle area of your shoe. Not all pants must be long! Short pants are quite popular and are being made in more feminine styles than ever before. Women are wearing them on casually and even choosing elegant styles for more formal events. Unless you are stuck with a specific uniform at work, you can even get away with wearing dressy capris or cargos!

Size Matters While we all get excited when we can button the pants we wore in high school, wearing pants that barely button is never a good idea!

When you’re shopping, be honest with yourself. Even though you may be able to squeeze yourself

Whether you’re a full figured woman in need of plus size pants or just looking for a way to flatter your legs, there are a few “pant tips” that will help you get the most flattering pants on the rack! into that smaller size, finding a good fit is much more important than the number on the pant label.

Women know their pants are the right size when the clothing item doesn’t cling to their body, but instead skims it. When you sit, your pants should not bunch up tightly. When you’re standing, they should not pucker around your thighs or buttocks area. Finding the right size is probably the most important aspect of scoring the most flattering pants on the shelf! (www.freebeautytips.org)

health

Page 26

Friday, November 26, 2010

Everything you need to know about high blood pressure What is high blood pressure?

It causes the heart to work harder than normal putting both the heart and arteries at greater risk of damage. High blood pressure, or hypertension, increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, damage to the eyes, congestive heart failure and atherosclerosis.

Hypertension exists where the pressure at which blood is pushing against blood vessel walls is consistently above average.

Blood pressure changes throughout the day. In particular, it increases during exercise and decreases during sleep.

Untreated high blood pressure can cause the heart to become abnormally large and less efficient (ventricular hypertrophy) causing heart failure and increased risk of heart attack.

Symptoms Although high blood pressure can cause headaches, dizziness and problems with vision, the majority of people suffer no symptoms at all. As a result many people with hypertension remain undiagnosed because they have no symptoms to motivate them to see a doctor or get their blood pressure checked.

However, despite the lack of symptoms hypertension can lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney damage, and many other medical problems Causes and risk factors In over 90 per cent of cases, the cause is unknown. In the remaining cases, high blood pressure is a symptom of a recognisable underlying problem such as a kidney abnormality, tumour of the adrenal gland or congenital defect of the aorta (in these cases when the root cause is corrected, blood pressure usually returns to norma).

This type of high blood pressure is called secondary hypertension.

If high blood pressure isn’t treated and is combined with obesity, smoking, high blood cholesterol levels or diabetes, the risk of heart attack is several times higher.

Arteries also suffer the effects of high blood pressure, becoming scarred, hardened and less elastic.

Though this hardening of the arteries often occurs with age, high blood pressure accelerates the process. The hardened or narrowed arteries are unable to supply the amount of blood the body’s organs need, preventing them working effectively. Another risk is that a blood clot may lodge in an artery narrowed by atherosclerosis, blocking blood supply.

Treatment and recovery The only way to find out if you have high blood pressure is to have your blood pressure checked.

Untreated high blood pressure can cause the heart to become abnormally large and less efficient (ventricular hypertrophy) causing heart failure and increased risk of heart attack A doctor or other qualified health professional should check a patient’s blood pressure at least once every two years.

It’s measured in millimetres of mercury (mm Hg) and is defined in an adult by the recording of two readings: ● The first is called the systolic pressure and represents the force of the blood as the heart contracts (beats) to pump it around the body.

This is the higher of the two readings and records blood pressure at or above 140mm Hg. ● The second, called the diastolic, is the pressure while the heart is relaxed and filling with blood again in preparation for the next contraction or heart beat. This value is lower than the systolic pressure and records blood pressure at or above 90mm Hg.

What is considered to be an acceptable blood pressure and what is hypertension (and then what needs treatment) depends on several factors. A single high reading isn’t enough to warrant a diagnosis of hypertension as blood pressure can be raised in all of us now and then - even the sight of a doctor can be enough to put it up.

So there must be at least three high readings to cause concern.

When high blood pressure is first diagnosed, tests may be done for an underlying cause (i.e. secondary hypertension) especially if the person is young or has very high blood pressure. If an underlying cause is found it should be treated.

There’s no cure as such for essential hypertension, but following a healthy lifestyle can

be enough to bring blood pressure down to a normal level. This is one reason why drug treatment may not be offered for healthy individuals with only mild hypertension (above 140/90 mmHg but below 160/100 mmHg).

Medication is used if lifestyle changes alone fail to lower blood pressure sufficiently. Its generally recommend that drug treatment is offered to: ● Those with a blood pressure above 160/100 mmHg. ● Those with isolated systolic hypertension of more than 160 mmHg. ● Those with a blood pressure of more than 140/90 mmHg (i.e. mild hypertension) but who also have cardiovascular disease or significant risk of developing

cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or damage to the heart, kidney or eyes as a result of high blood pressure.

Current UK guidelines also recommend that blood pressure levels need to be even lower for certain people and say treatment should aim to lower blood pressure to below 130/80 if a person has: ● A complication of diabetes, especially kidney problems. ● Had a serious cardiovascular event such as a heart attack, TIA or stroke. ● Has certain chronic kidney diseases.

All medicines can have side effects and sometimes it’s necessary to try different drugs if initial treatments cause problems. (www.bbc.co.uk)

health

Friday, November 26, 2010

Page 27

Get toned arms faster than ever are two ways to get sculpted arms: the fast way Tandhere the slow way. Most women are stuck with the slow way because they do not know how to prevent plateaus. They do the same routine week in and week out.

Luckily for you, I’m going to make sure you never get stuck with the slow way. How? By showing you advanced techniques that will turn an average arm workout into a results-producing gem.

Here are another 4 ways to get toned arms faster than ever before: 1. Blowout sets. Considered a “finishing” technique, these should only be done as the last set of an exercise. Why? Because you will use a light weight and perform as many repetitions as necessary for your arms to reach complete exhaustion. Use a weight that allows you to reach failure at about 20 repetitions. This is a great tool for targeting your slow twitch muscle fibers and for depleting any lingering glycogen (carbohydrate) stores.

As always, make sure your form does not deviate.

2. Back-to-back sets. A great technique for getting sculpted arms ASAP, back-to-back sets involve doing one exercise immediately after another without any rest in between.

The key here is to not get ANY rest in between the two exercises. Since you are doing two exercises one after the other, without any rest, you have to use perfect breathing technique so that you don’t end up starving for oxygen. Turning blue in the middle of an exercise is not fun!

3. Curling against a wall.

What’s the biggest drawback when doing biceps curls? The difficulty of maintaining good form when going heavy. What’s the best solution? Curling against a wall! If you place your back against a wall when doing biceps curls, it’s virtually impossible to cheat-no matter how heavy you go. Now don’t expect to use a lot of weight when doing this technique, it’s very hard. But brutally effective for getting defined arms.

4. Pausing and squeezing at the end of triceps exercises. If you think triceps press-downs are tough, wait till you try this variation. Pausing and squeezing will turn that faint tingling sensation you feel in your triceps area into a massive burning sensation. Your reward for enduring the pain? Sexy and sculpted arms in no time. The first time I tried this technique I could not believe how effective it was. So I kept on doing it again and again just to make sure. And I kept on getting great results again and again.

Well, this concludes our exploration of advanced methods for getting scupted arms ASAP. Remember that it may take a little practice to really figure out how to perfect these techniques. Don’t expect to get it all figured out in one shot. Also, you don’t have to follow my recommendations to the dot. Feel free to tweak, adjust and combine as you please. The main principle to keep in mind is to work out your arms with A LOT of intensity. As long as you are busting your butt, the results will come. Good luck! (www.sleevelessin7.com)

pets

page 28

Friday, November 26, 2010

Not without our dogs

hortly after Thomasa Jordan’s S husband was deployed to Iraq in June 2008, life for the young

military wife became increasingly difficult. She had a 5-year-old daughter and another baby on the way. Pregnancy-related medical issues left her sick and tired, and to make matters worse, she was feuding with the family next door to her at Fort Hood. So, Jordan said, she decided to leave Killeen, Texas, and stay with her brother in Virginia until her husband returned home.

Only there was no room for the family’s beloved German shepherds, Logan and Dixie. “I couldn’t bring the dogs because the apartment I was going to didn’t have a back yard,” said Jordan, 24. “I started looking through the phone book and went through 32 hours of searching. I called shelters, German shepherd rescue agencies, anyplace I could think of where they wouldn’t get put down.

“Everything was full or they wouldn’t take them because of their age.” Then, Jordan said, someone told her about an organization that fosters pets for military families, called Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet. She anxiously dialed the number.

A way to give back Barbara Lawrence, 53, a doctor of internal medicine and an animal lover, lives on 3 acres near Aledo, Texas. Since the Gulf War, she has been supporting America’s troops by writing them letters and sending care packages. One day last year, she said, she was browsing a Web site and saw a link to Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet. That March, she applied to become a foster pet parent, specifying that she was willing to take a large dog.

“After the initial excitement of the invasion wore off and people turned back to their own lives, it didn’t change the fact that people were making huge sacrifices and giving up things, such as their pets, to fulfill their obligations,” Lawrence explained. “I saw it not only as something I could give to a service person but to the family at home.” Seven months later, Lawrence received a call from Guardian Angels asking whether she would be willing to foster two big dogs.

“At that time, they had these clients - the Jordans - with two adult German shepherds and they were trying to place them,” she said. “The Jordans had tried hard to find a place for them and hadn’t had any luck and were resigned to giving up their pets.”

A short time later, Lawrence and Thomasa Jordan spoke by phone.

Lawrence said she was eager to

Barbara Lawrence, a foster pet parent, has been caring for Dixie (left) and Logan for Sgt Timothy Adam Jordan, who returned from Iraq to pick them up from her home, in Aledo, Texas. —MCT

Foster pet program eases load on military family take Logan and Dixie but was concerned how they would get along with her new puppy, Dolly.

Jordan offered to make the 2hour drive from Killeen to Aledo to see how the dogs interacted.

“She was nine months pregnant and ready to deliver at any time,” Lawrence said. “I had visions of her going into labor on I-35, so I drove to Fort Hood and met her and brought Dolly.” The dogs got

along fine. Later that day, Lawrence started back to Aledo with Dolly, Logan and Dixie.

“I was so excited,” Jordan said. “My husband called and I got to tell him that I had found someone to take both dogs together and that he was going to be able to see them again. He said it was a godsend.” Five days later, Jordan gave birth to their second daughter.

Staying in touch Shortly after she was released from the hospital, Jordan and her daughters, Savannah and Shyanne, went back to Jordan’s hometown of Hampton Roads, Va. They moved in with her brother and his family, who helped care for her and the girls. Lawrence, meanwhile, routinely e-mailed Jordan pictures of Dixie and Logan, which she forwarded to

her husband in Iraq.

Lawrence said the arrangement wasn’t without challenges. Dixie wasn’t well socialized, and both dogs chased her neighbor’s horses, so they had to be moved, she said. But the rewards were great.

Lawrence said it filled her heart to see the German shepherds running across the field, playing together. Logan loved the water, and both dogs were affectionate and got along well with Dolly.

Best of all, Lawrence said, she felt good knowing she was able to help a young military mother.

“It was obvious that she wasn’t going to be able to handle a 5year-old, a newborn and two large dogs,” Lawrence said. “I think it is just as important to help the family at home as to support those who are abroad.”

Husband comes home At the end of July, after a 14-month deployment, Army Sgt Adam Jordan, 28, returned home safely.

Lawrence, realizing he needed some down time, offered to keep Dixie and Logan a bit longer so that Adam Jordan could get to know his new daughter and the family could take a vacation together. “I said, ‘Take your time,’” she recalled. On Sept 12, the Jordans, ready to make their family whole again, drove to Aledo to pick up Logan and Dixie. It was a heartwarming reunion. “They were extremely happy to see us,” Thomasa Jordan said. “It was like no time had passed.” Lawrence said the dogs, especially Dixie, stayed close to Adam Jordan.

“It was obvious that Dixie had a strong bond with Adam,” Lawrence said. “She was a different dog. She strikes me as the type of dog who bonds only with one person. She was ecstatic to see him and would not leave his side.” Even though she had bonded with the dogs for 11 months, Lawrence said she felt joy, not sadness, when they left.

“It wasn’t hard to let them go, because I could see how happy their family was to have them back,” said Lawrence, who is now retired.

Adam Jordan said he is grateful to Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet - and especially to Lawrence. “Those are our babies,” he said. “We don’t love them as much as our kids, but they are definitely part of the family. They mean a lot to us. ...

I’m very happy we are all back together again.” He said Lawrence insisted on paying for the dogs’ food and vet bills while he was in Iraq. When he met her, he told her he wanted to repay her. She wouldn’t hear of it. “She said I had done enough,” Adam Jordan said. —MCT

relationships

Friday, november 26, 2010

page 29

Available: Free, reliable, endless babysitting Community child-care options bring back intimate time into parents' lives ith three children younger than 6, date night could've easily run the Dillmans of San Ramon, Calif., almost $100 and that's just for the high school baby sitter. Never mind that many high school kids have never changed a diaper; they're also rarely available in a midday pinch, when doctor's appointments coincide with baby naps.

The family's child-care options expanded a year ago when Danae Dillman and others in the Iron Horse Mothers Club started a baby-sitting co-op, a communityfocused trend in child care exchange. While some co-ops have bylaws and hundreds of members, others keep it simple. Many co-ops consist of a few overwhelmed parents who join forces because they believe watching someone's child is the neighborly thing to do.

Since more young couples live far away from grandmas and aunties, many co-ops grew out of a need for reliable, free child care in an increasingly tight economy.

Need to hit the gym or get your hair cut? Request a sit using hours that are accumulated when you watch someone else's child.

Dillman is the president of her co-op, which consists of 12 parents in the Windemere area of San Ramon, Calif. She and her board members meet monthly to make sure the children's medical records are up to date and to visit homes of new recruits for safety and childproofing. They also run new members' names through the Megan's Law Web site to check for sexual offenders. An annual fee of $12 covers administrative costs, including a quarterly barbecue.

From there, members log into the co-op's Yahoo group and post "sit requests" with logistics - "I will bring my two boys over for an hour after lunch." Average sits are requested 48 hours in advance, and they usually get filled, Dillman says. It works in emergencies, too.

One woman relied on the co-op to watch her first child when she went into labor. Another used it to attend a funeral. "I've been able to get my nails done and do my Christmas shopping," says Dillman, 35 and a stay-at-home mom. "My husband and I went to the drive-in and saw a double feature. I personally wouldn't think to use a high school kid anymore."

Building bonds At first, Melanie Beardslee was skeptical about leaving her two children with "strangers." So, Beardslee, a full-time speech therapist, spent a little time getting to know the Windemere co-op members, which is something experts like Washington-based Gary Myers, author of "Smart Mom's Baby-sitting Co-op Handbook" suggests.

"It's easier to start and build a co-op than find one," says Myers, who wrote his handbook based on his wife's experience in Tacoma's University Place Co-op. "You don't want strangers in your co-op, so all you need is two friends and you're up and running." After a few visits, Beardslee, 41, realized she and her neighbors were all in the same situation. "We have the same

W

Rebecca Peterson (left) pushes Julien Gardner, 3, and her daughter Eleanor Ahern, 2, on a trike as they play in the yard of Peterson's home in Oakland, California. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; MCT values," she says. "We have the same needs for our kids." The coop allowed Beardslee to join a tennis league. More importantly, it has made her community stronger and given her unexpected breaks, she says. "When you go to someone else's house for a sit, you can't wash dishes or do your laundry," she says. "So you can put your feet up and not feel guilty about it. And, other people's kids are usually way better behaved when they are with you."

Most co-op members are moms, but dads do participate. Paul Greenstone, 43, of San Ramon, Calif., accumulates points during the week when he's working from home. "It's a piece of cake," says Greenstone, who is a photographer and stay-at-home dad to his 14month-old son. "A mom will send

out an e-blast saying she's got to take one child to the doctor and needs to drop the other one off. I say, 'Bring him over.' It's been a great way for us to meet people and make friends."

When Rebecca Peterson moved to Oakland, she and her husband didn't know any families in the area. Their daughter, Eleanor, was 6 months old, and with her closest relatives in New York, Peterson, a freelance art director, went to the local Gymboree to meet people. A mom there told her about the Crocker Highlands co-op, which has been active for 50 years. In addition to a baby-sitting exchange, the club does what they call a baby brigade.

"When you have a baby, people bring you dinner for the first three weeks," says Peterson, who is 35

and expecting her second baby next month. Once a month, members also alternate hosting a kids' movie night at their homes. It's an instant date night for everyone else in the co-op.

Like family When you're a single mom and work full time, like Nichole Soterwood, co-ops can ensure you actually have a dating life.

Soterwood joined one in Santa Clara three years ago after relocating from Arizona with her two kids, who are 6 and 4. "I use it for everything, from dates to helping out in my kids' classrooms," says Soterwood, a systems engineer. Her ex is also in the coop. They have 16 members and manage their hours on a password protected Web site. Most members come from referral through the

children's preschool.

Ultimately, for the families who use them, co-ops are more than a source of baby-sitting. The members are like family, says Ingrid Dick, a 39-year-old mother of two and president of the Las Madres Playgroup in Santa Clara.

The group boasts 1,500 total members and is divided into sub play groups organized by the year of the child's birth.

Dick's play group has 40 members. That's 40 people she can count on since she left her family and in-laws in Australia 12 years ago. "I can't even explain what this co-op means to us," she says. "At the end of the day, when we're dragging our feet, there's nothing better than having someone drop off their kids to entertain yours." â&#x20AC;&#x201D; MCT

FOOD

Page 30

Friday, November 26, 2010

Everyday cooking

By Sawsan Kazak

A

Panini is a sandwich, in essence, but a really special one. It’s one that has been smooched down, compacted together and heated up. The process of placing weight and heat on the two pieces of bread is what allows the fillings to meld together and the top to get nice and crunchy.

A sandwich that is ‘Paninied’ has more intensified flavors and is a great way to revamp leftovers. For breakfast, lunch or dinner, Paninis are great. They can be extremely healthy with whole grain bread and veggies or complete comfort food with gooey cheese and beef bacon.

Simply combine your favorite bread, fill with whatever you have around and press!

Try the following recipes and get creative with your own ingredients.

What do you think?

Saw sank@kuw aittimes.net

BLT Panini * 6 sour dough bread slices * 3 slices beef bacon * 9 basil leaves, large * 6 mozzarella cheese fresh, slices * 4 sundried tomatoes, packed in oil, chopped * 6 tomato slices, thick * parmesan cheese shredded * butter

B

Breakfast Panini • 2 large eggs • 1 tablespoon milk • 1/8 teaspoon salt • dash freshly ground black pepper • dash Cajun seasoning • 2 to 3 teaspoons unsalted butter • 2 small slices Mozzarella cheese • 2 medium ciabatta breads (about 3 1/2 to 4inch squares) or other similar size bread

S

lice the sausage link in half crosswise, then slice into 4 or 5 thin slices lengthwise. In a small skillet, brown the sausage on both sides, set aside.

Whisk eggs in a small bowl with the milk, salt, pepper, and seasoning. Slice the Ciabatta bread horizontally. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add eggs and let firm up around the edges.

With a spatula, form the egg into a rectangle, letting the liquid egg remaining flow around it.

Continue cooking and shaping with the spatula until firm enough to flip. Flip and let the other side cook until the eggs are firm but still moist.

Remove from heat. Cut in half and divide egg between two bottom halves of Ciabatta bread or other bread.

Top the egg with the thinly sliced sausage then place a slice of cheese on top. Finish with bread tops. Grill or cook in a panini press until sandwich is hot and cheese is melted.

Makes 2 medium sandwiches.

utter outside of each slice of bread. Place 3 slices of bread, butter side down on panini pan. Top each with 1 slice of bacon, 3 basil leaves, 2 slices of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle each with parmesan cheese, chopped sundried tomatoes then top with 2 slices of tomatoes. Top with bread slice, butter side up. Grill over medium heat, placing panini press on top. Grill for approximately 5-7 minutes until golden brown, turn and grill other side. Serve warm.

FOOD

Friday, November 26, 2010

Page 31

Eggplant panini

Four cheese Panini I

1/2 cup shredded fresh mozzarella cheese 1/2 cup shredded Fontina cheese 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese (freshly grated) 1/2 cup shredded provolone cheese (3 ounces) 8 slices tomatoes, thinly sliced 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped 4 ciabatta rolls, halved lengthwise (spread outsides with butter) 8 arugula leaves (optional, but recommended)

Balsamic vinaigrette 1 eggplant, sliced lengthwise 1 zucchini, sliced lengthwise 1 yellow onion, sliced Extra-virgin olive oil 4 slices olive bread Hummus 2 roasted red peppers 4 slices provolone cheese Salt and pepper

P

lace eggplant and zucchini in a plastic bag with enough balsamic vinaigrette to coat the vegetables. Seal and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Preheat panini grill to medium-high heat (375

n a small bowl, combine cheeses.

Spread the cheese on the bottoms of the ciabatta rolls. Top with tomato slices and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with basil and add 2 arugula leaves and close the panini. 2 Set a large cast-iron skillet or griddle over moderately high heat. Arrange the panini in skillet and weight them down with a smaller pan (can fill with water if you need more weight).

Cook the panini until the outside is crisp and the cheese is melted, 3 minutes per side. 3 Cut panini in half and serve at once.

degrees). Brush olive oil on both sides of onions, season with salt and pepper and place on the grill. Remove eggplant and zucchini from marinade (discard remaining marinade) and place onto the grill as well. Close the lid and grill vegetables for 3-4 minutes until cooked through.

Brush olive oil onto the outer sides of each slice of olive bread. On the bottom bread slices (oil side down), spread a layer of hummus. Top with slices of zucchini, eggplant, red pepper, onion, cheese and top bread slice (oil side up). Grill 3-4 minutes until cheese is melted and golden grill marks appear.

Chicken and avocado Panini

Dessert panini 3 tablespoons Nutella 2 slices white sandwich bread slices banana (optional)

P

reheat a panini grill. Spread the Nutella across each piece of bread, from edge to edge top with banana if you want. Close up the sandwich and trim the crusts. Grill each sandwich for 3 minutes until the bread is lightly browned. Remove the crusts and cut each into 4 triangles before serving.

1 avocado 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 1/4 cup red onion, diced 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped 1/3 cup grape tomatoes, quartered 2 teaspoons jalapenos salt and pepper 2 pieces bread 4 pieces beef bacon, cooked crisp 1 cooked chicken breast half, sliced thin (I usually used left over grilled or smoked)

3 ounces monterey jack pepper cheese 1 -2 teaspoon fat-free mayonnaise 1/4 cup fat-free cheddar cheese, grated

H

eat panini press to medium.

(Or can grill on skillet or George Foreman). 2 Peel and remove pit of avocado. Coarsely mash avocado in bowl using fork (leave some chunks). Add lemon juice and stir. Stir in onion, cilantro, chopped jalapenos, and tomatoes.

Salt and pepper to taste. 3 Spread thin layer of mayo on bread slices. 4 Assemble sandwich by layering onto bread sliced jack cheese, chicken, bacon, avocado mixture, and grated cheddar. Top with remaining slice of bread. 5 Grill until heated through and crispy on the outside.

If using Naan bread, slice into six triangles.

(If using other bread/tortilla, cut according to size of sandwich).

THEY ARE THE 99!

99 Mystical Noor Stones carry all that is left of the wisdom and knowledge of the lost civilization of Baghdad. But the Noor Stones lie scattered across the globe - now little more than a legend. One man has made it his life’s mission to seek out what was lost.

His name is Dr. Ramzi Razem and he has searched fruitlessly for the Noor Stones all his life. Now, his luck is about to change - the first of the stones have been rediscovered and with them a special type of human who can unlock the gem’s mystical power. Ramzi brings these gem - bearers together to form a new force for good in the world. A force known as ... the 99!

THE STORY SO FAR : The Pathologist -- Dr. Audric Blondel, The 99’s old enemy -- arrives at the Foundation, claiming to have reformed. Jami doesn’t trust him, but only one member of The 99 can

www.the99.org

The 99 ® and all related characters ® and © 2010, Teshkeel Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

reveal the truth: Noora the Light.

TRAVEL

Page 34

Friday, November 26, 2010

Packing tips for

backpacking across Europe A

packets.

fter months of research and planning you’re finally ready to jet off to Europe.

The life-changing adventure of traveling abroad is right around the corner, and all you have to do is get there. But, there is one more challenge to overcome that will make or break your traveling experience-deciding what to pack.

Although it’s tempting to pack everything you could possibly need for any situation, it just won’t work. There are no bellboys in youth hostels. Whatever you decide to take will be attached to your back for the entire trip, and you have to be able to carry the load. Forget about climbing hills or running to catch a train with a ton of dead weight on your back. It just won’t happen. Even if it does happen, it won’t be fun.

Maximize your experience by minimizing your burden. Pack light! This is the measure of a smart traveler and can’t be stressed enough.

No one ever returns from a trip abroad and says, “Next time I need to pack more”. If you’re unsure whether to pack a particular item, ask yourself if you’ll use it enough to justify carrying it the whole trip.

Whatever you bring, make sure it’s versatile and practical. If you plan on wearing or using it once, leave it at home. You won’t need a little black dress or a big bottle of cologne. Keep it simple.

Think about where you’ll be traveling. If you’re going to southern Europe in the summertime, leave the gloves at home. If you’re going to Scandinavia, gloves and a heavier jacket make sense. Use your good judgment.

With that in mind, following are some tips to help you decide what’s important and what should be left behind.

First, what to wear. Remember that you can do laundry.

• Sunglasses • 1 small combination lock. This will not make you theft-proof, but may prevent thieves from trying.

• Lightweight cotton pillowcase.

• Small towel. Super-fast drying “pack towels” made for camping are best.

• Earplugs. For sleeping on a train or in a hostel with snoring roommates.

• A note card with family and friends’ addresses. If you can, have it laminated.

• Small travel umbrella. The smaller, the better.

• Travel sized bug spray, especially for southern Europe.

• If you wear contact lenses, bring eyeglasses too.

• Small, inflatable travel pillow. The type that fits around your neck is best.

• Backpacking soap or travel size laundry detergent. A sink and window sill may have to substitute for a Laundromat.

• Money belt. For travelers checks, extra cash, passport and other valuables. Keep your cash, credit cards and phone cards somewhere more convenient for easy access and to avoid drawing attention to your money belt.

• Camera. A digital camera is best, since you don’t have to carry film.

2 pair of khaki or other casual, lightweight pants. Unless you can’t live without them, jeans are heavy and usually too hot for summer travel.

• Jumbo Ziploc bags. For leaky toiletries, a wet swimsuit, and because you never know when they’ll come in handy.

• Playing cards. A great way to make new friends.

• 1-2 pairs of shorts. Khaki or other lightweight fabric is best. Make sure they have pockets.

• 1 long-sleeved shirt • 4-5 short-sleeved shirts made of breathable fabric. Cotton is best.

If you plan on experiencing Europe’s nightlife, bring a semi-dressy shirt and pants or skirt for these occasions. Make sure they’re practical and multi-functional. Ask yourself, “Can I wear these clothes during the day?”

• One fleece, sweatshirt, or thin jacket, preferably with a hood. Waterproof or water resistant is best, especially if you’re going to the United Kingdom.

• 4-5 pairs of underwear. Ladies, bring only one bra.

• Swimsuit. A must for women. Men can turn a lightweight pair of shorts into swim trunks.

• 4-5 pairs of socks • 1 pair of comfortable, sturdy walking shoes. Think about whether they will work for night and day activities.

• 1 pair of flat, casual sandals. These are great for summer trips and are small and light.

• 1 flexible hat (if you’re a hat person or your head is prone to sunburn). The fishing hat

style is best, since it can be squished into small crevices. Don’t bring a baseball cap.

• When choosing which clothes to pack: Choose clothes that don’t wrinkle easily.

Darker colors are better because they hide dirt.

• Toiletries. Yes, size does matter.

• Bring things you’ll need, but buy them in travel sizes. If you need to restock, Europe has drug stores, too. And, it’s fun shopping for “I think this is shampoo”.

• Use a travel toiletry kit that’s easily portable for those early morning trips to communal bathrooms.

• Don’t forget sunscreen. If you’re traveling in southern Europe, a regular sized bottle may be worth the extra bulk.

• Enough prescription medication.

• Pain reliever. Travel sized packets are best.

• Small pack of tissues.

• Hairdryer. If you absolutely, positively cannot live without one, bring a travel dryer.

Don’t forget a European voltage converter.

• Other stuff you may not have thought of.

• A comfortable, easy to manage traveling backpack. This does not mean a roller suitcase (you will regret it and will be the laughing stock of the hostel).

• A day backpack. Great for day trips if you can store your large backpack in a train station or other secure place. Some traveling backpacks come with zip-off daypacks.

• Water bottle. Constantly buying bottled water can get expensive.

• A watch. Leave your nice watch at home.

Bring a waterproof, droppable watch.

• A good paperback book you can read more than once. A must for long train rides.

Recommendation: Bill Bryson’s “Neither Here, Nor There: Travels in Europe”.

• Journal. Your soon-to-be best friend.

Don’t forget a pen.

• Glue stick. To adhere mementos into your journal, such as museum tickets and restaurant napkins.

• One good guidebook. Make sure it covers all the countries you’ll be visiting, and that it’s geared toward budget travel.

• A few individual Shout or Woolite

• Kitchen-size plastic trash bag. To keep very dirty or wet laundry away from clean clothes.

• Plastic knife, fork and spoon.

• A small plastic bottle of light cologne or linen spray. Spray your clothes and backpack with it. Not only will it keep dirty clothes smelling fresh, but the scent will bring back memories of your trip for years to come.

Seriously.

Remember to leave enough room for souvenirs that you accumulate. If you can ship souvenirs home, that’s ideal. Otherwise, make sure what you buy is lightweight and not fragile. A bottle of Italian wine can break, and it will feel like a cement block very quickly.

Before leaving home, test your load. Pack your backpack completely and spend a long afternoon walking around with it. If you’re comfortable, you’ve packed well. If you struggle, eliminate some items you can live without. Regardless of how well you pack, your shoulder and back muscles may be sore for a few days until you get used to the weight.

Use your good judgment to determine what’s too bulky versus what your body can get used to.

One of the most important reasons to travel light is to avoid being labeled as a typical tourist. You want to blend in, not stick out like a sore thumb. Too much luggage can truly hinder your experience. Being mobile and agile will put you in control of your adventure.

TRAVEL

Friday, November 26, 2010

Page 35

Lebanon Beyond Beirut Four Must-Do Day Trips

B

eirut is wonderful, a cosmopolitan Mediterranean city famed for its friendly people, exclusive shops and fine restaurants. The Solidaire quarter of Beirut especially is worth the trip to Lebanon, but there is more, so much more to see in Lebanon, and some of it is outside the capitol and easily done as a day trip. Here’s a sampling.

Jeita Grottos These world-famous caves are immense and absolutely spectacular.

Located about 18 kilometers along the highway north of Beirut in the valley of Nhr el Kalb, Jetta Grotto is formed of two galleries, the lower gallery being opened only in 1958.

One visits it by boat, since it is home to an underground lake, a trip of about 500 meters. It is silent, and lovely with only the slow drip of water punctuating the silence. In the immense Upper Gallery, the combination of huge of stalagmites and stalactites is magical.

Jeita Grotto is unquestionably one of the most impressive natural sites in the world. Happily it has been very carefully developed to preserve its unique beauty.

In 2002, Jeita Grotto was awarded the Sustainable Development in Tourism Prize by a panel of International Scientific Experts in recognition of the degree of excellence of its care in the preservation of the environment combined with the economic feasibility of the project and impact on local economic development.The Upper Gallery may be reached by way of a cable car or on a small local “train.”

The entrance to the lower grotto is just beside the restaurant and a shopping area. The shops offer a tasteful selection of local crafts and souvenirs. Jeita Grotto is Lebanon’s number one tourist site and recognized internationally for it superb caves. This is not to be The Crusader Fort At Jbail Proceed along the coastal highway north of Beirut to the smaller town of Jbail. The town itself is not much, but where you are heading is to the old quarter of the town, formerly known as Byblos. Here you will find narrow mediaeval streets crammed with quaint shops and small restaurants.

Your eventual destination is the ancient crusader fort which dominates the quarter. The site goes back to prehistoric times and signs of many civilizations are evident there; most obvious, however, are the magnificent Roman ruins which were later plundered in the search for stones to make a Crusader castle. Ramparts, cellars, Roman pillars, acres of ruins, all allow us to imagine the lovely old city of Byblos, one of the world’s oldest continually inhabited towns, dating back at least 7000 years. The 12th century crusader castle which dominates the hill, affords some wonderful views of modern Jbail.

From the castle ramparts you can ponder the ruins of no fewer than seventeen civilizations. The castle

must have been deliberately situated to overlook the sea and delight its occupants with a stiff fresh sea breeze from the west. Nowadays the busiest section is the central narrow shopping street with many little shops selling souvenirs, jewelry, clothing, snacks, and handicrafts and so on.

Needing a rest after our visit, we left the castle district for a short walk down toward the water had lunch at Le Vieux Port, a delicious selection of hummus, kebbe, sambousek and, my favorite, roulade de fromage.

Wonderful!

The Cedars Of Lebanon This is a dramatic climb into Lebanon’s high mountains toward the snow-capped peaks with their ski hills. At the very summit the roads are closed in the winter months.

As you make the climb, below you Beirut spreads, masses of white buildings, parks, and trees, especially around the university campus, but here the vegetation is more abundant yet and it seems even greener. In the distance are higher, snow-capped mountains. The road winds along steep ravines and becomes narrow.

The valleys are lush and green, but so steeply-inclined that they are uncultivable.

The road becomes even narrower, twisted and tortured until you enter the clouds and a thick fog surrounds you. It’s pretty exciting. You pass through several mountain villages, navigating narrow streets meant for horse and wagon not modern vehicles.

The houses are three or more stories high and made of grey limestone.

Small shops display a variety of fruits

and vegetables outside. Before reaching the Cedars you will come at 1400 meters to Bcharree, home of Khalil Gibran. There you must visit the Museum and Art gallery featuring the works of this strange, visionary, surreal artist.

The famed Cedars are a short drive further at about 2000 meters.

About three hundred and fifty of these magnificent trees mentioned in the Bible as one of the treasures of the region are left from the forest of hundreds of thousands which must have once carpeted the hillsides.

These cedars are often mentioned in the Bible and other texts for their magnificence and are associated with the development of the port at Byblos.

Over the centuries, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Egyptians, Romans and many others made the pilgrimage to Mount Lebanon for its famous aromatic wood.

Nebuchadnezzar, himself boasted in cuneiform writing, “I bought for

building, mighty cedars, which I cut down with my pure hands on Mount Lebanon.” The cedars of Lebanon were highly prized for their size, long straight grain, reddish color, and fragrant aroma. For a small entrance fee, you can stroll among the few remaining of these magnificent giants.

This is a unique encounter with natural history you can have no where else in the world. When you leave the protected forest area, you can stroll among the many roadside stands selling carvings made of the prunings of the famous cedars.

Baalbeck At about eighty five kilometers from Beirut, modern Baalbeck is the administrative and economic center of the northern Beqaa Valley. It has enjoyed this role for millennia. The Roman ruins at Baalbeck reveal what was once one of the wonders of the ancient world going back to at least the third millennium B.C. Interesting,

at one time, the Greeks identified Baalbeck with the sun god and the town was known as Heliopolis, the City of the Sun. Your first view of Baalbeck will undoubtedly be the six Corinthian columns of the Great Temple thrusting twenty-two meters into the skyline. They are stunning and, by themselves, give some idea of how huge the original structure must have been. In the lower court, look for the Lion’s Head decoration still impressive in spite of years of erosion and weathering. You must also enter the Temple of Bacchus, God of Wine and revels. It is a least the size of The Parthenon, which it somewhat resembles, in Athens and may be in better repair. A leisurely stroll among these massive ruins, is a peaceful, welcome and very impressive experience. After you leave the site, walk straight down the street in front of the entrance about two blocks to the friendly “Gourmet Restaurant” and enjoy one of their excellent sandwiches on fresh French bread.

On your way back to Beirut, stop off at Ksara Winery where, if you wish, you can taste some of their excellent wine and then tour their massive cellars. From the winery, it’s about an hour back to Beirut. I first visited Lebanon thirty years ago, and only recently, and joyfully, became reacquainted with this lovely country.

Put on your list of places to go, and when you do, remember that when you feel that you have exhausted the delights of Beirut, there is still a great deal more to do in this wonderful country. (www.escapeartist.com )

BOOKS

Page 36

By Simon Winchester

B

lending history and anecdote, geography and reminiscence, science and exposition, the New York Times bestselling author of Krakatoa tells the breathtaking saga of the magnificent Atlantic Ocean, setting it against the backdrop of mankind’s intellectual evolution Until a thousand years ago, no humans ventured into the Atlantic or imagined traversing its vast infinity. But once the first daring mariners successfully navigated to far

shores-whether it was the Vikings, the Irish, the Chinese, Christopher Columbus in the north, or the Portuguese and the Spanish in the south-the Atlantic evolved in the world’s growing consciousness of itself as an enclosed body of water bounded by the Americas to the West, and by Europe and Africa to the East.

Atlantic is a biography of this immense space, of a sea which has defined and determined so much about the lives of the millions who live beside or near its tens of thousands of miles of coast.

The Atlantic has been central to the

ambitions of explorers, scientists and warriors, and it continues to affect our character, attitudes, and dreams. Poets to potentates, seers to sailors, fishermen to foresters-all have a relationship with this great body of blue-green sea and regard her as friend or foe, adversary or ally, depending on circumstance or fortune.

Simon Winchester chronicles that relationship, making the Atlantic come vividly alive.

Spanning from the earth’s geological origins to the age of exploration, World War II battles to modern pollution, his narrative is epic and aweinspiring.

By Stacy Schiff

H

Friday, November 26, 2010

er palace shimmered with gold but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue.

Cleopatra, the wealthiest ruler of her time and one of the most powerful women in history, was a canny political strategist, a brilliant manager, a tough negotiator, and the most manipulative of lovers. Although her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world.

At only 18 years old, Cleopatra was already one of history’s most remarkable figures: the Queen of Egypt. A lethal political struggle with her brother marked her early adulthood and set the tone for the rest of her life; a relationship with Julius Caesar, forged while under siege in her palace, launched her into a deadly mix of romance and strategy; a pleasure cruise down the Nile followed, a child, and a trip to Rome,

which ended in Cleopatra’s flight. After Caesar’s brutal murder, she began a nine-year affair with Mark Antony, with whom she had three more children. Antony and Cleopatra’s alliance and attempt to forge a new empire spelled both their ends.

The subject of gossip and legend, veneration and speculation in her lifetime, Cleopatra fascinated the world right up to her death. In the 2000 years since, myths about the last Queen of Egypt have been fueled by Shakespeare, Dryden, and Shaw, who put words in her mouth, and by Michelangelo, Delacroix, and Elizabeth Taylor, who put a face to her name. In Cleopatra, Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Stacy Schiff accomplishes a feat that has eluded artists and writers for centuries: capturing fully the operatic life of an exceptionally seductive and powerful woman, whose death ushered in a new world order.

By James Kaplan

B

estselling author James Kaplan redefines Frank Sinatra in a triumphant new biography that includes many rarely seen photographs.

Frank Sinatra was the best-known entertainer of the twentieth centuryinfinitely charismatic, lionized and notorious in equal measure. But despite his mammoth fame, Sinatra the man has remained an enigma. As Bob Spitz did with the Beatles, Tina Brown for Diana, and Peter Guralnick for Elvis, James Kaplan goes behind the legend and hype to bring alive a force that changed popular culture in fundamental ways.

Sinatra endowed the songs he sang with the explosive conflict of his own personality. He also made the very act of listening to pop music a more personal experience than it had ever been. In Frank: The Voice, Kaplan reveals how he did it, bringing deeper insight than ever before to the complex psyche and turbulent life behind that incomparable vocal instrument. We relive the years 1915 to 1954 in glistening detail, experiencing as if for the first time Sinatra’s journey from the streets of Hoboken, his fall from the apex of celebrity, and his Oscar-winning return in From Here to Eternity. Here at last is the biographer who makes the reader feel what it was really like to be Frank Sinatra-as man, as musician, as tortured genius.

By Michael Korda

M

ichael Korda’s Hero is the story of an epic life on a grand scale: a revealing, in-depth, and gripping biography of the extraordinary, mysterious, and dynamic Englishman whose daring exploits and romantic profile-including his blond, sunburnished good looks and flowing white robes-made him an object of intense fascination, still famous the world over as “Lawrence of Arabia.”

An Oxford scholar and archaeologist, one of five illegitimate sons of a British aristocrat who ran away with his daughters’ governess, Lawrence was sent to Cairo as a young intelligence officer in 1916. He vanished into the desert in 1917 only to emerge later as one of the greatest-and certainly most colorfulfigures of World War One. Though a foreigner, he played a leading and courageous part in uniting the Arab tribes to defeat the Turks, and eventually capture Damascus, transforming himself into a world-famous hero, hailed as “the Uncrowned King of Arabia.”

In illuminating Lawrence’s achievements, Korda digs further than anyone before him to expose the flesh-and-blood man and his contradictory nature. Here was a born leader who was utterly fearless and seemingly impervious to pain, thirst, fatigue, and danger, yet who remained shy, sensitive, mod-est, and retiring; a hero who turned down every honor

and decoration offered to him, and was racked by moral guilt and doubt; a scholar and an aesthete who was also a bold and ruthless warrior; a writer of genius-the author of Seven Pillars of Wisdom, one of the greatest books ever written about war-who was the virtual inventor of modern insurgency and guerrilla warfare; a man who at the same time sought and fled the limelight, and who found in friendships, with everyone from Winston Churchill to George Bernard and Charlotte Shaw, from Nancy Astor to Noel Coward, a substitute for sexual feelings that he rigorously-even brutally and systematicallyrepressed in himself.

As Korda shows in his brilliantly readable and formidably authoritative biography, Lawrence was not only a man of his times; he was a visionary whose accomplishmentsfarsighted diplomat and kingmaker, military strategist of genius, perhaps the first modern “media celebrity” (and one of the first victims of it), and an acclaimed writer-transcended his era.

Korda examines Lawrence’s vision for the modern Middle East-plans that, had they been carried through, might have prevented the hatred and bloodshed that have become ubiquitous in the region. Ultimately, as this magisterial work demonstrates, Lawrence remains one of the most unique and fascinating figures of modern times, the archhero whose life is at once a triumph and a sacrifice and whose capacity to astonish still remains undimmed.

BOOKS

Friday, November 26, 2010

By Nelson Mandela

N

elson Mandela is widely considered to be one of the most inspiring and iconic figures of our age. Now, after a lifetime of taking pen to paper to record thoughts and events, hardships and victories, he has bestowed his entire extant personal papers, which offer an unprecedented insight into his remarkable life.

A singular international publishing event, Conversations with Myself draws on Mandela’s personal archive of neverbefore-seen materials to offer unique access to the private world of an incomparable world leader. Journals kept on the run during the anti-apartheid struggle of the early 1960s; diaries and draft letters written in Robben Island and other South African prisons during his

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twenty-seven years of incarceration; notebooks from the postapartheid transition; private recorded conversations; speeches and correspondence written during his presidency-a historic collection of documents archived at the Nelson Mandela Foundation is brought together into a sweeping narrative of great immediacy and stunning power. An intimate journey from Mandela’s first stirrings of political consciousness to his galvanizing role on the world stage, Conversations with Myself illuminates a heroic life forged on the front lines of the struggle for freedom and justice.

While other books have recounted Mandela’s life from the vantage of the present, Conversations with Myself allows, for the first time, unhindered insight into the human side of the icon.

By Nicholson Baker

B

estselling author Nicholson Baker, recognized as one of the most dexterous and talented writers in America today, has created a compelling work of nonfiction bound to provoke discussion and controversy - a wideranging, astonishingly fresh perspective on the political and social landscape that gave rise to World War II. Human Smoke delivers a closely textured, deeply moving indictment of the treasured myths that have romanticized much of the 1930s and ‘40s. Incorporating meticulous research and well-documented sources - including newspaper and magazine articles, radio speeches, memoirs, and diaries - the book juxtaposes hundreds of interrelated moments of decision, brutality, suffering, and mercy. Vivid glimpses of political leaders and their dissenters illuminate and examine the gradual, horrifying advance toward overt global war and Holocaust.

Praised by critics and readers alike for his exquisitely observant eye and deft, inimitable prose, Baker has assembled a narrative within Human Smoke that unfolds gracefully, tragically, and persuasively. This is an unforgettable book that makes a profound impact on our perceptions of historical events and mourns the unthinkable loss humanity has borne at its own hand.

By Joseph J. Ellis

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he Pulitzer Prize-winning, best-selling author of Founding Brothers and His Excellency brings America’s preeminent first couple to life in a moving and illuminating narrative that sweeps through the American Revolution and the republic’s tenuous early years.

John and Abigail Adams left an indelible and remarkably preserved portrait of their lives together in their personal correspondence: both Adamses were prolific letter writers (although John conceded that Abigail was clearly the more gifted of the two), and over the years they exchanged more than twelve hundred letters.

Joseph J. Ellis distills this unprecedented and unsurpassed record to give us an account both intimate and panoramic; part biography, part

By Gerald Blaine, Lisa McCubbin

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he Secret Service. An elite team of men who share a single mission: to protect the president of the United States. On November 22, 1963, these men failed-and a country would never be the same. Now, for the first time, a member of JFK’s Secret Service detail reveals the inside story of the assassination, the weeks and days that led to it and its heartrending aftermath. This extraordinary book is a moving, intimate portrait of dedication, courage, and loss.

Drawing on the memories of his fellow agents, Jerry Blaine captures the energetic, crowd-loving young president, who banned agents from his car and often plunged into raucous crowds with little warning. He describes the careful planning that went into JFK’s Texas swing, the worries and concerns that agents, working long hours with little food or rest, had during the trip. And he describes the intensely private first lady making her firstever political appearance with her husband, just months after losing a newborn baby.

Here are vivid scenes that could come only from inside the Kennedy detail: JFK’s last words to his tearful son when he left Washington for the last time; how a sudden change of weather led to the choice of the openair convertible limousine that day; Mrs. Kennedy standing blood-soaked outside a Dallas hospital room; the sudden interruption of six-year-old Caroline’s long-anticipated sleepover with a friend at home; the exhausted team of agents immediately reacting to the president’s death with a shift to LBJ and other key governmental figures; the agents’ dismay at Jackie’s decision to walk openly from the White House to St. Matthew’s Cathedral at the state funeral.

Most of all, this is a look into the lives of men who devoted their entire beings to protecting the presidential family: the stress of the secrecy they kept, the emotional bonds that developed, the terrible impact on agents’ psyches and families, and their astonishment at the country’s obsession with far-fetched conspiracy theories and finger-pointing. A book fifty years in coming, The Kennedy Detail is a

political history, and part love story.

Ellis describes the first meeting between the two as inauspicious-John was twenty-four, Abigail just fifteen, and each was entirely unimpressed with the other. But they soon began a passionate correspondence that resulted in their marriage five years later.

Over the next decades, the couple were separated nearly as much as they were together.

John’s political career took him first to Philadelphia, where he became the boldest advocate for the measures that would lead to the Declaration of Independence. Yet in order to attend the Second Continental Congress, he left his wife and children in the middle of the war zone that had by then engulfed Massachusetts.

Later he was sent to Paris, where he served as a minister to the court of France alongside Benjamin Franklin. These years apart stressed

portrait of incredible camaraderie and incredible heartbreak-a true, must-read story of heroism in its most complex and human form.

the Adamses’ union almost beyond what it could bear: Abigail grew lonely, while the Adams children suffered from their father’s absence.

John was elected the nation’s first vice president, but by the time of his reelection, Abigail’s health prevented her from joining him in Philadelphia, the interim capital. She no doubt had further reservations about moving to the swamp on the Potomac when John became president, although this time he persuaded her.

President Adams inherited a weak and bitterly divided country from George Washington. The political situation was perilous at best, and he needed his closest advisor by his side: “I can do nothing,” John told Abigail after his election, “without you.”

In Ellis’s rich and striking new history, John and Abigail’s relationship unfolds in the context of America’s birth as a nation.

education

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Friday, november 26, 2010

Figure It

Look at the clues below and fill all the numbers you can into the grid. Then start again and use your answers to help solve the other clues.

Across 2. Days in a leap year (3) 4. 10 across minus 5 across (2) 5. Three times nine (2) 7. Months in a year (2) 8. 1234 reversed (4) 10. Number of US states (2) 12. Hours in a day (2) 13. 211 + 400 + 500 (4) 15. 16 across minus 12 across (2) 16. 5 across doubled (2) 17. Days in eight weeks (2) 18. 625 divided by five (3)

Dow n 1. Three times 4 down (2) 2. 132 divided by four (2) 3. Five times 1247 (4) 4. 5 + 7 + 10 (2) 6. Six times 7 across (2) 7. 13 across divided by eleven (3) 9. Seconds in two minutes (3) 11. 4181 re-arranged (4) 14. 5 across minus 7 across (2) 15. Six times six (2) 17. Quarter of 220 (2) 19. 10 across minus 15 across (2)

Sudoku

ALPHA-SEARCH Can you find the hidden words? Each word ends with the letter A. The words may be horizontal or vertical.

ANACONDA

HYENA

PLAZA

AREA

IDEA

SAUNA

ARENA

IGUANA

SIESTA

BANANA

LAVA

SODA

COBRA

LLAMA

SOFA

DATA

MARINA

STAMINA

DIPLOMA

MEDIA

TRIVIA

DRAMA

OPERA

TUBA

FAUNA

PANDA

TUNA

FLORA

PASTA

ZEBRA.

ALPHA-CROSS The first letter of each answer appears next to its clue in alphabetical order. All the first letters have been entered into the grid. Can you complete the puzzle?

A. Fruit of the oak tree (5) B. Something to read (4) B. Insect (3) C. Taxi (3) C. Desert animal (5) D. Sand hills (5) E. The night before (3) G. Type of antelope (7)

Solution

G. Precious stones (4) I. Ice hut (5) I. Writing fluid (3) J. Type of music (4) J. Fruit drink (5) K. Tap on a door (5) L. Jump (4) S. Unhappy (3) S. Brief periods of rain (7) S. Snow runner (3)

Friday, november 26, 2010

Rapunzel

education

Page 39 with it, and when that is ready I will descend, and you will take me on your horse.’

They agreed that until that time he should come to her every evening, for the old woman came by day. The enchantress remarked nothing of this, until once Rapunzel said to her: ‘Tell me, Dame Gothel, how it happens that you are so much heavier for me to draw up than the young king’s son - he is with me in a moment.’

‘Ah! you wicked child,’ cried the enchantress. ‘What do I hear you say! I thought I had separated you from all the world, and yet you have deceived me!’ In her anger she clutched Rapunzel’s beautiful tresses, wrapped them twice round her left hand, seized a pair of scissors with the right, and snip, snap, they were cut off, and the lovely braids lay on the ground. And she was so pitiless that she took poor Rapunzel into a desert where she had to live in great grief and misery.

On the same day that she cast out Rapunzel, however, the enchantress fastened the braids of hair, which she had cut off, to the hook of the window, and when the king’s son came and cried:

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here were once a man and a woman who had long, in vain, wished for a child. At length it appeared that God was about to grant their desire.

These people had a little window at the back of their house from which a splendid garden could be seen, which was full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared to go into it because it belonged to an enchantress, who had great power and was dreaded by all the world.

One day the woman was standing by this window and looking down into the garden, when she saw a bed which was planted with the most beautiful rampion, and it looked so fresh and green that she longed for it. She quite pined away, and began to look pale and miserable.

Her husband was alarmed, and asked: ‘What ails you, dear wife?’

‘Ah,’ she replied, ‘if I can’t eat some of the rampion, which is in the garden behind our house, I shall die.’ The man, who loved her, thought: ‘Sooner than let your wife die, bring her some of the rampion yourself, let it cost what it will.’

At twilight, he clambered down over the wall into the garden of the enchantress, hastily clutched a handful of rampion, and took it to his wife. She at once made herself a salad of it, and ate it greedily. It tasted so good to her - so very good, that the next day she longed for it three times as much as before.

If he was to have any rest, her husband knew he must once more descend into the garden. Therefore, in the gloom of evening, he let himself down again; but when he had clambered down the wall he was terribly afraid, for he saw the enchantress standing before him.

‘How can you dare,’ said she with angry look, ‘descend into my garden and steal my rampion like a thief? You shall suffer for it!’

‘Ah,’ answered he, ‘let mercy take the place of justice, I only made up my mind to do it out of necessity. My wife saw your rampion from the window, and felt such a longing for it that she would have died if she had not got some to eat.’

The enchantress allowed her anger to be softened, and said to him: ‘If the case be as you say, I will allow you to take away with you as much rampion as you will, only I make one condition, you must give me the child which your wife will bring into the world; it shall be well treated, and I will care for it like a mother.’

The man in his terror

consented to everything.

When the woman was brought to bed, the enchantress appeared at once, gave the child the name of Rapunzel, and took it away with her.

Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child under the sun. When she was twelve years old, the enchantress shut her into a tower in the middle of a forest. The tower had neither stairs nor door, but near the top was a little window. When the enchantress wanted to go in, she placed herself beneath it and cried: ‘Rapunzel, Ra punzel, Let dow n your ha ir to me.’

Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, fine as spun gold,

and when she heard the voice of the enchantress, she unfastened her braided tresses, wound them round one of the hooks of the window above, and then the hair fell twenty ells down, and the enchantress climbed up by it.

After a year or two, it came to pass that the king’s son rode through the forest and passed by the tower.

Then he heard a song, which was so charming that he stood still and listened. It was Rapunzel, who in her solitude passed her time in letting her sweet voice resound. The king’s son wanted to climb up to her, and looked for the door of the tower, but none was to be found. He rode home, but the singing had so deeply touched his heart, that every

day he went out into the forest and listened to it.

Once when he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw that an enchantress came there, and he heard how she cried: ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let dow n your hair to me.’

Then Rapunzel let down the braids of her hair, and the enchantress climbed up to her. ‘If that is the ladder by which one mounts, I too will try my fortune,’ said he, and the next day when it began to grow dark, he went to the tower and cried: ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let dow n your hair to me.’

Immediately the hair fell down and the king’s son

climbed up. At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man, such as her eyes had never yet beheld, came to her; but the king’s son began to talk to her quite like a friend, and told her that his heart had been so stirred that it had let him have no rest, and he had been forced to see her. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when he asked her if she would take him for her husband, and she saw that he was young and handsome, she thought: ‘He will love me more than old Dame Gothel does’; and she said yes, and laid her hand in his.

She said: ‘I will willingly go away with you, but I do not know how to get down.

Bring with you a skein of silk every time that you come, and I will weave a ladder

‘Ra punzel, Rapunzel, Let dow n your hair to me.’

She let the hair down.

The king’s son ascended, but instead of finding his dearest Rapunzel, he found the enchantress, who gazed at him with wicked and venomous looks.

‘Aha!’ she cried mockingly, ‘you would fetch your dearest, but the beautiful bird sits no longer singing in the nest; the cat has got it, and will scratch out your eyes as well.

Rapunzel is lost to you; you will never see her again.’

The king’s son was beside himself with pain, and in his despair he leapt down from the tower. He escaped with his life, but the thorns into which he fell pierced his eyes.

He wandered quite blind about the forest, ate nothing but roots and berries, and did naught but lament and weep over the loss of his dearest wife. Thus he roamed about in misery for some years, and at length came to the desert where Rapunzel, with the twins to which she had given birth, a boy and a girl, lived in wretchedness. He heard a voice, and it seemed so familiar to him that he went towards it, and when he approached, Rapunzel knew him and fell on his neck and wept. Two of her tears wetted his eyes and they grew clear again, and he could see with them as before. He led her to his kingdom where he was joyfully received, and they lived for a long time afterwards, happy and contented. (www.eastoftheweb.com)

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By Crispian Balmer

I

srael is growing increasingly concerned that its relationship with the United States, a defining feature of Middle East diplomacy for half a century, no longer has the core strategic value for Washington it once had. No matter how many times US officials, from President Barack Obama down, send reassuring messages that they are deeply committed to Israeli security, Jewish leaders fret that Washington now sees Israel as more of a hindrance than a help.

“There is definitely a new American perception that does not see Israel as a strategic asset in the Middle East,” said Reuven Rivlin, speaker of the Israeli parliament.

“This is a development that even we, the veteran politicians, see as something new,” he said in an interview with the Jerusalem Post ekend.

Relations between the two countries have certainly recovered from a low point in March, when a row over West Bank settlement building earned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a rare dressing down by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But the alarm bells are ringing again in Israel, following days of uncertainty over a package of incentives drawn up by Washington to persuade Netanyahu to impose a temporary building freeze and revive stalled peace talks with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu announced the US offer as a done deal more than a week ago, but his efforts to get written promises have proved excruciatingly difficult, raising questions in Israel about the sincerity of the offer and what strings were attached.

REWARDING BAD BEHAVIOR The Palestinians scoff at the idea that the United States might be losing its ardour for Israel, saying the US promise of inducements, including $3 billion worth of fighter jets, is evidence of the Jewish state’s privileged status in Washington.

The enticements have also raised eyebrows in the United States, with analysts doubting the wisdom of offering Israel incentives to get it to introduce a temporary halt to settlement building that

OPINION

is deemed to be illegal by the World Court. “For the first time in memory, the United States is poised to reward Israel for its bad behavior,” Daniel Kurtzer, a former US Ambassador to Israel, wrote in Sunday’s Washington Post. Kurtzer added that Netanyahu had

made a major mistake by including military aid on the list of “bribes”. “He has made those needs contingent, negotiable, optional. Israel’s security requirements are now merely a bargaining chip with which to negotiate what Jerusalem will or will not do to advance the peace process,”

Friday, November 26, 2010

he said.

US military aid is traditionally ringfenced, well apart from peace negotiations. In the same vein, analysts said an apparent promise by Clinton to provide Israel diplomatic protection in the United Nations was normally a fact of life, not part of any political horse-trading between the two allies. “Before we can even get to grips with the complexities of dealing with the Palestinians, we find ourselves head-to-head with Washington,” the Jerusalem Post said in a Nov 19 editorial. “Didn’t we used to be on the same side?”

Some Israeli officials think Obama is responsible for the increasingly complex relations, and look back with nostalgia at the extremely close rapport between previous US and Israeli leaders, such as Bill Clinton and Yitzhak Rabin.

Opposition Israeli politicians pin the blame on Netanyahu, a tough rightwinger, who clearly feels more comfortable with the US Republican party than with the Democrat Obama.

“You have turned Israel into a weak, frightened, insular, self-conflicted country, which is losing its only friend in the world,” Tzipi Livni, head of the opposition Kadima party, told Netanyahu in a recent parliamentary debate.

MILITARY WORRIES At a deeper level, the on-going sense of uncertainty in Israeli circles is fuelled by evolving US military objectives. General David Petraeus, commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, launched a debate in March when he said that Israeli-Palestinian tensions had had an “enormous” impact in the Muslim world where his troops were based. Petraeus said the Middle East peace process had to keep moving forward to help the US military positionan assertion quickly challenged by Israeli rightists who denied any such linkage. His stance explains why Obama has put enormous emphasis on restarting the stalled peace talks despite obvious pessimism on both the Palestinian and Israeli side, not to mention at home.

An Israeli official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Netanyahu wanted to bring Iran into the Middle East equation, proffering concessions in return for a promise of US action against Tehran’s nuclear project. But his attempts appear to have failed, with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates this month publicly disagreeing with his assertion that only a credible military threat would halt Iran.

While such open discord might be unusual in the Israeli-US couple, no-one expects it to end in divorce. “We have had our ups and downs, but our friendship is so deep it easily overcomes such problems,” said an Israeli cabinet minister.

— Reuters

OPINION

Friday, November 26, 2010

T

he laughable notion that waterboarding and other “enhanced interrogation techniques” don’t constitute torture is belied by the fact that the CIA in 2005 destroyed dozens of videotapes recording the interrogation of two suspected terrorists. Now a special federal prosecutor has declined to pursue criminal charges in connection with the tapes’ destruction.

John Durham, the prosecutor, may still decide to charge CIA officials with lying, and he also is probing whether the interrogations themselves violated Justice Department guidelines. But his decision not to file obstruction of justice charges over the destruction of the tapes will make it more difficult to learn the facts about this

A

inexcusable cover-up. The tapes recorded the interrogations of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, both of whom were subjected to waterboarding.

Although the agency was under a court order to release documents relating to the abuse of prisoners (or explain why they couldn’t be produced), the tapes were destroyed. An e-mail obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union quotes Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., then the head of the CIA’s clandestine service, expressing fear that if the images on the tapes were publicized “out of context, they would make us look terrible.” (It’s hard to imagine what “context” would make waterboarding acceptable.) Presumably Durham concluded that fear of embarrassment, rather

s President Obama concluded his bridge-building trip to India by throwing out a big symbolic plank, telling the Indian Parliament that the country should have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. It was a gesture heavy with diplomatic and political significance but light on practical impact. If nothing else, Obama has rightly put India on notice that if it wants to become the great power it aspires to be, it should start acting like one.

Obama failed to mention that adding a permanent member to the Security Council would require the approval of all five veto-wielding members, so it isn’t going to happen any time soon. Although Britain, France and Russia have expressed interest in expanding the council, it’s unlikely that China, the fifth member after the United States and an economic rival of India, would go along. The big five have kept their power undiluted since 1945, even though the council’s makeup has

Page 41

than an attempt to thwart a criminal investigation, was the motive for the tapes’ destruction.

Another factor may have been assertions that CIA lawyers approved the destruction. Or perhaps Durham thought it would be prohibitively difficult to prove that the agency broke the law.

Not for the first time, officials who violated civilized standards are the beneficiaries of this nation’s exacting standards for criminal liability.

Even if Durham was correct that a case would not be winnable, the fact remains that destruction of the tapes obliterated evidence that would be valuable not only to Congress but also to Durham in his investigation of whether interrogators flouted the (minimal) standards established by the Justice Department.

been a subject of worldwide controversy and frequent failed attempts at reform.

But Obama’s gesture, aimed at improving ties with an important ally, does raise questions. Such as: If it were possible to fix the Security Council, would India really deserve a seat? The answer, of course, depends on the criteria for membership. After World War II, the victors reserved permanent spots on the council and veto power over UN actions - for themselves based primarily on their military strength. But what about economic power? Geopolitical influence? Regional fairness? India is indeed deserving under those criteria, and so are several others - Japan, Germany, Brazil and South Africa among them. We think, however, that another factor bears serious consideration in choosing new members.

India’s government has seldom acted in the interest of the

Jay S Bybee, one of the authors of the so-called torture memos, told Congress earlier this year that the memo authorizing the waterboarding of Zubaydah was conditioned on a promise that there would be no “substantial repetition.” Yet, according to the CIA’s inspector general, Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times. Given Durham’s decision not to prosecute, Congress should determine to its own satisfaction how the decision to destroy the tapes evolved. Meanwhile, Durham should determine whether the waterboarding of Zubaydah violated the law as interpreted by the Justice Department.

Outrageous as the destruction of the tapes was, it pales in comparison to the behavior they recorded. — MCT

world, and humanity, when doing so might clash with its own economic interests. Nowhere is this more apparent than on India’s border, where New Delhi is coddling a repressive military junta in Myanmar. India’s trade ties with this brutal regime, and its silence on human rights abuses there and elsewhere around the world, don’t recommend it for greater influence in the United Nations.

Obama alluded to that by using what sounded suspiciously like a reference to “Spider-Man” (although a variation of the phrase can also be attributed to Franklin D Roosevelt). “With increased power comes increased responsibility,” he told the Indian Parliament. India aims to be a superpower, not a superhero, but the principle still applies. Last month, India was elected to fill one of 10 nonpermanent (and non-veto-wielding) seats on the Security Council. That will give it two years to show whether it’s willing to take on some bad guys. — MCT

SPOTLIGHT

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Harry Potter casts a secret spell on the sequel Franchises needn’t be tedious. The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 shows how they could help restore cinema’s dramatic firepower equels have a bad name.

According to a Hollywood S adage, they promise as much grief as the originals, but cost twice as much. This may be an understatement: Paranormal Activity 2 managed to cost 200 times as much as its forebear.

Nonetheless, it’s not the studios that suffer most of the grief.

Sequels make money; that’s why they get made. The Paranormal revenant may have cost $3m (£1.9m) compared to its predecessor’s $15,000, but it’s raised $150m at the box office.

Filmgoers, on the other hand, may well find themselves grieving. They’re lured out into the cold by the promise that they’ll relive a joyous experience.

Often, what they get is all too much of a repeat. It’s a pallid copy designed to press the same buttons as the original, but to take the underlying concept no further forward. The industry garners ticket money, but not necessarily

gratitude.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is different. The plot, such as it is, may be fatuous.

The acting may be woeful and even the special effects desultory.

Yet the film does something that few of its counterparts manage. It succeeds in conveying the impression that what’s being portrayed is a living and breathing progression from what preceded it. Of course, other big-screen franchises have been sequential.

Yet through seven instalments stretched over 10 long years, this one’s provided an unprecedented vicarious experience. It’s allowed us to watch what it means to blossom out of childhood.

During adolescence, our own children become secretive and excluding. Yet Harry, Ron and Hermione have played out their coming of age in front of our wondering eyes. Never mind that the drama they’ve been performing is, to put it kindly,

derivative and pedestrian. The real drama’s been the miracle of their own metamorphosis.

Watching Daniel, Rupert and Emma trying to act has been like watching our own darlings struggling with their parts in a decade-long nativity play.

For the off-screen lives of the principals have received almost as much of our attention as those of their on-screen avatars. Small wonder then that the franchise has both escorted a generation across life’s threshold and provided it with a set of virtual travelling companions.

Elsewhere, cinema often seems intent on suppressing human development rather than celebrating it. Through 22 Bond films, we’ve seen many different faces of 007, but these have been discrete rather than progressive incarnations. Perhaps the movies are missing a trick. It’s often said that in recent years they’ve ceded their dramatic laurels to their

impertinent younger sibling. To see the richness of human experience explored by the moving image, you’re encouraged to watch The Sopranos, The Wire or Mad Men. From the multiplex, you’re told to expect only trite and banal parodies of the mortal pageant.

Just how television has achieved this triumph can be debated. Nonetheless, its freedom from the tyranny of the big screen’s two-hour traffic can’t have done it harm. A 26-part series can allow action to develop at its own pace in multi-layered complexity. Even EastEnders characters are able to develop continuously through what may turn out to be decades.

Meanwhile, cinema insists on completing its necessarily simple story arcs in time for the last bus home.

Sequels provide the prospect of an escape from this bind. The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 doesn’t

bother with a conclusion. It just stops. Not to worry - we know Part 2 will be along next year. Yet most film sequels feel as obliged to contrive a beginning, middle and end as their one-off sisters.

Suppose, however, that we could see a romcom’s characters go on beyond their final clinch to live out their own versions of first Parenthood, then Revolutionary Road, American Beauty or Husbands and Wives, followed by Up and eventually Away from Her. Like Harry, such characters could become a part of all of our lives.

Certainly, the off-screen parallel narratives of movie stars would outshine anything that the box’s pygmies can manage. Imagine Jack Nicholson’s or Jennifer Anniston’s story being tracked, instead of denied, by its on-screen version.

The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 succeeds in casting a spell, but it doesn’t depend on magic for its effect. It’s a spell that could be cast a bit more often. —Guardian

ARTS

Friday, November 26, 2010

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Bridget Riley versus the Old Masters

A survey at the National Gallery of Bridget Riley’s abstract art draws parallels between her bold graphic style and classic works from the museum’s collection.

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he dazzle of sunlight on waves is nearly impossible to paint. Everything is in flux.

Art has its fixed conventions, of course, from asterisks and zigzags to blank white patches that are supposed to get across the blinding effect of so much brilliance. But it always feels as if the vision is frozen. The play of light on water as a living phenomenon, scintillating, volatile, ever-changing - this is evoked as nowhere else in a painting by Bridget Riley.

What you see is a diamondshaped array of discs on a square white canvas. These discs shift from pale grey to black, in the centre, and then gradually onwards to grey again. As the eye moves across the range, attracted by this supple furling and unfurling, each disc sends up its own bright after-image.

Sequins of light rise, scatter and then fade. The permutations are beautiful, and they are endless.

Close up, what’s more, each disc radiates a coldly glowing halo like a star. Stand further away and the painting seems to swell and shimmer. There are vast and elemental associations here; and there are tiny incidents on the scale of fireworks and spangled waves, and all sustained with little more than tonal variation and geometry.

This painting does not depict light -

it generates light in itself, and celebrates our perception of it. For all these visions are brought to mind by the movement of our own eyes.

Black to White Discs (1962) deserves its place in the National Gallery, and not just because Bridget Riley is rightly regarded as a great classicist. So many contemporary painters invited to exhibit here have displayed weak pastiches or homages to the old masters. Her work stands proud and original.

For Riley, the gallery has been “the book in which we learn to read”, to adapt CÈzanne’s description of the Louvre. The first work here is her 1949 copy of Jan van Eyck’s self-portrait; among the latest is Arcadia I, which appears suffused with the free blue air of CÈzanne’s Les Grandes Baigneuses, though here the reading has surely ended.

Indeed the curious effect of this tremendous show, in which Riley’s paintings are displayed alongside permanent works from the collection, is that it makes you see past art anew. Look at her suave ripples and you suddenly realise how Mantegna makes his frieze of figures appear to move continuously in both directions. Look at Riley and you may better appreciate the abstract qualities of Raphael.

These old-new pairings soon give way to what is effectively a miniature retrospective - early opart, 80s stripes, the recent parallel curves and steeply flaring diagonals, cross-cut by verticals.

The main gallery is all Riley, and dominated by an immense mural composed of interlinking circles, approximately one metre across, in blazing black on white. Tightly plotted, yet open-ended, it sends the eye round and around in every direction, following the tracery, drawn by particular rhythms, distracted by sparking intersections; a movement as unpredictable as mercury.

The means are simple and perspicuous, but the effect is indefinable. No other painting in the National Gallery makes you more aware of the spherical form of the eye, of its gliding sweeps and rotations. The mural doesn’t just describe them - though there is always the sense that Riley is painting perception itself - it actually orchestrates these limitless motions.

Nothing seen ever stands still, and not in her art either. Black and white vibrate and effervesce.

Curves reach a pinnacle and then twist back on themselves. Sheaves of coloured stripes undulate and sway, each acting on the next in a

chain reaction only just contained by the rectangle of the canvas. A blue in the middle makes the eye swing sideways, a hue at the edge glows just enough to stop the eye from exiting the painting.

For obviously there are limits.

The canvas is a restricted plane, after all, and Riley’s methods are highly refined, each developing from the one before.

She quotes Stravinsky in the catalogue “My freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of action.”

Her workings are all on show.

Anyone so inclined can measure the stripes, deduce the colour principles that dictate atmosphere, motion and speed, perhaps even produce a diagram of the system of curves and verticals in her recent works. Which pink is it that creates that haze? Is it the mauve or the brown that subdues the mood? You could learn as much - more - about the character and behaviour of paint from looking at Riley as Raphael.

But all this precision is countered by the direct experience of the paintings (the potential of which, alas, is not available in reproduction). You can count the stripes, you may even be able to guess what constitutes a warp and a weft in her most dizzyingly

complicated compositions, but once the eye is in there it loses hold of what is going on.

Take Arcadia 1, not just the masterpiece of this show but one of Riley’s greatest works. Green and white and corn and a beautiful variation of cobalt, it is painted directly on the wall.

The blue appears to act as a steadying backdrop, but then it leaps forward, taking part in the intersection of curves, verticals and diagonals that create a whole pageant of shapes: leaves, kites, twisting ribbons, the dipping hooves of merry-go-round horses. There is no stopping place, every element is designed, and combined, to send the eye flowing onwards.

What you find in this painting may involve music, ballet or ships in full sail. It might have something to do with the seasons, landscape, sunlight or water, as pastoral as the title suggests - common subjects of the National Gallery.

But this picture is not figurative.

It depicts none of these things. So how does it conjure them all? What Riley offers is an infinite variety of optical experiences, of vitality, freedom, elation.

Ultimately the painting appears to float free of the wall itself, nothing pinned down: as open to the eye as the imagination. —Guardian

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C R O S S W O R D

1 5 0

Friday, November 26, 2010

Word Sleuth Solution

Yesterdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Solution

ACROSS 1. Something causes misery or death.

5. A genus of Ploceidae.

10. A republic in central Europe.

13. German industrialist who was the first in Germany to use an assembly line in manufacturing automobiles (1871-1948).

14. (of complexion) Blemished by imperfections of the skin.

15. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

16. An narrative telling the adventures of a hero or a family.

17. The state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve and that (when achieved) terminates behavior intended to achieve it.

18. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

19. Of or relating to a creed.

21. A state in the Rocky Mountains.

23. An undergarment worn by women to support their breasts.

24. A choice or delicious dish.

25. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

27. A metric unit of length equal to one thousandth of a meter.

33. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

37. 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.

38. Alternatively, a member of the family Nymphaeaceae.

41. The United Nations agency concerned with civil aviation.

43. Widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions for its fragrant flowers and colorful fruits.

48. An associate degree in nursing.

52. A Dravidian language spoken in southern India.

54. True firs.

56. Of or relating to or involving an area.

58. The money risked on a gamble.

59. Transmissions that are disseminated widely to the public.

62. Type genus of the Anatidae.

63. The part of the nervous system of vertebrates that controls involuntary actions of the smooth muscles and heart and glands.

64. Short and fat.

65. A small cake leavened with yeast.

DOWN 1. Greenish-yellow pear.

2. South American armadillo with three bands of bony plates.

3. A desert in southern Israel.

4. Oil palms.

5. Not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and Islam.

6. (archaic) Of persons.

7. A nucleic acid consisting of large molecules shaped like a double helix.

8. (Old Testament) Samson's Philistine mistress who betrayed him by cutting off his hair and so deprived him of his strength.

9. A public promotion of some product or service.

10. Loose or flaccid body fat.

11. Located in or toward the back or rear.

12. Offering fun and gaiety.

20. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

22. The longer of the two telegraphic signals used in Morse code.

26. Tropical American tree producing cacao beans.

28. A master's degree in business.

29. Informal terms for a mother.

30. Of or relating to or characteristic of Thailand of its people.

31. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

32. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

34. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

35. A soft silvery metallic element.

36. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

39. A chronic disease of the nose characterized by a foul-smelling nasal discharge and atrophy of nasal structures.

40. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

42. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

44. The Tibeto-Burman language spoken in the Thailand and Burmese borderlands.

45. The Uralic language spoken by the Yeniseian people.

46. A doctor's degree in optometry.

47. Smaller of two tall fast-running flightless birds similar to ostriches but three-toed.

49. English aristocrat who was the first wife of Prince Charles.

50. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

51. Small shrubby African tree having compound leaves and racemes of small fragrant green flowers.

53. Voluntary contributions to aid the poor.

54. An associate degree in nursing.

55. Divulge information or secrets.

57. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

60. The atomic weight of an element that has the same combining capacity as a given weight of another element.

61. A state in midwestern United States.

Yesterdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Solution

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Friday, November 26, 2010

COUNTRY CODES

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY Aries (March 21-April 19) Should you rely on hard facts or soft feelings? Would it be advisable to trust your tried-and-true medicine or else a potion brewed from the tongue of a snake, the feather of a crow, and a mandrake root? Can you get better results by mingling with staunch allies or with rebel upstarts who have a knack for shaking things up? Only you can decide on these matters, Aries. My opinion? You'll probably generate more interesting developments by going with the feelings, the mandrake root, and the upstarts.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) "We cannot have any unmixed emotions," said poet William Butler Yeats. "There is always something in our enemy that we like, and something in our sweetheart that we dislike." I hope that's OK with you, Taurus. In fact I hope you regard that as a peculiar blessing -- as one of the half-maddening, half-inspiring perks of life on earth. The fact is, as I see it, that you are in the thick of the Season of Mixed Emotions. The more graciously you accept that -- the more you invite it to hone your soul's intelligence -- the better able you'll be to capitalize on the rich and fertile contradictions that are headed your way.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Louisiana porn star Stormy Daniels considered running for a U.S. Senate seat in 2010, although she eventually dropped out because it was too expensive. I admired one of her campaign strategies: She went on a "listening tour," traveling around her state to hear what potential constituents might want to tell her. I encourage you to embark on your own listening tour in the coming weeks, Gemini. It will be prime time for you to find out about everything you don't even realize you need to know.

Adopt a mode of maximum receptivity as you ask a lot of questions. Wipe your mind clean of assumptions so you can get all of the benefits possible from being innocent and curious.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) I love astrology. It excites my imagination and helps ensures that my relationship with the world is never too literal or prosaic. It anchors me in the paradoxical insight that although many things are out of my control, I have huge amounts of free will. My study of the mysterious meanings of planetary omens provides guidance, keeps me humble, and is a constant reminder that poetry provides an understanding of reality that's as useful as science. On the other hand, astrology sometimes feels oppressive. I don't like any system, even one as interesting as astrology, to come between me and the raw truth about reality. I aspire to see the actual person who's in front of me, not be interpreting everything she does through the lens of her horoscope. Now I urge you to do what I've just done, Cancerian: Express your appreciation for something in your life that provides beauty and power, even as you also critique its downsides.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Bees pollinate apples. Butterflies perform the same service for lilies and moths do it for tobacco. Horse chestnut requires the help of hummingbirds to pollinate, wild ginger needs flies, and oak trees depend on the wind. The world's largest flower, the rafflesia, can be pollinated by elephants' eyebrows as the beasts use their trunks to search for nectar. My point is that in the natural world, fertilization is species-specific. Bees don't pollinate lilies and butterflies don't pollinate horse chestnut. A similar principle holds true for you, Leo. Can you name the influences that fertilize you? Now's a good time to get very clear about that, and then seek out a more focused connection with those influences.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Native Americans took care of the land better than the white people who appropriated it, but they were by no means masters of sustainability.

Recent research reveals they had a sizable carbon footprint, pumping lots of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as they cleared and burned forests. Taking a cue from that little shock, I'm encouraging you to see if there are aspects of your personal past that should be reinterpreted. The astrological omens suggest that you'd be wise to revise some of the stories you tell about what happened to you way back when.

Libra (September 23-October 22) British engineer John Reid wants to translate dolphins' speech into human language. For years, he has been working on the Cymascope, a machine that will help him analyze the basic patterns of dolphin grammar and vocabulary. I encourage you to be inspired by his efforts, Libra.

It is now an excellent time for you to devote your ingenuity to improving the way you communicate with alien species like black sheep, fallen angels, feral mavericks, your mother-in-law, odd ducks, co-workers who resemble raccoons and bears, and zombies who don't share your political views.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) An African proverb says, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." I think that sums up the choice you have before you. There is something to be said for going fast; it may be that you can get as far as you need to go by starting immediately and speeding along by yourself. On the other hand, the distance you have to cover may be beyond your ability to estimate in the early days.

If you think that's the case, you might want to opt for the slower-paced power of a joint operation.

Sagittarius (November 22December 21) It's Experiment with Your Self-Image Week -- a time when it would be invigorating to shift and play with your identity. During this reinvention phase, you might find you can change yourself on the inside simply by rearranging yourself on the outside. So have fun wearing clothes you've never donned before.

Entertain yourself with a new hairstyle. Speak in foreign accents or use words you don't usually utter.

Amuse yourself with a variety of novel approaches to walking, laughing, gesticulating, and moving your face. Think of your persona as a work of art that you love to tinker with.

Capricorn (December 22January 19) "It's not that some people have willpower and some don't," said physician James Gordon. "It's that some people are ready to change and others are not." That's why you may soon appear to the casual observer, Capricorn, as someone who's able to call on enormous reserves of willpower. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you are now more amenable to change than you've been in a long time. In fact, I suspect that in the coming weeks you'll be willing and even eager to initiate transformations that seem heroic to people who are addicted to the status quo.

Aquarius (January 20February 18) All belief systems, ideologies, philosophies, and religions are mostly wrong, even though many of them have chunks of useful information that contribute to the common good. Said another way, absolutely no one has the whole truth, but pretty much everyone has a part of the truth. Now it so happens, Aquarius, that your little fraction of ultimate wisdom is currently clearer and stronger than usual. That makes you especially valuable to your gang, family, or tribe. It doesn't mean you should be the supreme arbiter of correct thinking forever, but it does suggest that right now you should exert extra leadership with forceful grace.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Think back over the course of your life and identify any worthy ambitions that got irretrievably blocked or frustrated or squandered. Once you've named those lost chances, do a ritual in which you completely let go of them. As much as possible, give up all regrets. Flush the sadness. Forgive anyone who interfered. Wipe the slate clean. Only by doing this can you open the way to an opportunity that's lurking just outside your awareness. And what exactly is that opportunity? Even if I told you, you wouldn't know what I was talking about. Your ability to find it requires you to do the preliminary work of purging your remorse for missed opportunities.

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antiga Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Cyprus (Northern) Czech Republic Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (UK) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guyana Haiti Holland (Netherlands) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Ibiza (Spain) Iceland India Indian Ocean Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait

0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345 00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044 00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594 00689 00241 00220 00995 0049 00233 00350 0030 00299 001473 00590 001671 00502 00224 00592 00509 0031 00504 00852 0036 0034 00354 0091 00873 0062 0098 00964 00353 0039 00225 001876 0081 00962 007 00254 00686 00965

Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Liberia Libya Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Majorca Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nepal Netherlands (Holland) Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Nigar Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Ireland (UK) North Korea Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts Saint Lucia Saint Pierre Saint Vincent Samoa US Samoa West San Marino Sao Tone Saudi Arabia Scotland (UK) Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Toga Tonga Tokelau Trinidad Tunisia Turkey Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay

00996 00856 00371 00961 00231 00218 00370 00352 00853 00389 00261 0034 00265 0060 00960 00223 00356 00692 00596 00222 00230 00269 0052 00691 00373 00377 00976 001664 00212 00258 0095 00264 00977 0031 00599 00687 0064 00505 00227 00234 00683 00672 0044 00850 0047 00968 0092 00680 00507 00675 00595 0051 0063 0048 00351 001787 00974 0040 007 00250 00290 001869 001758 00508 001784 00684 00685 00378 00239 00966 0044 00221 00284 00232 0065 00421 00386 00677 00252 0027 0082 0034 0094 00249 00597 00268 0046 0041 00963 00886 00255 0066 00228 00676 00690 001868 00216 0090 00688 00256 00380 00976 0044 00598

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Friday, november 26, 2010

Aware announcements he AWARE Center cordially invites you to its diwaniya presentation about, “The ideal yet unpopular role of Twomen,”

by Sharifa Carlo. “The French Economic Philosopher, Jules Simon said, Women have started to work in textile factories and printing press etc. The government is employing them in factories, where they can earn a few francs. But on the other hand, this has totally destroyed the bases of family life. Yes, the husband may benefit from his wife’s earnings, but apart from that, his earnings have decreased because now he is competing with her for work.”

What is the ideal role of the woman? Should woman work?

Can woman work? Should a woman be a housewife? What is the best role for a woman? Come by and find out what Islam has to say about the role of the woman in society on Tuesday November 30, 2010 at 7:00 pm. For more information, call 25335260/80.

A date with dates Join us for a cultural event to taste a variety of dates and learn more about their wide use. “Dates: Staple of the Arab Diet”: Dates have always been associated with Arab and Islamic traditions. They are the most popular food in the Arab world, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. Dates are a staple that can be eaten raw, cooked, baked into cakes or pressed into delicious syrup or paste. Join us to learn more and sample a variety of dates. Dates will also be available for purchase call 25335260/80.

Beat Diabetes - Join the walk

nder the patronage of the Ministry of Health and Dasman Diabetes U Institute, Landmark Group, Kuwait will conduct its first ever Walkathon.

This is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative aiming to further spread awareness

about Diabetes and its causes amongst the wider community. Your participation counts, please register at Landmark Group outlets (Centrepoint, Max, Home Centre and New Look stores) and come join us in the walk.

KUWAIT: Director of Kuwait Autism Center Dr. Sameera Al-Saad said Kuwait will host the Fourth International Autism conference in 2014.

Al-Saad made the announcement following her attendance of the Third World Autism Organization conference in Mexico.

Embassy of the Lao The Embassy of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic will be closed on 2nd December 2010 of the occasion of Lao National Day and will reopen on 5th December 2010.

Relief efforts

elief Efforts Kuwait is hosting a dinner for Abrar-UlHaq to help rehabilitate the flood victims on Friday, R December 3, 2010. Please call 65840229 for more information.

Arpan to present ‘Tune & Taste-2010’ rpan Kuwait will present ‘Tune & Taste- 2010’-a festival of food, music and heritage-to mark the 11th anniversary of the association at the Indian Community School (Senior Girls), Salmiya on December 3. The celebration presenting a potpourri of cultural programs will start at 9:30 am and conclude at 6.30 pm.

Rajkalesh, the versatile television anchor and the producer of popular TV show, “Taste of Kerala” and “Taste of Dubai” will supervise cookery shows and competitions as part of the celebration.

Rajkalesh, who presented stage and television shows in and outside India, will adjudge the winners of the cooking competitions that will be held in major centers in Kuwait prior to the final on December 3. Also a magician, trained under world famous magician Gopinath Muthukad, Rajkalesh will mesmerize the audience with his spellbinding ‘Magic and illusions’ show.

The added attraction of the day-long celebration will be a musical extravaganza to be presented by well-known Idea Star singers Roshan, William Issac and Neelima along with upcoming playback singer Uma. Classical and folk dance performances, folk song presentations etc will add spices to the unique program ‘Tune & Taste -2010’. For details and participation in cooking competitions, email to: arpankwt@yahoo.com

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Comedy night at AUK he American University of Kuwait (AUK) Drama Club is hosting a comedy program entitled Sketches and Sets; an evening of original standup and sketch comedy tomorrow at 7 pm at AUK Auditorium. All the performers are students and staff of AUK. For further

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information please contact Zaid Al-Kazemi at 99666153 or emails00012695@auk.edu.kw.

Lulian Rusu’s first clarinet concert in Kuwait! nternational acclaimed Romanian Clarinetist Iulian Rusu will perform a clarinet concert at Movenpick Hotel & Resort Al Bida’a! The Clarinet Concert will take place on November 25th at 7pm at the Movenpick Hotel & Resort Al Bida’a: first appearance of lulian Rusuinternationally acclaimed Romanian Clarinetist, in Kuwait. Rusu has toured throughout Europe and performed in many countries including: Spain, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria. This performance will be the first appearance in Kuwait and he will be accompanied by Marius Rusanu and Harriet Bushman on Piano. The program will include some of the World’s most famous clarinet songs such as:Mendelssohn: “Double Concerto with Piano”; Martian Negrea: “Martie” ; Bela Bartok: “Homage A De Falla” ; Verdi: “Fantasy from Rigoletto Opera”. Join us on Thursday, November 25th from 7pm until 9.30pm in Al Bida’a Ballroom and enjoy an evening to remember. “In our never ending quest to be little bit different and to bring more entertainment and culture to Kuwait we have arranged what promises to be a very enjoyable musical evening” said Gary Moran. General Manager of Movenpick Hotel & Resort Al Bida’a Kuwait.

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Filipino Badminton Committee he Filipino Badminton Committee is inviting all badminton enthusiast to join its 20th Badminton Tournament. The event which is held for a cause will start on November 5 and will last until December 10 at the Kuwait Disabled Club, Hawally every Friday from 8 AM until 5 PM. The

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tomorrow: Kit Collection: 8.00 am Walk Time: 9.00 am Venue: Yacht Club to Green Island For further information, please contact 22412233 We look forward to welcoming you and your photographer/camera crew.

tournament will be a team event of 5 players. Each team must have Level 1 & 2 (Men’s), Level 1& 2 (Ladies’) and Level 3 (Ladies’). The deadline for submission of line up will be on October 15. Special prize will be given for Best Uniform, Best Team.

For more information, call 97197268.

TIES Center announces Winter schedule IES Center announces its schedule of Winter Arabic Courses which will extend from October 29, 2010 through December 23, 2010. The courses are offered with the following options: Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 The Arabic courses at TIES Center are designed according to the students’ needs and requirements. These courses are intended for all expatriates who wish to learn the Arabic language and culture.

Upon completion of these courses the student will have a) Confidence in conducting basic Arabic communication (speaking, reading & writing) b) A basis for developing Arabic as a second language c) A better understanding of Arabic Culture d) Ability to interact with their classmates and learn about their background and culture For more information please contact us on 97144138 or visit our website www.tiescenter.net.

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Annual ESF Winter Fayre he English School Fahaheel will bring in the festive season this year with their successful Annual Winter Fayre on Saturday 4 December from 11am to 2 pm at the school’s spacious premises which also offer ample parking. ESF is located

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just off Highway 30 in Mangaf. The Fayre is the perfect place for a family day out with stalls offering a variety of Christmas gifts and treats, carols sung by the ESF Choir and great raffle prizes including air tickets, electronics and more!. Don’t miss bargains on furniture, books, Exercise equipment, electronics and toys! To book a stall call 23711070/23717263 today!

German Board of Oral Implantology n cooperation with Kuwait Dental Association in its third year, and after graduating 33 dentists in the past two years from Kuwait and abroad, with Kuwait becoming the regional center for the German Board of Oral Implantology (GBOI) in the Gulf. We like to announce to all dentists in Kuwait and abroad that registration for the third batch 2010 - 2011 is being held at Kuwait Dental Association to begin study on December 3, 2010.

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IDF inter school health quiz ndian Doctors Forum, Kuwait is proud to announce that as part of our school outreach program, we are organizing an interschool health quiz for senior school students of all the Indian schools in Kuwait. This will be an annual event with the IDF Rolling Trophy as the grand prize and also attractive prizes (Laptops, Netbooks and more) for the winning students. Each school will send one team consisting of two students each (the team representing the school will be selected by the school). The idea of the quiz is not just to have a competition but also to disseminate health information to students in a ‘game’ format. The event will be held tomorrow and the written preliminary is at 5:00 pm while the quiz finals is at 6:00 pm at Kuwait Medical Association (KMA) Hall, Near Mubarak Hospital, Jabriya. Be there to see the best young minds of Kuwait battle it out in an arena needing quick thinking and sharp intellect! Come, cheer the teams to victory! For more details, do contact Dr Sebastian Mathew at sebntess@gmail.com.

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Friday, november 26, 2010

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Soorya’s ‘Sarod Duo’ a big success aptivating the heart of a packed audience at the American International School C Auditorium, renowned Sarod players, Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan, the two sons and disciples of Sarod Maestro Amjad Ali Khan, along with Ustad Rashid Mustafa on Tabla, performed the Sarod concert in style.

The Indian Ambassador Ajay Malhotra inaugurated the concert aiming to promote international integration through culture.

The one and a half hour Sarod recital, the first of its kind to be staged in Kuwait, presented by Soorya Kuwait Chapter in association with UAE regaled one all present in the auditorium that included Kuwaiti Dignitaries, Ambassadors and Indian community members. Recipients of the MTV’s Lycra Award for the most stylish person in

EMBASSY OF BANGLADESH The Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait has taken up an initiative to update the database of Bangladesh nationals residing in the State of Kuwait. For inclusion in the database all the Bangladesh nationals are requested to collect the Registration Form from the Labour Wing of the Embassy. The forms can also be collected sending request to bdoot@kems.net e-mail address. The filled-in forms can also be submitted by hand, by email or by fax (number 24913204).

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, AlMutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday. Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform

Music in 2006, both the finest young Sarod players were honored with gifts at the end of the show. Vijayan Karayil, Vice-President and Ramdas Nair, Treasurer, Soorya Chapter Kuwait, distributed the gifts to the artistes.

Soorya Krishnamurthy, the chief architect of the show was also honored in respect of his valued contribution for the promotion of art and culture. Pancily Varkey, Patron, Soorya Chapter Kuwait presented him with a gift. BS Pillai, General Secretary, Soorya Kuwait Chapter, welcomed the audience.

As the largest cultural organization in Asia, Soorya present in 21 countries has been propagating the art of India for the last 12 years with the active support of its Chief Patron Dr B R Shetty, Managing Director, NMC group of Companies.

Canadians of a family emergency at home.

The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca.The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India has further revamped and improved its Legal Advice Clinic at the Indian Workers Welfare Center, and made the free service available to Indian nationals on all five working days, i.e. from Sunday to Thursday every week. Kuwaiti lawyers would be available at the Legal Advice Clinic daily from Monday to Thursday, while Indian lawyers would be available on Sundays. Following are the free welfare services provided at the Indian Workers Welfare Center located at the Embassy of India: [i] 24x7 Helpline for Domestic Workers: Accessible by toll free telephone no. 25674163 from anywhere in Kuwait, it provides information and advice exclusively to Indian domestic sector workers (Visa No. 20) as regards their grievances, immigration and other matters. [ii] Help Desk: It offers guidance to Indian nationals on routine immigration,

Aware language classes

he AWARE Management is glad to inform you that Winter 1 Arabic language courses Tbegan on November 21st and will run until

December 30th, 2010 - Thursday courses begin today; those interested are welcome to register. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. We cater to teachers, travelers & those working in the private business sector.

employment, legal, and other issues (Embassy premises; 9 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4.30 PM, Sunday to Thursday); (iii) Labour Complaints Desk: It registers labor complaints and provides grievance redressal service to Indian workers (Embassy premises; 9 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4.30 PM, Sunday to Thursday); (iv) Shelters: For female and male domestic workers in distress; (v) Legal Advice Clinic: Provides free legal advice to Indian nationals (Embassy premises; Kuwaiti lawyers 3 PM to 5 PM, Monday to Thursday; Indian lawyers 2 PM to 4 PM on Sunday); and (vi) Attestation of Work Contracts: Private sector worker (Visa No. 18) contracts are accepted at the Embassy; 9 AM to 1 PM; Sunday to Thursday; Domestic sector worker (Visa No. 20) contracts are accepted at Kuwait Union of Domestic Labor Offices (KUDLO), Hawally, Al-Othman Street, Kurd Roundabout, AlAbraj Complex, Office No 9, Mezzanine Floor; 9 AM to 9 PM, Saturday to Thursday; 5 PM to 9 PM on Friday.

EMBASSY OF tHE US The United States Department of State announces the increase in various visa fees to ensure sufficient resources to cover the increasing cost of processing nonimmigrant visas (NIVs). US law requires the Department to recover the cost of processing non-immigrant visas through the collection of

AWARE Arabic courses highlight: ● Introductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics ● Better prepare you for speaking, reading and writing Arabic ● Combine language learning with cultural insights ● Taught in multi-nationality group settings ● Provide opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs.

For more information, please call 2533460/80 ext 105 or log onto www.aware.com.kw or e-mail: htaware.hassan@gmail.com

the application fees. The increased fees are to take effect June 4, 2010. Under the new rule, applicants for all visas that are not petition-based, including B1/B2 tourist and business visitor visas and all student and exchange-visitor visas, will pay a fee of $140.

Applicants for petition-based visas will pay an application fee of $150, as each of the below categories requires a review of extensive documentation and a more in-depth interview of the applicant than other categories, such as tourists.

These categories include: H visa for temporary workers and trainees L visa for intra-company transferees O visa for aliens with extraordinary ability P visa for athletes, artists and entertainers Q visa for international cultural exchange visitors R visa for religious occupations The application fee for K visas for fiance(e)s of US citizens will be $350. The fee for E visas for treaty-traders and treaty-investors will be $390.

EMBASSY OF tHAILAND All foreigners who apply for Tourist Visa at the Royal Thai Embassies and the Royal Thai Consulate General worldwide, including eligible foreigners who apply for Visa on arrival at designated checkpoints, will be exempted from tourist visa fees until 31 March 2011. Such arrangement is for Tourist Visa only.

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Friday, November 26, 2010

FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION 161

FLIGHT SCHEDULE

IN CASE YOU ARE NOT TRAVELLING, YOUR PROPER CANCELLATION OF BOOKINGS WILL HELP OTHER PASSENGERS TO USE SEATS. Airlines WAN JZR WAN TAR BBC GFA ETH WAN THY UAE DHX QTR FDB ETD RBG JZR KAC JZR JZR JZR KAC BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE KAC QTR ABY ETD GFA IRA JZR JZR JZR MEA IYE MSR MSR IRC KAC FDB UAL OMA KAC KAC QTR KAC MLR JZR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR RJA JZR ABY JZR WAN ALK

Arrival Flights on Friday 26/11/2010 Flt Route 306 CAIRO 267 BEIRUT 612 ISTANBUL 327 TUNIS / DUBAI 43 DHAKA 211 BAHRAIN 620 ADDIS ABABA 408 BEIRUT 772 ISTANBUL 853 DUBAI 370 BAHRAIN 138 DOHA 67 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 3557 ALEXANDRIA 207 DAMASCUS 544 CAIRO 223 ALEPPO 555 ALEXANDRIA 503 LUXOR 416 JAKARTA / KUALA LUMPUR 157 LONDON 352 COCHIN 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 678 MUSCAT / DUBAI 284 DHAKA 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 286 CHITTAGONG 132 DOHA 123 SHARJAH 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 619 LAR 151 DOHA 121 BAHRAIN 165 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 825 SANAA 623 SOHAG 610 CAIRO 6801 SHIRAZ 672 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 645 MUSCAT 546 ALEXANDRIA 552 DAMASCUS 134 DOHA 746 ABU DHABI / DAMMAM 403 COLOMBO / DUBAI 481 SABIHA 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 213 DEIREZZOR 800 AMMAN 239 AMMAN 127 SHARJAH 201 DAMASCUS 432 DAMASCUS 227 COLOMBO / DUBAI

Time 0:40 0:45 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:40 1:45 1:50 2:15 2:35 2:45 2:45 3:05 3:10 3:15 3:50 4:40 5:40 6:00 6:05 6:25 6:40 7:35 7:40 7:45 7:55 8:10 8:15 8:20 8:30 8:35 9:05 9:05 9:30 9:35 10:50 10:55 11:10 11:20 11:55 12:05 12:30 12:55 13:20 13:25 13:50 14:10 14:15 14:30 14:35 15:00 15:05 16:40 16:45 16:50 16:55 17:05 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:10

WAN WAN KAC KAC KAC WAN KAC KAC WAN IAC KAC KAC KAC KAC FDB OMA JAI SVA WAN JZR DHX KAC GFA VOS MEA QTR JZR UAE JZR SAI MSR JZR UAL WAN DLH WAN PIA WAN

304 204 502 542 618 106 614 674 202 575 166 102 774 562 61 647 572 506 402 787 372 786 217 81 402 136 177 859 157 441 612 185 981 186 636 422 215 108

CAIRO JEDDAH BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI JEDDAH CHENNAI / GOA PARIS / ROME NEW YORK / LONDON RIYADH AMMAN DUBAI MUSCAT MUMBAI JEDDAH BEIRUT RIYADH BAHRAIN JEDDAH BAHRAIN BAGHDAD BEIRUT DOHA DUBAI DUBAI DOHA LAHORE / KARACHI CAIRO DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN FRANKFURT AMMAN KARACHI DUBAI

Airlines UAL AXB IAC PIA DLH TAR ETH BBC THY DHX FDB UAE RBG ETD QTR JZR JZR GFA KAC VOS JZR FDB JZR BAW KAC KAC

Departure Flights on Friday 26/11/2010 Flt Route 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 390 MANGALORE / KOZHIKODE 982 AHMEDABAD / CHENNAI 206 LAHORE 637 FRANKFURT 328 TUNIS 620 BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA 44 DHAKA 773 ISTANBUL 371 BAHRAIN 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 3558 ALEXANDRIA 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 164 DUBAI 150 DOHA 212 BAHRAIN 545 ALEXANDRIA 94 DUBAI / KANDAHAR 120 BAHRAIN 54 DUBAI 480 SABIHA 156 LONDON 671 DUBAI 745 DAMMAM / ABU DHABI

18:25 18:25 18:45 18:50 18:55 18:55 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:50 20:05 20:10 20:15 20:35 20:50 20:50 21:00 21:10 21:15 21:15 21:20 21:35 21:45 22:00 22:10 22:40 22:45 22:45 23:00 23:10 23:35 23:45 23:55 23:55 Time 0:45 0:45 1:05 1:10 1:30 1:40 2:30 2:35 3:15 3:45 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:00 4:55 6:55 7:10 7:15 7:50 8:00 8:20 8:25 8:40 8:55 9:00 9:05

KAC UAE ABY QTR KAC ETD GFA KAC JZR IRA KAC JZR JZR KAC MEA KAC IYE MSR MSR IRC FDB KAC KAC OMA UAL KAC KAC KAC KAC QTR JZR JZR MLR ETD WAN GFA UAE RJA JZR ABY JZR SVA ALK WAN KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC OMA JAI JZR SVA DHX KAC GFA MEA KAC JZR QTR KAC JZR JZR UAE MSR SAI KAC

551 856 124 133 117 302 214 177 212 618 541 238 200 103 405 501 825 624 611 6802 58 561 673 646 982 617 785 613 773 135 176 786 404 304 305 216 858 801 184 128 156 511 228 434 283 361 62 331 343 648 571 268 507 373 675 218 403 203 528 137 301 554 502 860 613 442 411

DAMASCUS DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA NEW YORK ABU DHABI BAHRAIN FRANKFURT / GENEVA DEIREZZOR LAR CAIRO AMMAN DAMASCUS LONDON BEIRUT BEIRUT DOHA / SANAA SOHAG CAIRO SHIRAZ DUBAI AMMAN DUBAI MUSCAT BAHRAIN DOHA JEDDAH BAHRAIN RIYADH DOHA DUBAI RIYADH DUBAI / COLOMBO ABU DHABI CAIRO BAHRAIN DUBAI AMMAN DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA RIYADH DUBAI / COLOMBO DAMASCUS DHAKA COLOMBO DUBAI TRIVANDRUM CHENNAI MUSCAT MUMBAI BEIRUT JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN BEIRUT LAHORE ASSIUT DOHA MUMBAI ALEXANDRIA LUXOR DUBAI CAIRO LAHORE BANGKOK / MANILA

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

9:10 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:20 10:20 10:30 11:45 11:50 12:00 12:10 12:20 12:30 12:55 13:00 13:05 13:30 13:55 14:20 14:35 14:45 15:10 15:15 15:25 15:35 15:45 16:20 16:25 16:30 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:40 18:05 18:05 18:10 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 19:10 19:55 20:15 20:20 20:50 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:40 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:15 22:20 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:45 23:00 23:10 23:45 23:50 23:55

CLASSIFIEDS

Friday, November 26, 2010

ACCOMMODATION

Contact: 66826412.

22-11-2010

Sharing accommodation available in Farwaniya for decent working ladies near Crowne Plaza. Contact: 94026603. (C 2887)

Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya for one or two working ladies or married couple with Keralite family. Contact: 66013882. (C 2874)

Sharing accommodation available for executive bachelor Muslim, furnished flat near Behbehani complex Sharq.

Contact: 65627272. (C 2888)

Room for rent, big room in Farwaniya, block - 1, near Canary, near Fire station.

Contact: 99035093.

(C 2875)

One furnished independent room with balcony available from Dec 1st for 2/3 months for a decent exec bachelor, new building C-A/C sat & kitchen facility W&E free.

Opp Appolo hospital Shara Amman st, Salmiya.

Contact: 99761807. (C 2886) 25-11-2010 Room for rent in Hawally, family or bachelor, Tunis st. front side of Al Bahar center. Contact: 99593486, 97672748. (C 2884) Room for rent in Farwaniya for a couple or two working ladies or a decent bachelor with kitchen facilities.

Contact: 66021273, 97449272.

(C 2885) 24-11-2010 Sharing accommodation available for bachelors or family opposite Al Rashid hospital, Amman street Salmiya.

Contact: 65515717. (C 2881) 23-10-2010 Room for rent (partition), for couple or working ladies. Near big jamiya Farwaniya, available from November 23, 2010.

Page 49

Sharing accommodation available in Abbasiya for an executive bachelor from December 2010 onwards.

(Keralites only) Contact: 66725048.

(C 2877) Furnished 2 BR apartment in Mangaf, Street 100, from January 2011. Rent KD 200, furniture KD 450, sharing possible. Contact: 66601523 / 23728467.

(C 2876) 21-11-2010 Sharing accommodation available in New Riggai (CA/C building) for family or working ladies.

Only Keralites.

Contact: 99874350.

(C 2872) 20-11-2010

dent free, cash KD 1000 (negotiable). Installments to be carried over with financing company (43 months x KD 95/month).

Contact: 66774928. (C 2879) 22-11-2010 Toyota Corolla, model 2009 XLi, green color, excellent condition, cash price KD 3,400.

(Installment possible).

Contact: 55271217.

(C 2873) 20-10-2010

tem. Email: comp.tech392@gmail.com (C 2883) 23-11-2010 Need a job as accountant. I am B.Com + MBA, 4 years experience in Kuwait, good reporting & software skills, hard worker & good organizational behavior. I have car & driving license.

Contact: 55355954.

No:

14920

SITUATION VACANT

A decent housemaid is urgently needed for a family in Mangaf. Please call 60055305 25-11-2010 Required English speaking maid/nanny. Please contact 99824597. (C 2880) 23-10-2010

FOR SALE Nissan Maxima 2001 model, gold color, CD cassette player, mileage 110,000 km, full option.

Price KD 1250. Call 55522942. (C 2882) 23-11-2010 2009 model Nissan Altima, full option, red color, mileage 25000 km, acci-

SITUATION WANTED

Workshop foreman, building maint co-ordinator, Indian male, over 20 years experience in rebuilding semi hermetic HVAC compressors with good knowledge of chilled water sys-

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists: Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 5622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 5752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 5321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 5739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 5757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 5732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 5732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT): Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz

4555050 Ext 510 5644660 5646478 5311996 5731988 2620166 5651426

General Practitioners: Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi Dr. Yousef Al-Omar Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem Dr. Kathem Maarafi Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae

4555050 Ext 123 4719312 3926920 5730465 5655528 4577781 5333501

Urologists: Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 2641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 2639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 2616660

Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 5313120 Plastic Surgeons: Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari Dr. Abdel Quttainah

2547272 2617700 5625030/60

Family Doctor: Dr Divya Damodar

3729596/3729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

2635047 2613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians: Dr Adrian Harbe Dr. Verginia s.Marin Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly Dr. Salem soso

3729596/3729581 572-6666 ext 8321 2655539 5343406 5739272 2618787

General Surgeons: Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer 2610044 Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher 5327148

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra Dr. Mobarak Aldoub Dr Nasser Behbehani

5728004 5355515 4726446 5654300/3

Paediatricians: Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed Dr. Zahra Qabazard Dr. Sohail Qamar Dr. Snaa Maaroof Dr. Pradip Gujare Dr. Zacharias Mathew

5340300 5710444 2621099 5713514 3713100 4334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada) 5655535 Dentists: Dr Anil Thomas Dr. Shamah Al-Matar Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

3729596/3729581 2641071/2 2562226 2561444 2619557 2525888 5653755 5620111

Internists, Chest & Heart: Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Mousa Khadada

2639939 2666300

Neurologists: Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri 5633324 Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan 5345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman 2636464 Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly 5322030 Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali 2633135 Endocrinologist: Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman 5339330 Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 5658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 5329924 Physiotherapists & VD: Dr. Deyaa Shehab Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

5722291 2666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi 5330060 Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah 5722290 Internist, Chest & Heart: DR.Mohammes Akkad 4555050 Ext 210 Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Tel: 5339667 Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Consultant Cardiologist Tel: 2611555-2622555

Page 50

Friday, November 26, 2010

TV Listings Orbit /Showtime Channels 22:05 Whale Wars 23:00 Weird Creatures With Nick Baker 23:55 Animal Cops Miami 00:00 01:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Ellen de Generes GMA Live repeat Royal Pains Defying Gravity Desperate Housewives GMA Live Repeat One Tree Hill Survivor 21 Ellen de Generes Desperate Housewives Inside the Actors Studio Royal Pains One Tree Hill GMA Live Survivor 21 Ellen de Generes White Collar The Deep End Breaking Bad Burn Notice Saving Grace

00:50 The Most Extreme 01:45 Untamed And Uncut 02:40 Snake Crusader With Bruce George 03:05 Snake Crusader With Bruce George 03:35 Cell Dogs 04:30 Animal Cops South Africa 05:25 Lions Of Crocodile River 06:20 Untamed And Uncut 07:10 Wildlife SOS 07:35 Sspca: On The Wildside 08:00 New Breed Vets With Steve Irwin 08:50 The Planet’s Funniest Animals 09:15 The Planet’s Funniest Animals 09:40 Breed All About It 10:05 Breed All About It 10:35 In Too Deep 11:00 Cell Dogs 11:55 Monkey Life 12:20 Sspca: On The Wildside 12:50 Miami Animal Police 13:45 E-Vets: The Interns 14:10 Pet Rescue 14:40 Animal Cops Miami 15:35 Wildlife SOS 16:00 Sspca: On The Wildside 16:30 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 17:25 Groomer Has It 18:20 The Planet’s Funniest Animals 18:45 The Planet’s Funniest Animals 19:15 Snake Crusader With Bruce George 19:40 Snake Crusader With Bruce George 20:10 Moon Bears Journey To Freedom 21:10 Dogs 101

00:40 01:40 02:30 03:30 04:00 04:35 04:50 05:10 05:25 05:45 06:00 06:15 06:35 06:45 06:55 07:15 07:30 07:45 08:00 08:10 08:20 08:45 09:00 09:15 09:30 09:50 10:00 10:20 10:40 11:45 12:30 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:20 16:20 17:20 18:10 18:40 19:10 20:00 21:00 21:45 22:15 23:00

The League Of Gentlemen Casualty The League Of Gentlemen Eastenders Last Of The Summer Wine The Roly Mo Show Fimbles Penelope K, By The Way Me Too Forget Me Not Farm The Roly Mo Show Fimbles Penelope K, By The Way Tellytales Me Too Forget Me Not Farm The Roly Mo Show Fimbles Penelope K, By The Way Tellytales Me Too Forget Me Not Farm The Roly Mo Show Penelope K, By The Way Fimbles Tellytales Me Too Forget Me Not Farm Last Of The Summer Wine The Weakest Link Michael Palin’s New Europe Doctors Eastenders Casualty Last Of The Summer Wine Michael Palin’s New Europe The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Casualty Michael Palin’s New Europe The Weakest Link Doctors Robin Hood The Jonathan Ross Show

00:30 01:00 01:20 02:10 02:35 03:00 03:50 04:40 05:30 06:00

Masterchef Cash In The Attic USA What Not To Wear Ching’s Kitchen Ching’s Kitchen The Home Show Fantasy Homes By The Sea The Restaurant UK Daily Cooks Challenge Daily Cooks Challenge

06:30 07:20 08:10 09:00 09:50 10:45 11:05 11:25 11:50 12:15 13:05 13:45 14:35 15:25 16:15 16:40 17:10 17:55 18:25 18:50 19:20 19:50 20:40 21:10 21:35 22:00

What Not To Wear Fantasy Homes By The Sea Antiques Roadshow What Not To Wear Antiques Roadshow Hidden Potential Cash In The Attic USA Indian Food Made Easy Ching’s Kitchen The Home Show Fantasy Homes By The Sea The Restaurant UK What Not To Wear The Home Show Indian Food Made Easy Daily Cooks Challenge Bargain Hunt Masterchef Cash In The Attic USA Daily Cooks Challenge Daily Cooks Challenge The Restaurant UK Masterchef What To Eat Now - Autumn Cooked The Home Show

01:15 03:15 05:15 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:45

Elite Squad-18 The Sisters-18 Punch-Drunk Love-18 Fireproof-PG Tennessee-PG15 Last Mimzy-PG Tribute-PG15 Not Easily Broken-PG15 Of Mice And Men-PG15 Topsy Turvy-PG15 Shining Through-PG15

00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:25 08:15 09:10 10:05 10:55 11:50 12:20 12:45 13:15 14:10 15:05 16:00 16:55

Overhaulin’ Dirty Jobs Extreme Machines Extreme Engineering Mythbusters How Stuff’s Made How Do They Do It? Dirty Jobs Fifth Gear Extreme Engineering American Chopper Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Overhaulin’ The Gadget Show How Stuff’s Made How Do They Do It? Mythbusters Miami Ink Ultimate Survival Dirty Jobs Overhaulin’

Monsters vs. Aliens on Super Movies

17:50 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:55 22:25 22:50

Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security The Gadget Show How Do They Do It? How Stuff’s Made Wheeler Dealers I Could Do That I Could Do That Motor City Motors

00:40 How The Universe Works 01:30 The Gadget Show 01:55 Nyc: Inside Out 02:45 Weird Or What?

03:35 I, Videogame 04:25 How Stuff’s Made 04:50 Da Vinci’s Machines 05:45 Robotica 06:40 Weird Connections 07:10 Savage Planet 07:35 Savage Planet 08:00 Thunder Races 09:00 The World’s Strangest Ufo Stories 10:00 Weird Or What?

10:55 Stunt Junkies 11:20 The Gadget Show 11:50 Savage Planet 12:15 Savage Planet 12:45 How Stuff’s Made 13:15 Da Vinci’s Machines 14:10 Weird Connections 14:35 Weird Or What?

15:30 Science Of The Movies 16:25 The Gadget Show 16:55 How The Universe Works 17:50 Nyc: Inside Out 18:45 Brainiac 19:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 20:30 Alien Storms 21:20 How It’s Made 21:45 The Gadget Show 22:10 Sci-Trek 23:00 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 23:50 Alien Storms

00:15 Pretty Wild 00:40 Dr 90210 01:30 Wildest TV Show Moments 01:55 Reality Hell 02:20 THS 03:15 Extreme Hollywood 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Battle Of The Hollywood Hotties 05:30 Streets Of Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:45 E! News

08:10 Behind The Scenes 08:35 E! News 09:00 The Daily 10 09:25 Fashion Police 09:50 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 10:15 THS 12:00 E! News 12:25 The Daily 10 12:50 Behind The Scenes 13:15 Pretty Wild 13:40 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:05 Kendra 14:30 THS 16:15 E! News 16:40 Behind The Scenes 17:10 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 17:35 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 18:00 E! News 18:25 The Daily 10 18:50 Fashion Police 19:15 Pretty Wild 19:40 E!es 20:30 Kendra 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:20 Holly’s World 22:10 E! News 22:35 The Daily 10 23:00 Chelsea Lately

00:00 00:50 01:40 02:30 03:20 04:10 05:00 05:50 06:40 07:30 09:00 11:30 11:55 12:45 13:35 14:25 15:15 16:05 16:55 17:45 20:15 20:40 21:30 23:10

Mantracker Series 3 Shack Therapy 1 Untracked Series 2 Alpine Adventurer Mantracker Series 3 Fantasy Factory Shack Therapy 1 Untracked Series 2 Alpine Adventurer I-Ex Summer Dew Tour 2009 Saab Salomon Mountain-X Race Bad Boy Racers Bad Boy Racers Mengejar Ombak 1 Ride Guide Snow 2009 Alpine Adventurer Bad Boy Racers Bad Boy Racers Summer Dew Tour 2009 Saab Salomon Mountain-X Race Mengejar Ombak 1 Bad Boy Racers Alpine Adventurer

00:00 Good Deal with Dave Lieberman 00:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:00 Iron Chef America Special 02:00 30 Minute Meals 02:30 Tyler’s Ultimate 03:00 Throwdown With Bobby Flay Special 04:00 Barefoot Contessa 04:30 Unwrapped 05:00 Chopped 06:00 Throwdown With Bobby Flay 06:30 Guys Big Bite 07:00 Food Network Challenge 08:00 Paula’s Best Dishes 08:25 Good Deal with Dave Lieberman 08:50 Guys Big Bite 09:15 Barefoot Contessa 09:40 Everyday Italian 10:05 30 Minute Meals 10:30 Tyler’s Ultimate 11:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 11:30 Barefoot Contessa 12:00 Unwrapped 12:30 Paula’s Party 13:30 Guys Big Bite 14:00 Good Deal with Dave Lieberman 14:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 15:00 Barefoot Contessa 15:30 Everyday Italian 16:00 30 Minute Meals 16:30 Throwdown With Bobby Flay 17:00 Iron Chef America 18:00 Barefoot Contessa 18:30 Unwrapped 19:00 Paula’s Best Dishes 19:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 20:00 Throwdown With Bobby Flay 20:30 Good Deal with Dave Lieberman 21:00 Throwdown With Bobby Flay Special 22:00 Barefoot Contessa 22:30 Everyday Italian 23:00 Chopped

00:40 01:30 02:20 03:10 04:05 05:00 05:55 06:20 07:10 07:35 08:00 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:30 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:25 13:50 14:40 15:30 15:55 16:20 17:10 18:00 18:50 19:40 20:30 20:55 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab A Haunting On The Case With Paula Zahn Dr G: Medical Examiner Forensic Detectives Ghosthunters Dr G: Medical Examiner Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls Forensic Detectives Impossible Heists On The Case With Paula Zahn FBI Files Ghosthunters Ghosthunters Accident Investigator Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls On The Case With Paula Zahn Forensic Detectives Impossible Heists FBI Files Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls CSU Accident Investigator Couples Who Kill Deadly Women

00:00 01:30 03:10 05:05 07:05 08:35 10:20 11:55 13:45 15:10 16:35 18:30 20:10 22:00 23:45

Madhouse Last Embrace Scandal Salvador Number One Fan Rich In Love Love Bites Curse Of The Pink Panther Haunted Honeymoon Johnny Be Good Pink Panther Shag Brannigan Clean Slate Witness To The Mob

00:00 Til Death 00:30 The Simpsons 01:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 01:30 The Colbert Report 02:00 Late night with Jimmy Fallon 03:00 Hung 03:30 The Riccky Gervais Show 04:00 Family Guy 04:30 Tonight Show with Jay Leno 05:30 Eight simple Rules 06:00 Hope & Faith 06:30 Ten things I hate about you 07:00 Late night with Jimmy Fallon 08:00 The Simpsons 08:30 Eight simple Rules 09:00 Hope & Faith 09:30 Ten things I hate about you 10:00 Billable Hours 10:30 30 Rock 11:00 Eight simple Rules 11:30 Hope & Faith 12:00 Tonight Show with Jay Leno 13:00 The Simpsons 13:30 Eight simple Rules 14:00 Hope & Faith 14:30 Til Death 15:00 30 Rock 15:30 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Ten things I hate about you 17:00 Late night with Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Scrubs 18:30 The League 19:00 Sons Of Tucson 19:30 New adventures of Old Christine 20:00 Tonight Show with Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Funny or Die presents… 22:30 Sarah Silverman program 23:00 Family Guy 23:30 Sons of Tucson

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Friday, November 26, 2010 19:40 Special Agent Oso 19:50 Jungle Junction 01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:10 23:00

Death Race-18 Legally Blondes-PG Four Christmases-PG15 Swing Vote-PG15 Fred Claus-PG Inkheart-PG The Golden Compass-PG Bedtime Stories-FAM Fred Claus-PG XXX-PG15 Alice In Wonderland-PG Notorious-18

00:30 New Adventures of Old Christine 01:00 Sons of Anarchy 02:00 Lie To Me 03:00 Tudors 04:00 The Simpsons 04:30 Heroes 05:30 New Adventures of Old Christine 06:00 Ellen DeGeneres 07:00 Glee 08:00 Sons of Anarchy 09:00 Survivor 21 10:00 Ellen DeGeneres 11:00 The Simpsons 11:30 Heroes 12:30 New Adventures of Old Christine 13:00 Sons of Anarchy 14:00 Lie To Me 15:00 Survivor 21 16:00 30 Rock 16:30 New Adventures of Old Christine 17:00 Ellen DeGeneres 18:00 Two & a Half Men Two & a Half Men 19:00 Friday Night Lights 20:00 Treme 21:00 Breaking Bad 22:00 Nip/ Tuck 23:00 30 Rock 23:30 Ellen DeGeneres

00:15 01:30 04:00 05:15 06:30 08:00 09:15 10:30 11:45 13:00 14:15 15:30 16:45 18:00 19:15 20:30 21:45 23:00

07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 08:40 08:50 09:00 09:25 09:50 Pooh 10:15 10:40 11:05 11:30 11:55 12:20 12:45 13:10 13:35 YR1) 14:00 14:25 14:50 15:05 15:30 15:55 16:20 16:45 17:10 Pooh 17:35 17:45 18:10 18:35 19:00 Pooh 19:25

Trev Gowdy’s Monster Fish The Wingshooter Ducks Unlimited The Wingshooter Trev Gowdy’s Monster Fish Cowboys Trev Gowdy’s Monster Fish Cowboys Ride To Adventure Adventures In Hawaii Duck Commander Ride To Adventure Adventures In Hawaii Duck Commander Ride To Adventure Adventures In Hawaii Duck Commander Cowboys

Lazytown Imagination Movers Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny New Adventures of Winnie the Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso Imagination Movers Lazytown My Friends Tigger and Pooh Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Little Einsteins JO JO’S CIRCUS (SCANDI Higglytown Heroes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Special Agent Oso My Friends Tigger and Pooh Imagination Movers Little Einsteins Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse New Adventures of Winnie the Special Agent Oso Imagination Movers Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse New Adventures of Winnie the Handy Manny

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 FAM 20:00 22:00

The Informers-18 Max And Co.-PG Einstein And Eddington-PG15 Cutting Edge: Fire And Ice-PG Appaloosa-PG15 Crimes Of The Past-PG15 Inkheart-PG My Sassy Girl-PG15 Appaloosa-PG15 The Princess And The Frog-

01:00 03:00 05:00 06:45 09:00 11:15 13:00 15:00 17:15 19:00 21:00 23:00

Deadgirl-R Scorpion-18 Rock Monster-PG15 The Core-PG15 Arn: The Knight Templar-PG15 The Blackout-PG15 Changing Lanes-PG15 Arn: The Knight Templar-PG15 The Snow Walker-PG15 Tears Of The Sun-18 Goal III-18 El Orfenato-18

00:00 Stylemaker: Andre Leon Talley 00:30 Mel B: It’s A Scary World 01:00 Jerseylicious 02:00 Model TV 02:30 Style Her Famous 03:00 How Do I Look?

04:00 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

05:00 Model TV 05:30 The Designers 06:00 Style Her Famous 06:30 Area 07:00 How Do I Look?

08:00 Millennium Fashion: The Year In Fashion 09:00 My Celebrity Home 10:00 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

11:00 Married Away 12:00 Jerseylicious 13:00 Ruby 14:00 Clean House 15:00 Clean House Comes Clean 15:30 Style Her Famous 16:00 Jerseylicious 17:00 Ruby 18:00 Married Away 19:00 Divine Wedding Dresses With The Knot 19:30 Mel B: It’s A Scary World 20:00 Jerseylicious 21:00 Homes With Style 21:30 Homes With Style 22:00 How Do I Look?

23:00 Tacky House

Alice In Wonderland-PG Role Models-18

00:00 Will You Merry Me-PG15 02:00 The First $20 Million Is Always The Hardest-PG15 04:00 The Coneheads-PG15 06:00 Down To You-PG15 08:00 Car Babes-PG15 10:00 Bring It On 5: Fight To The Finish-PG15 12:00 The Pink Panther 2-PG15 14:00 Hoot-PG 16:00 Will You Merry Me-PG15 18:00 Dead Man On Campus-18 20:00 Mumford-18 22:00 Spring Breakdown-PG15

00:00 Pocahontas II: Winter Of The Rocky Mount-FAM 02:00 How To Eat Fried Worms-FAM 04:00 Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths-PG 06:00 Christmas In New York-PG 08:00 Last Of The Mohicans-PG 10:00 Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths-PG 12:00 Alexander The Great-FAM 14:00 How To Eat Fried Worms-FAM 16:00 Scooby-Doo! And The Samurai Sword-FAM 18:00 Madagascar 2-PG 20:00 The Thief Of Baghdad-PG 22:00 Alexander The Great-FAM

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:30

Bones Drop Dead Diva Martha Stewart Lie To Me The View Look A Like Look A Like Emmerdale Eat Your Self Sexy Lie To Me Martha Stewart Look A Like Look A Like Lie To Me The View Emmerdale Eat Your Self Sexy Martha Stewart Bones Drop Dead Diva Look A Like Look A Like The View Hawthorne CSI Friday Night Lights Lie To Me The View Look A Like Look A Like

02:00 02:30 03:00 10:00

World Sport Total Rugby Live Cricket Test Match ICC Cricket World

Alice In Wonderland- on Show Movies 10:30 Spirit of a Champion 11:00 Spirit of Yatching 11:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 12:00 FEI Equestrain World 12:30 ICC Cricket World 13:00 Brazil League Highlights 13:30 Futbol Mundial 14:00 World Sport 14:30 Triatholn 15:30 Spirit of a Champion 16:00 Total Rugby 16:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 17:00 Live The All Sports Show 18:00 ICC Cricket World 18:30 Spirit of a Champion 19:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 19:30 Futbol Mundial 20:00 Brazil League Highlights 20:30 World Sport 21:00 Futbol Mundial

00:00 World Sport 00:30 Brazil League Highlights 01:00 Futbol Mundial 01:30 Spirit of a Champion 02:00 Spirit of Yachting 02:30 Premier League Snooker 06:00 Spirit of a Champion 06:30 Spirit of Yachting 07:00 European Tour Weekly 07:30 Total Rugby 08:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 08:30 Spirit of a Champion 09:00 The Ryder Cup Official Film 10:30 European Tour Weekly 11:00 LIVE European PGA Tour 16:00 Cricket Test Match 23:00 European PGA Tour

00:00 01:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:30 14:30 15:30 16:30 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 123 UFC The Ultimate Fighter WWE NXT UFC Unleashed WWE NXT WWE Vintage Collection Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge V8 Supercars Championship V8 Supercars Championship Le Mans classic WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge V8 Supercars Championship V8 Supercars Championship V8 Supercars Extra UFC The Ultimate Fighter WWE NXT WWE Smackdown WWE Bottom Line UFC The Ultimate Fighter

01:00 Havoc 2: Normal Adolescent Behavior-R 02:45 Sins Of The Mother-PG15 04:30 Changeling-PG15 07:00 Love Happens-PG15 09:00 Ice Castles-PG15 11:00 Enid-PG15 13:00 Monsters Vs. Aliens-PG 15:00 17 Again-PG15 17:00 Ice Castles-PG15 19:00 Old Dogs-PG 21:00 Saw V-R 22:45 Duplicity-18

00:40 Bob And Carol And Ted And Alice

02:35 The Prize 05:00 The Screening Room 05:30 2010 07:30 The Screening Room 08:00 Lust For Life 10:00 Boys’ Town 11:35 My Favorite Year 13:10 The Champ 15:15 The Prize 17:30 Meet Me In St. Louis 19:20 Captain Nemo And The Underwater City 21:05 Mogambo 23:00 Fun With Dick And Jane

00:40 Ice Road Truckers, 3 01:30 Modern Marvels 02:20 Battle Stations 03:10 Deep Sea Detectives 04:00 MysteryQuest 04:55 Warriors 05:50 MonsterQuest 06:40 Ice Road Truckers, 3 07:30 Modern Marvels 08:20 Battle Stations 09:10 Deep Sea Detectives 10:00 MysteryQuest 10:55 Warriors 11:50 MonsterQuest 12:40 Ice Road Truckers, 3 13:30 Modern Marvels 14:20 Battle Stations 15:10 Deep Sea Detectives 16:00 MysteryQuest 16:55 Warriors 17:50 MonsterQuest 18:40 Ice Road Truckers, 3 19:30 Modern Marvels 20:20 Battle Stations 21:10 Deep Sea Detectives 22:00 Rise & Fall of the Spartans 22:55 Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire 23:50 Battle of Tripoli

00:00 Intrepid Journeys 01:00 Rivers Of The World 02:00 Cruising The Spirit Of Adventure 03:00 Swiss Railway Journeys 04:00 Globe Trekker 05:00 Intrepid Journeys 06:00 Chef Abroad 06:30 The Thirsty Traveler 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 09:00 Cruising The Spirit Of Adventure 10:00 Chef Abroad 10:30 The Thirsty Traveler 11:00 Planet Sports 12:00 Globe Trekker 13:00 Planet Food 14:00 Panasia 14:30 Top Travel 15:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 16:00 Globe Trekker 17:00 Culture Shock 17:30 Chef Abroad 18:00 Panasia 18:30 The Thirsty Traveler 19:00 Globe Trekker 20:00 Globe Trekker 21:00 Culture Shock 21:30 Skier’s World 22:00 The Thrillseekers Guide

00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00 03:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 18:00 20:00 21:00

VH1 Rocks So 80’s Music For The Masses Greatest Hits VH1 Music Chill Out VH1 Hits Aerobic VH1 Hits Music For The Masses Top 10 Music For The Masses Soundtracks Weekend Music For The Masses Guess The Year Final Countdown

00:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson 01:00 Backstory 01:30 World Sport 02:00 World Report 03:00 World Report 04:00 World Business Today 05:00 The Situation Room 06:00 Anderson Cooper 360 07:00 World Sport 07:30 News Special 08:00 World Report 08:30 Backstory 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Report

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Rihanna could have a baby R

Furlong ordered to stay away from wife

E

dw a rd Furlong has been ordered to stay away from his estranged wife.

The ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ actor was the subject of a three-year restraining order issued by a Los Angeles court which orders him to keep

away from Rachael Bella at her home, place of work and vehicle. He is also banned from contacting her via email or telephone, owning any handguns and must enrol in a one-year batter intervention program. Edward has also been told he may have monitored visits with Ethan -

his three-year-old son with Rachel - at Family Care Monitoring Services in Van Nuys but must abstain from consuming alcohol or illegal drugs within 12 hours prior to his meetings with the youngster. The rulings come after Rachel - who filed for divorce from Edward in July 2009 after three years of marriage - told the court in a previous hearing the actor repeatedly drives past her house, once threatened to kill himself and refused to take a drugs test when she demanded he take one during their custody dispute. Edward - who shot to fame aged 13 - has a history of alcohol and substance abuse problems and has had several stints in rehab. He was arrested twice in 2001, for driving without a license and driving under the influence (DUI) and again in 2004 when he tried to free lobsters from a restaurant in Kentucky, where he was filming ‘Jimmy and Judy’.

Spears wants her children back

ihanna “could be” ready to have a baby next year.

The 22-year-old singer - who has been dating baseball star Matt Kemp since January - has a list of ambitions she wants to achieve before becoming a mother, but has not given herself a definite time deadline to start a family. She said: “I don’t really plan on the age.

It could be a year from now. It could be 10 years from now. Whenever is right. “I mean, I have a lot of other stuff to accomplish before I get to kids. Whenever the time is right, I’ll just know.” While Rihanna is unsure

B

ritney Spea rs wants to care for her children full-time. The 28year-old singer - who has been under the conservatorship of her father Jamie Spears since her much-publicized breakdown in January 2008 - has reportedly told ex-husband Kevin Federline she wants to get back custody of her sons, Sean Preston, five, and fouryear-old Jayden James, and have the boys live with her and current partner Jason Trawick. Kevin still officially has sole custody of the boys, although the youngsters split their time between both parents. A source said: “It’s getting harder and harder for her to hand the boys back to Kevin after each visit.

Britney dreams of marrying Jason and having the kids live with them - she’d even like to have more children too.

“She won’t be happy until the boys are with her full-time. All she wants is to get her life back, without having to ask her dad’s permission to do everything.”

However, Kevin has told his ex-wife who sees the boys every week - he wants to keep custody of their sons, who live with him and his girlfriend Victoria Prince in Los Angeles. The source added: “Britney and Kevin’s relationship is amicable - Kevin likes Jason and knows he’s a stable influence on Britney.

“He’s told her she can visit them every day but there’s no way he’s handing them over full time.” Under the terms of their current custody agreement, Britney pays Kevin $15,000 a month to look after the kids and promised to continue giving him the sum even if he gives the children back, an offer the former dancer refused. The insider told Closer magazine: “At first, Britney thought it was because he was afraid of losing the money, so she offered him an out-ofcourt settlement, meaning he’d get the money regardless of who the boys live with. “But he’s told her he fears she’s still too unstable and could go off the rails again.” The pop star’s conservatorship order could come to an end within the next few months following a meeting she had with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Reva Goetz in October to assess her general wellbeing in regards to making a decision on handing back control of her affairs.

when she will have a baby, she knows she would prefer to have a son. She explained in the December issue of Interview magazine: “If I had a girl, she’d probably be really rebellious. She would be like a bundle of karma.”

The ‘Only Girl in the World’ hitmaker also would “love to” raise a family in her native Barbados but doesn’t think it would be possible because of her pop career. She explained: “I can’t live that far away from everything now, without kids. So I certainly couldn’t raise kids and have a career with the demanding schedule that I have.”

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Page 53

Levitt returns to work after brother’s death

J

oseph Gordon-Levitt has returned to work following the death of his brother.

The ‘Inception’ star made a short video for his website hitRECord.org thanking fans for their good wishes and assuring them he is gradually getting back to normal after his beloved older sibling Dan Gordon-Levitt known as Burning Dan - died from a suspected drug overdose last month aged 36. He said: “It’s been a while since I did a ‘Regularity’ video - life has been irregular. Thanks to everybody for all the love and support for Burning Dan, it means a lot. I’m going to start getting back to work gingerly.” While Joseph admitted he is unwilling to take on too many projects at the moment because he is still grieving, he did acknowledge that he is improving.

He said: “To level with you, I still can’t really handle the workload that I usually do, but I wanna start getting back to some projects. I’ll be back to do another ‘Regularity’ video.” Joseph finished by thanking his fans again for helping him cope with his brother’s sudden death. He said: “I’m gonna get back to full regularity at some point; I just don’t want to make a commitment I can’t live up to right now. I’ll do my best and thank you guys so much for helping.” Joseph currently has two movies in post-production, ‘Premium Rush’ and ‘Live with It’ while ‘Looper’ with Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt is still in preproduction.

Knowles’s mother think she will be a good parent

B

eyonce Know les and J a y-Z will make “great parents”, according to her mother. It was recently rumoured the couple - who married in April 2008 - were expecting their first child together and although Tina Knowles insists this isn’t true, she knows they will be a fantastic mum and dad one day because they spend so much time with Beyonce sister’s six-year-old son, Daniel.

She said: “They’re good people and they’re really positive and they’re talented and they’ve had a lot of practice with my grandson - their nephew. So I know they’re going to make great

parents.” “Beyonce is very caring and patient and loving, so I know she’ll be a great mum.”

Tina says she will be thrilled when the superstar couple do have a child because she loves being a grandmother so much. She told People magazine: “Of course I am ready for her to have a baby. What grandmother isn’t? I can’t wait.” While Tina thinks Beyonce will be a great parent she admits her daughter isn’t so good at cooking. She said: “Cooking is the one thing she hasn’t gotten into. She hasn’t mastered it, but I’m sure she’ll be a good cook once she makes up her mind.”

Minogue dreaming of a white Christmas

Hilton is countersuing hair extension company P

aris Hilton is countersuing the hair extension company which filed a lawsuit against her in August. The hotel heiress was reportedly paid $3.5 million by Hairtech International in 2007 to be the face of their Dream Catchers range

of clip-in locks but is being sued for $35 million after allegedly failing to promote the product and wearing extensions made by a competitor. Now Paris has filed her own suit and is asking for is asking for $2.1 million in damages, at least $400,000 in punitive damages and attorney fees, and

$500,000 in declaratory relief. In documents filed at Los Angeles Superior Court the socialite’s lawyer alleges Hairtech International “sought to capitalize on Ms. Hilton’s brand and fame by offering to pay substantial ‘guaranteed’ royalties in exchange for the right to associate Ms. Hilton’s brand with their line of hair products”. Paris is also accusing the company of fraud claiming they failed to pay her “in excess of $1.7 million,” and accusing them of “secretly altering documents presented to Ms. Hilton’s company for signature”. Along with countersuing the hair extension company, Paris denies she was unprofessional and claims the company’s CEO Chris Volek wrote her an email praising her performance after she filmed a commercial for the company. According to gossip website TMZ, the email said “Hey Paris. I know it was a long day, but baby you ‘Rocked.’ Just from the takes I saw this is going to be one hellava commercial, you were genuinely amazing.”

K

Brand wants independence from Perry

R

ussell Brand wants to be “independent” from Katy Perry. The British comedian - who married the ‘Firework’ singer in an intimate ceremony in India in October - is said to be taking driving lessons in Los Angeles so he no longer has to rely on his new wife to chauffer him around. An insider explained: “While Russell in the past has been chauffeured around Los Angeles by Katy, he now wants to be an independent husband by getting his driver’s license. “Russell’s goal is to be able to drive around town by himself very soon. He has been taking daily driving lessons and is very focused on getting his license as quickly as possible. He seems very excited about driving.” The 35-year-old funnyman has even been spotted giving a homeless man $20 when he stopped at a red traffic light on one of his lessons. The eyewitness added to People magazine: “A homeless man was begging for money by a stop light and as soon as Russell saw the man, he reached for his wallet and gave the man a $20 bill. “Russell seemed very pleased that he was able to help the man and he even jokingly told the man to wait in the same spot the next day.”

ylie Minogue will “be like a five year old” with excitement if she gets to see a white Christmas this year.

The ‘All The Lovers’ singer is releasing a festive single - a cover of 1945 classic ‘Let It Snow’, originally recorded by Vaughn Monroe which she admits is somewhat ironic, because it is always summertime in her native Australia in December. She told Perezhilton.com: “I think it’s kind of ironic that I’m singing ‘Let It Snow’ being an Australian - we don’t have snow at Christmas time. So if in fact it does snow whilst I’m in New York this year, I’ll be like a five year old kid, I’ll be so excited. “It’s always a big thrill for me to be on the side of the world where it’s a white Christmas.” Although ‘Let It Snow’ is considered a festive song, its lyrics never mention Christmas and it was written in conditions Kylie could appreciate on one of California’s hottest days on record by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne .

—Bang Showbiz

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Lifestyle

Colombian singer Shakira performs during her concert ‘The Sun Comes Out World Tour’ in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday.

— AP

Shakira nets 500,000 euros for charity with Spanish TV ad C

olombian pop star Shakira said Wednesday she had taped a Christmas television ad for a Spanish sparkling wine in exchange for a donation of 500,000 euros (660,000 dollars) to her charitable foundation. The spot was filmed on Saturday in Barcelona and the money paid by the company Freixenet will be used to build two schools, one in

Haiti and the other in Colombia, the Grammy-winning singer told a Barcelona news conference.

“Education is a birthright and a quality education is the only tool that a child has to turns dreams into reality,” the 33-year-old said. “Since I was a girl I have been been aware of the tough reality faced by many children.”

Under the deal Freixenet will also produce a videoclip for Shakira’s song “Sale el sol” as well as as a documentary about the singer’s philanthropic work, whose Pies Descalzos foundation already manages six schools in Colombia.

The advertisement is for cava, a popular drink in Spain to toast friends and family during year-end

celebrations. Freixenet has traditionally hired an international star to feature in its annual Christmas campaign. Oscar-winning US actress Liza Minnelli was the first to perform in a Freixenet Christmas advertisement, singing the theme song from her hit film “Cabaret” in 1977.An ageing Gene Kelly reprised “Singing in the Rain”

A Minute With:

Julianne Hough talking ‘Burlesque’

By Zorianna Kit

J

ulianne Hough is best known for her fancy footwork on hit reality television series “Dancing with the Stars.” She’s won twice, with speed skater Apolo Ohno and with race-car driver Helio Castroneves.

Now the 22-year-old has set her sights on acting, and this week, she made her feature film debut in the musical “Burlesque.” She plays Georgia, a dancer at a club who

befriends the newest member of the group, played by Christina Aguilera. Hough spoke to Reuters about working with her famous costars, Aguilera and Cher, her future film projects and recording her second country album.

Q: Your first fea ture film, and you’re w orking w ith Cher, Christina Aguilera a nd Stanley Tucci. Was it intimida ting?

A: “It was intimidating, but to have them

Matthew Followill, left, and Caleb Followill, of Kings of Leon, perform on NBC’s “Today” show in New York Wednesday. —AP

be such genuine, sincere and amazing human beings made the intimidation go away. Yes, I was nervous at first, but it switched over to friendship really quickly.”

Q: What moments in the film stand out in your memory?

A: “My scene with Cher in the bathroom.

The things she said to me were like, wow.

Afterwards I ran and wrote about it in my journal. I also got to go to Christina’s house and sing in her studio, which is so cool because I grew up idolizing her.”

Q: You have red ha ir in ‘Burlesque,’ but you’re na tura lly blonde. Why the switch?

A: “There were three blondes on the setChristina, Kristen Bell and I. Kristen went brunette and I went a really dark red. It was a wig and I got to keep it at the end.”

Q: You w ere supposed to make your acting debut in a rema ke of “Footloose,” but now that’s going to be your follow -up film. What ha ppened?

A: “There were so many different changes with cast members and directors. By the time ‘Burlesque’ came around we still hadn’t shot anything. But I just finished ‘Footloose’ and I’m so glad everything worked out the way it did.”

Q: Wha t do you mea n?

A: “With ‘Burlesque,’ I did not have the weight of the movie on my shoulders.

‘Footloose’ was a cool opportunity to be the lead in something.” —Reuters

in 1981, twirling his umbrella and clicking his heels as golden cava bubbles fell from the sky while Raquel Welch sang “I’m So Excited” in a see-through top in the spot that aired four years later. But last year in a cost-cutting move the company repeated the previous year’s campaign featuring Spain’s synchronized swimming team.—AFP

West set to bounce Boyle from No 1

K

a nye West will likely end Susan Boyle’s twoweek reign on the next US pop album chart, according to early prognostications from industry gurus. West’s fifth studio album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” could sell perhaps 550,000 units by week’s end on Nov 28, pundits said. Data will be published on Wednesday.

Boyle’s “The Gift” leads the current chart with sales of 335,000 units in the week ended Nov 21.

“Fantasy” would mark West’s fourth consecutive album, following “Late Registration” (2005), “Graduation” (2007) and “808s & Heartbreak” (2008). The latter began with 450,000 and also was released over Thanksgiving week. His 2004 debut “The College Dropout,” peaked at No 2.

Also gunning for a big entrance next week is rookie rapper Nicki Minaj’s debut effort, “Pink Friday,” which is on target to begin with more than 400,000 copies. R&B singer/songwriter Ne-Yo’s fourth studio album “Libra Scale” could launch with 125,000, while rock band My Chemical Romance’s “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys” should start with 100,000 to 110,000.—Reuters

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Page 55

Lifestyle

Douglas and Zeta-Jones take children to Disney World

In this publicity image released

by Disney, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse pose with actors Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas and their children, Dylan, 10, left, and Carys, 7, in front of the Epcot theme park Christmas tree in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on Wednesday. —AP

W

ith his gruelling treatment for cancer over, Michael Douglas begins to look happier and healthier.

Douglas, 66, and his beautiful wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, took their kids Dylan, 10, and Carys, 7, to visit the Epcot theme park Christmas tree at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The couple, who rubbed shoulders with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary on November 18.

Michael finished his treatment for throat cancer last month, a gruelling eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiation. Last week Michael’s father, Kirk, told Entertainment Tonight that Michael’s appetite is back and he’s starting to feel feisty again.

Douglas won two Oscars, first as producer of 1975’s Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street.—AP

Disney animators faced knotty problem with ‘Tangled’

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he makers of the latest Disney animated blockbuster “Tangled” say one of the biggest challenges was making Princess Rapunzel’s long flowing hair seem realistic, including in 3D. Disney’s 50th animated feature is based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale and fits into the long tradition of a studio that brought children’s classics “Dumbo” and “Cinderella” to the world decades ago. But moviegoers can be forgiven for being reminded of films by younger animated movie rivals Dreamworks (with “Shrek” for example) and Pixar, of “Finding Nemo” and “Toy Story” fame.

“There’s a look in the film that kind of relates back to the Disney animated from the 40s and the 50s,” said Nathan Greno, co-director of the movie, which opened Wednesday on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

“But because it’s been made by computer, it’s so fresh it’s so new, it’s unlike anything audience have seen. We really tried to have one foot in the past and one foot firmly planted in the present,” he told AFP. The film-initially called “Rapunzel” but changed to reflect the boosted role given to her charming rescuertells the story of the princess born with magic hair but trapped in a tower. She is saved by bandit Flynn Ryder-voiced by Zachary Levi-but that only marks the start of her real journey.

“The core of the script is this coming-of-age

story with this girl trying to find herself,” said Greno’s co-director Byron Howard. “We did look at the original Grimm’s fairytale, which is very dark and kind of confusing in a lot of ways. And we tried to take the best part of that and expand it to something epic and huge.”

In addition to its narrative drive, the film used the very latest hi-tech advances in computer-generated graphics-in particular for the princess’s river-like hair, splashed across giant publicity posters for the movie.”The biggest challenge has been to raise the bar, the artistic bar, the animation bar for the human characters,” said animator Carlos Cabral.”The hair was a huge technical bar that we had to achieve. The interaction of the hair with the clothes and multiples layers of clothes really kind of raised the bar on CG character animation.”Cabral said it was particularly difficult to simulate hair because every strand of the princess’s locks had to be reproduced.”And every hair has to collide with everything. This is a huge calculation.

Literally up until recently, we haven’t had the computing power to be able to get even close to that,” he added. The latest technology also helped the animators give the characters expressions reflecting the actual faces and movements of the actors who lend their voices.”I saw Flint’s face when I first auditioned for the role, they had pretty much already conceived it. And I thought, ‘Well it’s a good looking guy!,’” said Levi.”There’s a camera in the voice-over booth, kind of picking up your movements and facial expression. There’s a little bit of you in the character.” Voicing characters-a growing source of income for actors amid the explosion of animated movies in recent years-presents unique challenges. “It was very strange not being able to have like a give-and-take with another actor,” said Levi.”You always have to use your imagination to picture the world. At least in a live-action show you have all this things that help you to picture this fictitious world.”In voice-over, it’s all about imagination.” — AFP

Kirk Douglas joins dozens of other volunteers as they provide Thanksgiving dinner to hundreds of the homeless and needy, at the Los Angeles Mission in the city’s Skid Row district Wednesday. —AP

Bosnian film tackles plight of Srebrenica survivors

By Daria Sito-Sucic

“B

elvedere”, a new feature film by Bosnian director Ahmed Imamovic, is the first to deal directly with the legacy of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, one of Europe’s worst atrocities since World War Two. The movie, which hits theatres in Sarajevo on Dec 2, is named after a reallife refugee camp set up for those who survived the massacre but are searching for dead loved ones. “This film is not about the war but about the consequences of the war,” Imamovic told Reuters in an interview this week. He won the European

Film Award for best short film in 2002 for his “Ten Minutes”, about the siege of Sarajevo.

“I think it is even more difficult and gruesome to watch the effects of terror than the act of terror itself.

It’s terribly humiliating to watch these women who cannot find the bones after 15 years,” said Imamovic, who also wrote the script.

Belvedere tells the story of the lonely lives of mostly female relatives of massacre victims, who spend their days wandering from mass grave to identification centre, hoping to find the remains of their sons, brothers, husbands and fathers.

Bosnian Serb forces led by fugitive general Ratko Mladic slaughtered around 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the days after July 11, 1995, when they captured the eastern town of Srebrenica which was declared a United Nations-protected zone.

They buried the victims in hundreds of mass graves hidden across Bosnia, which are still being searched by forensic experts who dig out the remains and try to identify them through DNA analysis, matching bone extracts with relatives’ blood.

The massacre was declared genocide by the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague. —Reuters

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Lifestyle

A staff member from Sotheby’s speaks in front of Pablo Picasso’s painting ‘Jeune Fille aux Cheveux Noirs (Dora Maar)’ at the Sotheby’s selling exhibition of Impressionist and Modern Art in Hong Kong yesterday. (Right) Pablo Picasso’s painting “Mere Tebant un Enfant” at the Sotheby’s selling exhibition of Impressionist and Modern Art. —AP photos

Hong Kong Picasso sale aims to tap China demand P

icasso masterpieces worth millions of dollars to go on sale in Hong Kong today as dealers cash in on growing interest from wealthy investors looking for art beyond China’s borders.

Sotheby’s is hosting an exhibition of the Spanish artist’s work that will also offer collectors the chance to buy pieces from across Picasso’s career. The auction house has announced an exhibition and sale of

works by Impressionist and modern painters, ranging in price from two million to 25 million US dollars. It will include pieces by Renoir, Chagall, Degas and Monet, though works by Picasso are expected to steal the spotlight. The sale showcases works from across much of Picasso’s life, including his Blue Period, Cubism and Neoclassicism from the 1920s, and his post-1960 Expressionist

paintings.

The star of the exhibition is “Jeune Fille aux Cheveux Noirs (Dora Maar)”, a 1939 portrait of the artist’s lover, Dora Maar. “The most exciting and active growth in collecting today is occurring in China and other countries in Asia,” said David Norman, co-chairman of Sotheby’s impressionist and modern art department.”We wanted to bring great works of art

directly and exclusively to that audience.”Unlike an auction, the Hong Kong sale will see buyers pay the asking price for a painting, although the figure could go higher if more than one buyer wants a particular piece.

The southern Chinese city of seven million people has become the world’s third-largest auction hub after New York and London, thanks in large part to China’s

growing political and economic prowess. Mainland Chinese are regular buyers of the top lots at sales of art, jewellery and wine, reflecting their growing wealth and increasingly sophisticated tastes. In October, an Asian buyer bought a 1965 Picasso painting “Le Modele dans l’Atelier” for 16 million Hong Kong dollars (2.1 million US) at an auction in Hong Kong by South Korea-based Seoul Auction. — AFP

Manger scenes highlight holiday season at US abbey

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File photo shows a nativity set crafted by Tesuque Pueblos in New Mexico is displayed in the library of Mepkin Abbey near Moncks Corner, SC. —AP

he holiday season arrives early here each year with manger scenes at a Trappist monastery on a quiet bluff upriver from Charleston. In what has become a Christmas tradition, the monks of Mepkin Abbey, display dozens of creches from around the world. This year, an estimated 5,000 people are expected to visit the abbey about a 45-minute drive northwest of Charleston for the annual Mepkin Abbey Creche Festival. This year the festival, which is free but for which reservations are required, opens Nov. 15. On display are 73 nativity sets made of everything from clay and ceramic, to porcelain, wood, straw and sticks and lichen. Most have never been displayed before.

The creches come from everywhere from Mexico and Guatemala to Kenya and Upper Volta to Korea.

Much of this year’s collection is that of Jean and Alexander Heard.

Alexander Heard, who died last year, became a creche collector after once making a nativity set from plywood. He served as chancellor of Vanderbilt University from 1963 until 1982. Mepkin was founded in 1949, although nearby Moncks Corner has nothing to do

with monks and was named for Thomas Monck, a local landowner.

Set under whispering oaks overlooking the Cooper River, the abbey includes a chapel, the Clare Boothe Luce Library where the festival is held, a store and gardens.

The Rev. Guerric Heckel said the monks didn’t set out to have annual festivals. It started when he was manager of the abbey store in 2003.

“I thought that if there is a place where someone ought to be able to purchase a decent nativity set, it’s in a monastery store,” he said. “I got a little carried away and went out and ordered $5,000 worth of nativity sets.” It was then the abbey decided to display creches. That first year the monks displayed 10 of their own with 20 on loan from a Boston antiques dealer. —AP

File photo shows a nativity set crafted from clay is seen on display on the grounds of Mepkin Abbey near Moncks Corner, SC.

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Friday, November 26, 2010

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Fashion

Transcending trends:

A few key holiday looks

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he list of gifts can be short this year: Fair Isle knits, plaid anything, pea coats, flannel shirts, maybe some skinny-leg cargo pants or something in red. That should cover everyone from grandpa to the kids. It’s the rare occurrence this holiday season that some of the biggest fashion trends transcend demographics. “Now that communication is so much faster, trends are quicker and everyone has access to them,” explains Nina Garcia, fashion director at Marie Claire. “All these trends get adapted quickly to men’s, women’s, children’s, and the trends from the celebrities and runways are generalized so quickly for the broader market.”

It helps that many of this year’s

we have special shops for plaid this year.

There’s the button-down shirt for men, and the sleeveless quilted vest for women. The Fair Isle, the argyle, the snowflake are always a part of things, too, but these trends are global. You saw so much Nordic from Dolce & Gabbana and (Jean Paul) Gaultier, and rescaled

still have that, but when you find these sorts of patterns, you really find the fun of holiday gifts. Who doesn’t want the aspiration of playing in the snow or on the mountaintop?” At Kohl’s department stores there are two stories to tell: Fair Isle and utility, which includes the pea coats and cargo pants, as well as work boots and two-pocket flannel shirts.

“In most cases, we merchandise by gender and classification, but as the customer walks the floor this holiday, she’ll see recurring ideas,” says David Hacker, Kohl’s vice president of trend and color. Some years there have been

This product image courtesy of Macy’s shows the Jones Collection Cashmere ribbed cowlneck sweater in red.

—AP photos

This product image courtesy of Kohl’s shows the Urban Pipeline Fair Isle Knit Cap.

This product image courtesy of Kohl’s shows the Mudd Striped Fair Isle Sherpa Earmuffs. “trends” are largely adaptations of classic, iconic holiday looks, adds Nicole Fischelis, vice president of ready-towear at Macy’s. Yet there is a feeling of newness because there feels like more of a high-fashion influence over it all, she says.

“We have a huge statement in plaid -

Fair Isle. There is a trickle down from that to every part of the store,” Fischelis says.

At Gap, you’ll find a few common threads among all its collections, from Baby Gap to Gap Body. They include faux fur, plaid and sparkle. Normally, womenswear takes its own trajectory, says Simon Kneen, creative director of Banana Republic, but women’s and men’s styles in stores right now are simpatico - especially among the wintery Fair Isle knits. “I think it’s all part of a larger sportswear influence this year - the feeling of outdoors, the coziness of cardigans, the need for warmth,” Kneen says. “As a shopper, it should be easier. You’re looking for uniqueness for everyone, and you can

This product image courtesy of Banana Republic shows their shawl neck fair isle patterned cardigan.

This product image courtesy of Kohl’s shows the Unionbay Belle Cargo Skinny Pants.

broad color themes or a must-have item that works across categories, but it’s unusual when bona fide trends reach so many people, he says. “The stars have aligned for this. It doesn’t happen all the time. ... This year is about these genderless ideas.”

Not that everyone should wear these styles the same way. In fact, says Garcia, who also is Target’s style adviser, they shouldn’t. “It’s all about the mixing and matching and how you wear things based on your personal style,” she says.

“It would be funny to see your husband,

your child and yourself all wearing the same trend at the same time, but, trust me, cargo pants will look different on everyone in the family.” Or, take the plaid shirt. Dad might wear it in a neutral color, loose and layered over a long-sleeve waffle T-shirt, while mom’s should be more fitted in a pretty color perhaps lavender or yellow - or she can wear it as a tunic over leggings, Garcia suggests. “It’s the same trend but interpreted very differently.”

And, Macy’s Fischelis wonders if, at least for the holidays, the family could be a little matchy-matchy while they have the chance? “I think it’s fun to have one theme. It’s what you do around the dinner table, why not do it while you’re all gathered around the Christmas tree?” — AP

Shop for your dream wedding dress online B

lushing brides-to-be looking for that perfect ivory gown will be able to shop in the privacy of their homes when a new e-commerce site, devoted exclusively to designer bridal gowns, launches this December in the US. The members-only site The Aisle New York will carry bridal gowns from designers Marchesa, Oscar de la Renta, Alberta Ferretti, Monique Lhuillier, Angel Sanchez, and Jenny Packham, many of whom have signed 18-month e-commerce exclusivity agreements. Most of the luxury e-tailer’s merchandise won’t be current season, which will allow it to mark items down at 50 percent off original retail value.

Dresses will be sold via the system offlash sales, in which an item will be available for purchase on the site for 72 hours. Sizes will run from 2 to 12.

Those hesitant to buy a gown without trying it on first can purchase dress insurance for $175 to $225 (depending upon the model)

which allows shoppers to receive a full refund on the item and includes shipping and handling. Most sites that sell upscale bridal gowns at discounts prices only offer store

credit or exchange. In addition to bridal gowns, the new site will also offer headpieces, veils, bags, shoes and costume jewelry.

David Yassky, Shara Levy,

Deborah Moses and Mark Ingram are the brains behind the new niche operation. They are also seasoned fashion industry pros: Yassky is a stylist and the former Fashion

Market Editor for Women’s Wear Daily, Moses is the former editor-inchief of Elegant Bride, and Ingram owns an eponymous bridal atelier.

‘This is not going to be for every bride,’ Yassky told Women’s Wear Daily. ‘There are girls that are comfortable shopping online and girls who aren’t.

But there are girls in every demographic who don’t mind getting a bargain and will stand on line for hours at Mark’s sample sale or Vera’s sample sale. They will even camp out at night. And there are those girls also who live in places where they don’t have access to sample sales.’

The Aisle New York’s splash page is now up and open for preregistration. Membership is free and requires only the customer’s name, e-mail address and street address.

As the wedding retail industry continues to grow, luxury ecommerce sites are increasingly hopping onto the bridalwear bandwagon. —AFP

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Friday, November 26, 2010

A year after scandal, Woods tries to move on MELBOURNE: The dark sedan backed into a spot next to the clubhouse at the Australian Masters, trunk open, waiting to whisk Tiger Woods to the airport.

Lingering behind the car was a friend who was still wrestling with divided loyalties — to Woods and his former wife.

They approached each other, awkwardly at first, then shared a quick embrace and quiet words. Woods believes he finally is ready to move on after a self-destructive year that cost him his marriage, his mystique, millions in endorsements and, lastly, his No. 1 ranking. What remains are relationships to repair, along with his golf game. Still to come is Thanksgiving.

“It’s going to be great,” Woods said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’m going to be with my family.

My mom is going to be there. We’re going to have a great Thanksgiving.

We’ve turned the corner, turned the page, and it’s time to move forward.” He was not playing dumb.

Woods realizes the public might forever connect him and Thanksgiving with perhaps one of the most shocking downfalls in sports.

It started with the National Enquirer story of an affair with a nightclub hostess. Then came the still mysterious, middle-of-the-night accident Nov. 27 when he drove his car over a fire hydrant and crashed into a tree beyond his driveway. In the street, the back windows of the Cadillac Escalade were bashed out with a golf club.

On the 911 call was the chilling voice of his mother as she cried out, “What happened?” One year later, that remains a relevant question. No one really knew much about Woods except that he dominated golf like no one had before.

Within weeks, everyone knew too much.

He was caught in a stunning web of infidelity, each indiscretion played out in public through voicemails, celebrity magazines, TV talk shows and even “sexting” on a porn star’s website. He became a regular in the National Enquirer. He was on front pages everywhere, long after the major championship season was over.

Woods had spent 14 years carefully cultivating an impeccable image that brought him worldwide fame. Just like that, he went from being universally respected to roundly ridiculed.

“That’s fine, totally fine,” Woods said in Australia, leaning forward on a leather sofa, elbows resting on his knees. “I made my share of mistakes. People can look at that as what not to do, and if they choose to make fun of it, that’s fine. I can’t control that. All I know is that I can only control myself. “And at that point in my life,” he said, “I wasn’t even able to do that.”

At a gala dinner in the Crown Towers, the same hotel where the nightclub hostess was spotted a year earlier, Woods shared the stage with Shane Warne, known as the Tiger Woods of Australian cricket, on and off the pitch. Warne built his legend as a wicked leg spinner — and a prolific womanizer.

“We’ve got a little bit in common,” Warne said with a smile, pausing for effect. “I love golf, too.” Woods flashed an easy smile, breaking the brief tension in the room, and the audience quickly burst into laughter. It was the first time Woods has laughed publicly about such an embarrassing episode in his life, perhaps a sign that he had indeed turned the corner. On the golf course? Not quite.

With two eagles on the last four holes of the Australian Masters, he at least managed fourth place, as well as he did all year. For the first time in his career, Woods didn’t win a single trophy.

Instead, he shot the highest 36-hole score of his career when he missed the cut at Quail Hollow, and the highest 72hole score of his career when he nearly finished last at Firestone. In so many ways, it was a year no one could have predicted.

“Frenetic would be a word that comes to mind,” said Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG. Steinberg was in California when he received word that Woods had been in an accident. He was aware of the National Enquirer story that had been released the day before Thanksgiving, and he was about to learn of an Us Weekly magazine story involving a cocktail waitress, and a voicemail from Woods suggesting his wife was onto them. For three months, that voicemail was the only time the public heard Woods speak.

As his world was imploding, he only spoke through statements released on his website _ first a “situation” that was embarrassing, then “transgressions” he regretted with “all my heart.” No one saw him. No one even knew where he was.

Every expert in public relations and

messy. “Last year at this stage, most of the players were going, ‘How did we miss this?’ Nobody saw it coming,” three-time major champion Padraig Harrington said. “Like the public, we were enthralled by the whole ‘How did he get away it?”‘ Geoff Ogilvy referred to Woods as a “great unknown.”

They saw him on the golf course, chased by dozens of photographers and thousands of fans. He was in the red shirt on Sunday, more times than not posing with a trophy. And then he was gone.

“What does he do when he goes home if he’s not chipping and putting?”

Ogilvy said. “In a perverted sense, at least we got a perspective of what he does when he’s not playing golf. That he actually does something other than play golf.

“I feel sorry for him in a way that it’s not like it was for him,” he said. “The golf world has been interesting the last 12 months. But at least the golf world made sense this time last year. It used to be such a given who was No. 1 in the world.”

The day after Thanksgiving started

Woods became easy fodder on everything from late shows to comedy acts in nightclubs, even a Disney stage performance. His image was plastered in airports around the world through an Accenture ad campaign, and, suddenly, no one could look at him the same way.

All this in one week.

“It’s the new way of the media world,” Woods said. “It can happen very quickly. The world has gotten so much smaller. If this had happened to someone in the ‘60s or ‘70s, it wouldn’t have been as big. It wouldn’t have gone as global as fast. Our times have changed, and I totally get it.”

There was still no sight of Woods, only statements on his website, the last one that he would take an indefinite leave from golf to try to save his marriage. Only later was it learned that he left before New Year’s Day for a clinic in Mississippi.

Perhaps the most compelling photo of him this year was in a hooded sweatshirt and shorts, holding a cup of coffee outside the Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services, home of the Gentle Path

PEBBLE BEACH: This June 18, 2010 file photo shows US golfer Tiger Woods as he hits from the 17th tee on the second day of the 110th US Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links, California. —AFP crisis management had a field day, blasting his management team for keeping him in hiding as rumors and innuendo filled the void. A year later, Steinberg isn’t convinced it was mishandled. “First of all, I don’t think anyone has ever experienced this.

There certainly was not a road map how to deal with this,” he said.

“We consulted with some people who deal with crisis management, and that was the consensus we got.” But there was more in play. What began with one mistress, maybe two, soon turned into many more. How many? Who knows? Even if some of the alleged mistresses were making it up, it’s not as though the Woods’ camp was in any position to deny it.

“You still had some of it true, some of it not true,” Steinberg said. “Not everything had been revealed. So I’m not sure how he could come out before there was full resolution to everything.

That’s really the main reason.” Players were used to talking about Woods, about his great play and whether anyone could beat him. This was personal. It was

out like any other. Shoppers headed to the stores at dawn. Leftovers were on the table. Holiday decorations were being unpacked. College football was on television. Then came a crawler on the TV screen that was shocking: Tiger Woods seriously injured in a car accident. That was the initial report from the Florida Highway Patrol. And the news became more surreal with the developments that soon unfolded.

The National Enquirer story suddenly had legs. Woods was treated and released from the hospital, and suspicions began stirring when troopers tried for three days to meet him at his home. Four days after the accident, Us Weekly linked him to a cocktail waitress in California who said she had 300 text messages to prove their 31-month relationship.

More allegations of affairs followed.

“I guess it was a few weeks or so before it really started to come out, and I just didn’t know what to think,” Stewart Cink said. “But I was in denial is one way I could describe my first reaction. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it.”

sexual addiction program. What did he learn about himself?

“How far I had slipped away from where I was as a kid, from how I grew up,” he said. “That was the sad part about it. It was a reality check and I learned a lot, unfortunately through a very painful process.”

Rarely a week passed on the PGA Tour without some mention of Woods.

He managed to command the spotlight, which became irritating to some of his peers.

First came an announcement Feb. 17, the opening round of the Match Play Championship, that Woods would break his silence two days later. The matches were ignored and Ernie Els criticized the timing as Woods being “selfish.”

A month later, Jim Furyk won for the first time in nearly three years, but as he reached the 18th green, two television networks were broadcasting Woods’ first on-camera interviews. Furyk walked into his press conference reading a transcript of it. Els no longer harbors bitter feelings. They played together twice late in the year, at the TPC Boston

and in Shanghai, and looked comfortable in each other’s presence again.

“I feel for him, man,” Els said. “I guess we were all kind of (ticked) off at him a little at the start of the year. The tour was brought into it a little bit because he was making statements while tournaments were being played.

Look, I’ve known him since he was a teenager. I feel for him because of the public scrutiny he was under for a long time. He’s getting through it now. He looks like he’s in a better place. It looks like he’s almost back to his normal self.

“He’s trying to find his way, and I admire him for that. Because it’s got to be the toughest thing in the world.”

Woods said he was still mending relationships, but he won’t say how or with whom.

More obvious was how players looked at him as a competitor. When he returned at the Masters, and played in the second-to-last group, his name on the leaderboard didn’t seem so intimidating. Woods tied for fourth. He never finished higher the rest of the year.

“If we’re all brutally honest with ourselves, he’s not had the year you’d think he would have had last year,” said Lee Westwood, who replaced Woods atop the world ranking. “I don’t want to say he’s not the golfer he was, but at the same time, golf gives you one and takes away another. Form is very fickle in golf, and it can affect anybody.

“To all the players, it made him look a little more human. A bit more like us.”

Not only did Woods fail to win for the first time in his 15 years on the PGA Tour, he wasn’t even close. In nine of the 13 tournaments he finished, Woods was at least 10 shots behind going into the final round. He finished a career-low 68th on the money list.

His biggest cheque was $330,000; a year earlier, he had averaged $618,127 per tournament. Was he trying? Yes. Consumed with it? Not so much. He parted with swing coach Hank Haney in May, tried to go it alone through a miserable summer, then hooked up with Sean Foley at the PGA Championship in August.

“My mind was not on that initially,” said Woods, who always said he only enters a tournament to win. “I had a lot of things I had to deal with in order to get myself in the winner’s circle. This summer was very difficult.”

Contrary to tales that Woods travels with an entourage, he usually is on his own once a tournament gets under way.

Any matter not related to golf, like business deals, must wait until he finishes. But when your wife is divorcing you, and two children are involved, some things simply can’t wait.

A phone call from a divorce lawyer. A proposal to approve. Asked how often that was the case this summer, Woods said, “Every day. It was difficult.” The divorce became final on Aug. 23. In his first round as a single man, Woods shot 65 at The Barclays to share the lead. It was the only time all year his name was atop the leaderboard after any round.

“It’s probably been a lot tougher on him than what people see, a lot harder than we all know,” Cink said. “To have to own up to mistakes and basically be stripped down ... it’s been hard for him.”

Woods knew when he spoke to a worldwide audience on TV and to 40 of his closest friends and associates at Sawgrass that he was in for the toughest year of his life.

“I never would have thought I’d get divorced, but it became a reality,” he said. “Never thought I’d change swing coaches, and that became a reality. I’ve certainly had a lot of change.” It might never be the same. Winning will be a big part in restoring some normalcy, but some changes will be permanent.—AP

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NEWARK: Goalie Henrik Karlsson No. 35 of the Calgary Flames misses on the shot by Ilya Kovalchuk No. 17 of the New Jersey Devils for the only goal of the shootout period that gave the Devils the win in a hockey game at the Prudential Center.—AFP

Canadiens win deepen Kings’ woes

MONTREAL: The Montreal Canadiens beat Los Angeles 4-1 on Wednesday to continue the Kings’ disappointing slide after a strong start to the NHL season.

Andrei Kostitsyn had a goal and an assist, while Lars Eller scored his first goal in 21 games with Montreal late in the second to put the Canadiens up by three.

Michael Cammalleri and Tomas Plekanec also scored for the Habs. Carey Price made 24 saves. Price, the starter in all but one of Montreal’s 22 games, has 13 wins to match his total from last season.

Alec Martinez scored his first NHL goal in his season debut for Los Angeles, which has lost five of six.

Flyers 6, Wild 1

In St. Paul, Minnesota, Danny Briere, Ville Leino and Andreas Nodl each had a goal and an assist as Philadelphia routed Minnesota. James van Riemsdyk, Jeff Carter and Jody Shelley also scored for Philadelphia, 12-2-1 in its past 15 games.

The Flyers, tied with Washington atop the NHL standings with 32 points, entered with a league-best 3.5 goals per game. They have scored 39 in the past eight games. Patrick O’Sullivan had the lone goal for Minnesota.

Lightning 5, Rangers 3

In Tampa, Florida, Steven Stamkos scored his NHL-leading 21st goal and had two assists, as Tampa Bay stretched its winning streak to five by beating New York. Stamkos also has 17 assists for a league-leading 38 points in 22 games.

The center has had a point in all but three games. Ryan Malone added two goals for the Lightning. He entered with just three goals in 33 previous games against the Rangers. New York got third-period goals from Steve Eminger, Brian Boyle and Derek Stepan after falling behind 5-0.

The Rangers went more than 15 minutes without a shot from late in the first period, and were outshot 25-7 through 40 minutes.

Capitals 3, Hurricanes 2

In Raleigh, North Carolina, Brooks

Laich scored a power-play goal on a deflection with 7:58 left as Washington snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Carolina. Nicklas Backstrom scored two goals for the Southeast Division-leading Capitals, who blew a 2-0 lead in the third period before recovering.

Sergei Samsonov and Eric Staal scored 4:01 apart in the third period to pull the Hurricanes even at 2-2.

Thrashers 5, Red Wings 1

In Atlanta, Andrew Ladd scored a short-handed goal to help Atlanta win its third straight game and beat Detroit.

Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien added a power-play tally while Anthony Stewart, Chris Thorburn and Bryan Little also scored for Atlanta. Todd Bertuzzi scored for the Western Conference-leading Red Wings.

Canucks 4, Avalanche 2

In Vancouver, Ryan Kesler’s disputed

goal 3:52 into the third period stood up as the game winner as Vancouver topped Colorado.

Alex Burrows added an insurance goal with 6:53 left, and Kevin Bieksa and Daniel Sedin also scored as the Canucks snapped a four-game losing streak to move into a tie with Colorado atop the Northwest Division. Matt Duchene scored, and defenseman John-Michael Liles had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who lost for the first time in five games.

Blues 2, Predators 1

In Nashville, Andy McDonald scored 9 seconds into the game and in the fifth round of the shootout to send St. Louis over Nashville. After losing five straight, the Blues have won three in a row. Jerred Smithson drew the Predators into a 1-1 tie 22 seconds into the second period. No one scored in the

first four rounds of the shootout.

In the fifth round, McDonald slipped a backhand through the pads of Pekka Rinne. Sergei Kostitsyn was Nashville’s fifth shooter, but his wrist shot hit the post, giving the Blues the win. St. Louis finished with just 15 shots through overtime.

Sharks 5, Blackhawks 2

In San Jose, Antti Niemi made 30 saves in his first game against Chicago since leading the team to the Stanley Cup championship last season and helped San Jose snap a three-game losing streak.

Patrick Marleau scored twice and Dany Heatley, Joe Pavelski and Jamal Mayers added goals to help the Sharks gain a small measure of revenge after being swept out of the Western Conference finals by Niemi and the Blackhawks six months ago. Jack Dowell and Patrick Shark had goals for Chicago.

NHL results/standings NHL results and standings on Wednesday.

Pittsburgh 1, Buffalo 0; Columbus 4, NY Islanders 3 (OT); Washington 3, Carolina 2; Atlanta 5, Detroit 1; Montreal 4, Los Angeles 1; Dallas 2, Ottawa 1; Tampa Bay 5, NY Rangers 3; Boston 3, Florida 1; New Jersey 2, Calgary 1 (SO); St. Louis 2, Nashville 1 (SO); Philadelphia 6, Minnesota 1; Vancouver 4, Colorado 2; San Jose 5, Chicago 2. (OT indicates overtime victory; SO denotes shootout win)

Philadelphia Pittsburgh NY Rangers New Jersey NY Islanders Montreal Boston Ottawa Toronto Buffalo Washington Tampa Bay Atlanta Carolina Florida

Eastern Conference Atlantic Divisio W L OTL GF 15 6 2 84 13 8 2 70 12 10 1 68 7 13 2 43 4 12 5 44 Northeast Division 14 7 1 57 12 6 2 58 10 11 1 53 8 9 3 47 8 12 3 58 Southea st Division 15 6 2 77 13 7 2 70 10 9 3 70 9 10 2 65 9 11 0 53

GA 56 59 65 66 72

PTS 32 28 25 16 13

43 39 69 55 69

29 26 21 19 19

66 68 71 71 51

32 28 23 20 18

Western Conference Central Division Detroit 13 4 2 67 53 Columbus 14 6 0 59 47 St. Louis 12 5 3 54 52 Chicago 11 11 2 73 72 Nashville 9 7 4 48 53 Northw est Division Colorado 12 8 1 74 64 Vancouver 11 7 3 62 58 Minnesota 10 8 2 47 53 Calgary 8 11 2 60 63 Edmonton 5 11 4 49 82 Pa cific Division Phoenix 11 5 5 62 59 Los Angeles 13 8 0 62 53 San Jose 10 6 4 60 54 Dallas 11 8 1 59 58 Anaheim 10 10 3 57 69 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L)

28 28 27 24 22 25 25 22 18 14 27 26 24 23 23

Penguins 1, Sabres 0 In Buffalo, Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves to give Pittsburgh victory over Buffalo. Fleury recorded his 17th NHL shutout and first of the season. Five have been 1-0 victories. Pascal Dupuis scored a one-timer in the first period for the sole goal. Pittsburgh has won four straight and has earned at least one point in seven consecutive contests.

Stars 2, Senators 1

In Ottawa, Brenden Morrow scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period as Dallas edged Ottawa.

Andrew Raycroft made 18 saves, while Trevor Daley also scored to help Dallas snap a four-game road losing streak. Ryan Shannon scored for Ottawa.

Bruins 3, Panthers 1

In Sunrise, Florida, Mark Recchi scored two third-period goals to become the 13th NHL player to reach 1,500 career points and helped Boston rally past Florida. Brad Marchand scored a short-handed goal for the Bruins. Steve Reinprecht scored for Florida, which lost for the first time in nine games in which it led after two periods.

Blue Jackets 4, Islanders 3

In Uniondale, New York, Columbus continued its strong form and condemned New York to its 14th straight loss. Jakub Voracek scored a rebound goal in overtime, while Antoine Vermette, Chris Clark and RJ Umberger also scored for Columbus, which has won five straight.

It is the Blue Jackets’ best run since a five-game streak in 2006-07. The Islanders, 0-11-3 in their past 14 games, scored more than two goals for the first time in 12 contests and earned a point at home for the first time since Oct. 12.

This is New York’s longest stretch without a win since a 14-game skid in 1989-90. Trent Hunter, Michael Grabner and John Tavares scored for the Islanders. —AP

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Siddle grabs Ashes hat-trick as Australia takes command BRISBANE: Peter Siddle took six wickets, including a rare Ashes hat-trick, as Australia took command of the first test against England at the Gabba yesterday by bowling out the tourists for 260.

Siddle celebrated his 26th birthday in style by dismissing Alastair Cook, Matt Prior and Stuart Broad in successive deliveries after tea as England collapsed from a strong position at 197-4.

In reply Australia were 25-0 at stumps, with Simon Katich and Shane Watson on 15 and nine respectively. Siddle admitted his hat-trick delivery, which caught Broad on the toe in front of leg stump and was given out lbw, was not what he intended.

“When the crowd got behind me and started roaring it was very loud out there and it really did pump me up,” Siddle said.

“I just wanted to charge in and bowl fast and hit the top of off. The execution wasn’t quite there. But to get him on the full with a bit of shape was a dream ball.”

Siddle, who was surprisingly selected ahead of Doug Bollinger for his first Test in ten months, earlier halted England’s momentum in the second session when he took the wickets of danger man Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood, both nicking to the slips, in the space of 11 balls.

Siddle had not played a Test since January due to a back injury, and said that during his layoff he vowed to return a more professional cricketer.

“I knew there were things I’d taken for granted. My body wasn’t in good shape for test cricket,” Siddle said. “You look at

BRISBANE: Australian players run in after bowler Peter Siddle (back to the camera) made a hat-trick against England during the first day of the first Ashes cricket Test in Brisbane. —AP Mitchell Johnson, he’s in good shape, he’s played consistent cricket for four years and he’s never injured. That showed me I had to work hard and get the body right and push to be a competitive test cricketer.”

He reaped rewards for a probing line outside off stump after tea getting Cook to edge to Shane Watson at first slip after a patient 67. Then Prior was late trying to prod the ball through the leg side and saw his off stump uprooted.

Broad’s dismissal made Siddle the 11th Australian to grab a test hat-trick and the fifth of his countrymen to do so in England-

Australia contests.

Broad challenged the decision, and _ after the initial roar from home fans and celebrations on the pitch — there was a delay until the hat trick was confirmed by the TV umpire.

“It was a bit of a wait and I thought ‘I hope they don’t give it not out now’. It would have been disappointing,” Siddle said.

“When I saw it was all done it did bring a big smile to my face.”

Graeme Swann also fell to the same bowler being caught on the pad playing across the line.

Four balls later, Brad Haddin could have completed a seventh wicket for him but diving to his

left he dropped James Anderson.

The day began in a dramatic fashion when England captain Andrew Strauss, after winning the toss and electing to bat on a slow Gabba pitch, was dismissed without scoring from the third ball of the day, caught by Mike Hussey at third slip off the bowling of Ben Hilfenhaus.

Midway through the first session Jonathan Trott was bowled for 29 between bat and pad by a Shane Watson delivery that seamed in off the pitch before hitting middle and off stump.

Watson, who was the pick of the Australian bowlers in the morning session, was also

Friday, November 26, 2010

Scoreboard Scoreboard at the close of play on the first day of the first Ashes test between England and Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane on yesterday: England won the toss and chose to bat England first innings A. Strauss c Hussey b Hilfenhaus 0 A. Cook c Watson b Siddle 67 J. Trott b Watson 29 K. Pietersen c Ponting b Siddle 43 P. Collingwood c North b Siddle 4 I. Bell c Watson b Doherty 76 M Prior b Siddle 0 S. Broad lbw b Siddle 0 G. Swann lbw b Siddle 10 J. Anderson b Doherty 11 S. Finn not out 0 Extras (lb-8, w-7, nb-5) 20 Total (all out, 76.5 overs) 260 Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-41 3-117 4-125 5-197 6-197 7-197 8-228 9254 10-260 Bowling: Hilfenhaus 19-4-60-1 (nb-2, w-2), Siddle 16-3-54-6 (nb-2, w-2), Johnson 15-2-66-0, Watson 12-2-30-1 (nb-1, w-3), Doherty 13.5-3-41-2, North 1-0-1-0.

Australia first innings S. Watson not out 9 S. Katich not out 15 Extras (lb-1) 1 Total (for no wickets, seven overs) 25 Still to bat: R. Ponting (captain), M.Clarke, M. Hussey, M. North, B. Haddin, M. Johnson, B. Hilfenhaus, P. Siddle, X. Doherty.

Bowling (to date): Anderson 3-1-5-0, Broad 3-0-9-0, Swann 1-0-10-0 unfortunate not to take the wicket of Cook who hit a loose cut shot on 26 to Xavier Doherty in the first session only for the debutant to drop the high chance.

Australia, who had come into this series amid doubts over player form and injuries, were not made to rue this drop, thanks to Siddle’s efforts.

The lone bright spot for England on the day was the form of Ian Bell who top-scored with a sparkling 76 before becoming the ninth man to fall when he lofted the ball to Watson at deep point, becoming Doherty’s first test wicket. Although he failed earlier in his career batting at three,

Bell’s assured innings and impressive recent form may see him moved back up the order.

Pietersen — booed as the man Australian fans love to hate — looked in good form but again failed to translate a strong start into a big score, extending his run without a century to 27 innings.

Anderson became Doherty’s second victim when he was the last man out bowled for 11 while attempting an ambitious reverse sweep. To complete a fine day for Australia, their openers didn’t offer England’s bowlers a chance in reaching the close unbeaten. —AP

Windies toil against Sri Lanka Scoreboard Scoreboard at the close of play on the first day of the first Ashes test between England and Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane on yesterday: Sri Lanka first innings (overnight 294-5) T. Paranavitana c DJ Bravo b Roach 16 T. Dilshan b Roach 4 K. Sangakkara c Gayle b Sammy 150 M. Jayawardene b Sammy 2 T. Samaraweera c Shillingford b DJ Bravo 80 A. Mathews c Baugh b Roach 25 P. Jayawardene b Benn 34 N. Kulasekara c DJ Bravo b Roach 17 R. Herath not out 24 A. Mendis b Roach 2 Extras: (b-4, lb-12, nb-3, w-14) 33 Total: (nine wickets dec, 115.2 overs) 387 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-31, 3-34, 4-204, 5-273, 6-325, 7-349, 8-383, 9-387.

Did not bat: S Lakmal.

Bowling: Roach 28.2-5-100-5 (7w, 1nb), Sammy 35-8-80-2 (1nb), DJ Bravo 18-5-61-1 (7w), Benn 19-4-57-1, Shillingford 15-0-73-0 (1nb).

West Indies first innings C Gayle c Mathews b Lakmal 30 A Barath lbw b Kulasekara 3 Darren Bravo c Herath b Dilshan 80 S Chanderpaul lbw b Mendis 8 B Nash lbw b Dilshan 29 Dwayne Bravo not out 1 C Baugh not out 4 Extras: (lb-3, nb-7) 10 Total: (five wickets, 45 overs) 165 Fall of wickets: 1-7 2-51 3-77 4-160 5-161 To bat: D Sammy, S Benn, S Shillingford, K Roach.

Bowling (to date): Mendis 7-0-30-1 (2nb), Lakmal 11-0-67-1 (5nb), Kulasekara 7-4-10-1, Herath 15-3-50-0, Mathews 3-2-1-0, Dilshan 20-4-2.

COLOMBO: Darren Bravo scored an attacking 80 runs Thursday but Tillakaratne Dilshan hit back with two wickets in the same over to reduce West Indies to 165-5 at stumps on day three of the second test against Sri Lanka.

The hosts declared their first innings on 387-9 in the first session and were quickly among the wickets, reducing the visitors to 77-3. Seamer Nuwan Kulasekara trapped opener Adrian Barath (3) lbw with the score on seven.

In-form Chris Gayle fell cheaply to debutant seam bowler Suranga Lakmal after a promising 30 including seven boundaries. Gayle, who made a career-best 333 in the previous test in Galle, was lured into a hook shot and was caught at deep square leg by Angelo Mathews. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was out for eight, trapped lbw by spinner Ajantha Mendis.

Darren Bravo, who also scored a half-century in the previous test in Galle, and Brendan Nash combined for an 83-run partnership but both batsmen got out in what turned out to be the penultimate over of the day’s play with clear signs of an early close.

Dilshan trapped Nash lbw for 29 in his second over and Rangana Herath took a brilliant diving catch to dismiss Darren Bravo, who hit five boundaries and four sixes.

COLOMBO: West Indies’ batsman Darren Bravo plays a shot as Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene looks on during the third day of the second Test cricket match. —AP Dwayne Bravo (1) and Carlton Baugh (4) were batting when bad light stopped play. Dilshan finished the day with two wickets for four runs in two overs. Sri Lanka resumed day three on 294-5 and Sangakkara was dismissed for 150 before declaring the innings closed.

Pace bowler Kemar Roach returned 5-100, his second fivewicket haul for the West Indies. Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara praised his bowlers for giving him

quick wickets.

“We wanted a wicket from the new ball and they gave us two, Kulasekara and Lakmal,” he said.

“Especially taking out Gayle was a huge blow to the West Indies and put us on top. Dilshan’s got that little magic touch, when he comes on he just manages to do something.”

However Sangakkara rued his side not reaching 400. “I thought today it was a bit careless of me to

get out ... it’s nice to get a hundred, a big hundred but its nice to have gone on and set us on for a bigger total,” he said. West Indies coach Ottis Gibson said Darren Bravo’s inexperience showed in his dismissal.

“Darren played fantastically well for us and then a mistake in the end cost his wicket,” Gibson said. “He is only a young man in terms of international cricket and this is only his second game, he’s got a lot to learn.” —AP

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Japan wins men’s football gold

GUANGZHOU: Japan finished its Asian Games men’s football campaign in nearperfect form, winning its seventh straight match while conceding just one goal in the tournament and clinching gold with a 1-0 win yesterday over the United Arab Emirates.

Pakistan, meanwhile, made up for the disappointment of its highly-favored team losing its semifinal in Twenty20 cricket by picking up its first gold in men’s field hockey in 20 years, beating Malaysia 2-0.

Afghanistan, which beat Pakistan in the cricket semis, advanced to the final Friday against Bangladesh, which defeated Sri Lanka.

Yuki Saneto’s goal midway through the second half gave Japan the win. He took a floating cross from the left and drove a right-foot shot from an acute angle past goalkeeper Ali Khaseif Housani.

South Korea rallied to win the bronze medal 4-3 over Iran, with substitute Ji Dong-won scoring twice in the final two minutes for the win.

But it was the cricket competition which provided the two biggest upsets of the day. Afghanistan scored 125-8 and then held Pakistan to 103-7, giving the upstart side a 22-run win.

Bangladesh then beat Sri Lanka by five wickets, surpassing Sri Lanka’s total of 101 with 4.4 overs to spare. Afghanistan coach, former Pakistan test cricketer Rashid Latif, used some not-so-subtle motivation to inspire his side. He hand-delivered a message containing a Quranic verse.

“Do not be scared of your rivals in WAR. Understand that they are also humans and are scared as well,” Latif wrote in his note to every Afghani cricketer in the Athletes Village on Wednesday night.

“I kept reminding players about my last night’s message,” Latif told The Associated Press as he wrapped an Afghan flag around his shoulders.

Latif said the celebrations were on hold for the team. But that’s not the case back in Afghanistan. “I know more than 500,000 people back in my city of Jalalabad would have already started celebrating,” Afghan allrounder Karim Khan Sadeq told The Associated Press.

Vietnam, after winning 15 silver and 13 bronze medals, finally got its first gold of the games. Phuong Le Bich beat world champion Miki Kobayashi of Japan 4-3 to win the under-55 kilogram class in karate.

“The people of Vietnam have waited a long time for this medal,” Le Bich said.

Indian runners won both 400-meter hurdles at the Asian Games track, with Abraham Ganapathiplackal taking gold in the men’s race and Ashwini Akkunji the women’s.

Earlier, world champion Nicol Davis won her second gold medal, leading Malaysia to a 2-0 win over Hong Kong in the team squash event. David beat Wing Chi in straight games — 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 — to add another gold to her singles title last week.

In men’s basketball, China, the defending champions, and South Korea will play for the gold medal on Friday. Wang Shipeng hit a key 3-pointer in the final seconds and finished with 20 points to help China beat Iran 68-65. Kim Joo-sung scored 13 points and had nine rebounds as South Korea beat Japan 55-51.

And proving that age cannot stop him, 48-year-old Koo Yu Fat, the oldest player in the water polo competition, refused to retire after his team lost to Saudi Arabia 20-11 in the match for seventh place.

“I will play a few more years, I will play until I can’t,” said Koo, who has played at four Asian Games and four Asian championships.—AP

Medals table

CHINA: Japan’s players throw their manager Takashi Sekizuka up in the air after the award ceremony for the men’s soccer at the 16th Asian Games. Japan won the gold medal. —AP

Nation China South Korea Japan Iran Kazakhstan Taiwan Uzbekistan India Malaysia Thailand Hong Kong North Korea Indonesia Singapore Qatar Kuwait Philippines Saudi Arabia Pakistan Bahrain Jordan Vietnam Mongolia Kyrgzstan Macau Tajikstan Myanmar UAE Iraq Lebanon Afghanistan Bangladesh Laos Nepal Oman Syria

G 181 72 39 19 15 12 10 10 9 9 8 6 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

S 104 61 68 11 18 12 17 14 17 7 15 10 9 7 4 6 3 3 2 0 2 17 3 2 1 0 5 4 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0

B 91 85 86 23 32 33 20 29 13 31 15 18 12 6 6 1 9 5 2 3 1 14 9 2 3 3 3 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 1

Total 376 218 193 53 65 57 47 53 39 47 38 34 25 17 14 10 15 11 7 6 5 32 3 5 5 4 8 5 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1

Pakistan regains field hockey gold GUANGZHOU: Ace drag flicker Sohail Abbas and veteran Rehan Butt helped Pakistan regain Asian Games field hockey gold after 20 years with a 2-0 victory over Malaysia in the final yesterday.

Abbas netted a powerful push off 26th-minute short corner while Butt was brilliantly set up

by Shafqat Rasool from the right side to place the ball off the second attempt in the 38th.

“With so many bad things

happening in Pakistan, like terrorism and floods I think today we have given our countrymen something to smile,” Abbas, 35, said.

Malaysian players had shaved their heads to ward off evil spirits in their first Asian Games final. But their penalty corner specialist Amin Rahim could not find the target off the three short corners.

Pakistan’s last Asian Games gold came in 1990 at Beijing, and

the win here was Pakistan’s first major title since winning the World Cup in 1994.

“It’s simply out of this world for me and I have no words to describe how much happy all of us are,” said jubilant Pakistan captain Zeeshan Ashraf, 33, who stood firm in the defense.

The victory also secured Pakistan a spot at the 2012 London Olympics and Ashraf said that was the other target which

CHINA: Pakistan players celebrate with their gold medals after they defeated Malaysia in the men’s field hockey final at the 16th Asian Games.—AP

was achieved by senior players.

“I think it’s now the right time that more juniors should come into the team,” he said.

“Twenty years is a long gap and it would be jubilation everywhere in Pakistan.” Abbas said he had no intentions to quit and if he stayed fit he would be in London in two years. “Age is no barrier for a hockey player, fitness is what that counts and who knows if I stay fit I will be there,” he said.

Pakistan goalkeeper Salman Akbar threw his helmet and hockey stick in the air soon after the final hooter was blown as Pakistan players rushed and hugged each other. They even raised their coach Michel van den Heuvel and manager former Olympian Khawaja Junaid on their shoulders and chanted slogans “Pakistan Zindabad (long live)” in unison.

They carried national flags in their hands and also approached a handful of fans at the Aoti Hockey Stadium stand to thank them for their support. Malaysia’s striker Faizal Saari was disappointed with his team’s loss, but said it was good to have its first silver in 12 Asian Games after winning six bronze medals.

“We played disappointing game today and of course expectations were high back home after we defeated India in the semifinal,” he said.

Earlier, India clinched the bronze, defeating South Korea 1-0 on Tushar Khandker’s field goal in the 39th minute.—AP

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SPORTS

Friday, November 26, 2010

LONDON: Switzerland’s Roger Federer plays a return to Sweden’s Robin Soderling during a round robin singles tennis match at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London. —AP

Federer sends Soderling packing

LONDON: Roger Federer beat Robin Soderling once again, winning 7-6 (5) 6-3 yesterday to earn a spot in the semifinals of the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals.

Federer improved to 3-0 in the round-robin phase of the tournament to secure first place in Group B. Soderling fell to 1-2 but has a slim chance of advancing if David Ferrer beats Andy Murray in straight sets in the late match.

Federer improved his career record against Soderling to 15-1, with his only loss to the Swede coming in this year’s French Open quarterfinals.

Federer broke for a 5-3 lead in the second set, hitting a backhand passing shot that Soderling could only return into the net. The secondranked Swiss then set up match point with a drop shot and converted it when Soderling hit his return into the net.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal beat a visually impaired Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-2 Wednesday.

Djokovic, who also lost to the top-ranked Nadal in this year’s US Open final, called for a time out early in the eighth game because of a problem with his contact lenses.

After Nadal held at love to 4-4, Djokovic left the O2 Arena court for a bathroom break to fix the problem, but it appeared to continue to bother him.

A few games after the break, shortly after Nadal broke Djokovic and then held to win the first set, the third-ranked Serb called for a trainer.

With medical personnel looking into both eyes, Djokovic looked frustrated as he sat in his changeover chair. He slammed a bottle of water on the court, and then slapped his hand twice into the arm rest.

When he came back on court, Nadal broke to open the second set, and then again in the third game to take a 4-0 lead. “Very sorry for Nole (Djokovic) and what happened with the eyes,” Nadal said. “For me it was my best match here in London on this court.”

Nadal, who lost all three of his matches at the O2 last year, was first to earn a break in the first

set to take a 3-2 lead, but Djokovic quickly got back on serve by breaking back in the next game.

Djokovic had three more break points in the final game of the first set, but each time he failed to keep the ball in play. Both finished the match with winners, but Djokovic had 31 unforced

players are still in the hunt for a spot in the semifinals. The same is true in Group B, which includes Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Robin Soderling and David Ferrer. Berdych won his first match at the ATP finals and left Roddick with an 0-2 record. The sixth-ranked Czech

ATP World Tour Finals errors to Nadal’s 15. Nadal, who is 2-0 at the round-robin tournament for the top eight players in the world, will next face Tomas Berdych. The Czech defeated Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-3 in the early Group A match.

The combined results mean that all four

converted his first break point in the 11th game of the first set, only minutes after saving two set points from Roddick. It was his first win over the eighth-ranked Roddick in four matches this year.

“I just went there, serve twice pretty good, turn the game,” Berdych said of the saved set points.

LONDON: Spain’s Rafael Nadal plays a return to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during a round robin singles tennis match at the ATP World Tour Finals. — AP

“The last pickup volley was (a) very tough one, and I made it. And then the next game (I) just made a quick break, and that was the key of the game.” In the second set, Roddick was annoyed by the advertising lights at the feet of the line judges, which flashed red sometimes while play was going on. Shortly after complaining to the chair umpire, Roddick was broken for the second time, giving Berdych a 3-2 lead. Roddick smashed a ball high into the rafters in anger, and then broke his racket on his foot, drawing a code violation from the chair umpire.

“The neons in the back weren’t quite to the settled position. They were still advertising fun stuff,” Roddick said. “When you’re trying to track a ball, it’s kind of neon lights and stuff. Then Tomas noticed it. A couple of them just went out before we played a point.”

The match finished with the lights off.

Berdych, who is now 1-1 at the round-robin tournament, held serve twice after the incident and then broke Roddick again in the final game.

Berdych is making his debut at the seasonending tournament for the top eight players in the world. He lost to Djokovic in straight sets in his first match and next faces Nadal.

“Playing Rafa, it’s always great experience, even if you play on clay, grass, indoor, outdoor, whatever,” said Berdych, who lost to Nadal in this year’s Wimbledon final. “He played a really tough match (in) the first one (against Roddick).

He was able to come back, won the match.

Now he’s waiting for another tough, really tough opponent.” On Tuesday, Federer stretched his record to 2-0 by easily beating Murray 6-4, 62, while Soderling defeated Ferrer 7-5, 7-5.

In doubles, Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia qualified for the semifinals by beating Mahesh Bhupathi of India and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 7-6 (5), 7-6 (1). In the early Group B match, Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Dick Norman of Belgium beat Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Oliver Marach of Austria 6-1, 6-3. —AP

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Friday, November 26, 2010

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Chelsea in poor form ahead of Newcastle trip LONDON: Premier League leader Chelsea heads to Newcastle on Sunday looking to bounce back from a run of three defeats in four matches which has allowed the chasing pack to close in on the defending champions.

The London club has lost to Liverpool, Sunderland and Birmingham in the space of 14 days and the pressure is increasing on manager Carlo Ancelotti, who was forced Monday to deny reports he was considering resigning in a dispute over control of the team. The Blues’ once-commanding five-point cushion has been gradually eroded, with Manchester United now alongside them on 28 points and both Arsenal and Manchester City within striking distance.

Chelsea is still top, however, and after resting key players in the 2-1 win over Zilina in the Champions League on Tuesday, the team should be fresh for the trip to St James’ Park.

“There are periods where everything doesn’t go as you want, and now is that period,” said Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou, who could start against Newcastle after making a gamechanging appearance off the bench against Zilina. “We are still first in the Premier League and Champions League (and) you won’t win every game, so the most important thing is to focus on the next game and try to win it.

Newcastle away is tough but we have the confidence back and know we can win the game.”

The likes of left back Ashley Cole, goalkeeper Petr Cech, center back Alex and striker Nicolas Anelka should return for Chelsea against Newcastle, which is 10th in the table. United hosts Blackburn at Old Trafford tomorrow, with fit-again striker Wayne Rooney again set to start after scoring a late winner from the penalty spot in a 1-0 victory against Rangers in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The England international played the full 90 minutes at Ibrox in his first start for his club in two months and improved as the game went on.

“Hopefully I can go on a goalscoring run now but really I am just delighted to be back playing again,” said Rooney, who has only netted twice for United this season — both from penalties. “I felt good. I felt fit throughout the game. I want to build on this performance and this goal.”

United manager Alex Ferguson will recall center backs Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand and will have to decide whether to stick with out-of-form Dimitar Berbatov up front. The former Bulgaria striker started against Rangers but was dropped from the squad completely for last Saturday’s 2-0 win over Wigan.

Arsenal, like United, could provisionally overtake Chelsea in the standings as it also plays tomorrow a day before the Blues.

The Gunners are away to Aston Villa and bidding to avoid a third defeat in a week, having lost 3-2 to fierce local rival Tottenham in the league last weekend and 2-0 to Braga in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Arsene Wenger’s side will be without captain and midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who is out for two weeks with a hamstring strain sustained against Braga, and will be up against former winger Robert Pires, who last week joined Villa until the end of the season.

“He is the type of player who can help any team in the Premier League,” Wenger said of Pires, who spent six years at Arsenal until 2006 and had been training with the north London club before signing for Villa.

“Just at that age, it is important you use him well at the right moment.” Elsewhere Saturday, fourth-place City is at Stoke, which has won its last three matches in the league, fifth-place Bolton hosts Blackpool and bottom-place West Ham is at home to Wigan, which is third from bottom. Everton hosts West Bromwich Albion, Birmingham travels to Fulham and Sunderland goes to second-bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers. In Sunday’s other game, sixth-place Tottenham hosts Liverpool. — AP

YEMEN: Kuwait’s Yussef Nasser (center, back) vies with Mohammed Al-Bishi (right) of Saudi Arabia during their 20th Gulf Cup football match in the southern Yemeni city of Abyan. The match ended in a goalless draw. —AFP

Inter without leading strike duo MILAN: Already without Diego Milito, Inter Milan begins a run of three games without leading striker Samuel Eto’o at home to Parma on Sunday.

Eto’o has hit 18 goals in all competitions for Inter but is suspended for three games after being caught on camera headbutting Chievo Verona defender Bostjan Cesar. Last season’s leading scorer Milito continues to struggle with a left leg strain that he picked up in Argentina’s defeat by Japan in October.

Defending champion Inter is sixth in the league standings, nine points behind leader AC Milan, but progressed to the next stage of the Champions League on Wednesday, slightly easing the pressure on coach Rafael Benitez.

The 1-0 win over FC Twente ended a run of five matches without victory in the Champions League and Serie A. Against Twente, Benitez played Eto’o on the left wing while Wesley Sneijder and Goran Pandev took the central roles and they are likely to continue the partnership at least until one of Eto’o or Milito returns.

“I thought those two players would cause more problems together in attack with their pace and movement,” Benitez said. “I think they did (cause the Twente defense problems) and I think they did well together.”

Inter will also be missing a number of other key players including goalkeeper Julio Cesar, defenders Walter Samuel, Maicon and Christian Chivu and winger Coutinho, but Benitez remains optimistic that the injury crisis is nearing its end.

“Hopefully now we will start seeing as many players as possible

return because when the team had all its players available we played well,” Benitez said. Milan goes into its match with Sampdoria on Saturday in confident mood. Like Inter, Milan also qualified for the Champions League knockout rounds and so has three months to concentrate solely on the league.

“Now we have a very important run of matches, starting on Saturday with Sampdoria,” Milan coach Massimo Allegri said.

“Sampdoria is a difficult team to play and it beat Lecce in its last match.

“We have to recharge our batteries and go again.” Milan’s 20 win over Auxerre was its third consecutive clean sheet, after 1-0 victories in the league against Inter and Fiorentina.

“It is now three games in which we haven’t conceded a goal,” defender Gianluca Zambrotta said. “Perhaps we were giving them away too easily before, but now we have a much better balance.”

Second-place Lazio is at home to Catania and hoping to improve on its 1-1 draw with Parma in the

last round of matches, that left it three points behind Milan. “We have shown that the work we have done up till now is working by the results we have had so far,” Lazio coach Edy Reja said.

“We can’t feel satisfied with what we have done until now though and we need to check and recheck what we are doing.” Also this weekend, it is Juventus vs.

Fiorentina; Bari vs. Cesena; Bologna vs. Chievo Verona; Brescia vs. Genoa; Cagliari vs.

Lecce; Udinese vs; Napoli; Palermo vs. AS Roma. — AP

Bayern sets low target FRANKFURT: Bayern Munich’s coach Louis van Gaal has set a target for his team before the Bundesliga goes into its winter break: 30 points.

That would not be enough to catch up with Borussia Dortmund even if the current Bundesliga leader fails to win a single point in the remaining four matches before the break, a very unlikely scenario.

The modest target shows how low Bayern has fallen in Van Gaal’s second season and how far it is from defending the Bundesliga title.

Bayern is now 14 points behind Dortmund and 10 points away from the 30-point target before Saturday’s match at home against Eintracht Frankfurt.

“Thirty points, that’s not little,” club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said this week, reminding “dear players” that they have to show more effort.

Bayern is coming off a 3-2 loss in the Champions League at AS Roma, after squandering a 2-0 lead.

The defeat meant little, though, since Bayern had already advanced and clinched first place in the group event with the defeat. “We can be relaxed and we can live with this defeat,” Rummenigge said.

But the Kicker magazine yesterday cited unnamed “insiders” as describing relations between van Gaal and the club’s bosses as “totally broken down.” Van Gaal came under fierce criticism

from club president Uli Hoeness a couple of weeks ago over the Dutchman’s aloof attitude, a feud that was officially settled over a glass of wine.

Next, van Gaal irked the front office by suggesting top midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger should be sold if the club is unable to get him to sign a contract extension immediately.

The coach then blasted France star Franck Ribery for lack of commitment in a friendly game and in practice. Ribery responded with a lackluster performance off the bench in the 1-1 draw last week at Bayer Leverkusen, then publicly complained about limited playing time after his ankle injury and a distant relationship with van Gaal.

Van Gaal than had a talk with his winger before the match in Rome and described it as “love at first sight.”

The coach had a slow start last season as well and reportedly was close to getting sacked but a 41 victory at Juventus Turin in the Champions League served as a turning point and gave Bayern a vital boost. Bayern went on to sweep the domestic double and reach the final of the Champions League.

Bayern seems to be still in search of such inspiration this season though, and while some club officials have paid lip service to the undiminished ambition to win titles, others see it differently. —AP

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NBA Results/Standings

TORONTO: Raptors’ Jose Calderon (center) carries the ball between Philadelphia 76ers’ Andre Iguodala, left, and Jrue Holiday during first-half NBA basketball game. —AP

NBA results and standings on Wednesday.

Cleveland 83, Milwaukee 81; Toronto 106, Philadelphia 90; NY Knicks 99, Charlotte 95; Boston 89, New Jersey 83; Orlando 104, Miami 95; San Antonio 113, Minnesota 109 (OT); Dallas 111, Oklahoma City 103; Memphis 105, Detroit 84; Houston 111, Golden State 101; Chicago 123, Phoenix 115 (OT); Utah 105, New Orleans 87.

(OT indicates overtime win) Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Boston 11 4 .733 NY Knicks 8 8 .500 3.5 Toronto 6 9 .400 5 New Jersey 5 10 .333 6 Philadelphia 3 12 .200 8 Central Division Chicago 8 5 .615 Indiana 7 6 .538 1 Cleveland 6 8 .429 2.5 Milwaukee 5 9 .357 3.5 Detroit 5 10 .333 4 Southeast Division Orlando 10 4 .714 Atlanta 8 7 .533 2.5 Miami 8 7 .533 2.5 Washington 5 8 .385 4.5 Charlotte 5 10 .333 5.5 Western Conference Northwest Division Utah 11 5 .688 Oklahoma City 10 5 .667 0.5 Portland 8 6 .571 2 Denver 8 6 .571 2 Minnesota 4 12 .250 7 Pacific Division LA Lakers 13 2 .867 Phoenix 7 8 .467 6 Golden State 7 8 .467 6 Sacramento 4 9 .308 8 LA Clippers 2 13 .133 11 Southwest Division San Antonio 13 1 .929 New Orleans 11 3 .786 2 Dallas 10 4 .714 3 Memphis 6 9 .400 7.5 Houston 4 10 .286 9

Jazz swat Hornets, Mavs halt Thunder SALT LAKE CITY: Deron Williams had 26 points and 11 assists while Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap provided big late plays as the Utah Jazz beat the New Orleans Hornets 105-87 in the NBA on Wednesday.

The Hornets won 11 of their first 12 games but have now dropped successive games to be 11-3.

Williams had eight assists in the first quarter, and 14 points by halftime.

Jefferson then scored 10 fourthquarter points as the Jazz turned a five-point game into an easy victory.

Jefferson finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Millsap added 17 points and seven boards.

Mavericks 111, Thunder 103 In Oklahoma City, Dirk Nowitzki scored 34 points as Dallas charged past Oklahoma City in the fourth quarter. Nowitzki and Jason Terry teamed to score 10 straight points in a 57-second span to put Dallas up for good midway through the final period, and the Mavericks sealed it with a 12-0 run.

Dallas’ Tyson Chandler had season highs with 17 points and 18 rebounds. Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 32 points but was held in check in the fourth. The Thunder had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Magic 104, Heat 95 In Orlando, Florida, Orlando handed star-studded Miami its first three-game losing skid of the season. Dwight Howard had 24 points and 18 rebounds and JJ. Redick scored 20 points to help Orlando pull away and avenge a 26point loss at Miami earlier this season.

LeBron James had 25 points for Miami, which is looking a long way from the championship material many thought when it bought him and Chris Bosh to join Dwayne Wade.

Spurs 113, T’wolves 109 In Minneapolis, San Antonio came from 21 points down to beat Minnesots and post its 12th straight victory. Manu Ginobili scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Spurs, while Richard Jefferson added 19 points.

Kevin Love had 32 points and 22 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who blew a fourth-quarter lead for the third time this season.

Celtics 89, Nets 83 In Boston, Shaquille O’Neal scored a season-high 25 points, even hitting four straight free throws in the fourth quarter as Boston came back to beat New Jersey. O’Neal matched his season high with 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double. He went 9 for 10 from the floor and 7 for 13

from the line. Paul Pierce scored 18 for the defending Eastern Conference champions.

Devin Harris scored 20 for the Nets, hitting back-to-back baskets in the final 2 minutes to help New Jersey cut the deficit to 82-78.

Bulls 123, Suns 115 In Phoenix, road-weary Chicago rallied from a 23-point, second-quarter deficit to beat Phoenix. Derrick Rose scored 35 points and hit numerous big shots, while Luol Deng contributed 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls.

Grant Hill led the Suns with a season-high 27 points and Hakim Warrick had a season-high 23 points, all in the first half, including 19 in the second quarter.

Knicks 99, Bobcats 95 In Charlotte, North Carolina, New York notched a fifth straight win by downing Charlotte. Raymond Felton had 23 points and 13 assists against his former team, while Amare Stoudemire added 20 points and six blocks for the Knicks.

With New York leading by two, Felton ripped a rebound away from Tyrus Thomas. Danilo Gallinari then hit the clinching free throws with 5 seconds left for the Knicks, who reached .500 and secured their longest

winning streak since the 2005-06 season.

Thomas had 26 points and 11 rebounds for Charlotte, which cut a 14point deficit to one in the closing seconds. But Stephen Jackson’s driving layup was blocked before Landry Fields hit one free throw with 10 seconds left.

Cavaliers 83, Bucks 81 In Cleveland, Mo Williams dropped a 15-foot jumper as time expired to lift Cleveland over Milwaukee, snapping a three-game losing skid.

Williams, who finished with 25 points, drove left before pulling up and hitting his step-back jumper as the horn sounded. Williams ran and jumped up on the scorer’s table to celebrate hitting a game-winning shot against his former team. However, before it was official, the play had to be reviewed by the referees, who ruled Williams got the shot off in time.

Williams scored 21 points in the second half. Anthony Parker added 14 for Cleveland. Keyon Dooling scored 18 off the bench for the Bucks, who dropped their fourth straight.

Grizzlies 105, Pistons 84 In Memphis, the home team used a third-quarter spurt to beat Detroit.

Memphis outscored the Pistons 33-18

in the third, then added 10 unanswered points to open the fourth, building the advantage to 22.

Zach Randolph had 21 points and 14 rebounds while Rudy Gay added 17 points for Memphis, who beat Detroit at home for the first time in six attempts. Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 17 points, 13 in the first quarter.

Rockets 111, Warriors 101 In Houston, the hosts held off foulprone Golden State to snap a fourgame losing streak. The Rockets took advantage of the Warriors’ fouls, hitting 39 of 51 free throws. Golden State has lost six of its past seven games.

Kevin Martin scored 25 points and Luis Scola added 24 points and 12 rebounds for Houston. Dorell Wright led Golden State with 24 points.

Raptors 106, 76ers 90 In Toronto, the hosts extended their winning run to four games, comfortably beating Philadelphia.

Andrea Bargnani scored 24 points and Reggie Evans had a career-high 22 rebounds for the Raptors, who matched a season high with nine 3pointers. Andre Iguodala scored 17 points for Philadelphia, which has lost seven of eight. —AP