Friday Times

The magic of yoga

Buzz surrounds creator of the beehive hairdo

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NO: 14983 - Friday, January 28, 2011

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KUWAIT: In this handout photo made available by the US military’s Third Army Public Affairs offices, Kuwait navy seals hold up a portrait of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah during a reenactment of the liberation of Qaruh Island in Kuwait, kicking off a month of festivities marking 50 years of Kuwait’s independence, 20 years of Kuwait’s liberation from Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces and five years of Sheikh Sabah’s rule. Qaruh Island was the first piece of land liberated

by Kuwait and US Forces and was the first action of Operation Desert Storm. — AFP

Djokovic shocks Federer

Local FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

In the name of urbanization

KUWAIT: Al-Shamlan Mosque is soon to be demolished to pave the way for the construction of the First Ring Road. —Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

By Hussain Al-Qatari

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mong Kuwait’s many neglected historic landmarks lies a mosque that was established more than a century ago, during Kuwait’s early steps towards urbanization. Masjed Al-Matabbah, located in the Al-Matabbah neighborhood, is situated just outside Kuwait’s Second Wall in the eastern part of Kuwait City.

Although the mosque is officially named after the man who funded its establishment (Masjed Shamlan Ali bin Saif Al-Roumi), it is known best as Masjed Al-Matabbah after the neighborhood it’s located in.

As Kuwait continues to prosper and to move increasingly towards urbanization, it’s having to give up part of its heritage as a result: as part of this ongoing process, Masjed Al-Matabbah, together with Masjed Al-Sayer, will need to be demolished in order to complete the second phase of the First Ring Road project.

This project has already led to the demolition of several historic buildings and landmarks in Kuwait. In 2008, Saint Mark’s Coptic Church in Kuwait City was demolished to pave the way for the project’s construction. The Minister of Municipality recently announced that the completion of the project also requires the demolition of the two aforementioned mosques. The intention to demolish the Masjed Al-Matabbah led to fierce arguments between the Ministry of Municipality, the Ministry of Awqaf, and the Kuwait National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, since it is ranked as a site of cultural heritage.

old office complexes. It is the only building that’s witnessed the rise and fall of this neighborhood.

The mosque was first established with funding from Shamlan Ali bin Saif Al-Roumi, a pearl merchant and philanthropist, along with donations from other people. AlRoumi was born into a rich family of pearl merchants, and

Masjed Al- Matabbah is the only building that’s witnessed the rise and fall of the neighborhood.

The history Examining the history of this site is very important to understand its value. At the time of the mosque’s establishment in 1893, the area was empty. After the mosque was built there, however, the neighborhood slowly began to flourish. Aside from houses built by families, a boys’ elementary school was established as well as two cemeteries and a few shops and stores, which were all later demolished. The Masjed Al-Matabbah is now located on what is now known as Ali Al-Salem Street, overlooking stores and

together with his older brother inherited a fortune that helped him establish himself among Kuwait’s business community at the time. He had a very important role in establishing the business and trade movement in Kuwait during the early years of its formation, and had good relations with merchants from Bahrain, India and other coun-

tries in the region. Al-Roumi was a philanthropist who donated generously towards the construction of mosques and schools to benefit the residents. In 1924, he built Madrasat Al-Sa’dah, which functioned as a school and a care center for orphans. Al-Roumi passed away in 1945.

New looks The mosque has been renovated twice in its history. The first time in 1947 the renovation was made possible by donations from the residents of the neighborhood. The renovation was required due to the increasing number of residents in the neighborhood, as well as the lack of some facilities that became necessary as the area started to develop. Due to the small number and short distance between the mosque and the limited number of residents at the time of the mosque’s construction, there was no need for ablution or Wudhu facilities. At that time, the worshippers performed Wudhu (a ritual purification of the body by washing with water that precedes all prayers in Islam) at their homes before walking to the mosque. As the number of worshippers increased, however, a need arose to introduce water fountains for these ablutions. Residents of the neighborhood donated generously for the construction of these facilities, as well as digging a water well. This new addition enabled the mosque to accept worshippers regularly and hold Friday prayers and a khutbah, which is the religious sermon delivered by a preacher during Friday prayer. The second renovation in 1965, funded by the Kuwaiti government, was a complete refurbishment of the building, which has been unchanged since. This modernization of the mosque included a new minaret that is far higher than the previous one.

Throughout its history, the mosque was central to the lives of Kuwaitis. In the past, it was where they prayed, listened to sermons and had Iftar during Ramadan. Today, it is a historic site that has witnessed the country’s development for over a century.

Local FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

In my View

local Spotlight

The world’s most expensive Coke

It takes just a few minutes

By Abdellatif Sharaa

By muna Al-fuzai

local@kuwaittimes.net

muna@kuwaittimes.net

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f someone told you that you’d be paying KD19,000 for a Coke you might consider them nuts. In fact, it is unbelievable that anyone would pay that amount willingly unless he or she were forced to. That’s exactly what happened to one unfortunate man in Kuwait. He had to pay that much simply to get a fizzy drink - and all the problems that came with it. Even though the bottle itself wasn’t made of gold or encrusted with diamonds, the cost is similar to what it would have been if that were the case.

This happened to a man whose decision to use an ATM in Shuwaikh left him with the world’s most expensive Coke. His story goes like this: accompanied by his ten-yearold son, the man recently drove to Shuwaikh. Deciding that he needed to withdraw some money, he popped into a bank there and withdrew some cash (KD19,000 to be precise). After doing so, he decided to go to a local market to buy a Coke. Unfortunately, when he got out to buy the Coke, he left the just-withdrawn cash in the unlocked car, along with his son. A thief, who may have been watching his actions, waited till the man had gone inside to buy a drink then rushed to the car, beating the child and stealing the money before running away. The negligent motorist had actually made it easy for the thief to flee with the cash, leaving him behind with a crying son and an extremely expensive can of Coke. Of course, the man immediately called the police to apprehend the thief, but I rather doubt he’s going to be easily detected or be waiting at a corner for the careless victim in order to return his money to him.

The blame here falls squarely on the

negligent motorist. Frankly, I can’t believe his actions; first he goes to a bank and withdraws a large amount of cash, leaving it unsecured in the car along with a ten-yearold child. His mistake here is two-pronged.

First, leaving such a large amount of money in the car in the first place; a car is not a safety deposit box and such large amounts should never be left in an open place.

Secondly, he left a child to watch it; what ten-year-old child could defend himself against a full-grown adult attacker? Bad enough that the defenseless boy was attacked by one thug, but what if there had been more than one thief?

In summary, this man who’s now crying over the theft of his money deserves what happened to him because he also jeopardized his child’s safety. He should be thankful that the thief only beat the child and didn’t kidnap him too! Let’s face it, that is a possibility.

Also, I really can’t understand the mentality of any people who’d withdraw a massive amount of money then leave it in their car - since when were cars bank safes?!

Even if the car’s locked, thieves long ago worked out ways to break into a car, either jemmying the door open or simply breaking a window, so leaving cash lying around in a car is like issuing an invitation to thieves to come along and steal it!

Those who leave money in their cars are careless and can’t care much about the money in the first place, so when some thief accepts their ‘invitation’ and steals it, he’s only responding to their message.

Calling the police thereafter will achieve nothing since your call has already been picked up.

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ecently, I’ve noticed more and more people in Kuwait taking up walking.

The new sport has become a hit with both sexes and various nationalities. This new trend is evolving even though the wellpaved and marked walking lanes are all but gone now, along with the trees and bushes surrounding them, to make way for concrete and buildings.

I asked a lady who is not obese but generously proportioned why she chose to walk and if she is dedicated to it. She replied that after a few visits to the doctor and laboratory tests, she was advised to do several things, including taking up exercise. She said that after going through a period of denial, she began to follow the doctor’s orders, and started to feel “somewhat” better, adding that her new exercise regime seems to be going in the right direction.

I am not into dieting, nor do I call for following a special dietary or exercise regime in the hopes of getting a flatter tummy or to show a curve here or there; the best way of doing so is to develop a habit that can be sustainable and which comes naturally.

I worked with diabetic patients for some time and one thing I learned about most of them is that they were unable to control their blood sugar levels within the accepted range due to being disorganized. Some complained that they only ate one or two meals a day, yet there is no control. Whilst acknowledging that and accepting that these things will happen, it’s worth noting that if the same amount of food intake is spread throughout the day the body will digest it better, absorb it more efficiently and the person will be more comfortable inside and out.

I was in a clinic recently when an elderly man burst into the doctor’s office. He seemed very angry and did not care for the feelings of the patient being examined. He

screamed, “Shame on you doctor, why do you cheat me?! I came yesterday when I was feeling bad; you gave a shot after which I felt okay, but now I don’t know what is happening. My joints hurt, my vision isn’t right, I have a headache - all because you did not treat me well!”

The doctor paused for a moment, then, as he still remembered the elderly man’s case, told him to go and have a blood sugar test. When the angry man came back with the result we both couldn’t believe he was still standing up because his sugar level was 700 mg/dl while the normal range is (100120 mg/dl). When the doctor asked him if he had his breakfast, he said yes. He ate a bowl of dates and rahash (a very sweet high-octane sesame seed flower and sugar mix) and drank a bowl of camel’s milk. It took the doctor and the man’s son over 25 minutes to convince him to go to the hospital.

Examples like that one aren’t limited to a certain age group, but are widespread and in almost every case it’s found that self-discipline and continuity are missing.

Though it is great to see more and more people exercising, it is sad to learn that they are reacting to a problem that already developed in their bodies. We must be proactive and adopt a healthy lifestyle that will reflect positively in our own lives and those of our children.

Kuwait is full of health spas for those who have the time and money, but for those who don’t the seafront has lots of pedestrian trails. Walking up and down stairs in your house or apartment block or at work is another type of free exercise and takes only a few minutes. And oh, when you get hungry...just eat sensibly - that’s all it takes.

Kuwait has a lot and gives a lot; be smart and use some of that to benefit yourself.

God Bless Kuwait!

In my View

Society and its ills

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very culture develops specific traits that become part of its local tradition. Each tradition is based on an individual innovation that with time spreads and becomes the norm. In Kuwait, we have a strong local culture that is very nationalistic, based on a societal hierarchy specific to it. The transition from sea-diving to the oil era has brought about a tremendous change in the physical landscape, yet, in my humble view, this has not managed to sufficiently Fouad Al-Obaid transform the local mentality.

One could argue that we are lost in modernity, fouad@kuwaittimes.net whereby we have adopted and adapted to the modern ‘Western Model’ of life. Nevertheless, in many aspects we have maintained a distinct local way of doing things — from the mundane way in which we regulate our friendship patterns to the way business is conducted, not forgetting the way in which we dress. I will focus more

clearly upon the latter in this article.

The way in which one consciously decides on one’s appearance is of crucial importance; a French proverb states that ‘dress does not make the monk,’ but in Kuwait dress makes monkeys out of people! Tigers and other various sorts of beasts roam the streets of the various malls. Less anecdotally, the way in which people dress is of great importance, since appearance gives clues to many different attributes that a person ascribes to. In Kuwait one of the most distinctive attributes that affects the way in which people dress, although perhaps in an unclear way, is the level of the individual’s devotion to religion. Kuwaiti society is divided into three clearly distinct groups when it comes to the clothing.

The ultra-religious are a steady minority with a clearly visible outward manifestation of their devoutness. This group is followed by the next category, the liberal upper-middle class to wealthy elite, who tend to be more ostentatious in their choice of attire, and more liberal when it comes to the way their women dress - usually they are not veiled until much later. Last but certainly not least, you have the middle class majority. They tend to float between the two extremes: liberal or conservative. The way they dress is dependent on their financial income that varies from the lower end of the

scale to the better off. In general, they focus less than their liberal peers on brand-name goods, yet their desire to acquire these is nevertheless present.

A glance at the internet in various forums gives an interesting generalized image of a group that desires luxury yet is unable to afford it and tends to either dress more locally in the traditional attire which is less expensive or to opt for fake brand-name goods in order to mimic the upper elite.

Through their choice of dress, people project many things, yet one thing clear to any person who spends a few hours in any mall, is the number of copies that are available. A foreigner would be excused for believing that the entire populace in the mall - more clearly marked in the female gender - are related! In conclusion, I’d also draw attention to those women who decide to don the hijab (headscarf) and associated garb in complete conflict with the concept of the veil itself, a point I will expand on in upcoming editorials. Conflicts of this sort makes one wonder how our society has evolved along these lines and what direction our sartorial tastes will take in the years to come.

To dress up or not to dress up; certainly the latter is not simply a question, but an issue that we ought to reflect upon.

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

The magic of “It is a union between the body, mind and soul”

By Wendy Clayton

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ustrian born Hedwig Muellner started doing Yoga after she slipped a disc in her back. Muellner attributes Yoga to getting her back on the road to recovery. At 78 Muellner still does Yoga every morning despite having a pacemaker for the last ten years.

think of the physical wants such as money and power, never thinking of anything more.”

World Yoga Day January 30th is World Yoga Day where millions of people around the world will join in a one hour yoga session devoted to human rights. “The purpose of World Yoga Day is to have

‘The purpose of World Yoga Day is to have everyone thinking and meditating on something that serves a higher purpose than themselves’ ‘Namaste’, let’s begin our Yoga class. Since bygone days when the people of India wandered into the mountains to meditate for days on end, people have been practicing Yoga.

The goal was to find inner happiness and attain a higher level of consciousness.

The technique of attaining and experiencing the higher states of consciousness via meditation became known as Yoga. To this day the writings and teachings of the ‘Father of Yoga’, Pathanjali, can be found in old Sanskrit’s and religious books. “Indian people would go into the mountains and meditate for days sitting in the one posture,” said Dr Anju Varghese, instructor of Yoga at Pilates and More Women’s Health Club in Kuwait.

“After attaining this higher level of consciousness they would be able to leave their body. They believed that they needed to find happiness and this was the way to do it,” said Varghese. “They finally realized that happiness is found within ourselves. Once a person finds their inner happiness then everything will come to them”.

Varghese explained that once Pathanjali had reached this realization for himself he wanted to be able to teach others to find their own inner happiness. He set about developing movements and postures which are now known as Yoga.

Varghese says that it is rare these days to find someone who will sit for days on end in the one posture. For people to attain the things they want in life she says people have to live in the ‘here and now’. “Yoga is a union between the body, mind and soul,” said Varghese. “Today too many people only

Dr Femi William performs yoga postures for pregnant women.

everyone thinking and meditating on something that serves a higher purpose than themselves,” said Varghese.

Project 2011 focuses on bringing water and sanitation to the people of Ethiopia. The aim of World Yoga Day is that as many nations as possible will come together to participate in a 24 hour yoga marathon where donations of tuition fees will go towards Project 2011.

Benefits of yoga Dr Femi William, also a Yoga instructor at Pilates and More says the benefits of Yoga are experienced on three levels: physical, mental and spiritual. “On the physical side your muscles, joints and ligaments all benefit from yoga,” explains William.

“Everything will be stretched to become flexible and strong”.

Additionally, William says that internal systems such as the nervous system and internal organs also benefit by being stimulated. “Yoga helps the body to enhance the positive things in your body to remain inside while the negative toxins and energies will be expelled,” said William. “It is a complete detoxification routine”.

On the mental level the instructors agree the general wellbeing is increased inducing good moods, elevating concentration levels and enhancing grasping powers. They say that when a person begins to experience a rise in these positive aspects it leads to being a happier person.

Yoga versus other exercise programs William says that while yoga encompasses the body, mind, and soul many other forms of exercise don’t. “As an example, Pilates is very good for the physical side or the body. While it has many moves similar to yoga they are also very different,” explains William. Yoga is a parasympathetic exercise that works to increase relaxation. Pilates on the other hand is sympathetic working on stimulating the body.

“In Pilates you perform the exertion of the exercise while breathing out, as with many other forms of exercise, using the mouth and nose,” said William. “However, with yoga you inhale during the exertion and only through the nose”. She also says that with Yoga there is less strain during a session which leads to more Karma.

Who can do yoga Anyone can do yoga regardless of age, gender, race or levels of fitness. Even pregnant ladies can perform yoga postures albeit modified positions. William is six months pregnant and says that she still practices yoga every day.

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Local

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Dr Anju Varghese performs classical yoga postures.

“In the first trimester you have to modify any kind of exercise including yoga,” says William. “However, in the second trimester you can go back to regular sessions. As you get bigger the postures are modified to accommodate the growing stomach. In the last month of pregnancy we concentrate more on the meditation side rather than performing postures in order to get ready for the birth”.

In everyday life people are doing yoga whether they realize it or not. From the very young to the elderly yoga is practiced the world over. “I started yoga classes in 1975 with a Filipino Yogi here in Kuwait,” said Muellner. “I would attend his classes two or three times per week. After a while he left Kuwait saying he’d return but he didn’t”. For the next two years Muellner continued practicing Yoga by herself and learning new postures.

“Some of my friends who also did yoga suggested I start teaching it myself,” explains Muellner. “I spoke with the Recreation Manager at the Hilton Hotel where we used to do our classes and he said ‘What a good idea.’ So I started teaching”. Muellner taught yoga classes from 1977 to 1987 in Kuwait during which time she travelled to India attending many Ashram’s.

Traditionally, an Ashram is a religious setting in which to practice yoga. Ashram’s are usually located far from human inhabitation in forests or mountainous regions. They take advantage of the refreshing natural surroundings conducive to spiritual instruction and meditation.

In 1984 Muellner gained her Siddha Yoga Course certification. Muellner attributes her good health to her dedication to practicing yoga. Although she now wears a pacemaker, Muellner says she believes that a brief break from yoga could

have attributed to a decline in her health. “Since I got the first pacemaker I have returned to Yoga and I haven’t had any major problems,” said Muellner. “Every day I practice yoga before breakfast and take a one hour walk in the afternoon”.

Muellner says that Yoga has benefitted her in keeping very flexible, increasing her blood circulation and helping to keep her joints strong, especially her back. She says it was due to a slipped disc years ago from playing tennis that started her off with Yoga. “Since I started yoga my back problem has disappeared,” said Muellner. “I also do meditation as well for good mental health”.

Muellner says her age has not stopped her from performing all yoga positions. Although she says she has had to give up doing head stands for a while because of a small problem in her neck. She says once this has cleared up she’ll be back doing head stands.

Yoga in Kuwait Varghese and William say that awareness of yoga is very high in Kuwait. However, the awareness of the full benefits of yoga are yet to be realized. “We have a high demand for yoga classes not only in the gym but also private sessions in the home,” said William.

In support of World Yoga Day, Pilates and More are holding a comprehensive yoga workshop to rejuvenate the body, cleanse the mind, and awaken the soul. There are many forms of yoga classes available including Vedic Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, various meditation practices and even Laughing Therapy.

Laughing therapy involves various postures and facial expressions. To begin with the laugh is often forced. As the

Hedwig Muellner performs yoga postures showing her flexibility at 78 years.

— Photos by Wendy Clayton

class progresses the laugh becomes a natural reaction relaxing the muscles and causing Alpha waves to be excreted from the brain increasing a happier mood. As classes come to a conclusion participants are sent off with a prayer of peace, Om Shanti.

Pilates and More Women’s Health Club The Magic of Yoga Workshops Jan 29 - 31, 5pm - 8pm Feb 1 - 3, 5pm - 8pm Register for 1, 2, or 3 days Call 2571 0582 or 2371 1705

Al Corniche Club Runs Yoga classes every day at 11am, 5pm, 7pm and 8pm Call 9724 2263

Hilton Kuwait Hotel Runs Yoga classes three times a week Call 2225 6222 for more information

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Local

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

By Nawara Fattahova

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n the past many pensioners with a lifelong fear of deep water wouldn’t have dreamt of taking it up after a lifetime of avoiding the water.

Nowadays, however, many people with a longstanding fear of swimming are overcoming it with the help of swimming coaches like Egyptian swimming coach Samia Atwa. More and more women of all ages, as well as girls, in Kuwait have attended Atwa’s courses, which help them to overcome their fears and discover the joys and health benefits of swimming for the first time in their lives. Since first offering her courses in ‘Beating Swimphobia’ in 2007, Atwa has taught around 600 girls and women of all ages to swim. In 2009, she gave up her job as a coach at the Olympic Club to concentrate on these courses, patenting them back in her homeland last year. After a lengthy series of bureaucratic procedures, Atwa is now fully licensed and will shortly resume providing her ‘Beating Swimphobia’ courses for girls and women from age 11 upwards. Each course takes three weeks of practical training and a further week of theoretical, classroom-based training.

Facing one’s fear Atwa said that whilst she was working previously as a coach at the Olympic Club she met many women who suffered from an intense fear of deep water, with many having such a powerful reaction that they couldn’t even use the shallow hydrotherapy pool there.

“One of the women who I coached was a lady in her forties who had to do exercises in the hydrotherapy pool, but was too terrified to do so,” Atwa explained. “I felt sorry for her and decided to convince her that she could do it and she wouldn’t get hurt. I reminded her of some verses from the Holy Quran about the water being the basis of everything that’s alive. And through this experience I came up with the idea of holding courses for hydrophobics, to help other women suffering from similar fears.”

Egyptian swimming coach Samia Atwa stops a training session to pause for a photo.

License to help Atwa had obtained her license as a Master Scuba Diver in Kuwait after already obtaining her International Inland Open Water Lifeguard’s license. To understand the underlying psychological causes of hydrophobia, she also took courses in this field.

“Having a fear of water and thus being unable to learn to swim is a psychological issue, as the brain controls the body. I give my learners a sort of personal and psychological programming so that they can overcome these fears,” she explained.

Some of her students learn amazingly fast and prove themselves more capable than they might have dreamt previously, exhibiting skill on a par with professional swimmers. She recalls teaching a young girl aged 19, who “not only changed her introverted and unsociable

personality, but succeeded in competing with and beating a 32-year-old professional swimmer!” Atwa said.

Another case, she says, was a 13-year-old girl who was scared of entering the swimming pool. “Within ten days she came third in a local swimming championship!”

The coach was full of praise for her students’ achievements. “One of my pupils, ‘Taif,’ a 19-year-old, was brought along by her mother to the course in order to help strengthen her fearful and weak personality. Her mother asked me to help her to change, to enable her to face her future life. When she came at first she was screaming, so I let her younger sister start swimming and when [Taif] saw her she was encouraged to get better - she learnt swimming and diving and her whole life’s changed. Her parents have become proud of her and her father’s even refused to take her picture since she might get boastful about her achievements!”

Turning phobia into an achievement Atwa said that the courses helped people in all sorts of ways and encouraged them to develop their own abilities. “One of my students succeeded in performing a move in the pool which even professional divers don’t do so perfectly,” the coach revealed proudly. “She dived into the pool and picked up a whistle lying on the pool bottom in one move. Other older learners became better than me in deep diving.”

Atwa stressed the importance of the students’ own determination to overcome their phobia and learn to swim. “The individual must be determined to overcome the phobia,” she said. “Most people have developed this fear because of an unpleasant experience or memory related to water. It’s normal to find people who fear water, but the abnormal is when this fear turns into a phobia.”

The learners’ own environment also plays an important role in encouraging them to overcome the swimming phobia. “Most types of phobia can be cured by building a person’s self-confidence,” she explained. Also many methods have been discovered to enable those who suffer from hydrophobia to act normally, she said.

She concluded, “Kuwaiti women have a strong will and are able to accomplish their goals. Many of my trainees became professional divers!”

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Khorafi, MPs oppose additional media restrictions New proposals a ‘sword’ against freedom of expression: editors

By B Izzak KUWAIT: National Assembly (parliament) Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi said yesterday that he is opposed to the planned introduction of new restrictions on local media, urging newspaper editors to present him with their principal objections to the proposed amendments.

Al-Khorafi made his statement following a meeting with a special five-member group formed by editors of local dailies to campaign against the governmentsponsored proposals that call for strengthening the existing penalties against the media and journalists.

The proposals to amend the two laws regulating media in the country — the press and publications law and the audiovisual media legislation - were

recently submitted to parliament for approval. The amendments propose massive increases in the fines handed down to journalists and publications found to have broken the law from the current maximum of KD 20,000 to KD 300,000. The amendments also propose increases in fines for almost all press violations, supposedly in a bid to curb journalistic abuse.

Editors of local dailies said after a meeting earlier this week that the proposed restrictions would negatively affect the local media, describing them as a “sword “ against freedom of expression and of the press and labeling them “excessive and harsh.” The editors warned that the amendments would represent a constant source of threat and a major obstacle for the media in per-

forming their duty. They specifically criticized the proposed increases in fines and jail terms for infringements of the country’s media laws, along with other restrictions.

Al-Khorafi called on the editors’ committee to provide him with a comprehensive and detailed report detailing the main drawbacks in the proposed amendments and the editors’ proposals to rectify these. He added that on receiving this report, he would ask the parliamentary education committee to review it and then meet with the editors to discuss their findings. Al-Khorafi asserted, however, that he does not oppose the idea of issuing a comprehensive media law to regulate Kuwait’s press, television and radio media, as well as the country’s internet-based electronic media. The

Rapist thwarted

Illegal dumping discovered in Surra

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Construction workers at a major ready-mix concrete manufacturer in Surra were recently discovered dumping concrete mix leftovers down rain drainage manholes by municipality inspectors, according to a senior municipality official.

Engineer Faleh Al-Shemmari, the director of the Capital governorate’s municipality department, said that the inspectors from the violations removal section, discovered the illegal activity during a routine inspection tour intended to ensure safe working conditions and check construction company’s licenses.

Meanwhile, the director of the public sanitation department in Mubarak Al-Kabeer, Ahmad Rashid Al-Ajmi, announced yesterday that the department will be launching its second sanitation awareness program next Wednesday. He said that the campaign would include a thorough cleaning operation of all the public garbage skips and rubbish receptacles, which will all be cleaned and disinfected. Al-Ajmi also explained that all the local waste disposal contractors would be putting the specialist equipment they use on display to increase public awareness of how rubbish is processed.

Six hurt in road accidents

KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti ex-convict reportedly took advantage of his cousin’s incarceration to visit the man’s marital home in Saad Al-Abdullah and attempt to rape his wife. The woman managed to escape and ran to her children’s bedroom, locking herself in and calling the police, who were quickly at the scene. When they arrived, she informed them that the would-be rapist had stolen her car keys whilst she was in the bedroom and fled the scene in her car. Police quickly put out a bulletin ordering the man’s arrest and officers who spotted him on the Sixth Ring Road near the Salmi turnoff attempted to stop him, but were forced into a high-speed pursuit after he refused to pull over. The car chase ended when he crashed into another police vehicle. The ex-con is back in custody and faces charges of attempted rape, resisting arrest and damaging state property.

Drunken patriots Two drunken Kuwaiti men were arrested and taken to Fintas police station after officers found them in an inebriated and patriotic state, saluting the Kuwaiti flag in front of a local building.

Motorist arrested Capital police arrested an expatriate motorist for parking his vehicle in a no-parking area with an old parking ticket on the windshield. He was taken to Salhiya police station and has been charged with forgery.

Easy money Three opportunist thieves stole KD 19,000 from a car belonging to a citizen of another Gulf nation after he left it in the vehicle, along with his young son, when he went into a shop in Shuwaikh after withdrawing the cash from a local bank. The shaken boy told his father that the three thieves had got into the car and stolen the money before fleeing.

‘Clinic’ closed Police have shut down an unlicensed ‘traditional medicine clinic’ for women in the Abu Halifa area run by an Iranian expatriate. The man apparently opened the basement clinic in a building near a college for women in the area believing rightly that the proximity to the college would attract numerous female customers. The ‘clinic’ owner, who had reportedly furnished the facility with a large range of equipment, apparently performed a range of tests on his clients before selling them exorbitantly expensive ‘traditional remedies.’ He is currently being held in custody pending trial.

speaker said that while he was aware of competition between various media outlets, they should always support stability and national unity and curb sensationalist reporting that incites division.

Liberal MP Abdulrahman Al-Anjari, meanwhile, said while he opposes any strengthening of criminal penalties against the media he would urge the media to observe a certain degree of selfcontrol. Al-Anjari said he does not want to see any prisoners of conscience in Kuwait, but supports non-prohibitive increases in what he called “civil penalties.”

The MP called for the creation of a media code of honor that journalists should abide by, adding that he believes Kuwait’s existing media laws are sufficient to control the country’s media.

News

in brief

National unity pillar of economy: Governor KUWAIT: National unity is a pillar of economy and the way towards boosting security, Governor of Al-Asima Sheikh Ali Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said yesterday. Kuwaitis should shun social and political bigotry to achieve the good of the country, Sheikh Ali said on the occasion of Kuwait’s 50th Independence Day and 20th Liberation Day and the fifth anniversary of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s assumption of power, KUNA reported. National celebrations summoning feelings of patriotism encourage cooperation between nationals and expatriates, he said, calling for abiding by rules and regulations. He called on increasing efforts directed towards achieving national goals. Though Kuwaitis were “proud” of the accomplishments made, that was not enough, as Kuwait needed more, he emphasized. Meanwhile, the governor noted that Al-Asima governorate was geared up to host the upcoming celebrations with programs in Naif palace. He praised official bodies and the private sector for taking part in national celebrations.

Elite teachers to train Kuwaiti youth KUWAIT: Al-Watanieh for Technological Enterprises has signed an MoU with the International Center of the Business Faculty of Kuwait University for tasking an elite group of teachers to train Kuwaiti youth, KUNA reported. Anas Mirza, the general manager of the company, said in a statement on Wednesday that the training course, dubbed “the international bridge,” due to be launched locally soon, would be designed to launch state-of-the-art technological ventures and train national cadres to manage these projects. Up to 160 nationals would be trained in Kuwait and the United States for four years, he said, noting necessity of training the national cadres in shadow of looming future challenges that would necessitate diversification of resources of income and investment in advanced technologies, where GCC states’ investment in this particular field would reach $9.1 billion this year.

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Two Egyptian expatriates in their forties were taken to Adan Hospital after suffering lacerations to their heads in a crash on King Fahad Road near the Sabahiya turnoff. Both were taken to Adan Hospital.

In a separate incident, two Egyptian men, aged 32 and 42, each sustained a dislocated shoulder in an accident on Surra Road. Both were taken to Mubarak Hospital. In a third accident, a 32-year-old Kuwaiti man was taken to Mubarak Hospital after suffering lacerations to his left hand and heavy bruising to his left leg in a car crash on Gulf Road. Meanwhile, a 35-year-old Egyptian man was taken to Farwaniya Hospital when he complained of severe back pain after being hit by a car near Farwaniya police station.

KOC pipes shut down over new gas leak fears KUWAIT: The Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has shut down 19 underground gas pipes amid fears of further gas leaks, announced the head of Kuwait Fire services Directorate (KFSD) yesterday. The KFSD director, Major General Jassem Al-Mansouri, revealed that the gas pipes, located around 80 meters underground, were shut down over concerns of gas leaking to the surface, as happened recently in Ahmadi,

causing widespread evacuation. Maj. Gen. AlMansouri, who made the announcement following a meeting with the parliamentary environment committee, further explained that KOC is currently carrying out detailed inspections of two large areas of northern and southern Kuwait, measuring approximately 24 kilometers in diameter each to assess the situation, with the inspections scheduled to take around

six months in total. The fire service head urged the public to cooperate with the inspection teams for their own safety, particularly directing this message to the remaining 46 households in Ahmadi whose occupants have still not evacuated the area, despite being offered temporary accommodation elsewhere, with the government paying allowances towards rental costs. —KUNA

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Baghdad car bomb kills 48 mourners

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Mandela’s stay in hospital grips South Africa

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American kills two Pakistanis in Lahore

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Egypt’s ruling party offers no concessions Activists plan biggest protest yet today

CAIRO: Egypt’s ruling party said yesterday it was ready for a dialogue with the public but offered no concessions to address demands for a solution to rampant poverty and political change heard in the country’s largest anti-government protests in years. At the same time, the grass roots protest movement was getting a double boost likely energize the largest anti-government demonstrations Egypt has seen in years. Mohammed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace laureate and the country’s top pro-democracy advocate, was returning to the country yesterday night and declared he was ready to lead the protests. The country’s largest opposition group - the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood - also threw its support behind the demonstrations.

Protests erupted for a third straight day and social networking sites were abuzz with talk that today’s rallies could be some of the biggest so far calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak after 30-years in power. Millions gather at mosques across the city for Friday prayers, providing organizers with a huge number of people already out on the streets to tap into. Safwat El-Sherif, the secretary general of the National Democratic Party and a longtime confidant

of Mubarak, was dismissive of the protesters at the first news conference by a senior ruling party figure since the protests began. “We are confident of our ability to listen. The NDP is ready for a dialogue with the public, youth and legal parties,” he said. “But democracy has its rules and process. The minority does not force its will on the majority.”

The 82-year-old Mubarak has not been seen in public or heard from since the protests began Tuesday with tens of thousands marching in Cairo and a string of other cities. Mubarak has not said yet whether he will stand for another six-year term as president in elections this year. He has never appointed a deputy and is thought to be grooming his son Gamal to succeed him despite popular opposition. According to leaked US memos, hereditary succession also does not meet with the approval of the powerful military.

Mubarak has seen to it that no viable alternative to him has been allowed to emerge. Constitutional amendments adopted in 2005 by the NDP-dominated parliament has made it virtually impossible for independents like ElBaradei to run for president.

Continued on Page 11

ElBaradei: Time Mubarak to go VIENNA: Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the UN nuclear watchdog turned Egyptian reform campaigner, said he expected big demonstrations across Egypt today, and that it was time for President Hosni Mubarak to go. ElBaradei, 68, left Vienna, where he lives, for Cairo yesterday to join a growing wave of protests against Mubarak inspired by Tunisia’s overthrow of their authoritarian president. He told Reuters he would not lead the street rallies, but that his role was “to manage the change politically”.

The Arabic news station Al Arabiya quoted ElBaradei, who held a number of rallies to campaign for political reform in his homeland last year, Continued on Page 11

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International

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Car bomb at Iraq funeral kills 48 Other Baghdad blasts kill at least five BAGHDAD: A massive car bomb ripped through a funeral ceremony in a Shiite district of Baghdad yesterday, killing 48 people in the bloodiest day in the Iraqi capital in more than two months. The blast was the deadliest in a series of bombings yesterday that claimed lives across the city, and is the latest in a spate of violence in the past 10 days that has killed more people than violence throughout November or December.

The apparent surge in attacks, mostly targeting Iraq’s majority Shiites, comes little more than a month after Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki formed a national unity government, ending nine months of deadlock following elections in March.

“A car bomb that exploded outside a tent where mourners were gathered for a funeral ceremony killed 48 people, and 121 were hurt,” an interior ministry official said.

The car bomb in the predominantly Shiite neighbourhood of Shuala, north Baghdad, completely burned the tent where the funeral was taking place, leaving pools of blood and scattered pieces of clothing and shoes at the scene, an AFP journalist said.

Several cars were also completely destroyed, while the windows of nearby homes were shattered from the force of the blast. One nearby house was badly damaged and security forces closed off many of the main roads leading to the blast site.

Police who rushed to the scene were confronted by an angry mob that assaulted them with volleys of stones, officials said, adding that soldiers were deployed to restore order. Maliki ordered the arrest of

the area’s security chief, army Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed al-Obeidi, in the immediate aftermath of the attack. In other blasts around the capital yesterday, five people were killed and 21 wounded by roadside bomb attacks and a bomb placed inside a minibus.

The overall death toll of 53 killed was the highest for Baghdad since Nov 2, when 11

car bombs rocked the capital, killing 63 people and wounding nearly 300 in predominantly Shiite neighbourhoods. The funeral attack was the latest targeting Shiites since a spate of car bombings last week killed 57 people outside the central shrine city of Karbala.

Those bombings came ahead of a Shiite mourning ritual when hundreds of thou-

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi woman walks past posters of Jesus Christ (right) and Imam Hussein in the center of Baghdad yesterday as Iraqi officials and the religious leaders called Christians not to flee Iraq. – AFP

Erekat seeks foreign help in Jazeera leak RAMALLAH: A senior Palestinian official said yesterday that he has asked the US, Britain and France to help bring three of their nationals for questioning about the massive leak of confidential Palestinian documents. Chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said the three include a former British intelligence officer, an American employee of Al-Jazeera TV and a French citizen. He said he is not accusing them of wrongdoing, but would like them to appear before an investigative committee.

Al-Jazeera, a Qatar-based Arab satellite station, this week published excerpts from what it said is a cache of hundreds of documents covering a decade of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The station, widely watched in the Arab world, alleges that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas secretly made major concessions to Israel. Abbas and his aides say they are victims of a smear campaign.

The leaks have intensified the bitter rivalry between Abbas and the Islamic militant Hamas, which wrested the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian president in a violent takeover in 2007.

On Wednesday, thousands marched in Gaza in Hamas-led protests, accusing Abbas of being a traitor and burning him in effigy.

On Thursday, hundreds rallied in Gaza City, burning a photo of Abbas and raising a large picture of Al-Jazeera’s benefactor, the emir of Qatar. Salah Bardawil, a Hamas legislator, told the crowd that “those traitors and anyone who is thinking of compromising any of our rights” should be put on trial. In the West Bank, several thousands Fatah supporters chanted slogans against Al-Jazeera and in support of Abbas yesterday. They also burned photos of two senior Hamas leaders. Erekat, who frequently meets with Israeli and US officials, features in many of the documents. Palestinian officials have said they believe the documents were leaked by someone in a department he heads, the Negotiations Support Unit. Erekat told AP yesterday that the investigation into the leaks is still continuing. He said he has asked the United States, Britain and France for help bringing three people for questioning about the leaks. “We want them to appear before an investigation committee,” he said. — AP

sands of pilgrims poured into the city to mark 40 days after the Ashura anniversary commemorating the slaying of Imam Hussein, the sect’s revered seventh century saint.

On Jan 20 on the outskirts of Karbala, three car bombs exploded among crowds of worshippers around 20 minutes apart, killing 45 people and wounding 150 others.

Another triple car bombing four days later killed 12 and wounded dozens. Imam Hussein’s death at a battle near Karbala is at the heart of the historical division between Islam’s Sunni and Shiite sects, a split that has fuelled sectarian violence between Iraq’s Shiite majority and the Sunni Arab minority that dominated Saddam Hussein’s regime until its ouster in the US-led invasion of 2003. Also last week, Al-Qaeda’s front group in Iraq claimed responsibility for a series of suicide bombings north of Baghdad that cost more than 60 lives. The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) said its suicide bombers carried out attacks in Baqouba and Tikrit, according to a US group that monitors jihadist statements. The attacks in the two cities had targeted Iraqi security forces and the provincial council of Diyala, of which Baqouba is the capital. The ISI accused it of attempting “to spread the Shiite doctrine” in the central province.

Violence across Iraq since a suicide bomber blew himself up in the middle of a crowd of police recruits in Tikrit on Jan 18 has already killed more people - at least 181 - than in all of November or December, when 171 and 151 people died respectively. — AFP

Hariri seeks guarantees as Mikati forms govt BEIRUT: Lebanon’s prime minister designate Najib Mikati yesterday began talks on forming a new government as his rivals sought a commitment on a UN court at the centre of a dispute that brought down the previous cabinet. Outgoing premier Saad Hariri’s Future Movement said Mikati, who is backed by the powerful Hezbollah, had been asked to state clearly whether his government would cease all cooperation with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). “We asked the prime minister-designate to clarify his position and state it clearly in his policy statement,” said MP Fuad Siniora, whose party has refused to join the new government. The STL was set up in the aftermath of the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, Saad’s father. A months-long standoff between the Shiite Hezbollah and Sunni Muslim Hariri over the STL led to the Iranian- and Syrian-backed militant party on Jan 12 forcing the collapse of Hariri’s government. Hezbollah, blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Washington, had been pressing the Western-backed Hariri to cut all ties with the tribunal, and Mikati is expected to come under the same pressure.

Siniora said Mikati was asked to say whether he would stop Lebanon’s share of funding for the Netherlands-based court, remove the three Lebanese judges on the STL and renounce the protocol of agreement concerning the court. Officials from Hariri’s party said that once Mikati clarifies his position, the Future Movement and its allies would decide how to deal with the new government. “Mikati’s answers will condition our attitude toward his government,” one official close to Hariri said, requesting anonymity. He would not clearly state whether members of Hariri’s coalition could still join the new government.

The 55-year-old premier designate said this week in an interview with AFP that he hoped to resolve the dispute over the tribunal through dialogue, and acknowledged that Lebanon could not force the tribunal to stop its work. He added, however, that the country’s cooperation with the STL was another question altogether, without elaborating. Mikati, a moderate lawmaker with good ties to Syria and Saudi Arabia, was meeting the parliamentary groups yesterday and today before reporting back to

President Michel Sleiman. He said he would seek to form a cabinet that includes all parties, but Hariri’s coalition has flatly rejected joining a government headed by a candidate they deem was imposed by Hezbollah.

Mikati, whose appointment has prompted fears of a shift in the balance of power towards Syria and Iran, said that should he fail in his efforts to convince his rivals to join his cabinet, he would form a government of technocrats. The business tycoon yesterday met US ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly to underline his commitment to maintaining good ties with Washington, a statement from his office said. A statement by the US embassy said Connelly “stressed to Mr Mikati that the US hopes that the government formation process goes forward as an exclusive Lebanese decision free from coercion, intimidation, and threats of violence, from both inside and outside Lebanon”. — AFP

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati (right) meets caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the parliament during consultations to form a new cabinet yesterday. – AP

International FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Exiled Islamist to return to Tunisia TUNIS: An exiled Islamist leader prepared to return to Tunisia, as thousands rallied in the country on Thursday to call for old regime politicians to be ousted after the fall of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. There were protests in the capital Tunis as well as in Sidi Bouzid, a poor rural town in central Tunisia where rallies against Ben Ali’s 23-year authoritarian regime began last month and grew into a national uprising. “God is great! We will stay loyal the blood of the martyrs of the revolution!” the Sidi Bouzid protesters chanted - a reference to the dozens killed in a bloody crackdown by Ben Ali that failed to stem the revolt.

Tunisia’s main trade union, the UGTT, which played a key role in the movement against Ben Ali, has refused to recognise the caretaker government installed to prepare for elections after the president fled on Jan 14. The leadership of the UGTT was meeting Thursday to take a “final decision” on whether or not to accept proposed changes to the cabinet, which has been clouded by controversy because Ben Ali’s ministers still hold key posts. The reshuffle could see some holdovers from the Ben Ali cabinet replaced.

Meanwhile Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the popular Ennahdha (Awakening) Islamist movement, prepared to return to Tunisia on Sunday after more than 20 years of forced exile, a spokesman for the movement in Paris told AFP. “He will not return triumphantly, claiming a

TUNIS: Tunisian islamists demonstrate in front of the Justice palace yesterday. —AFP

place in the government, but as a simple citizen,” said the spokesman, Houcine Jaziri. Ghannouchi still officially has a life sentence hanging over him from 1992 for plotting against Ben Ali but in practice convicted exiles have been able to return freely in recent days.

He founded Ennahdha in 1981 on the model of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and says it is now a moderate force similar to Turkey’s Justice and

Egypt’s ruling party offers no concessions Continued from Page 9 Mubarak’s administration suffered another serious blow yesterday when the stock market crashed. The benchmark index fell more than 10 percent by close, its biggest drop in more two years on the back of a 6 percent fall a day earlier. The protesters have already achieved a major feat by sustaining their demonstrations for three days in the face of a brutal police crackdown. Six people have been killed, hundreds hurt and nearly 1,000 detained. The government has banned all gatherings and police have fired rubber bullets, tear gas, and used water cannons to disperse crowds. They have also fired live ammunition in the air at time to warn people and there have been many scenes of riot police in helmets and shields charging crowds and beating people with batons and plainclothes police beating demonstrators with long sticks.

Scores of protesters gathered in Cairo and other cities yesterday. In the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, east of Cairo, hundreds of protesters clashed with police who used tear gas and batons to disperse them. AP reporters saw scores of protesters outside the downtown Cairo offices of Egypt’s lawyers’ union, which has been one of the flashpoints of this week’s unrest. About 100 people were also protesting outside police headquarters in the city of Suez east of Cairo, another hot spot. There were two other small, peaceful protests by lawyers in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta town of Toukh, north of Cairo.

ElBaradei, who has emerged as a prime challenger to Mubarak’s rule, told reporters at the Vienna airport on his way back to Egypt

that he was seeking regime change and ready to lead the opposition. The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood also expressed support for the demonstrations, raising the prospect that members of Egypt’s largest and best-organized opposition group could join today’s demonstrations in mass. If they do, it could swell the numbers on the streets significantly.

But the group has stopped short of an outright call for its backers to turn out.

The Muslim Brotherhood called on its website for protests to remain peaceful. It also called for new parliamentary elections under judicial supervision, the introduction of farreaching reforms and the lifting of emergency laws in force since 1981. “The movement of the Egyptian people that began January 25 and has been peaceful, mature and civilized must continue against corruption, oppression and injustice until its legitimate demands for reform are met,” said the statement.

“We are not pushing this movement, but we are moving with it. We don’t wish to lead it but we want to be part of it,” said Mohammed Mursi, a senior Brotherhood leader.

The stock market crash, which brought year-to-date losses to almost 21 percent, hit at the core of some of the regime’s main accomplishments. The president has built his legacy continuing and expanding the open market policies launched by his predecessor, Anwar Sadat, in the 1970s. While Egyptian officials have boasted about healthy economic growth figures, critics have argued that ambitious economic reforms have done little more than make the rich even richer while poverty, unemployment and prices rise unabated. —AP

Development Party (AKP) that will take part in elections. The ripples of the Arab world’s first popular revolt in recent history have been felt across the region, where difficult social and economic conditions have created widespread popular discontent against veteran regimes.

Tunisia’s government has moved quickly to grant unprecedented democratic freedoms, including lifting strict controls on the media, releasing political prisoners

and legalising previously banned political parties. It has also frozen Ben Ali’s assets and issued international arrest warrants for the ex-ruler and six members of his once all-powerful family on charges of illegal transfers of funds abroad and illicit acquisition of assets.

Ben Ali has sought refuge in Saudi Arabia, which says he can stay as long as he does not engage in any political activity. But 33 family members have been arrested in Tunisia, as others have scattered across the globe. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said members of Tunisia’s former regime were “not welcome” in his country, following reports that Belhassen Trabelsi, Ben Ali’s billionaire brother-in-law had sought refuge there.

The hunt for Ben Ali has failed to quell public anger about remnants of the old regime still in power and the UGTT, the General Union of Tunisian Workers, has mobilised thousands of protesters on an almost daily basis. Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, who has been in charge since 1999, has ruled out resigning until after the government organises the country’s first democratic elections but he has struggled to restore order. The government has eased a curfew put in place under Ben Ali to clamp down on protests and has ordered the country’s schools and universities to re-open, but many have stayed shut because of strike action by teachers. — AFP

ElBaradei: Time Mubarak to go Continued from Page 9 as saying he was ready to take power for a transitional period if protesters asked him to do so. ElBaradei’s arrival might provide a focus for a protest movement that so far has no figurehead, although many activists resent his long absences over past months.

In a telephone interview, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency called for peaceful protests, and said any use of force by the authorities would “backfire badly”. “People broke the culture of fear and, once you break the culture of fear, there is no going back,” ElBaradei said. “I think we will definitely see a change coming.”

ElBaradei, who suggested he might run for president if democratic and constitutional change was implemented, made clear that he believed Mubarak should not stand for another term. “He has served the country for 30 years and it is about time for him to retire,” he said. “I think he has to declare that he is not going to run again. I expect that we will see a new team, and a new set-up, and a new democratic structure.”

The next presidential election is due in September, and Mubarak, 82, has not said if he will run. Egypt’s political rules make it hard for anyone other than the ruling party’s candidate to stand, let alone win. ElBaradei, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, launched a campaign for political change last year, hoping his international stature could galvanise the opposition. But many activists have since complained that he should have spent more time on the street than abroad. He said there must first be a

new constitution and other political and democratic reform, and that this should take place in a transition period of six months to a year, a process he said he hoped to help manage and support.

“My first priority is to get the country from point A to B, put in place a framework that ensure that we will have a functioning democracy,” he said. If, after that, “people want me to run I would not let them down, particularly the young people.” Al Arabiya ran a screen headline reading: “ElBaradei: ready to take up power for a transitional period if the street demanded it,” but did not elaborate.

Demonstrations demanding the resignation of Mubarak, in power since 1981, have raged since Tuesday in several Egyptian cities, with the biggest clashes in Cairo and Suez. The protests, unprecedented during Mubarak’s rule of a state that is a key US ally, have seen police fire rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators throwing rocks and petrol bombs. “They have been charging people, detaining people, but that will backfire ... use of violence will backfire badly,” ElBaradei said.

A page on Facebook announcing today’s protest gained 55,000 supporters in less than 24 hours. “Tomorrow is going to be, I think, a major demonstration all over Egypt and I will be there with them,” ElBaradei said. “I assume ... that there will be lots and lots of people.” Asked if he might be arrested on arrival in Cairo, he said any such move would make things “much, much worse for them”. —Reuters

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Thousands of Yemenis call on president to quit Protesters demand end to Saleh’s rule

Settler kills West Bank Palestinian NABLUS: Israeli settlers shot and killed a Palestinian man near the northern West Bank city of Nablus yesterday, Palestinian security officials and witnesses said. The security officials told AFP that the man was shot by a Jewish settler, but had no immediate details on the incident. Hospital officials speaking to AFP identified the man as 18-year-old Uday Maher Qadous from the village of Iraq Burin, southwest of Nablus. His relatives, gathered at Rafidiyeh hospital in Nablus, said Qadous died of gunshot wounds to the chest.

The man’s cousin, Omar Qadous, told AFP that the incident occurred as he and Uday were working farmland near their village. He said one of a group of four settlers standing on a nearby hilltop opened fire, hitting Uday in the chest. The Israeli military said it had received a complaint saying that a settler had shot a Palestinian in Iraq Burin and passed the information on to police. Police said they had opened an investigation into the shooting. A settler source in the northern West Bank told AFP he had no knowledge of the incident. “It would not be the first time that we are blamed when these Arabs murder each other, sometimes because of family honour issues,” he said. The area south of Nablus has seen frequent clashes between settlers and Palestinians, usually in disputes over farm or grazing land that lies between Jewish settlements and Palestinian villages. — AFP

Bahrain resumes ‘coup plot’ trial SANAA: Yemeni demonstrators hold their national flags during a rally calling for an end to the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh yesterday. – AP SANAA: Thousands of Yemenis, apparently inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, staged a mass demonstration yesterday calling on President Ali Abdullah Saleh to quit after being in power since 1978. “Enough being in power for (over) 30 years,” chanted protesters in demonstrations staged by the Common Forum opposition in four different parts of the capital Sanaa. In reference to the ouster of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the demonstrators said he was “gone in just (over) 20 years”. Similar anti-government protests took place in the southern provinces of Dali and Shabwa where riot police used batons to disperse the demonstrators. In Al-Hudaydah province, an Al-Qaeda stronghold along the Red Sea coast, thousands took to the streets demanding the end of Saleh’s rule. Opposition leaders called for more demonstrations today.

But Yemeni Interior Minister Motahar Rashad Al-Masri ruled out any resemblance between the protests in Yemen and the public outcry in the North African country that led to Ben Ali’s departure. “Yemen is not like Tunisia,” he told AFP, adding that Yemen was a “democratic country” and that the demonstrations were peaceful.

But the slogans chanted in yesterday’s Sanaa demonstration which lasted for two hours were firm in demanding Saleh’s departure. “No to extending (presidential tenure). No to bequeathing (the presidency),” chanted demonstrators, insisting that it was “time for

change”. “Common Forum go ahead. It is time for change,” proclaimed banners carried in the protests.

Opposition Al-Islah (Reform) party MP Abdulmalik Al-Qasuss echoed the demands of the protesters when he addressed them. “We gather today to demand the departure of President Saleh and his corrupt government,” he said. A Common Forum activist said that the staging of the demonstration in four separate parts of the capital was aimed at distracting the security forces. One area chosen for the protest was outside Sanaa University. Security measures at the demonstrations appeared relaxed, but were tight around the interior ministry and the central bank.

Saleh’s ruling General People’s Congress (GPC), meanwhile, organised four simultaneous counter demonstrations which were attended by thousands of the government’s backers. “No to toppling democracy and the constitution,” the president’s supporters said on their banners. On Saturday, hundreds of Sanaa University students held counter protests on campus, with some calling for Saleh to step down and others for him to remain in office. Saleh, who has been president for decades, was re-elected in Sept 2006 for a sevenyear mandate.

A draft amendment of the constitution, under discussion in parliament despite opposition protests, could allow him - if passed - to remain in office for life. Saleh had urged the opposition which rejected the amendment to take

part in April 27 parliamentary elections to avoid “political suicide”. The mandate of the current parliament was extended by two years to April under a Feb 2009 agreement between the GPC and opposition parties to allow dialogue on political reform.

The reforms on the table included a shift from a presidential regime to a proportional representation parliamentary system and further decentralisation of government - measures that have not been implemented. The dialogue has stalled, and a special committee set up to oversee reform has met only once.

Saleh is also accused of wanting to pass the reins of power in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state to his eldest son Ahmed, who heads the elite Presidential Guard. But in a televised address on Sunday, Saleh denied such accusations.

“We are a republic. We reject bequeathing (the presidency)”, he said.

Demonstrations have multiplied over the past few months in Yemen over social and economic demands. The government recently announced a salary raise ranging from $25 to $40 for all employees, including military personnel. Yemen’s southern provinces also see frequent protests demanding the secession of the regions that made up the former South Yemen, which was independent from 1967 when Britain withdrew from Aden until it united with the north in 1990. Protesters took to the streets of several southern towns yesterday, demanding independence from the Sanaa regime.— AFP

MANAMA: Judicial officials ended a nearly two-month legal impasse yesterday to resume the trial of 25 Shiite activists accused of plotting against Bahrain’s Sunni rulers, but faced protests from the suspects over allegation of torture and forced confessions. The case is closely watched by rights groups and Western governments after sectarian clashes last year in the strategic Gulf kingdom, which hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet. The unrest broke out in response to a widespread crackdown on perceived dissidents and highlighted the long-standing tensions between the ruling Sunni dynasty and Shiites, who comprise about 70 percent of the tiny island nation but accuse leaders of discrimination and limiting freedoms.

Sunni rulers, meanwhile, fear possible links between the activists and Shiite-dominated Iran. The highly sensitive trial had been stalled since early December when the entire defense team quit to protest alleged torture against their clients. It resumed with court-appointed replacement attorneys even though they have been rejected by the defendants, who are accused of supporting “terrorist” cells seeking to undermine the ruling Sunni dynasty. Twenty-three suspects are in custody and two are being tried in absentia.

Judge Ibrahim Al-Zayed ordered the defendants removed from the court after they pressed their allegations of beatings in prison and other pressures to sign fraudulent confessions. They claimed their bodies still show signs of electric shocks, but the judge refused to order an examination. The suspects then watched by closed-circuit monitor as security officials told the court about alleged plots against the ruling establishment. It was not clear whether defense lawyers can cross-examine the officials or present their cases when the trial resumes Feb 10.

Bahraini leaders have previously denied any abuses of the detainees and point to the country’s parliamentary elections - a rarity in the tightly ruled Gulf - as evidence of openness and tolerance. In October, Shiites held onto their 18 seats in the 40-member chamber, but did not gain enough outside allies for a majority bloc. On Wednesday, the international watchdog group Human Rights Watch listed Bahrain among the Gulf nations where political activists and independent political voices come under alleged state harassment. — AP

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Mosque to be built after appeal denied LOS ANGELES: Opponents of a proposed mosque in a California city collected hundreds of signatures, bombarded city planners with angry letters and e-mails, and even staged protests with bullhorns and dogs.

None of it worked. The City Council approved plans early Wednesday for the 25,000-sq-ft (7,620-m), two-story mosque in Temecula after a ninehour meeting that included rants against Islam as well as technical debates about traffic concerns and flood plains.

The Islamic Center of Temecula Valley is one of several across the US that has seized the nation’s attention in recent months as controversy raged over plans for a $100 million mosque and educational center two blocks from the site of the Sept 11, 2001, terror attacks. A mosque planned in the suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee, has also sparked a dispute. The Temecula center has owned the land for years but didn’t encounter resistance until planning work on the mosque coincided with debate over the New York site, putting 150 Muslim families at the center of a bitter fight, said Imam Mahmoud Harmoush. Some residents worried the California mosque would be a center for radical Islam and add to traffic woes in the rapidly developing region. The mosque spent more than $17,000 in the past year, which included studies on the 4.3-acre site to address code concerns raised by its opponents, mosque leaders said.

“It’s amazing how people shift their positions and really don’t listen,” Harmoush said. “They say, ‘Maybe somewhere they are mutilating women, somewhere they are beating their wives’. If somebody did something in Jordan or Pakistan or Iran, that doesn’t mean American Muslims will do it here.”

Opponents said they would meet Thursday to discuss whether to file a legal challenge over a parking issue. They insist their protest is not based on religion but instead on concerns about increased traffic on an already overburdened road, and flooding issues that could impact the mosque’s neighbors - two Christian churches. In response, the City Council modified the construction permit to include traffic reviews every five years and ban the use of external speakers that could be used for calls to prayer. Those modifications will be helpful for residents who will be closely watching the mosque for problems, said George Rombach, a member of Concerned American Citizens, which was formed to oppose the mosque.

“Part of the victory last night was it gave us more tools to do that but it’s totally un-American to punish somebody for something they haven’t done,” said Rombach, who said he was not motivated by religious bias. —AP

TEMECULA, California: Mahmoud Harmoush, imam of The Islamic Center of Temecula Valley, celebrates with one of his supporters after the City Council approved plans for the mosque after a nine-hour meeting on Wednesday. — AP

NEW YORK: Pedestrians make their way through the snow near Central Park yesterday. – AP

Heavy snow slams US NYC declares emergency BOSTON: Americans up and down the East Coast dug out their cars, shoveled sidewalks and slogged through a treacherous morning commute yesterday after a fast-moving winter storm dumped up to 48 cm of snow on the region. The storm brought an icy mix of snow and rain, stranding hundreds of airplane passengers and leaving more than 400,000 customers around Washington without power.

Blinding snow was still hitting parts of New England yesterday morning.

Public schools closed for a second day and motorists were warned of dangerous road conditions. In New York City, officials declared a snow emergency and even the Statue of Liberty was closed for snow removal. It was an exhausting spectacle for a region already contending with above-average snowfall this season. In New York’s Central Park, 39 cm had fallen while 19 inches hit parts of New Jersey, the National Weather Service reported. Forecasts called for up to 30 cm in the Boston area and perhaps 36 cm in areas of Rhode Island. In the Philadelphia area, up to 43 cm of snow fell by

the time the storm moved north.

In Portsmouth, NH, workers were nearly out of room to stash their plowed snow. “We probably have a five-storey snow dump right now,” said Portsmouth public works director David Allen. “We could probably do a ski run.”

In Massachusetts, travel was made trickier with high winds. Gusts of 74 kph were reported in Hyannis, 72 kph in Rockport and 79 kph on Nantucket early yesterday. The New York area’s three major airports, among the nation’s busiest, saw more than 1,000 flights canceled.

About 1,500 people were stuck overnight at Philadelphia International Airport, where more than 400 flights were canceled.

Rain drenched Washington, the nation’s capital for most of the day and changed to sleet before it started snowing in earnest at mid-afternoon. The snow and icy roads created hazardous conditions for President Barack Obama as he returned to the White House after a post-State of the Union trip to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Officials urged residents in Washington and Maryland to stay off

the roads as snow, thunder and lightning pounded the Mid-Atlantic region. In Washington, Metro transit officials pulled buses off the roads as conditions deteriorated and heavy snow brought down many power lines, causing outages.

Since Dec. 14, snow has fallen eight times on the New York region - or an average of about once every five days. That includes the blizzard that dropped 51 cm on New York City and paralyzed travel after Christmas. When the snows arrived Wednesday, the city had already seen 91 cm of snow this season in comparison with the winter average of 53 cm. New York City declared a weather emergency for the second time since the Dec 26 storm, which trapped hundreds of buses and ambulances and caused a political crisis for the mayor.

Through Tuesday, Boston had received 128 cm of snow, a nearly 270 percent increase over normal levels. The central Massachusetts city of Worcester had gotten 125 cm and Providence, Rhode Island had recorded 81 cm, twice the norm for both places. — AP

Muslim population growth outpaces that of non-Muslims WASHINGTON: The world’s Muslim population will grow twice as fast as non-Muslims over the next 20 years according to a new study, which predicted that Muslims within a generation will make up more than a quarter of the global population. Using fertility, mortality and migration rates, researchers at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life project a 1.5-percent annual population growth rate for the world’s Muslims over the next two decades, and just 0.7 percent growth each year for non-Muslims.

The study, called “The Future of the Global Muslim Population,” projects that in 2030 Muslims will make up 26.4 percent of the world’s population, which is expected to total around 8.3 billion people by then. That marks a three-percentage-point rise from the 23.4-percent share held by Muslims of the globe’s estimated 6.9 billion people today, the study says.

More than six in 10 followers of Islam will live in the Asia-Pacific region in 2030, and nuclear Pakistan, which has seen a rise in

radical Islam in recent months, will overtake Indonesia as the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

In Africa, the Muslim population of the sub-Saharan country of Nigeria will be greater than that of Egypt in 20 years, the study projects. In Europe, Pew predicts the Muslim population will grow by nearly a third in 20 years, from 44.1 million people, or six percent of the region’s inhabitants in 2010, to 58.2 million or eight percent of the projected total population by 2030. Some European Union (EU) countries will see doubledigit percentages of Muslims in their population by 2030: Belgium’s Muslim population is projected to rise from six percent to 10.2 percent over the next 20 years, while France’s is expected to hit 10.3 percent in 2030, up from 7.5 percent today.

In Sweden, Pew predicts Muslims will comprise nearly 10 percent of the population compared to less than five percent today. Britain’s Muslim population is predicted to rise from 4.6

percent to 8.2 percent by 2030, and 9.3 percent of the population of Austria is forecast to be Muslim by then, compared to less than six percent of residents of the alpine country now.

Russia, which is not a member of the EU, will continue to have the largest Muslim population in absolute terms in Europe in 2030, with 18.6 million Muslims or 14.4 percent of the total population of the vast country.

The United States, meanwhile, is projected to have a larger absolute number of Muslims by 2030 than any European countries other than Russia and France, but proportionally, Muslims will make up a much smaller percentage of the population of the United States than they do in Europe. The Muslim share of the US population is projected to grow from its current level of less than one percent to 1.7 percent by 2030, making Muslims “roughly as numerous as Jews or Episcopalians are in the United States,” the study says. US Muslims will jump from 2.6 million people in 2010 to 6.2 million in 2030. — AFP

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21 feared dead in Colombia coalmine blast SARDINATA, Colombia: An explosion ripped through a coalmine yesterday in northeastern Colombia, leaving up to 21 miners feared dead.

Fourteen bodies have been recovered, senior Sardinata municipal official Alvaro Silva told AFP in updating the official toll from an earlier count of 11 dead. The Colombian Institute of Geology and Mines, which sent rescue teams to the scene, held out little hope that the remaining seven miners were still alive. “Because of the scope of the disaster, it is impossible that they survived,” said a spokesman for INGEOMINAS, which supervises Colombia’s mines.

Search teams earlier removed six bodies wrapped in white plastic bags from the La Preciosa mine. Officials had said the bodies of four other miners had been recovered and a fifth man died of his injuries after being taken to a local hospital. At least six miners were hospitalized with injuries. The blast may have been caused by an accumulation of methane gas, said Sardinata Mayor Yamil Rangel. The mine is located about an hour outside Sardinata in Norte de Santander province, which borders Venezuela.

Mines Minister Carlos Rodado said the site, the scene of two previous mine disasters since 2007, would be closed “until an investiga-

tion determines whether it was respecting all the rules.” It was not immediately clear how many miners were trapped because the explosion ripped through the mine during a 6:30 am (1130 GMT) shift change, said Silva. Provincial Governor William Villamizar told RCN radio that a methane blast “exploded like a cannon shot, creating a flame inside the mine.”

Civil defense, firefighters and even military personnel were at the scene helping in rescue efforts. “But we understand that it is very difficult to survive an explosion of that nature,” Villamizar said. He said the mine is under the “rigorous control” of national safety inspectors with INGEOMINAS. At the scene was 63-year-old miner Fabio Veloso, who spoke with disdain of the industry’s safety record. He escaped the explosion by luck, having emerged on a shift break moments earlier.

Two brothers and a cousin were with him when he entered the mine in the morning. “I’ve been through many experiences where people I know have died,” he said, still unaware of whether his relatives had escaped the blast or died in the accident. Six miners were killed and two others injured in a similar accident at the same mine in October. —AFP

JOHANNESBURG: Students from a school adjacent to the hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is said to be undergoing routine tests make their way past a giant get well card yesterday. – AP

South Africa prays for Mandela health

Iraq refugees find limited aid in US CHICAGO: Iraqi refugee Ayad Salman opens a folder and lays out the story of how he and his family came to Chicago. There’s his record of service as an interpreter for coalition forces. Pictures of the beefy American troops and the straight-backed senior officers he worked with as a translator. Letters of recommendation.

And a certificate showing that his father was killed by terrorists. “I lost my father because of my job,” Salman, 42, explains. “They shot him in the head. I tried to save his life, but it was too late.”

Salman’s story is eerily familiar to anyone who’s spent much time with Iraqi refugees. But it is one rarely heard by most Americans in a country which often seems to forget that it is at war. Just one percent of news coverage in the major US media was devoted to Iraq events and policy debates last year, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center. Nearly eight years after the US invasion, Iraq got only a passing mention in President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday.

“America’s commitment has been kept; the Iraq War is coming to an end,” Obama said, noting that “American combat patrols have ended; violence has come down; and a new government has been formed.” In stark contrast to the quagmire and shameful defeat of the Vietnam War, Obama noted that “nearly 100,000 of our brave men and women have left with their heads held high.”

Yet the Iraqis like Salman who were forced to flee Iraq because their work with coalition forces put their families at risk receive far less help starting a new life in the United States than their Vietnamese counterparts did. “The resources made available are very meager,” said Greg Wangerin, executive director of Chicagobased aid group Refugee One, which is helping to resettle Salman and his family. “The amount of support that a refugee from Vietnam was getting from the government was on the order of 36 months. Now it’s eight months.”

Most refugees suffer significant culture shock when they arrive in the United States and end up working menial jobs for low wages in what they had imagined as the “land of milk and honey”, Wangerin said. It’s even more of a disconnect for Iraqis who have seen American largess building schools and hospitals in Iraq and “legitimately feel that they’ve been doing something for this government, now this government ought to reach out a helping hand,” he added.

The Bush administration was widely criticized for failing to do more to help address the Iraqi refugee crisis after admitting less than a thousand refugees in the first four years of the war. That began to change in the latter half of 2007, and since then nearly 40,000 Iraqi refugees have been admitted to the United States.

Their successful resettlement has been hampered by the fact that most arrived after the country entered the deepest economic downturn in decades. “The United States recognizes a special responsibility to the Iraqis who helped US troops and other USbased organizations in Iraq,” said Beth Schlachter, a spokeswoman for the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.

Thousands of special immigrant visas have been issued to Iraqi translators, interpreters, and those employed by the US government in Iraq to allow them to bypass the lengthy United Nations refugee referral process and gain swift access to the United States. However, the United States has long held a policy of treating all refugees alike, and Schlachter said the US refugee program is both successful and generous. —AFP

‘Madiba’ hospitalized for tests JOHANNESBURG: South Africans prayed for the health of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela yesterday, more than 24 hours after the country’s revered former leader and first black president entered hospital. The news that the increasingly frail Madiba - the clan name by which the 92-year-old Nobel peace prize winner is affectionately known - remained under medical supervision has put South Africa on edge over his health. Current President Jacob Zuma called for calm as the nation awaited updates on Mandela’s condition amid a virtual news blackout since he was admitted for “routine” tests on Wednesday.

“President Mandela is comfortable and is well looked after by a good team of medical specialists,” Zuma said in a statement from Davos, where he is attending

the World Economic Forum. “We urge the media to afford him the dignity and respect that he is entitled to as the country’s founding democratic president, as a national hero and also as a citizen of the republic.”

The ruling African National Congress party had also earlier called for calm. “We call on all South Africans to remain calm regarding the hospitalisation of Madiba and not press any panic buttons, as there is no reason for that whatsoever,” ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said. “If there is any change in the hospitalisation of Madiba, including his discharge from hospital, (it) will be communicated.” The Nelson Mandela Foundation said Wednesday that Mandela was in Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg for tests but that

his health was not in jeopardy. “He is in no danger and is in good spirits,” said a statement from the foundation, which Mandela established to continue his charitable work after withdrawing from public life in 2004.

It has made no further comment.

The Star newspaper reported yesterday that Mandela had been seen by a lung specialist at the private hospital. “He has been admitted for investigation,” the doctor, Michael Plit, told the newspaper.

He declined to comment on Mandela’s condition. Mandela’s ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who separated from him in 1992, arrived at the hospital around 11:00 am (0900 GMT) and left three hours later. She and Mandela have two daughters together and are often reunited at family events. —AFP

CHICAGO: This Dec 15, 2010 photo shows Iraqi refugee Ayad Salman, a former translator for US forces, with his wife, Rabiha, son Ahmed and daughters Yara (front right) and Noor in their modest apartment. – AFP

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Thai govt, army deny coup claims BANGKOK: The Thai government yesterday denied opposition claims that it faces a military coup amid intensifying street protests and ahead of expected elections. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected the suggestion, by a politician and leader of the anti-government “Red Shirts”, that the army was poised to intervene in Thai politics. “No, they are not thinking of a coup,” he said, adding he was “confident” that army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha was not plotting to oust him.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban also denied the claims, but acknowledged some in the deeply divided nation would support a military move - which would be the 19th actual or attempted coup in Thailand since 1932. “There may be some groups calling for a coup, but don’t call for that, it’s not the solution for our country,” he said, less than five years after the military ousted the Red Shirts’ hero then premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Army spokesman Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd also denied any such plans. “The army chief had repeatedly insisted that he will not stage a coup and in the current circumstances, no military figure would dare to mount a coup,” he said.

The government and military were responding to comments by Puea Thai lawmaker Jatuporn Prompan, who said he had learned that some of country’s top military leaders had recently met to map out a coup plot. He said the move would be against the prime minister fol-

lowing fresh protests by the nationalist and royalist “Yellow Shirt” movement, officially named the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD). Members of the group have camped outside government headquarters in Bangkok since Tuesday to demonstrate against the handling of a border territory dispute with neighbouring Cambodia. They have said they are there to stay.

Abhisit came to power in 2008 after Yellow protests - including the seizure of two Bangkok airports - helped to bring down former governments, but relations have since soured. The PAD, backed by the Bangkok-based elite, are powerful players in Thailand’s colour-coded politics and arch-rivals of the Reds, who held their most recent protest on Sunday, attracting around 27,000 supporters. Thailand remains polarised after the mass opposition Red rallies in April and May last year, which sparked clashes between troops and protesters that left more than 90 people dead, mostly civilians.

Prayut is reported to have overseen the deadly military assault on the Reds’ fortified encampment in the heart of Bangkok in May. But he has vowed to stay out of politics and played down his image as a vociferous opponent of the Reds since becoming army chief in October. In an interview with AFP in July, Oxford-educated Abhisit, described by the opposition as a “puppet” of the elite and the army, said the military should stay away from politics.—AFP

10 plunge 25 floors to death at Manila site MANILA: A temporary elevator at a building construction site in the Philippine capital plunged 25 floors yesterday, killing 10 workers, officials said. The workers were installing glass windows at a high-rise condominium when a platform elevator gave way, sending them tumbling down from the 32nd to the seventh floor, said Mayor Junjun Binay of Makati city, Manila’s financial district. Police and rescue officials said 10 workers were killed. One worker was in critical condition, but it was not immediately clear how many were on the platform, Binay said.

In a statement, building owner Eton Properties Philippines, Inc. said the workers were employees of its glass contractor and were on a break at the time of the accident. The workers took the platform to go up the 39-story building “instead of taking the stairs,” the statement said. “However, since the platform can only carry a few workers, the cable snapped,” it said, adding that the company has ordered a review of the safety regulations of its subcontractors and construction management.

The company’s website describes Eton as the global real estate arm of the Lucio Tan Group and a sister company of the Philippine National Bank and Philippine Airlines. Binay ordered construction at the site halted. The Philippines, particularly Manila, has been experiencing a construction boom since last year, driven by low interest rates, the large number of foreign remittances from 9 million Filipinos working abroad and the need for more office space to accommodate the country’s growing outsourcing industry. — AP

LAHORE: People look at bloodstains on a road yesterday. – AP

American kills two Pakistanis in Lahore Pedestrian killed by US embassy car

MANILA: Rescuers remove the bodies of construction workers who fell to their deaths when a service elevator they were taking plunged 25 floors down at a building under construction yesterday in the financial district of Makati. — AP

LAHORE: A US consular worker shot dead two Pakistani motorcycle riders in a Lahore city street yesterday, senior officials told AFP, with the man claiming he fired in selfdefence. “The American national told us he was driving his vehicle and stopped at a traffic signal. He saw motorcycle riders and one pulled out a pistol. The man told us he then pulled out his pistol and fired in selfdefence,” Lahore police chief Aslam Tarin told AFP. Tarin said the American was in police custody amid ongoing investigations.

He later added in a television interview that two pistols had been recovered from the motorcycle riders, and said the gunman was a security official from the local consulate. Another Pakistani man was killed shortly after the shooting when a car from the US consulate in Lahore hit two

pedestrians at the scene of the shooting, Tarin added. Head of the public Services Hospital in Lahore, Mohammad Ijaz, confirmed that three people had been killed.

“We received one dead body and two injured persons. Both of the wounded later died in the hospital,” he told AFP. A second police official, Faisal Rana, said the American man in custody had reported that the two motorcycle riders had attempted to stop his car. “He fired on them in self-defence.... We have arrested the American. He is an employee of the American consulate,” he said. A police officer at the scene, Umar Saeed, confirmed the details of the shooting and the car incident that followed. He said that the consular official had used a wireless radio device to call colleagues for help immediately after the shooting and a second con-

sular car turned up to rescue him. “Dozens of people gathered after the incident and tried to stop both the vehicles. Drivers of both the vehicles tried to flee the scene but police managed to stop them,” Saeed said. More than 100 people blocked the road after the incident by setting tyres on fire to protest against the killing, an AFP reporter at the scene said. The protest later moved to picket the police station where the car involved in the incident was impounded. The US embassy in Islamabad confirmed the man involved was a consular official. “We can confirm he’s a consular employee, but we don’t know exactly what happened. There’s a lot of speculation and we’re speaking with the police to find out exactly what happened,” US embassy spokesman Alberto Rodriguez told AFP. — AFP

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China tycoon hands out cash in Taiwan

BEIJING: A cleaner sweeps near a rabbit decoration as the Chinese capital prepares for the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit yesterday. – AP

Satirical cartoon blocked by China Video makes thinly veiled stab at communist rulers BEIJING: A grisly cartoon that marks the upcoming Year of the Rabbit by portraying a bunny revolt against brutal tiger overlords has proven an online hit, with its thinly veiled stab at China’s communist rulers. The “South Park”-style video by animator Wang Bo, in which persecuted rabbits overthrow the ruling tigers, went viral on video-sharing sites in recent days thanks to its gruesome depiction of a number of recent scandals. It was unavailable on websites in China yesterday, apparently deleted by skittish government censors.

Wang’s cartoon begins with baby rabbits who die horribly from drinking “Sanlu” milk.

Sanlu is the now-defunct Chinese dairy giant that was at the centre of a huge scandal in 2008 over tainted milk. The milk was blamed for killing six infants and making another 300,000 ill. In the video, rabbit parents are then savagely beaten by tiger thugs when

they complain, or are cruelly run over by cars and killed - in a clear reference to two notorious recent cases. In one, the son of a police official in northern China stood trial this week accused of striking and killing a pedestrian while driving drunk.

He reportedly tried to escape arrest by invoking his father’s name. In another, a village chief was last month crushed by a truck.

Villagers allege he was killed by local officials to silence his complaints about a land seizure by authorities. The bunnies in the video are a reference to the Chinese Year of the Rabbit, which begins on Feb 3, while 2010 was the Year of the Tiger. After an orgy of violence as the bunnies rise up, the video ends with a character saying: “It will really be an interesting year.” China operates a huge system of online censorship that deletes content considered a threat to the primacy of the ruling Communist Party. But the video remains

available abroad on YouTube - which is blocked in China. Fearful of social unrest China’s leaders are scrambling to contain public anger over a range of hot-button issues including official abuses and rising costs of food and housing. This week, Premier Wen Jiabao paid an unprecedented visit to an office in Beijing where members of the public can petition the government over their grievances. Wen pledged the government would go all-out to address public concerns, but Human Rights Watch dismissed his appearance as a political charade.

China annually sees tens of thousands of sometimes violent protests by ordinary citizens, often related to illegal land seizures, evictions and home demolitions by officials and businesses seeking to redevelop land. A scene in the online video depicts tigers knocking over rabbits’ homes with bulldozers. — AFP

HSINCHU, Taiwan: China’s most famous philanthropist began distributing cash in Taiwan yesterday, the first day of a controversial trip that has sparked criticism and protests from anti-China groups. Chen Guangbiao, who made his fortune recycling construction materials, handed Tw$7 million ($241,000) to charity groups in Hsinchu county in the island’s north, amid accusations he was promoting reunification with China. “I don’t know anything about propaganda for Chinese reunification. I only know about charity and environmental work. I just want to do good,” 42-year-old Chen told AFP. China and Taiwan have been separated for more than 60 years, but Beijing considers the island part of its territory and has vowed to get it back, increasingly by trying to win the hearts and minds of the Taiwanese population. Chen’s trip has stirred excitement, with one tearful woman saying she had travelled from Taipei to Hsinchu to ask for money to pay for her husband’s funeral. She was stopped by police before getting near the mainland visitor.

Earlier in Taipei Chen, who is well-known in China for his flamboyant style of charity, held up a wad of Tw$2,000 notes spread out in a fan shape, surrounded by a crowd of photographers and cameramen. However his visit has also triggered considerable anger among some Taiwanese, with one commentator launching a diatribe during a talkshow which Chen took part in via a telephone link.

A county government volunteer helping keep order in Hsinchu, where the funds are being distributed, described Chen’s visit as “a propaganda ploy for reunification and a waste of time”. According to William Niu, a political scientist at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei, the mixed reactions to Chen’s visit reveal deep-rooted cultural differences between the two sides. “Taiwanese are more discreet when carrying out charitable acts,” he told AFP. “It’s also a face issue as by giving out money the Chinese show that they are richer now and are above us, so Chen is not welcome in some cities.”

Earlier in the day, Chen handed three traditional “red envelopes” containing a total of Tw$70,000 ($2,300) to a woman who had been waiting for him at his hotel in Taipei.

“I’ve never counted so many banknotes. I don’t know what to do. I will use the money to take care of my 88-year-old mother,” the woman told reporters, her voice cracking with emotion. His visit was not widely reported in the Chinese media, with state-controlled Xinhua news agency and others mainly quoting the Taiwanese press.

Leading a group of businessmen from China, Chen arrived in Taipei late Wednesday. “I will deliver every penny that I’ve promised... and I hope to come every year,” the tycoon told reporters at the airport. Chen has said that he planned to give away more than $15 million to the poor in Taiwan. Taiwan is five times wealthier than China in terms of gross domestic product per capita, even though the mainland’s economy is more than 10 times larger than its neighbour’s. — AFP

Tiananmen duo slam exclusion from HK TAIPEI: Two former leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen protests who were refused entry into Hong Kong this week said yesterday their exclusion exposed Beijing’s strengthening grip on the autonomous territory. Wang Dan and Wu’er Kaixi, who live in exile in Taiwan, have been refused entry to the former British colony, where they planned to attend a memorial service for democracy icon Szeto Wah this weekend. “The Beijing authorities should provide an explanation as to why they did this, which is a humiliation to the deceased and to Hong Kong’s taxpayers,” Wu’er told reporters in Taiwan.

The Hong Kong government’s move also sparked concerns from Amnesty International.

“Amnesty International Hong Kong calls on the Hong Kong authorities to explain why they

Wang Dan

would not allow Wang Dan to enter Hong Kong and to ensure that all visitors intending to come to Hong Kong are not subject to similar treatment,” the group said in a statement yesterday. It pointed out that Hong Kong had ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which includes the right to freedom of movement.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang and security head Ambrose Lee declined to comment on the incident. The two former student leaders said their exclusion from Hong Kong showed Beijing had tightened its grip on the officially autonomous territory and the “one country, two systems” concept under which Beijing governs Hong Kong and the former Portuguese colony of Macau was dead. —AFP

HSINCHU, Taiwan: China’s most famous philanthropist Chen Guangbiao greets the crowd at a charity event yesterday. – AFP

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Lenovo, NEC form PC joint venture PAGE 20

DAVOS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy delivers his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland yesterday.—AP

Sarkozy: No turning our backs on euro Food inflation a threat, regulation questioned DAVOS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed yesterday that he and European partners will “never turn our backs on the euro” despite the government debt crisis that worries investors and leaders worldwide. Sarkozy’s vigorous defense of the euro came at the World Economic Forum in this Swiss resort, where the Alpine winter calm was briefly disrupted by a small explosion at a hotel. Windows were broken but there were no injuries, Swiss police said. The cause of the blast was unclear.

Sarkozy also expressed concerns about currency imbalances and rising commodity prices, priorities as he presides over the Group of 20 leading world economies this year. But his strongest words concerned the euro, shared by 17 countries in the European Union.

“The disappearance of the euro would be so cataclysmic that we can’t even possibly entertain the idea,” he said. He acknowledged months of worries about the future of the currency since the European Union and International Monetary Fund had to bail out debt-laden Greece and then Ireland.

But despite those concerns, he said, “the euro is still there.”

“Europe has had 60 years of peace and therefore we will never let the euro go or be destroyed. ... I speak as much for my German friends as I do for the French,” he said. He warned that euro countries cannot continue to “mount up staggering debts

without thinking about the imbalances.”

The officials expressed concern yesterday about soaring food prices stoking social unrest, but corporate figures rejected calls for curbs on speculation. “Higher food prices and volatility are one of the biggest threats to the global economic recovery and social stability,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, managing director at the World Bank, told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting in the Swiss resort.

US wheat futures rose to a new 29-month high yesterday as buyers scrambled for supplies amid harsh weather in major producing countries like Australia and Russia. Street protests in Egypt-in part stoked by surging prices continued into a third day yesterday following unrest in Algeria and in Tunisia, where President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali was deposed earlier this month. “There’s no doubt higher food prices and a stress in living standards are taking a toll,” said Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance minister.

“This will hit the poor the hardest. We’re not going to see cheap food prices again because this is a long term phenomenon ... We need more investment in Africa because more than 50 percent of arable land in the world today is in Africa.”

JPMorgan chief executive James Dimon said governments were right to act by rescuing Ireland and Greece from default

rather than risk a run on the continent’s banks. Europe “did the only good choice, which is to get through this crisis, because if you don’t fix it here, you’re going to fix it there, which is in the banking system,” he said. The remarks came as the euro, and Europe, captures the attention of the five-day meeting of the Forum. Not only are participants frantically trying to make up for failing last year to predict Europe’s sovereign debt crisis-that sent the euro into freefall-by holding back-to-back panels on the common currency and the future of the European project as a whole. They’re also feeling the currency shock in their pockets, as hotels, restaurants and bars in the Swiss ski resort of Davos do business in francs, whose value has surged against the euro in recent months.

Sarkozy has also made concerns about China’s low-valued currency and the dominance of the US dollar in world trade a key priority for his leadership of the G20. He that global currency imbalances “one of these days will bring down the whole pack of cards unless we attend to this very swiftly and very strongly.” He said that other G20 members should “understand that if these imbalances continue it will be to the detriment of one and all.” He warned of the risk on inflation and growth of the soaring prices and extreme volatility of commodities. “It’s in no one’s interest for hunger to rise.” —Agencies

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Kuwait posts trade surplus with Japan

CAIRO: Egypt’s EGX30 index was down 9.93 percent to 5,728.49 points yesterday, continuing its tumble after trading was briefly suspended.

Egypt stocks plunge Protests rattle investor confidence CAIRO: Egypt’s benchmark index plummeted to its lowest level in over two years yesterday, dropping almost 10 percent as anti-government protests rattled investor confidence and left Hosni Mubarak’s regime facing its most serious challenge in years.

The EGX30 index was down 9.93 percent to 5,728.49 points, continuing its tumble after trading was briefly suspended. The market had tumbled 6.25 percent just 15 minutes into the trading session.

The day’s drop built on a 6.1 percent decline on Wednesday-a plunge fueled by the massive anti-government protests that mirrored earlier demonstrations in Tunisia that led to the ouster of that country’s president. “It’s clear today that the inability to control the situation in the streets yesterday is panicking investors,” said Ahmed Hanafi, a broker with Guthour Trading. “The drop we saw yesterday is being repeated. At this rate, it’s going to continue to fall hard.” The protests began on Tuesday, with tens of thousands of demonstrators engulfing the capital, Cairo, and other cities, and clashing with riot police in violence that left at least six people dead. The violence and protests, albeit on a smaller scale, continued on Wednesday, shat-

tering expectations that they would be summarily quashed by the powerful security forces.

“The weakness in the market is stronger after trading was suspended,” said Mostafa Abdel-Aziz, a broker with Beltone financial, a regional investment bank based in Cairo.

“During the break, investors had a chance to assess the situation.” The continued fall in the index-bringing it to its lowest level since October 2008 — reflected their unease, he said, adding that some shares had dropped by as much as 25 percent. All sectors were affected.

The anger on the streets has focused on the 82-year-old Mubarak and his government, with protesters calling for his ouster and demanding action to end a litany of economic and political ills including rising food and housing prices, unemployment, a widening income distribution gap that has fueled poverty in the Arab world’s most populous nation. While Egyptian officials have boasted about healthy economic growth figures, critics have argued that the ambitious economic reforms launched in 2005 — and which led to GDP growth rates of over 7 percent just a few years ago-have done little more than make

the rich even richer. The pummeling on the stock market hits at the core of some of the Mubarak regime’s main accomplishments.

The president, who has ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years, has built his legacy continuing and expanding the open market policies launched by his predecessor, Anwar Sadat, in the 1970s.

State industries have largely been privatized, the Egyptian real estate sector was one of the few in the world that escaped largely unscathed from the global economic meltdown in 2008 and 2009 and the banking sector fared well given it was not victim to the subprime mortgage mess that helped precipitate the world’s worst recession in over six decades.

Traders said that investors had hoped to see indications at least of an end to the unrest in the country, where roughly 40 percent live on or below the World Bank determined poverty line of under $2 per day. But expectations that the rallies would continue today, the start of the weekend in much of the Arab world, have undercut that hope. Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei is expected to take part in rallies in Cairo on friday, according to his spokesman.—AP

Emaar sets $500 million sukuk profit at 8.5% rate

DAVOS: (from left), Chairman of the Board, Novartis, Switzerland Daniel Vasella, President and CEO fortum Corporation, finland, Tapio Kuula, Chairman of the Management Board, Deutsche Bank, Germany, Josef Ackerman and Chairmand and CEO, Cisco, USA, John Chambers speak with each other prior to a session at the World Economic forum in Davos, Switzerland yesterday. — AP

DUBAI: Emaar Properties, builder of the world’s tallest building, has priced its $500 million Islamic bond at a profit rate of 8.5 percent, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday.

The five-and-a-half year Islamic bond or sukuk, issued as part a $2 billion bond program, attracted bids for about $1.7 billion, one source close to the deal said. Emaar picked HSBC, RBS and Standard Chartered to arrange fixed income meetings ahead of a possible bond issue, the developer said last week.

The property market in the United Arab Emirates suffered in the wake of the global financial crisis as developers found themselves overstretched. Dubai’s ruler has a 31 percent stake in Emaar, which built the towering Burj Khalifa. The company issued a five-year $500 million convertible bond last year with coupon of 7.5 percent to refinance short term liabilities. Emaar shares closed 0.6 percent lower on the Dubai bourse on Thursday. The broader index dropped 0.9 percent. — Reuters

TOKYO: Kuwait’s exports to Japan fell 12.3 percent from a year earlier to JPY 101.63 billion ($1.24 billion) in December for the second consecutive monthly decline, official data showed yesterday.

Imports from Japan also plunged 51.3 percent to JPY 9.01 billion ($109.7 million), marking the fourth straight monthly fall, the finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.

As Kuwaiti export prices to Japan far exceeded import prices, Kuwait posted a trade surplus with Japan for the 35th straight month in December at JPY 92. 62 billion ($1.13 billion).

However, the figure narrowed 4.9 percent from a year earlier, shrinking for the second straight month. In the full year 2010, two-way trade hit JPY 1.026 trillion ($12.49 billion) and Kuwait’s trade surplus with Japan widened 7.6 percent on the year to JPY 776.43 billion ($9.45 billion).

The Middle East’s trade surplus with Japan in December narrowed 3.0 percent to JPY 793.52 billion ($9.66 billion), with Japanbound exports falling 3.7 percent from a year earlier to JPY 992.75 billion ($12.08 billion), largely due to a 4.4 percent decline in crude oil and petroleum products, which accounted for 98.1 percent of Japan’s total imports from the area.

December imports from Japan to the Middle East went down 6.1 percent to JPY 199.23 billion ($2.42 billion), as shipments of rubber products, electrical components and transport equipment, which accounted for 60.7 percent of the region’s total imports from Japan, dropped.

Demand for automobiles fell 13.5 percent. Japan’s global trade surplus expanded 34.1 percent to JPY 727.70 billion ($8.86 billion) for the first expansion in two months. Exports from the world’s third-largest economy grew 13.0 percent in December from a year earlier to JPY 6.113 trillion ($74.40 billion) on robust shipments of vehicles and steel. The export growth accelerated for the second straight month in December, thanks to a revival of overseas demand. Imports climbed 10.6 percent to JPY 5.385 trillion ($65.54 billion), mainly due to hikes in iron ore prices. In 2010, the trade surplus surged 153.4 percent to JPY 6.770 trillion ($82.39 billion) for the second consecutive year of expansion.

Exports grew 24.4 percent from the previous year, marking the first annual expansion in three years on robust demand in China and other Asian economies. China remained Japan’s biggest trading partner. Imports grew 17.7 percent, the first gain in two years, affected by rising oil and other commodity prices. The trade data are measured on a customs-cleared basis before adjustment for seasonal factors. — KUNA

Euro-zone firms looking for more credit: Survey FRANKFURT: Euro-zone companies asked for more credit from banks late last year, the European Central Bank said yesterday, a sign that sustained growth prospects are encouraging firms to consider fresh investments.

Demand for corporate loans grew from both small- and medium-sized enterprises, and from large companies, the ECB said in its quarterly Bank Lending Survey of 120 euro-zone lending institutions.

The banks themselves left credit standards unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2010, though they expect to tighten them slightly early this year, the survey found. But “interestingly, for the first time in more than two years, financing needs for fixed investment purposes stopped dragging down demand for corporate loans,” the ECB said.

Businesses cut back sharply on borrowing amid the economic slump in 2008-2009 and the ECB said its latest survey “confirms the turnaround” that began in the second half of last year.

Net demand, the difference between increases and decreases reported by banks for home purchases grew significantly, with a net 23 percent of banks polled reporting stronger interest from households for mortgages.

The figure was eight percent in the ECB’s previous survey.

Net demand for consumer credit to buy furniture, appliances and automobiles remained negative at minus two percent, but that was an improvement from minus eight percent in the third quarter the ECB said.

In December, the central bank forecast 2010 economic growth of 1.6 percent for the euro-zone, followed by an expansion of 1.4 percent this year for the 17-nation area that includes Estonia since January 1. The banks reported however that they expected to tighten lending standards again slightly early this year. — AfP

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Rosneft, Exxon ink deal on Black Sea exploration DAVOS: Russian energy giant Rosneft and US firm Exxon Mobil yesterday signed a deal for joint exploration in the Black Sea, both companies said, marking their first cooperation in the region.

Rosneft president E.Yu. Khudaynatov and Exxon Mobil Development Company president Neil W. Duffin signed the deal at the World Economic Forum in Davos in the presence of Deputy Russian Prime Minister Igor Sechin.

The two firms said they would form a joint operating company to hunt for oil in the Tuapse Trough, a 11,200 square kilometre (4,320 square mile) deepwater offshore area along the Black Sea coast off the Krasnodar region.

“I welcome here our American friends. Thank you and I wish you success,” said Sechin, emphasising that the deal underlined Russia’s openness to foreign investment in its oil and gas sector.

Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil CEO, also attended the signing and said the deal would see the US giant sharing offshore technology with its Russian partner.

“Exxon Mobil will bring its technology, project evaluation capabilities and innovation to complement Rosneft’s strengths and experience in the region,” he said. The two firms already work together in oil fields off Sakhalin in Russia’s Pacific far east, but this is their first deal in the Black Sea. —AP

OMV chief rejects insider trade charge VIENNA: Austrian oil and gas group OMV’s Chief Executive Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer professed his innocence as his high-profile insider trading trial got under way yesterday.

“I plead not guilty,” he told a crowded courtroom in a clear voice after prosecutors laid out their case in a trial that has put Austria’s reputation as a financial centre in focus.

Ruttenstorfer has denied any wrongdoing in a share purchase he made in 2009, shortly before OMV announced a divestment that sent its stock higher, and has insisted the stock he got in a long-term option scheme did not lend itself to insider deals.

But Prosecutor Michael Schoen dismissed that reasoning. “It doesn’t matter if you were to keep the shares for two or three years if you bought them at a price which was less than they were actually worth,” he told the Vienna court.

Looking relaxed and smiling, Ruttenstorfer shook hands with journalists and made jokes and small talk before taking the stand to confirm his personal details.

Ruttenstorfer, OMV chief executive since 2002, faces up to three years imprisonment if found guilty of insider trading. He could also face lesser charges or a fine. A verdict was due on Thursday.

He has said prosecutors were under pressure to use the case to prove their ability to secure a conviction for insider trading.

The FMA financial watchdog has acknowledged the case was important for Austria’s international reputation. Austria has convicted only one person for the crime so far, handing out a suspended sentence, according to the FMA. — Reuters

A bank teller counting 10,000 yen bank notes in Tokyo. The yen fell sharply against the US dollar yesterday after Standard & Poor’s downgraded Japan’s credit rating, tumbling to 83.20 yen from around 82.12 yen earlier.—AFP

S&P slashes Japan’s sovereign rating Debt degrade first time since 2002 TOKYO: Rating agency Standard & Poor’s cut Japan’s long-term sovereign debt rating yesterday for the first time since 2002, saying the country’s government lacked a coherent plan to tackle its mounting debt.

It reduced the rating by one notch to AA minus, three levels below the highest possible rating and providing a sharp reminder to other developed nations, such as those in Europe and the United States, of the growing concerns about the debt built up during the global financial crisis.

Politicians and credit ratings agencies have been warning for years that Japan needs to lower its public debt pile, by far the worst among rich nations at double the size of its $5 trillion economy, but progress has proved elusive. Julian Jessop, chief international economist at Capital Economics in London, warned of the consequences if Tokyo failed to get its fiscal house in order.

“If it looks like making a mess of this, further downgrades will surely follow. Given the size of Japan’s economy and the current sensitivity of global financial markets to sovereign debt concerns, the impact would be felt worldwide.”

The yen fell broadly and credit default swaps on Japan widened after the announcement, but markets in the past have not worried too much about the country’s high debt because, for now, it is well serviced by ample domestic savings and few foreign investors hold Japanese government bonds (JGBs). However, Japan’s society is ageing quickly, so social welfare costs will take up an increasing proportion of the budget in the absence of reforms, which S&P said reduces Japan’s already weak fiscal flexibility.

S&P’s downgrade leaves its credit rating on Japan one notch below both Fitch and Moody’s.

“The downgrade reflects our appraisal that Japan’s government debt ratiosalready among the highest for rated sovereigns-will continue to rise further than we envisaged before the global economic recession hit the country and will peak only in the mid-2020s,” S&P said in a statement. “In our opinion, the Democratic Party of Japan-led government lacks a coherent strategy to address these negative aspects of the country’s debt dynamics, in part due to the coalition having lost its majority in the upper house of parliament last summer.” Japan’s government is well aware of its debt problem but, like governments before it, has struggled to tackle it head on. Just this month, Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano warned that the country faced a fiscal dead end.

He said on yesterday the S&P move was regrettable. — Reuters

Nord Gold seeks up to $1.5bn from London IPO

VIENNA: Chief executive of Austria’s oil and gas company OMV AG, Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer arrives in a courtroom at the main court in Vienna, Austria yesterday. — AP

MOSCOW: Russian mining group Severstal’s gold unit Nord Gold is seeking up to 933 million pounds ($1.5 billion) from a London float, pushing the hoped-for total from Russian IPO hopefuls past $3 billion for 2011.

The company, which said it needs cash to pay debt to owner Severstal as well as to fund exploration, said yesterday it would price new and existing shares at between 3.00 and 3.90 pounds each, valuing the group at up to 3.2 billion pounds. Nord Gold is the fourth Russian company to announce a London IPO pricing this month, more than any other country. Analysts say a sharp rise in Russian shares as well as high oil prices have helped swell demand for newlylisted Russian companies, while some have predicted $30 bil-

lion could be raised by Russian private issuers this year-in line with the last boom year of 2007.

Russia’s dollar-traded RTS index is up 18 percent since the start of December-including a 1.7 percent rise on Wednesday — while the FTSE 100 is up 8 percent. Gold companies are also in vogue as the precious metal, seen as a safe haven by investors during uncertain economic times, hovers just below historic highs following a record advance late last year. Russian firms HMS Hydraulic, KOKS and ChelPipe have also unveiled IPO price ranges this week, between them hoping for an estimated $1.86 billion. A successful Nord Gold float would bring the total to $3.3 billion, compared with $5.5 billion for the whole of last year. — Reuters

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Lenovo, NEC form PC joint venture Deal to help China firm to foray into Japan

TOKYO: A TV cameraman looks at the next generation portable entertainment device, codenamed ‘NGP’, from Sony Computer Entertainment at an event in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP

Sony to release new PlayStation Portable TOKYO: Sony said the successor to its PlayStation Portable machine will go on sale late this year, offering the quality of a home console in an on-the-go machine boasting a screen double the size of smart phones. The announcement yesterday of the “next generation portable” underlines efforts at the Japanese electronics and entertainment company to ward off the formidable threat from Apple Inc, which is delivering one hit product after another, while also trying to get an edge over Nintendo Co, maker of the DS handheld game machine.

The popularity of smart phones including the iPhone is a potential threat to game machine makers as more people play games, watch video, send e-mail and chat on cell phones. People are also using other portable devices such as Apple’s iPod and iPad to play games.

Sony’s new machine, known as NGP for short, comes packed with motion sensor and GPS location technology so that gamers can tilt and sway the machine to play golf games, kill monsters and experience other “virtual realities,” said Kazuo Hirai, who heads Sony Corp’s gaming section. It has a touch panel in the front and touch pads in the back to allow players to tap on the machine to move images, in addition to the usual buttons and switches. Also provided is a third-generation wireless connection plus the already available WiFi, allowing for more social networking and downloads. Its five-inch screen is OLED — a different technology from liquidcrystal display — for good color and image quality about four times better than the current PSP. Sony said gamers will be able to experience games they had been playing on the PlayStation 3 home console without any drop in quality.

Hirai proudly held the shiny black machine up for the cameras, declaring: “This is the NGP.” He did not give a price, regional release plans or other details. “We will pursue the ultimate in entertainment,” said Hirai. “We want to create a revolution in your hands.” Hirai said Sony was working on what he called PlayStation Suite, for enjoying some PlayStation Portable games on smart phones and tablet PCs. Sony will start providing support and starting a licensing program for devices running Google’s Android software systems starting this year, he said. There had been some speculation about Sony introducing phone features, or the so-called PlayStation Phone. Hirai did not talk about that in his presentation.

Sony is facing off in portables against Japanese rival Nintendo Co, which is introducing a new DS with glasses-free 3-D features next month. US software maker Microsoft Corp is another major player with its Xbox 360 home console, but it does not make a portable.

Microsoft has a cell phone business with its Windows Phone 7 software for games and other entertainment on smart phones.—AP

BEIJING: Leading Japanese and Chinese electronics firms NEC Corp and Lenovo Group said yesterday they had agreed to set up a joint venture in the personal computer business in Japan.

The deal will enable China-based Lenovo to make in-roads into the Japanese market, and both companies will be better positioned to take on global giants such as Hewlett-Packard, analysts and business media said.

Multinational Lenovo will take a 51 percent stake in the company, called NEC Lenovo Japan Group, they said in a joint statement. NEC will hold 49 percent.

The tie-up gives Lenovo and NEC the opportunity to build their operations in Japan through “stronger market position, enhanced product portfolios and expanded distribution channels”, the statement said.

“The agreement with NEC is a perfect fit for our strategy,” Lenovo chief executive Yang Yuanqing said.

“It reinforces our commitment to our core PC business while, at the same time, providing important new opportunities for growth in Japan.” The leaders in their respective domestic PC markets will immediately start cooperating in manufacturing, development and sales, the statement said.

NEC controlled about 18 percent of the Japanese PC market in 2009, but globally it came in 12th with a share of less than one percent, the Nikkei business daily said last week, citing data

by IDC intelligence firm. Lenovo, which bought IBM’s PC business in 2004, had roughly 27 percent of its home market and was ranked fourth in the world with a market share of about eight percent, it said. By working together, they hope to catch up with such global giants as top-ranked Hewlett-Packard, the Nikkei said.

“Lenovo is the right partner at the right time for NEC,” said NEC president Nobuhiro Endo.

“We believe this alliance will further reinforce and expand our PC business in Japan ... Taking this strategic relationship as a first step, NEC will accelerate expansion of our IT business worldwide.”

NEC Personal Products president Hideyo Takasu will be the chief executive of the new company while the president of Lenovo’s Japan operations, Roderick Lappin, will be the executive chairman. The deal is expected to be finalized by June 30.

TOKYO: Lenovo Group Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing (left) shakes hands with NEC President Nobuhiro Endo during a joint press conference in Tokyo yesterday. — AP Simon Ye, a Shanghai-based analyst at technology research group Gartner, said the deal was a “win-win situation in terms of strategy” for Lenovo and NEC. “Lenovo’s overseas expansion has not been very smooth since its acquisition of IBM’s PC division — it was beaten by Acer several times,” Ye said, referring to the Taiwanese computer maker.

“The deal may give Lenovo a chance to make a breakthrough in the Japanese market on the back of the NEC brand.”

Ye added that the companies could combine their strengths in research and development in the fast-growing mobile Internet and telecommunications market.

“It will benefit both companies,” he said. The deal comes as Lenovo pushes to diversify its business into new product types such as smartphones and tablet computers, amid huge global demand. — AFP

Nintendo 9-month net profit falls 74%

Reporters wait for the start of a press conference by Nintendo Co President Satoru Iwata where he is expected to launch Nintendo 3DS in Chiba, near Tokyo. — AP

TOKYO: Nintendo’s nine-month profit tumbled 74 percent as weaker sales of the Wii console and a strong yen battered its bottom line. The lackluster results announced yesterday led the company to slash sales expectations for its video game devices and underscores a rocky year for the creator of the Super Mario franchise.

The Kyoto-based company faces waning consumer demand for its game machines and new challenges — from Apple’s iPhone and rival Sony — as well as a stubbornly strong yen, which shrinks the value of overseas profits. Last fall, Nintendo slashed its earnings forecasts after announcing that its new 3DS game machine wouldn’t be ready for the holiday shopping season. It then reported a first-half loss — its first since 2003.

Nintendo managed to avoid red this time, reporting a net profit of 49.56 billion yen ($603 million) for the April-December period.

It posted a 192.6 billion yen profit for the same nine months a year earlier. Sales dropped 32 percent to 808 billion yen, while operating profit fell 47 percent to 158.8 billion yen. The company did not break down quarterly numbers. While holiday sales were “robust,” the numbers fell short of the US sales record set by the Wii and the DS handheld system the previous year, the company said. It also cited 84.4 billion yen in exchange rate losses. Nintendo now says it will sell 16 million Wii consoles in the fiscal year through March 31. That’s 1.5 million fewer than it predicted in its previous forecast. It cut its sales estimate for the DS by 1 million to 22.5 million units. — AP

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Obama’s priorities Jobs, jobs, jobs...

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ew State of the Union addresses have made history. Not since James Monroe introduced what would later be known as the Monroe Doctrine has any president used the occasion to significantly alter history.

President Barack Obama shouldn’t try. Instead, he should seize the opportunity to help Americans understand what should be his first, second and third priorities: jobs, jobs and jobs.

That’s harder than it sounds. The link between government spending and job creation is difficult for people to grasp. Yet it is the key to recovery.

The president has gotten less credit than he deserves for the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which bolstered the economy 2010. The Congressional Budget Office credits the stimulus with saving nearly 2 million jobs.

How soon we forget that the nation was on the brink of a devastating depression when Obama took office. Today, we’re moving in the right direction, although unemployment remains stubbornly high.

Obama needs to convince Americans that Republican plans to trim $2.5 trillion from the budget for the next decade would only drive more people out of work and deepen the deficit.

Combining strategic cuts with investments in infrastructure and job creation is the way to go.

Investments in education, research and development, and manufacturing will be popular with middle Americans if they understand the economics. That is Obama’s challenge. — MCT

US President Barack Obama greets guests after signing the Small Business Jobs Act during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. —MCT file photo

Tracy Cherechinsky, a straighter operator, feeds steel bars through the straighter to bring them to exact client specifications at the Nucor Cold Finish Group plant in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. — MCT

US economic gloom to stay Employment rate building up, albeit slowly

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tanislaus County’s economic woes won’t be over anytime soon, according to just-released projections from the University of the Pacific’s Business Forecasting Center.

Stanislaus’ unemployment rate will be 17.5 percent this year, about the same as last year, the university predicts. And 2012 and 2013 won’t be much better, with 16 percent or more of the work force without a job. But the county’s average annual wage is expected to edge up about 3.4 percent this year, which would be a $1,600 boost from the current $47,900 average.

The total number of people employed is expected to rise this year, increasing 2,900 from the estimated 239,800 workers at the end of 2010. Part of that prediction is based on the Business Forecasting Center’s assumption that Stanislaus’ population will continue to grow by nearly 1 percent per year.

“People keep having babies,” explained Jeffrey Michael, the center’s director.

Michael acknowledged Stanislaus has had it rough the past three years, losing 9.2 percent of its jobs. Layoffs in the Bay Area and other Central Valley counties also have hurt Stanislaus residents.

“Those middle-class commuter jobs have been the ones that have taken the hit,” Michael said. Also a big hit for workers is the loss of local government and school jobs, which Michael said is “a critical employment driver ... and primary source of middle-class jobs.”

Government jobs peaked in 2008 in Stanislaus, and they declined both years since. More government workers are expected to lose their jobs this year throughout the county because of public-sector budget cuts.

Construction jobs, however, are predicted to rebound in 2011. More than half of Stanislaus’ construction jobs disappeared from 2005 to 2010, but those jobs are supposed to start coming back a

bit at a time over the next four years.

“Pent-up demand and less expensive designs will increase new home starts in 2012 and beyond, but will generate less economic activity per unit than in the past,” the forecast predicts for California as a whole.

Crushing blow The university didn’t predict when home prices would start recovering.

Michael noted how the housing market’s

back near record levels,” the forecast says.

What is ag’s role?

While the resiliency of agriculture helped the valley survive the recession, the forecast suggests “a long-term strategy to improve the valley economy must ... critically examine the linkages between the agriculture sector and the broader regional economy.”

The report says “the subprime-fueled

While the resiliency of agriculture helped the valley survive the recession, the forecast suggests “a long-term strategy to improve the valley economy must ... critically examine the linkages between the agriculture sector and the broader economy. collapse “has just crushed the net worth of households and their ability to borrow money.”

Despite the “lousy forecast,” Michael said Stanislaus’ economy could have been worse had it not been for farming.

“The valley’s largest industry, agriculture, has fared relatively well throughout the recession despite a cyclical downturn in the dairy industry and localized water shortages.

“These problems are abating and rising agricultural prices, a weaker dollar and growing exports have the industry

real estate boom temporarily shrouded long-term structural problems in the valley economy.”

The university predicts the valley’s unemployment rate will be “permanently in double digits.”

“Strength in agriculture will help the short-term outlook, but will not be enough to offset continued weakness in housing and cuts to state spending and the lack of professional, technical, and information services that will lead the recovery in coastal areas,” the forecast states. — MCT

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Chinese military comes into its own the Soviets and Americans faced during the Cold War, meaning the J-20 prototype should not be judged solely by the American standards for fifth-generation aircraft. More than having the most advanced aircraft in the sky, the Chinese value the ability to maintain high sortie rates from many bases along the country’s coast to overwhelm with numbers the superior US combat aircraft, which would be expected to be operated from aircraft carriers or from more distant land bases.

US President Barack Obama delivers remarks as he welcomes Chinese President Hu Jintao during a state arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington Jan 19, 2011. — AFP

By Rodger Baker

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hinese President Hu Jintao visited the United States, perhaps his last state visit as president before China begins its generational leadership transition in 2012. Hu’s visit is being shaped by the ongoing China-US economic dialogue, by concerns surrounding stability on the Korean Peninsula and by rising attention to Chinese defense activity in recent months. For example, China carried out the first reported test flight of its fifth-generation combat fighter prototype, dubbed the J-20, during US Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ visit to China the previous week. The development and test flight of China’s J-20 is not insignificant, but it is also by no means a game changer in the US-China defense balance. More intriguingly, the test highlights how China’s military increasingly is making its interests heard.

The J-20 Test Flight and China’s Strategic Concerns The J-20 test flight shone a light on China’s strategic concerns and reflected some of the developing capability that addresses those concerns. The Chinese fear a potential US blockade of their coast. While this may not seem a likely scenario, the Chinese look at their strategic vulnerability, at their rising power and at the US history of thwarting regional powers, and they see themselves as clearly at risk.

China’s increased activity and rhetoric in and around the South and East China seas also clearly reflect this concern. For Beijing, it is critical to keep the US Navy as far from Chinese waters as

possible and delay its approach by maximizing the threat environment in the event of a conflict. Though the J-20 is still a work in progress, a more advanced combat fighter - particularly one with stealth capabilities - could serve a number of relevant roles toward this end.

The Chinese are still in the early stages of development, however. They are experimenting with stealth shaping, characteristics and materials, meaning the degree to which the J-20 can achieve low observability against modern radar remains an open question.

Significant changes to the design based on handling characteristics and radar signature can be expected. And true “stealth” is the product of more than just shaping. Special coatings and radarabsorbing materials only top a lengthy list of areas in which Chinese engineers must gain practical experience, even allowing for considerable insight gained through espionage or foreign assistance.

China still is thought to be struggling with indigenously designed and manufactured high-end jet engines, not to mention the integration of advanced sensors, avionics and the complex systems that characterize fifth-generation aircraft. It is too early to infer much from the single flight-tested prototype, something the United States learned during the Cold War when initial US estimates of the Soviet MiG-25 attributed far more sophistication and capability to the design than proved to be the case after a Soviet pilot defected with his aircraft years later.

The Chinese role for the J-20 is based on a different set of realities than those

The J-20 Test’s Timing Perhaps more interesting than the test was its timing, with its associated political implications. For weeks before the test flight, Chinese message boards and blogs were filled with photographs of the new prototype on the tarmac, conducting taxi tests in preparation for its first test flight. Foreign military and defense observers closely monitor such sites, and their “leaked” images renewed attention to China’s fifth-generation development program, about which there has been plenty of speculation but little hard detail. Chinese defense and security officials also closely monitor such boards, but the officials chose not to shut them down - clearly indicating Beijing’s intent to draw attention to the test.

Gates asked Hu about the test when the two met in Beijing. According to some media reports citing American officials present at the meeting, Hu appeared surprised by the question and somewhat perplexed by the details of the test - the implication being that Hu was unaware of the test and that the Chinese military may have acted out of turn. Gates told reporters that Hu had assured him the timing was coincidental. After being asked for his own thoughts regarding the relationship between the military and the political leadership in China after his meetings with Chinese civilian and defense leaders, Gates noted that he had become concerned about that relationship over time. He added that ensuring civilian and military dialogue between the two countries was important.

Although Gates did not say the Chinese military tested the J-20 without political clearance from Hu, the idea was certainly suggested by the media coverage and Gates’ response. On the surface, this seems rather hard to believe.

Hu, as president of China and general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, also serves as chairman of China’s parallel Central Military Commissions (one is under the government, the other under the Party, though both have exactly the same makeup).

That the head of China’s military would not know about a major new

hardware test coming a week before his trip to meet with the president of the United States and coinciding with a visit of the US defense secretary seems a reach. Furthermore, given the amount of attention just beneath the surface in China to the imminent test, and the subsequent attention in the foreign media, it would be startling that the Chinese president was so poorly briefed prior to meeting the US defense secretary. If indeed the test surprised Hu, then there is serious trouble in China’s leadership structure. But perhaps the issue isn’t one of knowledge but one of capability: Could Hu have stopped the test given the timing, and if so, would he have wanted to stop it?

The Rising Influence of China’s Military Rumors and signs of the rising influence of the military establishment in China have emerged over the past few years. Since the 1980s, China has focused on and invested in a major reorientation of its military from a massive land army focused on territorial defense to one that emphasizes naval and air capabilities to protect China’s interests in the East and South China seas and beyond into the western Pacific. This has included expanding China’s reach and a focus on anti-access and area-denial capabilities, with accelerated development in this arena in recent years.

Some systems, like the DF-21D antiship ballistic missile, are uniquely tailored to countering the US Navy. Others, like an expanding and more aggressive Ocean and Fisheries Administration, is directed more at China’s neighbors in the South and East China seas, and at asserting China’s claims to these waters.

This change in focus is driven by three factors. First, China sees its land borders as being fairly well locked down, with its buffer territories largely under control, but the maritime border is a vulnerability - a particular concern for a trade-based economy. Second, as China’s economy has rapidly expanded, so has Beijing’s dependence on farflung sources of natural resources and emerging markets. This drives the government and military to look at protection of sea-lanes, often far from China’s shores. Third, the military leadership is using these concerns to increase its own role in internal decision-making. The more dependent China is on places far from its borders, the more the military can make the case that it is the only entity with both the intelligence and the understanding to provide the necessary strategic advice and perspective to China’s civilian leadership. There is also the issue of a modernizing military looking out for itself, battling for its

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share of China’s budget and economic pie. A key part of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin’s fundamental military reforms was stripping the military of much of its business empire. At the time, the state - while funding the military - assumed that military-run industry would supplement the defense budget. In short, the military ran industries, and the profits were used to support local and regional defense needs.

That kept the official state military budget down and encouraged enterprising commanders to contribute to China’s economic growth.

But over time, it also led to corruption and a military where regional and local military commanders were at risk of becoming more intent on their business empires than on the country’s national defense.

Money that largely had gone to support the living of the troops was sidelined and funneled to the military officials. And the faster the Chinese economy grew, the more profit there was for the taking. Regional military leaders and local governments teamed up to operate, promote and protect their own business interests regardless of the state’s broader national economic or social priorities. China’s central leadership saw troubling parallels to older Chinese history, when regional warlords emerged.

In response, Jiang ordered the military largely out of business. Military leaders grudgingly complied for the most part, though there were plenty of cases of military-run industries being stripped of all their machinery, equipment and supplies, which were then sold on the black market and then unloaded at bargain prices to the cronies of military officials. Other companies were simply stripped and foisted

the military to financial dependence on the government and Communist Party.

But the success of military reform, which also involved seeking greater sophistication in doctrine, training, communications and technology, has also given the military greater influence.

Over time, the military has come to expect more technologically, and China has begun experimenting with technology-sharing between military and civilian industry to spur development. The

In this Jan 7, 2011 photo, a prototype of the Chinese J-20 stealth plane is seen during a runway test in Chengdu, southwest China. — AP

drive for dual-use technology, from the evolving aerospace industry to nanotechnology, creates new opportunities for military officials to promote new weapons-system development while at the same time profiting from the development. As China’s global economic power has grown, the military has demanded more funding and greater

As Chinese leaders deal with a generational transition, expanding international involvement and an increasingly difficult economic balance, the military is coming into its own and making its interests heard more clearly. on the government to deal with, debts and all. Jiang placated the military by increasing its budget, increasing the living standard of the average soldier and launching a ramped-up program to rapidly increase the education of its soldiers and technical sophistication of China’s military. This appeased the military officials and bought their loyalty - returning

have addressed not only military issues but also Chinese foreign policy and international relations. This step outside the norm has left the Chinese diplomatic community uncomfortable (or at least left it expressing its unease with the rising influence of the military to their foreign counterparts). This may be an elaborate disinformation campaign or a slightly higher level of the griping typical of bureaucrats, or it may in fact reflect a military that sees its own role

capabilities to protect national interests and its own prerogatives.

But China’s military officials are also growing more vocal in their opinions beyond the issue of military procurement. Over the past year, Chinese military officers have made their opinions known, quite openly in Chinese and sometimes even foreign media. They

and significance rising and is stepping forward to try to grab the influence and power it feels it deserves.

One example of the ostensible struggle between the military and the civilian bureaucrats over Chinese foreign policy played out over the past year. Through nearly the first three-quarters of the year, when the United States carried out defense exercises in the Asia-Pacific region - whether annual or in response to regional events like the sinking of the ChonAn in South Korea - the Chinese would respond by holding their own series of exercises, sometimes on a larger scale.

It was a game of one-upmanship. But the foreign ministry and bureaucracy purportedly argued against this policy as counterproductive, and by the fourth quarter, China had shifted away from military exercises as a response. Instead, it once again pushed a friendlier and more diplomatic line even as US exercises continued. By the Nov 2010 crisis over North Korea’s shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, China had returned to its standard call for moderation and dialogue.

If this narrative is accepted, the military response to being sidelined again was to leak plans to launch an aircraft carrier in 2011, to reinvigorate international attention to Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles, and to test the new Chinese fifth-generation aircraft while Gates was in Beijing and just before Hu headed to Washington.

A Chinese military motivated by nationalism - and perhaps an even stronger interest in preserving its power and influence within China - would find it better to be in contention with the United States than in calm. This is because US pressure, whether real or rhetorical, drives China’s defense development. But the case could as easily be

made that the Chinese political leadership has an equal interest in ensuring a mixed relationship with Washington, that the government benefits from seemingly endless US criticism of Chinese defense development. This is because such criticism increases Chinese nationalism, distracting the people from the economic troubles Beijing is trying to manage. And this is the heart of the issue: Just how wellcoordinated are the military and civilian leadership of China, and how stable is their relationship?

An End to the Chinese Miracle The Chinese miracle is nearing its natural conclusion, as Beijing begins to face a reality like that seen by Japan, South Korea and the other Asian Tigers that all followed the same growth pattern. How that crisis plays out is fundamentally different depending upon the country: Japan has accepted the shared long-term pain of two decades of malaise; South Korea saw short, sharp, wrenching reforms; Indonesia saw its government collapse. The reliability of the military, the capability of the civilian leadership and the level of acceptance of the population all combine to shape the outcome.

A divide between the military and civilian leadership would mean that China, already facing the social consequences of its economic policies, is facing another significant issue at the same time: the balance of civilian-military relations. However, a carefully coordinated drive to give the appearance of a split may help China convince the United States to ease economic pressure to avoid exacerbating this “split” while also appealing to nationalistic unity at home.

But even small signs of a split now are critical because of the stresses on the system that China will experience when its economic miracle expires in the not-so-distant future. Mao and Deng were both soldiers.

Their successors were not. Neither Jiang Zemin nor Hu Jintao has military experience, and incoming President Xi Jinping similarly lacks such training. The rumors from China suggest that the military plans to take advantage of Xi’s lack of experience and use its influence to shape his policies. The leadership transition may provide a chance for the military to gain more influence in an institutional way, allowing it to drive a hard bargain and buy a bigger share of the pie in the fifth generation set-up.

For most of modern China’s history, the military has been an internal force without much appetite for more worldly affairs. That is now changing, appropriately, due to China’s growing global prominence and reliance on the global economy. But that means that a new balance must be found, and China’s senior leadership must both accommodate and balance the military’s perspective and what the military advocates for.

As Chinese leaders deal with a generational transition, expanding international involvement and an increasingly difficult economic balance, the military is coming into its own and making its interests heard more clearly. How this balance plays out will be tremendously significant. — Stratfor

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careers

FRIDAY JANUARY 28, 2011

Sharing is scaring

Why it's better to call in sick at work than spread the virus after 24 hours of taking the medicine).

Fever: A fever indicates that your body is trying to fight off an infection.

The infection may or may not be contagious so don't take a chance of sharing it with your co-workers. Besides, a fever usually makes you feel pretty miserable, and you won't be productive anyway.

Rash: Until you know the cause of a rash, avoid contact with other people. If you know the reason for the problem, the rash isn't contagious, and you're not too uncomfortable, you can probably go to work. Conjunctivitis (also known as pink eye): Conjunctivitis is an eye infection or inflammation. Its symptoms can include eye redness or swelling, and you may feel like you have sand in your eye. It can be extremely contagious, so you should not have contact with other people until you've visited a doctor. If she determines that it is contagious, you will have to use antibiotic eye drops for 24 hours before you can return to work.

Significant pain: Even if you know the cause of your pain isn't anything that will endanger your health, you should consider staying home from work. You will probably have trouble focusing on anything else but that pain.

Common cold: Whether or not you should call in sick because you have a cold depends on its severity. If you are rapidly emptying boxes of tissues and coughing like crazy you've got a pretty bad cold. You will have trouble concentrating and will likely spread germs to others. If your cold is not that severe and you must go to work, wash your hands frequently and keep your phone and computer germ free by wiping them down with alcohol wipes if others use them. If your co-workers keep their distance, don't be offended. It may not be the garlic dill you had with lunch, but instead their fear of catching what you have.

ou wake up during the night and you don't feel quite right. Maybe your throat feels a little scratchy or your stomach feels unsettled. You fall back to sleep hoping whatever is ailing you goes away by morning so you can avoid calling in sick to work. You have a lot of work to do after all, and the office might just fall apart without you there... or will it?

Most workplaces can survive an employee's brief absence. There's a good chance you already know that, but still you worry about calling in sick.

Perhaps you're afraid you won't finish an important project, or your absence will reflect poorly on you. Even so, a sick employee generally isn't a productive one. What he is though, is a contagious one who will spread germs to his coworkers who will in turn be faced with the dilemma of whether to call in sick tomorrow. The following illnesses and symptoms are some good reasons for calling in sick to work. Use common sense and good judgment when other problems arise.

Stomach woes: You have diarrhea or you are vomiting. It could be food poisoning or it could be a stomach virus.

The latter is very contagious, so why put your co-workers at risk?

Flu: A sudden fever, chills, and achiness usually means you have the flu. This can run through a workplace like wildfire taking down everyone in its path.

You won't feel up to standing, never mind working, so stay home.

Sore throat: This depends on whether your throat hurts a little bit or if you feel like you've been swallowing razor blades. A severe sore throat, especially if you also have a high fever and swollen glands, could mean strep throat, which is quite contagious. Go to the doctor for a throat culture and wait for the results before you return to work. If you have a positive result he or she will prescribe an antibiotic and tell you when you can return to work (usually

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You vs germs 1.

Wash your hands This means every time you use the restroom, before you eat, after you sneeze or cough and any other time your hands feel dirty. Also, keep a bottle of hand sanitizer at your desk, for when you can't get to a sink.

2.

Keep your workspace clean Clean your phone, computer keyboard and anything else that you use frequently. Even if you are the only user, germs can live on these objects and you can reinfect yourself.

3.

Eat balanced meals every day - including breakfast!

Many people are tempted to skip breakfast because it takes too long to eat in the morning or in an (misguided) effort to lose weight. It has been proven that people who eat breakfast are

www.careerplanning.about.com

healthier and more likely to remain at a healthy weight.

4.

Avoid coworkers who are sick You would hope that coworkers who are contagious would stay home from work. Unfortunately, this is usually not the case. If they do show up, try to avoid direct contact with them (without being rude, of course).

5.

Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day Sodas and coffee may help you stay awake, but they will also contribute to dehydration. So you need to be sure to drink water also. Just keep a water bottle with you all the time, drink throughout the day and you will probably get what you need.

6.

Take frequent breaks throughout the day When you are feeling tired or sore, get up and walk around for a few minutes. Or try some of these tips for stretching at your desk.

Taking breaks and keeping your body in shape will help you feel

better and make you more productive.

7.

Use your vacation days It may feel like there is never a good time to be away from the office, but people who do not take vacations are more likely to be sick. Vacations are a good way to relieve stress, which has been proven to contribute to illness. So even if it is just a few long weekends, use your vacation days and don't take your work with you.

8.

Quit smoking It is pretty common knowledge these days that smoking is bad for your health. Smokers get sick much more frequently than non-smokers. You are also getting less work done if you have to take frequent smoke breaks throughout the day. And no, smoke breaks do not promote productivity like exercise breaks do. Nicotine is a stimulant and actually increases your body's stress level.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011 www.kuwaittimes.net

• Sharing is scaring • Project cuddle • Benefits of ginger

KUWAIT: A female monkey at Kuwait Zoo in Omariya is seen protecting her baby from the children who are trying to tease it on the other side of the fence.

— Photo by Sherif Ismail

•

Health

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

W

hy is exercise so important for children?

Physical activity has many benefits, including the following: • It helps burn calories instead of storing them as body fat. This means it helps children maintain a healthy weight and reduces the risk of being overweight or obese.

• It helps keep blood sugar levels more balanced and in a normal healthy range. This is especially important for children who have or are at risk for diabetes.

• It lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

• It helps make bones and muscles strong, and it builds strength and endurance.

• It relieves stress and improves sleep and mental health.

• It can boost self-esteem by helping children feel more confident and better about their bodies and appearance.

More children and teens are overweight or obese now than ever before.

Regular exercise can help prevent serious health problems associated with overweight and obesity.

How much exercise does my child need?

Children 2 years of age and older need at least 60 minutes of exercise each day. This doesn’t have to be done all at one time. It can be accomplished throughout the day in shorter bouts of activity. Celebrate with ... action! Instead of a sugary cake, celebrate milestones with an active family activity, such as a hike, swimming excursion or volleyball game. This is one way you can begin to build activity into your family’s lifestyle.

What can I do to encourage my child to be active?

Be a healthy role model for your child. Exercise or stay physically active in your daily life, and plan active family outings.

Encourage-but don’t pressure-your child to get involved in team or group activities. Some children enjoy the social aspects of being on a team, such as soccer, gymnastics, basketball, t-ball or softball, bowling, and dancing. Other

Activities that can be done alone may appeal to other children. Examples of these include riding a bike, playing on a jungle gym, playing with the family pet, jumping on a trampoline, walking, skating or swimming.

When it comes to physical activity, there is something for everyone. With a little trial and error, you can help your child find an activity that is a good fit for his or her personality.

Why is limiting screen time important?

Screen time includes watching television or DVDs, playing video or computer games and surfing the Internet. These activities are usually done while sitting or standing still. Try to limit your child’s total screen time to no more than 1 to 2 hours each day. And remember - you’re a role model for your child. Set a good example by limiting your screen time too.

Return to top What’s wrong with this picture • On average, 8- to 18-year-olds spend 4 hours watching TV, videos, DVDs and prerecorded shows; more than 1 hour on the computer; and almost 1 hour playing video games • Two out of every 3 kids have a TV in their bedrooms • Kids who have TVs in their rooms spend almost 1 1/2 hours or more a day watching TV than kids who don’t have a TV in their Are there ways to make screen time more active?

Some newer video gaming systems include low levels of physical activity, such as games that mimic the motions of dancing, bowling, tennis and other sports. Although playing these games is better than sitting still, it’s best to include these video games in your screen-time limits. After your child has reached his or her screen-time limit, encourage your child to actually to dance, bowl and play tennis or other sports.

Another way to include physical activity in screen time is to encourage your child to be active while watching a show or playing a video game. For example, he or she can do jumping jacks during commercials, or jump rope or otherwise stay in motion while enjoying a program. (www.familydoctor.org)

Be a healthy role model for your child. Exercise or stay physically active in your daily life, and plan active family outings children may feel pressured or embarrassed in a team environment and prefer other types of group activities such as playing jump rope, tag, or hide and seek.

Health FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Asthma

home remedies and natural cures Asthma treatment using Honey Honey is one of the most common home remedies for asthma. It is said that if a jug of honey is held under the nose of an asthma patient and he inhales the air that comes into contact with it, he starts breathing easier and deeper.

The roots of the bitter gourd plant have been used in folk medicine for asthma since ancient times. A teaspoon of the root paste, mixed with an equal amount of honey or juice of the holy basil leaves, given once every night for a month, acts as an excellent medicine for this disease.

Asthma treatment using Figs Among fruits, figs have proved very valuable in asthma. They give comfort to the patient by draining off the phlegm. Three or four dry figs should be cleaned thoroughly with warm water and soaked overnight.

Asthma treatment using Drumstick Leaves A soup prepared from drumstick leaves, and taken once daily, has been found beneficial in the treatment of asthma. This soup is prepared by adding a handful of leaves to 180ml of water and boiling it for five minutes.

After being allowed to cool, a little salt, pepper, and lime juice may be added to this soup.

Asthma treatment using Lemon Lemon is another fruit found beneficial in the treatment of asthma. The juice of one lemon, diluted in a glass of water and taken with meals, will bring good results Asthma treatment using Indian Gooseberry Indian gooseberry has also proved valuable in asthma. Five grams of gooseberry mixed with one tablespoon of honey forms an effective medicinal tonic for the treatment of this disease. It should be taken every morning Asthma treatment using bitter gourd roots

Asthma treatment using Ginger A teaspoon of fresh ginger juice, mixed with a cup of fenugreek decoction and honey to taste, acts as an excellent expectorant in cases of asthma. The decoction of fenugreek can be made by mixing one tablespoon of fenugreek seeds in a cupful of water. This remedy should be taken once in the morning and once in the evening.

Asthma treatment using Garlic Garlic is another effective home remedy for asthma. Ten garlic cloves, boiled in 30 ml

o f milk, make an excellent medicine for the early stages of asthma. This mixture should he taken once daily by the patient. Steaming ginger tea with two minced garlic cloves in it, can also help to keep the problem under control, and should be taken in the morning and evening.

Asthma treatment using Safflower Safflower seeds are beneficial in the treatment of bronchial asthma. Half a teaspoon of powder of the dry seeds, mixed with a tablespoon of honey, can be taken once or twice a

day in treating this disease. This acts as an expectorant and reduces the spasms by liquefying the tenacious sputum. An infusion of five grams of flowers mixed with one tablespoon of honey, taken once daily, is also useful in this disease. (www.home-remedies-for-you.com)

5 Tips

to Lose Water Weight

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etaining excess water can make you feel bloated. It can also make your wrists, ankles, hands and feet swell and your face look puffy. Sure, you have probably learned that the best way to lose water weight is actually to drink more water. This is absolutely true. In fact, water weight is usually a sign that your body is “scared” to lose any more water and as a countermeasure is retaining it like a camel.

The thing is, you are not a camel!

Here are 5 tips for fine-tuning your water weight loss plan: Tip #1: Get a 32 oz. or 64 oz. refillable container: You can find these little babies for very cheap at almost any discount or sporting goods store and they come in all kinds of cool designs. Buy them not for their cool designs, however, but rather for their amazing capacity: you can really put a lot of water into these things. And, unlike a conventional cup, their portable design encourages you to carry them wherever you go. If you drink just 1 - 2 of these mega-containers’ worth of water each day, your body will start shedding the excess water that it has been holding onto for dear life for so long.

Tip #2: Add a little lemon or lime: To your mega-con-

tainer, add a squeeze or two of lemon or lime. These citrus fruits act as natural diuretics, and their refreshing taste makes the water go down that much easier.

Tip #3: Eat lower sodium foods: Sodium and water weight go hand-in-hand. When you drink more water, your body is freed to release some of its sodium stores.

Conversely, when you switch to a lower sodium diet, your body will tend to store less excess water. Bonus tip: cut-

ting down on diet sodas will cut your sodium intake significantly.

Tip #4: Try a natural diuretic: Diuretics help your body flush water weight. But prescription diuretics can be rather harsh on your system and often cause intense diarrhea. Try a natural diuretic such as an herbal-based one for a gentler, healthier experience of forcing that excess water out of your body.

Tip #5: Sprinkle in some exercise: Yes, that weight loss panacea, exercise, comes in handy for helping you to lose water weight, too. Bonus tip: choose exercises that work the areas of your body (e.g., wrists or ankles) that need the most help in losing water.

Drinking more water is the cornerstone to a water weight loss strategy. Adding a bit of citrus to your water, taking natural diuretics, eating a low sodium diet, and doing concentrated exercises can also help you shed that weight. Losing water weight is the first step to looking sexy and feeling great with a comprehensive weight loss plan. (www.ezinearticles.com)

Te c h n o l o g y FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Technology Q&A

Secure

your online reputation

T

ype your name into a search engine, and what do you find? Is it good? Bad? Are there links to shady people with your name who might be confused with you? These days, your online reputation matters.

Employers, financial partners, and even friends would almost be remiss if they didn’t avail themselves of the opportunity to find out about you by searching for your name online. How can you be sure that what they find won’t end up causing you problems? Read on for some tips.

Q: When I type my name into a search engine, some unsavory information about other people with the same name appears. I don’t want people to confuse them with me. What can I do?

A: When it comes to removing information about other people who might be mistaken for you, your options are limited. You cannot, after all, approach websites and ask that pages containing information about others be altered or deleted because those pages might reflect badly on you. You can, however, create your own web presence - through a home page or blog, for example - so that the information you want to be known about you is available. Blogs tend to get indexed particularly well, so look at setting up a WordPress or Blogger blog. Or create your own site and post your professional credentials.

That way, at least, you’ll have a fighting chance of appearing on the list of search results when someone types your name into Google or another search engine.

Q: Some information about me appears on the

Since you use smartphone apps to tap into your bank account, your online social networking sites, and much more, if someone were to steal or use your smartphone, you could be paying the price for years to come

internet, and I wish it didn’t. How can I get it removed?

A: If the information is located on sites you have some control over - including social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter - exercise the control and either shut down public access to the sites or delete the accounts altogether. For Facebook, log into your page, click Account in the upper right-hand corner, and then click Privacy Settings. Choose the ones that are most appropriate. For Twitter, you can delete particular posts - or followers - by looking through them one-by-one and clicking Delete next to the post or follower. You can delete your Twitter account altogether by logging in, clicking Settings in the upper right-hand corner, and then clicking the “Deactivate my account” link at the bottom of the Settings page.

For information on sites you do not control, contact the webmaster of the site. You should find contact information on most sites - often listed at the bottom. You may be pleasantly surprised at how willing site administrators are to remove unflattering or simply unwanted information about you. It’s not in their interest to have you complaining. If all else fails, you can enlist the help of companies that specialize in “cleansing” the internet of unwanted information about you. ReputationDefender (http://www.reputationdefender.com) is a high profile representative of a growing number of companies specialising in this type of service.

Q: I have a lot of personal information on my smartphone, and I worry about what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands. What can I do to secure it?

A: You’re right to be concerned. Smartphones today are our most vulnerable information technology devices, since we carry them everywhere, and they’re typically unsecured even with a password.

Increasingly, too, you can use smartphone apps to tap into your bank account, your online social networking sites, and much more. If someone were to steal or use your smartphone, you could be paying the price for years to come.

So rule number one is to password-protect your smartphone. Virtually every smartphone comes with the ability to set a password so that, once the device goes into sleep mode or standby, a password is required to regain access to its functions. Yes, setting a password means you’ll have to enter it each time you want to use your phone. But not setting up a password could mean major headaches if your phone were to be stolen.

Passwords, though, can be broken, so you need to look beyond them and think carefully about the apps you install on your smartphone. Avoid installing any app that would give a user access to your Twitter, Facebook, or other social networking site. Imagine the damage that could be done by a malicious user posing as you and posting offensive messages to your social networking accounts.

Also, do not set up any app that can access your bank or other financial accounts, and even be careful about your list of contacts, securing them if possible. Finally, but not necessarily last, if your smartphone is stolen, call your carrier and cancel all services and plans immediately so that the phone cannot be used. — dpa

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Relationship

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Project Cuddle founder Debbe Magnusen thanks little Trinity Zeiler, 4, for bringing her a wild flower to her home in Costa Mesa, California. — MCT

D

ebbe Magnusen was convinced she was going to die. She weighed 360 pounds and she was having trouble breathing. The medication she was taking for a damaged heart valve had slowed her metabolism to a snail’s pace. She needed gastric bypass surgery to get rid of the fat, shrink her stomach and save her life. Only one problem: Debbe was terrified she would die in surgery. It was a Catch 22, she thought. Surgery or no surgery, I’m going to die. But she couldn’t die. There were still babies to save.

Then a light bulb went off.

Debbe called a TV producer she knew and told him she wanted to have gastric surgery and let a camera crew follow her into the operating room. “I figured if I had a camera crew with me, they’re not gonna kill me,” she said. As a backup, she had “I (heart) Dr Leport” painted on her toenail so the surgeon could see it while he carved away, in hopes that he would be more careful. It apparently worked. Debbe lived. Her surgery wound up on a TV show on the Lifetime network. And she is now 180 pounds thinner and breathing easy.

What sort of person comes up with a plan to bring a TV camera crew into the operating room with them for protection? Someone who thinks way outside the box, that’s who.

Someone who sees a newspaper article about a baby found dead in a file cabinet in Yorba Linda and, instead of just shaking her head in sorrow, or ranting about the sick mother, starts a hotline to save future babies from such a fate.

Someone who then goes on TV to invite pregnant women who are desperate or in trouble to drop their newborn off in a whicker laundry basket on her Costa Mesa porch, ring the doorbell and run away. No questions asked.

Debbe tells me she has a survivor mentality. And because of that, 661 babies have survived. It was a TV movie waiting to happen. And now there will be one. Debbe flew last week to Manhattan to meet with the woman writing the script. She can’t give out details yet on when it will air or what channel it will be on or what actress will play her. But actor John Stamos, otherwise known as Uncle Jesse on the TV sitcom “Full House,” is producing it.

Besides picking Debbe’s brain, the writer has interviewed many of the people who are part of Debbe’s journey. That includes the countless couples that have adopted babies Debbe saved since starting the Project Cuddle hotline in 1996. It includes Stamos, who, as Project Cuddle’s national spokesman, once “kidnapped” Debbe, taking her to Disneyland where Oprah was waiting along with 171 of

the kids who have been rescued by Project Cuddle.

And it includes some of the 1,500 volunteers Project Cuddle has nationwide. Volunteers field 1-5 calls a day, unless Debbe is on CNN or “Geraldo” or “48 Hours;” then they can take up to 50 a day. (Debbe says she was “Oprahfied” after her visit with the daytime talk doyenne, getting thousands of calls).

The average age of the caller is 22. A “fair amount” of them got pregnant by date rape or in an abusive relationship. About half of the women already have children and feel like they are not in a position to keep another one. “And then there are a lot of good girls. It happens to the good girls too. The college students,” Debbe says.

Baby No 660 was born to a 13-year-old girl in Orange County, Calif, just a few weeks ago. It’s just one of countless stories that are hard to wrap your mind around; like the

notice. Many women call the hotline while they’re in labor.

What kind of parents would you like for your baby, Debbe asks them, between contractions?

One young woman told her she didn’t care as long as they had pets. Another just wanted the people raising her baby to be vegetarians. A teenage girl wanted her child to go to a family that travelled. She had grown up in foster care in Anaheim, Calif, and never even made it to Disneyland. And more than one girl has asked Debbe to please give their child to a single mother. They had been abused by men and didn’t trust them.

The one thing that drives all of the women who call the hotline, Debbe says, can be summed up in a single word: Fear. Fear that they will be kicked out of the house, or beat up, or turned away by family and friends. On a recent Sunday afternoon, Debbe threw a birthday party for Project

Californian woman saves 661 babies from death young woman who called Project Cuddle from a pay phone with a newborn she smuggled out of her parents’ house in a laundry basket. Another woman called Debbe after seeing her on Ricki Lake and told her she was sitting on the bleachers at a park in Garden Grove, Calif, and she had the baby she just gave birth to in a duffle bag. Debbe happened to be driving to a party in Aliso Viejo, made a U turn and headed to the park with her kids in the back seat.

Debbe has two grown kids who she calls “original models.” She also adopted five of the 35 drug exposed children she fostered before she started Project Cuddle. And there have been times when they have shared the house with up to four pregnant women Debbe took in while they awaited the birth of their babies. “A lot of pickles, a lot of popsicles, a lot of hormones,” Debbe says.

About half the women who call the hotline wind up giving their babies up. Project Cuddle has 60 couples on a waiting list right now, “ready to rock n roll” at a moment’s

Cuddle at her house, where it all began. Among the couple dozen guests were Shirley and Tim Zeiler. Four years ago a teenage girl called Debbe in a panic from a payphone at 2 am and said she thought she was in labor. Debbe convinced the girl to get to a hospital. A baby was born. And that baby now calls Shirley and Tim, Mom and Dad. “Without Debbe, our life wouldn’t be complete,” Shirley told me. After the guests finished their cake and left, Debbe ran upstairs to show me something: A giant pair of the pants that she used to wear before she had gastric surgery.

She then stepped her entire body into one of the pant legs.

“See, I’m half the woman I used to be,” she said, laughing.

There she goes again, thinking outside that box. — MCT

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Health Benefits of

Ginger

Ovarian Cancer Treatment Ginger may be powerful weapon in the treatment of ovarian cancer. A study conducted at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found that ginger powder induces cell death in all ovarian cancer cells to which it was applied.

Colon Cancer Prevention A study at the University of Minnesota found that ginger may slow the growth of colorectal cancer cells.

Morning Sickness A review of several studies has concluded that ginger is just as effective as vitamin B6 in the treatment of morning sickness.

Motion Sickness Remedy Ginger has been shown to be an effective remedy for the nausea associated with motion sickness.

Reduces Pain and Inflammation One study showed that ginger has anti-inflammatory properties and is a powerful natural painkiller.

Heartburn Relief Ginger has long been used as a natural heartburn remedy. It is most often taken in the form of tea for this purpose.

Cold and Flu Prevention and Treatment Ginger has long been used as a natural treatment for colds and the flu. Many people also find ginger to be helpful in the case of stomach flus or food poisoning, which is not surprising given the positive effects ginger has upon the digestive tract.

Migraine Relief Research has shown that ginger may provide migraine relief due to its ability to stop prostaglandins from causing pain and inflammation in blood vessels.

Menstrual Cramp Relief In Chinese medicine, ginger tea with brown sugar is used in the treatment of menstrual cramps.

Prevention of Diabetic Nephropathy A study done on diabetic rats found that those rats given ginger had a reduced incidence of diabetic nephropathy (kidney damage). (www.healthdiaries.com)

How to Make Ginger Tea

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inger has been used as a natural remedy for many ailments for centuries. Now, science is catching up and researchers around the world are finding that ginger works wonders in the treatment of everything from cancer to migraines. Here are ten health benefits of this powerful herb:

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eel the ginger root and slice it into thin slices. Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Once it is boiling, add the ginger. Cover it and reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes. Strain the tea. Add honey and lemon to taste.

Note: Keep in mind that if you are making ginger tea as a home remedy during cold and flu season, sweeteners are not recommended.

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3/4 cup fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 shallots, finely chopped 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon black pepper 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon or lime marmalade 1/3 cup olive oil 1 European cucumber, halved and seeded 4 carrots, peeled 1 head red leaf lettuce 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

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eave a small portion of the cucumber peel on, if tender to add more color and nutrition. This can be done easily by peeling off portions in strips, leaving some strips of green attached.

If using bamboo skewers, soak in cold water for at least 1 hour. This will prevent them from burning when grilled.

Combine the lime juice, ginger, garlic, shallots, cilantro, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and marmalade in a small mixing bowl. Whisk until all the ingredients are well combined. Slowly add the olive oil, whisking until thoroughly incorporated. Taste and adjust seasoning. Thread the

shrimp on short wooden skewers (4-6 to a skewer), and lay them flat in a shallow, non-aluminum dish. Pour half of the marinade over the shrimp and marinate for 1/2 hour, turning once or twice. Meanwhile, shred the cucumber and carrots using the shredding blade of a food processor. Place in a medium mixing bowl. Add enough of the remaining marinade to moisten the vegetables; reserve the rest for dipping. When ready to serve, prepare the barbecue for medium high heat grilling and place the skewered shrimp flat on the grill. Baste each side with the marinade and grill until just cooked, about 3 minutes on each side. Arrange the red

Honey ginger chicken

Ginger 5 Spring onions, 1/2-inch pieces 4 oz fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated 2 tbsp. peanut oil 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 1-inch cubes 1 yellow onion, sliced 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp honey

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oak spring onions in cold water for 15 minutes.

Mix ginger with cold water, then drain and squeeze out excess water by pressing between paper towels (this removes the hot taste).

Heat oil in a wok or skillet; add the chicken and saute for 5 minutes or until chicken is opaque in color.

Remove using a slotted spoon and set aside. Add onion and saute until translucent, then add garlic and mushrooms; stir fry over high heat for 1 minute. Return chicken to pan. Combine soy sauce and honey; pour over chicken. Add ginger and mix well. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes until heated through. Add drained Spring onions.

leaf lettuce on a 12 inch platter and mound the cucumber and carrot mixture on top. Place the skewered grilled shrimp on top of the vegetables and let guests help themselves, using small plates. Or arrange each serving separately, placing a lettuce leaf on each plate, adding the vegetable mixture, and then the shrimp, removed from skewers and arranged in a circle.

Ice Cream

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n a large bowl lightly whisk yolks. In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook sugar, fresh gingerroot, and water over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add half-and-half and bring to a simmer. Add hot half-and-half mixture to yolks in a slow stream, whisking, and pour into pan. Cook custard over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until a thermometer registers 170∞F. (Do not let boil.)

Pour custard through a sieve into cleaned bowl and stir in cream and vanilla. Cool custard. Chill custard, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 3 hours, and up to 1 day.

Finely chop crystallized ginger.

Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker, adding crystallized ginger three fourths of way through freezing process. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Ice cream may be made 1 week ahead.

4 large egg yolks 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup coarsely grated peeled fresh gingerroot 2 tablespoons water

2 cups half-and-half 1 cup heavy cream 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup crystallized ginger

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 : On a mission to rescue some mountain climbers in Chile, Jami tries to do the whole job himself and is injured in a rockslide. Now he needs the help of his fellow members to heal him...

The 99 ® and all related characters ® and © 2011, Teshkeel Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

www.the99.org

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Your last chance to see

Tutankhamun’s tomb

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Visitors are causing so much damage to the tomb of Tutankhamun that Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities wants to close it and open a replica instead

hat excites us about the past is being there: feeling the heat as we climb a Mexican pyramid; adjusting our eyes to the light in the Pantheon; watching the paint peel off the walls of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Peeling paint? If, in the brief, crushed tour of the Egyptian boy-king’s rooms at Luxor we don’t actually see it happen, we can certainly return later and note the damaging spread of holes and spots. Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, has had enough of it. He promises that the tomb, and two others, will close by the end of the year. To keep tourists happy, he has commissioned a replica.

It won’t be the first. You can already see one in Las Vegas: until recently, Tut’s tomb graced the Luxor Las Vegas Hotel, filled with replica treasures. Now it has been installed in the city’s Museum of Natural History. So will the Valley of the Kings become a Las Vegas Strip, more tat than Tut? Is there no other way?

There can be no disputing the problem.

Howard Carter emptied Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, leaving four rooms cut from the rock, one of them covered in paintings. It was recognised immediately that the sterile environment had been compromised: Carter’s chemist found “airinfections” the day after they broke in. Those were nothing, however, compared with the humidity, fungi and dust wafted through the tomb by a thousand or more visitors a day. Cue staining, crumbling and erosion of the paint.

Short of sand-blasting it, you would be hard pushed to devise a more efficient mechanism for destroying the 3,300-year-old art.

The problem affects ancient sites around the world. The ice age painted caves at Lascaux in south-western France were closed in 1963 and a facsimile opened nearby 20 years later.

Stonehenge was closed to visitors in 1977, to save shallow carvings from wear. Easter Islanders would like to restrict tourists for fear of damage to the statues there. Heritage tourism may be good for economies but, badly managed, it harms the heritage. It’s right that our access should be controlled.

The great thing about Tutankhamun’s tomb will be the replica’s quality. Technology means that a copy now can be visually indistinguishable from the original; and you can see it with better lighting and access. Indeed, the replication process is so precise, it brings new insights to the original, helping academics and tour guides alike. No, it’s not the real tomb. But it is a real facsimile, and when you visit you will become part of a cutting-edge research project.

Before, you were just a pan scourer. —Guardian

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Top 10

luxurious spas in the world

NO 1 Beau Rivage Palace Lausanne, Switzerland he Beau Rivage Palace has views of the lake and the Alps, but the real draw is the Cinq Mondes spa. It’s 15,000 square feet and has a private suite with its own hammam (Turkish bath) and Bain Japonais (double Japanese bath for two). Treatments include Balinese massage and Taoist face-care massage; the spa is also introducing a series of packages to entice summer travelers. Through Sept. 30, guests can pay $1,660 for two nights’ accommodation, breakfast and five spa treatments each.

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NO 2. Como Shambhala Retreat at Parrot Cay Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Como Shambhala is known for its guided retreat weeks, which feature the resort’s trademark spa cuisine and expert teachers brought in from around the US Five hours of daily instruction are included in the yoga retreats, and meditation, Pilates and pranayama instruction are available year-round as well. The spa is aimed at couples, who can take advantage of double treatment rooms, outdoor showers and Japanese baths. Nightly rates start at $410.

NO 3. Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, Thailand Styled like a Thai temple, the three-story spa villa at the Four Seasons, Chiang Mai, has private aromatherapy steam rooms, open-air treatment terraces and rain shower massage beds. Elemis

products are incorporated into every treatment, each of which begins with a warm foot compress to focus the senses. Resort rates start at $425 NO 4. Hayman Island Resort Great Barrier Reef, Australia Hayman Island Resort is located on a private island in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, accessible via boat, seaplane or helicopter from nearby Hamilton Island. Spa Chakra has 13 treatment rooms, a wet treatment room and two relaxation lounges, and offers exclusive Guerlain Methode treatments, which involve techniques for facial and massage patented by the Champs Elysee Guerlain Institute. Room rates start at $468.

NO 5. Chiva Som Hua Hin, Thailand Chiva Som, a luxury health resort facing the Gulf of Thailand, is tucked into seven acres of gardens and provides individual wellness programs for guests. Even basic guest rooms have private balconies and butler service, and the spa has male and female water-therapy suites.

Hydrotherapy treatments include aqua skin polish, which uses spearmint and apricot to exfoliate the skin. Room rates start at $340 per person per night.

NO 6. The Island Experience Ilha Grande, Brazil Take a 100-square-mile private island; sub-

tract roads, banks and people; and add a rain forest plus a week-long, intensive detox program. The result is the Island Experience at Ilha Grande, an adventure spa that will introduce an “Alpha Adventures” challenge next winter to get men to detox in the most exciting way possible.

Activities include jungle hiking, snorkeling, samba dancing and massage. Rates start at $2,000 for six nights and include meals, yoga classes and various supervised and recreational activities.

NO 7. Maroma Resort and Spa Riviera Maya, Mexico Located on a 25-acre jungle reserve, Maroma Resort and Spa faces the Caribbean Sea and a powder-white beach. The on-site Kinan Spa is decorated in white and cream stucco and has three treatment suites, each one with its own shower, bathroom and treatment tub. A special spa cuisine menu, with specialties like spiced beetroot soup over jicama and yogurt slaw, makes healthy eating more fun. Room rates start at $480 per night.

NO 8. Soneva Gili & Six Senses Spa The Maldives Soneva Gili resort consists of 44 stilted watervilla suites. The spa is set over water as well, and accessible via a long, low wooden walkway.

Treatment rooms are simple, open-air affairs which look onto the lagoon. The Soul of Six Senses, a simultaneous massage and facial performed by two therapists, begins with a foot

bath and ends with a scalp massage, and costs $360 for 90 minutes. Soneva Gili rack rates start at $1,415 per night.

NO 9. Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Mumbai, India The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower is arguably India’s finest luxury hotel, with its manicured interior courtyard, pool, and a wide array of guest suites that accommodate royalty and celebrities alike (Yoko Ono and John Lennon once occupied one, without leaving, for a week).

The Taj’s branded Jiva Spa chain has classes in everything from Ashanti yoga to the Art of Breathing, and the Exotic Lime & Ginger Scrub involves body buffing with Indian lime, ginger and salt. Room rates start at $205 per night.

No 10. Terme di Saturnia Spa Resort Saturnia, Italy This 140-room resort in the hilly Tuscan countryside is about 100 miles from the nearest airport (in Rome), and pays homage to the country’s spa-going tradition with a Roman bath lined in Travertine stone and lit from above with a dramatic circular skylight. The spa is devoted to restoring each guest’s “psycho-physical balance,” and renowned medical packages, which include an age evaluation, anti-aging and rebalancing massage, stone therapy, aqua relaxation and the Saturnia fitness program start at $2,347; regular room rates, including breakfast, start at $235 per night (www.crazyspin.blogspot.com)

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Books

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

fantastic biographies I

f for whatever reason you’re not a fiction fan, this list is for you. I won’t tell you all about the fantastic experiences you can only find when reading fiction because this isn’t this week’s topic. This week, our list is all about fantastic nonfiction: awesome biographies of interesting people.

Offering a deep perspective on these people’s lives and stories, the books will entertain you, inspire you, and surely help you kill time.

Send your suggestions to hussain@kuwaittimes.net

By Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin

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merican Prometheus is the first full-scale biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, “father of the atomic bomb,” the brilliant, charismatic physicist who led the effort to capture the awesome fire of the sun for his country in time of war. Immediately after Hiroshima, he became the most famous scientist of his generation-one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, the embodiment of modern man confronting the consequences of scientific progress.

He was the author of a radical proposal to place international controls over atomic materials-an idea that is still relevant today. He opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb and criticized the Air Force’s plans to fight an infinitely dangerous nuclear war. In the now almost-forgotten hysteria of the early 1950s, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup, and, in response, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Lewis Strauss, Superbomb advocate Edward Teller and FBI director J. Edgar Hoover worked behind the scenes to have a hearing board find that Oppenheimer could not be trusted with America’s nuclear secrets.

American Prometheus sets forth Oppenheimer’s life and times in revealing and unprecedented detail. Exhaustively researched, it is based on thousands of records and letters gathered from archives in America and abroad, on massive FBI files and on close to a hundred interviews with Oppenheimer’s friends, relatives and colleagues.

We follow him from his earliest education at the turn of the twentieth century at New York City’s Ethical Culture School, through personal crises at Harvard and Cambridge universities. Then to Germany, where he studied quantum physics with the world’s most accomplished theorists; and to Berkeley, California, where he established, during the 1930s, the leading American school of theoretical physics, and where he became deeply involved with social justice causes and their advocates, many of whom were communists. Then to Los Alamos, New Mexico, where he transformed a bleak mesa into the world’s most potent nuclear weapons laboratory-and where he himself was transformed.

And finally, to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, which he directed from 1947 to 1966.

American Prometheus is a rich evocation of America at midcentury, a new and compelling portrait of a brilliant, ambitious, complex and flawed man profoundly connected to its major events-the Depression, World War II and the Cold War. It is at once biography and history, and essential to our understanding of our recent past-and of our choices for the future.

By Frank McCourt

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ometimes it’s worth the wait. Having waited 40 years to tell his story, Frank McCourt doesn’t pull any punches in his story of growing up dirt poor in Limerick, Ireland. Having emigrated to America, McCourt’s family returns to Ireland after his sister dies in Brooklyn. It is there that things turn from bad to worse.

It is McCourt’s contention that there is nothing worse than Irish Catholic poverty, and his book would seem to bear it out: his family moves to a row house in Limerick that is located next to the street’s lavatory. However, the book is written in a lyrical style from the point of view of Frank McCourt as a boy, and it is still filled with the whimsy of growing up and the natural humor of its author.

While the book is often angry (at the Church, at his father, at his poverty, at his mother), it is also filled with forgiveness without bitterness. Covering the ages spanning three to 19, Angela’s Ashes is the story of Frank McCourt’s struggle to escape from poverty and a tale of Ireland still seemingly in the dark ages. Barred from the good schools because of his class, teeth falling out from malnutrition, and facing life with a shiftless alcoholic father, McCourt nevertheless survives on his wits and manages to return to America to start his life over. Again. It is a triumph of both the art of memoir writing and the author’s spirit.

By William Kuhn

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acqueline Kennedy Onassis never wrote a memoir, but she told her life story and revealed herself in intimate ways through the nearly 100 books she brought into print during the last two decades of her life as an editor at Viking and Doubleday. Based on archives and interviews with Jackie’s authors, colleagues, and friends, Reading Jackie mines this significant period of her life to reveal both the serious and the mischievous woman underneath the glamorous public image.

Though Jackie had a reputation for avoiding publicity, she willingly courted controversy in her books. She was the first editor to commission a commercially-successful book telling the story of Thomas Jefferson s relationship with his female slave. Her publication of Gelsey Kirkland’s attack on dance icon George Balanchine caused another storm. Jackie rarely spoke of her personal life, but many of her books ran parallel to, echoed, and emerged from her own experience. She was the editor behind bestsellers on the assassinations of Tsar Nicholas II and John Lennon, and in another book she paid tribute to the allure of Marilyn Monroe and Maria Callas. Her other projects take us into territory she knew well: journeys to Egypt and India, explorations of the mysteries of female beauty and media exploitation, into the minds of photographers, art historians, and the designers at Tiffany & Co.

Many Americans regarded Jackie as the paragon of grace, but few knew her as the woman sitting on her office floor laying out illustrations, or flying to California to persuade Michael Jackson to write his autobiography. Reading Jackie provides a compelling behind-thescenes look at Jackie at work: how she commissioned books and nurtured authors, as well as how she helped to shape stories that spoke to her strongly. Jackie is remembered today for her marriages to JFK and to Aristotle Onassis, but her real legacy is the books that reveal the tastes, recollections, and passions of an independent woman.

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By Kenneth Slawenski

O Ron Reagan

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moving memoir of the beloved fortieth president of the United States, by his son. February 6, 2011, is the one hundredth anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth. To mark the occasion, Ron Reagan has written My Father at 100, an intimate look at the life of his father-one of the most popular presidents in American history-told from the perspective of someone who knew Ronald Reagan better than any adviser, friend, or colleague. As he grew up under his father’s watchful gaze, he observed the very qualities that made the future president a powerful leader. Yet for all of their shared experiences of horseback rides and touch football games, there was much that Ron never knew about his father’s past, and in My Father at 100, he sets out to understand this beloved, if often enigmatic, figure who turned his early tribulations into a stunning political career.

Since his death in 2004, President Reagan has been a galvanizing force that personifies the values of an older America and represents an important era in national history. Ron Reagan traces the sources of these values in his father’s early years and offers a heartfelt portrait of a man and his country-and his personal memories of the president he knew as “Dad.”

ne of the most popular and mysterious figures in American literary history, J. D. Salinger eluded fans and journalists for most of his life. Now comes a new biography that Peter Ackroyd in The Times of London calls “energetic and magnificently researched”-a book from which “a true picture of Salinger emerges.” Filled with new information and revelations-garnered from countless interviews, letters, and public records-J. D. Salinger presents an extraordinary life that spanned nearly the entire twentieth century.

Kenneth Slawenski explores Salinger’s privileged youth, long obscured by misrepresentation and rumor, revealing the brilliant, sarcastic, vulnerable son of a disapproving father and doting mother and his entrance into a social world where Gloria Vanderbilt dismissively referred to him as “a Jewish boy from New York.” Here too are accounts of Salinger’s first broken heart-Eugene O’Neill’s daughter, Oona, left him for the much older Charlie Chaplin-and the devastating World War II service (“a living hell”) of which he never spoke and which haunted him forever.

J. D. Salinger features all the dazzle of this author’s early writing successes, his dramatic encounters with luminaries from Ernest Hemingway to Laurence Olivier to Elia Kazan, his surprising office intrigues with famous New Yorker editors and writers, and the stunning triumph of The Catcher in the Rye, which would both make him world-famous and has-

ten his retreat into the hills of New Hampshire.

Whether it’s revealing the facts of his hasty, short-lived first marriage or his lifelong commitment to Eastern religion, which would dictate his attitudes toward sex, nutrition, solitude, and creativity, J. D. Salinger is this unique author’s unforgettable story in fullone that no lover of literature can afford to miss.

By Patti Smith

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t was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation.

Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max’s Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous-the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding.

In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other.

Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years.

Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. It serves as a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies and to its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists’ ascent, a prelude to fame. — bn.com

By Claire Dederer

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he studio was decorated in the style of Don’t Be Afraid, We’re Not a Cult.

All was white and blond and clean, as though the room had been designed for surgery, or Swedish people. The only spot of color came from the Tibetan prayer flags strung over the doorway into the studio. In flagrant defiance of my longtime policy of never entering a structure adorned with Tibetan prayer flags, I removed my shoes, paid my ten bucks, and walked in . . .”

Ten years ago, Claire Dederer put her back out while breastfeeding her baby daughter.

Told to try yoga by everyone from the woman behind the counter at the co-op to the homeless guy on the corner, she signed up for her first class. She fell madly in love.

Over the next decade, she would tackle triangle, wheel, and the dreaded crow, becoming fast friends with some poses and developing long-standing feuds with others. At the same time, she found herself confronting the forces that shaped her generation. Daughters of women who ran away to find themselves and made a few messes along the way, Dederer and her peers grew up determined to be good, good, good-even if this meant feeling hemmed in by the smugness of their organicbuying, attachment-parenting, anxiously conscientious little world. Yoga seemed to fit right into this virtuous program, but to her surprise, Dederer found that the deeper she went into

the poses, the more they tested her most basic ideas of what makes a good mother, daughter, friend, wife-and the more they made her want something a little less tidy, a little more improvisational. Less goodness, more joy.

Poser is unlike any other book about yoga you will read-because it is actually a book about life. Witty and heartfelt, sharp and irreverent, Poser is for anyone who has ever tried to stand on their head while keeping both feet on the ground.

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Beauty

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

All for that perfect nose

Always remember that you are not supposed to expect that everything will turn out according to your plans

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hinoplasty, also called plastic surgery of the nose or a “nose job,” is a very popular procedure that can make profound differences not only in the balance of facial features, but also in a person’s self-esteem. The aesthetic improvements that a rhinoplasty surgeon can make include decreasing or increasing the size of the nose, altering the tip or bridge of the nose, and narrowing or changing the shape of the nostrils.

At first it would seem like a walk in the park just to restore your nose but you would first have to disclose your complete medical history to a doctor so that the proper preoperative procedures can be arranged before the surgery itself, you will also be prescribed the proper medication and costs of the surgery for you to have the right budget for it. Reconstructive rhinoplasty can really help in restoring your nose and have you breathe easily again, you will also feel better and have an improved outlook in life afterwards.

What are the risks?

Planning to have your nose reshaped through rhinoplasty? Well, a nose job is not a dime a dozen so you really have to think about your decision and have your surgeon discuss the pros and cons with you. Patients who are more likely to pass on a psychological tests before a rhinoplasty don’t expect a nearly perfect result but they rather look forward to improvement. But the test doesn’t end there, you still have to consider that during a cosmetic operation, there are certain things that you might risk. Are you ready to gamble everything for a single nose operation? This rhinoplasty report will

give you a brief knowledge about the risks of undergoing a nose job.

The first thing that you are going to risk is the way you look. Just imagine how you are going to handle the situation should your surgery goes unsuccessful. One example of a failed rhinoplasty report is May Hariri’s nose job. Instead of having an improved, reshaped nose, she instead ended up with a pinched nose tip - making it more difficult for her to breathe.

Another thing that you’re going to risk is your hard-earned cash. Admit it, it would be really frustrating if everything you paid for would go for nothing because it’s hard to earn money, right? If you’re not careful enough in choosing the right rhinoplasty surgeon, you might end up crying in frustration and regret because of an unsuccessful operation.

If your money and the way you look is at risk, much more with your confidence. What you see yourself will reflect on your level of confidence so if you’re just too sad about your failed rhinoplasty, your confidence will sink too. These things were not stated to merely scare you but rather open your eyes what’s possible to happen. But it doesn’t mean that you have to stop from reaching your goal. You just have to be careful enough in choosing the surgeon that’s going to do your nose job.

How to know if you’re ready for it Aiming for improvement rather than perfection? Well, if you are thinking this way, then that means that you’re a step closer to being prepared for a nose job operation.

You know, before going to the main procedure, you have to undergo a series of physi-

cal and psychological tests. The doctor won’t allow you to have a nose job just like that without even considering your mental and physical conditions. There had been rhinoplasty reports where some of the people regretted having a nose job because they impulsively decided to undergo an operation. Always remember that haste is waste so you have to make sure about your decision. You’re a candidate for a rhinoplasty if you are: Physically healthy - Having a good body built doesn’t mean that you are healthy enough to undergo a nose job. If you have a history of any allergy before, then you have to think twice in going for a rhinoplasty procedure.

Psychologically stable - A person that’s likely capable of undergoing a nose job does not expect idealistic results. If you think that you’re exactly like this, then you have a chance in passing for the psychological test. Always remember that you are not supposed to expect that everything will turn out according to your plans. This way, should there be any small changes, you won’t be emotionally affected after the operation.

Financially ready - Well, you wouldn’t go to the doctor and have a rhinoplasty if you don’t have enough money, right?

Because after the operation, you will need to buy some medicines and pay additional fees.

After the operation, you will encounter few changes that your doctor will surely explain you why it’s happening. A little bleeding will occur on the first few days after your surgery. The best that you can do is follow every instructions that your doctor

will tell you and read rhinoplasty reports to strengthen your knowledge about this cosmetic operation.

Preparing for a nose job Do you think you are ready to get a nose job? This surgical procedure is not easy as you think. It should not be taken lightly. There are several things you need to do to prepare for a rhinoplasty procedure, also known as nose job. Read the guide below so that you will have an idea on what you have to do before your most awaited surgery.

Consultation It is important to set an appointment with your chosen surgeon weeks before your rhinoplasty surgery. This will allow you to ask your surgeon all your questions and concerns in assuring that your surgery will be successful.

Remind your surgeon the nose shape you want to achieve. Surgeons are humans too, they make mistakes. So don’t allow it by explaining to your surgeon how you want your nose to look like. You can show pictures of celebrities or icons you want to copy.

Maybe try bringing a magazine or a picture of that nose shape. It will be easier for the doctor to operate your nose if he/she has a visual copy of your dream nose. This consultation period is also the time for you to ask about all the preparations you need to do.

Days before your scheduled surgery, prepare the things you need to bring to the clinic.

It would be better than cramming on the day itself. Also, take care of your body during these days. It is recommended to eat healthy foods and take proper vitamins. If you get minor sicknesses like colds, this can affect the success of your operation. There could be complications. So it would be better to make sure that you have a healthy body during the operation. www.rhinoplastyreport.com

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Beauty

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Should liposuction be your first option when you’re aiming for weight loss - or your last?

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iposuction can be used for sculpturing the body. If you want to remove fat from body parts such as flanks, hips etc, this method is found to be useful. However, liposuction is not considered as a treatment for losing weight.

Before advancing any further, it would be beneficial to learn more about the process associated with liposuction.

Liposuction is a process in which a certain amount of fat is removed from the body. It has become a highly popular plastic surgery. An important thing regarding the procedure is that only a certain amount of fat is removed. Fat is removed from body parts like upper thighs, buttock region, abdomen, hips, arms, back, knees etc during the liposuction procedure.

These procedures utilize the equipment known as the cannulas which has the capability of breaking up stored fat before subsequently suctioning it. The designing of these equipments enable the person conducting the procedure to effectively remove fat without causing any skin irregularities.

In other words, the liposuction is a procedure in which particular body areas are targeted once they have found to be insensitive towards the weight loss treatment methods. These are the important factors to be mentioned regarding the procedure of liposuction. Although, fat removal takes place from the body of the person undergoing the procedure, the liposuction is not considered suitable for weight loss. Many people feel that such a surgical procedure would be suitable for them. However, the decision regarding this should be taken only after analyzing the different aspects of liposuction.

First of all, try to gather maximum information on liposuction. Medical advices from experienced doctors are inevitable.

There are different types of the liposuction procedure. It would be beneficial to ask people who have undergone the process in order to remove fat from their body. As mentioned above, liposuction procedures remove only a small amount of fat mostly but there are some procedures that have been successful in removing more than 5,000 cc of the patient’s body fat. Such liposuction procedures are categorized as “large volume liposuction”.

Doctors would advise you to opt for other methods for weight loss such as following a controlled diet, exercising, practicing meditation etc based on how obese the patient is and what are the possible risks associated with the obesity.

The liposuction is used to remove fat from the body by targeting some specific areas depending on the situation. This is not a perfect method for weight loss. It is better to try out the other methods for losing weight.

Besides, liposuction would not be suitable for all. Pregnant women and people with certain medical complications are not advised to undergo these procedures. In some people, the liposuction procedure is found to aggravate certain health problems. If you still feel that there is nothing wrong in undergoing this surgery as a method to lose weight, find out more about what the other options for reducing weight are.

These process are found be free of risks and there are several

people who have tried out these procedures.

There are some crucial factors to be considered during recovery from a liposuction procedure: After the tumescent liposuction procedure, under the influence of local anesthesia, the patient can be discharged within an hour. If general anesthesia is used, the person has to remain in observation for at least three hours.

The blood pressure of the patient must not be too low after the operation. Otherwise it may lead to nausea and the patient may experience giddiness. The results of the surgery can be seen in about four weeks if open drainage technique is used while operating. In the other case it may take 8-10 weeks for the swelling to decrease.

Seroma can happen after the procedure. Seroma is the collection of lymph fluid in a cavity inside your body. It is not a big problem, which should bother you. The surgeon can usually remove this fluid after the procedure is completed. Even if it is not treated, seroma disappears after a few months. In ultrasound assisted liposuction procedure this condition is observed the most. It does not occur in tumescent liposuction procedure.

Patients can resume work within two days after tumescent liposuction. They can do all the physical activities with moderation as they used to before. But some patients find it difficult go back to their original activities as early as this. They may require extra time; say about a week or two to follow their usual activity regimen.

Exercising can be resumed within a day after the patient has undergone the procedure. But it is advised that they should go slow and not overdo it. It is better to start off by doing only 1/4th of the usual batch of exercises and gradually increase it to normal level, day by day, as per the patient’s convenience and comfort.

The bruises and swellings will last for about four weeks if tumescent technique is used while operating. When incisions are closed the swelling may be present for a longer time. It may take about 8-10 weeks for it to disappear.

If there are two or more trouble areas on which a patient is operated it should be taken care that not more than 10 pounds of fat should be removed on the same day. If sequential surgeries are done within two days there maybe risks. So it is preferable to have a gap of at least 20 to 30 days between two sequential surgeries. www.skinsheen.com

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Arts

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Paul Cezanne

Paul Cezanne at 172: Still life and landscapes run deep Google’s Paul Cezanne tribute is deserved. He painted with his mind in works of beauty and stillness that simmer with emotion Paul Cezanne

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Paul Cezanne

oogle is standing up for high art. Today’s Google doodle transforms the familiar logo into a painting by Paul Cezanne, the most serious and profound of French 19th-century painters, who happens to be 172 years old today.

Good for him, and good for Google for paying homage to one of art’s true heroes.

The search engine is not the first to pay fulsome tribute to Cezanne. The greatest artist of the 20th century, Picasso, acknowledged how much he owed to this painter of flinty landscapes, dazzling still life arrangements, and taciturn portraits. How can a painter of such still and rustic beauties be central to the story of modern art, as Picasso insisted he was?

Because Cezanne stared so intensely at nature he began to take it apart in his mind, to anatomise it, theorise it, on long hot afternoons in his studio in Aix-en-Provence and then reassemble the elements of reality in paintings that are pixellated constellations of insights, recognitions, memories and flashes of desire or rage. Cezanne said of his contemporary Monet that he was only an eye (but what an eye, he conced-

ed). The implied contrast is that where Monet was a mere eye reflecting nature, Cezanne paints with his mind and his psyche. Instead of seeing through his art we see his art itself. In its feints, leaps of intuition, and surrenders - an element of the unfinished is crucial to his later work, and it was through Cezanne that people learned to cherish earlier unfinished masterpieces like Michelangelo’s Prisoners - we encounter the difficult, complex, and irrational processes of his mind making sense of the world it finds itself in.

Not that Cezanne is some cold, philosophical artist. His problem was not a lack of feeling but an excess of it. The son of a wealthy Provencal banker, and a school friend of the future novelist Zola, he set out to become an artist in Paris but found it very hard going: his early works, ignored or mocked by contemporaries, dwell on dark themes of violence and angry male sexuality. Zola portrays his friend, barely disguised, in his novel The Masterpiece as a figure of avant garde madness and abject failure. It was a kind of miracle - helped by inherited wealth - that the troubled Cezanne was able to conquer his demons by standing out in the southern sun, painting a mountain, or dwelling in suspended desire on the roundness of fruits in a bowl.

Beauty, stillness - but no calm. The fascination of Cezanne lies in the overwhelming emotion that threatens to explode at any second from the white rocks of a hillside, the steely imperturbability of a peasant’s face. He is the first modernist and, as Picasso knew, the most liberating. An eye, and so much more. —Guardian

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Spotlight

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Arnold Schwarzenegger should fire up his comeback bazooka H

e said he’d be back, and now he is. Stint as governor of California completed, Arnold Schwarzenegger has two paths open to him - one leading to the White House and one leading back to Hollywood. But until the American constitution allows foreign-born citizens to become president - and until American voters suddenly grow fond of men who’ve run entire states to the brink of irreversible bankruptcy - then Hollywood it is.

There’s just one small problem, though. Is Arnold Schwarzenegger planning to make the films that Arnold Schwarzenegger should be making?

The answer, it seems, is no. In an interview with Austrian newspaper the Krone this week, Schwarzenegger claimed that he’s currently giving consideration to three scripts, one of which would appear to be Wings of Eagles, a story about a benevolent, child-saving Nazi general. Worse still, he also singled out Clint Eastwood’s tactic of releasing small but critically lauded films on a regular basis as a model that he’d like to replicate in years to come.

Clearly this is an error. Just because he’s dipped his toe into politics a little doesn’t mean that people automatically want to see Arnold Schwarzenegger suddenly become all worthy and serious. If he’s really going to make films again, there has to be a better direction for him to take.

Like action films, for example. After all, Arnold Schwarzenegger is still only 63 years old and in relatively decent shape. A little bit of training to make sure that he can still recklessly flail a broadsword or blow up a juggernaut with a bazooka, and he’ll be more than ready to hop back in the saddle. And if it’s still commercially viable for a creaking, thirdrate Schwarzenegger copyist like Steven Seagal to churn out nonsense like Driven to Kill and Born to Raise Hell every few months, then Schwarzenegger should easily be able to blast back to the top of the A-list by doing the same.

But even if Schwarzenegger doesn’t want to commit to a brand-new action film, he’d still be a fool not to bring a beloved character out of retirement in return for an easy payday. Everyone else is doing it. Bruce Willis was well into his 50s when he made Die Hard 4. Sylvester Stallone was 60 when he made Rocky Balboa, and 62 when the last Rambo film was released. And Harrison Ford was 66 years old by the time he finally decided to let Indiana Jones get inexplicably blasted across the sky in a fridge.

But which film should Arnie return to? Certainly not The Terminator - not only has that story moved on without him, but it’d take an unimaginable genius to explain why Skynet attempted to defeat humanity by churning out an army of wheezing old man-booby cyborgs. A Commando sequel could work, and James Cameron might relish the chance to ditch Pandora to make True Lies 2. But, of all the old Schwarzenegger movies, the public’s continuing fascination with reality TV has meant that The Running Man is most in need of a sequel. Admittedly to accommodate his age, the film might need to be retitled The Walking Man or The Man Who Occasionally Uses a Mobility Scooter If He’s Been on His Feet For a While, but at least the subject matter would be timely enough.

But if Arnold Schwarzenegger really is serious about turning his back on action once and for all, what else is there?

Comedy? Don’t forget that he’s always had a talent for poking fun at aspects of his personality, whether it was his hardman image in Kindergarten Cop or his cruel inability to gestate human foetuses in Junior. Perhaps there’s mileage in sending up his political forays, or even his place as a nearpensionable action star - it could be like the monologue scene from JCVD, but played for laughs instead of harrowing despair.—Guardian

He is the Governator no longer. But Arnie terminate all thoughts of making serious films right now

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Children

FRIDAY JANUARY 28, 2011

Word-seArch

spot the difference

Can you find the hidden words? Each word ends with the letter H. The words may be horizontal or vertical.

ARCH, BATH, BEACH, DEPTH, DISH, EACH, EARTH, ENOUGH, FINISH, FRESH, HIGH, LENGTH, MARCH, MONTH, MYTH, PEACH, RICH, ROUGH, SCRATCH, SMOOTH, STOMACH, TOUCH, VANISH, WASH, WATCH.

nUMBer-seArch

cross

solution Can you find the hidden numbers? They may be horizontal or vertical.

16177, 16395, 33899, 37269, 38494, 46437, 48484, 58483, 63437, 67484, 76373, 77428, 83362, 89448, 97987, 98877.

1. One of the two horizontal 7-letter words is sandy areas by the sea and the other is a small bird.

2. One of the two vertical 7-letter words is a large spotted animal and the other is a month of the year.

3. One of the 5-letter words is between second and fourth and the other is a pirate's treasure box.

4. The 4-letter words are piece of metal money; capital of Norway; close by; small horse.

5. The two 3-letter words on the left are take food and drinking container.

6. The two 3-letter words on the right are finish and more than one but less than three.

There are no clue numbers in the grid. Use your powers of deduction to put the right words in the correct positions in the grid. All the O's have already been filled in.

FRIDAY JANUARY 28, 2011

43

Children

Beauty and the Beast

nce upon a time as a merchant set off for market, he asked each of his three daughters what she would like as a present on his return. The first daughter wanted a brocade dress, the second a pearl necklace, but the third, whose name was Beauty, the youngest, prettiest and sweetest of them all, said to her father: "All I'd like is a rose you've picked specially for me!"

When the merchant had finished his business, he set off for home. However, a sudden storm blew up, and his horse could hardly make headway in the howling gale. Cold and weary, the merchant had lost all hope of reaching an inn when he suddenly noticed a bright light shining in the middle of a wood. As he drew near, he saw that it was a castle, bathed in light.

"I hope I'll find shelter there for the night," he said to himself. When he reached the door, he saw it was open, but though he shouted, nobody came to greet him. Plucking up courage, he went inside, still calling out to attract attention. On a table in the main hall, a splendid dinner lay already served. The merchant lingered, still shouting for the owner of the castle. But no one came, and so the starving merchant sat down to a hearty meal.

Overcome by curiosity, he ventured upstairs, where the corridor led into magnificent rooms and halls. A fire crackled in the first room and a soft bed looked very inviting. It was now late, and the merchant could not resist. He lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep. When he woke next morning, an unknown hand had placed a mug of steaming coffee and some fruit by his bedside.

The merchant had breakfast and after tidying himself up, went downstairs to thank his generous host. But, as on the evening before, there was nobody in sight. Shaking his head in wonder at the strangeness of it all, he went towards the garden where he had left his horse, tethered to a tree. Suddenly, a large rose bush caught his eye.

Remembering his promise to Beauty, he bent down to pick a rose. Instantly, out of the rose garden, sprang a horrible beast, wearing splendid clothes. Two bloodshot eyes, gleaming angrily, glared at him and a deep, terrifying voice growled: "Ungrateful man! I gave you shelter, you ate at my table and slept in my own bed, but now all the thanks I get is the theft of my favorite flowers! I shall put you to death for this slight!" Trembling with fear, the merchant fell on his knees before the Beast.

"Forgive me! Forgive me! Don't kill me! I'll do anything you say! The rose wasn't for me, it was for my daughter Beauty. I promised to bring her back a rose from my journey!" The Beast dropped the paw it had clamped on the unhappy merchant.

"I shall spare your life, but on one condition, that you bring me your daughter!" The terrorstricken merchant, faced with certain death if he did not obey, promised that he would do so.

When he reached home in tears, his three daughters ran to greet him. After he had told them of his dreadful adventure, Beauty put his mind at rest immediately.

"Dear father, I'd do anything for you! Don't

O

worry, you'll be able to keep your promise and save your life! Take me to the castle. I'll stay there in your place!" The merchant hugged his daughter.

"I never did doubt your love for me. For the moment I can only thank you for saving my life." So Beauty was led to the castle. The Beast, however, had quite an unexpected greeting for the girl. Instead of menacing doom as it had done with her father, it was surprisingly pleasant. In the beginning, Beauty was frightened of the Beast, and shuddered at the sight of it.

Then she found that, in spite of the monster's awful head, her horror of it was gradually fading as time went by. She had one of the finest rooms in the Castle, and sat for hours, embroidering in front of the fire. And the Beast would sit, for hours on end, only a short distance away, silently gazing at her. Then it started to say a few kind words, till in the end, Beauty was amazed to discover that she was actually enjoying its conversation. The days passed, and Beauty and the Beast became good friends.

Then one day, the Beast asked the girl to be his wife.

Taken by surprise, Beauty did not know what to say. Marry such an ugly monster? She would rather die! But she did not want tohurt the feelings of one who, after all, had been kind to her. And she remembered too that she owed it her own life as well as her father's.

"I really can't say yes," she began shakily. "I'd so much like to..." The Beast interrupted her

with an abrupt gesture.

"I quite understand! And I'm not offended by your refusal!" Life went on as usual, and nothing further was said. One day, the Beast presented Beauty with a magnificent magic mirror. When Beauty peeped into it, she could see her family, far away.

"You won't feel so lonely now," were the words that accompanied the gift. Beauty stared for hours at her distant family. Then she began to feel worried. One day, the Beast found her weeping beside the magic mirror.

"What's wrong?" he asked, kindly as always.

"My father is gravely ill and close to dying!

Oh, how I wish I could see him again, before it's too late!" But the Beast only shook its head.

"No! You will never leave this castle!" And off it stalked in a rage. However, a little later, it returned and spoke solemnly to the girl.

"If you swear that you will return here in seven days time, I'll let you go and visit your father!" Beauty threw herself at the Beast's feet in delight. "I swear! I swear I will! How kind you are! You've made a loving daughter so happy!"

In reality, the merchant had fallen ill from a broken heart at knowing his daughter was being kept prisoner.

When he embraced her again, he was soon on the road to recovery. Beauty stayed beside him for hours on end, describing her life at the Castle, and explaining that the Beast was really good and kind. The days flashed past, and at last the merchant was able to leave his bed. He

was completely well again. Beauty was happy at last. However, she had failed to notice that seven days had gone by.

Then one night she woke from a terrible nightmare. She had dreamt that the Beast was dying and calling for her, twisting in agony.

"Come back! Come back to me!" it was pleading. The solemnpromise she had made drove her to leave home immediately.

"Hurry! Hurry, good horse!" she said, whipping her steed onwards towards the castle, afraid that she might arrive too late. She rushed up the stairs, calling, but there was no reply.

Her heart in her mouth, Beauty ran into the garden and there crouched the Beast, its eyes shut, as though dead. Beauty threw herself at it and hugged it tightly.

"Don't die! Don't die! I'll marry you . . ." At these words, a miracle took place. The Beast's ugly snout turned magically into the face of a handsome young man.

"How I've been longing for this moment!" he said. "I was suffering in silence, and couldn't tell my frightful secret. An evil witch turned me into a monster and only the love of a maiden willing to accept me as I was, could transform me back into my real self. My dearest! I'll be so happy if you'll marry me."

The wedding took place shortly after and, from that day on, the young Prince would have nothing but roses in his gardens. And that's why, to this day, the castle is known as the Castle of the Rose. —www.ivyjoy.com

Comic

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Word Sleuth Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

ACROSS 1. Alternative names for the body of a human being.

4. One by one.

10. Inquire about.

13. Any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all.

14. Punish with an arbitrary penalty.

15. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

16. A piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep.

17. Covered with paving material.

19. Before noon.

20. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

22. A member of a seafaring group of North American Indians who lived on the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southwestern Alaska.

25. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

26. The United Nations agency concerned with civil aviation.

28. Earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something.

32. An Italian poet famous for `The Divine Comedy'--a journey through hell and purgatory and paradise guided by Virgil and his idealized Beatrice (1265-1321).

35. A watery solution of sugars, salts, and minerals that circulates through the vascular system of a plant.

36. An Oscan-speaking member of an ancient people of Campania.

38. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

40. Date used in reckoning dates before the supposed year Christ was born.

41. Towards the side away from the wind.

43. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

46. A French abbot.

48. South African term for `boss'.

51. Distant in either space or time.

54. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

55. Type genus of the family Arcidae.

56. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

57. A dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain.

60. A magnetic tape recorder for recording (and playing back) TV programs.

61. An interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open.

63. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

64. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

65. A river that rises in central Germany and flows north to join the Elbe River.

66. The syllable naming the sixth (submediant) note of a major or minor scale in solmization.

DOWN 1. A small cake leavened with yeast.

2. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

3. A doctor's degree in education.

4. Large ornamental tropical American tree with bipinnate leaves and globose clusters of flowers with crimson stamens and sweet-pulp seed pods eaten by cattle.

5. A hostel for pilgrims in Turkey.

6. A river in Germany.

7. Having a gray appearance.

8. A digital display that uses liquid crystal cells that change reflectivity

in an applied electric field.

9. Not only so, but.

10. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

11. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

12. God of love and erotic desire.

18. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that was formed by an explosion.

21. All the plant and animal life of a particular region.

23. Wading birds of warm regions having long slender down-curved bills.

24. A long pointed rod used as a weapon.

27. (law) A comprehensive term for any proceeding in a court of law whereby an individual seeks a legal remedy.

29. Tropical starchy tuberous root.

30. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

31. A drug combination found in some over-the-counter headache remedies (Aspirin and Phenacetin and Caffeine).

33. Half the width of an em.

34. A very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk.

37. An esoteric or occult matter that is traditionally secret.

39. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

42. The cry made by sheep.

44. Immature of its kind.

45. City in Sudan.

46. An adult male person (as opposed to a woman).

47. An indehiscent fruit derived from a single ovary having one or many seeds within a fleshy wall or pericarp.

49. The capital and largest city of Ghana with a deep-water port.

50. (Old Testament) The wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac.

52. Impairment resulting from long use.

53. (usually followed by `to') Having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something.

58. Goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld.

59. The compass point midway between east and southeast.

62. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

Yesterday’s Solution

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Lifestyle

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

File photo sh shows Briti y m A er g sin , Winehouse e iv h ee b a h wit P A — . hairdo s to o ph

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efore Marge Simpson, Amy Today the hat sits atop a gold metallic hat Winehouse or Audrey Hepburn box on Heldt’s living room coffee table. The wore their hair in the famous bee- box reads “Lorraine’s Footlight Hat Shop.” hive, there was Margaret Vinci Heldt This March the trade group Cosmetologists and her salon on Chicago’s ritzy Chicago will give its first scholarship in Heldt’s name for creativity in hairdressing, and the Michigan Avenue. As the 92Chicago History Museum is moving to include year-old retired hairthat velvet hat and mannequin into its collecstylist tells it, tion.

Modern Beauty The beehive became a cultural phenomeShop magazine non during the 1960s and evolved into a style (now Modern worn today as Hollywood’s starlets walk red Salon) was lookcarpets. “If it’s done right, it’s so classic,” said ing for a new Jay Manuel, creative director and judge on design, something “America’s Next Top Model” and host of the different to feature in “Style Her Famous” makeover series. “It’s its February 1960 issue. this punctuation point. It makes a statement She came up with the but at the same time it doesn’t take away beehive. from you.” With her bubbly and energetic “I went home and I personality, Heldt shows all the enthusithought, What am I going to asm for hairstyling today that you would do that hasn’t been done imagine at the height of her career a halfbefore?” Heldt says in an intercentury ago. Trophies for her view at her apartment in a suburhairstyling work fill a table ban Chicago retirement comin her small apartment, munity, where scrapbooks and she has a glass case of filled with pictures of her beautiful hair combs. hair designs are stacked She is animated when she talks near the couch. Inspiration about how the beehive’s popularity came to her in a little black grew quickly and then got out of control. velvet hat, shaped like a small “Oh what atrociousness, it grew into bigbump and lined on the inside ger and bigger, higher and higher,” she with red lace. Heldt went downMarg said. “It didn’t just stay a beehive. It laststairs to her family room one e Simp ed a long time and it keeps coming night while her family was sleepson with back.” The hairstyle was attractive to ing. She put on a little music and her hair u shorter women who were looking for started working with hair atop a beeh p in a height, Heldt said. “The showgirls, they mannequin head. “Before you ive loved it because it made them willowy know it something was coming and tall,” she said. out,” she said. “And I thought, Ann Bray, a hairstylist who owns The I like this.”

Masters Salon in Huntsville, Alabama, rememIt became what the magbers waiting for hours outside Heldt’s classazine called “the beehive.” rooms at trade shows to learn her techniques.

More than a half-century “At that time I was a young hairdresser, and later, Heldt is receiving we were all doing the beehive,” Bray said. accolades and “Ladies would come in with short hair and attention.

In this 1961 file photo actress Audrey Hepburn, with her hair up in a beehive, poses as Holly Golightly in the 1961 movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

File photo shows actress Jennifer Lopez arrives with her hair up in a beehive for the UK Premiere of “The Back-Up Plan,” at a cinema in London.

they would have an itty bitty ant hill. They would bring in hair pieces because they wanted a beehive.” The magazine’s article describes the style as “smooth and sweeping as to line, provocative as to detail” and “tall wrap-around crown, creating a circular silhouette with high-rise accents.” Heldt grew up on Chicago’s West Side and loved hair as a little girl. When she was seven or eight years old a friend took her to a hair salon and she says she was fascinated. “After that I didn’t want to play with dolls anymore,” she said. “I wanted to play beauty salon.” In high school she won a beauty school scholarship, but her family could not afford to buy her a hair switch, a piece of fabric with long hair attached so students could practice. She cut her mother’s long hair into a short bob and sewed the hair onto burlap to use in class. She passed the state board exam in 1935. Heldt opened her own salon, Margaret Vinci Coiffures, on Michigan Avenue in 1950.

“It was a very glamorous place,” said Timothy Long, costume curator at the Chicago History Museum. It was open “certainly at a time when a woman venturing into certain businesses was not as common as it was today.” The salon moved to the suburbs in the 1970s and was sold in the 1980s. Heldt retired in the 1990s. Now superlatives rain from her colleagues and admirers: The Ultimate. Our Grand Dame. Queen of the Beehive Hairdo.

She won the National Coiffure Championship in 1954. “Without any reservations I say that she certainly is an icon in the industry,” said Mario Tricoci, a hairstylist who owns 18 Mario Tricoci Hair Salon and Day Spa locations in two states. He has known Heldt for decades. Hairstylists who have studied

and worked with her rave at Heldt’s passion and unconditional willingness to share her knowledge. “Margaret’s not just the beehive,” Bray said. “That’s wonderful that she did that, but the things that she taught all of us hairdressers at that time will go down from generation to generation.”—AP

Photos show retired hairstylist Margaret Vinci Heldt, 92, is seen at her apartment in Elmhurst, Ill.

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Classic couture plus Mohawks equals Gaultier

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aute couture returned to its roots Wednesday with a Jean Paul Gaultier show that swapped the usual booming soundtrack for a disembodied voice that read the name, number and a brief description of each look-just as it was done during couture’s postwar heyday. Sure, Gaultier’s spring-summer 2011 couture show was still held in a massive hall, not in the intimate salons of yesteryear, and admittedly the ring of the occasional cell phone broke the spell from time to time.

But overall it was a moving tribute to the mores and traditions of the rarified world of haute couture, where exquisite garments are madeto-measure for the handful of women with pockets deep enough to sink five-to-six figures into a dress.

The painstaking craftsmanship that in part justifies such astronomical price tags was on bold display at Frank Sorbier. The Frenchman looked to traditional styles from the four corners of the globe, injecting the streetwear of Lower East Side Manhattanites and Plains Indian women with a stiff dose of Parisian chic. Valentino sent out a whisper-light collection of transparent, lace-and-chiffon dresses with an easy, breezy elegance. As if to underscore the delicacy of the clothes, many of the models wore chokers made from see-through plastic butterflies.

Lebanese designer Elie Saab continued his assault on red-carpets worldwide with another collection of tasteful gowns doused with flashbulb-friendly sparkle. On the other end of the spectrum from Saab’s supercharged maxi-gowns, his fellow Lebanese designer, Rabih Kayrouz, sent out clean and minimalist dresses that proved you don’t need to be awash in tulle, drowning in embroidery or flashing with sequins to be stunning.

Maxime Simoens, a young French designer who was the object of major media hype here, made a disappointing debut with a collection that had little to distinguish it from the masses. Though Wednesday marked the end of Paris’ three-day-long couture extravaganza, many in the fashion elite are staying through Thursday, when an AIDS charity holds it annual “Diner de la Mode” benefit dinner-a sumptuous event that generally attracts the jewels in the fashion crown.

wouldn’t be complete without a blowout finale, the show ended with a high-kicking number by a cancan dancer, her white tulle-covered bustier dress lined with photo-printed legs. A showstopper-just like the designer himself.

VALENTINO Valentino’s new design duo continued to prove they have the lightest touch in the business. Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli-who showed their first couture collection two years ago, after the retirement of house founder Valentino Garavani-sharpened their vision of featherlight romance with a collection that was all lace and see-through chiffon. The chemisier dresses, in buff and ivory, had the sort of easy, 1970s glamour the pair has been channeling for several seasons now. The long, puffy-sleeved dresses, with fluttering pleated skirts had an appealing softness lacking in the skintight corseted eveningwear that dominated other Paris couture catwalks. The flippy cocktail dresses with latticework collars also managed the delicate balance between ease and prettiness. They looked sure to please the gaggle of It Girls, including Italian socialite Bianca Brandolini and London-based shoe designer Charlotte Dellal, who decorated the front row. Really, it would take just such an It Girl, with endless legs and tiny ankles, to pull of any of the looks in the collection-where just about everything was completely transparent.

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER It was haute couture, old-school. Except for the Mohawks.

Gaultier infused the sophisticated Parisian styles he does best with a stiff dose of seventies punk, flawlessly blending two aesthetics you’d think would be allergic to each another. Called “I Am an Anarchist,” look number 31 was a single sleeved trench coat dress in shocking pink, while number 36, “Stinky Toys” layered a ruby crystal-covered leather jacket over a pleated black evening number. Models held cards with the number of their look in elegant calligraphy, and, in the other hand, some carried round purses that resembled cannonballs suspended from little leather straps. They were also accessorized with studded cuffs and rhinestone-encrusted dog collars. The collection was Gaultier at his best: The skirt suits and clingy column dresses were debonaire and glamorous, with the obligatory dose of subversive sexiness-the calling card of the man who gave the world Madonna’s mythic pointy cone bra. And because a Gaultier show

Models present creations by French designer Jean Paul Gaultier. — AFP /AP photos

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ELIE SAAB With Oscars around the corner, Saab delivered an endless parade of tasteful lace gowns that glinted with flashbulb-loving sequins. They had just the right dose of va-va-voom glamour: Slim through the bodice, with sweeping, embroidery-covered skirts, Saab’s gowns were sexy — but not too sexy, a safe choice for Hollywood starlets terrified of making a red carpet faux pas.

With Wednesday’s collection, Saab went lighter on the glinting metallics than usual, sending out a rich palette of jewel tones and acid hues and some sweet flowery watercolor prints.

RABIH KAYROUZ After three straight days of fashion excess at Paris’ couture shows, where the sequins flow like Champagne, Kayrouz was a palate cleanser. In clean, pared-down shapes and bright, unadorned satin, the collection was an exercise in restrained minimalism. The sheath dresses, in tangerine, fuchsia and emerald, had something almost monastic about them. Their plain fronts hewed close to the models’ bodies, while the backs stood at a remove, creating interesting volumes. Still, the nicest pieces in the strong collection were the knit dresses, with snug, long-sleeved bodices and ribbed, bell-shaped skirts. None of the models wore shoes, and the gravel strewn on the catwalk made gentle crunching noises beneath their stockinged feet.

The hushed steps were a welcome respite from the staccato stomping on other catwalks-and emblematic of the show’s contained and unassuming spirit.

MAXIME SIMOENS The 26-year-old designer hailed in the French fashion press as the next Yves Saint Laurent showed his first couture collection under intense media spotlight. Simoens sent out fitted bustier cocktail dresses in printed silk and skirt suits with origami folded peplums. There were a few outstanding pieces-the shift dresses that bloomed with leather flowers at both sleeves and waistline and the flapper dresses made entirely from colored chains. But on the whole the collection was unremarkable, with little to distinguish it from the sexy cocktail numbers that dominate catwalks across the globe. With his fragile, little-boy looks and thick black glasses, Simoens might look like a young Saint Laurent — who made his acclaimed 1957 debut at Christian Dior at age 21. But judging from what he fielded Wednesday, Simoens still has a long way to go. — AP

Models wear creations of Lebanese fashion designer Elie Saab.

—AP/AFP photos

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

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hen “Glee” goes on hiatus later this year and most of the cast leaves for a summer tour, Matthew Morrison will also be hitting the road, but not as Mr Schuester. The Broadway leading man-turnedTV star expects to be in full promo mode, working his as-yet-untitled debut solo album, which is due out this Spring. “I want to put all my eggs into music for this hiatus,” Morrison told THR. “I’ve worked so hard on it, I wanted to give it its due.”

Promising a mix of originals and cover songs (one revealed recently by Sir Elton John, who told Parade that he and Morrison had recorded a duet), Morrison recorded tracks for the album in Los Angeles, New York City and London, and collaborated with several writers including Steve Kipner (The Script, Cheryl Cole), JC Chasez, formerly of N Sync, and Britain’s Eg White (Adele, Duffy). “When I started the process, I had a vision of what I wanted it to be, and it’s now completely different,” he said. “I went into it wanting a Justin Timberlake-meets-Michael Buble kind of feel, but what came out of it was something more raw.”

Mercury Records president David Massey, who signed Morrison soon after “Glee” premiered in 2009, said he hears a little Jason Mraz, too. Maybe it’s the ukulele Morrison plays on one song. “It’s going to be an eclectic album,” said Massey. “There’s a lot of charm it and Matthew did some great songwriting.”

Added Morrison: “I have such respect for the songwriting process now.” When Massey first met Matthew Morrison, he was already a fan. “I remember going to the opening night of ‘Hairspray’ on Broadway all those years ago and seeing Matthew, who struck me as being incredibly talented,” he said.

(From left) Musicians Ryan Tedder and Brent Kutzle of the band One Republic perform during the LG FIS World Cup Snowboard Big Air Event in Civic Center Park on Wednesday in Denver, Colorado. The ramp is a steel truss scaffolding 106 feet high, 300 feet long and 80 feet wide covered in manmade snow.—AFP

Country music legend Charlie Louvin dies I

Matthew Morrison Sometime later, the two were formally introduced and not long into the conversation, Massey was convinced that Morrison belonged on the Mercury roster. “I knew he was a triple threat,” said Massey, “A great singer, a great dancer, and a great actor. I was very interested in making a record with him, and he wanted to record and do some songwriting, so we found ourselves very much in harmony.” The album is currently “in the homestretch,” said Massey and on schedule for a May release. Then what happens?

“I’m going on a world tour,” said Morrison.

Indeed, Massey said demand for a Morrison solo record is global. “The challenge is just being able to do all the promotion we want to do, from a global perspective,” said Massey.

“With the demand for tickets, Matthew will be able to do theaters almost right away.” For his part, Morrison said the No. 1 priority is his music career. “A few movie offers have come my way, but right now, it’s important to put all my energy into promoting this album,” he said. “I’m so happy with it. It came from a real place.”—Reuters

nfluential country music great Charlie Louvin, who scored a string of hits with gospel-inspired inflections in his traditional singing style, died on Wednesday. He was 83. A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame since 2001 and the Grand Ole Opry for half a century, Louvin died from pancreatic cancer at his home in Wartrace, Tennessee, near Nashville, according to his manager, Brett Steele.

The last of his roughly 20 albums over a career spanning seven decades was “The Battle Rages On,” which was released in November and featured songs about war performed with other artists, including bluegrass legend Del McCoury. Louvin and his older sibling, Ira, performed on radio and toured the mid-South as the Louvin Brothers in the 1940s. His website said the duo developed their distinctive close harmonies with a style called “shape note singing” that borrowed from Southern gospel sung in rural churches.

Charlie Louvin was a strong influence on such performers as Emmylou Harris and the late Gram Parsons, who covered the Louvin Brothers classic “The Christian Life” while with The Byrds.

Born in Henagar, Alabama, on July 7, 1927, Charlie Louvin worked in the fields of the family farm and listened to bluegrass records by the likes of the Delmore Brothers, the Monroe Brothers and the Blue Sky Boys. The Louvin brothers’ first commercial hit was the 1955 single “When I Stop Dreaming,” the same year they toured with a young Elvis Presley. The duo split in 1963 over personal differences, and Ira put out one solo album before dying in a car crash the following year.

Charlie Louvin embarked on a successful solo career, beginning with the hit “I Don’t Love You Anymore” in 1964. Louvin recounted meeting a lonely teenager-a young cotton picker named Johnny Cash-while selling tickets to a show in Arkansas.

“He noticed I had two soda crackers in my shirt pocket. He asked me why, and I said, ‘To keep from starving to death.’ I invited him in to the show-I could tell he didn’t have any money. Years later in (Cash’s) book (“Man In Black”), he said he always ate two Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Louvin

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soda crackers before he went on stage,” Louvin wrote in his online biography.

Louvin’s career blossomed anew in 2003 when he was invited to open for Cheap Trick and Cake on a national tour, and was thrilled by the warm reception for his brand of bluegrass. In 2004, performers James Taylor, Merle Haggard and Dolly Parton issued a musical tribute, “Livin’, Lovin’ Losin’: Songs of the Louvin Brothers,” which won two Grammy Awards. Stricken with cancer last summer, Louvin performed as recently as December until he became too sick to go on stage. “Show business is all I really know how to do, and I would like for it to be the last thing I do,” Louvin said in a recent interview with the Nashville Tennessean newspaper.—Reuters

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Taiwan’s Jay Chou spices up

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aiwanese pop king Jay Chou says his appearance in the action comedy “The Green Hornet” fulfilled a childhood dream to imitate Bruce Lee’s kung fu genius and bring his musical talent to the silver screen. The film is a reprise of the 196667 television series in which Lee starred as the sidekick to masked Los Angeles crime fighter Britt Reid, a newspaper publisher who spends his nights fighting crime in a quest for vigilante justice. It opened this month to mixed reviews but an exceptionally strong box office. Chou’s performance was praised by some, derided by others, with many commenting on his poor command of English.

The Taiwan-born Chou and leading man Seth Rogen were in Taipei yesterday to promote the film. “I tried hard to get this role,” Chou told The Associated Press. “I worship heroes. I admit I’m pretty childlike in my inner side and I like Batman and Iron Man. When I got a chance to play a hero, I told myself I couldn’t give up.” This is the first Hollywood film for the 32-year-old Chou, whose fame as a rap and R&B artist is mostly confined to Asia. In recent years, he has appeared in a number of Chinese-language films, one of which he also directed.

Chou said his “Hornet” role as Reid’s assistant Kato was not meant to mirror Lee’s one-dimensional kung fu approach, but to be “more normal and closer to reality” and to provide a showcase for his musical talent. “I hope to show Western audiences that Asians don’t just do kung fu, but also sing, write songs and play the piano,” he said. “So I put the musical element into my Kato.”

Chou said he initially wanted to make his first appearance in the film playing the bongo drums, but eventually yielded to director Michel Gondry’s suggestion that he come in riding a motorcycle instead.

Still, Chou did get a chance to play the piano in the film and

said he was pleased that it ended with the “The Nunchucks,” a Mandarin language song he wrote 10 years ago about the martial arts weapon made famous by Lee. Chou said Sony Pictures has decided to make a sequel to “The Green Hornet” and that he will reappear in the same role. However, that appearance will mark the end of his Hollywood career _ at least for a time. “After this, I will not do another Hollywood film but rather go back to my music,” he said. — AP

Taiwanese pop king Jay Chou gestures during an interview with The Associated Press on his new film “The Green Hornet” in Taipei.—AP

Mortensen eyeing role in ‘Snow White’ movie

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Actors Hugh Dancy, Elizabeth Olsen and Sarah Paulson attend Cocktails For “Martha Marcy May Marlen” at The Levis AE Showroom on January 21, 2011 in Park City, Utah.— AFP

other products. Like her sisters, Elizabeth began acting as a child, not on network TV shows but in community theater. She took acting classes and went on auditions but never hit it big. She also watched her sisters run the media gauntlet of stalking paparazzi and tabloid headlines and was determined to avoid that type of celebrity.

Instead of staying in Los Angeles as she entered adulthood, she went to New York University and looked for theater work. “I always knew the media world was kind of an odd thing and kind of frightened me, and if I wanted to be an actor- especially when my sisters were in the spotlight-I’d have to be smart going about it. I was aware of that at a young age.” College offered her more training and a network of new friends. She focused on theater because “it is kind of free of media” coverage.

But reporters turns out in droves for Sundance. There is no escaping it, and that applies to almost any celebrity- especially to the younger sister of the Olsen twins. —Reuters

Viggo Mortensen

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he may not be as famous as her twin siblings, but after the Sundance Film Festival wraps up this week, the paparazzi may give up on Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and focus their cameras on their little sister. Elizabeth “Lizzie” Olsen has lit up the top annual showcase for independent movies with two films including the suspenseful drama “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” which was acquired this week by major indie studio Fox Searchlight.

Showbusiness website The Wrap labeled her a “Sundance Sensation” and it was announced her next project will be with Robert De Niro and Sigourney Weaver in thriller “Red Lights.”

“It feels really awesome,” Olsen, 21, told Reuters about being branded one of the festival’s freshest new faces. “I mean, I think that’s so awesome and flattering, and I hope that if people are talking about that, then that makes people want to see the movies...because that’s the goal.”

Olsen is three years younger than Mary-Kate and Ashley, who gained fame as infants on 1990s TV sitcom “Full House” in which the twins grew up in front of America’s eyes. They launched a series of DVDs that captivated young girls’ imaginations, and then fashion lines and numerous

iggo Mortensen is in negotiations to star in “Snow White and the Huntsman,” one of two high-profile Snow White projects around town. Charlize Theron is in talks to play the evil queen, and Universal is screentesting actresses for the role of Snow White. Emily Browning, who appears in Zack Snyder’s “Suckerpunch,” tested last weekend.

This retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale plays up the character of the Huntsman, a secondary character in the centuries-old tale, who becomes Snow White’s protector and mentor. Michael Fassbender had been in the mix for the part; the actor is now co-starring with Noomi Rapace in Fox’s “Prometheus.” Mortensen last starred in “The Road.” The other Snow White project is in development at indie financier Relativity Media, which has Tarsem Singh (“The Cell”) on board to direct its untitled movie. The action begins with the evil stepmother killing Snow White’s father and destroying the kingdom. The heroine then bands together with a gang of seven quarrelsome dwarves to reclaim what is rightly hers. — Reuters

Lifestyle FRIDAY , JANUARY 28, 2011

Auctioneers Christie’s notch up record year

File photo shows Tang yYuhua displa ing a figurine it of Lord Rabb on a reindeer at Bannerman Tang’s Toys and Crafts, a t shop in a quie e th ar ne ne la Confucius Temple in Beijing.—AFP

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Lord Rabbit reigns again for China’s Lunar New Year

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ord Rabbit, a mythical bunny sent down from the moon to bring good health to Beijing, is making a triumphant comeback as the Chinese capital gears up for the Lunar New Year. Banned during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when China’s communist rulers sought to stamp out customs seen as superstitious, Lord Rabbit has re-emerged as the nation once again embraces its ancient traditions.

“Traditionally, Lord Rabbit has nothing to do with the Year of the Rabbit,” Tang Yujie, a fifth-generation artisan whose family makes traditional Chinese crafts including figurines of the mythical hero, told AFP. “But as the government has been sponsoring a resur-

gence in Chinese folk customs, it is natural that ordinary people are making the connection.” Tang, 50, runs Bannerman Tang’s Toys and Crafts, a shop in a quiet lane near the Confucius Temple in Beijing. She is hoping to keep traditional arts and crafts alive through her work, some of which is displayed in city museums.

According to legend, Lord Rabbit-also known as Jade Rabbit-was sent down by the goddess of the moon, Chang’e, to help Beijing survive a deadly plague more than 500 years ago. A Lord Rabbit figurine is believed to help ward off disease. Big and small statues of the stern-looking bunny, mortar and pestle in hand, started cropping up in major commer-

cial centers in the Chinese capital weeks ahead of the Lunar New Year, which this year falls on February 3. The holiday is the most important annual celebration in China, when the nation largely shuts down as families gather together for reunions and feasts. More than 2.5 billion passenger trips by air, rail, bus or sea will be taken around the holiday, the government says, as China’s army of migrant workers, business people and students return home for the festivities. According to Wang Lin, a guide at Beijing’s 700-year-old Dongyue Taoist Temple which was closed during the Cultural Revolution and only reopened in 2008, Lord Rabbit will be a star at this year’s Lunar New Year fairs. —AFP

Off California coast, a bumper gray whale season

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t the Aquarium of the Pacific, Michele Sousa is excited: the annual gray whale migration is in full swing, and it’s a bumper year to view the lumbering leviathans off the California coast. The vast mammals-an endangered species elsewhere, but apparently thriving in the eastern Pacific-are being seen in healthy numbers as the females head south from Alaska to give birth in the warm waters of Mexico. There had been concerns over the last five years when numbers have been down, but experts are relieved to see them plowing south.

“This season is off to a great start ... Since we started to take counts in early December we’ve seen over 264 gray whales and 14 calves,” said Sousa, the senior mammal expert at the Aquarium on long beach, south of Los Angeles.

There are thought to be up to 22,000 of the huge undersea beasts, which can reach lengths of up to 15 meters (yards) and weigh up to 35 tones, in the waters off the US Pacific coast. Every year pregnant female grays are first to make a dash thousands of miles from the icy northern waters off Alaska to the balmy lagoons of Baja California in Mexico, to give birth to their young.

They are followed by singleton and younger whales-who have a less urgent need to get south, but still make a respectable 160 kilome-

A gray whale dives off the coast of southern California.—AFP ters (100 miles) a day, flicking their vast tails to thrust themselves southward. “The single whales, both males and females, will socialize quite a bit on the southward migration,” said Kera Mathes, another whale expert at the nonprofit Aquarium. “The pregnant females are trying to get to the lagoons as quickly as possible to keep the calves protected and in warm water, so we normally see the pregnant females go by first, then the singles, and lastly the juveniles.” In all the gray whales make a round trip of 16,093 to 22,530 km (10,000 to 14,000 miles), starting with a two to three-month trip south from October, two to three months in the lagoons,

then two to three months heading back north.

“On the northbound migration, we typically see the newly pregnant females first, then the singles and juveniles, and then lastly the new cow/calf pairs,” she added. The gray mammalsnamed after their color, although coincidentally they were first classified by 19th-century British zoologist John Edward Gray-are far from the only whale types seen off the coast here. Blue whales, Minke whales, and orcas live side-by-side with dolphins, sea lions and a host of other marine animals, in an area whose diversity is boosted by huge differences in seabed depth on the edge of the continental shelf. —AFP

hristie’s notched up the biggest sales figures in the art auction industry’s history last year, the firm announced yesterday, with record global sales of $5 billion. And Chinese collectors continued to increase their prominence in the auction rooms as the number of buyers from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong accounted for a fifth of the total. Sales in 2010 were up 53 percent with the firm selling more than half the world’s works over $50 million, including the most expensive painting ever to sell at auction: Pablo Picasso’s “Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust” for $106.5 million.

The firm also sold notable collections owned by international names such as author Michael Crichton and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. “2010 was a record-breaking year and early signs of 2011 indicate that the art market remains buoyant at all levels,” said Steven P Murphy, CEO of Christie’s International. “Among the many notable results, the pace of growth in auction, the strength of private sales and increase in online transactions in particular indicate a growing appetite for participation in all forms and formats of art sales.”

The number of new clients who registered for a sale rose 22.7 percent on 2009 and the number who went on to buy in Christie’s sales increased 13 percent, while 28 percent of buyers bid online. And Chinese collectors are becoming an ever-increasing presence on the global auction stage, says Christie’s Asia president Francois Curiel.

Around 20 percent of global sales were to clients from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan-up from 16 percent. “What we are seeing is that Chinese collectors are scanning the catalogues and the fairs worldwide,” he told AFP. “They are buying to bring back to China their treasures and great Chinese works of art. “It will often be Chinese versus Chinese versus Chinese, with all the European and American collectors being left behind, sometimes not even being able to raise their hand at the auction.”—AFP

Stars

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Aries (March 21-April 19)

What rewards do you deserve for all the good living and the hard work you've done since your last birthday? And what amends should you make for the mediocre living and the work you've shirked since your last birthday? If you choose this week to take care of these two matters with purposeful clarity, you will ensure the best possible outcomes. The reward you earn will be the right one, and the amends you offer will provide the proper correction.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Sometimes I fly in my dreams. The ecstasy is almost unbearable as I soar high above the landscape. But there's something I enjoy dreaming about even more, and that's running. For years I've had recurring dreams of sprinting for sheer joy through green hills and meadows, often following rivers that go on forever. I'm never short of breath. My legs never get tired. I feel vital and vigorous and fulfilled. Does it seem odd that I prefer running to flying? I think I understand why.

The flying dreams represent the part of me that longs to escape the bonds of earth, to be free of the suffering and chaos here.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

An interviewer asked me if there's any special ritual I do before writing these horoscopes. I told her that I often say a prayer in which I affirm my desire to provide you with these three services: 1. that what I create will be of practical use to you; 2. that it will help you cultivate your relationship with your inner teacher; 3. that it will inspire you to tap into and use the substantial freedom you have to create the life you want.

I hope I'm doing a good job, Gemini, because in the coming weeks your inner teacher will be overflowing with practical clues about the art of liberation.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

"Spring dawn: Turning toward the storm cloud, I lost sight of the bird." Let this haiku-like poem by Julius Lester serve as a cautionary tale, Cancerian. You're at risk of getting so fearfully fixated on a storm cloud that you may lose track, metaphorically speaking, of a rare and beautiful bird. And the thing is, the storm cloud isn't even harboring that big a ruckus. It will pour out its flash and dazzle quickly, leaving virtually no havoc in its wake. That's why it would be a shame for you to let your perverse fascination with it cause you to get separated from a potential source of inspiration.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Shockwaves of toxic misinformation pulse through the Internet on a regular basis. One of the latest infections attacked the subject of astrology. An astronomer in Minneapolis proclaimed that due to the precession of the equinoxes, everyone's astrological sign is wrong. He was perfectly mistaken, of course, for reasons I explain here: http://bit.ly/AstroHoax. But few journalists in the major media bothered to check the accuracy of the sensationalist allegation before publishing it, and soon the collective imagination was on fire. Hundreds of thousands of people suffered unnecessary identity crises and felt emotions that were based on a fallacy. In the coming week, Leo, you should be on high alert for a comparable outbreak or two in your personal sphere.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

You are usually conscientious about attending to the details. It's one of your specialties to take care of little necessities. You often know what to do in order to fix mistakes and messes caused by the imprecision of other people. For now, though, I encourage you to take a break from all that. In my opinion, you need to regenerate and replenish yourself, and a good way to accomplish that is to let your mind go blissfully blank. At least consider it, please. Give yourself permission to space out about the intricacies.

Steep yourself in the primordial ooze where everything is everything.

COUNTRY CODES Libra (September 23-October 22)

I'll be interested to see how you shift your attitudes about love in the coming weeks, Libra. Fate will be bringing you good reasons to move away from long-held opinions about the nature of romance and intimacy. Your subconscious mind will be stirring with new dispensations about how best to deal with and express your life-giving longings. All in all, the process should be pretty enjoyable, especially if you relish psycho-spiritual riddles that impel you to probe deeper into the mysteries of togetherness.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

"Dear Rob: I am a professional obsesser. I mean I obsess on things a lot. But here's the thing. When I do obsess on something and work with manic intensity to achieve it, I am changed in the process -- frequently to the point of no longer desiring what I was once obsessed by! This makes me crazy! Any advice? Flagrant Scorpio." Dear Flagrant: This is a gift, not a problem. Figuring out what you don't want is a key factor in developing self-knowledge. And often the only way to do that is by pursuing what you think you want. Ultimately you'll be purged of your lesser longings and superficial wishes and be able to crystallize a clear vision of what you truly desire more than anything else.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

"The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in such a way that will allow a solution," said philosopher Bertrand Russell. In other words, the words you use to describe your dilemma are crucial. If you're lazy or pessimistic about framing your big question, you minimize your chances for finding a useful answer. If you're precise and creative, you're more likely to attract the information and inspiration you need. This is always true, of course, but especially so for you right now.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

A "karma whore" is someone who performs an abundant number of favors and acts of kindness in the hope of accumulating extra good karma. Judging from the astrological omens, I'm thinking this week will be prime time for you to flirt with being such a person. Why? Because the blessings you bestow in the near future are more likely than usual to generate specific blessings coming back your way. You don't necessarily have to go to ridiculous extremes -- holding the door open for five people behind you, allowing ten cars to merge in front of you on the highway, flinging out casual but sincere compliments with reckless abandon. But from what I can tell, the more help you dole out, the more you'll get in return.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

In the early 20th century, many women at the beach covered most of their bodies with swimsuits made of wool. If they went in the water, they'd emerge about 20 pounds heavier. Swimming was a challenge. Your current psychic state has resemblances to what you'd feel like if you were wearing drenched woolen underwear and a drenched woolen clown suit and a drenched woolen robe. My advice? Take it off; take it all off. The astrological omens are clear: Whatever your reasons were for being in this get-up in the first place are no longer valid.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

You may have no idea of how much power you have right now to start fresh -- to escape the muddle of murky old failures. Your imagination might not yet be sufficiently lubricated to glide you into the expansive version of the future you deserve. But I'm hoping that this little horoscope of mine changes all that. I'm praying that you are already registering the pleasant shock I'm trying to jolt you with, and are awakening to the rampant possibilities. On your mark. Get set. Go!

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African Republic 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands)0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062 Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686

Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland)0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK)0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677 Somalia 00252 South Africa 0027 South Korea 0082 Spain 0034 Sri Lanka 0094 Sudan 00249 Suriname 00597 Swaziland 00268 Sweden 0046 Switzerland 0041 Syria 00963 Taiwan 00886 Tanzania 00255 Thailand 0066 Toga 00228 Tonga 00676 Tokelau 00690 Trinidad 001868 Tunisia 00216 Turkey 0090 Tuvalu 00688 Uganda 00256 Ukraine 00380 United Arab Emirates00976

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Carmel school holds farewell ceremony

“S

hine Bright, Carmelite” was the theme of the Class XII farewell at Carmel School, Kuwait. As the outgoing batch was greeted to a red carpet welcome, they were escorted into the auditorium along the Carmel walk of fame as the band played the welcome march. The program began with a prayer drama ‘Dare You To Move’ which brought out the message that through all life’s challenges it is God’s favor that will take you to a higher level.

This was followed by a presentation with a glimpse of some of the most heartwarming moments of the students’ blossoming years.

The Principal Maria Lytta addressed the students, exhorting them to pass on to the next generation the legacy of values, hard work, sincerity, commitment, generosity and compassion that they have received from their school as they aspire to reach the stars, and fondly wished them farewell.

Against a backdrop artistically depicting the shining star, a series of exuberant dances performed by students of Class XI followed, to the delight of the outgoing batch. Every student was invited to receive a memento and a title from the Principal Maria Lytta and Vice Principal Serena. The much awaited event for the day, the crowning of Master and Miss Carmel was next, and after a grueling competition conducted by Mrs Madhu and Mrs Jini, Karan Soni was declared Master Carmel for 2010-11 and Anjaly Hareendran Miss Carmel. Gopi Pothuraju and Manik Hardikar emerged the runners-up. On behalf of the staff, Mrs Dilnaaz gave a touching message bidding adieu to the students.

The representatives from Class 12 thanked the management, the teachers and the class XI students for their memorable time at Carmel. The School leaders Mariyam Mirza and Caralyza Edwin ended with a vote of thanks after which they were treated to a sumptuous buffet. Carmel wishes the outgoing batch life’s very best as they keep their eyes on the stars, reach for them and change the world.

SARGOTSAV 2011 continues today

M

ar Athanasious College of Engineering, Kerala; MACE Alumni Association, Kuwait Chapter announced SARGOTSAV 2011, the 7th Inter-KEF Alumni Children’s Art Festival, was launched yesterday and continues its activities today at Carmel School, Khaitan.

On behalf of the Organizing committee, MACEAA Chairman P.C. George and General Convenor Shaji Hassan informed that SARGOTSAV, the Children’s Art Festival provides an opportunity to bring out the talents of children of various Engineering college Alumni Associations coming under the Kuwait Engineers Forum (KEF) fraternity.

MACE Alumni Association, Kuwait chapter was formed in the year 1983 with the intention of cultural and social interaction among the families of MACEAA residing in Kuwait. SARGOTSAV has its inception since 1999 and has now turned out to be a Mega Cultural Festival which brings out the literary and artistic talents of children bubbling with so much of energy,

enthusiasm and excitement. Various individual and group items such as Elocution, Painting, Essay writing, Mono Act, Fancy Dress, Dance, Music, Drama etc are included in this inter KEF Alumni competition to enhance their creative and artistic talents and to include the values of team work, healthy spirit of competition and sense of culture and integrity. About 600 children are expected to participate in various items.

All the events are judged by a panel of efficient judges and the prizes for the winners will be given during the valedictory function on 28th evening.

Indian Ambassador Ajai Malhotra will be the Chief Guest of the occasion.

SARGOTSAV 2011 souvenir will be released by Shankaran Nair, General Convenor, Kerala Engineers Forum (KEF) during the Inaugural Function.

Sargotsav is a culmination of hard work put in by the whole team of MACEAANS of Kuwait chapter. The Chairman’s and all members of constituent Alumni Associations of KEF have voluntarily extended their total support to this mega Event to make it a grand success.

NSS Mannam Jayanthi today

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air Service Society, Kuwait extended a warm welcome to Judge Adv Narendranathan Nair, Treasurer, Nair Service Society, Kerala, India.

Narendranathan Nair arrived in Kuwait yesterday morning for presiding over the meeting on the occasion of 134th Mannam Jayanthi Celebrations, which is scheduled today at Cambridge English School , Kuwait , from 4.30 pm .

The Chief Guest of the programme is Padma Vibhushan Dr. G. Madhavan Nair, Former Chairman, ISRO. H.E Ajai Malhotra will inaugurate the function, followed by Ottamthullal by Kalamandalam Mohanakrishnan and Nadaswara Kacheri by renowned South Indian legend Thiruviza Jayasankar and his 5 member team including young maestro Karunamoorthy on tavil.

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Embassy Information

Cast members from KLT’s Christmas pantomime ‘Babes in the Wood’

KLT is ready to hit the stage in 2011 Woman in Mind, Barefoot in the Park and Hairspray set to enthrall audiences

By Wendy Clayton

‘Woman in Mind’

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Little Theatre (KLT) is set to enthrall audiences in 2011 with some spectacular productions. Kicking off 2011 in March is Alan Ayckbourn’s theatrical stage play ‘Woman in Mind’, followed by Neil Simon’s classic comedy play ‘Barefoot in the Park’. May 2011 will see KLT hit the boards in the musical comedy hit ‘Hairspray’.

Opening on March 9 at the KLT theatre in Ahmadi, ‘Woman in Mind’ is a play told from the subjective view point of the lead character, Susan. Directed by Josef Stagg and headlining Pauline Barry in the role of Susan, ‘Woman in Mind’ brings to life the real and imagined families of Susan. Susan’s worlds appear, disappear and collide as the audience are drawn into her ever changing emotions.

Alan Ayckbourn wrote the play in April 1985. Its world premiere was on May 30, 1985 at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough, UK. KLT Chairman, Gerry Burton said, “Rehearsals are underway and we will begin designing the sets soon. It is sure to be a fabulous production”. The KLT brings ‘Woman in Mind’ to Kuwait for three nights from March 9 until March 11. Box office opens on February 1.

Following later in the month Annike Jones directs ‘Barefoot in the Park, a romantic comedy play written by Neil Simon and set in New York in the 1960s.

The play looks at the life of newlyweds Corrie and Paul Bratter. When Corrie tries

March 9, 10 and 11, Curtain raises 7.30pm Box Office opens Feb 1, Call 9937 3678 or book online www.TheKLT.com ‘Barefoot in the Park’ Auditions: 11am - 1pm Saturday 29 Jan Performances: March 29 and 31 ‘Hairspray’ Final auditions: 2pm Saturday 29 Jan Performances: May For more information about KLT visit www.TheKLT.com to play cupid between her mother and their eccentric neighbor things go wrong, arguments ensue and the Bratter’s relationship is put to the test.

KLT’s second round of auditions for roles will take place between 11am and 1pm, Saturday January 29 at the theatre.

A popular play the original Broadway production opened October 23, 1963 and ran for 1530 performances before closing on June 25, 1967. A New York revival ran for 109 performances from February 16, 2006 through May 21, 2006.

In addition to actors, KLT are looking for production team members in the area of costume design, set design, stage crew, and technical crew. Performances of ‘Barefoot in the Park’ will take place on Tuesday, March 29 and Thursday, March

31 at the KLT theatre.

Final auditions for the production of ‘Hairspray’ will take place at the KLT theatre at 2pm on Saturday January 29.

While all principals roles have been cast Director Kirsty McDonagh says she is on the lookout for chorus members for Corny Collins Kids and Detention Kids who can sing and dance and are 14 years and over.

‘Hairspray’ the musical is based on the 1988 John Waters film ‘Hairspray’. The songs include 1960-style dance music and “downtown” rhythm and blues.

‘Hairspray’ is a social commentary highlighting the injustices of parts of the American society in the 1960s. The “afrotastic” comedy musical set in Baltimore during the 1960s is set to hit the KLT stage in May 2011.

“This is a very busy period for KLT,” said Burton. We have two plays close together and we’ll be rehearsing for three productions at once. We have quite a diverse group though between the three productions. It’s quite pleasing to see such a strong group of people working together. It should be a good season”.

The KLT is currently celebrating 60th season. It has undergone several facelifts over the time period. The theatre, which is provided by KOC, was severely damaged during the Iraq invasion in the 1990s. However, a dedicated group people have managed to pull the KLT back together to continue to bring great theatrical productions to the people of Kuwait.

Future Eye Theatre to celebrate anniversary

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Surjith

uture Eye Theatre, Kuwait will hold a mega event titled ‘Kaliyarangu’ to celebrate its first anniversary on Friday evening, Feb 4,2011 at the Indian Central School auditorium, Abbassiya. Well-known Malayalam theatre director Surjith Gopinath will be the chief guest of the event. He will also direct Future Eye’s new play ‘Hattamalanadinappuram’ (‘Beyond the Land of Hattamala’) a play written by popular Indian theatre personality Badal Sarkar, which will be

presented during the celebration.

Future Eye is also lining up many theatre-based programs such as folkloric presentation, Shakespearean theatre sketch, monoact etc. Another attraction of the event will be the staging of ‘Anantapuriyile Odakkuzhalvidwan,’ the maiden drama production of the Little Future Eye, the children’s wing of the theatre ensemble. For details contact: Tel: 65018302, 66726427, 97106957 or 97801524

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca.

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 Canadians of a family emergency at home.

The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca.

The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait.

Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form. All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants. Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed. To ensure that the most recent version of the Temporary Resident Visa application form is being utilized, applicants should refer to the CIC website.

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, 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, Al-Abraj Complex, Office No 9, Mezzanine Floor; 9 AM to 9 PM, Saturday to Thursday; 5 PM to 9 PM on Friday.

Embassy of India would like to inform that application forms for passport/visa services and labor contracts that are on its website, www.indembkwt.org, have been upgraded to include the facility for online data entry. Affidavit forms on the embassy website have had this facility since May 6, 2009.

TV Listings FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

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

The Ellen Degeneres Show Good Morning America Supernatural Kings Strong Medicine Good Morning America One Tree Hill Burn Notice The Ellen Degeneres Show Law And Order: Criminal Intent Burn Notice Strong Medicine One Tree Hill Live Good Morning America Law And Order: Criminal Intent The Ellen Degeneres Show Commander In Chief Eureka The Bachelor Supernatural Kings

00:50 01:45 02:40 03:35 04:30 05:25 06:20 07:10 07:35 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:40 10:10 11:05 12:00 12:55 13:20 13:50 14:45 15:10 15:40 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:25 18:50 19:20 20:15 20:40 21:10 22:05 23:00 23:55

Untamed & Uncut Killer Whales Dogs 101 Venom Hunter with Donald Schultz Pit Bulls and Parolees Polar Bears: Living on Thin Ice Untamed & Uncut Britain’s Worst Pet Britain’s Worst Pet Meerkat Manor Night Growing Up...

Breed All About It Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Chimp Family Fortunes Animal Precinct Wildlife SOS Wildlife SOS Animal Cops Houston SSPCA: On the Wildside Vet on the Loose Chimp Family Fortunes Breed All About It Night The Crocodile Hunter Diaries Cats of Claw Hill Cats of Claw Hill Venom Hunter with Donald Schultz Escape to Chimp Eden The Snake Buster Dogs 101 Austin Stevens Adventures Whale Wars Buggin’ with Ruud

14:15 Weird Or What?

15:05 Science Of The Movies 15:55 Savage Planet 16:20 Bad Universe 17:10 Building The Biggest 18:00 The Gadget Show 18:25 How Stuff’s Made 18:50 Brainiac 19:40 Sci-Fi Science 20:05 Sci-Fi Science 20:30 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 21:20 How It’s Made 21:45 The Gadget Show 22:10 Futurecar 23:00 Sci-Fi Science 23:25 Sci-Fi Science 23:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman

00:15 00:40 01:05 01:30 03:15 04:10 05:05 05:30 06:00 07:45 08:10 08:35 09:25 09:50 10:15 11:05 12:00 12:50 13:15 13:40 14:05 14:30 15:25 16:15 16:40 17:10 17:35 18:00 18:50 19:15 19:40 20:30 20:55 21:20 21:45 22:10 23:00 23:25 23:50

Kendra Fashion Police Then And Now Ths Extreme Hollywood Sexiest Battle Of The Hollywood Hotties Streets Of Hollywood 40 (More) Crimes Of Fashion Behind The Scenes Behind The Scenes E! News Fashion Police Then And Now Ths E!es E! News Extreme Close-Up Style Star Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami Kendra Ths 101 Favorite Stars Way Back When Behind The Scenes Behind The Scenes Keeping Up With The Kardashians Keeping Up With The Kardashians E! News Fashion Police Style Star Chelsea’s Big Interview Special Behind The Scenes Chelsea Lately Married To Rock Married To Rock E! News Chelsea Lately Fashion Police Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami

00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00 02:30 03:00 04:00 04:30 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00 22:00 22:30 23:00

Throwdown with Bobby Flay Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Chopped Ten Dollar Dinners Tyler’s Ultimate Amusement Park Eats Barefoot Contessa Unwrapped Iron Chef America Good Eats - Special Guys Big Bite Chopped Paula’s Best Dishes Good Deal with Dave Lieberman Guys Big Bite Barefoot Contessa Everyday Italian Ten Dollar Dinners Tyler’s Ultimate Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Barefoot Contessa - Back to Basics Unwrapped Paula’s Party Good Eats - Special Good Deal with Dave Lieberman Paula’s Best Dishes Barefoot Contessa Everyday Italian Ten Dollar Dinners Guys Big Bite Chopped Barefoot Contessa - Back to Basics Unwrapped Paula’s Best Dishes Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Food Network Challenge Food Network Challenge Unwrapped Unwrapped Iron Chef America

Final Destination on Show Movies

00:30 01:00 01:30 02:15 03:05 03:35 04:05 04:40 05:00 05:20 05:40 05:50 05:55 06:10 06:30 06:50 07:10 07:25 07:40 08:00 08:20 08:40 08:50 08:55 09:10 09:30 09:50 10:10 10:20 10:25 10:40 11:10 11:40 12:25 13:15 13:45 14:15 15:10 15:40 16:10 16:40

My Family Dinnerladies The Weakest Link Casualty Eastenders Doctors Dinnerladies Balamory Tweenies Fimbles The Large Family Spot’s Musical Adventures Gigglebiz Balamory Tweenies Fimbles The Large Family Gigglebiz Balamory Tweenies Fimbles The Large Family Spot’s Musical Adventures Gigglebiz Balamory Tweenies Fimbles The Large Family Spot’s Musical Adventures Gigglebiz Dinnerladies Dinnerladies The Weakest Link Himalaya With Michael Palin Doctors Eastenders Casualty Dinnerladies Dinnerladies As Time Goes By Himalaya With Michael Palin

17:30 18:15 18:45 19:15 20:10 21:00 21:45 22:15 23:00 23:15 23:45

00:05 00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:35 05:20 05:45 06:10 06:40 07:10 08:05 08:30 09:00 09:45 10:30 11:20 11:50 12:20 13:05 13:50 14:35 14:55 15:20 15:50 16:15 16:35

The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Casualty Himalaya With Michael Palin The Weakest Link Doctors Doctor Who Doctor Who Confidential After You’ve Gone New Tricks

Mitch And Matt’s Big Fish Celebrity Masterchef Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me The Home Show Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt Mitch And Matt’s Big Fish Mitch And Matt’s Big Fish Daily Cooks Challenge Daily Cooks Challenge 10 Years Younger Daily Cooks Challenge Daily Cooks Challenge 10 Years Younger Cash In The Attic Antiques Roadshow Daily Cooks Challenge Daily Cooks Challenge The Home Show Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt Mitch And Matt’s Big Fish Mitch And Matt’s Big Fish Daily Cooks Challenge Daily Cooks Challenge Cash In The Attic USA The Home Show

17:25 18:05 18:50 19:15 19:40 20:30 21:20 22:10

Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt Mitch And Matt’s Big Fish Mitch And Matt’s Big Fish Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me The Home Show Cash In The Attic

01:00 03:00 05:15 07:15 09:00 11:15 12:45 15:00 17:00 18:45 21:00 23:00

Missing-PG15 Jerry Maguire-18 The Hours-18 Smart People-PG15 Gorillas In The Mist-PG15 Cutting Edge 3-PG15 Annie-FAM Julie And Julia-PG15 Cutting Edge: Fire And Ice-PG Finding Forrester-PG Crossing Over-PG15 Against The Ropes-PG15

00:40 01:35 02:30 03:00 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:45 09:10

Overhaulin’ Dirty Jobs Destroyed In Seconds Destroyed In Seconds Extreme Explosions Mythbusters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Dirty Jobs Extreme Explosions American Chopper How Do They Do It? How It’s Made

09:40 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10 15:05 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 21:55 22:50

Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Overhaulin’ Ultimate Survival Mythbusters Miami Ink Dirty Jobs Overhaulin’ Ultimate Survival Mythbusters Cake Boss The Gadget Show How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Fifth Gear Fifth Gear American Chopper: Senior Vs Junior Motor City Motors

00:40 01:30 01:55 02:45 03:35 04:25 04:50 05:45 06:40 07:10 08:00 08:55 09:50 10:45 11:10 11:40 12:30 12:55 13:45

Building The Biggest The Gadget Show Bad Universe Weird Or What?

Science Of The Movies How Stuff’s Made Junkyard Mega-Wars Brainiac Weird Connections Human Body: Ultimate Machine Scrapheap Challenge How The Universe Works Weird Or What?

Stuntdawgs The Gadget Show Human Body: Ultimate Machine How Stuff’s Made Scrapheap Challenge Weird Connections

00:40 01:30 02:20 03:10 04:00 04:50 05:45 06:15 07:10 08:00 08:50 09:40 10:30 10:55 11:20 12:10 13:00 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 The Haunted A Haunting Dr G: Medical Examiner Autopsy: Most Shocking Cases Dr G: Medical Examiner Crime Scene Psychics The Haunted Mystery Diagnosis Forensic Detectives Unsolved Crimes: USA Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls Royal Inquest FBI Files True Crime With Aphrodite Jones Accident Investigator Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls Royal Inquest Forensic Detectives Unsolved Crimes: USA FBI Files Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls True Crime With Aphrodite Jones Accident Investigator Couples Who Kill Most Evil

01:10 02:50 04:35 06:20 07:55 09:30 11:05 12:50 14:25 16:00 17:25 18:55 20:30 22:00

Crazy Joe Impromptu Teachers The Coca Cola Kid The Aviator Love Bites Bigger Than The Sky Cornbread, Earl And Me Shag Walk Like A Man Seven Hours To Judgement Spellbinder Convicts Love Is All There Is

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:30 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:30 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:30 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:30 21:30 22:00 22:30

Surf’s Up Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Nomads Banged Up Abroad Bondi Rescue David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Bondi Rescue Destination Extreme Surf’s Up Surf’s Up Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Nomads Banged Up Abroad Destination Extreme Bondi Rescue David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Passport To Wine

By Any Means Market Values Word Travels Lonely Planet- Roads Less Travelled Banged Up Abroad Destination Extreme Bondi Rescue David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Passport To Wine

By Any Means Market Values Word Travels Lonely Planet- Roads Less Travelled Banged Up Abroad Destination Extreme Bondi Rescue David Rocco’s Dolce Vita

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 03:30 04:00

Community Just Shoot Me The Daily Show With Jon Stewart The Colbert Report Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Eastbound And Down Party Down South Park

TV Listings FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Coach 06:00 Hope And Faith 06:30 The Drew Carey Show 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Just Shoot Me 08:30 Coach 09:00 Hope And Faith 09:30 The Drew Carey Show 10:00 According To Jim 10:30 30 Rock 11:00 Coach 11:30 Hope And Faith 12:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 13:00 Just Shoot Me 13:30 Coach 14:00 Hope And Faith 14:30 Community 15:00 30 Rock 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 The Drew Carey Show 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Family Biz 18:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 19:00 Sons Of Tucson 19:30 The Office 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Bored To Death

01:30 Arlington Road-18 03:45 Harry Potter And The Half - Blood Prince-PG15 06:30 Seven Pounds-PG15 09:00 Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past-PG15 11:00 Madagascar 2-PG 12:30 Daddy Day Care-PG 14:30 Star Trek-PG 17:00 Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past-PG15 19:00 State Of Play-PG15 21:00 Up In The Air-PG15 23:00 Jennifer’s Body-18

00:30 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 05:30 06:30 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00

13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Mutant Chronicles-PG15 Chocolate-PG15 Raising Cain-PG15 District 13: Ultimatum-18 Revolver-18 Diary Of The Dead-18

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Will You Merry Me-PG15 The Hudsucker Proxy-PG15 National Security-PG15 Car Babes-PG15 Wild Child-PG15 Blank Check-FAM Hannah Montana Movie-PG School Of Rock-PG15 Will You Merry Me-PG15 Three And Out-PG15 Mr. Woodcock-18 The Longshots-PG15

00:00 Bugs Bunny 1001 Rabbit Tales-FAM 02:00 Rugrats Go Wild-FAM 04:00 Stuart Little 2-FAM 06:00 The Missing Lynx-PG 08:00 Mamma Moo And Crow-FAM 10:00 Rugrats Go Wild-FAM 12:00 Robin Hood: The Invincible Knight14:00 Stuart Little 2-FAM 16:00 Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation-FAM 18:00 Pollyworld-PG15 20:00 Tutenstein : Clash Of The Pharaohs 22:00 Robin Hood: The Invincible Knight

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00

00:00 00:30 05:00 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 11:00 11:30 13:30 14:00

Bones Drop Dead Diva The Martha Stewart Show Hawthorne The View Mercy Emmerdale Turn Back Your Body Clock Hawthorne The Martha Stewart Show Mercy Hawthorne The View Emmerdale Turn Back Your Body Clock The Martha Stewart Show Bones Drop Dead Diva Mercy The View Downton Abbey No Ordinary Family Friday Night Lights Hawthorne

Scottish Premier League Highlights PGA European Tour Scottish Premier League Highlights Futbol Mundial Total Rugby ICC Cricket World Dubai Int’l Horse Racing Carnival ICC Cricket World European Challenge Cup Scottish Premier League Highlights Dubai Int’l Horse Racing Carnival

18:00 18:30 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30

Scottish Premier League Highlights Scottish Premier League ICC Cricket World Total Rugby Futbol Mundial Scottish Premier League Highlights Brazil League Highlights

03:30 04:00 06:00 07:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 23:30

Scottish Premier League Highlights Scottish Premier League Pool World Cup PGA European Tour Scottish Premier League Highlights ICC Cricket World Total Rugby Live PGA European Tour ICC Cricket World World Hockey Total Rugby Futbol Mundial PGA European Tour Scottish Premier League Highlights

01:00 02:00 03:00 04:30 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:30 12:00 13:00 13:30

WWE NXT The Ultimate Fighter FIA GT1 World Championship FIM World Cup UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed WWE NXT Red Bull X-Fighters Full Throttle UAE National Race Day FIA GT1 World Championship WWE NXT Air Sports World Red Bull X-Fighters

Two And A Half Men The Tudors Bones Lie To Me The Tudors The Simpsons Smallville The Ellen Degeneres Show Two And A Half Men Bones Law And Order: Criminal Intent The Ellen Degeneres Show The Simpsons Two And A Half Men Smallville Law And Order: Criminal Intent Bones Lie To Me 30 Rock Two And A Half Men The Ellen Degeneres Show How I Met Your Mother How I Met Your Mother No Ordinary Family Body Of Proof

00:00 Boarding Gate-18 02:00 The Princess And The Frog-FAM 04:00 Who’s Your Caddy?-PG15 06:00 My Sister’s Keeper-PG15 08:00 Slap Shots 3-PG15 10:00 Mee Shee-PG 12:00 Inkheart-PG 14:00 Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen-PG15 16:30 Slap Shots 3-PG15 18:00 Did You Hear About The Morgans?PG15 20:00 Up In The Air-PG15 22:00 The Final Destination-18

01:00 03:00 04:45 06:30 09:00 11:00

Anaconda: Trail Of Blood-R Goal III-18 Knife Edge-18 Alatriste-PG15 Chocolate-PG15 Changing Lanes-PG15

Funny People on Super Movies

14:00 15:00 16:00 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

Full Throttle Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge FIA GT1 World Championship Air Sports World The Ultimate Fighter WWE NXT WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line The Ultimate Fighter

01:30 Malice In Wonderland-PG15 03:00 The People Speak-PG15 05:00 Disco-PG 07:00 Save The Last Dance-PG 09:00 Mama I Want To Sing-PG 11:00 G-Force-PG 12:30 Aliens In The Attic-FAM 14:15 2012-PG15 17:00 Whip It-PG15 19:00 Cirque Du Freak : The Vampire’s Assistant-PG15 21:00 Wanted-18 23:00 Funny People-18

00:45 Ice Station Zebra-FAM 03:05 The Bad And The Beautiful-PG 05:00 Screening Room, The - African Cinema-PG 05:30 California Suite-PG15 07:10 Screening Room, The - Animation Special-PG 08:00 Bachelor In Paradise-PG 09:50 The Bad And The Beautiful-PG 11:45 Please Don’t Eat The Daisies-FAM 13:35 Ice Station Zebra-FAM 15:55 Easter Parade-FAM 17:40 Sunday In New York-FAM 19:25 Two Weeks In Another Town-PG 21:10 The Glass Bottom Boat-FAM 23:00 The Sunshine Boys-PG

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:55 04:50 05:40 06:30 07:20 08:10 09:00 09:55 10:50 11:40 12:30 13:20 14:10 15:00 15:55 16:50 17:40 18:30 19:20 20:10 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:40

Modern Marvels Ancient Discoveries Dogfights Diplomats for the Dammed Dead Men’s Secrets Battles B.C. Rise & Fall of the Spartans Modern Marvels Ancient Discoveries Dogfights Diplomats for the Dammed Dead Men’s Secrets Battles B.C. Rise & Fall of the Spartans Modern Marvels Ancient Discoveries Dogfights Diplomats for the Dammed Dead Men’s Secrets Battles B.C. Rise & Fall of the Spartans Modern Marvels Ancient Discoveries Dogfights Decoding the Past Egypt: Land of the Gods How the Earth Was Made The Universe

00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00 02:30 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00

Mel B: It’s A Scary World Mel B: It’s A Scary World Jerseylicious Fashion Avenue Fashion Avenue How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Homes With Style Area Clean House Big Boutique Big Boutique Homes With Style Homes With Style Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

How Do I Look?

Fashion Avenue Fashion Avenue Big Boutique Big Boutique Clean House Clean House Comes Clean

15:30 Fashion Avenue 16:00 Jerseylicious 17:00 Ruby 18:00 Married Away 19:00 Mel B: It’s A Scary World 19:30 Mel B: It’s A Scary World 20:00 Fashion Avenue 20:30 Fashion Avenue 21:00 Glamour’s 20 Wedding Do’s And Don’ts 22:00 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

23:00 Fashion Avenue 23:30 Fashion Avenue

00:15 00:17 01:00 01:50 02:00 02:45 03:15 03:17 07:15 07:17 08:00 08:45 09:15 09:17 13:00 13:45 15:15 15:17 16:00 16:45 17:15 17:17 18:00 18:45 19:00 20:00 20:30 22:15 22:17 23:00 23:40

Top Mobile Playlist Hit Us Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Top Fashion Playlist Top Gossip Playlist French Only Playlist Top Money Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Monthly Top Playlist Africa 10 Playlist Top Sexy Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Trace Video Mix New Playlist Top Mobile Playlist Club 10 Playlist

00:00 Globe Trekker 01:00 Rivers of the World 02:00 Rajasthan - A Colourful Legacy 03:00 Nomad’s Land 04:00 The Soller Railway 05:00 Globe Trekker 06:00 Rivers of the World 07:00 Great Scenic Railways - 175 Years 07:30 The Big Fish 08:00 Globe Trekker 09:00 Inside Luxury Travel with Varun Sharma 10:00 The Blue Continent 11:00 Culinary Asia 12:00 Word Travels 12:30 Word Travels 13:00 Globe Trekker 14:00 Planet Food 15:00 Taste Takes Off 15:30 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 16:30 Great Scenic Railways - 175 Years 17:00 Globe Trekker 18:00 Chef Abroad 18:30 Flavours Of Mexico 19:00 Planet Food 20:00 Globe Trekker 21:00 Globe Trekker 22:00 Word Travels 22:30 Wild At Heart 23:00 The Thrillseekers Guide 23:30 Great Scenic Railways - 175 Years

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 Best Collaborations Music For The Masses Featuring Weekend Music For The Masses Guess The Year Final Countdown

Flight Schedule FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

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 TAR BBC ETH WAN WAN THY UAE QTR DHX GFA FDB ETD JZR KAC JZR JZR KAC BAW JZR KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE KAC QTR ABY ETD GFA IRC IRA JZR JZR JZR MEA IYE MSR MSR KAC MHK FDB SYR UAL OMA KAC KAC KAC JZR JZR QTR KAC LMU WAN MLR JZR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR RJA MHK

Flt 612 267 327 43 622 306 408 772 853 138 370 211 67 305 207 544 503 223 416 157 555 352 206 53 302 678 362 855 286 132 123 301 213 6807 619 151 121 165 404 825 623 610 672 711 57 1219 982 645 546 552 284 125 257 134 746 109 304 403 201 303 857 215 510 213 800 712

Arrival Flights on Friday 28/1/2011 Route ISTANBUL BEIRUT TUNIS / DUBAI DHAKA ADDIS ABABA CAIRO BEIRUT ISTANBUL DUBAI DOHA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI ABU DHABI DAMASCUS CAIRO LUXOR ALEPPO JAKARTA / KUALA LUMPUR LONDON ALEXANDRIA COCHIN ISLAMABAD DUBAI MUMBAI MUSCAT / DUBAI COLOMBO DUBAI CHITTAGONG DOHA SHARJAH ABU DHABI BAHRAIN SHIRAZ LAR DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT SANAA SOHAG CAIRO DUBAI BAGHDAD / NAJAF DUBAI DAMASCUS WASHINGTON DC DULLES MUSCAT ALEXANDRIA DAMASCUS DHAKA BAHRAIN BEIRUT DOHA ABU DHABI / DAMMAM ALEXANDRIA CAIRO COLOMBO / DUBAI DAMASCUS ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH DEIREZZOR AMMAN NAJAF

Time 0:45 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:45 1:50 2:10 2:15 2:35 2:45 2:55 3:05 3:05 3:10 3:50 4:40 5:20 5:40 6:25 6:40 7:00 7:35 7:40 7:45 7:55 8:10 8:20 8:30 8:35 9:05 9:05 9:30 9:35 9:45 10:50 10:55 11:10 11:20 11:55 12:05 12:30 12:55 13:25 13:30 13:50 14:00 14:10 14:15 14:30 14:35 14:55 14:55 15:00 15:00 15:05 15:55 16:20 16:40 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:05 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:30

JZR ABY ALK KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC IAC KAC KAC KAC WAN FDB OMA JAI JZR SVA JZR DHX KAC VOS WAN GFA MEA QTR SAI UAE KAC JZR JZR MSR RBG UAL DLH

239 127 227 542 618 614 674 166 575 102 774 562 5002 61 647 572 179 506 787 372 786 81 104 217 402 136 441 859 502 157 185 612 3553 981 636

AMMAN SHARJAH COLOMBO / DUBAI CAIRO DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI PARIS / ROME CHENNAI / GOA LONDON RIYADH AMMAN CAIRO DUBAI MUSCAT MUMBAI DUBAI JEDDAH RIYADH BAHRAIN JEDDAH BAGHDAD DUBAI BAHRAIN BEIRUT DOHA LAHORE / KARACHI DUBAI BEIRUT DOHA DUBAI CAIRO ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN FRANKFURT

17:40 17:45 18:10 18:50 18:55 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:50 19:50 20:05 20:10 20:15 20:15 20:35 20:50 21:00 21:10 21:15 21:15 21:15 21:20 21:35 21:50 22:00 22:00 22:10 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:35

Airlines UAL AXB IAC PIA DLH TAR ETH BBC KAC THY FDB UAE ETD QTR DHX JZR RJA JZR GFA KAC VOS JZR FDB BAW JZR KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY

Flt 981 390 982 206 637 328 623 44 283 773 68 854 306 139 371 164 803 150 212 545 94 120 54 156 256 671 745 551 856 124

Departure Flights on Friday 28/1/2011 Route WASHINGTON DC DULLES MANGALORE / KOZHIKODE HYDERABAD / AHMEDABAD / CHENNAI LAHORE FRANKFURT TUNIS ADDIS ABABA DHAKA DHAKA ISTANBUL DUBAI DUBAI ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI AMMAN DOHA BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA DUBAI / KANDAHAR BAHRAIN DUBAI LONDON BEIRUT DUBAI DAMMAM / ABU DHABI DAMASCUS DUBAI SHARJAH

Time 0:45 0:45 1:05 1:10 1:30 1:40 2:30 2:35 2:40 3:15 3:45 3:50 4:00 4:55 5:45 6:55 7:00 7:10 7:15 7:50 8:00 8:20 8:25 8:55 9:00 9:00 9:05 9:10 9:40 9:45

QTR KAC ETD GFA KAC IRC JZR JZR IRA KAC JZR JZR KAC MEA WAN IYE MSR MSR MHK FDB KAC KAC OMA UAL SYR KAC KAC JZR JZR KAC KAC KAC QTR LMU JZR MLR ETD GFA UAE RJA JZR ABY JZR SVA ALK WAN KAC FDB KAC KAC OMA JAI JZR SVA DHX KAC GFA MEA QTR KAC JZR SAI JZR UAE RBG MSR KAC

133 117 302 214 177 6808 200 212 618 541 124 238 103 405 5001 825 624 611 711 58 561 673 646 982 1220 617 785 178 480 501 613 773 135 110 786 404 304 216 858 801 184 128 156 511 228 305 361 62 331 343 648 571 528 507 373 675 218 403 137 301 554 442 502 860 3554 613 411

DOHA NEW YORK ABU DHABI BAHRAIN FRANKFURT / GENEVA SHIRAZ DAMASCUS DEIREZZOR LAR CAIRO BAHRAIN AMMAN LONDON BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA / SANAA SOHAG CAIRO NAJAF DUBAI AMMAN DUBAI MUSCAT BAHRAIN DAMASCUS DOHA JEDDAH DUBAI SABIHA BEIRUT BAHRAIN RIYADH DOHA ALEXANDRIA RIYADH DUBAI / COLOMBO ABU DHABI BAHRAIN DUBAI AMMAN DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA RIYADH DUBAI / COLOMBO CAIRO COLOMBO DUBAI TRIVANDRUM CHENNAI MUSCAT MUMBAI ASSIUT JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN BEIRUT DOHA MUMBAI ALEXANDRIA LAHORE LUXOR DUBAI ALEXANDRIA CAIRO BANGKOK / MANILA

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

10:00 10:00 10:20 10:20 10:30 10:45 10:55 11:45 11:50 12:00 12:00 12:10 12:30 12:55 13:00 13:05 13:30 13:55 14:10 14:35 14:45 15:10 15:15 15:25 15:30 15:35 15:45 15:50 16:00 16:15 16:20 16:25 16:30 16:55 17:35 17:40 17:40 18:05 18:10 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 19:10 19:15 20:20 20:50 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:40 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:15 22:20 22:35 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:10 23:35 23:45 23:55

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

(C 3060) ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for single bachelor, and family also. Al Rashid hospital, opp Shara Amman.

Contact: 65515717 Sharing accommodation available for Keralite family, working ladies or couple, Abbassiya.

Contact: 97769931. (C 3064) Sharing accommodation available for a Muslim working lady in 3 bedroom C-A/C flat in Khaitan near ABS school. Contact: 99854094, 24733681.

(C 3065) 26-1-2011 Sharing accommodation available for single bachelor 1+1 basis, Salmiya, Amman street, near Community school. Please contact: 99813483.

(C 3063) 25-1-2011 Sharing accommodation available at new Riggae in two bed room, two bathroom flat for singles or couples with Keralite family.

Contact: 99471680.

MATRIMONIAL To let, behind Safir Intl hotel, one big room together with a small adjoining room consisting of a toilet from a 3 bedroom flat. 1 to 2 persons only. Contact: 60046720.

(C 3061) 24-1-2011 Accommodation available for a bachelor with a Goan family in a C-A/C flat in Farwaniya behind Arbed buildings.

Contact: 97245851. (C 3057) Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya for couple or 2 working ladies in fully furnished new C-A/C bath attached specious room and car parking with Keralite family from March 1.

Contact: 66013882. (C 3058) 23-1-2011 Required Indian bachelor to share with another bachelor in a 2 BHK with a Goan family in Kuwait city. Call 22425878 after 5 pm. (C 3056) 22-1-2011 Sharing accommodation available in a C-A/C flat Jabriya area 10, near Jabriya Indian school for decent working ladies or family. Please contact: 99300513.

Inviting proposals from well employed (non medical) professionals for Catholic boy, B.Tech IT and MS in IT Security and Computer Crime (UK) 28 years, currently working in a reputed audit firm in Kuwait. Parents (Ex-NRI)in Kerala. Preference given to Catholics. Interested may please email: cherylcastlo@gmail.com (C 3067) 27-1-2011 A Pakistani Muslim well educated, wife expired, age 55, monthly income KD 400, seeking a suitable Muslim alliance widow w/o kids or unmarried educated age 30 to 40. Email: alnajah_asp@yahoo.com

FOR SALE Prices reduced - Family leaving Kuwait, selling furniture and electronic appliances.

Call: 99786814.

(C 3068) Toyota Corolla model 2010, green color, done 21,900 km, cash price KD 3,850, negotiable, installment possible.

Contact: 99105286. (C 3069) 27-1-2011 Laptop DELL Inspiron 2.53 GHz Corei3, 8GB RAM DDR3,

320GB, HD shared graphics, 15.6� LED, DVDRW, WiFi, BT, Camera, Windows 7 Professional, Warranty 1 year. (Send all IT inquires also) warranty 1 year. Call: 66158602.

Email: info@ficcoq8.com (C 3062) 25-1-2011 Household furniture like double cot, kitchen table, shelf, table, etc, and various household appliances for immediate sale at throwaway prices, expat leaving Kuwait. Contact: 66807117.

CHANGE OF NAME I, Thiru R. Arul Murugan, holder Indian Passport No: A 9927766 have converted to Islam with the name of R. Abdul Saleem. (C 3066) 27-1-2011

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

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 8321 Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly Dr. Salem soso

3729596/3729581 572-6666 ext 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

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

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi 5330060 Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah 5722290

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

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

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

Internists, Chest & Heart: Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Mousa Khadada

2639939 2666300

5722291 2666288

Neurologists: Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri 5633324 Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan 5345875

Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Consultant Cardiologist Tel: 2611555-2622555

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Sports

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Kings eat Sharks 3-2 in shootout NHL results/standings WASHINGTON: National Hockey League results and standings after Wednesday’s games: Boston 2, Florida 1; Carolina 4, NY Islanders 2; Atlanta 1, Washington 0; Detroit 3, New Jersey 1; Dallas 3, Edmonton 1; Phoenix 5, Colorado 2; Calgary 4, St Louis 1; Vancouver 2, Nashville 1; Los Angeles 3, San Jose 2 (SO).

Philadelphia Pittsburgh NY Rangers NY Islanders New Jersey

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OT GF 33 12 5 174 31 15 4 154 29 20 3 148 15 27 7 119 16 30 3 101

GA 130 114 126 162 146

PTS 71 66 61 37 35

Boston Montreal Buffalo Toronto Ottawa

Northeast Division 28 15 7 152 27 18 5 130 23 21 5 137 19 25 5 124 17 25 8 108

112 123 144 153 160

63 59 51 43 42

Tampa Bay Washington Atlanta Carolina Florida

Southeast Division 31 15 5 154 27 15 9 140 24 19 9 152 25 19 6 153 22 22 5 131

154 129 166 155 131

67 63 57 56 49

Detroit Nashville Chicago Columbus St Louis

Western Conference Central Division 30 13 6 166 27 17 6 134 26 20 4 157 23 21 5 130 22 20 7 130

143 119 139 152 146

66 60 56 51 51

Vancouver Colorado Minnesota Calgary Edmonton

Northwest Division 31 10 9 165 25 19 6 161 25 19 5 130 24 21 6 144 15 26 8 122

121 165 134 152 168

71 56 55 54 38

Pacific Division 30 15 5 147 28 20 4 140 25 17 9 149 25 19 6 139 27 22 1 143

137 146 145 138 124

65 60 59 56 55

Dallas Anaheim Phoenix San Jose Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES: Jarret Stoll scored the only shootout goal in the fourth round as Los Angeles headed into the NHL All-Star break with its third straight victory, 3-2 over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday.

Jonathan Quick made 22 saves and stopped all four San Jose tries in the shootout, ending the Sharks’ four-game winning streak. Ryan Smyth scored his 19th goal and Alexei Ponikarovsky tied it early in the third period for the Kings.

Ryane Clowe and Devin Setoguchi scored 39 seconds apart late in the second period for the Sharks.

Thrashers 1, Capitals 0 In Atlanta, Ondrej Pavelec made 36 saves as Atlanta won for only the fifth time in 17 games, blanking Washington. The Thrashers ended a three-game losing streak that included a 7-1 rout at Tampa Bay on Sunday. Nik Antropov scored the only goal at 11:21 of the second period after Washington defenseman Jeff Schultz lost control of a bouncing puck backing into his own zone. Antropov got his ninth goal and fifth point in six games.

Canucks 2, Predators 1 In Vancouver, British Columbia, Lee

DETROIT: Dainius Zubrus No 8 of the New Jersey Devils eludes a heavy hit from Niklas Kronwall No 55 of the Detroit Red Wings in a game on January 26, 2011 at the Joe Louis Arena. The Wings defeated the Devils 3-1. —AFP

Thrashers blank Capitals to end skid Sweatt scored the winning goal with 7:29 left in his first NHL game to lead Vancouver over Nashville. Sweatt, who played the last four seasons in Europe, put the Canucks ahead for good less than 2 minutes after Alexandre Burrows leveled the score in the third period. Roberto Luongo finished with 26 saves for the Canucks, who have won two in a row after a 0-1-3 slide. Rinne finished with 33 saves for the Predators, who lost consecutive games for the first time since late December.

Bruins 2, Panthers 1 In Boston, Tim Thomas stopped 34 shots to lead surging Boston over Florida. Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic scored for the Bruins, who have won seven of their last 10 games. Bryan Allen scored for Florida, and Tomas Vokoun stopped made 33 saves.

After the Panthers pulled Vokoun with 1:08 left, former Bruin Dennis Wideman put a shot on net in the game’s final seconds, but Thomas saved it with his body.

Hurricanes 4, Islanders 2 In Uniondale, New York, Eric Staal scored two goals and assisted on another to help Carolina beat New York. Zach Boychuk and Brandon Sutter also scored

and Cam Ward made 23 saves for Hurricanes, who have won three of their last four games. Michael Grabner and Andrew MacDonald scored for New York.

Red Wings 3, Devils 1 In Detroit, Jimmy Howard saved 23 shots as the hosts topped New Jersey.

Valtteri Filppula scored 5:32 into the third period to break a 1-1 tie and put the Red Wings ahead to stay. Darren Helm and Johan Franzen also had goals for Detroit, which ended New Jersey’s four-game winning streak. Brian Rolston scored for New Jersey and Martin Brodeur made 26 saves.

New Jersey had a goal disallowed with 2:28 remaining when officials ruled Howard was pushed into the net by an attacking player.

Stars 3, Oilers 1 At Dallas, Brenden Morrow scored twice to help Dallas bounce back from two road losses with a win over Edmonton. Kari Lehtonen also stopped 34 shots, improving on his poor performance on Monday, when he allowed seven goals in a loss to Vancouver. Adam Burish added a goal and Jamie Langenbrunner assisted on both of Morrow’s goals for the Stars. Nikolai

Khabibulin made 18 saves and Dustin Penner had a power-play goal for Edmonton, which has only won four of its last 21 games.

Coyotes 5, Avalanche 2 In Denver, Ilya Bryzgalov made 29 saves and Eric Belanger scored twice for Phoenix. Keith Yandle had a goal and an assist and Scott Upshall and Kyle Turris also scored to help the Coyotes run their road winning streak to five games.

Phoenix rebounded from a 4-3 home loss to Edmonton last week. Matt Duchene and Ryan Stoa scored for Colorado, and Craig Anderson made 25 saves in relief of Peter Budaj.

Flames 4, Blues 1 At Calgary, Alberta, David Moss had two power-play goals and added an assist for Calgary. Adam Pardy added his first goal of the season - and fourth in 143 career games - and Jarome Iginla had an empty-net goal.

The Flames have won four straight. Miikka Kiprusoff made 28 saves, allowing only Philip McRae’s first NHL goal midway through the third period. McRae, the 20year-old son of former NHL player Basil McRae, was playing his seventh NHL game.

St Louis has lost four in a row. —AP

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Durant leads Thunder past Timberwolves

NBA results/standings WASHINGTON: Results and standings after Wednesday’s National Basketball Association games: Orlando 111, Indiana 96; New Jersey 93, Memphis 88; Philadelphia 107, Toronto 94; Denver 109, Detroit 100; Milwaukee 98, Atlanta 90; Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 117 (OT); Houston 96, La Clippers 83; Charlotte 114, Phoenix 107; San Antonio 112, Utah 105; New Orleans 112, Golden State 103.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L 34 10 23 21 20 25 14 32 13 33

PCT .773 .523 .444 .304 .283

GB 11 14.5 21 22

Chicago Milwaukee Indiana Detroit Cleveland

Central Division 31 14 17 26 16 26 17 29 8 37

.689 .395 .381 .370 .178

13 13.5 14.5 23

Miami Orlando Atlanta Charlotte Washington

Southeast Division 31 13 30 16 29 17 19 25 13 31

.705 .652 .630 .432 .295

2 3 12 18

.644 .600 .587 .543 .222

2 2.5 4.5 19

Boston New York Philadelphia New Jersey Toronto

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 29 16 Denver 27 18 Utah 27 19 Portland 25 21 Minnesota 10 35

OAKLAND: Tony Parker No 9 of the San Antonio Spurs drives on David Lee No 10 of the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. —AFP

Ginobili scores 26 as Spurs beat Jazz NEW YORK: Kevin Love had 31 points and 21 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who had a chance to win the game in the final 7 seconds.

Luke Ridnour rushed a 3-pointer and the Thunder tracked down the loose ball to seal it.

Jeff Green had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who beat Minnesota for the eighth straight time. But it was Durant who carried the load, scoring 16 straight points in the fourth quarter of a thrilling back-and-forth game. Durant’s 47 points tied Clippers star Blake Griffin for the highest total in the NBA this season. Michael Beasley had 30 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Minnesota.

Bobcats 114, Suns 107 At Phoenix, Stephen Jackson scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half and the Bobcats won for the fourth time in five games.

Gerald Wallace had 16 of his 22 points in the second half for Charlotte, much improved since Paul Silas replaced Larry Brown as coach. After a 94-89 win at Sacramento on Tuesday, the Bobcats are off to a 2-0 start on a six-game road trip. Steve Nash had 27 points and 15 assists and Vince Carter scored 22 for Phoenix on his 34th birthday, but the Bobcats shot 51 percent to beat the Suns for the fourth time in a row. The Suns lost their third straight despite making 16 of 32 3-pointers.

Spurs 112, Jazz 105 In Salt Lake City, Manu Ginobili scored 26 points, Tony Parker had 23 and San Antonio earned its 10th win the last 11 games. Richard

Jefferson scored 14 points as the Spurs improved to a franchise-best 39-7 record after 46 games. Only five teams in NBA history have had better records than the Spurs at this point in the season. Deron Williams scored 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, but Utah lost its sixth straight. Al Jefferson had 22 points and CJ Miles added 13 for the Jazz.

Rockets 96, Clippers 83 In Houston, Kyle Lowry scored 20 points, leading Houston to victory over Los Angeles.

Aaron Brooks and Luis Scola added 16 points apiece for the Rockets, while Chuck Hayes grabbed 11 rebounds and led Houston’s stingy defense on rookie star Blake Griffin.

Randy Foye scored a season-high 20 points and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who mustered only 10 points in the final quarter to drop their fourth straight road game. Griffin had 14 points and 11 rebounds, shooting only 5 for 16 from the field.

Magic 111, Pacers 96 In Indianapolis, Dwight Howard had 19 points and 16 rebounds to help the Orlando Magic beat the Indiana Pacers 111-96 in the NBA on Wednesday. Jason Richardson added 19 points and nine rebounds, Hedo Turkoglu scored 18 points and Ryan Anderson had 14 for Orlando, which has won four of its past five games. Danny Granger scored 27 points and Darren Collison added 21 for Indiana, which lost its sixth straight. The 15-point defeat matched

the Pacers’ worst home loss of the season.

Nets 93, Grizzlies 88 In Newark, New Jersey, Devin Harris scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter as the hosts beat Memphis. O J Mayo missed a tying 3-point attempt with about 3 seconds left and New Jersey’s Brook Lopez sealed the victory with two free throws, capping a 17-point performance. Anthony Morrow had 19 points and Kris Humphries and Sasha Vujacic added 14 points apiece as the Nets closed out a 4-1 homestand that began with Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov halting trade talks with Denver for Carmelo Anthony. Rudy Gay had 22 points for Memphis and Zach Randolph added 20 points and 16 rebounds.

76ers 107, Raptors 94 At Toronto, Marreese Speights scored a season-high 23 points to lead Philadelphia over Toronto. Jrue Holiday had 15 points and 11 assists and Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams each scored 15 as the 76ers won their third straight, matching a season high.

DeMar DeRozan scored 29 and Andrea Bargnani had 17 as the Raptors lost their ninth straight game. It’s Toronto’s longest losing streak since a 10-game slide from March 26 to April 12, 2006.

Nuggets 109, Pistons 100 At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Chauncey Billups scored 26 points, including a trio of 3pointers late in the game, as Denver topped

LA Lakers Phoenix Golden State La Clippers Sacramento

Pacific Division 33 13 20 24 19 26 17 28 10 33

.717 .455 .422 .378 .233

12 13.5 15.5 21.5

San Antonio New Orleans Dallas Memphis Houston

Southwest Division 39 7 31 16 29 15 22 24 22 25

.848 .660 .659 .478 .468

8.5 9 17 17.5

Detroit. Carmelo Anthony had 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to help the Nuggets win for the seventh time in nine games. Will Bynum scored 19 points and Ben Gordon added 15 for Detroit, which had won five of seven. The Pistons trailed by one with a few minutes left, but Anthony converted a three-point play and Billups found his range from deep to help Denver win on the road against Detroit for the first time since 1995.

Bucks 98, Hawks 90 In Milwaukee, Earl Boykins scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help Milwaukee rally past Atlanta. The shorthanded Bucks, missing three starters, trailed by 11 points heading into the final period before going on a 22-3 run to end Atlanta’s road winning streak at six, one short of a franchise record. Milwaukee is without Brandon Jennings, John Salmons and Drew Gooden, all of whom are injured. Jamal Crawford led Atlanta with 20 points.

Hornets 112, Warriors 103 In Oakland, California, Chris Paul had 18 points and 17 assists as New Orleans matched a franchise record with their 10th consecutive victory. David West added 22 points for the Hornets, which also avenged a disappointing seven-point home loss to the Warriors on Jan. 5 with their fifth straight road victory. Monta Ellis scored 26 points in another big night for his bid to become Golden State’s first All-Star player since Latrell Sprewell in 1997. —AP

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Kolkata venue axed for World Cup opener NEW DELHI: Cricket-loving India suffered a sporting humiliation yesterday when its most famous ground, Eden Gardens in Kolkata, was declared unfit to host its first fixture of next month’s World Cup. The International Cricket Council (ICC) said another stadium would have to be found to hold the India-England clash on February 27 after a renovation program at Eden Gardens fell months behind schedule. “Regrettably, Eden Gardens has not made sufficient progress to justify the level of confidence required to confirm that the venue would be ready in good time,” ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.

The ICC did not say where the game would be played and said it would face a “challenge” to relocate the game because of last-minute ticketing and travel requirements.

Three other World Cup fixtures, which runs from February 19 to April 2 in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, are also scheduled to take place at the ground. The decision was a major blow for India’s image and the estimated 64,000 spectators who were expected to pack the legendary stadium, which has been undergoing a major renovation.

The ruling echoed the chaotic run-up to New Delhi’s 2010 Commonwealth Games, which instead of marking the arrival of a new, modern India on the world stage became a national embarrassment of delays, shoddy workmanship and alleged corruption. “All venues had ample time in which to prepare for World Cup matches,” said Lorgat. “We had been understanding and had provided extensions to the deadline dates but unfortunately we are now at a point where we must carefully manage our risks.” The ICC said concerns were mainly over “cricket operations, media, broadcast and sponsorship facilities” that were not finalized or confirmed by the venue.

In recent weeks, fears had grown over Edens Gardens as it remained a chaotic scene of cranes, rubble, dust and bare concrete.

Hundreds of laborers wearing virtually no safety equipment have been toiling day and night to finish off two new blocks of stands which are still covered in scaffolding. When an AFP reporter visited in early January, seats had yet to be fitted in many tiers at the ground, which is celebrated as one of the great pilgrimage sites of international cricket.

Until yesterday’s ICC ruling, Indian organizers had been dismissing reports about problems at Eden Gardens as scare-mongering by the media. Jagmohan Dalmia, president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) which runs Eden Gardens, told AFP on Tuesday that the ground would host the match without difficulty. “It appears that ICC team is happy after the inspection of the venue. The match is on 27th, we have to finish the work before the match,” he said.

In yesterday’s statement from the ICC, tournament director Ratnakar Shetty said: “We will work with the new venue, the tour operators and the ticket distributors to manage the logistical challenges that will surely arise.” The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which oversees the multi-billion-dollar sport in India and is seen as dominating the game worldwide, distanced it from the failure to rebuild Eden Gardens on time. “I don’t think the BCCI should be blamed for this,” BCCI spokesman Rajiv Shukla to AFP. “These things happen. I am sure the organizing committee will choose a suitable venue soon for that game. But there is no doubt the remaining matches in Kolkata will be held on schedule.” —AFP

Healthy Tiger eager for 2011 challenge

PARIS: A file picture shows Tour de France winner Alberto Contador from Spain listening to the national anthem on the podium. — AFP

Contador banned for 1 year over doping test Cyclist spared 3.1 million-euro salary penalty MADRID: A proposal by Spanish cycling chiefs to ban Tour de France champion Alberto Contador for a year would spare him a 3.1-million-euro salary penalty, Spanish media said yesterday. Contador is currently provisionally suspended by the sport’s ruling body, the International Cycling Union (UCI), following a positive test for the banned stimulant clenbuterol at the 2010 edition of the race. In accordance with UCI regulations national federations must first sanction athletes before the UCI takes further action, if deemed necessary.

Given the tiny amounts of clenbuterol found in Contador’s sample, the Spanish cycling federation (RFEC) opted Wednesday to propose suspending the Spaniard for a year. A two-year suspension would automatically force Contador to return 70 percent of his 2010 salary, or 3.1 million euros, said sports daily AS. Rival daily Marca said the one-year ban “does not include a financial sanction”, unlike a two-year suspension. It was unclear when the date of the ban would begin. Contador was provisionally suspended on August 24, 2010 after being informed by the UCI of his positive test.

If taken from this date and suspended one year Contador would miss the Tour de France, the Tour of Italy and probably the Tour of Spain in 2011. He would also be shorn of his 2010 Tour of France title. The Spanish Cycling Federation

informed Contador directly of its recommendation on Wednesday but left it to the discretion of the three-time Tour de France champion as to whether he made it public. He later released a terse statement through his spokesman.

“Alberto Contador has received today a notification of one year ban proposal by the Competition Committee of the Spanish Federation,” said the spokesman.

“Therefore, together with Bjarne Riis (director of his team Saxo Bank), a Press Conference will be held today, at 16:00 hours (1500GMT), at the Hotel Son Net in Palma de Mallorca, to express their opinion about this case.” The rider has 10 days to appeal from the date of the recommendation, but faces becoming only the second Tour de France champion to be stripped of his title, after the American Floyd Landis in 2006.

Contador denies any wrongdoing and says he unknowingly ingested the clenbuterol from beef brought from Spain to France during the second rest day of the Tour, just four days before he won July 25. Clenbuterol was banned by the European Union in 1996 but it is still administered illicitly by some cattle farmers. In similar ways to stimulant drugs such as amphetamine, clenbuterol can have short-term stimulant effects, including increasing aerobic capacity, blood pressure and alertness. — AFP

LA JOLLA: Tiger Woods, a season of personal and professional upheaval behind him, launches his 2011 campaign at Torrey Pines on Thursday “pleased” with his game and the balance in his life. “I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing and basically feeling the heat again,” Woods said Wednesday as he looked forward to teeing it up on a course where he has won seven times as a professional but hasn’t played since his 2008 US Open triumph on a damaged left knee. He missed the 2009 tournament here as he recovered from reconstructive knee surgery and missed the 2010 edition as he dealt with the fallout from revelations of his marital infidelity. “I obviously was consumed by other things in the last year and had to deal with that,” said Woods, who didn’t win a tournament in 2010 and dropped from the top of the world rankings to his current number three.

“Life goes on and life moves forward.

That is what’s most exciting about this year is having the proper perspective on things.

“And my kids are doing great and that’s my number-one priority. Golf falls somewhere down the list after that.” That said, the 14time major champion hasn’t lost his appetite for winning. “My expectations are the same,” Woods said. “Whatever event I enter is to win the event.”

As always, Woods has little time for critics who say he’ll never regain his dominant form, perhaps never surpass the record of 18 major titles held by Jack Nicklaus. “I’ve heard it before,” Woods said. “I’ve gone through stretches where I haven’t won. I’ve had it happen in my career before, and I’ve been through this before. “All I have to do is keep working and stick to the game plan, just like I have in the past. I think my record kind of speaks to that.” This year, Woods said, he benefits from good health and a productive off-season in which he could work on refining the swing changes he implemented last year with coach Sean Foley.

“It’s nice to have an off-season where I wasn’t in pain and recovering from something,” Woods said. “I’ve had so many darn surgeries and everything. This was nice to actually practice and build.” Woods did receive a cortisone injection to combat inflammation in his ankle after the Chevron World Challenge unofficial season-ender in December. That tournament, hosted by Woods, offered the superstar a last chance to notch a victory in 2010, and despite the disappointment of falling short, Woods said he took a wealth of confidence from his performance there - especially a clutch shot at the final hole of regulation, where he stuck an eight-iron shot three feet from the pin.

Although he eventually lost to Graeme McDowell in a playoff, Woods said that one shot showed him that the changes to his game had come good. “Under the most intense pressure I hit the shot I needed to hit when I needed to hit it,” he said. With his swing changes squared away, Woods said he has been able to focus more on putting-another weak spot last year. “I didn’t focus on my short game as much as I needed to and I have in the past,” he said.

“It’s because I was making so many swing changes, and it’s hard to allot as much time as I needed to do that. — AFP

Sports FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Djokovic shocks Federer, Li disappoints Wozniacki MELBOURNE: An inspired Novak Djokovic shocked defending champion Roger Federer in the Australian Open semi-finals yesterday to leave the Swiss without a grand slam title for the first time in eight years. The third-seeded Serbian overpowered the four-times champion 7-6 7-5 6-4 in three hours of intense, high quality tennis to reach a second Melbourne final, where he will play Briton Andy Murray or Spaniard David Ferrer. Although Federer and Djokovic both cautioned against the pronouncement of the end of an era, Li Na marked a small shift eastwards in the balance of power in the women’s game by becoming the first Chinese to reach a grand slam singles final.

The Chinese roared back from the brink of defeat to upset world number one Caroline Wozniacki 3-6 7-5 6-3 and set up a clash with Kim Clijsters who overpowered Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-3 6-3. Djokovic aggressively took the game to Federer from the outset, moving the second seed around the court and looking to finish him off with his powerful forehand. It worked a treat in a tight first set, which the Serbian secured 7-3 in the tiebreak, but Federer mixed up his game to regain the initiative and take a 5-2 lead in the second.

Federer then reverted to his earlier tactics and it backfired badly as Djokovic, upping the aggression even further and darting athletically along the baseline, stormed back to win five straight games. Djokovic, roared on by a noisy contingent of fellow Serbs, he held off a Federer fight back with a thumping ace to save a break point before winning the contest with another big serve which the Swiss could only hit into the net. “It was a great performance ... one of the best definitely,” said Djokovic, who won his only major title at Melbourne Park in 2008. “I want to win it again. I believe I can. Hopefully I can pull up the best tennis.” After world number one Rafa Nadal’s injury-hampered exit on Wednesday, Federer’s departure meant a first grand slam final without the dominant duo since Djokovic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Melbourne three years ago. Federer, who along with Nadal has claimed 21 of the last 23 grand slam titles, said it would be wholly premature to view the 23-year-old Djokovic’s victory as a passing of the torch. “They say that very quickly, let’s talk in six months again,” said the 29-year-old, who was last without a grand slam title before he won the first of his 16 at Wimbledon in 2003. “I’m playing well. I just ran into a player who was a bit better than me tonight.”

Sprayed errors Li sprayed errors around the court for most of first two sets against Wozniacki and the top seed grabbed a match point at 5-4 in the second. That brought the 28-year-old Chinese to life and she saved it before breaking back and, finding her range with her low, hard groundstrokes, evened up the contest on a Wozniacki double fault. “After I saved the match point, I was thinking like, ‘Okay now a chance’,” said Li, who later blamed her sluggish start on her husband’s snoring. The third set was a baseline battle punctuated with long rallies but the tide had now swung in Li’s favor and she sealed victory when Wozniacki misdirected a forehand after two-and-a-half hours. “Many players, they play a long time, but they never get to the final of a grand slam,” Li said. “Today I got there...” The 20-year-old Wozniacki, under pressure to justify her top ranking with a grand slam triumph, rued her missed match point. — Reuters

MELBOURNE: Li Na of China returns a shot against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark during their semi-final women’s singles match on the eleventh day of the Australian Open tennis tournament yesterday. — AFP

Justine Henin

Henin retirement greeted with surprise and sadness MELBOURNE: News of Justine Henin’s second retirement due to an elbow injury was greeted with shock and disappointment at the Australian Open yesterday. The Belgian seven-times grand slam champion played through the pain to reach the third round in Melbourne before suffering defeat against Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova. The 28-yearold announced on her website on Wednesday that she had taken doctors’ advice to quit the game.

“I was surprised when I heard that news this morning,” said world number three Kim Clijsters, whose own comeback to the game after becoming a mother inspired Henin’s second tilt. “To be honest, I haven’t been in touch with her, so I can’t really know what the situation is with her elbow. “Obviously it’s a sad situation to see such a great player end her career in this kind of way.” Henin first retired in May 2008 when she was ranked No.1 in the world after becoming disillusioned with the game. She came back at the start of 2010 and made a fairytale run to

the final at last year’s Australian Open.

Current top-ranked player Caroline Wozniacki said she thought Henin was ready to start a new chapter in her life. “Justine is a great champion and she’s been unlucky since she made the comeback,” said the Dane. “Definitely growing up I was watching and looking at her playing and winning slams. “But we have so many young players coming up. We have a lot of great players out there.” China’s Li Na, who spent years battling a raft of injuries, expressed sympathy for Henin, who was sidelined for six months last year after injuring tendons in her elbow at Wimbledon.

“For the player, if you are injured, this is the worst ... You never want to see a player like Justine retire, because she’s great for women’s tennis,” said Li, who will play Clijsters for the Melbourne title tomorrow.

“You never want to see a player retiring because of an injury. It’s very sad for the sport. It is part of the sport, but it’s very sad to see.” — Reuters

Sports FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Twente, Utrecht reach Dutch Cup semis UTRECHT: FC Twente beat PSV Eindhoven 7-6 after a penalty shootout Wednesday to reach the Dutch Cup semifinals, while FC Utrecht also advanced by beating Groningen 3-2. After the match ended 1-1, Dwight Tiendalli scored the decisive penalty for Twente after veteran goalkeeper Sander

Boschker had saved PSV captain Orlando Engalaar’s kick. Tiendalli had come on for American defender Oguchi Onyewu, who was taken off midway through the first half with an apparent back injury.

Twente had taken the lead when midfielder Theo Janssen converted a 69th-minute penalty

after Engelaar handled in the area.

But Danny Koevermans equalized with a right-footed volley in the last minute of injury time. “I wasn’t lucky tonight,” Engelaar said. “I have to move on. I thought we were the better team tonight so it hurts to lose like this.” Nanan Asare scored the winner for

Utrecht in the 53rd minute, after Groningen had equalized twice.

On Tuesday, Ronald van Hout scored a hat trick as second-tier RKC Waalwijk routed amateur club Noordwijk 6-0 in their quarterfinal, while Ajax hosted NAC Breda yesterday to complete the semifinal lineup. — AP

Madrid, Barca win 1st legs of semis Lionel Messi scores a double BARCELONA: Karim Benzema led Real Madrid to a 1-0 win at Sevilla before Barcelona rolled over Almeria 5-0 in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday. Benzema, the much-questioned France striker, answered his critics with a valuable away goal in the 17th minute of the first-leg match at

BARCELONA: Barcelona’s defender Gerard Pique (left) vies with Almeria’s defender Carlos Garcia during their Spanish King’s Cup (Copa del Rey) semifinal first leg football match Barcelona FC vs UD Almeria on January 26, 2011 at the Camp Nou stadium. — AFP

Sanchez Pizjuan stadium. Benzema gathered the ball inside the Sevilla half, dribbled into the area and shook off two defenders before beating goalkeeper Andres Palop with a low rightfooted strike. Defending champion Sevilla nearly equalized just before halftime when Madrid defender Raul Albiol slowed Luis Fabiano’s goalbound shot and eventually kept it out

of goal. However, TV replays suggested the ball may have crossed the line.

The tense atmosphere boiled over toward the end when Madrid keeper Iker Casillas was hit in the head by what appeared to be a plastic bottle thrown from the stands. “We have taken away a positive result, but Sevilla is a good team and the second leg will be wide open,” Casillas said. Madrid returns to the Santiago Bernabeu stadium for next week’s return leg looking to secure a place in the final, where biggest rival Barcelona will likely await after another dominating performance.

Lionel Messi scored a double and David Villa and Pedro Rodriguez added goals in the opening 31 minutes.

Substitute Seydou Keita completed the rout in the 89th to leave Almeria with little hope after suffering a second straight lopsided defeat to the Spanish champion. Record 25-time champion Barcelona and 17-time winner Madrid are on course to meet in the April 20 final, which comes just three days after the pair meet in a crucial league match.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola did not want to take things for granted despite his team’s big lead. “This is clearly an excellent result, but we are still not in the final,” he said. “We have players for this. We create chances to score.” In Seville, days of goading provided a charged atmosphere as Sevilla pressed forward early but Benzema’s class put the visitors in control.

The striker’s second game-winning goal in two games came after a week when his teammates and coach Jose Mourinho demanded more from the Frenchman.

Madrid brought Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City on loan on Tuesday to fill in for the injured Gonzalo Higuain, but Benzema showed he will be an asset to Madrid down the stretch after his individual effort. Benzema raced over to the sidelines to celebrate his goal with coach Jose Mourinho, who is steering the Spanish giant toward its first cup final since 2004. Its last victory came in 1993.

“We all saw Karim play well from the beginning,” said Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka. “It was significant that he celebrated the goal with (Mourinho).” Sevilla looked to equalize with long balls to forwards Frederic Kanoute and Luis Fabiano, who came close with a header at the half-hour mark.

Sevilla looked to have equalized

when Kanoute put Luis Fabiano through the defense but the linesman ruled Albiol kept the Brazil striker’s shot from completely crossing the goal line.

“Almost crossing the line is not the same as crossing the line,” Casillas said.

A physical second half ensued as both teams looked to score, but Sevilla grew exacerbated as its attack failed to threaten Casillas’ goal and Madrid owned the few chances there were.

Mesut Oezil somehow failed to make it 2-0 after gathering Cristiano Ronaldo’s miss inside the box with Palop out of position but Sevilla defender Alexis Ruano deflected the ball wide of the open net. “We could have scored another goal, but the (result) is good,” said Cristiano Ronaldo.

Substitute Alvaro Negredo missed a shot in the dying stages for Sevilla, which has not beaten Madrid in a twolegged domestic cup series since 1955.

Madrid has won the four series since then, including the 1962 final.

Barcelona looked ready to repeat its 80 demolition of Almeria from earlier this season at the Camp Nou stadium.

Messi got the rout moving in the 10th minute with a trademark left-footed strike from the edge of the area that goalkeeper Esteban Andres got a hand to but could not keep out. Villa doubled the lead a minute later after receiving a pass from Xavi Hernandez and picking his spot just inside the far post.

Messi capped a counterattack in the 16th with another left-footed strike for his 35th goal overall and eighth brace in all competitions this season. Messi’s second goal was Barcelona’s 100th this season. The club has outscored opponents 102-22 in 35 matches in all competitions. Pedro headed in Xavi’s free kick in the 31st for his 18th goal of the campaign before Keita capped the Catalan club’s fifth 5-0 win of the season in the 88th. Barcelona won its last domestic cup two years ago. The return legs are played on Feb 2. —AP

Sports FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011

Birmingham through to League Cup finals Gardner skims stunning low drive into corner LONDON: Birmingham rallied to beat West Ham 3-1 after extra time Wednesday and set up a meeting with Arsenal in the League Cup final, while Liverpool climbed to seventh in the Premier League by edging past Fulham 1-0. Craig Gardner was the match winner for Birmingham in a dramatic semifinal second leg at St. Andrew’s, firing home from 25 yards in the fourth minute of extra time to earn the Midlands club a 4-3 aggregate win and a trip to Wembley. “It’s unbelievable, you dream of these things,” Gardner said. “I was saying to my mates I wanted to get the winner to take us there and to do it was unbelievable.” Carlton Cole scored a stunning goal in the 31st to put West Ham 3-1 up in the two-legged series but Birmingham took the game into extra time thanks to second-half goals by Lee Bowyer and Roger Johnson.

The Blues, whose only major trophy came when they won the League Cup in 1963, will be underdogs when they play Arsenal on Feb 27. Arsenal qualified for the final by beating second-tier side Ipswich 3-0 in the second leg of their semifinal, winning 3-1 on aggregate. Birmingham was comfortably second best in the first half against fellow Premier League struggler West Ham

and looked out of the competition at halftime. The Hammers’ superb run of results in the League Cup - England’s second-tier club knockout competition behind the FA Cup - has helped keep manager Avram Grant in a job this season. The London club took a deserved lead into the second leg and Cole, the striker who scored the winner at Upton Park two weeks ago, extended the advantage when he latched on to Wayne Bridge’s throw-in and curled a dipping 25-yard shot into the far corner.

It was a different Birmingham after the break, with giant Serbia striker Nikola Zigic causing all sorts of problems after being thrown on by manager Alex McLeish for the second half.

“I said to the players at halftime that, to all intents and purposes, we were out of the cup,” McLeish said. “I had to make the change and have an instant impact. Zigic made the difference.”

Gardner, the team’s leading scorer this season, struck the post with a low, leftfoot shot in the 53rd before Bowyer equalized six minutes later when he pounced on a loose ball following a corner and arrowed a powerful half-volley into the top corner. After piling the pressure on for the next 20 minutes, Birmingham leveled the match on aggregate when Johnson rose to meet

Bowyer’s corner, heading the ball into the ground and past goalkeeper Robert Green.

Cameron Jerome squandered a oneon-one chance by shooting straight at Green in the 80th and Gardner crashed a fierce drive onto the post with 20 seconds remaining of the three minutes of stoppage time. The match went to extra time and with almost a carbon copy of his previous shot, Gardner skimmed a stunning low drive into the corner from 30 yards for what proved to be the winning goal. “It was third time lucky - it was a tremendous goal,” McLeish said.

A 53rd-minute own goal by Ghana defender John Pantsil gave Liverpool a narrow win at Anfield to maintain the team’s resurgence under new manager Kenny Dalglish.

The Reds are now unbeaten in their last three games under Dalglish, who took over for a second spell in charge of the club on Jan. 9 following the firing of Roy Hodgson, the former Fulham manager. “It’s getting a bit more realistic but we aren’t getting carried away with being seventh - that isn’t where this football club wants to be,” said Dalglish, who inherited a team which struggled for results in the first half of the season. “We want to be further up than that.”— AP

BIRMINGHAM: West Ham’s Carlton Cole (not pictured) scores past Birmingham City’s goalkeeper Ben Foster during the English League Cup semifinal soccer match between Birmingham City and West Ham United at St Andrew’s stadium, Wednesday, Jan 26, 2011. — AP

Bayern overcome Aachen to reach cup semifinals

AACHEN: Bayern’s Bastian Schweinsteiger (from right) Aachen’s goalkeeper David Hohs and Aachen’s Aimen Demai challenge during the German soccer cup (DFB-Pokal) quarterfinal match between Alemannia Aachen and Bayern Munich, Wednesday, Jan 26, 2011. —AP

BERLIN: Thomas Mueller scored twice Wednesday to help send Bayern Munich into the semifinals of the German Cup with a 4-0 away win over second-division side Aachen. Second-tier clubs Cottbus and Duisberg also progressed, with home wins over Bundesliga sides Hoffenheim and Kaiserslautern respectively. Mario Gomez opened the scoring for Bayern in the 26th minute, when he was left unmarked to head in a perfect cross from Gustavo Luiz from the left. Aachen were denied a penalty in the 34th when Luiz appeared to trip Benjamin Auer in the area. Television replays showed contact had been made.

Goalkeeper David Hohs stood up well to deny Gomez from adding his second a minute later, after the striker was played through by Mueller.

He had the ball in the net before the interval but the effort was ruled out for a foul on defender Tobias Feisthammel. Hohs saved again from Gomez early in the second half after the Bundesliga’s joint top scorer played a neat onetwo with Mueller to leave three Aachen defenders watching. Aachen pressed forward for an equalizer and Thomas Kraft denied the home side with two outstanding saves in quick succession with half an hour remaining. Mueller made the game safe by rounding off a classic counterattacking move in the 75th. Arjen Robben - brought on as a substitute three minutes before - found Mueller in space with a crossfield pass, and the 21-yearold eluded the challenge of Aimen Demai before

slotting the ball between the legs of Hohs.

The German international added his second five minutes later, when his shot took a deflection past the helpless goalkeeper. Robben rounded off the rout in the 88th when he was set up by Bastian Schweinsteiger to finish from close range.

“There was a time in the second half when we were under pressure,” said Robben, still recovering from a cold. “It was 4-0 but it was more difficult than that.” It was Bayern’s first game since captain Mark van Bommel’s switch to AC Milan.

“The referee could have given a penalty in the first half,” said Auer, the Aachen captain. “Who knows what would have happened?” Substitute Jiayi Shao scored a late winner to earn Cottbus a 1-0 win over Hoffenheim.

The China international - brought on in the 66th minute - blasted the ball past goalkeeper Tom Starke in the 84th, after Jules Reimerink beat three defenders and found him in the area with a precision pass. “We played well and had a little luck,” said Shao. Ryan Babel made his Hoffenheim debut after switching from Liverpool on Tuesday. Duisberg defender Branimir Bajic stretched his leg to score from close range in the 36th, when Kaiserslautern goalkeeper Tobias Sippel failed to clear a Benjamin Kern corner and Stefan Maierhofer headed the ball forward.

Goran Sukalo completed the win in the 58th, when he headed in Kern’s long free kick from the left. Schalke progressed on Tuesday. — AP

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MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts after winning a point against Roger Federer of Switzerland in their semi-final men’s singles match on the eleventh day of the Australian Open tennis tournament yesterday. — AFP