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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2012 MOHARRAM 17, 1433 AH No: 15644 

Oppn holds ‘largest 

ever’ boycott march 

Kuwaitis set to vote in controversial polls 

Max 21º 

Min 11º 

Thousands march for ‘Nation’s Dignity’ in peaceful demonstration 

By B Izzak and Agencies 

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti voters head to the ballot today to elect a new 

National Assembly for the second time this year amid boycott 

calls by the opposition which yesterday staged one of the 

biggest demonstrations in Kuwait’s history. Organizers estimated 

that around 250,000 took part in the “Nation’s Dignity” 

demonstration, but observers said the number could be 

around 50,000, who almost filled the Arabian Gulf Road 

between Safir Hotel and Kuwait Towers. The protest lasted two 

hours and protesters dispersed without incident as dozens of 

policemen were present to organize the procession and to cut 

off traffic on the Gulf Road. 

Before the start of the march, youth activists released 

dozens of orange-coloured balloons which flew high near a 

police helicopter that hovered over the crowds but from a distance. 

Large numbers of women and children, carrying Kuwaiti 

flags and orange banners, took part in the 1.5-km march that 

ended at Kuwait Towers. “We are boycotting for the sake of 

Kuwait,” chanted young activists as other raised banners reading 

“Sovereignty Resides in the People” and “Absolute Power 

Corrupts”. 

The Kuwaiti national anthem was played just before the 

start and protesters did not stop chanting national slogans and 

singing praises of the country. They also urged voters not to go 

to the ballots. “The people want the downfall of the decree,” 

chanted the massive crowds in reference to the Amiri decree 

that amended the electoral law cutting the number of candidates 

a voter can choose from a maximum of four to just one. 

The opposition has maintained the decree is unconstitutional 

and will only lead to the election of a pro-government National 

Assembly by encouraging vote-buying and other corrupt practices. 

A number of opposition leaders and former MPs including 

Ahmad Al-Saadoun, Musallam Al-Barrak, Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, 

Faisal Al-Mislem, Khaled Al-Tahous, Jamaan Al-Harbash and 

Falah Al-Sawwagh were present at the demonstration. Barrak 

was in a vehicle that was in front of the protesters and was 

using a loudspeaker to shout slogans. The opposition figures 

completely boycotted the registration of candidates and are 

out to ensure that a large number of voters also boycott the 

polls. 

“The message that the Kuwaiti people send ... is that they 

refuse the changing of the election law by the authorities,” said 

Saadoun, also a former three-time speaker. “The number of 

people is a reflection that this decree must be scrapped.” 

Harbash said the march was the largest of its kind in Kuwait’s 

history. “The Kuwaiti people refuse elections and refuse the 

pro-government parliament.” “The people are not against the 

ruler, they are against corruption and corrupt people, and people 

who think about changing the constitution,” Barrak said. 

“Today, the Kuwaiti people are sending a message peacefully 

that we are against the amendment and against the oppressive 

attitude of the government,” MP from the annulled 2012 

Assembly Adel Al-Damkhi said. “The regime should read the 

message seriously that there is a real rejection of the law,” 

Damkhi said. 

“This (voting rule) change is against our rights,” 28-year-old 

social worker Abdul Mohsen said. “There is corruption in the 

government. We want to fight corruption.” Bader Al-Bader, an 

unemployed 33-year-old, said: “The government does not 

believe in having the real democracy that most people believe 

in nowadays. They believe Kuwait is just a big bag of money 

and an oil rig.” “The Amir changed the voting rules. We believe 

the change has to come with the parliament. It is the parliament 

that represents the people,” said protester Hanouf, 40, a 

marketing specialist who declined to give her second name. 

She said current election candidates were mostly new and 

unqualified with “no clue how to be in parliament or politics”. 

About 306 candidates are running for the 50 seats in the 

Assembly after a last-minute drama over about 30 candidates 

who were disqualified by the National Election Commission 

but then reinstated by the administrative court. Around 23 former 

MPs and 13 female candidates are among the hopefuls. It 

is the lowest number of former MPs bidding for reelection in 

any Kuwaiti polls in more than 30 years because all opposition 

former MPs have boycotted the elections. Voting will take 

place at 106 main polling stations at schools in various parts of 

the country with male and female stations separate as per the 

election law. 

KUWAIT: Opposition supporters block the Arabian Gulf 

Road yesterday during a demonstration against a decision 

by HH the Amir to amend the electoral law and to support 

a boycott of today’s elections. — Photos by Yasser Al- 

Zayyat (See Pages 2, 3 & 4)

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2012 

LOCAL 

Thousands march for ‘Nation’s Dignity’ 

KUWAIT: Opposition supporters block the Arabian Gulf Road during a demonstration against a decision by HH the Amir to amend the electoral law and to support a boycott of today’s 

elections. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat, Fouad Al-Shaikh and AP


KUWAIT: The drama of Kuwait’s parliamentary elections 

has nothing to do with the ballot count. It’s what may 

come afterward that has the country on edge as a broad 

coalition of conservative Islamists, liberal reformers and 

others vow to boycott today’s vote. The election snub 

pushes the strategic Western ally closer toward the kind of 

standoffs that have unraveled other countries, including 

nearby Bahrain, during the Arab Spring: opposition groups 

possibly taking to the streets and the ruling establishment 

facing critical decisions about how hard to lash back. 

The disputes flow from a complicated chain of events 

over the past six months, including the dissolution of the 

opposition-led parliament and its replacement by a progovernment 

legislature, followed by a decree from HH the 

Amir to amend voting rules that appeared to favor his critics. 

The opposition coalition then decided it would not 

participate in the election and deemed the new parliament 

- certain to be dominated by pro-government lawmakers - 

as illegitimate. The tensions also raise worrisome questions 

for allies such as the US, which seeks to keep thousands of 

American soldiers in Kuwait as part of the Pentagon’s military 

counterweight to Iran. 

“The core demands of the opposition are more participation 

and more partnership in government,” said Shafeeq 

Ghabra, a political affairs professor at Kuwait University. 

Anti-government lawmakers - mostly Islamists and their 

allies - have made almost a cottage industry of lodging 

corruption accusations and other charges at officials and 

even members of the ruling family. In the past year, the 

foreign minister and Central Bank governor resigned 

under pressure from the opposition bloc in the 50-seat 

National Assembly. 

Such dissent would be unthinkable in much of the 

tightly ruled Gulf, including Saudi Arabia or the United 

Arab Emirates. The decision to boycott the Kuwaiti elections 

now closes off parliament as a forum for a wide spectrum 

of opposition voices and could stir more street 

protests, which touched off serious clashes this month. 

“The only thing certain is that we are not going to back 

down,” said Mohammed Qassem, a leader of the election 

boycott movement. 

That leaves the oil-rich country deeply divided. The 

showdown, stripped to its essentials, is over whether the 

final word on the country’s political affairs rests with the 

people or the ruling dynasty. There is still no clear sense on 

Kuwait’s direction and whether the political stalemate 

could flare into unrest. All sides are “working blind” at the 

moment, said Mary Ann Tetreault, a Gulf affairs expert at 

Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, in an interview 

with Al Jazeera. 

Yesterday, tens of thousands of protesters gathered for 

the first government-authorized protest rally since a ban 

on political gatherings earlier this month. Banners proclaimed: 

“We are boycotting.” Organizers promised a 

peaceful march and there was no immediate signs of 

unrest as the march got under way. But it was closely 

watched for any signs of breakaway groups trying to confront 

security forces. The apparent strong turnout by youth 

groups and liberal factions also was important as an indication 

the unusual boycott coalition is holding together. 

Their alliance of convenience with Islamists and conservative 

tribal leaders is among the most unexpected developments 

of the political meltdown. For the moment, they 

are united by the claims that HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- 

Ahmad Al-Sabah overstepped his authority by changing 

the Kuwait’s unusual multi-vote system to the standard 

one-vote-one-person. Previously, Kuwaitis could cast ballots 

for four candidates. Critics of the change say it gives 

authorities a greater hand possibly to bribe voters or control 

candidates. 

The presence of Western-oriented Kuwaitis in the 

protest group poses added challenges to the ruling system, 

which had generally counted on liberal support in the 

past. The Amir had been lauded for standing firm against 

demands for stricter Muslim codes by hardliners, including 

calls to impose the death sentence on anyone convicted of 

insulting Islam. Whether the broad-based opposition holds 

together remains one of the critical wild cards immediately 

after today’s election. 

“The government and the opposition seem to be in a 

LOCAL 

Election boycott shifts drama to streets 

mood to escalate this further and neither side appears prepared 

to back down,” said Kristian Coates-Ulrichsen, a 

research fellow who follows Gulf affairs at the London 

School of Economics. “Kuwait may be entering the most 

dangerous and volatile period in its history.” It got to this 

point through political brinksmanship and a series of gambits 

- with each one appearing to dig the country deeper 

into crisis. In February, Islamists and their tribal allies won 

parliament elections and immediately pushed for greater 

clout in policymaking affairs, including more seats in the 

Cabinet. After a few tense months, the Constitutional Court 

disbanded the parliament amid claims of flaws in the electoral 

district map, and reinstated the former governmentfriendly 

chamber from elections in 2009. That group of lawmakers, 

however, never managed to convene a session. In 

September, the country’s highest civilian court rejected the 

government’s assertions about problems in the electoral 

map, forcing the Amir to call new elections. — AP


KUWAIT: Kuwaiti voters are readying 

themselves to choose a new parliament 

for the second time in one year after the 

Constitutional Court’s dissolution of the 

former one in June and the introduction 

of controversial amendments to the 

electoral law. Some 307 candidates, 

including 14 women, are vying for the 

National Assembly’s 50 seats in today’s 

early general election, the country’s 

third in three years. The contestants are 

distributed as follows - 51 in the first 

constituency, 50 in the second constituency, 

60 in third constituency, 66 in 

the four constituency and 80 in the fifth 

constituency. 

According to official data, the number 

of eligible voters in the upcoming 

elections will be 422,569 - male voters 

are estimated at 196,754 or 46.56 percent 

while female voters account for 

225,815 or 53.43 percent. This is third 

time women are participating in elections 

since Kuwait’s democratic experi- 

ence starting from 1963. Kuwaiti 

women got the right to vote and run for 

general elections in 2005. 

The Higher Electoral Commission has 

estimated the number of polling stations 

across the nation at 666, distributed 

to 100 main polling centers. 

According to the Electoral Commission, 

there are 112 polling stations in the first 

constituency, 78 in the second constituency, 

118 in the third constituency, 

171 in the fourth constituency and 187 

in the fifth constituency. Electoral law 

states that polls will open at 8 am and 

close at 8 pm across the country. 

The elections are held after recent 

decree amending the former electoral 

law to allow voters to cast one ballot 

instead of four. The 10 candidates with 

the most votes in each district win 

seats. The 50-seat house is elected 

every four years. The Cabinet ministers 

(including the prime minister) are 

granted automatic membership in the 

Assembly, which increases the number 

of members in the house from 50 to 66. 

They also have the same rights as elected 

MPs, with the following two exceptions 

- they do not participate in the 

work of committees and they cannot 

vote when an interpellation leads to a 

no-confidence vote against any Cabinet 

member. 

Currently there are five geographically 

distributed electoral constituencies 

in Kuwait. The First Constituency 

comprises 19 residential areas - from 

Sharq and Dasma, passing through 

Salmiya and Rumaithiya and including 

Bayan, Mishref and Hawally among others. 

The Second Constituency consists 

of 13 residential areas - from the main 

suburban districts of Dahiyat Abdullah 

Al-Salem, Shamiya and Shuwaikh to the 

tribal areas of Sulaibikhat and Doha. It 

also includes Qadsiya, Mansouriya, 

Faiha and Nuzha. It has the lowest number 

of voters among the five con- 

LOCAL 

Kuwait poised for decisive elections 

Sheikh Mohammad 

Boycotters biggest 

losers: Info Minister 

KUWAIT: Minister of Information and Minister of State for 

Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah 

said yesterday time will prove that the boycotters of the 

National Assembly elections, who gave up their democratic 

right, will be the biggest losers. Speaking to Jordan 

News Agency (PETRA) on the eve of the polls, Sheikh 

Mohammad said: “The democratic rights are enshrined in 

Kuwait Constitution 50 years ago but anybody who gives 

up one of these rights and boycotts the elections will be in 

the wrong - they have to bear the consequences of their 

decisions.” “Kuwait is passing through a delicate stage that 

requires concerted efforts by everybody. The government 

has made great efforts to set the stage for the electoral 

process,” he pointed out. 

As for Kuwaiti-Jordanian ties, Sheikh Mohammad said 

his country continues supporting the economy of Jordan 

through the joint GCC aid which has a remarkable impact 

on the socio-economic development. “The GCC member 

states including Kuwait are committed to the shoring up of 

the Jordanian economy because Jordan’s stability is the 

key to that of the entire Arab region,” he affirmed. The 

PETRA delegation, led by Director General Faisal Al- 

Shaboul, is part of a larger Jordanian press delegation covering 

the Kuwaiti legislative polls. 

The delegation met Undersecretary of the Kuwaiti 

Ministry of Information Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al- 

Sabah who affirmed the need to modernize the Kuwaiti 

state departments and upgrade their performance. 

“However, the political situation in the country in the last 

years has hindered the march towards modernization,” 

Sheikh Salman regretted during the meeting. He urged 

cooperation between the legislative and executive authorities 

to meet the needs of the society and maintain political 

stability. Shaboul commended the atmospheres of and 

the preparations for the elections including the services 

offered by the Ministry of Information for local and foreign 

media delegations. — KUNA 

KUWAIT: In recognition of the great 

hospitality and the warm welcome 

Queen Elizabeth II and the British government 

accorded HH the Amir Sheikh 

Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in his official 

visit to the United Kingdom, he sent a 

number of cables of thanks yesterday to 

British officials. Firstly, the Amir sent a 

cable of thanks to Her Majesty Queen 

Elizabeth II in which he expressed his 

delight at his visit to her country with 

which Kuwait has enjoyed firm historical 

ties, wishing her and her nation continued 

progress and advancement. 

The Amir also sent a cable of thanks 

to British Prime Minister David Cameron, 

noting the warm welcome he and the 

official delegation with him received 

from the premier and members of the 

British government. Sheikh Sabah made 

mention of the fruitful results of his visit 

to Britain, which he said would contribute 

to boost bilateral relations. A 

similar cable of thanks echoing similar 

sentiments was also sent by HH the 

Amir to John Bercow, Speaker of the 

British House of Commons. 

Sheikh Sabah earlier departed 

London’s Heathrow Airport after the 

official five-day state visit to the United 

Kingdom yesterday. Accompanying 

the Amir upon his departure was on 

behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, Lord 

William Peel, the Third Earl Peel, official 

representative of the Secretary of State 

stituencies. 

The Third Constituency, of 15 residential 

areas, has the fourth largest voter 

base. Located south of Kuwait Bay or 

Jawn Al-Kuwait, it includes the residential 

areas of Abraq Khaitan, Hadiya, 

Kaifan, Khaldiya, Rawdah, South 

Khaitan, Surra and Adailiya. The Fourth 

Constituency consists of 18 large residential 

areas extending from Farwaniya 

to Jahra. Other major residential areas 

include Ardhiya, Sabah Al-Nasser, 

Firdous, Omariya, Rabiya, Jleeb Al- 

Shuyoukh and Andalous. It is the second 

largest district in terms of the number 

of voters. 

The Fifth Constituency, the largest in 

terms of the number of voters and residential 

areas with some 20 residential 

areas, includes the southern Kuwaiti 

areas of Abu Halifa, Ahmadi, Fahaheel, 

Fintas, Mahboula, Mangaf, Qurain, 

Riqqah, Sabah Al-Salem, Sabahiyah, 

Wafra and Al-Zour. — KUNA 

Amir thanks Queen, 

wraps up state visit 

Ghloum Habib Ghloum 

Sheikh Sabah departs UK 

LONDON: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah departs the UK after 

an official five-day state visit. — KUNA 

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior has set a 

comprehensive plan to secure and face firmly 

any breach of law that threatens today’s 

decisive parliamentary elections, said 

Hawally Governorate Police Commander 

and Chief Police Officer of the First Electoral 

Constituency Brigadier Ghloum Habib 

Ghloum. In a press statement, Ghloum said 

that the plan is meant also to protect polling 

for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 

Bill Henderson, the Kuwaiti 

Ambassador to the United Kingdom 

Khaled Al-Duwaisan, heads of Kuwaiti 

interests operating in the UK and 

embassy staff. — KUNA 

Police to face firmly 

any breach of law 

stations, and facilitate procedures to help 

voters cast their ballots in a smooth way. 

He added that the police forces will deal 

immediately with any act that mars the electoral 

process or any violation of law during 

the process or after announcing the results. 

Ghloum vowed that police will do all in 

power to render the electoral day a great 

success. —KUNA


JAMM auction in Kuwait 

sales exceed $570,000 

Art lovers come out in force with open wallets 

KUWAIT: A glamorous international crowd attended 

JAMM’s third Middle East auction of emerging and established 

Arab, Iranian and international art in Kuwait at the 

Contemporary Art Platform which totaled sales more than 

$570,000, confirming that Kuwait is indeed turning into 

another global destination for art lovers. Exclusively sponsored 

by TAG Heuer, one of the most desired brands in the 

luxury watch industry, the JAMM auction was one of the 

most memorable evenings in the social art calendar of 

Kuwait in 2012. 

Art enthusiasts came from across the globe, showing 

the continued international appeal for established Arab, 

Iranian and international artworks and at the same time 

supported the new generation of emerging artists and 

their pieces from across the Middle East. The highlight of 

the auction conducted by Alexander Gilkes, former global 

marketing director and auctioneer for Phillips de Pury and 

Farideh Lashaiís artwork titled El Amal at $72,000 was 

the highest selling piece at the JAMM auction. 

co-founder of Paddle8 was Iranian artist Farideh Lashai 

whose artwork titled El Amal that sold for $72,000. The second 

highest selling lot was by Reza Derakshani, titled 

Garden Party at $70,000 followed by, Hamza Bounoua 

whose painting titled “Exits” sold for $23,000. 

Sheikha Lulu M Al-Sabah, founder of JAMM, commented 

after the sale: “I was really happy with the turnout this year. 

There was a lot of enthusiasm and the room was electrifying. 

Alexander did an incredible job and I look forward to 

collaborating with Alexander and our sponsors TAG Heuer 

in future.” 

“We are very proud to be associated with JAMM. JAMM 

is helping to promote emerging artists and allow them to 

get a great visibility that they could hardly get otherwise. 

Through this, JAMM is also promoting the whole Middle 

East, showing to the world that there is a real artistic scene 

in this region. TAG Heuer has been pioneering Swiss 

watchmaking for over 150 years, bringing to the industry 

some of its main innovations. TAG Heuer is today the only 

brand to master high frequencies with automatic watches 

able to display the 1/1000th and the 1/5000th of a second. 

This avant-garde is at the heart of TAG Heuer in all its 

aspects. And helping to promote contemporary artists, 

who are at the avant-garde of their art, is just for us a natural 

involvement. On a more personal note, we have been 

also convinced by the personality of Sheikha Lulu Al- 

Sabah. She embodies so well the TAG Heuer women: modern, 

daring, independent, giving back. She has decided to 

take risks, to create her own company, and to give back to 

her country by helping promoting it through arts,” commented 

Luc Decroix, General Manager of TAG Heuer 

Middle East. 

JAMM third auction offered over 60 works by emerging 

and established Arab, Iranian and international artists 

including Shiva Ahmadi, Golnaz Fathi, Shahrzad 

Changalvaee, Derakshani, Simeen Farhat, Rachel Lee 

Hovnanian, Bert Stern, Andre C Meyerhans, Alfred Tarazi, 

Fatima Al-Mazrouei, Sueraya Shaheen, Youssef Nabil, 

Michel Haddi, Bounoua and Damien Aquiles . The Kuwaiti 

artists represented at the auction included Shurooq Amin, 

Amira Behbehani, Ghadah Kandari, Fadel Al-Abbar,, 

Ebrahim Habib, Abed Al-Kadari and Reda Salem. 

By Hanan Al-Saadoun 

LOCAL 

Qat hidden in 

chili powder 

KUWAIT: Kuwait Airport customs officers foiled an 

attempt to smuggle qat to Kuwait. Some African passengers 

tried to smuggle the drug hidden in bags of chili powder, 

thinking that the narcotic would not be detected in 

the pungent chili. Kuwait Airport customs supervisor 

Sulaiman Al-Fahad warned regardless how smugglers 

change their ways of smuggling, customs inspectors will 

always be waiting for them as they have vast experience in 

dealing with smugglers. 

Driver kills self 

A 40-year-old Asian driver committed suicide at his 

sponsor’s house in South Surra, security sources said. The 

body was sent to the coroner for inquest proceedings. 

Property disputes 

A citizen recently filed a complaint against a landlord 

accusing him of causing a loss of KD 1,500 in a property 

deal that fell through. He said he had reached an agreement 

with the owner to buy a property from him and made 

a down payment of KD 5,000, besides paying a KD 1,500 

commission to the broker. For some reason, the owner 

annulled the agreement and returned the down payment 

but refused to compensate him for the commission he had 

paid. Separately, a citizen accused a construction contractor 

of swindling him after he paid him KD 10,000 to renovate 

his house in Rabiya, a task that was not carried out. 

Pedophile arrested 

Detectives in Hawally arrested a 22-year-old Kuwaiti 

man for sexually assaulting three children, two of them 

boys, security sources said, adding the victims identified 

the suspect in a police lineup. 

A packet of qat hidden in chili powder is seen. 

New dumpsters to 

replace old ones 

KUWAIT: As per the new cleaning contracts the Municipality 

has signed, the cleaning administration has distributed new 

garbage dumpsters to all six governorates. Deputy public 

relations director Abdul Mohsen Aba Al-Khail announced the 

replacement of all bins with 

the new ones in all Kuwait 

governorates as per the new 

contracts. Aba Al-Khail said 

that the distribution of the 

new dumpsters shall continue 

over the coming days and 

so far 17,340 new containers 

have been placed in all governorates 

- 7,000 in Jahra, 

5,000 in Ahmadi, 4,000 in the 

Capital and 1,340 in 

Farwaniya. Distribution will 

continue on schedule and 

any complaints can be 

made on the hotline 139.


Hackers steal 

‘confidential’ nuclear info 

CAIRO: Thousands of Egyptians protested against 

President Mohamed Morsi yesterday after an 

Islamist-led assembly raced through approval of a 

new constitution in a bid to end a crisis over the 

Islamist leader’s newly expanded powers. “The people 

want to bring down the regime,” they chanted in 

Tahrir Square, echoing the chants that rang out in 

the same place less than two years ago and brought 

down Hosni Mubarak. 

Morsi said the decree halting court challenges to 

his decisions, which sparked eight days of protests 

and violence by Egyptians calling him a new dictator, 

was “for an exceptional stage” and aimed to speed 

up the democratic transition. “It will end as soon as 

the people vote on a constitution,” he told state television 

while the constituent assembly was still voting 

on the draft, which the Islamists say reflects Egypt’s 

new freedoms. “There is no place for dictatorship.” 

The opposition cried foul. Liberals, leftists, 

Christians, more moderate Muslims and others had 

withdrawn from the assembly, saying their voices 

were not being heard. Thousands packed Tahrir and 

hit the streets in Alexandria and cities on the Suez 

Canal, in the Nile Delta and south of Cairo, responding 

to opposition calls for a big turnout. The disparate 

opposition which has struggled to compete 

with well-organized Islamists has been drawn 

8 

Israel hits back with new 

settlements after UN vote 

together and reinvigorated by the crisis. Tens of 

thousands had also protested on Tuesday, showing 

the breadth of public anger. 

But Islamists have a potent political machine and 

the United States has looked on warily at the rising 

power of a group they once kept at arms length now 

ruling a nation that has a peace treaty with Israel and 

is at the heart of the Arab Spring. Protesters said they 

would push for a ‘no’ vote in a referendum, which 

could happen as early as mid-December. If approved, 

it would immediately cancel the president’s decree. 

“We fundamentally reject the referendum and 

constituent assembly because the assembly does not 

represent all sections of society,” said Sayed El-Erian, 

43, a protester in Tahrir and member of a party set up 

by opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei. “Leave, 

leave,” some chanted, another anti-Mubarak slogan. 

In the Cairo mosque where Morsi said Friday prayers, 

some opponents chanted against him but backers 

quickly surrounded him shouting in support, journalists 

and a security source said. Thousands of Morsi 

supporters also turned out in Alexandria. 

EXHAUSTION 

The plebiscite on the constitution is a gamble 

based on the Islamists’ belief they can mobilize voters 

again after winning all the elections since 

8 

Mubarak was overthrown in February 2011. Despite 

the big numbers opposed to him, Morsi can count on 

backing from the disciplined Brotherhood and 

Islamist allies, as well as many Egyptians who are simply 

exhausted by the turmoil. “He just wants us to 

move on and not waste time in conflicts,” said 33year-old 

Cairo shopowner Abdel Nasser Marie. “Give 

the man a chance and Egypt a break,” he said. But 

Morsi needs the cooperation of judges to oversee the 

vote, though many were angered by Morsi’s decree 

that they said undermined the judiciary. Some 

judges have gone on strike. 

The assembly concluded the vote after a 19-hour 

session, quicker than many expected, approving all 

234 articles covering presidential powers, the status 

of Islam, the military’s role and rights of citizens. In 

one historic change, the president was limited to 

eight years in office after Mubarak served for 30 

years. It introduced a degree of civilian oversight over 

the military - though not enough for critics. An 

Egyptian official said Morsi was expected to approve 

the document today and then has 15 days to hold a 

referendum. “This is a revolutionary constitution,” 

said Hossam El-Gheriyani, head of the assembly in a 

live broadcast of the session, asking members to 

launch a cross-country campaign to “explain to our 

nation its constitution”. The vote was often interrupt- 

Former India PM 

Gujral dies at 92 14 

CAIRO: Tens of thousands of protesters gather in Egypt’s landmark Tahrir square yesterday against a decree by President Mohamed Morsi granting himself broad powers that shield his 

decisions from judicial review. — AFP 

Anti-Morsi protests rock Egypt 

Islamists hurriedly approve new constitution 

ed by bickering between the mostly Islamist members 

and Gheriyani over the articles. Several articles 

were amended on the spot before they were voted 

on and the assembly worked till early morning to finish 

the job. Critics argue it is an attempt to rush 

through a draft they say has been hijacked by the 

Muslim Brotherhood, which backed Morsi for president 

in a June election, and its Islamist allies. Two 

people have been killed and hundreds injured in 

protests since the decree was announced on Nov 22, 

deepening the divide between the newly empowered 

Islamists and their critics. 

PLACATING OPPONENTS 

Setting the stage for more tension, the Muslim 

Brotherhood and its Islamist allies have called for pro- 

Morsi rallies on Saturday. But officials from the 

Brotherhood’s party changed the venue and said 

they would avoid Tahrir Square. Seeking to placate 

opponents, Morsi welcomed criticism but said there 

was no place for violence. “I am very happy that 

Egypt has real political opposition,” he told state television. 

He said Egypt needed to attract investors and 

tourists. The crisis threatens to derail a fragile economic 

recovery after two years of turmoil. Egypt is 

waiting for the International Monetary Fund to finalize 

a $4.8 billion loan to help it out. —Reuters


VIENNA: Anti-Israel hackers, who the UN 

nuclear agency this week said had posted data 

online stolen from one of its servers, claimed 

in a new statement they had published confidential 

material obtained from the watchdog. 

The statement - in the name of a group with 

an Iranian-sounding name - was put on a website 

hours after UN nuclear chief Yukiya 

Amano said on Thursday he did not believe 

sensitive nuclear “safeguards” information had 

been compromised. 

The UN International Atomic Energy 

Agency (IAEA), whose mission is to prevent 

the spread of nuclear weapons in the world 

and which is investigating Iran’s disputed 

nuclear activities, declined to comment on the 

latest development on Friday. The hackers 

published on Sunday scores of email addresses 

of experts who have been working with the 

UN agency on a website, and urged the IAEA 

to investigate Israel’s nuclear activity. On 

Thursday, Amano said this was “deeply regret- 

table” but he voiced confidence that no sensitive 

information regarding the agency’s 

nuclear inspections had been stolen. He said 

the hacking happened several months ago. 

The new hacker statement in the name of 

Parastoo (which in Farsi means swallow, a bird 

species, and can also be a girl’s name) said that 

it was now publishing more data online “to 

prove our ability to gain access to highly sensitive 

information.” This included “confidential...documents, 

satellite images, official letters, 

presentations,” it said in the statement 

dated Nov. 29, with links to what it said was 

such information. The authenticity of the 

material - posted on the same website as 

Sunday’s statement - could not immediately 

be verified. 

“It isn’t obvious to me upon looking at the 

satellite imagery that the pictures contain sensitive 

and confidential IAEA data,” nuclear 

expert Mark Hibbs, of the Carnegie 

Endowment think-tank, said. Jeffrey Lewis, of 

the US-based James Martin Center for 

Nonproliferation Studies, suggested the 

hacked data concerned information related to 

peaceful uses of nuclear energy, rather than 

confidential information on IAEA inspections. 

“Hacking the IAEA and interfering with 

efforts to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes 

doesn’t get us any closer to a world in 

which Israel signs the NPT (nuclear Non- 

Proliferation Treaty),” Lewis said in a blog. The 

experts whose email addresses were hacked 

have nothing to do with “safeguards, nuclear 

weapons or Israel,” he said. “Safeguards” 

means activities conducted by IAEA inspectors 

in examining member states’ nuclear activities, 

including Iran’s, to make sure that no atomic 

material is diverted for military purposes. Such 

information is seen as top secret. 

ACCESS TO ‘NEW SERVER’ 

The latest Parastoo statement again called 

for an IAEA investigation into the nuclear 

INTERNATIONAL 

Hackers steal ‘confidential’ IAEA info 

UN recognition, Gaza 

conflict, ‘go together’ 

Hamas breaking out of isolation 

DOHA: Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said 

the de facto recognition of a sovereign 

Palestinian state won by his rival Mahmoud 

Abbas should be seen alongside Gaza’s latest 

conflict with Israel as a single, bold strategy 

that could empower all Palestinians. Meshaal 

said the short war which claimed 162 

Palestinian lives and five Israelis was concluded 

on terms set by his Islamist movement and 

ended its isolation, creating a new mood conducive 

to reconciliation with Abbas’s nationalist 

Fatah. 

In an interview with Reuters in Doha, he 

compared Israel’s mood of dejection with the 

jubilation of Palestinians in Gaza and across 

the Israeli-occupied West Bank led by Abbas, 

insisting that “for the first time a ceasefire was 

achieved on conditions set by Hamas, and in 

the presence of the Americans”. Meshaal 

strongly backed the diplomatic initiative by 

Palestinian Authority President Abbas to 

upgrade Palestinian status at the United 

Nations to observer state which the General 

assembly endorsed on Thursday in New York. 

Diplomatically, this puts the stateless 

Palestinians on a par with the Holy See, but 

politically it would help “unify Palestinian 

national efforts” as part of the reconciliation 

process with Abbas’s nationalist Fatah movement, 

Meshaal said. “I told Abou Mazen 

(Abbas) we want this move to be part of a 

national Palestinian strategy” that includes 

“the (armed) resistance which excelled in 

Gaza and gave an example of the ability of 

the Palestinian people to resist and steadfastly 

confront the occupier”, a confident 

Meshaal said. 

The coming to power of Hamas allies in 

the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which 

played the key role in brokering the recent 

ceasefire, and “the defeat of the enemy in 

Gaza” have created a new environment that 

should allow Palestinians to form a unity government. 

“I am optimistic”, Meshaal said, 

“there is a new mood that allows us to 

achieve reconciliation”. Dressed in a black suit 

and an open neck shirt, he was speaking at a 

hotel in Doha, where he has lived since leaving 

Syria earlier this year. 

STRONGER 

“When we reconcile, unite and end the 

divisions and have one political marja’eya 

WEST BANK: Palestinian schoolgirls hold pictures of President Mahmoud 

Abbas with Yasser Arafat, flowers and olive branches during a rally supporting 

the Palestinian UN bid for observer state status, in the West Bank city of 

Nablus. — AP 

(the Islamic word for leadership) and one 

political system, then we will be stronger and 

better and we can achieve more, and our 

response to the Israeli aggression in all its 

forms will be better”, the Hamas politburo 

leader said. The Fatah controlled PA in the 

West Bank was expelled from Gaza after 

Hamas won a bloody civil war in 2007, after 

emerging as the victors in the 2006 

Palestinian general elections. 

Meshaal, who survived a Mossad assassination 

attempt in Amman in 1997 when 

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu 

was last in power, has been reenergized politically 

by the Arab Spring uprisings that have 

swept the region and installed a string of 

sympathetic Islamist leaders. When he 

appeared alongside President Mohamed 

Mursi of Egypt in Cairo after the ceasefire, his 

confident and relaxed body language would 

have confused any casual observer as to 

which one of them was the leader of Egypt. 

Gaza, long subject to an Israeli military and 

economic blockade, is breaking out of its isolation, 

with recent high level visits from Qatar, 

Turkey, Egypt and the Arab League. 

“There is a new Arab presence, there is a 

different kind of support. Gaza did not seem 

isolated in this war”, he said, as it was in the 

devastating 2008-09 conflict with Israel. 

Meshaal, 56, said he had no intention to continue 

as Hamas leader despite calls on him 

“internally and externally” to carry on. The 

group, whose 1988 charter formally calls for 

the destruction of Israel, has been holding a 

leadership ballot for several months to decide 

who will succeed Meshaal. Hamas ambivalence 

towards the Palestinian Authority, 

which it has sometimes derided as an Israeli 

subsidiary, mirrors its ambiguity on the future 

shape of a Palestinian state. 

Under Meshaal’s leadership, the Islamists 

have evolved in an uneasy balance between 

maximalism and pragmatism - refusing to 

renounce pre-1948 “Palestine”, but willing to 

accept de facto a state on the lands Israel 

captured in the 1967 Six Day War - the West 

Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. “As for the 

Palestinian state we believe it (should be) on 

all our Palestinian land,” but there was a wish 

to unify the Palestinian and Arab positions on 

a common program. —Reuters 

activities of Israel, widely believed to be the 

Middle East’s only nuclear-armed state. That is 

a demand often voiced by Iran and Arab 

states. The IAEA has not said who might be 

behind the hacking. There has been an 

increase in suspected Iranian cyber attacks this 

year, coinciding with a deepening standoff 

with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program. 

Iranian officials have tended to deny 

involvement. But they say they have continued 

to come under cyber assault themselves, 

with systems at Iran’s own oil facilities, communications 

and infrastructure firms suffering 

problems last month. The IAEA earlier this 

week said the server which had been hacked 

had been closed down. Parastoo’s latest statement 

said the information now posted online 

was “extracted from one of IAEA’s new servers 

that we have access to.” Israel and the United 

States accuse Iran of seeking to develop a 

nuclear weapons capability. Tehran denies 

this. — Reuters 

Israel hits back with 

new settlements 

after UN vote 

JERUSALEM: Israel revealed plans yesterday to build 3,000 settler 

homes in east Jerusalem and the West Bank in response to 

the Palestinians’ historic success in being recognized as a nonmember 

state at the United Nations. During the landmark 

Thursday vote in New York, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly 

backed a resolution recognizing Palestine within 

the 1967 borders as a non-member observer state. It was a 

major diplomatic coup for the Palestinians but a stinging slap 

in the face for Israel, which had lobbied hard to prevent it, 

arguing that it would cripple peace hopes. 

Reports of the decision to build the 3,000 housing units in 

response to the UN vote emerged yesterday afternoon, with an 

official source confirming it to AFP. “It’s true,” he said, without 

specifying exactly where. Media reports said some of the construction 

would be in a highly contentious area of the West 

Bank known as E1, a corridor that runs between the easternmost 

edge of annexed Jerusalem and the Maaleh Adumim settlement. 

Palestinians bitterly oppose the E1 project, as it effectively 

cuts the occupied West Bank in two north to south and 

makes the creation of a viable Palestinian state highly problematic. 

The Palestinians want annexed east Jerusalem as capital 

of their promised, future state and vigorously oppose 

expansion plans for Maaleh Adumim, which lies five kilometers 

from the city’s eastern edge. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the 

UN vote as “a meaningless decision that will not change anything 

on the ground,” and said peace could only be found in 

“direct negotiations... and not in one-sided UN decisions.” But 

he also warned that by going to the UN, the Palestinians had 

“violated” previous agreements with Israel, such as the 1993 

Oslo Accords, and that his country would “act accordingly.” A 

report on the Ynet news website said the decision to connect 

Maaleh Adumim with Jerusalem had been taken by 

Netanyahu’s inner circle, the Forum of Nine, on Thursday. 

Earlier yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom had 

mooted the idea of building in E1 as a response to the UN 

move, which he said was a violation of agreements the 

Palestinians had signed with Israel, such as the Oslo Accords. 

“The violation of these agreements... means Israel can also take 

unilateral initiatives such as applying Israeli sovereignty in the 

territories or connecting Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem,” he 

told public radio. Linking the settlement and the city is an idea 

long espoused by hardliners within Netanyahu’s ruling 

rightwing Likud party but strongly opposed by Washington. 

Israel has long feared that if the Palestinians won the rank 

of a UN non-member state, they could pursue the Jewish 

state for war crimes at the International Criminal Court in 

The Hague-particularly over its settlement building. Two 

days before the UN vote, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad 

Mansour warned that if Israel continued “to illegally build 

settlements-which is a war crime from the point of view of 

the ICC and the Rome statute-then we will consult with all of 

our friends, including the Europeans, to (ask) them what 

should we do next to bring Israel into compliance” with UN 

resolutions. —AFP


Old party returns to 

govern changed Mexico 

MEXICO CITY: The political party that ruled 

Mexico for seven straight decades is back, 

assuring Mexicans there’s no chance of a return 

to what some called “the perfect dictatorship” 

that was marked by a mixture of populist handouts, 

rigged votes and occasional bloodshed. 

The Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, 

reclaims the presidency Saturday after 12 years 

out of power, and President-elect Enrique Pena 

Nieto calls it a crowning moment of an effort to 

reform and modernize the party that ruled 

without interruption from 1929 to 2000. He 

promises an agenda of free enterprise, efficiency 

and accountability. He’s pushing for reforms 

that could bring major new private investment 

in Mexico’s crucial but creaking state-owned oil 

industry, changes that have been blocked for 

decades by nationalist suspicion of foreign 

meddling in the oil business. 

PRI leaders acknowledge the party is returning 

to power in a Mexico radically different 

from what it was in the party’s heyday. The 

nation has an open, market-oriented economy, 

a freer, more aggressive press, an opposition 

that can communicate at the speed of the 

Internet and a population that knows the PRI 

can be kicked out of power. “The skeptics say 

that the PRI will return to the past, as if such a 

thing were possible,” PRI leader Pedro Joaquin 

Coldwell told a party gathering earlier this 

month. “It’s not, because this is a different 

country.” Yet critics already see hints of a yearning 

for the old days of an imperial presidency in 

some of the measures the PRI is pushing 

through Congress. 

A bill proposed by Pena Nieto would gather 

the police and security apparatus under the 

control of the Interior Department, an office 

long used by the PRI to co-opt or pressure 

opponents, rig elections and strong-arm the 

media. PRI leaders say the measure would unify 

a fractured security apparatus and produce a 

more coordinated strategy in Mexico’s fight 

against drug cartels. Political analyst Raymundo 

Riva Palacio says a return to the old ways is 

unlikely, noting there are now independent 

electoral authorities, judges and rights groups 

to help keep authorities in line. “I don’t think 

they’ll try to restore the old regime, like we saw 

in the 1970s,” he said. 

But Alejandro Sanchez, the assistant leader 

of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, 

warns of an attempt “to return to the authoritarian 

regime of the 1970s, when torture, contempt 

for opponents and impunity were the 

norm.” The PRI no longer holds a majority in 

Congress, so it will probably have to negotiate 

more. PRI members in Congress, who include 

several autocratic labor leaders, this month successfully 

maneuvered to block a measure that 

would have required secret ballots in union 

elections and approval by union members of 

proposed contracts. 

The PRI also supported a bill that would give 

federal and state auditors more authority to 

block spending by state governors, who currently 

face little fiscal oversight. That may help 

curb the unchecked power governors have 

acquired since the PRI lost power, but some 

critics see the measure as a bid to return to the 

days when presidents controlled the states 

from Mexico City. Another PRI proposal would 

restore the president’s ability to hire and fire 

hundreds of mid-level government officials at 

will, removing the posts from civil service protections. 

Sen. Javier Corral of the National 

Action Party, which has held the presidency for 

12 years, said the PRI “wants to bring back the 

old custom that has done so much damage in 

Mexico, of treating power as booty, and giving 

out these jobs according to the party’s criteria.” 

The PRI was widely seen as an able if autocratic 

party from 1929 to the mid-1960s, with 

strong economic growth and government 

hand-out programs balancing the corruption 

and lack of truly free elections. But repeated 

harsh crackdowns on unions, students and other 

protesters inspired opposition movements 

in the 1960s and 1970s, and economic mismanagement 

and graft fed rampant inflation and 

led to recurring economic crises that repeatedly 

slammed the middle class in the regime’s 

final quarter-century in power. “We have 

learned from the mistakes we made,” Coldwell, 

the PRI’s leader, told a local radio station. “The 

people have given us a chance, and we have to 

be very conscious of the fact that if we don’t do 

well, they won’t give us a third chance.” 

In fact, the PRI had already begun changing 

in the 1980s. Stung by public outrage over 

some of the economic messes it had made, the 

party oversaw the privatization of inefficient 

state-owned industries that were once vast 

reservoirs of patronage jobs. It gradually 

allowed electoral reforms that finally gave 

opponents a chance to win elections. During its 

time in power, the conservative National Action 

Party tried to lend a more informal air to the 

presidency. The office also became weaker in 

the face of the rising independence of the 

Supreme Court as well as state governors, many 

from opposition parties who owed no allegiance 

to the president. Opposition also 

increased in Congress. 

Ruben Aguilar, who was a spokesman for 

then President Vicente Fox, the National Action 

candidate who defeated the PRI in 2000, said 

he’s willing to give the PRI “the benefit of the 

doubt,” in part because the party is known for 

pragmatism. It never had much ideology 

beyond keeping itself in power, and returning 

to old abuses could be suicidal. “If they tried to 

return to the old ways, it would be very clumsy, 

very shortsighted,” Aguilar said. Some things 

are clearly gone forever, such as the PRI’s role as 

“daddy government,” handing out state-built 

housing and jobs at state-owned enterprises. 

The government firms have been privatized 

and the oil-fattened government budgets have 

shrunk. 

Instead, Pena Nieto aims to fulfill his main 

promise, to create more job and boost economic 

growth, by going even further in developing 

the private sector. He also pledges to preserve 

the main achievement of the two National 

Action Party presidents: responsible government 

finances and macro economic stability. 

The PRI was never a classic, bloodthirsty dictatorship. 

It often bought off enemies and pardoned 

when it could. When students at the 

national university pelted President Luis 

Echeverria with rocks in 1975, blaming him for 

ordering the shooting of student protesters 

seven years before, Echeverria simply left the 

campus. While Echeverria imprisoned leftist 

rebels or allowed them to vanish in the maw of 

the security system, his successor pardoned 

those who remained jailed, giving rise to a generation 

of opposition politicians. 

Many Mexicans retain a cynical fondness for 

the old party’s populism, as reflected in one old 

saying that translates roughly: “They stole, but 

at least they let others get what they dropped.” 

Some expect a comeback of the PRI political 

style that combined a devotion to high-flown 

rhetoric, strict obedience among party members 

and an unquestioned respect for the 

authority of the president. —AP 

INTERNATIONAL 

YouTube leak 

angers Kosovo 

Tapes feature Kosovo PM and top officials 

PRISTINA: Kosovo’s government has condemned 

the leak of tapped phone calls recorded 

by European Union crime investigators and featuring 

voices identified as that of the prime minister 

and several senior officials. EULEX, which 

oversees law and order in Kosovo and handles 

cases of organized crime and war crimes, said 

the audio tapes were part of a continuing case 

and had been handed over to defense lawyers 

and Pristina district court. 

EULEX did not specify the nature of the case 

or who was involved. But political sources said 

they were aware of a corruption inquiry involving 

senior political figures. An international security 

source said: “The recordings are part of a corruption 

investigation into the ministry of transport.” 

The audio files appeared on YouTube on 

Thursday, in what the EU’s police and justice mission 

in Kosovo (EULEX) said was “a serious 

breach of confidence”. “It is unfortunate that 

some parties have improperly released this 

material into the public domain,” the mission 

said in a statement late on Thursday. 

Kosovo’s government, led by Prime Minister 

Hashim Thaci, denounced the leak as “scandalous” 

and the phone-tapping as illegal. “These 

NEW YORK: New York City Police Officer Larry DePrimo presents a barefoot homeless man in 

New York’s Time Square with boots. — AP 

NEW YORK: A tourist’s snapshot of a New York 

City police officer giving new boots to a barefoot 

homeless man in Times Square has created 

an online sensation. Jennifer Foster, of Arizona, 

was visiting New York with her boyfriend on 

Nov 14, when she came across the shoeless 

man asking for change in Times Square. As she 

was about to approach him, she said the officer 

- identified as Larry DePrimo - came up to the 

man with a pair of all-weather boots and thermal 

socks on the frigid night. She recorded his 

generosity on her cellphone. DePrimo, speaking 

to reporters on Thursday, remembered the 

night clearly, that even with two pairs of socks 

on, his feet were freezing. The homeless man 

“didn’t even have a pair of socks on and I 

could only imagine how cold that pavement 

was,” the 25-year-old said, clutching a box 

actions represent a direct effort on the part of 

both domestic and international mechanisms to 

blackmail and sabotage leaders of the Kosovo 

institutions and the normal functioning of our 

state,” the government said in a statement. A 

voice identified on the YouTube post as Thaci’s is 

heard twice in the five audio files, all of which 

appear to feature Adem Grabovci, head of the 

parliamentary caucus of Thaci’s Democratic Party 

of Kosovo. 

Kosovo continues to struggle with deep-rooted 

organized crime and corruption almost five 

years since it declared independence from 

Serbia with the backing of the West. The phonetapping 

affair emerged a week after the 

Supreme Court, chaired by an EULEX judge, 

ordered the retrial of Fatmir Limaj, a close ally of 

Thaci, for war crimes, over the objections of the 

government. Limaj was acquitted of war crimes 

in May after the chief prosecution witness killed 

himself and his written testimony was ruled 

inadmissible. The Supreme Court overturned 

that decision. The charges against Limaj have to 

do with a detention camp run by ethnic 

Albanian guerrillas in Kosovo during the 1998-99 

war with Serbian security forces.— Reuters 

NYPD officer’s kindness 

sparks online sensation 

containing cufflinks given to him by Police 

Commissioner Raymond Kelly. 

Foster’s photo was posted Tuesday night to 

the NYPD’s official Facebook page and became an 

instant hit. More than 420,000 users “liked” it as of 

Thursday evening, and more than 140,000 shared 

it. Thousands of people commented, including 

one person who praised him as “An officer AND a 

Gentleman.” The photo shows the officer kneeling 

beside the man with the boots at his feet. A 

shoe store is seen in the background. “I have 

these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. 

Let’s put them on and take care of you,” Foster 

quoted DePrimo as saying to the man. 

She wrote: “The officer squatted down on the 

ground and proceeded to put socks and the new 

boots on this man. The officer expected NOTHING 

in return and did not know I was watching.” —AP


HALIFAX: Canadian police were tipped off by the FBI 

alerted them of a possible security breach began investigating 

a Canadian navy intelligence officer who later 

pleaded guilty to espionage, documents made public 

Thursday say. Redacted versions of three search warrants 

were released Thursday after the prosecution consented 

to their release. The warrants were used to 

obtain evidence against Sub-Lt Jeffrey Paul Delisle, who 

pleaded guilty last month to passing classified information 

to Russia. 

Delisle worked at a naval intelligence center in 

Halifax, Nova Scotia and had access to secret data from 

NATO countries. One document said police opened an 

investigation into Delisle’s activities after it received a 

letter in late 2011 from FBI assistant director Frank 

Figliuzzi alerting them of a possible security breach 

involving a Canadian military officer. That letter was 

sent Dec 2, 2011, about six weeks before Delisle was 

arrested. The portions of the documents that were 

released do not elaborate on how or when the FBI 

became aware of the security breach. 

But they do indicate that the Royal Canadian 

Mounted Police heavily relied on information from 

Anthony Buckmeier, a Russian counter-espionage specialist 

who began working for the FBI in 1987. “Given his 

vast experience in Russian counter-espionage, I believe 

the information supported by the opinion of Anthony 

M. Buckmeier is credible,” says a warrant filed by the 

RCMP. The documents say the RCMP set up phone taps 

from Montreal as they pursued their investigation into 

Delisle’s activities. Delisle was arrested Jan. 13. 

The documents also say Delisle received a total of 23 

money transfers from July 6, 2007, to Aug 1, 2011 from 

Moscow and Ireland. During his bail hearing in March, 

the provincial court in Halifax heard that Delisle walked 

into the Russian embassy in Ottawa and offered to sell 

them information. Over the course of nearly five years, 

Delisle accepted money transfers from Russia in 

INTERNATIONAL 

FBI notifies Canada about spy in their midst 

NEW YORK: This combo photo shows former International Monetary Fund chief leader 

Dominique Strauss-Kahn (left) and Nafissatou Diallo in New York. — AP 

Strauss-Kahn settles 

with accuser for $6m 

PARIS: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the disgraced 

former IMF chief, has agreed to pay $6 million to 

settle a lawsuit brought by a Manhattan maid 

who accused him of sexual assault, reports said 

yesterday. France’s Le Monde newspaper reports 

in its Saturday edition that the former frontrunner 

for the French presidency has told friends 

that he has agreed to pay hotel maid Nafissatou 

Diallo that amount in order to end an 18-month 

legal saga. 

The Le Monde article followed a report in the 

New York Times that 63-year-old Strauss-Kahn 

and Diallo had “quietly reached an agreement to 

settle.”According to Le Monde, Strauss-Kahn will 

raise the money by borrowing $3 million from a 

bank and the rest from his estranged wife, Anne 

Sinclair, a former newsreader who inherited a fortune 

from her art dealer father. Judge Douglas 

McKeon, who is presiding over the civil case said 

“there may be a court session as early as next 

week,” but declined to comment on the reports 

of a settlement. 

Diallo’s legal team would not comment but 

Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers dismissed Le Monde’s 

report as a fantasy. A statement read: “Neither 

Dominique Strauss-Kahn nor his advocates 

intend to comment on the case under way in the 

United States. But they vigorously deny the imaginary 

and mistaken report carried by Le Monde.” 

Strauss-Kahn suffered a stunning fall from grace 

following his arrest last year on the basis of 

Diallo’s allegation that he had leapt on her in his 

room at New York’s Sofitel hotel and forced her 

to perform oral sex. He said there had been a 

sexual encounter but that it was consensual. 

Prosecutors eventually threw out the charges 

after deciding that discrepancies in the maid’s 

testimony meant the case would not stand up. 

By then Strauss-Kahn’s career was in tatters, his 

marriage was on the rocks and he was facing a 

string of other sex-related investigations in 

France as well as the civil case. 

Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers repeatedly said they 

would not agree to a pay-off deal while Diallo’s 

legal team played up claims she wanted her day 

in court to confront her alleged abuser. Strauss- 

Kahn will learn on December 19 if he is to face 

further investigation into pimping charges arising 

from allegations that he and associates 

arranged sex parties with prostitutes in the 

northern French city of Lille. His lawyers have 

filed a request for the charges to be dismissed. 

French prosecutors last month dropped an 

investigation into Strauss-Kahn’s alleged participation 

in a gang rape after the woman involved 

said she had consented and was not pressing 

charges. After his return to France, Strauss-Kahn 

was accused by 32-year-old author Tristane 

Banon of trying to rape her in 2002. French investigating 

magistrates questioned Strauss-Kahn 

and his accuser and concluded that while there 

appeared to be evidence of a sexual assault, the 

alleged attack had occurred too long ago to be 

prosecuted.- AFP 

PARIS: Large majorities of west Europeans favor 

the legalization of assisted suicide, now allowed 

only in four countries on the continent, according 

to a new survey. In almost all the 12 countries 

polled, three-quarters or more of those responding 

to questions posed by the Swiss Medical Lawyers 

Association (SMLA) said people should be able to 

decide when and how they die. Two-thirds to 

three-quarters of them said they could imagine 

opting for assisted suicide themselves if they suffered 

from an incurable illness, serious disability or 

uncontrollable pain. 

“In practically all European countries, many 

signs indicate that the prevailing legal system no 

longer reflects the will of large parts of the population 

on this issue,” the SMLA said. The results of its 

poll “should allow politicians to take democratic 

principles into account when considering legislation 

on these issues,” it added in its introduction to 

the study. Assisted suicide is now allowed only in 

Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands and 

Switzerland. The German government has proposed 

legalizing it as long as no profit is involved 

while France is debating whether to allow it. 

GERMANS MOST OPEN, 

GREEKS LEAST WILLING 

In both Germany and France, the Roman 

Catholic and Protestant churches oppose legalizing 

euthanasia and argue for better palliative care to 

ease pain for dying patients. The study was conducted 

by the Swiss pollster Isopublic in Austria, 

Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, 

Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. 

It did not survey the four European countries that 

allow assisted suicide, or countries in Eastern 

Europe. Germans were most open to letting people 

decide when and how they die, with 87 percent 

exchange for his services, the court was told. There was 

a publication ban on evidence and arguments presented 

at the proceedings in the spring, but his guilty plea 

means there will not be a jury trial now. Sentencing is 

scheduled for Jan 10. 

Delisle would search for Russian references on his 

work computer, transfer it to a USB key and take it to his 

home nearby before pasting it into an email program 

that he shared with his Russian handler, the prosecution 

has said. But at some point, the RCMP hacked into the 

email account Delisle shared with his Russian handler, 

the court heard. Delisle continued sending sensitive 

information through the account, unaware that police 

were receiving it. Delisle, who joined the navy as a 

reservist in 1996, became a member of the regular 

forces in 2001 and was promoted to an officer rank in 

2008. He had access to systems with information shared 

by the Five Eyes community that includes Canada, the 

United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. — AP 

Most West Europeans 

favor ‘assisted suicide’ 

Results highlight wide gulf between opinion and law 

HOUSTON: Former President George HW Bush 

was in a Houston hospital Thursday for continuing 

treatment of a lingering cough. Bush, 88, 

has been in and out of the hospital recently for 

complications resulting from bronchitis, 

Methodist Hospital said in a brief statement. 

The hospital and Bush’s spokesman in Houston, 

Jim McGrath, described Bush as in stable condition 

and said they expected the former president 

to be released by the weekend. He’s been 

under hospital care for nearly a week. “If you 

asked him today, he would tell you he feels 

supporting the idea, and results slowly descended 

to Denmark’s 71 percent in 11th place. 

Greece was the only exception to this strong 

support, with only 52 percent backing the idea of 

allowing assisted suicide. Spaniards were the most 

willing to consider asking for help to die, with 78 

percent support, followed closely by Germans (77 

percent) and the French (75 percent). In Britain, 71 

percent said they might seek assisted suicide while 

Greece was again the most reluctant with 56 percent 

saying they might do so. More than threequarters 

of those polled in all countries said only 

doctors or trained practitioners should perform 

assisted suicides. A majority of all respondents said 

doctors should not lose their licenses if they help a 

patient die. Results ranged from 84 percent in 

Britain to 58 percent in Greece. 

GERMANS OPPOSE GOVERNMENT BILL 

About 30 percent of those polled thought 

dying patients might occasionally be pressured by 

relatives or doctors into accepting assisted suicide 

if it is legalized. Roughly another 30 percent 

thought this would almost never happen. In 

Germany, where the government’s bill is now 

being debated in parliament, 76 percent said the 

proposed law was wrong to ban assisted suicide if 

the doctor is paid for the service. The bill would not 

punish those helping patients commit suicide, for 

example by accompanying them to Switzerland 

where assisted suicide has been legal since 1942. A 

rise in dying foreigners - particularly from Germany, 

France and Britain - ending their lives there has 

prompted calls for tighter laws, but Zurich voters 

rejected in 2010 a proposed ban on what opponents 

called “suicide tourism”. In the United States, 

assisted suicide is allowed in Oregon, Washington 

and Montana.—Reuters 

Former president Bush hospitalized 

good enough to get out this afternoon,” 

McGrath said Thursday. “But the doctors 

have a different view. He’s 88, and they’re 

being extra careful, and understandably so.” 

The former president’s illness was described as 

not life-threatening. “This was never a serious 

or life-threatening situation,” said Dr. Amy 

Mynderse, an internal medicine specialist in 

charge of Bush’s care. “We simply wanted to 

prevent the progression of the disease into 

pneumonia, which is possible in any patient at 

this age.” —AP


GUADALAJARA: Chinese dissident 

writer Liao Yiwu has accused China’s 

political elite of accumulating “dirty 

wealth”, saying it had turned his country 

into “one of the biggest landfills in 

the world.” “There is wealth in China 

that only belongs to the powerful 

political class, that is the truth,” Liao 

told a news conference at the 

International Book Fair of Guadalajara 

in western Mexico. “It is a dirty wealth, 

that is why I think that China has 

become one of the biggest landfills in 

the world,” said the author, also known 

as Lao Wei. While China has experienced 

“many changes” and established 

trade ties with the West, the 

country’s economic development “has 

not affected” the whole population. 

Liao gave the example of the sale of 

new apartments in a building in his 

native Sichuan province. “An ordinary 

and normal person would have to 

have worked 100 years to be able to 

buy just the bathroom of one of these 

apartments,” he said. Liao, who was 

escorted by municipal security guards, 

said the Chinese government had 

asked the fair’s organizers to withdraw 

his invitation. The author spent four 

years in jail after writing the poem 

“Massacre” about the 1989 Tiananmen 

Square crackdown. He has lived in 

Germany since 2010 after successfully 

defying a travel ban by walking to 

Vietnam. 

In Guadalajara, Liao deepened his 

criticism of Chinese Nobel Prize-winning 

author Mo Yan, whom he has 

accused of being a “state poet” close 

to the communist regime. He said that 

he discussed Mo with Romania’s Nobel 

literature prize laureate Herta Muller 

recently, and they concluded that the 

Nobel jury had committed “one of the 

biggest mistakes” of the award’s history. 

“In reality, he is a senior Chinese 

politician. Giving him this prize was a 

disaster,” Liao said. Mo Yan has been 

on the defensive against activists who 

accuse him of being a communist 

stooge, amid an outpouring of praise 

from the government in Beijing. He 

has also defended Communist Party 

INTERNATIONAL 

Liao slams Chinese politicians’ ‘dirty wealth’ 

US, China armies hold 

exercise to build trust 

Washington-Beijing distrust runs high 

CHENGDU: The US and Chinese militaries 

yesterday wrapped up a modest disasterrelief 

exercise hailed as a tentative trustbuilding 

step amid growing suspicions 

between the Asia-Pacific region’s largest 

armed forces. While not a full-fledged operation, 

the two-day exercise at People’s 

Liberation Army barracks outside the city of 

Chengdu consisted of US and Chinese officers 

sitting around a table facing a flat-panel 

video screen and discussing how they 

would respond to an earthquake in a fictional 

third country. 

Though this was the eighth meeting to 

discuss disaster relief, it was the first time 

both sides discussed a joint response to a 

simulated disaster. The leading officers 

called that a step forward in building familiarity 

and trust. US Major General Stephen 

Lyons said the exercise began the groundwork 

for the day when the two militaries 

will operate side-by-side in an actual 

humanitarian operation. “I think it’s very 

conceivable. If there is a country out there, 

and there inevitably there will be, that will 

have a natural disaster, and they call for 

international help, if US forces and Chinese 

forces respond, then indeed we’ll find ourselves 

working together in the field,” Lyons 

said in comments to reporters. 

While Washington and Beijing have 

talked about boosting military cooperation 

for more than a decade, distrust runs high 

and disagreements over Taiwan, North 

Korea and China’s assertive claims to disputed 

territories in the East and South 

China seas remain potential flashpoints. 

China’s robust military buildup and 

Washington’s decision to redeploy more 

weaponry and troops to the Asia Pacific 

region have added to the tensions. The 

modest scope of the table-top simulation 

underscores the underlying hesitation and 

distrust on both sides, particularly in 

Beijing, which tends to view military 

exchanges as a form of diplomatic leverage 

to be severed at times of tension. “It’s 

worth pursuing, but expectations should 

be modest,” said Denny Roy, an expert on 

the Chinese military at the University of 

CHENGDU: Major General Stephen R Lyons (left) of the US Army and Major Tang 

Fen of China’s Peopleís Liberation Army (PLA) shake hands at the end of a twoday 

military exercise in Chengdu yesterday. — AFP 

Hawaii’s East-West Center. This year’s 

exchange comes as China has been flexing 

its military muscle and raising regional tensions. 

Last week China staged the first successful 

landing of planes on its newly commissioned 

aircraft carrier, a sign of its rapid 

progress toward deploying the ultimate 

symbol of naval power and a potent tool 

for projecting military force far from its 

shores. China’s Defense Ministry reiterated 

Thursday that the aircraft carrier was in line 

with the country’s defense needs and was 

“not aimed at threatening others and not 

targeted against any country.” Hardware 

aside, China has been ratcheting up tensions 

by engaging in more aggressive tactics 

in recent months and thereby unnerving 

neighbors and the US. 

Chinese coastal patrol and fisheries 

ships have pushed the Philippines away 

from a disputed South China Sea shoal and 

harassed Japanese coast guard vessels near 

contested East China Sea islands. US naval 

and aerial reconnaissance close to China’s 

shores has at times been challenged by 

Chinese ships and planes, risking clashes. 

This week, southern Hainan province, 

which administers or claims to administer 

the South China Sea islands China holds or 

wants to, approved laws giving the police 

force the right to search vessels that 

intrude in Chinese waters. The move raised 

concerns about whether China would seek 

to block normal maritime traffic through 

the South China Sea, waters vital to world 

trade. 

Aware of the potential for conflict 

between the militaries, both sides have in 

recent years tried to find ways to cooperate. 

Their armed forces have conducted 

joint anti-piracy drills in the Gulf of Aden. 

US Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in Beijing this 

week renewed an invitation for China to 

take part in large US-led multinational 

naval exercises next year, though China has 

not said if it would participate. Exercises on 

humanitarian and disaster relief operations 

are relatively safe ways to build trust 

because they “avoid politically sensitive 

areas,” said retired Rear Admiral Mike 

McDevitt, a senior fellow with the Center 

for Naval Analysis. — AP 

founder Mao Zedong, who wrote that 

Chinese art must serve the party. Liao’s 

visit to Mexico came one month after 

he collected the German Book Trade 

Peace Prize, Germany’s second highest 

award. Liao is also the author of “The 

Corpse Walker,” which records the 

lives of working-class Chinese, including 

a grave robber and a delusional 

peasant who believes he is an emperor. 

His works are banned in China. 

“Journalists are interested in news, the 

new events. In reality, I’m more interested 

in the past, for the things and 

people of the past,” he said in 

Guadalajara, adding that one of his 

favorite subjects is “the people abandoned 

by society.” — AFP 

Weapons stolen 

from Australian 

navy vessel 

SYDNEY: An intruder robbed an Australian 

navy vessel of a cache of weapons yesterday 

after overpowering military personnel 

on guard, the defense department said, in 

an unprecedented security breach. The 

Australian Department of Defense said the 

infiltrator “overwhelmed a duty member 

onboard a patrol boat” which was moored 

at HMAS Coonawarra, a naval base in the 

northern city of Darwin. “The intruder overpowered 

the duty member, accessed the 

vessel’s armory and removed a number of 

weapons,” it said in a statement, without 

specifying what arms were taken. “The person 

then departed the vessel with the 

weapons.” 

Reports said firearms usually found on 

an Armidale-class patrol boat could include 

machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns and 

9mm pistols, as well as ammunition. The 

Australian Broadcasting Corporation said a 

single intruder armed with a gun tied up a 

crewman in the attack, which took place at 

the Larrakeyah Naval Base, which was later 

placed in lock-down. “Police received a 

report just before 1:00 am that a Defense 

member had been assaulted and a cache of 

weapons had been stolen from a navy 

patrol boat moored at the base,” Northern 

Territory police Commander Richard Bryson 

said. “Police have locked down the base 

with all vehicles exiting being searched.” 

Navy chief Vice Admiral Ray Griggs 

ordered an investigation into security on all 

naval ships and bases in the wake of the 

incident, which was also being probed by 

the Australian Federal Police. 

“It’s certainly a breach of security and it’s 

a very concerning one for me,” Griggs told 

Fairfax radio, adding that it was the first 

breach of its type on an Australian navy 

vessel. He said the assaulted crew member 

had his life threatened but was recovering 

well. About 600 naval personnel are based 

in the Darwin region, many working at sea 

in border protection. 

Tropical Darwin is a key defense hub for 

Australia, with rotating United States 

Marines based in barracks outside the city 

since April this year as Washington looks to 

deepen its presence in Asia. — AFP


TOKYO: Shinzo Abe, the front runner 

to become Japan’s next prime minister 

yesterday lashed out at the government 

for what he called a “diplomatic 

defeat” in territorial rows with 

its neighbors. The hawkish Abe, 58, 

blamed a flare-up in a longstanding 

spat with Beijing over an East China 

Sea island chain on Tokyo’s weakkneed 

diplomacy, along with separate 

territorial rows with South Korea 

and Russia. Abe said Prime Minister 

Yoshihiko Noda and his two predecessors 

worsened the fight with 

China over Tokyo-controlled islands 

known as the Senkakus in Japan, also 

claimed by Beijing which calls them 

the Diaoyus. 

“Because of the diplomatic defeat, 

China is challenging (ownership of 

the) Senkakus,” Abe said in a televised 

debate ahead of a December 

16 general election that is widely 

expected to see Noda defeated. “In 

diplomacy, it is important to strongly 

express our determination.” Tokyo 

nationalized some of the Senkakus in 

mid-September, sparking a wave of 

sometimes violent anti-Japanese 

demonstrations across China and a 

consumer boycott of Japan-branded 

exports. Tokyo also has long-standing 

territorial spats with Russia over 

islands to Japan’s north and with 

Seoul over a small archipelago 

between the two countries. 

During the debate yesterday, Abe 

defended Japanese leaders’ visits to 

the controversial Yasukuni Shrine 

that honors 2.5 million war dead, 

including some leading war criminals 

from World War II. The visits fre- 

INTERNATIONAL 

Tokyo suffers ‘diplomatic defeat’ in island rows 

China eases alarm over 

South China Sea plans 

Asia’s biggest potential military trouble spot 

JAKARTA: Southeast Asia’s top diplomat 

warned yesterday of great anxiety 

over China’s plan to board and search 

ships that illegally enter what it considers 

its territory in the disputed South 

China Sea and said it could lead to 

naval clashes and undermine confidence 

in East Asia’s economy. Beijing, 

however, moved to ease international 

alarm over the issue and said it attaches 

“great importance” to freedom of navigation 

in the South China Sea, a day 

after state media said police in its 

southern island province of Hainan will 

carry out the new plan. 

“All countries have freedom of navigation 

in the South China Sea in accordance 

with international law,” Foreign 

Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a 

daily news briefing. New rules to come 

into effect on Jan. 1 will allow police in 

the southern Chinese province of 

Hainan to board and seize control of 

foreign ships which “illegally enter” 

Chinese waters, the official China Daily 

reported on Thursday. 

The report, which was also carried by 

other state media, further ratchets up 

tensions over Southeast Asia’s biggest 

potential military flashpoint, one of the 

world’s busiest shipping lanes where 

several countries claim sovereignty. The 

United States, which has been refocusing 

its military attention on Asia, says it 

has a national interest in freedom of 

navigation in the area. A summit of 

Asian nations this month was overshadowed 

by disagreements between China 

and US ally the Philippines over the dispute, 

and tensions were fanned again 

by China’s move to issue new passports 

containing a map of its maritime claims. 

Surin Pitsuwan, secretary-general of 

the Association of Southeast Asian 

Nations (ASEAN), told Reuters in a telephone 

interview that the Chinese plan 

was an escalation of tensions and a 

“very serious turn of events.” 

“It certainly has increased a level of 

concern and a level of great anxiety 

among all parties, particularly parties 

that would need the access, the passage 

and the freedom to go through,” 

said Surin, who spoke from Thailand. 

Surin, using unusually strong language, 

MAKATI: Protesters shout slogans as they display mock Chinese passports 

during a rally outside the Chinese Consulate at the financial district of 

Makati city, east of Manila, Philippines to denounce recent move by China 

to print a 9-dash line map of China on the new e-passport that includes the 

disputed islands and shoal in the South China Sea. — AP 

said the plan could lead to a major incident 

that would affect confidence in 

East Asia, a major engine of global economic 

growth. 

COMPETING CLAIMS 

Hong, the Chinese spokesman, 

declined to elaborate on the new rules 

and what might constitute illegal entry. 

“All countries have freedom of navigation 

in the South China Sea in accordance 

with international law,” he said. 

China claims virtually the entire South 

China Sea. ASEAN members the 

Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and 

Malaysia claim various parts, and so 

does Taiwan. 

The territorial wrangle is a particular 

challenge to Southeast Asia, exposing 

how deeply its nations have been 

polarized by China’s rapidly expanding 

economic and political influence in the 

region. Tensions over the sea have simmered 

for decades but now it is difficult 

for ASEAN members to unite because 

they have competing claims, said 

Richard Bitzinger, senior fellow at the S 

Rajaratnam School of International 

Studies in Singapore. “The Chinese 

have painted themselves into a corner 

with the South China Sea issue by raising 

it to a fundamental issue of national 

sovereignty on par with Tibet or Taiwan 

that makes compromise difficult,” 

Bitzinger said. 

FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION 

President Benigno Aquino of the 

Philippines said he had asked the country’s 

foreign minister to verify the 

reported plan and that, if confirmed, 

Manila would lodge a diplomatic note 

or formal protest. China’s move would 

be difficult to implement because it 

runs counter to the United Nations 

Convention on the Law of the Sea, 

Aquino said. He also said China had 

made repeated statements that it 

would not block freedom of navigation 

in the area. “We might accelerate and 

bring it before the appropriate international 

tribunal to finally settle the matter 

or at least start the process of settling 

it legally and concretely,” he told 

reporters on the central Philippine 

island of Cebu. —Reuters 

quently rankle officials in China and 

the Korean peninsula who say Tokyo 

has not made amends for its wartime 

aggression. “Leaders of any country 

pay tribute to the spirits of those who 

lost their lives for the sake of their 

countries, so people in other countries 

have no right to complain,” Abe 

said. Abe, who is a former prime minister, 

did not visit the shrine during 

his 2006-2007 term under pressure 

from China. “I felt a heartbreaking 

grief that I could not visit while I was 

in office,” he told the debate. — AFP 

Blind lawyer’s 

nephew jailed 

BEIJING: The nephew of blind Chinese lawyer Chen 

Guangcheng was jailed for more than three years yesterday 

for attacking officials who descended on his village 

after the dissident fled to the US embassy, his father said. 

Chen Guangchen, who was imprisoned after exposing 

abuses under China’s “one child” population control policy, 

caused a diplomatic row when he escaped house arrest 

in his village in Shandong province and reached the US 

mission in Beijing. 

As he was freed to leave for the United States, government 

officials and police descended on his village home, 

prompting his nephew Chen Kegui to attack them with a 

kitchen knife, wounding three people. “He was sentenced 

to three years and three months, this is extremely unfair. 

There is no principle in Chinese law, I feel there is no 

hope,” Chen Guangfu, Chen Kegui’s father said by phone 

from outside the courthouse. 

“From what I understand, Chen Kegui will not appeal 

the sentence. They refused to allow me in to observe the 

trial, so there are a lot of details that I still don’t know 

about.” Chen Kegui appeared thin but in good health at 

the trial, his father said, adding that another relative was 

allowed to observe the proceedings and sent news of the 

verdict to the family. Court officials were not immediately 

available to confirm the verdict and sentence, which came 

after a three and a half hour trial. He had been charged 

with the crime of intentional injury. 

The family has maintained that authorities barged into 

their home in the middle of the night unannounced and 

uninvited, and refused to identify themselves when the 

attack took place. One of China’s best-known activists, 

Chen Guangcheng won plaudits for investigating rights 

abuses including forced sterilizations and late-term abortions 

under China’s “one-child” family planning policy. 

After being released from a four-year jail term in 

September 2010, Chen was put under house arrest in 

Shandong but fled from under the noses of plain-clothes 

police on April 22. He took refuge at the US embassy in 

Beijing less than a week before US Secretary of State Hillary 

Clinton was due to visit China for high-level talks. 

Chinese and American diplomats scrambled to find a 

solution to defuse the row. After initially agreeing to stay 

in China, Chen decided he wanted to leave for the US and 

Beijing eventually agreed to allow him to apply to study 

abroad. Chen Kegui has been in police custody since April 

26, with local officials refusing visits, dismissing lawyers 

hired by the family and appointing government attorneys. 

The court-appointed lawyers informed the family of 

Friday’s trial only hours before it started, making it impossible 

for the lawyers they had hired to reach the courthouse 

in time for the trial, Chen Guangfu said. “The lawyers are a 

part of the same gang (the government), they were useless, 

I don’t know any details of their defense for him (Chen 

Kegui),” he added. 

Jerome Cohen, an expert on Chinese law at New York 

University School of Law who has helped and worked with 

Chen Guangcheng, said in an email: “The ‘trial’ has obviously 

been arranged to eliminate the possibility that any of 

the lawyers retained by the family or the witnesses whom 

they would like to summon can attend. — AFP

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2012


NEW DELHI: Hackers attacked and 

defaced the website of India’s IT minister 

yesterday amid a growing campaign 

against a law governing online 

comments which has been condemned 

by free-speech advocates. An 

amendment to India’s Information 

Technology Act in 2009, which was 

championed by minister Kapil Sibal, 

makes it illegal to make “grossly offensive” 

comments online, a measure 

seen by critics as a draconian limit on 

free speech. 

Two girls were arrested earlier this 

month by police in the commercial 

capital Mumbai over comments on 

Facebook which questioned the shutdown 

of the city for the funeral of local 

hardline politician Bal Thackeray. The 

personal website of Sibal, who has 

promised to review some sections of 

the law, was out of order yesterday 

and the hackers, thought to be from 

the Anonymous India collective, also 

defaced the site. 

The “About” section of the website 

described Sibal as “Born with a below- 

60 IQ he thought he could mess with 

the Internet and let the elite of his party 

suppress freedom of speech,” India’s 

Computer World magazine reported. 

The Twitter account of Anonymous 

India (@opindia_revenge) announced 

that Sibal’s site had been “trolled” by 

hackers who had posted comments 

and edited photos. India’s Supreme 

Court has accepted a petition to examine 

the legality of section 66A of the IT 

Act which makes sending information 

of “grossly offensive or menacing character” 

punishable with up to three 

years in jail. 

Yesterday, India’s top court directed 

the state government in Maharashtra, 

of which Mumbai is the capital, to 

INTERNATIONAL 

Hackers target Indian minister in free-speech fight 

Former India PM 

Gujral dies at 92 

Gujral engineered a thaw in ties with Pakistan 

NEW DELHI: Former Indian prime minister 

Inder Kumar Gujral, who engineered 

a thaw in the icy relationship with arch 

rival Pakistan, died yesterday aged 92, 

officials and colleagues announced. 

Gujral, who served as prime minister in a 

coalition government from April 1997 to 

March 1998, passed away yesterday 

afternoon at Gurgaon’s Medanta 

Medicity hospital, near Delhi, where he 

was admitted 11 days ago with a lung 

infection. Prime Minister Manmohan 

Singh described him as “a man of peace, 

an idealist who lived by his principles 

and an intellectual with the human 

touch” in a tribute on his official Twitter 

account. Gujral was born on December 

4, 1919 in the city of Jhelum, Punjab 

(now part of Pakistan) into a family of 

Congress party workers. 

He began his career in politics as a 

student leader and member of the 

underground Communist Party of India. 

He was arrested in 1942 and jailed for 

his involvement in the anti-colonial Quit 

India movement. Gujral joined the ruling 

Congress party after India won independence 

and rose through the ranks to 

become minister of information and 

broadcasting under prime minister 

Indira Gandhi from 1969-71 and 1972- 

75. The soft-spoken Gujral ran foul of the 

Congress leadership when he refused to 

censor radio bulletins during the state of 

emergency imposed by Gandhi in 1975. 

He then spent five years working as 

India’s ambassador to the Soviet Union 

from 1976 to 1980. Gujral left the 

Congress party in the 1980s and joined 

the socialist Janata Dal, serving twice as 

India’s foreign minister before being 

appointed prime minister in a coalition 

government in 1997. He resigned from 

the post in 1998 after the Congress party 

withdrew its support for the government, 

forcing mid-term elections. He 

effectively retired from politics the following 

year. The urbane politician was 

best known for the so-called Gujral 

Doctrine, an approach to foreign policy 

based on peaceful accommodation, 

arguing that India should treat its neighbors 

with generosity. 

As premier, he attempted to improve 

LAHORE: In this file photo, former Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral 

waves during his visit to the Lahore High Court in Pakistan. Gujral, who transformed 

India’s icy relationship with neighboring Pakistan during his time in 

government, died yesterday, aged 92. — AFP 

India’s strained ties with Pakistan, saying 

it was time for both nations to leave the 

past behind and forge a new relationship. 

Former colleague V Narayanasamy, 

a minister in the prime minister’s office, 

told NDTV news channel, “he was a very 

learned person. I was lucky to have 

worked with him... and will always 

remember him”. Gujral is survived by 

two sons, Naresh and Vishal. His elder 

son Naresh is a member of the Punjabbased 

Shiromani Akali Dal party and was 

elected to the upper house of parliament 

in 2007. Gujral’s brother Satish 

ranks among India’s most prominent 

artists and architects. — AFP 

explain the circumstances under which 

police arrested the two girls over their 

Facebook comments. 

The government has since issued 

guidelines on enforcing the law, but a 

long-standing campaign against it has 

gathered pace and the Supreme Court 

may also strike it down as unconstitutional. 

The arrest of an anti-government 

cartoonist on a sedition charge 

in October also raised concerns about 

the limits on freedom of speech in the 

world’s biggest democracy. Calls by 

AFP to Sibal’s office were not 

answered. — AFP 

In Bangladesh, 

echoes of 1911 

NY Triangle fire 

NEW YORK: Terrified women leaping to their deaths. Locked 

exits trapping workers. Piles of clothing blocking stairwells to 

safety. The fire that raced through a garment factory in 

Bangladesh last week and killed 112 workers bore eerie 

echoes of another blaze more than a century ago: the Triangle 

Shirtwaist factory fire in New York City. While the March 25, 

1911, Triangle fire that killed 146 workers spurred the organized 

labor movement and led to workplace safety improvements, 

experts question whether the same will happen in 

Bangladesh. 

“Profit and efficiency and competition always trump safety 

and health,” said James Gross, a labor relations professor at 

Cornell University. “There’s all this hoopla, and then not a lot 

happens after.” In Bangladesh, officials blamed the high death 

toll in part on the lack of an emergency exit in the eight-story 

building that housed Tazreen Fashions Ltd, a factory that 

made clothing for such US retailers as Wal-Mart, Sears and 

Disney. Likewise, Triangle survivors testified that as the fire 

raced through the top three floors of a 10-story building, a 

crucial door that would have helped many escape was locked. 

Most of the workers at the Tazreen factory were women 

from the poorest region of the South Asian country. Young, 

poor immigrant women, mainly Jews and Italians, dominated 

the workforce at Triangle. 

Stacks of yarn and clothes blocked part of the stairway in 

Bangladesh, and dozens of fire extinguishers in the building 

appeared unused. At Triangle, the stairway was blocked by 

crates of blouses and other goods, and water buckets were 

inadequate to cope with the fire. 

“All around me the others were screaming and hollering,” 

Triangle worker Celia Saltz Pollack recalled later as part of a 

project to interview survivors. “The door was locked and I 

pushed over to the door of the elevator. When the elevator 

stopped on our floor, I was swept into it by the pushing 

crowd.” A state commission convened in response to the 

Triangle fire drafted 20 laws aimed at improving workplace 

safety, including requirements for fire drills, occupancy limits 

in buildings and clearly posted exit signs. “I’m heartsick. It’s 

tragic,” said Suzanne Pred Bass, the great-niece of Katie 

Weiner, who survived the Triangle fire, and of Rose Weiner, 

who did not. “It’s not just reminiscent; it is the same event 

replayed again.” 

Bass said what breaks her heart is the fact that she hasn’t 

seen the same degree of public outrage that followed the 

Triangle fire. “I think we need, in this country, to have a boycott 

of Bangladesh clothing until their factories are safe,” she 

said. “Until their unions are protected.” But unions are scarce 

in developing nations like Bangladesh, where workers have 

few protections, said Ethan Snow, a spokesman for Unite 

Here, a union that represents garment and textile workers in 

the US. “The reason why these major companies have moved 

to these countries is because there are no unions,” Snow said. 

“And because there is no democratic process on the shop 

floor for workers.” 

The fire has drawn attention to a problem that labor 

groups, retailers and governments have known for years: 

Bangladesh’s fast-growing garment industry, second only to 

China’s in exports, is rife with dangerous workplaces. More 

than 300 workers there have died in fires since 2006. The 

country annually earns about $20 billion from exports of garment 

products, mainly to the US and Europe. — AP

Republicans reject ‘ridiculous’ 

Obama fiscal cliff proposal 

Business 


ATHENS: A man walks past a kiosk selling towels printed in the form of high-denomination euro banknotes in central Athens, yesterday. The German Parliament yesterday 

gave its overwhelming backing to a deal aimed at trimming Greece’s debt load and keeping the country financially afloat. The agreement paves the way for Greece to 

receive 44 billion euro (US $57 billion) in critical rescue loans, without which the country would face bankruptcy and a possible exit from the euro. — AP 

Euro-zone joblessness hits record, other data also weak 

PARIS: The euro-zone’s crisis is far from over and 

its members must consolidate their budgets and 

forge a banking union to put the bloc on a more 

stable economic footing, the leaders of the IMF 

and European Central Bank said yesterday. 

Underlining the bloc’s woes, data showed 

both German retail sales and French consumer 

spending falling faster than expected as well as 

stubborn Spanish inflation that will likely lift the 

cost of state pension rises for an already hardpressed 

budget. 

Euro zone wide numbers showed another 

173,000 people joining record jobless queues in 

October, while a dive in consumer price inflation 

offered only limited relief to households struggling 

with the recession. 

Speaking in Paris, where the government is 

trying to dispel concerns raised by the IMF that 

France could be left behind as Italy and Spain 

reform at a faster pace, ECB President Mario 

Draghi said the euro zone’s three-year-old crisis 

was likely to stretch deep into next year. 

“We have not yet emerged from the crisis,” 

Draghi told Europe 1 radio. “The recovery for 

most of the euro-zone will certainly begin in the 

second half of 2013.” “It’s true that budgetary 

consolidation entails a short-term contraction of 

economic activity, but this budgetary consolidation 

is inevitable,” Draghi said, speaking through 

a translator. ECB policymakers hold their regular 

monthly policy meeting next week and are widely 

expected to leave interest rates on hold at a 

record low of 0.75 percent. Economists are divided 

on whether the central bank will cut next year. 

Draghi has stressed the ECB is ready to help 

tackle the crisis by buying potentially unlimited 

17 19 

Japan OKs $10.7bn stimulus, 

20 

aiming to boost growth 

India’s quarterly 

growth slows to 5.3% 

amounts of sovereign debt under its new bondbuy 

plan but until Spain applies for aid, a prerequisite 

for the ECB to intervene, it cannot use the 

tool. Resisting fresh ECB action, Bundesbank chief 

Jens Weidmann said on Thursday central bankers 

had done more than enough to fight the crisis 

and it was now up to governments to act by 

reforming their economies and making the banking 

sector solid. Draghi, in Paris for a conference 

with top financial officials, said euro-zone governments 

should push ahead quickly with implementing 

a banking union which must apply to all 

banks to avoid fragmenting the sector. 

His position puts the ECB, which would take 

on the role of pan-European banking sector, at 

odds with Germany. Berlin has said that unified 

banking supervision under the aegis of the ECB 

should apply only to the bloc’s largest banks. 

Bulb maker Osram 

to cut 4,700 jobs 

ECB, IMF press euro-zone to reform 

16 

Joerg Asmussen, one of the ECB’s key negotiators 

for a closer integration of the euro zone and 

a former deputy German finance minister, said 

late on Thursday a new European banking supervisory 

body would not be ready to operate fully 

before 2014. But International Monetary Fund 

head Christine Lagarde pressed for swift implementation 

of a banking union that would have 

powers to supervise all banks in the euro-zone. 

“Banking union seems to us to be the first 

priority,” Lagarde said during the meeting with 

top financial officials in Paris, adding that closer 

budgetary consolidation should be the next 

priority. The economic situation in the euro 

zone remained fragile and governments should 

maintain a “reasonable” pace of budgetary 

consolidation to avoid crimping growth, she 

added. — Reuters


FRANKFURT: Closer ties with Turkish 

Airlines could keep Lufthansa in the 

race for long-haul flights to Asia and 

stem the flow of business to Gulf carriers. 

A combination of the German airline, 

Europe’s biggest by revenues, 

and the world’s fastest growing carrier 

would create a group with about 600 

aircraft, more than the three big Gulf 

carriers’ combined fleet of 500 planes. 

Westbound traffic is in decline, 

making eastward growth crucial. 

Turkish Airlines’ Istanbul hub straddles 

Europe and Asia and is hours 

closer to Europe than Gulf airports. 

While Lufthansa has not confirmed 

any plans for strategic negotiations, 

Turkish Airlines Chairman Hamdi 

Topcu told broadcaster NTV this 

month that talks on tie-up expansion 

with Lufthansa would begin in 

December. “Lufthansa is really constrained 

now in terms of looking for 

strategic partners. It’s running out of 

options. Turkish Airlines is still the best 

option at the moment, and probably 

its last,” Cheuvreux analyst Peter 

Oppitzhauser told Reuters. 

Lufthansa, whose passenger business 

is forecast to post an operating 

loss this year, is slashing costs and cutting 

jobs to cope with high fuel prices 

and stiff competition. 

Middle Eastern carriers are building 

alliances and investing in new routes 

and new aircraft to divert a thriving 

traffic flow between Europe and Asia 

to their hubs and lure passengers with 

lower prices as well as better food and 

inflight service. Airlines will add 19 

percent capacity on routes between 

Europe and the United Arab Emirates 

(UAE) in the first quarter of 2013, partly 

so passengers can switch planes 

there, according to UBS which forecasts 

12 percent growth on direct 

Europe-China services. Capacity 

between Europe and the United 

States is expected to shrink. European 

airlines, meanwhile, are cutting costs 

and shelving growth plans, hit by high 

fuel costs and weak markets. 

Lufthansa said Gulf airlines are aggressively 

expanding, by offering more 

seats to Europe and taking stakes in 

other carriers. “It is a question of time 

before Europe’s connections to other 

regions will be conducted only via the 

Gulf states,” it said on its website. 

Lufthansa, the only major European 

airline that does not have a Gulf partner, 

says the three big Gulf carriers 

enjoy competitive advantages 

through public subsidies and preferential 

fuel prices not available to US 

and European firms. 

The Gulf carriers say this is not the 

case. Emirates, the biggest Gulf carrier 

in terms of fleet and number of 

routes, agreed in September to form 

an alliance with Qantas, with the 

Australian carrier replacing Singapore 

with Dubai as its hub for European 

flights from 2013. 

Qatar Airways, the state-owned 

carrier vying with Etihad as the second 

biggest in Middle East, said in 

October it would join the oneworld 

business 

Lufthansa could stay in long-haul race with Turkish Airlines link 

REGENSBURG: Picture taken on April 4, 2008 shows the lettering of German light bulb maker Osram in front of the 

company’s grounds in Regensburg, southern Germany. Osram, which is soon to be spun off by its parent, engineering 

giant Siemens, said yesterday it is planning to cut costs by 1.0 billion euros ($1.3 billion) by 2015. — AFP 

Bulb maker Osram 

to cut 4,700 jobs 

FRANKFURT: German light bulb maker 

Osram, which is soon to be spun off 

by its parent, engineering giant 

Siemens, said yesterday it is planning 

to cut costs by 1.0 billion euros ($1.3 

billion) by 2015. 

As part of the cost-cutting programme, 

the group will sell factories, 

which will reduce the 39,000-strong 

workforce by about 4,700 jobs, Osram 

said in a statement. 

Due to fundamental changes in the 

lighting sector, Osram had already 

announced in January 2012 that it 

would adjust its capacities and its 

workforce “both nationally and internationally 

by the end of fiscal 2014,” 

the statement said. 

As part of those measures, some 

1,900 jobs have already been axed 

worldwide this year, including 300 in 

Smaller plants face closure 

Germany. Plants producing products 

at the end of their product life cycle or 

smaller plants with lower sales would 

face closure, the company explained. 

Osram is grappling with a shift in 

the industry from traditional light 

bulbs to light-emitting diodes (LED), a 

technology where Asian rivals have 

built up capacity and driven down 

prices. Osram said it was building up 

capacities “in future-oriented business 

areas” and created 200 jobs here in 

Germany alone last year. 

It plans to invest “a low three-digit 

million euro figure over the coming 

years in its LED assembly plant in the 

Chinese province of Jiangsu,” Osram 

said. “In the final completion stage, 

1,700 employees will manufacture 

products for key segments of the 

Chinese market and entire Asian 

region. The region will already 

account for around half of the global 

general lighting market in five years’ 

time,” the statement said. 

Osram quoted a study on the lighting 

sector by McKinsey which estimated 

the total market to grow by roughly 

5.0 percent per year between 2011 

and 2016 and the market volume for 

LED is expected to rise to 37 billion 

euros by 2016 from nine billion euros 

last year. Over the same period, the 

market volume of traditional products 

would decrease by 15 percent, 

McKinsey estimated. On Wednesday, 

parent company Siemens said it 

would spin off 80.5 percent of its 

lighting unit Osram with a view to 

proceeding with the long-planned 

stock market listing of the subsidiary 

later. — AFP 

alliance, which includes British 

Airways, while Air France-KLM, Etihad 

and Lufthansa’s German rival Air 

Berlin agreed on flight code sharing. 

“While nothing is decided or formally 

announced, a combination of 

Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines would 

make the Qatar-oneworld deal and 

the Etihad-Air France-KLM-Air Berlin 

code share agreement look relatively 

like child’s play,” market research 

group Centre for Aviation (CAPA) said. 

Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines together 

could offer more flights and invest 

in newer and more fuel efficient aircraft, 

as well as have pricing power 

over their rivals. “Obviously there 

won’t be an equity tie-up in the near 

future but (the Turkish state) will have 

to think of something because 

(Turkish Airlines) will be privatised,” 

analyst Alper Paksoy of BNP joint venture 

unit TEB Investment said. Turkey’s 

government appointed a banking 

consortium to advise it on the airline 

privatisation last year. — Reuters 

World stocks edge up as 

US budget talks continue 

BANGKOK: World stock markets eked out only marginal 

gains yesterday as an immediate agreement among US 

leaders to resolve a critical budget deadlock appeared 

unlikely. Britain’s FTSE 100 was marginally higher at 5,871.62 

Germany’s DAX rose 0.1 percent to 7,411.37. France’s CAC- 

40 gained 0.1 percent to 3,572.42. 

Wall Street appeared headed toward a flat open, with 

Dow Jones industrial futures rising less than 0.1 percent to 

13,025. S&P 500 futures were nearly unchanged at 1,415.80. 

Asian stock markets were boosted earlier by signs of 

improvement in the world’s No. 1 economy. The US 

Commerce Department raised its estimate of third-quarter 

growth to an annual rate of 2.7 percent - much better than 

the 2 percent rate estimated a month ago. 

Additionally, the number of Americans applying for 

unemployment benefits dropped by 23,000 to 393,000 last 

week, the Labor Department said. The figures were in line 

with expectations. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.5 percent 

to 22,030.39 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.6 

percent to 4,506. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.1 percent to 

1,932.90. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore, mainland China 

and New Zealand also rose. Indonesia fell. 

The US government figures come on top of recent China 

manufacturing data that shows its economic recovery is 

gaining momentum and renewed confidence in Europe’s 

ability to tackle a debt crisis in Greece. 

Lorraine Tan, director at Standard & Poor’s equity 

research in Singapore, said stocks have been on the 

upswing thanks to big-picture data pointing toward a less 

risky global economic environment for next year. 

“Asian markets are relatively attractive. Equity markets in 

general are relatively attractive. I think some money is coming 

back on expectations that growth is going to be not as 

bad as anticipated despite the fiscal cliff,” she said. 

“The outlook is still for very sluggish growth into next 

year,” Tan said. “But the perception is that the risk of a deeper 

slowdown has come off a bit.” Meanwhile, the release of 

an 880.3 billion yen ($10.7 billion) stimulus package by the 

Japanese government helped boost the Nikkei 225 index in 

Tokyo. The benchmark rose 0.5 percent to close at 9,446.01. 

Investors also have been tracking the talks between the 

White House and Congress over the “fiscal cliff,” a reference 

to sharp government spending cuts and tax increases 

scheduled to start Jan. 1 unless a deal is reached to cut the 

budget deficit. Economists have been warning that failure 

to resolve the issue will hurt the US economy, the world’s 

largest. Analysts said the focus of attention will likely remain 

on the U.S. in coming weeks, especially now that countries 

that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund have 

agreed to carry on funding nearly bankrupt Greece. — AP


NEW YORK: Before purchasing a shirt, 

shoppers will run their hands over the 

fabric, look at the price tag and wonder 

how it will hold up in the washing 

machine. Some might even ask if it 

makes them look fat. 

The one detail, however, that is 

rarely considered: What are the conditions 

like for the workers making the 

shirt? A horrific fire that raced through a 

Bangladesh garment factory Saturday, 

killing 112 people, has put the spotlight 

- at least temporarily - back on those 

workers and their sometimes treacherous 

work environment. The factory, 

owned by Tazreen Fashions Ltd., made 

clothing for several retailers around the 

globe including Wal-Mart, Sears and 

The Walt Disney Co. All three compa- 

nies have distanced themselves from 

responsibility for the incident, saying 

they didn’t know that their subcontractors 

were using the factory. 

Holiday shoppers have also maintained 

their distance from the tragedy. 

“Truthfully, I hadn’t even thought about 

it,” said Megan Miller of Philadelphia as 

she walked out of the Disney Store in 

Times Square. 

“I had Christmas on my mind and 

getting my kids something from New 

York.” Shoppers from Cincinnati to Paris 

to Singapore all said the same thing: 

They were aware of the fatal factory fire, 

but they weren’t thinking about it while 

browsing stores in the days since. 

Brand name, fit and - above all - prices 

were on their minds. 

“Either our pockets get lighter or we 

have to live with more blood on our 

hands,” said Amy Hong, a college student 

who was at a store in Singapore. “I 

try not to think about it.” 

Experts who survey shoppers say 

the out of sight, out of mind attitude is 

nothing new. “When you talk to them 

about their biggest concerns, where 

something is made, or the abuses in 

some country, almost never show up,” 

said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of 

America’s Research Group, which interviews 

10,000 to 15,000 consumers a 

week, mostly on behalf of retailers. 

“The numbers are so small, I quit asking 

the question.” 

Convenience is much more important 

to shoppers. Take Tammy Johnson 

business 

Shoppers’ habits not changed by garment plant fire 

ROSSLYN: Rose Wang, owner of Binary Group, works in 

her office in Rosslyn, Vrginia Small businesses with 50 

workers or more will be required to provide health insurance 

Jan. 1, 2014. Wang, who has about 70 employees, 

will instead have to decide whether she’ll cover them, or 

pay a penalty for not providing insurance. — AP 

UPS modifies TNT Express 

bid to get EU approval 

THE HAGUE: US delivery giant United Parcel Service (UPS) 

said yesterday it had amended its multi-billion-euro bid for 

Dutch firm TNT Express to meet EU conditions and close the 

deal by next year. It added however that the revised bid 

“does not change the terms and conditions of the offer by 

UPS for TNT Express.” A statement said: “UPS and TNT 

announce that in line with Dutch disclosure requirements, 

remedies have been submitted to obtain competition clearance 

from the European Commission for the acquisition.” 

It added: “The proposed remedies aim to address the EC’s 

concerns regarding the competitive effects of the intended 

merger on the international express small package market 

in Europe.” In June, UPS launched a 5.16-billion-euro ($6.71 

billion) takeover bid for TNT Express, but European 

Commission competition authorities announced a month 

later they would investigate how the deal could affect the 

European market. At the time, the EC said it was worried 

that the proposed merger would reduce the number of socalled 

integrators from four to three and lead to a highly 

concentrated market for domestic and international express 

delivery services. UPS and TNT Express are major players in 

the sector for delivery of small packages and are two of four 

firms with a comprehensive air and road delivery network 

on the continent. Others present in Europe are DHL, owned 

by Deutsche Post, and FedEx, a US-based company. 

The deal is expected to put UPS ahead of its two competitors 

as it would strengthen its position in Europe and 

globally. UPS and TNT Express said on Friday that the proposed 

adjustments “comprised the sale of business activities 

and assets in combination with granting access to air capabilities” 

but declined to give further details. “UPS and TNT 

Express continue to be fully committed to the merger and 

are working closely with the EC to gain competitive clearance 

allowing the completion of the transaction in early 

2013,” it said. — AFP 

WASHINGTON: Republicans rejected as 

“ridiculous” a White House plan to raise 

$1.6 trillion in new taxes over the next 

decade, as crunch talks on the US deficit 

took a turn for the worse. A congressional 

Republican aide familiar with the White 

House proposal-presented by Treasury 

Secretary Timothy Geithner in talks with 

House Speaker John Boehner-said the 

offer was a rehash of President Barack 

Obama’s budget request. 

“The White House keeps saying it 

wants a ‘balanced approach’ but this 

offer is completely unbalanced and unrealistic,” 

the aide said, as talks stalled on 

how to avert looming tax hikes and automatic 

federal spending cuts. “It calls for 

$1.6 trillion in tax hikes-all of that upfrontin 

exchange for only $400 billion in 

spending cuts that come later,” he 

added. Boehner himself made no comment 

on the specifics, but told reporters 

he was “disappointed” with the offer. 

“Going over the fiscal cliff is serious 

business,” said Boehner. “I’m here seriously 

trying to resolve it. And I would 

hope the White House would get serious 

as well,” he said, adding that “no substantive 

progress has been made” since 

negotiations began more than two 

weeks ago. The $1.6 trillion is nearly double 

what would be raised if tax breaks for 

the wealthiest two percent of Americans 

were to expire, which means the White 

House is seeking hundreds of billions of 

dollars in additional revenues over the 

next 10 years. 

It is also double the amount the White 

House hoped to raise in tax revenue 

through a “grand bargain” that fell 

through in July of 2011, when Democrats 

and Republicans clashed over raising the 

US debt ceiling. The White House and the 

Republicans must reach an agreement by 

the end of the year that lowers the ballooning 

US deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 

years, as mandated in a poison pill deal 

agreed last year. 

If they don’t, tax cuts in place since the 

presidency of George W Bush will expire 

and $500 billion in across-the-board 

spending cuts would kick in-a double 

whammy that could knock the US economy 

back into recession. 

The White House estimates most 

American households would be hit with 

$2,200 in additional taxes. “While $1.6 trillion 

is the White House’s public position, 

it is ridiculous to offer that amount two 

weeks after negotiations began-and less 

than a month before we must have a 

solution,” the Republican aide said. There 

is broad agreement that Bush-era tax 

cuts should remain for everyone making 

less than $250,000 per year, but while 

Obama’s Democrats want the cuts to 

expire for the wealthiest two percent, 

Republicans are opposed. 

Republicans have also demanded 

action on reform of entitlement programs 

such as Social Security, the national 

pension program for the elderly. The 

White House proposal also features new 

stimulus spending and a permanent end 

to congressional control over federal borrowing 

limits-the issue at the heart of last 

year’s spending fight. 

who was at a Walmart in Bloomington, 

Minn. this week. She lives nearby and 

appreciates that the store has a large 

grocery section in addition to clothing 

and other goods. 

“It’s easier and it’s cheaper,” she said 

of her decision to shop there. “I hate 

that, but it is true.” Even those who 

want to make socially responsible purchases 

a priority have little information 

available to work with. 

There’s no widespread system in 

place to say where all the materials in a 

shirt come from let alone whether it 

was made in a sweatshop or not. A 

label saying “Made in USA of imported 

fabrics” doesn’t provide as much information 

to shoppers as they might 

think. — AP 

Republicans reject ‘ridiculous’ 

Obama fiscal cliff proposal 

Calls for $1.6 trillion in tax hikes 

Boehner complained of a lack of 

progress, but Senate Majority Leader 

Harry Reid, who met separately with 

Geithner, shot back that Democrats have 

seen no “serious offer” from Republicans, 

who are divided over whether to agree 

quickly on keeping rates low for middleincome 

families. 

Democrats pushed through legislation 

in the Senate that would let the top 

tax rate rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent 

while keeping middle-class rates 

unchanged, and have urged the 

Republican-controlled House to pass the 

bill. Boehner has refused to bring it to the 

floor, despite some calls for the bill from 

within his party. 

Congressman Tom Cole made waves 

when he broke ranks recently to urge fellow 

Republicans to extend the middleclass 

tax cuts now, and thrash out a deal 

on top earners next year. Both sides have 

spoken of their desire for a long-term 

agreement that would tackle the chronic 

national deficits and debt, but they were 

still far apart on Thursday. — AFP 

NEW YORK: In this Nov 15, 2012 file photo, traders work on the floor of the 

New York Stock Exchange. Uncertainty over whether US leaders can 

resolve a critical budget deadlock and figures showing the eurozone’s 

unemployment rate at a record high capped any gains to be made in the 

markets yesterday. — AP


NEW YORK: A powerful international 

bank lobby warned Thursday that the 

outcome of Greece’s looming debt 

buyback program remains uncertain 

and warned that it must be “purely voluntary.” 

The Institute of International 

Finance’s Market Monitoring Group 

welcomed a third EU-IMF aid program 

agreed on November 27 as important 

to cutting Greece’s debt and helping it 

avoid default. 

But the IIF body that “uncertainty 

remains” surrounding the plan, especially 

regarding Athens’s planned buyback 

of debt, a linchpin of the deal that 

will reduce its interest burden and free 

up new funds from its lenders. 

“A voluntary debt buyback is 

assumed by the Euro Area to be instrumental 

to reducing Greece’s debt-to- 

GDP ratio, allowing program disbursement,” 

it said in a statement following 

New York meetings. “However, it is 

critical that any buyback be conducted 

on a purely voluntary basis.” The IIF, 

which led the talks between privatesector 

creditors and Greece which 

resulted in banks taking a deep writeoff 

earlier this year, made clear its 

members did not want to be forced 

into taking more losses on the Greek 

bonds they hold. It hailed important 

parts of Tuesday’s deal, including the 

reduction in bilateral lending rates, the 

extension of maturity on rescue loans, 

and the turning over of European 

Central Bank and eurozone central 

banks’ profits on their Greek bonds to 

the Greek government. 

But the debt buyback is a cornerstone 

of the agreement reached by the 

International Monetary Fund, the 

European Commission and the 

European Central Bank, which pledged 

the release over the next four months 

of 43.7 billion euros ($56.7 billion) in 

new rescue aid to Greece. 

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said 

Thursday that the Fund’s support of 

the new program is contingent on the 

success of the buyback program. 

Athens said it expected to launch the 

buyback next week and complete it by 

December 13, though if the operation 

fails, Athens said it had an alternative 

plan. But the IIF raised doubts over 

whether the buyback would achieve 

its goals, and said the focus should be 

on restoring growth to the depressed 

Greek economy. 

“At present, the outcome of the 

buyback-and the final decision on the 

next disbursement-remains uncertain,” 

the IIF said. “In any event it is increasingly 

clear that meaningful progress 

towards debt sustainability can only be 

BUSINESS 

IIF says Greek debt buyback must be ‘voluntary’ 

Ships divert as port strike 

blocks US trade gateway 

LOS ANGELES: Container ships have begun diverting to other 

ports in California and Mexico as a strike continues to disrupt 

docking facilities in Los Angeles, a key gateway for trade with 

Asia, an official said. 

As a trade group urged President Barack Obama to intervene, 

Port of Los Angeles head Geraldine Knatz also warned 

that the three-day-old strike could damage the US economy 

and harm the reputation of the key shipping hub. 

“This dispute has impacted not only our port workforce but 

all stakeholders who ship goods through our complex and 

potentially the hundreds of thousands of jobs that are directly 

and indirectly related to port operations,” she said. 

“In today’s shipping environment, we can’t afford to lose 

cargo or our competitive advantage,” she added Thursday, 

saying ships were diverting notably to Oakland, up the coast 

near San Francisco, and to Mexico to the south. The action by 

clerical staff started at a terminal in the port of Los Angeles on 

Tuesday but spread to six other terminals and the nearby port 

of Long Beach on Wednesday. No progress was reported in 

negotiations Thursday. 

The two ports deal in $1 billion of cargo per day on average, 

a huge proportion of it shipments to and from Pacific 

nations. The striking workers claim that the Harbor Employers 

Association wants to outsource jobs, but employers’ 

spokesman Stephen Berry said the strike was over “demands 

that we hire people they don’t need.” He added that clerks get 

eleven weeks holiday per year and have an absenteeism rate 

of 29 percent. Meanwhile, the National Retail Federation (NRF) 

called for the White House to help unblock the negotiations. 

“A prolonged strike at the nation’s largest ports would 

have a devastating impact on the US economy,” NRF head 

Matthew Shay wrote in a letter to Obama. 

“We call upon you to use all means necessary to get the two 

sides back to the negotiating table.” The port in Los Angeles 

and the one in neighboring Long Beach constitute the seventh 

busiest commercial harbor in the world, handling more than 

40 percent of ocean-shipped US imports from Asia. — AFP 

LISBON: Dockworkers hold a sign outside the Portuguese 

parliament in Lisbon, during a protest by several 

European dockworkers’ unions. In the parliament lawmakers 

were debating a new law that the workers’ claim 

will lead to the loss of jobs. — AP 

PARIS: The French government and 

steelmaker ArcelorMittal are aiming to 

clinch a deal to save jobs and avoid a 

temporary nationalisation of its Florange 

steelworks, government sources said yesterday 

as a midnight deadline neared. 

ArcelorMittal says the site’s two furnaces 

are not viable but Socialist 

President Francois Hollande wants them 

kept open and has threatened a controversial 

state takeover for the site in northeastern 

France if no private buyer is 

found. 

The two furnaces together employ 

600 workers with the entire site providing 

work for 2,700. Sources close to 

Hollande said talks could stretch beyond 

the deadline set for an accord by 

ArcelorMittal, but no comment was available 

from the company. 

“My aim is to find a long-term solution 

in terms of both jobs and activities for the 

Florange site,” Hollande told reporters on 

a trip just outside Paris late on Thursday, 

declining to give details of how a compromise 

could emerge. 

A deal this weekend could bring concessions 

from both parties, including 

promises from ArcelorMittal to offer new 

jobs to all workers affected by a shutdown 

of the furnaces and large new 

investments in France, Les Echos business 

daily reported. 

The compromise could save face for 

Hollande’s government, which is struggling 

to stem a glut of industrial layoffs 

and has faced criticism this week from 

business leaders over its threat to nationalise 

Florange. 

Alternatively the state could carry out 

plans to acquire the whole site with a private 

co-investor and seek to revamp the 

idled furnaces using European Union 

credits to produce environmentally 

friendly steel, Les Echos added. 

Industry Minister Arnaud 

Montebourg, who shocked foreign 

investors this week by saying Arcelor’s 

Indian CEO Lakshmi Mittal was not welcome 

in France, has said an unnamed 

industrialist was ready to inject 400 million 

euros into the site. 

achieved with a return to economic 

growth.” The group criticized the 

lenders’ policy approach toward 

Greece and the weak economies of the 

eurozone. “The emphasis on aggressive 

short-term fiscal contraction in the 

Euro Area does not fully address the 

fundamental challenge.” 

In Greece’s case, the group argued 

for more emphasis on privatization 

and tax reform, an acceleration of 

eurozone investment funds, and more 

concessions by official creditors like 

interest rate cuts, including from the 

International Monetary Fund. Such 

movers are “urgently needed to restore 

economic growth.” Ratings firm 

Moody’s echoed the IIF’s worry 

Thursday, saying it was uncertain 

whether there would be sufficient private-sector 

participation “to contribute 

to a meaningful debt reduction.” — AFP 

HAYANGE-FLORANGE: In this photo taken Aug, 6, 2012, a general view of the Arcelor Mittal Factory in Hayange-Florange, 

eastern France is seen. Industrial Recovery Minister Arnaud Montebourg drew praise on the political left after accusing 

the company of lying to the government amid its plan to shutter a blast furnace in the northeast town of Florange. —AP 

ArcelorMittal, France 

target steelworks deal 

Foreign investors seen unnerved by Montebourg rhetoric 

Edouard Martin, head of the CFDT 

trade union’s Florange chapter, said he 

hoped a new owner would come forward. 

“In the long term, I don’t think having 

Mittal in charge is an ideal scenario,” 

he told LCI television in front of French 

parliament, where metal workers are 

protesting. 

French officials have defended a temporary 

nationalisation of Florange, saying 

it is a special case because ArcelorMittal 

has broken its promises to keep the furnaces 

running. 

But ArcelorMittal denies breaking 

commitments. Sources close to the 

group say Arcelor planned in 2003 - 

before its 2006 takeover by Mittal - to 

wind down inland blast furnaces in 

Europe, including the two in Florange, by 

2010. They argue that overcapacity in 

Europe’s steel market, with demand 28 

percent below peak 2007 levels, has 

made Florange’s furnaces unviable and 

that a buyer would have to absorb deep 

losses to take them on, even with the rest 

of the site. — Reuters


RALEIGH: Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers will step down as 

head of the largest US electric utility by the end of 2013 as 

part of a settlement with the North Carolina utilities regulator 

that ends an investigation into the company’s takeover 

of in-state rival Progress Energy. 

The North Carolina Utilities Commission and Duke 

Energy said Thursday the deal concludes the regulator’s 

probe into whether the company misled the commission 

ahead of the merger approval. The commission had the 

power to reverse or alter its approval. 

Hours after the merger was completed July 2, Duke 

Energy’s board ousted Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson, 

who was supposed to take over the combined company. It 

had promised to keep him in place throughout the 18month 

process of merging the two Fortune 500 energy 

companies headquartered in North Carolina. The deal created 

the nation’s largest electric company. 

The state regulator and Attorney General Roy 

Cooper launched investigations that demanded several 

internal Duke documents and communications. The 

commission hired a former federal prosecutor to probe 

whether Duke Energy executives and board members 

were telling regulators that Johnson would head the 

combined company while secretly arranging to dump 

him. A Cooper spokeswoman said the attorney general’s 

investigation will continue. Johnson was hired earlier 

this month as chief executive of the Tennessee Valley 

Authority, the nation’s largest public utility. “This settlement 

agreement is an important step forward for the 

company because it resolves one of our key near-term 

BUSINESS 

Duke Energy CEO to leave in NC merger settlement 

LAHORE: A labourer dyes bangles at his shop in Lahore yesterday. 

The International Monetary Fund urged Pakistan to reduce 

its large budget deficit to bolster the struggling economy’s 

resiliency. — AFP 

Commodities rise 

on budget talks 

NEW YORK: Most commodity prices rose as back-and-forth 

negotiations continued over the US budget. Gold, industrial metals, 

oil and soybeans ended higher on the day. Natural gas, wheat 

and corn fell. Investors hope the Obama administration and 

Congress can agree on a new budget by the end of the year, preventing 

automatic cuts to government spending and steep tax 

increases from going into effect. 

Commodity prices have been uneven this week as investors 

have made trades based on the day’s headlines about how the 

talks are progressing. Economists believe the lack of a budget 

agreement could push the US back into a recession, which would 

cut demand for commodities such as industrial metals, oil and 

other energy products. 

“This is a continuing seesaw of investor sentiment going into 

the final weeks of these fiscal cliff negotiations. Today, you have 

people feeling better again about the fiscal cliff and the economy 

going forward,” Kingsview Financial analyst Matt Zeman said. 

“Now, again, how long this will last, who knows?” 

Commodities also benefited from positive news about the US 

economy. The Commerce Department said the economy grew at 

a faster rate than initially thought during the second quarter. 

Separately, the National Association of Realtors said an index 

measuring pending contracts to buy homes jumped last month. 

Steady job gains and record-low mortgage rates have made 

home buying more attractive for Americans. 

Gold for February delivery rose $10.70 to end at $1,729.50 per 

ounce. In March contracts, silver rose 66.1 cents, or 2 percent, to 

$34.431 per ounce, copper gained 6.8 cents to $3.6055 per 

pound and palladium ended up $12.25 at $687.45 per ounce. 

January platinum gained $7.80 to $1,619.50 an ounce. 

Other commodities were mostly higher. Benchmark oil rose 

$1.58, or 1.8 percent, to finish at $88.07 per barrel. Heating oil 

gained 3.26 cents to $3.0406 per gallon and wholesale gasoline 

rose 5.31 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $2.787 per gallon. 

Natural gas fell sharply after the Energy Department said natural 

gas supplies rose last week. The inventory level is 5.2 percent 

above the five-year average. Natural gas fell 15.3 cents, or 4 percent, 

to end at $3.648 per 1,000 cubic feet. — AP 

NEW DELHI: India’s economic growth eased to 5.3 percent in the 

July-September quarter, extending a slowdown since the start of 

the year, data showed yesterday, but analysts said a “modest recovery” 

was looming. While the growth rate for the quarter to 

September was in line with most market expectations, it was weaker 

than the 5.5 percent growth in the April-to-June quarter and well 

down from 6.7 percent expansion a year ago. 

But analysts saw a silver lining in falling global oil prices, growing 

domestic demand as incomes rise and a recent burst of reforms by 

the government opening up sectors such as retail and aviation to 

more foreign investment. 

“The conditions for a modest economic recovery are now in 

place,” said Credit Suisse Robert Prior-Wandesforde, citing expectations 

of easing interest rates and the government’s recent reform 

blitz to liberalise the economy. The once-booming Indian economy 

has slowed sharply this year due to high interest rates, Europe’s 

debt crisis and sluggish investment caused by domestic and overseas 

concerns about policy-making and corruption. Manufacturing 

performed badly during the last quarter, growing by a scant 0.8 percent 

from a year earlier. Services such as hotels and transport grew 

5.5 percent while finance and property activities jumped by 9.4 percent. 

C. Rangarajan, head of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s economic 

advisory council, expressed confidence that growth “in the 

second half (of the fiscal year) should be better”. 

“The overall growth rate for the economy could be between 5.5 

and 6.0 percent for the full year,” to March 2013, he told CNBC TV- 

18 news. Goldman Sachs economist Tushar Poddar also saw “an 

improving outlook” and this week upgraded Indian shares in 

expectation of a pick-up in growth and easing inflation that would 

priorities: bringing closure” to the commission’s review, 

Rogers said in a statement. His retirement will take 

effect by Dec. 31, 2013. 

Duke Energy now has 7.1 million residential and business 

customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, 

Kentucky, Indiana and Florida. It did not name a replacement 

CEO immediately. Duke Energy also required the 

regulator’s approval to raise electricity rates for its 1.9 million 

North Carolina customers, a request the Charlottebased 

company plans to file as early as February. 

Rogers became president and CEO of Duke Energy 

after its 2006 merger with Cincinnati, Ohio-based Cinergy, 

which he had headed for 11 years. Rogers had planned to 

retire as Duke’s CEO at the end of this year before the 

shakeup with Johnson.—AP 

India’s quarterly 

growth slows to 5.3% 

Sensex stock index up 11.15% 

give the central bank more room to cut rates. While HSBC economist 

Leif Eskesen agreed that a pick-up was in sight, he added “we 

are most likely talking about a ‘bathtub shaped’ recovery...” with 

growth flattening out before rising again. India’s benchmark 30share 

Sensex stock index has risen 11.15 percent from September 

to November, led by optimism over reforms and overseas fund 

inflows. Yesterday, it climbed almost 1.0 percent to 19,321.55 

points-its highest since April 2011. India’s growth numbers come as 

economists say the slowdown in neighbouring China may also be 

bottoming out. 

China reported last month third-quarter growth of 7.4 percent, 

its weakest performance since the global financial crisis, but other 

data suggested recovery may around the corner. 

However, despite the optimism about India’s recovery 

prospects, some analysts sounded a note of caution. Jyoti 

Narasimhan, economist at IHS Global Insight research group, said 

India’s reform needs may be “greater than its political system’s 

capacity to deliver at the moment”, referring to political turmoil 

that has gripped parliament. “Policy implementation uncertainty 

remains a key risk,” she said. 

The government is also unable to stimulate the economy with 

public spending and is under pressure to cut a widening budget 

deficit and avert a downgrade of its sovereign debt to “junk” status 

by global credit ratings agencies. While 5.3 percent growth would 

be the envy of much of the world, it’s not enough for India, which 

needs close to double-digit expansion as it seeks to reduce crushing 

poverty. “For us, eight percent growth is not an aspiration but a 

necessity. India cannot afford to grow below eight percent,” 

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said last weekend. — AFP 

NEW DELHI: Global Brand Manager Land Rover, Scott Dickens (left), Director Studio Design Phil Simmons (center) and Vice- 

President Jaguar and Land Rover India, Rohit Suripose with the newly unveiled Range Rover car in New Delhi yesterday. India 

has been one of the world’s fastest-growing car markets in recent years. — AFP


NEW DELHI: Bharti Infratel, the telecom 

tower arm of India’s leading 

mobile phone company Bharti Airtel, 

announced plans yesterday to raise up 

to $845 million in what would be the 

country’s biggest initial public offer in 

two years. The initial public offer (IPO) 

would serve as an important gauge of 

foreign and domestic investors’ 

appetite for new stock issues, and will 

mark the Bharti group’s return to the 

capital market after a gap of a decade. 

The offer will run from December 10 

to 14, the company said. Bharti Infratel 

has over 34,000 transmission towers 

across 18 states covering 11 telecom 

circles and also holds a 42 percent 

stake in Indus Towers — the world’s 

biggest tower firm — which has 

around 110,000 towers. 

The offering will be the biggest public 

issue since state-run Coal India 

raised $3.4 billion in an IPO in late 2010. 

Since then, India’s IPO market has virtually 

dried up as India’s economy has 

slowed with more than 50 firms pulling 

their proposed initial offers since early 

2011. But in recent months India’s 

benchmark 30-share Sensex stock 

index has surged, led by optimism over 

a blitz of government economic 

reforms and overseas fund inflows. The 

Sensex has risen 11.15 percent from 

September to November. 

Bharti Infratel would retain a little 

over three-quarters of the issue proceeds 

while a quarter will be distributed 

among private equity firms 

including Temasek, The Investment 

Corp of Dubai and Goldman Sachs, 

according to documents. After the IPO, 

Bharti Airtel’s stake in Bharti Infratel 

BUSINESS 

India’s Bharti Infratel plans $845 million IPO 

BEIJING: World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim (2nd 

right) answers a question during a press conference in 

Beijing yesterday. The World Bank is to launch a joint 

study with Beijing on urbanisation in China, one of the 

great human migrations of modern times, it said yester- 

Japan OKs $10.7bn 

stimulus, aiming 

to boost growth 

TOKYO: Japan unleashed yet another barrage of stimulus at 

its stagnant economy yesterday as debate over how to revive 

growth heated up ahead of a general election widely expected 

to deal a severe blow to the ruling Democratic Party. 

Fresh data for October showed an uptick in industrial output 

from the month before, the first increase in four months, 

but little else in the way of encouragement. The opposition 

Liberal Democratic Party, which is pushing for more aggressive 

action to spur growth, is widely expected to make major 

gains in a Dec. 16 general election. 

The latest stimulus package approved by the Japanese 

Cabinet, totaling 880.3 billion yen ($10.7 billion), is earmarked 

mainly for spending on social programs, employment creation 

and support for small and medium-size enterprises. It is 

expected to add 0.2 percent to Japan’s economic growth rate 

and to help create about 80,000 jobs, the Cabinet said. 

The total size is not enough to really boost GDP, especially 

for early next year,” said Junko Nishioka, an economist at RBS 

Japan Securities. “It is not enough to change the mood of 

business activity.” The economy shrank an annualized 3.5 

percent in July-September, and many economists say they 

expect a further contraction in the current quarter, which 

would land Japan in its fifth recession in 15 years. 

LDP leader Shinzo Abe contends much stronger action is 

needed to help pull the economy out of the doldrums and 

has urged that the central bank move more aggressively to 

end deflation, which has hindered growth for much of the 

past two decades. 

Abe and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda were due to face 

off later yesterday in a policy debate. Even if Noda’s party 

does lose its parliamentary majority in the election, the LDP 

would likely have to forge a coalition in order to take power. 

Both parties have pushed the Bank of Japan for stronger 

action to boost growth, with Abe urging that the central bank 

be held responsible for meeting an inflation target of at least 

2 percent. Such calls worry many in Japan who fear the LDP 

might undermine the central bank’s autonomy and further 

erode the country’s already weakening fiscal health. —AP 

HONG KONG: Asian markets mostly 

climbed yesterday after data showed the 

US economy grew more than first expected 

in the third quarter while traders 

remain upbeat a deal will be made on 

averting the fiscal cliff. 

The yen eased further against the dollar 

and euro after the Japanese government 

announced a huge spending spree 

to kickstart the economy just weeks 

before a general election. Tokyo closed 

0.48 percent, or 45.13 points, higher at 

9,446.01, Sydney ended up 0.63 percent, 

or 28.3 points, at 4,506.0 but Seoul finished 

0.10 percent, or 1.95 points, lower at 

1,932.90, reversing early day gains. 

Hong Kong closed 0.49 percent higher 

adding 107.50 points to 22,030.39, while 

Shanghai was up 0.85 percent, or 16.63 

points, at 1,980.12. The US Commerce 

Department said Thursday the economy 

grew 2.7 percent in the three months to 

September, faster than the 2.0 percent first 

estimated, reflecting in part increases in 

government spending and private inventory 

investment. 

However, growth in consumer spending, 

which accounts for 70 percent of output, 

was revised down to 1.4 percent, just 

slightly above the second-quarter pace. 

Also, jobless claims fell back to 393,000 in 

the most recent week, the Labor 

Department said Thursday. 

The figures provide a general view that 

the country is gradually getting back on its 

feet, which will have a positive knock-on 

effect for the global economy. Lawmakers 

in Washington are locked in tough talks on 

averting the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and 

spending cuts to come into effect on 

January 1, which could tip the economy 

back into recession. But while Republican 

House Speaker John Boehner has rejected 

as “ridiculous” President Barack Obama’s 

first proposal to cut the country’s deficit, 

investors are broadly confident a deal will 

be achieved by the end of the year. 

Wall Street’s main indexes finished in 

positive territory for a second straight day. 

The Dow was up 0.28 percent, the S&P 500 

gained 0.43 percent and the Nasdaq 

added 0.68 percent. On currency markets 

traders sold the yen further after reports 

said the cabinet of Japan’s Prime Minister 

Yoshihiko Noda approved a $10.7 billion 

stimulus ahead of December 16 polls that 

his ruling party is expected to lose. 

The yen has taken a hit this month after 

Shinzo Abe, the leader of the opposition 

and the man expected to become prime 

minister after the vote, said he would push 

a more aggressive monetary easing policy. 

In the afternoon the dollar rose to 

82.58 yen from 82.10 yen in late Thursday 

New York trade, while the euro bought 

107.46 yen, compared with 106.58 yen. It 

was also at $1.3012, from $1.2978. The dollar 

is up 3.5 percent against the yen in 

November, while the euro has risen 3.3 

percent. Also providing a little support to 

Tokyo shares was news of a surprise rise in 

Japan’s factory output for October. 

Production grew 1.8 percent from the previous 

month, the first rise in four months 

and beating an average market forecast of 

a 2.2 percent drop. 

On oil markets New York’s main contract, 

West Texas Intermediate for January 

delivery, was down 21 cents to $87.86 a 

barrel in the morning, and Brent North Sea 

crude for January dropped 10 cents to 

$110.66. Gold was at $1,728.37 at 1040 

GMT compared with $1,724.60 late 

Thursday. 

In other markets: 

Taipei rose 1.02 percent, or 76.62 

points, to 7,580.17. HTC was up 2.7 percent 

at Tw$266.0 while TSMC gained 2.28 

percent to Tw$98.7. Wellington rose 0.83 

percent, or 33.32 points, to 4,050.09 

would fall to 79 percent from a current 

86 percent while private equity firms 

will own 10.58 percent, down from 14 

percent earlier. 

Telecom transmission tower companies 

earn their money by leasing space 

to mobile phone firms. Bharti Infratel is 

expected to use the proceeds to 

expand its number of towers and 

upgrade existing ones. Since the filing 

of the initial prospectus in mid- 

November, Bharti Airtel’s shares have 

gained more than 20 percent on the 

Bombay Stock Exchange. — AFP 

Asian markets rise, yen 

weakens on Japan stimulus 

Wall Street’s main indexes finish positive 

BEIJING: A man rides an electric bike along a street in the central business district 

in Beijing yesterday. Standard & Poor’s affirmed China’s sovereign credit 

rating, another sign that the world’s second largest economy is rebounding as 

Beijing prepares to usher in new leaders. — AFP 

Fletcher Building up 1.41 percent at 

NZ$7.92, Chorus rising 1.8 percent to 

NZ$3.40 and Telecom Corp down 1.70 

percent at NZ$2.31. 

Kuala Lumpur was up 0.22 percent, or 

3.51 points, at 1,610.83. IHH Healthcare 

added 3.3 percent to 3.48 ringgit while 

Axiata Group rose 0.2 percent to 5.92 ringgit. 

Jakarta ended down 0.99 percent, or 

42.95 points, at 4,276.14. Mobile phone 

provider Indosat dropped 11.9 percent to 

5,550 rupiah and palm oil producer Astra 

Agro Lestari fell 3.23 percent to 18,000 

rupiah. 

Bangkok rose 1.10 percent, or 14.47 

points, to 1,324.04. Coal producer Banpu 

lost 0.75 percent to 395.00 baht while 

energy giant PTT gained 0.63 percent to 

320.00 baht. 

Singapore closed 0.80 percent, or 

24.05 points, higher at 3,069.95. Farm 

commodities supplier Olam, which has 

come under attack from US research firm 

Muddy Waters, was up 0.96 percent to 

Sg$1.575 after falling sharply over the past 

two weeks. 

Mumbai rose 0.88 percent, or 168.99 

points, to 19,339.90 points. Private steel 

producer Jindal Steel rose 5.39 percent 

to 402 rupees while state-run oil explorer 

ONGC rose 4.44 percent to 264.9 

rupees. Manila was closed for a public 

holiday. — AFP


India’s giggling guru 

says laugh yourself 

to good health 

Page 25 

Korean pop rides 

‘Gangnam Style’ 

into US music scene 

Page 24 

A model stumbles as she 

showcases a creation by 

French designer 

Julien Fournie yesterday in 

Singapore during the 

French Couture 2012 

Singapore fashion show. 

(See Page 29) — AP


The Girls Aloud singer is a huge fan of the ‘We Found Love’ hitmaker 

because she is a “minx”, while her bandmate Nadine Coyle 

loves “boyish-looking” girls and the Victoria’s Secret Angels. 

Sarah said: “I would have to go for Rihanna. I like a bit of a minx.” 

Nadine added: “I have such high standards. I like a boyish-looking girl. 

I like short cropped hair. “Not so much Pink, she’s not boyish enough 

for me. “If I did have to pick it would have to be one of those Victoria’s 

Secret girls.” But potential suitors for the girl band - which also 

includes Cheryl Cole, Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts - should 

beware as Nadine insists the ‘Something New’ hitmakers are all 

“feisty” and nobody should “mess” with them. She said: “We are all 

feisty. None of us are wallflowers. “Nobody should mess with Girls 

Aloud. There are men and women who’ve tried and failed.” Sarah - 

who had a drunken holiday bust-up with ex-boyfriend Theo De Vries 

on New Year’s Day - explained: “Once someone kicks off it can all kick 

off.” The 31-year-old singer - who went to rehab to be treated for 

depression and alcohol and sleeping pill addictions in 2011 after splitting 

from fiancÈ Tom Crane - slammed fellow celebrities for making 

ridiculous demands on their tour riders, but joked she makes plenty of 

diva requests herself. She added to the Daily Star newspaper: “As long 

as I get my red M&Ms I am fine. “We also need lots of fluffy puppies 

and cats to play with and candles so we can stick them all around the 

dressing room.” 

The ‘Mercy’ rapper desperately wants to propose 

to the ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ star but 

feels like he has to wait until her divorce from Kris 

Humphries, her husband of 72 days, comes through. A 

source told HollywoodLife.com: “The only thing he 

wants to give Kim for Christmas he cant ... he wants her 

to be free from this dude. It’s been going on way too 

long and he hates this. Really son, you don’t understand 

how much he despises him. He hates this dude 

with a passion.” Kanye is hopeful Kris will back down 

and accept a divorce rather than pushing for an annulment 

on the grounds of “fraud” and when Kim is officially 

a free woman, friends believe he will immediately 

pop the question. The insider added: “He is crazy when 

it comes to this and rightfully so. He gave her the world 

already, so now he’s got to get her the entire planet.” 

Kim is even reportedly already planning her nuptials 

and wants a huge English event to rival that of the 

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. A source said: “Kim 

would love to wed at Westminster Abbey like William 

and Catherine, but that won’t be possible. Instead she’s 

been looking at castles near London. She wants the 

most spectacular wedding and she’s talking about having 

guests like Jay-Z and Beyonce, Eva Longoria, 

Lindsay Lohan, Rihanna and Katy Perry arrive in horse 

drawn carriages - just like the royal wedding.” 

The country singer - who has battled drink and drug addiction 

in the past - admits the moment he crossed paths with the 

Oscar-winning actress at a party in 2005 completely turned 

his life around because it gave him a sense of purpose. The 

‘American Idol’ judge said: “I wouldn’t say it was a life-changing 

moment because it was more than that. It was when my life started. 

That’s the only way I can describe it. Meeting Nic was that profound 

for me. “Before then I didn’t really know what I was doing. 

Now I know exactly what I’m doing and it all makes sense. “I feel 

very, very fortunate that I’ve met somebody like Nic and we share 

the same kind of ideology.” After the couple wed in 2006, Keith, 

45, checked into rehab to receive treatment for alcohol abuse and 

he admits it was Nicole’s support that got him through and finally 

made him kick his habit. He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “We 

know every part of our relationship because we’ve built it. Just the 

two of us. It’s beautiful. Nicole listened to her heart and did what 

she felt was the right thing to do. “To see that kind of love in action 

is very moving and deeply inspiring, and just makes me want to be 

a better man.” The couple now live in Nashville, Tennessee, with 

their daughters Sunday Rose, four, and two-year-old Faith.


The ‘Playing for Keeps’ actress used to cut 

the heads off her Barbie Dolls and when 

she was younger and her parents would 

let her put them on their festive tree, a tradition 

she still keeps up. She said: “My Barbie Dolls 

didn’t really stick around very long. I ended up 

mutilating them by pulling their heads off, cutting 

off all their hair, dyeing them with markers 

and sticking them on the Christmas tree lights. 

They’d light up like these demonic heads. My 

parents were very open! “Back then I don’t think 

people reported that kind of stuff. Now I would 

definitely be in trouble. I still have the heads. 

They still go on [my Christmas tree] every year 

at home.” The 30-year-old - who married Justin 

Timberlake last month - admits she was quite a 

tomboy while growing up and wanted to be 

Indiana Jones. She told talk show host Conan 

O’Brien: “I played any kind of sport - soccer, 

football. Whatever it was, I was playing with 

boys, hanging out. “Indiana Jones was my idol. I 

wanted to be him. I wanted to be an archaeologist 

because of him. My dad had to explain to 

me that being an archaeologist means you’re 

sitting in a pile of dirt digging. It’s not swinging 

on ropes with a cool whip and a sidekick!” 

The 41-year-old singer and her husband, 

Martin Isaacs have been accused of 

defaulting on a huge loan from 

Manhattan’s Signature Bank, according to a 

complaint filed New York State Supreme 

Court. The financial institution is seeking the 

full loan amount, which was taken out in 

October 2011 and due to be paid back by July 

2012, along with $58,000 in interest. The 

‘Family Affair’ singer’s production company, 

Mary Jane Productions Inc, was also named in 

the lawsuit. This is the latest financial woe for 

The Irish singer has been given a camera and 

can’t wait to record some day-to-day footage of 

himself and bandmates Harry Styles, Liam 

Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik, to give their 

fans a behind the scenes look at their lives. Liam told 

MTV News: “Niall’s got a camera, so he’s going to film 

some of the film.” Niall added: “They’ve given me a 

camera for the movie, so we’re going to be going 

around [filming].” “We’ve always had a camera with 

us. Like when we were touring America in the summer, 

we had like a camera with us every day and we 

were just kind of documenting stuff. ‘Cause if it ever 

did come to a movie, then we’d have stuff ready for 

it.” The movie will be directed by ‘Super Size Me’s 

Morgan Spurlock and Niall believes he is the perfect 

person to work on the movie for the ‘What Makes 

You Beautiful’ hitmakers. He said: “Morgan works 

well because...he did a lot of documentary movies. 

That’s more so what we want our movie to be. It’s 

going to be a concert movie, but with a documentary 

side than concert side so we wanted to get our personalities 

across because the fans know us, but we 

want them to know us deeper.” 

Mary after her charity, The Mary J Blige and 

Steve Stoute Foundation for the 

Advancement of Women Now Inc, was 

accused earlier this year of mishandling funds 

and failing to pay back a loan. Speaking 

about the allegations, Mary said: “The lives of 

young women are at stake. I feel what they 

feel. I don’t want them to suffer. I promised 

them something and I’m gonna deliver. 

Period. “As soon as I was informed of the 

issues at FFAWN, I immediately called my 

advisors and lawyers to get to the bottom of 

Niall Horan 

The socialite arrived in the 

Indian state with her 

boyfriend, River Viiperi, in 

the early hours and has been 

very impressed by the idyllic 

landscape. In a series of twitter 

posts, she wrote: “#YES! After a 

very long journey, we’ve finally 

arrived in Goa! Can’t wait to get to 

the hotel to shower and sleep. So 

exhausted! “So happy! In Paradise 

with @RiverViiperi in a beautiful villa 

on the water. So peaceful here, such a 

magical feeling. Feel so blessed. “Loving 

Goa with @RiverViiperi. How beautiful is it 

what was happening. As Founder and CEO of 

FFAWN, I am ultimately responsible for anything 

that goes wrong. The problem is that I 

didn’t have the right people in the right 

places doing the right things. This should 

have never been allowed to happen, but it 

did and now we are fixing it. The good 

news is that we have been in touch with 

the MJB Center in Yonkers and the scholarship 

program, and both are in good shape.” 

— Bangshowbiz 

here? #India #MagicalParadise (sic)” She also 

tweeted a picture of her and 21-year-old model 

Viiperi on a lawn next to a hammock. It 

seems River was in a romantic mood after 

touching down too, as he tweeted: 

“#LovingLife with the most beautiful girl in the 

world. (sic)” Paris, 31, and River’s trip to India 

has been a long one, as they flew from the US 

to Dubai - a 16 hour flight - then on to 

Mumbai, India’s largest city, before finally getting 

a connecting flight to Goa. Paris is in the 

state as she is DJing at the India Resort Fashion 

Week.


Charlotte Muhammad holds up two $100 dollar bills she got 

from Secret Santa, at St Joseph’s Social Service Center in 

Elizabeth, NJ, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. — AP 

Awealthy Missouri man posing as “Secret Santa” stunned New 

Yorkers on Thursday, handing $100 bills to many in Staten 

Island who had lost everything to Superstorm Sandy. The 

Kansas City businessman is giving away $100,000 this holiday season, 

and spent the day in New Jersey and New York giving away 

thousands. But he says money is not the issue. “The money is not 

the point at all,” said the anonymous benefactor as he walked up to 

surprised Staten Island residents and thrust crisp bills into their 

hands. “It’s about the random acts of kindness. I’m just setting an 

example, and if 10 percent of the people who see me emulate what 

I’m doing, anybody can be a Secret Santa!” 

A police motorcade with sirens took him across the borough, 

passing a church ripped from its foundations and homes surrounded 

by debris. At a nearby disaster center run by volunteers, a 

woman quietly collected free food and basic goods. “Has anyone 

given you any money?” he asked her. “No,” replied Carol Hefty, a 72year-old 

retiree living in a damaged home. “Here,” he said, slipping 

the money into her hand. “But this isn’t real money!” said Hefty, 

glancing at the red “Secret Santa” stamped onto the $100. “It is, and 

it’s for you,” he tells her. She breaks down weeping and hugs him. 

And so it went, again and again. Secret Santa started his daylong 

East Coast visit with stops in Elizabeth, NJ Keeping close watch 

over the cash handouts was his security entourage - police officers 

in uniform from New York and New Jersey, plus FBI agents and former 

agents from various states. Some have become supporters, 

wearing red berets marked with the word “elf” and assisting “Santa” 

to choose locations where people are most in need. He himself 

wears an “elf” cap and a red top, plus blue jeans. 

The group must choose stops carefully, and refrain from simply 

appearing outdoors in a neighborhood, lest they be mobbed by 

people hearing that cash is being handed out. At a stop at a Staten 

Island Salvation Army store, one woman is looking over a $4 handbag. 

“But you get $100!” he tells her, offering the bill. “Are you serious?” 

said Prudence Onesto, her eyes widening. “Really?” “Secret 

Santa,” he deadpans, breaking into a broad grin. The 55-year-old 

unemployed woman opened her arms and offered him a hug. An 

aisle over, 41-year-old Janice Kennedy is overwhelmed: She 

received four $100 bills. Unemployed with a 2-year-old daughter, 

she lost her home in the storm and lives with her boyfriend. The 

money will go toward Christmas presents and her toddler’s next 

birthday. 

“You’re not alone. God bless you!” the Missouri stranger tells 

Phillip and Lisa Morris, a couple in their 30s whose home was badly 

damaged - but now had an extra $300 in cash for rebuilding. Secret 

Santa took up the holiday tradition from a close Kansas City friend, 

Larry Stewart, who for years handed out bills to unsuspecting 

strangers in thrift stores, food pantries and shelters. Stewart died in 

2007 after giving away more than $1 million to strangers each 

December in mostly $100 bills. 

The current Secret Santa will not divulge his name. Nor does he 

allow his face to be photographed. But he said he’s been to cities 

across America, from San Diego to Chicago to Charlotte, NC. A 

reporter asked whether he might be a sort of Warren Buffett of 

Kansas City. He smiled mysteriously and said only that he admires 

Buffett for his philanthropy. —AP 

Style,” the catchy Korean song by 

rapper Psy, may have danced its way into the 

“Gangnam 

American charts but the Korean pop industry 

isn’t horsing around when it comes to capitalizing on the 

singer’s phenomenal US success. With “Gangnam Style” 

topping the current Billboard Digital Songs chart and 

becoming the most-watched video on YouTube ever with 

more than 800 million views, fellow Korean pop, or K-pop, 

artists are positioning themselves for similar US breakthroughs. 

Korea’s pop music industry is thriving. Over the 

past two years, a handful of K-pop acts including girl 

group 2NE1, boy band Super Junior and nine-piece band 

Girls Generation have embarked on mini-promotional 

tours around the United States to build their audience. 

“Psy has opened doors and is shining a spotlight on Kpop. 

People are paying attention to what’s being done 

there,” Alina Moffat, general manager at YG 

Entertainment group, which manages Psy, told a recent 

entertainment industry conference in Los Angeles. Psy’s 

vibrant music video, featuring his invisible pony-riding 

dance, also featured K-pop artists Kim Hyun-a of girl band 

4Minute, and Deasung and Seungri of boy band Big Bang, 

all of whom are attempting to crack the US market. 

“YouTube has really changed the awareness of K-pop. 

Both American kids and second-generation Korean 

American kids are discovering it,” Kye Kyoungbon Koo, 

director of the Korea Creative Content Agency, told a panel 

at a Billboard and Hollywood Reporter conference in 

Los Angeles in October. 

Marketing the next big thing 

For US companies looking to invest, K-pop is being 

marketed as the next big thing, boasting young, stylish 

and influential artists who command devoted fan followings. 

Moffat said car companies and mobile phone brands 

were among those being courted at KCON, a convention 

held in October in Irvine in Southern California that showcased 

K-pop artists. 

“Kids are coming, they’re engaged, they want to spend 

money and sponsors saw that,” Moffat said. Whether Psy 

or other K-pop artists can command a global following to 

rival Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber or Rihanna remains to be 

seen, but John Shim, senior producer at MTV World, 

believes it is the right genre to compete with pop music’s 

biggest names. “K-pop admittedly is a very niche genre 

but I also think it’s the best equipped of Asian pop to cater 

to the US audience,” Shim told Reuters. Psy has helped to 

break down language barriers, keeping “Gangnam Style” 

in its original Korean form instead of adapting it to English 

when it became an international hit. 

The singer told Reuters he was persuaded to keep it 

that way by his manager Scooter Braun, the talent scout 

responsible for Justin Bieber’s success, who signed Psy to 

his record label. “I thought, ‘Should I translate this or not?’ 

because (the fans) have got to know what I’m talking 

about, and lyrics are a huge part,” Psy said. 

Chatting in English 

But industry executives say at least one member of 

each K-Pop group is usually taught to be fluent in conversational 

English. “The investment in language is costly, 

but effective,” said Ted Kim, president of South Korean 

music television channel Mnet. “It really matters that Psy 

can go on the Ellen DeGeneres TV show and have a conversation.” 

Psy said he was proud his song succeeded in 

Korean, but he now wants to branch out into English. 

“‘Gangnam Style’ is not the sort of thing that’s going 

to happen twice. I’ve definitely got to make something in 

English so I can communicate with my fans right now,” 

the singer said. In Korea, bands such as SM 

Entertainment’s Super Junior and Girls Generation have 

became branding powerhouses, scoring endorsements 

ranging from cosmetics, fashion, video games, electronics 

and beverages. 

In the United States, companies such as Samsung 

have already jumped on the K-pop train, sponsoring 

Korean boy band Big Bang’s US tour. But while the genre 

is gaining steam in the charts, it has yet to spill into ticket 

sales for tours, according to Gary Bongiovanni, editor in 

chief at Pollstar.com, which tracks concert sales. “Psy may 

South Korean pop sensation Psy gestures from the red carpet as 

he attends the 2012 Mnet Asia Music Awards in Hong Kong yesterday. 

— AFP 

be able to sell out arenas in Asia, but not yet here. For the 

American audience, he has to prove that he’s more than a 

novelty act,” Bongiovanni said. “K-pop has to prove itself 

before large companies spend money on it,” he added. 

—Reuters 

Mayan priests started off ceremonies aimed at marking the 

end of the current era in the Mayan long-count calendar 

Thursday, with dancing, incense and rituals designed to 

thank the gods. The Mayas performed the “New Fire” ceremony at a 

park in Mexico City, but complained they have been barred by 

authorities from performing rituals at their ancestral temples in the 

Maya region. The Mayas measure time in 394-year periods known as 

Baktuns. The 13th Baktun ends around Dec 21, and 13 is considered 

a sacred number for the Maya. 

The estimated 800,000 surviving Mayas in Mexico are hoping for 

a better new Baktun than the one now ending, which began around 

1618. It included the painful aftermath of the Spanish conquest in 

which Mayas and other indigenous groups saw their temples and 

sacred writings systematically destroyed and their population decimated 

by European diseases and forced labor. “This is the ending of 

an era for the Maya, an era which has been very intense for us, in 

which we have had suffering and pain,” said Mayan priest Jose 

Manrique Esquivel, 52, who wore a feather headdress and body 

paint for the ceremony. For the new Baktun, he said, “we are praying 

the wars, the conflicts, the hunger to end.” 

The Maya survived all of that suffering with their pride intact. “We 

were not conquered, we are still here, we are alive and so is our culture 

our language, our food, our history,” Manrique Esquivel said. 

The priest, who is in agreement with most archaeologists and 

astronomers, doesn’t believe the ancient Mayas predicted the world 

would end with the close of the current Baktun. Some bloggers and 

astronomy enthusiasts have suggested the Mayan calendar would 

“run out” on Dec 21. Despite the generally festive atmosphere at the 

ceremony, there was some discontent that the government won’t 

allow Mayan priests and healers to perform their ceremonies inside 

archaeological sites like Chichen Itza, Coban and Tulum that their 

ancestors built. “We would like to do these ceremonies in the 

archaeological sites, but unfortunately they won’t let us enter,” 

Manrique Esquivel said.—AP


Chinese regulators suspended a broadcaster yesterdat 

after an unaired segment of a TV game show was leaked 

online showing a raucous shouting match about nudity 

between spectators and a woman who calls her daughter the 

next Lady Gaga. The suspension of all of Jiangsu Education 

Television’s programming - because of content deemed vulgar 

and not educational enough - marked the government’s latest 

attempt to rein in the increasingly freewheeling media sector. 

China also said earlier this year it would limit American-style 

reality TV and other light fare shown on satellite TV. 

The latest ruling was prompted by the game show “Bang 

Bang Bang,” which has games of chance for cash prizes as well 

as entertainment segments with attractive women. A video clip 

apparently filmed by an audience member features Gan Lulu, 

an auto show model well-known in China for racy outfits and 

whose career was launched by a nude video of her posted 

online by her publicity-seeking mother. 

The six-minute clip of the not-yet-aired game show episode, 

India’s “guru of giggling” Madan 

Kataria, who has got thousands of people 

guffawing globally in pursuit of 

better health, has an unexpected confession-he 

hasn’t got a very good sense of 

humour. “But you don’t require one to 

laugh,” chortles Kataria, founder of 

“Laughter Yoga”, a movement that has 

attracted fans worldwide including 

celebrities Oprah Winfrey and Goldie 

Hawn. Kataria-who travels constantly 

spreading his “laugh with no reason” 

gospel-has been hired by multinationals 

from computer giant Hewlett-Packard to 

automaker Volvo to hold team-building 

laughter sessions. Now he is setting up a 

“Laughter University” in the southern city 

of Bangalore on land donated by a building 

contractor and $250,000 from an 

anonymous tycoon. 

“In three months we will start building 

and by the end of 2013 we will be up and 

running. We want to build a worldwide 

community headquarters of laughter 

yoga,” he said. Kataria envisions holding 

laughter sessions and conferences at the 

centre and setting up an alternative medi- 

cine unit to expand medical knowledge 

about the beneficial health effects of 

laughter. Studies already suggest laughter 

releases feel-good endorphins, the brain 

chemicals that are linked with a sense of 

wellbeing. “Laughing is the healthiest 

thing you can do-it’s the best medicine,” 

said the towering, bald 58-year-old, 

whose movement has inspired thousands 

of “Laughter Clubs” in India and around 

the world from Beirut to Dublin. 

Kataria also holds laughter sessions in 

schools, prisons, hospitals and retirement 

homes, and a few years ago testified 

before a US Senate committee that laughter 

yoga could help the country cut 

healthcare costs. A qualified doctor, he hit 

upon medical literature advocating laughter 

as a stress-buster and remedy for other 

ailments. In 1995 he decided to “field-test” 

his findings before setting up the first of 

his clubs. 

Medical benefits 

Kataria started with four strangers in a 

Mumbai park. They stood in a circle and 

“laughed like hyenas,” he recalled. 

Numbers soon swelled to around 50. They 

recounted jokes but realised they didn’t 

have enough gags-then he found that the 

body was unable to distinguish between 

fake and genuine laughter with both producing 

the same “happy, healing chemistry”. 

“Anyway, fake laughter turns into 

real laughter after a few moments. Try it,” 

he said. 

He persuaded his group to laugh with 

him for one minute with no reason. It 

stretched into 10 minutes as the laughter 

turned infectious-and the Laughter Yoga 

movement was born. “Laughter is more 

about social connection and bonding 

than something being funny,” Amit Sood, 

a doctor at the Mayo Clinic in the United 

States, told AFP. “Studies show all kinds of 

benefits from laughter from better immunity 

and coping skills, lower stress, better 

relationships to improved digestion,” he 

said. Many Indian parks now host sessions 

every morning with peals of laughter ringing 

out from people standing in groups. 

“It relaxes me. If I laugh in the morning, 

the rest of the day goes well,” said Lisa 

still available on YouTube, shows Gan as well audience members 

and the model’s mother shouting and swearing after one 

spectator asks whether Gan’s risque images have undermined 

China’s morality. Gan’s mother, Lei Bingxia, also in the audience, 

stands to take up the argument, using several off-color 

slurs. 

“Can your mom make you the sexy goddess of China?” she 

later shouts. “Can your mom make billions of people like you? 

Gan’s mom can!” “I’m the best agent in China, I’m telling you! I 

will not only make my daughter the world’s Lady Gaga, but the 

world’s Marilyn Monroe.” The State Administration of Radio, 

Film and Television first ordered the show canceled 

Wednesday and criticized the clip for showing name-calling, 

“wanton acts” and for “amplifying ugliness.” It said the incident 

had a “negative influence on society.” 

On Thursday, the agency issued a second directive saying 

that Jiangsu Education Television, a regional broadcaster near 

Shanghai, had to suspend all programming effective Friday 

Singh, 39, one regular “laugher” in New 

Delhi. Kataria, who runs his non-profit 

Laughter Yoga Institute with a dozen 

employees from his Mumbai home, says 

one needs a full 15-to-20 minutes of giggling 

daily to reap the full benefits. 

Researchers believe it may be the use of 

abdominal muscles in laughing that triggers 

the release of endorphins-a phenom- 

enon also associated with exercise, such 

as running. “It’s not enough to just watch 

a funny movie because you just laugh a 

few seconds at a funny line-you need to 

laugh for a stretch to get the rewards,” 

Kataria said. 

Big ambitions 

Kataria was the youngest of 14 children 

from a poor farming family in the 

state of Punjab. Six siblings died as medical 

help was too far away and his mother 

set her heart on him becoming a doctor. 

She sold her gold bangles so he could go 

to medical school. He qualified as a physician 

but was more drawn to acting and 

admits he was a “bit of a showman”. “My 

because it violated China broadcasting rules by identifying 

itself as an educational channel while offering entertainment 

content. 

The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights 

and Democracy said in a faxed statement that some 30 programs 

were affected by the suspension, including some distance 

learning programs, meaning classes were canceled for as 

many as 150,000 students. The “Bang Bang Bang” editor also 

was fired, the Jiangsu provincial government said. The broadcasting 

regulator is concerned about vulgar, violent and pornographic 

videos being aired, and has been tightening rules to 

make sure that broadcasters and Internet service companies 

prescreen their content. — AP 

India’s giggling guru says laugh yourself to good health 

Indian ‘guru of giggling” Madan Kataria 

speaks during an interview after a session 

at a ‘laughter club’ in Greater Noida. — AFP 

family was rather disappointed-but now 

they have seen how big Laughter Yoga 

has become, they’re proud,” he said. His 

talent to engage people came across at a 

recent financial analysts’ team-building 

session in New Delhi. He stretched his 

arms out and led off with his signature 

“tee-hee, ho, ho” that finally gave way to 

unrestrained bellows. 

Indian participants take part in a session of a ‘laughter club’ in Greater Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi 

on August 25, 2012. — AFP 

There were a few nervous titters, then 

within minutes the room was engulfed by 

laughter and some people were wiping 

away tears. “Laughter is contagious-like 

yawning,” said Kataria who intersperses 

the merriment with deep breathing yoga 

exercises and stretching. “We need to 

laugh to help us deal with life, which can 

be very difficult,” he said, briefly sounding 

serious. “When you laugh you’re joyfulyou’re 

living in the moment.” — AFP


Aamir Khan returns to Bollywood big screen 

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan 

returns to the big screen yesterday 

in his first commercial film 

release for three years, taking up the 

role of a mustachioed police inspector 

in a Mumbai crime thriller. In “Talaash” 

(Search), promoted as a darker tale 

than the industry’s typical mix of glamour, 

action and comedy, Khan stars 

alongside popular actress Kareena 

Kapoor as a prostitute and Rani 

Mukerji as his wife. Producer-actor 

Khan has given little away about the 

eagerly-anticipated film, which is set in 

the underbelly of India’s entertainment 

capital and has been described 

by the star as an “intense suspense 

drama”. 

“I want the suspense to be there, 

that’s part of the promotions. 

Sometimes being quiet also might pro- 

Lindsay Lohan was charged Thursday with 

crimes in New York and Los Angeles, marking 

her latest setbacks as she tries to revive 

her career and avoid a return to jail. Prosecutors 

in Santa Monica charged Lohan with three misdemeanors 

related to a June accident. Hours 

earlier, the actress was arrested and charged 

with third-degree assault, also a misdemeanor, 

after a woman was punched in a New York City 

nightclub. The California charges came about 

six months after Lohan’s Porsche crashed into 

the back of a dump truck. She told police her 

assistant was driving, but detectives now 

believe the actress was behind the wheel as she 

headed to a movie set. 

In that case, Lohan, 26, was charged with 

lying to police, reckless driving and obstructing 

a police officer from performing duties. Lohan’s 

California attorney, Shawn Holley, said she 

could not comment on the crash-related 

charges. In New York, her attorney Mark Heller 

said he expects the assault charge to be dismissed. 

“Once again, Lindsay Lohan is a victim 

of someone trying to capture their 15 minutes 

of fame,” Heller wrote in a statement. “From my 

initial investigation, I am completely confident 

that this case will be concluded favorably and 

that Lindsay will be totally exonerated.” 

The California charges could trigger another 

probation violation for Lohan, who was ordered 

to stay out of trouble when she was released 

from supervised probation in March after being 

mote it,” Khan said. “I found it fulfilling... 

the suspense part of it. But at its 

heart, it’s a story about someone coming 

to terms with loss... it is a very emotional 

story at its core,” Khan told the 

Press Trust of India ahead of the 

release. The star reportedly had to 

learn to swim for scenes in “Talaash”-a 

film that “proves once again this 

actor’s films are not to be skipped and 

completely worth the wait”, said a 

review in the DNA newspaper. 

Directed by Reema Kagti and coproduced 

by Khan, “Talaash” marks the 

47-year-old’s first appearance in a 

movie since art film “Dhobi Ghat” (also 

known as “Mumbai Diaries”) was 

released in 2010, directed by his wife 

Kiran Rao. Khan’s last commercial hit 

was “3 Idiots” in 2009, a coming-of-age 

comedy about three engineering stu- 

convicted of the misdemeanor theft of a necklace 

and two DUI charges. Since then she has 

been arrested twice in New York, crashed her 

car on Pacific Coast Highway, been treated by 

paramedics in her hotel room, and gotten in an 

dents which became the highest 

grossing Bollywood movie of all time. 

His 2001 film “Lagaan” (Land Tax) 

became the third Hindi-language 

movie to be Oscar-nominated for best 

foreign language film. This year Khan 

launched a 13-episode Sunday morning 

television show that won plaudits 

for tackling some of India’s darkest 

social problems, drawing comparisons 

between him and US chat show host 

Oprah Winfrey. — AFP 

Indian Bollywood actor Aamir Khan 

(left) and actress Rani Mukerjee 

pose as they attend the premier of 

Hindi film ‘Talaash’ directed by 

Reema Kagti in Mumbai late 

November 29, 2012. — AFP 

Christmas 

decorations are for 

sale at a stand of 

the traditional 

Christmas Market in 

Nuremberg, 

southern Germany, 

yesterday. The 

traditional 

“Nuernberger 

Christkindlesmarkt” 

opens from 

November 30 to 

December 24, 

2012. — AFP 

Attorney expects Lohan will be cleared in NYC case 

argument with her mother that prompted a 911 

call. None of the events are likely what the 

clearly relieved actress anticipated in March 

when she thanked Superior Court Judge 

Stephanie Sautner, who warned the actress that 

Lindsay Lohan is escorted from the 10th Precinct police station, with her face shielded, 

Thursday, Nov 29, 2012, in New York after being charged for allegedly striking a 

woman at a nightclub. — AP 

Berry, Aubry, 

Martinez call truce 

Halle Berry, her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry and her current 

lover Olivier Martinez have called a truce after their angry 

Thanksgiving Day brawl outside the Oscar-winning 

actress’s Los Angeles home. Attorneys for the trio said after a 

closed-door court hearing on Thursday that the trio “have 

reached an amicable agreement” but gave no details. “There will 

be no further statements regarding this matter,” the attorneys 

said in a brief statement. 

Aubry, French actor Martinez, and the “Monster’s Ball” star have 

been embroiled for months in a custody fight over Berry’s 4-yearold 

daughter, Nahla. Berry wants to take the daughter she had with 

Aubry to live with her and fiance Martinez in France, but a Los 

Angeles judge denied that request earlier in November. The two 

men came to blows over the issue on Nov 22, with both accusing 

the other of starting the fight in Berry’s driveway, and then obtaining 

restraining orders against each other. It was unclear on 

Thursday whether either man would be charged in the incident, or 

how the custody issue had been resolved. — Reuters 

she could face up to 245 days in jail if she violated 

her probation again. “You need to live your 

life in a more mature way, stop the nightclubbing 

and focus on your work,” Sautner said. 

In recent years, Lohan has been sentenced 

to the Los Angeles-area women’s jail five times. 

Most of her stays have been short due to overcrowding, 

and she was allowed to serve 35 days 

on house arrest in 2011. Lately, Lohan has been 

filming two movies and doing a cameo in the 

latest installment of the “Scary Movie” franchise. 

The first film, “Liz & Dick,” premiered Sunday 

night on Lifetime to mostly negative reviews. 

She was on her way to shoot scenes for “Liz 

& Dick” in June when her Porsche crashed into 

the dump truck and the actress was briefly hospitalized. 

A week later, paramedics were summoned 

to her hotel room. Her then-publicist 

Steve Honig attributed the health scare to 

exhaustion and dehydration. Lohan relocated 

to New York after finishing her work on “Liz and 

Dick” and a Bret Easton Ellis film titled “The 

Canyons” was complete. On Thursday, police 

said Lohan got into a spat with a woman at 

Club Avenue in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. 

The woman was hit in the face and did not 

require medical attention, authorities said. The 

“Mean Girls” and “Freaky Friday” star was 

charged with third-degree assault. Her arrest at 

4 am EST Thursday was the latest by New York 

police since September, when a man accused 

her of hitting him with her car. —AP


Review 

This photo shows Nobert Leo Butz as Jack (left) and Katie Holmes as Lorna, in a scene from 

“Dead Accounts”. — AP 

Rebeck’s ‘Dead Accounts’ lacks sharpness 

You might expect Katie Holmes to 

have something to prove in her first 

acting appearance since splitting 

from Tom Cruise. You might expect her to 

emerge onstage in a gown by Valentino 

and shoes by Jimmy Choo. Well, put those 

expectations aside. In Theresa Rebeck’s 

new Broadway play, Holmes first appears 

in sweat pants and fuzzy pink slippers, her 

hair in a frazzled ponytail and her spoon in 

a quart of antidepressant ice cream. 

In “Dead Accounts,” Holmes plays an 

“old but pretty” woman who “seems like a 

loser” and lives at home with her parents. 

She only flashes her beauty once, freeing 

her hair and looking seductive - enough to 

remind you what a head-turner she can be. 

It’s a brave move for the 33-year-old, who 

deserves credit for trying hard. But she 

mostly tries hard to keep up with stage 

veterans Norbert Leo Butz and Jayne 

Houdyshell in Rebeck’s oddly thin new 

play, which opened Thursday at the Music 

Box Theatre. Director Jack O’Brien struggles 

to both get the five-person cast to 

really jibe and the rhythm of the plot to get 

going. Holmes relies too much on a whiny 

teenage angst and a guilelessness that 

Mickey Mouse 

poster sells for 

more than $100,000 

One of the earliest surviving posters of Mickey Mouse 

sold for more than $100,000 on Thursday, Heritage 

Auctions said. The 1928 movie poster of the iconic cartoon 

mouse belonged to the family of a deceased collector in 

Northern California, the auction house said. Mickey Mouse was 

created in 1928 by Walt Disney, and the color poster shows a 

smiling Mickey waving his gloved hand, advertising the 

“Mickey Mouse sound cartoon,” with a slogan calling the animated 

mouse “The World’s Funniest Cartoon Character.” The 

poster was auctioned in Dallas, Texas and sold for $101,575. 

The name of the winning bidder was not disclosed. Grey Smith, 

director of movie poster auctions at Heritage Auctions, in a 

statement called the poster “an important piece of pop culture 

treasure,” and said it was likely to be the only Mickey Mouse 

poster created until 1930, when Columbia Pictures started distributing 

Disney cartoons. Mickey Mouse has become one of 

the most recognized animated characters in popular culture, 

symbolizing the Walt Disney Company and spawning a global 

merchandising franchise. — Reuters 

worked on TV but lacks nuance onstage. 

That said, she does generate two of the 

biggest cheers in the play - one for pulling 

out a cheap box of wine from the fridge 

and the other for an anti-bankers rant that 

sounds like it could come from an Occupy 

Wall Street protester. 

Rebeck, who created the first season of 

NBC’s “Smash” and several well-received 

plays including “Seminar” and “Mauritius,” 

has stumbled a bit with “Dead Accounts,” a 

love letter to the hardworking, plainspoken 

Midwest, but one that lacks the sharpness 

and depth of her previous work. Too often 

Rebeck’s insights come in the form of 

clunky fortune cookie proverbs, as when 

one character says, “It’s complicated. But 

anything true, is!” Or when another says: 

“Religion and money are just the dumb 

things we use to plug up the hole in our 

hearts because we’re so afraid of dying.” 

The heavy lifting is done by Butz, who 

plays Jack, a banker who one day abandons 

his rich life in Manhattan for the 

calmer hometown sweetness of Cincinnati 

and his listless sister (Holmes), old buddy (a 

contained Josh Hamilton) and his slightly 

demented mother (a delightful 

Houdyshell). His chilly wife (nicely nasty 

Judy Greer) follows. 

Jack is slightly crazed, buying too much 

ice cream and pizzas, sitting too close to 

people, spouting strange manic philosophy 

and flitting generally too close to the 

psychic edge. His sister puts it perfectly 

when she calls him “very a lot.” The Act I 

curtain falls on the stunning reason he has 

fled. Butz at first seems to be overcompensating 

for the smallness of Holmes, but the 

anguish and heart of his character are 

revealed beautifully. Butz makes Jack both 

lovesick in one moment and thunderously 

revengeful in the next, showing the complexity 

of a Midwestern boy in love with his 

local hot dogs and yet one who has grown 

comfortable in his plush steak-eating New 

York life. But “Dead Accounts” doesn’t really 

resolve anything or really end. It just sort 

of peters out, its momentum lost and none 

of its issues resolved. There’s a halfhearted, 

last-second attempt to bring grace to Jack, 

but it’s more of a Hail Mary-type pass, one 

born out of desperation. At the play’s end, 

it feels like the audience itself should be 

handed quarts of ice cream as a commiserative 

olive branch. — AP 

Want to own your very own Batmobile? The original car 

from the “Batman” television series is going up for auction 

and is expected to fetch a seven-figure sum, auctioneers 

Barrett-Jackson said on Thursday. The two-seater car was 

featured in the live-action “Batman” show starring Adam West 

that aired from 1966 to 1968. “The Batmobile is true Americana 

and it’s hard to put a dollar figure on something like that,” Craig 

Jackson, chairman and CEO of automobile auction house Barrett- 

Jackson, said in a statement. 

“We expect plenty of enthusiasts and fans to come out and 

wouldn’t be surprised if the car sold for multiple millions.” The 

1955 Lincoln Futura, of which only one was made, was a handbuilt 

concept car developed by the Ford Motor Co featuring a 

bubble top. It was bought in 1965 for $1 by owner George Barris, 

who customized the 19-foot (5.8-meter) car for the television 

series. The one-off Futura symbolized space-age design of the 

1950s with a push-button transmission and exterior microphones 

that piped in the sounds of traffic to its occupants. The car will be 

auctioned on Jan. 19 in Scottsdale, Arizona, along with Clark 

Gable’s personal 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe 

sportscar. —Reuters 

Actor who killed 

landlady 

not on drugs 

Aformer “Sons of Anarchy” 

actor who was the lone 

suspect in the killing of 

his landlady did not have drugs 

in his system when he died, 

according to an autopsy report 

released Thursday. Authorities 

had been interested in whether 

Johnny Lewis was on drugs or 

medication when he apparently 

killed Catherine Davis in her 

home and then fell to his death 

in her driveway. Lewis had 

recently been released from jail 

and had a string of drug-related 

arrests before the killing. His 

attorney had speculated he Johnny Lewis 

might have been in a druginduced 

psychosis when he 

killed Davis. Toxicology results on Johnny Lewis found 

no traces of cocaine, alcohol, marijuana or any other 

types of drugs in the actor’s system. Officials checked 

for anti-psychotic drugs as well as psychedelic drugs. 

An autopsy report noted that Lewis had nail marks on 

both sides of his neck when he died and had suffered 

partial strangulation. His death was ruled accidental 

because there was no evidence he attempted to kill 

himself or had been pushed. 

Police believe Lewis fell while trying to flee the 

home after killing Davis, 81, who operated a retreat for 

writers and actors out of her home. Lewis had played 

Kip “Half-Sack” Epps on the TV drama “Sons of Anarchy” 

in 2008 and 2009 before his character was killed off. He 

had been arrested three times during the past year. 

Probation officials earlier this year expressed concern 

about Lewis’ mental health and his danger to others. 

A probation officer who evaluated Lewis’ case after he 

attempted to break into the home of a woman wrote that 

he was being “very concerned for the well-being of not 

only the community but that of the defendant.” The 

report added Lewis suffered from some form of chemical 

dependency and mental health issue, and was a transient. 

“Given this, (Lewis) will continue to be a threat to any 

community he may reside,” it said The break-in attempt 

came about six weeks after the actor hit two men over the 

head with a bottle during a fight. Lewis’ attorney, 

Jonathan Mandel, said after his client’s death that drugs 

may have been a factor in the deaths. He said he recommended 

treatment for Lewis but he declined it. — AP 

Holy pricey car! Original 

Batmobile to hit auction block 

In this photo, famed auto customizer George Barris poses 

with the original Batmobile in Los Angeles. — AP


Although Dolly Parton has cemented her 

place in country and popular music, pop 

culture, and as an entrepreneur and philanthropist, 

she still, on occasion, gets nervous. 

Her new book, “Dream More: Celebrate the 

Dreamer in You” encourages readers to overcome 

their fears, believe in their passions and 

keep taking risks. The “I Will Always Love You” 

singer/songwriter, 66, who has written more than 

3,000 songs and sold more than 100 million 

records, talked to Reuters about the message of 

the book, which was published this week. 

Q. You say you put off writing this book? 

A. “It’s just a simple little book. It’s not meant to 

save the world, or it’s not a complete book of 

how to be successful, but I think there is 

enough stuff in it for people to see kinda how 

I conduct my business and kinda what my 

thoughts are. And the good part is that all the 

money, if it sells good, goes to Imagination 

Library.” 

Q. Right - your non profit quest to get kids to 

read? 

A. “It’s one of the reasons I wanted to write this 

too, because I usually do concerts every year, 

for the foundation to make money to afford a 

lot of books, but I am not on tour now.” 

Q. Talk about your 2009 commencement 

address at the University of Tennessee. 

Were you nervous? 

A. “Well, yes, when I am out of my element 

doing things. I am not that educated and I 

didn’t go that far in school and I thought, 

‘What am I going to say to these educated 

people, not just these kids who have just 

graduated college and are probably brilliant, 

but all these professionals and all these 

teachers?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, I am not smart 

enough’, but I thought, ‘Well, at least I am a 

hometown girl. At least they can see that in 

America, you can start from humble beginnings, 

that everybody can make it.” 

Q. Which is one of the book’s messages, overcoming 

fears? 

A. “Any time I am in a situation where I am just 

not comfortable, I am uneasy, but that 

doesn’t mean I won’t go on with it, just like 

the speech. And that I won’t be good at it, 

but there are just some things I would prefer 

not to do!” 

Q. Success doesn’t equal happiness, yet you 

seem so hopeful and modest? 

A. “I am always hopeful as a person, I have been 

since I was little...I really want things to be 

good. As I mention in the book, I wake up 

every day expecting it to be good, and if it is 

not, then I try to set about changing it before 

I go to sleep at night.” 

Q. Would you describe yourself as religious or 

spiritual? 

A. “Just spiritual, I am not religious. Although I 

grew up in a very religious family, but...I am 

no fanatic by any stretch of the word, and I 

am no angel, believe me. I wrote a song 

called ‘The Seeker’ many, many years ago, 

and it says ‘I am a seeker, just a poor sinful 

creature, there is no one weaker than I am.’ 

“People say, ‘What do you regret?’ I say, ‘I 

can’t say that I regret anything because at the 

time I was doing it, whatever it was, it 

seemed to be the thing to be doing at the 

time.’ “I have a good friend base, I have a 

good husband. So I have a lot of things and 

people who help me and guide me. I have 

never had to go to a psychiatrist, but I would 

if I thought that I needed to. 

Q. But we are in New York, Dolly! No psychiatrist? 

A. “Well yes (laughs), I guess not. But I do that in 

my songs, I write my feelings out and then I 

have such a strong faith and then I have such 

good friends. I am very close to several of my 

sisters, and we just talk about everything and 

anything....And my best friend Judy, there is 

nothing I can’t tell her, even if it is the awfulest 

thing in the world.” 

Q. You recently had to deny gay rumors. Who 

is your greatest love? 

A. “My husband is my greatest love, I have been 

with him 48 years...He is my best buddy.” 

Q. Why do you think people always wonder 

about him? 

A. “They don’t think he really exists! When I was 

doing my show, we were thinking about having 

a different guy knock on the door every 

night, as my husband, and then one night he 

would be a midget, and one night he would 

be a black man, and one night he would be 

like a boxer or a wrestler, all these different 

things that people imagine what my husband 

looks like.” 

Q. You say that looking so artificial works for 

you, as it lets you prove how real you are. 

Why all the plastic surgery? 

A. “Because I need it. Why does anybody get it?” 

Q. Why do you think you need it? 

A. “Because I am in show business. I am not a 

natural beauty. And I am on camera all the 

time. And I just always see, like if I need - Oh 

take one of my chins off, at least! - Or whatever. 

I mean, I don’t go to extremes with it. I just 

do little bits and pieces, just to try and keep 

things touched up, just tweaking.” - Reuters 

This file photo shows US fashion designer Alexander Wang (left) posing with Japanese 

models Anna Tsuchiya (second left), Karina (second right) and Yuri Ebihara showing off 

new lipsticks and a lip gloss during a photo session for Maquillage series of Japan’s 

largest cosmetics manufacturer Shiseido in Tokyo. - AFP 

Balenciaga 

to tap US designer Alexande 

Balenciaga has tapped New York star 

Alexander Wang as its new designer, a 

report said yesterday, marking a shift 

for the French fashion house from its couture 

roots towards a younger, edgier look. 

Quoting market sources, trade magazine 

Women’s Wear Daily said Balenciaga would 

next week announce the appointment of the 

28-year-old Wang, one of the hottest names 

on the New York fashion scene. 

The choice of Wang-who was born to 

Taiwanese-American parents and whose 

own-name brand has been pushing into Asiacould 

also signal a willingness by the house to 

open up to the vast Chinese market. He 

would succeed the outgoing Nicolas 

Ghesquiere, whose surprise departure 

stunned the fashion galaxy this month and 

whose contract at the house ends yesterday. 

Paris fashion sources confirmed the choice 

of Wang, although Balenciaga, which is part 

of the PPR luxury group, declined to comment 

officially on what it said was just a 

“rumour.” Raised in San Francisco, Wang landed 

in New York aged 18 to study fashion at 

Parsons School of Design, designing a first 

collection under his own name while still a 

student. 

Launched in 2007, his first ready-to-wear 

women’s line blended relaxed chic and a 

streetwise edge, securing distribution in 200 

stores. The following year he won the prestigious 

Council of Fashion Designers of 

America/ Vogue Fashion Fund Award, with a 

200,000 dollar endowment to develop his 

business. 

At New York Fashion Week this September 

he reaffirmed his flair for the theatrical, juggling 

monochrome silhouettes, in sexy graphic 

lines, with futuristic outfits that glowed in 

the dark. A Mandarin speaker, Wang has traveled 

frequently over the years to Shanghai, 

where his mother lives, according to WWD. 

His father is based in Hong Kong. 

With a flagship in New York’s SoHo district, 

Wang earlier this year opened a major store in 

Beijing and has announced plans to open a 

dozen more stores in East Asia. PPR, whose 

fashion labels include Gucci, Yves Saint- 

Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Stella 

McCartney has owned Balenciaga since 2001. 

It took the fashion world by surprise by 

announcing the departure of its designer of 

15 years, who had put the historic house of 

Spanish designer Cristobal Balenciaga back 

on the fashion map in his time there. 

Turnover had been multiplied by 11 since the 

house was acquired by PPR, with two-figure 

growth for the first nine months of this year. 

Balenciaga’s chief executive Isabelle Guichot 

told AFP this month that the house was not 

planning a change of strategy following 

Ghesquiere’s departure. 

But for Serge Carreira, fashion industry 

expert and teacher at Sciences Po university 

in Paris, Wang’s appointment would mark a 

“clean break”. “At Balenciaga today there is a 

very couture spirit, a very Parisian elegance, 

whereas Wang plays on a modern and 

relaxed look,” he told AFP. Asking Wang to 

reinterpret its heritage could “help Balenciaga 

move away from a kind of technical virtuosity 

towards something just as modern, but suited 

to a wider market,” Carreira argued. The 

choice could also help Balenciaga “consolidate 

the historic, and fundamental US market, 

while positioning itself for the Chinese market, 

one of the biggest for the sector in the 

medium term.” - AFP


Models showcase creations by French designer Yin Yiqing yesterday in Singapore during the French 

Couture 2012 Singapore fashion show. - AP


KUWAIT: Microsoft Kuwait yesterday celebrated Windows 8 

with its customers. At a press conference this morning, 

Microsoft, along with its hardware partners Dell, Toshiba, Acer, 

Asus and Nokia, announced their presence at the Avenues 

mall phase 1 to showcase different hardware devices, touch 

based and laptops that are new to the Kuwaiti market, 

Windows 8 certified, and are available in all the retail stores 

starting today. Windows 8 offers a personalized experience to 

suit a wide range of requirements for the Kuwait market, 

whether it comes to work or play. 

Addressing this morning’s press conference, Ehab Mostafa, 

Country Manager, Microsoft Kuwait, said: “Kuwait has always 

been an early adopter of new technology, and in line with the 

global release of Windows 8 which happened on Oct 26, we’re 

taking this opportunity to celebrate the local arrival of 

Windows 8 on new devices with our consumers and partners.” 

He added: “This year is an exciting year for us, as we 

enhance and strengthen our relationships with leading hardware 

partners to bring innovative new devices to Kuwait. 

These new products are designed to make full use of the capabilities 

of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, and we’re positive 

that customers in Kuwait will see huge benefits when they 

experience the new Windows on the latest devices. 

“Business and consumer customers are going to get an 

enhanced experience when using the revolutionary and easyto-use 

new user interface of Windows 8, and will also benefit 

from the wide range of apps that will be available from the 

Windows Store,” added Mostafa. The latest features will be 

widely accessible to Kuwaiti users, with Windows 8 available 

on more than 1,000 new Windows 8 certified PC and touch 

based tablet models, all on sale at retail locations throughout 

Kuwait. Additionally, Windows 8 will be available for download 

to upgrade existing PCs running Windows XP, Windows 

Vista or Windows 7. The product will also be offered in 37 languages 

in Kuwait. 

To highlight the full Windows 8 experience, Microsoft has a 

fun and interactive booth located at the Avenues mall, from 

Nov 29-Dec 8. Microsoft is teaming up with its hardware partners 

to display the latest Windows 8 certified devices, where 

mall visitors can try before they buy. 

Nokia will be displaying its latest Lumia 920 and 820 

Windows 8 Phone devices at the Avenues stand. The Nokia 

Lumia 920 is the flagship Windows Phone 8 smartphone, featuring 

Arabic language capabilities and the latest advances in 

Nokia PureView imaging technology for crisp, clear video and 

photos without flash. Dell is helping customers in Kuwait 

touch the future with a refreshed portfolio of business and 

consumer PCs built for Microsoft Windows 8, designed to provide 

a more intuitive computing experience and address 

evolving customer desires. Dell’s new systems deliver on the 

promise of new advances in computing: a leading-edge and 

intuitive touch experience, the security and manageability 

required by today’s always-on pace and the design aesthetic, 

style and precision workmanship customers demand. 

As part of its ‘In Search of Incredible’ journey, ASUS 

unveiled a complete new line-up of Windows 8 touch enabled 

products. The new range enables new forms of functionality 

and applications targeting the entire spectrum of home and 

office users, while setting a new standard in performance, ease 

of use and innovative design. Toshiba PCs showcase the possibilities 

of what Windows 8 can do, providing a responsive 

touch experience on beautiful, precisely engineered hardware. 

Consumers will love interacting with Windows 8 on these 

devices. This is the beginning of a new generation of hardware 

development designed to take advantage of touch from 

Toshiba. 

Acer designs products to enable everyone to explore 

beyond limits. The cool, fluid designs have smooth surfaces 

that make these notebooks comfortable to the touch. The 

notebooks are specifically designed for easy navigation and 

enhanced productivity through ergonomic design. In addition 

to the new devices, where the booth internet connection is 

powered by Mada Communications, Microsoft is offering to 

take photographs of you at the picture booth and an interactive 

zone. For children there is a special Kid Zone particularly 

set up for their fun experience from gaming to educational 

apps. The latest OS is available in two retail versions, Windows 

8 and Windows 8 Pro. For business customers, Windows 8 

TECHNOLOGY 

KUWAIT: Microsoft booth at The Avenues. KUWAIT: The officials are pictured at the Microsoft press conference. 

Microsoft announces launch 

of Windows 8 in Kuwait 

TOKYO: A small humanoid robot that 

can talk will be sent into space to provide 

conversational company for a 

Japanese astronaut on a six-month 

mission, according to new plans. The 

miniature robot will arrive at the 

International Space Station next summer, 

a few months ahead of astronaut 

Koichi Wakata, Japan’s Kibo (Hope) 

Robot Project office said Thursday. At 

34 centimetres (13.4 inches) tall and 

weighing about one kilogram (2.2 

pounds), the little android is programmed 

to recognise Wakata’s face 

and to communicate in Japanese, the 

project office said, adding that it will 

also take photos during the trip. 

The robot will send information to 

Earth from the Japanese Kibo laboratory 

on the space station, where it will 

spend its time while Wakata is busy 

carrying out his mission as ISS commander. 

A cartoon sketch of the space bud- 

Abeer Kamal, Marketing Manager 

Enterprise offers new possibilities in mobile productivity with 

features like Windows To Go, DirectAccess, and BranchCache, 

as well as enhanced end-to-end security with features including 

BitLocker and AppLocker. Launched at the same time is a 

new member of the Windows family designed for ARM-based 

tablets, Windows RT, which is available pre-installed on new 

devices. Windows 8 features the new fast and fluid Start 

screen that gives people one-click access to the apps and content 

they care most about, the entirely new Internet Explorer 

10 that is perfect for touch, and built-in cloud capabilities with 

SkyDrive. 

In addition to the range of new devices available, consumers 

can also upgrade their existing PCs. Through the end of 

January, consumers currently running PCs with Windows XP, 

Windows Vista or Windows 7, are qualified to download 

Windows 8 Pro for an estimated retail price of $39.99. 

Robot to keep Japan astronaut company 

TOKYO: This 

drawing shows a 

small robot which 

will be taken into 

space with 

Japanese 

astronaut Koichi 

Wakata. — AFP 

dy was released on Thursday and 

showed a black-and-silver figure with 

bright red boots. 

Mission organisers are asking for 

suggestions from the public for a 

name for the robot, which will also 

have a twin brother on Earth doing 

public relations. A team of Tokyo 

University researchers, leading advertising 

agency Dentsu and robot creator 

Tomotaka Takahashi are organising 

the project. — AFP


SAN FRANCISCO: For Leo Apotheker, 

the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, a July 

2011 meeting with Autonomy founder 

Mike Lynch at a chic seaside resort in 

France was pivotal to his effort to 

remake a storied technology giant. In 

the nine months since taking the helm 

at HP, Apotheker had tried furiously to 

find a way to move the lumbering company 

away from its low-margin computer 

hardware business and into the lucrative 

corporate software and services arena. 

Apotheker was looking for a big, 

transformative acquisition, two people 

familiar with the situation said, and after 

overtures to several companies went 

nowhere, he set his sights on 

Autonomy. 

After two months of negotiations on 

what was known at HP as “Project 

Tesla,” Apotheker sat down with Lynch 

at a hotel in Deauville on the Normandy 

coast - and shook hands on what would 

become an $11.1 billion deal. The 

Autonomy takeover was indeed a 

bombshell - but not in the way that 

Apotheker had hoped. When it was 

announced in August 2011, HP’s stock 

plummeted amid withering criticism of 

the price tag. Within weeks, Apotheker 

was out of a job. Within months, Lynch 

and his new masters at HP were at war. 

Inside a year, Lynch had been forced 

out and HP was investigating allegations 

of major accounting irregularities 

at Autonomy. That culminated in HP 

saying last week it was writing off more 

than three-quarters of the value of 

Autonomy, and telling US and UK regulators 

about alleged accounting fraud. 

The implosion of the Autonomy deal has 

raised questions about how HP and its 

army of lawyers, accountants and 

investment bankers could have overlooked 

warning signs and gone ahead 

with the acquisition. 

Reuters spoke with close to a dozen 

people directly connected with the deal 

or the accounting investigation. The picture 

that emerges is of a company so 

desperate to plot a new course that it 

may have been far too accepting of 

Autonomy’s published and audited 

accounts. It has also cast a shadow over 

Lynch, widely regarded as a brilliant but 

difficult executive; he left HP in May and 

has flatly rejected the company’s claims 

of accounting shenanigans or that HP 

had been deliberately deceived. 

CEO’S rocky reign 

Apotheker’s appointment as CEO of 

HP in November 2010 was greeted even 

at the time with head-scratching - and 

criticism. A veteran of the German corporate 

software maker SAP, he had no 

obvious qualifications to run HP - a company 

with sales several times SAP’s - 

especially given his lack of experience in 

the computer hardware business. But 

the U.S. company was reeling from a 

series of boardroom imbroglios that culminated 

in the firing of then-CEO Mark 

Hurd in a sexual harassment scandal in 

August 2010. 

Apotheker went on the acquisition 

trail almost immediately, even though 

previous HP takeovers like Compaq and 

Palm had not worked out well. He was 

given the mandate of moving HP in a 

new direction - software seemed logical 

given the decline in HP’s traditional 

computer business - and felt the need 

for a transformative acquisition to do 

that, according to one of the sources. 

He “knocked on a number of doors,” 

according to another of the sources, 

looking as far and wide as the telecom 

software companies Comverse 

Technology and Amdocs , and corporate 

software maker Tibco Software. 

It’s not clear how far talks with those 

three progressed. According to one of 

the sources, HP backed off from 

Comverse because the company was 

not current with its published accounts 

and because of previously disclosed 

involvement in an options accounting 

scandal. HP could not agree on a price 

with Tibco, and Amdocs rebuffed it, saying 

the time wasn’t right for a deal. 

Spokespeople for Amdocs and 

Comverse declined to comment. Tibco 

did not respond to requests for comment. 

Apotheker then set his sights on 

Autonomy. It was a pioneer in the upand-coming 

field of “big data” - software 

that can separate the wheat from the 

chaff in huge mountains of corporate 

data - and could serve as a centerpiece 

for the new strategy. This time, 

Apotheker was determined not to miss 

out. He was “not being able to really 

have anybody dance with him at the 

right price,” said the source with direct 

knowledge of the deal. “What happened 

is he talked to Autonomy and they got 

into a dialogue and he told the board 

that we have to do something,” this person 

said. 

“It was out of frustration and desperation 

to a large degree.” HP began looking 

at Autonomy in earnest around May 

last year, bringing in investment bank 

Barclays as adviser. Boutique investment 

bank Perella Weinberg Partners had 

TECHNOLOGY 

Living Social cuts 10% of staff 

WASHINGTON: Online deals firm Living Social said 

Thursday it was cutting 400 jobs, or 10 percent of 

its staff, in a retrenchment which follows big losses 

for the company. Company spokesman Andrew 

Weinstein said in an email that most of the jobs 

were US-based but that “a couple dozen” positions 

were in international locations. “After two years of 

hyper-growth from 450 to more than 4,500 employees, 

these moves will align our cost structure 

against our 2013 plans and will help us set the company 

on a path for long-term growth and profitabil- 

NEW YORK: This photo shows New York City Police Officer 

Larry DePrimo presenting a barefoot homeless man in 

New York’s Time Square with boots. — AP 

NYPD officer’s 

kindness sparks 

online sensation 

NEW YORK: A tourist’s snapshot of a New York City police 

officer giving new boots to a barefoot homeless man in 

Times Square has created an online sensation. Jennifer 

Foster, of Florence, Ariz, was visiting New York with her 

boyfriend on Nov 14, when she came across the shoeless 

man asking for change in Times Square. As she was about to 

approach him, she said the officer - identified as Larry 

DePrimo - came up to the man with a pair of all-weather 

boots and thermal socks on the frigid night. She recorded 

his generosity on her cellphone. 

DePrimo, speaking to reporters on Thursday, remembered 

the night clearly, that even with two pairs of socks on, 

his feet were freezing. The homeless man “didn’t even have 

a pair of socks on and I could only imagine how cold that 

pavement was,” the 25-year-old said, clutching a box containing 

cufflinks given to him by Police Commissioner 

Raymond Kelly. 

Foster’s photo was posted Tuesday night to the NYPD’s 

official Facebook page and became an instant hit. More 

than 420,000 users “liked” it as of Thursday evening, and 

more than 140,000 shared it. Thousands of people commented, 

including one person who praised him as “An officer 

AND a Gentleman.” The photo shows the officer kneeling 

beside the man with the boots at his feet. A shoe store is 

seen in the background. 

“I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. 

Let’s put them on and take care of you,” Foster quoted 

DePrimo as saying to the man. She wrote: “The officer squatted 

down on the ground and proceeded to put socks and 

the new boots on this man. The officer expected NOTHING 

in return and did not know I was watching.” 

DePrimo said buying the boots “was something I had to 

do.” He tried to persuade the man to get something to eat, 

but he declined and left. “When I brought out the shoes, it 

was just a smile from ear to ear,” he said. “It was a great 

moment for both of us.” DePrimo said he only told his family 

about the incident at the time, and was surprised when a 

friend told him the photo was posted on the Internet some 

time later. —AP 

ity,” the statement said. 

“Specifically, they will us to allow us to invest more 

in critical priorities like marketing, mobile, and the hiring 

of additional technology staff.” The spokesman 

added that Eric Eichmann, president of LivingSocial’s 

international business unit, is also leaving under a 

“mutual decision” with management. Washingtonbased 

Living Social has been under pressure along 

with its larger rival, Groupon, as consumers show 

fatigue over online deals offers. 

The firms aim to make money by selling members 

deals for discounts on activities, items or services and 

then splitting the money with the businesses 

involved. Both firms have been seeking to diversify, 

but have been struggling to become profitable. 

Amazon, which owns a stake in LivingSocial reported 

a writedown of $169 million recently on that investment 

under accounting rules requiring a charge 

against earnings to reflect the lower estimated value 

of the company. LivingSocal has deferred talk of a 

public offering. Groupon shares have slid some 80 

percent since its IPO last year. — AFP 

How a desperate HP suspended 

disbelief for Autonomy deal 

Autonomy founder rejects HP fraud allegations 

already been hired to look at ways of 

restructuring HP’s businesses. In early 

July of 2011 the board met to do a twoday 

review of the rationale behind the 

acquisition. During that process, the 

board set guidelines for the deal, including 

the price, and agreed on a process 

to do due diligence, two people familiar 

with the process said. It voted to enter 

into negotiations at the end of the two 

days. 

Dealmaker 

Throughout the process, Apotheker 

remained in direct contact and consulted 

with HP Chairman Ray Lane, the person 

said, adding that Lane - a former top 

executive at software giant Oracle - 

encouraged management to proceed 

with the deal. By the end of July, 

Apotheker and Lynch - who were previously 

acquainted because HP was an 

Autonomy customer - narrowed down 

financial terms at the hotel in Deauville, 

though didn’t finalize the price. Also 

present was then HP chief strategy officer 

Shane Robison, who has been credited 

by HP with being the main architect 

of many of HP’s larger deals, including 

another troubled acquisition - its purchase 

of technology services firm EDS. 

Robison was pushed out of HP shortly 

after Apotheker left last year. 

At the meeting, Apotheker presented 

HP’s view about putting the companies 

together - with Robison chipping in 

when needed, one source said. Robison, 

who has not spoken publicly about 

Autonomy’s accounting issues, did not 

respond to requests for comment sent to 

representatives at Fusion-io and Altera 

Corp, companies where he is a board 

member. For some weeks, both sides 

went back and forth on the price, with 

Robison playing a pivotal role in pitching 

the deal internally, and getting it finalized. 

Inside HP, it was seen as Apotheker’s 

and Robison’s deal, the sources said. In 

the end, uber-dealmaker Frank 

Quattrone, whose Qatalyst Partners was 

representing Autonomy, proved instrumental 

in securing for its shareholders 

the lofty price tag, according to another 

source familiar with the negotiations. 

While the price haggling was going on, a 

large due diligence team numbering in 

the hundreds, including internal HP staff 

from all relevant departments like 

finance, poured over Autonomy’s books, 

examined contracts, and interviewed 

Autonomy’s top executives, sources said. 

External experts involved in the process 

included accounting firm KPMG, law 

firms and bankers. — Reuters


03:25 Air Jaws Apocalypse 

04:15 Monster Bug Wars 

05:05 Wild France 

05:55 Gibbons: Back In The Swing 

06:20 Going Ape 

06:45 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 

07:35 Wildlife SOS 

08:00 Talk To The Animals 

08:25 Dogs 101 

09:15 Crocodile Hunter 

10:10 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 

11:05 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 

11:30 Breed All About It 

12:00 Jeff Corwin Unleashed 

12:25 The Really Wild Show 


13:50 Great Ocean Adventures 

14:45 The Jeff Corwin Experience 





19:20 Queens Of The Savannah 

20:15 Queens Of The Savannah 

21:10 Running With Wolves 


23:00 My Cat From Hell 

23:55 Baboons With Bill Bailey 

00:00 Extreme Makeover: Home 

Edition 

00:45 Come Dine With Me 

01:35 Antiques Roadshow 

02:30 Fantasy Homes In The City 

03:20 Celebrity Fantasy Homes 

04:05 The Restaurant UK 

05:05 House Swap 

05:50 Saturday Kitchen 

06:15 The Restaurant UK 

07:15 House Swap 






12:20 Baking Made Easy 

12:50 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 

13:15 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 

13:40 The Hairy Bakers 

14:10 Come Dine With Me 

15:00 Bargain Hunt 


16:30 Extreme Makeover: Home 

Edition 

17:45 Baking Made Easy 

18:10 The Hairy Bakers 





22:00 Cash In The Attic 

22:45 Cash In The Attic 


03:00 BBC World News 

03:10 Weekend World 





05:30 Horizons 


06:10 Masters Of Money 


07:30 Fast Track 


08:30 Middle East Business Report 


09:30 Click 





11:10 Football Focus 

11:30 Horizons 


12:10 Why Poverty? 


13:10 World Features 

13:30 Newsnight 



14:30 Mishal Husain Meets 


15:30 The Firing Line 


16:15 Sport Today 



17:30 Dateline London 


18:10 World Features 



19:30 Mishal Husain Meets 


20:30 Final Score 




22:15 Sport Today 

22:30 Click 


23:10 Why Poverty? 

03:15 Looney Tunes 

03:40 Help! It’s The Hair Bear Bunch 

04:00 Dexter’s Laboratory 

04:25 Tom & Jerry 


05:15 The Scooby Doo Show 

05:40 Johnny Bravo 

06:00 The Flintstones 

06:25 The Jetsons 

06:50 Wacky Races 

07:00 Dexters Laboratory 


07:35 The Addams Family 

08:00 Bananas In Pyjamas 

08:25 Jelly Jamm 

08:50 Baby Looney Tunes 

09:15 Gerald McBoing Boing 

09:40 Cartoonito Tales 

09:55 Moomins 

10:20 The Looney Tunes Show 

10:40 Taz-Mania 

11:05 What’s New Scooby Doo? 

11:30 Tom & Jerry Tales 

11:55 Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries 


BLOOD OUT ON OSN ACTION HD 

12:30 Puppy In My Pocket 

12:55 Moomins 

13:20 Pink Panther And Pals 

13:45 The Garfield Show 



14:35 Dastardly And Muttley 

15:00 The Addams Family 





16:55 Pink Panther And Pals 

17:20 Scooby Doo Where Are You! 

17:45 New Yogi Bear Show 



18:50 Dexters Laboratory 

19:05 Taz-Mania 

19:30 The New Scooby Doo Movies 

20:15 The New Scooby Doo Movies 


21:10 Tom & Jerry Tales 

21:35 Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries 

22:00 The Looney Tunes Show 

22:25 What’s New Scooby Doo? 




03:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 

04:00 The Amazing World Of 

Gumball 

04:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 

04:50 Adventure Time 

05:15 The Powerpuff Girls 

05:40 Generator Rex 

06:05 Ben 10 

06:30 Ben 10 

06:55 Angelo Rules 

07:00 Ed, Edd n Eddy 

07:30 Casper’s Scare School 

08:00 The Marvelous Misadventures... 

08:25 Redakai: Conquer The Kairu 

08:45 Grim Adventures Of... 

09:35 Scooby-Doo! Mystery 

Incorporated 

09:55 Level Up 

10:15 Batman: The Brave And The 

Bold 

10:35 Transformers Prime 

11:00 Ben 10: Omniverse 

11:25 Thundercats 

11:50 Regular Show 



Gumball 

13:05 Johnny Test 




15:10 Green Lantern: The Animated 

Series 

15:35 Transformers Prime 

16:00 Angelo Rules 

16:50 Ben 10: Omniverse 

17:15 Generator Rex 

17:40 Eliot Kid 

18:30 Regular Show 



Gumball 

20:10 Johnny Test 

20:35 Ben 10: Alien Force 

21:00 Ben 10: Alien Force 


22:15 Grim Adventures Of... 




TV listings 

03:00 World Report 

03:30 World Sport 

04:00 Anderson Cooper 360 

05:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 

06:00 Quest Means Business 

06:45 CNN Marketplace Africa 

07:00 The Situation Room 


08:30 Leading Women 

08:45 Future Cities 



09:30 Backstory 


10:15 CNN Marketplace Middle East 

10:30 Sanjay Gupta MD 


11:30 Winning Post 

11:45 The Gateway 

12:00 The Best Of The Situation Room 

13:00 Amanpour 

13:30 The Brief 


14:30 Inside Africa 

15:00 Talk Asia 

15:30 I Report For CNN 


16:30 On China 

17:00 Going Green 

17:30 Backstory 

18:00 International Desk 

18:30 African Voices 

19:00 CNN Marketplace Europe 


19:30 The Brief 


20:30 Open Court 


21:30 Inside Africa 


22:30 Leading Women 

22:45 Future Cities 

23:00 The Best Of The Situation Room 

03:00 Mythbusters 

03:55 Border Security 

04:20 Auction Kings 

04:50 Auction Kings 

05:15 How Stuff’s Made 

05:40 How It’s Made 

06:05 Hillbilly Handfishin’ 

09:10 Extreme Engineering 

10:05 X-Machines 

10:55 Rattlesnake Republic 

11:50 Gold Rush 

12:45 Tallest Tower: Building The 

Shard 

13:40 American Chopper: Senior vs 

Junior:... 

14:35 Wheeler Dealers 

15:30 Dynamo: Magician Impossible 

16:25 Mythbusters Dirty Dozen 

17:20 Curiosity: Can You Live 

Forever? 

18:15 How We Invented The World 

19:10 Masters Of Survival 

20:05 Ultimate Survival 

21:00 Outback Truckers 

21:55 Deadliest Catch 

22:50 Gold Divers 

23:45 American Guns 

03:15 Mega World 

04:05 Weird Connections 

04:35 Colony 

05:25 Prototype This 

06:15 The Gadget Show 

06:40 The Tech Show 

07:05 Joao Magueijo’s Big Bang 

08:00 Curiosity 

08:50 Brave New World 

09:40 Head Rush 

09:43 Sci-Fi Science 

10:10 Sci-Fi Science 

10:40 Man-Made Marvels Asia 

11:30 Sport Science 





15:45 Through The Wormhole With 

Morgan Freeman 

16:35 Things That Move 

17:00 Head Rush 

17:03 Tech Toys 360 

17:30 Tech Toys 360 

18:00 Through The Wormhole With 

Morgan Freeman 

18:50 Scrapheap Challenge 

19:40 Junk Men 

20:05 Junk Men 

20:30 Meteorite Men 

21:20 How Tech Works 

21:45 How Tech Works 



23:00 Meteorite Men 

23:50 Things That Move 

03:05 Emperor’s New School 

03:30 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 

03:55 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 

04:20 Replacements 

04:45 Replacements 

05:10 Kim Possible 

05:35 Kim Possible 

06:00 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 

06:15 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 

06:40 Suite Life On Deck 

07:05 A.N.T. Farm 

07:30 A.N.T. Farm 

07:55 Jessie 

08:20 My Babysitter’s A Vampire 

08:45 Phineas And Ferb 


09:10 Good Luck Charlie 

09:35 Austin And Ally 

10:00 Gravity Falls 

10:25 Cadet Kelly 




13:20 Jessie 

13:45 Wizards Of Waverly Place 

14:10 Wizards Of Waverly Place 







17:00 Avalon High 

18:25 Good Luck Charlie 

18:45 Camp Rock 




21:15 A.N.T. Farm 

21:40 Jessie 

22:05 Jessie 

22:30 Fish Hooks 

22:45 Fish Hooks 

22:55 The Suite Life Of Zack And 

Cody 

23:20 The Suite Life Of Zack And 

Cody 

23:45 Stitch 

03:15 Behind The Scenes 

03:40 Extreme Close-Up 

04:10 THS 

05:05 THS 

06:00 THS 

07:50 Behind The Scenes 

08:20 E! News 

09:15 Keeping Up With The 

Kardashians 

10:15 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 

11:10 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 

12:05 E! News 

13:05 Scouted 

14:05 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 

14:30 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 

15:00 Married To Jonas 


15:55 Opening Act 

16:55 Opening Act 

17:55 E! News 


Kardashians 


Kardashians 


21:25 Fashion Police 

22:25 E! News 

23:25 Chelsea Lately 

23:55 Scouted 

03:10 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 

03:35 Heat Seekers 


04:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 


05:15 Guy’s Big Bite 

05:40 Grill It! With Bobby Flay


06:05 Unwrapped 

06:30 Iron Chef America 

07:10 Barefoot Contessa - Back To 

Basics 


Basics 

08:00 Winning Holiday Cookies 

08:50 Food Network Challenge 

09:40 United Tastes Of America 


Basics 


Basics 

10:55 Cooking For Real 


11:45 Charly’s Cake Angels 

12:10 Unique Sweets 



13:50 Guy’s Big Bite 



Basics 

15:05 Mexican Made Easy 

15:30 Winning Holiday Cookies 

16:20 United Tastes Of America 

16:45 Chopped 


Basics 


Basics 



19:15 Kid In A Candy Store 

19:40 Unique Sweets 

20:05 Charly’s Cake Angels 

20:30 Chopped 


22:10 Iron Chef America Special 

23:00 Chopped 

23:50 Unwrapped 

03:05 Police Women Of Memphis 

03:55 I Escaped Death 

04:45 Dr. G: Medical Examiner 

05:30 The Haunted 

06:20 A Haunting 

07:10 Disappeared 

08:00 Mystery Diagnosis 

08:50 Street Patrol 


09:40 Real Emergency Calls 

10:05 Who On Earth Did I Marry? 

10:30 True Crime With Aphrodite 

Jones 

11:20 Murder Shift 


13:00 Mystery Diagnosis 



14:40 Forensic Detectives 

15:30 True Crime With Aphrodite 

Jones 

16:20 Real Emergency Calls 


17:10 Murder Shift 


18:50 Forensic Detectives 


20:05 On The Case With Paula Zahn 


21:20 Nightmare Next Door 

22:10 Couples Who Kill 

23:00 The Haunted 

23:50 Ghost Lab 

03:00 My Sri Lanka With Peter 

Kuruvita 

03:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The 

Planet 


Planet 

04:25 Travel Madness 

04:50 Travel Madness 

05:20 Bondi Rescue 


06:15 Street Food Around The World 

06:40 Market Values 

07:10 Roam 

07:35 Deadliest Journeys 2 

08:05 Deadliest Journeys 




09:55 Perilous Journeys 

10:50 Race To The Bottom of The 

Earth 

11:45 Danger Beach 



Kuruvita 


Kuruvita 


Planet 


Planet 

14:30 Extreme Expeditions 

15:25 Roam 




18:10 Perilous Journeys 


20:00 Street Food Around The World 

20:30 Market Values 

21:00 Roam 






04:00 The Untouchables-PG15 

06:00 The Green Hornet-PG15 

08:00 True Justice: Deadly Crossing- 

PG15 

10:00 The Green Hornet-PG15 

12:00 Little Big Soldier-PG15 

14:00 True Justice: Deadly Crossing- 

PG15 

16:00 Returner-PG15 

18:00 Little Big Soldier-PG15 

20:00 Blood Out-18 

22:00 Striking Distance-PG15 

03:00 9-PG 

05:00 According To Greta-PG15 

07:00 Chasing 3000-PG15 

09:00 13-PG15 

11:00 Arrietty-FAM 

13:00 My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend-PG15 

15:00 Uncorked-PG15 

17:00 Teen Spirit-PG15 

19:00 The Company Men-PG15 

21:00 Last Night-PG15 

23:00 Paranormal Activity 3-18 

03:00 Raising Hope 

03:30 30 Rock 

04:00 Samantha Who? 

04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay 

Leno 

06:30 Friends 

07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 



10:00 Two And A Half Men 

10:30 Community 


Leno 

12:00 Friends 


14:00 30 Rock 

14:30 Community 


15:30 The Daily Show With Jon 

Stewart 

16:00 The Colbert Report 

16:30 Friends 



18:30 30 Rock 



Leno 

21:00 The Daily Show With Jon 

Stewart 

21:30 The Colbert Report 

22:00 Saturday Night Live 

23:00 Family Guy 


03:00 Perception 

04:00 Greek 

05:00 Good Morning America 

07:00 The Practice 

08:00 Emmerdale 

08:30 Coronation Street 

09:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 

PANORAMAL ACTIVITY ON OSN CINEMA 

10:00 Bunheads 

11:00 The Practice 

12:00 The X Factor U.S. 

13:00 Glee 

14:00 Bunheads 


16:00 Live Good Morning America 




19:00 Bones 

20:00 C.S.I. 

21:00 C.S.I. Miami 

22:00 Breakout Kings 

23:00 Greek 

03:00 The Tudors 



06:00 Body Of Proof 



08:00 White Collar 

09:00 Glee 


11:00 Survivor: Philippines 





15:00 Body Of Proof 




19:00 Bones 

20:00 C.S.I. 

21:00 C.S.I. Miami 

22:00 Breakout Kings 

23:00 The Tudors 

03:00 Beneath The Darkness-PG15 

05:00 Aeon Flux-PG15 

TV listings 

07:00 True Justice: Vengeance Is 

Mine-PG15 

09:00 Final Fantasy: The Spirits 

Within-PG 

11:00 Aeon Flux-PG15 

13:00 Rocky-PG15 

15:00 Final Fantasy: The Spirits 

Within-PG 

17:00 Inside Out-PG15 

19:00 Thick As Thieves-18 

21:00 Striking Distance-PG15 

23:00 They Wait-18 

04:00 Dinner For Schmucks-PG15 

06:00 Prom-PG15 

08:00 Say Anything-PG15 

10:00 Open Season 3-FAM 

12:00 Morning Glory-PG15 

14:00 Scooby-Doo-PG 

16:00 Open Season 3-FAM 

18:00 Easy A-PG15 

20:00 Nothing To Lose-PG15 

22:00 American Virgin-18 

03:15 Winter’s Bone-18 

05:00 Coyote Ugly-PG15 

06:45 The Insider-PG15 

09:30 Boy-PG15 

11:00 Dear John-PG15 

13:00 Relative Stranger-PG15 

15:00 Boy-PG15 

17:00 Justice For Natalee Holloway- 

PG15 

19:00 Burlesque-PG15 

21:00 The Fighter-PG15 

23:00 The Weather Man-18 

04:00 Rising Stars-PG15 

05:45 Winnie The Pooh-FAM 

07:15 Call Of The Wild-PG15 

09:00 Glee: The Concert Movie-PG15 

10:30 Blackthorn-PG15 

12:30 The Tree Of Life-PG15 

14:45 Game Change-PG15 

16:45 Glee: The Concert Movie-PG15 

18:15 127 Hours-PG15 

20:00 Marley-PG15 

22:30 The Hangover 2-18 

04:15 Blue Elephant 2-FAM 

06:00 Queen Of The Swallows-FAM 

08:00 Freddy Frogface-PG 

10:00 Rebound-PG 

11:30 The Nimbols: Part II-FAM 

13:00 Jetsons: The Movie-FAM 

14:30 The Apple & The Worm-FAM 

16:00 Shark Tale-PG 

18:00 Rebound-PG 

20:00 Scooter The Penguin-FAM 

22:00 Jetsons: The Movie-FAM 

23:30 Freddy Frogface-PG 

03:00 Live NBC Nightly News 

03:30 ABC World News With Diane 

Sawyer 

04:00 MSNBC The Ed Show 

05:00 MSNBC The Rachel Maddow 

Show 

06:00 MSNBC Politicsnation 


07:35 ABC Nightline 

08:00 ABC World News With Diane 

Sawyer 


09:00 MSNBC The Rachel Maddow 

Show 

10:00 MSNBC The Ed Show 

11:00 MSNBC Morning Joe 

14:00 MSNBC Caught On Camera 

15:00 Live NBC Saturday Today Show 

17:00 MSNBC Up With Chris Hayes 

Saturday 

18:57 Live MSNBC Hardball With 

Chris Matthews 

19:38 Live MSNBC The Ed Show 

20:19 Live MSNBC The Rachel 

Maddow Show 

21:00 ABC 20/20 

22:00 MSNBC News 

23:00 MSNBC News 

03:30 Michael Jackson: The Life Of An 

Icon-PG15 

06:00 Alabama Moon-PG15 

08:00 A Cinderella Story: Once Upon 

A Song-PG 

10:00 A Guy Thing-PG15 

11:45 Take Shelter-PG15 

14:00 Kung Fu Magoo-FAM 

16:00 A Cinderella Story: Once Upon 

A Song-PG 

18:00 Jack And Jill-PG15 

20:00 Marley-PG15 

22:30 Wuthering Heights-18 

04:00 Ryder Cup Official Film 

05:30 Live Cricket Test Match 

13:30 Trans World Sport 

14:30 Top 14 

16:30 ICC Cricket 360 

17:00 Futbol Mundial 

17:30 Live Rugby Union International 

19:30 Cricket Test Match 

03:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 


05:00 Top 14 

07:00 Trans World Sport 

08:15 Live HSBC Sevens World Series 



15:00 ICC Cricket 360 


19:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 

20:00 Rugby Union International 

22:00 Top 14 

03:00 Total Rugby 


03:30 Mass Participation 

06:00 Golfing World 

07:00 NedBank Golf Challenge 

12:30 Top 14 

14:00 Live Snooker UK Championship 


22:00 Live Snooker UK Championship 

03:00 WWE Bottom Line 

04:00 UFC Unleashed 

05:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 

06:00 UFC Unleashed 

07:00 Live V8 Supercars 

09:00 WWE SmackDown 

11:00 WWE Bottom Line 


12:30 Live The Nedbank Golf 

Challenge 

18:00 Live Top 14 

20:00 V8 Supercars 


22:45 Live Pro 12 

03:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle 

Rides 

04:00 Essential 

04:30 Vegas Stripped 

05:00 Globe Trekker 

06:00 Departures 

07:00 Off Limits 


09:00 Flavours Of Colombia 

09:30 Flavours Of Colombia 

10:00 Flavours Of Spain 

10:30 Glutton For Punishment 

11:30 Glutton For Punishment 

12:00 Planet Food 


14:00 Departures 

15:00 Off Limits 

16:00 Bert The Conqueror 

16:30 Essential 

17:00 Globe Trekker Around The 

World 


19:00 Travel 360 

20:00 Cruising The Icelandic Fjords 

21:00 The Ethical Hedonist 

22:00 Around Iceland On Inspiration 


04:40 Elvis On Tour-PG 

06:15 Penelope-FAM 

08:00 The Angel Wore Red-PG 

09:35 The Adventures Of 

Huckleberry...-FAM 

11:20 Come Fly With Me-FAM 

13:05 Flipper’s New Adventure-FAM 

14:40 How The West Was Won-PG 

17:10 Show Boat-FAM 

18:55 The Hill-PG 

21:05 Meet Me In St. Louis-FAM 

23:00 The Night Of The Iguana


Places of interest 

Sadu House 

Al Sadu House stands on Arabian Gulf Street near the 

National Museum, representing one of the last preserved preoil 

-era dwellings in Kuwait. Al Sadu House became a centre for 

Bedouin art and the sale of traditional goods In 1979. Visitors 

can observe Bedouin women weaving at their looms, handmaking 

carpets, camel bags and tent screens. 

Opening hours are Saturday to Thursday from 8:00 am to 

1:00 p.m and from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m daily except Friday. (Tel: 

+965 2243.2395) Admission is FREE. 

Science & Natural 

History Museum 

A wealth of education awaits the visitor to the Science and 

Natural History Museum on Abdulla Al Mubarak Street. Each 

gallery contains either a collection or an exhibit covering a 

wide range of themes. Collections on display Include fossils, 

stuffed animals, skeletons, and dried flowers. There are 

exhibits on health, petroleum, space travel, and electronics, 

among others. Forming part of the National Museum complex, 

the wonderful, modern Planetarium In the museum 

complex has shows at around 18:00 daily: local children, convinced 

the room is spinning, clap In syncopated beats every 

time the accompanying music begins. 

A museum planetarium shows: Mornings: 1st Show: 10:00 

a.m; 2nd Show: 11:00 a. m; 3rd Show: 12:00 p.m Evenings: 1st 

Show: 5:00 p.m; 2nd Show: 5:45 p.m; 3rd Show : 6:00 p.m. Note: 

Friday & Saturday no morning shows. (Tel: +965 22451195; 

+965 22456534). Admission is FREE. 

The Dickson House 

The house of the first British political agent In Kuwait is still 

standing. The Dickson House, located across from the dhow 

harbour east of Sief Palace, was originally a Kuwaiti home built 

in 1870, but was given to Britain to use as residential headquarters. 

The compound was expanded several times over the 

years, but stands as an excellent example of early Kuwaiti architectural 

styles. Opening hours are from Saturday to Thursday 

8:30 a.m-12:30 p.m and 4:30 a.m-8:30 p.m Friday 4:30 a.m - 8:30 

p.m. Admission is FREE. 

Al-Qurain Museum 

Located in the residential suburb of Qurain, This small museum 

is a memorial to a cell of young Kuwaiti patriots who tried 

to resist arrest in February 1991. Early In the morning, Iraqis 

bombarded the house for hours with machine guns, bombs 

and eventually a tank. Monday to Saturday 8.30 a.m - 12.30 p.m; 

4.30a.m -8.30 p.m Friday morning off. Afternoon: 4.30 a.m-8.30 

pm. Winter Visiting hours: 4-8.30 pm. 1st Day of Eid off. Tel: 

+965 25430343 

WHAT’S ON 

Embassy 

Information 

EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA 

The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not 

have a visa or immigration department. All 

processing of visas and immigration matters 

in conducted by The Australian Consulate- 

General in Dubai. Email: 

info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au 

(Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 

355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); 

Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait 

applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa 

Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan 

Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite 

the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, 

Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; 

Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website 

www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. 

Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line 

at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm. 

n n n n n n n 

EMBASSY OF ARGENTINA 

The Embassy of Argentina requests all 

Argentinean citizens in Kuwait to proceed to 

our official email ekuwa@mrecic.gov.ar in 

order to register or update contact information. 

The embassy encourages all citizens to do so, 

including the ones who have already registered in 

person at the embassy. The registration process 

helps the Argentinean Government to contact and 

assist Argentineans living abroad in case of any 

emergency. 

n n n n n n n 

EMBASSY OF BRITAIN 

Consular section at the British Embassy will 

be starting an online appointment booking 

system for our consular customers from 

Sunday, 01 July 2012. All information including 

how to make an appointment is now available 

on the embassy website. In addition, there is also a 

“Consular Appointment System” option under 

Quick links on the right hand side on the homepage, 

which should take you to the “Consular 

online booking appointment system” main page. 

Please be aware that from 01 July 2012, we will no 

longer accept walk-in customers for legalisation, 

notarial services and certificates (birth, death and 

marriages). If you have problems accessing the system 

or need to make an appointment for nonnotarial 

consular issues or have a consular emergency, 

please call 2259 4355/7/8 or email us on 

consularenquirieskuwait@fco.gov.uk. If you require 

consular assistance out of office hours (working 

hours: 0730-l430 hrs), please contact the Embassy 

on 2259 4320. 

n n n n n n n 

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. The reception is 

closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break. 

Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided 

from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through 

Wednesday. The Canadian Embassy will be closed 

on Sunday and Monday 19 and 20 August 2012 on 

the occasion of Aid Al Fitr. The Embassy will resume 

its duties on Tuesday 21 August 2012. 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.


It’s a tradition of India International 

School to celebrate chocolate day every 

year. This year too we celebrated for the 

honeyed tiny tots of LKG on 8th 

November, 2012 under the guidance of 

Shifana Muizz KG HOS and her team of 

devoted teachers. 

This day doesn’t hold any significance in 

the history. Yet, it is celebrated with great 

zeal and enthusiasm. To mark the very purpose, 

Director Malayil Moosa Koya inaugurated 

the day with an exquisite taste of 

marsh mellows dipped in hot chocolate 

sauce. 

The objective behind the celebration is 

to make our tiny tots independent, to celebrate 

the promises of life; laughter and 

friendship by dedicating the chocolates to 

their friends and acquaintances. 

The sweet scenario of the Chocolate 

Day, galore the corridors of KG section 

with assortment of chocolates, vibrant 

ambience and musical cadence. The highlight 

of the celebration was teachers and 

students exhibited their creativity and 

skills in preparing delightful hand-made 

chocolates wrapped in glossy paper. This 

sort of exposure not only instills confidence 

and courage but also enhancesthe 

soft skills of the students. 

KG section of India International School 

provides a strong foundation which lubricates 

the learning skills in the students 

that fosters growth and remarkable 

progress in the teaching learning 

process.It was indeed an impressive experience 

for everyone to witness the tiny tots 

cherishing and enjoying their beautiful 

moments of life and enlightened themselves 

in sharing the bonds of friendship. 

Infact, it was a break for our blooming 

buds from the mundane daily routine of 

their school life to a pleasant sweet journey 

intothe delightful world of chocolate 

where in they were enriched with a sweet 

experience of dedication and sharing. 

The programme was graced by the 

presence of the Principal F.M. Basheer 

Ahmed, VicePrincipal NarinderKaur, and 

the Governing council members Saleem.k, 

Sameena Afshan, Indulekha Suresh, Sapna 

Rauf and Sophy John. 

WHAT’S ON 

IIS conducts Chocolate Day


This NASA photo shows a Mosaic of MESSENGER Images of 

Mercury’s North Polar Region. — AFP 

Large ice deposits 

found on Mercury 

WASHINGTON: Scientists Thursday announced new evidence 

that Mercury, the planet orbiting nearest the Sun, 

hosts massive caches of ice and revealed new information 

on how water reached our solar system’s inner planets. “The 

new data indicate the water ice in Mercury’s polar regions, if 

spread over an area the size of Washington DC, would be 

more than two miles (3.2 kilometers) thick,” said David 

Lawrence, a researcher participating with NASA’s mission to 

study Mercury. Though much of Mercury is boiling hot, its 

axis of rotation is nearly parallel to the Sun-which means the 

poles of the planet are never hit by the Sun’s heating rays. 

Scientists have long hypothesized these shadowy poles 

could harbor frozen water and other interesting materials. 

In 1991, that theory got a boost when a powerful telescope 

in Puerto Rico detected “radar-bright patches” at the poles, 

often in spots where a previous mission in the 1970s had 

found large impact craters. For the first time, new data from 

the MESSENGER spacecraft, which landed on Mercury in 

2011, allows for a detailed model of just what’s going on at 

Mercury’s mysterious poles. 

Images from MESSENGER confirmed that the radar-bright 

patches are all within cooler, shadowed regions, consistent 

with the theory they could be ice spots. The spacecraft’s 

neutron spectrometer also analyzed hydrogen concentrations 

as a way of determining the presence of water, which 

is a molecule composed of hydrogen and oxygen. In the 

coldest spots, the water was on the surface, but in slightly 

warmer regions, where the ice might have melted, it was 

covered by a dark material with a lower concentration of 

hydrogen. 

The researchers said this dark material could actually be 

the key to explaining how the water got there in the first 

place. The dark material, which serves as insulation, is likely 

a mix of complex organic compounds, which were “delivered 

to Mercury by the impacts of comets and volatile-rich 

asteroids,” explained David Paige, another researcher 

involved in the project. Those comets and asteroids, he 

added, were “the same objects that likely delivered water to 

the innermost planet.” “For more than 20 years the jury has 

been deliberating on whether the planet closest to the Sun 

hosts abundant water ice in its permanently shadowed 

polar regions,” said Sean Solomon of Columbia University’s 

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. “MESSENGER has now 

supplied a unanimous affirmative verdict,” said Solomon, 

the principal investigator of the MESSENGER mission. 

“But the new observations have also raised new questions,” 

he added. “Do the dark materials in the polar 

deposits consist mostly of organic compounds? What kind 

of chemical reactions has that material experienced? “Are 

there any regions on or within Mercury that might have 

both liquid water and organic compounds? Only with the 

continued exploration of Mercury can we hope to make 

progress on these new questions,” he said. Three papers 

describing the MESSENGER findings were published 

Thursday in the online edition of Science Express. — AFP 

DOHA: The chances of hitting the UN’s 

global warming target are diminishing, 

but the goal can still be met if greenhouse-gas 

emissions fall by 15 percent 

by 2020, scientists said yesterday. In a 

study issued at the world climate talks in 

Doha, they cautioned against mounting 

pessimism that the UN’s objective of 

curbing warming to a safer two degrees 

Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) is now 

out of reach. “Limiting global warming 

below 2C, or even to below 1.5C, 

remains technically and economically 

feasible, but only with political ambitions 

backed by rapid action starting 

now,” the team said. 

“If nothing more is done except the 

current pledges, costs would be much 

higher to reach deeper reductions necessary, 

and/or the damage from climate 

impacts would be far greater.” In the 

runup to the 12-day UN talks which 

opened in Qatar on Monday, the World 

Bank gave a 20-percent likelihood of a 

4C (7.2 F) rise by 2100 and said a 3C (5.4 

F) rise appeared likely. Separately, the 

UN Environment Programme (UNEP) 

forecast a rise of 3-5C (5.4-9.0F) on the 

basis of current pledges. 

“The window for reversing emission 

trends is rapidly narrowing,” the 

“Climate Action Tracker” report issued 

here yesterday said. “Emissions must be 

reduced by roughly 15 percent from 

present levels by 2020 to be on a pathway 

holding warming below 2C” by 

2100. At present, emissions of heat-trapping 

greenhouse gases, blamed for 

damaging the planet’s fragile climate 

system, are scaling new peaks. 

Levels of carbon dioxide-the single 

most important man-made contributor 

to climate change-rose to 390.9 parts 

per million in 2011, which is 2.0 ppm 

higher than in 2010, the World 

Meteorological Organisation (WMO) 

said on Tuesday. From 1990 to 2011, the 

warming effect of greenhouse gases has 

risen 30 percent, it said. Scrutinising the 

actions of the four major emitters, the 

“Climate Action Tracker” said neither 

China, the United States, the European 

Union nor Russia were making adequate 

pledges to tackle their pollution. Butwith 

the exception of the United Statesthe 

pledges that they have made are 

HEALTH 

15 percent carbon cut 

is needed for UN goal 

‘Window for reversing emission rapidly narrowing’ 

likely to be met, it said. China has surged 

in rankings to become the world’s No 1 

carbon polluter, voraciously burning 

coal to fuel its rise out of poverty. Right 

now, China is on track for emissions in 

2020 of 14.4 gigatonnes, or billion 

tonnes, of CO2 or its equivalent, said the 

report. 

But-according to China’s justunveiled 

official plans-this “business-asusual” 

figure will fall by 4.5 gigatonnes 

to 9.9 gigatonnes under an ambitious 

energy-efficiency programme. “If accurate, 

this would be the largest single 

absolute reduction for any country in 

the history of action on climate change,” 

said the report. “By comparison, the 

emissions of the European Union in 

2010 were 4.4 gigatonnes of carbon 

dioxide equivalent.” The “Climate Action 

Tracker” is a regularly updated report 

compiled by the Potsdam Institute for 

Climate Impact Research (PIK) in 

Germany; a non-profit German science 

and policy research organisation called 

Climate Analytics; and Ecofys, a 

European consultancy on renewable 

energy and carbon efficiency. — AFP 

SYDNEY: This image shows the sun breaking at dawn over phosphorescent blue waves on Stanwell Park beach, south of 

Sydney, after algae, noctiluca scintillans, forced swimmers and surfers out of the water at Sydney’s Bondi and a number 

of neighbouring beaches and spread along the fringes of two states. — AFP 

Aus sie beaches reopen 

after red algal bloom 

SYDNEY: Beaches around southeastern Australia’s coastline 

reopened yesterday after a red algal bloom that glowed a 

phosphorescent blue at night forced them to close to the public. 

The algae, noctiluca scintillans, forced swimmers and 

surfers out of the water at Sydney’s Bondi and a number of 

neighbouring beaches earlier this week, and it spread along 

the fringes of two states. One of the worst affected beaches, 

Clovelly in Sydney, reopened yesterday, just in time for a predicted 

heatwave over the weekend. 

“There is no sign of the red algal bloom that kept the beach 

closed from Tuesday to Thursday this week,” the local council 

said, a sentiment echoed by other councils along the city’s 

northern beaches. “It is now safe to swim, at the moment,” a 

Surf Life Saving NSW official told reporters. “We’ll continue to 

monitor the situation.” Aerial footage shot over parts of New 

South Wales and neighbouring Victoria state showed huge 

blooms of the oily red to pink scum this week, which has a 

fishy odour and can irritate the skin and eyes but is not dangerous 

to humans. One of the most striking features was the 

way it glowed blue at night, earning it the nickname “sea 

sparkle”. The Sydney South Coast and Hunter Regional Algal 

Coordinating Committees said the blooms typically occur as a 

result of currents bringing cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface. 

— AFP


HEALTH

CLASSIFIEDS 

Al-Madena 22418714 

Al-Shohada’a 22545171 

Al-Shuwaikh 24810598 

Al-Nuzha 22545171 

Sabhan 24742838 

Al-Helaly 22434853 

Al-Fayhaa 22545051 

Al-Farwaniya 24711433 

Al-Sulaibikhat 24316983 

Al-Fahaheel 23927002 

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh 24316983 

Ahmadi 23980088 

Al-Mangaf 23711183 

Al-Shuaiba 23262845 

Chest Hospital 24849400 

Farwaniya Hospital 24892010 

Adan Hospital 23940620 

Ibn Sina Hospital 24840300 

Al-Razi Hospital 24846000 

Physiotherapy Hospital 24874330/9 

Clinics 

Rabiya 24732263 

Rawdha 22517733 

Adailiya 22517144 

Khaldiya 24848075 

Khaifan 24849807 

Shamiya 24848913 

Shuwaikh 24814507 

Abdullah Salim 22549134 

Al-Nuzha 22526804 

Industrial Shuwaikh 24814764 

Al-Qadisiya 22515088 

Dasmah 22532265 

Bneid Al-Ghar 22531908 

Al-Shaab 22518752 

Al-Kibla 22459381 

Ayoun Al-Kibla 22451082 

Mirqab 22456536 

Sharq 22465401 

Salmiya 25746401 

Jabriya 25316254 

Maidan Hawally 25623444 

Bayan 25388462 

CHANGE OF NAME 

SATURDAY, DECMBER 1, 2012 

Al-Jahra 25610011 

Al-Salmiya 25616368 

Hospitals 

Sabah Hospital 24812000 

Amiri Hospital 22450005 

FOR SALE 

Executive Office Tables, 

Cabinets, Chairs, Salon Facial 

Beds, Massage Bed, Steamer, 

Beauty Studios, and many 

more. Contact: 66711141 / 

66711140. 

27-11-2012 

Nawada, P/S Barauli, Dist. 

Gopal Ganj, Bihar, India, is 

declaring that my name, 

Vahid Husen Abdul Hakim 

Ansari (Surname to Given 

name order), written in my 

Passport (No. K7916220) is 

wrong. The correct name is 

Wahid Hussain. (C 4233) 

26-11-2012 

Prayer timings 

Fajr: 05:01 

Shorook 06:25 

Duhr: 11:37 

Asr: 14:30 

Maternity Hospital 24843100 

Maghrib: 16:50 

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital 25312700 

MATRIMONIAL 

SITUATION VACANT 

Isha: 18:11 

Proposals invited for a beautiful 

girl, aged 28 years, 

height 164 cms, belonging to 

Malankara Catholic denomination, 

working with MOH 

Kuwait as B.Sc nurse and 

shortly moving to Kerala on 

annual vacation. Email: 

bijily92@gmail.com 

(C 4231) 

Proposal invited for my son 

MBBS Doctor, a Pakistani 

working in Kuwait from parents 

of Pakistani lady doctor 

or highly qualified girl age 

not more than 27 years can 

contact at email: 

shah-54@hotmail.com 

(C 4232) 

26-11-2012 

ACCOMMODATION 

For bachelor or couple 

Filipino only near Gulfmart 

Farwaniya, block 1. Available 

on December 25, 2012. 

Contact: 94418396. 

29-11-2012 

I, Robino Joao Novals, holder 

of Indian Passport No: 

H0590686 issued in Kuwait, 

change my name to Robino 

Joao Novais. (C 4235) 

1-12-2012 

I, Wahid Hussain, s/o Abdul 

Hakim Ansari, Vill & PO. 

Wanted house driver, 3-5 

years driving experience in 

Kuwait, 20-30 years old, 

speak and read English, 

Indian or Sri Lankan. Contact: 

99747679. 

(C 4234) 

Kuwait Parliament 

www.majlesalommah.net 

Ministry of Interior 

www.moi.gov.kw 

Public Authority for Civil Information 

www.paci.gov.kw 

Kuwait News Agency 

www.kuna.net.kw 

Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affair 

www.islam.gov.kw 

Ministry of Energy (Oil) 

www.moo.gov.kw 

Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Water) 

www.energy.govt.kw 

Public Authority for Housing Welfare 

www.housing.gov.kw 

Ministry of Justice 

www.moj.gov.kw 

Ministry of Communications 

www.moc.kw 

Supreme Council for Planning and Development 

www.scpd.gov.kw 

112 

GOVERNMENT WEB SITES 

The Public Institution for Social Security 

www.pifss.gov.kw 

Public Authority of Industry 

www.pai.gov.kw 

Prisoners of War Committee 

www.pows.org.kw 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs 

www.mofa.gov.kw 

Kuwait Municipality 

www.municipality.gov.kw 

Kuwait Electronic Government 

www.e.gov.kw 

Ministry of Finance 

www.mof.gov.kw 

Ministry of Commerce and Industry 

www.moci.gov.kw 

Ministry of Education 

www.moe.edu.kw 

Ministry of Information 

www.moinfo.gov.kw 

Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation 

www.awqaf.org

SATURDAY, DECMBER 1, 2012 

Arrival Flights on Saturday 1/12/2012 

Airlines Flt Route Time 

JAI 574 MUMBAI 0:30 

KLM 413 AMSTERDAM 0:30 

THY 772 ISTANBUL 0:35 

JZR 539 CAIRO 0:50 

QTR 148 DOHA 1:00 

SAI 441 LAHORE 1:30 

ETH 620 ADDIS ABABA 1:45 

GFA 211 BAHRAIN 1:50 

UAE 853 DUBAI 2:35 

GTI 5418 HAHN 2:45 

ETD 305 ABU DHABI 2:45 

OMA 643 MUSCAT 2:50 

QTR 138 DOHA 3:01 

FDB 67 DUBAI 3:05 

MSR 612 CAIRO 3:10 

DHX 170 BAHRAIN 5:15 


JZR 503 LUXOR 5:55 

JZR 555 ALEXANDRIA 6:00 

KAC 416 JAKARTA 6:25 

JZR 529 ASSIUT 6:35 

BAW 157 LONDON 6:40 

KAC 412 MANILA 6:45 

KAC 206 ISLAMABAD 7:40 

KAC 382 DELHI 7:45 


KAC 302 MUMBAI 7:55 

KAC 352 COCHIN 8:05 

KAC 344 CHENNAI 8:40 


ABY 121 SHARJAH 9:05 

QTR 132 DOHA 9:10 




BAB 436 BAHRAIN 10:05 

KAC 284 DHAKA 10:45 

JZR 165 DUBAI 11:20 

MSC 401 ALEXANDRIA 12:00 



IRM 1190 MASHAD 12:50 


KNE 472 JEDDAH 14:10 

KAC 672 DUBAI 14:15 

SVA 500 JEDDAH 14:30 

QTR 140 DOHA 14:45 

KAC 788 JEDDAH 14:55 

JZR 257 BEIRUT 15:05 

IZG 4161 MASHAD 15:20 

QTR 134 DOHA 15:30 

IRC 6692 MASHAD 15:50 

KAC 538 SOHAG 16:20 


JZR 325 NAJAF 16:25 

KAC 118 NEW YORK 16:35 

SYR 341 DAMASCUS 16:40 


JZR 357 MASHAD 16:45 


RJA 640 AMMAN 16:55 


SVA 510 RIYADH 17:20 

KAC 502 BEIRUT 17:40 

JZR 777 JEDDAH 17:45 

QTR 144 DOHA 17:50 


UAL 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 17:55 

KAC 1538 SHARM EL SHEIKH 18:00 

KAC 542 CAIRO 18:05 



RBG 3553 ALEXANDRIA 18:20 



MSC 405 SOHAG 19:00 

KAC 176 GENEVA 19:15 

KAC 618 DOHA 19:20 


KAC 104 LONDON 19:35 

KAC 774 RIYADH 19:50 

IRA 607 MASHAD 19:50 

KAC 562 AMMAN 19:55 




AXB 389 MANGALORE 20:15 

MSR 618 ALEXANDRIA 20:25 



KNE 462 MEDINAH 20:35 

QTR 146 DOHA 20:45 

ALK 229 COLOMBO 20:55 


MEA 402 BEIRUT 21:20 

QTR 136 DOHA 21:25 




JZR 135 BAHRAIN 21:50 

JAI 576 COCHIN 21:55 




AIC 975 CHENNAI 22:30 

JZR 239 AMMAN 22:45 


FDB 8051 DUBAI 23:00 


KAC 614 BAHRAIN 23:15 

UAL 981 BAHRAIN 23:25 


BBC 43 DHAKA 23:45 

DLH 636 FRANKFURT 23:55 

Departure Flights on Saturday 1/12/2012 

Airlines Flt Route Time 

AIC 976 GOA/CHENNAI 0:05 

UAL 981 WASHINGTON DC 1:10 

DLH 637 FRANKFURT 1:20 



SAI 442 LAHORE 2:30 

ETH 621 ADDIS ABABA 2:45 







GTI 5418 HONG KONG 4:45 

QTR 139 DOHA 4:50 

QTR 149 DOHA 6:05 





BAW 156 LONDON 8:45 



KAC 101 LONDON 9:20 




KAC 537 SOHAG 9:50 




QTR 133 DOHA 10:30 


DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION 

In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation 

of bookings will help other passengers to use seats 

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw) 

information 

JZR 356 MASHHAD 10:45 



KAC 501 BEIRUT 11:45 

KAC 165 ROME 11:50 

KAC 1537 SHARM EL SHEIKH 12:15 

JZR 776 JEDDAH 12:15 

JZR 324 AL NAJAF 13:00 

MSC 406 SOHAG 13:00 




IRM 1191 MASHHAD 14:15 


KAC 561 AMMAN 14:30 



KAC 617 DOHA 15:45 

SVA 505 JEDDAH 16:00 


QTR 141 DOHA 16:15 

IZG 4162 MASHHAD 16:20 

KAC 773 RIYADH 16:25 

IRC 6693 MASHHAD 16:50 


JZR 238 AMMAN 17:15 


SYR 342 DAMASCUS 17:40 


QTR 135 DOHA 17:45 


RJA 641 AMMAN 17:55 



SVA 511 RIYADH 18:35 



QTR 145 DOHA 18:50 

RBG 3554 ALEXANDRIA 19:00 

JZR 134 BAHRAIN 19:05 

UAL 982 BAHRAIN 19:10 

KNE 461 MADINAH 19:10 



MSC 402 ALEXANDRIA 20:00 

KAC 613 BAHRAIN 20:15 


IRA 604 ISFAHAN 20:50 


KAC 331 TRIVANDRUM 20:55 




MSR 607 LUXOR 21:25 

KAC 351 KOCHI 21:30 




ALK 230 COLOMBO 21:55 

MEA 403 BEIRUT 22:20 


QTR 137 DOHA 22:25 


KAC 301 MUMBAI 22:35 

KAC 381 DELHI 22:40 


JZR 554 ALEXANDRIA 22:45 


JAI 575 KOCHI 22:55 

KAC 205 ISLAMABAD 23:00 

KLM 415 DAMMAM 23:05 

QTR 147 DOHA 23:10 

FDB 8052 DUBAI 23:40 


KAC 411 BANGKOK 23:55


Yesterdayʼs Solution 

C R O S S W O R D 2 5 

ACROSS 

1. Exhibiting or restored to vigorous good health. 

5. Causing great physical or mental suffering. 

12. Thickening of tissue in the motor tracts of the lateral columns and anterior 

horns of the spinal cord. 

15. Very dark black. 

16. An expert who gives advice. 

17. The basic unit of money in Romania. 

18. A port city in southwestern Iran. 

20. (Hindu) A manner of sitting (as in the practice of Yoga). 

21. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium. 

22. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling). 

23. Marry an unsuitable partner. 

25. A tax levied on the difference between a commodity's price before taxes 

and its cost of production. 

27. An inactive volcano in Sicily. 

28. A person who habitually pretends to be something he is not. 

31. Motivation based on ideas of right and wrong. 

33. American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three 

times (born in 1942). 

34. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad. 

36. Radish of Japan with a long hard durable root eaten raw or cooked. 

40. Deciduous shrub of North America. 

42. A unit of magnetomotive force equal to 0.7958 ampere-turns. 

44. A diacritical mark (u-curved) placed over a vowel to indicate a short sound. 

45. On or to the other side of a page. 

48. A rapid bustling commotion. 

49. Top part of an apron. 

50. A blood vessel that carries blood from the capillaries toward the heart. 

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

52. English economist noted for his studies of international trade and finance 

(born in 1907). 

54. A colorless and odorless inert gas. 

55. Any of a group of Indic languages spoken in Kashmir and eastern 

Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. 

60. Headdress that protects the head from bad weather. 

63. A genus of evergreen shrub that grows in New Zealand. 

66. Rate of revolution of a motor. 

68. Small ornamental ladies' bag for small articles. 

70. The longer of the two telegraphic signals used in Morse code. 

71. Ill-mannered and coarse and contemptible in behavior or appearance. 

74. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey). 

75. (anatomy) Shaped like a boat. 

77. (British) Your grandmother. 

78. The month following February and preceding April. 

79. A valve that regulates the supply of fuel to the engine. 

80. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground 

control using precision approach radar. 

DOWN 

1. A collection of objects laid on top of each other. 

2. A French abbot. 

3. Weight to be borne or conveyed. 

4. Widely cultivated herb with leaves valued as salad green. 

5. Elongate very slender water scorpions. 

6. A public promotion of some product or service. 

7. A sudden loss of consciousness resulting when the rupture or occlusion of a 

blood vessel leads to oxygen lack in the brain. 

8. (Islamic) The will of Allah. 

9. (Old Testament) The first of the major Hebrew prophets (8th century BC). 

10. Designed to reduce or prevent skidding. 

11. A metric unit of weight equal to one thousandth of a kilogram. 

12. Very attentive or observant. 

13. Acquire or gain knowledge or skills. 

14. An important god. 

19. (zoology) Lacking a tail or taillike appendage. 

24. (Norse mythology) The chief race of gods living at Asgard. 

26. A unit of length of thread or yarn. 

29. United States jazz musician who influenced the style of Louis Armstrong 

(1885-1938). 

30. A sea nymph (part woman and part bird) supposed to lure sailors to 

destruction on the rocks where the nymphs lived. 

32. Alternatively, a member of the family Nymphaeaceae. 

35. The hair growing on the lower part of a man's face. 

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

38. Roman poet remembered for his elegiac verses on love (43 BC - AD 17). 

39. The compass point that is one point east of northeast. 

41. A baby bed with sides and rockers. 

43. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad. 

46. The range within which a voice can be heard. 

47. The syllable naming the fourth (subdominant) note of the diatonic scale in 

solmization. 

53. Having been taken into the mouth for consumption. 

56. A town in central Belgium. 

57. A Russian soup usually containing beet juice as a foundation. 

58. A unit of electrical resistance equal to the resistance between two points on 

a conductor when a potential difference of one volt between them produces a 

current of one ampere. 

59. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers. 

61. Wood of a sumac. 

62. English aristocrat who was the first wife of Prince Charles. 

64. Kamarupan languages spoken in northeastern India and western Burma. 

65. (old-fashioned) At or from or to a great distance. 

67. A unit of illumination equal to 1 lumen per square centimeter. 

69. A light clear metallic sound as of a small bell. 

72. A corporation's first offer to sell stock to the public. 

73. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice. 

76. Being nine more than forty. 

Yesterdayʼs Solution


MADRID: Atletico Madrid take on derby 

rivals Real Madrid this weekend aiming to 

pile up the pressure on under-fire coach 

Jose Mourinho whose team already trail 

leaders Barcelona by 11 points. It is the 

first time in almost 14 years that Atletico 

take on their illustrious neighbors with 

more points in La Liga - they are second 

with an eight-point lead over a stuttering 

Real who were beaten once again last 

weekend by Real Betis. 

Despite winning the league last season 

Mourinho is coming under fire from a 

demanding Madrid media who are speculating 

whether he will be still at the helm 

next summer. The Portuguese flatly denies 

he is feeling the strain. “I have perfect 

health and I am working as I have done for 

many years. My relationship with the players 

and the club is like it has always been,” 

he said. “This is not a courtroom but a press 

conference. I am just an employee of the 

club and it is they who decide if they are 

happy with what they have but I have a 

very, very, very good relationship with the 

president and the board.” 

He also had the backing of captain Iker 

Casillas who played down whistles that 

have been heard recently at the Bernabeu 

for the coach. “Only a few months ago the 

shouts were applause and praise that we 

had won the league but in football memories 

are very short. “Mou’ led the team to 

the title with a record number of points and 

goals. We should remember the good 

moments and look to continue the project,” 

Casillas said. Atletico’s fine start to the campaign 

is partly due to the form of Radamel 

Falcao who has hit 14 goals in 13 games 

and he is now geared up for the derby. “I 

don’t feel as much pressure as motivation. 

We play a great side and it will be a hightempo 

match but we will go out looking to 

win,” he said. Barcelona take on Athletic 

Bilbao aiming to maintain their prolific start 

which has seen them only drop two points 

so far in the Clasico against Real Madrid. 

Lionel Messi has hit 19 goals in the league 

and is only three away now from former- 

Germany striker Gerd Muller’s record of 85 

in a calendar year. “Messi is the best player 

in the world but there are other footballers 

with great qualities like Xavi (Hernandez) 

and (Andres) Iniesta who are not far 

SPORTS 

Wales, Argentina keen to build on global gains 

Tijuana stun Toluca 

2-1 in final first leg 

TIJUANA: Tijuana defeated Toluca 2-1 on 

Thursday in the first leg of Mexico’s first division 

final and has the edge going into 

tomorrow’s deciding match in Toluca. Fidel 

Martinez and Paraguayan Pablo Aguilar 

scored in the first half for Tijuana, with the 

second goal allowed despite replays suggesting 

he was offside. Edgar Benitez scored 

for Toluca. 

Tijuana is a newcomer to Mexico’s first 

division and was promoted only last year, 

while Toluca is attempting to win its 11th 

title to equal Guadalajara Chivas as Mexico’s 

most successful club. Tijuana had deservedly 

taken the lead in the 24th minute when 

Martinez brought down a pass chipped over 

the defense by Cristian Pellerano and slotted 

the ball through goalkeeper Alfredo 

Talavera’s legs and into the net. The hosts 

dominated the first half and had a number 

of half chances, but Toluca equalized two 

minutes later with its first real attack of the 

game. 

Paraguayan Benitez scored from a tight 

angle when Lucas Silva slid the ball across 

goal after a mistake by US international 

Edgar Castillo sent him through down the 

right. Aguilar tapped in Tijuana’s second in 

the 40th minute after US international Joe 

Corona flicked on a freekick swung in from 

the right by Fernando Arce. Replays showed 

Aguilar was slightly offside, sparking 

protests from Toluca players and manager 

Enrique Meza at halftime. Tijuana had the 

better of the possession and play in the second 

half, but the game became largely a 

midfield battle and was a much tighter 

affair.Over the 90 minutes, Tijuana had eight 

shots on target compared to Toluca’s two. 

Toluca went into the final as slight favorite 

and finished as leaders in the regular-season 

standings, but a draw in the second leg is 

good enough to see Tijuana crowned 

champion. “We are happy, we fought to the 

end like always,” Tijuana’s Colombian striker 

Duvier Riascos said. “The team gave its all to 

get an important result and thanks to God 

we achieved it.” With only a one-goal deficit 

to overcome, Benitez said his side can 

snatch the title in the second leg, saying: 

“We’ve got to be calm, look for the goal and 

to control the game.” The Mexican season is 

divided into two halves - the Apertura season 

- the one now underway - and the 

Clausura season starting in January. Each 

crowns its own champion. — AP 

TIJUANA: Tijuana’s Duvier Riascos (top) celebrates a goal against Toluca made 

by teammate Pablo Aguilar (bottom left) as Fidel Martinez embraces from the 

right during the Mexican soccer league match in Tijuana. — AP 

GENEVA: Champions League contender Malaga is 

facing UEFA sanctions for failing to pay millions of 

euros (dollars) of players’ wages on time, and will 

likely have some prize money withheld. UEFA said 

yesterday that investigators from its Club 

Financial Control Body have referred Malaga and 

eight other clubs to the panel’s judging chamber. 

Malaga, which is owned by a Qatari investor, has 

reportedly failed to pay players a combined 9 million 

euros ($11.6 million). The Spanish club has 

qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League 

and is due at least 25 million euros ($32 million) in 

prize money, bonuses and a share of Spanish tele- 

vision revenues from UEFA. 

UEFA said the judging panel will examine nine 

clubs who played in this season’s Champions 

League and Europa League whose prize money 

has been frozen because of unpaid players’ 

wages, transfer fees or social taxes. Sixteen clubs 

have been cleared - including defending Europa 

League champion Atletico Madrid, Sporting 

Lisbon and Fenerbahce - and will now receive 

their prize money after being cleared by the UEFA 

finance monitors. Investigators “adjudged that 

the necessary financial requirements had been 

implemented” by a Sept. 30 deadline, UEFA said in 

behind,” said midfielder Thiago Alcantara. 

Malaga responded to a dip in form with 

a convincing 4-0 win over Valencia last 

weekend and now play Getafe while Real 

Betis who are level with them on 22 points 

are away at Deportivo la Coruna.At the 

other end of the table Javier Aguirre is 

preparing for his first league game at the 

helm of Espanyol against Granada after 

Mauricio Pochettino was sacked following 

just two wins all season. Above them 

Osasuna take on Rayo Vallecano. Levante 

look to respond to their 4-0 defeat by 

Barcelona away to Celta Vigo and Valencia 

hope to maintain their strong home record 

against Real Sociedad. Elsewhere, Mallorca 

play Zaragoza and Sevilla entertain 

Valladolid. — AFP 

Asia body ‘ready to 

bury Hammam era’ 

SINGAPORE: Asia’s football body finally looks ready to turn the 

page on an era of bribery allegations and intrigue by announcing 

moves to replace suspended president Mohamed bin 

Hammam, insiders said yesterday. A unanimous decision by 

the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) executive committee 

to hold presidential elections next year demonstrates unusual 

unity, they said, in a body better known for in-fighting. 

“Even his (bin Hammam’s) ardent supporters said they 

wanted to go ahead... I was pretty surprised,” a witness, who 

did not want to be named, told AFP. “It was the quickest item 

on the agenda.” Leadership elections, at a congress expected 

next April, would banish a long period of turmoil and uncertainty 

after bin Hammam was accused of bribery during FIFA’s 

2011 presidential vote and banned from football activities. 

Hammam, 63, is already in his third and final allowable term 

as AFC president, under the body’s rules, and remains temporarily 

suspended from football despite having his life ban 

overturned earlier this year. But the Qatari businessman’s long 

fight to clear his name appears to be wearing thin among the 

46 member associations of the AFC, which is the biggest 

regional football body in the world. “Everybody’s fed up. I have 

spoken to all the member association presidents, they’re all fed 

up,” the witness said. “I think these guys have seen the writing 

on the wall. They really want to put this behind them. They 

want to start a new chapter and look forward. It doesn’t make 

sense to devote all this energy to one man.” 

Interim president Zhang Jilong of China is favorite to claim 

the post full-time, and he appeared to throw his hat in the ring 

when announcing the vote on Thursday. “Under my caretaker 

leadership, I promised a new vision for AFC. I committed myself 

to a new era of transparency and I am confident that with your 

support I will be able to deliver this objective,” Zhang said in a 

statement. Stable leadership would be a boon for the AFC, 

which was dominated by Hammam during his nine-year rule 

before being thrown into turmoil by his suspension last year. 

Peter Velappan, who was the AFC’s general secretary for 30 

years and is a vocal critic of the Qatari, was delighted the body 

had decided to move forward. —AFP 

Malaga faces UEFA action 

over unpaid player wages 

a statement. UEFA published a list of 23 clubs 

under investigation in September who owed a 

combined 30 million euros ($38.4 million) in socalled 

“overdue payables.” Clubs must pay their 

football and tax debts as a condition of getting a 

license from their national association to play in 

UEFA competitions. Malaga will be joined in the 

UEFA court by eight Europa League entrants: 

Bucharest clubs Dinamo and Rapid, Serbian clubs 

Partizan and Vojvodina, Hajduk Split and Osijek of 

Croatia, plus Lech Poznan of Poland and Arsenal 

Kiev of Ukraine. The latter two have been added 

to the original list of 23 since September. —AFP


MILAN: One of Serie A’s biggest derbies takes centre 

stage today when Torino visit Juventus Stadium with the 

unlikely hope of denting the Old Lady’s bid for a successful 

title defense. ‘Il Grand Torino’ were once one of Italy’s 

biggest teams and their history hangs over the city, no 

more so than at the Superga hill where virtually the entire 

team was wiped out in a plane crash in May 1949. Juve are 

unbeaten against Torino in the sides’ last 12 games and 

on home soil have chalked up 33 wins, 18 draws and 16 

defeats over the years. Indeed the last time Torino beat 

the Bianconeri was in 1995, when the visitors took all 

three points in a 2-1 win at the Delle Alpi. Juve, however, 

have injury worries over Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal 

and Uruguayan defender Martin Caceres, with Vidal a 

doubt and Caceres ruled out. 

Juve are also sweating on the fitness of one of their 

three defenders, Giorgio Chiellini, who missed a disas- 

PARIS: French league leaders Lyon will aim to build on 

Wednesday’s impressive 4-1 demolition of title-rivals 

Marseille when they host defending champions 

Montpellier this weekend. Remi Garde’s side returned to 

the Ligue 1 summit following their midweek victory at 

Stade Velodrome, a win punctuated by France striker 

Bafetimbi Gomis’ first top-flight hat-trick. 

“It’s good, I will savor it, but we saw what happened in 

Toulouse (last weekend’s 3-0 defeat) and we have to 

have humility and perform in the next game against 

Montpellier, who are never easy to play against,” said a 

buoyant, but grounded Gomis. Seeking their first title 

since the last of their seven consecutive triumphs in 

2008, Lyon have a two-point lead over chasing Paris 

Saint-Germain and Marseille but their mettle will be test- 

trous trip to the San Siro last week with a calf injury. He 

may start on the bench, and a week after a controversial 

1-0 reverse to AC Milan, only their second of the season, 

some believe Juve could be there for the taking. “Torino 

have to treat this like a World Cup final,” said former 

Torino player Paolo Pulici, who scored the most goals 

against Juve in previous derbies. “In this kind of game 

motivation, belief and desire will be key. That’s the only 

way to get one over on such a strong and complete side 

as Juventus.” 

An unlikely Juve defeat would be applauded by 

Napoli, who are right back in the title chase thanks to a 

recent resurgence and are at home to Pescara. They are 

unbeaten this month in all competitions, including the 

Europa League, and have scored 14 goals in their past six 

games thanks largely to the combined efforts of Edinson 

Cavani, Marek Hamsik and Lorenzo Insigne. With Goran 

FRENCH LEAGUE Preview 

ed in December with trips to Saint-Etienne and PSG also 

on the fixture list. 

“I’m very happy to be top. It’s not by chance, if we’re 

there (in first place) we deserve it but there is still a long 

way to go, and difficult matches on the schedule,” said 

Lyon boss Garde. Montpellier’s dreadful start to the season 

means their title defence is already effectively over, 

but Rene Girard’s charges are currently enjoying their 

best run of form this term as they are unbeaten in five 

league outings. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s return from a twomatch 

suspension inspired PSG to a 4-0 rout of Troyes 

last Saturday, but the Parisians’ dreams of a domestic treble 

were dashed in midweek as they suffered an agonizing 

penalty shootout defeat at the hands of Saint-Etienne 

in the League Cup. — AFP 

SPORTS 

ITALIAN LEAGUE Preview 

Torino aim for impossible in Juve derby 

Wondolowski named 

‘Most Valuable Player’ 

LOS ANGELES: San Jose Earthquakes striker Chris 

Wondolowski was voted Major League Soccer’s Most 

Valuable Player for the 2012 season, the league said on 

Thursday. The US international, a classic ‘goal poacher’ 

equaled MLS’s goals per season record, held since 1996 by 

Roy Lassiter, with 27 during 2012. “It’s an individual award 

but I like to think of it as a team award,” said Wondolowski, 

paying tribute to his coaches and team-mates. 

“There weren’t many of those goals were more than one 

touch finishes. I get great service from good passers. I’m not 

beating 10 guys or shooting into the upper 90 but from six 

yards and in,” he said. It was the third successive year the 

29-year-old has been the league’s top scorer, but the first 

time he has been named MVP. Former France and Arsenal 

striker Thierry Henry of the New York Red Bulls finished a distant 

second in the vote of clubs, media and fellow players. 

Sporting Kansas City and US winger Graham Zusi was 

ranked third while Houston Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis 

was fourth. “What he is good at is taking chances,” 

Wondolowski’s coach at San Jose Frank Yallop said. “His general 

play is solid, just normal. As he says himself, he doesn’t 

dribble anybody, he isn’t very fast but where he is fast is in 

his mind. He knows when the ball is going to arrive...it’s 

instinct. “He works on his finishing, no doubt about that. 

Every striker tries to score goals but lots can’t because they 

can’t get away from people. He can, he drifts around and 

does he thing - he’s very difficult to play against,” he added. 

The title-deciding MLS Cup is played on Saturday between 

LA Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo. — Reuters 

CALIFORNIA: Chris Wondolowski of the San Jose 

Earthquakes poses with the 2012 MLS Most Valuable 

Player Award at The Home Depot Center in Carson, 

California. — AFP 

Lyon host defending champs Montpellier 

Pandev reportedly still not fully recovered from an ankle 

injury, Insigne is likely to start against his former club in 

what should be a memorable game for the Italy under-21 

player. 

While on loan at Pescara last season, Insigne helped 

their promotion bid by scoring 18 goals in 37 Serie B 

appearances. This season Pescara prop up the table with 11 

points and only three wins from 14. Fiorentina, meanwhile, 

face an attacking injury crisis before they host Sampdoria in 

tomorrow’s late match. La Viola have climbed to a deserved 

third in the table, on the same 28 points as Inter in fourth, 

thanks a solid run of games this month. However, their 

come-from-behind 2-2 draw away to Torino last week 

exacted a toll. Former Italy striker Luca Toni is still suffering 

from the effects of a clash of heads while fellow strike partner 

Stevan Jovetic, the club’s top scorer on six goals, is still 

sidelined with a calf injury. — AFP 

GERMAN LEAGUE Preview 

Bayern, Dortmund 

clash in ‘El Clasico’ 

BERLIN: Bayern Munich are out to break their losing 

streak against defending champions Borussia Dortmund 

today in the Bundesliga clash which has been described 

as ‘El Clasico’ of Germany. Bayern extended their lead at 

the top of the league to 10 points on Wednesday with a 

2-0 win at Freiburg while Dortmund, who have won the 

title for the last two years, lag behind in third and are 11 

points adrift. Munich managed a 2-1 pre-season victory 

at home to Dortmund in August’s Super Cup, but the 

Bavarian giants are eager to break a Bundesliga run of 

four defeats in their last four league meetings with 

Borussia. Bayern midfielder Javi Martinez, who joined 

Munich from Athletic Bilbao in August, has likened the 

Dortmund-Bayern clash to the Real Madrid-Barcelona El 

Clasico in Spain. 

“I have followed the duel in Spain and it is a bit like 

the Clasico,” said the 24-year-old. “There have always 

been problems against Dortmund and we have to 

change that.” Bayern have already lost to second-placed 

Bayer Leverkusen at home this season and must make 

home advantage count, said Munich midfielder Toni 

Kroos. “Dortmund are the team with the highest quality 

after us,” he said. “We know they are a strong opponent 

against whom we have had big problems in the last two 

years. We want to show we can do better against them.” 

Bayern will have virtually a full strength squad to choose 

from with only Luiz Gustavo and Arjen Robben out with 

injury. 

Dortmund have a few concerns of their own with 

midfield pair Mario Goetze and Ilkay Gundogan and 

defender Mats Hummels all facing a race to be fit. Both 

Hoffenheim coach Markus Babbel and his Augsburg 

counterpart Markus Weinzierl are under pressure to turn 

results around with both teams in the bottom three. 

Hoffenheim, who host Werder Bremen tomorrow, are 

16th after their 4-2 defeat at Nuremberg which saw 

Babbel criticise his players, while Augsburg are home to 

Freiburg today. 

“This is not about Markus Babbel, this is about TSG 

Hoffenheim,” said Babbel with one victory and five 

defeats in the last nine games.”You have to wonder 

what is in the players’ heads. I will do all I can to get us 

out of this difficult situation. That is clear.” Likewise, 

Weinzierl has just one win and five defeats in his last 

nine matches and badly needs a win over 

Freiburg.Having dropped to fourth in the Bundesliga, 

Schalke 04 are looking to put a disastrous November 

behind them when they host Borussia 

Moenchengladbach after just one victory in the month’s 

five league matches. — AFP


LOS ANGELES: Former England captain 

David Beckham hopes to close 

out his Major League Soccer career 

with a bang as a win in today’s final 

against Houston would give him twostraight 

championship titles. 

Beckham’s six-year playing career 

with Los Angeles will end with his 

final game in a Galaxy uniform 

against the Dynamo after he 

announced last week he was looking 

forward to “one more challenge” outside 

of the MLS. 

He is expected to make a decision 

on where he will end up playing next 

by the end of the year, saying he has 

several offers on the table. “On the 

field, to have played in three finals 

and to have been able to lift the 

championship last year in our own 

stadium, I felt that I had achieved 

everything I wanted to do,” he said. 

“Now that we have reached the MLS 

Cup final, that it is going to be in our 

stadium again in front of our own 

fans, it just felt it was the right time.” 

Beckham told British broadcaster 

Sky Sports that playing in the Premier 

League isn’t one of the options. “I 

can’t see myself playing for any other 

Premier League club” than former 

team Manchester United, he said this 

week. He has been linked to possible 

moves to Australia’s A-League or Paris 

Saint-Germain. Regardless of today’s 

outcome, Beckham will have left his 

mark on the league since he began 

playing for the Galaxy in 2007. 

The league has expanded from 12 

to 19 teams and it has more than doubled 

its overall attendance. “He was 

an unbelievable ambassador for the 

league, for the Galaxy,” said MLS commissioner 

Don Garber. Beckham 

scored a seven goals this season and 

had 15 assists last year with the 

Galaxy. Both were personal MLS season 

best marks for Beckham. 

Some thought it was a long time 

coming as Beckham got off to a slow 

start in his first few seasons with Los 

Angeles, sparring with fans and dividing 

his playing time between teams in 

Europe and North America. “When I 

first came here people expected me 

to score 10 goals and that was never 

going to happen,” Beckham said. 

“Wherever I played there has always 

been expectations. Whether I reach 

them, that is for other people to 

decide just what my impact was.” 

Beckham’s teammate Landon 

Donovan also could be playing his 

last game with the Galaxy yesterday. 

“We haven’t always gotten along, 

especially in the beginning. But he’s a 

good person and I think we’re all happy 

for him,” Donovan said of 

Beckham. 

Donovan hinted recently that he 

may retire after this season which 

would end a superb North American 

career that saw him score more goals 

than any player in US national team 

history. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena 

says playing their final game at The 

Home Depot Center instead of on the 

road is a blessing. “We could play this 

in Anchorage if they asked us to,” said 

Arena, who has coached the Galaxy 

since 2008. “But playing at home 

should be an advantage in an MLS 

Cup. “We hope it helps us a little bit, 

because we’re going to need all the 

help we can get. I’d rather be playing 

in LA than Houston.” 

The Galaxy have come a long way 

in 2012. Three months into the season 

they were in last place in the Western 

Conference. But they went 12-3-2 in 

SPORTS 

Beck’s Galaxy go for second-straight title 

How goal king ‘Der 

Bomber’ crashed 

BERLIN: Lionel Messi could break Gerd Mueller’s 40-year-old 

record this weekend for the most goals scored in a single year, 

but the lifestyles of ‘Der Bomber’ and the magical Argentine 

could not be more different. Messi’s Barcelona host Athletic 

Bilbao today in the Spanish League and with 82 goals so far in 

2012, the 25-year-old is just three short of Mueller’s record tally 

of 85 set in 1972 for Bayern Munich and West Germany. At the 

peak of his career-when he scored the winning goal in the 1974 

World Cup final-Mueller basked in the same god-like status 

Messi now enjoys. But having battled alcoholism since his retirement 

in 1981, his public appearances are limited now to the 

occasional Munich match and a German television milkshake 

advert alongside current Bayern and Germany star Thomas 

Mueller. “I ruined my life,” ‘Der Bomber’ admits having blasted an 

incredible 68 goals in his 62 appearances for his country. He 

bowed out on the international stage at just 28 years of age after 

hitting the winning goal in Munich as West Germany beat 

Holland 2-1 to win the 1974 World Cup. Mueller finished with 

365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games. 

While Messi has been instrumental in helping Barcelona 

enjoy a golden era in the club’s rich history, the same was true 

for Mueller and Bayern in the 1970s. In 1965, Muller, Sepp Maier 

and Franz Beckenbauer inspired the club to promotion to the 

Bundesliga. Munich became Bundesliga champions for the first 

time in 1969, before claiming a hat-trick of domestic titles in 

1972, 1973 and 1974.The dream team then won the European 

Cup three times in succession from 1974 to 1976. “Everything 

that FC Bayern has become is due to Gerd Mueller and his goals,” 

said Beckenbauer, who captained Germany to the 1974 World 

Cup win and coached the 1990-title winning team. Mueller was 

the club’s top scorer every season from 1964-65 to 1977-78, and 

the Bundesliga’s leading marksman seven times. His collection of 

personal awards is just as impressive as the titles Bayern won. 

Aged 21, he was first voted German Player of the Year in 1967, 

then in 1970, he became the first German to be crowned 

European Footballer of the Year after winning the top scorer 

award at the Mexico 1970 World Cup. He appeared three times 

in FIFA Select XIs (1971, 1972, 1973) as further proof of his exceptional 

status. When his playing career ended after a three-year 

spell in the North American League, Mueller admits he descended 

into deep crisis and began drinking heavily.Bayern’s current 

president Uli Hoeness helped get him back on his feet by offering 

him a contract in 1992; initially to look after sponsors, scout 

for talent and coach strikers and goalkeepers. — AFP 

PARIS: A combination of files pictures shows West German 

forward Gerd Muller (up) kicking the ball during the World 

Cup first round match between East Germany and West 

Germany in Hamburg and (bottom) FC Barcelona’s 

Argentinean forward Lionel Messi jumping past Real 

Madrid’s defender Sergio Ramos (left) and Lassana Diarra 

(right) during the “El clasico” Spanish League football 

match Real Madrid against Barcelona. — AFP 

their next 17 games to clinch a playoff 

spot with five weeks remaining in the 

season. They advanced to the final by 

overcoming deficits in each of their 

first two playoff series. A lot of the 

credit goes to Arena. “He’s a leader,” 

says Dave Sarachan, the Galaxy’s 

associate head coach. “A decent balance 

of when to step on guys and 

when to back off. He knows how to 

manage. “When you add up all these 

components, you get Bruce.” 

This marks just the second time in 

MLS history the same two teams will 

meet in consecutive finals. Donovan 

scored the only goal of the match last 

year to give the Galaxy the 1-0 win 

over the Dynamo who are playing in 

the MLS Cup for the fourth time in 

their seven-year history. Midfielder 

Brad Davis said the Dynamo has 

improved from last year, especially at 

midfield. “I definitely think we’re a bit 

more dynamic,” Davis said. “The additions 

of Ricardo [Clark] and Boniek 

[Garcia] to our midfield has brought 

nothing but confidence to our team 

right now. “It’s been a lot of fun to 

play, and hopefully we can keep it 

going in the last game.” — AFP 

Monaco eye Beckham 

MONACO: AS Monaco are interested in signing former 

England captain David Beckham, the second-tier 

French club’s chief executive Tor-Kristian Karlsen told 

local media yesterday. “Our team is very young. If we’re 

lucky enough to attract a player to Monaco with such 

charisma, such a competitive spirit and who is physically 

in form it would be terrific,” Karlsen told the daily 

Parisien/Aujourd’hui newspaper. 

The Norwegian also told sports daily l’Equipe: “We 

have a very young team who could benefit from a player 

of his (Beckham’s) stature, experience and personality. 

“But there is obviously a lot of interest from clubs 

from around the world in such an illustrious player. 

Now we’re an ambitious club and when a player of this 

stature becomes available, it’s normal that we are on 

the alert.” 

Beckham’s six-year playing career with Major League 

Soccer will end with his final game for the Los Angeles 

Galaxy against Houston this weekend after he 

announced he was looking forward to “one more challenge” 

outside of the MLS. The 115-times capped 

England player is expected to make a decision on 

where he will end up playing next by the end of the 

year. Sources close to the player have confirmed an 

approach by Monaco. 

Beckham has also been linked with a possible move 

to Ligue 1 high-flyers Paris Saint-Germain where he 

would team up again with Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti 

and team director Leonardo, whom he knows from his 

two previous loan stints with AC Milan. There have also 

been offers from China, Russia and Brazil for the former 

Manchester United and Real Madrid player, who has 

not ruled out a return to England. “I’ve always said I 

think I would struggle to come back and play in 

England because I’ve played for the biggest club in the 

world, the biggest club in England, Manchester United, 

and I couldn’t see myself playing for any other 

Premiership team,” he told Sky Sports News on 

Wednesday. 

“But you never know. Like I said, we’ve got some 

exciting options on the table. I do think we’ll be spending 

a little more time in England because it’s good for 

the kids to see their grandparents.” Since their relegation 

from the top flight in 2010, Monaco have been taken 

over by billionaire Russian businessman Dmitry 

Rybolovlev, who has ambitions to return the club to the 

top flight and Champions League football. The Riviera 

side are currently top of Ligue 2. — AFP


Benitez in search 

of Hammer blow 

LONDON: European champions Chelsea may 

be third in the Premier League but that will be 

little consolation to interim manager Rafael 

Benitez as he takes his side across London to 

West Ham today. Two successive goalless 

draws is not what owner Roman Abramovich 

wanted after sacking Roberto di Matteo, the 

man who brought the European Cup to 

Stamford Bridge for the first time courtesy of 

last season’s Champions League triumph. 

And those performances, against 

Manchester City and derby rivals Fulham, have 

done little to alter the hostility felt towards 

Benitez by a large section of Chelsea fans on 

account of the Spaniard’s outspoken comments 

about the Blues when he was Liverpool manager. 

Even wins may not be enough to appease 

those sections of the Chelsea faithful who 

remain implacably opposed to his appointment. 

But a win, not to mention a goal, at West 

Ham would be a start in an early kick-off fixture 

where victory would see the Blues close to 

within four points of Manchester United before 

the leaders are in action at Reading. “If you analyze 

10 games without a clean sheet, when the 

team are attacking and then you give the 

chance to the other team to score, you lose 

your confidence,” said Benitez. “The main thing 

is to keep a solid team with good shape and 

then we have to take the chances we create 

with the talent we have up front.” United travel 

to Reading following a midweek 1-0 win where 

it took striker Robin van Persie just 33 seconds 

to score the fastest goal of the Premier League 

season so far. 

Moreover, that match saw United rid themselves 

of the worrying habit they’ve developed 

this season of conceding first. “The clean sheet 

is something to build on because the performance 

needs to be better,” insisted United midfielder 

Michael Carrick in words that could have 

been borrowed from manager Alex Ferguson. 

Meanwhile Manchester City, still the only 

unbeaten side in the league, are at home to 

Everton with manager Roberto Mancini 

demanding more of Mario Balotelli after the 

striker opened his Premier League account for 

the season with the first goal in a 2-0 midweek 

win at Wigan. “It’s his first goal this year (season) 

and I hope he can improve after that 

game,” Mancini said of his fellow Italian. 

West Brom, still fourth despite a 3-1 midweek 

defeat by Swansea, will look to return to 

winning ways at home to Stoke while 

Tottenham, whose 2-1 win over Liverpool took 

them up into fifth place, make the cross- 

London trip to Fulham. Arsenal welcome 

Swansea to the Emirates following a 1-1 draw at 

Everton. Southampton, still in the relegation 

zone, travel to Liverpool-the club where Saints 

manager Nigel Adkins was once a schoolboy 

goalkeeper. “Obviously they’re going through a 

transition at this moment in time, but it is a 

game that we’ll look forward to, as we do every 

game in the Premier League,” said Adkins. 

Liverpool are just four points above the relegation 

zone and Reds manager Brendan 

Rodgers has called on the rest of his players to 

ease the burden on captain Steven Gerrard. 

“He’s carried this club for nearly 13 years and it’s 

about time that there was more than Steven 

picking up the baton of responsibility,” said 

Rodgers of the England midfielder. Bottom of 

the table QPR, who drew away to Sunderland in 

their first match under Harry Redknapp, will 

look to give their new manager a maiden win at 

home to fellow strugglers Aston Villa. — AFP 

Nastasic wants champ 

Man City to tighten up 

MANCHESTER: Manchester City defender 

Matija Nastasic has called on the Premier 

League champions to add more clean sheets 

in December as they bid to overtake leaders 

Manchester United. The 19-year-old made his 

eighth successive appearance for City against 

Wigan on Wednesday as they kept hot on the 

tails of Premier League leaders United with a 

2-0 win. 

Roberto Mancini’s side welcome Everton to 

Eastlands today and Nastasic wants the champions 

to keep it tight at the back even though 

they will have their hands full with Nikica 

Jelavic and Marouane Fellaini in town. Serbian 

centre-back Nastastic has been impressive 

since linking up with Vincent Kompany in the 

heart of City’s defense and Mancini’s team 

LONDON: Theo Walcott believes he is 

now demonstrating a true striker’s 

instinct, highlighting why the winger’s 

contract negotiations are coming to 

dominate Arsenal’s season. Walcott 

scored his tenth goal of the campaign 

at Everton to secure the draw that 

ensures Arsene Wenger’s side face 

Swansea at the Emirates Stadium today 

one point and one place above the 

Welsh club in seventh position. But if 

the quality of Walcott’s finish underlined 

his value to the side, the fact it 

came after it had emerged the player 

had not been included on the club’s 

2013 calendar confirmed his Arsenal 

future remains in the balance. 

Walcott is a free agent at the end of 

the season, with talks about a new deal 

having stalled over the player’s wage 

demands. His recent form, however, 

has reinforced his bargaining position 

have conceded just one goal in their last six 

league matches. Nastasic was largely 

unknown in English football when he arrived 

from Fiorentina in pre-season but now he has 

City fans singings his praises.And he is keeping 

Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott on the 

bench for the side with the best defensive 

record in the league. 

Now Nastasic wants City to maintain their 

run of cleans sheets. “Everything is going well 

for us,” he said. “In the last six games we have 

only conceded one goal-now we need to keep 

it going, but this time make it no goals.” The 

teenage sensation credits much of his form to 

the help he has received from City skipper and 

experienced Belgian international Kompany. 

“We talk every day on the pitch and on the 

and, according to Walcott, there is 

much more to come. “Those are the 

sort of positions (at Everton) that this 

season and in the last few seasons I 

have been quite deadly in,” said the 

England international. “When given a 

little sniff I am able to take it now. 

The goals (I have scored) show that. 

“I think I scored 11 last season and 13 

the year before. Not just that, but my 

general play (is getting better) as well. 

The assists are coming now, which is 

fantastic, and I am enjoying my football. 

“I am very happy with the way I 

have started and it has got to continue. 

Hopefully I will take it into today’s 

game.” Arsenal certainly need an inform 

Walcott now after a run that has 

brought one win in five Premier 

League games and left them five points 

behind fourth spot. 

An improving Swansea side will pro- 

training ground, and it makes me happy to 

play alongside such an excellent captain and 

in such a good team,” Nastasic explained. 

“Whatever I am learning, I am learning 

along with Vinny. I am playing with Vinny at 

the moment which is good but we also have 

other good defenders like Kolo and Joleon 

who help.” City midfielder James Milner is set 

to miss today’s match as a result of a hamstring 

injury he suffered against Wigan. 

Meanwhile Gael Clichy and Jack Rodwell are 

both doubtful, with Micah Richards definitely 

ruled out. Everton could be missing Leighton 

Baines should the left-back not recover in time 

from the hamstring strain he sustained in the 

Toffees’ demanding draw with Arsenal on 

Wednesday. —AFP 

vide a stern test but Arsenal captain 

Thomas Vermaelen believes the 

Gunners have demonstrated the kind 

of attitude in recent weeks that can 

help revive their form and move them 

up the table. “Mentality-wise, there is 

nothing wrong with the team,” said 

Vermaelen. “Everybody works hard and 

there is no one who doesn’t work for 

the team, and that will give you results. 

From that point of view I am very happy.” 

Vermaelen has been operating at 

left back but with Laurent Koscielny 

facing a three week absence after injuring 

his groin at Everton, will shift back 

into central defense with Kieran Gibbs 

coming in at full-back. 

There may be a change on the right 

hand side of the back four as well, with 

Bacary Sagna doubtful with a foot 

injury. Swansea’s 3-1 victory over West 

Bromwich Albion means they have lost 

SPORTS 

Today’s 

matches on TV 

English Premier League 

West Ham v Chelsea 15:45 

Abu Dhabi Sport 

QPR v Aston 18:00 


Fulham v Tottenham 18:00 


Liverpool v Southampton 18:00 


Man City v Everton 18:00 


West Brom v Stoke 18:00 


Arsenal v Swansea 18:00 


Reading v United 20:30 


SPANISH LEAGUE 

Getafe v Malaga 18:00 

Aljazeera Sports +2 

Valencia v Real Sociedad 20:00 


Barca v Athletic de Bilbao 22:00 


Real v Atletico Madrid 0:00 


ITALIAN LEAGUE 

Juventus v Torino 22:45 


GERMAN LEAGUE 

Bayer 04 v Nuremberg 17:30 

Dubai Sports 4 

FSV Mainz 05 v Hannover 17:30 


Bayern v Borussia Dortmund 20:30 


Dubai Sports DH 

French League 

Lyon v Montpellier 19:00 


Evian Thonon v Nancy 22:00 


Nice v Paris Saint-Germain 22:00 


Girondins v Sochaux 22:00 


Lille v Bastia 22:00 


Valenciennes v Stade Reims 22:00 


Walcott ready to clip Swans’ wings 

just once in nine games across all competitions 

and was an ideal tonic ahead 

of their trip to the Emirates Stadium. 

“We can go there with confidence,” 

said Swansea manager Michael 

Laudrup. “There is no pressure on us at 

all, we go there as underdogs and 

everyone will expect Arsenal to win,” 

the Denmark great added. 

Wayne Routledge scored twice 

against West Brom as the club took its 

points tally to 20, a mark the winger 

believes to be a significant milestone 

as the Welsh side attempts to consolidate 

its position in the Premier League. 

“We have 20 points from 14 games 

which is a great start, but we need to 

continue that,” said the winger. “To be 

at that tally before Christmas is a big 

achievement for us. Hopefully we can 

continue that form and pick up more 

points before Christmas.” — AFP


THOUSAND OAKS: With his game markedly better 

than this time a year ago, tournament host Tiger 

Woods was happy enough after grinding out a 

two-under-par 70 in Thursday’s opening round of 

the World Challenge. Though Woods did not strike 

the ball as well as he did in Wednesday’s pro-am 

competition, he sank several par putts from around 

10 feet to remain in contention and ended an overcast 

day at Sherwood Country Club just three 

strokes off the lead. 

The American world number three has triumphed 

five times in the elite invitational event and, at a hilly 

venue he knows better than anyone else in the 18player 

field, he has a good opportunity to claim his 

fourth victory this year. “I didn’t hit it very good today, 

so it was nice to scrape out a good score,” Woods told 

reporters after mixing three birdies with a lone bogey 

and a total of 29 putts to finish three behind compatriot 

Nick Watney. 

Will Ponting spark 

retirement rush? 

NEW DELHI: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting’s decision to 

retire could be the start of an exodus of other batting greats, 

including Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar and South Africa’s 

Jacques Kallis. With all the leading run-getters in Test cricket in 

the 35-plus age bracket, the next few years seem set to witness a 

host of retirements that will leave the game short of batting class 

and experience. 

Ponting, who turns 38 next month, starts his 168th and last 

Test against South Africa Friday and Tendulkar, who is without a 

Test century since early last year and will be 40 in April, appears 

to be next in line to call it quits. Kallis, West Indian Shivnarine 

Chanderpaul and Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene are also in the 

autumn of their careers, despite showing terrific form of late. The 

five veterans make up half the all-time list of just 10 players to 

have amassed 10,000 runs or more, along with the already retired 

Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Sunil 

Gavaskar. 

Tendulkar, the world’s leading scorer in both Test and one-day 

cricket and the maker of an unprecedented 100 international 

centuries, has already said he has been contemplating ending his 

iconic 23-year career. “I am 39 and I don’t think I have plenty of 

cricket left in me,” he said in a television interview in October. 

Asked if he has been thinking of retirement, he replied: “Of 

course, I have been. “I am 39 plus and it is not abnormal for me to 

think of it. At that moment, I will go by what my heart says. At this 

moment, my heart says I am okay. But you will have to look at 

series by series.” 

It was the first time the record-breaking Mumbai batsman had 

spoken of retirement, and a recent run of poor scores has many 

wondering if the end was drawing closer. Tendulkar has scored a 

record 51 Test centuries, but he has now gone 28 innings without 

a hundred in the five-day format since his 146 against South 

Africa in Cape Town in January 2011. In 2012, he has managed 

just 274 runs in seven Tests at an average of 22.83, a far cry from 

his career figures-a record 15,562 runs in 192 Tests at 54.60. 

Recent media reports suggested that Tendulkar had discussed his 

future with the selectors, but this has been denied by both the 

Indian cricket board and close friends of the batsman. 

At least Kallis and Chanderpaul have the runs behind them to 

prevent speculation about their careers. A string of injuries has 

left question marks over the South African, with a hamstring 

strain preventing him from bowling for all but three overs of the 

last Test against Australia in Adelaide. However, the 37-year-old’s 

appetite for runs remains undiminished. This year alone, Kallis 

has smashed 905 in eight Tests at an amazing average of 75.41, 

with four centuries including 224 against Sri Lanka in January and 

147 against Australia in Brisbane in November. 

Most recently, he played through the pain barrier in the 

Adelaide Test to score 58 and 46 as South Africa held out for an 

improbable draw. Chanderpaul, described by Cricinfo as possessing 

the “crabbiest” technique in world cricket with an ugly fronton 

stance, continues to defy critics as he piles on the runs for the 

West Indies. The 38-year-old left-hander scored 987 runs in his 

last nine Tests at an average of 98.70 and ended a remarkable 

year with two unbeaten marathons of 203 and 150 in Bangladesh 

in November.—AFP 

“I made a few good par putts to keep the round 

going. I kept myself in the tournament. Could have 

easily shot myself out of the tournament but I kept 

myself in it.” Playing his first tournament since he tied 

for fourth at the PGA Tour-sanctioned CIMB Classic in 

Malaysia last month, Woods said he was not at all rusty 

with his game. “I just felt a little off,” the 36-year-old 

said. “Even warming up I didn’t quite feel it was where 

I needed to have it. I had it last night when I was hitting 

golf balls, and that was nice. “Unfortunately I just 

didn’t have it like I did last night. I’ll do some work here 

and hopefully shore it up for tomorrow.” 

ENDED TITLE DROUGHT 

Since ending a frustrating two-year title drought 

with a one-shot victory at the World Challenge 12 

months ago, Woods has triumphed three times on the 

PGA Tour and is excited about his prospects for 2013. 

He has been working with coach Sean Foley on the 

SPORTS 

Sharp putting keeps Tiger in contention 

TOKYO: Aspiring sumo wrestler Mainoumi once convinced doctors 

to inject silicone into his scalp to meet height requirements 

for the ancient Japanese sport. Such sacrifice is a rarity now in a 

sport beset by scandals and with popularity at an all-time low. 

With a history spanning centuries, sumo once graced the Imperial 

courts of Japan and wrestlers were held in the highest regard. 

Sponsors lavished gifts on the hulking giants and to join the ranks 

of the sumo was considered a worthy occupation. 

Those days are long gone, however. Tarnished by scandals 

involving drug use, bout-fixing, violence and alleged links to 

Japanese organized crime, sumo struggles to fill stadiums and 

attract new fans. Such is its decline that last month only one person 

applied to take the sport’s entrance exam. This brought the 

total number of applicants for the year to just 56, the lowest since 

the current system of staging six major tournaments a year was 

introduced in 1958. 

That compares to a peak of 223 in 1992 when muscle-bound 

Japanese brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana fired up the 

sport with their dynamic fighting styles. “We should be wracking 

our brains to find solutions,” said Shoji Kagamiyama, head of a 

fourth swing change of his professional career but, 

with all the fundamentals now bedded in, he is spending 

most of his time in practice just fine tuning. “I’ve 

already made the big changes,” said Woods who was 

World Challenge champion in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007 

and 2011. “They’re already in. It’s the little tweaks here 

and there. 

“But the thing I’m excited about is my short game 

is back. I’m chipping and putting well again, and 

that’s something that’s turned around since my ball 

striking was better. “I didn’t have to spend all the 

time hitting golf balls and making changes. I could 

chip and putt for hours, and it paid off for me at the 

end of the year.” For the moment, though, Woods 

has just three more rounds to go before wrapping up 

his 2012 campaign ere at Sherwood. “This is ending 

my year, ending my season, and then I’ll take a nice 

little break over the holidays and then gear back up 

for next year,” he said.— Reuters 

FUKUOKA: Mongolian sumo grand champion, or “yokozuna”, Hakuho (top) throws down his compatriot and fellow yokozuna 

Harumafuji (bottom) to the ground to win the bout on the last day of the 15-day Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka, 

on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu. Hakuho defeated Harumafuji on the last day to finish with a winning 14-1 record in the 

15-day tournament. — AFP 

Sumo sports threatened 

in ‘age of convenience’ 

sumo training gym. “At this rate there will be more wrestlers quitting 

sumo than coming in. If that trend continues there will be 

none left. New wrestlers are our most precious commodity.” Last 

year sumo racked up debts of almost $50 million following a 

match-fixing sting and widespread arrests which led to a television 

black-out and a government ticking off. The sport also drew 

outrage across Japan when a former gym boss was sentenced to 

six years in prison after a 17-year-old wrestler was beaten to 

death. 

Last year, a gym chief was given a severe dressing down for 

beating three young wrestlers with a golf club for breaking curfew 

and not wearing traditional kimono outside. “We don’t 

know the reason why the numbers are dropping,” a Japan Sumo 

Association (JSA) official said on condition of anonymity. “You 

would have to ask (applicants) why, or if the problems have had 

anything to do with their decision.” The situation is the latest 

manifestation of a long, slow decline. Public interest in the 

once-packed tournaments has been falling steadily over the 

past decade, with both crowds and television viewing figures 

down.—Reuters


PERTH: Australia dismissed South Africa for 225 

despite another dogged rearguard action from 

Faf du Plessis before moving nervously to 33-2 at 

the close of play on a thrilling first day of the 

third test at the WACA yesterday. The overhauled 

Australian pace bowling unit had 

reduced the tourists to 6-75 with five quick wickets 

around the lunch break but du Plessis once 

again proved unmovable until he ran out of 

tailend partners when unbeaten on 78. Dale 

Steyn gave the tourists a quick boost in the late 

afternoon light when he had opener Ed Cowan 

caught for a golden duck with his third ball 

before Vernon Philander removed Shane Watson 

lbw for 10 after an appeal to the TV umpire. 

Opener David Warner, who was unbeaten on 

12, and nightwatchman Nathan Lyon, who had 

made seven, will resume on day two of a test 

which will decide which of the countries will be 

number one in the test rankings. “Faf’s in pretty 

good form and he’s proving pretty difficult to get 

out at this stage,” debutant Australian seamer 

John Hastings told reporters. “We were close but 

probably let it slip a bit, but I think 225 is still a 

pretty good effort to bowl them out. “I think the 

wicket will get better and better (and) if we can 

bat well for a half hour, an hour, in the morning, 

it’s going to flatten out nicely.” 

Australia’s selectors had earlier been vindicated 

in their decision to rest Ben Hilfenhaus and 

Peter Siddle after the pacemen had run themselves 

into the ground in Adelaide in the wake of 

a series-ending injury to James Pattinson. 

Recalled seamers Mitchell Starc, Mitchell 

Johnson and Hastings all got among the wickets 

to leave South Africa perhaps ruing the decision 

to bat first on a bouncy WACA track. “I think 

we’ve got to make it a good score now,” said 

South African spinner Robin Peterson. “We’d 

have liked to be up 300 after batting first but 

after being 6-75, if we can take a couple more 

wickets in the morning, 225 might end up being 

a good score.” 

All rounder Watson, who missed the two 

drawn tests in Brisbane and Adelaide with a calf 

injury, made the first breakthrough with 38 runs 

on the board when he had Graeme Smith caught 

in the slips by Michael Clarke for 16. The South 

Africans were looking like they might just survive 

until lunch, albeit with a modest total, before the 

intervention of left-arm quick Starc. Two full, 

late-swinging deliveries in six balls fooled first 

opener Alviro Petersen (30) and then all rounder 

Jacques Kallis (2) and ripped through the gate to 

make a mess of the stumps. 

There was to be no respite after lunch and 

Hashim Amla had already been dropped by 

Cowan when he was run out by Warner’s direct 

hit without adding to his tally of 11. Cowan’s spill 

deprived Hastings of his first test wicket but the 

bowler did not have to wait long to claim it as he 

found some late movement to have AB de 

Villiers caught in the slips for four. South Africa 

were now well and truly on the rack and it got 

worse when Johnson finally got some reward for 

some fine swing bowling with the first of his two 

wickets. Dean Elgar’s first test innings lasted just 

18 minutes and 12 balls before he caught a top 

edge with an attempted pull and Matthew Wade 

took the catch behind the stumps to hand the 

debutant a duck. 

India collapsed from a similar position here 

last year and Warner had scored a 69-ball century 

by the end of the first day’s play with Australia 

winning inside three days. South Africa are made 

of sterner stuff, however, and du Plessis 

anchored a stand of 57 with Robin Peterson, 64 

with Vernon Philander and 19 with Morne 

Morkel to triple his country’s tally for the last four 

wickets. 

Coming after the 78 and unbeaten 110 he 

scored to save a draw on his test debut in 

Adelaide, the 28-year-old now boasts a test batting 

average of 266. “There were always people 

doubting him but I think those doubts have 

KHULNA: Off-spinner Sohag Gazi made a 

memorable one-day debut to help Bangladesh 

crush West Indies by seven wickets with 58 

balls to spare in the opening game of the fivematch 

series in Khulna yesterday. Gazi claimed 

four wickets for 29 runs as he and spin colleague 

Abdur Razzak (3-39) ran through the 

West Indies batting order which failed to justify 

their decision to bat first and folded for 199 

runs in 46.5 overs. 

Opener Tamim Iqbal (58) scored his fifth 

consecutive one-day half century, while top 

order batsmen Anamul Haq (41) and Naeem 

Islam (50 not out) also contributed as 

Bangladesh lost three wickets before comfortably 

overwhelming the target to go 1-0 up in 

been thrown out of the window,” said Peterson. 

Lyon broke up all three of du Plessis’s big partnerships 

to finish with figures of 3-41, ending 

South Africa’s innings when he had Morkel 

caught by Hastings. Lyon was facing the South 

Africans again with bat in hand sooner than he 

would have liked, however, in a bid to protect 

the wicket of Ricky Ponting, who is playing his 

168th and final test in Perth. — Reuters 

the series. Tamim set the tone for a successful 

chase with a 88-run opening stand with 

Anamul, one of the four debutants Bangladesh 

fielded in the game. Tamim’s 58 came off 51 

balls with eight fours and two sixes before Sunil 

Narine had him caught by Kieran Pollard at 

backward point. 

Anamul survived some anxious moments 

before growing in confidence but fell short of 

his maiden half-century. Naeem Islam added 45 

runs with birthday boy Nasir Hossain (28) for 

third wicket to slam the door on West Indies. 

Earlier, the visitors got off to a positive start 

with the openers raising 48 runs but once 

Mashrafe Mortaza trapped Lendl Simmons (13) 

lbw, West Indies batting order simply came 

SPORTS 

Proteas strike back after 

being dismissed for 225 

South Africa bowled out cheaply 

PERTH: Australia’s Nathan Lyon tries to duck under a bouncer from a delivery from South 

Africa’s Dale Steyn during their third cricket test match in Perth, Australia yesterday. — AP 

SCOREBOARD 

PERTH, Australia: Scoreboard at stumps on the 

opening day of the third and final Test 

between Australia and South Africa at the 

WACA Ground yesterday: 

South Africa 1st Innings 

G. Smith c Clarke b Watson 16 

A. Petersen b Starc 30 

H. Amla run out (Warner) 11 

J. Kallis b Starc 2 

AB. de Villers c Clarke b Hastings 4 

D. Elgar c Wade b Johnson 0 

F. du Plessis not out 78 

R. Peterson c Wade b Lyon 31 

V. Philander c Hussey b Lyon 30 

D. Steyn b Johnson 2 

M. Morkel c Hastings b Lyon 17 

Extras (lb2, w2) 4 

Total (all out, 74 overs) 225 

Fall of wickets: 1-38 (Smith) 2-61 (Petersen), 3- 

63 (Kallis), 4-67 (Amla), 5-67 (de Villiers), 6-75 

(Elgar), 7-132 (Peterson), 8-196 (Philander), 9- 

206 (Steyn), 10-225 (Morkel). 

Bowling: Starc 16-3-55-2, Hastings 20-2-51-1, 

Watson 9-2-22-1 (1w), Johnson 17-3-54-2 (1w), 

Lyon 12-1-41-3. 

Australia 1st Innings 

D. Warner not out 12 

E. Cowan c Kallis b Steyn 0 

S. Watson lbw Philander 10 

N. Lyon not out 7 

Extras (lb4) 4 

Total (2 wickets, 11 overs) 33 

Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Cowan), 2-18 (Watson). 

Bowling: Steyn 6-2-21-1, Philander 4-0-8-1, 

Morkel 1-1-0-0. 

Still to bat: Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Mike 

Hussey, Matthew Wade, John Hastings, 

Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc. 

Spinners set up easy win for Bangladesh 

unstuck. Gazi delighted the packed holiday 

crowd at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium by 

removing the dangerous Chris Gayle (35) with 

his second ball with Tamim leaping high on 

long on boundary to take a spectacular catch. 

Gazi, who took nine wickets in his test debut 

earlier this month, struck another crucial blow 

when he removed Marlon Samuels for a duck in 

his next over before left-arm spinner Razzak 

joined the party. To make it worse for the visitors, 

Darren Bravo (35) got run out as 

Bangladesh took control of the match. Down 

the order, Sunil Narine (36) and Ravi Rampaul 

(25) added 57 runs for the ninth wicket to give 

the West Indies innings some respectability but 

it was not enough in the end. —Reuters


SPORTS 

Heat top shorthanded Spurs 

MIAMI: The NBA plans to make San 

Antonio pay for resting four stars. The 

Miami Heat almost could not. Ray Allen’s 

3-pointer with 22.6 seconds left gave the 

Heat the lead, LeBron James finished with 

23 points and the Heat rallied late to beat 

the Spurs 105-100 on Thursday night - 

needing to dig deep despite San Antonio’s 

decision to have four standouts resting at 

home in a move that irked NBA 

Commissioner David Stern. Allen scored 

20 points, Dwyane Wade added 19 and 

Chris Bosh finished with 18 points and 12 

rebounds for Miami, now 7-0 at home. 

Gary Neal had 20 points for the Spurs, 

who played without Tim Duncan, Tony 

Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green. 

The Spurs’ top foursome was sent back to 

San Antonio by coach Gregg Popovich, 

who said the move was in his team’s best 

interest. Stern wasn’t happy about it, calling 

the move “unacceptable” and saying 

that sanctions against the Spurs will be 

forthcoming. Tiago Splitter scored 18 

points, Nando De Colo added 15, Boris 

Diaw scored 12 and Matt Bonner had a 10point, 

10-rebound night for San Antonio, 

which finished a six-games-in-nine-nights 

road trip with a 5-1 record. 

The Spurs led by seven with about 5 

minutes left and were up 98-93 after Neal 

made a 3-pointer with 2:14 remaining. The 

Heat finished on a 12-2 run, needing yet 

another late-game rally. But all anyone will 

likely remember from this one is 

Popovich’s decision - and whatever Stern 

does as a result. “I apologize to all NBA 

fans,” Stern said. “This was an unacceptable 

decision by the San Antonio Spurs 

and substantial sanctions will be forthcoming.” 

Stern’s statement was released 

roughly the same time as tip-off in Miami 

for the nationally televised game. 

The Spurs’ five starters came into the 

game averaging a combined 23.6 points, 

or 1.6 points less than James averaged 

entering Thursday night. And when the 

Heat ran out to a 16-6 lead, it seemed as 

though a blowout was in the offing. After 

all, even the oddsmakers in Las Vegas 

expected it to be that way - the Heat were 

favored by six points in most sports books 

before the news broke that the Spurs’ regulars 

were resting, after which the line 

swelled to 13. 

WARRIORS 106, NUGGETS 105 

Andre Iguodala’s 3-pointer as the 

buzzer sounded was waived off, and 

Golden State held on for a wild win over 

Denver after four replay reviews over the 

final 3.4 seconds. Iguodala received a 

cross-court inbounds pass and connected 

from the left wing with a hand in his face, 

and Nuggets players celebrated by running 

off the court toward their locker 

room. But the Warriors stayed put and 

waited on yet another review by officials 

at the scorer’s table - then began their 

own cheers at raucous Oracle Arena when 

officials ruled the shot came just an instant 

after time expired. Iguodala missed the 

last of three free throws that would have 

tied the game with 3.4 seconds to go, but 

Denver still had two more chances to win. 

David Lee had a season-high 31 points on 

13-of-15 shooting for the Warriors, who 

earned their first win of the season against 

the Nuggets in the third meeting between 

the teams in a 20-day span.—Agencies 

Warriors take down Nuggets in wild finish 

OAKLAND: Golden State Warriors’ Carl Landry (7) scores past Denver Nuggets’ 

Kenneth Faried (35) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in 

Oakland, Calif. — AP 

Eastern Conference 

Atlantic Division 

W L PCT GB 

Brooklyn 10 4 .714 - 

NY Knicks 10 4 .714 - 

Philadelphia 9 6 .600 1.5 

Boston 8 7 .533 2.5 

Toronto 3 13 .188 8 

Central Division 

Milwaukee 7 6 .538 - 

Chicago 7 7 .500 0.5 

Indiana 7 8 .467 1 

Detroit 5 11 .313 3.5 

Cleveland 3 12 .200 5 

Southeast Division 

Miami 11 3 .786 - 

Atlanta 9 4 .692 1.5 

Charlotte 7 7 .500 4 

Orlando 5 9 .357 6 

Washington 1 12 .077 9.5 

NBA results/standings 

Miami 105, San Antonio 100; Golden State 106, Denver 105. 

Western Conference 

Northwest Division 

Oklahoma City 12 4 .750 - 

Utah 9 7 .563 3 

Denver 8 8 .500 4 

Minnesota 6 8 .429 5 

Portland 6 9 .400 5.5 

Pacific Division 

Golden State 9 6 .600 - 

LA Clippers 9 6 .600 - 

LA Lakers 7 8 .467 2 

Phoenix 7 9 .438 2.5 

Sacramento 4 10 .286 4.5 

Southwest Division 

Memphis 11 2 .846 - 

San Antonio 13 4 .765 - 

Houston 7 8 .467 5 

Dallas 7 9 .438 5.5 

New Orleans 4 10 .286 7.5 

Old wounds 

re-opened as 

Wimbledon 

face MK Dons 

LONDON: The first-ever clash between AFC Wimbledon and 

MK Dons will dominate the FA Cup second round this weekend 

as another chapter of one of English soccer’s saddest, but 

ultimately inspiring tales, is written tomorrow. Unfashionable 

Wimbledon, forever remembered for the Crazy Gang and an 

unlikely FA Cup final giant-killing against Liverpool at 

Wembley in 1988, were moved 56 miles north of London to 

Milton Keynes in 2003 and eventually re-named MK Dons. 

While there were financial reasons for the unprecedented 

re-location of an English side away from its home town, angry 

fans vowed to save the club’s history and formed AFC 

Wimbledon from scratch in the minor leagues of the game. 

After five promotions in eight years, AFC Wimbledon, a club 

which is owned by a fans’ trust, are now back in the Football 

League, just one division below MK Dons. While tomorrow’s 

tie may look like a chance to settle some old scores, AFC’s 

chief executive Erik Samuelson said most fans will make the 

trip from south west London with heavy hearts. 

“It’s a match of high emotions for our fans,” Samuelson, 

who has been a key part of the club’s rise from the ashes, told 

Reuters in the build-up to the match which will be broadcast 

live on national television, such is the interest surrounding it. 

“It’s a very difficult game because for the majority they would 

rather the game was not being played. “I’ve spoken to a 

whole range of people who are going and the feedback I’m 

getting is that they really don’t want to go and I don’t want to 

give (MK Dons) any money but I need to be there to support 

my team. 

‘HEAVY HEARTS’ 

“Some are saying that nothing will drag me there under 

any circumstances. Although that’s a small number,” he 

added. “It’s like a bell curve and the large chunk in the middle 

are going but with heavy hearts.” In their own way both clubs 

have been successful since the fateful day in 2001 when 

Wimbledon’s new chairman Charles Koppel gave the green 

light for a move to Milton Keynes. MK Dons, as they have 

been called since being bought by music entrepreneur Pete 

Winkelman in 2004, are now playing in front of 7,000 crowds 

in a purpose-built stadium. AFC Wimbledon, with their history 

and trophies restored after MK Dons effectively handed them 

back in 2007, were promoted back to the Football League in 

2011 after a rapid rise through the minor leagues. 

They are still effectively without their own ground, however, 

as they share a ground in nearby Kingston upon Thames, 

although plans are ongoing to return to their spiritual home 

in Plough Lane, just a long ball from the stadium in which 

they ruffled feathers in the top flight in the 1980s. They still 

play in the traditional blue and yellow made famous by the 

Crazy Gang which included the likes of hardman Vinnie Jones, 

Dennis Wise and Dave Beasant, who famously saved a penalty 

against Liverpool in the FA Cup final. 

NEW STADIUM 

“After the uprooting of the league place to Milton Keynes, 

that’s the least emotional word I can use, here we are, a 

bunch of fans hopefully opening a new stadium in Plough 

Lane with a team in the Football League,” said Samuelson, 

outlining plans to move into Wimbledon greyhound stadium. 

The team’s manager Neil Ardley, who played nearly 300 

games for the old Wimbledon, has had to deal with a media 

circus in the build up. “There is a lot of emotion behind it and 

a lot of history. It’s unique. I don’t think there is any other 

game where this has been the case,” he told the BBC. “Out of 

bad situations come good situations. I look at this club and it 

is unbelievable what has been achieved in the last 10 years. 

There should be a film made about this club. “For the fans, 

that’s what this game should be about - how far this club has 

come through hard work and determination.” While much


Sports 

ATLANTA: Drew Brees said the Saints played 

winning football against the Falcons in every 

category but turnovers. “Unfortunately, the 

turnovers far outshadow the rest,” Brees said. 

Brees threw a career-high five interceptions 

and his record touchdown streak ended in 

New Orleans’ 23-13 loss to Atlanta on 

Thursday night. The Saints (5-7) have dropped 

two in a row, pushing them to the edge of the 

playoff race, and they know winning their 

final four regular-season games still might not 

be enough to make the postseason. “The 

future as far as the playoffs goes looks pretty 

bleak right now,” assistant head coach Joe 

Vitt said. 

The Saints fell behind 17-0 before scoring 

13 unanswered points to get back in the 

game. William Moore’s two interceptions 

stopped the New Orleans comeback. 

Brees’ five-interception game came four 

days after he had two passes picked off and 

returned for touchdowns in a loss to San 

Francisco. “A couple of critical mistakes cost 

us the game, and I’m OK saying that because I 

hold myself accountable,” Brees said. “Really 

there have been some critical mistakes in the 

last two weeks that have cost us dearly.” 

He had never before thrown more than 

four interceptions in a game. “That’s the first 

time that’s ever happened to me, so that’s 

extremely disappointing,” Brees said. “I pride 

myself on being a good decision-maker and 

not someone who will be a detriment to the 

game.” Brees had thrown a touchdown pass 

in 54 consecutive games. He broke Johnny 

Unitas’ long-standing record earlier this season. 

“I realize that. I guess records are made to 

be broken and at some point they come to an 

end,” he said. “I felt like we could have taken 

that one for a while.” 

Brees’ scoring pass to Darren Sproles late 

in the first half was nullified by a penalty. 

Lance Moore dropped a ball in the end zone. 

Falcons coach Mike Smith said Brees’ streak 

was “unbelievable.” “Drew Brees is an outstanding 

quarterback,” Smith said. “The way 

the defense played tonight speaks volumes. 

The guys had gone out there and thrown 

touchdown after touchdown game after 

game after game.” New Orleans had won four 

in a row in the series. 

Mark Ingram scored on a 1-yard run in the 

second quarter for the Saints’ only touchdown. 

Garrett Hartley kicked two field goals. 

The Falcons (11-1) will clinch the NFC South 

with a month to go if Tampa Bay loses at 

Denver on Sunday. After Sproles’ TD was 

wiped off the board, Brees allowed the clock 

to run out in the first half when the Saints had 

the ball inside the Atlanta 10. Time ran out following 

a short pass to Sproles. “Obviously we 

were going down to get some points in the 2minute 

drill,” Brees said. “Honestly I thought 

we had more time than we did. The last time I 

looked at the clock, we had 17 seconds. I 

thought we had time left to throw one underneath 

and kill the clock. Unfortunately the 

clock was down to 7 when I looked back up 

after the completion. That wasn’t enough 

time to get the spike. 

“That’s my mistake that happened. We 

needed points, at least 3, and definitely 

another shot at the end zone, so that was on 

me. We have to get that.” It was an ugly visit 

to Atlanta for the Saints, from start to finish. 

When the Saints arrived in Atlanta, their bus 

was pelted by eggs at the airport. Michael 

Turner scored on Atlanta’s opening possession, 

Tony Gonzalez hauled in a touchdown 

pass from Matt Ryan, and Matt Bryant booted 

three field goals, including a 55-yarder. The 

defense did the rest. Thomas DeCoud, Sean 

Weatherspoon and Jonathan Babineaux also 

had interceptions for Atlanta. Brees completed 

28 of 50 passes for 341 yards. The Falcons 

opened the game with a dominant drive. 

Ryan completed a pass on the first play 

from scrimmage and then turned it over to a 

running game that has struggled most of the 

season. Turner burst around right end for a 

35-yard gain. Jacquizz Rodgers broke off two 

straight 14-yard gains. Turner scored from 3 

yards out for his 58th touchdown in five seasons 

with the Falcons, breaking the team 

record he had shared with Terance Mathis. 

Atlanta struck again in the opening minute 

of the second period. Julio Jones hauled in 

an 18-yard throw from Ryan, setting up a 17yard 

touchdown pass to Gonzalez in the 

back of the end zone. He beat former teammate 

Curtis Lofton; maybe as a sign of 

respect, Gonzalez just flipped the ball over 

the crossbar instead of his customary basketball 

dunk. 

Brees’ second interception, this one a sloppy 

pass behind running Chris Ivory that 

deflected into the arms of Weatherspoon, set 

up Bryant’s 45-yard field goal for a 17-0 lead. 

The Saints took control the rest of the second 

quarter and most of the third. Ingram’s touchdown 

run capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive. 

Hartley’s first field goal, from 21 yards in the 

third quarter, ended a 15-play, 83-yard drive. 

Hartley connected again from much farther 

out on the Saints’ next possession, a 52-yarder 

that brought New Orleans even closer.— AP 

Warriors take 

down Nuggets 

in wild finish 

Saints fall to Falcons 23-13 

Falcons avenge loss, dent Saints’ playoff chances 

47 

ATLANTA: Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez (88) makes a catch for a touchdown as 

New Orleans Saints middle linebacker Curtis Lofton defends during the first half of an NFL 

football game on Thursday, Nov 29, 2012. — AP

GANGNAM StylE - Kuwait Times

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