Document 6605000

CR
IP
TI
ON
BS
SU
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
Second
e-government
forum
underway
Suicide bomber
kills 47 in
Nigeria school
massacre
NO: 16339
150 FILS
3
40 PAGES
MUHARRAM 18, 1436 AH
7
Pakistan’s
new weapon
of mass
seduction
29
www.kuwaittimes.net
Suns hand
Warriors
first defeat
of season
20
Why aren’t laid-off
nurses being hired?
Vacancies exist, but recruiters want new ‘fees’
Min 07º
Max 27º
High Tide
01:14 & 15:35
Low Tide
08:53 & 20:46
By Sajeev K Peter
conspiracy theories
Overnight you
are Comorian!
By Badrya Darwish
[email protected]
C
ongratulations bedoons! Now you can be
Comoros Island nationals. Hurray! But you
will be Comoros islanders still living in
Kuwait, where you have been living, some of you
for 30, 40, 50, 60 years, maybe more - it varies. It
doesn’t matter. But you’ve been living on this
land a long time. But don’t bother - with the fast
transportation nowadays and modern airports,
you can be in your new homeland in a few hours
by air.
Really, is this a solution to the bedoon problem in Kuwait? I’m wondering why did the
Comoros government agree to such an unprecedented deal. I have never heard of such a thing
in my life. Do we buy and sell citizenship nowadays openly? Was it a money deal? Is it easy for
countries to accept such proposals and to accept
so many people who have never set foot or even
heard of the islands before? I’m sure if I conduct
a survey tomorrow of bedoons and even others
in Kuwait, most wouldn’t know where the
Comoros Islands are located. I only know about it
because I work in a newspaper, excuse my ignorance.
OK, whatever deal took place and it was
agreed. But what’s the use if the bedoons are
going to remain in Kuwait? Why force on them a
different nationality? Or is the idea just to stop
this notion of stateless because it is a shame for
Kuwait? Will this stop international human rights
organizations from criticizing us? Or stop the
bedoons from protesting and demonstrating
and some of their activists outside Kuwait writing about us? Will this stop them and stop all
that activity?
And on a serious note, once they are given
Comorian nationality, can they go live there if
they wish? What jobs, homes, land, schools, etc
will be available for them? And if they stay in
Kuwait, will they be treated differently from other expatriates here? For instance, will they be
exempted from the requirement of having a
Kuwaiti sponsor and residency and bitaqa and
etc? And for how long will the residency be?
Unlimited, or like other expats depending on the
company? Renewable or with conditions?
Transferrable? And what about their children will they adopt the nationality of their parents
and become Comorians? Will they be allowed to
stay in Kuwait, study in schools and universities
and work in any place, be it the government or
private sector?
There are a hundred questions to be asked
over such an absurd proposal.
KUWAIT: Kuwaiti youth with disabilities attend a special annual parliament session at the National Assembly
yesterday to discuss and provide solutions for the problems facing people with disabilities. — Photo by
Yasser Al-Zayyat (See Page 2)
Govt mulling
petrol subsidy,
spending cuts
S&P issues warning
KUWAIT: Kuwait’s government is looking at adjusting its
petrol subsidies in order to reduce waste, a senior Kuwaiti
official said yesterday in a fresh sign that authorities are
using this year’s oil price plunge to push economic
reforms. For years, the government refrained from cutting
lavish and growing energy subsidies because of political
sensitivities. But last month, it said it planned to raise
domestic prices of diesel fuel and kerosene.
Ali Sabt bin Sabt, acting undersecretary at Kuwait’s oil
ministry, told Reuters yesterday that the government was
now also looking at petrol subsidies. A petrol price hike
would probably have a much bigger impact on consumers than the diesel and kerosene changes. “You need
to do something about subsidies. Maybe a producing
country can turn into a consumer country,” Sabt said on
the sidelines of an energy conference in Abu Dhabi, referring to concern that ultra-low domestic prices are encouraging Kuwait’s petrol consumption to balloon as its population grows, potentially eating into its oil exports. “We
need to put policy on it. We need to put an order to it so
we can do something regarding consumption.”
Sabt added, “Yes, we are looking at petrol specifically. It
is subsidized and...that is increasing. As population is
more and more, we have to do something in this regard.”
Asked whether the government might double petrol
prices in the future, he said: “Not doubling, but it is under
study...It is not yet decided.” A decision may come in the
near future, Sabt said without elaborating.
Later yesterday, the government ordered Cabinet ministers to “rationalize spending” after considering measures
to counter the sharp decline in oil prices, an official statement said. “The government asked ministers to control
expenditure and rationalize spending in such a way to
serve citizens and achieve the country’s higher interests,”
said a statement following the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Continued on Page 13
Comoros offer highlights
plight of Kuwait bedoons
KUWAIT: Kuwait’s announcement that tens of thousands of stateless people will be offered citizenship of
the impoverished African nation of Comoros has highlighted their decades-old plight. But a representative of
the community whose members demand Kuwaiti citizenship rejected the government’s offer as “totally
impractical”. The stateless people, known as bedoons,
insist they were born and raised in Kuwait and thus
have full rights to claim citizenship. Kuwait says a majority of the bedoons belong to other countries and that
only 34,000 of them qualify for consideration of citizenship after meeting a set of stringent conditions.
The state insists it has documented evidence to prove its
claims, saying the bedoons are mainly from neighbouring
Iraq and Saudi Arabia, as well as a few thousand from Iran,
Jordan and Syria. Rights watchdog Amnesty International
slammed the move, saying in a statement it is “a shameless
betrayal of Kuwait’s international human rights obligations”.
“It is shocking that authorities in Kuwait would try to
resolve the long-standing issue of the bedoons’ statelessness and discrimination by mass purchasing another country’s ‘economic citizenship’,” said Amnesty’s Said
Boumedouha.
The bedoons numbered 106,000 in 2011, according a
Human Rights Watch report based on Kuwaiti government
statistics. The figures show that while 34,000 bedoons qualify for consideration of citizenship, 42,000 are Iraqis, 26,000
are of other nationalities, mainly Saudi, and the status of
4,000 is unknown. The government based its findings on
secret information which it refuses to share, HRW said.
Kuwait says apart from those eligible to apply for citizenship, other bedoons or their ancestors crossed into the
country illegally and destroyed their passports in order to
gain access to generous welfare programs, including free
housing.
Continued on Page 13
KUWAIT: Around 446 nursing staff who lost their job
last month after the Ministry of Health cancelled the
license of the company that recruited them are seeking
the government’s help to get jobs in MoH hospitals or
clinics. “We lost our jobs for no fault of ours,” one of the
nurses who did not want to give her name told Kuwait
Times. According to her, they all are qualified and have
experience in working in Kuwaiti hospitals and clinics.
“We know that there are vacancies in MoH hospitals and
clinics here. Our request to the government is that the
MoH consider our plight and take us back into the system,” she said.
Nurses from developing countries often pay as much
as KD 3,000 to KD 5,000 to recruiters - both in their
home country and in Kuwait - for the privilege of a job.
And with growing demand in Kuwait (as the country
builds several new hospitals and polyclinics), there is a
projected rising demand for nurses. But so far, many of
the laid-off nurses have not been able to land a new
position. The reason why may have little to do with their
qualification and experience. Instead, some speculate
that recruiters would prefer to seek new recruits from
abroad in order to earn the ‘fees’ typically paid by foreign nurses.
The difficulty for the jobless nurses in Kuwait is that
they have already paid their recruitment fees - often
leaving massive debts back home. “Our contracts came
to an end on October 26. We are in deep crisis because
many of us are here with our families.
Continued on Page 13
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
LOCAL
Al-Ghanim and senior officials with members of the Kuwait Disabled Club.
A child takes an MPs seat in the parliament.
A man makes a statement using sign language at the session.
Speaker promises exerted efforts for disabled
KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker
Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim promised yesterday
to exert all possible efforts to hear and meet
the demands of the disabled community.
In a special session dedicated to the citizens of special challenges, Ghanim stressed
that people with disabilities have the right
to be heard by the government, the various
institutions and the public.
He urged them to take matters into their
hands and apply hard and persistent work in
order to solve the problems and attend to
the needs of this special segment of the
society.
KUWAIT: Two members of the Kuwait Disabled Club attend yesterday’s session.
Good hands
Meanwhile, Minister of Social Affairs and
Labor Hind Al-Subaih stressed that people
with disabilities are in “good hands” and the
government will open their doors to help
their community.
Subaih, who is also Minister of State for
Speaker Al-Ghanim listens to a contribution during the session˘— KUNA
Human Development
Forum kicks off
KUWAIT: Human resources development, in particular building effective human capital, acquires special
importance in Kuwait, Minister of
Social Affairs and Labor and Minister
of State for Planning and
Development Hind Subaih AlSubaih said yesterday.
Subaih made the statement at
the opening of the “Human
Development Forum 2014” organized by the Supreme Council for
Planning and Development in cooperation with the Arab Planning
Institute and the World Bank, under
the auspices of His Highness the
Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber
Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
The two-day Forum embodies
close strategic cooperation among
the three organizing bodies and
touches on one of the vital development issues gaining growing interest worldwide, Subaih said. In
Kuwait this is translated into efforts
to build effective human resources
capable of implementing the devel-
opment plans as aspired.
She added that Kuwait’s first
mid-term Development Plan
(2010/2011-2013/2014) established
planning as an effective method for
managing development as well as
directing national resources toward
achieving strategic goals, the minister said. It has also set social and
human resources development as
the country’s top priority.
Through implementation phases,
various challenges emerged for
decision makers, planners and policy makers, topped with imbalance
of population structure, housing
care and the weak public services,
especially in education and health
care, Subaih noted.
However, the second mid-term
Development Plan has several
advantages and opportunities that
must be seized and built on, she
said. This plan comes amid challenges that force decision makers to
work harder to realize tangible economic and social achievements that
reflect the country’s actual capabilities and fulfill citizens’ expectations.
Kuwait’s second mid-term
Development Plan (2015/20162019/2020) focuses on human
resources development as the base
for any activity, Director of Arab
Planning Institute Dr Bader Mallah
told the opening session of the
Forum. The Plan has 11 pivots, covering fields like population structure, social care, youth and housing
care, he added.
The World Bank has launched the
Forum with the participation of 10
government institutions and civil
society organizations, in support of
the economic and social development in Kuwait, Bassam Ramadan,
WB Country Manager in Kuwait told
the event. He stressed that the WB is
a strategic partner for Kuwait, supporting the country’s efforts for realizing social and economic development. Strategic partnership
between both dates back to 30
years before. —KUNA
GCC citizenship workshop kicks off
KUWAIT: The Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) citizenship workshop kicked off yesterday with participation of a large delegation
from the member states. The two-day event
is organized by Ministry of Higher Education
in collaboration with the GCC General
Secretariat.
“The workshop aims to strengthen the
bonds of love and kinship among people of
GCC states,” Minister of Education and Higher
Education Bader Al-Issa said in the opening
speech of the workshop. He pointed out the
workshop is organized in implementation of
a recommendation by the GCC ministers of
higher education and scientific research in
their recent meeting in Riyadh.
Al-Issa welcomed all Gulf delegations partaking in the workshop. “Enhancing the concept of GCC citizenship among Gulf people,
particularly youth, is the main objective of
the workshop,” Al-Issa said. For his part, GCC
Assistant Secretary General for Human and
Environment Affairs Abdullah Al-Hashim said
that the GCC leaders are keen on forging
ahead with the efforts that aims to promote
Gulf unity and integration. — KUNA
Development, further assured during the
special session that “we will do our best to
fulfill the requirements of people living with
disabilities” because they are still an integral
part of the society.
The minister pointed out that the ministry will exert all efforts to eliminate hard-
ships that are facing this segment; however,
she emphasized that it will take “time,
finances and human resources.” Subaih
expressed appreciation to all non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have been
on daily contact with the ministry regarding
their affairs. — KUNA
Young men in attendance react during the session.
Cabinet discusses
2015/2016 state budget
KUWAIT: The cabinet discussed in its
weekly meeting at Seif Palace yesterday the proposed state budget for
the fiscal year 2015/2016.
Finance Minister Anas Al-Khaled
made a presentation about the main
features of the new budget, said
Minister of Cabinet Affairs Sheikh
Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak AlSabah in a press briefing following
the cabinet meeting, headed by His
Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh
Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
He added Governor of the Central
Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Mohammad AlHashel, Finance Ministry Undersecretary Khalifa Hamada and several
senior Finance Ministry officials
briefed the cabinet about the value
of the expected state income and
expenditure.
They also presented to the cabinet
a number of proposals and recommendations to deal with the repercussions of the recent drop in oil
prices without affecting spending on
investment and development projects. Following the deliberations, the
cabinet expressed appreciation of the
efforts exerted by the Finance
Ministry and other relevant state bodies to prepare the budget and urged
all state bodies to make the best use
of budget allocations to achieve the
state interests and meet people’s
needs.
Then, the cabinet was briefed
about Central Bank of Kuwait’s
Financial Stability Report (FSR) of
2013 which analytically examines key
developments in all three areas of the
financial system; institutions, markets
and infrastructure, with an aim to
identify the risks to the stability of the
financial system.
The CBK report covers in significant detail the performance of the
banking system, assessing their role
as financial intermediaries, their management of various risks and their
ability to withstand major shocks. It
evaluates the functioning of key
domestic markets, including the
money market, the foreign exchange
market, the Kuwait Stock Exchange
and the real estate market, as well as
their implications for the banking system. Finally, the FSR also highlights
the trends in the payment and settlement system.
Deep relations
Earlier, First Deputy Prime Minister
and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah
Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah apprised
the cabinet of His Highness the Amir
Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah’s recent visits to the United
Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.
Sheikh Sabah Khaled pointed out
that His Highness the Amir’s Gulf tour
has reflected the depth of Kuwaiti
relations with three brotherly countries. He added that the talks held
during the tour tackled the prospects
of joint GCC action to achieve common goals as well as the latest regional and international development of
common concern. The ministers
reviewed a letter addressed to His
Highness the Amir from Mauritanian
President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz
KUWAIT: HH Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak chairs the cabinet meeting yesterday. — KUNA
about means to boost bilateral relations. They were also informed about
a letter addressed to His Highness the
Amir from Togolese President Faure
Gnassingbe. In his letter, Gnassingbe
congratulated His Highness the Amir
on the UN honoring and its proclamation of him a Humanitarian Leader of
Kuwait a Humanitarian Center. The
letter also included an invitation to
His Highness the Amir to visit the
Republic of Togo.
Later, the ministers discussed the
main issues on the agenda of the
coming National Assembly sessions.
They also debated the latest regional
and international political developments. — KUNA
Municipal Council rebuffs
Dasman Palace possession
KUWAIT: Minister Al-Issa is honored at the workshop yesterday. —KUNA
K U WA I T: K u w a i t M u n i c i p a l
Council yesterday turned down
a proposal presented by its
Chairman Mahlhal Al-Khaled to
p o s s e s s D a s m a n Pa l a c e a n d
rebuild it under the supervision
of premiership or Kuwait
Municipality.
Twelve out of sixteen council
members voted against the
p ro p o s a l a n d t h e re m a i n i n g
four members abstained. “The
proposal was meant to pre ser ve an historic building of
great importance as one of the
m a i n l a n d m a r k s o f K u w a i t ,”
Khaled said during the council
meeting. He highlighted the
efforts to preserve historic sites
and main landmarks of the
state. — KUNA
KUWAIT: Ambassador of the Kingdom of Cambodia Long Kem hosted a reception at Crowne Plaza hotel on the occasion of his country’s 61st Independence Day anniversary. Senior officials, diplomats and media personalities attended the reception. —Photos by Joseph Shagra
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
LOCAL
KUWAIT: Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah addresses
the forum. —Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat
(From left) Abdullateef Al-Suraie, Yousef Al-Marzook and Dr Thalay Al-Fozan speak at the event.
2nd E-Government Forum underway
Participants present solutions to achieve the desired system
By Nawara Fattahova
KUWAIT: Latest IT solutions, modern
technology and future trends of government datacenters can be found at
the Second E-Government Forum
being held from November 9-11, 2014
at the Arraya Ballroom. The forum is
organized by Nouf Expo and sponsored
by various institutions. Participating
companies and institutions are presenting various solutions for ministries
and government institutions to achieve
the desired e-government including
security of data and government systems.
The launch ceremony was attended
by Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah AlMubarak Al-Sabah, State Minister for
Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the
Central Agency for Information
Technology (CAIT), who said that the
government datacenters play an
important role to keep up with latest
technology trends.
“HH the Amir issued Amiri Decree
number 266/2006 that resulted in
establishing CAIT to lead the efforts of
developing the e-government program
for Kuwait in cooperation with all other
government agencies. This forum will
present the latest datacenter technologies, and we request that all government datacenters set their plans to
acquire and develop their human
resource professionals at the same
pace at which they upgrade technologies according to their e-government
plans,” said Sheikh Mohammed.
Abdullateef Al-Suraie, Director
General of CAIT, noted that the development of the IT sector in Kuwait
including government datacenters is a
priority for CAIT. “This priority is part of
CAIT’s ongoing plans to endorse new
technologies that pave the way for
improved e-government programs and
services. We believe that improved
electronic services help build a more
transparent government that in turn
helps achieve the ultimate strategic
goal represented by e-Kuwait, where all
can enjoy quality e-services at all times
wherever they are,” he pointed out. The
United Nations E-Government
Development Index reflects the readiness and progress of countries’ e-government programs. “An important
aspect of this readiness is represented
by the efficiency of government datacenters. Therefore, I believe that this
forum comes at the right time, and we
look forward to recommendations that
develop and improve the capabilities of
government datacenters in Kuwait.
Also, the topics of this forum are in line
with CAIT’s plans that are carried out in
coordination and cooperation with all
other government agencies,” stated
Suraie.
Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah is honored at the event.
Shaping government datacenters
According to Yousef Al-Marzook, GM
Nouf Expo, this year the forum is focusing on technological and operational
trends that are continuously shaping
current and future government datacenters. “These are considered the
main production workshops of the
government’s electronic services.
Therefore, they should be undergoing
continuous development to endorse
new technologies that help them meet
their mission,” he noted.
Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah tours the exhibition
“We are confident that the 2nd EGovernment Forum will achieve its
objectives through the various
researches, studies, products and services that are showcased by industry
specialists and global companies,”
added Marzook.
Dr Thalay Al-Fozan, Head of the
Scientific Committee, said that government institutions are in the process of
executing their e-government plans in
cooperation with CAIT. “They mainly
target the development of government
electronic services in order to deploy
them for serving citizens, expats and
visitors to Kuwait. Accessibility to these
services is available through various
channels, namely the official electronic
portal of Kuwait (www.e.gov.kw) and
via smartphone applications,” he
explained.
Various workshops were held at the
forum on related issues such as cloud
transformation, mobility in government, CRM solutions for a dynamic
government, transformation to a smart
government, datacenter trends and
others. Today, the workshops will focus
on issues including technologies for
incident response, secure, governmentgrade mobility and network access
solutions, information and cyber security strategy, managing information
security risks in government datacenters, IBM green data centers and others.
Also, the forum includes an exhibition
where participating companies and
institutions are displaying their services
and products.
Linden Summer and Boarding
Schools Education Fair
KUWAIT: On November 12, 2014,
the Regency Hotel will host the
Linden Boarding Schools fair from
4:00-8:00 pm. With representatives
from 12 US boarding schools, the
fair will provide students with information on summer camps, full-time
programs, bridge programs, and
specialized support for children
with learning disabilities and learning differences. The fair is organized
by The Linden Educational Tours in
conjunction with the US Embassy.
Education USA advisers will be
present at the fair to answer questions about education in the US. US
Embassy consular staff will also be
on hand to answer questions about
the student visa process.
The fair will give students a
chance to learn more about a
preparatory, or “bridge,” year available at US boarding schools, which
gives students the opportunity to
adjust to life in the US in a structured setting while also allowing
them to improve their English language skills through the study of
core subjects.
Additional information about the
fair can be found at
hhtps://www.facebook.com/eve
nts/288598097982754/. More information about studying in the
United States can be found at
http://www.educationusa.state.gov/
Correction
W
e regret our mistake
identifying Lulu AlRodaini as the leader
of Human Line Organization,
where in fact she is a member.
On the other hand, she’s a
member of the steering committee that founded Taqabbal.
The article appeared in Kuwait
Times yesterday entitled “One
in every five people in Kuwait
mentally ill”.
Abdulrazzaq Al-Essa receives the E-Government trophy on behalf of VIVA
VIVA sponsors E-Government Forum
Initiative to teach French
language in primary schools
KUWAIT: Minister of Education
and Minister of Higher Education
Dr Bader Al-Issa announced yesterday an initiative aiming to teach
French language in primar y
schools in a plan expected to apply
in the upcoming years.
In a statement to reporters on
the sidelines of a celebration on
“French language as an international language of communica-
tion”, Dr Al-Issa added that the initiative was launched in coordination with the French Embassy in
Kuwait.
He pointed out that this orientation is supported by the National
Center for Education Development
(NCED) in cooperation with the
French Institute and French
Foreign Ministry. That celebration,
attended by Al-Issa and French
Ambassador in Kuwait Christian
Nakhle, marks the 50th anniversary
of establishing Kuwait-France
diplomatic ties.
The t wo - day event includes
discussions on French language,
the possibility of developing it in
university and technology used in
the learning process as well as
other activities related to the language. —KUNA
KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s fastest-growing and most developed telecom
operator, announced taking part in
the E-Government Forum as the platinum sponsor, demonstrating its supporting role to political leadership
and national information and communication security.
The E-Government Forum II:
Recent Trends in Government
Information Centers is held under the
patronage of His Highness Sheikh
Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah,
the Prime Minister of Kuwait and
attended by Sheikh Mohammed
Abdullah Al- Mubarak Al-Sabah,
Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs at
Arraya Ballroom, from 9 to 11
November 2014.
Commenting on this sponsorship,
Abdulrazzaq Al Essa, Director of
Corporate Communications at VIVA
said: “Our sponsorship and participation stems from our deep understanding of the rapid development of technology surrounding information and
communication security, in addition
to the vital role we, as a communications service provider, play in addressing related challenges. This year’s
forum will cover several important
topics such as ‘Modern trends for
information centers’ and ‘cloud computing in governmental data centers’,
‘governance in the management of
information centers’, and “communica-
tions systems in future data centers’,
The annual E-government forum
has become an annual event where
officials of the centers of government
information can meet specialized
companies and researchers in Kuwait
and other GCC countries, to learn
about the latest technologies, products and methods of work, management and governance, which contribute to the development of the system of e-government and building a
society of information.
VIVA will continue to support and
aid the development and progress of
Kuwait’s communications industry
and will play an active role wherever
possible.
NBK celebrates NBK Academy graduates
KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) celebrated the graduation of the tenth batch of newly
hired young Kuwaitis from NBK Academy. NBK
Academy aims to train and develop the professional skills of young Kuwaitis as part of NBK’s
strategy to attract and develop national human
resources. NBK organized a special ceremony for
the graduation of the newly hired young
Kuwaitis. The ceremony was attended by Emad
Ahmad Al-Ablani, NBK General Manager, Human
Resources Group, along with other NBK officials.
NBK Academy is the first initiative of its kind in
Emad Al-Ablani and NBK officials in a group picture with NBK Academy new graduates
the private sector in Kuwait and is part of NBK’s
strategy to attract young Kuwaitis by offering
them a range of career and professional development opportunities. NBK Academy programs run
for five months and are specially tailored to provide trainees with theoretical and practical skills
covering the different aspects of the banking
industry. NBK maintains its leading position as
one of the country’s largest employers in the private sector and is committed to supporting
Kuwaiti nationals and empowering them to realize their potentials. Annually, NBK offers many
training programs for employees including
Shabab program, and the first of its kind NBK
High Fliers Program. NBK also organizes executive training programs in line with the bank’s
commitment to developing and investing in its
key resource and human capital.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
LOCAL
EPA monitors red tide off kuwait coast
Crime
Crime
R e p o r t
R e p o r t
Helper arrested for
‘smothering’ student
Teacher accused
of raping boy
KUWAIT: An Arabic teacher was detained by the prosecutor after being accused by a Jordanian of raping his son.
The kids’ father told police in Fahaheel that his 12-year-old
son was sexually abused by the Arabic teacher in a football
ground. The father confronted the teacher and the two
exchanged blows. Police are investigating the case.
By Hanan Al-Saadoun
KUWAIT: An Ethiopian helper was held at Hadiya police
station for questioning over a complaint by a parent
against the education ministry. The parent said his first
grade son and was late to school since he was sick. The boy
kept crying, so his father requested the worker to stay
beside him until he calms down.
The father said he went back to the school in 30 minutes to check on his son, and was told by the worker that
he was sent to the classroom. On hearing the cries of his
son from the school clinic, the father went there and found
the Ethiopian placing a small pillow on his son’s face that
almost suffocated him. The father went with his son to the
school administration to complain against the helper.
A police patrol was dispatched to the school premises
and the principal was asked to bring the Ethiopian helper,
but she refused to do so as there was no written order. The
police informed the principal that a phone call enables
them to enter the school. The helper was finally brought
before the police, who discovered the woman had nothing
to do with the school and had violated her residency. The
helper was arrested and a complaint was filed against the
education ministry.
Child rapist caught
Fintas police arrested an Egyptian man suspected of
raping a child in Fintas. A security source said only a
day after a complaint was lodged by the father about
the rape of his five-year-old daughter by an unidentified person, police managed to identify a building
haris who was seen by some people at the time of the
crime. The suspect denied committing the crime, and a
sample was taken to test his DNA.
Kidnap and rape
A citizen accused a man of kidnapping her at gunpoint in
Nuzha, as she was forced in his car and taken to Salmiya,
where he allegedly had sex with her without her consent.
She was later dropped back to Nuzha. The woman gave
police details of the man, his car plate number and location
of the crime.
Drunk man calls police
A man who was highly intoxicated called police complaining about another person drunk in a Hawally
park. Police patrol went to the area and found that the
caller himself was under the influence of alcohol.
Public indecency
Police in Salmiya received a call about a couple committing
an indecent act inside a car parked at a mall. Police went to
the area and put an end to the act and charged them with
public indecency.
Husband charged with theft’
In an interesting development, an activist asked her
husband for divorce, after he along with another person stormed her villa. In her complaint, she told police
that her husband called and said that her villa in Surra
was robbed and the thieves had stolen the safe and
her luxury car. On checking the security cameras,
police discovered the husband along with another
person committed the theft, and he was arrested
immediately. —Al-Rai
Firefighters tackle the blaze.
KUWAIT: The Environment Public Authority (EPA) is monitoring status of the recently-formed red tide spots off the
Kuwaiti coast, EPA said yesterday. Mohammad Al-Enezi, EPA’s
acting director general, told KUNA the authority has been
following up on this renewed phenomenon since last
Saturday, when the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs
and Fish Resources, filed reports confirming location of red
spots floating at various locations in the territorial sea
waters. Special teams have scooped up some samples for
analysis, he said, affirming capacity to “cope with such emergency situations.” The red tide is a common name for a phenomenon known as an algal bloom (large concentrations of
aquatic microorganisms) when it is caused by a few species
of dinoflagellates and the bloom takes on a red or brown
color. Red tides are events in which estuarine, marine, or
fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water column,
resulting in coloration of the surface water. It is usually
found in coastal areas. —KUNA
Growing interest to preserve Kuwait’s biodiversity: KISR
KUWAIT: Kuwait has been paying growing
attention to preserving biodiversity and
wildlife in the country which is habitat to
some 374 seasonal and durable plants,
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research
(KISR) said yesterday.
Addressing the opening session of an
international symposium on wildlife plants
organized by KISR for four days, the institute’s Director General Naji Al-Mutairi
stressed support by Kuwaiti leaders to
research and development institutions as
well as environment and agricultural
authorities. Researches and specialists from
35 Arab and foreign countries are taking
part in the international gathering.
Thanks to directives by the country’s
leaders, Kuwait now has four natural
reserves, topped with Sabah Al-Ahmad
Natural Reserve, established on a total area
of 331 square kilometers, with a wide variety of plants, Mutairi told the session.
Kuwait is posed to establish five new
nature reserves over the coming ten years
that will cover of 1,680 square kilometers.
Al Mutairi also referred to the new law
for the protection of the environment that
came into effect last October, comprising
181 articles in five chapters, the fifth of
which is devoted to biodiversity. In line
with the law, the Interior Ministry will form
KUWAIT: Dr Naji Al-Mutairi speaks at
the opening session. —KUNA
an environment police department to follow up the application of provisions.
The KISR director highlighted Kuwait’s
achievement on the 2014 Environmental
Performance Index (EPI), moving up by 84
ranks, from 126 to 42, among total 178
countries. The EPI is a joint project
between the Yale Center for Environmental
Law and Policy and the Center for
International Earth Science Information
Network at Columbia University.
Vital projects
Separately, Mutairi said that KISR
accomplishments of vital projects in oil,
water, environment and energy fields contributed to the progress and excellence of
the country’s sustainable development. His
remarks came through his participation of
a regional meeting Sunday by the Global
Research Council, hosted by Kuwait
Foundation for the Advancement of
Sciences (KFAS), which highlighted the
importance of having a national plan
approved for scientific research and
financed by the state. The meeting also
reviewed projects and scientific research
papers.
Mutairi told KUNA that the meeting also
reviewed KISR’s past experiences, achievements and future plans, as well as its
human resources, which seeks to achieve
the ambitious goals and visions of the
Institute in various areas.
KISR was established to devote all energies to serve scientific research since its
inception in 1967 and until now, he said,
noting that all achievements, projects and
patents are a source of pride for the
Institute and for Kuwait, the Arabian Gulf
and the Middle.
Recently, the world marked the
International Day for Preventing the
Exploitation of the Environment in War and
Armed Conflict, which for Kuwaitis was a
reminder of the disastrous oil well fires of
1990, Mutairi said.
Marking the occasion in a speech,
Mutairi said the UN launched celebrating
this international day in 2011 in a reminder
of what befell Kuwait environmentally during the Iraqi invasion in 1990 when hundreds of oil wells were set ablaze, creating
one of the world’s worst environmental disasters. He commended international efforts
at that time in eventually putting out the
fires in a record time, saying that Kuwaiti
ecology and environment still reeled from
the effects of that disaster. —KUNA
KRCS distributes
winter supplies
to Syrian refugees
TRIPOLI: The Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) continued yesterday
its relief campaign to distribute relief aid to Syrian families that have
taken up refuge in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli.
Head of the field team Abdulrahman Al-Saleh said in a statement
to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that some 2,000 Syrian families
received today food supplies, blankets and winter clothing. Saleh
added that this campaign was an extension of the relief aid campaign
launched by the KRCS, referring that the KCRS was keen to distribute
such relief aid in this period especially as the severe winter is approaching where the displaced people are always having difficulty in this season. For her part, member of the Social Committee in the KRCS Zahra
Al-Shatti expressed hope these supplies would help alleviate some of
the suffering of the refugees during the upcoming harsh winter conditions. She added that some food parcels were distributed to some 500
Syrian families, in addition to blankets and bread. —KUNA
Sharq restaurant on fire
Fire broke out in a restaurant in Al-Tijariya tower in Sharq.
Fire-fighters from Hilali and Madina centers rushed to the
scene and brought the fire under control. No injuries were
reported.
Worker injured
A man who fell from the roof of a house in Sabah AlNasser was rushed to the hospital. A case was filed for
investigations.
The fire drill in progress.
Fire drill
The Sea Fire Department and Coast Guards held a joint
training session in Salmiya on sea rescue operations for
coastguards and non-commissioned officers from Kuwait
and Qatar. The training was for using safety equipment, fire
extinguishers and their use aboard a vessel.
Camps safety
Deputy director general for the prevention unit Brig
Khalid Al-Zaid met the director of another unit and
stressed that camps must meet prevention conditions
in both the private and public sector. He said that companies and establishments must obtain approval from
the KFSD.
Kuwaiti-French
agreement to excavate
for antiquities in Failaka
KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Mohammed Al-Khaled Al-Sabah received
yesterday ten newly-graduated officers. The ceremony saw officers take the oath before him.
KUWAIT: Ambassador of Algeria to Kuwait Khemissi Arif hosted a reception at Salwa Al-Sabah Hall recently to commemorate his country’s national day.
Government officials, diplomats and media representatives attended the event.—Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat
KUWAIT: The Department of Museums and Antiquities at
the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL)
signed a partnership agreement with French Total
Company and French Institute for the Near East for the
excavation of monuments in Failaka Island, 20 kilometers
off the coast of Kuwait City.
As per the agreement, the excavation works will concentrate on the areas of Hellenistic castle and Al-Qusor in
the Island. In a press statement, the NCCAL Secretary
General Ali Al-Yuha underscored the importance of the 35year-long Kuwaiti-French cooperation in the archeological
domain.
This is not the first Kuwaiti-French agreement for cooperation to excavate for monuments and antiquities in
Kuwait, he said. He clarified that the Kuwaiti-French archeological team has been working in Kuwait for a long time
and presents regular reports on the activities to the NCCAL.
Al-Yuha noted that Kuwait attaches great importance to
Failaka Island which includes monuments that date back to
the beginning of the second millennium BC - from the
Bronze Age - extending through the Hellenistic civilization
to the Modern Age. He unveiled that arrangements are
made in cooperation with the UNESCO to add Failaka
Island’s historical sites to the World Heritage Sites List.
For his part, the General Manager of Total-Kuwait
Company Lionel Levha said the French company supports
the Kuwaiti-French archeological mission that works in
Failaka Island. This support comes within the framework of
the company’s support scientific activities, he said. He
explained that the company also supports a variety of projects in the fields of training, education, culture and environment conservation. —KUNA
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
LOCAL
SPECIAL REPORT
Kuwait suspends offset
program in investment drive
KUWAIT: Ambassador of Hungary to Kuwait Mihaly Bayer visited Kuwait Times
recently and discussed matters of mutual concern with Editor-in-Chief Abd AlRahman Al-Alyan. — Photo by Joseph Shagra
Minister inaugurates
children festival
KUWAIT: Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and
Minister of State for Planning and Development
Hind Al-Subaih yesterday opened the Third
Children Festival, which runs until November 13,
in the International Exhibitions Grounds at
Mishref. Minister Al-Subaih expressed her happiness for holding such event, which strengthens
cooperation among governmental bodies, the
private sector, volunteering institutions and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
In her remarks to reporters during an inspection tour of the festival, she said that the event
aims at underlining the importance of childhood
and how to deal with children. “The festival also
focuses on developing the capabilities of children
and raising awareness in the society toward their
needs to build their characters,“ she added. The
minister said a law on volunteering is completed
and it would be referred to the cabinet for final
approval. She added that the law aims at protecting and organizing the volunteering groups
which have no entities, commending the activities of these groups which provide support to the
society in different fields. Abdulmohsen Al-Sanea,
who represents the organizing institution in
cooperation with others, said that the festival
seeks to convey a message and to achieve educational objectives to the society’s members,
including children.
“The event is held for the third year in a row. It
means that it is successful,” he said, indicating
that there are several proceedings and activities
used as cultural and religious forums as well as
campaigns of awareness. There are campaigns for
blood donation, first aid, good nutrition as well as
competitions and workshops. Several companies
interested in children, some ministries and NGOs
are participating in the festival. — KUNA
KUWAIT: Minister Al-Subaih during her tour at the exhibition. — KUNA
KUWAIT: The decision to temporarily halt and revise
the Kuwait Offset Program (KOP), before reintroducing it next year, is widely seen as a sign of the government’s commitment to enhancing the business
climate amidst fierce regional competition and following regulatory reforms. The KOP is a program
which obliges foreign companies bidding on largescale contracts in Kuwait to participate in local business ventures. “The move should entice contractors
back to Kuwait and help the country regain some of
the ground lost in the projects market to Kuwait’s
neighbors in the region,” said the National Bank of
Kuwait (NBK) in its latest economic research, published mid-October.
According to NBK, increased activity in Kuwait’s
projects market and new measures introduced by
the government have buoyed hopes of renewed
interest from investors. By the end of August, the
government had awarded more than $20.7bn
worth of contracts, almost twice as much as last
year’s total, with at least an estimated $17bn in contracts to be awarded before the end of the year.
Fulfilling obligations
Since its launch in 1992, the KOP has been at the
heart of efforts to promote growth among local
industries, particularly in the defense and education
sectors.
Under the program, foreign firms awarded government contracts are required to set up a separate,
in-country business to promote growth across value-added industries. Offset obligations were
applied to military contracts worth more than
KD3m ($10.5m), government contracts greater than
KD10m ($34.8m), and downstream oil and gas contracts. The local initiative needs to be approved by
the government and be worth at least 35% of the
value of the contract.
Under the KOP, investors taking on a project
must fulfill one of three primary objectives by helping to advance education and training, transferring
advanced technologies and integrating them into
the local economy, or creating highly-skilled professional jobs for Kuwaiti nationals. When making a
deal, contractors are required to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state-run
National Offset Company (NOC) acknowledging
their obligations and submit plans indicating how
the business venture will be implemented over an
eight-year period. Investors must also agree that a
Kuwaiti national will play a key role, either in a joint
venture or as an equity partner, and show how this
fits into the plan.
Amendments on the way
The government said in September that it aimed
to have a draft of the programme in amended form
completed by Q2 2015. “We need to revise it and
then, later on, implement it in a more moderate
way, which we believe will help (when) inviting
those international firms,” the foreign minister, Anas
Al Saleh, told Reuters.
In the past, the offset program has been criticized for disadvantaging smaller exporters, who
Gulf Bank inaugurates
student lounges at KU
KUWAIT: Gulf Bank inaugurated its
red(tm) student lounges at Kuwait
University ’s
(KU)
Business
Administration College at Shuwaikh
campus. The ceremony took place on
Sunday 2 November 2014 in the presence of KU’s Dean of the College
Business Administration, Dr Jasem AlMudhaf, along with Gulf Bank’s Chief
Executive Officer, Cesar Gonzalez
Bueno, General Manager, Human
Resources Salma Al-Hajjaj and the
Bank’s management.
Gulf Bank’s new red(tm) rooms at the
Business and Administration College,
one provided for male students and the
other for female students, will serve as
study lounges as well as helping them
to become familiar with the Bank’s
red(tm) account and other banking
products and services.
Gulf Bank is committed to reach out
to youth, whether through ongoing
support to their educational path, or by
providing superior services and attractive promotions which are tailored
specifically for the younger generation.
Gulf Bank’s red(tm) program is
designed for university and college students aged 17 to 24 years old. Opening
the account requires no deposit and it
can be used as a savings account earning interest. Red customers can benefit
from the many discounts the account
offers such as a 50 percent discount on
movie tickets during the weekends.
To join Gulf Bank’s red(tm) program
or to find out more of its benefits, visit
one of the Bank’s 58 branches, contact
the Customer Contact Centre on
1805805 for assistance and guidance or
log on to www.e-gulfbank.com, Gulf
Bank’s bilingual website.
Cesar Gonzalez Bueno along with Dr Jasem Al-Mudhaf during the inauguration ceremony of the red(tm) student lounges.
Cesar Gonzalez Bueno, Salma Al-Hajjaj and Dr Jasem Al-Mudhaf touring
the red(tm) student lounges.
‘Bayt Abdullah’ experience showcased at Harvard
BOSTON: President of the Kuwait Red
Crescent Society (KRCS) Dr Hilal AlSayer reviewed yesterday the experience of ‘Bayt Abdullah Children’s
Hospital’ with officials of Harvard
University.
Sayer, who heads the Board of
Directors of Bayt Abdullah Children’s
Hospital said in his speech during a ceremony marking the ‘Arab week of
Harvard University’, that this project is
unique in the Middle East Project.
The Bayt Abdullah Children’s
Hospice (BACH) in Sulaibikhat, Kuwait,
is the only palliative care center in the
Middle East, and one of the largest in
the world, dedicated exclusively to children with life-threatening or life-limiting illness. He pointed out that the
facility seeks to ease tension, emotion
and fear associated with the admission
of the sick child to the hospital because
of the distance and separation from
Dr Hilal Al-Sayer
home, family and friends and to ensure
that the sick child feel at home as doctors and nurses are dressed casually.
Sayer said that the idea behind the
facility is to make it a substitute for the
sick children’s original home and their
families who need support to live a
decent and virile life, as the facility
includes games, recreational and residential facilities for comfort and
advanced emergency health care.
He pointed out that Bayt Abdullah
is a project which offers its services to
all free of charge, noting that the aim
of the project is to provide support for
those who are expected to die when
they were children, as well as to provide support for their families in an
intimate atmosphere. Al-Sayer said
that the project has received peerless
praise and admiration from participants from different countries of the
world. — KUNA
find it more difficult than their larger counterparts
to offset costs through economies of scale.
Acknowledging the criticism when announcing
plans to suspend the program, Al Saleh added “This
is why we have frozen it to make sure it is not an
obstacle for those firms to come in.”
Kuwait has introduced a raft of legislation in the
past year aimed at attracting foreign funding for
projects. The Direct Investment Promotion Law,
which was passed in August 2013, has proved to be
a key component, paving the way for a new public
authority tasked with licensing and setting out tax
breaks for investors and Customs exemptions to be
established.
Addressing the challenges
However, Kuwait still faces obstacles in its bid to
drive up investment, including delays for business
start-ups caused by bureaucratic processes, complex laws concerning ownership, family dominated
set-ups, sponsorship requirements and regulations
restricting foreign enterprises from direct involvement in key sectors, according to the US Bureau of
Economic and Business Affairs.
According to a Central Statistical Bureau survey,
some of the largest constraints listed by companies
were the procedures related to land sale, leases and
mortgages as well as procedures with the Ministry
of Social Affairs and Labour, while the low price of
fuel was one of the key motivating factors of investing in Kuwait.
The situation has been compounded by deadlocks in the Kuwaiti parliament, which have delayed
liberalization initiatives and made it difficult for the
country to conclude large projects involving foreign
firms. Several reshuffles involving senior staff have
also impeded progress.
A report by ratings agency Moody’s in October
noted that the contentious relationship between
Kuwait’s government and parliament has hindered
the country’s development and diversification
plans. It does not, however, pose a risk to overall
political stability, said Moody’s, which maintained its
‘Aa2’ sovereign ratings and stable outlook, a view
supported by “very high levels of economic and fiscal strength”. — Oxford Business Group
Vietnam poised for
Middle East investment
T
he potentials of 90 million-citizen
Vietnam, as other Southeast Asian markets for Middle East investment have
become ever more evident in recent years. For
decade, with the growth rate registered from 5
to 7% annually, Vietnam ranks among Asia
country having high and stable growth rate
thanks to its proper management policies. The
country’s GDP growth rate in the first 10
months of 2014 has attained 5.62 % while inflation has been effectively curbed. Production
and export have both increased, foreign
exchange rate remained stable while the country’s foreign reserve has reached the record
high level of 35 billion USD, FDI registered at 12
billion USD. The real estate market is also
regaining pace. Foreign investors increasingly
eye the country’s abundant natural resources
and human force as great potentials for growth.
Persistent with administrative reforms, the
business environment in Vietnam has greatly
improved to become ever more attractive to
world investors. The US Chamber of Commerce
in Singapore has recently ranked Vietnam the
second most attractive destination for
American investors. The country’s non-guarantee government bonds have climbed up one
level from B2 to B1 on Moody’s ratings owing to
prospects of stable growth. Fitch Ratings
agency also plans to raise Vietnam from B+ to
BB- as sign of economic recovery and risks mitigation. The country’s achievements after years
of renovation has created a new vision and reputation among world investors as yet another
Asian economy with ample potentials for
growth. Being WTO member since 2007,
Vietnam is signing with EU freetrade agreement
as well as negotiating with major partners like
United States, Japan in order to sign the TransPacific-Partnership agreement in the near
future.
From the perspectives of Middle East
investors, Vietnam is also gaining popularity as
the two-way political, economic and trade relationship expands. Special interests have been
paid to the country’s real estate and oil & gas
markets by renowned ME corporations over the
past decade. Investment projects worth billions
of US dollars were sketched up by Dubai-based
Nakheel, Dubai ICD and Qatar-based United
Development Company PSC to develop housing, real estate and road infrastructure in
provinces of Vietnam. The 3.5 billion USD-worth
investment project by Kuwait’s International Oil
Corporation to build Nghi Son petrochemical
refinery complex has been on steady progress.
The common perception of Vietnam in the eyes
of entrepreneurs from the Gulf has been a
favorable business environment and promising
ample profits.
As the Vietnamese economy is expected to
grow steadily and further improve its business
environment, the country is having a lot to offer
Middle East investors.
LOCAL
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
In my view
Brainwash
Mediator
for peace
By Labeed Abdal
[email protected]
K
uwait recently called on Iran to continue
cooperating transparently with the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in
order to allay fears and skepticisms regarding the
Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. The call, which
came from Kuwait’s permanent delegation at the
United Nations, reflects Kuwait’s original stance
that demands and encourages peace.
The recent call was the latest of Kuwait’s constant steps to encourage Tehran to resolve pending
issues pertaining with the IAEA’s demands and the
related international resolutions. Furthermore,
these calls provide a bridge for cooperation in the
international community and reject voices that
encourage division and create conflicts between
neighboring countries.
The call also came as Kuwait celebrates the 50th
These calls provide a bridge for
cooperation in the international
community and reject voices
that encourage division
anniversary of joining the IAEA, further solidifying
Kuwait’s limitless cooperation with the agency and
support for all of its programs and activities pertaining with the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Kuwait announced support for establishing a
repository for uranium fuel in order to provide fuel
for IAEA member states. In this regard, Kuwait paid
$10 million and is looking to increase efforts to
activate the repository’s role as soon as possible.
This reflects the Kuwaiti leadership’s understanding
of the repository’s importance and of the requirements of global security and peace.
Despite all the risks endangering the Gulf
region, Kuwait remains a mediator for peace that
serves international peace and security.
kuwait digest
No to drugs
By Nermin Al-Hoti
T
he rate of drug use increased lately, in particularly among youths, who have become untreatable from the substance that is called “shabu” or
“crystal”. We will not get into the details of use,
because we went into its analysis and danger in a previous column, and it was not me alone who did this, as
many columnists and media programs dealt with the
issue and warned against the danger which is ringing
the death bells of the future of our society, and
despite these warnings, we find a notable rise in the
amount of drugs used among youths, to a point
where we are standing helpless towards it, as if it
became similar to plague.
No to drugs - this is the title of our column which
should become the slogan of everyone so we can
attack and preserve whatever is left from the next
generations. Our message today is not limited to the
interior and education ministries and other responsible authorities that were lax in deterring tragedies
that killed and are still killing many of our children. The
issue today wants a decisive solution to this epidemic
We ask [MPs] to have
this issue on top of the
agenda to find deep-rooted
solutions quickly
from its roots and treat those affected with it.
With the start of a new term of our esteemed
Assembly, we ask its members to have this issue on
top of the agenda to find deep-rooted solutions
quickly to rescue our youths and treat others for
addiction. The issue is not limited to having families
supervise their children as a National Assembly member claimed; rather then we must look for the reason
and who caused it. For instance, where is the health
supervision over some doctors who manufacture such
drugs for quick gains, without any consideration for
the well being of Kuwaiti youth?
Where is the law, and why not change its articles to
make the punishment of those who attempt to murder children death? Where is the role of the health
ministry, by opening more centers? Currently, it cannot accommodate the growing numbers of addicts in fact we are demanding a center in every hospital or
governorate to treat addiction. Where is the role of the
media? Where is the role of education in punishing
and supervising our children? The issue is not limited
to three-day suspensions as some schools do. How are
we going to put forth those in authority to fight
domestic dangers threatening the country’s internal
security, or is it forgotten? Our youths are the future of
the country - are you bearing the responsibility of
Kuwaiti people in your hands? In conclusion, no to
drugs. It was said by our elders that “one hand does
not clap”. — Translated by Kuwait Times from Al-Anbaa
Al-Jarida
in my view
Why Gulf women join jihadi groups
By Shamlan Al-Essa
G
ulf local papers publish every now and then
news about Saudi and Kuwaiti women
jihadists joining the Islamic State (Daesh)
organization. Al-Watan published on Oct 30 a news
item about Kuwaiti women fighting with Daesh.
The paper said that there are 200 women in AlKhansa brigade of Daesh in the Syrian Raqqa
province, which includes three Kuwaitis. The
women’s job besides fighting is to provide logistic
support and transferring arms and ammunition.
Why does the Gulf woman accept joining jihadi
action and join her husband and does not think
about her and her children’s lives, and exposing her
country and society to danger? There are many reasons that push women to jihadi action, most
important of which is that all jihadi group members
do not have a real wish for life to continue, and the
reasons may be psychological, social or cultural,
but they have a firm conviction that jihadi action,
killing oneself and killing innocent people will lead
them to heaven. They are convinced that life on
earth in transient and the immortal life is in heaven, and this applies for men and women alike.
Second: The Gulf woman in general, especially
women involved in jihadist political Islam groups,
do not have independent thinking away from the
strict partisan orders forced upon them by their
partisan leaderships, because the pyramidal partisan discipline requires execution without argument
or discussion.
Third: The commitment of the Gulf woman to
voluntary work, particularly Islamic charity,
because the charity work instills the permanent
view of the woman as a mother and a source of giving, warmth and care, and this means expanding
her family role and expanding it to serve the society. So, charity work formed an accepted link
between the field related to the woman and the
general field without any threat to the dominant
Finally, we believe that the Gulf
governments neglected the
improvement of woman’s status in
general and allowed her to work
in Islamic charity committees,
which work for politicized movements under the charity cover.
societal environment that instills the woman’s inferiority.
Fourth: The dominance of political Islam factions
over most of the civil society establishments in the
past years prepared the societal grounds for
women to accept the dominance of these factions,
because traditions do not separate between what
is sacred and what is cultural, so it was easy for
most society groups to respond to these groups,
especially that these political Islam movements do
not demand the change of the woman’s social status, and this helped in their alliance with governments and lack of woman’s awareness, and
women’s acceptance of men’s dominance and wishes.
Finally, we believe that the Gulf governments
neglected the improvement of woman’s status in
general and allowed her to work in Islamic charity
committees, which work for politicized movements
under the charity cover. The problem is that
nobody knows where the money of these women
societies go, and how it is spent, and in which field.
Can the jihadi action for Gulf women or men be
stopped? The Arab Gulf states, along with the
countries allied to internationally fight terrorism,
concentrated on the security and military aspect,
and neglected the cultural and education aspect in
fighting terrorism in general. We will not make any
achievement eradicating terrorism without civilized openness towards the world and instilling the
principle of the civil state instead of insisting on
appeasing political Islam factions in hopes of containing them.
The issue of liberating the woman and regaining
her human dignity as a Gulf citizen is only the first
step in fighting extremism and terrorism, because
treatment of the woman as a citizen that has a role
in society is the first step in getting away from
extremism and terrorism.
—Translated by Kuwait Times from Al-Watan
in my view
Growing tensions in Jerusalem
By Abdullah Erakat
A
Palestinian member of the Islamist Hamas
movement rammed a white van into a crowd
of border police officers near a Jerusalem
light rail stop, killing a Druze border police captain
and wounding 14 others. The attacker was killed
soon afterwards.
An Israeli police spokesman said the attacker
rammed into the group of police officers, then got
out of his car and tried to attack bystanders with a
metal bar, before he was shot and killed. Hamas
spokesman Mushir al-Masri praised the attacker
and said it was in revenge “for al-Aqsa and for the
blood of those who guard al-Aqsa,” referring to the
Jerusalem site that is holy to Muslims and Jews.
Earlier in the day, Israel briefly closed the site
after clashes between stone-throwing Palestinians
and police who dispersed them using rubber bullets and tear gas. Palestinians said several people
were wounded.
It was the second attack at a Jerusalem light rail
station in two weeks, and raised tensions in the city
even further. The first attack killed a three-monthold Israeli infant, and a young woman from
Ecuador.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
blamed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas. The attack was the “direct consequence of
Abu Mazen’s [Abbas’s] incitement and that of his
Hamas partners,” Netanyahu declared, speaking at
a memorial ceremony marking 19 years since
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. It
also came days after Palestinian chief negotiator
Saeb Erekat met US Secretary of State John Kerry
in Washington amid speculation that the US
would lay out new guidelines for an Israeli-
Palestinian peace deal.
“It is our hope that the two sides can return to
direct negotiations, but it is up to the Israelis and
Palestinians to make the difficult decisions to do
so,” a US Administration official said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
time limit for Israel to leave the West Bank.
“Now that the relationship is pretty sour
between Obama and (Israeli Prime Minister
Binyamin) Netanyahu, I can’t see how any progress
can be made,” Bilbassy said.
Growing frustration
Palestinians have grown increasingly frustrated
with the Obama Administration, which they see as
pro-Israel, and have decided to turn to the international community for recognition. Sweden last
week recognized Palestine, and other states are
expected to follow suit.
Washington based political commentator Said
Arikat says that the US has never been an honest
broker. The US has put the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the back burner while it deals with the rise
of Islamic State (IS), but Arikat warns it will not go
away.
“The Palestinian issue will continue to be a priority for any American administration. President
Obama may as a last act before leaving office recognize a Palestinian state like Sweden did, but the
Middle East at large presents the U.S with daunting
challenges that will garner much of its focused
efforts and energies,” he said.
Arab journalist Nadia Bilbassy who has covered
the White House for 12 years says she expects little
from Erekat’s meeting with Kerry because the
Obama administration has not showed any sign
that they were willing to exert pressure on Israel.
The Americans have been trying to get the
Palestinian Authority to abandon its plans to go to
the UN to present an outline which would set a
Framework agreement
Beginning last year, Kerry spent nine months
shuttling between the Israelis and Palestinians in
an attempt to reach a framework agreement by
April, which ultimately failed.
Afterwards, Abbas finalized a unity deal
between his Fatah faction and Hamas after seven
years of bitter rivalry. In 2007, Hamas ousted Fatah
and took control of Gaza. But Israel refuses to recognize the new government because it, along with
the US, says that Hamas is a terrorist organization.
Another reason that US peace efforts will be put
on hold is the Republican takeover of the Senate
which will put Congress at odds with President
Obama.
Meanwhile, some PA officials have threatened to
cut off security coordination with Israel if the US
vetoes a Security Council resolution calling for an
end date for Israel’s control over the West Bank and
east Jerusalem.
They also say they will join UN agencies, and go
to the International Criminal Court to charge Israel
with war crimes.
However, analyst Arikat believes Abbas will not
go through with it because the Palestinians are the
“weaker party and it would be difficult for them to
cross the United States, its largest benefactor.”
—The Media Line
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
New WWII book
details story
of ‘First SEALS’
Egypt jihadists pledge loyalty to Islamic State
Page 8
Page 9
BEIJING: Leaders pose for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ‘family photo’ at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in the Chinese capital yesterday. (Inset)
China’s President Xi Jinping (right) shakes hands with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Great Hall of the People on the sidelines of APEC Summit. — AFP
Rivalries take APEC centre-stage
Xi, Abe meet in icy icebreaker • US wants China ‘to do well’, announces visa deal
BEIJING: The leaders of China and Japan held
an ice-breaking summit yesterday after two
years of dangerous animosity, as world leaders
including Barack Obama gathered for an AsiaPacific meeting spotlighting intensifying bigpower rivalries. Xi Jinping and Shinzo Abe met
in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People in what the
Japanese prime minister said was a “first step”
towards repairing the fractured relationship
between the world’s second- and third-largest
economies.
US President Obama flew in still wounded
by the Democrats’ defeat in the US mid-term
elections and with relations between
Washington and Moscow in deep freeze, while
his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin arrived a
day earlier and quickly signalled his desire for
ever-warmer ties with an increasingly assertive
China. The gathering is the biggest event yet
hosted by the Chinese president, who took
office last year and emphasised his country’s
expanding world profile on Sunday by declaring a bright future for the vibrant Pacific Rim,
with a confident China at its heart.
The annual two-day summit of the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) bloc which saw China stage a spectacular welcoming ceremony on Monday evening - typically
sees pledges of amity and trade convergence,
often balanced by tense sideline exchanges on
festering geopolitical problems. Beijing and
Tokyo’s historically frosty relations have
plunged to their lowest in decades over competing claims to Japanese-controlled islets in
the East China Sea.
Abe told Japanese media that he asked Xi
to establish a hotline to prevent clashes at sea,
adding: “I think we will start working on concrete steps toward it.” The islands, however,
were not specifically mentioned during the 30
minutes of talks, Kyodo news agency quoted a
Japanese official as saying. The meeting
appeared strained, with footage of the two
leaders’ initial handshake showing them looking deadpan and Xi not responding to Abe’s
greetings. “Severe difficulties have emerged in
Sino-Japanese relations in recent two years
and the rights and wrongs behind them are
crystal-clear,” China’s official news agency
Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.
China’s Rise Welcomed
APEC brings into focus the developing bigpower rivalry involving Washington, Beijing
and Moscow. Obama said in a speech the
United States “welcomes the rise of a prosperous, peaceful and stable China”, while
announcing a reciprocal deal to extend visitor
visa validities to as much as 10 years. But
Obama also reiterated US calls for China to
ease trade tensions by opening its markets and
loosening controls on its currency, and to
respect human rights. “We suggest that China
do these things for the sake of sustainable
growth in China and the stability of the AsiaPacific region,” he said.
Under the visa deal, which will take effect
on Nov 12, both countries would extend the
terms of multiple entry short-term tourist and
business visas to 10 years from one year, the
White House said in a statement accompanying Obama’s announcement. Student visas
would be extended to five years from one year.
“As a result of this arrangement, the United
States hopes to welcome a growing share of
eligible Chinese travellers, inject billions (of
dollars) in the US economy and create enough
demand to support hundreds of thousands of
additional US jobs,” the White House statement
said. The extension of some visas for Chinese
nationals to 10 years matches what is currently
allowed for citizens of nations with close relations with the United States, such as European
countries and Brazil.
A senior US official said the visa agreement
would allow the United States to tap into the
fast-growing market of Chinese tourists travelling abroad. The United States now attracts only
2 percent of Chinese tourism. “We see this as a
really big win,” the official said, estimating that
the United States could gain 440,000 jobs by
2021 and receive an $85 billion annual infusion
into the American economy as a result of the
new policy. It will also make it easier for Chinese
businesses and investors to get involved in US
projects.
Russia is under Western economic sanctions
over its seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea region and
role in that country’s separatist war. No ObamaPutin meeting is known to be scheduled, but
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has
vowed to confront Putin over Malaysia Airlines
flight MH17. The West has accused pro-Russian
rebels of blasting the plane out of the sky - 38
Australians were among the 298 dead - nin July
with a missile supplied by Moscow. Russia
denies the accusations.
Russia and China express impatience with a
perceived American domination of world
affairs, often vetoing or abstaining from US-led
initiatives on the UN Security Council. The often
blunt-spoken Putin told APEC delegates the
two sides would seek to increase use of their
yuan and ruble currencies, saying the dollar’s
influence would “objectively decline”.
‘Candid’ Conversations
China and the United States have already
jousted in Beijing over differing visions of AsiaPacific trade integration, adding to discord over
Bomber kills 47 at Nigeria school
KANO, Nigeria: A suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber disguised in school uniform
killed 47 students in northeast Nigeria yesterday, in one of the worst attacks against
schools teaching a so-called Western curriculum. The explosion ripped through an all-boys
school in Potiskum just as students gathered
for morning assembly before classes began,
causing panic and chaos. The massacre,
described by President Goodluck Jonathan as
a “dastardly attack”, came just a day after the
release of a new Boko Haram video in which
the Islamist group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau,
again rejected Nigerian government claims of
a ceasefire and peace talks.
Students at the Government Comprehensive
Senior Science Secondary School were waiting
to hear the principal’s daily address when the
explosion happened at 7:50 am (0650 GMT).
Several witnesses described the blast as “thunderous” and the bloody aftermath as a scene of
abandoned footwear, charred school books,
bags and body parts. “There was an explosion
detonated by a suicide bomber. We have 47
dead and 79 injured,” national police
spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu said, adding
that Boko Haram was believed to be responsible.
Ojukwu also confirmed local media reports
that the bomber was disguised as a student at
the school, which has more than 1,000 pupils
aged 15 to 20. Yobe state governor Ibrahim
Gaidam ordered the immediate closure of all
public schools in the Potiskum area and
slammed the government in Abuja for failing
to tackle the insurgency. “Urgent action must
be taken right now to restore a fast-waning
public confidence by doing whatever it takes
to stop the escalating violence,” he said in a
statement. Jonathan promised those affected
that his government would find the culprits,
“no matter how long it takes.”
Blood-stained Uniforms
Student Adamu Abdullahi said those at the
centre of the blast near the principal’s office
were flung in all directions and others were
knocked off their feet. “I found myself under
the weight of another student, who fell over
me. I’m certain he was dead. I was dazed and
disorientated for a moment,” he told AFP.
“When I realised what had happened, I managed to push the body on top of me and
started running like everyone else. It was confusion all over. Everybody was hysterical. “I
saw many people on the ground. Human flesh
and blood were splattered all over the place...
I ran out of the school and went home. When
my father saw me he was terrified. I didn’t
realise my white school uniform was stained
with human blood and bits of flesh.” The dead
and injured were taken to the Potiskum
General Hospital just 100 m away.
Boko Haram, which wants to create a
hardline Islamic state in northern Nigeria, has
previously carried out deadly attacks on
schools teaching a curriculum it deems to be
Western. In February, gunmen killed at least
40 students after throwing explosives into the
dormitory of a government boarding school
in Buni Yadi, also in Yobe state. In July last
year, 42 students were killed when Boko
Haram stormed dormitories in a gun and
bomb attack on a government boarding
school in the village of Mamudo, near
Potiskum. Boko Haram’s most high-profile
attack on a school came in April, when fighters kidnapped 276 girls from the town of
Chibok in Borno state, also in northeast
Nigeria. More than six months later, 219 of the
girls are still being held.
Relentless Violence
Potiskum has been repeatedly targeted in
deadly attacks blamed on Boko Haram,
including last Monday, when a suicide bombing killed at least 15 at a Shiite religious ceremony. Yobe is one of three northeastern
states that has been under a state of emergency since May last year. But violence has
continued unabated and Boko Haram has
seized at least two dozen towns and villages
in recent months, raising doubts about the
government’s ability to control the region.
Governor Gaidam said President Jonathan
“has a very urgent responsibility to explain...
why murderous and callous insurgent and
criminal attacks are still on the rise”.
Boko Haram fighters were seen in a new
video obtained by AFP on Sunday parading a
tank in an unidentified town that they apparently now control and Shekau preaching to
locals. The message in the 44-minute video
appeared to be aimed at reinforcing Shekau’s
claim that he has created a caliphate within
Nigeria. Jonathan vowed that the country
would “overcome the current security challenges imposed by domestic terrorists and
their foreign allies.” — AFP
rights, cyber-espionage, and territorial disputes.
The White House has said it expects “candid and
in-depth conversations” between Obama and
Xi. As well as the row with Japan - a US security
ally which Washington is bound by treaty to
defend if attacked -Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea has also rankled
rival claimants to its waters. Another likely topic
between Xi and Obama is North Korea, following the surprise weekend release of two
Americans imprisoned by the secretive state.
Beijing is Pyongyang’s closest ally.
China put on a dazzling welcome for the
APEC leaders, lighting up the capital’s huge
Olympic park as they arrived for an opening
banquet in high-collared traditional Chinese
tunics with a sleek modern design. The event
culminates today with a formal leaders’ summit. APEC kicks off a week of high-level summitry that will see Obama and other top leaders travel next to Myanmar for the East Asia
Summit, followed by G20 talks in Brisbane,
Australia.
China is hosting APEC for the first time
since 2001, when it was still re-emerging as a
world economic power. But in a speech
Sunday, Xi underlined how much has changed
by offering his vision of an “Asia-Pacific dream”,
in which China’s continued rise offers “infinite
promise” to all. — Agencies
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Unrest spreads as woman killed in knife attacks
JERUSALEM: An Israeli woman was killed and three
others wounded yesterday in two separate Palestinian
knife attacks as months of unrest in Jerusalem spread
across Israel and the occupied West Bank. Yesterday’s
violence began in Tel Aviv where a Palestinian teenager from the northern West Bank stabbed a 20-year-old
soldier, leaving him in critical condition. The assailant
fled but was arrested. Hours later, another Palestinian
attacked three Israelis outside Alon Shvut settlement
in the southern West Bank, killing a young woman and
wounding two other people before he was shot dead
by a security guard.
The bloodshed took place after months of clashes
and unrest in and around annexed east Jerusalem
which spread to Arab areas of Israel at the weekend
after police shot dead a young Arab-Israeli during a
routine arrest operation. Since the summer, Israel has
significantly increased police presence on the streets
in a bid to rein in the unrest, but has been unable to
stop a growing number of attacks by lone Palestinians,
most of them in Jerusalem.
But yesterday’s violence was further afield. “A car
stopped at the hitchhiking stop at the entrance to
Alon Shvut, the driver got out of the car and stabbed
three civilians who were standing there,” police
spokeswoman Luba Samri said of the incident in the
southern West Bank. A woman of about 25 was killed
and two men were lightly to moderately wounded,
medics said. Police said all three were Jewish settlers.
Their attacker, who was identified as Maher Hamdi AlHashlamon, was shot and seriously wounded by the
settlement’s security guard. He was taken to a
Jerusalem hospital for treatment but died of his
wounds shortly afterwards, police said. Palestinian
security sources said Hashlamon was from the southern city of Hebron.
Tensions reach Tel Aviv
Earlier, a Palestinian teenager from a refugee camp
in the northern West Bank stabbed an Israeli soldier
outside a Tel Aviv train station before fleeing the scene.
He was later arrested. The soldier was critically wounded in the attack, which marked the first time Israel’s
hedonistic commercial capital has been affected by the
current wave of violence. “It was apparently an attack
with nationalist motives. The suspect is a resident of
the Nablus area,” police spokeswoman Samri said.
The attacker was identified as 17-year-old
Nureddine Abu Hashiyeh from Askar refugee camp
near Nablus. His father, Khaled, said he was a painter
and decorator by trade and had left for Tel Aviv on
TEL AVIV: Paramedics treat an Israeli soldier after he was stabbed yesterday. — AP
Sunday. The attacks came as Israel struggles to contain
a growing wave of violence which has gripped
annexed east Jerusalem for the past four months, but
which has recently spread to Arab towns and villages
inside the country.
Anger initially erupted in Jerusalem in early July
over the murder of a Palestinian teenager by young
Jewish extremists. It has been fuelled by religious tensions at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, as
well as by moves to expand settler presence in the
occupied eastern sector of the holy city. Since August,
there have been four deadly Palestinian attacks in
Jerusalem - three of which were “hit-and-run terror
attacks” which killed five Israelis - and one attempted
drive-by shooting. All four perpetrators, who acted
alone and came from east Jerusalem, were shot dead,
sparking further unrest.
Since July, police have arrested some 900
Palestinians for public order offences in east Jerusalem
and indicted around a third of them. But at the weekend, the unrest spread after police shot dead a 22-yearold Arab-Israeli in Kufr Kana near the northern city of
Nazareth, triggering a wave of rioting in Arab areas,
some of which continued until early yesterday. Police
claim the officers fired warning shots before shooting
directly at him.
But relatives say Kheir Hamdan was killed “in cold
blood”, with CCTV images apparently contradicting
the official version and showing an officer shooting at
him as he was backing away from the scene.
Following two days of clashes, 24 Arab-Israelis - 10 of
them minors - were in court yesterday on charges of
stone-throwing and other public order offences,
police said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
vowed Sunday that anyone breaking the law would
be “punished severely”. — AFP
Egypt jihadists pledge
loyalty to Islamic State
Iraq probes leader’s fate
MUSCAT: US Secretary of State John Kerry visits the Mattrah souk yesterday. — AFP
Nuclear deal in balance
at US-Iran talks in Oman
MUSCAT: A hard-fought nuclear deal was at
stake as Iran and the United States pushed
yesterday to overcome deep differences at
talks in Oman, with warnings that a final
agreement may prove elusive. With a Nov 24
deadline hanging over the negotiations, US
Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran’s
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif were
laying out their nations’ competing demands,
but with no clear signs of a breakthrough. In
their first comments since talks started
Sunday in the Gulf sultanate, the top diplomats gave nothing away moments before an
evening meeting began. Asked if they were
making progress, as they appeared briefly for
photographers, Zarif replied: “We will eventually.” “We are working hard. We are working
hard,” Kerry said.
US President Barack Obama said Sunday
that a “big gap” remained on how the West
can have “verifiable, lock-tight assurances”
that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon. “We
may not be able to get there,” Obama told CBS
News. The Iranian delegation is under pressure to deliver a total lifting of US, UN and
European sanctions under a final deal, something they want immediately but which
Obama said would only be “slowly reduced” if
Tehran meets its obligations.
After more than five hours of talks on
Sunday, Kerry and Zarif spoke for three hours
starting yesterday morning. After an afternoon break, their negotiations resumed just
after 6:30 pm (1830 GMT). Only one day of
talks had been originally scheduled. The key
sticking point is thought to be the number
and type of uranium-enriching centrifuges
Iran should be allowed to keep spinning in
exchange for sanctions relief and rigorous
inspections of its nuclear sites.
Deal Already Out of Reach?
Iran denies it is seeking a bomb and says
its nuclear program aims to produce atomic
energy to reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels, requiring a massive increase in its
ability to enrich uranium in coming years. The
duration of a final settlement plan between
Iran and the P5+1 group - Britain, China,
France, Russia and the United States plus
Germany - also remains contested, with Iran
speaking of five years and world powers suggesting at least double that.
Some analysts have said a deal may
already be out of reach. “A full-fledged agreement is no longer possible before the deadline. What is still achievable is a breakthrough
that could justify adding more time to the
clock,” Ali Vaez, senior Iran analyst at the
International Crisis Group, told AFP yesterday.
“What is needed is a courageous political decision that neither side appears compelled to
take until the 11th hour,” he said.
The talks have already been extended
once - when a July 20 deadline was missed.
Despite the logjam, neither side has indicated
that it would walk away from the table. The
meetings in Muscat follow the revelation that
Obama reportedly wrote to Iran’s supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to push for a
deal, arguing that the Islamic republic and the
West have shared regional interests. This
apparent reference to the fight against Islamic
State group militants in Syria and Iraq was
played down by Kerry, however, with the US
diplomat saying “there is no linkage whatsoever” with the nuclear talks.
Domestic politics are also a factor, given
the loss in midterm elections of the Senate by
Obama’s Democrats to the Republican party,
members of which have consistently bridled
at the White House’s negotiations with Iran. If
talks go sour in the coming weeks it is
thought the US Congress may respond with
fresh sanctions on Iran. Obama has the power
to veto them, but the prospect of new penalties could push already protracted dealmaking towards being untenable for the Iranian
government. Zarif and President Hassan
Rouhani are under fire from lawmakers sceptical of the interim deal, which came into force
in January, who have also said that a bigger,
final agreement must be ratified by parliament. As if to drive that message home on
Sunday, 200 Iranian MPs signed a statement
demanding that Zarif’s negotiating team “vigorously defend” the country’s nuclear rights
and ensure a “total lifting of sanctions”. — AFP
Iran touts successful
test of drone replica
TEHRAN: Iran said yesterday that it has successfully tested its own version of a US-made
drone based on one it captured in 2011. State
TV quoted Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of
the aerospace division of the elite
Revolutionary Guard, as saying the test was
carried out earlier yesterday. “As we promised
earlier this year, a test flight of the Iranian version of the RQ-170 was carried out and a
video will be released soon,” he said.
Iran had displayed the drone earlier this
year. Iran has said it managed to reverse-engineer the RQ-170 Sentinel, seized in Dec 2011
after it entered Iranian airspace from neighboring Afghanistan, and that it’s capable of
launching its own production line for the
unmanned aircraft. Iran says it has captured
several American drones in recent years,
including a Boeing-designed ScanEagle drone
- a less sophisticated aircraft - after it entered
Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf. Tehran
says it is also copying the ScanEagle and
plans to put its version into service. Iran has
accused the US of using drones to spy on
the country’s nuclear program. The US and
other Western nations have long suspected
Iran is secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons
capability alongside its civilian program.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is entirely
focused on peaceful applications like power
generation and the production of medical
isotopes. —AP
BAGHDAD: The leader of the Islamic State organisation won the allegiance of Egypt’s deadliest
militant group yesterday as Iraqi authorities
investigated reports he had been killed or
wounded in a US air strike. Egypt’s Ansar Beit alMaqdis, which has carried out a string of deadly
attacks from its stronghold in the Sinai Peninsula,
said it was pledging its loyalty to the selfdeclared IS “caliph”, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
Speculation has swirled that Baghdadi, whose
group has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria,
was killed or wounded in a US strike Friday on
jihadist leaders in northern Iraq, but there has
been no confirmation. “There is no accurate
information and we are investigating,” a senior
intelligence official told AFP on Monday when
asked about Baghdadi’s fate.
In a recording posted on its Twitter account,
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis promised its loyalty to IS
and urged other Muslims to do the same. “We
announce our pledge of allegiance to the caliph
Ibrahim Ibn Awad... to listen and obey,” the audio
recording said, using another name for Baghdadi.
“We call on all Muslims everywhere to pledge
allegiance to the caliph and support him.” It was
the most significant vow of support for IS in the
region outside Iraq and Syria, suggesting its influence over militant groups is overshadowing its
once dominant Al-Qaeda rivals.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which means “Partisans
of Jerusalem”, has killed scores of police and soldiers since the Egyptian army ousted Islamist
president Mohamed Morsi in July last year. The
unknown speaker in the recording released said
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis decided to join the Islamic
State group, “whose emergence resembles a new
dawn raising the banner of monotheism”. The
speaker said Baghdadi was “chosen by God” to
establish a new caliphate after “Muslims suffered
decades of humiliation”.
The speaker went on to urge Egyptians to rise
up against what he called “the tyrant”, apparently
referring to President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, who
was elected earlier this year after leading the military overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed
Morsi in July 2013 amid massive protests
demanding his resignation. “What are you waiting for, after your honor has been aggressed
upon and your sons’ blood has been shed at the
hands of this tyrant and his soldiers?” the audio
statement said.
In a separate statement posted on its Twitter
account, the group said the Egyptian army was
bent on emptying the border town of Rafah. “A
whole town is removed from the map and no
one stands in the face of this aggression or asks
about the fate of its children, women and elderly
ones,” the statement said. It said the plan is to
CAIRO: Egyptian policewomen chat during a graduation ceremony for a training course on
security that included participants from several African and Commonwealth countries at the
Police Academy yesterday. The course was organized jointly by the Egyptian Agency for
Development Partnership and the Police Academy with the goal of developing capacity-building in the participating countries. — AP
turn the border area into army barracks to “protect their masters, the Jews, from the blows of
the mujahideen, and to blockade Gaza”. It went
on to refer to Sisi by name as a “loyal guard dog”
for Israel.
Neither statement referred to the earlier
denial that the group had pledged allegiance to
Baghdadi. Egypt has long sought to link the radical Sinai group with Morsi’s now-banned Muslim
Brotherhood, accusing both of being behind the
wave of violence since his ouster. But the Ansar
Beit al-Maqdis statement took a veiled shot at
the Brotherhood, saying “peaceful means and
infidel democracy are not of any benefit to you”.
The Brotherhood, which publicly renounced violence decades ago and has condemned the
recent attacks, won a series of elections following
the 2011 uprising that toppled long-ruling autocrat Hosni Mubarak. But the Islamist group later
alienated many Egyptians, who accused it of
monopolizing power.
Strike Hit IS Gathering
IS declared a “caliphate” in areas under its control in June, imposing its harsh interpretation of
Islamic law and committing widespread atrocities. Concerned after it overran large parts of Iraq
from its previous base in Syria, Washington
forged a coalition of Western and Arab allies to
launch air raids against the group in both countries. The US military said yesterday that the coalition had carried out 23 strikes in Syria and 18 in
Iraq between Nov 7 and Nov 10. The Pentagon
said earlier that strikes late on Friday hit a gathering of IS leaders in areas of the northern Iraqi city
of Mosul, sparking reports that Baghdadi may
have been killed or wounded there, or in a separate strike in western Anbar province. The death
of the elusive IS leader would be a major victory
for the coalition, but US and Iraqi officials have so
far been unable to confirm he was targeted.
It is unclear whether officials even know if he
was at the gathering, given the dearth of intelligence from IS-held areas of Iraq and Syria. US
President Barack Obama said Sunday that the
battle against IS was entering a “new phase”
after months of air strikes, with the focus moving
to tackling the jihadists on the ground. “Rather
than just try to halt (IS’) momentum, we’re now
in a position to start going on some offence,”
Obama said, after earlier unveiling plans to send
up to 1,500 more American troops to Iraq to
advise and train its forces. Obama, who pulled
US forces from Iraq in 2011, again vowed they
would not be engaged in combat under the new
mission. — Agencies
Assad ready to study UN plan
DAMASCUS: Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad
said yesterday he was ready to study a UN plan
to “freeze” fighting in the northern city of
Aleppo, a statement from his office said.
“President Assad has been informed by (UN
envoy Staffan) de Mistura of the main points of
his initiative,” said the statement issued after the
two men held talks in Damascus. “(Assad) said it
was worthy of study and that work on it is needed... in order to re-establish security in Aleppo,”
it added. It is De Mistura’s second visit to Syria
since he was appointed peace envoy in July.
On Oct 30, De Mistura put forward an “action
plan” for Syria that proposed to “freeze” fighting
in local areas to allow for aid deliveries and to
lay the groundwork for peace talks. According
to the Syrian presidency Facebook page, Assad
emphasised “the importance of Aleppo”, which
rebels and the army have been fighting over
since July 2012.
State news agency SANA, meanwhile, quoted De Mistura as saying he was determined to
ensure that his mission succeeds. The envoy had
previously said Aleppo would be a “good candidate” to become a “freeze” zone.
The city has been split into rebel- and armyheld areas since a major insurgent offensive
began there. Since Dec 2013, regime warplanes
have carried out near daily air raids targeting
rebel-held districts of what was once Syria’s economic capital, reportedly killing mostly civilians,
defying a UN Security Council ban on such
strikes.
Waddah Abd Rabbo, editor of pro-regime AlWatan newspaper, said Damascus supports any
“plan that can save lives, but such a plan should
not be accepted by one side and rejected by the
other”. Abd Rabbo told AFP: “The ball is in De
Mistura’s court. He must convince the rebels,
and above all the countries that support them.”
He singled out Turkey, “which allows weapons
and terrorists into Aleppo” across its border with
Syria.
Since the start of the anti-Assad revolt in
2011, the regime has branded all of its opponents - both peaceful and armed - as “terrorists”,
and has blamed Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey
for the violence that has engulfed the country.
De Mistura’s predecessors Lakhdar Brahimi and
Kofi Annan tried several times but failed to
implement a ceasefire in Syria. Two rounds of
talks between the regime and the exiled opposition earlier this year brought no result. Syria’s
war has killed more than 195,000 people and
forced upwards of half the population to flee
their homes. — AFP
DAMASCUS: United Nations special envoy to Syria
Staffan de Mistura (left) speaks with Syrian
President Bashar Al-Assad yesterday. — AP
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
New WWII book details
story of ‘First SEALS’
ALBANY, New York: Before there were
heavily armed Navy SEALs conducting
nighttime helicopter raids, there were
guys like Frank Monteleone landing on
beaches in the dark on two-man motorized rafts dubbed “flying mattresses”. The
Brooklyn-born Monteleone was a member of an elite commando force within
the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA. Created after the
United States entered World War II, the
OSS pioneered many of the intelligencegathering techniques and commandostyle tactics used by today’s US special
forces. The spy agency’s Maritime Unit,
formed in 1943, shares the credit for setting the foundation for what would
In this undated photo taken during
World War II, Frank Monteleone (center) is seen with other members of the
Maritime Unit of the Office of Strategic
Services while serving in the
Mediterranean theater attached to the
British Eighth Army. — AP
become the Navy SEALs, created in 1962
during the Kennedy administration.
Often only armed with knives and
wearing nothing more than swim trunks
and flippers, the Maritime Unit’s combat
swimmers and other operatives carried
out seaborne clandestine missions in the
Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean theaters of World War II. Their story is told in
a new book published last month, “First
SEALS: The Untold Story of the Forging of
America’s Most Elite Unit.”
The book’s release comes as two
members of the SEAL team that killed
Osama bin Laden in 2011 are making
headlines and drawing criticism from US
military authorities for going public
about their roles in taking down the terrorist leader inside his compound in
Pakistan. “I’ve always wanted to do a
book on these (World War II) guys,” said
author Patrick K O’Donnell. “ The bin
Laden raid was sort of the culmination of
what all these men had built from 1943
to 1945.”
O’Donnell, the author of eight previous books on WWII military and intelligence history, had met Monteleone 15
years ago while researching a book on
the OSS, which was led by Gen William
“Wild Bill” Donovan, a Buffalo-born Wall
Street lawyer. For the Maritime Unit,
Donovan’s OSS recruiters sought out
yachtsmen, Olympic-caliber swimmers
and California “beach rats” - lifeguards
and surfers. Monteleone, the son of
Italian immigrants, was recruited by the
OSS because he spoke fluent Italian and
was trained as a Navy radio operator.
“The radio operator was the key to the
mission,” O’Donnell said. “If you could not
send and receive information on missions behind the lines, you were dead.”
Monteleone, 89, said he went through
“all kinds of training” with the OSS,
including demolition and hand-to-hand
combat, but had missed out on parachute training, a must for any OSS operator. Once in the Mediterranean Theater,
his detachment was assigned to the
British Eighth Army. “When they sent me
to the British, they wanted to know if I
had jump training,” Monteleone, a retired
tailor living in Staten Island, told The
Associated Press in telephone interview.
“I said no, and they gave it to me right
then and there.”
Monteleone said he conducted dangerous missions nearly the entire length
of Italy, from the beaches at Anzio to the
Alps, often working with Italian partisans
behind the lines. Some of the missions
entailed landing on beaches at night
using the inflated craft that resembled
mattresses and were powered by silent
electrical motors. Monteleone and his
Italian comrades had another name for
the teardrop-shaped vessel - “tartuga”,
Italian for turtle.
Approximately 13,000 people served
in the OSS during the war, but only a few
hundred were in the Maritime Unit.
O’Donnell believes Monteleone may be
one of the last still living. Another member included in the book is Gordon
Soltau, a combat swimmer considered
one of the Navy’s first “frogmen.” Soltau,
who starred for the San Francisco 49ers
during the 1950s, died in California at 89
on Oct 26, just days before “First SEALs”
was published. — AP
For Obama, some relief
in Democratic losses
US president feels liberated
WASHINGTON: The morning after Democrats’
thrashing in the midterm elections, President
Barack Obama unexpectedly dropped by his senior staff’s daily meeting to buck up his exhausted
and defeated team. Rather than bemoan his party’s loss of control in the Senate, Obama made an
impassioned case for what he saw as the opportunities ahead and argued that his team still ran
the most powerful institution in the world. He
would echo those sentiments hours later in a
post-election news conference, displaying a sunny outlook that ran counter to the electorate’s
gloomy mood.
White House officials say Obama’s optimism
reflects a president who feels liberated by even
the limited prospects for striking deals with a
Republican Congress and relieved about shedding the narrow Democratic majority that would
have guaranteed Washington stayed locked in a
stalemate. Aides also have concluded that the
political landscape leaves Obama with little ability to help Democrats regain Senate control in
2016, freeing the president to concentrate on
finding areas of compromise with the GOP rather
than on stacking his agenda with items his party
can run on in the next election.
Some Democrats expect heightened tensions
between the president and his party, which
doesn’t want to give Republicans any veneer of
competency or effectiveness as the next election
cycle lurches forward. “To the extent that the
president wants to cooperate, depending on the
issue, that’s likely to tick off a good portion of the
Democratic caucus,” said Patrick Griffin, a
Democratic lobbyist who handled legislative
affairs in President Bill Clinton’s White House.
Whether Obama and Republicans can actually
find common ground is deeply uncertain. Both
sides have talked about their desire to work on
issues like tax reform, infrastructure and trade.
But Republicans have warned that it may be
impossible to start talks on those matters if the
president proceeds with plans to issue immigration executive orders before the end the year, a
pledge Obama insists he intends to keep. “I don’t
know why he would want to sabotage his last
two years as president by doing something this
provocative,” Sen John Cornyn said Friday following a White House meeting between the president and lawmakers.
Immigration aside, even where both sides
share policy goals they still would have to work
through significant differences. Obama says his
governing failures stem less from a lack of compromise and more from an inability to be a good
enough salesman for his ideas. It’s a view that
Republicans flatly reject but that Obama reiterat-
BEIJING: US President Barack Obama waves from Air Force One as he arrives for the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit at Beijing Capital International Airport yesterday. — AP
ed in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’s some Obama advisers quietly questioned that
“Face the Nation”. “One thing that I do need to strategy, arguing that the president still had the
constantly remind myself and my team of,” he ability to turn out his supporters - many of whom
said, “is it’s not enough just to build a better ultimately stayed home on Election Day.
And in a stunning break with Washington
mousetrap. We’ve got to sell it. We’ve got to
reach out to the other side and, where possible, decorum, Reid’s chief of staff used an interview
with The Washington Post to sharply criticize the
persuade.”
president as a drag on the party. One congressional official described the comments from Reid
Presidential Life-cycle
White House officials cast any growing chasm aide David Krone as a “venting” that reflected
between Obama and fellow Democrats as simply frustration that had been building up since the
part of the life-cycle of a presidency, particularly White House’s botched rollout of the enrollment
when the sitting president’s party is in the con- website for Obama’s health care law.
White House officials were furious, calling
gressional minority heading into the next campaign. Officials say they’re also well aware that Krone’s behavior “unprofessional”. To some
Democrats are starting to look for a new leader Democrats, the notion that the president may
to rally around and expect potential Democratic now use his final two years in office seeking legapresidential candidates like Hillary Rodham cy-building compromises with Republicans
Clinton to break with Obama at times as they try rather than helping the party position itself for
to build the party’s next chapter. “The fact of the 2016 comes as little surprise and fits with their
matter is this is the time in any president’s tenure long-held belief that Obama is a political figure
where their congressional allies on the Hill and who operates in isolation.
But White House officials argue that Democrats
their interests begin to diverge more than ever,”
said Jim Manley, a former top adviser to current would also benefit from successful compromise
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is soon legislation. The officials, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the administration’s thinking
to be relegated to minority status.
Yet the midterm election season underscored following the election, say Obama has no plans to
that there already were fissures in the relation- fold to every Republican demand or compromise
ship between the president and Democrats. Wary his principles to reach a deal. If that positioning
of the president’s paltry approval ratings, nearly results in agreements on issues like tax reform and
all Democratic candidates in tough races tried to infrastructure investments, they say Democrats
distance themselves from him and refused to be could - and should - be able to run on those victoseen with Obama on the campaign trail. In turn, ries two years from now. — AP
p10 2_Layout 1 11/10/14 9:36 PM Page 1
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Cameron: Britain should not stay in EU ‘come what may’
LONDON: Prime Minister David
Cameron said yesterday that Britain
should not be willing to stay in the
European Union “come what may”, as his
main political rival said the promise of a
referendum on membership of the bloc
was creating uncertainty for businesses.
In a bid to quell dissent among his own
lawmakers and win back voters who
have defected to the anti-EU UK
Independence Par ty, Cameron has
pledged to renegotiate Britain’s EU ties
before offering a membership referendum in 2017 if he is re-elected next year.
Opposition Labor leader Ed Miliband
told business leaders that those who
“flirt” with pulling Britain out of the EU
were putting millions of jobs at risk by
generating uncertainty. But, speaking at
the same event, Cameron said ignoring
that there was a debate over Europe
would be the “worst thing to do”.
“Britain’s future in Europe matters to
our country and it isn’t working properly
for us at the moment, and that is why
we need to make changes,” Cameron
said. “Simply standing here and just saying: ‘I will stay in Europe, I will stick with
whatever we have, come what may’ ...
that is not a plan and that won’t work.”
He said the level of investment into
Britain under his Conservative-led government showed that the issue was not
a deterrent.
Miliband, hoping to cash in on fears
among some business groups that a
Conservative election win could cost
them unfettered access to the EU’s single market of 500 million people, said
Britain’s national interest was being
damaged. “Every nod and wink to those
who want to leave sends a message to
potential investors that we are not open
for business, that our country is a dangerous bet,” he said. “Trying to use exit
as a threat has actually weakened our
influence in Europe, not strengthened it
... I will not be part of it. If I am prime
minister I will never risk British businesses, British jobs, British prosperity by
playing political games with our membership of the European Union.”
Cameron has in recent months battled other EU countries over the leadership of the EU executive, the
Commission, and the EU budget, and
has provoked warnings from other EU
leaders with talk of trying to limit immigration from within the EU. Some of
Cameron’s Eurosceptic lawmakers were
set to rebel yesterday in a vote on
whether to continue honoring EU laws
allowing the arrest of criminal suspects
in other member states. The government plans to include the European
Arrest Warrant (EAW) in a package of EU
justice and policing measures it wants
to keep after Dec. 1, when it will drop
other EU justice rules.
A number of Cameron’s Conservatives believe the EAW to be an
unnecessary level of integration. The
vote is still set to pass easily, with the
back ing of Labor and the Liberal
Democrats.—Reuters
Scandinavian jet
‘nearly crashed into
Russian warplane’
LONDON: A Scandinavian airliner carrying
132 passengers nearly crashed earlier this
year into a Russian warplane that was flying
covertly, a study of Russia-West military
incidents said yesterday.
Swedish media reported that the two
planes came within 90 metres (300 feet) of
each other in the air some 50 miles (80 kilometres) southeast of the Swedish city of
Malmo on March 3. “A collision was apparently avoided thanks only to good visibility
and the alertness of the passenger plane
pilots,” the European Leadership Network
(ELN) think-tank’s report said.
The Scandinavian Airlines Boeing 737
was on its way from Copenhagen to Rome.
The Russian reconnaissance plane “did not
transmit its position”, said the report
“Dangerous Brinkmanship: Close Military
Encounters Between Russia and the West in
2014”.
The narrowly avoided incident would
have been “comparable to the tragedy of
flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine”, it said,
referring to the downing of the Malaysia
Airlines plane on July 17 in which 298 people died. The report listed a total of 45 incidents so far this year-almost all of them
linked to air and naval war games in different parts of the world including the Pacific.
The SAS incident was classified as “high
risk”, along with two others: the alleged
abduction of an Estonian security service
operative by Russian agents from an
Estonian border post on September 5 and
the reports of “foreign underwater activity”
off the Swedish coast last month.
The study also counted 11 “serious incidents with escalation risk” including four
cases of “harassment” of US and Swedish
planes in international airspace by armed
Russian fighter jets.
Among the 11 were also two cases of
Russian aircraft conducting close overflights over Canadian and US ships in the
Black Sea and Russian aircraft violating
Swedish airspace on a mock “bombing raid”
mission and Russian planes conducting a
mock attack on the heavily populated
Danish island of Bornholm. The Soviet
Union’s last leader Mikhail Gorbachev on
Saturday warned that the world was on the
“brink of a new Cold War” at an event to
mark 25 years since the Berlin Wall’s fall.
The crisis in Ukraine has escalated tensions between Russia and the West to their
highest level since the end of the Cold War
and increased Russian air activity over
Europe during the past year has rattled the
nerves of NATO alliance members. —AFP
AMSTERDAM: Grieving family members and friends of victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disaster gathered around 298 candles representing the victims during a national commemoration ceremony in Amsterdam yesterday. — AP
Tanks move to Donetsk as fears
of all-out war grow in Ukraine
MH17 families mourn at somber Amsterdam event
DONETSK: The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander
Zakharchenko (second left), is surrounded by armed men yesterday as he heads to
take part in Police Day celebrations of the republic in the eastern Ukrainian city of
Donetsk. — AFP
Romanian minister resigns
to protest vote pressure
BUCHAREST: Romania’s foreign minister
resigned yesterday amid complaints that
Romanians living abroad were unable to
vote in the country’s presidential election.
Romanians in Paris, London, Munich and
elsewhere said they had to stand in line for
hours and were unable to vote in the Nov. 2
election. In Romania, thousands of people
protested against the government this
weekend, saying it prevented expats - most
of whom oppose the government - from
voting. Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean
stepped down, saying he was being pressured ahead of the Nov. 16 presidential
runoff to allow extra polling booths, which
he claims would break the country’s voting
rules. Commentator Cristian Tudor Popescu
said Prime Minister Victor Ponta had made
a mistake by making it difficult for
Romanians to vote for a new leader - something now perceived as a fundamental
right gained after the country’s bloody
1989 anti-communist revolt.
The ministr y announced Sunday it
would send 800 officials to embassies and
consular offices to help speed up expat voting but protests have continued.
Ponta replaced the foreign minister with
ally Teodor Melescanu, the 73-year-old former head of Romania’s foreign intelligence
service, who also ran for president in the
first round.
“We will ensure all the necessary conditions so that (people) can vote in and outside the country,” Ponta said. Ponta faces
Klaus Iohannis, mayor of the central city of
Sibiu, in the Nov. 16 runoff, which Ponta is
expected to win. — AP
African Union chief in Burkina
Faso for transition talks
OUAGADOUGOU: The chief of the African
Union yesterday arrived in Burkina Faso for
urgent talks on the west African country’s
political transition following the ouster of veteran president Blaise Compaore. “We have
come to participate in a solution,” Mauritania’s
president and current AU head Mohamed
Ould Abdel Aziz said after talks with
Lieutenant-Colonel Isaac Zida, the officer the
army installed to lead the nation after
Compaore fled.
Abdel Aziz’s visit came a day after the
opposition and civil society groups agreed on
a blueprint for transition that provides for new
elections in a year. The deal now has to be
negotiated with the military, which is under
international pressure to stand down.
After publicly embracing Zida, the AU head
went straight into private talks with the soldier
in a lounge at Ouagadougou airport. No
details emerged from their discussion, which
preceded talks in the city itself between Abdel
Aziz and other parties to the political process.
“The African Union has not come to sanction
Burkina Faso,” Abdel Aziz stated on emerging
from the talks with Zida, adding that a settlement would come from “the Burkinabe people”. The AU chief then travelled to a luxury
hotel in the capital for meetings with opposition politicians and leaders of civil society, as
well as loyalists who had backed the increasingly unpopular Compaore in office.
“The African Union is there to accompany
them (parties to transition). They have already
taken the essential steps for more democracy
in their country,” Abdel Aziz said.
Though Zida’s regime rejected a recent ultimatum from the AU to stand down within a
fortnight, Abdel Aziz said he wanted “to congratulate” all parties to the succession crisis and
urged them to go on working together “in tranquility, security and social peace”.Compaore
first seized power in a 1987 coup that killed his
predecessor and former comrade-in-arms
Thomas Sankara, a widely popular Marxist and
reformer under whom the name of the country
was changed from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso,
meaning “Land of Upright People”.— AFP
SHAKHTARSK, Ukraine: New unidentified
armored columns rumbled toward the proMoscow rebel stronghold of Donetsk in eastern
Ukraine yesterday as fears grew of a return to allout fighting in the war-torn region. The
Netherlands meanwhile held an emotional ceremony for the 298 victims of flight MH17 shot
down over the separatist-held eastern Ukraine in
July, in a tragedy that brought the conflict in the
ex-Soviet state to the international fore.
Some 1,600 relatives and friends of the dead
from 18 countries gathered alongside members
of the Dutch royal family for the somber event in
Amsterdam where the names and ages of those
who perished were read out. Ukraine and the
West blame Russia for supplying the pro-Kremlin
separatists with the missile that shot down the
plane, while Moscow and the rebels have pointed the finger at Kiev’s forces.
On the ground in Ukraine, intense weekend
shelling around Donetsk and more armoured
columns seen heading to the city ratcheted up
concerns the rebels could be gearing up for an
offensive after weeks of localized skirmishes. An
AFP journalist saw a total of 28 trucks, six tanks
and 14 howitzer cannons driving through rebel
territory around Donetsk yesterday.
The White House followed Europe by expressing grave concern at reports of Russian military
reinforcements, warning that any separatist
efforts to seize more territory would be a “blatant violation” of a September ceasefire agreement that had halted full-scale fighting but
failed to stop shelling at key flashpoints.
Ukraine’s military on Monday repeated allegations that Moscow is sending columns of
heavy armour and men across the frontier, saying there was “no doubt” that the deployments
were being commanded by the Russian army.
Russia has repeatedly denied that it is involved
in the fighting in the east.
However, it openly gives the rebels political
and humanitarian backing and it is not clear
how the insurgents could otherwise have access
to so much sophisticated and well-maintained
weaponry.
AFP journalists reported sporadic shelling in
Donetsk overnight, some 24 hours after heavy
bombardments rocked the rebel bastion in
some of the fiercest fighting there since the
September 5 truce deal. Two Ukrainian soldiers
were killed and five wounded as government
positions came under artillery fire around the
region, the military said. Some 4,000 people
have died in the war since April, according to UN
figures.
MH17 memorial
At the MH17 ceremony in Amsterdam, large
candles burned in memory of the victims, 193 of
whom were Dutch citizens. “They will not be forgotten, the beautiful warm and touching memories are forever,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte
said.
Anton Kotte, who lost three relatives in the
crash, said for the bereaved the time since the
disaster had been like being stuck together on a
train that never stopped.
“We didn’t know each other but we are partners in misfortune,” said Kotte. The remains of
289 of the victims have so far been identified
but the Dutch foreign minister has admitted that
the remaining dead may never be recovered as
the security situation around the crash site
remains volatile.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that shelling at the location by Ukrainian
forces was preventing an international probe at
a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib
Razak on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing.
Dutch investigators have made four visits to
the site since the signing of the ceasefire in
September, but The Hague says it does not know
when they will be able to recover the wreckage
of the plane.
Putin on tour
The conflict in Ukraine has sent relations
between Western backers of Ukraine and Russia
to their lowest levels since the end of the Cold
War. Russian President Vladimir Putin embarked
on a fraught week of diplomacy at the APEC
summit in Beijing and Group of 20 meeting in
Brisbane, Australia, where he looks likely to face
a hostile reception from Western leaders.
Russia’s economy is suffering from European
Union and US sanctions imposed in response to
Moscow’s support for the separatists, with the
ruble losing some 25 percent of its value this
year.
But Putin sounded a confident note as he
shrugged off concerns over the ruble’s collapse,
putting it down to short-term speculation as the
national currency rallied yesterday.
“I think it will stop soon given the actions taken by the central bank in response to speculators,” Putin said in a speech in Beijing. —AFP
In France, a WWI soldier’s bedroom frozen in time
BELABRE, France: The dust and cobwebs lie
thick after nearly a century, but the memory of
the French soldier who grew up in this bedroom-and who died in Belgium in World War I-is
today as vivid as the sunlight streaming through
the window. Dragoons officer Hubert
Rochereau’s presence permeates the place. It
emanates from photos and from the second
lieutenant’s various possessions-uniforms, riding
trophies, books-frozen in time on the top floor of
a large home in Belabre, a small village in central
France.
The vivid vestiges of Rochereau’s short life are
a testament to the grief his parents felt upon
learning of the death of their only son on April
26, 1918, at the age of just 21.
So deep was their bereavement, in fact, that
they sought to have his memory live on when
they sold the house, stipulating in the deed of
sale that their beloved son’s bedroom must go
untouched for 500 years. The current owner,
Daniel Fabre, has observed their wishes. “It’s not
an act of devotion but of historic preservation,”
he said. But the clause itself “has no legal basis,”
he notes. “You can’t keep something preserved
that way for 500 years under French law.” Fabre, a
72-year-old retired civil servant, took over the
large house after the death a decade ago of his
wife, who had inherited it from her grandfather.
He proudly shows off the small and tidy room
where Rochereau was born, timeworn but
remarkably intact. Cobwebs stretch between a
moth-eaten uniform jacket and a wooden desk
upon which lies the bric-a-brac that Rochereau
collected, including an antique pistol, military
manuals, a pipe and a tin of tobacco. Dust hangs
in the air.
Yet the small single bed-covered by a lace
spread, the soldier’s military academy cap and
his posthumous medals-looks as if it were just
made. Above it hangs a big sepia portrait of
young Rocherau in military dress, with a moustache, his gaze direct. A memory of the man
who died in a British field hospital the day after
being wounded when Germans overran his
unit’s position in Kimmelberg, a hill in West
Flanders.
Never to be open to the public
On the walls of the bedroom are artefacts
from Rochereau’s interest in things military,
notably swords and bayonets. “I believe this is a
German bayonet from the First World War,” Fabre
says, touching one blade. “The rest must date
from Napoleon’s time, or I don’t know when.”
Fabre, while respectful of the place, is not
sentimental. He has not sought publicity for the
bedroom, nor does he feel any attachment to
the spectral occupant whose belongings he
watches over.
His main concern is that his spacious residence not be overrun by tourists or World War I
buffs. He has no plans to open the private
memorial to the public, and even asks journalists
not to provide images or details that could identify his property from the outside. “I especially
don’t want to be invaded,” he says. “Certainly not.
After all, this is my home.”—AFP
LONDON: A picture shows ceramic poppies from the “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red”
installation by ceramic artist Paul Cummins and theatre stage designer Tom Piper, marking
the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, in the moat area of the Tower of
London yesterday.—AFP
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Pakistani schools network observes anti-Malala day
ISLAMABAD: An association of Pakistani
schools held an “I am not Malala” day
yesterday, condemning young Nobel
peace laureate Malala Yousafzai for what
it called her support for controversial
novelist Salman Rushdie.
Education campaigner Malala was
shot in the head by the Taleban in
October 2012 but recovered and went
on to win this year’s Nobel peace prize.
The 17-year-old has been hailed around
the world for standing up for girls’ rights
to education, but the response to her in
Pakistan has not been universally positive, with some seeing her as a “Western
agent” on a mission to shame her country. The All Pakistan Private Schools
Federation last year barred its members
from buying Malala’s memoir “I am
Malala” because of what the group said
was its “anti-Pakistan and anti-Islam content.” It said the book, written with
British journalist Christina Lamb, was too
sympathetic to British novelist Rushdie.
Rushdie in 1989 became the target of an
Iranian fatwa. Mirza Kashif Ali, the presi-
dent of the schools’ federation, said in a
statement it was “clear that Malala has
nexus with Salman Rushdie and Taslima
Nasrin, and also has alignment with
Salman Rushdie’s ideological club”.
“We severely condemned the chapter
of the book in which Salman Rushdie’s
book has been mentioned as freedom of
expression by Malala while referring to
father’s views,” Ali said.
He said walks, seminars and press
conferences were held to highlight the “I
am not Malala” day. Bangladeshi author
Nasrin was forced to flee her homeland
in 1994 after radical Muslims accused her
of blasphemy over her novel “Lajja”
(Shame), in which a Hindu family is persecuted by Muslims. Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan also, where it can
carry the death penalty.
Malala’s book describes her life under
the Taleban’s brutal rule in northwest
Pakistan’s Swat valley in the mid-2000s,
hints at her ambition to enter Pakistani
politics and even describes her father’s
brief flirtation with Islamic fundamental-
ism as a youngster. The book describes
public floggings by the Taleban, their
ban on television, dancing and music,
and the family’s decision to flee Swat
along with nearly one million others in
2009 amid heavy fighting between the
militants and Pakistani troops. Malala,
who lives in Britain where she went for
treatment after being shot,
was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in October alongside India’s 60year-old Kailash Satyarthi for their championing of children’s rights. — AFP
India’s Modi names yoga
minister in major shakeup
21 new faces in pro-reform cabinet
NEW DELHI: Indian children pose with placards during a protest against sexual violence organized by the Communist party of India (Marxist) in New Delhi. A study
released by the UN World Population Fund and the Washington-based International
Center for Research on Women (ICRW) yesterday said that six out of 10 Indian men
admit they have acted violently against their wives or girlfriends, with those facing
financial difficulties more likely to carry out abuse. —AFP
Six in 10 Indian men
admit violence
against partner: Study
NEW DELHI: Six out of 10 Indian men
admit they have acted violently against
their wives or girlfriends, with those facing
financial difficulties more likely to carry
out abuse, a study released yesterday said.
Some 52 percent of women surveyed
across the country reported suffering
some form of physical, emotional or sexual violence in their lifetime, including
being kicked, hit, choked and burned, the
study said. The report by the UN World
Population Fund and the Washingtonbased International Center for Research
on Women (ICRW) underscores the high
rates of abuse facing women in the deeply
patriarchal country.
“The study puts a spotlight on the high
prevalence of intimate partner violence in
India,” the study said. “Regardless of age,
men who experience economic stress
were more likely to have perpetrated violence ever or in the past 12 months,”
according to the study called “Masculinity,
Intimate Par tner Violence and Son
Preference”. “Educated men and women
who were 35 years old or more were less
likely to perpetrate or experience vio-
lence,” it also said. India has faced intense
scrutiny in recent years in the wake of a
series of high-profile rapes that have
unleashed a wave of public anger against
its violent treatment of women.
The fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old
student on a bus in Delhi in December
2012 sparked massive street protests and
led to tougher laws for sexual offenders.
Despite the laws, horrific violence against
women continues to hit the headlines on
a daily basis, with experts stressing the
need to better educate young men about
the importance of sexual equality and
respect.
The study is based on interviews with
more than 9,000 men and 3,000 women
aged 18 to 49 and conducted across seven
Indian states. “ We need a holistic
approach to tackling violence and deeply
ingrained harmful norms,” ICRW regional
director Ravi Verma said in a blog post on
the centre’s website. “It is imperative that
we reach boys at the early stages of childhood to teach them healthy and non-violent forms of masculinity while their identities are being formed.” — AFP
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has appointed a
yoga minister as part of a major
revamp of his government after
storming to power in May. Modi, a
vegetarian who practices yoga daily, strengthened his right-wing government on Sunday by appointing
21 new ministers as he tries to
speed up reform of the faltering
economy.
Among the portfolios designated late Sunday was that of AAYUSH,
whose minister will be charged
with promoting the traditional
medicines and practices of
Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy,
Unani, Siddha and homeopathy.
Modi asked the United Nations in
September to consider an international yoga day and also discussed
the ancient Indian discipline with
President Barack Obama during his
visit to the United States.
“Congratulations to all colleagues who have taken oath
today. Looking forward to working
with them to accelerate India’s
development journey,” Modi said in
a tweet late Sunday.
Modi added four new ministers
to his cabinet and 17 junior ministers for a 66-strong government.
AAYUSH was previously part of the
health minister’s responsibility, but
has become a separate portfolio
under former tourism minister
Shripad Yesso Naik after Sunday’s
reshuffle.
Among other changes, suave
regional leader Manohar Parrikar
was handed the defence ministry
and charged with modernising the
ageing armed forces.
Parrikar’s appointment will ease
the burden on Arun Jaitley, who
had been juggling both the
defence and finance ministries
since the government took office in
May, while battling ill-health.
Focus on economy
Jaitley also takes information
and broadcasting under the
revamp, but will be mostly free to
focus on steering through difficult
reforms pledged during the election campaign to revive the faltering economy.
Parrikar, with a reputation for
clean government during his time
as chief minister of tourism state
Goa, will be expected to speed up
long-delayed defence orders and
overhaul the country’s Soviet-era
military hardware.
A series of corruption scandals
under the previous Congress government had brought defence procurement to a near-standstill.
Jayant Sinha, the Harvard-educated
son of a former finance minister,
was named junior minister for
finance, underlining Modi’s priority
to boost business and attract foreign investment.
In recent days Modi has
unleashed a series of reforms,
scrapping fuel subsidies, simplifying labour rules and pledging to
open coal mining to private players.
But the government has so far
steered clear of “big bang” initiatives that economists say are needed to boost investment and manufacturing. Sinha said his priorities
would be to create jobs and keep
inflation in check. “First and foremost, creating jobs is very important for us and for the economy,”
Sinha told reporters in Delhi after
taking charge.
“The second (priority) area is
obviously managing inflation... this
year we are expecting growth to
pick up and then to be on the
NEW DELHI: Newly appointed Indian Yoga Minister Shripad Yesso Naik
speaks on a telephone at his residence in New Delhi yesterday.—AFP
accelerating growth trajectory.”
The economy last year grew by
4.7 percent, the weakest pace in
nearly a decade, while steep interest rates aimed at fighting stubborn inflation and a fall in the
rupee have eaten into corporate
profits.
The railways portfolio was given to Suresh Prabhu, a veteran
leader of the Hindu hardline
regional Shiv Sena par ty who
switched allegiance to the ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) just
before Sunday’s swearing-in ceremony. — AFP
India top court lifts ban
on female makeup artists
NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court yesterday ordered the lifting of a ban on women
working as makeup artists in the movie
industry, ending a decades-long discriminatory practice.
India’s film industry is among the most
prolific in the world with nearly 1,500 films
produced annually, most of them in
Bollywood, as the Mumbai Hindi film industry is called. The Cine Costume Makeup
Artists and Hair Dressers Association had
an unofficial ban on women as makeup
artists, though they could work as hairdressers to the stars.
Judge Dipak Misra also struck down a
regulation that people had to live in a particular city or town for five years to become
a member of the association. The court
order came on a petition by makeup artist
Charu Khurana, whose case was supported
by the National Commission for Women, a
state organization that protects women’s
rights.
Khurana trained at the Cinema Makeup
School in Los Angeles but said she found it
impossible to get work as a makeup artist
in Bollywood. When film producers wanted
to hire her, the CCMAA objected, saying she
could not flout the nearly 6-decade-old tra-
dition. Khurana told reporters that the
CCMAA rejected her application for a
makeup artist identification card because
she was a woman.
“I wanted to fight back. I wanted to earn
a livelihood in the field that I have been
trained,” Khurana said. “The film fraternity
knew about this unconstitutional practice
for so many years, but no one resisted it.”
Misra heard arguments from both sides
last week and was outspoken in his criticism. “How can it be said that only men can
be makeup artists and women can be hairdressers? We don’t see a reason to prohibit
a woman from becoming a makeup artist if
she is qualified,” Misra said.
In telling the association to remove the
gender clause, the judge said: “We are in
2014, not in 1935. Such things cannot continue even for a day.” The association said
it was only trying to ensure that male
makeup artists were not deprived of work
in the film industry. Film stars welcomed
the ruling, saying male makeup artists
should not feel threatened with the
court’s order. “If makeup artists are good
at their job, they will be hired, no matter
whether they are male or female,” actress
Sonam Kapoor said. —AP
KABUL: An Afghan policeman keeps watch at the scene of the roadside bomb blast in Kabul yesterday.—AFP
Taleban bombs kill
10 Afghanistan police
KABUL: Bombs exploded in three cities in
Afghanistan yesterday k illing at least 10
policemen, officials said, a day after a Taliban
suicide bomber blew himself in Kabul’s police
headquarters killing one person.
The Taliban were ousted from power in
2001 by US-led forces and they have been
fighting ever since to oust foreign troops and
the US-backed government, even as most foreign forces are pulling out by the end of this
year.
The militants claimed responsibility for two
of the attacks, which killed the policemen, seven of them in the eastern province of Logar
province when a suicide bomber blew himself
up at the provincial police headquarters. In
Nangarhar province, also in the east, three
policemen were killed in the city of Jalalabad
by a bomb planted in a rickshaw, officials said.
It was not clear who was behind the third
blast, in Kabul, caused by a bomb planted in a
flower bed near a university. It wounded three
people. Taliban violence has increased as foreign troops have withdrawn, leaving Afghan
security forces to fight alone or with limited
air support.
The police and army have suffered heavy
losses as a result. A top US commander in
Afghanistan recently said the casualty rate
among Afghan government forces was “not
sustainable”. The Taleban also claimed responsibility for the Sunday suicide bomb attack on
police headquarters in the capital. —Reuters
Pakistani court remands 4 in lynching of Christians
LAHORE: A Pak istani cour t yesterday
remanded in custody four people accused of
burning to death a Christian couple for
alleged blasphemy-k illings which have
sparked nationwide anger. Bonded laborer
Shehzad Masih and his pregnant wife Shama
Bibi were beaten by a mob of 1,500 people
then thrown on top of a lit furnace last week.
The horrific incident on November 4 has
sparked outrage and protests across
Pakistan. Police have arrested more than 40
suspects. Politicians, ordinary citizens, religious scholars and rights activists from different schools of thought have voiced anger
at the brutal crime-a rare reaction in mainly
Muslim Pakistan to the killing of people from
a minority faith.
“The police produced four suspects in
anti-terrorism court and the judge remanded
them into police custody for further interro-
gation till November 19,” a prosecution official said.
He said 39 more suspects were already in
jail, out of a total of some 60 suspects named
in the lynching of the Christian couple. Some
900 students from Lahore’s missionar y
schools staged a demonstration outside
Lahore Press Club against the murders.
“ We want justice!” and “Stop k illing
minorities!” protesters shouted. “Death
penalty for the k illers of Shehzad and
Shama,” read one banner. The couple were
lynched in the tiny hamlet of Chak 59
( Village 59) near the town of Kot Radha
Kishan, 60 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of
Lahore. Sirajul Haq, the leader of Pakistan’s
largest religious party Jamaat-I-Islami, visited
Kot Radha Kishan yesterday and met the
family of the victims.
Haq “strongly condemned” the killings,
demanded a high-level inquiry into them
and urged the government to ensure severe
punishment for the perpetrators, a party official told AFP.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in
Pakistan, with even unproven allegations
often prompting mob violence. Those who
take part in the violence are rarely if ever
prosecuted-a fact not lost upon the relatives
of the deceased. —AFP
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Obama tempers hopes for thaw with N Korea
BEIJING: President Barack Obama is tempering
expectations for a thaw in relations between the
United States and North Korea, saying the secret
talks to free two American prisoners were not the
precursor to nuclear negotiations.
Asked yesterday whether the prisoner negotiations helped him gain any insight into North Korea’s
mercurial young leader Kim Jong Un and his
approach to dealing with the US, Obama said curtly,
“No.” The president’s first extensive public comments
on the release of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller
came as he opened a three day visit to China, North
Korea’s chief benefactor. US officials said the timing
of Obama’s decision to pursue their release was not
related to his trip, though they wouldn’t speculate
on Pyongyang’s motivations. Obama said he dispatched James Clapper, his director of national intelligence, to North Korea for negotiations after receiving “an indication that there was the possibility of
the release.” He did not elaborate on what kind of
signals the US received from North Korea or how
messages were conveyed. Bae and Miller arrived in
the US Saturday night, accompanied by Clapper.
Their release was the latest twist in the strained relationship between the Obama administration and
the young North Korean leader, who has been both
provocative and conciliatory toward the US since
taking the helm of the impoverished and isolated
nation.
The Obama administration has kept quiet about
the details of Clapper’s discussions, though the president said yesterday that they were “not high-level
policy discussions” and did not touch on
Pyongyang’s nuclear provocations. He added that
“when and if” North Korea agrees to pursue denuclearization, the US will be “very open” to having discussions. However, Obama said that would require
more than “small gestures” like the release of the
Americans. “Until that time, there’s going to be a
core problem between us,” he added. US officials
have said there was no quid pro quo that led to the
release of the Americans. Bae had been held since
2012 and was serving a 15-year sentence for alleged
anti-government activities. Miller was arrested after
entering the country in April. Authorities accused
him of planning to infiltrate a North Korea prison.
Their release came three weeks after a third
American, Jeffrey Fowle of Miamisburg, Ohio, was
set free by North Korea and put on a US government
plane. Obama’s comments came following a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on
the sidelines of a broader Asia-Pacific summit. — AP
UK banker on double murder
charge grins leaving HK court
Case adjourned for psychiatric evaluation
PAJU: North Korean soldiers watch the south side with cameras at the border village
of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju,
north of Seoul, South Korea. Seoul defense officials said South Korean troops have
fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers approached too close to the border
separating the rival countries. — AP
South Korea fires warning
shots near N Korea border
SEOUL: South Korean troops fired warning
shots yesterday after North Korean soldiers
approached too close to the border separating the rival countries, Seoul defense officials said. The firing heightens animosities
between the rival Koreas, even as North
Korea’s tensions with the United States
seem to have eased after the announced
release of two detained Americans a day
earlier. About 10 North Korean soldiers
retreated without returning fire after South
Korean troops fired 20 rounds of warning
shots, the officials said on condition of
anonymity because of office policy. There
were no reports of casualties.
South Korean troops have detected
North Korean soldiers approaching the border several times this year, but this was only
the second time that the South fired warning shots, the officials said.
The incident happened inside the 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) -wide Demilitarized Zone
that was created when the 1950-53 Korean
War ended with an armistice. Tensions
between the Koreas remain high following
two incidents last month involving
exchanges of gunfire, although no casualties were reported in either one.
In the first incident, troops from the two
countries traded gunfire over propaganda
leaflets South Korean activists sent across
the border by balloon. In the second, North
Korean soldiers were seen too close to the
border, triggering a gunfire exchange.
North Korea said its soldiers were engaging
in routine patrol missions. At the center of
the recent animosities is North Korea’s
demand that South Korea prevent activists
from launching the anti-North leaflets.
South Korea has said it cannot do so, citing
freedom of speech.
The conflict over the leafleting appears
to have derailed talks on a high-level meeting between the two Koreas, which had
been offered by North Korea during the
September Asian Games and had been discussed for October or November.
Over the weekend, North Korea released
the last two Americans it has been detaining - Matthew Miller of Bakersfield,
California, and Kenneth Bae of Lynnwood,
Washington - in a move widely seen as an
attempt to break a long deadlock with the
US over talks on the North’s nuclear program. The Korean Peninsula remains in a
technical state of war because the Korean
War armistice has never been replaced with
a peace treaty. — AP
Abe headache as anti-US
base figure has
edge in Japan poll
TOKYO: Opinion polls in Japan’s far southern Okinawa islands have given an anti-US
base candidate the edge in next weekend’s
gubernatorial election, a potential setback
for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The
November 16 poll will be the first chance for
voters in Okinawa to deliver their verdict on
a deal struck last year between Abe and
incumbent governor Hirokazu Nakaima, 75.
In what critics said amounted to a bribe,
Abe pledged a huge cash injection to the
island chain if Nakaima reversed years of
opposition to a plan to move the US
Marines’ Futenma Air Station from a crowded urban area to a sparsely populated
coastal district. Okinawa is home to more
than half of the 47,000 US service personnel
stationed in Japan, and strategically key to
the US-Japan security alliance at a time of
simmering tensions in East Asia.
But there is widespread local hostility to
the military presence, with complaints over
noise, the risk of accident and a perception
that the presence of so many young servicemen is a source of crime. The move of
Futenma to Nago on the northeast coast
was first agreed between Tokyo and
Washington in the 1990s, but has been
stalled by local opponents ever since.
The deadlock has frustrated the
Americans and proved a thorn in the side of
successive Japanese governments. But in an
abrupt about-face in December, Nakaima
decided to approve the start of landfill work
at Nago, sparking criticism at home that the
one-time stalwart opponent of the relocation had caved in. Opinion polls published
over the weekend put Takeshi Onaga, 64, a
former mayor of Okinawa’s capital Naha City,
in the lead. He is one of three candidates
opposing the relocation plan, although all
have slightly different stances on it. Nakaima
is in second place, the polls by the Yomiuri
Shimbun and Kyodo News said, although
both noted around 20 percent of voters
were undecided. A win for the anti-base
Onaga would be a significant blow to the
central government, said Hideki Uemura,
professor of international politics at Ryutsu
Keizai University in Tokyo. —AFP
BEIJING: A man rides on a tricycle past banners with the words “Ensure APEC summit’s safety, open burning is prohibited” on display at a main road entrance to the
Upper Beitai, the village closest to the venue for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) summit, in the Huairou district of Beijing. — AP
HONG KONG: A British banker charged with the
grisly murder of two young women flashed a
smile as he left a Hong Kong court yesterday, after
his case was adjourned for psychiatric evaluation.
The 29-year-old securities trader, who until
recently worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch,
is accused of killing two young Indonesian
women whose mutilated bodies were found at
his upmarket apartment in the southern Chinese
city. As the bodies of the victims were due to be
flown home to Indonesia, Rurik Jutting shot a grin
from the back of a prison van following the hearing. The case was “adjourned... for two psychiatric
reports on the defendant’s fitness to plead”, said
principal magistrate Bina Chainrai. Reports by two
different doctors are required under Hong Kong
law, prosecutor Louise Wong said. Jutting is being
held at Hong Kong’s maximum-security Siu Lam
psychiatric centre, Wong confirmed.
He will next appear on November 24. Jutting,
bearded and wearing black-rimmed glasses,
remained impassive during the brief hearing at
the Eastern Magistrate’s court-his second appearance after being charged with the murders a
week ago.
‘No consent’ to reconstruction
He spoke only once to say “I do” when the
magistrate asked him whether he understood the
arrangements. Prosecutor Wong told the court
that a reconstruction of the crime “has not yet
been conducted because the defendant did not
give consent”.
Defense lawyer Tim Parker said that Jutting
had not agreed to a reconstruction yet but may
do in future. Parker also applied to obtain video
recordings of interviews police had conducted
with Jutting. Following the hearing, Hong Kong
solicitor Michael Vidler, who is also acting in
Jutting’s defence, said it could be months before a
plea is entered.“Can’t give definite answer on thatcould be 3-5 months time,” Vidler told AFP in an
email. The bodies of Seneng Mujiasih and Sumarti
Ningsih, both in their 20s, are due to be flown
home Tuesday morning, Indonesian consulate
HONG KONG: British banker Rurik Jutting, charged with the grisly murders of two women,
smiles as he sits in a prison van leaving the eastern court in Hong Kong yesterday. — AFP
Facebook page that he was embarking on a “new
officials in Hong Kong said.
They were discovered after Jutting called journey”. “Stepping down from the ledge. Burden
police to his flat in the city’s Wanchai district in lifted; new journey begins. Scared and anxious
the early hours of November 1. Seneng was but also excited. The first step is always the hardfound naked in the living room, with knife est,” he wrote.
On that same date his license from the Hong
wounds to her neck and buttocks. Sumarti’s
decaying body was found hours later by police, Kong Monetary Authority for dealing in and
stuffed into a suitcase on the apartment’s bal- advising on securities was cancelled, according to
cony. According to court documents, she was its website. Jutting’s three licenses for dealing in
killed on October 27. Police are investigating securities and futures contracts with the city’s
whether the victims were sex workers. Wanchai is Securities and Futures Commission also ended on
known for its late-night drinking holes popular October 28, according to its website. The Siu Lam
with expatriates, and is home to a thriving red centre where Jutting is being held is on the outskirts of the city and run by Hong Kong’s correclight district.
High-flyer Jutting was a pupil at the exclusive tional services department.
At the end of September, 268 prisoners were
English boarding school Winchester College
before studying history and law at Cambridge being held there-convicted or on remand-its
University. On October 27 he posted on his website said. — AFP
Malaysia’s Sharia law costs
non-Muslims their kids
IPOH, Malaysia: It was the last round of a recurring argument: M Indira Gandhi’s husband wanted
her to convert to Islam. A committed Hindu, she
refused. He threatened divorce. Both started shouting. Neighbors came looking. Suddenly, he
snatched their 11-month-old daughter from the
arms of an older child, tucked her under one arm
and sped off on his motorbike.
That was more than five years ago. Gandhi
hasn’t seen her child since, even though a
Malaysian civil court awarded her custody.
Her husband - who converted to Islam shortly
before taking his daughter away - won custody in
an Islamic court. Because Gandhi is not a Muslim,
she was not even called to appear. Police have
been unwilling to enforce the civil court’s decision.
“I am pining to see my daughter. No mother
should ever have to endure this pain,” said Gandhi,
a kindergarten teacher, in her small rented home in
Ipoh city in Perak state, about 200 kilometers (124
miles) north of Kuala Lumpur, the capital. “Give us a
chance. We are all Malaysians. We should have
equal rights.”
Gandhi’s case and others highlight perils of
Malaysia’s divided legal system, where majority
Muslims use Shariah courts for religious and family
issues such as conversion, divorce and death. The
other 40 percent of the country - mainly Christians,
Buddhists and Hindus - use a secular legal system
inherited from the Southeast Asian country’s
British colonial rulers.
Critics accuse the ethnic Malay Muslim-dominated government of doing too little to resolve
problems when those legal systems collide. The
government has become increasingly reliant on
support from Islamist and right-wing pressure
groups as other constituencies flock to the opposition. M Kulasegaran, an opposition lawmaker who
is also Gandhi’s lawyer, said there are many similar
cases, including several he plans to file once
Gandhi’s case is resolved. Some earlier cases have
turned out even worse for non-Muslims than
Gandhi’s case has so far: In 2007, the top civil court
ruled that a Muslim spouse had the right to convert his children without the mother’s consent.
Some lawyers and legal experts say spouses in
especially bitter custody battles sometimes convert
to Islam to gain an upper hand. A Muslim with a
non-Muslim spouse who seeks custody from the
Shariah court is almost certain to win because the
spouse has no standing.
The government has long pledged to tackle
legal ambiguities related to religious conversions.
But a Cabinet decision in 2009 to allow minors to
be converted only with both parents’ consent has
yet to be made legally binding.
In southern Negeri Sembilan state, Deepa
Subramaniam’s Hindu husband quietly embraced
Islam in 2012 and formally converted both their
children without her consent. He was then granted
custody of the children by a Shariah court. Deepa
turned to the civil court, which annulled her marriage on grounds of domestic violence and granted
her custody of the children. Two days later, her exhusband abducted their 5-year-old son.
National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar has
refused to act on court orders to return either
Deepa’s son or Gandhi’s daughter to their mothers.
He has been cited for contempt but is waiting for a
higher civil court to weigh in. He was quoted as
saying by local media that police were “sandwiched” between legal systems and proposed that
children caught in custody tussles be placed in
welfare homes. Khalid did not return text messages
from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The abduction of Gandhi’s daughter, Prasana
Diksa, came days before her first birthday. Her
mother had bought her a Minnie Mouse blouse
and jeans, and had planned to take her to the temple for ear piercing, a traditional Hindu practice
when a child turns 1.
IPOH: M Indira Gandhi pauses during an
interview at her house in Ipoh, Perak state,
Malaysia. — AP
Gandhi repeatedly called her husband and
begged him to return Diksa, who was still on breast
milk, in the hours and days after she was taken. Her
husband, an odd-job worker now called
Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, initially told her
again to convert to Islam, then stopped replying to
any of her requests. Gandhi found out that he had
officially converted to Islam when she went to a
police station to report the abduction. There she
learned that he had also changed the birth certificates of the couples’ other two children to state
they were Muslims. Fearing that Islamic authorities
may seize them as well, Gandhi went into hiding.
The Shariah court granted Riduan temporary custody of all three children days after he abducted
Diksa, and granted him permanent custody a few
months later. No grounds were given by the Islamic
court. In Perak and some other states, Shariah
allows one parent to convert children to Islam
without the consent of the other.
Jurisdiction
Gandhi turned to the civil court, which in 2010
awarded her custody of all three children and ruled
that the Shariah court had exceeded its jurisdic-
tion. Last year, a civil court quashed the children’s
conversion to Islam in a landmark ruling. Civil
courts had in the past said they had no jurisdiction
in such cases. Riduan appealed the civil court’s custody decision but lost. His appeal of the ruling on
his children’s conversions has yet to be heard.
In May this year, the court ordered police to
arrest Riduan for contempt of court and return
Diksa, now 6, to her mother. Yet with police refusing to act, she is no closer to her daughter. The case
continues to go through the civil court system,
where it may take years to resolve.
Riduan declined to speak to a reporter. His
lawyer, Anas Fauzi, said in an email that Riduan
refused to comply with the civil court ruling
because he was bound by the Shariah order.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has urged parents to
resolve their disputes in the Federal Court, the
nation’s highest civil court, but has not condemned
the abductions. An aide to Najib declined to comment further on the cases. Many Islamic clerics
view the prospect of a Muslim child being brought
up in a non-Muslim household as unacceptable.
Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman, who heads the
Islamic right-wing group Isma, defended the
Shariah courts’ actions, saying the Muslim fathers
are in a better position to raise the children as
Muslims. He said the law should be changed to
allow Shariah courts to hear petitions from nonMuslims, and added that “its decision must be
final.” But Muhammad Asri Zainal Abidin, an Islamic
scholar and a former state mufti, said children
caught in such custody battles should be able to
live with non-Muslim mothers as long as they care
for them well.
Community
“There is no compulsion in Islam. Nobody can
force others to embrace a religion, not even their
parents. Leave the matter to the children to decide
when they are old enough,” he said.
Diksa, now called Ummu Habibah Muhammad
Riduan, lives with her father in a Muslim community in northeastern Kelantan state. His lawyer, Anas,
said she has adjusted well and that “both the father
and the daughter receive moral and physical support from the local society.”
Riduan does not provide financial support for
his other two children, now 16 and 17, who have
remained with Gandhi throughout the dispute.
Anas said that since his client converted, “the conditions and the circumstances do not even allow
both disputed parties to have any relationship.”
Gandhi did, however, finally receive recent pictures
of her youngest child this year. In one, a smiling
Diksa is clad in a black Islamic headscarf, posing
with her father. Every day, at an altar in her home,
Gandhi lights a candle for Diksa and prays that she
comes home. “Whether she is a Muslim or not, it
doesn’t matter,” she said. “She is still my daughter.
All I want is to hold and embrace her. I have missed
many precious moments with her. I will fight until I
get my child back.” — AP
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
NEWS
The Muslim holy site of the Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City is seen through barbed wire yesterday. — AFP
Govt mulling petrol subsidy, spending cuts
Continued from Page 1
The statement said the Cabinet had studied proposals
presented by the finance ministry about the slide in oil
prices and “emphasized it will continue with capital spending and projects under the development plan”.
Oil income makes up around 94 percent of public revenues in the stste which pumps around 3.0 million barrels
per day. Oil prices have lost around 30 percent of their value since June, amid a surplus in supplies and a weak global
economy, hitting the state coffers of energy-dependent
countries like Kuwait.
The head of parliament’s budget committee, lawmaker
Adnan Abdulsamad, has said if oil prices continue at the
current level, the budget surplus would shrink to just $3.1
billion from $45 billion last year. The government decided
to end subsidies on diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel as a
first step in revising heavily-subsidised electricity, water and
petrol. Local media said Kuwait’s fiscal reserves grew to
$548 billion as of June 30. Kuwait has a native population of
1.25 million and is also home to about 2.8 million foreigners.
Meanwhile, Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services
warned yesterday a prolonged decline in oil prices will likely slow the economies of the energy-rich Gulf states and
impact their massive infrastructure projects. “The recent
drop in hydrocarbon prices, if sustained, could have a significant impact on the region’s economic and financial indicators... and dampen economic growth,” S&P said in a
report. On average, energy revenues for the six Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) states constitute 46 percent of
their gross domestic product (GDP) and three quarters of
their exports, the report said.
Total GDP of the GCC states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - hit $1.64
trillion last year, according to the International Monetary
Fund. S&P viewed Bahrain and Oman as most vulnerable to
a decline in the hydrocarbon market, and Qatar and UAE as
the least vulnerable. “While the Gulf countries’ significant oil
and gas reserves are key supports for their sovereign credit
ratings, their economies’ concentration in the hydrocarbon
sector is also a significant vulnerability,” it said. It said the
decline will hurt infrastructure projects and the private sector.
The agency revised Brent oil price at $85 a barrel for the
rest of the year and $90 a barrel for 2015 and beyond. The
assumption is very close to most of the GCC’s budget price
for oil. Lower government revenues may also result in more
efforts to tackle energy subsidy reform, but this is likely to
hurt industries reliant on feedstock subsidies, such as petrochemicals. A top World Bank official said last week that the
GCC states, which pump a fifth of the world’s crude oil,
spend more than $160 billion on energy subsidies annually,
and called for immediate cuts. IMF chief Christine Lagarde
warned last month that GCC states will face budget shortfalls if the recent decline in oil prices persists.
Oil prices have lost about 30 percent since it started to
decline in June. The total revenue of the GCC states - 90
percent of which come from oil - more than doubled from
$317 billion in 2008 to $756 billion in 2012. It declined
slightly to $729 billion last year, according to IMF estimates.
IMF has said that GCC states will not be greatly affected in
the short-term as they can tap into their massive fiscal
reserves estimated at $2.45 trillion. — Agencies
Comoros offer highlights plight of Kuwait... Why aren’t laid-off nurses being hired?
Continued from Page 1
The secretary general of the Kuwaiti Bedoons
Committee, Nawaf Al-Bader, said none of the 34,000
identified as eligible three years ago have been granted
citizenship. “Government claims that bedoons belong
to other countries are false and unsubstantiated. If
these claims were true, why has the government not
deported them,” said Bader, a bedoon himself. The actual number of bedoons was much higher than official figures, he said, with between 40,000 and 50,000 of them
unregistered.
A few years ago, the government established a special agency to resolve the bedoon problem and named
it the Central Agency for Illegal Residents, the official
name of bedoons in Kuwait. After years of depriving
them of basic rights, the government recently started
offering bedoons some services. It has started appointing them as public school teachers and allowing some
to seek private sector employment. It has been paying
school fees for thousands of bedoon children whose
fathers are registered, as well as issuing them birth, marriage and death certificates. But Bader insists the services have not been offered to all bedoons as many remain
deprived and live in “misery”. Parliament has repeatedly
passed legislation allowing the government to naturalise 4,000 bedoons each year, but most of the laws
have not been implemented.
Authorities have given no indication of the potential
cost of the Comoros deal, but activists on social networks claim it would amount to billions of dollars. But
Bader said offering bedoons Comoros citizenship was
“totally impractical” and that Sunday’s announcement
was met with “anger and rejection” by his community.
Comoros is an archipelago state located off eastern
Africa and is a member of the Arab League. A member
of parliament’s human rights committee, MP Faisal AlDuwaisan, described the move as “very grave” and
vowed to question the prime minister if the government implements the decision.
For the past three years, police have broken up with
force bedoon protests calling for citizenship and other
basic rights. Hundreds have been arrested and put on
trial accused of illegal demonstrations and assaulting
police. Lawmaker Nabil Al-Fadhl in April proposed sending to a desert camp stateless people convicted of
breaching public security and protesting. In an
unprecedented move in 2012, Refugees International,
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International jointly
wrote a letter to HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad
Al-Sabah, highlighting the plight of bedoons and urging an end to their alleged abuse. “All bedoons born in
Kuwait should be recognised as citizens, and those who
have resided in the country for a reasonable amount of
time should be eligible to apply for citizenship and
acquire citizenship,” they said. — AFP
Continued from Page 1
Our children are studying here,” said a nurse on the
condition of anonymity.
Most of the nurses had been working in Adan
Hospital while others had been with other clinics
under the MoH. The license of the company is reported to have been cancelled after the ministry awarded
a contract to another company, rendering hundreds
of the nurses jobless. “We plead help from the authorities because we are in a miserable predicament now.
At the hostel, the company stopped serving food on
October 31,” said another nurse, who has been working in Kuwait for the last 10 years. “Many of us were
working here for more than five to six years. But a few
had been recruited quite recently,” she said.
Humanitarian issue
Indian Ambassador Sunil Jain agreed yesterday
that this is a humanitarian issue, adding the embassy
has written to the Foreign Ministry on the matter after
a group of nurses called on him last month requesting
the embassy’s help. However, the embassy has not
received any reply from the ministry yet. The nurses
have also submitted a memorandum to Kerala’s Chief
Minister Oommen Chandy seeking his help in alleviating their plight. Kerala’s Social Justice Minister M K
Muneer, who visited Kuwait last week, discussed the
matter with Indian embassy officials here.
On top of the job loss, many of the laid off nurses
have yet to receive their indemnities. “The company
is not willing to pay their indemnity too. This is not
right, especially since many of them have worked
here for more than 10 years,” said Varghese
Puthukulangara, Direc tor of the Non-Resident
Keralites’ Affairs (NORKA) depar tment ’s welfare
board.
Asked about the stoppage of food at the hostel,
Puthukulangara said, “We are talking to company
officials and persuading them to provide food until
a final settlement is reached,” he said. According to
Puthukulangara, 12 of the newly-recruited nurses
have been employed in the private sector. While 80
more nurses may soon find employment in the private sector, others may either have to fend for
themselves or return to their home countries. “We
cannot insist that the MoH absorb them. But cons i d e r i n g t h e i r e x p e r i e n ce a n d q u a l i f i c a t i o n i n
Kuwait, the ministry could positively consider their
case,” added Puthukulangara.
Around 400 of the nurses are from India, while
the rest are from the Philippines and Egypt.
Around 240 of them are currently accommodated
i n t h e i r c o m p a n y ’s h o s t e l i n M a h b o u l a .
Compounding their problems, they have been
asked to vacate by Nov 20.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
ANALYSIS
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Issues
Egypt jihadists
seek reinforcements
with IS allegiance
By Ammanuel Giroud
U
nder increasing pressure from the military,
Egypt’s deadliest jihadist group pledged
allegiance to the Islamic State organisation
in a bid to boost recruitment and bolster its fight
against the army, analysts say. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis
(Partisans of Jerusalem) has waged an insurgency
from its Sinai Peninsula stronghold that has killed
scores of Egyptian police and soldiers since the
army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last
year. In response, the army has launched a huge
operation in Sinai targeting jihadists and last
month began building a buffer zone on the border
with Gaza to stem the flow of militants and
weapons from the strip.
The military announces the arrest or killing of
alleged militants in Sinai on a near-daily basis, in
claims which are not independently verified.
“(Ansar Beit al-Maqdis) seems to be looking to
internationalise their position, perhaps in response
to increasing pressure on the ground from the
Egyptian security forces,” said Hisham Hellyer, senior fellow in International Security Studies at the
Royal United Services Institute in London.
The group’s announcement is the most significant show of support for IS in the region outside
Iraq and Syria, suggesting its influence now rivals
that of its once-dominant Al-Qaeda rivals. “They
(Ansar Beit al-Maqdis) are suffering from lack of
resources as Egyptian security forces besiege Sinai,”
said Eman Ragab, an expert on regional security at
the Cairo-based Ahram Centre for Political and
Strategic Studies. “Pledging allegiance to IS would
help gain the sympathy of youths who could be
recruited from other groups, or help get logistical
support from IS itself.”
Recruitment Drive
Unlike its jihadist rivals, the Islamic State group
has a straightforward message that is also a selling
point for Ansar Beit al-Maqdis recruiters, according
to a Cairo-based expert on terrorism in the Middle
East speaking on condition of anonymity. “Its message is much more simple than Al-Qaeda and is
aimed at the masses who have limited knowledge
of religion, and they get influenced by calls to kill
Americans, Shiites or others.” Ismail Al-Iskandrani, a
researcher at the Paris-based Arab Reform Initiative,
agrees that the new allegiance will help recruit
fighters to Ansar Beit al-Maqdis. “Pledging allegiance in itself is an attempt to recruit IS supporters
and sympathisers... especially since Ansar Beit alMaqdis has suffered losses in recent operations,” he
said. “They are attempting to create a sanctuary for
young jihadists who want to join IS in Egypt.”
But unlike IS, which claims to want to establish a
“caliphate” across the region, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis
harbours more local ambitions, targeting mainly
Egyptian soldiers and policemen. The group has so
far focused its attacks on security forces, and once
bombed a tourist bus on the border with Israel,
killing three South Koreans. It has also urged
Egyptians to fight Morsi’s ouster.
IS Threat Rises
Iskandrani said the “real concern” was that Ansar
Beit al-Maqdis could target supporters of the
Egyptian army “like Christians or embassies of
countries participating in the coalition against IS”.
The new allegiance “makes the threat (of IS) even
more obvious,” said Karim Bittar, research director at
Paris’s Institute of International and Strategic
Relations. “Its ability to strike Middle Eastern or
international targets is also multiplying,” Bittar said.
“There is a ripple effect and as long as Daesh
momentum is unstopped, many will want to join
the bandwagon,” he said, referring to IS’s Arabic
acronym. —AFP
All articles appearing on these
pages are the personal opinion of
the writers. Kuwait Times takes no
responsibility for views expressed
therein. Kuwait Times invites readers to voice their opinions. Please
send submissions via email to: [email protected] or via snail
mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait.
The editor reserves the right to edit
any submission as necessary.
US agencies struggle vs cyberattacks
By Martha Mendoza
A
$10 billion-a-year effort to protect
sensitive government data, from military secrets to Social Security numbers, is struggling to keep pace with an
increasing number of cyberattacks and is
unwittingly being undermined by federal
employees and contractors. Workers scattered across more than a dozen agencies,
from the Defense and Education departments to the National Weather Service, are
responsible for at least half of the federal
cyberincidents reported each year since
2010, according to an AP analysis of records.
They have clicked links in bogus phishing
emails, opened malware-laden websites and
been tricked by scammers into sharing information. One was redirected to a hostile site
after connecting to a video of tennis star
Serena Williams. A few act intentionally, most
famously former National Security Agency
contractor Edward Snowden, who downloaded and leaked documents revealing the
government’s collection of phone and email
records. Then there was the contract worker
who lost equipment containing the confidential information of millions of Americans,
including Robert Curtis, of Monument,
Colorado.
“I was angry, because we as citizens trust
the government to act on our behalf,” he
said. Curtis, according to court records, was
besieged by identity thieves after someone
stole data tapes that the contractor left in a
car, exposing the health records of about 5
million current and former Pentagon
employees and their families. At a time when
intelligence officials say cybersecurity
trumps terrorism as the No. 1 threat to the
US - and when breaches at businesses such
as Home Depot and Target focus attention
on data security - the federal government
isn’t required to publicize its own data losses.
Yesterday, the US Postal Service said it
was the victim of a cyberattack and that
information about its employees, including
Social Security numbers, may have been
compromised. And last month, a breach of
unclassified White House computers by
hackers thought to be working for Russia
was reported not by officials but The
Washington Post. Congressional Republicans
complained even they weren’t alerted to the
hack.
To determine the extent of federal cyberincidents, the AP filed dozens of Freedom of
Information Act requests, interviewed hackers, cybersecurity experts and government
officials, and obtained documents describing
digital cracks in the system. That review
shows that 40 years and more than $100 billion after the first federal data protection law
was enacted, the government is struggling
to close holes without the knowledge, staff
or systems to outwit an ever-evolving foe.
Breaches
Fears about breaches have been around
since the late 1960s, when the federal government began shifting its operations onto
computers. Officials responded with software
designed to sniff out malicious programs and
raise alarms about intruders. And yet, attackers have always found a way in, exposing tens
of millions of sensitive and private records
that include employee usernames and passwords and veterans’ medical files.
From 2009 to 2013, the number of reported breaches just on federal computer networks - the .gov and .mils - rose from 26,942
to 46,605, according to the US Computer
Emergency Readiness Team. Last year, USCERT responded to a total of 228,700 cyberincidents involving federal agencies, companies that run critical infrastructure and contract partners. That’s more than double the
incidents in 2009.
And employees are to blame for at least
half of the problems. Last year, for example,
about 21 percent of all federal breaches were
traced to government workers who violated
policies; 16 percent who lost devices or had
them stolen; 12 percent who improperly
handled sensitive information printed from
computers; at least 8 percent who ran or
installed malicious software; and 6 percent
who were enticed to share private information, according to an annual White House
review.
Documents released to the AP show how
workers were lured in. In one incident
around Christmas 2011, Education
Department employees received an email
purportedly from Amazon.com that asked
them to click on a link. Officials quickly
warned staff that it could be malicious. The
department did not release information to
the AP about any resulting damage. Reports
from the Defense Department’s Defense
Security Service, tasked with protecting classified information and technologies in the
hands of federal contractors, show how easy
it is for hackers to get into DOD networks.
One military user received messages that his
computer was infected when he visited a
website about schools. Officials tracked the
attacker to what appeared to be a Germanybased server.
Vulnerable
“No matter what we do with the technology ... we’ll always be vulnerable to the
phishing attack and ... human-factor attacks
unless we educate the overall workforce,”
said Eric Rosenbach, Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Homeland Defense and Global
Security. Although the government is projected to spend $65 billion on cybersecurity
contracts between 2015 and 2020, many
experts believe the effort is not enough to
counter a growing pool of hackers whose
motives vary. Russia, Iran and China have
been named as suspects in some attacks,
while thieves seek out other valuable data.
Only a small fraction of attackers are caught.
For every thief or hostile state, there are
tens of thousands of victims like Robert
Curtis. He declined to talk about specifics of
his case. According to court records, a thief in
Sept 2011 broke into a car in a San Antonio
garage and stole unencrypted computer
tapes containing the Pentagon workers’
information. The car belonged to an employee of a federal contractor tasked with securing those records. Criminals have tried to get
cash, loans, credit - even establish businesses
- in Curtis’ name, according to court records.
He and his wife have frozen bank and credit
accounts. A lawsuit brought by victims was
dismissed. “It is very ironic,” said Curtis, himself a cybersecurity expert who worked to
provide secure networks at the Pentagon. “I
was the person who had paper shredders in
my house. I was a consummate data protection guy.” —AP
Escaping wealth gap means fleeing hometowns
By Tammy Webber
T
his Illinois city already was struggling when Tara
Holycross and her friends were kids riding their bikes to
Custard Cup, swimming at the park district pool and
hanging out in the Wendy’s parking lot. Manufacturers that provided thousands of well-paying, middle class jobs - General
Motors, General Electric, Hyster - were closing. Neighborhoods
were crumbling. By the time Holycross graduated from high
school in 2004, a city best known for its massive downtown
grain elevator and as the hometown of actors Dick and Jerry
Van Dyke was scrambling to create new opportunities.
Ten years later, this city of 32,500 still is struggling. But
Holycross and some of her classmates are doing just fine because they moved. They’re doctors and athletic trainers, software specialists and financial advisers. They’re living all over the
country - from Chicago to Charleston, South Carolina, to
Boulder, Colorado - where they found solid jobs that reward the
kind of education they have. Though still early in their careers,
they’ve surpassed Danville’s median household income of
$35,000 and expect to do much better. Holycross and four classmates interviewed said about half of their class of fewer than 50
left town, and those they’re in touch with landed good positions.
“I knew there wasn’t an opportunity for me to have my
career” in Danville, said Holycross, 28, a third-generation native
who now works as an athletic trainer for a hospital system in
Beloit, Wisconsin, about 90 miles northwest of Chicago. Their
experience is a counterpoint to the desperation gripping so
many rural and manufacturing communities in the Midwest
that have been hard hit by global economic changes. The flow
of educated workers from struggling communities to areas with
brighter job opportunities might, to some extent, help shore up
the US middle class, which has been squeezed by a widening
gap between the richest Americans and everyone else.
Since roughly 1980, income has grown most for the top
earners and dropped for the poorest 20 percent. Incomes for
the highest-earning 1 percent of Americans soared 31 percent
from 2009 through 2012, after adjusting for inflation, according
to data compiled by Emmanuel Saez, an economist at
University of California, Berkeley. For everyone else, it barely
budged, rising an average of 0.4 percent.
While Wall Street traders and software CEOs soared to enormous affluence, waves of people fell out of the middle class as
manufacturing’s share of the economy shrank. Following the
downside arc of the wealth gap was inevitable for many who
stayed in stricken factory towns where jobs disappeared. For
others, though, escaping meant separating their own fate from
that of their hometowns.
Mobility
Between 2012 and 2013, more than 26.7 million people
age 18 and over moved - 17.3 million of them to a different
county. Those in their 20s and 30s with a college degree were
most likely to move for job reasons and to move the farthest.
In that period, people poured out of declining cities like
Detroit, whose population dropped by almost 10,000, and
into economic hotspots like San Antonio, which grew by
25,378, according to census data. The trend of more-educated
people moving and less-educated staying began to emerge
several years ago. A Census Bureau study found that more
than half of highly educated workers who moved between
2005 and 2010 left their counties. By contrast, 70 percent of
people without high school diplomas who moved did so within the same county.
Decades ago, many unskilled workers were able to migrate
to capitalize on better conditions elsewhere, as when field
workers moved from the South to the Midwest for factory jobs
after World War II. But good blue-collar jobs are now harder to
find anywhere - one factor that may help explain why mobility
overall has been declining for several decades and why it
dropped sharply during the recession. “If we pushed someone
who’s stayed in Detroit to suddenly hit the road and move to
Chicago, would that person suddenly do better? Or has that
person stayed behind exactly because he or she can’t find a
good-paying job in Chicago?” said Danny Yagan, a University
of California economist who studies mobility.
There’s no comprehensive data contrasting the financial
fortunes of those who have stayed in place and those who
have left. But the partial glimpses available are revealing. A
survey of nearly 3,000 2012 graduates of 15 public universities
in Michigan - a state especially afflicted by manufacturing’s
decline - found that 37 percent were living in another state a
year later. That was down from 49 percent in a similar 2007
survey. But those who did move were far more likely to have a
full-time job: 86 percent compared with 68 percent of those
who stayed put. And they tended to earn significantly more.
Those who moved from Michigan to Illinois upgraded from
a state median income below $47,000 to one over $55,000 in
2012. Research indicates that people who moved to places
with stronger economies often do about as well as the workers already there. Less clear is whether such a move translates
into more overall wealth or a better lifestyle. “There’s a lot
more to learn,” Yagan said.
Living Costs
Differences in living costs can make moving chancy. But
they aren’t always a negative factor. People who left California
during the recession for bustling San Antonio, riding an oil
boom and technology expansion, often accepted pay decreases but were better off overall because of Texas’ lower costs, said
Asa Sphar, managing partner of the CSI Executive Search firm.
The median value of a home in California is nearly $384,000; in
Texas, it’s $128,000.
In Danville’s case, the low cost of living wasn’t enough reason for many to stay. Holyfield said she and her husband, an
electrician who grew up near Danville, found better job
prospects around the Chicago exurbs and hope to buy a house
soon. Also, “there is just way more to do up here - whether it’s
concerts or restaurants or shopping,” Holyfield said. Danville’s
population has dipped by about 1,000 residents in the past 20
years. Whatever influx it has had has come mainly from lowerincome people seeking cheap housing. The poverty rate has
reached 29 percent, compared with 18.1 percent in 2000.
Warehousing and distribution centers have replaced some
of the manufacturing jobs. Local businesses are funding scholarships for students who agree to stay home after graduation.
But vacant and dilapidated homes scar big chunks of neighborhoods, the historic downtown still has scores of vacant buildings and unemployment is almost 10 percent. City officials are
hoping legislators allow the city to build a casino to bring in
more jobs. “It’s taken a long time to stabilize, and it will take
years before we start moving in the next direction,” said Mayor
Scott Eisenhauer.
The situation is much the same in Flint, Michigan, where
about 80,000 once worked in GM factories, but where the population has dropped from 200,000 to below 100,000 since most
of those jobs dried up. Mayor Dayne Walling said his town’s
master plan now includes razing entire neighborhoods.
Struggling towns are emphasizing college and trade school to
many young people, hoping that a higher-quality workforce will
attract employers yet also aware that education makes it easier
for young people to leave. For Stephanie Shinn Gaydos, a 2004
high school graduate from Danville who now practices medicine in Charleston, South Carolina, moving back to Danville isn’t
an option. “That’s a shame because I’m close to my family,” she
said, “but I am so happy with the opportunities (in Charleston).
It doesn’t really compare.” —AP
p15_Layout 1 11/10/14 10:11 PM Page 1
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
S P ORTS
Pakistan gears up for
women’s tournament
Benaud fighting skin cancer
SYDNEY: Legendary cricket commentator Richie Benaud revealed yesterday he is
battling skin cancer and is undergoing radiation therapy, but said he was coping
well. The 84-year-old former Australian captain made his illness public at the Nine
Network’s launch for its Australian summer cricket coverage, saying he was
receiving treatment for skin cancers on his forehead and the top of his head. “I’m
coping with it very well-the doctors are pleased,” he said. “I’m going along slowly.
The cancers need to be treated.” Benaud, a much-loved figure in Australian cricket, urged people to take precautions to protect themselves
from the sun. “I recommend to everyone they wear protection on their heads,” he said. “Eighty-four-year olds don’t
seem to mend as well as they used to. “When I was a kid,
we never ever wore a cap. I wish I had. You live and learn
as you go along,” he added. Benaud attended the Nine
Network launch at the Sydney Cricket Ground with its
broadcast team, including former cricketers Bill Lawry,
Ian Chappell, Mark Nicholas, Brett Lee and Shane Warne.
Benaud, who has worked in the commentary box since
retiring from Test cricket in 1964, has been out of action
since suffering chest and shoulder injuries during a car
crash in Sydney late last year.—AFP
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan hosts the third South Asian women’s football championship this week, with organisers promising tight security after a recent spate
of terror attacks. The third edition of South Asian Football Federation (SAFF),
featuring eight teams including Pakistan’s arch-rivals India and neighbour
Afghanistan, will run in Islamabad from November 11-20, the first time a highprofile regional women’s event has been held in Pakistan.
The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) promised tight security for the
teams, after a suicide attack at a border post with India last week killed nearly
60 people. The blast at Wagah had raised doubts over the tournament but PFF
secretary Ahmed Yar Lodhi said the event will go ahead. “We have high level
security in place and hope that the event will remove all doubts over our hosting a top event like this,” Lodhi told reporters. Two time champions India are
expected to arrive early today while Afghanistan team arrived on Sunday. The
Afghanistan Football Federation said their team includes nine players from
Iran, United States and Europe. Afghanistan managed to draw one of their
three games, losing the other two, in the inaugural event held in Bangladesh in
2010. They reached the semi-final in the second edition held in Sri Lanka in
2012 but were thrashed 11-0 by champions India.—AFP
Oscar extends Chelsea stay
LONDON: Brazilian international Oscar has signed a new five-year contract
with Chelsea that will keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2019, the English
Premier League leaders announced yesterday.
The 23-year-old attacking midfielder joined the London club from
Internacional in 2012 and has since scored 27 goals in 126 appearances,
including 92 starts, for the Blues. “I am so happy because I love playing for
Chelsea and living in England,” Oscar told the club’s website. “I have enjoyed
playing here for two years, and now I have five
more, so I am very happy.”
Signed originally for a fee of close to £20
million ($32 million, 25.5 million euros) when
Roberto di Matteo was Chelsea manager, Oscar
has become an increasingly influential figure
since Jose Mourinho returned for his second
spell in charge at Stamford Bridge. Indeed, the
Portuguese boss’s decision to deploy Oscar in the
number 10 role was widely regarded as a major factor in Juan Mata’s decision to leave Chelsea for
Manchester United.—AFP
ABK main sponsor at Al Arabi vs
Egypt’s Al Ahli Football Match
KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait is
delighted to sponsor the football match
between Kuwait’s Al Arabi team and
Egypt’s Al Ahli, taking place on the 12th
of November at Sabah Al Salem
Stadium.
Prior to the game a press conference
was held, attended by Othman Al
Tawfiqi, AGM, Retail Banking and Ali Al
Sammak, Senior Manager, Ser vice
Quality at ABK.
At the press conference, Othman Al
Tawfiqi said, “Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait has
the pleasure to participate as the main
sponsor of the much awaited match
between Kuwait’s Al Arabi and Egypt’s Al
Ahli teams. The sponsorship is signifi-
cant in light of the importance and
viewership the two teams command, at
local, regional and international levels.
Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait is reputed to support youth initiatives and sporting
events in particular, in a bid to encourage sportsmanship and healthy competition amongst the young enthusiasts.”
Ali Al Sammak stated that Al Ahli
Bank of Kuwait is considered the Main
Sponsor of the Al Arabi football team,
for the current and past seasons and
“ABK was encouraged to sponsor this
big sports event, owing to the history of
both clubs in achieving championships,
as well as the huge fan base enjoyed by
both teams”.
AVONDALE: Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, speaks to the media after failing to advance to race for the championship in the
season finale after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday in Avondale,
Arizona. — AFP
Rosberg needs help from
friends in finale
SAO PAULO: Nico Rosberg may need some
help from his friends, but he is utterly convinced he can win the season-ending “double jeopardy” Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and
claim the drivers’ world title.
After ending championship leader and
Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s run
of five straight wins, the 29-year-old
German shrugged aside concerns over the
much-criticised and controversial introduction of double points at the finale. “I
find it artificial and I don’t like it in general,”
said Rosberg. “Of course, it’s great for me at
the moment, but you know that’s just
because of the situation....
“ There are other sports which have
tried the same sort of thing, like Nascar,
and they’ve done this very successfully. We
need to keep on reviewing it. It’s good to
try something and we’ll see how it goes
this year.”
Rosberg’s cheery demeanour under
pressure and his flawless concentration on
keeping his title dream alive, earned him
much respect as he won Sunday’s Brazilian
Grand Prix ahead of Hamilton, but it has
also left the sport facing another dilemma.
Just as Formula One’s veteran commercial
ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone, 84, struggles
to control a potential financial crisis, with
three more teams threatened by collapse
following the demise of Caterham and
Marussia, the Abu Dhabi showdown presents a stark contrast.
Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff, who
has toiled all season to control his embattled drivers as their scrap for glory became
increasingly fraught and sometimes acrimonious, said the wrong kind of result
would leave Formula One under a dark
cloud.
Big shadow
“Hopefully double points will not make
a difference,” said Wolff, fearing that the
exaggerated ruling at one race could
decide the title. “It would put a big shadow
over the championship if it was turned by
a technical issue.”
After Sunday’s race, in which Rosberg
resisted Hamilton’s pressure for 71 laps, the
Briton holds a 17-point lead, having won
compared to Rosberg’s five. Wolff, however, believes that whatever the outcome,
the man with most points will deserve to
take the title. “Whoever has most points at
the end the season is the worthy champion,” he said. “Even though if it really comes
down to that situation, some of us might
have a different feeling about it, it is what
it is.
“Whoever wins the championship is
going to have his name in the record
books and that’s it.”
Given that the Mercedes pair delivered
a record 11th one-two finish on Sunday,
another win is in prospect. If it is for
Hamilton, he will take the title, whatever
Rosberg does - but if Rosberg wins,
Hamilton must finish second to be champion.
If the race was being run under “normal”
points-scoring, Hamilton could finish as
low as sixth and take the title. Wolff said he
hoped the system, introduced by
Ecclestone, would be dropped next year.
“Nobody likes the double points,” he
said. “We are going to discuss it next time
around. I don’t think Bernie likes it, so it is
probably something we should be getting
rid of for next season.”
Rosberg, whose father Keke Rosberg
took the title in 1982 after winning only
one race in the season, said: “We now have
a great finale to look forward to in Abu
Dhabi and I’m still believing 100 per cent I
can make it.
“But, I know, of course, that I will need
some help from Felipe (Massa) or Valtteri
(Bottas) or maybe Lewis himself.....” — AFP
Gordon leaves the
desert disappointed
AVONDALE: Jeff Gordon’s bid for a fifth
NASCAR Sprint Cup championship was wrecked
twice. The first, in Texas last week, involved him
directly and led to a melee with Brad Keselowski.
The second, at Phoenix on Sunday, came in the
pack behind him, and turned out to be just as
devastating for one of NASCAR’s most popular
drivers.
Racing for a spot in the season finale next
week at Homestead, Gordon had his hopes
dashed when Ryan Newman knocked Ryan
Larson into the wall on a last-lap pass.Gordon
finished second to race winner Kevin Harvick,
but came up a point short of the playoff race
because of Newman’s last-gasp move.
“We come home second and I just was hoping that it was going to be enough,” Gordon said.
“When you hear those words that it wasn’t, it’s
disappointing.” Gordon was in solid position in
NASCAR’s new knockout playoff system after finishing second at Martinsville two weeks ago.
Still, he was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t
overtake Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for a victory that
would have earned an automatic berth into the
finale.
Gordon was in position for that automatic
berth last week at Texas, racing for the lead on a
late restart. His chances ended when Keselowski
tried to squeeze between him and Jimmie
Johnson, creating contact that sent Gordon
spinning into the wall with a flat tire.Gordon finished 29th and confronted Keselowski in the
pits, leading to a melee between their two
teams and Harvick.
Victories
Gordon left Texas bloodied - as did
Keselowski - but still had a shot at the finale,
heading to Phoenix fourth in playoff points. He
had a good weekend in the desert, too, qualifying seventh and racing near the front throughout Sunday’s race.
Running second, Gordon had the final playoff
in his grasp when Larson passed Newman with
12 laps left. His luck changed on the last lap,
when Newman gave Larson a nudge into the
wall and raced past him to finish 11th.
That gave Newman 4,103 points, one ahead
of Gordon and Harvick, who earned the automatic spot in the finale by winning the race.
“It makes last week that much even tougher
to swallow, but that’s all right, we put in a great
effort at Martinsville, great effort here and it just
wasn’t enough,” Gordon said.
It was a disappointing finish to what was one
of Gordon’s best seasons. The 43-year-old
Hendrick Motorsports driver won four times,
including at Dover during the Chase - for his
most victories since he had six in 2007. Gordon
also finished in the top 10 in 22 of his 35 starts,
including 14 top-fives, proving he’s still one of
Sprint Cup’s top drivers after 23 years of racing.
And Gordon has done it by continuing to be
one of NASCAR’s most conscientious drivers.
Yes, he will race people hard, occasionally
bump someone out of the way if it means a
chance to win. But Gordon also will own up to
his misdeeds, something he felt Keselowski
didn’t do last week, which led to the confrontation.
A week later, another wreck knocked Gordon
out of the Chase, a fact that wasn’t lost on him. “I
hope we taught people that you can race clean
and still give it your best, that you don’t have to
wreck people to make it in the Chase,” he said,
adding this about the season finale: “If it was
that ugly the past few weeks, it’s going to be real
ugly next week.” — AP
Group picture before the friendly match.
Torino defeat KHSC in
handicapped basketball tourney
By Abdellatif Sharaa
SAO PAULO: Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg of Germany, flanked by his
teammate Lewis Hamilton (L) and Brazil’s Williams’ driver Felipe Massa, celebrates on
the podium after winning the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos
racetrack in Sao Paulo Brazil on Sunday. — AFP
KUWAIT: Torino handicapped basketball team defeated Kuwait
Handicapped Sports Club counterpart with the score of 65-43 during
the friendly match that was held in
preparation for the third international forum to start today in Kuwait, at
the invitation of KHSC.
The match was competitive and
exciting from the start, but Torino
was able to take control at the end
and won.
KHSC President Shafi Al-Hajiri
expressed pleasure at holding the
forum here in Kuwait, and lauded the
good spirit expressed by athletes on
wheel chairs, adding that Torino is
one of Italy’s outstanding teams. AlHajiri thanked all who contributed to
the success of the Third International
Forum, particularly the Public
Authority for Youth and Sports and
Kuwait Basketball Association.
Table tennis team members.
p16_Layout 1 11/10/14 10:13 PM Page 1
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
S P ORTS
Mallya says Force
India will race on
SAO PAULO: Force India co-owner Vijay
Mallya has rejected speculation about
his Formula One team’s finances, saying
they will be racing for years to come.
Speaking at the Brazilian Grand Prix,
where only nine teams competed on
Sunday, Mallya said Force India would
not be following Marussia and Caterham
onto the sporting scrapheap.
“All this speculation I think needs to
stop,” the liquor baron told Reuters. “It’s
not doing anybody any good...the bottom line is we’re OK.” Mallya said the
team’s 2015 car was almost ready. Asked
whether Force India would be definitely
racing in 2015 and beyond, he replied:
“Of course. Absolutely.”
Since last month’s Russian Grand Prix,
Marussia have folded and Caterham
gone into administration.
Force India, Lotus and Sauber, whose
finances have also caused concern, want
a more equal distribution of the sport’s
revenues but their request for a ‘base
payment’ appeared to have fallen on
deaf ears in Brazil.
Commercial supremo Bernie
Ecclestone told reporters on Sunday that
the teams as a whole shared $900 million in revenues and ruled out extra payments.
However, Mallya said Ecclestone had
told him he was meeting Donald
Mackenzie, co-chairman of rights holders CVC, to discuss the matter on
Tuesday. “If I don’t hear by the end of the
week I’ll send him a gentle reminder,” he
added.
Force India is co-owned by Mallya
and the Sahara Group run by Subrata
Roy, one of India’s best known tycoons,
who is in a Delhi jail over the conglomerate’s failure to refund billions of dollars
raised in outlawed bonds.
“Sahara is by no means financially
weak or bankrupt,” said Mallya. “On the
contrary Sahara has a huge amount of
financial resources. It is just that they
have been asked to refund money to
investors and there’s a dispute there.”
Mallya also has troubles of his own,
with United Bank of India in September
declaring him and his grounded carrier
Kingfisher Airlines “wilful defaulters”,
although a court has halted execution of
the decision.
Debt-laden Kingfisher has not flown
for two years for want of cash. A report
in Britain’s Sunday Telegraph said Force
India had reported a net annual loss of
38.5 million pounds ($61.21 million) to
Dec. 31, 2013. That was up from a previous 33.4 million. The team are currently
sixth in the championship. — Reuters
Kuwait wins two gold
in Asian Clay Target
Shooting tournament
By Abdellatif Sharaa
KUWAIT: Two gold medals and one silver
were won by Kuwait skeet shooters on
the final day of the Fourth Asian Clay
Target Shooting Tournament in Al-Ain,
UAE.
Head of Kuwait team, Secretary
General of Arab and Kuwait Shooting
Federations Obaid Al-Osaimi expressed
satisfaction at the results the Kuwait
shooters obtained in the skeet event as
the team of Zaid Al-Mutairi, Saud Habib
and Mansour Al-Rashidi won the gold
medal with the score of 287-375, while
Abdelaziz Al-Saad won first place in the
junior event with the score of 118-125,
while Zaid Dakhil Al-Mutairi won the
men’s silver.
Al-Osaimi said the event witnessed
fierce competition as UAE men’s team
took second place with 285 and the
Kazakh team took third with 282-375.
In the junior event Indian shooter
Ananth Singh was second with a score of
114, and his compatriot Karam Singh was
third with 113-125.
The tally of Kuwait medals in the
championship now stands at four gold,
two silver and two bronze.
Al-Osaimi thanked chairman and
board members of Kuwait Shooting Club
for their support and congratulated
them for the achievements they made.
Al-Osaimi dedicated the achievements to HH the Amir, HH the Crown
Prince, HH the Prime Minister and Kuwait
people.
Al-Osaimi thanked President of the
Asian Shooting Confederation, Vice-president of International Shooting
Federation, Honorary President of Kuwait
Shooting Sport Federation Sheikh
Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud AlSabah for his efforts and encouragement
of the shooters.
Kuwait skeet team with their medals.
Peyron wins
transatlantic
Route du Rhum
POINTE-A-PITRE: Frenchman Loick
Peyron won the single -handed
transatlantic Route du Rhum race in
a record time yesterday cementing
his reputation as one of his country’s
best ever yachtsmen. Peyron who
stepped in at the last minute to take
control of the trimaran Banque
Populaire VII and at one stage considered abandoning, dominated the
race, aided in his quest when rival
Thomas Coville crashed into a
freighter soon after the competition
began in France.
He set a new record for the journey of 3,542 nautical miles (6,560
k m), crossing the finish line off
Guadeloupe in seven days, 15 hours
and eight minutes, more than two
hours faster than the previous mark
set by Lionel Lemonchois in
2006.Peyron, three time winner of
the British single-handed transatlantic race, stepped in to skipper
Banque Populair VII six weeks ahead
of the Route du Rhum after Armel Le
Cleac’h injured himself. He has taken
part six times before but never won.
Confronting heavy seas throughout the race, Peyron revealed he
contemplated abandoning the race
at one point. “The last day was especially difficult,” Peyron said. “I was
really afraid all the time and at one
point the trimaran almost turned
over after I fell asleep at the helm.”
He had also thought about making a stopover in Madeira for repairs
after spotting a crack developing in
one of the hulls of his trimaran.
But he quickly sent photos of the
damage to the team’s spor ting
director Ronan Lucas, as well as the
designers of the massive 31.5m trimaran, and perservered after being
reassured here was no structural
damage.The problem was due to the
bad weather over the first two days
of the race, he said. “I was shaken
about like never before in this boat.”
Asked if it was safe to sail across
the Atlantic in a 30-metre multi-hull
yacht, Peyron snapped: “Yes,” and
insisted the boat was an ideal size
for the race. “But I don’t like it when
people ask me ‘is it safe?’”
Peyron, 54, took the lead just six
hours out of the French port of Saint
Malo on November 2, after a fierce
storm took out Coville and several
others. Former Olympic pole vault
champion Jean Galfione was also
among those who crashed out of
the race from St Malo in western
France to Guadeloupe, which is held
every four years.
He managed to stay ahead of the
91-strong field all the way through
to the finish line. The renowned
French sailor came third in the last
Route du Rhum in 2010. — AFP
NEW ORLEANS: New Orleans Saints center Jonathan Goodwin (55) and San Francisco 49ers defensive end Justin Smith (94) dive for a Drew
Brees fumble in overtime of an NFL football game in New Orleans, Sunday. The 49ers recovered the fumble on the way to 27-24 win. — AP
49ers edge Saints in OT,
Cardinals lose quarterback
NEW ORLEANS: Colin Kaepernick completed a
51-yard pass on fourth down to sustain a tying
drive, Ahmad Brooks sacked and stripped Drew
Brees in overtime, and Phil Dawson kicked a 35yard field goal to cap San Francisco’s stirring 2724 victory over New Orleans on Sunday.
The victory snapped a two-game skid for the
Niners (5-4) and marked the first home loss for
the Saints (4-5) in more than a season.
The Saints had won their past 11 at home
overall, and the past 20 at home including the
playoffs, when coached by Sean Payton, who
was suspended in 2012.
Brooks’ decisive blow on a sack of Brees had
to feel like poetic justice to the Niners linebacker. His unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on
a vicious sack and strip in the Superdome a year
ago allowed the Saints to pull out a late comeback victory in these teams’ previous meeting.
Brees was intercepted twice, but also passed
for three scores, the last to Jimmy Graham to
give the Saints a 24-21 lead with 1:52 left in regulation. Graham also caught a desperation pass
in the end zone at the end of regulation, but was
called for offensive interference.
Broncos 41, Raiders 17
Peyton Manning threw five touchdown passes in less than 17 minutes and the Broncos handed the Raiders their 15th straight loss. Manning
threw a pair of early interceptions that put
Denver (7-2) in a hole against the NFL’s only winless team. That all changed with a short pass
that C.J. Anderson turned into a spectacular 51yard catch and run. The touchdowns didn’t stop
until Manning’s day was done after three quarters. Manning added two TD passes to Julius
Thomas and two more to Emmanuel Sanders as
the Broncos rebounded from last week’s loss at
New England by beating up on the Raiders (0-9).
Manning went 31 for 44 for 340 yards. He
extended his record with at least two touchdown passes in 15 straight games and his streak
of 48 games with at least one TD pass is third
longest, breaking a tie with Johnny Unitas.
There was almost nothing positive from the
Raiders in their first blowout loss since interim
coach Tony Sparano replaced the fired Dennis
Allen after four games.
Cardinals 31, Rams 14
The Cardinals put together another dominant
fourth quarter, but the victory was dampened
by an injury to quarterback Carson Palmer.
Palmer went down in the final period, then
backup Drew Stanton and the Arizona defense
rallied the Cardinals with three touchdowns over
a span of 3 minutes, 48 seconds.
Rookie John Brown’s diving grab of Stanton’s
48-yard touchdown pass put the Cardinals (8-1)
up 17-14 with 7:40 to play. The pass came on the
first series after Palmer hurt his left knee while
trying to avoid the rush. Palmer was able to walk
off the field but a short time later was taken to
the locker room on a cart. Patrick Peterson got
his first two interceptions of the season, returning the second 30 yards for a touchdown to
make it 24-14. Moments later, Austin Davis fumbled and Antonio Cromartie returned it 14 yards
for a score as Arizona outscored the Rams 21-0
in the fourth quarter. St. Louis (3-6) was shut out
in the second half. At 8-1, the Cardinals have the
best record in the NFL and their best after nine
games since going 11-1 as the Chicago Cardinals
in 1948.
Packers 55, Bears 14
Aaron Rodgers threw six touchdown passes
to tie the Green Bay game record and match the
NFL record for a half.
Rodgers was 18 of 27 for 315 yards, throwing
scoring passes of 73 and 40 yards to Jordy
Nelson. The Packers led by four touchdowns early in the second quarter, and Rodgers watched
most of the second half from the sideline.
The 190th meeting of the NFL’s oldest rivalry
quickly turned into a blowout. The 55 points tied
a Packers record at Lambeau Field.
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler had another
night to forget in Green Bay. He threw two interceptions, giving him 12 in four games in
Titletown. The Bears have lost five of their last
six. They’ve given up at least 51 points in two
consecutive games.
Seahawks 38, Giants 17
Marshawn Lynch rushed for a season-high
140 yards and career-best four touchdowns.
Russell Wilson threw two interceptions, the
Seahawks committed three total turnovers, and
Eli Manning picked apart Seattle’s secondary for
the first half. It all didn’t matter because of Lynch
leading Seattle’s unstoppable run game.
The 350 total yards rushing by Seattle (6-3)
were a franchise record and the most by any NFL
team since Kansas City had 352 in 2012.
Lynch carried 21 times, but there was plenty
of running to go around. Wilson added 107
yards on 14 carries and a 1-yard TD run with 5:19
left. Most of Wilson’s runs were designed as New
York (3-6) failed to keep contain.
Jets 20, Steelers 13
Michael Vick threw two touchdown passes
and the Jets forced four turnovers while shutting
down Ben Roethlisberger to end an eight-game
losing streak. Roethlisberger threw six touchdown passes in each of his last two games, and
was playing in front of a MetLife Stadium crowd
that appeared nearly half-filled with Terrible
Towel-waving Steelers fans. But the Jets (2-8)
wouldn’t allow Roethlisberger to get into much
of a rhythm.
Roethlisberger finished 30 of 43 for 343 yards
and connected with Martavis Bryant for an 80yard TD with 1:16 left. The Steelers (6-4) attempted an onside kick, but Eric Decker recovered to
seal it for the Jets - who avoided setting a franchise mark for consecutive losses.
Jaiquawn Jarrett had two interceptions, a
sack and a fumble recovery for the Jets, who
hadn’t won since beating Oakland in Week 1.
Vick, who became the first quarterback in
NFL history to run for 6,000 career yards, threw
touchdown passes to T.J. Graham and Jace
Amaro. Vick was 10 of 18 for 132 yards and ran
eight times for 39 yards.
Lions 20, Dolphins 16
Matthew Stafford led Detroit to another
thrilling victory in the final minutes, throwing an
11-yard touchdown pass to Theo Riddick with 29
seconds remaining.
Calvin Johnson had seven catches for 113
yards and a touchdown in his first game back
from an ankle injury, and the Lions (7-2) won
their fourth straight game. Their past three victories have been by a combined six points, all with
fourth-quarter comebacks.
The Dolphins (5-4) managed one touchdown
- after they blocked a Detroit field goal attempt
and Dion Jordan returned it deep into Lions territory. Miami’s Ryan Tannehill threw for 201
yards, but it was Stafford who made the final big
play, snapping a sidearm pass to a sliding
Riddick in the back left corner of the end zone.
Chiefs 17, Bills 13
Anthony Sherman recovered a fumble to set
up Alex Smith’s 8 yard touchdown run in the
fourth quarter. Jamaal Charles also scored on a
39-yard run as the Chiefs (6-3) scored twice in
span of 4:31 to overcome a 13-3 deficit. The
Chiefs’ defense then made a stand at its 15 by
forcing Kyle Orton to throw four consecutive
incompletions and turn the ball over on downs.
Kansas City improved to 6-1 since opening
the season with two losses. Charles finished with
98 yards rushing, while Smith went 17 of 29 for
177 yards. Smith scored two plays after Sherman
punched the ball out of the hands of Bills punt
returner Leodis McKelvin and then pounced on
the loose ball at Buffalo’s 26. That wasn’t the only
Bills miscue in a game Buffalo settled for two
field goals on four trips inside the Chiefs 20.
Marcell Dareus had three of Buffalo’s six sacks.
Cowboys 31, Jaguars 17
Tony Romo returned after missing last week
because of a back injur y and helped the
Cowboys snap a two-game losing streak by
throwing three touchdown passes.
Originally hurt two weeks ago, Romo started
for Dallas (7-3) and completed 20 of 27 passes
for 246 yards against the Jaguars (1-9) at
Wembley Stadium. This was the last of three regular-season NFL games this year in the British
capital. Romo threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to
Jason Witten in the first quarter and then hit Dez
Bryant for a pair of TDs in the second, the first
from 35 yards and the second from 68. Romo finished with a season-high passer rating of 138.8.
DeMarco Murray ended up with 100 yards
rushing on 19 carries and 31 yards receiving for
Dallas. He had his record streak of eight straight
100-yard games to start a season snapped by
the Cardinals last week. Bryant gained all of his
158 yards in the second quarter, and did it by
breaking several tackles on each touchdown
catch.
Ravens 21, Titans 7
Justin Forsett ran for 112 yards and two
touchdowns to back a strong performance by
the Baltimore defense.
The Ravens (6-4) bottled up rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger, who went 16 for 27 for
179 yards and an interception in his first road
start. He was sacked five times and rarely got the
chance to comfortably plant both feet in the
pocket. Tennessee didn’t get its initial first down
of the second half until 4:37 was left in the
game. Soon after that, newcomer Danny Gorrer
intercepted a pass to clinch the victory.
The Titans (2-7) have lost seven of eight. It
was 7-7 at halftime, but Tennessee had three
three-and-outs in the third quarter while the
Ravens took control.
Falcons 27, Buccaneers 17
Matt Ryan threw for 219 yards and one touchdown, helping the Falcons stop a five-game losing streak that left the Bucs with a five-game
skid of their own. The Falcons (3-6) won for the
first time since embarrassing their NFC South
rivals 56-14 on Sept. 18, a game in which the
Bucs (1-8) lost quarterback Josh McCown to a
thumb injury. McCown returned to Tampa Bay’s
starting lineup for the first time since loss,
throwing for 301 yards and two TDs. His 1-yard
pass to Austin Seferian-Jenkins put the Bucs
ahead 17-16 early in the fourth quarter. But Ryan
drove the Falcons down the field, throwing a 5yard touchdown pass to Roddy White and a 2point conversion to Harry Douglas.
Steven Jackson scored on a 1-yard run and
Matt Bryant kicked four field goals for the
Falcons. — AP
NFL standings
Baltimore 21, Tennessee 7; Kansas City 17, Buffalo 13; Detroit 20, Miami 16; San Francisco 27, New Orleans 24 (OT);
Dallas 31, Jacksonville 17; NY Jets 20, Pittsburgh 13; Atlanta 27, Tampa Bay 17; Denver 41, Oakland 17; Arizona 31, St.
Louis 14; Seattle 38, NY Giants 17; Green Bay 55, Chicago 14.
American Football Conference
AFC East
W L T OTL
PF PA
New England 7 2 0
0
281 198
Buffalo
5 4 0
0
191 182
Miami
5 4 0
0
227 171
NY Jets
2 8 0
0
174 265
AFC North
Cleveland
6 3 0
0
209 172
Cincinnati
5 3 1
0
197 211
Pittsburgh
6 4 0
0
261 239
Baltimore
6 4 0
0
261 181
AFC South
Indianapolis
6 3 0
0
290 211
Houston
4 5 0
1
206 197
Tennessee
2 7 0
0
144 223
Jacksonville
1 9 0
0
158 282
AFC West
Denver
7 2 0
1
286 202
Kansas City
6 3 0
0
217 151
San Diego
5 4 0
0
205 186
Oakland
0 9 0
0
146 252
PCT
.778
.556
.556
.200
.667
.611
.600
.600
.667
.444
.222
.100
.778
.667
.556
0
National Football Conference
NFC East
Philadelphia
6 2 0
0
234 177
Dallas
7 3 0
1
261 212
NY Giants
3 6 0
0
195 247
Washington
3 6 0
0
197 229
NFC North
Detroit
7 2 0
0
182 142
Green Bay
6 3 0
0
277 205
Minnesota
4 5 0
0
168 199
Chicago
3 6 0
1
194 277
NFC South
New Orleans 4 5 0
2
251 225
Carolina
3 5 1
0
177 236
Atlanta
3 6 0
0
219 238
Tampa Bay
1 8 0
2
167 272
NFC West
Arizona
8 1 0
0
223 170
Seattle
6 3 0
0
240 191
San Francisco 5 4 0
0
195 202
St. Louis
3 6 0
0
163 251
.750
.700
.333
.333
.778
.667
.444
.333
.444
.389
.333
.111
.889
.667
.556
.333
p17 2_Layout 1 11/10/14 10:41 PM Page 1
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
S P ORTS
Warne backs misfiring Clarke to regain form
SYDNEY: Shane Warne yesterday said
he was concerned about Australia’s batting but backed struggling skipper
Michael Clarke to score heavily this summer season.
The spin great said the congested
home season looms as an opportunity
for Australia to win some big trophies
and regain the status of the top team in
world cricket.
Australia begin a five-game one-day
series against South Africa this week
before a four-Test series against India
and tri-series of one-dayers against India
and England this domestic season.
The World Cup then starts in Australia
and New Zealand on Februar y 14.
Warne, the second highest Test wicket
taker (708) behind Sri Lanka’s Muttiah
Muralitharan (800), said Australia had
enough match-winners to win the World
Cup, if the right team was selected.
While he likes the look of the country’s pace and spin bowling options, he
is concerned about the batting after the
poor efforts in their recent 2-0 Test series
drubbing by Pakistan in the United Arab
Emirates.
“I thought as a collective group they
didn’t bat very well against Pakistan,” he
said. “They played pretty poorly, so I’d
like to see the batsmen start making
some runs. If they do that, I’m sure the
bowlers will be able to knock them over.
“But watch out for Michael Clarke, I
think he’ll make a few big hundreds
soon.” Clarke has averaged just 27.46 in
his last 16 innings and managed just 2,
3, 47 and 5 in his four innings during
Australia’s series loss to Pakistan, but
Warne believes the captain is poised to
start another golden run.
“I think they can win the World Cup,
they’ve got enough match winners,
we’ve got the best captain in the world
in Michael Clarke,” Warne said.
“I’m sure he’ll find some form ... I think
he’s in pretty good touch. I think he’s
cleared up his mind a little bit and I think
he’ll do pretty good.” —AFP
Kohli to lead India in first
test of Australia tour
NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli will lead India in
the opening test of an upcoming fourmatch series in Australia after regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was diagnosed
with a wrist injury.
“MS Dhoni has been rested for the first
test as a prophylactic measure to ensure
optimum recovery,” the Board of Control for
Cricket in India said in a statement yesterday. “He will join the team from the second
test onwards and will lead the team for the
rest of the test series.”
The 19-man squad includes two other
wicketkeepers, Wriddhiman Saha and
Naman Ojha, but it is expected that Ojha
will return to India once Dhoni has recovered. That is likely to be for the second test.
The selection committee, which met in
Mumbai, named rookie batsman Lokesh
Rahul as the third opener, after Murali Vijay
and Shikhar Dhawan, and included leg
spinner Karn Sharma for the first time.
The 22-year-old Rahul, who toured
Australia earlier this year with the India A
side, was picked ahead of more experienced openers like Gautam Gambhir and
Virender Sehwag because of his superb
recent form.
He scored a century in each innings in
the Duleep Trophy final this month playing
for South Zone against Central Zone.
The Duleep Trophy is considered to be a
class above the national Ranji Trophy tournament because it involves the best players
from each of the five zones.
Left-hand batsman Suresh Raina was
recalled to the test squad after more than
two years while Gambhir was one of four
players dropped from the side that toured
England in July-August.
India will play test matches at Brisbane
(Dec. 4-8), Adelaide (Dec. 12-16),
Melbourne (Dec. 26-30) and Sydney (Jan. 37). The tests will be followed by a one-day
tri-series, also featuring England, before the
World Cup is co-hosted by Australia and
New Zealand from Feb. 14-Mar. 29.
Recent series for the Gavaskar-Border
trophy have been lop-sided affairs.
Australia beat India 4-0 during the 201112 series Down Under, but was itself humiliated by the same margin when it visited
India for a similar four-test series in 2013.
India has struggled to perform in away
series in recent years with its most recent
loss being a 3-1 defeat in England this JulyAugust.
India was due to play three home tests
against the West Indies this season, but the
games were cancelled when the visitors
withdrew, after playing four one-day internationals, because of a pay dispute with
the West Indies Cricket Board.
The India squad: Shikhar Dhawan,
Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli,
Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit
Sharma, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh
Dhoni (captain), Wriddhiman Saha, Naman
Ojha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Karn Sharma,
Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar,
Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh
Yadav, Varun Aaron. — AP
ABU DHABI: Pakistani cricket captain Misbah-ul Haq (R) plays a reverse sweep shot as New Zealand wicketkeeper BJ Watling looks on during the
second day of the first Test match between Pakistan and New Zealand at the Zayed International Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday. — AFP
NZ under pressure after
Pakistan’s 566-3 declared
Zain main sponsor of racing
champion Zaid Ashkanani
KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommunications company in Kuwait,
announced yesterday its main sponsorship of the Kuwaiti car racing champion
Zaid Ashkanani for the upcoming 20142015 season, following his multiple successes in winning the Porsche GT3 Cup
Challenge Middle East title in March.
I n a press statement, Zain
explained that its latest sponsorship
comes in line with its endless confidence in the competencies of Kuwaiti
athletes like Ashkanani, who displayed
unmatchable determination and dedication in his previous participations,
in which he achieved the first place
title at the age of 18.
Zain further mentioned that
Ashkanani is excitingly preparing for his
next season, which will see him participate in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge
Middle East that will take place in various Gulf countries including Bahrain
International Circuit, Dubai Autodrome,
and Losail International Circuit, Doha.
The young champion displayed
superior motorsport skills during his
previous participations, which led him
to becoming the overall champion and
allowed him to raise the Kuwaiti flag
high in victory. In just two years of professional racing driving, Ashkanani has
been able to beat the odds and enjoy
incredible success.
ABU DHABI: Captain Misbah-ul-Haq hit a third
successive century and Younis Khan smashed his
fourth hundred in five innings as Pakistan made
record progress to declare at 566-3 against New
Zealand on the second day of the first test yesterday.
Misbah, dropped twice early in his innings,
was not out on 102 while Younis scored another
superb 100 as both batsmen put on 193 runs for
the fourth wicket.
Pakistan also set a record as its top five batsmen all scored more than 80 runs, the first time
such a feat has been achieved in test cricket, on
a day when opener Ahmed Shehzad cracked his
skull.
New Zealand’s openers survived the last half
hour to reach 15-0 at stumps with captain
Brendon McCullum not out on nine and Tom
Latham unbeaten on five.
Resuming overnight at 269-1, Pakistan lost
Ahmed Shehzad and Azhar Ali, but not before
they had shared 169 runs for the second wicket.Shehzad scored a career-best 176 before he
was out hit wicket after being struck on the right
side of his head by Corey Anderson (2-68). Ali
was bowled by Ish Sodhi for 87. Team manager
Moin Khan said scans showed Shehzad had a
minor skull fracture and that “the specialist surgeon has advised 48 hours of close monitoring.”
Moin added that if the pain did not subside,
“the surgeon may opt for decompression.”
Misbah, dropped on 17 and 20, went on completed his century off 162 balls with nine fours
and a six.
The Pakistan captain had scored centuries in
each innings at the same venue during his
team’s 356-run victory against Australia last
week for a 2-0 series victory.
Flawless century
Younis also continued his fine form in a flawless century off 141 balls, with 10 fours, to add to
his centuries in both innings of the first test
against Australia at Dubai last month and a double century at the same Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Misbah and Younis accelerated the scoring
rate once Ali departed in the second session and
were unruffled by the bowling. The New Zealand
attack toiled on a slow wicket and had little help
from their fielders, Mark Craig and James
Neesham both dropping the Pakistan captain off
leg spinner Sodhi (1-162).
Ali, who also scored centuries in each innings
against Australia in the last test here in Abu
Dhabi, was the only player out in the second session which yielded Pakistan 124 runs.He played
to the wrong line of Sodhi’s sharp turning deliver y which pitched outside leg stump and
knocked back the off stump. Ali hit four boundaries in his 215-ball knock. Shehzad’s careerbest eight-hour innings off 371 balls ended violently, just before lunch, after he had hit 17 fours
and a six. Shehzad also became the youngest
Pakistani opening batsman to score more than
150 runs at the age of 22 years and 352 days
when he drove Southee through the covers for
three before he was dismissed. His innings
improved on his previous test-best of 147 made
against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in January. — AP
SCOREBOARD
ABU DHABI: Scoreboard at stumps yesterday on the second day of the first test between
Pakistan and New Zealand at Sheikh Zayed Stadium:
Pakistan 1st Innings (Overnight: 269-1)
Mohammad Hafeez c and b Anderson
96
Ahmed Shehzad hit wicket b Anderson
176
Azhar Ali b Sodhi
87
Younis Khan not
100
Misbah-ul-Haq not out
102
Extras: (4lb, 1nb)
5
Total: (for 3 wickets decl.)
566
Overs: 170.5.
Fall of wickets: 1-178, 2-347, 3-373
Still to bat: Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah,
Zulfiqar Babar, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan.
Bowling: Trent Boult 26-7-62-0, Tim Southee 23-5-62-0
(1nb), Mark Craig 33-1-126-0, Ish Sodhi 43-6-162-1,
Corey Anderson 19-3-68-2, James Neesham 16-0-50-0,
Brendon McCullum 10.5-1-32-0.
New Zealand 1st Innings
Tom Latham not out
5
Brendon McCullum not out
9
Extras: (1nb)
1
TOTAL: (Without loss)
15
Overs: 7.
Still to bat: Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Corey
Anderson, James Neesham, BJ Watling, Tim Southee,
Mark Craig, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult.
Bowling: Rahat Ali 3-2-1-0 (1nb), Imran Khan 1-0-4-0,
Zulfiqar Babar 2-0-6-0, Mohammad Hafeez 1-0-4-0.
ICC approves revised
anti-corruption code
ABU DHABI: Pakistani batsman Ahmed Shahzad (L) reacts as he leaves the ground
with a physio after hitting his wicket and being dismissed for 176 runs on the second
day of the first Test match between Pakistan and New Zealand at the Zayed
International Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday. — AFP
DUBAI: The International Cricket Council
approved its revised anti-corruption code
yesterday but left it up to home boards to
allow banned players to return early to
domestic competition.
For a player to return to domestic competition before the expiry of his ban would
need the agreement of the chairman of the
anti-corruption board, Sir Ronnie Flannagan,
and the relevant National Cricket Federation,
with the approval of the ICC Board, an ICC
release explained.
The revised code will specifically help
Pakistan seamer Mohammad Aamer’s early
return to domestic cricket, likely in February
next year.
Last year, the Pakistan Cricket Board had
demanded the ICC relax certain conditions of
Aamer’s ban after he pleaded guilty to a spotfixing crime and then completed the rehabilitation process.
Aamer, now 22, was banned along with
Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif in a spotfixing scandal on Pakistan’s tour of England in
2010. Aamer was banned for five years, Butt
for ten (with five suspended) and Asif for seven (two suspended). The trio, also jailed in
Britain, were charged with orchestrating
deliberate no-balls during the Lord’s Test
against England in return for money.
The ICC said the revised code would close
certain loopholes and address the issue of
who has jurisdiction in a particular case.
The code would also allow a player
charged with an offence but who has not
been provisionally suspended, to agree to
voluntarily suspend him/herself, the ICC said.
ICC chairman Naryanaswami Srinivasan,
himself suspended in India over a fixing scandal in a Twenty20 league, said: “The process
for the revision of the ICC Anti-Corruption
Code was exhaustive and has been based on
our learning and experiences over the past
few years.
“This code is now even more robust and
comprehensive and it provides clarity on
jurisdictional issues, gives options to the
charged Participant and offers more choices
to the Anti-Corruption Tribunal.”
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson
admitted the fight against corruption was still
a priority. “The battle against corruption
remains one of cricket’s biggest challenges
and we remain committed to eliminating this
menace from our sport,” he said.
Aamer last week told AFP that he was anxiously awaiting the revision of the code and
would apply to the Pakistan Board to be
allowed to play in domestic matches.
“I am waiting for the ICC decision and once
it comes I will apply with the PCB to resume
my domestic career and then international
matches,” said Aamer.
The ICC Board also accepted the PCB’s
nomination of its former chairman, Najam
Sethi, for the ICC Presidency.
The presidency is now merely an honorific
position with all the power in the hands of
the chairman, following a reorganisation in
June. The Board also reiterated its support for
the no-tolerance approach in dealing with
suspected illegal bowling actions.
Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal was one of five
bowlers suspended over an illegal action following an ICC crackdown in June. — AFP
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
S P ORTS
Farrell eager to see Otani on MLB trip to Japan
OSAKA: Boston Red Sox manager
John Farrell is looking forward to seeing Japanese pitching sensation
Shohei Otani during Major League
Baseball’s all-star postseason tour of
Japan.
Farrell and 29 major league players
arrived in Osak a on Sunday night
ahead of their five-game series against
Japan starting Wednesday. The MLB allstars will also play two exhibition
games during their tour.
Farrell, who is managing the MLB
squad, singled out Otani as the player
he is most interested in. The 20-year-
old right-hander went 11-4 with 179
strikeouts and a 2.61 ERA this season
for the Nippon Ham Fighters. Otani
also plays the outfield for the Fighters
and posted a respectable .274 batting
average with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs
in 87 games. He is expected to pitch
Game 5 in front of his home crowd at
Sapporo Dome.
“We know the players on this roster
are all going to be talented,” Farrell said
at a media conference Monday.
“Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing Otani pitch. A young guy who has
got a tremendous arm, very good stuff.”
Before turning pro in 2013, O tani
announced in 2012 that he would pursue a career in Major League Baseball
but he was drafted by the Fighters and
eventually convinced to stay in Japan.
Listed at 193 centimeters (6-foot-4)
and 86 kilograms (190 pounds), Otani
has a fastball that has been clocked as
high as 160 kph (99 mph).
Farrell has had plenty of exposure to
Japanese pitchers over the years as
pitching coach and manager of the Red
Sox. “I’ve come to know the (Japanese)
culture through players on our roster,
whether it is Daisuke (Matsuzaka) or
Hideki Okajima,” said Farrell, who also
came here in 2008 when the Red Sox
opened the season against the
Oakland A’s at Tokyo Dome.
“The more we have Japanese players come to the States, we learn more
and more about (their culture) with
each and every exposure we have to
the players that come to us,” he added.
Farrell said Matt Shoemaker of the
Los Angeles Angels will start Game 1 in
Osaka while Hisashi Iwakuma of the
Seattle Mariners will pitch the first
game in Tokyo Dome on Friday. Jeremy
Guthrie of the Kansas City Royals will
start Game 3 and Chris Capuano of the
New York Yankees will start Game 4.
Among the MLB players on the roster who were announced previously
are Houston’s Jose Altuve and
Colorado’s Justin Morneau - the two
league batting champions - and the
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig.
Los Angeles Angels first baseman
Albert Pujols, Washington outfielder
Bryce Harper and Baltimore outfielder
Adam Jones withdrew because of personal and family commitments, the
Major League Baseball Players
Association said. — AP
Nishikori overcomes
fright at Tour Finals
LONDON: Japan’s Kei Nishikori admitted
he had to overcome a case of severe stagefright before marking his ATP Tour Finals
with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 victory over
Andy Murray.
Nishikori is the first Asian singles player
to qualify for the prestigious season-ending
tournament and he had the honour of
playing in the opening match against former Wimbledon champion Murray on
Sunday.
It was a proud moment for Nishikori but
his emotions got the better of him when he
walked on court in front of a capacity
17,500-crowd at London’s O2 Arena.
After a tense start as he came to terms
with his new surroundings, Nishikori eventually rose to the occasion and delivered a
dominant display to defeat home favourite
Murray.
“The stadium is huge and I tried not to
look up too much because there were so
many people on the top tier. I just tried to
stay focused,” Nishikori said.
“Maybe when I walked into the stadium
I was nervous, but at the same time I was
really excited to play with this crowd. “I was
thinking, I’m very honoured to be here for
the first time as a top-eight player.
“I was a little bit tight in the beginning,
so I was really happy that I played good
tennis in this situation. I tried to stay calm
when he was playing a little better. I got
tight again honestly but I managed to play
pretty solid at the end.”
With matches against Roger Federer and
Milos Raonic still to come, Nishikori has
more work to do to reach the semi-finals
but he sees no reason why he can’t extend
his stay in London beyond the group stage.
“I hope so. There is still a long way to
going to the final and to win it, but that’s
what I’m trying to aim for,” he said. “I was little bit surprised at how I played, very confident. Now I’m very much looking forward
to the next match.”
On the rise
Although he had lost his previous three
meetings with Murray, Nishikori had no
reason to fear the Scot after enjoying the
best season of his career.
He reached his first Grand Slam final at
the US Open in September and became the
first Asian man to finish in the world’s top
10 since 1973 thanks to a personal best 52
match wins this season.
Although he lost the final in New York to
Marin Cilic, Nishikori has continued to
shine, winning tournaments in Kuala
Lumper and Tokyo to climb to fifth in the
world.
He puts his success down to finally persuading himself that he has no reason to
feel inferior to the top stars.
“Yeah, I was struggling with that actually, because when I was junior, I wasn’t
thinking too much, so I was able to play
good tennis with anyone. But after turning
pro, I was feeling a lot of respect to everybody, especially top players,” Nishikori said.
“The first time I played Roger I couldn’t
do anything because I respected him too
much. I wasn’t going for the win, I was just
playing against my idol. That was one of
the problems I had.
“But after a couple years, I got mentally
strong. You have to believe in yourself to
beat these top players. “I was looking up to
people like (Chinese former Grand Slam
winner) Li Na. I felt a lot of motivation from
them.” — AFP
ANAHEIM: Shawn Matthias #27 of the Vancouver Canucks falls to the ice in front of Frederik Andersen #31, Clayton Stoner #3 and Hampus
Lindholm #47 of the Anaheim Ducks during the third period at Honda Center on Sunday in Anaheim, California. —AFP
Canucks beat Ducks
2-1 in shootout
UNITED KINGDOM: Japan’s Kei Nishikori returns to Britain’s Andy Murray during the
singles group B match on the first day of the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London on Sunday. — AFP
Judiciary denies British-Iranian
volleyball woman jailed
TEHRAN: A top Iranian judiciary official
yesterday denied that a British-Iranian
woman, arrested in June after trying to
attend a men’s volleyball match, had been
sentenced to jail, media reported.
The lawyer for Ghoncheh Ghavami said
earlier this month that the 25-year-old law
graduate from London had been sentenced to a year in prison. “According to the
verdict she was sentenced to one year in
jail,” lawyer Alizadeh Tabatabaie was quoted as saying on November 2 by Iranian
media.
Tabatabaie said at the time he had not
received official notification of the verdict
but that the judge had showed him a copy
of it after Ghavami’s trial for spreading “propaganda against the regime”-a broad
TEHRAN: Mohammad Reza Davarzani,
the president of Iran’s Volleyball
Federation, speaks during interview
with AFP in Tehran yesterday. The international volleyball federation FIVB said
it will not allow Iran to host international events as long as women are banned
from attending the game. — AFP
charge often used by the judiciary.
But
deputy
judiciar y
head
Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejeie dismissed
this claim, saying that no sentence had
been pronounced because the trial was still
ongoing. “We have not finished examining
the case. The court must still give a ruling
on another charge” against Ghavami,
Mohseni-Ejeie told reporters during his
weekly news conference.
“The verdict has not been issued,” he
said. Asked by AFP for an explanation,
Tabatabaie declined to comment. Ghavami
was detained on June 20 at Azadi
(“Freedom” in Farsi) Stadium where
Iran’s national volleyball team was to
play Italy, after female fans and even
women journalists were told they would
not be allowed to attend, leading to a brief
demonstration.
She was released within hours but was
rearrested days later at a police station she
had visited to reclaim items confiscated
from her near the stadium.
Mohseni-Ejeie, who is also chief
spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, said
after Ghavami’s second arrest: “She is being
investigated and is currently in prison
awaiting the end of the investigation”.
He did not elaborate. Ghavami’s trial
began behind closed doors in October. Her
case has drawn considerable attention
because of her dual nationality and time
spent in prison before the trial, and
because her arrest was linked to sport-a
claim dismissed by the authorities.
On Sunday, the international volleyball
federation FIVB said it will not allow Iran to
host international events for as long as
women are barred from attending the
game.
Women are also banned from football
matches in the Islamic republic, with officials saying this is to protect them from
lewd behaviour among male fans. — AFP
ANAHEIM: Nick Bonino assisted on the tying
goal by Alexandre Burrows in the second
period and got the only goal in the shootout
in his return to Anaheim, helping the
Vancouver Canucks beat the Ducks 2-1 on
Sunday night. I t was the first meeting
between the teams since the June 27 trade
that brought Ryan Kesler to the Ducks and
sent Bonino and defenseman Luca Sbisa to
Vancouver. Kesler spent his first 11 NHL seasons with the Canucks, helping them get to
the Stanley Cup finals in 2011 with 41 goals
and winning the Frank Selke Trophy that season as the NHL’s best defensive forward.
It was the Ducks’ second loss in three
nights at home against a club they won all
five meetings against last season. The
Arizona Coyotes beat them 3-2 in a shootout
on Friday.
The Ducks, who led the league in goals
last season en route to their second straight
Pacific Division title, have just 11 in regulation over their last eight games. Defenseman
Sami Vatanen had Anaheim’s only goal
against Eddie Lack, who finished with 28
saves and got lucky twice in the tiebreaker as
Jakob Silfverberg hit the crossbar and Kesler
rang one off the left post.
Frederik Anderson stopped 34 shots for
the Ducks. The loss snapped their six-game
winning streak against Vancouver, which
included a five-game sweep last season that
ended with a 3-0 victory in goalie John
Gibson’s NHL debut. Gibson is sidelined at
least six weeks because of a groin injury.
Corey Perry, who leads Anaheim with 11
goals, missed his third straight game
because of the flu. Francois Beauchemin also
was out with the flu, and fellow defenseman
Cam Fowler was scratched for the first time
this season due to a lower body injury that
occurred on Friday against Arizona.
Just 3 seconds after Dan Hamhuis was
sent off for hook ing William K arlsson,
Vatanen opened the scoring at 2:37 of the
second period with a 35-foot wrist shot that
beat Lack to the stick side after Kesler won a
faceoff from Bonino deep in the zone.
The goal came on Anaheim’s only power
play against a penalty-killing unit that had
yielded just two goals in 26 short-handed situations over the Canucks’ previous eight
games. Burrows tied it at 11:49 of the second
on a deflection after Hamhuis one-timed a
carom off the boards at the left point.
Lightning 4, Red Wings 3 (SO)
Right winger Ryan Callahan scored in the
shootout to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a
4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at Joe
Louis Arena. Center Steven Stamkos scored
twice and center Tyler Johnson got the goals
for Tampa Bay in regulation. Callahan also
had two assists and goalie Ben Bishop
stopped 17 shots in regulation and overtime.
Right winger Johan Franzen and left winger
Gustav Nyquist had a goal and an assist each
and center Darren Helm scored for Detroit.
Defenseman Niklas Kronwall had two assists
and goaltender Jimmy Howard made 27
saves in the first 65 minutes.
Oilers 3, Rangers 1
Left winger Benoit Pouliot scored a goal
and made an assist as Edmonton defeated
the New York Rangers. Center Ryan NugentHopkins scored his fifth of the season for
Edmonton, while right winger Teddy Purcell
scored his second of the season into an empty net with 1:27 remaining to seal the win.
Goaltender Viktor Fasth made 20 saves for
the victory. Carl Hagelin scored the lone goal
for the Rangers (6-6-2), who have lost four of
five. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped
30 shots and took the loss.
Maple Leafs 5, Senators 3
Toronto goalie James Reimer made 38
saves to top Ottawa at Canadian Tire Centre.
Toronto winger David Clarkson scored the
lone goal of the third period after center
Peter Holland had a goal and an assist, and
wingers James van Riemsdyk and Josh Leivo
and center Mike Santorelli scored goals.
Ottawa goalie Robin Lehner stopped just 25
shots while center Kyle Turris and wingers
Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone scored goals.
Blackhawks 5, Sharks 2
Chicago scored three goals in a span of 2
minutes, 34 seconds in the second period
to beat San Jose. Defensemen Trevor Van
R iemsdyk , Brent S eabrook and N ik las
Hjalmarsson, left winger Bryan Bickell and
center Jonathan Toews scored goals for
Chicago and goaltender Corey Crawford
turned aside 32 of 34 shots for the win.
Center Joe Pavelski scored both goals for
San Jose while goaltender Antti Niemi
stopped 32 of 36 shots. — Agencies
NHL results/standings
Toronto 5, Ottawa 3; Tampa Bay 4, Detroit 3 (SO); Edmonton 3, NY Rangers 1; Chicago 5, San Jose 2; Vancouver 2,
Anaheim 1 (SO).
Anaheim
Vancouver
Calgary
Los Angeles
San Jose
Arizona
Edmonton
Nashville
St. Louis
Winnipeg
Chicago
Minnesota
Colorado
Dallas
Western Conference
Pacific Division
W
L OTL
GF
10
3
3
41
11
5
0
49
9
5
2
49
8
4
3
37
8
6
2
50
6
7
1
34
6
8
1
38
Central Division
9
3
2
35
9
4
1
35
8
5
2
30
8
6
1
41
7
6
0
37
4
7
5
40
4
6
4
40
GA PTS
32 23
44 22
41 20
30 19
46 18
47 13
51 13
28
28
32
28
29
50
50
20
19
18
17
14
13
12
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Tampa Bay 11
3
1
58
41 23
Montreal
10
4
1
37
42 21
Detroit
7
3
5
40
37 19
Boston
9
6
0
43
35 18
Toronto
8
5
2
47
42 18
Ottawa
7
4
3
38
34 17
Florida
4
4
4
20
30 12
Buffalo
3
11
2
20
54
8
Metropolitan Division
Pittsburgh
10
2
1
55
27 21
NY Islanders 9
5
0
42
42 18
Philadelphia 7
5
2
45
43 16
Washington 6
5
3
45
42 15
New Jersey
6
6
2
38
45 14
NY Rangers
6
6
2
39
46 14
Carolina
4
6
3
31
43 11
Columbus
4
9
1
36
51
9
Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the
standings and are not included in the loss column (L).
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
S P ORTS
Spurs fans’ booing makes us want to play away: Adebayor
LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur striker
Emmanuel Adebayor says negativity
from home fans has damaged the team’s
confidence and means they might be
better off playing away from White Hart
Lane. The north London club endured
their fourth defeat in six home league
games this season when they lost 2-1 to
Stoke City on Sunday.
Spurs fans were quick to voice their
unhappiness during a lacklustre display,
with a chorus of boos only drowned out
by conveniently timed music blasted
from the stadium’s speakers at the final
whistle. Adebayor, a second-half substi-
tute against Stoke, claims fans are making it hard for the team to perform and
the atmosphere is causing some players
to go missing in home matches.
“I think it might be better to play
away from home at the moment
because at least we know beforehand
we are guaranteed to be booed because
they want their home club to win,” the
Togo international told reporters.
“But when you are playing at home
and your own fans start booing you after
a few minutes then it is harder. “When
you are playing in front of your own
crowd you want them to support you.
But now it is like going through a sad
moment and your family not welcoming
you home. That’s the worst thing ever
because you have nowhere to go.
“I was on the bench against Stoke
and, though I could not see everything
as clear as night, I could see that nobody
wanted the ball. Right now, to tell you
the truth, I think a lot of players when
they put on the shirt and go out on to
the pitch are finding it hard in the head.”
Adebayor has scored twice in 12
appearances for Spurs this season and
has come in for criticism from fans and
pundits.
The striker says he is working hard to
overcome his poor form and that people
should not confuse his languid playing
style for laziness.
He also called for more respect from
fans after a career that has seen him play
for some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
“I think in football too many people
forget so quickly what you have done,”
said Adebayor, whose former clubs
include Arsenal, Manchester City and
Real Madrid.
“So instead of booing people, which
will make it even worse, I think it is
sometimes better to support them and
give them what they need to perform on
the pitch. Obviously I have been through
a lot in life so I am used to it.
“It’s hard for the players. It’s not their
fault and it’s not the fans’ fault either
because the fans want to see a result,
the fans want to see a response and
things are not going our way at the
moment. We just have to fight as a team
and as a club to find a solution. The
quicker the better.”
Spurs are 12th in the table with 14
points from their opening 11 games, and
visit Hull City next after the two-week
international break. —Reuters
Martinez says points alone no
guide to Everton progress
LONDON: Roberto Martinez has said
Everton shouldn’t be judged solely on their
Premier League points tally as they take
stock during the international break.
Leighton Baines’s penalty earned a 1-1
draw at Sunderland to leave the
Merseyside club in 10th place with 14
points from their first 11 games.
Despite being out of the League Cup,
Everton are unbeaten in their last six
matches and well-placed to reach the second phase of the Europa League.
“I wouldn’t assess our season purely on
points taken in the league,” said Everton
manager Martinez after Sunday’s draw at
the Stadium of Light.
“I think you also need to look at the consistency in our performances, both in the
Premier League and in Europe. We’ve got a
very strong squad, with 23 outfield players
who can come in and contribute to the
team.
“I feel we’ve got good competition for
places and the right mentality to cope with
the demands of domestic and European
football.
“We had been guilty of being a bit soft
defensively, but we’ve ironed that out.
We’ve shown we have the ingredients of a
winning team.”
Martinez also said he was “holding his
breath” on Gareth Barry, who was taken to
hospital with his right leg in a protective
cast during the first half.
The Everton boss absolves his compatriot Jordi Gomez of any blame. The
Sunderland man, booked for the 13thminute challenge on Barry, was fortunate
to escape a second caution for simulation
before the break.
“Barry’s had an X-ray, and we’re happy to
confirm it’s not the broken leg we were
worried about,” Martinez said. “There’s
ankle ligament damage that we must
assess. “It (the challenge) came early in the
game and there’s no intention to hurt him
whatsoever.” Martinez was less charitable,
however, when it came to Gomez’s escape
from censure for diving.
Big calls
Indeed the Everton boss felt Sunderland
should have ended the contest with nine
men, with Connor Wickham fortunate to
avoid a straight red for tripping Seamus
Coleman in the area, although Baines did
score from the ensuing spot-kick.
“I was surprised Wickham didn’t get sent
off, because once you give a penalty it’s a
red card,” said Martinez. “I don’t agree with
the rule, but that’s not the issue. It would
have been a major moment in the game
had he got a red.
“Likewise, I don’t want to see a player
sent off, but Gomez was caught simulating.
The referee was going to blow, but decided
against it. They were two big calls that
didn’t go our way.”
This result saw Sunderland go three
points clear of the relegation zone, Seb
Larsson’s free-kick helping earn a sixth
draw of the season for the Black Cats.
Sunderland boss Gus Poyet professed
himself satisfied with a draw, but the
result was tinged with disappointing
injury news, as the head coach confirmed
defender Patrick van Aanholt was set to be
out until February following surgery on a
dislocated shoulder suffered in the victory
at Crystal Palace. “It’s not good news on
Patrick, who needs an operation and is
going to be out for two -and-a-half
months. Hopefully, we should have most
of our other injured players back training
before the end of the international break,”
the Uruguayan added. —AFP
Deila praises Celtic spirit
GLASGOW: Celtic manager Ronny Deila
hailed his side’s team spirit as they came
from behind to seal a 2-1 victory away to
Aberdeen that sent the Hoops top of the
Scottish Premiership for the first time this
season.
Adam Rooney fired the Dons in front in
the 27th minute before Stefan Johansen
sneaked in an equaliser from a difficult
angle 11 minutes later.
Aberdeen had the better of the second
half chances and their hopes of a win
appeared to be boosted when Celtic skipper Scott Brown was sent off after picking
up his second yellow card of the match in
the 82nd minute.
However, it was the Hoops who conjured up a winner of their own in the 90th
minute when Dutch defender Virgil van
Dijk flicked home a Johansen corner to
send the Hoops top of the table on goal
difference from Inverness Caledonian
Thistle.
“It was a fantastic win and I am so proud
of the team,” Deila said. “It’s been a very
hard programme and we were playing
away in Europe and only came home on
Friday afternoon. It left us with very little
time to get prepared for a very difficult
match. We got the three points and the
way we did it is what I call team spirit and
togetherness.
“It was unbelievable and to celebrate
that with the fans was fantastic. “We have
talked about losing leaders when Scott
Brown is out but there were a lot of leader
out there.
“Of course I would have been happy
with a point after I lost a man but I felt we
were a physical threat and something
could happen in the end. “We kept our discipline and we got the chance and the
goal. It was a very good victory and a very
important win as well.”
Deila endured a turbulent start to his
Celtic career, suffering heavy European
defeats in Champions League qualification
while dropping points domestically to
Inverness, Dundee, Mother well and
Hamilton.
Togetherness
However, he has now lost just once in
his past 14 matches and after leading his
side to the summit of the table with a
match in hand the Hoops boss hopes to
stay there for the rest of the campaign.
“Taking over the champions is always
hard as they have been successful and new
people are then coming in,” the Norwegian
said.
“We need to get more and more togetherness and we agree on things. Today was a
fantastic achievement and I feel more and
more together with the players.”
The tensions between the sides have
been stoked ahead of the match after
Celtic announced they were to appeal
winger Aleksandar Tonev’s seven match
ban from the Scottish FA for racially abusing Dons defender Shay Logan.
There was no place for the on-loan
Aston Villa player in the Celtic line-up but
Logan played the full 90 minutes before
being sent off in the tunnel after the game
for foul and abusive language.
However, Aberdeen manager Derek
McInnes revealed the ordering off was not
connected with the bad feeling between
the clubs.
“It was something Shay had said in frustration to the assistant linesman in the tunnel. They took offence to it and they have
red-carded him,” McInnes said.
“I know what is alleged to have happened and what he is alleged to have said.
Shay should have kept his cool but there
was a lot of frustration, but only about
today’s game. His performance was fine as
you saw.
“Shay, like the rest of my players, was a
bit aggrieved at a couple of decisions in the
build-up to their goals and that was basically it.” — AFP
LOS ANGELES: Alvaro Saborio #15 of Real Salt Lake battles for a corner kick with
Juninho #19 of Los Angeles Galaxy in front of the Galaxy’s Leonardo #22 during Leg
2 of the Western Conference Semifinals at StubHub Center on Sunday in Los Angeles,
California. The Galaxy won 5-0 to advance to the conference finals. — AFP
BERLIN: Germany’s football national team’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (2ndL) poses with German President Joachim Gauck (L), German
Chancellor Angela Merkel (2ndR) and German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere (R) after receiving the Silver Laurel Leaf, Germany’s top
award for sports success, at the Schloss Bellevue Presidential Palace yesterday in Berlin. — AFP
German World Cup team
given national honor
BERLIN: The president of Germany has decorated the World Cup-winning squad with the country’s highest honor for sports, rewarding what he
called a “convincing performance that is recognized ungrudgingly by all its opponents.”
President Joachim Gauck, joined by
Chancellor Angela Merkel, presented the players
with the Silver Laurel Leaf in a ceremony at the
head of state’s Bellevue Palace.
Speaking a day after the 25th anniversary of
the fall of the Berlin Wall, Gauck noted that
Germany’s fourth World Cup is its first as a
reunited nation. West Germany won the title
shortly before reunification in 1990.
World Cup-winning captain Philipp Lahm,
who retired from the national team after the
tournament, thanked Gauck and Merkel for their
support. Both traveled to the World Cup and visited the Germany dressing room.
Meanwhile, Dortmund’s Reus, Sokratis out for
two weeks (Releads with Reus out for two
weeks) BERLIN, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Borussia
Dortmund will be without winger Marco Reus
and central defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos
for two weeks after the pair were injured in
Sunday ’s
1-0
win
over
Borussia
Moenchengladbach, the Bundesliga club said
yesterday. Germany international Reus, in sensational form this season and one of only a few
bright spots in their bad domestic run this season, stretched ankle ligaments in the game and
isexpected to return in two weeks, the club said
on Twitter.
He is set to miss Germany’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Gibraltar this week as well as their
friendly against Spain on Nov. 18.
Greece international Papastathopoulos broke
the fibula in his right leg in a tackle against
Gladbach’s Andre Hahn in the 82nd minute of
Dortmund’s first win after five straight defeats
that saw last season’s Bundesliga runners-up
move out of bottom place.
“The Greek is expected to be out for only two
weeks and should be fit again for the
Champions League game on Nov. 26 in London
(against Arsenal),” the club said in a statement.
He will, however, miss Greece’s Euro 2016
qualifier against the Faroe Islands on Friday and
the friendly against Serbia four days later.
The absences are painful for Dortmund as
they look to bounce back from their bad start
and quickly climb up the table until the winter
break next month.
Struggling Dortmund have been far more
successful in Europe’s premier club competition
having already advanced to the knockout stage
with two games to spare. —Agencies
FLORENCE: Italian national soccer team’s Mario Balotelli, center, runs with his teammates during a training session with the team at the
Coverciano Training Center, near Florence, central Italy, yesterday. Italy will play Croatia in Milan on Sunday in a Euro2016, Group H, qualifying
round soccer match. — AP
France has little to play for until Euro 2016
PARIS: With more meaningless games coming
up for France’s national team, at least the
appearance of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a Sweden
jersey will spark some interest.
France has not lost since being eliminated by
Germany in the World Cup quarterfinals, looking
sharp in home wins over Spain and Portugal and
breezing to a 3-0 victory at Armenia. But
because France is an automatic qualifier for the
2016 European Championship it will host, those
results count for very little.
So until France kicks off the enlarged 24-team
tournament on June 10, 2016, the problem
coach Didier Deschamps faces is a long list of
friendlies with absolutely no pressure to get
results.
A relaxed position to be in, perhaps, but possibly a double-edged sword. France is taking
part in qualifying Group I, but doesn’t get any
points for wins or draws because of the national
team’s status as host.
So while Spain and England rebuild after
poor World Cup campaigns, France has a fully
settled side but one that won’t be tested in a
pressure environment. The players must find a
way to motivate themselves despite knowing
there isn’t much at stake with regards to their
place in the team.
First up is Albania at home in Rennes on
Friday, then a swing south to take on Sweden
and Ibrahimovic in Marseille.
Deschamps already has the nucleus of his
side in place. He isn’t looking for a spine to his
team because he already found it at the World
Cup, where Les Bleus looked impressive until
facing a wiser and more experienced Germany.
Unless Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery
comes out international retirement, Deschamps
pretty much knows his best XI. There are one or
two positions in defense up for grabs, but those
are between players already in the World Cup
squad.
There seems to be little room for newcomers,
as there would be if France - like Spain and
England - needed to increase competition for
places.
A midfield comprising of Juventus star Paul
Pogba alongside Paris Saint-Germain pair Blaise
Matuidi and Yohan Cabaye is very well settled,
while Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema is the
leader in attack, flanked by Atletico Madrid’s
Antoine Griezmann and Dynamo Moscow’s
Mathieu Valbuena.
In defense, Deschamps has a rock at center
half in Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane - fast developing into one of the most assured defenders in
European football.
Even if he still needs to test his defense, the
problem for Deschamps is that this is unlikely to
happen much over the next calendar year.
With the exception of a match against
Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal teammates
next September, France’s other opponents in
Group I - Denmark, Albania, Serbia and Armenia
- do not pose a major attacking threat.
Deschamps could well go into Euro 2016 with
confidence high, yet with nagging doubts about
how good his team will be when it counts. —AP
NZ under pressure
after Pakistan’s
566-3 declared
Kuwait wins two gold
in Asian Clay Target
Shooting tournament
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
17
16
Canucks beat Ducks 2-1 in shootout
Page 18
LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, left, puts up a shot as Charlotte Hornets center Cody Zeller defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, in Los Angeles. The Lakers won 107-92. — AP
Lakers notch first win of season
LOS ANGELES: Kobe Bryant and Jeremy Lin
each scored 21 points as Los Angeles rallied to
beat Charlotte 107-92 for their first victory of the
season after five straight losses. Carlos Boozer
added 16 points in Byron Scott’s first win as
Lakers coach. Their victory left Philadelphia as
the NBA’s only winless team at 0-7. Lin and
Boozer’s offense dominated the third, when the
Lakers were down by seven before a 25-6 run
sent them into the fourth leading 76-64. It was a
lead they never gave up.
Al Jefferson scored 23 points and Kemba
Walker added 17 for the Hornets, whose twogame winning streak ended. Gary Neal added
14 off the bench and Lance Stephenson had 10
rebounds.
Phoenix 107 Golden State 95
Isaiah Thomas scored 15 of his 22 points in
the fourth quarter to lead the Phoenix Suns to a
come-from-behind 107-95 victory Sunday over
the Golden State Warriors, leaving the NBA with
no unbeaten teams. Fellow reserve Gerald
Green added 16 of his 19 points in the final
quarter, when the Suns surged ahead after trailing by eight through three. Stephen Curry
scored 28 points but just six in the second half,
when he was plagued by missed shots and foul
trouble. Curry, who entered tied for the NBA
scoring lead, added 10 assists for his fourth double-double of the season. Draymond Green
added 22 points and nine rebounds for the
Warriors (5-1), who played without Klay
Thompson (sprained right hand).
Heat 105, Mavericks 96
Luol Deng scored a season-high 30 points,
Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade added 20 apiece
as Miami stayed perfect against Dallas since the
2011 NBA Finals. The Heat have won seven
straight regular-season games against the
Mavericks since Dallas took three in a row in the
finals to capture its first championship. Miami
was without LeBron James in this rematch,
while the Mavericks faced the Heat for the first
time since the return of two important pieces
from their title team, Tyson Chandler and J.J.
Barea.
But Deng was the key offseason acquisition
that mattered most, going 13 of 19 from the
field with five rebounds and four assists as the
ball-moving Heat shot 55 percent to 42 percent
for Dallas. Monta Ellis led the Mavericks with 23
points.
Raptors 120, 76ers 88
DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points, Terrence
Ross had 17 and Toronto routed winless
Philadelphia for its sixth victory in seven games.
Lou Williams added 16 against his former team
and Kyle Lowry had 14 as the Raptors, who are
alone atop the Eastern Conference for the first
time in their 20-year history. They were tied for
first in November 2004. Toronto set a season
high in points against the 76ers, who were even
worse defensively than when they allowed 118
points against Chicago on Friday. Tony Wroten
scored 18 points and Chris Johnson had 16 for
the 76ers, who lost for the 70th time in their
past 86 regular-season games.
Thunder 101, Kings 93
Reggie Jackson scored 11 of his 22 points in
the fourth quarter to help Oklahoma City beat
Sacramento. Jackson scored eight points in the
final 2:17, going 6 of 7 from the free throw line.
Jeremy Lamb scored 17 points, Serge Ibaka had
14 points, nine rebounds and four blocks,
and Sebastian Telfair added 14 points for the
Thunder (2-5). Though struggling without
injured stars Kevin Durant and Russell
Westbrook, they improved to 2-1 at home. Rudy
Gay had 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists,
and DeMarcus Cousins and Ben McLemore
each added 16 points for the Kings (5-2).
Jazz 97, Pistons 96
Gordon Hayward scored 17 points, including
four in the final 2 minutes, Derrick Favors added
a double-double and Utah overcame a doubledigit, second-half deficit to beat Detroit.
Brandon Jennings, who had 23 points, missed a
floater from the free-throw line that could have
given the Pistons the victory. Favors finished
with 16 points and 12 rebounds for Utah, while
Enes Kanter had 14 points and 11 boards.
Monroe had 19 points and 11 rebounds for
Detroit, and Andre Drummond added 11 points
and 18 rebounds.
NBA results/standings
Brooklyn 104, Orlando 96; Utah 97, Detroit 96; Oklahoma City 101, Sacramento 93; Toronto 120, Philadelphia 88;
Miami 105, Dallas 96; Phoenix 107, Golden State 95; Portland 116, Denver 100.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
W
L PCT GB
Toronto
6
1 .857
Brooklyn
4
2 .667 1.5
Boston
3
3 .500 2.5
NY Knicks
2
5 .286 4
Philadelphia
0
7
0 6
Central Division
Chicago
5
2 .714
Milwaukee
3
4 .429 2
Cleveland
2
3 .400 2
Detroit
2
4 .333 2.5
Indiana
1
6 .143 4
Southeast Division
Miami
5
2 .714
Washington
5
2 .714
Charlotte
3
4 .429 2
Atlanta
2
3 .400 2
Orlando
2
5 .286 3
Western Conference
Northwest Division
Portland
4
3 .571
Utah
3
4 .429 1
Minnesota
2
4 .333 1.5
Oklahoma City
2
5 .286 2
Denver
1
5 .167 2.5
Pacific Division
Golden State
5
1 .833
Sacramento
5
2 .714 0.5
LA Clippers
4
2 .667 1
Phoenix
4
3 .571 1.5
LA Lakers
1
5 .167 4
Southwest Division
Memphis
6
1 .857
Houston
6
1 .857
New Orleans
3
2 .600 2
Dallas
4
3 .571 2
San Antonio
2
3 .400 3
Nets 104, Magic 96
Bojan Bogdanovic scored a season-high 22
points to lift Brooklyn over Orlando. Mason
Plumlee added 12 points and 10 rebounds
while Deron Williams and Kevin Garnett each
had seven assists for Brooklyn (4-2).
Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 27 points
and 12 rebounds. Vucevic scored 17 of
Orlando’s 25 points in the third quarter as the
Magic trailed 81-77 entering the fourth quarter.
Evan Fournier scored 19 points.— AP
Former NBA player Ernie Vandeweghe dead at 86
Ernie Vandeweghe
LOS ANGELES: Ernie Vandeweghe, a New York
Knicks player in the post-World War II era and
father of former NBA star Kiki Vandeweghe and
three other top athletes, has died. He was 86.
The death was confirmed Sunday night by
Kiki Vandeweghe, who said his father died of
natural causes at his home in Newport Beach.
Vandeweghe averaged 9.5 points and 4.6
rebounds in 224 regular-season games for the
Knicks from 1949-56. In college, he averaged
19.1 points in four seasons at Colgate.
“I am so lucky to have spent so many years
with him learning and growing,” granddaughter
CoCo Vandeweghe, a pro tennis player ranked
40th in the world, said in a Facebook post
Saturday. “He is now in a better place with his
beloved wife. He will be missed dearly. Love you
Pal.”
Ernie Vandeweghe’s wife, Colleen, died in
2010. She won the 1952 Miss America pageant.
Born in Montreal, Vandeweghe went to medical
school while in the NBA and was a physician in
the US Air Force. He was chairman of the
President’s Council on Physical Fitness and
Sports and served on the Olympic Sports
Commission. He also was the Lakers’ team physician when the team moved to Los Angeles from
Minneapolis.
“He’s never really gone because the lessons
are still there,” said Kiki Vandeweghe, who as a 5year-old didn’t understand why his physician
father would often be gone on weekends.”He
used to take care of the athletes and their kids. I
found out he never charged any of those people. When you can afford to give back, you do.”
Kiki Vandeweghe played 13 seasons in the
NBA and was a two-time All-Star who averaged
19.7 points for his career. Daughter Tauna won a
US swimming championship in the backstroke
and competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
Son Bruk was a beach volleyball player, and
daughter Heather captained the US women’s
polo team. Coco is Tauna’s daughter.
Ernie Vandeweghe grew up in New York on
Long Island and played football, basketball and
baseball in high school. — AP
PHOENIX: Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) shoots against the Phoenix Suns in the
second quarter of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, in Phoenix. — AP
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
Kuwait consumer inflation edges up
In shift, Russia lets ruble
float free in markets
Page 22
Page 23
BEIJING: The fireworks show takes place during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing yesterday. Leaders of more than half the world’s economy gather in Beijing over the next week
for the annual APEC forum, with China and the US pushing rival trade agreements as the week-long series of international summits gets under way. -- AFP
Kuwait sees no output cut at OPEC meeting
No cause for panic over price drop: Al-Badri
KUWAIT: OPEC is not likely to cut crude output when it meets later this month
amid hopes that the market will absorb surplus supplies, the Kuwaiti oil
minister said yesterday. “I do not expect OPEC to make any production cut. A
decision like this will be very difficult,” Ali Al-Omair said in Abu Dhabi, cited by
the official KUNA news agency.
The 12-member Organization for the Petroleum Exporting Countries is
due to hold its next scheduled meeting on November 27 amid calls by some
members to reduce production to stop a slide in oil prices. OPEC supplies
around 40 percent of global crude output.
Omair, who was attending an oil conference in the UAE capital, expressed
hope that the oil market will soon absorb surplus production, adding that “the
size of the surplus is unknown”.
KUNA quoted OPEC Secretary General Abdullah Al-Badri as saying that
“there was no cause for panic in the markets as a result of the sharp decline in
oil prices because the situation will improve.” OPEC is currently pumping just
under 31 million barrels per day, around one million bpd higher than its ceiling.
industry conference in Abu Dhabi.
United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail bin Mohammed Al-Mazroui,
also on the panel, delivered a similar opinion: “We are not seeing the price
issue as a major issue that we need to panic about.” Badri indicated that both
producers and consumers would be happy with oil prices in a broad range
around $100 per barrel. “In the last five to six years we don’t see any nagging
by consumers or producers...$100, $110, $95, they are happy with these prices.”
He also said, “A high price is not preferable by OPEC, a low price is not
preferable by OPEC” because high prices would mean less demand while low
prices would reduce investment in oil supply.
World oil prices rose yesterday, gaining strength from solid economic data
in key consumer China, with extra support from the weaker US dollar, dealers
Markets recover as
Arabtec lifts Dubai
MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS
DUBAI: Most stock markets in the Middle East gained yesterday, led by Dubai,
where construction firm Arabtec Holding rose sharply after a key shareholder
bought a stake in a major Egyptian property developer. Dubai’s index jumped 2.8
percent, its biggest daily gain in three
weeks, as Arabtec, which dominated
trading volumes, surged 8.8 percent.
Abu Dhabi state fund Aabar Investments, a major shareholder in Arabtec,
bought a 5.1 percent stake in Egypt’s second-largest listed real estate developer
Palm Hills on Sunday.
“It shows there is a strong commitment (by the United Arab Emirates) to
support the Egyptian economy, especially in the real estate sector,” said Sebastien Henin, head of asset management at
The National Investor in Abu Dhabi. “We
could imagine it might sooner or later
benefit Arabtec, for example with a new
project.” Arabtec is already involved in a
$40 billion project to build a million housing units in Egypt, the company’s largest
project to date.
Abu Dhabi’s benchmark rose 1.1 percent on the back of blue chips Abu Dhabi
Commercial Bank and Aldar Properties, up 3.8 and 5.1 percent respectively.
Shares in investment firm Waha Capital,
which posted strong third-quarter results
on Sunday, jumped 5.5 percent to 3.08
dirhams and were the most heavily traded stock in the market. Waha made a net
profit of 301.2 million dirhams ($82 million) in the quarter, up from 107.1 million
dirhams in the year-ago period. On Sunday, the stock surged 7.0 percent, breaking technical resistance at 2.85 dirhams,
the late October peak. This triggered a
bullish right triangle formed by the highs
and lows since mid-October and pointing
up to 3.16 dirhams. It faces strong resistance at 3.20-3.28 dirhams, the September and July peaks.
Qatar’s index gained 0.7 percent and
Qatar National Bank, which at the end of
last week secured a weighting increase in
MSCI’s emerging markets index, was the
main support, climbing 1.4 percent.
Saudi, Egypt
Saudi Arabia’s index rose 1.1 percent,
largely on the back of the banking sector.
Al Rajhi Bank, the country’s largest listed
lender, rose 1.2 percent and Samba Financial Group, the third-largest bank by
assets, jumped 3.1 percent. Weak oil prices are keeping investors away from petrochemicals, and a shock restatement of 18
months of earnings by Mobily last week
dampened demand for all telecommunications firms, making banks the most attractive Saudi sector for now, said Henin
from The National Investor. “A lot of cash
came back to the market after the end
of National Commercial Bank IPO and I
guess they are looking for investment opportunities,” he said.– Reuters
said. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December increased $1.45 to
trade at $84.84 a barrel around midday in London. US benchmark West Texas
Intermediate for December rallied $1.06 to $79.71 a barrel compared with
Friday’s closing level.
Meanwhile, OPEC daily basket price went up by 40 cents to $78.67 a barrel
on Friday, compared with $78.27 the previous day, the cartel said in a statement
here yesterday.
The monthly rate of the OPEC basket price for October hit $85.06 a barrel
compared to $95.98 a barrel in September, it said. The new OPEC Reference
Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria),
Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra
Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria),
Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey
(Venezuela). —Agencies
Cameron defends EU plan as
business leaders speak out
LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday defended his plans for EU reforms in
front of Britain’s business leaders, as a top executive warned against “shutting ourselves off
from the world”. Cameron also used a speech
to the annual conference of the CBI business
lobby group to reject suggestions that his
promise of an in-or-out referendum in 2017
was causing uncertainty that could hurt the
economy.
“Britain’s future in Europe matters to our
country and it isn’t working properly at the
moment and that is why we need to make
changes,” he said.
Four out of five British businesses are in favor of staying in the European Union, according to the Confederation of British Industry,
which estimates the net benefits of EU membership to the UK as between four and five
percent of GDP. But Cameron’s Conservativeled government is becoming increasingly
hawkish in its dealings with Brussels, raising
concerns that Britain could be heading towards the exit.
CBI president Mike Rake, who is also chairman of telecoms giant BT, told delegates in
London that membership of the EU was “overwhelmingly in our national interest”.
And he warned Britain faced a choice between two futures. “One, in which we risk looking inward, shutting ourselves off from the
world in the face of inevitable global change
and where we reject the power of free and
competitive markets to drive progress,” he
said.
“The other, in which we embrace the openness which has always been the foundation
LONDON: British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg addresses delegates at the annual
Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference in central London yesterday. —AFP
of Britain’s success—to trade, to people, to
investment and to ideas from abroad, and of
competitive markets at home.” Delegates at
the conference expressed frustration with the
tone of the political debate, particularly its
focus on immigration from other parts of Europe.
While politicians increasingly vie to promise curbs on new arrivals, many businesses see
immigration as a vital way of filling a skills gap
in Britain.
Opposition Labor leader Ed Miliband, who
has refused to match Cameron’s referendum
promise, warned that leaving the EU would be
a “disaster” and put profits and jobs at risk.
In his address to the conference, Miliband
accused those who “flirt” with the idea of an
exit of weakening Britain’s influence in Brussels. “Making ever-more incoherent demands,
ever-more isolated from its partners all this
puts us on the conveyor belt towards exit with
no idea how to get off,” he said. Hamish Macleod, the director of public affairs at BSW Timber, the largest sawmilling business in Britain,
told AFP that leaving the EU would “concern us
greatly”.—AFP
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
BUSINESS
Kuwait consumer inflation edges up
NBK ECONOMIC REPORT
KUWAIT: Inflation in the consumer price
index (CPI) rose to 3.2 percent year-on-year
(y/y) in September, on the back of higher
inflation in most components. Core inflation
continued to exceed the overall inflation
rate, climbing from 2.9 percent y/y in August
to 3.3 percent y/y in September. The headline inflation rate was mainly driven higher
by stronger food price growth as well as a
jump in inflation in the furnishings & household, leisure, hospitality and education components. The upward pressures from most
of these components are unlikely to be sustained in the coming months and headline
inflation is expected to ease to an annual
average of 3.0 percent by the end of 2014.
Inflation in the food price index reversed
its downward trend in September, rising
from 1.8 percent y/y in August to 2.7 percent
y/y. This follows the recent acceleration in
international food prices which could continue to put mild upward pressure on
domestic prices in the coming months.
However, with international food price inflation already easing, the pressure on Kuwaiti
inflation is likely to remain limited, and
could begin to see local food price growth
easing by the end of this year.
Inflation in housing services, mostly
housing rent, remained steady at 4.4 per-
i n
b r i e f
Aramco commitments not
impacted by oil: Exec
ABU DHABI: A senior official at state oil giant Saudi
Aramco said yesterday that the recent fluctuations in oil
prices would not threaten the company’s long-term
supply commitments. “The recent volatility is not news,
(it is) in large (part) due to a weak global economy,”
Amin Nasser, senior vice president for upstream operations at Saudi Aramco, told an energy conference in
Abu Dhabi, adding that there was a “significant amount
of oil” in the market. “However, long-term fundamentals
remain robust...Fluctuating oil prices don’t overshadow
Saudi Aramco’s long-term commitment.”
component could be a result of increases in
the cost of hiring household workers.
Inflation in the leisure and hospitality
segments also witnessed rises. Inflation in
the leisure component rose from 0.5 percent
y/y in August to 1.2 percent y/y in
September, while inflation in the “hotels”
segment rose from 2.5 percent y/y in August
to 3.5 percent y/y in September. The relatively strong price growth in these segments
could be mainly attributed to seasonal factors, or the local and regional public holidays that took place in September, during
which demand for these services sees a significant increase.
cent y/y in September. This component
reports changes in its inflation rate once
every quarter. As a result of its rather stable
inflation rate for the most part of this year,
amid moderate housing activity, housing
services is expected to post an annual inflation rate average of just under 4.5 percent
y/y for 2014.
Inflation in the furnishings & household
maintenance sector jumped in September,
from 4.9 percent y/y in August to 5.6 percent
y/y. Inflation in this component was mainly
led higher by an increase in maintenance
and domestic services & household services
costs. The jump in the costs of the latter sub-
Moody’s sees financial, political risks in Bahrain
SINGAPORE: High income levels, a reasonably welldiversified economy and a strong external balance
sheet continue to support Bahrain’s (Baa2 negative)
sovereign credit profile, but deteriorating government finances and a very high reliance on oil revenues-against limited oil reserves-together with
political risks are key credit weaknesses, says Moody’s
Investors Service in a report published yesterday.
Moody’s conclusions were contained in its justreleased credit analysis “Bahrain, Government of ”,
which looks at the country’s credit profile in terms of
Economic Strength (assessed as “moderate (+)”);
Institutional Strength (“high (-)”); Fiscal Strength
(“moderate”); and Susceptibility to Event Risk (“high
(+)”).
These represent the four main analytic factors in
Moody’s Sovereign Bond Rating Methodology. The
analysis constitutes an annual update to investors
and is not a rating action. Bahrain is rated Baa2 with a
negative outlook. Bahrain’s high per capita income of
nearly $50,000 on purchasing power parity basis in
2013 and a strong non-oil sector continue to underpin the country’s economy.
According to Moody’s, Bahrain’s vulnerability to
external economic and financial shocks is cushioned
by its strong external position as reflected in a solid
net international investment position of 77 percent
of GDP in 2013, and current account surpluses have
averaged 7.8 percent of GDP over the last 10 years.
Bahrain’s relatively low external breakeven oil
price, which the IMF projects to be $65.5 per barrel
in 2015, also suppor ts its external position and
Moody’s expects a sustained period of low oil prices
to have a manageable impact.
Moody’s forecasts 3.5 percent real GDP growth
for 2015, down from an estimated 4 percent in
2014. Several large, multi-year investment projects
are likely to support growth in the coming years.
Bahrain’s oil production has only limited scope
for increases, and the authorities are planning refinery upgrades, an aluminum smelter capacity extension, and the construction of power plants. Social
housing projects, which have been funded through
t h e G u l f Co o p e r a t i o n Co u n c i l D e ve l o p m e n t
Program, are also set to launch in the coming years.
However, a prolonged period of low oil prices could
negatively affec t public investment spending,
because oil and gas revenues account for more than
News
Dollar steady against
dinar at KD 0.290
KUWAIT: The US dollar exchange rate was stable against
the Kuwait dinar yesterday trading at KD 0.290, while the
euro moved up to KD 0.362, compared with rates the day
before. The Sterling Pound exchange rate went up to
KD0.462. The Swiss franc also increased to KD0.301. The
Japanese yen remained the same at KD 0.003, said the daily bulletin of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK).
Egypt’s consumer
inflation rises
CAIRO: Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation quickened to 11.8 percent in October from 11.1 percent in
September, the official statistics agency CAPMAS said
yesterday, while the less volatile core measure fell.
Inflation had fallen in September after a rise this summer triggered by the government’s introduction of fuel
price increases. Mohamed Abu Basha, an economist at
EFG-Hermes, said he had predicted a smaller increase.
“It came above expectations and that’s solely due to the
jump in the category of education”, he said, noting that
the back-to-school period usually spurs a price hike but
not the 25 percent registered by CAPMAS for October.
He said other items across the consumer basket saw
mild increases, such as 0.9 percent month-on-month for
food prices. Egypt’s annual core inflation, which strips
out subsidized goods and volatile items such as fruit
and vegetables, declined to 8.47 percent in October
from 9.15 percent in September, the central bank said.
Total can withstand oil at
$80, to continue projects
ABU DHABI: Big oil companies such as Total can withstand
oil prices at $80 a barrel and the French firm will continue
its current investment projects, Total’s president for exploration and production said yesterday. “$100 was a good
level to ensure continuous supply of projects for the
future,” Arnaud Breuillac told a news conference at a major
energy industry conference in Abu Dhabi. But he added,
“Large companies like Total have financial capability to
weather a bit of time when the oil price is lower,” and said
Total did not want to cut back its investment budget. “We
will continue with our capital discipline. We have a strong
roadmap for the next few years with a lot of projects, and
all of them will continue.” Breuillac also said Total did not
think oil prices would stay as low as $80 for long.
Dubai’s financial free
zone to double in size
SHANDONG: Customers choose vegetables in a market in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong province yesterday. Chinese inflation was unchanged at a near five-year low of 1.6 percent in October, the government said, with analysts warning the world’s number two economy is facing deflationary risks. —AFP
86 percent of total government revenues.
Moody’s also notes that Bahrain faces continued
pressures to further increase government spending.
Current spending has increased largely due to higher spending on welfare, social security and subsidies. As a result, Bahrain has the highest fiscal
breakeven oil price in the GCC, at $125.4 in 2014,
according to the IMF.
Bahrain’s fiscal deficit will likely remain relatively high at 4.2 percent in 2014, after reaching
4.3 percent of GDP in 2013, says Moody’s. As a
result of these recurrent fiscal deficits, the stock
of government debt increased to 43.5 percent of
GDP in 2013 from 21.4 percent in 2009.
Moreover, the government is increasingly relying
on external sources to finance its deficits through
international bond issuances. In addition, the
country remains vulnerable to domestic political
tensions and contagion from regional geopolitical instability.
DUBAI: Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is on track to
double in size over the next decade with companies from China and
South-east Asia set to fuel its next phase of growth, the governor of
the financial free zone said yesterday.
The zone’s expansion illustrates the shift away from traditional
financial centers such as London and New York due to the increasing
wealth of emerging market economies, and the increasing importance of the Middle East as a hub. DIFC has its own labor laws and
court system separate from the wider United Arab Emirates. Since
opening a decade ago, it has risen to become the most prominent
financial hub in the Middle East, with many international banks, law
and advisory firms and insurance companies using it as their regional
base of operations.
“We’ve been growing very fast, in terms of the number of companies and people that are working in the DIFC, and if you extrapolate
that, we’ll manage to double everything in the next 10 years,” DIFC
governor Essa Kazim told reporters at a media event.
“Chinese and South-east Asian companies are showing a strong
interest in the region so we are working with them to capitalize on
Dubai and the DIFC as a hub for their businesses to expand. That is
where I feel the growth will happen.” The doubling in size would be in
terms of floor space, the number of people working in the centre and
the number of companies there, Kazim added. —Reuters
EXCHANGE RATES
Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.
Japanese Yen
Indian Rupees
Pakistani Rupees
Srilankan Rupees
Nepali Rupees
Singapore Dollar
Hongkong Dollar
Bangladesh Taka
Philippine Peso
Thai Baht
Irani Riyal transfer
Irani Riyal cash
Saudi Riyal
Qatari Riyal
Omani Riyal
Bahraini Dinar
UAE Dirham
ASIAN COUNTRIES
2.526
4.743
2.847
2.221
2.963
226.560
37.581
3.759
6.467
8.870
59.250
117.500
GCC COUNTRIES
77.724
80.074
757.340
774.150
79.376
ARAB COUNTRIES
Egyptian Pound - Cash
40.762
Egyptian Pound - Transfer
40.663
Yemen Riyal/for 1000
1.360
Tunisian Dinar
159.910
Jordanian Dinar
411.340
Lebanese Lira/for 1000
1.955
Syrian Lira
2.077
Morocco Dirham
33.297
EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES
US Dollar Transfer
291.350
Euro
364.770
Sterling Pound
464.120
Canadian dollar
258.290
Turkish lira
128.800
Swiss Franc
303.020
Australian Dollar
252.310
US Dollar Buying
290.150
20 gram
10 gram
5 gram
GOLD
229.000
117.500
59.250
UAE Exchange Centre WLL
COUNTRY
Australian Dollar
Canadian Dollar
Swiss Franc
Euro
US Dollar
Sterling Pound
Japanese Yen
Bangladesh Taka
Indian Rupee
Sri Lankan Rupee
Nepali Rupee
Pakistani Rupee
UAE Dirhams
Bahraini Dinar
Egyptian Pound
Jordanian Dinar
Omani Riyal
Qatari Riyal
Saudi Riyal
SELL DRAFT
230.42
261.08
306.15
366.02
291.55
465.34
2.58
3.759
4.737
2.221
2.957
2.853
79.23
773.84
40.66
413.78
756.12
80.29
77.67
SELL CASH
227.42
262.08
304.15
367.02
294.55
468.34
2.60
4.029
5.037
2.656
3.492
2.790
79.69
775.91
41.26
419.43
763.42
80.84
78.07
2.765
3.905
88.300
47.950
9.980
130.750
Sierra Leone
Singapore Dollar
South African Rand
Sri Lankan Rupee
Taiwan
Thai Baht
0.000064
0.223011
0.019914
0.001912
0.009414
0.008559
0.000070
0.229011
0.028414
0.002492
0.009594
0.009109
Bahrain Exchange Company
Bahraini Dinar
Egyptian Pound
Iranian Riyal
Iraqi Dinar
Jordanian Dinar
Kuwaiti Dinar
Lebanese Pound
Moroccan Dirhams
Nigerian Naira
Omani Riyal
Qatar Riyal
Saudi Riyal
Syrian Pound
Tunisian Dinar
Turkish Lira
UAE Dirhams
Yemeni Riyal
Arab
0.766353
0.038632
0.000081
0.000188
0.406851
1.000000
0.000144
0.023794
0.001179
0.750729
0.079316
0.077057
0.001727
0.155580
0.130217
0.078342
0.001315
0.774353
0.041732
0.000082
0.000248
0.414351
1.000000
0.000244
0.047794
0.001814
0.756409
0.080529
0.077757
0.001947
0.163580
0.137217
0.079491
0.001395
Syrian Pound
Nepalese Rupees
Malaysian Ringgit
Chinese Yuan Renminbi
Thai Bhat
Turkish Lira
COUNTRY
Belgian Franc
British Pound
Czech Korune
Danish Krone
Euro
Norwegian Krone
Romanian Leu
Slovakia
Swedish Krona
Swiss Franc
Turkish Lira
Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd
Rate for Transfer
US Dollar
Canadian Dollar
Sterling Pound
Euro
Swiss Frank
Bahrain Dinar
UAE Dirhams
Qatari Riyals
Saudi Riyals
Jordanian Dinar
Egyptian Pound
Sri Lankan Rupees
Indian Rupees
Pakistani Rupees
Bangladesh Taka
Philippines Pesso
Cyprus pound
Japanese Yen
Selling Rate
291.150
259.205
466.000
366.615
302.465
774.160
79.165
80.770
77.815
410.810
40.623
2.222
4.740
2.828
3.756
6.472
714.395
3.560
Australian Dollar
New Zealand Dollar
America
Canadian Dollar
US Dollars
US Dollars Mint
Bangladesh Taka
Chinese Yuan
Hong Kong Dollar
Indian Rupee
Indonesian Rupiah
Japanese Yen
Kenyan Shilling
Korean Won
Malaysian Ringgit
Nepalese Rupee
Pakistan Rupee
Philippine Peso
SELL CASH
0.007585
0.457005
0.005086
0.044737
0.358313
0.038713
0.083568
0.008494
0.035269
0.295661
0.130217
SELLDRAFT
0.008585
0.466005
0.017066
0.049737
0.366313
0.043913
0.083568
0.018494
0.040289
0.305861
0.137217
Australasia
0.243703
0.220271
0.255203
0.229771
0.252099
0.287250
0.287750
0.260599
0.291950
0.291950
Asia
0.003351
0.046031
0.035479
0.004481
0.000020
0.002464
0.003323
0.000257
0.084748
0.002977
0.002749
0.006383
0.003951
0.049531
0.038229
0.004882
0.000026
0.002644
0.003323
0.000272
0.090748
0.003147
0.003029
0.006663
Al Mulla Exchange
Currency
US Dollar
Euro
Pound Sterlng
Canadian Dollar
Indian Rupee
Egyptian Pound
Sri Lankan Rupee
Bangladesh Taka
Philippines Peso
Pakistan Rupee
Bahraini Dinar
UAE Dirham
Saudi Riyal
*Rates are subject to change
Transfer Rate (Per 1000)
290.300
365.200
464.000
255.700
4.740
40.615
2.217
3.750
6.472
2.825
773.550
79.100
77.600
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
BUSINESS
Wrong place, small size, ailing industry kill Welsh refinery
LONDON: US company Murphy Oil tried for more than
four years to sell its Milford Haven refinery in Wales. The
plant was finally doomed last week when a deal with
entrepreneur Gary Klesch fell through because he
could not secure financing. Banks were not convinced
Klesch’s plans to buy Britain’s smallest and least sophisticated plant were viable, sources familiar with the
transaction said.
The 135,000 barrel-per-day plant has already been
shut and will be dismantled in coming months, putting
most of its 450 staff out of work. “It was at a smaller
scale than other UK refineries, in a relatively remote
location, and with a product slate skewed to gasoline
at a time when Northwest Europe is surplus gasoline,”
said Stephen George, chief economist at KBC
Advanced Technology.
The frail state of the European refining industry also
means that all but the strongest plants are vulnerable.
Competition is increasing from the Middle East and
United States, and industry executives say around 1
million bpd of capacity needs to close in the next few
years to bring the market into balance.
“There’s not a lot of reason for hope (of improvement),” said Bryan Kelly, vice president for UK operations at Murphy Oil.
“Everybody thought 2009 was the worst year for
refining until 2011. Then for 2013, cash margins were
negative for the whole year.” Klesch declined to com-
ment on the closure. The resurrection of the
Grangemouth refinery in Scotland the previous year
helped foster a view that ailing British plants could be
saved. Scotland’s only refinery, owned jointly by Ineos
and PetroChina, received a 285 million euro ($357 million) loan guarantee from the British Treasury and a 9
million pound ($14.3 million) grant from the Scottish
government.
The threat to Grangemouth came just months
before a referendum on Scottish independence, and
both governments were keen to be seen as protecting
Scottish jobs and supporting a vital industry.
Grangemouth also has strategic importance because it
powers the Kinneil terminal, which processes North
Sea crude coming ashore via the Forties Pipeline
System, a grade that helps set the Brent benchmark for
global oil prices. By comparison, Milford Haven’s significance to British politics was much less. Its closure creates a headache for the Conservative-led coalition government in the run-up to elections next May. The Welsh
government pledged a loan guarantee of 100 million
pounds to keep it afloat.
But Milford Haven is the smaller of two refineries in
Wales and the smallest of the seven plants in the
United Kingdom.
“Grangemouth has a crude cost advantage and is
better located from a market perspective,” said Colin
Birch, a vice president at IHS Global. — Reuters
In shift, Russia lets ruble
float free in markets
CB ready to step in to maintain stability
LONDON: Sweden’s former prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt addresses delegates at
the annual Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference in central London yesterday. — AFP
Russians buy dollars and
hoard cash on ruble fears
MOSCOW: Many Russians are buying dollars and hoarding cash, increasingly concerned by a slide in the ruble and wary of
possible restrictions on bank withdrawals
as President Vladimir Putin blames currency woes on speculators and the West.
While there is little panic on the streets
of Moscow and other major cities, some
Russians are taking no chances with their
money, with many hardened by a financial
crisis in 1998 which wiped out the savings
of millions of people. The ruble has fallen
more than 25 percent against the dollar in
2014, with especially heavy losses in the
past month when the currency repeatedly
hit all-time lows despite the central bank
spending around $30 billion to defend the
currency. Financial officials and the Kremlin
have united in calling for calm, suggesting
that speculators were to blame for the
falling ruble, rather than tumbling oil prices
or Western sanctions that have weakened
the economy.
Putin has hinted that the global oil price
has been deliberately manipulated to hurt
Russia. Russian search engine Yandex said
queries such as “what to do with roubles in
2015?” hit a record high of over 1.2 million
on one day last week. Viktoria Openko,
deputy head of currency conversion operations at mid-sized Russian lender B&N
Bank, said demand for dollars had risen
more than four times in Moscow from Oct.
9 compared with the preceding two
months and the bank had to increase the
number of times it restocked its branches.
“We first noticed increased demand in
Moscow on Oct. 8-9, when the dollar
repeatedly started to trade above 40
rubles,” she said. “In the regions, the rise in
demand started later, from Oct. 13, and on
a lesser scale.” Representatives from VTB 24,
the retail-banking arm of Russia’s secondlargest lender VTB, and Rosbank, part of
Societe Generale Group, have seen a similar
increase in forex demand.
Another mid-sized Russian lender,
Soyuz, said it sold $2.3 million to customers
in October, compared with $890,000 in
September. So far there are few signs large
banks are running short of dollars, but
media have reported foreign currency
shortages at smaller lenders in the past
week. Four large banks were able to sell up
to $10,000 to a Reuters reporter on Friday,
while an office of sanctioned SMP Bank had
large amounts of dollars but had run out of
euros. At a currency exchange booth in
Moscow, an employee who did not wish to
be named said customer behavior had
changed. “We have the same customers
ringing up in the morning to check the
rate. People are worried,” the employee
said.
Bella Zlatkis, deputy chief executive of
top lender Sberbank , said late last month
that demand for safety deposit boxes was
the most noticeable change in customer
behavior. “ We can’t buy safes quickly
enough, the largest demand we have is for
safes. I understand when people want to
put dollars in safes, but at the moment
there is another trend, to take out rubles
and put them in a safe,” Zlatkis said. She
suggested demand for safes was linked to
fears that authorities could restrict bank
withdrawals. “The No. 1 motivation is to
save so they can’t take it from you.”
Yesterday, the ruble firmed sharply after
Putin said he hoped speculative trading on
the ruble would stop soon. By mid-afternoon it was trading more than 2 percent
higher than the previous close after the
central bank said it could intervene at any
time to punish speculators after letting the
currency float freely.
“That Russian officials from the president down are trying to talk up the ruble
speaks volumes about the extent of the
deterioration in sentiment towards the currency,” said Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy. “While
there has been no widespread dollarization
of retail deposits, this is now a much bigger
risk than it was as recently as a couple of
weeks ago,” Spiro said. “Today’s recovery in
the ruble looks and feels like a temporary
respite.” — Reuters
MOSCOW: With the Russian ruble in a nosedive
under the pressure of Western sanctions and
slumping oil prices, the country’s central bank
decided yesterday to freely float the currency in
markets and stop regularly spending billions in a
vain attempt to stem its fall. The bank has been
burning through its $400 billion in reserves to
soften the drop in the ruble, which has lost
about half its value since the start of the year as
investors pulled money out of Russia and the
economy headed toward recession. It spent $30
billion last month alone - an unsustainable rate.
Yesterday, the central bank said it would let
the market decide what value to give the ruble,
which touched a record low of above 48 to the
dollar on Friday. It also warned, however, that it
would be ready to intervene if necessary to
maintain financial stability.
A free float could see the ruble depreciate
further in the longer term, stoking inflation and
other economic problems for Russians. But
investors welcomed the central bank’s move as a
necessary step protect the nation’s hard currency reserves and curb market speculation.
As a result, the ruble strengthened sharply on
the news, trading up 3.6 percent at around 45
rubles a dollar in midday trading. The central
bank will stop setting daily limits for the ruble’s
fluctuations and will not have any obligation to
intervene regularly in markets to support the
currency. However, Central Bank Chief Elvira
Nabiullina said the regulator will “intervene in
the market at any moment in the amount necessary to counter speculative demand.”
Speaking in Beijing, where he attended the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit,
Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced confidence that the central bank’s move will help stabilize the ruble.
“We have seen speculative fluctuations of the
rate, but I think it will end soon in the face of
action taken by the central bank in response to
action by speculators,” he said.
The central bank has been eating through its
hard currency reserves to prop up the ruble,
spending $30 billion last month alone. It also has
steadily raised its base interest rate from 5.5 percent to 9.5 percent last month to entice
investors with higher returns. The ruble kept
MOSCOW: People pass by a display with exchange rates in downtown Moscow yesterday.
Russia’s Central Bank yesterday scrapped its daily controls on the value of the ruble, allowing
the battered currency to float freely in financial markets earlier than planned. — AP
falling. Observers said Russian banks were able
to earn easy profits by taking loans from the central bank and buying dollars in the currency markets, a strategy that helped drive the ruble down
further.
Nabiullina said the central bank will introduce
restrictions on the amount of loans offered to
financial institutions to ease pressure on the
ruble. “We will temporary limit liquidity in rubles,
because it’s being used not only for financing
the economy but also for currency market speculations,” she said.
Market watchers said the ruble’s trading band
encouraged investors to test the limits set by the
central bank. “It became quite clear that corridor
was no longer helping prevent the ruble’s
plunge,” MDM bank chairman Oleg Vyugin, a former deputy central bank chief, said in comments
carried by the Tass news agency. “Its predictabili-
ty made a lot of harm.”
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the regulator should have made the move earlier. “The
decision is a bit belated,” he said, according to
the Interfax news agency. “When the ruble came
under pressure, it was unnecessary to maintain
the currency corridor and sell hard currency
reserves,” he said.
Siluanov argued that the ruble had been driven down by speculators, adding that market
forces will help it rebound. However, slumping
oil prices and uncertainty over when the US and
European Union sanctions for Russia’s action in
Ukraine will likely keep pressure on the ruble.
The central bank on Monday revised up its
estimates for how much money will be pulled
out of Russia this year, from $90 billion to $128
billion. It predicted zero economic growth next
year. — AP
With dollar on a tear,
gold and silver
rout far from over
NEW YORK: Gold’s rout may be far from
over, with many analysts and traders surveyed by Reuters predicting prices could
fall to $1,000 per ounce by the end of the
year, the first time at that level since 2009,
even after Friday’s 3-percent short-covering
rally. A rush of physical buying in the past
week - from jewelry in Shanghai to coins in
Germany - may prove to be a dead-cat
bounce that is too feeble to offset a broader trend of selling by investors betting on
further gains in the dollar, U.S. equities and
an improving U.S. economy, according to
the survey of more than two dozen analysts
and traders.
Half of the 27 respondents surveyed on
Wednesday and Thursday predicted gold
prices will breach a critical support at
$1,100 per ounce by the end of this year. A
significant portion even had $1,000 in their
sights, which would be a five-year low and
a level considered critical for miners. Only
two saw prices recovering above the
$1,200 mark.
Silver’s fortunes may be even bleaker most of those polled expect prices to fall
another 10 percent to as low as $14 per
ounce, which would be its lowest in over
five years.
“US dollar strength should impact gold
on a short-term basis,” said John Meyer,
analyst at brokerage SP Angel. The survey
was carried out before spot gold rallied on
Friday after hitting fresh 4-1/2-year lows
around $1,130 an ounce as investors covered bearish bets after weaker-thanexpected October US jobs growth. Prices
may remain volatile and prone to rallies on
spurts of short-covering, and weak prices
have unleashed a flurry of physical demand
for coins in Europe and the United States.
But with the dollar on a tear against
global currencies and institutional cash
being pulled from the market, any recovery
may be short-lived for now.
“The drivers of a sustained rally in gold
are ephemeral at best,” said Tai Wong, director, metals trading at BMO Capital Markets
in New York. A strong dollar makes it more
expensive for foreign buyers to own dollarbased gold. Holdings in the world’s No. 1
gold-backed exchange traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust, which proved popular with
investors during the financial crisis that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers,
sank to their lowest in six years on Friday.
The poll highlighted how far gold has
fallen out of favor with the end of the
Federal Reserve’s years-long bond-buying
stimulus program. At $1,000, gold would
be off almost 50 percent from the all-time
highs of $1,920 an ounce hit in 2011 when
investors were piling in to protect against
inflation and geopolitical and economic
uncertainty. “The mood of investors could
not be more bearish for precious metals,”
said Thorsten Proettel, commodity analyst
at LBBW. — Reuters
Soldiers and police clear barricades set on fire by demonstrators on the main road of Makassar, South Sulawesi province yesterday as protest
continues in Makassar against government plans to increase fuel prices. The new Indonesian President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, is
expected to announce a large increase in the price of petrol and diesel in the coming weeks to cut government subsidies that are a drain on
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. — AFP
Middle-schooler gets Intel
funding for Braille printer
HUNTINGTON BEACH: If Shubham Banerjee
cannot lay claim to being the world’s
youngest venture capital-backed entrepreneur, he comes very close.
Banerjee was 12 years old when he closed
an early-stage funding round with Intel
Capital, the company’s venture capital arm,
last month for his prototype for a low-cost
Braille printer. Since then, the San Jose,
California middle-schooler has turned 13.
That’s young, even by the standards of
Silicon Valley, where many venture capitalists
unapologetically prefer to fund youth over
experience. Young entrepreneurs usually have
reached at least their mid-teens when they hit
it big. Nick D’Aloisio, founder of online news
aggregator Summly, was 17 when Yahoo
bought his company last year for $30 million.
Brothers John and Patrick Collison, behind
payments service Stripe, were 16 and 19 when
they sold an earlier business to a Canadian
company for $5 million.
After reading a fundraising flyer about the
blind, Banerjee felt inspired to turn a hightech version of Legos, the toy building blocks,
into a device that could print in Braille. One
day, he wants to mass-produce the printers
and sell them for about $350, far less than
Braille printers cost now.
This past summer, he worked on incorporating an Intel Edison chip, a processor aimed
at hobbyists, into the printer. In September,
Intel invited him to a conference in San
Francisco to highlight uses for Edison. There,
he got a big surprise.
Intel executive Mike Bell announced from
the conference stage that the giant chipmaker
would invest in his company, Braigo Labs.
Until then, his funding consisted of the
$35,000 his parents gave him. —Reuters
Avivasa float values
insurer at $746m
ISTANBUL: British insurer Aviva Plc and Turkey’s Sabanci
Holding completed the flotation of a 19.7 percent stake in
their Turkish joint venture pension unit Avivasa yesterday,
valuing the firm at 1.68 billion lira ($746 million). The company is expected to be listed as AVISA on the Istanbul stock
exchange from Nov. 13 and will trade at 47 lira per share,
Aviva and brokerage Ak Yatirim, which managed the sale, said
in statements.
The offering was almost three times oversubscribed, with
7.04 million shares sold against demand of 19.8 million, Ak
Yatirim said in a stock exchange filing. “Turkey is an extremely
attractive market to Aviva, with excellent growth prospects.
We have a strong position in life and pensions and a long successful relationship with Sabanci,” David McMillan, chief executive of Aviva Europe, said.
Aviva is part way through a group-wide restructuring led
by Chief Executive Mark Wilson, selling off non-core businesses, cutting costs and improving profitability, but has said it is
committed to Avivasa, one of Turkey’s largest private pensions
providers and one of the group’s growth businesses. —Reuters
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
BUSINESS
European equities kick off week with gains
LONDON: European stock markets rose
steadily yesterday with trading quiet in the
absence of any major data releases, analysts
said. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index
climbed 0.29 percent to stand at 6,586.10
points approaching midday in the British capital, lifted by firmer mining share prices.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 gained 0.14 percent to
9,304.71 points and in Paris, the CAC 40 won
0.17 percent to 4,197.21. Miners and oil
majors were higher as commodity prices
rebounded from recent heavy falls.
“It’s been a quiet start to the European session yesterday, as a lack of economic data
combined with little direction from the Asian
session overnight leave the markets lacking
any significant catalysts,” said Craig Erlam,
market analyst at Alpari trading group.
Europe’s main markets had closed mixed on
Friday following broadly upbeat US jobs data.
In the United States, the Dow and S&P 500
stocks indices ended Friday with record high
closes after the Labor Department said the
economy added 214,000 jobs last month.
While that figure was weaker than forecast,
the previous two months’ job gains were
revised upward and the US unemployment
rate slipped to a six-year low. In yesterday’s
foreign exchange deals, the single European
currency climbed to $1.2498 from $1.2456
late in New York on Friday.
The euro advanced to 78.60 British pence
from 78.48 pence, while the British pound
grew to $1.5901 from $1.5869 on Friday. On
the London Bullion Market, the price of gold
increased to $1,172 an ounce from a
$1,154.50 on Friday. In company news, Cairn
Energy said it had unearthed another oil find
off the coast of Senegal.
It comes after the British energy explorer
last month said it made its first oil find in a
field off the coast of Senegal, prompting the
west African country to say that it aimed to
begin pumping its own oil in about five years’
time. Cairn Energy chief executive Simon
Thomson described the latest find as “significant” for the company and Senegal. The new
discovery was made at Cairn’s SNE-1 well, situated about 100 kilometers (60 miles) off the
country’s coast. Cairn’s share price surged
11.26 percent to stand at 175.68 pence in
London deals. In mining shares, Anglo
American rose 0.99 percent to 1,378 pence in
early trading. — AFP
Brent climbs above $84
on Libya disruptions
LONDON: Brent crude rose by $1 to
above $84 a barrel yesterday, climbing
for a second straight session as protests
in Libya disrupted supply and the US
dollar fell away from four-year highs.
Exports at the Hariga oil port in eastern Libya were halted on Saturday when
state security guards began a sit-in
protest over unpaid wages. The El Feel
oil field in the south-west, also known as
the Elephant field, was shut down on
Sunday due to a power outage, while
the El Sharara field, which was halted
last week due to political violence,
remains closed.
“These developments highlight the
ongoing chaos in Libya, and we should
see a production level of 600,000 to
700,000 barrels a day as the new normal,” said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at
Commerzbank in Frankfurt. Brent crude
for December was up $1 at $84.39 per
barrel by 0925 GMT. US crude was up 70
cents to $79.35 per barrel.
The dollar fell 0.3 percent against a
basket of currencies yesterday, supporting oil prices. The dollar’s recent strength
has made oil and other commodities
more expensive for holders of other currencies, suppressing demand. Ukrainian
forces shelled the pro-Moscow stronghold of Donetsk on Sunday, putting a
fragile cease-fire under pressure. An
escalation of tensions in Ukraine could
disrupt Europe’s gas supplies from
Russia, potentially increasing demand
for oil.
But weak economic data from China
provided resistance to oil prices.
Consumer inflation in the world’s second-largest economy remained at a
near five-year low in October amid sluggish demand, the National Bureau of
Statistics said yesterday. The
Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries has given no clear
indication that it will cut its output at a
meeting on Nov 27. It has previously
reduced output at times of oversupply.
Kuwait’s oil minister Ali Al-Omair said
yesterday that OPEC was unlikely to cut.
“It’s too early to decide, but I don’t think
so,” he told reporters on the sidelines of
a conference in Abu Dhabi. — Reuters
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
BUSINESS
China, S Korea secure
‘effective’ free trade deal
SEOUL: South Korea and China said yesterday they had effectively secured a free trade
agreement to remove tariffs on over 90 percent of goods, although some details
remained under negotiation. The announcement came after South Korean President Park
Geun-Hye met Chinese President Xi Jinping
on the sidelines of the APEC summit in
Beijing. Park’s office said the two countries
had “effectively reached” a deal, which Xi
described as one of “landmark importance.” A
South Korean government statement made it
clear that differences remained over a few
unspecified “details” that would have to be
bridged before the FTA could be signed. Any
final document would require the approval of
both national legislatures.
South Korea’s deputy trade minister Woo
Tae-Hee said there was little possibility of
changes to any major clauses in the current
agreement. “A substantial conclusion of negotiations can be seen as a complete conclusion,” Woo was quoted as saying by the
Yonhap news agency.
The statement said the FTA would remove
tariffs on 92 percent of Chinese goods
imported to the South and 91 percent of the
South’s goods imported to China within 20
years. China is currently South Korea’s
biggest trading partner and export market,
and two-way trade stood at around $228.8
billion last year.
Exports to China-the world’s secondlargest economy-totalled $145.8 billion in
2013, more than a quarter of the South’s total
overseas shipments. The two neighbors started trade negotiations in 2012 but progress
has been delayed by differences on the
extent of market-opening. There have also
been protests from Korean farmers who fear
an influx of cheap Chinese imports. The
South Korean statement said the FTA would
exclude a number of farm products like rice,
beef, pork and pepper-which account for 30
percent by value of agricultural imports from
China. —AFP
Sweden grapples with
massive household debt
STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s new centre-left
government and its financial authorities
are under huge pressure when they meet
today to tackle a mountain of household
debt that is casting a long shadow over
one of Europe’s few economic bright
spots. Having slashed rates to zero to
fight the risk of deflation, top Swedish
officials are now in a quandary over how
to rein in borrowing and house price rises
without sending the real estate market
into a downward spiral. The country’s
AAA-rated economy is still one of
Europe’s strongest, with low public debt,
sound state finances and banks among
the best capitalised and most profitable
in Europe.
But consumers, barely touched by the
financial crisis, have loaded up on cheap
mortgages and caused Swedish property
prices to triple over the last 20 years,
prompting a warning from the IMF that
the market is 20 percent overvalued.
Adding to the problem: Sweden has built
too few houses for the last 20 years and
its capital Stockholm is one of Europe’s
fastest growing cities.
Critics say the former centre-right government added fuel to the fire by slashing real estate taxes and leaving 30 percent mortgage tax relief untouched.
Meanwhile, Sweden’s household debt-toincome ratio has risen to above 170 percent - among Europe’s highest.
The worry is that private consumption,
nearly half of GDP, would suffer if rates
rose or property prices fell. “The longer
we wait, the bigger the imbalances are,”
said Bengt Hansson, analyst at the
Swedish National Board of Housing
Planning and Building. “We already have
a bubble, but we will avoid an even bigger bubble.”
Consumers bullish
It will be hard to dissuade bullish
Swedish consumers. In Stockholm’s frenzied housing market, buyers make multimillion crown offers to snap up flats they
may only have seen in photographs. And
cranes and scaffolding are common
sights in suburbia as householders take
advantage of generous tax breaks for
home improvements.
“We don’t think it will crash badly,” said
Peter, a 47 year-old investment advisor,
who with his wife Maria has just bought a
house in Stockholm for around 12 million
Swedish crowns ($1.62 million).
“It might stop going up for a while, but
over the longer term we expect it to go
up,” he added, suggesting the lack of
housing and population growth in
Stockholm would support prices.
Attempts by regulators so far to slow
credit growth - squeezing banks by making them put aside more capital and
draw up voluntary mortgage pay-down
plans - have not worked because interest
rates have continued to fall. Last week
the central bank cut rates to zero in an
attempt to answer criticism that it is not
doing enough to tackle another economic risk - deflation - even while it acknowledged the problem that would create in
containing household debt. “There is a
fairly large consensus that household
debt is a concern,” Swedish central bank
chairman Stefan Ingves said after the cut.
“If households continue to borrow, we
could end up with very big problems later on, and this is what we want to avoid.”
What to do?
Sweden knows all too well the damage that a property bubble can do when
it bursts: Deregulation in the 1980s led to
a commercial property boom that bust in
1992 after which those properties lost
nearly two-thirds of their value and
Sweden had to nationalise two banks. But
since then borrowing has swelled again.
By 2013, mortgages comprised 47 per
cent of the Swedish banks’ total lending
from 30 percent in 2001. Another risk:
those banks are largely financed with
international market funding rather than
deposits.
Many economists say the obvious
action to take - lowering mortgage tax
relief or reimposing real estate taxes - is
politically difficult. “We are not prepared
to take measures that make it difficult for
households to meet their housing costs
or, in a worst case scenario, be forced to
move out of their homes,” Financial
Markets Minister Per Bolund said.
Central bank governor Ingves favours
tightening rules on mortgage repayments because currently only four in ten
mortgage borrowers pay off their debt
compared to nine in ten in the mid1990s. Lowering the borrowing ceiling of
85 percent of the value of a property is
another option, but would hit first-time
buyers. The Swedish Bankers’ Association
has suggested voluntary rules to make
Swedes pay down the first 50 percent of
loans in order that “households pay off
debts when interest rates are extremely
low in order to be better prepared
when...we have higher interest rates,”
Annika Falkengren, chairman of the association and CEO of Swedish bank SEB,
said. But Sweden’s competition authority
has said this could limit competition and
is yet to give its okay.
Looking at other countries’ examples
suggests that however Sweden’s government, central bank and regulators decide
to act, engineering a soft landing will be
hard. A drop in Danish and Dutch house
prices for example triggered a fall in consumer confidence and spending, deepening the slump after the downturn of
2008-2009. And in the Netherlands, regulators made things worse by tightening
mortgage rules as house prices were
falling. Sweden’s neighbour Norway,
where mortgage-linked debt stands at
around 200 percent of disposable
income, was forced to do a U-turn on
tighter lending rules after house prices
began falling late in 2013. “We have to do
enough, but not too much,” Swedish central bank member Martin Floden said.
“We cannot continue with this rapid rise
in house prices and debt for ever, we
need to in some way stabilize the development.” — Reuters
HONG KONG: A trader sits at the stock exchange in the financial district of Hong Kong yesterday. A trading link between Hong Kong and
Shanghai’s stock exchanges will start on November 17 after weeks of delays. — AFP
‘Milestone’ HK, Shanghai
stock link set to launch
Announcement lifts both markets
HONG KONG: A trading link between Hong Kong and
Shanghai’s stock exchanges will start on November 17
after weeks of delays, the Hong Kong exchange
announced yesterday, in a move that lifted both markets and is expected to lead to billions of dollars in
daily transactions.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority described the
“Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect”, which is seen
as a key step towards greater financial liberalisation in
China’s economy, as a “milestone”.
“The SFC and the CSRC jointly announced today
that the launch of Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock
Connect on 17 November 2014 ... has been approved,”
a statement issued by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
(HKEx) said yeserday. The exchange said it “welcomes
today’s announcement”. The SFC is Hong Kong’s
Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and the
CSRC is the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Hong Kong shares ended yesterday 0.83 percent higher while Shanghai added 2.3 percent. Charles Li, chief
executive of HKEx, said that market rallies showed the
scheme was “very strongly endorsed”.
“We have seen a very strong rally at the Asia market today we haven’t seen for a long time,” he said. “It’s
something very new and it’s never been tried before.
It’s going to work but there might be glitches along
the way,” he added.
A half-day trial would be conducted on Saturday
before the official launch, Li said. Hong Kong Chief
Executive Leung Chun-ying thanked “state leaders and
Central Government”, adding that he thought Hong
Kong could “make greater contribution to the reform
and opening up of the country”. The platform-which
was expected to be launched last month before being
delayed-will allow international investors to trade
selected stocks on Shanghai’s tightly restricted
exchange and let mainland investors buy shares in
Hong Kong. It is thought up to $3.8 billion in crossborder trades will be carried out each day.
“This marks an important milestone in the liberalization of the mainland’s capital account,” said Norman
Chan, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary
Authority. The venture is expected to see volumes on
both exchanges rise significantly, particularly
Shanghai, but is subject to strict limits in order to preserve capital controls in China, where authorities keep
a tight grip on the yuan currency.
‘Big step’
Sam Lau, chairman of investment firm HeungKong
Financial, said he expected the move to lead to his
company’s profits doubling. “For our company, we do
both Hong Kong onshore and offshore equities investment,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of an AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) business meeting in Beijing. “There are many stocks that you can buy
in Hong Kong-they’re really great companies but
they’re not listed in China, they’re listed in Hong Kong.
“For example like Tencent, like Galaxy, those kind of
gambling, entertainment stocks. So I think the money
will go into those kind of stocks. “In China those big
stocks will be securities firms, those will be benefitting
as well.” Analysts said the link-up would boost market
confidence and was a “big step” in the opening up
China’s yuan-denominated domestic market - known
is the A-share market. “Despite the limited degree of
opening-up, it still means a great deal to the domestic
capital markets and the whole financial system,” said
Shen Jun, a Shanghai-based analyst with BOC
International. “It also involves direct cross-border renminbi flows, and it’s a trial for the opening-up of the
domestic capital markets and the capital account,” he
added. The connection had been pencilled in to kick
off last month but was unexpectedly cancelled.
However claims it had been delayed because of prodemocracy protests in Hong Kong were denied by
exchange president Chow Chung-kong, who told AFP
last month that the city’s authorities have “no control
over the proceedings”.
Media reports last month said the Asia Securities
Industry and Financial Markets Association, representing some of the world’s biggest banks and asset managers, had written to Hong Kong regulators asking for
a delay because of uncertainty over the scheme’s
rules. Chinese authorities would likely issue detailed
policies before the launch to clarify technical issues
including on capital gains tax, Shen said. — AFP
China inflation unchanged at 1.6%
BEIJING: Chinese inflation was unchanged at a near
five-year low of 1.6 percent in October, the government said yesterday, with analysts warning the
world’s number two economy is facing deflationary
risks. The consumer price index (CPI) figure released
by the National Bureau of Statistics is the weakest
since January 2010 and matched the median prediction of 1.6 percent in a Wall Street Journal poll.
In the first 10 months of the year, the CPI came
in at 2.1 percent year on year, well short of the 3.5
percent annual target set by the government in
March. The producer price index (PPI) — a measure
of costs for goods at the factory gate and a leading
indicator of the trend for CPI-fell 2.2 percent year on
year and was the weakest since March’s fall of 2.3
percent, the bureau said.
The figures add to worries about deflation in the
Asian giant and ANZ analysts Liu Ligang and Zhou
Hao said in a research note that risks will likely
increase with the economy expected to slow further in the coming quarters. “This is a significant risk
facing China’s economy, which requires China’s policymakers to monitor the situation closely and take
actions swiftly,” they said.
The data will give the central People’s Bank of
China some room to fine-tune monetary policy to
kickstart economic growth, which stood at 7.7 percent last year, maintaining its slowest pace in more
than a decade.
Adding to economic woes were figures released
Saturday that showed growth in exports and
imports slowing further last month.
Exports expanded 11.6 percent year-on-year,
compared with 15.3 percent in September, while
imports rose 4.6 percent, down from 7.0 percent.
Officials are targeting economic growth of
JIANGSU: Customers choose dried dates in a market in Lianyungang, east China’s Jiangsu
province yesterday. Chinese inflation was unchanged at a near five-year low of 1.6 percent in
October, the government said, with analysts warning the world’s number two economy is facing deflationary risks. — AFP
“about 7.5 percent” this year, the same as last year’s 2012, when it rose marginally by 0.7 percent.
objective. Moderate inflation can be a boon to con- Tightened government spending amid President Xi
sumption as it encourages consumers to buy before Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, an economic
prices go up, while falling prices encourage shop- slowdown led by property weakness, and falling
pers to delay purchases and companies to put off commodity prices combined with a strong Chinese
currency will “only exacerbate China’s PPI deflation”,
investment, both of which can hurt growth.
China’s PPI has remained in negative territory for said Liu and Zhou. China’s vast and crucial property
32 straight months. The last increase was in January sector is struggling in the face of oversupply. — AFP
New Algerian
plant rolls out
its first Renault
A general view of a British branch of German food retailer Aldi. German-owned discount retailer Aldi said yesterday it will create 35,000 jobs in Britain by 2022, more
than doubling its workforce and store network to meet booming demand. — AFP
ORAN: French motor manufacturer Renault inaugurated a multi-million-euro plant in Algeria yesterday,
Paris’s former colony owning 51 percent of the factory
with an initial production capacity of 25,000 cars annually. The factory is to produce the Symbol, a saloon
based on Renault’s Clio compact sold mainly in markets where hatchbacks are not traditionally favored.
Initial capacity of 25,000 cars is expected to rise to a
maximum yearly output of 75,000. Production is destined for the Algerian market, Africa’s second largest in
terms of sales, with more than 400,000 vehicles
imported every year. French Foreign Minister Laurent
Fabius and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron were
on hand with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek
Sellal as the first new car rolled off the assembly lines
in the country’s second city Oran.
Sellal called the new plant “the fruit of a win-win
situation”, while Fabius described it as “the symbol of
an exemplary Franco-Algerian partnership”.
An agreement for the joint venture was signed in
December 2012 during a visit by French President
Francois Hollande. —AFP
ORAN: French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius delivers a speech during the inauguration of
the Renault plant in Oran, western Algeria yesterday. The plant is due to produce the Renault
Symbol especially for the Algerian domestic market. — AP
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
BUSINESS
KAMCO announces Q3 financial results
Net profits rose 11 percent to reach KD 2.286 million
KUWAIT: KAMCO -KIPCO Asset Management
Company yesterday reported its third quarter financial results for the period ending 30 September
2014. The Company recorded a net profit of KD
2.286 million for the 9 months ending September
2014 compared to KD 2.068 million reported during
the same period last year, reflecting an 11 percent
growth. EPS rose from 8.66 to reach 9.58 fils during
this period.
AUM grew by 24 percent to reach KD 3.584 billion as at the end ofQ3 2014 against KD 2.879 billion
at the end of Q3 2013. The new AUMs represented
over 39 percent of the increase during 2014.
Among its investment funds, the KAMCO GCC
Opportunistic Fund out of Bahrain achieved returns
of over 40 percent during the year and the newly
launched KAMCO Real Estate Yield Fund started its
operations creditably with an AUM of approximately $28 million. During the quarter, KAMCO also
obtained approvals from the Capital Markets
Authority - Kuwait (CMA) for its KAMCO MENAPlus
Fixed Income Fund which will be launched shortly.
Faisal M Sarkhou, CEO of KAMCO, said, “We are
pleased to achieve the growth in net profit and
AUM during 2014, despite the volatility across equity markets during the last two quarters. To diversify
our asset management activity beyond equity markets, KAMCO has forayed into new asset classes for
its managed funds such as with the real estate and
fixed income funds.”
“We continue to improve performance across all
segments of the business, while increasing our
efforts to provide diverse investment opportunities
to our clients through our existing and new multiasset-class funds. With our progressively resourced
team, KAMCO is on the right track to position itself
as a key AMIB player in the region.”
Established in 1998 with the mission to become
a leading local and regional player, KAMCO is today
one of the leading Kuwait based Investment
Companies. A subsidiary of United Gulf Bank (UGB) the investment banking subsidiary of Kuwait
Projects (Holding) Company (KIPCO) - KAMCO was
listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) in 2003.
Over many years of conducting business in
Kuwait’s dynamic investment industry, KAMCO has
established a robust reputation for performance,
characterized by its prudent and conservative
investment philosophy which has consistently commanded the goodwill of a wide client base.
KAMCO’s main activities are in Asset
Management and Investment Banking. Its
Investments Division specializes in providing its
clients with unique investment opportunities, financial and advisory services, supported by investment
research which tracks the latest directions and
trends across local and regional economies and
capital markets. The Asset Management Division
concentrates on providing its clients with customized portfolio management, access to IPOs,
local and international fund management with risk
adjusted return maximization, mitigating risks, and
maintaining capital appreciation for individual and
institutional clients.
The Commercial Real Estate Co wins
‘Excellence in Governance’ Award
V-KOOL Kuwait launches a new
combo offer for car window films
KUWAIT: V-KOOL Kuwait, the leading
provider of automotive window tinting films
is now offering its customers a combo offer
of car window film, paint protection film and
two car interior detailing vouchers worth
KD100 for KD200 only for a limited period.
The offer is valid till 26th November 2014.
The combo offer will cater to all kind of
vehicles. It is available in V-KOOL Kuwait
(AUTO1) outlets; in Canada Dry Street,
Shuwaikh (24824213) and Al-Ahmadi
Industry Area, Street 201, behind KNPC,
opposite Al-Sayer Showroom (23981450).
“We are thrilled to offer our car care
range of products to all our customers. And
we encourage every vehicle owner to avail
this offer simply because it helps to protect
and improve their vehicle esthetics and
maintain the residual value. We will always
strive to bring the best emerging global car
care trends to our customers at competitive
prices,” said Edwin Joseph, General Manager
of V-KOOL Kuwait.
V-KOOL is the first of its kind in the material science arena as it enables maximum
amount of daylight transmittance (73 percent) while selectively cutting off 94 percent of infra-red (heat source) and 99 percent of ultra-violet rays. V-KOOL technology
has been incorporated by the top international car manufacturers, such as BMW,
Mercedes, Audi and Toyota among the others as their chosen automotive interior cooling solution.
Burgan Bank announces
names of the daily lucky
winners of Yawmi account
KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the names of the winners of its
Yawmi account draw, each taking home a
prize of KD 5,000.
The lucky winners for the daily draws
took home a cash-prize of KD 5,000 each,
and they are:
1. Anthony Bernard Jones
2. Zainab Sami Almotawa
3. Emad Aldeen Almasri
4. Adel Hamad Alghaith
5. Katabjiwala Salma Saifaldein
To further add to the anticipation of
Yawmi account customers, Burgan Bank
now offers a Quarterly Draw with more
chances to win higher rewards, entitling
one lucky customer to win KD 125,000
every three months.
The Yawmi Account now offers Daily
and quarterly Draws, the Quarterly Draw
requires customers to maintain a minimum amount of KD 500 in their account
for 2 months prior to draw date.
Additionally, every KD 10 in the account,
will entitle customers to one chance of
winning. If the account balance is KD
500 and above, the account holder will
be qualified for both the quarterly and
daily draws.
Burgan Bank encourages everyone to
open a Yawmi account and/or increase
their deposit to maximize their chances
to becoming a winner. The more customers deposit, the higher the chances
they receive of winning.
For more information on opening a
Yawmi account or about the new quarterly draw, customers are urged to visit
their nearest Burgan Bank branch and
receive all the details, or simply call the
bank’s Call Center at 1804080 where customer service representatives will be
delighted to assist with any questions on
the Yawmi account or any of the bank’s
products and services. Customers can
also log on to Burgan Bank’s www.burgan.com for further information.
New bank rules proposed
to end ‘too big to fail’
BASEL/LONDON: Banks may have to scrap
dividends and rein in bonuses if they
breach new rules designed to ensure that
creditors rather than taxpayers pick up the
bill when big lenders collapse.
Mark Carney, chairman of the Financial
Stability Board and Bank of England governor, said the rules, proposed yesterday,
marked a watershed in putting an end to
taxpayer bailouts of banks considered too
big to fail. “Once implemented, these agreements will play important roles in enabling
globally systemic banks to be resolved
(wound down) without recourse to public
subsidy and without disruption to the wider
financial system,” Carney said in a statement.
After the financial crisis in 2007-2009,
governments had to spend billions of dollars of taxpayer money to rescue banks that
ran into trouble and could have threatened
the global financial system if allowed to go
under. Since then, regulators from the
Group of 20 economies have been trying to
find ways to prevent this happening again.
The plans envisage that global banks like
Goldman Sachs and HSBC should have a
buffer of bonds or equity equivalent to at
least 16 to 20 percent of their risk-weighted
assets, such as loans, from January 2019.
These bonds would be converted to equity
to help shore up a stricken bank. The banks’
total buffer would include the minimum
mandatory core capital requirements banks
must already hold to bolster their defences
against future crises.
The new rule will apply to 30 banks the
regulators have deemed to be globally “systemically important,” though initially three
from China on that list of 30 would be
exempt. G2O leaders are expected to back
the proposal later this week in Australia. It is
being put out to public consultation until
Feb. 2, 2015. David Ereira, a partner at law
firm Linklaters, said that on its own the new
rule as proposed would not end “too big to
fail” banks and that politically tricky details
still had to be settled.
Basel tower
Carney was confident the new rule
would be applied as central banks and governments had a hand in drafting them. “This
isn’t something that we cooked up in Basel
tower and are just presenting to everybody,”
he told a news conference, referring to the
FSB’s headquarters in Switzerland.
Most of the banks would need to sell
more bonds to comply with the new rules,
the FSB said. Some bonds, known as “senior
debt” that banks have already sold to
investors, would need restructuring. Senior
debt was largely protected during the
financial crisis, which meant investors did
not lose their money. But Carney said it in
future these bonds might have to bear losses if allowed under national rules and if
investors were warned in advance.
The new buffer, formally known as total
loss absorbing capacity or TLAC, must be at
least twice a bank’s leverage ratio, a separate measure of capital to total assets
regardless of the level of risk.
Globally, the leverage ratio has been set
provisionally at 3 percent but it could be
higher when finalized in 2015. Some of the
buffer must be held at major overseas subsidiaries to reassure regulators outside a
bank’s home country. Banks may have to
hold more than the minimum because of
“add-ons” due to specific business models,
Carney said. Elke Koenig, president of
German regulator Bafin, said supervisors
should orient themselves more toward the
upper end of the 16-20 percent range,
though banks may be given more time to
comply. Fitch ratings agency said banks
might end up with a buffer equivalent to as
much as a quarter of their risk-weighted
assets once other capital requirements were
included. Analysts have estimated this
could run to billions of dollars. —Reuters
KUWAIT: AbdulFatah Marafie, Chairman of The
Commercial Real Estate Co, has announced that
the company has won the First Position of “The
Excellence in Governance” Award among 50 other companies applied for the Award And that
through the GCC Governance Conference that
was held under the patronage of His Highness
the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah on 3-5 November 2014.
Marafie stated that The Commercial Real
Estate Company is considered the first company
in the State of Kuwait to adopt the concept of
corporate governance with a comprehensive
Ehab Baklawa, Head of Risk & Compliance Unit receiving the award.
AbdulFatah Marafie, Chairman of The
Commercial Real Estate Co
and professional methodology through formulating and applying the corporate governance
manual and polices in accordance with the best
international standards and practices in this
regard. Say further This award reflects the transparency, integrity, accountability and commitment which privilege the company, and consider as one of its main principles, in addition to the
sufficiency and efficiency of control and organizational policies and procedures followed by the
company, which determine and organize the
roles, functions, commitments, responsibilities
and authorities on different levels.
Abdul Fatah Marafie also added that the corporate governance is not only a regulatory
framework of the management process, which is
easy for everyone to prepare and adopt the formal and procedural aspect of it.
But the implementation of governance
depends on the essence of the process, which is
mainly based on the commitment of business
ethics and professional conscience that guarantees adequacy and efficiency of the performance in all work domains and works on developing the responsibility, accountability and transparency spirit that is urged by our Islamic religion. Thus Governance is a culture and principles to be constantly developed and promoted
which is what we believe in and adopt in AlTijaria Company.
In conclusion, Abdul Fatah Marafie has com-
plemented the role of the Governance
Conference in GCC that was held under the
patronage of His Highness the Prime Minister
Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah in a serious
initiative to develop and increase the social and
professional awareness in the importance of
applying Corporate Governance. He also complemented the organizing committee, chaired
by Dr Amani Bourisli and her leading role in this
field and the transparency of the committee in
disclosing the evaluation criteria of the companies applying for the Award of “Excellence in
Governance”.
He also empathized on the importance of
organizing these conferences regularly to
increase the awareness of working companies in
Kuwait and GCC markets of the importance to
adopt the governance standards and its positive
effects on the companies and the economy in
general.
Kuwait’s Talabat.com receives global
award for mobile content and creativity
KUWAIT: Talabat.com, the leading online food
delivery service provider across the GCC region,
has received global accolade for its mobile business and commerce platform by being presented the World Summit Award Mobile content
(WSA-Mobile content). The United Nations funded award recognizes Talabat.com for its mobile
content and creativity.
Kuwait is the home of Talabat.com it was
established in 2004, and the company is keen to
maintain its market leader position with a targeted strategy for the country, while simultaneously increasing users and the number of partner restaurants. With 1,200 different restaurants
on its portal and applications, to date,
Talabat.com exceeded the7.5 million orders. The
company’s app is currently top ranked in the
GCC for the IOS food and drink category and has
a 4.6 rating on Android, exceeding 1,000,000
downloads.
“We are honored to have received recognition for our mobile business and commerce
services from such an esteemed organization.
This global award is a testament to our success
and growth across the Gulf region, which we
hope to continue to build upon. At Talabat.com,
we strive to become the primary digital food
delivery service in each of the markets we operate in, and especially to build upon our success
in Kuwait. Currently, we represent 99 percent of
the market share in the country, and are the
number one regionally,” commented
Mohammed Nabil Jaffar, CEO at Talabat.com.
In addition, Talabat.com has been supporting
local restaurants in Kuwait. The user-friendly app
and website have played a great role in empowering small and medium business in the food
industry by allowing them to reach a wider market than would be possible for them on their
own. In 2014, Talabat.com has achieved 125 percent growth in restaurant sales through its portals& applications for partner restaurants.
“We are very pleased that we are set to
exceed our targets for 2014 by achieving 140
percent growth in orders, and 128 percent
growth of new registrations. With online commerce in the MENA region set to grow to $15 billion by 20151, we see this as a huge opportunity
for our business model to achieve greater success next year and for us to extend our support
to local restaurants in the markets in which we
operate,” added Mohammad.
In the past, Talabat.com has also received
awards such as the Best Internet Company by
Mohammed Nabil Jaffar
Arabian Business in 2014, and the “Kuwait eAward” in 2009 and 2012 in the e-business category from the Kuwait Foundation for the
Advancement of Science (KFAS).
US stocks little changed,
cable companies slump
NEW YORK: US stocks were little changed in
morning trading yesterday, holding near all-time
highs, as investors waited for more signs about
the strength of the economy and corporate
earnings.
Cable companies were among the biggest
movers, slumping after President Barack Obama
said regulators should reclassify the Internet as a
public utility.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500
index was little changed at 2,032 as of 10:39 a.m.
Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average
fell eight points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,565. The
Nasdaq composite rose seven points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,640.
NET NEUTRALITY: Cable companies
dropped after Obama said Internet providers
shouldn’t be allowed to cut deals with online
services like Netflix, Amazon or YouTube to prioritize their content. In a statement released by
the White House Monday, the president called
for an “explicit ban” on such deals. Time Warner
Cable fell $5.55, or 3.8 percent, to $138.06.
Comcast fell $1.88, or 3.4 percent, to $53.28.
MILKING IT: Dean Foods, a milk distributor,
jumped $2.02, or 14 percent, to $16.44, after the
company reported a third-quarter loss that wasn’t as bad as investors had anticipated.
RETAIL EARNINGS: This week investors will
be taking stock of retail company earnings to
gain insight into how much American shoppers
are spending ahead of the holiday season.
Macy’s, Nordstrom and Wal-Mart will report their
earnings.
HOLDING AT THE HIGHS: Stocks are trading
at record levels, having rebounded following a
sharp slump at the beginning of October.
Despite worries about flagging growth overseas,
investors are focusing on a strengthening US
economy and improving company earnings.
RUBLE FLOATS: The biggest development in
Europe was news that Russia’s central bank has
decided to allow the ruble to trade freely. The
move had been planned for next year. The ruble
has come under sustained pressure in the face of
Western sanctions over Ukraine and plummeting
oil prices. The ruble has lost nearly half its value
against the dollar this year. The move appears to
have eased the pressure on the ruble, which
strengthened sharply on the news, trading up 3.6
percent at around 45 rubles a dollar. Russia’s
benchmark RTS stock index rose 3.8 percent.
EUROPEAN STOCKS: European stock markets edged higher. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3
percent and Germany’s DAX rose 0.1 percent.
The CAC-40 in France also gained, climbing 0.3
percent.
ENERGY: Oil prices fell back after starting the day
higher. Benchmark US crude fell 22 cents to $78.44 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent
crude rose 33 cents to $83.73 a barrel.
BONDS AND CURRENCIES: Bond prices fell.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to
2.32 percent from 2.30 percent.
The dollar drifted lower in the wake of last
Friday’s slightly weaker than anticipated U.S.
jobs data for October. It was down 0.2 percent
against the Japanese yen to 114.49 yen. Against
the euro, the US currency was little changed at
$1.2460. — AP
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
technology
NEC rolls out counterfeitspotting technology
TOKYO: Japan’s NEC unveiled yesterday a
technology that sniffs out even the most
convincing counterfeits by reading microscopic patterns on everything from a luxury
purse to a metal bolt.
The technology can be also be used to
trace the origin of mass-produced offerings
by reading so-called “object fingerprints”, or
three-dimensional surface irregularities, the
firm said. “You can identify offspring that
come from the same parental mold,” said
Toshihiko Hiroaki, assistant general manager
at NEC’s Information and Media Processing
Laboratories. “If you take a close look, you
can tell one child from another.”
The technology could let a customs official, for example, snap a smartphone picture
of a specific spot on an object which is then
instantly matched-or not-to a manufacturers’ pre-registered image.
A genuine article can be matched with
the time and location where it was produced, NEC said. Hiroaki noted that the
trade in counterfeit goods is estimated to
reach into the hundreds of billions of dollars
a year, and that a fake or defective part could
have serious consequences for finished
products. The technology is currently in the
testing phase and the firm plans to release a
commercial version next year. —AFP
Health law faces higher
bar in 2nd sign-up season
NEW YORK: In this Tuesday, October 21, 2014 photo, people pass an AT&T
store on New York’s Madison Avenue. —AP
AT&T to buy Mexico’s Iusacell for $1.8bn
NEW YORK: AT&T is buying Mexican wireless company Iusacell for $1.8 billion and plans to grow in
Mexico. The Dallas company said Friday that
Iusacell has 8.6 million subscribers under the
Iusacell and Unef?n brand names. AT&T had 116.6
million subscribers as of June 30. AT&T values the
deal at $2.5 billion when debt is included. The company sees potential for growth in Mexico because
of its rising population and middle class, even as
the proportion of Mexican people with wireless
service lags other Latin American countries, according to AT&T.
“Mexico is still in the early stages of mobile
Internet capabilities and adoption, but customer
demand for it is growing rapidly,” said AT&T CEO
Randall Stephenson in a statement.
The acquisition could potentially lead to plans
that include free or reduced rates for Americans
traveling in or calling to Mexico, or the other way
around. The need to dial a country code for Mexico
likely wouldn’t change, as Mexico doesn’t participate in the North American system of dialing 1 plus
the area code.
AT&T also said that reforms pushed by Mexico’s
president, Enrique Pena Nieto, were a factor in its
decision to buy the company. Nieto’s reforms were
meant to bring higher standards and more competition to areas that included the telecommunications industry.
Grupo Salinas owns 50 percent of Iusacell and
announced Friday that it will buy the other half.
AT&T will buy Iusacell after that deal closes and
expects that to happen during the first quarter, following a review by Mexican regulators. AT&T Inc
shares rose 19 cents to $34.91 on Friday and gained
9 cents to $35 in aftermarket trading. —AP
Agency may halt
risky democracy work
WASHINGTON: The US global development agency is preparing internal rules
that would effectively end risky undercover work in hostile countries, such as the
once-secret “Cuban Twitter” program it
orchestrated, The Associated Press has
learned.
The new policy follows an AP investigation this year into work by the US
Agency for International Development,
which established a Twitter-like social network in Cuba and secretly sought to
recruit a new generation of dissidents
there while hiding ties to the US government.
The AP found USAID and its contractor
concealed their involvement in the Cuban
programs, setting up a front company,
Dr Rajiv Shah
routing money through Cayman Islands
bank transactions and fashioning elaborate cover stories. That subterfuge put at
risk the agency’s cooperation with foreign
governments to deliver aid to the world’s
poor.
USAID’s proposed policy closely mirrors a Senate bill this summer, according
to government officials familiar with the
discussions who were not authorized to
talk about the matter publicly. That bill
would prohibit USAID from spending
money on democracy programs in countries that reject the agency’s assistance,
where staff wasn’t directly hired and
where USAID would have to go to “excessive lengths to protect program beneficiaries and participants.”
The officials said USAID’s high-risk
democracy efforts would likely be moved
under the aegis of another arm of the
State Department and the National
Endowment for Democracy, a nonprofit
group that receives money from the US
government. Such a change would have
effectively made it impossible for USAID
to run programs such as the “Cuban
Twitter” project, known as ZunZuneo.
In a statement late Sunday, USAID said
it would continue to carry out democracy
programs in “politically restrictive environments” and aim to be transparent. But it
said the new rules would balance safety
and security risks, which aligns with proposed legislation that would stop USAID’s
democracy work in hostile countries that
outright reject the agency’s help and
where USAID’s role had to be minimized.
The statement said that the rules have not
been finalized.
“We will also examine risks that might
constrain effective implementation of the
projects or undermine the safety of our
partners, such as programmatic, legal,
financial, physical and digital securityrelated risks,” it said.
The officials said USAID acknowledged
changing its democracy-promotion policy after being questioned by Sens. Patrick
Leahy and Jeff Flake, who wrote the
agency following the AP’s report in April.
Leahy called the program “cockamamie”
in a subcommittee hearing.
Both ZunZuneo and a second program to recruit Cuban dissidents were
part of a larger, multimillion-dollar effort
by USAID to effect change in politically
volatile countries. But the officials said
they were told USAID had concluded
some democracy programs in hostile
countries were not effective.
In April, the AP reported that ZunZuneo
evaded Cuba’s Internet restrictions by creating a text-messaging service that could
be used to organize political demonstrations. It drew tens of thousands of subscribers who were unaware it was backed
by the US government. US officials said it
ended in late 2012 because funding ran
out.
In August, the AP reported that the
agency secretly dispatched young Latin
Americans to Cuba using the cover of
health and civic initiatives to provoke
political change. That program sent Latin
youth - often posing as tourists - around
the island for as low as $5.41 an hour to
scout for people they could turn into
political activists.
Shortly after the AP revealed the existence of the social media project this year,
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
asked USAID to turn over all records
about the program as part of a broader
review of the agency’s civil-society efforts.
And this summer, the agency’s inspector
general confirmed it was examining the
ZunZuneo program.
It is illegal in Cuba to work with foreign
democracy-building
programs.
Nevertheless, one USAID contract was
signed days after American contractor
Alan Gross was arrested in December
2009 for smuggling sensitive technology
into the country. Cuba’s highest court
denied his appeal, and he remains imprisoned there.
The USAID programs were also
launched around the time newly inaugurated President Barack Obama talked
about a “new beginning” with Cuba after
decades of mistrust, raising questions
about whether the White House had a
coherent policy toward the island
nation. —AP
WASHINGTON: With a bright look to
its rebuilt website, version 2.0 of
President Barack Obama’s health
insurance overhaul represents another chance to win over a skeptical
public. But more than possible computer woes lurk as HealthCare.gov’s
second open enrollment season
begins November 15.
The risks include an unproven
system for those renewing coverage and a tax hit that could sting
millions of people. Those tax issues
are the result of complications
between the health care law and
income taxes, and they will
emerge during next year’s filing
season.
“Things will not be perfect,” said
Health and Human Services Secretary
Sylvia M Burwell, trying to set expectations. “We are aiming for a strong
consumer experience, and it will be
better.”
The Obama administration cannot afford to repeat last year ’s
online meltdown. Congress will be
entirely in Republican hands in
2015, and GOP lawmakers will be
itching to build the case for repeal.
The Supreme Cour t ’s decision
Friday to hear another challenge
to the law is also casting a shadow.
The health insurance exchanges
offer taxpayer-subsidized private coverage to people who do not have
access on the job. HealthCare.gov will
serve 37 states, while the rest run
their own markets. This new sign-up
period will be the first time that
renewal has been tried for current
customers, and also overlaps with the
first tax-filing season that the law’s
requirements are in effect.
On the plus side, premium
increases are expected to be modest
in many, though not all, states. New
insurers have come into the market,
promoting competition, and regulators now take a close look at anything above a 10 percent increase.
The online application for most new
customers is down to 16 screens
from 76. Website security is better,
thanks to aggressive monitoring.
The government and insurers have
added call center staff.
The administration had said last
week that consumers would be
able to get an early peek at 2015
plans and premiums this weekend.
It looked like that early goal was
slipping. Window shopping for the
plans appeared to be available on
the website early Monday.
Raising the bar
This year, the bar will be higher.
The Congressional Budget Office has
projected that 13 million people will
be covered through federal and state
insurance markets in 2015. That
means retaining most of the 7 million
people now covered and adding 6
million more. Many are skeptics who
sat out last year’s campaign.
One potential motivator: The law’s
tax penalty for remaining uninsured
is rising, to a minimum of $325 for
2015. “We have some momentum
built up,” said Rachel Klein, enrollment strategist for Families USA, an
don’t dally. You have until December
15 to update your income information or change plans if you want to
have everything in place by January
1.
New customers, be advised: The
November 15-February 15 open
enrollment is half as long as last time,
and it overlaps with the holidays. Try
to get familiar with some of the basic
health insurance tradeoffs. A lowpremium silver or bronze plan may
not make sense if you’ll wind up with
high out-of-pocket costs for the
deducted from your tax refund. It
starts at $95 for those uninsured all
year. Millions of people may qualify
for penalty waivers, but getting
exemptions could be an ordeal.
Some appear simple, but for others
you’ll have to mail in an application
and supporting documents.
Melissa Dresler of Lexington,
Kentucky, said she’s lucky that she
got covered, but she also learned
some lessons that should make her a
better shopper this year. The climate
change researcher unexpectedly
WASHINGTON: In this March 28, 2012 file photo, supporters of health care reform rally in front of the
Supreme Court in Washington on the final day of arguments regarding the health care law signed by
President Barack Obama. —AP
advocacy group supporting the law.
“We can build on that, but it is a
somewhat higher bar to find all the
people we need to help, because by
definition, they are harder to reach.”
An Associated Press-GfK poll
found that 31 percent of those questioned expect the health insurance
exchanges to work better, while 49
percent think they will work about
the same. Also, 18 percent expect
version 2.0 to be worse.
Some of the potential enrollment
pitfalls: For those already signed up,
coverage will renew automatically if
you do nothing. Sounds good, but
maybe not. You could miss out on
lower premium options and get
stuck with an outdated and possibly
incorrect subsidy. Shop around, but
deductible and copayments. In that
case, you might be better off going
for the gold.
Some of the tax complications
lurking: Most current customers are
getting a tax credit to help with premiums. Those subsidies are tied to
income, so you’ll have to file new
forms with your 2014 taxes to prove
you got the right amount. Too much
subsidy and your tax refund will get
dinged. Too little, and the government owes you. It’s bound to cause
anxiety because many people
depend on their tax refunds to pay
bills.
Penalty waivers
If you remained uninsured in
2014, you risk a penalty that will be
found herself in need of a delicate
operation. She woke up one day and
something was wrong with her right
eye. It turned out to be a detached
retina.
Her surgery cost well into five figures, and she paid about $1,000. The
problem came when she had to go
out-of-network because of a complication. To keep premiums in check,
many plans restrict a patient’s choice.
The follow-up corrective surgery cost
her about $6,000.
“I may gripe once in a while, but I
am so happy with Obamacare,” said
Dresler. “I feel so lucky I was covered.”
She adds: “If I had known that I was
going to have a major emergency
then I would have certainly invested
more in a better plan.” —AP
Tech leaders share latest insights
at E-Gov Forum in Kuwait
Microsoft works with Kuwaiti Gov to provide latest tech solutions
KUWAIT: For the second year in a row, Microsoft
Kuwait was a key participant at the EGovernment Forum, held under the patronage
of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber
Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
During the Forum, senior executives from
Microsoft and Diyar United Company, a
Microsoft partner, showcased the benefits of
technology and how it can help enhance
processes and performance within the government sector. Particularly within the framework of
Kuwait’s eGovernment vision, this would ultimately lead to improved governance practices.
Microsoft’s presence at the forum covered
topics such as ‘Solutions for Dynamic
Governments’, which featured the technology
solutions for better and more efficient service
delivery, and ‘Journey to the Cloud’, which introduced Microsoft’s offerings in the private and
hybrid cloud areas, as well as Azure. Microsoft
Solutions are focused on empowering more sustainable, prosperous, and economically competitive cities-with a citizen-centric approach that
puts people first
Diyar’s session focused on ‘eGovernment in
the Cloud Era’, and how the cloud can create
unmatched computing resources for government agencies and ministries, thereby broadening their scope with ease.
Charles Nahas, Microsoft Kuwait General
Manager, “Technology can help local and regional governments increase efficiency levels and
offer modernized services. At Microsoft, we are
committed to working with governments to
drive innovation and growth through technology solutions and partnerships that create economic and social opportunity.”
“The Kuwait Government has been visionary
in the development of the nation’s technology
infrastructure. We have established a trusted
partnership with the government of Kuwait to
work together towards to realizing the vision of
Kuwait’s leadership. The workshop held for the
IT executives from the Kuwaiti Government will
Charles Nahas
empower them to use technology more efficiently in the delivery of enhanced e-services.
We are honoured to have had the opportunity
to demonstrate the power of Microsoft technologies to the Kuwait government sector”,
Nahas added.
Bashar Atout, CEO Diyar United Company
said: “Along with Microsoft, we are deeply committed to working with governments to use the
power of IT to deliver technology, services and
programs that provide anytime, anywhere services for all. This will help empower the government officials for quicker decision-making
process, make information more easily available
and in turn offer more value-added services to
citizens. Today, people are increasingly becoming more tech-savvy, especially with the use of
Internet, Facebook and social networking, and
this creates a perfect climate for government to
adopt relevant technology solutions.”
Microsoft has constantly invested and contributed towards the ongoing development of
the education, healthcare and entrepreneurial
sectors within Kuwait, and has also engaged
with various government agencies within the
State of Kuwait. Through special training programs and workshops, Microsoft remains committed to the development of a knowledgebased economy in Kuwait, by equipping
nationals with the ICT based skills they need to
compete in today’s global economy.
The 2nd e-Government Forum addressed
key issues that face the government today,
including privacy, security, information management and client uptake. Group discussions
took place during the event to discuss the
future direction of eGovernment and the provision of timely and accurate eGovernment services to citizens.
EGOV2 is a technology event that brings
together many Government datacenter leaders
from Kuwait and abroad as well as world-class
technology companies to showcase their services, products, policies, and researches for
future datacenters. EGOV2 focuses on government datacenters for their role in developing
national e-government programs.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
H E A LT H & S C I E N C E
Pediatric ophthalmology main
theme of 16th Kuwait Int’l conf
KUWAIT: Kuwait’s 16th International Conference
on Ophthalmology kicked off on Sunday with
children’s eye diseases as the major topic.
Opening the event on behalf of Health Minister
Ali Saad Al-Obaidi, Secretary General of Kuwait
Institute for Medical Specialization (KIMS)
Ibrahim Hadi said that ophthalmology is a top
issue for the ministry, adding that participants,
both locals and foreigners, will discuss several
papers.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Hadi
stressed the ministry’s support to such scientific
and specialized activities which offer opportunities to exchange expertise and treatment methods. He also emphasized the significance of exhibitions held on the sidelines of the scientific
gatherings, displaying latest diagnosing and
treatment technology. Focusing on pediatric
ophthalmology reflects awareness and responsi-
Mansour Al-Shemmari
bility for protecting right of the young in enjoying good health, he said.
Meanwhile, Hadi said that KIMS organizes up
to 31 programs, both locals and fellowships, covering all specializations. He added that up to 96
doctors from the Kuwait Board passed the final
test, and would be honored in a ceremony to be
held on November 30, under auspices of His
Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber
Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
The annual event focuses on an ophthalmology issue every year, leading ophthalmologist
Adnan Al-Wael, president of the conference
said. This year, participants will discuss pediatric squint, aiming at providing children suffering from it with treatment in time and at early
age. —KUNA
Kuwait uses Ga-68 in PET
imaging of prostate cancer
SIERRA LEONE: People wash their hands on a no hands improvised device as
others queue to have the temperature checked at a sanitary check point 70
km from Freetown on the road to Port Loko. —AFP
In Ebola-hit Sierra Leone, places of
worship the only places to gather
FREETOWN: With Ebola rampaging
through Sierra Leone, most ordinary outings are off limits-for fear of contracting the
virus that has killed more than 1,000 of
their compatriots, people cannot go to
school or the movies, a football game or a
concert. But they can go to the mosque or
to a church. On Sunday, several hundred
people headed to the Freetown branch of
the Winners Chapel megachurch, where a
revivalist minister presided over services
like a rock star.
Wearing a purple suit and mauve shirt,
microphone in hand, Olatunji Oseni stood on
a raised platform in the centre of this building in a relatively affluent part of the capital,
angrily punching the air with his clenched
fist. “We will overcome Ebola through the
blood of Christ, with his help, and with
prayer,” he shouted, bringing the crowd to
their feet. They threw their arms into the air,
clapped their hands, and begged God to forgive them for their sins and the wretchedness of their souls. Outside the gates to the
church, as at all public venues, large buckets of
chlorinated water are available for people to
wash their hands in. Often there are also officials who check people’s temperatures as they
go into a venue.
Preventive measures
“ We have no case of Ebola in this
church,” the deacon, who would give his
name only as Jim, told AFP. He added that
the church had followed all preventive
measures-including a ban on physical contact-ordered since the start of the outbreak early this year.
“We used to shake hands, to hug, but
we don’t do it anymore,” he said, noting
how the rows of chairs were arranged so
that worshippers could not touch. “We
have nowhere to go, we find our salvation
in God,” Jim said. Leaving the service, a
buxom 19-year-old named Princess jokes
with a crowd of youths gathered around
her: “We have to stay home, we can’t go
out, I can’t see my girlfriends or my
boyfriend. Going to church is the only way
we can see each other. It’s really boring.”
Some 1,130 people in the impoverished
west African country have died from the
virus out of 4,862 cases in the current outbreak, declared a state of emergency on
July 31. The combined death toll with
Guinea and Liberia, the two other countries where the current epidemic is centered, is near 5,000, the UN agency said on
Friday. —AFP
After hepatitis C cure, companies
target next big liver disease market
NEW YORK: Now that new medicines promise to
cure millions of hepatitis C patients in coming years,
drugmakers including Gilead Sciences Inc are turning their attention to other liver diseases, with a
potential market that could rival the success of
statins, which generated more than $30 billion a year
in sales at their peak. Several companies are working
on treatments for hepatitis B, which can be controlled but not yet cured, and for fatty liver conditions
caused by rising obesity, which without treatment
could affect half of all Americans by 2030, according
to the American Liver Foundation (ALF). Some of the
drugs will address advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis,
which are the scarring that virtually all liver diseases
cause without effective treatments. Each of these
drugs, once approved, could reach annual sales of as
much as $10 billion, industry analysts said.
Most of the treatments are now in early Phase I or
Phase II clinical trials, with more informative interim
data on several expected over the course of the next
year. Gilead, which was first to market with its hepatitis C cure Sovaldi late last year and has been racking
up about $3 billion in sales each quarter, is a solid bet
to be among the leaders in the next wave of liver
therapies, experts said.
“The Gilead program is encouraging,” said Dr
Naga Chalasani, director of gastroenterology and
hepatology at Indiana University Hospital in
Indianapolis, who is participating in clinical trials of
promising drugs from Gilead and others.
Drugmakers are working to address the fatty liver
disease known as NASH, or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Without treatment, NASH can progress to liverdestroying cirrhosis and potentially cancer.
ALF estimates that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, including NASH, affects up to 30 percent of
people in the United States. It can be caused by bad
diets and alcohol abuse, and has also been tied to
diabetes. “We have no treatment for that condition
other than tell a patient they need to lose weight,”
said Dr Mauricio Lisker-Melman, director of the
hepatology program at Washington University
School of Medicine in St Louis. Intercept
Pharmaceuticals has attracted the most attention.
Just released final data from a mid-stage clinical trial
showed its obeticholic acid halted NASH progression and improved liver scarring in primarily moderately ill patients. “For now, no one else has demonstrated an antifibrotic effect in this population, and I
believe we are ahead of the pack in that sense,” said
Intercept Chief Executive Mark Pruzanski. Intercept
plans to begin a Phase III trial with at least 1,000
more seriously ill patients next year. Dr Scott
Friedman, dean for therapeutic discovery at Mt Sinai
Hospital in New York, who has worked with virtually
all the companies in the field, said most were first
testing drugs in patients whose liver damage is not
advanced. —Reuters
KUWAIT: Kuwait has become one of the world’s
first ten countries to use Positron Emission
Tomography (PET) to detect prostate cancer. The
new technology has been introduced to patients
in Kuwait at the Department of Nuclear Medicine
at Kuwait Cancer Control Center (KCCC). “The PET
imaging helps precisely locate the sites and activity of prostate cancer,” PET expert at the KCCC and
Head of Kuwait Society of Nuclear Medicine
(KSNM) Dr Fahad Marafi told KUNA Sunday.
He stated that Kuwait is using one of the most
novel PET radiotracer inhibitor, known as gallium
68, to detect prostate-specific membrane antigen
(PSMA) which is a cell surface protein with high
expression in prostate carcinoma (PC) cells. “Arab,
Middle Eastern and even most of the world countries do not have access to this isotope (gallium
68),” Marafi noted.
He explained that PET is a nuclear medicine,
functional imaging technique that produces a
multi-dimensional image of functional processes
in the body. The patient is injected by gallium 68
before PET imaging, he said, noting that the Ga68/PET imaging has provided high detection
rates to the lesions. For his part, PET expert Dr
Abdulreda Abbas said that the new detection
technique would lead to great improvement in
the treatment and care given the patients.
“This kind of imaging would give patients a
chance to be treated by radiotherapy techniques,”
he told KUNA. Prostate cancer is a common cancer in men and continues to be a major health
problem. Imaging plays an essential role in the
clinical management of patients. An important
goal for prostate cancer imaging is more accurate
disease characterization through the synthesis of
anatomic, functional, and molecular imaging
information.—KUNA
Ebola nurse to be advocate for health workers
PORTLAND: A Maine nurse who
battled politicians over her quarantine after she returned from treating Ebola patients in West Africa
said she will continue speaking out
on behalf of public health workers.
Yesterday marked the 21st day
since Kaci Hickox’s last exposure to
an Ebola patient, a 10-year old girl
who suffered seizures before dying
alone without family. Today Hickox
will no longer require daily monitoring for Ebola symptoms, and
said she looks forward to stepping
out her front door “like normal
people.”
But the Texas native said she
won’t back away from the debate
over treatment of health care workers. “In the past, a quarantine was
something that was considered
very extreme. I’m concerned about
how lightly we’re taking this concept today,” said Hickox, who
defied state-ordered quarantine
attempts in New Jersey and Maine.
“I’m concerned that the wrong
people are leading the debate and
making the decisions.”
She said the US needs a public
education campaign to better
explain the virus that has killed
nearly 5,000 in Liberia, Sierra Leone
and Guinea. However, Hickox said
she wouldn’t let her experience
prevent her from returning to West
Africa. “Something like quarantine
is not going to scare me from
doing the work that I love,” she said
from her home in Fort Kent in
northern Maine. “I would return to
Sierra Leone in a heartbeat.”
Hickox said she plans to have
dinner with her boyfriend to mark
the end of the deadly disease’s
incubation period, but she’s not
sure what kind of reception she’ll
get. She has been hailed by some
and vilified by others for refusing
to be quarantined. Most people
have been supportive, she said, but
others have been hateful. She
received a letter from one person
who said he hoped she would
catch Ebola and die.
Other side
“We’re still thankful we’ve had a
the Ebola patients who needed
help. It was so hot that volunteers
could only spend about an hour at
a time treating patients in their
protective suits. They were
drenched in sweat when they finished their shifts, she said.
On the morning she left Sierra
Leone, the weary nurse learned
that the girl she’d treated hours
earlier had died. She was debriefed
MAINE: In a Friday, Oct 31, 2014 file photo, Kaci Hickox comes
out of her house to speak to reporters, in Fort Kent. —AP
lot of great support in this community but I’d be lying if I said that it
didn’t make me a little bit nervous
thinking about people from the
other side of the debate and how
they might react to me,” Hickox
said. A volunteer with Doctors
Without Borders, she spent a
month at a hospital where there
were never enough beds for all of
by Doctors Without Borders in
Brussels before flying to the US. It
was after three hours of questioning at the Newark Liberty
International Airport that she
resolved that she’d have to make a
stand on behalf of all returning
health care workers. “I said I’m
going to have to do something
about this because I can’t possibly
let my colleagues go through this.
This is completely unacceptable,”
she said.
Hickox was sequestered in a
medical tent for days because New
Jersey announced new Ebola regulations the day she arrived.
Degrees in nursing
She eventually was allowed to
travel to Maine, where the state
sought to impose a “voluntary
quarantine” before trying and failing to create a buffer between her
and others. A state judge rejected
attempts to restrict her movements, saying she posed no threat
as long as she wasn’t demonstrating any symptoms of Ebola. Hickox
said health care professionals like
those at the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention - not politicians like New Jersey Gov Chris
Christie and Maine Gov Paul
LePage - should be in charge of
making decisions that are grounded in science, not fear. Hickox said
she’s considering her options as
she looks for work. Her boyfriend,
Ted Wilbur, contends he was told
to stay away from the University of
Maine at Fort Kent while she was
in the news. He formally withdrew
from the school Friday.
The couple said they’d be leaving town soon. Hickox, who holds
a nursing degree from the
University of Texas at Arlington
and master’s degrees in nursing
and public health from Johns
Hopkins University, said she may
opt to go back to school. “I have
been over the last couple of days
been toying with the idea of
maybe getting a doctorate degree
and focusing on quarantine law,”
she said.—AP
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
H E A LT H & S C I E N C E
Laundry soap pods dangerous for young kids
WASHINGTON: Laundry detergent pods
could be dangerous for young children,
researchers warned yesterday, as reports
grow of kids under six swallowing the
capsules in the United States. The detergent pods-on US shelves since 2010 —
are just the right size for a single load of
laundry, eliminating the need to measure out a liquid or powder. More than
17,000 incidents from 2012 and 2013
were reported to US poison control cen-
ters of children under six being exposed
to the detergent chemicals equivalent to
one child every hour-according to the
new study.
“Laundry detergent pods are small,
colorful, and may look like candy or juice
to a young child,” said co-author Marcel
Casavant, toxicology chief at Nationwide
Children’s Hospital and medical director
of the Central Ohio Poison Center. “It can
take just a few seconds for children to
grab them, break them open, and swallow the toxic chemicals they contain, or
get the chemicals in their eyes.” In one
case, the child died, while some 769 children were hospitalized, a rate of more
than one a day.
Two-thirds of the cases were among
toddlers-children just one or two years
old. Children who put the capsules in
their mouths can quickly swallow a large
quantity of concentrated chemicals, the
Nationwide Children’s Hospital
researchers warned. Nearly half the children, 48 percent, vomited after ingesting
the detergent, the study found. Other
effects included coughing or choking,
eye pain, drowsiness and pinkeye.
Most of the detergent capsules are
sold in clear, easy-to-open containers.
One manufacturer last year switched to
an opaque package with an additional
latch and a warning label, but the study
authors said this was not enough.”It is
not clear that any laundry detergent
pods currently available are truly child
resistant; a national safety standard is
needed to make sure that all pod makers
adopt safer packaging and labeling,” said
senior author Gary Smith, director of the
Center for Injury Research and Policy at
Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He urged
households with young children to use
traditional detergent. —AFP
This photograph taken on October 16, 2014, shows a Pakistani man entering a hair transplants clinic in Peshawar. —AFP photos
Pakistani men waiting their turn at a hair transplants clinic.
Hair transplants: Pakistan’s
new weapon of mass seduction
A Pakistani doctor Humayun Mohmand, a pioneer in hair transplants in the
country, busy at his clinic in Islamabad.
Pakistani doctors treating a patient for hair transplants.
PESHAWAR: Mohammad Shahid’s eyes lit up
when he saw his once bald cousin come
home one day with a head full of hair and a
strutting gait to match. A handsome but follically-challenged young man, he decided
the time was ripe to restore his honor, battered by years of taunts that follow the barren-headed and the beardless in Pakistan. In
the northwestern city of Peshawar, home to
underground Taliban hideouts and a gateway for trade to Afghanistan, men go about
their business in the crowded dusty streets,
their faces covered by bushy black beards
that would make Captain Haddock proud.
The city’s roads are filled with giant billboards of celebrities once bald but now all
smiles. They extol the virtues of manhood
restored surgically with a few well-placed
tufts of hair. “When I saw my cousin return
from his procedure, I was in shock. I said to
myself: I have to have it too,” said the thirty
something excitedly as he prepared to have
the procedure at a local hair transplant
clinic.
“Hair is like our weapon against society.” In
Pakistan, hair is synonymous with virility to
the point that even some Taliban fighters buy
ointments to give their long locks and beards
a lustrous finish. Woe to those without: they
are labelled “ganjas”, a deeply derogatory
term. “Here, calling someone a ‘ganja’ is a
stigma but over there (in the West), saying
‘bald’ is not that bad,” explained Dr Humayun
Mohmand, one of the first doctors to offer
the treatment in Pakistan.
The ‘Nawaz effect’
Mohmand opened his practice in the early
2000s, but transplants, done under local anesthetic, did not take off immediately. The breakthrough moment came at the end of 2007, when
Nawaz Sharif, who was balding when he was
deposed as prime minister by General Pervez
Musharraf eight years earlier, returned from exile
with a full head of hair.
“After the hair transplant... by Nawaz Sharif
and Shahbaz Sharif (his brother, the chief minister of Punjab province) this has become very
popular,” said Doctor Fawad Aamir at his
Peshawar clinic, among a group of patients seeking new manes. “(Before) they were very afraid of
this, that something is going to happen, that cancer will develop, that infection will lead to the
brain.” Among them was the son of Farid Khan
Khattak, a big man who fills the room with hearty
laughter.
“My son had some kind of inferiority complex
because he had some gaps in his hair,” he said.
“One of my friends told me that instead of a hair
transplant I should buy a motorbike for my son.
But my son insisted: ‘Instead of a motorbike I
want a transplant’, so it’s for his happiness.” Since
2006, Mohmand has conducted 8,000 operations
compared with 1,000 during the previous five
years.
In Pakistan’s conservative society where
arranged marriages remain the norm, surgeons
recall the anguish of patients whose engagements have been scuppered by baldness. “One of
my clients had lost a lot of hair and two or three
marriage proposals did not mature,” said the doc-
tor of a female patient. “After that, she came to
give me the invitation to her wedding. That day,
she had tears in her eyes. She said, ‘You are the
person who has made my life’.”
Hair tourism
Today, there are nearly 120 hair transplant clinics in Pakistan, according to official figures, with a
dozen in Peshawar. The operation generally costs
from $400-$1,000, with some top clinics charging
up to $6,000 — a fraction of what it costs in the
West, but still well out of reach for most Pakistanis.
Many clients come from abroad, in particular the
Pakistani-Afghan diaspora who come to see their
friends and family-and return more hirsute.
Maihan, a cook from Denmark, finds himself in
one such clinic in Peshawar. The young Afghan
knows that the shaven-headed Bruce Willis look
isn’t displeasing to the fairer sex in the West.
“In Europe, in Canada, in Australia and in the
United States, the girls don’t care, but here guys
must have long hair,” he said. Hairless heads aren’t
the only worry. Doctor Asif Shah says he has also
performed a number of beard transplants on
patients keen to show their piety with a healthy
growth. Fawad Aamir recalls with pleasure the visit of a Taliban commander’s son who had grown
frustrated with his patchy beard while fellow
Islamist rebels proudly sported bushy specimens.
“A doctor tried to convince the man that ‘you
don’t grow beard because this is the beard given
to you by God’,” he said. “And he said ‘No, I want to
have this like Mohammed, peace be upon him.’
“So we went ahead and six months later he had a
very big beard and he was very happy.”—AFP
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
W H AT ’ S O N
Embassy of France
O
n the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and
Kuwait, the French Embassy in Kuwait, the Institut francais du Koweit, the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie
(AUF) and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
International Development (MAEDI), with the support of the
National Center For Education Development (Kuwait), present a
seminar entitled “French, a language for world trade - learn,
communicate and work in French in the Gulf region” which will
be held today at Gulf University for Science and Technology in
Mishref - Kuwait. This event invites participants from 5 countries
of the Gulf (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and United
Arab Emirates) to reflect upon the position and the prospects of
the French language within the region. During this 2-day seminar, presentations and workshops will focus on the 3 following
themes: “learn” (teaching in French, the development of French
as second foreign language and at university), “communicate”
(technologies for communication and cultural exchange in
French) and “work” (areas of excellence for French-speaking
professionals, company profiles and research fields, i.e. degenerative medicine). The Chamber of commerce and Industry of
Paris, the Institut francais- Paris and the Centre International
d’Etudes Pedagogiques (CIEP) will also present their digital and
training tools for teachers.
— Photos by Joseph Shagra
Australia Embassy
A
ustralian Visa Application Centre, Level 25, Al Tijaria
Building Al Soor Street, Opp. Al Shuhada Garden
Sharq, Kuwait City. Working hours and days: 09.30 17.30 Sunday - Thursday. Submissions of new applications
can be made until 16.30 each day. The last hour of opening is
for decision letter collection only.
Website Address: www.vfs-au-gcc.com. Information email
ID: [email protected] Telephone: +971 4
2055900.
Contacts page on VFS website for Kuwait: (including map)
http://vfs-au-gcc.com/contactus_KBOQ.html.
Visa options for lodgement with VFS: (to download forms,
checklists, fee list) http://vfs-au-gcc.com/allaboutvisa.html
Kuwait Times
Calendar
of Events
November
13 Dasman Diabetes Institute will celebrate the World
Diabetes Day 2014 on Thursday Nov 13, 2014. The event will
include clinical consultations, activities for kids, first aid techniques, complimentary medical testing and screening, healthy
cooking sessions nutritional and pharmaceutical counseling. The
public is invited to join and be part of promoting awareness, education and prevention diabetes from 4 - 9 pm.
14 Arpan Kuwait is presenting Raag ‘n’ Rachna, a combination
of musical and artistic program where the audience gets to enjoy
a mandolin concert by UP Raju and a cartoon show by Jithesh on
November 14 at Indian embassy auditorium at 6pm.
14 - The English School Winter Wonderland Bazaar. Held at the
school premises in Salmiya.
14 - Punjab International Cultural Society presents Punjabi
Sabhyacharak nite 2014 on November 14, at 4 pm onwards in
Indian Model School - Salmiya.
14 - Kala (Art) Kuwait NIRAM-2014 Children’s Day painting
competition at Indian Community School, Khaitan, on Friday, 14
November. Clay modeling competition also will be conducted for
7 - 11 standard students. Visit www.kalakuwait.net, or by e-mail at
[email protected]
15 - Arpan cartoon - caricature competition, workshop with
speed cartoonist Jitheshji at Indian Community School, Khaitan
on Saturday, 15th November. Caricature competition for 5- 12th
Std and adults at 9 am, workshop at 11.15 am. Students can register through https://www.facebook.com/arpankwt or
http://goo.gl/forms/u0CQcedoxT. [email protected]
28 Friends of CRY Club (FOCC), announces plans for 2014
Chess Tournament for children of all ages upto high-school.
“CRYchess 2014” will be held at the Salmiya Indian Model School
(SIMS), Salmiya, Kuwait,on Friday, 28th November 2014, from 0930
- 1630 hrs. The players will be allocated groups by their age, to
play in the Swiss pairing format. For more details, registration
forms, Rules of CRYChess 2014, visit www.focckwt.org or contact
FOCC members.
15 - Day Out Fiesta to be held at Wahran Park in Shamiya.
Interested in participating from 4-9pm or email
[email protected].
22 - Kuwait Textile Association Bazaar - Held at Sadu House on
November 22.
22 - Kuwait English School Annual Bazaar - At KES in Salwa,
block 11 on November 22. Tables are KD 20.
28 - British Ladies Society Bazaar - At BSK on November 28.
28-29 - Street Fest 2014 will be held at a parking lot in
AlShaab AlKhaled area on Friday and Saturday from 3pm to 10pm.
Instagram @streetfestkuwait Website: http://www.streetfestkuwait.com/
29 - 10K Charity Run organized by FSRI at the Marina Crescent.
Register at www.runq8.org Email: [email protected]
IWG holds monthly meeting
By Nawara Fattahova
T
he International Women’s Group (IWG) held its
monthly meeting, on Sunday morning at the
Radisson Blu Hotel. This meeting was attended by
most of the IWG’s members. The group awarded Sheikha
Anwar Al-Faisal Al-Sabah, for inviting them last week to
Becarre Gallery, who thanked the members and invited
those who didn’t visit the gallery to do so.
During the meeting also Dr Nawal Al-Hamad presented
a lecture on the Non Communicable Diseases (NCD).
During this lecture she explained that in the MENA region
the rate of these diseases is high comparing to other
regions. She mentioned the risk factors for these diseases
that include other diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and factors such as smoking and others.
She also mentioned the rates of some factors. “For
instance for diabetes its 1-4 for every 10 people, 1-4 for
hypertension, 1-2 for obesity, and 1-3 for smoking. These
are high rates. Also these factors are related to life
expectancy and combining of some factors may multiple
the risk factors,” said Dr Al-Hamad.
There are some recommendations that people should
follow to decrease the risk. “We aim to reach better health
condition and prevent against the NCD diseases. People
should eat more vegetables, whole-grain foods, high-fiber
foods, and fish. They should avoid using palm oil for cooking which is wildly used in the restaurants here in Kuwait. I
also recommend people to increase physical activity,” she
pointed out.
According to her salt and sugar cause great problems.
“people should cut salt or at lease reduce it from their
food. It’s not only direct salt, it’s also other food containing
salt such as mayonnaise, ketchup, soya sauce, and others.
Also some food uses the word sodium which is salt as well.
The pizza for instance includes salt in 60 percent of its
ingredients. In 2003 in the UK they succeeded to reduced
salt in bread, and later in most kinds of cheese. They are
now working on reducing sugar, and we should do the
same,” explained Dr. Al-Hamad.
Healthy nutrition is the key for prevention against most
diseases. “We aim to make people live in healthy lifestyle
and to live long life. And all of the government, public, and
food industry are responsible for providing healthy food.
Medical nutrition is better than medicines and medical
treatments,” she concluded.
Josephine Cole, the spouse of the Maltese ambassador
to Kuwait, and the President of IWG for this year addressed
a welcome speech, where she expressed her happiness of
the successful cultural and social activities of the group.
“These meeting are important especially that useful activities and programs are presented, such as the health lectures
are excellent and I enjoy attending it. It’s also a great opportunity to meet friends and new members,” she stated.
The members meet regularly and hold different events
and activities. “These activities include different celebrations and events such as visiting traditional places. In addition it includes other cultural activities such as those presented by the diplomat women from their country. This
month will be related to the issue of nutrition,” Narjis AlShatti, Member of IWG and the PR and Media told the
Kuwait Times.
The IWG Kuwait chapter is a branch of the International
Women’s Association residing in Denmark and has branches all over the world, where they organize similar programs and activities. Here in Kuwait the new wives of
ambassadors meet with the other members to exchange
information about their country, tradition, food, culture
and others.
TIES Center social hub schedules
Punjabi Sabhya
Charak Nite
P
unjab International Cultural Society - Kuwait in associate with Fankaar Arts presents Punjabi Cultural
Show with singers from Punjab (India) On 14-112014 at Salmiyah Indian Model School - Salmiya at 5 pm.
What’s On - Submission Guidelines
All photos submitted for What’s On
should be minimum 200dpi.
Articles must be in plain text and
should include name and phone
numbers. Articles and photos that
fail to meet these requirements will
not be published.
Please send them to
[email protected]
Susanna Graziano
IES Center cordially invites you to its wonderful lecture
entitled, “Italy’s Ancient Foods Reach Kuwait’s
Shakshooka Market,” by Susanna Graziano after today,
at 7 pm.
An evening dedicated to Italy’s culinary roots presented by
Susanna Graziano, highlighting lesser-known, Italian regional
specialties and their history, and the growing demand for a
return to honest food in Kuwait, represented by Shakshooka
Market, Kuwait’s first farmers’ market, presented by its founder,
local chef Maryam al Nusif. Susanna is so generous that she will
provide samples on each kind of food for everyone to taste.
Susanna invites you into her virtual Italian family kitchen,
where you will discover some of Italy’s staple traditional dishes
and learn how to prepare them and enjoy them with friends
and family, while Maryam tells the serendipitous story of the
birth of Shakshooka Market, and why cultivating a loving relationship between the food, its maker and consumer, is not
only necessary but rewarding.
Susanna Graziano is an instructor, a foodie, and a radio
speaker. She organizes tasting sessions, gourmet catering
events and loves to spread the word about taste education,
no waste, farmers markets and local, good quality food. She
also thoroughly enjoys feeding people.
T
Maryam Al Nusif
Growing up in a home with an appreciation for quality
dining helped develop Maryam Al Nusif’s love of food at
an early age. While completing her MBA in the UK in 2007,
Maryam Al Nusif, following her childhood love of food,
enrolled in Cordon Bleu to fulfill her dream of becoming a
chef. Upon her return to Kuwait, with the intention of settling and starting her own business, fate had a different
plan - A casual request from a former Sharq Organic customer, (an organic family farm business that closed its
doors in 2003), for organic produce gave birth to
Shakshooka Market. While organizing and taking part in
Shakshooka Market is Maryam’s full-time job, she is also
co-founder of Two Chefs and a Waitress, collaborating
with fellow chef, Danna Al Tourah and different local
chefs, on a monthly basis, offering unique dining experiences and menus to like-minded foodies across Kuwait.
Maryam also initiated The Secret Garden Project; an
urban gardening project aimed at reviving a neglected
public park in Salmiya, where individuals from the community can come to volunteer their time and contribute
to this grassroots initiative, demonstrating that living as a
happy community is more effective than living as a happy
individual.
Come along with your friends to enjoy the evening
that will feed your mind and stomach.
Outbreak: Plagues that changed history
By Bryn Barnard
The presentation will focus on how modern society
has been shaped by infectious diseases including bubonic plague, smallpox, yellow fever, influenza, cholera,
tuberculosis and toxoplasma. Bryn’s talk isnít so much
about the diseases, though he will describe them, but
how they changed the way we treat illness, improve sanitation, provide drinking water, and invented antibiotics.
Bryn Barnard is an author and illustrator with twenty
five years of experience creating images for clients that
include NASA, National Geographic and Scientific
American. He has illustrated twenty-five books for children and is the author and illustrator of three books, all
published by Random House, New York: Dangerous
Planet: Natural Disasters That Changed History, Outbreak:
Plagues That Changed History, and The Genius of Islam.
Bryn Barnard has had solo exhibitions of his illustrations in Asia, Europe and the United States. In 2009 the
Global Health Odyssey Museum at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia exhibited the
art from his book Outbreak. The National Museum of
Health and Medicine in Washington, DC showed
Outbreak in 2010 and will do so again in the spring of
2013 at their new campus in Annapolis, Maryland. Bryn
Barnard teaches art at the American International School
of Kuwait.
Tuesday, November 18 @ 7:00pm
The TIES Center is the social and educational hub for
English Speaking Muslims in Kuwait. For more information,
please call 25231015 or e-mail [email protected] or visit
www.tiescenter.net.
The TIES Center is the social and educational hub for English
Speaking Muslims in Kuwait. For more information, please call
25231015 or e-mail [email protected] or visit www.tiescenter.net.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
W H AT ’ S O N
NBK Capital co-organizes blood donation
day to support Kuwait’s Central Blood Bank
I
n partnership with Kuwait Central Blood Bank, NBK Capital organized Blood
Donation Day at its offices in Arraya Tower II. This initiative is part of the
investment firm’s corporate commitment to support community initiatives to
help save lives and endorse good health practices among its staff.
NBK Capital employees gathered at the special donation center, set up by
Kuwait Central Blood Bank professional medical team and staff, to donate blood
and help save the lives of others. Blood donations during the day were added to
the blood bank’s reserves to support its blood drive initiatives. The medical
team also communicated important messages to donors about the importance
of regular blood donation and its safe process.
“NBK Capital believes in the importance of not only being part of the business community, but also giving back to Kuwait’s society whenever possible”,
said Salah Al-Fulaij, CEO of NBK Capital. He added, “We strive to make positive
contributions in communities and markets where we operate by sowing this
culture amid our staff.”
The blood donation initiative is part of a CSR program and activities at NBK
Capital, which encompasses impartial and transparent deeds that ensure synergy and reinforce the cohesion of the community.
Dr Marcia Denny represents
KILAW in International
Law Weekend 2014
D
FIMA donates to Kashmir relief fund
F
ederation of Indian Muslims Associations
(FIMA), the coordination council of Indian
Muslim associations working in Kuwait,
donated a sum of three hundred and twenty five
thousand rupees (Rs. 3,25,000/) to the Prime
Minister’s National Relief Fund in support of the
relief operations in Jammu & Kashmir for those
affected by the recent devastating floods in the
valley. The fund was handed over to the Indian
Ambassador to Kuwait, Sunil Jain, by the FIMA
delegation led by President Siddeeque Valiyakath.
The other members of the delegation included
FIMA’s Vice President Sayed Ifthekhar Ahmed,
Secretary General Hidayathullah, Joint Secretary
Abdulrazak Alwane, Treasurer Salim Desai and
Joint Treasurer Mohammed Manshauddin. The
delegation also discussed important issues pertaining to the Indian community with the ambassador including the condition of domestic workers in the state and the problems of NRI students
among others. The ambassador expressed knowledge of these problems and noted that he is trying his best to seek remedies. Towards that end
he had raised the issues with the Farwaniya
Governor Sheikh Faisal Humoud Al Sabah during
their recent meeting. Further, the ambassador
evinced keen interest regarding the issue of NRI
students’ fees and asked for details in order to
take the matter to the concerned authorities in
the central government
r Marcia Denny, Assistant Professor
of International Law at Kuwait
International Law School, attended
the International Law Weekend 2014 held
October 24th and 25th at Fordham Law
School in New York City.
The conference was jointly sponsored
by the International Law Students’
Association and the American Branch of
the International Law Association of
which Ms Denny is a member.
The overall theme was “International
Law in a Time of Chaos.” Among the sessions Ms Denny attended, were expert
discussions of the application and extraterritorial reach of the United States’ new
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, FATCA, and an update on the application of
corruption and bribery regulations both
international (UN Convention Against
Corruption) and national (US Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act). In addition, Ms
Denny, a coach for the KILAW Philip C.
Jessup International Moot Court Team,
attended sessions both relevant to current issues in international law and to this
Dr Marcia Denny
year’s Jessup competition problem
involving self-determination, secession
and non-intervention in the time of
Crimea and Kosovo and balancing territorial integrity and self-determination
under international law. Presenters
included expert practitioners in international law and United Nations officials as
well as practicing lawyers and esteemed
professors.
JMBH & Spa appoints new director of
business development and marketing
J
umeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa, Kuwait’s idyllic
resort, has promoted Ahmed Ibrahim Jarkass to the role
of Director of Business Development and Marketing.
An Egyptian national, Ahmed Jarkass was a key member
of the hotel’s pre-opening executive team when he joined in
November 2009 as Director of Sales. He successfully supported the hotel’s planning, sales strategies and activities to
build and maintain strong relationships with customers and
stakeholders. He has also been a main contributor in hiring
the Sales and Marketing team from the local and international markets.
Ahmed Jarkass brings with him 15 years’ experience in the
hospitality industry, covering senior sales positions across
several prestigious hotel brands in Egypt and Kuwait. A graduate from the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels with specialisation in Hotel Management from the Helwan University in
Cairo, he also completed a programme in Marketing Strategy
for Business Leaders from the Cornell University.
In his new role, he will be responsible for leading the
Sales, Public Relations and Marketing, Revenue and
Conference and Events teams with a strategy to strengthen
the positioning of Kuwait’s idyllic resort as the first choice
hotel for corporate and leisure markets in Kuwait and internationally.
Souhridavedi Kuwait conducts Kudumbasangamom
S
ouhridavedhi Kuwait conducted Kudumbasangamom with various cultural programs. The function began with the national anthem followed by
welcome speech by Parimanam Manoj (General Secretary). The programme was inaugurated by Samkutty George (President) by lighting the traditional lamp. Felicitation speech was given by Mathew C. Abraham (Vice
President), Manoj Menon (Treasurer) proposed the vote of thanks.
The second part of the function was the cultural programs, which began
with magic show by magician Jewel & team which attracted kids and elders
equally. Another attraction was Ganamela which was led by Master Mossess
Tobin, Roney John, Hanna & Ruth. The launching ceremony (neetilirackal) of
Souhridavedhi Chundan which was led by captain Kochiyil Thomas & other
members including Rajesh Parakkoth, Biju Thomas, Roy T. Sam, Bibu T. Babu,
Sunil K.V. & Rajan Abraham was mind blowing. A variety of games and other
activities were also conducted. A sumptuous “OnaSadhya” was served to all
attendees.
Arpan Kuwait presents Raag ‘n’ Rachna
A
rpan Kuwait is presenting a unique
blend of art and music this Friday at
the Indian embassy auditorium. The
program, titled Raag ‘n’ Rachna will feature
mandolin Maestro UP Raju and the inimitable speed cartoonist Jitheshji with his
stage show. The program starts at 6pm
and gate opens at 5 pm. This program will
be inaugurated by Sunil Jain, Ambassador
of India to Kuwait.
MANDOLIN ARTIST UP RAJU: A freelance mandolin maestro, UP Raju has been
performing in various sabhas of Chennai
and other major cities of India for different
festivals for more than two decades. He is
also training many students in mandolin,
which includes online classes for the students in Canada, USA, and Switzerland.
Raju has extensively performed around
the globe. He has also achieved name and
fame through his solo/ duo audio cds and
cassettes. Raju and his wife Nagamani
together form a formidable mandolin duo.
CARTOONIST - Adv S Jithesh: On the
occasion of Children’s day, Arpan Kuwait is
happy to present the speed cartoonist
Jitheshji. Infotainment - education
through entertainment is the buzz word
of Jiteshji. His cartoon stage show is a
blend of poetry, anecdotes and sociopolitical satire with high speed drawing.
As a performing Jithesh has initiated and
developed this art genre. The mode of
presentation of this one hour show is very
captivating and enchanting while drawing
hundreds of celebrity caricatures on stage
with a lightning pace and satirical commentary in order to create a new sensibility. Now, this art genre is onto 2,000 stages
since its launching in 2008. Jitheshji has
also performed a record speed of sketching 50 celebrities within 5 minutes in
2008.
Arpan has formed an organizing
Committee for smooth conduction of two
days events (Raag n Rachana and Cartoon
caricature competition and workshop), K
Mahadevan as program convener and
Suresh K P as co-convener, according to
Krishna Iyer Mohan, President Arpan
Kuwait and Anil Attuva, General Secretary,
Arpan Kuwait.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
TV PROGRAMS
00:50
01:45
02:40
03:35
04:00
04:25
04:50
05:15
06:02
06:25
06:49
07:36
08:00
08:25
09:15
10:10
11:05
12:00
12:55
13:20
13:50
14:20
14:45
15:40
16:05
16:35
17:30
18:25
19:20
20:15
21:10
22:05
22:30
Great Animal Escapes
Untamed & Uncut
Animal Cops Houston
Safari Sisters
Safari Sisters
Secret Life Of Pets
Secret Life Of Pets
Bad Dog!
Great Animal Escapes
Great Animal Escapes
Untamed & Uncut
Animal Airport
Call Of The Wildman
Dogs 101
Bad Dog
Treehouse Masters
Animal Maternity Ward
Animal Precinct
Call Of The Wildman
Animal Airport
Secret Life Of Pets
Secret Life Of Pets
Bad Dog!
Safari Sisters
Safari Sisters
Treehouse Masters
Dogs 101
Must Love Cats
Biggest And Baddest
Bondi Vet
Animal Clinic
Safari Sisters
Safari Sisters
00:40 Life On Mars
01:30 Last Of The Summer Wine
02:00 Eastenders
02:30 Doctors
03:00 New Tricks
03:50 The Cafe
04:15 The Weakest Link
05:00 Charlie And Lola
05:15 Woolly & Tig
05:20 Mr Bloom’s Nursery
05:40 Bobinogs
05:50 Little Prairie Dogs
06:00 Gigglebiz
06:15 Charlie And Lola
06:30 Woolly & Tig
06:35 Mr Bloom’s Nursery
06:55 Bobinogs
07:05 Little Prairie Dogs
07:15 The Weakest Link
08:00 The Cafe
08:25 Moone Boy
08:50 Eastenders
09:20 Doctors
09:50 New Tricks
10:40 The Paradise
11:30 The Cafe
11:55 Moone Boy
12:20 The Impressions Show With
Culshaw...
12:50 Eastenders
13:20 Doctors
13:50 New Tricks
14:40 The Paradise
15:30 The Cafe
15:55 Moone Boy
16:20 The Weakest Link
17:05 Eastenders
17:35 Doctors
18:05 New Tricks
18:55 One Foot In The Grave
19:30 Last Of The Summer Wine
20:00 The Paradise
20:55 Stella
00:00 Homes Under The Hammer
00:50 Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen
Notebook: Cosmo Cook
01:15 Come Dine With Me
02:05 Antiques Roadshow
03:00 Antiques Roadshow
03:50 Fantasy Homes By The Sea
04:35 Homes Under The Hammer
05:25 Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen
Notebook: Cosmo Cook
05:50 Come Dine With Me
06:40 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook
07:05 Antiques Roadshow
08:00 Antiques Roadshow
08:55 Fantasy Homes By The Sea
09:40 Homes Under The Hammer
10:30 Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen
Notebook: Cosmo Cook
10:55 Come Dine With Me
11:45 Antiques Roadshow
12:35 Antiques Roadshow
13:30 Fantasy Homes By The Sea
14:15 Homes Under The Hammer
15:05 Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen
Notebook: Cosmo Cook
15:30 Come Dine With Me
16:20 Antiques Roadshow
17:10 Antiques Roadshow
18:05 Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen
Secrets
18:30 Fantasy Homes By The Sea
19:15 Homes Under The Hammer
20:10 Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen
Notebook: Cosmo Cook
20:35 Masterchef: The Professionals
21:00 Paul Hollywood’s Bread
21:25 Rachel’s Favourite Food For
Living
21:50 Hairy Dieters
22:40 The Roux Legacy
23:15 Bargain Hunt
00:20 Railroad Alaska
01:10 Railroad Alaska
02:00 Fast N’ Loud
02:50 Storage Hunters
03:15 Thrift Hunters
03:40 Storage Wars Canada
04:05 How It’s Made
04:30 How It’s Made
05:00 Treehouse Masters
06:00 Rods N’ Wheels
06:50 Robson Green’s Extreme
Fishing Challenge
07:40 Fast N’ Loud
08:30 Storage Hunters
08:55 Thrift Hunters
09:20 Storage Wars Canada
09:45 How It’s Made
10:10 How It’s Made
10:35 Siberian Cut
11:25 Railroad Alaska
12:15 Railroad Alaska
13:05 Storage Hunters
13:30 Thrift Hunters
13:55 Storage Wars Canada
14:20 Robson Green’s Extreme
Fishing Challenge
15:10 Rods N’ Wheels
16:00 Fast N’ Loud
16:50 How It’s Made
17:15 How It’s Made
17:40 Treehouse Masters
18:30 Tethered
19:20 Dual Survival
20:10 Thrift Hunters
20:35 Storage Wars Canada
21:00 Marooned With Ed Stafford
21:50 Tethered
22:40 Dual Survival
23:30 Marooned With Ed Stafford
00:00
00:40
00:50
01:15
Violetta
The Hive
Art Attack
Art Attack
01:40 Jungle Junction
01:50 Jungle Junction
02:05 Jungle Junction
02:15 Jungle Junction
02:30 Violetta
03:10 The Hive
03:20 Art Attack
03:45 Art Attack
04:10 Jungle Junction
04:20 Jungle Junction
04:35 Jungle Junction
04:45 Jungle Junction
05:00 Art Attack
05:25 Art Attack
05:50 Mouk
06:00 Dog With A Blog
06:25 Liv And Maddie
06:50 Good Luck Charlie
07:15 Good Luck Charlie
07:40 Jessie
08:05 Win, Lose Or Draw
08:30 Good Luck Charlie
08:55 Good Luck Charlie
09:20 Sonny With A Chance
09:45 Sonny With A Chance
10:10 Suite Life On Deck
10:35 Suite Life On Deck
11:00 That’s So Raven
11:25 That’s So Raven
11:50 A.N.T. Farm
12:15 A.N.T. Farm
12:40 Good Luck Charlie
13:05 Good Luck Charlie
13:30 Jessie
13:55 Jessie
14:20 Austin & Ally
15:00 Good Luck Charlie
15:20 Good Luck Charlie
15:45 Liv And Maddie
16:10 Violetta
17:00 I Didn’t Do It
17:25 Jessie
17:50 Sabrina: Secrets Of A
Teenage Witch
18:15 Dog With A Blog
18:40 Win, Lose Or Draw
19:05 Liv And Maddie
19:30 Violetta
20:20 Mako Mermaids
20:45 Spooksville
21:10 Wolfblood
21:35 Suite Life On Deck
22:00 Good Luck Charlie
22:25 A.N.T. Farm
22:50 Shake It Up
23:10 Wolfblood
00:00 Giuliana & Bill
00:55 The Soup
01:25 Keeping Up With The
Kardashians
02:20 E! News
03:15 Escape Club
04:10 THS
05:05 The E! True Hollywood Story
06:00 Kourtney & Kim Take New
York
06:55 Keeping Up With The
Kardashians
07:50 Style Star
08:20 E! News
09:15 Giuliana & Bill
10:15 Giuliana & Bill
11:10 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills
11:35 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills
12:05 E! News
13:05 Extreme Close-Up
13:35 E!ES
14:30 Style Star
15:00 Keeping Up With The
Kardashians
16:00 Keeping Up With The
Kardashians
17:00 Eric And Jessie: Game On
17:30 Eric And Jessie: Game On
18:00 The Drama Queen
19:00 Ryan Seacrest With The
Kardashians: An E!...
19:00 NFL
22:00 Live Grand Slam of Darts
00:45 Beyond Borders-18
03:00 Hoosiers-PG
05:00 Great Expectations-PG15
07:00 Not Without My DaughterPG15
09:00 Beasts Of The Southern WildPG15
10:45 Eastwood Directs: The
Untold Story-PG15
12:15 Veronica Guerin-PG15
14:00 The Past-PG15
16:30 Beasts Of The Southern WildPG15
18:30 Mud-PG15
21:00 Raging Bull-18
23:30 The Place Beyond The Pines
01:00 A Haunted House-PG15
03:00 Playing For Keeps-PG15
04:45 Salmon Fishing In The
Yemen-PG15
06:45 Star Trek Into Darkness-PG15
09:00 Cloudy With A Chance Of
Meatballs 2-PG
11:00 The Magic Of Belle Isle-PG15
13:00 Lovestruck: The MusicalPG15
14:30 The Lone Ranger-PG15
17:00 Cloudy With A Chance Of
Meatballs 2-PG
19:00 R.I.P.D.-PG15
21:00 Seven Days In Utopia-PG15
OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN ON OSN MOVIES ACTION
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
Giuliana & Bill
Giuliana & Bill
E! News
House Of Dvf
00:40 Ade In Britain
01:30 Come Dine With Me Ireland
02:00 Emmerdale
02:55 Coronation Street
03:25 Celebrity Exposed:richard
Young’s Photography
04:20 Autopsy: The Last Hour Of...
05:15 Real Life: The Musical
06:10 May The Best House Win
07:05 Come Dine With Me Ireland
07:30 Celebrity Exposed:richard
Young’s Photography
08:25 Autopsy: The Last Hour Of...
09:20 Lewis
10:15 Real Life: The Musical
11:10 Emmerdale
12:00 Coronation Street
12:30 Ade In Britain
13:25 May The Best House Win
14:20 Come Dine With Me Ireland
14:45 Real Life: The Musical
15:35 Autopsy: The Last Hour Of...
16:30 Murdoch Mysteries
17:25 Murdoch Mysteries
18:20 May The Best House Win
19:10 Coronation Street
19:35 Autopsy: The Last Hour Of...
20:30 Murdoch Mysteries
21:25 Murdoch Mysteries
22:20 Coronation Street
22:50 Emmerdale
23:45 Real Life: The Musical
00:00 Dogtown
01:00 Engineering Connections
02:00 Situation Critical
03:00 World’s Deadliest Animals
04:00 Adventure Wanted
05:00 Britain’s Greatest Machines
06:00 Wwii’s Greatest Raids
07:00 Wild Thailand
08:00 Dogtown
09:00 Engineering Connections
10:00 Situation Critical
11:00 Inside
12:00 World’s Toughest Fixes
13:00 Animal Intervention
14:00 Wild Russia
15:00 Crimes Against Nature
16:00 Comet Catcher: The Rosetta
Landing
17:00 Salvage Code Red
18:00 Alaska Wing Men
19:00 Crimes Against Nature
20:00 Comet Catcher: The Rosetta
Landing
21:00 Salvage Code Red
22:00 Alaska Wing Men
23:00 Inside
A HAUNTED HOUSE ON OSN MOVIES HD
00:00 Wilfred
00:30 The Daily Show With Jon
Stewart
01:00 Last Week Tonight With John
Oliver
01:35 Saturday Night Live
02:30 Veep
03:30 The Goldbergs
09:30 Growing Up Fisher
10:00 The Michael J. Fox Show
14:00 The Goldbergs
14:30 Growing Up Fisher
15:00 The Michael J. Fox Show
15:30 The Daily Show With Jon
Stewart
16:00 The Colbert Report
18:00 Raising Hope
18:30 Baby Daddy
19:00 Young & Hungry
19:30 The Michael J. Fox Show
20:00 The Tonight Show Starring
Jimmy Fallon
21:00 The Daily Show With Jon
Stewart
21:30 The Colbert Report
22:00 Eastbound & Down
22:30 South Park
23:00 Veep
23:30 Late Night With Seth Meyers
00:00
01:00
03:00
06:00
08:00
12:00
12:30
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
16:30
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
23:00
Drop Dead Diva
Homeland
The Leftovers
Drop Dead Diva
Chicago Fire
Emmerdale
Coronation Street
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Chicago Fire
Drop Dead Diva
Emmerdale
Coronation Street
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Chicago Fire
The Fosters
Downton Abbey
The Voice
Justified
00:00
01:00
03:00
04:00
05:00
07:00
07:30
09:00
10:00
10:30
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
The Night Shift
Good Morning America
The Killing
House Of Cards
Good Morning America
Emmerdale
Coronation Street
24
Emmerdale
Coronation Street
Criminal Minds
The Night Shift
24
Live Good Morning America
Criminal Minds
The Night Shift
24
Criminal Minds
The Night Shift
The Killing
House Of Cards
00:00
02:15
04:00
06:00
08:00
10:00
12:00
14:00
16:00
18:00
20:00
22:00
Pain & Gain
Taken 2
Ghostbusters
Olympus Has Fallen
Taken 2
Marvel’s Doctor Strange
Maximum Conviction
Olympus Has Fallen
Ghostbusters II
Taken 2
Maximum Conviction
Stolen
00:15
02:00
04:00
06:00
08:00
10:00
12:00
Taken 2-PG15
Ghostbusters-PG
Olympus Has Fallen-PG15
Taken 2-PG15
Marvel’s Doctor Strange-PG
Maximum Conviction-PG15
Olympus Has Fallen-PG15
14:00
16:00
18:00
20:00
22:00
Ghostbusters II-PG
Taken 2-PG15
Maximum Conviction-PG15
Stolen-PG15
Urban Justice-18
00:00
02:00
04:00
06:00
08:00
10:00
12:00
14:00
16:00
18:00
20:00
22:00
Ass Backwards-18
Something New-PG15
Ingenious-PG15
Old Stock-PG15
What About Bob?-PG
Teen Wolf Too-PG15
Home Alone-PG
Bean-PG15
What About Bob?-PG
Meet The Fockers-PG15
Gambit-PG15
Take This Waltz-18
01:45
03:15
05:15
07:00
PG15
09:00
11:00
13:00
15:00
17:00
19:00
21:00
23:00
Straight A’s-PG15
Blue Like Jazz-PG15
Hold Fast-PG15
The Company You KeepScents And Sensibility-PG15
Nebraska-PG15
Lost Christmas-PG15
The Last Harbor-PG15
Scents And Sensibility-PG15
Inescapable-PG15
The English Teacher-PG15
Arthur Newman-18
01:00 Kong Return To The Jungle
02:45 Niko 2: Little Brother, Big
Trouble
04:30 Ploddy Police Car
06:00 A Cat In Paris
08:00 The Happy Cricket 2
09:45 Free Birds
11:30 Dragon Hunters
13:00 Niko 2: Little Brother, Big
Trouble
14:30 The Apple & The Worm
16:00 Imaginum
18:00 Free Birds
20:00 Renart The Fox
22:00 The Apple & The Worm
23:30 Imaginum
00:00 The World’s End-PG15
02:00 Someday This Pain Will Be
Useful To You-PG15
04:00 Despicable Me 2-PG
06:00 Lakeview Terrace-PG15
08:00 Run For Your Wife-PG15
09:45 Blades Of Glory-PG15
11:30 The Great Gatsby-PG15
14:00 Absolute Fear-PG15
16:00 Run For Your Wife-PG15
18:00 Thor: The Dark World-PG15
20:00 Snitch-PG15
22:00 The Baytown Outlaws-18
02:00 PGA Tour Highlights
03:00 International Rugby Union
05:00 The Ryder Cup Official Film
06:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights
07:00 Golfing World
08:00 World Golf Championship
Highlights
09:00 PGA Tour Highlights
11:00 International Rugby Union
13:00 International Rugby Union
15:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights
15:30 World Golf Championship
Highlights
16:30 Live Hero Indian Super
League Football
18:30 Futbol Mundial
00:00
01:00
01:30
03:00
04:00
07:30
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:30
15:00
18:00
20:00
23:00
WWE Afterburn
WWE This Week
The Ryder Cup Official Film
WWE Superstars
Live WWE Raw
World Match Racing Tour
World Match Racing Tour
Golfing World
The Ryder Cup Official Film
WWE This Week
WWE Raw
WWE Experience
WWE Raw
World Match Racing Tour
03:00 Grand Slam Of Darts
11:00 Asian Tour Highlights
14:30 Asian Tour Highlights
18:00 Asian Tour Highlights
19:00 World Golf Championship
Highlights
21:00 Asian Tour Highlights
04:00 Frankfort Marathon
09:00 Hero Indian Super League
Highlights
15:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights
19:00 Futbol Mundial
19:30 Hero Indian Super League
Highlights
20:00 Hero Indian Super League
Football
23:00 Hero Indian Super League
Highlights
00:00 ICC Cricket 360
00:30 India v West Indies T20I
Highlights
01:30 Australia v South Africa T20I
Highlights
02:30 Natwest T20 Blast Highlights
05:30 ICC Cricket 360
06:00 India v West Indies T20I
Highlights
07:00 Live India v West Indies
International Test
15:00 ICC Cricket 360
15:30 Australia v South Africa T20I
Highlights
16:30 Natwest T20 Blast Highlights
19:30 ICC Cricket 360
20:00 India v West Indies T20I
Highlights
22:00 Caribbean Premier Leaue
Highlights
00:45 The Undateables
01:35 Breaking Amish: The
Shunning Truth
02:25 I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant
02:50 Mob Wives
03:40 Long Island Medium
04:05 Say Yes To The Dress
04:30 Say Yes To The Dress
05:00 Toddlers & Tiaras
06:00 Something
Borrowed,
Something New
06:25 World’s Worst Mum
07:15 What Not To Wear
08:05 The Next Great Baker
08:55 Ultimate Shopper
09:45 Cake Boss
10:10 Jon & Kate Plus 8
10:35 Little People, Big World
11:00 Toddlers & Tiaras
11:50 Say Yes To The Dress
TEEN WOLF TOO ON OSN MOVIES COMEDY HD
Classifieds
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
SITUATION WANTED
Kuwait
SHARQIA-1
KBIG HERO 6 (DIG)
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
NO SUN+TUE+WED
SHARQIA-2
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
NO SUN+TUE+WED
BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP (DIG)
SUN+TUE+WED
SHARQIA-3
71 (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
71 (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
NO SUN+TUE+WED
MUHALAB-1
JOHN WICK (DIG)
71 (DIG)
BROTHER OF BOMMALI (DIG) (Telugu)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
JAZEERA 2 (DIG) (Arabic)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
MUHALAB-2
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
BROTHER OF BOMMALI (DIG) (Telugu)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
MUHALAB-3
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
FANAR-1
71 (DIG)
FURY (DIG)
HAPPY NEW YEAR (DIG)(HINDI)
HAPPY NEW YEAR (DIG)(HINDI)
FURY (DIG)
FANAR-2
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
2:00 PM
4:15 PM
6:30 PM
8:45 PM
11:00 PM
1:15 AM
1:45 PM
5:00 PM
8:15 PM
11:30 PM
11:30 PM
12:45 PM
3:00 PM
5:15 PM
7:30 PM
9:30 PM
12:45 AM
2:00 PM
4:15 PM
4:00 PM
6:45 PM
7:00 PM
9:00 PM
12:05 AM
12:45 PM
3:00 PM
5:15 PM
7:30 PM
10:00 PM
10:00 PM
1:00 AM
12:30 AM
12:30 PM
3:45 PM
7:00 PM
10:15 PM
1:30 PM
3:45 PM
6:15 PM
9:30 PM
12:45 AM
1:00 PM
3:30 PM
5:45 PM
KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY
(06/11/2014 TO 12/11/2014)
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
FANAR-4
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
NO SUN+TUE+WED
JOHN WICK (DIG)
8:00 PM
10:15 PM
12:30 AM
WOLVES (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
5:15 PM
7:30 PM
9:45 PM
12:05 AM
1:15 PM
4:30 PM
7:45 PM
11:00 PM
360º- 1
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
1:30 PM
4:00 PM
6:30 PM
9:00 PM
11:30 PM
11:15 PM
360º- 2
JAZEERA 2 (DIG) (Arabic)
JAZEERA 2 (DIG) (Arabic)
JAZEERA 2 (DIG) (Arabic)
JAZEERA 2 (DIG) (Arabic)
THE EQUALIZER (DIG)
1:00 PM
4:00 PM
7:00 PM
10:00 PM
1:00 AM
10:45 PM
360º- 3
JOHN WICK (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
1:45 PM
4:00 PM
6:15 PM
8:30 PM
10:45 PM
1:00 AM
2:00 PM
5:15 PM
8:30 PM
11:45 PM
AL-KOUT.1
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
NO SUN+TUE+WED
11:00 PM
MARINA-1
JOHN WICK (DIG)
71 (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
JAZEERA 2 (DIG) (Arabic)
NO THU+FRI
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
THU+FRI
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
THU+FRI
JOHN WICK (DIG)
THU+FRI
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
SAT+MON
JOHN WICK (DIG)
SUN+TUE+WED
MARINA-2
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
NO SUN+TUE+WED
MARINA-3
BIG HERO 6 (DIG-3D)
BIG HERO 6 (DIG-3D)
BIG HERO 6 (DIG-3D)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
1:30 PM
3:30 PM
5:45 PM
7:45 PM
7:45 PM
10:00 PM
1:15 AM
10:45 PM
12:30 PM
2:45 PM
5:00 PM
7:15 PM
9:30 PM
12:05 AM
AVENUES-1
FURY (DIG)
FURY (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
FURY (DIG)
FURY (DIG)
1:30 PM
4:00 PM
6:30 PM
9:45 PM
12:15 AM
AVENUES-2
JAZEERA 2 (DIG) (Arabic)
JAZEERA 2 (DIG) (Arabic)
JAZEERA 2 (DIG) (Arabic)
JAZEERA 2 (DIG) (Arabic)
NO SUN+TUE+WED
WOLVES (DIG)
SUN+TUE+WED
AVENUES-3
JOHN WICK (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
2:15 PM
5:15 PM
8:15 PM
11:15 PM
11:15 PM
12:45 PM
3:00 PM
1:30 PM
4:45 PM
8:00 PM
11:15 PM
AL-KOUT.2
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
BIG HERO 6 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
71 (DIG)
12:45 PM
3:00 PM
5:15 PM
7:30 PM
9:45 PM
12:05 AM
AL-KOUT.3
BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
JOHN WICK (DIG)
1:00 PM
3:00 PM
5:00 PM
9:00 PM
12:30 AM
AL-KOUT.4
FURY (DIG)
FURY (DIG)
JAZEERA 2 (DIG) (Arabic)
JAZEERA 2 (DIG) (Arabic)
FURY (DIG)
1:15 PM
3:45 PM
6:15 PM
9:15 PM
12:15 AM
BAIRAQ-1
BIG HERO 6 (DIG-3D)
BIG HERO 6 (DIG-3D)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
INTERSTELLAR (DIG)
1:15 PM
3:30 PM
5:45 PM
9:00 PM
12:15 AM
12 years experienced professional looking for senior
position in
accounts/finance.
Qualification: CFA: CFA
Level 1, CMA (IMA-USA),
ICWA, BCOM, Oracle financials, Microsoft dynamic.
Contact: 50616410.
(C 4856)
11-11-2014
Quality & HSE manager
with 27 years experience in
Middle East. B.E civil, MBA
(UK) ISO G001, 14001 &
OHSAS 18001 qualified.
Mob: 94472654. (C 4853)
10-11-2014
SITUATIN VACANT
Required driver with
Kuwait driving license,
knowledgeable of Kuwait
areas, for a Kuwaiti family.
Tel: 99854312. (C 4857)
11-11-2014
without down payment.
Cash price KD 2,600. Tel:
99194874. (C 4854)
10-11-2014
FOR SALE
112
Prayer timings
CHANGE OF NAME
Chevy Optra, Model 2004,
very good condition. Tel:
66133616.
Nissan Sunny model 2013
silver color, 38,000 km
done, dealer maintain,
excellent condition, installment possible with or
I, Gurtej Singh Kingra S/o
Harbans Singh R/o
Bhodipura (Bathinda) have
changed my name to
Gurtej Singh. (C 4855)
11-11-2014
Fajr:
04:47
Shorook
06:08
Duhr:
11:32
Asr:
14:34
Maghrib:
16:55
Isha:
18:15
No: 16339
Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)
Airlines
JAI
JZR
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ETD
KKK
OMA
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ABY
ETD
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GFA
IRA
MSC
MEA
UAE
MSR
KAC
JZR
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Flt
574
239
267
411
539
772
069
1084
858
620
764
211
853
526
067
648
612
305
6507
643
1076
401
503
770
170
157
416
412
053
1086
512
352
382
302
206
332
855
125
301
282
055
1070
213
675
405
404
871
610
514
561
1078
Arrival Flights on Tuesday 11/11/2014
Route
Mumbai
Amman
Beirut
Amsterdam/Dammam
Cairo
Istanbul
Dubai
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Time
00:10
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00:40
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00:55
01:00
01:35
01:45
02:15
02:30
02:35
02:50
02:55
03:05
03:10
03:10
03:20
03:25
03:45
04:05
05:25
05:35
05:40
06:40
06:45
07:10
07:45
07:50
07:55
08:10
08:15
08:20
08:25
08:30
08:40
09:00
09:20
09:20
09:40
10:00
10:40
10:40
11:25
11:55
12:50
13:00
13:10
13:45
14:05
KNE
SVA
FDB
GFA
KAC
ABY
UAE
FDB
NIA
KAC
QTR
RJA
ETD
SVA
GFA
FDB
UAL
UAE
TAR
JZR
FDB
ABY
KAC
QTR
KAC
AXB
KAC
KAC
KAC
KAC
GFA
KAC
KAC
KAC
JAI
MSR
SYR
OMA
FDB
DLH
ALK
MEA
ETD
FDB
UAE
GFA
QTR
KLM
ETD
FDB
AIC
PIA
UAL
FDB
472
500
057
221
788
127
857
051
251
562
1072
640
303
510
215
075
982
875
328
177
063
121
786
1080
774
393
618
674
542
678
217
166
104
742
572
618
341
647
061
636
229
402
307
073
859
219
1074
415
309
059
981
239
981
071
Jeddah
Jeddah
Dubai
Bahrain
Jeddah
Sharjah
Dubai
Dubai
Alexandria
Amman
Doha
Amman
Abu Dhabi
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IAD
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Tunis/Dubai
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Dubai
Dubai
Bahrain
Doha
Amsterdam
Abu Dhabi
Dubai
Chennai/Hyderabad/Ahmedabad
Sialkot
Bahrain
Dubai
14:25
14:30
14:30
15:00
15:10
15:45
15:45
16:00
16:15
16:20
16:40
16:55
16:55
17:15
17:30
17:45
17:55
18:00
18:05
18:20
18:40
18:40
18:45
18:50
19:15
19:15
19:15
19:25
19:25
19:25
19:30
19:40
19:55
20:00
20:05
20:05
20:10
20:20
20:20
20:50
21:10
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Departure Flights on Tuesday 11/11/2014
Flt
Route
976
Goa/Chennai
044
Dhaka
206
Lahore
072
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573
Mumbai
411
Amsterdam
635
Frankfurt
621
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773
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859
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854
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068
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306
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613
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6508
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644
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1085
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406
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1077
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070
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525
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765
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649
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560
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212
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771
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054
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156
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1087
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513
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513
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787
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126
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101
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856
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302
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561
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056
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1071
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165
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214
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674
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541
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677
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402
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405
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785
Jeddah
176
Dubai
611
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872
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673
Dubai
DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION
Time
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04:05
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04:10
04:15
04:30
05:05
05:15
06:30
06:35
06:55
07:05
07:10
07:15
07:30
08:25
08:45
08:50
08:55
08:55
09:25
09:40
09:50
09:55
10:20
10:25
10:35
11:00
11:15
11:25
11:40
12:05
12:20
12:25
12:55
13:00
13:45
14:00
14:15
15:00
QTR
FDB
KAC
KNE
SVA
GFA
KAC
ABY
FDB
KAC
JZR
NIA
QTR
UAE
JZR
ETD
RJA
SVA
GFA
FDB
JZR
TAR
UAL
ABY
UAE
QTR
FDB
AXB
GFA
KAC
KAC
KAC
MSR
JAI
SYR
KAC
FDB
OMA
DLH
DHX
KAC
ALK
ETD
KAC
MEA
KAC
FDB
GFA
UAE
KAC
ETD
QTR
KLM
1079
058
617
473
501
222
773
128
052
741
266
252
1073
858
538
304
641
511
216
076
238
328
982
121
876
1081
064
393
218
283
361
343
607
571
342
351
062
648
636
171
381
230
308
301
403
203
074
220
860
205
310
1075
415
Doha
Dubai
Doha
Jeddah
Jeddah
Bahrain
Riyadh
Sharjah
Dubai
Dammam
Beirut
Alexandria
Doha
Dubai
Cairo
Abu Dhabi
Amman
Riyadh
Bahrain
Dubai
Amman
Tunis
Bahrain
Sharjah
Dubai
Doha
Dubai
Kozhikode
Bahrain
Dhaka
Colombo
Chennai
Luxor
Mumbai
Damascus
Kochi
Dubai
Muscat
Dammam
Bahrain
Delhi
Colombo
Abu Dhabi
Mumbai
Beirut
Lahore
Dubai
Bahrain
Dubai
Islamabad
Abu Dhabi
Doha
Dammam/Amsterdam
15:05
15:10
15:15
15:20
15:45
15:45
15:50
16:25
17:00
17:00
17:05
17:15
17:40
17:45
17:45
17:50
17:55
18:15
18:20
18:25
18:50
18:55
19:15
19:20
19:40
19:50
19:55
20:15
20:15
20:30
20:50
20:55
21:05
21:05
21:10
21:15
21:20
21:20
21:35
21:50
22:00
22:10
22:15
22:15
22:20
22:20
22:30
22:30
22:50
22:55
23:00
23:05
23:15
34
s ta rs
CROSSWORD 721
STAR TRACK
Aries (March 21-April 19)
This is a period when you take your work more seriously than usual. There is a
lot of energy available and you are determined to get things scheduled and
organized. The nail that sticks up is hammered down now. Law, politics, education, travel
and religion are some of the areas where an emotionally charged drama may be played.
Seeing both sides of an issue and figuring out resolutions to opposing views take on a
greater importance. You can really use your mind to make clear choices and think through
situations. Some negotiations may be in order. A new cycle also begins that helps you with
the progress of your work. This cycle involves relationships, social connections and the artsin a more leading role than in the past.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
You are relentless about cutting through appearances and finding the essential in situations. This could involve legal or financial matters. A heightened interest in getting things organized into a rational system is a part of this. There is much mental busywork. A time of good fortune will begin to open up in a very natural way. It will become
easy to see the path you will take. Because of new opportunities, you may find yourself
energized and ready to participate. With your determination to succeed, the time will soon
be right to take the lead. You may be able to enjoy and value your own life situation or feel
especially kind towards a friend or loved one this evening. If the weather is good, you might
enjoy a walk with a loved one after the evening meal.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
ACROSS
1. Any of various aromatic resinous substances
used for healing and soothing.
5. A name for the Old Testament God as transliterated from the Hebrew YHVH.
11. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.
15. The capital of Western Samoa.
16. To or from every one of two or more (considered individually).
17. The basic monetary unit of most members of
the European Union (introduced in 1999).
18. A detailed description of design criteria for a
piece of work.
19. A nap in the early afternoon (especially in hot
countries).
20. An onerous or difficult concern.
21. A heavy brittle metallic element of the platinum group.
22. A Loloish language.
24. Foot pain.
26. Express strong disapproval of.
27. Deciduous round-headed Asiatic tree widely
grown in mild climates as an ornamental for its
heart-shaped leaves and fragrant yellow-green
flowers followed by hanging clusters of fleshy
orange-red berries.
28. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from
aba cloth.
29. The deep vascular inner layer of the skin.
32. A member of the Algonquian people formerly
inhabiting the Maritime Provinces of Canada.
36. (Jungian psychology) The inner self (not the
external persona) that is in touch with the unconscious.
38. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in
Turkey).
40. A broad flat muscle on either side of the back.
41. A white crystalline double sulfate of aluminum.
43. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium.
46. Subject to a ruling authority.
48. United States tennis player who was the first
Black to win United States and English singles
championships (1943-1993).
50. A primeval personification of air and breath.
51. A white mineral consisting of magnesium sulphate and potassium chloride.
53. A large fleet.
55. A very poisonous metallic element that has
three allotropic forms.
57. Being six more than fifty.
58. (anatomy) A natural hollow or sinus within the
body.
60. A sheet or band of fibrous connective tissue
separating or binding together muscles and
organs etc.
63. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in
Turkey).
67. A flat mass of ice (smaller than an ice field)
floating at sea.
70. A ravine or gully in southern Asia.
72. A plant hormone promoting elongation of
stems and roots.
75. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of
an organism.
76. Being one more than eighteen.
77. Segmented worms.
78. A young woman making her debut into society.
DOWN
1. Pertaining to or constituting a base or basis.
2. (British abbreviation) "he accepted it on appro".
3. A statement that deviates from or perverts the
truth.
4. Covered with paving material.
5. The face veil worn by Muslim women.
6. Relating to or having the characteristics of
bees.
7. Step on it.
8. An arthropod family of the order Hymenoptera
including.
9. The outer germ layer that develops into skin
and nervous tissue.
10. Horizontal beam used as a finishing piece
over a door or window.
11. Relating to or caused by wind.
12. A genus of Siphonaptera.
13. Wild sheep of northern Africa.
14. Large genus of erect or climbing prickly
shrubs including roses.
23. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a
skewer usually with vegetables.
25. The capital of Eritrea.
30. Filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock.
31. A chain of connected ideas or passages or
objects so arranged that each member is closely
related to the preceding and following members
(especially a series of patristic comments elucidating Christian dogma).
33. An Eskimo hut.
34. Seal with caulking.
35. A unit of weight for precious stones = 200 mg.
37. Tropical American tree grown in southern
United States having a whitish pink-tinged fruit.
39. (astronomy) The angular distance of a celestial
point measured westward along the celestial
equator from the zenith crossing.
42. (South African) An ear of corn.
44. Made light by aerating, as with yeast or baking powder.
45. Any warm-blooded vertebrate having the skin
more or less covered with hair.
47. A distinguished female operatic singer.
49. Barbiturate that is a white odorless slightly bitter powder (trade name Seconal) used as a sodium salt for sedation and to treat convulsions.
52. A hard malleable ductile silvery metallic element that is resistant to corrosion.
54. A rare polyvalent metallic element of the platinum group.
56. East Indian tree yielding a resin used medicinally and burned as incense.
59. A public promotion of some product or service.
61. A transmission line for high-frequency signals.
62. Soft creamy white cheese.
64. Showing or causing joy and pleasure.
65. Exhibiting or restored to vigorous good
health.
66. According to the Old Testament he was a
pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th
century BC).
68. Small rounded bread either plain or sweet.
69. The compass point that is one point north of
due east.
71. North American republic containing 50 states
- 48 conterminous states in North America plus
Alaska in northwest North America and the
Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
73. An intensely radioactive metallic element that
occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.
74. Being one more than fifty.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
This is a challenging day in that there is much to be accomplished. You may
be especially dynamic and assertive just now. You are helpful with co-workers and, if asked, can give plenty of suggestions or ideas to others. Right now, the key to
career moves involves tending to nagging details-whatever you have neglected and put off
before today. Take a deep breath and dig in to the work at hand. A good work ethic is
rewarded. Do your share to ensure smooth sailing on the job. Attention to matters of efficiency is important. There is a lot of energy available to push forward with your personal
plans this afternoon. Close relationships offer a lot of potential for growth this evening. You
are able to create many healings with your input.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
You should find everything running in a smooth manner today. Ideas and
interaction with authority figures may be in the forecast. Working with rather than against
the flow should be easy to do. Outer circumstances and the flow of events make it easy for
you to make clear decisions-see the road ahead and move forward. Things seem to fall into
place-progress is easy. Be careful not to overextend. Sometimes you say yes too quickly and
may hastily try to get too many things accomplished at once. Give yourself time to consider
the long-term consequences. Partnerships, personal relationships or the social scene in
general can have a very decided influence on your career and workplace. You will gain from
networking.
Leo (July 23-August 22)
You have an urge to strike out on your own in a new direction, to take on new
challenges no matter what the risks. You can be bold, perhaps headstrong and impatient. This
is a period emphasizing an enhanced sense of personal possibility and potential. There is
tremendous psychological growth, which can lead to great personal success, if you follow
through with it. You might also find that you will put on the pounds if you are not careful.
There is a bout of philosophy or even a little religion now that could have an enormous effect
on your career during this time. Lasting values can guide you now; you are opening up
avenues that have remained blocked. There is support all around you for whatever you want
to accomplish today.
Virgo (August 23-September 22)
Keep a positive outlook through a challenging dilemma in the workplace
today. You may not have all the facts at this time so make sure you remove
any judgments. Give yourself time and you will have the answers you need. Your intuition is
strong and can guide you accurately in making forecasts or decisions. Hard work and going
beyond the call of duty are par for the course today. Friendships and involvement in group
activities play a more important part for you this afternoon. Friends are our only true riches
and the satisfaction that comes from accomplishing things in cooperation with others is
something no one can take away from you. A good conversation with those you love is
possible this evening.
Word Search
Libra (September 23-October 22)
This is a good time to concentrate on your career goals. Your organizational
abilities and sense of responsibility will be what guides you and proves successful. Your
career could assume a more determined and solid form. There is certainly an abundance of
paperwork to wade through today. You may think that few people recognize your efforts or
accomplishments but instead, there are people that know and appreciate your work. You
should, however, throw your efforts into work you really love doing. A majority of planets in
the past have pointed to some sort of comfort zone for you. Now, you will find yourself
seeking more challenging and outgoing projects. You enjoy sharing quality time with a
loved one this evening.
Scorpio (October 23-November 21)
Most certainly, this is a day for work. Take an opportunity to complete whatever projects or work has been left undone from last week’s projects. There are good results
from your work today, no matter what the agenda. Any problems that are customer-relations problems are easily solved today. There are some letters that need to be written this
afternoon, including some type of greeting cards. Any personal project you want to start
now will have a good liftoff. Mixing business with pleasure is usually not a good idea but for
you, at this particular time in your life, everything seems to work toward good results. Make
sure this group, family or friend sort of business will be a contract of no more than two or
three years.
Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)
The support you need for whatever you want to accomplish is now available.
This is the time to make your request. You could gain attention with superiors or in relation to your work. As you work to enhance the value of your service, you will
enhance your job potential. You may find that you enjoy your job or the responsibility it
entails more than usual. Circumstances may stimulate the pleasure of your life situation
now. Your ethics deepen, providing you with a better sense of discrimination. That purchasing eye of yours is fine-tuned; others may find you selecting the best buys. This is the time
of year you enjoy shopping and a view in several shop windows will give you an idea of
where you want to shop in the near future. Lists are good.
Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Someone important or in authority may put a damper on your ideas. Since
you are good at creative thinking, there are many more ideas where these
came from. Take this as an opportunity to reassess and revamp your thinking. Listen carefully, there may or may not be important points to ponder. Your efforts will not go unnoticed.
Your work environment is usually the most practical of environments. You can manipulate
every situation and put it to good use. Emotions are seldom a priority and you are always
very practical and ambitious. Your career is central to everything you do. Farsighted and traditional, you enjoy success and the successful. Obtaining and exchanging information takes
on more emotional significance for you now.
Aquarius (January 20- February 18)
This is a great time to work and be with others. An authority figure may seek
you out as just the person for a particular job. This is a busy but rewarding workday.
Fondness and appreciation for the past and for your roots in life take on a greater importance. A co-worker friend may have recently done research on his or her family history and
is willing to give you suggestions of how to go about this research. You could make plans to
meet at a library this weekend or some day after work to gain that information. Making
your home situation more attractive plays a part in this and the sale or purchase of real
estate could bring you much gain before this cycle ends. There is a chance to have a special
time with someone you love. This is a positive time.
Pisces (February 19-March 20)
The opposition and blockage you may be experiencing this morning are
temporary-really. Cool it and let this one pass. Jot down inventive ideas that
come to your mind today as you will have an opportunity to discuss the ideas with a trusted
friend later today. The convention center, a lecture hall or some other place for a presentation could be in order today and you, along with several other work partners, want to hear
the message. Follow your instincts and you will not go wrong today. When you notice a
need for assisting another, you are quick to either give help or find help. This is a good time
to teach and advertise your favorite charity. You throw yourself into helping other people
grow and prosper. Good luck surrounds you this evening.
Yesterday Solution
Yesterday’s Solution
Daily SuDoku
Yesterday’s Solution
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
i n f o r m at i o n
For labor-related inquiries
and complaints:
Call MSAL hotline 128
INTERNATIONAL
CALLS
GOVERNORATE
Sabah Hospital
24812000
Amiri Hospital
22450005
Maternity Hospital
24843100
Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital
25312700
Chest Hospital
24849400
Farwaniya Hospital
24892010
Adan Hospital
23940620
Ibn Sina Hospital
24840300
PHARMACY
Ahmadi
Jahra
Capital
Al-Razi Hospital
Physiotherapy Hospital
Farwaniya
Hawally
24846000
24874330/9
Kaizen center
25716707
Rawda
22517733
ADDRESS
PHONE
Afghanistan
0093
Luxembourg
00352
Albania
00355
Macau
00853
Algeria
00213
Macedonia
00389
Andorra
00376
Madagascar
00261
Angola
00244
Majorca
0034
Sama Safwan
Abu Halaifa
Danat Al-Sultan
Fahaeel Makka St
Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd
Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd
23915883
23715414
23726558
Anguilla
001264
Malawi
00265
Modern Jahra
Madina Munawara
Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1
Jahra-Block 92
24575518
24566622
Antiga
001268
Malaysia
0060
Argentina
0054
Maldives
00960
Armenia
00374
Mali
00223
Australia
0061
Malta
00356
Austria
0043
Marshall Islands
00692
Bahamas
001242
Martinique
00596
Bahrain
00973
Mauritania
00222
Bangladesh
00880
Mauritius
00230
Barbados
001246
Mayotte
00269
Belarus
00375
Mexico
0052
Belgium
0032
Micronesia
00691
Belize
00501
Moldova
00373
Benin
00229
Monaco
00377
Bermuda
001441
Mongolia
00976
Bhutan
00975
Montserrat
001664
Bolivia
00591
Morocco
00212
Bosnia
00387
Mozambique
00258
Ahlam
Khaldiya Coop
Fahad Al-Salem St
Khaldiya Coop
22436184
24833967
New Shifa
Ferdous Coop
Modern Safwan
Farwaniya Block 40
Ferdous Coop
Old Kheitan Block 11
24734000
24881201
24726638
Tariq
Hana
Ikhlas
Hawally & Rawdha
Ghadeer
Kindy
Ibn Al-Nafis
Mishrif Coop
Salwa Coop
Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St
Salmiya-Amman St
Hawally-Beirut St
Hawally & Rawdha Coop
Jabriya-Block 1A
Jabriya-Block 3B
Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St
Mishrif Coop
Salwa Coop
25726265
25647075
22625999
22564549
25340559
25326554
25721264
25380581
25628241
Adaliya
22517144
Botswana
00267
Myanmar (Burma)
0095
Khaldiya
24848075
Brazil
0055
Namibia
00264
Brunei
00673
Nepal
00977
Kaifan
24849807
Bulgaria
00359
Netherlands
0031
Shamiya
24848913
Burkina
00226
Netherlands Antilles 00599
Burundi
00257
New Caledonia
Cambodia
00855
New Zealand
0064
Cameroon
00237
Nicaragua
00505
Canada
001
Nigar
00227
Cape Verde
00238
Nigeria
00234
Cayman Islands
001345
Niue
00683
Central African
00236
Norfolk Island
00672
Chad
00235
N. Ireland (UK)
0044
Chile
0056
North Korea
00850
China
0086
Norway
0047
Colombia
0057
Oman
00968
Comoros
00269
Pakistan
0092
Congo
00242
Palau
00680
Cook Islands
00682
Panama
00507
Shuwaikh
24814507
Abdullah Salem
22549134
Nuzha
22526804
Industrial Shuwaikh
24814764
Qadsiya
22515088
Dasmah
22532265
Expected Weather for the Next 24 Hours
%<'$< 6XQQ\ZLWKOLJKWYDULDEOHZLQGFKDQJLQJWROLJKWWRPRGHUDWHQRUWKZHVWHUO\ZLQGZLWKVSHHGRINP
K
%<1,*+7 &ROGZLWKOLJKWYDULDEOHZLQGZLWKVSHHGRINPK
WARNING
1R&XUUHQW:DUQLQJV
Bneid Al-Gar
22531908
Shaab
22518752
STATION
0$;(;3
0,15(&
Qibla
22459381
.8:$,7&,7<
ƒ&
ƒ&
Ayoun Al-Qibla
Mirqab
87&
.8:$,7$,53257
ƒ&
ƒ&
Costa Rica
00506
Papua New Guinea 00675
22456536
$%'$/<
ƒ&
ƒ&
Croatia
00385
Paraguay
00595
Cuba
0053
Peru
0051
Cyprus
00357
Philippines
0063
Cyprus (Northern)
0090392
Poland
0048
22465401
Salmiya
25746401
Jabriya
25316254
Maidan Hawally
25623444
Bayan
25388462
Mishref
25381200
Sabah
6)&&+$57
22630786
%8%<$1
ƒ&
ƒ&
-$+5$
ƒ&
ƒ&
)$,/$.$,6/$1'
ƒ&
ƒ&
Czech Republic
00420
Portugal
00351
6$/0,<$+
ƒ&
ƒ&
Denmark
0045
Puerto Rico
001787
$+0$',
ƒ&
ƒ&
Diego Garcia
00246
Qatar
00974
Djibouti
00253
Romania
0040
-8/8,$+3257
ƒ&
ƒ&
Dominica
001767
Russian Federation 007
4$52+,6/$1'
ƒ&
ƒ&
Dominican Republic 001809
Rwanda
00250
Ecuador
00593
Saint Helena
00290
Egypt
0020
Saint Kitts
001869
El Salvador
00503
Saint Lucia
001758
England (UK)
0044
Saint Pierre
00508
Equatorial Guinea
00240
Saint Vincent
001784
800$/0$5$'(0
ƒ&
ƒ&
24810221
4 DAYS FORECAST
Jahra
24770319
New Jahra
24575755
West Jahra
24772608
South Jahra
24775066
North Jahra
24775992
North Jleeb
24311795
Ardhiya
24884079
Firdous
Temperatures
DAY
DATE
WEATHER
MAX.
MIN.
Wind Direction
Wind Speed
7XHVGD\
Eritrea
00291
Samoa US
00684
6XQQ\
ƒ&
ƒ&
95%
NPK
Estonia
00372
Samoa West
00685
:HGQHVGD\
6XQQ\VFDWWHUHGFORXGV
ƒ&
ƒ&
95%
NPK
Ethiopia
00251
San Marino
00378
7KXUVGD\
6XQQ\
ƒ&
ƒ&
95%
NPK
Falkland Islands
00500
Sao Tone
00239
)ULGD\
3DUWO\FORXG\
ƒ&
ƒ&
95%6(
NPK
Faroe Islands
00298
Saudi Arabia
00966
Fiji
00679
Scotland (UK)
0044
Finland
00358
Senegal
00221
PRAYER TIMES
24892674
Omariya
24719048
N Khaitan
24710044
Fintas
RECORDED YESTERDAY AT KUWAIT AIRPORT
Fajr
MAX. Temp.
°C
France
0033
Seychelles
00284
Sunrise
MIN. Temp.
French Guiana
00594
Sierra Leone
00232
Zuhr
MAX. RH
°C
%
French Polynesia
00689
Singapore
0065
%
km/h
Gabon
00241
Slovakia
00421
Gambia
00220
Slovenia
00386
mm
Georgia
00995
Solomon Islands
00677
Germany
0049
Somalia
00252
Ghana
00233
South Africa
0027
Gibraltar
00350
South Korea
0082
Greece
0030
Spain
0034
Greenland
00299
Sri Lanka
0094
Grenada
001473
Sudan
00249
Guadeloupe
00590
Suriname
00597
Guam
001671
Swaziland
00268
Guatemala
00502
Sweden
0046
Guinea
00224
Switzerland
0041
Guyana
00592
Syria
00963
Haiti
00509
Serbia
00381
Asr
Sunset
Isha
23900322
MIN. RH
(
MAX. Wind
TOTAL RAINFALL IN 24 HR.
All times are local time unless otherwise stated.
83
UTC
9
ŵŤŚƀ
7
PRIVATE CLINICS
Ophthalmologists
Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor
25622444
Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea
25752222
Dr. Masoma Habeeb
25321171
Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy
25739999
Dr. Mohsen Abel
25757700
Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl
25732223
Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly
25732223
Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)
Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner
24555050 Ext 510
Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali
25644660
Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478
Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah
25311996
Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory
25731988
Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary
22620166
Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz
25651426
General Practitioners
Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi
24555050 Ext 123
Dr. Yousef Al-Omar
24719312
Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem
23926920
Dr. Kathem Maarafi
25730465
Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528
Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi
24577781
Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501
Urologists
Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy
22641534
Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul
22639955
Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660
Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120
Dr. Leons Joseph
66703427
Psychologists
/Psychotherapists
00687
22451082
Sharq
W Hawally
Issue Time DAY: 0RQGD\
Paediatricians
Plastic Surgeons
Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf
22547272
Dr. Khaled Hamadi
Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari
22617700
Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed
Dr. Abdel Quttainah
25625030/60
Family Doctor
Dr Divya Damodar
23729596/23729581
Psychiatrists
Dr. Esam Al-Ansari
22635047
Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan
Dr. Zahra Qabazard
DrAdrian arbe
23729596/23729581
Dr. Verginia s.Marin
2572-6666 ext 8321
25340300
25710444
Dr. Sohail Qamar
22621099
Dr. Snaa Maaroof
25713514
Dr. Pradip Gujare
23713100
Dr. Zacharias Mathew
24334282
Dermatology
22613623/0
Gynaecologists & Obstetricians
Endocrinologist
25665898
Dr. Mohammed Salam
Bern University
23845955
Dentists
Dr Anil Thomas
Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami
25343406
Dr. Shamah Al-Matar
22641071/2
Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly
25739272
Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed
22562226
Dr. Salem soso
22618787
Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer
22561444
Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan
22619557
Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash
22525888
Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan
25653755
Dr. Bader Al-Ansari
25620111
Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer
22610044
Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher
25327148
Internists, Chest & Heart
Dr. Adnan Ebil
22639939
Dr. Mousa Khadada
22666300
Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan
Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra
25728004
25355515
Dr. Mobarak Aldoub
24726446
Dr Nasser Behbehani
25654300/3
Soor Center
Tel: 2290-1677
Fax: 2290 1688
[email protected]
www.soorcenter.com
Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924
Physiotherapists & VD
Dr. Deyaa Shehab
25722291
22666288
Rheumatologists:
Dr. Adel Al-Awadi
22655539
25339330
Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888
Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees
Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan
General Surgeons
Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman
25330060
3729596/3729581
Neurologists
Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri
25633324
Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan
25345875
Gastrologists
Dr. Sami Aman
22636464
Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly
25322030
Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali
22633135
Kaizen center
25716707
Noor Clinic
23845955
Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah
25722290
Internist, Chest & Heart
DR.Mohammes Akkad
24555050 Ext 210
Dr. Mohammad Zubaid
MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC
Assistant Professor Of Medicine
Head, Division of Cardiology
Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital
25339667
Consultant Cardiologist
Dr. Farida Al-Habib
MD, PH.D, FACC
Inaya German Medical Center
Te: 2575077
Fax: 25723123
2611555-2622555
William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677
Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677
Holland (Netherlands) 0031
Taiwan
00886
Honduras
00504
Tanzania
00255
Hong Kong
00852
Thailand
0066
Hungary
0036
Toga
00228
Ibiza (Spain)
0034
Tonga
00676
Iceland
00354
Tokelau
00690
India
0091
Trinidad
001868
Indian Ocean
00873
Tunisia
00216
Indonesia
0062
Turkey
0090
Iran
0098
Tuvalu
00688
Iraq
00964
Uganda
00256
Ireland
00353
Ukraine
00380
Italy
0039
United Arab Emirates 00976
Ivory Coast
00225
United Kingdom
0044
Jamaica
001876
Uruguay
00598
Japan
0081
USA
001
Jordan
00962
Uzbekistan
00998
Kazakhstan
007
Vanuatu
00678
Kenya
00254
Venezuela
00582
Kiribati
00686
Vietnam
0084
Kuwait
00965
Virgin Islands UK
001284
Kyrgyzstan
00996
Virgin Islands US
001340
Laos
00856
Wales (UK)
0044
Latvia
00371
Yemen
00967
Lebanon
00961
Yugoslavia
00381
Liberia
00231
Zambia
00260
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
lifestyle
M U S I C
Cairo
&
M O V I E S
The 36th
International Film Festival
German film director Volker Schlondorff receives an honorary award from Egyptian
actress Leila Alawi during the opening ceremony of the 36th Cairo International Film
Festival in the Egyptian capital on November 9, 2014. — AFP photos
Egyptian actress
Yousra, head of
the Jury of the
36th Cairo
International
Film Festival,
arrives for the
opening
ceremony.
Moroccan film director Nour Eddine Sail receives an honorary award from Egyptian
actress Sameha Ayoub.
Lennon ‘Paperback Writer’ guitar tops auction offerings
A
Gretsch guitar that John Lennon played
for the recording of the Beatles’ hit song
“Paperback Writer” and then gave to his
cousin is expected to fetch up to $1 million
(630,000 GBP) at auction in Britain this week.
Auction house TracksAuction.com said the
Gretsch 6120 instrument was one of the most
significant Lennon guitars to come on the
market in the last 30 years.
“It’s come directly from John Lennon’s
cousin, who was given it by John Lennon in
1967 and he’s had it ever since, so for collectors of Beatles memorabilia to have a provenance like that is exceptional,” the auction
house said. Lennon gave the guitar to his
cousin David Birch a year after the hit single
was produced at London’s Abbey Road studio.
Birch, who grew up with Lennon in Liverpool,
said he had received the instrument after asking his older cousin if he had a guitar he no
In this file photo, Jack Sussman, left, executive vice
president of specials, music and live events for CBS
Entertainment, and Hollywood Film Awards executive producer R.A. — AP
udging by the cluster of Emmys in his office, CBS
executive Jack Sussman knows something about
making successful television, and he’s betting on a
new awards-show broadcast. The Hollywood Film
Awards, which has been held off-camera since 1997,
will make its TV debut Friday as a two-hour special on
CBS. But does television really need another
Hollywood award show? “I don’t know,” says Sussman,
“but it can use a show that has credibility and kicks off
the awards season.”
Hollywood’s awards season is almost year-round,
but it shifts into high gear in the first months of the
New Year, when the Golden Globes, Grammys, Screen
Actors Guild Awards and the Oscars are traditionally
held. The Hollywood Film Awards recognizes outstanding film work from the full calendar year, even
though not all the contenders will have hit theaters
before the ceremony at the Hollywood Palladium.
“There’s nothing in... the middle of November that
gets the ball rolling” for awards season, Sussman said,
characterizing the fall ceremony as a “television tutorial of what the movie season is and what you have to
look forward to.” Johnny Depp, Jennifer Lopez, Ben
Affleck, Amy Adams, Reese Witherspoon, Eddie
Redmayne, Jared Leto, Kristen Stewart, Channing
Tatum, Michael Keaton and Robert Downey Jr are
among the stars set to appear on the Hollywood Film
Awards, which will be hosted by Queen Latifah. Janelle
Monae is set to perform with her band during the
show, produced by dick clark productions, which also
handles the Golden Globes.
J
There are no nominees
Latifah said she expects the evening to be “a cool
and relaxed celebration” of the year’s films. Producer
R.A. Clark said his challenge is condensing what used
to be a four-hour, camera-free dinner into a tight, twohour, TV-ready program. Prizes will be presented in 18
categories, including breakthrough director, acting
ensemble, blockbuster of the year and comedy of the
year. The show announced its first winners last week in
categories such as cinematography (“Birdman”) and
production design (“Maleficent”). Clark said the year’s
films help determine awards categories.
There are no nominees. Winners are chosen by a
top-secret committee of 12 industry insiders, headed
by show founder Carlos de Abreu. Though members
change each year, the voting body has a good track
record, Sussman said, adding that “well over 90 percent” of Hollywood Film Awards recipients have gone
on to earn Oscar nods. CBS is dedicating its prime-time
programming that night to the inaugural telecast. The
Hollywood Film Awards will be preceded by a 30minute red carpet show and followed by an hour-long
recap. Sussman hopes the November show becomes
an annual event. “You have to go into these kinds of
shows thinking that you’re in it for the long haul,” he
said. “So you hope to launch it in a way that you stay in
business with it.” Viewers will decide Friday. — AP
around with it.”
After leaving the Gretsch factory in New
York, the guitar has had only two documented
owners - Lennon and Birch. This week’s auction of rock and pop memorabilia also
includes a copy of the LP “Sergeant Pepper’s
Lonely Hearts Club Band” signed by all four
Beatles in red ballpoint pen. It is expected to
sell for up to 150,000 pounds ($240,000). Also
for sale are three school detention sheets
relating to Lennon retrieved from a clear-out
of a room at Liverpool’s Quarry Bank High
School in the 1970s.
Lennon attended the school between 1952
and 1957 and one of the sheets shows he
received a detention for “singing at the top of
(his) voice in the corridor”.
They are each expected to sell for up to
6,000 GBP each. The auction opens for online
bidding on Friday. — Reuters
Pink Floyd say goodbye
with ‘The Endless River’
Hollywood Film
awards make TV
debut as CBS special
longer wanted. “I was just cheeky enough to
ask him for a guitar and he gave me the
Gretsch and of course I was very pleased, simple as that, really. Sounds a bit cheeky but it
didn’t seem cheeky at the time,” Birch, 66, told
Reuters. Asked why he had decided to sell the
guitar after so long, Birch said: “Well, I’m not
getting any younger, I’ve had it 47 years. And it
was just in the bedroom, you know, and I used
to pick it up every now and then and play
N
ever was an album more aptly
named than “The Endless River,” the
new - and seemingly final - release
from Pink Floyd. It flows unstoppably, and
while some listeners may feel it meanders
on too long, it’s very easy to get swept along
by it. Though this is the band’s first studio
album in two decades, much of the material
was recorded in 1993 and 1994, during sessions for “The Division Bell.” For years, it
seemed that album would be Pink Floyd’s
swansong. But now the material has been
tweaked and shaped under into a new
release, partly in tribute to keyboard player
Rick Wright, who died in 2008.
Guitarist David Gilmour has called “The
Endless River” a series of musical conversations; the band members’ musical rapport
was always more eloquent than their spoken communications. There are not many
words on this mostly instrumental album,
although physicist Stephen Hawking lends
his distinctive voice to “Talkin’ Hawkin’.”
Both the compositions and their titles
allude to all the water that has passed under
the bridge in the course of Pink Floyd’s long
career. The opening track, “Things Left
Unsaid,” sets the tone: It’s a woozy wash of
Wright’s keyboards, haunting horn sounds
and Gilmour’s guitar that feels elegiac. On it
rolls from there, sometimes a tranquil wash,
sometimes churned into rapids by Gilmour’s
piercing guitar and Nick Mason’s thundering
drums, for 18 tracks - four sides of vinyl if
you opt for the old-fashioned format.
What’s on display is not so much songwriting as chemistry. This band had something, a magic, and you can hear it throughout “The Endless River.” The band members
know it, too. The closing track is “Louder
Than Words,” and finally there are lyrics: “We
bitch and we fight, diss each other on sight,”
it begins, a fond but weary tribute to creative spark and strife. “The sum of our parts,
the beat of our hearts, is louder than
words.”— AP
This CD cover
image released
by Columbia
Records shows
“The Endless
River,” a new
album by Pink
Floyd
released on
Nov 10. —AP
Damon confirms his
return to Bourne franchise
M
att Damon will be back as Bourne. After
Variety reported in September that Universal
was in the early stages of bringing Damon
and Jason Bourne director Paul Greengrass back for
Matt Damon, left, and Ben Affleck are seen at the
HBO Project Greenlight Filmmaker Showcase on
Friday in Hollywood, Calif. — AP
another installment, Damon confirmed to E! News his
return to the role while celebrating the return of Ben
Affleck and his “Project Greenlight” Friday night. “Well,
[Damon’s] going to be doing a Bourne movie next fall
when I’ve just completely lost any semblance of physical fitness,” Affleck told E! News.
“Yes, next year,” Damon said when asked for clarification. “It’ll be in 2016 when the movie will actually
come out. Paul Greengrass is going to do another one
and that’s all I ever said. I just needed him to say yes.”
The next film will mark Damon and Greengrass’ third
collaboration, and the fifth film in the series.
Doubt sprouted over the return of Damon and
Greengrass during the summer, with Greengrass
telling Deadline that he didn’t believe he could make
another Jason Bourne film that would be as good as
his last two. Universal, though, is currently developing an untitled film set in the Bourne world with
Jeremy Renner returning to play Aaron Cross and
Justin Lin to direct. That movie is currently slated for
July 2016, though it’s unclear if that film will stay
there or if the other Bourne movie will take its place.
Damon’s Bourne movies grossed nearly $1 billion at
the box office in between 2002 and 2007. Variety
broke the news the news last month that Greengrass,
who last directed “Captain Phillips,” will direct Berlin
Wall drama “The Tunnels.” — Reuters
Foo Fighters
latest a worthwhile trip
This CD cover image released by RCA shows “Sonic
Highways,” by the Foo Fighters. — AP
T
Rice’s ‘Fantasy’ is a lovely reality
I
rish rish singer-songwriter Damien Rice
says the creative process behind his third
studio album “My Favorite Faded Fantasy”
was so good that he occasionally didn’t want
it to end.
Thankfully it did, because now we get to
enjoy a well-crafted work with few holes.
Rice’s emotive voice and signature solid guitar
work are a known quantity. Those talents are
coupled here with carefully optimistic songs
about life and love. There’s a touch of humor
thrown in the mix, but not so much as to
detract from pressing matters of the heart.
The best moments come with back-to-back
tearjerkers “I Don’t Want To Change You” and
“Color Me In.” They’re beautiful tracks with
winsome guitar that is eventually swallowed
up by a massive string section.
The songs are long, with the lovely “Trusty
And True” weighing in at eight minutes, nine
seconds. Savor every second because talents
as pure as Damien Rice don’t come along
every other Tuesday. His musical aim on “My
Favorite Faded Fantasy” is true and the songwriting is some of the year’s best. —AP
This CD cover image released by Warner Bros. shows
‘My Favorite Faded Fantasy,’ by Damien Rice. — AP
wenty years into their career as one of the leading rock
bands in the world, Foo Fighters continue to find ways to
challenge both themselves and their listeners. On “Sonic
Highways,” a companion to the similarly named HBO television
series, the Dave Grohl-fronted band, with assistance from producer Butch Vig, tasked itself with touching down in eight US cities,
exploring the town’s formidable music history, and then writing
and recording a song in that city influenced by what they discovered, often accompanied by a native son or daughter.
To its credit, the band avoids gimmickry. For example, in New
Orleans, it recorded the mid-tempo “In The Clear” with the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band, but no one will mistake the
tune for a typical Crescent City brass band parade. Instead, each
city’s elements are incorporated into the Foo Fighters’ sound.
That’s not to say they didn’t find inventive ways to salute each
locale. On the album’s best track, the thoughtful, driving
“Congregation,” which features Zac Brown and was recorded at
his Southern Ground studio in Nashville, the lyrics include
“singing like a bluebird in the round,” a reference to famous songwriter venue, Bluebird Cafe. On the aggressive power pop of
“What Did I Do/God As My Witness,” recorded in Austin, Grohl
brings up the 13th floor, an insider reference to The 13th Floor
Elevators, the influential-ye- obscure Roky Erickson-led psychedelic ‘60s band from the Texas town. Such little treats exist in
almost every song.
What has always made Foo Fighters’ music so appealing is that
for all the metal bombast and thrash-and the lads really go to
town on first single, “Something From Nothing,” recorded in
Chicago with Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen- the noise rarely comes at
the sacrifice of melody. That remains truer than ever on this very
worthwhile trip through America’s musical wonderland. — AP
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
lifestyle
F E A T U R E S
Brilliant artist Al-Marri
presents his second exhibition
K
uwait Times newspaper gladly
invites all to attend the second
personal exhibition of 12-yearold grade seven student Mohammed
Rashid Al-Marri at the Formative Arts
Gallery in Abdullah Al-Salem under
auspices of National Council for
Culture, Arts and Letters Secretary
General Ali Hussein Al-Yohah on Nov
17-18, 2014.
Entitled ‘Tell Me Why”, the 15 oil
paintings to be displayed at the exhibition are a cry to the world to provide
aid and support to children displaced
and distressed by wars, famines and
natural disasters. Due to tragedies children have been going through lately
because of poverty, wars and civil and
international conflicts, half of the
world’s refugees are children, who are
the most fragile people in such times.
Fortunately, this exhibition coincides with the happy occasion of the
UN honoring Kuwait’s leader, Amir and
father HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah as a ‘Humanitarian Leader’. It
also highlights Kuwait’s effective role
in sending aid to distressed peoples
and countries. Notably, the money due
to be raised from selling the displayed
paintings will be dedicated to helping
needy children in distressed countries.
Biography
Marri started developing a passion
for art since early childhood by cropping photos from local dailies and trying to draw them, namely caricatures.
Whenever he felt angry, he used to put
his feelings in drawings that he usually
pasted on the outside of his room
door. His talent was only discovered in
grade one when his art teacher
noticed his outstanding imagination
and drawing skills as he had drawn the
figure 5 shaped like a human face. This
drew the teacher’s attention and made
her call Mohammed’s mother, informing her about her son’s talent. The student also liked strange and complicated designs and building games. He
sometimes made figures and shapes
using various household objects.
The student got proper nurturing
by the arts department at Khaled Ibn
Al-Waleed School, especially by the
head of department Rabee’a AlHadiya, who helped develop his talent
and encouraged him to be more creative in formative arts.
On May 9, 2013, Marri held his first
personal exhibition with full support
from the ministry of education. It was
the first time in MoE’s history to hold a
personal art exhibition for a ten-yearold student, an exhibition that attracted a great deal of attention and care as
it was held under the auspices of minister Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf and was attended by undersecretary Mariam AlWetaid, former assistant undersecretary Mohammed Al-Kandari, educational zone directors, school directors
and lots of visitors and parents.
Everyone praised the first exhibition
and the sponsors demanded extending it for a full week. It was then that
some visitors named Mohammed as
the ‘Little da Vinci’. Mohammed
received a special invitation from
Kuwait Times, the sponsor of Chevron’s
Children Painting Ceremony held
under the title of ‘Kuwait, Beautiful and
Green’ at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on
May 6, 2013. The young artist had a
special corner displaying his works that
highly appealed to everybody.
Despite his young age, Marri marveled at following Leonardo da Vinci’s
painting techniques by drawing portraits, caricatures, Kuwait’s environment, heritage and imaginary children’s drawings using various painting
and drawing materials such as pencils,
charcoal, water, acrylic and oil colors.
Marri also attracted the information
ministry’s attention and care as he was
interviewed by many TV programs
such as ‘Shabbat Talk’ and ‘Good
Morning Kuwait’. He was also interviewed by Kuwait Radio.
Among his hobbies, Marri likes
reading and making portraits of outstanding historic figures. He has paint-
ed portraits of the late Amir Sheikh
Jaber Al-Ahmed, the Indian leader
Gandhi, US president Lincoln,
American movie star George Clooney,
Walt Disney and many other leaders,
celebrities and artists.
Learning about the death of
human rights activist and African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela on Dec 7,
2013, he read the story of his struggle
against apartheid and decided to
make a portrait of him. He presented
the portrait to South Africa’s ambassador to Kuwait Delarey Van Tonder as a
token of condolences honoring such a
great person. The ambassador liked
the painting very much, thanked the
artist and promised to keep it at his
own office. Driven by admiration of
the story of the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
founder Henry Dunant’s struggle and
sufferings while helping wounded soldiers during the war of Solferino,
which made him consider founding an
international organization to take care
of the helpless, wounded and POWs
during wars and armed conflicts, the
young artist drew a portrait of him and
sent a photo of it to the ICRC office in
Kuwait where the mission’s media
manager Fuad Bawabeh appreciated
the young artist’s initiative, encouraged him and promised to publish the
painting and some information about
him in the ICRC magazine published in
Switzerland.
Previous activities
1. Took part in Sheikha Dr Suad AlSabah’s free painting competition
held at Kuwait Formative Arts
Society on April 29, 2013.
2. Took part in the children’s painting
competition organized by Kuwait
Times and sponsored by the Saudi
Arabian Chevron Co on May 6, 2013
which focused on protecting
Al-Jothen launches YO Coloring
System by KEMON
Kuwait’s environment with the motto of ‘Kuwait, Beautiful and Green’.
Mohammed’s painting was selected
amongst the top 25 paintings out of
10,000 entries.
3. Took part in the children’s paintings
competition held at the City Art
Gallery Museum, Leeds, UK in the
summer of 2011. His painting was
among the winning ones and was
later displayed at the museum.
4. Took part in the children’s painting
competition held at the Straiton
Retail Park in Edinburgh, Scotland in
the summer of 2011.
5. Held his first personal exhibition
under the title of ‘Al-Marri’s
Creativity’ that was held by MoE
(under the auspices of minister
Nayef Al-Hajraf) from May 2-9, 2013
at Khaled Ibn Al-Waleed primary
school.
6. Upon a special invitation from the
“Talents 4 Group”, Marri displayed a
large number of his paintings at the
‘Proud To be Kuwaiti’ exhibition held
at the Mishref Fairgrounds on Feb,
16, 2014.
7. Marri also displayed five mediumsized paintings at the ‘Future
Generations 25’ exhibition held
under auspices of NCCAL from
March 9-15, 2014.
8. Under the patronage of the NCCAL,
Marri participated in the exhibition
of “Sami Mohammed Al-Durrah’s
collection”, which was held at the
end of March till the 4th of April,
2014 at Meajeb Al-Dousary’s gallery
in Mishref.
9. Under the patronage of Minister of
Information Sheikh Salman AlHmoud Al-Sabah; Marri participated
in Kuwait Times’ competition
(Kuwait, Beautiful and Green) which
was sponsored by Chevron that
took place at Jumairah Beach Hotel
on April 12, 2014 .
Madonna’s clothes from
films, wedding auctioned
T
A
l-Jothen, one of the top distributors of
world-leading professional beauty
brands across the Middle East, recently
unveiled Kemon’s YO Coloring System the
unique TRILOGY of products at VOX Cinema
on October 27, in the UAE.
Today, clients are increasingly more
demanding and attentive to the latest market
trends. They have become more health conscious even in beauty products. They are looking for a color that gives them everything
from hair protection to perfect results.Since its
inception, Kemon has been dedicated to technically excellent products, with an emphasis
on hair color and specific care treatments.The
all-new YO Color System is a yogurt-based color and is made of organically-grown ingredients across a range of brilliant and super productive shades. Yogurt, which is rich in vitamins, calcium and minerals, provides significant benefits for the scalp and hair. It maintains the color and protects the hair structure.
The complex in this coloring system delivers a high level of protection and maximum
hair health. After coloring, the hair is visibly
shinier and conditioned, with a healthier
appearance.Yogurt extract as one of its key
ingredients protects hair fibre in a gentle way,
while Calendula guarantees a calming and
soothing effect. Flax provides the hydration,
shine and silkiness.
The guests were welcomed with yogurt for
starters and enjoyed a fresh theme of greenery and nature. They also participated in a fun
game which gave them the chance to win
exciting prizes, along with Kemon goodie
bags for every attendee.
Some of the region’s top models were
present to showcase the exciting new range
with their hair colored using the products.
This system consists of three products. First,
Nayo the gentle permanent color which
Covers grey hair 100%, lightening up to 4/5
levels thanks to the super-lighteners and it is
Fragrance free. Nayo is to be applied on the
hair base, it swells the cuticle and perfectly
colors thenatural base. Second, YO Green the
TONE-ON-TONE coloring, to be applied on the
base, mid-shafts and ends. It is fragrance,
Paraben, SLES/SLS and Silicone free. Finally YO
Cond, the direct conditioning color glaze
which is applied on the base, mid-shaftsand
ends to maintain the service and nourishes
the hair in one step.
The range’s primary product is the NaYo
Permanent Hair Color Cream. Its inviting, velvety cream texture, guarantees maximum
comfort during application and the entire processing time. With NaYo, the coloring service
becomes an opportunity for clients to take
care of their hair, nourishing it and respecting
its structure with the utmost gentleness. It is
completely ammonia and PPD free.
Nayo is to be mixed withNayo Cream
Activator formulated to act synergistically
with NaYo texture. The cream has an innovative, eco-friendly packaging that oozes style
while ensuring ease-of-use. The new flip top
with drip protector offersperfect dispensing
without accidental product leakage.
The YO system takes professionalism in the
salon to the next level. It is a unique system
that professionals can reply on for excellent
results on the hair while ensuring simple quick
usage in salon. With YO Color, hair is healthy
with brilliant long lasting uniformed color.
Kemon believes in maintaining and developing the best professional hair products
inspired by fashion and nature. The Italian
brand will continue to research and develop
new products that aspire and improve people’s lives in the UAE and YO Color is just the
beginning.
he Material Girl has still got it. Julien’s
Auctions said Saturday that bidders worldwide sought items from Madonna’s professional and personal life during the two-day Icons &
Idols: Rock n’ Roll auction in Beverly Hills that started Friday.
The auction house says the gown and stole from
her “Material Girl” video sold for $73,125, while the
wedding dress the pop icon wore when she married Sean Penn in 1985 brought in $81,250.
Her jacket from “Desperately Seeking Susan” sold
for a record $252,000 and one earring worn in the
film fetched $34,375. Other highlights include the
gown from the film “Evita” - which sold for $15,000 and her “A League of Their Own” baseball uniform which sold for $31,250. — AP
Photo shows a jacket worn
by Madonna in the 1985
comedy
“Desperately
Seeking Susan”.
Photo shows the wedding
dress pop icon Madonna
wore when she married Sean
Penn in 1985.
This undated
photo provided
by Julien’s
Auctions shows
portrait of
Madonna by
famed
photographer
Herb Ritts.
—AP photos
Photo shows
the gown and
stole worn by
pop icon
Madonna in
her “Material
Girl” video.
38
Ariana Grande and
Nicki Minaj
LIFESTYLE
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
A w a r d s
shine at
MTV awards in Scotland
Nicki Minaj poses
for pictures after
being awarded the
title ‘Best Hip Hop’.
Host Nicki Minaj is lowered into the auditorium held by wires during the 2014 MTV European Music
Awards in Glasgow, Sunday.—AP/AFP photos
P
op stars Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj
sparkled at the MTV Europe Music
Awards on Sunday, held in the Scottish
city of Glasgow for the first time. After
opening the show with a thumping
performance dressed in a futuristic silver
leotard, Grande won best female artist
and best song for her hit “Problem”. “I’m excited, I’m very
very grateful and very happy,” the Florida-born 21-yearold said backstage at the event.
Pop star and rapper Nicki Minaj was praised for her
slick hosting of the awards, which included a nod to
the host city with a rap about shortbread and drink.
Dressed in a sheer black catsuit, Minaj danced under a
cascade of sparks before performing a debut of a new
song, “Bed Of Lies”, then breaking into her raunchy hit
“Anaconda”.
English-Irish superstar boy band One Direction
scored a hat-trick of awards, picking up the best pop,
best live act and biggest fans awards, which are the
result of votes by fans themselves. “Our fans really are
amazing! Thank you so much for your amazing support! 3 EMA’s!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” singer
Louis Tomlinson wrote on Twitter. Though they won
the most awards, they band were unable to attend to
collect them in person. The absence of member Zayn
Malik in their video message left fans questioning his
whereabouts.
Canada’s Justin Bieber was awarded best male, pop
star Katy Perry won best look and best video, and singer
Enrique Iglesias won best world stage performance.
Beyonce, though rumored to be a surprise guest, did
not attend, but was awarded best song with a social
message for her song “Pretty Hurts”. The theme of the
awards was time travel to mark 20 years since the first
one was held, and clips of the previous award shows
were played.
Actor and singer David Hasselhoff was applauded as
he walked on stage in a kilt, telling the crowd cheekily “I
am a true Scotsman but I’m not going to show you.” Irish
band U2 returned to perform in their fourth appearance
at the EMAs, playing “Every Breaking Wave”. And rock
musician Ozzy Osbourne took to the stage to accept a
global icon award, remarking “I can’t believe it, it’s just
incredible.” Guitar legend Slash appeared on stage to
pay tribute to Osbourne, telling the audience “He scares
the hell out of most people and all bats. But to me is a
gentle man and a gentleman.”—AFP
US singer Ariana Grande poses for pictures.
Singer Ariana Grande performs during the 2014
MTV European Music Awards
One Direction performs on stage.
Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias
poses for pictures backstage after
he was awarded the title of ‘Best
World Stage’.
Enrique Iglesias performs on stage.
British singer Ozzy Osbourne and his wife
Sharon
British singer Ozzy Osbourne poses for pictures
backstage after he was awarded the title of
‘Global Icon’.
Chinese singer Bibi Zhou poses for pictures backstage after
she was awarded the title of ‘Best Worldwide Act’.
Canadian singer and songwriter Kiesza
Dinah Hansen of Fifth Harmony performs on stage.
Beyoncé Knowles
39
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
LIFESTYLE
A w a r d s
Winners
at the
2014 MTV EMA
Best Song
Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea - Problem
Best Pop
One Direction
Best Female
Ariana Grande
Best Male
Justin Bieber
Best Live
One Direction
Best New
5 Seconds Of Summer
Best Video
Katy Perry feat. Juicy J - Dark Horse
Best Rock
Linkin Park
Simon Neil (third right) from British rock band Biffy Clyro, poses for pictures with British guitarist Slash
(second right) and Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators during the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) in
Glasgow.
Nick Jonas performs on stage.
Best Alternative
Thirty Seconds To Mars
Best Hip-Hop
Nicki Minaj
Best Electronic
Calvin Harris
Biggest Fans
One Direction?
Best Look
Katy Perry
Best Song With A Message
Beyoncé - Pretty Hurts
Best Push
5 Seconds Of Summer?
Best World Stage
Enrique Iglesias - MTV World Stage Isle
of MTV Malta
Best Worldwide Act Bibi Zhou - SE Asia,
Mainland China & Hong Kong, Taiwan
Global Icon
Ozzy Osbourne
British singer
Charli XCX
poses for
pictures backstage.
Fifth Harmony and Nick Cannon perform on stage during the 2014 MTV EMA Kick Off.
US singer Skylar Grey
poses for pictures backstage.
US actor David Hasslehoff and Hayley Roberts. US singer Redfoo Singer Bono, right, and The Edge, left, from the band U2 perform on stage.
British singer Ed Sheeran Singer Kiesza performs on stage.
Dutch rock band Kensington
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
The Catharina church
in Eindhoven is lit
in arty colors during
the GLOW lightart festival in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.—AFP Records fall at $19.7 mn
Patek Philippe anniversary auction
The Henry Graves Super
complication timepiece
made by Swiss watchmaker
Patek Philippe in 1932 is
photographed during a press
preview by Sotheby’s auction
house.
R
ecords tumbled at a special auction in Geneva
Sunday to mark 175 years of Patek Philippe
watches, with a rare pink gold item going for
$2.67 million, auctioneers Christie’s said. The auction
of 100 wrist and pocket watches brought in a total of
$19,731,099, double the original estimate, and set nine
world records in the process. Christie’s said in a statement after the three-hour bidding battle. The top lot of
the evening was the pink gold watch, manufactured in
1951 by the Geneva-based maker, and one of only four
of its kind known to the market.
“This sale has exceeded our expectations in every
way,” said John Reardon, international head of Christie’s watch department. “(It) sets a new benchmark for
thematic sales and shows the amazing strength of the
Patek Philippe market,” he added. All 125 seats in the
sale room had been reserved 48 hours ahead of the
auction, and over 300 collectors and watch enthusiasts attended the event. The sale continued today.
The following day Sotheby’s will auction off what is
billed as the most famous, and expensive, watch in the
world, another Patek Philippe creation. The celebrated
timepiece known as the “Henry Graves Supercomplication” after its original owner, a New York banker, was
made in the 1930s and estimates say it will sell for $15
million.—AFP
A file picture shows visitors
seen in silhouette next to
a giant screen at the stand
of Swiss watchmaker Patek
Philippe during the media
day of 42nd edition of Baselworld watch fair.—AFP
Sotheby’s head of International Watch Division Daryn Schnipper
holds the Henry Graves
Supercomplication
timepiece.