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Amnesty decries ‘repressive’ Kuwait cybercrimes law

Bedouin coming-of-age drama vying for Oscar nod

Salmiya beat Kuwait to win Crown Prince Cup

Suicide bomber kills 10 people, mainly Germans, in Istanbul

Health minister handily

defeats grilling motionGrillers fail to muster 10 votes for no-confidence motion

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Health Minister Dr Ali Al-Obaidi successfullyrebutted a slew of allegations against the ministry anddefeated an attempt by the interpellators to collect thenecessary 10 votes to file a no-confidence motion.Obaidi, facing his first grilling, answered succinctly andwith scientific data, speaking in a calm and collectedvoice throughout the ordeal. He noted that he hadopened 26 projects since he came to the ministryabout two years ago among them hospitals and med-ical centers.

MPs Hamdan Al-Azemi and Rakan Al-Nasef filed thegrilling, argued that that the ministry had committedwide-ranging financial and administrative violations. Thetwo lawmakers accused the minister of personally bene-fiting from his post by awarding contracts to a companyhe had owned and charged him of squandering publicfunds in highly-inflated contracts and not responding towarnings by the Audit Bureau. The two MPs also accusedthe minister of failing to take action against thoseresponsible for causing the death of several patients inthe past few months as a result of medical errors.

But Obaidi rejected these allegations as baseless. Healso noted that not all who died lost their lives becauseof medical error and doctors who were responsible forsuch errors were penalized and some sacked.

Nasef said the minister refused to provide him withthe names of companies that recruited 2,600 nursesfrom abroad, mostly Asian, and which forced the nursesto pay huge fees to be recruited.

Continued on Page 13KUWAIT: Health Minister Dr Ali Al-Obaidi is seen during a parliamentary session at the National Assemblyyesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: A court yesterday sentenced two defen-dants to death, including an Iranian being tried inabsentia, after they were convicted of “spying forIran” and plotting attacks in the country. The Iranian,Abdulreda Hayder, was on trial along with 25Kuwaitis on charges of spying for Iran and hidinglarge quantities of arms and ammunition in under-ground depots. The court said Hayder is an Iranianspy who recruited the Kuwaiti Shiites and arrangedfor their travel to Lebanon, where they received mili-tary training from Iran-backed militia groupHezbollah.

The other man sentenced to death, Kuwaiti HasanAbdulhadi Ali, had been a member of Hezbollahsince 1996 and was “the mastermind of the cell”, thecourt said. It sentenced another defendant to life inprison. Nineteen were jailed for between five and 15years, two of them in absentia. Three were acquittedand one was fined KD 5,000 ($16,500).

The court said Ali had reached out to an Iraniandiplomat at Tehran’s embassy in Kuwait City and latertravelled to Iran, where he was in contact with theRevolutionary Guard.

Continued on Page 13

Two sentenced

to death for

spying for Iran

L O C A LWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

DOHA: Kuwait’s First Deputy Premier andForeign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said that the fourth sessionof Kuwait-Qatar joint committee dealt withways of further boosting bilateral relationsand cooperation.

During a joint news conference with QatariForeign Minister Khaled Al-Attiyah Monday,Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said the participationof 24 government and private bodies in thecommittee meeting reflected keenness tomeeting aspirations of the two countries. Hesaid the two countries signed cooperationagreements to bring total deals to 24.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled noted that jointinvestments exceeded $7 billion while tradeexchange in 2015 amounted to around $250million. The two countries operate 73 flightsweekly, and over 700,000 people travelledbetween the two countries last year. Kuwait ishosting more than 100 Qatar cadets, while100 Kuwaitis are studying in Qatar, he said.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said he met withQatari Amir Sheikh Tamim Al-Thani and con-veyed greetings of His Highness the AmirSheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Hecongratulated Qatar and its people on thesafe return of the Father Amir Sheikh Hamadbin Khalifa Al-Thani.

Regional issuesAttiyah meanwhile said the two sides dis-

cussed regional and international issues of

mutual interest. He said the cooperationagreements would bolster cooperation in thefields of oil and gas, air transport, culture,information, and education. The joint com-mittee is deeply concerned over the contin-ued ordeal of Qataris held hostage in Iraqafter they entered the country with legal doc-uments from the Iraqi ministry of interior andembassy in Doha, according to a joint state-ment issued after the fourth session of thecommittee tonight. “The abduction of theQatari nationals is a flagrant violation of theinternational law, the human rights and thevalues of Noble Islam; it’s also an unaccept-able infringement on the sisterly ties betweenthe two Arab countries,” the statement said.

The committee urged the Iraqi govern-ment to do its utmost towards freeing theQatari hostages and ensuring their safe returnhome. The two sides signed the minutes ofthe fourth committee session which coveredall aspects of cooperation in the fields of for-eign policy, defense, security, economy, com-merce, investment, energy, industry, educa-tion, higher education, labor, social affairs,environment, information, youth and sports,communication, information technology,electricity and water, civil service, and admin-istrative development.

They also signed agreements in such areasas air transport, cultural and artisticexchanges, education and higher education,and scientific research as well as memoran-

dums of understanding (MoU) in the fields ofoil and gas, petrochemicals, industrial cooper-ation, civil service, administrative develop-ment, the third executive program for mediacollaboration (2016-2018) the second execu-tive program for educational collaboration(2016-2020).

They reviewed the sisterly ties in all fieldsas well as ways to further enhance them in thespirit of mutual trust and understanding, andshared interests. They also discussed a rangeof regional and international issues of com-mon interest, according to the statement.

GCC joint actionRegarding the GCC joint action, the joint

committee extolled Qatari Amir and HisHighness the Amir of Kuwait for their constantefforts to push forward the blessed GCCmarch and their keenness on the success ofthe committee meeting. The two sides agreedto convene the fifth session of the committeein Kuwait in 2017; the exact date and venuewill be arranged through routine diplomaticconsultation, it added.

During his meeting with Qatari Amir,Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled conveyed to theQatari leader the regards of His Highness theAmir of Kuwait and best wishes for Qatar.Sheikh Tamim asked Sheikh Sabah Khaled toconvey his regards to His Highness the Amirand best wishes for the Kuwaiti people andgovernment, the statement noted. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Deputy Minister of the Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah(right) receives Palestinian Ambassador to Kuwait Rami Tahboub. Tahboub handedover a letter from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to His Highness the AmirSheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. — KUNA

Amir receives letter fromPalestinian President

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir SheikhSabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabahreceived yesterday a written letter fromPalestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.The letter focused on issues connected tobilateral ties and means to enhancethem. Palestinian Ambassador to KuwaitRami Tahboub handed the letter toDeputy Minister of the Amiri DiwanAffairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah.

Meanwhile, His Highness the Amirreceived the outgoing Azeri Ambassadorto Kuwait Tural Rzayev at Seif Palace yes-terday. The meeting was also attended byDeputy Minister of Amiri Diwan AffairsSheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah.

Earlier, His Highness the Amir receivedHis Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, HisHighness the Prime Minister Sheikh JaberAl-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah andDeputy Prime Minister, Minister ofFinance, and Acting Minister of Oil AnasAl-Saleh. Separately, His Highness theCrown Prince received chiefs and mem-bers of the US, UK and Northern Ireland,

as well as the Cairo branches of theNational Union of Kuwaiti Students(NUKS). During the meeting, His HighnessSheikh Nawaf called on the Kuwaiti stu-dents to spare no effort in their quest toacquire knowledge, affirming that thefuture of Kuwait was in their hands. Hecalled on them to follow the guidelinesset by His Highness the Amir and thecountry’s leadership, wishing the stu-dents all the best in the future. The stu-dents meanwhile thanked His HighnessSheikh Nawaf for his encouraging words,affirming that they will work hard for thedevelopment of the country. The meetingwas attended by undersecretary at theDiwan of His Highness the Crown PrinceSheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah. His Highness the Crown Princealso received His Highness SheikhNasser Al-Mohammad, WaleedAbdulmohsen Al-Wuhaib, DirectorGeneral of the Islamic Solidarity Fund,part of the Islamic Development Bank,and Aouni Al-Kaaki head of theLebanese press syndicate. —KUNA

Kuwait, Qatar keen on boosting cooperation: FMGulf states sign eight cooperation deals, programs

DOHA: Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Attiyah (right) speaks during a joint news conference with Kuwait’s First Deputy Premier and ForeignMinister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah. — KUNA

L O C A LWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

By Meshaal Al-Enezi

KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti government yesterdaysued Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd and Sheikh TalalAl-Fahd jointly with members of the Olympiccommittee over the suspension of Kuwait’ssports activities. The government primarilydemands KD 5,001 as compensation fromboth sheikhs pending a further KD 400 mil-l ion compensation. Notably, theInternational Olympic Committee had sus-pended all sport activities in Kuwait after adeadline it had given to amend sport laws tomatch the international Olympic charterpassed.

Fake doctor freed The public prosecutor yesterday released a

student who was arrested for impersonatingas a doctor at Amiri Hospital without any bail.The man was arrested recently after spendingmonths working at the public hospital with-out authorization, according to investigations.The man denied criminal intend, claimingduring questioning that he only wanted tofulfill his lifelong dream of working as a doc-tor.

Safety conditionsChairman of the Municipal Council’s techni-

cal committee Fahd Al-Sane said that the com-

mittee postponed discussing safety conditionsin industrial area buildings until the industrialauthority files an official request to do so. Headded that the committee also referred arequest made by a telecom company to extendits signal towers’ licenses to a fact-finding com-mittee. Sane said the committee also deferreddiscussing a proposal made by memberHassan Kamal on allocating a price of land tobuild an integrated medical city. He added thatthe committee also rejected a request made bya fuel marketing company to amend the coun-cil’s decision on developing its fuel stations, inaddition to discussing a number of other topicson the meeting’s agenda.

Govt sues Sheikhs Ahmad, Talalover sport activities’ suspension

Demands KD 400 million in damages

KUWAIT: Senior Interior Ministry officials inspect a driver’s papers during a crack-down in Mahboula Monday night.

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: Security forces launched a sud-den inspection campaign in MahboulaMonday night, led by Interior MinistryUndersecretar y Lieutenant GeneralSuleiman Al-Fahd and AssistantUndersecretar y For General SecurityAffairs Major General Abdulfattah Al-Ali.According to the Ministry of Interior ’s(MoI) public relations and security mediadepartment, the campaign resulted inarresting a total of 1,527 illegal residentsincluding 401 arrested for not holding anID, 150 visa law violators, 41 absconders,eight wanted for various crimes and threedrunks, while two vehicles that had beenreported wanted were found. Securitysources explained that 636 of the arrestedhad been referred for deportation andother relevant authorities and that 261were later released after they procuredvalid IDs.

Accordingly, MoI urged all residents tocarry their IDs at all times and when goingfrom one place to another. The depart-ment also urged all companies and spon-sors to have their employees’ visasrenewed in time to avoid being arrested asviolators. Finally, the department urged allresidents to make use of the humanitariangesture made allowing illegal residents tolegalize their stay in Kuwait or pay finesand leave without being blacklisted.

Traffic campaignUpon instructions from MoI’s Assistant

Undersecretary for Traffic Affairs MajorGeneral Abdullah Al-Muhanna, Ahmadi

traff ic police launched a wide -scaleinspection campaign in collaboration withAhmadi municipality. The campaignresulted in filing 380 direct and indirecttraffic citations in addition to referring 29vehicles abandoned or displayed for saleto the depar tment ’s impoundmentgarage.

Fake companiesResidency affairs detectives yesterday

raided a number of commercial complex-es to inspect fake companies, said securitysources, noting that the raid resulted infinding 15 fake and closed companies thatsponsor 82 laborers who had been all list-ed on travel ban lists. The sources addedthat concerned authorities have been con-tacted to take legal measures against theviolating companies.

Fatal accidentA man was killed and another was criti-

cally injured in an accident reported yes-terday at the paratroopers road. Police andparamedics had rushed to the scenewhere a sports-utility-vehicle was report-ed to have turned turtle. One Kuwaiti manwas pronounced dead on the scene, whileanother was rushed to the hospital. Aninvestigation was opened to determinethe circumstances behind the accident.

Ammo foundMoI’s relations and security media

department yesterday announced findingsome ammunition and weapons that hadbeen left over since the 1990 invasion inKuwait International Airport’s vicinity.

1,527 arrested inMahboula raid

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: The National Assembly yesterdayagreed that its bureau will form a team to joinseveral government ministers to studytogether state subsidies and submit a jointreport to the national assembly.

The action came after Foreign MinisterSheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah informedthe assembly that the government plans torationalize subsidies to ensure that they reachthose who deserve it and insisted that anymeasure will not harm low-income people.

The new move comes after the financeminister said the government will take all therecommendations regarding the lifting orreduction of subsidies to the national assem-bly. Speaker Marzouk Al-Ghanem also said thegovernment promised him that it will not takeany unilateral decision subsidies and stressedthat any measures to reduce subsidies to sup-port the budget will not harm low incomepeople.

The issue of reducing subsidies and raisingthe cost of fuel, electricity and other govern-ment services has gained momentum afteralmost all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)states took key steps in this direction.

Four of the six states, including SaudiArabia, have already increased the price offuel products and only Qatar and Kuwait havenot taken action. Kuwait however has liftedsubsidies for diesel and kerosene.

Parliament, government joinefforts to study subsidies

KUWAIT: Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem (left) speaks with MP Abdullah Al-Traiji dur-ing a parliament session at Kuwait’s National Assembly yesterday.

—Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

L O C A LWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Al Danah Millionaire Ramadan Ali Hassan Al-Sharah receives his cheque from Gulf Bank’s CEO, Cesar Gonzalez -Bueno and thebank’s team.

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank recently had the opportunity towelcome and congratulate the KD 1,000,000 winnerRamadan Ali Hassan Al-Sharah and present him with hiswinning cheque. The Al-Danah KD 1,000,000 winnerRamadan Ali Hassan Al-Sharah, reacted upon receivingthe cash prize by saying: “I would like to take this oppor-tunity to thank Gulf Bank for this prize. I will without adoubt continue banking with Gulf Bank”.

Gulf Bank would also like to congratulate HassanMohammed Al-Ansari and Fadel Hashem Ashkananiwho won KD 250,000 and KD 50,000 respectively.

Customers wishing to take part in the Al-Danahdraws are advised to open an account before 31January to take part in the first quarterly Al-Danah drawfor 2016 for KD25,000, KD125,000 and KD200,000 whichwill be held on 31 March 2016.

To be part of the Al-Danah draws, customers can visitone of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, transfer on line, or callthe Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistanceand guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com/aldanahwinners, to find out more aboutAl-Danah and who the winners are.

By A Saleh

KUWAIT: Astronomer Adel Al-Marzouqpredicted that the weather would stabi-lize starting from tomorrow before mark-ing the beginning of a 13-day cold waveon Friday that is locally known as Al-Naayem, which can be extremely coldand accompanied by night frost in desertareas. “This period is traditionally knownto affect elderly sleeping people,” he said,noting that there was an old sayingabout it that goes ‘Al-Naayem chill makesseniors sleeping warmly feel cold.’

Marzouq added that these 13 dayswould be followed by four even colderdays locally known as the ‘Azaireq,’ urgingeverybody to be aware of extreme lowtemperatures, especially those campingin the desert. Marzouq elaborated that atthe conclusion of the 40-day ‘Merbeaniya’

cold wave on Thursday, the weather isforecast to be clear with northwesterlymoderate cold wind and low tempera-tures at night. He added that tempera-tures are expected to drop to two orthree degrees centigrade in desert areasduring the night and early hours of themorning.

Marzouq said that Fr iday, Jan 15,would mark the beginning of the Naayemcold wave when winds are expected toshift to southeasterly with moderatespeed and the possibility of light showersat night. As for Saturday, Jan 16, Marzouqsaid that temperatures would consider-ably rise due to a shift to light southeast-erly winds and the possibility of scatteredrain in the early morning. He added thattemperatures would rise during the restof next week to reach 18-21 C by day and6-8 C at dawn with clear skies.

40-day cold wave ends, low temperatures

return Friday

Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah Millionaire receives his prize

Al Danah’s KD 250,000 winner

KUWAIT: The door is open for those wishingto run in a by-election in the third constituen-cy, said a statement issued by the Ministry ofInterior yesterday, noting that registration forcandidates to become members ofParliament starts today. Among candidacyrequirements is to be a Kuwaiti citizen, notless than 30 years of age, able to read andwrite, with an immaculate criminal record,

said the statement. At the time of registra-tion, a candidate is also required to pay a reg-istration fee of KD 50, said the statement.

Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanemhad announced yesterday that the seat ofdeceased MP Nabeel Al-Fadhel was vacant,calling for the necessary constitutional proce-dures to be carried out to fill in the seat.Speaking to the regular session of parlia-

ment, Ghanem said that according to article84 of the constitution and item 18 of theNational Assembly’s statute, the vacant seatof an MP, who did not finish his legislativeterm, should be filled in within a period oftwo months through elections. MP Fadhelpassed away due to health complicationsduring a regular session for parliament onDecember 22nd, 2015. —KUNA

Door open for by-election in 3rd constituency

DAKAR/NINGXIA: Director General ofSenegal’s Road Maintenance ProjectIbrahima Ndiaye praised Kuwait ’sdevelopment aid contributions toSenegal, especially the significant roleplayed by Kuwait Fund for ArabEconomic Development (KFAED) inthe country.

During a meeting yesterday withKuwaiti high-achieving students visit-ing the country, the official said thatthe fund has allocated 29 loans, worthKD 110.2 million, and these loans havefinanced several projects in the fieldof transport, agriculture, healthcare,and education. After the meeting, theKuwaiti delegation went on a field vis-it to several KFAED funded projects inthe capital Dakar.

Meanwhile, KFAED trip coordinatorDr Khalid Al-Nafisi stressed the impor-

tance of the “be a high-achiever” pro-gram which highlighted the activerole of Kuwait in the development ofother countries. Students partaking inthe program expressed their pride ofthe fund’s activities, saying that itreflected the bright image of Kuwait.

Separately, distinguished femalehigh school students on Monday visit-ed Yinchuan Mingcui Lake CountryMarsh Park, the third largest in Chinaand the largest in its eastern regions.The youngsters were dazzled by thewide-ranging wildlife, including 97different animals and over 10,000 birdspecies during their trip to theChinese autonomous region ofNingxia, organized by Kuwait Fund forArab Economic Development.

Due to the extremely cold winter,Mingcui Lake transforms into ice. And

the people of Ningxia’s capital,Yinchuan, are welcomed to take tothe ice, much to the delight of theKuwaiti visitors, who joined in. Theyoung girls were also taken to a shop-ping mall and a market, where theygot a close hand of the region’s color-ful traditional dress.

The visit is part of an initiativeorganized by KFAED aimed at high-lighting the philanthropic work ithas done for so many parts of theworld. The fund organizes annualtrips for both male and female highschool students as part of its socialdevelopment plan. Since 2010,KFAED had taken an initiative todevelop the abilities and talents ofwell-achieving students, by takingthem on tr ips to different cit iesaround the world. —KUNA

NINGXIA: Female Kuwaiti students visit the Yinchuan Mingcui Lake Country Marsh Park in China. — KUNA

Senegalese official lauds Kuwait’sdevelopment aid contributionsFemale students visit marshland park in China

BEIRUT: The Kuwait Fund for ArabEconomic Development (KFAED) andLebanon have signed a $30 million grantagreement to improve public services inLebanese communities hosting Syrianrefugees. The grant agreement wassigned by KFAED Direc tor GeneralAbdulwahab Al-Bader and Chairman ofthe Lebanese Construc t ion andDevelopment Council Nabil Al-Jiser.

The grant is part of a $500 millioncommitment that Kuwait pledged duringthe third Syrians donors’ conference thatwas held in Kuwait, Bader said yesterday.

The KFAED paid $100 mil l ion of thatpledge, Bader pointed out. He expressedhope that this grant would help theLebanese Government in improving theliving conditions of Syrian refugees.

Meanwhile, Jiser expressed his appre-ciation to Kuwait’s support to Lebanon ineasing off some of the responsibility ithas shouldered as a host country forSyrian refugees. He added that Kuwaitoffered Lebanon $450 million grants toovercome current cr ises - hal f theamount of easy loans that were given todevelopment projects. —KUNA

KFAED, Lebanon sign $30million grant agreement

BEIRUT: KFAED Director General Abdulwahab Al-Bader and Chairman of theLebanese Construction and Development Council Nabil Al-Jiser shake handsafter signing the agreement. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Lieutenant General Yousif Abdullah Al-Ansari, Director of the Kuwait Fire Services Directorate(KFSD), yesterday presided a meeting at KFSD headquarters to review the major incidents that fire andrescue teams handled recently. The meeting also attended by KFSD’s Deputy Director for PreventionMajor General Khaled Al-Mekrad, Deputy Director for Firefighting Brigadier Jamal Al-Blaihees and firechiefs from various governorates, central operations, marine forces and the head of the fire investiga-tions department. —By Hanan Al-Saadoun

LO C A LWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Electronic Crimes law threatens to furtherstifle freedom of expression: Amnesty Int’l

KUWAIT: A new cybercrimes law, which isdue to take effect on 12 January 2016, willadd a further layer to the web of laws thatalready restrict the right of people in Kuwaitto freedom of expression and must beurgently reviewed, Amnesty Internationalsaid.

The law includes criminalization of arange of online expression - in particular,criticism of the government, religious figure-heads or foreign leaders. Dozens of peoplein Kuwait have already been arrested andprosecuted under other legislation for com-ments of this kind made on social mediasites such as Twitter.

“This repressive law is the latest, flawedstrand in a tangled web of legislation that isdesigned to stifle free speech,” said SaidBoumedouha, Deputy Director of AmnestyInternational’s Middle East and North Africaprogram. “Like anyone else in the world,Kuwaitis have a right to peacefully expresstheir opinion, including by criticizing theirown or other governments online withoutfear of imprisonment.”

The law repeats vaguely worded provi-sions of flawed laws dating back to 1970 and2006 which criminalize a range of peacefulexpression that could be construed as criti-cism of government and judicial officials,religious figures or leaders of regional gov-ernments. These laws have already beenused to restr ict peaceful expression inKuwait.

With the introduction of this new law,people in Kuwait will face up to 10 years’imprisonment for peacefully expressingtheir opinions over the internet. The lawaddresses actions which, depending on cir-cumstances, could be recognizably criminalacts; such as unauthorized access to an elec-tronic network, the alteration of data, suchas by way of forgery, the dissemination ofunlawfully accessed information and the useof the internet for trafficking. However, thelaw mistakenly conflates this type of activitywith peaceful expression.

International lawThe new legislation also conflicts with

international law, which requires the defini-tion of crimes to be clear and precise. It fliesin the face of the UN Human Rights Council’s

2014 resolution on the promotion, protec-tion and enjoyment of human rights on theInternet, which called upon states to ensurethat they “address security concerns on theInternet in accordance with their interna-tional human rights obligations,” includingthe protection of freedom of expression.

“The Kuwaiti authorities must not applythis law until they have reviewed its compat-ibility with Kuwait’s international humanrights obligations,” said Said Boumedouha.“This law does not belong to the 21st centu-ry. In spirit and indeed, in letter, it is a retro-grade piece of legislation that merely drawsupon earl ier, repressive laws. Kuwait isdeserve better.”

In December 2015, Amnesty Internationalurged the government to revise all lawsrelating to freedom of expression, whetherin speech, print or by electronic means, andto bring them in line with internationalhuman rights law and standards.

ReportAmnesty International set out its con-

cerns and recommendations relating to free-dom of peaceful expression in Kuwait in itsDecember 2015 report, The iron fist policy:Criminal ization of peaceful dissent inKuwait. Journalist and prisoner of con-

science Ayad Khaled Al-Harbi, 26, has beenin prison since October 2014 in connectionwith, among other things, tweets deemedcritical of Kuwait’s Amir and governmentand echoing the words of prominent gov-ernment critic, Musallam Al-Barrak, as wellas verses of poetry criticizing Arab rulers.

Blogger Hamad Al-Naqi is currently serv-ing a 10-year prison term for posting com-ments on Twitter that were considered criti-cal of the leaders of Bahrain and SaudiArabia and other messages deemed ‘insult-ing’ to Islam. He is a prisoner of conscience.

Prisoner of conscience, Abdullah Fairouz,a human r ights defender and polit icalactivist , is ser ving a f ive -year jai l termbecause he posted tweets saying that thosewho lived in royal palaces should not beimmune from prosecution.

On 28 July 2014, lawyer Khaled Al-Shattitweeted a thinly veiled condemnation ofmembers of the armed group calling itselfIslamic State. He was sentenced to one yearin prison with immediate implementationby a Misdemeanours Court on 17 Decemberfor insult to religion. However the AppealsCourt halted the implementation of this sen-tence until it issued its verdict. If Khaled Al-Shatti is jailed, he will be a prisoner con-science.

KUWAIT: The expected average price forBrent Crude oil in 2016 is $39 per barrel,equivalent to $34 per barrel of Kuwaiticrude oil, a Kuwaiti oil analyst predictedyesterday. This prediction is in line withplummeting crude oil prices during thefirst quarter of the year, with a gradualrecovery expected during the secondhalf of 2016, analyst Mohammad Al-Shatti said.

Moreover, the disparity in pricesbetween Gulf oil and Brent crude couldfurther widen as means of keeping themarket afloat and maintaining a level ofcompetition between oil producers,Shatti said. The decline in oil pricescomes amid dismal conditions as theprice of Brent Crude oil reached a recordof $115 per barrel in June 2014 only toplunge to a staggering $30 per barrel inJanuary 2016, Shatti noted.

The analyst also noted that theexpected entry of Iranian oil into themarket in February 2016 is sure to havean effect on supply and demand duringthe year. On average, the price of oil dur-ing 2015 stayed within the range of $35to $66, a possible indication of average

oil prices during the expected recoveryin the second half of this year, Shattisaid.

Rising hostilityMeanwhile, Shatti opined that rising

hostility amongst some of the world’slargest oil producers, nations with “mas-sive oil reserves”, no longer has a bear-ing on oil prices, a testament to what hesaid was “oil versatility. “ As for price ofKuwaiti oil, he said that it now stands at$24 per barrel, a decline not seen in 12years.

The number of oil drills in the UnitedStates has dwindled from 1609 inOctober 2014 to 516 on January 8, per-haps an omen that the decrease in oilprices shows no signs of abating, Shattisaid. A daily decline of 330 thousandbarrels is expected for 2016, he added.

On whether the prices of oil can everregain its glorious form, Shatti said thatexpected prices for a barrel of BrentCrude oil for the years 2018 and 2019are between $50 to $70, a sign that asharp decline of oil prices would persistin the next few years.— KUNA

Analyst expects Kuwaitioil price to hit $34 in 2016

10 million passengersused airport in 2015

KUWAIT: A total of 10,213,277 passengersused Kuwait International Airport in bothdepartures and arrivals in 2015 TheMinistry of Interior ’s Acting AssistantUndersecretary for Borders Affairs MajorGeneral Faisal Al-Senain said yesterday.

A statement issued by the ministry’sRelations and Security Media Departmentquoting Senain explained that the totalnumber of departing passengers was5,055,581, including 1,814,941 citizens,while the total number of arriving passen-gers was 5,157,696, including 1,807,242 cit-izens. Senain added that the airport pass-

ports department issued 299,785 visas,while it identified 662 blacklisted people bytheir fingerprints, prevented them fromentering Kuwait and returned them towhere they came from. It also arrested 533forgers. “The total number of passengersdenied access into Kuwait was 3,053,” hesaid. Senain also announced arresting 993people and referring them to the residencyaffairs detectives while 295 others werearrested and referred to the central depart-ment. In addition, Senain announcedarresting 181 citizens who were referred torelevant authorities. Kuwait International Airport

KUWAIT: ONCOST Cash and CarryCompany (ONCOST) announced itsparticipation in the Horeca Kuwait2016 exhibition, which is due to beheld in the period of January 18-19,2016. In this regard, ONCOST ’sOperations executive manager, SalehMohammed Al-Tunaib said thatHoreca 2016 has proved its great abil-ity to develop the hospitality, foodindustries and hotel sector, addingthat it had attracted an unprecedent-ed number of participating compa-nies. He added that the exhibition is agolden opportunity for ONCOST totake part in major hospitality, food-stuff and hotel equipment exhibi-tions, and to get closer to its clients,meet other local and internationalcompanies manager to eventuallyactivate commercial exchanges andthe develop the sector in general.

Tunaib added that ONCOST Cashand Carry was the first wholesalemembership retail store introduced inKuwait based on the concept of com-

bining quality assortment with valueand convenience all offered underone roof. He also noted that ONCOSToffers competitive prices compared tothose in other wholesale and retailstores. “That is why we have been suc-cessful with various clients, namelythose of Horeca, merchants and theowners of grocery stores and minimarkets,” he underlined.

Notably, Horeca Kuwait 2016 hasattracted over 60 participants of theworld’s leading hospitality, foodindustries and hotel equipment com-panies, as well as several travel agen-cies and offices. In addition, the cook-ing contest is expected to witnessfierce competition between over 300chefs from various world cuisinesunder the supervision of nine cookingexperts.

Horeca Kuwait 2016 is organizedby Leaders Group Company forConsulting and Development in col-laboration with the HospitalityServices Company. It takes place at

Badriya Ballroom in JumeirahMessilah Beach Hotel and Spa underthe auspices of Minister ofInformation and Minister of State forYouth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah.

FROM THE ARABIC PRESSWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Egypt is an example of an ancient civilized countrythat acts according to the moralities of states withancient human civilization legacies. It is always

keen on maintaining such a status and highly appreci-ates human values and achievements. Therefore, it is nowonder that most oriental geniuses in the modern agecame from Egypt, like the prince of Arab poetry, thereviver of Arab poetry, the dean of Arab literature andthe Arab Nobel prize laureate.

Egypt has also given humanity many great scientists,who were killed within certain plots, the most famousclergymen, sheikhs and scientists and the most famousQuran reciters who attracted Muslims from far and widewith their sweet voices and recitations. The kings of Arabliterature, acting, singing, dancing and music also camefrom Egypt. Well, the list is too long to be contained inone article.

On my recent visit to Cairo, I spent some time relaxingin old Fatimid Cairo near Al-Azhar mosque and its vicini-ty. I went through the streets of Al-Mo’ez Ledeen EllahAl-Fatimi and Jawhar Al-Siqilli, the founder of FatimidEgypt. Traditionally, Egyptians have a song, which goes:“He who built Egypt was originally a confectioner” to

indicate how beautifully and carefully it had beendesigned and built.

In fact, an Egyptian historian once wrote that JawharEl-Siqilli had worked as a confectioner in Sicily before hecame to Egypt as a slave and learnt military arts after hewas freed and eventually became the highest-rankingmilitary commander of the Fatimids. He was the onewho invaded Egypt and occupied it to found the Fatimiddynasty at that time. Therefore, Egyptians always singthose lines to refer to the beauty of Fatimid Egypt’smosques, streets, alleys, marketplaces, walls and gates.

The secret of this may lie in the fact that Egypt hasbeen invaded by many cultures and civilizations, who allended up melting in the Egyptian civilization pot. That iswhy, probably, Egypt is internationally known as theworld’s largest open museum containing three-fourthsof the world’s monuments.

We do have another similarly ancient and civilizedcountry in our orient - Iran. If only Iran had followedEgypt’s footsteps in maintaining its status and historywithout wasting it in wars and conflicts. If only it export-ed its civilization instead of exporting its revolution!

— Translated by Kuwait Times

Egypt and Iran

Al-Anbaa

By Saleh Al-Shayeji

Al-A

nbaa

Operating through

enemy plans

Al-Anbaa

By Sami Al-Nisf

The spectacular victory achieved by the Soviet Unionand the considerable sacrifices it made during WorldWar II against Nazi troops, that had brought so much

suffering and torture to West European peoples, was themain reason in the founding of strong Marxist parties incountries like Italy, France, Spain, Greece and Portugal afterEast European countries shifted to communism.Communists were very close to rulers of countries like Italyand France.

In the 1960s, international powers started cooperatingwith some Western countries’ authorities in applying a the-ory known as ‘operating through enemy plans’, whichmeans creating an extreme power known as Marxism andhaving it carry out some terrorist operations such asbombing densely crowded spots, assassinations and kid-nappings, like the kidnapping of Italian PM Aldo Moro andkilling him by the Red Brigades that claimed to be commu-nist, just as he was about to share the cabinet withCommunists. In another example, demonstrations organ-ized by students who claimed to be leftist swept France in1968 and forced President De Gaulle, who had called forquitting from the NATO, step down in 1969.

The very same plan was used during the same period inthe Middle East, were many military coups were arrangedin Iraq in 1968, Libya in 1969, and Syria and Sudan in 1970.Regimes in those countries were allowed to pretend to beleftist and nationalist as well as to get closer to the SovietUnion and then commit all kinds of atrocities, includingkilling, torture, corruption and waging already lost wars, inorder to have peoples shift their hate to the ideas and slo-gans they represented. The Soviet Union was very dissatis-fied with regimes that claimed to be its allies while theyhunted and executed communists in their countries, justlike Saddam, who revolted against the communists in 1978and executed them all. The same happened when Assadsent his troops to Lebanon in 1976 to fight the Palestinian,leftist and Marxist powers (locally known as the nationalpowers) in favor of the Lebanese rightist powers who wereallies of Israel.

The same happened in Libya in 1971 when Gaddafihelped foil the Marxist Hashim Attallah’s coup in Sudanagainst Numairi by forcing a British Airways flight carryingthe coup leaders to Sudan, including Abu Bakr Nour andhis companions, to land in Libya. Saddam’s intelligencealso planted a bomb on a flight carrying communistSudanese leaders from Baghdad to Khartoum, killing allthose onboard. Those were all acts by those who pretend-ed to be friends with the Soviet Union in public and actedon destroying it in secret. This method of ‘operatingthrough enemy plans’ seems to have lasted until the 1980s,1990s and the present through Islamist movements whofollowed Palestinians’ tendency for terrorist acts, makingpeople hate them, their slogans and causes. Accordingly,organizations like Al-Qaeda, IS, Ansarullah and others con-tinue to destroy Muslim countries in the name of Islam andwhat a brilliant plan it is, depending on the fact that ournaive people believe so much of the lies they hear andrefuse to believe facts they see it with their own eyes!

— Translated by Kuwait Times

CrimeR e p o r t

Illegal entryA Syrian man who was arrested for attempting to enter theministry of defense was sent to state security for question-ing. A military patrol noticed the man parking his car nearthe boundary wall of Al-Jewan building, then walking tothe main gate and attempting to slip in. Patrolmen foundhe was a Syrian who claimed to have an appointment, buton checking, he was found to be lying.

Delivery man muggedA delivery man was stabbed twice by a thief who stoleKD 240 and his phone. The victim went to MubarakHospital and a case of attempted murder and armedrobbery was recorded at Salmiya police station. TheIndian driver was on his way to deliver an order whenhe was stopped by the thief, and when he asked forhelp from passersby, the thief stabbed him in the handand arm and escaped.

Motorist stabbedin traffic dispute

KUWAIT: A university student was stabbed in his headwhen he was attacked along with his friend by four per-sons who claimed that the victim forced them off the road.A police source said a citizen in his twenties told Qadsiyapolice station that he had a dispute over the right of way,and was surprised by being chased from Qadsiya toMansouriya gas station. Four persons then came out of thevehicle with knives and sticks and attacked him. The victimwas able to write down the license plate number of thesuspects’ car and detectives are looking for them.

Two held with drugsAhmadi police foiled a deal to sell drugs and arrested twocitizens with 50 illicit tablets, who were sent to the DrugsControl General Department. A police patrol noticed twopersons who had parked their cars in Sabahiya, then one ofthem went and joined the other in his car. When policemencame close to them, they tried to hide something, andwhen searched, the drugs along with money were found.

Father threatenedA citizen asked Jabriya police to help him after his sonthreatened and attempted to beat him. Police are look-ing for the son, who fled.

‘Infiltrator’ caughtA bedoon (stateless) man attempted to go through thesecurity barriers towards an aircraft that was heading toBritain, but airport security men stopped him. After somesilence, he told them: “I want to go to Britain.” A securitysource said airport police noticed a man attempting to gopast them, then he escaped when they confronted him,jumped over the barriers and rushed to gate number 2,but was caught. When he was searched as a precautionarymeasure, a bullet was found with him. He did not have apassport or ticket, and was sent to the airport securityoffice. The suspect is a bedoon in his twenties. He did nothave any drugs with him and was sane. — Al-Rai

Administrative

corruption

Administrative

reform

ONCOST joins Horeca

2016 as Silver sponsor

Saleh Al-Tunaib

KUWAIT: Members of the MunicipalCouncil slammed the presence ofclosed cabins in cafes and what goeson in some of them, such as the “sale”of women, liquor and drugs. Councilmember Mane Al-Ajmi said during aregular session Monday most unethi-cal activities in cafes are committedby expats, who attempt to “presenttheir culture to the Kuwait society oneway or another”, adding that “the termshisha is used in some cafes to allowthe mixing of genders and createclosed cabins and chairs that becomebeds”.

“There is a chain of gangs of expatswhose job is to spread vice, whilesome Kuwaitis seek to make financialprofits without regard to their reli-gious feelings or patriotism,” Ajmialleged. He added everyone has heardabout the presence of drugs, liquor

and other illicit things in such cafes,“so we demand the implementationof the smoking ban law, which was

passed by parliament”.“Another catastrophe is of selling

women, in addition to having roomsin which vice activities are carriedout,” he said, urging the interior min-istry to be strict in implementing thelaw and supervise cafes. “The majorityof cafes are guarded by menequipped with walkie-talkies toinform those inside about anystranger who enters,” he claimed

Meanwhile, council member FahdAl-Sane said: “This issue shakes theentire Kuwaiti society, so there mustbe coordination between the interiorministry and municipality to eradicatethis phenomenon.” — Al-Rai

Council slams ‘unethical

activities’ at cafes

Council member Mane Al-Ajmi speaks during the session.

KUWAIT: A view from Monday’s regular session at the Municipal Council. — Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

KUWAIT: Social Affairs andLabor Minister and StateMinister for Development andPlanning Hind Al-Subaih said“treatment and adjustment ofthe demographic structure inthe country revolves aroundtwo main paths - keenness onfixing the size and number ofexpats and guaranteeing thepercentage of Kuwaitis com-pared to expats.” She added thatstatistics in the past five yearsshowed the number of Kuwaitis as a percentage comparedto expats is decreasing.

Subaih appealed to government workers to “do their jobsquickly.” “If every Kuwaiti gives his job its due and considerswork as worship as he gets a salary, I believe we will reachunbelievable achievements, and I am optimistic becauseKuwaiti people are smart and able to achieve,” she said.

Subaih, who was speaking during a radio show, said “thegeographic area for housing represents one of the mainpaths in the development plan”, adding that some lands thatwere handed over to execute projects have some obstacles.“One of the plots that was handed over to implement ahousing project had 14 obstacles in the way of the imple-mentation process,” she said.

“The electricity problem is one of the obstacles and prob-lems in the implementation of some housing projects andwe seek to remove this problem through finding severalsolutions to guarantee that housing applicants receive theirhomes complete without anything lacking or problems,” shenoted. — Al-Rai

Subaih talks

demographic

structure

Hind Al-Subaih

Sheep from

Iran banned

for diseaseKUWAIT: Sea ports and land border outletshave decided to ban sheep from Iran until fur-ther notice because of the discovery of an infec-tious disease in several shipments. A sourcesaid tests by the Public Authority forAgricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR)proved the existence of foot and mouth diseasein some sheep, and asked Doha port to returnthe shipments after the disease was discoveredin them. He said this measure aims at protect-ing the health of sheep and animals besidesprotecting the health of citizens and expats.

The source said Doha Port Supervisor KhalidAl-Failakawi gave orders to ban entry of anysheep or other animals arriving from Iran basedon tests and reports by PAAAFR, adding thatthe tests showed that six shipments of Iraniansheep did not meet import conditions. He saidthe number of Iranian sheep to be returned is3,000, imported by six Kuwaiti companies bysea, based on instructions not to unload anyshipment until after approval from the veteri-nary quarantine in order to ensure the safety ofshipments.

The source said that concerned authoritieshad banned sheep from Saudi Arabia threemonths ago for the same reason, while assur-ing citizens and expats that there is nothing toworry about, because the disease did not infectall sheep, especially that sheep already in themarket are safe and fit for human consump-tion. — Al-Qabas

No spring break

extensionKUWAIT: The Education Ministry denied social media reports that it mayextend the spring break until Feb 7. Public Education UndersecretaryFatima Al-Kandari said that rumors suggesting an extension for thebreak are “totally untrue,” and confirmed compliance with decision num-ber one which decided that Jan 24, Sunday, is the day when teachersand students return to school. — Al-Anbaa

White supremacists back Donald Trump

Page 9

White House denies snubbing Jordanian King Page 8

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Suicide bomber kills 10 in Istanbul

ISTANBUL: Emergency responders work beside victims at the site of a blast in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district, the cityís main tourist hub, yester-day. — AFP

ISTANBUL: A suicide bomber thought tohave crossed recently from Syria killed atleast 10 people, most of them Germantourists, in Istanbul’s historic heart yesterday,in an attack Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglublamed on Islamic State. All of those killed inSultanahmet square, near the Blue Mosqueand Hagia Sophia - major tourist sites in thecenter of one of the world’s most visitedcities - were foreigners, Davutoglu said. Asenior Turkish official said nine were German,while Peru’s foreign ministry said a Peruvianman also died.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmussaid the bomber was believed to haverecently entered Turkey from Syria but wasnot on Turkey’s watch list of suspected mili-tants. He said earlier that the bomber hadbeen identified from body parts at the sceneand was thought to be a Syrian born in 1988.Davutoglu said he had spoken by phonewith German Chancellor Angela Merkel tooffer condolences and vowed Turkey’s fightagainst Islamic State, at home and as part ofthe US-led coalition, would continue.

“Until we wipe out Daesh, Turkey will con-tinue its fight at home and with coalitionforces,” he said in comments broadcast liveon television, using an Arabic name forIslamic State. He vowed to hunt down andpunish those linked to the bomber. Severalbodies lay on the ground in the square, alsoknown as the Hippodrome ofConstantinople, in the immediate aftermathof the blast. It was not densely packed at thetime of the explosion, according to a policeofficer working there, but small groups oftourists had been wandering around.

“This incident has once again shown thatas a nation we should act as one heart, onebody in the fight against terror. Turkey’sdetermined and principled stance in thefight against terrorism will continue to theend,” President Tayyip Erdogan told a lunchfor Turkish ambassadors in Ankara. Norway’sforeign ministry said one Norwegian manwas injured and was being treated in hospi-tal. Turkey, a NATO member and candidatefor accession to the European Union, is part

of the US-led coalition against Islamic Statefighters who have seized territory in neigh-boring Syria and Iraq, some of it directlyabutting Turkey.

There was no immediate claim of respon-sibility but Islamist, leftist and Kurdish mili-tants, who are battling Ankara in southeastTurkey, have all carried out attacks in thepast. “We heard a loud sound and I looked atthe sky to see if it was raining because Ithought it was thunder but the sky was clear,”said Kuwaiti tourist Farah Zamani, 24, whowas shopping at one of the covered bazaarswith her father and sister.

‘Unimaginable’ SceneThe dull thud of the blast was heard in

districts of Istanbul several kilometres away,residents said. Television footage showed apolice car which appeared to have beenoverturned by the force of the blast. Touristsites including the Hagia Sophia and nearbyBasilica Cistern were closed on the gover-nor’s orders, officials said. “At first we thoughtit was percussion bomb, it was so loud. Theyattacked Sultanahmet to grab attentionbecause this is what the world thinks ofwhen it thinks of Turkey,” said Kursat Yilmaz,who has operated tours for 25 years from anoffice by the square. “We’re not surprised thishappened here, this has always been a possi-ble target,” he said.

Ambulances ferried away the wounded aspolice cordoned off streets. The sound of thecall to prayer rang out from the Blue Mosqueas forensic police officers worked at thescene. “It was unimaginable,” the police offi-cer who had been working on the squaresaid, describing an amateur video he hadseen of the immediate aftermath, with six orseven bodies lying on the ground and otherpeople seriously wounded.

Just over a year ago, a female suicidebomber blew herself up at a police stationfor tourists off the same square, killing oneofficer. That attack was initially claimed by afar-left group, the DHKP-C, but officials latersaid it had been carried out by a woman withsuspected Islamist militant links.—Reuters

Family of four killed in Ohio house explosion

OHIO: A couple and their two childrenwere killed in a house explosion thatshook a northeast Ohio neighborhood,fire officials said. The blast and subse-quent fire happened Monday night inNorthfield Center Township in SummitCounty. Firefighters arrived on the sceneand saw flames shooting from the house.Fire Chief Frank Risko said the bodies of amother and her two daughters, 8 and 12,were found on the first floor near thefront of the home. The father was foundnear the back of the house. Authoritiesdid not immediately identify the victims.Neighbors reported hearing the blastaround 8:30 pm. Randy Nickschinski lives

two doors down. He told Cleveland.comthat he and his son, Nate, rushed to thehouse and kicked in the front door. Thefamilyís dog quickly escaped. Then he,his son and another neighbor wentinside and yelled for the family, but noone answered. ‘There was a lot of fire, alot of debris,î Nickschinski said. ìWe wereyelling and nothing. We were just look-ing everywhere.’ Nickschinski’s daughter,Danielle, told the website that she haddone babysitting for the family’s twoyoung girls. ‘They were very outgoingand nice,’ she said. ‘They always wantedto play.’ The cause of the explosionremained under investigation.— AP

Clinton confronts rival Sanders; Iowa polls tighten

WATERLOO: Hillary Clinton has spent muchof her 2016 presidential campaign lookingpast Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, focus-ing instead on Republ icans and theNovember general election. No longer.Three weeks before the leadoff Iowa cau-cuses and with polls suggesting a tighten-ing race, she now is confronting theVermont senator more directly, attemptingto undermine his liberal credentials on guncontrol, taxes, health care and even the WallStreet regulations that have been the coreof his insurgent campaign. “It’s time for usto have the kind of spirited debate that youdeserve us to have,” Clinton told votersMonday. “We do have differences.”

After months with a comfortable edge inmost Iowa polls, the former secretary ofstate finds herself battling an underdogrival in a state that has a history of reward-ing anti-establishment campaigns - a situa-tion that brings back echoes of her 2008loss to Barack Obama. At a forum aimed atyoung and minority voters on Mondaynight, the candidates found themselvesdefending their positions on immigration,criminal justice, gun control and abortion -along with tackling questions about selfies,white privilege and recently deceased rockstar David Bowie. “The inevitable candidatefor the Democratic nomination may not beso inevitable today,” said Sanders, whenasked about his standing in Iowa.

While she has locked up the vast majori-ty of support from party leaders and large

donors, Sanders has captured the hearts ofmany in the Democratic base with hisunapologetically liberal economic message.An NBC/The Wall Street Journal/Marist pollreleased Sunday found Clinton with 48 per-cent and Sanders with 45 percent of likelycaucus goers, representing a closer marginthan past polls have indicated. Sanders hasmaintained an edge in New Hampshire,which borders his home state of Vermont,mak ing Iowa even more impor tant forClinton. The NBC/Wall Street Journal/Maristpoll showed Sanders with 50 percent andClinton with 46 percent in that primary.

Clinton still holds a strong advantageamong black and Latino voters who play abigger role in the primaries in late Februaryand March. But even if Clinton pulls out awin in Iowa, a narrow victory could set offalarms among Democrats about herstrength against Sanders, who started thecampaign as an obscure senator polling inthe single digits. Until now, Clinton hasrarely mentioned Sanders by name at hercampaign events, choosing instead to warnvoters about the r isks of e lec t ing aRepublican. She has pointed to efforts byRepublicans to repeal Obama’s signaturehealth care law - the president vetoed themost recent try - as a sign of what couldcome if Democrats lose the White House.

But on Monday, she widened her healthcare critique to include Sanders, saying hewould “rip up” the law and put power in thehands of states.—AP

Nine Germans, one Peruvian among those killed in ‘IS’ attack

I N T E R N AT ION A LWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

MADAYA: Aid vehicles wait on the outskirts of besieged rebel-held Syrian town of Madaya yesterday. Dozens of aid trucks headed to Madaya,where more than two dozen people are reported to have starved to death. — AFP

GENEVA: The World Health Organization hasasked the Syrian government for permission tosend mobile clinics and medical teams to thebesieged town of Madaya to assess the extent ofmalnutrition and evacuate the worst cases, itsrepresentative said yesterday. An aid convoy onMonday brought the first food and medical sup-plies for months to the town, where thousandsare trapped and local doctors say some havestarved to death.

Elizabeth Hoff, WHO representative inDamascus who went into Madaya on Monday ina UN convoy, said the agency needed to do a“door-to-door assessment” in the town of 42,000people, where a Syrian doctor told her 300-400needed “special medical care”. “I am reallyalarmed,” Hoff told Reuters, speaking by tele-phone from the Syrian capital where she hasbeen based since July 2012. “People gathered inthe market place. You could see many were mal-nourished, starving. They were skinny, tired,severely distressed. There was no smile on any-body’s faces. It is not what you seen when youarrive with a convoy. The children I talked to saidthey had no strength to play.”

An international aid convoy entered the townof Madaya, besieged by government forces,where thousands had been trapped for months

without supplies and people had been reportedto have died of starvation. The WHO brought in7.8 tons of medicines including trauma kits forwounds and medicines for treating both chronicand communicable diseases, including antibi-otics and nutritional therapeutic supplies forchildren, Hoff said. “The female doctor saidmothers had absolutely no milk for breast-feed-ing, the milk had dried up and the babies are notsatisfied,” Hoff said.

Many malnourished people were too weak toleave their homes. “We need to go in with theSyrian Arab Red Crescent for a door-to-doorbasement, if there are these cases we need toverify and make sure they get urgent treatment,”Hoff said. “I sent an immediate request toauthorities for more supplies to be brought in.We are asking for mobile clinics and medicalteams to be dispatched.” She added: “We needunhindered, sustained access, the only thingthat will help in the long term is lifting thesiege.”

WHO simultaneously delivered 3.9 tons eachto Foua and Kafraya, two villages in Idlibprovince encircled by rebels fighting the Syriangovernment. Hoff visited two medical sites inMadaya, one a private practice based in a homerun by two doctors, and the other a makeshift

field hospital in a basement. Neither had sup-plies. “The doctors at the private practice saidthey had run out of medicines they received inOctober and patients preferred to spend whatlittle money they had on food and not healthcare,” Hoff said. “They reported widespread mal-nutrition and serious problems with severeacute malnutrition, I cannot confirm what theyreported.” The two doctors lacked equipment formeasuring wasting in a child, or even a scale toweigh patients, she said.

The makeshift field hospital, down a darkflight of stairs, lacked hygienic conditions, Hoffsaid. “The room is often so crowded that theyhad to give a drip to a patient outdoors becausethere was no room in the clinic.” The Syrian doc-tor there told her he had names of 300-400 peo-ple requiring immediate medical care. “The doc-tor in the clinic reported that he hadn’t eaten forthree days.” “I spoke with a man who said he was45 and severely malnourished, he could hardlytalk. He said he had four children at home whoare in a bad situation. He was totally dehydratedand had a yellow color and was distressed.” “Apregnant woman was there who came in regu-larly unconscious ... she was lying in front of me,with very low blood sugar and lacking food. Thenurse had nothing to give.”— Reuters

Madaya situation ‘alarming’

Mobile clinics, medical teams highly needed

ACCRA: Two Yemeni men transferred from Guantanamo Bayto Ghana are looking to rebuild their lives but are not out toavenge their detention, they said in an interview broadcastlate Monday. “We have been wrongly arrested for 14 yearswithout any charge against us,” one of the men, MahmudUmar Muhammad Bin Atef, told public radio station Uniiq FM.“We have suffered but we are not looking for revenge,” headded. The Pentagon in Washington announced the transferof Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby on January 6and maintained they did not pose a threat but would still bemonitored.

Nevertheless, there has been some public opposition inGhana to the men’s arrival on security grounds. The UnitedStates had claimed Dhuby, who lived in Saudi Arabia, was a“probable” member of Al-Qaeda and received training inAfghanistan to target coalition forces. Atef was allegedly aTaliban member and fought under Osama bin Laden’s 55thArab Brigade, also against NATO forces, according to theirleaked case files published in the New York Times. The twomen, however, said Ghanaians had nothing to fear. “We arenot part of any group, for example Al-Qaeda, or other things.We don’t belong to any of them,” Atef said. “We are healed. Wewant to live very normal lives. Allah bless you and the peopleof Ghana.”

The two men said they were big fans of Ghana footballerAsamoah Gyan and many of the detainees at the US-run campin Cuba supported the Black Stars at the 2010 World Cup inSouth Africa. “When Ghana beat America, we were very happy.We made some celebrations. We also told the guards thatwe’ve won,” said Atef. US President Barack Obama pledged toshut the controversial Guantanamo facility when he tookoffice in 2009 but as he nears the end of his second term ofoffice, the camp remains open. Atef and Dhuby were among17 detainees deemed low-risk that Defense Secretary AshtonCarter approved for transfer last month.—AFP

LONDON: Lebanon is effectively barringmany Syrian refugees from renewing theirresidency permits, putting them at risk ofexploitation and “setting the stage for apotentially explosive situation”, rights cam-paigners warned yesterday. Human RightsWatch said a $200 annual renewal fee intro-duced last year was prohibitive for mostSyrian refugees in Lebanon where the greatmajority rely on aid.

HRW’s deputy Middle East director,Nadim Houry, warned that the residencyrules were “making life impossible forrefugees . . . and pushing them under-ground”. “The last thing Lebanon needs is alarge, undocumented community living atthe margins of society, at heightened riskof abuse.”

Lebanon is hosting more than 1 millionrefugees who have fled Syria since the startof civil war almost five years ago, the high-est per capita concentration of refugees inthe world. Only two of the 40 refugeesinterviewed for an HRW report said theyhad been able to renew their residencies.Obstacles included high fees, prohibitivepaperwork requirements and arbitraryapplication of the regulations, according tothe report entitled “I Just Wanted to beTreated like a Person”. The lack of legal sta-tus leaves Syrians vulnerable to exploita-tion - including labor abuse and sexualabuse - and means they cannot turn to theauthorities for protection, HRW said. It isnot known how many refugees lack legalstatus in Lebanon, which is not party to the1951 Refugee Convention. Officials atLebanon’s Ministry of Social Affairs couldnot immediately be reached for comment.

HRW said refugees applying to renew

residency permits are split into two groups:those registered with the UN refugeeagency (UNHCR) and those who must finda Lebanese sponsor to remain in the coun-try. However many UNHCR-registeredrefugees reported that officials asked themto provide a sponsor, even though the rulesdo not require it. The need to find a spon-sor raises the risk of corruption. Onerefugee is quoted as saying that sponsorswere making a business out of the crisis,selling sponsorships to refugees for up to$1,000.

Potential sponsors wait on the Syrianborder or at the airport to sell sponsorshipsto new arrivals, he said. Another refugee,Amr, told HRW that the fact his sponsorwas also his employer had locked him intoa cycle of abuse. “My boss makes me workmore than 12 hours a day at his shop.Sometimes I complain but then he threat-ens to cancel my sponsorship. What can Ido? I have to do whatever he says. I feel likehis slave,” he was quoted as saying.

Refugees who are working said employ-ers often underpaid them, taking advan-tage of their inability to complain. Fivewomen told HRW that sponsors andemployers had attempted to sexuallyexploit them. Syrians without residencycannot move freely for fear of arrest, HRWsaid, meaning more families are relying ontheir children to work because minors areless likely to be stopped at checkpoints.Parents also said that some schools refusedto enroll children without a valid residencyeven though this is not required for schoolregistration. The report added that babiesborn to parents without legal status riskbecoming stateless. — Reuters

Guantanamo ex-inmates in

Ghana want a ‘normal life’

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia yesterday put to death one of its citi-zens convicted of murder, bringing to 51 the number of localsand foreigners executed this year. Mishari Al-Anzi was convict-ed of shooting dead another Saudi during a dispute, the inte-rior ministry said. Most executions in the country are carriedout by beheading with a sword. On January 2, the kingdomexecuted 47 men convicted of “terrorism”, including Al-Qaeda-linked Sunni militants and Shiite cleric Nimr Al-Nimr, whosedeath sparked a diplomatic crisis with Iran. Last year SaudiArabia executed 153 people, most of them for drug traffickingor murder, according to AFP tallies.

Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia engaged in “a hor-rendous execution spree” in 2015, when the number of peopleput to death was the highest for two decades, since 192 in1995. “The past year has seen the kingdom’s human rightsrecord go from bad to worse,” London-based Amnesty said ina statement on Friday. The number of Saudi executions wasfar behind that of its regional rival Iran. Non-governmentalorganizations said in a letter to the United Nations GeneralAssembly that Iran executed at least 830 people betweenJanuary and November 1 last year. Saudi Arabia practices astrict Islamic legal code under which murder, drug trafficking,armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable bydeath.—AFP

Saudi executed

for murder

BEKAA VALLEY: A Syrian refugee carries a baby on her back at a refugee camp in thetown of Hosh Hareem, in the Bekaa valley, east Lebanon. —AP

Lebanon ‘putting Syrian refugees

at risk of exploitation and abuse’

COLOGNE: As Cologne reels from the NewYear’s Eve violence against women, it’s notjust ethnic Germans who worry-manyTurkish migrants also fear crime and telltheir host country: don’t blame us. Someworry that Germany’s record migrant influxis reigniting troubles that Cologne-a pio-neer city in multicultural life, with large-scale labor migration since the 1960s-thought it had long left behind. “What hap-pened on New Year’s Eve was horrible. Onegroup of foreigners did horrible things, andnow some Germans think all foreigners arehorrible,” said Mihriban Findik, a 40-year-old Kurdish woman from Turkey who haslived in Germany for 23 years.

She said the violence-in which mendescribed as North African- and Arab-look-ing groped and robbed hundreds ofwomen-was no surprise to her, as a singlemother working in a tobacco shop in thelow-income district of Kalk. “There aremany foreign men here, without women,some drink too much, they smoke hash.Men come in and say, ‘do you want to gowith me?’ I know I have to laugh or there’llbe trouble.” Findik said she often felt vul-nerable: “Some come from countries wherewomen are covered and they see women inskirts and go crazy. It has got worse. Ididn’t used to be scared, but now I am.”

‘Police abandoned us’ Many long-established migrants from

Turkey say they are as much victims ofcrime as the majority population. A Turkishkiosk owner fumed that “the police seeeverything and do nothing. They haveabandoned us.” “It’s been getting worse fortwo years, the street isn’t safe anymore,”said the 50-year-old who has been inGermany for 30 years and, like many peo-ple discussing the sensitive subject,declined to give his name. “They come in,they terrorize us and steal. Five peoplecome in, one talks to you, the others steal-chocolate, cigarette lighters, whatever,” hesaid, adding that his former 24-hour busi-ness now closes at midnight for safety rea-sons. He said he wasn’t worried about thenew refugees from Syria and other warzones, but thuggish groups from someNorth African countries who arrived yearsago via EU countries. “I don’t have a prob-

lem with the refugees, they should stay,” hesaid.

Pepper spray sold outNorth of Cologne lies Chorweiler, a dis-

trict of 1970s era public housing towerblocks, home to over 100 nationalities,where many balconies have satellite dishesto receive foreign language TV. One resi-dent, Ijaz Khan, 29, born in Germany toPakistani parents, said he had felt a darken-ing mood since New Year’s Eve, especiallyas he commutes to his hotel barkeeper jobdowntown. “To some people I might lookNorth African, and I’ve noticed people onthe train look at the empty seats next to meand keep walking, probably thinking Icould be one of them.”

Having spent a decade of his childhoodin Pakistan, he said he wasn’t surprised thatfaraway conflicts would eventually come tohaunt Europe. “If you stir a hornets’ nest,hornets come out,” he said. As globalrefugee flows have risen sharply, he voicedfears that his German home city now couldbackslide on past gains in cultural diversityand tolerance. “In Cologne we’ve alwayslived quite well together, it’s a bit like a bigvillage,” he said. “My best friend is German.Integration has worked relatively well here.There are many mixed marriages. “But NewYear’s Eve has shaken all that. I’ve seen peo-ple approach each other differently, withdifferent eyes, especially when you look dif-ferent.” “The shops are all out of pepperspray. Women have bought up all the sup-plies.”

Yet, he said he couldn’t blame peoplefor feeling insecure, especially at the cen-tral railway station, where there are drugdealers and ‘dancers’-pickpockets who conpassers-by with sing-song and jovial hugsand steal their wallets. “The police haveignored all this for years,” he said, addingthat he was shocked but not surprised bythe New Year’s Eve troubles. “I think it was amix-thieves, dancers, asylum-seekers, Idon’t know,” he said. “Some of them comefrom countries where everything is forbid-den and think that here everything goes,that German police are soft. I think alcoholplayed a big role too. “I think everythingjust came together. Everyone just thoughtthey could do what they want.”— AFP

Cologne Turks too fear

crime and race tensions

WASHINGTON: The White House onMonday said President Barack Obamawould not meet with close ally KingAbdullah of Jordan who is currently inWashington-because of scheduling prob-lems. “The president regrets that he isunable to meet with him personally on thisvisit due to scheduling conflicts, includingthe State of the Union address,” a WhiteHouse spokesperson said.

Yesterday, Obama delivered his finalannual address to a joint session ofCongress, a set piece of the US political cal-endar. The White House and Jordanian offi-cials said Abdullah would instead meetwith Vice President Joe Biden yesterday. Hemet with Defense Secretary Ash Carter andSecretary of State John Kerry on Monday.Kerry and Abdullah discussed the fightagainst the Islamic State and “efforts to

revive Israeli-Palestinian peace negotia-tions,” a diplomat said.

Abdullah also met with DefenseSecretary Ash Carter, who expressed his“deep appreciation... for Jordan’s contin-ued contributions to regional counter-ISILefforts,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cooksaid. He was referring to the self-pro-claimed Islamic State group, which hasseized large chunks of territory in Iraq andSyria and declared a caliphate ruled inaccordance with Islamic law, or sharia.Obama “looks forward to the opportunityto meet with His Majesty in the nearfuture,” the White House official said.Obama and Abdullah last met inWashington almost a year ago. Since then,the fight against IS has intensified andefforts to solve the Israeli-Palestinian con-flict have ossified.— AFP

White House denies

snubbing Jordan King

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Ash Carter welcomes Jordan’s King Abdullah IIduring an honor cordon at the Pentagon. — AP

MUNICH: Police officers escort rejected refugees who are boarding an aircraft at theairfield of the Franz-Josef-Strauss airport in Munich, southern Germany, as the planebrings rejected asylum seekers back to their country. — AFP

I N T E R N AT ION A LWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

WASHINGTON: A white supremacist groupsaid it has placed thousands of automatedphone calls in Iowa urging voters to back bil-lionaire Donald Trump’s bid for the Republicanpresidential nomination because “we don’tneed Muslims.” The telephone campaign is ledby the American Freedom Party, which on itswebsite says it “shares the customs and her-itage of the European American people.” Thecalls featured the spokesman of a whitesupremacist group that Dylann Roof, who isaccused of gunning down nine people at ablack church in South Carolina in June, hadreportedly cited as inspiration.

“We don’t need Muslims. We need smart,well-educated white people who will assimi-late to our culture,” Jared Taylor, editor of thesupremacist magazine American Renaissance,says on the call. Taylor is also spokesman of theCouncil of Conservative Citizens, a supremacistgroup with historic links to the White CitizensCouncil, a segregationist organization set up inMississippi in 1954. The group also attemptedto buy radio time in Iowa but was rebuffed. TheTrump campaign did not immediately respondto a request for comment.

The group has placed about 200,000 “robo-calls” in Iowa and may also target NewHampshire, organizers said. The AmericanFreedom Party published an audio recordingof the call on its website. Iowa kicks off thevoting in the nominating contests leading upto the November 2016 presidential electionwith its caucuses on Feb 1. New Hampshireholds the country’s first primary elections onFeb. 9. The campaign by the AmericanNational Super PAC injects another controver-sial wrinkle into a presidential campaign thathas been more racially charged than any inrecent memory.

Trump has emerged as a surprise front run-ner in the Republican nominating contestafter calling Mexican immigrants “rapists” inhis speech declaring his candidacy and sayingthe United States should ban Muslims fromentering the country, following the massacrein San Bernardino, California, last month by ayoung Muslim couple. Republican rivals havecondemned those remarks as inflammatory,but they have not dented Trump’s popularityamong Republican voters, who are over-whelmingly white.

“I can’t say it surprises me,” said DaveZbaracki , a former Republican who wasattending a campaign event for DemocratHillary Clinton in Waterloo, Iowa. He said many

of his Republican friends were “mortified” byevents in the race. The group bought airtimeon a Des Moines Christian radio station tobroadcast its message but the station says itwill not broadcast the show. “They’re not onour air,” Praise 940 AM general manager JeffDelvaux said.

Energized by trumpTrump has not sought the backing of white

supremacist groups but several say his successhas helped them win new supporters. “Clearlyour movement has been energized by Trump,”said Richard Spencer, director of the NationalPolicy Institute, a far-right group dedicated topromoting the interests of white Americans.The chairman of the American Freedom Party,William Johnson, who also appears on the call,told Reuters he has spent about $9,000 on theeffort and plans to spent another $10,000 ofhis own money. He said others have volun-teered to pay for the effort as well.

The group, which originally registered inNovember as the American National TrumpSuper PAC before changing its name, alsoplanned to run pro-Trump radio programmingfrom Jan. 12 through Jan. 22, but was notified

on Monday morning that the station wouldnot accept its $2,100 payment. “We’ve beenadvised by our attorney NOT to run the ForGod & Country program on KPSZ,” an employ-ee wrote, according to email correspondenceforwarded by Johnson.

Delvaux, the station manager, declined tosay why the station opted to return the money.Other white supremacist leaders said that whilemany of their supporters supported Trump,they did not plan to formally campaign on hisbehalf. Michael Hill, president of the League ofthe South, said his members were most excitedabout Trump’s potential to disrupt theAmerican political system, which could make iteasier for them to accomplish their goal ofbreaking the South away from the rest of theUnited States. “I’m looking for American politicsto become pure chaos,” he said.

Spencer, of the National Policy Institute,said he planned to vote for Trump but thoughtwhite nationalist groups would actually hurtthe real-estate billionaire’s prospects if theycampaigned for him. “Most white people areafraid of our ideas,” he said. “We’re not goingto really help candidates by giving them ourseal of approval,” he added. — Reuters

CALIFORNIA: A truck sits flooded on Camino de la Reina which is flooded by the SanDiego River after heavy rains in San Diego, California. — AFP

As rain pummels south California, some see a way to fight drought

SAN DIEGO: Much of the torrential rain thatfell on Southern California this week flowedright into the ocean, just like it did beforethe state’s epic drought. That seemed like agood idea for many years, as storm drainsprovided a crucial defense against flooding.But with California entering what may be afifth year of drought, water agencies slowlyare moving to capture and store more ofthis precious resource. “That was the 19th,20th century thinking: ‘Let’s get that waterout of here as fast as possible,’” saidDeborah Bloome, senior director of policyat TreePeople, a nonprofit group that isworking to increase rain capture in the LosAngeles area.

Now, people are more likely to see a rap-idly disappearing flood - nearly 3 inches fellon much of Southern California this week -as a wasted opportunity. The State WaterResources Control Board approved a broadplan Wednesday for capturing more rain.The regulator is launching a road show thismonth to explain how it will dole out $200million for projects to collect rain, part of a$7.5 billion water bond voters approved inNovember 2014. Los Angeles expects tocollect 3.3 billion more gallons a year fromprojects now under construction. The cityeventually plans to capture 20 billion moregallons than the 10 billion it collects duringnormal years and up to 26 billion gallonsduring wet years.

Still, many believe more can be done,through projects large and small. “This is asource of water that has been neglected forfar too long,” said Peter Gleick, president ofthe Pacific Institute, which authored a 2014report with the Natural Resources Defense

Council that estimated urban Californiacould capture an additional 630,000 acre-feet of rain a year, roughly enough for 1.2million households. “It is untapped, and ithas enormous potential.” SouthernCalifornia imports a lion’s share of its waterfrom Northern California and the ColoradoRiver, on aqueducts that stretch hundredsof miles. The drought has slashed waterconsumption across the state and renewedinterest in developing new water sources,like recycling and seawater desalination.

California’s rainy season usually runsfrom January to early March with short butintense storms, creating a limited window.Parched Southern California needs thewater most and has long had reservoirs tocapture some of it. But much of the waterdumped by El Nino’s storms streamed downgutters and curbs through a concrete jun-gle, into drains that go into the Pacific. LosAngeles County captured 3.2 billion gallonsduring this week’s storms as of Thursdayafternoon, largely through 27 holdingponds, said Steven Frasher, a spokesman forthe public works department. Water fromthe Los Angeles and San Gabriel riversflowed into fields that percolate intoaquifers for future pumping. The OrangeCounty Water District, which relies on raincapture for about 10 percent of its suppliesto 2.4 million people south of Los Angeles,collected about 3.3 billion gallons from thisweek’s storms as of Thursday afternoon. Thecaptured water flows into the Army Corpsof Engineers’ Prado Dam and is slowlyreleased 11 miles downstream on the SantaAna River, to ponds that seep into anaquifer. The rest goes into the ocean.—AP

White supremacists back Donald Trump

‘We don’t need Muslims’

RENO: People listen to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Reno,Nev. —AP

I N T E R N AT ION A LWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

AUDEROD: In return for staying at aDanish refugee centre, Iranian softwareengineer Sarah Alimalayeri said she washappy to hand over the gold braceletand necklace she was wearing, but nother pendant. “You can’t take everything,but this is a good balance,” she said. The24-year-old migrant is an unlikely sup-porter of a controversial bill due to bediscussed in the Danish parliamenttoday, which would allow police to seizemigrants’ valuables to pay for their stayin asylum centers if it is passed later thismonth.

Rather than raising significantamounts of money for the state, it iswidely seen as the latest in a string ofmoves by the Danish government to tellpotential migrants to steer clear ofDenmark. Copenhagen’s right-wing gov-ernment, which relies on support in par-liament from an anti-immigration party,last week watered down the proposal byraising the amount of cash a refugee cankeep from 3,000 kroner (402 euros,$438) to 10,000 kroner.

But despite international outrage anda leading US newspaper making com-parisons to Nazi Germany, IntegrationMinister Inger Stojberg has refused toback down from the bill’s most contro-versial element: searching migrants’bags for gold and other valuables.

Only items for personal use such asmobile phones and watches as well asitems of sentimental value like wedding

rings will be exempted. The centre-rightminority government has defended thebill, arguing that Danish nationals seek-ing welfare handouts can expect similartreatment. “It is already the case that ifyou as a Dane have valuables for morethan 10,000 kroner it may be requiredthat this is sold before you can receiveunemployment benefits,” Stojberg saidlast month.

“In Denmark, if one can manage onone’s own, one manages on one’s own,”he stressed on Friday.

Refugees dividedAt the Auderod asylum centre 60

kilometres (37 miles) northwest ofCopenhagen, Alimalayeri’s view wasclearly in the minority-but she insistedthat Denmark was within its rights toconfiscate valuables to pay “for all ofthese services.” One of her friends at therefugee centre was wealthy but did notwant the Danish authorities to find outfor fear they would reject her asylumapplication, she claimed.

However, several other residents saidthey had little more than the clothesthey were wearing and questioned theeffects of the bill. “I owe 7,000 euros($3,250) (I borrowed) to get here,” saidFarhad Moradi, a 22-year-old Kurdishstudent from Iran, as he shuddered in at-shirt in near-freezing temperatures.Inside the centre’s communal area near-by, young men played pool and Arabic

pop music blared from a TV set. TarekIssa, a 25-year-old law student fromHama in Syria said he had read aboutthe Danish proposal on Facebook beforetravelling to the country to join his fami-ly, but said it did not affect his choice ofdestination. “We almost paid everythingto come here. Like a house, like a restau-rant we owned before,” he said. A policesearch of his bags would turn up “maybe100 euros,” he laughed.

Widespread criticismThe proposal is part of a bigger immi-

gration bill which will also delay familyreunifications for some refugees by upto three years, as well as making it hard-er to obtain permanent residency andshortening temporary residence per-mits. UN refugee agency UNHCR said onJanuary 6 that the proposals sent a sig-nal to other countries that “could fuelfear, xenophobia and similar restrictionsthat would reduce-rather than expand-the asylum space globally.”

“You might of course think that this isreally bad publicity for Denmark. I do,”said Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen, politicalspokesperson for the leftist Red-GreenAlliance party. “But I think the Danishgovernment... is quite happy, becausethe main purpose with this proposal isto make refugees afraid of applying forasylum in Denmark,” she added.Denmark received 21,000 refugees lastyear, compared to 163,000 in neighbor-

ing Sweden, which until recently hadsome of Europe’s most generous asylumrules. The Danish Refugee Council saidthe move mostly seemed to be “a meas-ure of symbolic character”. “As far as weknow there are not many people carry-ing valuables like that,” spokesmanSebastian Juel Frandsen said.

Criticism has not just been limited tothe centre-left opposition: Two govern-ment allies have also said they will notsupport the migrant searches unlesschanges are made. The Conservative

People’s Party wants to see a detailed listof things that cannot be confiscated,while the Liberal Alliance only supportsseizing large amounts of cash. The SocialDemocrats, the main opposition party,wants more guarantees that items ofpersonal value will not be removed.After being discussed in parliamenttoday, the immigration bill will be sentto a parliamentary committee, afterwhich lawmakers will discuss it again onJanuary 21. A vote will be held onJanuary 26.— AFP

Danish lawmakers mull proposal to take refugees’ cash

KRUSA: Danish police officers walk at the Danish-German border in Krusaa,Denmark. A controversial bill is due to be discussed in the Danish parliamenttoday, which would allow police to seize migrants’ valuables to pay for theirstay in asylum centers. — AFP

PAJU: People look at a map of the border area between North and South Koreas at the Imjingak Pavilion near the border village of Panmunjom,which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea.— AP

SEOUL: North Korea said yesterday its nucleartest was not intended to be a provocation orthreat, as it laid out plans for a weapons systemcapable of obliterating the entire United States.A lengthy commentary by the official KCNAnews agency underlined the North’s claim thatlast Wednesday’s test was of a powerful minia-turized hydrogen bomb which marked a “newhigh stage” in the country’s search for a crediblenuclear deterrent. Experts have largely dis-missed the claim, saying the test yield was fartoo low for a full-fledged thermonuclear deviceand was similar to the simple fission implosiondevices it has tested three times in the past. TheKCNA commentary said the test was an indis-pensable stage on the “normal course” whichother countries have taken to the developmentof a two-stage fission-fusion H-bomb.

“The test was neither to ‘threaten’ anyone, norto ‘provoke’ someone for a certain purpose,”KCNA said, insisting that the main focus was onproviding a “sure guarantee” of the North’simmunity from attack by hostile forces. Primeamong those forces was the United States itsaid, offering an apocalyptic vision of how itwould respond to US aggression. North Koreanscientists and technicians “are in high spirit todetonate H-bombs of hundreds of kilotons andmegatons, capable of wiping out the whole ter-ritory of the US all at once,” it said. Outsideexperts say the yield from Wednesday’s test wasaround six kilotons, while an H-bomb wouldhave been at least 100 times more powerful.

Low-tech NorthNorth Korea may have nuclear weapons, but

in a high-decibel, cross-border propagandashouting match, South Korea insists its superiortechnology is winning hands down. South Koreastarted blasting a mix of K-pop and propagandamessages into North Korea on Friday, usinggiant banks of speakers located close to theheavily militarized border. The resumption of thebroadcasts, which had driven the North tothreaten military strikes when they wereemployed last year, was a direct response toPyongyang’s decision to conduct a fourthnuclear test two days earlier.

Since the speakers were plugged back in, theNorth has sought to respond in kind, with itsown amplified messages extolling the virtues ofleader Kim Jong-Un, and attacking South KoreanPresident Park Geun-Hye. “Currently, North

Korea’s loudspeaker broadcasts have beenturned on in 10 locations, but with negligibleimpact,” a defense ministry official said. “The rea-son is that North Korea’s output capacity is verylow compared to ours. “Their broadcasts areaudible within a one- to three-kilometer radius,while ours can be heard 10 kilometers away,” theofficial said. The last time South Korea used thespeakers was during a sharp escalation in mili-tary tensions after two of its soldiers weremaimed by a landmine on the border. The Southkept up the broadcasts for several weeks, finally

unplugging the speakers in line with an Augustagreement aimed at defusing a crisis that haddriven both sides to the brink of an armed con-flict. The agreement had stipulated that thespeakers would remain off, barring any “abnor-mal case” in the future. Seoul deemed that lastWednesday’s nuclear test-which Pyongyangclaims was of a powerful H-bomb-fell into the“abnormal” category and so the speakers wereswitched back on. The South has given no indi-cation of how long it intends to keep the broad-casts going this time.—Agencies

North Korea threatens to obliterate United States

S Korea winning shouting match with low-tech North

LOS MOCHIS: A mirror inside a closet concealedthe last tunnel that Mexican drug lord Joaquin “ElChapo” Guzman used to flee as marines battledhis henchmen before his recapture. The house inLos Mochis, a northwestern seaside city inGuzman’s native Sinaloa state, bears the scars ofFriday’s fierce pre-dawn gunfight, with driedblood on the floors.

A video released by the government shows themarines firing their assault rifles and tossingsmoke grenades before entering the rooms. Onetroop was wounded and was on the ground. “Staycalm, buddy,” one marine told him. As they movedinside, they arrested one man. They screamed at awoman who was hiding in a bathroom, asking herwhere the kingpin was. “I don’t know, sir,” sheanswered. When the dust settled, five gunmenwere dead, one marine wounded and six suspectsdetained. The 58-year-old kingpin, meanwhile,was nowhere to be seen. His security chief, OrsoIvan Gastelum, was also missing.

DVDs and lingerieThe marines frantically searched the house. In

one bedroom, three DVDs of the TV series “LaReina del Sur” were on a bed. The star of the showabout a drug queen is Kate del Castillo, theMexican actress who brokered the notoriousOctober meeting between Guzman and US actorSean Penn. The authorities found out about theclandestine meeting and nearly caught Guzmanin early October. They eventually tracked himdown in Los Mochis, where he arrived on the eve

of the raid.The shrapnel from stun grenades was still in

the main room when reporters were allowed totour the house on Monday. Food was rotting inthe kitchen. Authorities said food had beenordered for 13 people on the eve of the raid. Driedblood stains were splattered in the entrance andanother room of the white house. On the secondfloor, there were three bedrooms, including onewith evidence that a woman slept there, includinglace lingerie, makeup and a hairdryer on theground. The top floor had a patio with more bulletholes. “Guzman’s gunmen tried to flee throughhere,” an official from the attorney general’s officesaid.

Final tunnel Suspecting that Guzman had fitted the home

with a tunnel, the soldiers scoured the house.They moved the refrigerator, which had bulletholes, but no tunnel was there. “Since we knowthat his modus operandi is tunnels, the soldiersmoved the fridge to see if there was one backthere,” the official said.

Their suspicions were justified since he used a1.5 kilometer (one-mile) tunnel to secretly fleeprison in July. Meanwhile, he had an escape hatchinto drainage systems in his home in anotherSinaloa city. In Los Mochis, the drug lord’s lastunderground escape route was in a bedroomwhere the bed’s mattress was nearly on theground and men’s clothing was strewn about thefloor.—AFP

Drug lord’s last tunnel hidden behind a mirror

CARACAS: Venezuela headed into evermurkier political waters Monday as theSupreme Court declared the newly opposi-tion-controlled legislature null and void andthe opposition vowed to continue defyingthe judges. The showdown between thelegislative and judicial branches escalated anotch as the court invalidated all actionstaken by the current National Assembly,which includes three opposition lawmakersjudges had barred from taking office overan election dispute.

The decision declared the three lawmak-ers and the National Assembly’s leadershipin contempt of court and voided the legisla-ture’s decisions for as long as the trio holdtheir seats. The opposition, which accusesthe court of bias for President NicolasMaduro, said it could not respect the rulingand would continue legislating with thetwo-thirds majority it insists it rightfullywon in elections last month. “All 112 (oppo-sition) lawmakers are going to continue leg-islating. This sentence from the SupremeCourt of Justice is impossible to respect. Welawmakers are protected by the constitu-tion,” said deputy speaker Simon Calzadilla.

Speaker Henry Ramos Allup said thecourt was “at the administration’s service tooverride the people’s will.”The number twofigure in Maduro’s camp, former speakerDiosdado Cabello, fired back that the legis-lature itself was in contempt of court.“There’s a (legislative power) vacuum com-ing, because if the Assembly is in contempt,no one is going to recognize it. We the peo-ple are not required to. The other branchesof government are not required to,” he said.The court has emerged as a powerful playeras reeling oil giant Venezuela embarks on anew era of divided government in the wakeof the opposition’s landslide win in legisla-tive elections last month, which delivered acrushing blow to Maduro and the “revolu-tion” launched by his late mentor HugoChavez in 1999.

The opposition coalition, the DemocraticUnity Roundtable (MUD), accuses Maduroof packing the court with his allies. A weekbefore the 167-member legislature’s new

session, the court barred three oppositionlawmakers from taking their seats, effective-ly scrapping MUD’s powerful two-thirdsmajority. Ramos Allup, the new speaker,defiantly swore them in anyway, setting upa messy political and legal battle.

Judges under fireThe opposition’s disputed “super-majority”

gives it the power to remove Supreme Courtjudges from the bench, as well as put legisla-tion to a referendum and call an assembly todraft a new constitution. The opposition hasvowed to use those powers to force Madurofrom office within six months. The embattledpresident, whose term runs until 2019, hasmeanwhile vowed to fight the “bourgeoisassembly” tooth and nail.

Just hours before the court ruling, MUDlawmakers had launched a legislative com-mittee to probe alleged irregularities in theappointment of 13 judges to the 32-mem-ber Supreme Court. Maduro’s UnitedSocialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) used anextraordinary session in the final hours of itslegislative majority to push through thejudges’ appointment, a move the opposi-tion condemned as undemocratic. Thecourt ruling came as MUD lawmakers intro-duced a bill on one of their top legislativeinitiatives, an amnesty for 75 jailed opposi-tion figures they say are political prisoners.

The bill was tabled by Lilian Tintori, thewife of jailed opposition leader LeopoldoLopez, who was sentenced to 14 years inSeptember on charges of inciting violenceat anti-government protests-a ruling thatdrew international condemnation.Venezuelans exasperated with emptysupermarket shelves, long lines, violentcrime and a deep recession voted onDecember 6 to give the opposition controlof the National Assembly for the first timesince Chavez came to power 17 years ago.Political analysts warn the country faces aperiod of brutal political turmoil. Withrumors of coup plots and counter-coupplots swirling, Defense Minister VladimirPadrino has vowed the military’s “absoluteloyalty” to Maduro.—AFP

Opposition in a showdown with Venezuela high court

CARACAS: Lilian Tintori (center), wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez(center) walks accompanied by supporters inside the Congress in Caracas. — AFP

Like jail: New York homeless say shelters not the answer

NEW YORK: Life on the streets of New Yorkmay be miserable for the thousands of home-less who sleep rough, but many are disillu-sioned by stepped-up efforts to eradicate amodern-day crisis. America’s biggest andwealthiest city is a beacon across the worldfor financial success and entertainment-oneof the biggest tourist draws on the planet,welcoming 56 million visitors last year. It hasmore billionaires than any other city in theworld, says Forbes.

And yet 75,000 people are homeless,according to US government figures-thementally ill, those who lost jobs in the 2008global financial crash, employees who cannotafford skyrocketing rents, families and chil-dren. Dozing on benches in Penn Station,begging on the street or curled up at the bot-tom of subway stairwells, the plight of the

city’s homeless is clear for all to see. TheCoalition for the Homeless non-profit saysnearly 60,000 people are in shelters eachnight and that in recent years homelessnessin the city has hit highs not seen since the1930s Great Depression.

The statistics are an embarrassment forMayor Bill de Blasio, a progressive Democrattwo years on the job who campaigned toredress the city’s colossal inequality after twodecades under Republican mayor RudolphGiuliani and billionaire Michael Bloomberg.His office marked the New Year by announc-ing a slew of initiatives, upping the number ofpersonnel taking people off the streets whentemperatures drop, increasing the number ofbeds for homeless youth and promising todouble the number of city-funded drop-incenters.—AFP

I N T E R N AT I O N A LWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

ARJUNI: Mahettar Ram Tandon is stillproud of the indelible message he carriesalmost five decades after he had thename of the Hindu god Ram tattooedover his entire body. Dressed in a simplewhite lungi, a traditional Indian garment,and wearing a peacock feather hat calleda “mukut”, Tandon is part of the RamnamiSamaj religious movement in the easternstate of Chhattisgarh, one of India’s poor-est regions. “It was my new birth the day Istarted having the tattoos,” he says.

“The old me had died.” Denied entryto temples and forced to use separatewells, low-caste Hindus in theChhattisgarh first tattooed their bodies

and faces more than 100 years ago as anact of defiance and devotion. Ramnamiswrote Ram’s name on their bodies as amessage to higher-caste Indians thatgod was everywhere, regardless of a per-son’s caste or social standing. Now 76,Tandon’s purple tattoos have faded overdecades under the harsh sun of his vil-lage of Jamgahan.

In the nearby village of Gorba, PunaiBai, 75, spent more than two weeks aged18 having her full body tattooed usingdye made from mixing soot from akerosene lamp with water. “God is foreverybody, not just for one community,”says Bai, who lives in a one-room house

with her son, daughter-in law and twograndchildren. Nowadays the tattoos ofRamnamis, who number 100,000 ormore and live in dozens of villagesspread across at least four districts ofChhattisgarh state, are usually on asmaller scale. Since the banning of caste-based discrimination in India in 1955, thelives of many lower-caste Indians haveimproved, villagers said. As youngRamnamis today also travel to otherregions to study and look for work,younger generations usually avoid full-body tattoos.

“The young generation just don’t feelgood about having tattoos on their

whole body,” says Tandon, who hasalways lived in his village of small mudhouses surrounded by fields of grazingcattle, wheat and rice. “That doesn’tmean they don’t follow the faith.”Children born in the community are stillrequired to be tattooed somewhere ontheir body, preferably on their chest, atleast once by the age of two. Accordingto their religious practices, Ramnamis donot drink or smoke, must chant thename “Ram” daily and are exhorted totreat everybody with equality andrespect.

Almost every Ramnami householdowns a copy of the Ramayana epic, a

book on Lord Rama’s life and teachings,along with small statues of Indiandeities. Most followers’ homes in thesevillages have “Ram Ram” written in blackon the outer and inner walls. Despite the1955 legislation, centuries-old feudalattitudes persist in many parts of Indiaand low-caste people, or Dalits, still faceprejudice in every sector from educationto employment. Tandon is optimisticabout the Ramnamis’ relative change infortunes since he had his body tattooedall those years ago. “The world is chang-ing, the times are changing,” he says. “Wehave all realised that we are all thesame.” — Reuters

Decade-old tattoos tell of devotion, caste and defiance in India

YANGON: Cartoonist Maung Maung Aung draws a cartoon at his house in Yangon. — AFP

YANGON: With a flourish of his pencil, cartoonistMaung Maung Aung skewers a pampered politicianin a sketch, an image that just a few years ago wouldhave been unthinkable. The illustrator is among anincreasingly brazen band of satirists that hasemerged in a nation where recent elections tippedthe balance of power from authoritarian militaryrulers for the first time in generations. Maung MaungAung’s drawing shows a destitute family chiding apaunchy parliamentarian. “We are very happy for youthat you have not been beaten and abused. We onlyhope that you won’t cause trouble for others,” reads aspeech bubble above the raggedly dressed father,mother and small child.

The image takes aim at inequalities faced by manyordinary people in Myanmar, despite reforms thathave rippled through the long-cloistered nation.Those changes led to a landmark victory for AungSan Suu Kyi and her pro-democracy party inNovember, boosting hopes of a prosperous future-and a more open press. “Cartoons need freedom. Themore freedom there is, the more a cartoon is able tosay and be creative so they can carry more meaning,”said 60-year-old Maung Maung Aung, perchedbehind his drawing board in a Yangon studio clut-tered with illustrations.

In four decades as a cartoonist he has sufferedpoverty, fear and censorship, working with little mar-gin for error under a junta that jailed dissenters andripped anything deemed critical from newspaperpages. That drove him to seek refuge in the UnitedStates, where he worked as a painter at a fine arts stu-dio in Florida. But he returned to his homeland in2012 soon after a quasi-civilian government replacedoutright army rule. Now cartoons are enjoying a ren-

aissance, tackling a range of subjects-from the coun-try’s economic woes to foreign policy and the elec-tions-peppering newspapers and websites daily.

And Myanmar’s caricaturists are sharpening theirpencils for the next test how to satirize the reveredSuu Kyi as her party prepares to take over govern-ment in late March. Suu Kyi is lionized in Myanmar,where the peaceful resistance to army rule was foryears depicted as a tussle between the frail andgraceful Nobel laureate and brutish generals. MaungMaung Aung said illustrators should not shirk fromdepicting “The Lady”, as Suu Kyi is known.“Cartoonists should not be biased, they should pointout the faults of any government,” he said.

‘Sacrosanct subject’ Suu Kyi faces myriad challenges, including restor-

ing peace in war-torn ethnic borderlands, rebootingthe economy left in tatters by the junta and tacklingrampant corruption-all easy fodder for the country’ssatirists. “She (Suu Kyi) has been a sacrosanct subject,but it’ll come. We can’t have a really free media if onefigure is held ‘out of bounds’,” Yangon-based Myanmaranalyst Khin Zaw Win said.

“She will not-and should not-be spared.” But thatmight be easier said than done. Phoe Kyaw, a car-toonist from Suu Kyi’s Kawhmu constituency, said hewould feel free to criticize her. “She will understand,”he said. “On the other hand, I believe in her as ournational leader, that’s why I won’t draw a cartoon toinsult her personally.” And though the country’sreforms have brought an end to draconian pre-publi-cation censorship, restrictions on expression remainwith several activists detained for Facebook posts sat-irizing the army in recent months.

The private daily newspaper Myanmar Timesissued a prominent apology in March for a cartoonlampooning the army’s battles with rebels in the farnorth. In the offending cartoon a man reading thenewspaper tells a woman that the military are “seizingthe mountains”. “It’s not enough to seize the ricefields,” the woman replies in a speech bubble, a refer-ence to persistent accusations of landgrabbing by thearmed forces, particularly under junta rule. The paperconceded the image was “not in good taste” and noaction was taken against it.

A hundred years of satire At a recent cartoon exhibition in Yangon, crowds

of hundreds chuckled at illustrations commenting oneverything from the election to controversy over aChinese-backed copper mine. “Cartoons can stimu-late debate, give facts and figures and send a mes-sage for change,” said 67-year-old bank workerDominic Zin Aung. The cartoon festival was held inhonor of Ba Gyan, considered to be the father ofMyanmar cartoons, who started his illustrious careerin 1915, mocking the British colonial authorities andlater the early independence government. But thatera of vibrant political debate was snuffed out bythe military, which seized power in 1962. With theiropen ridicule of authority figures, Ba Gyan’s decadesold cartoons are still possess the power to shock intheir boldness. Myanmar’s first generation of car-toonists “had the chance to write openly aboutnational freedom and revolution under the colonial-ists,” said Maung Maung Aung, lamenting the restric-tions faced by a second wave of cartoonists undermilitary rule. “If we could have a real democratic age,then our freedom would be assured,” he said. — AFP

Myanmar’s cartoonists sharpen Pencils; satire makes a comeback

Cartoons tackling a range of subjects

MANILA: The Philippine Supreme Court ruledyesterday a security accord with the UnitedStates was legal, allowing more US forces intothe former American colony as it seeks to count-er Chinese expansion in the South China Sea.The 10-year agreement, signed in 2014 but notimplemented due to legal challenges, will seemore US troops and warships rotate throughthe Philippines, and the hosts will receive help inbuilding military facilities.

Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te saidthe accord was upheld with a 10-4 vote, rulingthat President Benigno Aquino’s governmenthad the authority to sign the pact and did notneed congressional approval. The pact “is a mereimplementation of existing laws and treaties”, Tesaid. Aquino negotiated the accord to help thePhilippines improve its military capabilities anddraw the United States closer, partly to countera fast-expanding Chinese presence in disputedparts of the South China Sea.

US President Barack Obama also pushedhard for the Enhanced Defense Co-operationAgreement (EDCA) as part of his so-calledstrategic “pivot” to Asia that has involvedstrengthening the American military presencein the region. However it faced immediate legalchallenges from groups opposed to US militaryinvolvement in the Philippines, a US colony from1898 to 1946. The Philippines hosted two of thelargest overseas US military bases until 1992, theyear after the Philippine Senate voted to endthe leases in the face of strong anti-US senti-ment.

Philippine military chief General HernandoIriberri immediately welcomed yesterday’s rul-ing, saying the accord would help the countryaddress short-term “capability gaps” and mod-ernize its armed forces. Iriberri also emphasizedthe pact would help the Philippines “maintainmaritime security”, a term commonly usedwhen referring to efforts to contain China’sexpansion in the sea. The US embassy in Manilaalso hailed the decision. “EDCA is a mutuallybeneficial agreement that will enhance our abili-ty to provide rapid humanitarian assistance andhelp build capacity for the Armed Forces of thePhilippines,” a statement said.

Anti-US angerHowever opponents quickly voiced their

concern. “The government may have wantonlysurrendered our national sovereignty to the USbut the Filipino people will continue to fight forit,” said League of Filipino Students chairpersonCharisse Banez. “We will not allow the return ofUS bases in the country and its reoccupation ofthe Philippines.” Filipino and US embassy offi-cials declined to give details yesterday as to howquickly the pact would be implemented, orspecifics such as which bases would be used bythe Americans.

But Filipino officials previously said theUnited States would be offered access to keybases, including those facing the South ChinaSea that would allow rapid deployment into thewaters.

The Philippines and the United States arealready bound by a mutual defense treatysigned in 1951 and a visiting forces agreementsigned in 1998. The Philippines, which has oneof Asia’s weakest armed forces, has for decadesheavily relied on US military aid for weaponsand training. And thousands of American troopspass through the country for regular war gamesthat are authorized under the 1998 agreement.US navy ships also often make port calls. But inrecent years the tensions with China have seenAquino’s government seek even greater US mili-tary and diplomatic support.

China claims almost all of the South ChinaSea, despite conflicting claims from thePhilippines as well as Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwanand Brunei. In April 2012, after a tense stand-offwith Philippine ships, Chinese vessels took con-trol of a shoal just 220 kilometers off the mainPhilippine island of Luzon. The Philippines hassince become the most vocal critic of China’sefforts to claim the waters, including its strategyof turning islets into artificial islands that canhost military facilities. With its own armed forcesunable to counter China, the Philippines had nochoice but to draw in the United States and itsallies such as Japan, according to security ana-lyst Rodolfo Mendoza. “Our only option is part-nership with the US and other allies,” Mendozasaid. — AFP

Philippines welcomes more US forces to counter China

MANILA: Activists display placards during a protest in front of the Supreme Court inManila yesterday. The Philippine Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a militaryaccord with the United States was constitutional, paving the way for a greater pres-ence of US forces in the former American colony as tensions simmer in the SouthChina Sea. — AFP

BAGHDAD: Jihadist gunmen andbombers killed at least 12 people in abusy market area of Baghdad while adouble blast at a cafe north of the Iraqicapital claimed another 20 lives. Anattack claimed by the Islamic State groupand involving suicide explosions, gun-fights and hostage-taking wreakedchaos in the eastern neighborhood ofBaghdad Al-Jadida. “A car came... gun-men came out of it and spread out. Theystarted shooting, killing people, therewere lots of dead people,” said a witness,Salman Hussein. The shocked youngman recounted how one of the attackersheld a shop owner and spoke on amobile phone before detonating his sui-cide belt. “The car they came in wasladen with explosives and also blew up,”he said.

The head of Baghdad OperationsCommand, Lieutenant GeneralAbdelamir Al-Shammari, insisted toreporters on the scene that the situationwas quickly brought under control. Hedenied reports by several officials in theBaghdad police and in the interior min-istry that the attackers held several peo-ple hostage in the nearby ZahratBaghdad mall. But a senior police officergave a different account, saying theattackers sprayed gunfire and blew up acar bomb on the street before entering

the mall and taking hostages. “When thesecurity forces got too close, they killedthree hostages,” he said. Several othersources gave a similar account. Thesequence of the attack, a departure fromIslamic State’s usual modus operandi inBaghdad, remained unclear and thestatement posted by the jihadists onlineprovided few details. It said the attackwas carried out by “four soldiers of thecaliphate” and targeted Shiites. It saidone of the IS members blew himself upin an explosives-laden vehicle when “theapostates sent reinforcements”. ISclaimed that a total of 90 people werekilled or wounded, but the group haspreviously exaggerated the number ofcasualties caused by its attacks.

Diyala bombings “These people were shooting every-

where, there was even one guy with anRPG (rocket-propelled grenade launch-er),” said Fadhel, another witness fromShiite neighborhood Baghdad Al-Jadida. “I saw the body of a small childstrewn on the ground over there... Whatwere the sins these people committedto deserve this?” he said. Police and hos-pital sources put the casualty toll fromthe attack, one of the worst to hitBaghdad in months, at 12 dead andmore than 30 wounded. — AFP

MUMBAI: Young Indian couples take ‘selfies’ on Marine Drive promenade in Mumbai. — AFP

BAGHDAD: A Iraqi man checks a damaged building near the Al-Jawaher Mall in eastern Baghdad the day after a bomb attack yester-day. — AFP

MUMBAI: Mumbai police said yesterday theyhave identified 16 dangerous selfie spots acrossthe Indian city after a man drowned trying tosave a girl who fell into the sea while taking aphoto of herself. The spots include the majortourist attractions of Girgaum Chowpatty beachand Marine Drive promenade as well as the sitewhere the 18-year-old girl slipped last week,deputy commissioner Dhananjay Kulkarni said.

“After the unfortunate incident we havedecided to identify 16 spots where taking selfiescan be dangerous but we may add more,” hesaid. “We have written to the municipal corpora-tion to put some warning signs up at suchpoints. We also want them to deploy some life-guards also,” Kulkarni added. The girl and twofriends fell off rocks into the Arabian Sea nearBandra Bandstand in the north of India’s finan-

cial capital while clicking selfies on Saturday. Apasserby, 37-year-old Ramesh Walanju, jumpedin and helped save the two friends but waswashed away by the choppy waters and hisbody was found floating in a nearby creek onMonday. The girl is still missing.

Police officers patrolling the selected areashave been briefed to warn people against takingselfies, the deputy commissioner said. Lastmonth a Pakistani man died in Rawalpindi afterbeing hit by a fast-moving train as he tried totake a selfie with it while standing on the track.In May last year a Russian woman accidentallyshot herself in the head with a pistol while pos-ing for a selfie with the weapon. And US investi-gators in February said a pilot’s repeated snap-ping of selfie photos caused a small plane tocrash, killing both people on board. — AFP

Mumbai police identify dangerous selfie spots

Multiple jihadist attacks kill more than 30 in Iraq

the arms trade. Khartoum denies tak-ing part in these activities. Inexchange, Sudan benefited fromIranian military technology that hashelped it become a major Africanweapons producer. But the calculushas shifted as Sudan’s economicproblems have mounted - especiallysince it lost three-quarters of its oilrevenues when South Sudan secededin 2011.

Military spokesman Ahmed Al-

Khalifa Al-Shami said the armybacked the policy shift, and militarycooperation with Iran had been morelimited than media reports wouldsuggest. “ The army has not beenharmed by the severing of relationswith Iran because all the military pro-duction is being done with Sudaneselabor and expertise,” Shami said.

Sudan has said its support for theYemen campaign was a turning pointin the Saudi relationship, but was not

linked to more investment. Nor did itcut ties with Iran in return for Saudiaid. Ali Al-Sadeq, Sudanese foreignministry spokesman, said Sudan sawmuch more in the new relationship.“We are looking to a strategic part-nership with Saudi Arabia,” he said.“We are neighbors on the Red Seacoast and work together to securethese coastlines against challenges...We expect in the coming period moreprogress in cooperation”. — Reuters

N E W SWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Continued from Page 1

The minister responded however that he did not orderan investigation into the allegations because no one hasofficially complained, adding that only qualified companiesare involved in the recruitment.

MPs Youssef Al-Zalzalah and Saadoun Hammad spoke in

support of the minister and charged that the grilling waspolitically-motivated and not based on correct charges.Hammad also defended the minister for owning a compa-ny, saying that most ministers own companies and cited theexamples of the ministers of finance and housing. The law-maker said the health minister is the victim of politiciansand merchants who want to press him for contracts.

Health minister handily defeats grilling...

Continued from Page 1

The ruling said that Ali arranged with theRevolutionary Guard to smuggle large quantities of armsand explosives into Kuwait. The defendants were also con-victed of spying for Hezbollah, smuggling in and assem-bling explosives, and possessing firearms and ammuni-tion. The verdicts can be appealed.

Kuwaiti authorities said in August they had dismantledan Iran-linked cell and seized large quantities of arms,explosives and ammunition. During the trial, which beganin September, all 23 defendants present in court deniedthe charges and alleged that confessions were extractedunder torture. They told the court they were beaten andgiven electric shocks, with interrogators threatening to killthem if they did not sign prepared confessions. Iran hasdenied any links to the group.

The verdicts come amid deep tensions between

Tehran and Gulf Arab states after Iranian protesters onJanuary 2 torched Saudi Arabian diplomatic missions inthe Shiite-dominated Islamic republic. The attacks were inanger over Riyadh’s execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a promi-nent cleric from the kingdom’s Shiite minority. Riyadh cutdiplomatic ties with Tehran the next day and a number ofits Sunni Arab allies followed suit, including Bahrain andSudan. Other Arab countries downgraded ties or recalledtheir envoys from Tehran.

Kuwait recalled its ambassador from Iran to protestthe attacks and summoned Tehran’s ambassador toexpress its disapproval. Around a third of Kuwait’s nativepopulation of 1.3 million is Shiite. The hearing yesterdaywas held amid tight security, with armored vehicles withmounted machineguns stationed around the Palace ofJustice in Kuwait City. Only close relatives of the defen-dants, lawyers and journalists were allowed to attend thehearing. — AFP

Two sentenced to death for spying...

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque, is seen in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, following an explosion nearby yesterday. — AP

KHARTOUM: When Saudi Arabia exe-cuted a leading Shiite cleric and pro-testers responded by torching theSaudi embassy in Tehran, Sudan wasone of only three countries to severties with Iran in solidarity with Riyadh.The Jan 4 move cemented a dramaticpolitical shift: in the past two years,Sudan has turned its back on a quar-ter-century alliance with Iran in favorof the Saudis, who have proved morewilling to provide the financial sup-port it sorely needs. Saudi Arabia hasalready invested more than any othercountry in Sudan - about $11 billion,mostly in agriculture. In the past year,it has deposited $1 billion in Sudan’scentral bank, signed deals to financethe construction of power-generatingdams on the Nile, and pledged evenmore investment in farming.

Such largesse explains why Sudan,struggling with a collapsing currencyand soaring unemployment, has cho-sen to favor economic ties with SaudiArabia over a relationship with Iranthat was largely based on arms. “Thegovernment decided to distance itself

from the alliance with Iran after itevaluated the relationship and foundit economically and politically damag-ing,” said Al Tayeb Zeinalaidine, poli-tics professor at Khartoum University.“Iran didn’t offer any economic aid toSudan and this left the governmentthinking its relations... had become aburden”.

The swing toward Riyadh marks anew tack for Sudanese PresidentOmar Hassan Al-Bashir, who has main-tained power for over 25 years in avolatile neighborhood by navigatingshifting alliances. At different times hehas drawn close to Osama bin Laden,the United States and Tehran. Lastyear he joined a Saudi-led coalitionfighting Houthi rebels in Yemen whoare allied with Shiite Iran, showingSunni Gulf Arab powers that he couldbe an asset in their fight to limit theinfluence of the Islamic Republic.Sudan’s defence ministry says it hasdeployed three military jets as well asground troops to secure facilities inthe southern port of Aden and else-where, though they have been

involved in little active combat so far.Sudan has also trained thousands ofYemeni troops.

Bumpy RoadFor much of the period since

Bashir seized power in 1989, ties withSaudi Arabia had been tense. Bashirbacked Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait,and protesters took to the streets ofSudan to support I raq’s SaddamHussein and condemn the Saudi roy-als. As recently as 2013, relationsreached a nadir when Saudi Arabiabanned Bashir’s plane from passingthrough its airspace to Iran. By con-trast, Bashir fostered warm relationswith Tehran, crowned with the 1991visit of then-president HashemiRafsanjani. The two countries, bothlisted as state sponsors of terrorismand subjected to US sanctions, sawmutual benefit in teaming up againstWestern attempts to isolate them.

Sudan helped Iran project its influ-ence by serving as the key entry pointfor Iranian weapons exports to Africa,according to sources who monitor

Sudan ditches Iran for Saudi patronage

TEHRAN: Iran will sell part of its stock of heavy water tothe United States under its nuclear deal with world powers,its deputy atomic chief said yesterday. Ali Asghar Zareanalso denied reports Iran had dismantled the core of its Araknuclear reactor, a key step in the deal that is to see sanc-tions lifted in exchange for limits on Tehran’s nuclear pro-gram. “Iran will sell 40 tonnes of its excess heavy water tothe United States through a third country,” Zarean, deputyhead of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, was quoted assaying by the official IRNA news agency. “Six tonnes of theexported heavy water will be used in nuclear facilities andthe rest in American research centres,” he said.

Iran has a heavy water production plant in its Araknuclear site, which has been operating for several years.Under its July deal with the P5+1 group - Britain, China,France, Russia and the United States plus Germany -Iran has agreed to replace the core of the Arak heavywater reactor and take other steps to ensure it cannotbe used to make nuclear weapons. Reports emerged onMonday that Iran had removed the core at Arak, butZarean said this was not the case and that Tehran wasstill working on an agreement for a replacement beingredesigned with the help of China and the UnitedStates. — AFP

Iran to sell heavy water to US under nuclear deal

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All articles appearing on thesepages are the personal opinion ofthe writers. Kuwait Times takes noresponsibility for views expressedtherein. Kuwait Times invites read-ers to voice their opinions. Pleasesend submissions via email to: opin-ion@kuwaittimes.net or via snailmail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait.The editor reserves the right to editany submission as necessary.

A N A L Y S I SWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

The Youngor cotton spinning factory is one of thebiggest employers in Aksu, an agricultural town on theedge of the Taklamakan desert in China’s restive

Xinjiang region. Youngor, one of China’s largest shirt-makers,opened the plant in 2011 to be closer to the main cotton-growing region in Xinjiang. Soon it will be joined by others:Beijing wants to create 1 million textile jobs in Xinjiang by2023. Xinjiang fits into Beijing’s larger vision of shifting laborintensive industries such as textiles out of the Pearl RiverDelta and into the interior. China is putting less value onbeing “the world’s workshop” amid labor shortages and com-petitive pressures from Southeast Asia.

The textile hub is also a key initiative in President XiJinping’s “one belt, one road” initiative, the new Silk Road andeconomic belt spreading from Western China to Central Asiaand onwards to Europe. More immediately, Beijing is offeringthe carrot of jobs and development, even as it wields a harshstick against Uighur separatism. “We must promote employ-ment as a permanent cure to maintain social stability andachieve long-lasting peace, and particularly solve the unem-ployment problem for peoples in southern Xinjiang,” a 2014official document stated in outlining a massive expansion ofXinjiang’s textile industry. China says it is fighting an Islamistinsurgency in the deserts, mountains and forests of energy-rich Xinjiang. Critics say the unrest largely stems from repres-sive Chinese policies against the Uighurs, a minority Muslimpeople who speak a Turkic language and have different cus-toms from Han Chinese.

Migrating to CitiesMost Uighurs live in towns and cities such as Aksu in the

poorer southern part of Xinjiang, where much of the vio-lence has unfolded. There, in one of its first serious attemptsto address the economic factor in Xinjiang’s unrest, Beijing ismaking a clear effort to create more jobs for Uighurs. Almostall of the 520 employees at the Youngor factory are Uighurs.The average factory floor salary is around 3,000 yuan($463.18) a month, and comes with food and lodging - com-pared with roughly 4,000 yuan for textile workers in thesouthern China factory belt.

“There are still a lot of people to come out of (Xinjiang’s)countryside,” said Xu Zhiwu, general manager at Youngor’sAksu factory, referring to government data that show 2.6 mil-lion rural residents sought work in Xinjiang’s cities in 2014.Xinjiang Youngor Cotton Spinning Co Ltd, a unit of YoungorGroup, is planning to expand its factory, built among appleorchards on Aksu’s outskirts, Xu said. Yarn maker Huafu TopDyed Melange Yarn is already at work on a 5 billion yuanplant outside Aksu, undeterred by September’s attack on acoalmine near the city. Texhong Textile Group Ltd, one ofChina’s top spinners, is targeting a 1-million spindle project inthe region. “The scale of the project has to be big to ask formore favourable policy support from municipal govern-ments,” Texhong said in a stock exchange statement, referringto subsidies Beijing offers to lure firms to the region.

Cotton to GarmentsMore than 60 percent of China’s cotton crop is grown in

Xinjiang. It’s a major advantage for companies who processthe fluffy material into cotton thread to be close to supplies.Their automated spinning factories also benefit from elec-tricity prices around half those in coastal provinces. Spinningneeds relatively few workers. Creating 1 million textile jobswill require a build-out of the entire industry chain, fromdyeing and weaving to garment production. And that posesa far greater challenge than attracting more spinners.

Dyeing, bleaching and washing of fabric would demandsubstantial supplies of water in the arid region. Much ofXinjiang, including Aksu, is classified as “high risk” for waterstress by the non-profit World Resources Institute. The WRIhas designated Shihezi and Korla, two cities also targeted formajor textile expansion, as “extremely high risk”.

Aksu is consulting with textile companies on plans tobuild a 50,000-tonne waste water treatment facility to han-dle discharge from future dyeing operations, said Youngor’sXu, who has attended recent government meetings on theissue. A similar facility is also under discussion for Shihezi,near Urumqi, but some firms are wary of proceeding withdyeing in the area. “We are not sure whether the capacity ofthe facility could meet all the demand and protect the envi-ronment from damage,” said Zhao Yang, general manager ofthree Xinjiang spinning factories owned by Hong Kong-based shirt maker Esquel. “Compared with Guangdong,where our fabric mill sites are, Xinjiang’s water is very scarce,”he said. —Reuters

Focus

Xinjiang cotton at crossroads of China Silk Road

By Dominique Patton

By Guillaume Klein

On Jan 14, 2011, Tunisians packed thestreets of their capital and shockedthe world by overthrowing longtime

dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The revolu-tion shook the Middle East, setting off thehopeful uprisings that came to be known asthe Arab Spring. But five years later, the coun-tries that followed Tunisia’s example couldhardly be worse off, the hopes of their peopledashed by new autocrats, strife, civil war andthe rise of the virulent jihadism exemplifiedby the Islamic State group.

“Those were exciting days. The democracyfever spread,” Hafez Ghanem, the vice presi-dent of the World Bank, wrote in a recentbook to mark the start of the Arab Spring.“But can a country with no democratic tradi-tion and with weak institutions become awell-functioning democracy and improve thelives of its citizens overnight? The answer isobviously no.” Only weeks before Ben Alistepped down after 23 years in power, fewcould have expected the wave of change tocome.

A month earlier a street vendor namedMohamed Bouazizi had set himself on fire inthe town of Sidi Bouzid, triggering the massprotests that eventually brought Ben Alidown. Tunisia was not only the first ArabSpring country but also its only partial suc-cess story. There has been a rise in jihadistviolence since Ben Ali’s overthrow, most dra-matically in the attacks on the Bardo museumand on a Mediterranean resort that killed 60people, most of them foreign tourists. But thecountry has elected a new government andits National Dialogue Quartet - a group offour civil society organizations - was awardedthe Nobel Peace Prize last year for helping tosave its transition to democracy. Elsewhere inthe region, popular uprisings were less thebeginnings of a new spring than preludes ofharsh winters.

Crackdowns and Chaos In Egypt, the ouster of Hosni Mubarak was

followed by turbulent unrest and eventually amilitary overthrow of his Islamist successorMohamed Morsi, the country’s first civilian -and freely elected - president. Then-armychief Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi took over andlaunched a harsh crackdown on Morsi’s sup-porters, leaving hundreds dead and thou-sands in prison. Jihadist violence has surged,especially in the restive Sinai Peninsula, and IShas claimed a range of deadly attacks, includ-ing the downing of a Russian plane inOctober that killed all 224 people on board.

In Libya, an uprising against longtime

leader Muammar Gaddafi quickly became anarmed revolution backed by NATO, and hisoverthrow and killing in 2011 have been fol-lowed by continued strife and political chaos.Rival parliaments and governments are vyingfor power and UN efforts to bring about aunity government have so far failed. ISjihadists have gained an important footholdin Gaddafi’s hometown Sirte and launchedattacks, last week killing more than 50 peoplein a bombing at a police school in Zliten, theworst incident since the revolution.

In Yemen, the stepping down of longtimepresident Ali Abdullah Saleh after massprotests was followed by deep instability andeventually war after Shiite Houthi rebelsforced his successor Abedrabbo MansourHadi to flee the capital. Saudi Arabialaunched a military intervention last March tosupport Hadi’s government but there are fewsigns, despite UN peace efforts, of a war thathas killed more than 6,000 people coming toan end. Shiite protesters inspired by the Arab

Spring also launched demonstrations againsttheir Sunni rulers in Bahrain but were putdown a month later. Sporadic unrest has con-tinued.

Like ‘Fall of Berlin Wall’ But nowhere were the aspirations of the

Arab Spring more disappointing than in Syria,where peaceful protests against PresidentBashar Al-Assad evolved into a brutal civil warthat has left more than 260,000 dead andforced millions from their homes. After nearlyfive years of war, Syria is in ruins, its peoplescattered, many of them turned desperaterefugees hoping to reach Europe. Much ofthe country has been taken over by IS, whichhas declared a “caliphate” in areas under itscontrol in Syria and neighboring Iraq, com-mitting widespread atrocities as it imposes itsharsh interpretation of Islam.

From its base there, IS has organized orinspired a new wave of attacks on the West,including the Nov 13 massacres on the

streets of Paris and the Charlie Hebdo killingsa year ago. “The Arab Spring was a momentin history comparable to the fall of the BerlinWall, in the sense that there were major shiftsin geopolitical maps, like in the 1990s,” saidMichael Ayari, an analyst with theInternational Crisis Group. “We still don’t havea clear reading... At the moment it feels likewe are in downward phase, but this is aprocess that will take decades,” he said.

“It is clear that the Arab transition has tak-en on a violent, and even scary character,”wrote Ghanem, whose book “The ArabSpring Five Years Later: Toward GreaterInclusiveness” was published by theBrookings Institution last month. But he saidthere was still hope for positive change, ifArab governments focus on more “inclusive”policies to pursue economic growth andgood governance. “The Arab Spring is not aseason,” he wrote. “It is a first and importantstep on the long road to a new political, socialand economic order.” —AFP

Five years after Arab Spring, hopes dashed

This file photo taken on Dec 7, 2011 shows soldiers of the Free SyrianArmy, formed by army deserters, taking position in an undisclosed loca-tion in Syria.

This file photo taken on March 9, 2011 shows a Libyan rebel fighter using hislegs to steady his machinegun as he fires at a fighter jet flying overhead dur-ing clashes with forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi, just few kilome-ters outside the oil town of Ras Lanuf.

This file photo taken on April 08, 2011 shows an Egyptian protester waving his national flag as tens of thousandsgather for a demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir Square two months after president Hosni Mubarak was ousted, todemand that former regime officials including the veteran strongman be purged and tried. —AFP

LONDON: Liverpool have moved to address their defensive injury problemsby signing centre-back Steven Caulker on loan from Queens Park Rangers,the Premier League club announced yesterday. “Liverpool Football Clubhave completed the signing of Steven Caulker on loan from Queens ParkRangers until the end of the season,” Liverpool announced on their website.Caulker could make his debut in today’s home gameagainst league leaders Arsenal.

The 24-year-old, capped once by England, wasexpected to train with Liverpool for the first time yes-terday. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp moved tobring Caulker in after hamstring injuries to MartinSkrtel and Dejan Lovren left him short in centraldefence. However, Kolo Toure and Mamadou Sakho haverecovered from cramp and knee problems respectively, soCaulker may be on the bench against Arsenal. Formerly withTottenham Hotspur, Caulker had been on loan atSouthampton and appeared in the south coast club’s crush-ing 6-1 defeat at Liverpool’s hands in last month’s LeagueCup quarter-finals. — AFP

S P O RT SWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

ZURICH: The multi-million dollar FIFA museum, the project of fallen worldfootball chief Sepp Blatter, will open its doors on February 28 in Zurich,two days after the election of his successor, FIFA announced yesterday.Over 140 million Swiss francs ($140 million/128 million euro) has beeninvested over the past three years in the museum dedicated to the world’smost popular sport. “We couldn’t ignore the turbulences, it was not easy.But we had to focus on our mission, to build a museum and a team,” saidmanaging director Stefan Jost of the work which continued against thebackdrop of the current scandal engulfing the sport’s governing body.Blatter along with UEFA chief Michel Platini have both been suspendedfrom all football activity for eight years by a FIFA tribunal, over a two mil-lion Swiss franc ($2 million/1.8 million euro) payment that Blatterapproved to the Frenchman. “It’s not a museum about personalities, it’sabout what football gives to people around the world,” added Jost of theproject which was the brainchild of Blatter, who has headed FIFA since1998. “We don’t know if the new president will participate in the inaugura-tion,” said Jost, adding that the interim secretary general Markus Kattnerwould be present. In the centre of Zurich, and covering 3000 m2 on threelevels, the museum will exhibit objects retracing the history of football,with a library including 5000 works. —AFP

FIFA museum to open on Feb 28

Caulker loaned to Liverpool by QPR

LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur breakthrough star Dele Alli has signed a newfive-year contract tying him to White Hart Lane until 2021, the Premier Leagueclub announced yesterday. Alli, 19, joined Spurs in a £5 million ($7.2 million,6.7 million euros) move from third-tier Milton Keynes Dons last year and hasmade a stunning impact, scoring five goals in 18 Premier League appearances

this season.The versatile central midfielder has also beencapped by England and scored his first international goal inNovember’s 2-0 friendly win over France at Wembley. “I’mdelighted. The club’s been really great to me since I’ve comehere,” Alli said in a video interview published on theTottenham website. “We’ve got a great, young team and Isee us going forward, so I’m happy to be here.” Alli signed

for Tottenham from his home-town club MK Dons in January2015 and was loaned back to the League One side for the

remainder of last season before linking up with Spurs dur-ing the close season. He made his debut against

Manchester United on the season’s openingday and has made 26 appearances in all com-

petitions. —AFP

Alli signs new Tottenham deal

KUALA LUMPUR: Team Asia members yester-day exuded confidence ahead of this week’sEurAsia Cup clash, saying the improving cali-bre of the region’s golf had given them highhopes of beating Europe. The inaugural run-ning of the match-play team event two yearsago ended in a 10-10 tie following a stirringcomeback by Asia, but the squad’s players saidthey may go one better this time.

“There has been so much improvement,especially on the Asian side (since 2014),” saidAsian Tour Order of Merit winner AnirbanLahiri of India. “If you look at the Asian teamnow we have five or six people who are in the

top 60 in the world, and that was not the casewhen we played two years back.”

“That tells you that Asian golf has kicked onand has gotten stronger over the last twoyears.” The Ryder Cup-style contest at theGlenmarie Golf and Country Club in Malaysiatees off Friday with bragging rights betweenthe European and Asian Tours at stake.

The European circuit is the larger of thetwo, with more of its players achieving successon the sport’s biggest stages.

A proposed merger between the two tourshas sparked concerns among Asian players ofbecoming eclipsed by European players and

tournaments. But Team Asia members vowedto serve notice of the region’s quality thisweek.

“We believe that if we perform as well aswe did (in 2014), Europe (will find it) tough totake the trophy away from us,” said KiradechAphibarnrat of Thailand.

‘WE ARE STRONG ENOUGH’ Asian players have gone from strength to

strength in the past season. Lahiri won twicein co-sanctioned Asian-European events andlogged top-10 finishes around the world,while South Korea’s An Byeong-Hun took

European Tour Rookie of the Year honours.Thai veteran Thongchai Jaidee recorded

eight top-10s and a career-high world rankingof 28, and countryman Kiradech won threetimes globally. All are on the 12-man Asiansquad captained by India’s Jeev Milkha Singh.

Lahiri said Europe had sent a “muchstronger team” than in 2014. “What does thattell you? It tells you that we are strong enoughand they are not going to take any chances,”he said.

European golfers who qualified includeEngland’s Danny Willett, Shane Lowry ofIreland, and Frenchman Victor Dubuisson.

Major winner Darren Clarke of NorthernIreland has bolstered the side further with hiscaptain’s picks-Ryder Cup match-play veteransLee Westwood and Ian Poulter of England.

Clarke also skippers Europe in the RyderCup against the United States in September,making the EurAsia Cup something of a trialrun. He said yesterday he remained focusedthis week purely on victory in Malaysia, butadmitted the outcome could guide pairingsand strategy against the US.

If Europe fails again to clinch the EurAsiaCup, “it’s going to send some shudders downthe Ryder Cup team,” Lahiri said. — AFP

Indian player backtracks on kidney

sale threatMUMBAI: An Indian squash player has back-tracked on a threat to sell his kidney to raisefunds ahead of next month’s South AsianGames, saying it was a “spur of the moment”decision that he was now regretting. RaviDixit, 22, is part of the home squad for theevent in northeast India and was reported tobe offering the organ for sale on social mediafor an asking price of 800,000 rupees($11,952.79) due to a lack of sponsors. “I needat least Rs 1 lakh to participate in the SouthAsian Games but have not been able to findany sponsor,” Dixit was quoted as saying bythe Hindustan Times newspaper yesterday.“So, I have decided to sell my kidney for Rs 8lakh so that I can participate in other tourna-ments as well for the rest of the year.”

Dixit, who turns 23 this week, later apolo-gised for his comments in a letter issuedthrough the Squash Rackets Federation ofIndia, the local governing body, but insistedhe still needed sponsorship to continue hisplaying career.

“I never intended to sell my kidney. Thisstatement was made at the spur of themoment for which I am truly sorry,” Dixitwrote. “I am keen to pursue squash as mycareer and continuously looking out for addi-tional sponsors to meet my expenses.” Dixit’sthreat to sell the organ, forbidden by Indianlaw, was also a cause of concern for his par-ents. “I have spoken to Ravi. He is in Chennairight now but I spoke to him on the phone.His mother and I are imploring him not to takethe step,” Ravi’s father, Ramkailash, told theTimes of India newspaper.

“Together, we will figure out a way to dealwith this crisis. This way, he will ruin both hislife and career. “I funded my daughter’s wed-ding with Ravi’s winnings. Since he has to sup-port the family as well, he cannot use much ofwhat he gets for himself.”

His father’s employer, the Dhampur SugarMill, had provided financial assistance in thepast but according to Dixit, the funds were nolonger enough to support him. — Reuters

BELEN: Defending champion Nasser al-Attiyahwon the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally onMonday as disaster struck debutant SebastienLoeb’s impressive start to the gruelling event.Al-Attiyah, in a first stage win for Mini againstthe might of Peugeot who had won the previ-ous six, finished 12 seconds ahead of CarlosSainz and 31sec in front of new leaderStephane Peterhansel, both representing theFrench car manufacturer.

Nine-time world champion Loeb, after threestage wins, lost his lead of the overall standingsas he ground to a standstill after taking awrong turn and rolling less than 30 kilometresfrom the end of the 393km timed special of the766km run between Salta and Belen. Despitemassive damage to the car, Loeb and co-pilotDaniel Elena managed to limp home to nowstand eighth in the overall standings, morethan one hour off the pace.

“It’s over for the victory,” said Loeb. “In astream there was a huge step that I didn’t seeand which threw us into a barrel-roll. “We lost alot of time because we had to change thewheels. “Our victory hopes have gone-we knewthat we didn’t know it all!” Loeb may haveimpressed during the first week of the Dakar,putting his WRC experience to good use, butPeterhansel warned that the Dakar is a differentbeast. “He fell into the trap we could have

expected. Once you’re off the track you have toopen your eyes twice as much,” he said. “Thatwas where he risked making a mistake.” KTMrider Toby Price won the motorcycle section, theAustralian landing a sledgehammer blow in dis-tancing Paulo Goncalves (Honda), the overnightleader, by 5:17. As a result, Price took commandof the overall standings with a lead of 2:05 overthe Honda rider from Portugal. Yesterday’s ninthstage was around Belen. — AFP

Al-Attiyah strikes as Dakar disaster hits Loeb

BELEN: Peugeot’s French driver Sebastien Loeb is helped to put his overturned car back on its wheels during Stage 8 of the Dakar 2016 between Salta and Belen, Argentina, on Monday. — AFP

Newly confident Asia eager for showdown with Europe

KUALA LUMPUR: Team Asia captain Jeev Milkha Singh of India (R) looks on as Team Europe captain Darren Clarkeof Northern Ireland (L) answers questions from the media during a press conference at the Glenmarie Golf andCountry club in Shah Alam yesterday ahead of the 2016 Eurasia Cup Golf tournament.

HUA HIN: A handout photo released yesterday shows Jose Rolz of Guatemala (L) and Juan Igncio Lizarradle ofUruguay posing during the Asian Tour final stage qualifying school at the Springfield Royal Country Club inHua Hin. — AFP photos

S P O RT SWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

PL W L OT GF GA PTSFlorida 43 26 12 5 118 92 57Detroit 43 22 14 7 107 112 51Montreal 43 23 17 3 122 107 49Boston 41 21 15 5 124 110 47Tampa Bay 42 21 17 4 107 102 46Ottawa 43 20 17 6 119 131 46Toronto 40 16 17 7 104 112 39Buffalo 42 16 22 4 97 115 36

Metropolitan DivisionWashington 42 32 7 3 139 90 67NY Rangers 42 23 14 5 123 110 51NY Islanders 42 22 15 5 114 107 49New Jersey 43 21 17 5 97 102 47Pittsburgh 41 20 16 5 97 100 45Philadelphia 40 18 15 7 91 108 43Carolina 43 18 18 7 102 118 43Columbus 43 15 24 4 109 139 34

Western ConferencePacific Division

Dallas 44 29 11 4 149 116 62Chicago 44 27 13 4 126 104 58St. Louis 45 24 14 7 111 112 55Minnesota 42 22 12 8 111 99 52Nashville 42 19 16 7 107 115 45Colorado 43 21 19 3 125 123 45Winnipeg 42 19 20 3 111 121 41

Central DivisionLos Angeles 42 27 12 3 112 92 57Arizona 41 21 16 4 116 125 46Vancouver 43 17 16 10 105 120 44San Jose 40 20 18 2 114 112 42Anaheim 41 17 17 7 78 99 41Calgary 41 19 20 2 109 129 40Edmonton 43 17 23 3 105 127 37Note: Overtime losses (OT) worth 1 ptand not included in loss column (L).

NHL results/standingsLos Angeles 4, Detroit 2; Vancouver 3, Florida 2 (OT); Calgary 4, San Jose 5; NY Rangers2, Boston 1.

MELBOURNE: In what Australian rules football adminis-trators described as a “stain on our game,” 34 playersinvolved in Essendon’s supplement program in 2012were suspended for the 2016 season.

The ruling came yesterday after the Court ofArbitration for Sport upheld an appeal from the WorldAnti-Doping Agency against an Australian FootballLeague tribunal’s decision to clear them.

Almost 10 months after the AFL’s anti-doping tribu-nal stated it could not be “comfortably satisfied” thatany of the players had violated anti-doping rules byusing Thymosin Beta-4 under the club’s supplementsprogram during the 2012 season, CAS announced it hadruled in favor of WADA and set aside the initial decision.

The sanctions came as a shock to some, but not toanti-doping officials. In the end, players and administra-tors of Australia’s homegrown game had to accept thatathletes are ultimately responsible for whatever ends upin their systems. Of the 34 players, a dozen still are con-tracted to Melbourne-based Essendon, including theAFL’s 2012 player of the year Jobe Watson, five are play-ing for other clubs and the others have retired or beende-listed. “As tough as the sanction feels, the AFL accepts

the decision of CAS,” AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick said.Gillon McLachlan, the AFL’s chief executive, describedthe sanction as “devastating” for the players.

“Our view is that they have been horribly let downby the administration of the time,” he said. “But the clubhas sought to acknowledge what has happened andmove forward from those events.” Watson will have tomeet with the AFL to determine the ramifications for hisBrownlow Medal, awarded to the best and fairest playerin the league. The AFL said Essendon would be permit-ted to top up its squad with 10 additional players in2016. Former coaches and union officials were critical ofthe severity of the player sanctions. James Hird, whowas head coach during the 2012 season and hasalready served a year-long ban from the game, said thepenalties were “a miscarriage of justice.”

AFL Players’ Association chief executive Paul Marshsaid the players involved were not drug cheats. “We arestruggling to understand how the CAS decision can beso different to that of the AFL anti-doping tribunal,”Marsh said. “If the players were administered withbanned substances, they have been deceived. They arethe victims, not the perpetrators.”

BANNED SUBSTANCE In its judgment, CAS said it was satisfied the players

had taken the banned substance and were significantlyat fault. It imposed mandatory two-year bans, meaningmost of the 34 players will be suspended until Nov. 13.

The court rejected an argument of “no significantfault, no significant negligence” which could have dras-tically reduced the sentences. “If the AFL tribunal’s deci-sion had prevailed, it would have set a damaging prece-dent for future non-analytical anti-doping cases and,therefore, been detrimental for anti-doping effortsworldwide,” WADA director general David Howman said.

It was the severity of the penalties that shockedthose who believed any bans imposed by the courtmight be backdated so heavily the players would missonly a handful of games.

While the domestic media speculated that playerswould take legal action in civil courts, the CAS verdict,delivered by a three-man panel headed by British bar-rister Michael Beloff, is likely the last step in the anti-doping process that started in February 2012 whenEssendon announced its supplements program wasbeing investigated.

ASADA chief executive Ben McDevitt said the “unfor-tunate episode has chronicled the most devastatingself-inflicted injury by a sporting club in Australian his-tory.” “Unfortunately, despite their education, (the play-ers) agreed to be injected with a number of substancesthey had little knowledge of, made no enquiries aboutthe substance and kept the injections from their teamdoctor and ASADA,” he said.

“At best, the players did not ask the questions, or thepeople, they should have. At worst, they were complicitin a culture of secrecy and concealment.” The nutrition-ist behind the supplements program has been bannedfor life by the AFL, but maintains he is innocent of dop-ing allegations and threatened legal action.

Essendon chairman Lindsay Tanner said the 2012supplements program “was a mistake of the highestmagnitude.”

“It’s heartbreaking for the players, who will strug-gle to understand how two tribunals could come totwo different conclusions from the same evidence,”Tanner said. “But as a club, we should have had morerobust systems in place to ensure the protection ofour players.” — AP

CAS bans 34 AFL players after upholding WADA appeal

VANCOUVER: Daniel Sedin scored his sec-ond goal of the night on a power play at2:21 of overtime, and the VancouverCanucks stopped the Florida Panthers’ 12-game winning streak with a 3-2 victoryMonday. Sedin snapped a shot pastRoberto Luongo with Jaromir Jagr in thepenalty box for hooking, tying MarkusNaslund’s franchise record for goals with346. With the Canucks celebrating on theice, the teams came together near thebenches with a lot of pushing and shoving.A number of players from both teamsbegan throwing punches as referees triedto break up the fights. Jake Virtanen alsoscored for Vancouver, which got 26 savesfrom Jacob Markstrom. Jussi Jokinen andJonathan Huberdeau scored for thePanthers (26-12-5). Luongo made 27 stops,but his nine-game winning streak ended.Virtanen tied it with 2:38 left in regulation.

KINGS 4, RED WINGS 2Anze Kopitar had a power-play goal and

three assists, and Alec Martinez scored thetiebreaking power-play goal early in thethird period of Los Angeles’ seventh win innine games. Tyler Toffoli scored his 20thgoal and Jonathan Quick made 25 saves asthe Kings pushed their Pacific Division leadto 11 points with a gritty win over the RedWings, whose four-game winning streakended. Milan Lucic had two assists andDwight King added an empty-net goal forthe Kings. Tomas Tatar and AlexeyMarchenko scored late in the first period inDetroit’s first loss on its six-game road trip,which ends Thursday at Arizona. Jimmy

Howard stopped 27 shots after gettingpulled from his previous two starts, but theformer starter remained winless in sixappearances since Dec. 3. He hasn’t won aroad game since Nov. 21.

RANGERS 2, BRUINS 1Jesper Fast scored on a deflection in

front with 1:42 to play and New York ralliedto beat Boston. Derick Brassard also scoredin the third period and Henrik Lundqvistmade 32 saves, including a highlight-reelstop on Max Talbot, as the Rangers beat theBruins for only the fourth time in 12 meet-ings (4-8). Jimmy Hayes scored for theBruins, and Tuukka Rask had 28 saves.Boston is 2-6-1 in its last nine games. Itmarked the first time this season theRangers overcame a deficit at the start ofthe third period and won in regulation.They were 0-11-2 entering the game.

SHARKS 5, FLAMES 4Joel Ward scored midway through the

third period to help San Jose hold offCalgary. Joe Thornton, Joonas Donskoi,Logan Couture and Brent Burns also scoredfor the Sharks.

Martin Jones finished with 31 saves - 15in the third period. Sean Monahan, DennisWideman, Sam Bennett and MichaelFerland scored for the Flames, who havelost four of their last five at home after win-ning a franchise-record 11 straight at theSaddledome. Karri Ramo had 13 saves.Burns’ power-play goal at 5:12 of the thirdbroke a 3-all tie. Ward scored 5 minutes lat-er to give San Jose a two-goal lead. — AP

GLENDALE: The University of Alabama won itsfourth national title in the last seven seasons,outlasting the dynamic play of Deshaun Watsonand No. 1-ranked Clemson in a 45-40 victoryMonday in the College Football Playoff champi-onship game.

The No. 2-ranked Crimson Tide (14-1) becamejust the second team in college football since1936 to win four titles in seven seasons, joiningNotre Dame, which won four times from 1943-49. For Alabama coach Nick Saban, it is his fifthnational championship, leaving him only oneshort of former Tide coach Bear Bryant for themost all-time. “This was a great challenge for us,”Saban said. Alabama hit Clemson with a barrageof big plays, including four touchdowns of at

least 50 yards, and used a surprise early in thefourth quarter to seize control.

With 10:34 left in the fourth quarter andAlabama having just tied the game with a shortfield goal, Saban took a gamble to try to keepthe ball away from Watson and the Tigers. Hecalled for a high-bouncing onside kick that Tidedefensive Marlon Humphrey caught over theshoulder at midfield.

“I think that changed the momentum of thegame, and our guys finished it,” Saban said.Moments later, Alabama took back the lead. Forthe second time, Clemson (14-1) lost track of thetight end O.J. Howard in coverage and JakeCoker hit him in stride deep for a 51-yard touch-down to make it 31-24 with 9:45 left.

Watson then led Clemson to a field goal tomake it 31-27 before Kenyan Drake came upwith another big play for Alabama, breaking freeand streaking down the sideline for a 95-yardkickoff return touchdown.

Watson threw his third touchdown pass tomake it 38-33 with 4:40 left, and then Alabamawent back to its workhorse Heisman Trophy win-ner. Derrick Henry plunged into the end zone forhis third touchdown of the game to make it 45-33 with 1:07 left.

Watson threw another touchdown pass, butwould not get another chance as Clemson’sonside kick went out of bounds. Watson gavethe Tide all it could handle, throwing for 405yards and four touchdowns. — AP

KUWAIT: The Public Authority for Sports (PAS)Director General has praised two-time NorthAmerican Cup gold-medalist Kuwait’s Tareq Al-Qallaf as an “example” amongst his peers.

Speaking of the Kuwaiti fencer on Monday,Sheikh Ahmad Mansour Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said that Al-Qallaf represents “an example of

a Kuwaiti athlete who is loyal to his nation and iscommitted to gaining more and more accomplish-ments in the name of Kuwait.” Al-Qallaf took hometwo gold medals in the wheelchair sabre and epeeevents and a bronze in the foil at the event held inSt. Louis, Missouri. The PAS chief called on Kuwaitiathletes to follow suit, in continuously working to

raise the name of Kuwait at continental and inter-national competitions. “PAS constantly works toback sports and its athletes through alleviatingevery obstacle they may be faced with, in its aimsfor a true resurgence of Kuwaiti sports based on thewise directions and support of the political leader-ship,” he added in his statement. — KUNA

GLENDALE: Derrick Henry #2 of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs with the ball against the Clemson Tigers during the 2016 College FootballPlayoff National Championship Game at University of Phoenix Stadium on January 11 in Glendale, Arizona. — AFP

GLENDALE: Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrates by hoisting the College Football Playoff National ChampionshipTrophy after defeating the Clemson Tigers in the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at University of Phoenix Stadiumon January 11 in Glendale, Arizona. The Crimson Tide defeated the Tigers with a score of 45 to 40. — AFP

Alabama beat Clemson to win football championship

PAS praise Kuwaiti fencer Al-Qallaf

Sedin scores in OT,Canucks end Panthers’

winning streak

NEW YORK: Mats Zuccarello #36 of the New York Rangers watches a shot by DerickBrassard #16 enter the net past Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins at 35 secondsof the third period at Madison Square Garden on Monday in New York City. TheRangers defeated the Bruins 2-1. — AFP

S P O RT SWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s demoralised cricketteam faces an investigation into alleged“scandalous behaviour” during its dismaltour of New Zealand, including drinkingparties and squabbling, the sports ministersaid yesterday.

Dayasiri Jayasekera said he had beenhanded photos of national players attend-ing all-night parties just before crucialmatches against hosts New Zealand, whoachieved a virtual clean sweep in the just-

ended tour. “There was scandalous behav-iour,” the minister told AFP. “They have notonly attended drinking parties till three andfour in the morning, but there was a lot oftension and friction among members.” SriLanka went to New Zealand as defendingchampions of the shortest form of thegame, but slipped to third position thismonth behind the West Indies and Australiaafter their resounding defeat in theTwenty20 matches. Sri Lanka also lost the

Tests 0-2 and the one-day series 1-3 to thehosts. “When they return, I want to call theteam and along with Thilanga(Sumathipala, new Sri Lanka Cricket presi-dent) try to find out what happened,” theminister said. “My main concern is thebreakdown in discipline. When that isaffected, the team naturally performs bad-ly,” he said of reported squabbling betweenplayers, including the captain, and thecoach. The minister said Sri Lanka would

also focus on finding a long-term coachafter Marvan Atapattu quit weeks before hiscontract was due to expire in Septemberlast year. Sri Lanka appointed JeromeJayaratne as interim coach, initially for thehome series against the West Indies andthen for the New Zealand tour. Jayaratne,49, had been head of coaching at Sri LankaCricket but his elevation to oversee thenational team was seen as a stop-gaparrangement. Atapattu was the seventh Sri

Lanka head coach in the past five years.The 45-year-old took over the team inSeptember 2014 after Englishman PaulFarbrace abruptly quit months earlier tobecome England’s deputy coach. Since2010, Trevor Bayliss, Stuart Law, RumeshRatnayake, Geoff Marsh and Graham Fordhave also held stints as Sri Lanka coach.

Jayaratne, a former Under 19 interna-tional, had headed the coaching depart-ment for seven years. — AFP

S Lanka to probe alleged drinking, squabbling on NZ tour

PERTH: Australia’s Steve Smith, right, attempts to play a shot against India during their one day international cricket match in Perth, Australia, yesterday. — AP

PERTH: Steve Smith and George Bailey bothscored centuries as Australia cruised to a five wick-et win over India in the first one day internationalat the WACA ground yesterday.

After Indian opener Rohit Sharma scored anunbeaten 171 to lead his country to an imposing309-3, Australia got away to a rocky start whenleft arm seamer Barinder Sran removed bothopeners in his first three overs.

Playing on a lifeless pitch which offered noth-ing for the bowlers, Bailey and Smith played bril-liantly to frustrate the Indian attack. They rotatedthe strike throughout the innings to keep thescore moving, taking quick singles and hittingboundaries when they needed to increase thepace. Bailey was the more aggressive early andreached his century before his captain, taking just106 balls with six boundaries and two sixes. Smithbegan to accelerate and followed Bailey to threefigures soon after, off only 97 balls including sixfours and a towering six.

Bailey eventually fell when he tried to smashanother six off Ravi Ashwin and was caught on theboundary by Bhuvneshwar Kumar but Smith con-tinued his incredible vein of form.

He smashed his way to 149 but with only two

runs needed for victory he chipped Sran to coverwhere Virat Kohli claimed an easy catch, leavingJames Faulkner to hit the winning run.

“I thought we did well in the field to restrictthem to 309,” Smith said. “They looked like theywere going to get 350 at one stage.” India musthave been confident of defending their total afterSran’s impressive start.

He brilliantly caught and bowled Finch (8) inhis second over, then had the dangerous Warner(5) caught at midwicket by Kohli in his third.

But the ease with which Australia chased thescore down showed that India had not scoredquickly enough in the middle of their innings andwere at least 20 runs short of a competitive total.“I think it’s important that after you score 300 runsyou bowl well and I think in the middle overswhen the spinners were bowling they gave up toomany runs,” Dhoni said. “I was quite happy withthe fast bowling performance-I thought theybowled well and hit the right spots.”

TOOTHLESS ATTTACKEarlier Sharma and Kohli (91) shared a 207-run

partnership for the second wicket against atoothless Australian attack. India lost opener

Shikhar Dhawan (9) in the sixth over when hetop-edged an attempted pull from JoshHazlewood straight to Mitchell Marsh at deepbackward square leg.

However, that brought Kohli to the crease andsignalled a long period of complete dominanceover the Australian attack as he raced to the high-est individual ODI score against Australia onAustralian soil, eclipsing Viv Richards’ 153 not outfor the West Indies in 1979.

Sharma smashed 13 fours and cleared theboundary seven times to the delight of the largecontingent of Indian fans at the ground.

He built his innings steadily, bringing up his50 from 63 balls, his century from 122 and his 150from 155, mixing quick singles with some power-ful boundary hitting. It was the fourth timeSharma had scored 150 in ODIs, a record only sur-passed by countryman Sachin Tendulkar.

Sharma lost Kohli with the score on 243 andwas joined at the crease by Dhoni, who joinedin with 18 rapid runs before he was caughtbri l l iant ly at mid- on by Boland. However,despite the late flourish the Indians fell shortand Australia were able to draw first blood inthe five-match series. — AFP

Smith, Bailey tons power Australia to 5-wicket win

IndiaR. Sharma not out 171S. Dhawan c Marsh b Hazlewood 9V. Kohli c Finch b Faulkner 91M. Dhoni c Boland b Faulkner 18 R. Jadeja not out 10 Extras (lb6, w4) 10Total (3 wickets; 50 overs) 309 Fall of wickets: 1-36 (Dhawan); 2-243 (Kohli),3-286 (Dhoni) Did not bat: A. Rahane, M. Pandey, R.Ashwin, U. Yadav, B. Kumar, B. SranBowling: Hazlewood 10-0-41-1, Paris 8-0-53-0 (1w), Marsh 9-0-53-0 (1w), Boland10-0-74-0 , Faulk ner 10-0-60-2 (1w) ,Maxwell 3-0-22-0 (1w)

AustraliaA. Finch c and b Sran 8

D. Warner c Kohli b Sran 5S. Smith c Kohli b Sran 149G. Bailey c Kumar b Ashwin 112G. Maxwell c Dhawan b Ashwin 6M. Marsh not out 12J. Faulkner not out 1Extras (lb5, w12) 17Total (5 wickets: 49.2 overs) 310 Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Finch), 2-21 (Warner), 3-263 (Bailey), 4-273 (Maxwell), 5-308 (Smith)Did not bat: M. Wade , S. Boland, J.Hazlewood, J. ParisBowling: Sran 9.2-0-56-3 (3w), Kumar 9-0-42-0 (4w), Sharma 1-0-11-0, Yadav 10-0-54-0(3w), Jadeja 9-0-61-0 (1w), Aswhin 9-0-68-2(1w), Kohli 2-0-13-0Result: Australia won by five wickets.

SCOREBOARD

PERTH, Australia: Scoreboard from the first ODI between Australia and India at the WACAground in Perth yesterday:

JOHANNESBURG: AB de Villiers faces thebiggest challenge of a glittering career whenhe captains South Africa in the third Testagainst England, starting at the WanderersStadium tomorrow. Arguably the world’sbest batsman - he is ranked third in Tests andfirst in one-day internationals - De Villiers, 31,made no secret of his ambition to captainthe South African Test team following theretirement of Graeme Smith in 2014.

But Cricket South Africa decided toappoint Hashim Amla instead, with DeVilliers continuing to lead the one-day side.Now De Villiers has the job he wanted, fol-lowing the surprise resignation of Amlaafter the second Test last week - but only forthe remaining two matches of the series.

A long-term appointment will probablynot be made for some time, with SouthAfrica not due to play another Test seriesuntil they meet New Zealand in August.

De Villiers takes over at a difficult time.Despite fighting back strongly to draw thesecond Test in Cape Town, South Africa havegone eight Test matches and more than ayear without a win.

England lead the series 1-0 and SouthAfrica will lose their number one Test rank-ing unless they can earn at least a share ofthe series honours. The Wanderers has tra-ditionally favoured fast bowlers, but thebowling firepower at De Villiers’ disposal hasbeen severely depleted by injuries to DaleSteyn and Vernon Philander.

As was the case in the second Test, itleaves Morne Morkel as the only experi-

enced bowler in the line-up. The bowlerstook some severe punishment at the handsof Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow atNewlands, although they performed betterin the second innings.

Picking the right bowling line-up will bea key factor for South Africa, with KyleAbbott and the uncapped Hardus Viljoen,who plays for the Wanderers-based Lionsfranchise, coming under consideration.There is also a possibility that South Africamight decide to go without specialist spinbowler Dane Piedt, which could mean arecall for batsman and part-time spinner JPDuminy. England, meanwhile, have noselection dilemmas following strong per-formances in both Test matches so far. Theonly player in their side who has not madeat least one significant contribution is cap-tain Alastair Cook, who has made just 42runs in four innings.

Teams:South Africa (likely): AB de Villiers (cap-

tain), Dean Elgar, Stiaan van Zyl, HashimAmla, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma,Quinton de Kock (wkt), Morne Morkel,Kagiso Rabada, Dane Piedt or JP Duminy,Chris Morris or Kyle Abbott or HardusViljoen.

England (likely): Alastair Cook (captain),Alex Hales, Nick Compton, Joe Root, JamesTaylor, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wkt),Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, JamesAnderson.

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI), ChrisGaffaney (NZL). — AFP

De Villiers faces bigger challenge

SYDNEY: West Indies star Chris Gayle was underfire again yesterday for his actions in Australia’sBig Bash League, days after a storm over his sexistcomments to a female television presenter.Gayle, who made headlines after attempting toflirt with Network Ten reporter Mel McLaughlinduring an live interview, was savaged by com-mentators for refusing to take what appeared tobe an easy single for his Melbourne Renegadesteam against Sydney Thunder late Monday. Hewas criticised by the match commentators forturning back his fellow opening batsman TomCooper, who was keen to take a run in a formatwhere one run can mean the difference betweena win and loss. “This is the most unbelievable,ridiculous cricket I’ve ever seen,” said formerAustralian Test skipper Ricky Ponting.

“Sometimes in cricket and in life you get whatyou deserve, and he got what he deserved there.

“What sort of message does that send to theboys on the sideline?” Gayle was dismissed thenext ball when Fawad Ahmed took a catch offClint McKay. He had scored 28 off 20 balls.

The burly West Indian declined to be inter-viewed about the incident after the match.Normally batsmen would only refuse an easy sin-gle if they were attempting to keep the strike andprotect a lesser batsman. Gayle’s Renegadesteam went on to win the match by five wickets.Gayle was fined US$7,000 for his approach toMcLaughlin last week, which provoked a storm ofoutrage among other female journalists whoaired complaints against the West Indies show-man. Cricket Australia chief James Sutherlandsaid no one should have to face such a situation.Gayle’s future in Australia’s BBL next season is upin the air following the furore. — AFP

Gayle under fire again for

BBL no-run

LAHORE: Pakistani women cricketers take a selfie with the ICC 2016 World Twenty20 tro-phy during a ceremony in Lahore yesterday. The International Cricket Council (ICC) 2016World Twenty20 trophy has reached Pakistan for a two-day tour. — AFP

HONG KONG: Hong Kong international IrfanAhmed has been charged and provisionallysuspended for failing to report an alleged fix-ing approach, the International Cricket Council(ICC) said. The 26-year-old all-rounder, whowas slated as part of Hong Kong’s squad for theWorld Twenty20 championship in I ndia inMarch, faces a ban of between two and fiveyears if found guilty.

The charge under the ICC’s anti-corruptioncode is the latest to arise from wide-reachinginvestigations into illegal bookmaking networksby the world body’s anti-corruption unit.

According to Australia’s Fairfax Media, Ahmed

was approached by former Pakistani cricketerNasem Gulzar, one of the alleged match-fixersaccused of paying former New Zealand batsmanLou Vincent to deliberately underperform incounty matches in England.

Kevin Egan, a Hong Kong-based barristerhired by Ahmed to defend him, downplayed thecharge against the cricketer.

“(Gulzar) was like a father figure to him and(Ahmed) was approached with a corrupt offerwhich he rejected. But the only criminalityalleged against him by the ICC was simply havingfailed to report that approach,” Egan was quotedas saying. —AFP

HK player charged over fixing approach

S P O RT SWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

MELBOURNE: Nick Kyrgios and BernardTomic gave Australia an unwanted reputa-tion as a breeding ground for tennis bratsduring a tempestuous 2015 and the pairwill be firmly under the spotlight in front ofhome crowds at Melbourne Park.

With former world number one LleytonHewitt set to retire and the last of his twogrand slam titles at the 2002 Wimbledonchampionships a distant memory, Australiahas long yearned for a new force in men’stennis to challenge at the majors. Tomic, 23,and Kyrgios, 20, have both been tagged asthe future of the sport in the country butthe excitement generated by their undeni-able talent gave way to dismay last seasonas the pair hogged the headlines for all thewrong reasons. Following a Wimbledoncampaign where Kyrgios railed at match

officials and was jeered by fans for appear-ing to tank a game in defeat to RichardGasquet, the hot-headed tyro sunk to a newlow during the U.S. hardcourt season.

His lewd, off-the-cuff remark directed atStan Wawrinka during their match at theRogers Cup sparked worldwide condemna-tion and a suspended ban from the ATPTour. Australia’s number one Tomic was alsoa lightning rod for criticism at Wimbledon,where he launched a jaw-dropping tiradeagainst his home tennis association, com-plete with character assassinations of someof its most senior managers. Banished fromthe Davis Cup team for a second time in hiscareer, Tomic was later apprehended byMiami police for trespassing and resistingarrest after hotel guests complained of anoisy party in his room.

Though the charges were later dropped,local media were quick to link the Miamiincident with a number of brushes with thelaw in Australia, where Tomic has had hisdrivers’ license cancelled after a number ofspeeding offences and once clashed withpolice following an infamous brawl in aroof-top jacuzzi. All but lost in a turbulentyear for their management teams was theirunquestionable progress on-court, with thepair shrugging off each scandal to completetheir most encouraging seasons.

IMPROVED WORK ETHICKyrgios’ run to last year’s quarter-finals at

Melbourne Park made him the first localmen’s entrant to reach the last eight in adecade and he made his first ATP final atEstoril. His season also featured impressive

wins over top 10 opponents and he entersthe Australian Open ranked world number30 after a confidence-boosting win overworld number two Andy Murray at theHopman Cup.

Long criticised for his work ethic, Tomicput in his most taxing season and famouslycaptured his third ATP title at Bogota a weekafter spending time in a cell following hisMiami arrest.

Tomic now holds a career-high rankingof 17, having upset top 10 player KeiNishikori during a promising run to thesemi-finals of the Brisbane International lastweek. Although the pair were both omittedfrom Davis Cup ties last year, TennisAustralia have welcomed them back withopen arms and fans have rejoiced in theirearly season form. Local media reported

with a tone of surprise that Kyrgios celebrat-ed his team’s Hopman Cup triumph byreturning immediately to the court for morepractice. The pair’s rehabilitation remainsunfulfilled, however, with the ATP’s sus-pended sentence from the Wawrinka inci-dent still hanging over Kyrgios for anothermonth.

Tomic risked a lot of good will gained inrecent months after reports emerged thisweek that he had abused staff at a GoldCoast resort over a dispute arising fromaccess to its tennis courts. The player quick-ly issued a public apology. “Habits die a bithard,” former coach Neil Guiney, whohelped guide Tomic into the professionalranks, told News Ltd media. “He’s got towatch that sort of thing because everyoneelse is watching.” — Reuters

Australia hoping bad boys come good in Melbourne

NEW YORK: San Antonio Spurs forward David West (30) defends Brooklyn Nets guard Bojan Bogdanovic (44) in the first half of an NBA basket-ball game, Monday, in New York. The Spurs defeated the Nets 106-79. — AP

NEW YORK: LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 pointsand 11 rebounds as the San Antonio Spursextended their winning streak to eight gameswith a 106-79 victory Monday over Brooklyn inthe Nets’ first game since an organizationalshake-up. A day after coach Lionel Hollins wasfired and general manager Billy King reas-signed, the Nets dropped their 10th straight athome and fifth in a row overall. Kawhi Leonardadded 17 points for the Spurs, who go toDetroit on Tuesday before putting their 31-game home winning streak on the l ineThursday in a showdown with Cleveland. TheSpurs (33-6) were up seven at halftime beforedominating the second half, just as they did intheir 102-75 victory over the Nets on Oct. 30.Those are two of their 14 wins by 20 or morepoints this season. Brook Lopez scored 18points and Joe Johnson had 16 in the Nets’ firstgame under interim coach Tony Brown. Brownmoved guards Wayne Ellington and DonaldSloan into the starting lineup, but they com-bined for just 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting.

WARRIORS 111, HEAT 103Stephen Curry scored 31 points and

Draymond Green added 22 points and 12rebounds to lead the Warriors to their 36thstraight regular-season home win. KlayThompson added 17 points to help the Warriors(36-2) get halfway to Chicago’s record win totalof 72 set in 1996-97 three games before the mid-point of the season. Dwyane Wade scored 20points and Chris Bosh and Gerald Green added15 apiece for the Heat, who had won eight oftheir past 11 games here. But these Warriorsteams are far different and that showed againsta resilient Heat team that battled all night butwas unable to handle the depth of the Warriors

despite the rare off-shooting night from Curry.

WIZARDS 114, BULLS 100John Wall had 17 points and 10 assists to help

the banged-up Wizards pull away from the Bulls.Washington had seven players score in double fig-ures in its second straight win after a stretch of fivelosses in six games. Ramon Sessions had 16 points,and Garrett Temple, Otto Porter Jr. and Nenescored 14 apiece. The Wizards led by as many as 18

points while playing without key performersMarcin Gortat, Kris Humphries and Bradley Beal.Gortat was scratched with a sore left knee,Humphries missed his fourth straight game with asore right knee and Beal remains out due to astress reaction in his lower right leg. Derrick Rosescored 23 points in the first of four games infive nights for the Bulls. Jimmy Butler had 19points and seven assists, and Pau Gasol added15 points and 10 rebounds. — AP

Spurs rout Nets 106-79 to match best season start

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

W L PCT GB Toronto 24 15 .615 —Boston 19 18 .514 4New York 19 20 .487 5Brooklyn 10 28 .263 13.5Philadelphia 4 36 .100 20.5

Central DivisionCleveland 26 9 .743 —Chicago 22 14 .611 4.5Indiana 21 16 .568 6Detroit 21 16 .568 6Milwaukee 15 24 .385 13

Southeast DivisionAtlanta 23 15 .605 —Miami 22 16 .579 1Orlando 20 18 .526 3Washington 17 19 .472 5Charlotte 17 20 .459 5.5

Western ConferenceNorthwest Division

Oklahoma City 26 12 .684 —Utah 17 20 .459 8.5Portland 16 24 .400 11Denver 14 24 .368 12Minnesota 12 26 .316 14

Pacific DivisionGolden State 36 2 .947 —LA Clippers 25 13 .658 11Sacramento 15 22 .405 20.5Phoenix 13 26 .333 23.5LA Lakers 8 31 .205 28.5

Southwest DivisionSan Antonio 33 6 .846 —Dallas 22 16 .579 10.5Memphis 21 18 .538 12Houston 19 19 .500 13.5New Orleans 11 25 .306 20.5

NBA results/standingsGolden State 111, Miami 103; Brooklyn 79, San Antonio 106; Chicago 100, Washington 114.

SYDNEY: Eight of the top 10 women intennis are injured or have become sick inthe lead up to the Australian Open, thelatest being Angelique Kerber after shewithdrew from the Sydney Internationalyesterday with a stomach illness.

Kerber lost in the final of last week’sBrisbane International to VictoriaAzarenka and beat Elina Svitolina in thefirst round in Sydney before falling ill andpulling out of her second-round matchagainst Ekaterina Makarova on Tuesday.

“I’m very sorry I can’t go on courttoday but I’m not feeling 100 percent,”Kerber said. “I don’t want to risk myhealth before Melbourne, of course, but Ilove to come back to the ApiaInternational Sydney and always havegood results here - semifinals last yearand the final two years ago.”

The Sydney tournament has alreadylost fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanskato a leg injury and defending championPetra Kvitova, ranked No. 6, to a stomachvirus, along with Daria Gavrilova ofAustralia, winner of last week’s HopmanCup, who has an abdominal strain.

Last week, four other top-rankedwomen either retired or withdrew fromtournaments because of injuries: No. 1Serena Williams (Hopman Cup/knee),second-ranked Simona Halep(Brisbane/ankle), No. 3 GarbineMuguruza (Brisbane/foot) and No. 5Maria Sharapova (Brisbane/forearm).Ninth-ranked Lucie Safarova has alreadywithdrawn from the Australian Openwith a bacterial infection, leaving No. 10Venus Williams as the only active mem-ber of the women’s top 10 without aninjury concern or illness ahead of thetournament, which starts Monday.

Halep showed signs of improvement,shrugging off the Achilles tendon prob-lem that forced her out of the BrisbaneInternational to beat Caroline Garcia 6-4,2-6, 6-2 in the second round and moveinto the quarterfinals in Sydney, whereshe is seeded No. 1.

Earlier yesterday, Sara Errani ralliedfrom 5-1 down in the second set, saving

seven set points, to beat former No. 1Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8) to advanceto the quarterfinals.

“Yeah, it was 5-1, but I had manygames with 40-Love, 40-15, and advan-tage, and so it didn’t really feel like 5-1,”Errani said. “I was just thinking that I wasnear my best level, and to just try to keepgoing, play all the points, and finally was5-all, and 5-5, 6-all, and really tough thetiebreaker.” Fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskovabeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-0and eighth-seeded Belinda Bencic defeat-ed Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-3.

Samantha Stosur also reached theSydney quarterfinals for the first time in11 years when she beat Slovakian veter-an Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-2. Stosurwas runner-up at the tournament in2005. In the men’s draw, TeymurazGabashvili beat seventh-seededLeonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-3, eighth-seededAlexandr Dolgopolov beat ThomazBellucci 6-1, 6-4 and Nicolas Mahut beatAdrian Mannarino 6-4, 7-5.

At the Hobart International, EugenieBouchard continued her injury come-back with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Alison VanUytvanck. She is playing in only her thirdtournament since she sustained a con-cussion when she fell in the dressingroom at the US Open in September.Bouchard also reached the quarterfinalsof last week’s Shenzhen Open.

“I just felt my timing was a bit off andmy serve was definitely not there so atleast I pulled through, but I definitelywant to be able to play better than that,”the Canadian said. Second-seededCamila Giorgi beat Nao Hibino 6-2, 6-3 toreach the quarterfinals. On a rain-short-ened day at the ASB Classic in Auckland,New Zealand, eighth-seeded RobertBautista Agut beat defending championJiri Vesely 6-3, 7-5 and 2008 championPhilipp Kohlschreiber beat BenjaminBecker 7-6 (8), 6-3. Sam Querrey andAljaz Bedene had been locked in amarathon match before Bedene wasforced to retire while trailing 6-7 (5), 7-6(10), 2-1 after nearly two hours. — AP

SYDNEY: World number two Simona Halepovercame a nagging Achilles problem to beatCaroline Garcia of France at the SydneyInternational yesterday ahead of next week’sAustralian Open.

The Romanian withdrew from the BrisbaneInternational last week because of the injury,which also affected her 2015 campaign, andshe called the trainer during her second-roundmatch. Halep, who was given a first-round bye,said the pain was coming and going but sheproduced some of her best tennis in the decid-ing set on the way to a 6-4 2-6 6-1 victory thatset up a quarter-final against Czech fifth seedKarolina Pliskova.

“When you have pain you always get scared

because you don’t know what is going to hap-pen,” she said after her win. “I felt actually yes-terday during the practice same thing.

Five minutes pain, five minutes withoutpain. “I don’t know exactly what this is. MRIshowed that I have just an inflammation and Ican keep playing, so I will do my best and I willtry to be there, to stay focused.”

The 24-year-old is one of four leadingwomen players heading to the AustralianOpen, which begins in Melbourne on Monday,under an injury cloud. World number oneSerena Williams (knee), fifth-ranked MariaSharapova (arm) and number three GarbineMuguruza (foot) all withdrew from matches inthe last week. Halep said before the clash with

the 34th-ranked Garcia she was fit but shelooked anything but during her medical timeout after the Frenchwoman stepped up theaggression to take the second set.

Halep, though, shrugged off the complaintto storm through the third set, reeling off fivestraight games and recording her first win ofthe year when Garcia netted a straightforwardmid-court forehand.

“I needed matches to see if I can stay dur-ing the match until the end with my achilles,”she said. “I did well today. I’m happy that Icould finish.

I am happier that in the third set I didn’t feelthe pain. It means that I can keep working andkeep playing with tough opponents.” — Reuters

Halep wins on return but fitness doubts remain

SYDNEY: Simona Halep of Romania hits a return against Caroline Garcia of France during theirwomen’s singles second round match at the Sydney International tennis tournament inSydney yesterday. — AFP

Kerber withdrawsfrom Sydney

International

Angellque Kerber of Germany.

S P O RT SWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

MANCHESTER: Manchester City andEverton play the second instalment of theirleague and cup trilogy today with all par-ties insisting thoughts of Wembley will goon hold. The two clubs met in the first legof their League Cup semi-final at Evertonlast Wednesday when the Merseysiders gottheir noses in front thanks to a 2-1 win.

They will meet again in Manchester onJanuary 27 to decide who gets to the finalat Wembley, but before that face each oth-er in the Premier League at Eastlands.

And Everton manager Roberto Martinezsays it is important for his players to forgetthe cup for now and focus on the leagueshowdown. “The game today is so impor-

tant in the league for different reasons;they’re trying to get that top spot and we’retrying to get as high up as we can, and thethree points are important in themselves,”he said. “So I don’t think we need to lookany further than that. “Playing a team threetimes in three weeks will have a role interms of how you prepare the game butnot in a conscious manner.” Both sides arelikely to show changes from the teams thatmet a week ago, with City’s formerLiverpool winger Raheem Sterling hopingto get a crack at his one-time local rivals.“I’ve never come up against the same teamas often as this and it is a pretty quick turn-around,” Sterling said. “But I didn’t play in

the League Cup semi-final first leg lastweek so I obviously hope to be involvedthis time. “We know this is an opportunityfor us but we just need to focus on what weneed to do to win the Premier League andnot worry about other teams and whatthey’re doing. “That way, we don’t let any-thing affect our thinking and purely focuson our own performance. “We’ve played alot of away games over the past fortnightso we’re looking forward to playing in frontof our own fans again today.”

FOCUSED City, three points behind Premier

League leaders Arsenal, completed a run

of four successive away fixtures with a 3-0win at Norwich in the third round of the FACup last Saturday.

That win has kept Manuel Pellegrini’sside on course for an unlikely quadruple oftrophies domestically and in theChampions League. City managerPellegrini, who is likely to have Yaya Toure,Fernandinho and David Silva back frominjury to face Everton, said: “It’s very impor-tant to be focused game by game.

“We’ve played in the FA Cup and nowwe must return to the Premier League. Wehave to play two games at home and it’svery important that we try to reduce thegap that we have with Arsenal. “We have

so many games to play in January that it isimportant to have the whole squad fit.

“The team played very well (atNorwich) and now we must choose whichis the best team to start against Everton.”

Martinez rotated his squad for their 2-0FA Cup win over League two sideDagenham and Redbridg,e but is expect-ed to have top scorer Romelu Lukaku, whoheaded the late winner against City in theLeague Cup clash, back today.

Tim Howard may return in goal forEverton, 11th in the table but beaten justonce away from home this season, butdefender Seamus Coleman and midfielderTom Cleverley are out through injury. — AFP

Cup on the backburner as City and Everton clash again

LIVERPOOL: Arsene Wenger says Arsenal willface a stern test of their Premier League title cre-dentials when they take on Liverpool today.

Wenger’s side head to Anfield two pointsclear at the head of the table and having wonfive of their last six league games.

The weekend FA Cup third round victory overSunderland extended their winning run andWenger acknowledges his side’s recent successhas strengthened the belief they can push onduring the second half of the season.

The Gunners manager, though, knows anymeeting with Liverpool carries an extra edgethat was demonstrated when the sides met onMerseyside last season, with the home sideclinching a point thanks to Martin Skrtel’s stop-page-time equaliser.

“The momentum creates confidence andconfidence is vital at that level,” Wenger said. “InDecember and now in January we have beenconsistent and we go into a very important partof the season because we play many games.

“Every time we go to Anfield, we face a teamwho is up for it. It’s always a ferocious battle, nomatter who the manager is.

“They had a very strong manager before, theyhave a very strong one now and Jurgen Klopp

has the personality to do well there.” Wengerhopes to add Basel midfielder Mohamed Elnenyto his squad this week. “I expect Mohamed yes,we are positive that this week it can happen,” hesaid. And his options will shortly be strength-ened by the return to fitness of Alexis Sanchez,although the Chile striker will not make the tripto Liverpool. “We think he will be short forWednesday,” said Wenger.

“He has a chance to be available for Sundayagainst Stoke. He is always keen to play.”

BIG CHALLENGE Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is looking

forward rather than back as he prepares to takeon Wenger in English football for the first time.

The pair have previously met at ChampionsLeague level with honours almost even, Wengerenjoying three wins to Klopp’s two and a drawfrom his time in charge at Bundesliga sideBorussia Dortmund.

Klopp took over at Liverpool after the sideshad drawn 0-0 at the Emirates Stadium in thePremier League in August.

And the German admits watching Wenger’swork at closer quarters has impressed him evenmore as the Liverpool boss prepares for hugeback-to-back home games against the Gunnersand Manchester United.

“We shouldn’t talk too much about my expe-riences of playing against Arsenal. We will find acurrent plan for this game,” Klopp said.

“It’s always a big challenge to play againstclubs like Arsenal or Manchester United.

“It’s a good challenge, not easy, but reallyinteresting. We have to make good decisions inthe right moment. We are looking forward tothese games. “My respect for Arsene Wengergrows day by day. It’s really intensive to work inthe Premier League and he’s done a brilliant job.”

Klopp’s remarks regarding Wenger, looking tolead Arsenal to a fourth league title but first since2004, reflect his initial impressions of managingin England.

Klopp, who took over at Anfield in October,said that the number of fixtures has been thebiggest difference to managing on the conti-nent, with Liverpool facing the possibility ofplaying nine games in January.

That workload is stretching a squad that hasbeen badly hit by injuries, although Klopp hopesto have a number of key players back for thegame on Wednesday when the eighth-placedReds will be looking for a third win in four leaguegames. After having no senior central defendersavailable for last Friday’s 0-0 FA Cup draw atExeter, ex-Arsenal defender Kolo Toure andMamadou Sakho are both expected to be fit.

Captain Jordan Henderson is also set toreturn in midfield and winger Jordon Ibe is fitafter hamstring trouble. — AFP

Arsenal steeled for Anfield examination

English Premier LeagueSwansea City v Sunderland 22:45beIN SPORTSStoke City v Norwich City 22:45beIN SPORTSManchester City v Everton 22:45beIN SPORTSSouthampton v Watford 22:45beIN SPORTSChelsea v West Bromwich 22:45beIN SPORTSLiverpool v Arsenal 23:00beIN SPORTSTottenham v Leicester 23:00beIN SPORTS

Spain Copa del ReyCelta de Vigo v Cadiz 22:30beIN SPORTSVillarreal v Bilbao 22:30beIN SPORTSLas Palmas v Eibar 23:00beIN SPORTSEspanyol v Barcelona 23:00beIN SPORTS

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

MADRID: Holders Barcelona will be looking to sealtheir place in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals today inthe final instalment of three heated Catalan derbiesagainst Espanyol over 10 days. The European champi-ons hold a commanding 4-1 lead from the first-legwhich Espanyol ended with nine men after red cardsfor Hernan Perez and Papakouli Diop, whilst goalkeep-er Pau Lopez escaped punishment for stamping onnewly crowned Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi.

However, Barca will be without the suspended LuisSuarez as he was given a two-match ban for con-fronting Espanyol players in the tunnel after the gameand calling them a “waste of space”. Espanyol havealso been reported to Spain’s anti-violence commis-sion by the Spanish league for alleged racist abuseaimed at Brazilian star Neymar during the sides’ 0-0draw in La Liga on January 2. Barca boss Luis Enriquecompared Espanyol’s roughhouse tactics to playingAmerican football after the first-leg, but will meet withhis counterpart Constantin Galca on Tuesday to tryand ease tensions between the two clubs.

Despite their comfortable lead and a punishingschedule of up to 17 games in January and February,Enrique is expected to start with both Messi andNeymar in attack in Suarez ’s absence. JavierMascherano, Dani Alves, Sergio Busquets and AndresIniesta are also expected to return after being restedfor Saturday’s 4-0 rout of Granada. La Liga leadersAtletico Madrid have far more work to do to reach thelast eight after only managing a 1-1 draw with amuch-changed side away to Rayo Vallecano last week.

TEMPORARY CHARGEAtletico boss Diego Simeone has made a telling

contribution with one of his substitutes scoring ineach of the last four games and insisted he won’t holdback in rotating his squad once more for the return-leg at the Vicente Calderon tomorrow. “We are doingthings well and that gives us energy to prepare for the

game in the Copa del Rey,” said the Argentine.“We don’t believe we are better or worse than any

opponents, but we have a group of 23 players that areprepared to compete at any moment and those thatcome off the bench are giving us the chance to decidethe game.” Gary Neville’s Valencia can put their La Ligawoes to one side by completing their passage into thequarters as they hold a 4-0 lead over Granada. Juan

Merino takes temporary charge of Real Betis, afterPepe Mel was sacked for the second time by LosVerdiblancos on Sunday, away at local rivals Sevillahoping to overcome a 2-0 deficit.

The tie of the round, though, is likely to come at ElMadrigal where high-flying Villarreal look to turnaround a 3-2 first-leg defeat to last season’s finalistsAthletic Bilbao. — Reuters

Barca eye quarters to end fiery Espanyol series

SANT JOAN DESPI: Barcelona’s coach Luis Enrique laughs during a press conference one dayafter being awarded the 2015 FIFA World Coach of the Year, at the Sports Center FC BarcelonaJoan Gamper in Sant Joan Despi, near Barcelona yesterday. — AFP

ZURICH: A man looks at football jerseys during a press visit to the new museum dedicated to FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association - International Federation of Association Football) yesterday in Zurich. The FIFAWorld Football Museum will open its doors on February 28, 2016 allowing the scandal-tainted world football body to show off artefacts from the sport’s rich heritage. — AFP

LONDON: Even Louis van Gaal has been “very bored”watching Manchester United’s dull games this season,the Dutch manager has admitted.

United have alienated a section of their fans with aseries of soporific displays this season, and werebooed off at halftime in their scrappy 1-0 win overSheffield United in the third round of the FA Cup onSaturday. Scores of supporters left the ground in thesecond half and former United midfielder Paul Scholessaid the players and manager looked “bored” duringthe match. Speaking to reporters ahead of yesterday’sPremier League clash with Newcastle United, Van Gaal

admitted he had also found some of his team’s per-formances tedious. “There are matches that I haveenjoyed very much. Against Chelsea (last month) Ihave enjoyed it, but the result was 0-0 and we couldhave lost also,” he said.

“There are also matches where I’m very bored orangry because we are not disorganising our oppo-nent’s defence, but that is football.”

United are fifth in the Premier League standingsand have won their last two matches following a runof eight games without victory.

The team have been criticised for a dull style of

play that is at odds with the club’s attacking traditions.Failure to beat third-from-bottom Newcastle willrekindle the scrutiny on Van Gaal, especially after themanager acknowledged the fans’ frustration with hisside’s laboured displays.

“They have been ironic (against Sheffield United)but that’s an expression of the fans and that’s good.The players were frustrated and the fans were frustrat-ed. “But the fans also have to know we can’t alwaysplay fantastic football and that was also the case informer days when it didn’t happen. I’m sorry aboutthat, but it is like that,” he added. — Reuters

Some Man Utd games havebored me too: van Gaal

17Smith, Bailey tonspower Australia to5-wicket win

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 201618

Spurs rout Nets106-79 to match best season start

Barca eye quarters to end fiery Espanyol series Page 19

KUWAIT: Salmiya Club players celebrate after winning the Crown Prince Cup at Jaber Stadium yesterday. (Inset) HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah presents the cup to Chairman of SalmiyaClub Sheikh Turki Al-Yousef Al-Sabah. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Salmiya Club won the HH the Crown PrinceCup yesterday for the second time in its history by beat-ing Kuwait Club 1-0 in the finals, which was held underthe patronage and attendance of HH the Crown PrinceSheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Jaber Al-Sabah at the newJaber Stadium. Faisal Anzi scored the winning goal inthe 74th minute. A fireworks display was held and giftswere also distributed to the spectators.

Salmiya Club won its first title in this competition in2001, while Kuwait Club has won the title five times - in1994, 2003 and 2008, 2010 and 2011. Qadsiya Clubholds the record number of wins in this competitionwith eight titles, Arabi Club with seven, followed byKuwait Club, Salmiya Club and Kazma Club, which onlywon the title once, in 1995.

Upon his arrival at the venue, HH the Crown Princewas received by Minister of Information and Minister of

State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-SalemAl-Humoud Al-Sabah, Director General of The PublicAuthority for Sport (PAS) Sheikh Ahmad Al-Mansour Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, President of Kuwait FootballAssociation (KFA) Sheikh Talal Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Chairman of Salmiya Sporting Club Sheikh TurkiAl-Yousef Al-Sabah, Chairman of Kuwait Sporting ClubAbdulaziz Fahad Al-Marzouq, and a number of seniorofficials in PAS, KFA, and the event’s supreme organizingcommittee.

The event was attended by National AssemblySpeaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem, HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, HH the Prime MinisterSheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, FirstDeputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh SabahKhaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and a number of senior offi-cials. — KUNA

Salmiya Club liftCrown Prince Cup

ZURICH: Standing beside Lionel Messi on stage,Carli Lloyd found her place at the top of world soc-cer. Lloyd was shoulder to shoulder with Messi onMonday, both cradling golden trophies from FIFA asthe world’s best players in 2015.

Even at 33, the United States captain and inspira-tion of its Women’s World Cup title has a career planto let her one day match Messi’s five FIFA awards.

“Last night was the moment where I said tomyself that I can remain one of the best players inthe world for the next five years,” Lloyd told TheAssociated Press in an interview yesterday.

Lloyd and Messi, the captain of Argentina’snational team, reached the same goals before, asOlympic gold medalists in 2008. Back then, Messi’sself-belief was far ahead of Lloyd even after shescored the winning goal against Brazil in the Beijingfinal. When she scored both goals in the nextOlympic final - beating Japan 2-1 at WembleyStadium in London - things started to change for theNew Jersey native.

“Since the 2012 Olympics is when I pretty muchstarted to believe that I could go on to do it,” Lloydsaid at a hotel just a block away from the concert hallwhere she joined the elite. Lloyd arrived in Zurich asthe strong favorite to join American greats MiaHamm and Abby Wambach on the FIFA award list.She was favored to win after scoring three goals inher third major title win, a 5-2 rout of Japan last July.

“I didn’t know what I was coming into,” Lloyd saidof the FIFA show. “The anticipation was more nerve-wracking than any Olympic or World Cup final I’veever played in.”

Rugged and raw was how Lloyd described herselfon stage earlier in the FIFA ceremony. The effort to

hold back tears before starting her acceptancespeech with a quiet “Sorry” to the applauding audi-ence took her somewhere new.

“I’m not a super emotional person,” she said. “I’mpretty tough and raw in my nature but somethinglike that, it’s uncontrollable.

“I never really believed I could reach this point,though I was striving for it. I’m extremely humbled.”

A 13-minute hat trick in the World Cup finalearned three VIP tickets: The red-carpet FIFA eventfollowed the team’s ticker-tape parade in downtownManhattan last July and a trip to the White House inOctober. Lloyd and Wambach flanked PresidentBarack Obama in the team photograph.

“I’ve gotten used to the glitz and glamor worldthat comes with it,” Lloyd said, before adding: “It’snever an enjoyable night to wear heels. I’d rather bein my soccer cleats, but it’s fun.” Lloyd is quickly backin uniform this week at a training camp in LosAngeles to prepare for Olympic qualifying matches.No women’s team has taken Olympic gold one yearafter winning the World Cup.

“My 2015 is good but 2016 needs to be even bet-ter,” said Lloyd, who will marry long-term partnerBrian Hollins after the Olympics.

The same is true of women’s soccer, which couldemerge from the chaos of FIFA’s corruption crisis as abig winner. One year ago, Wambach came to Zurichas a nominee and met with FIFA secretary generalJerome Valcke. She stressed the players’ anger andlegal fight against FIFA letting Canada host theWorld Cup on artificial turf.

The old regime seemed to sell women’s soccershort, whatever then-President Sepp Blatter saidabout being their pioneer supporter. — AP

Carli stands beside Messi as world’s best

BusinessWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Kuwait trade surplus narrows in Q3 on lower oil revenues

Page 22

China Q4 GDP growth seenslowing sharply

Page 23

Ford introducesFordPass

Page 26UK industrial output drops sharply in NovemberPage 25

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates moved toquash talk of a potential emergency meeting ofthe Organization of the Petroleum ExportingCountries (OPEC) after Nigeria’s oil minister saidyesterday a “couple” of members had requested agathering.

Benchmark Brent crude futures slippedtowards $30 a barrel to a near 12-year low beforerising slightly. They have shed almost three-quar-ters of their value since mid-2014 due to over-supply.

Such market conditions supported an emer-gency meeting to review whether OPEC shouldchange strategy, Nigerian Minister of State forPetroleum Resources Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwutold reporters on the sidelines of an energy con-ference in Abu Dhabi. However, UAE EnergyMinister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui latertold the same conference the current OPEC strat-egy was working, adding that time was needed

to allow this to happen- perhaps between oneand 1-1/2 years.

“I’m not convinced OPEC alone can change orcan solely unilaterally change this strategy justbecause we have seen a low in the market,”Mazroui said.

Mazroui added that while the first half of2016 would be “tough” for the oil market, therewould be a gradual recovery later in the year,aided by an expected drop in non-OPEC produc-tion.

The Nigerian minister did not specify whichOPEC members wanting a meeting and said anysuch gathering would be in February or March.OPEC’s next scheduled meeting is not until June 2.

But two OPEC delegates from outside theGulf were sceptical an emergency conferencewould take place. “There won’t be any meeting,”said one of the OPEC delegates from an AfricanOPEC country.

OPEC’s strategy of maintaining productionlevels, instead of reducing supply to allow pricesto recover, has been aimed at defending marketshare at the expense of higher-cost producerssuch as those in the US shale sector.

The supply glut is likely to be exacerbated in2016 by the return of Iranian supply to the mar-ket, once Western sanctions have been lifted.

“I think all the members including Iran havethe right to increase their production. I don’tthink we are going to restrict anyone,” Mazrouisaid.

Such prospects have led oil analysts to down-grade their forecasts in recent days, withStandard Chartered saying prices could drop to$10 a barrel.

The likelihood of a meeting taking place willhinge on the attitude of OPEC heavyweightSaudi Arabia, which has been at the vanguard ofresistance to a production cut.

“Saudi Arabia has never held the position thatit does not want to talk,” Kachikwu said. “In fact, itwas very supportive of a meeting before June, atthe time when we held the December meeting, if(there was a) consensus call for it.”

Nigeria call Kachikwu said yesterday that he expects an

extraordinary meeting of the OPEC oil cartel in“early March” to address nosediving crude prices.“We did say that if it (the price) hits the 35 (dollarper barrel), we will begin to look (at)... an extraor-dinary meeting,” said Kachikwu. The prices havehit levels that necessitate a meeting, he told anenergy forum in Abu Dhabi.

Saudi-led Gulf exporters within OPEC have sofar refused to cut production to curb slidingprices, seeking to protect their market sharedespite a heavy blow to their revenues.Kachikwu, who was president of OPEC until the

end of December, said that member states differon the issue of intervention. “One group feelsthere is a need to intervene. The other groupfeels even if we did, we are only 30 to 35 percentof the producers really,” as 65 percent of supplycomes from non-OPEC countries, he said at theGulf Intelligence UAE Energy Forum.

“Unless you have this 65 percent (of ) produc-ers coming back to the table you really won’tmake any dramatic difference,” he added. USbenchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) forFebruary delivery was down around 2.8 percent,at $30.54 per barrel, in Asian trade yesterday.

European benchmark Brent North Sea crudefell 3.1 percent, to $30.57. The last time priceswere so low for WTI was in December 2003 andin April 2004 for Brent. Prices plummeted 10 per-cent last week on fears about the global supplyglut and weakness in China, the world’s biggestenergy user. —Agencies

UAE moves to quash talk of OPEC emergency meet Nigeria says current market conditions demand meeting

DETROIT: Dave Marak, Acura Global Creative Director, reveals the Acura Precision Concept to the news media at the 2016 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS ) yesterday in Detroit. The NAIAS runs fromJanuary 11th to January 24th and will feature over 750 vehicles and interactive displays. —AFP (See Page 23)

DUBAI/LONDON: The Saudi Arabian riyalhit a record low in the forwards market yes-terday Tuesday, breaching the key 1000-point mark as a fresh slip in oil prices raisedfears that the kingdom will eventually scrapor loosen its currency peg to the US dollar.One-year dollar/riyal forwards - contractsused by counterparties to lock in a futureexchange rate - climbed as high as 1020points in very volatile trade. This toppedtheir previous record of 850 points hit dur-ing a bout of speculation against the riyal in1999, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The move has come despite commentsfrom Saudi Arabia’s central bank governoron Monday that recent volatility in the for-wards market is due to speculation basedon unrealistic expectations. He restated pol-icy makers’ commitment to the peg.“Forwards are moving higher on specula-tion that Saudi Arabia may soon have toeither abandon, or at the very least loosenits currency’s peg to the dollar, as itsreserves will dramatically fall if oil pricescontinue to slide further,” said a currencytrader at a major Gulf bank.

The riyal is pegged in the spot marketat 3.75 to the dollar. Some banks and fundsuse the forwards market to hedge againstthe risk that the peg might eventually bebroken. Persistently low oil prices haveraised fears that the world’s top oil exporter

may have to run down its foreign assets -still totaling $628 billion at the end ofDecember - at a much faster rate than the$100 billion used in 2015 to cover a recordstate budget deficit, forecast for this year tobe 326 billion riyals. The low crude priceshave inflicted much pain on the kingdom’spetroleum industry, which in 2015 generat-ed some 80 percent of government rev-enues. Fuelling speculation further are geo-political concerns over a sharp deteriora-tion in relations between Saudi Arabia andIran in recent days, which is seen likely tocontinue.

BLEAK FORECASTSDespite the bleak forecast for oil prices

and geopolitics, many bankers still believeRiyadh remains very unlikely to break itscurrency peg. “The core Gulf USD pegs,including that of Saudi Arabia, are likely tohold at current oil prices,” said Jean-MichelSaliba, economist at Bank of America-MerrillLynch in a note to clients.

This was due to a combination of someGCC countries still holding sizeable foreignassets and the start of a fiscal adjustmentprocess across the region based on theunderstanding that the underlying cause ofmacro imbalances are unsustainable fiscalpositions, he added. “Oman is the most vul-nerable, in our view,” said Saliba.

The Gulf countries’ pegs to the dollarhave helped keep inflation low, simplifytrade and financial transactions, and reduceuncertainty about the domestic value of oilexport receipts. Those believing the peg willbe retained point to economic reformsannounced as part of Saudi’s state budgetfor 2016 at the end of December, whichcontained steps designed to bring a budgetdeficit under control including reducedsubsidies and the privatization of state-owned assets.

The sale of a stake in national oil giantSaudi Aramco or some of its downstreamcompanies has also been floated in the lastfew days. “The last budget and statementsre-enforce the view that Saudi Arabia willfocus on fiscal consolidation which will beused to undertake the adjustment tocheap oil rather than a devaluation,” saidJason Tuvey, Middle East Economist atCapital Economics in London. Yet therecent slide in oil to a near 12-year low and$30 per barrel is weighing heavily on senti-ment against crude exporters, with the costof insuring their sovereign debt againstdefault jumping to fresh highs. SaudiArabia’s five-year credit default swaps (CDS)rose by 7 basis points from Monday’s closeto 196 bps, matching 6-1/2 year high hitlast week, according to financial dataprovider Markit. —Reuters

DUBAI: Middle East bourses slumpedyesterday in a broad sell-off as investorscashed out, with petrochemicals themain drag on Saudi Arabia’s index andblue-chips weighing elsewhere.

Brent crude had slipped towards $30a barrel to a near 12-year low. It thenrebounded above $32 after Middle Eaststock had closed. Oil prices have fallen byalmost three-quarters since mid-2014due to oversupply. Saudi Arabia’s bench-mark fell to 1.8 percent to 6,069 points,its lowest close since late 2011 asMonday’s rebound proved fleeting.

Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) - theGulf’s largest listed company - tumbled4.9 percent, while most other petro-chemical stocks also fell. Banks also slid.National Commercial Bank (NCB), thelargest bank by assets, dropped 4.4 per-cent. In Qatar, the benchmark fell 2.0 per-cent to a 27-month low of 9,477 points.All traded stocks declined as both foreignand regional investors sold up.

Qatar National Bank (QNB), the bours-es’ largest stock by market value,plunged 3.1 percent.

Investor worries over the impact of

lower spending by the government andrelated entities on QNB’s growth poten-tial could be a reason for its stock priceslide, NBAD Securities said in a note.

Qatari banks are expected to deliverweak profits in their forthcoming annualfinancial statements, the note added.Banks also weighed on Abu Dhabi’sindex for a second day. The benchmarkfell 1.5 percent as investors fretted aboutlenders’ profitability ahead of fourth-quarter earnings.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and First GulfBank dropped 5.9 and 2.6 percentrespectively.

Dana Gas declined 2.0 percent. TheEmirati energy company said it aims toslash its head office workforce by 40 per-cent and cut general and administrativecosts by half between 2015 and early2016. Dubai’s bourse dipped 0.7 percentto 2,921 points, but above an intradaylow of 2,874 points. The index is only 70points shy of December’s two-year low.

Volumes were modest. Arabtec andEmaar Properties between themaccounted for 58 percent of all sharestraded on the index. Emaar, which start-

ed 2016 with a sharp sell-off after firestruck one of its Dubai luxury hotels onNew Year’s Eve, declined 3.2 percent ,taking its year-to-date decline to 14.2percent.

Arabtec shrugged off early-sessionlosses to end 4.1 percent higher, itsthird straight gain. The builder is up 2.4percent in 2016. “Unless there are majornegative or positive surprises to fourthquarter earnings, stock markets will con-tinue to be weak with no bright spots,”said Sebastien Henin, head of asset man-agement at Dubai-based The NationalInvestor.

EGYPTCairo’s main index fell 2.6 percent as

most of the 26 traded stocks fell morethan 1 percent. The market is down 7.7percent in 2016. Foreign and non-Egyptian Arab traders were net sellers fora second consecutive day, bourse datashowed.

Orascom Telecom, one of regionalinvestors’ preferred stocks, and GlobalTelecom, a foreign fund manager favourite,fell 4.6 and 7.2 percent. —Reuters

Petrochemicals drag Saudi to 4-year low

MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS

Saudi riyal forwards crash through key 1000 level to hit record low

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s trade surplus narrowed in3Q15 on the back of lower oil revenues.However, the surplus remains relativelyhealthy at 17 percent of GDP. The surplusslipped to KD 1.8 billion in the third quarter of2015 as lower oil prices continued to weighdown on revenues. The trade surplus is expect-ed to shrink still further in 4Q15 on weaker oilprices.

Oil export revenues fell from KD 4.3 billionin 2Q15 to KD 3.7 billion in 3Q15 as oil pricesedged lower. Kuwait export crude (KEC) slidfrom an average of $58 per barrel in 2Q15 to$47 per barrel in 3Q15. As a result of the loweroil price, oil export receipts have declined by48 percent year-on-year (y/y). We expect oilrevenues to come in lower in the coming quar-ters as downward pressures on oil prices per-sist. KEC averaged $38 per barrel in 4Q15.

Growth in non-oil exports declined furtherin 3Q15, falling by 8 percent y/y. Non-oilexport growth was driven lower by a drop inethylene prices and a stronger Kuwaiti dinar

against most major currencies (with the excep-tion of the US dollar). Relative to the previousquarter, ethylene prices were down 10 per-

cent. The dinar index (reflecting the currency’strade-weighted price) rose by 2.4 percent in3Q15. Non-oil exports are expected to main-

tain their downward trend in the near-to-medium term, amid still softer ethylene prices.

Central Statistical BureauImport growth witnessed a marked slow-

down in 3Q15, though this is likely to be atemporary softening. Growth in importsslowed from 9.7 percent y/y in 2Q15 to 1.4 per-cent y/y in 3Q15. The slowdown in imports in3Q15 may be a one-off, after having witnessedrobust growth rates over the past year. Despitethe slowdown in imports, growth in capitalgoods imports, a bellwether of growth inaggregate investment in the economy,remained strong. Capital goods imports roseby 18.5 percent y/y in 3Q15, pointing tohealthy levels of investment spending in thequarters ahead. This is in line with our outlookfor aggregate investment in the economy thatis being boosted by the improving implemen-tation of the government’s development proj-ects. Meanwhile, growth in transport and con-sumer goods imports were weaker in 3Q15.

Egyptian pound steady at forex sale

CAIRO: Egypt’s central bank kept the pound steadyagainst the dollar at its official foreign currency auctionyesterday, and the currency also held steady on theblack market as well. Egypt, which depends on import-ed food and energy, is facing a dollar shortage andincreasing pressure to devalue the pound. The centralbank surprised markets when it strengthened thepound on Nov. 11 by 20 piasters against the dollar andhas bucked expectations by holding it steady eversince. The central bank sold $39.4 million at a cut-offprice of 7.7301 pounds to the dollar, unchanged fromthe previous auction.

B U S I N E S SWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Newsi n b r i e f

EXCHANGE RATES

Bahrain Exchange Company

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

ASIAN COUNTRIESJapanese Yen 2.589Indian Rupees 4.560Pakistani Rupees 2.902Srilankan Rupees 2.121Nepali Rupees 2.860Singapore Dollar 212.240Hongkong Dollar 39.230Bangladesh Taka 3.877Philippine Peso 6.434Thai Baht 8.401

GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 81.203Qatari Riyal 83.647Omani Riyal 83.647Bahraini Dinar 808.690UAE Dirham 82.907

ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 38.936Egyptian Pound - Transfer 38.936Yemen Riyal/for 1000 790.930Tunisian Dinar 149.930Jordanian Dinar 1.421Lebanese Lira/for 1000 0.000Syrian Lira 429.050Morocco Dirham 31.151

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 304.350Euro 443.590Sterling Pound 443.440Canadian dollar 214.710Turkish lira 100.070Swiss Franc 306.030Australian Dollar 213.500US Dollar Buying 303.150

CURRENCY BUY SELLEurope

British Pound 0.435173 0.444173Czech Korune 0.004219 0.016219Danish Krone 0.040273 0.045273Euro 0.325371 0.333371Norwegian Krone 0.029995 0.035195Romanian Leu 0.072951 0.072951Slovakia 0.009097 0.019097Swedish Krona 0.031625 0.036625Swiss Franc 0.297680 0.307880Turkish Lira 0.096096 0.106396

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.203948 0.215448New Zealand Dollar 0.193103 0.202603

AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.208372 0.216872US Dollars 0.300250 0.304750

US Dollars Mint 0.300750 0.304750

AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.003523 0.004123Chinese Yuan 0.044508 0.048008Hong Kong Dollar 0.037141 0.039891Indian Rupee 0.004217 0.004607Indonesian Rupiah 0.000017 0.000023Japanese Yen 0.002504 0.002684Kenyan Shilling 0.002965 0.002965Korean Won 0.000240 0.000255Malaysian Ringgit 0.066046 0.072046Nepalese Rupee 0.002885 0.003055Pakistan Rupee 0.002639 0.002919Philippine Peso 0.006374 0.006654Sierra Leone 0.000070 0.000076Singapore Dollar 0.208000 0.214000South African Rand 0.011967 0.020467Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001766 0.002346Taiwan 0.008975 0.009155Thai Baht 0.008079 0.008629

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.800404 0.808404Egyptian Pound 0.035158 0.038284Iranian Riyal 0.000084 0.000085Iraqi Dinar 0.000201 0.000261Jordanian Dinar 0.425272 0.432772Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000Lebanese Pound 0.000151 0.000251Moroccan Dirhams 0.021552 0.045552Nigerian Naira 0.001258 0.001893Omani Riyal 0.784099 0.789779Qatar Riyal 0.082886 0.084099Saudi Riyal 0.080273 0.081223Syrian Pound 0.001290 0.001510Tunisian Dinar 0.146446 0.154446Turkish Lira 0.096096 0.106396UAE Dirhams 0.081882 0.083031Yemeni Riyal 0.001376 0.001456

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

CURRENCIES TELEX TRANSFER PER 1000Australian Dollar 203.08Canadian Dollar 218.17Swiss Franc 310.48Euro 335.10US Dollar 304.45Sterling Pound 444.75Japanese Yen 2.63Bangladesh Taka 3.881Indian Rupee 4.560Sri Lankan Rupee 2.118Nepali Rupee 2.850Pakistani Rupee 2.901UAE Dirhams 0.08285Bahraini Dinar 0.8091Egyptian Pound 0.03879Jordanian Dinar 0.4330Omani Riyal 0.7906Qatari Riyal 0.08394Saudi Riyal 0.08115

Rate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 304.800Canadian Dollar 216.885Sterling Pound 443.575Euro 334.510Swiss Frank 304.295Bahrain Dinar 806.370UAE Dirhams 83.225Qatari Riyals 84.445

Saudi Riyals 81.960Jordanian Dinar 429.370Egyptian Pound 38.814Sri Lankan Rupees 2.123Indian Rupees 4.563Pakistani Rupees 2.902Bangladesh Taka 3.877Philippines Pesso 6.470Cyprus pound 580.550Japanese Yen 3.595Syrian Pound 2.380Nepalese Rupees 3.850Malaysian Ringgit 69.735Chinese Yuan Renminbi 46.740Thai Bhat 9.355Turkish Lira 101.100

GOLD20 Gram 226.69010 Gram 116.0405 Gram 58.700

US dollar stable against Kuwait dinar at 0.303

KUWAIT: The exchange rate of the US dollar against theKuwaiti dinar yesterday was stable at KD 0.303, while theeuro went down to KD 0.330 compared to the exchangerates for Monday, said a statement by the Central Bank ofKuwait (CBK). According to the CBK, the exchange rate ofthe Sterling pound was stable at KD 0.440 while the SwissFranc went down to KD 0.303. Exchange rate of theJapanese Yen remained the same at KD 0.002.

NBK ECONOMIC REPORT

National Bank of Oman Q4 rises 29%

DUBAI: National Bank of Oman, the sultanate’s third-largest lender by assets, yesterday posted a 29 percent risein fourth-quarter net profit. The lender made a net profit of17.1 million rials ($44.4 million) in the three months to Dec.31, up from 13.2 million rials in the same period last year,according to Reuters calculations. National Bank of Omandidn’t disclose a quarterly breakdown of its earnings in astock exchange statement. Reuters calculated the figurebased on the bank’s previous financial statements. Twoanalysts polled by Reuters forecast the bank would make aquarterly net profit between 12.7 million rials and 15.0 mil-lion rials.

Savola says energy reform to raise costs in 2016

DUBAI: Savola Group, Saudi Arabia’s largest foodproducts company, said yesterday that changes toenergy and gas feedstock prices announced by thegovernment will raise its costs by around 105 millionriyals ($28 million) in 2016. Companies in the kingdomhave been announcing estimates of the impact ontheir earnings of fuel, electricity and natural gas feed-stock price hikes in the 2016 state budget. SaudiArabia, its finances hit by low oil prices, announcedplans last month to shrink a record state budget deficitwith spending cuts, reforms to energy subsidies and adrive to raise revenues from taxes and privatization.

Kuwait trade surplus narrows in Q3 on lower oil revenues

Gold steadies as stocks,dollar edge higher

LONDON: Gold steadied yesterday after two days of losses,but remained under pressure as the dollar edged higheragainst a currency basket and a firmer tone to stock mar-kets undermined the metal’s appeal as a haven from risk.

An early January rally driven by a rout in global equitiesran out of steam late last week after gold hit chart resist-ance at its 100-day moving average at $1,108 an ounce.Gains have also been capped by concerns over higher USinterest rates. Spot gold was at $1,094.20 an ounce at 1031GMT, little changed from late on Monday, while US goldfutures for February delivery were down $1.80 an ounce at$1,094.40. The metal has retreated after hitting a two-month high on Friday in a rally driven by a slump in oilprices and world shares on fears over the health of theChinese economy. “The Chinese stock market crash and theunease it’s created in the market that the government isn’table to control the economy the way it wants to has liftedgold prices higher,” Natixis analyst Bernard Dahdah said.

“But generally, (we expect) gold to be below $1,000 thisyear,” he said. “The market will be focused on what the Feddecides - if the Fed delays a rate hike, the price of gold willbenefit, or if the inflation figures improve, we could seegold prices dropping.” Gold prices retreated from anovernight high of $1,099.15 on Tuesday as European stocksrebounded from an early three-month low and the dollarindex rose 0.2 percent. The metal fell more than 10 percentlast year, largely on the back of expectations that theFederal Reserve is set to normalize US interest rates. Ultra-low rates, which cut the opportunity cost of holding goldwhile weighing on the dollar, were a key factor driving goldto record highs in 2011.

The Fed raised rates in December and attention hasshifted to how many hikes will follow in 2016. AtlantaFederal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart said theremay not be enough fresh data on inflation to supportanother US rate hike by March. Holdings of the world’slargest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New York-list-ed SPDR Gold Shares, rose 2.1 tons on Monday, data fromthe fund showed. Among other precious metals, palladi-um was the biggest faller, sliding 5 percent to a 5-1/2 yearlow of $449.55 an ounce in early trade. It was later at$464.70 an ounce, down 3.1 percent. Silver was flat $13.85an ounce, while platinum was down 0.5 percent at $839.02an ounce. — Reuters

Dana Gas to slash costsand cut staff: CEO

ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi-listed Dana Gas aims to slash itshead office workforce by 40 percent and cut general andadministrative costs by half between 2015 and early 2016, itschief executive said yesterday.

The energy company will continue to invest in Egypt andsees its production in the country increasing, Patrick Allman-Ward told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in AbuDhabi. Dana produces 34,000 barrels per day of oil equiva-lent in Egypt, Allman-Ward said, adding that its Balsam fieldin the Nile delta came on stream in late 2015.

Balsam fields 1 and 2 now produce a total of 24 millionstandard cubic feet (scf) of gas a day and Balsam 3 will comeon stream in mid-2016, producing around 10 to 12 millionscf per day, followed by the drilling of Balsam 4 and 5, hesaid. The company has operations in Egypt, the United ArabEmirates and Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Dana has no plans toinvest more in Iraq until the company reaches a negotiatedsettlement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG),said Allman-Ward.

“The geological opportunities are amazing but we need tomake money from our first investment before investing fur-ther,” he said. Dana said last month it and two other firms haveclaims against the KRG estimated at more than $11 billion,mainly for what they argue to have been wrongful interfer-ence in their rights over two fields in the semi-autonomousregion. KRG has called the figure “pure fantasy” and has acounter-claim for more than $3 billion. But in Egypt, if theopportunities are attractive and fit Dana’s portfolio, the com-pany could invest further, Allman-Ward said. — Reuters

LONDON: Crude oil steadied near$32 per barrel yesterday, recoveringslightly as investors booked profitsafter it fell to a near-12-year low onconcerns about oversupply and frag-ile demand from China.

Prices are down around 15 percentsince the start of the year, draggedlower by a glut, China’s weakeningeconomy and stock market turmoil,as well as the strong dollar, whichmakes it more expensive for thoseusing other currencies to buy oil.

Benchmark Brent crude fell to a

low of $30.43 per barrel, a level lastseen in April 2004, before recoveringto $31.75, up 20 cents or 0.5 percent,by 1142 GMT. “Every time you hit newlows there’s the potential for profittaking, and as people try to pick thebottom of the market,” said RichardMallinson, geopolitical analyst atEnergy Aspects.

US crude West Texas Intermediate(WTI) fell to a low of $30.41 per bar-rel, a level last seen in December2003, before crawling back to $31.06,down 35 cents or 1.11 percent.

The overall tenor of the marketremained bearish, analysts said.Trading data showed that managedshort positions in WTI crude con-tracts, which would profit from a fur-ther fall in prices, are at a record high,indicating that many traders expectfurther falls. China’s slowing economyhas also weighed on oil, which hasshed more than 70 percent of its val-ue since mid-2004.

And while demand looks fragile,supply from key producers remainsrobust.

Iraq, second-biggest producerwithin the Organization of thePetroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC), plans to export a record ofaround 3.63 million barrels per dayfrom its southern oil terminals inFebruary, said trade sources citing apreliminary loading program. Inindustry news, Nigeria’s oil ministersaid a “couple” of OPEC members hadrequested an emergency meeting,adding that current market condi-tions support the need to hold such agathering.

Oil major BP announced plans tocut at least 4,000 jobs in the face ofoil’s sustained declines. Analysts atBarclays, Macquarie, Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch, Standard Charteredand Societe Generale all cut their2016 oil forecasts this week.StanChart analysts took the mostbearish view: “We think prices couldfall as low as $10/bbl before most ofthe money managers in the marketconceded that matters had gone toofar,” — Reuters

TOKYO: Under the electronic board showing the Nikkei index and the US-Japan exchange rate, currency dealers wait for their clients’ orders at UedaHarlow, a foreign exchange trading company in Tokyo yesterday. — AP

Oil steadies below $32 as investors book profits

B U S I N E S SWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

DETROIT: Faded US luxury brands Lincoln andCadillac are finding a new cachet in China, alucrative market that could help power theircomeback against German and Japanese rivalsback home.

Ford is banking on this momentum to stealthe thunder from Volkswagen’s Audi, BMW,Toyota’s Lexus and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz,which dominate the US luxury market, when itunveils a new version of the iconic LincolnContinental at the Detroit auto show yester-day.

The Lincoln Continental, first introduced in1939 and pulled off the market in 2002, willreturn to replace the luxury MKZ sedan in anupdated version equipped with a six-cylinder,3.0-liter engine, according to a concept carpresented at the New York auto show early lastyear.

The split, winged grill will be replaced by asingle, centered chrome grill. The car will beoffered in front-wheel drive with an option forall-wheel drive, US automotive media havereported.

Lincoln also wants to distance itself fromthe pack by promoting its consumer servicespackaged in the “Lincoln Way” program. “Wewant to tell the story of the brand,” KumarGalhotra, president of the

Lincoln division, said in a phone interview.Clearly, the company wants to capitalize onthe Continental’s prestigious past, when it wasthe vehicle of choice for US presidents fromthe 1960s to 1980s.

The Continental will be marketed in theUnited States and China this year, but not inEurope.

Still coveted in China Both Lincoln and Cadillac, the premium

division of General Motors, are finding theirreputations still have weight in the world’slargest auto market, China. Cadillac sold62,630 vehicles in China by the end ofOctober, 13.3 percent up from 2014. Lincoln,in its first full year in China, sold 11,630 vehi-cles in 2015 and already has a network of 33dealerships that it plans to double by 2020.

In the United States, the two legendarybrands also seem to be regaining some allure.

Sales have grown, stemming some of thebleeding inflicted by the crushing domination

of the European and Japanese luxury brandsover the last decade.

Cadillac sold 175,267 vehicles last year, again of 2.6 percent from a year ago. Lincolnreported 101,227 vehicles sold, up a solid 7.1percent, in line with the luxury market’s 7.7percent rise.

By contrast, BMW, the top luxury brand inthe US market, saw sales gain last year by 1.8percent, to 346,023 vehicles. “Overall the luxu-ry market is doing well,” said Karl Brauer, ananalyst at Kelley Blue Book.

While luxury cars represent only 10 percentof all vehicles sold in the United States, theygenerate 50 percent of profits because of theirlarge profit margins, according to analysts.Both Cadillac and Lincoln know they need tolure young, hip, well-heeled customers, ratherthan their parents. It is a challenge: in 2014,the average Cadillac customer was 59.5 yearsold, according to IHS Automotive.

Last year, Cadillac moved its headquartersto New York ’s trendy SoHo district inManhattan, and features this new staging

ground in its advertising. Polishing its modernimage, the 113-year-old brand became thefirst automaker to partner with New York’sinaugural men’s fashion week last year.Cadillac is offering personalized models ineach luxury segment, borrowing a successfultactic used by German competitors.

The brand has targeted the sale of 500,000vehicles per year and will create eight newmodels by 2020. Ford meanwhile plans onfour new models and annual sales of 300,000vehicles by the end of the decade. — AFP

Lincoln, Cadillac battle luxury rivals via ChinaDETROIT AUTO SHOW

DETROIT: Porsche introduces the new 911 Turbo S at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Theshow is open to the public from January 16-24. — AFP

DETROIT: Takahiro Hachigo, President, CEO and Representative Director of Honda speaks at the Acura press con-ference at the 2016 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. — AFP

DETROIT: The new Lincoln Continental is unveiled during the Lincoln press conference atthe North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. — AFP

DETROIT: The Volkswagen display is shown at the North American International AutoShow. — AP

MOSCOW: Under pressure from thefalling global oil price, Russia is requir-ing government departments to cutspending by 10 percent, repeating apolicy it also imposed in 2015, twogovernment sources told Reuters. Thecutbacks will exclude several areas ofgovernment spending, including pub-lic obligations such as pensions, andpay for government employees.

Energy giant Russia is under pres-sure to find spending cuts as the inter-national oil price has plunged towards

$30 per barrel, a major problem for thefederal budget that relies on oil andgas taxes for almost half its revenues.

Under the plan, which wasapproved at a meeting chaired byPrime Minister Dmitry Medvedev inDecember, government departmentshave until Jan. 15 to submit proposalsabout where the cuts will fall, one ofthe sources said. If they fail to do so thefinance ministry will decide whichitems to cut.

The savings are expected to amount

to 700 billion rubles ($9.16 billion).Under the 2016 budget approved in

October, federal budget expenditureswere projected at 15.8 trillion this year,up from 15.5 trillion in 2015, with thefederal budget deficit projected at 3percent of GDP. However, that plan wasbased on the Urals oil price averaging$50 per barrel in 2016, an assumptionthat President Vladimir Putin has sincedescribed as “unrealistic”.

A similar plan for governmentdepartments to cut their spending by

10 percent was also approved for 2015,but as with the latest plan large areaswere excluded. Government ministrieseventually agreed to cut a trillion rou-bles from their expenditure plans inearly 2015, but the introduction of newspending meant a revised budgetapproved in April cut overall spendingonly by 298 billion roubles.

Final expenditures for last year arenow expected to be nearly 15.5 trillionrubles, similar to the original budgetplan. — Reuters

Hit by oil price, Russia slaps

10% cuts on governmentCutbacks to exempt pensions, govt salaries

BEIJING: China is expected to post itsweakest economic growth since theglobal financial crisis in the fourth quar-ter, adding pressure on policymakers totake more steps to ward off a sharperslowdown that could jolt global mar-kets.

A renewed plunge in China’s stockmarkets and the yuan have stoked con-cerns among global investors about thehealth of the world’s second-biggesteconomy, although analysts see fewsigns of an abrupt drop-off in activity.

Growth in fourth-quarter grossdomestic product likely slowed to 6.8percent from the same period last year,down from 6.9 percent in the third quar-ter, according to a Reuters poll of 50economists.

That would be the weakest pace ofexpansion since the first quarter of2009, when growth tumbled to 6.2 per-cent. The highest forecast in the pollwas 7.1 percent and the lowest was 5.3percent, though some investors fearcurrent growth levels could already bemuch weaker than the official data willsuggest. “The weaknesses in bothdomestic and external demand haveexacerbated the deflationary pressuresin the economy,” economists QuHongbin and Julia Wang at HSBC said ina note. “Going into 2016, weak domesticas well as external demand will contin-ue to weigh on growth.”

Economic growth for the full year isexpected to have cooled to its slowestpace in 25 years of 6.9 percent in 2015from 7.3 percent in 2014, a central bankwork paper said recently.

Beijing’s growth target for 2015 was“around” 7 percent, with the govern-ment rejecting suggestions that the fig-ures were being inflated to meet officialforecasts.

FISCAL STIMULUS EYEDWhile the government is expected

to lean more on fiscal policy to supportgrowth this year, the central bank maystill need to keep monetary policyaccommodative to help cushion theimpact of structural reforms on theeconomy. Top leaders also pledged topush forward “supply-side reform” tohelp generate new growth engines,while tackling factory overcapacity andproperty inventories.

The government could widen thisyear’s budget deficit to about 3 percent,the biggest in perhaps half a century, as

leaders turn to tax cuts and increasedspending to support growth, policyadvisers say, after disappointing returnsfrom a year of monetary policy easing.

The government is expected to tar-get economic growth of at least 6.5 per-cent in 2016 - in line with a new five-year plan to fulfill a previouslyannounced goal of doubling GDP andper capita incomes by 2020 from 2010levels, policy insiders say.

Analysts at Barclays expect the cen-tral bank to deliver two cuts in interestrates totalling 50 basis points and twocuts in bank reserve ratios totalling 100basis points in the first half of 2016.

“We think the ‘supply-side reforms’emphasised by the government arelikely to slow investment and posestrong headwinds to growth, at least inthe short term,” analysts at Barclays saidin a note.

The central bank has already cutinterest rates six times since November2014, and reduced the amount of cashthat banks must hold as reserves to spuractivity.

Other support measures haveincluded more government spendingon infrastructure and easing down pay-ment requirements and other curbs onthe cooling property sector.

MONTHLY DATAA raft of monthly indicators will be

released with the GDP data on Jan. 19,and analysts will be looking for signs asto whether momentum is still fading orif the economy may be slowly stabilis-ing. Factory output likely grew 6.0 per-cent in December from a year earlier,slightly down from November, as firmsstruggle to cope with persistent defla-tionary pressures due to overcapacityand softening demand. Annual growthof fixed asset investment, a crucial driverof China’s economy, likely eased to 10.2percent in 2015 - the weakest expansionin nearly 15 years.

Annual retail sales growth was seenat 11.3 percent in December, risingslightly from the previous month’sgrowth of 11.2. The customs office isdue to publish December trade figurestoday. Exports were expected to havedropped 8 percent in December aftersliding 6.8 percent in November andimports may have declined 11.5 per-cent in December from a year earlier,according to analysts polled byReuters. — Reuters

China Q4 GDP growth

seen slowing sharply

LONDON: Britain’s top supermarket chains are showingsigns of getting to grips with an industry in turmoil, withSainsbury’s winning market share in the key Christmas peri-od and Morrisons delivering a surprise rise in underlyingsales.

The “big four” supermarket groups - Tesco, Sainsbury’s,Asda and Morrisons - have been hit by a shift away frombig weekly food shopping trips towards more frequentspending, particularly at discounters Aldi and Lidl. The costof fighting back against low-price rivals, coupled with astretch of grocery price deflation, has hammered their salesand profits, while they have also had to write-down billionsof pounds on the value of their out-of-town megastores.

There were signs yesterday, however, that the worstmight be over. Monthly data from market researcherKantar Worldpanel showed No 2 chain Sainsbury’s grewsales and market share over Christmas, the only one of thebig four to do so and sending its shares as much as 4.7 per-cent higher. Shares in No 4 Morrisons, meanwhile, jumpedas much as 14 percent after its own Christmas tradingupdate showed the first rise in underlying sales since 2012.

And while Kantar Worldpanel continued to show mar-ket leader Tesco losing share, there was an improvementfrom the previous month. That helped Tesco’s shares, whichhit an 18-year low in December, to bounce back as much as7 percent.

Tesco will publish its Christmas performance tomorrow.Kantar Worldpanel showed overall industry sales fell by 0.2percent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to Jan. 3, reflectinggrocery price deflation of 1.8 percent and adding to evi-dence of a subdued Christmas across Britain’s retail sectoras unseasonably warm weather hit demand for clothing.

The British Retail Consortium said yesterday spendingrose at its weakest quarterly rate in more than a year asstores competed to offer discounts.

But 2016 could be better for the big supermarkets.Analysts think they are closing the price gap with discoun-

ters, improving product availability and customer serviceand doing better at highlighting the larger product rangesand online services they offer compared with discounters.They also think there could be a return to food price infla-tion this year and that the big four should benefit from ris-ing disposable incomes and population growth.

“All of which makes us a little bit more sanguine on theinvestment prospect of the UK supermarkets,” said ShoreCapital analyst Clive Black.

MORE CUSTOMERSKantar Worldpanel said Sainsbury’s total sales rose 0.8

percent year-on-year in the 12 week period and its marketshare edged up 0.1 percentage point. The firm attracted anadditional 114,000 shoppers, with its premium “Taste theDifference” brand recording its best ever Christmas.

Sainsbury’s, which revealed last week it made a bidapproach for Argos owner Home Retail in November, willpublish a Christmas trading update today.

Kantar Worldpanel said Tesco, Asda and Morrisons allsaw total sales fall - by 2.7 percent, 3.5 percent and 2.6 per-cent respectively - and all lost market share to Aldi and Lidl,which grew sales by 13.3 percent and 18.5 percent respec-tively. — Reuters

Sainsbury’s leads ‘big four’

fightback against discounters

BALI: Indonesian fishermen unload a fresh catch of fish at Kedonganan beach near Kuta onIndonesia’s resort island of Bali yesterday. The World Bank maintained its growth forecast forIndonesia’s economy at 4.7 per cent for 2015, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast of5.3 per cent for 2016. — AFP

B U S I N E S SWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

LONDON: Stocks rose in Europe yesterday,lifted by a recovery in oil prices, but after aslump in crude to a fresh 12-year low and adramatic surge in offshore Chinese yuandeposit rates had earlier rattled investors.

Weak British industrial production figureswere the latest in a line of economic datathat suggests interest rates in the devel-oped world may not rise as quickly as hadbeen thought. The prospect of easier cen-tral bank policy for longer also supportedthe stock bounce.

A rally in the European retail sector ledby strong seasonal updates from British

companies pulled the FTSEuroFirst 300 upfrom a three-month low. The index was lastup 1.5 percent, on for its biggest rise in overtwo weeks.

US futures pointed to a rise of around 0.5percent at the open on Wall Street, havingearlier indicated a fall of around 0.3 percent.“There is a notion, perhaps misplaced, thatoil may find a floor at present levels as it’salready down 17 percent so far this year,”said Brenda Kelly, head analyst at LondonCapital Group.

“The cheap and easy money is not hereto stay but it seems it may be here for some

time yet. A combination of bargain huntingand technical buying is also contributing.”

At 1230 GMT Britain’s FTSE 100 was up1.6 percent, and Germany ’s DAX andFrance’s CAC 40 both rose 2.1 percent.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacificshares outside Japan fell 0.3 percent andwas just shy of its lowest level in four years.It is down more than 9 percent since thestart of 2016. Japan’s Nikkei closed 2.7 per-cent lower at its lowest level in almost a year.

CHINA WHIRLWith investors still licking their wounds

from last year’s plunge in global com-modity prices and a sharp sell-off inChinese markets, 2016 has broughtmore pain for investment portfolios inthe form of a deepening slowdown inthe global economy and volatileChinese markets. Beijing set anotherfirm fix for its currency, eliminating thegap between offshore and onshoreyuan exchange rates. This was done byencouraging state banks to buy upyuan in Hong Kong, driving up theovernight deposit rate fixing to 66.8percent.

“China is continuing to instil adegree of stability after the sharpvolatil ity at the beginning of themonth by announcing stable to firmerfixings,” said Mitul Kotecha, currencystrategist at Barclays in Singapore.“Tighter liquidity has contributed to asqueeze on long USD/CNH positionsand will mean investors are wary ofshorting CNH in the near term,” hesaid.

The weakness in commodities sincethe start of the year showed glimmersof dissipating. Brent and US crudefutures both slumped to new 12-yearlows, flirting with a break below $30 abarrel , before moving back above $31.The bearish dynamics of slow demand

and oversupply that have rocked oilthis year also weighed on copper,pushing the industrial base metaldown for the fifth day in a row to afresh 6-1/2-year low of $4,354 a ton.

Sterling was the big mover in cur-rencies, falling below $1.45 for the firsttime since June 2010 after figuresshowed UK industrial production sur-prisingly fell in November at the fastestpace in almost three years.

The pound was last down 0.8 per-cent at $1.4420. Economists at JPMorgan pushed back their forecast forthe Bank of England’s first post-crisisrate hike by six months to November2016.

The US dollar recovered groundagainst the euro and yen, trading at117.75 yen while the euro was chang-ing hands at $1.0855. Money marketfutures are starting to price out thechance of multiple rate hikes by theFederal Reserve this year, with only aroughly 50 percent chance of a secondhike priced in. At the start of the year,futures were fully pricing in two rateincreases. The market is far from con-vinced that the Fed is going to raiserates in March, after implementing itsfirst rate hike in almost a decade onlylast month. — Reuters

Shares recover as Europe shrugs off China market surge

KUALA LUMPUR: A worker (center) pours natural rubber blocks for sale into a basketat a shop in Pahang, outside Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Natural rubber is used exten-sively in many applications and products, either alone or in combination with othermaterials. In most of its useful forms, it has a large stretch ratio and high resilience,and is extremely waterproof. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

B U S I N E S S

LONDON: After years of building up diesel pro-duction, European oil refiners are using everytrick in the book to maximize gasoline output tomeet unabated global demand as the two fuelsstage a sharp reversal of fortune.

Many operators on the continent, includingTotal, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil,have invested hundreds of millions of dollarsover the past decade to increase production ofdiesel, the road fuel of choice in the region,while seeking to lower gasoline output, seen asa mere “by-product” of that process until recent-ly.

But today the world faces a growing excessof diesel and spectacular demand in Asia andthe United States for gasoline and naphtha, afeedstock for plastic manufacturing.

While oil refineries cannot maintain high out-put of gasoline without also ramping up dieselproduction, they are now taking every possiblestep to tweak production in order to favor gaso-line and naphtha.

One such step is using as feedstock lightercrude oil grades with higher yields of gasolineand naphtha. For example, light Nigerian crudeprices have outperformed heavier grades Somerefineries have also opted to lower operatinglevels, or runs, in diesel producing units known

as hydrocrackers. In recent weeks, as naphthacracks surged to record levels, some refinershave tweaked the distillation boiling tempera-ture, or “cut point”, in order to favor naphthaover kerosene and jet fuel, according to refinerysources and traders.

The results are already showing-yields ofmiddle distillates, which include gasoil anddiesel, dropped to around 50 percent inDecember, date from industry monitorEuroilstock showed, the lowest in around 6years.

“We expect European refiners to do all sortsof things... They are already doing this as themarket is sending such strong signals. We willsee fractions pulled out of the diesel pool andmoved into jet and we will see naphtha frac-tions taken out of jet and moved into lightends,” according to Robert Campbell, head of oilproducts research at consultancy EnergyAspects.

Benchmark European gasoline refining mar-gins, or cracks, rose to around $15 a barrel thisweek-nearly three times higher than a year agoand ten times above 2013 levels-as demand inChina and Asia for the road fuel remains unabat-ed. Diesel cracks, on the other hand, have lan-guished due to rising global production, slower

demand and a mild winter that has filled stor-age tanks to the brim.

The small changes in refining slates are hav-ing an incremental effect. A 1 percent swing inyields could lower Europe’s diesel production bymore than 250,000 tons per month, accordingto Campbell.

“It is not enough by itself to right the marketbut would help a little bit. A similar develop-ment in the U.S. Gulf Coast would shave another150,000-200,000 tons off the balance and thatstarts to have a pretty significant effect on theoverall number of cargoes being shown.”

The global shortage in gasoline is expectedto continue this year too. “With new refineryadditions less tailored towards light productsand increasing demand for petrol in Asia, itappears increasingly likely that the market couldfind itself short of gasoline again as it did overthe summer of 2015,” Barclays said in a note.

In the near term, the sharp decline in crudeoil prices due to a persistent supply glut is likelyto support refining margins but Energy Aspect’sCampbell expects “modest” cuts in refining ratesin both Europe and the United States. Oncecrude supplies tighten towards the end of theyear, “that support will go away and margins willreally struggle,” he said. — Reuters

ATHENS: Canadian mining company EldoradoGold said yesterday it is suspending work at a sitein Greece and laying off 600 workers followingprotests by local residents and a spat with thecountry’s leftwing government.

The Vancouver, Canada-based company said itwas halting operations at a gold mine at Skouries,on the Halkidiki peninsula, one of four major Greeksites where the company is involved.

CEO Paul Wright said a further 500 jobs werealso likely to be cut later in the year. Wrightaccused the government of holding up permitsand using the mining project as a “political toy” butinsisted the company had no plans to pull out ofGreece and hoped to restart work at Skouries at alater date.

“It’s not dissimilar to building a kitchen and put-ting in the floor and furniture but not beingallowed to put in a wall and roof over it. It’s a bit sil-ly,” Wright told a news conference in Athens. Wrightsaid his company had invested $700 million (645million euros) and created 2,000 jobs, but addedthat it was willing to negotiate royalty paymentsfor gold being extracted that were not included inthe original agreements made with the Greek state.

Elected a year ago, the leftwing governmenthas expressed support for resident protest groupsnear Skouries who oppose the project on environ-mental grounds and fears it will hurt local tourism.The protests included road blockades, violent con-frontations with police and a 2013 arson attack on

Eldorado facilities at Skouries. EnvironmentMinister Panos Skoutletis said Wright had made theannouncement after rescheduling meetings withthe government for later in the week. “ TheCanadian company is trying to change facts on the

ground - that is provocative behavior,” he said.“The government will not be blackmailed. The

decisions it takes will be based on public interest,environmental protection, and will be taken afterstudying all the facts.” — AP

Europe refiners rush to make more gasoline

Refiners tweak crude oil feedstocks as diesel languishes

BANGKOK: Thailand’s government will buy rub-ber directly from farmers at prices of up to 60baht a kilogram, nearly double the market price,in a bid to placate increasingly disgruntled farm-ers as prices dip to a seven-year low, the cabinetsaid yesterday.

The cabinet did not guarantee a price for 60baht ($1.65) per kilogram (2.2 lb), as demandedby some rubber farmers groups, but said it wouldpurchase up to 200,000 tons of rubber at up to 60baht a kilo. The government has been anxious tohead off protests from rubber farmers in parts ofthe south, who traditionally form part of the sup-port base for the ruling royalist-military elite.Some rubber farmers supported anti-govern-ment protests in 2014, leading to a military coupousting the previous government.

Yesterday’s announcement follows protestsand hunger strikes by some groups, who say not

enough is being done to help farmers hit by aslowing demand for natural rubber as the econo-my cools in China, the world’s top rubberimporter. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha hasdirected state agencies and ministries to usemore Thai rubber, saying around 100,000 tons ofrubber will be used for projects this year.Thailand, the world’s top rubber producer andexporter, currently uses around 1.4 million tons ofthe 4 million tons of rubber it produces each year.The government also said yesterday it wouldhelp farmers by distributing 4 million bags rice tosome 800,000 rubber farming households. Thecommerce ministry said it would also negotiatewith overseas buyers to purchase about 3.6 bil-lion baht ($99.12 million) worth of rubber fromThailand this year. But some want the govern-ment to intervene faster and guarantee all pricesat 60 baht. — Reuters

Thai govt will buy rubber at up to $1.65 per kg from farmers

LONDON: British industrial output suf-fered its sharpest fall in almost two yearsin November and retail spending disap-pointed over Christmas, denting hopesthat the economy bounced back from amid-year slowdown at the end of 2015.

Sterling fell to a 5-1/2-year lowagainst the dollar after industrial pro-duction dropped unexpectedly asunusually mild weather curbed demandfor heating gas and factory output con-tracted for a second month in a row. The0.7 percent month-on-month fall in pro-duction was the steepest since January2013, official statisticians said.

Britain has been one of the fastest-growing big advanced economies in theworld for the last couple of years. But it

has relied heavily on domesticallyfocused services and consumer spend-ing for growth, frustrating hopes for abetter-balanced recovery.

Adding to a sense that the economymight struggle to exceed the tepid 0.4percent expansion seen in the thirdquarter of 2015, retail spending over thecrucial Christmas period was “disap-pointing”, the British Retail Consortiumsaid.

J P Morgan said it now expects theBank of England’s Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC) to wait until the finalmonths of the year before hiking inter-est rates from record-low levels.

“This ... report is the straw that breaksthe camel’s back,” J P Morgan economist

Malcolm Barr said. “Recent disappoint-ment in the pay data and the drop in oilprices had already put our call for theMPC to raise rates in May at risk.” The BoEwill publish its first monetary policydecision of the year on Thursday.Economists do not expect any change tothe 8-1 majority of policymakers whowant to keep rates on hold. Comparedwith a year ago, industrial output was up0.9 percent, the weakest annual growthsince July, while manufacturing outputwas 1.2 percent lower than November2014.

The Office for National Statistics saidindustrial production would have to rise0.5 percent on the month in Decemberto prevent the sector exerting a drag on

economic growth in the fourth quarter.December’s weather was as unsea-

sonably mild as in November, whenelectricity and gas consumption sank2.1 percent on a seasonally adjustedbasis, the biggest monthly drop sinceApril.

Separately, British retail spendingover the Christmas holidays recorded itsweakest quarterly growth in more thana year as stores competed to offer dis-counts, the BRC said.

Retail spending rose by 0.9 percentin the three months to December com-pared with a year earlier, the slowestcalendar quarter of growth since thethird quarter of 2014.

Price-cutting by retailers and low oil

prices are likely to drag further on infla-tion, which has been stuck in a narrowrange of between plus and minus 0.1percent since February,

Data from market researcher KantarWorldpanel also showed no Christmasuplift for the British grocery market,with Sainsbury’s the only one of the fourmajor firms to grow sales.

Instead, Britons seem to be spendingmore on eating and drinking outsidethe home. The hospitality sector ledgrowth in consumer spending inDecember, according to from paymentcard provider Visa Europe, whoseupbeat figures on Monday contrastedwith a more downbeat message fromother parts of the economy. — Reuters

UK industrial output drops sharply in November

BEIJING: A woman plays cards with other investors at a brokerage house in Beijing yesterday. Chinese stocks seesawed yesterdayas worries lingered over the country’s financial markets and economic outlook, fueling volatility in other Asian benchmarks. — AP

Canada mining firm halts some works, cuts jobs in Greece

LONDON: British energy major BP said yes-terday that it will axe more than 4,000 jobsworldwide over the next two years inresponse to collapsing oil prices. The compa-ny said in a statement that it would “reduceBP upstream staff globally from 24,000 tosomewhere below 20,000 by year-end 2017”.

The cutbacks will include 600 job losses atBP’s North Sea activities. London-listed ener-gy giant BP had already slashed 4,000 jobslast year as it prepared for a prolonged periodof low prices. Brent North Sea crude pricestumbled to fresh 12-year lows yesterday andhave shed more than 15 percent so far thisyear. The oil market had plunged by 35 per-cent in 2015, its third consecutive annualdecline, plagued by chronic oversupply.

Mark Thomas, regional president for BPNorth Sea, said that “given the well-docu-mented challenges of operating in thismaturing region and in toughening marketconditions, we need to take specific steps toensure our business remains competitive androbust”.

“An inevitable outcome of this will be animpact on headcount and we expect a reduc-tion of around 600 staff and agency contrac-tor roles by the end of 2017, with the majorityof these taking place this year,” he added.

Oil slumped under $31 per barrel yester-day on global oversupply, prompting OPECmember Nigeria to call for an emergencymeet to address collapsing prices that hasravaged revenues and hurt the profits ofenergy majors. BP stressed yesterday that it is“committed to the North Sea”.

The group said it would invest about $2billion of capital into North Sea projects thisyear. “This will sustain many hundreds of sup-ply chain contractor jobs going forward,” itadded.

British production of oil and gas rose in2015 for the first time in 15 years but maystruggle to maintain the performance amidlow energy prices. Output is expected to haverisen by as much as eight percent last yearafter a strong first 10 months, industry bodyOil and Gas UK said last week. — AFP

BP to axe 4,000 jobs globally

BEIJING: Vehicle sales in China, the world’slargest car market, increased at their slowestpace in three years in 2015, industry groupdata showed yesterday, as slowing growthand volatile stock markets hit demand.

A total of 24.60 million cars were sold lastyear, up 4.7 percent from 2014, according tothe China Association of AutomobileManufacturers (CAAM). That was down froma 6.9 percent rise in 2014 and marked theslowest growth since 2012 when salesincreased by 4.3 percent, previous CAAM fig-ures showed. CAAM secretary general DongYang estimated that purchase restrictionsimposed in big cities pulled auto salesgrowth down by up to eight percentagepoints, while extraordinary swings in thecountry’s stock markets were responsible fora two percentage point drop.

“The 2015 car market downturn was tosome extent accidental,” Dong wrote in anarticle on CAAM’s website. Looking forward,“those factors should improve clearly and theauto market will not grow as slowly as in2015”, he added. Sales may gain around sixpercent this year to top 26 million units,CAAM said yesterday, according toBloomberg News. The market is crucial to for-eign auto makers, some of whom postedstrong sales last year despite the overall slow-down in growth.

US auto giant General Motors delivered a

record 3.61 million vehicles in China in 2015,up 5.2 percent from the previous high in2014, according to the company, China’s topforeign auto maker by sales.

The numbers put it ahead of German rivalVolkswagen, which is struggling with a globalscandal over emissions cheating. VolkswagenChina delivered 3.55 million vehicles to cus-tomers in the Chinese mainland as well asHong Kong, it said on Monday.

Ford, another US car maker, set a recordfor sales in China in 2015, reaching 1.12 mil-lion vehicles, up three percent on the previ-ous year, the company said. China’s autoindustry felt the pinch of the country’s slow-ing economic growth last year, with produc-ers scaling back output and media reports ofunusually long holidays at factories anddecreased bonuses and overtime pay forworkers.

Economic growth hit a 24-year low of 7.3percent in 2014 and slowed further last year,weakening to 6.9 percent in the July-September period. A spectacular rally inChinese shares in the first half of 2015 attract-ed huge flows of funds into the stock mar-kets, much of which became locked up in anensuing rout, hitting consumers’ budgets anddampening demand for cars. To prop up theauto industry, the government cut purchasetaxes by half on cars with small engines fromOctober 1. — AFP

China 2015 auto sales growthhits three-year low

A bulldozer works at the site of a gold mine in Skouries village, northern Greece.Canadian mining company Eldorado Gold said yesterday it is suspending work at thesite and laying off 600 workers following protests by local residents and a spat withthe country’s left wing government. — AP

B U S I N E S SWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

DUBAI: As part of its transforma-tion into an auto and mobility com-pany, Ford is introducing FordPass -a platform that reimagines the rela-tionship between automaker andconsumer. FordPass aims to do forcar owners what iTunes did formusic fans.

FordPass members can talk topersonal mobility assistants -FordGuides - night or day to helpresolve their mobility challenges,whether finding a more efficientway to get around or booking park-ing before reaching their destina-tion. Members can also reserve andpay for advance parking, virtuallybuild their ideal vehicle at one ofseveral FordHubs, and receiverewards for FordPass membershiployalty.

“Ford always has been motivat-ed to make people’s lives better,”said Mark Fields, Ford president andCEO. “We did it when we put theworld on wheels a century ago andwe do it now through our stronglineup of cars, SUVs, trucks andelectrified vehicles. Today, we takeour commitment one step furtherwith the introduction of FordPass -an all-new platform that may beour most revolutionary yet.”

A FordPass membership is freefor Ford vehicle owners and non-

owners alike. The platform officiallylaunches in April.

FordPass is part of Ford SmartMobility, the plan to take the com-pany to the next level in connectivi-ty, mobility, autonomous vehicles,the customer experience, and dataand analytics.

“As we’ve studied the mobilitychallenges people face, wedesigned FordPass to help provideservices that make consumers’ liveseasier,” said Fields. “FordPass is real-ly about listening to people’s needsand developing ways to help them

move better.”FordPass features four elements

to benefit members: The market-place includes mobility services;FordGuides help consumers movemore efficiently ; appreciation,where members are recognised for

their loyalty; and FordHubs, whereconsumers can experience Ford’slatest innovations.

MarketplaceAll FordPass members will have

access to a marketplace of mobilityservices.

Ford is working with ParkWhizand Parkopedia in the US to helppeople find and pay for parkingmore easily, and FlightCar to borrowand share vehicles when they travel.In the future, services will includeride sharing, car sharing, multi-

modal transportation and more.Members can pay for these servicesthrough FordPay - a virtual walletthat is part of FordPass.

“FordPass is about convenience,”said Stephen Odell, Ford executivevice president, Global Marketing,

Sales and Service. “We’re connect-ing consumers with the world, mak-ing it all incredibly easy.”

Ford owners can easily connectwith their preferred dealer to sched-ule maintenance and serviceappointments or to review theirFord Credit vehicle finance accountdetails.

Members who own Ford vehiclesequipped with SYNC(r) Connect canuse FordPass to access vehicle fea-tures such as remote start; lock andunlock; fuel, oil levels and batterycharge; tyre pressure readings; and

to locate their vehicle.

FordGuidesNo one wants to be just a num-

ber. That’s why FordPass memberscan speak directly to trusted andknowledgeable FordGuides - all atthe touch of a button. For example,if a member decides he would liketo book advance parking for anupcoming show but is unsure howto reserve it, one push of a buttonon his smartphone lands him in alive chat with a FordGuide who willlead him through the options andhelp to reserve parking.

The guides will be available freeof charge. Their only job is to guide,serve and help solve mobility chal-lenges - not to sell.

Appreciation and FordPass PerksFordPass Perks is about making

mobility more rewarding - no mat-ter the journey. FordPass memberswill be rewarded for doing simplethings, such as registering tobecome a member, booking park-ing, or interacting with FordGuides.And by collaborating with affinitypartners McDonald’s, 7-Eleven andothers, FordPass can recognizemembers with access to merchan-dise and unique experiences.

“We’re engaging with our cus-tomers - and our potential cus-tomers - aiming to make everyinteraction with the Ford brand apositive experience,” said ElenaFord, Ford vice president, GlobalDealer and Consumer Experience.“We want consumers to know howmuch we appreciate them, and withFordPass, we’re taking loyalty a stepfurther.”

FordHubsFordPass also includes the open-

ing of FordHubs, where consumerswill be able to explore Ford’s latestinnovations, learn about the com-pany’s mobility services and experi-ence exclusive events. These urbanstorefronts will be located in NewYork, San Francisco, London andShanghai. The first opens later thisyear in Westfield World Trade Centrein New York.

On-site FordGuides will helpguests understand mobility optionsavailable in their cities, explore solu-tions for their mobility needs, view areal-time mobility map of their city,and experience special events,including new vehicle reveals.

“These aren’t places where we’retrying to sell something,” said Odell.“We want to hear people’s thoughts,and we want to show them whatwe’re doing to solve the transporta-tion issues of today and tomorrow -and not just in their city, but aroundthe world.”

FordPass launches this spring inthe United States and Canada, fol-lowed by other markets includingEurope, China and Brazil later thisyear. FordPass capability is activatedthrough smartphones. Consumerscan sign up for more informationand updates at MyFordPass.com.

Ford transforms into auto, mobility company, introduces FordPass

PARIS: Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier (L) listens to Airbus Chief OperatingOfficer Customers John Leahy during the company’s annual press confer-ence in Paris yesterday. Airbus said yesterday aircraft orders dropped in2015 from a year earlier, but were still way ahead its US rival Boeing. —AFP

PARIS: European planemaker Airbus beatBoeing in the race for new business lastyear, swelling its total order book to arecord $1 trillion, but remained behind ondeliveries as Boeing extended its lead asthe world’s largest jetmaker. The planemak-ing division of Airbus Group grabbed 1,036net plane orders after cancellations, it saidyesterday, down 29 percent from 2014,compared with Boeing’s tally of 768, a fallof 46 percent.

Both planemakers experienced a slow-down after two years of heavy orders, andamid concerns over the impact of econom-ic jitters and low oil prices on demand forfuel-saving jets.

Despite that, deliveries of popular mod-els grew, reflecting industry forecasts ofpersistent growth in traffic. Airbus hit acompany record of 635 deliveries and pre-dicted over 650 in 2016, with new ordersagain exceeding deliveries.

Boeing said last week its deliveries rose5 percent to 762 jets, an industry record.Combined deliveries came in a whiskerbelow 1,400, having doubled in the pastdecade, and Airbus planemaking chiefFabrice Bregier said the latest data showedthe market was “resilient”.

Airlines “do not expect oil prices to staylow forever,” he said. However, Airbusdropped to its lowest overall share of deliv-eries against Boeing - 45 percent - since2002, and its lowest share of wide-bodydeliveries - 35 percent - since 2001, after itsrival pumped up deliveries of its 787Dreamliner.

Airbus expects to close the gap with itscompeting A350, but deliveries have start-ed gently due to industry-wide cabin sup-ply problems and the European firm’sdetermination to avoid a repeat of industri-al problems that beset Boeing’s 787 and itsown A380.

Airbus argued deliveries were about thesame as Boeing’s, disregarding differencesof timing between increases in productionof the latest generation of lightweight jets.

In a boost to the slow-selling A380, theworld’s largest passenger jet, Airbus said ithad won an order for three of the double-deckers from a “global leading airline”. Thatfell to a net total of two orders for the year,after a cancellation linked to the restructur-ing of bankrupt Russian airline Transaero,industry sources said.

Japan’s Nikkei reported this monthJapan’s biggest carrier ANA Holdings Inc(9202.T) was set to buy three of the jets.

As planemakers target further produc-tion increases, tensions meanwhile sur-faced between Airbus and some top sup-pliers. Sales chief John Leahy blamed USengine maker Pratt & Whitney for a delay inthe first delivery of the new A320neo, whileBregier publicly told France’s ZodiacAerospace to pull up its socks followingseat production delays.

“Yes it is a message,” he told a newsconference. Airbus missed its target for 15A350 deliveries in 2015 by one plane aftershortages in cabin equipment. It expectsto deliver “at least 50” of the new jets in2016. —Reuters

Airbus beats Boeing in 2015 order race, lags on deliveries

ABU DHABI: Etihad Airways, the nationalairline of the United Arab Emirates, deliv-ered solid operational performance in2015 by achieving continued growth inpassenger and cargo volumes.

The airline carried 17.4 million passen-gers last year, a significant increase of 17per cent over 2014 levels, and operated97,400 flights which covered 467 millionkilometres. The growth in passengerdemand continued to surpass the airline’scapacity increase, underscoring thestrength of its long-term growth strategy.

In total, Etihad Airways carried morethan 75 per cent of the total passengerswho travelled to and from Abu DhabiInternational Airport in 2015. With theaddition of the airline’s equity partnersthat operate flights into the UAE capital,the combined total rises to 84 per cent ofpassenger traff ic at Abu DhabiInternational Airport.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ Presidentand Chief Executive Officer, said: “In 2015,we were able to bring new competitivechoice to millions of travellers, throughour award-winning services and throughthe growing networks of our equity part-ners. No airline group is doing more tostimulate new competition in the aviationindustry.”

Etihad Airways introduced six addition-al destinations to its global route networkin 2015, with new fl ights to Kolkata,Madrid, Edinburgh, Entebbe, Hong Kong,and Dar es Salaam, and a new direct serv-ice to Brisbane.

Last year also saw Etihad Airways’ fleetboosted with the deployment of theBoeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which enteredcommercial ser vice on routes toWashington DC, Zurich, Singapore andBrisbane. The Airbus A380 network wasexpanded with a second ser vice toLondon Heathrow and new flights to

Sydney and New York. This year, the airline will commence its

third daily A380 ser vice to LondonHeathrow, and will add two new A380destinations of Mumbai and Melbourne,while the Boeing 787 will start flying tofive new cities, namely D¸sseldorf, Perth,Shanghai, Istanbul and Johannesburg.

Etihad Airways increased frequencieson 16 existing routes across the world in2015. These were Bangkok, Chennai,Dammam, Delhi, Hong Kong, Hyderabad,Istanbul, Jeddah, Kochi, Kozhikode,Melbourne, Mumbai, Muscat, Seychelles,Tehran and Trivandrum.

Complementing its organic growth, theairline also expanded its codeshare andequity partnerships last year. These part-nerships delivered more than five millionpassengers onto Etihad Airways’ flights, anincrease of 43 per cent over the 3.5 millionpassengers in 2014.

A new codeshare agreement waslaunched with Pakistan InternationalAirlines (PIA), while Etihad Airways’ exist-ing codeshares with Air Serbia, AmericanAirlines, flynas, Jet Airways, Korean Air,NIKI and S7 Airlines were significantlyexpanded. As a result, Etihad Airways nowoffers a combined passenger and cargonetwork of nearly 600 destinationsthrough its 197 interline and 49 codesharepartnerships.

In April 2015, the airline obtained regu-latory approval from Switzerland’s FederalOffice of Civil Aviation, FOCA, to finalise a33.3 per cent investment in the Swissregional carrier, Darwin Airline.

In June, Dar win Airl ine, trading asEtihad Regional, became the latest addi-tion to Etihad Airways’ equity partnersnetwork, which also includes airberlin, AirSerbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia, Jet Airwaysand Virgin Australia. Etihad Airways’ equitypartnerships represent the seventh largest

global grouping of airlines, together flyingmore than 100 million guests.

Etihad Airways also reported strongcargo volumes for 2015, with 592,090tonnes of freight and mail flown in total, afour per cent increase year-on-year. Theairline accounted for 88 per cent of cargoimports, exports and transfers at AbuDhabi International Airport last year.

During 2015, Etihad Cargo enhanced itsglobal reach by offering bellyhold capaci-ty on Etihad Airways’ six new passengerdestinations, bringing to 96 the total num-ber of passenger destinations on whichcargo services are currently provided.Etihad Cargo also expanded its freighterservices to several new markets includingDakar, Nouakchott and Douala, bringingthe number of freighter-only destinationsoperated to 20.

Etihad Airways’ fleet consisted of 121aircraft at the end of 2015 (+9 per centyear-on-year), with an average age of 5.8years - one of the youngest and mostenvironmentally-friendly in the industry.The airline took delivery of 11 Airbus (fourA380s, six A321s and one A320) and fourBoeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft in 2015,while further leased capacity was alsoadded.

To support the next phase of its globalnetwork expansion, Etihad Airways willreceive 10 aircraft deliveries this year,including five Boeing 787-9s, three A380sand two Boeing 777-200 Freighters.

Hogan said: “We enter 2016 with confi-dence as a stronger, more dynamic airlinethat will continue to support the evolu-tion of Abu Dhabi as a global aviation hub.

“We continue to face challenges, notleast the protectionism of the majorAmerican and European legacy carriers.We will continue to fight to bring newcompetitive choice to travellers aroundthe world.”

Etihad Airways delivers another year of strong growth in 2015 PARIS: French President Francois Hollande (right) delivers a speech during

an event to mark the bicentenary of the Caisse des Depots et Consignations(CDC), a French financial organization created in 1816, at the Grand Palais inParis, yesterday. — AFP

DUBAI/LONDON: Mubasher, the leadingMiddle East and North Africa (MENA) news,market data and technology provider, yester-day launched a joint product with DowJones, the world’s leading provider of real-time financial news and publisher of The WallStreet Journal.

Mubasher Dow Jones Newswire, providesa constant watch on corporate develop-ments and financial markets in MENA andoffers a unique insight into the region’seconomies, offering fresh ideas for invest-ment decision-making, research and trading.

The English language newswire combinesdetailed regional coverage with globalreporting and analysis of topics includingeconomics, business and companies. Theservice includes commentary and analysis ofpublic, private and state-owned enterprises,as well as coverage of regional stock marketactivity, government privatisations andbudgetary moves; economic trends andinfrastructure tenders.

The Mubasher Dow Jones newswire isavailable to financial professionals throughsubscription via Mubasher’s new MENA mar-ket intelligence platform, Decyphawww.decypha.com

“Our partnership with Dow Jones is thedirect result of feedback from financial pro-fessionals, requesting a single, focusednewswire on the MENA region which alsoincludes the key global macroeconomicnews” said Yousef Rafayah, General Manager,Mubasher Media. “The Mubasher Dow JonesNewswire aims to become a must-have forMENA investors by providing high qualitybreaking news first, coupled with a deepinsight on markets and companies”.

“Our global business and economic newswill help to bring context to the valuablecontent from Mubasher, allowing Decyphacustomers to make timely and informed

investment decisions. We are excited tobegin this partnership.” said Jason Malatesta,Head of Partners and Alliances at Dow Jones.

“A high percentage of financial marketnews across the MENA region will break inArabic first, but it is highly important forinvestors to have an English news sourcethat covers this in a timely and accurate way”said Dr. Fadi Khalaf Secretary General at TheArab Federation of Exchanges.

DirectFN, a wholly owned subsidiary ofNational Technology Group (NTG), specializesin providing solutions ranging from desktopinformation workstations, transaction systemsand order management systems through tototal end to end solutions. DirectFN(tm) prod-ucts are deployed in some of the largest finan-cial institutions across the Middle East andSouth Asia. DirectFN is also a provider ofexchange information to institutions via directfeeds or its workstation, which includes refer-ence data, charting tools and other contentrequired by both the professional and retailinvestment community in the Middle Eastand global investment community.

DirectFN has recently launched a newversion of Decypha, a cost effective financialintelligence platform offering world classexclusive news wire (Mubasher Dow Jones),real time market data and a deep insight oncompanies, sectors and markets of the MENAregion and beyond. It has been designed tohelp professional investors to find and assessnew investment opportunities and makeinformed decisions easier and faster.

DirectFN also cater to the needs of theInvestment and Brokerage communitieswith a single platform, PRO10, to view real-time prices and related information for multi-ple asset classes. PRO10 covers a broadrange of markets from US to Europe, MiddleEast, Africa and Asia with the ability to focuson the different dynamics of local markets.

Mubasher launches MubasherDow Jones newswire

T E C H NOLO G YWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

By Ovanes Mikhailov

Have you noticed that the modernoffice space is no longer just abuilding with windows, desks

and a ceiling? With various automationsystems becoming commonplace, theoffice has essentially become a hugecybernetic organism. All sorts of engi-neering and logistical solutions, sensorsand controllers encompass technolo-gies providing access control, video sur-veillance, climate control, water supply,lighting, fire extinguishing, elevatorcontrol, etc.

This same system can also, to someextent, control information and commu-nications technologies, monitor thestate of communication channels,restrict employee access to undesirableInternet resources, and block file down-loads by size and type. All of these solu-tions, sensors and controllers are tiedtogether into a sophisticated telecom-munications network that has a singlecontrol center - a server or any moderncomputer with specialized softwareproviding support for all the relevantprotocols.

These systems are designed to createand maintain comfortable working con-ditions for the company’s employees, aswell as provide a more centralized and

less complicated process for managingthese technologies. These systems alsohelp to improve efficiency. For example,the early detection of a gas or waterleak by the system’s sensors couldreduce company’s costs significantly.

A study carried out by Allied MarketResearch found the market for smartbuilding systems is evolving and grow-ing rapidly. The research company fore-casts that the market will grow by 29.5%by 2020 and reach a volume of $35.3 bil-lion. This means that more and moreoffice buildings will be built based uponthese principles.

But have you ever considered yoursmart office from an IT security view-point? Did it occur to you that by equip-ping your office with devices designedto provide life’s comforts, cybercriminalsare handed even more opportunity togain access to your corporate informa-tion and even to cause physical dam-age?

It makes no difference in this contextwhether you are renting an office orhave a smart building of your own.Incidentally, the size of your businessand its area of work does not mattereither, because your company may beof interest to cybercriminals both on itsown and as a stepping-stone for attacksagainst your partners.

Weak Spot This is because the telecommunica-

tions network used in the system, whilebeing a key element that is essential toits operation, is also the system’s weakspot. It is used for all communicationsbetween the command center and theend devices. The network can use bothwired and wireless technologies (suchas Wi-Fi and Bluetooth). Moreover, thecentral computer itself may have anInternet connection to make manage-ment and control easier. For cybercrimi-nals, this is the primary target, sinceaccess to the command center, or thecorporate network, enables them totake over the entire system.

For example, after gaining access tothe network, cybercriminals can moni-tor the office’s operation using thevideo surveillance system - they mayeven be able to see the information onemployees’ monitors. Taking advantageof the access control system’s vulnera-bilities, criminals can get into the build-ing disguised as employees withoutattracting anyone’s attention. After all,the security service does not necessarilyknow all employees by sight. Takingcontrol of other life-support systemscan seriously undermine the office’secosystem, to the point of making work

impossible. This can result in downtime,missed deadlines, damage to propertyand other financial losses.

This is why a multi-tier, comprehen-sive approach to IT security is a must. Itis essential that security is not limited toprotecting corporate resources internal-ly using IT security solutions on employ-ees’ endpoints. It is crucial to providereliable protection for all elements ofthe smart building management systemthat are connected to your corporatesystem in any way.

Embedded Solutions With the market for embedded solu-

tions evolving at such a pace, some ven-dors are now looking to develop spe-cialized technologies to cater for thisgrowing market. Kaspersky Lab forexample is developing an embeddedsecure operating system. Specifically,one of its components, KasperskySecurity System, is already available inthe market as an embedded OEM solu-tion. The component can be built intoany real-time operating system, provid-ing security for operations performedunder that operating system.

The operating system itself can bebuilt directly into controllers and sen-sors used in smart building systems. Allof these end devices are microcomput-

ers that need protection as much asother computers that are better knownto the world. Since conventional securi-ty tools cannot be installed on suchdevices, a specialized solution imple-mented as a secure operating systemcan provide security of smart buildingsystems at the end device level, safe-guarding the company against cyberat-tacks that use the system as an entrypoint into the company’s corporate net-work.

NOTE: Ovanes Mikhailov is theManaging Director in the Middle Eastof Kaspersky Lab

Don’t be afraid of the dark: Pitfalls of the smart office bold

LAS VEGAS: The EHang 184 autonomous aerial vehicle is unveiled at the EHang booth at CES International on Jan 6, 2016. The drone is largeenough to fit a human passenger. — AP

LAS VEGAS: If you’re used to thinking of dronesas a passing fad, last week’s CES gadget showshould give you second thoughts. Tiny, self-piloted copters promise to buzzily follow youaround like something out of a Neal Stephensoncyberpunk novel. New drones that could findlost wilderness adventurers or help them see outabove treetops; others purport to carry a humanpassenger at the touch of a button.

None of this, of course, will be happeningovernight. Limited battery life means that manycommercial models can’t fly for more thanabout 20 minutes at best. Manufacturershaven’t yet figured out the best way to keepmany tiny drones where they ought to be, giventhat GPS positioning sucks too much power fortheir minuscule batteries. Obstacle avoidancesystems that would let small drones pilot them-selves are still under development. And loom-ing over the entire field are new governmentrules intended to keep people safe, but whichmay also slow innovation.

So far, none of those obstacles are slowingdown an industry that appears to be in full lift-off. The Consumer Technology Association esti-mates that US consumer drone spending willmore than double to $953 million next year. ABIResearch believes the global market for droneswill hit $8.4 billion in 2018, with users rangingfrom the military and oil companies to farmers,journalists, and backyard tinkerers.

As drone capabilities continue to grow,drones may become a mass-market product foraverage consumers in about three years, saysPatrick Moorhead, principal analyst of researchfirm Moor Insights & Strategy. “You should beable to get a drone that can effectively followyou, not run into things, and find things on itsown,” he says. “That’s pretty cool.”

That’s assuming, of course, that you’re notcommuting to work in one. At CES, Chinesemanufacturer Ehang Inc unveiled a large dronethat it said can carry a human passenger atspeeds of up to 60 miles an hour. The four-armed quadcopter has been on more than 100flights, mostly in wooded areas of Guangzhou,according to Chief Marketing Officer DerrickXiong. Some - he didn’t say how many - havecarried a human passenger.

Federal aviation regulators declined to com-ment on Ehang’s human-carrying drone, sayingthe company hasn’t submitted any proposal toauthorities. The Federal Aviation Administrationadvised an Ehang representative at the show tocontact its unmanned aircraft system office.

Smaller ModelsIn contrast with the bigger drones, smaller

ones were also on display. On the small drone

front, Kickstarter-funded Fleye envisions itscamera-bearing flying sphere as a kind of per-sonal videographer that follows you aroundstreet corners; you’ll be able to switch betweensettings such as “selfie”, “panorama” and “virtualtripod”. And because it’s encased in what lookslike a lightweight football helmet, its propellerspose less risk to bystanders. “Instead of doingcollision detection and avoidance, we just makesure if it collides, it won’t hurt,” says CEO LaurentEschenauer.

Toy drone maker Spin Master Inc showed offan augmented-reality game in which kids use areal-life drone to rescue tiny virtual people, putout fires and fight aliens. In essence, they’reinteracting with a virtual world overlaid on thereal world; they can see the virtual elements ona tablet they’re using to control the drone.Robolink Inc. wants you to learn how to pro-gram using its “CoDrone,” a flying electronics kityou can instruct to jump off a table into some-one’s hand with a simple line of code. CEOHansol Hong describes the educational productas “where Khan Academy meets drone”.

But the reach of some small drones stillexceeds their grasp. Companies like San Jose-based UNorth Inc, maker of the Mota; Newark,Delaware-based Onagofly; and South KoreanByRobot Co all said they’re still tweaking the

system needed to make tiny drones weighingless than half a pound follow their owners. Forinstance, ByRobot co-founder James Hong saidits engineers still need several months to modi-fy the way its drone uses wireless Bluetooth andWi-Fi signals. The changes should help maintaina reliable connection to the user’s smartphone,making possible the “follow me” function in theabsence of GPS, which the company considerstoo power-hungry for smaller drones.

With the potential for millions of new flyingobjects buzzing around the country in comingyears, the FAA is working on new drone-safetyrules. By this spring, the agency plans to unveilregulations to allow streamlined approval ofcommercial drone uses, instead of the case-by-case system it uses now. Last month, the FAAbegan requiring registration for drones weigh-ing between about half a pound and 55pounds. Even as they come up with new rules,regulators don’t know exactly where the tech-nology is headed, FAA Administrator MichaelHuerta acknowledged in a speech to CES atten-dees. “This is not going to be a finite process,where one day we sit back and say OK, we’redone,” Huerta said in a speech Wednesday.“Maintaining the highest levels of safetyrequires us to constantly evolve in ourapproach.” —AP

If you think drones are a passing fad, think again

The Hexo+ Your Self-Flying Camera drone is on display at the Hexo+ booth during CESInternational on Jan 7, 2016. The fully autonomous drone has no controller. Using a smartphone app, the user selects how and from what angle you want the drone to take video of youand it will automatically follow you around with its camera.

CHEYENNE, Wyoming: One of the mostpowerful computers in the world dedicatedto climate change, weather and other earthscience research will be replaced in 2017 byan even faster machine, officialsannounced Monday. The Yellowstonesupercomputer in Wyoming currently ranksamong the 60 fastest in the world. The newsupercomputer, to be named Cheyenne,will be at least 2 1/2 times more powerful,the National Center for AtmosphericResearch said.

Capable of 5.3 quadrillion calculations,or petaflops, per second, Cheyenne will besome 100,000 times faster than a typicalhome computer. The speed providesunprecedented detail in climate-changepredictions, including regional modeling ofeffects, the center said. A more powerfulcomputer will allow researchers to seeresults in higher resolution, like a higherdensity of pixels sharpens images on a tele-vision or a stronger telescope brings agreater number of far-off galaxies intofocus, explained Rich Loft, the center’sdirector of technology.

Scientists since 2012 have been usingthe Yellowstone supercomputer nearCheyenne for a range of research that alsoincludes modeling air pollution and oceancurrents. The atmospheric research centerplans to install Cheyenne later this year andput it to work early next year. Questions itmight help answer include:

• Is the California drought a fluke or dueto global climate change?

• Can scientists predict the intensity ofsolar flares - streams of radiation releasedby the sun that can endanger satellites andastronauts - during an upcoming solarcycle?

• How might climate change increasethe likelihood of drought and change the

extent of arctic sea ice from decade todecade?

The Yellowstone computer, located in abusiness park a few miles west ofCheyenne, put Wyoming’s capital on themap as a potential technology hub.Facilities including a huge Microsoft datacenter have set up nearby since the centeropened. The old machine won’t shut downwhen the new one boots up. The comput-ers will be side-by-side for much of nextyear but won’t operate in direct coordina-tion. Time and bandwidth on supercom-puters typically gets divvied up amongresearchers and rarely goes to a single proj-ect at a time. “The machine is usually work-ing on dozens of problems at the sametime in a kind of mix of jobs that are run-ning on it. Some of those jobs might take aquarter of the machine. Others might takeonly 1 percent,” Loft said.

More than 2,200 scientists from morethan 300 universities and federal labs haveused Yellowstone since 2012. Officialsmoved to replace the first Yellowstonecomputer so quickly because of the rapidpace of technology. “Things get better,faster cheaper. That’s the whole story ofcomputers,” Loft said. “Certainly you know,if you have a phone, it starts to feel clunkyafter a few years.” The Cheyenne supercom-puter will be about three times as efficientas Yellowstone, using 90 percent as muchelectricity but taking up to a third as muchspace. The machine will be built byMilpitas, California-based Silicon GraphicsInternational Corp.

The University Corp for AtmosphericResearch, a consortium of more than 100North American universities and colleges,oversees the National Center forAtmospheric Research. Both organizationsare based in Boulder, Colorado.— AP

Replacement in works for climate computer

CHEYENNE, Wyoming: This undated file photo shows the NCAR-WyomingSupercomputing Center (NWSC) “Yellowstone” supercomputer, among the 60 fastestin the world, used to study weather, climate, oceanography, and other areas of earthscience.—AP

Govts urged to support scrambling digital data

SAN FRANCISCO: An open letter posted onMonday by Internet freedom advocatescalled on governments to back toughencryption of digital data to keep people’sinformation private. The letter quickly gath-ered nearly 200 online signatures, includingrenowned computer security specialistBruce Schneier and groups such as theInternet Association and the ElectronicPrivacy Information Center, after it was post-ed at the website securetheinternet.org.“The ability to freely develop and useencryption provides the cornerstone fortoday’s global economy,” the letter said.“Economic growth in the digital age is pow-ered by the ability to trust and authenticateour interactions and communicate and con-duct business securely, both within andacross borders.”

The letter called on governmentsaround the world to reject any policies orsecret deals that limit people’s access topowerful data encryption tools that couldeven shield information from intelligence

gathering agencies. Governments wereurged to spurn any idea of making compa-nies build “backdoors” that they could useto get private data and to not ask for soft-ware “keys” for unscrambling encryptedinformation. “There’s no middle ground onencryption,” TechFreedom’s policy counselTom Struble said in a statement announc-ing that the group signed the letter. “Anyvulnerability imposed for government usecan be exploited by those who seek to doharm.”

Countries considering proposals toundermine data encryption included Britain,China, India, France and the United States,according to TechFreedom. “Encryption andother anonymizing tools and technologiesenable lawyers, journalists, whistleblowersand organizers to communicate freelyacross borders and to work to better theircommunities,” the letter said. “We encourageyou to support the safety and security ofusers by strengthening the integrity of com-munications and systems.” — AFP

Ovanes Mikhailov

TOKYO: A great white shark has diedafter barely three days in a rare case ofcaptivity in a Japanese aquarium. The3.5 meter shark, which was accidental-ly caught in a net in southwesternJapan yesterday, died early Friday,according to Okinawa ChuraumiAquarium. The cause of death wasunder investigation. Keeping a greatwhite shark in captivity is extremelydifficult as it needs to keep swimmingconstantly to get oxygen and maintainits body temperature. An official forPeople for the Ethical Treatment ofAnimals, or PETA, Asia, criticized keep-ing the shark in captivity as “cruel andwrong.” “The cause of death is clear:captivity. The shark never had to dielike this,” said Jason Baker, PETA’s vice

president of international campaigns.Aquarium researcher Keiichi Sato

said the aquarium abides by Japaneseand international laws and believes itsefforts contribute to education andscience. “Many visitors had asked us toexhibit the great white shark,” he saidin a telephone interview fromOkinawa. The aquarium hadannounced the rare successful exhibi-tion of the species earlier this week.The captured shark, a male, was rela-tively small, and had appeared to bedoing well, swimming with severalother sharks, but suddenly weakenedand sank to the bottom of the tank.Efforts to give it oxygen in a separatespecial tank failed. It had refused toeat any food since being caught. — AP

H E A LT H & S C I E N C EWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

MIAMI: Women 50 and older should get a mammo-gram to screen for breast cancer every two years,while women in their 40s should decide with theirdoctors, said US guidelines Monday. The newest rec-ommendations by the US Preventive Services TaskForce stoked new controversy over what is best forwomen, who not long ago were urged to get amammogram every year starting at age 40.

The guidelines are based on findings from sixindependent research teams, which crafted “simula-tion models to analyze 10 different digital breastcancer screening strategies for the average-risk USfemale population,” said a description of the work inthe Annals of Internal Medicine. The new guidanceaccounts for the latest scientific data on the potentialharms-such as over-diagnosis, false-positives andbenign biopsies-of screening using digital mam-mography. It also takes into account knowledgeabout molecular subtypes of cancer as well as howbreast density plays into risk.

“Mammography screening every two years foraverage-risk women ages 50 to 74 offers a favorablebalance of benefits to harm,” said the guidelines.However, lead investigator Jeanne Mandelblatt ofGeorgetown Lombardi Comprehensive CancerCenter cautioned that “it’s important to rememberthat none of us is the ‘average’ woman” and that fam-ily history and other risk factors must be considered.“The bottom line is that mammography saves lives,”she added. “When to start screening and how oftento undergo mammography is a personal decision.

No model can provide those answers.”

Experts’ concernsSome outside experts raised concern about how

younger women would interpret the guidelines, andthe potential for fewer to seek screening. “While thenew guidelines still state women in their 40s can goforward with mammograms, they suggest thatmammograms are not required,” said StephanieBernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox HillHospital in New York. “Unfortunately many womenwill take this as a signal that mammograms are notbeneficial.” According to Nina Vincoff, chief of breastimaging at Northwell Health, mammography “is notperfect,” but she said women in their 40s should notdiscount the importance of screening. “They alsoconcluded that mammography starting at age 40saves more lives than mammography starting at age50,” said Vincoff, who like Bernik was not involved inthe research.

“Women need to understand that if they starthaving mammograms later, they risk having a cancerthat is detected at a more advanced stage, whichmay require more extensive treatment or which mayno longer be curable.” The latest guidelines come onthe heels of the American Cancer Society’s recom-mendations issued in October 2015, which urgedwomen to wait until the age of 45 before getting anannual mammogram to screen for breast cancer. TheAmerican Cancer Society previously recommendedwomen be screened each year from age 40, but said

it changed its advice because evidence failed toshow enough lives were being saved.

Screening statisticsFor the task force guidelines, research was led by

the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance ModelingNetwork (CISNET), and funded by the NationalCancer Institute. Researchers considered screeningstrategies starting at age 40, 45 or 50, with one- ortwo-year intervals between screening exams. Therecommendations, based on a review of newresearch, are the same as those issued by the groupin 2009. They say screening earlier or more often“prevented a small number of additional deaths, butalso caused a larger number of false positive mam-mograms and benign biopsies, and led to more over-diagnosis and over-treatment.”

Overall, the likelihood of a woman gettingbreast cancer in her life from age 40 to 100 is 12.9percent, the report said. Among women 50-74,screening every two years “achieves a median 25.8percent breast cancer mortality reduction-avertingseven breast cancer deaths per 1,000 womenscreened,” the report said. The strategy also “leadsto 953 false positives and 19 over-diagnosed cases.”Over-diagnosed cancer implies the discovery of asmall tumor that might not be life-threatening.When women in their 40s are added to the equa-tion, screening every two years “averts one moredeath per 1,000 from breast cancer and generates576 more false positive tests.” — AFP

LONDON: Tens of thousands of juniordoctors in England went on strike yes-terday, causing major disruption to hos-pitals across the country in the firstwalkout of its kind for 40 years. They areproviding only emergency cover duringa 24-hour walkout which started at0800 GMT, meaning that several thou-sand routine operations have had to becancelled, along with appointmentsand tests. There are more than 55,000junior doctors in Britain, making up athird of the medical workforce.

They are qualified medical practi-tioners who are working while studyingfor qualifications to take more seniorroles. The strike is over a new type ofcontract which the government sayswill improve healthcare at night and atweekends but medics say would drasti-cally reduce their pay. “The new con-

tract is not fair, it’s not safe and from thebeginning, we as a profession havebeen bullied, intimidated and threat-ened by the Department of Health,” saidFlorence Dalton, 29, a psychiatrist pick-eting at St Pancras hospital in centralLondon.

She added that many workers in thestate-run National Health Service (NHS)felt “exhausted, overstretched andundervalued”. “Staff are already leavingin their droves,” she said. “Fewer andfewer people are coming into the pro-fession. It makes me so angry.” Doctorson several picket lines in London werejoined by a choir of NHS doctors andnurses who took this year’s Christmasnumber one spot in Britain’s pop chartsahead of Justin Bieber with a charitysinger.

On Monday, British Prime Minister

David Cameron appealed to juniordoctors to call off what he said was anunnecessary strike which would cause“real difficulties” to the NHS. His gov-ernment says the reforms are neededto help create a “seven days a week”NHS where the quality of care is ashigh at the weekends as on weekdays.The NHS has so far postponed 4,000routine treatments due to the strike. Afurther 48-hour stoppage is due totake place on January 26, while onFebruary 10, there will be a full with-drawal of labor from 0800 GMT to 1700GMT. The NHS is the f i f th largestemployer in the world, providinghealth care which is largely free at thepoint of delivery. It is widely respectedin Britain, with pollsters YouGov ratingit the institution which the most peo-ple view positively. — AFP

LOS ANGELES: A radiologist uses a magnifying glass to check mammograms for breast cancer in Los Angeles. — AP

TSHOLOTSHO, Zimbabwe: Justin Dlomowatches his small herd of emaciated cattlescrounge for bits of dry grass with a grow-ing sense of dread. “I don’t even know whatto do anymore,” he says. Worseningdrought in Zimbabwe has dried up waterholes, crops and pasture, leaving farmerslike 56-year-old Dlomo, who lives about120 kilometres north of Bulawayo, unableto feed their animals - and unable to sellthem for much either.

“We are all selling off our livestock.Better that than watch the cattle die,”Dlomo told Thomson Reuters Foundation.But because so many desperate farmersnow have animals on the market, a cowthat used to sell for $500 now fetches just$150 - or in some places as little as $50 -from buyers in the cities. As climate changestrengthens, drought is becoming morefrequent and severe in southern Africa, andthat - combined with this year’s El Ninophenomenon - is taking a heavy toll onrural lives and economies, experts say.

“Water sources have dried up and weare drinking from the same reservoirs withour cattle,” Dlomo said. Zimbabwe is one ofmany countries feeling the strain of El Nino,which has dried up rainfall across southernAfrica over the last year, killing crops, dis-rupting hydropower production and forc-ing local water authorities to enforce strin-gent water rationing in some areas. Whenfacing drought in the past, Dlomo wouldhave moved his cattle to another neighbor-ing region with more rainfall. But this timethe drought is widespread, he said. “Wecannot move our cattle anymore. There isno grass everywhere,” Dlomo said.

Thousands dyingLivestock experts say parched pastures

are causing the deaths of thousands of cat-tle across the country. Last year, the agri-culture ministry’s livestock departmentestimated that the national cattle herdstood at 5.3 million animals, down fromover 6 million in 2014. In one district inMasvingo province last year, more than athousand cattle died because of drought,according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Last week, the meteorological servicesdepartment announced that the countryshould not expect any rain in the comingmonth, putting a further strain on livestockfarmers. According to the agriculture min-

istry, Zimbabwe is experiencing its worstdrought since one in 1991-1992 that killedmore than one million cattle. However,while the World Food Program said lastmonth that millions of Zimbabweans willrequire food assistance this year, Dlomosaid there is no assistance in sight for hisdying livestock. “We have not seen anyonehere coming to offer solutions to ourplight. It’s like a punishment from God,”Dlomo said.

Simangaliphi Ngwabi, the agricultureministry ’s chief livestock specialist inMatebeleland South province, said therewas little water or pasture for cattle in theregion, as dry conditions continue acrossthe country. The livestock department esti-mates that more than 350,000 cattle mayface death due to drought in MatebelelandSouth. Last month, the UN’s Food andAgriculture Organization said it would pro-vide subsidized livestock feed to small-scale farmers in four districts of hard-hitMatebeleland South province as hundredsof cattle succumbed to El Nino-worseneddrought.

Planning ahead?Last year, amid another season of poor

rainfall in the country’s southwest, PaddyZhanda, the deputy agriculture minister incharge of livestock told farmers to sell theirlivestock to avoid losses. By cutting herds,farmers would earn something from theircattle instead of losing them to drought, hesaid. However, Naboth Chuma, a livestockresearcher at Chinhoyi University ofTechnology, said farmers facing more fre-quent drought need to make plans to pre-pare for it - including storing cattle feed -before animals start dying.

“When a drought occurs it is never asudden thing,” Chuma said. “What isrequired is for government and aid agen-cies to work with these usually resource-challenged farmers to help them stockenough feed for their animals. The unfortu-nate part is that there are competing needsfor both humans and livestock and it is cat-tle that suffer,” he said. Deputy ministerZhanda has told farmers that they mustfind solutions to the livestock crisis and notwait for the cash-strapped government tointervene. “We are still praying for rain. It isthe only thing that will save us,” Dlomosaid. — Reuters

El Nino and drought taking

a toll on Zimbabwe’s cattle

US guidelines urge cancer

screening from age of 50Newest recommendations stoke new controversy

CHENNAI: Dozens of whales havedied after stranding themselves on asouthern Indian beach, a forestry

official said yesterday, with localfishermen struggling to save others.The pod of more than 50 small

whales started beaching themselveson Monday afternoon along a 15-kilometre (9-mile) stretch of coast

near Tiruchendur on India’s south-ernmost tip. “It’s very strange andwe are examining the whales. Wefound some of the whales are stillalive and struggling for their lives,”said local forest officer SA Raju. Rajusaid he and his team were seekinghelp from the district administrationto try to rescue those still breathing.

Fishermen and others wereattempting to push those whalesback into the water, according to thePress Trust of India and other localmedia, which put the number ofstranded animals at more than 100.The whales were up to 15 feet (4.5metres) long and Raju said theywere trying to determine the type.Local media quoted other officials assaying they were fin whales andcalves. Fishermen raised the alarmafter the whales starting comingashore. “On Monday evening therewere more than a dozen whalesbeached at many places on theshore,” said S Thiraviyam, a residentof the town of Manapad. The south-ern tip of India is close to majorshipping trade routes. — AFP

Dozens of whales die after

stranding in India’s south

TAMIL NADU: People look at one among the dozens of whales that have washed ashore on the Bay ofBengal coast’s Manapad beach in Tuticorin district, Tamil Nadu state yesterday. — AP

LONDON: The British National Heath Service Singers, who are either doctors ornurses, perform a protest song in support of junior doctors outside GreatOrmond Street Hospital for Sick Children, as a 24-hour junior doctor strike startsin London. — AP

Doctors’ strike causes disruption at UK hospitals

Great white shark dies after

3 days in Japanese aquarium

OKINAWA: A great white shark swims in a large fish tank of the OkinawaChuraumi Auqarium at Motobu in Japan’s southern island of Okinawa. — AFP

LIMA: A falconer trains a black-headed vulture (Coragyps atratus) in Lima. — AFP

SAN SALVADOR: El Salvador onMonday issued a national alertagainst a mosquito that trans-mits tropical diseases, in aneffort to contain human infec-tion. The country’s civil protec-tion agency called for preven-tive measures against bites fromthe yellow fever mosquito,Aedes aegypti, across most ofthe country and for 47 townsand villages to be specificallychecked. The measure aims tocurb the transmission of threeviruses carried by the mosquito:dengue, chikungunya and Zika.While usually not fatal, the dis-

eases are characterized by fever,joint pain, headaches and rash-es. In babies, Zika infections cancause underdeveloped brains. ElSalvador urged pregnantwomen to take special precau-tions against Zika infection,especially during their first threemonths, and to quickly seek pre-natal tests in case of concern.The Pan American HealthOrganization last week issued astatement on the “new threat”posed by the spread of the Zikavirus through several LatinAmerican countries, notably inBrazil. — AFP

Illness-bearingmosquitos triggeralert in El Salvador

LIMA: The lowly vulture is a dirty scav-enger to many, but Peruvian environ-mental authorities have recast thebirds as superheroes and outfittedthem with high-tech gear in a bid tocrack down on illegal garbage dumps.Wearing GPS trackers and mini videocameras, 10 vultures with mythologi-cal names have been dispatched tolead authorities to the illegal dumpswhose runoff pollutes the rivers andPacific coastline of the Peruvian capi-tal Lima. In a public service announce-ment that looks like a Hollywood

action movie preview, a “vulture”describes the campaign as a life-and-death battle between the teemingcity’s human population and the omi-nous menace of disease-carryingtrash.

“Fourteen thousand years havepassed since this struggle began,” hesays in a gravelly voice. “On one hand,pestilence and disease are hiddenamong the filth. On the other hand,humanity is placidly ignoring the dan-ger that threatens.” Lima is known forthe flocks of vultures that feed at its

four landfills and the countless illegaldumps where an estimated 20 percentof its trash ends up. They are oftenseen as pests by the city’s nearly 10million inhabitants, who according toofficials throw away 2.1 million tons ofgarbage a year.

But Captain Phoenix, Captain Aellaand the other vultures drafted into theenvironment ministry’s program arenow the protagonists in a creativesocial media campaign, which aims toraise awareness about the problemand get Lima residents to report illegal

dumps and throw away less trash.“Vultures are our allies in the reduc-tion of organic waste,” program coor-dinator Javier Hernandez said. “In theirsearch for food, what they’re reallydoing is identifying places wherethere is organic matter and garbage.We’re using that... to get the GPS coor-dinates and monitor these sites.” The10 vultures, which have all been certi-fied disease-free, are specially trainedto fly back to their keepers after eachouting. Video footage they take alongthe way will be posted online. — AFP

BANGKOK: A wild elephant tram-pled a rubber tapper to death andleft her two-year-old son badlyinjured, Thai police said yesterday,the second deadly attack in thearea in recent months. The 34-year-old woman was found earlyMonday morning on a road near arubber plantation in easternThailand. Her body was found nextto her motorcycle and injured baby,police said. “She was killed instantlyat the site, her son sustained a bro-ken leg and is now in hospital,”Pol ice Lieutenant PramoteKongnantha said.

The officer said the elephant isbelieved to have retreated backinto a nearby national park afterthe incident. Rubber tappers workearly in the morning often on landthat edges onto forest, home toelephants and other wild animals. Apark official at Khao Soi Dao, one ofseveral protected areas in the

province bordering Cambodia, saidit was unclear whether the ele -phant was the same animal thatkilled two Thai men on a rubberplantation in the province lastOctober.

Conser vationists estimateThailand is home to around 2,500wild elephants. But the populationhas been decimated over the pastcentury in the face of rapid devel-opment, habitat destruction andthe lust for ivor y used to makemedicine and ornaments. Bothwild and domesticated elephants,of which there roughly 4,000, havebeen known attack passersby andoverturn cars, especially duringmating season. Last August an ele-phant in northern Thailand killedhis Thai keeper, or “mahout”, beforetaking off into the jungle with threeChinese tourists still on his back.The tourists survived in the inci-dent. — AFP

H E A LT H & S C I E N C EWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Wild elephant kills Thaiwoman, injures baby

MILWAUKEE: Lynn Bartos always had a goodfeeling about the soft-spoken nurse whowould greet her warmly at the Milwaukee-area infusion clinic where she got treatmentsfor rheumatoid arthritis pain. It turned out thetwo had a far deeper connection. “I thinksomewhere inside of me there was some-thing saying, ‘There’s something familiarabout that young woman,’” said Bartos, asemi-retired nurse herself. That nurse, NicoleKrahn, was assigned to administer the IV thissummer as Bartos settled in for one of thethree-hour appointments at Froedtert & theMedical College of Wisconsin that come everyfive weeks.

Krahn thought Bartos’ name soundedfamiliar but couldn’t place it. In conversation,she discovered Bartos was working part-timeat the hospital’s neurology clinic. “I asked, ‘Oh,is that where you spent your career?’ She said,‘No ... I spent my early career at the GI clinic atChildren’s,’” Krahn said. Krahn, whose smallintestines became twisted shortly after birthand were mostly removed, had to be fedintravenously for the first few years of her life.She visited the clinic regularly as a child to be

weighed and checked over. The girl whocalled herself “NeeNee” liked going toChildren’s Hospital of Wisconsin four or five

times a week because she got to see a nurseshe called “Sweet Lynney.”

Rose Frye, Krahn’s mother, remembers

how her daughter would tell the nurse abouther boo boos. “She got attached to certainpeople,” she said. The pair was even featuredin the hospital’s nursing magazine in a 1988story about long-term care. This summer,Bartos took a second look at Krahn’s nametag - and the realization hit. “I said, ‘You’reNeeNee!’ And she said, ‘Yes, I am,’ and we sud-denly realized we had this connection thatwent way back to her being a toddler,” saidBartos, now 66. “And I’m like, ‘That toddler isnow taking care of me.’ And I think I spent therest of the day crying during the infusionappointment.” They hadn’t seen each other in25 years, since Bartos had changed jobs.Krahn, now 30, said she remembered Bartosand always wanted to be a nurse. She saysBartos’ kindness influenced how she relatesto patients. “I don’t know if it’s a small world,or it was meant for me to take care of herafter all these years,” Krahn said. Bartos saidshe often wondered about “NeeNee.” “It wasabsolute gift to me to reconnect with Nicole,”she said. “That’s how I look at it, that I was giv-en a gift to know that 44 years of nursing, Idid make a difference.” — AP

GPS vultures swoop down on illegal dumps in Peru

Authorities recast dirty scavengers as superheroes

WISCONSIN: Nurse Nicole Krahn (left) gets rheumatoid arthritis medication readyfor semi-retired nurse Lynn Bartos at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsinin Wauwatosa, Wis. The two have switched roles from more than 25 years ago,when Bartos cared for Krahn as a toddler. — AP

In this June 1988 photo, Lynn Bartos,pediatric nurse for Children’s Hospitalof Wisconsin Gastroenterology Clinic,holds Nicole Frye (left) at Children’sHospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa,Wis. The nurse and family were fea-tured on the cover of the hospital’snursing magazine in 1988 for a storyabout long term care. — AP

Nurses reunite, with roles switched, decades later

W H AT ’ S ONWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Ali Abdulwahab Al-MutawaCommercial Company (AAW)announced that Chairman and

Managing Director of AAW, Faisal AliAbdulwahab Al-Mutawa met with FrenchAmbassador to Kuwait Christian Nakhle, atAAW where the two discussed trade andinvestment opportunities and the develop-ment of Kuwait’s private healthcare sector.

During his visit, Christian Nakhle high-lighted the importance of growth in thehealth sector outside of France, expressinghis delight with AAW’s joint venture withthe French world-class cancer treatmentcenter, Gustave Roussy, in Kuwait.

Based in France, Gustave Roussy is oneof the world’s leading cancer-research insti-tutes and the largest health center dedicat-ed to oncology in Europe. Affiliated with

the Unicancer Federation, the newly estab-lished Gustave Roussy will create a solidbase for international experience andexperts, offering world-class career oppor-tunities for doctors and support staff inKuwait.

AAW Chairman and CEO, Faisal Ali Al-Mutawa said: “For decades, France andKuwait’s private sector have been workingtogether on the establishment and successof various business initiatives in both coun-tries. I thank Nakhle for his visit, his contin-ued interest in the development of our twoeconomies.”

AAW runs one of Kuwait’s most success-ful wholesale and retail pharmaceuticalretail and wholesale operations, and is oneof the primary suppliers to the Ministry ofHealth and private hospitals in the country.

AAW welcomes FrenchAmbassador to Kuwait

On 10 January 2016, the Ministry ofInterior, Kuwait has announced specialdispensation (partial amnesty) for all ille-

gal residents in Kuwait. As per the announce-ment, residency violators will be allowed to paytheir fines and either legalize their status orleave the country without being black-listed.But this would apply to those who voluntarilyparticipate in the above scheme and that theResidency Affairs Departments across the coun-try are ready to receive violators in order to rec-tify their legal status, for payment of fines forleaving the country. 2. There are approximately 28,000 Indians ille-

gally staying in Kuwait due to residency/visa

violations. All Indian illegal residents areurged to avail the above dispensation toeither legalize their status or leave the coun-try after payment of fines without beingblack-listed. They should contact the con-cerned Residency Affairs Department ofKuwait with available documents to rectifytheir status or for payment of fines for leav-ing the country to avail the above opportuni-ty.

3. The Indian Embassy is ready to provide allnecessary assistance to all those seeking theabove special dispensation by issuingEmergency Certificates (travel document)expeditiously if required by the local authori-

ties who are processing their documentsunder above scheme. The requirement forissue of Emergency certificate is as under: (a) Prescribed format for issue of EC (copy

enclosed)(b) Three recent passport size photograph;(c) A copy of the passport (relevant pages)(c) Payment of KD 5.000 consular fee for EC

4. For any query/clarification in the matter,please contact A K Srivastava, SecondSecretary (PIC/CW) Tel. No. 22531716 andMobile No. 97229914 or B K Sinha, Assistant(CW) at Mobile No. 97164067 and Mr.Mohammad Ashfaq Durrani, Local Staffmember, Mobile: 66680031.

Interior Ministry’s announcement regarding grantof partial amnesty to residency violators in Kuwait

Indian Embassy Statement

The ninth iteration of the annu-al India Education Exhibition,which will be held on Friday

15 and Saturday 16 January at theRamada Hotel Kuwait in Al-Riggaearea, will prove to be an informativeevent for students seeking profes-sional and vocational courses inreputed universities and institutesof higher learning in India.

The two-day event, which will beopen from 11:00 am to 8:00 pm onboth days, will feature nearly 20leading universities with over 75colleges and institutes under themoffering more than 250 educationalcourses and programs. Theseinclude among others graduate andpost-graduate degrees in variousdisciplines such as medicine, engi-neering, business management,marketing and communications,arts and science, hospitality andhotel management and AlliedHealth Sciences.

During the exhibition, studentsand their parents can avail of per-sonalized interactions with collegeadministrators, professors and spe-cialized career counselors. This one-on-one discussions and group semi-nars will allow visitors to knowabout the wide variety and scope ofcourses on offer and to determinethe programs best suited to theirinterests and abilities.

Added benefitMany institutes of higher learn-

ing in India are not only on parwith their Western counterpartsbut also have the added benefit ofcompetitive fee structure that hasbeen attracting foreign students tothe country. Moreover, education isa sector that is very strong in Indiaand university standards have tobe steadily maintained in order toretain their certification from gov-ernment.

Each year, top ranked universi-ties usually have a huge surplus ofcandidates applying for the fewlimited seats, leading to disap-pointment for many. For studentswho are eager to continue theirhigher education in India, theupcoming India EducationExhibition is an ideal opportunityto explore admission possibilitieswith top universities under oneroof. Many of the institutions at theexhibition will be offering spot reg-istrations to eligible candidates, inaddition to providing admissionguidance and career counseling.

Among the universities at theexhibition will be ManipalUniversity, which is one of the topuniversities in India and is co-spon-sor of the event. Established in1993, Manipal University wasfounded on the principle of provid-

ing the best education to students.In this regard, the University hastaken necessary steps to structurereservoirs of intellectual wealthand academic excellence throughbuilding state-of-the-art facilitiesand acquiring distinguished pro-fessional faculty in various depart-ments.

277 courses Today, Manipal University

boasts of some of the country’sbest institutes and schools thatoffer more than 277 courses in 20diverse streams. The universityinculcates demanding standards inits curriculum to challenge stu-dents and through its wholesomeand inspirational education helpscraft talented professional in vari-ous fields. With an excellent aca-demic reputation, qualified andrespected faculty, excellent aca-demic and clinical facilities, theuniversity fosters a world-classlearning environment. In addition,the university is a pioneer of the‘Inspired Learning’ approach tohigher education, where the aca-demic delivery model goes beyondclassroom education to provide aholistic learning experience.

Another key participant at theIndia Education Exhibition 2016 isVIT University, a highly sought after

center for providing quality highereducation on par with internation-al standards. An international stu-dent counselor and academic headfrom the university will be on handat the exhibition to offer counsel-ing sessions to students. The insti-tution offers various programs,including 19 in undergraduate, 34in post- graduate, 2 in integratedstudies and 4 in research.Receiving students from 50 coun-tries and from every state in India,the student body comprises ofover 24,000 students, with nearly athird of them women.

Some of the other leading edu-cational institutions participatingin the exhibition include AnnaUniversity, Thapar University, SDMGroup, Hindustan University, DattaMeghe Medical Science University,D.Y. Patil University, K.J. SomaiyaGroup of Institutions, VishwakarmaInstitute of Technology, M.V.J.Institutions, NITTE University andJain International School. All theparticipating institutes are recog-nized by the AICTE, UGC andrespective government bodies inIndia. These universities are justrepresentative of the many aca-demic powerhouses that will beshowcasing their courses duringthe India Education Exhibition2016.

India Education Exhibition 2016 toshowcase premier Indian universities

Minister of State of the United ArabEmirates (UAE) Reem Al-Hashimy,this morning paid a courtesy call

on President of Guyana David Granger, atthe Ministry of the Presidency, where dis-cussions ensued on the vast opportunitieswithin the renewable energy sector andstrengthening bilateral ties between thetwo countries.

Hashimy was accompanied by Rouda Al-Otaiba, Ahmed Almulla, Majid Al-Suwaidi,Meera Al-Azizi and Muna Al-Maeeni; repre-sentatives from the UAE’s Ministry ofForeign Affairs. Minister of Foreign Affairs,Carl Greenidge also attended the meeting.

In an invited comment, Hashimy

described the meeting as “exceptional”, say-ing that though it is the first meetingbetween the two countries, her country waslooking forward to forging a strong rela-tionship with Guyana.

“We discussed elements of how we canstrengthen our bilateral relationshipbetween the United Arab Emirates andGuyana. There are some opportunities thatexist that we could work together on. This isour first visit here and... we are very excitedto be able to work together. I think it can beincredibly positive and we are both new toeach other. We are now getting to know theopportunities that exist,” Minister Hashimysaid.

Of particular note, the Minister said thata discussion on renewable energies devel-opment has highlighted its potential tobecome a key area of collaborationbetween the two countries; even as shepraised the Guyanese hospitality.

“There are several opportunities thatexists primarily in the renewable energysector which we found very interesting,development in general but on also on eco-nomic and trade fronts. I think your peopleare incredibly friendly, very warm and verywelcoming. We have been well received,everybody has been very hospitable to usand we are very thankful and we look for-ward to working together,” she said.

Guyana’s Minister of Business meets with UAE’s Minister of State.

UAE Minister lauds ‘exceptional’meeting with Guyana President

Guyana’s President and UAE’sMinister of State.

UAE Minister meeting with Guyana’s Public Infrastructure Ministers.

Guyana’s President and UAE’s Minister of State.

W H AT ’ S ONWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Union Trading Company (UTC) the exclu-sive distributor for Braun/DeLonghi inKuwait, recently organized the most

unique event with the famous Chef Osama ElSayed, Celebrity Brand Ambassador of Braun inthe Middle East.

Chef Osama, an expert in international andArabic cuisines and a world wide author pro-moted the Braun’s household kitchen appli-ances. He regularly uses the Braun products athome and on his popular show to transformcomplex cooking recipes into simple and fast

meal making.Chef Osama hosted LIVE in-store events at

two exclusive and popular hyper market loca-tions: Carrefour at The Avenues on 6th January2016, LuLu Hypermarket and Department Storeon 7th January 2016. As expected, both eventsattracted large crowds by patrons and pressalike.

There was a tremendous interest and enthu-siasm generated by the crowed at both eventswith not only questions and answers, but livecooking shows and demonstrations.

Braun, a premium German brand for electri-cal appliances are renowned for their reliability,longevity, and sustainability. Braun designsproducts with great attention to detail thatmakes a difference in people’s lives. All in all,Braun’s idea can be summarized by their brandline “designed to make a difference”.

The quality of products manufactured byBraun is what attracted Union TradingCompany, as they share the same visionwhich is customer satisfaction and loyalty tothe brand and company. This is the reason

why UTC has an aggressive markets strategycoupled with public activities towards theBraun brand in Kuwait as well as the entireregion.

Union Trading Company (UTC) is the Premierdistributor and retailer in Kuwait, having estab-lished a number of leading brands/productsacross many different markets and categories.With world-renowned Brands including Gillette,Oral B, Braun, Duracell, Hanes, General AirConditioning, Glem Gas, Vileda, Chantelle andParker - to name a few.

Al-Mulla Exchange, Kuwait’s leadingExchange Company, continued toenthrall its customers with its latest

musical show by Pakistani singing sensa-tion, Fariha Pervez, on January 9, 2016, atthe American International School.

The event titled ‘Fariha Pervez - Live inConcert’ saw a huge turnout of audienceas expected, who were treated to a melo-dious fare, weaving in and out of variousmusical genres that Pervez is so adept at.

Fariha Pervez easily ranks among thetopmost female singers in Pakistan, whoshot to limelight by co-hosting a popularchildren’s music program. Since then, hercareer graph has been skyrocketing with

accolades and awards being showered onher. She has created a niche for herself withher unique voice and is considered one ofthe most versatile singers in the countrywho can effortlessly belt out a range ofmusical genres including folk, classical,semi-classical and modern pop.

About the musical show, Al-MullaExchange’s General Manager, Rakesh Joshi,said the exchange company is looking for-ward to continuously delight its customersand people at large with events that tran-scend time and space and rekindle fondmemories of home. “We are trying to con-nect with our customers at deeper levelsby fulfilling not just their money-exchange

needs, but also their aspirations and inter-ests.”

This is the second musical show hostedby Al-Mulla Exchange since the beginningof New Year. The last one was ‘Rafi KiRuhaniyat’ when the golden hits of India’serstwhile king of Bollywood music,Mohammed Rafi, were performed to anostalgic audience on the 1st and 2nd ofJanuary, 2016.

On Jan 1, 2016, Al-Mulla Exchange, alsolaunched the Transfer and Win GoldFestival, which gives customers a chanceto win 1 gm gold daily for 3 months and 1kg gold grand prize at the end of the pro-motion.

Al-Mulla Exchange kindles nostalgiawith ‘Fariha Pervez - Live in Concert’

Braun/DeLonghi Hosts celebrity Chef Osama El Sayed in Kuwait

Chef Osama El Sayed Chef Osama during a Q&A session. Chef Osama with a winner.

(From right) Andrew UTC CEO, Anis Abdul Gani Braun sales and brand manager, Chef Osama El Sayed,Taher Al Samana, UTC Pand G Group manager, Jiby Mathew Area, sales manager, Braun/DeLonghi.

The crowd at Carrefour Avenues.

Andrew Denby CEO, UTC

00:20 Fast N’ Loud01:10 Bride Of Jaws02:00 Dual Survival02:50 River Monsters03:40 Auction Hunters04:05 The Liquidator04:30 Storage Wars Canada05:00 What Happened Next?05:30 How Machines Work06:00 Ice Cold Gold06:50 Wheeler Dealers07:40 Fast N’ Loud08:30 Auction Hunters08:55 The Liquidator09:20 Storage Wars Canada09:45 What Happened Next?10:10 How Machines Work10:35 Bride Of Jaws11:25 Dual Survival12:15 River Monsters13:05 Auction Hunters13:30 The Liquidator13:55 Storage Wars Canada14:20 Ice Cold Gold15:10 Wheeler Dealers16:00 Fast N’ Loud16:50 What Happened Next?17:15 How Machines Work17:40 Mythbusters18:30 The Carbonaro Effect19:20 Manhunt With Joel Lambert20:10 The Liquidator20:35 Storage Wars Canada21:00 Mythbusters21:50 The Carbonaro Effect22:15 The Carbonaro Effect22:40 You Have Been Warned23:30 Wheeler Dealers

T V PR O G R A M SWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

THE EQUALIZER ON OSN MOVIES HD

THE MAZE RUNNER ON OSN MOVIES HD

00:35 Mythbusters01:20 How It’s Made01:44 How It’s Made02:08 Food Factory02:31 Food Factory02:55 What Could Possibly GoWrong?03:42 How The Universe Works04:29 Mythbusters05:16 Food Factory05:39 Food Factory06:03 What Could Possibly GoWrong?06:50 Mega Builders07:37 How Do They Do It?08:00 How Do They Do It?08:23 Mythbusters09:08 How The Universe Works09:53 Mega Builders10:38 How It’s Made11:00 How It’s Made11:23 Strangest Weather On Earth12:08 What Could Possibly GoWrong?12:53 Mega Builders13:38 Mythbusters14:23 How It’s Made14:46 How It’s Made15:10 How The Universe Works15:57 Strangest Weather On Earth16:44 What Could Possibly GoWrong?17:31 Mega Builders18:18 How The Universe Works19:05 Mythbusters19:50 Strip The Cosmos20:40 What Could Possibly GoWrong?21:25 How It’s Made22:15 How The Universe Works23:00 Strip The Cosmos23:45 What Could Possibly GoWrong?

00:40 Who On Earth Did I Marry?01:05 Who On Earth Did I Marry?01:30 The Haunted02:20 Ghost Lab03:10 Deadly Sins04:00 Deadly Women04:45 Who On Earth Did I Marry?05:10 Who On Earth Did I Marry?05:30 The Haunted06:20 Deadly Affairs07:10 True Crime With AphroditeJones08:00 Dr. G: Medical Examiner08:50 On The Case With PaulaZahn09:40 Fatal Encounters10:30 Murder Shift11:20 Deadly Affairs12:10 True Crime With AphroditeJones13:00 The Will13:50 I Almost Got Away With It14:40 California Investigator15:05 Dr. G: Medical Examiner15:55 Fatal Encounters16:45 On The Case With PaulaZahn17:35 Murder Shift18:25 I Almost Got Away With It19:15 The Will20:05 Deadly Affairs20:55 True Crime With AphroditeJones21:45 California Investigator22:10 Who On Earth Did I Marry?23:00 Scorned: Crimes Of Passion23:50 Deadline: Crime With TamronHall

00:00 Violetta00:45 The Hive00:50 Sabrina Secrets Of ATeenage Witch01:15 Sabrina Secrets Of ATeenage Witch01:40 Wolfblood02:05 Wolfblood02:30 Violetta03:15 The Hive03:20 Sabrina Secrets Of ATeenage Witch03:45 Sabrina Secrets Of ATeenage Witch04:10 Wolfblood04:35 Wolfblood05:00 Violetta05:45 The Hive05:50 Mouk06:00 Lolirock06:25 Hank Zipzer06:50 Girl Meets World07:15 H2O: Just Add Water07:40 H2O: Just Add Water08:05 Austin & Ally08:30 Austin & Ally08:55 Sabrina Secrets Of ATeenage Witch09:20 Sabrina Secrets Of ATeenage Witch09:45 Jessie10:10 Jessie10:35 High School Musical 212:20 Hank Zipzer12:45 I Didn’t Do It13:10 I Didn’t Do It13:35 Liv And Maddie14:00 Liv And Maddie14:30 H2O14:55 H2O15:20 Jessie15:45 Jessie

16:10 Violetta17:00 The Next Step17:25 Liv And Maddie17:50 Jessie18:15 Austin & Ally18:40 I Didn’t Do It19:05 First Class Chefs19:30 Violetta20:20 The Next Step20:45 Good Luck Charlie21:10 Good Luck Charlie21:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place22:00 Binny And The Ghost22:25 Sabrina Secrets Of ATeenage Witch22:50 Sabrina Secrets Of ATeenage Witch23:10 Wolfblood

00:00 Stewarts And Hamiltons00:55 The Grace Helbig Show01:25 Keeping Up With TheKardashians02:20 Giuliana & Bill03:15 Christina Milian Turned Up04:10 E! Entertainment Special05:05 The E! True Hollywood Story06:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians06:55 Keeping Up With TheKardashians07:50 Style Star08:20 New Money08:45 New Money09:15 Giuliana & Bill11:10 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills12:05 The Grace Helbig Show13:05 Fashion Bloggers14:05 Dash Dolls15:00 Kourtney And Khloe TakeThe Hamptons17:00 Hollywood Cycle18:00 E! News19:00 Fashion Police19:30 Live From The Red Carpet21:30 Fashion Bloggers22:00 E! News23:00 WAGs

00:00 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives02:00 Man v Food03:00 Man Fire Food04:00 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives05:00 Guy’s Grocery Games06:00 Chopped07:00 Man Fire Food08:00 Chopped09:00 Guy’s Grocery Games10:00 The Kitchen11:00 Barefoot Contessa: Back ToBasics12:00 Chopped13:00 Guy’s Big Bite14:00 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives15:00 Man Fire Food16:00 Chopped17:00 The Kitchen18:00 Siba’s Table18:30 Grandma’s Secret Cookbook19:00 Chopped20:00 Guy’s Grocery Games21:00 Chopped22:00 All Star Academy23:00 Iron Chef America

00:10 Pick Me!01:05 Emmerdale01:30 Coach Trip02:00 Coronation Street02:30 Murdoch Mysteries03:25 Vera05:15 The Chase06:10 Paddock To Plate07:05 Coach Trip07:30 Vera09:20 Murdoch Mysteries10:15 The Chase11:10 Coach Trip11:35 Pick Me!12:30 Paddock To Plate13:25 Emmerdale13:50 Coach Trip14:20 Coronation Street14:45 Murdoch Mysteries15:35 Pick Me!16:30 The Syndicate17:25 Safe House18:20 Paddock To Plate19:10 Coronation Street19:35 Pick Me!20:30 The Syndicate21:25 Safe House22:20 Coronation Street22:50 Emmerdale23:15 Paddock To Plate

Wilmore02:30 The Big C04:00 Men At Work04:30 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon05:30 Young & Hungry06:00 Til Death06:30 New Girl07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers08:00 Men At Work08:30 Young & Hungry10:30 New Girl11:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon12:00 Til Death12:30 Men At Work13:00 Young & Hungry13:30 New Girl15:30 Cristela16:00 The Nightly Show With LarryWilmore16:30 Til Death17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers18:00 Last Man Standing18:30 Benched19:30 Baby Daddy20:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon21:00 Cristela21:30 The Nightly Show With LarryWilmore22:00 The League22:30 The League23:00 The Big C23:30 Late Night With Seth Meyers

00:00 Defiance01:00 Deadline Gallipoli02:00 Supergirl03:00 Scream Queens04:00 Complications05:00 The Night Shift06:00 Covert Affairs07:00 Switched At Birth08:00 Odyssey09:00 Complications10:00 The Night Shift11:00 Switched At Birth12:00 Coronation Street12:30 Coronation Street13:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show14:00 Odyssey15:00 Live Good Morning America17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show18:00 Odyssey19:00 The Fosters20:00 Supergirl21:00 Marvel’s Agents OfS.H.I.E.L.D.22:00 The Flash23:00 American Horror Story: Hotel

00:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show01:00 Good Morning America03:00 Mistresses04:00 Grimm05:00 Good Morning America07:00 Coronation Street07:30 Coronation Street08:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show09:00 Supernatural10:00 Coronation Street10:30 Coronation Street11:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show12:00 C.S.I.13:00 Shark Tank14:00 Supernatural15:00 Franklin & Bash16:00 The Voice17:00 C.S.I.18:00 Shark Tank19:00 Supernatural20:00 C.S.I.21:00 Shark Tank22:00 Downton Abbey23:00 Grimm

00:00 The Scorpion King 4: QuestFor Power02:00 The Borderlands04:00 The River Wild06:00 Jurassic Attack08:00 Destruction: Las Vegas10:00 Turbulence12:00 Days Of Thunder14:00 Born To Race: Fast Track16:00 The Scorpion King 4: QuestFor Power18:00 Turbulence20:00 Snitch22:00 I Am Legend

For Power-PG1516:00 Turbulence-PG1518:00 Snitch-PG1520:00 I Am Legend-PG1522:00 22 Bullets-18

00:00 Mad Dog And Glory02:00 Napoleon Dynamite04:00 Roommates06:00 Vampire Dog08:00 Chef10:00 Roommates12:00 Napoleon Dynamite14:00 The Nutty Professor (1996)16:00 Chef18:00 Walk Of Shame20:00 Textuality22:00 Adult World

01:00 Still Mine-PG1503:00 The Wee Man-PG1505:00 At Middleton-PG1507:00 United Passions-PG1509:00 Stash House-PG1511:00 At Middleton-PG1513:00 Return To Nim’s Island-PG15:00 Breathless-PG1517:00 Stash House-PG1519:00 Deadfall-PG1521:00 The Disappearance OfEleanor Rigby: Her-PG1523:00 Afternoon Delight-18

00:45 Great Expectations03:00 The Hi-Lo Country05:00 Mr. Pip07:00 The Bag Man09:00 Grace Of Monaco11:00 Mr. Pip13:00 Grand Central15:00 Diana17:00 Grace Of Monaco19:00 7121:00 Blue Ruin23:00 Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life

01:00 Animal-PG1503:00 Annie-PG05:00 The Hunger Games:Mockingjay Part I-PG1507:15 Drumline: A New Beat-PG1509:00 Veronica Mars-PG1511:00 The Maze Runner-PG1513:00 A Gift Of Miracles-PG1514:45 Tarzan-PG16:45 Veronica Mars-PG1518:45 The Theory Of Everything21:00 Rosewater-PG1523:00 The Equalizer-18

00:00 Marvel’s Thor: Tales OfAsgaard01:45 The Heart Of The Oak03:15 Tom And Jerry: Santa’s LittleHelpers04:15 The Adventures Of DonQuixote06:00 Marco Macaco08:00 Worms10:00 Jungle Book: Mowgli’sAdventure11:30 Tom And Jerry: Santa’s LittleHelpers13:00 Scooby-Doo! WrestleManiaMystery14:30 The Elf Who Stole Christmas16:00 Mamma Moo And Crow18:00 Jungle Book: Mowgli’sAdventure20:00 The Unbeatables22:00 The Elf Who Stole Christmas23:30 Mamma Moo And Crow

04:00 Hi, Mom!05:30 Nobody’s Fool07:15 Big Screen07:30 The Apartment09:35 Puckoon11:00 Thunderbirds Are Go12:35 Charge Of The Light Brigade14:40 Cannon For Cordoba16:25 Island Of The Lost17:55 Duplex19:25 Waking Up In Reno21:00 Groundhog Day22:45 A Fish Called Wanda00:30 The Heavenly Kid02:00 A Fish Called Wanda

18:00 The First 4819:00 I Survived20:00 Homicide Hunter21:00 Crime Stories22:00 Crimes That Shook Britain23:00 My Haunted House00:00 The Haunting Of...01:00 The Ghost Inside My Child02:00 My Haunted House

03:05 Calimero03:20 Zou03:30 Loopdidoo03:45 Art Attack04:10 Henry Hugglemonster04:20 Calimero04:35 Zou04:45 Loopdidoo05:00 Art Attack05:25 Henry Hugglemonster05:35 Calimero05:50 Zou06:00 Loopdidoo06:15 Art Attack06:35 Henry Hugglemonster06:50 Calimero07:00 Zou07:20 Loopdidoo07:35 Art Attack08:00 Calimero08:10 Zou08:25 Loopdidoo08:40 Jake And The Never LandPirates09:05 Sofia The First09:30 Miles From Tomorrow10:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse10:35 Doc McStuffins11:00 Sofia The First11:30 Jake And The Never Land

Pirates12:00 Miles From Tomorrow12:25 Special Agent Oso12:40 The Hive12:50 Handy Manny13:15 Jungle Junction13:30 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse14:00 Sofia The First14:25 Sofia The First14:50 Miles From Tomorrow15:15 Jake And The Never LandPirates15:40 Jake And The Never LandPirates16:05 The Adventures Of TheDisney...16:35 Miles From Tomorrow17:00 Sofia The First17:25 Aladdin17:50 Gummi Bears18:15 Chip ‘n’ Dales RescueRangers18:40 Jake And The Never LandPirates19:05 Miles From Tomorrow19:30 Sofia The First19:55 Doc McStuffins20:15 Jake And The Never LandPirates20:45 Sheriff Callie’s Wild West21:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse21:35 Sofia The First22:00 Miles From Tomorrow22:25 Miles From Tomorrow22:55 Miles From Tomorrow23:20 Lilo And Stitch23:45 Cars Toons23:50 Zou00:05 Henry Hugglemonster00:20 Calimero00:35 Zou00:50 Loopdidoo01:05 Art Attack01:30 Henry Hugglemonster01:45 Calimero

02:00 Zou02:15 Loopdidoo02:30 Art Attack02:55 Henry Hugglemonster

07:00 Penn Zero: Part Time Hero07:25 Boyster07:50 Supa Strikas08:15 Lab Rats08:40 K. C. Undercover09:10 Star vs The Forces Of Evil09:35 Kirby Buckets10:00 Lab Rats10:25 Kickin’ It10:50 Mighty Med11:20 Supa Strikas11:45 K. C. Undercover12:10 Penn Zero: Part Time Hero12:35 Annedroids13:00 Phineas And Ferb The Movie14:20 Phineas And Ferb14:45 Phineas And Ferb15:10 Disney Mickey Mouse15:15 Rocket Monkeys15:40 Penn Zero: Part Time Hero16:05 Star vs The Forces Of Evil16:30 Kirby Buckets16:55 Gamers Guide To PrettyMuch Everything17:25 K. C. Undercover17:50 Supa Strikas18:15 Lab Rats18:40 Mighty Med19:10 Annedroids19:35 Kickin’ It20:00 K. C. Undercover20:25 Supa Strikas20:55 Lab Rats21:20 Gamers Guide To PrettyMuch Everything21:45 Kickin’ It22:10 Phineas And Ferb22:40 Super Matrak23:05 Super Matrak23:30 Boyster00:00 Programmes Start At 7:00amKSA

03:00 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles03:24 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles03:48 Henry Danger04:12 Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn04:36 The Haunted Hathaways05:00 Winx Club05:24 Sanjay And Craig05:48 Sanjay And Craig06:12 SpongeBob SquarePants06:36 SpongeBob SquarePants07:00 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles07:24 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles07:48 Sanjay And Craig08:12 Harvey Beaks08:36 Breadwinners09:00 Get Blake09:24 Rabbids Invasion09:48 Henry Danger10:12 Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn10:36 The Haunted Hathaways11:00 Winx Club11:24 SpongeBob SquarePants11:48 SpongeBob SquarePants12:12 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles12:36 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles13:00 Breadwinners13:24 Breadwinners13:48 Get Blake14:12 Rabbids Invasion14:36 Henry Danger15:00 Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn15:24 SpongeBob SquarePants15:48 SpongeBob SquarePants16:12 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles16:36 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles17:00 Sanjay And Craig17:24 Harvey Beaks17:48 Breadwinners18:12 Henry Danger18:36 Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn19:00 The Haunted Hathaways19:24 Max & Shred19:48 SpongeBob SquarePants20:12 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles20:36 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

00:30 Cristela01:00 The Nightly Show With Larry

00:00 The Borderlands-PG1502:00 The River Wild-PG1504:00 Jurassic Attack-PG1506:00 Destruction: Las Vegas08:00 Turbulence-PG1510:00 Days Of Thunder-PG1512:00 Born To Race: Fast Track14:00 The Scorpion King 4: Quest

00:00 40 Days And Nights-PG1502:00 Kon-Tiki-PG1504:00 Dracula Untold-PG1506:00 Heart Of The Country-PG1508:00 Good Deeds-PG1510:00 Mr. Peabody & Sherman12:00 Rio 2-FAM14:00 Heaven’s Door-PG16:00 Good Deeds-PG1518:00 Ashes-PG1520:00 Taken 3-PG1522:00 Deep In The Darkness-18

03:00 They Took Our Child, We GotHer Back04:00 When Life Means Life05:00 Campus Nightmares06:00 My Ghost Story07:00 Crime Stories08:00 Surveillance Oz09:00 Surveillance Oz10:00 Frenemies10:30 Frenemies11:00 Crimes That Shook Britain12:00 Crime Stories13:00 Homicide Hunter14:00 I Survived15:00 Frenemies15:30 Frenemies16:00 Crimes That Shook Britain17:00 Crime Stories

ClassifiedsWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Kuwait

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 13/1/2016Airlines Flt Route TimeMSC 415 Sohag 00:05SYR 343 Damascus/KAC 00:10JZR 267 Beirut 00:30JZR 539 Cairo 00:40FDB 069 Dubai 00:55THY 772 Istanbul 01:05DLH 635 Doha 01:35ETH 620 Addis Ababa 01:45CLX 784 Luxembourg 01:45PGT 858 Istanbul 02:00UAE 853 Dubai 02:30GFA 211 Bahrain 02:30KKK 6507 Istanbul 02:50OMA 643 Muscat 02:55FDB 067 Dubai 03:05RJA 644 Amman 03:05MSR 612 Cairo 03:10QTR 1076 Doha 03:15CEB 7694 Manila 03:15ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 03:25AGY 680 Alexandria 04:30DHX 170 Bahrain 05:40THY 770 Istanbul 05:55FDB 5061 Dubai 06:30BAW 157 London 06:40KAC 412 Manila/Bangkok 07:20QTR 1086 Doha 07:40FDB 053 Dubai 07:45KAC 302 Mumbai 07:50OMA 641 Muscat 07:55KAC 206 Islamabad 08:25KAC 352 Kochi 08:30KAC 346 Ahmedabad 08:30KAC 344 Chennai 08:30UAE 855 Dubai 08:40KAC 362 Colombo 08:50KAC 332 Trivandrum 08:50ABY 125 Sharjah 09:00ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 09:20QTR 1070 Doha 09:25FDB 055 Dubai 09:40GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40IRA 665 Shiraz 10:40IAW 157 Al Najaf 10:50UAE 873 Dubai 11:05AXB 889 Mangalore/Bahrain 11:15JZR 165 Dubai 11:30AGY 684 Sohag 11:35MEA 404 Beirut 11:55KAC 204 Lahore 12:20SAW 701 Damascus 12:20FDB 075 Dubai 12:25IRM 1188 Mashhad 12:25MSC 401 Alexandria 12:30JZR 561 Sohag 12:45UAE 871 Dubai 12:50IRC 6511 ABD 13:00MSR 610 Cairo 13:00CLX 792 Luxembourg 13:15IZG 4167 Mashhad 13:30KAC 382 Delhi 13:50KNE 460 Riyadh 13:50IRC 526 Mashhad 13:55MSR 575 Sharm el-Sheikh 13:55QTR 1078 Doha 14:10FDB 057 Dubai 14:10IRM 1186 Tehran 14:15SVA 500 Jeddah 14:30KAC 284 Dhaka 14:45

KAC 672 Dubai 14:45MRJ 4815 Mashhad 14:45KAC 512 Mashhad 14:50JZR 1359 Mashhad 14:55KNE 462 Madinah 14:55GFA 221 Bahrain 15:00KNE 472 Jeddah 15:05OMA 645 Muscat 15:30KAC 562 Amman 15:40ABY 127 Sharjah 15:45UAE 857 Dubai 15:45JZR 535 Cairo 16:10QTR 1072 Doha 16:10JZR 787 Riyadh 16:25FDB 051 Dubai 16:30JZR 357 Mashhad 16:30ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 16:40RJA 640 Amman 16:55KAC 542 Cairo 16:55SYR 341 Damascus 17:00SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15IRC 6521 Lamerd 17:20GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30KAC 788 Jeddah 17:40MSR 614 Cairo 17:50JZR 777 Jeddah 17:55UAE 875 Dubai 18:00KAC 502 Beirut 18:00FDB 063 Dubai 18:05JZR 177 Dubai 18:20KAC 786 Jeddah 18:30JZR 483 Istanbul 18:40ABY 123 Sharjah 18:45QTR 1080 Doha 18:55KAC 774 Riyadh 19:25GFA 217 Bahrain 19:30KAC 166 Paris/Rome 19:30KAC 618 Doha 19:35KAC 674 Dubai 19:45KAC 154 Istanbul 19:45ETD 919 Abu Dhabi 19:55KAC 102 New York/London 19:55KAC 792 Madinah 19:55KNE 480 Taif 20:10FDB 061 Dubai 20:20OMA 647 Muscat 20:20KAC 546 Alexandria 20:35MSR 606 Luxor 20:45FDB 5053 Dubai 20:50JAI 572 Mumbai 20:55DLH 634 Frankfurt 20:55MEA 402 Beirut 21:20ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:20ALK 229 Colombo 21:25UAE 859 Dubai 21:40GFA 219 Bahrain 21:45JZR 125 Bahrain 22:00QTR 1082 Doha 22:00AIC 975 Chennai/Goa 22:25ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:25KAC 564 Amman 22:25FDB 059 Dubai 22:30BBC 044 Dhaka/Dammam 22:40JZR 239 Amman 23:05JZR 185 Dubai 23:15JZR 555 Alexandria 23:25PIA 215 KHI 23:40FDB 071 Dubai 23:45THY 764 Istanbul 23:50JAI 574 Mumbai 23:55MSC 403 Asyut 23:55

Departure Flights on Wednesday 13/1/2016Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 988 Hyderabad/Chennai 00:05FDB 072 Dubai 00:40MSC 404 Asyut 00:55JAI 573 Mumbai 00:55MSC 416 Sohag 01:00UAL 981 IAD 01:10SYR 344 Damascus 01:10KAC 283 Dhaka 02:10THY 773 Istanbul 02:30DLH 635 Frankfurt 02:35ETH 621 Addis Ababa 02:45KAC 203 Lahore 03:05CLX 784 GYD 03:15KAC 381 Delhi 03:30UAE 854 Dubai 03:45KKK 6508 Istanbul 03:50PGT 859 Istanbul 03:55OMA 644 Muscat 03:55FDB 068 Dubai 04:00MSR 613 Cairo 04:10ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:15QTR 1077 Doha 05:00THY 765 Istanbul 05:15CEB 7695 Manila 05:20AGY 685 Sohag 05:30JZR 560 Sohag 06:10FDB 070 Dubai 06:30JZR 164 Dubai 06:55RJA 645 Amman 07:05THY 771 Istanbul 07:05FDB 5062 Dubai 07:10GFA 212 Bahrain 07:15FDB 054 Dubai 08:30KAC 511 Mashhad 08:30QTR 1087 Doha 08:40BAW 156 London 08:45OMA 642 Muscat 08:55JZR 1358 Mashhad 08:55JZR 534 Cairo 09:15ABY 126 Sharjah 09:40UAE 856 Dubai 09:55KAC 541 Cairo 09:55KAC 117 New York 09:55KAC 561 Amman 10:00JZR 482 Istanbul 10:00KAC 671 Dubai 10:05ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:25KAC 501 Beirut 10:30KAC 175 Frankfurt/Geneva 10:30JZR 356 Mashhad 10:30FDB 056 Dubai 10:35KAC 153 Istanbul 10:40QTR 1071 Doha 11:00GFA 214 Bahrain 11:25IRA 664 Shiraz 11:40IAW 158 Al Najaf 11:50AXB 890 Mangalore 12:15KAC 787 Jeddah 12:15JZR 776 Jeddah 12:20KAC 103 London 12:25UAE 874 Dubai 12:30AGY 681 Asyut 12:35MEA 405 Beirut 12:55KAC 785 Jeddah 13:00FDB 076 Dubai 13:10JZR 786 Riyadh 13:10KAC 545 Alexandria 13:25MSC 402 Alexandria 13:30SAW 702 Damascus 13:35

IRM 1189 Mashhad 13:40JZR 176 Dubai 13:45IRC 6522 Lamerd 13:55MSR 611 Cairo 14:00UAE 872 Dubai 14:15CLX 792 Hanoi 14:30IZG 4168 Mashhad 14:30KNE 481 Taif 14:50MSR 576 Sharm el-Sheikh 14:55IRC 527 Mashhad 14:55KAC 673 Dubai 15:00FDB 058 Dubai 15:10QTR 1079 Doha 15:10KAC 791 Madinah 15:10IRM 1187 Tehran 15:30SVA 503 Madinah/Jeddah 15:45GFA 222 Bahrain 15:45MRJ 4812 Tehran 15:45KAC 617 Doha 15:45KAC 773 Riyadh 15:50KNE 463 Madinah 16:00KNE 473 Jeddah 16:05JZR 554 Alexandria 16:10ABY 128 Sharjah 16:25OMA 646 Muscat 16:30KAC 563 Amman 16:45JZR 266 Beirut 17:05ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 17:30JZR 238 Amman 17:30FDB 052 Dubai 17:35QTR 1073 Doha 17:40UAE 858 Dubai 17:45JZR 538 Cairo 17:45RJA 641 Amman 17:55SYR 342 Damascus 18:00SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15IRC 6512 ABD 18:20GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20JZR 184 Dubai 18:40MSR 615 Cairo 18:50JZR 124 Bahrain 19:10FDB 064 Dubai 19:20ABY 124 Sharjah 19:25UAE 876 Dubai 19:30GFA 218 Bahrain 20:15KAC 361 Colombo 20:45QTR 1081 Doha 20:50KAC 351 Kochi 20:50KAC 343 Chennai 21:00KNE 461 Riyadh 21:10KAC 331 Trivandrum 21:10OMA 648 Muscat 21:20FDB 062 Dubai 21:20MSR 619 Alexandria 21:45DLH 634 Doha 21:45DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50FDB 5054 Dubai 21:50JAI 571 Mumbai 21:55JZR 502 Luxor 22:00ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:10KAC 301 Mumbai 22:10MEA 403 Beirut 22:20ALK 230 Colombo 22:25GFA 220 Bahrain 22:30ETD 920 Dubai 22:35UAE 860 Dubai 22:55KAC 345 Ahmedabad 23:00QTR 1083 Doha 23:05KAC 205 Islamabad 23:10ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:15FDB 060 Dubai 23:35

SHARQIA-1DADDY’S HOME 12:00 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 2:00 PMDADDY’S HOME 4:00 PMDILWALE - Hindi 6:00 PMDILWALE - Hindi 9:00 PMDADDY’S HOME 12:05 AM

SHARQIA-2THE REVENANT 12:15 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 1:30 PMTHE REVENANT 3:15 PMTHE REVENANT 6:15 PMTHE REVENANT 9:15 PMTHE REVENANT 12:15 AM

SHARQIA-3THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 11:30 AMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 1:15 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 3:00 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 4:45 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 6:30 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 8:45 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 11:00 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 12:45 AM

MUHALAB-1DADDY’S HOME 11:30 AMDADDY’S HOME 1:30 PMEXTRACTION 3:30 PMDADDY’S HOME 5:30 PMDILWALE - Hindi 7:30 PMDADDY’S HOME 10:30 PMEXTRACTION 12:30 AM

MUHALAB-2THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 11:45 AMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 1:30 PMWAZIR - Hindi 3:15 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 5:30 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 7:45 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 10:00 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 12:15 AM

MUHALAB-3THE REVENANT 11:30 AMTHE REVENANT 2:30 PMTHE REVENANT 5:30 PMTHE REVENANT 8:30 PMTHE REVENANT 11:30 PM

FANAR-1DADDY’S HOME 11:30 AMDADDY’S HOME 1:30 PMTHE PEANUTS MOVIE 3:30 PMDADDY’S HOME 5:30 PMFATHERS AND DAUGHTERS 7:30 PMDADDY’S HOME 9:45 PMTHE REVENANT 11:45 PM

FANAR-2THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 12:30 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 2:30 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 4:30 PMEXTRACTION 6:30 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 8:30 PMEXTRACTION 10:30 PM

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 12:30 AM

FANAR-3APARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 11:45 AMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 1:45 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 3:30 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 5:45 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 7:30 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 9:45 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 12:05 AM

FANAR-4THE REVENANT 12:15 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 1:30 PMTHE REVENANT 3:15 PMTHE REVENANT 6:15 PMTHE REVENANT 9:15 PMTHE REVENANT 12:15 AM

FANAR-5DILWALE - Hindi 12:00 PMDILWALE - Hindi 3:00 PMWAZIR - Hindi 6:00 PMDILWALE - Hindi 8:30 PMDILWALE - Hindi 11:30 PM

MARINA-1THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 11:45 AMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 1:30 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 3:15 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 5:00 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 6:45 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 9:00 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 11:15 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 1:00 AM

MARINA-2DADDY’S HOME 11:45 AMDADDY’S HOME 1:45 PMPOINT BREAK 3:45 PMDADDY’S HOME 6:15 PMEXTRACTION 8:15 PMTHE REVENANT 10:15 PMEXTRACTION 1:15 AM

MARINA-3THE REVENANT 12:30 PMTHE GOOD DINOSAUR 1:30 PMTHE GOOD DINOSAUR 3:30 PMTHE REVENANT 5:45 PMTHE REVENANT 8:45 PMTHE REVENANT 11:45 PM

AVENUES-1GET SQUIRRELY 12:30 PMGET SQUIRRELY 2:45 PMGET SQUIRRELY 5:00 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 7:15 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 9:15 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 11:15 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 1:15 AM

AVENUES-2EXTRACTION 1:00 PMEXTRACTION 3:15 PMEXTRACTION 5:30 PMCHARLIE- Malayalam 7:45 PM

EXTRACTION 10:30 PMEXTRACTION 12:45 AM

AVENUES-3DILWALE - Hindi 11:30 AMDILWALE - Hindi 2:30 PMDILWALE - Hindi 5:45 PMDILWALE - Hindi 9:00 PMDILWALE - Hindi 12:15 AM

AVENUES-4DADDY’S HOME 11:45 AMDILWALE - Hindi 2:00 PMDILWALE - Hindi 5:15 PMNO THU+SUN“STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS” 5:30 PMSpecial Show “THE BIG SHORT” 5:30 PMDILWALE - Hindi 8:30 PMDADDY’S HOME 11:45 PM

AVENUES-5THE REVENANT 12:15 PMTHE REVENANT 3:30 PMDADDY’S HOME 6:45 PMTHE REVENANT 9:00 PMTHE REVENANT 12:15 AM

360º- 1THE REVENANT 11:30 AMTHE REVENANT 2:30 PMTHE REVENANT 5:45 PMTHE REVENANT 9:00 PMTHE REVENANT 12:15 AM

360º 2THE REVENANT 1:15 PMTHE REVENANT 4:30 PMTHE REVENANT 7:45 PMTHE REVENANT 11:00 PM

360º- 3EXTRACTION 12:30 PMSNOWTIME! 2:45 PMEXTRACTION 5:00 PMEXTRACTION 7:15 PMEXTRACTION 9:30 PMEXTRACTION 11:45 PM

AL-KOUT.1THE REVENANT 11:30 AMTHE REVENANT 2:30 PMTHE REVENANT 5:30 PMTHE REVENANT 8:30 PMTHE REVENANT 11:30 PM

AL-KOUT.2DADDY’S HOME 12:30 PMEXTRACTION 2:45 PMDADDY’S HOME 5:00 PMDADDY’S HOME 7:00 PMDADDY’S HOME 9:00 PMEXTRACTION 11:00 PMEXTRACTION 1:00 AM

AL-KOUT.3FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS 12:45 PMFATHERS AND DAUGHTERS 3:00 PM

PAPARAZZI -Arabic 5:15 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 7:30 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 9:45 PMFATHERS AND DAUGHTERS 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.4THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 11:30 AMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 1:15 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 3:00 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 4:45 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 6:45 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 8:45 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 10:45 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 12:30 AM

BAIRAQ-1THE REVENANT 12:15 PMSNOWTIME! 1:30 PMTHE REVENANT 3:15 PMTHE REVENANT 6:15 PMTHE REVENANT 9:15 PMTHE REVENANT 12:15 AM

BAIRAQ-2EXTRACTION 12:30 PMTHE PEANUTS MOVIE 2:30 PMDADDY’S HOME 4:30 PMTHE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD 6:30 PMDADDY’S HOME 8:45 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 10:45 PMEXTRACTION 12:30 AM

BAIRAQ-3DADDY’S HOME 11:30 AMDADDY’S HOME 1:30 PMDILWALE - Hindi 3:30 PMDILWALE - Hindi 6:30 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 9:30 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 11:45 PM

PLAZATHE REVENANT 4:15 PMCHARLIE- Malayalam 7:30 PMTHE REVENANT 7:30 PMPAPARAZZI -Arabic 10:30 PM

LAILADADDY’S HOME 4:00 PMAPARTMENT NO. 6 - Kuwaiti Film 6:15 PMDADDY’S HOME 8:15 PMTHE REVENANT 10:15 PM

AJIAL.1WAZIR - Hindi 3:45 PMWAZIR - Hindi 6:00 PMWAZIR - Hindi 8:15 PMWAZIR - Hindi 10:30 PM

AJIAL.2HO MANN JAHAAN - Pakistani 4:15 PMCHARLIE- Malayalam 7:30 PMHO MANN JAHAAN - Pakistani 10:00 PM

AJIAL.3DILWALE - Hindi 3:45 PMDILWALE - Hindi 6:45 PMDILWALE - Hindi 9:45 PM

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (07/01/2016 TO 13/01/2016)

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There's plenty of detailed busywork on your agenda today butyou really don't want to mess with your schedule to make it all fit in.Unfortunately, your lack of rigidity only stirs up more conflict. You gain themost by meeting others halfway and acting as spontaneously as you can.Paradoxically, a gracious compromise may be the most sensible way to getwhat you want now. Just make sure you don't go running in the oppositedirection and become so enthusiastic about every idea that nothing getsdone at all.

Some of the current complexity in your life stems from how youchose to react to recent events. If you pursued an opportunity withoutoverplaying your hand, you won't likely run into any problems at all. But ifyou overcompensated by listening to your ego and making a hasty deci-sion, today's consequences might be a bit tougher to accept. Nevertheless,relaxing your grip and letting go of your old expectations frees you toachieve your new goals. Embracing your future is easier when you carryless baggage.

Although you are concerned that your secret isn't safe today,you still could enjoy yourself while navigating all the twists and

turns of the day. This high level of action is what you asked for so don't wasteeveryone's time wishing that your life was less hectic now. The Sun's sweettrine to auspicious Jupiter suggests that there really is a pot of gold at rain-bow's end for those who believe. However, you must meet your currentresponsibilities before you can magically transform a tricky moment into anawesome day.

You don't have much time to attend to your agenda todaybecause people keep showing up unexpectedly. Thankfully, your friends andassociates recognize your brilliance and seem to be supportive of your plans,even if they require your immediate attention. Take advantage of their inter-est and involve them in your activities. Fortunately, you can work closely withothers without sacrificing your individuality as long as you are clear aboutyour goals. Ironically, setting boundaries not only brings the respect youdeserve, it also enables you to feel proud of your accomplishments.

Someone may shock you with unexpected criticism today, refo-cusing your attention back on reality. If your fantasies have hijacked yourgoals, embrace the unsolicited advice you receive from others now, insteadof rejecting it out of hand. Be sure to establish healthy boundaries so youcan maintain your emotional sanity. Nurturing your confidence, not yourskepticism, will guide you toward fulfillment.

This is a significant day for your relationships and you mightend up pleasantly surprised with the outcome. However, you need todemonstrate a modicum of self-restraint or someone could rain on yourparade now. There are long-lasting ramifications if unequal power dynamicsare left unaddressed today. Even if it feels like you're being bent out ofshape, express the love that is already in your heart. The simplest act of kind-ness may be enough to shift the energy in a brighter direction.

You are poised in anticipation, eager to ride the fluctuatingwaves of contradictory energy. You believe that maintaining a positive atti-tude will overcome all challenges, but you may have underestimated thepower of the cosmic tides now. A smarter strategy could be to retreat andreevaluate your plans today, instead of futilely pushing against the currents.A steadier pace improves your chances of reaching your destination. By prac-ticing a little patience, you can transform your unbridled optimism into tan-gible results.

Everything seems to be flowing your way today, but all the posi-tive feedback could have a surprising negative effect. You may become sosure of your actions now that you overlook a potential problem. Luckily, youcan rely on your common sense to remind you that it takes less work if youdo something right the first time around. Thankfully, your world will continueto spin in your favor as long you don't let the current energy of abundanceencourage greed. More isn't necessarily better; if you already set an attain-able goal, be prepared to stop when you reach it.

Although it might seem as if every word you say now encountersresistance, sit tight and wait your turn as communication continues toimprove over the next couple of days. Your bright idea is close to paying off,but you must remain persistent in your efforts. Unfortunately, too much stresson the job can make you less effective today, so just coast for a while if yourun into trouble. Fight the temptation to dig in your heels because a stubbornstance won't work in your favor. Adaptability is your not-so-secret weapon, sodon't be afraid to use it to your advantage.

Your moods are brewing up a storm today, yet you won't gain anyrespect by giving up at the first sign of conflict. Neither do you need to battleagainst an immovable stone wall. Your most sensible approach is based upona high level of consistent behavior without any signs of aggression. It mayeven be helpful to consciously let go of control so you can float with the flownow. Calm your nerves by surrounding yourself with the sounds of nature,soothing music or just good old-fashioned silence.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Aries (March 21-April 19)

STAR TRACK

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Libra (September 23-October 22)

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

CROSSWORD 1136

ACROSS1. Lacking sufficient water or rainfall.5. A hard green Swiss cheese made with skim-milk curd and flavored with clover.12. The part of the nervous system of verte-brates that controls involuntary actions of thesmooth muscles and heart and glands.15. A Russian river.16. The Tibeto-Burman language spoken inSichuan.17. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lacinsects.18. A scented lozenge used to sweeten thebreath (e.g. to conceal the odor of tobacco).20. An impression in a surface (as made by ablow).21. Title for a civil or military leader (especiallyin Turkey).22. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike partof an organism.23. A landlocked republic in southern centralAfrica.25. State in northeastern India.28. The capital and largest city of Yemen.30. (Greek mythology) The husband of Medeaand leader of the Argonauts who sailed inquest of the Golden Fleece.34. Any of numerous local fertility and naturedeities worshipped by ancient Semitic peo-ples.38. Relating to or containing acetic acid.40. A Bantu language spoken by the Chagapeople in northern Tanzania.41. An informal conversation.44. The (prehensile) extremity of the superiorlimb.45. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on askewer usually with vegetables.46. Being one more than one hundred.47. A piece of furniture that provides a place tosleep.48. (informal) Roused to anger.49. Essential oil or perfume obtained fromflowers.50. A drug (trade names Calan and Isoptin)used as an oral or parenteral calcium blockerin cases of hypertension or congestive heartfailure or angina or migraine.53. The act of slowing down or falling behind.61. Any toad of the genus Bufo.64. Minute floating marine tunicate having atransparent body with an opening at eachend.66. Title for a civil or military leader (especiallyin Turkey).70. (Welsh myth) The other world.72. English aristocrat who was the first wife ofPrince Charles.74. A river in north central Switzerland thatruns northeast into the Rhine.75. A caustic substance (Ca(OH)2) producedby heating limestone.76. Orange liqueur with lemon juice andbrandy.78. (of securities) Not quoted on a stockexchange.79. Weight to be borne or conveyed.80. Amphibians that resemble lizards.81. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

DOWN1. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solelythe razorbill.2. Being or occurring in fact or actuality.3. A ruler of the Inca Empire (or a member ofhis family).4. The longer of the two telegraphic signals

used in Morse code.5. Short and fat.6. The branch of computer science that dealwith writing computer programs that cansolve problems creatively.7. Not acknowledging the God of Christianityand Judaism and Islam.8. Precipitation falling from clouds in the formof ice crystals.9. Affected by ague.10. Long and light rowing boat.11. A large body of water constituting a princi-pal part of the hydrosphere.12. By bad luck.13. Kamarupan languages spoken in north-eastern India and western Burma.14. A fraudulent business scheme.19. Of or relating to Oman or its people.24. Being one more than fifty.26. A region of Malaysia in northeasternBorneo.27. A peasant farmer in the Scottish highlands.29. A city in western Germany near the Dutchand Belgian borders.31. Common house and field crickets.32. A cylindrical drawstring bag used by sailorsto hold their clothing and other gear.33. A gonadotropic hormone that is secretedby the anterior pituitary and stimulatesgrowth of Graafian follicles in female mam-mals, and activates sperm-forming cells inmale mammals.35. (of reproduction) Not involving the fusionof male and female gametes reproduction".36. Related on the father's side.37. Steps consisting of two parallel membersconnected by rungs.39. The capital of Western Samoa.42. Australian physiologist noted for hisresearch on the conduction of impulses bynerve cells (1903-1997).43. A loose sleeveless outer garment madefrom aba cloth.51. A chronic inflammatory collagen diseaseaffecting connective tissue (skin or joints).52. A small cake leavened with yeast.54. A trivalent metallic element of the rareearth group.55. An honorary degree in science.56. The syllable naming the fourth (subdomi-nant) note of the diatonic scale in solmization.57. Frightened into submission or compliance.58. A group of Plains Indians formerly living inwhat is now North and South Dakota andNebraska and Kansas and Arkansas andLouisiana and Oklahoma and Texas.59. The unlimited 3-dimensional expanse inwhich everything is located.60. (astronomy) An indistinct surface feature ofMars once thought to be a system of channels.62. Type genus of the family Unionidae.63. A federally chartered corporation that pur-chases mortgages.65. A German art song of the 19th century forvoice and piano.67. A correctional institution used to detainpersons who are in the lawful custody of thegovernment (either accused persons awaitingtrial or convicted persons serving a sentence).68. The emotion of hate.69. Type genus of the family Arcidae.71. Inflammation of the urethra of unknowncause.73. A unit of surface area equal to 100 squaremeters.77. A heavy brittle metallic element of the plat-inum group.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

WORD SEARCH PUZZLE

34s t a r s

Daily SuDoku

A flood of brilliant ideas opens many possibilities at work today,yet you may grow agitated because you can't find the hook that could turnthis magical moment into something more. If you experience an unexpectedsetback now, pushing harder won't bring success any faster. Instead, con-nect with the intellectual buzz but wait for the energy to quiet down beforefinalizing your career plans. Exploring your options enables you to make themost of the amazing opportunities knocking at your door.

Living up to your end of the bargain and managing all theminute details of a project means that delicious rewards may be just aroundthe next corner. But the dark clouds might not clear until later in the day soit's best to keep your shoulder to the wheel since it's uncool to fall behind inyour work. Part of your current lesson is learning to live with more uncertain-ty now. Dig deep to find spiritual meaning in the present moment while alsohonoring your dreams for the future.

inf or m at ionWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Ahmadi Sama Safwan Fahaeel Makka St 23915883Abu Halaifa Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd 23715414Danat Al-Sultan Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd 23726558

Jahra Modern Jahra Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 24575518Madina Munawara Jahra-Block 92 24566622

Capital Ahlam Fahad Al-Salem St 22436184Khaldiya Coop Khaldiya Coop 24833967

Farwaniya New Shifa Farwaniya Block 40 24734000Ferdous Coop Ferdous Coop 24881201Modern Safwan Old Kheitan Block 11 24726638

Hawally Tariq Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25726265Hana Salmiya-Amman St 25647075Ikhlas Hawally-Beirut St 22625999Hawally & Rawdha Hawally & Rawdha Coop 22564549Ghadeer Jabriya-Block 1A 25340559Kindy Jabriya-Block 3B 25326554Ibn Al-Nafis Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25721264Mishrif Coop Mishrif Coop 25380581Salwa Coop Salwa Coop 25628241

OphthalmologistsDr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223

Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426

General PractitionersDr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501

UrologistsDr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427

For labor-related inquiries and complaints:

Call MSAL hotline 128

Sabah Hospital 24812000

Amiri Hospital 22450005

Maternity Hospital 24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital 25312700

Chest Hospital 24849400

Farwaniya Hospital 24892010

Adan Hospital 23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital 24840300

Al-Razi Hospital 24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital 24874330/9

Kaizen center 25716707

Rawda 22517733

Adaliya 22517144

Khaldiya 24848075

Kaifan 24849807

Shamiya 24848913

Shuwaikh 24814507

Abdullah Salem 22549134

Nuzha 22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh 24814764

Qadsiya 22515088

Dasmah 22532265

Bneid Al-Gar 22531908

Shaab 22518752

Qibla 22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla 22451082

Mirqab 22456536

Sharq 22465401

Salmiya 25746401

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36L I F E S T Y L EM u s i c & M o v i e s

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

Acoming-of-age drama set among Bedouintribesmen roaming the desert emerged asthe first potential Oscar contender pro-

duced by Jordan’s nascent film industry. “Theeb”(Wolf), set in 1916, tells the story of a playful 11-year-old Bedouin boy of the same name who getscaught up in his tribe’s alliance with the Britishagainst Ottoman rulers during the era’s ArabRevolt. Billed as a “Bedouin Western” and anauthentic portrayal of Bedouin culture, Theeb isone of nine movies short-listed for best foreignlanguage film nominations. The final five will beannounced Thursday.

For the amateur cast from a Bedouin clan andfor two young Jordanians writing and directingtheir first feature film, making Theeb has alreadybeen a wild ride, climaxing in the 2014 world pre-miere at the Venice Film Festival. That marked thefirst time the actors left Jordan or saw the entirefilm. “They got a 10-minute standing ovation,” saiddirector Naji Abu Nowar, who won for best direc-tor in the “Orrizonti” (Horizons) category in Venice.

Directorial debut“The Bedouins, it’s a very macho culture, and

you never see anyone cry, even the children ... andto see tears coming out of some of their eyes (dur-ing the premiere) was a really powerful moment,”he said, speaking from the Palm SpringsInternational Film Festival, a last pre-Oscar oppor-tunity to promote foreign films. Theeb also wontwo nominations from the British Academy of Filmand Television Arts, or BAFTA, for its 2016 awards -for best foreign language film and for outstandingdirectorial debut for Abu Nowar, who is alsoBritish.

The actors have since resumed their lives in Al-Shakriyeh, a small Bedouin village nestled amongstriking rock formations rising from the desertfloor of Wadi Rum, a protected landscape justnorth of the Red Sea and one of Jordan’s maintourist attractions. Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, whoplayed Theeb, is now 15, attends 10th grade andhas revised his career plans, from police officer toactor. “I’m a celebrity among my friends now,” saidJacir, who has morphed from a boy with a sweetsmile into a guarded teen.

His cousin, Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen,

who played Theeb’s brother Hussein, is back toracing camels and working as a tourist guide.Since Theeb, he has appeared in a German TV doc-umentary about Wadi Rum and a Jordaniantourism commercial, and said he would like to domore acting. Al-Sweilhiyeen said being involved inTheeb made him aware of the need to protect tra-ditions. Bedouin lifestyles in the area havechanged dramatically in the last few decades, withnomads settling down, trading their camels forpickup trucks and living off tourists instead of goatherds.

“Sometimes I say the old life was better,” saidAl-Sweilhiyeen, sitting on the floor of the carpetedfamily diwan, or traditional reception area forguests. “The desert teaches you how to depend onyourself. Now we have good services, but we needto protect some old customs.” Jacir’s father, 42-year-old Eid, still remembers the old ways; he wasborn in a tent and as a boy rode camels over longdistances as his family wandered the desert beforesettling down about 30 years ago. He dropped outof school as a 15-year-old, taught himself English,began guiding tourists and recently sold his lastcamels, saying he doesn’t have the time and spaceto care for them properly. Al-Hwietat became thelocal point man for the filmmakers, Abu Nowarand Bassel Ghandour, who produced the film andco-wrote the script. The pair lived in Al-Shakriyehfor most of 2012, soaking up Bedouin culture,rewriting the script and holding acting workshopsfor the local cast.

Wadi RumTheeb was filmed over five weeks by veteran

Austrian cinematographer Wolfgang Thaler, themost experienced crew member and praised byall involved as the bedrock of the production.Ghandour said Thaler used super-16mm film inpart because it captures the desert’s harsh sunand deep shadows more naturally. Theeb, alsoreleased commercially, was “definitely low-bud-get,” Ghandour said, but wouldn’t reveal howmuch it cost to make.

Half a century before Theeb, scenes of theOscar-winning epic “Lawrence of Arabia” aboutmaverick British army officer T. E. Lawrence werefilmed in Wadi Rum, just minutes from where Jacir

and his family live. Jacir’s grandfather was part ofthe local support staff for “Lawrence,” also set dur-ing the Arab Revolt, and the tradition continues.Jacir’s father, Eid, has worked on international pro-ductions, most recently as a location manager for“The Martian,” a 2015 science fiction film starringMatt Damon, which just won a Golden GlobeAward for Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture.

Damon was unpretentious during the shoot,greeting everyone at the start of each day, said Al-Hwietat. Providing locations and crew for foreignfilms remains an important part of Jordan’s filmwork, said George David, general manager of theRoyal Film Commission. Major films shot in Jordanalso include “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”(1989) and “The Hurt Locker” (2008). At a time ofgrowing conflict in the region, urban centers inJordan, seen as relatively safe, are standing in forBaghdad or Beirut, he said, adding that “we havealso become the go-to location for Mars and themoon.”

Sundance InstituteMeanwhile, the success of Theeb signals the

development of domestic film production. Overthe past decade, the commission has offeredworkshops on all aspects of film-making, includ-ing an annual screenwriters’ lab in consultationwith the Sundance Institute. It also helped pro-mote 25 feature films and documentaries made inJordan between 2010 and 2015. However, budgetcuts have forced the closure of a film school andthe commission had to reduce training. “If we, asan industry, tackle the funding issue, I think wewill be seeing more Theebs,” said David. “Whetherit wins or not, we are already very proud of what ithas already achieved.”

Back in Al-Shakriyeh, the Theeb cast membersplay it cool, despite what appears to be a mildcase of Oscar fever. If Theeb is nominated, four ofthem plan to travel to the awards ceremony inHollywood - Jacir, his father Eid, cousin Husseinand the film’s villain, played by local residentHassan Mutlaq Al-Maraiyeh. Like others in the filmindustry, they have already thought about what towear for the big night - black robes, the Bedouinversion of formal attire, instead of the beige onesfor every day, said Jacir’s father. —AP

Bedouin coming-of-agedrama vying for Oscar nod

George David, general manager of the Royal Film Commission,speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, inAmman, Jordan.

Bassel Ghandour, who produced the film and co-wrote thescript of “Theeb” (Wolf) speaks during an interview.

Natalie Cole remembered withmix of music and laughter

Natalie Cole was remembered as aloyal friend, “the best and bossiestbig sister,” and a worthy successor to

her famous father’s legacy in a joyous andmusic-filled funeral highlighting her Baptistfaith on Monday. The two-hour, 50-minuteservice at West Angeles Church of God inChrist was filled with affection for thedaughter of crooner Nat King Cole whocarved out her own Grammy Award-win-ning legacy during a 40-year career.

Known for effortlessly crossing R&B, popand jazz genres with such hits as “This WillBe (An Everlasting Love),” “Inseparable,” and

“Our Love,” she died New Year’s Eve at age65 of pulmonary arterial hypertension,which led to heart failure. “My sister was awarrior in the best sense of the word,”Casey Cole Hooker said. “In the end herbody simply began to give out and it shutdown. She was long accepting of what wascoming and trying to make us OK.”

Cole Hooker ’s twin, Timolin ColeAugustus, read a condolence letter fromPresident Barack Obama to the singer’s 38-year-old son Robert Yancy. Among the sev-eral hundred mourners were singers ChakaKhan, Gladys Knight, Lionel Richie, SmokeyRobinson and Stevie Wonder, along withCole’s frequent producer David Foster,actress Angela Bassett and the Rev. JesseJackson, who did not speak. Khan had beenexpected to sing, but didn’t because of ill-ness.

Spirit and kindnessFreddy Cole, the singer’s 84-year-old

uncle and the last surviving brother of NatKing Cole, also attended. Wonder playedharmonica and sang “The Lord’s Prayer,”getting the crowd on its feet and cheeringat the end. “We must continue the spiritand kindness that this woman gave theworld,” Wonder said, glancing down atCole’s closed casket bedecked with a largespray of her favorite white roses. “She leftthis country where people are so divided.We speak of love but we don’t do love.

We’ve got a lot of work to do Natalie, andwe will do it in the spirit of you.”

Richie recalled the extra pressure Colefaced trying to make it in the entertain-ment industry as the daughter of a leg-endary singer. “She conquered andstepped up and rose above it all,” he said. “Iwill always remember her laughter, herhumor, her silliness, that voice and moreimportantly her friendship. There weremany moments she was down and shepicked me up.” Foster collaborated withCole when she intertwined her voice withthat of her father to make his“Unforgettable” a multi-Grammy-winninghit through technological wizardry in1991. “She was the most un-star like super-star you could ever know,” he said. “Shealways had a sympathetic ear and words ofwisdom, which she learned from her owneventful life.”

‘What a woman’Cole was frank about the fierce drug

addiction that gripped her for several yearsuntil she went to rehab and overcame it inthe 1980s. She was later diagnosed withhepatitis C, which she attributed to heraddiction, and had a kidney transplant in2009. Those issues contributed to herhealth woes in recent years even as shemaintained a busy performing schedule.“Fame is a beast,” Foster said. “For Natalie,in the early years it did not serve her well,but in the last 25 years fame became verymatter of fact. She didn’t use it, abuse itand she didn’t give a crap about it. Evenwhen she was struggling with her ownhealth, she maintained her own dignity,class and optimism.”

Cole Augustus said her sister answeredto the nickname “Sweetie” among family.Cole Hooker smiled while recalling Cole as“always the best and bossiest big sister.”The twin sisters contributed backgroundvocals to a song on Cole’s last album donein Spanish in 2013. She urged her siblingsto “watch their pitch” before the sessionbegan. “That was the end of our recordingcareer,” Cole Augustus said. Yancy, whoselate father Marvin was the first of Cole’sthree husbands, is a drummer who playedin his mother’s touring band. He carriedher thick Bible to the podium. They shareda strong faith and were regular churchgo-ers. “What a woman,” he said. “She taughtme how to love. She had my back everytime when I needed it. The greatest giftshe ever gave me was Jesus. I cannot waituntil that day that I see you again.” ColeHooker said her older sister wanted herepitaph to be: “The daughter of a king, themother of a prince and a friend to all.” Colewas later interred privately at Forest LawnMemorial Park in Glendale, near her father,her mother Maria, and adopted siblingsCarole and Nat Kelly Cole. —AP

Pallbearers carry the casket of Natalie Cole after the funeral services at West AngelesChurch of God in Christ in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles. —AP photos

Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, 15, poses for a photo in Wadi Rum, a scenicdesert area of southern Jordan. —AP photos

Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, right, and his cousin, Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen, pose for a photo in Wadi Rum.

In a Feb 8, 2009 file photo, Natalie Cole holdsthe best instrumental arrangement accom-panying vocalist award backstage at the 51stAnnual Grammy Awards, in Los Angeles.

‘Creed’s’ Ryan Cooglerto direct Marvel’s‘Black Panther’

“Creed” helmer Ryan Coogler is set to direct Marveland Disney’s “Black Panther” movie, the studioannounced on Monday. Chadwick Boseman has

already been cast as the lead character, who will make hisfirst appearance in May’s “Captain America: Civil War.” The“Black Panther” film, set for a release in February 2018,marks the first time a major Marvel Studios film will focusprimarily on a black superhero.

There was much speculation surrounding who wouldtake on the directing job. Ava DuVernay earlier this yearpassed on the film. Coogler was another favorite choiceamong fans. The 29-year-old director gained widespreadrecognition for his Sundance breakout “Fruitvale Station”and this year has been making waves with “Creed,” a con-tinuation of the Rocky Balboa franchise focused on ApolloCreed’s son. —AP

Ryan Coogler

Leonardo DiCaprio has taken a leap forward in his quest forhis first Oscar, with a Golden Globes win for his intenseperformance as a 19th century fur trapper in “ The

Revenant.” All eyes in Hollywood are now on the Oscar nomina-tions, to be announced on Thursday, to see if the “Titanic” starscores his fifth nomination for an acting role as widely expected.The 41-year-old DiCaprio won for best actor in a drama at thestar-studded Globes ceremony on Sunday that also saw “TheRevenant” win for best director and best motion picture drama.

Pundits seem to agree that while the race to the AcademyAwards on February 28 remains open in most categories,including for best picture, DiCaprio’s quest for the golden stat-uette that has eluded him so far seems on track. “I thinkDiCaprio looks like a slam dunk,” said Scott Feinberg, awardscolumnist for trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter. “I don’tsee him losing.”

Feinberg explained that DiCaprio “has had the misfortune inthe past of being great in years when other people were havingtheir greatest year.” Indeed, the actor has lost out to some pow-erhouse actors in their prime: Matthew McConaughey for“Dallas Buyers Club,” Forest Whitaker for “The Last King ofScotland,” Jamie Foxx in “Ray” and Tommy Lee Jones in “TheFugitive.” “But this year, it doesn’t look like there is that one otherperson challenging him,” Feinberg told AFP. The Globes win“puts a little wind behind his sails for the next round justbecause of the attention that he gets,” he said.

Matt Damon could be his top rival at the moment-he tookhome the Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy for spaceblockbuster “The Martian”-the other big winner on Sunday, witha victory for best comedy film.

Globes offer clue Feinberg pointed out that while there was unanimous agree-

ment on DiCaprio’s Oscar chances, the Globes could not be consid-ered a bellwether for the Academy Awards overall, leaving the racewide open. “There are only 82 people from the Hollywood ForeignPress Association voting for the Golden Globes while 6,200 vote forthe Oscars, and all of them are associated with the actual making offilm,” Feinberg said. Experts point out that neither of last year’sGlobes best picture winners “Boyhood” and “The Grand BudapestHotel”-ended up with an Oscar.

Instead, the Academy Award went to “Birdman,” directed byAlejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who is also behind “The Revenant.”“Really, it’s impossible to call any film the pacesetter now,” wroteGlenn Whipp, a reporter with the Los Angeles Times. Still, industryobservers agree that the Globes can generate buzz for certainfilms-and thus influence voting among the members of theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“Room” star Brie Larson took home the coveted prize for bestactress in a drama for her searing turn as a mother in captivity withher young son-clearly giving her an edge for Thursday. In the sup-porting actor category, Globe winner Sylvester Stallone is expectedto ride a wave of popular support for “Creed,” in which he reprisedhis iconic role of boxer Rocky Balboa, straight to an Oscars nod. Inthe best picture category, a pair of films seen as Globes favorites fellflat on Sunday, but are still expected to earn some Oscar nomina-tions. “Spotlight,” about journalists from The Boston Globe whouncovered sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, went home empty-handed on Sunday despite three nominations. And “The Big Short,”based on a book about the financial crisis of 2007-2008, was alsosnubbed, going zero for four.—AFP

DiCaprio’s Globes win gives boost to Oscar campaign

Leonardo DiCaprio poses with the award forbest performance by an actor in a motion pic-ture - drama for “The Revenant” at the FOXGolden Globes after party. —AP

37L I F E S T Y L EWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

T r i b u t e

Tr ibutes have poured in for s ingerDavid Bowie, who died Sunday aged69. Politicians, entertainers, actors

and astronauts have expressed their sad-ness at his death. Here is a look at some ofthe reactions:

Bruce Springsteen: “Over here on EStreet, we’re feeling the great loss of DavidBowie. David was a visionary artist and anear ly suppor ter of our music . A lwayschanging and ahead of the curve, he wasan artist whose excellence you aspired to.He will be sorely missed.”

Debbie Harry: “Without this visionaryand h is f r iend Iggy Pop where wouldBlondie be today? Silly question and onethat can’t be answered really but there isno doubt in my mind that Bowie played abig part in our future successes. As for now,love you David Bowie.”

M i c k J a g g e r : “David was a lways aninspiration to me and a true original. Hewas wonderfully shameless in his work. Wehad so many good times together... He wasmy friend. I will never forget him.”

Elton John: “I am still in shock. Neversaw it coming. ... My deepest condolencesto Iman and the family. An amazing life. Anamazing career.”

Bette Midler: “Bowie WAS The Man Who

Fell to Earth. Curious, brilliant, enigmaticand sweet . We needed him and heappeared, changing our perceptions forev-er.”

Yoko Ono: “As John & I had very fewfriends, we felt David was as close as family.Sweet memories will stay with us forever.”

Bowie’s son, director Duncan Jones, post-ed a picture of his smiling father on Twitter:“Very sorry and sad to say it’s true. I’ll beoffline for a while. Love to all.”

Yusuf Is lam, also k nown as CatStevens: “He has left us for another world,beyond the darkness of this present onevividly so depicted in the shadows of hislast video. I truly pray he’s welcomed to thelight by his Maker in that great today, whichhas no tomorrow.”

Irish singer Hozier: “Unthinkable. Theworld has lost one of the most importantartists and icons of our time. I was movedimmeasurably by David Bowie. RIP.”

Mariah Carey: “David Bowie we wil lremember your brilliance. Heartfelt condo-lences to family, friends & fans around theworld.”

Astronaut Tim Peake, who is aboardthe International Space Station:

“Saddened to hear David Bowie has losthis battle with cancer - his music was aninspiration to many.”

Josh Groban: “He never seemed of thisearth. Now he’s left it. He bent rules, gender,genres, and our minds. RIP David Bowie.One. Of. A. Kind.”

Former astronaut Chris Hadfield, whoper formed “Space Oddit y,” on theInternational Space

Station in 2013: “Ashes to ashes, dust tostardust. Your bri l l iance inspired us all .Goodbye Starman.”

German Foreign Office: “Good-bye,David Bowie. You are now among #Heroes.Thank you for helping to bring down the#wall.”

The Rolling Stones: “The Rolling Stonesare shocked and deeply saddened to hearof the death of our dear friend David Bowie.As well as being a wonderful and kind man,he was an extraordinary artist, and a trueoriginal.”

Madonna: “Im Devastated! This greatArtist changed my life! First concert i eversaw in Detroit!”

Paul McCartney: “His music played avery strong part in British musical historyand I’m proud to think of the huge influ-ence he has had on people all around theworld. “I send my deepest sympathies to hisfamily and will always remember the greatlaughs we had through the years. His starwill shine in the sky forever.”

Iggy Pop: “David’s friendship was thelight of my life. I never met such a brilliantperson. He was the best there is.”

Harr y Potter author JK Rowling: “ Iwish he could have stayed on earth longer.RIP.”

A r c h b i s h o p o f Ca n t e r b u r y J u s t i nWelby: “I remember sitting listening to hissongs endlessly in the ‘70s particularly andalways really relishing what he was, whathe did, the impact he had.”

B r i t i s h Pr i m e M i n i s t e r D av i dCameron: “Genius is an over-used wordbut I think musically, creatively, artisticallyDavid Bowie was a genius.” “For someoneof my age he provided a lot of the sound-track of our lives.”

Former British Prime Minister TonyBlair: “From the time I saw his Ziggy Stardustconcert as a student, I thought he was a bril-liant artist and an exciting and interestinghuman being.”

Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny who workedwith David Bowie on the song “This Is NotAmerica”:

“He carried the kind of broad view ofmusic and art that was inspiring to me as acollaborator and a fan. I feel very lucky tohave had the chance to be around him.”

London Mayor Boris Johnson: “No-one in our age has better deserved to be

called a genius.”Tony Visconti, Bowie’s longtime producer:

“David always did it his way and his way was theleast obvious way. He was a true genius whoproved it over and over again through ground-breaking albums. I co-produced his new album‘Blackstar.’ He sang with powerful energy anddetermination, his performances were brilliant.He will live forever in our hearts, mine especially.”

Comedian Ricky Gervais: “I just lost a hero.RIP David Bowie.”

Rapper Kanye West: “David Bowie was oneof my most important inspirations, so fearless, socreative, he gave us magic for a lifetime.”

Singer Pharrell Williams: “David Bowie wasa true innovator, a true creative. May he rest inpeace.”

Actor Mark Ruffalo: “Rip Father of all usfreaks. Sad sad day. Love always.”

Columbia Records: “We are deeply sad-dened by the loss of David Bowie. It was an hon-or and a privilege to release his music to theworld.”

Jim Nicola, artistic director of New YorkTheatre Workshop, where the musical“Lazarus” is playing with Bowie songs:

“We are very fortunate to have had theopportunity to collaborate with Mr. Bowie on histheatrical piece, ‘Lazarus,’ and we look forward tohonoring his work onstage as ‘Lazarus’ plays itsfinal performances.” —AP

Tributes for iconic singer David BowieCrowds gather to read and place floral tributes beneath a mural of British singer David Bowie, paintedby Australian street artist James Cochran, aka Jimmy C, following the announcement of Bowie’s death,in Brixton, south London.

Newspapers that show a picture of David Bowie on the front are on display in London yesterday.

Music legend David Bowie was famously privateduring his lifetime-and in death, as a string ofquestions about the circumstances of his passing

remained unanswered yesterday. His official social mediaaccounts had announced the shock news of his death at69 on Monday: “David Bowie died peacefully today sur-rounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battlewith cancer,” adding a request for privacy for the grievingfamily.

Little information was available on how or where hedied, and requests for comment to Bowie’s record compa-ny Columbia Records were not answered. Born and raisedin south London, Bowie was a long-time resident of NewYork and some British media reported that he had diedthere. But the New York Post claimed that the “Heroes” and“Life On Mars?” singer had “passed away at his Londonhome”. With no official comment available, Bowie’s place ofdeath remained a mystery, as did funeral arrangements.

Yet a small circle of close collaborators were aware thatthe iconic performer, who repeatedly reinvented himselfacross six decades in the music industry, was in poorhealth. Belgian theatre director Ivo Van Hove, who workedclosely with Bowie on his musical “Lazarus” which openedin New York in December, told Dutch public radio NPO thatBowie had been suffering from liver cancer. “I’ve known formore than a year. We began working together on our show‘Lazarus’, and at one moment he took me to one side to saythat because of his illness, he would not always be able tobe around,” Van Hove told NRC Dutch daily.

Circle of secrecy Bowie’s supermodel wife Iman, who has not comment-

ed publicly on his death, posted a series of poignant mes-sages on social media in the days before he passed away.“The struggle is real, but so is God,” she wrote on her public

Twitter and Facebook accounts Sunday. The previous day,she had written: “Sometimes you will never know the truevalue of a moment until it becomes a memory”. Bowie’sson, film director Duncan Jones, confirmed news of hisfather’s death Monday with a short message on Twitter andhas not commented further. “Very sorry and sad to say it’strue. I’ll be offline for a while. Love to all,” he wrote.

All but an inner circle were kept in the dark about thesinger’s illness as he worked to complete his final album,“Blackstar”, released on his 69th birthday, just two daysbefore his death. Van Hove said Bowie was desperate tofinish “Blackstar” and “Lazarus” before it was too late. At themusical’s New York premiere on December 7, few knewthat anything was amiss. “The press wrote that he lookedso well and so healthy. But as we went off the stage, he col-lapsed. And I realized that it might be the last time I sawhim,” said Van Hove.

Tony Visconti, who worked with Bowie on many of hisalbums, was another who knew the singer was ill. “Hisdeath was no different from his life-a work of Art. He made‘Blackstar ’ for us, his parting gift,” Visconti wrote onFacebook. “I knew for a year this was the way it would be. Iwasn’t, however, prepared for it.” Highlighting how secretBowie kept his illness, long-time collaborator and friendBrian Eno said his death came as “a complete surprise”.

He told the BBC he received an email from Bowie aweek before his death which he now believes was afarewell message. “It was funny as always, and as surreal,looping through word games and allusions and all the usu-al stuff we did. It ended with this sentence: ‘Thank you forour good times, Brian. they will never rot’,” Eno said. “I real-ize now he was saying goodbye.” —AFP

Questions linger over death of music icon Bowie

In this Sept 17, 1980, file photo, David Bowie listens during a news conference after a rehearsal at theBooth Theater in New York. —AP/AFP photos

Cincinnati Zoo names baby penguin ‘Bowie’ after singer

Having already earned a measure of “Fame” withthe Cincinnati Zoo’s first animal birth of 2016,a newborn penguin chick has been named

“Bowie.” The zoo says the baby known as a blue orfairy penguin hatched at 6 am Friday, weighing 46grams. Friday was both David Bowie’s and ElvisPresley’s birthday, and the zoo says there was a lot ofsupport for the Elvis name.

But the zoo already has a king penguin named for“the King,” so “Bowie” was the choice for the newarrival. Director Thane Maynard says the year’s firstbaby is fitting since the zoo celebrates “Penguin Days”in January and February. The singer Bowie turned 69Jan 8, and released a new album, “Blackstar.” —AP

Bells at Oslo’s City Hall to honor Bowie

The bells at Oslo’s City Hall will ring to the tune of David Bowie’s“Changes” every evening starting today in honor of the latemusic icon, officials said. “We received so many requests and

there was such unanimity that we just decided to do it. To be honest,there wasn’t really even any discussion about it,” bell ringer Laura MarieRueslatten Olseng told AFP.

The clock tower at Oslo’s City Hall marks the passage of time withdifferent musical pieces every hour. Featuring such classic composersas Edward Grieg, Eric Satie and Vivaldi, as well as more modern hitssuch as “Imagine” by John Lennon, the program is sometimes changedto reflect current events. Bowie will thus join a playlist already featuringheavy metal group Motorhead, which was added after the death ofthe band’s frontman Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister last week. A few days afterthe Paris attacks on November 13, the bells played “Til Ungdommen”, aNorwegian hymn about peace. So why “Changes”, a track from Bowie’s1971 Hunky Dory album? “Musically, the chords and the melody suitthe programming machine” for the bells, said Olseng. “And it’s a songthat came out many years ago and which means something to a lot ofpeople.” The first bars of the song will ring out every day at 7:00 pm(1800 GMT) until May 31.—AFP

This photo provided January 12, 2016 by theCincinnati Zoo in Ohio shows a baby pen-guin born January 8. —AP

Outback pub toasts David Bowie, its

most famous visitor

Visitors at a dusty Outback pub raised theirtoasts yesterday to the pub’s most famous visi-tor, David Bowie. More than three decades ago,

the mercurial musician made the 650-kilometer (400-mile) drive from Sydney to the tiny outpost of Carindain parched western New South Wales state to shootthe video for his 1983 hit “Let’s Dance” at Carinda’sonly pub. The pub’s current owner, Malcolm George,said the town of fewer than 200 people hadn’t knownthat Bowie was coming. And they have never beenallowed to forget the visit, which took their rusticwatering hole to a global audience.

“People still come in asking, Is this is the pubwhere Bowie sang?” George said. George said thatonly one of the local extras who appeared in thosesmoky bar scenes still lives in the town. But news lateMonday (Australian East Time) that Bowie had diedimmediately boosted business.

“It’s been nonstop,” George said. He said that whenhe bought the pub a year ago, it was in disrepair.Many of the brown and green tiles had fallen fromthe wall that had formed a blond Bowie’s backdrop ashe sang and strummed his guitar. But Georgestripped tiles from elsewhere in the pub to restorethat iconic surface.

Marie Draper, who works behind the bar, said aweek rarely goes by without a tourist gravitating tothat wall. “We do get quite a few tourists who comethrough,” Draper said. “They ask where the spot is andstand in front of the tiles and get their photos taken.”Draper has lived in Carinda all her life, but wasn’taround when Bowie visited. She couldn’t commenton local legend that Bowie paid the local extras byoffering to pay for everyone in the bar’s drinks. “It cre-ated a lot of excitement around here at the time,”Draper said. —AP

Memorabilia and bouquets of flowers areleft in honor of David Bowie outside his NewYork apartment, Monday. —AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

l if e s t y l eF A S H I O N

In the middle of Burberry’s London fash-ion show, a model showed her palms tophotographers, displaying a name writ-

ten in big black capital letters: “Bowie”. Tothe sound of the late singer’s hits, theBritish label’s CEO and creative directorChristopher Bailey welcomed the few hun-dred people invited to the unveiling ofBurberry’s new menswear collection asLondon Men’s Fashion Week drew to aclose. “He’s a complete legend. We will allmiss his creativity, his style and the elegantway that he approached everything,” saidBailey, who was born in 1971, the yearBowie released seminal song “Life on Mars”.

“I grew up with him. He’s kind of beenan undercoat to my creative life forever,” hetold reporters in the city where Bowie grewup. A brilliant and visionary musician, DavidBowie experimented with a kaleidoscopeof images and styles as a counterpoint tohis musical adventures. One of his best-known hits is named “Fashion”. Dubbed the“King of Style” by some fashionistas, he hadrecently worked with British designer PaulSmith on the artwork for his latest album,“Blackstar”.

“A lot of people are considered celebri-ties today when they have only experi-enced popularity for one or two years, buthe was exposed to the public for about 46years, and so his talent was very very clear,very impressive,” Smith said. For Men’sFashion Week the designer recreated hisfirst shop replete with items that influ-enced him-including many nods to thesinger, such as a book of Bowie photos.Tributes from sartorial tastemakers flowedfrom beyond London. For French designerJean Paul Gaultier, whose avant-garde workincludes designs influenced by Bowie, themusician was an “absolute rock star” and a“cult” in his own right.

“Personally, he inspired me with his cre-ativity, his extravagance, his sense of rein-vention, his allure, his elegance and playful-

ness with genre,” he added. The flashymakeup and striking red mullet of “ZiggyStardust”-era Bowie inspired Gaultier’s2011 ready-to-wear spring-summer collec-tion. Fellow French designer Jean-Charlesde Castelbajac saluted Bowie on France’sRTL radio station, declaring Bowie “a cos-mic pioneer in all fields.” —AFP

‘Style king’ Bowie hailed at London men’s fashion week

A model displays the word “Bowie” on her hands, in ref-erence to British musician David Bowie, as she presentsa creation by British design house Burberry Prorsum onthe final day of the Autumn/Winter 2016 LondonCollections: Men fashion event in London on January11, 2016. — AFP

Models present creations from Richard James collection.

Models present creations by Britishdesign house Burberry Prorsum on thefinal day of the Autumn/Winter 2016London Collections: Men fashion eventin London.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

l if e s t y l eF A S H I O N

Landmark Group to launch ‘Art

Olympiad’ for the ninth consecutive year

As part of its commitment to the community,Landmark Group Kuwait is all set to host, for theninth year in a row, the Art Olympiad 2016. The

event will take place on January 27th from 10 am till2.00 pm at Centrepoint, The Avenues Mall. This initia-tive is considered as part of Landmark Groupís ongo-ing corporate social responsibility where young artistshave the opportunity to showcase their talents.

Saibal Basu, Chief Operating Officer of LandmarkGroup, Kuwait said, ‘Art Olympiad aims at supportingyoung talents and providing them with the opportuni-ty to express themselves and their thoughts throughArt. We take pride in the growing popularity of this ini-tiative and the great anticipation we see from partici-pating schools and students. We are certain that thisyearís version of Art Olympiad will mark another suc-cess and become an incentive for potential talents tosurface their creativity’.

About 150 students aged 14 years and below repre-senting well reputable schools across Kuwait will beparticipating at this yearís competition. LandmarkGroup will provide all participants with a craft packthat includes a drawing sheet and a variety of artmaterials such as paints, pencils and crayons.

Over 15 schools will be participating this yearincluding: The English School, Salmiya, Fahaheel Al-Watanieh Indian Private School Ahmadi, IndianEducational School Jleeb, Indian Learners OwnAcademy, Ajial Bilingual School, Canadian BilingualSchool, Indian English Academy School- Don Bosco,Indian Central School, British School of Kuwait ,American international school and many more.

Art Olympiad objective is to bring fun and enter-tainment to young artists by encouraging their creativ-ity and also by rewarding them for their participationin the art competition. It provides a grooming platformfor these students by helping them improvise theirflair and encourage their innovative ability through art.

Students this year will be judged on the basis ofcreativity, workmanship and overall impression.Judging will be held in two age categories:

1) 9-11 years, 2) 12-14 years. First, second and third place prizes will be awarded

for each category, in addition to two awards for cre-ativity and colorfulness in which a total of eight win-ners will be selected at the end of the competition.Each winner will be awarded with exciting grandprizes and many other valuable gifts. They will alsoreceive certificates and trophies in recognition of theirparticipation, and their schools will be given a plaqueof appreciation. A model displays a creation by

designer Oliver Spencer.

Jourdan Dunn displays acreation by Moschino, dur-ing their Men AW2016 col-lection show.

Models present creations byBritish designerJames Long.

37Questions linger over death of music icon Bowie

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016

A lama dances the Cham dance during the Gedong festival at the Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery in Shangri-La, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China’s Yunnan Province on January 5, 2016. — AFP photos

Thousands of meters above sea level, highon the Tibetan plateau, hundreds ofTibetan Buddhist devotees in brilliant

hues of pink and blue gathered for theGedong festival. Lamas young and old mixedwith festival-goers wearing traditional garb towatch the religious Cham dances at theGanden Sumtseling monastery in Shangri-La.Masked, costumed monks portrayed a host ofghosts and deities from the pantheon ofTibetan Buddhist mythology, to the sounds oflamas playing traditional instruments-crashingcymbals, drums and deep, vibrating ceremoni-al horns.

Tsering Choetso, a 52-year-old farmer, saidthe true meaning of the festival was hard toexplain in a language other than Tibetan, butdescribed it as a chance to “pay our respects toour deities as well as our departed ancestors”.“A ghost is a lesser deity in a world that resem-bles hell,” he said. “We believe that if we comehere and watch and dance, we won’t be afraid

of them if we encounter them in our afterlife.”Though Buddhism is one of China’s five offi-cially sanctioned religions, the country’s rulingCommunist Party accuses the exiled Tibetanspiritual leader the Dalai Lama of trying tosplit the country, calling him a “wolf in sheep’sclothing”.

China, which has ruled Tibet since the1950s, has been accused of trying to eradicatethe region’s Buddhist-based culture throughpolitical and religious repression and large-scale immigration by Han Chinese. But Beijinginsists that Tibetans enjoy extensive freedomsand that it has brought economic growth tothe region. During the Cultural Revolutionexpressions of ethnic identity, such as religiousactivity or local festivals, were brutally sup-pressed. The 17th century Ganden Sumtselingmonastery-often called “Little Potala” for itsresemblance to Lhasa’s iconic palace-was itselfheavily damaged.

Now it has been extensively renovated,

rebuilt and developed into a commercialtourist attraction, complete with heftyentrance fees, with the festival promoted as akey opportunity to visit. The town in which itsits, in an ethnically Tibetan area of China’sYunnan province, was previously known asZhongdian. But it was renamed in 2001 as atourism strategy seeking to capitalize on thefictional mountain paradise described inJames Hilton’s 1933 novel “Lost Horizon”.Chinese security forces, which have some-times put on huge shows of strength at tem-ple events, appeared to be entirely absentfrom the festival.

For one of the monastery’s lamas, who gavehis Chinese name as Lurongzhuxi, the event wasa way of bringing the cosmology of his religionto life. “In our daily lives, few have the experienceof witnessing deities,” he said. “Nevertheless, westrongly believe they exist and are everywhere.Today’s Cham dance could be interpreted as areminder of their existence.” — AFP

Dances with monks at Tibetan festival

Young lamas play in front of a wall at the Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery. Lamas playing traditional instruments during the Gedong festival.Children in traditional Tibetan clothes follow the Cham dance during theGedong festival at the Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery.

A young lama turns a prayer wheel at the Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery.

This picture taken atthe Ganden

SumtsenlingMonastery in

Shangri-La, DiqingTibetan Autonomous

Prefecture of south-west China’s Yunnan

Province, shows alama performing the

Cham dance duringthe Gedong festival.

A lama performing the

Cham danceduring the

Gedong festival.