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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014 RABI ALAWWAL 9, 1436 AH www.kuwaittimes.net

Bodies, wreckage reveal missing AirAsia jet’s fate

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Another AirAsia plane overshoots Philippine runwayPANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia: The hunt for a missingAirAsia passenger plane appeared at an end yesterday aswreckage and bodies were spotted at sea off Indonesia,prompting raw scenes of emotion from sobbing relativesof the 162 people aboard. The Airbus A320-200 disap-peared en route from Indonesia’s second largest citySurabaya to Singapore during a storm early Sunday. Allindications now are that it crashed in the Java Sea south-west of the island of Borneo, with debris including an exitdoor, a blue suitcase and bodies retrieved from the area.

An air force plane saw a “shadow” on the seabedbelieved to be that of the missing Flight QZ8501,National Search and Rescue Agency chief BambangSoelistyo told a news conference in Jakarta. Relatives ofthe missing hugged each other and burst into tears inSurabaya as they watched footage of one body floatingin the sea on a television feed of Soelistyo’s press con-ference.

Later yesterday, the search chief said just three bod-ies had been recovered so far, after another official said40 had been found. Navy spokesman ManahanSimorangkir told AFP earlier that according to navalradio a warship had recovered more than 40 bodiesfrom the sea. But he later said that report was a mis-communication by his staff. The search was called off forthe night due to rough weather.

Initial news of the debris dimmed the faint hopes ofrelatives. “If that news is true, what can I do? I cannotbring him back to life,” said Dwijanto, 60, whose son wason the plane along with five colleagues.

Continued on Page 13

SURABAYA: Family members of passengers onboard the missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia Flight QZ8501react after watching news reports showing an unidentified body floating in the Java Sea at the crisis centreset up at Juanda International Airport yesterday. — AFP

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: The criminal court yesterday sentencedSaleh Al-Saeed to four years in jail for abusing SaudiArabia and its leaders in a television interview a fewmonths ago. Saeed, the brother of former MP TalalAl-Saeed and the owner of private Scope satellitechannel Fajr Al-Saeed, had reportedly lashed out atSaudi Arabia and some of its leaders during an inter-view with Syrian television while defending theactions of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. The pub-lic prosecution charged Saeed of carrying out acts ofaggression against Saudi Arabia and a number ofSaudi princes as he defended the Syrian regime in hisfight against a four-year rebellion believed to bebacked by Riyadh and other Gulf states.

In another development, Shiite MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan yesterday praised Kuwait’s policy afterallowing the reopening of the Syrian embassy toKuwait closed about two years ago in protestagainst the Syrian regime’s atrocities against theSyrian people.

Continued on Page 13

Kuwaiti jailedfor abusing Saudi Arabia

L O C A LWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

KUWAIT: There have been many events takingplace in Kuwait: political, economic, social andsport, among many others.

His Highness the AmirJan 5: His Highness the Amir opened the

second international donors conference dur-ing which he donated $500 million to back theSyrians.

Jan 6: His Highness the Amir accepted res-ignation of seven ministers as part of theCabinet reshuffle.

Jan 6: His Highness the Amir received newministers after swearing in following Cabinetreshuffle.

Jan 29: His Highness the Amir patronizedopening of Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad HeritageVillage and the Fourth Popular HeritageFestival.

Feb 5: His Highness the Amir donated $5million to build a village for Syrian refugees atAl-Zaatari camp in Jordan.

Feb 12: His Highness the Amir and HisHighness the Crown Prince inspected SabahAl-Ahmad Natural Reserve in Al-Sabbiyah.

March 25: His Highness the Amir chairedthe regular session of the Arab League Councilat the Summit level, held in Kuwait for the firsttime.

March 26: The 25th Arab Summit conclud-ed with issuance of Kuwait Declaration, underthe theme “bolstering Arab solidarity for full-scale Arab renaissance.”

April 7: The UN presented His Highness theAmir with an honorary certificate for his role inhumanitarian works.

April 23: Kuwait Credit Bank (KCB) celebrat-ed the Golden Jubilee for its establishment,under the patronage of His Highness the Amirand the presence of His Highness the PrimeMinister Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

June 1: His Highness the Amir visited Iranwhere he met with President Hassan Rohani.

June 8: His Highness the Amir arrived inEgypt to attend the inauguration of PresidentAbdelfatah Al-Sisi.

June 25: His Highness the Amir gave hisRamadan speech, noting the events that hadoccurred in the country.

Sept 9: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moonheld a ceremonial gathering on occasion ofnaming His Highness the Amir Sheikh SabahAl-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as “humanitarianleader” at the UN headquarters in New York.

Oct 21: His Highness the Amir SheikhSabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah visitedFaisal Al-Duweesh at Farwaniya Hospital andwished him speedy recovery.

Oct 28: His Highness the Amir SheikhSabah Al-Ahmad opened the third NationalAssembly’s regular session of the 14th legisla-tive term.

Dec 7: His Highness the Amir received amedal of honor from the InternationalOrganization of Migration for his role in thehumanitarian domain.

Dec. 9: His Highness the Amir headed aKuwaiti delegation to the 35th session of theSupreme Council of the Gulf CooperationCouncil (GCC) in Doha, Qatar.

His Highness the Crown PrinceMarch 17: His Highness the Crown Prince

sponsored the annual joint graduation of the43rd batch of Kuwait University’s students.

Oct 14: His Highness the Crown Prince metvisiting UN Under Secretary General forHumanitarian Affairs and Emergency ReliefCoordinator Valerie Amos.

Oct 21: His Highness the Crown Prince visit-ed Fasial Al-Duweesh, inquiring about his well-being at Farwaniya Hospital.

Oct 21: His Highness the Crown Princechaired first meeting of national security coun-cil.

His Highness the Prime MinisterJune 2: His Highness the Prime Minister

arrived in China to sign joint agreements andmemorandums of understanding.

Sept 16: His Highness the Prime MinisterSheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak arrived in Italy on anofficial visit and met with President GiorgioNapolitano and Premier Matteo Renzi.

Sept 19: His Highness the Prime MinisterSheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak arrived in Germany,attended a ceremony marking 40th anniver-sary of Kuwait’s investments in the Germancompany, Daimler, and met GermanChancellor Angela Merkel.

Sept 20: His Highness the Prime Ministerarrived in New York and attended the 69th ses-sion of the UN General Assembly.

Sept 25: His Highness the Prime Ministerdelivered a speech representing His Highnessthe Amir at the 69 session of the UN GeneralAssembly.

Sept 29: The Cabinet decided to strip 18citizens of their nationality.

Oct 21: His Highness the Prime MinisterSheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabahvisited Faisal Al-Duweesh at FarwaniyaHospital and wished him speedy recovery.

Oct 26: Decree issued appointing Dr BaderAl-Essa as Minister of Education and Minister ofHigher Education and Yaqoub Al-Sanea asMinister of Justice, Minister of Awqaf andIslamic Affairs.

The National AssemblyJan 7: New MPs swore in during the second

regular session of the 14th legislative term.Jan 9: The National Assembly approved a

bill amending some provisions of the Law No.98 of 2013, with respect of establishing theNational Fund for Small and MediumEnterprise, regularizing banking professionsand changing the name of the bank, KuwaitSavings and Credit Bank, into the HousingCredit Bank.

Jan 9: The Parliament approved a bill, trans-forming Kuwait Airways into a private share-holding company.

Jan 22: The Parliament approved a billgranting a citizen who got a housing loan sub-sidized construction materials, worth no morethan KD 30,000.

Jan 26: MP Adel Al-Kharafi requested inter-pellation of Minister of Public Works AbdulazizAl-Ibrahim.

Feb 2: The Parliamentary legal affairs com-mittee endorsed a law barring the riba (usury)interest.

Feb 4: The Parliament approved activationof mega projects, assigning the Audit Bureauto prepare reports on diesel Shell contract.

Feb 6: The parliamentary interior anddefense committee approved a bill grantingnationality to 4,000 illegal residents.

March 11: The Parliament okayed the billon compulsory teaching and agreed to amendthe laws for family and debts defaulters funds.

March 30: The parliamentary committeefor economic affairs endorsed bill on hikingchildren’s allotment to KD 65, at a rate of sevenchildren.

April 24: Three MPs requested to grill HisHighness the Prime Minister, according to arti-cle number 100 of the Constitution.

May 11: The legislative committeeapproved various draft laws including turningKuwait Airways into a shareholding company,ensuring career stability for Kuwaitis in the pri-vate and oil sectors, prohibition of commercialaction during Friday prayers and the establish-ment of a Kuwaiti shareholding company forfood security.

May 15: The National Assembly endorsedresignation requests from MPs Riad Al-Adsani,Abdulkareem Al-Kandari, Hussein Quwaian, AliAl-Rashid and Safaa Al-Hashem.

June 11: The National Assembly approveda law for partnership between the private andpublic sectors.

June 27: MPs Mohammad Nasser, AbdullahYusuf, Fares Al-Otaibi and Ahmad Lari won theNational Assembly’s by-elections.

Oct 23: MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji officiallyrequested grilling of Deputy Prime Ministerand Minister of Commerce and Industry DrAbdulmohsen Al-Mudej.

Dec 3: The National Assembly approved the2014-15 development plan.

Foreign policyJan 15: The second international donors

conference for Syrian got underway in Kuwait.Jan 15: Ban Ki-moon designated His

Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad as“humanitarian leader and Kuwait as “humani-tarian center,” in the aftermath of hosting thesecond international conference for aidingSyria, capped with pledges to donate $2.4 bil-lion.

March 4: Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah chaired the 130th session ofthe GCC ministerial council in Riyadh.

April 8: United Nations High Commissionerfor Refugees granted Amiri Diwan Advisor andHumanitarian Envoy for Kuwait Dr Abdullah Al-

Maatouq its highest badge of honor for hishumanitarian endeavors.

Sept 14: First Deputy Prime Minister andForeign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah arrived in Ramallah on anofficial visit.

Sept 24: Kuwait and Egypt signed a bilateralagreement in the military field as part of a pre-viously hammered out military training deal.

Oct 12 : A $200 million grant given byKuwait to rebuild Gaza was announced by FirstDeputy Prime Minister and Foreign MinisterSheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah at an inter-national donors’ conference, held in Cairo, onreconstructing Gaza.

Oct 19: First Deputy Prime Minister andForeign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled visit-ed Iraq to show support in the battle againstterrorism.

Internal SecurityJan 10: Fire broke out at the guests’ hall at

Bayan Palace, leaving some damage.Jan 23: Fire erupted at the scrap yard at

Mina Abdullah and the blazes covered a spaceof 3,500 square meters.

Jan 24: The fire department reported thatan Arab resident and her three children died ina fire at the family’s apartment house in Al-Jabriya.

Feb 4: A gas explosion at a fast-food restau-rant at the Avenues mall injured a number ofworkers.

Feb 5: Fire at a paints’ warehouse in Al-Shuwaikh inflicted heavy damage. Three fire-men suffered fractures and injuries.

Feb 19: A worker died and 11 others werewounded in collapse of a minaret of a mosqueunder construction in Al-Omariya.

April 3: Ministry of Interior seized 3.5 mil-lion narcotic pills.

May 15: Two Syrian children died in anapartment fire in Hawally.

July 7: At least 70 public buses weredestroyed in a fire that erupted in one of thePublic Transport company’s garages in Ardhiya.

July 12: Fire broke out in three warehousesat Abdullah Port, south of the country, causingdamage.

July 25: Criminal detectives confiscatedcounterfeited KD 1.134 million.

July 27: Teams from six fire stations put outfire that erupted at a building under construc-tion belonging to Kuwait Oil Company in Al-Ahmadi.

Aug 1: Four people, including a firefighter,were injured in a fire that broke out at somecar repair shops in the Industrial Shuwaikh dis-trict.

Sept 21: Ministry of Interior announceddeath of a young man from a GCC countryafter he held his family hostage, stabbed oneof them and shot at a police officer.

Oct 19: Customs seized more than threemillion drug pills.

Nov 4: Ministry of Interior seized a ring thatcounterfeited more than 400 business licensesand bank checks.

Nov 25: Customs authority seized and con-fiscated five kilograms of drugs, smuggledfrom Bangladesh.

Dec 1: Customs seized 650,000 narcotics’pills.

DefenseNov 3: Deputy Prime Minister and Interior

Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Sabah obtained an INTERPOL travel documentat the opening session of the 83rd INTERPOLGeneral Assembly meeting in Monaco.

Nov 14: Kuwaiti and French armies held“Pearls of the West” military exercise.

Dec 11: Kuwait and Canada signed adefense and strategic cooperation agreement.

EconomyMay 25: Kuwait hosted for the first time an

industrial security conference with the partici-pation of 85 local, regional, and internationalentities.

June 29: Central Bank of Kuwait issued anew Kuwaiti currency.

Oct 16: Kuwait Stock Exchange ended itssession with a sharp decline of 131 points.

Nov 5: Price index of the Kuwait StockExchange fell drastically by 102.2 points.

Nov 30: The price, weighted and KSX 15indices of Kuwait Stock Exchange slipped by205.8 points, 78.74 points, and 16.01 pointsrespectively.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah inaugurates the new parliamen-tary terms.

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah visiting Fasial Al-Duweesh at Farwaniya hospital.

Arab leaders in a group photo during the Arab League Summit in Kuwait.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon awards His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-AhmadAl-Sabah the ‘Humanitarian Leader’ certificate.

Major local events in 2014

Dec 14: The KSE price index dropped 202.8points to reach 6,260 points.

OilFeb 17: Kuwait Petroleum International

won tender to establish a large fuel station onthe highway linking Luxembourg withBelgium.

Feb 20: Kuwait Petroleum Internationalsigned an accord to acquire Shell’s assets.

March 6: Kuwait Oil Tankers Company tookdelivery of the immense oil tanker Al-Fintasand the petroleum bi-products tanker Burgan.

April 2: Kuwait Petroleum International(Q8) was granted ISO excellence award, thefirst such company to have it in the MiddleEast.

April 13: Kuwait National Petroleum Co.signed three contracts for biofuel projectsworth KD 3.4 million.

April 27: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation(KPC) signed contract with Qatargas Company toprovide Kuwait with a portion of its liquefied gasneeds.

May 15: Kuwait Petroleum International (Q8)opened the third largest gas station in the worldin Luxemburg.

May 18: Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. received in itsservice the new oil tanker Al-Derwaza.

July 24: The Kuwait Oil Company signed con-tracts worth KD 662 million ($2.342 billion) tobuild three gathering centers in the company’sareas of operations north of Kuwait.

Aug 27: Kuwait Petroleum Corporationsigned crude oil supply contract with PhilippinePetron Corporation to increase the amount ofpurchased crude to 65, 000 barrels a day.

Oct 16: Kuwaiti crude dropped to $80.94 perbarrel.

Nov 14: Kuwaiti crude declined to $73.53 perbarrel.

Electricity and waterJan 21: The Ministry of Water and Electricity

declared that fire erupted at the steam turbinesin Al-Sabbiyah, causing damage but no injuries.

Feb 23: Minister of Public Works Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim signed a contract for installing sevenpower relay stations in Jaber Al-Ahmad district,at a cost of KD 23 million.

Aug 18: Minister of Electricity and WaterAbdulaziz Al-Ibrahim signed a KD 31 million con-tract to provide and install utility poles.

Aug 28: Minister of Electricity and WaterAbdulaziz Al-Ibrahim signed a KD 28.515 millioncontract to install secondary power plants.

Oct 22: Minister of Electricity and WaterAbdulaziz Al-Ibrahim signed KD 169 million con-tract to build Sheikh Jaber Bridge.

Transport and communicationsJan 9: Air flights coming to Kuwait

International Airport were diverted to BahrainInternational Airport after visibility dropped to

150 meters.Jan 10: Flights en route to Kuwait were

diverted to airports in several neighboring coun-tries.

Feb 19: The aviation authorities drew up adeal with a Canadian firm to install the automat-ic landing system at Kuwait International Airport.

Feb 19: Kuwait Airways signed a contractwith Airbus to buy 25 aircraft of the models A-350 and New-320 and lease 12 others.

July 16: Emirates Airbus A380 landed, forthe first time, in Kuwait.

Dec 18: Kuwait Airways received the firstAirbus A-320 plane at Airbus headquarters inToulouze, France as part of a deal to upgradeits fleet.

Dec 22: Kuwait Airways announced sign-ing a deal to purchase 10 777-300ER passen-ger aircraft from manufacturer Boeing toupgrade its fleet.

MunicipalityJan 9: Kuwait Municipality destroyed four

tons of food unfit for consumption.

Jan 15: The Municipal Council’s environ-mental committee held a workshop on dam-age of asphalt roads due to rain.

Feb 10: The Municipal Council named thenew residential district in Al-Mutlaa after HisHighness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

June 16: The Municipality agreed to movethe location of foreign embassies from cer-tain neighborhoods to prescribed locationsas in Daiya for security purposes.

July 11: Kuwait Municipality destroyed830 tons of expired meat and gave 20 viola-tion tickets during an inspection campaignedthat was carried out at slaughter houses inHawally and Salmiya.

Sept 23: Kuwait Municipality destroyed1,884 tons of rotten food in an inspectioncampaign during Eid Al-Adha.

Nov 24: Kuwait Municipality destroyed 18tons of spoiled food items.

Dec 3: Kuwait Municipality destroyed 3.5tons of spoiled food in Rai area.

Health Services March 6: Minister of Health Dr. Ali Al-

Obaidi opened the cardiac intensive care unitand the children’s intensive care ward atMubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital.

March 15: A Kuwaiti medical team at ZainHospital conducted a delicate surgery on athree-month baby to separate the tracheafrom the esophagus.

April 27: Ministry of Health signed a KD179 million contract with specialized compa-nies to design, construct and equip the newAl-Sabah Hospital.

Sept 4: Health Ministry signed a KD 265million contract for Farwaniya Hospital.

The EnvironmentJan 18: Kuwait Environment Protection

Society celebrated the InternationalMigratory Bird Day.

March 1: A perished blue whale foundashore on Failaka Island.

Humanitarian aidApril 9: Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross

Organization in Riyadh granted head of theKuwait Red Crescent Society Barjas HumoudAl-Barjas the “Abu Baker Al-Siddeeq medal ofhonor” in recognition of his efforts in the fieldof humanitarian and relief aid.

July 14: Kuwait donated $10 million to thePalestinian people.

July 20: Kuwait Red Crescent Societylaunched a donations campaign for the peo-ple of Gaza who are bearing the brunt ofIsraeli attacks.

Sept 17: Kuwait donated $1 million forAmerican Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) tohelp the Palestinian children.

Sept 24: Kuwaiti Red Crescent Societysent aid convoy of 33 trucks for the relief ofPalestinian people to the occupied territories.

Nov 14: Kuwait offered five million euro toAlbania to support government reformationprogram.

Nov 25: Kuwait donated $1 million to

establish an Islamic center in the Americanstate of Utah.

Dec 10: Kuwait contributed more than $6million to support the UN and its agenciesfor the year 2015.

TourismJan 31: Hala February festival in its 15th

edition got underway.

The WeatherMarch 30: Marine navigation at Shuwaikh

and Al-Shuaiba ports was halted due to badweather.

SportsJan 28: Qadsia SC was crowned the cham-

pion of His Highness the Crown Prince Cup,beating Al-Arabi 2-1 in the final game.

Feb 15: The Kuwaiti champion Saleh Al-Haddad won a gold medal in the long jump

contest in the Asian tournament. His fellowcitizen, Abdulaziz Al-Mandeel won a gold inthe 60 m hurdles.

March 9: Kuwaiti shooters won the firstthree ranks in the double-trap contest aspart of His Highness the Amir Championship.

July 10: Abdullah Al-Terqi won goldmedal in Skeet shooting at World shootingcup in China.

Sept 21: Kuwait seized gold and silvermedals at skeet shooting competition atSouth Korea.

Sept 30: Rashed Al-Mutairi won goldmedal in karate Incheon Asian games.

Oct 16: Qadsia SE won the Asian Cupafter beating Iraq’s Irbil in penalty shoot-out.

Dec 15: Al-Arabi SC won His Highnessthe Crown Prince Football Cup, beatingKuwait SE 4-2.

The new Kuwaiti Dinar banknotes.

Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) receives the first Airbus A-320 plane.His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah delivers Kuwait’sspeech at the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly.

The Kuwaiti society has had its special identityand characteristics throughout history, whichincludes tolerance and embracing those

oppressed for political or religious reasons. Thosetraits helped digest all regional and internationalpolitical, cultural and civilization developments thatstarted at our borders by mid 1950s and reached apeak in the 1960s. I am mentioning this becausesome people seem to insist on defaming this soci-ety’s identity that later affected the state’s identityas a peaceful state. These concepts were manifestedin the modern constitution promulgated in 1962.

The problem lies in attempts to yield state estab-lishments to such bizarre undesirable tendenciessuch as a job vacancy ad requiring recruitment ofnew staff at the ministry of interior with a conditionthat the applicants are Muslims, some legislators’

attempts to impose the death penalty on those dis-cussing religious issues, the death penalty for envi-ronmental pollution and the provocative fatwas bysome scholars against celebrating a joyous occasionby a large segment of Christians in Kuwait, be themexpats or citizens, that is Christmas!

This is nothing related to the Kuwaiti spirit andtraditions that melded into one system of ethics andmutual conduct during times of need and povertyand continued after discovering oil. Setting up guil-lotines, spreading hatred against non-Muslims andexpats and imposing harsher penalties for actionsthat are already penalized by prison terms by law arenot worthy of Kuwait’s reputation.

I believe that harsh legislations do much damageto the image of a very tiny country that has a verylimited impact on this unstable world and that anyofficial responsible for setting laws must realize thatwe are a member in a world represented by interna-tional organizations seeking the best for all mankind(relief, development, educational and health organi-zations, for instance).

I was very pleased, and have always been, to seemany Christians flock to churches in Kuwait City,because this scene truly reflects the good-naturedKuwaiti spirit we are talking about. I also believe thestate must respond to their demands for expansionand securing their congregations.

Finally, going back to conditioning Islam to beappointed in MoI’s investigations department, Iwould like to recall that we had trusted non-Muslimsbefore the 1980s and that we now have a group ofChristian Kuwaitis. So, how can such a condition beset for appointment in a state establishment? I hopeI will not hear the usual superficial answer by thosewho pretend to love Kuwait of: “You know, the placeis very sensitive!”

—Translated by Kuwait Times from Al-Jarida.

Kuwait not an execution yard

kuwait digest

By Mudaffar Abdullah

This is nothing related tothe Kuwaiti spirit andtraditions that meldedinto one system of ethicsand mutual conduc tduring times of need andpoverty and continuedafter discovering oil.

Despite the efforts and major spend-ing on education by the govern-ment, graduates of all stages are

very weak and below the required stan-dards. I personally faced crises in myattempt to grade students’ exam papersthis term as test results were very weakdue to the strict supervision during theexams and variation of questions, and thehighest grade for a student was 35 out of100. I thought maybe I am a bad teacherand my teaching is weak, but I found mycolleagues and professors at the universityconfirming to me that students’ perform-ance in the exams is below par.

Here, we were sure that the reason isdue to the graduates of secondary educa-tion. The question is how students whowere admitted with an 80 percent aver-age at the social science college cannotread and write Arabic language correctly.

Reports in local papers about thespread of cheating and its types duringexams, saying that students resort tomodern communications, confirmedwhat we previously knew and feel duringour university teaching that the standardof education in the secondary and inter-mediate stages is very difficult and belowthe internationally required level.International reports proved this fact bypublishing math results.

The question - who is responsible forthe deterioration of education and the

spread of cheating during exams? Andhow can education be rescued from itsgeneral state of deterioration? There isnot a single reason for the spread ofcheating during exams, because cheating

is a natural result of the deterioratingethics and values in the society.Corruption that is widespread in thecountry at all levels is a natural result oftoleration, fluidity and not applying the

law strictly and forcefully. At the universi-ty for example, we have instructions toban students from sitting for exams ifthey were absent from lectures for morethan six hours, but students are allowed

to be absent for three hours of lectures incase of illness. We attempted to applythese instructions this term, and discov-ered that a large number of students willbe banned, and here is where the shouts

and cries of students began, althoughwarnings are sent to them each time theyare absent. After negotiations, I allowedthem to sit for the exams, but it is not pos-sible to give 10 degrees for attending andinteracting. The results of the test werevery low because of the absence and neg-ligence of university rules.

We return to the spread of cheatingphenomena in schools and how can it betreated, in a study issued by the minister’soffice in July 1987. The recommendationon page 22 calls to “develop the examina-tions department so it becomes a special-ized integrated system that participates insetting the policy of guiding students,and investigates the levels of their gainsand other aspects of their educationalprocess”. It also coordinates between vari-ous corrective processes and building anddeveloping curricula.

Finally, the issue of cheating duringexams is a social issue. What do we expectfrom members of a society in which cor-ruption, lies, bribes and lack of loyalty iswidespread! His Highness the Amir wasright when he said in 2004 that the respon-sibility of education is societal, and itsresponsibility is that of the society andeducation ministry. Our curricula were notupdated since the reign of late SheikhAbdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. So true, AbuNasser. — Translated by Kuwait Times fromAl-Watan.

kuwait digest

By Dr Shamlan Y Al-Essa

Students’ performance in exams is below par

Reports in local papers about the spread ofcheating and its types during exams, say-ing that students resort to modern commu-nications, confirmed what we previouslyknew and feel during our university teach-ing that the standard of education in thesecondary and intermediate stages is verydifficult and below the internationallyrequired level. International repor tsproved this fact by publishing math results.

Around 192,000 employeesapplied for sick leaves in 2014 totake advantage of nearly three

million workdays at a financial cost thatexceeded KD 57 million, while the num-ber of sick leaves that are registered atprimary care centers, government andprivate hospitals, clinics and generalmedical council reached one 1,916,000.

Statistics of the Civi l Ser viceCommission show that this huge num-ber of sick leaves exceeded the num-bers registered in 2013 by more thanhalf a million days, which means thatthe descending sick leave system putin place did work to limit this growingphenomenon. I call upon officials ofthe commission to re-discuss the rea-sons behind this, and is it true thatsome ministries do not implement sickleave decisions limiting the number ofdays an employee can take per year,and favor its employees without justifi-cation?

An employee needs sick leaves, andthere is no doubt that some employeesonly resort to sick leaves when neededand for actual illness, and this makes

their salaries halal or haram. There arealso some who find it easy to get a sickleave even if they are not sick to travel,study or to escape the duties of their job

without thinking about the sanctity ofthe salary they receive in exchange ofthis flagrant forgery. The blame is onthese employees only, but also on some

doctors who are taking it easy in granti-ng their friends or in exchange of servic-es from employees at their place ofwork sick leaves, apart from selling sick

leaves that is taking place in some pri-vate clinics and hospitals, where the sickleave is delivered to your home for a setprice. The question: Where does the

problem lie? The Civil ServiceCommission prepared a system todeduct salaries for sick leaves afterexceeding 15 days per year, but this didnot stop employees.

The commission committed govern-ment departments to the fingerprintsystem, but did not succeed in briningattendance under control - rather itcaused traffic jams. The commissionissued decisions that organize supervi-sory jobs, but courts were full withadministrative contestations and cases.What does all this administrative chaosin many of the state departments indi-cate?

I believe that it is very clear that thesubject is not related to the laws, deci-sions and rules, as much as it does withethics and trust and making a living inaddition to loyalty to the country andsincerity in public service. If those prin-ciples and values return, then respectfor work and the job return, and bogussick leaves and manipulation of finger-prints and the administrative corruptionwill drop. — Translated by Kuwait Timesfrom Al-Qabas.

kuwait digest

By Waleed Al-Ghanim

Sick leave exceeds more than half a million in 2014

An employee needs sick leaves, and thereis no doubt that some employees onlyresort to sick leaves when needed and foractual illness, and this makes their salarieshalal or haram. There are also some whofind it easy to get a sick leave even if theyare not sick to travel, study or to escape theduties of their job without thinking aboutthe sanctity of the salary they receive inexchange of this flagrant forgery.

Matrimonial problems

kuwait digest

By Abdul Mohsen Al-Meshari

Once upon a time, a young wife went to hermother complaining how hard her life hadbecome and expressed her wish to give up and

end her marriage because she was tired of fighting andresisting. “Whenever I solve one problem, a new oneemerges,” said the young lady. Without saying a word,the mother escorted her daughter into the kitchenwhere she filled three pots with water and put them ona stove with a carrot in the first one, an egg in the sec-ond and some ground coffee in the third.

Silently, they both watched the three pots come toa boil, then after ten minutes, the mother turned offthe gas. She put the carrot on a plate, the egg onanother and poured the coffee in a cup, then turnedto her daughter. “Tell me what you see,” she asked,and the daughter spontaneously said, “a carrot, anegg and coffee”. Bringing the plates and the cup clos-er, the mother asked her daughter to feel the carrot,which she did and found that it had softened.

The mother asked her to peel the egg and thedaughter noticed that the egg had solidified. Themother finally asked her to have a sip of coffee. Thedaughter did so smiling to the nice fragrance of therich coffee. “What are we getting at mom?” asked thedaughter. Her mother wisely explained that the threeitems had been put under the same circumstances - inboiling water - and that each of them reacted differ-ently to the same stimulant.

“The hard carrot softened when boiled and thefragile egg hiding behind a shell protecting it solidi-fied, while the coffee was different because despitebeing boiled in water, it managed to change thewater’s quality,” explained the mother, asking herdaughter which of them she would like to be. Sheasked how she would respond to various variables.“Are you a carrot, an egg or coffee?” she asked.

Accordingly, people around us belong to thesethree categories. Some of them can be easily defeatedand yield to various types of pressure. Others gettougher the more they go through hardships as ifthey say ‘a blow that does not kill me makes mestronger’. They just like that egg. A third group isalways capable of adapting and making the best ofeverything. They impose their own traits and ‘flavor’just like the coffee did to the water. Which type do youbelong to, dear reader?!

— Translated by Kuwait Times from Al-Jarida.

KUWAIT: Out of emphasiz ingCBK’s role in community services,the bank recently contributed inrepairing two classes at Al-NourJoint School for girls; a subsidiaryof the special education schools.In this regard, CBK’s PR and mediadepartment’s assistant manager,Amani Al-wer’a stressed that CBKwas keen on communicating withvarious society groups, especiallythose with special needs whocome on top of the bank’s socialinitiatives’ priorities.

On her part, the school direc-tor, Fareeda Al-Ajmi expressedgrat itude and appreciat ion ofCBK’s efforts and patronage of stu-dents with special needs in gener-al, and those at Al-Nour school inparticular.

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: Spending New Year’s Eve in Kuwait?You won’t find much to do, especially aftermany restaurants and companies decided toignore this occasion, although they usuallyhave some programs for this night.

For instance, the Touristic EnterprisesCompany is not organizing any special activityfor New Year’s Eve at any of the sea clubs or otherplaces including the Musical Fountain and oth-

ers. Not mentioning Kuwait Towers, which is thenational symbol and landmark of Kuwait that hasbeen closed for several years. It was expectedthat the Towers will be opened to the public inthe New Year, but this is not happening.

A popular Lebanese international restauranton the seaside was known for many years forholding special programs on this night, but itdisappointed its customers this year by decid-ing not to hold any kind of celebration at anyof its branches. The situation at the hotels is

not any better. A luxury hotel on the seaside isonly offering an international buffet dinnerwithout music for KD 25, or for the same price,a BBQ night at their outdoor restaurant withsheesha. Another hotel downtown is offering abuffet dinner with a DJ for KD 25 per person.While another hotel in Shuwaikh has a bitwider selection of restaurants with pricesbetween KD 15 to 30 depending on the venue.They offer a special buffet or set menu, acountdown and live music in addition to NewYear decorations and a big screen to mark thecountdown in an open-air terrace. Some werealready fully booked yesterday.

At public places, what seems a little differ-ent is a two-hour cruise near the bay with aspecial New Year’s Eve buffet. This is availablefor KD 25 per person as well. It should includedinner, DJ and a countdown.

Those who love dancing have to go to pri-vate events. Desert camps, chalets, and flatsare all very popular for holding private parties.As they are private, everything is allowed. Butflats in residential areas should not be extranoisy or disturb neighbors, as the police mayturn up and spoil the night. Chalets and campsare in far-flung areas so they feel freer, but theMinistry of Interior has announced they areprepared to check these areas to prevent ille-gal acts.

Many people have decided to travel so theycan enjoy more freedom, and nearby destina-tions are the best choice for this short holiday.Others prefer to spend New Year’s Eve at homewatching TV.

KUWAIT: MOI’s Undersecretary, Lt General, Sulieman Al-Fahad yesterday receivedthe special forces protection department manager, Colonel Khaled Saleh Abalkhailwho introduced a booklet about his department’s achievements.

Top hotels, restaurants not to hold New Year’s events

KUWAIT: From 14 January 2015, UKbirth registrations and death registra-tions in Kuwait will transfer from theBrit ish Embassy in Kuwait to theForeign and Commonwealth Office(FCO) in the UK.

There are no changes to the entitle-ment to register a birth or death. The

processing time will remain the same.However, you will now need to allowextra time for the documents to be sentto and from the UK.

Please see www.gov.uk/register-a-birth orwww.gov.uk/register-a-deathfor further information, or check theattached FAQs.

Repatriation of birth, death

registrations to the UK

CBK contributes in equipping two classes at Nour Joint School

KSC honorsfarmer KUWAIT: Kuwait ScienceClub (KSC) honored farmerNasser Al-Azmi, the ownerof a 100,000-sidra treeseedlings project, in recog-nition of his contribution toafforestation in the country.

The honoring ceremonywas attended by KSCSecretary-General Ali-Khathem Al-Jomaa, andKSC director for beesresearches Waleed Al-Mullah, besides the clubmembers.

The honoring of farmerNasser Al-Azmi came ingratitude to his distin-guished project of distrib-uting 100,000 sidra treeseedlings for free, in orderto be planted in variousparts of the country, Al-Jomaa said.

KSC will cooperate withAl-Azmi in the future onthat matter, and will organ-ize training courses in thefield of agriculture, besidesopening a new departmentfor hydroponics. — KUNA

Kuwait to levy overflight fees

KUWAIT: The GeneralDirectorate for Civil AviationChairman Fawaz AbdulazizAl-Farah announced that theDirectorate will start collect-ing overflight fees from civil-ian planes using Kuwaiti air-space as of Thursday, January1. Al-Farah told KUNA thatmost world countries collectthese tariffs in accordancewith the International CivilAviation Organization (ICAO)policies. He noted that theministerial decree No. 100 of2014, issued on 18December, determined thevalue of fees at KD 40 for aplane that uses the Kuwaitiairspace. The decree hasexcluded the planes whichare making flights startingfrom and ending at KuwaitInternational Airport, he said.Al-Farah pointed out that thelevying of the new chargesgoes in harmony with thegovernment approach todiversify and increase nation-al income sources.

The charges are collectedfor benefiting from the airnavigation services providedby Kuwait InternationalAirport to planes flying overKuwait, he stated. —KUNA

LO C A LWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

CrimeR e p o r t

Female arrested entering Palace of JusticeAnother girl was arrested on entering the Palace of

Justice carrying a bag full of drugs, said securitysources. Case papers indicate that a girl who had beenarrested with an unlicensed gun was on her way to thecourt to attend a hearing while carrying a bag full ofdrugs. A case was filed and the suspect was referred tothe drug control department.

S Lankan commits suicideIn a suicide incident, an Indian reported finding a

Sri Lankan girl dead at her house in Jleeb, said securitysources, noting that the initial examination of the bodyshowed that the deceased had committed suicide byconsuming pesticide.

16-year-old daughter missingA citizen reported that his 16-year-old daughter

had been missing for two days, said security sources,noting that the man said that he kept calling hermobile with nobody answering until it went ‘out of thecoverage area’. A case was filed.

Bedoon arrested for planting marijuanaA bedoon was arrested for planting marijuana

saplings in his home in Mangaf, said security sources,noting that another bedoon roommate managed toescape arrest. The sources added that on searching theflat, detectives found two marijuana saplings and 30gm of meth.

KUWAIT: In a strange incident, as soon as the judge deliv-ered his verdict, a girl present at the criminal court hearingwalked up to a security officer asking him to take her toprison quickly. “Come take me to jail, the judge sentencedme to four years,” she said. When the officer asked abouther motives, the girl said that she was the person the judgehad just sentenced to four years with labor for trading inand using drugs and showed her ID, asking him to checkthe cases and match them with her name. The girl wasreferred to the verdict execution department. Notably, thegirl had been arrested selling and abusing drugs near theinterior ministry’s headquarters.

Terrified residents see lionWith the story of the lion that fatally injured a citizen’s

housemaid still fresh in their minds, Rumaithiya residentswere terrified on seeing a wild animal they believed it wasa lion. Accordingly, policemen received several callsrequesting protection until the area’s co-op chairmancalmed everybody down explaining that the animal wasnothing but a lion-like dog belonging to a citizen.

Half a kilo hashish seizedA wanted stateless person was arrested with the half a

kilo of hashish, a bag of meth and some psychotropic pills,said security sources. Case papers indicate that a policepatrol asked the man to pull over in Hawally, but herefused and drove off, starting a chase trough Rumaithiyathat ended up in Salwa, where backup forces were dis-patched and helped arrest him.

Thief smashes vehicle’s windowA citizen reported that an unidentified robber smashed

his vehicle’s side window and stole a briefcase with somedocuments and KD 6,000 in cash in it, said security sources.A case was filed and further investigations are in progress.

Girl asks police to arrest her

5,000 military uniforms and stolen diesel seized

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: Criminal detectives noticed a trailer parked forseveral days in an open yard in Sharq, so it was placedunder surveillance, until a person came to move it. Whenhe was asked why it was parked there, he seemed con-fused. When the truck was searched, 5,000 military uni-forms were found in it. The uniforms were brought in froma Gulf country and were headed to an Arab country.

The uniforms were released from land customs usingcustoms documents, and four Gulf nationals are involved.

A man was sent to Qashaniya police station when hewas caught with a truck loaded with 10,000 liters of stolendiesel. The suspect said that he agreed with a bedoon tomove a portacabin, but when he arrived, he was threat-ened with a knife and pistol to drive the truck with thediesel.

Diving team warns of boat traffic near Jaber Bridge KUWAIT: Kuwait Diving Team, of theEnvironment Voluntary Charity, warned allsea users of sailing near the northern islandat the Jaber bridge project site because of

the high level of seabed underneath, whichresulted from land reclamation at the siteand stressed that this might be dangerousfor various ships and boats.

The team explained that the northernisland area varies between 50-100 squaremeters in addition to the presence of largeconcrete poles that may be hazardous to

marine traffic. The team also urged the siteconstruction company to make sure thesite was surrounded by barriers to preventthe seabed burial area to expand.

By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: Maj Gen Abdul Fattah Al-Ali hasissued an order to all policemen to arrestanyone with wild dogs or wild animals,whether they are citizens or expatriates. Hesaid the order is in response to populardemand after the spread of feral dogs incrowded areas and jogging tracks besidebeaches, and instructed security officers todeal with any complaints in this regard. Nowild animals or wild dogs can now be tak-en to beaches or public places, as somepeople are taking these animals to brag

and scare people. The owners will be takento the police station and the animal will beconfiscated.

Alinka Lisyk, a bulldog owner, wasupset. “He deported many humans, now hewants to deport dogs! This is not fair,” sheexclaimed. “It ’s really sad to read suchthings. Since they didn’t specify any breeds,I bet they will consider my dog ‘KingCharles’ a wild dog. I love walking my dogsin this season by the seaside. It’s frustrating.This was really one of the best getaways.Now even our dogs won’t enjoy Kuwait,”she added.

“My dog is a small one, but they shouldfind a solution or an investor to build a petpark near the seaside,” said dog-ownerRaghda Al-Saaed. “For 7 years, I have beenwalking my husky by the beach and in myneighborhood. And it is kind to those whoare kind to him. This is one law that manywill not follow for sure,” believed AmberWilkinson.

FuriousAbduallah Fakhri was furious. “Now

where do I take my dog? I ’ve been inKuwait for 18 years and I’m thinking of leav-ing because of this. Every head of the min-istry wants to be famous these days byincreasing fuel prices, issuing new rules forexpats, visit visa for KD 100 and now dogs!”

Wahab Al-Fahad explained why this rule

will not be followed. “Walking is the mostimportant part of a dog’s health. In thewild, dogs roam for miles every day andthat natural instinct to roam is still presentin all dogs. If they really need to make sucha rule, they should order owners of wilddogs to muzzle them. But banning wildanimals is a good decision. In addition, ourapartments in Kuwait are too small to walka dog - we don’t even have a yard,” he said.

Experts say a regular walking routinewith dogs can result in a happy, healthy,confident and calm dog that is much lesslikely to exhibit behavior problems and

much easier to train. A dog that is notwalked often could become anxious,bored, nervous or destructive, or couldexhibit any number of behavior problemsin an effort to fulfill its basic instinctualneeds. Walking should be the first step insolving any behavioral problem.

Most experts agree that an appropriatedaily walk should be a minimum of 30-45minutes, preferably all at once, but couldbe split into shorter walks throughout theday. A dog that is left alone for hours dur-ing the day, even in a large yard, may notbe a well-behaved dog at night.

Owners of wild animalsand dogs to be arrested

No wild animals, dogs on beaches or public places

KUWAIT: Member of Parliament Rakan Al-Nisf, TEC’s Beaches and Sea Clubs Department Director Jassim Al-Shumais, Director of Operations and Patrols in Mubarak Al-KabeerGovernorate Lt Colonel Nayef Al-Hajraf, Massiela Beach Supervisor Mohammad Al-Ablani saw the first line fighting contest come to a close. The contest was organized by FahaheelSea Club members in cooperation with Touristic Enterprises Company. 85 teams participated and Rashid Al-Dousari team finished first and received gifts worth KD 4,200, Ali Karamteam took second place and gifts worth KD 2,509 while Ali Shammali team won third place and largest fish and received gifts worth KD 2,000, The closing ceremony included a popu-lar show by a Kuwaiti band, as contests wee conducted for the crowd and gifts were distributed. A boat and sea equipment show was organized also.

NBK Family celebrating with children.

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait’s (NBK)family paid a visit to NBK Hospital at SabahMedical district to share New Year’s happymoments with children.

“NBK staff have always devoted a consid-erable part of their time to comfort childrenand present them with felicitations and giftsas part of NBK’s corporate social responsibili-ty program”, said NBK Public RelationsOfficer, Maryam Al Qatami.

“Sharing the happy moments of NewYear and other similar occasions with chil-dren is our pleasure. We are proud that NBKdevotes such attention to supportingKuwait society and providing compassion

and support for those in need, includingchildren. NBK’s commitment to shoulder itscorporate social responsibility was the basicmotive that led NBK to build its childrenhospital at Sabah Medical district manyyears ago,” Al Qatami added.

The visit to the hospital was emotionaland overwhelming for both the children andNBK family. NBK’s visits to hospitals and carecenters reflect the Bank’s high sense of dutyand responsibility towards all those in needfrom different sectors of society. It is a wellrooted tradition that has been carried out byNBK each year in its efforts to continuouslyhave an active role in the Kuwait society.

NBK family shares New Year’s happy moments with kids at NBK Hospital

BANJUL, Gambia: A group of disaffect-ed soldiers launched a foiled coup bid inThe Gambia yesterday while the presi-dent was abroad, military and diplomaticsources said. Forces loyal to PresidentYahha Jammeh, who has ruled the smallwest African nation for 20 years, killedthree suspects including the allegedringleader - an army deserter, a militaryofficer said. The officer, speaking to AFPfrom Bissau, said the deserter named asLamin Sanneh led a heavily-armed attackwith another six men on the presidentialpalace in the capital Banjul.

The predawn assault triggered panicin the tropical city, while national radio

went off air for several hours and statetelevision was suspended. Jammeh’s pre-cise whereabouts remained unclear.Gambian officials said the president wason a private visit to Dubai and foreigndiplomats said he was in France, but anofficial in Paris said there was no sign hewas in the country. Opposition politicianSheikh Sidya Bayo told a privateSenegalese radio station that the unrestwas “the start of a mutiny that changed”into a bid to topple Jammeh.

Three of the suspected coup plotterswere killed and another captured byJammeh’s forces, but there was no confir-mation of an overall death toll from the

fighting. “Police and the armyare now entirely in control ofthe situation,” the military offi-cer told AFP on condition ofanonymity. A Gambian diplo-mat said the presidentialpalace in the heart of thesmall city on the Gambia riverwas attacked at around 3:00am (0300 GMT), by armedmen including members ofthe presidential guard. “Theywanted to overthrow theregime,” a military source toldAFP, while a Western diplomatsaid a coup attempt has“apparently been foiled”. Armypatrols urged people to returnhome and remain calm.

History of Coup Plots The former head of military

police, Jammeh, 49, has ruledthe largely rural nation ofsome 1.8 million people with afirm hand since 1994, when hecame to power in a coup thattoppled founding leader SirDawda Jawara. Jammeh firstled an armed forces provision-al ruling council that suspend-ed the constitution of the for-mer British colony. In 1996, hewent on to win a presidentialelection, aged just 31, amidallegations of fraud. Jawara’souster on the grounds ofendemic corruption and poli-cies that undermined demo-cratic institutions and causedsocial unrest, but Jammeh’sfoes challenge his own demo-cratic record. Since the youngsoldier took power anddonned the flowing robes of acivilian chief, his regime hasclaimed to have foiled a suc-cession of coup plots in murkycircumstances. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

Gambia foils coup bid

Yahya Jammeh

I N T E R N AT I O N A LWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

CAIRO: Egypt ’s top court hears anappeal today by three jailed Al-Jazeerajournalists as expectations of theirrelease grew amid a thawing of Cairo’sties with Qatar, the channel’s base.Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy andEgyptian Baher Mohamed of the satel-

lite news broadcaster’s English servicewere arrested in December 2013 in acase that triggered global outrage.

Greste and Fahmy each got sevenyears, and Mohamed was jailed for 10. InJune, the reporters, who authorities saylacked proper accreditation, were jailedfor aiding the blacklisted Muslim

Brotherhood and spreading “false infor-mation” after the army ousted Islamistpresident Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.The Brotherhood, which saw great elec-toral success after the fall of long-timeleader Hosni Mubarak in 2011, has sincebeen declared a “terrorist organisation”in Egypt.

“The Court of Cassation could order aretrial, issue a new verdict or acquit thedefendants,” said Fahmy’s defencelawyer Negad Al-Borai, adding that theappeal could even be dismissed. Thethree, who on Monday completed oneyear in prison, could also be freed onbail if a retrial is ordered, he said.Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishopon Monday downplayed speculation ofa release, saying there had been mixedsignals from Egyptian authorities.

Grounds for Appeal Greste’s parents told ABC in Australia

they were hopeful the three would soonbe released, saying they had “confidencein the integrity of the Egyptian appealssystem”. Rallies in support of the threewere held in London and The Hague onMonday. Al-Jazeera’s appeal cited “flawsin the arrest procedure” and “the factthat evidence presented in court did notmarry with the charges”.

The reporters were arrested whenEgypt and the Gulf state of Qatar were atloggerheads after Morsi was removedby then army chief and now PresidentAbdel Fattah al-Sisi following massprotests against his one-year rule. Tiesworsened when Qatar, a key backer ofthe Muslim Brotherhood, repeatedlydenounced Sisi’s overthrow of Morsi,and Cairo accused Al-Jazeera of biasedcoverage of the Islamist’s ouster and thegovernment crackdown that followed.

At least 1,400 people have died in thecrackdown, mostly in August last yearwhen police broke up two pro-Morsiprotest camps in Cairo. Thousands morehave been jailed and dozens sentencedto death after often speedy mass trials.“Their arrest was a settling of politicalscores between Egypt and Qatar,” Boraisaid of the three journalists. Thursday’shearing comes as ties between Qatarand Egypt improve following mediationby Saudi Arabia, a key Sisi backer. Lastmonth, Qatar joined its Gulf neighboursin supporting Egypt under Sisi in anattempt to end Doha’s regional isolationover its backing for the Brotherhood.

Surprise Closure And on Dec 20 Cairo told a Qatari

envoy it was ready for a “new era” withDoha, as the emirate offered its “full sup-

port” to Sisi. Two days later, Al-Jazeeraannounced the surprise closure of itsEgyptian channel, which had consistent-ly criticised Cairo since Morsi’s ouster.“The warming of Cairo-Doha relationscould be a consideration in influencingthe judge’s decision on Thursday,” saidMustapha Kamel Al-Sayyid, professor ofpolitical science at the University ofCairo.

“No one can be sure, but it is quitelikely the final result will be the releaseof the journalists. How and when thathappens is another issue,” H A Hellyer ofthe Centre for Middle East Policy at theBrookings Institution in Washington toldAFP. Sisi himself has said he would havepreferred the journalists had beendeported rather than tried.

Greste and Fahmy were arrested attheir makeshift office in a Cairo hotelwhere the authorities said they wereworking without mandatory accredita-tion. The same court today will alsoexamine appeals of four Egyptian co-defendants in the case, who were jailedfor seven years for belonging to a “ter-rorist” organisation and for “damagingthe image of Egypt”. Eleven other defen-dants tried in absentia, including oneDutch and two British journalists, weregiven 10-year sentences. —AFP

Court to hear jailed Jazeera reporters’ appeal

MANAMA: Bahraini protestors run for cover yesterday from tear gas during clashes with riot police following a protest against the arrest of thehead of the banned Shiite opposition movement Al-Wefaq Sheikh Ali Salman in Bilad Al-Qadeem. —AFP

Bahrain oppn leader remanded in custody

New clashes erupt

MOGADISHU: A top intelligence officialwith Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-affliated Shababrebels was killed in a US air strike yesterday,Somalia’s government said. “In a joint oper-ation last night by the Somali nationalsecurity and the United States, Al-Shababintelligence chief Abdishakur, also knownas Tahlil, who replaced the recently arrestedformer chief, was eliminated,” Somalia’sNational Security Agency said in a state-ment yesterday. “Two other Shabab mem-bers also died in the attack,” it said, addingthe air strike took place near the town ofSaacow, 320 km west of the capitalMogadishu and in the Middle Juba region.

In Washington, the Pentagon hadannounced overnight that US war planeshad carried out a strike against a seniorShabab leader, but did not give the nameof the person targeted. US militaryspokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said,however, that he was confident there wereno “civilian or bystander casualties”. Lastweek Somali officials announced thatZakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi, identified as aShabab intelligence chief and the subjectof a $3 million bounty as part of the USState Department “Rewards for Justice” pro-gram, had given himself up to governmenttroops and was under arrest.

He was also said to have been close tothe Shabab’s previous leader Ahmed AbdiGodane, who was killed by a US air strike inSeptember. The statement from Somalia’sNational Security Agency said he was nowin their custody. The Shabab, however, said

Zakariya had left the movement more thana year ago, before Godane’s death andbefore Ahmad Umar Abu Ubaidah wasappointed as the new leader, and that hewas of little value as a source of up-to-dateintelligence.

Despite the claim to have killed thehead of Shabab’s feared intelligence wing,known as Amniyat, who is actually incharge of the unit - which is responsible forthe group’s internal security and rootingout dissidents and informers - remainsunclear. A militant called Mahad MohamedAli, also known as Karate, had previouslybeen identified by intelligence sources asAmniyat chief and had even been tipped asa potential successor to Godane. TheShabab emerged from the Islamic CourtsUnion that controlled Mogadishu in 2006before being pushed out by Ethiopianforces.

The militants were finally driven fromtheir fixed positions in Mogadishu in2011, and have lost several strongholdsin the south and centre of the country ina recent offensive by the AU’s AMISOMforce. The group, however, still controlsvast rural areas from where they launchregular attacks against AMISOM troopsand the country’s internationally-backedgovernment. The United States has nopermanently deployed ground force inSomalia but supports the governmentand sometimes deploys air power orspecial forces against targets linked toAl-Qaeda. —AFP

Top Shabab official killed in US strike

Palestinians present tougher UN resolution

CAIRO: A file picture taken on June 23, 2014 at the police institute near Cairo’sTora prison shows Al-Jazeera news channel’s Australian journalist Peter Greste(left) and his colleagues, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy (center)and Egyptian Baher Mohamed, listening to the verdict inside the defendants’cage during their trial. —AFP

DUBAI: Bahrain’s opposition leader was remand-ed in custody yesterday for seeking to change theregime by force, prompting cries of “tyrannicalrule” and sparking fresh clashes between his sup-porters and police. Sheikh Ali Salman, head of theShiite movement Al-Wefaq, was charged onMonday by authorities in the tiny Sunni-rulednation, where the opposition boycotted aNovember parliamentary election that it dis-missed as a farce. The prosecution said yesterdaythe cleric would remain in custody for seven dayspending further investigation.

Bahrain has been gripped by sporadic violencesince the authorities crushed month-long pro-democracy protests led by Al-Wefaq in 2011. Atleast 89 people have been killed since then inclashes with security forces, and hundreds arrest-ed and put on trial, human rights groups say. Al-Wefaq denounced Salman’s detention, saying it“entrenches the tyrannical rule in Bahrain andcloses all doors for a political solution”. “Thisbehaviour is dangerous and reflects the magni-tude of the political crisis between the regimeand the people, and shows that Bahrain needs apolitical plan under which power would be in the

hands of the people,” it said.Salman’s arrest Sunday triggered clashes

between police and protesters in Shiite villagesoutside the capital Manama, during which securi-ty forces fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators,and which carried on into the next day.

‘Don’t Mix Religion, Politics’ Police again fired tear gas yesterday during

clashes with young protesters gathered outsidethe cleric’s house in a Shiite suburb of the capital,and witnesses said five people were wounded.Violence was also reported in other villages. Itcame after Salman was re-elected as party leaderon Friday. The prosecution said Monday thatSalman, 49, had been charged with “promotingregime change by force, threats and illegal meansand of insulting the interior ministry publicly.”

Prosecutor Nayef Mahmud said in a statementthat Salman was also accused of inciting peopleto break the law and of “hatred towards a seg-ment of the people”, an allusion to Sunni Muslimswho are a minority in the Shiite-majority king-dom. The prosecutor said police also suspectSalman of calling for foreign interference by “urg-

ing superpowers to intervene in Bahrain to sup-port him in his bid to change the regime.” Theprosecution continued questioning Salman yes-terday and presented him with “recordings of hisincitements, which justified violence and threats,”Mahmud said.

Meanwhile, the justice and Islamic affairs min-istry warned Al-Wefaq against using mosquesand religion for political purposes. Al-Wefaq’s“implication of clerics in politics is a dangerousdeviation from the principles of political work,” astatement said, while urging the group to“respect the law”. Strategically located just acrossthe Gulf from Iran, Bahrain is home to the USNavy’s Fifth Fleet, and Britain announced plansearlier this month to build a naval base of its ownthere.

The authorities have rejected Al-Wefaq’sdemand for an elected prime minister toreplace the current government dominated bythe ruling royal family. After Al-Wefaqannounced that it would boycott the Novemberelection, a court banned the movement fromactivities for three months for violating the lawon associations. —AFP

UNITED NATIONS: Palestinian envoys pre-sented yesterday a more toughly-worded UNdraft resolution on statehood that couldcome up for a vote at the Security Councilthis week, despite US opposition. The UnitedStates again rejected the text that wouldpave the way to a Palestinian state by settinga 12-month deadline to reach a final peacedeal and calling for a full Israeli withdrawal bythe end of 2017.

Arab ambassadors endorsed the text,which contains new provisions on declaringEast Jerusalem the capital of a Palestinianstate, settling the issue of Palestinian prisonerreleases and halting Jewish settlements.Security Council member Jordan submittedthe text to the other council members, but nodecision on the timing for a vote was taken.“Both our leaderships will be discussing, tofind the best way and the best timing to voteon the Security Council resolution,” JordanianAmbassador Dina Kawar told reporters.

Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said thevote could “realistically” take place yesterday.The draft resolution was formally presentedto the council on Dec 17, but the UnitedStates quickly rejected the text overPalestinian insistence that deadlines be set.The Palestinians had said they were open tonegotiations on the text and Jordan begantalks on a measure that could garner a con-sensus among the 15 council members.

But the latest push showed that prospectsfor a resolution that would satisfy both the

Palestinians and the United States were bleak.Discussions on the draft resolution comeamid mounting international alarm over theongoing violence and the failure to restartnegotiations. Israeli troops shot dead a 17-year-old Palestinian boy in the occupied WestBank during a stone-throwing incidentMonday near the northern city of Nablus,sources on both sides said.

US Opposes Resolution US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas onSunday about the latest Palestinian push atthe United Nations. “We don’t think this reso-lution is constructive,” said Jeff Rathke, aState Department spokesman. “We don’tbelieve this resolution... advances the goal ofa two-state solution.” The new resolutionseen by AFP contains eight amendments,including a new provision recalling thatIsrael’s West Bank barrier was declared illegaland demanding an end to Israeli settlementconstruction in the Palestinian territories andEast Jerusalem.

It remained unclear if the Palestinianswould seek a quick vote or hold off untilJanuary 1, when five new members with apro-Palestinian stance join the SecurityCouncil. Diplomats said it was unlikely thatthe resolution would garner nine votes underthe current makeup of the council - a sce-nario that would allow the United States toavoid resorting to its veto power.—AFP

BAITA: Palestinian mourners carry the body of Omam Dwekat, a 17-year-oldPalestinian who was shot dead by Israeli troops the day before, during his funeralyesterday in this West Bank village just outside Nablus. The teenager was killed dur-ing a stone-throwing incident near the Tapuah settlement in the occupied West Bankand a 19-year-old was wounded in the same incident.— AFP

Turkey graft probe prosecutors suspendedISTANBUL: Turkey’s top judicial body has sus-pended four prosecutors who initiated a high-reaching corruption investigation that targetedthe inner circle of President Tayyip Erdogan,local media reported yesterday. The corruptionprobe, which became public with raids on Dec17 last year, led to the resignation of three min-isters and prompted Erdogan to purge the stateapparatus, reassigning thousands of police andhundreds of judges and prosecutors.

Zekeriya Oz, Istanbul’s former deputy chiefprosecutor, and three other prosecutors whoworked on the corruption probe were taken offthe case weeks after the police raids in whichdozens, including the children of former minis-ters, were detained. New prosecutors wereassigned following their removal, who havedropped the charges in October.

Erdogan portrayed the corruption scandal,which posed one of the biggest challenges to

his more than decade-long leadership, as acoup attempt orchestrated by his former ally,U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, to underminehis rule. In July, the High Council of Judges andProsecutors (HSYK) launched an investigationinto the work of the four prosecutors facingaccusations including making political com-ments on Twitter and detaining suspects with-out concrete information. They will remain sus-pended until the investigation is completed,local media said yesterday.

Separately, a journalist was detained by thepolice over comments made on Twitter regard-ing the corruption scandal, local media report-ed. Police carried out a search in her home. “Donot forget the name of the prosecutor who dis-missed December 17 case,” Kabas said onTwitter according to a screen shot of her Twitterfeed on local media. She also included thename of the prosecutor in her tweet with a pic-

ture of him. Her tweets were no longer publicyesterday and could not be verified.

But her arrest raised concerns amongErdogan’s opponents who accuse him of grow-ing increasingly authoritarian and intolerant ofdissent. The Turkish leader’s reaction to thegraft inquir y - t ightening control of theInternet, banning Twitter for two weeks andcarrying out a purge in the bureaucracy - hasdrawn international criticism. He has alsopushed for new legislation which has broughtHSYK, the body responsible for appointments,transfers, expulsions and promotions of thecountry’s top judicial figures, under the controlof the justice minister. The council had beenseen by Erdogan and his supporters, as a bodywhere Gulen devotees wielded influence overthe judicial process. In an October election,government-backed candidates won mostseats in HSYK. — Reuters

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DHAKA: Bangladesh’s war crimes courtyesterday sentenced a leading Islamist

to death for rape, mass murder andgenocide during the country’s 1971 war

of independence from Pakistan. A T MAzharul Islam became the 16th personand the 11th Islamist to be convicted ofatrocities by the International CrimesTribunal, which found him guilty ofbeing a key member of a notorious pro-Pakistan militia. The 62-year-old is theassistant secretary general of thenation’s largest Islamist party, theJamaat-e Islami.

“I am innocent!” he shouted as thepresiding judge Enayetur Rahimordered him to be “hanged by the neck”for the genocide of more than 1,200people in a flood plain in the northerndistrict of Rangpur. “No doubt, it wasmass murder,” Judge Rahim told apacked court, which was blanketed bytight security. Those killed includedhundreds of Hindus - a minority inmainly Muslim Pakistan - in one of theworst episodes of the nine-month war.The conflict ended with the former EastPakistan seceding from the regime inIslamabad, with the help of Indiantroops, and becoming Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina creat-ed the controversial tribunal, a domes-tic court with no international or UnitedNations oversight, in 2010. It has mostlyfocused on the trials of the Jamaat lead-ers who opposed the break-up ofPakistan and saw the liberation war byBengalis as a conspiracy by majority-Hindu India. The tribunal has also sen-tenced to death a former minister ofthe main opposition BangladeshNationalist Party.

Secular protesters staged impromp-tu “victor y ” marches in the capitalDhaka and in Rangpur to hail the latestverdict. But defence lawyer Tajul Islamrejected the charges against Islam andsaid his team planned to appeal theverdict in the Supreme Court. “AzharulIslam was a 19-year-old student duringthe war and in no way was involved inwar crime. The charges against him arefalse and fabricated,” the lawyer said.

Jamaat condemned the verdict, say-ing Islam did not get justice. “Islam is avictim of the government’s continued

conspiracy to murder the Jamaat lead-ership,” acting par ty chief MaqbulAhmed said in a statement, accusingthe government of “arranging false wit-ness statements by its party people”.Jamaat also called a nationwide striketoday and tomorrow. Previous deathsentences handed down againstJamaat leaders, including its supremeand spiritual leaders, plungedBangladesh into its deadliest unrest lastyear.

Thousands of Islamists clashed withpolice in nationwide protests over theverdicts and other issues and some500 people were killed. The BNP andJamaat have called the trials politicallymotivated, aimed at eliminating oppo-sition leaders rather than renderingjustice. Rights groups have said theyfall short of international standards.The government maintains they areneeded to heal the wounds of the war,which it says left three million peopledead. Independent researchers put thetoll much lower. —AFP

Top Bangladesh Islamist sentenced to hang

NEW YORK: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio finishes speaking at a New York Police Department graduation ceremony at Madison SquareGarden on Monday. — AFP

New York City mayor heckled, booed at police graduation

Some turn backs on de Blasio

Autopsy shows US copsshot black man in back

Secret files shed light on Thatcher-Gorbachev talks

LONDON: Classified documents made publicyesterday shed light on the politicalcourtship between Britain’s MargaretThatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev - whom shefamously declared she could “do business”with. After Gorbachev’s first official visit toBritain in 1984, four months before hebecame Soviet leader, Thatcher praised his“charm and humour” as both sides sought toimprove East-West relations. The warmth oftheir relationship even survived one of themost notorious defections of the Cold War -double agent Oleg Gordievsky, who hadbeen head of the KGB’s London station, in1985.

The documents were released by theNational Archives in London under the 30-year rule, which allows previously secret gov-ernment files to be made public threedecades on. Thatcher, who died in 2013,wrote to then US president Ronald Reaganfollowing Gorbachev’s visit. “He is relativelyopen in manner and intelligent. He is affableand has some charm and humour,” she wrote.“I certainly found him a man one could dobusiness with. I actually rather liked him.”

Despite that positive impression,Gorbachev was also subjected to the “IronLady’s” legendary sharp tongue. “He wasclearly not used to the sort of rigorous ques-tioning which he got from me on things likehuman rights in the Soviet Union,” sheadded. British officials also were struck by hisvivacious wife Raisa, who at one point on thetrip dropped in to royal jeweller Mappin andWebb to buy some gold earrings set withdiamonds and rubies.

Less glamorously, she also sent a book of500 Belarusian potato recipes to Britain’sagriculture minister after the trip, following aconversation the pair had on the subject. “Ifyou have anyone who reads Russian and hasa fondness for potatoes, we would be happyto lend it,” wrote senior agriculture ministrycivil servant Ivor Llewellyn to Downing Street

colleague Len Appleyard after receiving thebook.

‘Values Different From Ours’ Gordievsky’s defection to Britain - he

shook off KGB agents trailing him in Moscowand boarded a train to Finland before beingtaken over the border in the boot of anembassy car - threatened to cast a majorshadow over improving East-West relations.The files contain a string of documents aboutGordievsky under the codename HETMAN -the title used for Cossack military command-ers - including a letter from Thatcher toReagan informing him of the defection onSept 6, 1985.

Britain was concerned about Gordievsky’swelfare without his family and pushed for hiswife and two daughters to be quietly allowedto leave the Soviet Union and join him. TheMI6 foreign intelligence agency even gotword to their Soviet counterparts that therewould be a high-profile mass expulsion ofKGB agents from London identified byGordievsky if they did not agree.

But Moscow did not budge. On Sept 7,amid a wave of tit-for-tat diplomatic expul-sions, Thatcher wrote to Gordievsky and toldhim that Britain would not be pushingMoscow for his family to be returned. “Wehad to face up to the reality of the kind ofpeople with whom we are dealing and thefact that their values are very different fromours,” she wrote. “Please do not say that lifehas no meaning. There is always hope. Andwe shall do all we can to help you throughthese difficult days.” Gordievsky’s familyeventually joined him in 1991, but the yearsof separation had taken their toll and themarriage soon broke down. The next record-ed correspondence between Thatcher andGorbachev after Gordievsky’s defection camewhen he sent her early birthday wishes onOctober 12 and suggested that their cooper-ation should continue. —AFP

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami leader A T M Azharul Islam is taken into avan following his verdict at a special court yesterday.— AFP

NEW YORK: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasiodrew heckles and boos along with applausewhen he addressed graduating police cadets onMonday, two days after thousands of uniformedofficers turned their backs on him at a slainpoliceman’s funeral. With the city a focal point ina national debate over the killings of unarmedblack men by white police, the mayor has beenstruggling to mend the most toxic rift indecades between City Hall and the country’sbiggest police force.

Some booed as the mayor began his speechbefore 884 graduating cadets at Manhattan’sMadison Square Garden arena. He warmlypraised the police department. “You will con-front all the problems that plague our society,”de Blasio told the new officers. “Problems thatyou didn’t create.” A heckler cried out, “You creat-ed them!” Some in the audience applauded andcheered the outburst. De Blasio, briefly flustered,continued his speech.

A dozen or so audience members turnedtheir backs on the mayor, repeating a ges-ture by thousands of officers from aroundthe country at Saturday’s funeral for PoliceOfficer Rafael Ramos. Police first turned theirbacks on the mayor a week earlier when hearrived at the hospital where Ramos and his

partner, Wenjian Liu, were taken.After the ceremony, some of the new officers

said they appreciated de Blasio’s support. Beforethe mayor had even finished speaking, his pressoffice sent journalists an email, apparently pre-pared in advance. It said this was not the firsttime a New York mayor was booed at a policegraduation, and cited old news reports about deBlasio’s three predecessors getting similar treat-ment.

Asked whether police had turned their backson other mayors, Marti Adams, a spokeswomanfor de Blasio, said she would have to double-check. The rift between de Blasio and many inthe police department preceded his takingoffice in January. De Blasio made police reform atheme of his campaign. The rift deepened whende Blasio expressed qualified support forprotests sparked by the deaths of unarmedblack men at the hands of white police officers.

Some officers began openly shunning deBlasio after Ramos and Liu were ambushed andshot dead as they sat in their squad car inBrooklyn. The shooter wrote online that he wasavenging the deaths of two unarmed black menwho died in confrontations with white officerslast summer in Ferguson, Missouri, and NewYork. De Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill

Bratton were due to meet the leaders of thecity’s five police unions yesterday, according tothe mayor’s public schedule.

In Los Angeles on Monday, police detainedone man and were searching for a second afterwhat they said was an unsuccessful sniper attackon two police officers in their patrol car onSunday night. No one was injured, and it was notclear whether the incident was connected to thepolice protests. Officer Liu’s wake was scheduledfor Saturday in Brooklyn and his funeral forSunday. The slaying of Ramos and Liu hasbecome a rallying point for police forces belea-guered by months of demonstrations againstpolice tactics in New York and other cities.

The demonstrations began in August after awhite police officer fatally shot an unarmedblack man, Michel Brown, 18, in Ferguson,Missouri. The shooting and a grand jury’s deci-sion not to indict the officer, Darren Wilson,triggered months of often-violent protests inthe St. Louis suburb. On July 17, Eric Garner, a43-year-old black man, died after New Yorkpolice put him in a banned chokehold whilearresting him for illegally selling cigarettes. Thegrand jury in that case decided not to indictthe officer who applied the chokehold, DanielPantaleo. —Reuters

LOS ANGELES: An unarmed black man killedby Los Angeles police officers was shot threetimes, including once in the back at closerange, according to his autopsy report. TheAug 11 death of Ezell Ford is among a stringof cases in the United States this year inwhich black men have been killed by policeofficers under contentious and contested cir-cumstances. The highly anticipated autopsy,released Monday by the Los Angeles Countycoroner’s office, showed that Ford was shotonce in the back, once in the arm and once inthe abdomen. The wound to his back left a“muzzle imprint” on his skin, suggesting Fordwas shot at very close range.

Steven Lerman, the lawyer for Ford’s fami-ly, decried the “horrifying” autopsy report.“What they did to Mr Ford is nothing short ofcriminal,” Lerman told AFP. Ford, who was 25and apparently suffered from mental illness,was killed during a confrontation with twopatrol officers - Sharlton Wampler andAntonio Villegas - in southern Los Angeles. Atthe time of the incident, Ford was alone,unarmed, and walking on the sidewalk.

The autopsy report does not provide anarrative of the shooting, but the LosAngeles Police Department says the incidentunfolded with Wampler and Vil legasattempting to talk to Ford. He walked away,however, and was “attempting to conceal hishands”. The officers followed Ford and as oneof them tried to grab him, “Ford grabbed the

officer’s handgun and attempted to removethe gun from its holster,” according to a LosAngeles Police Department statement. “Theofficer yelled out to his partner that Mr Fordhad his gun. The officer’s partner then firedtwo rounds striking Mr Ford,” the LAPD said.“At about the same time, the officer on theground while on his back grabbed his back-up weapon, reached around Mr Ford andfired one shot at close range striking Mr Fordin the back.”

Call for Review At a press conference Monday, Los

Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck said “thereis nothing in the coroner’s report that isinconsistent with the version the officer hasgiven”. “The officer drew his backup gun and...shot Mr Ford in very close proximity, probablycausing the muzzle imprint mentioned in thecoroner’s report,” Beck said. Beck cautionedthat the investigation would take severalmonths to complete. Ford’s family and wit-nesses cited by local media deny that Fordhad been aggressive. The autopsy was pub-lished only after residents complained of alack of transparency in police investigationsand Mayor Eric Garcetti promised to publish itby the end of the year. Tyler Izen, who headsthe main union for LAPD officers, said theautopsy provides “only one set of facts amongmany hundreds being collected and assessedin the ongoing investigation”.—AFP

LOS ANGELES: Tritobia Ford lights candles on Monday at a memorial for her son EzellFord, a 25-year-old mentally ill black man, at the site where he was shot and killed bytwo LAPD officers in August.— AFP

BALTIMORE: The first female Episcopal bishop in Maryland hasbeen put on leave after she was involved in the hit-and-rundeath of a bicyclist, her diocese said Monday. Bishop SuffraganHeather Cook drove off after she struck 41-year-old Tom Palermoon a tree-lined residential street in Baltimore on Saturday, thendrove off. She returned to the scene about 20 minutes later “totake responsibility for her actions,” Bishop Eugene Sutton said ina statement.

“Because the nature of the accident could result in criminalcharges, I have placed Bishop Cook on administrative leave,effective immediately.” He urged the faithful to “please pray forMr Palermo, his family and Bishop Cook during this most difficulttime.” Palermo was well-known in the Baltimore area for hand-crafting bicycle frames in his own shop, and his death sparkedanger among fellow cyclists. “We urge the justice system to holdthe driver who killed Tom accountable for her actions,” theBaltimore bicycle advocacy group Bikemore said, as police con-tinued their investigation.

Mourners came on bicycles or on foot to lay flowers at thespot where Palermo was struck, on a street with a marked bicyclelane that otherwise had no divider to separate it from motor traf-fic. “It is clear that dedicated bicycle lanes were not enough tokeep even an experienced bicycle rider safe,” Bikemore said on itswebsite. New York state native Cook, 58,became Maryland’s firstfemale Episcopal bishop when she was elected bishop suffragan- the second-highest position in the diocese - in May this year.

She was among four candidates for the position, all of themwomen. In 2012, 726 “pedalcylists” - a category that also includestricycle riders - were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes,according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.Another 49,000 sustained injuries, the federal agency reported inApril. — AFP

Female bishop linked to US bicycle fatality

BALTIMORE: A man stops to look at a memorial on Roland Ave on Monday,where a cyclist was struck and killed on Dec 27. —AFP

MOSCOW: Alexei Navalny, the anti-cor-ruption campaigner who is a leading foeof Russian President Vladimir Putin, wasfound guilty of fraud and given a sus-pended sentence of three and a halfyears yesterday, while his brother wassent to prison. The verdict was sched-uled for next month, but the court ses-

sion was abruptly moved forward to theday before New Year’s Eve, the main holi-day in Russia, leading to speculation thatauthorities wanted to head off protests.

Nonetheless, more than 18,000 peo-ple have said on Facebook they will takepart in a protest yesterday evening nearthe Kremlin. Alexei Mayorov, a security

official in the Moscow mayor’s office,said any attempt at a rally would be shutdown because it has not been sanc-tioned, the Interfax news agency report-ed.

Navalny and his younger brotherOleg were convicted of defrauding aFrench cosmetics company and giventhe same sentence as each other, butOleg’s was not suspended. The courtalso fined each of them 500,000 rubles(about $8,800) and ordered them to paysome 4 million rubles ($77,000) in dam-ages.

Oleg Navalny, the father of two smallchildren and a former executive of thestate-owned postal service, has neverplayed a role in the Russian oppositionmovement and his imprisonment couldecho the Soviet-era practice of punish-ing the relatives of inconvenient people.

“Aren’t you ashamed of what you’redoing? You want to punish me evenharder?” Alexei Navalny shouted out asJudge Yelena Korobchenko handeddown the sentence for his brother.

Alexei briefly entered the metal cagethat his brother was put into after theverdict and appeared to be holding backtears. “This is the most disgusting and

vile of all possible verdicts,” AlexeiNavalny said outside the court. “Thegovernment isn’t just trying to jail itspolitical opponents - we’re used to it;we’re aware that they’re doing it - butthis time they’re destroying and tortur-ing the families of the people whooppose them,” he said, and called forpeople to attend the protest on Tuesdayevening.

The suspended sentence means thatit could be converted into a prison termat any time, by court order, in the eventthat Navalny offends again.

Navalny has been under house arrestsince February and his lawyer VadimKobzev told The Associated Press that hewill remain there until all appeals byeither side are exhausted, which couldtake months.

Independent Moscow-based politicalanalyst Masha Lipman said the verdict isa message to the entire Russian opposi-tion: “All of you guys are at our mercy.”

Lipman said it was clear the Kremlinhad decided not to make a martyr out ofNavalny, with the aim “not to consoli-date the opposition, but to demoralizeand intimidate it.”

LoopholesThe trial seemed to be full of incon-

sistencies and loopholes. The companyinvolved, Yves Rocher, wrote a complaintto investigators about the Navalnybrothers’ firm, but its representativeshave insisted throughout the trial thatthere never were any damages. TheFrench executive who wrote the com-plaint also left Russia shortly afterwardand never attended the hearings.

The prosecutors insisted that thebrothers forced the company “into dis-advantageous contracts” and defraudedit of 26 million rubles (about $440,000).

The brothers had both arrived at thecourtroom with luggage, indicating theyexpected to be immediately imprisoned.Navalny, a lawyer and popular blogger,rose to prominence with his investiga-tions of official corruption and played aleading role in organizing massive anti-Putin demonstrations in Moscow in2011 and 2012.

In a 2013 trial in a different criminalcase, he was found guilty of embezzle-ment and sentenced to prison, but hewas released the next day after thou-sands of people protested in the streetsof Moscow.—AP

Putin foe Alexei Navalny found guilty of fraud

PATRAS: An elderly woman rescued from the fire-struck ferry Norman Atlantic holds her dog as she arrives with other passengers fromItaly to port city of Patras yesterday.—AP

Greek ferry tragedy turns to a murder mystery

Ship fire claims two more lives

LONDON: Security has been stepped up atroyal guard posts in London including thesentry points on Whitehall where touristsfrom around the world take pictures ofstern-faced guardsmen on horseback.

An armed police officer was seen next tothe famous horse guards this week in whatBritish media said was a response to recentconcerns over Islamist militants. The Mailon Sunday newspaper quoted an officer onduty at the Horse Guards Parade onWhitehall saying: “We are a recent additionhere. It’s us guarding the Guards.”

Royal guards were also seen patrollingbehind the gates of nearby Clarence House,the official residence of heir to the thronePrince Charles and his wife Camilla, insteadof in front of them on a public road asbefore. At St James’s Palace, where QueenElizabeth II’s daughter Princess Anne andgranddaughters Princesses Beatrice andEugenie live, the guards had apparentlybeen moved from the main gates to aninner courtyard.

British media reported that armed offi-cers had also been deployed next to theroyal guard outside Windsor Castle, anoth-er residence used by the royal family.

Contacted by AFP, the police and thedefense ministry declined to comment onsecurity matters.

Royal guards, who are soldiers in Britishcavalry and infantry units, are a populartourist attraction due to their brightly-col-ored uniforms, bearskin hats and gleaminghelmets.

A soldier at Buckingham Palace earlierthis year pointed his bayonet-fixed rifle at amember of the public after an argumenterupted at the gates. The soldier left hispost to intervene when a man refused tostop shouting at a police officer manningthe gates of the monarch’s London resi-dence.

In January, a man was jailed for 16months for trying to storm the palacearmed with a knife to complain to thequeen about his welfare payments.

The most serious breach at BuckinghamPalace came in 1982 when unemployedman Michael Fagan got inside the queen’sprivate chambers while she was in bed.Fagan, who had climbed over the palacewalls and scaled a drainpipe, spent 10 min-utes talking to the sovereign before shewas able to raise the alarm. —AFP

Security beefed up atLondon royal guard posts

MOSCOW: Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny’s wife Yulia (right) and hisbrother Oleg Navalny (center) comfort Alexei at a court in Moscow yesterday. —AFP

BRINDISI, Italy: Ten passengers dead, dozensunaccounted for and no-one able to say withany certainty how many people were on boardthe Norman Atlantic when it burst into flames. AGreek ferry tragedy in the Adriatic turned into amurder mystery yesterday as a fiasco over theaccuracy of the passenger list added to ques-tions over safety systems aboard.

The ill-fated Italian-owned ship claimed twomore lives when two Albanian seamen diedfrom injuries sustained when a cable linkingtheir tugboat to the ferry snapped. The Italianprosecutor investigating Sunday’s disaster saidhe assumed more bodies would be found on theship. Giuseppe Volpe said the fact that a numberof stowaways had been among those rescuedfrom the ferry meant “it is likely that we will findother victims in the wreckage.”

Nearly 40 passengers listed as having beenon the ferry are still unaccounted for but it isunclear whether this is due to them having diedas a result of the fire or by drowning, or theresult of errors in the ship’s manifest.

Greek survivor Urania Thireou offered a possi-ble explanation. “At the start, there were peoplewho got into the biggest lifeboat,” she told AFPat a hotel in the Italian port city of Brindisi.

“They got it into the water but we were toldafterwards that they were not rescued.” Withconditions in the eastern Adriatic still extremelyrough, Italian authorities decided to try to towthe ferry to port in Albania rather than risk thelonger crossing back to Italy.

Amid the uncertainty over the passengernumbers, Italian coastguards and navy helicop-ters were continuing to scour the waters around

the stricken ferry, which caught fire after it leftthe Greek port of Patras bound for Italy.

Stowaways Officially, 437 people who were on board

have been accounted for, 38 short of a revisedtotal of passengers and crew released by theship’s operator ANEK Ferries. But governmentministers in both Greece and Italy have con-firmed that there are significant discrepanciesbetween the list released by ANEK and the peo-ple saved.

Greece’s Merchant Marine Minister MiltiadisVarvitsiotis has admitted that one personappeared twice on the ANEK list and com-plained about poor communication with Italy. “Istrongly doubt that all the names on the list arereal,” he said. The ship’s Italian owner, ANEK andits Italian captain all face possible manslaughtercharges arising from Volpe’s investigation. Theaccounts of passengers evacuated from the ferryafter a terrifying 24-hour ordeal have depictedthe Norman Atlantic’s crew as being completelyunprepared to deal with an emergency.

Many have told how it was either thick smokeor other passengers who woke those who weresleeping in cabins, rather than crew or alarms.Almost every survivor who has spoken aboutwhat happened has said they received noinstructions from the crew about what to do.

Teodora Doulis, a Greek woman whose hus-band Giorgios died in the disaster, was among anumber of passengers who described the cardeck-thought to have been where the fire start-ed-as being slicked by fuel. “It stank of petrol.The ship should never have left port in that con-

dition,” she said.In the absence of leadership from the crew,

the intensity of the fire, which made metal sur-faces so hot that shoes were melting, led to apanic which exposed the worst side of humaninstinct, according to survivors. Ute Kilger, a pas-senger from Munich, Germany, described howshe had witnessed a portly middle-aged manshove past women, children and the elderly toensure he was winched to safety before them.

“He just went and sat in the basket, whichwas clearly designed for children. I didn’t knowwhether to laugh or cry,” the 45-year-old lawyertold Italian media.

Safety inspection Two key questions for investigators will be

why the fire gained such force so quickly andwhy it was not contained in the area where itstarted. The ship’s owner, Italian companyVisemar di Navigazione, has acknowledged thata December 19 safety inspection highlighted aproblem with at least one fire door but insists itwas fixed before the vessel set sail.

According to Paris MoU, a multinational bodywhich oversees maritime safety standards, theGreek inspectors highlighted problems withmore than one fire door as well as the function-ing of some water-tight doors, emergency light-ing and the availability of life-saving equipment.

The deficiencies were all registered as havingbeen addressed by the end of the day on whichthe inspection took place. But Richard Schiferli,Paris MoU’s secretary-general, told AFP it wasunclear whether all the problems had actuallybeen fixed satisfactorily. —AFP

Polls to ‘determine whether Greece stays in Europe’: PM

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister AntonisSamaras said yesterday that a snap elec-tion planned for next month would deter-mine whether the country remains part ofthe euro-zone. “This struggle will deter-mine whether Greece stays in Europe,”Samaras said, as he asked the president todissolve parliament ahead of an electionset for January 25. The looming ballot hasalready rattled markets and could revivefears of the country’s future in the euro-zone.

It was called Monday after lawmakersfailed in a third attempt to elect a succes-sor to 85-year-old President KarolosPapoulias, whose five-year term ends inMarch.

The last election plunged Greece intoweeks of political uncertainty and thereare fears of a repeat next month given theclose race between Samaras’ NewDemocracy conservatives and Syriza, theanti-austerity radical leftists. “In anunprecedented twist, the new parliamentcould elect a president and be dissolvedagain for new elections (immediately after-wards) if a government cannot be formed,”wrote liberal Kathimerini daily yesterday.

“The elections nobody wanted, held ina climate of uncertainty,” said centre-left TaNea daily.

Avgi, the Syriza party daily, said a leftistgovernment would give “hope to the peo-ples of Europe and nightmares to the elitesoppressing them.” Greek stocks closeddown almost four percent on Monday-hav-ing lost a massive 11 percent earlier-amidfears that front-running Syriza could rollback austerity measures if it wins the elec-tion. The bourse opened with a fresh 0.51-percent drop yesterday.

Bailout suspended Syriza had dismissed warnings that its

electoral program could shake the markets

but, within hours of the election call onMonday, the International Monetary Fundsaid it was suspending further bailout pay-ments to Greece until a new governmentwas formed. “Discussions... will resumeonce a new government is in place, in con-sultation with the European Commissionand the European Central Bank,” said IMFspokesman Gerry Rice.

Greece recently secured a two-monthextension to February from its EU-IMFcreditors to conclude a fiscal audit that willdetermine the release of some 7.0 billioneuros ($8.6 billion) in loans.

Syriza, which declined to vote in thepresidential ballot in order to force snaplegislative polls, wants to raise salaries andpensions, halt layoffs and freeze the privati-zation of state assets-key elements ofreforms demanded by Greece’s EU-IMFcreditors. “This is the beginning of the endof a regime that plunged Greece into pover-ty, unemployment, misery and despair,”Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras told supporterson Monday, promising a “real negotiation”with the country’s EU creditors.

The European Union has called onGreeks to stick by the often painful reformsadopted as part of a massive internationalbailout for the euro-zone member state. “Astrong commitment to Europe and broadsupport among the Greek voters and polit-ical leaders for the necessary growth-friendly reform process will be essential forGreece to thrive again within the euroarea,” EU economic affairs commissionerPierre Moscovici said. German FinanceMinister Wolfgang Schaeuble has warnedthe cash-strapped country not to abandonthe agreed economic reforms, saying:“they have no alternative”.

Ratings agency Fitch warned yesterdaythat political uncertainty would likelyremain for some months after the elec-tions. —AFP

ATHENS: Greece’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, center, leaves his office for ameeting with Greek President Karolos Papoulias in Athens, yesterday. — AP

BERLIN: A bus crash on a high-way in central Germany killed atleast four people and injuredanother 38 yesterday, police said.The crash occurred near the townof Bad Hersfeld, about 100 kilo-meters (60 miles) northeast ofFrankfurt, after a car collided withthe bus, causing it to veer off theroad and down a slope, a policespokesman said. Of the injured,18 were in a serious condition and20 suffered minor injuries,spokesman Thomas Rodemersaid. “We can’t say at this stagewhether anyone is trapped underthe bus,” he added. The vehiclewas carrying a group of senior cit-izens from southern Germany,Rodemer said. —AP

At least 4 killed in Germany bus crash

Rescue workers are busy at the site were a bus crashed on a highway near Bad Hersfeld, central Germany,yesterday. — AP

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I N T E R N AT ION A LWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia chief executive TonyFernandes yesterday expressed his grief to therelatives of the 162 passengers and crew whowere on board Flight QZ8501 after wreckageand bodies were spotted at sea. “My heart isfilled with sadness for all the families involved inQZ8501. On behalf of AirAsia my condolences toall. Words cannot express how sorry I am,” hewrote on Twitter.

Fernandes said he was rushing to Surabaya inIndonesia, where the plane took off on Sundaybound for Singapore and where relatives havegathered. “Our thoughts and prayers remainwith the families and friends of our passengersand colleagues on board QZ8501,” his Malaysia-based airline said in a statement.

It said employees of affiliate AirAsiaIndonesia, which operated the crashed plane,had been sent to the site in the Karimata Straitwhere debris was found and would fully cooper-ate in the investigation. AirAsia Indonesiaannounced it would invite family members toSurabaya, “where a dedicated team of careproviders will be assigned to each family toensure that all of their needs are met”.

Out of the 162 passengers and crew onboard, 155 were Indonesian. The accident wasthe third disaster this year involving a Malaysian-owned carrier.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappearedin March while flying from Kuala Lumpur toBeijing with 239 passengers and crew. In Julyanother Malaysia Airlines flight-MH17 — wasshot down over unrest-hit Ukraine, killing all 298on board.

Malaysia’s Transport Minister Liow Tiong Laisaid his country “stands in solidarity with thefamilies and loved ones of those onboard (theAirAsia flight)and offers our deepest condo-lences”.

“This is indeed a trying time for those affect-ed and Malaysia is deeply saddened by thistragedy,” Liow said in a statement, offeringIndonesia all possible help.

The crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 has raisedconcerns over Indonesia’s safety record, but avia-tion analysts say the country has made hugeadvances since the days when all of its airlineswere banned from flying to Europe. The air travelindustry in the sprawling archipelago is boom-ing, with domestic passengers growing nearly

five-fold over the past decade and airlines scor-ing billion-dollar deals with foreign plane mak-ers. “Now we can count accidents with ourhands, a stark contrast to the accidents we hadin 2007 and the years prior to that,” said DudiSudibyo, a senior editor of aviation magazineAngkasa. The AirAsia flight, which was travellingfrom the Indonesian city Surabaya to Singaporewhen it lost contact during stormy weather,looks set to be country’s only deadly one in2014, Sudibyo told AFP.

Gerry Soejatman, an independent aviationanalyst, said Indonesia had 0.18 fatal accidentsper one million passengers in 2007, which haddropped to less than half that in 2011.

“The EU ban slapped Indonesia on the face,but because of that Indonesia then improvedthe safety standards,” he said. Accidents in 2007included an Adam Air plane plunging into thesea off Sulawesi island on New Year’s Day, killingall 102 people on board. That airline was laterbanned from flying.

In March 2007, a jet with flag carrier GarudaIndonesia burst into flames on landing in the

province of Central Java, killing 21 people. Inmore recent incidents, a Lion Air plane missedthe runway as it came in to land in Bali in Aprillast year, slamming into the sea and splitting intwo. Dozens of the 108 people on board wereinjured, but there were no fatalities.

Later in 2013, a Lion Air jet crashed into a cowand skidded off the runway as it came into landon Sulawesi island. Chappy Hakim, a former airforce chief, said the room for improvement insafety standards was still huge.

“In 2007 we were audited and we did notcomply on a hundred things... and I (still) don’tthink we have complied to the internationalstandards,” he said, adding that the country wasstill short of inspectors.

Since the EU ban, only a handful ofIndonesian airlines have been reallowed inEurope, including Garuda and AirAsia Indonesia,which operated Flight QZ8501.

AirAsia Indonesia is a unit of Malaysian-basedAirAsia, which dominates Southeast Asia’sbooming low-cost airline market and had previ-ously earned a solid safety record. —AFP

‘My heart is filled with sadness:’ AirAsia bossDisaster taints Indonesia’s air safety progress

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court yesterdayremanded the alleged mastermind of the2008 Mumbai attacks in police custody fortwo days in a kidnapping case, a day afteranother court approved his release.

It is the latest round in a two-week tus-sle over the detention of Zaki-ur-RehmanLakhvi, accused over the terror siege inIndia’s commercial capital. The affair hasworsened already tense ties with India. Theattacks which left 166 people dead wereblamed on banned Pakistani militant groupLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT ). India has longseethed at Pakistan’s failure either to handover or prosecute those accused of plan-ning and organizing the violence.

Lakhvi and six other suspects have beencharged in Pakistan but their cases havemade virtually no progress in more thanfive years. A court granted Lakhvi bail onDecember 18, drawing an angry responsefrom Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

After that ruling, authorities detainedhim under a public order law. But onMonday a judge suspended his detentionand set bail terms. At yesterday’s hearingpolice Inspector Mohammad Arshad toldthe court Lakhvi was accused of kidnap-ping a man six and a half years ago.

The court remanded Lakhvi in policecustody for two days for further investiga-tion, court officials and defense lawyerRizwan Abbasi told reporters. Lakhvi wasbrought to court surrounded by policecommandos and paramilitary Rangers.Dozens of police and Rangers were

deployed outside the building and on itsrooftop.

Abbasi accused the authorities oftrumping up the kidnapping charge tokeep Lakhvi in jail and avoid a major diplo-matic incident with India.

“My client was granted bail by an anti-terrorism court on December 18, but thesame day the government arrested himunder public order law,” he told reporters.

“Yesterday the high court suspendedthat detention order and the moment thatorder was suspended, before the release ofmy client, he was arrested in a fake kidnap-ping case.” Pakistan, long accused of quietlytolerating militant groups that target arch-rival India, has promised to crack down onall terror groups after a Taliban school mas-sacre killed 150 — mainly children. ButJamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a charitable organi-zation seen as a front for LeT, operatesopenly in the country and its leaders fre-quently appear on T V delivering fieryspeeches against India.

JuD spokesman Nazir Ahmed accusedthe Pakistan government of caving in topressure from the United States and Indiain trying to keep Lakhvi in jail. TheIslamabad High Court’s order on Mondaysuspending Lakhvi’s detention drew asharp response from India, which sum-moned the Pakistani envoy in New Delhi toprotest. India has long accused Pakistaniintelligence agencies of having had a handin the Mumbai attacks, a charge denied byIslamabad.— AFP

Pakistan court remandsMumbai attacks mastermind

SURABAYA: Relatives of passengers of the missing AirAsia flight QZ 8501 react upon seeingthe news on television about the findings of bodies on the waters near the site where the jet-liner disappeared, at the crisis center at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya yester-day.—AP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security personnel escort Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi (center),alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, as he leaves the court in Islamabadyesterday. —AFP

A serviceman of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) on board a C-130 aircrafttakes part in the search and locate (SAL) operation for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501over the Java sea yesterday.—AFP

Java Sea plane search:Monsoons, murkiness, trash

JAKARTA: Searchers combing the Java Seato find and recover debris and bodies fromthe AirAsia jet that crashed there have theadvantage of working in much shallowerwaters than those found in the open ocean,but also face challenges that include mon-soons, murkiness and trash. Flight 8501crashed Sunday morning with 162 peopleon board while flying from Indonesia toSingapore. Searchers yesterday found bod-ies and debris floating off Borneo islandbelieved to be from the plane.

Erik van Sebille, an oceanographer atthe University of New South Wales inSydney, said the remote stretch of theIndian Ocean where searchers are still look-ing for another missing plane, MalaysiaAirlines Flight 370, is 100 times deeper thanthe Java Sea. “It makes the search muchsimpler,” he said.

Mostly enclosed by islands from theIndonesia archipelago, the Java Sea hasaverage depths of about 40 to 50 meters(131 to 164 feet). Van Sebille said it’s shal-low enough that if conditions were perfect,searchers could probably spot any largepieces of debris on the ocean floor usingonly their eyesight. “In the last ice age, itwas actually land. It was above sea levelwith forest,” he said. “It’s a much differentenvironment than the open ocean.”

But because the monsoon season isunderway, he said, there’s likely to be lotsof rain that will wash sediment into riversthat feed into the sea and make it murky.And he said the abundance of fishing in the

region will make it harder for spotterplanes to distinguish trash from any planedebris. “It’s a pretty filthy ocean and there’sa lot of garbage floating out there,” he said.“Everything from small water bottles to big,abandoned fishing nets.” He said the cur-rents in shallow seas don’t typically havethe same strength as those in the openocean, meaning debris shouldn’t move asmuch, although he said winds can quicklycreate choppy waves which can make thesearch more difficult.

David Gallo, the director of special proj-ects at the Woods Hole OceanographicInstitution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts,said the challenge of locating the wreckageor black boxes remains huge.

Gallo said the area where searchers arelooking for the AirAsia jet might appearmuch narrower and more contained thanthe area for Flight 370, but is still enor-mous: “bigger than West Virginia and SouthCarolina combined,” he said. That is aboutthe same size as Indonesia’s Java province.

But unlike in the search for Flight 370,he said, ships searching the Java Sea can besmaller and reach the area more quicklybecause they will be much closer to a port.

However, he said, searchers may need toget a better grasp on the last known posi-tion of the plane before they are ready totry to detect any underwater locator sig-nals, or pings, which the plane’s black box-es are designed to emit. “There is nothingeasy about this,” Gallo said. Perry reportedfrom Wellington, New Zealand. — AP

NEW DELHI: In small-town northern India, Muslimsare offered food and money to convert to Hinduism.If that doesn’t suffice, they say they’re threatened.Across the country, the Christmas holiday is can-celed for hundreds of government servants whospend the day publicly extolling the policies ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi. Powerful Hindunationalist leaders - some with close ties to Modi’sgovernment - say they intend to ensure Indiabecomes a completely Hindu nation.

But Modi himself? He has remained silent asnationalist demands have bubbled over into day-to-day politics, and amid growing fears among minori-ty religious groups of creeping efforts to shunt themaside. “We told him we feel insecure and fearful,” saidthe Rev. Dominic Emmanuel, a Roman Catholicpriest who was in a delegation of religious leaderswho met a few days ago with Modi. “We told him, ‘Ifthere were just two words from your side, primeminister, we would feel so much better.’”

But according to Emmanuel, Modi dismissed thefears as media exaggeration and told the group itwasn’t his role to weigh in on every issue.

A largely Hindu country that has long proclaimedits multicultural character, India has a sizable Muslimminority, a small Christian community and evensmaller pockets of other religions from Judaism toZoroastrianism.

It’s a country where barely 2 percent of peoplecelebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, but wherethe day has long been set aside by families andfriends - no matter their religion - for eating, drink-ing and gift-giving. It has been a day off from school

and work as long as anyone can remember.So when a top Modi official suggested that stu-

dents come in on Christmas for lessons on “GoodGovernance” - a key Modi platform - anger welled upquickly. While that plan was quietly shelved, hun-dreds of civil servants held high-profile activitiesacross the country on Dec. 25 to herald Modi’s gov-ernance policies.

The subtextIf there was no outright anti-Christian message in

these gatherings, Emmanuel says the subtext wasloud and clear. “It’s not merely undermining the fes-tival of Christmas, but it is trying to segregate a com-munity and its festival,” he said.

Nonsense, said Tarun Vijay, a writer, longtimesupporter of Hindu causes and member of the rul-ing Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP. The governmentactivities on Christmas, he insisted, were to honorthe birthday of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the last BJPprime minister.

“Was it his mistake being born on 25thDecember?” he asked. “Is it sacrilegious for us to cel-ebrate his birthday on 25th December?” Instead,Vijay accuses some of Modi’s opponents of politiciz-ing Christmas, calling them “hate groups.”

“These are the people who are doing harm toChristianity,” he said. The rancor is rarely just aboutGod. Instead, it’s a complex interplay of religion andpolitics, as the dreams of Hindu nationalist voterscombine with the after-effects of Modi’s sweepingelectoral victory earlier this year.

Modi was catapulted to power on promises to

develop India’s economy and root out the corrup-tion and incompetence that had crippled the previ-ous government. But he had launched his politicalcareer in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a mili-tant Hindu group that combines religious educationwith self-defense exercises, and the parent organiza-tion of the ruling party. The RSS has long beenaccused of stoking religious hatred against Muslims.

While Modi played down religious issues duringthe campaign, wary of alienating voters with his andhis party’s reputations for Hindu nationalism, nation-alist voters turned out for him in droves.

So when Modi was elected, nationalist leaderswho had spent years in India’s political wildernessbegan pressing the government to adopt its agen-da. Just how much Modi actually supports thatsprawling agenda - which includes everything fromdemands to rewrite school textbooks to, at the mostextreme end, the expulsion of non-Hindus fromIndia - remains unclear.

Ancient cultureCertainly, he is sympathetic to parts of it. In an

October speech to medical professionals, for exam-ple, Modi traced parts of modern medicine back toancient India, noting that Ganesh - the Hindu godwith the head of an elephant but the body of a per-son - is proof that plastic surgery began in India. “Wecan feel proud of what our country achieved in med-ical science at one point in time,” he said. India, withits population of some 1.3 billion, is about 81 per-cent Hindu, 13 percent Muslim and a little over 2percent Christian. —AP

Religion bubbles over into politics in India

MANILA: At least 30 people were killed in land-slides and flash floods as tropical storm Jangmislowly crossed the southern and centralPhilippines, dumping heavy rain for a secondday yesterday, officials said. Rivers burst theirbanks and submerged villages in floods up to“neck-deep” while hillsides crashed onto homesand highways, officials said.

Some residents in vulnerable areas ignoredevacuation warnings, Stephany Uy-Tan, mayor ofthe town of Catbalogan in Samar province, toldDZMM radio. “The rains were really strong andpeople thought the storm won’t be too strongbased on the news,” she said. Twelve peoplewere killed after a landslide buried two vans on amountainside highway in Catbalogan, she said.

“Rescuers report hearing voices from the rub-ble,” she said.Jangmi, which was forecast to bringup to 15 millimetres (0.6 inches) of rain per hour,barrelled through fishing and tourist areas onTuesday, a day after it smashed into the moun-tainous southeastern region on Mindanaoisland.

Thousands were evacuated ahead of thestorm’s arrival, with most expected to be senthome later yesterday as floodwaters start torecede, officials said. Jangmi’s 65-kilometre (40-mile) per hour wind gusts were weak comparedto the last storm to traverse the central regionearlier this month, Hagupit, which had winds ofup to 210 kilometers per hour.

“We are focused on floods and landslidesbecause, while the storm’s winds are weak, it willbring heavy rain,” national civil defense chiefAlexander Pama told DZMM radio.

Five people were killed after a landslideburied a house in the town of Tanauan in Leyteprovince, the region’s civil defense spokes-woman Blanche Gobenciong said. Eight peopleincluding three eight-year-old children drownedafter raging floodwaters washed away their

shanty homes in the coastal town of Ronda inCebu province, regional civil defence officerLemuel Tabada told AFP.

Two teenage boys, meanwhile, died fromelectrocution while wading through floodwatersat Loon in Bohol province, said Allen Cabaronfrom the same civil defense office.

On Monday at least three people were killedafter Jangmi, known locally as Seniang,slammed into southeastern provinces, triggeringfloods and landslides. Up to 14,000 people wereevacuated in Surigao del Sur on Mindanao,where Jangmi first hit. They will be sent home asfloodwaters recede, Governor Johnny Pimentel

told AFP. Ten flights to and from the affectedareas on Tuesday were cancelled. Jangmi will beout of the central region after midnightWednesday before

brushing the southern tip of Palawan islandon its way out of the country on Thursday,according to the state weather bureau. ThePhilippines is battered by about 20 storms everyyear, many of them deadly.

Last year Super Typhoon Haiyan, thestrongest ever to hit the country, left 7,350 peo-ple dead or missing in central regions as itstirred up tsunami-like waves, wiping out entiretowns.— AFP

Philippine storm death toll jumps to 30

JASAAN: Residents gather drift wood near a cargo vessel which ran aground when TropicalStorm Jangmi passed through Jasaan town, Misamis Oriental, the southern island ofMindanao yesterday. At least 30 people were killed in landslides and flash floods as tropicalstorm Jangmi slowly crossed the southern and central Philippines, dumping heavy rain for asecond day yesterday.—AFP

N E W SWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

Continued from Page 1

“My heart will be totally crushed if it’s true. I will lose ason,” he said. Search chief Soelistyo said all efforts werenow being concentrated on the location where the“shadow” and debris had been found, around 160 kmsouthwest of the town of Pangkalan Bun in CentralKalimantan on Borneo island. The town has the nearestairstrip and is not far from the plane’s last known posi-tion.

Late yesterday, Airbus confirmed it was “informed bythe Indonesian authorities that the accident site of flightQZ 8501 has been located”. President Joko Widodopraised the search teams and said three warships wereheading to the location. “Tomorrow there will be a mas-sive search by the ships and helicopters,” he said after fly-ing over the area and visiting Pangkalan Bun. “I wouldlike to thank our close friends, the countries who havehelped the search from Singapore, Malaysia andAustralia,” he said. “And for the families of the passengersand crew, I also feel the loss from this tragedy and we allpray for the families to be given fortitude and strength toface this tragedy,” he said at a brief appearance inSurabaya between meeting relatives.

AirAsia’s flamboyant chief executive Tony Fernandesalso rushed to Surabaya after news of the debris. “It’s anexperience I never dreamt of happening and it’s probablyan airline CEO’s worst nightmare,” he said. Expressinggrief over the first fatal incident to hit the region’s biggestbudget airline, he said at least there was some closure forthe relatives. “Words can’t express what they are goingthrough,” he said.

Indonesian officials had already been preparing rela-tives for the worst, with Soelistyo saying Monday it waslikely the plane was at “the bottom of the sea”, based onits estimated position. The aircraft lost contact early onSunday about 40 minutes after takeoff, after the crewrequested a change of flight plan due to stormy weather,in the third crisis for a Malaysian carrier this year.

In his last communication, the pilot said he wanted toavoid a menacing storm system. Then all contact waslost. Before take-off the pilot had asked for permission tofly at a higher level to avoid the storm but his requestwas not approved due to heavy traffic on the popularroute, according to AirNav, Indonesia’s flight navigationservice. In his final communication, the pilot asked toalter his course and repeated his original request toascend to avoid the bad weather.

“The pilot requested to air traffic controllers to deviateto the left side due to bad weather, which was immedi-

ately approved,” AirNav safety director Wisnu Darjonotold AFP. “After a few seconds the pilot requested toascend from 32,000 to 38,000 feet but could not beimmediately approved as some planes were flying aboveit at that time,” he said. “Two to three minutes later whenthe controller was going to give a clearance to a level of34,000, the plane did not give any response,” Darjonosaid.

China, which had 152 citizens on board MalaysiaAirlines MH370 which vanished in March, offered to senda frigate and military aircraft to help with the internation-al search. The missing plane was operated by AirAsiaIndonesia, a unit of Malaysian-based AirAsia. Of the 162passengers and crew, 155 were Indonesian. The crashcomes at the end of a disastrous year for Malaysian avia-tion. Flight MH370 disappeared while flying from KualaLumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew, and inJuly another Malaysia Airlines flight - MH17 - was shotdown over unrest-hit Ukraine, killing all 298 on board.

Separately, an AirAsia Zest plane carrying 159 peopleovershot the runway and got stuck in a muddy field yes-terday at an international airport in the centralPhilippines after landing from Manila in windy weather,officials said. There were no reports of injuries.Crewmembers launched emergency slides to help pas-sengers disembark from the Airbus A320-200 after itskidded off the runway in the resort town of Kalibo inAklan province before nightfall, Giovanni Hontomin, whois in charge of AirAsia Zest’s operations, said by phone.

Initial reports indicated that three of the plane’s tyresgot stuck in the mud, said Civil Aviation Authority of thePhilippines spokesman Eric Apolonio. He said the busyairport would be closed to air traffic until the stalled air-craft, which likely sustained some damage, is towed awayfrom near the runway’s end. A tropical storm has set offlandslides and flash floods in the southern and centralPhilippines, leaving at least 31 people dead and sevenmissing, officials said yesterday.

Kalibo town, 350 km south of Manila, is a busy gate-way to the Boracay beach resort, a popular tourist desti-nation. The accident came two days after another inci-dent involving an AirAsia Zest plane. On Sunday, a jetoperated by the carrier developed a tyre problem in thecentral Philippine city of Tagbilaran while its 184 passen-gers and crew were boarding, prompting the airline tocancel the flight to Manila, officials said. The Airbus A320aircraft’s tire was later fixed, allowing it to resume itsflight to the Philippine capital Monday morning. No rea-son was given for the problem. Budget carrier AirAsiaZest is partly owned by AirAsia Philippines. — Agencies

Bodies, wreckage reveal missing AirAsia...Continued from Page 1

Duwaisan said that the Kuwaiti foreign policy, overseenby HH the Amir, has lived up to its reputation of mediatingto bridge the gaps between Gulf and Arab countries.

The lawmaker, a staunch supporter of the Syrianregime, said that Kuwait’s move could open the door forother Arab countries to follow suit “after it had beenproved that what happened in Syria was not a popularrevolution but a terrorist plot to divide the Arab world”. Anumber of Syrian diplomats arrived in Kuwait yesterday toreopen the consular section to renew passports of Syriansresiding in Kuwait. The embassy is expected to start oper-ating within the next two weeks. Kuwait had announcedthat the diplomats’ return did not mean the reopening ofthe embassy but to allow the Syrian government to renew

passports of over 140,000 Syrians living and working inthe country.

MP Ahmad Lari meanwhile called on the governmentto complete the amendments of laws related to the five-year development plan (2015-16/2019-20), expected tobe sent to the National Assembly soon. Lari specificallymentioned the public tenders law and the privatizationlaw, saying that the government should send the pro-posed amendments to the concerned Assembly panels.He said that regarding the tenders law, there have beendifferences in views between a number of governmentsides on the amendments, but recently these differenceshave been sorted out. Lari said that the Cabinet hasalready reviewed a number of amendments to the privati-zation law and it is expected to refer them to theAssembly soon.

Kuwaiti jailed for abusing Saudi Arabia

A couple pushes a pram around the marine lake at West Kirby in northwest England yesterday as the sun sets over the River Dee and the hills of north Wales. — AFP

A man pulls children on a sled through the snow-covered Orangerie park yesterday in Strasbourg, easternFrance. Heavy snowfall brought both chaos and joy across Europe, created idyllic conditions for skiers in France,but also havoc for holidaymakers rushing to and from ski resorts for their end-of-year vacations. — AFP

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The changing

face of North

Korea refugees

Every year, hundreds of North Koreans risk their livesescaping the reclusive nation, but the profile of thosebraving the dangerous border crossing has changed

markedly from the famine-driven refugees of the past.Where escape was once a desperate bid for survival by peo-ple on the brink of starvation, it is now often the calculatedpath taken by relatively affluent North Koreans who alsoknow far more about an outside world that was a total mys-tery to earlier escapees.

The shift has come quickly - a reflection of changes thatfollowed the great famine that killed hundreds of thou-sands of North Koreans in the late 1990s, known as the“Arduous March”. “The typical profile of a North Koreanrefugee today is very different from, say, 10 years ago,” saidKim Seung-Eun, a prominent South Korean missionaryinvolved in the underground network that brings escapeesto the South.

One 40-year-old refugee, who gave her name only asChoi, told AFP she fled with her mother in 2010 with thehelp of a sister who had already made it to Seoul. Sheexplained: “I wasn’t exactly starving but saw no hope forimprovement in my life in the North. We went through a lotduring the Arduous March and the experience opened myeyes. “I wanted to have a better life and some hope for myfuture. We lived in relative comfort in the North thanks tothe money my sister sent (via brokers in China) but themore you hear about South Korea through your familythere, the more you’d want to get out and live just likethem.”

‘Well-Off and Well-Informed’ Precise statistics on the number of escapees are hard to

come by, though South Korea records the annual tally thatmake it there. “Now many are members of what you couldcall the North’s middle-class - relatively well off and relative-ly well informed,” Kim told AFP. This was not the case in the2000s, when the number of annual arrivals peaked at 3,000- most of them motivated by hunger and grinding poverty.North Korea is still an extremely poor country by any stan-dards and malnutrition remains widespread, but a thrivingblack economy - tolerated as a necessary evil by the regime- has brought significant changes.

Unauthorised private markets have lessened depend-ence on a dysfunctional state ration system and provided acrucial income source for those on near-worthless statesalaries. The subsequent rise in living standards has coincid-ed with a breach in the sanitised information cordon thateffectively isolated North Korea from the outside world fordecades. Mobile phones, MP3 players and smuggled USBsticks with South Korean television dramas have providedmore than just a glimpse of realities beyond the border.

‘A Better Life’ “The sort of people we see defecting now actually have

relatively stable lives in the North,” said one Seoul officialworking directly with refugees. “One of the most commonreasons they cite for leaving is for the sake of their children.They want them to have a better education and a betterstart in life,” the official said. A significant number comefrom border towns. Internal travel in North Korea remainsvery restricted, so those who already live near the borderhave a real advantage. They also tend to have contacts withpeople who move or trade across the border.

And more than 70 percent are women - partly a reflec-tion of tighter monitoring of North Korean men at their offi-cial work units. Since North Korea’s current leader Kim Jong-Un took power following the death of his father Kim Jong-Ilin late 2011, border security has been stepped up -anotherfactor behind the rise in the number of better-off refugees.“Getting out of North Korea now costs a lot more, in bribesor payments to brokers,” the Seoul official said.

The increased security and a crackdown by China on itsside of the border saw the number of new arrivals almosthalve to around 1,500 in 2012 and 2013. Video footage tak-en with cameras supplied by Kim Seung-Eun’s missionarygroup show the river border with China lined with surveil-lance cameras. Other footage showed a house on a remotehill with a satellite dish, which Kim claimed belonged to asecurity unit tasked with tapping mobile phone conversa-tions in the border area.

No matter how much money a refugee may have,escaping North Korea remains an extremely dangerouschallenge. Even if they manage to cross the border withoutbeing caught - or shot - capture later on will likely result inrepatriation and severe punishment. Experience helps, andone more thing the current batches of refugees have incommon is that many have relatives who have already gotout.—AFP

Issues

By Jung Ha-Won

ANALYSISWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

By Edward Taylor

Martin Kapp gestures towards the sleek red Italiansports car standing in his barn in the heart ofGermany, secure in the knowledge there is not

another exactly like it in the world. By commissioning the300 km per hour Alfa Romeo TZ 3 Corsa the 63 year oldengineering company executive joined a band of customcar aficionados ranging from financiers to rock stars keento acquire an exclusive exotic vehicle. Anecdotal evidencesuggests they are a growing breed. Advances in computerdesign and safety testing have helped improve the feasibil-ity of the cottage industry specialised in creating one-offcars for wealthy buyers, helping collectors like Kappachieve what had been a distant dream.

“Knowing there would only ever be one built, that reallyappealed to me,” said Kapp, whose home is on the outskirtsof Coburg, Bavaria, where he is a managing director andpartner at Kapp Group, a manufacturer of grindingmachines for the auto industry. Kapp is just one of a crowdof clients looking beyond the standard offerings fromupmarket showroom marques such as Ferrari (part of Fiat)and Porsche (part of Volkswagen) and have commissionedboutique design houses such as Castriota Design, Zagato,Pininfarina and Carrozeria Touring to create tailor-mademodels. Although Kapp won’t say how much he paid forhis car, industry insiders say the cost of a one-off vehiclecan range from several hundred thousand to several mil-lion euros, depending on the design sought by the client.Kapp worked with Italian coachbuilder Zagato because hewanted a new version of his classic Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ,retaining the low-slung curves and flourishes of the 1960soriginal but adding modern performance and safety fea-tures. Recent advances in computing power and softwarehave simplified car design, reducing production costs, and

new software simulation techniques have cut back theneed for costly prototype crash testing procedures.

Official Acceptance“Without a doubt, the real revolution that has occurred

in recent years has been the official acceptance of mathe-matical modelling and virtual simulation,” said AndreaZagato, the third generation member of Milan-basedcoachbuilding business Zagato noted, saying regulatorsnow accept software programmes to do some of the workpreviously done through crash testing. As a result, customcoachbuilding has experienced a renaissance in the pastfive years, experts and manufacturers say, radically mod-ernising an industry which traces its roots to an era whenowners of horse-drawn coaches commissioned a body togo on top of an undercarriage.

Boutique design houses have responded by makingunique cars including the Ferrari P4/5, the Ferrari SP12 EC,a new version of the Lancia Stratos, and Kapp’s Alfa RomeoTZ 3 Corsa. To keep costs down, most of these modernvehicles use engines and crash structures already devel-oped for established high-end sportscars. But this newbreed of exotic vehicle incorporate such deep-seated mod-ifications to their original shape and structure, that out-siders often cannot tell which vehicle was the base model.

Custom coachbuilding for the auto industry last flour-ished in the 1960s and 1970s, when mainstream manufac-turers outsourced limited-edition coupe, convertible orlight-weight versions of standard models to specialisedbuilders, leading to the creation of rarities like the AstonMartin DB4 GT Zagato. In the 1980s and 1990s, the coach-building market suffered as mainstream carmakers startedto make niche models in-house, and after new safety regu-lations all but ruled out extensive modifications withoutrequiring new crash testing.

Expanding SegmentTechnological and regulatory changes have revived the

sector. “In the last few years, we have produced more than50 contemporary collectables, and in our opinion the seg-ment is expanding,” Zagato said, adding that low volumeor one-off modern cars now make up 50 percent ofZagato’s revenue. Kapp said part of the joy of owning hisTZ 3 Corsa had been understanding the manufacturingprocess, which included using the carbon underpinningsfrom a Belgian Gillet racecar and a modern engine whichis otherwise used in the Alfa Romeo 8C.

Other examples of tailor-made cars include a modernversion of the Lancia Stratos which Pininfarina made forMichael Stoschek, chairman of German auto supplierBrose Group, using components found in a Ferrari F430. AFerrari Enzo was used to make the P4/5 delivered to U.S.investor James Glickenhaus. Rock legend Eric Claptonwanted a modern version of the 1970s Ferrari BerlinettaBoxer, so Pininfarina and Ferrari made a one-off modernversion for him, known as the Ferrari SP12 EC. For Kapp,commissioning his TZ3 Corsa was a way to ensure it wasauthentic. The classic car sector has become problematicsince it was flooded with money and a wave of fakes, Kappsaid.

The soaring value of rare cars and the popularity ofclassic car rallies has led enthusiasts, car companies, andforgers to create an industry for making perfect replicaspare parts. This, combined with a trend for restoring oldcars to mint condition, has made it almost impossible forexperts to distinguish new cars from perfectly restoredoriginals. “I went to a classic car event in Italy and therewere three identical Alfa Giulia TZ’s with the same chassisnumber,” Kapp said, explaining that two of those cars musthave been fakes. “With this new one I know exactly whomade it and when.” — Reuters

Car collectors seek one-off models

By Aya Batrawy

The main road connecting Abu Dhabi with Dubai is a longstretch of highway that runs through the desert - a starkreminder of how this country on the eastern tip of the

Arabian Peninsula once looked just 40 years ago before an oilboom. In both metropolises, foreigners far outnumber thelocals. The two emirates are home to countless Western foodchains and ultrachic, reservations-only celebrity-chef restau-rants imported from London, New York and Los Angeles. Theyboth boast ultramodern skylines with architecturally stunningskyscrapers, opulent hotels and huge shopping malls, a testa-ment to the Gulf’s penchant for swagger, luxury and Westernimports.

However, the road linking Abu Dhabi to Dubai is surpris-ingly unadorned, functional and subdued. It seems only natu-ral that the austere chain of Emirates Guest Cook Restaurantsfound a home along this highway. Emirati dishes of lamb,chicken and fish are served on heaping beds of spiced rice in adown-to-earth environment at bargain prices. It’s whereEmiratis and Gulf Arab visitors come for the region’s mostimportant meal of the day - lunch. The place is busiestbetween noon and 3 p.m.

The simple formula here is heavy portions that are light onthe wallet. Dishes range from around 20 dirhams ($5.50) for

single portions to 40 dirhams ($10.50) for full-sized meals fortwo or more people. All meals at the Emirates Guest CookRestaurants include a side of tomato and onion salsa and afew cucumber, carrot and lemon wedges. The platters areserved two ways: either on dining tables downstairs or in tra-ditional Arabian-style upstairs. Upstairs is where guests sit ona carpeted floor in private nooks lined with pillows. Waitersbring each party a large platter to share and eat by hand.

I went for the chicken majboos, also known as kabsa acrossthe Gulf. Unlike some Indian cuisines, Emirati dishes are notparticularly spicy. The majboos was steamed and boiled withblack pepper, cumin, coriander seeds, ginger, bay leaves, cin-namon and cloves. The rice was topped with copious amountsof tangy dried red currants. For my husband, I ordered a take-out portion of the chicken madfoon, cooked underground in aclay oven. The rice was infused with pieces of fried onion. Mycolleague, who hails from Iran, had the fish, which is cooked ina similar way across both sides of the Persian Gulf.

Other popular Emirati dishes on the menu include mandi,an originally Yemeni meat and rice dish slow-cooked in a tan-door clay oven, and biryani, a uniquely South Asian import.And just to be clear, here is what you won’t find on the menu:kitsch dishes like camel burgers and Lebanese mezze likehummus and baba ghanoush. That’s because neither is true inform to the local cuisine.

Authentic Fusion The menu at Emirates Guest Cook Restaurants is an

authentic fusion of South Asian and Iranian spices, flavors thatfor centuries have landed on the shores of this ancient traderoute linking India with the British Empire. Just take the ownerNasser Ibrahim Hossein, who goes by the name Abu Mansoor.An entrepreneurial 40-year-old man with a wide smile, twoyoung children and a third on the way, Abu Mansoor is origi-nally from Shiraz in southwest Iran. He moved to the Emiratesin the early 1990s, married an Emirati woman and acquiredEmirati citizenship. He opened three restaurants next to oneanother in the same roadside strip of sleepy storefront shops.One offers Iranian food, the second Emirati food and the thirdgrilled meats.

So how hard was it to find a locally-owned restaurant thatserves only local food? Well, very hard. Most website search-es for Emirati restaurants direct you to malls or hotels thatoffer a loose mix of Mediterranean cuisine and a few localdishes. Emirates Guest Cook Restaurants has no website orFacebook group, and the few references to it online list thewrong number. I heard about it through word of mouth froma colleague whose Emirati mother orders from there. Notwithout irony, it’s easy to spot across the highway from agiant European hypermarket and mall named DeerfieldsTownsquare. — AP

Gulf Arab tradition on a platter

In this Tuesday, Dec 23, 2014 photo, a Filipino waitress carries a dish to serve to Fahd Mohammed and Abdullah Ibrahim, both 20, as the two men eat their traditional Emirati lunch atthe Emirates Guest Cook restaurant in Shahama, about 90 km southwest of Dubai. (Right) Chicken majboos, also known as kabsa, with a piece of grilled chicken, is served at theEmirates Guest Cook restaurant. — AP photos

DALLAS: Antoine Roussel scored the go-ahead goal 54seconds into the second period, and the Dallas Starsbroke the New York Rangers’ eight-game winning streakwith a 3-2 victory on Monday night.

John Klingberg and Ales Hemsky also scored for theStars, who have won six of seven. The Rangers’ streaktied the NHL’s longest this season but fell two gamesshort of matching the team record set during the 1939-40 season and equaled in 1972-73. .

J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes scored for the Rangers.Kari Lehtonen stopped 28 shots and earned his 15th vic-tory of the season. New York’s Henrik Lundqvist lost forthe first time since Dec. 1.

BLUES 3, AVALANCHE 0Martin Brodeur stopped 16 shots and recorded his

NHL-record 125th shutout and 691st victory as St. Louisbeat the Avalanche. Dmitrij Jaskin, Chris Butler andVladimir Tarasenko scored, and Paul Stastny had twoassists for the Blues (22-11-3), who snapped a four-gamelosing streak (0-3-1) and avenged a 5-0 loss at Coloradoon Dec. 23. The Avalanche (13-14-8) have dropped twostraight after going 4-0-2 in their previous six games.

ISLANDERS 4, CAPITALS 3Johnny Boychuk’s power-play goal 2:53 into in over-

time lifted the Islanders over the Capitals after New Yorkblew another three-goal lead.

For the second straight game, and fourth in recentweeks, the Islanders led a three-goal lead get away. NewYork lost at Buffalo 4-3 on Saturday.

This time, the Capitals stormed back in the third peri-od on goals by Eric Fehr, Nicklas Backstrom and AlexOvechkin. Braden Holtby stopped 35 shots. Boychuk’sthird goal gave the Islanders (24-11-1) their 14th homewin, topping their total from last season.

Anders Lee, Lubomir Visnovsky and Calvin de Haanalso scored for the Islanders. Jaroslav Halak made 23saves in his return from injury.

CANADIENS 3, HURRICANES 1Jiri Sekac and Lars Eller scored second-period

goals, and the Canadiens beat the Hurricanes for theirthird straight win. Eric Staal, playing in his 800th NHLgame, scored a power-play goal for Carolina (10-22-4)off an assist from his brother Jordan, who played in hisfirst game since breaking his right leg during a pre-season contest on Sept. 23. Jiri Tlusty, who returnedafter he missing seven games due to an upper-bodyinjury, also had an assist for Carolina. Cam Wardstopped 16 shots. Max Pacioretty added an empty-netgoal in the final minute, and Carey Price had 28 savesfor Montreal (23-11-2).

SENATORS 5, SABRES 2Bobby Ryan scored three goals to carry the Ottawa

Senators to a victory over the Sabres. Colin Greening wasawarded Ottawa’s final goal with 2 seconds left after hewas hauled down on a breakaway by defenseman NikitaZadorov with the Sabres net empty for an extra attacker.Ottawa snapped a three-game losing skid behind a 19-save effort by Craig Anderson.

Clarke MacArthur also scored. Jhonas Enroth made 31saves for the Sabres, who got goals from Mark Pysyk andZemgus Girgensons.

DEVILS 3, PENGUINS 1Travis Zajac had a goal and an assist, and Cory

Schneider made 26 saves as the struggling Devils beatthe Penguins. Jaromir Jagr and Adam Henrique also

scored for the Devils, who won for only the second timein 10 games (2-5-3).

It was also New Jersey’s first win in two games sincegeneral manager Lou Lamoriello fired coach PeteDeBoer on Friday and joined new coaches Scott Stevensand Adam Oates behind the bench as part of a three-man committee. Sidney Crosby scored for the Penguins,who have lost four straight. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24saves.

WILD 3, JETS 2Marco Scandella scored the tiebreaking goal with 12

seconds left in the second period as the Wild rallied fromtwo down to beat the Jets. Scandella’s ninth of the sea-son was Minnesota’s third goal in the second period andhelped the Wild snap a five-game winless skid. RyanCarter and Justin Fontaine had the other goals forMinnesota (17-13-4). Sutter and Kyle Brodziak each hadassists on the goals. Minnesota goalie Darcy Kuemperreturned after missing one game with food poisoningand made 28 saves. Michael Frolik and Mathieu Perreaultboth scored on the power play for the Jets.

LIGHTNING 3, MAPLE LEAFS 2Steven Stamkos scored his 20th goal to break a third-

period tie, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from anearly two-goal deficit to beat the Maple Leafs. Stamkosgave the Lightning a 3-2 lead with his knee-high deflec-tion of Matt Carle’s shot with 8:55 to play. Tampa Bay alsogot goals from Ryan Callahan and Valtteri Filppula. MikeSantorelli and Joffrey Lupul scored for the Maple Leafs.James Reimer started on consecutive days withJonathan Bernier sidelined by flu-like symptoms andmade 38 saves. Toronto has lost five of six.

BRUINS 5, RED WINGS 2Carl Soderberg had a goal and two assists, and the

Bruins took a season-high 45 shots in a win over the RedWings. Reilly Smith, Gregory Campbell and Seth Griffinalso scored for the Bruins. Chris Kelly added an empty-net goal with 2:26 left in the third period and TuukkaRask made 28 saves for the Bruins.

Jimmy Howard kept the Red Wings in it, finishingwith 40 saves. Justin Abdelkader and Tomas Tatar scoredfor Detroit, which had won two straight.

BLACKHAWKS 5, PREDATORS 4Jonathan Toews scored the only goal in the shootout,

after Chicago’s Bryan Bickell netted the tying goal with1:13 left in regulation, and the Blackhawks topped thePredators. Toews provided the winning margin when hebeat Pekka Rinne on the Blackhawks’ first shootoutattempt. Brad Richards, Andrew Shaw and Marian Hossascored in a 7:10 span late in the second period to tie it.

James Neal’s second goal of the game put Nashvilleahead 4-3. Roman Josi and Craig Smith also scored, andColin Wilson added two assists.Rinne made 38 saves, andCrawford stopped 36 shots before his perfect shootout.

COYOTES 4, FLYERS 2Antoine Vermette scored three goals for his fourth

career hat trick, and the Coyotes held off the Flyers fortheir third straight victory.

Vermette became the first player to reach 11 goals forthe Coyotes, including an empty-netter with 28 secondsleft. Devan Dubnyk stopped 30 shots in his third straightsolid game.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson added a power-play goal as theCoyotes matched their longest winning streak of theseason. RJ Umberger and Sean Couturier scored third-period goals for the Flyers after they fell behind 3-0.Steve Mason made 21 saves in his return after missingfour games with back spasms.

FLAMES 2, KINGS 1Jiri Hudler had a pair of beautiful setups as the Flames

scored twice in the first period and then hung on for avictory over the Kings.

Curtis Glencross and Markus Granlund had the goalsfor Calgary. The Flames have won three in a row since aseven-game losing streak.

Tyler Toffoli scored for Los Angeles, which began athree-game road trip through Western Canada that con-tinues late yesterday in Edmonton. — AP

S P O RT SWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

LONDON: Jacob Murphy, a winger with struggling English Championship(second tier) club Blackpool, has apologised to the club after making a jokeon social media mocking his own team.

Murphy, on loan from Norwich City, posted a picture of himself and teammate Donervon Daniels on the photo messaging site, accompanied by thecaption “We are going to lose...Again.”

With Blackpool adrift at the bottom of the table and the joke postedbefore Murphy played in their 1-0 defeat on Boxing Day at SheffieldWednesday, the quip may not have been appreciated by fans.

Yet it evidently tickled many more people beyond Blackpool as it wentviral on social media. The furore prompted the 19-year-old to release a state-

ment on Blackpool’s website. “I’d like to offer my sincerest apologiesto the manager, my team mates, the fans and everybody at

Blackpool Football Club for the hurt and embarrassment that arecent photo message I sent has caused,” he said.

“It was totally unprofessional of me and a foolish thing to do,”added Murphy, before making it clear that Daniels had no part in

the joke. “I apologise for implicating him.” Blackpool boss LeeClark noted his disappointment and said the club would be inves-

tigating the matter. — Reuters

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa have recalled experienced striker BernardParker for the African Nations Cup as coach Ephraim Mashaba named his 23-man selection yesterday. Parker, who plays for Kaizer Chiefs but previously hadspells with Red Star Belgrade and FC Twente, has not featured for the nationalside since a 5-0 loss to Brazil in March. His 23 goals in 68 internationals put himthird on the countryís all-time scoring list behind Benni McCarthy and ShaunBartlett. Mashaba named five overseas-based players in his squad, includingBournemouth striker Tokelo Rantie and Doncaster Rovers midfielder DeanFurman. South Africa have been drawn in a difficult Group C along withAlgeria, Ghana and Senegal for the Jan. 17-Feb. 8 tournament in EquatorialGuinea.

Squad:Goalkeeper: Darren Keet (KV Kortrijk), Brilliant Khuzwayo (Kaizer Chiefs),

Jackson Mabokgwane (Mpumalanga Black Aces) Defenders: Siyabonga Nhlapo(BidVest Wits), Patrick Phungwayo (Orlando Pirates), Anele Ngcongca (KRCGenk), Thulani Hlatshwayo (BidVest Wits), Erick Mathoho (Kaizer Chiefs),Rivaldo Coetzee (Ajax Cape Town), Thabo Matlaba (Orlando Pirates)Midfielders: Themba Zwane (Mamelodi Sundowns), Andile Jali (KV Oostende),Reneilwe Letsholonyane (Kaizer Chiefs), Bongani Zungu (MamelodiSundowns), Thami Sangweni (Chippa United), Dean Furman (DoncasterRovers), Thuso Phala (SuperSport United), Mandla Masango (Kaizer Chiefs),Oupa Manyisa (Orlando Pirates) Forwards: Bernard Parker (Kaizer Chiefs),Tokelo Rantie (AFC Bournemouth), Bongani Ndulula (AmaZulu), SibusisoVilakazi (BidVest Wits). — Reuters

South Africa recall Parker LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger yesterday described Inter Milan’sreported interest in Lukas Podolski as “a joke” and said he wants the out-of-favourGermany international to stay at the club. Podolski has expressed unhappiness athis lack of playing time this season and Inter coach Roberto Mancini recently toldthe Italian media that he is monitoring the 29-year-old’s situation. But Wenger dis-missed the reports and said he had no intention of allowing his squad to be weak-ened during the January transfer window.

“That is a joke. Inter Milan is not serious,” the Frenchman told his weekly pressconference. “It is nothing serious. They talk, there is only talk.”

With Olivier Giroud serving a three-game ban and Danny Welbeck havinginjured his thigh during Sunday’s 2-1 win at West Ham United, Podolskicould have more opportunities to play in the weeks ahead.

“Podolski is a player of Arsenal Football Club and I want him tostay,” added Wenger, whose side visit Southampton in the PremierLeague on Thursday.

“Apart from that, what it is to be professional is that as long asyou are somewhere, you give your best to justify your wages andyour love for the club.”

Asked if Podolski, who won the World Cup with Germany earli-er this year, would still be at the club at the end of January,Wenger replied: “I hope so, yes.” —AFP

Murphy quip backfires Inter’s interest ‘a joke’

Western ConferencePacific Division

W L OTL GF GA PTS Anaheim 24 8 6 107 101 54 Vancouver 20 11 3 100 93 43 San Jose 19 12 5 100 93 43 Los Angeles 18 12 7 101 91 43 Calgary 20 15 3 110 100 43 Arizona 14 18 4 86 115 32 Edmonton 7 22 7 76 125 21

Central DivisionChicago 25 10 2 117 78 52 Nashville 23 9 3 103 76 49 St. Louis 22 11 3 106 90 47 Winnipeg 19 11 7 94 87 45 Minnesota 17 13 4 99 95 38 Dallas 16 14 5 102 118 37 Colorado 13 15 8 92 109 34

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

Tampa Bay 23 11 4 122 99 50

Montreal 23 11 2 98 85 48 Detroit 19 9 9 105 94 47 Toronto 20 14 3 124 111 43 Boston 19 15 3 98 99 41 Florida 16 9 8 79 86 40 Ottawa 15 14 7 97 99 37 Buffalo 14 20 3 75 123 31

Metropolitan Division

Pittsburgh 22 9 5 109 86 49 NY Islanders 24 11 1 112 101 49 Washington 18 11 7 105 94 43 NY Rangers 19 11 4 102 87 42 Philadelphia 14 16 6 100 109 34 Columbus 15 16 3 86 109 33 New Jersey 13 18 7 82 108 33 Carolina 10 22 4 72 98 24 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in thestandings and are not included in the loss column (L).

NHL results/standings

Boston 5, Detroit 2; New Jersey 3, Pittsburgh 1; NY Islanders 4, Washington 3 (OT); Montreal 3, Carolina 1; Ottawa5, Buffalo 2; Tampa Bay 3, Toronto 2; St. Louis 3, Colorado 0; Minnesota 3, Winnipeg 2; Chicago 5, Nashville 4 (SO);Dallas 3, NY Rangers 2; Calgary 2, Los Angeles 1; Arizona 4, Philadelphia 2.

PHILADELPHIA: No one in the sports world had heard of the2014 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year until August.That’s when 13-year-old Mo’ne Davis became an instant celebrityas she took the pitching mound in baseball’s Little League WorldSeries and mowed down batter after batter, giving “throw like agirl” a whole new meaning.

She was the first girl to win a Little League World Series game,and her performance dazzled fans young and old. Her steelygaze and demeanor on the mound were intimidating, while off-the-field, she shined in interviews. She told admirers that if theythought she was good at baseball, they should see her play bas-ketball. Only in eighth grade, Davis already plays for her school’shigh school varsity basketball team.

Davis appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, has her jer-sey displayed in baseball’s Hall of Fame and was named SportsKid of the Year by Sports Illustrated Kids.

She met the Obamas at the White House, starred in a SpikeLee-directed car commercial (the NCAA said it wouldn’t hurt hereligibility), marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade alongwith her Taney Dragons teammates and presented PharrellWilliams with Soul Train’s “Song of the Year” award.

The talented three-sport star - she also plays soccer - and hon-or student from South Philadelphia handled all the attentionwith poise, modesty and maturity.

“A lot of adults around me help out, taught me to be respect-ful, to be calm during everything and not let anything get to you,”Davis said after learning of her latest honor.

A vote by US editors and news directors selected Davis as TheAssociated Press 2014 Female Athlete of the Year. The youngestwinner in history, Davis beat out Mt. St. Joseph freshman LaurenHill - who played her first college basketball game while battlingterminal brain cancer - and three-time winner Serena Williams.The selection was announced Monday.

Davis tossed a two-hitter to help Philadelphia beat Nashville4-0 in the Little League World Series opener for both teams.Davis, the first girl to appear for a U.S. team in South Williamsportsince 2004, had eight strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter. Herteam was eventually eliminated after losing to teams from LasVegas and Chicago. Davis gave up three runs in the Las Vegasgame, and could not take the mound against Chicago because ofpitch limits.

After the tournament, Davis was everywhere. She threw whif-fle balls to Jimmy Fallon on NBC’s Tonight Show, threw out thefirst pitch at Game 4 of the World Series and signed a book deal.

“It’s been really fun, got to do a lot of things, meet a lot of coolpeople,” Davis said. “My favorite thing to do was playing inWilliamsport or going to the White House. (The Obamas) justseemed like a regular couple, no different from anyone else.”

While others are still talking about her Little League perform-ance, Davis, a point guard, is concentrating on basketball. “It’smaking me a lot better, helping me make decisions,” Davis said ofplaying varsity. “In middle school, I can get away with smallthings. The girls now are a lot taller so I’m working on my jumpshot and ball handling a lot.”

Davis aspires to play for the University of Connecticut andreach the WNBA. She plays midfielder on her soccer team andhopes to play three sports in high school, though she’s not sureabout baseball.

“I know the boys will be much stronger so that depends,” shesaid. “Hopefully, I can continue playing as long as I can.” Davis isn’tjust a jock. She excels academically despite such a great demandfor her time. “It’s all about time management, how you plan yourprojects and not waiting until the last minute,” she said.

Steve Bandura, a recreation leader for the Philadelphia Parksand Recreation Department and director of the AndersonMonarchs sports programs, has helped coach Davis since shestarted playing sports. His son, Scott, was the catcher for Taney.Bandura said Davis has maintained her “natural personality” nomatter how many cameras or microphones are in her face.

“She’s still the same person, still a kid who wants to do kidthings,” Bandura said. “She has fun meeting celebrities and allthat but the bottom line is she loves to play sports, go to schooland have fun. The adults make a bigger deal out of it. Her team-mates understand she’s breaking down barriers and they’reproud of her. They’ve been together so long, it’s like she’s theirsister.” Davis knows she has become a role model. Her message toeveryone, especially girls: “Always follow your dreams. If there’ssomething people tell you that you can’t do it, go for it.” — AP

Davis wins AP Female Athlete of the Year

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT: In this Aug. 15, 2014, file photo,Pennsylvania’s Mo’ne Davis delivers in the first inning againstTennessee during a baseball game in United States pool playat the Little League World Series tournament. — AP

Stars shine as Blues advanceDALLAS: Kari Lehtonen No. 32 of the Dallas Stars covers the puck against Martin St. Louis No. 26 of the New York Rangers in the second period at American AirlinesCenter. — AFP

EVANSTON: Eight years ago, Grand Viewwasn’t even taking the mat neverthelessstepping on the mat with some of the bestin college wrestling.

The emergence of the NAIA program inits seventh season has been impressive,including three straight NAIA nationalteam titles.

Four Vikings are testing their abilityagainst NCAA opponents and showed theydeserved to be included in the field for the52nd Ken Kraft Midlands Championship onMonday at Northwestern’s Welsh-RyanArena. Grand View went 7-3 during the firstsession of the tournament with seniorJimmie Schuessler winning his first threebouts and reaching the 165-pound semifi-nals.

“Our guys wrestle tough and that iswhy we come here,” Grand View CoachNick Mitchell said. “We know that theseguys can compete with anybody.”

Mitchell was a three-time All-Americanand NCAA Division III national finalist forWartburg, where he started his coachingcareer under Hall of Fame coach Jim Miller.Mitchell has been the Vikings only leader.His goal was to erect a champion when hetook the position.

“It was the vision,” Mitchell said. “Wewanted to put ourselves in a position tocompete for a national title every year.Regardless of division, build the best teamthat we can.”

All four wrestlers notched wins overDivision I competitors. Schuessler toppedMissouri’s Matt Lemanowicz, 3-2. He beatformer Waverly-Shell Rock prep and SouthDakota State’s Spencer Derifield, 10-2,before a 6-4 overtime win over Franklinand Marshall’s Nestor Taffur, who was anNCAA qualifier last year for BostonUniversity.

Grand View’s Gustavo Martinez had two

wins, including a 5-3 victory overWisconsin’s No. 11-seed Ryan Lubeck at149. He fell to University of Iowa’s BrandonSorensen, 5-1.

Teammates Brandon Wright (141) andNate Stadeker (165) went 1-1 with theirlosses coming to Hawkeyes. “We’re startingto make our schedule tougher andtougher,” Martinez said. “When they startedthe program, I think they were morefocused on winning an NAIA national title.Now that we’ve done that the last threeyears, we’re working hard toward biggergoals and raising the bar.”

Morale victories weren’t sufficient. Theydid not enter the tournament for participa-tion prizes. They want more wrestlers tomake the podium like Chad Lowman didlast year for the Vikings.

“We didn’t come here to just get experi-ence,” Mitchell said. “We came to win thetournament.” The roster has grown to

almost 60 wrestlers that train in renovatedfacilities. They have groomed wrestlers ofall backgrounds. Some are Division-I trans-fers, some are elite wrestlers with juniornational titles on their resume and someare hard-workers like Schuessler andMartinez, who never won state prep titles.Mitchell said they have been vital to build-ing the current culture. The future looksjust as bright with competition in the roomfueling the fire. “The younger guys are a lottougher than us when we were freshmen,”Martinez said. “It’s rubbing off on them.”

IOWANS IN THE FIELDThe Midlands Championships field

included a few former Iowa preps and oth-er small Iowa college wrestlers. FormerWest Liberty state medalist ElliotHenderson dropped a pair of matches at133 pounds. Former Waverly-Shell Rockprep Spencer Derifield, wrestling unat-

tached for South Dakota State, went 0-2 at165. Former Davenport Assumption prepKyle Springer lost two close matches by acombined three points, including one inovertime.

Iowa Central 197-pounder Pat Downeywon two straight consolation matchesafter injury defaulting in his opener.Luther’s Jayden DeVilbiss lost by fall toIowa’s Sammy Brooks.

BURAK’S BACKIowa’s Nathan Burak wrestled his first

matches since opening the season with aLuther Open title. He has been limited byan unspecified injury.

Burak earned the top seed, wrestlingunattached, which means he is not official-ly competing with the Hawkeyes. Hereached the quarterfinals, posting a pin inhis first match and a 6-4 win over EasternMichigan’s Anthony Abro. — AP

Grand View welcomes competitive challenges

ORLANDO: Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudtthrew for three touchdowns and ran foranother to lead the Tigers to a 40-6 rout ofOklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl onMonday.

In the day’s other bowl games, Arkansasalso had a comfortable victory, defeatingTexas in the Texas Bowl, while Texas A&Mcame back from an early deficit to narrowlywin the Liberty Bowl against West Virginia.Clemson’s win was its 10th of the season,reaching double-digit victories for the fourthconsecutive season.

Stoudt was 26 for 36 for a season-high 319yards. He was sacked four times, but theTigers never turned the ball over. The defensealso did its job, holding Oklahoma to just 275

yards for the game. The Sooners had fiveturnovers, including three interceptions byTrevor Knight. They entered the game averag-ing nearly 40 points but didn’t score until latein the fourth quarter. Arkansas won in its firstbowl appearance for three years, beatingTexas 31-7 in the Texas Bowl, with BrandonAllen throwing for 160 yards and two scores.

In the first game between these formerSouthwest Conference rivals for six years,Arkansas built a 24-7 lead by halftime andJonathan Williams, who finished with 105yards rushing, added a 1-yard touchdown runearly in the fourth quarter.

Texas was smothered by Arkansas’ defensealmost all night and finished with a season-low 59 total yards. It is the second straight

lopsided bowl loss for the Longhorns after a30-7 defeat by Oregon last season. Texas A&Mrecovered from an early 10-point deficit tobeat West Virginia 45-37 in the Liberty Bowl,with Kyle Allen throwing four touchdownpasses and running for a fifth.

Allen went 22 of 35 for 294 yards, andMalcome Kennedy caught two of the scores.Allen’s 14-yard rushing TD in the final minuteof the first half put the Aggies ahead for good.Tra Carson rushed for a career-high 133 yardson 25 carries, and Trey Williams scored twotouchdowns. West Virginia quarterbacksSkyler Howard went 20 of 45 for 346 yardsand three touchdowns in only his secondcareer start, replacing Clint Trickett, who quitthe sport due to multiple concussions. — AP

LOS ANGELES: When offensive linemen aregetting a lot of attention, it is usually badnews. That was the case at points this seasonfor both Oregon and Florida State. The RoseBowl participants each had to deal with issuesup front that made them look vulnerable -and each had a lineman step up to save theday. For Oregon it was Jake Fisher, whoreturned from an early season injury to pro-vide stability at left tackle. For Florida State, Cameron Erving made alate-season move from tackle to center thatsolidified the heart of the Seminoles’ offense.Behind those reworked offensive lines,Marcus Mariota and the second-seeded Duckswill face Jameis Winston and the third-seededSeminoles tomorrow in Pasadena in what isexpected to be a high-scoring CollegeFootball Playoff semifinal. Fisher missed boththe Washington State and Arizona games witha leg injury and without him Mariota took abeating. The Ducks barely escaped Pullman,Washington, with a victory before gettingbeat at home by the Wildcats. Oregon allowed12 sacks in those two games. In the eightgames since - all double-digit victories for theDucks - Oregon has allowed 14 sacks. Fishersaid Monday during Rose Bowl media daythat the loss brought out the best in theDucks. “There was a lot of emotions after thatloss. A lot of people realized things can gosouth really quickly if we didn’t put it backtogether,” the senior third-team All-Americansaid. “Everyone got more prepared mentallyand physically.”

Fisher’s return fortified Mariota’s blindsideprotection and allowed freshman TyrellCrosby a chance to get comfortable in a lesserrole. “Just having Jake back, the leader that heis, the work ethic that he possesses, I think hasbeen huge,” offensive line coach SteveGreatwood said. “It’s just been kind of a calm-ing influence for us. Now we’ve been able tosomewhat settle guys into some positionsthat they can get comfortable with.”Greatwood wasn’t done juggling. AgainstUtah, second-team All-America center HronissGrasu was injured and the Ducks played thefinal two regular-season games and the Pac-12 title rematch against Arizona without him.

He is expected to be good to go for tomor-row. “We’ve had some trials and tribulations,”Greatwood said. Without Grasu, who Fishercalls the “brains of our operation,” HamaniStevens moved over from guard to center.Former walk-on Matt Pierson slid inside fromtackle. Crosby, who struggled early in the sea-son at left tackle, was much better preparedto handle right tackle.

“I can’t say enough about the way he’shandled himself as a true freshman,”Greatwood said. “I really think he’s going to beone of the dominant tackles in the conferenceif not in the country.” Greatwood said hecross-trains all his linemen at center whenthey come into the program, just in case.Florida State offensive line coach Rick Trickettdoes the same and had been working Ervingat center since last fall. “All my years of coach-ing I’ve never had a guy bend over the foot-ball and be more natural than he is,” Trickettsaid. The coach almost moved Erving to cen-ter in September, but wasn’t sure the seniorwas ready. As the season progressed FloridaState’s veteran offensive line was underper-forming. Heading into the Miami game,Trickett made the move with Erving andinserted freshman Roderick Johnson at lefttackle. “I was more concerned in the Miamigame about Cam than I was with Rod,” Trickettsaid. “Rod’s pretty mature for his age.” Ervingwas happy to do anything necessary to helpthe team. “Center is definitely differentbecause you have a little help on every play,”he said. “Sometimes you don’t even have aman, specifically. You’re helping other people.With tackle you either have this guy or thisguy. There’s always somebody out there.” Andat tackle you never need to glance backbefore the play. “You look down once and youcome back up and see something totally dif-ferent (from the defense),” he said.

In the four games since Erving switched,Florida State has allowed two sacks as com-pared to 19 in the nine previous games. TheSeminoles ran for 181 yards in the seasonfinale against Florida and 179 yards againstGeorgia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conferencetitle game, their best totals this season againstFBS competition. —AP

Star linemen leadDucks, FSU to playoff

LONDON: Peter Wright celebrates defeating Andy Hamilton during the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace. — AP

Clemson rout OklahomaHOUSTON: Arkansas’s Demetrius Wilson catches a touchdown pass in front of Texas’s Duke Thomas (21) during the first half of the Texas Bowl NCAA college football game. — AP

PORT ELIZABETH: West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul at the wicket during the fourth day of the second Test against South Africa on Monday. — AP

PORT ELIZABETH: South Africa’s hopes of victo-ry on day five of the second test against WestIndies were thwarted yesterday by heavyovernight rain and a wet outfield which prevent-ed any play.

The top-ranked Proteas had hoped to wrapup the West Indian first innings with the touristson 275 for nine before scoring quickly to set upa testing afternoon for the visitors to survive.

But the weather, which allowed for just 201overs out of a scheduled 450 in the test, causeda disappointing end with West Indies still 142runs behind the hosts’ first-innings score of 417for eight declared. “To get 400 on the board wasa good effort. Losing as much time in the gameis disappointing, but that’s the way it goes,”South Africa captain Hashim Amla said at the

post-match presentation. “The wicket was betterto bat on and with the time we lost in the match,when we were batting we tried to make a gameof it.”

Both sides will take positives into Friday’sfinal test in Cape Town. There were welcomecenturies for struggling Proteas opener DeanElgar and Faf du Plessis, and the manner inwhich their bowling attack ran through the WestIndies middle and lower order to take sevenwickets for 44 runs was also a plus point. MorneMorkel was especially threatening and took fourfor 69 to earn special praise from his captain.“Morne has been doing exceptionally well for usfor quite a while,” Amla said.

“He doesn’t always get the accolades hedeserves, but he is the guy that puts in the hard

yards. In this game he bowled exceptionally wellagain.” The touring side also have reasons tosmile after gutsy, battling centuries from man ofthe match Kraigg Brathwaite and MarlonSamuels, who were superb against a barrage ofhostile fast bowling. “Marlon got a brilliant hun-dred and young Kraigg as well, but we weren’table to carry on from that start and our battingfaltered,” captain Denesh Ramdin said, beforeadding that the dropped catches and missedstumping on day one were also a worry.

“We bowled in the right areas and createdsome chances, but in the fielding departmentwe need to do some work, we didn’t executewell enough there.” South Africa lead the three-match series after victory by an innings and 220runs in the first test in Pretoria. — Reuters

Second Test drawn as wet outfield wins final day

South Africa 1st innings 417 for 8 decl (D.Elgar 121, F. du Plessis 103, D. Steyn 58).West Indies 1st innings (Overnight: 275-9)K. Brathwaite c Petersen b M. Morkel 106 De. Smith c Amla b M. Morkel 22 L. Johnson c du Plessis b M. Morkel 0 M. Samuels lbw b Philander 101 S. Chanderpaul b Tahir 7 D. Ramdin lbw b Tahir 20 J. Holder c de Villiers b M. Morkel 1 J. Taylor not out 10 S. Benn c Petersen b Tahir 4

K. Peters run out (Steyn, de Villiers) 0 Extras (lb-4) 4 Total (for 9 wickets, 79 overs) 275 Fall of wickets: 1-55 De. Smith, 2-55 L.Johnson, 3-231 M. Samuels, 4-233 K. Brathwaite, 5-260 D. Ramdin, 6-261 S.Chanderpaul, 7-265 J. Holder, 8-270 S.Benn, 9-275 K. Peters.Did not bat: S. GabrielBowling: D. Steyn 14-3-48-0, V. Philander18-4-41-1, M. Morkel 20-2-69-4, I. Tahir26-2-108-3, D. Elgar 1-0-5-0. Result: Draw

SCOREBOARDScoreboard at close of play on the fifth day in the second Test between South Africaand West Indies yesterday in Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Inouegrabs

WBO beltTOKYO: Japanese boxing wonder-boy Naoya Inoue dethroned OmarNarvaez of Argentina with a sec-ond-round knockout and grabbedthe World Boxing Organization jun-ior bantamweight title.

The unbeaten 21-year-old previ-ously captured the World BoxingCouncil light flyweight title in Apriland defended it in September.

For this match, Inoue jumped uptwo categories in what was toutedas an ambitious shot to f ightNarvaez, 39, who had defended theWBO belt for 12 years.

But the Japanese fighter, nick-named “Monster”, was in controlfrom the start of the bout, puttinghis experienced opponent to thefloor three times, before finishingwith a killer left body punch thatkept Narvaez on his knees.

“ I have practiced the bodypunch, and I thought I can bringhim down if I could find opportuni-ties to use it,” Inoue said after thematch.

“I appreciate this opportunity tofight the super champion (Narvaez)in Japan,” he added. Inoue is unde-feated-his professional record nowstands at eight wins, seven byknockout.

The bout was part of a tripleheader that also featured MexicanPedro Guevara lifting the WBC lightflyweight title by flooring Japanesefighter Akira Yaegashi.

Guevara’s seventh-round knock-down with a stunning body punchdenied Yaegashi’s attempt to winhis third world title. Meanwhile,Jorge Linares of Venezuela won aWBC lightweight title by beatingMexico’s Javier Prieto.

Linares collected his third worldtitle with his fourth-round knock-out, after winning the WBC feather-weight and the WBA super feather-weight titles. — AFP

KUWAIT: The 17th Prof. Ramachandran memo-rial cricket tournament (sponsored by GTEOlayan Co and organized by College ofEngineering Trivandrum Alumini Association)came to a close on 26th Dec 2014 with the finalbetween KEA and TEC, two of the best andevenly matched teams in the competition.

The weather was cold but perfect for a hardfought game of cricket. KEA got the initialadvantage by winning the toss and choosing tobat first. But they were in for a rude shock astheir skipper Tibish was LBW to the first ball ofthe match from Sreekumar. This brought inKEA’s new star and main hope Ajin Skaria to jointhe dependable Govind. Sreekumar againraised the hopes of TEC getting rid of Govindcheaply in the 3rd over.

And when Ramesh got Binu caught at pointoff a full toss, the score was only 23 (for 3) in the5th over and TEC was firmly in control. However,Ajin found an able partner in Nithin Varugheseand mixing caution with aggression both ofthem took the attack to the opposition taking

charge of the middle overs. Ajin (44) was partic-ularly impressive making room and dispatchingthe short balls in the arc between cover andthird man while Nithin (16) never missed anopportunity to give the strike back to Ajin.When the 5th wicket pair added 57 runs in 7overs, the tide turned firmly in KEA’s favor.

With the help of the lower order KEA finishedon an imposing 99 for the loss of 7 wickets offtheir 15 overs. Shajeer was the most economicalof the TEC bowlers giving away only 11 runs offhis 3 overs. Sreekumar (2 for 15), Ramesh (2 for17) and Sunil (2 for 22) tried to contain KEA butSuresh (1 for 31) was expensive.

With the wicket favouring the bowlers, TECfaced an uphill task chasing the target of 100runs. Ajin again proved his worth removing thedangerous Suresh for 7 with a smart returncatch in the 3rd over. Sunil and Ramesh tried torepair the damage, using their experience inthe face of adversity, but the quality of theattack tied them down. Boundaries were hardto come by. The introduction of spinner Nithin

provided KEA the breakthrough getting Sunil(20) smartly stumped by Tibish in the 10th overwith the score reading 48. Next man Shajeertried to increase the run rate with bold hits butwhen he and Ramesh (18) were out at the samescore of 59 in the 12th over, the match took adefinite turn. The remaining batsmen could notcope up with the increasing run rate and suc-cumbed to catches in the deep. In the end TECcould reach only 75 for 7 wickets off their 15overs leaving KEA convincing winners by 24runs.

TEC badly missed the services of Dinto andSandeep which depleted their normally incisivebowling attack. For KEA Nithin (3 for 20) andAjin (2 for 7) were again the stars showing theirall round capabilities in full measure well sup-ported by Sreejith (1 for 10), Presoon andNaseef.

In summary, this year’s tournament wasdominated by the bowlers in bowler friendlyconditions with the teams having better bowl-ing strength reaching the later stages. KEA’s vic-

tory after a gap of 7 years was an indication ofthe changing equations in the KEF cricketingcircles. While KEA, TEC and AECK proved thatthey are the leading sides, TKM and NSSshowed they are not far behind. It was evidentthat CET and NIT has a long way to go beforethey could be rated as serious challengers. All inall, with the improving standards and cama-radarie, this was a tournament that all cricketlovers enjoyed as seen by their increasing pres-ence at the ground.

The winner’s trophy and medals were givenaway by Tapan Ramesh, Regional Manager, GTEOlayan (main sponsor) and the runners trophyand medals by Cetaa President Sunil Kumar.

Individual prizes were awarded to Ajin Skaria(KEA - Man of the Match and Player of theTournament), Nithin Varughese (KEA - bestbowler) and Mahesh (AECK - best batsmen) byMessrs Shyam Mohan (Co Sponsor - Nouri Est),Suresh Krishnan (GC ex officio), Anilkumar (GCdesignate), Varkey Monsey (ex GC) and JoseKurishinkal (Cetaa).

KEA back to winning ways

MELBOURNE: India’s Ajinkya Rahane bends back to avoid a bouncer from Australia’s Mitchell Johnson on the final day of their cricket Testmatch. — AP

MELBOURNE: The third Test between Australia andIndia in Melbourne failed to deliver a nail-bitingfinish yesterday but ended with a draw tinged withcontroversy and the shock retirement of long-serv-ing India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni from testcricket. The result secured Australia a 2-0 series vic-tory with a match in reserve, but their triumph wasquickly overtaken by the bombshell that Dhonihad pulled the pin on his 90-test career to concen-trate on the shorter formats of the game.

Displaying his usual serenity, the 33-year-oldDhoni said nothing of his retirement plans and thenews was broken on the Board of Control forCricket in India’s Twitter feed only minutes after thefinal question was asked at the post-match mediaconference. Batsman Virat Kohli, long Dhoni’s heirapparent and stand-in skipper during the first testloss in Adelaide, will lead the team for the fourthand final match in Sydney, the BCCI added, cappinga surreal day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Dhoni, fittingly, played an important part in histeam’s gritty effort to stave off a third straight testdefeat on the fifth and final day.

He came in to bat with the team in trouble at141-5 and grafted an unbeaten 24 after tea. Alongwith number seven batsman Ravichandran Ashwin,who scored eight, he helped guide the tourists tosafety. Though Dhoni’s effort was praiseworthy, hiscounterpart Steven Smith’s decision to concedethe draw four overs early, rather than push to theend to get the final four wickets for victory, drewjeers from spectators at the ground.

Smith justified the decision, saying his bowlerswere “cooked” and his team mates happy enoughwith the series win.

That came after a late declaration at lunch thatalso raised eyebrows, with Australia’s bowlers givenonly 70 overs to find a way to bowl India out on aflat wicket offering little help. “I don’t think therewas still a win there,” Smith told reporters. “I don’tthink we had four wickets in us at the end-therewasn’t much breaking up in the wicket, therewasn’t much going on, so I think that was it.”

PRESSURE ONAustralia declared on 318-9, setting India a

mammoth 384 to win on a ground where the high-est successful run-chase was 332 by England backin 1928/29. For a time, that appeared more thanadequate for the hosts, whose pacemen scythedthrough India’s top order with three wickets in thefirst nine overs. Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawanwas out lbw for a duck and Lokesh Rahul, surpris-ingly sent in at number three, was caught the nextover for one after a miscued pull shot. OpenerMurali Vijay was dismissed lbw for 11. Kohli (54)

and Ajinkya Rahane (48) dug in to tea, before Harrishad Kohli out with the first ball after the break andMitchell Johnson struck to bowl Cheteshwar Pujarafor 21. A jumpy Rahane was out a few overs later,throwing away his wicket for 48 with a horrible pullshot, but Dhoni and Ashwin would survive, thoughriding their luck at times.

Dhoni never gave a hint of his plans post-matchbut praised his players for fighting it out. “We lostearly wickets, we put pressure on ourselves and wehad to fight it out and overall it’s a good perform-ance by the team.” —Reuters

NEW DELHI: The words “honor” and“virtue” are written across MahendraSingh Dhoni’s chest in his Twitter pro-file picture, fitting words for theIndian who displayed both qualitiesin abundance during his 90-testcareer.

The honorary Indian Army lieu-tenant colonel dropped a bombshellby announcing his retirement fromtests at the age of 33 moments afterhelping India secure a draw in thethird match against Australia. Theseries was lost but it was an abruptend to a career in which Dhoniemerged from the cricketing backwa-ters of Jharkhand to take arguablythe most difficult job in the sport-leading the national team of 1.2 bil-lion cricket-crazy Indians.

He rose from being a ticket inspec-tor with Indian Railways to a charis-matic bike-loving cricketer with flow-ing locks who often changed hair-styles and befriended Bollywoodactors.

Dhoni developed his own battingand keeping techniques, tinkeredwith conventional field settings anddisplayed a natural tendency to takecalculated risks while maintaining aZen-like calm.

Under his leadership, India wonthe Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 andthe 50-over World Cup four years lat-er and were the top-ranked test teamfor a year and half in between.

But India’s most successful testcaptain also presided over a dismalaway record with the team winningonly two of 22 tests on foreign soil

since 2011. The burden of captainingand keeping wicket in all three for-mats of the game also took its toll onDhoni’s body. Runs began to dry upin tests and his movement behindthe stumps slowed down, resulting inspilt catches and fluffed stumpings.

Dhoni’s usual limited-over pro-activeness often deserted him in thetest arena and the clamour was grow-ing to hand the job over to ViratKohli , an animated antithesis toDhoni’s phlegmatic brand of captain-cy. “He must have been veryimpressed with how Virat captainedand handled the pressure in the firsttest,” former India captain SunilGavaskar told Star Sports, referring tothe Adelaide test which Dhonimissed due to injury.

“He would have thought ‘Virat isready, so it’s better to make way now’and that ’s what he has done,”Gavaskar added. While Kohli’s superi-ority as a test batsman is beyonddoubt, the 26-year-old’s ability tocontrol his emotions, which oftenthreaten to get the better of him, willbe tested.

Dhoni leaves test cricket with a45 percent winning record as cap-tain to focus on his favoured limited-overs game, starting with leadingIndia’s title defence in the 50-overWorld Cup. Dhoni will once againmarshal his team mates in the tour-nament in Austral ia and NewZealand starting in February, and hisfans will go into raptures every timehe unfurls his trademark “helicoptershot”. — Reuters

MELBOURNE: India captain MahendraSingh Dhoni announced his test retire-ment with immediate effect yesterday.Following is reaction to the news.

Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkaron Twitter: “well done on a wonderfulcareer in test cricket @msdhoni. Alwaysenjoyed playing together. Next target2015 WC my friend!!”

Former England captain MichaelVaughan on Twitter: “Love the way@msdhoni plays the game ... But it’s nowthe right time for @imVkohli to take theIndian Test team in a new direction.”

Former India captain Anil Kumble onTwitter: “Chennai 2 G, Great career MSD@msdhoni retired as captain. Way 2 go!Well done buddy on a fantastic test

inning! Good luck!”Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar

to Star Sports: “He was a top classleader.. .the biggest thing aboutMahendra Singh Dhoni is he’s been asupremely content person with whateverhas come his way in life. No better stateto be in than being supremely content.”

Former England captain NasserHussain on Sky Sports: “His 45 per centwin-rate, the highest of any Indian cap-tain to skipper the side at least five times,is phenomenal but just as impressive isthe way he has led the side with suchdignity and calmness during his 60 Testsin charge.” India cricketer Suresh Raina onTwitter: “Valiant while you led. Valiant inyour departure. #respect”

NEW DELHI: Firebrand batsman ViratKohli is likely to instill a new aggressionin the Indian team as he assumes thecaptaincy of a Test side which badlyneeds to start packing a punch on itstravels.

Dubbed by some opponents as a‘spoilt brat’, the 26-year-old has beentasked with leading a team that last wona Test series away from home back in2011 against the West Indies.

Kohli, who is taking over fromMahendra Singh Dhoni for the fourthand final Test in Sydney, has been one ofthe few batsman to emerge with creditfrom the tour in Australia which againsaw India suffer a resounding seriesdefeat.

The loss of the Border-Gavaskar tro-phy follows series defeats in England andNew Zealand earlier this year for a teamthat was ranked the best in the world lit-tle more than three years ago.

The team’s shortcomings were firstexposed in England in the summer of2011 when they suffered the first of twoback-to-back whitewashes. Australiadished out the second hiding.

But while other batsman such asswashbuckling opener Shikhar Dhawanand the usually solid Cheteshwar Pujarahave struggled Down Under in recentweeks, Kohli has scored three centuries-and got under the Australians’ skin in theprocess.

“They were calling me a spoilt brat,and I said maybe that’s the way I am,”Kohli told reporters in Melbourne onSunday after a spat with express bowlerMitchell Johnson. “You guys hate me andI like that. I don’t mind having a chat onthe field.”

SAGGING MORALEKohli’s immediate task will be to lift the

sagging morale of the team who have justone more game to salvage a modicum ofpride before starting their defence of theODI World Cup under Dhoni’s steward-ship. For the moment his appointment isas interim skipper but he has long beenwidely seen as the natural successor ofDhoni who was the most successful Testmatch skipper in India’s history. The tim-ing of Dhoni’s announcement took manyby surprise although the 33-year-old hadbeen tipped by many to stand down oncethe series was over. The right-hander Kohlihas emerged as India’s leading batsmanfollowing the recent retirements of astring of greats including SachinTendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.

From 32 Tests so far, Kohli has aggre-gated 2,354 runs at an average of 44.41with nine hundreds and 10 half-centuries.He has been the vice-captain and ledIndia in the first Test against Australia withDhoni nursing an injury. Kohli, who hasbeen romantically linked with raven-haired Bollywood actress AnushkaSharma, is popular with many fansdespite his somewhat brash reputation.

Even Indian batting great SunilGavaskar has been moved to voice his dis-approval of Kohli’s aggressive approach inAustralia, saying he was “not sure it wasthe wisest thing to do”.

But Sourav Ganguly, another formerskipper who managed to famously rile theAussies, is a fan of Kohli’s no-holds barredapproach.

“I like his (Kohli’s) passion. You’ve got tohave passion,” said Ganguly. “It shouldmean something to you, any job you do. Ilike him, I like what I see.” — AFP

Dhoni quits tests after India

lose series 2-0 to Australia

Australia 1st innings 530 (S. Smith 192, R.Harris 74, C. Rogers 57, B. Haddin 55, S. Watson52; M. Shami 4-138).India 1st innings 465 (V. Kohli 169, A. Rahane147, M. Vijay 68; R. Harris 4-70)

Australia 2nd innings (Overnight: 261-7)D. Warner lbw b Ashwin 40 C. Rogers b Ashwin 69 S. Watson c Dhoni b I. Sharma 17 S. Smith c Rahane b U. Yadav 14 S. Marsh run out (Kohli) 99 J. Burns c Dhoni b I. Sharma 9 B. Haddin c Dhoni b U. Yadav 13 M. Johnson c Rahane b Shami 15 R. Harris c Dhoni b Shami 21 N. Lyon not out 1 J. Hazlewood not out 0 Extras (lb-13 nb-5 w-2) 20 Total (for 9 wickets declared, 98 overs) 318 Fall of wickets: 1-57 D. Warner, 2-98 S. Watson,3-131 S. Smith, 4-164 C. Rogers, 5-176 J. Burns,6-202 B. Haddin, 7-234 M. Johnson, 8-303 R.

Harris, 9-317 S. Marsh.Bowling: U. Yadav 22-3-89-2(w-1), M. Shami28-4-92-2(w-1), I. Sharma 20-5-49-2(nb-5), R.Ashwin 28-4-75-2. India 2nd innings (Target: 384 runs)M. Vijay lbw b Hazlewood 11 S. Dhawan lbw b Harris 0 L. Rahul c Watson b Johnson 1 V. Kohli c Burns b Harris 54 A. Rahane c S. Marsh b Hazlewood 48 C. Pujara b Johnson 21 M. Dhoni not out 24 R. Ashwin not out 8 Extras (lb-6 nb-1) 7 Total (for 6 wickets, 66 overs) 174 Fall of wickets: 1-2 S. Dhawan, 2-5 L. Rahul, 3-19 M. Vijay, 4-104 V. Kohli, 5-141 C. Pujara, 6-142 A. Rahane.Did not bat: M. Shami, I. Sharma, U. YadavBowling: M. Johnson 15-3-38-2, R. Harris 16-8-30-2, J. Hazlewood 15-3-40-2, N. Lyon 12-0-36-0, S. Watson 6-1-14-0 (nb-1), S. Smith 2-0-10-0.Result: Draw

SCOREBOARD

Scoreboard at close of play on the fifth day in the third Test between Australia and India yester-day in Melbourne, Australia.

Bike-loving Dhoni

ends long test ride

AUSTRALIA: Indian batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni plays a shotduring the final day of the third cricket Test match againstAustralia. — AFP

Reaction

‘Spoilt brat’ Kohli

assumes Test helm

BANGALORE: In this photograph taken on September 2, 2012, Indian batsman ViratKohli raises his bat after scoring a century. — AFP

LONDON: Before the scramble to sign players in theJanuary transfer window, there’s a rush to fill manage-rial vacancies. Three clubs are making changes in themidst of the Premier League season’s busiest period,with all 20 teams in action on Thursday for the thirdtime in a week. It had been a rare period of stability -the Premier League reached Christmas without amanagerial casualty for the first time since 1995 - untilNeil Warnock was fired by Crystal Palace on Saturday.With Palace in the relegation zone, that dismissalseemed to be only a matter of time. Perhaps moresurprising is Alan Pardew swapping mid-table medi-ocrity at Newcastle for a relegation scrap at Palace,with the manager in negotiations yesterday to rejointhe club he played for in the 1980s.

It is likely to create an unexpected vacancy atNewcastle. And the northeast club is searching for acandidate in the same managerial talent pool asWest Bromwich Albion, which fired Alan Irvine onMonday after only six months in charge.

“If you don’t get results, then clubs change man-agers now more regularly than they did before,” said

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce, whose teamhosts West Brom on New Year’s Day. “When it comesup to a transfer window as well, it looks like it has amajor affect on owners.

“The manager may have proposed some playersto bring in during the window and they may havetaken the opinion that they would rather give thatopportunity to a new manager. It seems that mightbe the case.” Like Pardew at St. James’ Park, Allardycefaced calls from his own fans in the last year to quit.Not only could Newcastle fans see the back ofPardew, but the club could also receive more than $3million in compensation from Palace if a deal can bedone. Although owner Mike Ashley seems unlikely tospend on reinforcements in January for the 10th-place team. Allardyce would succeed Pardew as thePremier League’s second longest-serving currentmanager. The determination by West Ham’s ownersto stick by the manger they appointed in 2011 hasbeen rewarded by Allardyce taking the team into thesecond half of the season in sixth place. Stabilitydoesn’t necessarily equal success. There is weariness

among some Arsenal fans over the durability ofArsene Wenger, the league’s longest-serving currentmanager at 16 years-plus, over his failure to deliverthe title since 2004. Wenger, though, will restoreArsenal to its accustomed place in the top four atSouthampton’s expense by beating the surprisinglyhigh-flying south-coast club tomorrow.

Here are some other things to watch:

PACESETTERSChelsea has Manchester City’s implosion against

Burnley to thank for maintaining its three-point lead.City’s surprise draw came after Chelsea was held bySouthampton on Sunday, providing a reminder thatthe destination of the trophy is far from certain.

Chelsea is reunited with Tottenham at White HartLane less than month after sweeping to a 3-0 victoryat home. Since then, Tottenham has gone five gamesunbeaten domestically, including Sunday’s 0-0 drawagainst Manchester United.

“We had some bad games last season and we hadthe feeling that we gave up a bit,” Tottenham goal-

keeper Hugo Lloris said. “We are improving.Defensively, we are stronger.”

MANCHESTER RIVALSManchester City’s players must be more ruthless

against Sunderland after squandering a 2-0 leadagainst Burnley to draw 2-2, a collapse which raiseddoubts about their ability to defend the title.

“We just have to be more clinical up front,” Citymidfielder Samir Nasri said. “We have to score. Wehave to kill the game sometimes.”

Another slip-up would give Manchester United anopportunity to make up some of the seven-pointgap on its neighbors by winning at Stoke.

IN THE DROP ZONEThe three bottom teams all avoided losing on

Sunday. For Leicester, there was a first win sinceSeptember against Hull, but the last-place team nextfaces a resurgent Liverpool. Burnley follows up itsunexpected draw at City with a trip to Newcastle,while Palace play Aston Villa. — AP

Before transfer window, scramble for new managers

LONDON: Alan Pardew is set to quitNewcastle United and take over as the newmanager of Crystal Palace after being grantedpermission to speak to his former club aboutthe move on Monday.

The Eagles are looking for a new boss aftersacking Neil Warnock on Saturday and Pardewis on the verge of a surprise return to SelhurstPark now Newcastle have given Palace thegreen light to discuss a contract. It has beenreported that Palace will pay a £2 million (2.55million euros, $3.1 million) compensation feeto land Pardew, who still has five years left onhis St James’ Park contract. “Newcastle Unitedcan confirm that Crystal Palace have made aformal approach requesting permission tospeak to Alan Pardew in relation to theirvacant managerial position,” a statement onthe club’s website announced.

“Crystal Palace have offered compensationat a level whereby Alan has now been permit-ted to speak to them. “As a result of this devel-opment today (Monday), Alan will not be attraining on Tuesday. Training will be theresponsibility of assistant manager JohnCarver. The Club will make a furtherannouncement in due course.”

Pardew made 128 appearances for Palacebetween 1988 and 1991 and scored the win-ning goal in his side’s famous 4-3 win overLiverpool in the FA Cup semi-finals at VillaPark in 1990.

Despite a mounting campaign for his dis-missal from a large section of Newcastle sup-porters, Pardew retained the faith of Magpiesowner Mike Ashley.

But although the Magpies are a bigger clubthan Palace, Pardew has been frustrated by

Newcastle’s transfer policy in recent seasonsand continuous criticism from a large sectionof fans to get him out of the job. Pardew isone of the lowest paid managers in theleague and Palace are said to be willing toimprove his salary.

And the 53-year-old stoked the speculationover his future by failing to attend the post-match press conference following his side’s 3-2 win over Everton on Sunday.

Palace chairman Steve Parish wants to actswiftly following the departure of Warnock toallow his new boss time to spend in theJanuary transfer window.

The south Londoners are in the relegationzone after Sunday’s 0-0 draw at fellow strug-glers QPR, with Keith Millen in charge ofPalace in a caretaker capacity for the thirdtime. — AFP

DUBAI: Serie A giants AC Milan ‘ended’Real Madrid’s 22 match winning streakyesterday as striker Stephan El Shaarawyscored twice in a 4-2 friendly win inDubai.

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti left starplayers Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema andJames Rodriguez out of his starting line-up but Cristiano Ronaldo began thematch and scored a first half goal in vain.

The European champions had won 22

matches in all competitions coming intothe clash although Tuesday’s match wasclassified as a friendly and not an officialfixture.

Real, won the World Club Cup onSunday with a 2-0 win over Argentineclub San Lorenzo, but El Shaarawy didthe damage for the Italians with goalseither side of half-time while FrenchmanJeremy Menez and Giampaolo Pazziniwere also on target. — AFP

LAUSANNE: The main international sportappeal court yesterday backed a one yeartransfer ban against Barcelona in a majorblow to the Spanish football giants.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)“dismissed” a Barcelona appeal against theFIFA ban imposed in April for breaching ruleson signing players aged under 18.

Barcelona cannot buy players during thetransfer window that opens on January 1 andfor the summer transfer period before the2015-16 season. They can only open thecheque book again in January 2016. “FIFAconsiders that CAS has shown clear andstrong support for FIFA’s efforts to protectunderage players,” the world ruling body saidin a statement.

Barcelona however said they would consid-er a new appeal to a Swiss federal court. CASand FIFA are both based in Switzerland.

Barcelona were also fined 450,000 Swissfrancs ($455,000, 375,000 euros). The Spanishfederation was also reprimanded by FIFA andfined. “The panel found in particular that FCBarcelona had breached the rules regardingthe protection of minors and the registrationof minors attending football academies,” saidthe statement.

Barcelona said they “totally disagree” withthe sanction which they called “disproportion-ate” and “excessive”. The club acknowledgedmaking “errors” but said these were caused by“conflict between FIFA regulations andSpanish legislation.”

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu

called for a change in the FIFA rules as theclub confirmed they would study the full CASruling and could make an appeal to a Swissfederal court.

“FIFA and its president should represent anorganisation that protects the world of foot-ball and with these decisions they are movingaway from their goal,” Bartomeu told Barca TV.

“The priority has been given to a poorlywritten rule, going beyond the spirit thatinspired this rule,” he complained. “I hope FIFAwill have the good sense to rewrite this rule.”

FIFA ordered the ban in April after an inves-tigation into several under-18 players whowere registered and played for Barcelonabetween 2009 and 2013. I t found thatBarcelona and the Spanish federation wereguilty of a “serious” infringement of rules for10 players.

Barcelona made a first appeal to FIFA andthe sanction was suspended enabling themto make major signings such as Luis Suarezfrom Liverpool for 95 million euros.

They also bought defenders ThomasVermaelen from Arsenal and Jeremy Mathieufrom Valenica, midfielder Ivan Rakitic fromSevilla and goalkeepers Claudio Bravo fromReal Sociedad and Marc-AndrÈ ter Stegenfrom Borussia Monchengladbach in a summerspree of more than 150 million euros.

FIFA’s appeal committee upheld the ban inAugust and Barcelona then went to the CAS.Barcelona aggressively fought the ban at thestart, calling it a “grave injustice” and a threatto its ‘Masia’ academy which nurtured the likes

of Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta. But it hassince admitted errors in the cases of the 10young players.

The ban is a new blow to the club’s image.Barcelona already face criminal proceedingsin Spain over alleged tax avoidance in thesigning of Brazilian star Neymar in 2013.Argentine striker Lionel Messi also faces a pos-sible trial over tax avoidance.

And the sanction will not help coach LuisEnrique in his campaign to get Barcelona backto the winning ways expected by fans.Barcelona had been linked with a Januarymove for Germany’s World Cup forward MarcoReus.

The team won the Spanish title in 2013 buthave since been eclipsed by Real Madrid andAtletico Madrid in Spain and Europe.Barcelona last won the Champions League in2011.

They are currently one point behind Realbut have played one game more. Reigningchampions Atletico in third place are justthree points behind.Vermaelen is injured andnot expected to play again until at leastMarch and other new signings have notshone. Suarez has scored only one leaguegoal since making his debut in October.

Enrique insisted this month however thatBarcelona can compete even without newplayers. The FIFA ban will put pressure onBarcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu,already struggling with the Neymar case, andwho may have to put his job up for reelectionbefore his term ends in 2016.— AFP

LONDON: Chelsea will begin 2015 protect-ing a three-point lead in the PremierLeague title race but will heed the words oftheir grand old striker Didier Drogba whowarns that it is simply not enough.

“We start again a new championship,”boomed the Ivorian, as Chelsea preparedto visit their fierce London rivals Tottenhamon New Year’s Day, with championsManchester City, at home againstSunderland, still snapping at their heels.

Everything bodes well for JoseMourinho’s soaring side, not least the factthat on the seven previous occasions histeams have been leading their respectiveleagues at Christmas, they have alwaysgone on to take the title.

Mourinho’s faithful old lieutenantDrogba, though, believes it will have to be

a particularly special achievement for the‘Special One’ to maintain that extraordinarysequence. “I think it’s going to be tough,”Drogba said, reflecting on how Chelsea’sone-time eight-point lead has been whit-tled down. Indeed, if City had not blown a2-0 lead on Boxing Day to draw withBurnley, there would have now been onlyone point separating the leaders.

“We knew it was not over. A few yearsago, I think we were 11 or 12 points in frontof Man United and then they won theleague,” Drogba said.

“So eight points or nine points-I don’tknow how many points we had on top ofMan City-I think it is not enough. “I thinknow we start again a new championship. Ithink the game is on.”

Mourinho, happy to play up any con-spiracy theory if it helps strengthen hisplayers’ indignation, claimed after the drawat Southampton that a campaign to por-tray his team as divers was costing themcrucial points. Still, he could hardly be start-ing the year at a happier hunting ground,Chelsea’s domination over Spurs havingbeen so pronounced in the PremierLeague era that their fans like to think ofTottenham’s White Hart Lane home as‘Three Point Lane’.

Against Sunderland, City managerManuel Pellegrini will be looking to avoid arepeat of what he felt was complacency inthe Burnley slip-up. Manchester United,seven points behind their city neighboursin third place, visit Stoke City while theNew Year match of the day could be at StMary’s where Southampton and Arsenal,fourth and fifth respectively on 33 points,lock horns.— Reuters

Pardew set for Palace job

Milan defeat Real Madrid

DUBAI: Real Madrid’s Jese (left) fights for the ball with AC Milan’s MichelangeloAlbertazzi during the Dubai Football Challenge match. — AP

Chelsea’s lead is not enough, Drogba warns

Chelsea Manager Jose Mourinho

Court deals transfer ban blow to Barcelona

SPAIN: In this Jan. 8, 2011 file photo, Barcelona youth players from ‘La Masia’ football academy warm up at the Barcelona FC’s Joan Gampertraining camp. The Court of Arbitration for Sport yesterday dismissed Barcelona’s appeal and upheld the transfer ban FIFA imposed on the clubfor infringing regulations on registering minors as youth players. — AP

15Stars shine asBlues advance

Milan defeatReal Madrid

Before transfer window, scramble for new managers Page 19

NEW YORK: Brooklyn Nets’ Mason Plumlee (1) guards Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins (15) during the second half of an NBA basketball game. The Nets won the game 107-99. — AP

NEW YORK: Mason Plumlee continued his impressive play with ateam-high 22 points, Joe Johnson and Jarret Jack each scored 16,and the Brooklyn Nets held on to beat the Sacramento Kings 107-99 on Monday night. Rudy Gay had 25 points and DeMarcusCousins added 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Kings, who’velost 13 of their last 17 games.

Brook Lopez came off the bench and chipped in 11 points forthe Nets, who bounced back from a 25-point loss to Indiana onSaturday night at Barclays Center and won for the fourth time intheir last five games. The Nets led 93-83 with 5:53 left in the fourthquarter after a layup by Deron Williams, but Gay then scored fivestraight points in a 26-second span, including a 3-pointer, that cutthe lead to 93-88 with 5:12 to play.

CLIPPERS 101, JAZZ 97Blake Griffin scored 24 points and Los Angeles beat Utah for its

12th straight victory over the Jazz, breaking the franchise recordfor consecutive losses against one club.

Chris Paul finished with 20 points and eight assists. DeAndreJordan had 19 rebounds for the two-time defending PacificDivision champions. The Clippers blocked 12 shots and nevertrailed in the fourth quarter despite leading by no more than fivepoints at any point.The previous franchise record for wins by theClippers against one team was set against the Dallas Mavericks.The Clippers are 10-6 in December with one game left.

Gordon Hayward scored 22 points for the Jazz and RudyGobert added 13 rebounds and 11 points off the bench. Shootingguard Alec Burks missed his second straight game because ofchronic soreness in his left shoulder. He also sat out two gamesearly this month for the same reason.

MAGIC 102, HEAT 101Nikola Vucevic scored 26 points, Victor Oladipo scored seven of

his 22 in the final minutes and Orlando beat Miami. Oladipo had alayup to tie it, then a free throw to put the Magic ahead to stayand give them their first win against Miami in 11 tries.

Tobias Harris scored 18 for the Magic, who got 13 fromChanning Frye. Dwyane Wade scored 25 points for Miami, whichhas lost 12 of 18 at home. Danny Granger had 21 points and ChrisBosh scored 20 in his return after missing eight games with astrained left calf.

Granger was 6 for 7 from 3-point range, including one that putMiami up 101-97 with 1:38 left. The Heat didn’t score again.

There were nine lead changes and four ties in the fourth quar-ter, with the Magic knotting the game at 101-all when Oladipodrove by Wade and scored with 45 seconds left.

BUCKS 104, HORNETS 94Brandon Knight scored 18 points, including a layup to force

overtime, and Milwaukee pulled away to beat Charlotte. JaredDudley scored 17 points, Giannis Antetokounm had 16, ZazaPachulia had 15, O.J. Mayo had 13 and John Henson added 11 forthe Bucks (16-16), who snapped a seven-game losing streak to theHornets dating back to the 2011-2012 season.

Kemba Walker scored 28 points, Gerald Henderson added 19and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 10 for the Hornets (10-22), whofought back from a 21-point deficit in the first half.

Walker’s layup with 54.5 seconds remaining gave Charlotte an83-81 lead, but Knight followed up his own blocked shot for alayup with 16 seconds left to tie the score and force overtime.

Milwaukee then pulled ahead for good on Henson’s three-point play with 3:51 left in overtime. The Bucks led by 13 points inthe extra period.

BULLS 92, PACERS 90Jimmy Butler had 27 points and nine rebounds to lead

Chicago to a victory over Indiana. Pau Gasol had 20 points andDerrick Rose added 17 for the Bulls (22-9), who have won sevenstraight. Chris Copeland scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourthquarter, and George Hill and C.J. Miles each added 11 points forthe Pacers (11-21), who trailed by as much as 21 points in the sec-ond half. Butler scored a 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining to put theBulls ahead for good 92-90. That was after the Pacers went on a23-2 run and regained the lead on Lavoy Allen’s basket to make it84-83 with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter. Chicago tied the four-game season series with the Pacers at 1-1 and won for the firsttime at Indiana after losing the previous four games.

WIZARDS 104, ROCKETS 103Bradley Beal scored 33 points and Paul Pierce added 21, and

Washington survived a furious fourth-quarter charge by Houstonto beat the Rockets.

Nene added 12 points to go with five rebounds, and John Wallracked up 12 assists to go with 13 points for Washington, whichwon its third straight to open a five-game road trip.

James Harden scored 33 points __ including a 3-pointer withunder a second to go in regulation to get Houston within a point__ and Corey Brewer added 15 from the bench for the Rockets.

Houston outscored the Wizards on second-chance points(18-9) and points in the paint (50-34) but was plagued by poorshooting. Washington had no such issues, shooting nearly 93percent from the free-throw line and 44.4 percent from beyondthe arc. — AP

Nets snare Kings

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

W L PCT GBToronto 24 7 .774 - Brooklyn 14 16 .467 9.5 Boston 10 18 .35712.5 NY Knicks 5 28 .152 20 Philadelphia 4 25 .138 19

Central DivisionChicago 22 9 .710 - Cleveland 18 12 .600 3.5 Milwaukee 16 16 .500 6.5 Indiana 11 21 .34411.5 Detroit 7 23 .23314.5

Southeast DivisionAtlanta 22 8 .733 - Washington 22 8 .733 - Miami 14 18 .438 9 Orlando 13 21 .382 11 Charlotte 10 22 .313 13

Western ConferenceNorthwest Division

Portland 25 7 .781 - Oklahoma City 15 17 .469 10 Denver 13 18 .41911.5 Utah 10 21 .32314.5 Minnesota 5 24 .17218.5

Pacific DivisionGolden State 24 5 .828 - LA Clippers 21 11 .656 4.5 Phoenix 18 14 .563 7.5 Sacramento 13 18 .419 12 LA Lakers 9 22 .290 16

Southwest DivisionMemphis 22 8 .733 - Houston 21 9 .700 1 Dallas 22 10 .688 1 San Antonio 19 13 .594 4 New Orleans 15 15 .500 7

NBA results/standingsMilwaukee 104, Charlotte 94 (OT); Chicago 92, Indiana 90; Brooklyn 107, Sacramento 99; Orlando 102, Miami 101; Washington 104, Houston103; LA Clippers 101, Utah 97.

BusinessWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

Missing AirAsia plane caps disastrous 2014 for aviation

Kuwait banking sector grew 10.9% in 2014

Al-Sayer Group holds ‘Best in the Business’ convention 2014

Mercedes-Benz: Innovation as a tradition

Gulf markets tumble as oil hits fresh lowMIDEAST STOCK MARKETS

MOSCOW: People walk in front of an exchange office in Moscow yesterday. The Russian currency extended its losses yesterday after a report showed the economy has started shrinking in annual terms for the first time since 2009 asthe country is buffeted by falling oil prices and Western sanctions. — AP

LONDON: OPEC’s oil supply fell by 270,000 barrels per day(bpd) in December to a six-month low as fighting cutLibyan output, offsetting record Iraqi southern exports andstable Saudi Arabian production, a Reuters survey found.The survey indicates Libyan turmoil is effectively loweringoutput by the Organization of the Petroleum ExportingCountries, even after oil ministers decided at a meeting inVienna last month against a formal reduction to defendmarket share.

“OPEC in Vienna did not decide a supply cut but suppliesfrom Libya have been coming down since then and the sit-uation in that country is going worse by the day,” saidOlivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix. “But there’s quite anoverhang still, if you look at the balances for next year.”

Supply from OPEC averaged 29.98 million bpd inDecember, down from a revised 30.25 million bpd inNovember, according to the survey based on shipping dataand information from sources at oil companies, OPEC andconsultants. OPEC at its Nov 27 meeting retained its outputtarget of 30 million bpd, sending oil prices to a four-yearlow close to $71 a barrel. Crude has since fallen further, hit-ting a 5 1/2-year low of $56.74 on Tuesday, pressured by a

global glut.Still, actual OPEC supply has fallen for a third month to

the lowest since June when the group pumped 29.92 mil-lion bpd, according to Reuters surveys. September outputof 30.84 million bpd was the highest since November 2012.

The largest reduction has come from Libya, where out-put averaged 400,000 bpd in December and dropped toaround 350,000 bpd by the end of the month from 800,000bpd at the start, according to industry sources and Libyanoil officials. Fighting has closed Libya’s two largest ports, EsSider and Ras Lanuf, while the western ports of Zawiya andMellitah have also halted oil exports.

Nigerian output fell in December as crude streamsincluding Bonny, Qua Iboe and Agbami exported fewer car-goes. Shipping schedules point to an increase in Januaryand imply production above 2 million bpd.

Maintenance at oilfields and other facilities had smallerimpacts in some OPEC members. Kuwaiti output edgedlower due to the shutdown of the Khafji oilfield, run bySaudi Arabia and Kuwait, while production in Qatar, wheremaintenance has been taking place, also declined slightly.

Saudi Arabia pumped 9.60 million bpd in November and

output this month has been flat, industry sources who trackSaudi supply said. Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi, who con-vinced his fellow ministers of the need to defend marketshare, said on Dec 21 Saudi Arabia would not cut its output.

The largest increase came from Iraq, which boostedexports this month from its southern terminals to at least2.65 million bpd, the highest since at least 2003. A restart ofKirkuk shipments from northern Iraq, halted since earlyMarch, also increased Iraqi supplies.

The drop in OPEC output since September reduces thesize of the projected market surplus in 2015, but if supplyremains at December’s rate the group will be pumpingclose to 2 million bpd more than the demand for its crudein the first half. OPEC forecasts demand for its crude willaverage 28.22 million bpd in the first six months of 2015.

Price volatilityThe developments in the oil market do not augur well

for oil producers and exporters as there are no loomingsigns for a near end to deterioration of prices in 2015, aKuwaiti oil expert said.

Head of Al-Sharq for Petroleum Consulting Company

Abdul-Samea Behbehani said the technical factors do notuphold oil producer expectations that prices would bounceback soon. The market is oversupplied and the demand isstable, he said, adding that oil producers particularly OPECstates are unable to address the situation amid fears thatany output cut would harm their market shares.

He also highlighted the growing impact of the shale oilproduction, which has jumped to over four million barrels aday, on the supplies and prices. Behbehani ruled out thesuccess of OPEC’s attempts to decrease prices to press shaleoil industry hard and turn it into loss making.

This scenario is doomed to failure as shale oil industry isgetting more adaptive to low prices particularly with thenon-stop development in the cracking technology and con-sequently the decline in production cost. He added thatstudies projected an increase in the production of non-OPEC states by 1.35 million barrels a day in 2015, against anexpected growth in demand estimated at 900,000.

Behbehani suggested that the geopolitical factors andthe reactions of some countries which hardly hit by theprice slump such as Russia, Venezuela and Iran may be thegame-changer in 2015. — Agencies

OPEC output hits 6-month low in Dec Kuwaiti expert sees no end in sight to price volatility in 2015

DUBAI: Gulf stock markets suffered broad sell-offs yesterday as Brentcrude oil slumped to a fresh 5-1/2-year low and political uncertainty inGreece pressured global equities. Brent fell as low as $56.74 per barrel, itslowest since May 2009, as persistent worries about a global supply glutoffset concerns about output disruptions in Libya.

European stock markets, to which Gulf investors often turn for cues,were down after Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras failed to getenough support for his presidential nominee; he will call a national elec-tion that could threaten Greece’s euro-zone bailout.

Saudi Arabia’s main stock index tumbled 4.2 percent in active trade.Petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries , down 4.6 percent, was themain drag. Overall, the Saudi petrochemicals sector lost 5.0 percent.Prices of petrochemicals are often linked to crude prices and some Gulfproducers have enjoyed access to subsidized feedstock which gave thembetter margins. With cheap oil, that comparative advantage has beenslashed.

Another reason for markets’ sharp drop was that many institutionssuch as fund management firms are almost inactive during theChristmas and New Year holidays, leaving stocks at the mercy of volatileretail investors. However, Tuesday’s declines were not as huge as thoseseen in mid-December, when Saudi Arabia’s benchmark lost 7.3 percentin a single day in response to oil’s weakness.

The kingdom’s government last week published a 2015 budget thatwill maintain spending at a high level, easing some investors’ fearsabout expenditure cuts which could hurt economic growth and corpo-rate profits.

UAE, KUWAITDubai’s index tumbled 5.4 percent. Builder Arabtec Holding and devel-

oper Emaar Properties, the most heavily traded stocks, lost 9.1 and 6.5percent respectively. Some stocks, such as property firm Deyaar andbuilder Drake and Scull, fell by their daily 10 percent limits.

Although Dubai is much less dependent on oil revenues than otherGulf states, its stock market has been hit hardest in the region in recentmonths because of its higher liquidity, exposure to foreign investors andthe unwinding of leveraged positions. According to bourse data, retailinvestors accounted for 86 percent of selling activity yesterday and for-eigners were also net sellers.

On other Gulf markets, Abu Dhabi’s index dropped 2.2 percent, Omanlost 2.7 percent and Qatar’s bourse was down 1.9 percent. Kuwait’s indexfell 1.8 percent, but most of the day’s trading was in the shares ofBoubyan Bank, which added 1.3 percent to 0.405 dinar. A total of 94.2 mil-lion shares representing a 4.8 percent stake in the bank changed handsyesterday.

Elham Yousry Mahfouz, chief executive of Commercial Bank of Kuwait(CBK) which is one of Boubyan’s main shareholders, told Reuters that CBKhad reduced its stake by selling shares on the market in order to boost itscapital adequacy. CBK had a 17.7 percent stake in Boubyan as of Dec. 29,according to bourse data. CBK shares climbed 1.6 percent yesterday.Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s bourse edged up 0.5 percent. The Cairo govern-ment signed a deal on Monday to import liquefied natural gas fromAlgeria between April and September, a move aimed at easing a chronicenergy shortage. — Reuters

KIEV: Ukraine expects the InternationalMonetary Fund to disburse new and overdueloans after a visit next month and still hopes a$17 billion bailout program can be expanded,its central bank governor said yesterday.

Valeria Gontareva declined to give a valuefor the payment, even when pressed by jour-nalists, but it is likely to total more than $4 bil-lion. With its economy pushed close to bank-ruptcy by a separatist war in the east andcostly energy imports from Russia, Ukrainehustled through an austerity budget onMonday which it hopes will impress the Fundwhen a mission visits Kiev from Jan 8.

The former Soviet republic has so farreceived two tranches of aid worth a com-bined $4.6 billion under the IMF-led bailoutpackage that was agreed in April to supportthe economy and shore up depleted foreigncurrency reserves. The government, which isstruggling to control an economic slide and acrisis in relations with Russia following theoverthrow of a Moscow-backed president inFebruary, has since said the aid program willneed to be expanded.

But the IMF and the government’sWestern backers including the EuropeanUnion say any further financial assistance willhinge on Ukraine’s ability to implement long-

promised reforms.Gontareva told a news conference that fol-

lowing next month’s visit, Kiev expected theIMF to release two slices of credit which hadbeen expected by year-end, plus a thirdtranche.

“I expect three tranches to be combinedand I hope that the program will be increasedeven further,” she said, saying the creditwould go to paying off external debt, whichwill stand at more than $7 billion next year,and the foreign trade deficit. With a com-bined value of $2.7 billion for the outstandingtranches, a further disbursement of $1.4-1.5billion as outlined under the program wouldtake the overall to over $4 billion. At a newsconference in Kiev yesterday, Prime MinisterArseny Yatseniuk said he was certain the IMFprogram would restore people’s confidencein the banking system and in the hryvnia cur-rency, allowing economic growth to take off.

Ukraine’s economy, which is forecast toshrink 4.3 percent next year, is additionallyhobbled by dependence on imports of nat-ural gas, mostly from Russia. These haveonly just resumed under an interim winteragreement while a Stockholm arbitrationcourt decides on an appeal by Ukraine overpricing. — Reuters

Ukraine eyes IMF credit lifeline in early 2015

EXCHANGE RATES

Bahrain Exchange Company

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

ASIAN COUNTRIESJapanese Yen 2.442Indian Rupees 4.622Pakistani Rupees 2.923Srilankan Rupees 2.222Nepali Rupees 2.888Singapore Dollar 222.800Hongkong Dollar 37.842Bangladesh Taka 3.755Philippine Peso 6.570Thai Baht 8.927Irani Riyal transfer 61.555Irani Riyal cash 121.740

GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 78.338Qatari Riyal 80.706Omani Riyal 763.320Bahraini Dinar 780.260UAE Dirham 80.003

ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 44.000Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.985Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.371Tunisian Dinar 158.730Jordanian Dinar 414.580Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.971Syrian Lira 2.094Morocco Dirham 33.143

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 293.650Euro 359.430Sterling Pound 458.830Canadian dollar 253.580Turkish lira 126.580Swiss Franc 298.730Australian Dollar 240.210US Dollar Buying 292.450

GOLD20 gram 238.10010 gram 121.740

CURRENCY BUY SELLEurope

Belgian Franc 0.007648 0.008648British Pound 0.451793 0.460793Czech Korune 0.004880 0.016880Danish Krone 0.044056 0.049056Euro 0.352458 0.360458Norwegian Krone 0.035227 0.040427Romanian Leu 0.084229 0.084229Slovakia 0.008600 0.018600Swedish Krona 0.033525 0.038525Swiss Franc 0.291079 0.301279Turkish Lira 0.124870 0.131870

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.230520 0.242020New Zealand Dollar 0.221944 0.231444

AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.247282 0.255782US Dollars 0.289550 0.294250US Dollars Mint 0.290050 0.294250

AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.003440 0.004040Chinese Yuan 0.046134 0.049634Hong Kong Dollar 0.035776 0.038526Indian Rupee 0.004387 0.004788Indonesian Rupiah 0.000019 0.000025Japanese Yen 0.002358 0.002538Kenyan Shilling 0.003286 0.003286Korean Won 0.000258 0.000273Malaysian Ringgit 0.080668 0.086668Nepalese Rupee 0.003001 0.003171Pakistan Rupee 0.002765 0.003045

Philippine Peso 0.006487 0.006767Sierra Leone 0.000065 0.000071Singapore Dollar 0.218764 0.224764South African Rand 0.019304 0.027804Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001882 0.002462Taiwan 0.009150 0.009330Thai Baht 0.008608 0.009158

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.772453 0.780453Egyptian Pound 0.039542 0.042642Iranian Riyal 0.000081 0.000082Iraqi Dinar 0.000194 0.000254Jordanian Dinar 0.409898 0.417398Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000Lebanese Pound 0.000145 0.000245Moroccan Dirhams 0.023945 0.047945Nigerian Naira 0.001193 0.001826Omani Riyal 0.756706 0.762386Qatar Riyal 0.079948 0.081161Saudi Riyal 0.077670 0.078370Syrian Pound 0.001741 0.001961Tunisian Dinar 0.154212 0.162212Turkish Lira 0.124870 0.131870UAE Dirhams 0.078969 0.080118Yemeni Riyal 0.001326 0.001406

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

COUNTRY SELL DRAFT SELL CASH Australian Dollar 231.71 228.71Canadian Dollar 256.71 257.71Swiss Franc 302.93 300.93Euro 362.08 363.08US Dollar 293.55 296.55Sterling Pound 461.65 464.65Japanese Yen 2.49 2.51Bangladesh Taka 3.761 4.031Indian Rupee 4.636 4.936Sri Lankan Rupee 2.220 2.655Nepali Rupee 2.893 3.428Pakistani Rupee 2.918 2.790UAE Dirhams 79.77 80.23Bahraini Dinar 779.11 781.18Egyptian Pound 40.93 41.53Jordanian Dinar 417.10 422.75Omani Riyal 761.26 768.56Qatari Riyal 80.83 81.38Saudi Riyal 78.19 78.59

Rate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 291.750Canadian Dollar 260.085Sterling Pound 456.630Euro 366.500Swiss Frank 303.035Bahrain Dinar 775.760UAE Dirhams 79.330Qatari Riyals 80.935Saudi Riyals 77.975Jordanian Dinar 411.660Egyptian Pound 40.707Sri Lankan Rupees 2.225Indian Rupees 4.716Pakistani Rupees 2.867Bangladesh Taka 3.759Philippines Pesso 6.481Cyprus pound 715.865Japanese Yen 3.480

Syrian Pound 2.710Nepalese Rupees 3.945Malaysian Ringgit 87.645Chinese Yuan Renminbi 48.035Thai Bhat 9.885Turkish Lira 131.225

Al Mulla Exchange

Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000)US Dollar 291.800Euro 366.550Pound Sterlng 461.000Canadian Dollar 252.550Indian Rupee 4.597Egyptian Pound 40.785Sri Lankan Rupee 2.212Bangladesh Taka 3.738Philippines Peso 6.522Pakistan Rupee 2.905Bahraini Dinar 776.900UAE Dirham 79.500Saudi Riyal 78.000*Rates are subject to change

B U S I N E S S

KUALA LUMPUR: If you weren’t already nervousabout flying, that may have changed in 2014, ayear that stirred our deepest fears about modernjet travel despite shaping up as one of the safestin aviation history. The tragic dramas surroundingMalaysia Airlines and AirAsia played out beforeunprecedented global television and Internetaudiences, confronting the travelling public withthe startling truth that planes can be shot downor simply disappear.

The events triggered the first major worldwidereviews of aviation precautions in years, and gaveaerophobes a new reason to tense up on take-off.“I always disliked flying but now it’s a real ordeal,”said Marie Lefebvre, a Bangkok-based Canadianbusinesswoman who has curtailed her frequentbusiness travel. She now occasionally takes seda-tives before take-off.

“It’s that feeling of helplessness. Some of thethings this year were terrifying.” Exhibit A wasMH370, which took its place alongside AmeliaEarhart’s vanishing as one of aviation’s great mys-teries, a buzzword for the terror of vanishingwithout a trace. The Boeing 777 disappeared onMarch 8 with 239 people aboard after its commu-nications systems were apparently deliberatelyshut off. No trace of it has been found.

It remains unknown whether an onboardemergency, hijack, rogue pilots, fire among lithi-um batteries in its hold, or other less-plausibletheories were responsible. Four months later,MH17 was blown out of the sky over Ukraine,killing all 298 aboard and stoking superpowerrivalries when the West accused Russia-backedrebels of downing it with a missile.

The following week, the crashes of a TransAsiaAirways flight amid rough weather in the TaiwanStrait and Air Algerie flight 5017 in Mali for rea-sons still unknown killed a combined 164 people,giving the impression planes were literally fallingfrom the skies. Capping off the disastrous year, anAirAsia jet carrying 162 people apparentlycrashed on Sunday en route from Surabaya inIndonesia’s east Java to Singapore.

The flight lost contact during stormy weatherand Indonesian authorities have since spotteddebris believed to be from the plane, as well aswhat they believe to be the bodies of passengers.

Accidents at record low Ironically, however, 2014 continued a long-

term trend of improving air safety. A record low ofseven fatal commercial passenger incidents-notincluding AirAsia-occurred this year, according tothe Netherlands-based Aviation Safety Network,an infinitesimal figure amid the several millionflights and billions of passengers each year. There

were 15 such accidents last year, while the annualaverage since 1946 is 32.

“It’s so safe now that incidents tend to bemore mysterious and striking because crashesonly happen in extremely rare circumstances,”Gerry Soejatman, a Jakarta-based aviation con-sultant, said in comments made prior to theAirAsia incident. “That’s why this year had such animpact. Accidents are so rare that we magnifythose that occur.”

However, fatalities were up sharply to 762 —the highest in four years-and could rise to 924 ifall the AirAsia passengers are declared dead.

There was a record low of 224 deaths last year.Despite the headlines, air traffic has been unaf-fected. Total passenger miles travelled grew a sol-id 5.8 percent from January-October, theInternational Air Transport Association (IATA) saidthis month, forecasting another solid year ahead.Nevertheless, the abrupt and total disappearanceof MH370 challenged modern notions of an inter-connected, highly monitored world.

Aiming to reduce chances of a recurrence, avi-ation authorities are expected to announce newglobal flight-tracking standards soon. Thesecould include reporting an aircraft’s positionevery minute after an unexpected route change,and possibly every 15 minutes during normalflight. Positions are now typically reported everyhalf-hour.

The revelation after MH370’s disappearancethat flights are not continuously tracked “was asurprise for many”, said Raymond Benjamin, headof the International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO). “But we now have a consensus with theindustry to develop global monitoring of all traf-

fic to improve the response in similar cases, inparticular for organizing search and rescue incase of an accident,” he said in comments beforethe apparent AirAsia crash.

‘Worst nightmare’ The ICAO is also reviewing whether flight risks

over conflict zones are assessed and communi-cated adequately in an age of highly-armed non-state entities. Proposals on both fronts will beoutlined at an annual ICAO gathering in February,Benjamin said.

But little change is expected on limiting thechances of a rogue pilot or hijacker disablingcommunications, which also occurred in theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks. Pilots jealouslyguard that power as a safeguard in case, forexample, malfunctioning systems trigger a fire.

Video monitoring in cockpits is similarly con-sidered infeasible for technical reasons. DavidLearmount, safety editor of Flightglobal maga-zine, called proposed changes “peripheral” andsees no lasting industry impact from 2014. “Therest of the world has already mentally consigned(2014’s) events to the dustbin of history, and atti-tudes toward flying for business or leisure havenot changed because statistically it is still saferthan it has ever been,” he said, speaking beforethe AirAsia incident.

But Tom Bunn, who runs SOAR-a US-basedfirm that offers fear-of-flying counselling-dis-agrees, saying dark thoughts will lurk in travellers’minds. “The distrust (of aviation) is so profoundthat I think it will have some lasting impact.Anxious fliers describe (MH-style disasters) astheir worst nightmare,” he said. — AFP

Missing AirAsia plane caps

disastrous 2014 for aviation

IATA forecasts another solid year despite challenges

SURABAYA: AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes, center, talks to media during a press conference at the crisis center at Juanda InternationalAirport in Surabaya yesterday. — AP

DUBAI: Growth in passenger traffic throughDubai International Airport, one of the world’sbusiest, slowed in November because of thegeopolitical and economic instability hittingRussia, the airport’s operator said yesterday.

Dubai is a popular tourist destination forRussians and a convenient place for them topark some of their savings abroad. Westerneconomic sanctions against Moscow sincethe pro-Russian uprising in Ukraine, and theslide of the Russian ruble, appear to havereduced Russian visitors in recent months.

Passenger traffic related to Russia and oth-er countries in the Commonwealth ofIndependent States plunged 18.2 percentfrom a year earlier in November, DubaiAirports said. This cut growth in total passen-

ger traffic through Dubai International, whichrose 4.3 percent to 5.57 million people inNovember, slowing from 5.7 percent growthin October.

In the first 11 months of this year, passen-ger traffic climbed 5.9 percent to 63.98 mil-lion people. Growth was interrupted earlierthis year by an 80-day runway refurbishmentproject that temporarily cut the airport’scapacity. Cargo volume through DubaiInternational dropped 8 percent from a yearearlier in November to 205,375 tons, whilecargo handled in the first 11 months shrank2.7 percent to 2.16 million tons because ofthe shift of dedicated freighter services toDubai’s other main airport, Al MaktoumInternational, in May. — Reuters

CAIRO: Egypt’s current account recordeda $1.4 billion deficit in the three monthsto September, in contrast to a $610 mil-lion surplus in the same period last yearwhen Gulf states provided billions of dol-lars in aid. The deficit was driven by awider trade gap and a contraction in nettransfers, according to a statement post-ed on the central bank’s website.

That was partly offset by a rise in for-eign direct investment (FDI), driven by arise in net inflows to the oil sector to$948.1 million from $377.6 million, thebank said. Official transfers, includingcash and commodities, fell to $1.48 bil-lion in the first quarter, which started onJuly 1, down sharply from $4.33 billion ayear earlier, it said. Soon after the armyousted Islamist President MohamedMorsi in July 2013, Saudi Arabia, theUnited Arab Emirates and Kuwaitpledged over $12 billion in loans, grantsand oil products.

In November, the finance minister saidEgypt had received $10.6 billion from theGulf in the 2013-14 fiscal year, suggestingmost of the aid had arrived. FDI rose to$1.8 billion in the quarter, the first of the2014-15 fiscal year, compared with $745.4million a year earlier. Last year’s FDI figure

was revised down dramatically from the$1.246 billion initially reported.

The central bank also revised downthe current account surplus figure for thefirst quarter of 2013-14 from an initial$757 million. It gave no reasons but itsbalance of payments data is preliminaryand amendments are common. Tourismalso recovered in the first quarter from aparticularly poor period last year, whenMorsi’s ouster was followed by weeks ofviolence. Tourism has suffered sinceEgypt’s 2011 uprising toppled HosniMubarak and was slowly beginning torecover before Morsi’s ouster.

Tourism receipts more than doubledto $2.09 billion from $931.1 million a yearearlier, but oil exports fell by $138.3 mil-lion to $2.91 billion. Portfolio investmentin Egypt shrunk to $316 million in the firstquarter from $1.27 billion in the sameperiod last year, mainly due to the declinein foreigners’ net investments in bondsand the bourse. Net liabilities of the cen-tral bank fell to $1.3 million from $3 bil-lion in the first quarter of the last fiscalyear. Egypt repaid $2.5 bill ion inNovember that Qatar had deposited dur-ing Morsi’s presidency to prop up Egypt’shard currency reserves. — Reuters

KHOBAR: State-owned utility SaudiElectricity Co signed yesterday a contractworth 1 billion riyals ($267 million) to buygenerators for the kingdom’s first fossil fuel-fired power plant that will also produce solarenergy.

The 550-megawatt integrated solar com-bined cycle (ISCC) plant will primarily burnnatural gas, but will generate 50 MW of solarenergy to increase fuel efficiency at theplanned facility near Tabuk on the Red Seacoast. SEC did not name the company whichwill supply generating units to the plant, butan industry source familiar with the mattersaid the company was General Electric.

ISCC plants reduce emissions of climate-warming carbon by increasing the amount ofsteam available for driving power generationturbines, without having to burn more gas oroil.

SEC said the project, expected to cost atotal of 2.5 billion riyals, would be fully opera-tional before the end of 2017. The company’schief executive Ziyad Al-Shiha was also quot-ed as saying in the statement that a new highvoltage direct current facility in Tabuk,expected to cost 4.5 billion riyals, would becommissioned in 2018 to boost electricitytransmission in the country’s western regionand later to Egypt. — Reuters

LONDON: British house prices rose at theirslowest annual rate in more than a year thismonth but the market looks set to recover in2015 if the economy improves as expected, asurvey from mortgage lender Nationwideshowed yesterday.

Nationwide said house prices rose 7.2 per-cent in the year to December, the smallestannual increase since November 2013 andslowing for a fourth consecutive month.Economists polled by Reuters had expectedgrowth of 7.5 percent. British housing marketactivity and price rises have been slowingsince the middle of the year, in part because ofsteps by regulators to require lenders to maketougher checks on borrowers’ ability to repaymortgages.

House price growth in the three months toDecember-which many analysts view as thebest guide to the short-term trend in houseprices-nevertheless ticked up to 1.0 percent,from 0.9 percent in the preceding threemonths. And although annual house priceinflation fell in 12 out of 13 British regions-withonly the north of England seeing fastergrowth-Nationwide said it expected the mar-ket to recover next year. “The weakening ofbuyer interest in houses may be close to bot-toming out and we see it picking up to a limit-ed extent in 2015 from current levels,” saidHoward Archer, economist at IHS Global

Insight. “There is also the possibility that themarkedly increased likelihood that the Bank ofEngland will not lift interest rates before late2015 will provide some limited near-termimpetus to housing market activity.”Nationwide said house price growth in Londoncooled in December but still outpaced otherregions by some distance.

Prices in the capital rose 17.8 percent overthe last 12 months, with all regions outside ofsouth-east England recording single-digit ratesof growth.

“If the economic backdrop continues toimprove as we and most forecasters expect,activity in the housing market is likely to regainmomentum in the months ahead,” said RobertGardner, Nationwide’s chief economist.

“There are encouraging signs that con-struction is starting to pick up. Hopefully, thiswill set the stage for house price growth grad-ually converging with income growth in thequarters ahead.”

Gardner added that recent changes to thestamp duty land tax could also help to stimu-late the housing market. While Britain looks setto be one of the fastest growing major indus-trialised economies this year, wage growth isstill very weak, making houses hard to affordfor many British workers. The Bank of Englandis also expected to raise interest rates late nextyear for the first time since 2007. — Reuters

Saudi Electricity signs deal for

integrated gas/solar plant

Russia crisis slows traffic

growth at Dubai airport

Egypt current account

hits deficit of $1.4bn

UK house price inflation

slows to 13-month low

B U S I N E S S

KUWAIT: Al-Sayer Group Holding, held the annual staffconvention to reinforce its commitment towards strategicinitiative and long-term commitment of “Best in theBusiness” approach and award its top performing distin-guished divisions rated high in terms of customer satisfac-tion and trust. Naser Al-Sayer - Chairman, Faisal Bader Al-Sayer - Vice Chairman and Board Members of Al-SayerGroup Holding had the honor and privilege of welcomingYasumori Ihara, Executive Vice-President and a team of sen-ior delegates from Toyota Motor Corporation to grace thisoccasion. In the grand event conducted at Regency Hotel,along with the Senior Management, all employees acrossall grades attended the event to mark a remarkable closureto the 60th Anniversary Celebrations of the Group.

Briefing the spectacular journey of success and long list ofmilestone achievements of the Group, Faisal Bader Al-Sayer -Vice-Chairman, Al-Sayer Group Holding, in his key-notespeech said “I am happy to be able to report that we haveachieved some remarkable results, taking our Company tonew record heights in many areas, and also achieving severalmajor goals. We are here to celebrate these great successesand to find ways to work together as a team to build on thissuccess during 2015 and into the future”.

AppreciationLater, Mubarak Naser Al-Sayer - CEO, Al Sayer Group

Holding expressed his appreciation towards all the busi-ness units of the Group for delivering exceptional perform-ance. Emphasizing on the core message of the conventionhe said, “This our Best in the Business meeting to say thankyou to all of you for your contributions, big or small, to thisoutstanding year where we achieved so much success.”

Crediting the strong partnership between Toyota andAl-Sayer, Yasumori Ihara - Executive Vice President ofToyota Motor Corporation said “However, good though itwas, it is but one more step on the never ending road tocontinued success, so we cannot sit back and relax, ratheruse it as a launch pad for even better results going into thefuture. This award is for excellence in sales and service:once again, MNSS and you have proven how well it canrealize the philosophy of putting the customer first. This isa relationship that we will continue to nurture andstrengthen, as we strive to contribute to economic andsocial development in Kuwait.” Ihara during the day alsovisited some of the establishments of Al-Sayer Groupincluding Toyota Al-Rai Showroom, Shuwaikh Lexus Center,Toyota Ghazali Service center and expressed his apprecia-tion for the adhering to high quality standards of the facili-ties and services to deliver a top class customer experience.

Departments with CSI scores of 90 percent and abovewere awarded for their dedication and efforts for achievingsuch top performance levels. Among 59 operating loca-tions, remarkably 42 locations scored CSI of 95 percent+and 17 scored CSI between 90 percent-95 percent reflect-ing the impeccable levels of commitment to customerservice. It is worth mentioning the fact that most of the

Group’s locations have retained their high CSI ratings com-pared to the previous year besides few which recorded sig-nificant improvement. 12 locations of the Group were pre-sented the Chairman’s award for receiving highest ratingsfor trusted level of service. The honored “Chairman’s award”was presented to divisions voted best by customers interms of trustworthiness. This award reflects customer’strust and acknowledges improvements made througheffectively managing customer complaints as well as effi-ciently tackling issues related to customer service.

The Management expressed their gratitude to all cus-tomers who continue to favor our products and our servic-es and encouraged all employees to continue that greatprogress by building on the success of this60thAnniversary year into 2015 and beyond, taking pride inbeing the Best in the Business.

Al-Sayer Group mission Statement calls for us to be the“Best in the Business” across several dimensions. This takesaccount of the view of the Company by our customers, oremployees, our suppliers and the local community, as wellof course the financial performance to give a long term,sustainable business model. The Group’s biggest achieve-ment is to have successfully built a true culture for excel-lent customer service. Al-Sayer Group is committed todelivering delightful customer experience as well asachieving customer service perfection in everything thatwe do. The Group’s mission is to “Only sell the best prod-ucts, with outstanding aftersales service”.

Al-Sayer Group Holding holds ‘Best in the

Business’ annual staff convention 2014

Group celebrates performances and events of 60th anniversary year

KUWAIT: Vice Chairman Faisal Bader Al-Sayer, Board Member Musaed Bader Al-Sayer, CEO Mubarak Naser Al-Sayer, COO Paul John Tudor Reynolds after awarding Johan Heislitz,Senior Business Director, Group Sales Division and his team.

KUWAIT: Paul John Tudor Reynolds, COO, Mubarak Naser Al-Sayer, CEO Yasumori Ihara, Executive Vice President,Toyota Motor Corporation, Bader Al-Sayer, Deputy Business Director, Lexus Koji Nagata, General Manager, ToyotaMotor Corporation, Takayuki Yoshitsugu, Chief Representative, Toyota MENARO Khalid Al-Enezi, Senior Manager -Corporate Events and Quality Assurance.

KUWAIT: Mubarak Naser Al-Sayer CEO, Sayer Bader Al-Sayer, Board Member and Paul Reynolds, COO with recipients of Chairman’s Award for “Most Trusted.”

KUWAIT: Vice Chairman Faisal Bader Al-Sayer, Board Member Musaed Bader Al-Sayer, CEO MubarakNaser Al-Sayer, COO Paul John Tudor Reynolds after awarding Ibrahim Mohamad H Al-Fouzan,Business Director, Group Service Division and his team.

KUWAIT: Chairman Naser Al-Sayer greeting the Chief GuestYasumori Ihara, Executive Vice President, Toyota MotorCorporation.

KUWAIT: Mubarak Naser Al Sayer, CEO, Faisal Bader Al Sayer,Vice Chairman, Naser Al-Sayer, Chairman Yasumori Ihara,Executive Vice President, Toyota Motor Corporation MusaedBader Al Sayer, Board Member.

KUWAIT: Al-Sayer Group Holding Employees attending the Annual Staff Convention 2014

B U S I N E S S

LONDON: A wave of risk aversion sweptthrough global markets yesterday as generalend-of-year caution and worries aboutGreece’s future in the euro zone subduedshares and lifted the safe-haven yen and gold.There was also a new 5-1/2 year low for oilprices as persistent worries about a globalsupply glut amplified the downward pressureof its pricing currency, the dollar, as it hoverednear an 8-1/2 year high.

Wall Street, where the S&P 500 notched itslatest record high on Monday, was expectedto start on the back foot after Europe’s stockmarkets spent their day firmly in red. Britain’sFTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40were down 1, 1.2 and 1.1 percent respectivelybefore US trading after a 1.6 percent drop forTokyo’s Nikkei in its final session of 2014 had

wilted Asia. But Greece’s bond yields, a proxyof the government’s borrowing costs, steadiedas investors took a relatively sanguine view ofsnap elections that are likely to empower aparty seeking to flout international bailoutterms.

The left-wing Syriza party, which opposesthe European Union/International MonetaryFund bailout, has said it wants to abandon themany of the drastic spending cuts that arecentral to Greece’s rehabilitation program.“The developments in Greece have promptedsome concerns among global investors, atleast in the near term, which is boosting safe-haven demand for the yen,” said Lee Hardmana FX strategist at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi.

“It’s probably fair to say Greece could leavethe euro and it would have less of an impact

than in 2012, but it would be dangerous,” hesaid. But if market reaction is anything to goby, investors see the threat posed by Greece tothe euro zone as far better contained than thefirst time around. The region has set up a newbanking watchdog this year and the EuropeanCentral Bank is scoping out government bondbuying.

Italy, the bloc’s third biggest economy withsome of the biggest difficulties, saw its 10-yearborrowing costs fall to a record low of under1.9 percent at auction yesterday as Spanishmarket yields also hit new lows.

The euro, held just above a 2-1/2 year lowat $1.2160 as more lacklustre bank lendingdata and fresh evidence of deflation takinghold in Spain and Italy further bolstered thecase for ECB action.

OIL SLUMPOil prices, the other big focus for world

markets at present, extended their sharprecent falls in early European trading as theydropped below $57 per barrel for the first timesince May 2009.

Having officially halved in price in the lastsix months, Brent crude fell 98 cents to $56.90after hitting $56.74 earlier in the session, whileUS crude fell 77 cents to $52.84 a barrel.

An industry group, the AmericanPetroleum Institute, is scheduled to release itsinventory report later in the day ahead of USDepartment of Energy data today.

In a cautious currency market, the yenmade sharp gains against both the dollar andeuro as investors sought the traditional safetyof the Japanese currency. As US trading gath-ered momentum it was up almost one percentat 119.45 yen to the dollar as the dollar itselfheld just below an 8-1/2 year high against six

of the world’s main currencies. Europe’s benchmark safe haven, the 10-

year German Bund , was slightly softer on daybut was heading for its biggest annual fall inyields since 2008. It was last at 0.546 percent,roughly a quarter of the 2.19 percent of USTreasuries. Gold also nudged higher but thedollar’s broad-based strength meant morepain for other commodities. Copper edgeddown to $6,280.25 a ton, after falling to itslowest level in four-and-a-half years this week.Worries about China’s economy added down-ward pressure. Growth in China’s manufactur-ing sector likely slowed to a 18-month low inDecember, a Reuters poll showed.

The yo-yoing on Russia’s markets also con-tinued as signs of fresh intervention from thecentral bank lifted the ruble 3 percent andUkraine, some of whose bonds Russia owns,said it expected to get overdue IMF loans bythe end of next month. — Reuters

Year-end caution subdues shares, lifts yen

LONDON: Brent crude oil fell to a 5-1/2-year low of less than $57 a barrel yester-day as a global supply glut outweighedconcerns of lost supply from Libya wherebattling militias have closed ports.

The North Sea oil benchmark recov-ered some ground later but was on trackfor its weakest month since the globalfinancial crisis of 2008, and traders saidthe sell-off that has halved crude pricesin six months showed no sign of comingto an end. Brent fell $1.14 a barrel to$56.74, its lowest since May 2009, beforerecovering to trade around $57.70 by1215 GMT. US crude fell 20 cents to$53.41 after hitting $52.70 - also its low-est since May 2009.

Oil markets have been heavily over-supplied this year due to increasing out-put of high quality, light oil from US shaleand lower-than-expected consumptionas a result of faltering global economicgrowth and competition from alternativefuels. Several members of theOrganization of the Petroleum ExportingCountries have suffered supply disrup-tions in recent months, but this has hadlittle impact on prices.

In Libya, clashes between rival fac-tions have closed oil ports and terminals

this month, reducing exports from theOPEC producer, which used to sell over 1million barrels per day of crude to worldmarkets, to almost nothing. OPEC, whichpumps a third of the world’s oil, hadbeen expected to trim output to try tostabilize prices, but it decided inNovember to keep productionunchanged and let the market find itsown level.

PVM Oil Associates analyst TamasVarga saw no let-up in the sell-off, saying“the bears” were in firm control of themarket. “The trend is still down and sup-ports are expected to be under pressure.It is not recommended to go against thistrend.” Reuters technical analyst WangTao said Brent may fall to $54.98 while USoil is expected to drop to $52.10.Investors awaited US inventory data. TheAmerican Petroleum Institute was sched-uled to release data yesterday while theUS Department of Energy ’s EnergyInformation Administration will issuedata on Wednesday.

A Reuters poll forecast US crudeinventories would show a drop of900,000 barrels, after a rise to their high-est recorded level for December in theweek ended on Dec. 19. — Reuters

Oil hits new low below

$57 on supply glut

LONDON: Gold rose yesterday as sliding oilprices and worries about Greece’s future inthe euro zone sparked selling of Europeanstocks while the dollar slipped against abasket of currencies.

That helped gold to recover lost groundafter prices fell 1 percent on Monday, givingup the bulk of the previous session’s sharpgains. New concerns over the euro-zoneeconomy as Greece prepares for an electionnext month also supported the metal. Spotgold was up 0.2 percent at $1,185.30 anounce by 1208 GMT, while U.S. gold futuresfor February delivery rose $3.50 an ounce to$1,185.40.

“The first couple of weeks of next yearwill be interesting,” Simon Weeks, head ofprecious metals at the Bank of Nova Scotia,said. “The year-end pressure on the down-side from producer selling will be out of theway and it will be interesting to see whethergold starts to rally above $1,200 on the backof disenchantment with the economicrecovery. “The oil price continues to comedown and gold prices have come down,too, but they haven’t collapsed. I think that’spartly because people are mistrustful of theeconomic and geopolitical situation.”

European shares fell 0.5 percent, led by

energy companies as Brent crude oil futuresfell to a 5-1/2 year low on persistent worriesabout a global supply glut. Among curren-cies, the dollar index fell 0.2 percent, hurt bystrength in the yen as investors sought thetraditional safety of the Japanese currencyamid end-of-year nerves over economicrisks ahead. For the year, gold is down about1.5 percent, hurt by a stronger dollar andexpectations of an interest rate rise in theUnited States.

Gold slumped 28 percent in 2013 asinvestor demand waned on the back of arobust US economy and better-yieldingstocks. Many analysts have forecast moredeclines in gold prices. Some physical buy-ing in China helped to support gold prices.Premiums in Shanghai were steady at about$4 an ounce yesterday.

“Interest in Asian trade today came onceagain out of China, helping the metal to asession high of $1,189.75 as $1,190 looks toform a short term resistance,” precious met-als house MKS said in a note.

Among other precious metals, silver wasup 0.4 percent at $15.81 an ounce while spotplatinum gained 0.5 percent to $1,1198.25an ounce and spot palladium rose 0.7 per-cent to $811 an ounce. — Reuters

Gold rises as year-end

jitters rattle stocks

TOKYO: A man reads a book in front of an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyoyesterday. Asian stocks were mostly lower as concern about Greek politics and the shakyRussian ruble dented confidence in the global economy. — AP

B U S I N E S S

KUWAIT: Banking system in Kuwait is one of the most devel-oped amongst its GCC peers with a credit penetration rate of72 percent by 2013, compared to around 59 percent for itsGCC benchmark. This in turn implies promising growthpotentials for the sector as credit and default risk normalizes.

Kuwaiti banks have fared well amid the hostile operatingconditions, maintaining their adequate financial standingand continuing to grow at satisfactory levels. Kuwaiti bankshad a robust capital adequacy with a CAR of 18.9 percent in2013 compared to GCC average of around 18 percent.

The largest risk factor to sector earnings remains to bethe high level of provisioning & impairments. System-wideasset quality indicators have seen gradual improvementover the period 2010-2013 as Kuwait banks’ NPLs to grossloans considerably improved to 4.7 percent at end-2013,down from its peak in 2009 of 10.3 percent, yet still some-how below its GCC benchmark NPL ratio of around 3.8 per-cent at the end of 2013. As well, Kuwaiti banks managed toimprove their coverage of NPLs over the last 3 years to reach111 percent by the end of 2013.

Kuwait Banking system overall NIM has been on thedecline over the last 5 years to reach 3.3 percent in 2013down from 3.6 percent in 2008. Nevertheless, total NetInterest Income (NII) saw a gradual yet slight improvementover the same period, to grow by a CAGR of 4.1 percent,driven by the higher lending volumes.

Macro-economic drivers Kuwait has the 4th largest economy in the GCC region

with a GDP of KD 49.8 billion as of 2013. In real terms, GDPgrowth is still subdued owing to the sluggish economic con-ditions across the globe. On the other hand, the Bankingsystem in Kuwait is one of the most developed amongst itsGCC peers with a credit penetration rate of 72 percent by2013, compared to around 59 percent for its GCC bench-mark. This in turn implies promising growth potentials forthe sector as credit and default risk normalizes and banksrelax their lending policies.

Kuwait Interbank rates followed the same downwardtrend as global benchmarks since the onset of the financialcrisis back in 2008, when central banks across the globe cutthe benchmark rates to the lowest levels ever, in response totight liquidity environment. As well, KIBOR-LIBOR spread hassomehow widened over the same period, reflecting thehigher perceived risk in the local economy.

Macroeconomic background Surrounded by an unusual global, regional and domestic

environment, Kuwaiti banks have fared well amid the hostileoperating conditions that have been prevailing across allmarkets, maintaining their adequate financial standing andcontinuing to grow at relatively lower but still satisfactorylevels.

The high liquidity level of the Kuwaiti Banks along withthe effective and prudent measures set by the central bankrepresents a crucial point for the banks in mitigating theeffects of the tight market conditions and low operatingactivities. However, the pre-emptive measures taken bybanks to increase their reserve level has been weighingdown on bottom line results. Moreover, the main concernfor the sector lies in the amount and timing of additionalprovisions that banks are expected to take as they aim toincrease their general/specific provision.

Asset structure System-wide assets base has grown at a compounded

annual rate of 6.3 percent over the last 6 years, to stand atKWD 58.3 billion as of Dec-2013. Despite that the annualgrowth seen over that period is still far below the remark-able historical averages, owing to the slow progress in thecredit side, it is noticeable that the rate of growth has beenrising steadily since 2009; this implies that a healthy recov-ery is gradually taking place in Banking system in Kuwait.

Loans Portfolio & Market Share On the lending front, Kuwaiti Banks’ loans portfolio stood

at KWD 36.3 billion, growing by a compound annual rate of4.8 percent over the last five years. On the other hand, arecovery in the quality of the loans is apparent, where NPLsis on the decline since 2009 to represent around 4.7 percentof gross loans as of 2013.

The Banking sector in Kuwait has a concentration in theloan portfolio with the top four banks controlling around77.3 percent of the loan market as of Dec-2013. NBK retainsthe largest loan portfolio or around 30.7 percent of the sys-tem aggregate, followed by Kuwait Finance House, Burganbank and Gulf Bank, with a respective loan market share ofaround 24.6 percent, 11.8 percent and 10.2 percent as ofDec-2013.

Concerns over the previous years were centered into theexposure to Real Estate and Investment Sectors being theprime reason for the high level of Banks’ NPLs, provisioningexpenses and impairments. The sectoral analysis of Banks’credit shows that Kuwaiti Banks remain to be highlyexposed to these two troubled sectors, however, the com-bined exposure to RE and Investment Companies droppedto 38.5 percent by 2013 from a high of 44.3 percent as ofDec-09, as banks refrained from granting additional creditfacilities to these sectors and at the same offered debtrestructuring to some of the companies. Moreover, theexposure to the RE and Investment Sectors have furtherdropped as of Sep-2014 to reach around 37.1 percent of thetotal loan book.

Moreover, it is to be noted that this ongoing process ofreducing the exposure and credit concentration to specificsectors was predominately obvious for the InvestmentSector in which the Banks’ exposure dropped from 11.5 per-cent in 2009 to 4.9 percent as of Sep-2014; whereas theexposure to RE and Construction Sector remains at a highlevel of around 32.2 percent as of Sep-2014 which entails ahigh level of prudence and precautionary measures.

Evolution in sector’s customer base Total customer deposits showed a compounded annual

growth of 7.4 percent over the last 5-year period, to stand atKD 36.6 billion by the end of 2013, up from KD 25.7 billion asof Dec-08. Despite the fact that growth in deposits is stillunmatched compared to historical levels, the magnitude ofthe growth in deposits has gradually picked up over the lastthree years as the rise in oil prices has triggered the growthin the local economy.

Total deposits of the Banking Sector remain concentrat-

ed with the top 4 banks controlling around 79 percent of theaggregate deposit base. NBK and KFH are by far the biggestbanks in Kuwait, where NBK holds the biggest portion ofdeposits of around 32 percent, followed by KFH by around25.7 percent; whereas, Burgan bank and Gulf bank togetherhave around 21.4 percent of the aggregate sector depositsas of Dec-2013.

Funding structure Deposits from customers make up the major portion of

the funding base for Kuwaiti Banks, representing around72.2 percent by the end of 2013. In terms of deposit base bycategory, Kuwaiti banks have a relatively high-cost depositbase as Interest bearing time & saving deposits account foraround 70 percent of total customer deposits. On the otherhand, government and government-related entities’deposits account for 14 percent by the end of 2013, whichgrant additional strength to Banks’ funding base.

Sector’s loans to deposits ratio Banks’ risk averseness on the lending front along with a

low risk-adjusted return opportunities in the market and apickup in economy activities have resulted in higher growthmagnitude in deposit base vis-a-vis loans volume, henceultimately leading into lower loans to deposit ratio acrossthe sector.

The ratio of loans to deposits stood at 74.1 percent as ofDec-2013, down from around 80 percent back in 2008-2009and fairly below historical average ratio. However, this pro-vides Banks with a room for future expansion as market andeconomic conditions bounce back to normal levels; this isparticularly true for large banks as they have the lowest L/Dratio among the industry and relative to historical levels.

By all standards, the Banking Sector in Kuwait is highlyconcentration with the top few Banks controlling the majori-ty of loans and deposits. The biggest two banks, NBK andKFH controls more than half the portion of the sector’saggregate size, whereas the relatively mid-sized banks,namely Burgan Bank, Gulf Bank, and Commercial Bank ofKuwait together correspond to around 28 percent of theSector’s loans & deposits base.

Kuwaiti banks are characterized by a robust capital ade-quacy with Tier 1 capital and total capital ratios showingsteady improvement over the last 5 years. After reaching alow of 15.6 percent in 2008, down from 19.3 percent, totalcapital ratio for local banks gradually increased to reach 18.9percent at the end of FY-2013. More importantly, Kuwaitbanks maintained a solid equity base and their equity-to-assets ratio is considered relatively high at around 12.3 per-cent by the end of 2013. Having said that, Kuwait possessesa well maintained and stable banking system that, with theproactive role of the CBK, makes it the prime and mostsecure sector.

The historical analysis of individual local banks’ capitalbase shows that all of the banks are amply capitalized withthe top tier banks having a CAR ranging between 17 percentto 19 percent, which is far above the 12 percent minimumregulatory ratio set by the CBK. Furthermore, banks have avery high Tier 1 capital ratio ranging between 15 percentand 17 percent for top banks, except for Burgan bank at 10percent. Given this high level of capital adequacy, the imple-mentation of Basel III will not have a material impact onbanks.

Profitability & Efficiency In broad term, the banking sector reported a compound-

ed annual growth of 11.4 percent in net profit over the last5-year period, despite the marginal annual drops seen inprofitability during FY 2011 & FY 2013, owing to theincreased level of provisions & impairments taken by themajority of the banks and the low interest rate context pre-vailing in the market. The last three years were characterizedby a high cost of risk for banks in which the level of provi-sions has followed an upward trajectory. This was particular-ly true for large banks where the total amount of provisionsand impairments taken by the top 4 banks (NBK, KFH,Burgan, and Gulf Bank) amounted to 618 Million or around88 percent of the total sector provisions for loan losses andimpairments during FY 2013 which amounted to KD 706million. On top of that, the overall tough operating atmos-phere characterized by the slow-moving economic condi-

tions and ensuing pressures on fee income generation aswell as interest margins and spreads ultimately lead to stag-nation in bottom line results for most of the banks, andtherefore lower return levels.

A rebound in return measures was not seen so far inKuwait and the sector performance is still viewed to be faraway from the soaring performance witnessed before thefinancial crisis. In this context, the overall core profitabilityratios as measured by the Return on Average Equity (ROAE)and Return on Average Asset (ROAA) are still at the low endstanding at 0.9 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively, for FY2013. Moreover, the comparative regional analysis showsthat the sector’s ROAA and ROAE are underperforming rela-tive to its GCC benchmarks and are far below the respectiveoverall average of 1.8 percent and 12.8 percent for the year2013. Such a contracted level of profitability ratios mainlyowes to the high level of general and specific provisions thatbanks have been taking since the onset of the financial crisisas the bad debt burden remains a concern for banks despitethe significant write-offs of NPLs and the substantial restruc-turing of problematic assets.

As well, on the operational level, it is to be noted that thepressurized interest margins, spreads and net operatingmargins contributed to the overall contraction in returnratios for Kuwaiti banks as it is the case in the regional andglobal markets.

A standstill in key margins Within the framework of an obstinately low interest rate

environment putting pressure on spreads and interest mar-gins, Kuwait Banking System overall NIM has been on thedecline over the last 5 years to reach 3.3 percent in 2013down from 3.6 percent in 2008. Nevertheless, total NetInterest Income (NII) saw a gradual yet slight improvementover the same period, to grow by a CAGR of 4.1 percent,driven by the higher lending volumes.

In the same context, interest spread followed the sametrend to reach 3.4 percent in 2013 down from a high of 3.8percent in 2008, as the drop in interest rates had a greaterimpact on the yield on earnings assets than on the fundingcost, with the latter currently standing at a near to theground level of 1.1 percent, down from 3.8 percent in 2008,or around 270 bps; whereas yield on earnings assetsdropped by around 310 bps over the same period.

Challenging operational activities On the back of subdued economic conditions, low bro-

kerage activities and low income growth from core business,total operating income of the sector recorded KWD 2.28Billion in FY 2013, growing at a CAGR of 3.9 percent over theperiod 2008-2013, compared to a historical average growthof around 26 percent between 2004-2008. While on the oth-er hand, amid an increasingly inflationary cost environmentand in line with banks’ expansionary strategies, sector over-all operating expenses increased by a compounded annualrate of 9.1 percent over the last 5-year period to recordaround KWD 1 Billion in 2013. Accordingly, sector’s cost toincome ratio has gradually increased to reach 43.1 percent in2013 as compared to a ratio of 37.8 percent in 2009 and anaverage ratio of around 30 percent over the period 2004-2008.

Net Interest Income (NII) represents the largest contribu-tor to operating income for Kuwaiti banks, generatingaround two-third of the system operating revenues. Overthe last 5 years, NII as a proportion of total operating incomedropped to around 63 percent in 2013, down from 66.4 per-cent in 2009, mainly owing to the tight interest margins andspreads. As well, the share of fees & commission income tototal income has followed the same declining trend, to nowrepresent around 14.5 percent down from 16.2 percent in2009. Having said that, the contribution of Other Incomejumped from 17.3 percent in 2009 to reach 22.6 percent in2013, on the back of improved return from investment activ-ities and higher FX gains.

In general, the change in the contribution by key incomegenerating activities for Kuwaiti banks is mainly attributableto the sluggish domestic as well as regional macro-econom-ic environment confining the growth in interest income andfees & commission’s income mainly during 2011-2012. This isin addition to the strict policies by banks in extending highquality loans in order to avoid further increase in NPLs andhence more provisioning. Such a situation, along with thepickup in equity market performance during that period,have led to a considerable increase non-interest income(mainly from investments) which grew by 19.2 percent and17.6 percent in FY 2011-2012. However, it’s worth notingthat the growth rates in fees & commission income and NIIhave progressively increased over the last 2 years, indicatinga restoration is taking place in core activities of the sector.

Soundness of the banking System System-wide asset quality indicators have seen gradual

improvement over the period 2010-2013, after nearing theworst point of the cycle when non-performing loansreached a high of KD 3 billion on an aggregate level forKuwaiti Banks. Over the last four-year period, the size of

non-performing loans dropped significantly by around 43percent to reach around KD1.70 billion by the end of 2013.Accordingly, the ratio of banks’ NPLs to gross loans consid-erably improved to 4.7 percent at end-2013, down from itspeak in 2009 of 10.3 percent, yet still somehow below itsGCC benchmark NPL ratio of around 3.8 percent at the endof 2013.

In terms of loan-loss coverage, and as banks strived tomaintain a high level of precautionary reserve against thebounce in NPLs and the high risk of default, the Kuwaitibanks managed to improve their coverage of NPLs over thelast 3 years to reach 111 percent by the end of 2013.Moreover, it worth highlighting that Kuwait has currentlythe second highest NPL ratio after Saudi Arabia of 156 per-cent, and above the Aggregate GCC banks’ NPL coverage ofaround 99 percent at end-2013. On an individual level, themajority of the Kuwaiti banks have currently a high level ofNPL coverage ratio, apart from Kuwait Finance House and

Kuwait International Bank with a ratio of 59 percent and 53percent, respectively, well below the sector average. As forGulf Bank, the loan-loss coverage is almost close to the 100percent level, yet it worth mentioning that the bank wasable to improve the ratio from a low of 36 percent in 2010to 95 percent in 2013.

Balance sheet size Kuwait banking sector total assets stood at KD 64.7bn as

of Sep-2014, recording a growth of 10.9 percent as com-pared to year-end 2013 asset size. The growth is mainlycoming from NBK and KFH with together added KD 4.9bil-lion or around three-quarter of the growth in the sector’sgrowth. Similarly, total liabilities grew 11.7 percent to standat KD 58.9 billion, whereas total equity added 4.1 percent toreach around KD7.2 billion as of Sep-2014.

In terms of the sector profitability, overall operatingincome before loan-loss provisions grew by a marginal 0.7percent for the 9M-2014 period to record KD 1.67billion,while net profit showed an increase of 18.9 percent for thesame period to record KD 491 million compared to KD 413million for the last comparable period. This improved prof-itability mainly owes to lower amount of provision expens-es by banks for the nine-month period of 2014.

Lagging behind GCC benchmark As compared to GCC banking sector overall perform-

ance over the last five years, Kuwait had the lowest growthrates by all standards except that profitability growth levelduring that period showed above sector growth, owing tothe huge recovery in Net Profit during 2009-2010, when theperformance of its GCC peers was still in the negative terri-tory. However, over the last 3-year period, Kuwait bankingsector’s Net Profit dropped by an average of 2.6 percent,while the growth in overall GCC banking sector was around13.7 percent. Similarly, with reference to the sector size andfunding base, the growth in overall Kuwaiti banks’ loanportfolio and deposit base lagged behind that of the GCCbenchmark over the same period to grow by a 5-year aver-age rate of 4.8 percent & 7.4 percent, respectively, com-pared to a growth of 8 percent and 10.8 percent for the GCCbanks.

Size of the GCC banking sector Growth in aggregate total assets of the GCC banking

sector has been on the upside since 2009, to register aCAGR of 9 percent over the period 200-2013 and stand at$1.56 trillion by the end of Dec-2013. Assets growth is stillfar below the historical average of around 28 percent overthe 2004-2008 period, owing to the sluggish growth in theloans portfolio as well as the high level of reserve for NPLsand the mark-market of the trading portfolio.

GCC banks’ has low level of credit penetration rate with aloan to GDP ratio of 59 percent as of Dec-2013, which givesan indication of a high long-term growth potential as creditand default risk revert back to normal levels. On a countrylevel, Saudi and Oman banking sectors have the lowestcredit penetration rates as compared to other GCC peersand to overall GCC banking sector, whereas Bahrain has thehighest rate of 152 percent as of 2013.

GCC Banks’ deposit base has grown by a compoundedannual growth of 10.8 percent over the period 2008-2013 tocurrently stand at $1.1 trillion. However, given the overalleconomic conditions prevailing during that period accom-panied by a rising risk of default and a high level of non-performing loans, banks have adopted a more stringentlending measures in order to avoid further deterioration inthe Banks’ asset quality; as a result, aggregate size of GCCBanks’ loan portfolio grew by a lower rate compared todeposits, or by a compounded annual growth of 8 percentover the same period. Therefore, implying a decline in loansto deposit ratio and hence improved liquidity.

In terms of market share of loans and deposits by coun-try, the concentration remains with Saudi and UAE Bankswhich represent the major players in the industry andtogether corresponds to around 63 percent of the sector’saggregate loan portfolio and 64 percent of the customerdeposit base. On the other hand, the size of the bankingsector in Qatar and Kuwait comes in the 3rd and 4th place,respectively, having a combined market share of 29 percent& 28 percent in term of loans & deposits.

Capital adequacy GCC Banks’ capitalization metrics remained healthy and

steady across all countries owing to the effective and pru-dent regulations by the central banks in the GCC as well asto the sustainable growth rate in Banks’ equity capital overthe last few years. With this ample level of capitalization,GCC banks are well equipped to further expand their coreoperating activities and at the same time to absorb anypotential shocks that might arise in the future given thecurrent macroeconomic conditions.

In general, the GCC banking sector has been operatingin a challenging environment, with a high level of provi-sions and impairments. Net profit for the sector reached alow of $15.3 billion in 2009, to then start its recovery byposting healthy growth rates . It was only in 2011 when thesector total profit exceeded the highest level recorded in2007. Over the last four years, Net Profit grew by an averagerate of 14.5 percent to currently stand at $26.1 billion.Nevertheless, the average growth rate is still below the out-standing historical levels owing to the weak economic con-ditions prevailing in the global as well as regional markets.

On the other hand, GCC overall banks’ core profitabilityratios, return on average assets and return on average equi-ty have stabilized at around 1.8 percent and 12.8 percent,respectively, over the last three-year period after showing amarginal recovery from their lowest levels of 1.5 percentand 11.5 percent in FY-2009. ROAA and ROAE are still waybelow the pre-crisis outstanding historical average seen ofaround 2.9 percent and 22.5 percent for the 2004-2008 peri-od.

Return on asset and return on equity for the bankingsystem in the GCC region have shown some volatility insome countries as banks increased their capital to maintaina certain adequacy level, while net income was still pres-sured by the high amount of provisioning. On a countrybasis, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have the highest levels ofreturn on asset and return on equity and well above theGCC overall average; whereas, Kuwait and Bahrain bothhave below GCC benchmark average.

Kuwait banking sector grew 10.9% in 2014

Total assets stood at KD 64.7bn as of September 2014

KMACO ECONOMIC REPORT

B U S I N E S S

KUWAIT: With the objective to meet the expanding needsof its customers, Al Muzaini Exchange Co, Kuwait’s leadingExchange and Remittance Company, recently announcedthe launch of its 64th branch, located in Sabah Al NasserCo-op. The branch was officially inaugurated by AlMuzaini’s Deputy General Manager, Ali Al-Fajhan.

Al Muzaini Exchange has increased its footprint acrossthe country by being critically placed at convenient loca-tions such as one stop shop Co-op’s and in other commer-cial areas to support its customer’s efficient and quicktransfers. In addition to the newly inaugurated branch inSabah Al Nasser Co-op, and in effort to provide furtherconvenience on all levels, Al Muzaini also guarantees amobile van express that is equipped to undertake transac-tions in areas where there is little or no accessibility.

Al Muzaini Exchange Company, a pioneer and leader inthe foreign exchange business in Kuwait for over 70 yearsnow with network branches that spans currently through64 branches located across Kuwait. To ensure customer sat-isfaction, arrival and departure sections of the KuwaitInternational airport and the Sheikh Saad airport guaran-tee 24 hours 7 days a week full service.

Al Muzaini Exchange Company provides customers abroad range of banking services and offers which includeissuing checks and collection of checks drawn on foreignbanks and the sale and purchase of foreign currencies andremittances (to all parts of the world through a network ofinternational banks), as well as benefitting from DHL relat-ed services and Western Union’s varied services that are onoffer.

Al Muzaini Exchange Co opens 64th

branch in Sabah Al-Nasser Co-opKUWAIT: United Industries Company KSC (Public)-UIC - announced that it has officially delisted fromthe Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), following approvalfrom the concerned authorities. KAMCO InvestmentCompany KSC (Public)-KAMCO- disclosed the suc-cess of its advisory role with respect to UIC voluntar-ily delisting.

Sheikh Khalifa Al-Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, UICChairman, said, “This decision was taken in line withour cautious approach and the safety measures wetake to protect our UIC shareholders, and based onthe study conducted by our financial advisor, KAM-CO.

He added that this decision will not impact thetransparency approach with UIC’s shareholders.Moreover, UIC will continue to hold its annual“Shafafiyah” Investors’ Forum which is held by KIP-CO Group companies in the interest of transparen-cy.

The chairman pointed that UIC’s stock turnoverrate was around 9.9 percent in 2013 (stock turnoverrate from the beginning of this year till 25 December2014 was around 13.4 percent). Further to that,stock value in the KSE declined in 2012 and 2013.This, he said, was not in the interest of the companyor its shareholders, considering that the book valueper share is greater than its market value.

KAMCO’s advisory was strongly backed by thevarious reports and studies conducted by KAMCO’sskilled research team which reflected the continu-ous fluctuations in the local and regional markets inthe past years as well as the hesitant economic envi-ronment worldwide.

Sheikh Khalifa A. Al Sabah expressed his grati-tude to KAMCO’s team for their professional role asthe financial advisor in UIC’s delisting from the KSE.He also thanked the Capital Markets Authority,Kuwait Stock Exchange, Kuwait Clearing Companyand the shareholders for their support in makingthis a successful and smooth process.

UIC was established in 1979 and listed on the KSEin 1997. The company’s core activities lie within theinvestment and establishment of industrial compa-nies and others that complete its operational activi-ties. The company invests in the local and regionalindustrial sector and holds a diverse investmentportfolio that focuses on the energy, food, and basicmaterial industries sectors. UIC’s capital is KD 49.5million as at 30 September 2014.

UIC voluntarily delists from KSE

Sheikh Khalifa Al-Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, UICChairman

KUWAIT: Mercedes-Benz is the pioneer of automotivesafety. No other car manufacturer carries out such inten-sive research in this field and has introduced many crucialinnovations into the market, many of which havebecome a standard in automobiles over the years. Eversince the invention of the motor car in 1886, Mercedes-Benz, together with its precursor brands, has been instru-mental in the development of active and passive safety,setting one new benchmark after another in the process.

The very first vehicle with exemplary road safety wasdeveloped back in the 1900’s by Wilhelm Maybach, andwas known as the Mercedes 35 HP. Contributing factorswere the long wheelbase, low centre of gravity, theengine bolted to the frame and the wide track. Between1921 and 1931, Mercedes-Benz passenger car modelswere equipped with front wheel brakes, hydraulic brak-ing systems and independent front and rear suspensionwith swing axles.

By 1958, Mercedes-Benz had created several patentson safety features, such as conical-pin safety door lock,wedge-pin door lock and safety body with rigid passen-ger cell and crumple zones.

One year later, Mercedes-Benz strengthened its com-mitment to safety measures with the start of systematiccrash testing and the use of dummies. Since then, a num-ber of safety features have been introduced in allMercedes-Benz passenger cars. These include: discbrakes and dual-circuit braking systems, safety steeringsystems with telescopic steering columns and impactabsorbers, ABS anti-lock braking systems, the world’s firstdriver airbag, rain sensors and xenon lights, the world’sfirst BAS Brake Assist System, the ABC (Active BodyControl) active suspension, head/thorax side airbags,Electronic Stability Program ESP, DISTRONIC PLUS, BrakeAssist BAS PLUS, Night View Assist, Blind Spot Assist andmany more.

Intelligent Drive Avoid accidents and mitigate their consequences -

this is the integrated approach adopted by Mercedes-Benz Accident Research under the heading “Real Life

Safety”. In 2013, Mercedes-Benz systematically pursuedthis strategy with numerous new assistance systems andgreatly enhanced functions. Comfort and safety areenhanced at the same time. Mercedes-Benz calls this“Intelligent Drive”. The new functions all rely on the samesensor system, comprising a new stereo camera togetherwith multistage radar sensors.

New assistance systems and those with notablyenhanced functionality are: DISTRONIC PLUS withSteering Assist and Stop&Go Pilot which takes the bur-den off the driver when it comes to lane guidance and isalso able to follow vehicles in traffic jams automatically,Brake Assist system BAS PLUS with Cross-Traffic Assistwhich is able to detect crossing traffic and pedestrianstoo, Active Lane Keeping Assist which can detect whenthe adjacent lane is occupied, especially by oncoming

traffic, and reduce the risk of the vehicle leaving its laneunintentionally by applying the brakes on one side,Adaptive Highbeam Assist Plus which allows the high-beam headlamps to be kept on permanently withoutdazzling traffic, Night View Assist Plus which can alert thedriver to the potential danger posed by pedestrians oranimals in unlit areas in front of the vehicle, ATTENTION

ASSIST which can warn of inattentiveness and drowsi-ness, and the new PRE-SAFE functions (PRE-SAFE Brake,PRE-SAFE PLUS, PRE-SAFE Impulse) which help to pre-vent collisions with pedestrians and vehicles in front incity traffic, defuse dangerous situations caused by trafficbehind and enhance the protection offered by the seatbelts.

In 2014, Mercedes-Benz created the QR code sticker,which gives emergency services direct access to a vehi-

cle-specific rescue card in case of an accident. In additionto this, Mercedes-Benz introduced the enhanced assis-tance system COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST PLUS in thecompact class model family. This extends the functionali-ty of COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST by the addition ofautonomous braking to reduce the risk of rear-end colli-sions.

“There is no doubt Mercedes-Benz has played a sig-nificant role in the development of automotive safetysystems and it continues to make our driving experi-ence safer and more comfortable every day. Mercedes-Benz offers the best or nothing in the automotiveindustry and we are proud to be the authorisedGeneral Distributer of this brand in Kuwait,” saidMichael Ruehle, CEO Abdul Rahman Albisher & ZaidAlkazemi Company.

Innovation as a traditionMany decades of protection for occupants from Mercedes-Benz

t e c hnolo g yWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 31, 2014

WASHINGTON/BOSTON: US investiga-tors believe that North Korea likely hiredhackers from outside the country tohelp with last month’s massive cyberat-tack against Sony Pictures, an officialclose to the investigation said onMonday.

As North Korea lacks the capability toconduct some elements of the sophisti-cated campaign by itself, the officialsaid, US investigators are looking at thepossibility that Pyongyang “contractedout” some of the cyber work. The officialwas not authorized to speak on therecord about the investigation.

The attack on Sony Pictures is regard-ed to be the most destructive against acompany on U.S. soil because the hack-ers not only stole huge quantities ofdata, but also wiped hard drives andbrought down much of the studio’s net-

work for more than a week.While U.S. officials investigate

whether North Korea enlisted help fromoutside contractors, the FBI stood by itsprevious statement that Pyongyang wasthe prime author of the attack againstthe Sony Corp unit. “The FBI has con-cluded the Government of North Koreais responsible for the theft and destruc-tion of data on the network of SonyPictures Entertainment,” the FederalBureau of Investigation said in a state-ment to Reuters.

North Korea has denied that it wasbehind the Sony attack and has vowedto hit back against any US retaliation.The people who claimed responsibilityfor the hack have said on Internet post-ings that they were incensed by theSony Pictures film “The Interview,” acomedy about a fictional assassination

of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.Because of the hackers’ threats, major

U.S. cinema chains refused to show thefilm. Last week, Sony struck deals withsome 320 independent theaters to dis-tribute “The Interview” and also madethe film available online.

BLAMING NORTH KOREASome private security experts have

begun to question whether Pyongyangwas behind the Sony cyberattack at all.For instance, consulting firm Taia Globalsaid the results of a linguistic analysis ofcommunications from the suspectedhackers suggest they were more likelyfrom Russia than North Korea.Cybersecurity firm Norse said it suspectsa Sony insider might have helped launchthe attack.

“I think the government acted pre-

maturely in announcing unequivocallythat it was North Korea before the inves-tigation was complete,” said Mark Rasch,a former federal cybercrimes prosecutor.“There are many theories about who didit and how they did it. The governmenthas to be pursuing all of them.” The FBIsaid its determination that North Koreawas behind the hack was based on infor-mation from a variety of sources, includ-ing intelligence sources, the U.S.Department of Homeland Security, for-eign partners and the private sector.

“There is no credible information toindicate that any other individual isresponsible for this cyber incident,” theagency said.

Kevin Mandia, whose security firmwas hired by Sony to investigate theattack, said the only way to know whothe culprits are is to trace the network

traffic from the infected machines backto the hackers’ machines. Only the gov-ernment and Internet service providershave that kind of visibility, he added. “Idon’t have the data that they have tocome up with that conclusion,” Mandia,chief operating officer of FireEye Inc ,said in a video interview with Reuters.

“Every attack loops through numer-ous machines,” he said. “You have topeel that onion all the way back. It isn’tan easy thing to do.”

Mandia, who has supervised investi-gations into some of the world’s biggestcyberattacks, said the Sony case wasunprecedented.

“Nobody expected when somebodybreaks in to absolutely destroy all yourdata, or try to anyway, and that’s justsomething that no one else has seen,” hesaid.—Reuters

US suspects North Korea had help attacking Sony Pictures

BEIJING: In this March 23, 2010 file photo, a security guard walks past while foreign visitors are seen inside the Google China headquarters inBeijing. Connections to Google Inc.’s popular email service have been blocked in China amid efforts by the government to limit access to thecompany’s services. —AP

BEIJING: Google Inc’s Gmail was blocked inChina after months of disruptions to the world’sbiggest email service, with an anti-censorshipadvocate suggesting the Great Firewall was toblame.

Large numbers of Gmail Web addresses werecut off in China on Friday, said GreatFire.org, aChina-based freedom of speech advocacygroup. Users said the service was still down onMonday.

“I think the government is just trying to fur-ther eliminate Google’s presence in China andeven weaken its market overseas,” said a mem-ber of GreatFire.org, who uses a pseudonym.

Google’s own Transparency Report, whichshows real-time traffic to Google services, dis-played a sharp drop-off in traffic to Gmail fromChina on Friday.

“We’ve checked and there’s nothing wrongon our end,” a Singapore-based spokesman forGoogle said in an email. In Washington, the USState Department expressed concern overChina’s actions.

“We encourage China to be transparent in its

dealings with international companies and toconsider the market signal it sends with suchacts,” State Department spokesman Jeff Rathkesaid.

Almost all of Google’s services have beenheavily disrupted in China since June this year,but until last week Gmail users could still accessemails downloaded via protocols like IMAP,SMTP and POP3. These had let people communi-cate using Gmail on apps like the Apple iPhone’sMail and Microsoft Outlook. China maintainstight control over the Internet, nipping in thebud any signs of dissent or challenges to the rul-ing Communist Party’s leadership.

The country is host to the world’s mostsophisticated internet censorship mechanism,known as the Great Firewall of China. Critics sayChina has stepped up its disruption of foreignonline services like Google over the past year tocreate an Internet cut off from the rest of theworld.

The Google disruption began in the run-up tothe 25th anniversary of the government’sbloody crackdown on pro-democracy demon-

strators around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square onJune 4, 1989.

Gmail’s setback could make email communi-cation difficult for companies operating in China,said GreatFire. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokes-woman Hua Chunying said she did not knowanything about Gmail being blocked, addingthat the government was committed to provid-ing a good business environment for foreigninvestors.

“China has consistently had a welcoming andsupportive attitude towards foreign investorsdoing legitimate business here,” she said. “Wewill, as always, provide an open, transparent andgood environment for foreign companies inChina.”

One popular way to get around China’s inter-net censorship is to use a Virtual Private Network( VPN), which allows unhindered access toblocked sites and services.

“Using a VPN seems to be the only answer todoing anything these days online in China,” saidZach Smith, a Beijing-based digital productsmanager at City Weekend magazine. —Reuters

Google’s Gmail blocked in China

iPhone user tries to go back to BlackBerry

By Scott Mayerowitz

NEW YORK: The BlackBerry’s blinking redlight used to haunt me. Just when Ithought I could relax, enjoy a nice dinner orgo for a run, my BlackBerry would startblinking again, signaling a new message. Iwas an addict. Typing with one hand, hid-ing the BlackBerry under the dinner table?No problem. Walking down the street whilecomposing messages? Easy. That was fouryears ago.

Today, I’m a loyal iPhone user, havingjust bought my second phone from Apple. Iget my personal and work email on it. I alsouse it to tweet - maybe too much - andshare photos of my travels on Instagram.My airline boarding passes and hotel reser-vations live on my phone. As a travelreporter, it’s an indispensable tool for mywork - not so much for the email but for allthe apps that help me manage my trips. Itfeels like a mobile office for me. This pastweek, I went back to my BlackBerry ways totest the company’s latest model, theClassic.

For BlackBerry, this device is a return toits roots: It’s made for those heavy corpo-rate users who love the physical keyboardand have resisted the touch screens adopt-ed by millions of iPhone and Android users.The Classic has strong security features,restores the beloved navigation row andsports a battery that won’t be drained bylunch. I can see how the Classic is a greatdevice for loyal BlackBerry fans. My friendHeather Montminy practically jumped outof her chair to try the Classic when she sawme testing it during dinner last week withour respective spouses. Montminy is alawyer who has been using a BlackBerry for12 years and carries two phones: an iPhonefor her personal use and a BlackBerry forwork.

“I’m excited for any new BlackBerry. Iwas really concerned that they were goingto phase out the keyboard,” Montminy says.“I feel like I can get a business email donemuch faster and more efficiently.” She saysshe’s not great at typing on a touch screenand often finds herself making mistakesand having to go back and fix them. Thatmight be fine in a message to friends butnot on an important work email.

But after four years on the iPhone, I

don’t think the Classic is for me. I also don’tbelieve it’s going to sway back anybodywho has abandoned the BlackBerry. To behonest, I’ve become very good at typingemails on my touch screen. And I’m nocasual user.

I send and receive a whopping 500emails a day. Many are public relationspitches that only require a word or two inreply. But for many others, I will easilyrespond with a few paragraphs on myiPhone. In fact, I will often write large sec-tions of my stories on my iPhone while rid-ing the subway or sitting on planes prior totakeoff. The only big downside for me iscopying and pasting.

Going back to a physical keyboard thispast week turned out to be cumbersome.Yes, I liked that while in another program,the BlackBerry gave me a little banner uptop announcing the sender of a new email.And, to be honest, that blinking red lightwas, in a strange way, comforting. But Iwasn’t typing any faster with the physicalkeyboard.

Beyond that, photos aren’t as good aswhat I can take with the iPhone. Bothphones produce 8 megapixel pictures, butimages taken with the Classic weren’t assharp.

More importantly, BlackBerry lacks sev-eral apps I’ve come to depend on. TheClassic will run some Android apps throughAmazon’s app store, but it’s a subset ofwhat’s available for Android. It doesn’t evenrun everything that would run on Amazon’sFire phone. Apps need to be tweaked forthe phone’s 3.5-inch screen (The display issmaller than most phones because thephysical keyboard takes up much of thebottom).

There’s no Instagram, no Uber car serv-ice and no ability to easily pull up my air-line boarding pass. With my iPhone, I canget my boarding pass and add it toPassbook. It’s there as I get to the securitycheckpoint - no fumbling around emailfolders or hoping there is a strong enoughcell signal to download the image fresh.

Maybe if I never got a taste of theiPhones and all the apps available for it, I’dbe first in line for a Classic. But BlackBerrytook too long to modernize its system, andin that time, I’ve gotten used to the touchscreen.—AP

NEW YORK: In this Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014, file photo, BlackBerry’s new BlackBerryClassic phone appears on display during a news conference. BlackBerry’s new Classicaims to please its core users who love a physical keyboard.—AP

DUBAI: ICDL Arabia, the govern-ing body and cer t i f icationauthority for the ICDL certificateprogram in Egypt, GCC Statesand Iraq, has called on the publicto increase their online engage-ment with various departmentsof the UAE, specifically by furtherutilizing social media as a strate-gic platform to discuss andresolve issues of public impor-tance in a t imely manner,increase awareness of govern-ment initiatives, and collate feed-back . This comes fol lowing arecent survey titled ‘2014 UAESocial Media Outlook: IncreasingConnectivity BetweenGovernment and Citizen,’ con-ducted by the Governance andInnovation Programme at theMohammad Bin Rashid School ofGovernment (MBRSG).

Although the UAE leads theArab region in the utilization ofsocial media channels for theprovision of public services, theuser interaction with govern-ment remains to be optimized.The government survey revealedthat while more than 78 per centof users visit government socialmedia pages to access informa-tion, only 8 per cent provide theiropinions or suggestions. Theimportant finding indicates thatgovernment’s social media pageshave emerged as a source ofinformation, but have yet to take

off as a channel for two-waycommunication.

Jamil Ezzo, Director General,ICDL Arabia, said: “The UAE topsthe region in the use of socialmedia platforms such asFacebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.There were 5 million Facebookusers in the country in October2014, up from 4.4 million at thebeginning of 2014 and 2.1 mil-lion LinkedIn users, up from 1.77million. The statistics reveal apenetration rate of 60 per centfor Facebook and 25 per cent forLinkedIn for the same period. Theemergence of social media chan-nels has offered a quick and easyplatform to nationals and resi-dents to reinforce their ties withvarious government offices andpresent an individual’s perspec-tive to concerned authorities.Looking to add pace to these fig-ures, ICDL has added OnlineCollaboration to its list of mod-ules, which helps people developtheir social skill sets. With a grow-ing engagement on social mediaplatforms, it effectively teacheshow to properly integrate socialmedia into our everyday lives.”

Ezzo further added: “The UAE’sgovernment entities have yet toharness the ful l potential ofonline social media as a platformfor healthy debates, engagingcompetitions, and valuable sug-gestions and not just a source of

information. They need to fosterpublic trust that their feedbackwill be treated with utmost confi-dentiality so that people feelcomfortable to share their viewswith the government. Peopleshould also be educated aboutthe importance of feedback, as itwill enable the government toimprove their services and offer-ings. Moreover, lack of appropri-ate online skills in general publichinders in their engagement insocial media activities.”

“There is a growing need for

more advanced training pro-grams in the UAE which can edu-cate people on the safe andsecure use of online collaborativetools for a more engaging andinteractive experience on socialmedia platform. ICDL Arabia hasaddressed this challenge by incor-porating Online Collaborationmodule which helps peopleunderstand the key concepts ofsocial media, mobile technology,and cloud computing and at thesame time develop online eti-quettes,” concluded Ezzo.

Increased social media interaction urged with local government entities

H E A LT H & S C I E N C EWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

LONDON: Medical staff in protective clothing transport a healthcare worker diagnosed with the Ebola virus disease in a quarantine tent prior toher being transferred to the Royal Free Hospital in north London at Glasgow airport, Scotland, yesterday.—AP photos

LONDON: A British nurse who contracted Ebolain west Africa was being treated in a specialistLondon hospital yesterday as infection ratesgrew again in eastern parts of Sierra Leonewhere the outbreak had subsided. The volun-teer, who returned Sunday from a treatmentfacility in Kerry Town in Sierra Leone run by theSave the Children charity, was transferredovernight from a Glasgow hospital in a Royal AirForce plane. British media named her as PaulineCafferkey, a nurse who was part of a 30-strongteam of medical volunteers sent to Sierra Leonelast month.In an emotional diary written for TheScotsman newspaper, Cafferkey talked abouther work at the facility, including meeting anorphan boy.

“The sad thing is that this is a regular occur-rence and we see and hear of whole familiesbeing wiped out by this awful disease,” Cafferkeywrote. It is the first time someone has testedpositive for Ebola in Britain and she is the secondto be treated for the virus in the country afterfellow nurse William Pooley, who made a fullrecovery earlier this year and has since returnedto Sierra Leone. The world’s deadliest-ever out-break, which has killed 7,842 people out of20,081 cases, has been centered on Sierra Leone,Liberia and Guinea in west Africa.

In October, a Spanish nurse who treated twoEbola-infected Spanish missionaries became thefirst person to be diagnosed with the disease inEurope and the first to contract it outside ofAfrica. Around 100 people have been tested forEbola in hospitals across England alone so farthis year, with all of them testing negative so far.A second person returning from the affectedregion was being tested for the virus in Cornwallin southwest England and a third, also a health-care worker, was to be tested in Aberdeen,Scotland. Officials said that as far as they knewneither of the two had contact with the con-firmed case and the test results were expectedyesterday. The new case is being treated at theRoyal Free Hospital in London, which has a high-level isolation unit ready to handle Ebola casesand equipped with its own ventilation system toavoid contagion.

The patient had travelled to Glasgow fromSierra Leone on Sunday, via Casablanca inMorocco. Health authorities said they had con-tacted 63 of the 70 people who were on theplane with her on the last leg of her journeyfrom London Heathrow Airport to Glasgow. TheNational Health Service worker was admitted tohospital on Monday after feeling feverish. “Shedid not have the symptoms that make us wor-ried about transmission before she was in theisolation facility in Glasgow,” said Professor PaulCosford from the Public Health England agency.Ebola is transmitted through contact with bodilyfluids and officials emphasised that the risk ofthe virus spreading was “negligible”.

New cases in Sierra Leone Sierra Leone’s deputy government

spokesman Abdulai Bayratay defended screen-ing measures in place. “The screening processshe went through at the Lungi InternationalAirport was of quality standard and as far aswas detected, she left the country without anysymptoms of Ebola,” he told AFP. But Britishmedic Martin Deahl, who said he had travelled

with Cafferkey from Sierra Leone, criticizedwhat he called the “shambolic” testing processat Heathrow. “They ran out of testing kits anddidn’t seem to know what they were doing,” hetold The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

In Sierra Leone, a five-day Christmas lock-down in the north aimed at preventing newEbola infections ended on Monday. However,Ebola infections have increased in the dia-mond-rich Kono district in the country’s east,where the infection rates had been decreasing.Quoting updates from the National EbolaResponse Centre, the national broadcaster said

Kono had recorded 21 new Ebola cases onFriday and Saturday.

Meanwhile scientists said insect-eating batsthat inhabited a hollow tree in a remote villagein Guinea may have been the source of the epi-demic. The first death was that of a two-year-old boy died in the village of Meliandou inDecember 2013. Reporting in the journalEMBO Molecular Medicine, scientists led byFabian Leender tz at Berl in’s Rober t KochInstitute said the contamination may havecome from a tree 50 metres (yards) from theboy’s home.—AFP

Ebola nurse treated in London as Sierra Leone rate rises

LONDON: A picture shows a general view of The Royal Free hospital in north London yesterday,where the first Ebola patient to be diagnosed in the UK will be treated after being airliftedfrom Glasgow.

LONDON: A healthcare worker who was diagnosed with Ebola after returning from SierraLeone is walked from an ambulance and put into a quarantine tent trolley before beingwheeled into a Hercules Transport plane at Glasgow International Airport yesterday, bound forThe Royal Free hospital.

Hollow tree was Ebola’s Ground Zero

PARIS: Insect-eating bats that inhabited ahollow tree in a remote village in Guineamay have been the source of the world’sbiggest Ebola epidemic, scientists said yes-terday. More than 20,000 cases of Ebola,with at least 7,800 deaths, have beenrecorded by the World Health Organization(WHO) since a two-year-old boy died in thevillage of Meliandou in December 2013.Reporting in the journal EMBO MolecularMedicine, scientists led by FabianLeendertz at Berlin’s Robert Koch Institutedelved into the circumstances surroundingthis first fatality.

The finger of suspicion points at insec-tivorous free-tailed bats-Mops condylurusin Latin-that lived in a hollow tree 50meters (yards) from the boy’s home, theysaid. “The close proximity of a large colonyof free-tailed bats... provided opportunityfor infection. Children regularly caught andplayed with bats in this tree,” the team saidafter an exhaustive four-week probe car-ried out in April.

The Ebola virus holes up in a naturalhaven, also called a reservoir, among wildanimals which are not affected by it. Thevirus can infect humans who come intocontact with this source directly or indirect-ly through contact with animals that havefallen sick from it.

Cousin speciesHighly contagious, the virus is then

passed among humans through contactwith body fluids. A known reservoir is thefruit bat (Epomophorus wahlbergi), a wide-spread tropical African species that in somecountries is killed for food, offering a infec-tion pathway to hunters and butchers ofthe mammal.

But the role of fruit bats in the currentoutbreak has never been confirmed, thescientists said. In contrast, free-tailed bats,a cousin species, have been found in labtests to be able to carry the virus but notfall sick with it. That, too, would make thema “reservoir,” but no evidence of this hasever been found in the wild. The Germanteam said evidence that this species helpedunleash the present epidemic was strongbut not 100 percent.

Local children not only played with thebats at the tree, they also hunted bats thatroosted at village homes and grilled themfor food, they found. In addition, they sawno evidence of any local die-off amonglarger mammals, which would have been asecondary route of infection for humans.On the other hand, no trace of Ebola viruswas found in any of the bats the scientistscaptured and whose blood was ana-lyzed.—AFP

CHINA: A farmer feed ducks at a farm in Suichuan, east China’s Jiangxi province yes-terday.—AFP

TOKYO: Japan yesterday ordered theslaughter of some 37,000 chickens as offi-cials announced the third bird flu outbreakin less than a month and pledged “all nec-essary measures” to contain the spread.Tests confirmed the H5 strain of the virus ata farm in Yamaguchi prefecture on thesouthwestern tip of Japan’s main Honshuisland after its owner reported late Mondaythat several chickens had died suddenly,the farm ministry said.

Officials began the slaughter yesterdayand asked farms within a 10 kilometer (sixmile) radius not to transport their poultryoutside of the area.

The latest confirmed case comes a dayafter the government ordered the slaugh-ter of about 42,000 chickens at a poultryfarm in Miyazaki prefecture in southernKyushu. Earlier this month, bird flu reportscame from another Miyazaki poultry farm

that led to the cull of 4,000 chickens-thefirst outbreak of bird flu at a Japanese farmsince April.

“We will continue to take all necessarymeasures if any further outbreaks are con-firmed,” Chief Cabinet Secretary YoshihideSuga, the government’s top spokesman,said at a ministerial meeting concerningthe government’s outbreak response.Japan’s agriculture ministry regularly warnsfarmers about the risk of infection, citingthe continued spread of the disease in Asia,including in South Korea. Some strains ofavian influenza are fatal for chickens, andpose a health threat to humans, who canfall sick after handling infected poultry. TheH5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than400 people, mainly in southeast Asia, sincefirst appearing in 2003. Another strain ofbird flu, H7N9, has claimed more than 170lives since emerging in 2013.—AFP

Japan orders slaughter of 37,000 chickens in bird flu outbreak

Injured hippo dies in Taiwan,owner faces jail term

TAIPEI: A hippopotamus owned by a pri-vate ranch died in Taiwan yesterday aftersuffering two accidents-once when itjumped from a moving truck and againwhen its container was dropped. The ani-mal, named “A Ho” after the Chinese wordfor hippo Ho Ma, was found dead in itspond at a farm in the central city ofTaichung. Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-jihas slammed the ranch owner for what hedescribed as carelessness in transportingthe animal.

The government is considering prose-cuting the owner after a post-mortem todetermine the exact cause of death. Hecould face a jail term of up to a year underan animal protection law. “The city govern-ment has asked prosecutors to look intothe case,” Chen Ming-hui, a local official,told AFP, adding that the ranch has beenordered to make a plan to improve themanagement of the rest of the animalsthere.

The initial result of the autopsy per-

formed in Taipei Zoo in the north linked thetragedy to the first fall, which crushed thebeast’s diaphragm. That accident hap-pened last Friday when the panicked hippojumped from the truck in which it wasbeing transported, breaking a leg.Television footage showed the enormousanimal lying on the road-where it remainedfor several hours-with white fluid oozingfrom its eyes.

Then, when the hippo was being takenback to the farm for treatment of itsinjuries, the cable on a hoist broke and itscontainer crashed to the ground from aheight of two meters (6.5 feet). “The animalwas not properly protected during thetransportation process, leading to itsinjuries. What’s worse, it had not receiveddue medical treatment the last two days,”said Chu Tseng-hung, the head of the non-profit Environment and Animal Society ofTaiwan. A Ho was a star attraction at itsranch and even appeared in a popular tele-vision soap opera several years ago.—AFP

TAIWAN: In this photo taken on December 26, 2014, an injured hippo lies on theground after it jumped from a truck in Miaoli county.—AFP

NEW YORK: People without reliable sources offood and medicine are more likely to have poorcontrol over their diabetes, compared to thosewithout such concerns, according to a newstudy. Researchers found the likelihood of a per-son having poorly controlled diabetes increasedby about 39 percent for each of the so-calledeconomic insecurities they reported. “What wefound is that food and medication are a big dealand probably account for the bulk of it, but itdoesn’t look like there is any one thing,” said DrSeth Berkowitz, the study’s lead author fromMassachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Approximately 29 million Americans - about 9percent of the US population - have diabetes,according to the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention. Type 2 is the most common form ofdiabetes and is often linked to obesity. In type 2diabetes, the body’s cells may be resistant to thehormone insulin, or the body may not makeenough of the hormone. Insulin gives blood sug-ar access to the body’s cells to be used as fuel.

There’s been speculation that the 2010Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - bet-ter known as Obamacare - would increase accessto healthcare for people with diabetes,Berkowitz and his colleagues write in JAMAInternal Medicine.

People with low incomes may not benefit asmuch from that increased access, they add,because getting more healthcare services doesnot mean also having access to food, medica-tions and other items needed to control dia-betes. For the study, the researchers used datacollected from June 2012 through October 2013from 411 people with diabetes at clinics andhealth centers in Massachusetts.

Uncontrolled diabetesMassachusetts expanded healthcare access

years before the rest of the country. “I think whatwe’re looking at in Massachusetts is where therest of the country will be in a few years,”Berkowitz said. Most of the participants hadinsurance, about 46 percent of the participantshad uncontrolled diabetes and about 40 percentreported some sort of inability to get food, med-icine or other necessities.

Specifically, about 28 percent reported nottaking their medicines because they couldn’tafford the drugs. About 14 percent said theycouldn’t pay their utility bills, about 20 percentsaid they didn’t have reliable access to food andabout 11 percent said their housing situationwasn’t stable. Food and medication insecuritieswere tied to poor control over diabetes, the

researchers found. For example, about 64 per-cent of those who reported an unstable foodsupply had uncontrolled diabetes, compared toabout 42 percent of those with food security.

Healthcare systemWhile housing and energy insecurities were

not tied to worse diabetes control, the studyfound that people with an overall greater num-ber of insecurities had greater odds of being lessin control of their diabetes. “I think it lets usknow that even if we - nationwide - achieve therate of insurance coverage in Massachusetts,these problems will still likely exist,” Berkowitzsaid. He added that the problem is likely beyondthe healthcare system to solve, because the newresearch showed people with these insecuritieswere visiting their doctors.

“You have people who are seeking care andseeing what they have, but . . . you’re just not get-ting people what they need to stay healthy,”Berkowitz said. “This is sort of a policy or system-level issue,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anythingin the course of an individual visit that patients orphysicians are going to be able to do.” Berkowitzadded, though, that people should let their doc-tors and healthcare providers know if they areexperiencing any of these difficulties.—Reuters

Food and medication insecurity tied to poor diabetes control

H E A LT H & S C I E N C EWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

TEHRAN: An Iranian vendor wearing a mask to protect himself from pollu-tion sits next to his fruit stand in Tehran yesterday.—AFP photos

TEHRAN: An Iranian man wearing a mask to protect himself from pollutionrides his motorcycle.

TEHRAN: An Iranian man wearing a mask to protect himself from pollutionwalks past a graffiti of trees.

TEHRAN: Almost 400 people have been hospi-talized with heart and respiratory problemscaused by heavy air pollution in Tehran, withnearly 1,500 others requiring treatment, anofficial said yesterday. Year round, more thanfour million cars spew exhaust fumes into theatmosphere of the Iranian capital. The situa-tion worsens in winter, when cold air leads to acarcinogenic fog that blankets the city. The lat-

est casualties were treated Monday, accordingto Hassan Abbas, an emergency services man-ager quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

“Some 392 people were admitted to hospi-tal due to respiratory and heart problems,” hesaid. “We treated another 1,434 externally.”Authorities are said to be considering schoolclosures and the introduction of traffic restric-tions for the whole capital today, although this

has not yet been officially confirmed.However, the sick and elderly have been

asked to avoid city traffic due to the effects ofbreathing in a noxious mix of carbon monox-ide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and dirtyrubber particles. The capital and other cities,including top tourist attraction Isfahan andthe religious destination of Mashhad, haveexperienced pollution peaks in recent weeks.

Tehran, with its population of 12 millionpeople, is one of the most polluted cities inthe world, partly because of an altitude rang-ing from 1,100-1,700 meters (3,600-5,600 feet)above sea level in a basin surrounded bymountains. In addition, Iranian cars consumeon average more than other countries, a situa-tion made worse by some fuel being of lowquality.

Pollution peaks in winter are regularlycaused by the climate inversion phenomenon,where cold air near the ground is trapped bywarmer air above preventing pollution beingdispersed over a bigger area. In 2012, pollu-tion contributed to the premature deaths of4,500 people in Tehran and about 80,000 inthe country, according to the health min-istry.—AFP

Tehran air pollution puts nearly 400 in hospital

BEIJING: A property developer in Chinareportedly hired a group of people withHIV to harass residents into leavingtheir homes, sparking anger from thecountry’s Internet users yesterday. Thecase is the latest to highlight wide-spread discrimination in China againstpeople living with HIV and AIDS. It alsounderscores the unscrupulous lengthsto which some real estate firms and offi-cials will go to evict residents in a coun-try where reselling land can provide bigdividends for local governments.

“The obscene tactics of demolitionteams emerge in innumerable succes-sion,” one user of Sina Weibo, a Chineseversion of Twitter, wrote yesterday. “Thegovernment departments definitelyknew about this, they’re just pretend-ing they didn’t,” wrote another.According to a report late Monday bystate broadcaster China Central

Television, a property developer inthe central Chinese city of Nanyang

hired six people with HIV in an effort toforce local residents from a housingcompound set for demolition.

Li Gejun, deputy head of the propa-ganda office in Wolong, a district ofNanyang, told CCTV that the Yi’an RealEstate Company hired the patients “inorder to achieve its goal of speedydemolition”. Footage by the broadcast-er showed the words “AIDS demolitionteam” spray-painted in red on many ofthe compound’s walls. The team alsoset off firecrackers, harassed residentsand shot their windows with slingshotsand ball bearings, according to the offi-cial Xinhua news agency.

Four officials have been reprimand-ed and five suspects held in connectionwith the case, Xinhua reported, addingthat the housing compound had been“slated for demolition under a govern-ment plan”. Forced demolition is aperennial source of discontent in China,where local governments can often

earn enormous revenue by evictingpeople to clear land and then resellingit to developers. The incident took placein Henan province, which in the 1990swas hit by a debilitating AIDS epidemicthat stemmed from a tainted govern-ment-backed blood donation programand infected tens of thousands of peo-ple.

It comes on the heels of reports ear-lier this month that Chinese villagershad targeted an eight-year-old HIV-pos-itive boy for expulsion, drawing wide-spread condemnation. Some 200 resi-dents-including the child’s own grand-father-signed a petition to expel theboy from their village in the southwest-ern province of Sichuan to “protect vil-lagers’ health”. Discrimination againstthose with HIV/AIDS remains an issue atschools, hospitals, workplaces and oth-er establishments across China, a factorthat experts say hampers efforts todiagnose and treat it.—AFP

UNITED STATES: (FILES) This April 2, 2003 file photo shows a Red Cross worker as she prepares to take blood froman unidentified male donor in Escondido, California.—AFP

‘AIDS demolition team’ report roils China netizens

MOMBASA: A court in Kenya was urged yesterday notto grant bail to a suspected ivory trafficking ringleader,with the prosecution arguing his release would be amajor blow to the fight against rampant poaching.Kenyan national Feisal Mohammed Ali, who figured onan Interpol list of nine most wanted suspects linked tocrimes against the environment, was arrested by inter-national police agents in Tanzania last week and extra-dited to face charges in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa.

Ali faces trial for possession of and dealing in ele-phant tusks weighing more than two tonnes —equivalent to at least 114 slaughtered elephants. Thehaul was discovered by police in June when they raid-ed a car dealership, and after which Ali f led toTanzania. State counsel Alexander Muteti describedAli, 47, as an “international fugitive who cannot betrusted” and whose application for bail must berejected. “He is a man of many means and a power-house who can survive in any country. We urge younot to allow him a second opportunity to escape,” hetold the court. “A fellow who has perfected the art of

cheating justice is ready to cross any internationalborder without fear of being apprehended,” he said.

“If the court allows a person like the accused tooperate with impunity, there is no doubt that therewill not be a single elephant left in the country to beseen by future generations. Courts have a duty in thiscountry to protect our environment and heritage forthe sake our tourism industry,” he added. “He is a flightrisk. If released, he will definitely abscond,” Muteti toldthe court, dismissing the assertion from Ali’s lawyerthat his client had a right to bail and would complywith its conditions.

Key Test for Kenya Mombasa’s top judge, Justus Kituku, said a ruling

on the bai l application wil l be made on Jan 9.Detectives close to the case have described Ali as theleader of a multi-million dollar international poachingnetwork. They also say he has enjoyed protectionfrom top officials in various east African security agen-cies and governments - backing up allegations fromwildlife campaigners that poaching ringleaders havefor years been able to operate with almost totalimpunity.

The forthcoming trial of Ali, they say, will be a keytest of Kenya’s capacity and resolve to tackle poachingand safeguard its famed national parks and reserves.Defence lawyer Cliff Ombeta, however, insisted thatAli was an innocent man who only evaded Kenyanpolice because he feared he would not get a fair trial.“He was already in Tanzania when his name was pub-lished worldwide as a wanted person. He feared com-ing back after seeing on television that armed policewere around his premises. He feared for the worse,”the lawyer said.

Elephant ivory is sought out for jewellery and dec-orative objects and much of it is smuggled to China,where many increasingly wealthy shoppers are buy-ing ivory trinkets as a sign of financial success. A sharprise in poaching in Kenya, which is home to an esti-mated 30,000 elephants and just over one thousandrhinos, has sparked warnings from conservationgroups that the government is losing the fight againstthe slaughter and that elephants could be extinct inthe wild within a generation. — AFP

Alleged Kenya poaching ringleader a ‘flight risk’

Feisal Mohammed Ali

W H AT ’ S ONWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

Ladies Night:Character

Development

Ashort course designed for ladies and younggirls by Asmaa Abdulhameed to inspire andequip the development of a positive character.

“Who is the most favoured of Allah? He from whomthe greatest good comes to His creatures.” (Bukhari).Wednesday, January 7, 14, and 21 @ 6:30pm (ladiesonly)

Islam 101By Dr. Teresa Lesher and HassanIf you are interested to know more about Islam,

join the TIES Center for information, discussion, and achance to ask any question about Islam regardingMuslims’ beliefs, acts of worship, Quranic verses, andthe Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) life.

Thursday, January 08 @ 7pm - PolygamyThursday, January 15 @ 7pm - Criminal LawThursday, January 29 @ 7pm - Inheritance

Qur’an Quotes and Tafseer

By Teresa Lesher and Hassan

After reading Qur’anic verses aloud and explainingthem very briefly, the presentation will illustrate thevarious connotations of some words and phrases toshow the literary beauty and miracle of the Qur’an.The class will include an open discussion in a relaxedsetting.

Monday, January 05 @ 7pm - IslamMonday, January 12 @ 7pm - ImanMonday, January 19 @ 7pm - IhsanMonday, January 26 @ 7pm - Fraud

The industry-leading Sultan Center Group ofRestaurants celebrated the grand opening ofthe Asian fresh dining restaurant Wok Hay

which is onsidered to be the new addition to TSCfamily. The celebration was held in the presence ofTSC restaurants marketing manager Hussein AlSayed and many social figures of the Kuwait socie-ty and local press where they spent an AuthenticAsian night in its location at the Arabian Gulf Road,near by the Green Island.

TSC took all of the attendees to a virtual journey

to the Far East starting from the Asian charmingatmosphere and decorations to the taste of thefresh Asian cuisine.

Wok Hay is known for serving the AuthenticAsian recipes created by the creative Chef.Ahmad Al Bader. It’s listed among Kuwait’s finestrestaurants due to its special quality levels. Theinterior is specially designed to reflect the Asianambiance.

Commenting on the event: Hussein Al Sayed,TSC Restaurants Marketing Manager said: “It’s our

utmost pleasure to celebrate the grand opening ofWok Hay restaurant, TSC is always keen to satisfy itsloyal customer by offering them different tastesfrom all around the globe, our main goal is to bringthe whole world to our customers here in Kuwaitand Wok Hay is considered to be our new surprisefor those who crave the Asian Cuisine”

“Wok Hay is the perfect destination for foodsavvy looking to indulge themselves with the origi-nal aromas reflecting the spirit of gourmet innova-tion by all means” Al Sayed concluded.

Sultan Center Group celebrates grand opening of Wok Hay restaurant

‘In an authentic Asian ambiance’

By Sunil Cherian

She is not one of those Harry Potter kids. She isinto mysteries and enigmas that ensnare ateen-aged life. Her 300 plus page first novel,

Vengeance, first draft completed early this year, isabout a character named Z who readers think is aboy. “That’s the mystery,” said Candice Jennifer, theprodigy author, a class-10 student at Mangaf IndiaInternational School. “I love reading mysteries andwould like to amuse my readers,” said the soft-spo-ken writer at her Mangaf flat. Now Jennifer is intoher second novel, titled ‘ Things I’l l Never Say ’,another mystery she hopes to complete early nextyear.

But is her imaginative, flying around mind upset-ting her studies? “I never had to bother about herstudies,” said Cherryl, her mother who is her literaryinfluence, after Agatha Christie. “I can turn my imagi-native mood off and on as I wish,” said Jennifer whoadmitted thankfully that her parents, school, particu-larly her English teacher, have helped and supportedher a lot. “When her teachers brought the manuscriptto me I arranged to bind them into a book format,”said Malayil Moosakkoya, director of the school.

“When we go for vacation the first place we visit isa bookshop and our baggage is nothing but books,”said Ashok Vaz, her father, hailing from Goa, India.Coming summer, he said, we plan to go to a publisherto get our daughter’s novel published.

Burgan Bank’s airport branchresumes during

New Year’s holiday

Burgan Bank announced today that its airportbranch will resume normal working hours duringthe upcoming New Year holiday, on 1st January

2014. The branch will commence operations from 8:00am to 10:30 pm, in an effort to accommodate bankingrequirements for travellers’ during the public holiday.

For more information on any products or services,customers are required to contact Burgan Bank’s call cen-ter 1804080 during the holiday. On this occasion, BurganBank extends its best wishes and greetings to the publicon the arrival of the New Year.

Director of Public Relations and Marketing Department atthe Touristic Enterprises Company said the skating rink isready to host concerts of Hala February, as the case every

year. She said the major skating rink has been closed and handedover to the organizing committee of Hala February to make thenecessary arrangements to start religious seminars, poetry andsongs, as a start of the country’s celebrations of the national days.

She said the minor hall will continue with its schedule andreceives visitors from 8:30 am until 10:00 pm over four daily peri-ods at the same ticket price of KD 1.5 per person. The trainingschool will continue its activity at the rte of four classes per indi-vidual per week.

Al-Saleh said the monthly subscription is KD 40 for each per-sons, and reminded that Tuesday is women’s only day.

YMCA Kuwait organized a reception to AdvPrakash P. Thomas, who was in Kuwait for ashort visit. The meeting was held in Al

Tawoon Institute, Salmiya. The program startedwith prayer by Johnkutty Oommen. ParimanamManoj (General Secretary) welcomed the mem-bers. Mathew Eapen (Vice President) presidedover the function & gave presidential address.Babu Johnson & Santhosh Mathew were felicitat-ed on this occasion. Members introduced them-selves to the visiting dignitary.

Adv Prakash P. Thomas was then presentedwith a beautiful memento by YMCA members. Hethanked the YMCA for arranging the meeting. Heis currently serving as the Mar Thoma Sabha LayTrustee & National President of National Forum forPeople’s Rights. He was also the president ofIranikudi YMCA and is an active member of YMCAactivities in Kerala. James Varghese gave the noteof thanks. The meeting ended with the closingprayer by Joseph M.A.

TEC skating rink ready to host concerts of Hala February

YMCA Kuwait gives reception to Adv Prakash P. Thomas

Class 10 author aspiresfor another novel

Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) continues itsservices during new year’s holiday at Kuwaitairport, in addition to the services given

through call center 1-888225, which receives cus-tomers calls round the clock. ATM and depositmachines will meet customers needs at anytime

and place. Customers can safely process their trans-actions through the website www.cbk-online.comanytime they want.

CBK to serve customers On New Year at airport

Candice Jennifer

W H AT ’ S ONWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

The management of Kuwait ContinentalHotels Co. held the traditional annual cele-bration for the hotels’ staff and their fami-

lies to strengthen their loyalty to highlight theirrole in advancing & successful work during2014.

The ceremony was held in The Gardenia Hallof Kuwait Continental Hotel. The reception wasopened by the hotel General Manager, KamalEl-Din Hussein who explained the developmentand expansion of the hotel during the past sev-enteen years and also the outside shape of the

Hotel and rooms renewal with different servicesfor the customer.

Kamal Hussein thanked and commended thestaff for their efforts during 2014 which wasimpact on the sales last year with 5% increaseaverage occupancy rate of over 85%, despitestiff competition and the emergence of manynew Hotels.

Before leaving staff enjoyed the ceremony,which included an Egyptian wedding for a newmarried couple of hotel staff, and also Egyptianceremony of new born babies of 2 hotel

employees, making also different Staff competi-tion of the, great & exciting & wonderful game.

Kamal Hussein also honored the MajdyJenedy F&B Manager and also honored HajMahmoud AlMasry the CEO of AlMasry Co.

Hussein also honored the companies whosponsored gifts for the staff that also con-tributed to the success of the concert. At the endof the ceremony, the General Manager, KamalHussein delivered the annual bonus; a month’ssalary for all staff of the Hotels Group which wasrequested by Fouad Al-Ghanim the CEO.

Chef receiving his gift The head of transportation dept receiving gift.

Annual celebration of KuwaitContinental Hotels Group

Egyptian Tanora show.

Kamal Hussein & Steve & Haj Mahmoud with the new couple.

In collaboration with MSAL’s women and childrendepartment and with the attendance of the parksupervisor and some area residents, the Environmental

Voluntary Charity recently organized an awareness boost-

ing activity at martyr Abdul Wahab Al-Abdul Razzaq parkin Qadsiya, said the Diving Team member, Hamad Boreslinoting that the activity included showing documentariesabout the charity projects and Kuwaiti youth efforts in

preserving marine environment. the activity also includedcompetitions on beach cleaning and saving sea creaturesfrom falling in fishing nets.

Awareness on environmental cleaning

American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE),Kuwait Chapter is a premier voluntary, non-prof-itmaking Health, Safety and Environmental

organization, which strives to provide professional guid-ance, training, consultancy and resources to the indus-trial and social sectors in the region.

As a part of continuous efforts in its professionaljourney, ASSE-Kuwait Chapter organized the 193rdTechnical Meet and 3rd for the year 2014-15; on“Emergency Escape Respiratory Protection and PersonalGas Monitoring Equipment” in Hotel Rotana, FahaheelKuwait on 18th November 2014.

The Technical Meet began with the welcome addressby Dinesh Dutta, Chapter Treasurer & Acting Secretary.The Chapter President Mohammad Riaz Shareef in hisopening remarks emphasized the importance ofattending such technical meets by ASSE Members andthe importance of emergency Escape RespiratoryProtection and personal gas monitoring equipment insaving lives of employees at workplace, it is ASSE -Kuwait chapter ’s efforts in bring such excellentTechnical Meetings, where in new technologies anddevelopments happening in the world of HSE is intro-

duced to the members. Further, he informed about therecord number of participation was very encouraging.He thanked the sponsors for their continual supportand appreciated John Paul - Deputy General Manager,M/s Mahatta Trading Company and M/s MSA MiddleEast representative Sanu Basheer.

Fadhel Al Ali Chairman, ASSE Kuwait Chapter in hisaddress speech expressed his happiness over theresponse to the technical meeting, which was evidentabout the commitment of our members towards thelearning processes. He shared his experience onEmergency Equipment and Personal gas monitoringsystems, and emphasized on the latest developments inthe field of Emergency Systems and urged all ASSEmembers to get the most out of the technical session.He thanked the sponsors M/s MSA and M/s MahattaTrading Company.

Sunil N Sadanand, Head of the PublicationCommittee briefed the audience on the ASSE KuwaitChapter activities. He informed the members aboundthe training programs which are scheduled likeNEBOSH IGC, Certified SCBA training, Workshop onwater and waste water management, and Industrial

Hygiene Certification etc. The ASSE GCC HSE Excellenceaward 2015 preparations have started and requested allthe members from contracting companies to apply forthe award to credit and evaluate their HSE complianceand performance

Ritesh Gupta, Head Technical Event Committee intro-duced the speaker Shanu Basheer, Sales Manager, M/.MSA Middle East.

The speaker explained about : Latest technologicalbreakthrough developed by M/s MSA in personal gasmonitoring by incorporating the BUMP TEST facility inpersonal H2S monitor. ALTAIR 2XP Gas Detector withXCell Pulse Technology H2S detector is a revolutionaryproduct which Features the first stand-alone bump test,which eliminates the need for bottled gas. Bump testcan be done anytime, anywhere which is based onproven science and patented sensor capabilities.

The Speaker Shanu Basheer was appreciated for hisexcellent presentation and a memento was presentedby the President, ASSE-Kuwait Chapter.

Technical Meeting was concluded with Close outspeech from Abishek - Sub Committee Member ofTechnical Events Committee.

ASSE Kuwait conducts technical meet on ‘emergency escape guidelines’

00:20 Hell Road Russia01:10 Manhunt02:00 Fast N’ Loud02:50 Storage Hunters03:15 Container Wars03:40 Dukes Of Haggle04:05 How It’s Made04:30 How It’s Made05:00 Treehouse Masters06:00 Wheeler Dealers06:50 Robson Green’s ExtremeFishing Challenge07:40 Fast N’ Loud08:30 Storage Hunters08:55 Container Wars09:20 Dukes Of Haggle09:45 How It’s Made10:10 How It’s Made10:35 Get Out Alive With BearGrylls11:25 Hell Road Russia12:15 Manhunt13:05 Storage Hunters13:30 Container Wars13:55 Dukes Of Haggle14:20 Robson’s New ExtremeFishing Challenge15:10 Wheeler Dealers16:00 Fast N’ Loud16:50 How It’s Made17:15 How It’s Made17:40 Treehouse Masters18:30 Troy19:20 Magic Of Science19:45 Magic Of Science20:10 Container Wars20:35 Dukes Of Haggle21:00 Troy21:50 Magic Of Science22:15 Magic Of Science22:40 Close-Up Kings

07:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives08:15 Chopped09:05 Barefoot Contessa - BackTo Basics09:30 Chopped Canada10:20 Recipes That Rock10:45 All You Can Meat11:10 Roadtrip With G. Garvin11:35 Grandma’s SecretCookbook12:00 Chopped12:50 Siba’s Table13:15 Jenny Morris CooksMorocco13:40 Mystery Diners14:05 Guy’s Grocery Games14:55 Roadtrip With G. Garvin15:20 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives15:45 Amazing Wedding Cakes16:35 Chopped17:25 Jenny Morris CooksMorocco17:50 Guy’s Big Bite18:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives18:40 Siba’s Table19:05 Grandma’s SecretCookbook19:30 Mystery Diners19:55 Burger Land20:20 Guy’s Grocery Games21:10 Amazing Wedding Cakes22:00 Chopped SA22:50 Roadtrip With G. Garvin23:15 Roadtrip With G. Garvin23:40 Burger Land

T V PR O G R A M SWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

00:00 Escape Club00:55 Extreme Close-Up01:25 Keeping Up With TheKardashians02:20 Keeping Up With TheKardashians03:15 Eric And Jessie: Game On03:40 Eric And Jessie: Game On04:10 THS05:05 THS06:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians06:55 Keeping Up With TheKardashians07:50 Style Star08:20 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills08:45 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills09:15 Giuliana & Bill10:15 Giuliana & Bill11:10 Kourtney And Khloe TakeThe Hamptons12:05 House Of DVF13:05 Extreme Close-Up13:35 E!ES14:30 Style Star15:00 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills15:30 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills16:00 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills16:30 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills17:00 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills17:30 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills18:00 E! News19:00 Live From E!19:30 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills20:00 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills20:30 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills21:00 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills21:30 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills22:00 E! News

23:00 Live From E!00:05Chopped00:55 Amazing Wedding Cakes01:45 Reza’s African Kitchen02:10 Reza’s African Kitchen02:35 Ching’s RestaurantRedemption03:00 Ching’s RestaurantRedemption03:25 Charly’s Cake Angels03:50 Amazing Wedding Cakes04:40 All You Can Meat05:05 Roadtrip With G. Garvin05:30 Reza’s African Kitchen05:50 Siba’s Table06:10 Sweet Genius07:00 Roadtrip With G. Garvin07:25 Roadtrip With G. Garvin

Pain & Gain ON OSN MOVIES PREMIERE HD

Iron Man 3 ON OSN MOVIES HD

00:40 The Hungry Sailors01:30 Holiday: Heaven On Earth02:00 Emmerdale02:55 Coronation Street03:25 Murdoch Mysteries04:20 Murdoch Mysteries05:15 Four Weddings UK06:10 The Chase07:05 Holiday: Heaven On Earth07:30 Murdoch Mysteries08:25 Murdoch Mysteries09:20 Big Star’s Little Star10:15 Four Weddings UK11:10 Emmerdale12:00 Coronation Street12:30 The Hungry Sailors13:25 The Chase14:20 Holiday: Heaven On Earth14:45 Four Weddings UK15:35 Breathless16:30 Derren Brown: The GreatArt Robbery18:00 The Royal VarietyPerformance 201420:30 Derren Brown: The GreatArt Robbery21:50 Paul O’grady For The LoveOf Dogs22:20 Coronation Street

00:00 Knights Of Mayhem01:00 Family Guns02:00 Wild Untamed Brazil03:00 The Known Universe04:00 Chasing UFOs05:00 Salvage Code Red06:00 Master Of Disaster07:00 Megacities08:00 Knights Of Mayhem09:00 Family Guns10:00 Wild Untamed Brazil11:00 The Truth Behind12:00 Cosmos: A SpacetimeOdyssey13:00 The Known Universe14:00 Mega Factories: Supercars15:00 Diggers15:30 Diggers16:00 Doomsday Preppers17:00 Beyond Magic With Dmc18:00 Naked Science

10:30 My Name Is Earl11:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon13:30 My Name Is Earl14:00 About A Boy14:30 The Simpsons15:00 Baby Daddy15:30 The Daily Show With JonStewart16:00 The Colbert Report17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers18:00 Raising Hope18:30 About A Boy19:00 Melissa & Joey19:30 Baby Daddy20:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon21:00 The Daily Show With JonStewart21:30 The Colbert Report22:00 Brickleberry22:30 The League23:00 The Big C23:30 Late Night With Seth Meyers

00:00 Rake03:00 Supernatural06:00 Rake08:00 Bones12:30 Coronation Street13:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show14:00 Bones15:00 Rake16:30 Coronation Street17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show18:00 Bones19:00 Switched At Birth20:00 Marvel’s Agents OfS.H.I.E.L.D.23:00 Supernatural

00:00 Franklin & Bash01:00 Good Morning America03:00 Grimm04:00 The Knick05:00 Good Morning America07:30 Coronation Street08:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show09:00 2410:30 Coronation Street11:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show12:00 Burn Notice13:00 Franklin & Bash14:00 2415:00 Live Good Morning America17:00 Burn Notice18:00 Franklin & Bash19:00 2420:00 Burn Notice21:00 Franklin & Bash22:00 Grimm

00:00 The Baytown Outlaws-1802:00 Piranhaconda-PG1504:00 Hellboy: Blood & Iron-PG1506:00 The Chronicles Of Riddick-08:00 Hellboy: Sword Of Storms-09:45 Iron Man 3-PG1512:00 Haywire-PG1513:45 The Grandmaster-PG1516:00 The Chronicles Of Riddick-18:00 Iron Man 3-PG1520:15 Bad Company-PG1522:15 Gangster Squad-18

14:00 Run For Your Wife-PG1516:00 Big Trouble-PG1517:30 Good Morning, Vietnam-PG1520:00 Mental-PG1522:00 A Smile Like Yours-PG15

01:00 The Words-PG1503:00 Promised Land-PG1505:00 Seven Days In Utopia-PG1507:00 The Chateau Meroux-PG1509:00 Now You See Me-PG1511:00 Seven Days In Utopia-PG1513:00 Stuck In Love-PG1515:00 Love And Honor-PG1517:00 Now You See Me-PG1519:00 Playing For Keeps-PG1521:00 Hope Springs-PG1522:45 Her-PG15

01:30 Suicide Shop-1803:00 Drift-PG1505:00 Pop Star-PG1507:00 Beastly-PG1509:00 Searching For Sugar Man-11:00 Annapolis-PG1513:00 Tales Of The Night-PG15:00 Centre Place-PG1517:00 Searching For Sugar Man-18:30 The Glass Man-PG1520:30 No Country For Old Men-22:45 Sleepers-18

01:45 Mike Tyson: UndisputedTruth-PG1503:15 50/50-PG1505:15 Red Tails-PG1507:30 Escape From Planet Earth-PG09:00 The Magic Of Belle Isle-PG1511:00 Gravity-PG1512:45 Planes-PG14:30 Man Of Steel-PG1517:00 The Magic Of Belle Isle-PG1519:00 The Heat-PG1521:00 Delivery Man-PG1523:00 The Hangover 3-18

02:00 Champions Tour Year inReview03:00 Fedex Cup Playoffs OfficialFilm04:00 PGA Tour Year in Review05:00 Ryder Cup Official Film06:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights07:00 PDC World DartsChampionship07:30 Top 14 11:30 Snooker UK Championship15:00 Super Rugby Final Highlights

01:00 Afrasia Golf Masters02:00 Trans world Sport03:00 PDC World DartsChampionship07:00 Fedex Cup Playoffs OfficialFilm08:00 PGA Tour Year in Review09:00 Ryder Cup Official Film11:00 European Tour Weekly12:00 European Senior TourHighlights13:00 Champions Tour Year inReview14:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights15:00 WWE Experience16:00 WWE Raw19:00 WWE Vintage20:00 NFL Gameday20:30 NHL22:30 WWE Vintage23:30 NFL Gameday

01:00 Barbie Presents: Thumbelina02:45 Hammer Boy04:30 Space Dogs06:00 Blue Elephant 208:00 Quest For A Heart10:00 Everyone’s Hero11:30 Stuart Little 3: Call Of TheWild13:00 Hammer Boy14:30 Barbie As The IslandPrincess16:00 Pacific Pirates18:00 Everyone’s Hero20:00 Krazzy Planet22:00 Barbie As The IslandPrincess23:30 Pacific Pirates

00:30 The Daily Show With JonStewart01:00 The Colbert Report01:30 Eastbound & Down02:00 Ja’mie: Private School Girl02:30 Mixology03:30 About A Boy04:30 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon06:30 My Name Is Earl07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers09:30 The Simpsons10:00 Baby Daddy

00:00 Haywire02:00 The Baytown Outlaws04:00 Piranhaconda06:00 Hellboy: Blood & Iron08:00 The Chronicles Of Riddick10:00 Hellboy: Sword Of Storms11:45 Iron Man 314:00 Haywire15:45 The Grandmaster18:00 The Chronicles Of Riddick20:00 Iron Man 322:15 Bad Company

01:15 Cinderella Man03:45 Pirates Of The Caribbean:On Stranger Tides06:15 Hollow Man08:15 Meet Bill10:00 Raising Helen12:15 Piranha 3D13:45 Double Team15:30 The Hurricane18:00 Hollow Man20:00 Snake Eyes21:45 The Family Man

Something New06:25 Ultimate Shopper07:15 Driving Me Crazy08:05 Oprah: Where Are TheyNow?08:55 Oprah’s Next Chapter09:45 Cake Boss10:10 17 Kids And Counting10:35 Little People, Big World11:00 Toddlers & Tiaras11:50 Say Yes To The Dress12:15 Say Yes To The Dress12:40 Ultimate Shopper13:30 Randy To The Rescue14:20 World’s Worst Mum15:10 Something Borrowed,Something New15:35 Cake Boss16:00 Super Saver Showdown16:50 17 Kids And Counting17:15 Little People, Big World17:40 Toddlers & Tiaras18:30 Something Borrowed,Something New18:55 Say Yes To The Dress19:20 Say Yes To The Dress19:45 Ultimate Shopper20:35 Cake Boss21:00 My 600lb Life21:50 Body Bizarre22:40 Long Island Medium23:05 Secret Eaters23:55 Hoarding: Buried Alive

00:00 Svengali-PG1502:00 The Greatest Movie EverSold-PG1504:00 The Sapphires-PG1506:00 All In Good Time-PG1508:00 The Mortal Instruments: CityOf Bones-PG1510:10 Alex Cross-PG1512:00 Vamps-PG1514:00 Stolen-PG1515:36 The Mortal Instruments: CityOf Bones-PG1518:00 R.I.P.D.-PG1520:00 Warm Bodies-PG1522:00 Pain & Gain-18

00:45 Medical Anomalies01:35 Too Ugly For Love02:25 I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant02:50 Secret Eaters03:40 Long Island Medium04:05 Say Yes To The Dress04:30 Say Yes To The Dress05:00 Toddlers & Tiaras06:00 Something Borrowed,

00:00 Sweet Home Alabama-PG1502:00 Mr. 3000-PG04:00 Wild Hogs-PG1506:00 Held Up (1999)-PG1508:00 Big Trouble-PG1510:00 Gambit-PG1512:00 Wild Hogs-PG15

15:30 Currie Cup Final Highlights16:00 ITM Cup Final Highlights16:30 Super League FinalHighlights17:00 NRL Final Highlights17:30 Rugby League FinalHighlights18:00 NHL 20:00 Trans world Sport21:00 NFL Gameday21:30 Currie Cup Final Highlights22:00 ITM Cup Final Highlights22:30 Super League FinalHighlights23:00 NRL Final Highlights23:30 Hero Indian Super LeagueHighlights

01:00 ICC Cricket World Cup Tales01:30 ICC Cricket 36002:00 Big Bash League T20Highlights03:00 Big Bash League T20Highlights04:00 Big Bash League T20Highlights05:00 Big Bash League T20Highlights06:00 Big Bash League T20Highlights07:00 ICC Cricket 36007:30 Big Bash League T20Highlights08:30 Big Bash League T20Highlights09:30 ICC Cricket 36010:00 Big Bash League T20Highlights11:00 Live Big Bash League T2014:30 ICC Cricket 36015:00 LG ICC Awards 201416:00 Big Bash League T20Highlights17:00 Big Bash League T2020:30 ICC Cricket 36021:00 Story of the World Cup 1992

00:00 According To Jim00:30 Castle01:30 Grey’s Anatomy02:30 Army Wives03:30 MasterChef Australia04:30 Switched At Birth05:30 According To Jim05:55 According To Jim06:30 Detroit 1-8-707:30 The Walking Dead08:30 Castle09:30 According To Jim10:00 Grey’s Anatomy11:00 Army Wives12:00 MasterChef Australia13:00 Switched At Birth14:00 According To Jim14:30 According To Jim15:00 Detroit 1-8-716:00 The Walking Dead17:00 Grey’s Anatomy

18:00 Army Wives19:00 MasterChef Australia20:00 Bones21:00 According To Jim21:25 According To Jim22:00 Dirty Sexy Money23:00 The Walking Dead

01:45 Straight Time-1803:40 The Asphalt Jungle-PG05:30 TCM Presents Under The...-U07:00 Hotel Paradiso-PG08:40 North By Northwest-PG10:55 Passage To Marseille-PG12:45 Ride The High Country-PG14:20 From The Earth To TheMoon-FAM16:00 The Law And Jake Wade-FAM17:30 TCM Presents Under...-U18:00 The Omega Man-PG19:40 2001: A Space Odyssey-FAM22:00 Westworld23:30 The Haunting

00:00 Shipping Wars01:30 Pawn Stars02:00 Storage Wars05:00 Pawn Stars05:30 Pawn Stars06:00 Ice Road Truckers

07:00 Storage Wars: New York07:30 Counting Cars11:00 Storage Wars11:30 Storage Wars12:00 Storage Wars12:30 Storage Wars13:00 Storage Wars13:30 Storage Wars14:00 Pawn Stars14:30 Pawn Stars15:00 Pawn Stars15:30 Pawn Stars16:00 Pawn Stars16:30 Pawn Stars17:00 Counting Cars17:30 Counting Cars18:00 Counting Cars18:30 Counting Cars19:00 Counting Cars19:30 Counting Cars20:00 Storage Wars20:30 Storage Wars

ClassifiedsWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

Kuwait

Fajr: 05:17

Shorook 06:42

Duhr: 11:50

Asr: 14:41

Maghrib: 17:00

Isha: 18:22

Prayer timings

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION

Automated enquiry about theCivil ID card is

1889988

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY(25/12/2014 TO 31/12/2014)

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 31/12/2014Airlines Flt Route TimeJAI 574 Mumbai 00:10JZR 239 Amman 00:25JZR 267 Beirut 00:30JZR 539 Cairo 00:40THY 772 Istanbul 00:45FDB 069 Dubai 00:55QTR 1084 Doha 01:00PGT 858 Istanbul 01:35ETH 620 Addis Ababa 01:45MSC 403 Sohag 02:30GFA 211 Bahrain 02:30UAE 853 Dubai 02:35JAI 526 Chennai/Abu Dhabi 02:50FDB 067 Dubai 02:55RJA 648 Amman 03:05CEB 7694 Manila 03:10MSR 612 Cairo 03:10ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 03:10KKK 6507 stanbul 03:20OMA 643 Muscat 03:25QTR 1076 Doha 03:45MSC 401 Alexandria 04:05THY 770 Istanbul 05:35DHX 170 Bahrain 05:40BAW 157 London 06:40KAC 412 Manila/Bangkok 07:10FDB 053 Dubai 07:45QTR 1086 Doha 07:50KAC 352 Kochi 08:10KAC 302 Mumbai 08:20KAC 206 Islamabad 08:25UAE 855 Dubai 08:40KAC 344 Chennai 08:45KAC 362 Colombo 08:45ABY 125 Sharjah 09:00ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 09:20FDB 055 Dubai 09:40QTR 1070 Doha 10:00GFA 943 Bahrain 10:15IRM 1186 Tehran 10:20GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40IRA 665 Shiraz 10:40UAE 873 Dubai 11:00AXB 889 Mangalore/Bahrain 11:15MSC 405 Sohag 11:25KAC 204 Lahore 11:25JZR 165 Dubai 11:30JZR 561 Sohag 11:45IRM 1188 Mashhad 11:45MEA 404 Beirut 11:55IAW 157 Al Najaf 12:05UAE 871 Dubai 12:50MRJ 4815 Mashhad 12:55MSR 610 Cairo 13:00CLX 792 Luxembourg 13:15IYE 826 Sanaa/Mukalla 13:30IRC 526 Mashhad 13:30ABY 129 Sharjah 13:40KAC 382 Delhi 13:45KAC 672 Dubai 13:55QTR 1078 Doha 14:05MSR 575 Sharm el-Sheikh 14:15

MSC 1401 Sharm el-Sheikh 14:20KNE 472 Jeddah 14:25SVA 500 Jeddah 14:30SYR 341 Latakia/KAC 14:30FDB 057 Dubai 14:30RJD 135 Abu Dhabi 14:55GFA 221 Bahrain 15:00KAC 284 Dhaka 15:15JZR 175 Dubai 15:20KAC 788 Jeddah 15:40KNE 462 Madinah 15:45UAE 857 Dubai 15:45ABY 127 Sharjah 15:45FDB 051 Dubai 16:00KNE 460 Riyadh 16:00JZR 535 Cairo 16:10KAC 562 Amman 16:20JZR 787 Riyadh 16:25JZR 357 Mashhad 16:30QTR 1072 Doha 16:40RJA 640 Amman 16:55ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 16:55AGY 680 Alexandria 17:05SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30IRM 1180 Mashhad 17:35GFA 944 LCA 17:50JZR 777 Jeddah 17:55UAE 875 Dubai 18:00JZR 177 Dubai 18:20JZR 483 Istanbul 18:40FDB 063 Dubai 18:40ABY 121 Sharjah 18:40KAC 786 Jeddah 18:45QTR 1080 Doha 18:50KAC 618 Doha 19:15KAC 774 Riyadh 19:15KAC 674 Dubai 19:25KAC 542 Cairo 19:25GFA 217 Bahrain 19:30KAC 166 Paris/Rome 19:40KAC 102 New York/London 19:55JAI 572 Mumbai 20:00KAC 742 Dammam 20:00OMA 647 Muscat 20:20FDB 061 Dubai 20:20ETD 919 Abu Dhabi 20:30MSR 606 Luxor 20:45ALK 229 Colombo 21:10MEA 402 Beirut 21:20ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:30FDB 073 Dubai 21:35UAE 859 Dubai 21:40GFA 219 Bahrain 21:45QTR 1074 Doha 21:55KNE 480 Taif 22:00JZR 135 Bahrain 22:05JZR 157 Dubai 22:10ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:15FDB 059 Dubai 22:30AIC 975 Chennai/Goa 22:30JZR 185 Dubai 23:15THY 764 Istanbul 23:35FDB 071 Dubai 23:45

Departure Flights on Wednesday 31/12/2014Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 982 Ahmedabad/Hyderabad/Chennai 00:05FDB 072 Dubai 00:45UAL 981 IAD 00:55JAI 573 Mumbai 01:10KAC 203 Lahore 02:00KAC 283 Dhaka 02:25ETH 621 Addis Ababa 02:45THY 773 Istanbul 02:55PGT 859 Istanbul 03:25MSC 404 Sohag 03:30KAC 381 Delhi 03:40UAE 854 Dubai 03:50FDB 068 Dubai 03:55ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:05MSR 613 Cairo 04:10KKK 6508 Istanbul 04:10OMA 644 Muscat 04:15QTR 1085 Doha 04:30CEB 7695 Manila 04:40MSC 406 Sohag 05:05JZR 560 Sohag 05:10QTR 1077 Doha 05:15THY 765 Istanbul 05:40FDB 070 Dubai 06:30JAI 525 Abu Dhabi/Chennai 06:35JZR 164 Dubai 06:55RJA 649 Amman 07:05GFA 212 Bahrain 07:15THY 771 Istanbul 07:30FDB 054 Dubai 08:25BAW 156 London 08:45QTR 1087 Doha 08:50JZR 534 Cairo 09:15KAC 671 Dubai 09:25ABY 126 Sharjah 09:40KAC 787 Jeddah 09:50UAE 856 Dubai 09:55JZR 482 Istanbul 10:00KAC 117 New York 10:05ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:20KAC 561 Amman 10:25JZR 356 Mashhad 10:30FDB 056 Dubai 10:35KAC 175 Frankfurt/Geneva 10:40JZR 174 Dubai 10:45QTR 1071 Doha 11:00GFA 943 LCA 11:00GFA 214 Bahrain 11:25IRM 1181 Mashhad 11:30IRA 664 Shiraz 11:40KAC 541 Cairo 12:05AXB 890 Mangalore 12:15KAC 103 London 12:20JZR 776 Jeddah 12:20MSC 402 Alexandria 12:25UAE 874 Dubai 12:30MEA 405 Beirut 12:55KAC 785 Jeddah 13:00IAW 158 Al Najaf 13:05IRM 1189 Mashhad 13:10JZR 786 Riyadh 13:10JZR 176 Dubai 13:45

MSR 611 Cairo 14:00MRJ 4814 Mashhad 14:10UAE 872 Dubai 14:15ABY 120 Sharjah 14:20IRC 527 Mashhad 14:30IYE 827 Mukalla/Sanaa 14:30CLX 792 Hanoi 14:45KAC 673 Dubai 15:00MSR 576 Sharm el-Sheikh 15:00QTR 1079 Doha 15:05FDB 058 Dubai 15:10KAC 617 Doha 15:15MSC 1402 Sharm el-Sheikh 15:20KNE 473 Jeddah 15:20SYR 342 Damascus/Latakia 15:30SVA 503 Jeddah/Madinah 15:45GFA 222 Bahrain 15:45KAC 773 Riyadh 15:50RJD 136 Abu Dhabi 16:05KAC 501 Beirut 16:15ABY 128 Sharjah 16:25KNE 463 Madinah 16:30KNE 481 Taif 16:50FDB 052 Dubai 17:00KAC 741 Dammam 17:00JZR 266 Beirut 17:05KAC 545 Alexandria 17:30JZR 156 Dubai 17:35QTR 1073 Doha 17:40UAE 858 Dubai 17:45JZR 538 Cairo 17:45ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 17:50RJA 641 Amman 17:55AGY 681 Sharm el-Sheikh 18:05SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20GFA 944 Bahrain 18:35JZR 184 Dubai 18:40IRM 1187 Tehran 18:45JZR 238 Amman 18:50JZR 134 Bahrain 19:10ABY 122 Sharjah 19:20JZR 552 Alexandria 19:30UAE 876 Dubai 19:40QTR 1081 Doha 19:50FDB 064 Dubai 19:55GFA 218 Bahrain 20:15KAC 361 Colombo 20:50JAI 571 Mumbai 21:00KAC 331 Trivandrum 21:10KAC 351 Kochi 21:15FDB 062 Dubai 21:20OMA 648 Muscat 21:20MSR 619 Alexandria 21:45DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50ALK 230 Colombo 22:10ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:15KAC 301 Mumbai 22:15MEA 403 Beirut 22:20ETD 920 Dubai 22:25FDB 074 Dubai 22:30GFA 220 Bahrain 22:30UAE 860 Dubai 22:50KNE 461 Riyadh 22:50

SHARQIA-1INTO THE WOODS 11:45 AMINTO THE WOODS 2:15 PMANNIE 4:45 PMINTO THE WOODS 7:15 PMANNIE 9:45 PMINTO THE WOODS 12:15 AM

SHARQIA-2NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB 12:00 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB 2:00 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB 4:00 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB 6:00 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB 8:00 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB 10:00 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB 12:05 AMTHE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 ANGEL OF DEATH 10:00 PMTHE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 ANGEL OF DEATH 12:05 AM

SHARQIA-3PADDINGTON 11:30 AMPADDINGTON 1:30 PMPADDINGTON 3:30 PMPADDINGTON 5:30 PMPADDINGTON 7:45 PMESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 10:15 PMESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 12:45 AM

MUHALAB-1ESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 11:45 AMANNIE 1:45 PMANNIE 2:15 PMANNIE 4:45 PMMUKUNDA -Telugu 4:15 PMANNIE 7:15 PMESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 9:45 PMESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 12:15 AM

MUHALAB-2INTO THE WOODS 12:00 PMINTO THE WOODS 2:30 PMINTO THE WOODS 5:00 PMINTO THE WOODS 7:30 PMMUKUNDA -Telugu 10:00 PMINTO THE WOODS 10:00 PMNO THU+FRIINTO THE WOODS 12:45 AM

MUHALAB-3PADDINGTON 12:15 PMPADDINGTON 2:15 PMPADDINGTON 4:15 PMPADDINGTON 6:15 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB 8:15 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB 10:15 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB 12:30 AMTHE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 ANGEL OF DEATH 10:15 PMTHE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 ANGEL OF DEATH 12:30 AM

FANAR-1ANNIE 11:30 AMANNIE 2:00 PMANNIE 4:30 PMESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 7:00 PMANNIE 9:30 PMESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 12:05 AM090 (Kuwaiti Film) 9:30 PM090 (Kuwaiti Film) 11:15 PM090 (Kuwaiti Film) 1:00 AM

FANAR-2NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 12:15 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 2:15 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 4:15 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 6:30 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 8:30 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 10:30 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 12:30 AM

FANAR-3THE WATER DIVINER 11:30 AM

PADDINGTON 1:45 PMPADDINGTON 3:45 PMTHE WATER DIVINER 5:45 PMPADDINGTON 8:15 PMTHE WATER DIVINER 10:15 PMTHE WATER DIVINER 12:45 AM

FANAR-4INTO THE WOODS 11:45 AMINTO THE WOODS 2:15 PMINTO THE WOODS 4:45 PMINTO THE WOODS 7:15 PMINTO THE WOODS 9:45 PMINTO THE WOODS 12:15 AMTHE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 NGEL OF DEATH 9:45 PMTHE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 NGEL OF DEATH 12:05 AM

MARINA-1PADDINGTON 12:30 PMPADDINGTON 4:19 PMANNIE 4:45 PMPADDINGTON 7:15 PMANNIE 9:15 PMANNIE 11:45 PM

MARINA-2NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 11:45 AMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 2:00 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 4:00 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 6:00 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 8:00 PMNO WEDNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 10:00 PMNO WEDTHE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 NGEL OF DEATH 8:00 PMWEDTHE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 NGEL OF DEATH 10:00 PMWEDNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 12:05 AM

MARINA-3INTO THE WOODS 12:00 PMINTO THE WOODS 2:30 PMINTO THE WOODS 5:00 PMTHE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES 7:30 PMINTO THE WOODS 10:15 PMINTO THE WOODS 12:45 AM

AVENUES-1P.K -HINDI 12:30 PMP.K -HINDI 3:30 PMP.K -HINDI 6:30 PMP.K -HINDI 9:30 PMP.K -HINDI 12:30 AM

AVENUES-2MONTANA 11:45 AMMONTANA 2:00 PMMONTANA 4:15 PMMONTANA 6:45 PMNO THU+FRIMONTANA 9:00 PMNO THU+FRI+SATMONTANA 11:30 PMMONTANA 1:30 PMMUKUNDA -Telugu 4:00 PMMUKUNDA -Telugu 7:00 PMMUKUNDA -Telugu 10:00 PM

AVENUES-3THE WATER DIVINER 12:00 PMTHE WATER DIVINER 2:30 PMTHE WATER DIVINER 5:00 PMTHE WATER DIVINER 7:30 PMTHE WATER DIVINER 10:00 PMTHE WATER DIVINER 12:30 AM

AVENUES-4NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 12:45 PMPADDINGTON 3:00 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 5:15 PM

PADDINGTON 7:30 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 9:45 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB

AVENUES-5INTO THE WOODS 12:15 PMANNIE 2:45 PMINTO THE WOODS 5:30 PMANNIE 8:00 PMTHE WATER DIVINER 10:30 PMTHE WATER DIVINER 1:00 AMTHE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 NGEL OF DEATH 10:30 PM090 (Kuwaiti Film) 12:30 AM

AVENUES-6NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 11:30 AMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 1:45 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 4:00 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 6:15 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 8:30 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 10:45 PMNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: ECRET OF THE TOMB 1:00 AM090 (Kuwaiti Film) 10:45 PM090 (Kuwaiti Film) 12:45 AM

AVENUES-7ESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 11:45 AMESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 2:15 PMESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 4:45 PMESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 7:15 PMESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 9:45 PMESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST 12:15 AM

AVENUES-8THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES 12:30 PMTHE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES 3:30 PMTHE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES 6:30 PMINTO THE WOODS 9:30 PMTHE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES 12:05 AM

AVENUES-9ANNIE 1:00 PMANNIE 3:30 PMANNIE 6:00 PMANNIE 8:30 PMANNIE 11:00 PM

AVENUES-10PADDINGTON 1:15 PMPADDINGTON 3:30 PMPADDINGTON 5:45 PMPADDINGTON 8:00 PMPADDINGTON 10:15 PMPADDINGTON 12:30 AM

AVENUES-11INTO THE WOODS 11:45 AMINTO THE WOODS 2:15 PMINTO THE WOODS 4:45 PMINTO THE WOODS 7:15 PMTHE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES ) 9:45 PMINTO THE WOODS 12:45 AMTHE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 NGEL OF DEATH 9:45 PMTHE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 NGEL OF DEATH 12:05 AM

360º 1INTO THE WOODS 12:45 PMINTO THE WOODS 3:15 PMINTO THE WOODS 5:45 PMINTO THE WOODS 8:15 PMINTO THE WOODS 10:45 PMMONTANA 1:15 AM090 (Kuwaiti Film) 1:15 AM

360º- 2PADDINGTON 11:45 AMTHE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES 2:15 PMTHE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES 5:15 PMTHE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES 8:15 PMTHE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES 11:15 PM

CHANGE OF NAME

I, Esmaiyel MohammedAbdul Shakur Kadiri, holderof Indian Passport No.J2020718, hereby changemy name to Abdul ShakurSayed. Address: 10 703 ValiGab Rd., Kadiri Anantapur,AP. (C 4894)29-12-2014

I am Shivaji Jaivant Rajput,Indian national, PassportNumber G6775517, perma-nent address house no.1126, Muslim Wada,

Industrial Road, Bicholim,Goa, hereby changing myname to Shiva JaiwantRajput, (C 4893)27-12-2014

I, Utukuru Rama Gubbaiah,holder of Indian PassportNo. J2020031 herebychanged changed my nameto Utukuru Rama SubbaReddy. UpparapalliKonduru Penagalur,Kadapa, A.P. (C 4891)

I, Harsh Mehta, holder ofIndian Passport No.F3832096, resident of2559B, Gali No. 3, RampuraMohalla, Hisar, Haryana,India, have changed myname from Harsh Mehta toHarsh Ahuja. In future, I willbe known as Harsh Ahuja.(C 4892)25-11-2014

A little elbow grease and you are able to accomplish a lot. With several peo-ple out of the office today, you may be enthusiastic about a little housecleaning andmoving furniture around that will help with the quality of care you can give your clients.A co-worker and you may decide to take the decorations down around the establish-ment. You and a family member may communicate about some past event that would befun to enjoy again. Soon, your mind is busy with ideas on party planning for celebrating anew year. Friends inform you about fashion trends and shopping is on your mind. Youand a friend have time later this afternoon to purchase what is needed for this party.Before you know it quite a few friends want to join your group. Yeah!

You just instinctively want to be powerful and in charge; pulling the strings,as it were, could lead to greater interest in investments, education and travel, etc. Yourinner attitude has a lot to do with how you make and spend money. Now is a good timeto think through any changes, adjustments, motivations or perhaps plans toward yourgoals. Some circumstances cause you to work late this afternoon. This may not make youvery happy but because you are working late some surprise that is most pleasing makesyou happy you got to stay a little late. There is a good opportunity to show off a talent orskill that the people in your office did not know you have. Tonight you help your friendsand they help you. A new music performer has your attention.

You are more visible at work and within organizations and groups. You mayspend some time later today to focus on a new article of clothing for your

professional appearance. At home after work is a good time to rest and relax, perhaps toread a romantic novel or take in a movie with a captivating theme. You should find ideasand thoughts projecting a greater meaning and form just now. You may be extremely elo-quent or forceful in talking or communicating. People will have no problem in knowingexactly what you mean when you speak. You may find yourself looking for a little funcommunication this afternoon or at least finding some kind of emotional release to enjoy.Enjoying the finer things in life eventually takes on a high priority.

You have a good attitude and are mentally alert and in a problem-solvingmood. You may spend some serious contemplative moments wondering if you can suc-ceed in what you have set out to accomplish: don’t. The world was not made in a day andyou must not think you have failed if you cannot do everything in the time frame you haveplanned. Knowing that you have made progress is sufficient for now. When the day is over,you will be pleased with your productive and positive accomplishments. Working withyour favorite hobby this evening will help you to relax with those you love. As you considerwhat to bring a host at a party, consider a recorded book or music. This person will tell youthe type of music he or she likes if you are not sure.

General good feelings and a sense of support and harmony make this a happytime. Those around you are impressed with your ability to make common sense decisionsregarding group matters when you already have so many responsibilities. You just naturallyseem to know what others want. Putting your best foot forward and making a good impressiontake on greater importance as a new cycle gets under way in your life. Being in style and mak-ing a good appearance may count more than objects. Romance, the arts and life’s other pleas-ures seem to take center stage. There is a good chance to understand those around you and tohave a special time with someone you love. Relax; take on a listening attitude tonight.

It could be valuable for you to make some plans regarding your packingfor travel. Most of the time family and friends come to you, this year you will be able to vis-it family and friends. A little vacation is on the planning schedule. You love to ski and mayhave friends or family in a part of the country that has plenty of snow for your enjoyment.Feeling good in general and knowing that you enjoy your work makes this an exceptional-ly happy time. You may begin to realize the areas in your life that need some attention, aswell as ways in which you can help others. You truly love to be helpful. This will take coop-eration, organization, authority, discipline and responsibility on your part to accomplishwhat you must do to get where you must go.

Having the ability to sympathize and to understand others is an emotionalquality that assumes a greater importance in your life now. Knowledge is not nearly assignificant as wisdom. Accepting the past as just that, the past, or getting in touch withmystical and spiritual things are what has recently given you feelings of completeness.You understand what is not working in your life and you know just what to do next. Youstrive for cooperation, organization, authority and responsibility. It will take all of thesethings to get you where you know you must go. Just be sure that your vision is for thegood of all and not just for yourself or your plans may backfire. There are good smellscoming from your kitchen-someone you love is cooking for you.

Your expectation of success keeps you on your toes and challenges you tocontinue your road to achievement. This lucky day may find you presented with newopportunities. Your focus is strong and you accomplish much. You also are lucky in yourfriendships as your friends have high standards and may encourage the same from you.You feel free to seek advice as well as give advice when asked. Most people long to havethe relationship you have with your friends. Your friends understand you and give youemotional nourishment. Take time to tend to whatever needs your outdoor animalfriends have during the cold weather-pets, birds, etc. You appear most elegant in socialsituations this evening-a memorable time.

You may find yourself in the limelight now, especially with those in authori-ty or in relation to your work. It may be easy for you to enjoy your job or the

responsibility it encompasses more than usual. Those around you may find your sense ofhumor amusing and a bit on the eccentric side at times. You may find new insights orbreakthroughs in respect to your living situation or life circumstances. Others find yourindependence and unique qualities admirable. Whatever you have done this year toimprove your style or health is working and you are happy to be the social achiever thisevening. This is a great opportunity to network. Be cautious of those who promise morethan they can deliver. Focus on clearing your energy as you leave a party.

You are the ideal candidate to take charge of a project this day. Your creativ-ity and originality are high. Now would be an excellent time to appraise your professionallife and just where it is leading you. You may be a bit restless at this time. Likely, you willfeel the desire to set out on your own, giving your creative side the space it desires-a littlemore patience. It takes a brave and confidant person to follow through with businessplans but you can do it if you start now to research and understand what is involved in thelaunching and maintaining of your own business. You may want to open up more to rela-tives; this is an ideal time for strong support emotionally.

WEDNES..DAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

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 771

ACROSS1. Characteristic of a mob.4. A state in which the level of carbon dioxide inthe blood is lower than normal.11. Noisy talk.15. A constellation in the southern hemispherenear Telescopium and Norma.16. The rapid and continuous delivery of linguis-tic communication (spoken or written).17. Title for a civil or military leader (especially inTurkey).18. An Indian side dish of yogurt and choppedcucumbers and spices.20. (trademark) An alloy of iron and nickel hav-ing a low coefficient of thermal expansion.21. Fastener consisting of a resinous composi-tion that is plastic when warm.22. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solelythe razorbill.24. Be compatible or in accordance with.26. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on askewer usually with vegetables.29. Shackle that consists of a metal loop that canbe locked around the wrist.32. A Balkan republic in southeastern Europe.36. A member of the Siouan people formerly liv-ing in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.37. Informal terms for a mother.39. Any skeletal muscle having three origins(but especially the triceps brachii).40. A person who gives a name or names.41. A woman hired to suckle a child of someoneelse.43. A doctor who practices veterinary medicine.44. Relating to or containing the azo radical.45. A crystalline metallic element not found innature.46. Pastry made with a cream cheese dough anddifferent fillings (as raisins and walnuts and cin-namon or chocolate and walnut and apricotpreserves).49. Make or become free of frost or ice.52. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.54. A city of southeastern Mexico.56. Flesh of large European flatfish.60. An antidepressant drug that acts by block-ing the reuptake of serotonin so that more sero-tonin is available to act on receptors in thebrain.61. A midnight meeting of witches to practicewitchcraft and sorcery.63. Summer cypress.67. Fly a plane.70. A river in north central Switzerland that runsnortheast into the Rhine.71. Towards the side away from the wind.72. Scale insects.74. A piece of furniture that provides a place tosleep.75. A form of address for a married woman.76. A republic in the western Balkans in south-central Europe in the eastern Adriatic coastalarea.77. An associate degree in applied science.

DOWN1. God of death.2. Using speech rather than writing.3. The Tibeto-Burman language spoken in theDali region of Yunnan.

4. A loose sleeveless outer garment made fromaba cloth.5. A white metallic element that burns with abrilliant light.6. Tuberous or rhizomatous herbaceous peren-nials.7. According to need (physicians use PRN inwriting prescriptions).8. An organization of military naval forces.9. One of the most common of the five majorclasses of immunoglobulins.10. An apparatus for exposing something to theair (as sewage).11. The face veil worn by Muslim women.12. American novelist (1909-1955).13. A human female who does housework.14. Informal terms for money.19. Flightless New Zealand birds similar togallinules.23. Any of various units of capacity.25. A clergyman.27. A card game for 2 players.28. Elected Vice President and became 21stPresident of the United States when Garfieldwas assassinated (1830-1886).30. Affect with wonder.31. A river in southeastern Australia that flowsgenerally northwest to join the Darling River.33. A state in the western United States.34. A medicinal drug used to evoke vomiting(especially in cases of drug overdose or poison-ing).35. Respiratory disorder characterized bywheezing.38. Before noon.42. A particular geographical region of indefi-nite boundary (usually serving some specialpurpose or distinguished by its people or cul-ture or geography).47. Any of various finches of Europe or Americahaving a massive and powerful bill.48. All of the words in a language.50. Tropical American trees with palmately com-pound leaves and showy bell-shaped flowers.51. Group insurance that entitles members toservices of participating hospitals and clinicsand physicians.53. A streak of light in the sky at night thatresults when a meteoroid hits the earth's atmos-phere and air friction causes the meteoroid tomelt or vaporize or explode.55. A genus of orb-weaving spiders includingcommon garden spiders and barn spiders.57. Australian tennis player who in 1962 was thesecond man to win the Australian and Frenchand English and United States singles titles inthe same year.58. True firs.59. A hidden drawback.62. A sudden quick movement.64. A island in the Netherlands Antilles that isthe top of an extinct volcano.65. The United Nations agency concerned withatomic energy.66. Acute lung injury characterized by coughingand rales.68. South American wood sorrel cultivated forits edible tubers.69. A doctor's degree in dental surgery.73. Being five more than one hundred.

Yesterday’s Solution

WORD SEARCH PUZZLE

34s t a r s

Daily SuDoku

New career developments lead to better opportunities in the workplace. Inother words, you have graduated to be in line for new responsibilities. It is time to applyfor a more challenging position within your company. Give yourself a little time to checkout the different possibilities and consider expanding your abilities instead of changingwhat you do best. A transfer may be possible or perhaps further education for the next sixmonths would be beneficial. This is the time to do your research. This afternoon you couldhave a visitor to your company that would give you several ideas without you saying aword. Listen; ask questions, research, etc.

A friend of yours may also be having a celebration. Find some way to spendtime with this friend and you will amuse each other. You are enthusiastic and

people of all ages enjoy having you near them. Your enthusiasm is as pleasant as your goodnature and employers find you a wonderful employee to have in a customer service depart-ment. This is a good time to request a change to management in some capacity. You wouldbe good in any area where communication is most important: insurance, complaints, adjust-ments, reporting, composing, etc. You may gain a new animal friend this evening but itprobably won’t belong to you, meaning a neighbor or friend has a new animal friend. Smileand embrace the day.

inf or m at ionWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

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DrAdrian arbe 23729596/23729581

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Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri 25633324

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Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital 25339667

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M u s i c & M o v i e s

l if e s t y l e

Indian maestro Zubin Mehta will seek to injectwhat he says is some much-needed harmony intothe world when he conducts the illustrious Vienna

New Year’s Concert on January 1. “All over the worldthere are people who hate each other,” Mehta, 78,who is holding the baton for a fifth time at the annu-al waltz fest beamed live to 50 million people world-wide, told Austrian daily Die Presse. “This music canat least bring people together for two and a halfhours,” he said.

Indeed, the 90 or so countries able to watchThursday’s concert live include for the first time con-flict-riven Ukraine, as well as other newcomers as farafield as the Bahamas, Armenia and Mehta’s nativeIndia, organizers said. The Vienna Philharmonic’sannual “Neujahrskonzert” ringing in the new yearfrom Golden Hall of the exalted Musikverein is devot-ed largely to the kings of 19th century waltz, theStrauss family. Each year has some variety, however.Last year, alongside favorites like “The Blue Danube”and “The Radetzky March”, with Daniel Barenboimconducting, the program included works commem-orating the centenary of the start of World War I.

This time the occasion is a happier one, with

music marking the 650th birthday of ViennaUniversity as well as the 200th of the Austrian capi-tal’s Technical University and the 150th of Vienna’sgrand Ringstrasse boulevard. These include forexample “Accelerationen” (“Accelerations”) and the“Elektro-magnetische Polka” by Johann Strauss jun-ior, as well as his “Studenten-Polka” (“Students’Polka”). Non-Strauss pieces include the “ChampagneGalop” by 19th century Danish composer HansChristian Lumbye-which starts with the pop of achampagne cork.

Certain works such as “Wein, Weib und Gesang”(“Wine, women and song”) will be accompanied byballet performances by Vienna State Ballet soloistschoreographed by Italian Davide Bombana. “Certaintraditions give people a feeling of safety,” saidAndreas Grossbauer, the Vienna Philharmonic’s newchairman. “Bedtime stories, birthday cakes-and per-haps also the New Year’s Concert.”

Dark beginnings The event started life on December 31, 1939,

under the Nazis but in the subsequent years thesedark beginnings were forgotten and it gradually

became a much-loved, regular event in the classicalmusic calendar. In the 1980s after the 25-concertreign of Austrian Willi Boskovsky and six-timesAmerican successor Lorin Maazel-who died this year-it was decided to have a different conductor eachyear. These have included such greats as Herbert vonKarajan, Claudio Abbado-who also passed away in2014 — and Mehta in 1990, 1995, 1998 and 2007.The Mumbai-born conductor, who first came toVienna to study in 1954 and whose posts haveincluded music director of the New YorkPhilharmonic, said though that he was “just as excit-ed” as before his debut 24 years ago. “I can think ofno greater (honour),” he said. “When I walk from theImperial (hotel) towards the Konzerthaus of theMusikverein, it’s like I was in my living room. I feel soat home here.” — AFP

Indian maestro seeks harmony with Vienna New Year’s Concert

A picture taken on December 27,2014 shows Indian conducter

Zubin Mehta rehearsing with theVienna Philharmonic Orchestrafor the 2015 New Year’s Concert

in Vienna. — AFP

Hollywood actress Luise Rainer, whowon back-to-back Oscars in the 1930s,has died at the age of 104. Until her

death, she was the oldest living Oscar winner.Rainer won her twin best actress Oscars for1936 biopic “The Great Ziegfeld,” drawing thenod despite a fairly small role as impresarioFlorenz Ziegfeld’s first wife, and 1937’s “TheGood Earth,” an adaptation of the novel byPearl S. Buck in which the heavily, if charming-ly, accented Austrian-German actress played ahumble Chinese peasant.

The high expectations generated by herOscar achievements did not, however lead tomuch further success in Hollywood. Some saythe death of her producer at MGM, IrvingThalberg, as well as bad advice from her hus-band, the playwright Clifford Odets, con-tributed to the precipitous decline in hercareer. Her first movie was “Escapade,” withWilliam Powell. The film was a remake of oneof Rainer’s Austrian films, but she received thepart only after Myrna Loy gave up the role.

Rainer had impressed Powell on“Escapade”; he told a newspaper reporter,“She is an extremely sensitive organism andhas a great comprehension of human nature.She has judgment and an abiding under-standing which make it possible for her toportray human emotion poignantly and truly.”Her next film was “The Great Ziegfield,” forwhich she reunited with Powell. She wowedaudiences and the Motion Picture Academyparticularly with a single highly emotionalscene in the film in which she was on thephone with Powell’s Ziegfeld, seeking tocheerfully congratulate him on his new mar-riage but failing in the attempt; for this sceneshe was dubbed “the Viennese teardrop.”

Screen testIn her next pic, “The Good Earth,” she

played the humble, submissive wife of PaulMuni’s character, and the sheer contrast to herpart in “The Great Ziegfield” impressed many;she picked up a second best actress Oscar.Thalberg had insisted that she play the partwhile MGM’s Louis B. Mayer had been againstit, and Thalberg died before production on thefilm was complete. Rainer made five morefilms for MGM, in 1937 and 1938, including“Big City,” in which she was strangely cast asthe wife of cab driver Spencer Tracy. Only oneof the five was a hit, the Oscar-winning musi-cal biopic “The Great Waltz,” in which sheplayed the wife of Johann Strauss.

Rainer struggled for more money andmeatier parts at MGM, but Mayer was increas-ingly unsympathetic, though the actress-despite her accent-was among those nominal-ly considered for the part of Scarlett O’Hara in“Gone With the Wind” (she did not receive a

screen test). At Paramount in 1942 she did ascreen test for “For Whom the Bell Tolls” butthe part went to Ingrid Bergman. In 1943 sheappeared in the Par war film “Hostages” withWilliam Bendix and Paul Lukas. It was her lastbigscreen appearance until 1997 Dostoevskyadaptation “The Gambler.”

Television workShe appeared onstage in England and

then in J.M. Barrie’s “A Kiss for Cinderella” onBroadway in 1942. Bertolt Brecht wrote a playin which Rainer was to star but they had afalling out. In 1947 she toured the US in a pro-duction of Maxwell Anderson’s “Joan ofLorraine”; Rainer played Joan of Arc severaltimes over the course of her career. During thelate 1940s and 1950s she did some televisionwork in the US and UK, including appearanceson “Schlitz Playhouse” and “Lux Video Theatre”;much later, in 1983, she made the seeminglyobligatory appearance on “The Love Boat.”

Federico Fellini almost lured her back for abigscreen appearance in 1960’s “La dolcevita”-she traveled to Rome for the part butpulled out before shooting. Born inDusseldorf, Germany, and raised in Hamburgand Vienna, she auditioned for the DumontTheater in Dusseldorf at age 16 and subse-quently studied with acting teacher MaxReinhardt, becoming part of his Vienna actingensemble and gaining recognition for stagework in Berlin.

American careerShe appeared in George Bernard Shaw’s

“Saint Joan,” “Measure for Measure” andPirandello’s “Six Characters in Search of anAuthor” and then in several German-languagefilms. MGM talent scout Phil Berg discoveredher in 1934, believing she might appeal toGreta Garbo’s audience. Arriving inHollywood the next year with a three-yearMGM contract in hand, Rainer worked toimprove her English before beginning herAmerican career with “Escapade.” In 2010 theactress appeared at the TCM Classic FilmFestival in Hollywood, where she was inter-viewed by Robert Osbourne.

The British Film Institute also hosted her ata tribute to the actress in that year, her cente-nary. Rainer and Odets were divorced in 1940.She married the publisher Robert Knittel in1945; they remained together until his deathin 1989. She is survived by a daughter,Francesca-who confirmed her mother haddied of pneumonia at her home in London;two granddaughters; and two great-grand-children. Leo Barraclough contributed to thisreport. — Reuters

Double Oscar winning actress

Luise Rainer dies at 104

In this July 29, 1999 file photo, actress Luise Rainer poses in her central London apart-ment. — AP

In his exciting first three films, writer-director J.C.Chandor, the son of a Merrill Lynch investment banker,has proven to be a canny, clear-eyed studier of capital-

ism, sensitive to its strivers and alert to its ethical storms.His debut, “Margin Call,” plunged into the board rooms of aWall Street firm in crisis. He followed that with “All Is Lost,” ametaphorical survival film about a man (Robert Redford)literally wrecked by the global economy. In “A Most ViolentYear,” Chandor widens his scope, fusing a solemn medita-tion on the American Dream with a ‘70s-styled gangsterflick. Oscar Isaac plays Abel Morales, the young head of aBrooklyn heating company. With a risky bit of lending, he’strying to expand his business while at the same time fend-ing off mysterious hijackings of his trucks. It’s 1981 NewYork, one of the city’s most crime-ridden years, and vio-lence crackles in the streets.

The atmosphere is exceedingly rich. The greatest pleas-ures of “A Most Violent Year,” vividly shot by the excellentup-and-coming cinematographer Bradford Young (whoalso lenses “Selma”), are the earthy browns and yellows ofits moody period details: Morales’ beige overcoat, the barewinter trees of its suburban Westchester, the electric wideshots of New York highways. Where we are can’t be mistak-en. This is Sidney Lumet territory: street-level New York,alive with corruption, danger and moral quandary. It’s astreet corner of cinema Lumet so definitively staked outthat, though Chandor is far from his direct descendent,Lumet’s spirit can’t help but loom over “A Most Violent Year,”set in the year his “Prince of the City” blazed across mar-quees.

Clever adaptationThe movie is doted by the standby scenes of gangster

films: the clandestine gathering of rival family businesses,the shootout (handsomely done on the 59th Street Bridge),the sudden police raid of the boss’s home. The film’s excel-lent chase sequence leads irrevocably to the era’s greaticon of decay: a graffiti-covered subway. That “A MostViolent Year” builds all of this not on the usual glamorizedmisdeeds but on the residential oil business - a line of workwhose terrors usually only come monthly by mail - is bothslightly reaching and a clever adaptation of the crimethriller. This is about the dirty work of mainstreamAmerican business, not the underworld.

For Chandor, the backdrop of money, oil and guns makerife fodder for big American themes. Morales, elegant witha politician’s manner, is grounded by a belief in his clean-ness. “We’re at war,” he’s told of the cutthroat industry, towhich he responds: “Well I’m not.” But his remove from thefray gets tested; idealism not be enough to survive. Hiswife Anne (a slinky Jessica Chastain) is the daughter of theformer owner of Morales’ business, and she slowly revealsthe measures she’s stealthily taken to prop up the compa-ny. Morales’ in-house lawyer (Albert Brooks, who’s amass-ing a tremendous late career as a character actor) is also

pressuring him to take more drastically illegal steps evenwhile the suspicious local district attorney (David Oyelowo)is investigating.

Gritty marketplaceThese pressures enflame the film’s slow-burn, never

igniting with the fury the film’s title promises, but addingup to a lean, always absorbing examination of what suc-cess takes in a gritty marketplace ruled by raw power. “Weare so weak now,” laments Morales at a moment of lever-age. The performance by Isaac (“Inside Llewyn Davis”) iscommanding. His restrained businessman and aspiringimmigrant clearly evokes Pacino’s Michael Corleone, andit’s a testament to Isaac that he can get even within a mileof that comparison.

If there’s something that holds back Chandor’s films, it’stheir conceptual neatness and their hard-to-miss allusions.(A tragic side story involving a driver in Morales’ fleet is thisfilm’s most glaring misstep.) But his control is impressiveenough to make me want to him to - like Morales - get a lit-tle dirty. “A Most Violent Year,” an A24 release, is rated PG-13by the Motion Picture Association of America for “languageand some violence.” Running time: 124 minutes. Three starsout of four. MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. — AP

In ‘A Most Violent Year,’

the capitalist as gangster

Review

This photo released by courtesy of A24 shows, Oscar Isaac, left, and Jessica Chastain, in ascene from J.C. Chandor’s “A Most Violent Year.” — AP

The United Arab Emirates said yesterday that itwill not allow screening of Hollywood’sBiblical epic “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” mirror-

ing similar bans by Egypt and Morocco. TheNational Media Council, charged with vetting filmsfor release in the UAE, said the Ridley Scott movieabout Moses’s escape from pharaonic Egypt con-tained “religious and historical mistakes.” “The filmshows Moses not as a prophet but as just a preach-er of peace,” the council’s director of media contenttracking Juma Obaid al-Leem told AFP, adding thatthe storyline contradicts the holy books.

In addition to his place in the Christian andJewish faiths, Moses is also revered by Muslims as aprophet just like Mohammed. Leem said the film

had also fallen foul of the council for its depiction ofMoses receiving the revelation from God through achild. Representation of God and prophets is tabooin Islam. The UAE is a Muslim country where for-eigners, including millions of non-Muslims, makeup the majority of the population.

“We do not allow the distortion of religions...When it comes to religious and historical movies,we care about having a correct narrative and avoid-ing hurting the feelings of others,” Leem said. But heinsisted that film censorship in the UAE is nottough, stressing that most movies are approved forrelease. “It is normal if we express reservationsabout one movie out of 1,000,” he said. OnSaturday, Morocco banned the film on the grounds

that it “represents God”. In remarks publishedTuesday by TelQuel magazine, the director of theMoroccan Cinematographer Centre said the banhad security in mind.

“You saw what happened in Tunisia after thescreening of ‘Persepolis’,” said Sarim Fassi-Fihri, inreference to a 2012 attack by Salafists on a TunisianTV station that had aired the controversial animatedfilm depicting Iran’s Islamic revolution. The 3D“Exodus: Gods and Kings”, starring Christian Bale asMoses, earned $24.1 million in its debut weekend inthe United States, according to box office trackerExhibitor Relations. — AFP

Sofia Vergara, Joe

Manganiello to wed

“Modern Family” star Sofia Vergara — America’s bestpaid TV actress-and Joe Manganiello of “True Blood”fame plan to tie the knot, US media reported

Monday. Colombian-born bombshell Vergara, 42, has been datingthe American actor, 38, for six months since breaking off a rela-tionship with businessman Nick Loeb.

A spokesperson for Vergara, famous for playing Gloria Delgadoon the Emmy-winning series, did not immediately confirm Peoplemagazine’s report that the couple became engaged over Christmasin Hawaii. Manganiello-known for playing Alcide in “True Blood”and for stripping off in Steven Soderbergh’s “Magic Mike”-recentlyproduced a documentary on a male strip club. — AP

UAE follows Egypt, Morocco in banning Moses epic

l if e s t y l eF E A T U R E S

Mr Baker Launches New Year 2015Cake Variety

new cakes to match

all tastes

‘Happy Days, New Successes’ is the motto of MrBaker with the approach of the 2015New Year. As usual, Mr Baker is pre-senting new five cakes for theoccasion that suit varioustastes in addition to a touchof festivity with other MrBaker products withsuperb designs and fancyadditives to pastries baskets and all kinds ofcakes. 2015 comes togive Mr Baker a newpush towards more chal-lenges to win the satisfac-tion of its distinguishedcustomers who were the rea-son behind the success thecompany has reached today in allof its branches.

The quality products Mr Baker presentsis an old tradition for the companybased on taking care of all details,using the best raw materials from thefinest international sources such asSwiss chocolate, fine Belgian flour andFrench butter and cream that are all prepared by the best international dessertand baking experts according to the bestinternational confectionery standards.

New Year full of hope, success and cheerfulness

Baker group creates successful brands, doesnot import them

22 branchescovering all Kuwait

Notably, Mr Baker company is a subsidiary of theBaker Group that locally develops its ownbrands and works on promoting them using thesame work patterns followed by internationalfirms. The group has 6 outstanding commercialactivities in Kuwait; Mr Baker, Kanafani, Mr Subs& Wraps, Herfy, Abul Saleem and The Victorian.The company has been in business for 25 years.

British chef Jamie Oliver ‘turned down hobbit role’

British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has revealed that hewas offered the role of a hobbit in exchange for cook-ing director Peter Jackson a birthday meal, but reject-

ed the chance due to work commitment. The British cooktold US actress Kate Hudson about the deal with the “Lord ofthe Rings” director on his new Channel 4 show, “Jamie AndJimmy’s Friday Night Feast”.

“The worst thing that happened to me was that I gotphoned up by the exec producer and asked did I want to goand cook for Peter Jackson’s birthday, the big birthday,” hesaid. “And if I did, they would fly me over and I could be ahobbit in the film. But I was working, I couldn’t get out of it. Ireally wanted to do it,” he added. “I would have got right intoit as well, I would have taken the costume home and said‘Jools, let’s make love!’” joked the chef. — AFP

Controversial low-brow comedy “The Interview”scored more than $15 million in online rentals andpurchases, entertainment giant Sony said, following

an embarrassing cyberattack and threats that led the com-pany to pull the film from theaters.

The madcap R-rated comedy featuring Seth Rogen andJames Franco revolves around the fictional assassination ofNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Sony canceled the film’srelease after many of the biggest US movie theater chainsgot cold feet following threats from hackers who alsoclaimed a cyberattack on Sony Studios.

The White House has said the attack was orchestrated byNorth Korea, but Pyongyang has denied any involvement.In the end the comedy, which received widespread publici-

ty throughout the episode, played in some 330 independ-ent movie houses that offered to show the film after Sonycame under fire for the cancellation. It was also made avail-able beginning Wednesday across Google Play, YouTubeMovies, Microsoft’s Xbox Video and on a dedicated website,seetheinterview.com Sony Sunday said the comedy wasrented or purchased online more than two million timesover four days through Saturday, for a total of more than$15 million. This, it said, made it the studio’s “#1 online filmof all time.” It was available for rent for $5.99 or $14.99 forpurchase. Meanwhile “The Interview” earned an estimated$1.8 million in theaters over the weekend, adding to the $1million it raked in on its Christmas Day limited release,according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations. — AFP

Sony apparently isn’t the only one who lost money on “TheInterview” last week. A man in Ohio tried to cash in on thebuzz surrounding Seth Rogen and James Franco’s new com-

edy when he purchased $650 in tickets or 50 passes at $13 eachto the movie. According to WCPO in Cincinatti, Jason Best learnedthat a local theater in Clifton was among the 300 theaters to playthe controversial film on Christmas day and hoped to re-sell thetickets online at a higher price (a.k.a. he wanted to scalp them).

“I saw all the hype about ‘The Interview’ on the 23rd andthought, ‘hey, folks are selling these tickets in other cities and itseems like that’s the thing to do right now so why not give it ashot so see how it goes,”‘ he said. But the plan backfired onceSony announced it was streaming the film online for half the priceon sites like YouTube, Hulu and Netflix. Now the man is demand-ing a refund from the Esquire Theatre. “I thought I’d get my mon-ey back because the theater’s website very clearly said the ticketswere refundable,” Best told WCPO in an email.

But a theater manager told Best that the art house didn’t havea website and that “The Interview” was listed as a special event. Itturns out Best had purchased the tickets from movie tickets.comwhich specifically warns on its website that theater ownersreserve the right to withhold refunds for special events. Plus themanager said that scalping tickets was illegal. The $40 million-budgeted “Interview,” which expanded to iTunes on Sunday,recently changed from a wide to limited release after NorthKorean hackers threatened to harm theater goers. —Reuters

Man wants refund after buying$650 in tickets to ‘The Interview’

‘Interview’ rakes in more than $15 million online

A scene from Columbia Pictures’ “The Interview.” —AP

OROGOLD now open in KuwaitOROGOLD, the anti-aging and

skin care cosmetics line thatfeatures authentic 24K gold as

an ingredient has announced theopening of a brand new store locationin Fanar Mall Salmiya, one of the mostluxurious shopping destinations inKuwait.

At the start of event ceremony, thebrand manager of OROGOLD KuwaitSara Abaza revealed the newest ORO-GOLD location continues in the tradi-tion of the OROGOLD brand by offer-ing top notch service alongside goaloriented products. “We are thrilled withthis latest store opening. We heard ourcustomers’ demands; they love theproducts and want more locationswhere they can experience OROGOLDin person.

The grand event hosted a largegathering of prominent Kuwaiti, Britishand expat community social and

media figures who marvelled this loca-tion’s grand opening which was heldon December 18th, 2014. The latestOROGOLD location boasts the samegleaming white dÈcor accented withslick black and signature gold. Just likeother OROGOLD stores, this locationexudes opulence and luxury withplush tufted wingback chairs, beautifulproduct displays and a dazzling goldchandelier dominating the center ofthe ceiling.

OROGOLD is one of the few cosmet-ic lines that concentrate on the use ofgold as a phenomenal skin care solu-tion. Each of OROGOLD products aimsto help fight the signs of aging.Constant innovation in products and ahighly skilled research and develop-ment team that aim to offer their cus-tomers with the very best skin careproducts that redefine the phrase “val-ue for your money”.

l if e s t y l eF E A T U R E S

An employee of a fish farm in the northern Polish village of Rus checks theweight of sturgeon caviar. — AFP photos

Agata Lakomiak-Winnicka, marketing and sales manager for Antoniuscaviar, shows two cans of the Polish product.

An employee of a fish farm checks sturgeon caviar.

Foodies, take note: After flooding the global marketwith its apples and berries, Poland has gone gourmetand is trying its hand at making black caviar. Dressed

from head to toe in sterile clothing, a worker leans over asieve containing roe from Russian and Siberian sturgeon.She uses tweezers to remove any leftover bits from theovary sack-anything to ensure the quality of the caviar.

Nor is hygiene to be trifled with at the fish farm in thenorthern Polish village of Rus. “We produce unpasteur-ized, fresh caviar, so we have to make sure it doesn’t comein contact with even the smallest speck of bacteria,” saysfarm head Marek Szczukowski. “The taste of caviar largelydepends on the quality of the air, the water, its tempera-ture, the feed, but also the method used to obtain theeggs.” Everything here is up to hospital standards.Employees handle the precious eggs, whose colors varyfrom a golden brown to olive to black, in a room fit for sur-gery. All the equipment, the walls, the floor and even theceiling are stainless steel. As for the staff: no shower, noentry. The same goes for anyone without a hygiene mask,

nurse cap and scrubs. The air is swapped out 20 times anhour, and the room is sterilized for six hours every night.

Crystal clear water Outside, thousands of sturgeon swim around in fish

canals fed by the crystal clear water of the Lyna River. Thefish are slim and muscular, with a pointed mouth for theSiberian sturgeon and a rounder one for the more covet-ed-and expensive-Russian variety. Each female weighsbetween 10 and 20 kilos (22 and 44 pounds) and carriesroe totaling around 12 percent of its weight. Before wind-ing up in Rus, the sturgeon spend the first seven or eightyears of their lives on a parent farm in Goslawice, centralPoland. It extends across 2,000 hectares (nearly 5,000acres) of lakes and 500 hectares of ponds heated by anearby power plant.

“We are the biggest fish farm in Poland and one ofEurope’s three main sturgeon producers,” says marketingand sales manager Agata Lakomiak-Winnicka. “We beganfarming sturgeon in 1992 and have been supplying

Europe’s top caviar producers with it since 2008,” she tellsAFP. “They’ve been a huge hit, so it was just a matter oftime before we launched our own brand, Antonius.” Today,the two farms have more than 1,000 tonnes of sturgeonswimming throughout their waterways.

No ready-made recipe Traditionally, caviar was made from eggs from wild

sturgeon in the Caspian and Black seas with the bestknown producers in Russia and Iran. Years of overfishingand pollution have left the sturgeon at risk of extinction.The fish is protected under the 1973 Convention onInternational Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Faunaand Flora (CITES). Yet demand continues and caviar priceshave skyrocketed, now retailing from around 1,700 euros($2,100) per kilo (2.2 pounds) and prompting many acountry to try to cash in on the luxury food.

In 2012, caviar producers made 260 tonnes of the fishydelicacy in countries including France and Italy but alsoIsrael, Uruguay and even Vietnam, according to the World

Sturgeon Conservation Society.The trickiest part of the production process is season-

ing the eggs. Many years of experience go into determin-ing just the right amount of salt. “Making caviar is an art.There’s no ready-made recipe,” Szczukowski says. Thewhole operation takes no more than 15 minutes: fromcarving out the roe-filled ovaries to vacuum packagingthe caviar in elegant black and white boxes with theAntonius label. “We want Poland to have its own caviarbrand recognized around the world,” says Lakomiak-Winnicka.

The potential is there, says French chef Michel Moran,who has lived in Poland for 15 years. “Poland makes reallygood drink for example. We’re able to raise great qualitylivestock, we have great fish,” says the chef at Warsaw’s“Bistro de Paris”. “I don’t mean the Baltic Sea unfortunate-ly, but if we get our fish from fresh water, we’re able toraise some really good stuff,” he tells AFP. “And now, acaviar like this, I’m convinced there’s a place for it on themarket.” — AFP

After mastering fruits, Poland takes on black caviar

For Slovaks, it is the stuff of Marcel Proust’smadeleine recollections: a scrumptious,crescent-shaped pastry filled with wal-

nuts or poppy seeds that triggers a rush ofmemories. All but forgotten under thedecades and drabness of communism, thetasty Bratislavske rozky-or bajgel, as they arealso called-are making a comeback. Slovakpedestrians munch away on the traditionaltreat at cafes and snack shops or just walkingaround the narrow cobblestoned streets in theold town of Bratislava. The reward? A reminderof the rich history and vibrant cultural melangeof this capital cut through by the Danube atthe heart of Europe. The cousin of the Frenchcroissant, the Italian cornetto and the AustrianKipferl, the bajgel harks back as far as the 16thcentury but its exact provenance remainsshrouded in mystery.

Turkish, German or Slovak? For expertSandor Pap, it is to the residents of Bratislava,known as Pressburg under the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the late 19th-early 20thcentury, that the crescent cookie owes itsbeginnings. “Back then, people didn’t careabout questions of nationality or faith,” saidthe employee of the state-funded BratislavskeRozky Association. Case in point: the historicSchwappach pastry shop, an institution thathas been around for centuries, goes by aGerman name but refers to its croissants byyet another term-their Hungarian designation,Pozsonyi kifli. The bakery began churning outthe treats over Christmas 1785, when masterpastry chef Wilhelm Scheuermann includedthem in a holiday window display to muchfanfare.

‘Recount their childhood’ Today, the Bratislavske rozky label comes

with strict criteria. “The croissants must bemarbled and golden, meaning you have tobrush on two layers of egg yolk. Their fillingmust make up 30 percent of the total weightand they have to be baked chemical-free,” saidEva Bolemant, whom the association employsto market the sweets.

“The shape varies with the filling, allowingclients to tell them apart:

those with walnuts are in the shape of a C,while the poppy seed variety look like a horse-shoe or U.” The pastries were widely availableuntil the end of World War II. But communism’s

command economy shuttered many familypastry shops and the original recipe got lost inthe shuffle.

Bratislava’s croissants survived in homebaking until they could resurface at pastryshops and cafes after the fall of the Berlin Wallin 1989. “When we sell them at public events,like now at the Christmas markets, older peo-ple stop by and recount their childhood mem-ories,” said Bolemant. “And how their grand-mothers made the pastries. But they regretthat they no longer have the recipe.”

While Pap and Bolemant insist there is noofficial original recipe and every family uses itsown, there is a version patented by the city’swell-known master pastry chef VojtechSzemes.

The pastries gained their European Union-legislated “traditional specialties guaranteed”trademark in Slovakia. Yet two of the formerAustro-Hungarian Empire countries-Austria orHungary-could just as well have claimed it:Pressburg, alias Bratislava, lay at the cross-roads, right on the border with the two “mod-ern” states. Bratislava’s croissants are nowstarting to make a name for themselves out-side Slovakia. One store, the FantastiCo, asmall but trendy glass-windowed corner shopthat makes only Bratislavske rozky which aretouted as among the city’s best, began sellingthe rolls last year on an “E-shop”. Orders quick-ly came in by the dozens. Today, they arrive inthe thousands, with more and more comingfrom abroad. — AFP

A worker prepares Slovakia’s traditional delicacypastry Bratislava Rolls filled with poppy and nuts.

Slovakia’s traditional delicacy pastry Bratislava Rollsfilled with poppy and nuts.

Bratislava croissantsoffer a taste of the past

Slovakia’s traditional delicacy pastryBratislava Rolls filled with poppy and nuts.

l if e s t y l e

F e a t u r e s

With 2014 coming to a close, it’s time to reflect and take a look at the up and coming trending destinations for the new year. Sure, its

tempting to want to go back to the old favorites - London, Paris, New York... but what about discovering somewhere new?

Somewhere off the beaten path, a travel destination yet to be fully discovered, an underrated city, or an experience only few will

ever tick off their bucket lists? Here are the 15 best travel destinations in 2015 - put ‘em at the top of your lists and beat the crowds, these

destinations are set to boom in 2015 and beyond...

The 15 BestTravel Destinations in 2015

Earlier this year WOW gave you 10 reasons to visit Bosnia & Herzegovina andthe post went absolutely viral on social media. Why? A picture tells a thou-

sand words... and Bosnia & Herzegovina is one of the most picturesque coun-tries off the beaten path. Fortunately it is still flying very much under the radar -making now the perfect time to visit (but be sure to be quick!).

1. Bosnia & Herzegovina

Oman is quickly coming out of the shadows as one of the most intriguingdestinations to visit in 2015. If you want to experience the Middle East in all

its authenticity, culture and traditions - Oman is one of the safest countries youcan do so.

6. Oman

The land of green pastures and torrential rain... Ireland really lives up to its’cliche in the best possible way. But what is still surprising to most who visit

Ireland is the unparalleled natural beauty to be discovered here. Added withsome of the friendliest people in the universe and you have yourself one of theworld’s most enjoyable countries to visit.

2. Ireland

Wondering what’s at the end of the world? Hiking the W trek in Patagonia isone of the biggest trophies you can have on your travel wall of fame. Be

sure to consider an off-season visit for the most grounding experience - no onewants to walk behind trails of tourists in the wilderness.

3. Patagonia, Chile

Surprised to see the Serbian capital make the list? But Belgrade is one ofEurope’s most underrated cities, particularly in summer. Tourism is still fairly

minimal in Serbia, but there’s so much to discover. If you get off the beaten pathand visit the road less travelled in Europe, you surely won’t be disappointed.Spend hours in line for the Eiffel Tower view? That’s less a guarantee.

4. Belgrade, Serbia

Tasmania - or simply “Tassie” to the locals - has had its’ fair share of publicitythese past couple of years, after Hobart was declared Lonely Planet’s best

city to visit in 2014 and Australia’s only mention for best regions to visit in 2015.But it truly comes at no shock. Tasmania has the world’s cleanest air, friendlylocals, untouched wilderness, some of the world’s best hiking trails, fresh pro-duce and so much more. If there’s one place you simply must visit in Oceania in2015, it’s Tassie.

5. Tasmania, Australia

The Atacama Desert will leave you in awe - and no, it won’t be anything nearwhat you expect. Earlier this year it even snowed... yes.... snowed... in the

desert! This is the world’s driest desert, home to cactus’, salt flats, geysers and somuch more to be discovered.

11. Atacama Desert, Chile

If there’s one travel experience that trumps them all, it’s a safari. South Africa isreally embracing tourism and welcoming visitors from all over the world to theirunique country for some of the best wildlife watching in Africa. Its’ neighborstoo have amazing wildlife safaris on offer, but rest assured you will have a strongchance of seeing the Big 5 in South Africa!

12. South African Safari

Whether you’re rummaging through the souks and spice markets inIstanbul, drifting through the air over Cappadocia in a hot air balloon or

sun tanning on one of the many beaches, Turkey was a hotspot in 2014 and willcontinue to be for 2015.

13. Turkey

If you really want to get off the beaten path and experience something trulyunique, consider a trip to Madagascar. If the film is any indication of how

many species of wildlife you can encounter here, you’re in for a real treat!

14. Madagascar

Finally - Cuba. Whether you’re off to Trinidad, Havana, or touring around thecountry on an arranged group tour, there really is so much to see in Cuba.

Right now is the time to visit, whilst Cuba still feels like stepping into a timewarp. Modernization is bound to hit the shores of Cuba sooner or later, so besure to chuck it on the top of your list. — www.worldofwanderlust.com

15. Cuba

Pristine waters and a paradise unlike any other - the Philippines has longbeen a WOW “must visit ASAP” destination.

7. The Philippines

Many (if not most) people you meet on your travels will regard New Zealandas their #1 dream destination. Geographically isolated (much like Australia)

and with relatively untouched wilderness, it’s not hard to see why. Lord of theRings may have (definitely) also had a significant impact on the increased inter-est. But years on from the trilogy and subsequent The Hobbit films, NZ remainsa top pick for travelers heading into 2015.

8. New Zealand

Move over Costa Rica - there’s a new hot spot to visit in Central America in 2015.Nicaragua is quickly becoming Central America’s must visit destination, with so

much to offer long and short term travellers. If you plan on sticking around for awhile and engaging in some slower travel, this is the perfect place to do so.Extremely affordable and now attracting many solo travelers from around the world,this is a great budget option for 2015.

9. Nicaragua

Whether you’re hunting for magic carpets through the Souks in Marrakechor wondering the old streets of Fez, there’s so much to discover in

Morocco. You want culture? tick. Experiences unlike anywhere else? tick.Friendly Moroccans? tick. Tourism in Morocco has sky rocketed in recent years,so be sure to jump on the bandwagon before it’s too late. Morocco is here tostay as one of the world’s most intriguing countries for travelers.

10. Morocco

38Bratislava croissants offer a taste ofthe past

People cheer and celebrate New Year’s Eve during the annual Boot Drop.

Visitors admire a large object of a sheep at the Tatsumizu shrine in Tsu in Mie pre-fecture, central Japan yesterday, to celebrate the upcoming ‘Year of the Sheep’. NewYear’s Day is one of the most important holidays of the year in Japan, with manypeople visiting their hometowns and visiting temples and shrines. — AFP

New Year’s card sheep completes knitting scarf

When millions of Japanese get their customary New Year’sgreeting cards tomorrow, the sheep thatís on the postagestamps will have finished knitting the scarf it began 12 years

ago. Tradition in Japan calls for people to send post cards — often hun-dreds of them ó to friends, colleagues and relatives, decked with pinetrees, cranes and other symbols of good luck to welcome the new yearó but also showing the animal of the year, as set by the Asian zodiac.

Although most stores and businesses are closed Jan 1, mail workersare hard at work, making sure all the cards get delivered. The sheep isthe animal for 2015, heralding a year of harmony as well as possiblymeekness, according to astrological storytelling.

In 2003, the stamp on the cards issued by the post office had as itsdesign a fluffy sheep busily knitting a scarf. This year, it’s wearing thescarf, and holding the knitting needles, perhaps a little proudly. It is notclear what it plans to knit for 2027. — AP

In this Dec 30, 2014 photo, sheep designs on postage stampsare seen on New Year’s greeting cards, 2003 issue, left, and 2015issue, right.

Televised images of New YorkCity’s glittery ball drop havebecome inextricably linked with

New Year’s Eve. But Times Square isn’tthe only place to ring in the new yearwith an object dropping at midnight.Las Cruces, New Mexico, is spicing upNew Year’s Eve with its first ever chiledrop. In Miami, a 35-foot neon orangewill light up tonight, while Atlantaand Nashville, Tennessee, will markthe start of 2015 with peach andmusic note drops.

In Arizona, the celebratory NewYear’s Eve drops include a pine cone,cowboy boot and playing card.Officials in cities with Times Square-styled celebrations have found thatthe events are great ways to drawpeople to their downtowns - oftenwith accompanying fireworks dis-plays and concerts - while embracingtheir heritage.

“It’s about raising the level of visi-bility downtown and doing thingsdowntown that don’t go on else-where in the city,” said Andy Hume,coordinator of downtown develop-ment for Las Cruces. “For quite a longtime, our downtown was on life sup-port, and that’s putting it nicely.” The

city is also taking a more interactiveapproach by asking residents theage-old New Mexico question: red orgreen? Las Cruces residents havebeen voting through an online pollon whether the chile’s LED lightsshould shine red or green, organizerRuss Smith said.

“Since red and green is so com-mon in the vocabulary here in NewMexico, it blends perfectly with theinterest of the people,” Smith said. “Ithas created curiosity and interest onthe part of the public.” Around thecountry, the countdown-to-midnightevents are quirky and sometimesbizarre. Objects range from a water-melon to walleye to a live opossum.

Western cultureThe town of Brasstown, North

Carolina, for most of the past 20 yearshas used a live animal in its NewYear’s Eve Possum Drop. But this year,after challenges from animal rightsprotesters, the organizer says he’ll nolonger use a live opossum - instead,it’ll be a road-kill opossum or perhapsa pot of opossum stew.

Flagstaff, Arizona, celebrates thenew year with a 6-foot pine cone that

drops from a downtown hotel twice -once at 10 p.m. at an event gearedtoward families and again at mid-night. In nearby Prescott, the citybegan dropping a 6-foot spurred

cowboy boot above downtown’sWhiskey Row four years ago in a nodto its western culture. The Flagstafftradition started in 1999 when theWeatherford Hotel was celebrating its

100th anniversary and welcoming thenew millennium. The pine cone start-ed off as a big metal trash can butnow has a more artistic design withcolored LEDs. The pine cone is fitting

for the mountain town that lies with-in the world’s largest contiguous pon-derosa pine forest.

Fireworks showSeveral thousand people gather

on closed streets - typically in freez-ing weather - to watch the pine conedrop and a fireworks show. “Therehave been a few years where it’sinsanely cold out there,” said JoannHudson with the Flagstaff Convention& Visitors Bureau.

Officials in the Arizona town ofShow Low deal a deuce of clubs cardon New Year’s. The card representshow the town, which is about 180miles northeast of Phoenix, suppos-edly got its name. A settler won aranch through a card game where theobject was to show the lowest card,hence the two of clubs. Since 2010, a7-by-4-foot card has dropped from acrane in a downtown park. “We seemto get a steady group of people eachyear that come out for that,” saidSteve North, who oversees economicdevelopment for Show Low. “It’s get-ting some play around the state. We’lllikely get some people who will travelup here.” — AP

Cities model New Year’s events after Times Square

In this Dec 31, 2013 photo, the crowd cheers as a lighted cowboy boot drops to the roof of the Palace Saloon NewYear’s Eve.

In this Dec 31, 2013 photo, the crowd cheers and fireworks explode in thesky as a lighted cowboy boot drops to the roof of the Palace Saloon NewYear’s Eve in downtown Prescott, Ariz. — AP photos

A lighted cowboy boot drop resting on the roof of the Palace Saloon,officially marking the start of the new year.

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