SUBSCRIPTION

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 THULHIJJA 10, 1436 AH www.kuwaittimes.net

Min 26ºMax 44ºHigh Tide06:55 & 21:30Low Tide01:00 & 14:2040

PAGE

SNO

: 166

5015

0 FILS Pilgrims throng Arafat

as hajj reaches climaxFaithful pray for peace on Mount Mercy

EID GREETINGSKuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan wishes HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, HH the Crown Prince SheikhNawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, HH the Prime MinisterSheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, Cabinet mem-bers, heads of states around the world, Kuwaitis,expatriates and our valued readers Eid Mubarak!Kuwait Times will not be published from Friday,Sept 25 to Sunday, Sept 27. Our next issue will beout on Monday, Sept 28, 2015.

MOUNT ARAFAT: Around two million white-clad Muslimsyesterday poured into the vast Saudi plain where ProphetMuhammad (PBUH) gave his final sermon, for the peak ofthe hajj pilgrimage. Many of the faithful from around theglobe camped at the foot of Mount Arafat where theyslept, exhausted from their journey, and prayed despitethe scorching sun. Carrying colorful umbrellas, theywalked from dawn in massive crowds towards the slip-pery, rocky hill which is also known as Mount Mercy.

Here Muhammad (PBUH) gave his final sermon 14 cen-turies ago after leading his followers on hajj. To organizethe flow of pilgrims, security forces formed human chainsalong the roads of the vast Arafat plain. Along the way,volunteers handed out boxes of food and cold water bot-tles. For many pilgrims, hajj is the spiritual highlight oftheir lives. “We feel blessed. I got goosebumps, a feelingthat cannot be explained, when reaching the top of themountain,” said Ruhaima Emma, a 26-year-old Filipina pil-grim, who said she has been “praying for a good life foreveryone”. For Akram Ghannam, 45, from war-torn Syria,being in Arafat is a “feeling that cannot be described. Ipray to God for the victory of all those who areoppressed.”

Many reached Arafat by bus while some walked fromthe holy city of Makkah about 15 km away. Other pilgrimsarrived from nearby Mina using the elevated MashairRailway linking the holy sites of Arafat, Muzdalifah andMina, a tent city where many pilgrims spent Tuesdaynight. After sunset yesterday they moved to Muzdalifah.

Continued on Page 13

CAIRO: Egypt’s president yesterday pardoned Al-Jazeera’s jailed Canadian journalist MohamedFahmy and his colleague Baher Mohamed, whowere sentenced last month to three years in prison,the presidency said. A spokesman for PresidentAbdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Alaa Youssef, told AFP the Al-Jazeera journalists were among a group of inmatespardoned, as state news agency MENA said the par-don covered 100 prisoners, including womenactivists Sana Seif and Yara Sallam.

Fahmy and Mohamed were sentenced in a retrialto three years in August for allegedly fabricating“false” news in support of the blacklisted MuslimBrotherhood movement, which the army removedfrom power in 2013 and outlawed. Australianreporter Peter Greste was also convicted, althoughhe had been deported by presidential decree. It wasnot immediately clear if he was included in the par-don. Their detention and trial sparked global criti-cism towards Sisi, who has said he wished the jour-nalists had been deported from the outset ratherthan put on trial.

Continued on Page 13

Sisi pardons two Jazeera journos

MAKKAH: A pilgrim reads the Holy Quran on a rocky hill called Mount Mercy on the plain of Arafat near thisholy city yesterday. — AP

L O C A LTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Photoo f t h e d a y

KUWAIT: A man checks on a sheep loaded on the bed of his pickup truck moments after he bought it from the livestock market in Rai ahead of Eid Al-Adha or ‘Feast of Sacrifice.’ —Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

MECCA: The Kuwaiti Hajj mission’s teams startedon carrying out their tasks at Mount Arafat sincedawn yesterday as they took their locations des-ignated to them by the Saudi authorities. Themedical teams began assisting those in needthrough two separate clinics. Members of thePublic Authority for Youth and Sport were seenat the entrances and exits of the mission’s head-quarters organizing work.

Kuwaiti pilgrims had arrived to Mount Arafatfrom Mina safely and in good conditions, Headof the Kuwaiti Hajj Mission Khulaif Al-Utheinahsaid, adding that all services rendered to the

Kuwaiti pilgrims were completed. He added thatall teams of the Kuwaiti mission have taken theirpositions at Mount Arafat and were ready toserve the Kuwaiti pilgrims. He praised the excel-lent services extended by the government of theCustodian of the Two Holy Mosques to all pil-grims.

Muslims around the globe yesterday com-memorate the Day of Arafat, considered themost important day of Hajj during which pil-grims gather on the desert planes of Arafat, nearMakkah, to pray to their Lord.

The day falls on the 9th of Dhul Hijjah, the

12th month of the Islamic calendar, and is anintegral part of the pilgrimage of Hajj, the fifthpillar of Islam.

Hajj officially began on Tuesday, on the 8thday of Dhul Hijjah, when pilgrims from all overthe world began travelling from the holy city ofMakkah to Mina, which is roughly eight kilome-ters away.

Yesterday, after the dawn prayers in Mina,the pilgrims started their journey to Arafat,about 14 kilometers away. Muslims believe thatthe Day of Arafat is a day when ones’ sins canbe forgiven. —KUNA

Hajj mission’s teams attendto pilgrims at Mount Arafat

KUWAIT: Twenty-one officers from various Interior Ministry departments are performing hajj in trips paid by the ministry inappreciation to their hard work and dedication, the ministry’s Relations and Security Media Department announced in astatement.

The Kuwaiti Hajj mission’s headquarters.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Deputy Amirand Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-AhmadAl-Jaber Al-Sabah received yesterday acable from National Assembly SpeakerMarzouq Ali Al-Ghanem congratulatinghim on the advent of Eid Al-Adha.

In his cable, Ghanem expressed his sin-cere best wishes, good health, and prosper-ity to His Highness the Deputy Amir andCrown Prince and to the people of Kuwaitunder the wisdom of His Highness the AmirSheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.His Highness sent a reply cable to NationalAssembly Speaker in which he expressedcongratulations and best wishes and moreprosperity for Kuwait, its people, Arab andIslamic nations.

Meanwhile, His Highness Sheikh Nawafsent a cable to the President of the KuwaitNational Guard His Highness Sheikh SalemAl-Ali Al-Sabah and Sheikh Mubarak Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah congratulat-ing them on the advent of Eid Al-Adha, ask-ing Allah Almighty to have many returns ofthis occasion and to bless the Kuwaiti peo-ple, wishing more prosperity to the State ofKuwait under the wise leadership of HisHighness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-AhmadAl-Jaber Al-Sabah. In turn, His HighnessSheikh Salem Al-Ali sent a cable to HisHighness Sheikh Nawaf thanking him andcongratulating him on Eid Al-Adha.

His Highness Sheikh Nawaf alsoreceived cables from senior Sheikhs,Deputy President of the National GuardSheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness Sheikh NasserMohammad Ahmad Al-Sabah, His Highnessthe Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-

Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and FirstDeputy Prime Minister and ForeignMinister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah who congratulated His Highness onthe advent of Eid Al-Adha expressingappreciation to His Highness’ effortsthroughout the years and his support inserving the country.

His Highness the Deputy Amir alsoreceived congratulatory cables from min-isters, governors and senior state officialsinside and outside Kuwait. In turn, HisHighness the Deputy Amir thanked themall for their sincere wishes and senti-ments. —KUNA

Crown Prince receivesEid Al-Adha greetings

His Highness the Deputy Amir andCrown Prince Sheik h Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah

L O C A LTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: The Philippines Embassy in Kuwaitadvised its nationals here to take advantageof the ‘Assisted Voluntar y Repatriat ionProgram’ (AVRP) which is being offered bythe Kuwaiti government. The program is notexclusive for runaway housemaids but it alsoaccepts Article 18 visa holders whose resi-denc y visa has expired or those withabsconding issues. The embassy warnedoverstayers or absconders not to wait for anamnesty as the government has shown noindication that it is planning an amnesty anytime soon.

UncertainVice Consul Sheina Tesorero, speaking

with the Kuwait Times yesterday, advised allillegal Filipino expatriates in Kuwait to takeadvantage of this program instead of waitingfor the uncertain amnesty period.

“Of course we do not know when theamnesty period will be announced in Kuwait.But while we are waiting for the real amnestyannouncement, the AVRP is already here andvery clear to us all. We can help you, and nowis the time because you will not be detained

anymore (at the immigration detention cen-ter). So please take advantage of this pro-gram, apply now if you are illegal and wantto go back home,” she said.

Last week over 108 undocumentedOverseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), mostlyrunaway housemaids, were repatriated(without detention) through AVRP in a char-tered flight via Gulf Air. The program is notconsidered an amnesty but an act of kind-ness on the part of Kuwaiti government forthose illegal Filipinos in the country. The pro-gram was also made possible in cooperationwith the Phil ippine Embassy led byAmbassador Renato Pedro Vil la, ConsulGeneral Raul Dado and Labor Attaché CesarChavez.

4-6 monthsTesorero said assisted voluntary repatria-

tion program could take 4-6 months fromapplication, although the embassy prioritizesand expedites the application of the sick andpregnant. “The program will rely on the com-pliance of the applicants. I remembered lasttime the same program was stopped in 2014because some applicants who were alreadyin the list of people to be repatriated did not

show up in the airport on the day of theirflights. So this time embassy personnel willbe there to assist everyone and make surethat everyone in the list will be included oreveryone will show up in the airport. Wewere told that one more no show case willjeopardize the program and it wil l bestopped again,” she warned.

ProcessFor the Filipinos who want to take advan-

tage of the program, here is the step by stepprocess: 1) Apply for repatriation at the ATNU.

Embassy staff in charge will process theapplication and undertake initial assess-ment (probable case, current status, avail-able documents, etc.). If the applicant hasno passport, he/she must apply for traveldocuments. The TD application is free ofcharge and requires the submission ofthree photos (2x2 or 2x2-3/4).

2) Embassy will undertake initial verification(system check with MOI, MOJ,Municipality, travel ban check). TheEmbassy will submit a request for groupfingerprinting schedule for travel docu-ment holders with the Immigration-CID.

3) Fingerprinting of TD holders. Applicantswill be asked to report to the embassy atthe appointed schedule. The embassy willtransport the group to the ImmigrationOffice in Shuwaikh.

4) Release of fingerprinting result. The resultwill indicate the status of the applicant’srecord in the Kuwait Government system.

5) Verification by Immigration (i e elimina-tion of those with criminal cases, policeabsconding cases, travel bans). The list ofqualified candidates will be released.Applicants will start booking open air tick-ets and will be on standby for final call.

6) The f l ight wil l be scheduled byImmigration. Ticket will be re-booked.Repatriation candidates will be called toreport to the ATN Shelter at least 1 weekprior to flight. Not all candidates will be accepted as

those with criminal cases may face otherlegal issues. Also anyone applying for theprogram and leaving Kuwait in this way willbe blacklisted and unable to return as com-pared in the case of amnesty program. Theembassy accepts applicants without fees andtravel documents will be issued for thosewithout valid passports.

Embassy told Filipinos: Don’t waitfor amnesty, take advantage of AVRP

Program ‘act of kindness’ on Kuwaiti government’s part

KUWAIT: Atty Sheina Tesorero attentive-ly listening to questions from listenersyesterday. —Photo by Ben Garcia

Bahrain PM says Arab nation can

safeguard its rightsMANAMA: Bahrain’s Prime Minister Prince Khalifa binSalman Al Khalifa said the Arab nation has the capacity tostand with its rights and protect its interests once it leavesaside its differences and directs its efforts towards the helmof the joint Arab action that protects Arab interests andregion from external interference. He said during his meet-ing with the dean of the diplomatic corps, KuwaitiAmbassador to Bahrain Sheikh Azzam Al-Sabah and anumber of Arab ambassadors yesterday that some policieshave tried to distract Arab countries with their internalstrife to distract attention from the first issue of the Arabswhich is the Palestinian issue, stressing that the Arab sup-port for the state of Palestine will not stop.

He added that what is happening today in Yemen “doesnot concern it alone, but it is a plot against the stability ofthe Arab nation in general and to undermine the securityof the GCC countries in particular.” Meanwhile, SheikhAzzam expressed his thanks and appreciation to the PrimeMinister on behalf of the Arab ambassadors, praising thesupport extended to them by the Kingdom aimed atstrengthening relations between their countries with theKingdom of Bahrain. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Minister of Information andMinister of State for Youth Affairs SheikhSalman Sabah Salem Al-Humoud Al-

Sabah congratulated yesterday theKuwaiti leadership on the advent of theEid Al-Adha. In a statemen to KUNA,Sheikh Salman invoked the lessons andvalues imbedded in the meaning of theoccasion of the Eid Al-Adha as an aptreminder to the people of Kuwait touphold the merits of national unity

behind His Highness the Amir SheikhSabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HisHighness the Deputy Amir and CrownPrince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-JaberAl-Sabah, and His Highness the PrimeMinister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

Sheikh Salman conveyed his con-gratulations to the nation’s leadership,not only on his own behalf, but on thebehalf of the intellectual, media, andartistic communities as he is alsoChairman of the National Council forArts and Letters. He expressed pride inthese communities for having champi-oned national unity and loyalty to thenation’s leadership while rejecting reli-gious intolerance, extremism inthought and conduct, and terrorism.Furthermore, he recalled in his state-ment the sacrifices given by Kuwaitiswho lost their lives defending thenation and its lofty values. —KUNA

MANAMA: Bahrain’s Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa meets thedean of the diplomatic corps, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Bahrain Sheikh Azzam Al-Sabah and a number of Arab ambassadors. —KUNA

Information Minister congratulatesleadership on advent of Eid Al-Adha

Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah

L O C A LTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

AConcluding Statement describes thepreliminary findings of IMF staff atthe end of an official staff visit (or

‘mission’), in most cases to a member coun-try. Missions are undertaken as part of regu-lar (usually annual) consultations underArticle IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement,in the context of a request to use IMFresources (borrow from the IMF), as part ofdiscussions of staff monitored programs, oras part of other staff monitoring of econom-ic developments.

The authorities have consented to thepublication of this statement. The viewsexpressed in this statement are those of theIMF staff and do not necessarily representthe views of the IMF’s Executive Board.

The decline in oil prices has adverselyaffected Kuwait’s fiscal and current accountbalances and slowed growth in 2014/15.High financial buffers provide cushion tocontinue to support growth through publicinvestment and smooth the needed fiscaladjustment over the medium term.Nevertheless, the government needs toimplement gradual but sustained adjust-ment of current spending, focusing onreducing rigidities in the budget by contin-uing with subsidy reform and introducingwage reform, and improve the efficiency ofcapital expenditure to strengthen non-oilgrowth and ensure intergenerational equity.Reforms should be initiated without delay,especially in view of the risk of a further sus-tained oil price decline, with greater empha-sis on labor market and other structuralreforms to reduce the economy’s depend-ence on oil and lay the basis for private sec-tor-led growth.

The Central Bank of Kuwait has contin-ued to strengthen regulation and supervi-sion of the banking system to safeguardfinancial stability, and banks are in a strongposition to weather the challenges of loweroil prices.

I. Recent Economic and FinancialDevelopments

1. The economy continued to grow in2014, albeit at a lower rate, reflecting someslowdown in investment activity. The esti-mated slowdown in non-oil sector growthto 3.2 percent in 2014 (4.2 percent in 2013),has been driven by moderating activity in anumber of sectors, notably, in manufactur-ing, trade, electricity and water, and trans-portation sectors. The decline in oil produc-tion by 1.4 percent, due partly to the closureof a neutral zone oilfield in the latter half of2014, reduced overall real GDP growth tozero. Average inflation increased slightly to3 percent in 2014, and edged up to 3.3 per-cent in July 2015, driven mainly by housingrents.

2. Financial market conditions are sub-dued. Stock prices declined by 16 percent y-o-y at end-August 2015, reflecting globalfinancial market volatility, and regionalgeopolitical and domestic economic uncer-tainties. The average value of real estatetransactions has tended to exhibit consider-able volatility, and a correction trend is notevident at this stage. Corporate sector prof-itability remained stable in the first half of2015. Growth in banks’ deposits and creditto the private sector edged down to 5.4 per-cent and 4.7 percent, respectively, in June2015 (y-o-y). The central bank kept its dis-count rate, the key benchmark rate for lend-ing, unchanged at 2.0 percent to help stim-ulate private sector credit.

3. The banking sector is well regulatedand has shown resilience to the oil priceshock. The sector had a capital adequacyratio of 16.9 percent according Basel III defi-nition, nonperforming loans ratio of 2.8 per-cent, and provisioning ratio of 172 percenton a consolidated basis at end-June 2015.Banks’ return on assets and equityincreased, respectively, to 1.1 percent and8.9 percent (1.0 percent and 7.4 percent in2013), reflecting lower provision expenses,and profit growth of subsidiaries andbranches aboard. Investment companies(ICs) combined were profitable in 2014, butone-third of the companies recorded losses.The banking system’s exposure to ICs dimin-ished to 2.8 percent of banks’ total lending,amid ICs ongoing downsizing of balancesheets.

4. Lower oil prices caused the fiscal posi-tion to deteriorate sharply in 2014/15. In thegovernment’s presentation, after mandato-ry transfers to the Future Generations Fund(FGF) of 25 percent of total revenues, andexcluding investment income, the fiscal bal-ance declined to a deficit of 4.4 percent ofGDP in 2014/15 from a surplus of 11.7 per-cent in 2013/14.

Under the IMF presentation, which doesnot take into account transfers to the FGFand includes IMF staff estimate of invest-ment income, the overall fiscal balance alsonarrowed sharply to a surplus of only 17.3percent, compared to a surplus of 34.7 per-cent in 2013/14. The government increaseddiesel and kerosene prices and reducedsubsidies on aviation fuel effective January2015, with estimated savings of 0.3 percentof GDP annually, reduced medicalallowances of Kuwaitis and relatives travel-ling abroad for treatment, as well as traveland other allowances of governmentemployees. The current account surplus fellto 31.2 percent of GDP in 2014 from 39.5percent in 2013.

II. Macro-financial Outlook and Risks

5. Investment in infrastructure projectswill support non-oil growth in the mediumterm. High government buffers, a strongand liquid banking system, and a profitablecorporate sector, provide the enabling envi-ronment for growth. A number of contractshave been awarded since 2014 in the oilsector to upgrade fuel and to increase therefining capacity that would have positivespillovers on domestic economic and finan-cial activity. Non-oil GDP growth is project-ed to remain slightly lower in 2015-16 andthereafter increase to 4 percent over themedium term as the impact of large invest-ments in 2015 takes effect. Average oil pro-duction declined in 2015 and is projected toincrease by 2 percent a year in the mediumterm, consistent with the planned newinvestment to increase crude capacity.Overall, GDP growth will recover from 0.3percent in 2015 to about 2.8 percent overthe medium term. Average inflation is pro-jected to increase to 3.4 percent in 2015 andwill remain broadly stable at that level overthe medium term, given limited global infla-tion.

6. The mission’s view is that the peg to abasket remains appropriate for the Kuwaitieconomy, as it continues to provide a nomi-nal anchor. The authorities are fully commit-ted to the current exchange rate regime. Asof July 2015, the Kuwaiti dinar depreciatedagainst the U.S. dollar by about 6.8 percent(y-o-y), whereas the nominal effectiveexchange rate appreciated by 3.1 percentduring the same period. Staff ’s externalassessment suggests a current account gapof 11 percent of GDP, which could be closedby increasing fiscal savings over the medi-um term. In the future, as the economy

diversifies, more flexibility in the exchangerate might become appropriate.

7. The credit outlook for the banking sys-tem is supportive of growth given ampleliquidity. Kuwait’s credit cycle shows thatcredit growth is currently at its trend trajec-tory, mitigating concerns of a build-up offinancial risks from excessive credit expan-sion. Continued efforts to develop moneyand debt markets would further strengthenliquidity management and improve mone-tary transmission.

8. Early formulation of a comprehensivelong-term fiscal adjustment strategy is nec-essary. The government’s fiscal balance(according to government presentation) isprojected to remain in deficit over the medi-um term. After transferring revenues to theFGF, the central government fiscal deficitwould remain in double digits as a share ofGDP over the medium term, implying acumulative deficit of KD23 billion between2015-20. The government’s high financialbuffers and ample borrowing space willenable it to comfortably finance the short-fall. Nevertheless, to maintain confidence inthe economy, preserve buffers, and reducefiscal risks, fiscal adjustment plans shouldbe expeditiously formulated and communi-cated, and the adjustment initiated. Totalfiscal adjustment of about 12 percent ofGDP will be needed over the longer term toachieve a fiscal balance that is in line withintergenerational equity and would also besufficient to close the estimated externalcurrent account gap.

9. The choice of fiscal financing shouldweigh the pros and cons of various optionsto determine the optimal mix. Drawdownfrom the General Reserve Fund (GRF), aswas done in 2014/15, would be consistentwith the GRF’s role as the Treasurer as wellas the stabilization fund. There may also bemerit in issuing domestic debt, which couldhelp catalyze the development of a liquidlocal-currency debt market. However, anyissuance of domestic debt would need toconsider the cost of debt relative to theexpected risk and return on the generalreserve fund, and more importantly, itsimpact on the central bank’s foreign

exchange reserves, and the capacity of thebanking system to absorb government debtwithout crowding out private credit.Depending on the rating and terms of bor-rowing, issuing foreign currency debtabroad could constitute an additionaloption that would not affect central bankreserves.

10. Tighter global liquidity conditionswould impact the Kuwaiti financial sector,government and households, with feedbackeffects on the real economy. While bankshave significant direct and indirect expo-sures to real estate and equity markets, theyhave high capital and provisioning to with-stand shocks, and the central bank is proac-tively monitoring and mitigating risks withmacroprudential tools. The upward trend inwholesale funding, although low, and thegeographical diversification of assets war-rants enhanced monitoring to limit poten-tial spillover risk from the region.

11. Stress tests conducted by the missionsuggest continued overall banking sectorresilience. A few banks, however, turn out tobe more sensitive than others and couldrequire additional capital under severe stressscenarios. Given the interlinkages in thefinancial system, abrupt changes in marketconditions could pose a risk to the financialsystem and the economy during periods ofstress. The balance sheets of nonfinancialcorporations could also be affected,notwithstanding their comfortable levels ofdebt servicing capacity. Households wouldface adverse wealth effects from a decline instock prices. ICs are facing valuation lossesfrom their investments in the local equitymarket. There is further scope to better iden-tify and mitigate spillovers through thefinancial sector, and to continue to buildbuffers of the banking system. Although the

probability of realization of large shocks islow, this calls for strengthening resolutionplans for banks, which is work-in-progress.Strengthening the macroprudential policyframework, and refining the early warningsystem and toolkit, would enable a moresystematic assessment and prevention ofsystemic risk. In particular, focused attentionon collation of real estate indicators is war-ranted to monitor property market risks.

III. Policy ChallengesA. Fiscal Consolidation and Expenditure

Composition

12. Commencing phased fiscal consolida-tion without delay is needed to close the fis-cal gap, reduce fiscal vulnerabilities andbring the fiscal stance closer to benchmarklevels indicated by intergenerational equityconsiderations. Delays in adjustment wouldresult in a worsening fiscal position thatwould require a larger adjustment in thefuture, especially if oil prices fall further. Themission underscores the importance of notonly a gradual pace of adjustment, in view ofKuwait ’s large buffers and oil and gasreserves, but also for it to fall mainly on cur-rent spending to create space for maintain-ing high capital expenditure, which has astronger impact on growth. Prioritizing capi-tal expenditure through better appraisal ofinvestment projects, by introducing a sys-tematic ex-post evaluation of projects, andby effectively implementing the anti-corrup-tion framework assumes importance.

13. The government should take advan-tage of current low global energy prices tostrengthen efforts to reform domestic ener-gy prices. A gradual phasing-out of energysubsidies (estimated at 7.2 percent of GDP in2015), with a social safety net and other miti-gating measures and a well-designed com-munication strategy to get the buy-in of themiddle class, would generate substantialsavings. In the longer-term, energy pricereform is expected to benefit growth byincreasing efficiency in the economy andcreating space for higher public and privateinvestment. One-off effects on inflationshould be manageable. Productive activitiesmore sensitive to energy costs, particularlythe transport sector, would be able to adjust

to higher energy prices more easily if thereform is gradual.

14. The mission is of the view that anyproposal to reform wages should, amongother things, cap annual salary increases atthe inflation rate and contain expansion inthe wage bill. The government is consider-ing a reform to standardize the wage struc-ture in the public sector and provide aframework to limit wage growth. The wagereform’s aim to simplify the wage structureand improve the current system is welcome.To achieve these objectives, the reformneeds to include clauses to limit explicitlypublic employment growth and arbitraryincreases in wages. When designing theframework, the authorities should be mind-ful of the impact of such a rule on the for-mation of inflation expectations in theeconomy. Moreover, an escape clause tohold wage growth below inflation whenmacroeconomic circumstances warrantshould be included.

15. Efforts to raise non-hydrocarbon rev-enue needs to commence. Introducing abusiness profit tax on the net profits of allcompanies operating in Kuwait and simpli-fying the current tax structure would poten-tially increase revenues by KD 500-KD 800million (1.3 to 2.1 percent of GDP).Implementation of the value added tax(VAT), which is also being discussed at theGCC-level, could yield an additional 2-3 per-cent of non-oil GDP. With the GCC havingrecently approved a VAT framework, Kuwaitshould now move ahead expeditiously withits implementation.

16. The mission welcomes the govern-ment ’s decision to move to top-downbudgeting beginning FY 2016/17 and to amedium-term budgeting framework start-

ing in fiscal year 2017/18. These reforms,besides providing better oversight and dis-cipline to the budget planning and execu-tion processes, would also build momen-tum to strengthen capital investment plan-ning and prioritization towards high-growth sectors. Besides, an overall PublicFinancial Management Committee, chairedby the Minister of Finance, has been estab-lished to guide and supervise public finan-cial management reforms. A decision hasalso been made for a full roll-out andimplementation of the GovernmentFinancial Management Information Systemduring FY 2016/17.

B. Strengthening Financial Stability

17. The CBK has strengthened regula-tions to safeguard financial stability. Banksare under Basel III regulations for capital,including a framework for DSIBs, liquidity,and leverage. In the real estate sector,banks are subject to loan-to-value ratiosince November 2013, to a segment ofindividuals who purchase or develop resi-dential property, besides debt-service-to-income ratio (DSTI) that already existed.

18. Macroprudential tools can help miti-gate potential risks posed by banks’ highexposures to the real estate sector. Someweakening of real estate activity appearsunderway in the commercial and invest-ment segments, but the residential realestate segment reportedly remains firm.The latter is regulated by DSTI and maxi-mum loan limits. While investment andcommercial real estate financing is less reg-ulated, rules regarding the treatment of realestate collateral, which encouraged thistype of lending are being phased out.However, it is important to ensure thatmacroprudential policy measures arereviewed constantly to ensure that they donot exacerbate any property price correc-tion, while preempting the buildup ofexcessive risks related to real estate expo-sures. In addition, heightened supervisoryvigilance needs to be maintained to ensurethat real estate exposures are appropriatelyclassified and adequately provisioned. Themission encourages the authorities to con-struct real estate indices and suggests that

other indicators, such as both the averageand distribution of LTV and DSTI ratios, becompiled to calibrate measures at differentphases of the credit cycle.

19. Given ICs interconnectedness in thefinancial system, the mission underscores theneed for close monitoring of their activities,strengthened regulatory oversight, and fur-ther consolidation to strengthen this sector.A formal macroprudential coordinationmechanism encompassing nonbank finan-cial institutions would facilitate more system-atic identification of systemic risks. Keyimprovements would involve: (i) assigning amacroprudential policy mandate and a delin-eation of its powers; (ii) establishing a formalfinancial stability coordination committeeheaded by the central bank, comprised of allfinancial system regulators, including thecapital markets authority, the insurancesupervisor, and the Ministry of Finance; (iii)ensuring appropriate accountability mecha-nisms; and (iv) elevating to a legal require-ment the exchange of information.

C. Labor Market Reform and Diversification

20. Creating the right incentives fornationals to take up jobs in the private sec-tor is crucial. Current labor market struc-tures need to have the right incentiveframework to create a skilled domesticworkforce and lead to a self-sustainedexpansion in employment of nationals inthe private sector. Current policies to keepunemployment among nationals lowthrough public employment, quotas andpermanent wage subsidy programs in theprivate sector are neither effective nor sus-tainable in the long run. They need to beunderpinned by educational and trainingreforms and labor policies to improve skills,

pay and productivity in the private sector.Empirical analyses suggest the existence ofcomplementarities between expatriate andnational labor that underscore the impor-tance of treading gradually in any efforts tocap expatriate labor.

21. The authorities recognize the chal-lenges in diversifying the economy and theneed to improve the business environmentand governance indicators. Recent effortsinclude finalizing foreign investment andSMEs by-laws, and streamlining registrationand licensing procedures for investors. Theestablishment of Kuwait Direct InvestmentPromotion Authority has resulted in addi-tional FDI into Kuwait. International experi-ence suggests that, in addition to creatingan economic environment favorable fordoing business, Kuwait needs to implementpolicies to encourage firms to expanddomestic operations and develop exportmarkets, enhance infrastructure, and sup-port workers in acquiring the necessaryskills and education.

22. The corporate sector in Kuwaitappears well positioned to weather shocks,including from the recent fall in oil prices,with most sectors displaying comfortablelevels of debt servicing capacity. Ex-postprofitability (return on assets) has remainedstable but at low levels, particularly whencompared with other countries, includingGCC peers. Companies appear undervalued;lower price to earnings ratios than in peercountries may point to weaker confidencein Kuwait’s business environment that theauthorities are seeking to improve. Furtherdeepening of asset markets to provide com-panies alternative means of financing andinvestment, improving the investment cli-mate in the economy, including by reducingcosts of doing business in Kuwait, increas-ing privatization efforts, strengthening cor-porate governance, establishing bankruptcyprocedures, and better data availability toinvestors, would contribute to better per-formance of the corporate sector.

The IMF team values the candid andcomprehensive discuss ions with theKuwaiti authorities, and would like toexpress its sincere gratitude to them fortheir close cooperation.

Kuwait: 2015 Article IV ConsultationConcluding Statement of the IMF

L O C A LTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

NEW YORK/KUWAIT: Kuwait’s FirstDeputy Prime Minister and ForeignMinister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah has congratulatedSaudi Arabia on the occasion of itsNational Day, wishing the Kingdom last-ing prosperity.

“I would like to congratulate theCustodian of the Two Holy Mosques KingSalman bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Princeand the Deputy Crown Prince, the Saudigovernment and people on the occasionof this joyful day, and also on the occa-sion of Eid Al-Adha,” Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said in press remarks. SheikhSabah Al-Khaled, in New York for the UNGeneral Assembly (UNGA) meetings, wasspeaking on the sidelines of a receptionheld by the Saudi Permanent Mission to

the UN on the occasion of the Kingdom’snational day late last night. He recalledhow Saudi Arabia has been offering dif-ferent kinds of facilities to pilgrims whowere performing their rituals during theHajj season.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled also com-mended Saudi Arabia’s role at the region-al, Arab, Islamic and international levelsvis-a-vis the recent Israeli escalationagainst Al-Aqsa Mosque, citing contactsmade by King Salman with world leadersto put an end to the Israeli practices.

Meanwhile, National AssemblySpeaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem sent acable of congratulations to Saudi Arabia’sSpeaker of Shura Council Dr Abdullah binMohammad Al-Sheikh on the occasionof his country’s National Day. — KUNA

Foreign Minister congratulatesSaudi Arabia on national day

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah

Marzouq Al-Ghanem

By A Saleh

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health medical’s emer-gencies manager Dr Tareq Al-Jassar stressedthat the ministry was ready for the Eid vacationwith a comprehensive plan to provide airborneambulance services as well as special field clinicsat all shopping malls and recreation locationsaround Kuwait. “Clinic will be deployed at theGrand Mosque, in various TEC facilities, theAvenues, Marina Mall, 360 Mall and all highways,”he explained.

Meanwhile, Kuwait Municipality announcedthat emergency teams began tours at the mainsheep market in Rai to maintain prices controland prevent ‘random slaughter’ of livestock onEid Al-Adha. The municipality had allocated 18temporary slaughterhouses around the country,to work alongside the main slaughterhouses onthe first day of the Muslim holiday known as‘Feast of Sacrifice.’

Eclipse prayer The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs

recently called for performing the eclipse prayerin all its 52 mosques located in the six Kuwaitigovernorates. In this regard, the ministry’s assis-tant undersecretary for mosques’ affairs, WaleedAl-Shuaib said that call for this prayer was part oftraditions of the prophet (PBUH) when he urgedMuslims to pray to Allah on such an occasionthat manifests one of Allah’s signs.

Al-Shuaib noted that the eclipse is forecastto take place in the period of 4:06 -4:41 amnext Monday and that a directive had beenalready circulated to all mosques urging themto call worshipers to perform the prayer beforeAl-Fajr prayer.

Greater security MP Saleh Ashour said that Kuwait is going

through new political changes and that it wastime for the government and parliament toexpand security priorities that cope with the cur-rent developments and eliminate all attempts tocreate tumults amongst Kuwaitis. “The recentsecurity and terrorist incidents such the bomb-ing of the Imam Al-Sadeq mosque and the [dis-covery of the] Abdaly cell as well as traffic acci-dents and daily youth scuffles in various shop-ping malls that have been claiming lives for triv-ial reasons all made citizens feel insecure,” hewarned, urging the government to launch moreawareness campaigns and impose stricter secu-rity and accountability measures.

Jaber University almost readyMember of the parliamentary educational

affairs committee MP Humoud Al-Hamdanstressed that the committee was about to finishdiscussing the Jaber University issue and hadalready found that its decree needed amend-ment. “Four ministers have been in office overthe past two years and have been trying to solvethe problem,” he remarked, noting that thoughthe decree was referred to the Fatwa and

Legislation committee, it was returned as it wasafter six months of discussion.

ICM calls to end Syrians sufferingThe Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM)

yesterday congratulated HH the Amir, HH theCrown Prince and the Kuwaiti people on Eid Al-Adha. Speaking on the occasion, ICM secretarygeneral, engineer Mohammed Al-Aleemstressed that the Hajj season was an occasionfull of moral lessons such as the importance offraternity, cooperation and communicationamongst Muslims.

He also urged all world leaders to seriouslywork on putting an end to the sufferings ofMuslims in Syria, Burma, Iraq, Yemen, Palestineand elsewhere.

MOH to reduce medical errors The Ministry of Health (MOH) stressed that

building a clinical simulation center in Kuwaitwould help reduce medical errors by six to seventimes through constant extensive training. In thisregard, MOH’s assistant undersecretary for assist-ing medical services affairs Dr Jamal Al-Harbi saidthat the ministry formed a committee to studytraining courses and training assessment meth-ods and made agreements with some specializedinternational centers to help build the center.“The ministry is currently working on training thecenter staff on operating the center,” he added,pointing out that the center would mainly focuson training paramedics, medical emergency tech-nicians and nurses working in various maternityor intensive care unit (ICU) departments.

Medical staff at all malls during Eid

KUWAIT: A team from the Interior Ministry’s Relations and Security Media Departmentvisited the Mulla Saud Al-Saqr Elementary School for boys recently as part of its ongoingcampaign to spread road safety awareness among students.

A firefighter tackles flames at a water tanker in Mina Abdullah.

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: The Director of Public Relationsand Information at Kuwait Fire ServiceDirectorate Colonel Khalil Al-Amir warnedagainst accidents that occur and increaseduring the Eid holidays, especially due tochildren playing with fireworks, left unat-tended in hallways or other areas and usingelevators by themselves.

Al-Amir warned that parents must makesure that gas cylinders in kitchens aresecured after use and check the hoses peri-odically to make sure that there are noleaks. He said lifts must be maintained reg-ularly to avoid malfunctions, and in newbuildings only companies approved by thefire directorate should be hired. Al-Amirsaid all fire centers are working with fullcapacity during Eid time to protect thenational security against accidents andfires.

In related incidents, a fire broke out in awater tanker in Mina Abdullah areaprompting the fire center there to respond.The fire was contained and put out in ashort time, due to the quick response. Noinjuries were reported. And in MidanHawally, a European man fell inside the ele-vator shaft of a building. Salmiya fire centerresponded and found the victim fell fromthe sixth to first floor and died from the fall.

The body was recovered and handed tocriminal evidence, after two hours of work.

Bootlegger caughtA non-Kuwaiti man was arrested in Jahra

while selling 12 Red Label whiskey bottlesto an undercover agent for KD 900, saidsecurity sources, noting that on searching afarmhouse he owns, narcotics detectivesfound 220 more bottles. The suspect con-fessed that he had intended selling theliquor during the Eid holiday, whendemand is higher, and that he usually soldit for KD 100+ per bottle.

Dangers of fireworksduring Eid holidays

European man dies in elevator shaft fall

A bootlegger arrested with 220 liquorbottles in Jahra yesterday.

By Meshaal Al-Enezi

KUWAIT: Mubarak Al-Kabeer detectivesrecently launched a widescale inspec-tion campaign raiding several suspi-cious spots in Sabah Al-Salem area, saidsecurity sources, noting that the raidsresulted in arresting a hundred mena n d wo m e n u n d e r t h e i n f l u e n c e o falcohol.

Construction permitsKuwait Municipality’s acting director

Ahmed Al-Manfouhi said that the municipali-ty started handing over construction permis-sions to 133 citizens who own land plots inSabahiya. “The delay was due to someimpediments such as private gardens andpark shades,” Manfouhi explained. Notably,the Public Authority for Housing Welfare hadbeen blaming the municipality for the delay.

Arab Parliament condemns

Israeli aggressionCAIRO: The Arab Parliament’sPresident Ahmad Al-Jarwancondemned yesterday interna-tional silence towards Israeliaggressions against thePalestinians. The ArabParliament will address allinternational bodies andorganizations to act swiftly toend daily crimes committed bythe Israelis, Jarwan said in apress statement.

The latest of these crimeswas the killing of a young Palestinian male and female onTuesday. Jarwan said the recent crime, which he describedas “an ethnic cleansing,” is another violation againsthumanity. Any Israeli justification to these crimes is only aflimsy excuse to allow the Israelis to continue their aggres-sions against the Palestinians in order to strip them out oftheir legitimate rights, he pointed out. — KUNA

Ahmad Al-Jarwan

Albanian Pres sendsAmir Eid greetings

TIRANA: Albanian President Bujar Nishani sent the fol-lowing letter to His Highness the Amir Sheikh SabahAl-Ahmad Al-Sabah on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha:

“Your Highness,I would like to wholeheartedly thank you for your

wishes and greetings conveyed to me on the occasionof Eid Al Adha, which I reciprocate with a great deal ofpleasure.

On the occasion of Eid Al Adha, I as well pray to theAlmighty God to bestow upon Your Highness plenty ofhealth and happiness and further prosperity anddevelopment to the friendly Kuwaiti people.

Please accept, Your Highness, the expression of myhighest consideration.”

More than 100drunks arrested

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime MinisterSheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabahyesterday conveyed His Highness the AmirSheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’scongratulations to Kuwaiti pilgrims in Makkahon the occasion of Eid Al-Adha. In a phone callwith head of Kuwaiti Hajj mission, Assistantundersecretary for public relations at theMinistry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Khulaif

Al-Uthaina, His Highness the Premier alsoconveyed the Eid congratulations of HisHighness the Deputy Amir and the CrownPrince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. His Highness the Prime Ministerchecked on the safety and health of allKuwaiti pilgrims and inquired about facilita-tions offered by the Hajj mission in Makkahand other holy sites. — KUNA

PM conveys Amir’s Eidgreetings to pilgrims

Abdally farm

lands to be

freed by KOCKUWAIT: Dr Ali Al-Omair, Oil Minister and StateMinister for National Assembly Affairs, deniedreports that an unnamed amount of money hadbeen allocated to reclaim farms in Abdaly area. Hesaid the ministry is accounting for the lands neededby Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) in order to releasethem, in a way that will not hinder operations, thenthere will be suitable solutions so not to harm farm-ers who spent time, money and efforts in reclaiminglands for food security.

He said the law calls for compensating land own-ers concerned with drilling, and limited it to thebuildings and farms.

“We are now determining lands and locationsKOC needs in the northern area for discovery anddrilling for oil and natural gas,” Omair said. Omairsaid when this stage is complete, lands will be freedin a way that will not delay search and production inthe area, according to a mechanism that will bedetermined later.

When asked about expectations of theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) that oil prices willnot see an increase in the short run, and that itneeds years to reach $70 per barrel, he said “there isno doubt that what the IMF said expresses the tech-nical views within the current aspects.”

He said that expectations regarding oil prices arebuilt on indicators of the international economicgrowth and daily oil production in addition to sup-ply and demand, adding that there is slowness inthe international growth, in south east Asia, particu-larly in the economies of China, Japan and India, and“whenever these countries’ economies improve, oilprices improve gradually.”— Al Rai

FROM THE ARABIC PRESSTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Back in the early 1950s, an Egyptian journalistvisited Kuwait for a while and when hereturned home, he wrote an article titled ‘The

Thirsty City’. It was a very suitable title because drink-ing water was direly scarce at that time. The onlysources of fresh drinking waterwere wells in Shamiya, Kaifan,Hawally and Sulaibiya, in addi-tion to some brought from theShatt Al-Arab by primitivedhows, and people used tocrowd around them on arrivalto get their share. We also usedto await rainfall to store rainwa-ter and use it later on.

Bringing water from theShatt Al-Arab started in 1909and lasted for long years. It then developed a little bitwhen a company was founded to transport water, butit was barely enough. Sheikh Mubarak the Great wasvery concerned with water scarcity, and thus boughta special dhow to bring water from Shatt Al-Arab. In

1914, he imported a water desalination machine formIndia, but its operation stalled because of somedemands made by the company operating it.

We finally struck fresh underground water andstarted desalinating enough seawater despite our

wasteful and extravagant con-sumption rates. Well, in com-parison to the past, theamount of water used in a sin-gle toilet flush nowadays usedto suffice an entire family for aday and night. Nevertheless,we see that instead of bendingdown to pick it up, somehousemaids nowadays maywash a straw away out of thehouse by using water hoses,

wasting what is at least worth KD 3 of water on it. ForGod’s sake, have mercy on the government and thepeople of Kuwait!

— Translated by Kuwait Times

The thirsty city

Al-Anbaa

By Dr Saleh Al-Ojairi

Al-Jarida

Do elephants fly?

Al-Jarida

By Dr Hassan Jouhar

Do elephants fly? The story of this question is avery indicative political joke that goes like: Abiology teacher was once explaining the differ-

ence between an animal and a bird to his students andasked if an elephant, for instance, could fly. One of thestudents agreed, making the teacher angry with hisanswer. “Who is the idiot who told you so?” the teacherangrily asked. The boy answered that he heard thepresident say so. The teacher gets embarrassed andresponds, saying: “Indeed, dear boys. An elephant canfly, but relatively low!” (End of story)

A few days ago, and though he had been travellingworldwide shaking hands with all those involved inshedding Syrian blood promising them that Bashar Al-Asaad should immediately step down and stressingthat there would be negotiations or deals with him, theUS Secretary of State John Kerry looked more like thatcoward teacher and said that the Syrian president mustnot step down immediately. He is now begging Russiaand Iran to convince Assad to come to the negotiationtable.

Politics’ world is filthy in nature and this filthiness isusually justified by intelligence, national interests or theart of the possible. Poor Syria is the best modern exam-ple of this filthiness. Why, then, after this peaceful coun-try disintegrated and was totally destroyed and its peo-ple reached Europe and Australia as political refugees(future European nationals), that the US seeks helpfrom its Russian and Iranian rivals to reach a politicalsolution?

A political solution is surely the only guarantee toprotect what is left of the state and people of Syria.Syrian territories have been a battlefield for the newworld order where regional and international powerscompete to enhance their political statuses and univer-sal powers. Syria has become a model of globalizationwars. Instead of face-to-face confrontations betweencountries and the possibility that mighty powers losecontrol over wars and get involved in nuclear and WMDhorrors, these countries are informatively, politically,economically and even militarily fighting in a small spotin a way that has world war features.

And now that everybody is certain that the Syrianwar cannot be brought to an end because of its manydangerous and complicated equilibriums and that thesole beneficiary of its continuation are the terroristgroups with a religious nature, the US-led West has tothink more reasonably and even make some politicalconcessions, even if they were embarrassing, and con-fess that ‘an elephant can fly’!

Russia’s recent decision to join the battle withweapons and troops surprised everybody including theAmericans, and despite American dissatisfaction in thebeginning, US diplomacy was in an awkwardly embar-rassing position because it has been leading an interna-tional alliance for over a year to fight IS and its likes, butat the same time, refuses that Russians fight IS directly.Therefore, and despite its bitterness, the US’ best optionis to cooperate with Moscow instead of confronting it.

Regardless of the Western policies’ contradictionsand vicissitudes, the question is why is it that our Arabcountries have always been a testing ground? And why,whenever an experiment fails, experimenters baldlyand shamelessly withdraw, even if the experiments costmillions of fatalities, billions-worth of losses and totaldestruction? In my opinion, the only reason for this isour own culture that encourages our enemies toslaughter and destroy us, because we are the peoplewho teach children that ‘an elephant can fly upon high-er orders’!

— Translated by Kuwait Times

CrimeR e p o r t

Liquor trader bustedKUWAIT: Farwaniya police arrested an Asian man with 94bottles of local and imported liquor, following a 30-minutechase. A security source said the man was seen placingbags inside his car in Kheitan, then when approached bypolice, he fled. Police chased him and asked for back-upand finally the man was caught and arrested. A total of 24bottles of imported liquor and 70 bottles of locally-madealcohol were found with the man. In another case, Ahmadipolice caught an Asian man with 32 bottles of liquor inFahaheel area.

Grenade found in Wafra farmA citizen found a hand grenade and a bomb while dig-ging in his Wafra farm. Ahmadi police arrived at thescene, and found out they were leftovers from the1990/91 Iraqi Invasion era.

Fire in JahraJahra occupational fire center dealt with a fire thatengulfed a vehicle while parked at the Jahra municipalityparking lot, and their interference helped keep the firefrom spreading to the shades. Meanwhile, in another case,firemen battled a fire in a car thieves had stolen, droverecklessly then abandoned when it caught fire.

Sorcerer caught at borderNuwaiseeb border outlet officials noticed a passengerwho became extremely nervous each time one of themapproach him. When he was asked for his passport, hebecame more nervous. So authorities decided tosearch him. He was found to be in possession of vari-ous tools of ‘sorcery’ and other illicit materials. The manwas sent to concerned authorities.

Taxi driver muggedA Bangladeshi taxi driver in his fifties was mugged by threepeople in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. The three asked the driver totake them to Omariya. They got into the taxi and then seton the driver. One of the men in the back seat grabbed himaround the throat while another pulled a knife, meanwhilea third person put his hand in the suspect’s pocket andtook his wallet which contained KD 75. They also took hiscar keys but escaped on foot.

School office robbedA school principal in Andalus told police that anunknown person entered her offices and stole acces-sories including perfume. She said she did not have anysuspect in mind.

Burden

State

The amount of waterused in a single toilet

flush nowadays used tosuffice an entire family

for a day and nightCitizen charged with battery

Hawally prosecutor ordered that a citizen who attacked abeautician who works for him be charged with battery andcausing extreme harm. The Filipina who works in a salon heowns worked all week without a day off. He then refused topay her when she asked for her salary and instead attackedher and cut her with a knife. — Al-Anbaa

Dr Ali Al-Omair

Cabinet considers limits

on expat residency numbers

and length of stay

KUWAIT: The Cabinet is considering a mechanism submit-ted by the Statistic General Directorate to deal with thedefects of the population structure. The mechanismincludes procedures and steps to activate the recommen-dations of the higher committee to examine ways toreduce the demographic imbalance between locals andforeigners. There are more than 4 million residents ofKuwait but only around 1.5 million citizens.

Some of the possible mechanisms include grantingthree months grace periods for absconders to adjust theirstatus with increasingly absconding fines to KD 5 per day.Other possible regulations may include placing a maxi-mum limit on the stay of expatriates.

The plan also calls for activating the fingerprint systemat borders to prevent those facing a travel ban from exitingthe country and those blacklisted from returning toKuwait. It also calls for adopting the quota system to set amaximum ceiling of labor. It also calls for halting all unli-censed activities while encouraging citizens to get intoproductive sectors. — Al-Anbaa

More than 33,000

absent from

government

work on Tuesday

KUWAIT: Tuesday seemed to be an unofficial holidayin many government offices and departments as wellas colleges and schools, ahead of Eid Al-Adha holi-days which started officially started yesterday.

An informed source at the Civil ServiceCommission (CSC) said the number of state employ-ees who asked for emergency or sick leaves duringthe period that proceeded the holiday of Eid Al-Adhaexceeded 33,000, and the largest percentage of thoseare administrative staff at the Education Ministry. Thesource said announcement of citizens who are candi-dates for jobs will be made until after the Eid holidaybecause a large number of the proceeding batch didnot finish processing of their papers. — Al-Anbaa

Offensive imam

faces four charges

KUWAIT: High ranking sources said the prosecutionreceived a statement from state security detectivesagainst Secretary General of the Islamic Alliance HusseinAl-Maatouq based on a sermon he gave that included vio-lations of state security laws and national unity. Thesources added that state security detectives asked theprosecution to question Maatouq, and expected this totake place in the few coming days over four charges:Spreading false news, instigation and publication of infor-mation that aims at compromising the social order of thecountry, violating laws of national unity and violating pub-lic order. They said the prosecution will listen to the state-ment of the state security officer, then issue an arrest war-rant or summons orders. The prosecution will questionMaatouq over the Friday sermon in which he spoke aboutsuspects in the Abdaly cell. — Al-Jarida

Mumbai’s renownedtiffin carriers adapt tochanging lifestyles

Page 11

Pope gets warm welcome at White House by ObamaPage 9

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the Moscow Grand Mosque in Moscow yesterday. — AFP

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscowyesterday opened one of the biggest mosques in Europe,warning against the lure of jihadists as the governmentfrets over its citizens fighting for the Islamic State group.Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian pres-ident Mahmud Abbas were the guests of honor at theunveiling of the 20,000-square meter mosque in theRussian capital.

“This mosque will become an extremely importantspiritual centre for Muslims in Moscow and the wholeRussia,” Putin said in a televised speech. “It will be a sourcefor education, spreading humanist ideas and the true val-

ues of Islam.” The turquoise-domed mosque can host over10,000 worshippers and is one of the largest in the coun-try that will help to serve Russia’s estimated 20 millionMuslims.

The $170 million project, which took a decade to com-plete, caused controversy over the destruction of an earli-er mosque that stood on the site. Moscow-which has bat-tled an Islamic insurgency in its volati le southernCaucasus region-is worried about the pull of extremistgroups, especially Islamic State jihadists fighting in Syriaand Iraq.

Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev last week esti-

mated that some 1,800 Russian citizens are fighting forthe radical group. Putin in his speech lashed out atjihadist groups for their “attempts to cynically exploit reli-gious feeling for political ends.” “We see what is happen-ing in the Middle East where terrorists from the so-calledIslamic State group are compromising a great world reli-gion, compromising Islam, in order to sow hate,” he said.Putin was later set to meet Erdogan for talks that wereexpected to focus on the Syrian conflict, as the West fretsabout a buildup of Russian forces in the war-torn country.

The United States says Moscow has recently senttroops, tanks and fighter jets to Syria, sparking fears that

Russia could be looking to join the fight alongside its allyPresident Bashar Al-Assad. Turkey and Russia stand onopposing sides over the crisis in Syria, with Ankara fierce-ly backing the rebels trying to oust Assad.

Turkey is currently waging what Ankara describes as atwo-pronged “war on terror” against both IS and theKurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), although so far air strikeshave overwhelmingly focused on bases of the Kurdishmilitants in northern Iraq. Moscow has been on a diplo-matic push to try to get Western and regional powersinvolved in a coalition against IS to join forces withAssad. — AFP

Putin opens huge new mosque in Moscow$170m project took a decade to complete

BAD STAFFELSTEIN: Hungarian PrimeMinister Viktor Orban yesterday rejectedwhat he called German Chancellor AngelaMerkel’s “moral imperialism” as he outlinedhis own rival plan to tackle Europe’s migrantcrisis. When asked what he expected fromMerkel while Europe grapples with an influxof asylum-seekers, the hardline leadergrinned: “I have a long list.”

Orban accused Merkel of trying toimpose her vision of an open EU on the restof the bloc. “The most important thing is thatthere should be no moral imperialism,” hesaid during a visit to the southern Germanstate of Bavaria. Orban, speaking ahead of anEU summit in Brussels, said his country had a“democratic right” to a different approach.

The summit takes place amid a growingeast-west split within the bloc after ministersforced through a controversial deal Tuesdayto share out 120,000 refugees. “I don’t doubtGermany’s right to define its moral obliga-tions for itself. They can decide if they acceptevery refugee or not... (but) that should onlybe compulsory for them,” Orban said. “We areHungarians however, we cannot think withGerman minds. Hungary should have theright to control the impact of a mass migra-tion,” he said. “The Hungarian people don’twant this, we ask that the wishes ofHungarians be respected.”

Global contingents Orban revived recent proposals in what

he called a six-point plan to resolve the crisis.They included persuading Greece, one of theEU countries on the front lines of the migrantinflux, to hand over control of its borders toEU countries willing to help police them, as

well as separating asylum-seekers from “eco-nomic migrants” before they reach the pass-port-free Schengen zone.

Orban said he would also press fellowEU leaders to agree on a common list ofsafe countries of origin to which migrantscan be returned, and to pitch in one per-cent of their EU income and their EU contri-butions to an emergency fund.

He urged the bloc to work closely withkey non-EU countries playing a key role inthe crisis such as Russia and Turkey, and thecreation of a global system of migrant “con-tingents” for countries to take in.Overriding opposition from easternEuropean states, including Hungary, interi-or ministers approved plans Tuesday thatrequire countries to take their share of thehundreds of thousands of migrants whohave overwhelmed states such as Greeceand Italy.

The deal was widely seen as a victory forBerlin in the German media, just asGermany expects up to one million asylum-seekers this year and has been clamouringfor a “fair” distribution of migrants through-out the bloc. In response to the influx,Hungary has closed its border with Serbiaand introduced draconian laws to punishthose crossing into the country illegally.

Orban said yesterday that he would onlyconsider voluntary measures to accept asy-lum-seekers. “Quotas and contingents aretwo different things. We reject the former,but are ready to discuss the latter,” he said.Orban was invited to Germany by one ofthe most vocal critics of Merkel’s migrantpolicies within her conservative bloc,Bavarian premier Horst Seehofer. — AFP

DUBAI: The father of a Saudi youth facing executionfor taking part in pro-reform protests appealed to KingSalman yesterday to spare his life. The sentenceagainst Ali Al-Nimr, only 17 when he was arrested inFebruary 2012, has drawn international condemna-tion over his young age at the time and allegationsthat he was tortured into making a confession.

It is the latest case to highlight the death penaltyand human rights in the Islamic kingdom, whichAmnesty International says is one of the world’s mostprolific executioners. In an interview with AFP,Mohammed Al-Nimr said he hoped the king wouldsave his son. “We hope that the king will not sign” theexecution order, Nimr said, after Saudi Arabia’s highestcourt confirmed the death sentence, leaving his son’sfate in the hands of the king.

Nimr warned that if his son is put to death theminority Shiite community could react violently,something he does not want to happen. “We don’tneed that; we don’t need even one drop of blood,” hesaid. The youth is a nephew of Nimr Al-Nimr, a Shiitereligious leader who is also on death row.

Mohammed Al-Nimr, a Dammam businessman,was in Riyadh to visit his jailed brother for the Muslimfeast of sacrifice, Eid Al-Adha, which falls today.

Nimr Al-Nimr was a driving force behind demon-strations that began four years ago in EasternProvince. Most of Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia’sShiites live in the east, and have complained of mar-ginalization.

‘High morale’ Ali Al-Nimr’s father admitted that his son, then a

high school student, had joined thousands of otherpeople in protest. But he said he is innocent of numer-ous other charges including burglary, attacking policeand using a Molotov cocktail. The court sentenced AliAl-Nimr to death but gave no further details.Execution in the kingdom is usually carried out with a

sword, sometimes in public.France’s foreign ministry appealed yesterday for a

stay of execution and expressed concern about thecase of the youth, “condemned to death even thoughhe was a minor at the time of the incident,” aspokesman said. France opposes the death penalty inall circumstances, the spokesman added. On Tuesday,UN rights experts also called for Ali Al-Nimr’s life to bespared. A statement said the youth was reportedly tor-tured, coerced into a confession and denied adequateaccess to a lawyer before and during a trial that didnot meet international standards.

“Any judgment imposing the death penalty uponpersons who were children at the time of the offence,

and their execution, are incompatible with SaudiArabia’s international obligations,” the experts said.Mohammed Al-Nimr said his last monthly visit with hisson in the Dammam jail came three weeks ago, andhe expects to see him again in a couple of days. “I amsure that his morale is very high, and he is strong,” thefather said, adding that the family is buoyed by theoutpouring of global support on social media. Ali Al-Nimr is one of six sons and daughters in his family.Mohammed Al-Nimr said his son and Nimr Al-Nimr,are among eight Shiites who have exhausted all courtappeals in connection with death sentences imposedafter the protests. Ali Al-Nimr is the youngest of thoseeight, he said. — AFP

Hungary PM rejects Merkel’s ‘moral imperialism’ in crisis

Father of Saudi youth on death row pleads king for clemency

RIYADH: Mohammed Al-Nimr, the father of Ali Al-Nimr, a Saudi youth facing execution for tak-ing part in pro-reform protests speaks during an interview — AFP

PALMYRA: In this file image posted on a militant website by the Aleppo branch of the Islamic State group on July 3,2015, file photo, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, a militant smashes items that thegroup claims are smuggled archaeological pieces from the historic central town. — AP

I N T E R N AT I O N A LTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

ADEN: Yemen’s President AbedrabboMansour Hadi worked yesterday to restorehis authority after returning from six monthsof exile with a vow to liberate the countryfrom Shiite Houthi rebels. Hadi’s first act wasto chair a meeting of cabinet membersalready back in the southern port city ofAden, which had been the embattledleader’s last refuge before he fled to SaudiArabia in March. He instructed the ministersto focus on basic services such as water,electricity, housing, healthcare and securityfor ordinary Yemenis in the impoverishedand war-battered country.

On the security front, the 70-year-oldpresident stressed the need to integratemembers of the Popular Resistance pro-gov-ernment militia into the regular army, the

government-run Saba news agency report-ed. Under the cover of Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, loyalists have battled the Houthisalongside the Popular Resistance volunteerforce, southern separatists, Islamist militantsand Sunni tribes, in a makeshift alliance.

Hadi, who is recognized by the interna-tional community, flew in late Tuesdayaboard a Saudi military aircraft that landedat an airbase adjoining the civilian airport inAden. The president promised the Yemenipeople that the Houthis, who hailed fromthe mountainous north, would be drivenfrom the capital Sanaa.

“The return to the capital Sanaa willcome soon after the liberation of all citiesand provinces,” from the hands of militias, hesaid in a statement. The presidency said

Hadi would remain in Aden for a few daysbefore heading to New York to attend theUN General Assembly which runs untilOctober 6.

Opens road to Sanaa Analysts view the return of Hadi as most-

ly symbolic in the short term. “It’s a signal toall the actors, in the Houthi-camp or anti-Houthi, that the legitimate government isback,” said Mathieu Guidere, a professor andMiddle East specialist at the University ofToulouse in France. “This will not in itselfchange much on the ground but it will openup the road to Sanaa for the coalition, at theofficial invitation of the sitting government,”he said.

Hadi, a southerner, fled the rebel-con-

trolled capital in February after escapinghouse arrest under the Houthis, and tookshelter in Aden. But the following month hewas forced to abandon the southern cityand go into exile in Riyadh as the Houthisadvanced, and soon afterwards the Saudi-led coalition launched an air war against therebels.

Much of Aden has been reduced to rub-ble by ferocious fighting between govern-ment forces supported by coalition airstrikes and Houthis backed by renegade sol-diers loyal to ousted president Ali AbdullahSaleh. In July, bolstered by training andequipment provided by the coalition, theloyalists retook Aden, enabling PrimeMinister Khaled Bahah and several ministersto return last week.

The Houthis have since lost five southernprovinces to pro-government forces, who onSeptember 13 launched a major offensive inoil-rich Marib province east of the capital,with thousands of Saudi and Emirati soldiersdeployed on the ground. But the Iranian-backed rebels, who still control much ofnorthern and central Yemen, appear to haveslowed the loyalist advance.

Pro-Hadi forces have also been locked infierce fighting to retake Yemen’s third cityTaez, which is seen as a crucial gateway toSanaa. The United Nations says around 5,000people have been killed and 25,000 wound-ed, many of them civilians, since late Marchin Yemen. The UN aid chief has called thescale of human suffering in Yemen “almostincomprehensible”. — AFP

Yemen’s returned leader works to stamp authority

BEIRUT: Scientists are slipping 3-D cameras into Syria tolocal activists and residents to scan antiquities. A US-funded project aims to provide local conservators withresources to help safeguard relics. Inside Syria, volun-teers scramble to document damage to monumentsand confirm what remains. The rush is on to find cre-ative and often high-tech ways to protect Syria’s millen-nia-long cultural heritage in the face of the threat thatmuch of it could be erased by the country’s war, now inits fifth year. Giving the drive new urgency, experts aredesperate to stay a step ahead of the Islamic Stategroup, which has ruthlessly destroyed and looted sitesthat fall into its hands as it spreads across Syria andneighboring Iraq.

The efforts are tempered by a recognition of therealities - that in some cases the best that can be hopedfor is to document ancient monuments in as great detailas possible so that if they are destroyed they can still bestudied in the future, or possibly accurate replicas couldone day be built. All acknowledge that nothing short ofa military or political solution can stop the dangerposed by the militants and the conflict.

Fraught with risks The campaigns are also fraught with risks. Getting

supplies to activists on the ground can expose them toretribution from IS militants or others suspicious ofoutside powers. As a result, the various efforts under-way are mostly cloaked in secrecy, with their organiz-ers reluctant to give specifics on their activities for fearof endangering those on the ground. But amongexperts, there’s a feeling that something - anything -must be done.

“I don’t want to be having this conversation withsomebody three years down the road, and they say,‘Gee why didn’t you start in 2015 when they (IS) onlycontrolled three percent of the sites’,” said Roger Michel,whose Million Image Database, an Oxford Institute ofDigital Archaeology project, began distributing hun-dreds of 3-D cameras around the region to activists.

Historical sites have been damaged constantly sincethe war began, struck by shelling and governmentairstrikes or exposed to rampant looting. Syrian govern-ment officials already say they have moved some300,000 artifacts from around the country to safe placesover recent years, including from IS-controlled areas.

The Islamic State group’s advances mean antiquitiesin Syria and Iraq face the danger not just of damagebut of intentional eradication. The most stunningexample came in the past month, when the militantsblew up two famed temples in the ancient Syrian cityof Palmyra. Satellite images showed that the two tem-ples, which had survived for nearly 2,000 years, werereduced to rubble.

‘Flood the region’ The Million Image Database project, which is backed

by UNESCO, aims to “flood the region” with low-cost,easy-to-use 3-D cameras, delivered to activists to docu-ment antiquities in their area, Michel said. The point-and-shoot cameras, which cost about $50 each, take astereoscopic image of the relics, with a granularity ofdetail measured in centimeters.

“The idea is to have as many images made of asmany objects and buildings as possible in advance ofthe destruction by the IS forces,” Michel said. Nearly1,000 cameras have already been deployed or are ontheir way, not only to Syria, but also Iraq, Yemen,Afghanistan, Turkey, Jordan and Egypt. The aim is to dis-tribute 5,000 cameras region-wide by next year, at atotal coast of $3 to $6 million.

The camera user can then upload the pictures orvideos to the project’s website. The website is closed tothe public to protect the activists’ anonymity and toensure the site remains a purely scholarly venture, not asocial media platform for activists, said AlexyKarenowska, a physicist who developed the web inter-face and is the project’s technology director. As the proj-ect progresses, it will find a way to share storytellingfrom the material to the public, she said.

The project has also linked up with a leadingChinese 3-D concrete printing company to considereventually reconstructing some of the architecture thathas been destroyed. A separate project would carry outfar more detailed scans of antiquities in Syria and Iraqusing laser scanners. The scanners bounce lasers off thesurface of objects in the field, measuring millions ofpoints a second to create a data set known as a pointcloud. The data can be used to create 3-D images accu-rate to two or three millimeters to create models or vir-tual tours of the sites or allow full-scale reconstructions.

But while the scanning brings the highest precision,it also requires experts, accompanied by security teams,to visit the sites to scan them over extended periods oftime using precise equipment - a much more unwieldyfootprint in potentially dangerous areas than the 3-Dcameras. The project, called “Anqa,” the Arabic word forthe phoenix, the legendary bird that rises from the ash-es, aims to laser-scan 200 objects in Syria, Iraq and otherparts of the region, said its director Ben Kacyra, of theCalifornia-based scanning company CyArk. It will workwith the government antiquities departments in Syriaand Iraq, as well as UNESCO, to deploy teams in north-ern and southern Iraq, Damascus and other areas,Kacyra said. For security considerations, he would notspecify what sites he plans to scan.

“We have a story to tell there that we can’t lose forour children and grandchildren,” Kacyra said. “Our her-itage is much more than our collective memory. It is ourcollective treasure.” Kacyra, an engineer originally fromthe Iraqi city of Mosul, and his wife set up the non-profitcompany CyArk to digitally preserve heritage sitesaround the world after the 2001 destruction of theBamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. One site he scanned,the Kasubi royal tombs in Uganda, were torched in2010, and now the government is using his imagery toreconstruct them. After Mosul fell to Islamic State groupcontrol in 2014 and the extremists began destroyingantiquities there, Kacyra focused on documenting her-itage in the Mideast. — AP

Experts and locals scrambling

to document Syria’s heritageDesperate to stay a step ahead of Islamic State

PARISL: Egypt agreed yesterday to buy two Mistral war-ships which France built for Russia before scrapping thesale over the Ukraine crisis, showing Paris increasinglyvalues Cairo as a stable partner in a chaotic region. Thedeal is the second big military contract this yearbetween France and Egypt, although the financialdetails of the sale were not divulged.

President Francois Hollande and Egyptian PresidentAbdel Fattah al-Sisi “have agreed on the principle andterms and conditions of Egypt’s acquisition of the twoMistral-class vessels,” the French presidency said. Thetwo warships, which can each carry 16 helicopters, fourlanding craft and 13 tanks, were ordered by Russia in2011 in a 1.2-billion-euro ($1.3-billion) deal. HoweverFrance found itself in an awkward situation as the dateof delivery neared in 2014, and ties between Russia andthe West plunged to Cold War lows over Moscow’sannexation of Crimea and support for separatists ineastern Ukraine.

Paris faced the wrath of its allies around the world ifit were to deliver the technology to Russia, and decidedto cancel the delivery. It was an expensive decision forFrance, which has had to foot the bill of over one billionEuros for the upkeep of the ships and the cost of train-

ing 400 Russian sailors to crew them. After months of intense negotiations, France and

Russia agreed on the reimbursement of the deal inAugust. Paris returned 949.7 million Euros which hadalready been paid and also committed not to sell thetwo warships to a country that could “contraveneRussia’s interests”, such as Poland or the Baltic states, adiplomatic source told AFP. Several countries were saidto be interested in the warships, including Canada, Indiaand Singapore. While experts have said any sale wouldlikely see a significant price cut, governmentspokesman Stephane Le Foll insisted France would notsuffer “any losses” in the deal.

Ships after jets The deal comes after Egypt became the first foreign

buyers of France’s Rafale fighter jet, agreeing to pur-chase 24 in February, in what Paris hailed as an “historic”accord. The 5.2-billion-euro ($5.9 billion) sale of theplanes and a frigate was a rare triumph for France whichhad failed to export its flagship multi-role combat jet.

However rights group Amnesty Internationalslammed the decision to sell the jets to a nation it hasaccused of “alarming” human rights abuses. Analysts

said that deal required overlooking some serious abus-es by a regime which Paris sees as a bulwark againstseveral threats in the region.

With Libya to the west wracked by instability, andthe threat from Islamic State-linked jihadists on its east-ern flank, Egypt has become a strategic partner toFrance despite a rights record sullied by Al-Sisi’s brutalcrackdown on opponents. Sisi was elected president inMay 2014 with almost 97 percent of the vote a yearafter toppling the country’s first freely elected leader,Islamist Mohamed Morsi.

A subsequent crackdown on Morsi’s supporters leftat least 1,400 dead and thousands more in jail. Hollandesaid during a visit to Egypt in August that the ever-clos-er ties between Paris and Cairo were hinged on the“fight against terrorism”. “Unfortunately it is theEgyptian people who pay the price,” Didier Billion of theParis-based Institute of Strategic and InternationalRelations said at the time of the Rafale sale. “We canshut our eyes over the rights situation in Egypt but wecan’t shut our eyes over Russia, because Russia is at thecentre of an international power struggle,” said Billion.“We can see morals and international relations don’tmix well.” — AFP

France to sell warships to Egypt,

after Russia deal gets scrapped

ISTANBUL: As refugees probe the landroute between Turkey and the EuropeanUnion, Ankara has begun enforcing long-dormant rules on Syrians’ travel, in part overconcerns about how the flow is affectingthe country’s image, according to a govern-ment document obtained by The AssociatedPress and interviews with officials andmigrants.

So far the moves appear ad hoc andaimed only at preventing refugees fromreaching the Turkish frontier city of Edirne,where hundreds are staging a sit-in near theGreek border. But one academic said it wasa sign of a more-determined effort byTurkey to get a handle on the country’smassive refugee population.

“In the case of Syrians, this is the firsttime they are trying to be strict on move-ment,” said Ahmet Icduygu, who directs theMigration Research Center at Istanbul’s KocUniversity. “They’re clamping down.” Theone-page Interior Ministry document, datedAug. 29, says officials consider that “Syrianswho are trying to go to third countriesthrough our country illegally are posing athreat to public order and public securityand are negatively affecting our country’simage internationally.”

It orders checks on Syrians’ documents atthe entrance and exit to each province and

asks law enforcement to tell transport com-panies that Syrians are not allowed to leavethe provinces where they have registeredwithout permission. The document onlyrefers to Syrians, who constitute the over-whelming majority of Turkey’s roughly 2million refugees.

Many mystified The effect of the order, whose authentici-

ty was confirmed by two government offi-cials, was that hundreds of Syrians who triedto reach Edirne to join their fellows lastweek found themselves stuck for days justoutside a sprawling bus terminal in Esenleron the European side of Istanbul. Hundredsof people, most of them Syrian, camped fordays in and around a nearby mosque, manysleeping rough behind a cordon of police inriot gear. Most were mystified by the refusalof bus companies to sell them tickets. “Idon’t know why they say no, really,”

Muthana Al-Abdullah, a 22-year-old engi-neering student from Aleppo, told the AP atEsenler. Three bus company managers atthe station confirmed that they had beeninstructed to refuse tickets to Syrians. OnSunday - by which time the crowds wereleaving - one of the managers said rules hadbeen relaxed again.

Ankara has been extraordinarily gener-ous to people from Syria in the years sincecivil war broke out there. Turkey hostsroughly 2 million refugees, a number thatfar outstrips all neighboring European coun-tries put together and has turned the coun-try into the world’s No. 1 host of refugeesoverall. But even though the Turks havespent some $7.6 billion feeding and hous-ing the influx, many struggle to make endsmeet.

“There is no future for my my childrenhere at all,” said Mohammed Ali Al-Baya, a40-year-old cell phone salesman fromAleppo who was among those stuck at thebus station. He and his compatriots say theydon’t want to risk the dangerous boat tripacross the Aegean Sea taken by so manyothers and had organized with the help of aFacebook group to travel to Edirne and tryto walk to Greece en masse and on foot.

That border rush appears to have been astep too far for Turkish officials, who contin-

ue to block the refugees who reachedEdirne from approaching the border. For Al-Baya and others stuck at the station, it was itthe first time they had ever been preventedfrom traveling within Turkey. One seniorgovernment official said the Interior min-istry document was a reminder of pre-exist-ing rules that bar Syrians from leaving theprovince they have registered in. He said theaim was to prevent “unauthorized mobiliza-tions” and that Syrians with travel passescould still circulate freely. He spoke on con-dition of anonymity because he was notauthorized to be named.

Nazir Hakim, a member of the SyrianNational Coalition, an opposition groupwith offices in Turkey, said that it was wrongto speak of new restrictions on his fellowSyrians. But he acknowledged that Ankarawas reinforcing its existing rules. “Before,they closed their eyes,” he said. “Now, theyapply the law.” — AP

Amid migrant mobilization,

Turkey is hardening rules

BEIRUT: A Lebanese man carries a sheep on September 23, 2015 at a live -stock market in the Lebanese capital Beirut as Muslims prepare to cele-brate Eid Al-Adha. — AFP

ISTANBUL: Hundred of migrants, who were blocked at a bus station, walkdown a highway towards Turkey’s western border with Greece andBulgaria. — AP

WASHINGTON: Barack Obama wel-comed Pope Francis to the WhiteHouse yesterday-the first black USpresident hailing the first pontiff fromthe Americas as a unique moral author-ity. The South Lawn of the White Houseechoed to the strains of the PontificalAnthem, the Star-Spangled Banner anda thundering 21-gun salute, asWashingtonians thronged the streetsfor the historic visit. An inspiration tomany of America’s 70 million Catholics,Francis is also a potential political allyfor Obama, sharing many of his pro-gressive goals.

Both men called for action on cli-mate change and hailed the rap-prochement between the UnitedStates and Cuba-causes dear to theWhite House but opposed by US con-servatives. “I believe the excitementaround your visit must be attributednot only to your role as pope, but toyour unique qualities as a person,”Obama told his guest. “In your humility,your embrace of simplicity, the gentle-ness of your words and the generosityof your spirit, we see a living exampleof Jesus’ teachings, a leader whosemoral authority comes not justthrough words but through deeds.”

Speaking in fluent but accentedEnglish, the 78-year-old Argentine pon-tiff returned the warm blessings of hishost. “I am deeply grateful for your wel-come in the name of all Americans,” he

said, to applause. “As the son of animmigrant family, I am happy to be aguest in this country, which was largelybuilt by such families.” In a nod toWashington’s bitter debate aboutimmigration reform, Francis said hewould address Congress “to offerwords of encouragement to thosecalled to guide the nation’s politicalfuture in fidelity to its founding princi-ples.”

Many US conservatives call intoquestion the very existence of man-made climate change, but Francis andObama made a de facto joint appealfor action on the issue. “Holy Father,you remind us that we have a sacredobligation to protect our planet, God’smagnificent gift to us,” Obama said.Francis took up the call. “Accepting theurgency, it seems clear to me also thatclimate change is a problem which canno longer be left to a future genera-tion,” Francis said. “When it comes tothe care of our ‘common home,’ we areliving at a critical moment of history.”

Pomp and circumstance The pope was afforded a full cere-

monial welcome on his historic first vis-it to the United States, and toWashington-a political city that ordi-narily shrugs its shoulders when presi-dents, queens and sheikhs roll through.

Well-wishers lined the Pope’s routeand Obama himself made an exceed-

ingly rare ceremonial trip to the airportto meet the Argentine’s plane Tuesday,bringing his wife, daughters, VicePresident Joe Biden to underscore thespecial welcome. The visit is a politicalmirror of Pope Benedict’s 2008 visit toGeorge W Bush’s White House. Thosetwo leaders were as conservative astheir current successors are progres-sive. Still, the White House insists it isnot co-opting a holy man in order tobatter Republican foes in Congress.

“The goal of this meeting is to givethe two men the opportunity to talkabout their shared values,” said WhiteHouse spokesman Josh Earnest.“There’ll be time for politics, frankly, theother 364 days of the year,” he said.Francis has signaled he is also unlikelyto wade directly into America’s bitterlyfought politics. The Vatican played acrucial role in brokering talks betweenHavana and Washington that led to therecent restoration of diplomatic tiesafter more than half a century.

‘Against all embargoes’ But the pope also told reporters

that he would not specifically bring upWashington’s embargo of Cuba in hisspeech Thursday before American law-makers, who largely favor taking atough line with Havana. “The Holy Seeis against this embargo, but it is againstall embargoes,” he said. Yet there is nomistaking the value of enlisting a pop-

ular pope’s moral authority and offer-ing him America’s largest political plat-form.

Even the half of Americans whohold an unfavorable view of theCatholic Church like Pope Francis,according to a recent Washington Post-ABC poll. Francis will make two keyspeeches during his US visit, theaddress to Congress and another to theUnited Nations on Friday. Topics willinclude critiques of the dominance offinance and technology; a condemna-tion of world powers over the conflictsgripping the planet; appeals to protectand welcome immigrants; and climatechange, according to Vatican sources.

The pope’s agenda tracks so closelywith Obama’s efforts to introduceimmigration reform, as well as domes-tic and international limits on carbonemissions that Republicans are alreadycrying foul. Congressman Paul Gosar,who is Catholic, declared he wouldboycott the pontiff’s historic address toCongress to protest his “leftist” views.

During the historic six-day trip toNew York, symbolic home of capital-ism, Francis will preside over an inter-faith ceremony at Ground Zero, visit aHarlem Catholic school and greetcrowds on a procession throughCentral Park. He will wrap up his tripSaturday and Sunday in Philadelphia atan international festival of Catholicfamilies. — AFP

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Pope Francis wave during an arrival ceremony at the White Houseyesterday. — AFP

I N T E R N AT I O N A LTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

UNITED NATIONS: World leaders are launching anambitious drive to transform the planet by 2030with the adoption on Friday of new UN goals towipe out extreme poverty, promote health andeducation and combat climate change. The newUN agenda will replace the millennium develop-ment goals (MDGs) that expire this year, but itsobjectives are much more ambitious in scope.Here’s a look at some of the key issues:

What are the goals? There are 17 goals and 169 targets that range

from ending poverty, ensuring healthy lives, com-bating climate change, achieving gender equalityand even conserving the oceans. The new goalshave been criticized for being ill-defined and fartoo broad. In comparison, the MDGs were limitedto eight goals, mostly focused on combatingpoverty and improving child and maternal health.The goals are non-binding, but the summit open-ing Friday will allow leaders to publicly commit toachieving them. Much attention has focused onthe first goal-ending extreme poverty.

More than 836 million people still live inextreme poverty in the least-developed countries,in southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Contraryto the MDGs, the new global goals apply to bothdeveloping and developed countries and negotia-tions were opened up to governments and civilsociety, not only to UN experts.

How will the goals be financed? The price tag to achieve the new global goals is

expected to be between $3.5 and $5 trillion annu-ally over the next 15 years-a whopping sum thatthe goals’ architects argue will require some cre-

ative thinking to generate funds from govern-ments and the private sector. Billions of dollars indevelopment aid will be re-directed to meet thegoals but the United Nations also wants to tap intolocal sources of financing through improved rev-enue collection. The global goals call for improvedtransparency in oil-producing countries to clampdown on corruption and ensure that revenuesfrom natural resources are used to improve thelives of citizens. International financial institutionslike the African Development Bank and the WorldBank will step up with financing support for majorinfrastructure projects that would have a knock-oneffect in combating poverty.

Are they achievable? The United Nations is planning to roll out some

300 indicators to measure progress by countriesand provide data on how governments are work-ing to meet the goals. It is unlikely that all countrieswill achieve all of the goals, but aid groups say theywill provide benchmarks for governments in everyarea of development. Jamie Drummond, executivedirector for global strategy at the ONE campaign,described the global goals as a “citizen’s scorecard,to hold governments accountable for delivery.”“The key missing ingredient is political will,” saidDrummond. “We have a great history of promise-making at the UN, but the question is whether thepromise is ever kept.”

When do they enter into force? Formally known as the sustainable develop-

ment goals, the SDGs enter into force on January 1and the deadline for implementing all of them isDecember 31, 2030. — AFP

Everything you need to know

about UN’s new global goals

WASHINGTON: Scott Walker and RickPerry entered the 2016 presidential racewith a combined 18 years of experienceas governors. They exited the Republicanprimary- the first candidates to do so -with negligible support and dwindlingbank accounts. While Walker and Perrywere both flawed candidates, their swiftdemise is a warning to others who hopeto win the White House on the strength oftheir political resumes. And it leaves thegovernors and senators still in the turbu-lent Republican race scrambling to adaptto a political environment that is reward-ing those with the least governing experi-ence.

“The country is very unhappy now,and a winning candidate must be viewedas a change agent,” said Scott Reed, alongtime Republican strategist who advis-es the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. So far,billionaire Donald Trump has been thebiggest beneficiary of the public’sdemand for an outsider. Retired neurosur-geon Ben Carson and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina are also attract-ing voters eager to express their angerwith Washington. None of the three hasever won an election.

Apparent desire Republicans voters’ apparent desire

for a political novice is striking given thatconservatives have long attributed someof what they see as President BarackObama’s weaknesses to his inexperiencewhen he took office. Obama spent a littleless than eight years as an Illinois statesenator and ran for president during hisfirst term in the US Senate.

As traditional candidates among thecurrent GOP contenders try to breakthrough, they’re employing a two-trackstrategy: distance themselves fromWashington’s political elite while alsobuilding a campaign that can outlast vot-ers’ discontent if the anti-establishmentmood ultimately fades. In the hours afterWalker’s stunning withdrawal Monday,his experienced rivals intensified effortsto pitch themselves as Washington out-siders and political disruptors.

“You cannot say that Scott Walker,Rick Perry or myself were insiders inWashington,” said Jeb Bush, the formertwo-term Florida governor who is alsothe son and brother of presidents.Advisers for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a sec-ond-term governor and long-serving

congressman, touted his efforts to chal-lenge the status quo and even his ownparty. Kasich has pushed the GOP to domore to address poverty, mental illnessand drug addiction, and he created analternative to party leaders’ spendingplans while serving in Congress.

“You can either say you’re a changeagent and have nothing to show for itbut talk, or you can say you’re a changeagent and have proof and results thathave worked,” Kasich spokesman ScottMilburn said. Kentucky Sen Rand Paulcasts himself as “a new kind ofRepublican,” one who courts youngervoters and minorities. Texas Sen. Ted Cruzhas infuriated GOP leaders during histwo-and-a-half years in Congress. AndFlorida Sen. Marco Rubio jumped at theopportunity to distance himself fromCongress during last week’s Republicandebate.

‘Lives of our people’ “In my years in the Senate, I’ve figured

out very quickly that the political estab-lishment in Washington, DC, in bothpolitical parties is completely out oftouch with the lives of our people,” Rubio

said. “That’s why I’m missing votes.Because I am leaving the Senate.” The suc-cess of anti-establishment candidatesisn’t lost on Democratic front-runnerHillary Rodham Clinton. On Sunday, theformer first lady, senator and secretary ofstate tried to pitch herself as an outsider,too.

“I cannot imagine anyone being moreof an outsider than the first woman presi-dent,” Clinton said in an interview withCBS’ “Face The Nation.” Walker’s campaign,however, serves as a cautionary tale forexperienced candidates trying to earnoutsider bona fides. As Walker grappledfor ways to save his candidacy, he deniedhe was a career politician - despite havingbeen in elected office for 22 years.

Advisers to several GOP campaignssay they expect voters to ultimately gravi-tate toward experienced candidates asnext year’s early primaries and caucusesdraw near. Unlike Walker and Perry, whostruggled to build sustainable cam-paigns, some of the more traditional can-didates are banking on building organi-zations that will still be standing if theelectorate’s mood does indeed shift.

For Bush, that means having money -and lots of it. The former Florida governorraised $120 million for his super PAC andcampaign in the first half of the year, vast-ly more than any of his rivals. Bush’s finan-cial stability has already allowed him topour $24 million into television advertis-ing in early voting states.

Rubio’s strategy is to run a lean cam-paign through the fall, expending as littlemoney as possible on staff, travel andadvertisements until the early primariesdraw closer. “We’ve run such a lean cam-paign at times, taken knocks for it,” saidTerry Sullivan, Rubio’s campaign manag-er. “But keeping control of the budget issuch an important thing.” Rubio’s strategyis driven in part by necessity. His cam-paign and outside groups supporting hiscandidacy have raised about one-third ofBush’s totals. Still, Rubio’s advisers pointto Walker’s financial woes as validation.Walker built a large network of staff andconsultants, but quickly burned throughthe money he needed to keep the expen-sive organization afloat. — AP

Traditional GOP candidates try

to adapt as ranks begin to thin

NEW YORK: Stephen Colbert showeredthanks on Donald Trump, his “Late Show”guest. “I want to thank you not only for beinghere but for running for president,” Colberttold the GOP front-runner Tuesday night. “I’mnot going to say this stuff writes itself, but youcertainly do deliver it on time every day.”

Colbert’s gratitude for Trump’s comic assis-tance was well-placed. Peppering Trump withquestions and wisecracks during his appear-ance, the CBS host reduced the usually domi-neering Trump to straight-man status, anunaccustomed role Trump performed withrare grace. Bringing up Trump’s proposal tobuild a wall between the United States andMexico, Colbert offered his own mocking ver-sion of a way to bar illegal immigration: Twowalls, and in between them a moat filled withfire and fireproof crocodiles. “Is that enough?”Colbert asked. And focusing on Trump’s insis-tence that Mexico would pay for the wall,Colbert drew him into a role-playing exercise -a phone call where “you’re you, and I’m thepresident of Mexico.”

‘Worst nightmare’ Colbert noted that Trump is leading the

field while he vows to finance his campaignout of his own pocket. “The Republican Partyhas been a big pusher of the idea that moneyis speech, and you’re a $10 billion mouth,” saidColbert. “You’re their worst nightmare.” “I thinkthe establishment in the Republican Partyprobably isn’t that thrilled,” he agreed. Trump

repeated his contention, as a former heavycampaign donor, that candidates who acceptmajor contributions are typically “owned” bythose donors once in office.

“You gave them a big contribution andyou want something and all of a suddenthey’ve very receptive,” he said. If you didn’tmake a healthy gift, “believe me, you get thecold shoulder.” Colbert asked if Trump reallywants to be president: “If you actually got thegig, would that be a step down for you? Youknow what the pay is like, right?”

Trump replied that he is running “notbecause I want it, but because I think I can doa great job.”When pressed on his past con-tention that President Barack Obama wasn’tborn in the United States, Trump deferred. “Idon’t talk about it anymore,” he said. But hewas gung-ho for a game that called for guess-ing who in the past had made certain out-landish remarks: Trump or the comically con-servative blowhard Colbert played for adecade as host of “The Colbert Report.” Trumpor Colbert? “Medicare is like a nice pair of cuf-flinks. Nobody wears cufflinksanymore.”“That’s you,” said Trump. Correct.Trump or Colbert? “It’s freezing and snowingin New York. We need global warming.” “I thinkit’s you,” Trump hedged, “but it’s close to beingme.” It was Trump. And finally: “The real stronghave no need to prove it to the phonies.” “It’snot me,” said Trump after a pause. “It COULDbe you.” “It’s not me, either,” Colbert said. “It’sCharles Manson.” “Ooooo,” said Trump. — AP

Colbert turns Trump

into his straight man

Pope gets warm welcome

at White House by Obama‘Grateful for your welcome in the name of all Americans’

IOWA: Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump holds a Bible as he speaks duringthe Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition’s annual fall dinner. — AP

SALT LAKE CITY: Mormon leader Richard G Scottdied Tuesday at the age of 86 - leaving the reli-gion with three openings on its top governingbody for the first time in more than a century.Scott died from natural causes at his home in SaltLake City surrounded by his family, The Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a state-ment. Scott had been a member of a church gov-erning body called the Quorum of the TwelveApostles since 1988.

He is the third top member of the quorum todie this year, leaving three vacancies on the quo-rum for the first time since 1906, church officialssaid. Quorum president Boyd K Packer died in Julyfrom natural causes, and quorum member L TomPerry died in May from cancer. Replacements forthe trio are expected to be named in the comingmonths, perhaps at the religion’s twice-a-yearconference on Oct 3-4.

Six other members among the religion’s top15 leaders are also 80 or older, including churchpresident Thomas S Monson. He is 88 and is feel-ing the effects of his age, according to church offi-cials. Russell M. Nelson, 91, is next in line tobecome church president based on being thelongest-tenured member of the quorum.

Business interests Born in Pocatello, Idaho, Scott had a successful

career as a nuclear engineer before being chosenin 1988 as a member of the Quorum of the TwelveApostles. Modeled after Jesus Christ’s apostles,the group serves under the church president andhis two counselors in overseeing operations ofthe church and its business interests.

Scott’s health began deteriorating earlier thisyear. He was hospitalized with gastrointestinalbleeding in April. He recovered from that, butchurch officials announced in May that Scott wasexperiencing fading memory that kept him fromtaking part in quorum meetings. Scott kept a fair-ly low public profile, known mostly for his speech-es at Mormon conferences where he managed adelicate balance of “preaching repentance with-out stridency,” said Matthew Bowman, an associ-ate professor of history at Henderson StateUniversity. Mormon scholar Armand Mauss calledScott a “mild-mannered leader promoting self-improvement and compassion as importantattributes for Latter-day Saints to acquire.”

Utah Gov Gary Herbert called Scott a kind andgenerous leader. “His unwavering faith and pur-suit of lifelong learning was an example to eachone of us,” Herbert said in a statement. Fellowquorum member D. Todd Christofferson said in a

church news release that Scott delivered hope-filled messages that inspired others. He was cred-ited with helping drive global church member-ship. “I don’t go anywhere, especially in LatinAmerica, where he served for so long and in somany places - I don’t go anywhere there that Idon’t see his footprints, where I don’t meet some-body who hasn’t been influenced by him in someway,” Christofferson said in the news release.Scott was born in Idaho, but he moved at the ageof 5 to Washington, DC, where his father,Kenneth Leroy, would become assistant secretaryof agriculture. Scott graduated from GeorgeWashington University with a degree in mechani-cal engineering.

Throughout his life, he suffered intense per-sonal losses. Two of his seven children died whenthey were young, and his wife, Jeanene, died ofcancer in 1995. She was the daughter of U.S. Sen.Arthur Watkins. Scott never remarried. Scott didn’tspeak at the last church general conference inApril. His final address came in October 2014when he spoke about the importance of prayer,scripture reading, family home nights and goingto the temple. “Each of us is intimately aware ofour own struggles with temptation, pain and sad-ness,” Scott said that day. “Despite all of the nega-tive challenges we have in life, we must take timeto actively exercise our faith.” — AP

Top-ranking and governing

Mormon leader dead at 86

SALT LAKE CITY: In this July 10, 2015, filephoto, Richard G Scott attends thememorial service for Mormon leaderBoyd K Packer at the Tabernacle, onTemple Square. — AP

I N T E R N AT I O N A LTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

OUAGADOUGOU: Burkina Faso’s toppledinterim President Michel Kafando resumedpower yesterday after a week-long coup byrenegade troops, who caved in under pres-sure from regional powers and former colo-nial ruler France.

The move came after marathon talks inthe capital of regional and military heavy-weight Nigeria, brokered by the ECOWASWest African regional bloc, and threats byFrench President Francois Hollande that thecoup leaders could face sanctions if they didnot hand back power. “The transition hasbeen restored and this very minute I amresuming the exercise of power,” Kafandotold reporters.

Six ECOWAS heads of state were mean-while arriving in the Burkinabe capitalOuagadougou to oversee the formal re-installation of Kafando and to try and sortout two contentious issues : an amnesty planfor the putsches and whether upcomingelections should be open to supporters ofpreviously deposed veteran dictator BlaiseCompaore.

Kafando said the regional leaders would“take into account the will of the Burkinabepeople” in their new mediation bid. The dealto restore the interim administration to pow-er was signed overnight after troops entered

Ouagadougou, turning up the pressure onthe elite presidential guards (RSP) whostaged the coup. Under its terms, the RSPagreed to stand down from the positionsthey had taken up in Ouagadougou, whilethe army also agreed to withdraw its troopsand guarantee the safety of the RSP mem-bers as well as their families. The accord waspresented to the Mogho Naba, “king” ofBurkina Faso’s leading Mossi tribe, in front ofthe media early yesterday.

Burkina Faso was plunged into crisis lastWednesday when the powerful RSP detainedthe interim leaders who had been runningthe country since a popular uprisingdeposed iron-fisted president Compaore lastOctober after his failed bid to extend his 27-year rule. The elite unit of 1,300 men loyal toCompaore officially declared a coupThursday and installed rebel leader GeneralGilbert Diendere, Compaore’s former chief ofstaff, as the country’s new leader.

The breakthrough came as Diendere toldAFP that interim president Michel Kafando,who had been seized by presidential guardsbut later released, would be returned tooffice yesterday. The return of “Kafando isalready a done deal. The (African) heads ofstate arrive tomorrow to put him back inoffice,” Diendere said late Tuesday.

Fighting talk The putsch came just weeks ahead of an

election planned for October 11, with atleast 10 people killed and more than 100

injured in the resulting unrest. A round oftalks mediated by Senegalese PresidentMacky Sall focused on returning power tothe interim government while granting the

putschists an amnesty in return. But theproposal was met with widespread scepti-cism before any final draft even saw thelight.

Speaking to France’s RFI radio, Kafandohad warned he had “serious reservations”about the proposal, adding that he had notbeen invited to the talks in the Nigeriancapital. Residents too were furious at thesuggestion of an amnesty for the coup ring-leaders. It was unclear early yesterday if theamnesty had made it into the deal signedbetween the coup leaders and the army.

On Tuesday, Burkina Faso’s military hadwarned coup leader Diendere it has themeans to attack his elite forces. Dienderehad hit back, saying his men would defendthemselves if the army attacked them. “Wedo not want to fight but ultimately we willdefend ourselves,” Diendere had warned.ECOWAS commission president KadreDesire Ouedraogo, a former Burkinabeprime minister, said Tuesday that militaryand humanitarian observers from memberstates would be sent to Burkina Faso “tomonitor respect for human rights”. The couphad sparked global condemnation, withFrance urging the leaders to surrenderimmediately or face the “consequences”,including possible sanctions. — AFP

CHIASSO: Border guards in crisp blue uniforms rushonto the train as it grinds to a halt, quickly rounding uparound a dozen African men and herding them into anearby hall. Between 30 and 150 migrants and refugeesare intercepted each day at the train station in the smallsouthern Swiss town of Chiasso. The numbers pale incomparison to the waves of migrants and refugees tak-ing the perilous Mediterranean route to Greece and on

up through the Balkans towards more hospitable coun-tries in northern Europe. But this lazy border town inSwitzerland’s Italian-speaking Ticino region is bracingfor an expected influx as crowds of migrants try to navi-gate a growing number of closed borders in the eastand as the number of possible routes dwindles. “At themoment, everything is under control, the situation isstable, but tomorrow that could change,” said PatrickBenz, head of the Swiss border guards’ migration unit.

Thousands per dayNorman Gobbi, head of Ticino’s regional govern-

ment and member of the populist rightwing Lega deiTicinesi party, meanwhile said border closures andtighter border controls elsewhere could easily pushlarge numbers towards Switzerland.

“We are in the process of planning for possibly man-aging thousands of arrivals per day,” he told AFP in hisoffice in the regional capital Bellinzona. Switzerland,which has already taken in some 9,000 Syrians since the

conflict there exploded in March 2011, last weekagreed to take in 1,500 of the 40,000 asylum seekersEuropean countries want resettled from overstretchedGreece and Italy. Not many Syrians are crossing intoChiasso for the time being, however. Most arrivinghere, by train, car or on foot, are from a range of Africancountries and have first travelled to Libya beforeattempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing toItaly. While they so far make up only a fraction of theover half million migrants who have arrived in Europethis year, their numbers are climbing. Between Juneand August, around 5,000 crossed the border into the

town of just 8,000 inhabitants-more than double thenumber during the same period last year.

Chiasso, which historically has served as the mainmigrant gateway to Switzerland, has withstood greaternumbers in the past, with hundreds crossing each dayduring the Balkan war in the 1990s. But the current riseis wearing on both the Swiss population and asylumseekers already in the town who are facing growinganti-immigrant sentiment. “You can feel it,” said formerEthiopian government regulator MelekotWoldemichael, who has been waiting in Chiasso for fiveyears for a decision on his asylum application. But, the53-year-old insisted, “it’s natural... They are afraid fortheir own security, so even if they say anti-immigrantfeelings, you have to understand them. I’m not sayingthat they’re right.”

23 days at sea Chiasso mayor Moreno Colombo meanwhile

stressed the need to prepare for a surge in arrivals“while the situation is calm”, and said the town hadasked for more border guards. Some reinforcementshave already arrived. At the Chiasso station, a guardsent from Switzerland’s German-speaking region, wear-ing a buzz-cut, steel-rimmed glasses and blue plasticgloves, questioned the Eritreans and Gambians pulledoff the latest train from Milan. “Why have you come?Do you know where you are?” he asked, over-enunciat-ing to make himself understood. The men and boyslooked dazed as they were finger-printed and givenbright yellow bracelets with new ID numbers. Theywere also asked if they wished to seek asylum. It’s acrucial question: If they says yes, they can remain inSwitzerland while the application is processed, but ifthey instead want to go elsewhere in Europe they willbe sent back to Italy.

That is because Switzerland, while not part of theEuropean Union, is part of the Dublin Treaty, underwhich asylum claims must be processed by the firstEuropean country refugees arrive in. A Somali woman,clutching a six-month-old baby still sick after spending23 days at sea in the Mediterranean listened intently asthe guards explained what would happen once herasylum application had been filed. The pair would betaken to the registration centre in Chiasso for medicalexaminations and then to an asylum centre elsewherein Switzerland. After she had been gently led off, oneof the guards sighed heavily. “I’m conflicted. The largenumbers arriving means problems for Switzerland,” hesaid. “But it’s so tough to hear their stories and try toimagine what I might do in their situation.” — AFP

LONDON: A Muslim teenager was inter-rogated by British child protection serv-ices about possible links to the IslamicState group after he used the word “eco-terrorist” in a French class, The Guardianreported yesterday. The 14-year-old boyused the word during a lesson as part ofa discussion at his school in centralLondon about environmental activism,according to the report.

A few days later he was pulled out ofclass and taken to a room where he wasquestioned by two people, one of whomwas a child protection officer, the left-of-centre daily said. He was asked if he was“affiliated” with IS-also known as ISIS-orhad heard of the militant group, itadded. “I didn’t know what was goingon,” the unnamed boy was quoted assaying. “They said there had been safetyconcerns raised. If you are taken out ofFrench class and asked about ISIS, it isquite scary. My heart skipped a beat.” Anew law from this year places a legalduty on British schools to “prevent peo-ple from being drawn into terrorism”.The boys’ parents are reportedly seek-

ing a judicial review, claiming that thechild was discriminated against becausehe was a Muslim.

The teenager explained in legal doc-uments seen by the Guardian that hehad used the word “eco-terrorist” torefer to people who “take action such asspiking trees with nails to preventchainsaws from chopping them down”.The Central Foundation boys’ schoolreportedly told the Guardian it wasrespecting government guidanceincluding the “Prevent duty”, an initia-tive which aims to stop people engag-ing in terrorism.

The newspaper said the incidentshone a light on how schools were deal-ing with Britain’s new anti-terrorism ini-tiatives. A spokesman for the schoolsaid: “The safeguarding and the wellbe-ing of our young people is our primaryconcern. “The school is confident thatits safeguarding policies and the workof the professionals in the operation ofthese policies are proportionate, justi-fied and place the wellbeing of the childto the fore.” — AFP

Schoolboy interrogated

for saying ‘eco-terrorist’

NICKELSDORF: Syrian refugee girl Sondos Almasri, 9, who suffers from cold,is comforted by her mother after spending the night at a collection point inthe truck parking lot of the former border station on the Austrian side of theHungarian-Austrian border. — AFP

Eye of the storm: Migrants

trickle in at Swiss border‘Situation stable, but tomorrow that could change’

ATHENS; Greek Prime Minister AlexisTsipras’ new left-wing government tookoffice yesterday with painful economicreforms ahead and a growing migrationcrisis that threatens to open a rift in theEU. Tsipras barely had time to see his cab-inet sworn into office before flying toBrussels for an emergency migrationsummit, a day after EU ministers forcedthrough a controversial deal to relocate120,000 refugees, angering several mem-ber states in the process.

In statements after his election victo-ry on Sunday, Tsipras said Europe hadfailed to give adequate support toAthens and called for “shared responsibil-ity” in managing the influx of migrantsfrom Syria and elsewhere. The new Greekcabinet is almost a carbon copy of theprevious government headed by the 41-year-old premier, who resigned in Augustafter seven months in office after losinghis majority when anti-euro hardliners inhis Syriza party quit in anger over an eco-nomic reform-and-rescue deal.

Keeping the balance The liberal daily Kathimerini said yes-

terday that Tsipras had been careful toreward loyal Syriza cadres who support-ed him against the hardliners. “Tsipras’basic criterion was to keep the balance inhis party... and reward those who stoodat his side on the bailout issue,” the dailysaid.

Sending a signal to creditors, Tsipras

kept the same team that negotiated thecountry’s latest EU bailout. Pro-euroEuclid Tsakalotos retains the finance min-istry portfolio while George Houliarakis,the reclusive expert who led the coun-try’s rocky bailout negotiations with EUand IMF envoys, has been appointed jun-ior finance minister. EU economic affairscommissioner Pierre Moscovici expresseddelight to have Tsakalotos back at thepost.

“Happy to continue working togetherto help Greece,” Moscovici tweeted yes-terday. Several members of the cabinetnoted that their first order of businesswas to revive the Greek economy, whichis still bound by capital controls imposedby Tsipras in June to avert a deposit run.“Our goal is recovery and reconstruction,”deputy Prime Minister Yiannis Dragasakistold reporters before the ceremony. “Wehave the prerequisites to overcome thedifficulties,” he said, adding that the gov-ernment wanted to leave “left-wing fin-gerprints” at the end of its term.

Senior Syriza figures also insist theywill propose alternative policies to miti-gate some of the toughest bailout cuts.“We will try to implement our policies,which include the bailout, but there arelimitless possibilities for work thatreduces the negative impacts of thedeal,” said state minister AlekosFlambouraris.

Panos Kammenos, the boisteroushead of the nationalist Independent

Greeks (ANEL) party in the governmentcoalition, was once again given thedefense portfolio. Nikos Kotzias, the for-mer senior Communist who clashed withEU peers over the Ukraine crisis, returnsto the foreign ministry, and the keymigration portfolio remains in the handsof Ioannis Mouzalas, who as interim min-ister before the election helped ease

pressure on Greek islands swamped byrefugee arrivals. One new arrival hasraised eyebrows-an ANEL lawmaker whohas repeatedly made anti-Semitic com-ments on social media, and was appoint-ed junior works minister. The new gov-ernment has 16 ministers and 30 deputyministers, but only four women includingthe spokeswoman. — AFP

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (right) chats with GreekPresident Prokopis Pavlopoulos as they attend the swearing-in cere-mony of the new government at the presidential palace. — AFP

OUAGADOUGOU: A protester holds a sign reading “Regiment of PresidentialSecurity (RSP) = Boko Haram” during a protest not far from the hotel where lead-ers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) were holding ameeting. — AFP

Burkina president resumes power as coup ends

MADRID: Catalonia’s 7.5 million residentswould automatically lose their Spanishnationality, and consequently theirEuropean citizenship, if the regional gov-ernment that emerges from this week-end’s local elections decides to declareindependence, Spain’s foreign ministersaid yesterday.

Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo said thatwhen one splits from a country, one losesthe benefits of belonging to that country.He said the claim that Catalans couldmaintain Spanish nationality after inde-pendence was mistaken. Margallo saidthe last time such a situation happenedwas when Algeria declared independencefrom France in 1962 and its citizens lostFrench nationality and the right toEuropean citizenship.

Catalan nationalists argue that theSpanish Constitution entitles those withSpanish nationality to keep it and thatCatalans would be able to keep both theirSpanish nationality and European pass-ports. Margallo’s warning was the latestagainst independence from Spanish offi-cials as voters in the economically power-ful northeastern region prepare to electregional lawmakers Sunday.

Pro-secession parties say they willestablish independence within 18 monthsif they win a majority of seats in the 165-seat regional parliament. Most opinionpolls predict they will win a seat majoritybut may fall short of a majority of votes,throwing the legitimacy of any eventualsecession push into question.

On Monday, Spain’s Central Bank saidCatalonia would be automatically ejectedfrom the European Union and the euro-zone if it were to declare independence.Spanish bank associations have alsowarned that banking groups might haveto reconsider their positions in Cataloniain the case of independence. Secessionleaders insist that ways would be foundfor an independent Catalonia to continueusing the euro. The Spanish governmenthas ruled out any possibility of the regionbecoming independent, saying secessionwould be unconstitutional. Catalonia,whose capital is Barcelona, representsabout 18 percent of Spain’s economic out-put. Polls show Catalans overwhelminglysupport the right for a secession referen-dum but are evenly divided over inde-pendence. Surveys show they oppose it ifit means leaving the 28-nation EU. — AP

Spain’s foreign minister warns

Catalans will lose nationality

New Tsipras gov’t takes

oath of office in Greece

ACCRA: Ghanaians have voicedshock and anger after hundreds ofpeople flocked to see a publicscreening of a long-awaited videocapturing judges and court officialsallegedly taking bribes. Twenty-twocircuit judges and magistrates weresuspended when the claims werefirst made in a newspaper earlier thismonth, sparking a probe by thecountry’s judicial council disciplinarybody.

Some of the judges implicatedtried to block the broadcast butfailed and the footage lasting severalhours was finally shown on Tuesdayevening in the capital, Accra. “Thewhole thing is pathetic,” said KwameAcheampong, who was among theaudience at the screening, which ithas been claimed was confirmationof long-held suspicions about thepractice in Ghana. “They have abusedthe system and if we really want thesystem to work, then there must berules and regulations that go with

such abuses,” he said. Another resi-dent, Bismarck Nanor, said any judgefound guilty of wrong-doing shouldbe punished and not be regarded as“above the law”. “I think that for thejustice system to purge itself, every-one found culpable must be pun-ished according to the same law, thesame legal proceedings they useagainst others,” he added.

Michael Ntim questioned whyjudges would be tempted to acceptbribes in the first place, adding: “I wasso shocked honestly at some of thethings I saw.” The allegations of bribe-taking to swing favorable verdictsand acquittals were made by anundercover journalist, who then peti-tioned President John DramaniMahama for the judges’ removal. Inaddition to the 22 judges and magis-trates suspended, Ghana’s chief jus-tice Georgina Wood said the judicialcouncil was also looking at whether12 high court judges should also faceaction. — AFP

Shock, outrage in Ghana as

judicial ‘bribery’ video airs

I N T E R N AT ION A LTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

MUMBAI: In this photograph taken on September 4, 2015, an Indian dabbawallah or lunchbox deliveryman, carries a cart filled with lunch box-es to an assembly point before delivering them to offices. — AFP photos

MUMBAI: Mumbai’s world-renowned tiffin serv-ice is no longer the preserve of loyal housewivescooking up generations-old family dishes to bedelivered to their husbands’ offices by the city’sfamous “dabbawallahs”. Now a host of health-conscious young start-ups are using-and some-times superseding-the dabbawallahs to deliverlunches catering to all diets, with tailoredmenus offering an array of global cuisinesonline.

The 5,000 or so lunchbox delivery men,instantly recognizable by their white cotton uni-forms and Nehru caps, pedal through Mumbai’scongested streets carrying everything from Thaito Mexican, as well as healthy takes on localfavorites. “The number of tiffins (meals) beingsent by food companies has gone up sharply inthe past few years,” said Raghunath Medage,president of Mumbai’s dabbawallah union.

“The share of homemade food we carry hasfallen from 100 percent to around 60 percent,and we expect that number to keep dropping,”he said. Dabbawallahs, literally meaning “boxcarriers”, have been plying Mumbai’s streets forwell over a century. They featured in the hit2013 Indian film “The Lunchbox” centering onthe story of a wife whose home-cooked mealswere collected by a dabbawallah and thendelivered, incorrectly, to a stranger’s officerather than her husband’s.

But now many of the meals inside the tincontainers that clatter against each other asthey hang from the dabbawallahs’ rickety bicy-cles are handpicked on the Internet by busyprofessionals enjoying a wealth of choice.Yummy Tiffins, which proudly bills itself as“India’s first customized online tiffin service”,allows users to design their own menus fromaround 40 dishes for every day of the week upto a month in advance.

‘Whatever you want’ “We wanted to fill the gap between a tiffin

service, which has the same old pattern of food,and a restaurant, where you can order whateveryou want, by providing customers with a choiceof options that still have a homely feel,” saidfounder Pratik Jain. “There’s a lot of variety in themenu, not just Indian food but international too,and plenty of healthy options as well,” the 29-year-old former management student told AFP.

The website, which Jain says has around 300users a day and is growing at around 70 percenta year, has teamed up with a nutritionist whodesigns low-calorie meals to attract health-con-scious customers. “It’s a competitive businesswith lots of players in the market. It’s much moreprofessional now with several tech-savvy start-

ups, and people keep switching from one tiffinservice to another,” said Jain.

Tina Parikh, an office worker in the south ofthe city, said she orders from a company calledSoulCare because it allows her to focus on herjob. “It’s purely about convenience. Early in themorning, to cook meals and then come to workgets a little tiring,” she told AFP, collecting her tif-fin from a handcart.

Her friend Vinayak Azad has stuck to home-cooked food but joked that he may considerswitching to one of the many low-calorie alter-natives whipped up by professional chefs thatare on offer. “There are a lot of good servicesaround and I think I should try them consideringmy tummy is still out even with home food!”

Yummy Tiffins employs Mumbai’s famouslyefficient dabbawallahs who deliver lunches toaround 200,000 people a day via trains, bicyclesand handcarts using a complex color-codedalpha-numeric system admired the world over.Their business model has been recognized byHarvard as working to a “six sigma” rating, mean-ing it is virtually unheard of for a lunch to bedelivered to the wrong place.

Dabbawallah competition But some caterers are moving away from the

dabbawallahs in favor of private delivery vans.

Maqsood Patel, co-founder of Foodizm, anotheronline meal delivery firm, said his company wasincreasingly opting for a concierge service to fer-ry lunches to their “elite” clientele.

“They deliver the meals right to the cus-tomers’ desks, whereas the dabbawallahs oftendrop them at the front gate and you have to godownstairs to look for your meal,” Patel told AFP.“Also, since they travel by train there can be athree or four-hour gap from the time a dab-bawallah collects the meal to the time it’s deliv-ered. “Obviously with the food travelling in theheat something like a salad can go a little bit off,”he added. Patel said the drivers’ English wasoften better than that of the dabbawallahs whohail from rural Maharashtra and speak Marathi,making it easier to communicate, while cus-tomers can also use a mobile app to track theprogress of deliveries.

But Medage, president of the Nutan MumbaiTiffin Box Suppliers’ Association, is unconcerned.“We are still getting fresh recruits from villagesbecause not many opportunities exist there.With hard work they can make at least 10,000rupees ($150) a month instead of nothing backhome.” Suresh Pawar, a dabbawallah for 12years, said: “The number we deliver goes up anddown. When one stops here, another startssomewhere else.” — AFP

Mumbai’s renowned tiffin carriers adapt to India’s changing lifestyles

‘Dabbawallahs’ expand menus to cater to youth

MUMBAI: In this photograph taken on September 2, 2015, an Indian worker packs lunch boxesat an online meal delivery firm’s kitchen.

NEW DELHI: An Indian man posing as a militant aims a weapon near a participant acting as a hostage during a mockterror drill at a cinema hall yesterday. The drill was organized by Delhi Disaster Management Authority. — AFP

WASHINGTON: The world’s largest democracies, India and theUnited States, agreed measures to deepen their security andeconomic cooperation on Tuesday, part of an ambitious driveto boost trade between them five-fold. After the talks, USCommerce Secretary Penny Pritzker admitted that the idea ofincreasing exchanges from $100 billion to $500 billion a yearwas “a big audacious goal,” but said the meeting had left hervery optimistic.

The “US-Indian Strategic and Commercial Dialog,” waslaunched in January by President Barack Obama and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, and on Tuesday US and Indian eco-nomic and diplomatic officials came together in Washington.“The president and the prime minister set out a goal for us ...and I think there’s a lot of opportunity,” Pritzker said. “Whatfeels new is the amount of energy that the Indian governmentis putting in to trying to remove the impediments that havebeen faced by foreign companies trying to do business inIndia.”

Asked how long it would take to increase trade five fold,Pritzker said no deadline had been set but added: “When youset big audacious goals, it helps move bureaucracies, and that’swhat’s happening. “We’ve got to change the way we do busi-ness,” she said. The talks came as President Xi Jinping of India’sAsian rival China arrived in the United States, two days beforeModi was due, but US officials insisted there was no plan tobuild up India as a counterweight to Beijing.

Instead, they celebrated what Obama has dubbed the“defining relationship of the 21st Century” with agreements to

fight terrorism and climate change and to bolster cooperationin energy, hi-tech and defense. US Secretary of State John Kerrysaid: “The US-India relationship is a bright spot on the interna-tional landscape and is one of the most important bilateral rela-tionships in the world. “Our talks today have given us a platformfor further progress ... There are so many areas of cooperation.There is so much going on between us.”

Commercial ties Indian officials had said that their priority for the talks was

reinforcing commercial ties and securing access to US inwardinvestment and technology, but also hailed a joint determina-tion to fight terrorism. “A main take away from our discussionsincludes our shared view that we need to keep the big picture,the strategic framework of the relationship in mind,” IndianForeign Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters.

On Tuesday, India cleared a $2.5 billion dollar deal to buy 22Apache helicopter gunships and 15 heavy-lift Chinooks from USplanemaker Boeing. The talks set up a meeting in New Yorknext week on the sidelines of the United Nations GeneralAssembly between Obama and Modi, whose four-day visitbegins September 24.

“And then we have a very robust discussion regarding coun-terterrorism, the Indian Ocean, maritime security, the SouthChina Sea, the South Asian challenges of the moment,” Kerrysaid. Kerry, Swaraj and Pritzker were joined by India’s minister ofstate for commerce and industry Nirmala Sitharaman and USEnergy Secretary Ernies Moniz for the talks. — AFP

India and US agree to deepen Closer strategic partnership

DHAKA: Bangladesh said it has met theconditions put forward by the UnitedStates for better safety and workers’ rightsin its factories that were essential to regainpreferential trade status the impoverishedSouth Asian nation lost in 2013 after twodisasters killed 1,500 garment workers.

The preferential trade status does notcover Bangladesh’s influential garmentindustry, which helps the country earn $25billion annually and mainly exports to theUnited States and Europe. But Dhaka haslong lobbied for its garment industry tohave duty-free access to the United Statesand the lost status was seen as a big blowto that goal.

The government said in its statementlate Tuesday that all of the 16 conditionsset by the U.S. have been met. A delegationof the U.S. Trade Representative’s office isvisiting Bangladesh to review improve-ments in safety standards at factories andchanges to legal documents allowing forwider workers’ rights.

The conditions are needed to regain theGeneralized System of Preferences benefitunder which the US allows imports of some5,000 goods from 122 of the world’s poor-est countries with low- or zero-tariff bene-fits. The trade benefit was withdrawn afterthe collapse of Rana Plaza, a building com-plex housing five garment factories outsidethe capital, Dhaka in 2013. The Rana Plazadisaster and a fire at a Tazreen Fashions fac-tory in November 2012 left about 1,500workers dead and hundreds injured.

The garment industry is crucial toBangladesh’s economy as it employs about4 million workers, mostly rural women, andmany other sectors including banks areheavily dependent on it. The governmentof Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has beenheavily criticized by the opposition for its“failure” to regain the lost trading status.

In 2012, the total value of US imports

from Bangladesh under the GSP benefitwas $34.7 million with tobacco, sportsequipment, porcelain china and plasticproducts topping the list. In August, theUnited States renewed the trade benefit for122 countries until 2017, but the trade rep-resentative’s office said Bangladesh neededto do more.

New rules A government statement said

Bangladeshi officials told the visitingAmerican delegation this week that it hasfulfilled the conditions required. The gov-ernment has so far shut down some 364apparel units for lack of sufficient safetymeasures. It has amended labor laws,enacting new rules for allowing workers toform unions, increased the number of fac-tory inspectors and settled many criminalcases against trade union leaders who saidthe charges were meant to silence them.

Authorities say some 500 factory-basedtrade unions have now been registered andworkers’ welfare associations have beenformed in special export zones. A leadingworkers’ rights activist says that whileBangladesh has made some improvements,a lot more needs to be done to ensure thesafety of the country’s factory workers.

“If you talk about safety and structuralaspects of the factories, no doubt, there ismajor improvement, but if you take theissues of freedom of association and work-ers’ right to bargain collectively, we still lagbehind,” Kalpona Akter, executive directorof Bangladesh Center for Workers’Solidarity, told The Associated Press. “Theregistration of 500 or so unions is a fact, butsome mainstream trade union groups arenot being allowed to get registration. If youlook at numbers, that looks good, butmany of those are formed and controlledby the owners,’ Akter said. “”We must seepractically how it works,” she said. — AP

Bangladesh says it meets factory safety conditions

SAVAR: In this April 25, 2013 file photo, Bangladeshi people gather as rescuers lookfor survivors and victims at the site of Rana Plaza building that collapsed a daybefore. — AP

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Prime MinisterSushil Koirala yesterday cancelled plans tovisit the United States so he can hold talkson a new constitution that has triggereddeadly protests in parts of the country.Koirala will meet regional parties opposedto the new charter adopted on Sunday, hisforeign adviser told AFP. Plans to divide thecountry into seven provinces under a fed-eral structure have infuriated some parties.They say the new internal borders willleave some historically marginalizedgroups under-represented in the nationalparliament.

More than 40 people have died inweeks of clashes between police and pro-testers belonging mainly to the Madhesiand Tharu ethnic minorities, who inhabitthe southern plains bordering India.“Because of the domestic political situa-tion, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala will notgo to the US,” said Dinesh Bhattarai, theadviser. “He will stay home... so he can holdtalks with political parties opposed to theconstitution.”

Koirala was scheduled to address the

United Nations General Assembly nextweek about the new constitution, the firstto be drawn up by elected representativesin the Himalayan nation. The ongoingprotests have sparked concern in neighbor-ing India, which has traditionally exertedsignificant political influence in Nepal.

In a sharply worded statement, NewDelhi said it had “repeatedly cautioned thepolitical leadership of Nepal to take urgentsteps to defuse the tension in theseregions”. “We still hope that initiatives willbe taken by Nepal’s leadership to effective-ly and credibly address the causes underly-ing the present state of confrontation.” Thecharter is the final stage in a peace processthat began when Maoist fighters laid downtheir arms in 2006 after a decade-longinsurgency aimed at abolishing an auto-cratic monarchy and creating a more equalsociety. But rights groups includingAmnesty International have criticized theconstitution, saying it discriminates againstwomen by making it more difficult formothers to pass on citizenship to their chil-dren compared with fathers. — AFP

Nepal PM cancels US visit for talks on constitution

KUALA LUMPUR/BANGKOK: Malaysia hasarrested six people suspected of being part ofa human trafficking network and who mayhave helped a bomber who killed 20 peopleat a Bangkok shrine last month escape fromThailand, police said yesterday. The suspectsjoined two people already in Malaysiandetention who may have helped the bomber,who Thai police said was a foreigner ofunknown identity, flee across southernThailand’s border with Malaysia, police inboth countries said.

Four of the six people arrested last weekwere believed to be minority Uighur Muslims,who come from China’s far western Xinjiangregion, said Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, direc-tor of the Malaysian police counter-terrorismunit. Thai police have made two arrests overthe Aug. 17 blast, Thailand’s worst everbombing, that killed 20 people, including 14foreigners, seven from Hong Kong and main-land China. The chief suspect is a man in ayellow shirt caught on security camerafootage leaving a backpack at the shrine. Hewas implicated by a man in Thai detentionwho admitted to delivering the bag contain-ing the bomb to him, police say. Ayob toldReuters the six were not directly linked to thebombing but to a human-trafficking gang.

“We believe that they facilitated the move-ment of the yellow-shirt man but we cannot

confirm since it is an ongoing investigation,”Ayob said. Malaysia’s arrests are the latestpieces in a puzzle pointing toward a connec-tion to Uighurs that Thai authorities havesought to play down. Thai police have ruledout a political motive linked to Uighurs forthe blast, suggesting instead the reason wasthat a human trafficking gang was angeredby a police crackdown.

A Thai police investigator who had justreturned from Malaysia confirmed the sus-pected bomber was not among the latestsuspects, who were likely part of the traffick-ing network. The Uighur issue could be athorny one for Thailand and any substantivelink between the bombing and Thailand’sforced repatriation of 109 Uighurs at China’sbehest in July could result in criticism that itsforeign policy may have triggered the attack.

“They are not terrorists because theyhaven’t announced what they want,” Thaipolice spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri toldreporters yesterday. Thousands of Uighurshave tried to flee China saying they face per-secution, which Beijing rejects. Many use traf-ficking networks through Southeast Asia toTurkey, where they are largely welcomed andhave ethnic and religious affinity. Suspectsbelieved to be Turkish and Thais living inTurkey are among those on Thailand’s wantedlist for the bombing. — Reuters

I N T E R N AT I O N A LTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

SEATTLE: China’s president on Tuesday called for less“suspicion” in ties between the world’s top twoeconomies, ahead of landmark talks later this week withUS President Barack Obama. Xi Jinping’s comments, at akeynote speech in the commercial hub of Seattle, cameas US aerospace giant Boeing reportedly clinched a dealwith Chinese firms to sell 300 aircraft.

“We want to see more understanding and trust andless estrangement and suspicion,” said Xi, whose coun-try has seen somewhat strained ties with the UnitedStates on several issues. “Conflict and confrontation”between the two powers “would lead to disaster forboth countries and the world at large,” stressed Xi.

Ahead of talks with the Obama administration laterthis week on hot-button issues like China’s expandingpresence in the South China Sea, cyber theft andhuman rights, Xi sought to convince an audience ofmostly businessmen and US state officials that Chinawas a positive force in the global economy and waspushing forward with reforms based on rule of law andmarket principles. China’s foreign policy priority was tobuild what he described as a “new model” of relation-ship with Washington based on “non-confrontation,non-conflict, mutual respect and willing cooperation,”said the president. “We must read each other’s strategicintentions correctly.”

‘Legitimate concerns’ Xi vowed to treat US investors in China fairly and

fight against commercial cyber theft, a growing com-plaint against China by American businesses. “Werespect the international business norms of non-dis-crimination,” he told an audience that included the chief

executives of some of the largest US businesses, includ-ing Boeing, Amazon, DuPont, IBM and Microsoft, all ofwhom have substantial business in China. “We willaddress legitimate concerns of foreign investors in atimely fashion.”

On the hacking issue, he said China itself is a victimand was ready to set up a “high-level” mechanism withthe United States to discuss the problem. “The Chinesegovernment will not in whatever form engage in com-mercial theft or encourage or support such attempts byanyone.” At the same time, he suggested that US threatsto sanction Chinese officials over the alleged hackingwere out of line, saying cyber theft was a crime that hadto be prosecuted “in accordance with law.”

He also stressed that China’s economic downturnwas temporary and that the government was on top ofrecent market turmoil. “At present all economies are fac-ing difficulties and our economy is also under generalpressure,” Xi said. “China’s stock market has reached thephase of self-recovery and self-adjustment,” he said. Xi isspending two days in Seattle meeting with the gover-nors of US states with substantial trade and investmentties to China, and the businesses themselves, sending amessage to the White House that US companies needChina.

‘No House of Cards’ Xi was introduced by legendary US diplomat Henry

Kissinger, who made the first secretive effort in 1971 torestore long-broken relations with China and whopraised Xi as the man able to take the relationship to anew level. The Chinese leader charmed his audiencewith quotes from Martin Luther King, recollections of

former visits to Seattle and knowing references to popu-lar US culture, including the romance comedy “Sleeplessin Seattle.” Defending his government’s crackdown oncorruption, he quipped: “This has nothing to do withpower struggle. This is no ‘House of Cards’.” But he alsotook pains to remind Washington that China has been aresponsible partner and team player in dealing withcrises from Ebola to North Korea’s nuclear threat toglobal warming, as well as acting to support the worldeconomy in the 2008 financial crisis.

And, following on from his comments on his govern-ment’s anti-corruption fight, he pointed a direct fingerat the US government’s allowing Chinese wanted forcorruption to hide in the United States. He called forWashington’s cooperation “so that corrupt elements willbe denied an overseas safe haven.” He also responded tocriticisms that China’s tough new security law will effec-tively outlaw foreign non-governmental organizations,saying the country welcomed and would protect thosewhose activities “are beneficial to the Chinese people.”

But he also stressed they had to obey Chinese law:“On their part, foreign NGOs in China need to obeyChinese law and carry out activities in accordance withthe law.” White House National Security Advisor SusanRice met Tuesday with several representatives fromamong the universities, businesses and rights groupsthat would be forced to register and report to theChinese security services if the draft law enters intoforce. “Today’s discussion focused on concerns that thedraft legislation would further narrow space for civilsociety in China,” the White House said in a statementthat came hours after the Chinese leader landed in theUnited States. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police Deputy Inspector Gen Noor RashidIbrahim gestures as he speaks during a press conference at the police head-quarters. — AP

SAMAL: Gunmen holding three foreigners and oneFilipina hostage slipped past a naval cordon andescaped to remote mountains in the southernPhilippines, leaving few clues to their identities, policesaid yesterday. Elite army troops were trying to track thebandits while air force helicopters were readied for apossible rescue as the gunmen trekked into DavaoOriental province, a hotbed of Maoist and Islamic rebels,said Senior Superintendent Aaron Aquino, the region’sdeputy police commander.

The gunmen seized the Norwegian manager of aluxury island resort on Monday night, along with twoCanadian tourists and one of their local girlfriends. Thevictims were aboard yachts anchored at the resort’smarina. The abductions added to a string of kidnap-

pings of foreigners and locals in the conflict-plaguedsouth since the 1990s, which have been typically carriedout by Islamic militants seeking to extort ransoms.

“Rest assured, our security sector will not stop untilthey catch this group,” President Benigno Aquino toldreporters. The president’s assurance echoed commentsmade by the nation’s leaders whenever a foreigner hasbeen kidnapped, but the captives’ releases have gener-ally only been secured with ransom payments.

Adding to concerns about the captives, police saidyesterday the gunmen had evaded a naval blockadearound Samal Island, where the abductions took place.The gunmen had sailed about 50 kilometers east toDavao Oriental, a poor region on the far southeasternedge of Mindanao Island close to Indonesia with

remote mountains and isolated fishing communities.“Our scout rangers are following their tracks. They areon their trail. The air force is also helping, ready forinsertion,” Aquino, the police commander, told DZBBradio. He said “intelligence” sources had informedpolice that the gunmen reached Davao Oriental onTuesday night, but he acknowledged authorities stilldid not know the gunmen’s identities or motives. “Weare waiting for contact from the kidnappers so we willknow their demands,” he said. Canadian tourists JohnRidsdel, 68, and Robert Hall, 50, were among thoseabducted, police said. The other foreigner was theNorwegian resort manager, Kjartan Sekkingstad, 56,and the local woman was Hall’s 40-year-old Filipina girl-friend, identified only as Tess.

Chilling footageChilling footage from the resort’s surveillance cam-

eras emerged yesterday showing the gunmen walkingtheir hostages along a jetty at the marina. In thefootage, broadcast by local television networks, a shirt-less and bearded male hostage was seen shaking offthe grip on his arm of one of the rifle-wielding men, butstill not daring to try and run away.

The three others appeared to have been hauledfrom their beds, with one male hostage shirtless andwith a blanket wrapped around his waist. The womanwalking next to him was in a night gown. Investigatorssaid they were looking at the possible involvement ofcommunist guerillas or Islamic rebels excluded from apeace treaty signed in 2014 with the government,according to police. Communist and Islamic rebelshave been waging decades-long struggles that haveclaimed tens of thousands of lives. The impoverishedsouthern Mindanao region, including Davao Oriental,has proved fertile recruiting grounds and sanctuary forboth groups. — AFP

Philippine kidnappers haul

hostages into mountains

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian woman wascharged yesterday with insulting scandal-tainted Prime Minister Najib Razak by drop-ping balloons bearing pro-democracy mes-sages near him during a public event, herlawyer said. The case against Bilqis Hijjas-dubbed “Balloongate” on social media-hasdrawn public ridicule as an example of gov-ernment overkill in pressuring its critics.

Bilqis Hijjas, 36, a dance producer, droppedyellow balloons with the words “justice,”“democracy” and “media freedom” from anupper floor of a shopping mall while Najiband his wife officiated a function down below.The incident occurred on August 31, one dayafter tens of thousands of yellow-shirted pro-testers paralyzed the capital Kuala Lumpurwith massive demonstrations demandingNajib’s ouster over allegations of corruptionand abuse of power.

With a group of supporters waiting outsidea Kuala Lumpur court bearing yellow balloons,Bilqis was charged inside with “insultingbehavior” that could affect public order. “Youcan’t just say you have insulted someone andcharge them in court for dropping balloons,”said Bilqis’ lawyer Michelle Yesudas, calling thecharges “utterly ridiculous”. The penalty for thecharge is a mere 100 ringgit ($23), but Bilqiswas contesting it on “principle,” Yesudas said.Bilqis is free on bail. Najib is under intense fireover allegations of huge sums missing from astate-owned firm he launched, and mysterioustransfers of nearly $700 million into his ownbank accounts. Najib has denied wrongdoingbut has moved to quash the allegations bysacking officials and going after whistleblow-ers. Critics of Najib’s government say it routine-ly pressures the opposition and other oppo-nents with a range of charges. — AFP

Woman charged

in ‘balloongate’

Six more Bangkok bomb

conspirators arrested

TAIPEI: A new electronic entry card forTaiwanese visitors to China has sparkedprotests and a political backlash despiteBeijing touting the move as a way tomake travel easier. China introduced thecard on Monday after announcing it inJune, but Taiwanese authorities say theywere not told of the roll out.

The island’s Mainland Affairs Council-its top China policy decision-makingbody-said there had not been “propercommunication” in advance of thelaunch. “The way they are doing this is

irrespective of Taiwan and has hurt thefeelings of Taiwan people,” it said in astatement. Taiwan’s Premier Mao Chi-kuo also said he was “extremely dissatis-fied” adding that he had been given noprior notice of the move.

Around 20 members of the anti-China Taiwan Solidarity Union ( TSU)threw eggs and let off firecrackers out-side Beijing-friendly president Ma Ying-jeou’s residence Tuesday night inprotest. “The cards may benefit someTaiwanese businessmen and students in

China, but the policy is aimed at down-grading Taiwan to the level of HongKong and Macau (both semi-autonomous regions of China),” TSUspokesman Chang Chao-lin said yester-day.

Self-ruling Taiwan split from China atthe end of a civil war on the mainland in1949, but Beijing still sees the island aspart of its territory awaiting reunifica-tion. It does not recognize Taiwanesepassports. The card had already been ontrial for visitors to the southern Chinese

province of Fujian for two months. Chinasays it is part of wider measures toreduce barriers with Taiwan.

Visitors used to need two docu-ments-a paper visa and an entry permit-to enter China. Now they just need theelectronic card, which will replace theold paper document and be valid forfive years. Ties between China andTaiwan have improved markedly since2008 after Ma came to power promisingto beef up trade and tourism links. Butrecently public sentiment has once

again turned against closer ties withBeijing, with voters saying trade dealshave been agreed in secret and have notbenefited ordinary citizens.

Tensions flared earlier this year whenBeijing rejected Taipei’s bid to become afounding member of a China-led AsianInfrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).There was also anger over its decision toinaugurate a new flight route nearTaiwan and in response to a military drillcarried out against a backdrop thatresembled Taipei. — AFP

Anger in Taiwan after china introduces new entry card

Xi calls for less ‘suspicion’ in

US-China ties ahead of talks ‘Conflict would lead to worldwide disaster’

SEATTLE: Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during his welcoming banquet at the start of his visit to the United States, atthe Westin Hotel. — AFP

JAKARTA: Indonesian workers weld part of a train wagon after a packedcommuter train slammed into the back of another at a station in theIndonesian capital yesterday injuring at least 35 people, according to anofficial. TV footage showed the two trains crushed together, with consider-able damage to the front end of one and the back of the other, and emer-gency workers carrying the injured out on stretchers. — AFP

MINDANAO: A combination made from undated handout photos released by EasternMindanao Command (EASTMINCOM) on September 22, 2015 shows Norwegianemployee Kjartan Sekkinstad (left), 56, and Canadian tourists John Ridsdel (center),68, and Robert Hall (right), 50, the three kidnapped foreigners who were seized bygunmen from aboard yachts just before midnight on September 21 on Samal island,a short boat ride from the southern commercial centre of Davao. — AFP

NEWSTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Continued from Page 1

There they will gather pebbles for a symbolic stoningof the devil ritual today, which is also the Eid Al-Adhafeast of sacrifice marked by the world’s more than 1.5billion Muslims.

The day spent in Mount Arafat is one of the fewtimes during the hajj that all pilgrims are in the samelocation at the same time - and is often described as themost moving experience of the hajj. “This is the placewhere the Prophet (PBUH)... had his last hajj all the wayfrom Makkah to here. We are following his footsteps,”said Abdul Halim Yusuf-Ali, a 21 year-old Islamic studiesstudent from Kenya.

Yusuf-Ali was among thousands praying at MountArafat before sunrise yesterday. He said it was moreimportant than ever for Muslims to heed the wordsfrom the Prophet’s (PBUH) last sermon, calling for unityand equality. “It is very important because now Muslims’political situation is very chaotic and many Muslims arebeing killed every day, and it is just the other wayaround from what the Prophet emphasized,” Yusuf-Aliadded.

This year’s gathering is about the same size as lastyear’s, with 1.4 million foreign pilgrims joining hundredsof thousands of Saudis and residents of the kingdom.They are undeterred by a construction crane collapse atMakkah’s Grand Mosque earlier this month that killed109 people, including foreign pilgrims. About 400 peo-ple were injured by the crane which was working on anexpansion of Islam’s holiest site.

Previously marred by stampedes and fires that killedhundreds, the pilgrimage had been largely incident-freefor the past nine years after safety improvements. Thehajj is among the five pillars of Islam and every capableMuslim must perform it at least once in a lifetime. Thisyear’s gathering takes place against a backdrop ofincreased jihadist violence in some Muslim countries, asurge of the potentially deadly MERS virus and the warin Saudi Arabia’s neighbor Yemen. About 100,000 policehave been deployed to secure pilgrimage sites andmanage the crowds.

Authorities say they are on alert for possible attacksby extremists, after Islamic State group jihadistsbombed security forces and Shiite mosques in the king-dom in recent months. This year’s hajj also comes withSaudi Arabia leading an Arab coalition conducting airstrikes and supporting local forces in Yemen againstIran-backed rebels. Most Yemeni pilgrims performingthe hajj this year already reside in the kingdom.

Among other challenges facing Saudi authorities is

potential transmission of the deadly Middle EastRespiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Thecapital saw a jump in infections last month, but healthofficials say there has never been a case of MERS infec-tion among pilgrims. The health ministry has mobilizedthousands of medical workers to help ensure a virus-free pilgrimage and to care for routine ailments.Pilgrims began the hajj on Tuesday by entering ihram, astate of purity in which they must not quarrel, wear per-fume, or cut their nails or hair. During ihram, men weara seamless two-piece shroud-like white garment, whilewomen must wear loose dresses, generally also white,exposing only their faces and hands.

The clothing emphasizes their unity, regardless ofwhether they spend the hajj in Makkah’s five-star hotelsor in shabby highrise hostels. “I’m hoping for mercy andthat Allah accepts our prayers,” said Pakistani pilgrimAbdeghafour Abu Bakr, 38, who came with friends.“What is left of our Arab nation? Iraq was the symbol ofpower and civilization. What happened to it now? Lookat Syria: the refugees are greater in number than the pil-grims here,” said Egyptian Mohammed Rizq, 65. “I wisheveryone could come here. I am sure they would leavewith a good heart because here Islam was born,” saidAbdullah, a Chinese convert to Islam.

Since the 2011 Arab uprisings, Iraq, Syria and Yemenhave collapsed into civil war, Libya is paralyzed by con-flict and refugee crises have upended life for many inJordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Egypt remains politicallyfragile and Palestinians still have no state. Over break-fast, a group of pilgrims from different countriesquizzed an Iraqi man who had fled an area controlledby the Islamic State militant group, which has seizedswathes of Iraq and Syria and staged attacks elsewhere.“Islam is mercy. How did they turn it into a curse, a pun-ishment?” said one man.

Earlier, in the city of Makkah, a Yemeni pilgrim saidhe hoped peace might soon return to his country,where a Saudi-led Arab coalition this year joined thegovernment’s side in a civil war that has killed thou-sands, including by its own airstrikes. “I have a millionwishes. The first and the last is to have the happy Yemenback: the free and united Yemen,” he said. A Syrian pil-grim simply called down curses on President Bashar Al-Assad, who is waging a war to end a four-year rebellionagainst his rule. “Bashar goes to hell,” was his wish. Butpilgrims also prayed for personal matters. Abdullah, theChinese pilgrim, expressed his hopes for the comingyear. “I wish my wife heals from her sickness, my son fin-ishes school and my manager gives me the promotion Ideserve,” he said. — Agencies

Pilgrims throng Arafat as hajj reaches...Continued from Page 1

After their sentencing last month, Egypt summonedthe British ambassador to Cairo for criticizing the ruling.The United States and the United Nations had led callsfor the journalists’ release. Their arrest in December2013 came at a time of heightened unrest and a deadlycrackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood followingIslamist president Mohamed Morsi’s overthrow by themilitary. At the time, Qatar, which owns Al-Jazeera, hadbeen supportive of the Islamists.

Fahmy, who dropped his Egyptian citizenship toqualify for deportation like Greste, is expected to leavefor Canada where has been offered a teaching postonce he is freed. He has asked Sisi to return his Egyptiancitizenship, in a local newspaper article published yes-terday. The pardons yesterday came on the eve of theMuslim holiday of Eid, when prisoner releases oftentake place in Muslim countries.

Sisi has faced also mounting calls to release activistssuch as Seif and Sallam, a human rights workerdetained after a small protest outside the presidential

palace in 2014. The two women were charged withholding an illegal protest, under a law that bans all butpolice-sanctioned protests, and sentenced to threeyears in jail. No official list was immediately issued ofthose pardoned yesterday, leaving it unclear whetherother secular activists such as Alaa Abdel Fattah andAhmed Maher were included. It was also not known ifthe pardon covered Mahmoud Abu Zeid, a photogra-pher arrested in August 2013 as hundreds of Islamistprotesters were killed in clashes with police clearingtwo Cairo sit-ins.

Thousands of Islamists, including Morsi, have beenarrested since his overthrow, and scores sentenced todeath. But the crackdown on the Islamists has alsoextended to secular leaning activists who had support-ed Morsi’s overthrow after his divisive year in power. Sisi,the former army chief who was elected president in2014, remains popular with many Egyptians seeking sta-bility and end to unrest in the wake of the country’s2011 revolution that toppled longtime strongman HosniMubarak. He has vowed to steer clear of court cases outof respect for the judiciary’s independence. — AFP

Sisi pardons two Jazeera journos

CAIRO: Canadian Al-Jazeera English journalist Mohamed Fahmy (second left) and his Egyptian colleagueBaher Mohammed celebrate with their wives after being released from Torah prison yesterday. — AP

NEW YORK: New York marks a milestone in the fight for equal-ity Thursday when 1.1 million children in America’s largestschool district will take the day off to mark Eid Al-Adha. It is asmall but hard-won victory at a time when American Muslimscomplain of growing Islamophobia and worsening anti-Muslim rhetoric following the 9/11 attacks in 2001. For the firsttime, more than 1,800 public schools in New York will close forthe Muslim feast of sacrifice, a day after also closing for YomKippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled the new policy in March,announcing that New York public schools would get two daysoff for Eid Al-Fitr, which falls during the summer, and Eid Al-Adha, in addition to major Christian and Jewish holidays. Sincethen, city hall has added a further day off-February 8, 2016 —for Lunar New Year, celebrated by Asian-Americans.

“It is a huge victory to actually see the day come,” says LindaSarsour, a member of the Coalition for Muslim School Holidaysand a New York activist with three children. “As an imam aswell as a parent I am very happy,” agreed Imam Shamsi Ali,director of the Jamaica Muslim Center in Queens. “I’m sure thiskind of policy from the government side will push Muslims fur-ther to feel a sense of belonging,” he said.

Muslim New York parents previously faced a quandary:keep their children at home to observe the holiday and skipclass, or send them to school and let celebrations fall by thewayside. There are an estimated seven to 10 million Muslims inAmerica, of whom a million are believed to live in New York-about 10 percent of the city’s population. New York follows atleast seven other school districts that close for Eid in NewJersey, Massachusetts and Vermont, but activists are still cam-paigning in other parts of the country.

Activists hope that embracing Eid in the school calendarwill make Islam more mainstream and counter Islamophobia.

“It’s a very tense time,” Sarsour told AFP. “No one can talk aboutIslam without talking about terrorism.” In the last two weeksalone, a Sikh American was so viciously beaten in Chicago andcalled a “terrorist” because of his dark skin, beard and turbanthat he wound up in the hospital. In Detroit, a mosque wasrefused planning permission and in Texas, a 14-year-oldMuslim teenager who is the son of Sudanese immigrants wasarrested for building a clock that teachers thought was abomb.

At the weekend, Republican candidate for president,African-American retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, said aMuslim should not be president of the United States.Billionaire Donald Trump, top of the Republican polls in the2016 race, was roundly condemned for not challenging a townhall questioner who said Barack Obama was a foreign-bornMuslim.

Then there are daily headlines about extremists in Syria,arrests of American sympathizers and Islamist terrorism thatmany say feeds paranoia about Muslims in the United States.Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the country’s largest Muslim civil liber-ties organization, agreed that the holiday comes at the righttime. “Amidst a spike in anti-Muslim sentiment and anti-Muslim rhetoric in our society as we see with Trump, BenCarson, and the arrest of a Muslim teenager, which sends anegative message, this sends a very positive message of inclu-sion,” he said.

But if New York sets a precedent, it is still an uphill strug-gle. “It was fabulous, oh my gosh!” enthused activist ZainabChaudry, who was disappointed when Montgomery coun-ty in Maryland refused to make Eid a day off and removedall religious references to pre-existing Christian and Jewishholidays. — AFP

Muslim Americans welcome first NY Eid school holiday

An Afghan woman leads a sheep at a livestock market ahead of the sacrificial Eid Al-Adha festival in Heratyesterday. — AFP

THE LEADING INDEPENDENTDAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF

ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN

Editor-in-ChiefABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN

EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432ADVERTISING : 24835616/7FAX : 24835620/1CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163ACCOUNTS : 24835619COMMERCIAL : 24835618

P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait.E MAIL :info@kuwaittimes.netWebsite: www.kuwaittimes.net

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

A N A L Y S I STHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

By Balazs Koranyi

Built in a matter of weeks by soldiers, prisonlabourers and cadres of the unemployed, avast new wall along Balkan frontiers is a

monument to the ruthless efficiency with whichPrime Minister Viktor Orban has mobilisedHungary against migrants. Orban describes thearrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees andother migrants in Europe this year from Asia,Africa and the Middle East as an attack on thecontinent’s Christian welfare model. Until lastweek, most trekked through Hungary, the mainoverland entry route into the EU’s border-freeSchengen zone from the Balkan peninsula, whichthey cross after arriving by dinghy in Greece.

While Europe dithered over a collectiveresponse, Hungary took matters into its ownhands, shutting off the route with a new fencealong its entire 175 km border with Serbia,topped with razor wire and guarded by helmetedriot police. It was erected at a cost of 22 billionforints (about $80 million), a rare example of effi-ciency in a country which built its last under-ground metro line ten years behind schedule attriple the projected cost.

The government says it put the military incharge of the construction so that it could actmore quickly. By swiftly mobilising stateresources, the authorities also managed to turnthe fence into a national project, immensely pop-ular at home even as it is denounced byEuropean partners. “It took a while but the gov-ernment’s campaign to rouse public opinionagainst the refugees is bearing fruit, and havingbrought much of the media under control is pay-ing dividends,” said Richard Szentpeteri Nagy, ananalysts at Centre for Fair Political Analysis. “Byproperly filtering the message through public tel-evision, what viewers at home see is that this is amob, throwing stones and attacking police.”

In just days since it shut the Serbian frontier,Hungary has already moved even faster to shutthe border with Croatia, which is inside theEuropean Union but outside the Schengen zone.A 41-kilometre temporary fence was thrown upwithin four days. Work is already underway on apermanent barrier, with machines clearing theland, fence posts driven into the ground andrazor wire rolled out.

No Emotion in SteelThe logistics are themselves a demonstration

of Orban’s vision of a powerful state flexing itsmuscle. The military initially called in private con-tractors, but after Orban forced out his defenceminister over the slow pace of work, soldiersswiftly took over most of the project. Janos, a dis-

patcher for a construction firm specialising inearth moving equipment, described a frenziedstart. “They found us through the Internet, I justgot a call from the military asking if I could do thejob,” he said, asking that his surname not be usedwhile discussing the process. “They had some-thing like two dozen private companies in theproject then. But we’re down to maybe a quarterof that as the military is getting its house in orderand replaces us with their own capacity.”

His firm gets paid 500 forints ($1.82) to drive afence post into the ground. A crew needs to com-plete at least 200 in a day, 3 m apart, to breakeven. The military schedule means working sevendays a week. During the crunch when the defenceminister was dismissed, his team put in more than48 hours straight. Parts of the fence have beenmade by firms using prison labour. Convictsreceive a small portion of the wages paid for theirwork; the rest goes to cover prison costs.

Inmates from a prison on the outskirts ofDunaujvaros, Hungary’s top steelmaking town,make up about a third of the 500-strong work-force at DAK Acelszerkezeti Kft., which worked onsteel fence posts. Managing Director GaborTarany said his company did not care about poli-tics; an order is an order. “There’s no emotion insteel; we build things and don’t ask or care whatit’s used for.” The state has also mobilised unem-ployed people who collect government benefitsthrough a public works program.

“Public works people have an obligation towork, otherwise they could lose their benefits,”said Marta Varga, a spokeswoman for theCsongrad county government offices. They havebeen paid at a monthly wage of around $220 forwork on the fence, around half Hungary’s mini-mum wage. She said no one had refused.

Fences, Dogs, Cops and GunsThe project has become a defining achieve-

ment for Orban, a square-jawed former studentactivist who emerged in the early days afterCommunism at the helm of Hungary’s maincentre-right political party Fidesz. Now 52,Orban has made a career of defying what heconsiders a weak-willed European consensus.Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the EU’s executivecommission, jokingly greeted him as “Dictator”at an EU summit in May, offering a smile and aslap on the neck.

From 2010 until this year, Fidesz held a two-thirds supermajority in parliament whichallowed Orban to amend the constitution, con-solidating his authority. He drew fire for stepswhich EU officials said undermined the inde-pendence of the courts, central bank and themedia. Realising early that migration would be amajor issue, he moved quickly to stir public opin-ion this year with a series of campaigns, ampli-fied by friendly media, including a new state con-trolled news channel.

The tactic has worked. A survey out onMonday showed Orban’s Fidesz party leading itsnearest rival by 10 percentage points. Anothershowed 82 percent supported tighter immigra-tion rules. In recent weeks he has been denounc-ing European leaders for accelerating Europe’smigration crisis by abandoning any pretence ofdefending its external borders. He reserves partic-ular blame for Germany, which suspended nor-mal EU rules to announce in August it would wel-come Syrian refugees no matter where they enterthe bloc. Orban’s speeches and interviews haveincluded warnings that Europe’s Christian cultureis in jeopardy from Muslim migrants, a tone criticssay crosses a line into xenophobia.

After the fence went up last week andHungarian riot police used tear gas and watercannon on stone-throwing migrants, Romania’sPrime Minister Victor Ponta even evoked the con-tinent’s darkest era - the rise of the Nazis. “Fences,dogs, cops and guns: this looks like Europe in the1930s. And did we solve the refugee problemwith this? No, we didn’t,” Ponta said. “Erecting afence only throws the problem into Serbia, intoCroatia, into Romania.”

Orban’s opponents abroad say Hungaryshould be more compassionate, not leastbecause of its own history, including a 1956 upris-ing against the Soviet Union when Russian gunsand tanks drove nearly 200,000 Hungarians toflee. But many Hungarians are having none of it.They say that even if today’s migrants includerefugees who have fled war, they have all arrivedthrough safe countries such as Turkey and theBalkan states and are no longer in peril. “Did theHungarian refugees ever attack the police in aviolent mob, throwing stones?” said ZoltanNogradi, the mayor of Morahalom, a small townon the Serbian border. “There’s no comparisonbecause if there was no fence, my town wouldhave already been swept away.”

More DiscreetThe government says putting the military in

charge was the only way to build the fence quick-ly, exempting the state from cumbersome pro-curement laws. Some who worked on the projectsay there are other benefits: Details can be keptsecret, and the army itself has learned from thework. “It’s not just cheaper and quicker, it’s alsomore discreet,” said an engineer working on theCroatian border, who asked not be identifiedbecause he was not authorised to speak to themedia. “Soldiers don’t talk, prisoners can’t talk andpublic works employees know it’s not in theirbest interest to talk. Politics aside, this is the bestlogistical exercise the army had in years,” headded. —Reuters

Orban mobilizes troops, prisoners, jobless

By David Ingram and Joel Schectman

Volkswagen AG will probably have to show there wassome legitimate reason to install software that led tofalse vehicle emissions tests if it is to avoid US crimi-

nal charges, lawyers said on Tuesday. The Germanautomaker has admitted to US clean air regulators that insome of its diesel cars it used a so-called “defeat device,”software designed to defeat emissions tests. As a result it isalmost certainly exposed to very large civil penalties thatcould be imposed by the US government, said attorneyswith expertise in environmental prosecutions though notinvolved in the Volkswagen case.

The criminal probe, which was confirmed by a sourcefamiliar with the matter on Tuesday, is likely to examine notonly possible violations of the US Clean Air Act but also ofbroader statutes against wire fraud, false statements toregulators and other crimes, the lawyers said. Individualemployees are also likely to be investigated and couldpotentially face criminal charges if wrongdoing is discov-ered, the lawyers added.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.A Volkswagen spokesman did not respond to requests forcomment on what the company’s legal strategy would be.Deliberately faking emissions results could be seen byprosecutors as a multi-layered fraud against consumers,regulators and auto dealers, the lawyers said. But there willlikely be a debate between the Justice Department andVolkswagen’s legal team over what the company and its

employees intended by installing the software. US prose-cutors generally must find evidence of intent to commit acrime - such as incriminating emails or information fromcooperating witnesses - before they can charge someone.

The installation of the devices is not necessarily evi-dence of intentional misconduct, said Bruce Pasfield, a for-mer environmental prosecutor. Automakers sometimesinstall such devices to allow vehicles to be tested under dif-fering standards required by overseas regulators, saidPasfield, now at the law firm Alston & Bird. “You cannotdraw the conclusion that this is intentionally criminal,” hesaid.

The Volkswagen investigation could end up as one ofthe first test cases of tougher new Justice Departmentguidelines that could lead to an increase in the number ofprosecutions of corporate executives. David Uhlmann, for-mer chief of the Justice Department’s environmentalcrimes section, said criminal charges were almost certain ifthe allegations against Volkswagen are true, but he addedthe company could still find a defense. “If the softwarewere installed for other purposes, Volkswagen would nothave a defense in any civil penalty action but could in acriminal case,” said Uhlmann, now a University of Michiganlaw professor. It was not immediately clear whetherVolkswagen would invoke such a defense.

It was also not clear who is leading Volkswagen’sdefense.The law firm Kirkland & Ellis, which was copied ona letter on Friday from the US Environmental ProtectionAgency to the automaker, declined to comment.

Volkswagen is the third major automaker to face a US crim-inal investigation in recent years. Last year, Toyota MotorCorp agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle a charge that itconcealed a problem in its vehicles that caused them toaccelerate suddenly. This month, General Motors Coagreed to pay $900 million for hiding an ignition-switchdefect from regulators and the public.

Both GM and Toyota signed deals known as deferred-prosecution agreements that effectively put them on pro-bation and will allow the criminal charges to be droppedlater. It may be difficult for Volkswagen to negotiate similartreatment depending on which Justice Department officetakes the lead in its investigation, Uhlmann said. The envi-ronmental crimes section has historically required compa-nies to either plead guilty or take their chances at a trial, hesaid.

Prosecutors are likely to consider criminal chargesagainst individual executives at the company, lawyers said.This month, US Deputy Attorney General Sally QuillianYates said that under a new Justice Department policycompanies would no longer get credit for helping prosecu-tors discover misconduct unless they turn over the execu-tives responsible. Under that policy “it would be hard to seehow they could not carefully examine how individualscould be held criminally accountable,” said David Buente, aformer prosecutor of environmental crimes who is now atthe law firm Sidley Austin. “One of the key questions forprosecutors is how high up in the company this goes,”Buente said. —Reuters

VW needs to explain away software

Anew Russian law limiting foreign ownership ofmedia has upended the sector, forcing compa-nies to scramble to comply and throwing into

doubt the fate of TV channels, glossy mags and newsdailies. Adopted swiftly in an atmosphere of increaseddistrust of the West fuelled by the Ukraine crisis, thelaw signed by President Vladimir Putin last Octoberorders media companies to have no more than 20 per-cent foreign ownership as of Jan 1, 2016.

The legislation was allegedly needed to prevent“foreign meddling” and its patriotic undertones areforcing international media groups to relinquishRussian assets by the end of the year or leave the once-booming market altogether. German publishing giantAxel Springer announced last week that it had sold allof its Russian assets including GEO, OK! and theRussian version of Forbes, to local publisher AlexanderFedotov.

The owner the Bild tabloid, Germany’s most-readnewspaper, said that it has to leave Russia becausebeing limited to a minority stake was “not acceptable”.“When we entered the Russian market (in 2004), webelieved in the further economic development andliberalisation of the country,” president Ralph Buechisaid in a statement last week. “We regret that we nowhave to leave.”

Finland’s Sanoma media group sold its 33 percentstake in Vedomosti business daily in April to Russianbusinessman Demyan Kudryavtsev. The newspaper isone of Russia’s few remaining independent publica-tions with op-eds frequently critical of the govern-ment’s policies. The fate of the remaining shares inVedomosti, which are owned by the Financial Timesand The Wall Street Journal, is yet to be determined.

The legislation has sparked fears that the independ-ent and liberal-leaning Forbes and Vedomosti publica-tions, as well the Ekho Moskvy radio station, could bestifled and face increasing pressure to tow theKremlin’s line. Columnist Andrei Babitsky said the lawstripped private media outlets of their “last defenceagainst arbitrariness”, and market experts predicted itwould decrease the number of publications, includingentertainment magazines. The law “is a political decla-ration: we want to be sovereign, we want media out-lets to be controlled by patriots”, said YekaterinaSchulmann of the Russian Academy of NationalEconomy and Public Administration.

Growing Market Russia’s RBK news site reported in June that authori-

ties were pondering softening the law -especially forapolitical entertainment outlets - fuelling uncertaintyamong industry observers. The Nasdaq-listed CTCmedia, a Russian independent broadcaster, has yet todecide on a July offer by UTH holding of Russian bil-lionaire Alisher Usmanov to acquire a 75-percent stakein the company. Pushed to the wall with few options,many foreign-owned media groups will be forced toaccept knock-down prices to comply with the lawbefore it comes into effect as the country grappleswith a crippling economic crisis.

Media companies have hurried to reduce theirstakes or get rid of their Russian assets in recent weeks.Swiss publisher Edipresse parted with 40 magazines inthe country, while US-based Disney and Discoverydecided to remain on the Russian market, reducingownership to required levels, with the remainder ofshares going to local partners. American mass mediagiant Viacom could also be forced to relinquish its con-trol of 12 television stations that broadcast in Russia,including Nickelodeon, to a conglomerate belongingto Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, RBK reported.

“Russia is the fourth largest market in the world forpay television in terms of the number of subscribers,”said Olga Paskina, head of Discovery for North-EastEurope, in an interview with RBK. “The market is grow-ing (in Russia), as opposed to the United States whereit is on the decline, or in Europe, where it is practicallynot growing at all.” —AFP

Focus

Foreign media rush to relinquish

Russian assetsBy Germain Moyon

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban (center) arrives to attend anEuropean Union (EU) emergency summit on the migration crisis with a focuson strengthening external borders at the EU headquarters in Brussels yes-terday, a day after interior ministers agreed a deal on refugee relocationquotas. —AFP

DALLAS: The Dallas Cowboys addressed some of their injury concerns onTuesday by acquiring quarterback Matt Cassel in a trade with the BuffaloBills. The Cowboys acquired Cassel because quarterback Tony Romo wasplaced on the injured list with a broken left collarbone and could miss halfthe season.

The Cowboys plan to start BrandonWeeden in Romo’s absence with Casselserving as backup. The Bills sent a 2017seventh-round draft pick and Cassel tothe Cowboys for a 2017 fifth-round pick.Cassel only joined the Bills during the off-season but was beaten out for the start-ing job by Tyrod Taylor. Romo injured hisshoulder Sunday and decided topass on surgery and let itheal naturally.

The typical recov-ery time is eightweeks. He is eligibleto be activated onNovember 22. — AFP

S P O RT STHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

CHANGSHA: Kuwait national basketball team lost its firstmatch against Hong Kong 50-87 yesterday in the 28th FIBA AsiaChampionship, currently being held in the Chinese city ofChangsha from 23 September-3 October. The big gap to thematch’s outcome showed that the Kuwaiti team was not techni-cally or physically prepared for the match, despite a good startin the first set which ended to their favor.

After the match, head of the delegation Khalil Taher said thathe was satisfied with the players despite the huge gap in termsof points at the end of the match, noting that the players’ per-formance was based on the preparation and training prior tothe tournament.

The 2015 FIBA Asia Championship for Men will be the 28thcontinental basketball championship in Asia. The winner of thetournament qualifies for the Basketball tournament in the 2016Summer Olympics, while the 2nd, 3rd and 4th placers will gounder the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, as stat-ed by FIBA and the IOC in qualification quota. — KUNA

Kuwait Basketball loses first match LONDON: Eva Carneiro, the Chelsea team doctor publicly criticized by manager

Jose Mourinho, has left the club, according to British media reports on Tuesday.Carneiro was removed from match-day duties last month after her and physiother-apist Jon Fearn were rebuked by Mourinho for running on to treat Eden Hazard

during Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Swansea City on the season’s openingweekend, which temporarily left his team with nine players.

Several media outlets, including the BBC, said that Carneiro,42, had left Chelsea and was expected to launch a claimfor constructive dismissal. Chelsea have not commentedon the reports. It follows reports last week that Mourinhocould face a five-match ban after a member of the publiccomplained that the Portuguese had used sexist and

abusive language against Carneiro. Following theSwansea game, Mourinho said: “I was unhappy with my

medical staff. They were impulsive and naive. “Whether youare a kit man, doctor or secretary on the bench you have

to understand the game.” Carneiro, born in Gibraltarto a Spanish father and English mother, thankedpeople on Facebook for their support in the after-math of the incident, but has not spoken publiclysince. — AFP

Chelsea doctor quits Cowboys trade for Cassel

TORONTO: Greg Bird hit a three-run homer inthe 10th inning and the New York Yankees beatthe Toronto Blue Jays 6-4 Tuesday night tomove closer in the AL East pennant race. Birdconnected off reliever Mark Lowe (1-3) for therookie’s 10th home run in 34 games and third inthe past three nights. Brian McCann led off the10th with a bunt single and was replaced bypinch-runner Rico Noel. Slade Heathcottreached on catcher’s interference before Birddrove a 2-2 pitch into the right-field bullpen. Sixof his 10 homers have given the Yankees a lead.Andrew Miller (3-2) pitched two innings for thewin and New York closed within 2 1/2 games offirst-place Toronto. The teams meet for the finaltime this season Wednesday night.

CUBS 4, BREWERS 0Jake Arrieta threw a three-hitter to become

the first pitcher in the major leagues to reach 20wins, Kris Bryant set the Cubs rookie record forhome runs and Chicago inched closer to a play-off berth with a victory over the Brewers. Arietta(20-6) struck out 11 for Chicago, whose magicnumber for making its first postseason in sevenyears dropped to three. The right-hander retired14 in a row at one point in becoming the firstCubs pitcher to win 20 games since Jon Lieberin 2001. Bryant, whose April 17 debut was oneof the most anticipated in years, hit a two-runhomer in the third off Tyler Cravy (0-8) to giveChicago a 2-0 lead. It was Bryant’s 26th longball,besting Billy Williams’ mark in 1961. Bryantadded a run-scoring double in the eighth.

ANGELS 4, ASTROS 3Mike Trout and Albert Pujols hit back-to-

back homers in the first inning and the Angelsheld on for an important victory over the Astros.The victory moves the Angels 2 1-2 gamesbehind Houston for the second AmericanLeague wild-card spot. There was one on in thefirst when Trout launched his 40th homer intoleft-center to make it 2-0. The 36th home runthis season by Pujols extended the lead to 3-0.Houston cut the lead to 1 when MarwinGonzalez and Chris Carter hit consecutive soloshots in the second inning. The Angels addedan insurance run on an RBI single by KoleCalhoun in the eighth to help them snap a six-game losing streak in Houston. Hector Santiago(9-9) allowed four hits and two runs in five-plusinnings.

PIRATES 6, ROCKIES 3Starling Marte drove in two runs and the

Pirates closed in on their third straight playoffberth by beating the Rockies. The Piratesreduced their magic number to one for securingat least an NL wild card. A win Wednesdayagainst the Rockies would clinch another trip tothe postseason. Pittsburgh also kept pace withNL Central leader St Louis. The Cardinals beatCincinnati to maintain a four-game lead overthe second-place Pirates. Pittsburgh scored ineach of the first four innings against Chris Rusinto build a 6-3 lead.

ORIOLES 4, NATIONALS 1Ubaldo Jimenez pitched six gritty innings to

earn his 100th career win and added an RBI sin-gle as the Orioles beat the Nationals in the rain-delayed opener of a series between teams fight-ing to remain in the playoff race. The 31-year-old Jimenez (12-9) won his third straight deci-sion for Baltimore, which began the night trail-ing three teams and six games back for the AL’ssecond wild card. The Nationals remained 6 1-2games back of the Mets, who lost to Atlanta, inthe NL East division. But New York’s magic num-ber to clinch the division dropped to six. BryceHarper set the Nationals record for walks, get-ting three free passes that upped his season

total to 118. Jimenez walked five, but allowedjust an unearned run on three hits while alsostriking out five. Monday’s opener was post-poned by rain. The teams are scheduled to playa makeup game today.

BRAVES 6, METS 2Rookie right-hander Matt Wisler stopped his

nine-start winless drought and the Bravesstalled the Mets’ push toward the NL East title.David Wright homered as the Mets lost for thefifth time in seven games. They held their 6 1/2-game lead over Washington. Down 4-1, theMets loaded the bases with one out in theeighth. Edwin Jackson, Atlanta’s fourth pitcherof the inning, gave up a sacrifice fly to pinch-hit-ter Michael Cuddyer and got Wilmer Flores on agrounder to protect the lead. Pinch-hitterAdonis Garcia lined a two-out, two-run doublein the ninth off Mets reliever Tyler Clippard.

RANGERS 8, ATHLETICS 6Delino DeShields hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly

in the sixth four batters after Mitch Morelandconnected for a tying two-run homer, and theRangers beat the Athletics to increase their leadin the AL West. Chi Chi Gonzalez (4-5) pitchedtwo scoreless innings for the win in relief ofstarter Martin Perez as the Rangers moved twogames ahead of Houston after the Astros lost 4-3 at home to the Angels. DeShields hit anothersacrifice fly in the eighth, while Shin-Soo Chooand Adrian Beltre hit consecutive sacrifice flies inthe fifth to aid the Texas comeback. JakeSmolinski and Marcus Semien hit back-to-backRBI triples in the second to give the A’s 40 on theseason, tying the Oakland record set in 1968.

GIANTS 4, PADRES 2Rookie Trevor Brown’s RBI double was his

first major league hit and Angel Pagan had a

two-run home run for the Giants, who beat thePadres to pull within six games of first-place LosAngeles in the NL West. Time’s running out forthe defending World Series champion Giants,who have only 12 games left. They trail theChicago Cubs by 9 1-2 games for the secondwild card spot. The Giants have beaten thePadres six straight times and eight of nine. SanDiego’s Tyson Ross (10-11) struck out 11 to tiehis career high. That gave him a career-high 205for the season. His previous high was 195 lastyear. Brown got the start after catcher BusterPosey was a late scratch.

DIAMONDBACKS 8, DODGERS 0Robbie Ray pitched six innings of three-hit

ball, A.J. Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt hit back-to-back homers in the seventh, and theDiamondbacks beat the Dodgers. The Dodgerslost their fourth straight game, equaling theirlongest slide of the season, but they remain sixgames ahead of the Giants in first place in theNL West. The Diamondbacks have won the firsttwo games of this four-game series after losingtheir previous nine at Dodger Stadium. But theDodgers have aces for the next two - majorleague ERA leader Zack Greinke on Wednesdayand reigning NL Most Valuable Player ClaytonKershaw on Thursday. Ray (5-12) struck out sev-en, walked two and escaped a bases-loadedjam in the first inning.

TIGERS 2, WHITE SOX 1, 10 inningsRajai Davis’ two-out triple in the 10th gave

Detroit a victory over the White Sox, one inningafter the Tigers lost a combined no-hitter.Anthony Gose drew a two-out walk from ZachDuke (3-6) in the 10th. Davis sliced a 3-1 fastballinto the corner in right field and Gose easilybeat Trayce Thompson’s throw to the plate.Blaine Hardy (5-3) got the win with a scoreless10th. The Tigers were two outs away from thefirst combined no-hitter in club history, butNeftali

Feliz, making his debut as the Tigers’ closerafter Bruce Rondon was sent home earlier in theday, couldn’t finish it. With one out, TylerSaladino tripled to break up the no-hitter andAdam Eaton, who had broken up Detroit ’sattempt at a perfect game by being hit with apitch in the seventh, tied the game with a sin-gle.

RAYS 5, RED SOX 2Mikie Mahtook hit a two-run homer and

Matt Moore recovered from a difficult start tostrike out seven as the Rays beat the Red Sox.Moore (2-4) allowed two hits and walked two inthe first inning as Boston took a 2-0 lead. Bostonrookie Henry Owens was perfect through fourinnings. Logan Forsythe led off the fifth with adouble for Tampa Bay’s first hit and he scoredon a sacrifice fly. Owens (3-3) unraveled in thesixth. Owens walked Richie Shaffer to start theinning and hit Brandon Guyer with one out.Mahtook singled to load the bases. EvanLongoria hit a sacrifice fly to right and TampaBay got another run when Mookie Betts’ throwhome sailed high and ended up in the stands

for a 3-2 lead. Mahtook added two runs in theeighth with a homer that cleared the GreenMonster in left field.

TWINS 3, INDIANS 1Ervin Santana pitched strong into the eighth

inning, Aaron Hicks and Brian Dozier each hadtwo hits and an RBI from the top two spots inMinnesota’s lineup, and the Twins beat theIndians to start a critical series for the AmericanLeague wild card chasers. Santana (6-4) turnedin his fifth straight stellar start, surrendering fivehits, one run and one walk while striking outseven. He gave up two singles to start theeighth, but Glen Perkins got three straight outs.Kevin Jepsen struck out two in the ninth inningfor his eighth save in nine tries since replacingPerkins as the closer. Danny Salazar (13-9) struckout 21 batters over 13 innings in his first twoturns against the Twins this season, beating

them April 18 and May 10 with just seven hitsand three runs allowed.

MARINERS 11, ROYALS 2Robinson Cano homered twice and drove in

four runs and Hisashi Iwakuma struck out a sea-son-high 10 as the Mariners romped past theslumping Royals. The AL Central-leading Royalshave dropped 12 of 17. Their magic number forclinching the division remained three. Cano andKyle Seager each hit solo homers in the firstinning for Seattle, which has the league’s bestrecord in September at 13-6 but is still threegames under .500 (74-77). It was Seager’s 25thhome run and his seventh in 23 games. Cano hita three-run shot in a seven-run third inning forhis 15th career multihomer game. Cano’s nexthit will be the 2,000th of his career. Iwakuma (9-4), who is 7-2 in his past nine starts, curbed theRoyals on three singles over seven scorelessinnings. He has allowed one run and 10 hits in13 innings in his past two starts, while strikingout 19 and walking one.

PHILLIES 6, MARLINS 2Cody Asche hit two home runs to help Aaron

Harang get his first victory in over a month asthe Phillies beat the Marlins. It was Harang’s firstwin since July 30 against Atlanta, a span of eightstarts. Harang (6-15) pitched seven innings,allowing two runs and seven hits. Darin Rufhomered and Freddy Galvis had three hits anddrove in two runs for the Phillies, whoannounced before the game that PeteMackanin would be their manager for the 2016season, dropping the interim title he had sincetaking over for Ryne Sandberg on June 26.Marlins starter Tom Koehler (10-14) allowed fourruns, three earned, in five innings. Miguel Rojashit a two-run homer for the Marlins. Rojas is hit-ting .343 (12 for 35) over his last 11 games.

CARDINALS 3, REDS 1John Lackey pitched seven strong innings,

rookie Tommy Pham continued his productivehitting and the Cardinals beat the Reds. Lackey(13-9) allowed only a first-inning homer by JayBruce during his 16th quality start in 16 outingsat Busch Stadium.

The veteran right-hander struck out seven,walked none and lowered his home ERA to 1.97.St Louis improved to an MLB-best 95-56 with itssecond straight low-scoring victory overCincinnati. Steve Cishek worked the ninth toearn his first save for St Louis. Pham hit a sacri-fice fly to deep center in the seventh that scoredTony Cruz and broke a 1-all tie. Pham drove inthe Cardinals’ first run with a third-inning dou-ble that brought in Matt Carpenter, who dou-bled with one out. Since moving into the lineupeight games ago, Pham has nine RBIs, eightextra-base hits and is batting .407. — AP

Yankees overpower Blue Jays 6-4

American LeagueEastern Division

W L PCT GB Toronto 86 65 .570 - NY Yankees 83 67 .553 2.5 Baltimore 74 76 .493 11.5 Tampa Bay 73 78 .483 13 Boston 72 78 .480 13.5

Central DivisionKansas City 87 63 .580 - Minnesota 77 73 .513 10 Cleveland 74 75 .497 12.5 Chicago White Sox 72 79 .477 15.5 Detroit 70 81 .464 17.5

Western DivisionTexas 81 69 .540 - Houston 80 72 .526 2 LA Angels 77 74 .510 4.5 Seattle 74 77 .490 7.5 Oakland 64 87 .424 17.5

National LeagueEastern Division

NY Mets 85 66 .563 - Washington 78 72 .520 6.5 Miami 64 87 .424 21 Atlanta 61 91 .401 24.5 Philadelphia 57 94 .377 28

Central DivisionSt. Louis 95 56 .629 - Pittsburgh 91 60 .603 4 Chicago Cubs 89 62 .589 6 Cincinnati 63 87 .420 31.5 Milwaukee 63 88 .417 32

Western DivisionLA Dodgers 85 65 .567 - San Francisco 79 71 .527 6 Arizona 73 78 .483 12.5 San Diego 70 81 .464 15.5 Colorado 63 88 .417 22.5

MLB results/standings

Baltimore 4, Washington 1; NY Yankees 6, Toronto 4 (10 innings); Detroit 2, Chicago White Sox 1 (10innings); Tampa Bay 5, Boston 2; Atlanta 6, NY Mets 2; Philadelphia 6, Miami 2; Chicago Cubs 4, Milwaukee0; Minnesota 3, Cleveland 1; Seattle 11, Kansas City 2; LA Angels 4, Houston 3; St. Louis 3, Cincinnati 1;Pittsburgh 6, Colorado 3; Texas 8, Oakland 6; Arizona 8, LA Dodgers 0; San Francisco 4, San Diego 2.

SAN DIEGO: Janelle Fejeran performs a dance with fire in celebration of ‘Pacific Islander Night,’before the San Diego Padres took on the San Francisco Giants in a baseball game on Tuesday,Sept 22, 2015. — AP

TORONTO: Greg Bird #31 of the New York Yankees slides safely into second base with a double in the first inning during MLB game actionagainst the Toronto Blue Jays on September 22, 2015 at Rogers Centre in Toronto. — AFP

S P O RT STHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

BIRMINGHAM: South Africa brought back big gunssuch as Willie le Roux and Duane Vermeulen to tack-le Samoa in the World Cup on Saturday in eightchanges to the team stunned by Japan. However,hard-man hooker Bismarck du Plessis, 31, wasdropped but 38-year-old lock Victor Matfield, per-suaded to come out of retirement by coachHeyneke Meyer, retained his place. Despite beingcriticized for the age of the side that lost 34-32 toJapan last weekend, Meyer has named an evenmore experienced line-up, with a new record 891caps between them for the Pool B game againstSamoa in Birmingham. “The last few days have beena time for retrospection and the team this week hasbeen selected specifically with Samoa in mind, aswe know we’ll have to be at our very best to suc-ceed,” Meyer said on Wednesday.

“They will pose a massive challenge and I thinkit’s fair to say that it’s the biggest game of the sea-son for us. They have a very strong team with play-ers plying their trade all over the world,” he added.Springbok captain Jean de Villiers, 34, escaped thecull despite calls in South Africa for him to bereplaced. He will move from inside to outside cen-tre. But the ongoing row in South Africa over theracial composition of the side part of the process ofpost-apartheid ‘transformation’-which intensifiedafter the Japan defeat, is sure to be revived againgiven there are now only six non-white players inMeyer’s matchday 23 to play Samoa, compared toseven last time out.

However, as was the case for the shock loss toJapan, four non-white players will start with wings

JP Pietersen and Bryan Habana, centre Damian deAllende and prop Tendai Mtawarira all in SouthAfrica’s 1st XV. The government ‘target’ is to haveseven non-white players in a matchday 23 and five

on the pitch at any one time, although this is anaspiration rather than a strict requirement. Threeplayers nominated for the World Rugby player ofthe year award over the last two years-Eben

Etzebeth, Vermeulen and Le Roux-were all recalledto the starting lineup. Adriaan Strauss, who will winhis 50th cap, is the starting hooker.

Vermeulen will make his first Test appearance ofthe year in the No 8 jersey. He had neck surgery inJuly. “Duane has been one of the stalwarts of thisteam and it’s great to have him back in the mix,” saidMeyer. “He is one of the best loose forwards in theworld and apart from being a superb ball-carrierand also a great line-out option, he is also good onthe ground and brings leadership to the team.” LeRoux, Pietersen and De Allende returned in thebackline, with Fourie du Preez and Handre Pollardforming a new half-back pairing after scrum-halfRuan Pienaar and fly-half Pat Lambie were droppedto the bench.

In the pack, Etzebeth was one of three changesto the starting line-up with Vermeulen and Strauss.On the bench, Schalk Brits, 34, and Frans Malherbemade their first appearances on a Rugby World Cupteamsheet. “It’s been a very tough week after themassive disappointment of last weekend and weowe our supporters a winning performance onSaturday,” said Meyer. Meyer added he was lookingfor “energy and unpredictability” in the team. “Itmeans some players have dropped out of the squadaltogether but this is a 31-man campaign and theywill have other chances, but we needed to makechanges after Saturday’s performance.” Of thosewho started the match against Japan, full-backZane Kirchner, centre Lwazi Mvovo, back-rowerPieter-Steph du Toit and hooker Du Plessis all failedto make the matdhday 23. — AFP

South Africa ring changes after Japan humiliation

BIRMINGHAM: The official logo of the 2015 Rugby Union World Cup is seen on a giant rugby ball inBirmingham, central England yesterday. — AFP

RICHMOND: Linda Melanie Villumsen of New Zealand, turns onto second street during the women’s elite time trials at the UCI Road WorldChampionships cycling races in Richmond, Va on Tuesday, Sept 22, 2015. — AP

RICHMOND: New Zealand’s Linda Villumsenpowered to victory in the road cycling worldchampionship individual time trial on Tuesday,claiming the title that had always eluded her.Twice runner-up and three-times a bronzemedalist, Villumsen finally got to the top of thepodium with a time of 40 minutes 29.87 secondsover the challenging 29.9 km course.

Dressed all in black and riding a stealth blackbike, Villumsen had looked set for a command-ing victory until Dutchwoman Anna van derBreggen provided a late fright, crossing 2.54 sec-onds behind to take the silver.

Defending champion Lisa Brennauer ofGermany had to settle for the bronze. “I was get-ting used to being second and third and fourthand fifth but then it was just a day where every-

thing went my way and I started to believemaybe halfway through,” said Villumsen. “I justgave what I could and felt really good all theway. I felt maybe this was my day.”

Danish-born Villumsen won her first bronzemedal competing for Denmark at the 2009worlds and the next four years won medals forNew Zealand, silver in 2011 and 2013 and twomore bronze in 2010 and 2012. The 30-year-oldsignaled her gold medal intentions early - goingout in the last wave, Villumsen went on theattack and by midway had the best time bynearly 11 seconds.

Not satisfied, Villumsen stormed through thelast kilometers coming home with a 26-secondlead with only eight riders still on the course. “Ireally can’t believe it. It is an incredible feeling,”

said Villumsen. “It’s difficult being on the finishline and nearly there and not quite there.

“But it all played out my way today. “Usually Ifade out a little bit but today I was stronger atthe distance. When I was halfway and I felt I was-n’t empty, I still had something in the tank, I was,okay, this is going well.” For much of the day itappeared 42-year-old American KristinArmstrong might write the feel-good ending.Coming out of retirement for the chance to raceat home, the two-time defending Olympicchampion in the discipline set the early target of40:50.45. Just the second rider out onto thecourse, the 2006 and 2009 world champion wait-ed and watched for over three hours before thefinal riders challenged her time and pushed heroff the podium into fifth place. — Reuters

Kiwi Villumsen finally claims time trial gold

Defending champion Brennauer takes bronze

BAGSHOT: Sam Burgess could give thesame boost to England at the World Cup asfellow code-hopper Sonny Bill Williams hasto defending champions New Zealand,according to backs coach, Andy Farrell.Burgess has raw power and physicality, buta lack of rugby union experience and justone season at Bath and 112 minutes of Testrugby. His case highlights the tendency toview rugby league converts as that of animpact substitute at the World Cup. Burgessimpressed off the bench during England’sopening 35-11 win over Fiji last week.

Now a chest injury to first-choice centreJonathan Joseph has opened up the possi-bility of Burgess starting in the crunch PoolA match against Wales at Twickenham onSaturday. Farrell, who like Burgess made hisname in rugby league before switching,believes the Bath powerhouse could pro-vide England with the kind of dynamicmidfield presence the All Blacks have cometo expect from Williams. “I t dependswhether you want to make the impact (offthe bench) or make that impact from thestart. “ The start of the game is prettyimportant as well; how you get off and howyou make the other team feel,” Farrell toldreporters at England’s training base inBagshot, southwest of London, on Tuesday.

More than impact “I wouldn’t just pigeon-hole him

(Burgess) as an impact (player), just like NewZealand wouldn’t pigeon-hole Sonny Bill,would they? “He’s quite comfortable start-ing or coming off the bench and doing

what’s best for the team,” Farrell added. IfJoseph is unfit England, who like Wales —54-9 winners over Uruguay last weekend -are due to announce their team on Thursdayfor a fixture in a ‘Pool of Death’ also featuringAustralia, face a conundrum with BradBarritt, Henry Slade and fly-half Owen Farrell,in his second string role of centre, all in con-tention for a midfield berth. England coachStuart Lancaster has used a remarkable 13different midfield combinations since takingcharge in 2012. Meanwhile No 8 BillyVunipola is pushing hard for a starting spotin place of Ben Morgan, doubtful with aknee problem, after making his mark off thebench against Fiji.

Last month, Wales coach WarrenGatland, before his side were beset by aninjury crisis, said England were “not 100percent sure of where they are going” andsuggested they did not know their bestteam. But Farrell said: “Everyone is sointrigued by selection because we’re in agreat position. Is it Billy, is it Ben? Is it Sam,is it Brad? Is it this, is it that? “It’s only likethat-people trying to work it out - becausewe have so many options-but for us it isbrilliant because we know they can all do itand they are pushing each other to do it.”Farrell added: “No-one says he (Joseph) isout. “We are not worried about any sce-nario. That is why you pick the squad youdo in the first place so that you cover allbases. We are 100 percent confident andcomfortable with everyone, to have a prop-er good international team that can do thebusiness.” — AFP

Sam Burgess can be England’s Sonny Bill

LONDON: Fiji’s centre Vereniki Goneva (left) tackles England’s centre Sam Burgess(right) during a Pool A match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup between England and Fijiat Twickenham stadium in south west London. — AFP

KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommunications com-pany in Kuwait, announced its main sponsorship ofthe Kuwait National Jet Ski team for the fifth consecu-tive year. The company’s sponsorship will extend dur-ing the team’s participation in the upcoming World JetSki Championship 2015 that will be held early Octoberin the United States. Zain expressed its utmost confi-dence in the talents of the Kuwaiti youth. The compa-ny’s officials were present with the team in KuwaitInternational Airport before their departure to theUnited States, where they expressed Zain’s wishes ofthe best of luck to the team on their upcoming partici-pation in the World Jet Ski Championship.

Zain’s sponsorship falls under its solid CorporateSocial Responsibility strategy towards the youth andsports sectors as well as supporting Kuwaiti athletes.The company further expressed its keenness onencouraging Kuwaiti athletes to represent Kuwait inthe various internationally renowned championships.The National Jet Ski team is authorized by the Kuwait

Sea Sport Club to officially represent Kuwait in region-al and international Jet Ski championships. The teamchampions won a number of prominent titles duringpast participations, most notably many first placetitles of last year’s World Jet Ski Championship, held inthe United States.

The company expressed its pride in all Nationalteams that raise the Kuwaiti flag high by achieving topinternational titles, and it further confirms its commit-ment towards Kuwaiti champions, which resemblesthe company’s endless confidence of the competen-cies of these young athletes and their capabilities inexcelling in different fields.

As a leading telecommunications company inKuwait, Zain is constantly looking to identify and sup-port excellence across the sports sector. The companywill continue to put Kuwaiti National teams and indi-vidual athletes at the forefront of its priorities andpledges to continue motivating them to achieve allthe recognition they deserve.

LONDON: The rapid elevation of 23-year-old SamCane to captain New Zealand against Namibia atLondon’s Olympic Stadium is the latest chapter inthe All Blacks blueprint for the future. He’s not ear-marked as the next first choice captain after thetalismanic Richie McCaw finally retires but he willbe the one after that in coach Steve Hansen’svision which requires constant forward planning.“It’s a great opportunity to future proof,” Hansensaid as he made wholesale changes to his startingline up for their second Pool C match against min-nows Namibia.

The position of All Blacks captain ranks asprobably the second-most important role in rug-by-obsessed New Zealand behind the prime min-ister. The skipper is expected to uphold the team’sphenomenal record as one of the most successfulsports teams in the world with a 76 percent win-ning rate from 532 Tests over more than 120 years.The 12 changes to face Namibia, which meantstarting an almost second XV against the south-ern Africans, is Hansen’s way of making sure all ofhis squad get World Cup game time and he hascover for any eventuality ahead.

Kieran Read is the captain in waiting behindMcCaw and if the defending champions sufferanother horror run of injuries-they lost three fly-halves in the 2011 World Cup-then Cane is theinsurance policy.

“If you look at the immediate future Rico(McCaw) will come back and be the leader andthen after that you’ve got people like Kieran Readlikely to be the next full-time guy. After that,you’re saying who’s going to drop in. “He’s seen

probably two of the best leaders in world rugbypretty close up in Rich and Reado so he’s had agreat apprenticeship.”

‘Right temperament’ Hansen, always keen to cover all possibilities,

has blooded 37 All Blacks in the past four years ofwhom 14 have survived to make the World Cup.Cane was one of the first he brought in as a 20-year-old in 2012 to be the openside understudy toMcCaw. Covering for the All Blacks figureheadmeant most of his 25 Tests have been off thebench but off the park the All Blacks immediatelyrecognized him as holding leadership credentials.Cane was promoted to the team leadership group

after only a year in the side, a rare honor for aplayer unable to command a regular startingberth. “I just think he’s got the right temperamentand playing skills,” said Hansen. “In the heat of bat-tle he’s a clear-headed young fellow and to methat’s mental fortitude to be able to stay on taskwhen everything around you is imploding. “Youcan’t lead if you can’t have the ability under pres-sure to lead so you are looking for that.”

Cane admitted to being surprised at beingtapped to replace McCaw as both flanker and cap-tain. He knew Hansen intended big changes forthe Namibia match and was only hoping to getsome game time after playing 16 minutes off thebench against Argentina. “I was hoping, with theshort turnaround, it will be great to get a start andhe (Hansen) said you’ll be starting and you’ll alsobe captain. It took me back a little bit,” Cane said.“Over the last couple of years I’ve grown comfort-able in the leadership role and enjoy that part of itand enjoy having a say in what goes on in theteam and how to make it better.”

The appointment of the 67th All Blacks captainwas applauded by the team who say there isimmense respect for Cane who now captains theChiefs in Super rugby after joining the squad as a17-year-old. Scrum-half TJ Perenara, who alsoplayed with Cane in New Zealand age-groupsides, said it was no surprise: “I always saw poten-tial in him to be captain. in all the teams I’ve beenin with him hes always had a leadership role.”Beauden Barrett, a member of the successful 2011Junior World Championship side with Cane,described him as “a natural leader.” — AFP

Zain sponsors Kuwait’s National Jet Ski Team for fifth consecutive year

Sam Cane ‘central’ to All Blacks long-term future

New Zealand’s flanker Sam Cane

S P O RT STHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

ATLANTA: Two-times Masters winner Bubba Watson sayshe has learned a valuable lesson from Jason Day aboutaggression. But the lesson might have to be put on holdthis week at the Tour Championship at East Lake, where,Watson says, he will be cautious to avoid the rough.Watson marveled at how the 27-year-old Australianattacked courses in recent triumphs at the PGAChampionship at Whistling Straits and last week’s BMWChampionship that carried him to the world number oneranking.

“I went in the playoff at PGA Championship atWhistling Straits (in 2010). I definitely didn’t see peoplegetting to 20-under-par like this year,” Watson toldreporters on Tuesday. “I went into that golf course think-ing ... in the 60s was good, or under par was good. Andthen there (were) guys basically saying, ‘no, 65 is good’. “Ididn’t see that, because of my thinking. Obviously I tookthe wrong thinking, or I give majors too much credit.”Day won last month’s PGA Championship for his maidenmajor at 20-under 268, a major record low score in rela-tion to par.

He won the BMW Championship on Sunday at 22-under, and in between captured The Barclays at 19-under. “I thought I played pretty good, but I finished 21st(at seven-under at the PGA Championship),” Watson con-tinued. “Jason Day decided that that course was easy.

Jason was obviously looking at birdies and not howtough the golf course was.” East Lake, site of the season-ending Tour Championship starting on Thursday, is a dif-ferent matter, said the long-hitting lefty, who flagged amore conservative approach on a course that has hestruggled to conquer.

“This golf course always beats me. Very tricky for mewith the rough ... it catches fliers all the time for myswing. “We’re trying to figure out how we can attack thisgolf course the right way, and play more conservative.”Watson has a lot riding on a win. He is fifth on the PGATour points list, and along with the others in the top five -Day, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson -victory would clinch the FedExCup’s $10 million bonus.

Self control from the rough may be the key, saidWatson. “It’s difficult for me because I think I can hitevery shot. I think I can move the ball every direction,”he said. “So it’s aiming more to the centre of the greens.It’s playing to the safer side. It’s not trying to get toomuch out of a club.” Watson’s choices can get complex.“With a flier lie I could hit a wedge 190 (yards), no prob-lem. “From the fairway, I could hit a wedge from a hun-dred yards, so you’re talking about a 90-yard gap.”Watson wants to get away from guess work. “It’s a learn-ing process,” said the 36-year-old. “My whole golf gameis about thinking.” — Reuters

Watson inspired by Day aggression, but not at East Lake

ATLANTA: Bubba Watson chips to the green while practicing for the Tour Championship golf tourna-ment at East Lake Golf Club on Tuesday, Sept 22, 2015. — AP

NEW YORK: The lovable legend of Yogi Berra,that ain’t ever gonna be over. The Hall of Famecatcher renowned as much for his dizzyingmalapropisms as his record 10 World Serieschampionships with the New York Yankees, diedTuesday. He was 90. Berra, who filled baseball’srecord book as well as “Bartlett ’s FamiliarQuotations,” died of natural causes at his homein New Jersey, according to Dave Kaplan, thedirector of the Yogi Berra Museum. Berra playedin more World Series games than any othermajor leaguer, and was a three-time AmericanLeague Most Valuable Player.

For many, though, he was even better knownfor all those amusing “Yogi-isms.” “It ain’t over ‘tilit’s over” is among eight of them included inBartlett’s. “When I’m sittin’ down to dinner withthe family, stuff just pops out. And they’ll say,‘Dad, you just said another one.’ And I don’t evenknow what the heck I said,” Berra insisted. Short,squat and with a homely mug, Berra was aYankees great who helped the team reach 14World Series during his 18 seasons in the Bronx.

“While we mourn the loss of our father,grandfather and great-grandfather, we know heis at peace with Mom,” Berra’s family said in astatement released by the museum. “We cele-brate his remarkable life, and are thankful hemeant so much to so many. He will truly bemissed.” Berra served on a gunboat supportingthe D-Day invasion in 1944 and played for theYankees from 1946-63. His teammates includedfellow Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio, MickeyMantle and Whitey Ford. “No! Say it ain’t so. Hewas a good man, my former manager and friend!RIP Yogi,” former Yankees star Dave Winfieldtweeted.

Lawrence Peter Berra, the son of Italian immi-grants, got his nickname while growing up in StLouis. Among his amateur baseball teammateswas Jack McGuire, another future big leaguer.“Some of us went to a movie with a yogi in it andafterwards Jack began calling me Yogi. It stuck,”Berra told the Saturday Evening Post. He was afan favorite, especially with children, and thecartoon character Yogi Bear was named afterhim. Until recent years, he remained a fixture atYankee Stadium and in the clubhouse, wherethe likes of Derek Jeter, Joe Torre and others inpinstripes looked up to the diminutive old-timer.

In 1956, Berra caught the only perfect gamein World Series history and after the last outleaped into pitcher Don Larsen’s arms. Thefamous moment is still often replayed on base-ball broadcasts. After his playing days, Berracoached or managed the Yankees, New YorkMets and Houston Astros. He led both theYankees and Mets to pennants. In 1985, his firingas manager by the Yankees 16 games into theseason sparked a feud with GeorgeSteinbrenner. Berra vowed never to return toYankee Stadium as long as Steinbrenner ownedthe team. But in 1999, Berra finally relented,throwing out the ceremonial first pitch of theYankees’ season-opener. “We are deeply sad-dened by the loss of a Yankees legend andAmerican hero, Yogi Berra,” the Yankees postedon Twitter.

Berra, who played in 15 straight All-StarGames, never earned more than $65,000 a sea-son. He died on the same date, Sept. 22, as hisbig league debut 69 years earlier. Growing up,he was anything but a natural. Chunky and slow,Berra was rejected by his hometown St LouisCardinals after a tryout in 1943. But a Yankeesscout recognized his potential and signed him.

He reached the majors late in the 1946 sea-son and homered in his first at-bat. The nextyear, he continued to hit well, but his throwingwas so erratic he was shifted to the outfield,then benched. His breakthrough season came in1948, when he hit .315 with 14 homers and 98RBIs while improving his fielding. In 1949, hecompiled a .989 fielding percentage and did notmake an error in the All-Star Game or WorldSeries. “I don’t care who the hitter is,” YankeesHall of Fame manager Casey Stengel told theNew York Journal-American, “(Berra) knows justhow he should be pitched to.” Berra was the ALMVP in 1951, 1954 and 1955. He holds WorldSeries records for most hits (71) and games (75).

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in1972. “You never think of that when you’re a kid,”Berra said. “But egads, you gotta be somethin’ toget in.” Among his boyhood friends was JoeGaragiola, who went on to a career as a majorleague player and broadcaster. In rejecting Berraat the 1943 tryout, the Cardinals signedGaragiola, another catcher, instead. Berra wasborn in St Louis on May 12, 1925, the son ofPietro, a laborer in a brickyard, and Pauline Berra.He grew up in “The Hill,” or Italian district, withthree older brothers and a younger sister. Berrawas forced to drop out of school in the eighthgrade and go to work to help support his family.He took jobs in a coal yard, as a truck driver and

in a shoe factory.He continued to play amateur baseball,

which brought him to the attention of majorleague scouts. In 1943, his first professional sea-son with the Yankees’ farm team in Norfolk,Virginia, was interrupted by World War II. Berramarried his wife, Carmen, in 1949. The couplemet in their native St Louis. Carmen died in2014. Yogi is survived by their three sons. DaleBerra, a major league infielder, who brieflyplayed for his father on the Yankees in 1985; Tim,who played one season for the NFL’s BaltimoreColts, and Lawrence Jr Berra published threebooks: his autobiography in 1961, “It Ain’t Over...” in 1989 and “The Yogi Book: I Really Didn’t SayEverything I Said” in 1998. The last made The

New York Times’ best seller list.In 1996, Berra was awarded an honorary doc-

torate from the state university in Montclair, NJ,where he and his family lived. The university alsonamed its baseball stadium for Berra. The adjoin-ing Yogi Berra Museum opened in 1998. Themuseum houses Berra memorabilia, includingwhat he said was his most prized possession, themitt he used to catch Larsen’s perfect game. Hetickled TV viewers in recent years by bringing hismalapropisms to a commercial with the AFLACduck. (“They give you cash, which is just as goodas money.”) His wife once asked Berra where hewanted to be buried, in St Louis, New York orMontclair. “I don’t know,” he said. “Why don’t yousurprise me?”— AP

Yankees Hall of Fame Yogi Berra dies at 90

MONTCLAIR: Flowers rest at the foot of a statue of former New York Yankees Hall of Famecatcher Yogi Berra outside of the Yogi Berra Museum yesterday in Montclair, NJ. Berra diedyesterday at the age of 90. — AP

NEW YORK: File picture shows former New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra throwing out thefirst pitch to start the home season for the New York Yankees in New York. — AFP

ATLANTA: Former US Open champion JimFuryk withdrew from the FedEx Cup playoff’sTour Championship on Tuesday because of awrist injury that forced him out of the BMWChampionship last week.

The 45-year-old American was diagnosedwith a bone contusion last week in his leftwrist. He will continue rehabilitation in hopesof participating in the upcoming PresidentsCup. Furyk pulled out of the BMWChampionship after playing six holes of thefirst round, the first time he has withdrawnfrom a tournament since 1995. “While I am dis-

appointed to miss this week’s event in Atlanta,I am now placing all my efforts on beinghealthy and ready to play in the PresidentsCup,” Furyk said.

“(Captain) Jay Haas will be made aware ofmy progress in the coming days as we seehow the injury responds to the treatment.”Furyk, who won the 2003 US Open crown, wasassured of one of the top 30 spots in the TourChampionship which begins on Thursday atthe East Lake Golf Club. His playing partnerHideki Matsuyama will play as a single in theopening round. —AFP

Furyk withdraws from Tour

SUZUKA: In this file photo, pit crew for Marussia driver Jules Bianchi of France (cen-ter) push his car to the grid at the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka. JulesBianchi’s death shook Formula One and forced it to take a fresh look at safety, twodecades after Ayrton Senna’s fatal crash ushered in a series of reforms. — AFP

TOKYO: Formula One will make an emotionalreturn to the scene of Jules Bianchi’s fatal crashthis week in what promises to be a somberJapanese Grand Prix. Bianchi died in July, ninemonths after suffering severe head injuries in acollision with a recovery vehicle in rain and fad-ing light, and the race at Suzuka is set to be adifficult occasion for drivers and team officials.Bianchi’s Manor Marussia team and rivals alikeare set to honor his memory before world cham-pion Lewis Hamilton bids to resume normalservice after a freak technical glitch ended hisrace in Singapore last weekend.

Hamilton’s advantage over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg has been cut to 41 pointswith Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel a further eightpoints back after the German’s surprise victoryin Singapore. But the Briton, who won in Japanlast year as news of Bianchi’s crash filteredthrough to shocked drivers, has promised to hitback in Sunday’s race as he looks to equal boy-hood hero Ayrton Senna’s 41 career wins.Hamilton warned: “I was fast and on form and Iwill make sure I bring that out to Suzuka.”

After winning seven of this season’s 13 racesso far, victory this weekend would put Hamiltontantalizingly close to a third world title with justfive races to go. However, the memory ofBianchi’s sickening crash will be at the forefrontof many people’s minds. “Jules is never far awayfrom our thoughts,” Manor Marussia sportingdirector Graeme Lowdon told Autosport.com.“We’re now going to Japan, and we have to bestrong. “We know it’s going to be difficult,” headded. “But equally we know Jules was a racer

and would want to see the team focus on thejob of racing.”

Rule changes Bianchi became the first driver since Brazilian

triple world champion Senna, at Italy’s Imola cir-cuit in May 1994, to die from injuries sufferedduring a grand prix weekend when he passedaway on July 17. His accident occurred towardsthe end of a wet race when, with light fast dete-riorating, Bianchi’s car skidded off the track andsmashed into a crane picking up the Sauber ofGerman Adrian Sutil, who had come off at thesame spot a lap earlier. Television footage of theincident, which was not broadcast publicly butwas posted online, showed the Marussia’s rollhoop torn off in the impact as Bianchi’s carploughed under the crane.

The findings of an investigation into thecrash prompted Formula One to make changesto its safety regulations, allowing a “virtualsafety car” so stewards can neutralize a race inhazardous conditions. In the wake of Bianchi’scrash-and criticism of Suzuka organizers fornot doing so despite the atrocious weather-the star t t imes of some races were alsobrought forward to prevent drivers having torace in poor l ight. Meanwhile, Red Bull ’srecent threat to quit F1 if it cannot find a com-petitive engine following Renault’s decision tostop supplying engines will be the subject ofcontinued paddock chatter in Japan. AndBritain’s Jenson Button is reportedly poised toannounce his retirement after failing to nego-tiate a contract extension at McLaren. — AFP

Bianchi tragedy looms over the emotional Japan return

MOSCOW: Although fiery Canadian ice hockeycoach Mike Keenan has been compared toStalin throughout his decorated career, it turnsout he actually does a pretty good Lenin imper-sonation. Keenan, who is into his third seasonat the helm of Metallurg Magnitogorsk inRussia’s top hockey league, recently made astar turn as the Bolshevik revolutionary in apromotional video for the club. “I don’t know if Iam a revolutionary or not,” said Keenan, whoactually resembles Lenin with his thinning hairand sweeping arm gestures.

“Maybe in the hockey world, I might be a lit-tle bit.” Nicknamed “Iron Mike” for his toughcoaching style and temper tantrums, Keenanfirst made the long-distance move toMagnitogorsk, a gritty steel city of 400,000 peo-ple just east of Russia’s Ural Mountains, in 2013.That journey to the depths of Russia came aftera career in which Keenan coached eight differ-ent National Hockey League (NHL) teams inNorth America over 20 seasons, served as ageneral manager and dabbled in broadcasting.

In his debut season in the KontinentalHockey League (KHL), Keenan, 65, ledMetallurg to their first Gagarin Cup, makinghim the only coach to have won a champi-onship in both the NHL and KHL, the world’stop two leagues. Keenan, who coached theNew York Rangers to the NHL’s Stanley Cup in1994, has thrived in a league, and country, thatis growing hostile to foreign presence. The KHLlast year adopted a five foreign-player limit forits Russian clubs and foreign trainers have fall-en out of fashion.

But a foreign passport has not been a factorfor Keenan, who has been embraced by theRussian public, perhaps because he has goneout of his way to immerse himself in his newenvironment. He made headlines this summerby publicly musing about applying for Russiancitizenship and charmed the public with aninspired locker-room karaoke performance in

broken Russian after winning the Gagarin Cup.“It’s better for me to understand than to beunderstood,” said Keenan, who ranks seventhamong coaches for all-time NHL wins with 672victories. “It’s my responsibility. I’m the importnow, I’m the foreigner.” Keenan, whose playersat times have accused him of being unneces-sarily harsh and irascible, has been called themost “Russian-like coach the team has everhad” by Metallurg’s management. AlthoughMetallurg have surrounded him with anEnglish-speaking entourage, Kennan knowsenough Russian to give instructions on the ice-like “faster” and “let’s go”-and negotiate his wayaround Magnitogorsk. “They definitely under-stand what we are speaking about most of thetime,” Keenan said of his Russian players.

‘Win or win’ Metallurg, winners of 9 of 11 games this

season, rank second in the KHL’s eastern confer-ence. “The expectations here are the same as inthe NHL. You better win,” said Keenan, whoseinjury-plagued team lost in the conferencesemifinals last year. “It’s win or win.” After twodecades of NHL life, the far-flung KHL presentsother challenges. Travel is extensive, withteams across more than 8,000 kilometers (5,000miles) from the far eastern Russian city ofVladivostok to the Croatian capital of Zagreb.

The 60-game schedule, compared to 82 reg-ular-season games in the NHL, also gives teamsless margin for error. Keenan said he was happyin Magnitogorsk but has not abandoned hisdesire for another job in the NHL, where he lastcoached the Calgary Flames in 2009. Withanother Gagarin Cup within reach, Keenan hasshown no sign of slowing down, although heconcedes he no longer coaches with the samefury as when he landed his first NHL job in 1984as a stick-breaking 34-year-old. “My style has athread of consistency,” he said. “But I think themethodology has changed.” — AFP

Canadian coach ‘Iron Mike’Keenan thriving in Russia

S P O RT STHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

RIO DE JANEIRO: The opening and closing cere-monies for Rio Olympics and Paralympics will be low-budget productions compared to three years ago inLondon, or in Beijing in 2008. The austerity reflectsthe reality of Rio’s Olympics, which open in just over10 1/2 months and are caught up in the economicand political upheaval besetting Brazil. The country ismired in a recession, inflation has reached 10 percentand there are calls to impeach President DilmaRousseff.

Fernando Meirelles, the Brazilian filmmaker andpart of the creative team, estimated Tuesday that Riowill spend one-tenth what London did on four majorceremonies. “I would be ashamed to waste whatLondon spent in a country where we need sanitation;where education needs money,” Meirelles toldreporters. “So I’m very glad we’re not spending mon-

ey like crazy.” London is reported to have spent about80 million pounds ($104 million at 2012 exchangerates) on the four ceremonies.

Meirelles, who directed the film “City of God,” saidthe budget for the ceremonies had always beentight, although Rio organizers have clearly been cut-ting in the last year. Rio is spending about 39 billionreals ($10 billion) in public and private money to pre-pare the games. In a letter obtained last week by TheAssociated Press, the governing body of swimmingFINA complained to organizers and Rio MayorEduardo Paes about reduced seating in the swim-ming arena from 17,000 to 13,000. The water polovenue was also moved to cut costs.

In the letter, former Olympic gold-medal swim-mer Alexander Popov said Rio’s swimming prepara-tions were “a step back in relation to previous edi-

tions of the Games.” He added that the cuts may have“its repercussion on the athletes.” Meirelles said“high-tech” was being eliminated from the cere-monies. He listed drones, complex aerial equipmentand disappearing stages as items that Rio would dowithout. The emphasis will be on the basics. “Wedon’t have high culture,” Meirelles said. “Of course wehave some pianists, some maestros and someorchestras, but that’s not us. We come from the roots.The beauty of Brazil comes from the roots.”

Faced with other needs, Meirelles also questionedthe value of Rio’s Games. “I’m not sure if I wouldapprove an Olympics in Brazil, if this is a priority forus,” he said. “But we’re there and this is a great oppor-tunity for the country, and we’re going to do the bestwe can.” Meirelles divulged little about the cere-monies. He talked about showing a vision of the

country “and what I hope it will become.” He said he’dtry to steer away from cliches, but not all of them.

“Having an Olympics in Rio without any mentionof Carnival would be crazy,” he said. “Carnival’s not acliche. People live Carnival.” Andrucha Waddington,another awarding-winning filmmaker who is part ofthe creative team, promised the ceremonies wouldreflect all of Brazil’s roots - from its indigenous peo-ple to the 5 million African slaves who arrived inchains - 10 times more than arrived in the UnitedStates. “I can say it will be from A to Z in the show,”Waddington said. “And we will talk about this diver-sity. We are confident the show we will be outstand-ing without an outstanding budget.” Pressed fordetails, he also clammed up. “We should hide asmuch as we can,” he added. “The surprise factor isvery important.” — AP

Rio Olympic, Paralympic ceremonies to be low-budget

MINNEAPOLIS: Minnesota Lynx’s Rebekkah Brunson (32) and Maya Moore (23) react to a foul call against the Los Angeles Sparks during the second halfof Game 3 of a WNBA basketball Western Conference semifinal series on Tuesday, Sept 22, 2015, in Minneapolis. The Lynx won 91-80. — AP

NEW YORK: The New York Liberty and MinnesotaLynx are moving on in the WNBA playoffs afterboth won decisive Game 3s in the conferencesemifinals on Tuesday. In the West, Maya Moorehad 20 points and eight rebounds to help the bal-anced Lynx reach the conference finals by defeat-ing the Los Angeles Sparks 91-80. Tina Charlesand the New York Liberty are headed to theEastern Conference finals for the first time in fiveyears thanks to a strong effort from SugarRodgers and the reserves.

Charles scored 22 points and Rodgers added20 to help the top-seeded Liberty beat theWashington Mystics 79-74 on Tuesday night andadvance out of the first round of the playoffs forthe first time since 2010. “It means a lot to takethat first step,” said Charles, who also had 12rebounds. “When I came home to New York thiswas my goal to win a championship, and nowwe’ve made it out of the first round.”

The Liberty don’t have too much time to restas Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals will behere Wednesday night against the Indiana Feverbecause the Pope is coming to New York and willbe at MSG on Friday. “It is what it is,” Charles said.“At this point of the season you don’t worry aboutrest, you worry about the next game.” WithCharles struggling from the field in the first halfand Epiphanny Prince missing 10 of her first 11shots, Rodgers, Kiah Stokes and Candice Wigginscame off the bench to spur New York. Trailing 72-71 with 1:46 left, Stokes hit a layup off a niftyassist from Rodgers.

After a steal on the other end by Rodgers, shehit a layup with 58 seconds left to give New York athree-point lead. Ivory Latta hit two free throwswith 42.5 seconds left to cut Washington’s deficitto 75-74. With the shot clock running down,Prince hit a 15-footer, only her second basket ofthe game to make it a three-point game with 20seconds left. Washington had one final chancebut Latta’s 3-pointer was blocked by Stokes with 5seconds left and New York held on for the win.“I’m proud of our players, the playoffs you neverknow any given night who’s going to do it foryou,” New York coach Bill Laimbeer said.

“Every player needs to be ready, 1 through 11.”Stokes said the team took to heart that in thedouble overtime loss in the playoff openerWashington’s bench outperformed New York. “Weknew and we wanted to make sure it didn’t hap-pen again,” said Stokes, who had eight points and14 rebounds. New York’s reserves outscoredWashington 40-19. “Their bench did a heck of ajob,” Washington coach Mike Thibault said. “Theirbench played better than their starters. SugarRodgers was good, Wiggins was good, KiahStokes was good. Give them credit.”

Washington scored the first 14 of the first 16points in the third quarter to turn an eight-pointhalftime deficit into a 51-47 lead. EmmaMeesseman had six of those points for theMystics. Charles wouldn’t let the Liberty go away.After missing 11 of her first 16 shots, the All-Starhit a jumper from the top of the key and then hada putback. Wiggins hit consecutive 3-pointers to

tie the game at 57 heading into the final quarter.The Mystics jumped out all over New York hit-

ting five of its first seven 3-pointers to go up 25-13 with 16 seconds left in the first quarter. NewYork looked like the second top seed in the Eastready to fall in the opening round after Indianaknocked off No. 2 Chicago on Monday night.Stokes had a putback just before the buzzer thatmade it a 10-point game and gave the Libertymomentum heading into the second quarter.Rodgers and Candice Wiggins helped New Yorkscore 16 of the next 18 points to take control ofthe game. Rodgers’ layup made it 28-27 with 5:11left in the period and gave New York its first leadof the game. She was just getting started, scoring10 of the Liberty’s next 13 points sending theLiberty crowd into a frenzy.

A 3-pointer by Wiggins was the other basketduring that spurt. She ran down the court pump-ing her fists after the shot swished through thenet. While the attendance couldn’t match the10,000 that showed up for Game 1, the crowd didinclude WNBA President Laurel J. Richie, NBACommissioner Adam Silver and No. 1 New Yorkfan Spike Lee, who sat courtside.

The Fever were also in the crowd as theycame to New York on Tuesday afternoon to beready to play tomorrow. The Liberty led 45-37 atthe half. New York center Carolyn Swords didn’tplay after injuring her foot in Game 2 on Sundaywhich the Liberty won by 18 points. The Mysticswere victorious in the opener, winning in dou-ble overtime. — Agencies

Liberty, Lynx advance in the WNBA playoffs

TOKYO: Number one seed Caroline Wozniacki out-classed Ana Konjuh of Croatia 6-2, 6-2 at the Pan PacificOpen yesterday, advancing to a quarter-final againstGerman fifth seed Angelique Kerber. The Danish for-mer world number one, winner here in 2010, took onehour and 22 minutes to complete the night match.“Overall, I am happy with the victory,” said Wozniacki,who is currently the world number six. Kerber has wonsix of her past 10 meetings with Wozniacki, includingthe April final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix inStuttgart, Germany. Swiss teenager Belinda Bencicedged past former US Open champion SamanthaStosur in a grueling second-round thriller.

The 18-year-old, ranked 15th in the world, spenttwo hours and 16 minutes to win 6-7 (7/5), 6-3, 6-4, sur-viving constant pressure from the big serves and siz-zling returns of the 22nd-ranked Australian. The victorymeans Bencic will play her first match against Spanishthird seed Garbine Muguruza in the quarter-finals. “Itwas very tough for me to return,” Bencic said. “I am realyhappy that I was able to win such a difficult match.”Early on in the match, Bencic beame visibly frustratedwith her mistakes, suffering three double faults in thefirst set while Stosur demonstrated her finesse with sev-en aces. But Stosur decelerated in the second set asBencic found her rhythm to end the set 6-3.

The Australian veteran came back late in the thirdset, when she narrowed a 4-0 deficit to 4-3, causing herteenage opponent to have a chat with her coach whois also her father. The young star in the end managedto maintain her momentum to grab victory. “I tried to

be relaxed, but of course it was a tight game. I justwanted to talk with my dad what to do in next twogames so I can win the match,” Bencic said. “It was a dif-ficult situation mentally. It’s good that I stayed calm inthat.” In other matches Muguruza, the world numbereight, outperformed Czech Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4.Kerber came behind for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 victory againstAmerican Madison Brengle.

Halep advances In another development, top seed Simona Halep of

Romania defeated Timea Babos of Hungary in straightsets in second-round play Wednesday in the WTAGuangzhou International Women’s Open, as all remain-ing seeded players advanced. Halep, ranked numbertwo in the world, downed Babos 6-4, 6-0. TheRomanian was defeated in the semifinals of the USOpen this month by eventual champion FlaviaPennetta of Italy. Number three seed Sara Errani of Italybeat China’s Zhang Kai-Lin 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-2, losing thefirst set in a tiebreaker. Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic, seededfourth, downed Francesca Schiavone of Italy 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, while number five seed Svetlana Kuznetsova ofRussia eliminated Poland’s Urszula Radwanska instraight sets 6-0, 6-1. Sixth seed Monica Niculescu fromRomania beat Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson 6-3, 6-2.China’s top player Zheng Saisai, seeded eighth, downedAnett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-1, 7-6 (13/11) after takingthe final set in a lengthy tiebreaker.

Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic defeatedSerbia’s Bojana Jovanovski 6-3, 7-6 (7/5). Belgium’s

Yanina Wickmayer beat Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig 6-3,6-4. Puig had upset number two seed Andrea Petkovicof Germany in the first round. The other seeded playerto lose so far was Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, atnumber seven, who was defeated in the first round byJovanovski 6-4, 6-2. Players are battling for prize mon-ey of $250,000. — Agencies

Wozniacki downs Konjuh to reach quarter-finals

TOKYO: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmarkreturns a shot against Ana Konjuh of Croatiaduring their second round match at the PanPacific Open tennis tournament in Tokyo yes-terday. — AFP

SUZUKA: Mercedes go into Sunday ’sJapanese Grand Prix hoping to show thattheir baffling lack of pace in Singapore wasjust a one-off but Lewis Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosberg need some convincing.“I don’t have any confidence. I don’t haveany information to give me that confi-dence,” world champion Hamilton toldBritish reporters when asked how confi-dent he was that Suzuka would be differ-ent. “I’m hoping it’s a one-off but it was astrange weekend to say the least. “Our carhas not got slower. I think some other peo-ple might have brought an upgrade pack-age... but that doesn’t explain it,” added theBriton. Eclipsed in qualifying after 11 polesin 12 races, Hamilton suffered his firstretirement of the season in Singapore andsaw his lead over Rosberg cut to 41 pointswith six rounds remaining.

On a tight and twisty circuit, the previ-ously dominant Mercedes was a secondand a half slower than Sebastian Vettel’swinning Ferrari. The heat and slow natureof the track may have played to rivals’strengths, but there will be worried facesamong the championship leaders until atleast Friday practice at Suzuka and possiblybeyond. The Japanese circuit is both fastand demanding, with the flat-out 130Rcurve a stand-out feature, and should bemuch more to Mercedes’ liking. If Ferrari arequicker there too, then the fight is really on.

“To be so far off the pace all of a sudden,to not understand it, that’s really badbecause then how are you going toimprove it?,” asked Rosberg, who finishedfourth, after Sunday’s race. “You just hopethat at the next track it’s going to cometowards us again. The chances are extreme-ly good, because at all other tracks we’vebeen so fast, but who knows?” Red Bullprincipal Christian Horner, whose team

have been rebuffed by Mercedes in theirquest for a new engine partner, expectedto see the champions pick up speed buthoped a different scenario might evolve.

Senna mark“It’s quite confusing to see them so far

off but maybe some of the new changesthat have been introduced tyre-wise mayhave had an effect, who knows?,” he said.“I’m sure we’ll see maybe business as usualnext weekend. “If it’s not, then it’s obviouslysomething that’s been introduced that’saffecting their performance.”

Singapore was Hamilton’s chance toequal the 41 wins of his late hero AyrtonSenna and he has every chance of doingthat on Sunday, even if from one more startthan the great Brazilian triple champion. Inother respects, he and Mercedes will bestarting over after falling just short of theall-time records for most individual andteam pole positions in a row. But the Briton,winner of seven races this season and stillfirmly on course for a third title, can consid-er himself fortunate. “The car broke down...and I didn’t lose a huge amount of pointsto the guy who’s right behind me. It couldhave been a lot worse, so I’m looking at theglass half-full,” said Hamilton.

The Suzuka weekend will be a toughhomecoming for Honda, whose return asengine partners to McLaren has beenpainfully uncompetitive, even if JensonButton and Fernando Alonso can count onplenty of local support. The race could alsobe a farewell from Button, a winner atSuzuka in 2011, to his Japanese fans if spec-ulation that he is set to quit the sport at theend of the season are accurate. It will alsobe emotionally charged for the entire pad-dock, returning one year on from the lateJules Bianchi’s horrific accident. — Reuters

SUZUKA: Red Bull are serious aboutpulling both their teams out of FormulaOne if they cannot obtain a competitiveengine for 2016, their motorsport con-sultant Helmut Marko said yesterday. TheAustrian, who is close to the energy drinkcompany’s billionaire owner DietrichMateschitz, told the official Formula Onewebsite (www.formula1.com) that theprospect could not be ruled out.

“There is an option to stop F1. That isa scenario. If we don’t have an enginethat allows us to compete at the veryfront we will prefer to stop,” declared theformer grand prix racer. “If we don’t havea competitive engine there is no future inF1 for Red Bull Racing. The curtain maygo down after (the season-ender in) AbuDhabi. That is Mr Mateschitz’s opinion,”added Marko. “He knows that it costs thesame amount of money to race at thefront or, like we are now doing, in the‘premium midfield’-and he is not willingto do that for another season.”

Red Bull have Australian DanielRicciardo and Russian Daniil Kvyat astheir drivers while sister team Toro Rossohave the exciting young pairing of Dutchteenager Max Verstappen and SpaniardCarlos Sainz. Mateschitz has already said

the fractured partnership with Renault,who powered Red Bull Racing to foursuccessive drivers’ and constructors’championships from 2010, will not con-tinue next year. “Renault couldn’t provideus with an engine that enabled us to runat the front. It’s that simple,” said Marko.Red Bull have failed to persuade champi-ons Mercedes to supply them whileHonda, returning this year with McLaren,have the least competitive engine of all.

While there has been speculation thatVolkswagen-owned Audi could eventual-ly take over Red Bull’s team, leaving theenergy drink company as sponsor, that isnot a short-term solution. “I don’t thinkthat they (Audi/Volkswagen) have a readyengine concept in their drawers. Yes, therumors are there - and, of course, it wouldbe great if another engine manufacturerwould join. But right now that is all crystalball reading,” commented Marko. Thatleaves Ferrari, and Marko said they haddiscussed the situation but a deal had yetto be agreed and Red Bull wanted a simi-lar engine to the one used by the Italianteam rather than anything less powerful.Ferrari have won three of the 13 races sofar this year, with Mercedes otherwisedominant. — Reuters

Red Bull warn that F1 quit threat is serious

Mercedes seeking reassurance at Japanese

Suzuka Grand Prix

TOKYO: McLaren Honda Formula One drivers Fernando Alonso (right) and JensonButton play racing video games in front of an audience of Japanese fans at theHonda headquarters in Tokyo yesterday. The Japanese Grand Prix will be held atSuzuka circuit in Mie prefecture from September 25-27. — AFP

S P O RT STHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

BARCELONA: Members of the Casteller (human towers, built traditionally in festivals) “Sagals d’Osona” perform during celebrations ofCatalonia’s National Day (Diada), which recalls the final defeat of local troops by Spanish king Philip V’s forces in 1714 in Barcelona. There isnothing more Catalan than a “castell”, or human pyramid. But some of the people standing on each other’s shoulders in this particular castellcome from far beyond Catalonia. — AFP

BARCELONA: Catalonia may not be a state, butit can count on a small and symbolic red andblue army in the form of European footballchampions Barcelona. Despite their internation-al projection, Barca remain a banner for Catalannationalists who are now seeking independencefrom Spain. Although the club has preferred notto be involved in regional elections on Sundaythat could launch a process towards secessionfrom Spain, the electoral campaign could haveserious ramifications for it.

‘Unarmed Catalan army’If Catalonia becomes independent, Barca

wouldn’t be able to play in the Spanish league,the president of the league warned this week.That poses a dilemma for the Barca fanbase whoconvert the club’s 99,000-capacity Camp Noustadium into a yellow, red and blue mosaic ofpro-independence flags every weekend andwhere chants for independence are heard morethan the name of their idol, the Argentine LionelMessi. In recent Spanish Cup finals, Barca fanshave greeted the Spanish national anthem witha storm of boos and whistles, the last of which inMay at the Camp Nou saw the club fined 66,000euros ($74,000). As a placard permanently hungat one end of the stadium reads: “Catalonia is notSpain.” Spanish writer and columnist Manuel

Vazquez Montalban defined Barca as a “symbolicand unarmed Catalan army,” especially duringthe dictatorship of General Francisco Francobetween 1939 and 1975 which repressed theCatalan language and nationalism. “The clubwas a bastion of freedom. People could speak inCatalan in public without fear and even listen tosongs in Catalan,” says historian CarlesSantacana, who points out that in 1918 the clubdemanded that Catalonia be self-governed.

Politics in the dressing roomThis political function of Barcelona, which

softened during the first decades of democracypost-Franco, began to take shape once moreduring the 2003-2010 mandate of Joan Laportaas the club’s president, which coincided with apro-independence boom in the region. In 2014the club joined a group of institutions thatdemanded an independence referendum andhas lent its stadium on various occasions tosecessionist events. Two years ago, Barca’s awaystrip bore the red and yellow colours of theCatalan flag. “Currently, there is a coup withinBarca. There is an ideological kidnap of the clubthat has allowed pro-independence leaningsinto its offices,” said Ramon Miravitllas, journalistand writer of the book “The Political Function ofBarcelona”. “But there is a significant group of

fans who don’t want independence and nowfeel out of place and deserted.”

Politics has reached the dressing room.Various players have publicly supported the cel-ebration of a referendum in the region, such asclub legend Xavi Hernandez, who now plays forQatari side Al Sadd, and central defender GerardPique who attended a huge independencemarch on September 11 in Barcelona. “There is avery big movement and it ought to be listenedto,” said Pique, who has recently been booed byhis own fans when playing for Spain. PepGuardiola, Barca’s most successful ever coach, ismaking a symbolic stand for election for theindependence coalition “Together For Yes”,which leads in the polls.

Ahead of the elections, the club has decidedto remain officially neutral. “Barca has shown it isoutside the electoral campaign. We have alwaysspoken about sport, we will not campaign,” clubpresident Josep Maria Bartomeu said last Sunday.Amid countless warnings from Madrid againstindependence, the president of the Spanishleague, Javier Tebas, said: “Catalan teams couldnot take part in any competition in Spain unlessthey stayed in Spain.” If that happened, Spain’ssports secretary Miguel Cardenal said, Barca maystruggle to “reach the last 16 or quarter-finals ofthe Champions League.” — AFP

Barca - jewel in Catalanindependence crown

PARIS: Zlatan Ibrahimovic ended his goaldrought as Paris Saint-Germain extendedtheir unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 seasonon Tuesday with a 3-0 victory at home toGuingamp. Javier Pastore gave PSG a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes beforeAngel Di Maria netted his first goal indomestic French football to double theadvantage. Ibrahimovic, who hadn’t scoredsince claiming a brace in a 6-0 win overGuingamp last May, added a third late onbut also had a penalty saved as the reign-ing champions provisionally moved fourpoints clear at the top of the table.

PSG coach Laurent Blanc had defendedhis decision to rotate his squad in succes-sive draws but the capital club were almostat full strength on Tuesday with the excep-tion of rested duo Thiago Silva and MarcoVerratti. Edinson Cavani, whose league-leading fifth goal salvaged a point for PSGin Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Reims, nearlyadded to his tally inside five minutes butGuingamp goalkeeper Jonas Lossl made aterrific stop to deny the Uruguayan. Lastseason’s 6-0 drubbing in the correspon-ding fixture prompted Guingamp coachJocelyn Gourvennec to adopt a conserva-tive approach with Jimmy Briand andSloan Privat, both on target at the week-end in a 2-1 win over Gazelec Ajaccio, lefton the bench.

But PSG needed just 18 minutes tobreak the deadlock as Ibrahimovic foundPastore in space and the Argentine glidedtowards the edge of the penalty areaunchallenged before slotting a precise lowfinish out of the reach of Lossl. Ibrahimovicwent perilously close to doubling theadvantage moments later as the Swede’s

curling left-foot strike flashed narrowlywide of the far post. Another chance fell toIbrahimovic after a clever one-two withCavani but this time the striker’s deflectedeffort was palmed away well by Lossl.

Yannis Salibur’s dipping long-rangefree-kick called PSG goalkeeper KevinTrapp into action just before the break butthe home side resumed their dominanceafter half-time. First, Ibrahimovic had athunderous free-kick fisted away by Losslwith the Swede again left frustrated asLaurent dos Santos rushed back to clear offthe line after PSG’s stand-in skipper hadslipped the ball past Lossl from a tightangle. I t was a busy night for theGuingamp custodian as the Dane madeanother fine save to prevent Pastore fromadding his second but Lossl was culpableas PSG did eventually double their advan-tage on 77 minutes.

Ibrahimovic cut in from the right andafter his low drive was spilled by the visit-ing keeper, Di Maria was quickest to reactto the rebound for his first Ligue 1 goal. DiMaria then provided the pass forIbrahimovic to score his first goal of theseason with the Swede poking just insidethe far post seven minutes from time.Ibrahimovic could have added a fourthafter Cavani was tripped by Salibur but hesaw his spot-kick kept out by Lossl. Earlier,Angers and Reims drew 0-0, leaving bothsides still with just one defeat through theirfirst seven matches. Rennes and Saint-Etienne can both trim PSG’s lead back to asingle point when they visited yesterdayGazelec Ajaccio and Troyes respectively,while Lyon hosted Bastia asMarseille trav-eled to Toulouse. — AFP

Ibrahimovic off the mark as PSG ease past Guingamp

PARIS: PSG’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic (right) challenges for the ball with Guingamp’s BaissamaSankoh, during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint Germain andGuingamp, at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on Tuesday, Sept 22, 2015. — AP

MILAN: “Changed” AC Milan striker MarioBalotelli has pledged to continue defyingcrunching tackles on the pitch and taunts fromrival fans off it after hitting his first goal for theRossoneri since returning to the club. “They willtake my legs and yellow cards, but they won’tget the ball from me,” Balotelli said afterTuesday’s 3-2 win against Udinese. On what washis first start for Milan since returning to the clubon loan from Liverpool, Balotelli struck a superbfifth-minute free kick.

It was his first start in an any official leaguegame since April 28 when Liverpool faced HullCity, and his first goal for Milan since April, 2014,when he found the net against Livorno. Milan’sthird win of the season fired Sinisa Mihajlovic’sside up to fourth in the Serie A table ahead ofthe rest of the midweek fixtures on Wednesdayand Thursday-a welcome boost that came amida social media mini-storm in which fans com-pared Milan’s garish green and yellow away stripto the one worn by Jamaica’s national side.

Despite being cautioned for a late challengeon Udinese midfielder Bruno Fernandes, for therest of the encounter the 25-year-old Balotellishowed his growing maturity, soaking up abusefrom home fans and a number of late chal-lenges. Known for his extravagant haircuts, way-ward behaviour and an attitude that many pun-dits have described as “arrogant’, Balotelli wasforced to agree to a strict code of conductbefore being able to re-sign for the seven-timeEuropean champions last month.

So far, club bosses have been impressed withhis efforts. Despite having his driving licence

suspended two weeks ago for driving hisLamborghini at 90km/h in a 50km/h zone,Mihajlovic believes Balotelli is not the impetu-ous, wild youngster he’s often cast as in themedia. “He’s shown that the real Balotelli is back.He was calm and showed he knows how to han-dle attempts to provoke him,” said Mihajlovic,who took over from Filippo Inzaghi in the sum-mer. “He made the difference for us, but he hasto continue like this because it’s only the begin-ning.” Balotelli’s detractors are less likely to beconvinced-at least not yet. During a turbulentthree-year spell at Manchester City, Balotelli reg-ularly courted controversy on and off the pitch,famously falling out with City’s then managerRoberto Mancini before signing for Milan inJanuary 2013. But club CEO Adriano Gallianiinsisted: “He’s a changed man compared tobefore.” If Balotelli is to save his career, both atclub and international level, impeccable behav-ior will be required throughout this season.

The striker, and the entire Italy team failed toimpress at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and hissubsequent disaster at Liverpool dropped himdown the Azzurri pecking order behind the likesof Southampton striker Graziano Pelle. Balotellihopes to be reconsidered for selection to theItalian national team ahead of next summer’sEuropean Championships, and Monday’s per-formance suggested he was on the right track.“For me it was a difficult game because I knewI’d be provoked,” he said. “I’m happy with how Iplayed, little by little I’m returning to form, andsoon I will be able to silence the people whohave been criticizing me.” — AFP

‘Changed’ Balotelli vows to resist his detractors

UDINE: AC Milan’s Mario Balotelli is challenged by Udinese’s Ivan Piris (right), duringthe Serie A soccer match between Udinese and Milan at the Friuli Stadium in Udine,Italy on Tuesday, Sept 22, 2015. — AP

LONDON: Troublesome Chelsea striker Diego Costawould have been considered a petty criminal ratherthan a master villain in the 1950s and 1960s, accordingto Brazil great Pele. Costa, who was born in Brazil butopted to represent Spain at international level, hasbeen banned for three games for twice hitting LaurentKoscielny during Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat of Arsenal lastweekend. It is not the first time the snarling centre-for-ward has fallen foul of the football authorities, butPele, famously kicked out of the 1966 World Cup byPortugal’s Joao Morais, said Costa’s crimes were noth-ing compared to the punishments meted out to himduring his extraordinary career.

“Listen, this to me was so common,” a smiling Pelesaid. “I suffered all my life with good marking. He’s avery good player, everybody knows. “This was onemoment. The striker who bit someone, Luis Suarez,was worse than this.” Pele, a leading contender for thetitle of greatest footballer of all-time, was speaking atthe launch of an exhibition to mark his 75th birthday,which falls on October 23. Called ‘Art, Life, Football’, theexhibition at London’s Halcyon Gallery features art-works depicting memorable moments from Pele’scareer, including a 1977 portrait by pop art pioneerAndy Warhol.

Unlike today’s stars, there is not a surfeit of footageof Pele in action, but some of his goals were so famousthey acquired their own epithets. There was ‘OMilesimo’, a penalty for Santos-his only Brazilian club-against Vasco da Gama that was thought to be his1,000th goal. A pitch-long dribble and shot againstFluminense in 1961 was deemed worthy of a plaque atRio de Janeiro’s iconic Maracana, the ground where itwas scored, earning it the nickname ‘Gol de placa’.Meanwhile, the goal Pele considered his best, in whichhe reputedly flicked the ball over three defenders andthe goalkeeper before heading in during a matchagainst the Brazilian Juventus in 1959, was recreatedusing CGI in 2014.

‘I was shaking’“People are talking about them until now because

they were so good,” says Pele-full name Edson Arantesdo Nascimento-of the Fluminense and Juventus goals,neither of which was caught on film. “Of course I hadother goals that were important to me, in a World Cuptoo. But these two goals were the ones people men-tioned more. “They were beautiful goals, but therewere other important goals. For example, the 1,000thgoal. “It was a penalty kick. Everybody said, ‘Oh, it’seasy to score a goal with a penalty kick.’

“But to me, in the Maracana, I was shaking, I was sonervous. I said to myself, ‘My god, I cannot miss thismoment.’ This 1,000th goal was very important to metoo.” Pele, who underwent spinal surgery in July, con-siders Lionel Messi to be the world’s best current play-er and cites England’s 1966 World Cup-winning mid-fielder Bobby Charlton as his “most difficult opponent”.Charlton was recently surpassed by Wayne Rooney asEngland’s record goal-scorer and there is an expecta-tion that Neymar will one day claim Pele’s record forBrazil. — AFP

Costa crimes common in my days, Pele says

Diego Costa

MELBOURNE: Australia coach Ange Postecoglouhas welcomed back a trio of Asian Cup winnersinto his 23-man squad for next month’s World Cupqualifier against Jordan but captain Mile Jedinakremains sidelined with hamstring troubles. TheCrystal Palace skipper Jedinak missed both thewinning qualifiers against Bangladesh andTajikistan after straining his hamstring in thePremier League and had suffered a relapse,Postecoglou said on Wednesday. “At a stretch hemight have made this (training) camp, butbecause he’s had that setback maybe comingback too early, I think it’s wise to us to make sureMile’s 100 per cent and right for the Novembergames,” Postecoglou told a media conference inMelbourne.

Australia, who lead Asia’s Group B by twopoints ahead of Jordan, play the Middle Easternside away on Oct. 8 before returning home to playKyrgyzstan in Canberra on Nov 12. Forwards TomiJuric and James Troisi, and defender TrentSainsbury-all part of the team that won the AsianCup on home soil in January-bolster a strong

squad spearheaded by veteran forward Tim Cahill.Postecoglou has also named uncapped BradfordCity left back James Meredith after monitoring hisprogress in the English third-tier side. “We havebeen keeping an eye on James for the past 18months and this season he has started well sowell bring him in to see how he fits into the sys-tem,” the coach said.

“We still need a bit more depth in our fullbackareas so James has a chance to impress and showus he can add something to our rapidly increasingpool of players.” Germany-based winger RobbieKruse has been ruled out with a calf injury. Victoryover Jordan at the Amman International Stadiumwill go a long way to securing Australia’s passageto the next phase of qualifying after three straightwins in the current round. “On paper this is thetoughest match we face but we have seen in theearlier games, especially the clash with Kyrgyzstanaway, that these matches present challenges onand off the field,” Postecoglou said. “The last timeAustralia faced Jordan in Amman we lost thatgame so we have to be well prepared.” — Reuters

Australia captain Jedinak to miss clash with Jordan Bradford City defender Meredith gets call-up

17Yankees Hall of Fame catcher Berra dies at 90

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 201519

Ibrahimovic offthe mark as PSGease pastGuingamp

‘Changed’ Balotelli vows to resist detractors Page 19

SUNDERLAND: Sunderland’s captain John O’Shea (left) vies for the ball with Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling (right) during the English League Cup third round soccer match between Sunderland and Manchester City atthe Stadium of Light, Sunderland on Tuesday, Sept 22, 2015. — AP

LONDON: Record signing Kevin De Bruyne scored againas Manchester City crushed Sunderland 4-1 to reach theLeague Cup fourth round on Tuesday, but Swansea Cityfell to second-tier Hull City. Manchester City’s perfect startto the Premier League season was abruptly ended by a 2-1 loss at home to West Ham United at the weekend, butManuel Pellegrini’s team bounced back in style at theStadium of Light. They were 4-0 up inside 36 minutesthrough a ninth-minute Sergio Aguero penalty, DeBruyne’s second goal for the club, an own goal bySunderland goalkeeper Vito Mannone and a neat finish byRaheem Sterling.

“We played well, especially in the first half,” saidPellegrini, whose side also lost 2-1 at home to Juventus intheir Champions League opener. “Maybe in the secondhalf, winning 4-0, we stopped our pace a little bit, but I ampleased because we started this game after two impor-

tant defeats in the Champions League and PremierLeague. “It was important to continue in this cup and itwas important to try to win from the first minute. Wescored four beautiful goals.” Struggling Sunderland, bot-tom of the Premier League table after six games withoutvictory, replied courtesy of an 83rd-minute header byclose-season signing Ola Toivonen.

Swansea lost to a 41st-minute David Meyler strike atHull, who were relegated from the Premier League in May,to become the second top-flight team to be knocked outof this season’s tournament after second-round casualtiesWatford, although they were later joined by West Ham.Andy King scored a 116th-minute header as Leicester Citycontinued their fine form to beat the Hammers 2-1 afterextra time in the only all-Premier League tie of theevening. Young striker Joe Dodoo put Leicester ahead inthe early stages, with Mauro Zarate’s deflected shot bring-

ing West Ham level in the 27th minute.Leicester, the last unbeaten team in the English top tier,

prevailed four minutes from the end of extra time whenWales international King rose to plant a header in the top-left corner from Christian Fuchs’s cross. Everton had tocome from behind to win 2-1 at Championship sideReading. Nick Blackman’s opener was cancelled out by apowerful Ross Barkley strike in the 62nd minute beforeGerard Deulofeu sealed victory with his first goal sincereturning to Everton on a permanent basis fromBarcelona, a plunging 30-yard free-kick. Bournemouth,meanwhile, needed penalties to win at second-tierPreston North End after the game finished 2-2 followingextra time.

Daniel Johnson scored a 118th-minute penalty forPreston that sent the game to extra time, but then saw hisspot-kick saved by Adam Federici to hand Bournemouth a

3-2 success in the shootout. Peter Crouch’s cool first-halffinish earned Stoke City a 1-0 win at Fulham, while AstonVilla saw off Championship derby rivals Birmingham City1-0 courtesy of an emphatic 62nd-minute header fromRudy Gestede. “It was a tough game today,” said Gestede,whose side have lost four and drawn one of their last fivePremier League games. “It was important to get the winfor our confidence because we haven’t started the seasonvery well.”

Holders Chelsea launched their trophy defense atthird-tier Walsall yesterday as Arsenal visited northLondon rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the tie of the round.Manchester United, second in the Premier League,entered the competition with a home game against sec-ond-tier Ipswich Town, while Liverpool hosted LeagueTwo Carlisle United, the lowest-ranked team left in thecompetition. — AFP

Stylish City cruise in League Cup; Swansea out

BARCELONA: In-form Atletico Madrid strik-er Antoine Griezmann struck twice to earn acomfortable 2-0 derby victory over tooth-less visitors Getafe that sent his side top ofLa Liga on Tuesday. The France striker, whois developing into a talisman for Atletico,scored at the start of the first half and theend of the second after a competent displayby the hosts. Atletico have 12 points fromfive games, having only dropped pointsagainst Barcelona who have a 100 percentrecord from four games and visit Celta Vigoon Wednesday when Real Madrid, with 10points from four matches, visit AthleticBilbao. Atletico controlled the game butthey eased off for long spells against a sideincapable of putting them under sustainedpressure.

Griezmann netted after four minutes witha volley from six metres and wrapped up thewin with another close-range finish from aJackson Martinez pass in the final minute. “Wescored quickly and we were well placed butwe stopped looking to build play,” Atleticocoach Diego Simeone told a news conference.“We then improved again in the final stagesof the game. In the middle section we lookedto close the game down too much.” Valencia’sdismal start to the season continued as theylost 1-0 at Espanyol, with Victor Alvarez scor-ing in the first half. They are eighth with sixpoints after one win and three draws.

Low on confidence they did not takeadvantage of early openings for ZakariaBakkali and Rodrigo Moreno before Alvareztucked home a Marco Asensio cross after 18minutes. There was little rhythm to theirgame and in the second half they relied onkeeper Jaume Domenech to make importantblocks to deny Hernan Perez and Asensio. “Ihave no doubts over my work nor that of theplayers,” Valencia coach Nuno Espirito Santotold reporters. “In the first half we were thebetter side and looked dangerous but then inthe second half we didn’t play well.” Simeonecontinued with his rotation policy and it wasa lively start from Atletico characterized bygood link-up play.

Gabi Fernandez put the ball back into thebox following a corner and Griezmannturned to finished clinically. Atletico recruitedwell ahead of the season and the skills ofYannick Ferreira-Carrasco and Oliver Torresmeant that they did not miss the injuredKoke as they pressed Getafe back. ButAtletico started to relax at the back beforehalftime and Stefan Savic hit a firm drive thatwas just too close to keeper Jan Oblak whomade the save. After the break a mistake byGuilherme Siqueira put Pedro Leon throughon goal but he missed the target beforeGriezmann put gloss on the scoreline forAtletico by slipping the ball home following awell worked move. — Reuters

Griezmann’s double fires Atletico to top of La Liga

BERLIN: Robert Lewandowski admitted hehad little idea how fast his goals flew in afterscoring five times in nine minutes to writeBundesliga history in Bayern Munich’s 5-1 routof Wolfsburg. The 27-year-old scored all fivegoals within an official time of eight minutes,59 seconds after coming off the bench at half-time with Bayern 1-0 down at the AllianzArena. A superb strike by Wolfsburg’s DanielCaligiuri had given the visitors a shock leaduntil the 27-year-old Lewandowski sentBundesliga records tumbling, including need-ing just three minutes, 19 seconds to claim hishat-trick. But he admitted it was a bit of a blur.“I have no idea how quick my hat-trick was,maybe five minutes?” he told German Sky onthe sidelines before being told the officialtime. “Okay, it was a bit quicker than that.”

It was his best haul since scoring all four forex-club Borussia Dortmund in their 4-1 winover Real Madrid in the 2013 ChampionsLeague semi-final. “To score four goals in aChampions League semi-final was very impor-tant and a big story in my career, but to scorefive goals means this is another big eveningfor me,” added Lewandowski, who sent Bayerntop of the Bundesliga. Bayern coach PepGuardiola held his head in disbelief on thesidelines as Lewandowski scored his superbfifth with a turn-and-volley on 60 minuteswhich gave Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego

Benaglio no chance. “I’ve never experiencedanything like that in my life! Five goals in nineminutes! Wow!” said Guardiola. “I may neversee anything like that again, either.”

Shoot and shoot againLewandowski said his goal had simply been

to score when he came on. “I just wanted toshoot and shoot again. At 1-0 down, I had toscore at least two goals,” he added. “It’s beenan incredible evening. What a great feeling.”His haul was the first time a player has comeoff the bench to score five goals in aBundesliga game. It was the first time fivegoals have been scored in a single Germanleague match since Michael Toennies inAugust 1991 in a 6-2 win for Duisburg againstKarlsruhe.

“The fact my old record is gone is, of course,a bit of a shame, but what Robert conjured upwas simply sensational. Congratulations,Robert,” wrote Toennies on Duisburg’sFacebook page. Lewandowski’s stats for thegame were five goals, nine shots from 30touches and his incredible tally could havebeen more as he missed two clear chances.“He could have gone home with seven,” admit-ted Bayern captain Philipp Lahm. “You have tobe critical there and point out the two oppor-tunities which went begging right under hisnose,” he added with a grin.

Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking took the

defeat with good grace. “What can you say? Aworld-class striker shot five times on goal andcould have scored seven times,” he said. Therewas only one record which went begging.Lewandowski fell just short of matching therecord goal-haul for a single Bundesliga matchof six achieved by Cologne’s Dieter Mueller intheir 7-2 win over Werder Bremen in August1977. It was little surprise that Lewandowski wasnamed man-of-the-match and he proved theankle injury which kept him out of Saturday’s 3-0 win at Darmstadt was not an issue. “I think theankle’s fine,” he grinned. — AFP

5-star Lewandowski shoots Bayern to top of Bundesliga

MUNICH: Bayern Munich’s Polish strikerRobert Lewandowski shoots the third goalfor Munich during the German first divi-sion Bundesliga football match FC BayernMuenchen vs VfL Wolfsburg on September22, 2015. — AFP

BusinessTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

China slowdown slams brakes on auto market

Page 23

Myanmar workers long for ‘manufacturing renaissance’

Page 24Empty Cairo homes beyond reach of poor

Page 22Al-Shall: Fed decision to raise rate coming soon

Page 25

STUTTGART: In this Jan 28, 2009 file photo Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG, who resigned yesterday, poses next to a Volkswagen Beetle from 1950 during the inauguration of the new Porsche museum. — AP

BERLIN: Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned yester-day, taking responsibility for the German carmaker’s rigging ofUS emissions tests in the biggest scandal in its 78-year history.“Volkswagen needs a fresh start - also in terms of personnel. Iam clearing the way for this fresh start with my resignation,”Winterkorn said in a statement. He said he was shocked byevents of the past few days, above all that misconduct onsuch a massive scale was possible at the company.

A five-member executive committee had grilledWinterkorn, 68, since morning at the company’s headquar-ters in Wolfsburg, Germany. The company was under hugepressure to take decisive action, with its shares down morethan 30 percent in value since the crisis broke, and the badnews still coming. German prosecutors said yesterday theywere conducting a preliminary investigation into themanipulation of vehicle emission test results atVolkswagen, while French Energy Minister Segolene Royalsaid her country would be “extremely severe” if its investi-

gation into the firm found any wrongdoing.US authorities are planning criminal investigations after

discovering that Volkswagen programmed computers in itscars to detect when they were being tested and alter therunning of their diesel engines to conceal their true emis-sions. German Chancellor Angela Merkel had urgedVolkswagen to move “as quickly as possible” to restore con-fidence in a company held up for generations as a paragonof German engineering prowess.

ShockwavesThe US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on

Friday Volkswagen could face penalties of up to $18 billionfor cheating emissions tests on some of its diesel cars. Thestory has sent shockwaves through the car market, withdealers in the United States reporting people holding backfrom buying diesel cars and “#dieselgate” trending onTwitter. Diesel engines account for less than 3 percent of

new cars sold in the United States but around half of cars inEurope, where governments have encouraged their use tomeet fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas targets.

Their biggest selling point is their fuel economy and lowcarbon emissions compared to standard gasoline engines.But they also emit far more nitrogen dioxide, a toxic gasblamed for health problems. The suggestion that theiremissions in real world conditions are worse than reportedin tests could harm the whole sector and alter the future ofthe car industry worldwide. “The Volkswagen issue isanother blackeye for the diesel engine overall,” MikeJackson, the chief executive of the AutoNation, the largestUS car retailer, told CNBC, adding the “brand position” ofVolkswagen was at risk in the US market.

Volkswagen said on Tuesday it was setting aside Ä6.5billion ($7.3 billion) to help cover the costs of the crisis.Analysts doubt that will be enough, with the company dis-closing that 11 million of its cars were fitted with Type EA

189 engines that had shown a “noticeable deviation” inemission levels between testing and road use. The USJustice Department has launched a criminal probe, asource familiar with the matter said. New York and otherstate attorneys general are also forming a group to investi-gate.

‘Investor’s Nightmare’Environmentalists have long complained that carmak-

ers game the testing regime to exaggerate the fuel-effi-ciency and emissions readings of their vehicles. Europeanpoliticians yesterday voted to speed up rules to tightencompliance with pollution limits on cars. European carassociation ACEA said that so far there was “no evidencethat this is an industry-wide issue”. But Societe Generaleanalysts said that while the uncertainty prevailed, thewhole autos sector was likely to be “dead money” for awhile. — Reuters

VW boss quits over diesel scandal German prosecutors announce preliminary investigation

BERLIN: Lindt savored a victory overHaribo yesterday in a long-running legalbattle after a German federal court ruledthat the chocolate teddy bears made bythe Swiss giant were not a copy of theGerman sweets maker’s gummy bears.“Lindt’s sale of bear-shaped chocolateswrapped in a golden foil with a red ribbonis neither a violation of Haribo’s ‘Gold Bear’trademark nor an illegal imitation of thefruit gum products,” the court ruled.

The German candy manufacturer hadtaken Lindt & Spruengli to court in 2012after the Swiss chocolatier began sellingtheir “Lindt Teddy” figurines in 2011 for theChristmas season. Haribo claimed that thegold-foil packed Lindt teddies were an imi-tation of the gold colour bear illustration -which also features a red ribbon around itsneck - on its jelly bear packaging.

The Swiss company argued howeverthat the teddy bear figurines were inspiredby its best-selling “Gold Bunny” chocolates,which are also wrapped in a golden foiland decorated with a red ribbon and a lit-tle bell. The bunnies were first produced in1952, and are best-sellers during the Easterseason. A German court had initially ruledin favor of Haribo but an appeal courtthrew out that verdict, finding that thechocolate teddies could not be mistakenfor Haribo’s jelly sweets. To end the dis-pute, the case was then brought to theFederal Court of Justice for a final ruling.

For the court, the chocolate teddiesbore no resemblance to the much smallerjellies. The 2-centimetres (0.78-inches) tallgummy bear has become the best-knownproduct of Haribo, a company created in1920 in the western city of Bonn. First soldin its current form in 1967, about 100 mil-lion such bears are now produced daily.Lindt meanwhile claims on its website thatits teddy “sets ... more than 60 millionhearts racing” every year.

Lawsuits over product trademarks areoften brought in Germany, where the jus-tice system is generally viewed as offering

strong protection against violations. Alsoon Wednesday, the same court issued aruling on a dispute brought by Germany’sSparkasse savings banks against Spain’sgiant Santander over the red colour usedon their logos. The German bank claims ithas the exclusive right to that tint inGermany. But the court ruled that the caseneeds to be heard again on appeal. Inanother similar case, Beiersdorf has beenarguing before German courts that theblue color used on its Nivea cream tin box-es cannot be used by rival Unilever in itsproducts. — AFP

Sweet justice: Lindt beats Haribo

COLOGNE: This combo of photos shows a gold gummy bear made byHaribo (right) and a foil-wrapped chocolate teddy. — AFP

DUBAI: After almost a year of painfully low oil prices, OPECmembers are beginning to believe they are winning againstupstart US shale producers in a short-term market sharecontest. Yet insiders and experts say OPEC is looking for alonger-lasting impact on other high-cost production oilfield plans, many in deep oceans, with bigger time scales,even if that means a period of cheap oil prices lasting foryears. Privately, OPEC’s core Gulf members say they haveresigned themselves to the idea that the US shale industry’shigh-tech flexibility means it will respond quickly whenprices start rising again, making the United States the newswing producer in world oil, the role held for so long bySaudi Arabia.

“The oil surplus is slowly being drawn from the market.US oil production is expected to fall to less than 9 millionbarrels per day by the end of this year or early next year,”said an OPEC delegate from a Gulf oil producer. “But there isone point that no one is looking at which is the delay in thelonger-term oil projects, these are 4-5 year projects. Thepostponement of these projects will impact the overall sup-ply in the market.”

The short investment cycle of US shale, where it takesabout few months before returns are seen, make it the mostsensitive to oil price fluctuation - either way. Thus the spikein oil prices in June where US crude was trading above $60a barrel drew out more shale output but the price drop inAugust will reverse that, OPEC sources say. And even if ris-ing prices pushed supplies up again, in the long run, higherproduction from shale is expected to be offset by lowerproduction from conventional high-cost offshore projects

from countries such as Brazil and Mexico, the sources say.“Shale will be a new swing producer of sorts,” said Yasser

Elguindi of economic consultants Medley Global Advisors.“Because of its shorter investment cycle, when prices fallshale producers will be the ones to cut first, but likewisewhen prices go up, they will also be the first to bring upproduction. “This complicates life for those who are lookingat investments that have a 2-5 year investment horizon. Butagain, the idea is to find the price level that slows down therate of growth considerably to something more sustain-able-and that takes more than 2 to 3 quarters of lower oilprices.”

The drop in oil prices has forced companies to free upcapital to help balance their books at the expense of allo-cating cash to expensive new projects. In some cases,investment decisions have been delayed to allow moretime to reset cost structures on projects. Companies such asBP, Total and Norway’s Statoil have postponed projectsranging from the Gulf of Mexico to the UK North Sea,Nigeria and Indonesia and dozens of other projects wouldbe also likely delayed, according to Norwegian consultancyRystad Energy.

Consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimated around 10.6billion barrels of oil equivalent potentially retrievable fromdeep and ultra-deep offshore projects has been deferred,followed by 5.6 billion barrels trapped in oil sands. “We’veslowed the pace in deep water.” Ben Van Buerden, chiefexecutive of Royal Dutch Shell’s, said in January. Globaldeepwater production reached 8.8 million barrels per day in2014, almost 10 percent of global demand.

OPEC focuses on rival megaprojects, lives with shale

SEOUL: A currency trader watches monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters yesterday. — AP

B U S I N E S STHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

EXCHANGE RATES

Bahrain Exchange Company

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

ASIAN COUNTRIESJapanese Yen 2.524Indian Rupees 4.604Pakistani Rupees 2.898Srilankan Rupees 2.161Nepali Rupees 2.852Singapore Dollar 215.870Hongkong Dollar 39.054Bangladesh Taka 3.890Philippine Peso 6.506Thai Baht 8.483

GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 80.750Qatari Riyal 83.180Omani Riyal 786.510Bahraini Dinar 804.170UAE Dirham 82.443

ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 40.820Egyptian Pound - Transfer 38.678Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.413Tunisian Dinar 155.840Jordanian Dinar 426.870Lebanese Lira/for 1000 2.018Syrian Lira 2.158Morocco Dirham 31.724

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 302.650Euro 343.810Sterling Pound 471.680Canadian dollar 229.800Turkish lira 100.320Swiss Franc 313.950Australian dollar 218.660US Dollar Buying 301.450

CURRENCY BUY SELLEuropeBritish Pound 0.463140 0.472140Czech Korune 0.004618 0.016618Danish Krone 0.041776 0.046776Euro 0.336596 0.344598Norwegian Krone 0.033001 0.038201Romanian Leu 0.077148 0.077148Slovakia 0.009018 0.019018Swedish Krona 0.032612 0.037612Swiss Franc 0.305900 0.316100Turkish Lira 0.096556 0.106856

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.208498 0.219998New Zealand Dollar 0.185889 0.195389

AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.223542 0.232042US Dollars 0.298550 0.303050

US Dollars Mint 0.299050 0.303050

AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.003425 0.004025Chinese Yuan 0.046051 0.049551Hong Kong Dollar 0.036961 0.039711Indian upee 0.004365 0.004755Indonesian Rupiah 0.000017 0.000023Japanese Yen 0.002439 0.002619Kenyan Shilling 0.002858 0.002858Korean Won 0.000247 0.000262Malaysian Ringgit 0.068410 0.074410Nepalese Rupee 0.002899 0.003069Pakistan Rupee 0.002835 0.003115Philippine Peso 0.006367 0.006647Sierra Leone 0.000067 0.000073Singapore Dollar 0.211575 0.217575South African Rand 0.016593 0.025093Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001859 0.002439Taiwan 0.009192 0.009372Thai Baht 0.008175 0.008725

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.795579 0.803579Egyptian Pound 0.037809 0.040639Iranian Riyal 0.000084 0.000085Iraqi Dinar 0.000198 0.000258Jordanian Dinar 0.422863 0.430363Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000Lebanese Pound 0.000150 0.000250Moroccan Dirhams 0.020468 0.044468Nigerian Naira 0.000921 0.001556Omani Riyal 0.779684 0.785364Qatar Riyal 0.082419 0.083632Saudi Riyal 0.080070 0.080770Syrian Pound 0.001283 0.001503Tunisian Dinar 0.151857 0.159857Turkish Lira 0.096556 0.106856UAE Dirhams 0.081419 0.082568Yemeni Riyal 0.001368 0.001448

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

CURRENCIES TELEX TRANSFER PER 1000Australian Dollar 195.69Canadian Dollar 231.84Swiss Franc 317.29Euro 345.54US Dollar 302.85Sterling Pound 469.68Japanese Yen 2.56Bangladesh Taka 3.888Indian Rupee 4.560Sri Lankan Rupee 2.182Nepali Rupee 2.850Pakistani Rupee 2.898UAE Dirhams 0.08240Bahraini Dinar 0.8048Egyptian Pound 0.03857Jordanian Dinar 0.4307Omani Riyal 0.7864Qatari Riyal 0.08350Saudi Riyal 0.08078

Rate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 302.900Canadian Dollar 230.445Sterling Pound 467.985Euro 343.905Swiss Frank 294.310Bahrain Dinar 803.930UAE Dirhams 82.765Qatari Riyals 90.745Saudi Riyals 81.500

Jordanian Dinar 426.815Egyptian Pound 38.572Sri Lankan Rupees 2.174Indian Rupees 4.555Pakistani Rupees 2.902Bangladesh Taka 3.885Philippines Pesso 6.470Cyprus pound 576.925Japanese Yen 3.515Syrian Pound 2.600Nepalese Rupees 3.840Malaysian Ringgit 71.050Chinese Yuan Renminbi 47.895Thai Bhat 9.395Turkish Lira 99.160

GOLD20 gram 226.69010 gram 116.0405 gram 58.700

LONDON: European shares rose yesterday after businessactivity data pointed to steady growth across the conti-nent, contrasting starkly with figures that showed thebiggest contraction in China’s manufacturing sector sincethe global financial crisis. The Chinese purchasing man-agers index intensified fears that a slowdown in theworld’s second-largest economy will spread more widely,hitting Asian markets, but those fears were later allayedby the European PMIs.

A recovery in the shares of scandal-hit Volkswagen,which had lost more than a third of their value in the firsttwo days of this week, also spurred the recovery inEuropean shares. S&P mini futures pointed to a higheropen on Wall Street. “Headwinds from the emerging mar-ket turmoil are not derailing the euro zone recovery,” saidMarco Valli, chief euro zone economist at Unicredit.“While weakness in world trade is unlikely to be reversedsoon - the latest news from China points to a further lossof momentum there - the euro zone continues to benefitfrom past euro depreciation and the recovery in domes-tic demand,” he said.

At midday in Europe the FTSEuroFirst index of leading300 European shares was up 0.6 percent at 1,373 points,Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were up 0.7 percent,and Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 1.4 percent. Volkswagen AGwas in the spotlight again after the company said a scan-

dal over falsified U.S. vehicle emission tests could affect11 million of its cars around the globe as investigations ofits diesel models multiplied, heaping fresh pressure onCEO Martin Winterkorn.

The share price fell as much as 8 percent early yester-day before rebounding to trade 3 percent higher. Itplunged 37 percent over Monday and Tuesday. Asianstocks, however, posted their biggest single-day fall in amonth, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific sharesoutside Japan down 2.3 percent, its biggest daily losssince Aug. 24, according to Thomson Reuters data. TheMSCI world index was down 0.1 percent, marking thefourth consecutive daily loss.

The preliminary Caixin/Markit China ManufacturingPurchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to its worst levelsince March 2009. “The decline was driven by a fall in neworders and new export orders. Falling demand bothdomestically and abroad is only going to make the taskof achieving 7 percent growth that much harder,” saidCraig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda in London.The Chinese data came after the US central bankrefrained from lifting interest rates for the first time innearly a decade last week, citing concerns that globalproblems, and China in particular, may hurt the US recov-ery. However, the resilience of European stocks cooledovernight demand for safe-haven fixed-income assets.

The benchmark two-year U.S. Treasury yield edged up to0.7 percent, and the yield on the 10-year US bond rose 3basis points to 2.16 percent. Yields on benchmarkGerman bonds also rose as much as 3 basis points. Thepositive reaction in Europe to the PMIs helped the euroto rise a third of one percent to $1.1160. The dollar waslittle changed against the yen at 120.20 yen.

In emerging markets, Brazil’s real languished at arecord low against the dollar, having fallen through the 4per dollar level on Tuesday for the first time ever.. It hasnow lost around 35 percent this year. In commodities U.S.crude futures rose 0.7 percent to $46.70 per barrel, whileBrent futures rose 0.5 percent firmer to $49.35. Copperrecovered in European trading from near four-week lowsovernight in Asia. It was last up 0.5 percent having earlierposted its biggest one-day drop in more than twomonths as fund and speculative selling pushed pricesdown following the Chinese PMI report. Platinum slid to afresh 6-1/2-year low on fears about reduced demandfrom the auto sector, where it is used in diesel catalysts toclean up exhaust emissions. It fell to its lowest sinceJanuary 2009 at $925.30 an ounce, before recoupingsome losses to trade up 0.3 percent at $937.20. The metalhas been hurt by news of Volkswagen’s falsification of USvehicle emission tests as investors believed it could affectdemand for diesel cars. — Reuters

Europe resilience trumps

another slump in China Volkswagen shares rebound

LONDON: Platinum slid to a fresh 6-1/2-year lowyesterday on fears about reduced demand fromthe auto sector, where it is used in diesel catalyststo clean up exhaust emissions. The metal hasbeen hurt by news of Volkswagen AG’s falsifica-tion of US vehicle emission tests as investorsbelieved it could affect demand for diesel cars. Itfell to its lowest since January 2009 at $925.30 anounce, before recouping some losses to trade up0.7 percent at $940.55 by 1202 GMT.

“I would say at this point that the growth story,if there was a growth story for diesel cars in theUS, is dead for now, which is something that takesaway some potential upside for platinumdemand,” Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke said.Gold firmed, following two days of losses, as thedollar fell 0.1 percent against a basket of leadingcurrencies, while weak Chinese factory datasoured investor appetite for risk.

Gold rose 0.5 percent to $1,130.60 an ounce,after losing 1.3 percent over the past two days onrenewed expectations that the Federal Reservewill raise U.S. interest rates for the first time innearly a decade by the end of the year. “There issome typical risk-off trade in gold ... but it seems

that investors are still very much reluctant to addsafe-havens to the portfolios,” Menke said.

European shares rebounded from a lowerstart, although remaining volatile due to a fall inAsian stocks after a private survey showed activityin China’s factory sector unexpectedly shrank to a6-1/2-year low in September. Gold’s outlook, how-ever, continues to be clouded by a looming USinterest rate hike. The Fed stood pat on interestrates last week but the US central bank has alsosaid it would move to increase rates later this year.

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said onMonday that last week’s decision was largely a“risk management” exercise, and he still expectsan increase this year. St. Louis Fed President JamesBullard said the central bank could lift rates at itsOctober meeting. Higher rates would dentdemand for non-interest-paying gold, whileboosting the dollar. Inflows into SPDR Gold Trust,the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-tradedfund, supported prices yesterday. The fund’s hold-ings rose 0.18 percent to 675.80 tonnes onTuesday, the first inflow in almost a month. Silverrose 0.8 percent to $14.84 an ounce and palladi-um gained 2.7 percent to $621.22. — Reuters

Platinum drops over

Volkswagen scandal

CAIRO: Ahmed and Mohamed are both mar-ried with children but still live with theirmother, unable to afford one of the hundredsof thousands of homes sitting empty inEgypt’s capital. A construction boom has seennew housing developments mushroomaround Cairo but they are out of reach formany, including the two brothers in their 30s.Instead they share a three-bedroom apart-ment with their wives, three children, anotherbrother and their mother, for a combined rentof around $10 a month.

Away from their rubbish-strewn neighbor-hood with its tenements and narrow alleys,empty and unfinished buildings flank the ringroad that circles the vast metropolis. Outsidethe city, gated compounds of villas, lush gar-dens and golf courses in the desert awaitthose with fortunes. Almost half of Cairo’spopulation of about 20 million lives in infor-mal settlements with poor infrastructure andbuildings often constructed with no permits.

At the same time, the government saysthere are 1.5 million vacant homes across thecountry. In 2013, then-housing minister Tarek

Wafik, quoted by state-run newspaper Al-Ahram, said 30 percent of the country’s hous-ing units were left unused. According toexperts, empty units are either held as aninvestment by their owner, bought for chil-dren for when they get married, or remainempty because they have no water or elec-tricity.

Experts blame the authorities for allowinghousing prices to rise while not creatingenough affordable social housing. “Thoseprojects are not made for us,” said Ahmed, afather-of-two who earns about $160 a monthworking at a slaughter house. “If you have themeans, you can pay and have one. If not, no,”he said. Mohamed’s wife Rahma Nafea, who ispregnant and expecting a second child, alsodreams of having a home of her own. “But wejust have enough to buy food and coverexpenses for the children,” the 18-year-oldhousewife said.

‘I Lost Hope’ A 2007 government decree that removed

many restrictions on property purchases byforeigners was followed by a boom in con-struction of high end real estate. According toYahya Shawkat, an urban planner andfounder of the 10-Tooba research centre, thegovernment encouraged an increase in hous-ing prices by deregulating the market. Theprice of land in Cairo’s satellite neighbour-hoods, for example, increased fourfoldbetween 2007 and 2013, according toShawkat.

In a country where 26 percent of the pop-ulation lives below the poverty line, socialhousing has become a pressing need, but it isoften beyond the means of those who mostneed it. “There is a high demand for socialhousing, but the homes that are available areluxury ones,” said Manal Al-Tibi, the director ofthe Egyptian Centre for Housing Rights. In2011, after a popular revolt that overthrewveteran president Hosni Mubarak, the gov-ernment announced it would build one mil-lion affordable homes over five years.

The project floundered during the years ofpolitical instability that followed Mubarak’s

ouster, with only 70,000 houses completed,deputy housing minister Khaled Abbas said.Measures have been taken to ensure thehomes go to people who deserve them, headded. “Not just anyone can come and take a

unit,” Abbas said. “There is an income ceiling.”The government budget for this fiscal yearallots about $1.7 billion for social housing, 19percent more than last year’s budget, accord-ing to the government. — AFP

Empty Cairo homes beyond reach of poor

LONDON: Brent crude oil rose towards $50a barrel yesterday as a drawdown in UScrude oil stocks outweighed the negativeimpact of weak economic manufacturingdata from China. The American PetroleumInstitute (API) said US crude stockpiles fell3.7 million barrels last week, with stocks atthe Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point forUS crude futures down almost 500,000 bar-rels. Although total US oil inventories are atrecord highs, the draw suggests a rebal-ancing of the biggest domestic oil marketis under way as oil production slows in theface of low prices.

Benchmark Brent was up 30 cents a bar-rel at $49.38 by 1145 GMT. US light crudewas up 40 cents at $46.76. The US industrydata helped oil resist the negative impactof a sharp contraction in Chinese manufac-turing, which darkened the outlook for theworld economy. Flagging demand is drag-ging China’s factory sector into its sharpestcontraction in 6-1/2 years, a private surveyshowed on Wednesday, triggering a flightto safety in Asian markets that analysts saycould extend across the globe.

The preliminary Caixin/Markit ChinaManufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Indexfell to 47.0 in September, its lowest sinceMarch 2009. Levels below 50 show a con-

traction. Oil prices have been weak for overa year and are now less than half their peaklevels in 2014 thanks to massive oversup-ply by oil producers in the Middle East andNorth America. Some analysts say oil pricescould be about to recover, particularly ifofficial US government figures confirm thatthe oil market there is starting to tighten.

The US Energy InformationAdministration was to publish its figures at10:30 am EDT (1430 GMT) yesterday. “If theEIA confirms the crude draw this after-noon, the market could go even higher,”said Tamas Varga, analyst at London bro-kerage PVM Oil Associates. “It is now notunreasonable to expect higher prices.”

I nvestors remain worr ied aboutChina. “China’s economic slowdown con-tinues, with factory output and invest-ment growth both failing to hit targets,”oi l consultancy Energy Aspects said.“With the economy showing little sign ofrecovery, the 7 percent GDP growth tar-get set by the government may provedifficult to achieve,” it added. EnergyAspects said it expected global crudedemand for the second half of the yearto grow at only 1 million barrels per day(bpd), down from almost 2 million bpdin the first half. — Reuters

Oil nears $50

CAIRO: Egyptian street vendors ride a cart in front of empty apartment build-ings in Giza, on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital, on Sept 10, 2015. — AFP

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

B U S I N E S S

SHANGHAI: Chinese luxury auto dealer Sunfondawas in the fast lane to success as the country boomedbut a slowdown in the world’s number two economyhas slammed the brakes on the firm’s ambitions. Theworst economic performance in a quarter centuryand a prolonged government crackdown on corrup-tion have hammered luxury car sales in the country,and Sunfonda last month announced a 75 percentslump in first-half net profits. Sunfonda set up its firstdealership for Germany’s Audi in Xian 13 years ago,and accelerated as China overtook the US to becomethe world’s biggest auto market in 2009.

Even in lagging inland provinces far from China’sdeveloped eastern coast, new fortunes built on aresources boom and property speculation fuelleddemand for luxury cars. Sunfonda now has 28 outletsin seven provinces, grouping brands such as Porsche,Mercedes and Maserati, and more than 2,000employees. But stumbling growth and a crackdownon graft launched by Chinese President Xi Jinpingmore than two years ago have hit the company.

Chinese share prices have plummeted since June,wiping out paper wealth and knocking sentiment,crucial to high-end auto sales as an uncertain futuremakes people less likely to spend big. “It is a realitythat China is now seeing slower economic growthand a sluggish luxury car segment,” Sunfonda said in

a letter to a dealer industry group, which was seen byAFP. China is crucial to foreign auto makers, whichdominate the market, given weak sales in Europe anda still recovering United States.

There were 23 million vehicles sold last year, a 6.9percent annual rise, but some forecasters are predict-ing a fall this year, forcing manufacturers in the coun-try to slash prices and cut production. Some dealershave even demanded compensation from automak-ers, in cash or subsidies, as unsold stocks mount.“Inventories are increasing, sales slowing and (manu-facturers) are starting to reconsider their productionstrategy - all signs of increasing competition and amuch tougher environment,” said Lian Hoon Lim,managing director of advisory firm AlixPartners. Headded that 2015 was likely to be a “downbeat year”.

Driving Away? In the latest blow for Sunfonda, Italian sports car

builder Maserati has said it is terminating agreementsfor dealerships in Xian, Taiyuan and Yinchuan.According to a Sunfonda executive the three have lostat least 24 million yuan ($3.8 million) combined. TheChinese company is now seeking legal arbitration inShanghai over the termination, claiming the originalcontracts were unfair. “It was OK before as conflictswere hidden while everyone was making money,” the

Sunfonda representative told AFP, declining to benamed due to the legal proceedings. “However, lowprofitability has now revealed the conflicts.”

Maserati said in a statement it was not pulling outof the three cities, only changing its local Chinesepartner to give its brand more focus. But Maserati CEOHarald Wester told AFP in April that maintaining Chinasales at last year’s 9,400 vehicles would be “a very diffi-cult task”. Hong Kong-listed Sunfonda is responding tothe downturn by adding dealerships for more budget-oriented brands such as Ford of the United States andVolvo, owned by China’s Geely, as well as expandingits auto servicing and used car offerings.

In the first eight months of the year, China’s over-all auto sales reached 15.02 million vehicles, flatfrom the same period in 2014, according to anindustry group. But the China sales of US auto giantGeneral Motors dropped 4.8 percent year-on-year inAugust, according to the company. Ford, which hasalready cut production in China, recorded a 3.0 per-cent fall in its sales in the country last month. Thedevelopments are changing the nature of competi-tion in a market that once offered dazzlingprospects. Yale Zhang, managing director of indus-try research firm AutoForesight in Shanghai, toldAFP: “In a weak economy, whoever slides the slowestwill be the winner.” — AFP

BEIJING: Chinese factory activity shrank atits fastest pace in six and a half years inSeptember, data showed yesterday, the lat-est in a litany of bad news undermininghopes of an uptick in the world’s second-largest economy. The news sent Chinesestock markets down and will come as a fur-ther worry to global investors already fret-ting about the spillover effects of China’sslowdown. It also comes a day after theAsian Development Bank became the latestinternational body to lower its growth fore-casts for China, a key driver of the globaleconomy.

Preliminary figures from financial pub-lisher Caixin’s closely watched PurchasingManagers’ Index (PMI) showed manufactur-ing had slowed for the seventh consecutivemonth. The details do “not bode well forfuture production” said economists atNomura. “Demand - especially externaldemand -remains sluggish.” China is theworld’s biggest trader in goods, whosemanufactured items sell worldwide, so low-er demand for its products is a telling sign ofthe state of global economic health.

Slowing production lines need less fromcommodity-supplying countries, meaning aknock-on effect for economies around theworld. Chinese authorities are trying torebalance the economy - which accountsfor one out of every eight dollars of world-

wide GDP - from one reliant on exports andheavy government investment in infrastruc-ture to one where domestic consumption isthe main driver. But weak data in the currentquarter has raised alarm bells over how rap-idly the old economy is slowing andwhether the new one is expanding fastenough to take up the slack.

The Caixin PMI is closely watched byinvestors around the world for clues onChina’s economic health as it is the first reg-ular statistic to be announced for eachmonth. The preliminary figure of 47.0 wasthe seventh consecutive month of contrac-tion and the worst since March 2009, in thedepths of the global financial crisis. It wasbelow August’s result and also missed econ-omists’ forecasts according to BloombergNews. A result below 50 indicates the manu-facturing sector is shrinking, while anythingabove shows expansion.

He Fan, chief economist at CaixinInsight Group, which released the data,said the decline showed manufacturingindustry had “reached a crucial stage inthe structural transformation process”. In astatement accompanying the PMI figures,he blamed the weakness mainly on slug-gish external demand for Chinese goodsand lower export prices. The benchmarkShanghai Composite Index ended downmore than two percent on Wednesday

after the PMI figures, while other Asianmarkets also sank.

‘Downward Risks’ China’s economy expanded 7.3 percent

last year, the weakest pace since 1990, andslowed further to 7.0 percent in each of thefirst two quarters this year. The governmenthas cut interest rates five times sinceNovember as part of efforts to shore upgrowth. It also lowered the Chinese curren-cy’s central rate against the US dollar bynearly five percent in a week, which shouldmake Chinese goods cheaper overseas. Thefinance ministry earlier this month alsovowed to adopt “stronger” fiscal policies.

But authorities’ aggressive interventionto try to shore up share prices as a bubbleburst on China’s own stock exchanges hasraised questions over their economic man-agement and commitment to marketreforms. Capital Economics analyst JulianEvans-Pritchard said current pessimismabout China was “overdone”. The countrystill faces “structural drags” on growthincluding a continued slowdown in proper-ty construction, he said. But key leadingindicators such as fiscal spending and cred-it growth were showing positive signs. “Wecontinue to expect a cyclical recovery ineconomic activity over the coming quar-ters,” he wrote in a note. — AFP

China slowdown slams

brakes on auto marketDevelopments changing nature of competition

SHANGHAI: US aerospace giant Boeing hasreached deals with Chinese firms to sell 300aircraft and set up a completion centre inChina, state media and its local partner saidyesterday, as President Xi Jinping began a visitto the United States. The massive order, whichwas not immediately confirmed by Boeing,demonstrates the vital importance of theChinese market despite a growth slowdownthat threatens to slow the expansion of airtravel. The state-owned Commercial AircraftCorporation of China (COMAC) also reachedan agreement with Boeing to set up a “com-pletion centre” in China for its narrow-body737 airliners, Xinhua said.

It represents a step-up in Boeing’s competi-tion in China with European rival Airbus, whichalready has a manufacturing presence there.The Xinhua report, datelined from Seattlewhere Xi on Tuesday started his first US statevisit, gave no details of the models bought bya group of Chinese companies or the value ofthe sale. Aviation analyst Shukor Yusofdescribed it as the biggest ever order by acountry. Xi was due to visit Boeing’s mainaeroplane factory in Washington state yester-day. “China’s rapidly growing aviation marketplays a crucial role in our current and futuresuccess,” Boeing chairman Jim McNerney saidin a statement last week.

COMAC confirmed to AFP that it will set up ajoint venture with Boeing for interior comple-tion, painting and other delivery support serv-ices for Chinese customers. “This shows cooper-ation between Boeing and a Chinese enterprisehas been lifted to a major-manufacturer level,” itsaid in a statement. The wording echoes the“new model of major country relations” phrasethat Chinese officials use to describe ties withthe US, suggesting parity between the powers.

China is expected to add 6,330 new aircraft

worth $950 billion to its commercial fleet by2034, Boeing said last month in its annual ChinaCurrent Market Outlook. “The emerging middleclass in China is helping to boost demand,”Mohshin Aziz, an analyst at Malayan BankingBhd, told Bloomberg News. “Most of the planesordered will be for growth and very few will befor replacement.”

Shift for Boeing A completion centre in China for the medi-

um-range Boeing 737 will be the firm’s firstoutside the US. European rival Airbus alreadyhas a final assembly operation for medium-range Airbus 320 aircraft in the northern portcity of Tianjin, and plans to open a completionand delivery centre for long-haul A330s. Butthe move could be controversial for Boeing athome. Ray Conner, chief executive officer ofBoeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a memoto employees Tuesday that it will not result inlayoffs at its Washington state plant,Bloomberg News said.

A report by the Shanghai Securities Newson Tuesday said plans for a Boeing facility inthe eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang havealready been submitted to the central govern-ment for approval. COMAC is already develop-ing a Chinese narrow-body, the C919, as well asa smaller regional jet, the ARJ21, in the com-mercial hub Shanghai. Shukor, with Malaysia-based Endau Analytics, said China was uniquein that orders came from the government andplanes were then distributed to the airlinesand leasing companies. “To put it simply, it’s atrade-off,” he told AFP. “China buys 300 aircraftand Boeing builds a plant in China in return.”Shukor said China was leveraging the rivalrybetween Boeing and Airbus to get the best ofboth worlds in developing its own aircraftmanufacturing. — AFP

Boeing sells China 300

planes, agrees plant

SEATTLE: Boeing Co Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg attends the welcoming ban-quet for Chinese President Xi Jinping at the start of his visit to the United States atthe Westin Hotel on Tuesday. — AP

BEIJING: President Xi Jinping is visiting theUnited States as leader of a China whose imageof economic success has taken a beating. Stockmarket turmoil and a surprise currency devalua-tion fueled fears of a Chinese slump with globalrepercussions. But even a weaker China still ison track to turn in some of the world’s strongestgrowth this year. And some industries includingretailing are expanding at double-digit rates.China’s 5-year-old slowdown is self-imposed asthe ruling Communist Party tries to steer theworld’s second-largest economy to more self-sustaining growth based on domestic con-sumption. Steel and construction suffered asthe party put the brakes on an investmentboom, but as job creators they already havebeen supplanted by e-commerce, tourism andother service industries.

“Those touting China’s sudden fragility areeither exaggerating current problems or haveentirely missed the slowdown of the past sever-al years,” said China Beige Book, a US researchfirm, in a report this week. It said China’s imagemight be “more thoroughly divorced from factson the ground” than at any time since it beganconducting surveys of the country’s economyfive years ago. Xi started his US visit Tuesday

with a stop in Seattle to meet business leadersand visit Boeing Co. and Microsoft Corp. OnThursday, he goes to Washington to meetPresident Barack Obama.

This year, Beijing is expected to reportgrowth of 6.5 percent to 7 percent. That is downfrom last year’s 7.3 percent but more than dou-ble the 3.1 percent forecast for the US by theInternational Monetary Fund. Only India isexpected to grow faster at 7.5 percent. Theslowdown came as no surprise: Economistswarned nearly a decade ago the model basedon trade and investment that delivered threedecades of growth had run out of steam.Communist leaders told the public to preparefor wrenching change.

A falling growth rate also is a symptom ofChina’s success. Its economy passed Japan’s insize in 2009 and since then has added another 11/2 Japans to its output. That means Chinaneeds to generate twice as much additionaleconomic activity to keep growing at the samepercentage rate. Some forecasters suggestBeijing overstates growth and the true ratemight be as low as 5 percent. Even at that level,China will add almost one Indonesia to its econ-omy this year.

Weakness in shipbuilding, construction andheavy industry are signs of progress in Beijing’scampaign to transform a nation of farmers and

factory workers into a consumer-driven econo-my and creator of technology. E-commerce,restaurants and other services for China’s own

consumers accounted for 41.7 percent ofemployment in the latest quarter, well ahead ofmanufacturing’s 34.7 percent, according to gov-ernment data.

Retail sales grew by 10.4 percent in August.E-commerce grew at twice that rate, generatingnew jobs in logistics and delivery services.Business at Tiantian Express, a delivery companyin the eastern city of Qingdao, has tripled overthe past year, according to its operations man-ager, Sun Qiang. He said its workforce doubledin size to 150. “There is still big room for growth,”said Sun. Faith in China’s ability to surge aheadwhile the rest of the world struggled was shak-en by the collapse of a stock price bubble. Yetthe economic meltdown many feared nevermaterialized. That was due to the fact that,unlike stock markets in the United States orEurope, China’s has few links to what commu-nist leaders call “the real economy”. The biggestpublicly traded companies are state-owned, sotraders make decisions based on official policyand availability of credit. Only about 7 percentof Chinese households own stocks, which is afraction of levels in the United States, Europe orJapan, so losses had little impact on consumerspending. — AP

China economy: Weakened but still growing

BEIJING: A Chinese couple chat as a model poses next to a Mercedes-BenzAMG GT S model on display during a promotional event at a shopping mallyesterday. — AP

SHANGHAI: A man passes by a Maserati showroom, run by Chinese luxury automobile dealer Sunfonda Group, on Sept 21, 2015. — AFP

China manufacturing activity slowing again

BEIJING: A Chinese laborer walks in the Guomao district of the capital yesterday. Chinese factory activity shrank atits fastest pace in six and a half years in September. — AFP

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

B U S I N E S S

YANGON: Wearing an expression of intense concentra-tion, Myanmar garment worker Htet Myat Nyein stitchesjackets bound for wealthy foreign high streets, part of abooming industry fuelling much of the country’s mod-ernization drive. “I learned to sew at this factory,” she tellsAFP, her soft voice almost lost in the clatter of sewingmachines at the Shweyi Zabe factory on the fast-indus-trialising outskirts of Yangon.

Most families in her hardscrabble Hlaing Thar Yarneighbourhood still survive on remittances from abroad- the legacy of decades of brutal rule and economic mis-management under the former junta. Htet Myat Nyein,her cheeks dusted with circles of traditional thanakapowder, says there are just two career paths for thosewho remain in her neighbourhood: “Garment work andbeauty parlours, that is all.”

Myanmar has pinned its hopes on industrialisationas it looks to reshape an economy long-dominated bysubsistence agriculture and resource extraction thatenriched a tiny elite but did nothing to lift living stan-dards in one of the world’s poorest nations. Plans tobuild a prosperous Myanmar, which still languishesaround the bottom of global development tables, reston the outcome of the Nov 8 elections pitting the army-

backed ruling party against Aung San Suu Kyi’s NationalLeague for Democracy (NLD).

Suu Kyi, who recently toured a garment factory withAngelina Jolie, is widely expected to lead her party to asweeping win in the first nationwide election it hasfought in a quarter century. But with the next presidentyet to be decided - under the military drafted constitu-tion Suu Kyi is banned from the top post - questionsabound over the possible trajectory of reforms.

Fast Growing Economy Nonetheless with the World Bank’s projections plac-

ing Myanmar as the world’s fourth fastest growing econ-omy, the emergent nation is a tempting prospect.Ideally located between China and India it boasts a 51million strong population offering both cheap labourand potential new consumers. Garment making isexpanding fast. Exports last year reached $1.5 billion -14 percent of the country’s total exports - according tothe Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association,which says some 70 percent of industrial jobs in Yangonare now in the sector. The country has already attractedmajor fashion brands, including high street staples Gapand H&M.

Overall foreign investment to Myanmar jumped to$8 billion this year, double the government’s target,while the country’s first Special Economic Zone (SEZ),the Japan-backed Thilawa project near Yangon, is stir-ring to life. But Myanmar will have to develop fast if it isto challenge regional garment manufacturing hubs likeCambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Between 60 and70 percent of Myanmar’s citizens still work in agriculture.

Political uncertainties have also dampened theinvestment buzz as the nation heads towards crucialelections, while firms face a host of challenges includingunstable electricity, patchy communications, poor infra-structure and significant corruption. Sean Turnell, anexpert on Myanmar’s economy who has advised SuuKyi’s party, said a “manufacturing renaissance” could seethe sector as a whole account for up to 30 percent of theeconomy. “I very much expect that the NLD will imple-ment policies sufficiently pro-growth and developmentthat effectively all of Myanmar becomes one enormousand prosperous SEZ,” he told AFP. The West has wel-comed many of Myanmar’s reforms, including betterlabor rights and ending draconian media censorship,although there have been rising fears of backtracking inrecent months. — AFP

NEW DELHI: Tech titans will court IndianPrime Minister Narendra Modi in SiliconValley this weekend, but away from theglitz, the euphoria of his first trip to theUnited States a year ago has faded aspromised deals stall and key reformsflounder. A firm believer in the neweconomy and power of social media,Modi will be welcomed by Apple,Facebook and Google, who want togrow in a market where the world’s third-largest internet user base is set to multi-ply in coming years.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is due to dropby Modi’s hotel in San Jose, before theIndian leader joins Mark Zuckerberg for a“townhall” session broadcast live fromFacebook headquarters. He will be ableto relive some of the glory of 2014’s rockstar-like Madison Square Garden rally inNew York when he addresses 17,000Indian expatriates at San Jose’s “SharkTank” sports arena on Sunday.

Modi’s standing in the United Statesrose further when US President BarackObama visited India in January and thetwo tightened defence and civil nuclearcooperation with a promise of billions ofdollars of business. The relationship is stillevolving, with the world’s two biggestdemocracies agreeing on Tuesday tojointly train peacekeepers in Africa, a stepin a growing military alignment partlyaimed at balancing China’s expansion.

But in other areas, progress has beenslow. Western businesses and diplomatsin Delhi privately say Modi’s reputationas a man of action has been hurt by set-backs on economic reform. Some carpthat he is better at speeches and launch-ing projects than seeing them through.The Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Q3 AsianBusiness Sentiment Survey found onWednesday that optimism among Indiancompanies, while still high, had beendented by the slow pace of reform.

US lawmakers wrote to the Obamaadministration on Monday complainingabout barriers to trade they said hadgot worse under Modi, as well as dis-putes over copyrights and patents. “Thesheen is off, certainly. He is no longerthe new kid on the block,” said NeelamDeo, a former Indian diplomat inWashington now at Gateway House, athink-tank. “The first trip was euphoric,this one is much more a consolidationphase of the relationship.”

Chopper Red TapeOn Tuesday, India’s cabinet approved

a $2.5 billion purchase of 37 Apache andChinook helicopters from Boeing, givingModi something concrete for when hemeets Obama on Monday. But the clear-ance came more than a year after thedeal was agreed by the defence ministry,highlighting the lack of funds due to a

slower-than-expected pick-up in India’seconomy and the bureaucratic morassthat plagues ties between the countries.“We have formidable bureaucracies onboth sides,” with residual mistrust from

the Cold War, said Lalit Mansingh, a for-mer Indian ambassador to Washington,referring to India’s previous strong tieswith the Soviet Union. “Things are boundto be slow.” — Reuters

Myanmar workers long for

‘manufacturing renaissance’Garment making expanding fast

NEW DELHI: India is ready to investmore than $15.2 billion to build proj-ects in Iran including taking up full-scale development of Chabahar Port ifTehran offers better terms includingcheaper gas, Shipping Minister NitinGadkari said yesterday. India is one ofthe handful countries that continuedtrade l inks with I ran, isolated byWestern countries against its disputednuclear program. New Delhi is Tehran’ssecond biggest oil client after Beijing.“We are ready to make a huge invest-ment in Iran and this is mainly linked togas pricing offered by Iran ... Gas priceis a crucial issue,” Gadkari told a newsconference.

Days before the historic nuclear dealbetween Tehran and the West in July,President Hassan Rouhani offered Indiaa greater role in infrastructure projectsincluding overal l development ofChabahar port. India hopes to take adecision on Iran’s latest offer by earlyOctober after obtaining reports fromother ministries including petroleum,chemical and fertiliser, and steel byMonday, Shipping Secretar y RajiveKumar said.

The port of Chabahar in southeastIran is central to India’s efforts to cir-

cumvent arch-rival Pakistan and openup a route to landlocked Afghanistanwhere it has developed close securityties and economic interests. The portcan also ser ve as a gateway to theresource-rich countries of Central Asia.In May, Gadkari and his Iranian counter-part, Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi, signedan $85 million deal for India to leasetwo existing berths at the port and usethem as multi-purpose cargo terminals.

With the easing of sanctions NewDelhi is hoping for a greater andstronger role in Iran’s development bytaking up projects including buildingurea and petrochemical projects usinggas produced in the OPEC-membernation. India is seeking gas at $1.50 permillion British thermal units (mmBtu)compared to $2.95 offered by Iran forbuilding a urea plant there, Gadkarisaid. He said building a plant in Iranand importing urea from there to Indiawill help save a part of the 800 billionrupees ($12.13 billion) in subsidies andhalve the prices for farmers. “If the gasprice is reasonable then all depart-ments in India can together take upprojects in the special economic zonethere and investment will be more than1 trillion rupees,” he said. — Reuters

India ready to invest

over $15bn in Iran

Delhi seeks cheaper gas

DAMASCUS: Grapes from rebel territory,watermelons from land under jihadist con-trol, potatoes from a regime-held area -every morning the Syria torn apart by waris reunited at the Al-Hal Souk in Damascus.More than four years of fighting betweenPresident Bashar Al-Assad’s regime anddisparate rebel groups has left Syria apatchwork of fiefdoms. Damascus andcoastal areas remain under governmentcontrol, the Islamic State group holdsswathes of the east and the rest of thecountry is divided among other rebel fac-tions, from Al-Qaeda-linked fighters toKurdish militia.

But at the Al-Hal Souk wholesale foodmarket in eastern Damascus, amidst thevendors hawking their goods and deliverytrucks honking their horns, an echo of theold Syria survives. “When it comes to food,everyone comes together. The stomachhas no political opinions,” said Fares, 32,who sells apples from a farm in Zabadani,about 45 km northwest of Damascus. Theregion is famed for its apples but with reg-ular clashes there between the army andrebels, deliveries are irregular.

On one recent day at the market Fareswas lucky. Thanks to a ceasefire the daybefore, boxes of apples were piled high infront of his stall. “The delivery man arrivedtoday, no problem,” he said with a smile.The souk - founded when Syria was underFrench administration from 1920 to 1946and named after Paris’s famed Les Hallesmarket - holds more than 300 stalls in anarea of less than a square kilometre. In thesurrounding streets, delivery trucksmanouevre through narrow passages,jostling for space with cars and porters.

‘All Provinces of Syria’ The market sits on the edge of the

Damascus suburb of Jobar, a frontline thathas seen heavy clashes. Some 15 peoplewere killed and dozens wounded as shellsfell on the area in recent days, but the traf-fic at the market continues. Between 6:00am and noon every day, more than 400tonnes of goods change hands, makingtheir way from the market throughoutDamascus and the rest of the country.Truckers like 30-year-old Abu Abdo are themarket’s lifeblood, carrying produce on

often-fraught journeys through territory inmany different hands.

“It took me 17 hours to bring these 15tonnes of red and green chilli peppers from

Deir Hafer, in the countryside of Aleppo,passing through Raqa and Palmyra,” bothareas held by IS, Abu Abdo said. “I’m goingto sleep for one night and then bring toma-

toes to Al-Bab,” a city in Aleppo provincealso held by IS. Abu Abdo’s case is hardlyunusual. At Al-Hal, the grapes and toma-toes come from Deraa province in thesouth, which is mainly in the hands of rebelforces. The watermelons are from Jabal Al-Sheikh, on the edge of the Israeli-occupiedGolan Heights and under the control of Al-Nusra Front, the local branch of Al-Qaeda.

The courgettes are from Idlib province,recently conquered by a mainly Islamistrebel alliance. Citrus fruits are from Assad’scoastal heartland, potatoes from regime-controlled Hama province and the onionscome from northeastern Hasakeh, held bythe Kurds. “All the provinces of Syria arereunited at this market,” said stall-ownerAbu Mohammad, his face hidden behind abushy grey beard. “It would be a huge dis-aster if it closed,” he said, watching thescales as his employees weighed heftysacks of aubergines, green peppers andtomatoes. “I’ve been working here for 30years. Never have I closed my shop, even inthe worst moments of the war. I receivemerchandise from all of Syria - people needto eat.” — AFP

At a market, divided Syria comes together again

DAMASCUS: Syrians shop at a traditional market yesterday as Muslims pre-pare to celebrate the holiday of Eid Al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice. — AFP

YANGON: In this picture taken on Sept 18, 2015, employees work at a garment factory in the Shwe Pyi Thar industrial zone. — AFP

Modi eyes Silicon Valley

in US as euphoria fades

DUBLIN: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he deliversa joint press conference with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny atGovernment Buildings yesterday. — AFP

MUMBAI: Though the Reserve Bank ofIndia is expected to cut interest ratesnext week by a quarter percent to afour-year low, officials say concernsover prices make it likely to resistpolitical pressure for significant easingin the coming months. In growingcontrast with the government, whichis desperate to accelerate a sluggishrecovery, an increasingly independentRBI under governor Raghuram Rajanremains focused on a long-term infla-tion target of 4 percent and endingdecades of damaging price volatility.

“The inflation outlook is still uncer-tain, and that is why the governorwants to be cautious,” said one officialfamiliar with the RBI’s thinking. “Itmakes sense to wait and watch howsustainable the fall in inflation will be.”Headline inflation has dipped due tolower commodity prices, but the offi-cials said the RBI was concerned thatany spike in food prices due to weakmonsoon rains or in crude oil wouldpush up prices and expectations offuture rises - at least until India canresolve significant supply and trans-port bottlenecks.

Worries about the impact from ratehikes expected in the United Stateslater this year add to the caution, theofficials said, given the potential fordestabilising outflows by foreigninvestors and volatility in the rupee.For Rajan, who said last week heintended to control inflation “not justtoday, but well into the future”, it isalso about learning the lessons of aboom-and-bust past. Rajan’s prede-cessor, Duvvuri Subbarao, cut interestrates in response to the global finan-cial crisis to 4.75 percent by April 2009,from 9 percent in July 2008.

That cut fuelled double-digit infla-tion and eventually forced the RBI intoreverse, raising rates back to 8.50 per-cent by Oct 2011. Rajan, who tookover two years later, was still fightinginflation at near double digits whenhe joined in 2013. “I think GovernorRajan is deliberately falling behind thecurve,” said A Prasanna, an economist

at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership.“Rajan wants inflation to be low andstable for a sustainable period,” headded. “You can be a proactive centralbank only after anchoring inflationexpectations.”

Chain ReactionsAvoiding over-reactions is key for

the RBI, the officials said, despite thegrowing clamour for more rate cutsfrom business and government afterconsumer price inflation hit a recordlow of 3.66 percent in August. Rajanlast week noted that without afavourable base effect, consumerprices would have risen at an annu-alised pace of around “mid five” per-cent. India’s inflation has long beendifficult to predict, given it is heavilyinfluenced by volatile food and crudeprices. To combat that, Rajan formallyadopted inflation targeting earlier thisyear, in the biggest monetary policyoverhaul in decades.

But his caution is frustrating Delhiand corporate India, which say the7.25 percent rate at which the RBIlends to commercial banks is too highfor a recovering economy. Taking intoaccount consumer inflation, India’sreal interest rates were 3.59 percent inAugust, the second highest month onrecord after the 3.79 percent in Nov2014, according to Thomson Reuterscalculations. At the wholesale priceinflation level, real interest rates areeven higher, hitting a record 12.2 per-cent in August. High effective interestrates drag on GDP growth, which isseen at the lower end of a govern-ment target of 8.1 percent to 8.5 per-cent for the current financial year.

The Indian government’s chief eco-nomic adviser, Arvind Subramanian,told Reuters yesterday the economywould hit that target, even if a tougherglobal environment will weigh. Extrapublic spending, he said, would notbe needed. “Monetary policy will easein line with ... inflation,” he added. “Wehave had three cuts, the year is notover, so that still holds.” — Reuters

India central bank

cautious despite

pressure for cuts

B U S I N E S STHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

AL-SHALL WEEKLY ECONOMIC REPORT1. Interest Rates

Only in the last quarter of the last centurysome central banks in economies of scalebegan to put down a declared or undeclaredgoal for the targeted inflation rate, which isusually humble as economies do not endurelow inflation rates, ie close to or below zero.More dangerous still is the uncontrolled infla-tion rate. After the 2008 global financial crisis,the US Federal Reserve Bank (FRB), with the USdollar being the global reserve currency, triedto link raising the interest rate with a lowunemployment rate, ie 6.5 percent, when theunemployment rate then was close to 10 per-cent. Later in 2012, it identified a goal for infla-tion at about 2 percent which seems appropri-ate to stimulate the economy. With rise growthrates of the American economy, FRB began aserious talk about beginning to raise interestrates, especially after the suspension of thequantitative easing.

Forecasts were almost unanimous that theFRB meeting on Sept 17 would result in a deci-sion to start lifting interest rates. But theevents of last August such as the Greek crisisand the fall of the Chinese stock market low-ered such prospects of the increase decision.The FRB meeting the week before last main-tained the interest rate fixed close to zero notbecause of August events but due to specialjustifications pertinent to the American econ-omy and its projections of weak global econo-my growth. This occurred despite an excellentgrowth rate in the second quarter at 3.7 per-cent and despite lower unemployment rateand better than most of the advancedeconomies - 5.1 percent - in August, the goalof inflation remained remote at about 0.2 per-cent only in August.

As interest rates remained low for longperiods, funds went to stock markets whosemost indexes regained their pre-2008 crisislevels and even surpassed them. In Augustand due to three justifications, ie the Chinesecrisis, the Greek crisis and probable lifting ofthe interest rate, global markets were subjectto a major correction process. But if the inter-est rate is lifted or becomes confirmed, it maycause another correction process.

The experience at the beginning of thethird millennium and the burst of the Internetcompanies bubble in 2000 and then Sept 11,2001 events in the US, and the mistake of theFRB in maintaining the interest rates low untilthe mid-2004. The incubation for the 2008 cri-sis was too obvious before the decision mak-ing authorities. Therefore, it is certain that thedecision of raising the interest is coming with-in no more than half a year. The only impedi-ment that may postpone it is the occurrenceof something unexpected and bad in our dis-turbed world.

2. Aggregated Performance for Banks’Sector - First Half 2015

We completed last week our last analysisfor the individual performance of nine Kuwaitibanks in the first half of the current year. Withour analysis this week to Warba Bank, we com-plete the analysis of the entire banking sector.

Consolidated figures show that the netbanks’ profits, after deducting taxes and equi-ties rights, scored KD 371.2 million, a rise byKD 43.7 million, 13.3 percent, vis-a-vis KD327.5 million in the same period 2014. The firsthalf of the current year is considered the besthalf period since the financial crisis in 2008.Profits of the five traditional banks scoredabout KD 256.6 million representing 69.1 per-cent of the total net profits of the 10 banks ris-ing by 13.5 percent compared with the sameperiod last year. Islamic banks achieved aboutKD 114.7 million representing 30.9 percent ofthe total net profits of the 10 banks rising by12.9 percent above their results in the sameperiod last year. This means the performanceof the tradition part is slightly better.

All banks achieved growth in their profitswith varying rates. Compared with the banksin the GCC countries, their performance wasbetter than the Omani banks which achieved6 percent growth, the Saudi banks whichachieved 7 percent, the Qatari banks whichachieved 10 percent, the Bahraini banks whichachieved 11.3 percent, and Abu Dhabi bankswhich achieved 11.4 percent. The only superi-ority was achieved by the banks listed atDubai Financial Market which achieved 32 per-cent growth in their profits.

Compared with the same period of lastyear, financial performance statements indi-cate a healthy rise by 9 percent in total opera-tions revenues of the banks compared withless rise in the value of operations expendi-tures by 0.2 percent only. This resulted in a risein net operations expenditures prior to provi-sions and distribution of depositors’ shares toabout KD 875.8 million (KD 764.5 million), a14.6 percent rise.

Provisions balance during the first half ofthe current year rose by KD 24.1 million, 9.9percent. Total provisions to net profits scored72.4 percent down from 74.7 percent in thesame period of last year. Distributions todepositors increased by KD 17.4 million, 12.7percent, compared with the same period lastyear. Merging Boubyan statements with thoseof the National Bank of Kuwait was not takeninto account. Price multiplier/earning (P/E) inthe banking sector scored 34.5 times,improved, compared with 42.5 times in thesame period of 2014. Return on assets of thesector achieved a modest rise to 1.1 percent (1percent). And so did the return on equitieswhich achieved 8.4 percent (8.3 percent).

Al Juman center states that banks differ inthe ratio of their provisions to the balance oftheir loans and advances. The highest is theCommercial bank of Kuwait by about 7.6 per-cent, then the Gulf Bank by 7.1 percent, WarbaBank by 1.4 percent. The overall average to the10 banks scored 5 percent. The concentrationof loans and advances is still high. The NBKshare from the net loans and advances scored31.7 percent and for KFH it was 20.6 percent.This means that two of the banks alone cap-tured 52.3 percent thereof and the other 8banks captured less than half, or 47.7 percent.

The lowest belonged to Warba Bank whichcaptured 1.1 percent and Kuwait InternationalBank by 2.7 percent, both of which are Islamicbanks.

The statistical bulletin (June 2015) of theCentral bank of Kuwait states that the balanceof total credit facilities to the residents inKuwait scored KD 31.749 billion, 55.1 percentof total local banks assets, a rise by KD 1.566billion, over its amount in the end of June2014, a growth rate by 5.2 percent. Total per-sonal facilities from the total were KD 12.974billion, 40.9 percent, of total credit facilities(KD 11.933 billion in the end of June 2014), agrowth rate by 8.7 percent. Installment loansformed KD 8.637 billion, 66.6 percent, of totalpersonal facilities, KD 2.838 billion for buyingstocks, or 21.9 percent of total personal facili-ties. Consumer loans scored KD 1.201 billion.The last two activities are not healthy growthindicators.

On the banks level, NBK continued toachieve the highest value in the 10 banks’ prof-its by achieving KD 163.4 million, 44 percent ofthe 10 banks’ net profits, achieving a growthrate by 12.8 percent compared with last year.

KFH achieved the second highest profits by KD62.3 million, 16.8 percent, of the 10 banks’ netprofits, a growth rate by 14.2 percent com-pared with the same period 2014. Warba Bankwas the least contributor to the balance of sea-sonal profits. It achieved KD 315 thousand(compared to KD 43 thousand) achieving thehighest percentage of growth in profits valueby 632.6 percent. But it is a start from a lowbase for a bank in its beginning. Boubyan Bankachieved about KD 16 million compared withKD 12.6 million, achieving a growth rate by27.6 percent.This means it is on the right trackto catch up with the medium size banks.

3. Syrian Refugees - The EconomicDimension

While Arabs and Moslem look for variousjustifications to kill one another, the Westgrants life to the survivors. Certainly, thehumanitarian factor to the West is a main driveto grant them life, but the interest drive isacceptable as long as it does not conflict withthe humanitarian motive. In Western coun-tries, welcoming the refugees is in proportionto the economic prosperity level. The North

European countries like Germany and Austria,economically prosperous, welcome therefugees more warmly than the east and southstates, or the troubled states, or those thatbroke away from the socialist block.

In those countries, prosperity is synonymousto the stop in demographic growth rates. Butthe need for continued prosperity increaseddemand on non-available labor force. InGermany, for instance, the government and theIndustries Union -and even sports clubs- wel-come was humanitarian as well as one of inter-est. Germany’s announcement of its readinessto receive 800,000 refugees in one year andthen rationalize their flow at high rates still inthe next years drove the welcoming policies torefugees in all prosperous Europe to overcomestringent measures.

One of the main motives that encouragedGermany to welcome the influx of refugeesmight be an old reading to the Japanese pat-tern where the population is decreasing. Moreimportantly perhaps is a comparison nowbetween the Chinese and Indian models. Theone child policy in China reduced considerablythe demographic growth rates at the age of

the economic activity which increased the sus-tenance rates. On the other hand, there is asuperior youth power in India and with is eco-nomic prosperity, that youth force became alarge basis for production and consumption.Therefore, India’s GDP growth at 7.5 percent in2015 may excel that of China at 6.8 percent-7percent in 2015 and it will continue in thefuture.

Though they (in Europe) know that a largenumber of refugees will go back to their homeif conditions settle there, yet they see the posi-tive element in that. Returning persons willenrich their countries with their acquiredknowledge, values and languages. They willalso return the favor to the countries whichsheltered them and will be their favorites.

In brief, the mischiefs of the Arabs andMuslims whether in wasting the lives of theiryouth in absurd wars or expulsion of theremaining lives, might be interpreted as bene-fits to states that are aware of their own inter-ests. While the refugees live under miserableconditions in border camps in the distressedneighbors, they enter the real productionprocess in remote countries. The difference isthe positive environment in states that employhuman resources to make the future and thatenvironment where resources are wasted towithdraw to the past or at least to preserve abad present.

4. Warba Bank Financial Results – First Half 2015

The bank announced results of its businessfor the first half of this year which indicate thatthe net bank profit -after tax deductions-scored KD 315 thousand vis-à-vis KD 43thousand loss in the same period of 2014. Thereason for this profit is due to the rise in totaloperating income by a higher value than therise in total operating expenses.

In details, total operating income increasedby about KD 1.4 million and scored KD 7.6 mil-lion (KD 6.1 million in the same period 2014)due to a rise in the item of net financingincomes by KD 1.5 million to KD 5.5 million(KD 4 million in the same period 2014). Butthe item of net fees and commission droppedby KD 109,000 to KD 196,000 (KD 305 thou-sand).

Total operating expenses rose by less valuethan the rise in total operating income. Theyincreased by KD 1.2 million, or by 22.7 percent,to KD 6.5 million now (KD 5.3 million in thefirst half of 2014). Total operating expenses tototal operating income scored 85.1 percent(85.6 percent) while item of the drop in valueprovision for impairment decreased by KD 44thousand, or by 5.2 percent, and scored KD798,000 (KD 842,000 in the same period 2014).This explains the rise in net profit marginbefore discounting the provision for impair-ment of drop in value to 14.9 percent for thecurrent half compared with 14.4 percent inJune 2014.

The bank’s financial statements indicatethat the bank’s total assets increased by KD50.6 million, or by 8.5 percent, and scoredabout KD 654.4 million (KD 594.8 million in theend of 2014). Rise in total assets scored KD148.2 million, or by 29.8 percent, when com-pared with KD 497.1 million in the first half of2014. Item of financing debtors increased byKD 68.5 million, or by 17.6 percent, to KD 456.6million (70.8 percent of total assets) comparedwith KD 388.2 million (65.3 percent of totalassets in the end of 2014).

It however increased by 50.2 percent, KD152.7 million, compared with KD 304 million(61.1 percent of total assets in the same period2014). Item of deposits at banks decreased byKD 33.6 million, 27.4 percent, to KD 89 million(13.8 percent of total assets) compared withKD 122.6 million (20.6 percent of total assets inthe end of 2014). It decreased by 10.4 percent,i.e. KD 10.4 million compared with KD 99.4 mil-lion (20 percent of total assets in the sameperiod of 2014).

Figures indicate that the bank’s liabilities(without calculating equities rights) increasedby KD 50.2 million, or by 10 percent, andscored KD 553.2 million (KD 502.9 million inthe end of 2014) and increased by KD 147.9million, or by 36.5 percent, compared with thetotal in the end of the first half of last year.Ratio of loans and advances to deposits scored83.4 percent (75.6 percent).

Results of analyzing the bank’s financialstatements calculated on annual basis indicatethat all profitability indexes rose comparedwith the same period 2014. The return onaverage equities (ROE) rose to 0.7 percentcompared with 0.1 percent in the same period2014. Likewise, the return on average capital(ROC) increased to 0.6 percent (compare to 0.1percent). Likewise, return on average bankassets (ROA) rose to 0.1 percent (compare to0.02 percent). EPS profit scored 0.3 fils versus0.04 fils. (P/B) scored 2.3 times (compare to 3times).

During the first half of the year, the bankmanaged to secure several financing deals forlocal and regional corporations including issu-ing sukuk (bonds) in the amount of $500 mil-lion to the Indonesian Airline in addition toparticipating in a deal for leasing aircraft toKuwait Airways. It also acquired a financingportfolio from Al Mulla International forFinancing through a deal worth KD 20 million.The bank is still young in age and such activi-ties will be reflected positively on its futureperformance.

5. The Weekly Performance of Kuwait Stock Exchange

The performance of Kuwait Stock Exchange(KSE) for the last week (3 working days due toEid Al-Adha holidays) was more active thanthe previous one, with all major indices show-ing an increase as well as the general index.AlShall Index (value weighted) closed at 383.3points at the closing of last Tuesday, showingan increase of 6.4 points or about 1.7 percentcompared to previous week’s closing.However, the index is down by 60.7 points orabout 13.7 percent compared to its closing atyear end 2014.

Fed decision to raise rate coming soon

B U S I N E S STHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Government spending in the GulfCooperation Council (GCC) countries hasbeen rising rapidly since the onset of theArab Spring. On the revenue side, oil &gas revenues account for more than 85percent of GCC government revenue.This high dependence on oil & gas makesthe GCC countries highly vulnerable to oilprice fluctuations, with the recent declinein oil prices bringing fiscal sustainabilityconcerns to the forefront. The IMF esti-mates that the GCC fiscal balance isexpected to turn into deficit of USD 113billion (8 percent of GDP) in 2015 from asurplus of USD 76 billion (4.5 percent ofGDP) a year ago.

To address their revenue vulnerabilityand fiscal sustainability the GCC coun-tries should prioritize fiscal reform andput in place policies to diversify thesources of government revenue.Revenue diversification policies shouldbe directed not only at mobilizing non-oil revenue in the short run, but also atimproving the buoyancy of tax revenue.Government revenue diversificationreforms are recommended with the mostefficient plan being to introduce bothbroad-based sources of taxation (a ValueAdded Tax) and indirect taxes (excise tax-es) on specific goods and products likegasoline, diesel, alcohol and tobacco.

“The Global Tobacco Epidemic 2015”report, states that 6 million people a yeardie from tobacco-related diseases, withthat number estimated to increase to 8million people by 2030. According to theWorld Health Organisation (WHO) andTobacco Free Initiative (TFI), a 10 percentprice increase on a pack of cigaretteswould be expected to reduce demand forcigarettes by about 4 percent in high-income countries and by about 5 percent

in low- and middle-income countries,where lower incomes tend to make peo-ple more sensitive to price changes. Thisprice increase is interlinked with priceand tax measures, as Article 6 of the WHOFramework Convention on TobaccoControl states: ‘Price and tax measuresare an effective and important means ofreducing tobacco consumption by vari-ous segments of the population, in par-ticular young persons.’

However, despite clear evidence thatincreasing taxes is an effective interven-tion to reducing tobacco use whilstincreasing government revenues, GCCcountries remain constrained by interna-tional & bilateral trade agreements fromraising the common external tariff on cig-arettes and other tobacco productsthereby restricting the ability of the GCCto raise prices to reduce tobacco con-sumption.

Tobacco Consumption in the Middle East

The Middle East and North Africaregion is one of the fastest growing con-sumers of tobacco products, especiallycigarettes. With a young, fast-growingpopulation, where smoking is culturallyacceptable and with low awareness ofhealth implications, tobacco consump-tion is high. In 2010, the region account-ed for a 7.1 percent market share of glob-al cigarettes volume, the fourth largestglobally. Significantly, the smoking ofpipe tobacco in the region, popular dueto the consumption of shisha, representsroughly 45.5 percent of global demand.By country, Saudi Arabia has the highestper capita consumption of shisha pipetobacco in the world while Egypt, whichis MENA’s largest cigarettes market, con-

sumes most in volume terms. SaudiArabia, with the largest GCC population,is the largest market for the cigaretteindustry1, closely followed by the UAE.

Constraints on GCC Tobacco Tax Policy Options

The GCC countries are consideringraising custom duty on tobacco, both toraise revenues and for health objectivesof reducing consumption and smokingincidence (as per WHO guidelines). Earlierthis month, the GCC endorsed a call bythe WHO to raise taxes on tobacco.However, they face a number of con-straints in achieving their objectives giv-en their international obligations.

International & bilateral trade agree-ments constrain the GCC countries fromraising the common external tariff on cig-arettes and other tobacco productsthereby restricting the ability of the GCCto raise prices to reduce tobacco con-sumption and smoking incidence, whileincreasing government revenue fromtobacco taxation. The GCC nations aremembers of the WTO and have to com-ply with their treaty commitments andwith a maximum import duty, known asthe ‘bound’ rate. The current 100 percentimport duty across the GCC is set at thebound rate for both Bahrain and Kuwait.

Furthermore, free trade agreementssigned by Bahrain and Oman separatelywith the US dictate that the countriesremove tariffs on cigarettes (among oth-er products) within a ten-year timeframe(due 2016 and 2019 respectively). Last,but not the least, the GCC CustomsUnion agreement includes a CommonExternal Customs Tariff (CET) for goodsimported from outside the GCC, as wellas common customs regulations and

procedures, which further constrainstobacco tax policy options.

Tobacco taxation in the GCC The uniform system of cigarette taxa-

tion places the Common External Tariff at100 percent of the CIF price (ad valorem)and a minimum specific duty equivalentto SAR 100 per 1,000 cigarettes, whichev-er is higher. The minimum specific dutycomponent of taxation is an essentialcomponent, given that it enables asecure contribution towards the govern-ment revenue base. The minimum specif-ic duty was first introduced by SaudiArabia in the 1990s and was fully harmo-nized among GCC member states whenKuwait adopted the current KD 8 per1,000 cigarettes minimum in 2002.

In the years that followed, manufac-turers have increased prices of manybrands above the levels at which theminimum duty applies, thus increasinglysubjecting them to the ad valorem com-ponent of the tariff. However, the mini-mum specific duty was not systematicallyadjusted for inflation and its real valueand incidence has declined.

Any increase in specific duty wouldmean that all cigarettes must pay theminimum amount of tax regardless oftheir CIF price. By contrast, when the advalorem duty rises, the price of mid andpremium price cigarette brands increaseby more than that of low and cheapbrands given that the tax charged is aproportion of the CIF price. This providesan incentive to consumers to substitute,trading down to cheaper and lower qual-ity products, which could reduce govern-ment revenues under a purely ad val-orem tax regime and undermine govern-ments’ health objectives.

Proposal for a New GCC Excise Duty Regime for Tobacco

The GCC countries should agree andintroduce excise taxes on tobacco con-sumption as a policy tool to increasetobacco prices for health reasons and toraise revenue. Ideally, the introductionof domestic excise taxes on tobaccoshould be in the form of a specific nom-inal excise duty to be introduced ineach GCC member state consisting of afixed amount per 1,000 cigarettes orequivalent units of other tobacco prod-ucts. The new excise duty would beintroduced by the Ministries of Finance,with a revised mandate enabled by therequisite legal & regulatory reforms,which would set up the revenue admin-istration. It is also feasible that the rev-enue administration be out-sourced tocustoms, which then becomes Customs& Excise.

Additionally, there should be GCCpolicy harmonization ie, introduction oftobacco excise taxes should be applieduniformly (including on domestic pro-duction), equally and in synchronizedmanner in all countries in order to pre-vent arbitrage opportunities and illicittrade or smuggling. The process ofimplementation of the new tax structureshould also be gradual to avoid encour-aging smuggling & illicit trade. This willenable the building of tax capacity inthe form of tax revenue authorities toimplement the fiscal reform, monitorand collect revenue. The set-up of anexcise revenue administration has theadded advantage of facilitating theintroduction of other excises, notably ongasoline, diesel and other oil products -gradually leading to revenue diversifica-tion and eventually fiscal consolidation.

Taxes and tobacco consumption in the Gulf

DUBAI: Every year, the biggest brand namesfrom across the gulf gather under one roof torecognize the most innovative products at theProduct of the Year Awards (POY). The presti-gious award rewards innovation in the FMCGsector, by allowing the customers themselvesto vote and select winners. And every yearafter the award ceremony, POY conducts aninteractive seminar for all participating brandsunder the umbrella of POY Talks: supportinginnovation.

The topic for this year’s seminar, held at theDubai Marina Yacht Club, was ‘How can FMCGbrands succeed in establishing online engage-ment through social media?’ The seminarhelped FMCG clients understand the progress-ing social media landscape and how they canoptimize their efforts and investments to buildeffective social media presence. Key speakersfrom Facebook- Instagram, Diwanee publish-ing group, Shahiya.com, U Turn and TNS mar-ket research addressed the penetration anduse of online tools in the GCC market and howwomen are specifically engaging through thedifferent social media platforms.

The digital world has been evolving sincethe very beginning. New engagement plat-forms are popping up every day and gettingoutdated the next day. Only a few have sur-vived the test of time by changing with thetimes. The seminar also shed light on how dif-ferent social media platforms have experi-enced changes and how a business can buildhealthy engagement with their audiences, byunderstanding what sor t of content con-sumers like to engage with. The growing pop-ularity of video content was also discussed,focusing on what it takes to develop interest-ing video content that can go viral and simul-taneously achieve brand objectives. Exampleswere used to show how it is not only impor-tant to develop interesting content, but toalso distribute it at the right time to the rightpeople.

The panel consisted of some of the most

renowned speakers f rom the industr y.Stephen Hillebrand, CEO TNS Market Researchgave a snapshot of the region’s online mediaconsumption habits and where this region isheading in terms of social media, with a spe-cial focus on GCC women. Amira Rashad, Headof Brand, Facebook Middle East, discussed themeasures of success for FMCG brands onFacebook and Instagram, and how it is impor-tant to present the new changes occurringwithin Facebook and Instagram tools in orderto help set the foundation for a proper under-standing of the platforms.

Kaswara Al-Khatib, Chairman at UTURN,shed light on how online video is differentfrom conventional TVCs, he explained howthere are many ways to create video contentthat can go viral, and how people need tounderstand what makes a really good piece ofvideo. Herve Cuviliez, CEO at Diwanee, spoke

about the increase of program-led advertisingand competition on main social platforms, heurged brands to look at improving their earnedmedia to generate better data and improveROI on the marketing investments. Also pres-ent in the panel was Daniel Neuwirth, the co-founder of Shahiya.com. He spoke about howShahiya engages housewives on social media,and about engaging home cooks and onlineinfluencers on shahiya.com.

As always, the seminar received immenseresponse and strong participation. All-in-all, ahealthy recap for everyone to remember tokeep their audience at the forefront of all mar-keting activities, as it is consumers that decidethe rise and fall of any brand - a philosophy theProduct of the Year Award truly stands for.Product of The Year is currently receiving regis-trations for its 2016 edition, the deadline forclosing the edition is September 30, 2015.

POY innovation seminar 2015

DUBAI: Eighty percent of employees across allgenerations want to work for a digitally enabledcompany or digital leader, according to the lat-est Deloitte report “Strategy, Not Technology,drives Digital Transformation”. In addition, morethan 75 percent of respondents from digitallymature companies agree that their organiza-tions provide the necessary skills to capitalizeon digital trends. Among low maturity entities,the number drops to 19 percent.

The report, conducted by Deloitte and MITSloan Management Review, is based on find-ings from the fourth annual global survey ofmore than 4,800 business executives across 27industries and 129 countries. It reveals that theability to digitally transform and reimagine abusiness is determined in large part by a cleardigital strategy supported by leaders who fostera culture able to change and reinvent theirorganizations. “The importance of having aclearly articulated digital strategy was a majorfinding. Those companies developing enter-prise-level digital strategies are moving ahead,while those that are not, are struggling,” RashidBashir, consulting partner and Monitor DeloitteLeader in the Middle East. “These digitallymaturing companies embrace innovation andcollaboration; they have leaders who under-stand both technology and its potential impacton the business, and they understand that con-tinued digital advancement depends uponretaining and developing talent,” he added.

Other key findings of the report include:l Digital strategy drives digital maturity -

Only 15 percent of respondents from compa-nies at the early stages of what the study refersto as digital maturity - in which digital has trans-formed processes, talent engagement and busi-ness models - say that their organizations havea clear and coherent digital strategy. Among thedigitally maturing, more than 80 percent do.

l The power of a digital transformation strat-egy lies in its scope and objectives - Less digital-ly mature organizations tend to focus on indi-vidual technologies and have strategies that are

decidedly operational in focus. Digital strategiesin the most mature organizations are devel-oped with an eye on transforming the business.

l Taking risks is becoming a cultural norm -Digitally maturing organizations are more com-fortable taking risks than their less digitallymature peers. More than 50 percent of respon-dents from less digitally mature companies seetheir organization’s fear of risk as a major short-coming. To make their organizations less riskaverse, business leaders should embrace failureas a prerequisite of success. They must alsoaddress the likelihood that employees may bejust as risk averse as their managers and willneed support to become bolder.

l The digital agenda is led from the top -Maturing organizations are nearly twice as likelyas less digitally mature entities to have a singleperson or group leading the effort. In addition,employees in digitally maturing organizationsare highly confident in their leaders’ digital flu-ency. Digital fluency, however, does notdemand mastery of the technologies. Instead, itrequires the ability to articulate the value of dig-ital technologies to the organization’s future.More than 75 percent of respondents from digi-tally mature companies say their leaders havesufficient skills to lead digital strategy. Nearly 90percent say their leaders understand digitaltrends and technologies. Only a fraction ofrespondents from early stage companies havethe same level of confidence: 15 percent and 27percent, respectively.

l Stories gain employee buy in and organi-zational traction for digital transformation -Telling digital stories creates pride in organiza-tions. Companies need to demonstrate theirability to tell the digital story, and what it meansto live in the digital world for business.

l Innovation of digital technologies must befostered - More than 70 percent of respondentsfrom maturing companies say that their man-agers encourage them to innovate with digitaltechnologies. At lower levels of maturity, only28 percent of respondents express the samesentiment.

Strategy, not tech drives digital transformation

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced the namesof the lucky winners of its Yawmi accountdraw, each taking home a prize of KD 5,000. 1. FAISAL MUSALLAM FALAH AL HUBAIDAH2. LUOLWAH MOHAMMAD RABEIA3. SAMI MAHMOUD HASAN AL RABIAH4. KHALED AHMAD ABDULLAH AL JASEM5. LILIIA ABDU

To further add to the anticipation of Yawmiaccount customers, Burgan Bank now offers aQuarterly Draw with more chances to winhigher rewards, entitling one lucky customerto win KD 125,000 every three months. TheYawmi Account now offers daily and quarterlydraws - the quarterly draw requires customersto maintain a minimum amount of KD 500 intheir account for 2 months prior to draw date.Additionally, every KD 10 in the account, willentitle customers to one chance of winning. If

the account balance is KD 500 and above, theaccount holder will be qualified for both thequarterly and daily draws.

Burgan Bank encourages everyone to opena Yawmi account and/or increase their depositto maximize their chances to becoming a win-ner. The more customers deposit, the higherthe chances they receive of winning. For moreinformation on opening a Yawmi account orabout the new quarterly draw, customers areurged to visit their nearest Burgan Bankbranch and receive all the details, or simplycall the bank’s Call Center at 1804080 wherecustomer service representatives will bedelighted to assist with any questions on theYawmi account or any of the bank’s productsand services. Customers can also log on toBurgan Bank’s www.burgan.com for furtherinformation.

Burgan Bank announces names ofdaily winners of Yawmi account

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE,expects to carry over 230,000 guests during theupcoming Eid Al Adha period, an increase ofalmost 20 per cent over the same period last year.Between 45,000 and 50,000 guests will travel dur-ing Eid Al Adha with the busiest travel day expect-ed to be Saturday, 26 September. Top destinationsfor travel over the period are London, Bangkok,Manila, Sydney, New Delhi, Paris, New York,Melbourne and Munich.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ Chief

Commercial Officer, said: “We are pleased to beable to fly a large number of guests during the EidAl Adha period, covering destinations from all cor-ners of our global network”. “This year we havealready introduced five new routes, with the addi-tion of Kolkata, Madrid, Entebbe, Edinburgh andHong Kong to our network, providing our guestsmore travel options,” said Baumgartner. Guests areencouraged to check-in online 24 hours beforeflights depart and arrive at the airport at least threehours before flight departure out of Abu Dhabi.

Etihad Airways to carry 230,000 guests over Eid Al-Adha period

DUBAI: The Middle East and Africa (MEA) PCmarket suffered a sharp year-on-year decline of25.6 percent in Q2 2015, marking it as steepestdecline ever recorded in the region for a singlequarter. The latest market insights from globaltechnology research and consulting firmInternational Data Corporation (IDC) show thatoverall PC shipments for the quarter fell to 3.3million units. Desktops were down 21.2 percentyear on year to 1.4 million units, while the note-book segment declined 28.6 percent to total 1.9million units.

“Two of the biggest declines were seen inTurkey and the ‘Rest of the Middle East’ region(Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan andPalestine),” says Fouad Charakla, research manag-er for personal computing, systems, and infra-structure solutions at IDC Middle East, Africa andTurkey. “Both these territories carried over highinventory levels from the previous quarter as aresult of a slowdown in demand. This factor wasan inhibitor of PC shipments in other parts of theregion as well, including the UAE. Currency fluc-tuations also had a negative impact on supply

and demand in several key markets across theregion. In the UAE, a slowdown in tourism spend-ing - primarily from Russia and Europe - contin-ued to inhibit PC demand.”

The top three vendor positions remainedunchanged from the last few quarters, with eachof the leading vendors suffering significant year-on-year declines in their shipments to the region.HP continued to lead in terms of market share,but saw its shipments fall 26 percent year onyear. Second-placed Lenovo suffered a 19 per-cent decline, third-placed Dell posted a down-turn of 10.3 percent, and fourth-placed Acerrecorded a decrease of 29.3 percent, while Asusmaintained its position at number five but expe-rienced a decline of 26.7 percent. Once again,local desktop assemblers suffered significantly incomparison to the previous year as demand fortheir devices continues to be cannibalized by thegrowing availability of refurbished PCs.

2015 as a whole is expected to be the region’sworst ever performance, with overall PC ship-ments for the year set to fall 15.7 percent year onyear to total 15.2 million units. “Currency fluctua-

tions both inside and outside the MEA region willremain largely responsible for the slowerdemand, particularly in key markets such asTurkey and Nigeria,” continues Charakla. “Low oilprices are also impacting those countries whosebudgets rely strongly on oil revenues, ratchetingup the pressure on governments to control theirspending. At the same time, the cannibalizationof PC demand by tablets and smartphones con-tinues to hamper the market’s performance.”

In the longer run, IDC expects the MEA PCmarket to experience a partial recovery in 2016,with shipments tipped to grow 10 percent yearon year during those 12 months. The followingyears are forecast to remain close to flat in termsof shipment growth. However, as previouslyreported, there will be a gradual shift in theweight of demand from consumers to the com-mercial segment as a growing proportion ofhome users switch from PCs to tablets andsmartphones and commercial end users main-tain their loyalty to PCs. As a result, commercialdemand for PCs in the region is expected to sur-pass that from home users by the year 2017.

MEA PC market suffers sharpest ever decline

t e c h n o l o g yTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

SHENZHEN: In China’s factories, the robotsare rising. For decades, manufacturersemployed waves of young migrant workersfrom China’s countryside to work at count-less factories in coastal provinces, churningout cheap toys, clothing and electronics thathelped power the country ’s economicascent. Now, factories are rapidly replacingthose workers with automation, a pivot that’sencouraged by rising wages and new officialdirectives aimed at helping the countrymove away from low-cost manufacturing asthe supply of young, pliant workers shrinks.

It’s part of a broader overhaul of the econ-omy as China seeks to vault into the ranks ofwealthy nations. But it comes as the country’sgrowth slows amid tepid global demandthat’s adding pressure on tens of thousandsof manufacturers. With costs rising and prof-its shrinking, Chinese manufacturers “will allneed to face the fact that only by successfullytransitioning from the current labor-orientedmode to more automated manufacturing willthey be able to survive in the next few years,”said Jan Zhang, an automation expert at IHSTechnology in Shanghai.

A revolutionShenzhen Rapoo Technology Co is

among the companies at ground zero of thistransformation. At its factory in the southernChinese industrial boomtown of Shenzhen,orange robot arms work alongside humanoperators assembling computer mice andkeyboards. “What we are doing here is a rev-olution” in Chinese manufacturing, saidPboll Deng, Rapoo’s deputy general manag-er. The company began its push intoautomation five years ago. Rapoo installed80 robots made by Sweden’s ABB Ltd. toassemble mice, keyboards and their sub-components. The robots allowed the com-pany to save $1.6 million each year and trimits workforce to less than 1,000 from a peakof more than 3,000 in 2010.

Such upgrading underscores the grandplans China’s communist leaders have forindustrial robotics. President Xi Jinpingcalled in a speech last year for a “robot revo-lution” in a nod to automation’s vital role inraising productivity. Authorit ies haveannounced measures such as subsidies andtax incentives over the past three years toencourage industrial automation as well asdevelopment of a homegrown roboticsindustry. Some provinces have set up theirown “Man for Machine” programs aimed atreplacing workers with robots.

Guangdong, a manufacturing heartlandin southern China, said in March it wouldinvest 943 billion yuan ($148 billion) toencourage nearly 2,000 large manufacturersto buy robots, the official Xinhua newsagency reported. Guangzhou, the provincialcapital, aims to have 80 percent of manufac-turing automated by 2020. A relentless surge

in wages is adding impetus to the automa-tion revolution. China relied on a seeminglyendless supply of cheap labor for decades topower its economic expansion. That equa-tion is changing as the country’s workingage population stops growing and moreChinese graduate from university, resultingin a dwindling supply of unskilled workers,annual double-digit percentage increases inthe minimum wage and rising labor unrest.

Deng said Rapoo’s wage bill rising 15-20percent a year was one big factor driving itsuse of robots. “Frontline workers, theirturnover rate is really high. More and peopleare unwilling to do repetitive jobs. So thesetwo issues put the manufacturing industryin China under huge pressure,” he said.China’s auto industry was the trailblazer forautomation, but other industries are rapidlyadopting the technology as robots becomesmaller, cheaper and easier to use. It nowonly takes on average 1.3 years for an indus-trial robot in China to pay back its invest-ment, down from 11.8 years in 2008, accord-ing to Goldman Sachs.

Industrial robotsCompanies such as electronics maker TCL

Corp are using robots to produce higher-valuegoods. At one factory in Shenzhen, TCL uses978 machines to produce flat screen TV pan-els. At another TCL plant in Hefei, nearShanghai, steel refrigerator frames are bentinto shape before being plucked by a blueYasakawa robot arm that stacks them in neatrows for further assembly. Fridges and bigwashing machines have heavy internal com-ponents, so “if you use automated robots tomake them, they also let you cut your labor

intensity by a lot,” said TCL Chairman TomsonLi. China held the title of world’s biggest mar-ket for industrial robots for the second straightyear in 2014, with sales rising by more thanhalf to 56,000, out of a total of 224,000 soldglobally, according to the InternationalFederation of Robotics.

There’s plenty more room for explosivesales growth. China has about 30 robots forevery 10,000 factory workers compared with437 in South Korea and 152 in the UnitedStates. The global average is 62. Beijing wantsChina’s number to rise to 100 by 2020. Theswitch to robots has raised fears that it willcontribute to slowing job though there arefew signs that’s happening yet. Deng saidRapoo hasn’t had to resort to layoffs. Rather,the company is just not replacing workers whoquit. “It’s not simply replacing the operation ofworkers by robot. We do more than that. Weare making a robot platform” in which humansand machines work together to make produc-tion more flexible, he said.

On a recent tour of Rapoo’s factory, Dengpointed out the efficiencies. As a conveyorbelt carried circuit boards out of an industrialsoldering machine, a robot arm removedthem from metal jigs and placed them onanother belt. Human workers typically do thisjob in other factories, Deng said, but turnoveris high because of the heat and repetitive-ness. In a glass-walled room, robots assem-bled receivers for wireless mice, tasks thatwere previously done by 26 people, Dengsaid. Now, one or two humans supervise as alaser automatically fuses shut metal USB plughousings, four at a time, while steps away,robot arms slide the plugs into plasticsleeves. —AP

Robot revolution sweeps China’s factory floors

BEIJING: China’s “Great Firewall”may have been partly to blame forthe first major attack on Apple Inc’sApp Store, but experts also pointthe finger at lax security proceduresof some big-name Chinese techfirms and how Apple itself supportsdevelopers in its second biggestmarket. A malicious program,dubbed XcodeGhost, hit hundreds -possibly thousands - of Apple iOSapps, including products from some

of China’s most successful tech com-panies used by hundreds of millionsof people.

Palo Alto Networks, the US inter-net security company that spottedthe problem, says the attacker couldsend commands to infected devicesthat could be used to steal personalinformation and, in theory, conductphishing attacks. The hackers target-ed the App Store via a counterfeitversion of Apple’s Xcode “toolkit” -the software used to build apps torun on its iOS operating system -which Chinese developers usedbecause they could download itfaster.

“I would use the phrase ‘conver-gence of ignorance and complacen-

cy’,” said Andy Tian, CEO of AsiaInnovations, a Chinese app develop-er. “Ignorance on the side of Apple,complacency on the side of Chinesecompanies.” The incident was a blowto the reputations of some of China’stech champions, in what some appmakers saw as collateral damagefrom the tight controls Beijing placeson the Internet within its borders,and weak infrastructure linking tothe outside world, that make over-

seas downloads patchy and slow.Companies affected by the

XcodeGhost attack included TencentHoldings Ltd, one of the world’sbiggest internet firms, and UberTechnologies Inc’s biggest chal-lenger, Didi Kuaidi, which just com-pleted a $3 billion private fundrais-ing round. Tencent, whose WeChatmessaging service is one of China’smost popular apps, and Didi Kuaidideclined to comment, beyond say-ing that they had fixed the issue andusers’ data had not been compro-mised. NetEase Inc, whose musicstreaming app was also hit, issued amea culpa on its official Weibomicroblog, apologizing to users fornegligence.

‘Huge mistake’The App Store had previously

been almost entirely free of mal-ware, and it is unclear how thealtered code withstood Apple’sfamously tough app approvalprocess, in which developers oftenwait a week for reviews of updatesto their apps. “These reviews arelegendary for how particular Appleis,” said Robert Walker, founder ofmobile dating app Cuddli who

worked for Microsoft in China.“Supposedly, a security review ispart of that. But they missed thisrepeatedly over dozens of differentapplications. A huge mistake ontheir part.”

An Apple spokeswoman did notrespond to questions about theapp approval process and whydevelopers in China were usingunofficial Xcode, but a senior exec-utive said on Tuesday the compa-ny would make it easier forChinese developers to downloadits tools. Marketing chief PhilSchiller told Chinese news siteSina.com it would offer domesticdownloads within China of itsdeveloper software. Some Chinese

firms had said they were pushedto download Apple’s developertoolkit from unofficial sources inChina because of the slow internetspeeds when connecting to inter-national services.

The country’s censorship archi-tecture, dubbed the Great Firewall,does not block app developers fromdownloading the official version ofXcode, but the controls, along withlow investment in infrastructure forinternational connections, makeusing services based outside Chinaa painful process. The world’s sec-ond-largest economy has averageinternet speeds more than threetimes slower than those in theUnited States, according to onlinecontent delivery firm Akamai’s lat-est State of the Internet report. Slowinternet connections, along withgovernment censorship, have longbeen a top concern among foreignbusinesses in China. The issue hasbeen exacerbated in recent monthsby crackdowns on tools used to cir-cumvent the Great Firewall, such asVirtual Private Networks.

Local supportChina is a huge market for

Apple, which earned around $13billion in Greater China in the lastfinancial quarter and in January2014 said Chinese developers hadlaunched 130,000 apps for itsmobile devices and personal com-puters. The size of that contributionto the tech giant’s bottom line hasfuelled resentment among some ofthe Chinese firms who are makingthose apps, who complain of lackof support. If Apple had provided alocal, quick source for the officialXcode software sooner it couldhave avoided the problem, saidsoftware developer Feng Dahui.

“Apple doesn’t care enoughabout Chinese developers, nordoes it value Chinese users,” saidFeng. But regardless of the chal-lenges facing them in China, manyapp developers and securityexperts said the tech firms them-selves bear the most responsibilityfor the attack, which has affectedmostly Chinese companies andusers so far. Eswar Priyadarshan,CEO of Tasteful, which creates foodand dietary apps, noted that hedoes not know any US developerswho use third-party Xcode. “It’s likebuying a Toyota and getting athird-party engine installed - it’sgoing to break,” he said. —Reuters

Apple’s hack attack exposes flaws in building apps behind ‘Great Firewall’Experts point the finger at lax security procedures

NANJING: Chinese customers visit a new Apple store in Nanjing, eastern China’s Jiangsuprovince. Computing giant Apple said on September 21 it has removed software from its AppStore, after reports said hundreds of apps including some of China’s most popular were infectedwith malware. —AFP

KUWAIT: Leading Mobile Satellite Services(MSS) operator Thuraya Telecommunicationstoday unveiled a new generation ofSatSleeve models, offering greater choice,improved quality and a new hotspot option.When SatSleeve was launched in 2013 it pio-neered the “bring your own device” (BYOD)concept in the satellite industry. NowThuraya goes further with two new models,and has identified a clear consumer targetmarket for the range, running alongside coregovernment, media, energy, and NGO sec-tors.

SatSleeve+ and SatSleeve Hotspot willappeal to travellers, adventurers and outdoorsportspeople, or simply to consumers whowant the assurance that their smartphonewill connect even when terrestrial networksare unavailable or damaged. Thuraya willmarket SatSleeve+ and SatSleeve Hotspotthrough existing distribution partners; inno-vative agreements it has developed withmobile network operators (MNOs) in keymarkets; and new channels generatedthrough online retailer Expansys.

Thuraya’s Chief Executive Officer, SamerHalawi, said: “Thuraya continues to innovate,improve its range and widen its appeal.SatSleeve+ and SatSleeve Hotspot offer dou-ble the choice, and demonstrate triple inno-vation: the models themselves are new; theway we’re selling them online across Europeis groundbreaking; and agreements withnew MNOs in key geographies will bring usinto direct contact with important customermarkets. Thuraya’s purpose is to save andimprove lives, and these products will allowmore people to be connected when andwhere they need it.”

SatSleeve+ features a new voice routingsystem that improves on the sound quality,and can be used with a wider range of smart-phone models than before. It comes with auniversal smartphone adaptor, broadeningits appeal to a larger number of smartphoneowners than was previously possible. Theadaptor also allows users to switch betweenhandsets, so owners of more than one smart-phone do not need to buy additional kit.

SatSleeve Hotspot’s stand creates aportable satellite Wi-Fi hotspot, giving peo-ple satellite connectivity without physicallydocking their smartphone to a unit, and free-dom to move indoors. A SatSleeve Hotspotuser can leave the stand outside, stay indoorsor in their vehicle, and use their smartphone

in satellite mode inside. The SatSleeveHotspot is the smallest, lightest, and mostcapable in the industry. Both models let youmake calls, use messaging applications,update your social network, send and receiveemail and SMS, and access apps. They alsocome with an additional safety feature - aprogrammable SOS button that works even ifyour smartphone isn’t connected. This con-venient function lets customers call a prede-fined number of their choice.

Thuraya SatSleeve+ and SatSleeveHotspot offer fast, simple connectivity on themove, in remote areas normally beyond thereach of smartphones, or in urban areaswhere terrestrial networks have becomeunavailable or unreliable. Connection is easy,gaining access to Thuraya’s vast coveragearea spanning Europe, Africa, the MiddleEast, Asia and Australia. SatSleeve+ andSatSleeve Hotspot work either with a ThurayaSIM card or with a GSM SIM card from morethan 360 Thuraya roaming partners world-wide.

Thuraya continues to add new partnersand extend existing partnerships as it takesthe new SatSleeve models to market. Halawisaid: “MNOs around the world can offer theircustomers a first-of-a-kind service that deliv-ers constant 100% geographical coverage.This sets the MNO apart from their competi-tors, and generates a higher average revenueper user (ARPU). Retailers can for the firsttime offer an exciting product that comple-ments their smartphone offerings.”

About Thuraya Thuraya Telecommunications Company is

an industry leading MSS operator and a glob-al telecommunications provider offeringinnovative communications solutions to avariety of sectors including energy, broadcastmedia, maritime, military and humanitarianNGO. Thuraya’s superior network enablesclear communications and uninterruptedcoverage across two thirds of the globe bysatellite and across the whole planet throughits unique GSM roaming capabilities. Thecompany’s diverse range of technologicallysuperior and highly reliable mobile satellitehandsets and broadband devices provideease of use, value, quality and efficiency.Thuraya remains committed to servinghumanity through delivering the essentialtools for optimal connectivity, never leavinganyone out of reach.

Thuraya doubles the choice with new SatSleeve+, SatSleeve Hotspot

SHENZHEN: A Chinese worker is seated next to orange robot arms at RapooTechnology factory in southern Chinese industrial boomtown of Shenzhen. —AP

WASHINGTON: It’s not just another iPhonelaunch. This time, Apple is pushing not only anew device, but what it says is a new relation-ship with its customers. By offering for the firsttime monthly installment payments on directsales and a new lease option for US customers,Apple is moving to help break the strangleholdof mobile carriers as it launches its new iPhonestomorrow. The program comes with US carrierslargely moving away from the model in whichthe smartphone is offered at a subsidized pricein exchange for a two-year contract, unlikemost markets around the world where con-sumers pay upfront for a device. This means theprice of the iPhone - $650 and up-is no longerhidden in monthly service fees, creating a chal-lenge for the maker of the high-end smart-phone.

Apple is meeting the challenge head-on by

offering to finance the phone for as little as $27per month, or allow customers to lease on anannual basis to upgrade to a new phone eachyear. It was not known if Apple would expandthe program to non-US customers. The boldmove by Apple, which begins selling its newiPhone 6S and 6S Plus on Friday, gives the com-pany a new connection with customers, whileallowing an easier switch of carriers. “Apple istrying to have a more direct relationship withits customers, it always has,” said Avi Greengart,who follows mobile technology for theresearch firm Current Analysis.

By “unbundling” the device and the service,this opens up competition for both, accordingto Greengart. The new model creates chal-lenges for wireless carriers, which until recentlyhave been able to maintain their customer baseby reserving the top-selling phones for con-

tracts. The shift means “customers are more like-ly to upgrade more quickly,” said Jan Dawson atJackdaw Research. “They obviously will be com-ing to an Apple store, they won’t go to a carrierstore where they might be enticed to buying aSamsung or something else,” he said.

This “could dramatically increase churn” forcarriers because customers can switch whenev-er they like with no real penalty,” Dawson said.Walter Piecyk at BTIG Research said big carrierslike AT&T and Verizon “could face pressure tofurther enhance their programs if they don’twant to risk losing even more control of thecustomer to Apple.” Piecyk said more than two-thirds of iPhone sales in the US market current-ly come through carriers or third-party retailersand that “shifting that traffic to Apple Storescan help drive greater retail store traffic leadingto higher accessory sales to Apple.”

Shortening the cycleSome analysts say Apple’s moves may boost

sales by shortening the upgrade cycle-allowingcustomers to get a new iPhone each year on rela-tively easy terms. The program “helps bolstershare gains, increase customer stickiness toApple and enable a more competitive pricingenvironment for iPhones,” said Amit Daryanani atRBC Capital Markets. The program “seemsappealing, since it provides customers unlockedphones with device protection while allowingthem to upgrade annually,” says a report by theresearch firm Trefis.

“A back of the envelope calculation says thatthe deal will work well for Apple.” Katy Huberty atMorgan Stanley said in a note to clients that thecould boost iPhone shipments by 6.5 million in2017. It has the added advantage of getting pre-owned iPhones out to more customers who can’t

afford a new one. “Apple can potentially leveragepartners (Brightstar in the United States andFoxconn in China) to resell the one-year oldiPhones in the second-hand market, which helpsaddress price points the new iPhones cannot,”she said.

Bob O’Donnell of the research and consultinggroup Technalysis said Apple is seeking to sparknew sales in a global smartphone market that isclose to saturation, and that a better customerrelationship can boost sales of other productsand services. “We are facing a slowdown in thesmartphone business, and I think we will seeApple focus more on services,” he said. Whilesome carriers may see a hit from the Apple pro-gram, IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said it freesthem to focus on service. “If you’re a carrier, youwant that traffic and voice and data revenue,”Llamas said. —AFP

With iPhone launch, Apple eyes a better customer connection

H E A LT H & S C I E N C ETHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

NEW DELHI: After decades of flocking to tradi-tional livestock markets ahead of Eid, breeders inIndia are now heading online to haggle a goodprice for their prized animals. Goats, sheep andcows are slaughtered worldwide to celebrate themajor Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha, whichthroughout South Asia falls this year tomorrow.India’s markets have long been bursting withbreeders and buyers in the run up to Eid, withfeverish negotiations for the thousands of spe-cially bred animals.

But farmers said they were increasingly mov-ing to India’s popular online classified portals likeQuikr and Olx, for easier and stress-free sales. “Iam getting 10 to 15 calls every day,” Qaiser Khan,from the northern desert state of Rajasthan said.Khan said he usually travelled to marketsthroughout Rajasthan in the lead up to Eid, keep-ing him away from home for weeks. But this yearhe has sold half a dozen goats online, includingone for 250,000 rupees ($3,800).

“This is also hassle free for customers. Wedeliver to their doorstep. Most of my friends areselling their livestock online,” Khan said, addingthat his most prized goat has been fed almondsand milk for the last year. A search of the sitesshows a multitude of photos of “premium” and“big black” goats on offer. Those camped out at atraditional market in New Delhi’s old cityshrugged off the online competition, saying cus-tomers preferred to see animals in the fleshbefore choosing one.

“Sales are yet to pick up, but there will be noimpact on our business,” Juma Shah, from north-

ern Moradabad city said. “The goats sold onlineare costlier than (those at) this market,” he added.Altamash Qureshi, who is selling four goats for awhopping four million rupees ($60,600) in total,said online shopping lacked the charm of tradi-tional markets. “The market has got its own

charm and nothing can match it. I am gettingcustomers for the goats amid this muck and foulsmell,” he said. Muslims sacrifice livestock on Eidand share the meat with family, friends and thepoor to commemorate Ibrahim’s willingness tosacrifice his son Ismail on Allah’s request. — AFP

CHARLESTON: A West Virginia University researchunit that helped expose Volkswagen AG’s smog-test scandal had been involved in another emis-sions test two decades ago involving pollutingtrucks that had similar results. In October 1998, theWVU Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines andEmissions discovered that more than 1.1 milliontrucks whose heavy-duty diesel engines hadpassed emission inspections at the factory werepolluting much more than allowed because ofdevices designed to overcome emissions controls,Dan Carder, interim director of the unit, told TheAssociated Press on Tuesday.

The Justice Department publicly announcedthe findings, after which several manufacturersagreed to a $1 billion settlement. In theVolkswagen case, the WVU research team washired by nonprofit pollution control advocateInternational Council on Clean Transportation tomeasure emissions on three cars: a 2012 VW Jetta,a 2013 VW Passat and a BMW X5 SUV. The BMWpassed, but the university found significantlyhigher emissions from the Volkswagens, accord-ing to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The university and the council reported theirfindings to the EPA and the California AirResources Board in May 2014, but VW blamed theproblem on technical issues and unexpected con-ditions. The automaker even did a recall late lastyear, without much improvement, the EPA said.Only when the EPA and the California boardrefused to approve VW’s 2016 diesel models for

sale did the company acknowledge puttingstealth software in millions of its vehicles world-wide. In informing Volkswagen of the violations,the EPA and CARB cited WVU’s research.

Because smog tests are almost always doneon dynamometers, VW got away with the schemefor seven years, until the “clean transportation”advocates went to WVU, which tests emissionsusing equipment that fits in car trunks. Instead ofdoing the tests in West Virginia, researchers tooktheir wares to the West Coast, where diesel carswere easy to find. At the CARB test facility, “thesevehicles were performing just as we would imag-ine,” Carder said. “It wasn’t until we took them outonto the open road that we saw the discrepanciesin their performance. You’re putting these suit-case devices in the car and operating the car overthe real-world driving cycle. We pioneered thiswork back in 1998.”

Other work the nonprofit Center forAlternative Fuels Engines and Emissions has doneover the years includes emissions research ontractor-trailer fleets for private companies, mili-tary combat and tactical ground vehicles for adefense contractor, and high-speed passengerferries. The center has seven faculty members, fivefull-time staff engineers, five technicians, andmore than 30 post-graduate students. It isn’t sup-ported by the state or university but relies on con-tracts with outside agencies and companies, typi-cally between $3 million to $4 million annually,Carder said. —AP

NEW DELHI, India: An Indian livestock owner sits on a charpoy (rope bed) with a goat at a market ahead of the upcoming Eid Al-Adha festival inthe old quarters. —AFP photos

Exposing vehicle emissions

problems not new for university

WASHINGTON: Democratic presidential frontrunner HillaryClinton unveiled a plan Tuesday to limit prescription medi-cine costs, challenging the US pharmaceutical industry afterthe price for one drug skyrocketed by 5,000 percent. TheUnited States has no government-led universal health careprogram for all its nationals. At least 33 million Americanshave no health insurance whatsoever, government datashow. Clinton’s plan would allow for Medicare, the nationalhealth insurance program set up specifically for people over65, “to negotiate for lower prices for its members,” a moveshe said would save some $100 billion per year.

The problem of rising drug prices affects millions ofAmericans. The majority are covered by private insuranceplans offered by employers for workers and their depend-ents. And even with overall US health care costs trendingslightly lower, prescription drug costs for consumers haveshot up-by more than 12 percent last year, according toClinton. Even senior citizens with Medicare often pay part

of their medical expenses. So the issue is one that resonateswith many voters. Many aged Americans go bankrupt pay-ing for their medical care, and cut pills in half to make pre-scriptions last longer, while the uninsured in their millionsusually get little care until they have to head to an emer-gency room.

Health care costs worrisomeThe health care costs issue has been simmering in the

early months of the US presidential race. But it catapultedinto the national spotlight on Monday, when Clinton react-ed to a company that raised by 50-fold the price of a drugused by AIDS and cancer patients and others with compro-mised immune systems. Clinton’s outrage over prescriptiondrug “price-gouging,” and her vow to “lay out a plan to takeit on,” sent pharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks into afour-percent slide Monday. In Iowa the next day, sheannounced her plan that would cap out-of-pocket drug

costs for working families at $250 per month for coveredmedications. It would require pharmaceutical companies tospend a certain portion of their revenue on research anddevelopment, and would aim to cut down on direct-to-con-sumer advertising by companies that receive substantialfederal tax breaks. “I want to both protect consumers andpromote innovation, while putting an end to profiteering,”she said. She also vowed to end the ban on US consumerspurchasing US-made drugs from countries that sell them forless than in the United States.

End ban on cheap Rx imports“If the medicine you need costs less in Canada you

should be able to buy it from Canada, or any other countrythat meets our safety standards,” she said. The United States’neighbor to the north has nation health insurance for all;the huge scope of “economies of scale” usually lowers costs,including for medications. Clinton also returned to the issue

of the company of the moment, Turing Pharmaceuticals,which in August purchased the rights to a 60-year-old drug,Daraprim, and soon afterward raised its price 50-fold, from$13.50 per pill to $750. “That’s price-gouging, pure and sim-ple,” Clinton said, without mentioning the company byname.

Daraprim fights toxoplasmosis, one of the most com-mon food-borne diseases. It often infects people withimmune systems that have been weakened HIV and AIDS,or from chemotherapy. Turing’s chief executive, MartinShkreli, defended the price hike, saying his firm was taking amoney-losing drug and turning into a profit-maker thatwould spur more research and innovation. “We’re taking therevenue from Daraprim and trying to come up with a better,safer, more effective version of it,” Shkreli told CNBC onMonday. As for the new price tag, he said “we took it to aprice where we can make a comfortable profit but not anyridiculous profit.”— AFP

WOLFSBURG, LOWER SAXONY, Germany: People arrive for work through the maingate of the headquarters of German car maker Volkswagen in Wolfsburg. —AFP

LONDON: “Alarming” rates of smoking, alcohol con-sumption and obesity in Europe could mean the nextgeneration live shorter lives, the World HealthOrganization (WHO) warned yesterday. WhileEuropeans are living longer than ever before, increasesin life expectancy and declines in premature mortalitymay “flatten off” if the three big lifestyle risk factors arenot dealt with, a senior WHO director said. In a reporton the region’s health, the WHO said there remain“unacceptably high” differences in life expectancybetween countries, with an 11-year gap between thehighest and lowest.

The first study of its kind for three years, the reportcovers 39 countries including European Union mem-ber states as well as former Soviet republics. Levels ofpremature mortality from non-communicable diseases(NCDs) — including cancer, cardiovascular diseases,diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases-are decreas-ing “quickly”, the report said. But levels of alcohol con-sumption, tobacco use and obesity remain “alarminglyhigh” and this “could mean that this progress is notmaintained,” it warned.

“Europeans live long lives and healthy lives. We arethe longest living region in the world,” said ClaudiaStein, a senior WHO director for Europe. But “the differ-ences in health status between European countriesare... inexplicably wide.” “If rates of smoking and alcoholconsumption and obesity do not decline we may riskthe gains in life expectancy we have seen-which may

mean that the next generation may lead shorter livesthan that we do.”

World’s biggest drinkers Although rates of smoking and alcohol consump-

tion are declining in many parts of the continent,Europeans still smoke and drink more than peopleanywhere else in the world, according to the WHO. Itestimates that on average 11 liters of pure alcohol aredrunk per person each year, while 30 percent of thepopulation uses tobacco. Meanwhile obesity is increas-ing, with 59 percent of Europe’s population either over-weight or obese, ranking only slightly behind theAmericas which have the highest rates in the world.

The European Health Report 2015 looked atprogress made towards the WHO’s “Health 2020” tar-gets. Average life expectancy for men and womenranges from 71 in Belarus, Moldova and Russiato 82 forcountries like France, Italy and Spainaccording to fig-ures from 2011. The gap represents a fall of three yearssince 2009 and Europe is “on track” to exceed targets toreduce premature mortality from NCDs by at least 1.5percent a year by 2020, the report said. But Stein saidthat there could be a “flattening off of the curve” affect-ing the next generation’s life expectancy, if lifestyle riskfactors are not addressed. “We think that the gains wesee... the increases in life expectancy and the declinesin premature mortality... may flatten off if these risk fac-tors are not dealt with,” said Stein. “It would be tragic if

the next generation did not at a minimum have a high-er life expectancy than ours.”

‘War’ on obesity Some countries have seen a dramatic decline in

smoking rates, notably Greece, Russia and Bulgaria,official figures show. Meanwhile obesity has tripled inmany European countries since the 1980s, with 23 per-cent of Europeans now obese, according to the report.“Smoking rates are going down everywhere-we havevery few exceptions-but obesity is increasing and onedoes not offset the other,” Stein told AFP. “What we donot want to see is that we are winning the war againstalcohol and smoking but losing the war against obesi-ty.” She said there were also “unacceptable” healthinequalities to tackle.

Infant mortality has fallen to an all-time low butthere remains a 10-fold difference between the highestand lowest countries, with 22 deaths per 1,000 births inKyrgyzstan compared to two in Finland. “The differ-ences between countries in life expectancy and mor-tality are shrinking. But the differences are still thereand some of them are extreme,” Stein said. This year’sreport also looked for the first time at the impact of “lifesatisfaction” on life expectancy. Denmark, Finland,Sweden and Switzerland-the four countries reportingthe most “life satisfaction” according to polling data col-lected by Gallup-also have some of Europe’s highestlife expectancy rates. — AFP

Smoking, alcohol, obesity

tar Europe’s bill of health ‘Smoking rates going down, but obesity is increasing’

Clinton takes on Big Pharma, lays out drug plan

India’s goat sellers flock

to the Internet this Eid

NEW DELHI, India: An Indian livestock trader feeds his goat at a market ahead of the upcomingEid Al-Adha festival in the old quarters.

NEW YORK: Drug giant Pfizer is starting 20 clinicaltrials this year and more soon after on treatmentsto conquer cancer as it also seeks to gain leader-ship in one of the hottest, and most lucrative, areasof medicine. A decade ago, the world’s second-biggest drugmaker by revenue wasn’t even a play-er in cancer medicine. Instead, it was known forerectile dysfunction treatment Viagra and block-buster cholesterol fighter Lipitor.

New York-based Pfizer Inc. then chose to makecancer one of its core research areas, pitting itagainst cancer powerhouses including NovartisAG, Roche Holding AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.and Merck & Co. Today, Pfizer has eight approvedcancer medicines, four of them launched in the lastfour years. It’s running late-stage patient tests onfive of those drugs for additional uses, has threeother drugs in late-stage testing - usually the lastround before seeking regulators’ approval - andhas 14 other drug programs in early stages.

Those programs together provide for a two-pronged attack on cancer, including tumor-killingdrugs and treatments in the promising new classcalled immuno-oncology that stimulate theimmune system to mount a stronger defenseagainst cancer. Scientists “have never been closerto finding a cancer cure,” Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer’shead of worldwide research and development,told journalists Tuesday during an update on thecompany’s cancer research strategy.

Different mechanisms“Compared to other companies, we are unique-

ly positioned to be a leader” in cancer, Dolstenadded. He and other Pfizer executives said that’sbecause killing tumors and preventing cancerrecurrence requires regimens of multiple drugs giv-en together or sequentially, and the company hasmany drugs that work by different mechanisms totry together. “They clearly have the scale and R&Dexperience over time to be a major player in theimmuno-oncology market,” said Edward Jones ana-lyst Ashtyn Evans. “We’ve seen them do a lot in ashort time.” “They’re still pretty far behind Merckand Bristol in immuno-oncology,” she added, “butit’s going to be a large market that will have roomfor multiple players.”

Evans said Pfizer’s best prospect is its newest

drug, breast cancer medicine Ibrance, now beingtested against multiple other cancers. She thinksby 2020 Pfizer could boost its cancer drug sales toabout 10 percent of revenue, up from barely 4 per-cent of its $50 billion in annual revenue now. Askedabout the high prices for cancer medicines, giventhat patients receive multiple treatments, LizBarrett, head of cancer drug marketing, toldreporters Pfizer will be looking at pricing for combi-nations of its drugs and noted the company givesaway billions of dollars of its medicines.

Patients and insurance plans increasingly areraising alarms about prices of around $100,000 ayear for new drugs for cancer and some other con-ditions, plus recent huge price hikes for some olddrugs. Now Democratic presidential candidatesHillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, the Vermontsenator, have made them campaign issues withproposals to let Americans buy cheaper drugsoverseas, bring the federal government bigger dis-counts on drugs it buys and even make insuranceplans cap what patients pay for their medication.

Scientific insightsPfizer’s scientists now are collaborating more

internally and have numerous partnerships withuniversity researchers uncovering scientific insightsand with other pharmaceutical and biotech com-panies, said Mace Rothenberg, a senior vice presi-dent who oversees Pfizer’s efforts to discoverpotential cancer treatments. Those partnershipsrange from one with iTeos Therapeutics givingPfizer rights to two compounds in laboratory test-ing to one testing rival Merck’s immuno-oncologydrug Keytruda with two approved Pfizer drugs andan experimental one.

Dolsten and other Pfizer executives said the keyto better treatments is putting together the besttargeted drug combinations and, before testingthem in people, seeing how well they work on ani-mals manipulated to have tumors with the samegenetic variations as the patients they’re hoping tohelp. Pfizer’s cancer research programs includeones using six different types of technology to tar-get tumor cells, from genetically engineered anti-bodies to therapeutic vaccines, which use patients’own tumor cells to create vaccines personalized tothe genetic characteristics of their cancer. —AP

Pfizer says it could be leader

in cancer with many drugs

BILLINGS, Montana: Before the applause fad-ed from the US government’s announcementthat there would be no endangered speciesprotections for the greater sage grouse, the criti-cism began over wide-reaching federal conser-vation plans meant to protect the bird’s habitatacross 11 Western states. The land-use planswere released Tuesday after Interior SecretarySally Jewell said additional federal protectionsweren’t needed for the ground-dwelling birdthat’s seen its habitat shrink due to oil and gasdrilling, grazing and other human activity.

The US Bureau of Land Management plansoutline measures to help sage grouse across 67million acres of public lands throughout theWest, including 12 million acres of prime habitatwhere strict limits on oil and gas limits will beenforced. Federal lands make up more than halfthe bird’s habitat. Many of the same state offi-cials who cheered Jewell’s announcement have

previously said the new BLM conservation planswere overly restrictive, particularly with oil andgas drilling. Their next step is to try to bringthose federal conservation plans in line withtheir own. “This doesn’t end the discussion ofwhere we’re going to be,” Montana Gov. SteveBullock said after Jewell’s announcement.

In Wyoming, where the biggest concentra-tions of sage grouse are found, the plans wouldlimit disruptions like oil and gas drilling as far assix-tenths of a mile away from any sage-grousebreeding area. Mines and oil and gas drillingpads would need to be spaced no closer thanevery square mile. Also, drilling would be pro-hibited for three and a half months each springduring breeding season. Those restrictionsapply only to designated “priority habitat” forthe birds, not everywhere they are found. Andthey are far more permissive than the three-mile limit on breeding sites that scientists rec-

ommended. Oil and gas activity can bringbreeding to a halt if it gets too close to the birds,said Steve Holmer, a senior policy adviser withthe American Bird Conservancy. States and theBLM came up with their own proposals on howto protect sage grouse habitat on the lands theymanage. The resulting plans are credited withstaving off the Endangered Species Act protec-tions that state officials feared would causeeven greater harm to the economies across the257,000-square-mile region where the chicken-sized bird ranges. “We think the plans need tobe given a chance to work,” Holmer said, addingthat provisions in the documents allow forfuture changes if grouse numbers continuetheir long-term decline.

Federal managementThe Independent Petroleum Association of

America predicted the land-use plans will harm

small oil and gas producers in particular.“Today’s decision will put more restrictions onour energy producers, making it more costly tooperate and harder to provide the benefits ofabundant, affordable energy to American fami-lies,” said Dan Naatz, IPAA senior vice presidentof government relations and political affairs.Some environmental groups also were criticalof the BLM land-use plans, but for the oppositereason. Erik Molvar with the WildEarthGuardians said the planning effort began withpromise, but the exceptions, modifications andwaivers they allow mean the protections couldevaporate.

“What seems to be coming out the otherend of the sausage grinder is a weak collectionof compromises that will not and cannot con-serve the species,” Molvar said. For states likeMontana, where 29 percent of sage grousehabitat is under federal management, the prob-

lem is that the BLM plans set different standardsfrom their own conservation plans. Thatincludes differences in buffer zone distancesand caps on the total amount of land that canbe disturbed in prime sage grouse habitat.

The federal plans also are far more restrictivein new leases for oil and gas sites in primarysage grouse habitat. Bullock spokesman MikeWessler said state officials will pressure the BLMto make their management plans more consis-tent with Montana’s. Those restrictions haven’tgenerated the same response in Wyoming asthey have in Montana. Wyoming Gov MattMead said he was satisfied with how the state’sconservation plan will work with the federalplans. Wyoming officials worked with their fed-eral counterparts for much of the last decade tofind a mutually agreeable approach to sagegrouse. “We think we got it in a good placenow,” Mead said. —AP

With no protections for Western birds, focus is on land-use

H E A LT H & S C I E N C EH E A LT H & S C I E N C ETHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

N E W YO R K : M a j o r U S co m p a n i e sincluding Walmar t , Starbucks andNike vowed yesterday to move com-pletely to renewable energy in thelong term as part of a global effortagainst climate change. The non-prof-it Climate Group announced the latestadditions to its campaign during aweek of events in New York that aimto b u i l d m o m e n t u m fo r a g l o b a lagreement to fight climate change.Consumer goods giants Johnson &Johnson and Procter & Gamble, andinvestment banking titan GoldmanSachs also joined the year-old effort.

“Our mission is to help people livelonger, healthier and happier lives. Weunderstand the intrinsic link betweena healthy environment and humanh e a l t h ,” s a i d A l e x G o r s k y, C E O o fJohnson & Johnson, whose productsrange from bandages to pain reliefcapsules. Renewable energy sourcessuch as the sun and wind result in noemissions of carbon dioxide, the keyfactor behind the planet’s rising tem-p e r a t u re s t h a t s c i e n t i s t s fe a r w i l lcause worsening scarcities and disas-ters. The Climate Group’s initiative,dubbed RE100, does not set a dead-line for companies to meet the goal orspell out consequences if they do not.

European firms in particular have

f a ce d l e g a l re q u i re m e n t s to c u r bemissions under the Kyoto Protocol,which the United States shunned.Several companies that joined theRE100 initiative have faced criticismfo r a s p e c t s o f t h e i r b u s i n e s s e s .Walmart is known for its hostility tolabor unions but has been active onclimate change, saying that environ-mental efforts are critical to maintain-ing low costs. Walmart has already seta goal of shifting entirely to renew-ables, which it says now supply about24 percent of the retailer’s electricity.

The Cl imate Group said that 36major businesses now belong to theinitiative. Companies that previouslyjoined include food giants Mars andNestle, Ikea, H&M, electronics makerPhilips and Indian software companyInfosys. The announcement comes onthe heels of a study that found thatinstitutions worth $2.6 trillion haverenounced foss i l fuels, sharply upfrom a year earlier. But national planssubmitted ahead of a year-end con-ference in Paris, which is aimed atdrafting a new global climate agree-ment, show that the planet remainswell off from a goal of limiting tem-perature rises to 2.0 degrees Celsius(3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industriallevels. — AFP

Starbucks, Nike join 100%

renewable energy pledge

WALDEN, Colorado: In this photo, male greater sage grouse, foreground, perform a mating ritual for females on a lakeoutside Walden. — AP photos

RAWLINS, Wyoming: Male sage grouses fight for the attention of a female,southwest of Rawlins.

LONDON: Installing barriers, safety nets and otherrestrictions at notorious suicide hotspots like bridges,cliffs and railways could cut the number of suicides atthese sites by more than 90 percent, according toresearch published yesterday. In a large study coveringknown hotspots around the world, researchers foundthat other measures such as putting up signs and crisistelephones to encourage people to seek help alsoappear to significantly reduce the number of deaths.

Suicide is currently the second leading cause ofdeath among 15- to 29 year-olds, according to WorldHealth Organization (WHO) data. Across all age groupsworldwide, around 800,000 people kill themselves eachyear. Some of the world’s most notorious suicide sitesinclude London’s “Tube” subway system, the Eiffel Towerin Paris, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco andthe Prince Edward Viaduct in Toronto. Jane Pirkis at theUniversity of Melbourne in Australia, who led thisresearch and published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal,said it showed how certain intervention measures can“buy time to allow an individual to reconsider theiractions and allow others the opportunity to intervene”.

Pirkis’ team conducted a systematic review andmeta-analysis of all studies examining the effectivenessof three suicide prevention measures - restricting accessto the means, encouraging help-seeking and increasingthe likelihood of intervention by a third party. They thenused modeling to estimate the effect of each interven-tion in isolation or in combination with others. Theeresults, using data from 18 studies in all, showed thatthe interventions significantly reduced the number ofsuicides at the sites in question - with deaths falling

from an average of 5.8 suicides a year before actionswere taken, to an average of 2.4 deaths annually after-wards.

Measures aimed at blocking access to places wherepeople go to kill themselves led to 91 percent fewer sui-cides a year when used in combination with other inter-ventions, and a 93 percent reduction when used alone.

Experts say suicide hotspots are accessible, usually pub-lic sites frequently used as a location and which gain a“reputation for suicide”. These can include bridges, tallbuildings, cliffs, railway tracks and isolated places ruralcar parks and woodland. “Suicide attempts at these sitesare often fatal and attract high profile media attentionwhich can lead to copycat acts,” Pirkis said. — Reuters

Barring ‘suicide hotspots’ cuts

number who take their own life

Suicide a leading cause of death in 15- to 29-year-olds

PORTLAND: A town in southern Oregon will hold apublic meeting to discuss how to deal with drovesof fearless deer that wander the streets, occasionallyacting aggressively toward residents, state wildlifeofficials said on Tuesday. The “Deer Summit 2015”will be chaired by Ashland Mayor John Strombergas part of efforts to address deer that have stalkedpeople, pawed at them with their hooves and evenstomped on small dogs.

“The deer have no fear of humans,” said MarkVargas, District Wildlife Biologist for the OregonDepartment of Fish and Wildlife. The confident deerare a product of a long tradition in the town of21,000 people of feeding and befriending them,Vargas said. For the last two or three decades, theblack tailed deer have been known to roam intoyards and stroll the downtown area of Ashland,

which lies in the heavily forested foothills of theSiskiyou and Cascade Mountains. “Deer just livethere,” Vargas said. “They live amongst all the peopleand when that happens there’s going to be conflict.”

Stromberg said on the city’s website that hewants to hear from community members withideas about what to do. The mayor could not bereached for comment on Tuesday, but city officialshave urged residents not to feed the deer, and toput up deer fencing or deer resistant plants. In astatement, the officials said a recent attack on ahomeowner by a deer protecting its fawn was areminder that locals share their community withall manner of wildlife. “No matter how cute andseemingly domesticated, these are wild creatures.Their behaviors are unpredictable,” they said onthe city’s website. — Reuters

Oregon seeking solutions

to droves of fearless deer

F O ODTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

By Katie Workman

Tomato lovers wait for this moment allyear, that moment when the plants inthe garden are struggling under the

weight of those gorgeous red (or yellow ororange or even green) orbs, and the tablesat the farmers markets threaten to buckleunder the load. We slice and eat them as fastas we can, but we still can’t keep up. Nor canwe ever get enough. This is when freshtomato sauce comes into play, turning abasketful of ripe tomatoes into an easy din-ner.

The beauty of this recipe is you can cookthe tomatoes for as little or as long as youwant, and you’ll still have a lovely, cleansauce. I like to take out about half of thesauce after 10 minutes, preserving thesweet-acidic freshness of a barely cookedtomato, then let the rest of the sauce sim-mer for longer so that it reduces and con-centrates and becomes deeper in flavor.

The two batches are then reunited andwhirred together, and the result is a saucewith both depth and brightness. Not in themood for that extra step? Just cook thewhole thing for about 20 minutes, blend itup and call it a day. Also, if you prefer achunky rustic sauce, just skip the blendingstep altogether. You can use absolutely anytomatoes you like. Some are more meaty,some have more water and seeds, and thesauce’s consistency, flavor and color willvary accordingly.

Fresh Tomato Sauce with PastaIngredients

4 pounds ripe tomatoes (about 14 plumtomatoes)

3 tablespoons olive oil1 medium yellow onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)Salt and ground black pepper, to taste1/2 teaspoon sugar1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

6 large fresh basil leaves, chopped orshredded

12 ounces dried pasta (any variety)Parmesan cheese, to serveBring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill a

large bowl with ice water and have it nearby.

Preparation Use a paring knife to cut an X across the

bottom of each tomato. Carefully set the

tomatoes into the boiling water, cook for 60seconds, then use a slotted spoon to transferthem to the ice water. Cool for 1 to 2 min-utes. Place the tomatoes on a cutting boardwith a groove to catch the juices, then dumpout the ice water, reserving the bowl. Peel offthe tomato skins, then roughly chop thetomatoes, discarding the stem and anywhite core. Transfer the chopped tomatoesand any juices on the board to the bowl.

Return the large pot to medium heat.Add the oil, onion and garlic and saute, notallowing the garlic and onions to get morethan lightly golden, for about 5 minutes, oruntil soft. Stir in the red pepper flakes, ifusing, and season with salt and pepper. Addthe tomatoes and all of their juices, thenincrease the heat to high. Bring to a rapidsimmer, add the sugar, then cook for about10 minutes, or until the tomatoes start tobreak down.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer about halfof the tomatoes to a bowl. Continue to sim-mer the rest of the tomato mixture foranother 15 minutes until it thickens furtherand some of the liquid evaporates. Stir thereserved tomato mixture back into the potalong with the thyme and basil. Check andadjust the seasoning. While the tomatosauce finishes cooking, bring a large pot ofsalted water to a boil. Add the pasta andcook according to package directions.

For a chunky sauce, you can simply drainthe pasta, return it to the pot, and toss withthe sauce to combine. Alternatively, use animmersion blender to puree the sauce assmooth as you’d like right in its pot, or care-fully transfer it to a food processor orblender and pulse or puree the mixture - inbatches if necessary - until it reaches thedesired consistency. Serve with gratedParmesan.

Less can be more when it comes to fresh tomato sauce

By Melissa D’Arabian

In the farm-to-table food world of today, we often praisethe cook who keeps recipes simple, letting the ingredi-ents speak for themselves. Yet once I get started in the

kitchen, sometimes I can’t help but add in a final touch, anextra this or that (or two or three) that will make the wholerecipe really sing.

So I’ll admit, when I gave myself the task of creating atruly simple weeknight soup, I had to exercise uncharacter-istic restraint. In fact, truth be told, I made eight differentversions of this soup, half of which I allowed myself to con-tinue to tweak and taste, adding everything from low-fatsour cream and citrus for tang to prosciutto chips andsmoked paprika for a smoky edge. Guess which soup wonthe taste tests at my house? The simple 4-ingredient ver-sion I’m sharing with you today.

Four ingredients is all it takes to create this perfect mealstarter. By starting my meals with a healthy veggie-drivensoup, I load up my family with vitamins and fiber beforethe main meal even begins. And since my kids usuallyarrive at the dinner table racing in from hours of soccerpractice or dance rehearsal, they are ravenous. Whatever Ifeed them first has the highest chance of being eaten, sowhy not make it uber healthy?

Zucchini - available most of the year despite technicallybeing a summer squash - is full of fiber and offers nice

array of vitamins. One medium squash provides vitamin B6,folate and over half our daily requirement of vitamin C, notto mention minerals, such as iron and calcium. Zucchinialso sports a couple grams of protein, which are alwayswelcomed.

Ingredients 3 medium-large zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds)Salt and ground black pepper2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth, warmed

to hot2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preparation Heat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with kitchen

parchment. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, then sliceoff the nubby ends. Place the zucchini on the preparedbaking sheet, then mist with cooking spray. Season withsalt and pepper, then roast until tender, about 15 minutes,turning halfway through. In a blender, combine the roastedzucchini, hot broth, chives and lemon juice. Blend untilcreamy and smooth. Serve immediately.

Simple means simple withthis Zucchini soup

By Sara Moulton

This recipe is a template for topping sauteed steaks or chops of most any kindwith a wilted salad, a splendid dish for a late summer dinner. Mostly, I’m tak-ing my cues here from the Italians. In Florence, they like to pep up their

grilled steaks with a drizzle of olive and a spritz of lemon, which cuts through themeat’s fattiness. Then there’s veal Milanese, a breaded chop with a salad on top.But the latter dish doesn’t marry the salad dressing to the chops, as I do here, andmy chop isn’t breaded. Also, Caesar dressing is rooted in Mexico, not Italy. All ofwhich is to say I guess my inspirations were pretty diverse.

How to marry the meat to the salad? By taking advantage of the concentratedbits of reduced meat juices at the bottom of the pan, as well as the juices from theresting chops after they have been cooked. It’s then that the salad’s flavors -anchovies, garlic and shallots - are added to the skillet, followed by chicken broth,lemon juice and olive oil. As noted, these are basically the ingredients for a Caesardressing with a little chicken broth added.

As for the greens, feel free to experiment. If you prefer them to be more crispyand less wilted, don’t add them to the pan; just toss them with the warm dressing.Finally, I have called for lamb shoulder chops because they’re more affordablethan rib or loin chops. They’re every bit as tasty as the pricier chops, even if they’realso marginally chewier.

Lamb Chops with warm Caesar SaladIngredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, dividedFour 1/2-inch-thick lamb shoulder or round bone chopsSalt and pepper4 anchovy fillets, chopped2 tablespoons minced shallots1 teaspoon minced garlic1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth2 tablespoons lemon juice4 cups chopped escarole, dandelion greens (tough stems removed) or romaine1 ounce shaved Parmesan cheese

Preparation In a large skillet over medium-high, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Reduce the

heat to medium and add 2 of the lamb chops, sprinkled with salt and pepper.Cook until lightly browned on both sides, 5 to 6 minutes total for medium-rare.Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil. Repeat with the remaining 2 chopsin the oil remaining in the pan.

Return the skillet to the heat and reduce to medium-low. Add 1 tablespoon ofthe remaining oil, the anchovies, shallots and garlic, then cook, stirring, for 1 1/2minutes. Add the broth and lemon juice and cook, scraping up the brown bits onthe bottom, for 1 minute. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, the greens, and ahefty pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring until the greens are slightly wilt-ed, about 2 minutes. Add the juices from the resting lamb and remove from theheat. To serve, transfer the chops to each of 4 plates and top each chop with aquarter of the dressed wilted greens and the cheese. —AP

What your chop really needs is an easy, warm salad

K I D ’ S COR N E RTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

00:20 Misfit Garage01:10 Man vs Expert02:00 Deadly Dilemmas02:25 Deadly Dilemmas02:50 World’s Worst...03:40 Auction Kings04:05 Auction Hunters04:30 Baggage Battles05:00 Dallas Car Sharks05:30 How Do They Do It?06:00 Ice Cold Gold06:50 World’s Top 507:40 Misfit Garage08:30 Auction Kings08:55 Auction Hunters09:20 Baggage Battles09:45 Dallas Car Sharks10:10 How Do They Do It?10:35 Man vs Expert11:25 Deadly Dilemmas11:50 Deadly Dilemmas12:15 World’s Worst...13:05 Auction Kings13:30 Auction Hunters13:55 Baggage Battles14:20 Ice Cold Gold15:10 World’s Top 516:00 Misfit Garage16:50 Dallas Car Sharks17:15 How Do They Do It?17:40 Treehouse Masters18:30 Flip Men18:55 Property Wars19:20 Survive That!20:10 Auction Hunters20:35 Baggage Battles21:00 Fire In The Hole21:50 Fast N’ Loud: DemolitionTheater22:40 Saint Hoods23:30 Amish Mafia

T V PR O G R A M STHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

SHAOLIN ON OSN MOVIES ACTION HD

EDGE OF TOMORROW OSN MOVIES HD

00:00 Violetta00:45 The Hive00:50 Sabrina: Secrets Of ATeenage Witch01:15 Sabrina: Secrets Of ATeenage Witch01:40 Wolfblood02:05 Wolfblood02:30 Violetta03:15 The Hive03:20 Sabrina: Secrets Of ATeenage Witch03:45 Sabrina: Secrets Of ATeenage Witch04:10 Wolfblood04:35 Wolfblood05:00 Violetta05:45 The Hive05:50 Mouk06:00 Lolirock06:25 Girl Meets World06:50 Girl Meets World07:15 H2O: Just Add Water07:40 H2O: Just Add Water08:05 Liv And Maddie08:30 Liv And Maddie08:55 Jessie09:20 Jessie09:45 Austin & Ally10:10 Austin & Ally10:35 Descendants12:25 Phineas And Ferb12:45 Liv And Maddie13:10 Jessie13:35 Jessie14:00 Dog With A Blog14:30 H2O: Just Add Water14:55 H2O: Just Add Water15:20 Liv And Maddie15:45 Jessie16:10 Violetta17:00 The Next Step17:25 Liv And Maddie17:50 Jessie18:15 I Didn’t Do It18:40 Gravity Falls19:05 H2O: Just Add Water19:30 Violetta20:20 The Next Step20:45 Good Luck Charlie21:10 Good Luck Charlie21:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place22:00 Binny And The Ghost22:25 Sabrina: Secrets Of ATeenage Witch22:50 Sabrina: Secrets Of ATeenage Witch23:10 Wolfblood23:35 Wolfblood

00:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians00:55 The Grace Helbig Show01:25 Kourtney And Khloe TakeThe Hamptons02:20 E! News03:15 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills04:10 E!ES05:05 Ryan Seacrest With TheKardashians: An E!...06:00 Kourtney And Kim TakeMiami06:55 Kourtney And Kim TakeMiami07:50 Style Star08:20 E! News09:15 Giuliana & Bill10:15 Giuliana & Bill11:10 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills11:35 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills12:05 E! News13:05 WAGs14:05 New Money14:30 New Money15:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians16:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians17:00 Fashion Bloggers17:30 Fashion Bloggers18:00 E! News19:00 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills20:00 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills21:00 Stewarts And Hamiltons22:00 E! News23:00 Emmy Award Shows

00:00 Chopped01:00 Chopped02:00 Kitchen Inferno03:00 Man Fire Food03:30 Man Fire Food04:00 The Next Iron Chef05:00 Chopped06:00 Guy’s Grocery Games07:00 Man Fire Food07:30 Man Fire Food08:00 Chopped09:00 Guy’s Grocery Games10:00 The Kitchen11:00 Barefoot Contessa11:30 Barefoot Contessa12:00 Chopped13:00 Guy’s Big Bite13:30 Guy’s Big Bite14:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives14:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives15:00 Man Fire Food15:30 Man Fire Food16:00 Chopped17:00 The Kitchen

00:10 The Chase01:05 Who’s Doing The Dishes?02:00 Emmerdale02:25 Come Dine With Me Ireland02:55 Coronation Street03:25 Agatha Christie’s Poirot05:15 Murdoch Mysteries06:10 Who’s Doing The Dishes?07:05 Coronation Street07:30 Agatha Christie’s Poirot09:20 The Doctor Blake Mysteries10:15 Come Dine With Me Ireland10:40 The Chase11:35 Who’s Doing The Dishes?12:30 Murdoch Mysteries13:25 Emmerdale13:50 Emmerdale14:15 Coronation Street14:40 The Chase15:35 The Doctor Blake Mysteries16:30 How To Find Love Online17:25 How To Find Love Online18:20 Murdoch Mysteries19:10 Coronation Street19:35 The Doctor Blake Mysteries20:30 How To Find Love Online21:25 How To Find Love Online22:20 Coronation Street22:50 Emmerdale23:15 Emmerdale23:45 Murdoch Mysteries

00:10 Danger Decoded00:35 Danger Decoded01:00 Science Of Stupid01:30 Science Of Stupid02:00 The Border02:55 Russia’s Mystery Files03:50 Danger Decoded04:15 Danger Decoded04:45 Beast Hunter05:40 Wild Russia06:35 Megastructures07:30 The Lady With 700 Cats08:25 Wild Scotland: The WesternIsles09:20 Beast Hunter10:15 Engineering Connections11:10 The Border12:05 Taiwan: Island Of Fish13:00 Wild Scotland: The WesternIsles14:00 Unlikely Animal Friends15:00 Megastructures16:00 Engineering Connections17:00 The Border18:00 Drugs Inc19:00 Hacking The System19:30 Hacking The System20:00 Engineering Connections20:50 The Border21:40 Drugs Inc22:30 Hacking The System22:55 Hacking The System23:20 Wild Russia

00:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show01:00 Good Morning America03:00 Better Call Saul04:00 House Of Cards05:00 Good Morning America07:00 Emmerdale07:30 Coronation Street08:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show09:00 Criminal Minds10:00 Emmerdale10:30 Coronation Street11:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show12:00 The Fosters13:00 Witches Of East End14:00 Live Good Morning America16:00 Criminal Minds17:00 The Fosters18:00 Witches Of East End19:00 Criminal Minds20:00 The Fosters21:00 Witches Of East End22:00 Better Call Saul23:00 House Of Cards

01:40 The Beautiful Country03:40 The Great Scout AndCathouse Thursday05:30 Alexander The Great07:45 Agent Cody Banks09:25 Agent Cody Banks 2:Destination London11:05 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels12:55 Big Screen13:10 Shattered Glass14:45 Puckoon16:10 Adventures Of Hercules17:40 The Beast Of HollowMountain19:00 The Falcon And TheSnowman21:10 Fear The Walking Dead22:10 Capote00:05 The Falcon And TheSnowman

01:20 Grojband02:05 Total Drama World Tour02:50 Teen Titans Go!03:00 Teen Titans Go!03:10 Grojband03:35 Grojband04:00 Regular Show04:50 Uncle Grandpa05:00 Uncle Grandpa05:10 New Adventure Time05:20 Adventure Time05:35 New Clarence05:46 Clarence06:00 The Amazing World OfGumball06:11 The Amazing World OfGumball06:20 Ben 1007:10 Ninjago Master Of SpinjitzuNew07:30 Regular Show09:50 Uncle Grandpa10:15 Teen Titans Go!10:40 Regular Show11:25 New Adventure Time11:35 Adventure Time12:10 Steven Universe12:35 Total Drama World Tour13:00 Ben 10: Omniverse13:45 Ninjago Master Of SpinjitzuNew14:10 Matt Hatter Chronicles14:30 Teen Titans Go!15:20 New Clarence15:31 Clarence15:40 Regular Show16:30 New Adventure Time16:40 Adventure Time16:50 The Amazing World OfGumball17:15 Uncle Grandpa17:40 Steven Universe18:00 Teen Titans Go!18:50 Ben 10: Omniverse19:40 Adventure Time

01:06 How It’s Made01:29 How Do They Do It?01:53 How Do They Do It?02:16 Mind Control Freaks02:40 Mind Control Freaks03:03 Through The WormholeWith Morgan Freeman03:50 How The Universe Works04:37 How It’s Made05:00 How It’s Made05:23 Mythbusters06:08 You Have Been Warned06:53 Prototype This07:38 Food Factory08:01 Food Factory08:23 The Big Brain Theory09:08 Through The WormholeWith Morgan Freeman09:53 How Do They Do It?10:16 How Do They Do It?10:38 You Have Been Warned11:23 Collapse: When StructuresFail12:10 How It’s Made12:34 How It’s Made12:57 The Big Brain Theory13:44 Through The WormholeWith Morgan Freeman14:31 You Have Been Warned15:18 How The Universe Works16:05 Mythbusters16:50 Redesign My Brain17:40 Food Factory18:03 Food Factory18:25 How It’s Made18:50 How It’s Made19:15 How Do They Do It?19:38 How Do They Do It?20:00 Redesign My Brain20:45 Through The WormholeWith Morgan Freeman21:35 How The Universe Works22:20 Mythbusters23:08 Redesign My Brain

01:10 Henry Hugglemonster01:20 Calimero01:35 Zou01:45 Loopdidoo02:00 Art Attack02:25 Henry Hugglemonster02:35 Calimero02:50 Zou03:00 Loopdidoo03:15 Art Attack03:35 Henry Hugglemonster03:50 Calimero04:00 Zou04:15 Loopdidoo04:35 Art Attack05:00 Calimero05:10 Zou05:25 Jake And The Never LandPirates05:55 Sofia The First06:20 Doc McStuffins06:45 Loopdidoo07:00 Limon And Oli07:10 Sheriff Callie’s Wild West07:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse08:00 Sofia The First08:30 Doc McStuffins08:55 Miles From Tomorrow09:25 Jake And The NeverlandPirates09:55 Loopdidoo10:10 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse10:35 Sheriff Callie’s Wild West11:00 Sofia The First11:30 Henry Hugglemonster12:00 Doc McStuffins12:30 Nina Needs To Go12:35 Zou12:50 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse13:15 Sofia The First13:45 Jake And The Never LandPirates14:10 Lilo & Stitch14:40 Adventures Of The GummiBears15:05 Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers15:35 Ducktales16:00 Miles From Tomorrow16:30 Sofia The First16:55 Doc McStuffins17:15 Jake And The Neverland

Pirates17:35 Sheriff Callie’s Wild West18:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse18:35 Sofia The First19:00 Adventures Of The GummiBears19:25 Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers19:55 Ducktales20:20 Lilo & Stitch20:50 Zou21:05 Henry Hugglemonster21:20 Calimero21:35 Zou21:50 Loopdidoo22:05 Art Attack22:30 Henry Hugglemonster22:45 Calimero23:00 Zou23:15 Loopdidoo23:30 Art Attack23:55 Henry Hugglemonster00:05 Calimero00:20 Zou00:30 Loopdidoo00:45 Art Attack

00:00 Down East Dickering01:00 Swamp People02:00 Mountain Men03:00 Wwi: The First Modern War04:00 Ax Men05:00 American Pickers06:00 American Restoration06:30 American Restoration07:00 Ice Road Truckers08:00 Swamp People09:00 Shipping Wars09:30 Shipping Wars10:00 American Restoration10:30 American Restoration11:00 Counting Cars11:30 Counting Cars12:00 American Pickers13:00 Storage Wars13:30 Storage Wars14:00 Pawn Stars14:30 Pawn Stars15:00 Shipping Wars15:30 Shipping Wars16:00 Swamp People17:00 Mountain Men18:00 Pawn Stars18:30 Pawn Stars19:00 Storage Wars19:30 Storage Wars20:00 Alaska Off-Road Warriors21:00 American Pickers22:00 Ice Road Truckers

04:00 The 7D04:10 Randy Cunningham: 9thGrade Ninja04:35 Mini Ninjas05:00 Phineas And Ferb05:25 Mighty Med05:50 Lab Rats: Bionic Island06:15 Supa Strikas06:40 Penn Zero: Part Time Hero07:05 Kickin’ It07:30 Kirby Buckets08:00 Kirby Buckets08:25 Kirby Buckets08:50 Annedroids09:15 Annedroids09:45 Annedroids10:10 Lab Rats: Bionic Island10:35 Lab Rats: Bionic Island11:00 Lab Rats: Bionic Island11:25 Phineas And Ferb12:50 Cars Toons12:55 Kickin’ It13:20 Kickin’ It13:45 Kickin’ It14:10 The 7D14:35 Penn Zero: Part Time Hero15:00 Mighty Med15:25 Supa Strikas15:55 Kickin’ It16:20 Lab Rats: Bionic Island16:45 Kirby Buckets17:10 Phineas And Ferb17:40 Japaneezi Going GoingGong18:05 Super Matrak18:30 Ultimate Spider-Man19:00 Lab Rats19:25 Kickin’ It19:50 Phineas And Ferb20:10 Phineas And Ferb20:20 Boyster21:00 Programmes Start At6:00am KSA

00:30 New Girl01:00 The Nightly Show With LarryWilmore04:30 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon06:30 2 Broke Girls07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers09:30 Manhattan Love Story10:00 Benched10:30 2 Broke Girls11:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon13:30 2 Broke Girls14:30 Manhattan Love Story15:00 Benched15:30 New Girl16:00 The Nightly Show With LarryWilmore17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers18:00 The Simpsons18:30 Last Man Standing19:00 Modern Family19:30 Modern Family20:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon21:00 New Girl21:30 The Nightly Show With LarryWilmore22:00 Big Time In Hollywood Fl23:30 Late Night With Seth Meyers

00:00 American Horror Story: FreakShow01:00 Marvel’s Agents OfS.H.I.E.L.D.02:00 White Collar03:00 American Crime08:00 Drop Dead Diva11:00 Royal Pains12:00 Emmerdale12:30 Coronation Street13:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show14:00 Drop Dead Diva16:00 Emmerdale16:30 Coronation Street17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show18:00 Drop Dead Diva19:00 Parenthood20:00 Covert Affairs22:00 Empire23:00 Mistresses

23:55 Food Factory00:19 Food Factory00:42 How It’s Made

01:45 Dead Or Alive02:40 Ultimate AnimalCountdown03:35 Big Cat Wars04:30 Lion Gangland05:25 Dead Or Alive06:20 Ultimate AnimalCountdown07:15 World’s Weirdest (2015)08:10 Animal Fight Club09:05 Freaks & Creeps10:00 Hooked10:55 World’s Deadliest GPU11:50 Crocodile King12:45 Dead Or Alive13:40 Kingdom Of The Oceans14:35 World’s Weirdest (2015)15:30 Animal Fight Club16:25 Maneater Manhunt17:20 Dead Or Alive18:10 Kingdom Of The Oceans19:00 World’s Weirdest (2015)19:50 Animal Fight Club20:40 Maneater Manhunt21:30 Hooked22:20 World’s Deadliest GPU23:10 Crocodile King00:00 Wild Wild West00:50 When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs

TLC HD01:40 Craft Wars02:30 Jon & Kate Plus 803:00 Little People, Big World03:30 Cake Boss04:00 Say Yes To The Dress04:25 Secrets Of The High Street04:50 Secrets Of The High Street05:15 Toddlers & Tiaras

18:00 Siba’s Table: Fast Feasts18:30 Siba’s Table: Fast Feasts19:00 Chopped20:00 The Next Iron Chef21:00 The Freshman Class21:30 The Freshman Class22:00 Australian Food AdventuresWith Matt Moran23:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives23:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives

00:00 The Baytown Outlaws02:00 Max Payne04:00 Assassin’s Bullet06:00 Jaws III08:00 Marvel’s Next Avengers:Heroes Of Tomorrow10:00 Clockstoppers12:00 Assassin’s Bullet14:00 Getaway16:00 Bloodsport18:00 A Common Man19:45 Clockstoppers21:45 Shaolin

01:45 Solo Para Dos03:30 The Invisible Woman05:30 One Chance07:30 Mr. Pip09:30 Maladies11:15 Metallica: Through TheNever13:00 The Butler15:15 Far And Away17:45 Maladies19:30 Safe Haven21:30 Till Human Voices Wake Us23:30 We Gotta Get Out Of ThisPlace

01:15 Justin And The Knights OfThe Valour03:00 Ernest & Celestine04:30 Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius06:00 Postman Pat: The Movie07:45 Jungle Shuffle09:30 Otto Is A Rhino11:00 Luke And Lucy: The TexasRangers12:45 Ernest & Celestine14:15 The Dragon Pearl16:00 Oggy & The Cockroaches:The Movie18:00 See Spot Run20:00 From Up On Poppy Hill21:45 The Dragon Pearl23:30 Oggy & The Cockroaches:The Movie

00:45 Divergent-PG1503:00 The Other Woman-PG1505:00 Good Deeds-PG1507:00 Maleficent-PG09:00 Big Hero 6-PG10:45 Divergent-PG1513:00 Bad Parents-PG1514:45 Alexander And The Terrible...Very Bad Day-PG16:15 Big Hero 6-PG18:15 Transformers: Age OfExtinction-PG1521:00 Godzilla-PG1523:15 Edge Of Tomorrow-PG15

00:00 Heaven Is For Real-PG02:00 3 Days To Kill-PG1504:00 Marvel’s Hulk vs. Thor &Wolverine-PG06:00 American Warships-PG1508:00 Mud-PG1510:15 Horizon-PG1512:00 Hellboy: Sword Of Storms13:45 Diana-PG1515:45 Mud-PG1518:00 Searching For Sugar Man20:00 Endless Love-PG1522:00 Bachelorette-PG15

01:15 Spider03:00 Henry’s Crime04:45 Frankenweenie06:15 Love And Other ImpossiblePursuits08:00 Hurricane Season09:45 Spider11:30 02:2213:15 Greenberg15:00 A Heartbeat Away16:30 Then She Found Me18:15 The Proposal20:00 Hanna22:00 Grave Encounters23:30 Inferno

00:00 Grey’s Anatomy01:00 MasterChef - TheProfessionals02:00 Switched At Birth03:00 Desperate Housewives04:00 The Secret Life Of TheAmerican Teenager05:00 The Great State Of Georgia05:30 The Great State Of Georgia06:00 The Simpsons06:30 The Simpsons07:00 Lost08:00 Grey’s Anatomy09:00 MasterChef - TheProfessionals10:00 Switched At Birth11:00 Desperate Housewives12:00 The Secret Life Of TheAmerican Teenager13:00 The Great State Of Georgia13:30 The Great State Of Georgia14:00 The Simpsons

14:30 The Simpsons15:00 Lost16:00 Grey’s Anatomy17:00 MasterChef - TheProfessionals18:00 The Listener19:00 The Listener20:00 Castle21:00 Happy Endings21:30 Happy Endings22:00 The Simpsons22:30 The Simpsons23:00 Lost

19:51 Adventure Time21:10 Regular Show21:55 Total Drama World Tour22:20 Total Drama World Tour22:40 Grojband23:05 Grojband23:25 Transformers: Robots InDisguise23:50 Regular Show00:35 Johnny Test

00:00 Max Payne-PG1502:00 Assassin’s Bullet-PG1504:00 Jaws III-PG1506:00 Marvel’s Next Avengers:Heroes Of Tomorrow-PG08:00 Clockstoppers-FAM10:00 Assassin’s Bullet-PG1512:00 Getaway-PG1514:00 Bloodsport-PG1516:00 A Common Man-PG1517:45 Clockstoppers-FAM19:45 Shaolin-PG1522:00 Outpost: Rise Of TheSpetsnaz-PG15

00:00 Gun Shy02:00 The Little Rascals Save TheDay04:00 She Wants Me06:00 Vamps08:00 Shanghai Calling10:00 The Little Rascals Save TheDay12:00 Catch That Kid14:00 For Better Or For Worse16:00 Shanghai Calling18:00 The Last Shot20:00 Syrup22:00 High Road

01:00 Mandela: Long Walk ToFreedom-PG1503:30 Paranoia-PG1505:30 See Girl Run-PG1507:30 Shadow Witness-PG1509:00 Pawn-PG1511:00 See Girl Run-PG1513:00 Stand Off-PG1515:00 Lizzie Borden Took An Ax17:00 Pawn-PG1519:00 Stone Markers-PG1521:00 Out Of The Furnace-PG15

ClassifiedsTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Fajr: 04:16Shorook 05:36Duhr: 11:41Asr: 15:09Maghrib: 17:46Isha: 19:16

Automated enquiryabout the Civil ID card is

1889988

Kuwait

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Arrival Flights on Thursday 24/9/2015Airlines Flt Route TimeKAC 564 Amman 00:05THY 772 Istanbul 00:15JZR 239 Amman 00:20JZR 267 Beirut 00:30DLH 637 Dammam 00:35FDB 069 Dubai 00:55JZR 539 Cairo 01:30SAI 441 Lahore 01:35PGT 858 Istanbul 01:40RJA 642 Amman 01:45ETH 620 Addis Ababa 01:50OMA 643 Muscat 02:05GFA 211 Bahrain 02:15KKK 6507 Istanbul 02:15UAE 853 Dubai 02:25MSC 403 Sohag 02:30QTR 1076 Doha 02:55ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 03:05RJA 644 Amman 03:10FDB 067 Dubai 03:15MSR 612 Cairo 03:15KAC 1544 Cairo 03:35PGT 860 Istanbul 03:45THY 1464 Istanbul 03:55MSC 401 Alexandria 04:00JZR 555 Alexandria 04:15JZR 1543 Cairo 04:35THY 770 Istanbul 04:40THY 5580 TZX 05:05DHX 170 Bahrain 05:10MSC 409 Asyut 05:55JZR 529 Asyut 06:00QTR 8301 Doha 06:00KAC 412 Manila/Bangkok 06:15BAW 157 London 06:35JZR 1541 Cairo 06:40OMA 641 Muscat 06:50JZR 503 Luxor 07:20IRA 673 Ahwaz 07:30KAC 382 Delhi 07:30KAC 206 Islamabad 07:45FDB 053 Dubai 07:50SVA 512 Riyadh 07:50KAC 204 Lahore 07:50KAC 302 Mumbai 07:55QTR 1086 Doha 07:55KAC 346 Ahmedabad 08:00KAC 154 Istanbul 08:10KAC 352 Kochi 08:15UAE 855 Dubai 08:25KAC 332 Trivandrum 08:30KAC 362 Colombo 08:30IRA 667 Esfahan 09:00KAC 284 Dhaka 09:00ABY 125 Sharjah 09:05ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 09:10QTR 1070 Doha 09:25RJA 648 Amman 09:30FDB 055 Dubai 09:40KAC 350 Kochi 09:40SYR 341 Damascus 10:05GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40UAE 873 Dubai 10:40MEA 404 Beirut 10:55MSC 405 Sohag 11:20JZR 561 Sohag 11:25RBG 553 Alexandria 11:30AGY 680 Alexandria 11:40JZR 165 Dubai 11:50FDB 075 Dubai 12:25NIA 151 Cairo 12:35JZR 241 Amman 12:40UAE 871 Dubai 12:45

MSC 411 Asyut 12:55MSR 610 Cairo 13:00THY 766 Istanbul 13:10KAC 672 Dubai 13:55QTR 1078 Doha 14:05AXB 393 Kozhikode 14:15GFA 221 Bahrain 14:20FDB 057 Dubai 14:20JZR 257 Beirut 14:55KAC 538 Sohag 14:55RJD 135 Abu Dhabi 15:00OMA 645 Muscat 15:05ABY 127 Sharjah 15:35UAE 857 Dubai 15:45NIA 251 Alexandria 15:50ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 16:00JZR 535 Cairo 16:05FDB 051 Dubai 16:10QTR 1072 Doha 16:20JZR 125 Bahrain 16:25KAC 118 New York 16:30KAC 178 Vienna 16:55KAC 562 Amman 17:00SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15UAL 982 IAD 17:25GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30JZR 177 Dubai 17:45JZR 777 Jeddah 17:50KAC 678 Muscat/Abu Dhabi 17:55FDB 065 Dubai 18:05JZR 483 Istanbul 18:20KAC 176 Geneva/Frankfurt 18:20KAC 502 Beirut 18:35KAC 786 Jeddah 18:35KAC 618 Doha 18:55KAC 542 Cairo 18:55QTR 1080 Doha 18:55KAC 742 Dammam 19:00KAC 104 London 19:00GFA 217 Bahrain 19:05UAE 875 Dubai 19:05FDB 063 Dubai 19:10KAC 614 Bahrain 19:10ABY 123 Sharjah 19:20JAI 572 Mumbai 19:35KAC 774 Riyadh 19:40FDB 061 Dubai 19:50AGY 684 Sohag 19:50KAC 674 Dubai 20:00OMA 647 Muscat 20:00KNE 460 Riyadh 20:10MEA 402 Beirut 20:15ABY 121 Sharjah 20:20DLH 634 Frankfurt 20:20JZR 189 Dubai 20:25MSR 618 Alexandria 20:40KAC 174 Munich 20:55ALK 229 Colombo 21:10ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:15UAE 859 Dubai 21:15KLM 417 Amsterdam 21:25FDB 073 Dubai 21:30QTR 1074 Doha 21:30GFA 219 Bahrain 21:45THY 764 Istanbul 22:10ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:10AIC 981 Chennai/Ahmedabad 22:25UAL 981 Bahrain 22:40FDB 059 Dubai 22:50JZR 157 Dubai 22:55JZR 185 Dubai 23:00JAI 574 Mumbai 23:20JZR 513 Sharm el-Sheikh 23:30MSR 614 Cairo 23:30FDB 071 Dubai 23:35

Departure Flights on Thursday 24/9/2015Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 976 Goa/Chennai 00:05RBG 556 Alexandria 00:05BBC 044 Dhaka 00:10JAI 573 Mumbai 00:25FDB 072 Dubai 00:30KLM 411 Amsterdam 00:55JZR 502 Luxor 01:10KAC 177 Vienna 01:20DLH 637 Frankfurt 01:35THY 773 Istanbul 02:05SAI 442 Lahore 02:35ETH 621 Addis Ababa 02:50PGT 859 Istanbul 02:55KKK 6508 Istanbul 03:10MSC 404 Sohag 03:30OMA 644 Muscat 03:35UAE 854 Dubai 03:45RJA 645 Amman 03:55FDB 068 Dubai 04:00ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:05MSR 613 Cairo 04:15PGT 861 Istanbul 04:45THY 765 Istanbul 04:55JZR 560 Sohag 05:00MSC 406 Sohag 05:00QTR 1077 Doha 05:05THY 1465 Istanbul 05:55RJA 643 Amman 06:35GFA 212 Bahrain 06:50THY 771 Istanbul 06:50MSC 410 Asyut 06:55JZR 240 Amman 07:05FDB 070 Dubai 07:05JZR 164 Dubai 07:15JZR 256 Beirut 07:30QTR 8302 Doha 07:30KAC 173 Munich 07:45OMA 642 Muscat 07:50KAC 537 Sohag 08:20BAW 156 London 08:30IRA 672 Ahwaz 08:30FDB 054 Dubai 08:30SVA 513 Riyadh 08:50QTR 1087 Doha 08:55JZR 534 Cairo 09:15KAC 671 Dubai 09:25JZR 482 Istanbul 09:45ABY 126 Sharjah 09:45UAE 856 Dubai 09:50KAC 101 London/New York 10:00IRA 668 Mashhad 10:00ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:00RJA 649 Amman 10:15IZG 4162 Mashhad 10:30QTR 1071 Doha 10:40FDB 056 Dubai 10:40KAC 677 Abu Dhabi/Muscat 10:50KAC 501 Beirut 11:00SYR 342 Damascus 11:05KAC 165 Rome/Paris 11:25KAC 561 Amman 11:25GFA 214 Bahrain 11:35MEA 405 Beirut 11:55KAC 541 Cairo 12:05UAE 874 Dubai 12:10RBG 554 Alexandria 12:10JZR 776 Jeddah 12:15MSC 402 Alexandria 12:20AGY 685 Sohag 12:40KAC 785 Jeddah 13:00JZR 176 Dubai 13:10FDB 076 Dubai 13:10JZR 124 Bahrain 13:30

NIA 152 Cairo 13:35MSC 412 Asyut 13:55MSR 611 Cairo 14:00THY 767 Istanbul 14:10UAE 872 Dubai 14:15QTR 1079 Doha 15:05FDB 058 Dubai 15:05GFA 222 Bahrain 15:05KAC 617 Doha 15:15AXB 394 Kozhikode 15:15KAC 673 Dubai 15:20JZR 188 Dubai 15:50KAC 741 Dammam 15:55KAC 773 Riyadh 15:55KAC 613 Bahrain 16:00OMA 646 Muscat 16:05RJD 136 Abu Dhabi 16:10ABY 128 Sharjah 16:15ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 16:45NIA 252 Alexandria 16:50RJA 641 Amman 16:55JZR 266 Beirut 17:05FDB 052 Dubai 17:10JZR 512 Sharm el-Sheikh 17:15QTR 1073 Doha 17:25UAE 858 Dubai 17:40SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20JZR 184 Dubai 18:20KAC 563 Amman 18:30JZR 156 Dubai 18:35UAL 982 Bahrain 18:40JZR 538 Cairo 18:40FDB 066 Dubai 18:55JZR 238 Amman 19:15GFA 218 Bahrain 19:50FDB 064 Dubai 19:50QTR 1081 Doha 19:55ABY 124 Sharjah 20:00KAC 361 Colombo 20:00UAE 876 Dubai 20:35JAI 571 Mumbai 20:35FDB 062 Dubai 20:35KAC 287 Dhaka 20:40AGY 681 Alexandria 20:50KAC 1543 Cairo 20:55KAC 343 Chennai 20:55OMA 648 Muscat 21:00ABY 122 Sharjah 21:00KAC 331 Trivandrum 21:00KAC 351 Kochi 21:05KNE 481 Riyadh 21:10MEA 403 Beirut 21:15JZR 554 Alexandria 21:15MSR 619 Alexandria 21:40DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:05FDB 074 Dubai 22:10ALK 230 Colombo 22:20KAC 381 Delhi 22:20UAE 860 Dubai 22:25KLM 417 Dammam/Amsterdam 22:25KAC 349 Kochi 22:30KAC 301 Mumbai 22:30QTR 1075 Doha 22:40GFA 220 Bahrain 22:45ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:00THY 5583 ADB 23:00KAC 153 Istanbul 23:00KAC 205 Islamabad 23:05KAC 411 Bangkok/Manila 23:25FDB 060 Dubai 23:50KAC 415 Kuala Lumpur/Jakarta 23:50JZR 1540 Cairo 23:50

SHARQIA-1WIPLALA 1:15 PMWIPLALA 3:30 PMWIPLALA 5:45 PMWIPLALA 8:00 PMNOM AL TALAT 10:15 PMWIPLALA 12:30 AM

SHARQIA-2MINIONS 11:30 AMEVEREST 1:30 PMEVEREST 4:00 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 6:45 PMEVEREST 9:30 PMEVEREST 12:05 AM

SHARQIA-3THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 11:30 AMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 1:30 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 4:15 PMBAJRANGI BHAIJAAN -Hindi 7:00 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 10:00 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 12:45 AM

MUHALAB-1EVEREST 11:30 AMEVEREST 2:00 PMKATTI BATTI - Hindi 4:30 PMEVEREST 7:30 PMEVEREST 10:00 PMEVEREST 12:30 AM

MUHALAB-2WIPLALA 1:15 PMWIPLALA 3:30 PMWIPLALA 6:00 PMNOM AL TALAT 8:15 PMWIPLALA 10:30 PMWIPLALA 12:45 AM

MUHALAB-3MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 1:00 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 3:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 6:30 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 9:15 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 12:05 AM

FANAR-1NOM AL TALAT 11:30 AMNOM AL TALAT 1:45 PMNOM AL TALAT 4:00 PMNO ESCAPE 6:15 PMNOM AL TALAT 8:30 PMNOM AL TALAT 10:45 PMNO ESCAPE 1:00 AM

FANAR-2WIPLALA 12:45 PMWIPLALA 3:00 PMWIPLALA 5:15 PMWIPLALA 7:30 PMWIPLALA 9:45 PMWIPLALA 12:05 AM

FANAR-3BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN -Hindi 1:00 PMBAJRANGI BHAIJAAN -Hindi 4:15 PMTHE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 7:15 PMBAJRANGI BHAIJAAN -Hindi 9:15 PMTHE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 12:30 AM

FANAR-4EVEREST 12:00 PMEVEREST 2:30 PMEVEREST -3D 5:00 PMEVEREST 7:45 PM

EVEREST 10:15 PMEVEREST 12:45 AM

FANAR-5MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 1:00 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 3:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 6:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 9:30 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 12:15 AM

MARINA-1NOM AL TALAT 11:30 AMWIPLALA 1:30 PMWIPLALA 3:45 PMWIPLALA 6:00 PMNOM AL TALAT 8:15 PMWIPLALA 10:30 PMWIPLALA 12:45 AM

MARINA-2EVEREST 11:30 AMEVEREST 2:00 PMEVEREST 4:30 PMEVEREST 7:00 PMEVEREST 9:30 PMEVEREST 12:05 AM

MARINA-3MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 11:30 AMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 2:15 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 5:00 PMTHE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 7:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 9:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 12:30 AM

AVENUES-1MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 11:30 AMNOM AL TALAT 2:30 PMNOM AL TALAT 4:45 PMNOM AL TALAT 7:00 PMNOM AL TALAT 9:15 PMNOM AL TALAT 11:30 PM

AVENUES-2ZERO TOLERANCE 12:45 PMZERO TOLERANCE 3:00 PMZERO TOLERANCE 5:15 PMZERO TOLERANCE 7:30 PMZERO TOLERANCE 9:45 PMZERO TOLERANCE 12:05 AM

AVENUES-3THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 11:30 AMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 1:45 PMHITMAN: AGENT 47 4:30 PMTHE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 6:45 PMTHE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 9:00 PMTHE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 11:15 PM

AVENUES-4MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 11:45 AMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 2:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 5:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 8:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 11:45 PM

AVENUES-5EVEREST 11:30 AMEVEREST -3D 2:15 PMEVEREST 5:30 PMBAJRANGI BHAIJAAN -Hindi 8:15 PMSpecial Show “NOM AL TALAT” 9:00 PMEVEREST 11:15 PMAVENUES-6EVEREST -3D 12:30 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 3:30 PM

EVEREST -3D 6:15 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 9:00 PMEVEREST 11:45 PM

AVENUES-7MINIONS 11:30 AMNO ESCAPE 1:30 PMTHE PERFECT GUY 3:45 PMNO ESCAPE 6:00 PMTHE PERFECT GUY 8:15 PMNO ESCAPE 10:30 PMEVEREST 12:45 AM

AVENUES-8PAWN SACRIFICE 1:00 PMPAWN SACRIFICE 3:30 PMPAWN SACRIFICE 6:00 PMPAWN SACRIFICE 8:30 PMMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 11:00 PM

AVENUES-9WIPLALA 11:30 AMWIPLALA 1:45 PMWIPLALA 4:00 PMWIPLALA 6:15 PMWIPLALA 8:30 PMWIPLALA 10:45 PMWIPLALA 1:00 AM

AVENUES-10BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN -Hindi 12:00 PMKATTI BATTI - Hindi 3:00 PMBAJRANGI BHAIJAAN -Hindi 6:00 PMKATTI BATTI - Hindi 9:00 PMBAJRANGI BHAIJAAN -Hindi 12:05 AM

AVENUES-11MAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS -DOLBY ATMOS12:45 PMEVEREST -DOLBY ATMOS 3:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS -DOLBY ATMOS6:45 PMEVEREST -DOLBY ATMOS 9:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS -DOLBY ATMOS12:45 AM

360º- 1MAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 11:45 AMMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 2:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 5:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 8:45 PMNO FRISpecial Show “MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS”8:30 PMFRIMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 11:45 PM

360º 2THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 1:00 PMTHE PERFECT GUY 3:15 PMTHE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 5:30 PMTHE PERFECT GUY 7:45 PMTHE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 10:00 PMTHE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 12:15 AM

360º- 3PAWN SACRIFICE 11:45 AMPAWN SACRIFICE 2:00 PMPAWN SACRIFICE 4:30 PMPAWN SACRIFICE 7:00 PMPAWN SACRIFICE 9:30 PMPAWN SACRIFICE 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.1THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 11:30 AMMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 1:30 PM

MAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 4:15 PMMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 7:00 PMMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 9:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 12:30 AM

AL-KOUT.2EVEREST 12:15 PMEVEREST 2:45 PMEVEREST 5:15 PMEVEREST 7:45 PMEVEREST 10:15 PMEVEREST 2:45 AM

AL-KOUT.3ZERO TOLERANCE 12:45 PMZERO TOLERANCE 2:45 PMZERO TOLERANCE 4:45 PMTHE TRANSPORTER REFUELED 6:45 PMNOM AL TALAT 8:45 PMZERO TOLERANCE 11:00 PMZERO TOLERANCE 1:00 AM

AL-KOUT.4WIPLALA 12:30 PMWIPLALA 2:45 PMWIPLALA 5:00 PMWIPLALA 7:15 PMWIPLALA 9:30 PMWIPLALA 11:45 PM

BAIRAQ-1EVEREST 11:45 AMEVEREST 2:15 PMEVEREST -3D 4:45 PMEVEREST 7:15 PMEVEREST 9:45 PMEVEREST 12:15 AM

BAIRAQ-2WIPLALA 1:00 PMWIPLALA 3:15 PMWIPLALA 5:45 PMNOM AL TALAT 8:00 PMWIPLALA 10:15 PMWIPLALA 12:30 AM

BAIRAQ-3AZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 12:45 PMMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 3:30 PMBAJRANGI BHAIJAAN -Hindi 6:15 PMMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 9:15 PMMAZE RUNNER: HE SCORCH TRIALS 12:05 AM

PLAZAMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 4:30 PMEVEREST 7:30 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 10:00 PM

LAILAWIPLALA 3:30 PMEVEREST 5:30 PMMAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS 8:00 PMEVEREST 10:45 PM

AJIAL.1UTOPIAYILE RAJAVU -Malayalam 3:30 PMUTOPIAYILE RAJAVU -Malayalam 6:15 PMUTOPIAYILE RAJAVU -Malayalam 9:00 PM

AJIAL.2EVEREST 4:45 PMBAJRANGI BHAIJAAN -Hindi 7:15 PMEVEREST 10:15 PM

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO TUESDAY

Prayer timings

LOST

MATRIMONIAL

Parents inviting proposalsfor Marthomite girl. 5.4” 26years, BSc nurse, from a rep-utable family in CentralTravancore, working inMOH Kuwait from parentsof professionally qualifiedand employed Marthomiteboys from Kuwait. Contact:achayan@hotmail.com(C 5038)19-9-2015

112

Name: Sana Amjad, Roll No.9103978. Lost certificatesClass 10th & 12th Std. CBSE(India). Please call AmjadChohan, Mob: 66472691,Res. 24335623. (C 5039)19-9-2015

Your mental clarity is razor sharp now as the brilliant Sun sets up shopin your creative sign. You’re capable of making intelligent decisions that are basedupon your keen sense of objectivity. However, your thinking is likely to changeagain with retrograde Mercury also camping out in Libra. Fortunately, sentimental-ity won’t likely lead you off course today. Accept subjective artistic leanings aslovely inspirations brightening your day; incorporate what you can and leave therest for another time.

Although this may not be what you want to hear today, there’s noreason to waste your precious energy and limited resources on starting any-thing new now. The radiant Sun’s shift into your 12th House of Endings is apowerful reminder to complete current projects and tie up as many loose endsas possible. Keeping a low profile allows you to focus on the more spiritualaspects of your life. There are many treasures to discover in other dimensions ifyou are willing to suspend your disbelief and let your imagination wander.

Your friends and associates may be nearly impossible to read today,leaving you uncertain about where they fit in your current plans. Unfortunately,your ideas might not be as clear as you think, creating problems you haven’t evenconsidered. But don’t blame your lack of confidence on anyone else or you willjust drift further away from your goals. Accepting responsibility for your actionsnow inspires you to take matters into your own hands. Mahatma Gandhi advised,“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

You are strongly drawn in two distinct directions now as the Sunbrightens fellow air sign Libra. Additionally, the Moon’s return to your futuristicsign adds an emotional twist to an intellectual problem today. Still, your primarychallenge is to remain optimistic without losing touch with reality. Deepening aclose connection with someone you trust inspires you to keep your dreams alive.Author and activist Helen Keller declared, “Walking with a friend in the dark is bet-ter than walking alone in the light.”

You may be uncomfortable with the information imbalance today ifsomeone shares too many personal details and you don’t say anything in return. Nomatter how pressing the situation seems now, there’s a part of you that doesn’twant to deal with the drama. Although you might actually believe that whateveryou don’t know can’t hurt you, it’s simply not the case. Even unexpressed thoughtscreate ripples in the atmosphere, so it’s smarter to ask questions and listen to therest of the story when someone asks for your advice. The only way to have a friend isto be one.

Your ambivalence over a fundamental issue can make a particulardecision rather difficult. Unfortunately, a new wave of confusion may sour youractions with doubt and uncertainty as the Sun slips into your 2nd House ofValues. Thankfully, there’s no need to change your mind or alter your planstoday, especially if you’re unsure of your options. Hang tight; your confidencewill rebound before you know it. In the meantime, sorting through all of youralternatives now gives you the best chance to make the right choice at theright moment.

Although you can be quite generous in spirit when you sochoose, you’re an independent Ram and there are times when you simplyforget about the needs of others. But partnerships require more bandwidthonce the Sun takes up residence in your 7th House of Relationships today.Stop chasing your dreams long enough to consciously consider whatsomeone else wants. Demonstrating respect to those around you shifts theenergy and enables things to run much smoother than you ever expected.Life is meant to be shared.

You might not be aware of how much others look up to younow, yet even little things you do strongly influence them. However, youcould be less concerned with anyone else’s perceptions than you are withcompleting your chores today. It’s tempting to narrow your vision to con-centrate on maintaining your regular routine while the Sun inhabits your6th House of Habits. But don’t let your current obsession with the detailsget in the way of being fully present for your friends and family. Honoryour core values and everything will work out for the best.

You’re not in a very practical mood today, so it’s wise to enjoy your col-orful fantasies without trying to manifest them into reality. Luckily, there’s nothingwrong with escaping into your daydreams for a little while; this harmless reverie caneven provide inspirational food for thought. Just make sure you remain aware of thedifference between the idle wanderings of your imagination and what’s actuallyexpected of you in the real world. Don’t miss your chance to dance on the creativeedge while the Sun is shining in your 5th House of Self-Expression.

Nothing brings you more pleasure now than hanging out in your castlewith those you love. The Sun’s current visit to your 4th House of Roots turns yourattention inward and sets a nostalgic tone. Ironically, you might even consider travel-ing — in the real world or in your imagination — all the way back to the place of yourorigins. However, this isn’t just a walk down memory lane; engaging in serious self-reflection strengthens your foundation for the months ahead. Learning somethingmeaningful about your past inspires you to be more successful in the future.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

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 1032

ACROSS1. Uttering in an irritated tone.5. A strong north wind that blows inFrance during the winter.12. The bill in a restaurant.15. A law passed by US Congress to pre-vent employees from being injured orcontracting diseases in the course oftheir employment.16. Any of various Old World herbs of thegenus Anchusa having one-sided clus-ters of trumpet-shaped flowers.17. Title for a civil or military leader(especially in Turkey).18. Large elliptical brightly colored deep-sea fish of Atlantic and Pacific andMediterranean.19. Lacking motor coordination.20. An undergarment worn by women tosupport their breasts.21. A tranquilizer (trade name Mellaril)used to treat schizophrenia and otherpsychotic disorders.23. Of or belonging to an aecium.25. Marked by quiet and caution andsecrecy.26. King of Saudi Arabia since 1982 (bornin 1922).29. An official prosecutor for a judicialdistrict.30. Of or relating to or involving an area.32. A doctor's degree in music.36. Trade name for a drug containing anantihistamine and a decongestant.39. The United Nations agency con-cerned with the interests of labor.40. (prefix) In front of or before in space.41. The sound made by a cow or bull.42. Typical geese.43. Air pollution by a mixture of smokeand fog.44. Small genus of evergreen trees oftropical America and western Africa.48. A mountain lake (especially oneformed by glaciers).50. Leaf or strip from a leaf of the talipotpalm used in India for writing paper.51. A colloidal gel in which water is thedispersion medium.54. King of England who was renouncedby Northumbria in favor of his brotherEdgar (died in 959).56. Place or set apart.59. A group of African languages in theNiger-Congo group spoken fromSenegal east as far as the Ivory Coast.60. A port city in southwestern Iran.63. Norwegian explorer of the Arctic anddirector of the League of Nations reliefprogram for refugees of World War I(1861-1930).65. A tricycle (usually propelled by ped-alling).66. Proboscis monkeys.70. Situated in a particular spot or posi-tion.73. A sweetened beverage of dilutedfruit juice.74. Belonging to or on behalf of a speci-fied person (especially yourself).75. Nocturnal burrowing mammal of thegrasslands of Africa that feeds on ter-mites.77. The force of workers available.78. A unit of length of thread or yarn.79. Tarpons and ladyfishes.80. An associate degree in applied sci-ence.

DOWN1. Apartment consisting of a series ofconnected rooms used as a living unit(as in a hotel).2. Made of wood of the aspen tree n.3. A sedimentary rock formed by thedeposition of successive layers of clay.4. Shah of Iran who was deposed in 1979by Islamic fundamentalists (1919-1980).5. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater thatwas formed by an explosion.6. The Palestinian uprising (beginning in1987) against the Israeli occupation ofthe West Bank and Gaza Strip.7. Of or relating to a directionless magni-tude.8. Psychoactive substance present inmarijuana.9. A groove or furrow (especially one insoft earth caused by wheels).10. The largest continent with 60% ofthe earth's population.11. Closed with a lace.12. A sock with a separation for the bigtoe.13. A city in northern India.14. Any of numerous local fertility andnature deities worshipped by ancientSemitic peoples.22. A state in northwestern NorthAmerica.24. Any of several plants of the genusCamassia.27. (slang) The act of stealing.28. Indigo bush.31. United States actor (born in Hungary)noted for playing sinister roles (1904-1964).33. (used of grass or vegetation) "uncutgrass".34. Having or revealing little emotion orsensibility.35. Free and relaxed in manner.37. Any of several small ungulate mam-mals of Africa and Asia with rodent-likeincisors and feet with hooflike toes.38. Scottish chemist noted for hisresearch into the structure of nucleicacids (born in 1907).45. Of or containing iridium.46. A large family of dicotyledonousplants of order Rosales.47. Lacking gonads.49. A person with the same name asanother.52. Angular distance above the horizon(especially of a celestial object).53. A local computer network for com-munication between computers.55. (Irish) Mother of the Tuatha DeDanann.57. A hard gray lustrous metallic elementthat is highly corrosion-resistant.58. The cardinal number that is the sumof eight and one.61. Be in contradiction with.62. A city in southern Turkey on theSeyhan River.64. A native-born Israeli.67. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest ofLamaism.68. The content of cognition.69. A strong-smelling plant from whosedried leaves a number of euphoriant andhallucinogenic drugs are prepared.71. Measure of the US economy adoptedin 1991.72. Being six more than fifty.76. An artificial language for internation-al use that rejects rejects all existingwords and is based instead on anabstract analysis of ideas.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

WORD SEARCH PUZZLE

34s t a r s

Daily SuDoku

Your calendar is filling up quickly and life seems to be running at afaster pace now that the Sun is lighting up your 3rd House of ImmediateEnvironment. But complications arise if you can’t manage your time effectivelybecause your tight schedule is quite unforgiving today. Don’t get flustered if you fallbehind or miss a step; just be honest with everyone affected and continue to do thebest you can to be in several places at once. Your heroic efforts are appreciatedmore than you know.

All you can think about now is your career as you ambitiously plan foryour future. Fortunately, your professional objectives may be clearly illuminatedduring the weeks ahead as the Sun travels through your 10th House of PublicResponsibility. However, your preoccupation with work can strain your personallife as fulfilling your obligations distracts you from cultivating emotional connec-tions. Establishing a healthy balance in your life is more important than reachingsome imagined pinnacle of success. Humans can not live on bread alone.

inf or m at ionTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Ahmadi Sama Safwan Fahaeel Makka St 23915883Abu Halaifa Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd 23715414Danat Al-Sultan Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd 23726558

Jahra Modern Jahra Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 24575518Madina Munawara Jahra-Block 92 24566622

Capital Ahlam Fahad Al-Salem St 22436184Khaldiya Coop Khaldiya Coop 24833967

Farwaniya New Shifa Farwaniya Block 40 24734000Ferdous Coop Ferdous Coop 24881201Modern Safwan Old Kheitan Block 11 24726638

Hawally Tariq Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25726265Hana Salmiya-Amman St 25647075Ikhlas Hawally-Beirut St 22625999Hawally & Rawdha Hawally & Rawdha Coop 22564549Ghadeer Jabriya-Block 1A 25340559Kindy Jabriya-Block 3B 25326554Ibn Al-Nafis Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25721264Mishrif Coop Mishrif Coop 25380581Salwa Coop Salwa Coop 25628241

OphthalmologistsDr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223

Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426

General PractitionersDr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501

UrologistsDr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427

For labor-related inquiries and complaints:

Call MSAL hotline 128

Sabah Hospital 24812000

Amiri Hospital 22450005

Maternity Hospital 24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital 25312700

Chest Hospital 24849400

Farwaniya Hospital 24892010

Adan Hospital 23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital 24840300

Al-Razi Hospital 24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital 24874330/9

Kaizen center 25716707

Rawda 22517733

Adaliya 22517144

Khaldiya 24848075

Kaifan 24849807

Shamiya 24848913

Shuwaikh 24814507

Abdullah Salem 22549134

Nuzha 22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh 24814764

Qadsiya 22515088

Dasmah 22532265

Bneid Al-Gar 22531908

Shaab 22518752

Qibla 22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla 22451082

Mirqab 22456536

Sharq 22465401

Salmiya 25746401

Jabriya 25316254

Maidan Hawally 25623444

Bayan 25388462

Mishref 25381200

W Hawally 22630786

Sabah 24810221

Jahra 24770319

New Jahra 24575755

West Jahra 24772608

South Jahra 24775066

North Jahra 24775992

North Jleeb 24311795

Ardhiya 24884079

Firdous 24892674

Omariya 24719048

N Khaitan 24710044

Fintas 23900322

GOVERNORATE PHARMACY ADDRESS PHONE

Plastic Surgeons

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf 22547272

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari 22617700

Dr. Abdel Quttainah 25625030/60

Family Doctor

Dr Divya Damodar 23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists

Dr. Esam Al-Ansari 22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan 22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians

DrAdrian arbe 23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin 2572-6666 ext 8321

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan 22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami 25343406

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly 25739272

Dr. Salem soso 22618787

General Surgeons

Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer 22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher 25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart

Dr. Adnan Ebil 22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada 22666300

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra 25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub 24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani 25654300/3

Paediatricians

Dr. Khaled Hamadi 25665898

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard 25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar 22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof 25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare 23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew 24334282

Dermatology

Dr. Mohammed Salam Bern University 23845955

Dentists

Dr Anil Thomas 3729596/3729581

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar 22641071/2

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed 22562226

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer 22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan 22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash 22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan 25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari 25620111

Neurologists

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri 25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan 25345875

Gastrologists

Dr. Sami Aman 22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly 25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali 22633135

Endocrinologist

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman 25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888

Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924

Physiotherapists & VD

Dr. Deyaa Shehab 25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees 22666288

Rheumatologists:

Dr. Adel Al-Awadi 25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah 25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart

DR.Mohammes Akkad 24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital 25339667

Consultant Cardiologist

Dr. Farida Al-Habib 2611555-2622555 MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

Soor CenterTel: 2290-1677Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.comwww.soorcenter.com

Psychologists/Psychotherapists

PRIVATE CLINICS

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Kaizen center25716707

Noor Clinic23845955

INTERNATIONALCALLS

Afghanistan 0093

Albania 00355

Algeria 00213

Andorra 00376

Angola 00244

Anguilla 001264

Antiga 001268

Argentina 0054

Armenia 00374

Australia 0061

Austria 0043

Bahamas 001242

Bahrain 00973

Bangladesh 00880

Barbados 001246

Belarus 00375

Belgium 0032

Belize 00501

Benin 00229

Bermuda 001441

Bhutan 00975

Bolivia 00591

Bosnia 00387

Botswana 00267

Brazil 0055

Brunei 00673

Bulgaria 00359

Burkina 00226

Burundi 00257

Cambodia 00855

Cameroon 00237

Canada 001

Cape Verde 00238

Cayman Islands 001345

Central African 00236

Chad 00235

Chile 0056

China 0086

Colombia 0057

Comoros 00269

Congo 00242

Cook Islands 00682

Costa Rica 00506

Croatia 00385

Cuba 0053

Cyprus 00357

Cyprus (Northern) 0090392

Czech Republic 00420

Denmark 0045

Diego Garcia 00246

Djibouti 00253

Dominica 001767

Dominican Republic 001809

Ecuador 00593

Egypt 0020

El Salvador 00503

England (UK) 0044

Equatorial Guinea 00240

Eritrea 00291

Estonia 00372

Ethiopia 00251

Falkland Islands 00500

Faroe Islands 00298

Fiji 00679

Finland 00358

France 0033

French Guiana 00594

French Polynesia 00689

Gabon 00241

Gambia 00220

Georgia 00995

Germany 0049

Ghana 00233

Gibraltar 00350

Greece 0030

Greenland 00299

Grenada 001473

Guadeloupe 00590

Guam 001671

Guatemala 00502

Guinea 00224

Guyana 00592

Haiti 00509

Holland (Netherlands) 0031

Honduras 00504

Hong Kong 00852

Hungary 0036

Ibiza (Spain) 0034

Iceland 00354

India 0091

Indian Ocean 00873

Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098

Iraq 00964

Ireland 00353

Italy 0039

Ivory Coast 00225

Jamaica 001876

Japan 0081

Jordan 00962

Kazakhstan 007

Kenya 00254

Kiribati 00686

Kuwait 00965

Kyrgyzstan 00996

Laos 00856

Latvia 00371

Lebanon 00961

Liberia 00231

Libya 00218

Lithuania 00370

Luxembourg 00352

Macau 00853

Macedonia 00389

Madagascar 00261

Majorca 0034

Malawi 00265

Malaysia 0060

Maldives 00960

Mali 00223

Malta 00356

Marshall Islands 00692

Martinique 00596

Mauritania 00222

Mauritius 00230

Mayotte 00269

Mexico 0052

Micronesia 00691

Moldova 00373

Monaco 00377

Mongolia 00976

Montserrat 001664

Morocco 00212

Mozambique 00258

Myanmar (Burma) 0095

Namibia 00264

Nepal 00977

Netherlands 0031

Netherlands Antilles 00599

New Caledonia 00687

New Zealand 0064

Nicaragua 00505

Nigar 00227

Nigeria 00234

Niue 00683

Norfolk Island 00672

N. Ireland (UK) 0044

North Korea 00850

Norway 0047

Oman 00968

Pakistan 0092

Palau 00680

Panama 00507

Papua New Guinea 00675

Paraguay 00595

Peru 0051

Philippines 0063

Poland 0048

Portugal 00351

Puerto Rico 001787

Qatar 00974

Romania 0040

Russian Federation 007

Rwanda 00250

Saint Helena 00290

Saint Kitts 001869

Saint Lucia 001758

Saint Pierre 00508

Saint Vincent 001784

Samoa US 00684

Samoa West 00685

San Marino 00378

Sao Tone 00239

Saudi Arabia 00966

Scotland (UK) 0044

Senegal 00221

Seychelles 00284

Sierra Leone 00232

Singapore 0065

Slovakia 00421

Slovenia 00386

Solomon Islands 00677

Somalia 00252

South Africa 0027

South Korea 0082

Spain 0034

Sri Lanka 0094

Sudan 00249

Suriname 00597

Swaziland 00268

Sweden 0046

Switzerland 0041

Syria 00963

Serbia 00381

Taiwan 00886

Tanzania 00255

Thailand 0066

Toga 00228

Tonga 00676

Tokelau 00690

Trinidad 001868

Tunisia 00216

Turkey 0090

Tuvalu 00688

Uganda 00256

Ukraine 00380

United Arab Emirates 00976

United Kingdom 0044

Uruguay 00598

USA 001

Uzbekistan 00998

Vanuatu 00678

Venezuela 00582

Vietnam 0084

Virgin Islands UK 001284

Virgin Islands US 001340

Wales (UK) 0044

Yemen 00967

Yugoslavia 00381

Zambia 00260

Zimbabwe 00263

36L I F E S T Y L EM u s i c & M o v i e s

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton istak ing his sk i l ls mockingcelebrities to the stage. He’s

starring in an unauthorized off-Broadway musical parody of the ‘90ssitcom “Full House,” playing DannyTanner. “I’ve been doing what I donow for 11 years,” Hilton says, “So it’sfun to challenge yourself and takeadvantage of all the opportunitiesthat present themselves.” Hilton relo-cated to New York from Los Angelesin 2013, in part to reconnect with thestage. Long before doodling on hisfirst celebrity photo, he graduatedfrom New York University ’s TischSchool of the Arts’ acting program.

“Would I love to do Broadway?Yes. Do I think it’s likely going to hap-pen in the immediate future? No,” hesaid. “And if it doesn’t happen, Iwouldn’t be disappointed.” He startedblogging in a coffee shop inSeptember 2004 and now has abouta dozen employees feeding five web-sites, a radio show and a weekly pod-cast. Hilton, who starred in the 2012off-Broadway revue “Newsical theMusical,” has been taking voice les-sons and is a fixture in the audienceat most Broadway shows. “I see everymusical. The plays? I have to be surethey’re good before I go to,” he said.

When he heard - online, naturally -there was going to be a musical par-ody of “Full House,” he reached out to

the creators, asking for a role. But notthe one you might expect. “He want-ed to be one of the Olsen twins, butwe talked him into Danny Tanner. Wethought it would be more age -

appropriate,” said co-creator ToblyMcSmith. Hilton, whose real name isMario Lavandeira Jr., was a fan ofMcSmith’s previous parodies of“Saved by the Bell” and “Showgirls.”

In the new show, he plays boththe squeaky-clean and f ictionalTanner in Act 1 and the foul-mouthed real-life actor who playedhim, Bob Saget, in Act 2. (Hiltonremembers watching the show(1987-1995), while growing up.) Whathe misses from the ‘90s is not havinga cellphone or being on social media,a strange admission from someonewhose sites have kept us online:“While I enjoy social media, it’s justbecome another job.” The musical ison three nights a week at Theatre 80downtown, leaving Hilton plenty oftime for his “day job” and raising twoyoung boys.

He says fatherhood and being 37has mellowed his style. “I’ve becomeless snarky,” he said. He doesn’tscrawl inappropriate things on pho-tos anymore and has createdPerezitos, a cleaned-up site for par-ents and children. His bite is stillpresent, however. He recently wentthrough a three-week, Kardashiandetox cleanse, refusing to talk aboutreality TV’s favorite family. “It felt real-ly good. Now I’ve reintroduced theminto my diet, but in a more sensiblefashion,” he said. —AP

Perez Hilton gets onstage again in ‘juicy’ part

Perez Hilton attends the 2015GLSEN Respect Awards in NewYork. —AP

George Strait announces four concert dates at the new Las Vegas Arena, scheduled to open in 2016,during the “Strait to Vegas” press conference. —AP

Country music king George Strait wants to be clear.His upcoming four shows and likely more at MGMResort’s new Las Vegas Arena next year aren’t some

re-emergence from retirement. The 63-year-old may havehung up his touring boots last year after four-decades andhis record-setting “Cowboy Rides Away” shows, but he’shardly done singing or performing. “Some people that Ihave told, that I’d be doing some dates in Vegas in 2016 atthe Las Vegas Arena, they go ‘well you retired, I thoughtyou retired.’ Ooh, I just wanna grab ‘em and shake ‘em. Inever said that,” he said Tuesday with a flash of his pearlywhite cowboy smile.

Straight announced Tuesday that he would perform fourupcoming shows at the 20,000-seat arena - April 22-23 andSept 9-10 - and release a new album, “Cold BeerConversation,” available on iTunes and at Walmart storesstarting Friday. It’s an album with ballads and toe-tappers forthose “dudes and dudettes” reminiscing about high schoolfootball games, family and life over a cold beer. His firstchoice for a cold beer chat? His father, John Byron Strait whodied in 2013 at 91.

Good swingIt was Strait’s wanting to talk with his dad that led him

to write “Everything I See” with his son Bubba. “I wish Iwould have stuck a phone in his shirt, as ridiculous asthat may sound,” he said of the death of his father, as hepondered the information cloud and being able to com-

municate with his dad from the beyond. The Grammywinner and repeat Country Music Association entertainerof the year said he’s always looking for a good swingtune and found one, writing the tongue-in-cheek, “ItTakes All Kinds” with lyrics such as, “Some got a boat theylike to float/ Some got a story they sugarcoat / some gota clue and then some don’t / it takes all kinds.” Strait saidhe traded lyrics in texts with his son and his song-writingbuddies.

“Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys were a big influenceon me,” he said. “At one point I thought I was going to do abig band record of standard songs like Sinatra-type songs,and that’s still a possibility.” The Las Vegas Strip has beenmany things to many people but has increasingly becomea hub for country music fans whether seeing RebaMcEntire and Brooks & Dunn at The Colosseum at CaesarsPalace or seeing The Judds reunite at upcoming shows atThe Venetian. “George retired from touring at the top ofhis game,” said Gary Bongiovanni with concert industrytracking firm Pollstar. “He has a very loyal fan base that willbe delighted to hear the news they have a chance to seehim again.”

Strait has been no stranger to Vegas and its many casi-no venues. “The crowds are great and they come from allover the place,” he said. When the Las Vegas Arena opensin April, Strait will be among the first to play the new $375million venue being built by MGM Resorts and AEG.Tickets will cost $75-$200 and go on sale Oct 20. —AP

George Strait drops new album, will play Las Vegas in 2016

ABrazilian film about a maid in a wealthy home is not only mak-ing waves as Brazil’s Oscars entry, but stirring painful debateover inequality and racism in a country in crisis. “Que Horas Ela

Volta?”, released in English as “The Second Mother,” is a long way fromthe violence-filled depictions of drug gangs, like “City of God,” that for-eigners have come to expect from Brazil. But director Anna Muylaert’soutwardly quiet movie has hit a raw spot in using a live-in maid’s storyto bare the hypocrisy behind the idyllic facade of the upper classhousehold where she works.

Released at a time when Brazil is reeling from economic decline,corruption and the crumbling of President Dilma Rousseff ’s leftistagenda, the film whose title translates as “What Time Will She ComeHome?” challenges the biggest country in Latin America to examine itssoul. The film “has all the chances of becoming a milestone in contem-porary Brazilian cinema, as ‘Central do Brasil’ and ‘City of God’ were inother contexts. It’s a film completely in sync with the pulse of the coun-try,” critic and blogger Jose Geraldo Couto wrote. Actress Regina Casehas won rave reviews at home and in Hollywood for her portrayal ofVal, one of Brazil’s largely invisible army of domestic workers. Living inthe tiny servant’s room of a luxurious Sao Paulo house, Val not onlyfeeds the family and cleans, but looks after the dog, garden, swimmingpool and all but raises the sweet, but spoiled son.

Her employers say she’s “practically family.” But the film ruthlesslyshows how Val in reality is second class and will remain so until-inspiredby her estranged daughter’s independence-she quits and starts a newlife of her own. For Carli Maria dos Santos, a veteran maid who is nowpresident of the Rio de Janeiro Domestic Workers’ Union, that story ofsocial upheaval captures real trends. “I thought the film was very good,especially the end where the servant finally frees herself and goes off,”dos Santos said in an interview. “Things are changing.”

Bitter sweet There are just over six million domestic workers in Brazil, accord-

ing to government figures. By comparison, UN and labor union esti-mates show the United States, with a population a third bigger thanBrazil’s, has only 1.8 to 2.6 million domestic workers. The EuropeanUnion, with more than double Brazil’s population, has an estimated2.5 million such workers, according to the International LaborOrganization. Servants in Brazil-most of them black women-are sowoven into the social fabric that architects design even middle-classapartments with a designated bedroom for the live-in help.

These jobs can be a chance to escape extreme poverty in the out-lying regions of the world’s seventh biggest economy. But to critics,the domestic service industry also holds back society, reinforcingracism and other legacies of slavery which flourished in Brazil rightup to 1888 — two decades later than in the United States. DosSantos, who is 62 and started working at 10, said her experience hasbeen bitter-sweet.

“When you’re with a family that is educated and good, you benefittoo-it’s like going to a school. It has a good side,” she said. But maidsembedded in rich families, housed in “the very small room with nowindow,” have constantly to remind themselves that the “beautifulhouse, the swimming pool, the sauna-that is not their reality,” shesaid.

‘It’s over’ Under Workers’ Party president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his

successor Rousseff, tens of millions of people have been lifted frompoverty in the last decade. And in 2013 constitutional changes finallyextended normal rights, like overtime and the minimum wage, todomestic workers. Given those seismic shifts, some Brazilians wonder

how long it will be before the country’s long-suffering maids followfictional Val out the door. “It’s already over,” said Francisca Ciambarelli,who was among the well-heeled crowd watching “Que Horas ElaVolta?” in Rio’s swanky Leblon neighborhood.

Ciambarelli, a 45-year-old economist, said she has a devoted live-in maid, but that the system is on its last legs. “People don’t want tolive like that anymore.” Just like in the film, Ciambarelli’s maid has achild in the process of getting a higher education and moving intoanother social class where working as a servant would be unthink-able. “The mother will not change. She will live in our house and diethere,” Ciambarelli said. “But the son, he is always trying to persuadeher to leave.”

Old habits die hard Dos Santos said eventually the new laws “will change a great deal”

in Brazil. “We will end up like France where people are paid by thehour and this working 24 hours a day will end.” But Brazil’s economiccrisis may yet rewrite that script. The number of people in domesticservice fell steadily from around 2008, when the Workers’ Party wel-fare program was at its most effective. However, this year, with reces-sion eating away at economic opportunity, the numbers have startedto climb again.

With salaries for live-in maids in the wealthy parts of Rio deJaneiro reaching around $500 a month, even women from the newgeneration might think twice about rejecting the opportunity. Thereally poor, meanwhile, are unlikely even to see “Que Horas Ela Volta?”Cinema tickets in Brazil typically cost between 30 and 40 reais(approximately $7 to $10). The minimum hourly wage is just 3.58reais (90 cents). “That’s the reality. I saw the film because I was in aseminar,” dos Santos said. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gone.” —AFP

Film on maids’ life gets Brazil talking

Diddy is said to be working on a long-awaited albumbut, even without his music, he was the top-earningrapper of the past year. Releasing its annual list on

Tuesday, Forbes said that Diddy-whose real name is SeanCombs and whose stage names include Puff Daddy-took in$60 million from June 2014 to June 2015. His earningscome mostly through his business projects, especially hisventure selling French-made Ciroc liquor, the wealth maga-zine said.

Diddy rarely performs and last released an album, “LastTrain to Paris,” in 2010. But Gizzle, an artist signed to hislabel, recently told the Rap-Up website that Diddy wasworking on a sequel to his debut 1997 work “No Way Out.”“No Way Out 2” would be the final album from Diddy,Gizzle said. Another rapper turned mogul, Jay Z, was closebehind at number two by raking in an estimated $56 mil-lion, Forbes said. Jay Z put on a series of sold-out arenashows with his wife Beyonce and has earned moneythrough assets such as Armand de Brignac, a champagnethat he bought last year.

Canadian rapper and Apple collaborator Drake came inthird at $39.5 million, with Forbes estimating that heearned $1 million per show. Drake is the only artist to goplatinum in the United States, or sell more than one millioncopies, with an album released this year-the mixtape “IfYou’re Reading This It’s Too Late.” Drake released a new mix-tape, “What a Time To Be Alive,” with fellow rapper Futurelate Sunday, with Billboard magazine expecting the workto top the latest album chart.

In 2013-14, Forbes said that Dr Dre topped the list-andset the record for an entertainer of any genre in a year-byearning $620 million. Dr Dre had sold Beats, the companyhe co-founded that is best-known for headphones, toApple, where he has taken on a corporate role. Forbes esti-mated that he came fourth in 2014-15 with $33 million in

earnings. Dr Dre last month released “Compton,” which hehas described as his final album, to accompany the block-buster film “Straight Outta Compton” about his formerband N.W.A. —AFP

Diddy tops rapper earnings list with $60 mln

Photo shows musician Sean Combs in BeverlyHills, California. —AFPDavid Bowie has written a song

for an upcoming French-Britishcrime series, in the rock icon’s

first foray into television music in twodecades. Bowie in a statementTuesday said that he had written anoriginal song for “The Last Panthers,” asix-part thriller on Balkan jewelthieves that debuts in November. “Iwas looking for one of the icons of myyouth to write the music for the titlesequence, but was presented with aGod,” director Johan Renck, a Swedebest known for his music videos, saidin the statement. “The piece of musiche laid before us embodied everyaspect of our characters and the seriesitself-dark, brooding, beautiful andsentimental (in the best possibleincarnation of this word),” he said.

A collaboration between Britain’sSky Atlantic and France’s Canal Plus,“The Last Panthers” stars Tahar Rahim-best known for the French film “AProphet”-and Samantha Morton,whose credits range from blockbuster“Minority Report” to Woody Allen’s

“Sweet and Lowdown” to “Control,” abiopic on late Joy Division singer IanCurtis. The television series revolves

around the Pink Panthers, criminalelements from the Balkans-ironicallynicknamed after crime comedy films-who pulled off major heists starting inthe 1990s.

The music will be Bowie’s first for atelevision series since 1993 when herecorded a soundtrack for a BBC serialbased on Hanif Kureishi’s novel “TheBuddha of Suburbia.” A pioneer ofglam rock, Bowie has long pursuedinterests in art and theater and, at age68, has recently announced a series ofnew projects. Bowie is writing for amusical based on cartoon characterSpongeBob. He also penned themusic for “Lazarus,” a play that pre-mieres in New York in November thatis inspired by the science fiction novel“The Man Who Fell to Earth.” Bowiestarred in a 1976 film version of “TheMan Who Fell to Earth” but did notwrite the music amid contractual dis-putes. Bowie’s works include themusic for a BBC television version ofBertolt Brecht’s play “Baal,” in which heacted. —AFP

Bowie pens music forEuropean crime thriller

British musician David Bowiearriving for the 17th AnnualGlamour Women of the Yearawards at Carnegie Hall in NewYork. —AFP

Sean Penn on Tuesday filed a $10 mil-lion defamation lawsuit against“Empire” co-creator Lee Daniels over

comments Daniels made comparing him tothe show’s star Terrence Howard, who’s beenrepeatedly accused of domestic violence.Daniels’ comments appeared online about aweek ago in the entertainment publicationThe Hollywood Reporter in a story about theupcoming season of the popular Fox televi-sion show. “That poor boy (Terrence) ain’tdone nothing different than Marlon Brandoor Sean Penn, and all of a sudden he’s some... demon,” Daniels said in the article. “That’s asign of time, of race, of where we are right

now in America.” Penn’s lawsuit, filed inManhattan civil court, says Daniels’ state-ments were egregious and injured Penn’scredibility and reputation personally, profes-sionally and in his philanthropic activities.Penn has won two best actor Oscars, for“Mystic River” and “Milk.” He has made amajor humanitarian push in Haiti after it wasdevastated by an earthquake, co-foundingthe J/P Haitian Relief Organization. But healso has a reputation for angry behavior. In2010, he pleaded no contest to vandalismafter he kicked a celebrity photographer, butthe case later was dismissed.

In the 1980s, he was in court in connec-

tion with fisticuffs and spitting. He beat aman he thought was trying to kiss Madonnain a nightclub, and he admitted driving reck-lessly and punching an extra on the set ofthe movie “Colors.” His attorney MathewRosengart said the lawsuit isn’t just aboutDaniels’ comments. “Sean has been the sub-ject of numerous baseless attacks over theyears, as the complaint provides, and this isonly the most recent example,” he said.Daniels is the Oscar-nominated filmmaker of“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ bySapphire,” “The Paperboy” and “The Butler.”The new season of “Empire,” which he createdwith Danny Strong, started yesterday. —AP

Sean Penn files $10 million suit against ‘Empire’ co-creator

37L I F E S T Y L ETHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

F a s h i o n

Five collections to watch out for duringMilan fashion week, which started yester-day and runs till Monday with designers

showcasing Spring/Summer 2016 womenswear:

Feather DaizyUp-and-coming Israeli Daizy Shely has been

given the Giorgio Armani seal of approval bybeing invited to present her eponymous collec-tion in the Armani theatre as the latest youngdesigner to benefit from the support of thedean of Italian fashion. Arresting and ultra-femi-nine is how critics define her style a maraboufeather coat is said to be among the items to be

shown on Saturday.

Garage styleYoung Croat ian des igner Damir Doma

unveils his first womenswear collection sincequitting Paris for Milan on Sunday evening-inan underground carpark known as GarageSanRemo. Doma made the move after com-plaining he felt squeezed by “superbrands”and their marketing machines. Milan wil lbring him greater visibility, he hopes, and eas-ier access to northern Italy’s specialist manu-facturers.

All change at Cavalli

After 45 years at the helm of the eponymouscompany he built into a pillar of the Italian fash-ion scene, Roberto Cavalli has finally handedcontrol to a private equity group who havebrought Norwegian designer Peter Dundas, for-merly of Pucci, in as the new creative head.Dundas’s first womenswear collection in his sec-ond stint at Cavalli goes public on Saturday.

Winonah the WagThe Surinam-born wife of Milan and Holland

midfield bruiser Nigel de Jong, Winonah de Jongmakes the move from blogger and commentatorto designer when she presents her first wom-enswear collection on Friday. Could she emulate

the success of fellow football WAG VictoriaBeckham?

African quartetMimi Plange’s African-inspired designs have

been worn by Rihanna, Serena Williams andMichelle Obama. Laduma Ngxokolo’s knitwearwas first aimed at Xhosa tribesmen preparing formanhood initiation ceremonies but is now sell-ing around the world. They are half of a quartetof African designers showcasing their work allweek thanks to support from the Ethical FashionInitiative and Milan’s Biffi Boutique. —AFP

Five to watch at Milan fashion week

Celebrity-packed New York and quirky London have offeredup their best efforts under the relentless glare of the cat-walk lights and the world’s media. Now it is time for the real

heavyweights of Planet Fashion to put their stamp on what well-heeled women the world over will be wearing when the goodweather comes around again next year. Milan’s Spring/Summer2016 shows kicked off yesterday in the most optimistic moodItalian industry insiders have known for years thanks to a back-drop of strong sales at home and abroad and a revamp of thecity’s fashion week infrastructure.

With a new headquarters and exhibition facilities amidst theskyscrapers of the new Porta Nuova business district, organizersare anticipating an upbeat week in a metropolis already enjoyingthe spinoffs from the buzz generated by Expo 2015, the food-themed world fair that still has another six weeks to run.

All eyes on Gucci All eyes on the first of six packed days of shows were on Gucci,

whose Alessandro Michele was set to unveil his second wom-enswear collection for the brand after making a flying start in therole he unexpectedly found himself in at the start of the year. Theshaggy-haired Roman went from being an accessories designerknown only to fashion insiders to one of the biggest jobs in theindustry following the abrupt departure of his long-standingpredecessor Frida Giannini.

Famously, he only had five days to finish off Giannini’s finalmenswear collection and barely a month to put his first wom-enswear show together for the Winter Fall collections in February.He pulled it off in triumphant fashion with a collection that boremany of the hallmarks of his own, eccentric personal style-bestdescribed as a time travel tapestry in which English civil war roy-alist meets California dropout from the 1970s.

Gucci’s bosses had said they wanted a new direction to turnaround the brand’s flagging fortunes, and they got it. Now theworld waits to see if Michele can maintain the momentum withhis new creations set to be unveiled from 1300 GMT. Also stagingcatwalk showed yesterday are top Italian brands Fay and AlbertaFerretti, Germany’s Philipp Plein and the up-and-coming Italian-Haitian designer Stella Jean.

Among the most eagerly awaited shows later in the week willbe Norwegian designer Peter Dundas’s first since he left EmilioPucci to return to Roberto Cavalli. The move followed a decisionby the company’s eponymous founder and owner to sell out toItalian private equity group Clessidra after 45 years at its helm.There are also new starts for Arthur Arbesser at Iceberg andMassimo Giorgetti, who has been tipped to go for a totalmakeover of the Pucci brand after replacing Dundas there. TheMilan shows conclude on Monday, with Giorgio Armani’s latemorning presentation set to delay the departure of the fashioncircus for Paris.

Daizy Shely, known for her arresting and ultra-femininedesigns, is this season’s beneficiary of Armani’s support for youngdesigners with the Israeli granted the use of the veteran’s theatrefor an eagerly awaited show on Saturday.

Booming sales Italy’s textile and clothing exports, dominated by the high val-

ue-added fashion sector, hit a record high in July and the nationalfashion body Camera della Moda is anticipating growth of 5.5percent in all sales in 2015. For an industry that turned over 61.2billion euros last year, that translates to a lot of secured jobs andsignificant margins for new investment. “Italian fashion has bene-fited from a stronger dollar and a return of confidence amongEuropean and American consumers,” said Gaetano Marzotto,head of the textile group Marzotto.

“It is true that in China, luxury products, watches and jewelryin particular, have seen a fall in sales due to anti-corruption meas-ures, but the accessible luxury that characterizes the made-in-Italy trademark have held up well.” Giuseppe Angiolini, honorarychairman of the Italian chamber of fashion buyers, says his com-patriots appear to be falling in love with fashion again. “Morethan a recovery, I’d say it is an awakening,” he said. “Two years agoeveryone was totally fed up with fashion. Now we are seeing cus-tomers’ desire and interest is back.” —AFP

as Milan kicks off in upbeat mood

Gucci in spotlight

Models wear creations for Gucci women’s Spring-Summer 2016 collection, part of the Milan Fashion Week, unveiled in Milan, Italy yesterday. —AP

F E A T U R E S

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

l if e s t y l e

How many times do we get ournails done a month? I usually geta mani and pedi every 2 weeks

almost. Sometimes I go back to the salonlooking like I’ve never had a manicure inmy life, it can be embarrassing! I realizedthat it all depends on how my skin is, ifI’m not drinking enough water I tend tohave a lot of dead skin that we usuallymistake as cuticles.

One of my main concerns when get-ting my nails done is my cuticles. Younever know if you should totally removethem or let them as they are and eventu-ally they’ll look decent. I’ve read so manythings about whether or not I shouldremove or keep my cuticles. Honestly,removing them looks way better andcleaner, but you’re also risking gettingan infection.

Cuticles don’t want to be cut, they’resupposed to be soft, and by cuttingthem they’ll more likely become dry andrough, which then makes us removethem over and over again, and it justbecomes an addiction to get what wethink is the “clean” look.

Here are a few things that you can doto make sure you have healthy, softcuticles:

1. First, stop cutting them. They mightseem off for a while but then they growout and settle in to the shape of yournails.

2. Make sure you wash your handsregularly, when you cut your cuticles youare more likely to get a bacterial infec-tion due to any open wound, and it willalso slow down nail growth.

3. Moisturize the skin around yournails. I always used the Essie ApricotCuticle Oil. I can swear by this oil, ithelped my cuticles to become smoothand soft, as well as helped my nails growfaster.

4. Avoid manicurists that are roughwith their work, with that I meant don’tgo for the lady who’s willing to rip off theskin around your nails and call it a day.You should always explain to your mani-curist that you want your cuticlespushed back and not removed, becauseusually aggressive cleaning will causeredness, wounds and eventually maycause having an infection.

5. Avoid having dry skin by not usingmuch nail polish removers or harshsoaps. These products will dry out yourskin and result in rough cuticles.

6. Never put your hand in your mouth,if you’re a person that bites their nails orthe skin around you, you should definite-ly read up about ways how to quit thishabit. Your mouth contains saliva andyour saliva contains bacteria, which willeventually cause an infection too.

7. Massaging warm olive oil on yournails every night will help you moisturizeyour skin as well as provide your skinand nails with Vitamin E.

8. Give your nails a breather! If you’rethe type of girl that loves nail polish makesure you give your nails a few days off aweek to breathe in the oxygen, the nailpolish tends to cut off the oxygen to yournails and with time it causes your nails toturn a bit yellow and weak. Not cute.

Your nails say a lot about you, it’s fem-inine to have clean and pretty nails. It’s apart of your beauty regimen to havehealthy nails first and foremost beforeworrying about growing them. The mostappropriate and classy growth of nails isa bit longer than your skin.

Sometimes having really long nailscan be uncomfortable and hard to keepclean, that is why having shorter nailslook and feels good. Try not neglectingtaking care of your nails because withtime your nails tend to become weakand fragile, which can also result in nailsbeing so unhealthy they won’t grow inlength. At this point girls always go fornails extension which will further moreharm your nails by blocking off oxygenthen eventually cause discoloration andbreakage.

How to have healthy and soft cuticles?

Muslim pilgrims join

one of the Hajjrituals on

Mount Arafatnear Makkah.

They may be equal before God insideMakkah’s Grand Mosque, but the rich andpoor pilgrims at the annual hajj clearly

reveal their differences just beyond the gates.Outside the southern end of the sprawling com-pound lies a temple to consumerism. Severalhigh-end hotels, malls and restaurants are foundinside the six towers of the gargantuan Abraj al-Bait complex. It includes the Mecca Royal ClockTower, the world’s third-highest building whichrises behind the mosque. In contrast, beyondthe eastern entrance of Islam’s holiest site, waterdrips from air conditioners, garbage is piledbeside the roads, and a stench fills the air.

Elderly vendors in tiny shops shout the pricesof their simple goods-from traditional miswak (ateeth-cleaning twig) to prayer rugs, woodenrosaries and plastic slippers. “Here it’s cheaper,”says 60-year-old shop owner Abu Mohammed.“The poorer people come to buy from herebecause in the other district the shops are moresophisticated and for people who have moremoney,” he tells AFP. Saudi Arabia’s social securi-ty department has opened the small retail out-lets to help elderly local men try to make a liv-ing.

“The government pays everything, includingthe rent of the shop and the electricity. I onlybuy the goods,” says Hasan, a 74-year-old ven-dor. Across from them, African women sit sellingseeds to pilgrims willing to feed flocks ofpigeons, a common sight around the massivemosque’s courtyards. Volunteers outside theeastern gates hand out boxes of food to pilgrimswho sit on the roads eating despite the heat ofaround 40 C (104 F).

‘High-class pilgrims’ Back in the air-conditioned Abraj Al-Bait com-

plex, elevators swiftly rise and descend, and cut-lery gently clinks. Pleasantly smiling staff andsecurity men make sure pilgrims find their wayaround polished lobbies. “Our guests are gener-ally the high-class and well-to-do pilgrims whoare willing to pay more in return for comfort,”says an employee at one of the hotels, request-ing anonymity. The hotel charges an average of

about $1,000 a night during hajj season, with aseven-night minimum, according to anotheremployee.

Many of the rooms overlook the GrandMosque’s holy Kaaba, a cube-shaped structuretowards which Muslims around the world pray.Yasser Riad, a guest at one of the hotels whocame with his wife from Egypt, says they paidaround $5,000 each for the whole trip. “We try tobe close to the Grand Mosque so we can savetime for prayer,” says the 45-year-old lawyer. Thecouple shop at the mall connected to their hotel“because it’s usually too hot outside”.

Biscuits and beans For Um Hani, a 55-year-old pilgrim dragging

her feet as she sweats under the heat of the east-ern district, this is unimaginable luxury. “The

shops there are expensive. These open-air mar-kets here are cheaper,” she says. Um Hani couldnot have even made it to the hajj had her namenot been randomly selected in the Egyptiangovernment’s annual electronic lottery to per-form the pilgrimage. She is satisfied with thefree “biscuits, tuna, beans, and juice” the pilgrimsare offered at her shabby high rise hostel, typicalof the accommodation for poorer hajjis. Biscuitsfor some. Buffets for others.

But rich and poor all wear the same ihramclothes for hajj-a seamless white two-piece gar-ment for men and any loose dress, typicallywhite, for women. No matter which gate theyenter from, the pilgrims gather side-by-side forprayer at the crowded mosque and leavetogether for the nearby tent-city of Mina tobegin the hajj. — AFP

Biscuits for some, buffets for others at hajj

Afleet-footed Japanese centenarian racedinto the Guinness World Records refer-ence book yesterday and declared him-

self a “medical marvel” as he continues to stalksprint king Usain Bolt. Hidekichi Miyazaki,dubbed “Golden Bolt” after the fastest man onthe planet, clocked 42.22 seconds in Kyoto toset a 100 meters world record in the over-105age category-one for which no mark previouslyexisted-a day after reaching the milestone age.

“I’m not happy with the time,” the pint-sizedMiyazaki told AFP in an interview after recov-ering his wind. “I started shedding tears duringthe race because I was going so slowly.Perhaps I’m getting old!” Indeed, so leisurelywas his pace that Bolt could have run hisworld record of 9.58 four times, or practicallycompleted a 400 meters race-a fact not lost onMiyazaki.

“I’m still a beginner, you know,” he said,grinning from ear to ear. “I’ll have to train

harder. Training was going splendidly, so Ihad set myself a target of 35 seconds. I canstill go faster.” “I will say this: I’m proud of myhealth,” added Miyazaki, the poster boy forJapan’s turbo-charged geriatrics in a countrywith one of the world ’s highest l i feexpectancies.

“The doctors gave me a medical exami-nation a couple of days ago and I’m fit as afiddle. “My brain might not be the sharpestbut physically I’m tip-top. I’ve never had anyhealth problems. The doctors are amazed byme. I can definitely keep on running foranother two or three years.”

Dressed in his trademark red, tight shortshiked alarmingly high, Miyazaki got off to awobbly start before finding a gentle rhythmand trotting across the finish line to loudcheers, greeted by his great-grandchildrencarrying bouquets. Cheekily, he celebratedby striking Bolt’s famous “lightning” pose

before being presented with a certificatefrom Guinness officials.

Dream race Asked about Bolt’s latest heroics at last

month’s athletics world championships inBeijing, Miyazaki screwed up his nose and saidwith a chuckle: “He hasn’t raced me yet!” Thetwinkle-toed Miyazaki, who holds the 100meters world record for centenarians at 29.83seconds, insisted there was still time for adream race against the giant Jamaican. “Iwould still love to compete against him,” saidMiyazaki, who loses valuable seconds becausehe cannot hear the starter’s gun go off. “Two orthree years ago Bolt came to Japan and said hewanted to meet me. There was a call about itbut I was out and he left without meeting me. Ifelt deeply sorry.”

Miyazaki, who was born in 1910 — the yearJapan annexed Korea and when the Titanic was

still being built-only took up running in his early90s and prepares for races by taking a sneakycatnap. He stands just 1.53 meters (five feet) talland weighs in at 42 kilograms (92 pounds). Hetrains religiously by popping a kilogram weightinto a rucksack and going for daily walks aroundhis local park in Kyoto, where he now lives.

“It’s all about willpower,” Miyazaki said ofhis need for speed. “You have to keep going.”Japanese television crews jostled as Miyazaki,a native of tea-growing Shizuoka prefecture,arrived for his record tilt sporting dapperwhite slacks and a Panama hat. Job done onthe track, the Japanese iron man proved hewas a dab hand at the shot put, tossing a besteffort of 3.25 meters before calling it a day. “Ican’t think about retiring,” said Miyazaki,whose next competition is next month’sJapanese Masters Championships. “I have tocontinue for a few more years, to show mygratitude to my fans.” — AFP

Japan’s ‘Golden Bolt’ stuns medical science to set world record

Hidekichi Miyazaki, 105, throws a shot putafter running with other competitors.

Hidekichi Miyazaki (back center), 105, runs with other competitors overeighty years of age during a 100-metre-dash.

Hidekichi Miyazaki (center, in red), 105, speaks to the press after runningwith other competitors.

Hidekichi Miyazaki, 105, is congratulated by family members after running withother competitors over eighty years of age during a 100-metre-dash in theKyoto Masters Autumn Competiton.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

l if e s t y l eF E A T U R E

Fatima Kadumy’s weapons of resistanceinclude stuffed squash and yoghurt withgarlic-for her, food is just as powerful as

stones or petrol bombs. “To defend the coun-try some prefer war, but there are other, morepleasing, ways to do it,” said Kadumy, aPalestinian who runs a cooking school in theWest Bank city of Nablus that does much morethan teach students proper knife skills.Kadumy came up with the “crazy idea” sevenyears ago to use Palestinian traditional cuisineto promote her people’s cause and act asadvocate for the independent state they havelong sought.

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed. Since2008, she has hosted more than 1,200 visitorsfrom countries including China, Australia,Germany and the United States, among oth-ers. “There are politics and resistance behindcuisine,” she said in the small kitchen at hercentre in Nablus’s Old City that she has namedBait al-Karama, which is Arabic for House ofDignity. “We show our city and our lives as wesee them. Foreigners can then judgePalestinians from the inside.”

On one recent day, an American couplefrom Washington learned how to preparestuffed leaves and courgettes. A quiet butskilled chef, Nidal, led the class. One of theAmericans, Rex, said he appreciated an oppor-tunity to “share the daily lives of residents” inNablus, the site of heavy clashes during thesecond Palestinian intifada, or uprising,between 2000-2005.

Peace, love and hummus? Before the cooking lesson, they followed

Kadumy through the streets of the old city tobuy local Palestinian produce-and only localPalestinian produce. Her organization boy-cotts Israeli goods. Kadumy says a meal setsthe table for a talk about politics. “And over ameal, we always talk more calmly, more easily,”said Kadumy, wearing a blue and gold veilwith her sunglasses balanced on top. Herorganization is also part of the global SlowFood movement based in Italy that promoteslocal traditional cuisine, and she showcasesdishes at the organization’s expo. “For toolong, we have allowed the Israelis to speak,”Kadumy said. “Now there is the Israel stand,but also the Palestine stand.” Palestinians and

Israelis do not only dispute territory-they alsodisagree about the origin of certain dishes.

One prominent example is hummus, thepaste made from chickpeas so often associat-ed with Middle Eastern cuisine. Another isfalafel, also made from chick peas but thistime ground and deep-fried. They do, howev-er, tend to agree on one point when it comesto hummus: The best comes from Abu Shukri,a small restaurant in Jerusalem’s Old City rec-ommended by in-the-know tourist guides.Yasser Taha inherited the restaurant openedby his father in 1948, the year Israel was creat-ed. He is not shy about taking credit for hisfamily’s sought-after recipe.

Empty plates for peace“The Israelis learned to make hummus with

us,” he said of the dish with ancient andunclear origins. “They watched and learned to

make hummus and now they say that theyinvented it,” he added with a smile. A numberof Israelis sat at tables among tourists on arecent day. “Look at our plates-empty!” saidEldad, a 52-year-old who had come with hisdaughter, after polishing off the last bit ofbread dipped in hummus with parsley and redground sumac on top.

“We love to come here. It’s delicious.” AnIsraeli woman named Neta who had driven forhalf an hour to come and eat in the Old City hasbigger ambitions for the humble dish. “Everyoneloves hummus,” she said. “It’s something that wehave in common. It can bring us together andbring peace.” Nearby postcard sellers don’t nec-essarily share her vision-or at least they don’tthink that potential customers do. Some post-cards show falafel with an Israeli flag. But at oth-er stores not far away, it’s the black, red andwhite of the Palestinian flag. — AFP

Palestinian cooks put resistance on the menu

A Palestinian man makes falafel, a traditional dish consisting of fried chickpeas on a street. — AFP photosA Palestinian woman eats falafel, a traditional dish consisting offried chickpeas on a street in the West Bank city of Nablus.

A Palestinian man makes traditional Palestinian dishes. A Palestinian man makes traditional Palestinian sweets. A Palestinian man makes traditional Palestinian sweets.

A Palestinian man makes falafel, a traditional dish consisting of fried chickpeason a street.

A Palestinian woman teaches foreigners to cook traditional Palestinian dishes atthe home of Fatima Kadumy, a Palestinian woman, in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Palestinian cooking teacher Fatima Kadumy shops with foreigners at amarket.

A Palestinianwoman teaches foreigners tocook traditionalPalestiniandishes.

Muslim pilgrims gather to perform noon and afternoon prayers at Namira Mosque in Mount Arafat, southeast of the Saudi holy city of Makkah, yesterday. Arafat Day, on the 9th of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijja,is the climax of the hajj season. Pilgrims gather on the hill known as Mount Arafat, and its surrounding plain, where they remain until evening for prayer and Quran recitals. Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is believedto have delivered his final hajj sermon there. — AFP

39Palestinian cooks putresistance on the menu

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

UK food recycling cafes go globalin fight against When former chef Adam Smith opened a

small cafe in Britain’s industrial Northtwo years ago, serving up dishes with

food destined for the scrap heap, he had bigaspirations-to fight global food waste. “From dayone I set out to feed the world and I intend to dothat,” the Yorkshireman said ambitiously, as hecharted the growth of his ethical empire the RealJunk Food Project (RJFP). From its humble rootsin a community centre in the deprived Armleydistrict of Leeds, northern England, the projectnow has around 120 affiliated cafes worldwide,including Australia, France, South Korea, the USand, most recently, Nigeria.

“People are beginning to realise we are a seri-ous organisation,” said Smith, having justreturned from an awareness-raising event feed-ing MPs at Britain’s parliament with food savedfrom garbage bins. The simple concept involvescollecting food that would otherwise have beenthrown away-usually because it is “out-of-date”

and unsellable under trading rules-and turning itinto perfectly edible meals. Since the projectbegan in December 2013, almost 200 tonnes offood has been “intercepted”, Smith said.

Roughly one third of the food produced inthe world for human consumption every year-approximately 1.3 billion tones-gets lost or wast-ed, according to the UN. By offering meals on a“pay-as-you-feel” basis RJFP cafes sidestep foodregulations since it is against the law in Britain toactually “sell” food past its use-by date. Smith’sformulation is tantamount to a voluntary dona-tion, with the amount up to the customer, whichkeeps all on the legal side of matters, he said. Theteam, meanwhile, is discriminating, not all food isaccepted. “We make our own judgment, by tast-ing and smelling, as to whether food is fit forconsumption.”

Smith is clear that his vision was not aboutfeeding poor people, but for many communitiesit is a way of reaching those on low incomes or

none. Helped by around 90 volunteers, retireeShena Cooper runs “Elsie’s” cafe in the town ofNorthampton, central England, as part of theRJFP network. “We want to create a mixed socie-ty within the cafe,” she said. “Some people comein for coffee and cake and give a few pounds. Butthere are people who cannot give anything.”

‘Binner’Volunteers face the challenge of creating

tasty dishes from whatever food is available, but

this is “part of the joy for them”, said Cooper. AtElsie’s “binner” event this month, a guest cheftransformed discarded local produce into athree-course feast of gourmet crostini with pearsalsa, sausage plait with polenta cake, and achocolate fig dessert. “You can actually have aconscience about eating cake,” joked HeikeMapstone, a call centre worker, after the dinner.“I think it is a great idea. Why should we wasteall this food?” Cooper knows her cafe is only“scraping the tip of the iceberg” but hopes col-lective efforts will “expose the food system forwhat it is”.

“There is so much wrong with it,” she said.“ The fact that we can fly bananas half wayaround the world and then throw them intolandfill is ridiculous.”

Adam Buckingham feeds some 200 people aweek at a church-based RJFP cafe in Brighton,where food donations have included legs ofcured serrano ham and huge stockpiles ofchocolate. “It shocks people that all this foodwould have gone in the bin,” he said, adding thata change in attitudes and legislation is needed.

“Unfortunately we have got to a point wherewe think it is ok to throw away food and buymore. We’re blinded by convenience.” In northLondon, a pair of entrepreneurs have harnessedwhat they believe is a growing aversion to thismindset. Tessa Cook and her American businesspartner Saasha Celestial-One launched a newapp-”Olio”-to connect consumers with sourcesof surplus food. The app allows donors toupload pictures of items that may be nearingtheir sell-by-date and users can browse for foodand arrange a pick-up via private messaging.

“We did some market research and foundthat one third of people were ‘physically pained’throwing away food. To me that was mind blow-ing,” said Cook. So far the pair have signed up 15“founding merchants”-individuals and business-es willing to share produce. Although currentlyfocused on London, Cook hopes the app willeventually go global. “The more we looked intoit the more we were overwhelmed by the sheerenormity of the food being wasted. It seemstotally wasteful, irresponsible and immoral,” shesaid. — AFP

A woman writes on the pavement as she advertises a Real Junk Food Project (RJFP) at aChurch in Brighton. — AFP photos

A menu is pictured outside a Real JunkFood Project (RJFP) cafe.

Volunteers prepare food in the kitchen area of a Real Junk Food Project (RJFP) cafe.

People eat at a Real Junk Food Project (RJFP) cafe. People eat at a Real Junk Food Project (RJFP) cafe in a Church in Brighton.

People queue to enter a Real Junk FoodProject (RJFP) cafe in a Church in Brighton.