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See Pages 4, 5 and 6 Local FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 2 A reporter’s life in Kuwait: An hour in police custody

By Ben Garcia

his past week, I was detained by the police while investigating a story in TFarwaniya for Kuwait Times. Let me start by saying that reporting in Kuwait isn’t easy for anyone, especially for an expatriate like me. There are many chal- lenges including a lack of official communi- cation, lack of organized information or gov- ernment statistics, language barriers and for expats especially, the nascent fear of being caught by the police while out investigating a story. One of my worst fears was realized this week when I was detained by the police for taking photos with my mobile while the police were arresting an alleged thief. What happened was this: I was in Farwaniya in a small shopping complex when I saw a group of people gathered around a small white sedan. I moved closer to the crowd to find out what was going on and asked several bystanders for details. Shopkeepers had detained someone they suspected of using stolen civil IDs to obtain smartphones. They had called the police and were holding the suspect until the authori- ties arrived. Since I was without a camera, I took a few photos with my mobile of the scene and the suspect. Many others among the crowd were taking mobile photos too. The reality is that we live in an age of ‘citizen’ journalism as well as social media and many photos and videos of such types of events are now com- mon in Kuwait. Recently, a police officer was videotaped with his mobile at a police sta- tion in Kuwait forcing an expat to do pushups. Photos of car crashes taken on mobiles or fights in The Avenues captured by smartphones are now common. After a few minutes, the police arrived to arrest the suspect and to hear the story from the shopkeepers. At that point, I again snapped a few photos of the events with my mobile. That’s when one of the arresting offi- cers saw me and called me over to him. He asked what I was doing and why I was taking photos with my phone. I tried to explain but he took my mobile from me and then asked for and seized my civil ID. The police officer then told me he was detaining me. I asked the officer to please release me because I wasn’t in anyway involved in the incident. He told me to explain this the police station because he’ll be charging me with taking photos of the incident. Walking along with the police officer to the police car was quite awkward and embarrassing. I was- n’t that worried, but knowing that you are being escorted to the police car was a heart- pounding and shocking experience. People were staring at me as if I was one of the rob- bers too. I saw Filipinos offering sympathy at my predicament with their eyes. Perhaps they were thinking I did something wrong. officer tell another that I too should be police officer explained that I had taken pho- I would like to say that though I was terribly But anyway, I was placed at the back of placed in the jail and that they would be fil- tos of Ministry of Interior officers without shaken by the episode, the Ministry of the police car with the alleged mobile ing a case against me for ‘misuse of a per- permission and this was illegal. After another Interior officers treated me with profession- phone thief. I was in shock but I remained sonal mobile’. Since there are no statutes in half hour or so, the police officer asked me alism and courtesy. At no time was I mis- calm. When I checked the time, it was noon the press and publications law with regards to delete all the photos from my mobile and treated or mishandled in any way. and I was on my way to the Farwaniya police to personal mobiles, I wasn’t sure where I then told me I was free to go. At the end of the day, I was just doing my station. On arrival at the police station, the stood legally. There is a very negative impression of job which is to keep the Kuwait Times’ read- other suspect was taken to the jail and I was So I called the newspaper and explained MoI officers and police stations in Kuwait, ership informed. But it’s all part of the life of placed in a holding area. I heard one police the situation to our managing editor. The especially among the expatriate population. a reporter in Kuwait. Local FRIDAY, NOVEMEBER 21, 2014

Local Spotlight Scribbler’s Notebook The boya thing in Kuwait Five reasons why Kuwait is a great place to live

By Muna Al-Fuzai

By Jamie Etheridge [email protected]

ife today is not only about straight men and showed up with her girlfriend inside the toilet area. women, who look and live their lives as normal The cleaning lady spoke to this boya who had male [email protected] Lpeople within the two well-defined gender cate- body features and looks, and told her to get out gories. Things are becoming more complicated and because this was a ladies’ toilet. Yet her female friend n journalism, you can spend your whole life writing confusing because we have girls who look and act as stood up for her, claiming she “is one of us”! I was about negative things. From wars to corruption, from men and they are known here as boyat. They are in the there and could not figure out what she meant by Inatural disasters to common accidents, there is an grey zone and we the public have a problem of not “one of us”! It was a scene which everyone watched endless supply of bad news. Those who work in the knowing how to deal with them when we come across and felt puzzled about. The boya seemed embar- business quickly acquire an immunity to the constant any of these tomboys, especially if you have to share rassed, but this is the ugly truth of being in a society flood of horror and sadness (if you don’t, you won’t last the toilet with them! that doesn’t know how to deal with uncommon things long as a journalist.) The bottom line here is that we as a conservative and I don’t blame anyone. The same can be said for Kuwait. There is a constant society are not trained in how to deal with this boya I know that boyat suffer even from men and they and steady stream of negative news (KUNA notwith- thing. Many of us despise the idea but it is becoming are not easy with them because they penetrate the standing). The economy lags behind its regional peers part of our life today, whether we like it or not, and egoistic male world and this is hard, especially in Arab despite nearly two decades of multibillion-dollar budget there is nothing we can do. Technology today has pro- societies. Western societies have developed methods surpluses. Corruption is endemic and growing worse. vided these girls with medications to help them build on how to deal these concepts, but we don’t and I The divide between expatriates and locals has deep- a masculine body, and indeed the catwalk is not in don’t think we will. ened and xenophobia is on the rise. Schools and hospi- their vocabulary. Having a female girlfriend is part of If we were in the West, we would know how to deal tals are failing. Traffic is a constant nightmare. The cost the look they wish to portray. We the public need to with those who live this gender grey area. I think deep of living is rising and rising. know how to deal with them. Should we show them down they suffer in silence because of the way they Sometimes it can all be too much and it’s so easy to some tolerance or just ignore them? Both attempts will are treated by their own societies. I wonder why none get caught up in the field of negativity and complaints. fail, and I know this. of the local NGOs talk about this phenomenon and But as you learn in journalism, no story has just one side. We have two kinds of public toilets - for men and how should we feel and act while dealing with boyat. Of the 3.5+ million people living in Kuwait, few seem women. But which one would a boya use with less Turning a blind eye will not end or solve the problem. interested in shifting to Doha or Dubai. Despite all those harassment from any of those two? Last week I came These people need help or understanding because so annual rankings about the ‘happiest places on earth to face-to-face with such a weird incident when I was in far we have offered none and that cleaning lady can- live’, few of those I spoke with seem to want to pack up the toilet of a cinema at one of the malls and a boya not be blamed for attempting to kick that boya out. and move to Australia, Iceland, Finland, Canada, etc. (That doesn’t mean many wouldn’t want a passport from those countries - it’s just that they don’t want to live there.) So there must be reasons - despite all the problems - that make Kuwait a great place to live. In America, we gather at the end of November every year to eat large amounts of turkey, dressing and cran- berry sauce and give thanks for all that we have. As a transplanted American, I want to take this opportunity to say why I am thankful to live in Kuwait and also to remind us all why Kuwait is a great place to live. First, it’s a largely peaceful and safe place to live. Every time one of my friends starts to complain about all the problems in Kuwait, I gently remind them that at least we aren’t in Iraq or Libya or Syria. I can only feel heartbreak and sadness for the millions of people now trapped in conflict. Whatever problems we have here, our lives could be much, much worse. Also, though crime has been on the rise in recent years, it’s still much lower and much less violent than some places. Second, Kuwait is changing. Yes there are many obstacles and much corruption. Yes, wasta is still king and there is discrimination and cheating. But change cannot happen overnight and the first thing that needs to change is the mindset of both locals and expats. A place is just a piece of land. The country is really the people and changing them is a long process. Third, you can work and earn a living here (tax free, I might add) and though local unemployment or under- employment remains an issue, there are plenty of jobs and work for anyone who wants it. Fourth, there’s always something new going on. Whether it’s because of the small size of the country or because of the fact that people are constantly on the move - traveling in and out of Kuwait - I’m not sure but there is steady stream of ‘habba’ (trends) that keeps life here fun and interesting. Fifth, the weather - for the moment - is incredible. Not too hot, not too cold (seems like maybe we won’t even have a ‘winter’ this year!). Any day in Kuwait with 25 C weather is a reason to celebrate! The Kuwait Towers are seen under a cloudy sky. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat statelessof Thestate

statelessnessBy Chidi Emmanuel itting quietly in a shanty house in Sulaibiya, 62-year-old Mohammed couldn’t contain his tears as he narrated his life and family ordeals as a Sbedoon (stateless resident). “You can see where and how we are living,” statehe said as he opened a small cubicle where he has been living with his family for over 12 years. In a narrow alleyway near his house, Mohammed’s children (aged 5 to 12) could be seen playing football during school hours. When asked why, he said, “they can’t go school because they don’t have birth certificates and proper documents. This is a lost generation.”

Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli Bedoon human right activist Local5

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Child labor As Mohammed showed Kuwait Times his house and a toilet made of corrugated iron sheets, his 7-year-old daughter Aisha rushed in, clutching a 250 fils note which she said was given to her by a passerby. “Our life is a daily struggle - no proper work, no proper healthcare, no school and no hope. Even when we die, we don’t get death certificates. My only and biggest dream is that my children will be recognized as humans one day,” he lamented. Aisha, just like other bedoon children, yearns to go to school, but cannot because of her stateless status. Moham- med described their deplorable condition. “The kids - just like most bedoon kids - sell anything they can lay their hands on to help their families. Some of them turn to begging as the last resort,” he added, as he pointed out at some street chil- dren around the Sulaibiya neighborhood begging for alms. Although child labor is not prevalent in Kuwait, it is be- coming a growing trend as poor and stateless children take up odd jobs in order to help themselves and their families. Kuwait Times met Farouq, a 13-year-old stateless boy selling watermelons in Suliabiya. “He helps me most times. Instead of sitting at home, is better for him to assist me here in my busi- ness,” his father said. Most bedoons face obstacles to obtain civil documenta- tion, leaving them unable to get social services or function as normal members of society. The government provides — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

“Our life is like a daily struggle - no proper work, no proper healthcare, no school and no hope. Even when we die, we don’t get death certificates ” certain handouts and ration cards for food allowances through government-run cooperatives. While some bedoons carry security identity cards to allow them to access these services, unregistered ones like Moham- med are excluded from these handouts.

The Bridge that divides us “Stateless people face significantly greater ob- stacles. Some of the kids go to substandard private schools that exclusively serve bedoons, while a major- ity is left out completely. Some resort to informal and undependable work, such as selling fruits and vegetables on the street, manual labor and begging,” said Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli, a bedoon human rights activist. At the end of the street near the stables’ area in Sulaibiya, a bedoon woman could be seen begging with her children. Later, on a pedestrian bridge in Taima in Jahra - another bedoon shantytown - Fadhli showed Kuwait Times what he described as “heaven” and “hell”. “This is the bridge that divides us,” he said, pointing at the other side where Kuwaitis live. “This beautiful area is called Naeem (which means paradise) and the other side with shanty houses, dilapidated structures and Local6

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

dirty environment is the purgatory where bedoons live,” said Fadhli, who has been jailed over 10 times. Fadhli also took Kuwait Times to the Ministry of Education in Shuwaikh where some activists hold daily demonstrations to protest the expulsion of over 600 bedoon children from government schools. “There are different classes of bedoons – you have those that managed to go to school and have good jobs and those that are far below the poverty line. But one thing is common - they have no identity. They cannot vote or be voted for. They lack political and economic options. Statelessness means life without education, life without medical care, joblessness and life without prospects or hope,” Fadhli explained.

Global campaign Recently, the UN refugee agency launched a global campaign aimed at ending the devastating legal limbo of statelessness, which affects millions of people around the world. According to a UN report, at least 10 million people worldwide are currently stateless and a baby is born stateless every 10 minutes. As part of its efforts to address the issues of statelessness, Kuwait’s government recently sealed a deal with the impover- ished African island nation of Comoros. According to the agreement, tens of thousands of stateless people in Kuwait will be offered Comoros citizenship. Those who accept the offer would be given free residence permits in Kuwait, in addition to a series of incentives like free education and healthcare and the right to employment. “This is a way of getting rid of us. It is a crime against humanity. We are not stateless, we are natives,” Fadhli said as he blasted the Comoros citizenship offer. There are over 140,000 stateless people in Kuwait. Kuwait’s government describes these people as illegal residents, and says only 34,000 qualify for consider- ation for citizenship. The rest are considered natives of other countries who either migrated to Kuwait after the discovery of oil five decades ago or were born to these migrants. In the past three years, bedoons have held demonstrations to demand citizenship and other basic rights, and police have dispersed them using force, arresting hundreds who are on trial for illegal protests and assaulting police. Local FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 7 K’S PATH is now legal Animal care society officially proclaimed

KUWAIT: K’S PATH chairperson Aisha Al-Humaidhi (second left) and deputy chairperson Sheikha Fatma Mubarak Al-Sabah (third left) are seen with guests. (Center) Sheikha Entisar Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah is honored. (Right) Waleed Al-Humaidhi is honored. —KUNA KUWAIT: Kuwaiti authorities have granted legal status to the ing an animal as well as its providing refuge to any animal in clean Kuwaiti beaches and preserve various species on land Kuwait Society for the Protection of Animals and Their Habitat need of care. and sea. (K’S PATH), affirming the approach toward protecting all living Citizens who have animals or pets regularly seek the soci- Elaborating, Sheikha Fatma said the society also deals with creatures of various species. Aisha Al-Humaidhi, the society’s ety’s advice and guidance. It also secures refuge for various smuggled animals to ensure that the relevant law is applied in chairperson, affirmed the necessity of protecting animals, their animals including horses, runs a center for wildlife rehabilita- this regard, monitors cruel treatment of the animals and seeks habitat and guiding human beings to be kind to these crea- tion, an animal reserve, deals with stray animals, environmen- to improve the habitat for settled and migrating animals, tures. She was speaking during a ceremony held late on tal cleanliness and relevant education. namely birds. Moreover, it is seeking to secure a refuge for Wednesday, marking the society’s official proclamation. The society’s deputy chairperson Sheikha Fatma Mubarak farm animals that have been discarded or subjected to cruel The society “has the reaped fruits of its success sowed nine Al-Sabah expressed gratitude to all people who backed the treatment, in addition to launching the first women’s program years ago through diligent work,” she said, mentioning the national association, affirming resolve to exert further efforts to deal with stray animals, educate adults about farm animals, association’s diverse activities, namely holding workshops “to serve our dear Kuwait which deserves to be a minaret of food resources, marine environmental protection, migrating aimed at educating the public about the responsibility of own- humanity and progress”. The society organizes campaigns to birds and horses’ stables. —KUNA Kuwait helps cancer patients in Mexico KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Mexico Johar Hayat announced yester- day $150,000 in aid in the name of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to a hospital treating children suffering from cancer in Mexico. The Kuwaiti donation, which was announced during a grand ceremony held by the IBC Hospital late Wednesday under the title “Kuwaiti Children’s Gift to their Mexican Friends”, reflected HH the Amir’s keenness on supporting world humanitarian projects, he said in a state- ment. This donation is an effective contribution to the development of medication programs provided to children suffering from cancer and a reflection of the high level of distinguished friendship between Kuwait and Mexico, the Kuwaiti ambassador pointed out. —KUNA Startup Q8 brings Kuwaiti entrepreneurs together

By Faten Omar apps and how to scale your app to reach a much larger demographic. He added that KUWAIT: Startup Q8 organized an entrepre- “the size of the return on investment for suc- neurial event that explored collaborative cessful applications or a small youth project is “crowdfunding” business strategies on more than 300 percent”. Sayed is a successful Wednesday. “This event shows Kuwait is entrepreneur who was not content to just interested in building a stronger and more develop a top ten downloaded app for entrepreneurial community,” Mark Solon, Kuwait, so he went and built one with 3 mil- TechStars Managing Partner, told Kuwait lion users (and growing) from all over the Times. Solon, helped build successful busi- Arab world. nesses and develop communities in smaller Abdullah Alshalabi, started the startup Q8 towns such as Boise and Boulder in the US. blog to set up a place for Kuwait’s people to Solon shared his insight on startup read, discuss and share all things about start- fundraising and talked about how failure is ups and entrepreneurship in Kuwait and oth- important to make a business stronger. “I er parts of the world. “We are group of volun- won’t make it if I did not fail - it’s not impor- teers who are trying to build an ecosystem in tant how much profit you get, but how fast Kuwait to encourage people to explore a your business is growing,” he said. career as funders of successful technology Abdul Rahman El-Sayed, the co-founder of companies that develop apps,” said Mijbel Al- Yabila! and Nabd, explained how to develop Qattan, a volunteer at Startup Q8. Local8 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 GCC solidarity Amir’s main concern

MANAMA: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is mainly preoc- cupied with bolstering inter-GCC solidarity and boosting joint action among the mem- ber states, affirmed Kuwait’s Ambassador to Bahrain Sheikh Azzam Mubarak Al- Sabah. Sheikh Azzam, during a meeting with GCC ambassadors, stated that HH the Amir has spared no effort boosting GCC solidarity for the sake of common progress and success. The meeting was attended by the advisor of the Bahraini King for media affairs Nabil Al-Homor. Sheikh Azzam praised the continuous and sincere efforts exerted by all GCC lead- ers for pushing forward cooperation among GCC states. Such cooperation has MANAMA: Kuwait’s Ambassador to Bahrain Sheikh Azzam Mubarak Al-Sabah meets GCC ambassadors. —KUNA resulted in reinstating the ambassadors to send back their ambassadors to Doha, a GCC meeting in Riyadh resulted in tackling GCC”. The next GCC Summit in Doha will Qatar. He was alluding to the Riyadh major step to tackle rifts among the GCC such disagreements, cementing the bonds substantially contribute to bolstering coop- Agreement, according to which Saudi countries. for the sake of accomplishing “integration eration at this level and will affirm the joint Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain decided to Sheikh Azzam affirmed that the recent and serving interests of peoples of the destiny of the GCC countries. —KUNA MoCI gets back FTZ authority Govt, MPs discuss Food stockpile normal priority issues KUWAIT: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has restored authority and jurisdictions over the free trade zone following a marathon legal process against the National Real Estate Company, MPs seek to end KAC privatization which had been assigned to run the vital sector, was dismissed. In remarks to KUNA yesterday, judge Salah Al-Mes’ed, the head of Fatwa and Legislation Department, indicated that Wednesday’s KUWAIT: The National Assembly’s new- meeting will be held next week to final- basis. That law stipulates to sell 40 per- ruling by the Court of Cassation had resolved the issue of running ly-formed priorities panel yesterday dis- ize the issues for the rest of the sessions, cent of the company to a strategic the FTZ, essentially ruling in favor cussed with the government the most he said. The lawmaker said that a large investor, 10 percent to the government of the Ministry of Industry and important issues that must be discussed number of government programs are and 50 percent to the people. But the Commerce, thus overruling the during the current parliamentary term identical to those submitted by MPs and proposal calls to amend the percent- libel case filed by the company which began a month ago, head of the the government did not object to many ages to become 75 percent for the gov- that had been assigned to run the committee said. MP Youssef Al-Zalzalah issues submitted by various Assembly ernment, 20 percent to the people and 5 facility years ago. said that the ministers of oil and plan- committees. Zalzalah said that the percent to current and former employ- The ministry on Wednesday ning in addition to state minister for Assembly will reject the government’s ees. The proposal effectively ends the asked the Court of Cassation to Cabinet affairs represented the govern- spending rationalization programs that privatization program of KAC. suspend a previous verdict by the ment in the meeting, which approved may affect citizens, adding that so far The MPs said the aim of their propos- Court of Appeal that had been in the issues that will be discussed in the nothing of this type has been presented. al is that KAC must remain as the nation- favor of the company. Therefore, coming three Assembly sessions. In the meantime, five MPs yesterday al carrier of Kuwait and accordingly it the ministry-affiliated Public The meeting agreed to immediately submitted a draft law to amend a legis- must remain under the control of gov- Authority for Industry shall take debate a law for firemen, another for the lation issued in 2008 to privatize Kuwait ernment agencies. The amendment also charge of activities at the zone in annual development plan and a third for Airways Corp by first transforming it into calls for giving priority for jobs at KAC to its capacity as the zone’s manag- collecting illegal arms, while another a company operating on a commercial Kuwaitis. Salah Al-Mes’ed er, use all the facilities there, facili- tate operations that serve entre- preneurs’ interests and move Kuwaiti gets death for killing wife goods that exist in and outside the zone. Observers indicate that By Hanan Al-Saadoun sell a quantity of hormones worth KD 20,000. The arrest the ministry, with the final verdict, was made during the exchange, and the warehouse was is restoring authority over the key KUWAIT: A court sentenced a Kuwaiti to death for killing his raided. The suspect is being referred to the public prose- facility envisaged to serve the wife. The woman died after the suspect hit her on the head cution. broader strategic national objec- with a stick for getting pregnant. tive of turning Kuwait into a Right of way fight regional business hub. Liquor factory raided A Syrian complained against two other Syrians of beating Separately, the strategic stock- Ahmadi governorate patrols him following a dispute over the right of way. The Syrian said pile of food supplies in the country busted a large local liquor factory in the two may have been drunk, and he gave authorities an ID of is at the normal level and there is Sabah Al-Ahmad. Patrols noticed a a person who works for the Interior Ministry, adding that it no drop whatsoever, a senior com- car in an open area with an Asian belonged to one of the attackers. merce official reassured yesterday. inside, and when they approached Abdullah Al-Enezi The Ministry of Commerce and it, the Asian escaped, but was Shotguns Industry has a relentless approach caught inside the factory with 50 confiscated to boost necessary financial resources for “fortifying the strategic cartons of liquor, 22 large barrels, Two persons were food stockpile”, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of distillation equipment, 28 bags of arrested on Salmy Commerce and Industry for Control and Consumers’ Protection sugar, six gas cylinders and 6,005 road with two shot- Abdullah Al-Enezi told KUNA. bottles filled with liquor. Another guns they claimed “The ministry is doing its utmost to keep its food level at its safe person was caught in Mahboula they use for hunting. limits and to hedge it from any negative impacts,” Enezi said. The with several boxes containing 119 They were sent to ministry and Kuwait Flour Mills and Bakeries Company, which is a locally made liquor bottles. criminal detectives. primary source for most of food industries and food distributors in Kuwait, are working together to make all food supplies available Hormones busted Baby aborted according to specific strategic goals, he said. The ministry is also Criminal detectives foiled an attempt to dump An Ethiopian maid, 33, was questioned at Rawda police sta- working with other food companies to regularly offer targeted banned hormones in the Kuwait market. Detectives tion after she had an abortion and hid the baby’s body under food quantities in the country, the official pointed out. —KUNA learned that a trader wanted to sell them wholesale, so it the bed. She said she was attacked by a person and named was agreed with him, through an undercover agent, to him. Local FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 Kuwait Airways to buy 10 Boeing 777s

KUWAIT: State-owned Kuwait Airways fleet of 15 Airbuses and two Boeings. Co said yesterday it has agreed to buy 10 Under the deal, KAC will buy 15 A320neo Boeing 777-300ERs, with delivery to aircraft and 10 A350-900s, with an option begin in two years. “KAC has agreed to to buy five more of each. Delivery is to an offer by Boeing to buy 10 Boeing 777- commence in 2019. Under a second con- 300ER jets,” chairwoman Rasha Al-Rumi tract, KAC will lease seven A320s and five said in a statement carried by the official A330s, with delivery due to start next KUNA news agency, which gave no month. details on the value of the deal. The offer The value of the deals was not dis- was accepted after securing all necessary closed but local media put the figure at official approvals and the contract will be around $4 billion. In addition to mod- signed soon, Rumi said. Delivery of the ernising its fleet, the KAC wants to long-range, wide-body planes will begin become profitable before offering a 40 in Nov 2016. percent stake to a local or foreign In February, loss-making KAC signed investor. contracts with Airbus to buy 25 planes in It has posted losses in all but one of the first order for new aircraft in more the past 21 years, amounting to a total of than 20 years. The airline, which is slated more than $2.7 billion, which has been for eventual privatisation, has an ageing covered by the government. — AFP Gulf to reject OPEC cuts to guard market share

KUWAIT: Gulf oil producers led by Saudi OPEC decision to cut output “will be to rising shale output. Consequently, its Arabia will likely reject output cuts at an very difficult”. net imports dropped by 1.2 million bpd OPEC meeting next week unless they Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude to about 5.2 million bpd, OPEC figures are guaranteed their market share in a exporter, has not commented on possi- show. Saudi exports to the US dropped highly competitive market, analysts say. ble output cuts but in early November it from 1.25 million bpd in July to under The stance of Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab sent oil prices tumbling when it eased 900,000 bpd in August, but it remains Emirates and Saudi Arabia is seen as cru- its crude price for the United States to the second largest US supplier after cial for a positive OPEC decision on preserve market share. “The focus at the Canada, according to the EIA. With Gulf reducing supplies to boost crude prices, moment is on Saudi Arabia and whether exports to Europe very small and KU OKs 4 new majors which have shed a third of their value it will succumb to pressure from within decreasing, the only markets left for since June. The four pump a total 16.2 the OPEC cartel and outside to cut pro- crude are Asia and the Pacific. “The KUWAIT: Kuwait University’s higher studies faculties board approved million barrels per day, or 52 percent of duction,” said Michael McCarthy, chief interests of the Gulf states is better yesterday four new majors - namely PhD in nuclear medicine, doctor- the 12-member Organisation of market strategist at CMC Markets in served by fighting the battle for market ate in pharmacology, a master’s in social service and another in crimi- Petroleum Exporting Countries, but they Sydney. Saudi economist Abdulwahab share and refusing the cuts. This will nology. The four programs will be submitted to the university rector account for two-thirds of the cartel’s Abu-Dahesh said Gulf states would push prices down, but will force high- Abdullatif Al-Bader for final endorsement. They were initially exports, according to figures from OPEC “fiercely resist pressure to cut output”. cost producers out,” Abu-Dahesh said. approved during a meeting that grouped assistant deans at the fac- and other agencies. “The battle now is for market share, and Mohammed Suroor al-Sabban, a for- ulty, other senior academics, the former minister of oil Hani Hussein “OPEC members are looking at Saudi and the managing director of Ernst and Young. — KUNA Arabia, Kuwait and UAE to shoulder the bulk of any production cuts, and they can,” said Kuwaiti oil expert Kamel Al- MoE raises fees, pay Harami. “But it is extremely unlikely for Gulf states to accept output cuts unless for Filipino schools other OPEC members take the initia- tive... They need assurances other OPEC KUWAIT: The Minister of Education and Higher Education or non-OPEC producers won’t fill the Bader Al-Essa announced raising fees in schools with Filipino gap,” said the former oil executive. “It is curriculums and also raised the salaries of employees at these not in the interest of the Gulf states to schools. The Ministry of Education said in a statement yester- cut output because they risk losing day that the fees for elementary schools will be KD 516, for intermediate KD 568, KD 590 for high school and a maximum highly valuable market share,” he told of KD 492 for kindergarten for the 2014-2015 scholastic year. AFP. Oil prices have crashed to four-year Meanwhile, the salaries of kindergarten teachers will be KD lows on dampening demand from a 200, elementary teachers KD 250, intermediate KD 275 and combination of factors including a slug- KD 300 for high school teachers, the ministry added. — KUNA gish world economy, a sharp rise in out- put from unconventional sources like shale oil, and a strong dollar. This has KUWAIT: A file picture taken on Feb 23, 2005 shows the largest and most advanced UNDP workshop to resulted in slumping revenues for most pier in the Middle East at the Ahmadi refinery just north of Shuaiba. — Photo by OPEC and non-OPEC producers heavily Yasser Al-Zayyat focus on accidents reliant on oil for their budgets. Venezuela has called for a meeting of if they cut output, they lose market mer adviser to the Saudi oil minister, has both OPEC and non-OPEC countries to share,” he told AFP. Markets for crude oil said he expects OPEC to stick with its KUWAIT: The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) office in address the price slide, joining hands and petroleum products have tightened current output ceiling. OPEC, which is to Kuwait will organize on Sunday a workshop for training traffic and with Ecuador to urge the cartel to cut due to ample supplies and waning meet in Vienna on Nov 27, pumps about transport cadres in a bid to curb road accidents. The workshop will be output. demand. Saudi Arabia exports two- a third of global crude and currently held under auspices of Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, the UNDP said in a thirds of its crude to Asia, less than 20 produces just under 31 million bpd, press release yesterday. ‘Fears Over Non-OPEC Moves’ percent to the US and just 10 percent to about one million more than its target. The event will focus on the implementation of the national strate- “The fear of non-OPEC producers Europe, according to the US Energy The analysts agreed a cut of 1.0-1.5 mil- gy on traffic and transport to achieve sustainable development, coin- boosting output will make most OPEC Information Administration (EIA). Kuwait lion bpd could halt the price slide but ciding with the 2014 World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic members very cautious in accepting sends 75 percent of exports to Asia, may not be enough for a strong Victims (WDR), commemorated on the third Sunday of November cuts,” said Khaled Bodai, head of the while UAE and Qatar export almost all rebound. “If Gulf states have to choose each year, it added. Horizon for Administrative their crude to Asia. between a high price for oil or preserv- According to the UNDP, the workshop will focus on requirements Consultations. “I am not optimistic there ing their market share, they will certainly of implementing the comprehensive traffic and transport strategy in will be an agreement for cuts,” Bodai, a US Shale Hitting Exports opt for the latter,” said Abu-Dahesh. Kuwait and the impact on the national development plan, as well the former member of Kuwait’s Supreme Oil production in the United States, “They have huge fiscal reserves to sur- economic and social cost of the traffic problem and curbing traffic Petroleum Council, told AFP. Kuwaiti Oil the world’s top energy consumer, sur- vive low oil prices for two to three congestion. —KUNA Minister Ali Al-Omair said last week an passed 8.5 million bpd this year thanks years.” — AFP FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 A bigger breakout: Brotherhood French jihadists Iran nuclear talks leader arrested call for attacks holy11 grail amid12 crackdown on14 homeland

PANCHKULA: Controversial Indian guru Rampal Maharaj looks on behind bars at a police station in Panchkula near Chandigarh yesterday. Indian police were scouring the ashram of a contro- versial guru for explosives, hours after his arrest ended a violent stand-off with thousands of followers that left six people ead.d — AFP Sex scandals and sieges: India’s ‘godmen’

NEW DELHI: From sex scandals to kheer (Indian rice pudding). the daily lives of many Indians, who deeply spiritual country. “What is god,” a wailing woman told NDTV bloody sieges, India’s many self- Consuming the kheer could result in believe their teachings provide a my life now? They have taken away network after Rampal was arrested. styled “godmen”-mainly Hindu miracles such as cured illnesses, pathway to enlightenment in the my guru ji (a Hindi honorific), my Popular gurus include Mata ascetics with legions of devoted fol- according to followers quoted by Amritanandamayi Devi, the so- lowers-have received a bad rap in local media. “The milk falls on him, called “hugging saint” of southern recent years. Spiritual guru Rampal while he sits and meditates. The Kerala, and Sathya Sai Baba who Maharaj was languishing behind fruit of his meditation is present in was known for his vast charitable bars in the country’s north yester- the kheer,” disciple Krishnan, 29, empire. day after police ended a stand-off told the Indian Express newspaper. When Sai Baba died in 2011, he with thousands of his followers and But Rampal was hardly alone in was given a state funeral. Tens of a long siege during which six peo- his dubious activities-with several thousands of followers paid their ple died. Rampal, who faces a series gurus coming under the spotlight in respects along with then Prime of charges including conspiracy to recent years, including elderly Minister Manmohan Singh and murder, barricaded himself into his Asaram Bapu, who was charged last cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar. ashram guarded by devotees armed year with sexually assaulting a After his death, members of his trust with stones, petrol bombs and oth- schoolgirl. A guru was also arrested found 98 kilograms (215.6 pounds) er weapons after a court issued a in New Delhi in 2010 for allegedly of gold, 307 kilograms of silver and warrant for his arrest. running a vice ring involving air- 115 million rupees (then worth As followers poured out of the hostesses, college students and $2.55 million) in cash in his private ashram and police shifted through housewives. For sceptics, the arrests quarters. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev the mess, a bizarre picture emerged and scandals show that many god- also has millions of followers and a of life under the guru, who consid- men, despite their spiritual air and television show. Ramdev, who has a ered himself an incarnation of a claims of mystical powers, are noth- Scottish island and a business 15th-century mystic Indian poet. ing more than confidence tricksters HISAR: Followers of self-styled ‘godman’ Rampal Maharaj are pictured empire mainly of health products, Rampal was regularly bathed in craving cash and power. in the ashram hall at Barwala in the district of Hisar, some 175 kilome- has denied allegations of tax eva- milk, which was then used to make But gurus play an integral role in ters north of New Delhi yesterday. — AFP sion. — AFP International FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 11

Swedes try dinner diplomacy to befriend immigrants

SOLLENTUNA: In war-torn Syria where Mikhail Zuhir Sweden. “I got curious about my students and wanted to shift to Arabic!” This evening he tells his story to an eager comes from, a nighttime knock on the door can mean know more about them,” she said. “Very soon, I realized I audience. As a Christian, he no longer felt welcome in his death, but when he rings the bell at a Swedish home on a was the only Swedish person they ever talked to. I told small town near the Turkish border. “Besides, I’m an elec- dark night he comes bearing flowers. Instead of fear, a myself that this has to change - for example over dinner.” trician and we only had three hours of electricity a day. I warm dinner and welcome await the 29-year-old refugee The idea, which she first tried out in March, is simple. had to leave,” he said. “My father told me to leave the who fled the violence that has claimed more than Immigrants who study Swedish as a foreign language country. I chose Sweden because my grandfather moved 195,000 lives since Syria’s war began more than three meet with Swedes over dinner. The point is twofold. To there 23 years ago and I knew that the government years ago. “As I see it, if you’re invited to dinner and you make the immigrants feel more at home in Sweden and would help us.” “Now,” he said, “I finally feel safe.” arrive without flowers, you’re sure not to get invited with the Swedish language, and help accustom Swedes again,” he said, handing a bouquet to his hosts, Urban to their new compatriots. Since the first dinner, more than ‘A seed has been planted’ Soederman and Jenny Sigurs. Soon the three are seated 100 have taken place in the Stockholm area, and the ini- But prejudices die hard. Nearly one in five Swedes has at a table over traditional Swedish fare: salmon, potatoes, tiative has rapidly spread to other cities in Sweden. Now no contact with a person from a country outside of apple pie with whipped cream. the idea is even catching on abroad. A dinner has already Europe and in September the far right became the third- What seems a casual social event is proving to be a taken place in Athens, and others are scheduled in places largest party, with 12.9 percent of votes. Even so, Zuhir is successful initiative at better integration, as Sweden faces as far apart as Vilnius, Singapore and New Mexico. convinced that the future is in Sweden, and he has every- a rise in the anti-immigration far right. The project is the thing planned. “First, I really need to speak Swedish well, brainchild of Ebba Aakerman, a teacher of Swedish as a ‘I need to speak with Swedes’ then I have to certify my skills as an electrician, and then I second language, who was moved by a simple idea-noth- “We’ve always wondered what can be done to help can find a job.” ing breaks the ice better than sharing a meal. This dinner those who come here and open our door,” said Sigurs, For now, he has abandoned football, a sport he had diplomacy, she hopes, will facilitate dialogue in a nation who hosted Zuhir to dinner in her home in Sollentuna, practiced daily. “Anyway, I can’t run when it’s cold. It’s long known for its openness but shocked by September’s northwest of Stockholm. “It’s simple and practical and totally impossible!” His other dinner host, Soederman, general election when the far-right doubled its support to makes a difference.” Zuhir said he heard other students who remembers his own days as a teenager when he almost 13 percent. For Sweden, mass immigration is a from his Swedish class talk about the dinners. “They had learned English in a full-immersion program, hopes to be recent and growing phenomenon, with a 2013 survey had conversations and had fun. And then I thought to able to keep in touch and offer support. Many other showing 20.1 percent of the population has roots outside myself, what am I waiting for? I want to try that too. And Swedes feel the same way, and since the election have the country. that’s how I ended up here,” he said. approached Akerman with requests to become hosts for “I’ve been in Sweden for 10 months now, and I have to her now increasingly famous dinners. “People want to get ‘I got curious’ talk with local Swedes if I want to improve and become involved,” said Akerman. “With my project, I’ve estab- Akerman got the idea early this year when she started better integrated.” “With my friends, we try to speak lished a first contact, a seed has been planted. Integration as a substitute teacher for foreigners making new lives in Swedish, and it works for about one minute before we happens primarily at the individual level.”—AFP

UAE targets Islamist A bigger breakout: Iran accounts in money-laundering nuclear talks holy grail clampdown Nuke talks hang in the balance

DUBAI: United Arab Emirates banks have been banned VIENNA: The nuclear deal being sought by six machines. For nuclear power 3.5-5.0 percent is Strategic Studies said. But in the final accord from doing business with some Islamist groups including world powers this week in Vienna will not com- needed, 20 percent is for medicines and 90 the P5+1 want the “breakout” extended to the Muslim Brotherhood, their representative said, as the pletely remove the possibility that Iran might, percent for a bomb. Iran is already enriching to around a year, said Kelsey Davenport at the country’s central bank won powers to freeze suspect in theory, one day be able to build an atomic low levels and until January was doing so to 20 Arms Control Association. This could be accounts for up to seven days. The government said it was bomb. This is because the mammoth accord, if percent. It is not thought to have purified to achieved by Iran slashing the number of cen- stepping up efforts to cut off financing to groups it classi- it can be struck by Monday’s deadline, would weapons-grade-although it has the knowhow trifuges from the current 19,000, of which fies as terrorist. The move was announced in a decree leave intact at least some of the Islamic repub- and the equipment. around half are operating. In addition, Iran published on the prime minister’s website, which did not lic’s nuclear facilities. So instead, the name of mention specific groups. the game for the five permanent members of Asked about the new rules, the head of the UAE Banks the UN Security Council plus Germany (the Federation said lenders had been told not to do business P5+1) is to expand the so-called “breakout” with the UAE branch of the Egypt-based Brotherhood and time. with Al-Islah, a local Islamist group banned in the UAE for This is generally taken to mean how long alleged links to the Brotherhood. “This is enforcing anti- Iran would need, were it to choose to do so- and it hotly denies any such aim-to produce money laundering. Banks have to look to this legislation one bomb’s worth of fissile material. Making and comply. They’re considered terrorist groups,” Abdul this time period longer, the thinking goes, Aziz al-Ghurair told reporters on Monday on the sidelines would give the international community of a banking conference in Dubai. ample notice of any such drive-and be able to Last Saturday the UAE designated 85 organizations as stop it. “We must be confident that any effort terrorist groups including the Brotherhood, Islamic State - by Tehran to break out of its obligations will be which has taken over swathes of Syria and Iraq - and other so visible and time-consuming that the Shiite militant groups such as Yemen’s Houthi movement. attempt would have no chance of success,” The Brotherhood has been a source of friction between chief US negotiator Wendy Sherman said in Gulf Arab states, with the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain September. having recalled their ambassadors from Doha over Qatar’s support for the group. That eight-month diplomatic How to build a bomb standoff was ended on Sunday. There are two possible options for the busi- Authorities in Cairo designated the Brotherhood a ter- ness bit of a nuclear weapon: plutonium-North rorist group last December, several months after the army Korea’s choice-or highly-enriched uranium, as VIENNA: Police barriers and a police car stand in front of Palais Coburg removed one of the organization’s leading members, used in the US bomb that flattened Hiroshima, where closed-door nuclear talks with Iran are taking place in Vienna, Mohamed Morsi, from the presidency. The UAE has sought Japan in 1945. Plutonium can be extracted Austria. —AP to reinforce anti-money laundering regulations in recent from spent nuclear fuel rods. Western powers years. Stiffer fines and jail terms for offenders form part of fear that a reactor Iran was until January build- Interim achievement could reduce its stockpile of low-enriched ura- an amendment to a 2002 law awaiting approval by the ing at Arak could produce a bomb’s worth per Under last November’s interim deal with nium-some 8,000 kilos, enough for eight country’s ruler, while banks have ramped up staffing. year. Iran however is not thought to possess a world powers, which expires on Monday, Iran bombs if further enriched — by exporting it, Authorities have cracked down on Al-Islah and jailed facility needed to extract the plutonium, and a took various measures including halting possibly to Russia, or converting it to another scores of Islamists convicted in January of forming an ille- secret one would be easily detected. Arak enrichment to 20 percent and neutralizing its form. David Albright at the Institute for Science gal branch of the Brotherhood. They have also frozen the would also have to run for at least a year before stock of this material. This extended the “break- and International Security estimates that for a bank accounts and assets of detainees and family mem- plutonium can be obtained. Of greater concern out” time from under two months to between breakout of six to 12 months, Iran would have bers after their arrest.—Reuters is uranium. Enriching uranium raised the per- three and four months, nuclear expert Mark to cut the number of centrifuges to 2,000- centage of a certain isotope using centrifuge Fitzpatrick at the International Institute for 4,000. —AFP International FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Egypt police arrests Brotherhood leader as crackdown intensifies

CAIRO: Egyptian police yesterday arrested Mohamed Ali Bishr, one of the few Muslim Brotherhood leaders to escape jail after last year’s overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, in the latest sign of a crackdown on political dissent. Bishr, a veteran politician who served as a cabinet minister under Morsi, was accused of calling for mass protests on Nov 28, state media said. Since the army toppled Morsi in July 2013, Egypt has banned the Brotherhood, its oldest Islamist movement, labeled it a terrorist organization and rounded up thousands of its members. With much of the leadership, including Morsi, in jail, Bishr had played a key role in keeping the group’s activities alive underground. He was also involved in a pressure group that had pushed for Morsi’s reinstatement and was banned last month. The group, the National Coalition to Support Legitimacy and Reject the Coup, condemned Bishr’s arrest, which came a day after 25 protesters were detained in downtown Cairo. “We reject the continuation of rabid attacks against components of the coalition and its members... and against the sons and daughters of the student protest movement,” the group said on its Facebook page. The outlawed Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Brotherhood, condemned the arrest and said Bishr had served seven years in jail from 1999- 2002 and from 2006-2010. Once among Egypt’s best-organized and most successful political movements, the Brotherhood won the first parlia- mentary and presidential elections after the 2011 Tahrir Square revolution that toppled veteran autocrat Hosni CAIRO: In this file photo, Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members (from left to right) Mukhtar Nouh, Khaled Badawi, Mubarak. Morsi ruled for a year, but angered many Egyptians Mohammed Badi and Mohammed Ali Bishr talk behind bars at a military court in Cairo, Egypt when an Egyptian military by giving himself sweeping powers and mismanaging the court convicted 15 members of the outlawed for their activities with a group bent on bringing Islamic law to Egypt. A economy, prompting mass protests against his rule. Abdel security official said yesterday Egyptian authorities have arrested Mohammed Ali Bishr, a leading Muslim Brotherhood Fattah Al-Sisi, the army chief behind Morsi’s removal, went on member who played key role in negotiations between his now-banned group and the government. — AP to win a presidential election in May and vowed that the Brotherhood would cease to exist under his rule. The organi- zation says it is a peaceful movement. — Reuters Muslim ‘apostates’ come Gaza’s militants out of hiding in Europe test-fire rockets Atheism gaining ground in Arab countries JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said yesterday that militants in the Gaza Strip have test-fired rockets into the Mediterranean Sea, in an apparent attempt to show off their BRUSSELS: A number of Muslims in Europe are publicly former religion has over people’s lives. Ahmed spoke only capabilities amid increased tensions in the wake of this abandoning their religion to become Christians or agnos- on condition of anonymity and said he was also “fed up week’s deadly synagogue attack. Four rockets were fired in tics despite their former community’s taboo against such with the omnipresence of fundamentalists,” and what he the past 24 hours, the military said, without elaborating on acts. In France, the film “The Apostle” by filmmaker called “the hypocrisy of Islam.” He joined a group that the test or type of rockets fired. There was no immediate con- Cheyenne Carron has meanwhile lifted the veil on “apos- fights Muslim “indoctrination,” one that has around ten firmation from Palestinian officials in Gaza. tasy” by telling the story of a young Muslim who convert- members, “very little financial means” and a website pub- Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers fought a 50-day war over ed to Catholicism and how he had trouble getting family licizing the books of Robert Spencer, an American anti- the summer that claimed more than 2,100 Palestinian and 70 and friends to accept his choice. Muslim blogger who has been accused of racism and Israeli lives. At the time, Israel said it launched the operation “It is time for us to stop hiding,” said Pastor Said incitement to hatred. to halt Hamas’ rocket attacks from Gaza - rockets that now Oujibou, 46, who left radical Islam for evangelical protes- Similar organizations have existed for several years in have the ability to reach Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other Israeli tantism and who is among the few converts to have pub- Britain and Germany, made up of Iranian exiles. In cities. And though the rocket fire continued throughout the licized his decision in France. He said he is “tolerated” by September, the Central Council of Ex-Muslims in Germany war, it was largely neutralized by Israel’s “Iron Dome” aerial his former co-religionists, even if he admits to having called for a protest against a handful of Salafists who pro- defense system. Tensions in the region have spiked in recent weeks, large- sparked “sarcasm and annoyance” from them. But he claimed themselves “police of the Sharia,” Islamic law, in ly over a disputed holy site in Jerusalem sacred to both warned against the “double talk” that certain branches of the western city of Wuppertal. “It’s true,” Ahmed said, Muslims and Jews. Palestinian attackers have killed 11 people Islam in France close to the Muslim Brotherhood and “that somehow we join the extreme right, but Islam is in five separate incidents, including Tuesday’s storming of a Salafists use toward apostate Muslims. also the extreme right. It’s up to us to clean house.” Imtiaz Jerusalem synagogue that killed four worshippers and a “Apostasy is a taboo in Muslim culture and if the text of Shams, 25, who comes from what he calls a “very conser- Druze Arab Israeli policeman - the second Druze to die in the the Quran does not provide for any punishment, prophet- vative” Muslim family in London, may not be an activist violence. At least five Palestinians involved in the attacks ic tradition calls for killing apostates,” said Radouane like Ahmed. were killed. The violence has prompted anti-Arab demonstra- Attiya, a former preacher trained in Saudi Arabia who is But he renounced his faith before his family two years tions by Israeli right-wingers. On Wednesday, Mayor Itamar now a specialist on Islam at Liege University in Belgium. ago and joined an “underground community” for former Shimoni of the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon suspended Specialists said that more people become Muslim in Muslims that now numbers around 300 people in Israeli Arab laborers from work. They were renovating bomb Europe than leave the faith but Muslims converting to London. “We do weekly meet-ups, we take care of each shelters at local day-care centers. Christianity, especially evangelical protestantism, are on other. This is not even the tip of the iceberg. It’s a couple The move drew criticism yesterday, including from Prime the rise, according to Oujibou. Evangelicals seek to prose- of ice cubes on top of the iceberg,” Shams said. “We don’t Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said “there is no place for lytize in working class and immigrant neighborhoods really fit in with the activist ex-Muslim stuff. It’s more per- discrimination against Israeli Arabs.” Economy Minister where there are many Muslims. “In Europe, as in Arab sonal,” he said. Naftali Bennett, who anchors the far right wing of countries, there is a rampant atheism gaining ground. But He said it is very difficult for Muslims to “come out” Netanyahu’s coalition, insisted that “99 percent of Israeli what is new is the search for visibility,” Attiya said. before their families. “People feel hurt, because they feel Arabs are completely loyal” to Israel. Arab Israelis make up like you are rejecting something, almost spitting in their about 20 percent of Israel’s population of 8 million people. ‘Fed up with fundamentalists’ face even if you have respect for their faith,” he said. For Tensions over the Jerusalem holy site have infiltrated into He said “Islamic radicalism, world jihadism are con- his mother, it’s also “the fear that my child is going to their community as well, prompting angry demonstrations and in one case, the fatal police shooting of an Arab Israeli tributing to the emergence of a reverse radicalism.” hell.” He estimated that there may be around 10,000 man who approached a police car wielding a knife. — AP Ahmed, a Belgian engineer in his forties, abandoned agnostics among London’s Muslim community of Islam because he said he rejected the “total control” his 600,000. — AFP International FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 13 Boko Haram steps up attacks in Cameroon

YAOUNDE: Nigerian Islamist extremists Boko Haram are inten- mishes. But if Boko Haram decided to launch a major offensive, declining to be named. sifying attacks in neighboring Cameroon, targeting new vil- they could break through Cameroon’s lines without too much The army, initially criticized for its inaction, also feels increas- lages with increasingly sophisticated weapons, as the army difficulty,” said a source close to the country’s intelligence serv- ingly isolated in its fight against the Islamist group. Hundreds fears more violence in the approaching dry season. “We’re con- ices, requesting anonymity. The army’s successes up to now of Nigerian soldiers have fled to Cameroon on several occa- vinced that the establishment of a ‘caliphate’ (by Boko Haram) were partly due to the fact that the insurgents were sending sions in response to Boko Haram attacks, yet the two countries is aimed not only at Nigeria but also at Cameroon,” Leopold young, inexperienced recruits to Cameroon, rather than hard- “share information but nothing more”, according to Nlate Ebale, commander for an elite battalion in the border ened fighters from Nigeria, he said. “The Boko Haram fighters Cameroon’s defence ministry. A regional force-with 700 sol- zone said. Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, has said he we’re dealing with are trained in three weeks: the first week diers each from Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria-is due to wants to set up a Nigerian caliphate-recalling the actions of the they’re given money and drugs, the second week they learn to be deployed by the end of November, but will mainly concen- Islamic State militant group which has taken over parts of Iraq put together and strip down a kalashnikov, and the third, trate on the area around Lake Chad, in the far north of both and Syria. Until recently, Boko Haram had focused its attacks on they’re sent to the frontline,” said a Cameroonian officer, countries. —AFP several Cameroonian border posts across from towns it con- trols in the Nigerian state of Borno. It has also been using Cameroon as a place to rest and stock up with arms and food. Italy vents rage in spate of strikes, protest But its attacks are now spreading further south into the coun- try. Members of the group have slit the throats of market-goers Renzi’s popularity declining in broad daylight near the northern city of Mokolo, according to Cameroon’s army. ROME: Italy’s social fabric is fraying. People worn down by years of eco- sion. “After the candy they are offering us now, since we are under the Meanwhile, rivers between the west African nations are nomic stagnation and austerity are suddenly giving vent to their frustra- spotlight, everything will go back like before and the politicians will keep evaporating as the dry season approaches. Dry weather “will tions with a spate of strikes and spontaneous protests which have taken thinking just about their pockets,” said 38-year-old widow Francesca increase Boko Haram’s capacity for harm,” said colonel Jacob politicians by surprise. Scarcely a day goes by without Italy’s main cities Ribaudo. Italian economic output has shrunk by 9 percent since 2008 Kodji, a regional army chief in northern Cameroon. “They will being disrupted by workers, students or angry citizens’ groups. Centre- with youth unemployment reaching 43 percent and more than 80,000 no longer have to cross over bridges. They will be able to cross left Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has been wrong-footed by the souring businesses lost in the course of three recessions. And while other coun- anywhere over the border, at any time, by any means.” mood and his approval ratings are falling. tries hit by the euro zone debt crisis, such as Ireland, Spain and even The CIGL and UIL union confederations on Wednesday called a Greece are showing signs of recovery, Italy’s economy is again contract- Troops trained by Israelis nationwide strike against Renzi’s policies for Dec 12. The third big con- ing. “People’s patience has finally run out. I expected this to happen but I The Islamists have taken some 20 towns in Nigeria and federation, the CISL, will join them in a separate strike for public sector didn’t expect it to happen so soon,” said Luca Ricolfi, sociology professor amassed a weapons stockpile seized from Nigerian army bases. workers on a date to be announced. The strikes promise to be the at Turin University and one of Italy’s foremost political commentators. They now use armored vehicles and landmines as well as largest show of union muscle since 2011, when Mario Monti pushed kalashnikovs and rocket launchers. Cameroon’s military is through tough austerity measures to try to drag the country out of a Marginal increasingly concerned as Boko Haram fighters approach major debt crisis. Yet there is something deeper going on: a mood of public The three union confederations, which together have more than 8 cities like Maroua, the capital of the Far North region, which the anger which is often not channeled through unions that mainly repre- million members, are angered by public pay freezes and Renzi’s plans to group is suspected of infiltrating. sent pensioners and a shrinking pool of workers on regular contracts in ease firing restrictions for large companies. Renzi says his Jobs Act, which Cameroon has deployed around 2,000 soldiers in the north- large companies. comes two years after a labor shake-up under Monti, will simplify the ern region and registered 32 deaths since the start of the oper- In Tor Sapienza, a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Rome, resi- rules and help attract investment. Yet most economists say the changes ation. Despite the losses, the government says its soldiers are dents have been protesting for days against a local centre for immi- proposed are marginal. Michele Tiraboschi, Professor of Labor law at beating back the Islamists. The authorities regularly announce grants, throwing rocks and setting bins alight. “We are surrounded. Modena University said the Jobs Act was “nebulous,” and contained the killing of hundreds of Islamists during skirmishes, though it There are the prostitutes over there, the gypsies down there, here the “very little of substance”. Precisely for this reason, it did not justify the is impossible to verify the figures. Cameroon has some 4,000 immigrants. It’s just too much,” said pensioner Milena Pecci. Most locals mounting popular revolt. Anger among the unemployed, the young elite soldiers, trained by Israeli soldiers, but observers are scep- claim they are not racist, just exasperated by rising crime, squalor and and people living in deprived areas-who Ricolfi calls the “outsiders”-is tical about the capabilities of the regular army, particularly in lack of basic services like street lighting. Visiting politicians of all colors, taking the form of “do-it-yourself” protests among people who had pre- the face of bigger attacks. including the centre-left mayor, have been greeted with boos and deri- viously been desperate but apathetic. —Reuters “Until now, the military presence has endured major skir- International FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 14

Swiss billionaire acquitted over 3,000 asbestos deaths

ROME: Italy’s Supreme Court has overturned mer employees and in 2012 was jailed in that the tycoon’s conviction should be ruled “Bill Gates of Switzerland” for his philanthro- an 18-year prison sentence for Swiss billion- absentia for 16 years, a sentence that was invalid because the statute of limitations had py, Schmidheiny had been found by the aire Stephan Schmidheiny for causing 3,000 raised by an appeals court to 18 years in expired in the case, sparking outrage from appeals court to have caused “a permanent deaths linked to the use of asbestos in his 2013. The tycoon was also ordered to pay victims’ families. “Contorting the individual’s health and environment catastrophe”. His factories. The top Italian court ruled late tens of millions of euros (dollars) in compen- right to justice may well produce justice lawyers argued that he did not have a direct Wednesday that the evidence on which he sation to local authorities and families of the today-but it could create a thousand more responsibility in the management of Eternit was originally convicted-in the biggest case victims, who included factory workers and injustices in the future,” said Iacovello. Italy. Once hailed as a miracle product, of its kind against a multinational for residents who lived near the three Eternit fac- “Sometimes what is right and what is just asbestos was used mainly as building insula- asbestos-related deaths-was now out of tories in northern, central and southern Italy. take different directions. But for magistrates tion for its sound absorption and resistance date, according to Italian news agency Victims’ relatives who had gathered at the there is no alternative-they have to do what is to fire, heat and electrical damage. It was ANSA. Schmidheiny is the former owner of court to hear the verdict shouted “Shame on right.” The statute of limitations surrounding banned in Europe in 2005, but is still widely Italian company Eternit, which made con- you” after hearing that Schmidheiny’s sen- the Eternit case should have been considered used in the developing world. The inhalation struction material using asbestos in the tence had been overturned, ANSA said. to have expired in 1998 - 12 years after the of asbestos fibres can cause lung inflamma- 1970s and 1980s. Supreme court prosecutor Francesco company went bankrupt, Iacovello said. tion and cancer, and symptoms can take up He was taken to court by a group of for- Mauro Iacovello had argued earlier in the day Referred to by Forbes magazine as the to 20 years to manifest after exposure. —AFP

Men barred from approaching girls in UK anti-grooming case LONDON: Six men under investigation in Britain over alleged child sex exploitation were ordered Wednesday to stay away from girls, in what police hailed as a “groundbreaking” court ruling. London’s High Court issued an injunction banning the men from Birmingham, in central England, from approaching “any female under 18” with whom they are not associated. The move was aimed at protecting a vulnerable 17-year-old girl in authority care who had been found by police in a hotel room and around cars with men, the court heard. A judge ruled Wednesday that the men, who have not been convicted of any crime in relation to the teenager, could be named, despite objections from police concerned about their safety. Judge Michael Keehan said there was “a high public interest in the public having the right to know what has happened in this case”. Injunctions were made against Mohammed Anjam, Omar Ahmed, Naseem Khan, Mohammed Javed, Shah Alam and Sajid Hussain-who all come from the Birmingham area. Most of the men denied any wrongdoing. One told reporters as he left court Wednesday that the proceedings were “racist” and said he would appeal the decision. Detective Chief Superintendent Danny Long, head of West Midlands Police’s Public Protection Unit, defended the injunctions which he DABIQ: An image grab taken from a propaganda video released shows members of the Islamic State (IS) said followed months of investigations. jihadist group, with among them a jihadist believed to be French citizen Maxime Hauchard (right), also “Being found in a hotel room with a child isn’t a crime. Being in a known as Abu Abdallah Al-Faransi, before taking part in the beheadings of at least 18 men described as taxi with a child isn’t a crime. Having the number of a vulnerable child in your phone or on your social media network isn’t a crime. But Syrian military personnel. —AFP these injunctions mean that it is now prohibited for these men,” he said. He added that the court orders were “incredibly restricting”, prohibiting “any contact, in any form, with any girl under 18 years of French jihadists call for age, who they can’t prove they know”. He said anyone who breached an injunction could face prison. Lawyers for Birmingham City Council, who launched civil court proceedings against 10 men, are attacks on homeland due to present more evidence against several others yesterday. Authorities say there is currently inadequate evidence for a criminal IS video shows Frenchmen burning their passports conviction. —AFP

PARIS: A horrified France was grappling with Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting the group. Its of parents reporting concerns about their Russia hacking site a new reality yesterday in which hundreds of most recent strikes, Le Drian said, targeted child’s radicalization described themselves as its citizens are openly joining jihadist groups trenches used by IS fighters around the north- atheist. spying webcams and directly calling for attacks on their home- ern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Tuesday. land. A new video from the Islamic State Non-Muslim origins worldwide: UK group released on jihadist forums and Twitter ‘We know the dangers’ Hauchard, for instance, came from a small on Wednesday showed three Kalashnikov- But France is increasingly looking inwards village in Normandy where he is remembered LONDON: Britain’s privacy watchdog yesterday called on wielding Frenchmen burning their passports as it reels from the news that over 1,000 peo- as a polite and amiable neighbor prior to Russia to take down a site showing hacked live feeds from and calling on Muslims to join them or stage ple from a wide range of backgrounds have adopting radical Islam in his teens. French thousands of homes and businesses around the world and attacks in France. The new video explicitly left to join the jihadists in Iraq and Syria, with authorities say the other French jihadist in the warned it was planning “regulatory action”. The Information calls for retaliation against France for launch- 375 currently there. Prime Minister Manuel video, Dos Santos, is of Portuguese origin but Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said that hackers were taking ing air strikes against the Islamic State group, Valls said Wednesday that “close to 50” born in the French riverside town of advantage of devices like CCTV cameras and remote-access which has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq. French citizens or residents of France have Champigny-sur-Marne. He was part of a net- baby monitors without security protection and with weak It follows the appearance of two other been killed in the conflict zone. “So we know work of radical young men in his neighbor- passwords. French jihadists-identified as 22-year-olds the dangers and, sadly, we are not surprised hood and is believed to have left for Syria in “I want the Russians to take this down straight away,” Maxime Hauchard and Mickael Dos Santos-in to learn that French citizens or residents of the autumn of 2013, according to a govern- Christopher Graham, the information commissioner, told BBC a brutal IS execution video released at the France are found at the heart of these cells ment source. United Nations chief Ban Ki- Radio 4’s Today program. “We’ve known about this for about weekend. Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le and taking part in this barbarity,” said Valls. moon said Wednesday that violent extremism 24 hours but we’ve been working out how best to deal with it Drian announced on Wednesday that France Figures published in the Le Monde newspa- had to be tackled “at the grassroots level”. because we want to take regulatory action,” he said. Graham would step up its campaign against the per this week found almost a quarter of those “We must continue to think more deeply into said that the first reports about the website, which is regis- jihadists, sending six Mirage fighter jets to who left to join the jihadists are converts to the fundamental conditions that allow tered in “an offshore territory administered by Australia”, Jordan in December. France currently has Islam, with many coming from jarringly every- extremism to thrive. Looking at these chal- came from Macao and Hong Kong, then Australia and Canada. nine Rafale jets based in the more distant day French backgrounds. One study from the lenges solely through a military lens has Britain is now planning “very prompt action” with the United Arab Emirates as part of a US-led inter- Centre for Prevention Against Islamic shown its limits,” he told a special Security Federal Trade Commission, the US consumer protection national campaign to provide air support to Sectarianism recently found that 80 percent Council meeting on counter-terrorism. —AFP agency, “to get this thing closed down”, he said. —AFP International FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 15 Utah lawmaker questions city water going to NSA SALT LAKE CITY: A Utah lawmaker concerned about govern- ment spying on its citizens is questioning whether city water service should be cut off to a massive National Security Agency data storage facility outside Salt Lake City. Republican Rep Marc Roberts, of Santaquin, said there are serious ques- tions about privacy and surveillance surrounding the center, and several Utah residents who spoke at a legislative commit- tee hearing Wednesday agreed. During the last legislative ses- sion, lawmakers opted to hold off on Roberts’ bill to shut off the facility’s water and decided to study it during the interim. “This is not a bill just about a data center. This is a bill about civil rights,” web developer Joe Levi said. “This is a bill that needs to be taken up and needs to be taken seriously.” Pete Ashdown, founder of Salt Lake City-based Internet provider XMission, called the center a stain upon the state and its technology industry. “I do encourage you to stand up and do something about it,” he said. Lawmakers said they aren’t con- sidering shutting down $1.7 billion facility, but the committee chair acknowledged the concerns and said there might be another way to get the point across. “We may look at some type THE UNITED NATIONS: Sarah Obama (center) speaks into a microphone held by Debra Akello, executive director of the Mama of a strong message to give our representatives to take back to Sarah Obama Foundation and also was her translator, as host and inspirational speaker Liz Murray (right) listens during Congress,” said Republican Sen. David Hinkins, of Orangeville. “Women’s Entrepreneurship Day,” on Wednesday at UN headquarters. Also known as Mama Obama, she is visiting the United States this week to promote her dream of a modern education and health complex in the western Kenyan village where the Data storage president’s father was raised and is buried - and hopes to see the president again. —AP The NSA’s largest data storage center in the US was built in Utah over 37 other locations because of open land and cheap electricity. The center sits on a National Guard base about 25 Obama’s immigration miles south of Salt Lake City in the town of Bluffdale. NSA offi- cials said the center is key to protecting national security net- works and allowing US authorities to watch for cyber threats. Beyond that, the agency has offered few details. The center actions do have limits attracted much discussion and concern after revelations last year that the NSA has been collecting millions of US phone records and digital communications stored by major Internet providers. Cybersecurity experts say the nondescript Utah Fate of millions still to be left unresolved facility is a giant storehouse for phone calls, emails and online records that have been secretly collected. WASHINGTON: As broadly as President ents of US citizens and permanent resi- ceed. It will not solve the problem per- Outside the computer storehouses are large coolers that Barack Obama may push the limits of his dents eligible for work permits would manently,” White House communica- keep the machines from overheating. The coolers use large authority to shield from deportation mil- affect about 3.3 million immigrants if it tions director Jennifer Palmieri said amounts of water, which the nearby city of Bluffdale sells to lions of immigrants illegally in the requires that they have lived in the US Thursday on MSNBC. the center at a discounted rate. City records released earlier United States, the fate of millions more for five years, according to the Migration None of those affected by Obama’s this year showed monthly water use was much less than the 1 will still be left unresolved. Obama is Policy Institute. If the action includes actions would have a path to citizen- million gallons a day that the US Army Corps of Engineers pre- preparing to flex his executive powers spouses of US citizens and permanent ship, and the actions could be reversed dicted the center would need, causing some to wonder if the yesterday, using an 8 p.m. EST address residents, the number of eligible immi- by a new president after Obama leaves center was fully operational. NSA officials have refused to say to announce that he is sidestepping grants rises to 3.8 million. office. Moreover, officials said the eligi- if the center is up and running after its scheduled opening in Congress and ordering his own federal ble immigrants would not be entitled to October 2013 was stalled by electrical problems. action on immigration. The reaction Expansion federal benefits - including health care City utility records showed the NSA has been making from congressional Republicans has The president also is likely to expand tax credits - under Obama’s plan. monthly minimum payments of about $30,000 to Bluffdale. been swift and fierce, heralding the start his 2-year-old program that allowed Some immigrant advocates worried The city manager said that pays for more water than the center of what could be one of the most immigrants under 31 who had arrived that even though Obama’s actions used. The state of Nevada shut off water to the site of the pro- pitched partisan confrontations of before June 2007 to apply for a reprieve would make millions eligible for work posed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump 90 miles north- Obama’s presidency. from deportation and a work permit - a permits, not all would participate out of west of Las Vegas in 2002, after months of threats. The project His measures could make as many as program that to date has shielded more fear that Republicans or a new president didn’t run dry because the Energy Department built a 1-mil- 5 million people eligible for work per- than 600,000 young immigrants from would reverse Obama’s actions. —AP lion-gallon tank and a small well for the site. Department offi- mits, with the broadest action likely deportation. One option under consider- cials said the stored water, plus 400,000 gallons stored in other aimed at extending deportation protec- ation would remove the upper age limit tanks at the Nevada Test Site, provided time for scientists to tions to parents of US citizens and per- so applicants don’t have to be under 31. Pele’s son released continue experiments and design work at the site. —AP manent residents, as long as those par- Obama’s steps, however, would not ents have been in the country for five include the parents of those young from jail in Brazil years. immigrants - a move many advocates SAO PAULO: The 44-year-old son of Other potential winners under had vigorously encouraged him to take. soccer great Pele has been released Obama’s actions would be young immi- He also was not including special pro- from jail and will remain free while grants who entered the country illegally tections for farm workers sought by the he appeals a conviction in a money as children but do not now qualify United Farm Workers, though the provi- laundering case that involved a drug under a 2012 directive from the presi- sions in his plan would allow up to gang. Edson Cholbi do Nascimento, dent. 250,000 farm workers to be eligible for known as Edinho, was released late With more than 11 million immi- work permits, according to Giev Wednesday, a day after he was taken grants living in the country illegally, Kashkooli, the UFW’s national political into custody in the coastal city of Obama’s actions would still leave mil- legislative director. As far-reaching as Santos. A judge had said he had to lions unprotected even though their Obama’s steps would be, they fall far stay in jail during the appeal process, chances of getting deported if they have short of what a comprehensive immi- but his lawyers obtained a petition not committed a crime are low. “What gration overhaul passed by the Senate to free the former goalkeeper. I’m going to be laying out is the things last year would have accomplished. The Edinho was handed a 33-year that I can do with my lawful authority as House never voted on that legislation. It prison sentenced this year after president to make the system better, would have set tougher border security being found guilty of laundering WASHINGTON: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (center) even as I continue to work with standards, increased caps for visas for money to a drug gang. The 74-year- recites the Pledge of Allegiance before giving the Congress and encourage them to get a foreign high-skilled workers and old Pele, who underwent surgery to keynote address at the National Summit on Education bipartisan, comprehensive bill that can allowed the 11 million immigrants ille- remove kidney stones last week, said Reform in Washington yesterday. Denisha Merriweather solve the entire problem,” Obama said gally in the country to obtain work per- he will not comment on the case. in a video posted Wednesday on mits and begin a 10-year path toward a (second from left) who benefited from the Florida tax Edinho played for Santos in the Facebook. green card and, ultimately, citizenship. 1990s. —AP credit for education, introduced Bush. —AP An executive action that makes par- “This is not the way we want to pro- International FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 16 Colombia rebels to free general HAVANA/BOGOTA: Colombian Marxist rebels agreed to release an army general captured by their comrades over the weekend, a move that may lead to a resumption of peace talks and defuse a crisis that threatened to extend five decades of war. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) promised to free General Ruben Dario Alzate and four others captured in the past two weeks “as soon as possible” after reaching agreement on liberation terms with the government and guarantor nations Cuba and Norway. President Juan Manuel Santos’s office responded immedi- ately to the announcement, pledging to resume talks as soon as the hostages are free. Alzate and two others were seized on Sunday by a FARC patrol as they left a boat in the poor and crime-ridden coastal region of Choco, prompting Santos to halt talks and throwing into doubt the two-year peace process under way in Cuba. Just days earlier, the rebels had kidnapped two soldiers in eastern Arauca department. “The government will give its total collaboration to guarantee the safe return of these peo- ple to their homes, which we hope will be in the shortest time possible,” Santos’s office said in a brief statement. “Once they are all free, the government’s delegation will return to Havana.” The FARC’s decision to release the captives TALLAHASSEE: Tallahassee police Chief Michael Deleo (at podium) talks with the media about a shooting may counter critics of the peace process who say the rebels outside the Strozier Library on the Florida State University campus yesterday in Tallahassee, Florida. —AP are not serious about ending Latin America’s longest-running war, which has killed more than 200,000 people since it began in 1964. The suspension of talks is the most serious setback to Gunman killed after peace efforts after months of complicated discussions resulted in partial accords on three out of five agenda items. The most recent peace process with the FARC collapsed in 2002 after the group used the breathing room of a demilitarized zone to FSU library shooting build its fighting force, intensify its cocaine trafficking, and take hostages. The final straw came when the FARC boarded a commercial plane and seized a senator, who was held captive Three students wounded in attack for six years.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida: Florida State there were any other threats related to the ing themselves in parts of the library or tak- Harshly condemned University police fatally shot a gunman at the incident. Shortly after 4 a.m., a loud tone ing cover. Santos has staked his presidency on bringing peace to campus library early yesterday in a shooting sounded across the campus followed by an John Ehab, a sophomore from Tampa, said Colombia, winning re-election this year against a right-wing that left three students wounded as hundreds announcement that the campus was “all he was on the library’s third floor when he opponent who threatened to ditch the talks and finish the studying inside the library fled or took cover in clear.” At the same time, authorities allowed heard multiple gunshots. “Everyone heard FARC on the battlefield. panic. hundreds of students who had been shep- them,” he said. People took cover in the book Even while security has improved massively over the last Officers confronted the gunman and herded in a classroom building next to Strozier aisles to hide from the gunman in case he decade or so, peace talks have been taking place amid contin- ordered him to drop his weapon, but he fired Library, a multistory building in the center of came onto the floor, Ehab said. ued conflict. The rebels have renewed their call for a bilateral one shot at them and they unleashed a volley the Tallahassee campus, to return to their Allison Kope, a freshman from Cocoa ceasefire that they say would improve the climate for negotia- of shots, Tallahassee Police spokesman Dave homes. Beach, said she was on the library’s first floor tions. Alzate is the highest-ranking military hostage ever taken Northway said. Hours after the shooting, detectives could when said she heard a loud noise and then by the FARC. A soldier and a civilian lawyer were captured While police did not say if the wounded be seen inspecting the body of the suspected there was a lot of commotion. She said people along with him. were shot by the gunman, senior Sarah Evans gunman, who was lying face down at the top were screaming about a gunman and chairs The FARC says it has stopped kidnapping for ransom but from Miami said she was inside the library and of an access ramp just outside the library. A started flipping over. maintains military personnel are fair targets in the absence of heard a male student say he had been shot. gray baseball cap lay near his head. “You never think something like this is a ceasefire. Alzate was considered a prisoner of war. When she looked at him, he was on the ground Students who had been in the library going to happen to you until you have to react Certain undisclosed conditions must be met before the with blood spreading on his pants leg. described a chaotic scene where they heard in that situation when someone is screaming FARC will free the hostages, representatives from Cuba and Northway said authorities did not believe shots, followed by students either barricad- there is a gun in the building. I ran for my life,” Norway said in Havana. Santos, after harshly condemning the she said. “I ran right out the backdoor. My lap- FARC’s move in the last few days, set a more conciliatory tone top and everything is still in there. It was during a speech in central Tolima on Wednesday, expressing Mexican leader mired in shock. It was just instinct. You don’t think hope that negotiations would resume. —Reuters about anything else, you just go.” protests, house scandal Daniel Morales, a 19-year-old freshman from Fort Pierce, said that when he first heard someone say “somebody’s got a gun. I MEXICO CITY: President Enrique Pena Nieto has a slogan, “Moving Mexico,” thought he was joking.” But after realizing but his government is stuck in a wave of protests over a presumed student there was a gunman in the library, Morales massacre and an uproar over his wife’s mansion. For almost two years, things and others raced to a back room on the sec- appeared to be smooth sailing, with the passage of historic economic reforms ond floor where they barricaded a door with that won Pena Nieto international praise as he sought to move the narrative desks. Freshman Nikolai Hernandez said he away from the drug war. was in his dorm room across from the library But he is now scrambling to put out burning scandals that have mired him when he heard five or six rapid gunshots. in the biggest crisis of his presidency, and analysts say a way out is for him to confront the corruption plaguing Mexico. “It was a consecutive bop, bop, bop, bop, The suspected murder of 43 college students by a drug gang allied with bop,” Hernandez said. “It makes me definitely crooked police in the southern state of Guerrero has shown that Mexico has yet a little bit nervous. I was supposed to be in the to awaken from its nightmare of unrelenting violence. Protesters have burned library. I had a paper to do and I got a little bit government buildings in a series of demonstrations over authorities’ handling lazy and decided not to do it.” of the case. A new march will take place in Mexico City yesterday. Florida State President John Thrasher, who FERGUSON: Police confront demonstrators protest- took office earlier this month, said by phone “It’s the deepest and most delicate crisis that Mexico has seen in recent ing the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown decades, without a clear exit,” Nicolas Lazo, political analyst at the Latin that he was in New York City and had no first- hand information. He said he was making outside the police station on Wednesday in Ferguson, American Social Sciences Faculty, said. To top it all, the president is now deal- Missouri. Brown was killed by Darren Wilson, a ing with allegations of conflict of interest following reports that his wife bought arrangements to hurry back to Tallahassee. a multimillion-dollar house in a posh Mexico City neighborhood from a govern- Thrasher decided to cancel classes yesterday Ferguson police officer, on August 9. A grand jury is ment contractor. —AFP for the entire campus, although the university expected to decide this month if Wilson should be itself would remain open. —AP charged in the shooting. —AFP International FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 17

Attacks in Kabul raise concerns about security KABUL: The Afghan capital has become a city under siege as the Taleban stage almost daily attacks against government and for- eign targets, penetrating layers of heightened security and fuel- ing concerns that insurgents have infiltrated the security forces. Kabul is protected by a fortress-like “ring of steel,” with police and soldiers manning roadblocks and spot-checking vehicles. Streets around important buildings such as parliament, ministries and the presidential palace are blocked off, while others are pro- tected by razor wire and concrete blast walls. But in recent weeks, insurgents have managed to attack two foreign compounds in Kabul, carry out a suicide bombing meters away from the office of the city’s police chief, sent suicide bombers against international military bases and convoys, and bombed the car of a prominent female parliamentarian. The police chief and the parliamentarian survived, but civil- ian casualties have been high. This year the Taliban has shown particular strength across the country, with Afghan security forces suffering record-high casualties after taking the lead in the war from international forces in mid-2013. The Haqqani network- which like the Taleban is based in neighboring Pakistan-has also escalated attacks characterized by deployment of suicide bombers. The decision by President Ashraf Ghani to sign a bilateral security agreement (BSA) with Washington immediately after his September inauguration has prompted the escalation in attacks, according to analysts, diplomats and the Taliban themselves. The BSA, along with a Status of Forces agreement with NATO, will keep around 12,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan after the HERAT: An Afghan child is pictured at a blacksmith workshop in Herat yesterday. Children’s Day is celebrated US and NATO withdraw combat forces at the end of the year. internationally on varying dates, with a large number of countries observing the celebration on June 1 and Waheed Mozhda, formerly a diplomat for the Taleban’s 1996- November 20. —AFP 2001 administration and now a political analyst, said: “This war will continue for years and years because of the BSA.” “There are a lot of people inside the government cooperating with the insur- gents because they are opposed to the BSA,” he said. Attacks Sri Lanka president seeks have become so frequent that First Deputy President Abdul Rashid Dostum turned up at the site of a suicide attack on a for- eign compound on Tuesday to accuse forces within the Afghan government of collusion with insurgents. re-election in snap polls He was expressing the concerns of many Kabul residents, who also accuse Pakistan of harboring the insurgents and using them Govt’s rights record under global scrutiny as a means to preserve influence in Afghanistan after the Western combat mission ends. “These attacks are part of an intelligence COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse declared ordered by the UN Human Rights Council in line with a US-led war with involvement of a foreign country,” said Gen. yesterday he would seek an unprecedented third term at elec- resolution in March. His ongoing two-year chairmanship of the Mohammad Zahir, Kabul’s police chief, referring to Pakistan’s ISI tions which will be held against a backdrop of growing interna- Commonwealth has also been overshadowed by the allega- intelligence service. Zahir narrowly escaped an assassination tional pressure over his government’s rights record. The 69- tions. attempt earlier this month when a suicide bomber detonated his year-old, South Asia’s longest serving leader, announced he Rajapakse has consistently refused to cooperate with payload in the heart of the city’s heavily-guarded police head- would seek a fresh mandate two years before the expiry of his international investigations, a stance that has strengthened quarters in a major security breach. current six-year term by contesting a snap poll expected only his nationalistic credentials at home. However, there are The complexity of the attacks - with gunmen, suicide days before the pope visits the island in mid-January. signs of growing disquiet over his failure to deliver on a bombers, explosives and intricate planning to gain access to Despite recent electoral setbacks for his left-wing nationalist promise to return the country to a Westminster-style parlia- high-security installations and prominent people - was evidence party, Rajapakse remains generally popular with majority mentary democracy by abolishing the all-powerful executive of the backing of “foreign intelligence,” he said. Analyst Antonio Sinhalese voters after overseeing the end of a 37-year war presidency. Giustozzi said the attacks were “sending political messages to against Tamil separatists in 2009. His sacking of the chief justice in 2013 sparked protests at Ghani, the Americans, the expatriate community and probably to But he is struggling to avoid international censure over home and abroad, fuelling accusations of authoritarianism. The those members of the Taliban that might be interested in negoti- allegations his troops killed 40,000 Tamil civilians in the election is being held two years ahead of schedule. Under the ating for peace.” bloody finale of the fighting and accusations that his adminis- constitution, the incumbent is allowed to call fresh polls after The message, he said, is “this is jihad, we have to kick out the tration has silenced dissenting voices, including the media completing four of his six years in office. —AFP foreigners, the Americans, the crusaders and until that is and judiciary. achieved no compromise is possible.” —AP A lawyer by profession, Rajapakse has rewritten the consti- India’s top court relieves tution to allow him to stand for election again. Were he to win, he could stay in power until 2021. Confirmation that Rajapakse CBI chief of graft case would stand for re-election came in a brief statement from his office that said he had signed a “proclamation declaring his NEW DELHI: India’s top court ordered the head of the coun- intention to hold a Presidential Election seeking another term”. try’s federal policing agency to excuse himself from a corrup- The proclamation has been sent to the chief elections com- tion case yesterday following allegations of wrongdoing. missioner, who will set the exact date. However ministers have Central Bureau of Investigation director Ranjit Sinha was already indicated the election would be in January. ordered off a long-running probe into an alleged scam An official in the president’s office, who spoke on condition involving the sale of 2G telecom licenses to businesses at of anonymity, told AFP Thursday that the deadline for nomina- throwaway prices. But India’s chief justice declined to give tions was likely to be December 8 and the vote was expected detailed reasons for the order, saying doing so would tarnish on either January 7 or 8. Pro-government astrologers have pre- the reputation of the CBI, which handles major criminal viously said the first week of January represents the most aus- investigations. picious window of opportunity, and Rajapakse’s office released “Prima facie it appears that information given against photos of him checking his watch Thursday to determine the Ranjit Sinha is credible and acceptable,” said Chief Justice HL best time to sign the proclamation. Dattu, who headed a three-judge bench. “We are not giving The government is keen to hold the ballot before a sched- elaborate reasons for this order because the CBI as an agency uled visit by Pope Francis from January 13 to 15, with the has a reputation, and if we give elaborate orders, it will tar- ASSAM: An Indian forest worker displays the rhinoceros horn after Church warning that parties should not use the trip for political nish their image,” he said. a female rhinoceros was killed by a poacher’s bullet at Kohora advantage. “We direct Ranjit Sinha not to interfere with the 2G case and recuse himself.” The court was hearing a petition against range, under Kaziranga National Park in north-eastern Assam state Rajapakse came to power after narrowly winning the 2005 election, and increased his majority in 2010 after government Sinha over allegations he might have interfered in the investi- yesterday. Illegal rhinoceros horn poaching is one of the major troops routed the Tamil Tigers. However the spectacular mili- gation by privately meeting several people accused in the environmental issues in the park with other parts like nails and tary success also sparked war crimes allegations, and scam. —AFP skins having a high value on the Asian medicinal market. — AFP Rajapakse’s administration is facing an international probe International18 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Ageing Japan struggles to make immigrants feel at home TOKYO: The first word Mr En learned when he started work on a construction site in Japan after moving from China was “baka”- ”idiot”. The 31-year-old farmer is one of 50,000 Chinese who signed up for a scheme run by the Japanese government that promises to allow foreigners to earn money while they train on the job. Like many of his compatriots, he hoped to leave Japan with cash in his pocket and a new set of skills that would give him greater chance of getting work at home. “My Japanese colleagues would always say ‘baka’ to me,” said En, who spoke to AFP on con- dition that his full name was not revealed. “I am exhausted physi- cally and mentally.” His problem is not the bullying by Japanese colleagues, nor the two-hour each-way commute or the mind- numbing work that largely consists of breaking apart bits of old buildings. It is the one million yen ($8,700) he borrowed to take part in the program, apparently to cover travelling expenses and other “fees” charged by middlemen-which has left him a virtual slave to Japan’s labor-hungry construction industry. “I cannot go back before I make enough money to repay the debt,” he said. Rapidly-ageing Japan is desperately short of workers to pay the taxes to fund pensions and healthcare for its growing grey population, but it is almost constitutionally allergic to immi- gration. TOKYO: Jordan’s King Abdullah II (left) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo during a Japan-Jordan joint press conference at Abe’s official residence in Tokyo yesterday. —AFP Ranks of ‘poorly protected’ Less than two percent of the population is classed as “non- Japanese”, the government says. By comparison, around 13 per- cent of UK residents are foreign born. Cyanide found at home The result for Japan, say critics, is ranks of poorly-protected employees brought in through the national back door, ripe for abuse and exploitation. “This trainee program is a system of slave of Japan ‘black widow’ labor,” says Ippei Torii, director of the Solidarity Network With Migrants Japan, a non-governmental group supporting foreign workers. Police raid 67-year-old multi-millionaire “You cannot just quit and leave,” he said. “It’s a system of human trafficking, forced labor.” TOKYO: Japanese police yesterday raided would lead to my arrest over the death of Around a quarter of Japan’s 127-million population is aged 65 the home of a 67-year-old multi-millionaire my husband. I’m not that stupid.” or over, according to recent government figures. This proportion is arrested on suspicion of poisoning her lat- The autopsy came after the September expected to rise to 40 percent over the coming decades. est husband after six other partners also death of a 75-year-old boyfriend, who fell The already-heavily indebted government-which owes credi- died, and reportedly recovered cyanide suddenly ill after the couple ate together at tors more than twice what the economy is worth every year-is from her trash. a restaurant. Kakehi’s dalliance with death scrabbling to find the money to pay for the burgeoning ranks of Television footage showed about a began in 1994 when her first husband elderly, who contribute little in tax but cost a lot in welfare and dozen investigators, wearing masks and passed away at the age of 54. health. A far-below-replacement birthrate of around 1.4 children gloves, marching into the house of Chisako In 2006, her second husband, whom she per woman is heaping further pressure on the population. In most Kakehi in Kyoto a day after her arrest in had met through a dating agency, died of a developed nations, this kind of shortfall is plugged by immigration, Japan’s latest apparent “black widow” case. stroke aged 69, while the third marriage but Japan allows no unskilled workers into the country, amid fears Kakehi has been the beneficiary of a ended in 2008 with the death of her 75- they would threaten the culture of consensus. combined 800 million yen ($6.8 million) year-old partner, Jiji said. over the last two decades, Jiji Press news A boyfriend, believed to have been suf- ‘Already here’ agency said-insurance money and other fering from some form of cancer, died a But in 1993 as the economy was on the way down from its bub- assets she received after the deaths of her year later, and in 2012 her then-fiance met bly 1980s highs, the government began the Industrial Trainee and seven partners, including the latest hus- his fate after collapsing while riding a Technical Internship Program (TTIP). The scheme allows tens of band. Kansai Television, quoting investiga- motorbike. thousands of foreigners, mostly from China, Vietnam and tors, reported that police had found If she is found to have been involved in Indonesia to come to Japan, supplying labor for industries includ- cyanide hidden inside a trash bag at her the deaths of numerous partners, Kakehi ing textiles, construction, farming and manufacturing. home. will become the latest example in Japan of SAKAI: In this photo taken in However, it has been singled out by chief ally the United States, Husband number four Isao Kakehi fell a “black widow”, named for the female spi- March, Chisako Kakehi, center, whose State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report sick suddenly at home and was confirmed der that devours its mate after coupling. answers to a reporter’s question has for years criticized “deceptive recruitment practices”. “The gov- dead at a hospital in December last year, In 2012 Kanae Kijima was sentenced to in Sakai, western Japan. Japanese ernment did not prosecute or convict forced labor perpetrators less than two months after the couple mar- hang for the murders of three men, aged police arrested the 67-year-old despite allegations of labor trafficking in the TTIP,” it said in 2014. ried. 41, 53 and 80, whom she met through woman whom they suspect poi- An autopsy found highly toxic cyanide Internet dating sites. Another woman, for- Past allegations include unpaid overtime work, karoshi (death due compounds in his blood. She has denied mer bar hostess Miyuki Ueta, is also waiting soned her husband late last year, to overwork), and all sorts of harassment, such as a company manag- any involvement in his death. Before her on the outcome of a supreme court appeal one of about half a dozen former er restricting the use of toilets or demanding sexual services. The arrest, Kakehi told the Sankei newspaper: “I against a death sentence for the killing of husbands or partners of the Japanese government rejects claims the TTIP is abusive, but acknowl- did not do it. Why would I do anything that two men. —AP woman who have died. —AP edges there have been some upstream problems. —AFP Signs N Korea preparing bomb material amid nuclear test threats

SEOUL: New satellite imagery suggests North Korea closely followed 38 North website. shutdown may have allowed the removal of “a limited may be firing up a facility for processing weapons- The facility is used to reprocess spent fuel from the number” of fuel rods for possible re-processing. grade plutonium, as Pyongyang threatened yesterday five-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon that is North The images also showed truck activity near the a fresh nuclear test in response to UN condemnation of Korea’s main source of weapons grade plutonium. The vehicle door to the building that receives the spent its rights record. The images show steam rising from a latest satellite pictures indicate the reactor has been fuel at the reprocessing complex, it said. The new re-processing plant at the North’s main Yongbyon shut down for 10 weeks-longer than required for rou- analysis coincided with fresh threats from Pyongyang nuclear complex-a sign consistent with maintenance tine maintenance. to carry out a new underground nuclear test following and testing prior to commencing operations, the US- While warning it was still early to reach a definitive the UN adoption of a landmark resolution that con- Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said on its conclusion, the institute said evidence suggested the demns North Korean rights abuses. —AFP FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Palestinian dancer Page 20 change through ballet seeks Lifestyle FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 Palestinian dancer seeks change through ballet

Shireen Ziyadeh conducts a class at the first ballet school in the West Bank City of Ramallah.

amallah dancer Shireen Ziyadeh wants to there were some who did not like the idea of a Ruse pirouettes and plies to change the place young woman starting her own business. “All new where she grew up, training aspiring balleri- ideas generate rejection, but I always knew I nas to show that “something beautiful comes from would make it,” she said. Palestine”. In tights and a white tunic, her hair To reassure her neighbors, Ziyadeh left the scraped back in a flawless bun, the 24-year-old doors of the school open so that anyone could Palestinian repeats instructions to a group of tiny come in and see what was going on. And to keep dancers in pink tutus and slippers at her ballet her project a fully Palestinian venture, she also school in the West Bank city of Ramallah. refused offers of foreign funding. The idea of teaching ballet to little girls came Yasmin al-Sharif had a childhood dream of to the young management studies graduate four learning to dance which was never fulfilled. Today, years ago. “I wanted to bring something new she pays $70 dollars (56 euros) a month so that her and offer them other perspectives on the future,” daughter can learn. “I have loved ballet since I was she told AFP. But-as is often the case in the small, but in my day there was no centre like this,” Israeli-occupied West Bank-the dance classes she said. As the girls practiced in front of a mirror also have a political dimension. “Ballet, which is a stretching the length of the room, Faten Farhat major art form, is a good way to revolutionize and her seven-year-old daughter Salma arrived. traditional Palestinian culture,” she said. “I’m not “Salma already dances dabkeh, but I love ballet so I only teaching them to dance but also how to encouraged her to join,” she said. “Before we had integrate with others.” no opportunity to engage in an activity outside of Ziyadeh’s is not the first ballet school in school. Today things have changed and it’s up to Ramallah-she herself learned to dance here in us to encourage even more change to move her childhood-but she is one of just a handful of toward an even brighter future.”— AFP teachers across the Palestinian territories. “Teaching ballet and its philosophy (here) is also a way of showing the world that something beautiful comes from Palestine,” she said. “Ballet has its own universe, different from all other forms of dance. You have to express yourself with all the muscles in your body to show the full purity of this dance form,” she said, as her girls danced to a melody from the soundtrack of the 2001 French film “Amelie”. Opened in May 2011, the Ramallah Ballet Centre says on its website that it offers “the ability to dance, act and think in more positive ways”.

Resistance from conservatives Although ballet is a niche activity in Palestinian culture, traditional folk dance is everywhere. No marriage or other celebration takes place without participants dancing the dabkeh-the Palestinian national dance. Today, Ziyadeh’s school has 60 pupils-all of them girls between the ages of four to 20 — but when it first opened there were chal- lenges. Even in Ramallah, the political capital of the West Bank and considered the territory’s most cosmopolitan city, there was opposition from more conservative Palestinians. Some were suspicious of a school teaching a dance form that involves children and young girls wearing tight clothing and dancing on their own, rather than in a group as with the dabkeh. And

Lifestyle FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 Beauty, social media power Kardashian sister to fashion fame

er elder half-sister Kim Kardashian in a statement. Whether it is an informal may have tried to “break the snapshot or her larking around in a HInternet” with a provocative nude Halloween costume with her British model photo shoot last week, but Kendall Jenner pal Cara Delevingne, or a selfie with pop is taking a more conventional route to star Justin Bieber, Jenner rarely misses an fame and fortune. The slender 19-year-old opportunity to connect with her legions of model has until recently lived largely in the followers on social media. shadow of her more famous, curvaceous She has a staggering 32.3 million fol- sibling, despite featuring regularly in the lowers tracking her across platforms, hit US reality television show “Keeping Up including 15.9 million on photo-sharing With the Kardashians.” network Instagram, 9.1 million on Twitter Yet by harnessing her natural beauty to and 7.3 million on Facebook. Estee Lauder the phenomenal power of social media- describes Jenner’s web presence as where her followers are counted in the “astounding.” “Kendall is a modern beauty tens of millions-Jenner is firmly on course who represents a whole new generation of to outstrip even her sister for stardom, rap- women who live, breathe and share beau- idly emerging as the most prominent of a ty, fashion and life 24/7 on their own new generation of supermodels. Jenner’s terms,” said Hertzmark Hudis. The Estee File photo shows Kendall Jenner arriving on the red meteoric modeling rise was crowned this Lauder contract followed a year in which carpet for the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) at week by confirmation that she is to Jenner emerged as a bona fide star of the The Forum in Inglewood, California. — AFP become the new face of beauty giant catwalks, wowing New York audiences at Estee Lauder, a golden ticket guaranteed the Marc Jacobs show in February in a to elevate her burgeoning profile to anoth- revealing sheer top. That was followed by er stratosphere. “Cosmetics agents are runway appearances for Chanel, Balmain, Warhol images rare, coveted jobs in the modeling world,” Dolce & Gabbana and Fendi as well as a She has also reached an understanding explained high-profile advertising campaign for with her sister Kim Kardashian, married to of Elvis, Brando Sara Ziff, founder of the agency Model Givenchy. hip-hop star Kanye West, that she not Alliance. “In a business where many mod- attend her runway appearances. “Banned els work for free, trading pay for prestige Sibling rivalry? is a strong word, it is more of a mutual fetch $151 million and visibility, these contracts are lucrative Her rise has also attracted its fair share understanding,” she said. “I think if my sis- and help to build a model’s brand.” of backbiting. Several tabloid reports and ter’s sitting in the front row, and my sister blogs have suggested that some of her sis- is who she is, it sounds weird, but it would Ultimate ‘instagirl’ ters are jealous of her success. Jenner have almost taken the attention away from By choosing Jenner, Estee Lauder has meanwhile has dismissed suggestions that what I’m trying to do on my own.” Analysts made no secret of its desire to boost sales she owes her fame to the family brand cre- meanwhile say Estee Lauder’s courting of and growth by targeting younger con- ated so successfully by her publicity-hun- Jenner makes perfect commercial sense. sumers. “(Kendall) is the ultimate ‘instagirl,’ gry half-sister. “In reality I worked pretty “(It shows) the rise of social media as an and we are excited to leverage her image, hard for this, running around doing tests,” important distribution plan,” said Roger voice, energy and extraordinary social she told ABC television. “It wasn’t like I just Kay, an analyst with Endpoint media power to introduce Estee Lauder to got it magically and it has just happened.” Technologies Associates. “As media shifts millions of young women around the To that end, Jenner has dropped her last over to the Internet and social media from world,” the cosmetics giant’s global brand name from her publicity, preferring to be traditional media, this is what the face of president Jane Hertzmark Hudis explained known simply as “Kendall.” new stars will look like.” — AFP

Andy Warhol’s “Triple Elvis” and Four Marlons are displayed during Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art evening sale November 12, Miss Honduras shot dead 2014 in New York. — AFP wo iconic Andy Warhol paintings of Elvis Presley and Marlon Brando sold for more than $151 million ‘after fleeing sister’s boyfriend’ Tat auction in New York on Wednesday, shattering pre-sale estimates by several million dollars. Pop-art leg- iss Honduras was fatally shot as she tried to escape her sister’s end Warhol’s “Triple Elvis”-a 1963 silkscreen depicting jealous boyfriend, police and reports said Wednesday, hours three images of the King of Rock and Roll posing as a Mafter the siblings were found dead beside a river. Maria Jose gunslinging cowboy-sold for $81.9 million at the Alvarado, 19, who had been due to fly to London to compete in the Christie’s sale. The striking seven-foot tall work, derived Miss World beauty pageant, disappeared with her sister Sofia Trinidad from a publicity still for the 1960 Don Siegel-directed Alvarado six days ago after a party, sparking an exhaustive search. La Western “Flaming Star,” had been estimated to fetch $60 Prensa newspaper reported that police were investigating whether million. Trinidad’s boyfriend, Plutarco Ruiz, shot Sofia Trinidad in the head The final sale price topped out at more than $20 mil- after he became jealous when he saw her dancing with another man. lion above the estimate after six minutes of frenzied bid- He then reportedly shot her beauty-queen sister twice in the back as ding. It was a similar story for the other Warhol classic sold Wednesday, “Four Marlons,” a giant set of four she tried to flee. Chief detective Leandro Osorio said the bodies of images of the legendary actor taken from his 1953 motor- Maria Jose and her 23-year-old sister had been found buried along the cycle gang classic “The Wild One.” Both of Wednesday’s banks of the Aguagual River in the town of Arada, in violence-plagued auction prices however were well short of the all-time Honduras’s northwest. “We are 100 percent sure that it’s them,” record for a Warhol work set by “Silver Car Crash (Double Osorio said. Police arrested Ruiz and his alleged accomplice on Disaster),” which fetched $105.4 million in November last Tuesday, seizing a Colt-45 pistol and two vehicles. year at Sotheby’s. Undated picture taken in San Pedro Sula of Maria Jose A flurry of bids also greeted the sale of Cy Twombly’s Boyfriend is main suspect Alvarado, Miss Honduras World, whose body and her sis- “Untitled” from his blackboard series, which went under Security Minister Arturo Corrales said there was “no doubt” that ter’s were found one week after both siblings had been the hammer for the first time. The painting - a series of Ruiz was behind the crime and that he had been helped by another abducted. —AFP photos energetic looping spirals resembling chalk scribblings on man, Aris Maldonado Mejia. “We think that Plutarco led the crime, their condolences and announced a tribute this weekend in honor of a school blackboard-sold for $69.6 million, the highest materially and intellectually,” Corrales said. Police are investigating the slain sisters. “We are devastated by this terrible loss of two young amount ever paid for a work by the American, who died additional suspects who they believe tried to help cover up the women, who were so full of life,” Julia Morley, the pageant’s chair- three years ago in Italy. Several world records were set for shooting, including by cleaning and repainting a pick-up used in the woman, said in a statement. “We will be holding a special service masterpieces sold on Wednesday, including $30.4 million crime. On Wednesday, police also arrested the resort’s owner Ventura with all of the Miss World contestants on Sunday, where we will be raised for “Smash” by Ed Ruscha, regarded as one of the Diaz; his wife Elizabeth Alvarado; and their daughter Irma Nicolle. honoring the lives of Maria Jose Alvarado and Sofia Trinidad, and say leading lights of the American pop-art movement. —AFP Organizers of the Miss World pageant, which begins Saturday, sent prayers for them and their family.” —AFP Lifestyle FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 Metrosexuals be gone: Europe is agog for beards

akub Marczewski grew a beard six years ago because he was too lazy to shave. Now he finds himself in the middle of a Jglobal trend. The 21-year-old got his hair and beard trimmed at a new shop with a hip retro vibe, the Barberian Academy & Barber Shop, which opened in Warsaw last month to serve the growing number of Polish men with facial hair. A revival in the cul- ture of barbering in this Eastern European capital is just one sign of how popular beards have become, with actors, athletes and hipsters leading the way. Metrosexuals be gone: Europe is agog for beards. “Worldwide, we are at the height of facial hair,” said Allan Peterkin, a Toronto psychiatrist and author of “One Thousand Beards: A Cultural History of Facial Hair.” “It’s a delightful expression of masculinity, people have more respect,” said Salvador Chanza, a 31-year-old but not a super-macho master barber from Spain who trains professionals. Sporting both expression.” After World a handlebar moustache and a substantial beard, he said the War II, men were mostly embrace of facial hair reflected a rejection of the previous clean- clean-shaven, reflecting a shaven metrosexual ethos. military ethos that came to Now facial hair is hugely popular across Western Europe, espe- dominate corporate life, cially in fashion-conscious Paris. And across the globe, it’s the Peterkin said. Over the next month of “Movember” - when men are encouraged to grow a decades facial hair was mustache to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues. adopted by outcast groups Piotr Zuchowski, manager of the Warsaw shop, said barbering is like beatniks and hippies. reviving after vanishing during Poland’s communist era. Although Since the mid-1990s, it has democracy leader Lech Walesa sported an impressive walrus been slowly spreading to the point that now the mountain man moustache, most communist-era workers were clean-shaven. beard is all the rage across North America. Peterkin said the popularity of facial hair has always been cyclical. The 2008 financial crisis added to the beard momentum, with “When something once edgy becomes so commonplace, like tat- Salvador Chanza, right, 31, a master barber from some men who lost their jobs ditching the conformist look as they toos, it loses its edge,” he said. “If every guy across generations is Spain, who also calls himself Lord Jack Knife, finish- reinvented themselves. “To grow a beard is to start a new life and doing it, then there is going to be a shift back to clean shaven - es styling the beard and hair of Jakub Marczewski, to have more confidence in yourself. You look a little older, so ness.” — AP in Warsaw, Poland. — AP photos Swift remains at top of album Cosby under pressure as shows chart for third consecutive week scrapped amid sex claims aylor Swift’s “1989” has claimed the top expected to shove “1989” from the top slot he US network NBC pulled the plug in which he would share stories from his child- of the US album chart for a third consec- with a 400,000-unit-plus opening. Wednesday on a new Bill Cosby sitcom fol- hood, first romantic relationships and parent- Tutive week, but the singer will probably Foo Fighters’ “Sonic Highways” (RCA) was Tlowing a similar move by Netflix, piling hood. But the allegations of rape and sexual have to move aside for One Direction next the week’s top debut, bowing at No. 2 with pressure on the veteran comic over growing sex abuse made against him by several women in week. Swift’s Big Machine blockbuster reaped 190,000 sold. The rock band’s latest release assault claims. The double setback came after a recent weeks are tarnishing the public image of sales of 312,000 (down 22%), according to arrived on a wave of publicity generated by lawyer for the 77-year-old Cosby dismissed the the urbane actor, famous for his long TV career- Nielsen SoundScan data for the week ending front man Dave Grohl’s peripatetic HBO series, claims of a string of attacks made by several especially his role as a doting father on the pop- Nov. 16. The collection is now just shy of 2 mil- which surveys the various U.S. locales in which women as “old, discredited allegations.” “We can ular “Cosby Show” in the 1980s and 1990s. lion in cumulative sales. However, the UK boy the album was recorded. It’s the group’s fifth confirm that the Cosby project is no longer in Former model Janice Dickinson, now 59, on band’s new “Four” - which, ironically, features top 10 album; their last release, 2011’s development,” NBC said in a statement, declin- Tuesday added her claims to the list, telling Swift’s onetime paramour Harry Styles - is “Wasting Light,” reached No. 1. Classic rock’s Entertainment Tonight that Cosby sexually iconic Pink Floyd hit No. 3 with “Endless River” assaulted her in 1982. Dickinson said it hap- (Columbia), its first studio release in 20 years pened after a dinner they shared in Lake Tahoe, and purported swan song. The collection Nevada, where she said she had gone to talk shifted 170,000. It is the British band’s eighth about a job offer from Cosby. At the dinner she American top 10 set. The act, presently led by said she had red wine and a pill Cosby gave her guitarist David Gilmour, last reached the chart because she had menstrual and stomach pains. with its 1994 No. 1 set “The Division Bell.” “The next morning I woke up, and I wasn’t wear- The top-selling album act of the ing my pajamas, and I remember before I passed SoundScan era, country star Garth Brooks, out that I had been sexually assaulted by this made a relatively quiet return to the chart, as man,” Dickinson said. In all some 13 women have his comeback set “Man Against Machine” (RCA made similar allegations against him, including Nashville) claimed No. 4 with a 130,000-unit Joan Tarshis, who claimed she was drugged and tally. The album’s sluggish start may have had raped by Cosby in 1969. “I didn’t go to the police something to do with Brooks’ decision to keep In this Nov 18, 2013 file photo, actor- because I was 19 years old. I was scared and I his music off iTunes and Spotify. The new comedian Bill Cosby poses for a portrait in thought nobody would believe me... He was album - Brooks’ first since 2001’s “Scarecrow” - New York. — AP Mister America,” Tarshis told CNN on is his lowest-charting set since his self-titled ing any further comment on the accusations Wednesday. debut, which peaked at No. 13 in 1989. Rapper dogging the award-winning entertainer. That So far, Cosby himself has remained silent on Big K.R.I.T.’s “Cadillactica” (Def Jam) climbed came 12 hours after streaming video service the issue. Cosby lawyer John Schmitt told enter- aboard at No. 5 with a comparatively mild Netflix said it was postponing the launch of a tainment news website The Wrap at the week- 44,000 sold. The title matches his personal new stand-up comedy special, to be called “Bill end: “Over the last several weeks, decade-old, Taylor Swift performs on ABC’s “Good best: His 2012 debut “Live From the Morning America” in Times Square in Underground” peaked in the same slot, with Cosby 77.” discredited allegations against Mr Cosby have New York. — AP first-week sales of 41,000. —Reuters People magazine said the Netflix special was resurfaced.” “The fact that they are being repeat- supposed to be a birthday celebration for Cosby, ed does not make them true. —AFP 24 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 vanilla refrigerator cookies with easy variations

t really is hard to beat freshly baked cookies. Leave aside for a moment the deliciousness of the finished Iproduct; the simple act of cooking them makes your whole house smell like heaven.

But who has the time to whip up a batch of cookies every time a guest shows up at your door? Or every time you get a craving? Actually, if you rely on these refrigerator cookies, you do! Refrigerator cookies pre-date refrigerators. In the 1920s, they were known as icebox cookies. Whatever they’re called, they’ve survived because they’re wonderful: easy to make, easy to store, and delicious. You make a batch of dough, roll it up in a log, then store it in the refrigerator or freezer. When the moment is ripe, you slice off and bake up as many cookies as you want, then return the unused part of the log to cold storage. This particular recipe is ridiculously simple — a boon to one and all, including the baking-impaired — as long as you follow a few rules. Always take the butter out of the refrigerator 35 to 45 min- utes before mixing the dough, which makes it soft enough to mix easily. Then beat together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, or “creamed,” which prepares the batter for leavening. But don’t let the butter get too soft or your cookies will flatten out like pancakes in the oven. I’ve flavored the recipe with vanilla bean and vanilla extract. Vanilla beans are fantastic, but they’re pricy, so if you don’t want to spring for one, just add another tablespoon of the extract. If you do use a bean, don’t discard the pod after scraping out the seeds. Instead, you should rinse it, dry it and drop it into your sugar jar, where it will slowly infuse your sugar with the scent of vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the dough and mix it all to- gether until the dry ingredients are just incorporated, but no more. When flour is combined with moist ingredients (in this case the butter-egg mixture) and beaten, the gluten (pro- tein) in the flour starts to develop. Beating it too much at this stage will make your cookies tough. It also is key to chill the dough after mixing it, otherwise it will be too soft to roll. When the dough becomes cold enough to hold its shape, divide it in half and shape each into a cylinder 2 inches in diameter. Then, with the help of a sheet of kitchen parchment, you can smooth out the cylinder. Twisting the ends of the paper, firecracker style, further com- presses and smooths the log. Done! Now your dough is ready to refrigerate or freeze. One final tip: Every time you remove the log to slice off some cookie rounds, rotate it slightly as you slice it so as not to squish the dough flat on one side. This recipe offers five variations on the basic cookie. These options will come in particularly handy during the holiday season. Show up at the party with a tin of mixed cookies and you’ll be greeted like Santa every time.

Want to get a jump on your holiday cookies. These easy refrigerator cookies can be prepped ahead, then refrigerated 25

for several days or frozen for several months until the moment (or craving) is right. The recipe also is exceptionally versatile, so I’ve included suggestions for easy varia- tions on the basic recipe.

Ingredients 1 vanilla bean ¾ cup sugar 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened 1 large egg 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour ¼ cup cornstarch 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon table salt Powdered sugar (optional)

Preparation Using a paring knife, cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Use the tip of the knife to scrape the seeds out of the pod and into a medium bowl. Discard the pod. Add the sugar and butter, then use an electric mixer to beat on medium until the mixture is light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and then beat for another 2 minutes. In a second bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat just until combined. Cover and chill until firm enough to be shaped, about 1 hour. Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Place a 12-inch piece of kitchen parchment on the counter. Set one piece of the dough on the parchment, then use the parch- ment to shape the dough into a log about 2 inches in diameter and about 10 inches long. Wrap the dough in the parchment, twisting the ends to seal. Repeat with the remaining piece of dough using a second sheet of parchment. Refrigerate the wrapped dough for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. The dough also can be frozen for up to 3 months. Heat the oven to 375 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Remove the dough logs from the refrigerator and slice into ¼-inch rounds. Ar- range the rounds 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake just until the edges start to become golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool. Pack in an airtight container. Serve lightly dusted with powdered sugar, if desired.

Variations: Lemon: Use 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice and 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract in place of the vanilla bean, and add 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons grated lemon zest to the flour mixture. Orange: Follow the lemon variation directions, but substitute orange zest and juice for the lemon zest and juice. Ginger: Add 1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger and 2 teaspoons ground ginger to the flour mixture. These may not slice neatly once frozen, but just pat them back together on the baking sheet. Peanut butter: Add ½ cup chunky peanut butter to the butter mixture and in- crease the flour by 2 tablespoons. Double chocolate: Substitute ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa for the cornstarch, elimi- nate the vanilla bean and add just 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add 2 cups semisweet chocolate mini-chips to the flour mixture. This will make 6 dozen cookies because of the added chips.—AP 26

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

South African dance studio is safe haven for kids

he children’s eyes dart from their reflections in the mirrored wall to the dance instructor as they try to imitate her straight posture from elbow to Tknee. Some of the budding dancers wear tutus and soft leather shoes while others make do with leggings and frayed sneakers. The Dansazania project brings together children from Johannesburg’s leafy suburbs, gritty inner city and once segregated townships to learn ballet, hip-hop and tap, whether or not they can Children do stretch pay, says instructor Cinda Eatock. exercises at the balancing bar dur- ing a ballet class. 27

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Children from all walks of life do stretch exercises at the end of a hip-hop dance class at the Dansazania Studio in Johannes- burg.—AP photos

“All she sees is the creativity and all she takes from the Children from all children is the willingness to want to do it,” said Patricia walks of life attend a Eatock, a social worker and the instructor’s mother. hip hop dance class. The worn wooden floors of the dance studio have become a haven for troubled children and Eatock is alternatively stern and encouraging to the children aged between five and 18. Eatock teaches about 80 students in 10 classes per week. She says many of her students are helped by the discipline and creativity of the lessons to deal with their difficult circumstances. “There is actual reassurance of the foot going onto the floor with a sound that is also quite entertaining and the rhythm is very good for some children who are feeling insecure in this world, emotionally and physically,” said Eatock, tapping her fist on her open palm to illustrate her point. Every year the young dancers participate in regional competitions and the learners and parents come together to make costumes in what she describes as a “kibbutz of dance.” All her students received A grades before the per- Children do dance formance. The girl who was once the shiest dancer is the moves during a hip- first to volunteer to dance. Eatock says she is delighted: hop dance class. “We conquered something.”—AP

Children do dance moves during a hip- hop dance class.

A child stretches during a break in a ballet lesson. 28

TravelFRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

California cat cafe is catnip for feline fans Travel29 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Jo Anne Driscoll, left, and Peggy Harding, right, watch others play with cats at the Cat Town Cafe in Oakland, Calif.—AP photos

A number of women play and photograph cats at the Cat Town Café.

A cat climbs on the back of Megan Ledet, left, as Christina Souza, right, looks on at the Cat Town Café. A cat sleeps on a rug as Donna Garrett, left, and Adam Myatt, right, check their email at the Cat Town Café.

at lovers in Northern California are pouncing at the chance of spending time with feline company at a new cat cafe in Oakland. Cat Town Cafe is giving dozens of Cvisitors a chance to mingle with furry friends while sipping coffee and nibbling on cat-themed cookies. The cafe opened last month and has been full since opening day. It was inspired by the cat cafe craze in Japan, where many people live in cramped high-rise apartments that don’t allow pets. While making feline friends became popular therapy for lonely or anxious workers in Japan, the Oakland coffee shop puts the focus on the animals. The tuxedo, orange tabby and Siamese cats napping or stretching in the sun in Cat Town come from a local shelter and are available for adoption. “Most of them have been at the shelter for four months or more. So as much as this is a super fun experience, it’s really a mission-driven project to get the cats out of the shelter and into great homes,” said Ann Dunn, founder of Cat Town Oakland, a nonprofit group that helps place cats least likely to be adopted from the Oakland Animal Shelter. She said there were 14 adoptions in their first 12 days. For a $10 donation to the organization, visitors get one hour of Kitty company in the cafe, where they can play with felines, scratch their backs and watch them nap. Each person is given a designated A man passes by and looks in the windows of people playing window of time to make sure there are not too many people at once in the room painted with cats at the Cat Town Café. with cartoon-like, bright murals of cats. Cat naps are very popular at the cafe, but Chris- tina Souza, who visited on a recent afternoon, didn’t seem to mind. “I think it’s fun. It’s great. It’s exciting,” Souza said. “Why not have more venues where cats can let out their fun personalities?” Cat cafes are now open in London, Vienna and Paris, and Cat Town’s founders believe their coffee shop is the first of its kind in the United States. That may change soon — a half dozen cat cafes are set to open in the US next year, most of them along the West Coast.—AP

Coffee mugs are shown for sale at the Cat Town Café. Travel30 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Photo shows a children’s educational area A flower on display at Brookside Gardens. at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Md.—AP 5 free things photos in suburban Maryland just outside DC n the past 20 years, the Maryland suburbs just outside Wash- ington, DC, have boomed, and that population growth has Ibeen accompanied by development and even tourists. Now when folks visit Washington, they may choose to stay in hotels just outside the capital in Silver Spring, Rockville or Bethesda, cities in Maryland that are all connected to Washington by Metro.

Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo, Md, a historic site that started in the late 19th century as a Chautauqua community.

And for visitors who’ve already checked off Washington’s museums and monu- learn about jewelry-making or take a class. Other pavilions are used for their ments, the Maryland suburbs have much to offer on their own: lively down- original purpose, like a dance hall and a carousel with carved animals that towns, parks, historic sites and attractions connected to government agencies, include an ostrich and a lion. You’ll also find signs documenting civil rights like a NASA visitors center and a museum where you can see the bullet that protests held here in 1960 because the park was a segregated facility. killed Abe Lincoln. Best of all, many are free. Also in Glen Echo is the house where American Red Cross founder Clara Barton lived. Known as the Angel of the Battlefield for her work during the Civil Greenbelt: NASA and FDR War, Barton was invited to live in Glen Echo by the Chautauqua developers, The town of Greenbelt in Prince George’s County has two spots of interest: who hoped a resident celebrity would attract others. The house closes indefi- the historic Greenbelt community built by President Franklin D Roosevelt’s nitely in early 2015 for renovations, but free tours are offered until then telling administration, and Goddard Visitor Center, located at the NASA Goddard Barton’s story. Space Flight Center. The visitor center offers interactive exhibits on Goddard- built spacecraft and satellite communications, including a large-scale model of Brookside gardens the lunar reconnaissance orbiter and a Gemini space capsule, and an outdoor This serene park in Wheaton includes formal gardens, wooded paths and rocket garden. Don’t miss the theater with “Science on a Sphere,” a brightly lit grounds, and a pond landscaped with a Japanese sensibility. There’s also an 3-D spherical surface, 6 feet (2 meters) in diameter, which plays colorful short indoor conservatory and a children’s education and play area. films on a range of planetary and earth science topics. Nearby is the historic planned community of Greenbelt, built in the 1930s Downtown Bethesda by FDR’s Resettlement Administration. The model town was filled with play- Bethesda’s busy downtown offers upscale retail stores and dozens of inter- grounds and cultural centers. Inner walkways away from cars allowed children esting restaurants. Among them: an outpost of Georgetown Cupcake, made to safely walk to school, and the retail district today includes the New Deal famous in a TLC series called “DC Cupcakes.” Bethesda’s sidewalks are always Cafe. Outside the community center, white stone friezes depict values set forth filled with shoppers and pedestrians, and while it will cost you a couple of in the preamble to the Constitution, while inside you’ll find vintage photos and bucks to try a cupcake, there’s plenty of outdoor seating where you can relax a small exhibit on the town’s history. and people-watch for free.—AP

National Museum of Health and Medicine This museum in Silver Spring, part of the Department of Defense, is the suc- cessor to a previous institution called the Army Medical Museum. Glass cases display the bullet that killed President Lincoln, along with skulls, prosthetic limbs, a giant hairball removed from a stomach, and preserved body parts that were noteworthy due to disease or injury. One soldier visited his amputated leg each year on the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg where he was in- jured. Other stories told through videos and displays include a look at trauma care for soldiers wounded in Iraq and the 1918 flu pandemic. Be sure to catch the vintage anti-germ posters in the restrooms.

Glen Echo This site was first developed in the late 19th century as a Chautauqua community, part of a movement to create planned towns with a focus on culture and education. The community failed and the land was turned into an amusement park. The park closed in 1968 but the amusement pavilions have been preserved, and today Glen Echo is a National Park historic site run with the Glen Echo Park Partnership for the Arts and Culture/Montgomery County. A pedestrian mall in Bethesda, Md, where the busy down- Some buildings now house artists’ studios where you can watch glassblowing, town offers upscale retail stores and dozens of interesting restaurants. TV listings FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

01:35 Bill’s Kitchen: Notting Hill 16:50 How It’s Made 05:25 Art Attack 07:30 Shetland 02:05 Cash In The Attic 17:15 How It’s Made 05:50 Mouk 08:25 Autopsy: The Last Hour Of... 02:55 Cash In The Attic 17:40 Treehouse Masters 06:00 Dog With A Blog 09:20 The Jonathan Ross Show 00:50 I Was Bitten 03:45 Rick Stein’s Spain 18:30 Wheeler Dealers: Trading Up 06:25 Mako Mermaids 10:15 May The Best House Win 01:45 Untamed & Uncut 04:40 Marbella Mansions 00:20 American Guns 19:20 Extreme Car Hoarders 06:50 Austin & Ally Abroad 02:40 Animal Cops Phoenix 05:25 Food Glorious Food 01:10 Saint Hoods 20:10 What’s In The Barn? 07:15 Gravity Falls 11:10 Emmerdale 03:35 Shamwari: A Wild Life 06:15 Bill’s Kitchen: Notting Hill 02:00 Fast N’ Loud 20:35 Storage Wars Canada 07:40 Jessie 12:00 Coronation Street 04:00 Shamwari: A Wild Life 06:40 Cash In The Attic 02:50 Storage Hunters 21:00 Wheeler Dealers: Trading Up 08:05 Win, Lose Or Draw 12:30 Ade In Britain 04:25 Call Of The Wildman 07:35 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 03:15 What’s In The Barn? 21:50 Extreme Car Hoarders 08:30 Good Luck Charlie 13:25 Cook Me The Money 04:50 Call Of The Wildman 22:40 Fat N’ Furious: Rolling Thunder 08:55 Good Luck Charlie 14:20 Come Dine With Me Ireland 08:00 Cash In The Attic 03:40 Storage Wars Canada 05:15 Gator Boys 23:30 Wheeler Dealers: Trading Up 09:20 Sonny With A Chance 14:45 May The Best House Win 08:50 Rick Stein’s Spain 04:05 How It’s Made 06:02 I Was Bitten 09:45 Sonny With A Chance Abroad 09:40 Marbella Mansions 04:30 How It’s Made 06:49 Untamed & Uncut 10:10 Suite Life On Deck 15:35 Love/Hate 10:25 Food Glorious Food 05:00 Treehouse Masters 07:36 Animal Airport 06:00 Bike Battles 10:35 Suite Life On Deck 16:30 I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of 08:00 Call Of The Wildman 11:15 Cash In The Attic 11:00 That’s So Raven Here 12:05 Cash In The Attic 06:50 Robson’s New Extreme Fishing 08:25 Gator Boys Challenge 00:00 Violetta 11:25 That’s So Raven 18:00 Tales From Northumberland 12:55 Rick Stein’s Spain 09:15 My Pet’s Gone Viral 07:40 Fast N’ Loud 00:40 The Hive 11:50 A.N.T. Farm With Robson Green 13:45 Marbella Mansions 09:40 My Pet’s Gone Viral 08:30 Storage Hunters 00:50 Art Attack 12:15 A.N.T. Farm 18:20 Cook Me The Money 14:30 Food Glorious Food 10:10 Treehouse Masters 08:55 What’s In The Barn? 01:15 Art Attack 12:40 Good Luck Charlie 19:10 Coronation Street 15:20 Cash In The Attic 11:05 Mutant Planet 09:20 Storage Wars Canada 01:40 Jungle Junction 13:05 Good Luck Charlie 19:35 Love/Hate 12:00 Animal Precinct 16:10 Cash In The Attic 09:45 How It’s Made 01:50 Jungle Junction 13:30 Jessie 20:30 I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of 12:55 Call Of The Wildman 17:00 Rick Stein’s Spain 10:10 How It’s Made 02:05 Jungle Junction 13:55 Jessie Here 13:20 Animal Airport 17:50 Marbella Mansions 10:35 Rattlesnake Republic 02:15 Jungle Junction 14:20 Austin & Ally 21:50 Tales From Northumberland 13:50 Call Of The Wildman 18:35 Food Glorious Food 11:25 American Guns 02:30 Violetta 14:55 Gravity Falls With Robson Green 14:45 Gator Boys 19:25 Phil Spencer: Secret Agent 12:15 American Guns 03:10 The Hive 15:20 My Babysitter’s A Vampire 22:20 Coronation Street 15:40 Shamwari: A Wild Life 20:15 Lorraine’s Fast, Fresh And Easy 13:05 Storage Hunters 03:20 Art Attack 15:45 Mako Mermaids 22:50 Emmerdale 16:10 Violetta 16:35 Treehouse Masters Food 13:30 What’s In The Barn? 03:45 Art Attack 17:30 Gator Boys 17:00 Pixel Perfect 20:40 Come Dine With Me: South 13:55 Storage Wars Canada 04:10 Jungle Junction 18:25 Extreme Animals 18:40 Win, Lose Or Draw Africa 14:20 Robson’s New Extreme Fishing 04:20 Jungle Junction 19:20 Mutant Planet 19:05 Liv And Maddie 21:30 Come Dine With Me Challenge 04:35 Jungle Junction 20:15 The Pool Master 15:10 Bike Battles 04:45 Jungle Junction 19:30 Violetta 21:10 Tanked 22:20 Come Dine With Me 20:20 Mako Mermaids 16:00 Fast N’ Loud 05:00 Art Attack 00:00 Adventure Wanted 22:05 Shamwari: A Wild Life 23:10 Holmes On Homes 20:45 Spooksville 01:00 Alaska Wing Men 22:30 Shamwari: A Wild Life 21:10 Wolfblood 02:00 Helicopter Wars 23:00 The Pool Master 21:35 Suite Life On Deck 03:00 Situation Critical 23:55 Tanked 22:00 Good Luck Charlie 04:00 Megastructures 22:25 A.N.T. Farm 05:00 Rescue Ink 22:50 Shake It Up 06:00 Hard Time 23:10 Wolfblood 07:00 America The Wild 23:35 Wolfblood 08:00 Adventure Wanted 00:20 Absolutely Fabulous 09:00 Alaska Wing Men 00:50 Eastenders 10:00 Helicopter Wars 01:20 Doctors 11:00 Great Migrations 01:50 Alone In The Wild 12:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 02:40 Whitechapel 13:00 Armageddon Outfitters 03:30 Bedlam 00:00 Kourtney And Khloe Take The 14:00 Crash Science 04:15 The Weakest Link Hamptons 15:00 Mega Factories 05:00 Charlie And Lola 00:55 Extreme Close-Up 16:00 Engineering Connections 05:15 Woolly & Tig 01:25 Keeping Up With The 17:00 Animal Mega Moves 05:20 Mr Bloom’s Nursery Kardashians 18:00 America The Wild 05:40 Teletubbies 02:20 E! News 19:00 Mega Factories 06:05 Garth And Bev 03:15 Giuliana & Bill 20:00 Engineering Connections 06:15 Charlie And Lola 04:10 E!ES 21:00 Animal Mega Moves 06:30 Woolly & Tig 05:05 E!ES 22:00 America The Wild 06:35 Mr Bloom’s Nursery 06:00 Keeping Up With The 23:00 Great Migrations 06:55 Teletubbies Kardashians 07:20 The Weakest Link 07:50 Style Star 08:05 Only Fools And Horses 08:20 E! News 08:30 Absolutely Fabulous 09:15 Giuliana & Bill 09:00 Eastenders 10:15 E!ES 09:30 Doctors 11:10 Pop Innovators 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon 10:00 Alone In The Wild 12:05 E! News Stewart 10:50 The Diamond Queen 13:05 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills 01:00 The Colbert Report 11:40 Hebburn 15:00 House Of Dvf 01:30 Louie 12:10 Only Fools And Horses 16:00 Kourtney And Khloe Take The 02:00 It’s Always Sunny In 12:40 Absolutely Fabulous Hamptons Philadelphia 13:10 Eastenders 17:00 Kourtney And Khloe Take The 02:30 Girls 13:40 Doctors Hamptons 03:00 The Neighbors 14:10 Alone In The Wild 18:00 E! News 03:30 Last Man Standing 15:00 The Diamond Queen 19:00 THS 04:30 The Tonight Show Starring 15:55 Only Fools And Horses 20:00 Eric And Jessie: Game On Jimmy Fallon 16:25 The Weakest Link 21:00 Giuliana & Bill 07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers 17:10 My Family 22:00 E! News 09:00 The Neighbors 17:40 Doctors 23:00 House Of Dvf 09:30 Mystery Girls 18:10 Casualty 10:00 New Girl 19:00 Friday Night Dinner 11:00 The Tonight Show Starring 19:30 Hebburn Jimmy Fallon 20:00 Stolen 14:00 Last Man Standing 21:30 Michael McIntyre’s Comedy 14:30 Mystery Girls Roadshow 00:40 Ade In Britain 15:00 New Girl 22:15 Alan Carr: Chatty Man 01:30 Come Dine With Me Ireland 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon 23:00 Ideal 02:00 Emmerdale Stewart 23:30 The Weakest Link 02:55 Coronation Street 16:00 The Colbert Report 03:25 Shetland 17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers 04:20 Autopsy: The Last Hour Of... 18:00 The Neighbors 05:15 May The Best House Win 18:30 Last Man Standing Abroad 19:00 The Goodwin Games 00:05 Marbella Mansions 06:10 Cook Me The Money 19:30 New Girl 00:50 Food Glorious Food LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD ON OSN MOVIES ACTION 07:05 Come Dine With Me Ireland 20:00 The Tonight Show Starring TV listings FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

09:00 The Company You Keep-PG15 10:00 Top 14 Highlights 16:00 WWE NXT 11:00 Beasts Of The Southern Wild- 10:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 17:00 WWE Main Event PG15 11:00 Live PGA European Tour 18:30 Hero Indian Super League 13:00 The Magic Of Belle Isle-PG15 16:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights Highlights 15:00 Between Us-PG15 16:30 Live Hero Indian Super League 19:00 Hero Indian Super League 17:00 The Company You Keep-PG15 Football Highlights 19:00 Playing For Keeps-PG15 18:30 Top 14 Highlights 19:30 Hero Indian Super League 21:00 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints-PG15 19:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 23:00 Maniac-R 20:30 European Tour Weekly 20:00 Hero Indian Super League 21:00 PGA European Tour Football 20:30 Hero Indian Super League Highlights 00:30 Circle Of Lies-18 02:00 The Great Train Robbery-PG 00:00 WWE Main Event 04:00 Special-PG15 01:00 Snooker Champion of 05:30 Left To Die-PG15 Champions 07:00 Pop Star-PG15 05:00 International Rugby Union 09:00 The Last Harbor-PG15 07:00 Trans World Sport 00:45 Oprah’s Next Chapter 11:00 Annapolis-PG15 08:00 Live Asian Tour Golf 01:35 Oprah’s Next Chapter 13:00 Special-PG15 12:00 WWE NXT 02:25 I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant 14:30 Before And After-PG15 13:00 WWE Main Event 02:50 Mob Wives 16:30 The Last Harbor-PG15 14:00 NFL 03:40 Long Island Medium 18:30 I, Anna-PG15 16:30 NFL 04:05 Say Yes To The Dress 20:30 Marie Antoinette-PG15 19:00 WWE Superstars 04:30 Say Yes To The Dress 23:00 Fruitvale Station-18 20:00 WWE Smackdown 05:00 Toddlers & Tiaras 22:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 06:00 Something Borrowed, 22:30 WWE This Week Something New 23:00 WWE Superstars 06:25 Cake Boss 08:05 World’s Worst Mum 01:00 Grown Ups 2-PG15 08:55 Your Style In His Hands 03:00 The World’s End-PG15 09:45 Say Yes To The Dress 10:10 Say Yes To The Dress 05:00 Good Day For It-PG15 00:30 Volvo Ocean Race 10:35 Secret Eaters 07:00 Straight A’s-PG15 04:00 Boston Maraton 11:25 Something Borrowed, 09:00 Last Vegas-PG15 09:00 World Cup Of Pool Something New 11:00 Marvel’s Next Avengers: Heroes 10:00 World Cup Of Pool 13:30 Oprah’s Next Chapter Of Tomorrow-PG 11:00 Snooker Champion Of 14:20 Oprah’s Next Chapter 13:00 Standing Ovation-PG15 Champions 15:10 Little People, Big World 15:00 The Twilight Saga: Breaking 15:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 15:35 Little People, Big World Dawn Pt. 2-PG15 15:30 Top 14 Highlights 16:00 Little People, Big World 17:00 Last Vegas-PG15 16:00 Golfing World 16:25 Little People, Big World 19:00 About Time-PG15 17:00 World Cup Of Pool 16:50 Little People, Big World 21:00 August: Osage County-PG15 19:00 Asian Tour 17:15 The Next Great Baker: Road To 23:15 The Legend Of Hercules-PG15 23:30 World Cup Of Pool The Finale 18:05 Jon & Kate Plus 8 18:30 Jon & Kate Plus 8 18:55 Jon & Kate Plus 8 01:00 Speed Racer 07:00 Live Cricket One Day 19:20 Jon & Kate Plus 8 03:15 A Cat In Paris International Series 19:45 Jon & Kate Plus 8 04:30 Kong Return To The Jungle 15:00 WWE Bottom Line 06:00 Dragon Hunters THE LEGEND OF HERCULES ON OSN MOVIES HD 08:00 Blue Elephant 10:00 Back To Gaya Jimmy Fallon 01:00 Good Morning America 02:00 Summoned-PG15 11:45 Back To The Sea 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon 03:00 Breaking Bad 04:00 Alex Cross-PG15 13:30 A Cat In Paris Stewart 04:00 House Of Cards 06:00 Stolen-PG15 14:45 Tom And Jerry’s Giant 21:30 The Colbert Report 05:00 Good Morning America 08:00 Hellboy: Blood & Iron-PG15 Adventure 22:00 Married 07:00 Emmerdale 09:45 Live Free Or Die Hard-PG15 16:00 The Apple & The Worm 22:30 It’s Always Sunny In 09:00 24 12:00 Alex Cross-PG15 18:00 Back To Gaya Philadelphia 10:00 Emmerdale 14:00 Summoned-PG15 20:00 Barbie In The Nutcracker 23:00 Girls 12:00 Criminal Minds 16:00 Stolen-PG15 22:00 Tom And Jerry’s Giant 23:30 Late Night With Seth Meyers 14:00 24 17:45 Live Free Or Die Hard-PG15 Adventure 15:00 Live Good Morning America 20:00 Into The Blue-PG15 23:30 The Apple & The Worm 17:00 Criminal Minds 22:00 2 Fast 2 Furious-PG15 19:00 24 00:00 Drop Dead Diva 20:00 Criminal Minds 01:00 Top Gear (US) 21:00 White Collar 02:00 Survivor: San Juan Del Sur 22:00 Breaking Bad 02:00 The Stepford Wives-PG15 03:00 Justified 23:00 House Of Cards 04:00 Shrek The Third-FAM 00:00 Salmon Fishing In The Yemen- 06:00 Drop Dead Diva 06:00 Standing Ovation-PG15 PG15 08:00 Chicago Fire 08:00 Bean-PG15 02:00 The Lone Ranger-PG15 12:00 Emmerdale 10:00 The Stepford Wives-PG15 04:30 Lovestruck: The Musical-PG15 13:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 00:00 D-Tox 12:00 Home Alone-PG 06:00 Blades Of Glory-PG15 14:00 Chicago Fire 02:00 Laid To Rest2: Chromeskull 14:00 Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit- 08:00 Class-PG15 15:00 Drop Dead Diva 04:00 Summoned PG 10:00 Hot Rod-PG15 16:00 Emmerdale 06:00 Alex Cross 16:00 Bean-PG15 11:30 The Lone Ranger-PG15 17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 08:00 Stolen 18:00 Why Stop Now-PG15 14:00 Run For Your Wife-PG15 18:00 Chicago Fire 10:00 Hellboy: Blood & Iron 20:00 Old Stock-PG15 16:00 Class-PG15 19:00 Switched At Birth 11:45 Live Free Or Die Hard 22:00 Pineapple Express-18 18:00 R.I.P.D.-PG15 20:00 Grey’s Anatomy 14:00 Alex Cross 20:00 The Internship-PG15 21:00 Devious Maids 16:00 Summoned 22:00 Kick-Ass 2-18 22:00 American Horror Story: Freak 18:00 Stolen Show 19:45 Live Free Or Die Hard 23:00 Justified 22:00 Into The Blue 01:00 Nobody Walks-PG15 03:00 Mud-PG15 01:30 PGA European Tour 05:15 Beasts Of The Southern Wild- 07:00 Golfing World THE STEPFORD WIVES PG15 08:00 ICC Cricket 360 00:00 White Collar 00:00 Laid To Rest2: Chromeskull 07:00 The Magic Of Belle Isle-PG15 08:30 Volvo Ocean Race ON OSN MOVIES COMEDY HD Stars FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Aries (March 21-April 19) COUNTRY CODES Libra (September 23-October 22) A part-time job may be in order to afford you the purchase Afghanistan 0093 Kuwait 00965 power you want for the winter events ahead. Financial matters are empha- Things seem to fall into place and progress is easy. Your Albania 00355 Kyrgyzstan 00996 sized throughout the rest of this month. Before you spend a dollar-think career direction gets some encouragement and life’s problems seem to Algeria 00213 Laos 00856 about the energy it takes to earn a dollar-time and effort. Your protection have easy solutions. You may find yourself pulling more on the imagination Andorra 00376 Latvia 00371 from income loss is to be cautious, think ahead and plan for the future. You today in order to stay in front of the pack, so to speak. You are the one that Angola 00244 Lebanon 00961 may be especially dynamic and assertive just now. There is a lot of energy will set the example. You experience life mostly through your emotions Anguilla 001264 Liberia 00231 available for whatever you would like to accomplish. You are insightful, and how you feel about someone or something. Your intuition is clued into Antiga 001268 Libya 00218 always darting straight to the heart of things and never shy about working the happenings around you and you will be guided accurately. You enjoy Argentina 0054 Lithuania 00370 with the most sensitive and vulnerable areas of the human psyche. You figuring things out, being the first to make a discovery or defining a prob- Armenia 00374 Luxembourg 00352 love new and different ways of self-discovery and transformation. Others lem. You have a heightened interest in health and diet and have an urge to Australia 0061 Macau 00853 Austria 0043 Macedonia 00389 will be supportive of your ideas. get things organized into a rational system. There is much mental busy- work now. Bahamas 001242 Madagascar 00261 Bahrain 00973 Majorca 0034 Bangladesh 00880 Malawi 00265 Barbados 001246 Malaysia 0060 Belarus 00375 Maldives 00960 Taurus (April 20-May 20) Belgium 0032 Mali 00223 Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Belize 00501 Malta 00356 There are plenty of opportunities to go in just about any Benin 00229 Marshall Islands 00692 direction you want to go, particularly when it comes to your future profes- Now is the time to really consider some involvement with a Bermuda 001441 Martinique 00596 sional life. You take your work more seriously than usual; a lot of energy creative writing class, writing group, internet writing contest, library writing Bhutan 00975 Mauritania 00222 goes into getting things organized. You are clever and seem to enjoy test- contest, etc. You may want to become published and have come across Bolivia 00591 Mauritius 00230 ing yourself to the maximum in how you handle most difficult situations some sort of stumbling block. If you are not into writing, there is some oth- Bosnia 00387 Mayotte 00269 and time limits as well as difficult people. You can expect a little boost, er creative art that you are in love with and enjoy as a pastime, but you Botswana 00267 Mexico 0052 Brazil 0055 Micronesia 00691 some sort of extra support or recognition from those around you, and you can’t seem to get any further than just the hobby stage. Believe it or not, you are tipping toward stardom, well, at least gaining in recognition. To Brunei 00673 Moldova 00373 may be surprised at how many young people want to know your work Bulgaria 00359 Monaco 00377 secrets. You are a good mentor but it is important to add relaxation to your reach the ability to make your love of communication work for you, you must put a polish on what you do and this will take a creative writing, cre- Burkina 00226 Mongolia 00976 day as well as laughter and friends. Enjoy some time away from the stress of ative arts, creative whatever sort of class. Reward yourself and sign up now. Burundi 00257 Montserrat 001664 work this evening. Take pictures tonight. Cambodia 00855 Morocco 00212 Cameroon 00237 Mozambique 00258 Canada 001 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Cape Verde 00238 Namibia 00264 Cayman Islands 001345 Nepal 00977 Central African Republic 00236 Netherlands (Holland)0031 Gemini (May 21-June 20) Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Chad 00235 Netherlands Antilles 00599 Lightning fast when it comes to the business deal, you seem This morning, others may disagree with what you say or Chile 0056 New Caledonia 00687 to have direct insight into what is worthwhile and worthless in a situation. think, or in some way oppose your ideas and thoughts. Your current situa- China 0086 New Zealand 0064 Colombia 0057 Nicaragua 00505 You have new and unconventional ways to cut through the red tape and tion may demand some reevaluation or otherwise challenge your ideas. get at what is important. There are optimism, faith and deep emotional lev- Comoros 00269 Nigar 00227 Take some time to regroup your thoughts or ideas and keep trying to com- Congo 00242 Nigeria 00234 els present. You have to give something in order to get something; that’s municate-this is a good challenge-it will teach you to slow down, rephrase Cook Islands 00682 Niue 00683 the message you need to take to heart now and it can be a very beneficial and to back up your ideas with facts. Charisma, self-transformation, the Costa Rica 00506 Norfolk Island 00672 one indeed, if you play by the rules. Investments can start small and grow development of your personal powers are the things that play a big role in Croatia 00385 Northern Ireland (UK)0044 beyond your wildest dreams-look for opportunities of this sort. Check out your life now. Remember that tiny causes can lead to big effects. This is a Cuba 0053 North Korea 00850 all hard-to-believe deals! Think and talk about organizing a cleanup crew time of profound changes on the personal level, as if you are transforming Cyprus 00357 Norway 0047 for your nearby community park this weekend. Romance comes your way into an entirely new person. Although you may have your doubts . . . This is Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Oman 00968 tonight. a good time to project your image. Czech Republic 00420 Pakistan 0092 Denmark 0045 Palau 00680 Diego Garcia 00246 Panama 00507 Djibouti 00253 Papua New Guinea 00675 Dominica 001767 Paraguay 00595 Dominican Republic 001809 Peru 0051 Cancer (June 21-July 22) Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Ecuador 00593 Philippines 0063 You have a keen interest in what makes things tick. Who or You are responsible to the extreme and take on obligations Egypt 0020 Poland 0048 El Salvador 00503 Portugal 00351 what pulls the strings in your life is the hallmark of the mental cycle that today as though you just cannot get enough. You enjoy discipline and any limitations are seen as opportunities rather than as handicaps. Make sure England (UK) 0044 Puerto Rico 001787 now begins for you. An unsolved problem piques your interest this after- Equatorial Guinea 00240 Qatar 00974 your life is fairly balanced so that the additional duties that you pile on noon. Sex, death and life’s other ultimate mysteries and taboos arouse your Eritrea 00291 Romania 0040 curiosity. This could involve the work you do-teaching, sales, etc. Others yourself do not add up to a negative. You would make a good teacher of Estonia 00372 Russian Federation 007 learn by following your lead. Be very careful not to turn your curiosity into others in matters of organization, practical competence, etc. You have a Ethiopia 00251 Rwanda 00250 gossip. Later today check out an investment plan before letting go of your great desire to be thorough and responsible down to the smallest detail. Falkland Islands 00500 Saint Helena 00290 money. Travel and other contacts with faraway people and places will play Banking or investment positions are certainly an avenue in which you could Faroe Islands 00298 Saint Kitts 001869 a bigger role for you soon-plan. You have a lot of energy and determination excel. You love routine. Your own forcefulness and drive can make it diffi- Fiji 00679 Saint Lucia 001758 to accomplish your goals. You learn a lot as a result of your social interac- cult for others to offer you nourishment and support. Make it a point to Finland 00358 Saint Pierre 00508 tions this evening. reach out and touch someone. France 0033 Saint Vincent 001784 French Guiana 00594 Samoa US 00684 French Polynesia 00689 Samoa West 00685 Gabon 00241 San Marino 00378 Gambia 00220 Sao Tone 00239 Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Georgia 00995 Saudi Arabia 00966 Leo (July 23-August 22) Germany 0049 Scotland (UK) 0044 Your mind may be very clear now and you have a good han- You may prefer to be a bit more direct this day. You want to Ghana 00233 Senegal 00221 Gibraltar 00350 Seychelles 00284 dle into what may be causing some puzzling episode today. It is easy to get things accomplished and interruptions may not be on your list of acceptable behavior from others. Be careful in your response-let them Greece 0030 Sierra Leone 00232 organize your ideas and plans in the direction of solving the problem. Right Greenland 00299 Singapore 0065 now, the key to career moves involves attending to nagging details as well know up-front your plans for the day so they will understand you are involved in some project. You are able to cut through to the real business at Grenada 001473 Slovakia 00421 as whatever you have neglected. Attention to matters such as health and Guadeloupe 00590 Slovenia 00386 efficiency are also important. Dodging interruptions and pointedly taking hand. Unique and unconventional approaches to study or research, any kind of inquiry, are soon to appear. 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Holland (Netherlands)0031 Sri Lanka 0094 Honduras 00504 Sudan 00249 Hong Kong 00852 Suriname 00597 Hungary 0036 Swaziland 00268 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Sweden 0046 Iceland 00354 Switzerland 0041 Virgo (August 23-September 22) Pisces (February 19-March 20) India 0091 Syria 00963 Indian Ocean 00873 Taiwan 00886 You may have to learn more conversational tools when it On the professional level, you seem able to magically make Indonesia 0062 Tanzania 00255 comes to a difficult person today. Do not take someone’s words too per- things happen. If you are in sales, there are new contacts to be made. If you Iran 0098 Thailand 0066 sonally; he or she may be testing your staying power. They could also just are in art, design or some other artistic field, there are new color schemes Iraq 00964 Toga 00228 want attention, whether it is negative or positive, it does not matter. 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This is Jordan 00962 Tuvalu 00688 takes to earn a dollar before you spend a dollar. Your protection from the perfect time to be assertive and to move forward in whatever you Kazakhstan 007 Uganda 00256 income loss is to be cautious. choose to accomplish. Kenya 00254 Ukraine 00380 Kiribati 00686 United Arab Emirates00976 TECHNOLOGY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 Yahoo replaces Google as Firefox’s default search

SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo will supplant Google’s as Yahoo’s most significant partnership since search engine on Firefox’s Web browser in the forging the Microsoft deal in 2009. “We believe US, signaling Yahoo’s resolve to regain some of deeply in search - it’s an area of investment and the ground that it has lost in the most lucrative opportunity for us,” Mayer wrote in a part of the Internet’s ad market. The five-year Wednesday blog post. Yahoo plans to unveil a alliance announced Wednesday will end a “clean and modern” search engine on Firefox decade-old partnership in the US between next month and then roll out the new model on Google Inc and the Mozilla Foundation, which its own website early next year, Mayer wrote. oversees the Firefox browser. The tensions The redesign will primarily affect how between Google and Mozilla had been rising Yahoo’s search engine’s results are displayed, since Google’s introduction of the Chrome and not the way that requests are processed. browser in 2008 began to undercut Firefox. The search technology will continue to be pro- Google’s current contract with Mozilla vided by Microsoft Corp. as part of a 10-year expires at the end of this month, opening an deal Yahoo signed in 2009, according to Mel opportunity for Yahoo to pounce. Even though Guymon, Yahoo’s vice president of search. In Chrome is now more widely used, Firefox still various public remarks since becoming Yahoo’s has a loyal audience that makes more than 100 CEO two years ago, Mayer has expressed disap- SUNNYVALE: A worker walks into Yahoo headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. — AP billion worldwide search requests annually. pointment with Microsoft’s search technology. Yahoo is hoping to impress Firefox users as the That has spurred speculation that she might Sunnyvale, California, company sets out to renegotiate or end the Microsoft search partner- prove that it’s still adept at Internet search after ship next year when Yahoo has an option to re- Apple, Xiaomi trade leaning on Microsoft’s technology for most of evaluate the deal. Yahoo currently receives $88 the results on Yahoo’s own website for the past of every $100 in revenue generated from ads four years. posted alongside the search results on its web- smartphone barbs Financial details of Yahoo’s Firefox contract site. weren’t disclosed. In a blog post, Mozilla CEO Those payouts have helped Yahoo boost its Chris Beard said the new deal offers “strong, revenue from search advertising for 11 consecu- WUZHEN: Top executives from US technol- Xiaomi-which was only established four improved economic terms” while allowing tive quarters, compared with the previous year. ogy giant Apple and Chinese smartphone years ago-ranked second with 13.5 percent. Mozilla “to innovate and advance our mission in Despite those gains, more searches have been upstart Xiaomi traded light-hearted barbs Bruce Sewell, Apple’s general counsel ways that best serve our users and the Web.” shifting to Microsoft’s Bing search engine, caus- yesterday at a Chinese Internet conference, and senior vice president of legal and gov- Google accounted for 90 percent, or about $274 ing Yahoo to slip further behind its rivals. Yahoo acknowledging the fierce competition ernment affairs, told a panel discussion at million, of Mozilla’s royalty revenue in 2012. is expected to end this year with a 5.6 percent between the rivals. Apple’s iPhones and the World Internet Conference that there Mozilla hasn’t released its annual report for last share of US search advertising revenue, down iPads are wildly popular in China, encourag- are “many good competitive phones in year. Besides dropping Google in the US, Mozilla from 6.6 percent in 2012, according to the ing smuggling and crowds at the compa- China” in a nod to Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, is also shifting Firefox to Baidu’s search engine research firm eMarketer. Yahoo’s stock gained ny’s stores as consumers try to lay their sitting alongside him. But when asked in China and Yandex in Russia. Firefox users still 52 cents to $51.10 in extended trading hands on the latest products. Yet Apple about Lei’s previous claims that Xiaomi will have the option to pull down a tab to pick Wednesday. The shares have been hovering stood in sixth place in China’s fractured become the world’s market leader in smart- Google and other search engines as their pre- around their highest levels in more than 14 smartphone market with only a 6.9 percent phones, he said: “It is easy to say, it is more ferred way for looking up information online. years, largely because Yahoo owns a large stake share in the March-June period according difficult to do,” to laughter and applause Yahoo Inc. CEO Marissa Mayer, a former in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., a rapidly grow- to consultancy Analysys International, while from the audience in Wuzhen. — AFP Google executive, hailed the Firefox agreement ing e-commerce site in China. — AP FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Kuwait CHANGE OF NAME LOST KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (20/11/2014 TO 26/11/2014) I, Akther Begum (old name) Press notification. It is noti- R/o. D. No. 3/154, Kotha fied that my original qualify- Bazar, Railway Kodur, YSR ing examination certificate of SHARQIA-1 THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 7:45 PM Dist., A.P. changed my name main secondary examination DUMB AND DUMBER TO 12:15 PM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 10:15 PM as Patan Doulath (new name) of year 2011 and roll no. JESSABELLE 2:15 PM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 12:45 AM (C 4859) 8105491 issued by CBSE has DUMB AND DUMBER TO 4:15 PM been actually lost. Osama HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 6:15 PM FANAR-5 I, Shaik Imam Bee (old name) Vahid, street 81, building DUMB AND DUMBER TO 8:15 PM HAPPY ENDING-HINDI 12:00 PM R/o. D. No. 3/154, Kotha 132, Farwaniya, Kuwait. Ph: HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 10:15 PM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 3:15 PM Bazar, Railway Kodur, YSR 66904671. DUMB AND DUMBER TO 12:15 AM HAPPY ENDING-HINDI 5:45 PM (C 4858) NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 8:15 PM HAPPY ENDING-HINDI 8:45 PM Dist., A.P. changed my name NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 10:15 PM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 11:45 PM as Patan Imam Bee (new 15-11-2014 NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 12:15 AM name). (C 4859) MARINA-1 SHARQIA-2 INTERSTELLAR 12:00 PM I, Shaik Khader (old name) ACCOMMODATION THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 12:00 PM HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 3:15 PM R/o. D. No. 3/154, Kotha THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 2:30 PM THE SIGNAL 5:15 PM Bazar, Railway Kodur, YSR One big full furnished room THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 5:00 PM INTERSTELLAR 7:15 PM Dist., A.P. changed my name available for one bachelor or THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 7:30 PM HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 10:30 PM as Patan Khader Khan S/o. THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 10:00 PM THE SIGNAL 12:30 AM couple (without children), THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 12:30 AM Patan Abdulla Khan (new attached bath. Room MARINA-2 name). (C 4859) includes bed, cupboard, TV SHARQIA-3 DUMB AND DUMBER TO 11:30 AM satellite dressing table. Salwa CATCH HELL 11:30 AM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 1:30 PM I undersigned Shaikh Chand block 9, near Sultan Center, 3 BIG HERO 6 1:15 PM BIG HERO 6 3:30 PM Khaja holder of Indian BR central A/C flat. Rent KD CATCH HELL 3:30 PM BIG HERO 6 5:45 PM Passport No. Z1923722 130. Call 98007972. BIG HERO 6 5:30 PM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 8:00 PM issued at Kuwait on 51066770. INTERSTELLAR 7:45 PM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 10:00 PM 30.10.2011, residing address (C 4680) CATCH HELL 11:00 PM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 12:05 AM at: D. No. 3/154, Kotha Bazar, CATCH HELL 1:00 AM NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 8:00 PM 19-11-2014 NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 10:00 PM Railway Kodur, Kadapa Dist., MUHALAB-1 NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 12:05 AM A.P. I wish to change my HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 12:00 PM name to Patan Chanu Khan. HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 2:00 PM MARINA-3 (C 4859) INTERSTELLAR 4:00 PM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 11:45 AM HAPPY ENDING-HINDI 4:00 PM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 2:15 PM HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 7:15 PM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 4:45 PM Prayer timings INTERSTELLAR 9:15 PM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 7:15 PM HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 12:30 AM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 9:45 PM Fajr: 04:54 NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 9:15 PM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 12:15 AM NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 11:30 PM Shorook 06:16 AVENUES-1 Duhr: 11:34 MUHALAB-2 BIG HERO 6 11:30 AM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 11:45 AM BIG HERO 6 1:45 PM Asr: 14:31 BIG HERO 6 1:45 PM BIG HERO 6 4:00 PM BIG HERO 6 4:15 PM BIG HERO 6 6:15 PM Maghrib: 16:51 DUMB AND DUMBER TO 6:45 PM JESSABELLE 8:30 PM Isha: 18:11 DUMB AND DUMBER TO 8:45 PM JESSABELLE 10:45 PM THE SIGNAL 10:45 PM JESSABELLE 1:00 AM THE SIGNAL 12:45 AM NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 8:30 PM NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 10:45 PM MUHALAB-3 NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 1:00 AM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 11:30 AM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 2:00 PM AVENUES-2 Sabah Hospital 24812000 THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 4:30 PM POKER NIGHT 1:00 PM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 7:00 PM POKER NIGHT 3:00 PM Amiri Hospital 22450005 THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 9:30 PM POKER NIGHT 5:00 PM Maternity Hospital 24843100 THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 12:05 AM 71 7:00 PM POKER NIGHT 9:00 PM Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital 25312700 FANAR-1 POKER NIGHT 11:00 PM Chest Hospital 24849400 CATCH HELL 11:30 AM POKER NIGHT 1:00 AM CATCH HELL 1:30 PM Farwaniya Hospital 24892010 POKER NIGHT 3:30 PM AVENUES-3 Adan Hospital 23940620 CATCH HELL 5:30 PM CATCH HELL 12:15 PM HAPPY NEW YEAR - HINDI 7:45 PM CATCH HELL 2:15 PM Ibn Sina Hospital 24840300 POKER NIGHT 11:00 PM CATCH HELL 4:15 PM Al-Razi Hospital 24846000 CATCH HELL 1:00 AM CATCH HELL 6:15 PM CATCH HELL 8:15 PM Physiotherapy Hospital 24874330/9 FANAR-2 CATCH HELL 10:15 PM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 1:00 PM CATCH HELL 12:15 AM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 3:00 PM INTERSTELLAR 5:00 PM 360º- 1 Kaizen center 25716707 DUMB AND DUMBER TO 8:30 PM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 11:30 AM Rawda 22517733 DUMB AND DUMBER TO 10:30 PM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 1:45 PM JESSABELLE 12:30 AM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 4:00 PM Adaliya 22517144 NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 8:30 PM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 6:15 PM NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 10:30 PM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 8:30 PM Khaldiya 24848075 NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA 12:30 AM DUMB AND DUMBER TO 10:45 PM Kaifan 24849807 DUMB AND DUMBER TO 1:00 AM FANAR-3 Shamiya 24848913 HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 11:45 AM 360º- 2 Shuwaikh 24814507 NO FRI+SAT HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 12:30 PM BIG HERO 6 11:45 AM HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 2:45 PM Abdullah Salem 22549134 BIG HERO 6 2:30 PM 71 5:00 PM Nuzha 22526804 BIG HERO 6 4:45 PM HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 7:15 PM HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 7:00 PM HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 9:30 PM Industrial Shuwaikh 24814764 JAZEERA 2 -Arabic 9:00 PM HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 11:45 PM Qadsiya 22515088 HAMATI BITHEBINI -Arabic 12:05 AM 360º- 3 Dasmah 22532265 FANAR-4 BIG HERO 6 12:45 PM Bneid Al-Gar 22531908 THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 12:15 PM BIG HERO 6 3:00 PM THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 2:45 PM BIG HERO 6 5:15 PM Shaab 22518752 THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 5:15 PM BIG HERO 6 7:30 PM Qibla 22459381 Business FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Japan trade gap narrows Iran seeks to double oil exports if sanctions end sharply on export boost PAGE 38 PAGE 40 Surveys sound warning bells for global economy

LONDON/BEIJING: Surveys sound- els, ran down old orders faster than the slowest in 24 years. “We still see uncertainties in the ed warning bells for the global last month. months ahead from the property market and on the economy yesterday as euro-zone But likely of greatest concern for export front. We think more monetary and fiscal easing businesses grew less quickly than the ECB, which is facing the specter measures should be deployed.” said Hongbin Qu, chief any forecaster expected and of deflation, service firms cut prices China economist at HSBC. China’s factories lost momentum. they charge again, as they have The Markit/JMMA version of Japan’s PMI was more CBK appoints The downbeat data, alongside evi- done ever since late-2011. Euro- mixed. While the headline index edged down to 52.1 in dence of further price-cutting, will zone prices rose 0.4 percent in November, from 52.4 in October, output expanded at its Mahfouz as CEO add to calls for more policy action October, well below the ECB’s tar- fastest clip in eight months. Firms may have been from the European Central Bank, get of just under 2 percent and responding to better offshore demand as exports KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Central Bank has approved the while the first drop in Chinese man- stuck firmly in what it terms the soared, reflecting a weaker yen. Policymakers were tak- appointment of Elham Yousri Mahfouz as chief executive ufacturing output for six months inflation danger zone. To keep the en by surprise earlier this week when data showed the officer of Commercial Bank of Kuwait, the Kuwait Stock will heap similar pressure on region from slipping into deflation, economy fell into recession in the third quarter, under- Exchange said in a message on its website yesterday. The authorities in Beijing. the ECB has been pumping money lining the necessity of the Bank of Japan’s super-loose bank announced in April that it would convert into an “It does reinforce the case for into the banking system by buying policy and sending the yen to fresh lows. - Reuters Islamic bank. — Reuters quantitative easing from the covered bonds and offering cheap European Central Bank,” said Alan long-term loans to banks. The Clarke, European economist at chances it takes the plunge and Scotiabank, of the euro-zone PMIs. buys sovereign bonds are now 50- Markit’s Composite Flash 50, a Reuters poll found. Outside Purchasing Managers’ Index for the euro zone, British retail sales November, based on surveys of grew much more strongly than thousands of companies and seen expected in October, giving further as a good growth indicator, fell to evidence the UK economy is leav- 51.4, missing even the lowest fore- ing the euro zone’s in its wake. A cast in a Reuters poll. US flash PMI due later also is The service industry PMI also expected to show activity picked undershot all forecasts by falling to up in the world’s largest economy. 51.3, while the factory PMI’s dip to There was also rare glimpse of 50.4 missed consensus. However, good news from Japan, which all three readings held above the reported surprisingly strong 50 mark that separates growth growth in exports for October, a from contraction. Markit said the shift that should get a further boost PMI pointed to 0.1-0.2 percent GDP from the latest dive in the yen. growth in the euro-zone in the cur- rent quarter, compared with the 0.2 Brittle China percent forecast in a Reuters poll In China, the world’s second taken last week. biggest economy, the HSBC/Markit “November’s fall in the euro manufacturing PMI reading zone composite PMI is a serious showed a drop to a six-month low blow to hopes that the recovery of 50.0 in November. The factory would resume towards the end of output sub-index fell to 49.5, its the year,” said Jennifer McKeown, first contraction since May. A cool- senior European economist at ing property market, erratic foreign Capital Economics. Forward-look- demand and overcapacity have ing indicators suggest the situation weighed on its manufacturers and is unlikely to improve anytime the broader economy this year soon. The composite new orders despite a steady stream of stimulus index fell below 50 for the first time measures. China’s annual growth since July 2013, and factories, slowed to 7.3 percent in the third which barely increased staffing lev- quarter, leaving 2014 on track to be

BEIJING: A man wearing a face mask walks past a poster near a construction site in Beijing yesterday. Manufacturing activity in China stagnated in November, British banking giant HSBC said yesterday. — AFP Business FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Russia has little to offer in oil price war

MOSCOW: Russia can do little to shore up slumping glob- al prices even if OPEC wants it to. Russian wells will freeze if they stop pumping oil, and the country has no capacity to store the output it would otherwise export. Before next week’s meeting of OPEC, Russia has already spoken to group member Venezuela about the need to “coordinate actions in defense” of oil prices and it plans to send a high-ranking delegation to press the mes- sage. But despite needing oil prices of $100 a barrel to bal- ance its budget, Russia has changed little since 2008 when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries urged Moscow to join forces to cut supply to shore up prices. Then and now, the world’s biggest pro- ducer lacks the ability to increase or turn down its own production. “Nothing has changed,” said Valery Nesterov, an ana- lyst with Sberbank CIB, adding that while China has built storage to beef up its stocks for its energy-intensive econ- SEPANG: Workers unload palm oil fruits from a lorry at a factory in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Tropical omy, Russia has constructed no new facilities. Nesterov forests continue to tumble at a rapid rate to make way for fast-expanding palm oil cultivation despite a decade-old also said Russia had a harsh climate and challenging geol- industry drive to encourage sustainable cultivation, environmental activists warned yesterday. — AFP ogy which meant it cannot simply stop wells from pump- ing oil. “Russian wells will just freeze if you stop them.” But that does not mean that Moscow will not try to persuade others to help shore up a price, which has fallen 33 percent since June to $78 a barrel. Igor Sechin, chief Iran seeks to double oil executive officer of Russia’s biggest oil producer Rosneft and a long-standing ally of President Vladimir Putin, and Energy Minister Alexander Novak will both fly to Austria exports if sanctions end days before OPEC is due to meet in Vienna. They are due to attend a conference with Venezualan officials, have not shed light on the agenda or the other Oil minister says Tehran will defend its market share participants. Novak’s spokeswoman said yesterday the minister would not attend the OPEC meeting itself. Oil market watchers are divided on the outcome of the meet- DUBAI: Iran will double its oil exports within two months if The Vienna OPEC meeting on Nov 27 will be one of the ing in Vienna, which will be the most uncertain for years. sanctions against it end, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told offi- most important in years. Some in the producing group have Analysts are split over whether there will be a coordinated cial news agency IRNA. Zanganeh said he will talk with top oil called for a supply cut to support oil prices which have fallen cut, with some saying output could be reduced by up to exporter Saudi Arabia about market share when OPEC meets by over 25 percent since July. 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd). next week, IRNA said yesterday. Iran currently exports around Iran is in talks with six major powers on curbing its nuclear 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil. At OPEC’s June meeting program in exchange for an end to Western sanctions. But a Zanganeh said Iran could increase oil exports by 500,000 bpd comprehensive deal by a Nov. 24 deadline appears unlikely, a Only revolution will help Some experts argue that Russia could even need oil immediately after any lifting of sanctions and could pump 4 US official has said. In the past two weeks, Zanganeh has visit- prices as high as $115 to balance the budget, since social million bpd in less than three months after. ed Gulf Arab states Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab and military spending have soared, while Western sanc- “The countries in the south of the Persian Gulf are interest- Emirates in a bid to win support for action to stabilise oil mar- tions over Ukraine have cut off Moscow from funds it bor- ed in keeping their market share and a decrease in market kets. rows in Western financial markets. share will be difficult,” Zanganeh told IRNA. “Under no circum- He also held talks in Tehran with Venezuela. Both OPEC Given that its production cannot be stopped, the only stance, will we reduce our global market share, even by one members need a higher oil price to balance their budget than option left would be for Russia to cut its exports, which barrel.” Gulf Arab oil producers. On Sunday, Zanganeh accused some stand at around 4 million bpd. Asked if Russia could hold Analysts said it will take longer for Iran to ramp up exports, countries of making up excuses to justify their refusal to sta- back oil it would normally export, a trader at a major noting that sanctions on its energy sector may be the last to bilise prices by cutting output. Mohammad Al Sabban, a for- western oil company said: “And where would you put it?” be lifted if the system is dismantled. mer senior advisor to Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi, said he Some oil could be stored in the Transneft pipeline sys- “Zanganeh is being too optimistic in his assessment,” said expected OPEC to keep its output ceiling of 30 million bpd tem, one of the world’s longest, he said. But it was never Dubai-based oil analyst Amir Handjani. It could take anywhere unchanged. “Given the short time to coordinate not only with- supposed to be used for prolonged storage, since it is between three to five years to raise Iran’s oil production to in OPEC but also with non-OPEC, a rollover is going to be the reserve capacity to be used only in the event of if techni- four-five million bpd, he said. best compromise,” he said. — Reuters cal problems. Transneft did not respond to a request for comment. Russia’s only major oil storage facility, the floating stor- Indonesia revises Islamic age vessel Belokamenka located in the Barents Sea, can hold 2.6 million barrels. An industry source said that even banking rules as growth slides though Belokamenka is not full at the moment “you will need 365 like it to take off 2 million bpd from the market”. SYDNEY/JAKARTA: Indonesia’s regulator assets in the country as of September, the depending on their risk profile, with regula- The position is different with Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s leading has issued revised Islamic banking rules cov- latest central bank data showed. tors outlining four such categories. The pre- producer. Unlike in Russia, where around a half of oil pro- ering asset quality and capital adequacy to Authorities want Islamic banks to hold at vious capital adequacy requirement for duction is in private hands, Saudi Arabia controls all of its help clarify market practices, while industry least 15 percent of the market by 2023, but Islamic banks was 8 percent, while the high- output via state-owned Saudi Aramco. growth has now dropped to single-digits. the sector’s growth is stalling. As of est risk profile would require such banks to The company has a large fleet of super-tankers which Authorities want to encourage a wider prod- September, there were 11 full-fledged hold as much as 14 percent. can be used to store oil at sea and also owns or leases oil uct range to help Islamic banks grab a big- Islamic banks and 23 Islamic business units This requirements applies only to full- storage facilities around the world. Russia sells a big ger share of the Indonesian market, a sector in Indonesia with combined assets of 244 fledged Islamic banks and not to the Islamic chunk of its oil to trading houses and oil majors, thus leav- which remains behind more mature markets trillion rupiah ($20.1 billion), representing a units of conventional banks. The rules also ing the decisions where and how to store crude to its buy- in Malaysia and the Middle East. 7.2 percent growth year-on-year. detail the types of capital-boosting debt that ers. Indonesia’s financial services authority, This remains above the 3.7 percent Islamic banks can issue, which must include Mikhail Krutikhin, a partner with RusEnergy consultan- Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), announced growth of conventional banks, although the a loss absorption feature that allows regula- cy, said Russia could not influence oil prices through the move on Wednesday as part of a pack- OJK had projected Islamic banking assets tors to convert such debt into equity if a export cuts and joked that more drastic measures might age of 20 new rules, which range from cor- would grow by 14.4 percent in 2014 under a lender faces insolvency. Asset quality be needed. “There is no real way for Russia to support porate governance to microfinance. moderate scenario, down from 24.2 percent requirements address profit-sharing financ- prices, only to make a revolution some oil producing Indonesia has the world’s biggest Muslim in 2013 and 34.1 percent in 2012. ing such as mudaraba and musharaka, com- country,” he said. — Reuters population but its Islamic finance market Under the revised rules, Islamic banks mon equity-like contracts used in Islamic only holds a 4.5 percent of total banking must hold increasing levels of capital finance. — Reuters Business FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 39 Casablanca bourse plans board for smaller firms MARRAKESH: The Casablanca Stock Exchange will set up a new board for the shares of small and medium-sized enterpris- es to make it easier for them to raise money, the exchange’s chief executive Karim Hajji said. Limited access to finance for small firms is hurting Morocco’s efforts to create more jobs. At the same time, authorities want to cut companies’ heavy dependence on bank loans, which can make it hard for the cen- tral bank to tighten liquidity without starving the corporate sec- tor of finance. One solution is to increase equity financing through a new board that would attract small firms with less onerous listing and reporting requirements than the main board. The exchange is discussing the plan for the new board with government agencies; regulations permitting it should be ready by April and the board may be launched by the end of next year, Hajji said in an interview. Government institutions, the exchange and brokers would work with companies to prepare them for injections of financ- ing, which could involve initial public offers of shares, private equity investments or bank loans, Hajji said. “It could be a three-year process - companies would be helped to get ready and get fit for fund injections.” —Reuters Volatile oil prices ALEPPO: A minibus rides past a destroyed building in a rebel-controlled area in the northern Syrian city of will not affect Aleppo yesterday. Once touted to become the biggest industrial zone in the Middle East, Aleppo’s buildings Qatar SWF: CEO have been reduced to carcasses-destroyed, burned and pillaged during the past two years of fighting. —AFP DOHA: Volatile oil prices will not force the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) to change its investment strategy, the sovereign War-ravaged industrial zone wealth fund’s chief executive said yesterday. A plunge in prices - benchmark Brent crude fell to more than a four-year low of below $77 per barrel last week - is hitting the in Syria hopes for new life finances of Gulf Arab oil exporting countries, which rely on crude and gas sales for most of state revenue. “In QIA, we have a long- term strategy, which accounts for the volatility in the market,” Aleppo’s industrial powerhouse lies in ruins Ahmed Al-Sayed told reporters on the sidelines of the industry con- ference in Doha. “We are adjusted and ready for such a scenario.” ALEPPO, Syria: Once touted to become the biggest industri- you see, I rebuilt and repainted them,” said 51-year-old Asked whether there will be a short-term adjustment, he told al zone in the Middle East, Sheikh Najjar near the ravaged Mohamed Hajar, owner of Al-Bayan factory. “Now I am repair- a news conference: “No, I don’t think so. We evaluate the market Syrian city of Aleppo is now simply hoping for a second ing my machines,” added Hajar, whose business making fab- from time to time.” Gulf sovereign wealth funds such as the QIA chance. Most of its buildings have been reduced to carcasses- ric for furnishings once exported to Bulgaria, Romania and have built up large savings over recent years thanks to high oil destroyed, burned and pillaged during the past two years of Serbia. prices of above $100 per barrel. The QIA, one of the top investors fighting in Syria’s former industrial powerhouse. “I’ve been asleep for two years! So now, I’m working night globally, has an estimated $170 billion worth of assets, accord- But with the government’s recapture of the area, Aleppo’s and day. I have six Italian looms. Two are lightly damaged and ing to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. businessmen are taking their first steps to return and restore won’t take long to get back to work, two others were burnt Sayed also declined to comment on whether the fund will the once-bustling zone. and I have refurbished them,” he said. make a new bid for Songbird Estates. Songbird, the majority own- “The soldiers retook the industrial zone on July 7 and Two more charred looms, covered in a tarpaulin, are await- er of London’s Canary Wharf, rejected a 2.2 billion pound takeover when we entered a week later, we saw the devastation. Some ing their turn, but the factory is already restarting work. It is proposal from the QIA and Brookfield Property Partners on Nov. 7, buildings had simply disappeared,” said 55-year-old producing 1,000 meters (yards) of colored fabric a day, after saying the 295 pence-a-share offer undervalued the group. The Mohamad Handie, the zone’s director-general. “Despite repairs that have already cost Hajar $75,000. To return the QIA already owns 28.6 percent of Songbird, which in turn owns 69 everything, we remain optimistic, because in the weeks that factory to full capacity would cost the dynamic entrepreneur percent of Canary Wharf Group, the owner of the estate which followed my arrival, I received many requests to return, eight times his outlay so far. rivals the City of London as a financial services centre. US-based Brookfield, which operates and invests in office rebuild, refurbish machines,” he added. and industrial property, has a 22 percent stake in Canary Wharf “It was very encouraging.” Syria’s civil war swept into ‘Back to life’ Group. The Sunday Times reported on Nov 9 that the pair may Aleppo in mid-2012, and the fighting quickly divided the city When the industrial zone was established in 2004, it was return with a higher offer. —Reuters between regime control in the west and rebel control of the intended to host 6,000 companies, and 1,250 were already east. there. Most produced textiles, though there were also engi- Sheikh Najjar, located to the northeast of the city, was in neering, food, and chemical and pharmaceutical operations, rebel hands and the scene of fierce battles until its recapture. employing 42,000 people. Near the industrial zone, the walls are still daubed with graffiti Today, 140 businesses have reopened their doors, and left behind by rebels, including the flags of the Islamic State Handie hopes that around 900 will be up and running within jihadist group and Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front. two years. For that to happen, the state will need to invest “Freedom for us and hell for the Alawites,” reads one slo- $62.5 million (50 million euros) in infrastructure, because the gan, referring to the religious community to which President zone now lacks virtually everything, and the businesses at Bashar Al-Assad belongs. least $500 million. But that may be a tall order for the Syrian government, which is struggling to make ends meet and is ‘Working night and day’ heavily reliant on aid from its allies. The Syrian conflict that began in March 2011 has ravaged Handie accuses Turkey, a key backer of the Syrian opposi- the country’s economy and infrastructure. Economists say tion, of pillaging machines from Sheikh Najjar’s factories and gross domestic product has contracted more than 40 percent, insists many of them are still on the other side of the border. millions of homes have been destroyed, half the workforce is But despite the challenges, those who have returned to unemployed and inflation is around 50 percent. Sheikh Najjar are ebullient. “I stopped working in 2012 and I MANILA: A boy walks on one of the trusses of the Despite the lingering presence of snipers and the occa- lived like a zombie for two years, but I have come back to life Quezon Bridge in Manila yesterday. The Philippine sional sound of shelling, workers labor away in Sheikh Najjar, being back in my factory,” said an emotional Muwaffaq economy rebounded to post 6.4-percent growth in rebuilding walls, repainting and installing generators and Abawi, head of a plastics factory. “Look at me. I’m really alive! the second quarter and regain its status as one of the cables. And now I’m rebuilding, repainting, restoring. I’m not going strongest in Asia, authorities said in August. —AFP “When I returned, my factory had been burnt. All the walls to die. We are a people who are not born to die.” —AFP Business FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 40 Peru outlines tax cuts to revive economy

LIMA: Peru will introduce a law to cut cor- evening. The bill will also reduce income taxes Only a month ago, the government of porate and personal taxes as part of a “The change (will) incentivize invest- for lower-paid workers to 8 percent from Ollanta Humala, a former leftist who has reform package the government hopes will ment ... so companies have greater income the current 15 percent, as of January. That taken a centrist tack in power, ruled out help revive a slowing economy, the finance and productivity,” Segura told journalists. should give people an extra 1 million soles cutting taxes to encourage investment, minister announced. The government will Peru’s economic growth has fallen to five- ($340 million) of cash to spend, said saying that would leave it without the submit a bill to Congress that will seek to year lows as mineral exports have tumbled Segura. funds needed for long-term projects. gradually reduce company income tax to on lower global prices and weaker produc- “We want to put money in people’s Last Friday, Segura trimmed his 2014 26 percent by 2019 from the current 30 tion. Interest rate cuts earlier in 2014 and pockets,” he said. Prime Minister Ana Jara growth forecast for the fourth time in two percent, said Alonso Segura following a several other reform packages have failed called the measures “the most important of months, to 2.8 percent, well below the 5.8 cabinet meeting late on Wednesday to jumpstart growth. this government so far”. percent reached last year. —Reuters Britain’s RBS fined $88m for 2012 systems crash LONDON: Royal Bank of Scotland has been fined 56 million pounds ($88 million) by Britain’s financial regulators for a system crash in 2012 that left millions of customers unable to make or receive pay- ments. The 2012 outage, caused by a botched software upgrade, affected 6.5 million customers of RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank in Britain for several weeks and raised questions about the resilience of the group’s technology. Some industry sources say RBS’s systems are outdated and made up of a complex patchwork of systems after dozens of acquisitions. The penalties imposed yesterday comprised a 42 million pound fine from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and a 14 million pound fine from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The two regulators conducted a joint investigation into the mat- ter and the fine from the PRA is the first it has imposed since its cre- ation in April 2013. They concluded that RBS’s systems and controls had been inadequate. PRA Chief Executive Andrew Bailey said the incident “revealed a very poor legacy of IT resilience and inadequate management of IT risks”. “It is crucial that RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank fix the underlying problems that have been identified to avoid threatening the safety and soundness of the banks,” he said. To prevent a recurrence of the problems, RBS has said it will invest an extra 750 million pounds by the end of 2015 to enhance the secu- rity and resilience of its IT systems. “I am confident that the progress we have made ... has made RBS better able to provide the services our customers expect,” said Chairman Philip Hampton. The group suffered a further technology outage in December last TOKYO: Shipping containers are loaded onto the trailer trucks at the port in Tokyo yesterday. Japan’s trade year, which left more than 1 million customers unable to withdraw deficit narrowed sharply in October as a weaker yen boosted exports while lower oil prices brought down cash or pay for goods on one of the busiest shopping days of the the country’s massive energy bill. —AFP year. Following that episode, Chief Executive Ross McEwan admitted RBS - which is 80 percent-owned by the British government - had neglected its technology for decades. However, the FCA concluded that the 2012 incident was not the result of the bank’s failure to Japan trade gap narrows invest sufficiently in its IT structure. It noted that RBS spends over 1 billion pounds annually to maintain its IT infrastructure. The incident had already cost the bank 175 million pounds in sharply on export boost compensation for customers and extra payments to staff after the bank opened branches for longer in response. The bank said 6 million pounds was taken off its wage bill following the incident as a result of Lower oil brings down energy bill some staff forfeiting pay and bonuses, including bonuses waived by former RBS Chief Executive Stephen Hester and Ulster Bank CEO Jim Brown. —Reuters TOKYO: Japan’s trade deficit narrowed struggles to plug its energy gap after the On Wednesday, the Bank of Japan sharply in October, data showed yester- 2011 Fukushima crisis forced the shut- upgraded its view on exports as it held day, as a weaker yen boosted exports down of nuclear reactors that once sup- off further expanding its huge stimulus while lower oil prices brought down the plied more than a quarter of its power. program. However, the picture for country’s massive energy bill. The figures That problem has been exacerbated exports remains cloudy amid tepid marked a bright spot among otherwise by the yen’s sharp fall-it is currently at a growth in the euro-zone and a slow- gloomy data lately, including GDP fig- seven-year low against the dollar-which down in China, a key trading partner for ures earlier this week that showed the hiked the cost of imports purchased in Japan. world’s number-three economy had foreign currencies. But October oil And on Monday, Prime Minister slipped into recession. Japanese exports imports were down 10.8 percent, partly Shinzo Abe’s growth blitz, dubbed jumped nearly 10 percent last month, as reflecting lower prices on the world mar- Abenomics, took a body blow as gross higher shipments of cars, ships and steel ket. The country’s trade balance was like- domestic product figures showed that helped the trade balance, while imports ly to narrow further as commodity prices the economy contracted for the second ticked up 2.7 percent. moderate while the US Federal Reserve straight quarter, after an April sales tax That translated into a monthly trade winds up its quantitative easing plan and rise hammered spending. deficit of 709.9 billion yen ($6.0 billion), eyes an interest rate hike next year, said Japan’s economy shrank 0.4 percent, or nearly 36 percent lower than a year- Junichi Makino, chief economist at SMBC or at an annualized rate of 1.6 percent, before shortfall of 1,100.4 billion yen, the Nikko Securities. between July and September, after suf- finance ministry said. “The Federal Reserve is about to tight- fering a 1.9 percent contraction in the The value of shipments to China rose en its credit grip, sending commodities previous three months. 7.2 percent, while exports to North prices tumbling,” he said in a note. “This The poor reading prompted Abe to America climbed 8.5 percent and those is a reversal of what had happed before. delay another tax hike slated for late NEW DELHI: Industry Director for E-commerce, local to the European Union were up 5.4 per- The normalization of the Federal next year, as he called a snap election to and classified, Nitin Bawankule addresses the media cent. Energy costs have weighed heavily Reserve’s monetary policy is expected to fend off ruling party rivals ahead of a during the launch of Google’s online shopping trend on Japan as the resource-poor country normalize Japan’s trade balance.” leadership vote slated for 2015. —AFP reports in New Delhi yesterday. —AFP Business FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 Fed sees solid US economy, despite emerging threats Landmark bond buying program to end

WASHINGTON: Federal Reserve policy-makers discussed a variety of economic threats at their October meeting - from turbulent financial markets to overseas weakness - but decided to move forward with plans to end their landmark bond buy- ing program. Minutes of the Fed’s Oct. 28-29 meeting released on Wednesday showed that Fed officials grappled with a number of developments, from sharp moves in US stock prices to increased signs of weakness in such key regions as Europe and Asia. They also expressed concern that inflation, which has been running below the Fed’s target of 2 percent, could drift lower because of falling energy prices and a strengthening US dollar. A number of Fed officials noted that economic growth might be slower over the medium term than currently expect- ed if foreign economic conditions or financial markets deterio- rated significantly, the minutes said. But the officials also expressed confidence that the US economy was on solid foot- ing and expected to keep improving. The minutes cited the “somewhat weaker economic out- look and increased downsides risks in Europe, China and Japan.” But it said that Fed officials believed the impact would likely be “quite limited” on the US economy, in part because they expected that the slowdown in overseas demand would likely be less severe than initially feared. Wall Street staged a big rally after release of the September meeting minutes as investors assumed that the Fed would delay a rate hike because of concerns about weakness over- seas. However, the release of the October minutes had little mar- ket impact. Economists said the comments did not alter their expectation that the first rate hike would probably take place around June of next year. “The timing will depend on the data ... nothing very definitive,” said Jim O’Sullivan, chief US econo- mist at High Frequency Economics. The minutes showed that for a second meeting there was a debate over the language outlining the pace of interest rate hikes. Board members debated whether or not to remove lan- guage Fed officials have used since the spring that they ATHENS: Greek pensioners march in central Athens yesterday to protest against harsh austerity measures and pension expected to keep a key short-term interest rate low for a “con- cuts. Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis is set to table the final draft of the 2015 budget in Parliament today. — AFP siderable time” after halting monthly bond purchases. — AP

EU should keep limit on bank bonus: Adviser BBVA issues new shares BRUSSELS/LONDON: Britain’s relations with the ating across Europe, they are an internal market matter. at 8.25 euros each European Union took another knock yesterday when its Britain’s finance ministry said it was considering the opin- legal challenge to a limit on bankers’ bonuses was reject- ion and its implications. The full court is expect to issue its MADRID: Spanish bank BBVA said Wednesday. The deal cuts Dogus’ ed by an adviser to the bloc’s top court. The EU law aims ruling on the UK challenge in early 2015. yesterday it had priced a 2-billion- stake to 10 percent. to curb the kind of risk-taking that led to the financial cri- “While this is not necessarily the end of the UK’s chal- euro ($2.5 billion) rights issue to fund BBVA said it would raise around 2 sis by limiting bonuses awarded from 2015 to a sum no lenge, it doesn’t give the UK much hope of success when the raising of its stake in Turkey’s billion euros through the share sale more than a banker’s fixed pay, or twice that level with the Court hands down its decision early next year,” said Garanti at 8.25 euros a share, as it to fund the deal and boost its solven- shareholder approval. Rob Moulton, a regulatory partner at Ashurst lawfirm. pursues its strategy of overseas cy ratios. The purchase will further Britain, home of Europe’s largest financial centre, said “Some may even say it’s a clear indication of the likely expansion. Spain’s second-biggest bolster the Spanish bank’s global the law will push up fixed pay and goes beyond the EU’s winner in the power struggle between the EU and the lender said on Wednesday it was footprint, which has helped it weath- treaty powers, a sensitive subject at a time of rising British UK.” Britain had said that giving the EU’s European raising its stake in Garanti, one of er the worst economic crisis in anti-EU sentiment. The adviser, whose opinions are non- Banking Authority powers to set the bonus cap was illegal Turkey’s biggest banks, in a deal that decades in its home country over the binding but are generally followed at least in part by the but the opinion said the EBA had flexibility to interpret will give it control of the board. past five years. Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice, supported the law. The opinion marks a setback for Britain and could The new shares represent 4.09 Spanish banks are seeing the first the limit on banker bonuses and said it did not restrict the give more ammunition to anti-EU campaigners who percent of BBVA’s capital before the signs of a recovery, but tepid lending total amount of pay. object to having decisions imposed by Brussels. The UK issue and 3.93 percent after, the levels and ongoing efforts to clean up “In his opinion today, Advocate General Niilo Independence Party, which rejects the influence of the EU bank said in a statement to the stock their balance sheets after a real estate J‰‰skinen suggests that all the UK’s pleas should be over Britain, is hoping to win a vote on Thursday that market regulator. Shares in BBVA fell crash left them crippled with bad rejected and that the Court of Justice dismiss the action,” would give it a second parliamentary seat. 5 percent to their lowest level in debt is leading them to seek new the ECJ said in a statement. Bankers, many based in the City of London, have tried nearly a year on Thursday after they pockets of growth abroad. In Turkey, “However, fixing the ratio of variable remuneration to to get round the bonus cap by bumping up fixed salaries - resumed trading following a market though government measures to cut basic salaries does not equate to a ‘cap on bankers bonus- a move the bloc’s banking watchdog has said is illegal. regulator suspension. Turkish con- the current account deficit and cool es’, or fixing the level of pay, because there is no limit Bank of England governor Mark Carney and others have glomerate Dogus Holding has the economy have hit banks’ mar- imposed on the basic salaries that the bonuses are said that bankers’ fixed salaries may also need regulating. agreed to sell a 14.89 percent stake gins, most have continued to post pegged against.” “The bonus cap alone is too blunt an instrument to to BBVA, which already owns 25 per- profits. And there is room for growth Jaaskinen said that since bonuses relate to risk taking curb risk taking in the banking industry,” said Tom cent of Garanti, for 5.5 billion lira as there are millions of people with- at banks and can affect their financial stability while oper- Gosling, head of PwC’s reward practice. — Reuters ($2.5 billion), Garanti said on out bank accounts. -— Reuters Sports FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

MUMBAI: In this file photo, Indian Super League (ISL) founding chairperson Nita Ambani (center) poses with players during the unveiling of the ISL trophy in Mumbai, India. The Indian Super League seems to have added the zing that football needed in this country of 1.2 billion people, which FIFA chief Sepp Blatter once called “a sleeping giant.” — AP India’s new football league making a big splash

NEW DELHI: When the Indian Super League kicked sultancy Libero Sports. “It’s reached even people eral Jerome Valcke and AIFF President Praful Patel ball journalist and author Mohammad Aminul off, it certainly seemed to add the zing that football who do not follow football and some 70 million insist the I-League remains India’s only league and Islam also doubts the new league will successfully needed in a country which FIFA chief Sepp Blatter watched it on the first day. I feel it’s already the sec- the ISL is merely a tournament. Narinder K Bhatia, raise the standard of football in India because it’s once called “a sleeping giant” of the game. But ond best sports property here after cricket’s Indian vice president of the Delhi Soccer Association, fears dominated by foreign players and, in his opinion, while the new eight-team league featuring big Premier League.” Part of the reason for its success that a clash of systems could negatively impact the the quality of the matches has so far been names such as Nicolas Anelka, Alessandro Del has been the use of cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar game in the long run. “State associations are being mediocre. Piero, Robert Pires and Luis Garcia has lifted foot- and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, as well as a handful of sidelined. I fear the football culture will suffer Brazilian midfielder Blumer is the leading scorer ball to a level not seen here before, many observers Indian film stars, to market the league across the rather than improve as even the present feeder sys- with eight goals, while players like Anelka and Del are wondering whether it will be enough to help country. But despite the added glamour, some crit- tem will collapse,” he said. “On the one hand, peo- Piero clearly have too much still for Indian players, grow the domestic game in the long run. The tour- ics believe Indian football will not benefit greatly if ple are getting to watch the likes of players like despite being past their primes. “The ISL should nament, which began in October and finishes in the country’s top domestic league, the I-League, is Messi on television, and on the other these semi- have only one or two active marquee players in December, has big money and sponsors behind it - left to rot. Brazilian great Zico, who helped lead the retired players. Do you think people will become each team instead of several over-the-hill stars,” organized by IMG-Reliance in collaboration with transformation of domestic football in Japan, said fans of these players? They’ll forget our own play- Islam said. Rupert Murdoch’s Star India group and the All India the existence of two separate leagues could be an ers and past stars.” “The ISL should’ve encouraged locals more than Football Federation. impediment to the sport’s growth. “In Japan, the Singh, too, is in favor of having just one league foreigners.” As for the fans, many are happy to shell And interest among fans has been high through difference was that everyone was playing in one in the country. “We have resourceful companies out 200 rupees (about $3) for the spectacle, even if the first half of the tournament, with attendance league only and not two leagues like in India,” said backing teams in either league and I would love to the level of play isn’t so great. “We’re not really averaging 22,639 per match, the highest for a foot- Zico, who is coaching the Goa club in the ISL. see them combined and play a six-to-eight month backing teams,” said student Aryan Singh after ball league in Asia. “Indian football has never been “Here, some of the very good players are not play- league,” he said. “I would ideally like a situation watching a game in New Delhi. “It’s only a matter packaged so well before,” said Sukhvinder Singh, ing in ISL.” where everyone is working toward improving the of getting a feel of watching a football match live managing director of the football marketing con- Top football officials such as FIFA secretary-gen- grassroots and instilling club culture.” Indian foot- rather than cricket.”— AP Saudis complete Whistleblower fears for Gulf Cup revival Safety, denounces FIFA RIYADH: A first half thunderbolt by Nawaf Al Abed gave hosts Saudi Arabia a 1-0 win over surprise package Yemen and a place in the semi-finals in the Gulf Cup on Wednesday. The Al Hilal mid- LONDON: A whistleblower in the World Cup bidding contro- my security was being threatened and to protect me,” Almajid fielder struck a left-foot shot after 28 minutes to ensure the three- versy fears her treatment by FIFA will prevent people from said from Washington. She did not give details of the threats. time winners qualify top of Group A with seven points, with Qatar coming forward with allegations of corruption and says she “The FBI wanted me to get in contact with the Qataris so in second with three points after a 0-0 draw with Bahrain, their was approached three years ago by the FBI, which was wor- that they could admit the fact there was a deal between me third draw in three matches. Saudi Arabia dominated virtually ried about her safety. Former Qatar bid worker Phaedra and them,” she added. “They recorded me speaking to a sen- every minute of the game at King Fahd stadium in Riyadh and the Almajid has complained to FIFA that her right to witness confi- ior official from Qatar. The senior official admitted there was a 1-0 scoreline was not an indication of their performance. dentiality in the bidding investigation was breached in an deal for (retracting) the affidavit and they would provide a let- It was, however, enough to complete coach Juan Ramon ethics report last week, claiming she was easily identifiable ter saying they wouldn’t sue me.” Supervisory Special Agent Lopez Caro’s team’s revival after they started the tournament with even though she wasn’t named. Martin Feely of the FBI’s New York office did not respond to an a lucky 1-1 draw with Qatar and indicated they should enter next Almajid, who lives in Washington, DC, and worked in the email seeking comment. Qatar repeatedly has denied any year’s Asian Cup in Australia with some momentum. Lopez Caro, who was convinced by the Saudis to stay until the end of the bid team’s media department, also is angry the report by FIFA wrongdoing in bringing the World Cup to the Middle East for regional tournament after pressure from the media, asked for judge Hans-Joachim Eckert said she and Australian whistle- the first time by winning the 2010 vote. Almajid said she more support for the team before next week’s semi-final. “We are blower Bonita Mersiades lacked credibility. “After what they’ve remains concerned about her safety. “Being a whistleblower getting better and better. To build a good team, we need sup- done to me and Bonita, who else is going to want to come for- has changed my life and my kids’ lives. I will be looking over port”, he told a press conference. “It does not matter who we face ward and be a FIFA whistleblower?” Almajid said Wednesday my shoulder until 2022 is over,” she said. in the semis. For me every match is a final.” during a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “I Though not named by Eckert, Almajid was easily identified The last four would not be completed until Thursday when wish what happened to me as a whistleblower never happens in a section covering Qatar titled “Role and Relevance of a Group B leaders Kuwait meet Oman and holders UAE face Iraq. again to anyone. I would never wish this on anyone.” ‘Whistleblower’” based on her 2011 statements. Eckert, who Yemen, who collected more than one point in a Gulf Cup for the Almajid alleged in 2011 that three FIFA executive commit- assessed evidence from FIFA prosecutor Michael Garcia, con- first time, played their worst match in the tournament and coach tee members were paid $1.5 million each to vote for Qatar. cluded in his 42-page report the whistleblower “altered evi- Miroslav Soukup blamed the players for getting ahead of them- She was named in a July 2011 statement in which she retract- dence” to support the allegations and had not “relied on any selves. “Why did we lose? Maybe I know why, I told the players before the match not to think about the future. Maybe they start- ed her claims of corruption but says she was coerced to do so information or material.” “He discredited me and breached the ed thinking about money and rewards”, he said. Two-time cham- by unidentified Qatari officials. Almajid said about two months confidentiality agreement we had,” she said. She added: “This pions Qatar had earlier become the first team to qualify for the after she signed that retraction, American law enforcement has cost me dearly. I am ready to keep fighting for the truth to semi-finals with their scoreless draw with Bahrain. — Reuters officials visited her house because they became aware her be known and for what happened to me not to happen to safety was in danger. “The FBI came to me because they knew anyone else.”— AP Sports FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 Fallen Italian giants Ferrari relaunches title ambitions Vettel replaces Alonso at Ferrari

MILAN: Fallen Italian giants Ferrari relaunched their Formula One world title ambitions by confirming Sebastian Vettel on a three-year deal yesterday that will see the German team up with Kimi Raikkonen from next year. Ferrari’s announcement came minutes after con- firmation of Fernando Alonso’s depar- ture from the team after a five-year spell in which the Spaniard ultimately failed to deliver a world championship title. The last time the ‘Scuderia’ topped the driv- ers’ standings was in 2007 when Raikkonen, in his previous spell with the team, triumphed before quitting the sport to test his skills in rallying. Since then, the ‘Prancing Horse’ and the iconic red Ferrari cars have been playing catch-up to the Renault engines that have fired Red Bull and Vettel to four consecutive titles in the drivers’ and constructors’ standings. German Vettel is regarded as the heir to stricken com- patriot Michael Schumacher, who won ABU DHABI: Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso of Spain (right) speaks with Red five of his seven world titles with Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany during a news conference at the Yas Ferrari.Vettel currently sits fourth in the Marina racetrack in Abu Dhabi. — AP drivers’ standings, 158 points behind Schumacher. “The next stage of my leaves the team at the end of this season, Britain’s Lewis Hamilton ahead of the Formula 1 career will be spent with after a five year period which, with one final race of the season at Abu Dhabi. Scuderia Ferrari and for me that means race remaining, saw him score 1186 Ferrari team principal Marco Mattiacci the dream of a lifetime has come true,” points, 44 podiums and 11 wins. believes Vettel’s “youthfulness and expe- said Vettel. “When I was a kid, Michael “Everyone at Scuderia Ferrari thanks ABU DHABI: Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg of Germany rience” will make him an “invaluable Schumacher in the red car was my great- Fernando for his great contribution on arrives with his bike at the Yas Marina racetrack in Abu asset” to the team as they look to end est idol and now it’s an incredible honor both a personal and professional level.” Dhabi yesterday. The Emirates Formula One Grand Prix their seven-year title wait. to finally get the chance to drive a Alonso, who won two world titles will take place on Sunday. — AP “Scuderia Ferrari has decided to put Ferrari. “The Scuderia has a great tradi- with Renault in 2005 and 2006, admitted its faith in the youngest multiple cham- tion in this sport and I am extremely leaving Ferrari was not an easy decision Rosberg - the prince pion in the history of Formula One,” motivated to help the team get back to to make. Alonso said: “It was a difficult Mattiacci said. “In Formula One terms, the top. I will put my heart and soul into decision to take, but a carefully consid- born to be F1 king Sebastian Vettel is a unique combination making it happen.” ered one and from start to finish, my love of youthfulness and experience and he Schumacher, 45, who raced for Ferrari for Ferrari was a prime consideration. “I brings with him that sense of team spirit between 1996 and 2006, is currently leave Scuderia Ferrari after five years, ABU DHABI: Nico Rosberg’s first recollection of Formula One which will prove invaluable when, receiving treatment at his home in during which I reached my very best lev- came in Monaco when, asleep on a yacht in the harbor, he was together with Kimi, they tackle the chal- Gland, Switzerland, after suffering severe el professionally, tackling major chal- awoken by the sound of Ayrton Senna’s McLaren screaming lenges awaiting us, as we aim to be front brain injuries in a skiing accident in the lenges that pushed me to find new lim- through the tunnel. Fast forward to 2014 and the son of 1982 runners again as soon as possible.” French Alps last December. Alonso, its. “I am very proud of what we have champion Keke arrives for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a very Vettel, who has won four consecutive meanwhile, is being tipped with a return achieved together. Now I look to the real shot at his own world title. He won’t care a jot but should he world titles in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 to the McLaren team after leaving Ferrari future with great enthusiasm, knowing prevail over Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton on Sunday he said he was delighted to be given the by “mutual consent”, according to a that part of my heart will always belong will inevitably go down in F1 history as the lucky ‘double points’ chance to emulate his “greatest idol” team statement. “Fernando Alonso to the Prancing Horse.”— AFP champion. In any normal season, Hamilton, who holds a 17-point lead, would only need to take sixth to guarantee his second title, even if Rosberg won the season-closer. But with controversial double points going to the winner this year, victory in the Gulf desert for Single-minded Hamilton Rosberg would see him claim the drivers’ crown if Hamilton slips up and finishes no better than third. Win or lose, no one can deny Rosberg hasn’t played his part in a season which pushed his boy- speeds to gold and glory hood friendship with Hamilton almost to breaking point. ABU DHABI: From anonymous middle with pop singer Nicole Scherzinger as well His refusal to defer to double world champi- With his ice-cool exterior, Rosberg is the antithesis of the far England to a life of fabulous riches, a rock as the modern-day confirmation of having on Fernando Alonso during his McLaren more demonstrative Hamilton. He has needed all his reserves of star girlfriend, a scarlet red private jet and ‘made it’ — 2.46 million Twitter followers. days marked him out in the paddock as sang-froid to deal with a season dripping with drama, most of it the brink of a second Formula One world When he was just 10 years old, Hamilton, fiercely single-minded. served up by the Mercedes men. A simmering on-track feud title. Lewis Hamilton’s journey from his never one to lack self-confidence, famously Some interpret that trait as petulance threatened to boil over in Monaco, and duly did after incidents in humble roots to become Britain’s most suc- approached McLaren team principal Ron bordering on arrogance although a need to Hungary and Spa, when he came under attack for hitting his cessful racing driver will enjoy another Dennis and told him: “I want to race for you abandon introspection is a prerequisite for teammate’s car. Booed by the fans at Spa and Monza, Rosberg surge on Sunday if, as expected, he sees off one day .... I want to race for McLaren.” any self-respecting racing driver who won himself back many admirers with his professionalism and the challenge of Mercedes teammate Nico Three years later, McLaren and spends his Sundays chasing victories at consistency at Interlagos last time out, when he backed up his Rosberg in the season-concluding race in Mercedes-Benz signed him to their young 300k/mh. tenth pole of the year with his fifth win of the season to set up Abu Dhabi. Born on January 7, 1985, driver program and he has not looked back. Others put Hamilton’s divisiveness down Sunday’s decider. Hamilton never had any doubts about Titles in karting, British Formula Renault, to his conditioning in his McLaren days. “If Unlike Hamilton, he was born to race, sitting in a car for the where his future desires would take him Formula Three and GP2 championships they were a color, they would be grey. They first time aged four, with Keke in the passenger seat. With the once his influential father Anthony brought paved the way for a seat with McLaren in suck the personality out of their drivers. guiding presence of his Finnish father, the Wiesbaden-born him a remote-control car. 2007.One year later, he was, at 23, the Spontaneity is anathema to them. If they are Rosberg graduated from karting to claiming the GP2 crown in Hamilton senior recognized that his youngest world champion in history after a about one thing, it is control,” wrote British 2005. He was given his F1 break by Williams the next year, scor- son’s childhood passions could translate dramatic fifth-place finish in a rain-soaked, journalist Oliver Holt in the Daily Mirror. At ing points on his debut in Bahrain when his then teammate Mark eventually into a dazzling career-he remort- chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix allowed him to Mercedes, the team he joined for the 2013 gaged the family home and took a string of write his name into the record books with season, Hamilton’s relationship with team- Webber coined the nickname ‘Britney’ (Spears) for his popstar jobs to fund the youngster’s passion. They victory by one point. mate and friend Rosberg has stretched to good looks. Given what has taken place this season it was only fit- were the roots of a fortune which has now Tattooed and an unabashed devotee of the brink of collapse by clashes at Monaco ting that Rosberg shared his first ever podium, a third in 2008, yielded an estimated £68 million, a romance bling, Hamilton divides fans and rivals alike. and an on-track collision at Spa. —AFP with Hamilton. —AFP Sports FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 Spurs snatch victory from James again

CLEVELAND: The San Antonio Spurs contin- to lift Phoenix. PJ Tucker added 16 points for Mozgov finished with a season-high 17 to lift Channing Frye and Andrew Nicholson each had ued their success over LeBron James-led the Suns, who have won four of their last six. Denver over Oklahoma City. Ty Lawson added 10 each points for the Magic. teams by edging the Cleveland Cavaliers 92- Brandon Jennings scored 19 points to lead 15 points and 15 assists for the Nuggets, who 90 behind Tim Duncan’s double double and a Detroit, losers of three straight and six of sev- returned home following a 21 trip that includ- PACERS 88, HORNETS 86 key forced turnover by Manu Ginobili. Duncan en. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s 3-pointer with ed a win over LeBron James and the Cavaliers. Solomon Hill tipped in a miss by Rodney delivered 19 points and 10 rebounds and about 40 seconds left put the Pistons ahead Serge Ibaka had 22 points and 13 rebounds Stuckey as time expired, and the Pacers over- Boris Diaw also scored 19 points on 86-85 before the Suns regained the lead on for Oklahoma City, who have started the sea- came an early 18-point deficit to beat the Wednesday for San Antonio who posted their Bledsoe’s driving layup. The game was played son 3-10 without Kevin Durant (broken right Hornets. Hill finished with six points. Roy fifth victory in the last six games. “It is a big on the 10th anniversary of Pacers-Pistons foot) and Russell Westbrook (broken right Hibbert had 18 points and 11 rebounds as the one,” Duncan said. “A great victory on the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills, which hand). Pacers spoiled Lance Stephenson’s first trip road against a very talented team.” The Spurs started when Indiana’s Ron Artest went into back to Indianapolis since signing with literally snatched the victory from the James’ the crowd after being hit by a thrown beer. CELTICS 101, 76ERS 90 Charlotte in July. Luis Scola contributed 15 hands Wednesday as they forced the Brandon Bass scored 23 points, Jared points and seven rebounds for Indiana. Cleveland star to commit a turnover on the MAVERICKS 105, WIZARDS 102 Sullinger added 22 and Boston sent Stephenson had 10 points, eight rebounds Cavs’ final possession of the game. Ginobili Dirk Nowitzki limped off to the locker Philadelphia to its 11th straight loss to start and seven assists. Al Jefferson added 28 scooped up the ball and ran out the clock for room after a fourth-quarter fall, then returned the season. Rajon Rondo had 13 assists with points and eight rebounds. the defending champion Spurs in front of a crowd of 20,562 at Quicken Loans arena. James finished with 15 points and nine assists in 34 minutes of playing time. The Spurs defeated James and the Miami Heat in five games to claim last season’s NBA title. James left the Heat in the off season to re-join his hometown Cavaliers. NBA finals MVP Kawhi Leonard finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Cory Joseph came off the bench to score 10 points in the win. “We are still trying to get ourselves together,” Duncan said. “We are not playing very well right now and we are missing some guys.”

BUCKS 122, NETS 118, 3OT The Milwaukee Bucks overcame Brandon Knight’s shocking missed layup at the end of the first overtime to outlast the Nets in coach Jason Kidd’s return to Brooklyn. Knight made the tying 3-pointer in the second overtime and the clinching free throws with 5.6 sec- onds to go in the third, allowing the Bucks to escape with a victory. Rookie Jabari Parker scored a season-high 23 points, OJ Mayo added 21, and Knight and Giannis Antetokounmpo each had 18 for the Bucks, who won their third straight. Brook Lopez scored a season-best 26 points for the Nets, who have dropped five in a row.

RAPTORS 96, GRIZZLIES 92 DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points and Terrence Ross had 14 of his 16 in the fourth quarter as Toronto beat undermanned Memphis. Kyle Lowry scored 18 and Lou Williams had 13 as the Eastern Conference leaders won for the seventh time in eight games. Marc Gasol had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Zach Randolph added 18 points and 18 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who came in with the NBA’s best record at 10-1 but had their four-game winning streak stopped. Memphis had just 10 active players after Courtney Lee, Tony Allen, Kosta Koufos, Jon Leuer and Beno Udrih got sick and had to go to a hospital with dehydration.

LAKERS 98, ROCKETS 92 Kobe Bryant had 29 points, Wesley Johnson made key free throws down the NEW YORK: Milwaukee Bucks Larry Sanders (8) flies through the air while covering Brooklyn Nets Deron Williams during their NBA stretch and Los Angeles took advantage of Dwight Howard’s absence in a victory over game November 19, 2014 at the Barclay Center. — AFP Houston. It was the second consecutive win to make a key 3-pointer, and Monta Ellis nine points, and Jeff Green chipped in 11 TIMBERWOLVES 115, KNICKS 99 for the Lakers following a 1-9 start. Los scored 24 of his 34 points in the first half to points for the Celtics, who ended a three- Kevin Martin shook off an illness to score Angeles used a 7-1 run, highlighted by lead Dallas to its fifth straight win. Nowitzki game losing streak. Tony Wroten led five 76ers 37 points, and the Timberwolves, missing Bryant’s three-point play and capped by four went down in the key with about eight min- in double figures with 21 points. Philadelphia three starters, beat the Knicks. Martin tied a free throws from Johnson, to take a 94-92 utes left after twisting his left ankle, but he is seven defeats from tying the 2009-10 Nets career high with seven 3-pointers and lead with less than a minute left. Nick Young came back with 3 1/2 minutes to go and for the worst start in NBA history. Shabazz Muhammad had 17 points and eight and Bryant added two free throws apiece to Dallas trailing by a point. With 80 seconds left, rebounds for the Wolves, who were missing secure the victory. Tarik Black, a rookie who Nowitzki sank a 3 to put the Mavs ahead 102- CLIPPERS 114, MAGIC 90 Ricky Rubio, Thaddeus Young and Nikola was filling in for the injured Howard (strained 97. Washington lost at home for the first time Jamal Crawford had 22 point, and Chris Paul Pekovic. right knee), missed a free throw and a jump this season, despite Bradley Beal’s first action added 16 points and nine assists as the Clippers Rubio and Pekovic were out because of shot down the stretch. James Harden led the following left wrist surgery. He led beat the Magic. Blake Griffin scored 20 points, injuries and Young was away because of the Rockets with 24 points. Washington with 21 points. and Jordan Farmar and Matt Barnes each had death of his mother. Carmelo Anthony had 20 13 as the Clippers opened a seven-game East points and Amare Stoudemire added 19 for SUNS 88, PISTONS 86 NUGGETS 107, THUNDER 100 Coast trip with an easy victory. Tobias Harris led the Knicks, who were playing on the second Eric Bledsoe scored 18 points, including Wilson Chandler had 21 points, including a Orlando with 25 points. Nik Vucevic con- night of a back-to-back following a loss in the winning basket with 28.7 seconds to play, key 3-pointer late in the game, and Timofey tributed 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Milwaukee. — Agencies Sports FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 45

KUWAIT: Shooter Israa poses for a group photo with Duaij Al-Otaibi, Shooter Khalid Al-Subaie with Eng Duaij Al-Otaibi. Talal Al-Rashidi, Ahmad Khazaal, Obaid Al-Osaimi. Triumphant return for Kuwait shooting team

By Abdellatif Sharaa Arab Federations Obaid Al-Osaimi and which was held in Qatar and won 11 won the teams junior’s gold, while Kuwait Shootign Sport Club Board gold, 11 silver and 13 bronze medals. Mohammad Al-Hamly won the gold of KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Shooting Sport Member Hussam Al-Roumi. Qatar came first with 40 various medals the individuals juniors. Nasser Al-Khaldi National Team returned to Kuwait Kuwait competed with teams from 19 while Saudi Arabia took the third posi- won the bronze. President of the Arab Wednesday night after participating in the countries during the Asian champi- tion with 15 medals. Kuwait team’s and Kuwait Shooting Federations Eng Asian Clay Target Shooting Championship onships. The teams are; UAE, Bahrain, Nasser Al-Miqlid, Talal Al-Turqi and Duaij Al-Otaibi lauded the achievements in Al-Ain, UAE and the Arab championship Bangladesh, Korea, Hong Kong, India, Adbelrahman Al-Faihan won the gold of Arab shooters in general, and Kuwait that was held in Qatar. The team was Iraq, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Saudi medal of the team trap, while shooters in particular. He said the team is looking received by President of Kuwait and Arab Arabia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Khalid Al-Mudhaf and Abdelrahman Al- for more victories. Engineer Al-Otaibi Shooting Federations Eng Duaij Al-Otaibi, Philippines, Qatar, Syria, Thailand, and Faihan won the individual gold and sil- dedicated these achievements to HH the Deputy Director General of Public Uzbekistan. ver. Amir, HH the Crown Prince and HH the Authority for Youth and Sports Ahmad Kuwait’s team took the second place Kuwait’s Mohammad Al-Hamly, Prime Minister and the Kuwait people for Khazaal, Secretary General of Kuwait and during the 11th Arab championship, Nasser Al-Khaldi and Fares Al-Mutairi their continued support.

Shooters pictured with Obaid Al-Osaimi and Hussam Al-Roumi.

Rangers end three-game losing streak Zou transforms China’s pro boxing landscape NEW YORK: Cam Talbot made 31 saves for his first win of the season and fourth career NHL shutout as the New York Rangers ended a three-game MACAU: Manny Pacquiao will be cheered by thousands of fellow losing streak with a 2-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Filipinos as he defends his WBO welterweight title in Macau at the Wednesday. New York beat the Flyers for the ninth straight time at weekend, but without Zou Shiming the fight would be happen- Madison Square Garden in the regular season. Talbot got the win while ing elsewhere. Chris Algieri is Pacquiao’s latest opponent at the subbing for Henrik Lundqvist, who served as his backup. It was Talbot’s 15,000-seat Cotai Arena where the eight-weight world champion first victory since another shutout at Edmonton on March 30 - a span of defeated Brandon Rios a year ago in the southern Chinese city six games for the goalie. Kevin Klein scored in the first period, and Rick less than two hours flight from Manila. Nash had a goal in the second. Steve Mason stopped 32 shots for But it is double Olympic gold medal-winning flyweight Zou Philadelphia, which lost its third straight. who has been the driving force behind pro boxing’s rise in China and who is rapidly assuming superstar status. Zou had a cameo CANUCKS 5, OILERS 4 appearance in the latest “Transformers” film blockbuster and stars Radim Vrbata scored two goals in the second period to lead in a new TV advertisement for Beats headphones which will Vancouver to the victory. Jannik Hansen, Chris Higgins and Yannick debut this weekend in Asia alongside NBA star LeBron James and Weber also scored for the Canucks, who have won all four of their games tennis legend Serena Williams. “Zou is the engine behind all of against Edmonton this season and three of their last four games overall. this activity in China,” said Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. “He’s Canucks goalie Ryan Miller improved to 11-0 in his career against the poster boy.” Arum’s association with Zou and his manager Edmonton, now the longest active win streak against a single team in the Sheng Li, CEO of China sport events giants SECA, has resulted in NHL. He had 28 saves. The Oilers have lost four in a row and are winless NEW YORK: Cam Talbot No 33 of the New York the Venetian Macau becoming Asia’s premier boxing venue in against the NHL Western Conference in 10 games this season. Steven Rangers stops a shot as Wayne Simmonds No 17 less than two years. It also saw Top Rank and SECA stage the first Pinizzotto, Teddy Purcell, Boyd Gordon and Andrew Ference scored for of the Philadelphia Flyers tries to get the puck in ever professional card in mainland China in Shanghai three months ago. —AFP Edmonton, and Ben Scrivens made 26 stops. —AP the third period on November 19, 2014. —AFP Sports FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Ligue 1 set to resumes after a turbulent week

PARIS: Ligue 1 leaders Marseille can put their off-pitch worries aside on Sunday as they carry a slender one point lead into the weekend with a top of the table clash against Bordeaux. During a week that saw the Marseille president Vincent Labrune taken into custody as part of a probe into transfers including star strik- er Andre-Pierre Gignac, French football was struck by a double scandal after match-fixing accusations in Ligue 2 last season. Labrune was taken into custody in Marseille along with the club’s director-general Philippe Perez and former president Pape Diouf. Another former president, Jean-Claude Dassier, was being held in Paris and a total of ten people, including agents and mid- dlemen, were held overnight at the investigators’ headquarters. Dassier and Diouf were released late Wednesday. The investi- gation is looking into “contentious” money transfers “made in recent years”, sources close to the investigation said. A police source spoke of “fraud linked to several transfers”. OM coach Marcelo Bielsa must now keep the focus on the football with second placed Paris Saint-Germain in position to move top of the table on Friday with a trip to ninth-placed Metz. PSG were boosted by the return of superstar striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who came on as a second-half substitute in the 2-0 victory over Marseille in their last outing, and their talisman scored his first goal, since returning from a heel injury, while on international duty for Sweden against Montenegro. Gignac, who is the Ligue 1 second top scorer with 10 goals, has been cleared of any wrong-doing in his 2010 transfer from Toulouse, and played in France’s 1-0 win over Sweden at the Velodrome in midweek. “I can tell you that he hasn’t really been UYO: South African defender Eric Mathoho (left) tries to stop Nigerian attacker Ahmed Musa during the 2015 affected,” French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet Africa Cup of Nations qualifying football match between Nigeria and South Africa at Akwa Ibom stadium in said this week. “He is innocent in this affair.” he added. Nimes Uyo, Nigeria, on November 19, 2014. —AFP have been targeted as the main culprits at the heart of a match- fixing probe in Ligue 2 with relegation battles against Dijon, Angers and Caen last season, called into question. Defending champ Nigeria Third-placed Lyon can also move ahead of Marseille tomor- row as they take a five-match winning streak to Corsica and a Saturday afternoon fixture against sixth-from-bottom Bastia. misses out on African Cup Alexandre Lacazette has been the star man for Hubert Fournier’s seven-time champions and went ahead of Gignac in the scoring charts last weekend with his 11th goal during the 3-1 home win CAPE TOWN: Holders Nigeria were bundled out of the African booked their places at the tournament in Equatorial Guinea. over relegation-threatened Brittany side Guingamp. Sunday’s Nations Cup qualifiers on Wednesday as the final six places for Nigeria had to beat Group A winners South Africa in their the 2015 finals were decided. Congo, the Democratic Republic last qualifier at their new stadium in Uyo to stand a chance of slate of three matches includes a key tie at La Beaujoire stadium of Congo, Ghana, Guinea, the Ivory Coast and Mali all made defending their title at the Jan. 17 to Feb. 8 continental cham- where fifth placed Nantes host a Saint-Etienne side who are just certain of their spots and join the 10 countries who had already pionship. They were 2-0 down shortly after halftime, however, a point behind the Canaries going into the weekend. after quick goals either side of the interval from striker Tokelo Montpellier host Toulouse in a battle of southern clubs in the Rantie. Nigeria pulled one back from Sone Aluko with 22 min- penultimate match on the weekend schedule while there are four Injury-plagued Man utes remaining and the Hull City striker then equalized deep other matches tomorrow evening. Basement dwellers Lorient into stoppage time against opponents, who had been reduced await second from bottom Lens in a crucial battle at the wrong United face tough to 10 men for the last 19 minutes. end of the table while Rennes travel to Guingamp, Monaco are at Congo finished second behind South Africa after a 1-0 win home to Caen and Nice and Reims meet on the Cote d’Azur. Lille’s trip to Arsenal in Sudan, where Francis Ndanga’s second-half free kick ensured home match against Evian has been postponed until January 7 that veteran coach Claude Le Roy will go to a record-extending because of France taking on Switzerland in the tennis Davis Cup LONDON: Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal eighth tournament. Guinea beat Uganda 2-0 in Casablanca to final which runs from Friday to Sunday. —AFP will delve into the depths of his squad for the visit to finish second in Group E behind Ghana, who topped the stand- Arsenal in the Premier League tomorrow, as an injury cri- ings after a 3-1 home win over Togo. Guinea had to move their sis engulfs Old Trafford. So often it has been Arsene match to a neutral venue because of a ban on playing at home French League table Wenger cursing his luck after key players have been where the deadly Ebola virus has claimed more than 1,000 crocked ahead of big matches but this time it is United lives. The game was held in Morocco, who were stripped of PARIS: French league table ahead of the weekend’s matches who could be missing up to 12 squad players, including hosting the tournament last week after asking for a postpone- (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): goalkeeper David De Gea, at the Emirates Stadium. ment amid fears that fans travelling to the finals could spread Marseille 13 9 1 3 27 12 28 the virus to their country. United are exposed at the back, and with four first- Paris SG 13 7 6 0 25 8 27 team defenders possibly missing, Dutchman Van Gaal Mali ended Algeria’s 100 percent record in Group B to book Lyon 13 8 2 3 27 11 26 might have to call up teenagers Patrick McNair and Tyler their place with Seydou Keita scoring a first-half penalty and Bordeaux 13 7 3 3 20 15 24 Blackett to keep former team mate Danny Welbeck at Mustapha Yatabare adding a second after the break in a 2-0 bay. England striker Welbeck has been in fine form since win in Bamako. Ivory Coast needed only to draw with already- Nantes 13 6 5 2 13 9 23 his 16 million pounds ($25.06 million) move to Arsenal in qualified Cameroon and squeezed through in a goalless clash Saint-Etienne 13 6 4 3 13 12 22 September, scoring 10 goals for club and country. against a side reduced to 10 men for the last half-hour after Monaco 13 5 4 4 15 14 19 Arsenal suffered two disappointing results before the captain Stephane Mbia was sent off. The top two teams in each Rennes 13 5 4 4 15 14 19 international break, letting leads slip to draw 3-3 at of the seven groups qualified plus the best third-placed finish- Metz 13 5 3 5 13 15 18 home to Anderlecht in the Champions League and er, which was the Democratic Republic of Congo. Two goals Reims 13 5 3 5 14 21 18 going down 2-1 at Swansea City in the league. from Yannick Bolasie in a 3-1 home win over Sierra Leone Toulouse 13 5 2 6 17 17 17 “We have two games against Manchester United and helped them to nine points from their six matches, but they Nice 13 5 2 6 17 19 17 Borussia Dortmund at home and if we get the crowd had to wait several hours for their place to be confirmed. Montpellier 13 5 2 6 11 13 17 with us from the start, and get the results, then it will be Record winners Egypt could have snatched their spot had Lille 13 4 4 5 9 12 16 they won by two goals away in Tunisia, but they fell to a 2-1 a very different story again,” Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta Bastia 13 3 4 6 11 17 13 said. Arsenal are currently sixth in the table with 17 defeat despite leading 1-0 at halftime. Algeria and the Cape Evian 13 4 1 8 12 22 13 points; United a place behind with one point fewer. Verde Islands qualified after just four group matches last Leaders Chelsea host West Bromwich Albion earlier month and were joined after the weekend’s penultimate round Caen 13 3 3 7 15 17 12 tomorrow looking to extend their four-point lead on sec- by Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Senegal, South Africa, Guingamp 13 4 0 9 10 24 12 ond-placed Southampton, who visit Aston Villa on Tunisia and Zambia. New hosts Equatorial Guinea, disqualified Lens 13 3 2 8 12 17 11 Monday.—Reuters in the preliminary knockout rounds for fielding an illegible Lorient 13 3 1 9 10 17 10 player, have also been handed a place at the finals. —Reuters

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FRIDAY, November 21, 2014

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