at least49 mosque kills at Pakistani Bomb attack of Africanleaders inEthiopiaandflew soldiers. Sisipulled outofagathering State group.Mostofthosekilled were claimed byanaffiliateofthe Islamic Sinai provinceinsimultaneous attacks with rocketsandacarbombin North after jihadiststargetedsecurity forces badly woundedbygunfire. people includinga12-year-oldwere et blastinthepeninsula.Twomore and asix-year-oldwaskilledinrock- head byabulletduringtheclashes six-month-old babywashitinthe least 30people.Healthofficialssaida wave ofmilitantattacksthatkilledat Fattah El-Sisiflewhometodealwitha two childrendeadasPresidentAbdel jihadists inSinaiyesterday,leaving CAIRO: Almaza militaryairportinCairoyesterday.—AP CAIRO: FamilymembersofsecurityforceskilledinSinaicryaftertheyreceivedthebodiestheirrelatives,outside

32 SUBSCRIPTION Yesterday’s violencecamea day Kuwait condemnsterror,backsEgypt Egypt’s armyclashedwith 7 ki 150 Fils AUDY AUR 1 05 RB LHN 1 46A No:16419 SATURDAY, 1436 AH JANUARY RABI 31,2015 ALTHANI 11, New Saudikingin a majorshake-up King Salmantightensgriponpower,firessonsofhispredecessor ll ed inSinaia condemned the seriesofcoordinated then. Meanwhile, Kuwaityesterday implemented inNorthSinai since came despitenewsecuritymeasures security forces.Thefreshbloodshed wounded insimultaneousassaults on 30 soldierswerekilledand scores wave ofattackssinceOctober when flown toCairo.Itwasthedeadliest bodies ofthe30victimshadbeen office said.Securityofficialssaidthe situation,” astatementfromSisi’s and returnedtoCairomonitorthe after attendingtheopeningsession, pation intheAfricanUnionsummit dent decidedtocutshorthispartici- the NorthSinailastnight,presi- attacks. home tooverseetheresponse “After theterroristoperationsin Iberia parent percent ofBA, buys nearly10 Qatar Airways 15 recovery. tims andwishedthewounded quick cial sourceprayedforsoulsof the vic- nation’s securityandstability.The offi- Egyptian authoritiestomaintain the support ofthemeasurestaken by threats. Thesourcealsoexpressed side ofEgyptinthefacesuch affirmed thatKuwaitstandsonthe in astatement.Theofficialsource Foreign Ministryofficialsourcestated protect theworldfromitsevils,”a community toeradicateterrorismand efforts exertedbytheinternational underline theimportanceof cent people.“Theseterroristattacks killing andwoundingdozensofinno- volatile SinaiPeninsulaonThursday, terrorist attackswhichoccurredinthe tt a Continued onPage 9 c ks 2011, butgovernmentspending issettocontinue.—AFP June hasleftSaudiArabiaprojecting itsfirstbudgetdeficitsince exporter. Anearly60percentfall inglobaloilpricessincelast Ibrahim Al-Assafstayedinthecabinetofworld’sleadingoil Foreign MinisterPrinceSaudal-Faisal,andFinance information technology,amongothers.OilMinisterAliAl-Naimi, mation, socialaffairs,civilservice,andcommunications inet whosenewfacesincludetheministersforcultureandinfor- decrees broadcastonSauditelevision. Turki, whogovernedthecapitalRiyadh,accordingto fired: PrinceMishaal,governoroftheMeccaregion,and council wasdissolved.Twosonsofthelatemonarchwerealso of theNationalSecurityCouncilandadvisertoking.The of Abdullah,wasremovedfromhispostsasSecretaryGeneral replacing PrinceKhalidbinBandarAbdulAzizAl-Saud. became thenewintelligencechief,holdingcabinetrank,and prayers”. GeneralKhalidbinAliAbdullahaAl-Humaidan account. Heaskedhiscitizensto“notforgetmeinyour you whatdeserve,”thekingsaidlateronhisofficialTwitter You deservemoreandwhateverIdowillnotbeabletogive Agency (SPA)said. government civilandmilitaryemployees,”theSaudiPress months’ basicsalarytoallSaudi 30 decreesordered“two subjects. Oneofhismorethan also reachedoutdirectlytohis nificant policychange.”Salman at leastnotimmediately-ofsig- personalized hierarchy,butnot a situationofchangeinhighly tank ChathamHouse.“Wehave expert atLondon-basedthink- said JonMarks,aMiddleEast immediate family’sfortunes,” “would seeareversalinhis tion thatAbdullah’sdeath The changesconfirmedspecula- among thoseletgolateThursday. and theconservativeIslamickingdom’sreligiouspolicewere the PortsAuthority,NationalAnti-CorruptionCommission throne followingthedeathofKingAbdullah.Topofficialsfrom eign andoilpolicy,cameaweekafterSalman,79,tookthe supported signsthekingdomwillchartasteadycourseonfor- sweeping shakeup.Theappointments,whichanalystssaid ing theheadsofintelligenceandotherkeyagenciesina hold onpower,firingtwosonsofhispredecessorandreplac- RIYADH: Open final to reach off Wawrinka Djokovic fights 48 Gunmen attack two Salman, ahalf-brotherofAbdullah,named31-membercab- A separatedecreesaidPrinceBandarbinSultan,anephew Students andpensionersgotsimilarbonuses.“Dearpeople: But theoilandforeignministersretainedtheirkeyposts. US citizens inSaudi Saudi Arabia’snewKingSalmanhastightenedhis Super-ministry Saudi newKingSalman Max Min PAGE 25º 10º LOCAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Egyptian drug dealer arrested

By Hanan Al-Saadoun then conducted a personal search and discovered Pakistani beggar nabbed the pills tied around his chest. A Pakistani beggar was recently arrested at KUWAIT: An Egyptian was recently arrested at Mubarakiya. Security forces found KD509 in his the Kuwait International Airport for smuggling ATM thief possession. In another development, a Kuwaiti 30,000 tramadol pills which he concealed around An unidentified robber recently failed to steal a local was arrested in Farwaniya for drug abuse. his torso, said security sources. The passenger bank’s ATM in a shopping mall. Security sources the Security sources said that the suspect resisted was looking confused when he arrived. This robber disconnected the machine instead and the sur- arrest and threatened the police with a knife. prompted custom inspectors to search his lug- veillance cameras to hide his identity. A case has been Police then fired warning shots before they gage. At first, they found nothing. The officials was filed and further investigations are in progress. arrested him. Kuwaitis arrested for drugs, alcohol KUWAIT: Security operatives have arrested three citizens with illicit drugs. Also, a Kuwaiti wanted for trading alcohol was recently arrested in Nuzha. In another development, two citizens were recently arrested with 12 bottles of whiskey in a camp. Case papers indicate that a number of families camping around the area had filed complaints about noises coming from the suspects’ camp. On raiding the camp, detectives found the liquor. The suspects are on wanted list for fighting, possession of arms and driving under the effect of alcohol.

Under the effect of drugs A citizen ‘under the effect of drugs’ was arrested at a Hawalli traffic light, where he had fallen asleep inside his vehicle. Detectives also found a number of psychotropic pills on him. A case was filed. Also, an Asian was recently arrested in Khaitan with 74 home-made liquor bottles he was preparing to sell, said security sources. A police patrol suspected a Japanese-made car and on stopping it, the driver seemed so confused. Policemen then searched the vehicle and found the liquor in the trunk.

Weapons stolen from barrack A citizen was recently arrested for stealing weapons from army barracks, resisting arrest, firing at policemen and possessing drugs, said security sources. Case papers indicate that state security, army intelligence and Jahra detectives had been tipped off concerning the suspect’s involvement in the robbery. On raiding his house in Sulaibiya, the suspect drove off - firing warn- ing shots in the air until he reached Firdous where he was apprehended.

Kuwaiti raped A 19 year old citizen reported that three people he had known through a social media network had raped him. Case papers indicate that the young man said that he knew someone online who invited him to a desert picnic to enjoy the weather. He was then taken to a Kabed ranch where where he was raped along with two other people. Gulf Bank creates more chances to win Al Danah

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank’s Al Danah loyalty chances program distinguishes from any other chance program in Kuwait. This program adds all chances gained by an Al Danah customer at the end of the previous year to the following year. Accordingly, all the chances gained by Al Danah’s cus- tomers at the end of 2014 have been shifted onto this year of 2015 and will be added onto all his/her new chances gained. Furthermore, for every KD100, a customer is rewarded with one chance, and that one chance is added on a daily basis as long as the cus- tomer maintains their minimum balance. Accordingly, Al Danah cus- tomers that maintain a minimum balance of KD200 in their Al Danah accounts are rewarded with two chances daily to win an Al Danah prize. The more a customer deposits into their account, the more chances they gain on a daily basis. Customers are therefore encouraged to save more and save longer as to increase their chances in becoming one of the lucky winners of the Al Danah 2015 draws, as well as to increase the amount of loyalty chances they gain at the end of this year. Gulf Bank’s Al Danah 2015 draw lineup includes daily draws (2 winners per working day each receive KD1000) and four additional major draws. Al Danah’s 1st Quarterly draw for 2015 will be held on 26 March 2015 (KD200,000, KD125,000, and KD25,000), 2nd Quarter - 25 June 2015 (KD250,000, KD125,000, and KD25,000), 3rd Quarter - 17 September 2015 (KD500,000, KD125,000, and KD25,000) and the 4th and final Yearly draw held on 7 January 2016, which will consist of the grand Al Danah prize of KD1,000,000, as well as further prizes of KD 250,000 and KD 50,000. Gulf Bank’s Al Danah account allows customers to win cash prizes and simultaneously encourages them to save money. Deposit now to Win Big, Live Big, with Al Danah 2015. Al Danah also offers a number of unique services, including the Al Danah Deposit Only ATM card, which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience and the Al Danah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al Danah winner. To be part of the Al Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 59 branches to set up an account, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guid- ance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com to find out more about Al Danah account. LOCAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Kuwait participates in ARADO Forum

CAIRO: Represented by the Assistant auspices of the Egyptian Minister of Undersecretary for Administrative and Higher Education, Ahmed Abdul Khaleq Financial Affairs at the Minister of State and the Egyptian Investment Minister for NA Affairs’ office, Qais Soud Al-Bader, Ashraf Salman. Kuwait recently took part in the First On his part, Kuwait’s delegation Arab Forum organized by the Arab member and the Acting Manager of the League’s Arab Administrative Administrative Affairs Department at the Development Organization (ARADO) in office of the Minister of State for NA Cairo under the title of ‘New Economic affairs, Jassim Mohammed AL-Khattaf Contracts Legality’. The head of Kuwait’s said that Kuwait presented a paper delegation, Al-Bader stressed that including many recommendations to Kuwait’s participation comes upon an the forum. He added that the forum invitation from ARADO to express aimed at discussing the mechanism of Kuwait’s keenness in making the best handling disputes resulting from eco- use of other Arab countries experiences nomic contracts such as BOT and BBB - in various fields, namely those related to in addition to investment contracts investment. made by individuals on behalf of the “The forum focuses on healthy invest- state. Also speaking on the occasion, ment in the Arab countries; the effect of ARADO’s advisor for law and arbitration international capitals on investments; and the forum’s coordinator general Dr the constitutionality of privatization leg- Adel Al-Senn applauded Kuwait’s partici- islations; privatization contracts’ forms annulling contracts through arbitration; economic contracts as well as future pation in the forum and its constant sup- and the invalidity of privatizing national- the concept of national economy; vision on achieving balance legislative port to ARADO’s activities as well as the ized assets. In addition, Al-Bader said that national security; legislative amend- steadiness and special economic con- development Kuwait is witnessing in the forum also discussed the effect of ments; the effect of the penal law on tracts’ legality. The forum is held under various fields. FM, diplomats attend annual get-to-gather at ‘Al-Azayez’

KUWAIT: First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah yester- day attended the annual get-to-gath- er at the farm of Sheikh Ali Al-Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Foreign ambas- sadors and their staff also attended the event at ‘Al-Azayez’ farm. In a statement to the press, the Foreign Minister extended his thanks to the National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim host of this much-awaited recreation- al event, saying that the diplomatic Al-Ghanim touts Amir’s corps attending this gathering were also grateful to Sheikh Ali for his gen- imprint on prosperity erosity and hospitality. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim said that since holding the reins of power nine years ago His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has been instrumental in having Kuwait make quantum leaps in growth and development attested to by the whole world. In a press statement on the ninth anniversary of His Highness the Amir’s assumption to power, Al-Ghanim said that His Highness Sheikh Sabah assumed power at a critical time of high tension from which the whole the region suffered, he managed- through his diplomatic and political potential-to lead Kuwait to safety. He noted that His Highness the Amir’s wisdom has also helped Kuwait avoid the negative impacts of the global finan- cial crisis which had shaken up the world in 2008. His Highness the Amir has also helped protect Kuwait from the grave aftershocks of the political upheavals and dramatic developments which many regional countries have under- gone in the past few years. The chief lawmaker lauded His Highness the Amir’s abidance by democratic values, the rule of law and the provisions of the constitution in handling the Kuwait’s crude oil exports sporadic real and unreal political tension and crises in Kuwait. He pointed to the fruitful cooperation between the executive and legislative powers under His Highness the Amir’s leader- to Japan overtakes Qatar ship to achieve a comprehensive development. Al-Ghanim said that the recent UN honoring and proclama- TOKYO: Kuwait’s crude oil exports to Japan in December hit a energy user totaled 89.26 million barrels (245,000 bpd), down tion of His Highness the Amir as a “Humanitarian Leader” and 11-month high of 10.18 million barrels, or 328,000 barrels per 3.5 percent from the previous year. of Kuwait as a “Humanitarian Center” has crowned years of day (bpd), up 14.3 percent from a year earlier, government Japan’s overall imports of crude oil fell 8.2 percent year-on- relentless efforts by the His Highness the Amir to ease the suf- data showed yesterday. The figure was the highest since year to 3.55 million bpd for the second consecutive monthly fering of people in distress across the globe. His Highness the January 2014, when Kuwait’s crude shipments to Japan decline. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 77.3 per- Amir’s fairness has also made him a welcomed mediator in reached 11.32 million barrels (365,000 bpd), according to a cent of the total, down 4.4 percentage points from the year many regional crises, he said. He also extolled His Highness preliminary report released from the Japanese Natural before. Saudi Arabia remained Japan’s No.1 oil supplier, although the Amir’s humanitarian role in dealing with repercussions of Resources and Energy Agency. Kuwait overtook Qatar to imports from the kingdom shrank 12.2 percent from a year earlier the Syrian crisis and His Highness the Amir’s role in ending the become Japan’s fourth-biggest oil provider last month, supply- to 1. 11 million bpd, followed by the United Arab Emirates with recent inter-Gulf dispute. Al-Ghanim wished His Highness the ing 9.2 percent of the Asian nation’s total crude imports. In the 809,000 bpd, up 3.4 percent. Russia ranked third with 386,000 Amir everlasting wellbeing and Kuwait prosperity and full year 2014, Kuwait’s exports to the world’s third-biggest bpd and Qatar fifth with 282,000 bpd, respectively. — KUNA progress. — KUNA LOCAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Kuwait’s landmarks feature in Spain tourism fair

MADRID: Kuwait is participating in the made the country a financial and com- 35th International Tourism Trade Fair mercial center, which contributed in (FITUR 2015) in Spain as part of the boosting and flourishing commercial country’s efforts to shed light on its his- and businessmen tourism in recent torical, archaeological and architectural years. landmarks, a tourism official said. This is Kuwait is currently participating at the sixth time for Kuwait to take part in FITUR 2015 along with 164 other coun- the annual fair consecutively through a tries, including a number of Arab states number of local tourist and travel agen- such as UAR, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, cies, most notably the Touristic Palestine, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. Enterprises Company (TEC), Faisal Al- FITUR is a key event for the international Duraia, superintendent of tourism and tourism sector. It is a major international international relations at the tourism event, showcasing a multitude of prod- department of Kuwait’s Ministry of ucts from different countries, Commerce and Industry, stated to autonomous regions of Spain, tour oper- KUNA. ators, airlines, service companies, travel Some important Kuwaiti cultural agencies, and hotels. landmarks have been highlighted at the FITUR is also an ideal place to find out fair through two stalls at the Kuwaiti about most important developments pavilion, showcasing some traditional and trends in the tourism sector, as well handcrafts, which represent a significant as for forging new commercial relation- aspect of Kuwait’s heritage, Al-Duraia Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- lished the basic foundation of bolstering ships and increasing contacts within the added. He also pointed out that His Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has estab- the tourism sector in Kuwait when he industry. — KUNA Quality education ‘guarantor’ for sustainable development Kuwait eyes zero illiteracy rate

SHARM El-SHEIKH: The participants in the underlined that promoting social peace and from regional and international organizations Zero illiteracy rate UNESCO-organized Arab States Regional achieving sustainable development are con- and NGOs with two main objectives: discuss Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Minister of Education and Conference on Education Post-2015 have tingent upon the provision of quality educa- issues, trends, challenges and future priorities Minister of Higher Education Dr Bader Al-Essa said concurred that quality education is a basic tion for all without discrimination. It called for for education on the basis of the national EFA that the Kuwaiti government is exerting relentless right for all humans and one of the main fac- more cooperation among government and reviews conducted by the countries in 2014; efforts to bring down the illiteracy rate to zero. tors for achieving sustainable development. non-government bodies to bring down the and develop regional recommendations for Speaking here at a UNESCO-organized ministerial In its final statement, the conferees said that illiteracy rates in Arab countries as well as to the international framework for action to be meeting on the future of education in the Arab the Arab countries have made significant upgrade educational programs and tools. It adopted at the World Education Forum in region, Al-Essa pointed out that the illiteracy rate in progress since 2000 towards achieving the stressed the need to improve the perform- Incheon. Kuwait was already low: 1.07 percent among males goals of education for all initiative, such as ance of teachers and harness their skills. The meeting provided an opportunity for and 5.02 among females. Kuwait is forging ahead eliminating gender disparity in access to basic The three-day conference was organized countries to voice their reflections and needs towards a zero illiteracy rate through allowing easy and secondary education. They, however, said by the UNESCO Regional Bureau for for education beyond 2015 and to contribute access to education, he underlined. Furthermore, Al- that much efforts are needed to overcome Education in the Arab States in the Egyptian to the shaping of the future of education Essa said that the government is embarking on an the remaining challenges and meeting grow- resort of Sharm El-Sheikh under the theme of within the broader development agenda from ambitious five-year plan to upgrade the whole edu- ing needs for high quality education. “Towards Quality Education and Lifelong a regional perspective. cation process in collaboration with the national The main challenges facing the efforts to Learning for All”. The conference was held in preparation for center for education development. He stated that develop the educational process in the region The event brought together ministers and the 2015 World Education Forum (WEF), the plan aimed to ameliorate all the elements is the rampant political unrest and growing senior officials of ministries of education from which will be organized by UNESCO in involved in the process: school management, teach- poverty rates, they noted. The statement countries in the region and representatives Incheon; the Republic of Korea, in May 2015. ers, educational tools and curricula. — Agencies KRCS launches relief aid to help displaced Syrians ‘The Ninth Loaf of Bread’

BEIRUT: Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) has launched a proj- ect entitled “The Ninth Loaf of Bread” to help feed the displaced Syrians living in makeshift shelters nationwide in Lebanon. This move was made in collaboration with the Lebanese Red Cross. “At least 6,000 Syrian families living in the areas of cold, storms and rains, he said. and dates were distributed to about Tripoli, Akkar, Beqaa and Sidon will The loaf of bread project comes 60 Syrian families living in northern benefit from this project over a as part of the KRCS’s contributions Lebanon. month,” Dr Musaed Al-Enezi, KRCS’ to improve the living conditions of According to recent statistics, envoy in Lebanon, told KUNA in a Syrian families who are suffering the number of Syrian refugees in statement yesterday. The locations from hard circumstances, he said, Lebanon exceeded one million. of bakeries are found near the areas stressing that the KRCS is keen on Kuwait is considered a major coun- where displaced Syrians live to help continuing offering humanitarian try that has offered aid to the Syrian them get bread easily as the coun- aid to the Syrian refugees. Al-Enzy refugees in Lebanon since the out- try is witnessing waves of severe said that some blankets, foodstuffs break of the crisis. — KUNA LOCAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 NATO to boost cooperation with Arab countries to fight terrorism Islamic State posing a grave threat to the region

BRUSSELS: NATO Secretary General number of forces,” said the NATO chief. operation in Afghanistan, the largest in Jens Stoltenberg yesterday said the 28- The year 2014 was a ‘black year’ for Alliance history. “While many challenges member Alliance will strengthen coop- European security but NATO has been remain, we are determined to support eration with the Arab countries to boost able to respond to the changing envi- Afghanistan to build on the gains that their defense capacities to fight terror- ronment, he noted, and added that we have made with great effort and sac- ism. “For NATO, it is of great importance extremism close to NATO’s southern rifice. That is why we have launched a that we are able to work with partners borders is fuelling terrorism in Allied new mission, Resolute Support, to train, all over the world but also in our neigh- countries, and that Russia’s actions have advise and assist the Afghan National borhood to create stability,” he told a destabilized eastern Ukraine. “This Defense and Security Forces,” he said. press conference while presenting his Annual Report demonstrates that we On Ukraine, the report noted the annual 2014 report yesterday. “It is are adapting to deal with these impact of the violence and insecurity important to the East with Georgia, changes, and to keep NATO strong,” caused by Russia and Russian-backed Ukraine, Moldova but it is also very said Stoltenberg. He added that the separatists has not been limited to important to the south including the Readiness Action Plan, agreed at the Ukraine. “This violence can undermine Arab World,” he stressed. NATO Wales summit last year, is being the safety, stability and well-being of Stoltenberg recalled that last turned into reality: “This will be the people around the world, as demon- December he visited Jordan to meet biggest reinforcement of our collective strated by the tragic downing of with Mediterranean Dialogue countries defense since the end of the Cold War,” Malaysia Airlines passenger flight MH17 and later to Qatar to have a meeting he said. in July,” it warned. NATO supports the with several Gulf countries. “The more The 20-page report noted that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the press conference sanctions imposed by the European we can work with partners the better. “fighting in Iraq and Syria cost thou- tributed to the emergence of ISIL in few weeks ago asked NATO for help to Union (EU), the G7 and others as part of The aim is to work together in defense sands of lives in 2014 and fuelled Syria and its expansion beyond,” said improve their defense capacities. “We an international effort to address capacity building, reform, connecting humanitarian and security challenges the report. Stoltenberg said that all are looking into their request,” he said. Russia’s destabilizing behavior, it said. our armed forces, working against ter- for the region and the world. NATO allies are contributing in one way “NATO is playing its role in the fight Stoltenberg announced that he will rorism and improve their defense ability The so-called Islamic State of Iraq or another in US-coalition fighting ISIL. against terror partly by exchanging meet with Russian foreign minister to create stability in their own region,” and the Levant (ISIL) poses a grave “I welcome that, even though I don’t information on foreign fighters who are Sergey Lavrov at the sidelines of the he said. “It is much better in the long threat to the region and serious chal- believe that air strikes alone can solve real threat to all allied countries,” he security conference in Munich, run to project stability by working with lenges for NATO’s members and part- the problem,” he said. added. Turning to Afghanistan, he said Germany, next week to discuss NATO- partners instead of deploying large ners.” “The Assad regime has con- He said that the Iraqi government a 2014 was the final year of NATO combat Russia ties. — KUNA

SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 IS silent as deadline IS attacks Kurdish Russia says nuke arms passes with no swap 8 outposts across Iraq 9 to keep military edge 10

SHIKARPUR: Pakistani security officials gather at the scene following a bomb attack at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Shikarpur in Sindh province, some 470 kilometers north of Karachi yesterday. — AFP Blast at Shiite mosque in Pakistan kills 49 Pakistan Taleban claims responsibility

SHIKARPUR, Pakistan: At least 49 people were killed in a massing outside hospitals. “The entire city is in lockdown and powerful explosion at a crowded Shiite mosque in Pakistan there is tension in the air. There is a heavy police presence and American shot and during Friday prayers, the latest sectarian attack to hit the the Rangers are patrolling the city,” said Pariyal Marri, a local South Asian nation. Police said the blast was caused either by resident. Jundullah, a splinter group of Pakistan’s Taleban a suicide bomber or an explosive device which went off when which last year pledged support for the Islamic State group wounded in Saudi the mosque was at its fullest yesterday afternoon in the centre based in Syria and Iraq, claimed responsibility. of Shikarpur, a city in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh. “Our target was the Shia mosque ... They are our enemies,” DUBAI: A US citizen was shot and wounded in eastern Saudi Radical Sunni Islamist groups often target mosques frequent- said Fahad Marwat, a Jundullah spokesman. He did not elabo- Arabia yesterday, state news agency SPA reported, adding to ed by minority Shi’ites, whom they see as infidels. Earlier this rate. Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, a Shiite organization, has security concerns in the world’s top oil exporting nation. A month, six people were killed and 17 wounded by a suicide called for a province-wide strike today in protest. vehicle carrying two US citizens came under fire in the bomber outside a Shiite mosque in the city of Rawalpindi, also Sain Rakhio Merani, a regional police official, said the blast Eastern Province district of Al-Ahsa, one of the main centres after Friday prayers. was probably caused by a bomb, although Pakistani television of Saudi Arabia’s minority Shiites, SPA said, citing a police statement. It was not clear who shot at the vehicle. “We are trying to ascertain the nature of the blast,” said quoted some residents as saying they saw a man wearing a The wounded man was taken to hospital and was in a sta- Shikarpur police chief Saqib Ismail Memon. “A bomb disposal suicide vest. The attack came as Pakistan tries to adopt new ble condition, it added. Saudi officials are concerned about squad is examining the scene.” Saeed Ahmed Mangnejo, head measures to tackle Islamist extremists following a massacre of the spread of sectarian strife from the conflicts in Yemen, Iraq of the regional civil administration, told Reuters that the death 134 children last month at an army-run school in the north- and Syria. Some leading clerics of Saudi Arabia’s official toll had reached 49. western city of Peshawar. The government has pledged to Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam view Shiites as heretics. crack down on all militant groups, reintroduce the death In the last attack on Saudi soil targeting Americans, a gun- Chaotic scenes penalty, set up military courts to speed convictions and widen man killed a US citizen and wounded another in the capital In chaotic scenes that followed the blast, part of the its military campaign in lawless tribal areas. Riyadh last October. In November, seven Shiite Muslims were mosque collapsed after the explosion, burying some of the Yet Pakistan’s religious minorities, among them Ahmadis, shot dead in Al-Ahsa as they marked their holy day of Ashoura. wounded under rubble. Bystanders pulled people from the Christians and Hindus, say the government is doing little to Saudi Arabia has arrested the four main suspects and said it debris and piled them into cars for the journey to hospital. alleviate their daily struggle against humiliation, discrimina- believes it was ordered by Islamic State militants from abroad. Locals said there were not enough ambulances and the army tion and violence. Shi’tes make up about a fifth of Pakistan’s Qatif, another centre of the Saudi Shiite minority alongside Al- later sent additional vehicles to transport people to hospitals. mainly Sunni population of around 180 million. More than 800 Ahsa, has been a focus of anti-government demonstrations in The atmosphere was tense in Shikarpur after the explosion, Shiites have been killed in attacks since the beginning of 2012, support of Shiites who complain of discrimination. The Saudi with shops boarded up and crowds of emotional residents according to Human Rights Watch. — Reuters authorities deny any discrimination. — Reuters INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 IS silent as deadline passes with no swap No word on fates of Jordanian pilot, Japan journalist

TOKYO: The fates of a Japanese journalist and had not received any update from Jordanian Jordan faces a tough choice over whether to initially confessed, but later recanted, saying she Jordanian military pilot were unknown yesterday, a authorities. “I have nothing,” he said, speaking after release Al-Rishawi, 44, who faces death by hanging was an unwilling participant. She is from the Iraqi day after the latest purported deadline for a possi- Muslim noon prayers in the Jordanian capital of for her role in a suicide bombing, one of three city of Ramadi and has close family ties to the Iraqi ble prisoner swap passed with no further word Amman. simultaneous attacks on Amman hotels in branch of Al-Qaeda, a precursor of the Islamic State from the Islamic State group holding them captive. With no news on the fate of either the pilot or November 2005 that killed 60 people. She survived group. Three of her brothers were Al-Qaeda opera- “Government institutions are working around Goto, their families’ agonizing wait dragged on. because her belt of explosives didn’t detonate. She tives killed in fighting in Iraq. the clock on the case of pilot Muath Al-Kaseasbeh,” Releasing Al-Rishawi, implicated in the worst Jordanian military spokesman Mamdouh Al-Ameri terror attack in Jordan, would be at odds with the said in a statement. “We will inform you of any government’s tough stance on Islamic extremism. developments in due time.” He urged Jordanians However, King Abdullah II faces public pressure to not to listen to rumors. Jordan has said it will only bring home the pilot, who was captured in release an Al-Qaeda prisoner from death row if it December after his Jordanian F-16 crashed near the gets proof the pilot is alive and so far has received Islamic State group’s de facto capital of Raqqa in no such evidence from the hostage-takers. Officials Syria. He is the first foreign military pilot to be cap- in Tokyo also said they had no progress to report. tured since the US and its allies began airstrikes “There is nothing I can tell you,” said government against the Islamic State more than four months spokesman Yoshihide Suga, reiterating Japan’s ago. Jordan’s participation in the US-led airstrikes is “strong trust” in the Jordanians to help save the unpopular in the kingdom, and the pilot is seen by Japanese hostage, freelance journalist Kenji Goto. some as a victim of a war they feel the country Suga said the government was in close contact shouldn’t be involved in. with Goto’s wife, Rinko Jogo, who released a state- The hostage drama began last week after the ment late Thursday pleading for her husband’s life. Islamic State group released a video showing Goto An audio message purportedly posted online by and another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa jihadis said the pilot, Lt. Muath Al-Kaseasbeh, would kneeling in orange jumpsuits beside a masked man be killed if Sajida Al-Rishawi, the Al-Qaeda prisoner, who threatened to kill them in 72 hours unless was not delivered to the Turkish border by sunset Japan paid a $200 million ransom. That demand on Thursday, Iraq time. It was not clear from the later apparently shifted to one for the release of Al- recording what would happen to Goto if the Iraqi Rishawi. The militants have reportedly killed woman was not turned over by the deadline. Yukawa, 42, although that has not been confirmed. The authenticity of the recording could not be The crisis prompted the Japanese Foreign Ministry verified independently by the AP. But the possibili- to issue a warning Friday to journalists to avoid the ty of a swap was raised Wednesday when Jordan border town in Turkey that could be a crossing said it was willing to trade Al-Rishawi for the pilot. TOKYO: Protesters hold images of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, who was taken hostage point from Syria if a prisoner swap goes ahead. It by the Islamic State group, during a rally in front of the prime minister’s official residence noted that Islamic State militants were likely aware No word in Tokyo yesterday. Goto’s fate was still unknown yesterday a day after the latest pur- of who was in the area. “We cannot dismiss the pos- The pilot’s father, Safi Al-Kaseasbeh, said yester- ported deadline for a possible prisoner swap passed with no further word from the sibility of a kidnapping of Japanese journalists or of day that he had no word on the fate of his son and Islamic State group. — AP other risks to them,” it said.—AP

US drone strategy in Israel to build 450 new West trouble as Yemeni Qaeda gathers support Bank settler homes: NGO JERUSALEM: Israel yesterday published ten- tors),” a ministry statement said. ple,” Abu Yusef told AFP. “This is a war SANAA: Schoolboy Mohammed Taeiman died this week on a ders to build 450 new settler homes in the “Unsuccessful tenders are automatically reis- crime which should push the settlements remote Yemeni road, a casualty of a US drone campaign occupied West Bank, a watchdog said, in a sued by the professional officials at the Israel issue to the International Criminal Court.” against the local branch of Al-Qaeda that seems to be sliding plan denounced by the Palestinians as a “war Lands Administration.” Seidemann, whose group particularly into disarray. The sixth-grader’s death as he returned home crime”. Settlements watchdog Peace Now Peace Now said the new homes were to monitors settlement in Israeli-annexed with a family friend aroused the kind of anger that has long tied the move to Israel’s March 17 general be built in four existing settlements across east Jerusalem, predicted that building helped Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to recruit election in which Prime Minister Benjamin the West Bank — 114 in Adam, 156 in Elkana, plans there were likely to be announced fighters. But in recent months convulsions in Yemeni politics Netanyahu’s Likud is competing with other 78 in Alfei Menashe and 102 in Kiryat Arba. soon. “Netanyahu has a tendency, espe- have pushed President Barack Obama’s strategy close to fail- rightwing parties for the settler vote. Seidemann, who had earlier spoken of cially when he’s having trouble in the ure as the group, known locally as Ansar Al-Shariah, has bro- “It is a pre-election grab to establish facts 430 new settler homes, said the figures given polls, to do something outrageous in ken out of its mountain bastions to stage attacks across the on the ground made by the Netanyahu gov- by Peace Now were correct. Palestine Jerusalem,” he said. He pointed to Givat country. While the exact circumstances of Monday’s incident ernment,” a Peace Now statement said. It Liberation Organisation (PLO) official Wassel Hamatos, where Peace Now revealed on remain unclear, relatives say the boy was travelling in a car said the inevitable US condemnation would Abu Yusef slammed the project. October 1 that final approval had been with the family friend, Abdullah Al-Zindani, to his village in add to strains over Netanyahu’s acceptance “What the Israelis announced is part of granted for the construction of 2,610 set- the central province of Marib. of a controversial invitation to address a wider war... against the Palestinian peo- tler homes. —AFP Returning from visiting an acquaintance in southern Congress on Iran that has sparked a bitter Yemen, they were driving along a 160 km (100 mile) road that row with the White House. threads its way between mountains and desert. But just after “After embarrassing the Obama adminis- 11 a.m., mobile phones of people in their home area began tration with the invitation to the congress, beeping with pictures showing the remains of a black Suzuki, Netanyahu adds another slap in the face of hit by what appeared to have been a devastating force. the Americans, and shows no respect to “Zindani’s name started circulating, and I knew my broth- Israel’s closest ally,” it said. er was with him,” said Mohammed’s 17-year-old brother, Ezz Daniel Seidemann, head of the Terrestrial Al-Deen. “My brother was not armed. Mohammed was killed, Jerusalem group which also monitors settle- he was a child,” said Ezz el-Deen, who himself survived a ment, said the latest plans were the first of drone strike that killed his father and brother in 2011. their kind to be announced in several “Bring justice to those who killed him otherwise we will months and unlikely to be the last before the cut off the oil, we will be saboteurs. We will join Ansar Al- election. “It’s the opening of the settlement Shariah,” he yelled down the phone to Reuters. floodgates,” he said. The drone campaign against AQAP, Obama’s preferred “This could hardly be an accident,” he tactic in fighting the Sunni Muslim group that claimed said. “It could not have taken place without responsibility for the attack on Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Netanyahu’s knowledge and consent.” The Paris on Jan. 7, has always caused public anger in Yemen. Israeli construction ministry, headed by min- Critics say the attacks often kill low-level militants and some- ister Uri Ariel of the hardline nationalist times civilians, not the top plotters Washington says it goes Jewish Home party, denied that the timing after.—Reuters was politically motivated. “The tenders were GAZA STRIP: A Palestinian woman cooks at her destroyed home in Beit Hanun in offered last year and failed (to attract contrac- the northern Gaza Strip yesterday. — AFP INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Saudi postpones flogging of blogger for third week

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia postponed yesterday for a third withstand 50 lashes every week,” she said. “I do not retrial. His sentence was then increased to 10 years and week in a row the flogging of a blogger sentenced to know how he’s coping with it. I never imagined he 1,000 lashes in a case that caused international uproar. 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam, his wife said. Raef would be flogged.” “It’s more of an insulting act. UN human rights chief Zeid Raad Al-Hussein urged Badawi “was not flogged” yesterday, Ensaf Haidar told Against humanity, and brutal. It’s ugly... it’s terror,” she ailing Saudi King Abdullah before his death to pardon AFP, adding that the reason was unclear. added. Badawi co-founded the now-banned Saudi Badawi, saying flogging is “cruel and inhuman” and The 30-year-old received the first 50 lashes of his Liberal Network along with women’s rights campaigner prohibited under international human rights law. sentence outside a mosque in the Red Sea city of Suad Al-Shammari, who was also accused of insulting Abdullah died last week aged around 90 and was suc- Jeddah on January 9. The next round of punishment Islam and arrested last October. ceeded by his half-brother Salman. President Barack was postponed for the following two weeks on medical The charges against Badawi were brought after his Obama was one of a host of world leaders to travel to grounds. Badawi’s case has already prompted world- group criticized clerics and the kingdom’s notorious the kingdom and pay respects to the late Abdullah. A wide outrage and criticism from the UN, US, the EU and religious police, who have been accused of a heavy- US official said Obama did not discuss Badawi’s case others. handed enforcement of sharia Islamic law. Paris-based with Saudi officials during a four-hour visit to Riyadh. On Thursday, Haidar, who has sought asylum with watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) described Rights group Amnesty International said on their three children in Canada, voiced concerns about the Internet site which Badawi co-founded as “an online Thursday Badawi could suffer “debilitating long-term the health of her husband, who has been suffering from discussion network whose aim is to encourage political, physical and mental damage” from continued flogging. hypertension since his arrest in June 2012. “Raef’s religious and social debates in Saudi Arabia”. Badawi “Raef Badawi is a prisoner of conscience, whose only health condition is bad and it’s getting worse. I am very was initially sentenced to seven years in jail and 600 ‘crime’ was to set up a website for public discussion,” concerned about him,” Haidar told reporters and law- lashes for insulting Islam, but an appeals court over- said Philip Luther, Amnesty’s Middle East and North makers in Canada. “It is impossible for a human being to turned the original verdict, sending his case back for Africa director. — AFP

32 killed in Sinai... Continued from Page 1

Jihadists have regularly targeted security forces in the Sinai Peninsula since Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was ousted by then army chief Sisi in July 2013. The militants say the attacks are in retaliation for a government crackdown against Morsi supporters in which hundreds have been killed, thousands jailed and dozens sentenced to death. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki condemned Thursday’s attacks and said Washington “remains steadfast in its support of the Egyptian government’s efforts to combat the threat of terrorism”. Late last year Washington delivered 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt for joint counter-terrorism operations in the Sinai. The main focus of Thursday’s attacks was El-Arish, the provin- cial capital, where militants fired rockets at a police head- quarters, a military base and a residential complex for securi- ty forces, officials said. This was followed by a suicide car bombing, and militants also attacked a military checkpoint south of El-Arish. Separately an army officer was killed when a rocket struck a checkpoint in the town of Rafah, on the border with the KOBANI: A Kurdish fighter walks with a child in the destroyed Syrian town of Kobani, also known as Ain Al-Arab, yesterday. Gaza Strip. Officials said at least 62 people were wounded in Kurdish forces recaptured the town on the Turkish frontier on January 26, in a symbolic blow to the jihadists who have seized the attacks. The Islamic State group’s Egyptian affiliate, Ansar large swathes of territory in their onslaught across Syria and Iraq. —AFP Beit Al-Maqdis, claimed the assaults in a Twitter account linked to it. Egypt’s deadliest jihadist group said it “executed extensive, simultaneous attacks in the cities of El-Arish, IS attacks Kurdish Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah”. In November the organization pledged its allegiance to IS, which has captured large chunks of territory in Syria and Iraq. In another incident a police offi- outposts across Iraq cer was killed by a bomb blast in the canal city of Suez, while a suspected militant mistakenly blew himself up in Port Said while planting a device. Suicide bombers attack Baghdad market, Samarra checkpoint BAGHDAD: Islamic State militants struck at Kurdish forces south- Jalawla, 160 km (100 miles) southeast of Kirkuk, peshmerga and Buffer zone west of the Iraqi city of Kirkuk yesterday, while bombs in Baghdad medical sources said. More than 800 peshmerga have been killed The October attack, also near El-Arish, prompted the and Samarra killed at least 21 people. Islamic State has frequently in combat since Islamic State overran their defences in northern authorities to build a buffer zone along the Gaza border to battled Iraqi security forces and Shiite militias further south and Iraq last summer, prompting US-led air strikes. prevent militants infiltrating from the Palestinian enclave. west, but attacks in and around Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk have The Kurds have now regained most of the ground they lost, The authorities have also imposed a state of emergency and been less frequent. Oil rose above $49 a barrel yesterday because but commanders complain they remain ill-equipped compared night-time curfew in parts of North Sinai since October. of the violence in the oil-rich region. Police in Kirkuk province said with Islamic State militants, who plundered Iraqi arms depots Egypt’s military said Thursday’s attack was the result of “suc- the militants launched mortars and attacked positions of Kurdish when they overran Mosul in June. Kurdish Prime Minister cessful operations” against jihadists by the security forces, fighters in four districts. Nechirvan Barzani told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that and “the failure of Muslim Brotherhood... in spreading chaos Militants later detonated a car bomb at a hotel in Kirkuk city the US-led coalition against Islamic State was inadequate and said on the fourth anniversary of the 25 January revolution” which centre and clashed with peshmerga forces. A peshmerga officer US policy would at best contain the resilient and carefully struc- was marked on Sunday. On January 25, 2011, millions of told Reuters his forces had recaptured the district of Mariam Bek tured group. Egyptians protested against then leader Hosni Mubarak, forc- but said clashes were ongoing in Tal Al-Ward, Maktab Khalid and ing him to step down. Mullah Abdullah. 18 killed On Sunday as Egypt marked the anniversary, clashes Kurdish military sources said the peshmerga had repelled Security sources said at least 18 people were killed by two between protesters and police left 20 people dead, mostly in dawn attacks by Islamic State at different points along a more bombs in Baghdad’s Bab Al-Sharqi shopping district yesterday. than 1,000 km frontline, including Khazer, west of Arbil, and Three civilians were later killed and at least 10 wounded in north- Cairo. Since Mubarak’s ouster Egypt has been rocked by polit- Makhmur, further south. “Maybe they are afraid the fight for western Baghdad when mortars landed in residential neighbor- ical and economic turmoil. Jihadists have killed scores of Mosul has started so they are trying to show they can operate hoods, police and medics said. Further north in the holy city of police and soldiers, mostly in the Sinai, but the authorities close to Arbil or Kirkuk,” Roj Nuri Shaways, Iraq’s deputy prime Samarra, suicide bombers targeted a security checkpoint in the have blamed these attacks on Mubarak’s successor Morsi’s minister and a peshmerga commander, told Reuters. city centre, police said, killing three members of the police and Muslim Brotherhood, which denies the charges. The army has Senior Kurdish official Hemin Hawrami said on Twitter 45 mili- Shiite militias. Police and militias later clashed on Samarra’s west- poured troops and armor into the peninsula to fight the tants and seven Kurdish “martyrs” were killed around Kirkuk. ern outskirts following another explosion there. Samarra is sym- insurgency that has flared since Morsi’s ouster. Ansar Beit Al- Medical sources said senior commander Brigadier Sherko Fatih bolic for Iraqis. In February 2006 Sunni militants blew up a shrine, Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem) has claimed most of the was among the dead. At least seven other Kurdish fighters were triggering revenge attacks by Shiites which tipped Iraq into years attacks, including the deadly October assault. — Agencies killed by a suicide bomb at a checkpoint near the eastern town of of sectarian violence. — Reuters INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Italy lawmakers fail to elect a new president

ROME: Italian lawmakers failed to pick a president in a second round of voting yesterday, but Prime Minister Matteo Renzi appeared poised to get his candidate, a senior judge, elected on Saturday when the number of votes required will be lower. Renzi’s Democratic Party (PD) and a handful of allies pledged on Thursday to back Sergio Mattarella, 73, a constitutional court judge and a veteran centre-left politician. Any failure by Renzi, who has been in office less than a year, to get Mattarella in would suggest his authority over his party is wavering, raising the prospect of an early national election. With newly elected Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras facing tricky talks with German-led European partners on renegotiating Greece’s debt, a political crisis in Italy would compound uncertainty in the euro-zone. Two votes on the president have so far failed to back a single candidate. Italy’s 1,009 parliamentarians and regional officials eligible to pick the president began voting for a third time on Friday, but the result is likely to be the same, as a two-thirds majority is still needed. The quorum falls to a simple majority of 505 votes in the fourth round, due on Saturday morning.—Reuters

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, chairs a Security Council meeting in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Nuke safety push Moscow yesterday. —AP to be softened Russia says nuke arms to keep after US protest military edge over NATO, US VIENNA: The United States looks set to succeed in watering down a proposal for tougher legal standards aimed at boosting Armed forces to receive more than 50 nuclear missiles global nuclear safety, according to senior diplomats. Diplomatic wrangling will come to a head at a 77-nation meeting in Vienna MOSCOW: Russia’s top general said yesterday a strong nuclear arse- flew over the English Channel, forcing British authorities to reroute next month that threatens to expose divisions over required safe- nal will ensure military superiority over the West as Moscow forges civil aircraft. Russia promises to push through by 2020 a more than 20- ty standards and the cost of meeting them, four years after the ahead with a multi-billion dollar plan to modernize its forces by 2020. trillion-rouble ($286.62 billion) military modernization plan conceived Fukushima disaster in Japan. Switzerland has put forward a pro- Russia, facing a likely recession because of a fall in oil prices and sanc- by Putin, and military expenditures will remain unchanged even in posal to amend the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS), arguing tions over Ukraine, must deal with new forms of Western aggression, the face of a growing economic crisis that has cut the budgets of oth- stricter standards could help avoid a repeat of Fukushima, where including economic confrontation, said Chief of the Armed Forces er ministries. an earthquake and tsunami sparked triple nuclear meltdowns, General Staff Gen Valery Gerasimov. But despite the deep economic The modernization project aims to revamp Russia’s weapons sys- forced more than 160,000 people to flee nearby towns and con- woes, he said the Russian military would receive more than 50 new tems to assure that 70-100 percent of the armed forces weapons and taminated water, food and air. “If the convention is already per- intercontinental nuclear missiles this year. equipment has been modernized by the end of the decade-a plan fect, why did Fukushima happen?” said one senior diplomat “Support for our strategic nuclear forces to ensure their high mili- confirmed by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. involved in the matter. tary capability combined with ... growth of the military potential of the “We plan to fulfill the government armament program and reach But Russia and the United States have opposed such a general forces will assure that (the United States and NATO) do not by 2020 the intended quantities of modern weapons systems,” he change, the diplomats say. A reform of the CNS would increase gain military superiority over our country,” said Gerasimov. Tensions said at the meeting. Russia keeps its state nuclear capabilities shroud- industry costs, as existing nuclear plants, especially older ones, between Russia and the West have risen over the conflict in eastern ed in secrecy, but its military has approximately 8,500 warheads in would have to be refitted. The United Nations atomic watchdog Ukraine, where the United States and Europe say Moscow is fuelling total, including those non-deployed-some 1,000 more than the says there are 439 nuclear power reactors currently in operation an insurgency by sending in troops and weapons. Moscow denies United States possesses-according to a study last year by the Center globally, with 69 under construction. Mark Hibbs, proliferation this. Russia has criticised NATO expansion in eastern Europe and for Arms-Control and Non-Proliferation. expert at the Carnegie Endowment think-tank, said those in favor President Vladimir Putin has accused the Ukrainian army, which is Speaking against a backdrop of rising prices brought on in part by of the amendment argue their opponents are motivated by pro- fighting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, of being puppets a weaker ruble, Gerasimov said Russia had to deal with new kinds of tecting the nuclear industry and electric utility companies. Critics of NATO with a policy of “containing” Russia. Western aggression. “Western countries are actively using new forms of the plan say the US industry has already spent billions of dol- lars on improving nuclear safety since Fukushima, Hibbs Russian war planes have increasingly been spotted over Europe in of aggression, combining military as well as non-military means. added.—Reuters recent months. Britain summoned the Russian ambassador on Political, economic and information methods are also being used,” Thursday to complain about two Russian long-range bombers that Interfax news agency cited him as saying. — Reuters Artillery fire kills 12 civilians in Donetsk

DONETSK: Artillery fire in the rebel Debaltseve, a railway hub which could stronghold of Donetsk killed at least 12 prove a crucial link between the rebels civilians yesterday afternoon, the city in Donetsk and in Luhansk to northeast hall in the rebel stronghold said, as to it. While clashes in east Ukraine rage, fighting intensifies between pro-Russia hopes are still being invested in reviv- separatists and government troops. ing a peace process that has been Five people were killed as they were undermined with every new day of waiting for humanitarian aid outside a fighting. community center and two people Two rebel representatives went to were killed in the same neighborhood Minsk for peace talks on Friday, but when a mortar shell landed near a bus went back to eastern Ukraine a few stop. By the time an Associated Press hours later after the Ukrainian repre- journalist arrived at the community sentative failed to turn up. center, the bodies were taken away. Donetsk rebel representative Denis Nearby trees were cut down by what Pushilin insisted that the rebels’ ongo- could have been a projectile. Five other ing offence is a way to protect the civil- people died yesterday in sporadic ians from Ukrainian artillery fire and artillery fire in the west of Donetsk. said they will go ahead with it unless Full-blown fighting between the Kiev stops shelling the rebel-held areas. rebels and government forces erupted “The situation has worsened and it is anew earlier this month following a forcing us to go on offensive,” Pushilin LONDON: People stand on the bankside as the Havengore stops on the River Thames to hold a service adjacent period of relative tranquility. Hostilities told reporters in Minsk. “New victims to The Houses of Parliament during a re-enactment of Winston Churchill’s funeral procession, 50 years to the now seem to be focused around are inevitable, I’m afraid.”—Agencies day since it was watched on television by 350 million people, in London yesterday. — AFP INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Mexico maternity blast kills 2, injures dozens Mothers grab their babies as ceiling collapse

MEXICO CITY: A gas truck explosion demolished a ed the baby. She held him in her arms and the ceil- maternity hospital in Mexico City on Thursday, ing fell on top of her,” Venegas said, adding that she killing at least two people and injuring dozens while suffered face injuries. Israel Santiago, a 29-year-old mothers grabbed their babies as the ceiling col- security guard, had a similar story. “My wife says lapsed. Hundreds of rescuers, some with dogs, that the roof fell where she was. But luckily she was scoured the rubble of the Maternity and Children’s trapped between the bed and the crib with the boy Hospital in the Cuajimalpa borough after the huge in her arms. She protected him,” he said. blast, though officials were hopeful that nobody Neighbors recounted smelling a strong odor of remained trapped. “I remember the cries of the gas and then hearing an explosion that shattered babies under the rubble and the screams of my col- house windows and caused doors to slam open. leagues,” said Ivonne Ortega, a nurse who was Adults with bloodied faces were rushed into ambu- injured as she helped evacuate the newborns. lances. Mexico City Health Secretary Armando Ahued Ivan Rodriguez, 28, said he was at home with his said a woman and a baby were killed. He said brother next to the hospital and thought an earth- another 66 people were injured, including 21 new- quake had hit the city. “Suddenly I heard a big borns. Seven of the babies are in serious condition. bang,” he told AFP. “The house’s doors opened as if Around three-quarters of the building collapsed they were kicked open and I shouted: ‘Let’s go, it’s after the blast, which took place around 7:00 am trembling!’” after workers were unable to control a pipe leak, Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said. History of gas blasts The truck’s three operators were detained, and President Enrique Pena Nieto expressed his two of them were hospitalized, Mancera said. Their “sadness and solidarity” with the victims and their employer was identified as Gas Express Nieto, which CUAJIMALPA: Maria Gaudulupe Hernandez, sitting left, is helped by paramedics after col- families. Pope Francis tweeted his condolences: “We as serviced 31 city hospitals since 2007. Mancera lapsing while searching for news of her cousin who’s been missing since the explosion at pray for the victims of the explosion at the said a bigger tragedy was avoided because fewer a maternity and children’s hospital in Cuajimalpa on the outskirts of Mexico City, Cuajimalpa hospital, Mexico, and their relatives. people were in the hospital at that time and they Thursday. — AP May the Lord give them peace and strength.” had around 10 minutes to evacuate before the gas Mexico has been hit by other gas explosion leak turned into an explosion. four babies dead, before retracting. ceiling fell on her. It didn’t hurt her,” he said, adding tragedies in recent years. In February 2013, 37 peo- Around 100 people were in the building, officials Relatives of survivors recounted how mothers that she complained of chest pains, which doctors ple died in the headquarters of the state energy said. By midday, nobody was reported missing but saved their babies. Jose Eduardo Manriquez, 22, attributed to gas inhalation. firm Pemex in Mexico City following a gas buildup Mancera said the search would continue until came out smiling from the Enrique Cabrera hospi- His wife was rescued by a police officer and she in the skyscraper’s basement. authorities are “100 percent” certain no one is tal, where his wife and newborn son were taken walked out of the rubble barefoot. Jose Miguel In May 2013, 25 people died when a gas tanker’s trapped under the rubble. Officials gave conflicting after the blast. They were both doing well. Venegas, 30, visited his 26-year-old wife and third container came loose on a highway north of Mexico death tolls during the day, at one point reporting “My wife grabbed the baby, turned over and the son, who was born Wednesday night. “She protect- City, setting nearby homes and cars on fire. — AFP INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Indian police rescue hundreds of child slaves NEW DELHI: Indian police have rescued hundreds of child slaves as Satyanarayana. “The campaign against bonded labour and trafficking almost 40 percent remain untraceable. Many are trapped by gangs young as six during days of raids on workshops in the central city of will continue.” Police began a massive clampdown last week against and forced into prostitution, child labour and slavery, according to Hyderabad, a senior officer said yesterday. Police discovered 120 chil- dozens of workshops tucked away in the city’s narrow alleys, after tip- police and activists. Activists, who have criticised police for turning dren-some of them sick, underweight and traumatised-during raids offs from child rights activists and police informers. Some 220 children a blind eye to child trafficking, welcomed the police crackdown but on workshops that make bangles and other goods late on Thursday, were rescued last week when police stormed similar workshops in the cautioned the youngsters could become easy prey for criminals if as part of a city-wide crackdown on child slavery. city’s south, Satyanarayana said. Thirty-one traffickers and agents they are not cared for. “This is an excellent initiative”, Bhuvan “They have chronic skin diseases and were underfed. They are in have been arrested and charged with child slavery and police are Ribhu, an activist and lawyer with Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save trauma and visibly shaken,” V. Satyanarayana, deputy police commis- making efforts to reunite children with their families, the commission- Childhood Movement), told AFP. sioner for south Hyderabad, told AFP. The children complained of er added. TV footage taken after the raids showed cramped and dirty “The rescue of child slaves is the beginning. We have to ensure being forced to work 16 hours a day without breaks, and were threat- workshops with no windows and discarded clothes. Children were they get rehabilitated and compensated for the work. Also, the ened with violence and no food if they disobeyed orders, the officer seen huddled in a room, looking bewildered and being watched over offenders are penalised for the crime,” he said. India’s mega cities said. Many were transported from the impoverished northern state of by police officers. such as Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai are a particular targets for Bihar last year after their parents sold them to traffickers for 5,000- gangs, which entice poor parents from rural areas with the promise 10,000 rupees ($80-$160), according to rescuers. “They were kept in ‘Rescue is the beginning’ of jobs and monthly wages but then sell the children into bonded dingy rooms with no ventilation and exposure to harmful gases,” said Eleven children are reported missing in India every hour and labour.—AFP Relatives bash Malaysia declaration on MH370 Declaration opens door for compensations

BEIJING: Traumatised relatives of those aboard missing flight received little advance warning of the announcement-echoing MH370 yesterday blasted the Malaysian government for declaring complaints from furious relatives in Kuala Lumpur. the passengers and crew dead without evidence of the plane’s “Malaysia ignored the right of relatives to know the news first,” fate, and rejected compensation offers. Jiang added. Malaysia’s declaration opens the door for compensa- Malaysian authorities a day earlier had said they were now clas- tion payments, but many relatives told AFP they wanted answers sifying the unexplained disappearance of the plane as an “acci- before any compensation. dent” under global aviation conventions and said for the first time This undated file picture released from North Korea’s official that all 239 on board were presumed dead. ‘We want the truth’ Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 27, 2015 But relatives in both Malaysia and China-two-thirds of the pas- “We don’t want money. We want the truth about what hap- shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (R) inspecting a win- sengers were Chinese nationals-rejected that declaration. “We call pened,” said Hu Xiufang, whose only child, daughter-in-law and ter river-crossing attack drill of the armored infantry sub- on Malaysia to withdraw their statement. It lacks a basis in evi- grandson were on the plane. Chinese media reported on Friday units of the motorized strike group in the western sector of dence,” said Jiang Hui, whose mother was on the plane, calling on that the father of an MH370 passenger died suddenly at his home the front of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) at an undis- authorities to apologise. More than 100 Chinese relatives of the three hours after hearing the plane was missing. closed location in North Korea. — AFP lost passengers are demanding Malaysia withdraw the statement, Li Xiaohui, 60, whose son was onboard, had no known serious according to posts in an online group they use. medical problems at the time of his death, a state-run outlet called N Korean leader Kim In Kuala Lumpur, some 20 relatives held a briefing to blast The Paper reported. The plane vanished en route from Kuala Malaysia’s move and demand answers to a 10-month-old mystery Lumpur to Beijing last March 8 in one of history’s great aviation set for global debut they said has been mishandled from the start and marked by mysteries. Malaysia’s government says satellite data indicates the secrecy on the part of the government and flag carrier. plane inexplicably detoured to the remote southern Indian Ocean, “Almost all families are unanimous in our stand that we do not which they suspect was due to “deliberate” action onboard. SEOUL: North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un looks set to take an initial, want to declare our loved ones dead without a shred of evidence,” But no evidence has turned up despite an ongoing Australian- tentative step onto the global stage with a visit in May to Russia-his they said in a prepared statement. led search and rescue operation-the most expensive in history. first trip abroad since coming to power three years ago. Kim may not “We, the next of kin of MH370, are perplexed as to why the The relatives in Kuala Lumpur said they fear Thursday’s declaration have the physique or bearing of a shy debutante, but Moscow will be Malaysian authorities are jumping the gun in wanting to make any indicated Malaysian authorities’ desire to wash their hands of the his diplomatic “coming out” and minutely scrutinised, especially with announcements while the search is a long way from completion.” affair and leave it unsolved. other world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping, expected to be Family members in Beijing, some of whom burst into tears as They appealed to the governments of Malaysia, Australia and there. The Kremlin confirmed Wednesday that Kim would be among they spoke to reporters near a Buddhist temple, said they had China not to abandon the search.—AFP those attending ceremonies to mark the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Kim’s presence would set up some potentially intriguing meet and greets. As well as Xi, US President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye have both been invited, but have yet to confirm one way or the other. Obama is considered an unlikely participant given current tensions with Russia over Ukraine, while Park’s office says she is still considering unspecified scheduling con- flicts. A Kim meeting with virtually anyone would be news. The young leader has received a number of high-ranking Chinese officials in Pyongyang, but the most prominent foreigner he has met in the past three years is the former NBA basketball star, Dennis Rodman. Formal talks with Vladimir Putin would mark Kim’s first summit, after a noted breach of protocol saw him snub the president of Mongolia who visit- ed Pyongyang in 2013.

Why now? Analysts differ over why Kim has delayed any overseas visit for so long. Some suggest he was observing a traditional three-year mourn- ing period for his father and late leader Kim Jong-Il which ended in December last year. Others say his relative youth and inexperience required him to grow into his role as supreme leader at home, before venturing abroad. The North’s ruling Kim dynasty has never been big on overseas trips, with the exception of forays to traditional allies Beijing and Moscow. Kim’s grandfather and North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il-Sung managed to visit most of the former Eastern Bloc, but the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Soviet Union left few- er destination options for Kim Jong-Il when he took over in 1994. Kim Jong-Il also hated flying, and limited his travels to train trips to China and Russia. Kim’s choice of Russia for his foreign debut would be a reflection of warming ties between Pyongyang and Moscow, BEIJING: A plainclothes policeman tells family members of Chinese passengers from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight especially on the trade and economic front.—AFP MH370 to leave as they were speaking to the media outside the Yonghegong Lama temple in Beijing yesterday. — AFP INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Bodies found after Bangladesh migrant boat sinks

DHAKA: Rescuers pulled seven bodies yes- coastguard captain Shahidul Islam told missing won’t be more than a dozen.” The and ethnic Rohingya refugees from terday from a fishing boat that sank off the AFP. The bodies were found after the coastguard along with the Bangladesh Myanmar attempt the perilous journey to Bangladesh coast carrying migrants to coastguard towed the boat to shore, Islam navy were scouring the sea, but with more Malaysia every year. Ferry and other boat- Malaysia, as a search continued for a dozen said. Although dozens were initially feared than 24 hours elapsing since the disaster, ing accidents are common in Bangladesh, still missing, an official said. missing, Islam said yesterday officials now hopes were fading of finding them alive, home to thousands of small and medium- Emergency workers have rescued 43 believe the figure is lower after interview- he said. All of the passengers were sized boats, 95 percent of which officials Bangladeshis in the Bay of Bengal since the ing more of the survivors. “We don’t know Bangladeshis who were heading to say do not meet minimum safety regula- trawler capsized in strong currents some how many people are still missing because Malaysia by sea illegally, police have said. tions. Rights groups say thousands have 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) offshore on the survivors gave us different estimates as The boat hit strong currents in a channel perished attempting the 3,200-kilometre Thursday, officials have said. to how many people were aboard the boat shortly after leaving a coastal town near (2,000-mile) journey to Malaysia, with “We recovered seven bodies from the when it capsized,” he said. “But it was a the southern port city of Chittagong. many falling into the hands of people traf- lower deck of the boat yesterday morning,” small boat and we think the number of Thousands of impoverished Bangladeshis fickers. — AFP India woman who alleges rape sues Uber in US court

NEW DELHI: A woman who alleges an Uber driver raped her in the Indian capital has sued the online taxi service in a US court, accusing it of failing to provide passenger safety. In her lawsuit, the Indian woman accuses Uber of putting profits over safety, calling the US-based company the “mod- ern day equivalent of electronic hitchhiking”. In an email to AFP late Thursday, the American lawyer for the 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal rea- sons, said Uber was being sued for unspecified damages for “physical and emotional harm”. “Despite its self-proclaimed commitment to safety, open- ing the Uber app and setting the pick-up location has proven to be the modern day equivalent of electronic hitchhiking,” according to the lawsuit filed in a court in California. “Buyer beware-we all know how those horror movies end,” the lawsuit said, accusing Uber of negligence. The woman’s lawyer, Douglas H. Wigdor, had earlier repre- sented a hotel maid who accused former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault in 2012. The San Francisco-based company did not comment on the lawsuit but said “our deepest sympathies remain with the victim of this horrific crime”. A spokesman said the company was also “cooperating ful- JALALABAD: In this photograph taken on January 29,2015, an Afghan educator (L) shows examples of bombs and mines ly” with authorities to ensure the person responsible for the to returning Afghan refugee families at a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) center on the out- crime was brought to justice. skirts of Jalalabad. — AFP Uber was banned from Delhi’s streets in the aftermath of the December 5 attack on the woman, which sparked new Pakistanis fleeing offensive safety fears in a city with a high record of sexual violence. The trial of the accused driver, who allegedly attacked the woman as she was on her way home from dinner, is under- find dangers in Afghanistan way. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, kidnap and criminal intimidation. Uber, which connects passengers to drivers through smart- UN working closely to provide shelter, health for refugees phone apps, last week said it was resuming its Delhi opera- tions, but authorities rejected its request for a licence to oper- KHOST: Tens of thousands of Pakistanis Eastern Afghanistan is an unlikely tribal regions near the Afghan border ate as a radio-taxi company. Uber has said it is committed to have sought shelter at a sprawling refugee refuge. Khost and neighboring Paktika, where local and foreign militants - includ- protecting its passengers in India and globally. India is one of camp in a volatile region of Afghanistan where most of the refugees have sought ing the Pakistani Taleban, al-Qaeda and the the company’s key markets outside the United States and after crossing the mountainous border to shelter, are among the most dangerous Haqqani network - had long enjoyed safe operates in nearly a dozen Indian cities. — AFP escape a military onslaught against insur- provinces in the country. Local security haven. A parallel offensive is taking place gents. For decades Afghans have fled into forces have struggled to combat the in the neighboring Khyber tribal region to Pakistan to escape war and upheaval, but Taleban following the withdrawal of U.S. pursue militants fleeing North Waziristan. in recent months the tide has reversed, and NATO forces, and the insurgents are The conflict goes back more than a with some 60,000 Pakistanis - more than expected to launch a fresh offensive in the decade, with the Pakistani government half of them children - taking refuge in the spring. On the edge of the camp, mine carrying out sporadic assaults on insur- Gulan camp, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) removers in pale blue body armor scan the gents and US drones targeting them from from the border in the restive Khost dusty ground for ordinance left over from the air. The militants respond by attacking province. decades of war. But inside, local traders security forces and residents accused of “We knew the military operations have set up stalls selling fresh produce, giv- spying on them, leaving communities would last a long time once they started,” ing the camp an air of permanence. And gripped by fear. said Malik Omardin, a tribal elder who the Pakistanis say they have been wel- “The Taleban come at night to place came from the Pakistani town of Datta comed by local Afghans, many of whom bombs on the roads, which explode and Khel. “It’s a mountainous area and the had found shelter on the other side of the kill soldiers as well as local people, so then insurgents are very strong on their own border in past conflicts. the government comes in to hit them territory, so the government will have a The Pakistan offensive was launched back,” said Shir Azia, a tribal elder from hard time finding and destroying the last June after a militant attack on Karachi’s Miran Shah, in North Waziristan. Taleban.” More than 210,000 Pakistanis international airport. The government “We don’t care whether it is the govern- have crossed into Afghanistan from the warned residents to flee, and some 93,000 ment or the Taleban in control, we just neighboring North Waziristan province families - up to 750,000 people - have been want to live in peace,” he said. “We have since the Pakistani military launched a displaced inside Pakistan. The Pakistani lost everything because of the fighting.” long-awaited offensive in June against military says it has killed hundreds of mili- UN agencies are working closely with SRINAGAR: Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers Taleban and other foreign militants, who tants, but journalists are barred from the provincial authorities to provide shelter, march with the Indian flag during a passing out parade in have long used the lawless tribal region as region so it is not possible to verify the food, water, health facilities and schooling Humhama, on the outskirts of Srinagar yesterday. — AFP a launch-pad for attacks in both countries. claims. North Waziristan is one of seven for the refugees. —AP INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Thai military ramps up ‘attitude adjustment’ for critics

BANGKOK: A prominent leader of the opposition Red Shirt military to haul in those deemed to be uncooperative with though in reality any refusal to cooperate would likely lead movement and a former minister yesterday became the Thailand’s generals, who imposed martial law and took to significant censure. “Please use the word invite,” General latest critics of Thailand’s junta forced to report to barracks over in a coup last May. Udomdej Sritabutr, army chief and a key junta leader told for “attitude adjustment” as the military ramps up its cam- At least five people-three former ministers, a Red Shirt reporters at Government House. paign against dissent. leader and Yingluck’s lawyer-have now been ordered to “We ask for their cooperation... and if they don’t under- Nattawut Saikuar, secretary-general of the movement report this week. Thailand’s junta has moved swiftly to stand we will invite them again,” he added. Earlier this week loyal to ousted premier Yingluck Shinawatra, and Pichai stamp out any renewed criticism of their rule following the junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha made it clear he would not Naripthaphan, a former energy minister in her government, retroactive impeachment of Yingluck last week and after a tolerate those who spoke out against the regime, adding were both ordered to appear before the military after pub- top US diplomat made critical comments on Monday that he would use punitive measures including banning critics licly criticising the regime. infuriated the generals. from travelling abroad and having their assets investigated So-called “attitude adjustment” sessions are used by the The military insist the summons are simply invites- or seized.—AFP Top Thai cops jailed in corruption case

BANGKOK: Two senior Thai police offi- in prison on each count. At least 17 peo- cers allegedly at the centre of corruption ple were arrested during the investiga- network whose exposure led to the tion of the corrupt group, who were downfall of a senior Thai princess were accused of amassing illicit fortunes jailed yesterday under Thailand’s contro- through corrupt patronage networks as versial lese majeste law. well as gambling and oil rackets. Pongpat Chayapun, the former head The Thai authorities have yet to give a of Thailand’s elite Central Investigation full explanation of how those charged in Bureau, and his ex-deputy Kowit the corruption network defamed the Vongrongrot were arrested in November monarchy. At the time of their arrest, alongside a string of top brass in a cor- police said Pongpat and his group had ruption probe that went on to implicate made “false claims” to be acting on relatives of Princess Srirasmi, then the behalf of an unnamed royal in their Crown Prince’s wife. allegedly corrupt dealings. She later renounced her royal title and But senior police officers charged with was divorced by Crown Prince Maha investigating the circle hinted that they Vajiralongkorn in a dramatic and opaque were unable to elaborate any further moment of palace intrigue that shocked because doing so could in itself breach Thailand’s elite at a time of heightened lese majeste laws. MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, wearing a black arm band, consoles relatives of the police anxiety over the health of the country’s Both Thai and international media commandos killed last Sunday, during the Philippine’s biggest single-day combat loss in recent years, at revered but ailing monarch. must heavily self-censor when covering Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig city, south of Manila, Philippines yesterday. — AP Both officers were sentenced to six the country’s lese majeste rules. Even years in jail Friday after admitting lese repeating details of the charges could majeste under section 112 of Thailand’s mean breaking the law under section Aquino vows justice for criminal code and for corruption, a court 112.Rights groups say there has been a official said. “He (Pongpat) pleaded guilty rise in both charges and convictions to charges, including insulting the under Thailand’s royal slur law since the dead Filipino commandos monarchy, and the judge sentenced him army seized power, with academics say- to five years plus twelve months in jail,” ing it has been politicised to go after the Dead policemen had surrendered: Eyewitness an official at Bangkok Criminal Court, “Red Shirt” movement that is broadly who asked not to be named, told AFP. supportive of fugitive former premier MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino pledged jus- surrounded them, according to officials, including the Moro “That sentence was commuted from Thaksin Shinawatra. tice for the families of 44 police commandos killed by Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which signed a peace agree- 12 years because he confessed to the The royal family is a highly sensitive Muslim rebels during a botched anti-terror operation, as he ment with Manila last year. The MILF maintains that it acted judges,” the official added. A second offi- topic in the politically turbulent kingdom led tributes yesterday-a national day of mourning. The men in self-defence and has vowed to pursue the peace process, cial said Kowit had also been handed a six where 87-year-old King Bhumibol were killed in confrontations with two rebel groups in the as it seeks regional self-rule. year sentence. Under the royal defama- Adulyadej, the world’s longest reigning southern Philippines on Sunday while on a mission to catch It has denied military claims in the past that it was giving tion law-one of the world’s strictest-any- monarch, is revered by many as a demi- or kill Malaysian bomb-maker Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, shelter to Zulkifli and other foreign militants and letting one convicted of insulting the king, god but is entering the twilight of his who is accused of involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings in them train MILF members in bomb-making. The other queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years reign. — AFP Indonesia in which 202 people died. group that attacked the policemen, officials said, is a MILF “I feel your pain,” Aquino told weeping widows, parents splinter group called the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom and children of the police commandos at an emotional Fighters (BIFF), which last year pledged allegiance to Islamic memorial service inside a police camp in suburban Manila. “I State fighters in Iraq and Syria. pledge to bring justice to all those who were killed,” said the president, sporting the same black armband worn by police ‘All I ask for is justice’ attending the ceremony. Eyewitness accounts by at least one police survivor An awkward silence, broken only by the sound of infants allege that some of the dead policemen had surrendered, crying, filled the cramped gymnasium as Aquino personally only to be executed by the rebels who also desecrated some offered his condolences to victims for the first time since the of the corpses, triggering mounting calls for retribution. massacre, praying briefly before each white casket. Elisa Yesterday, the Philippine government and Muslim rebel Esmulla, unemployed and widowed with five young chil- negotiators announced that they had signed a protocol for dren, said she could not take a combat medal from the presi- the disarmament of guerillas. dent’s hands as she was overcome with grief. “My head was The two sides started three-day talks in Kuala Lumpur spinning. I was confused. I still can’t believe what happened from Thursday, their first formal sit-down since the botched to my husband,” Esmulla, 33, told AFP, carrying her one- raid. The president stressed during the ceremony that what year-old daughter. Aquino was attacked by many for failing was the worst loss of life suffered by the country’s police or to attend a parade ceremony Thursday that saw uniformed military forces in recent memory would not stop his govern- commandos bearing the coffins of their fallen comrades as ment from enforcing a peace agreement reached last year they arrived home in Manila. with the country’s largest Muslim guerrilla force. But analysts He vowed yesterday that one of his government’s top said the bloodbath cast doubts over the future of the peace priorities would be to go after Philippine militant Abdul Basit accord aimed at ending the decades-long armed conflict in BANKOK: Former Central Investigation Bureau chief Lt. Gen. Pongpat Usman, a suspect in at least nine bombings in the south, impoverished Muslim regions of the mainly Catholic Chayapan, center, is escorted by Thai corrections officers upon arrival at who escaped from the weekend fighting. And in his eulogy, Philippines. To keep the peace timetable on track, Aquino the Criminal Court in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday. The court sentenced Chief Superintendent Noli Talino repeated a Philippine gov- needs parliament to pass by March a self-rule law for minori- yesterday two top police officers, Pongpat and his ex-deputy, embroiled ernment claim-not yet independently verified-that Zulkifli ty Muslims in several southern provinces. However, legisla- in a high-profile corruption scandal in the country to six years in prison on was killed by a small assault force. The 44 men lost their lives tors admitted this week that the incident will likely cause charges of insulting the monarchy and running a gambling den. — AP in gun battles with large units of Filipino Muslim rebels who parliament to miss the deadline. — AFP Russian CB makes US growth cools in Q4, but Euro-zone prices plunge Businesssurprise rate cut 16 consumer spending robust170.6% amid weak growth 18 SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Japan’s inflation slows again as spending drops19

FRANKFURT: The new Airbus A 350 of Qatar Airways coming from Doha approaches the gate at the airport in Frankfurt. Qatar Airways announced yesterday that it has bought nearly 10 percent of the parent company of British Airways and Spain’s Iberia, deepening wealthy Qatar’s business ties to Europe and intensifying competition with the airline’s fast-growing Gulf rivals. — AP Qatar Airways takes $1.7bn stake in IAG Airline builds closer ties with BA, Iberia in oneworld alliance

LONDON: Qatar Airways has bought a 9.99 per- Shares in IAG, which have risen by 44 per- IAG Chief Executive Willie Walsh said in a cent stake in International Consolidated Airlines cent in the last three months, were trading up statement: “We will talk to them about what Group (IAG) worth around 1.15 billion pounds 0.3 percent at 565.5 pence. They earlier reached opportunities exist to work more closely ($1.7 billion), building closer ties with the own- 590 pence, the highest level since the group together and further IAG’s ambitions”. er of its partners British Airways and Iberia in was formed four years ago. IAG, a leading transatlantic carrier, is trying the oneworld alliance. Qatar’s national airline Analyst Mark Irvine-Fortescue at brokerage to buy Irish airline Aer Lingus for $1.5 billion, a said it would look to strengthen commercial Jefferies said Qatar’s investment was a strong deal that will increase its take-off and landing ties with the European carrier and may consider endorsement of IAG and the tie-up would cre- slots at its full-to-capacity London Heathrow increasing its stake over time, although it was ate opportunities in southeast Asia, India and hub. Qatar Airways, owned by the country’s not currently intending to exceed 9.99 percent. the Middle East, where Qatar has an extensive sovereign wealth fund, has competed with “IAG represents an excellent opportunity to network. He said huge capacity growth from regional rivals Emirates and Etihad Airways to further develop our Westwards strategy,” Qatar Middle East carriers such as Qatar, Etihad become major global carriers. Its visibility in Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said Airways and Emirates was putting pressure on Europe has been strengthened by a sponsor- yesterday, referring to its aim of expanding in the hubs of Europe’s carriers. ship deal with Spanish soccer club Barcelona. It western markets. Non-European shareholders “This strategy could be seen as a defensive joined oneworld in 2013, becoming the first of IAG including Qatar Airways are subject to an ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ move and Akbar Al Baker, chief executive officer for Gulf airline in enter into a global alliance, overall cap on ownership as a result of the should in time improve IAG’s structural and Qatar Airways, listens during a panel dis- which allows airlines to team up via code-shar- requirement for EU airlines to be majority competitive positioning, possibly at the cussion of the 70th International Air ing agreements to boost the number of flights owned by EU shareholders. expense of Air France and Lufthansa,” he said. Transport Association in Doha. — AP they offer. — Reuters BUSINESS SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 News Russian CB makes surprise in brief interest rate cut, ruble falls OPEC daily basket price at $43.88 Move may reflect political pressure, growth worries MOSCOW: Russia’s central bank unexpect- VIENNA: OPEC daily basket price stood at $43.88 a barrel yes- edly cut its main interest rate yesterday as terday (Thursday), compared with $44.08 the previous day, a fears of recession mount in the country fol- statement by the cartel said yesterday. The new OPEC lowing the fall in global oil prices and Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis. Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), The central bank reduced its one-week Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait minimum auction repo rate by two points Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar to 15 percent, a little over a month after Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and pushing it up by 6.5 points to 17 percent Merey (Venez). In their annual meeting last November 27, after a run on the ruble. The bank had been 2014, OPEC oil ministers had agreed to leave production at a widely expected not to change the rate. level of 30 million barrels a day. Following the decision, the ruble extended losses to trade as much as 4 percent lower Lebanon’s Byblos Bank on the day against the dollar, though it lat- er clawed back some of the losses. The 2014 net profit rises 12.5% move implies a shift in the bank’s priorities BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Byblos Bank reported a 12.5 percent away from clamping down on rising infla- increase in 2014 net profit yesterday, saying it had cush- tion and supporting the ruble, towards try- ioned its business against a “less than ideal” operating ing to support economic activity, which environment. Net profit was $175.7 million, up from the bank expects to fall sharply in the com- $156.2 million a year earlier, the bank said in a statement. ing months. Total assets rose 3 percent to $19 billion by the end of the “Today’s decision to lower key interest year. It said it had kept a high liquidity and capital adequa- rate by 2 percentage points is intended to cy ratio during the period and had allocated enough pro- balance the goal of curbing inflation and visions against potential credit losses. It also attributed its restore economic growth,” the bank’s gov- results to conservative lending policies. ernor, Elvira Nabiullina, said after the MOSCOW: Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina speaks in the lower announcement. In an emailed statement, house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, in Moscow yesterday. — AFP Bahrain gas prices the banks’ press service quoted her as say- heading for a hard landing as low oil prices double-digits throughout this year. ing the rate remained high enough to for industry rise 25% look set to persist and the conflict in It said it expected inflation to fall below allow the Bank of Russia to reach its infla- Ukraine has worsened, defying hopes of an 10 percent in January 2016. Inflation was DUBAI: Bahrain will increase the price of natural gas sold to com- tion target in the medium term. panies by 25 cents per million British thermal units (mmBtu) from early end to Western sanctions. 13.2 percent as of Jan. 26, the bank said, up April 1, Aluminium Bahrain said in a statement yesterday. ALBA The decision will also fuel speculation Macroeconomic data released earlier this from 11.4 percent in December. “I see big said it was informed by state-run Bahrain Petroleum Co (BAPCO) that recent changes in the bank’s senior week showed real wages slumping by 4.7 risks in today’s decision,” said Rosbank that natural gas prices will be raised to $2.50 per mmBtu from management have shifted the bank percent year-on-year in December and real economist Evgeny Koshelev. “Now the $2.25, according to state news agency BNA. The price will then towards more dovish monetary policy, disposable income slumping by 7.3 per- geopolitical background is unclear and rise 25 cents on April 1 each year until it reaches $4 per mmBtu by possibly under pressure from the Kremlin, cent, boding ill for economic growth in the inflation pressure remains quite strong, as April 1, 2021. Earlier this month, Bahrain’s cabinet decided to the banks and business lobbies. “The decision months ahead. In an accompanying state- well as signals for the outflow of capital... raise price of natural gas sold to companies, in a sign the govern- appears to be politically driven, since it is a ment, the bank said it expected gross This (rate cut) is probably a reason to sell ment is seeking ways to save money as the plunge in global oil cut that shows the central bank is worried domestic product to fall by 3.2 percent in the ruble more in the short term.” prices pressures state finances. Last September, when Brent about the risks to the banking sector. It annual terms during the first half of 2015, However, Renaissance Capital econo- crude was at $97 a barrel, analysts surveyed by Reuters projected looks like the central bank’s hand has been following growth of 0.6 percent in 2014. mist Oleg Kouzmin said he welcomed the that the kingdom would run a state budget deficit of 5.7 percent forced,” said Nicholas Spiro, managing move: “It’s good that they are lowering of gross domestic product in 2015. Brent is now at about $49, so director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy in Inflation rising now. This is a sensible step. This will help the deficit may turn out to be much bigger. London. Analysts had nevertheless expected the the economy and allow stability to be pre- Earlier this month the bank’s head of bank to hold rates this month, as the bank served.” He added that high interest rates monetary policy, Ksenia Yudayeva, an anti- had previously said it would cut rates when do not especially help the ruble as capital Oil rises, set for record inflation hawk, was replaced by Dmitry inflation is on a sustained downward trend. outflows are largely linked to debt repay- run of monthly falls Tulin, a central bank veteran seen as more Inflation has instead been shooting up as a ments. “Will the capital outflow be acceptable to bankers, who have been result of the slide in the ruble. The bank stronger? Yes, but there will be a weaker LONDON: Oil rose above $49 a barrel yesterday, supported by called for lower interest rates. said that it saw conditions for lower infla- ruble and a stronger current account, renewed violence in Iraq but with a persistent global supply But the shift in policy may also reflect tion in the medium term, but effectively which means it won’t be necessary to glut keeping the market on course for a seventh straight month the realization that Russia’s economy is acknowledged that inflation would stay in spend more forex reserves.” — Reuters of declines, its longest bear run on record. Benchmark Brent crude prices have kept within a band of $45-$50 a barrel since hitting a six-year low on Jan 13, but ana- UK may set deadline lysts have not ruled out further declines as global inventories continue to rise. Data this week showed US crude oil inventories had reached their highest levels since the 1930s. for insurance claims Brent oil futures were up 37 cents at $49.50 per barrel at 1106 GMT, while benchmark US WTI futures were up 42 cents at LONDON: Britain’s markets watchdog will consider imposing a compensating customers was working properly. “The FCA will $44.95 a barrel. Brent is on track to post a 14 percent fall for January, marking a seventh month of decline and the longest- deadline on customers claiming compensation for the mis-selling then consider whether further interventions may be appropriate, running monthly drop since Reuters records started in 1988. of loan insurance, potentially drawing a line under the country’s which could include a consumer communication campaign; a A Reuters survey of analysts showed on Friday that oil will costliest consumer finance scandal. possible time limit on complaints; or other rule changes or guid- likely continue falling before posting only a mild recovery in the The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said yesterday it would ance,” it said in a statement. The FCA board decided on Thursday second half of this year, with prices set to average even less in collect evidence on whether consumers mis-sold payment pro- to review how compensation was being paid given that lenders 2015 than during the global financial crisis. The survey of 33 tection insurance (PPI) were being compensated properly and use have been dealing with complaints for several years. economists and analysts forecast North Sea Brent crude would it to assess whether the current approach was working. Lenders Banks such as Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC and Royal Bank of average $58.30 a barrel in 2015, down $15.70 from last month’s have so far paid out 17.3 billion pounds ($26 billion) in compensa- Scotland have already set aside 24 billion pounds to compensate poll, in the biggest month-on-month revision since prices last tion, the FCA said, and expect the total bill to rise further. consumers. The FCA said that since January 2011, banks have collapsed in 2008-2009. “The fundamentals remain weak, with The insurance policies were meant to protect borrowers in the handled over 14 million complaints over PPI and have paid com- seasonal refining maintenance resulting in stock builds on what event of sickness or unemployment but were often sold to those pensation on more than 70 percent of those complaints. is an already high base for stocks,” said Amrita Sen, chief oil ana- who would have been ineligible to claim. Banks have pushed in Consumers who believe they were mis-sold a PPI policy should lyst at London-based Energy Aspects. The International Energy the past for a ‘time-bar’ to be placed on claims but their lobbying continue complaining to whoever they bought it from and to the Agency this month said a price rebound could take some time failed because the regulator insisted that they needed to prove Financial Ombudsman if they are not satisfied with the response, despite increasing signs of the downturn easing, with lower such a move would be in the interests of consumers, industry the FCA said. The Financial Ombudsman said on Tuesday the num- output from North America shale production and higher sources said. The FCA said it would use its findings, due to be ber of complaints about loan insurance fell in the fourth quarter of demand due to the low prices. —Reuters published in the summer, to assess if the current approach to 2014, but were still running at around 4,000 a week. —Reuters BUSINESS SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

US growth cools in Q4, but Markets brace for consumer spending robust rocky ride after ECB plays last card Business investment weakens; trade deficit widens LONDON: The European Central Bank’s quantitative easing WASHINGTON: US economic growth slowed sharply in the fourth from the third quarter’s 3.2 percent pace. program may prove to be major central banks’ last salvo in quarter as weak business spending and a wider trade deficit offset the According to government data, gasoline prices have plunged 43 their post-crisis battle to revive growth, heal the financial sys- fastest pace of consumer spending since 2006. Gross domestic prod- percent since June, leaving Americans with more money for discre- tem and kill off the threat of deflation. uct expanded at a 2.6 percent annual pace after the third quarter’s tionary spending. A strengthening labor market, despite sluggish This leaves financial markets more exposed than at any spectacular 5 percent rate, the Commerce Department said in its first wage growth, is also a boost. The strong pace of consumer spending, time in the last six years, entering an uncertain world without GDP snapshot yesterday. however, was overshadowed by a drop in capital expenditure. implicit central bank backing now that monetary authorities The slowdown, which follows two back-to-back quarters of very Business spending on equipment fell at a 1.9 percent rate. It was the have effectively used up all their ammunition. Having cut strong growth, is likely to be short-lived given the enormous tailwind largest contraction since the second quarter of 2009. interest rates to zero and adopted a range of other uncon- from lower gasoline prices. Most economists believe fundamentals in Business spending on equipment had advanced at an 11 percent ventional monetary and exchange rate policies that have the United States are strong enough to cushion the blow on growth rate in the third quarter. Last quarter’s weakness could reflect cuts or driven bond yields to their lowest in history - negative, in from weakening overseas economies. delays in undertaking investment projects by companies in the oil some cases - central banks’ power to drive down the cost of Even with the moderation in the fourth quarter, growth remained industry. But it could also be payback after two back-to-back quarters money further and spur risk-taking and growth is waning.As above the 2.5 percent pace, which is considered to be the economy’s of robust gains. with the US Federal Reserve’s three rounds of QE between potential. Economists had expected the economy to expand at a 3 A wider trade deficit, as slower global growth curbed exports and 2008 and 2014, the big lurch lower in euro zone bond yields percent rate in the fourth quarter. For all of 2014, the economy grew solid domestic demand sucked in imports, subtracted 1.02 percent- had already happened before the ECB’s announcement last 2.4 percent compared to 2.2 percent in 2013. The report came two age point from GDP growth in the fourth quarter. Trade had added week. Germany’s benchmark 10-year yield fell 140 basis days after the Federal Reserve said the economy was expanding at a 0.78 percentage point to third-quarter growth. points last year, Italy’s 220 bps and Spain’s 240 bps, all to “solid pace,” an upgraded assessment that keeps it on track to start Restocking by businesses to meet growing demand contributed record lows. A 50 percent collapse in oil prices since June also raising interest rates this year. 0.82 percentage point to fourth-quarter GDP. Other details of the helped crush yields. The US central bank has kept its short-term interest rate near zero report were mixed. Government spending was a drag as a defense- The Fed got even more “bang for its buck”, although since December 2008 and most economists expect a mid-year lift-off. driven investment burst faded. Residential construction made a mild diminishing returns clearly set in: the 10-year Treasury yield Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of contribution to GDP growth. With gasoline prices plummeting, a key tumbled 200 bps in the two months before the Fed’s first US economic activity, advanced at a 4.3 percent pace in the fourth measure of inflation fell 0.5 percent, the weakest reading since the round of QE in late 2008; 150 bps between July and quarter - the fastest since the first quarter of 2006 and an acceleration first quarter of 2009. — Reuters September 2011 ahead of “QE2” in November that year; and a further 100 between March and July 2012 before “QE3” in September that year. So what now? If the QE tide raised all markets, the worry may be that the converse is true now all that liquidity has been pumped in or discounted. If the first few weeks of January are a guide - notably the Swiss franc undergoing the biggest move for a major currency since global free-floating exchange rates were introduced over 40 years ago - 2015 will be highly volatile for markets. The Swiss National Bank has spectacularly ditched its three-year exchange rate cap experiment, while the US and British central banks could begin “normalizing” policy this year. On top of that, global growth is creaking. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank both cut their 2015 forecasts this month. “The reason ECB President Mario Draghi pushed QE out and out and out was because once it’s done there really is nothing left - it’s the last bullet in the gun,” said Anne Richards, chief investment officer at Aberdeen Asset Management. “We are in for quite a volatile year this year, unquestionably,” said Richards, who is Europe’s largest independent fund manager, with more than $500 billion of assets under management. Richards recom- mends having as broad and diversified a portfolio as possi- ble, including assets as diverse as private equity, infrastruc- ture, and selected emerging markets. She has never seen so much uncertainty in financial mar- kets in her 23-year investment career. The case for a bruising equity market downturn over the coming few years is just as compelling as the case for the bull run continuing, she said. Major central banks have pumped more than $10 trillion of stimulus into markets since the 2007-08 crash. Among the consequences, a quarter of all euro zone bonds now carry negative yields, according to Tradeweb. More than $7 trillion of bonds globally have negative yields, Bank of America Merrill Lynch says. This stimulus lifted stock markets from the United States to Germany to historic highs too, while equity and currency market volatility sank to historic lows. But those tectonic plates are shifting.—Reuters Customers shop at Nordstrom Rack in Schaumburg, Illinois. The Conference Board released the Consumer Confidence Index for January yesterday. — AP Dollar set for record run, European shares rise

LONDON: The dollar was on track yesterday for its best run since it the positive impact from low oil prices and are a good support for track for its first week of gains in seven. was floated in 1971, notching up a seventh straight month of equities,” Christian Stocker, equity strategist at UniCredit in But the single currency is still down over 6 percent for the gains, while European shares headed for their best monthly per- Munich, said. month, its worst performance in 2-1/2 years, having fallen on the formance in more than three years. Ahead of euro zone inflation data due at 1000 GMT, yields on expectation, and then the confirmation, that the European Central Cheered by upbeat German retail sales, which posted their the currency bloc’s lowest-rated bonds dropped, as deflation risks Bank would launch a full-scale quantitative easing program to biggest annual rise in 2-1/2 years in December, the pan-European took centre stage again after reassurances from the new Greek shore up a flailing euro zone economy. Those gains have helped FTSEurofirst 300 index advanced yesterday, with Germany’s DAX government that it is looking for common ground on their bailout the dollar gain almost 5 percent against a basket of currencies so index rising 0.6 percent. problem. After a bout of investor nerves earlier in the week after far this year as traders bet that the U.S. Federal Reserve will be the European gains tracked a late rally on Wall Street on Thursday, the left-wing anti-austerity Syriza party won power, Greek shares first major central bank to raise interest rates. The dollar index was where stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs numbers and a rally in tracked higher yesterday. The banking index rose 9.1 percent, last down 0.2 percent at 94.5697, close to an 11-year high. “There Apple and Boeing helped offset some disappointing earnings. adding to a 12.9 percent rebound on Thursday. The euro also are a lot of investors waiting for a move higher in the euro to “Retail sales in Germany and Spain, as well as consumer spend- edged higher, trading up 0.2 percent at $1.1344, 2-1/2 cents above reload (on the dollar),” said Michael Sneyd, a currency strategist at ing in France, are above expectations. These are the first signs for an 11-year low of $1.1098 hit at the beginning of the week, and on BNP Paribas in London. “We are still dollar bulls.”—Reuters BUSINESS SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 European investment fund set for September start

FRANKFURT: A fund to bolster investment in ernment interest in the scheme. Katainen said, Europe should be up and running by September, however, that it was unclear which governments an EU official said on Friday, outlining the timetable would invest money in the scheme, intended to be for a highly leveraged scheme to bolster growth in a 315-billion-euro ($358 billion) investment vehicle a moribund EU economy. based on modest financial guarantees given by The European Fund for Strategic Investments, states. “There has been quite a lot of interest which can invest in projects from infrastructure towards the fund but nothing has been realised building to expansion of small businesses, is the yet,” he told journalists. “We built the fund so that it European Union’s flagship scheme to help address can operate even without any additional commit- slack growth. Jyrki Katainen, Vice President of the ments. We don’t have any expectations.” European Commission responsible for jobs and The late start-date may disappoint some. growth, told journalists that its set-up could be European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, for finalized by European Union leaders in June, with a example, recently urged EU leaders to speed up start date some months later. the project. The dire economic outlook prompted “I expect that the fund itself will be up and run- Draghi last week to unveil last week a roughly 1-tril- DAKAR: Christine Lagarde (left), Director General of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), confers ning, let’s say, in September,” he said, on a whistle- lion-euro plan to print fresh money, chiefly to buy with Senegalese President Macky Sall (right) during a press conference on Thursday. — AFP stop tour of Europe to drum up investor and gov- government bonds.—Reuters BT plans to upgrade Euro-zone prices plunge fiber network in revival move 0.6% amid weak growth LONDON: The revival of the once staid British telecom Accelerating deflation ignites worries monopoly BT picked up pace yesterday when it launched a drive to upgrade its fiber network ahead of a key soccer rights auction and a deal to buy mobile operator EE. FRANKFURT: Falling prices sent another worrying signal about of slack in the economy and the slow pace of the recovery,” Getting its finances in order ahead of the two pivotal the euro-zone economy just before the European Central Bank Christian Schulz, senior economist at Berenberg Bank, wrote in an events, BT also agreed a new deal with its pension trustees to starts a 1 trillion euro ($1.1 trillion) stimulus effort. Consumer email. “The ECB was thus more than justified in taking aggressive tackle a deficit that has hit 7 billion pounds ($10.5 billion), up prices fell 0.6 percent in the 12 months to January, accelerating action earlier this month.” from 3.9 billion pounds three years ago. the 0.2 percent annual drop in December. “The multi-stimulus of cheap oil, a weak euro and aggressive The 169-year-old firm will now pay 2 billion pounds into Prices are weighed down by the recent plunge in oil prices. But monetary easing is now stabilizing expectations and will help the the scheme over three years, down from the 2.6 billion even excluding energy costs, they are weak, a sign of the deep ECB reach its price stability target over time.” pounds it paid in the three previous years. The trustees economic malaise afflicting the 19 countries that share the euro Schulz said, however, that to fully benefit countries would have accepted the company now had a stronger financial future currency. Friday’s report by the Eurostat statistics agency showed to take steps to make their economies more growth-friendly. That and would be able to shoulder repayments over a longer that the core inflation rate, which strips out volatile food and ener- could include cutting burdensome rules on hiring and firing. period. gy prices, was at plus 0.5 percent, down from 0.7 percent the Meanwhile, jobless figures showed a slight improvement in “These (announcements) reflect the strengths of the busi- month before. December, with the unemployment rate falling to 11.4 percent ness and the confidence we have in the future, and the fact Falling prices have raised fears that the euro-zone will fall into from 11.5 percent the month before. The number of unemployed that the technologies and services we provide are very much outright deflation, a trap that can paralyze the economy if it leads people fell by 157,000 in the euro-zone. The figures showed a in demand,” Chief Executive Gavin Patterson said yesterday. to falling wages and investment. Japan fell into deflation in the wide diversity between countries. Germany, the euro-zone’s Shares in the group were down 2 percent following a strong 1990s and is still trying to get out. The European Central Bank is biggest economy, had a jobless rate of only 4.8 percent. Greece, run ahead of Friday’s news and as investors started to focus readying a massive 1 trillion euro stimulus program to try to raise still recovering from a crisis over too much government debt, had on how much BT would have to pay in the auction for covet- inflation close to its goal of 2 percent and to get the economy the highest at 25.8 percent. Spain, working off a debt crisis that ed English Premier League broadcast rights. The group also moving. The ECB plans to buy 60 billion euros per month in gov- involved a real estate boom and bust, had a jobless rate of 23.7 reported third quarter results in line with forecasts. ernment and private-sector bonds using newly printed money, percent. starting in March. That is aimed at driving down borrowing rates. It Greece’s new government has rejected the budget austerity QUEST FOR TOP SPEED should also lift inflation simply by increasing the number of euros course forced on the country as a condition of getting internation- With the pension payments agreed and results showing circulating in the economy. al bailout loans. But creditor countries led by Germany are insist- strong cash flow generation, BT said it would upgrade its fiber “The sharp fall in inflation poses a risk to inflation expectations, ing that it stick with its promises to restrain government spending broadband network to achieve ultrafast speeds of up to 500 which had already been under pressure due to the huge amount and public jobs. — AP Mb across most of the country within a decade. It did not say how much this would cost but said it would achieve this broadly within its capital spending plans. Aiming to join the ranks of Japan and South Korea in broadband speeds, BT will trial a new technology called G.fast, which increases the speeds that can travel over the copper wires that connect premises to BT cabinets on their streets. Two pilot trials will start this year and it hopes to deliver initial speeds of a few hundred megabits per second to mil- lions of homes and businesses by 2020. It hopes to increase this to 500 Mb to most of the country within a decade. BT’s fibre network, which currently boasts speeds of up to 76 megabits, currently passes 22 million premises, with 3.7 million now connected after a record quarter for fibre addi- tions. BT has rolled out its fibre service across much of Britain and while it has seen strong take-up by both BT Retail cus- tomers and those of other service providers, some customers have wanted more and complained they are not getting the maximum speeds advertised. The pension settlement and broadband plan mark the lat- est developments in what is turning into a transformational year for BT. The firm is in talks to buy EE for 12.5 billion pounds to return to the mobile market and in February it will go head to head with arch rival Sky in the soccer auction. CEO Patterson said the due diligence on EE was progress- ing well but declined to give a date on when the deal could be signed. He also told reporters the pension payment plans would not hinder the group when it comes to bids for the next round of Premier League rights due to be submitted in ATHENS: Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem (left) speaks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during their meeting early February. — Reuters in Athens yesterday. Dijsselbloem is in Athens for talks with Greece’s new left wing government after it promised to renege on key bailout commitments required for repayment of a 240 billion euro ($270 billion) rescue package. — AP BUSINESS SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Japanese airlines foresee smooth annual earnings

TOKYO: Japan’s two biggest airlines yesterday project- inched up 1.0 percent. ANA added seven new routes at ularly after a sharp drop in the yen had sent those costs ed smooth full-year earnings, with All Nippon Airways the airport with flights bound for London, Paris, soaring. “The impact of low oil prices is significant (ANA) placing a $2.2 billion order for Boeing and Airbus Munich, Hanoi, Jakarta, Manila and Vancouver. Also enough to offset all the other negative factors,” said planes, while rival Japan Airlines (JAL) raised its full- yesterday, the carrier said it has placed a $2.2 billion Masayuki Kubota, chief strategist at Rakuten Securities. year profit forecast. order for a total of 15 planes from Boeing and Airbus. While the weak yen increases fuel costs, it also tends ANA said its April-December net profit soared 57.2 The deal would see it acquire eight planes from US- to boost the number of foreign visitors coming to percent to 52.36 billion yen ($443 million) from a year based Boeing and seven from European planemaker Japan, he added. But Kubota warned that severe price ago, as an expansion at Tokyo’s downtown Haneda air- Airbus, with delivery from later this year until 2022. The competition from emerging budget carriers may put port increased landing slots for international flights. deal’s size is based on list prices, but manufacturers additional pressure on Japan’s major airlines. “Also, Sales in the latest period rose 9.1 percent to 1.3 trillion usually give airlines a discount from that rate. geopolitics is always a potential risk amid growing con- yen, while ANA left unchanged its annual net profit Despite a fall in nine-month profit, JAL raised its full- cerns over terrorism around the world,” he added. JAL forecast of 35 billion yen for the fiscal year to March. year earnings forecast owing to falling fuel costs and said April-December net profit slipped 3.1 percent to The company “moved to strengthen its overseas stronger revenue in its cargo business. 119.6 billion yen on revenue of 1.02 trillion yen, up 3.3 networks by taking advantage of the increase in takeoff percent from the same period a year ago. The company and landing slots for international routes at Haneda Oil price plunge revised up its earnings forecast for the year to March to Airport”, it said in a statement. Revenue from interna- A drop in oil prices-rates have fallen by about half a net profit of 139 billion yen-against a previous projec- tional passenger flights jumped 19.1 percent on-year, since the summer-is good news for airlines, which tion of 135 billion yen due to falling fuel costs and bet- while revenue in its domestic passenger flight business often count fuel as their single-biggest expense, partic- ter sales in its cargo business. —Reuters

Tokyo investors eye US jobs, await demand clues

TOKYO: Tokyo investors will watch closely a set of demand- linked data in Japan next week for clues on the health of the economy after it tipped into recession last year, while US data will also be in focus. Dealers are awaiting Japan’s auto sales data for January expected on Monday and household income data due Wednesday “to see the extent of rise in winter bonus and over- time work provisions,” Nomura Securities said in a statement. The brokerage noted that real wages are not increasing despite rises in consumer prices. US payrolls data due to be released next week will be in focus for possible clues as to the US Federal Reserve’s next move, it said, with speculation the Fed could raise interest rates later this year. On Friday, the Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed up 0.39 percent, or 68.17 points at 17,674.39. Over the week, the benchmark index gained 0.93 percent. TOKYO: Shoppers pass before an apparel shop in Tokyo yesterday. Japanese inflation slowed again in December, official data The broader Topix index of all first-section shares gained 0.11 showed yesterday, as weak consumer spending and falling energy prices challenge Tokyo’s war on deflation, hiking pressure percent, or 1.49 points, to end at 1,415.07. It tacked on 0.84 per- on the Bank of Japan to unleash more stimulus. — AFP cent for the week. “There is growing confidence in the US econo- my... Employment has gotten better and the effects from cheaper oil have yet to come,” Shigetoshi Kamata, general manager of the Japan’s inflation slows research department at Tachibana Securities, told Bloomberg News. “Investors feel bullish for Japanese stocks today.” Markets largely shrugged off Japanese government data Friday that again as spending drops showed inflation slowed for a fifth straight month in December with household spending also falling, in a blow to Tokyo’s efforts Factory output points to end of recession to kickstart the world’s number three economy. Honda closed down 0.77 percent at 3,581.0 yen after the automaker said it is probing a deadly crash in the United States possibly linked to TOKYO: Japanese inflation slowed again in December, official as plunging oil prices make the target look increasingly out of exploding air bags blamed for killing at least five people, and data showed yesterday, as weak consumer spending and falling reach. The move boosted speculation that the BoJ would have to which sparked the recall of millions of vehicles worldwide. energy prices challenge Tokyo’s war on deflation, hiking pressure further expand its already huge monetary easing program to Honda reported after the market close it has cut full-year prof- on the Bank of Japan to unleash more stimulus. But an uptick in counter the downturn. “Inflation is still likely to moderate further,” it forecast by 3.5 percent to $4.6 billion as it faces soaring recall factory output suggests that the world’s number-three economy Marcel Thieliant from Capital Economics said in a commentary. costs from an exploding airbag crisis. Shares in embattled airbag may be crawling out of recession, analysts said, as the unemploy- “Less than half of the plunge in the price of crude oil has been supplier Takata fell 2.46 percent to 1,386 yen. In New York on ment rate hit a 17-year low. The mixed bag of economic data pub- passed on to consumers in the form of lower gasoline prices so Thursday the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.31 per- lished yesterday morning showed core consumer inflation slowed far.” cent after two days of losses, following generally solid corporate for a fifth straight month, while the internal affairs ministry report- earnings and a gain in oil prices. ed that spending among Japanese households fell a greater-than- Tight labor market The dollar was relatively strong against the yen on upbeat expected 3.4 percent from a year ago, as a sales tax hike weighed Japan’s central bank now expects inflation for the fiscal year expectations for the first estimate of fourth-quarter US gross on shopping nationwide. Inflation is a key measure for Tokyo’s bid starting in April to come in at 1.0 percent, well down from an earli- domestic product. Data on Thursday showed new claims for US to end years of stagnant or falling prices that have been blamed er 1.7 percent forecast and the BoJ’s own ambitious target. “The for holding back growth and denting firms’ expansion plans. BoJ is expected to go ahead with additional easing in April at the unemployment insurance benefits plunged to the lowest level in Prices were on the rise, largely due to Japan’s heavy post- latest,” SMBC Nikko Securities said. nearly 15 years last week. The greenback fetched 117.98 yen in Fukushima energy bills, but oil rates have tumbled in recent “Prices are likely to return to deflation by early spring and it is Tokyo, down from 118.34 yen in New York but still up from months and consumers snapped their wallets shut after the gov- highly possible that the bank will fail to achieve the fiscal 2015 117.70 yen in Tokyo earlier Thursday. ernment raised sales taxes to 8.0 percent from 5.0 percent last (inflation) outlook. “If the BoJ leaves that unaddressed, it will be A weak yen is positive for Japanese exporters as it makes them year. The economy quickly fell into recession, prompting Prime called into question how serious it is about raising prices.” more competitive abroad and inflates profits when Minister Shinzo Abe to put off a second sales tax hike this year, Taking office in late 2012, premier Abe launched a growth blitz repatriated.Toshiba tacked on 2.30 percent to 474.6 yen after it which was aimed at taming Japan’s enormous national debt. dubbed Abenomics, which meshes government spending with said Thursday it was getting out the North American television The figures yesterday showed the inflation rate last month was massive monetary easing by the central bank and reforms to the business, citing a tough market, as it reported soaring nine- at 2.5 percent, down from 2.7 percent in November. Adjusted for highly regulated economy. The plan bore fruit in the beginning, month earnings. Skymark Airlines dived 33.75 percent to 157 yen. the tax hike, the rate rose just 0.5 percent from a year earlier, well but the more recent slowdown has raised the stakes as the conser- The shares have lost more than half their value after the strug- short of the Bank of Japan’s 2.0 percent inflation goal which it vative leader struggles to contain Japan’s finances-the country has gling carrier announced late Wednesday it was filing for bank- hopes to reach around the fiscal year ending in April next year. one of the world’s biggest debt burdens-while dragging the econ- ruptcy protection. — AFP Earlier this month the central bank slashed its inflation outlook omy out of a years-long slump.—AFP BUSINESS SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Spain returns to Lower gas prices seen fueling growth in 2014 US consumer spending in Q4 MADRID: Spain returned to growth in 2014, official data showed yesterday, but the recovery is far from being felt by Business investment likely cooled Spaniards as unemployment remains sky-high ahead of a year- end general election. The Spanish economy, the euro-zone’s WASHINGTON: The US economy likely grew at a brisk clip in the government data, leaving Americans with more money for discre- fourth-largest, expanded by 1.4 percent last year after contract- fourth quarter as lower gasoline prices buoyed consumer spending, tionary spending. Lower gasoline prices are expected to add at least ing by 1.2 percent in 2013, according to provisional figures in a show of resilience despite a darkening global outlook. half a percentage point to GDP growth. A strengthening labor market, from the National Statistics Office. Gross domestic product probably expanded at a 3 percent annual despite sluggish wage growth, is also seen boosting consumer spend- It is the first time there has been full-year economic growth pace, according to a Reuters survey of economists. While that would ing in the fourth quarter. “The number of people getting a paycheck in Spain since 2008 when a property bubble collapsed, send- be a step down from the third quarter’s breakneck 5 percent rate, it has gone up even though wages have not accelerated that much,” ing millions of people out of work and pushing the country to would be the fifth quarter out of the last six that the economy has said Guy Berger, a US economist at RBS in Stamford, Connecticut. “It the brink of a bail out. The country was one of the fastest-grow- grown at or above a 3 percent pace. “The consumer did the heavy lift- bolsters the Fed’s confidence in how strong the bedrock of this recov- ing in the euro-zone last year, behind Ireland which is estimat- ing and I don’t think there is any reason to expect that to change in ery is going to be.” The economy so far appears to be largely weather- ed to have grown by 4.7 percent and economic powerhouse the first half of this year because of the enormous tailwind from lower ing faltering growth in Asia and Europe, although recent capital Germany which grew by 1.5 percent. Growth accelerated in gasoline prices,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s expenditure data has shown significant weakness. Business spending the fourth quarter to 0.7 percent from 0.5 percent in the third Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. on equipment is expected to have braked sharply in the fourth quar- quarter as consumer spending picked up. The Commerce Department will publish its first snapshot of ter, which could reflect delays of investment projects by companies in The provisional figures are in line with the conservative fourth-quarter GDP at 8.30 am EST (1330 GMT) yesterday, two days the oil industry. But the slowdown also comes after two straight quar- government’s estimate for 2014. It predicts the economy will after the Federal Reserve said the economy was expanding at a “solid ters of strong growth. grow by 2.0 percent this year. “These figures are good and they pace,” an upgraded assessment that keeps it on track to start raising “How much of that is due to the decline in oil prices or Europe is show that growth is picking up,” secretary of state for the econ- interest rates this year. unclear,” said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic omy, Inigo Fernandez de Mesa, said during an interview with The US central bank has kept its short-term interest rate near zero Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania. The growth composition in the public television TVE. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said since December 2008 and most economists expect a mid-year lift-off. fourth quarter is likely to have been mixed. Government spending Monday the government’s growth forecast for this year could Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of US was likely a drag as a defense-driven burst fades. Residential construc- be raised to 2.5 percent if oil prices and the euro stay low. economic activity, is expected to have advanced at a pace of at least 4 tion is expected to have contributed to GDP growth. Both inventory Spain imports 80 percent of its energy and the government percent in the fourth quarter - which would be the fastest in four years investment and trade also are expected to have added to growth, but estimates falling oil prices could save the country up to 15 bil- and an acceleration from the third quarter’s 3.2 percent pace. are a wild card as data for December is not available and the govern- lion euros ($17 billion) this year while a weaker euro makes Gasoline prices have plunged 43 percent since June, according to US ment makes estimates for the GDP data. - Reuters exports outside of the euro-zone cheaper. A planned cut in personal and corporate income taxes in 2015 will also help boost growth, said Raj Badiani, an econo- mist at IHS Global Insight in London. “Clearly, the near-term outlook is relatively bright,” he said in a research note. But the nation remains engulfed in mass unemployment which remains a drag on the economic turnaround. The jobless rate slid to 23.7 percent in 2014, down from 25.7 percent in the previous year, but was still one of the high- est levels in the developed world. The unemployment rate for those under the age of 25 stood at 51.8 percent. While compa- nies have started to create jobs again, analysts point out that the majority are low-wage, short-term contracts. Deflation casts shadow Another challenge Spain faces is deflation, said Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at London-based Capital Economics. Consumer prices in Spain fell by a higher-than- expected 1.5 percent in January, a seventh straight month of declining prices. Falling prices may sound good for the con- sumer, but they can trigger a vicious spiral where businesses and households delay purchases, throttling demand and driv- ing companies to lay off workers. “A deep and protracted bout of deflation could have both economic and political consequences if it both derails the recovery and leads to a further rise in the popularity of the hard-left Podemos party ahead of December’s general elec- DETROIT: Cars fill up at the pumps at a Shell station near downtown Detroit. Profits for companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 tion,” Loynes said.—AFP index are expected to grow at one of lowest rates in years, just 1.4 percent. The culprit: Energy companies that suffered as oil prices plunged. —AP Markets brace for Big Oil profit plunge

NEW YORK: It’s just a forecast, and for only one of 10 industry index because they are among the most valuable members of ny earnings is expected to be by far the worst among the 10 groups in the stock market. Yet it has almost singlehandedly it. sectors in the S&P 500, according to FactSet, a financial data turned what had been a promising earnings season into a grim Instead of giving equal weight to each of the companies, provider. Without that hit, earnings for the S&P 500 would be one. Profits for companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index the S&P 500 ranks them according to their market value. Exxon on track to grow a healthy 4.6 percent. are expected to grow at one of the lowest rates in years, just 1.4 Mobil, worth $385 billion, is about 10 times the average value “Rising tides lifted all ships, and now the tide is coming percent. The culprit: Energy companies that suffered as oil of a company in the index Why does that matter? Every per- down and all ships are falling,” said Fadel Gheit, an analyst at prices plunged. Their profits are expected to drop 25 percent, a centage move in Exxon’s stock, up or down, pushes the index Oppenheimer & Co. “We know how this is going to end.” collapse of fortune nearly unheard of outside of a recession, up and down as if Exxon were 10 companies. Exxon’s stock has and one that has weighed on the stock market. fallen 16 percent from June when oil began to slide from $107 POSSIBLE UPSIDE? Investors will find out just how ugly the earnings are as oil a barrel to $44 currently. Chevron, another heavyweight in the Companies such as Exxon, Chevron, Shell and BP don’t just companies report results over the next several days. So far, index, has fallen 27 percent. produce oil, they also buy and refine it into fuels and chemicals. things don’t look so good. Several oil producers and service When oil prices fall, refining profits often rise. Exxon, Chevron companies have announced layoffs and reductions in spending DAMAGE DONE? and Shell all posted higher earnings in the third quarter of last on new drilling projects. BP told workers Monday that it would Stock prices have already suffered because investors know year even as oil prices slumped. That’s because refining profits freeze pay for 2015. On Thursday, Royal Dutch Shell posted a what’s coming. Big oil earnings are relatively predictable rose more than production profits fell. Shell’s large profit drop 57 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings. Chevron reported because oil production is fairly steady and prices are set on in the latest fourth quarter could have been a lot worse. The early yesterday, followed by Exxon Mobil and BP next week. open markets. While a company such as Apple can surprise plunge in crude prices meant Shell’s refining operations paid investors by revealing just how popular a new product is with less for the oil it buys on the open market. That helped refining BIG OIL, BIG IMPACT consumers, oil is always in fashion. Analysts can make reason- earnings jump 167 percent. Refining profits at other big oil Lower oil prices are good for the economy and most busi- ably good guesses about how much oil a company produced companies might rise again in the fourth quarter, analysts say. nesses, but they are bad for the stock market in the short term. in a quarter, and what prices they were able to sell it for. Still, crude prices almost certainly fell too far for refining to Energy companies have an outsized effect on the S&P 500 When all the results are tallied, the plunge in energy compa- make up the difference.—AP 31, 2015 SATURDAY, JANUARY JANUARY SATURDAY,

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Actress Julie Ann Emery arrives for the Los Angeles premiere of AMC’s new series “Better Call Saul,” at the Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE in down- town Los Angeles. — AFP

RapRap MogulMogul SugeSuge KnightKnight turnsturns selfself inin LALA hit-and-runhit-and-run probeprobe SEE PAGE 29 SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Samuel Jackson quits veganism

he 66-year-old star claims movie bosses ing 40lbs. “So I decided to go eat and now I’m were going to “fire” him if he didn’t put not a vegan any more. I have protein meals Ton 20lbs for his role as George two to three times a week and eat vegetarian Washington Williams in the motion picture, the other four days.” The ‘Kingsman: The but after losing 40lbs as a result of being a Secret Service’ star didn’t think he was look- vegan he had to stop the eating practice and ing that thin because none of his pals said start chowing down on protein meals to fat- anything to him but since putting on a few ten himself up. When asked at what point did pounds they joke that he used to look like a he turn to veganism, he said: “In August 2013. “lollipop”. He added to Metro newspaper: Because I said I wanted to live forever. “Then “Nobody said anything until I started to gain they threatened to fire me from the ‘Tarzan’ weight again and then they said, ‘You looked movie if I didn’t gain 20lbs. I’d wound up los- like a lollipop there!’” Shakira gives birth to baby boy

he 37-year-old singer welcomed her second son with boyfriend Gerard Pique into the world at a hospital in Barcelona last night, where she Tunderwent a scheduled Caesarean section. The news was confirmed in a statement from the couple shortly before midnight, with another expected later today to reveal the baby’s name. The ‘Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)’ hitmaker and her 27-year-old beau reserved an entire floor of the Hospital Quirun Teknon in the Spanish city for the birth, with the baby being delivered by the same doctor and at the same location as their first son, two-year-old Milan. Gerard played for FC Barcelona in Madrid on Wednesday night, around 24 hours before the birth, and his team ran out 3-2 winners over Atletico Madrid. The couple are expected to continue a family tradition and make their latest arrival an associate member of FC Barcelona. The musician began dating the sportsman in 2010 and previously spoke about the joy which she gets from being a mother, saying, “motherhood is everything to me”, as well as praising her partner’s hands-on parenting style. She said: “He is very involved with his son. He is always there for him, and that’s a big advantage Christina Aguilera’s baby for me as I cannot imagine it any other way.” daughter is very ‘chill’

he ‘Beautiful’ hitmaker and fiance Matthew Rutler welcomed Summer Rain into the world five months ago and the blonde beau- Tty feels “very blessed” to have such an easy-going infant. She said: “I have a chill baby, she’s just so calm and so easy to make laugh and smile, she’s just a breeze, thank God! “She’s just so beautiful, these big blue eyes, she’s just so gorge...very happy and feel very blessed having Summer Rain in my life.” The ‘Voice’ mentor recently shared a picture of Summer Rain, taken from behind, and she admits she loves the picture because of the tot’s “chunky legs”. She said: “Her little tushy! The little chunky legs. I love it, I love to nibble on them.” And Christina, 34, says her seven-year-old son Max - who she has with ex-husband Jordan Bratman - dotes on his sister and wants to “teach her everything”. She told ‘Extra’: “He’s just so endearing and sweet to her. The only thing, I’m like, ‘Wash your hands before you touch the baby’... you don’t want the germs. “He’s in school, he’s seven, there’s a little age gap, but it’s perfect though, because then they don’t fight over toys. But he’s the big helper and the big teacher, so he’s awesome. He’s just so loving and sweet. I’m like, ‘How old are you?’ He’s like a grandma to her; he’s just like, ‘I’ll teach you everything.’” SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West are spicing up their life

he couple are “mixing things up” in the bed- room to keep their intimate life “enjoyable” Twhilst they desperately try to conceive a second child. A source shared to HollywoodLife.com: “Kim is not pregnant, but they are constantly trying to get the job done. “They are not at all making it seem like a chore. They keep mixing things up in their life to make it as enjoyable as possible. Their egos wouldn’t have it any other way.” Meanwhile, the ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ star - who already has 19-month-old North with the ‘Only One’ hitmaker - recently admitted that getting pregnant again “can’t come soon enough”. She said: “We’ve really been trying for another kid. More kids can’t come soon enough! ...”I’m praying about it. I am not pregnant right now, not that I know of, but no, Eddie Murphy to I’m not. I wish I was. I’m about 15 pounds heavier, but I’m not [pregnant].” And Kanye, 37, is happy to go along with his wife’s baby plans. When return to ‘Saturday asked how many children he wanted, he said: “Yeah, we’re trying. I just want whatever Kim Night Live’ wants.” he 53-year-old actor got his big break as a series regular on the sketch pro- Tgramme in 1980 but hasn’t appeared as a guest host since his departure in 1984 but insists that isn’t anything to do with animosity. Asked why he has never returned to ‘SNL’, he Stanley Tucci has become a father for the fourth time told ‘NewsOne Now’: “It’s just timing. It never worked out where the timing was right for me to do it. “Actually, they are having a 40th he ‘Hunger Games’ actor and wife Felicity Blunt welcomed a little boy, Matteo Oliver, into anniversary, I think, in two weeks. I’m going to the world recently in London and the 54-year-old star is “thrilled” by the new arrival. He that. That will be the first time I have been Tjoked to People magazine: “I believe he is mine. We are all thrilled to welcome him to this back since I left.” Eddie was widely credited cold, cruel world. “We are all thrilled that he is here and healthy.” Stanley - who met Felicity with turning the comedy show’s fortunes through her actress sister Emily Blunt when the pair were filming ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ in 2006 around when he was cast as ratings had -previously admitted he was “very excited” about being a father again. He said: “I’m very excited flagged after five years on screen. However, to be a dad. It’s incredible. I’m most excited to have a baby with since his departure, he has reportedly refused Felicity and for the baby to be healthy.” Stanley has three chil- to return in any capacity and was one of the dren, Isabel, Nicolo and Camilla, from his previous marriage only major cast members not to take part in to late wife Kate, who died from breast cancer in 2009. The the 25th anniversary celebrations in 2000. He actor - who played Caesar Flickerman ‘The Hunger also declined to be interviewed for Tom Games: Catching Fire’ - recently admitted he loves Shale’s book ‘Live From New York: An appearing in films which he can show his children. Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live’. So He said: “As a parent, it’s a great thing to know that far, it hasn’t been announced which former there’s a movie you have participated in that you can stars will be a part of the three-hour 40th take your kids to. That isn’t always the case. So that’s anniversary broadcast, which will air on NBC really nice. And I think this genre is disappear- on February 15. ing. So it’s nice to have participated in it and to just have it around.”

Kelly Clarkson says her life ‘couldn’t be better’

he ‘Heartbeat Song’ hitmaker, who has daughter River, seven, find out what it was about. So I met them, and I now go [as part of with husband Brandon Blackstock, and stepchildren, Savannah, MOC to visit patients] at Christmas time. “I love it because the music is T13, and Seth, eight, admits she does a lot of charity work just such a nostalgic thing. We do a mini Christmas show for them, because she feels so lucky to have everything she wants in life. She and then my guitarist and I go around to each room singing to the said: “I’m considerably blessed in my life. I’m married now, I have kids who can’t come see the performance. “Music has such an influ- three kids and my career and everything - it’s awesome. My life could- ence on our emotions, and it aids in recovery. It’s powerful. It’s kind of n’t be better. But you just pause and go, ‘Why wouldn’t you want to a healthy little elixir for everyone. And I can relate to it; I give back? Why wouldn’t you want to help out when you have so was very much an outsider as a kid, and music kind much spotlight to share?’” The 32-year-old star claims she was “very of saved me.” much an outsider” when she was growing up and visits hospitals with the organisation Musicians on Call every Christmas to sing because music saved her. She added to PEOPLE magazine: “When my friend said that he works with this group called Musicians on Call I had to go SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Pinatas in various stages of preparation dry on the rooftop terrace. — AP Pinata-making art lives on in Mexican family

Mexican party isn’t complete without a pinata, and “It’s hard work and there are lots of things to do, so there is Melesio Vicente Flores and Cecilia Albarran Gonzalez no chance of getting bored. Time flies,” Albarran says. Ahave spent the last 25 years making high-end versions Perennial favorites among the different figures include of the papier-mache figures to later be stuffed with candies Spiderman and Buzz Lightyear. Characters from the Disney hit and broken open with a stick or club. As they practice the cen- “Frozen” currently appear to be top sellers in local markets, turies-old tradition of pinata-making, the couple caters to a and Albarran says “princesses never go out of fashion.” smaller market of consumers demanding higher quality “artis- Pinata vendors keep the craftsmen apprised of the market. tic” figures that pay greater attention to detail. Still, competi- Gerardo Moreno Alejo, who sells pinatas at La Merced, one of tion is tight as more run-of-the mill pinata makers sell their Mexico City’s biggest markets, says university students creations more cheaply. Three other rooftops full of the drying requested pinatas of President Enrique Pena Nieto late last figures are visible on the hillside below the couple’s workshop year amid anger over the disappearance of 43 students from a and home. rural teachers college. At their four-story house built into a hillside on the east Albarran says more recent entrants to the trade have cut side of Mexico’s sprawling capital, the Vicente-Albarran family prices and lowered quality, causing many people to leave the fashions cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse for children’s business. His family’s more elaborate pinatas sell wholesale for birthdays, or caricatures of despised politicians for protests. around 180 pesos, or $12. Other vendors using cheaper mate- Now in their 50s, the couple began making pinatas in 1989 rials sell theirs for several dollars less, a price difference many and later expanded the family business to include their shoppers can’t resist. “Before if we sold 100, now we sell 50 in daughter Elvia Vicente Albarran and son-in-law Guillermo a week,” says Vicente. “We earn just enough to get by.” Still, Luna Martinez. they hope to keep making pinatas as long as possible. “We are On the rooftop of their shared home, Luna covers cement not here to make ourselves rich,” says Albarran. “We like our molds in the shapes of body parts with newspaper and lays job.” — AP them out to dry. One story below, mother and daughter cut newspapers into strips, coat them in glue made from wheat flour and layer over gaps left after the shapes are cut from the molds. Vicente assembles the pieces into completed charac- ters. After drying in the sun, the pinatas are brought inside to be painted. Colorful paper and tape create eyes, hair styles and costume details. It takes about two days to complete a pinata during the dry season, twice as long during the rains. With all four people Guillermo Luna Martinez paints the first layer of a piÒata that working, the family can make 40 to 60 pinatas a week. will represent Captain America, at his in-laws’ workshop. SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

In this Jan 23, 2015 photo, Guillermo Luna Martinez, 36, car- ries freshly painted pinatas representing Disney’s Frozen snowman character Olaf downstairs to where his wife Elvia Vicente Albarran will use paper to craft the character’s eyes, teeth, and distinctive tuft of hair, at the family’s workshop in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City.

A pinata resembling Sleeping Beauty stands among other Melesio Vicente Flores, 59, attaches a head to a structured pinata that when assembled and painted will resemble a Disney partially finished pinatas, inside the workshop. princess.

A pinata designed to resemble Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is displayed with other pinatas representing popular children’s characters, at a La Merced market stall run by Gerardo Moreno Alejo and his wife Edith. — AP photos SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Paris fashion week delivers sad world escapism it craves

s a study in disconnect, Paris’s haute The trends? couture fashion week-which came to The designers pride themselves on origi- Aa close - is hard to beat. The outside nality, of course, but a couple of themes world might be suffering economic austeri- did recur. The main one was flower power. ty, or the fear of Islamist attacks, or simply a Flowers popped up in many shows (literally winter to chill the bones. in the case of Chanel, where mechanical But inside the warm, gilded bubble blooms opened in the middle of the circu- offered to the jetset designer crowd, a springtime fantasy was stage-managed to the smallest detail that banished anything resembling real-world woes. Women with perfect noses and similar- though-exclusive handbags glided into pri- vatised palaces and museums to cast their long-lashed eyes over handsewn outfits each costing as much as a German-made saloon car. Those with winter fur coats had to check them before entering heated spaces decked out as tropical gardens, or space- ships, or drawing rooms of princess-grade elegance. But all kept with them an aura of privilege, sometimes reinforced by a body- guard or two.

Anybody famous? This being the top fashion event in the world, celebrities who love a bit of couture for their red carpet gigs were ubiquitous. Natalie Portman sat in on the Dior show with her husband, ballet supremo Benjamin Millepied. Naomi Campbell was up on the catwalk for Jean Paul Gaultier’s show. “Twilight” actress Kristen Stewart managed a nonchalant look at Chanel, where Dylan Penn-daughter of Sean Penn Baum und Pferdgarten and Robin Wright-also turned up. Goldie Ralph&Russo Hawn and daughter Kate Hudson lent their lar catwalk) and on so many garments glamour to the Versace show. And bur- there were floral prints and abstracts. And lesque star Dita Von Teese put in appear- Ralph&Russo then there was Naomi Campbell, dressed ances at several events. Asia was well rep- up as a bouquet herself at the end of a resented by Chinese model/actress wedding-styled parade. Angelababy and South Korean rapper G- Other looks of note were the bare Dragon. midriff (Chanel), 1960s “Barbarella” colour- ful catsuits and fluo boots (Dior), and Gaultier’s “bipolar” cuts throwing two styles together into one outfit.

Ralph&Russo Ralph&Russo Ralph&Russo Ralph&Russo SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Zuhair Murad

Ralph&Russo

Any firsts? Alexandre Vauthier, a 43-year-old French designer who counts Rihanna and Beyonce among his fans, put on his first haute couture show since winning the right to bear the label, jealously guarded by the French gov- ernment and handed out to just 14 fashion houses. For Jean Paul Gaultier, it was his first cou- ture show since announcing last season that he was giving up on his 38 years of ready-to- wear garments to concentrate on this elite end of the market. This is a realm where imagination rules. Thus there was a dark and tropical para- dise in Elie Saab’s show, where a nostalgia for a glamorous Beirut of his childhood-and of his mother-came to the fore. Gustavo Lins put on a production evocative of his native Brazil. And Valentino stood out for a sartorial hom- age to the folklore of Russia and central Asian republics.

The real world? With the haute couture events over (at least until the next season’s showings in July), Paris’s fashion vibe can come down a notch. Taking stock of the situation will be the capi- tal’s hoteliers, who noted a “fairly big fall” of up to nine percent in occupancy rates in January because of the Islamist attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket, according to the consulting firm MKG. Ordinary shoppers, though, will likely see some of the fantasy optimism of the couture creations seeping through into their off-the- rack buys later on this year-a regular phenom- enon that underpins the whole fashion indus- try. — AFP SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

A sense of old London that the gas lamps have survived is partly a tribute. Iain Bell inspects a gas burning street light in Central London. Lamplighters keep London’s history burning

n a quiet street lined with 18th-century Georgian hous- ies changed every six months, while the various parts also gas flows on a timer, heating up the “mantles”-small ceramic es behind Westminster Abbey, Garry Usher winds the need checking regularly. “You’re touching history everywhere meshes resembling bulbs, that become white hot and give off Omechanical clock on the gas street lamp and gives the you go-it’s a privileged job,” Usher said. a glowing light. glass globe a polish. He steps down off his ladder and looks They lend a magical quality to the streets and in St James’ up with satisfaction as the soft, warm light lifts the dark winter Burning sewer smells Park, near Buckingham Palace, are the only source of light, evening, and moves on down the street. Despite nationwide Gas lamps became common across Europe in the mid-19th offering a rare glimpse into what it might have looked like in budget cuts that have reduced local services and seen street century. Before that, walking the streets at night was a dan- Dickensian times. lights dimmed to save money, 1,500 gas lamps in London are gerous business. In London, you could pay a “link boy” a far- The lamps survived the arrival of electricity and the Blitz still maintained by hand. thing to guide your way with a candle, but there was always a bombings in World War II, and these days the biggest threat is They are the last of tens of thousands of lamps that were risk he might rob you blind. Initial reaction to the first demon- the traffic. Originally designed to stand above a horse and first introduced in the capital 200 years ago, a marvel of mod- stration of gas lights in 1807 — the first on any street in the cart, many have been extended upwards to stay out of the ern technology that brought life to the once dark and danger- world-was mixed, not least because the early gas lines could way of trucks, although some still get hit and must be ous streets. be dangerous and there was the odd explosion. But when repaired. While many London residents are oblivious to their pres- King George IV ordered their widespread introduction in 1814, They are not just about history, however. ence, the lamps are protected by local authorities as a piece of they quickly caught on. A number of new gas lamps have been installed in recent history-and new ones are even being installed. Some lamps had a dual purpose of lighting the streets and years, including one requested by the architect behind the “They’re lovely. It’s a fantastic form of lighting, not as harsh clearing the smells from London’s underground sewers. new Apple store in Covent Garden. “There’s no chance of as electric,” Usher told AFP as he went on his rounds. The Webb Sewer lamp drew up gases from the sewers these lamps disappearing,” said Iain Bell, operations manager The 50-year-old, an engineer with the British Gas energy down below and burnt it off. One such functioning lamp still at British Gas. “If anything we’re getting more calls to install firm, used to maintain central heating but began working on exists, next to the Savoy Hotel near the River Thames. them.” — AFP the lamps because it gave him Saturdays off to play rugby. Now he leads a team involving four other “lamplighters” who Back in vogue maintain the lamps, half of which still have mechanical clocks As late as the 1970s, many gas lamps in London were still lit that need re-winding every 14 days. by hand each evening and extinguished every morning. Now The others run on electrical timers which need their batter- they all have a permanent pilot light burning and the mains

Garry Usher a British Gas lamplighter, inspects a gas burning Before lamplighters existed, London was a dark city. Garry Usher oversees the five lamplighters employed by street light. British Gas. Each night, members of his crew wind up, by hand, the clocks that control when the lamps, like this one at St. John’s church in Smith Square, turn on and off. — AFP photos SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Redmayne and Felicity Jones receive engraved bottles of Paradis Imperial at the Hennessy VIP post-party at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Thursday in Santa Barbara, California. — AP Rod McKuen, mega-selling poet and performer dead Rap mogul Suge Knight turns od McKuen, the husky-voiced “King of Kitsch” whose music, verse and spoken-word recordings in the 1960s Rand ‘70s won him an Oscar nomination and made him self in LA hit-and-run probe one of the best-selling poets in history, has died. He was 81. McKuen died Thursday morning at a rehabilitation center eath Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight turned him- the restaurant. “Seeing the car incident, that was shocking.” in Beverly Hills, California, where he had been treated for self in to authorities early yesterday after his attorney said the Blatt said it was an accident. “He was in the process of being physi- pneumonia and had been ill for several weeks and was Drap mogul accidentally ran over and killed a friend and injured cally assaulted by two men and in an effort to escape he unfortunately unable to digest food, said his half brother, Edward McKuen another man as he fled attackers. hit two (other) individuals,” the lawyer said. “He was in his car trying to Habib. Until his sabbatical in 1981, McKuen was an astonish- The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the incident was escape.” Compton has been immortalized in hip-hop folklore, includ- ingly successful and prolific force in popular culture, turning being investigated as a homicide and that Knight was a person of ing on many of the records Knight released, as a gritty and violent out hundreds of songs and interest. In a brief statement released early Friday, the Los Angeles urban environment, though crime has dipped significantly there since poems and records, including County Sheriff’s Department said Knight was at the West Hollywood its 1990s peak. Knight founded Death Row Records, one of rap’s lead- the Academy Award -nomi- station with his attorney and was being interviewed by homicide ing labels, in the 1990s, releasing labels by artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop nated song “Jean” for the detectives. No other information was released and there was no men- Dogg, and Tupac Shakur. —AP 1969 film “The Prime of Miss tion if Knight was being held. Video provided by ONSCENE.TV showed Jean Brodie.” Knight getting out of a private car at the sheriff’s station and then leisurely walking into the building with companions and others who Sentimental, earnest and appeared to be law officers. unashamed, he conjured a Officials say that a red pickup truck struck the men in the parking New Age spirit world that lot of a fast-food restaurant. A 55-year-old man died at a hospital and a captivated those who didn’t 51-year-old man was injured but Corina did not immediately know his ordinarily like “poetry” and condition. “We are confident that once the investigation is completed, those who craved relief from he will be totally exonerated,” attorney James Blatt said earlier by tele- the war, assassinations and phone. Late Thursday, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. John Corina riots of the time. told reporters that the crash occurred around 3 p.m. PST in the parking “I think it’s a reaction peo- lot of the restaurant in the Los Angeles-area city of Compton and then ple are having against so the driver took off. US poet Rod McKuen much insanity in the world,” “Looks like he drove backwards and struck the victims and drove he once said. “I mean, people forwards and struck them again,” Corina said. “The people we talked are really all we’ve got. You know it sounds kind of corny, and to say it looked like it was an intentional act,” he said. I suppose it’s a cliche, but it’s really true; that’s just the way it is.” His best known songs, some written with the Belgian Argument composer Jacques Brel, include “Birthday Boy,” “A Man The Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that two people were Alone,” “If You Go Away” and “Seasons In the Sun,” a chart- in the parking lot when the red pick-up arrived and its driver became topper in 1974 for Terry Jacks. He was nominated for an Oscar involved in an argument with them “The argument escalated and the for “Jean” and for “A Boy Named Charlie Brown,” the title driver backed up striking one of the victims. The driver then drove for- ward driving over both victims,” the sheriff’s statement said. “Various track for the beloved Peanuts movie. witnesses described the driver as being Marion Suge Knight.” The Frank Sinatra, Madonna, Dolly Parton and Chet Baker were empty truck was found late Thursday night in a West Los Angeles among the many artists who recorded his material, although parking lot, Corina said. He said the rap mogul was seen driving a red In this Aug. 15, 1996, file photo, rapper Tupac Shakur, left, McKuen often handled the job himself, in a hushed, throaty pickup truck 20 minutes earlier in a different part of town where a and a founder of Death Row Records, Marion “Suge” Knight, style he had honed after an early life as a rock singer cracked video was being shot. attend a voter registration event in South Central Los his natural tenor. — AP Witnesses also spoke of an argument. “To see the argument hap- Angeles. A lawyer for Knight says he was at the wheel of a car pen, it’s one thing,” said 17-year-old Robert Smith, who was eating in involved in an accident in a Los Angeles suburb. — AP TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Amazon surprises with profit despite fierce spending

SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon surprised the from shareholders to deliver profits even as ramped up its video offerings to compete edged missteps which have cost the tech market Thursday with a quarterly profit far founder Jeff Bezos has invested in a vast against Netflix and others. At the same giant billions, but said that is the price for better than anticipated for the online giant array of projects-from online video to its time, Amazon has been working to boost taking “bold bets.” known for pouring money into projects own smartphones and delivery drones to sales from its traditional online marketplace “I’ve made billions of dollars of failures such as original video programs and deliv- business email. and a large cloud services operation for at Amazon.com,” Bezos told a New York ery drones. “I see Amazon creating lots of experi- businesses. conference sponsored by the news website “Amazon beat estimates even though ments to change from being a giant Web Amazon this week announced plans to Business Insider. Jeff Bezos is moving at a paranoid pace; mall to being a much more diverse compa- offer a cloud-based email and calendar In addition to the smartphone, Amazon pretty much spending money as fast as it ny,” said Forrester analyst Frank Gillett. service to directly compete with Microsoft last year unveiled an upgraded line of comes in and going flat out as if there were Bezos said the company is reaping ben- Outlook and others. In contrast, Amazon Kindle tablet computers and introduced a somebody right on his heels chasing him,” efits from “Amazon Prime,” an online sub- pulled its private-label Elements premium streaming media player. said independent analyst Rob Enderle of scription service. Last year, the price was diapers from its virtual shelves last week, The Seattle-based company bolstered Enderle Group in Silicon Valley. raised to $99 annually for US customers after telling shoppers it wants to make its online gaming presence with a $970- “When a competitor does emerge they and membership grew 53 percent, accord- design improvements. Amazon took on the million acquisition of the game platform won’t have a chance of catching him. It’s ing to Amazon. giants of the diaper industry in early Twitch, and expanded its “Amazon Fresh” the most aggressive growth strategy for “Prime is a one-of-a-kind, all-you-can- December with a competitively priced grocery delivery service. such a long period of time that I have ever eat, physical-digital hybrid-in 2014 alone we product pitched at environmentally con- Bezos has said he hopes to move for- seen.” Amazon posted earnings of $214 paid billions of dollars for Prime shipping scious buyers. But the company removed ward on plans to use drones for delivery of million for the fourth quarter as sales and invested $1.3 billion in Prime Instant the diapers from its virtual shelves due to goods, but has said this could be delayed jumped 15 percent to $29.3 billion, swing- Video,” Bezos said. A Prime subscription quality concerns. An Amazon Fire smart- by red tape. ing to profit after two consecutive losing gives members unlimited video and music phone launched last year flopped. Shares in Amazon shot up more than 12 quarters. For the full year 2014, Amazon streaming and, in some locations, offers percent to $349.93 in after-hours trading posted a net loss of $241 million on sales of same-day delivery on groceries. BOLD BETS following the release of earnings figures $89 billion. Amazon has faced pressure Amazon managed the profit even as it Bezos last month publicly acknowl- that eclipsed Wall Street forecasts. — AFP

Chinese language apps ‘Anonymized’ credit card data not so make learning a game anonymous, study shows WASHINGTON: Credit card data isn’t quite as anonymous as HONG KONG: Philipp Mattheis knew his gaming app was addictive promised, a new study says. Scientists showed they can identify when he realised he kept checking his phone-hooked by the brightly- you with more than 90 percent accuracy by looking at just four coloured reminders telling him to play again or risk falling from the purchases, three if the price is included - and this is after compa- triple-figure level he had reached. nies “anonymized” the transaction records, saying they wiped Yet gripping the German journalist’s attention was not Candy away names and other personal details. The study out of the Crush, but one of a new generation of Chinese language apps that Massachusetts Institute of Technology, published Thursday in are using tricks traditionally employed by online games to get users the journal Science, examined three months of credit card hooked on learning. For years the thrill of studying a new language records for 1.1 million people. “We are showing that the privacy we are told that we have has been tempered by the tedium of rote learning and repetition isn’t real,” study co-author Alex “Sandy” Pentland of MIT said in required to be truly accomplished-particularly the case for memoris- an email. His research found that adding just a glimmer of infor- ing a character-based system-but now language apps are increasing- mation about a person from an outside source was enough to ly turning to the same praise, reward and challenge format that identify him or her in the trove of financial transactions they games such as Candy Crush use to such devastating success. studied. Companies routinely strip away personal identifiers from Shanghai-based Mattheis is an avid user of the app Memrise, credit card data when they share information with outsiders, say- which offers courses in standard Mandarin Chinese and several ing the data is now safe because it is “anonymized.” But the MIT dialects, and has 25 million users. researchers showed that anonymized isn’t quite the same as “We’ve turned learning into a game where you grow a Garden of anonymous. Drawing upon a sea of data in an unnamed devel- Memory,” the firm says. The premise being that when users learn oped country, the researchers pieced together available informa- words, they plant virtual seeds, which grow and bloom the more they tion to see how easily they could identify somebody. They review and practise. If they forget, then reminders are sent that their looked at information from 10,000 shops, with each data piece buds of knowledge are wilting. “It’s so quick, it doesn’t feel like any time-stamped to calculate how many pieces of data it would take effort,” Mattheis told AFP. “I learnt a few hundred characters without on average to find somebody, said study lead author Yves- really trying.” Memrise, along with rivals Skritter and ChineseSkill, all Alexandre de Montjoye, also of MIT. feature interactive tools that entertain as well as teach-a trend known In this case the experts needed only four pieces, three if price as “gamification”-pioneered by the big daddy of education apps, is involved. As an example, the researchers wrote about looking DuoLingo. “In a lot of Western countries we now see ourselves as at data from September 23 and 24 and who went to a bakery one competitive with Candy Crush. We want to be a very popular game HONG KONG: This photo illustration taken on January 24, day and a restaurant the other. Searching through the data set, and we want people to play when they’re bored,” Gina Gotthilf, a 2015 in Hong Kong shows an image of the language app they found there could be only person who fits the bill - they DuoLingo spokeswoman, told AFP. Memrise. For years the thrill of studying a new language called him Scott. The study said, “and we now know all of his oth- DuoLingo does not currently offer a Chinese course, leaving a gap has been tempered by the tedium of the rote learning and er transactions, such as the fact that he went shopping for shoes for language learners keen to capitalise on a rising China, and repetition required to be truly accomplished-particularly and groceries on 23 September, and how much he spent.” Mandarin as a lingua franca in smartphone-hooked Asia. the case for memorising a character-based system-but It’s easier to identify women, but the research couldn’t “Candy Crush is effective because it adjusts the difficulty level to language apps are increasingly turning to the same explain why, de Montjoye said. The study shows that when we just the right level for you,” said Ben Whately, who worked on praise, reward and challenge format that games such as think we have privacy when our data is collected, it’s really just Memrise’s Chinese courses. “Adapting to a level where people feel an “illusion,” said Eugene Spafford, director of Purdue Candy Crush use to such devastating success. —AFP clever is a great way to keep them playing...That is exactly what our University’s Center for Education and Research in Information learning algorithm does: adjusts when you are tested so that you “unlocking” levels only when you get enough multiple choice Assurance and Security. Spafford, who wasn’t part of the study, always have to struggle a little bit, but you are generally successful.” answers right, bringing users back again and again as they try to beat said it makes “one wonder what our expectation of privacy Users commit Chinese characters and definitions to memory with the their own memory. A lesser-considered obstacle in Chinese learning should be anymore.” “It is not surprising to those of us who help of animations and mnemonics, and are notified to review the is learning to write characters correctly, a time-consuming technique spend our time doing privacy research,” said outside expert characters each time they are just at the point of forgetting them, a that greatly enhances one’s ability to remember them. Lorrie Faith Cranor, director of the CyLab Usable Privacy and technique known as “spaced repetition”. Skritter instructs users on the order and direction of strokes with Security Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University. “But I expect it “Within a couple of hours of study you can read most of a Chinese bright graphics and feedback that flashes when you miss, recalling would be surprising to most people, including companies who menu. Every time you go to a Chinese restaurant or walk through another popular game called “Fruit Ninja”. may be routinely releasing de-identified transaction data, think- China town, you re-engage with that. You feel like a hero,” Whately “The only way to quickly learn lots of characters is to write them ing it is safe to do so.” Credit card companies and industry offi- said of his app. Daniel Blurton, a director at a paediatric mental health over and over (20-30 times),” Hong Kong-based businessman Brad cials either declined comment or did not respond to requests for clinic in Hong Kong, said he enjoyed the ability “to see immediate Jester told AFP by email. “I started by doing this on paper, but Skritter is comment. The once-obscure concept of metadata - or basic progress and track how much you’ve accomplished,” making the better because it replays them for you in a better timed sequence.” A transactional information - grew mainstream in recent years fol- daunting task of starting Chinese seem “manageable”. key question is whether these methods work any better than tradition- lowing revelations by former National Security Agency contrac- This sense of reinforced achievement is also evident in the app al immersion in a native-speaking environment or a traditional class- tor Edward Snowden. Those disclosures from once-top secret U.S. government documents revealed that the NSA was collect- ChineseSkill, which features a cute cartoon panda that punches the room. Jester, now a fluent speaker, commented: “People sometimes ing the records of digital communications from millions of air with happiness when you remember, for example, that “ren” think they can take the easy route of using flashcards and dictionaries Americans not suspected of a crime. —AP means “people”. ChineseSkill uses the classic videogame tactic of to learn Chinese but that is 100 percent not the case. —AFP TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Poll shows giant gap Google takes hit on slower between what public, scientists think than expected growth SAN FRANCISCO: Google profit jumped in WASHINGTON: The American public and US scientists are the recently ended quarter, but the leap light-years apart on science issues. And 98 percent of sur- fell short of market expectations as smart- veyed scientists say it’s a problem that we don’t know phone-centric lifestyles brought with them what they’re talking about. Scientists are far less worried a shift to cheaper mobile ads. about genetically modified food, pesticide use, and Google shares whipsawed, losing nuclear power than is the general public, according to ground and then gaining, as Wall Street matching polls of both the general public and the coun- came to grips with concerns about a shift try’s largest general science organization. Scientists were to lower-cost ads on mobile devices and more certain that global warming is caused by man, evo- the technology titan’s penchant for spend- lution is real, overpopulation is a danger and mandatory ing on “moonshots” like self-driving cars vaccination against childhood diseases is needed. and Internet-linked Glass eyewear. In eight of 13 science-oriented issues, there was a 20 “At Google you have strong-willed lead- percentage point or higher gap separating the opinions of ers who tell shareholders they are interest- the public and members of the American Association for ed in the long haul and want to invest in the Advancement of Science, according to survey work by interesting long-term projects,” said the Pew Research Center. The gaps didn’t correlate to any Forrester analyst Frank Gillett. liberal-conservative split; the scientists at times take more “I personally like the willingness of a traditionally conservative views and at times more liberal. company to swing for the fences, but it is “These are big and notable gaps,” said Lee Rainie, director not popular with Wall Street traders, to say of Pew’s internet, science and technology research. He the least.” Lifestyles are shifting from using said they are “pretty powerful indicators of the public and laptops or desktop computers to get the scientific community seeing the world differently.” NEW YORK: This September 2, 2012 file photo shows the Google logo during a online to using smartphones or tablets in press announcement at Google headquarters in New York. — AFP In the most dramatic split, 88 percent of the scientists what Forrester refers to as ‘the mobile surveyed said it is safe to eat genetically modified foods, mind shift,’ according to the analyst. “Innovation doesn’t happen if you man- executive on board in the process. while only 37 percent of the public say it is safe and 57 Google has prospered on targeting ads age to quarterly earnings,” Gillett said. The Internet colossus reported net prof- percent say it is unsafe. And 68 percent of scientists said it served up with Internet search results on During an earnings call, Google chief finan- it up 41 percent year-over-year at $4.76 bil- is safe to eat foods grown with pesticides, compared with computers. “As people increasingly cial officer Patrick Pichette said it stuck to lion in the final three months of 2014. The only 28 percent of the general public. Ninety-eight per- embrace the power of the smartphone, benchmarks when it came to deciding profit translates to $6.88 per share, below cent of scientists say humans evolved over time, com- they are using Internet search engines less whether to continue backing projects such the consensus forecast of $7.11 per share. pared with 65 percent of the public. The gap wasn’t quite and using apps more,” Gillett said. “It is a as Fiber. Revenues were up 15 percent in the quar- as large for vaccines, with 86 percent of the scientists gradual shift but it is a profound one “In other cases, when teams aren’t able ter to $18.1 billion, also slower than antici- favoring mandatory childhood shots while 68 percent of because it changes how Google reaches to hit hurdles, we take a pause and reset pated as Google saw slowdowns in some the public did. people; the whole model is shifting.” strategies as we did in terms of Glass.” of its online advertising metrics such as Eighty-seven percent of scientists said global warming Google is devoting resources to self-dri- This month, Google halted sales of its costs per click. “Internet growth is slowing is mostly due to human activity, while only half of the pub- ving cars; Glass eyewear; Fiber super-fast Internet-linked eyewear Glass but insisted worldwide, and the new users who come lic did. The figures for scientists are slightly different than Internet networks, and a Project Loon the technology would live on in a future online will have and command far less past academic studies because of wording of the question aimed at delivering Internet to remote or consumer product. spending power, while gravitating towards and the fact that AAAS members include many specialties, rural areas using gear floating from high- Glass allowed users to share pictures or local alternatives and apps rather than web but they tell the same essential story, said Pew associate altitude balloons. video and search the Internet hands free. models in their usage,” said Jan Dawson at director Cary Funk. What to do about climate change is While critics see such endeavors as Google did not indicate when a general Jackdaw Research. another issue. Nearly two-thirds of scientists favored Google straying from its area of strength in consumer version of the eyewear might “Google really doesn’t seem to have an building more nuclear power plants, but only 45 percent online search, some people view the debut. “We think they are retrenching the answer for any of these.” Google shares fell of the public did. But more of the public favored offshore moves as innovation aimed at keeping the technology to find a new use case,” immediately following the results in after- drilling for oil and fracking than scientists did. company relevant to evolving lifestyles. Forrester’s Gillett said. “If they were going hours trade, but later recouped the losses More than four out of five scientists thought the grow- Google services such as search and maps to kill Google Glass, they would have killed and traded up more than a percent to ing world population will be a major problem, but just less could become features in autonomous car it.” Google’s Glass team became a separate $518.10. Google results were dented by a than three out of five members of the public did. Pew consoles or Internet-linked eye wear. More company unit answering to Tony Fadell, strong dollar, reducing the value of income polled 2,002 adults in August and did an online survey of people using faster Internet could increase co-founder of Nest. earned outside the United States. 3,748 AAAS members in the fall. The margin of error is plus the ranks of people tapping into the Google bought the smart thermostat Production problems also hurt its ability to or minus 3.1 percentage points for the public and 1.7 per- Internet firm’s products from YouTube to maker early last year in a multi-billion-dol- meet demand for a new Nexus 6 smart- centage points for the scientists. In 2009, Pew has asked Gmail or cloud storage. lar deal and brought the former Apple phone, Google’s Pichette said. — AFP only a handful of questions like these to both scientists and the public and the gap hasn’t changed much since, Funk said. Tape: Scientist offers to build “On the whole, as compared to most members of the public, scientists are likely drawing from a larger scientific knowledge base - and thinking more scientifically - about nuke bomb targeting New York each of these issues,” George Mason University communi- cations professor Edward Maibach said in an email. ALBUQUERQUE: A disgruntled, former Los ing idea was. But he suggested that once Federici said Pedro Mascheroni refused to “Therefore, their views appear to be more in line with a Alamos National Laboratory scientist Venezuela obtained a bomb, the country admit he did anything wrong and has tried completely dispassionate reading of the risks versus the promised to build 40 nuclear weapons for should explode it “to let the world know to argue that he was the victim of the fed- benefits.” Venezuela in 10 years and design a bomb what we’ve got,” according to the record- eral government trying to trap him after Alan Leshner, chief executive officer of AAAS, said the targeted for New York City in exchange for ings. The recordings were played being critical of US nuclear policy. gap between the way the public and scientists look at “money and power,” according to secret Wednesday in U.S. District Court in “He was no true hero,” Federici said. issue is a cause for concern. “Science is about facts; science FBI recordings released Wednesday. Albuquerque before a federal judge sen- “He was simply a man who betrayed his is not about values,” Leshner said. “Policies are made on In the recordings, Pedro Leonardo tenced Mascheroni, 79, to five years in country.” Speaking to a judge, Mascheroni facts and values and we want to make sure that the accu- Mascheroni tells an agent posing as a prison followed by three years of super- was defiant and said that if his case had rate, non-distorted facts are brought in to any kind of dis- Venezuelan official that the bombs would vised release as part of a plea agreement. gone to trial, a federal jury would have cussion.” prevent the United States from invading Mascheroni and his wife, Marjorie acquitted him. He said the information he The trouble is that scientists don’t think the public the oil-rich nation and brags to his wife Roxby Mascheroni, pleaded guilty in 2013 passed onto the agent was already avail- knows the facts. The survey said that 84 percent of the sci- that the passing of secrets would make to offering to help develop a nuclear able online or simply was made up. “I was entists said it is a major problem that “the public does not him wealthy. weapon for Venezuela through dealings basically selling used cars,” Mascheroni know very much about science” and another 14 percent “I’m going to be the boss with money with an undercover FBI agent posing as a said during a long tirade in federal court said it is a minor problem. And 97 percent of the scientists and power,” the naturalized U.S. citizen representative of the South American that had to be interrupted by U.S. District criticized the educational system. Three-quarters of the from Argentina is heard saying. “I’m not an country. Judge William P. Johnson. “What I was sell- scientists said not enough science and math education is a American anymore. This is it.” His wife received a year and a day in ing was completely science fiction.” major problem and another 22 percent said it was a minor Mascheroni said his New York bomb prison for conspiring with her husband to Before his indictment, Mascheroni was one. “It’s not about being smart or dumb,” Leshner said. wouldn’t kill anyone but would disable the sell nuclear secrets. The U.S. government under investigation for about a year. The “It’s about whether, in fact, you understand the source of city’s electrical system and help Venezuela did not allege Venezuela sought US FBI had seized computers, letters, photo- the fact and what the facts are.”— AP become a nuclear superpower. It was not secrets. Despite the evidence and the plea graphs, books and cellphones from the known how realistic his New York bomb- agreement, federal prosecutor Fred couple’s Los Alamos home.—AP TV listings SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

07:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 17:00 Going Deep With David Rees 07:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 17:30 Going Deep With David Rees 08:15 Chopped 18:00 Car SOS 00:30 My Family 09:05 Siba’s Table 01:00 Doctors 09:30 Have Cake, Will Travel 01:30 Casualty 09:55 Have Cake, Will Travel 02:20 The Mimic 10:20 Barefoot Contessa - Back To 02:45 Zen Basics 04:15 The Weakest Link 10:45 Barefoot Contessa - Back To 05:00 The Green Balloon Club Basics 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon 05:25 Mr Bloom’s Nursery 11:10 Siba’s Table Stewart 05:45 Charlie And Lola 11:35 Siba’s Table 01:30 Silicon Valley 06:00 Little Human Planet 12:00 Guy’s Big Bite 02:00 Silicon Valley 06:05 Jollywobbles 12:25 Unique Eats 02:30 Sean Saves The World 06:15 The Green Balloon Club 12:50 Unique Eats 03:00 The Neighbors 06:40 Mr Bloom’s Nursery 13:15 Hungry Girl 03:30 How I Met Your Mother 07:00 Charlie And Lola 13:40 Hungry Girl 04:30 The Tonight Show Starring 07:15 The Weakest Link 14:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Sinbad 14:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 06:00 Last Man Standing 08:45 Doctor Who: The Day Of The 14:55 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 06:30 The Simpsons Doctor 15:20 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers 10:05 Blackadder II 15:45 Barefoot Contessa - Back To 09:00 The Neighbors 10:35 My Family Basics 09:30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 11:05 Sinbad 16:10 Barefoot Contessa - Back To 10:30 The Simpsons 11:50 Doctor Who: The Day Of The Basics 11:00 The Tonight Show Starring Doctor 16:35 Siba’s Table Jimmy Fallon 13:10 Casualty 17:00 Siba’s Table 12:00 Last Man Standing 14:00 Eastenders 17:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 13:30 The Simpsons 14:30 Eastenders 17:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 14:00 How I Met Your Mother 15:00 Eastenders 18:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 14:30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 15:30 Eastenders 18:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon 16:00 The Weakest Link Basics Stewart 16:45 Fawlty Towers 19:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To 16:30 Last Man Standing 17:25 Sinbad Basics 17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers 18:10 Hustle 19:30 Siba’s Table 18:30 How I Met Your Mother 19:00 Doctor Who: The Time Of The 19:55 Siba’s Table 19:00 2 Broke Girls Doctor 20:20 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:30 The Goldbergs 20:00 Live At The Apollo 20:45 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 20:00 The Tonight Show Starring 20:45 Watson & Oliver 21:10 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Jimmy Fallon 21:15 Threesome Basics 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:40 Him & Her 21:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To 22:00 Saturday Night Live 22:10 Moone Boy Basics 23:00 Sean Saves The World 22:35 The Omid Djalili Show 22:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 23:30 Late Night With Seth Meyers 23:05 The Weakest Link 22:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 23:50 Sinbad 22:50 Fast Food Gone Global 23:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives

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News 14:00 Antiques Roadshow 10:40 Who’s Doing The Dishes 02:00 Devil’s Due 20:10 Survive That! 12:40 Mako Mermaids 09:15 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills 15:45 Bargain Hunt 11:35 Chasing Shadows 04:00 The Philly Kid 21:00 What’s In The Barn? 13:05 Binny And The Ghost 09:45 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills 16:30 Bargain Hunt 12:25 The Widower 06:00 Brave 21:25 What’s In The Barn? 13:30 Girl Meets World 10:15 Ryan Seacrest With The 17:15 Bargain Hunt 13:15 The Chase 08:00 Fast & Furious 6 21:50 What’s In The Barn? 13:55 I Didn’t Do It Kardashians: An E!... 18:00 Come Dine With Me: South 14:05 The Chase: Celebrity Specials 10:15 G.I. Joe: Retaliation 22:15 What’s In The Barn? 14:20 Sabrina: Secrets Of A Teenage 11:10 E! Entertainment Special Africa 15:00 Keep It In The Family 12:15 Brave Witch 12:05 E! News 18:50 How To Cook Like Heston 15:55 Big Star’s Little Star 14:00 Alex Cross 14:55 Gravity Falls 13:05 Giuliana & Bill 19:15 Phil Spencer: Secret Agent 16:50 The Great Fire 16:00 After Earth 15:20 Dog With A Blog 14:05 Christina Milian Turned Up 20:05 Bill’s Kitchen: Notting Hill 17:45 Chasing Shadows 18:00 G.I. Joe: Retaliation 15:45 Jessie 14:30 Christina Milian Turned Up 20:30 Rick Stein’s India 18:30 Paul O’Grady: For The Love Of 20:00 Fast & Furious 6 16:10 Austin & Ally 15:00 Fashion Bloggers 21:20 Masterchef: The Professionals Dogs 22:15 Ice Soldiers 21:45 Masterchef: The Professionals 16:35 Girl Meets World 15:30 Fashion Bloggers 19:00 Keep It In The Family 22:40 Masterchef: The Professionals 17:00 Liv And Maddie 16:00 House Of DVF 19:55 The Chase 23:30 Masterchef: The Professionals 00:00 Violetta 17:25 Liv And Maddie 17:00 House Of DVF 20:40 The Chase 00:45 The Hive 17:50 Liv And Maddie 18:00 E! News 21:25 The Great Fire 00:50 Art Attack 18:15 Liv And Maddie 19:00 E!ES 22:20 Chasing Shadows 01:15 Art Attack 18:40 Liv And Maddie 20:00 Kourtney And Khloe Take The 23:15 Coronation Street 00:00 Devil’s Due-18 01:40 Jungle Junction 19:05 Liv And Maddie Hamptons 23:40 Coronation Street 02:00 The Philly Kid-PG15 01:50 Jungle Junction 19:30 Cloud 9 21:00 Kourtney And Khloe Take The 04:00 Brave-PG15 21:10 Wolfblood Hamptons 00:20 Kindig Customs 02:05 Jungle Junction 06:00 Fast & Furious 6-PG15 02:15 Jungle Junction 21:35 Gravity Falls 22:00 E! News 08:15 G.I. Joe: Retaliation-PG15 01:10 Fantomworks 22:00 Suite Life On Deck 23:00 The Soup 02:00 Fast N’ Loud 02:30 Violetta 10:15 Brave-PG15 03:10 The Hive 22:25 A.N.T. Farm 23:30 House Of DVF 12:00 Alex Cross-PG15 02:50 Auction Hunters 22:50 Shake It Up 03:15 The Liquidator 03:20 Art Attack 00:00 Fight Science 14:00 After Earth-PG15 03:45 Art Attack 23:10 Wolfblood 01:00 Ancient Secrets: The Sphinx 16:00 G.I. Joe: Retaliation-PG15 03:40 What’s In The Barn? 23:35 Wolfblood 04:05 How It’s Made 04:10 Jungle Junction 02:00 Megacities 18:00 Fast & Furious 6-PG15 04:30 How It’s Made 04:20 Jungle Junction 03:00 Mega Factories: Supercars 20:15 Ice Soldiers-PG15 05:00 Dual Survival 04:35 Jungle Junction 00:05 Chopped 04:00 Mega Breakdown 22:00 The Last Stand-PG15 06:00 The Big Brain Theory 04:45 Jungle Junction 00:55 Amazing Wedding Cakes 05:00 Live Free Or Die 06:50 You Have Been Warned 05:00 Art Attack 01:45 BBQ Crawl 06:00 Hunter Hunted 07:40 The Carbonaro Effect 05:25 Art Attack 00:00 Christina Milian Turned Up 02:10 BBQ Crawl 07:00 Plastiki 08:05 The Carbonaro Effect 05:50 Mouk 00:30 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills 02:35 Pizza Cuz 08:00 Fight Science 06:00 Dog With A Blog 00:55 Extreme Close-Up 03:00 Pizza Cuz 09:00 Ancient Secrets: The Sphinx 08:30 Get Out Alive With Bear Grylls 01:30 10 Years-PG15 09:20 Dive Wars Australia 06:25 Liv And Maddie 01:25 E!ES 03:25 Charly’s Cake Angels 10:00 Megacities 06:50 So Random 02:20 E! News 03:50 Amazing Wedding Cakes 11:00 Street Genius 03:30 Mr. 3000-PG 10:10 Survive That! 05:45 The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The 11:00 Gold Rush 07:15 Gravity Falls 03:15 Kourtney And Khloe Take The 04:40 Reza, Spice Prince Of Vietnam 11:30 Street Genius 07:40 Jessie Hamptons 05:05 Roadtrip With G. Garvin 12:00 Diggers Galaxy-PG15 12:40 Gold Rush 08:00 Look Who’s Talking Too-PG15 13:30 Gold Rush 08:05 Liv And Maddie 04:10 THS 05:30 Reza, Spice Prince Of 12:30 Diggers 08:30 Binny And The Ghost 05:05 E!ES Thailand 13:00 Hard Time 09:30 Open Season-FAM 14:20 Gold Rush 11:00 Sweet Home Alabama-PG15 15:10 Gold Rush 08:55 I Didn’t Do It 06:00 Keeping Up With The 05:50 Siba’s Table 14:00 Chasing UFOs 09:20 Dog With A Blog Kardashians 06:10 Sweet Genius 15:00 Street Monkeys 13:00 Dumb And Dumberer: When 16:00 Gold Rush Harry Met Lloyd-PG15 16:50 Gold Rush 09:45 Girl Meets World 06:55 Keeping Up With The 07:00 Tastiest Places To Chowdown 16:00 How Hard Can It Be? TV listings SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

14:30 10 Years-PG15 07:57 NBC Nightly News 07:00 Live Ranji Trophy 13:55 Brides Of Beverly Hills 05:15 Treehouse Masters 16:30 Look Who’s Talking Too-PG15 08:18 ABC World News With David 15:00 Big Bash League T20 14:20 Sister Wives 06:02 Gangland Killers 18:00 Stand Off-PG15 Muir Highlights 15:10 Cake Boss 06:49 Deadly Islands 20:00 Why Stop Now-PG15 09:06 MSNBC The Rachel Maddow 18:00 ICC Cricket 360 15:35 Little People, Big World 07:36 Swamp Brothers 22:00 Proof Of Love-PG15 Show 20:30 Big Bash League T20 08:00 The Wild Life Of Tim 11:00 MSNBC Morning Joe Highlights 16:00 Hoarding: Buried Alive 01:00 Barbie In The Nutcracker 15:00 Live NBC Saturday Today 21:30 Big Bash League T20 16:50 Say Yes To The Dress Faulkner 02:45 The Missing Lynx 08:25 America’s Cutest Pets Show Highlights 17:15 17 Kids And Counting 04:30 Quest For A Heart 09:15 Gangland Killers 17:00 MSNBC Up W/ Steve Kornacki 23:30 ICC Cricket 360 17:40 Sister Wives 06:00 The Little Rascals Save The 18:57 MSNBC Hardball W/ Chris 10:10 Call Of The Wildman Day Matthews 18:30 What Not To Wear 11:05 Gator Boys 08:00 Jelly T 19:20 Cake Boss 01:15 Darling Companion-PG15 19:38 MSNBC The Rachel Maddow 12:00 America’s Cutest Pets 10:00 Krazzy Planet Show 19:45 Cake Boss 03:00 The Invisible Woman-PG15 11:15 Shrek 2 12:55 Gangland Killers 05:00 Beasts Of The Southern Wild- 21:00 ABC 20/20 20:10 Super Soul Sunday 13:50 Treehouse Masters 13:00 The Missing Lynx 22:00 Live MSNBC News PG15 14:45 Tony Hawk: Boom Boom OSN SPORTS 4 21:00 Cake Boss 14:45 Wild Things With Dominic 07:00 Kon-Tiki-PG15 Sabotage 03:30 Bellator MMA 21:25 Cake Boss Monaghan 09:00 The Fifth Estate-PG15 16:00 Hammer Boy 05:30 V8 Supercars Highlights 21:50 Bakery Boss 15:40 Tanked 11:15 Beasts Of The Southern Wild- 18:00 Krazzy Planet 07:00 Monster Jam 22:40 Extreme Couponing 16:35 Gangland Killers PG15 20:00 Cinderella 09:00 The World’s Strongest 13:00 Struck By Lightning-PG15 23:05 Breaking Amish: Brave 22:00 Tony Hawk: Boom Boom Man 17:30 Gator Boys 15:00 The Magic Of Belle Isle-PG15 Sabotage 02:00 Trans World Sport New World 10:30 Porsche GT3 Series 17:00 The Fifth Estate-PG15 23:30 Hammer Boy 03:00 Futbol Mundial 23:55 Cake Boss 18:25 Treehouse Masters 03:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 11:00 WWE NXT 19:20 The Wild Life Of Tim 19:15 August: Osage County-PG15 02-02-2015 21:15 How I Live Now-PG15 04:00 PGA European Tour 12:00 NHL Faulkner 23:00 12 Years A Slave-18 09:30 Top 14 14:00 WWE Vintage 19:50 The Wild Life Of Tim 11:30 European Tour Weekly 15:00 WWE Main Event Faulkner 12:00 Live PGA European Tour 17:00 The World’s Strongest 16:00 Golfing World 17:00 Live Top 14 Man 00:00 Bullet To The Head-18 19:00 Trans World Sport 18:30 NHL 02:00 All In Good Time-PG15 20:00 ICC Cricket 360 20:30 WWE Superstars 04:00 The Host-PG15 20:30 Inside The PGA Tour 21:30 WWE Smackdown 8:25 America’s Cutest Pets 06:30 Lego Batman: The Movie - DC 21:00 Live PGA Tour 23:30 Live NHL 09:15 Gangland Killers 1:00 AM PITCH BLACK 01:30 Bad Karma-18 Super Heroes Unite-PG 10:10 Call Of The Wildman 03:00 Annapolis-PG15 SET REMINDER 08:00 R.I.P.D.-PG15 11:05 Gator Boys 04:45 Stalingrad-PG15 10:00 Return To Nim’s Island-PG 2:30 AM WAY OF THE LADY 07:00 The Count Of Monte Cristo- 11:30 Pacific Rim-PG15 12:00 America’s Cutest Pets BOXER 12:55 Gangland Killers PG15 14:00 Parental Guidance-PG SET REMINDER 13:50 Treehouse Masters 09:15 The Next Three Days-PG15 16:00 R.I.P.D.-PG15 5:30 AM DEVIL HUNTERS 11:30 I Am Sam-PG15 01:00 ICC Cricket 360 14:45 Wild Things With Dominic 17:36 Man Of Steel-PG15 SET REMINDER 14:00 Meet Joe Black-PG15 20:00 The Heat-PG15 03:00 Live NHL Monaghan 7:00 AM EASY A 17:00 The Next Three Days-PG15 22:00 The Hangover 3-18 06:00 Trans World Sport 15:40 Tanked 07:00 Top 14 03:15 Hoarding: Buried Alive SET REMINDER 19:30 Girl In Progress-PG15 16:35 Gangland Killers 21:30 The Words-PG15 09:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 04:05 What Not To Wear 8:30 AM HITMAN 17:30 Gator Boys 23:30 Side Effects-18 09:30 Golfing World 05:00 What Not To Wear SET REMINDER 18:25 Treehouse Masters 10:30 Trans World Sport 06:00 Something Borrowed, 10:30 AM MR BEANS HOLIDAY 11:30 NFL Road To The Super Bowl 19:20 The Wild Life Of Tim Something New SET REMINDER XLIX Faulkner 12:00 PM RISE OF THE PLANET 00:00 Live MSNBC Now With Alex 12:30 PDC World Darts 06:25 Super Soul Sunday 19:50 The Wild Life Of Tim Wagner Championship 07:15 Say Yes To The Dress Faulkner OF THE APES 01:00 Prisoners-PG15 01:00 Live MSNBC The Ed Show 15:30 Live Darts Masters 07:40 Little People, Big World 20:15 Tanked SET REMINDER 03:30 Nebraska-PG15 02:00 Live MSNBC Politicsnation 20:00 NFL Road To The Super Bowl 08:05 Bakery Boss 21:10 Safari Sisters 2:30 PM UNSTOPPABLE XLIX 05:30 Sky Force-FAM 03:00 Live NBC Nightly News 08:55 Cake Boss 21:35 Safari Sisters SET REMINDER 03:30 ABC World News With David 21:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Playing For Keeps-PG15 09:20 Cake Boss 22:05 Treehouse Masters 4:30 PM THE HULK 09:00 Turbo-PG Muir 22:00 Live Darts Masters 09:45 Cake Boss 23:00 The Wild Life Of Tim SET REMINDER 10:45 The Monuments Men-PG15 04:00 Live MSNBC All In With Chris 7:00 PM 47 RONIN Hayes 10:10 Toddlers & Tiaras Faulkner 12:45 Jobs-PG15 SET REMINDER 15:00 The Pretty One-PG15 05:00 Live MSNBC The Rachel 11:00 What Not To Wear 23:30 The Wild Life Of Tim 9:00 PM STREET FIGHTER 16:45 Turbo-PG Maddow Show 11:50 Oprah’s Next Chapter Faulkner 18:45 Saving Mr. Banks-PG15 07:00 NBC Nightly News 23:55 Rogue Nature With Dave SET REMINDER 01:30 ICC Cricket 360 12:40 Super Soul Sunday 21:00 Enough Said-PG15 07:30 ABC World News With David Salmoni 11:00 PM UNIVERSAL SOLDIER : 23:00 End Of Watch-18 Muir 02:00 ICC Cricket World Cup Tales 13:30 Brides Of Beverly Hills DAY OF RECKONING

THE LAST STAND ON OSN MOVIES ACTION HD WHAT’S ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

NBK Shabab Program welcomes its 7th batch of fresh Kuwait graduates

ational Bank of Kuwait (NBK) recently welcomed the sev- Shabab program falls within the framework of NBK’s strategy to renowned Harvard University, NBK also organizes an executive enth batch of trainees in the Shabab Training Program. attract and hire qualified nationals. This program aims at training program in line with the bank’s commitment to devel- NThis intensive program is specially designed to develop improving young Kuwaiti skills in order to prepare them as oping and investing in its key resource and human capital. NBK the skills of newly recruited diploma holding graduates. NBK highly qualified Kuwaiti banking leaders of the future. maintains its leading position as one of the country’s largest Shabab Training Program extends over a period of two and a Annually, NBK offers many training programs including NBK employers in the private sector. NBK continues its efforts to pro- half months. The program is tailored to provide young Kuwaitis Academy, the Summer Internship Program and the first of its vide career and training opportunities for nationals and to sup- who recently joined the bank with theoretical and practical skills kind in the region NBK High Fliers Program in collaboration with port the country’s aim to encourage young Kuwaitis to assume covering the different aspects of the banking industry. NBK the American University of Beirut. In collaboration with the roles in the private sector.

Indian company signs KD150m contract with Kuwait University

hapoorji Pallonji and Co Ltd, Mumbai on 26 January 2015 since January 2011. Country Head, Shapoorji Pallonji, Kuwait and Mohd Yusuf Al- signed a contract worth KD 150 million (about $513 million) The signing ceremony was attended by Dr. Bader Hamad Al- Sager, Chairman, Al-Sager General Trading & Contracting Co, Swith Kuwait University (KU), Kuwait for construction, opera- Essa, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education; Dr Kuwait. tion and maintenance of the buildings of Colleges of Law, Social Abdullatif Al-Bader, Director of Kuwait University; Dr Qutaiba Dr Bader Hamad Al-Essa said that “the contract, which will be Sciences and Sharia and Islamic Studies in the Sabah Al-Salem Abdul-Razzaq Razouki, Director of Kuwait University completed within four years, constitutes a big step towards the University City. Shapoorji Pallonji operates in Kuwait with its local Construction Program (KUCP); Mohan Dass Saini, Managing completion of the city project, since the Sabah Al-Salem Joint Venture partner Al-Sager Trading & Contracting Company Director & CEO, Shapoorji Pallonji International; Aroon Sen, University City is part of Kuwait’s Development Plan.” WHAT’S ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Integrated Indian School celebrates Decennium Jubilee

he future belongs to those who believe in the Indian classical dance forms- perfect example where art beauty of their dreams’. A decade ago a dream of has no bounds. ‘Ttaking Integrated Indian School to the pinnacle The decadian teachers and staff members of of excellence was pioneered by few, initiated by some Integrated Indian School were honored for the ten years and ten years later it has been achieved by the efforts of a of selfless and meritorious service they have rendered team of academia. Integrated Indian School celebrated towards the growth and development of the school. The its Decennium Jubilee on the 7th and 8th of January’ achievers of the scholastic year 2013-14 were also felici- 2015 which was marked by the theme “Incredible India”. tated and encouraged. The preamble of schools achieve- The occasion was graced by eminent personalities like ments- the school report was presented by Principal Major General Mohammad Ashabuddin, Ambassador of Shafeeq Ahmad. The evenings re-commenced with an People’s Republic of Bangladesh to Kuwait and Abdullah array of splendid and beautiful cultural programs depict- Ali Hussain Al-Basari, Director General, Ministry of Private ing a gamut of varied emotions ranging from passion, Education as the chief guests. love, kindness, compassion, joy and courage. The occa- The function was preceded with the seeking of Allah’s sion also marked the release of the school magazine- blessings through the recitation of the verses from the “The Quest.” holy Quran, followed by paying reverence to both the The vote of thanks was rendered by the Vice Principal national anthems of Kuwait and India and lighting of the who expressed her gratitude for the esteemed presence auspicious lamp. The spectacular and mesmerizing of the guests, distinguished directors of Integrated Indian evenings showcased the phenomenal talents of the stu- School and the dear parents. The chief guests and the dents of Integrated Indian School through magnificent presidents of the occasions for both the days congratulat- and extravagant performances. The young prodigies ed and appreciated the students for their efforts in hold- took the audiences on a short journey to the miraculous ing the stupendous and extraordinary event. The audi- world of artistry and creativity. The audiences were wel- ences enjoyed the evening and in return took a bagful of comed with an enthralling and exuberant fusion of happy memories to be cherished in future. HEALTH SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Hawaii coral recovers from mass bleaching

HONOLULU: Coral rely on algae for food and their survival. So when the stress of warmer-than-average ocean temperatures prompted many of Hawaii’s corals to expel algae last year - a phe- nomenon called bleaching because coral lose their color when they do this - many were worried they might die. Now the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, which released its lat- est coral survey results on Thursday, says most of the bleached corals have recovered. Even so, scientists say the experience weakened the coral, making them more likely to get sick. It’s also going to be harder for them to withstand warm temperatures in the future. The inci- dent is a blow to the state’s fragile reefs, which are already under pressure from runoff from development, overfishing and recre- ational use of the ocean. Coral reefs are a critical part of the ecosystem, and their health is vital to the ocean environment. Coral cover just one-tenth of the ocean floor but are home to 25 percent of known marine species. Some fish eat coral, others hide from predators in them. Some species use coral as nursery grounds. Some types of shark will frequent coral reefs. Mark Eakin, the coordinator the Coral Reef Watch program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said coral bleaching demonstrates that “climate change isn’t something of the distant future.” Kaneohe Bay on Oahu’s east side suffered the most serious bleaching in the state, which is home to 15 percent HAWAII: A researcher swims above coral being studied for bleaching, which is a stress response that causes corals to lose algae of all coral under US jurisdiction. Seventy-five percent of the dom- and color from their tissue, in Kaneohe Bay near Kaneohe, Hawaii. — AP inant coral species there lost some color or turned completely white. Subsequent studies after waters cooled showed 12 percent of the bay’s bleached coral died, said Anne Rosinski, a marine resource specialist with the state Division of Aquatic Resources. US seeks to analyze DNA The remainder regained some color and have been recover- ing. The coral were weakened to begin with after being covered by runoff from flooding. Then after the bleaching, a boat pro- for over 1 million people peller destroyed some of the coral, she said. Most bleached corals off Maui and Kauai have also recovered. The state is trying to do what it can to eliminate other stresses on the coral so they’ll be in better shape to survive warmer temperatures, Rosinski said. “I just Obama unveils ‘precision medicine’ drive worry how much the corals can take,” she said. There’s even bleaker news expected from an isolated atoll about 1,000 miles WASHINGTON: The United States has exchange of data. The effort may raise Geisinger patients and, using their northwest of Honolulu. —AP proposed analyzing genetic information alarm bells for privacy rights advocates anonymous medical records, look for cor- from more than 1 million American vol- who in the past have questioned the relations between genes and disease. unteers as part of a new initiative to government’s ability to guarantee that The company has finished 50,000 sam- understand human disease and develop DNA information is kept anonymous. ples, spokeswoman Hala Mirza said. medicines targeted to an individual’s They have expressed fear participants Perhaps the most audacious effort is by genetic make-up. At the heart of the ini- may become identifiable or face discrim- the non-profit Human Longevity Inc, tiative announced yesterday by ination. headed by Craig Venter. In 2013 it President Barack Obama, is the creation launched a project to sequence 1 million of a pool of people - healthy and ill, men Sequencing 1 million genomes genomes by 2020. Privately funded, it will and women, old and young - who would The funding is not nearly enough to be made available to pharmaceutical be studied to learn how genetic variants sequence 1 million genomes from companies such as Roche Holding AG, affect health and disease. scratch. Whole-genome sequencing, with which the institute has a research Officials hope genetic data from sev- though plummeting in price, still costs partnership. eral hundred thousand participants in about $1,000 per genome, Collins said, “We’re happy to work with them to ongoing genetic studies would be used, meaning this component alone would help move the science,” Venter said in an and other volunteers recruited to reach cost $1 billion. Instead, he said, the interview, referring to the administra- the 1 million total. The near-term goal is national cohort would be assembled tion’s initiative. But because of the many to create more and better treatments for both from new volunteers interested in regulations surrounding medical privacy FLORIDA: Miami Children’s Hospital pediatrician Dr cancer, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the “an opportunity to take part in some- and human volunteers, he said, “we can’t Amanda Porro, M D administers a measles vaccination to National Institutes of Health (NIH), told thing historic,” and existing cohorts that just mingle databases. It sounds like a Sophie Barquin, 4, as her mother Gabrielle Barquin holds reporters on a conference call on are already linking genomic data to naive assumption” if the White House her during a visit to the Miami Children’s Hospital in Thursday. Longer term, he said, the proj- medical outcomes. The most ambitious expects existing cohorts to merge into Miami. — AFP ect would provide information on how of these is the Million Veteran Program, its 1-million-genomes project. Venter to individualize treatment for a range of launched in 2011 by the Department of raced the government-funded Human CDC urges vaccinations diseases. Veterans Affairs. Aimed at making Genome Project to a draw in 2000, The initial focus on cancer, he said, is genomic discoveries and bringing per- sequencing the entire human genome amid measles outbreak due partly to the lethality of the disease sonalized medicine to veterans, it has using private funding in less time than it LOS ANGELES: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and partly because targeted medicine, enrolled more than 300,000 veterans took the public effort. urged Americans on Thursday to get vaccinated for measles amid an known also as precision medicine, has and determined the DNA sequences of outbreak that began at Disneyland in December, saying that 2014 made significant advances in cancer, about 200,000. Altering the landscape saw the highest number of cases in two decades. So far more than 90 although much more work is needed. The VA was a pioneer in electronic Collins conceded that mingling the people have been diagnosed with measles in California and else- The president has proposed $215 million health records, which it will use to link databases would be a challenge but where, most of them linked to an outbreak that public health officials in his 2016 budget for the initiative. Of the genotypes to vets’ medical histories. insisted it is doable. “It is something that suspect began when an infected person from outside the United that, $130 million would go to the NIH to Academic centers have, with NIH fund- can be achieved but obviously there is a States visited Disneyland in Anaheim between Dec 15 and Dec 20. On fund the research cohort and $70 million ing, also amassed thousands of genomes lot that needs to be done,” he said. Wednesday, a high school in Palm Desert, California, barred dozens to NIH’s National Cancer Institute to and linked them to the risk of disease and Collating, analyzing and applying all this of non-vaccinated students from school over concerns that a class- intensify efforts to identify molecular other health outcomes. The Electronic data to the development of new drugs mate may have contracted the highly contagious disease. drivers of cancer and apply that knowl- Medical Records and Genomics Network, will require changes to how products are Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 but edge to drug development. announced by NIH in 2007, aims to com- reviewed and approved by health regu- Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC’s National Center for A further $10 million would go to the bine DNA information on more than lators. Dr Margaret Hamburg, the FDA’s Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said the disease could still Food and Drug Administration to devel- 300,000 people and look for connections commissioner, said on the conference easily be brought in by a traveler from abroad. “This is a wake-up call op databases on which to build an to diseases as varied as autism, appen- call that the emerging field of precision to make sure we keep measles from getting a foothold in our coun- try,” she said. The outbreak has renewed debate over the so-called appropriate regulatory structure; $5 mil- dicitis, cataracts, diabetes and dementia. medicine “presents a set of new issues anti-vaccination movement in which fears about potential side lion would go to the Office of the In 2014, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for us at FDA.” The agency is discussing effects of vaccines, fueled by now-debunked theories suggesting a National Coordinator for Health Inc launched a collaboration with new ways to approach the review link to autism, have led a small minority of parents to refuse to allow Information Technology to develop pri- Pennsylvania-based Geisinger Health process for personalized medicines and their children to be inoculated. —Reuters vacy standards and ensure the secure System to sequence the DNA of 100,000 tests, she added. — Reuters HEALTH SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Where did the snow go? Urban heatwaves getting worse Blizzard was a miss, but not a bust Man-made global warming steps up a gear NEW YORK: In the wild world of winter weather, location is everything, which New York and Massachusetts learned too PARIS: Urban heatwaves have become more well Tuesday. Small last-minute changes in the air morphed frequent over the last 40 years, scientists what was supposed to be crippling feet of snow into a hand- reported yesterday. A weather database of ful of inches in New York, leading one forecaster to apologize, cities around the world reveals “significant” the National Weather Service boss to get defensive, politi- increases in periods of extremely hot days and cians to explain themselves and some Northeast residents falls in the number of cold days, they found. wondering where the much-hyped snow went. Previous research found that, in the four The not-so-great blizzard of 2015 did wallop other parts of decades covered in the study, man-made the Northeast as predicted: Long Island and Massachusetts global warming stepped up a gear. got hammered with more than 2 feet of snow. Auburn, But, in urban heatwaves, additional factors Massachusetts, got hit with 32 inches and there was severe can play a role, the authors cautioned. These coastal flooding, National Weather Service Director Louis include local climate variability, the design Uccellini said. But snowfall in the self-absorbed media capital and spread of a city, and land cover beyond it. of New York City, shut down in advance, was under a foot. “Over half of the world’s population now live New Jersey and Philadelphia also were spared. In a confer- in urban areas,” lead author Vimal Mishra, a ence call with reporters Tuesday, a defensive Uccellini, who professor at the Indian Institute of Technology wrote textbooks on winter storms, wouldn’t say his agency’s (IIT) Gandhinagar, said. “It is particularly important to understand how the climate and forecast was off. Instead, he blamed the way meteorologists climate extremes, in particular, are changing communicated and said the weather service needs to do a in these areas.” The data trawl covered around ANTARCTICA: An undated handout photo taken by Commonwealth Scientific better job addressing uncertainty. 650 cities, defined as areas with a population and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) shows the largest glacier in East Private meteorologist Ryan Maue of Weather Bell greater than 250,000, with weather stations Antarctica. The 120-kilometre (74.4 mile) long Totten Glacier, which is more Analytics slammed the public agency for ratcheting up fore- that reported to a US-run meteorological than 30 kilometers wide, had been thought to be in an area untouched by cast storm amounts before the system arrived, instead of report called Global Summary of the Day warmer currents, but a just-returned voyage to the frozen region found the telling people how uncertain it was. “The public should be (GSOD). The researchers were left with 217 waters around the glacier were warmer than expected and likely melting the upset that the forecast was blown for NYC and ask for cities for which there were complete records ice from below Australian scientists said. — AFP answers,” he said in an email. Uccellini said the agency would for 1973-2012. Heatwaves were defined as review those procedures and consult with social scientists to periods lasting six days consecutively or hot nights. The five years with the largest heatwaves had already become more fre- improve messaging. But Uccellini said he’d rather warn too more-their daily maximum had to be greater number of cold waves were towards the start quent in Europe, Asia and Australia, although much and be wrong, than not warn enough. He said the than 99 percent of the temperatures recorded of the study period - 1973, 1974, 1976, 1981 it did not filter out urban from non-urban weather service’s predictions and citywide closures that they at that time of the year, as measured over the and 1983. The new study appears in a British heatwaves. The IPCC said it was “very likely” prompted made for a faster recovery. “This was the right fore- whole 40 years. From 1973-2012, the number journal, Environmental Research Letters. From heatwaves would become more frequent and cast decision to make,” Uccellini said. of heatwaves per urban area rose by 0.3 of an 1900 to 2003, the number of urban areas with last longer in the future, with big implications Meteorologists say the nor’easter strayed about 75 to 100 event, a “statistically significant” increase, the more than one million population increased for health, businesses and urban design. Cities miles east of its predicted track, which meant the western researchers said. Of the five years with the from 17 to 388, it said. A 2008 estimate found that are vulnerable to heatwaves often suffer edge - New York and New Jersey - got 10 inches less than most heatwaves, four occurred in the most that more than half of the world’s population from a phenomenon called urban heat island. forecast. “That miss occurred in the most populous corridor in recent years — 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. were urban dwellers. This proportion is Part of the cause is heat which is stored during the nation,” said David Robinson, director of the Rutgers Over the 40 years, more than half of the expected to rise to 60 percent by 2030 and 70 the daytime in concrete buildings and tarma- percent by 2050. cked roads, and released at night. As a result, a Global Snow Lab and New Jersey’s state climatologist. “Had it weather stations reported an increase in the number of individual extreme hot days. In its landmark Fifth Assessment Report, heatwave easily turns the city into a 24-hour been between Albany and Syracuse, not to disparage them, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate hotspot, for it fails to cool down adequately no one would have made much of this.” —AP And almost two-thirds showed significant increases in the number of individual extreme Change (IPCC) last year said it was “likely” that after sunset. — AFP SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Kuwait KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (29/01/2015 TO 04/02/2015)

SHARQIA-1 BLACKHAT 3:15 PM BLACKHAT 11:30 AM ROBOT OVERLORDS 5:45 PM AMERICAN SNIPER 2:00 PM BLACKHAT 7:45 PM BLACKHAT 4:30 PM ROBOT OVERLORDS 10:15 PM AMERICAN SNIPER 7:00 PM BLACKHAT 12:15 AM AMERICAN SNIPER 9:30 PM BLACKHAT 12:05 AM MARINA-2 TAKEN 3 12:45 PM SHARQIA-2 ROBOT OVERLORDS 3:00 PM SONG OF THE SEA 11:30 AM TAKEN 3 5:00 PM SAT TAKEN 3 7:15 PM TAKEN 3 1:00 PM TAKEN 3 9:45 PM NO FRI + SAT ROBOT OVERLORDS 12:15 AM SONG OF THE SEA 1:30 PM FRI + SAT MARINA-3 SONG OF THE SEA 3:30 PM SONG OF THE SEA 11:30 AM SONG OF THE SEA 5:30 PM SAT TAKEN 3 7:30 PM SELMA 1:00 PM TAKEN 3 9:45 PM NO FRI + SAT TAKEN 3 12:15 AM SONG OF THE SEA 1:30 PM FRI + SAT SHARQIA-3 SONG OF THE SEA 3:30 PM ROBOT OVERLORDS 11:30 AM SONG OF THE SEA 5:30 PM BLACKHAT 1:30 PM AMERICAN SNIPER 7:30 PM ROBOT OVERLORDS 4:00 PM AMERICAN SNIPER 10:00 PM ROBOT OVERLORDS 6:00 PM AMERICAN SNIPER 12:30 AM ROBOT OVERLORDS 8:00 PM BLACKHAT 10:00 PM AVENUES-1 ROBOT OVERLORDS 12:30 AM CAIRO TIME - ARABIC 11:45 AM CAIRO TIME - ARABIC 2:15 PM MUHALAB-1 CAIRO TIME - ARABIC 4:45 PM ROBOT OVERLORDS 12:45 PM CAIRO TIME - ARABIC 7:15 PM BLACKHAT 3:00 PM CAIRO TIME - ARABIC 9:45 PM ROBOT OVERLORDS 5:30 PM CAIRO TIME - ARABIC 12:15 AM BLACKHAT 7:30 PM ROBOT OVERLORDS 10:00 PM AVENUES-2 BLACKHAT 12:15 AM THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 ANGEL OF DEATH 11:30 AM DAVID OYELOWO, CARMEN EJOGO 1:45 PM MUHALAB-2 SELMA 4:30 PM AMERICAN SNIPER 11:30 AM SELMA 7:15 PM SELMA 2:00 PM SELMA 10:00 PM AMERICAN SNIPER 4:30 PM SELMA 12:45 AM SELMA 7:00 PM AMERICAN SNIPER 9:30 PM AVENUES-3 AMERICAN SNIPER 12:05 AM AMERICAN SNIPER 1:15 PM AMERICAN SNIPER 3:45 PM MUHALAB-3 AMERICAN SNIPER 6:15 PM TAKEN 3 11:30 AM AMERICAN SNIPER 8:45 PM SONG OF THE SEA 1:45 PM AMERICAN SNIPER 11:15 PM SONG OF THE SEA 3:45 PM TAKEN 3 5:45 PM AVENUES-4 TAKEN 3 8:00 PM TAKEN 3 11:30 AM TAKEN 3 10:15 PM TAKEN 3 2:00 PM CHANGE OF NAME TAKEN 3 12:30 AM TAKEN 3 4:30 PM TAKEN 3 7:00 PM FANAR-1 NO THU I, Melitta Anthony Almeida, ROBOT OVERLORDS 1:00 PM Special Show “THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 “ 7:00 PM holder of Indian Passport No. MORTDECAI 3:00 PM THU F5531147 have hereby ROBOT OVERLORDS 5:00 PM TAKEN 3 9:30 PM MORTDECAI 7:00 PM TAKEN 3 12:05 AM changed my name from ROBOT OVERLORDS 9:00 PM Melitta Anthony Almeida to ROBOT OVERLORDS 11:00 PM AVENUES-5 Melitta Almeida. Henceforth, ROBOT OVERLORDS 1:00 AM BLACKHAT 1:00 PM in all dealings and docu- BLACKHAT 3:45 PM FANAR-2 AMERICAN SNIPER 6:30 PM ments I will be known as AMERICAN SNIPER 11:30 AM BLACKHAT 9:00 PM Melitta Almeida. (C 4913) AMERICAN SNIPER 2:00 PM NO MON 29-1-2014 AMERICAN SNIPER 4:30 PM Special Show “UNBROKEN “ 9:00 PM AMERICAN SNIPER 7:00 PM MON Salina Fernandes, r/o AMERICAN SNIPER 9:45 PM AMERICAN SNIPER 11:45 PM Hereinafter, in all my deal- AMERICAN SNIPER 12:15 AM Mashem, Loliem Polem - Goa, ings and documents, I will be AVENUES-6 holder of Passport No. FANAR-3 BLACKHAT 12:00 PM known by the name Salina H0192790, have changed my ROBOT OVERLORDS 11:45 AM BLACKHAT 2:45 PM Fernandes. BLACKHAT 1:45 PM BLACKHAT 5:30 PM name from Salina Sanjay BLACKHAT 4:15 PM BLACKHAT 8:15 PM (C 1912) BLACKHAT 6:45 PM BLACKHAT 11:00 PM Divakar to Salina Fernandes. BLACKHAT 9:15 PM BLACKHAT 11:45 PM AVENUES-7 THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 ANGEL OF DEATH 1:00 PM FANAR-4 THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 ANGEL OF DEATH 3:15 PM CIVIL INFORMATION TAKEN 3 11:30 AM THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 ANGEL OF DEATH 5:15 PM NO SAT STILL ALICE 7:45 PM Automated enquiry about SONG OF THE SEA 12:00 PM THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2 ANGEL OF DEATH 10:00 PM SAT AMERICAN SNIPER 12:15 AM the Civil ID card is SONG OF THE SEA 2:00 PM TAKEN 3 4:00 PM AVENUES-8 1889988 SONG OF THE SEA 6:15 PM MORTDECAI 12:00 PM TAKEN 3 8:15 PM MORTDECAI 2:15 PM TAKEN 3 10:30 PM THE BOOK OF LIFE 4:30 PM TAKEN 3 12:45 AM HAWAIZAADA - HINDI 6:45 PM Prayer timings MORTDECAI 9:45 PM FANAR-5 MORTDECAI 12:05 AM Fajr: 05:17 SELMA 12:30 PM SELMA 3:00 PM AVENUES-9 Shorook 06:38 CAIRO TIME - ARABIC 5:30 PM SELMA 12:30 PM CAIRO TIME - ARABIC 7:45 PM SONG OF THE SEA 3:00 PM Duhr: 12:01 SELMA 10:00 PM SONG OF THE SEA 5:15 PM SELMA 12:30 AM SONG OF THE SEA 7:30 PM Asr: 15:04 BLACKHAT 9:45 PM MARINA-1 BLACKHAT 12:30 AM Maghrib: 17:25 BLACKHAT 12:30 PM Isha: 18:44 information SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers use seats

Arrival Flights on Saturday 31/1/2015 JZR 325 Al Najaf 17:50 JZR 174 Dubai 10:10 Airlines Flt Route Time JZR 777 Jeddah 17:55 ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:20 JAI 574 Mumbai 00:10 UAL 982 IAD 17:55 KAC 561 Amman 10:25 JZR 239 Amman 00:25 UAE 875 Dubai 18:00 JZR 356 Mashhad 10:30 JZR 267 Beirut 00:30 SVA 500 Jeddah 18:00 FDB 056 Dubai 10:35 KLM 413 Amsterdam/Dammam 00:40 JZR 177 Dubai 18:20 IAW 158A Al Najaf 10:35 JZR 539 Cairo 00:40 KAC 542 Cairo 18:25 IRM 1181 Mashhad 10:50 THY 772 Istanbul 00:45 KAC 118 New York 18:30 QTR 1071 Doha 11:00 FDB 069 Dubai 00:55 FDB 063 Dubai 18:40 KAC 541 Cairo 11:05 QTR 1084 Doha 01:00 ABY 121 Sharjah 18:40 KAC 165 Rome/Paris 11:15 RJA 642 Amman 01:05 CLX 856 Luxembourg 18:50 GFA 214 Bahrain 11:25 DLH 637 Dammam 01:15 QTR 1080 Doha 18:50 KAC 741 Dammam 11:45 SAI 441 Lahore 01:30 KAC 618 Doha 19:15 RBG 554 Alexandria 11:55 PGT 858 Istanbul 01:35 KAC 674 Dubai 19:25 JZR 776 Jeddah 12:20 ETH 620 Addis Ababa 01:45 GFA 217 Bahrain 19:30 MSC 402 Alexandria 12:25 GFA 211 Bahrain 02:30 KAC 176 Geneva/Frankfurt 19:45 UAE 874 Dubai 12:30 UAE 853 Dubai 02:35 IRA 669 Mashhad 19:50 SYR 342 Damascus 13:00 JZR 553 Alexandria 02:45 KAC 774 Riyadh 19:55 IRM 1189 Mashhad 13:10 JAI 526 Chennai/Abu Dhabi 02:50 KAC 104 London 19:55 JZR 176 Dubai 13:45 FDB 067 Dubai 02:55 KAC 614 Bahrain 20:00 MSR 611 Cairo 14:00 MSR 612 Cairo 03:10 JAI 572 Mumbai 20:00 IZG 4166 Mashhad 14:05 ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 03:10 MSR 618 Alexandria 20:05 UAE 872 Dubai 14:15 KKK 6507 Istanbul 03:20 JZR 189 Dubai 20:15 IAW 158 Al Najaf 14:20 OMA 643 Muscat 03:25 FDB 061 Dubai 20:20 JZR 324 Al Najaf 14:25 QTR 1076 Doha 03:45 OMA 647 Muscat 20:20 AGY 685 Sohag 14:40 MSC 401 Alexandria 04:05 KNE 474 Jeddah 20:25 IZG 4168 Mashhad 14:40 KAC 546 Alexandria 04:10 ABY 123 Sharjah 20:35 IRC 527 Mashhad 14:55 JZR 503 Luxor 05:25 DLH 634 Frankfurt 20:50 MSR 576 Sharm el-Sheikh 15:00 THY 770 Istanbul 05:35 KAC 786 Jeddah 21:05 KAC 673 Dubai 15:00 DHX 170 Bahrain 05:40 FDB 8057 Dubai 21:05 KAC 785 Jeddah 15:00 BAW 157 London 06:40 ALK 229 Colombo 21:10 QTR 1079 Doha 15:05 KAC 416 Kuala Lumpur/Jakarta 06:45 MEA 402 Beirut 21:20 FDB 058 Dubai 15:10 JZR 563 Sohag 06:45 ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:30 KAC 617 Doha 15:15 KAC 412 Manila/Bangkok 07:10 FDB 073 Dubai 21:35 KNE 473 Jeddah 15:20 FDB 053 Dubai 07:45 UAE 859 Dubai 21:40 JZR 188 Dubai 15:40 QTR 1086 Doha 07:50 GFA 219 Bahrain 21:45 GFA 222 Bahrain 15:45 KAC 352 Kochi 08:10 QTR 1074 Doha 21:55 KNE 471 Jeddah 15:50 KAC 302 Mumbai 08:20 KNE 480 Taif 22:00 OMA 646 Muscat 16:00 KAC 206 Islamabad 08:25 JZR 135 Bahrain 22:05 RJD 136 Abu Dhabi 16:05 UAE 855 Dubai 08:40 KLM 415 Amsterdam 22:15 KAC 503 Beirut 16:15 KAC 344 Chennai 08:45 ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:15 KAC 773 Riyadh 16:20 KAC 362 Colombo 08:45 AIC 975 Chennai/Goa 22:30 ABY 128 Sharjah 16:25 ABY 125 Sharjah 09:00 FDB 059 Dubai 22:30 KNE 463 Madinah 16:30 JZR 327 Al Najaf 09:20 MSC 403 Sohag 22:45 KAC 613 Bahrain 16:35 ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 09:20 JZR 157 Dubai 23:05 KNE 481 Taif 16:50 JZR 329 Al Najaf 09:30 UAL 981 Bahrain 23:10 FDB 052 Dubai 17:00 IAW 157A Al Najaf 09:35 JZR 185 Dubai 23:15 JZR 266 Beirut 17:05 IRM 1186 Tehran 09:40 AGY 684 Sohag 23:15 NIA 252 Alexandria 17:15 FDB 055 Dubai 09:40 THY 764 Istanbul 23:35 QTR 1073 Doha 17:40 QTR 1070 Doha 10:00 FDB 071 Dubai 23:45 UAE 858 Dubai 17:45 GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40 JZR 538 Cairo 17:45 UAE 873 Dubai 11:00 Departure Flights on Saturday 31/1/2015 ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 17:50 RBG 553 Alexandria 11:15 Airlines Flt Route Time RJA 641 Amman 17:55 KAC 204 Lahore 11:25 AIC 976 Goa/Chennai 00:05 IRM 1187 Tehran 18:15 MSC 405 Sohag 11:25 JZR 562 Sohag 00:05 SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15 JZR 165 Dubai 11:30 PIA 206 Lahore 00:40 GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20 IRM 1188 Mashhad 11:45 FDB 072 Dubai 00:45 JZR 156 Dubai 18:30 SYR 341 Damascus 12:00 JAI 573 Mumbai 01:10 JZR 184 Dubai 18:40 UAE 871 Dubai 12:50 KLM 413 Amsterdam 01:55 IZG 4162 Mashhad 18:45 JZR 241 Amman 12:55 KAC 203 Lahore 02:00 JZR 238 Amman 18:50 MSR 610 Cairo 13:00 DLH 637 Frankfurt 02:15 JZR 134 Bahrain 19:10 IZG 4165 Mashhad 13:05 KAC 283 Dhaka 02:25 UAL 982 Bahrain 19:15 IAW 157 Al Najaf 13:20 ETH 3718 BRU 02:30 ABY 122 Sharjah 19:20 JZR 779 Jeddah 13:35 SAI 442 Lahore 02:30 SVA 505 Jeddah 19:30 AGY 680 Alexandria 13:40 ETH 621 Addis Ababa 02:45 UAE 876 Dubai 19:40 IZG 4167 Mashhad 13:40 THY 773 Istanbul 02:55 QTR 1081 Doha 19:50 KAC 382 Delhi 13:45 PGT 859 Istanbul 03:25 FDB 064 Dubai 19:55 IRC 526 Mashhad 13:50 KAC 381 Delhi 03:40 GFA 218 Bahrain 20:15 KAC 672 Dubai 13:55 UAE 854 Dubai 03:50 CLX 856 Hong Kong 20:20 QTR 1078 Doha 14:05 FDB 068 Dubai 03:55 IRA 666 Esfahan 20:50 MSR 575 Sharm el-Sheikh 14:15 ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:05 KAC 361 Colombo 20:50 KNE 472 Jeddah 14:25 MSR 613 Cairo 04:10 JAI 571 Mumbai 21:00 FDB 057 Dubai 14:30 KKK 6508 Istanbul 04:10 JZR 554 Alexandria 21:05 KAC 742 Dammam 14:45 OMA 644 Muscat 04:25 MSR 607 Luxor 21:05 JZR 175 Dubai 14:45 QTR 1085 Doha 04:30 KNE 475 Jeddah 21:10 KNE 470 Jeddah 14:55 MSC 406 Sohag 05:05 KAC 331 Trivandrum 21:10 OMA 645 Muscat 14:55 QTR 1077 Doha 05:15 KAC 351 Kochi 21:15 RJD 135 Abu Dhabi 14:55 THY 765 Istanbul 05:40 ABY 124 Sharjah 21:15 GFA 221 Bahrain 15:00 JZR 326 Al Najaf 05:55 OMA 648 Muscat 21:20 KAC 384 Dhaka 15:15 JZR 328 Al Najaf 06:05 FDB 062 Dubai 21:20 KAC 788 Jeddah 15:40 FDB 070 Dubai 06:30 DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50 KNE 462 Madinah 15:45 JAI 525 Abu Dhabi/Chennai 06:35 FDB 8058 Dubai 21:50 ABY 127 Sharjah 15:45 JZR 164 Dubai 06:55 ALK 230 Colombo 22:10 UAE 857 Dubai 15:45 RJA 643 Amman 07:05 KAC 301 Mumbai 22:15 FDB 051 Dubai 16:00 GFA 212 Bahrain 07:15 ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:15 KNE 460 Riyadh 16:00 JZR 240 Amman 07:15 MEA 403 Beirut 22:20 JZR 535 Cairo 16:10 THY 771 Istanbul 07:30 FDB 074 Dubai 22:30 NIA 251 Alexandria 16:15 JZR 778 Jeddah 07:55 GFA 220 Bahrain 22:30 KAC 562 Amman 16:20 FDB 054 Dubai 08:25 UAE 860 Dubai 22:50 JZR 257 Beirut 16:30 BAW 156 London 08:45 KNE 461 Riyadh 22:50 JZR 357 Mashhad 16:30 QTR 1087 Doha 08:50 KAC 205 Islamabad 22:55 QTR 1072 Doha 16:40 JZR 256 Beirut 09:05 ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:00 ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 16:55 JZR 534 Cairo 09:15 QTR 1075 Doha 23:05 RJA 640 Amman 16:55 KAC 671 Dubai 09:25 KLM 415 Dammam/Amsterdam 23:15 IRM 1180 Mashhad 17:00 ABY 126 Sharjah 09:40 KAC 543 Cairo 23:20 SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15 KAC 101 London/New York 09:50 KAC 411 Bangkok/Manila 23:30 GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30 KAC 787 Jeddah 09:50 MSC 404 Sohag 23:45 IZG 4161 Mashhad 17:45 UAE 856 Dubai 09:55 FDB 060 Dubai 23:55 Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw) SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

3. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter and the positron (1902-1984). CROSSWORD801 4. North American rat snakes. 5. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth. 6. A deep bow. 7. (of persons) Neat and smart in appearance. 8. Tropical evergreen subshrubs (some climbers) to trees of Asia and Australasia to Americas. 9. Type genus of the Sialidae. 10. Having repeated square indentations like those in a battlement. 11. How long something has existed. 12. Tropical starchy tuberous root. 13. An accidental hole that allows something (fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape. 14. Designer drug designed to have the effects of amphetamines (it floods the brain with serotonin) but to avoid the drug laws. 22. Charge against a citizen's person or property or activity for the support of govern- ment. 24. One of the bottle-shaped pins used in bowling. 26. A Gaelic-speaking Celt in Ireland or Scotland or the Isle of Man. 28. The state of matter distinguished from the solid and liquid states by. 31. (botany) Especially of leaves. 32. Live so as to annul some previous behavior. 33. Any of various spectacular plants of the genus Laelia having showy flowers in many colors. 35. Green algae common in freshwater lakes of limestone districts. 36. A projection at the end of a piece of wood that is shaped to fit into a mortise and form a mortise joint. 37. Worthy of imitation. 40. Large bamboo having thick-walled culms. 41. (Hawaiian) A small guitar having four strings. 42. Large dark brown North American arboreal carnivorous mammal. ACROSS 43. (Islam) The man who leads prayers in a mosque. 1. Dwell (archaic). 47. In bed. 5. Inability to stand due to muscular incoordination. 53. A shoe consisting of a sole fastened by straps to the foot. 12. Any of various trees of the genus Ulmus. 54. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits. 15. Fleshy and usually brightly colored cover of some seeds that develops from the ovule 55. Brazilian statesman who ruled Brazil as a virtual dictator (1883-1954). stalk and partially or entirely envelopes the seed. 58. An emblem (a small piece of plastic or cloth or metal) that signifies your status (rank 16. The act of excluding someone by a negative vote or veto. or membership or affiliation etc.). 17. A doctor's degree in education. 59. A woody climbing usually tropical plant. Yesterday’s Solution 18. A village in eastern Ireland (northwest of Dublin). 61. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey). 19. Surveying instrument consisting of the upper movable part of a theodolite including 62. Informal or slang terms for mentally irregular. the telescope and its attachments. 63. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine. 20. A barrier constructed to contain the flow or water or to keep out the sea. 64. Not final or absolute. 21. Not elegant or graceful in expression. 65. Family based on male descent. 23. Moving quickly and lightly. 66. Very dark black. 25. A Bantu language spoken by the Chaga people in northern Tanzania. 67. Relating to or characteristic of or occurring on land. 27. A surface burn. 70. A unit of length equal to one thousandth of an inch. 29. A set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or knowledge. 71. A dissolute man in fashionable society. 30. The largest city and former capital of Turkey. 34. A legal document codifying the result of deliberations of a committee or society or legislative body. Yesterdayʼs Solution 38. A parliamentary monarchy in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. 39. A port city in western South Korea on the Yellow Sea. 44. A small island. 45. Indian religious leader who founded Sikhism (1469-1538). 46. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls. 48. Freshwater or marine or terrestrial gastropod mollusk usually having an external enclosing spiral shell. 49. Become ground down or deteriorate. 50. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables. 51. Being six more than fifty. 52. (Irish) Mother of the Tuatha De Danann. 56. (Akkadian) God of wisdom. 57. An associate degree in nursing. 60. Of or relating to or characteristic of Hades or Tartarus. 68. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey). 69. Regarded with admiration. 72. An amino acid that is found in the central nervous system. 73. 30 to 300 megahertz. 74. Increasing in quantity or value. 75. Sweet pulpy tropical fruit with thick scaly rind and shiny black seeds. 76. Take in solid food. 77. A closed plane curve resulting from the intersection of a circular cone and a plane cutting completely through it. 78. A loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral.

DOWN 1. A dyed fabric. 2. A native or inhabitant of Iran. CHALLENGING MAZE Daily SuDoku Yesterday’s Solution SPORTS SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Sharks drown Ducks, Blues roll

SAN JOSE: Patrick Marleau, Barclay Goodrow and James Sheppard each had a goal and an assist, and the San Jose Sharks used a five goal second period to beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-3 on Thursday night. Joe Pavelski scored in the first as the Sharks improved to 4-0-1 against the division-leading Ducks this season. Antti Niemi made 25 stops in his third consecutive win, helping San Jose extend its home winning streak against Anaheim to seven. Andrew Cogliano, Matt Beleskey and Patrick Maroon scored for the Ducks, who allowed six goals in their previous five games. Anaheim had won six in a row. Ducks goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov made 19 saves before being replaced by Frederik Andersen late in the second period.

BLUES 5, PREDATORS 4 Kevin Shattenkirk scored in the shootout, lift- ing St. Louis to the win. Jaden Schwartz, T.J. Oshie, Steve Ott and Ryan Reaves scored in reg- ulation for the Blues (30-13-4), who improved to 8-0-1 over their last nine games. Brian Elliott made 33 saves. Mike Fisher had two goals and an assist for Nashville (31-10-6), which fell to 12-8-5 on the road. Carter Hutton made 31 saves. The Predators, who also got goals from Filip Forsberg and James Neal, finished 3-1-1 against the Blues this season.

LIGHTNING 5, RED WINGS 1 Cedric Paquette had three goals, sending Tampa Bay to a franchise-record ninth consecu- tive home win. Steven Stamkos and Mark Barberio also scored for the Lightning, who leapfrogged the Red Wings into first place in the Atlantic Division by a point. Jonathan Drouin COLUMBUS: Brian Elliott No. 1 of the St. Louis Blues and Team Foligno and Brent Burns No. 88 of the San Jose†Sharks defend. — AFP and Alex Killorn had two assists apiece. Tampa Miller put the Bruins ahead for good with 3.4 utes left. Mike Smith had 24 saves for Arizona. WILD 1, FLAMES 0 Bay took a 4-1 lead at 11:03 of the second when seconds left in the second. He intercepted Halak’s Jonathan Bernier finished with 42 stops for Zach Parise scored in the first period for Paquette completed his first hat trick from the clearing attempt at the right-wing boards just Toronto. Minnesota, and Devan Dubnyk stopped 30 shots. It right circle during a short-handed 2-on-1. The inside the blue line, and fired a quick shot that was Parise’s sixth goal in his last six games and No. center has four goals in the past two games lifted Boston to a 3-2 lead. CANADIENS 1, RANGERS 0 20 on the season. Thomas Vanek assisted on the after going 29 straight without one. Max Pacioretty scored with 4:17 left, sending only score 8:59 into the game. Minnesota (22-20-6) Darren Helm scored for Detroit, which had COYOTES 3, MAPLE LEAFS 1 Montreal to the road win. Pacioretty converted a moved within five points of the Flames and the won six in a row. Paquette opened the scoring Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored off the opening wrist shot from above the right circle that second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. 2:03 into the game when he used his backhand faceoff of the third period, and Arizona rallied for appeared to surprise Rangers goalie Henrik The Wild have picked up five of six possible points to beat Petr Mrazek on a rebound. His right-cir- the road win. Ekman-Larsson’s 13th goal was a Lundqvist. It squeezed inside the right post for so far on a four-game trip that wraps up Sunday in cle goal gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead with 36.2 harmless flip from almost his own blue line and Pacioretty’s 22nd goal. That was enough to give Vancouver. Calgary (26-20-3) dropped to 1-1 on a seconds left in the first. seemed to stun the already-subdued crowd. Carey Price his 26th win and third shutout of the six-game homestand, which continues Saturday At five seconds, the short handed goal tied season in a stellar 24-save effort for Montreal, against Edmonton. Jonas Hiller had 31 saves. STARS 6, SENATORS 3 the fastest of any kind to start a period in Coyotes which has won four in a row - three with Price in Jamie Benn scored two goals, and the Stars franchise history, matching Doug Smail of the net. Lundqvist made 25 saves for the Rangers, FLYERS 5, JETS 2 beat the Senators in Jason Spezza’s first game in first Winnipeg Jets in 1981. Martin Hanzal had a who have lost two straight following the All-Star Wayne Simmonds, Chris VandeVelde, Nick Ottawa since he was traded to Dallas in the off- tiebreaking goal at 3:47 of the third, and Sam break and managed only one goal. They were Schultz and Brayden Schenn scored, leading season. John Klingberg, Colton Sceviour, Ales Gagner added a power-play goal with 3 1/2 min- beaten 4-1 by the Islanders on Tuesday. Philadelphia to its fourth win in five games. Hemsky and Trevor Daley also scored for Dallas, Sean Couturier added an empty-netter, and and Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves. Steve Mason made 36 saves. Mathieu Perreault Mika Zibanejad, Bobby Ryan and Alex NHL results/standings scored twice for the Jets. Michael Hutchinson had Chiasson scored for Ottawa. Robin Lehner, mak- 27 stops. Schultz snapped a tie game in the second ing his first start since January 13th, stopped 35 period with his first goal of the season, ending a shots. Spezza made his NHL debut with Ottawa Boston 5, NY Islanders 2; Montreal 1, NY Rangers 0; Philadelphia 5, Winnipeg 2; Arizona 3, 125-game drought. Petra Straka got his first NHL in 2002 and had spent his entire career with the Toronto 1; Dallas 6, Ottawa 3; Tampa Bay 5, Detroit 1; Florida 3, Columbus 2; St. Louis 5, point on the assist, and Ryan White also had his Senators before the trade. The former Senators Nashville 4 (SO); Minnesota 1, Calgary 0; Edmonton 3, Buffalo 2; San Jose 6, Anaheim 3. first assist of the season on the goal. captain got a standing ovation from the crowd Western Conference Eastern Conference of 18,752 following a video tribute early in the Pacific Division Atlantic Division PANTHERS 3, BLUE JACKETS 2 first period. The Stars grabbed a 4-3 lead mid- W L OTL GF GA PTS Tampa Bay 31 15 4 163 132 66 Sean Bergenheim scored late in the third period, Montreal 31 13 3 127 108 65 way through the third period when Klingberg Anaheim 32 11 6 146 130 70 and Florida snapped a five-game losing streak. Aaron Detroit 28 12 9 145 128 65 Ekblad and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored for the took advantage of an Ottawa turnover to break San Jose 26 17 6 137 135 58 Boston 26 16 7 131 123 59 Panthers, and Roberto Luongo made 30 saves. It was in alone and beat Lehner with a wrist shot. Vancouver 26 17 3 124 118 55 Florida 21 15 10 114 129 52 Florida’s first win over Columbus since a 5-2 victory on Calgary 26 20 3 140 127 55 Toronto 22 24 4 144 155 48 BRUINS 5, ISLANDERS 2 Ottawa 19 19 9 129 134 47 Nov. 21, 2007 - a span of 11 games. Alexander Los Angeles 21 15 12 133 129 54 Buffalo 14 32 3 92 174 31 Wennberg and Jack Johnson scored for the Blue Boston’s Kevan Miller scored the go-ahead Arizona 17 25 6 111 161 40 goal late in the second period, and Tuukka Rask Metropolitan Division Jackets, and Curtis McElhinney stopped 29 shots. Edmonton 13 27 9 113 162 35 NY Islanders 32 15 1 157 135 65 stopped 43 shots. Reilly Smith, Patrice Bergeron, Central Division Pittsburgh 27 13 8 143 124 62 OILERS 3, SABRES 2 Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara also scored for Washington 25 14 9 144 124 59 Boston, which won for the seventh time in 10 Nashville 31 10 6 145 112 68 NY Rangers 27 15 4 135 111 58 Anton Lander scored his first goal of the season games. Smith and Milan Lucic also had two St. Louis 30 13 4 153 115 64 Philadelphia 21 22 7 139 151 49 for Edmonton, and also had two assists. Matt Fraser assists apiece. Chicago 30 16 2 151 112 62 Columbus 21 23 3 119 148 45 and Oscar Klefbom also scored for Edmonton (13- Winnipeg 26 16 8 140 127 60 New Jersey 18 22 8 109 135 44 27-9), which has won three of four. Defensemen John Tavares and Michael Grabner scored for Carolina 17 25 5 102 122 39 New York, and Jaroslav Halak stopped 28 shots. Dallas 22 19 7 152 157 51 Tyler Myers and Rasmus Ristolainen scored for the Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one Sabres (14-31-3), who have lost a franchise-worst The Metropolitan Division-leading Islanders Colorado 20 18 11 128 141 51 point in the standings and are not included in dropped to 17-5 at home this season. Minnesota 22 20 6 131 138 50 the loss column (L). 13 games in a row and only have one win in their last 18. — AP SPORTS SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Seahawks seek to topple Pats dynasty in Super Bowl 49

PHOENIX: Tom Brady and the scandal-tainted New England Patriots will aim to strike a blow for the old order in Super Bowl 49 on Sunday as they face a formidable Seattle Seahawks team bidding to forge a dynasty. After a build-up dominated by the “deflategate” saga, the Patriots are determined to puncture the dreams of a Seahawks outfit chasing back-to-back Super Bowls for only the eighth time in history. The last team to accomplish the feat were the Patriots, whose 2004- 05 titles capped a glorious run of three wins in four seasons. Brady piloted the Patriots to all of those victories, and now vies to join his boyhood idol Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as starting quarterbacks with four Super Bowl rings. But the game at University of Phoenix Stadium in suburban Glendale could just as easily see a passing of the torch, from old- guard Brady to rising star Russell Wilson. The 26-year-old Seahawks signal-caller is now 10-0 in his career when he goes head-to-head against quarterbacks who have won a Super Bowl. That includes the Seahawks’ crushing victory over Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in last year’s title game. Seattle have made some changes since then but they still boast an elite defense, led by their ferocious corps of defensive backs-the Legion of Boom. The Seahawks are the first team since the 1969-71 Minnesota Vikings to lead the NFL in scoring defense for three straight seasons- lending credence to defensive end Michael Bennett’s claim that Seattle now boasts the best defense “ever to play football.” A Super Bowl repeat would go a long way to further backing up the claim that the Seahawks “D” has surpassed Pittsburgh’s famed “Steel Curtain” or the imposing squads of the 1980s Bears and 2000 Ravens. “I am too young to be thinking about legacy right now,” said Seattle safety Earl Thomas, “but sometimes you don’t have to say anything because your work speaks for itself. We definitely have that on the table.” Brady is gearing up for the challenge. “There is nothing easy about what they do,” Brady said of the Seahawks defense. “They’re LOS ANGELES: Robert Sacre of the Los Angeles Lakers (right) is blocked by Pau Gasol of the Chicago Bulls during their very disciplined. They’re very smart. They’re very well-coached. NBA game at the Staples Center. — AFP “You’ve got to run good routes, you’ve got to make good throws, you’ve got to throw it through tight windows. “They’ve got a lot of eyes on the quarterback, so you’ve got to be Lakers snap losing streak conscious of those things. But you still have to be able to play aggres- sively and play with confidence.” Brady and the Patriots, who suffered Super Bowl disappointment LOS ANGELES: Jordan Hill scored 26 for the eighth time in the last nine. Bucks led 59-44 halftime and then blew in 2008 and 2012, could yet secure their status as the league’s domi- points and forced the second overtime open the game in the third period. nant team for more than a decade-despite the whiff of scandal car- with a clutch jumper, and the Los BUCKS 115, MAGIC 100 ried by the 2007 “Spygate” illegal videotaping affair and the Angeles Lakers snapped their nine- Jerryd Bayless scored 19 points, Jared PACERS 103, KNICKS 82 “Deflategate” controversy over improperly inflated footballs that fol- game losing streak in thrilling fashion Dudley and Khris Middleton had 17 Rodney Stuckey scored 22 points, lowed them to Phoenix. with a 123-118 victory over the Chicago apiece and Milwaukee ended a 17-game Roy Hibbert had 18 points and 10 The Patriots, from coach Bill Belichick on down, have tried to set Bulls on Thursday night. losing streak in Orlando. rebounds, and Indiana routed New York. the matter aside this week and focus on the task in hand. The Bucks never trailed and placed The struggling Pacers (17-31) picked up Brady’s options have expanded this season with the return of a Wayne Ellington scored 23 points seven players in double figures, includ- their most lopsided home victory of the healthy Rob Gronkowski at tight end and the addition in November and rookie Jordan Clarkson added 18 for of productive running back LeGarrette Blount. the Lakers, who held off the Bulls for ing all five starters. Brandon Knight had season by winning for only the second New England’s defense this season has been bolstered by the their first victory since Jan. 9. 16 points and eight assists, O.J. Mayo time in 10 games. return of safety Patrick Chung and the addition former Pro Bowl cor- With big late baskets from everybody scored 13 points and John Henson had Carmelo Anthony scored 18 points, nerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner. in their patchwork lineup, the Lakers 12 points and 11 rebounds. The Magic 12 in the first 9 minutes for the Knicks In addition to contending with the resourceful Wilson-adept at avoided matching the 1994 squad have lost seven straight and 13 of their (9-38). Lou Amundson added 17 as New throwing on the run and capable of significant gains on the ground, coached by Magic Johnson for the last 15 games. Victor Oladipo led York managed just 33 second-half Orlando with 21 points. Nik Vucevic points and fell behind Philadelphia for the Pats defense will have to find a way to slow down Marshawn longest skid in the 16-time champion added 17 points and 14 rebounds. The the worst record in the East. — AP Lynch, set career highs with 13 rushing and four receiving touch- franchise’s history. downs to lead the league with 17 total TDs. The contest promises to All-Star Jimmy Butler matched his be a classic, and that’s just what the NFL would like to see as they try to finish a season full of low notes on a high. —AFP career high with 35 points for the Bulls, NBA results/standings who rallied from a nine-point deficit in 70 seconds late in regulation. Milwaukee 115, Orlando 100; Indiana 103, NY Knicks 82; Memphis 99, Denver 69; Pau Gasol had 20 points and 10 LA Lakers 123, Chicago 118 (OT). rebounds in his Staples Center return to Eastern Conference Western Conference face the Lakers, and he forced the first Atlantic Division Northwest Division overtime with the tying tip-in shot with W L PCT GB Portland 32 14 .696 - 11 seconds left. Toronto 31 15 .674 - Oklahoma City 23 23 .500 9 Brooklyn 18 27 .400 12.5 Denver 19 28 .404 13.5 GRIZZLIES 99, NUGGETS 69 Boston 16 28 .364 14 Utah 16 30 .348 16 Zach Randolph had 15 points and 17 Philadelphia 9 37 .196 22 Minnesota 8 37 .178 23.5 rebounds, Jeff Green added 13 points NY Knicks 9 38 .191 22.5 Pacific Division and Memphis won its fifth straight. The Central Division Golden State 36 7 .837 - Grizzlies held the Nuggets to 11 points Chicago 30 18 .625 - LA Clippers 32 14 .696 5.5 in the first quarter and were never Cleveland 27 20 .574 2.5 Phoenix 27 20 .574 11 threatened the rest of the way as Milwaukee 24 22 .522 5 Sacramento 16 28 .364 20.5 Randolph recorded his 10th consecutive Detroit 17 30 .362 12.5 LA Lakers 13 34 .277 25 Indiana 17 31 .354 13 double-double. Southwest Division Southeast Division Courtney Lee, Nick Calathes and Memphis 34 12 .739 - Beno Udrih, starting in place of the Atlanta 38 8 .826 - Washington 31 16 .660 7.5 Houston 32 14 .696 2 injured Mike Conley, scored 11 apiece, PHOENIX: The Vince Lombardi Trophy sits alongside the Miami 20 25 .444 17.5 San Antonio 30 17 .638 4.5 helmets of the Seattle Seahawks(left) and New England while Marc Gasol had 10 points. Wilson Charlotte 19 27 .413 19 Dallas 30 17 .638 4.5 Patriots before a press conference of the coaches of Super Chandler and Kenneth Faried each Orlando 15 34 .306 24.5 New Orleans 24 22 .522 10 Bowl XLIX at the Phoenix Convention Center. — AFP scored 10 points for Denver, which lost SPORTS SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Hosts target semis Heavyweights collide in as Congos collide blockbuster Asian final BATA: Hosts Equatorial Guinea are hoping the decision to relo- cate today’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final against Tunisia to SYDNEY: Top-scorers Australia will try to unlock the Asian Cup’s since 1960 having already defied the odds by reaching the final. Bata gives them the edge over the Carthage Eagles. stingiest defence today when they meet South Korea in a block- Their title drought is a curious anomaly for a nation who The Nzalang Nacional were initially due to tackle Tunisia in buster final between two of the region’s heavyweights. stormed to the World Cup semi-finals in 2002, but they have Ebebiyin, more than 200 kilometres by road inland from Bata, The Socceroos are desperate to win a first Asian title on home reached the final-their first in 27 years-despite an injury crisis and before tournament organisers moved it to the port city, citing soil, but to do so they will have to find a way through a Korean a flu bug which swept through the squad, forcing medical staff to concerns over the pitch. However, there is little doubt that the rearguard which has not conceded all tournament. work overtime. tiny 5,000-seat stadium in Ebebiyin would have been overrun It could be a case of who blinks first as Australia look to be “It’s been too long for Korea to be champions,” said captain Ki had the game gone ahead there rather than in the 35,000- crowned kings of Asia, after defecting from Oceania in 2006, and Sung-yueng, who has been a calming influence on South Korea capacity Estadio de Bata. South Korea try to end a hoodoo stretching back a staggering 55 after losing the dynamic pairing of Lee Chung-Yong and Koo Ja- The red-clad local fans will be eager to see Equatorial Guinea years. Runners-up to Japan in 2011, Australia have hit 12 goals in Cheol in the group stages. “We don’t have anything to lose in this make history by reaching the last four for the first time after they five games and they will start as slight favorites, despite losing 1-0 game, maybe Australia have more pressure than us. I told the were trounced 3-0 by the Ivory Coast in Malabo at the same to South Korea in the group phase. Coach Ange Postecoglou opt- players it’s a great opportunity, maybe once in a lifetime, to stage of the competition three years ago. And Tunisia coach ed to rest talisman Tim Cahill for that game in Brisbane and he become Asian Cup champions so everyone is ready for tomor- Georges Leekens knows that the noisy Equatorial Guinea sup- was robbed of captain Mile Jedinak through injury, but he insist- row.” South Korea are the first team to reach the final without port will create an intimidating atmosphere for his side today. “It ed the result would count for little with the stakes now so high. conceding a goal since Iran in 1976, but their resilience will be will be difficult for us especially with their fans behind them, but “Previous records go out the window,” he told reporters on severely tested by Australia’s firepower in front of a sell-out I am positive in all circumstances,” said the Belgian. “They have a Friday. “It will be the team able to deal with whatever may hap- crowd of nearly 80,000 in Sydney and an estimated global audi- balanced team and are so fast in attack. They have posted a fan- pen who wins, because finals never run to script.” ence of 80 million. The players were pelted with toffee-a tradi- tastic performance beyond most expectations.” Cahill has netted three times so far, including a venomous tional insult in South Korea on their return from last year’s World Nzalang Nacional have yet to lose in Bata and their current overhead kick in the quarter-final win over China, and is likely to Cup, but German coach Uli Stielike has performed wonders since side have exceeded expectations after a chaotic build-up that be central to the plot in one of the biggest games in Australia’s taking over as they look to emulate the under-23 side’s Asian included the appointment of a new coach, Esteban Becker, 10 history. “It just takes one second for someone to switch off,” said Games gold medal in October. As many as 30,000 Korean “Red days before their first match against Congo Brazzaville, as well as the former Everton forward. “Hopefully I can be on point to make Devils” fans are expected to add spice to the atmosphere but a clear-out of naturalised South American players. it count.” Both teams possess players capable of delivering a Stielike confessed his young team could freeze. “I don’t know “We now have a side made up 100 percent of players from knockout blow, with South Korea hoping golden boy Son Heung- what their reaction will be,” shrugged the German. “If we can con- Equatorial Guinea who are willing to defend the colors of their Min can weave his magic as they seek to win a first Asian Cup trol our nerves we have every possibility to win.”— AFP country,” said Argentine coach Becker. Goalkeeper Felipe Ovono, from semi-professional local side DVO Mongomo has impressed in the home team’s splendid run, particularly against neighbours Gabon in a decisive final group game where he pulled off several crucial saves. Defender Diosdado Mbele has served out a one-match sus- pension and could return to the starting line-up in place of Estonia-based Daniel Evuy, while the towering Raul Fabiani Bosio could start again up front. The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia were champions on home soil in 2004, but they have not gone past the quarter-finals since. Skipper Yassine Chikaoui has shone at this tournament playing alongside the dangerous Esperance striker Ahmed Akaichi, while Leekens has stuck with a defence led by experienced Etoile du Sahel goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouti and Monaco ace Aymen Abdennour. The first quarter-final between DR Congo and Congo Brazzaville will be the first meeting between the two neighbors in 41 years when Congo Brazzaville beat DRC (then Zaire) 2-1 in Alexandria, Egypt. Claude Le Roy’s Congo are living a charmed life, having been reinstated in the competition only after Rwanda were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player. The Red Devils then qualified for the finals ahead of champi- ons Nigeria and finished top of Group A after a 15-year absence from the tournament. Le Roy has maintained his “incredible” team will keep their feet on the ground and take it a game at a time. Today, DRC will be without injured skipper Youssouf Mulumbu, who also missed the final group game against Tunisia with a hamstring injury.—AFP AUSTRALIA : South Korean players train ahead of their AFC Asian Cup final football match against Australia in Sydney. — AFP Juventus face Udinese test in serie A

MILAN: Juventus face a potentially tricky trip to Udinese tomor- paign. They travel north looking to make it 12 unbeaten games in Lazio, one of the league’s form teams, will be expected to row looking to reinforce their seven-point lead of Italy’s Serie A as a row, having last dropped points in a 1-1 draw with Inter at the cruise to victory at home to second-from-bottom Cesena having the battle for the third and final Champions League spot moves New Year. Roma would be forgiven for hoping Udinese do them a swept aside AC Milan twice this week, once in the league and up a gear. Juve scraped into the semi-finals of the Italian Cup on favor. Rudi Garcia’s men were held for the third match in succes- then in the Cup quarter-finals. Wednesday when a last-gasp Alvaro Morata strike secured a 1-0 sion last week in a 1-1 draw at Fiorentina which saw Dutch mid- Rivals Sampdoria face a tougher task away to Torino, when win away to plucky league strugglers Parma. fielder Kevin Strootman limp off after 34 minutes. Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o will be looking to make an impact on It was a far from pretty display by Massimiliano Allegri’s men, Having only returned from an eight-month lay-off due to an his debut following his arrival from Everton. Eto’o said: but Juve could be in for more of the same on Sunday when they anterior cruciate ligament injury in his left knee in November, “Sampdoria weren’t built to be in third position, but thanks to the face the northerners, now coached by former Inter handler Strootman is set for several more weeks on the sidelines. team and the coach (Sinisa Mihajlovic) we’re in contention. Our Andrea Stramaccioni. Udinese are on a three-game unbeaten run Strootman, 24, will undergo keyhole surgery late yesterday to objective is to finish third.” Inter and fellow strugglers Milan are and are also unbeaten in their past five league games away from remove “a mass of fibrous tissue” in the same knee, according to a both 23 points off Juve’s pace and with a 10-point deficit on home. With an away trip to Napoli and then Lazio visiting the club statement. Napoli as their dismal campaigns continue. Friuli Stadium in the following weeks, Stramaccioni has stressed The battle for third place, meanwhile, has moved up a notch Inter travel to Sassuolo looking to make amends for their the need to show that same kind of resolve on Sunday. with Sampdoria, AC Milan and Inter adding last-minute reinforce- shock 1-0 defeat to Torino last week, while Milan-winless in five “We have to stay focused for the three difficult games coming ments for the second half of the campaign. Napoli moved up to consecutive games-host Parma desperate to stop the rot after a up,” said Stramaccioni. “But at home, we should be making life third on Monday to sit two points ahead of Lazio and Sampdoria. week in which Filippo Inzaghi’s coaching position came in for difficult for every one, and that includes Juventus.”Obviously, it’s Rafael Benitez’s team face Chievo away tomorrow. Chievo will heavy scrutiny. Milan signed Roma striker Mattia Destro on a difficult game but we’ve already shown we can play on a par take heart from Genoa’s performance in a 2-1 defeat to Napoli on Thursday on a six-month loan deal and the Italy international said: with anyone.” Juventus, who are expected to be without Arturo Monday when controversy surrounded both of Gonzalo Higuain’s “We really want to do well and to show that Milan are a great side, Vidal after the Chilean suffered a right knee problem against goals. Higuain appeared offside as he scored Napoli’s opener then starting from tomorrow. “This is a big occasion for me, I can’t wait Parma, beat Udinese 2-0 in Turin in their second game of the cam- scored from the spot following a dubious penalty decision. to get out there and play.”-AFP SPORTS SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015

Rodgers has no fears over Sturridge return

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says he something really creative and quality to the team,” impact on our season. “He hasn’t played and the team has no concerns about how Daniel Sturridge will fit into Rodgers said. struggled for a few months, but thankfully we’ve now his redefined formation ahead of the striker’s long-await- “Then it’s a case of managing in behind that. The sys- nailed down a way of working and returned to our foot- ed comeback from injury. tem does not have to change. It’s there and the players ball ideals. “The team is becoming better and better, and Sturridge will be in Liverpool’s squad for their Premier are there if we have to do it. “We are very much built when you throw Daniel into that, he shines a different League clash against West Ham at Anfield on Saturday around the collective, but it doesn’t half help when you light and adds another dimension.” Liverpool will check having not played for the Reds since the end of August have someone to finish it off at the top end of the field on the fitness of centre-back Mamadou Sakho, who with calf and thigh problems. Rodgers reverted to a fluid and have that power and pace that Daniel has. injured his back in the League Cup semi-final defeat to 3-4-3 system during a lean spell of results in Sturridge’s “In the last few days he was brilliant. He’s been really Chelsea, while right-back Jon Flanagan (knee) and reserve absence and Liverpool saw a marked improvement. dynamic, fast, strong in the finish and sharp. But we have goalkeeper Brad Jones (hip) remain out. The formation change has rarely used a traditional to be careful with him as well.” Rodgers also claimed that West Ham have not won at Anfield since 1963 but striker, with Raheem Sterling occupying a central role had England international Sturridge been available for enjoyed a 3-1 success against Rodgers’ side at Upton Park while Rickie Lambert, Mario Balotelli and Fabio Borini most of the campaign Liverpool would currently be in the earlier in the season. Hammers manager Sam Allardyce have often been named among the substitutes. However, Champions League places, as opposed to being in the believes Liverpool will be much tougher prospect with Rodgers has no reservations about Sturridge’s ability to chasing pack challenging for a top four spot. Sturridge available. “Liverpool are in the best form of the adapt to the way Liverpool now play. “Daniel will bring “No question,” Rodgers added. “I think it’s had a huge season at the moment,” he said.—AFP

Utd ready to Mourinho in combat mode fight for top four spot as Man City come calling LONDON: Scarred in different ways by their recent Jose Mourinho’s side can expect little sympathy Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Liverpool and responded to MANCHESTER: Manchester United winger cup exploits, Chelsea and Manchester City face off from City, the defending champions, who will fall news of the disciplinary action facing Costa by can- Antonio Valencia has warned his team-mates at Stamford Bridge yesterday for a pivotal match in eight points off the pace if they lose. celling his scheduled press conference on Friday. that the hard work starts now in their bid to the Premier League title race. But the Chelsea manager is already looking to The side-show has helped to bury talk of last secure a top four finish in the Premier League. Both teams were dumped out of the FA Cup by turn the situation to his advantage, battening weekend’s humiliating home defeat by third-tier Louis van Gaal’s side hold the final Champions lower-league opposition last weekend, but while down the hatches and creating the kind of siege Bradford City, who came from 2-0 down to win 4-2 League berth as they prepare for today’s Chelsea responded by beating Liverpool in the mentality that is his favoured modus operandi. in the FA Cup fourth round. The extra-time win over home fixture against lowly Leicester, but they League Cup semi-finals on Tuesday, victory came at As well as Costa’s charge, Mourinho was himself Liverpool has left its mark on Mourinho’s squad, but are just a point ahead of fifth-placed Arsenal. a price. Diego Costa seems certain to miss City’s vis- fined by the Football Association for alleging that he believes the league leaders will not be encum- The Gunners, on a four-match winning it after being charged for stamping on Liverpool’s there was a media-led “campaign” against his side bered by fatigue when they take to the pitch run, face Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium Emre Can, while Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis are following a spate of diving allegations. against City. “The players are tired, but when you on Sunday and Valencia knows the race is just both doubts for the game after picking up injuries. The Portuguese hit out at the media again after win, fatigue doesn’t mean the same as when you starting to heat up. “It’s very open and quite lose,” he said. “We have a big game today, but I tight in those top spots,” Ecuador internation- think the feeling of winning, being at Wembley, al Valencia said. “We’re seven points behind compensates a little bit the fans after the gift we second place and then a couple of teams are gave them last weekend.” three or four points below us. “We must fight A run of eight wins in nine games left City dead- hard in the remaining games to finish as high level with Chelsea on New Year’s Day, but a draw at as possible. “It’s a long season and we’ve Everton and a 2-0 home defeat by Arsenal have picked ourselves up of late, so we need to seen Manuel Pellegrini’s team fall five points off the keep the results coming for the fans. pace. Coupled with last weekend’s 2-0 defeat by “We’ve got tough games coming up second-tier Middlesbrough, they have now gone against very good teams and rivals for our three games without a win in all competitions. position but, if we keep the concentration “We must turn our minds to the Premier high, we can achieve our aim of a top-four fin- League,” said Pellegrini. “We have a difficult game ish.” United missed out on European football against Chelsea. I hope we can recover during the for the first time in 25 years when they fin- week and get back to normal.” ished seventh at the end of a campaign of Ivory Coast’s qualification for the Africa Cup of struggle, largely overseen by previous man- Nations quarter-finals means City remain without ager David Moyes. Yaya Toure and new signing Wilfried Bony, but Despite a sluggish start to the season Sergio Aguero has proven his fitness following a under van Gaal, Moyes’ successor, United knee injury by coming through 90 minutes against have put themselves in contention to end Arsenal and Middlesbrough. their season-long absence from continental Former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, who competition with a run of one defeat in 13 scored an 85th-minute equaliser for City when the matches. Valencia believes new signings teams last met in September, could be making his Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao and Marcos final appearance at Stamford Bridge. Rojo have settled well in to the United set up, The sight of Chelsea’s all-time record goal-scorer despite each suffering injury problems in the in a City shirt will jar with the London club’s sup- first half of the campaign. “Angel, Rojo and porters, particularly as he had previously pledged Falcao are terrific. They’ve all settled quickly that he would never play for a rival club. into the group and I think they’re all really But the 36-year-old was applauded by the visit- enjoying life here,” Valencia said. “We’ve got a ing fans after refusing to celebrate his goal in the top bunch of lads. We all get along really well, reverse fixture and Chelsea Supporters’ Trust chair the atmosphere is great but it’s always been Tim Rolls has told Britain’s Press Association: “I don’t great here.” think anybody is going to boo him.” United were held to a disappointing goal- The stage is set for an attritional battle, with less draw by League Two club Cambridge Mourinho likely to select three central midfielders United in the FA Cup fourth round last Friday in a bid to overwhelm City pair Fernando and and van Gaal will hope his players are more Fernandinho much as Arsenal did at the Etihad incisive against Nigel Pearson’s side, who are Stadium. With Fabregas nursing a tight hamstring, fighting for survival in the Premier League.— John Mikel Obi and Ramires could both be brought AFP into the team to play alongside Nemanja Matic, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata are expect- which would probably see Oscar drop out. ed to be recalled to the United squad after Cesar Azpilicueta will come in for Luis if the being rested for the FA Cup match, while Brazilian left-back cannot overcome a calf problem, defender Jonny Evans remains a doubt after while Didier Drogba is in line to replace Costa up missing the match through injury.—AFP PRAGUE: A picture taken on August 30, 2013 shows Chelsea’s German striker Andre Schuerrle playing the ball during the UEFA Super Cup final. — AFP front. — AFP SPORTS SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Sharapova out to end decade Matches on TV (Local Timings) of Serena dominance

English Premier League MELBOURNE: Top seed Serena Williams’ coach has dismissed the own right with five majors to her name. “Every sequence has to end, Hull City v Newcastle 15:45 American’s decade-long, 15-0 winning streak against Maria just ask Nadal,” he told AFP, referring to Czech Tomas Berdych’s Sharapova as irrelevant ahead of the arch-rivals’ blockbuster quarter-final victory over Rafael Nadal this week to end a record- beIN SPORTS 1 HD Australian Open final today. The final will pit the world’s two best equalling 17-match losing streak against the Spanish great. beIN SPORTS 11 HD players, both in sizzling form, against one another in a dream Grand “Maria Sharapova is changing all the time. This is someone who Man United v Leicester 18:00 Slam decider, although the second seeded Sharapova faces ques- works hard. She develops her game, she evolves. This is the strength beIN SPORTS 11 HD tions over her staggering inability to notch a win over Williams since of a champion. Nadal did it all the time, Serena too.” Neither player Stoke City v QPR 18:00 2004. The Russian’s overall losing record against Williams is 16-2, will lack motivation in the final. Sharapova, 27, can finally end a beIN SPORTS 8 HD including a crushing straight sets win in the 2007 Australian final, decade of pain at Williams’ hands in the ninth Grand Slam final of her Sunderland v Burnley 18:00 and her last 15 meetings with the 18-time Grand Slam champion career. Williams, who at 33 is the oldest woman to contest an Open- beIN SPORTS 12 HD have ended in defeat. In addition, Williams has won five titles in five era final in Australia, is contesting her 23rd Slam final. A win would Bromwich v Tottenham 18:00 final appearances at Melbourne Park, emerging victorious every take her overall tally to 19, surpassing Martina Navratilova and Chris beIN SPORTS 9 HD time she has reached the decider. Evert as she chases Steffi Graf’s Open-era record of 22. Both survived But Williams’ coach, Frenchman Patrick Mouratoglou, said such scares early in the tournament to hit top form going into the final, Crystal v Everton 18:00 statistics would mean nothing when the adversaries face each other with Williams battling a cold and Sharapova staying alive after fend- beIN SPORTS 10 HD in the Rod Laver Arena, describing Sharapova as a champion in her ing off two match points in the second round.—AFP Liverpool v West Ham 18:00 beIN SPORTS 3 HD Chelsea v Man City 20:30 Moyes tests Real beIN SPORTS 1 HD beIN SPORTS 11 HD Madrid mettle

Asian Nations Cup without Ronaldo South Korea v Australia 12:00 beIN SPORTS 6 HD MADRID: David Moyes will face the biggest test of his brief spell in charge of Real Sociedad beIN SPORTS 11 HD when the Basques visit Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu yesterday. African Nations Cup However, the trip for Moyes’s men isn’t quite Congo v Congo, The Democratic Republic 19:00 as daunting as it could have been with three- beIN SPORTS 6 HD time World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo Tunisia v Guinea 22:30 banned for kicking out at Cordoba defender beIN SPORTS 6 HD Edimar during Madrid’s 2-1 win last weekend. Gareth Bale sealed those crucial three points Spanish League for Carlo Ancelotti’s men with a late penalty after Ronaldo had been dismissed for the ninth Real Madrid v Sociedad 18:00 time in his career. And Madrid will need Bale to beIN SPORTS 2 HD be on top form whilst their top scorer watches beIN SPORTS 14 HD on from the sidelines for the next two games. Eibar v Atletico 20:00 Bale netted in Ronaldo’s absence through injury beIN SPORTS 2 HD when the sides met earlier in the season, but, beIN SPORTS 14 HD despite roaring into an early 2-0 lead, Madrid Granada v Elche 22:00 were eventually defeated 4-2. Upsets have been beIN SPORTS 7 HD a feature of Sociedad’s season as they have beaten La Liga champions Atletico Madrid and Barcelona as well as Real under three different Sunday coaches. Celta v Cordoba 0:00 Moyes masterminded the latest of those tri- beIN SPORTS 2 HD umphs against Barca early this month, but his beIN SPORTS 14 HD side have failed to kick on since with just one win in five games since to remain in the bottom Italian Calcio League half of the table. Genoa v Fiorentina 20:00 Esteban Granero will be returning to face the club where he started his career and all too beIN SPORTS 3 HD AUSTRALIA: The UAE team celebrates after winning their third-place play-off foot- aware that Sociedad have to be at their best if beIN Sports Max 4 ball match against Iraq at the AFC Asian Cup in Newcastle yesterday. — AFP they are to shock Madrid once more. AS Roma v Empoli 22:45 “January is a difficult month for them beIN SPORTS 3 HD because they play a lot of games and it seems beIN SPORTS 12 HD Mabkhout fires that they aren’t in the same form that they were before, but they have too much potential for German Bundesliga UAE to third spot that to affect us. Moreover, they are playing at Schalke v Hannover 17:30 the Bernabeu where they have fewer doubts. “We expect to face the best Real Madrid, but beIN SPORTS 4 HD NEWCASTLE: Ali Mabkhout put one hand on the Asian Cup top-scorer award yesterday if we are also at our best then we have a chance beIN Sports Max 4 as the United Arab Emirates came from behind to beat 10-man Iraq 3-2 in a rollercoaster to win.” On top of Ronaldo’s absence, Pepe and Bayer v Dortmund 20:30 third-place playoff. The Al Jazira marksman took his tally for the competition to five with Luka Modric remain out injured, but Isco should beIN SPORTS 4 HD a nerveless second-half penalty in Newcastle, putting him a goal ahead of partner return in midfield after missing out against Ahmed Khalil, who grabbed a brace. Cordoba. Victory for Madrid will open up a four- French League “Before the match Ali was top scorer and I said if we get a penalty he would take it- point gap on Barcelona, who face the in-form Marseille v Gaillard 18:30 but by then Ahmed had scored two and also had the chance for the golden boot,” UAE Villarreal at the Camp Nou tomorrow. The coach Mahdi Ali told reporters. “It was a difficult decision but in the end the players stuck beIN SPORTS 5 HD Catalans have been on fire themselves in recent with my instructions.” Khalil opened the scoring on 16 minutes, sliding the ball past weeks, scoring 26 times in seven straight wins Lens v Bastia 22:00 goalkeeper Mohammed Hameed to complete a blistering counter-attack sparked by since starting the year with defeat at Sociedad. beIN Sports 7 midfield wizard Omar Abdulrahman. It was the stand-in captain’s first goal since his dou- Nemyar was the star with a double as Luis Lorient v Montpellier 22:00 ble against Qatar in their opening group match, and the Emiratis were on top in the ear- Enrique’s men booked their place in the semi- beIN SPORTS 5 HD ly stages with Abdulrahman again pulling the strings. But on 28 minutes the momen- finals of the Copa del Rey with a 3-2 win over beIN SPORTS 10 HD tum swung towards Iraq when Waleed Salim’s deflected shot from inside the box Atletico Madrid in midweek to already take his Nantes v Lille OSC 22:00 looped over goalkeeper Khalid Eisa and into the back of the net. tally for the season to 21. Villarreal are unbeaten beIN SPORTS 9 HD The Iraqis then took the lead three minutes before half-time, winger Amjed Kalaf in 18 games in all competitions stretching back beIN SPORTS 14 HD slotting in a rebound from close range after Eisa parried Ahmed Yaseen’s powerful to November, but will have to stop Barca’s dev- astating attack without the services of Brazilian beIN SPORTS 2 HD shot.Younis Mahmoud, the hero of Iraq’s 2007 Asian Cup win, spurned a golden oppor- tunity to extend the lead when he blazed wide when through on goal just after the defender Gabriel Paulista, who joined Arsenal restart.—AFP on Wednesday.—AFP SPORTS SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Amir shooting tourney concludes

By Abdelllatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s shooters Saud Habib and Zaid Al-Mutairi won the silver and bronze medal in the skeet event, raising the number of medals Kuwait has won during HH the Amir 4th International Grand Prix, that was con- cluded yesterday at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex. Habib found himself involved in fierce competition during the finals with UAE’s Saif bin Futais and Qatar’s Saeed Abu Sharib. In the skeet men juniors, it was all Kazakhstan affair as first place went to Alexander Mukhamediyev, sec- ond place went Artur Pochivalov and third place was won by Eduard Yechshenko. In the 10m pistol men Rashid Yunusmetov from Kazakhstan won the gold medal, while second place went to his compatriot Vladimir Issachenko, and third place went to Serbia’s Damir Mikec. In the 10m pistol men juniors, Lauris Strautmanis from Latvia claimed the gold medal, while Malaysia’s Jasmi MD Zin won the silver, and Latvia’s Emils Vasermanis won bronze. In the 50m position rifle, Hungary’s shooter Peter Sidi won the gold medal, while Serbia’s an international sports festival that personify national referees, which contributed to Arab and Kuwait Shooting Federations Eng Nemanja Irosavijev won second place, and what links Kuwait with the countries of the exchanging expertise and skills within a clean Duaij Khalaf Al-Otaibi as well as shooting offi- Slovania’s Rajmond Debvec won third place. world in the form of mutual bonds in the competition atmosphere. cials, and their tremendous efforts to ensure Kazakhstan tops the list with five gold sports field in general and shooting in particu- Sheikh Salman congratulated the winners the success of the Grand Prix. medals six silver and two bronze followed by lar. He said the number of participating shoot- of the Grand Prix events and wished the rest On his part, Engineer Duaij Al-Otaibi said Serbia (three gold, two silver and two bronze), ers reached 534 representing 59 countries in good luck in coming events. Sheikh Salman members of the Higher Organizing Malaysia (two gold, one silver and 3 bronze, addition to more than 200 officials and inter- Al-Sabah lauded the role of the President of Committee gave this Grand Prix the “humani- Hungary (two gold, one bronze), Uzbekistan tarian leader” symbol, for what it represents and UAE two gold each, Italy (one gold, two as a world appreciation for HH the Amir, silver and one bronze). Kuwait people and the state of Kuwait as a Kuwait and Latvia (one gold, one silver and humanitarian center, that contributes to help- one bronze), Croatia and Bulgaria (one gold), ing the needy people around the world. Qatar (three silver, one bronze), Mongolia, He said, Kuwait shooting was able to make Bosnia, Malta, Lithuania and Iraq (one silver), world achievements and maintain its top sta- Slovania and Singapore (two bronze), Albania, tus at the international and Asian levels, and Armenia, Morocco, Poland and Tunis (one expressed his pleasure for the presence of bronze). Kuwait guests to compete for the cups and Meanwhile, Information Minister, State medals. Al-Otaibi thanked the representative Minister for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman of HH the Amir, President of the Asian Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah said, the Shooting Federation, Honorary President of wide ranging participation in HH the Amir 4th KSF Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud for his unlimit- Grand Prix comes as an appreciation of HH ed support for Kuwait’s shooting sport. He the Amir, the (humanitarian leader), and as a also spoke about the role of the chairman of confirmation of Kuwait’s role in the humani- Public Authority for Youth and Sports Sheikh tarian field. Sheikh Salman said that during a Ahmad Al-Mansour Al-Sabah, ministries and speech during a ceremony held on the occa- supporting government bodies as well as the sion and was attended by many ambassadors, media for their efforts. political and sports dignitaries. Sheikh Salman A documentary about the UN’s honoring who represented the Amir said the participa- of HH the Amir as a humanitarian leader, in tion coincides with Kuwait’s celebration of its addition to a documentary about Kuwait National Days, and the ninth anniversary of shooting and its various achievements. HH the Amir ascensionn to power represents SPORTS SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 Kazakhstan tops gold medal list Mabkhout fires UAE to third spot SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 JANUARY SATURDAY, SportsSports 45

MELBOURNE: Serbia’s NovakDjokovic plays a shot during his men’s singles semi-final match against Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka on day twelve of the 2015 Australian Open tennis tourna- ment. — AFP Djokovic masters Wawrinka Australian Open final clash with Murray

MELBOURNE: World number one Novak and allowed him to dictate the play from the spend a lot of energy,” Djokovic said of his mid- ing side-to-side movement to level up with the Djokovic fought off Stan Wawrinka over five baseline. “He has great depth in his shots. Once match lapses. “He was the one that was dictat- set going to a tiebreaker. Djokovic was too tense sets to master the defending champion he has control of the rallies it’s very difficult to ing the rallies. There’s no question about it. strong in the tiebreak with Wawrinka too loose and reach his fifth Australian Open final yester- play against him. “So it was very emotional, very “Some points of the match I did struggle physi- with his shots to drop the opening set. day, where he will meet Andy Murray. The Serb tense, as it always is against a top player in cally to recover for the next one because I run a The Swiss fought off break points in his top seed won 7-6 (7/1), 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 in 3hr semi-finals of a Grand Slam.” The top seed won lot and he was getting a lot of balls back in play. opening serving game of the second set, but 30mins and will face the British sixth seed for a through to his fifth Australian Open final, hav- “I didn’t have many free points on the first serve Djokovic double-faulted on break point in the third time in tomorrow’s Grand Slam decider. ing won his previous four deciders in as I did throughout the tournament, so that was sixth to lose the set. It was Djokovic’s toughest match of the tour- Melbourne. He beat Murray in the 2011 and a significant change.” Both players traded service breaks in the nament and his serve was broken five times in 2013 finals. But Murray also has form against Wawrinka said he too struggled mentally third set, but the world number one seized con- another titanic duel with the Swiss world num- Djokovic, beating him in the 2012 US Open and and was not at his best. “I was telling my box it trol after Wawrinka could not close out a 40-15 ber four. 2013 Wimbledon finals, setting up an unpre- was tough for me to stay with him, to find a way lead and he reeled off the next four points to The clash was their fourth straight Grand dictable Melbourne Park decider. to win points,” he said. “Because I was just try- take the lead in the match. But again Wawrinka Slam encounter to go to five sets with Djokovic It was not a convincing performance from ing to fight and to make some good choice, but hit back with two breaks in the fourth set to winning three of them. He lost to Wawrinka in the Serb, who made 49 unforced errors to 27 today I was just not there.” take it into a fifth, just like their three previous the quarter-finals at last year’s Australian Open. winners and won just 70 percent of his first Djokovic had lost only one of his 74 service Grand Slam encounters. Two double-faults and “I did not play on the level that I intended,” serves, but crucially he broke Wawrinka’s strong games prior to the semi-final, but Wawrinka an overhit backhand cost Wawrinka an early he said. “There were parts of the match where I serve seven times. broke him in the seventh game of the match service break in the final set and another errant stepped in and played a game I needed to play, “I think it was more mental because once with a series of withering backhands. backhand lost him a second service to hand the but other parts where I played too defensive you back up and start playing defensively you But the Serb hit straight back with outstand- Serb a winning 4-0 break. — AFP