In brief

QATAR | Violation

Broken number plate leads to off ender A clue in the form of a broken number plate, lying on a road in Najma, helped the police track down a driver who managed to escape the scene after hitting a number of vehicles parked along a narrow street in the early hours on Friday. The broken number plate was found by a resident. While lodging their complaint with the police, the vehicle owners also showed the broken number plate to them. Using this the police traced the owner of the vehicle later in the afternoon.

QATAR | Course

Training for inspectorsA five-day programme to train municipal inspectors to detect labour accommodations in family residential areas was launched yesterday in the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning, local Arabic daily Arrayah reported. The course includes explanation of the Law No 15 of 2010 for prevention of housing of groups of labourers in family residential areas and the Ministerial decision No 83 of 2011 regarding definition of family residential areas.

QATAR | Weather

Moderate-to-heavy rain likely todayModerate to heavy rains are expected both in the early hours and late in the evening today, according to weather forecasters. The average temperature is expected to climb marginally during the day. Winds could reach upto 25 knots at times. Minimum temperature is expected to be 14 and the maximum should be 21 degrees. Parts of Qatar experienced drizzles yesterday evening.

REGION | Briefi ng

‘Support’ for peace push Saudi King Abdullah off ered his “enthusiastic support” to US eff orts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, US Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday. Kerry made the comment after some two hours and 40 minutes of talks with the King Abdullah. Page 8

BANGLADESH | Politics

Violence mars general election Bangladesh’s general election was marked by violence and a low turnout yesterday, with opposition parties boycotting the polls over suspicions of rigging by the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. At least 18 people died and many others were injured during clashes between opposition activists and the police. Page 25

INDIA | Space

MissionsuccessfulIndia successfully launched its first domestically-built cryogenic rocket yesterday, capping a two-decade eff ort to master a technology that is crucial for the country’s space missions. The cost of the mission has been estimated at over 3.5bn rupees ($56mn). Page 21

MONDAY Vol. XXXIV No. 9229

January 6, 2014Rabia I 5, 1435 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals GULF TIMES

published in

QATAR

since 1978

Brokerage units of Qatar banks see income gain

BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Pages 1, 2

Australia sweep Ashes series 5-0 over England

QATAR

REGION

ARAB WORLD

INTERNATIONAL

COMMENT

BUSINESS

CLASSIFIED

SPORTS SECTION

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1-6, 14-16

7-13

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INDEX

Tourism sector jobson the risein Qatar The QTA’s human capital strategy will soon finalise the training and educational opportunities within the sector

By Joseph VargheseStaff Reporter

Qatar will require around 127,000 hospitality professionals by 2030 to meet the demands from

various tourism sectors, a senior offi -cial of Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) said yesterday. Currently there are 81 hotels in operation in the country with another 110 under construction.

“At present there are only 20,000 hospitality professionals in Qatar. We have arrived at the fi gure of around 127,000 by 2030 based on the number of hotels that will be coming up in the next few years as well as the number of products and services that we will be providing in the coming years,” ex-plained Hassan Abdulrahman al-Ibra-him, strategy development director at QTA.

Speaking on the sidelines of a press conference to announce the Qatar In-ternational Tourism conference, the offi cial stated that eff orts had been un-derway to meet the rising demands for professionals in the hospitality sector.

“In December last year, we launched a training institute focusing on vari-ous sectors including hospitality in co-operation with our partners. It will be operational soon.”

Al-Ibrahim announced that the QTA’s human capital strategy would soon fi nalise the training and educa-tional opportunities within the sector. “Soon, we will be announcing some of the dates for the launch of these pro-grammes and some of them will start in the next few months. This strategy will decide our roadmap to move forward.”

The QTA offi cial said that details of the expansions in diff erent segments of

the hospitality sector would be avail-able in the 2013 annual report of QTA, scheduled to be released soon.

“The annual report will give you an update about the number of upcom-ing hotels as well as the initiatives in the pipeline. The report also will give the number of visitors to Qatar in 2013 which has seen a signifi cant increase over the last year.”

Prof Robert Coelen, executive dean of Stenden University in Qatar, said the university was prepared to expand its programmes to meet the country’s needs.

“Around 120 students, including 50% Qataris, pass out from the uni-versity yearly. At present we have only bachelors programmes and with the permission of the Supreme Education Council we plan to launch a number of post-graduate programmes, including an MBA.”

Qatar would also need to bring from abroad a large number of professionals for the sector, he added.

16,469.99+28.64+1.15%

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-0.17%

DOW JONES QE NYMEX

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Bayern Munich in Doha training session

Abu Issa becomes second Qatarito participate in Dakar Rally

Qatari rider Mohamed Issa Abu Issa, who last year topped the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

and came second overall at the FIM 6 stage Cross Country Rally World Championship in his very fi rst outing, is now taking the next big step of his career.

Abu Issa is participating in the quads category of the Dakar Rally 2014 as part of the Maxxis Super B Dakar team, thus become only the second man from Qatar, after 2011 Dakar Rally champion Nasser al-Attiyah, to drive in the world’s toughest rally. Abu Issa, though, is the fi rst Qatari to take part in the quads category of the arduous race.

The Dakar race, which began in Argentina yesterday, runs for 14 con-secutive days, traversing a distance of 8,700 kilometres across three coun-tries - Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.

Riders compete off -road on craggy terrains and through high sand dunes in the 14-day rally – not to mention the long and elevated distances in Bo-livia, which rise to 4,000m above sea level, throwing up a unique challenge for the contestants.

To cope with the pressure, Abu Issa underwent an intensive training pro-gramme in the deserts of the United Arab Emirates, as it is considered one of the world’s toughest deserts for quad category races.

He has also undergone fi tness and

readiness programmes in the United Kingdom for high altitude racing, which will come in handy in the Bo-livian territory, the most diffi cult part of the race where lack of oxygen may lead to lapse in concentration for the riders.

Salam International is Abu Issa’s main sponsor, in addition to the logis-tics and technical support provided by the Dutch Maxxis Super B team.

Issa Abdul Salam Abu Issa, father of Abu Issa and chairman of Salam International Investment Limited,

urged his son to go for glory in the ral-ly. “What Mohamed has reached and will achieve in this global competition makes us proud,” Issa Abu Issa said.

“Those achievements, however, would have been impossible with-out the full support that HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and HH the Father Emir Sheikh Ha-mad bin Khalifa al-Thani, provide for sports and athletes. We hope that our champion will continue this way in or-der to raise the name of Qatar in inter-national arenas,” he added.

Bayern Munich’s players participating in a training session at Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence in Doha yesterday. Bayern Munich is in Qatar for a week-long training camp before the beginning of the new season of the German Bundesliga after the winter break.

By Ramesh MathewStaff Reporter

Residents of some of the dense-ly-populated areas in Doha have welcomed the Ministry of

Interior’s latest instructions, aimed at preventing trailers, trucks and oth-er heavy-equipment vehicles from parking in busy locations and certain

spots in the neighbourhood.The ministry, in an advertisement

published in local newspapers, has given a January 30 deadline for the owners of heavy vehicles who park their vehicles in many open grounds in many Doha city areas, Lusail, Gharaff a, Wajba, Mauith-er, Rayyan, Al Hilal and Mesaimeer.

However, heavy-vehicle owners have requested the ministry to specify the areas in the above zones where there

would be a ban on parking. The ministry announcement said that even though there was no ban on loading and unload-ing of goods from heavy vehicles in the above places they would not be allowed to park in any open areas there.

“However the government order has not said where such vehicles could be parked after January 30,” said a repre-sentative of a company owning trailers and heavy equipment, which currently

uses some of the locations in the above-mentioned areas for parking their vehi-cles.

The order, he said, would cause “se-vere diffi culties” to some of the com-panies as they were required to relocate their drivers’ accommodations to new places, mainly in locations such as the Industrial Area, where access had be-come increasingly diffi cult these days owing to the ongoing road works.

“The government order should have been clearer on those zones where vehi-cles could be parked after the order came into eff ect on January 14,” the represent-ative said.

Some of the residents in Najma, where such parking of heavy vehicles is com-mon, welcomed the government order. “Owing to heavy vehicles cornering the vital parking spaces in the area we en-counter problems in fi nding parking dai-

ly,” said a resident. However, he said that so long as the entry of such vehicles (for loading and unloading) to such densely-populated areas was not banned, the residents had no complete relief.

In areas like Doha Jadeed, people face a lot of problems on account of a lack of space for parking. Some of them said the new order would help them in fi nding parking space not far from their resi-dences.

Residents hail directive on parking for heavy vehicles

Al-Ibrahim: new programmes

Mohamed Issa Abu Issa: preparing for his first participation in the Dakar Rally 2014 in the Maxxis Super B Dakar team.

Doha to host tourism conference

A major international tourism confer-ence is to be hosted in Doha next month under the patronage of HE the Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani by Stenden University Qatar (SUQ) in partnership with the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA). Titled “Tourism in Tomorrow’s World: What the future holds for tourism in the region”, the conference will take place on February 23 and 24 at the Renaissance Doha City Center. The event is in partnership with Al Rayyan Tourism Investment Company (ARTIC), a part of Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-

Thani’s Al Faisal Holding Group and the European Tourism Futures Institute (ETFI). Page 3

QATAR3Gulf Times

Monday, January 6, 2014

HE the Advisory Council Deputy Speaker Issa bin Rabia al-Kuwari presenting a memento to US Congressional delegation in Doha yesterday. The meeting dealt with parliamentary relations between the two countries and ways of enhancing them. The meeting was attended by HE the Advisory Council Secretary-General Fahd bin Mubarak al-Khayareen.

US Congressional team visits Doha Official

HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani have sent cables to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia condoling the death of Prince Bandar bin Mohamed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.

Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI7) board member Ahmed Mohamed al-Obaidli yesterday met a visiting Turkish trade delegation led by Turkish Member of Parliament Ashraf Tash. Ashraf Tash extended an invitation to Qatari businessmen and the Qatar Chamber to visit Turkey to get acquainted with investment opportunities in the country and to participate in the World Summit for Investment to be held in Istanbul in April this year.

Qatar will Participate in the conference of GCC Health Ministers which starts tomorrow in Kuwait. HE the Minister of Public Health Abdullah bin Khalid al-Qahtani will head the Qatari delegation to the conference. During the conference Kuwait Document on combatting non-communicable diseases will be signed.

Emir, PM sendcondolences to Saudi king

QCCI off icialmeets Turkishtrade delegation

Qatar to attendGCC healthministers’ meeting

One of four cinema halls

opens at West End Park

One of the four cinema halls in the newly built West End Park on the outskirts of the Industrial Area

was opened recently.When contacted a senior offi cial of the

West End Park said: “Only a soft opening has taken place and the formal inaugura-tion of the four-hall cinema complex will be held sometime in March”.

He said the cinema hall which has been opened is currently screening two Indian movies and tickets are priced at QR15.

There is an exclusive area for families in the hall which has a seating capacity of 500, and the ticket price remains the

same everywhere inside the venue. The offi cial said considering the pa-

tronage for the Hindi and other Indian language movies in the area, the company is planning to screen fi lms from India on a regular basis at the facility. All halls at the complex have 500 seats each.

The screening times are 2pm, 5.30pm, 8.30pm and 11.30pm. A Malayalam movie is screened at 2pm and 11.30pm and a Hindi movie is screened at 5.30 and 8.30 pm, said the spokesman of the company.

Bahrain-headquartered Qatar Bahrain In-ternational Cinema Company (QBICC) is op-erating the cinema halls at the West End Park.

QHCP toconductworkshop

Qatar Council of Health Care Practitioners (QHCP) that per-

tain to the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) is organis-ing a training workshop on the “Objectives of structured clinical exams” as a fi nal exam for Qatar University (QU) College of Pharmacy (CP) graduates starting from today until Wednesday.

More than 50 practising pharmacists, teaching staff at CP and representatives from the Supreme Council of Health and QHCP are expected to at-tend the workshop.

The training workshop aims at laying educational models to measure and evaluate the sci-entifi c ability of CP graduates and practising pharmacists and making a comprehensive evalu-ation of their readiness to work in Qatar as licensed pharma-cists.

Qatar to host fi rst major global tourism conferenceThe fi rst major in-

ternational tourism conference of its kind

in Qatar is to be hosted next month under the patron-age of HE the Prime Min-ister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani by Stenden University Qatar (SUQ) in partnership with the Qatar Tourism Author-ity (QTA).

Titled ‘Tourism in To-morrow’s World: What the future holds for tourism in the region,’ the conference will take place on February 23 and 24 at the Renaissance Doha City Center.

The event is in partner-ship with Al Rayyan Tour-ism Investment Company (ARTIC), a part of Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani’s Al Faisal Holding Group and the European Tourism Fu-tures Institute (ETFI).

The conference was an-nounced at a press confer-ence attended by professor Robert Coelen, vice-presi-

dent international and ex-ecutive dean of SUQ, Hassan al-Ibrahim, director of strat-egy development at QTA and Nicolas Frangos, chief oper-ating offi cer of ARTIC.

The event aims to un-derline the importance of tourism for Qatar and the region, focusing on Qatar’s recent tourism growth and showcasing its authentic culture, identity and herit-age and focus on sustain-ability.

It will cover every sector of tourism and hospitality such as family tourism to business tourism, cultural, sun and beach, sports, edu-cation, health and environ-mental tourism.

It will address relevant cultural topical issues such as political tourism follow-ing the Arab Spring, as well as new industry develop-ments and trends in the GCC and factors aff ecting tourism in the region.

Al-Ibrahim said that QTA’s strategic priori-ties include developing the tourism sector through stakeholder engagement

and inclusion in imple-menting the national tour-ism strategy 2030.

“Hence we have devel-oped a strong relationship with Stenden University

Qatar through various ini-tiatives,” he explained while observing that sectorial hu-man capital development is also a priority of QTA.

“With the number of ho-tels and other tourism prod-ucts and services currently under development, Qatar’s hospitality industry will be able to off er young people ambitious roles in interna-tional groups to provide a meaningful career path for life,” he added.

Professor Coelen stated that the conference will at-tract the world’s leading experts in hospitality and tourism to discuss impor-tant key trends, and the crucial role Qatar is to play in this sector in the near fu-ture.

“Hospitality and tour-ism will be an increasingly important aspect of Qatar’s economic diversifi cation and it is vital we ensure our young people are properly educated and trained to take on meaningful careers in hospitality and tourism.”

The conference, which is to become an annual event, will feature internationally renowned tourism experts as keynote speakers includ-ing United Nations World Tourism World Tourism Or-ganisation Secretary Gener-al Dr Taleb Rifai, QTA chair-man Issa al-Mohannadi and top local and international tourism experts, academics and futurists.

The conference will also showcase major local and global players in tourism and hospitality.

By Joseph VargheseStaff Reporter

“With the number of hotels and other tourism products and services currently under development, Qatar’s hospitality industry will be able to off er young people ambitious roles in international groups to provide a meaningful career path for life”

Professor Coelen, al-Ibrahim, and Frangos announce details of the “Tourism in Tomorrow’s World” conference yesterday. PICTURE: Jayaram.

QATAR

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 20144

Ooredoo extends one-month free promotion for Shahry Packs

Ooredoo has extend-ed its one-month free promotion for

Shahry Packs, when cus-tomers sign-up or upgrade to a higher pack before March 10.

Starting with the Shahry 55, each pack off ers calls, SMS and data bundles. Every pack over the Shahry 150 off ers unlimited free landline calls and every pack over Shahry 250 pro-vides free BlackBerry serv-ices.

If customers upgrade to the Shahry 450 or Shahry 750, they can even use an additional allocation of

roaming receiving minutes, so they can receive calls when they travel abroad using their Pack allowance.

Customers who use the Shahry International Key can even convert their local call minutes into interna-tional calls.

More information on Ooredoo’s Shahry Packs can be had from www.ooredoo.qa. Existing Shahry customers who wish to upgrade can call 114, while Hala and new customers need to visit any Ooredoo Shop with their QID to get started on a Shahry Pack.

CMC panel calls for strategy tomonitor infrastructure projects

Close co-ordination should be main-tained among all

stakeholders in the coun-try to avoid technical faults that may undermine the capabilities of buildings to endure natural eff ects, in particular rains and high underground water levels, a Central Municipal Council (CMC) panel has said.

The Ministry of Munici-pality and Urban Planning (MMUP) and the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) should devise an active strategy to supervise the technical designs of infra-structure projects, making sure that these are taking into consideration any po-tential rainfall in the coun-try.

At a recent meeting, the Services and Utility Com-mittee (SUC) of the Central Municipal Council (CMC) has addressed the issue of the adverse impact of rain on the buildings and roads throughout the country.

The issue was earlier raised in the local Ara-bic press indicating that though it did not rain much, water logging is common in diff erent areas when it rains and the Municipalities were unable to treat these in a timely manner.

Further, the rains wors-ened the problem of high levels of underground wa-ter in some areas, which pops up from time to time in many houses and build-ings, incurring heavy dam-

age to properties. The SUC pointed out

that the various techni-cal faults in the design and implementation of several drainage grids were exposed during the last rains. Also, pools of water were formed in some hospitals, schools and a well-known shopping mall, stressing the urgent need to review the over-all building strategy in the country.

The committee suggested that respective municipali-ties play a more active role in supervising the building processes for private build-ings and projects.

They should be involved in supervising the various stages of the construction processes to ensure com-

pliance with the approved designs and blueprint.

Besides, they should ask the owner of the building to submit a report on the levels of underground water and a calculation of earth pressure by an approved company in the fi eld before being grant-ed any building permits.

In the meantime, all mu-nicipalities should prepare an annual report on the areas of rain water accu-mulation and provide it to Ashghal to help it come out with suitable and practical solutions.

At the close of the ses-sion it was decided that the CMC would discuss the is-sue further and address the concerned entities with de-tailed recommendations.

Qatar residents and visitors posted their messages of love for Qatar on a QTA billboard on Doha Corniche. A visitor from Kuwait is presented with a gift kit at the Abu Samra Border Post.

Over 33,000 visitorsfrom GCC attended National Day eventsThe Qatar National

Day promotional campaign launched

by Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) attracted more than 33,000 visitors from neigh-bouring GCC countries during the week of National Day celebrations, it was an-nounced yesterday.

The campaign was part of QTA’s collaborative ef-forts with the National Day Organising Committee and tourism sector stakeholders successfully promoted the celebrations.

Leading to the National Day, QTA launched a print and digital advertising cam-paign in the GCC markets to boost tourism within the region by encouraging GCC nationals to visit Qatar dur-ing the country’s most sig-nifi cant celebrations.

QTA in collaboration with the National Day Or-ganising Committee and tourism sector stakeholders hosted a range of activities that entertained visitors from the moment they ar-rived in the country.

QTA’s plan includes posi-tioning Qatar as a preferred family destination through various attractions and of-ferings represented in the country’s rich heritage, cul-ture and customs and fam-ily-friendly atmosphere in addition to the facilitation of activities and events that appeal to all ages.

This is part of QTA’s larger strategy, to further tourism as a key factor that

contributes towards diver-sifi cation of Qatar’s econo-my, inline with the National Vision 2030.

Visitors were greeted with gifts and fl ags and other promotional items at the Abu Samra Border Post and Doha International Airport. QTA supported a set of events including a traditional tent which of-fered cultural activities that allowed visitors to experi-ence Qatar’s Arabian hos-pitality.

QTA collaborated with the National Day Organis-ing Committee by provid-ing information on tourism in Qatar to visitors and resi-dents through information centres across the country

including eight along the Corniche.

These initiatives include the launch of the second phase of “MyQatar” and the installations of billboards along the Corniche. QTA will also be announcing the winners of the best deco-rated hotel front competi-tion, launched to shed light on Qatar’s iconic building designs and contemporary architecture.

The latest fi gures released for Q3 2013 showed that all key indicators of the tour-ism sector demonstrated improvement and growth from the previous year com-parable period. The largest source of tourism is from the GCC, with regional visi-

tors increasing by 20% in third quarter of 2013 com-pared to the same period in 2012. This is refl ective of the draw of Qatar’s off erings that appeal to regional visi-tors. International arrivals are also increasing, thanks to the strong performance of the MICE industry, in particular.

Tourists coming from other continents rose by 13.36%, with arrivals from Asia showing the biggest increases at 18.27%. QTA has an important role to play in developing a sus-tainable tourism sector in Qatar so that tourism be-comes a signifi cant factor as a part of the national economy.

Volunteers welcome visitors with gifts at Doha International Airport.

QATAR5

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 2014

Expert advises check-up for people with family history of glaucomaIn recognition of World

Braille Day, HMC’s senior consultant in

ophthalmology, Dr Huda al-Mahdi, has reminded residents to learn more about their family history and undergo eye examina-tion as soon as eye prob-lems occur to avoid vision impairment.

“If there is any disease re-garding the eye in the family, such as glaucoma (a condi-tion in which the eye’s optic nerve is damaged), patients should consult an ophthal-mologist even if they do not have any symptoms,” Dr al-Mahdi said, adding: “Some-times eye disease starts and the person doesn’t have any visual problems, so it is better to be cautious early on.”

Some common eye dis-eases that may lead to high visual impairment or even

blindness include glauco-ma, diabetic retinopathy (a condition that occurs due to diabetes in which blood vessels in the eye are dam-aged), and age-related mac-ular degeneration (a condi-tion in which damage to a small spot near the centre of retina called macula oc-curs, which leads to poor or decreasing vision).

According to Dr al-Mah-di, most of these diseases are avoidable as causes of blindness if detected and treated in a timely manner.

World Braille Day is an annual celebration that is held globally on January 4 to mark the birthday of Louis Braille, inventor of Braille, which is a system of touch reading and writing that al-lows visually impaired and blind people to read and write.

The day also provides or-ganisations and individu-als with an opportunity to highlight the problems for the visually impaired and the eff orts being made to help them in the society.

However, the fi rst important step that any individual can take to prevent visual deteriorationis to be proactive.

“People should not un-derestimate any eye symp-toms, whether it is loss of vision, blurring of vision, or minor or major pain in the eye,” Dr al-Mahdi ad-vised, adding: “Coming to the ophthalmologist at the right time can save people from visual loss. If they de-lay, then sometimes surgi-cal interventions may not guarantee that they will have good vision or normal vision later on.”

In recent years, HMC has

increased their services for eye care with specialised clinics located in Hamad General Hospital (HGH) such as Glaucoma clinic that has increased surgi-cal procedures, as well as Retina and Cornea clinics.

Other sub-specialty clin-ics focused on off ering eye services using high tech-niques include: Optic clinic, dedicated for patients who need visual assistance with glasses and low vision clin-ic, to assist patients to use visual aids such as magni-fi ers and telescopes.

Genetic counselling that includes analysis of pa-tient’s family history and recommendation for appro-priate eye care treatment is also available at the genetic clinic, which can be ac-cessed through referral from an ophthalmologist.

JeemTV launches science campaign

JeemTV has launched a campaign, which aims to develop children’s inter-

ests in scientifi c matters.The plan is to help chil-

dren embrace scientifi c thinking through an enter-taining approach. The cam-paign also aims to introduce children to the achieve-ments of scientists so that they can benefi t from their experience and expand their knowledge.

In support of the sci-ence campaign, JeemTV has

prepared various reports to encourage children to ap-preciate the role and eff orts exerted by scientists to ad-vance science and technol-ogy. The campaign will also raise awareness about the importance of science for a better and brighter future. Reports will feature the Astronaut Training Center based in Germany, Amaz-ing Lab and Magical Physics Center based in Lebanon, and Eureka Science Center based in Finland.

Additionally, the cam-paign is to host a scientifi c event in Doha on January 30.

Commenting on the sci-ence campaign, JCC’s acting executive general manager and channels’ director Saad al-Hudaifi said: “We at JCC realise the importance of raising awareness about the role of science in our daily lives, education, and child development. So, we always strive to inspire children to understand just how in-credible scientifi c achieve-

ments are, especially in the Arab World, as well as to promote a culture of interest in science among our view-ers through our program-ming and campaigns.”

This campaign falls within JeemTV’s objec-tives of enabling chil-dren, strengthening their knowledge, and instilling values that will help build the promise of a new gen-eration through the small screen and other interactive digital platforms.

QATAR

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 20146

Oil, gas sector top choice for job: survey Qatar’s oil, gas and pet-

rochemicals industry are considered to be the

most preferable for employ-ment, according to a survey.

The survey by Bayt.com and YouGov also found that women in Qatar are most attracted to education and academia (38% of respondents), followed by healthcare, medical services and pharmaceuticals (37%), banking and fi nance (33%) and government (33%).

Oil, gas and petrochemicals off er the best potential for ca-reer growth according to the majority of respondents (51%), with government coming sec-ond (29%), the survey showed.

The highest levels of job se-curity are seen to be in oil, gas and petrochemicals positions (51%), although there is also a perceived high degree of secu-rity in government (46%) and banking and fi nance (20%).

The survey found that the best salary packages in Qatar are perceived to be in the oil, gas and petrochemicals in-dustry (66%); though govern-ment careers are also seen to pay well, according to 30% of respondents.

In the past year, respond-ents believe that the oil, gas and petrochemicals indus-try has seen the strongest

growth (49%), followed by construction (39%), and real estate (17%) and banking and fi nance (17%).

A quarter of Qatar respond-ents (24%) have changed the industry they work in the last 24 months, with 48% consid-ering an industry change in the next few years, it said.

Oil, gas and petrochemicals are the industry of choice for 30%, banking and fi nance (9%) and management consultant (9%) jobs are also popular.

The top reasons for career changes are perceived better salaries (74%), career growth opportunities (50%), and better benefi ts (43%).

Local talent is seen to be drawn predominantly to gov-

ernment, civil service and utilities jobs (47%), oil, gas and petrochemicals (46%), and military, defence, police and security services (28%).

In Qatar, 44% of employed respondents are satisfi ed with the salary package in their current industry, while 51% are satisfi ed with their ability to maintain a good work-life balance.

They are also generally con-tent with the potential for ca-reer growth (with 40% being satisfi ed); job security (45%); working hours (61%); and training and development op-portunities (38%). Fifty-three per cent are happy with their current work culture, which shows that the Qatar work environment is a happy one.

“Within Qatar, it is very clear which industry is the most preferable, though interest-ingly the majority of regional respondents are keen to fi nd employment in the IT, elec-tronics and telecommunica-tions industry rather than in oil, gas and petrochemicals,” according to Sundip Chahal, CEO, YouGov.

The survey also found re-spondents believe that the most stressful industries are construction (41%) and oil, gas and petrochemicals (19%). Construction is also considered to have the long-est working hours, by half of respondents (49%).

By Santhosh V PerumalBusiness Reporter

Fifty-one per cent respondents in a survey see highest level of job security in oil and gas sector.

Hamad al-Kuwari, right, and Ed Anami, fourth left, join dozens of stewards in a briefing before the finals on Saturday. PICTURE: Joey Aguilar

Work of tennis tourney volunteers is lauded

Hard work, professional-ism and passion of more than 200 volunteers to

serve thousands of tennis fans were integral components of Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2014’s success, stewards’ manager Ed Anami has said.

The stewards’ overall per-formance was laudable, a reason why many of them have been short-listed to be part of the next tournament. Some have been serving for about six to seven consecutive years.

“We monitor all of them and

take into consideration those who have performed well. They will likely join the next batch of stewards for international com-petitions,” added Anami, also the founding president of Minzubastatennis group in Qatar.

Though they come from dif-ferent expatriate communi-ties, it is learnt that 85 to 90% of the stewards were Filipino expatriates who also play tennis.

More than 300 expatriates have expressed willingness to work as stewards but only about 200 were selected for this ATP Tour.

The spectators committee head-ed by Hamad al-Kuwari is expected to select another batch of stewards for the WTA event in February.

“Since they are also tennis players, they know the rules, the technicalities of the game and how to courteously deal with the fans,” said Anami.

Jeff rey Santos, also a former steward, shared his own experi-ence of the group when he was selected in the past years. He said that like any other tennis player, it was exciting to see professional and top ranking players in person and have pictures with them.

He said working as a steward was a privilege and a chance to learn many things inside and outside the court. As play-ers, many stewards join regular tournaments and charity com-petitions organised by various

groups. Minzubasta recently held a one-day tennis clinic for beginners and enthusiasts which attracted dozens of nurses from the Hamad hospital.

Anami and Santos also urged other sports lovers to try play-ing tennis – considered as one of the safest sports besides ta-ble tennis, badminton and other racket games.

Their group is planning to hold another clinic this year af-ter their tournament in March since tennis had become a popular sport in Qatar.

Sultan Khalfan, a top Qatari national tennis player, earlier praised tennis volunteers for their dedication and hard work.

By Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

QATAR7

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 2014

QGBC delegates hold talks with Saudi and UAE counterparts A Qatar Green Building

Council (QGBC) del-egation has partici-

pated in the Emirates Green Building Council’s (EGBC) second Annual Congress in Dubai, to meet regional counterparts and show-case its Passivhaus ‘Baytna’ project.

The QGBC delegation discussed potential col-laborations on projects and events with Saudi Arabian and UAE coun-terparts, and engaged in a roundtable discussion about the green building movement in the Mid-dle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

“The roundtable discus-sion was hugely valuable and we shared each coun-try’s achievements in the hope of fi nding good exam-ples that could be replicated in other countries,” said Meshal al-Shamari, QGBC director.

Legislation, subsidy, education and fi nancial incentives were also dis-cussed in order to fi nd the one area that would benefi t most from the sustainable building sector.

“And fi nally, we looked to the future as well as the important developments for our industry for 2014,” he said.

The QGBC offi cial ob-served that the EGBC Congress once again suc-ceeded in facilitating a platform for all the stake-holders to address the pressing issues around green standards to de-termine what is needed

Al-Shamari with off icials of EGBC at the EGBC Annual Congress in Dubai.

to grow the sustainable building sector.

“With the UAE hosting the World Expo in 2020 and Qatar the FIFA World Cup in 2022, the demands on ma-terials alongside a region-wide focus on infrastructure makes it an optimum time to address green building in our region,” he explained.

During the event, the QGBC team delivered a presentation about the Qa-tar Case Study, Passivhaus ‘Baytna’ project. With part-ners, Kahramaa and Barwa Real Estate, the Passivhaus study seeks to establish if an eco-friendly villa can be a viable building option.

Through the construc-

tion and subsequent opera-tion of a Passivhaus villa and a Business As Usual (BAU) villa, the project’s initial data showed a small increase in capital cost during con-struction of the Passivhaus compared with a BAU villa, off set against a 50% re-duction in water and en-ergy consumption and CO2 emissions.

“As part of QGBC’s ongo-ing eff orts to raise aware-ness levels and disseminate education on green building we sought to continue our outreach to green building councils in the Mena region at the EGBC Annual Con-gress, which also off ered us an invaluable opportunity

to see the achievements and activities of the other green building councils in the re-gion,” al-Shamari added.

Under the theme, “Build-ing a Green Future,” the EGBC Congress is dedicated to fostering industry dia-logue and stakeholder en-gagement to further infl u-ence sustainable practice in the built environment.

The EGBC Congress, aimed at accelerating activi-ties across the entire build-ing supply chain, works towards achieving a Green Economy for Sustainable Development by sharing the latest insights from local and international industry experts.

A man shows the V-sign for victory as he stands on top of a burnt-out lorry on the side of the main highway leading out of Baghdad to Fallujah yesterday. The lorry was among several destroyed during fighting the day before between Iraqi army forces and militants.

Iraq readies for ‘major’Fallujah counter-attack

Iraq is preparing a “major at-tack” on militant-held Fal-lujah, a senior offi cial said

yesterday, spelling another as-sault for the city west of Bagh-dad where US forces repeatedly battled insurgents.

Washington said it would help Baghdad in its fi ght against Al Qaeda-linked militants but that there would be no return of US troops, and Iran yesterday also off ered assistance.

The takeover of Fallujah and parts of Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, farther west, is the fi rst time militants have exercised such open control in major cit-ies since the height of the bloody insurgency that followed the

US-led invasion of 2003. “Iraqi forces are preparing for

a major attack in Fallujah,” a sen-ior offi cial said.

Special forces have already conducted operations inside the city, the offi cial said.

The regular army has paused on the edge of Fallujah to allow residents time to leave, after which it will launch “the attack to crush the terrorists”.

Fallujah is in the hands of fi ghters of the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Le-vant (ISIL), a senior security of-fi cial said on Saturday.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday that Wash-ington would provide assistance to Iraqi forces in their battle against the militants but that it was “their fi ght”.

He said Washington was “very, very concerned” about the resurgence of ISIL but was not contemplating any return of US ground troops, after their withdrawal in December 2011.

“We are not obviously con-templating returning,” but “we are going to do everything that

is possible to help them,” he told reporters in Jerusalem.

Iran also off ered assistance, with deputy chief of staff Gen-eral Mohamed Hejazi saying that “if the Iraqis ask, we will supply them with equipment and ad-vice, but they have no need of manpower”.

ISIL seized control of the vil-lage of Bubali near Ramadi after heavy fi ghting yesterday, a wit-ness said.

Sporadic clashes were report-ed both inside Ramadi and on Fallujah’s outskirts.

Iraqi ground forces com-mander Staff General Ali Ghaid-an Majeed said security forces killed 11 militants on the high-way from Baghdad to Fallujah.

Majeed admitted that “we do not know what is happening in Fallujah”, but said the city should “wait for what is coming”—a reference to the impending as-sault.

On Friday and Saturday, more than 160 people were killed in the worst violence to hit Anbar province in years.

Both Ramadi and Fallujah

were insurgent strongholds in the years after 2003, and Fallu-jah was the target of two major assaults in which US forces saw some of their heaviest fi ghting since the Vietnam War.

American troops eventually wrested back control of Anbar from militants, with the sup-port of Sunni Arab tribesmen of the Sahwa militia, who joined forces with the US from late 2006.

American forces suff ered al-most one-third of their Iraq dead in Anbar, according to in-dependent website icasualties.org.

But two years after US forces withdrew, the power of mili-tants in Anbar is increasing.

Fighting erupted in the Ram-adi area on December 30, when security forces cleared a year-old protest camp where Sunni Arabs demonstrated against what they see as the marginali-sation and targeting of their mi-nority community by the Shia-led government.

The violence then spread to Fallujah, and the subsequent

withdrawal of security forces from parts of both cities cleared the way for militants to seize control.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Ma-liki had long sought the closure of the protest camp outside Ramadi, dubbing it a “head-quarters for the leadership of Al Qaeda”.

But its removal has caused a sharp decline in the security situation.

ISIL is the latest incarnation of Al Qaeda’s Iraq affi liate and has made a striking comeback this year, taking advantage of widespread Sunni discontent and the civil war in neighbour-ing Syria, where it has become a major player in the nearly three-year-old confl ict.

Violence in Iraq last year reached a level not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal pe-riod of sectarian killings.

Three car bombs and a road-side bomb exploded in three ar-eas of Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 15 people and wounding at least 40, offi cials said.

The army has paused on the edge of Fallujah to allow residents time to leave, after which it will launch “the attack to crush the terrorists”, a senior off icial says

AFPBaghdad

Kerry vows fair Mideast plan, briefs Arab allies

Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday rejected Israeli and Palestinian claims of

US bias as he made a whistle-stop trip to Jordan and Saudi Arabia to woo support for his peace plan.

Kerry promised any agreed plan would be “fair and balanced” and likened his eff orts to broker a compromise between the con-fl icting demands of the two sides to a puzzle.

“In the end all of these core is-sues fi t together like a mosaic, like a puzzle and you can’t separate out one piece or another,” Kerry said in Jerusalem before fl ying to Amman, and later Saudi Arabia.

Each piece was interlinked, he stressed, and depended on the compromises the other side might be prepared to make.

“And there’s always tension as to when you put your card on the table as to which piece you’re willing to do, when and how,” said Kerry.

But he warned his eff orts could ultimately fail, saying he could not tell when “the last pieces may decide to fall into place, or may fall on the fl oor, and leave the puzzle unfi nished.

“That’s exactly what makes this such a challenge.”

On the fourth day of his long trip to the region, Kerry briefed the key Jordanian and Saudi stakeholders about his intense shuttling between Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mah-moud Abbas.

In Amman he spent more than an hour of talks with King Abdul-lah II and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.

A senior State Department of-fi cial said Kerry had wanted to “seek their counsel on the dis-cussion with the Israelis and Pal-estinians about a framework for fi nal status negotiations”.

He then travelled to Saudi Ara-bia for almost three hours of talks with King Abdullah.

At Riyadh airport before leav-ing, Kerry said the monarch had backed his framework.

“I am grateful that the Arab League as a whole and Saudi Ara-bia individually will be signifi -cantly involved in helping build support for this eff ort,” he said.

“Today his majesty was not just encouraging, but supported our eff orts in the hopes that we can be successful in the days ahead.”

Jordan borders the occupied West Bank, and under its 1994

peace treaty with Israel is recog-nised as playing a historic role in the guardianship of Muslim sites in East Jerusalem.

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah was the author of a 2002 Arab League peace initiative, which Kerry praised again yesterday as holding out the prospect for “in-stantaneously” reaching peace between Israel and “22 Arab na-tions and 35 Muslim nations, all of whom have said they will rec-ognise Israel if peace is achieved”.

Saudi Arabia has, however, been notably frustrated by Amer-ica’s perceived lack of action to halt the war in Syria, and the con-fl ict was also likely to have been addressed in yesterday’s talks.

Kerry kicked-started nine months of direct peace nego-tiations in July after a three-year hiatus. But Israeli and Palestinian offi cials have both traded accusa-tions in recent days.

“The Palestinians are continu-ing their campaign of inciting hatred, as we have seen in the last few days with their refusal to recognise Israel as a state for the Jewish people,” Netanyahu told his cabinet yesterday.

“This is the main issue that we’re discussing with (Kerry). Among other key topics are Is-rael’s security, which must re-main in its hands,” he added, in comments broadcast by public radio.

He was speaking after a Pal-estinian source said Washington was proposing a mixed Israeli-Palestinian military presence to ensure security in the Jordan Valley, without setting a dead-line when Israeli troops would be withdrawn.

But Kerry insisted: “I can guar-antee all parties that President (Barack) Obama and I are com-mitted to putting forward ideas that are fair, that are balanced, and that improve the security of all the people of this region.”

A peace treaty would deal with all the divisive core issues, in-cluding the contours of a future Palestinian state, refugees, the fate of Jerusalem claimed by both as a capital, security and mutual recognition.

A cabinet member close to Netanyahu also underlined Israeli rejection of any US-proposed se-curity concessions for the Jordan Valley, where the West Bank bor-ders Jordan.

“Anyone who proposes a solu-tion in the Jordan Valley by de-ploying an international force, Palestinian police or technologi-cal means... does not understand the Middle East,” Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said.

AFPJerusalem

A Saudi Arabian Airlines jet is pictured after an emergency landing at Madinah airport yesterday.

Human body parts ‘fall from sky’ in Saudi

Human body parts fell from the sky in the Saudi city of Jeddah yesterday, with police saying

they could be the remains of someone trapped in an aircraft’s undercarriage bay.

“Police received a telephone call at 2.30 am from a witness reporting the fall of human remains at an intersection in Mushrefa neighbourhood” in the Red Sea city, spokesman Nawaf bin Naser al-Bouq said in a statement.

Initial indications were that the re-mains “fell from a plane’s landing gear”, said Bouq, adding that investigations were ongoing.

The report came after a Saudi Arabian Airlines jet made an emergency landing in the city of Madinah in the west of the kingdom, injuring 29 people yesterday.

That aircraft had been travelling from Iran’s second city of Mashhad with 315 people on board.

A spokesman for the General Au-thority of Civil Aviation said there was no connection between the emergency landing in Madinah and the Jeddah in-cident.

In a desperate attempt to cross bor-ders, some people at poorly monitored airports climb inside the bays housing aircraft landing gear.

Most of them freeze to death once the aircraft reach cruising altitude, but some survive.

In 2010, the head of Beirut’s airport security resigned after the death of a man who managed to hide in the un-dercarriage bay of a Saudi-bound jet.

The man’s body was found by a maintenance worker who was inspect-ing the gear of the Saudi-owned Nas Air Airbus A-320 after it landed in Ri-yadh.

AFPJeddah

REGION/ARAB WORLD

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 20148

9Gulf TimesMonday, January 6, 2014

ARAB WORLD

Iran could help on sidelines of Syria talks: Kerry ReutersJerusalem

The US yesterday appeared for the fi rst time to hold out the possibility that

Iran might play a role on the sidelines of a Syria peace confer-ence even if Tehran is not for-mally invited.

Washington, and Syrian op-position groups, have long had reservations about the partici-pation of Iran, which they accuse

of supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with manpower and arms during the near three-year uprising against his rule.

Despite the improvement in US-Iranian relations this year with a landmark nuclear deal struck in November, ties are strained by many issues, includ-ing the Syrian civil war in which at least 100,000 people have been killed and millions up-rooted.

At a news conference in Jeru-salem, Kerry reiterated US op-

position to Iran being a formal member of the so-called “Gene-va 2” talks scheduled for January 22 in Switzerland because it does not support a 2012 international agreement on Syria.

That so-called “Geneva 1” ac-cord called for the Syrian gov-ernment and opposition to form a transitional government “by mutual consent”, a phrase Wash-ington says rules out any role for Assad. Russia, a sponsor of the plan, disputes that view.

Kerry, in a shift in tone, held

out the possibility of Iran play-ing a constructive if limited role at the conference even if it does not endorse the 2012 agreement.

“Now, could they contribute from the sidelines? Are there ways for them, conceivably, to weigh in? Can their mission that is already in Geneva ... be there in order to help the process? It may be that there are ways that could happen,” he said.

“But that has to be determined by the (UN) secretary general, it has to be determined by Iranian

intentions themselves,” he told reporters in Jerusalem.

“But in terms of a formal in-vitation or participation - that is for those who support the Ge-neva 1 implementation.”

Senior US offi cials said they believed it was the fi rst time Kerry had publicly raised the possibility of Iran playing some kind of role at the talks without signing up to the Geneva 1 prin-ciples.

Relations between Iran and Washington, frozen for decades,

have improved sharply since the election in June of President Hassan Rohani who promised to pursue a policy of “constructive engagement” with the West.

In the clearest sign of warm-ing ties, six major powers and Iran reached an agreement on November 24 designed to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in re-turn for limited Western sanc-tions relief.

However, US accusations that Iran supports international “ter-rorism” and is fuelling the vio-

lence in Syria with armaments continue to divide Washington and Tehran.

“Iran could participate very easily if they would simply ac-cept the Geneva 1 premise on which Geneva 2 is based,” Kerry said, referring to the 2012 pact calling for the formation of a transitional government with the mutual consent of the Syrian government and opposition.

“We are happy to have Iran be helpful. Everybody is happy to have Iran be helpful,” he added.

Opponents of Assadthreatenedin Lebanon AFPBeirut

Several prominent Lebanese politicians and media fi g-ures opposed to Syria’s re-

gime and its ally Hezbollah have been threatened, the offi cial National News Agency reported yesterday.

The report comes less than a fortnight after a car bombing in central Beirut killed eight peo-ple including anti-Syria former fi nance minister and member of the March 14 coalition Mohamed Chatah.

NNA said Sethrida Geagea, a Christian member of parlia-ment, March 14 member and wife of Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, had a series of threats sent to her mobile phone.

“At 5pm on January 4, Sethr-ida Geagea MP started receiving calls on her mobile phone from several local, international and hidden numbers,” the agency said, quoting the politician’s media offi ce.

A statement said Geagea’s col-leagues answered the calls, and heard “personal threats against her life, insults and obscenities”.

More such calls came yester-day, NNA said.

The threats were reported to the security forces, who Gea-gea’s offi ce said should “take the necessary measures” to identify the callers.

A string of other personalities have received similar threats, the statement said.

They include former interior minister Ahmed Fatfat, outspo-ken TV presenter Nadim Koteich and assassination attempt survi-vor and journalist May Chidiac.

All are seen as high-profi le opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its powerful Lebanese ally, Hezbol-lah.

The Shia movement has sent

thousands of fi ghters into Syria to help Assad’s troops in their bid to crush the revolt that erupted nearly three years ago.

Reports have also emerged that Sunni politician Khaled Daher, a fi erce critic of the Da-mascus regime, has also received threats against his life.

Chatah’s death on Decem-ber 27 was the latest in a string of nine high-profi le assassina-tions of Syria critics that began in February 2005 with former prime minister Rafi k al-Hariri’s murder.

Syria and Hezbollah have sys-tematically denied any links to the attacks.

An international tribunal tasked with investigating Har-iri’s assassination is due to start trying fi ve Hezbollah members in absentia from January 16.

Syria dominated Lebanon for nearly 30 years until the interna-tional outcry over Hariri’s killing forced Assad’s troops out.

However, Damascus still ex-erts infl uence over Lebanon through its allies.

In the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, scene of frequent Syria-related sectarian clashes, sniper fi re has killed one person and wounded eight others, a se-curity offi cial said yesterday.

“One person in his 60s from Bab al-Tebbaneh has died and eight others have been wounded after an exchange of sniper fi re on Saturday night,” the offi cial said on condition of anonymity.

The man, a taxi driver, had been passing through the Sunni-populated neighbourhood in his vehicle when a bullet struck his head. He died of his wounds yes-terday.

The wounded come from both Bab al-Tebbaneh, whose residents support the revolt in neighbouring Syria, and from Jabal Mohsen, whose residents are from the same Alawite reli-gious community as Assad.

Free Syrian Army fighters man a checkpoint between the villages of Kvrromh and Haas, to stop members of the Al Qaeda-aff iliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from entering, in Idlib on Saturday.

Jihadists kill 50 rebels in new Syria war front The Islamic Front, the country’s biggest rebel alliance, issues a strong warning to the jihadists

AFPDamascus

Al Qaeda-linked fi ght-ers killed at least 50 rival rebels yesterday in a new

front in Syria’s war, a watchdog said, as an Islamist group issued a strong warning to the jihadists.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels were killed in fi ghting, car bomb-ings and summary executions by forces loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

ISIL moved into Syria in late spring 2013, two years after the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began.

Yesterday’s deaths came on day three of fi ghting that began when rebels, including Islamists, attacked checkpoints and bases

manned by ISIL, which is ac-cused of horrifi c abuses in areas where its fi ghters operate.

ISIL has been taking key roads and checkpoints from its rivals, and some Assad opponents have even accused it of serving regime interests.

At least nine ISIL fi ghters were also killed yesterday, the Britain-based Observatory said.

Most of the non-ISIL fatalities were in the northern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, where the fi ghting began on Friday.

Among the dead were “seven who were summarily executed by ISIL”.

Clashes also erupted in Raqa and Hama provinces yesterday, in a sign the fi ghting was spreading.

Scores of fi ghters on both sides have been killed in the past three days, the Observatory says.

“The rebels have made sig-nifi cant gains (since Friday) in the west of Aleppo province, in the north of Idlib and east of Maaret al-Numan (Idlib),” said

Observatory director Rami Ab-del Rahman.

The Observatory also said ISIL fi ghters were laying down their arms and withdrawing from some areas, without elaborating.

In Atareb, also in Aleppo province, rebels raised the green, white, black and red fl ag of the opposition, and brought down the black fl ag fl own by ISIL.

The Islamic Front, the coun-try’s biggest rebel alliance, is-sued a strong warning to the ji-hadists.

“We fi ght against whoever at-tacks us and whoever pushes us to battle, whether they are Syr-ian or foreign,” said the alliance grouping tens of thousands of anti-Assad rebels.

The Islamic Front, the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and the nascent Army of Mujahedeen are all battling ISIL.

“What’s happening is that the ranks of the revolution are being cleaned up,” one Islamic Front member said.

The Islamic Front said it was “thankful to the foreigners who came to help us” but “we will not accept any group that claims to be a state”.

Analysts say a key complaint against ISIL among rebels, in-cluding Islamists, is that the ji-hadists refuse to operate under the broader opposition.

Instead, it commands its own institutions and rejects co-op-eration with other rebel groups.

Anti-ISIL protesters demon-strated in Aleppo and Raqa for a third day yesterday, activists said.

They are also calling for coun-trywide protests on Friday under the slogan: “Day of rage against Al Qaeda and Assad”.

The slogan echoes the spirit characteristic of the pro-de-mocracy protests that began in March 2011 before becoming a bloody civil war.

In a separate development, 10 soldiers were shot dead by Al Nusra Front, another jihad-ist group, days after being cap-

tured in Aleppo’s Kindi hospital, which the army had turned into a base.

Refl ecting the complexities of Syria’s war, Al Nusra has also been involved in some of the fi ghting against ISIL, despite both groups having their roots in Al Qaeda in Iraq.

In other developments, Riad Hijab, a former Syrian premier who defected in 2012, is a front-runner along with current chief Ahmed Jarba to head the main opposition National Coalition in six-monthly elections be-ing held in Istanbul, a coalition member said.

The Coalition is also expected to take a fi nal decision on wheth-er to attend proposed peace talks in Switzerland slated for January 22.

And Turkish photographer Bunyamin Aygun, kidnapped by radical Islamists in Syria while on assignment for the newspa-per Milliyet, has been freed, the Anatolia news agency reported.

12 weapons found at Palestinian mission ReutersPrague

Czech police found 12 weapons, including pis-tols and sub-machine

guns, at the Palestinian mis-sion in Prague after an explosion killed the ambassador at his resi-dence last week, the police chief was quoted as saying yesterday.

Police said the explosion that killed ambassador Jamal al-Jamal after he opened a safe might have been caused by mishandling a device meant to secure it.

After the incident, investiga-tors found unlicensed weapons at the complex of the Palestin-ian mission that includes the embassy and residence. But the police had not immediately detailed the amount or type of weapons.

Daily newspaper Mlada Fronta Dnes’ website idnes.cz reported that 12 weapons were discov-ered, confi rming the number with national police chief Mar-

tin Cervicek, who declined to say how many pistols or sub-machine guns were found.

“We have to put the weapons through genetic and ballistic testing, until then we will not re-lease this information,” idnes.cz quoted Cervicek as saying.

On Thursday, a Palestinian of-fi cial, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the mission’s staff had submitted the arms to the Czech authorities. He said the weapons had been retrieved from an old sack and had been untouched since Cold War times.

The deputy Palestinian for-eign minister, Tayseer Jaradat, in Prague with a team to help the investigation, said by telephone he had confi rmed to the Czech authorities that the weapons were from a previous era and were being stored.

“We have stressed our com-mitment to the laws of diplo-macy,” he said.

Jaradat told Voice of Palestine radio the weapons stash dated back more than 30 years. He

said some of the guns had been gifts to the embassy and some had been registered with the au-thorities.

Czech police were not inves-tigating the safe explosion as an attack, although the ambas-sador’s daughter has alleged he was “deliberately killed”.

“This case needs more time and more criminal investigation to uncover the mystery of the case,” Jaradat said on the radio.

Adding to the uncertainty, an embassy spokesman has said mis-sion staff were not aware of any explosives in the safe, which he said was used on a regular basis.

The Palestinian mission was in the process of moving into new premises in a Prague suburb when the blast killed the ambas-sador at his residence on New Year’s Day.

It was not yet the offi cial site of the mission and so did not enjoy the diplomatic immunity that normally prevents host country offi cials from entering diplomatic missions without permission.

The brothers of 19-year-old Qutaiba Mohamad al-Satem, the man whom the army identified as the perpetrator of Thursday’s suicide bombing in Hezbollah’s southern Beirut stronghold, mourn at his grave in Hnaider yesterday.

Brothers mourn

10 Gulf TimesMonday, January 6, 2014

ARAB WORLD

Egypt convicts 12 activists, opens another probe ReutersCairo

Twelve Egyptian activ-ists were given one-year suspended jail terms yes-

terday in a case brought over an attack on the campaign head-quarters of defeated presidential candidate Ahmed Shafi q during the 2012 election.

The activists include siblings Alaa Abdel Fattah and Mona Seif, leading fi gures in the protest

movement that triggered the 2011 uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak, which has been tar-geted in a widening crackdown by the army-backed authorities.

In a move that could open the way to more legal measures against dissidents, the authori-ties opened an investigation into allegations that six activists took part in the storming of Egypt’s domestic spying agency in 2011 - an important moment in the revolt against Mubarak’s order.

It intensifi es what activists

see as an eff ort to discredit the secular protest movement as the government also pursues a crackdown on Islamist support-ers of deposed president Mo-hamed Mursi ahead of elections later this year.

Yesterday’s verdict related to an attack on Shafi q’s campaign headquarters ahead of the presi-dential runoff against the Mus-lim Brotherhood’s Mursi in the 2012 election.

The Cairo court convicted them of “displaying force” and

setting fi re to the building dur-ing the attack, charges they had denied.

“The ruling was political,” Mona Seif said after the verdict was announced. She said there was no evidence or witnesses to back up the ruling against the dozen defendants.

The case was brought last year by a public prosecutor appointed by Mursi. At the time, activists said it was an attempt to intimi-date the pro-democracy move-ment.

Since the military overthrew Mursi in July, the army-backed authorities have launched a crackdown on dissent that has mostly targeted Mursi’s Islamist supporters but has recently wid-ened to include members of the secular activist movement.

Initiating the new probe, the public prosecutor referred for-mal legal complaints against six activists to the State Security prosecutor for investigation, a judicial offi cial said.

The complaints relate to the

2011 storming by protesters of the headquarters of State Secu-rity, the domestic spying agency that was an important tool of political control in Mubarak’s era. Critics likened it to East Germany’s Stasi.

The complaints were lodged after a privately-owned Egyp-tian satellite channel broadcast what it said were recordings of telephone conversations in which the activists discuss fi les found at State Security offi ces.

The complaints were fi led by

several people including lawyers who volunteered to defend Mu-barak in the case brought against him for ordering the killing of pro-testers during the 2011 uprising.

The accused include Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel - two of three prominent activ-ists sentenced on December 22 to three years in prison each over for their role in recent protests.

That ruling drew condemna-tion from Western governments and local and international rights groups.

Tunisia MPshalt debateafter ‘death threat’ claim AFPTunis

Debate on Tunisia’s new constitution was sus-pended yesterday after a

deputy claimed he had received death threats because a col-league accused him of being an “enemy of Islam”.

The outburst came a day after the National Constituent Assem-bly (NCA) adopted articles making Islam the state religion but guaran-teeing freedom of conscience.

Yesterday’s row broke out af-ter Mongi Rahoui, from the left-wing Popular Front, accused Habib Ellouze of the Islamist ruling party Ennahda of saying he was an enemy of Islam.

Such words are not taken lightly in Tunisia, where the suspected assassination by mili-tant Salafi st Muslims last year of two opposition politicians threw the country into a political crisis that has still not been resolved.

A police source said security measures for Rahoui had been stepped up from Saturday night because of the alleged threats.

Addressing Ellouze, a hardline Ennahda member known for his controversial comments, Rahoui asked: “How much more blood must there be before we under-stand that we are united (under Islam)?

“I tell you that I am a Muslim; that my father, my mother, my grandfather and my people are Muslims.

“What (Ellouze) said yesterday, that I am an enemy of Islam, has led to death threats against me.”

Ellouze had been quoted by a radio station on Saturday as say-ing Rahoui is “known for his ani-mosity toward religion”.

He said his words had been misinterpreted and apologised to Rahoui.

A number of secular opposi-

tion deputies angrily protested that such words could spell the same fate for Rahoui as befell Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi last year.

Ennahda’s detractors accused the moderate Islamist party of failing to rein in the Salafi sts.

Yesterday’s session began at 1100 GMT, and was suspended twice.

Following the exchange be-tween Rahoui and Ellouze, some deputies demanded that the as-sembly vote again on an amend-ment rejected on Saturday that would make it a crime to accuse someone of apostasy.

Deliberations were to resume later, with deputies wrapping up the chapter on civil rights.

They were then set to move on to discuss forming an electoral commission to oversee elections later this year.

Elected in October 2011, the NCA had been due to have draft-ed and adopted the text within one year.

But its work was delayed by deep divisions between Ennahda and the opposition, aggravated by a rise in Islamist attacks and sometimes violent social unrest.

Voting on the constitution comes amid concerns that a January 14 deadline for its adop-tion may not be met because of repeated disruptions.

It was on January 14, 2011, that ousted dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his family fl ed the country for exile in Saudi Arabia.

To be adopted, the constitu-tion will need approval by two-thirds of the assembly’s 217 members. Otherwise, it will have to be put to a referendum.

Prime Minister Ali Larayedh has agreed to resign, handing power to a transitional premier, Mohamed Jomaa, but insists that the constitution and an electoral law be in place fi rst to pave the way for elections.

South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei (centre) gives a press conference alongside other delegation members in Addis Ababa yesterday.

S Sudan battles rage astruce talks face hurdles The renewed fighting comes as East African diplomats struggle to get both sides, who have sent negotiation teams to Addis Ababa, to start formal negotiations on a ceasefire

AFPJuba

Government forces and rebels fought fresh bat-tles across South Su-

dan yesterday, vowing to step up their off ensives as regional peace brokers struggled to get ceasefi re talks off the ground.

With the nation teetering on the edge of all-out civil war less than three years after gaining independence from Khartoum, Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was expected in the capital Juba today for talks with his counterpart Salva Kiir.

After a night of heavy gunfi re in Juba, more residents could be seen trying to get transport south to Uganda, adding to the nearly 200,000 people who

have already been displaced by the three-week-old confl ict.

Army spokesman Philip Aguer also reported ongo-ing clashes in oil-producing Unity and Upper Nile states in the north, saying that govern-ment forces were advancing on the two state capitals of Bentiu and Malakal, currently in rebel hands, as well as Bor, capital of Jonglei state just north of the capital.

“The SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) forces are ad-vancing from the northern part of Bentiu. We will try to do our constitutional duty... sooner or later our target is Bentiu,” Aguer told reporters.

“It’s a matter of time, our forces are advancing towards Bor,” he said, claiming that the rebels “realise they are fi ght-ing a useless war” and saying government forces were a mere 15km from the town.

Rebel spokesman Moses Ruai, however, insisted that it was anti-government fi ght-ers who were advancing on the capital.

“Our forces are well organ-ised. They are not just hit and run. The next target is now Juba but I cannot tell you exactly when they will attack Juba, but they are heading there,” he said.

The confl ict in South Sudan erupted on December 15, pitting army units loyal to Kiir against a loose alliance of ethnic militia forces and mutinous army com-manders nominally headed by Riek Machar, a former vice pres-ident who was sacked last July.

Machar denies allegations that he started the confl ict by attempting a coup, and in turn accuses the president of or-chestrating a violent purge.

Fighting now grips much of South Sudan, which won inde-pendence only in 2011. UN offi -cials say they believe thousands of people have already been killed, and both sides are alleged to have committed atrocities.

UN peacekeeping bases have also been overwhelmed with civilians seeking shelter, many of them fl eeing ethnic violence pitting Kiir’s Dinka community against Machar’s Nuer tribe.

The renewed fi ghting came as East African diplomats strug-gled to get both sides, who have sent negotiation teams to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, to start formal negotiations on a ceasefi re.

Offi cials said the chief ne-gotiators for both sides held another face-to-face meet-ing yesterday, and had fi nally agreed on an agenda for the ceasefi re negotiations—which had been expected to begin ear-lier in the day only to be held up by what one offi cial described as “protocol issues”.

South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei said the two sides were now wait-ing for IGAD—the regional bloc brokering the talks—to present a plan for the negotiations, which according to diplomats were now expected to get under way today.

A key sticking point appears to be rebel and international de-mands that the South Sudanese government release 11 offi cials close to Machar so they can par-ticipate in the peace eff ort.

The South Sudanese govern-ment repeated earlier yesterday that the rebel suspects would not be freed and should face justice.

“His attempt to overthrow a democratically elected govern-ment is an established fact... but the way the international community is handling it is rather strange,” Makuei told re-porters.

Sudan’s state-owned Om-durman radio announced that Bashir, who battled the SPLA for two decades before giving in to the south’s statehood aspira-tions, was due to “discuss the crisis in the South” with Kiir today.

US Secretary of State John Kerry urged rival southern fac-tions not to use the Addis talks for buying time.

“Negotiations have to be se-rious, they cannot be a delay, (a) gimmick in order to continue the fi ghting and try to fi nd ad-vantage on the ground at the expense of the people of South Sudan,” Kerry told reporters while on a visit to Jerusalem.

Migrants stage hugeIsrael protest march AFPTel Aviv

More than 30,000 Afri-can asylum seekers who entered Israel illegally

protested in Tel Aviv yesterday, police said, in the biggest rally ever staged by migrants in the Jewish state.

“More than 30,000 demon-strators marched peacefully in Tel Aviv,” police spokeswoman Lubra Samri said.

Gathered in the coastal city’s central Rabin Square, the protest-ers sharply criticised Israel’s re-fusal to give them refugee status and the detention without trial of hundreds of asylum seekers.

“We are all refugees” and “Yes to freedom, no to prison!” they chanted in English, with Israeli rights activists also joining the march.

Ultra-Orthodox MP Eli Yishai, the hardline former inte-rior minister who in 2012 led the government campaign to round

up and deport tens of thousands of illegal migrants, denounced the protest.

Yishai said that the “infi ltra-tors”, as authorities call them, were encouraged by “anti-Zion-ist human rights organisations”.

Rights groups say most Af-rican migrants in Israel cannot be deported because their lives would be under threat if they re-turned to their homes in Sudan and Eritrea.

Yishai told the website of Maariv daily that Tel Aviv, where many of the migrants live, “long ago became an African city”.

He said the demonstration was “a sharp and clear cry for the state of Israel and judicial and law enforcement authorities to apply all the means at their dis-posal to return the infi ltrators to their countries”.

Dawud, an Eritrean asylum-seeker at the protest, said: “We have fl ed persecution, dictator-ships, civil wars and genocides.

“Instead of considering us refugees, Israel treats us like

criminals,” he added, without giving his full name.

Dawud said the demonstra-tors intended to head for the UN refugee agency’s Tel Aviv offi ce and foreign embassies in the city in further rallies today.

Many illegal immigrants, who are often employed in menial jobs in restaurants and hotels, also launched a three-day strike in several Israeli cities yesterday.

Under legislation passed on De-cember 10, authorities can detain illegal immigrants entering Israel for up to a year without trial.

The same month a sprawling detention facility named “Holot” or “Sands” opened in southern Israel’s Negev desert to house ille-gals crossing the nearby Egyptian border and for immigrants already in the country deemed to have disturbed public order.

The moves triggered protest marches by migrants, includ-ing inmates who are allowed out during the day but locked in at night, but yesterday’s was the largest demonstration by far. Thousands of African asylum seekers demonstrate in Tel Aviv yesterday.

Ravalomanana’sparty warns ofprotests afterrival’s poll win AFPAntananarivo

The party of Madagascar’s ousted president Marc Ravalomanana on Satur-

day warned the electoral panel it would face “the people’s wrath” if it declares electoral victory for the rival camp.

The outgoing leadership’s candidate, Hery Rajaonarimam-pianina, won 53.5% of the vote in a December 20 presidential run-off , according to offi cial results.

But his rival, Robinson Jean Louis, fi led several challenges with the Special Electoral Court (SEC), claiming the ballot was rigged in favour of strongman Andry Rajoelina’s man.

“You in the SEC... don’t think you can swindle the people,” Ro-land Ravatomanga, the leader of Ravalomanana’s movement, said at gathering in the capital An-tananarivo.

“We do not intend to terrorise

you or threaten you but we are just warning you: beware for you might incur the people’s wrath,” he added. “Don’t make us do an-ything silly.”

“We have a trusted jurist sit-ting on the SEC. If we fi nd out ahead of time that it’s not going our way, we are sorry to say that the people will rise up,” he told a crowd of Ravalomanana sup-porters in Malagasy.

Speaking in French to foreign reporters moments later, he was more measured. “I never called for street protests,” he said.

“If the population wants to take to the streets, it is not our duty to stop them, it is their right,” he added.

A top police offi cial warned against incitement.

Incumbent president Rajoe-lina seized power from his rival Ravalomanana with the backing of the army in 2009, sending the country’s economy into free-fall.

According to the World Bank, the ensuing crisis cost the Indian Ocean island nation at least $8bn.

The island’s two main political players - Rajoelina and Ravalo-manana - were barred from run-ning in the polls amid fears of a return to violence.

They instead backed proxy candidates who went head-to-head in a run-off poll last month after an inconclusive fi rst round in October.

Despite the mud-slinging, international observers gave the vote the green light and called on the parties to respect the elec-toral process.

Nigerian leader battlesfor political survival President Goodluck Jonathan is struggling ahead of election campaign

AFPAbuja

Nigeria’s President Good-luck Jonathan is fac-ing an uphill battle if

he seeks re-election next year, after a series of unprecedented setbacks that have raised doubts about his political survival.

The perceived damage to the 56-year-old’s stock has led to questions about whether he can bounce back and whether his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) could be heading for its fi rst na-tional electoral defeat.

Last month, Nigeria’s former head of state Olusegun Obasanjo accused Jonathan in a critical, 18-page open letter of failing to tackle widespread corruption and piracy as well as kidnapping and rampant oil theft.

He even claimed that Jonath-an was training a private militia to silence critics on a political “hit list.”

The dust had hardly settled on the resulting row when the PDP lost its parliamentary major-ity, as 37 lawmakers in the lower

House of Representatives joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Some PDP members of the upper house Senate are now ex-pected to follow suit, handing a further potential advantage to the main opposition, just as par-ties gear up to hit the campaign trail.

“I think he (Jonathan) is a very weakened president at the moment,” said political analyst Clement Nwankwo, director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, in the capital Abuja.

“He’s been a failure and he re-ally has to do a lot to win back popular support,” Nwankwo said.

Political commentator Dapo Thomas suggested that with the PDP riven with in-fi ghting, it was now make or break time for Jonathan.

“He has to choose between the service of the party and the realisation of the damage of his own political ambition,” said Thomas, from Lagos State Uni-versity.

“He has to drop one and allow the party mechanism to operate freely.”

Jonathan, a Christian from southern Bayelsa state, stepped up from vice-president to be-

come acting head of state in February 2010 when Umaru Yar’Adua fell ill.

He took over the top job after Yar’Adua’s death, going on to secure a popular mandate in the 2011 presidential elections.

Jonathan has yet to announce whether he will run for re-elec-tion in 2015.

But he has been accused of ignoring an unwritten PDP rule that presidential candidates ro-tate between Nigeria’s mainly

Muslim north and the Christian majority south.

That issue is seen as a con-tributory factor to the defection of fi ve high-profi le state gover-nors to the APC in November, which in turn prompted law-makers to cross the fl oor.

He is also widely seen as hav-ing failed to address major con-cerns about graft, inadequate development and poor infra-structure, and to end the bloody Islamist insurgency in northern Nigeria.

The president vaunted his government’s achievements of sustained economic growth and job creation in his New Year’s message while the PDP denied it was irretrievably damaged.

The recent defections were an example of democracy in action, said national publicity secretary Olisah Metuh, even as the APC hailed the apparent shift in the balance of power as a new dawn for Africa’s most populous na-tion.

“We have seen movement on one side maybe in the last quar-ter of last year,” he added.

“Let’s wait until April. Maybe the PDP will be larger that it was before.

“In 2014, we are predicting that the PDP will be larger than

it was before. Don’t forget that the PDP got the people elected. It’s a party that Nigerians love.”

Nwankwo acknowledged the opposition’s hand had been strengthened but said the defec-tions were still no guarantee of electoral success and presiden-tial power could yet help swing support back to the PDP.

Nevertheless, he suggested the problems may have reached such a point that recovery was impossible, forcing Jonathan to make way for another candidate.

Thomas said the longer the president failed to tackle the is-sue, the more damage it would do to the PDP.

Jonathan needed to rule out standing again as soon as possi-ble and remove the party chair-man Bamanga Tukur, who is seen as having been parachuted in as the president’s man, he added.

“It’s better that he does it now so he can save the party,” said Thomas, who lectures in inter-national relations and history.

“I don’t see the party’s for-tunes improving. I see continu-ous decline of the party because the defections are going to con-tinue to be on the increase for as long as this disenchantment persists.”

A car full of people and their belongings in the PK 9 district flee from Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic yesterday. A hand grenade attack on a Bangui market yesterday injured four people, including two women and a Burundian soldier from MISCA, the African force deployed in the Central African Republic. More than 1,000 people have been killed in the past month and nearly a million people have been displaced since the coup that installed ex-rebel leader Michel Djotodia as the country’s first Muslim president.

Residents flee Bangui

Senegal to fi ne Russian ship for ‘fi shing illegally’: minister AFPDakar

Senegal plans to slap a fi ne of about €600,000 on a Russian ship for repeatedly

fi shing illegally in its waters, its fi sheries minister said yesterday.

The trawler arrived in Dakar overnight Saturday under mili-tary escort after the Senegalese navy boarded the vessel off the Atlantic coast.

“The Oleg Naydenov, this big fi shing boat which you see behind me and which is 120m long ... was fi shing fraudulently, without any authorisation in Senegalese waters,” minister Haidar El-Ali told the press at Dakar’s Marine pier.

The ship is currently “in the hands of the Senegalese govern-ment, under the control of the national navy and the national police,” he added.

Senegal can seize the ship and its cargo and impose a maxi-mum fine of 200mn CFA francs (nearly €305,000 /$414,000)

for the offence, said the min-ister.

But because the Oleg Nayde-nov is a repeat off ender, it “will be fi ned twice as much, 400mn CFA francs.”

Senegal “can also take this case to the courts because (the ship’s captain) would not obey” orders before the Oleg Naydenov was boarded by the navy.

“This only made it worse ... They are thugs and we will fi ght these thugs,” said the minister.

During his visit, armed sol-diers could be seen on board the vessel and nearby.

Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency said the ship had 62 Rus-sians and 20 Guinea Bissau na-tionals on board.

Yesterday, journalists could see three Russians and several African sailors but were neither allowed to speak to them nor board the trawler.

Ali said the ship had fi rst been spotted in Senegalese waters by a French military plane that assists the country’s DPSP fi shing con-trol and protection agency.

It was stopped off southern Senegal, “in a joint area which we share with Guinea-Bissau.” Senegal then sent a “commando which forced them to come here” to Dakar, after the captain would not obey orders.

Ali said Senegal was planning to adopt a decree so foreign ships “that pillage our resources can be seized and become Senegalese state property.”

He also quoted a US Agency for International Development fi gure that put Senegalese losses because of illegal fi shing at 150bn CFA francs a year.

“There are about 50 such ships operating off our coast, entering (Senegalese territorial waters) fraudulently from time to time. We will not allow this,” said Ali.

Senegal has for years been bat-tling to contain unauthorised fi shing by foreign trawlers in its waters, which has been blamed for depleting fi sh stocks, under-mining the environment and en-dangering the livelihoods of local small-scale fi shermen.

Bomb blast wounds one in Kenyan capital AFPNairobi

One person was wounded on Saturday when an im-provised bomb exploded

in the Kenyan capital, police said, in a shop in Nairobi’s mainly eth-nic Somali district Eastleigh.

The attack is the latest of a series of bomb or grenade blasts in Kenya.

“One person has been wound-ed... a person of Somali origin left luggage containing an im-provised explosive device in a shop,” Nairobi police chief Ben-son Kibue said.

“We are appealing to residents to help us get him.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

However, since Kenyan troops invaded southern Somalia in Oc-tober 2011 to help oust the neigh-bouring country’s Al Qaeda-

linked Shebaab insurgents, it has been hit by a series of attacks.

Homegrown groups includ-ing the Islamist Al-Hijra group, a radical organisation formerly known as the Muslim Youth Centre, operate in Kenya and have been linked to the Shebaab.

Grenades have been hurled into restaurants in crowded areas in Nairobi as well as on the popu-lar tourist Indian Ocean coast, and there has been a string of attacks in the remote northeast region bordering Somalia.

Ten people were wounded on Thursday when attackers hurled a grenade into a restaurant in a popular coastal tourist resort town of Diani.

The Shebaab claimed the bru-tal September assault on Nai-robi’s upmarket Westgate mall in which at least 67 people died in a four-day siege of the shopping centre popular with foreigners.

Ravatomanga: warning

Jonathan: faces uphill battle

The Russian trawler Oleg Naïdenov is moored in Dakar yesterday. The ship was boarded after it was observed illegally fishing in Senegalese waters near the border with Guinea Bissau.

AFRICA11

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 2014

AMERICAS

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 201412

JFK halts fl ights

after plane skids

into snowbank

A plane skidded into a snowbank yesterday in freezing conditions at

New York’s John F Kennedy Air-port, which temporarily ceased operations because of the icy conditions, offi cials said.

The airport was closed at 8:32am (1332 GMT) after a Delta Airlines jet from Toronto slid into snow on a taxiway, offi cials including at the Port Authority, which manages the airport, said.

There were no injuries to the 35 people on board, according to ABC News.

The airport, which handles international and domestic fl ights and is one of the largest in the US, reopened shortly before 11:00am.

Many fl ights were delayed by nearly two hours while around 15 fl ights were cancell ed, accord-ing to the air traffi c monitoring website fl ightaware.com.

There were also delays at the nearby LaGuardia and Newark airports.

On Saturday, a small plane made an emergency landing on a highway in the Bronx borough of New York, injuring the pilot and two passengers, as the area bat-tled a bitter cold snap.

The single-engine propel-ler plane landed around 3:20pm (2020 GMT) in the Major Deegan Expressway’s northbound lane near 233rd Street, the New York City Fire Department said on its Twitter feed.

The situation was “under control,” it added, noting that no cars were aff ected and that there

was no fi re or fuel spilled. Fire-fi ghters removed the plane’s fuel before moving it to avoid the risk of a blaze.

The injured, two men and one woman, left the plane and were taken to St Barnabas Hos-pital with injuries that were not life-threatening, authori-ties said.

One had a serious injury and the other two suff ered minor in-juries. One of the injured was the pilot, though authorities would not confi rm his or her identity.

“The plane was forced to make an emergency landing due to some sort of engine trouble,” FDNY spokesman Khalid Baylor said.

“The plane then made a land-ing onto the highway and did not damage any vehicles, did not cause any injuries to any peo-ple on the ground. The FDNY safely offl oaded the jet fuel and the plane was removed from the highway.”

He said Department of Trans-portation workers who hap-pened to be on the scene doing some highway repair at the time noticed the plane coming in on landing and helped stop traffi c with their rig.

Drivers experienced some major delays on the highway, which has three lanes on both sides.

A spokeswoman from New York’s Offi ce of Emergency Management said the plane had departed from Danbury, Con-necticut for a tour around the Statue of Liberty.

The plane was a 1966 Piper PA-28-180, according to Fed-eral Aviation Administration records.

AFPNew York

Delta airline planes sit on the tarmac at JFK Airport, New York, yesterday. A Delta Connection 4100 plane carrying 35 people from Toronto landed safely yesterday morning and skidded off of runway 22L and into a snowbank at JFK airport.

‘Life-threatening’ coldbites the US Midwest

Residents of the Midwest-ern US yesterday braced for the coldest weather in

two decades, temperatures that forecasters warned would be life-threatening.

Icy conditions snarled travel across the region and thousands of fl ights were cancelled or de-layed, some offi cials preemp-tively closed schools, and at a New York City airport a plane skidded off a runway into snow days after the Northeast was

hammered by the fi rst winter storm of the season.

“The coldest temperatures in almost two decades will spread into the northern and central US today behind an arctic cold front,” the National Weather Service said in an advisory posted on its website yesterday. “Combined with gusty winds, these temperatures will result in life-threatening wind chill val-ues as low as 60 degrees below zero (F/ -51C).”

In weather that cold, frostbite can set in on uncovered skin in a matter of minutes, experts warned.

But fans of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers vowed to brave the weather to see a playoff match-up that could stand as one of the coldest ever games in league history.

In Green Bay, Wisconsin, football fan Jacquie Tucker Braun, 44, was undaunted by a

forecast for temperatures be-low 0F (-18C) when the Packers match up with the San Francisco 49ers at 3:40 CT (2140 GMT).

“It’s going to be a challenge to stay warm, but we’re up to it,” said Braun, who plans to bring her 14-year-old son Gryphon to the game. She is bundling up for the game, wearing four lay-ers on top and three layers on the bottom, along with a two pairs of socks and two pairs of gloves.

“We will see the game to the end unless there was some type of emergency,” she said. “Being a Packers fan is in your blood, hereditary even.”

Offi cials at the Packers’ Lam-beau Field promised fans two free hot cocoa or coff ee drinks during the game, ESPN report-ed.

Elsewhere in the Midwest, forecasters warned Chicago and Indianapolis could see over-

night lows of -12F (-24C), Min-neapolis -29F (-34C) and Fargo, North Dakota, -31F (-35C). The coldest temperature reported in the lower 48 states yesterday was -36F (-38C) in Crane Lake, Minnesota, according to the National Weather Service.

The northeast was forecast to see a brief thaw before intense cold returned late today.

About half of all fl ights ar-riving and departing Chicago O’Hare International Airport had been cancelled yester-day, according to FlightAware, which tracks fl ight statistics.

Nationwide, about 2,855 fl ights had been delayed na-tionwide by midday and 2,332 had been cancelled.

In New York City, John F Kennedy International Airport was closed for a couple of hours yesterday morning after a Bom-bardier jet skidded off a taxiway soon after landing. The Delta

Connection fl ight had landed safely after arriving from To-ronto with 35 passengers on board, and no injuries were re-ported, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which runs the airport, said.

Offi cials in several states asked residents to use extra pre-cautions when outdoors.

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has ordered all public schools in the state closed today to protect children from dan-gerously cold weather.

Chicago schools will be open today despite the cold, but of-fi cials, in a statement, advised parents to “use their own dis-cretion in deciding whether to send their child to school.”

Between 6in and 1ft (15-30 cm) of snow was predicted from Chicago to Detroit, Ac-cuWeather said, while icy sleet and rain was forecast for much of the Northeast.

Millions of people in the US hunkered down yesterday in anticipation of brutal weather from a dangerous Arctic blast that forecasters warn could send freezing temperatures plummeting to record lows

ReutersMilwaukee

Rescue workers are seen around a small plane that landed on the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx, New York, on Saturday. Three people were reportedly injured in the accident and there was no word on the cause of the emergency landing at this time.

Senator wants lightpunishment ofSnowden for leaks

The public debate over the fate of former Na-tional Security Agency

contractor Edward Snowden intensifi ed yesterday with con-servative US Senator Rand Paul calling for a light prison term as punishment for Snowden’s disclosure of information on government surveillance pro-grams.

Paul, a Republican, said in an interview on ABC’s This Week that Snowden does not de-serve the death penalty or life in prison for the leaks, which have rattled the US intelligence community, not to mention an American public that had been unaware of the extent of NSA data collection.

Instead, Paul spoke favour-ably of “some penalty of a few years in prison” if Snowden were to return to the US from Russia, where he currently is living, to face trial.

Paul, a freshman senator from Kentucky and a Tea Party favourite who has his eye on running for president in 2016, made his remarks a few days after a New York Times editorial said Snowden had done the US “a great service” in divulging details of NSA surveillance.

The newspaper said the US government should off er Snowden “a plea bargain or some form of clemency that would allow him to return home.”

Senator Charles Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, also on ABC, said Snowden should return to stand trial but that the US should not off er a plea bargain to him.

Schumer said a trial could help clarify several issues, including whether the vast amounts of data being collect-ed by the NSA actually help the US root out terrorists and how much damage Snowden’s leaks have done to American intelli-gence agents.

Last month, a federal judge criticised the NSA’s metadata counter-terrorism program, saying that he could not im-agine a more “indiscriminate” and “arbitrary invasion.”

The Obama administration on Friday appealed that court’s ruling: that the NSA’s gather-ing of Americans’ telephone records was probably uncon-stitutional.

ReutersWashington

US population growthslowest since 1930s

US population growth has slowed to levels not seen since the Great Depres-

sion, according to data released this week by the US census bu-reau.

The US population was ex-pected to grow just 0.7% in 2013, to arrive at 317,297,938 people on New Year’s Day 2014. That rate was down from 0.73% in 2010-2011 and much lower than the 1.2% growth rate of the 1990s, a decade of economic expansion.

The US has not seen such slow growth since the Depression era of 1933-1937, according to Wil-liam Frey, a demographics expert and senior fellow at the Brook-ings Institution.

“Up until 2008, really we didn’t see those growth rates change much,’’ Frey said. “This

sharp bump that we’ve seen in the last few years does sug-gest that the economy has a lot to do with it.’’ But average an-nual growth, Frey said, is a “fairly crude measure’’ that can miss the underlying infl uence of im-migration laws and changing cultural and social mores.

“In the Great Depression era, migration laws were stricter in the late teens and early to mid-20s,’’ he said. “You had lower fertility rates as well, with the very dire circumstances’’ of many families.

From 1932-1933, population growth settled at 0.59%, creep-ing to 0.60% in 1937, according to census bureau fi gures.

Declining unemployment and other recent signs of economic life have yet to register on the population scales. Real GDP growth picked up in 2011 af-ter declining sharply in the fi rst decade of the new millennium,

from nearly 1% a year in 2000 to just more than 0.3% in 2010.

Regional population trends show more people appearing in the south and west, and fewer appearing in the Midwest and Northeast, a continuation of long-term patterns. The south was estimated to host 37.4% of the population in July 2013, up from 35.6% in 2000. The north-east’s share was estimated to have shrunk to 17.7%, from 19.0% in 2000.

In a developing demograph-ics horse race, Florida appears poised to overtake New York in the near future as the third-most-populous state. The Sun-shine State, currently fourth, grew 2.7% between April 2010 and July 2012, while the Empire State grew only 1.0%. The na-tional average for the period was 1.7%. Far out front for head count was California, with an estimat-ed 38.3mn residents by July 2013, the latest available fi gures. Texas was No 2 with 26.4mn.

The state charting the most growth was North Dakota, which jumped 7.6% from 2010-2013. The discovery in 2008 of un-tapped oil and gas reserves in the state has attracted so many new arrivals that longtime residents of towns fueled by the boom are moving out to make room.

The census bureau estimates that there is one birth on average in the US every eight seconds, and one death every 12 seconds. And with one international mi-grant added every 40 seconds, the country gains one person about every 15 seconds.

By Tom McCarthyNew York

Actors Dwayne Clark, Christina DeCicco, Justin Matthew Sar-gent, Robert Cuccioli, and Michael Mulheren take a curtain call at the final performance of Broadway’s Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark at Foxwoods Theater on Saturday in New York City.

Taking a curtain call

Edward Snowden: call for a light prison term.

The census bureau estimates that there is one birth on average in the United States every eight seconds.

AMERICA13Gulf Times

Monday, January 6, 2014

Battle over GMO labelling rumbling in US

A GMO labelling battle is rumbling in the US, with those demanding full dis-

closure of genetically modifi ed organisms in food products pit-ted against big companies.

Although some giants such as General Mills have recently taken timid steps toward being more upfront with consumers, the US, unlike some 60 other countries, lacks a legal requirement to do so.

Still, in the world’s larg-est economy, where almost all soy, sugar beet, corn and can-ola crops are genetically engi-neered, bills requiring labelling for GMO foods were introduced

in 26 states last year. But only Maine and Connecti-

cut approved such measures and have yet to implement them.

Alaska adopted a law in 2005 requiring labelling of genetically engineered salmon, whose safety for human consumption is still being studied by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Elsewhere measures have been defeated, notably in the state of Washington, where voters nar-rowly rejected GMO labelling. Other proposals are near death or languishing in legislative com-mittees.

But supporters of GMO label-ling of food insist they are unfazed and determined to shore up more support.

“We expect even more states

this year” to join the battle, par-ticularly Oregon and Colorado, said, Colin O’Neil of the Center for Food Safety, a nonprofi t organ-isation that opposes GMO foods.

While one bill in Vermont was likely to pass this month, two senators were working on federal legislation, he said.

The labelling of genetically en-gineered foods is “an issue that exploded last year at the state level” due to consumer pressure, according to O’Neil.

A recent New York Times poll found that 93% of Americans want GMO food to be labeled.

For O’Neil, “the tipping point came with the California ballot initiative” on GMO labelling that was narrowly rejected in 2012 due to a costly counter-campaign by

large multinationals. Agrochemical giants such as

DuPont, Monsanto, Syngenta, and BASF, joined by food be-hemoths including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Kraft Foods ponied up a combined $46mn for ad-vertising and other means to convince voters to reject the pro-posal.

The anti-GMO side spent $9mn.

“That sent a tremendous sig-nal to consumers,” O’Neil said. “Many were unaware that com-panies would spend so much to keep consumers in the dark.”

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents leading food, beverage and con-sumer products companies, said the organisation has maintained

“strong support for a federal so-lution” regarding standards for the safety and labelling of GMO foods and beverages.

“Our nation’s food safety and labelling laws and regulations should not be determined by political campaigns or through a patchwork of state laws,” spokesman Brian Kennedy told AFP.

The GMA argues it agrees with the FDA and other agencies, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, that foods and beverages con-taining genetically engineered ingredients are safe and that la-belling would be costly for small farmers, as well as the agencies verifying them.

But there are small signs the

issue is making its way to the front burner. General Mills an-nounced on Thursday that it would make its popular Original Cheerios breakfast cereal without GMOs, and US consumers would see it labeled as such.

“We did it because we think consumers may embrace it,” the company said. “But it’s not about safety.”

However, General Mills, whose brands include Haagen-Dazs ice cream and Yoplait yogurt, said that for other varieties of Cheerios it will not be able to forgo GMOs.

“The widespread use of GM seed in crops such as corn, soy, or beet sugar would make reliably moving to non-GM ingredients diffi cult, if not impossible.”

A few other companies have

also addressed the GMO labelling issue lately.

Supermarket chain Trader Joe’s says it sells only non-GMO prod-ucts.

Meanwhile upscale grocer Whole Foods, which sells a large amount of organic produce, plans to label genetically engineered products - but only as of 2018.

As for fast food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill, it has started listing genetically engineered ingredi-ents on its website.

“Our goal is to eliminate GMOs from Chipotle’s ingredients, and we’re working hard to meet this challenge,” it says.

But “there is currently not a vi-able supply of responsibly raised meats and dairy from animals raised without GMO feed.”

AFPNew York

Film producerZaentz dies at 92

Film producer Saul Za-entz, winner of best pic-ture Oscars for One Flew

Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ama-deus and The English Patient, has died at age 92, US media reported on Saturday.

Zaentz died due to compli-cations from Alzheimer’s dis-ease at his home in San Fran-cisco on Friday, his nephew Paul Zaentz told the Los Ange-les Times.

“He was an extraordi-nary man,” Paul Zaentz, who worked with his uncle for 37 years, told the Hollywood Re-porter. “He had a lot of guts, a lot of integrity.”

Zaentz, who began in the music business before mov-ing into films, was known for

producing highbrow movies, and even ran his independent film production company from Berkeley - near San Francisco - to keep a distance from Hol-lywood.

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), co-produced with actor Michael Douglas, starred Jack Nicholson as a patient at a mental institution. The movie won five Oscars, including best director for Milos Forman.

Zaentz and Forman teamed up again for Amadeus (1984) about the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The movie won eight Oscars, including best picture, best director and best actor for F. Murray Abra-ham.

For The English Patient (1996), a drama set in World War II, Zaentz teamed up with director Anthony Minghella. The movie won nine Oscars,

including best picture and best director.

On Oscar award night in 1977 Zaentz was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for lifetime achievement.

Other movies that Zaentz had a role producing include The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991), and Goya’s Ghosts (2006). He also produced an animated version of The Lord of the Rings (1978).

Earlier in his career Zaentz made a fortune with Fan-tasy Records, a label that he bought, which represented jazz musicians and rock group Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Later however Zaentz was involved in bitter and lengthy litigation with Creedence singer John Fogerty over the rights to several of the group’s hit songs.

AFPLos Angeles

Congress tobegin 2014with joblessbenefi ts battle

The US Congress begins what promises to be an-other highly combative

year today with a showdown over a White House-backed bid to renew unemployment ben-efi ts for 1.3mn Americans.

The battle will kick off a 2014 drive by President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats to stem a growing gap between rich and poor.

The Democrat-led Senate plans to escalate the fi ght in coming weeks by bringing up for a vote a bill to increase the federal minimum wage, which has stood at $7.25 an hour since July 2009. Democrats want the minimum wage to rise over three years to $10.10 and then be in-dexed to infl ation in the future.

“We are trying to catch up with what the American peo-ple have known for years - that they are working more for less,” Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island said in an inter-view.

Reed is a leading advocate of a minimum wage increase and, along with Republican Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, is spon-soring a bill to restore jobless benefi ts for 1.3mn Americans

and prevent thousands more from soon losing such aid.

The Reed-Heller measure would extend for three months the Emergency Unemployment Compensation programme, which ended on Dec. 28 when its funding expired.

Signed into law in 2008 by Republican President George W Bush, the programme provided the jobless an average of $300 per week for an additional 28 weeks once state benefi ts ended.

Supporters argue that besides helping the unemployed, it boosts the economy as recipients quickly spend their benefi t checks on es-sential goods, helping local retail-ers.

“Providing a safety net for those in need is one of the most important functions of the federal government,” the conservative Heller said in a statement.

It is unclear if legislation to renew the 2008 emergency pro-gramme or increase the minimum wage will muster the needed 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to clear procedural hurdles erected by Republicans.

But if they do, both can expect a steep climb in the Republican-led House of Representatives, which rejected most of Obama’s largely liberal agenda the past three years.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, yes-terday appealed to Republicans to allow the jobless benefi t extension to pass.

“There are 55 of us (Democrats) and 45 of them (Republicans). It

would seem to me that fi ve Re-publicans in the Senate” could join Democrats to provide the necessary 60 votes, Reid said in an interview on CBS’s Face the Na-tion.

Obama also made an urgent pitch for Congress to act. On Saturday, in his weekly address, the president said Republicans should “make it their New Year’s resolution to do the right thing and restore this vital economic security for their constituents right now.”

One conservative Senate Re-publican, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, told ABC’s This Week that he was not opposed to re-newing the benefi t. He added: “I’m opposed to having it without paying for it.”

With an extension of benefi ts costing $6bn for three months, Democrats fear that paying for the program would mean cuts to other domestic programs that already have been under the budget knife.

Paul, like House Speaker John Boehner, the top US Republi-can, also said that any exten-sion should be coupled with new moves to create jobs.

As Obama nears the sixth year of his presidency, he has said he wants to step up eff orts to help the needy. But his appeals drew fi re from Republicans, who see them as attempts to increase taxes, par-ticularly on the rich.

Republicans argue that the best way to spread the wealth is to cre-ate more of it by easing federal regulations and taxes.

First Senate vote today on renewing unemployment checks; minimum wage vote expected within weeks

ReutersWashington

Obamaback to US capital but withoutMichelle

US President Barack Obama arrived back in chilly Washington yes-

terday after a 16-day holiday in his native Hawaii, but his wife Michelle was not with him.

Obama swapped the sun-dappled golf courses of tropical Hawaii for a Washington in the grip of an Arctic cold snap last weekend, and faces a tough po-litical season ahead.

The US president left Hono-lulu’s Joint Base Pearl Har-bor-Hickam on Air Force One just before 9pm on Saturday (0700 GMT yesterday) with his daughters, before arriving in the US capital eight hours later.

“As part of her birthday gift from the president, the First Lady will remain in Hawaii to spend time with friends ahead of her upcoming 50th birth-day,” a brief White House state-ment said. Michelle Obama’s birthday is on January 17.

Obama arrived in Hawaii on December 21 along with Michelle and daughters Sasha, 12, and Malia, 15, and enjoyed several rounds of golf during his stay including with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, a rare vacation encounter with a foreign dignitary.

The Obamas stayed at a rented house near a US Marine Corps base on the northeast-ern coast of the island of Oahu, located about a dozen miles from the state capital Hono-lulu, where Obama was born.

Obama’s approval rating is languishing at near record lows and he is locked in a Cold War with a surly Congress. He needs quick victories in the run-up to his State of the Union address at the end of the month, ob-servers say.

AFPWashington

US President Barack Obama and his daughters Malia and Sasha walk across the South Lawn of the White House after arriving by Marine One, in Washington, DC, yesterday. Obama returns from a two-week holiday in Hawaii.

NY may allow use ofmedical marijuana

New York is planning to loosen its marijuana laws to allow limited use of the

drug by people suff ering serious illness, the New York Times re-ported on Saturday, citing state offi cials.

The newspaper reported on its website that Democratic Gover-nor Andrew Cuomo - a long-time opponent of legalising medical marijuana - was planning to an-nounce the new guideline next week in an executive action.

The decision would see New York mirror a growing list of states which have taken an increasingly progressive stance on marijuana use. Colorado this week became the fi rst US state to legalise the drug for recreational use.

The Times reported that New York’s new policy would be far stricter than in California, which has already loosened its rules on

medical marijuana. In California, people suff ering from mild ail-ments can obtain prescriptions for the drug; in New York it will be made available in only 20 desig-nated hospitals across the state for individuals suff ering from cancer, glaucoma or other diseases.

New York retains some of the most draconian sanctions of any US state for individuals caught dealing or using drugs.

However Cuomo’s apparent policy U-turn would inch it closer to the softer policies that are rap-idly gaining traction in the US.

Saturday’s report said New York hoped to have the infrastruc-ture for dispensing medical mari-juana installed later this year.

The move comes amid a na-tionwide campaign to relax laws on marijuana use which has been buoyed by shifting attitudes on the drug. In October, for the fi rst time in a Gallup poll, a majority of Americans - 58% - said they favored the legalisation of mari-juana.

AFPNew York

Saul Zaentz

ASEAN

Gulf TimesMonday, January 6, 201414

Thai protesters march again in bid to bring down govtReutersBangkok

Thousands of anti-gov-ernment protesters marched through the

Thai capital yesterday, a prelude to a broader action next week when they say they will shut down Bangkok in their bid to scuttle a February election and topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The protesters, who accuse Yingluck of being the puppet of her self-exiled brother and former premier, Thaksin Shina-watra, want an appointed “peo-ple’s council” to oversee a vague reform platform, which in-cludes electoral reform, decen-tralising power, and a volunteer police force, over a 12-month period before any future elec-tion.

The crisis, an outbreak of turmoil stretching back eight years, began in November and has become a drag on the Thai economy. The baht slid on Fri-day to its lowest against the dollar since February 2010 and the benchmark. SETI stock in-dex has lost 15% since early No-vember.

Yingluck, her brother and their support base among the rural poor in the populous north and northeast are pitted against protesters who draw support

from Bangkok’s conservative, royalist elite and middle classes and the south.

Protest leader Suthep Thaug-suban, a fi ery former deputy premier from the main op-position Democrat Party, said marches would be held on Tuesday and Thursday, leading up the Jan 13 “shutdown”.

That event is shaping up

as the biggest confrontation since the latest round of largely peaceful demonstrations be-gan. The protests at times have brought as many as 200,000 people on to the streets, but have also sparked sporadic clashes with police in which three people were killed and scores wounded.

“We will keep walking, we

won’t stop,” Suthep said on the march. “We will walk until we win and we won’t give up.”

Yesterday’s march began at Bangkok’s Democracy Monu-ment, where some supporters had gathered overnight. Suthep said the protesters would set up stages at fi ve rallying points through the city leading up to Jan 13.

Suthep was feted by whis-tle-blowing supporters, many of whom handed him cash as he shook hands and walked through the crowd.

The protesters plan to shut down government offi ces in an attempt to force Yingluck’s ad-ministration to a standstill but, mindful of bloody crackdowns on similar protests, they have also said they will minimise the impact on ordinary Thais and will not target airports.

The protests since November have been the biggest in Thai-land since 2010, when mostly “red shirt” supporters of Thak-sin tried to bring down a Demo-crat-led government.

Those protests led to a mili-tary crackdown in which 91 people were killed.

Yingluck has steadfastly re-fused to bow to the protesters’ demands and is determined that the election, which her Puea Thai Party is almost certain to win, will go ahead.

“I admit that the election may not be a panacea to solve the problems immediately,” Yingluck said in a post on her Facebook page yesterday. “But the election is the best medicine to help solve confl ict under the democratic system.

“I don’t want to see violence as it happened in 2010, or an economic crisis. We should not leave our children to inherit this confl ict,” she said.

The government has vowed to roll out 20,000 police and 20 companies of troops to maintain order during the pro-

tests. Concurrently, the “red shirts” have also promised to hold rallies outside Bangkok to counter the anti-government group.

Thousands of Puea Thai supporters gathered in a Bang-kok suburb on Saturday for the party’s official campaign launch.

Pro-Thaksin parties have won every election since 2001, based on their support among the rural poor who have ben-efited from Thaksin’s populist policies such as cheap health-care, easy credit and subsidies for rice farmers.

The anti-government pro-testers accuse Thaksin of ef-fectively buying their support and manipulating Thailand’s democracy, while also enrich-ing his family and business as-sociates.

The fi rst two years of Yingluck’s government had been relatively smooth until a blunder by her party in No-vember, when it tried to push through an unpopular amnesty bill that would have exonerated Thaksin from a 2008 graft con-viction he says was politically motivated.

Thaksin fl ed into exile shortly before he was sentenced to a two-year jail term.

Despite her determination to press ahead, Yingluck is look-ing more isolated the longer the protests drag on, with interven-tion by the judiciary or a coup-prone military always a possi-bility. Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006.

Anti-government march a prelude to Jan 13 ‘shutdown’; Prime Minister says election ‘the best medicine’

Thai anti-government protesters wave national flags during a rally in the restive southern province of Narathiwat yesterday.

Myanmar agitators call for end to harsh laws AFPYangon

Several thousand people joined a rally in Myanmar’s main city yesterday to call

for the abolition of repressive laws and an end to politically re-lated arrests.

The crowd gathered for about two hours near Yangon City Hall, chanting slogans such as “Give citizens full rights!” and “Freedom!” Myanmar said on December 31 that it was releas-ing its last remaining politi-cal prisoners under a sweeping amnesty.

But about 35 political detain-ees remain locked up despite the pardon, according to activ-ist Pyone Cho of the 88 Gen-eration group which organised the rally. “We do not accept any kind of political arrest,” Pyone Cho said.

President Thein Sein, a former general, has won international praise and the removal of most western sanctions for overseeing new political and civil freedoms.

He had vowed to free all politi-cal prisoners by the end of 2013 and it is unclear why some ap-parently remain behind bars.

Arbitrary imprisonment was a hallmark of nearly half a cen-tury of harsh rule by a junta that denied the existence of politi-cal detainees, even as it imposed harsh punishments on rights ac-tivists, journalists, lawyers and performers.

Cambodian opposition leaders ‘summoned to court’AFPPhnom Penh

Cambodia’s opposition leaders have been summoned to court on suspicion of inciting civil unrest,

their party said, after the government of strongman premier Hun Sen moved to suppress growing street protests.

Hun Sen faces an increasing challenge to his nearly three-decade rule from striking garment workers as well as op-position supporters demanding that he step down and call a new election be-cause of alleged vote fraud.

Police have indefi nitely banned fur-ther rallies, including one which had been planned for yesterday, after several demonstrators were shot dead on Friday.

Cambodia National Rescue Party leader Sam Rainsy and his deputy Kem Sokha have been summoned to Phnom Penh Municipal Court on January 14 for questioning “in the case of incitement to commit criminal off ences or serious social unrest”, according to warrants posted on the opposition website late Saturday. Rainsy told reporters they were ready to defend themselves at the hearing.

“We have done nothing wrong. On the contrary, it will be an opportunity for us to help expose the truth,” he said.

The opposition party has boycotted parliament since the July election, alleg-

ing that Hun Sen was returned to power because of widespread vote-rigging.

The 61-year-old prime minister has ruled for 28 years and vowed to continue until he is 74.

He has faced mounting criticism over his rights record as well as accusations of excessive force against demonstra-tors.

On Friday, police opened fi re on strik-ing garment factory employees de-manding a minimum wage of $160 per month for their work in an industry which supplies brands like Gap, Nike and H&M.

Rights activists said at least four civilians were shot dead in what they described as the country’s worst state violence against its citizens in 15 years.

A day later dozens of security per-sonnel armed with shields and batons chased hundreds of protesters — in-cluding monks, women and children — from their rally base in a park in the capital, according to activists.

Police and civilian thugs “used me-tre-long steel poles to beat and intim-idate the peaceful protesters” before tearing down the rally site, according to the Cambodian League for the Pro-motion and Defense of Human Rights.

Freedom Park, also known as De-mocracy Park, was opened by the gov-ernment in 2010 as a designated area for people to air their grievances, and protesters had occupied the site since

last month as part of demonstrations against the contested election.

An estimated 20,000 or more oppo-sition supporters took to the streets of the capital a week ago to demand Hun Sen step down.

Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian Peo-ple’s Party (CPP) realises that it faces an “unprecedented threat” from a growing alliance between the factory workers and the opposition, Rainsy said. “This is a matter of survival for the CPP,” he added.

Rainsy returned from self-exile in July after a royal pardon for convic-tions he denounced as politically mo-tivated, but he was barred from run-ning in the election the same month.

He declined to reveal what the op-position’s next move would be follow-ing the crackdown.

But he said it would seek to draw on the strength of its growing support from factory workers.

“When the workers go back to their village they convince their family to support the opposition.”

Disputes over wages and safety con-ditions are common in Cambodia’s multibillion dollar garment industry, which has brought buoyant economic growth to what is still one of Asia’s poorest countries.

The sector employs about 650,000 people and is a key source of foreign in-come.

Sam Rainsy (centre), president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), smiles during a Buddhist ceremony held for the garment workers who were killed during violent clashes with armed authorities this week at the party off ice in Phnom Penh yesterday.

Artistes, dressed in national costumes of Vietnam and Cambodia and waving Vietnamese (left) and Cambodian (right) national flags, perform at an event commemorating the 35th anniversary of the January 7, 1979 toppling of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge in Hanoi yesterday. About 1.7mn people are believed to have died in the “Killing Fields” of the ultra-Maoist guerrillas, whose four-year reign of terror was brought to an end in 1979 by troops from neighbouring Vietnam.

Anniversary celebration Australian

woman,

daughter die

DPAJakarta

An Australian woman and her 14-year-old daughter died of uncertain causes

on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, police said yesterday.

The mother died Saturday while being taken by an ambulance from her hotel in eastern Bali, and her daughter passed away a short time later, local police chief Made Sudarsana said. “Samples of their vomit and medicines found in their hotel room are being tested in a laboratory,” Sudarsana said.

Australia’s Sunday Telegraph reported that the two, identifi ed as Noelene Gay Bischoff , 54, and her daughter, Yvana Jeana Yuri Bischoff , had died from a suspect-ed allergic reaction.

Indonesians rescued from faulty boatAFPKuala Lumpur

Some 51 Indonesians who drifted in rough seas for fi ve days after the en-

gine on their rickety boat failed have been rescued by Malay-sian authorities, a report said yesterday.

The 34 men, 14 women and three children — includ-ing a two-month-old girl, are thought to have boarded the fi shing boat on December 28 as they tried to sneak out of Malaysia to return to Indone-sia’s Sumatra island, The Star reported.

But the vessel suff ered en-gine problems and drifted until maritime personnel spotted it on Thursday off northern Per-ak state, the report added.

The immigrants were weak from hunger and shaken by

bad weather that rocked the boat, Razak Johan — an offi cial with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency - told the paper. They are now under investigation for trying to ille-gally leave the country, it said.

Razak and other offi cials could not immediately be reached for comments.

Around 2mn Indonesians and others from poorer re-gional countries are estimated to work illegally in Malaysian plantation, construction, fac-tory and other jobs.

They often use rickety boats to sneak in and out of the Southeast Asian country, and accidents are common.

In August, seven Indonesians died, four were rescued and 33 others went missing — pre-sumed dead — when their boat sank in rough seas on their way home to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the end of the fasting month.

AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA15

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 2014

US icebreaker dispatched to Antarctic to help stuck ships AFPSydney

A US icebreaker was dis-patched yesterday to as-sist an icebound Russian

research ship and Chinese ves-sel trapped during a rescue bid in Antarctica, as the leader of a group airlifted to safety rejected French criticism of their expedi-tion.

The US Coast Guard’s Polar Star accepted an Australian re-quest to go to the aid of the ma-rooned Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy which has been beset by ice since December 24.

It will also aid the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long which was involved in a dramatic helicop-ter rescue of the Shokalskiy’s 52 passengers on Thursday.

The Xue Long has become trapped itself, with China vow-ing “all-out eff orts” to assist the ship which is surrounded by ice of up to four metres thick and is

stuck 21 kilometres from open water, according to state news agency Xinhua which has re-porters on board.

“If the ship is stranded for a very long time, which is very rare indeed, then we’ll have to evacu-ate the people onboard and leave the vessel there,” said division director Qu Tanzhou, adding that the vessel’s mission for the rest of the season would have to be revised.

The Polar Star, which left the US in early December to clear a channel for ships resupplying McMurdo Station research base, left Sydney yesterday after tak-ing on provisions, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

The 122-metre ship is capable of continuously breaking ice up to 1.8 metres thick while travel-ling at three knots, and can break ice more than six metres thick by ramming.

It is expected to take seven days to reach Commonwealth

Bay where the two ships are trapped in ice, 100 nautical miles from the French Antarctic base of Dumont d’Urville.

“Our highest priority is safety of life at sea, which is why we are assisting in break-ing a navigational path for both of these vessels,” Vice Admiral Paul Zukunft, US Coast Guard Pacific area commander, said in a statement.

The stranding of the Shokalskiy, which was carrying 22 scientists, 26 paying pas-sengers and four journalists as well as 22 crew who remain on board, has sparked criticism in some quarters.

As well as the Xue Long and Polar Star two other icebreak-ers, Australia’s Aurora Aus-tralis and France’s Astrolabe, were diverted from their Ant-arctic missions to assist the Shokalskiy.

Yves Frenot, director of the French Polar Institute said the rescue saga had forced French

File photo shows the Coast Guard cutter Polar Star, completing ice drills in the Arctic. The US Coast Guard’s Polar Star accepted an Australian request to go to the aid of the marooned Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy which has been beset by ice since December 24, 2013.

scientists to scrap a two-week oceanographic campaign using the Astrolabe.

“But we are relatively lucky. The Chinese have had to cancel all their scientific programme, and my counterpart in Australia is spitting tacks with anger, be-cause their entire summer has been wiped out,” he said.

The Australis was forced to suspend its resupply of the Aus-

tralian base to rush to the aid of the Shokalskiy, but authorities said it was not yet known what impact the incident would have on scientific programmes.

Chris Turney, leader of the Shokalskiy’s expedition which repeated century-old measure-ments to explore environmental changes as it retraced a 1911-14 voyage of the Antarctic, hit back at Frenot’s criticism yesterday.

“Yves was fully aware of the expedition and there was even an exchange of emails around it in September. At no time did Yves indicate any problems with the science of the expedition or the expedition itself,” Turney said.

“The science on the expedition was supported by a number of ma-jor research institutions including NOAA (US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the

University of Wisconsin and a host of others.” Turney said there was a long history of both governmental and private vessels going to the as-sistance of others in the Antarctic.

The Aurora Australis is now en route to Australia’s Casey Ant-arctic base to complete a resup-ply run, from where it will return to Hobart, with Turney and the Shokalskiy’s other passengers on board, later this month.

Tokyo urged to improve ties with neighbours AFPTokyo

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has urged Japan to im-prove relations with neigh-

bouring countries after Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe’s visit to a controversial war shrine, an American offi cial has said.

Abe enraged China and South Korea when on December 26 he made his fi rst visit as premier to Yasukuni shrine, which honours Japan’s war dead in-cluding several high-level offi cials ex-

ecuted for war crimes after World War II.

“Secretary Hagel underscored the importance of Japan taking steps to improve relations with its neighbours, and to promote co-operation in ad-vancing the shared goals of regional peace and stability,” Pentagon press

secretary John Kirby said in a state-ment posted on the US Defence De-partment website late Saturday. The comments were issued after telephone talks between Hagel and Japanese De-fence Minister Itsunori Onodera.

China and other Asian countries say the shrine serves as a reminder of Ja-

pan’s 20th century aggression, and is a source of bitterness between Japan and its neighbours and Abe’s visit also sparked criticism from Washington.

During their conversation late Sat-urday, Onodera sought Hagel’s un-derstanding over the visit, telling his counterpart that the prime minister

had renewed Japan’s pledge that it must never wage war again, Kyodo News said citing Japanese offi cials.

Hagel had also thanked the Japanese government for its eff orts in securing approval from Okinawa’s governor to move towards relocating a US Marine Corps air base on the island, Kirby said.

North Korea fumes over Kim’s rejected peace gesture AFPSeoul

North Korea slammed South Ko-rea yesterday for dismissing a peace overture by leader Kim

Jong-un, accusing Seoul of “pouring cold water” on its attempt to mend ties.

During his New Year address last Wednesday, Kim hailed the execution last month of his once-powerful uncle, and accused the US and South Korea of manoeuvering for a nuclear war.

But he also called for a “favourable climate” to ease tension with Seoul, saying it was “high time” to improve ties that had been strained for years.

The South Korean government de-scribed the move as an empty gesture Friday, however, urging the communist state to scrap its nuclear programmes to show it is committed to mending rela-tions.

“Peace and reconciliation cannot be achieved merely by words,” Seoul said in a statement.

“In order to improve ties between the South and the North, North Korea must show sincerity in building trust and

above all, it must make genuine eff orts for denuclearisation.”

The North yesterday fumed at the cool reaction by the South, calling it “undesirable” and saying it would result in further raising tensions on the penin-sula.

“Seoul... answered Pyongyang’s call for defending security and peace of the nation with bellicose remarks and pro-vocative sabre-rattling,” the North’s spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunifi cation of Korea (CPRK), in charge of cross-border aff airs, told state-run KCNA.

KCNA described the move as “pour-ing cold water” on eff orts to improve relations.

“This just indicates that South Korea has no will to improve the relations with the North but will keep to the confron-tation and war this year, too,” said the offi cial.

The prospect for future cross-border ties now “entirely depends on the atti-tudes of the South Korean authorities,” warned the spokesman.

Seoul said on Friday that Kim had made similarly conciliatory comments in last year’s New Year’s speech, but the

following months saw the North launch a series of provocations.

Pyongyang staged a third nuclear test in February — its most powerful to date — and later issued threats of atomic at-tacks on Washington and Seoul for stag-ing joint military exercises south of the border.

It also unilaterally shut down an in-ter-Korean industrial zone in April, fur-ther escalating tensions. After months of negotiation, the two Koreas agreed in September to reopen the Kaesong in-dustrial complex.

Seoul’s defence chief Kim Kwan-jin cautioned last week that the apparent peace overtures from the North could be a “smoke screen” aimed at hiding a fresh provocation, and urged the military to remain alert.

Kim Jong-un last month executed his uncle Jang Song-thaek, who had played a key role in cementing his leadership, for charges including treason and cor-ruption.

The isolated state could stage military provocations early this year to divert public attention and rally domestic uni-ty after the shock execution of Jang, Kim Kwan-jin and analysts have said.

A handout picture released by the Pyongyang’s Rodong Sinmun shows North Korean military off icers holding a rally at the House of Culture.

Visitors are silhouetted against lighted ice sculptures at the Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China yesterday. The festival began yesterday.

Ice and snow sculpture festival China probes almost 37,000 offi cials for graft AFPBeijing

China investigated almost 37,000 offi cials suspect-ed of corruption in more

than 27,000 cases between Janu-ary and November, state media said yesterday.

Out of the 27,236 cases, 12,824 resulted in “losses for the people” involving a total of 5.51bn yuan ($0.9bn), Xin-hua news agency said without elaborating.

It cited a statement from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, China’s top prosecuting body, which could not be reached for comment yesterday.

China’s top prosecutor Cao

Jianming told the National People’s Congress parliament in October that 200,000 people had been probed for embezzle-ment or bribery between Janu-ary 2008 and last August.

Communist Party chief Xi Jinping has taken a hard line against graft since coming to power a little over one year ago, warning that corruption could destroy the party.

He has threatened to stamp down on high-ranking offi-cials, or “tigers”, along with low-level “flies” to maintain the purity of the party.

At the same time he has mounted an austerity drive, with a range of measures in-cluding limits on banquets and bans on gift-giving.

An Indonesian sailor has been rescued despite suff ering a shark attack but four other crewmen are missing after their Taiwanese fishing boat apparently caught fire in the East China Sea, off icials said yesterday. Taiwan’s coastguard said they were informed by their Japanese counterparts Saturday noon that the 26-tonne “Cheng Tsai Li” was drifting 65km northeast of Miyako-jima, an island in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture. An Indonesian sailor aboard the fishing vessel was rescued by another Taiwanese fishing boat, the Taiwan coastguard said. “He was injured, suff ering from shark bites,” coastguard spokes-man Hsieh Ching-chin said. Two coastguard vessels from Taiwan and two from Japan were mobilised to search for the four missing crew-men — the Taiwanese skipper, a Taiwanese sailor and two Indone-sian sailors.

Sailor survives shark, four others missing from boat

ACCIDENT

BRITAIN

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 201416

More fl ooding to come in worst storms for 20 yearsEvening StandardLondon

Britain has been battered by the worst set of winter storms in more than two decades as com-

munities prepare for even more fl ood-ing today, forecasters said.

More heavy rain is set to batter parts of the UK, with 96 fl ood warnings is-sued by the Environment Agency and a further 244 areas on fl ood alert.

High tides and further storms blow-ing in from the Atlantic are leaving coastal areas - particularly in southern England - at risk of more fl ooding.

The Thames Barrier remains closed to protect London from tidal surges.

Forecaster Matt Dobson for Me-teoGroup said the rain “simply has nowhere to go” after weeks of severe weather has saturated the ground and swelled rivers.

He added: “It’s very unusual to have so many powerful storms come in one after the other in such a short space of time, we haven’t seen anything like this since about 1991.

“The nasty weather of the last few days is going to continue across the UK, with the combination of high tides and a powerful storm putting coastal areas particularly at risk.

“Any rain will mean more fl ooding as the ground is saturated and swollen riv-ers are coming up against strong waves. The water simply has nowhere to go.

Met Offi ce has issued yellow weather warnings of ice and rain, predicting riv-er and surface fl ooding as well as travel disruption mainly in south Wales and the south west and south east of Eng-land. Up to 40mm of rain could fall in higher ground.

Inland rainfall will put pressure on rivers, endangering nearby commu-nities including those along the River Medway in Kent. the River Thames in

Oxford and Osney and the River Severn Estuary in Gloucestershire.

The strong winds, persistent rain and tidal waves are predicted to the batter the UK for at least another two days, as emergency services attempt to cope with the trail of devastation already created by the severe weather.

More than 200 homes have been fl ooded from Cornwall to Scotland, with miles of coastline battered and roads and fi elds across the country left under water.

Prime Minister David Cameron praised the “great work” of the emer-gency services and Environment Agen-cy in responding to the latest fl oods and defended the Government’s fl ooding

policy in protecting 200,000 homes.Meanwhile, searches resumed in

south Devon for missing 18-year-old university student Harry Martin who was last seen leaving his home to take photographs of the weather - with more than 100 people volunteering to look for him.

Two people have already died in the storms. A 27-year-old man from Sur-rey was found on Porthleven Sands beach in Cornwall after he was swept out to sea on New Year’s Eve night, and a woman died after being rescued from the sea in Croyde Bay, north Devon.

Offi cials around the country have pleaded with people to keep away as dozens put their life at risk by going

to coastal areas to watch as the storm brought waves up to 40ft high crashing on to land.

A man and child were almost swept away by a huge wave at Mullion Cove in Cornwall as they peered over the sea wall to watch the raging sea, and else-where in Cornwall vehicles driving on a coastal road were swamped and almost washed away by a tidal surge.

Elsewhere in Cornwall, Sergeant Re-gie Butler pulled a man who had been drinking from the sea at Towan Beach, Newquay after he had ignored police warnings about the fi erce storms.

In Aberystwyth, Dyfed a man was rescued by lifeboat after he defi ed po-lice warnings and became trapped

when photographing waves from a harbour jetty. In the town debris was strewn across the promenade, rail lines in north Wales were left buckled by the power of the sea and a road collapsed in Amroth, Pembrokeshire. The strong tides were said to be the worst to batter the Welsh coast in 15 years.

Aberystwyth University has deferred the start of the examination period by one week and was advising students not to travel to the coastal town until the middle of next week.

Emergency services rescued four people from a fl ooded farm in Llanbedr near Barmouth, north west Wales, the River Severn burst its banks in Glouces-tershire for the second day running and a pregnant woman was rescued after 30 properties were fl ooded in Cardigan, mid-Wales. Part of the sea wall behind the Landmark Theatre in Ilfracombe collapsed because of the storms.

The coastal surge in recent days has tested over 3,000km of fl ood defences in England and over 205,000 properties have been protected.

Trains have also suff ered disruption with services in west Wales and from Newport and Bristol to the south coast aff ected by the weather. There were also delays at the Port of Dover because of force fi ve winds.

Environment Secretary Owen Pater-son said: “The worst of the bad weather is not yet over so I’ve chaired an emer-gency meeting of all departments in-volved to make sure that preparations to respond are in hand.

“Our fl ood defences have worked very well and have protected 205,000 homes at risk.

“I’d like to thank the Environment Agency, local councils, public utili-ties and emergency services who have worked tirelessly over the last week. I’d also like to thank soldiers from 36 Engineer Regiment and 2 Royal Gurkha Rifl es who have helped to fi ll additional sandbags today in Kent.

“I would urge all those in at risk areas to sign up to the Environment Agency warnings and listen to advice being is-sued.”

A flooded road in the village of Yalding in Kent yesterday.

A large wave crashes over the promenade at high tide in Aberystwyth, Mid Wales, yesterday.

David Cameron will not participate in a television debate against Alex Salmond on Scottish independence.

Campaign on Scotland must be of the ‘head and heart’Evening StandardLondon

The campaign to stop Scot-tish independence must centre around arguments

of the “head and heart” instead of economics, David Cameron has urged. Cameron said the UK is a place of security in a “diverse, dangerous world” and pledged to “work very hard to play my part” in the referendum.

But the PM will not take part in a public debate with Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.

Number 10 confi rmed the boy-cott following the publication of a new SNP poll indicating a sub-stantial proportion of the popu-lation would like to see them go head-to-head on television.

Speaking in the Sunday Times Scotland newspaper, Cameron said: “We’ve just got to keep pushing both the arguments of the head and those of the heart.

“I think the arguments of the head we’ve been winning very strongly. We now need to win

some of the arguments of the heart.

“The UK is not something to want to belong to simply for eco-nomic reasons, but actually for emotional and historic reasons.”

He added: “In a diverse, dan-gerous world, the security of the United Kingdom; the ability to be part of something that could be a great success story, just as it has been in the past - we need to win those arguments.”

He continued: “Obviously I’m very concerned that we win this referendum. I think the argu-ment has been going the way of the United Kingdom, but it will not be won until every last vote is counted.

Cameron has come under re-newed pressure for a televised debate with Salmond follow-ing his New Year message urg-ing England, Wales and North-ern Ireland to send a message to Scotland that “we want you to stay”.

Cameron has steadfastly re-fused Salmond’s challenge, in-sisting the debate should be

amongst the people of Scotland.But in a new letter to Number

10, Salmond told the PM that his New Year plea to Scotland un-dermined this argument.

Salmond said: “I note that you used the centre-piece of your New Year address to attack Scot-tish independence.

“It seems that you want to dic-tate the terms of the debate about Scotland’s future without taking the democratic responsibility to defend your views in open de-bate. That is simply unaccept-able.”

A Number 10 spokeswom-an said: “The prime minister is prime minister of the whole United Kingdom and of course has a role in the referendum campaign, however, he believes that the debate should be led by Scots in Scotland and that is why Alistair Darling will lead for the No campaign.”

A Panelbase poll, commis-sioned by the SNP, found over three-fi fths of people in Scotland and over half in the rest of the UK want a TV debate between Mr

Salmond and Mr Cameron, com-pared with around a quarter on both sides of the border who do not.

Deputy fi rst minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “While David Cameron is happy to pull the strings of the No campaign from 10 Downing Street, he is scared to debate with Alex Salmond face-to-face.

“As the principal signatories of the Edinburgh Agreement, the natural progression in these circumstances is a televised, head-to-head debate between Cameron and Alex Salmond - a democratic position supported by a substantial majority of peo-ple north and south of the bor-der.”

A spokesman for pro-inde-pendence campaign Yes Scot-land said: “A televised debate with the First Minister and Prime Minister will help Scots choose between the two futures on of-fer and ensure that the UK Gov-ernment fully explains why it is willing to implement unwanted policies north of the border.”

Britain is preparing for worse floods as rain drenches the land and sea batters the coast

Senior Lib Dem calls for end to coalitionEvening StandardLondon

A committee of backbench Government MPs should be formed to agree how

the coalition should split while ministers keep working at keep-ing the administration running, a former Liberal Democrat lead-er has said.

Sir Menzies Campbell said three MPs from each party who have never been in Government should sit down to negotiate an amicable end to the alliance.

But in an interview with Total Politics magazine, the outgoing North East Fife MP conceded he had yet to convince anyone of the merits of his proposal.

He said: “The ministers will have to keep going to the very end. Why? Because the country has to be governed.

“But I think we should accept that the point’s going to come

at which politically we may be together governmentally, but politically we’re going to start - well it’s started with diff er-entiation - moving away from each other.

“And we should do that with-out recrimination or acrimony or intimidation or anything of that kind. Why? Because it is very damaging for both par-ties if it breaks up in a row, or a series of rows. But more to the point, it would have a consider-able impact on the creditability of coalition.”

Menzies said his pitch was “not a job application” and that choosing the representatives for each side should be left to Nick Clegg and David Cameron.

In other comments to the magazine, 72-year-old Menzies warned it was “very foolish” for the parties to rely entirely on 45-year-olds as leaders.

“I think it’s very, very fool-ish of political parties to think

that the only way in which you can run a successful political system is to have 45-year-olds. Doesn’t work. I was 46 (when I was elected),” he said.

“I’d done about 18 years at the bar ... I prosecuted serious crime, I defended serious crime. I did a lot of matrimonial work in the early days. By doing that, one had a pretty good idea of the kind of stresses and strains which people have to face in their daily lives.”

Current Lib Dem leader Clegg is 46, while the prime minister is 47.

Menzies added: “(More sen-ior MPs) give a depth of, if you like, corporate knowledge for Parliament. I think it’s becom-ing increasingly clear that peo-ple won’t do 20-odd years, or very rarely, particularly on the Conservative side. People may come in for two or three parlia-ments.”

BNP offi cial compares broke Griffi n’s situation to Schumi

Evening StandardLondon

A press offi cer for the British National Party has joked that bankrupt party leader Nick Griffi n would be the envy of racing driver

Michael Schumacher - because he is not in a coma.Simon Darby’s comment to a Huffi ngton Post

UK reporter was made after Griffi n announced he would continue as an MEP and run for re-election in May despite fi ling for bankruptcy.

Mr Darby reportedly said: “Look at it this way. Michael Schumacher has millions in the bank, but he’d do anything to be in Nick’s position now wouldn’t he.” Seven-time Formula One champion Schumacher is still fi ghting for his life after a seri-ous skiing accident in France. Fans gathered out-side Grenoble hospital to mark his 45th birthday today.A listing at the Insolvency Service showed Mr Griffi n was declared bankrupt at Welshpool

and Newtown County Court yesterday. Bankrupt-cy will inevitably cast further doubts on the suit-ability of him being a lawmaker in the European Parliament.

But Mr Griffi n tweeted: “Being bankrupt does not prevent me being or standing as an MEP. It does free me from fi nancial worries. A good day!

“Party funds are not aff ected in any way.”Mr Griffi n, who was elected an MEP for the

North West region of England in 2009, will be automatically discharged from bankruptcy in one year, on January 2 2015, in accordance with the Insolvency Act.Bankruptcy in itself does not bar someone from being a member of the European Parliament or standing for election, according to the Electoral Commission.

Restrictions are only triggered if an individual is made subject to a bankruptcy restrictions order or debt relief restrictions order. The Insolvency Service said such orders had not been made in Griffi n’s case.

Migrants will make life tougher, says MilibandEvening Standard4London

Ed Miliband yesterday warned that an infl ux of low-skilled workers from Romania and Bulgaria will make life

tougher for Britons as they grapple with a cost of living squeeze.

The Labour leader pledged to take ac-tion to tackle a legal loophole used to ex-ploit cheap foreign workers, adding that he wanted to address “understandable” fears over immigration.

He conceded that some UK nationals “lose out” due to new arrivals, backing stronger border controls and “fair” benefi t curbs.

But, writing in the Independent yester-day, he said the key was ending the coun-try’s “chronic dependency on low-skill, low-wage labour”.

Among steps Labour would take if it won the 2015 general election would be ending the ability of unscrupulous bosses to undercut regular staff by paying agency workers lower wages, he said.

The TUC claims agency staff are paid up to £135 a week less than permanent staff despite working in the same place and do-ing the same job because of a loophole in the Agency Workers’ Directive.

Migrants are over-represented among the estimated 1mn agency workers in the UK, especially in sectors such as call cen-tres, food production and logistics.

Miliband said he would work with the business sector to end the practice.

“Unless we act to change our economy, low-skill immigration risks making the problems of the cost of living crisis worse for those at the sharp end,” Miliband wrote four days after workers from the two east-ern EU states gained unfettered access.

“When millions of workers already have low pay and poor job security in Britain and we add high levels of low skilled mi-gration mostly from within the EU, some benefi t but some lose out,”

He added: “It isn’t prejudiced to believe

that.” Miliband has conceded that the pre-vious Labour administration was wrong not to impose transitional controls when Poland joined the EU - with far more ar-riving from there than anticipated.

No offi cial estimates have been given of the number of Romanians and Bulgarians likely to take advantage of the end of the restrictions later imposed on their coun-tries.

But amid claims they could number up to 50,000, Prime Minister David Cameron has rushed through measures restricting access to jobless benefi ts and NHS health-care.

They came in the face of demands from Tories fearful of the threat posed by the eurosceptic UK Independence Party which is tipped to push the party into third place in May’s European election.

Miliband wrote: “Whatever the num-bers of people that eventually come here, the concern that this has highlighted is not

going away.”“Our country faces a fundamental

question. Britain has succeeded through the centuries as an economy that reaches outwards to the world.

“Can we maintain that tradition and meet deep public concern about immigra-tion? I believe we can. But only if we un-derstand the sources of anxiety and act on them.

“This cost of living crisis is the most important context for the debate about immigration. It understandably makes people more fearful of the change that im-migration brings.”

“Of course eff ective border control is important and while all the evidence is that most people come here to contribute, we need a benefi ts system that is seen to be fair.

“But this can only be a part of the so-lution because public concern about im-migration is also a symptom of a deeper

problem: an economy that no longer works for most working people.”

He said the British exit from the EU called for by Ukip and some Tory MPs would be “a disaster” - robbing the coun-try of high-skilled foreign workers and forcing Britons working abroad to return home.

“If people want a party that will cut it-self off from the rest of the world, or pre-tend we should try, that is not the Labour Party.

“But if people want a party that will set the right rules to stop a race to the bottom with workers coming here from abroad, Labour is that party.”

Miliband repeated pledges to impose higher fi nes on fi rms that fail to pay the minimum wage, ban recruitment agencies for hiring only from abroad and force large fi rms hiring skilled workers from outside the EU to take on an apprentice at the same time.

Ed Miliband: says migrant workers could have an impact on people dealing with rises in the cost of living.

PM makes pension vow in bid to attract elderly votersEvening StandardLondon

Guaranteed rises in the basic state pension will continue if the Con-servatives win the next election,

David Cameron has pledged.The PM vowed to retain the “triple lock”

system which means the state pension will always rise by whichever is highest out of infl ation, average earnings, or 2.5%.

In a bid to reassure older voters, Cameron said the payouts would continue to rise ac-cording to the formula until at least 2020.

The pledge comes as OAPs face the pros-pect of a post-election squeeze on benefi ts including winter fuel payments, bus passes, TV licences and prescriptions as the gov-ernment tries to reign in spending on the UK’s ageing population.

But Cameron insisted that pensions would not be hit by continued austerity measures.

“A Conservative government will off er pensioners a more secure future by pledg-ing today that we will carry on using the triple lock after the next election to protect the basic state pension,” he said.

“We can only aff ord to do this because we are taking diffi cult decisions to cut the defi -cit and get spending under control as part of our long-term economic plan.

“I want to do everything we can to help people who have worked hard and done the right thing.”

The basic state pension will be around £440 a year higher from April than if it had been uprated in line with average earnings since 2011-12, Downing Street said.

Mr Cameron has already indicated that the state pension would be the only spend-ing exempt from a new cap on overall wel-fare spending.

Conservatives contrasted that with com-ments made by shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves that they would be included by Labour.

The Opposition subsequently said it was committed to the triple lock and that Reeves had been speaking about long-term policy over the next 50 years.

Chancellor George Osborne warned in his Autumn Statement that the state pen-sion system faced collapse without action to reduce the cost to taxpayers.

His solution was to tell millions of people in their 30s and 40s they will have to wait until they are 68 or 69 before qualifying for a state pension.That sparked union protests that young people were being expected to “work until they drop”.

Cameron has faced criticism - includ-ing from senior Tory Cabinet colleagues - for making and sticking by a 2010 election promise not to cut OAP benefi ts.

Chancellor George Osborne has indicat-ed they could be reviewed in the years after the election because “we have got to look at how we can aff ord them”.

Labour has said it would strip winter fuel payments from the richest 5% of pension-ers and the Liberal Democrats have also said they would means-test the benefi ts.

Lib Dem former cabinet minister Chris Huhne has accused politicians of “pander-ing” to the “selfi sh, short-sighted old” be-cause they are the group most likely to vote.

Cameron told the Sunday Times the pen-sion pledge was “the fi rst plank of the next general election manifesto.

“In a civilised society...knowing you’re going to have a decent state pension...is, I think, a really powerful thing.”

Defending the decision to raise the pen-sion age, he said: “People aren’t stupid - they know that you can only pay a decent state pension if you take tough, diffi cult, long-term decisions.”

Liberal Democrat pensions minister Ste-ve Webb said in June that, while he backed the continuation of the triple lock, parties would need to examine whether it remained aff ordable post-2015. In his newspaper in-terview, Cameron said he hoped to be able to off er tax cuts as the economy improved and left open the door to a further reduction in the top rate of income tax.

The PM faces calls from right-wing MPs to bring it down from 45p - despite the con-troversial move from 50p already exposing

the party to Labour claims of off ering tax cuts to millionaires. That move had brought in extra revenue to the Treasury, he insist-ed, adding: “Tax rates should be set to raise money, not to send messages.

“I’m interested in making sure that the rich in this country pay a lot of tax, which they do - they are paying a bigger share...than they were.

“If people can bring forward arguments about how to maximise the revenue from the top rate of tax. I’m always interested to read them.”

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Chris Leslie said: “While ordinary families are facing a cost-of-living crisis it seems David Cameron wants to give people earn-ing over £150,000 yet another tax cut.

“Working people are on average £1,600 a year worse off since the Tories came to offi ce. But once again this Prime Minister seems determined to be on the side of the privileged few.”

Paul Green from the over 50s-specialist Saga, said: “David Cameron’s commitment to the triple lock for the state pension will be warmly welcomed by British pensioners, giving them confi dence that their lifetime of work will be properly valued by society.”

Cameron also admitted to the newspaper that the Government had not yet won the hearts and minds of Scottish people over independence, but unionists were “win-ning the heads” on the economy and jobs in sectors including fi nance and defence north of the border. “The UK is not something to want to belong to simply for economic rea-sons, but actually for emotional and his-toric reasons,” he said.

Cameron: says pensions will continue to rise using the triple lock formula.

Romanian migrant a media star in BritainAgenciesLondon

The British media had warned of a fl ood of new Bulgarian and Romanian

migrants arriving on January 1, but judging by this week’s cov-erage, they only appeared to have found one.

Victor Spirescu, a 30-year-old Romanian, has become an unexpected star after fl ying into Luton airport, north of London, on the day EU labour market restrictions on his na-tion and Bulgaria were lifted.

He has become the face of the new arrivals, featuring in several national newspapers in Britain—including for a dou-ble-page spread in The Times—appearing on Sky News and has been interviewed by the Roma-nian media back home.

The Daily Telegraph newspa-per even travelled to Romania to interview his 19-year-old fi ancee, Catalina Curcean, in what it called their “ramshack-le” house outside the village of Pelisor in Transylvania.

A gaggle of journalists had gathered to greet Spirescu’s fl ight on January 1, in hopes of a story about hordes of mi-grants arriving to seek work and possibly to abuse Britain’s welfare system.

Media panic about the new infl ux and fears about ‘benefi ts tourism’ had led the British government to rush through measures in December re-stricting access to unemploy-ment hand-outs to new EU migrants.

But of the 140 passengers on board the 180-seat plane from Tirgu Mures in central Roma-nia, most were already working in Britain and were returning from their Christmas holidays.

Spirescu was one of the ex-ceptions, making his fi rst trip to Britain to earn enough mon-ey to take home so he and his future wife could fi nish reno-vating their house.

He was greeted by televi-sion cameras and two members of parliament, who said they wanted to see for themselves the fi rst day of unrestricted migration to Britain.

The media attention has continued all week—and al-though Spirescu appeared re-laxed when he appeared on Sky News on Sunday for a live panel discussion on immigration, he admitted it was a little weird.

“When I go in supermarkets, all the people look at me. I see a little girl, she said to her mum, ‘hey this is the guy off the tel-evision’,” he said.

He added that everyone had been “very friendly”.

Within a day of arriving, Spirescu had found a job wash-ing cars at a supermarket in Biggleswade, west of Cam-bridge, although he hopes to win more lucrative work in construction.

Conservative Prime Minis-ter David Cameron has refused to say how many new migrants are expected, after the last Labour government under-estimated by almost 1mn the number of Poles arriving after Poland joined the EU in 2004.

Politicians and media who gathered at airports on New Year’s Day waiting for Romani-an and Bulgarian migrants have been mocked by the country’s ambassador to Britain.

Ion Jinga compared them to characters in Samuel Beck-ett’s Waiting for Godot play in which two men wait endlessly for someone called Godot.

Writing for The Huffi ngton Post a day after restrictions on migrants from Romania and Bulgaria working in Brit-ain were lifted, Jinga said: “It seems that a new version of Waiting for Godot is being re-invented by part of the British media and by some politicians who are desperately waiting for the arrival of millions of Roma-nians after 1 January 2014.

“Journalists and distin-guished British MPs who went to Luton airport on the 1 Janu-ary... discovered that only two Romanians came to the UK to take advantage of the lifting of border restrictions, and both having fi rm job off ers - one washing cars, the other as a doctor in Essex.

The overwhelming majority of the passengers were Roma-nians returning to jobs after having enjoyed Christmas with their families at home, or Brit-ons coming home after skiing in the Carpathians.” The article was later amended to remove mention of politicians.

Yesterday Border Force guards swooped on a group of Romanian migrants sleeping rough close to London’s Marble Arch. Among them was a wom-an who claimed she had moved to Britain in order to claim free hospital treatment on the NHS. The group were detained, fi n-ger printed and photographed, before being driven away in three Home Offi ce vans.

Victor Spirescu

The media attention has continued all week—and although Spirescu appeared relaxed when he appeared on Sky News on Sunday for a live panel discussion on immigration, he admitted it was a little weird

Gatwick’s bosses to face MPson Dec 25blackoutEvening StandardLondon

Gatwick bosses are being sum-moned by MPs to explain the Christmas Eve chaos that left

thousands of travellers stranded.The House of Commons Trans-

port Committee wants senior execu-tives from the airport to appear in front of a hearing into the cancella-tions, which were caused by a power failure.

It emerged as the committee pub-lished a report warning that Britain needs to improve its defences against winter snow and storms that disrupt railways, roads and air travel.

Committee chairwoman Louise Ellman said: “The Civil Aviation Authority must get to the bottom of what went wrong and how airports can avoid similar situations in the future.”

Police had to be called in to help Gatwick staff deal with passengers described as “extremely upset” after severe fl ooding blacked out an elec-tricity substation, cutting power to the north terminal. Some were kept waiting 12 hours before being told their fl ight was being cancelled.

A total of 62 departures and 59 arrivals were cancelled, while other fl ights were switched to the south terminal. The disruption is being investigated by the Civil Aviation Authority. Gatwick has said a full review is also being led by David Mc-Millan, a non-executive director of the airport. His fi ndings will be pub-lished in February.

The report on the transport net-work called for better information for the public and backed rail bosses who cancel services before a storm hits, on the grounds it causes less disruption.

Gatwick said in a statement that it had spent £20 million on fl ood de-fences and would take further action if needed. “We continually strive to put the welfare of our passengers fi rst and to minimise the impact of severe weather on their journeys,” it said.

Miliband contends that low paid migrants drive down wages

BRITAIN17Gulf Times

Monday, January 6, 2014

EUROPE

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 201418

Greek graftprobe brings belated gainsAFPAthens

A corruption probe into long-forgotten defence con-tracts has given authorities in Greece a small fi nancial victory, along with the promise of revelations into dec-

ade-old graft. The sum of over €9mn has been handed over to the state

by Antonis Kantas, a former defence ministry offi cial turned state witness.

Kantas, 72, was a deputy procurement director at the de-fence ministry from 1997 to 2002.

He has admitted pocketing over €10mn from kickbacks re-lated to the purchase of submarines, rockets, fi ghter aircraft and tanks.

“I took so many bribes that I cannot remember them all,” Kantas said in his testimony, according to press reports.

Kantas had served under socialist defence minister Akis Ts-ochatzopoulos, 73, who was jailed in October for money laun-dering. That 20-year prison sentence has loosened tongues after years of silence.

Kantas was originally arrested in September, but the bulk of his testimony began pouring out last week.

He has since named about a dozen other suspects, most of them businessmen and weapons intermediaries, but justice offi cials are hoping to net bigger fi sh among the Greek politi-cal elite.

“We are determined, any hint of corruption will be investi-gated to the end,” government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said on Friday.

A decade earlier, a parliamentary committee had found in-suffi cient evidence to indict Tsochatzopoulos over the suspect purchase of Russian Tor-M1 anti-aircraft missiles.

Kedikoglou had been a member of that committee, and not-ed on Friday that lawmakers at the time had been frustrated by the lack of evidence against the former minister.

“It was an awful feeling, to understand that something is wrong but to not be able to prove it,” Kedikoglou told SKAI Radio.

“We had very little access to documents. We had very little evidence,” he said.

A justice source told AFP this week that “there are hundreds of millions of euros from procurement programmes spread out in accounts around the world.”

“It takes time to open these accounts because intermedi-aries and off shore companies are involved. It is certain that politicians are behind such cases, and witnesses are covering up for them,” the source added.

The investigation however still faces major hurdles. One of the new suspects named by Kantas is an 83-year-old

ailing businessman who nearly collapsed during testimony. Another suspect claims to suff er from amnesia. The case has dominated headlines in a country suff ering

from four years of straight austerity cuts and trying to recover from a six-year recession.

This particular case occurred at a time when Greece was spendingmns of euros on weapons in a costly arms race with neighbouring Turkey.

To placate public anger, the fi nance ministry this week said the money returned by Kantas would be diverted to health and education, which have sustained major budget cuts in recent years. However, many in the country doubt that endemic cor-ruption in public offi ce will be eradicated as a result of the in-vestigation.

Also this week, the chairman of Greece’s main children’s hospital was arrested after he was taped allegedly accepting a €25,000 bribe.

“Did the bribe tsunami described by Kantas cease after his departure? Or is it still ongoing?” main opposition party Syr-iza said in a statement.

The case is bad news for the conservative-socialist coali-tion government ahead of local elections in May. The conserv-atives and socialists have ruled Greece for the past 40 years, and are considered responsible for its fi nancial and corruption ills.

A protester wearing a red cap, the symbol of protest in Brittany, displays one of the Breton regional flags during a demonstration demanding that employees be retained and an ‘ecotax’ on commercial trucks be scrapped, in Nantes. The ‘ecotax’ is a new environmental tax on heavy goods vehicles which the French government hopes to implement, through which it aims to raise more than 1bn a year to finance mostly rail infrastructure projects.

Anti-tax protest

Pressure mounts on French comedian

AFPParis

The mayor of Paris yesterday joined France’s interior min-ister in calling for comedian

Dieudonne, whose vitriolic brand of humour targeting Jews has caused outrage, to be banned from the stage.

Dieudonne has been part of France’s comedy scene for years, but while he started out with a Jewish co-median in sketches that mocked rac-ism, he gradually veered to the far-right and alienated some fans with anti-Jewish comments—his latest being a joke about gas chambers.

Speaking on Europe 1 radio, Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe likened Dieudonne to a criminal who “de-fends crimes against humanity”.

“We must ban the performances (of the comedian),” he said, echoing recent comments made by Interior Minister Manuel Valls.

Dieudonne has been fi ned several times for defamation, using insulting language, hate speech and racial dis-crimination, and a provocative arm gesture he makes has been described as an upside down Nazi salute.

Dieudonne argues that the hor-rors of the Holocaust are given too much focus to the exclusion of other crimes, like slavery and racism, and says his so-called “quenelle” gesture merely represents his anti-establish-ment views.

The gesture has landed several personalities in hot water, including footballer Nicolas Anelka, who used it to celebrate a goal.

“SOS Racisme”, an organisation that fi ghts racism, announced yes-terday it would take to court anyone

who spread pictures of or did the “quenelle” in locations such as syna-gogues or Holocaust memorials “that leave no doubt” as to the anti-semitic nature of the gesture.

Valls, meanwhile, has said he is ex-amining options to ban performances by a man he brands as a “little trader of hate”, outraged by Dieudonne’s lat-est jibe against Jewish radio presenter Patrick Cohen.

“When I hear Patrick Cohen speak, I tell myself, you know, the gas chambers... A shame,” Dieudonne had said in comments fi lmed secretly at a show and then aired on French television.

Valls has also asked Dieu-donne to pay some €65,000 he

has run up in fi nes. Offi cials in several cities where Dieudonne is set to perform during a nationwide tour this month have also said they are trying to ban his show. And vet-eran Nazi hunters Serge and Beate Klarsfeld have called for a pro-test on Wednesday at a theatre in the western city of Nantes, where Dieudonne is due to perform.

The controversy comes at a sen-sitive time for France, where rac-ism has shot to the fore after the country’s black justice minister was the victim of a series of racial jibes—prompting President Fran-cois Hollande to pledge intransi-gence on racism in his New Year’s address.

Dieudonne

Pope announces visit to Holy LandAFPVatican

Pope Francis said yesterday he will make his fi rst trip to the Holy Land, visiting Amman,

Bethlehem and Jerusalem from May 24 to 26.

“In the climate of joy typical of this Christmas period, I would like to announce that from May 24 to 26, God willing, I will carry out a pil-grimage to the Holy Land,” Francis told crowds gathered in St Peter’s Square for the traditional Angelus prayer.

Francis said the date of the an-nouncement — January 5 — was sig-nifi cant because it “commemorates the historic meeting between pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople”, 50 years ago.

Their meeting in 1964 in Jeru-salem led to the rescinding of the excommunications of 1054 that caused the Great Schism between the churches of the East and West. During the visit, the pontiff said he would hold an “ecumenical meeting with all the representatives of the Christian Churches in Jerusalem”

at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in East Jerusalem, venerated as the place where Jesus was buried.

Francis was invited to visit the Holy Land by Israeli President Shi-mon Peres and Palestinian presi-dent Mahmud Abbas, who said he would “walk in the footsteps of Je-sus Christ”.

The 77-year-old pontiff has made many appeals for peace in the Mid-dle East. During his meeting with Abbas, he called for “a just and lasting solution” to the confl ict be-tween Israelis and Palestinians.

The pontiff ’s visit had been an-ticipated by the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, which said Fran-cis would celebrate a high mass in Bethlehem, the traditional birth-place of Jesus.

The daily said Israeli authorities were unhappy with the brevity of the visit and the fact that the prelate will not celebrate mass in Israel, but in the West Bank, in the Palestinian territories.

Francis made no mention of plans to hold a mass in Bethlehem in his announcement.

Unconfi rmed information from Roman Catholic sources in the Holy

Land had earlier indicated a pos-sible papal visit to a refugee camp for Syrians in Jordan. The Argen-tine pontiff ’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, visited Israel and the Palestin-ian territories in 2009.

Israel and the Vatican fi rst es-tablished full diplomatic relations in 1993, but have been engaged in years of thorny diplomatic nego-tiations over property rights and tax exemptions for the Catholic Church, which have yet to be fully resolved.

The Vatican used the term “State of Palestine” for the fi rst time in January 2013.

The news of the pope’s trip came as US Secretary of State John Kerry was in the Middle East to push a framework for peace talks and bro-ker negotiations which resumed in July after a three-year hiatus.

The Palestinians want borders based on the 1967 lines that existed before the Six-Day War, when Israel captured the West Bank, including now annexed Arab east Jerusalem.

But Israel wants to retain existing settlements it has built inside oc-cupied Palestinian territory since then.

The former minister said he couldn’t remember how many bribes he took

EUROPE19Gulf Times

Monday, January 6, 2014

10,000 gather for new rallyby opposition in UkraineAFPKiev

More than 10,000 people gath-ered in central Kiev yesterday for the fi rst major opposition

rally of the new year as protests against Ukraine’s scrapping of an EU pact stretched into a seventh week.

Opposition leaders including former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko urged the crowd to continue the standoff on Independence Square, also known as the Maidan, where pro-testers have been camped out since late November.

“The authorities are pretending they cannot hear us. I know it’s hard for us, but we have enough strength to win,” Klitschko said.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanu-kovych last month triggered massive protests by deciding not to sign an As-sociation Agreement with the Euro-pean Union under pressure from the Kremlin.

He then caused further anger by vio-lently dispersing protesters, many of them students, using tear gas and stun grenades. At their height, the opposi-tion protests drew as many as 200,000 people to the Maidan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in December responded by off ering Ukraine a $15bn bail-out package and slashing the price Ukraine has to pay for natural gas imports. Klitschko, who leads the UDAR (Punch)opposition party, said that a new wave of protests would begin after public holidays to celebrate Orthodox Christmas today and tomorrow.

He also announced plans for a gener-al strike, which he said would be “fi rst a strike warning and then a real one if the authorities don’t want to listen to us.”

“I am sure we will force the authori-

ties to take the citizens into account,” he said.

Opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk also urged the demonstrators to main-tain their protest camp on the Maidan, which they have sealed off with impro-vised barricades. “This year will be a very diffi cult one for us. We must hold onto the Maidan,” he said.

Supporters at the rally expressed de-termination to continue the protest.

“I will defi nitely keep coming to Kiev, because the authorities are just waiting for support to weaken in order to disperse the Maidan. But people are ready to fi ght to the end,” said teacher

Olena Bilyk, who had travelled from the southern Mykolaiv region.

Klitschko said that the opposition needed more than “moral support” in its campaign against the govern-ment.

Addressing a rally of some 10,000 supporters in central Kiev, Klitschko renewed calls for the European Union to impose sanctions on the country’s leadership.

“Moral support for opponents of the government is not enough,” he said.

Meanwhile The Independent reports that a parliamentarian who organised Ukraine’s pro-EU protests, in which

thousands demanded the removal of President Viktor Yanukovych, was as-saulted on Friday night in the latest in a series of violent attacks on the demon-strations’ organisers.

Andriy Illienko, a Svoboda Party MP, and party activist and lawyer Sydir Kizin were leaving a police station in central Kiev when they were set upon by a gang of youths. Around a dozen men reportedly kicked and punched the two men but fl ed when the attack was interrupted by two passers-by, who Svoboda said had rescued their mem-bers from “probable death”.

An ambulance crew at the scene told

The Independent yesterday that the MP had suff ered a fractured jaw and con-cussion.

Shortly before the attack, Il-lienko had been speaking to offi cers at Shevchenko District police station about an incident in which the Svobo-da Party accused police of conspiring with nationalist marchers who threw fl aming torches at a Kiev hotel on New Year’s Day.

In a statement responding to the as-sault on Illienko, the party said: “The Svoboda Party considers this attack as a particularly cynical attempt on the life of a statesman. This attack was planned in advance, with thugs and police act-ing as a coalition.”

A recent string of attacks has tar-geted the opposition and pro-EU activ-ists who have led fi ve weeks of protests

against the government’s rejection of a free trade and political integration agreement with the EU in favour of closer ties with Russia.

On Christmas Eve, a pro-EU activ-ist, Dmitry Pylypets, was stabbed out-side his apartment in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine. Opposition journalist Tetyana Chornovol was beaten unconscious af-ter assailants drove her car off the road on Christmas Day.

In the past month, police have raided an opposition headquarters and three critical news outlets, seizing hard drives and computer servers. Authori-ties have twice used force to try to clear protesters from Kiev’s Independence Square.

Police announced yesterday that they had opened an investigation into the latest attack but had no suspects.

Protesters wearing masks depicting Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a rally at Independence Square in Kiev.

Protesters play table tennis at a pro-Europe supporters’ camp on Independence Square in Kiev.

Anti-Roma bias aids far-right in central EuropeReutersCierny Balog, Slovakia

The people of this peaceful village at the foot of the Slovak mountains vented

their anger over unemployment by electing as their regional gov-ernor a man who calls his Roma compatriots “parasites” and ad-mires a wartime fi gure who col-laborated with the Nazis.

Marian Kotleba’s landslide victory in November exposed pent-up frustration over unem-ployment and neglect by main-stream parties, together with a deep-seated animosity towards the Roma, factors that have built support for extremist politicians in Slovakia and elsewhere in cen-tral Europe.

Still, many were shocked when Kotleba - a former high school teacher who looks back fondly on the Slovak state that was allied with the Nazis during World War Two - came from nowhere to win 77% of the vote in Balog, 260 km northeast of Bratislava, the capital.

Overall, in the central Slovak region of Banska Bystrica, he won 55%, enough to become regional governor and a further sign that some European voters frustrated with the economic crisis were willing to take chances with ex-tremists.

Nationalist sentiment is in-creasingly directed against Slova-kia’s Roma, a minority of 400,000 in the country of 5.4mn who live on the fringes of society, suff er-ing from poverty, poor education and limited job prospects. In some settlements they have no access to running water.

With European Union expan-sion opening borders, deprived regions have seen waves of depar-tures, including some of Europe’s 10mn Roma, to countries such as Canada and Britain, where im-migration has again become a hot issue.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has imposed new regu-lations on migrants amid fears of an infl ux of poor people from Romania and Bulgaria, for whom restrictions on free movement within the EU expired at the end of December.

Kotleba, who did not respond to requests to be interviewed for

this article, ran on a platform that derided “Gypsy parasites”. Some Roma, whose forebears arrived in central Europe from India in the Middle Ages, see Gypsy as a de-rogatory term.

Kotleba once ran a party that was disbanded for racial hatred. The 36-year-old has organised marches in military-style uni-forms and praised Jozef Tiso, the wartime leader of Nazi-allied Slo-vakia.

His party’s newsletters talk about “desperate villages and towns suff ering from crime and terror from Gypsy extremists”.

“We voted for him out of des-peration,” said Martina Strorcova, a pub owner in Cierny Balog.

She says local people on low in-comes often accuse Roma of draw-ing welfare benefi ts while not be-ing willing to work.

“It is bad to see how some of us toil and others take social support,” Strorcova said.

The pub in the village centre only has two customers at lunch-time, and Strorcova says business is tough. People who work at the local iron works bring home just €430 a month.

The Slovak minimum wage is €337 a month, less than €2 an hour, against the equivalent of 7.50 in Britain.

Cierny Balog’s 5,000 inhab-itants include about 700 out of work during the winter, said social worker Lubomira Pancikova.

“The problem is unemploy-ment, not only among the Roma

but overall. Young people run away, men and women in their most productive years,” Pancikova said.

The offi cial jobless rate in the region is 18.1%, although in some areas it tops 30%. It is the second worst in the country and far above the national average of 13.7%.

Kotleba promises to create jobs through public works schemes, setting up public companies and farms.

“He wants to give normal peo-ple, and the Roma, a pick-axe in their hands and make them work,” said Ivana Galusova, who voted for Kotleba.

In fact, Kotleba may not be able to do much. He will be isolated in a regional assembly dominated by Smer, the leftist party of Prime Minister Robert FiCo

In some places, tension has been high between the Roma and the rest of the population.

The European Commissioner for education, Androulla Vassil-iou, called on authorities in Ko-sice in August to tear down a wall separating a Roma neighbourhood from the rest of the eastern Slovak city - a means of segregation used by local authorities in several plac-es in eastern Europe.

In Hungary, a court jailed four neo-Nazis for killing members of Roma families in a spree of racist violence in 2008 and 2009. The gang killed six Roma in carefully planned attacks.

Around the region, anti-Roma sentiment has helped the far-right

to win votes. In Hungary, the Job-bik party has vilifi ed the Roma, in addition to employing anti-Se-mitic language.

In Romania, mayor Catalin Chereches of the northern town of Baia Mare scored more than 86% in local elections in 2012 after relocating Roma families - and building a concrete wall around their neighbourhood.

Some members of Bulgaria’s nationalist Attack party, which has seats in parliament, wear swasti-kas on their shirts and make Nazi salutes at rallies.

Czech riot police had to inter-vene repeatedly this year to halt marches by hundreds of people on Roma neighbourhoods, in places where communities have swollen due to a government housing sub-sidy programme.

In Balog, where several hundred Roma live in impoverished settle-ments around the village, there are no open clashes.

But Jozef Bartos, a 20-year-old Roma, fears Kotleba’s victory might lead to trouble.

“We do not have problems here ... but we have to be ready to protect ourselves, be pre-pared if someone comes at us,” said Bartos, who shares a two-room shack with no running water or sewerage with his wife, 18-month-old baby and parents.

He said he can make €17 a day, but only fi nds work in a few days a month.

Slovakia is a post-communist success story, having joined the

euro in 2009 and going through the global economic crisis almost unscathed. Gross domestic prod-uct per head is at 76% of the EU average, up from 54% a decade ago.

But economic development, based mainly on car exports, has been uneven. Mountain ranges separate the richer west, con-nected to Austria and the Czech Republic, from the poorer centre and east, traditionally home to most Slovak Roma.

“Companies focused on heavy industry and arms manufacture there collapsed and there has been no substitution,” said sociolo-gist Lubomir Faltan of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

Successive governments on right and left have done little to address social and ethnic prob-lems, he said, and the economic crisis has made things worse.

“The Roma community has a double disadvantage. They do not have any qualifi cations, they can be used only for manual work, if they are willing to work,” he said. “There are villages where unemployment is 80%, and Roma populations with almost 100% unemployment.”

Communities with high un-employment, Roma or major-ity Slovak, are prone to crime - mostly petty theft, Faltan said. The long-term unemployed of-ten become resigned and settle for handouts and casual work.

The government has been running inclusion programmes, some with the help of EU money.

“This is a warning sign. People and politicians in this country must realise that it is no longer possible to hide away from the Roma problem,” Peter Pollak, the Slovak government representa-tive for the Roma community, told local media.

The government is responding to public resentment over wel-fare abuse with legislation that will deduct any court fi nes from handouts and also link the pay-ments to participation in public works programmes.

A plan drafted last year also calls for tying welfare payments to children’s school attendance, and for expanding pre-school education.

Prime Minister Fico, whose incumbent candidate Vladimir

Jozef Bartos, a 20-year-old Roma, holds his child in front of shacks belonging to Roma.

Manka lost the election to Ko-tleba, however blamed the me-dia and the centre-right parties for Kotleba’s victory.

“I do not feel responsibility for the result,” he told a news con-ference. “For you, anything that is against Smer is good.”

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), a Hungarian-based non-governmental advo-cacy group, said the Roma in Slo-

vakia are discriminated against in all aspects of life.

“They are likely to be forcibly evicted from their homes, face segregated or low quality edu-cation and fi nd it much harder to get work,” said ERRC’s Marek Szilvasi.

But Kotleba’s victory merely refl ected what a lot of the po-litical class had been thinking in Slovakia, he said.

General view of Cierny Balog.

The opposition has stretched out the protests but the authorities seem resolute

MALL CINEMA (1): Drishyam (Malayalam) 2 & 5pm; Dhoom 3

(Hindi) 8pm. Police Story (2D) 11.15pm.

MALL CINEMA (2): Khumba (3D) 2.30 & 4.30pm; Frozen (3D)

6.30pm; Police Story (2D) 8.30pm; Drishyam (Malayalam)

10.30pm.

MALL CINEMA (3): Walking W/Dinosaurs (3D) 3pm; The Day

(2D) 5pm; Faces In The Crowd (2D) 7pm; Paranormal Activity: The

Marked Ones (2D) 9.15 & 11.30pm.

ROYAL PLAZA Cinema Palace (1): Drishyam (Malayalam) 2.30,

8 & 11pm. Mr. Joe B. Carvalho (Hindi) 5.30pm.

ROYAL PLAZA Cinema Palace (2): Frozen (3D) 2.30pm; The

Day 4.30pm; Khumba (3D) 7pm; Police Story (2D) 9 & 11.15pm.

ROYAL PLAZA Cinema Palace (3): Khumba (3D) 3pm; Faces In

The Crowd (2D) 5pm; The Day (2D) 7.15pm; Paranormal Activity:

The Marked Ones (2D) 9.15 & 11.30pm.

CINEMA LANDMARK (1): Frozen (3D) 2.30pm; Drishyam

(Malayalam) 4.15, 7 & 10.15pm.

CINEMA LANDMARK (2): Khumba (3D) 3 & 5pm; Frozen (3D)

7pm; Police Story (2D) 9.15pm; Faces In The Crowd (2D) 11.30pm.

CINEMA LANDMARK (3): The Day (2D) 2.30 & 9.30pm; Walking

W/Dinosaurs (3D) 4.15pm; Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

(2D) 6 & 7.45pm; Police Story (2D) 11.30pm.

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 2014

INDIA20

Tamil NaduRoundupBy Umaima Shafiq

Renowned agriculturescientist diesAward-winning organic farming scientist Nammalvar died at Pichinikadu village in Pattukottai in Thanjavur district last week.He was 75. Born in Elangadu in Thanjavur, Nammalvar graduated in agriculture from Tiruchi’s Annamalai University. He worked at a government research centre in Kovilpatti in Tirunelveli district and later as an agronomist at Island Peace, an organisation founded by Nobel laureate R P Dominic Pyre. However he resigned from both jobs and began crusading against genetically modified crops. He taught farmers organic farming, drip irrigation, recycling crops for soil fertility and preparing manure from animal wastes and compost.Nammalvar’s flowing beard and hermit like attire made him distinct. His eff ort to rehabilitate the 2004 tsunami victims of coastal Nagapattinam district earned him a doctorate from Gandhigram University in Madurai.Hundreds of farmers, political leaders and students paid tributes to him.

Parents allegefoul play instudents’ deaths

Parents and relatives alleged foul play in the suicide of two students in separate incidents last week.In Tiruchi, Geetha, a 27-year-old nursing student of a private residential college was found dead with burn marks and injuries on her body. Her father said the college authorities hospitalised her without informing him. He claimed that she had died in college and demanded a murder probe.Similarly in Namakkal, a 17-year-old boy committed suicide by hanging at his hostel room at a private school. His parents accused the school of threatening to dismiss him for teasing a female teacher.Hundreds of parents joined a protest which forced the school to shut down temporarily.

CM announcesPongal packagefor the poor

Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa announced gift packages of food and clothes to impoverished families for the January 13 harvest festival of Pongal.Over 1.84mn ration card holders will get 20kg of rice, an extra kg of sugar and Rs100 cash along with free saris.The off icial distribution would begin today. Besides this, Jayalalithaa also raised the salaries of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) staff from December 1, 2013, by 7%.Meanwhile, she criticised the federal government for the hike in prices of cooking gas, petrol and diesel.

Jethmalaniaccuses brokerof cheating

Leading criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani has complained to the Chennai police of being cheated by a real estate broker at Numgambakkam in Chennai. Police said Jethmalani, 91, and two friends had contacted the broker through a leading property website two years ago. The broker showed them some properties and the three men finally decided to buy one. They paid an advance of Rs70mn to a ‘landowner’ on the broker’s advice. However after this, the broker began avoiding Jethmalani’s phone calls and absconded when he demanded the money back.

Adopted son ofAnnadurai deadC A Gouthaman, the adopted son of late chief minister and Dravidian party founder C N Annadurai, died last week.He was 67 and is survived by a daughter and son-in-law. Gouthaman was a widower. As Annadurai was childless, he adopted his sister’s four grandsons including Gouthaman.

With Delhi in pocket, AAP to focus on Maharashtra IANSNew Delhi

Having conquered Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party has now set its eyes on

Maharashtra.The party is all set to contest

all 288 assembly seats in the elections later this year, buoyed by the enthusiasm shown by over 300,000 people who have joined in the last three weeks. In fact, the party is getting over-whelming support from the fi lm industry, including from Bolly-wood superstar Aamir Khan.

The party’s conveners for Maharashtra, Anjali Damania and Mayank Gandhi, said the AAP is getting massive response from the state, especially from the rural belt.

“In the past 20 days, more than three lakh people have joined us in Maharashtra. Com-mittees in 34 districts have been formed,” said Damania, who along with Gandhi are camp-ing in Delhi to attend the party’s two-day national executive committee meeting.

“This is all due to the Delhi election results,” she added.

The one-year-old party won 28 of the 70 seats in Delhi and has formed the government courtesy outside support from Congress, which has eight leg-islators.

According to the social activ-ists and AAP national executive

members, the people who are joining the party belong to var-ied social and economic back-grounds.

“From rickshaw pullers to IT professionals to doctors, we are getting people from all classes,” said Damania.

M S Navare, surgical oncolo-gist at the prominent Jaslok hos-pital in Mumbai and Idea cellu-lar CEO Sanjeev Aga are some of the high-profi le people who have recently joined the party in Maharashtra.

“We are looking for clean people to join us, those who want to serve and are not hun-gry for power or money,” Gandhi said.

“The party is also getting support from Bollywood ac-tors like Aamir Khan and Ranvir Shorey. Many other actors are also extending support to us,” Gandhi added.

Music composer Vishal Dad-lani of the Vishal-Shekhar duo, which has to its credit a number of hit Hindi songs, was the fi rst celebrity to extended support to the AAP. Vishal had even at-tended some of its public rallies in Delhi.

Pointing out the reason be-hind the people’ unhappiness, especially in the rural areas, they said the local leaders have failed to solve even the basic problems like drought, water shortage, malnutrition and farmer’s sui-cides, among others.

“We have met many families

personally and they are fed up of the political parties there. They desperately want change and have promised to bring AAP in power,” said Damania, claiming that there were many villages whose residents had vowed to vote for the AAP.

“The regional parties contest on the basis of language and religion but we will talk about issues that directly aff ect the people including corruption,” Gandhi said.

The party is also claiming inroads into the established parties like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

“Recently, 1,200 members from these three parties joined us in Aurangabad.”

The party will launch a mem-bership drive on January 10, par-ty leader Yogendra Yadav said.

“From January 10, we are launching a membership drive, ‘Main Bhi Aam Aadmi’ (I too am a common man),” Yadav told reporters after the party’s na-tional executive meeting con-cluded.

“We want people not just to join the AAP, but also do some-thing for the country,” he said.

Yadav said the Rs10 fee earlier charged for primary member-ship had become a “bottleneck,” and it was decided to “suspend” the membership fee.

Party leader Gopal Rai will head the membership campaign.

20 still fearedtrapped inthe ruins ofGoa building Rescuers search for survivors, toll rises to 15

AgenciesPanaji

Rescuers raced to fi nd sur-vivors in the ruins of a partly-constructed apart-

ment block in Goa yesterday after its collapse left at least 15 people dead in the country’s lat-est building disaster.

Around 20 people are still feared trapped inside the resi-dential building that crumbled mid-afternoon on Saturday while poorly paid daily-wage la-bourers were working on the site in a coastal village in the resort state, an offi cial said.

State acting chief secretary R K Srivastava told reporters at the site that the death toll “has gone up to 15” from an earlier 13 with the discovery of more bodies, adding that the rescue operation was ongoing.

A senior offi cer overseeing the rescue earlier said some 15 to 20 people are thought buried un-der the debris but the chances of fi nding anyone alive were “get-ting bleak” as time passes.

“There were some 40 people working when the building col-lapsed” and some managed to es-cape, said the offi cer, who did not

want to give his name as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Rescue workers using cranes and bulldozers, shovels and bare hands, struggled to shift con-crete slabs and other debris to try to free the labourers trapped under the building in the seaside village of Canacona just over 4km from the popular Palolem beach, south of the state capital of Panaji.

Photos showed workers tun-nelling into pancaked fl oors of smashed concrete, bricks and dirt to reach those trapped, af-ter one witness said the building collapsed like “a pack of cards.”

Emergency workers were using metal cutters to break through scores of twisted iron rods dan-gling from broken concrete to allow them to continue digging into and shifting the debris.

Men who survived the collapse were shown wearing bandages on their legs and heads and resting on beds at a nearby hospital.

The army joined fi re and emer-gency workers to dig through the rubble and cut through iron rods immediately after the collapse, eff orts that continued during the night on Saturday.

Goa police were searching for the builder and the contractor who have gone missing since the tragedy. Offi cers have registered cases against them, and others

involved in the building’s con-struction, of endangering human life, causing death and negli-gence.

“Both the builder and con-tractor have been missing while attempts are on to trace them,” police Inspector Harish Madkai-kar said.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday pledged to “immediately arrest” those found responsible for the col-lapse of the building which re-ports said was fi ve storeys high.

“The design of the building was faulty and the columns were not built properly. Two adjacent under-construction buildings have been evacuated,” Parrikar said.

India’s booming construction industry is set to be worth $1tn by 2025, which would make it the world’s third largest, according to a report by Global Construc-tion Perspectives and Oxford Economics.

But this dazzling growth has often come at the expense of safety standards.

At least 50 people were killed when a fi ve-storey apartment block in India’s fi nancial centre, Mumbai, collapsed last Septem-ber.

A collapse in April killed 72 people in Thane, a satellite city just outside Mumbai.

Bihar clerics not to conduct ‘nikah’ of dowry-seekers IANSPatna

Muslim clerics in a Bihar district have said they would not conduct

marriages of those who give or take dowry.

Alarmed over the trend of dowry among Muslims, a group of Imams in Bihar’s Nalanda dis-trict took the decision at a meet-

ing on Saturday evening.“We have decided not to con-

duct nikah (marriage) for those who take and give dowry in the district,” said Qazi Maulana Mansur Alam, who heads Im-arat-e Sharia of Biharsharief in Nalanda.

“It is a historic move to dis-courage dowry and create aware-ness. It is a kind of social boycott to warn dowry takers,” he said.

Alam said that after this deci-

sion is successfully implemented in Nalanda, about 100km from here, they would request Imams of other districts across Bihar to start similar campaigns.

The Muslim community has welcomed this move against dowry.

“It is a positive step to coun-ter increasing dowry and create awareness. I am ready to help and support such a move,” said Ghulam Rasool Baliyavi, head of

Edar-e-Sharia, a Patna-based Muslim organisation.

“At last, someone has raised a voice against dowry among Muslims...,” said Haji Mohamed Shafi ullah Khan, a retired railway offi cial and now a social worker in Gewal Bigha in Gaya district.

Shafi ullah Khan said there was no concept of dowry in Islam and it was unfortunate that Muslims were practicing it.

“It is only in Islam that at the

time of the marriage, the groom hands over to the bride a sum of money called ‘Mahr’, which is a token of his willingness to accept the responsibility of bearing all expenses of his wife,” Khan said.

According to Islamic juris-prudence, a woman married to a Muslim man has a right to get property or money which is called ‘Mahr’.

Irshadul Haque, a Dalit Mus-lim activist, said that reports of

increasing dowry trends among Muslim were a major challenge today. “Dowry is no more a social evil of the Hindu society alone. It has already created trouble in the Muslim society,” he said.

Haque said that dowry has badly aff ected the poorest of the poor Muslims, particularly Dalit Muslims. “The decision...not to conduct nikah of those taking dowry should be emulated by others,” he said.

Relatives of missing people look at the rescue operation at the site of the collapsed building in Canacona in Goa yesterday.

Corrupt will not be spared, saysKejriwal IANSNew Delhi

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal yesterday said there would be no com-

promise on corruption, and sought time for taking action against the menace.

“It has just been eight days, give us some time. We will not spare anyone who is corrupt,” Kejriwal told reporters.

“There is no question of com-promising on corruption, I will put my life at stake, but will not compromise on the issue,” he said.

Kejriwal was responding to a question on whether the Aam Aadmi Party-Congress tie-up would result in letting off the Congress, which the AAP had accused of corruption in the run-up to the Delhi polls.

“Whether it is (former chief minister) Sheila Dikshit, or some minister from the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, or my own party, no one will be spared,” he said. Kejriwal, however, add-ed the “back end” needed to be strengthened before action can be taken.

“Unless we strengthen our back end, announcement will not help. For example, we said we will give an anti-corruption helpline number, I have been working on its back end since a week,” he said.

Aam Aadmi Party leaders Yogendra Yadav announces the party’s first membership drive ‘Main Bhi Aam Aadmi’ during a press conference after the party’s two-day national executive meeting in New Delhi yesterday.

21Gulf TimesMonday, January 6, 2014

INDIA

India joins cryogenic rocket club India successfully launches cutting-edge cryogenic rocket

AgenciesSriharikota, Andhra Pradesh

India yesterday successfully launched its fi rst rocket us-ing domestically produced

booster technology after several previous missions had failed, taking another step forward in its ambitious space programme.

The Indian-made cryogeni-cally-powered rocket blasted off from the southern spaceport of Sriharikota precisely at 4.18pm as scheduled, as the country tries to join an elite club of coun-tries which have mastered the complex technology.

The 415-tonne Geosynchro-nous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) D5 rocket deployed a two-tonne advanced commu-nications satellite some 17 min-utes after blast-off , said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Dr K Rad-hakrishnan.

“I am extremely proud and happy to say that Team ISRO has done it,” Radhakrishnan an-nounced at mission control in Andhra Pradesh state, sparking a roar of applause from colleagues.

“Team ISRO and the project directors all have put their heart and soul in making this proud moment for the country,” he said.

India has for years been try-

ing to develop its own cryogenic rocket engines that are designed to put heavier satellites into high orbits, about 36,000km from Earth.

The powerful booster tech-nology, using super-cooled liq-uid fuel, is a much needed tool to help India capture a larger share of the lucrative global market for launching commer-cial satellites.

But the technology has only been successfully developed by a handful of countries including the US, Russia, France, Japan and China as well as the European Space Agency.

India’s project has had to overcome a string of hurdles and mishaps, including an aborted launch in August last year sever-al hours before lift-off after fuel was found to be leaking from one of the rocket’s engines.

The fi rst India-built rocket crashed into the Bay of Bengal just minutes after take-off in April 2010 after the cryogenic engines failed to ignite.

“If we succeed this time, India will join a select club of space-faring nations with indigenous cryogenic engine capability to launch above two-tonne class satellites,” ISRO director De-viprasad Karnik said before the launch.

“The twin purpose of this launch mission is to fl ight-test once again our own cryogenic engine and put into the geosta-tionary orbit a heavy communi-cation satellite,” Karnik added.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated the team on yesterday’s mission, which cost Rs3.65bn ($58mn) - Rs2.2bn for the rocket and Rs1.45bn for the satellite.

“It is yet another important step that the country has taken in the area of science and tech-nology,” Singh said in a tweet.

The opposition Bharatiya Ja-nata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi too congratulated the Indian scien-tists.

In November India success-fully lifted into orbit a spacecraft bound for Mars as it tries to be-come the fi rst Asian nation to reach the Red Planet.

It has taken ISRO scientists years to develop cryogenic mo-tors after India’s attempt to im-port the technology from Russia in 1992 failed because of opposi-tion from the US.

Since 2001 India has bought cryogenic engines from Rus-sia and seven of them have been used on missions.

An Indian space rocket using a Russian-built booster exploded shortly after launch in Decem-ber 2010, also during a mission to put an advanced communica-tions satellite into space.

ISRO pushed ahead with de-veloping its own engine, in-cluding the third and fi nal part, fuelled with a mix of oxygen and

hydrogen in liquid form and kept at a very low temperature.

“A cryogenic rocket stage is more effi cient and provides more thrust for every kilogram of propellant it burns compared to other solid and liquid fuel stages,” Karnik said.

India’s fi rst satellite launch, of an Italian satellite, was in 2007.

The country sees its space programme as an achievement that highlights its emergence as a major world economy, and many citizens take great pride in it.

But the cost of the programme has attracted criticism as the government struggles to tackle poverty and child malnutrition.

Now sky is the limit for India: ex-scientist

When the countdown began in Sriharikota yesterday for the launch of the Rs3.65bn mission to flight test the cryogenic engine designed and built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), S Nambinarayanan’s heart was beating fast and he could not speak much. After its successful launch, he said: “Now, the sky is the limit for India.”In 1991, it was Nambinarayanan, a former ISRO scientist, who was busy working as project director for the development of cryogenic technology. Three years later, he was arrested on the allegation that India’s space

programme was sold. Along with another top ISRO off icial, two Maldivian women and a businessman, he was arrested on charges of espionage. However, in 1996, the Supreme Court dismissed the case against him. Yesterday, he was sitting in the studio of a leading TV channel and found it diff icult to hide his emotions - removing his glasses and wiping his tears of joy - when the mission turned successful. “I am really happy and mind you it was this technology which we all saw just now, that was told by people here, that I ‘sold’ it then

(1994),” said an emotionally choked Nambinarayanan. “... We should now have an overall plan and I am sure scientists are working on it as this cryogenic engine is the best of its kind. Incidentally, this was first developed in 1967 by Russia,” he added. Even now, Nambinarayanan is busy in his battle seeking justice for his fair name and has already tasted success. In 2012, a division bench of the Kerala High Court upheld the order of the National Human Rights Commission directing the state government to pay a compensation of Rs1mn to him.

Party’s over, Goa starts clampdown on nightlife IANSPanaji

Goa’s reputation as a nightlife destination is in peril. A ban on outdoor

nightlife and commercial activ-ity imposed by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s government came into eff ect yesterday.

All commercial activities in Goa will have to wind up by 1am, according to Parrikar, who said the decision was necessary to curb the rising wave of crimes, especially the looting of tourists, burglaries and thefts.

“All commercial activity will have to shut after 1am,” Parrikar said, announcing the ban last Thursday.

Only fi ve-star hotels and in-door activities have been spared the ban. Hundreds of the state’s beach shacks, open dance fl oors and other open dining court-yards will come under the new regulation.

The ban comes on the heels of week-long celebrations in India’s party state, which in-cluded Christmas as well as New Year revelries. There was also a string of music parties

across the coastal stretch.Most sections of Goa have

called the ban a party pooper, and said it was brought into force to mask the ineffi ciency of a fl oundering state police force which has been unable to control rising crime.

“It’s a ridiculous move. Shut-ting down activity and staying indoors is not going to help the situation. We’ve had a burglary twice at our home so far... The reason for the steep rise in bur-glary and crime is that the crooks are not scared of the cops or the law and order machinery in the state,” says Skitter Faia, a public relations professional who lives in Colva, a popular beach village in south Goa.

Shalom Sardinha, a Congress activist, says it would be un-fair to blame the police alone. Sardinha, the son of a sitting Lok Sabha MP, says the blame rests with politicians for more reasons than one.

“It would be unfair to blame just the police as most of these nefarious activities are (done) with the backing and sup-port of the state’s politicians,” says Sardinha, adding that the shortage of police personnel

was also a handicap.Former president of the Goa

Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry Manguirish Pai Raikar feels that not allowing music, especially in Goa, with its profi le as an entertainment destination, was wrong.

Raikar said these indiscrimi-nate bans work well for local politicians who extort money from hospitality outfi ts who play music to enhance a visitor expe-rience.

“I have seen people at Mor-jim blackmailing hoteliers. They allow music only after you pay them. Are visitors coming here to gaze at the stars? They might want to enjoy the sound of music with their food. We need to look into this matter, or stop tourism altogether,” Raikar said.

But G Ganesh, a web devel-oper who has managed a night-club in the past, feels there was a need to curb nightlife: “There have been problems because of the late-night commercial ac-tivities - noise pollution, acci-dents, burglaries, etc,” Ganesh said, adding that the “corrupt, lazy and unfi t” police force are to blame for the breakdown in law and order.

Trinamool slams opposition’s‘misinformation’ campaign IANSKolkata

West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress, under attack after the

gang-rape and death of a girl af-ter she was set ablaze, yesterday staged rallies and held meetings across the state, decrying the campaign of “misinformation unleashed by the opposition parties.”

In Kolkata, the Trinamool

Yuva organised a rally from Gol-park to Hazra in the southern part of the city. Senior party leaders Partha Chattopadhyay, Subrata Bakshi and Sovandeb Chattopadhayay took part in the 3.1km rally.

Several thousand Trinamool workers joined the rally, carrying posters and banners denouncing the opposition parties for “try-ing to halt the development of the state” by highlighting such incidents.

“Leaders of opposition parties

know they’ll disappear from the scene if the Trinamool can con-tinue with its agenda of progress and development for some more time. So they are hatching con-spiracies to give the government a bad name,” said Sovandeb.

“When small incidents hap-pen, they can be tackled well. But doing politics over dead body is not the politics the state needs,” he said.

The girl, 16, whose father is a taxi driver from Bihar, was raped twice by a gang in Octo-ber in Madhyamgram of North 24-Parganas district. Shocking-ly, the second assault took place when she was returning home after fi ling the police complaint.

She died on December 31 of severe burn injuries.

Police have slapped murder charges against two accused, now under custody, based on the girl’s dying declaration that the duo set her ablaze.

The police have drawn fl ak for their alleged attempt to forcibly perform the last rites of the girl to prevent any demonstration with the body.

Aam Admi Party (AAP) activists hold posters during a rally as they protest against the gang-rape and murder of a teenager in Kolkata, yesterday.

Bharatiya Janata Party’ prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with yoga guru Baba Ramdev during an event for Ramdev’s Bharat Swabhiman Trust in New Delhi yesterday.

‘Optimist’ Modi gets Ramdev’s support for Lok Sabha polls IANSNew Delhi

Calling himself a thor-ough optimist, Bharati-ya Janata Party’s prime

ministerial candidate Narendra Modi yesterday said the word “disappointment” is not in his dictionary.

He was speaking as the chief guest at the foundation day celebrations of yoga guru Ram-dev’s Bharat Swabhiman Trust in New Delhi’s Talkatora Sta-dium. Ramdev later announced his support for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections and Modi as the prime minister.

“The word disappointment is not there in my dictionary. I have seen my mother work in homes to bring us up. I never saw her being pessimistic,” he said.

“When senseless allegations are levelled against me, I feel people are so great to have lifted a tea seller so high,” said Modi.

Taking a jibe at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi with-

out naming him, Modi said: “A person who has lived in such acute poverty does not need to undertake tours to understand people’s pain.”

He also said the 2014 Lok Sabha polls will be a movement in itself.

“This will be the fi rst elec-tion since Independence which will destroy all traditions. Usu-ally polls are fought by political parties and candidates. This is the fi rst time elections are be-coming a people’s movement in itself and political parties are being forced to fi ght on the agenda of development,” he said.

Also present at the event were senior party leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh, who too took on the Congress.

Jaitley, leader of the opposi-tion in the Rajya Sabha, target-ed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s comments on a “break-through” with Pakistan, saying such a development would go against India’s dignity.

“The prime minister said there was almost an agree-

ment on Kashmir. When Per-vez Musharraf (former presi-dent of Pakistan) said this, we did not believe him ... but now the prime minister has said, so Kashmir does not belong to any one party, they cannot reach a conclusion without consulting all parties.”

After a meeting in New Del-hi in 2005, India and Pakistan, in a joint statement, had said the peace process between the two countries was “irrevers-ible.”

Meanwhile, Ramdev raised three main points in his address - bringing back black money stashed abroad, abolishing all direct and indirect taxes and bringing a single ‘banking transaction tax’ and promotion of Indian culture and languag-es, apart from other issues.

Modi promised his party was working on all the suggestions made by the yoga guru.

“The present taxation system is a burden on the common man and new reforms are needed. The BJP has been agitating against black money for long

and we will bring it back when we come to power. Our chil-dren should feel proud of their language and culture and only then will they be able to face the world with their heads held high,” said Modi.

“The BJP is working dili-gently on all the issues raised by ‘swamiji’ (Ramdev) and the suggestions,” he added.

Following Modi’s assurance, Ramdev announced his support for the party.

“I had two options in front of me, ‘Modiji’, and the ‘shahzada’ who has not done anything for the country,” Ramdev said, re-ferring to Rahul Gandhi.

“I know ‘Modiji’ has the will to take on the corrupt Con-gress,” he said.

Ramdev was initially a sup-porter of Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption campaign, which split later with Arvind Kejriwal forming the Aam Aad-mi Party (AAP).

The yoga guru, however, re-fused to speak on the AAP and said he will “not talk about third or fourth options here.”

The cryogenically-powered GSLV-D5, carrying a satellite, blasts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, yesterday.

22 Gulf TimesMonday, January 6, 2014

LATIN AMERICA

A crane is seen at the construction site of the Panama Canal Expansion project during an organised tour for the media on the Pacific side at the outskirts of Panama City.

Panama botched geological studies in canal cost dispute ReutersPanama City

Flawed geological studies of the terrain of the Pan-ama Canal by its operator

has led to big cost overruns in the project to expand the wa-terway, the building consortium at the centre of a dispute with Panama’s government over the plan said on Saturday.

Earlier last week, the con-sortium led by Spanish builder Sacyr said the scheme to build a third set of locks for the canal had incurred additional costs of $1.6bn, and demanded Panama foot the bill or work would be suspended.

Panama rejected those argu-ments, but has hinted it could negotiate some kind of com-promise with the consortium,

which also includes Italy’s Sa-lini Impregilo, Belgium’s Jan De Nul and Panama’s Constructora Urbana.

Complaints by consortium offi cials on Saturday about geo-logical problems provided some of the most detailed explana-tions yet on what pushed costs above the projections to expand one of the world’s major mari-time cargo routes.

The consortium known as Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), on Saturday reiterated that it did not plan to abandon the project, but would suspend works on Jan 20 if no deal was reached.

GUPC offi cials told reporters that when excavations to build the locks began, they found the geol-ogy of the area was more complex than had been made clear when the project was tendered.

“The main part of (the cost overruns) is due to geological fl aws and is related to problems with the concrete,” said Paolo Moder, a member of the GUPC’s board of directors.

After the group began digging in the Pacifi c zone of the canal, the basalt they found there was not right for the mix of concrete they planned for the locks, so they had to bring in basalt from elsewhere, resulting in higher costs, said Jose Pelaez, head of the GUPC section building the Atlantic locks.

But the canal authority re-jected that mix, and for seven months the GUPC had to devel-op other mixes until in the end the authority fi nally approved the original one, he added.

He said the geological stud-ies were carried out by the ca-nal authorities in tandem with

international advisers, and formed the basis for the sub-sequent tender the consortium won.

“The (Panama Canal Au-thority) studied these technical conditions for more than seven years and didn’t detect them, and it’s not fair to assign GUPC or any contractor unlimited risks for something the GUPC only had months to study,” Pelaez said.

A team of Spanish govern-ment offi cials is travelling to Panama to try to help resolve the dispute over the massive infrastructure project, which aims to broaden and deepen ex-isting channels so bigger vessels can sail through.

The canal authority re-sponded to the comments by stating that the GUPC could present its arguments to the

arbitration authorities set out to resolve disputes under the contract.

Asked whether the compa-nies could seek government aid, Pelaez said the consortium was “a private group and the actions undertaken by the government are strictly diplomatic”.

The canal expansion, whose total cost is estimated at around $5.3bn, is at the center of the Panamanian government’s plans to modernise the Cen-tral American country, and President Ricardo Martinelli is insistent the project must be completed.

Spain is also keen to demon-strate its builders can be relied on after a slump in the local construction industry plunged the country into an economic crisis that has dragged on for years.

Bezos airlifted off Galapagos in health scare ReutersChicago/Quito

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos was airlifted from a cruise ship by the Ec-

uadorean Navy after suff ering a kidney stone attack in the Gala-pagos Islands on New Year’s Day.

“Galapagos: fi ve stars. Kidney stones: zero stars,” Bezos said in an e-mail provided by Amazon in response to a Reuters request for comment.

Ecuador’s navy said Bezos was aboard a ship travelling be-tween the islands of Floreana and Santa Cruz, both famed for their wildlife, when the attack struck in the mid-afternoon.

A navy helicopter met the ship at Santa Cruz and fl ew him about 20 miles (32km) to his private jet on nearby Baltra island. From there, Bezos was fl own to the US for “emergency surgery”, the navy said in a statement.

“He had to be attended to in the shortest possible time,” the statement said. The Galapagos lie about 600 miles west off the Ecuadorean coast.

Juan Carlos Ibarra, a lieuten-ant with the navy’s air force, was the helicopter pilot who fl ew the airlift.

“They informed us when the ship was arriving in Academy

Bay at Santa Cruz island,” Ibarra told Reuters by telephone.

“We landed our helicopter on a football pitch there ... they told us that a doctor had already gone in boat to treat him onboard the yacht ... They stabilised him and took him to the US. He was con-scious, but he was on a drip.”

The navy said in its state-ment that Ibarra, as well as the helicopter co-pilot and fl ight engineer, had received messages of thanks from the relatives and associates of Bezos, whom it de-scribed as “such a prestigious, world famous businessman”.

Galapagos National Park draws many wealthy and fa-mous visitors among the roughly 180,000 tourists who visit every year to gape at the archipelago’s rich but fragile biodiversity.

Bezos, 49, is the 19th richest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine, with a fortune of $25bn.

Since founding Amazon in his own garage near Seattle in 1994, Bezos has built the online bookseller into the world’s larg-est Internet retailer, a consumer electronics giant with its Kin-dle e-reader and is pioneering ‘cloud’, or internet-based com-puting.

Last year Bezos made a splash when he bought the Washington Post for $250mn.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos reported well after health scare in Galapagos.

Thousands of inhabitants receive a piece of the traditional ring-shaped cake ‘Roscon de reyes’ during the King’s Day celebration at Zocalo square in Mexico City on Friday. The 9.4 tonne cake was 1,440m long.

King’s Day celebration Mexican cartel leader arrested in Netherlands AFPLos Angeles

A Mexican man described as an alleged leader of the powerful Sinaloa

drug syndicate has been de-tained in the Netherlands on a US arrest warrant, US authori-ties said on Friday.

Jose Rodrigo Arechiga-Gamboa, also known as “Chino Antrax” and “Norberto Sicai-ros-Garcia,” was arrested on Monday at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the offi ce of the US attorney for the southern district of California, based in

San Diego, said in a statement. A federal grand jury in San

Diego returned a sealed indict-ment on December 20 charging Arechiga-Gamboa with con-spiracy to import and distrib-ute controlled substances. An arrest warrant was issued the same day.

Arechiga-Gamboa was ar-rested at the airport “under a fraudulent name as he deplaned from KLM Flight 686 from Mex-ico City, Mexico to Amsterdam,” the statement read.

US offi cials are seeking his extradition to face charges in southern California.

The main leader of the Si-

naloa cartel, based in the west-ern Mexican state of the same name, is Joaquin “El Chapo” (Shorty) Guzman.

Guzman escaped from a Mexican prison in 2001 and is now the drug traffi cker most wanted by US offi cials. He is also considered by Forbes as the most powerful criminal on the planet.

More than 77,000 people have been killed in Mexico in connection with organised crime since now former presi-dent Felipe Calderon launched a nationwide war against the drug cartels after taking offi ce in 2006.

A large fire destroyed much of a nature reserve at the foot of the Sierra de la Ventana mountains in Argentina, but workers managed to control it on Saturday, authorities said. The blaze ripped through 48,000 hectares (118,610 acres) of a grassland area, including much of he 6,700 hectares of Ernesto Tornquist Provincial Park, in Buenos Aires province. “After a week of hard work,

the fire is now under control,” regional fire chief Martin Haag told the Todo Noticias television channel. “It had extreme characteristics, with high temperatures, drought and winds that rotated and increased in speed.” He explained that the fire increased in magnitude amid a historic heatwave aff ecting much of the country during its Southern Hemisphere summer.

A total of 35 fire crews, 250 firefighters, 40 navy troops and 25 rangers worked to extinguish the fire, aided by two air tankers and two helicopters, authorities said. “The priority is definitely to handle this situation and then move to strengthen and recover lost heritage,” said Buenos Aires province Governor Daniel Scioli, who flew over the affected area.

Fire destroys Argentine natural reserve

A demonstrator from the AnimaNaturalis animal rights group, with body paint applied to resemble a macaw, is pictured inside a cage during a demonstration against the buying and selling of pets on Three Kings Day, in Mexico City on Saturday. Children traditionally receive gifts on Three Kings Day, observed on January 6.

Cage demonstration

A Colombian man spent the entire 100mn-peso ($40,000) booty he stole from a currency dealer on a New Year’s party with his neighbours, a newspaper reported on Friday.The robber allegedly pretended to be a wealthy businessman and lured the victim into a hotel in Bogota’s Salitre neighbourhood near the international airport, El Tiempo reported, quoting police.The victim was found tied up in a hotel room. The suspect was identified and arrested based on a surveillance video recording.

Robber spends $40,000 on party

One worker was killed and two dozen injured in the collapse of a building during construction of a electric power substation in Mexico City on Saturday, utility company CFE said. Cement was being pumped onto a platform on an upper floor of the building at the time of the accident and it appeared the building could not sustain the weight of the building materials, the Excelsior newspaper reported.

One killed in building collapse

Under the new structural benchmarks, Pakistan has agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to initiate revenue-based loadshedding in the power distribution companies, taking action against tax dodgers and hiring financial advisers for the privatisation of the strategic organisations, including state carrier PIA and Pakistan Steel Mills, off icial sources say. The IMF has also assessed that the security conditions in Pakistan remain diff icult with alarming terrorist activities recently, as well as sectarian violence and criminal activities, which continue to depress investment and growth.

The six months of rule of Nawaz Sharif government has led to increase in prices of oil and gas, for which analysts blame poor policies and weak financial management. They allege that the government has no plan and neither is it trying to formulate one to address this multi-headed hydra. Oil price increases mainly because of the surge in international market but this is not the only factor determining the consumer (retail) price of petroleum products in the domestic market, they say. The last six months of the current fiscal year witnessed more than 12% hike in prices of petroleum products.

Investors are heading to Pakistan to benefit from a newly-elected, business-friendly government that is rolling out a programme to aid the struggling economy, the Wall Street Journal newspaper has reported. In its latest report on Pakistan, the American daily said the benchmark index traded in the financial capital Karachi jumped 49.4% last year, ranking among the world’s top performers. It said the rally is also part of a broad move by money managers willing to take on high risks in frontier markets across the globe on hopes of juicy returns that beat traditional emerging markets.

The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack on a military convoy belonging to the Nato-led ISAF security force in Kabul on Saturday, striking at the heart of the capital but without causing any casualties. Security sources said the bomb had targeted a military convoy near Camp Eggers, an ISAF base in the diplomatic quarter of the capital close to both the German and Italian embassies. The Nato-led force said only that there had been “an improvised explosive device detonation in the vicinity of Camp Eggers”, but that no casualties had resulted. The Taliban claimed in an e-mailed statement to have inflicted losses.

Afghan families receive winter assistance by a non-government organisation Muslim Hands, for the most vulnerable returnees, Internally Displaced Persons as well as others at risk in the cold winter weather in Kabul yesterday.

Islamabad agrees to new IMF benchmarks

Poor planning leads to hike in fuel prices

Investors flocking to Pakistan: report

Afghan Taliban claim attack on Nato convoy

ECONOMY COST OF LIVINGCOMMERCE MILITANCY AID DISTRIBUTION

Pakistan’s truck art masters fret over Nato withdrawal

Pakistan’s truck artists, who transform ugly lorries into fl amboyant moving

works of art, fear boom times for their trade could be at an end as Nato winds down its mission in Afghanistan.

The workhorses of the Paki-stani haulage industry are often ageing, patched-up Bedford and Dodge models, but almost with-out exception they are lavishly decorated.

Elaborate colourful designs, calligraphy, portraits of heroes and singers, mirrors and jin-gling tassels are skilfully worked onto the trucks by artists such as Haider Ali.

In his open-air workshop in the heart of Karachi, a goat or two browsing the dusty ground, Ali sketches out a design for a boat.

Others include horses, par-tridges, tigers, the faces of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto or singer Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi.

“The design depends on the owner of the truck. Everyone wants his truck to be diff erent from everyone else’s,” Ali, who left school to follow his father Mohamed into the truck art business, said.

Truck art has become one of Pakistan’s most distinctive cul-tural exports in recent years, but

it is still not highly regarded at home.

“The higher echelons of soci-ety don’t call it art but craft — or anything else, just not art,” said Ali.

Call it what you will, deco-rating trucks is big business — haulage fi rms and lorry owners shell out $5,000, even $10,000 a time to have their vehicles adorned.

It can take a team of half a dozen artists nearly six weeks to decorate a truck, not just paint-ing but working up intricate arabesque collages of laminated stickers.

Jamal Elias, a truck art expert from Penn State university in the United States, said it represents the largest art sector of the Paki-stani economy.

“You can’t say the gallery world or textile design begins to compare in size,” he said.

But in Pakistan, he said, the artists “are never going to be treated as real artists as long as the social structure remains the way it is”.

For the past decade, hauliers in Pakistan have been making money by ferrying supplies for the Nato mission in neighbour-ing, landlocked Afghanistan from the port of Karachi.

Profi ts from this work have meant they have been happy to spend on decorating their vehi-cles, but with Nato withdraw-ing from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, the artists fear the good

times could be over. “There was a great deal of de-

mand because of Nato trucking, and everyone was trying to get the work, but the decline has al-ready started,” said Ali.

Noor Hussain, 76, who has been painting trucks in the gar-rison city of Rawalpindi, next to Islamabad, for 65 years, shares his fears.

“We’re afraid that because of

the decrease in trucks circulat-ing, people will lose their jobs in our business,” he said.

“Because if there are fewer lorries in circulation, we will have fewer to decorate.”

Mumtaz Ahmed, another Karachi artist, said business surged under the rule of former army dictator Pervez Mushar-raf, who gave Pakistan’s sup-port to the US-led invasion of

Afghanistan after the 9/11 at-tacks.

A foretaste of what might happen came in late 2011 and 2012, when the Pakistan govern-ment shut Nato’s supply routes through its territory for several months in protest at a botched US air raid that killed 24 soldiers at a border post.

“We felt a real slowdown when there was the ban on Nato sup-plies,” said Ahmed.

“Things are just getting bet-ter now. Nato has meant a good boom for us.”

But in a country with a stag-nant economy and galloping in-fl ation, why bother spending so much just to decorate a lorry?

“It shows our pride, our love for our job and also that our trucks are in good condition and attractive,” said Mir Hussain, who was about to spend a small fortune repairing and redecorat-ing a truck.

The more a lorry grabs the at-tention with its beauty, the bet-ter its owner thinks it will attract clients, though most contracts are granted without regard to looks.

Perhaps the real reason behind the slightly shaky logic is the simple love of man for his ma-chine.

“His wife may be dying of hunger at home in the vil-lage, but the driver will still go ahead and have his truck deco-rated,” said mechanic Sajid Mahmood.

AFPIslamabad

In a picture taken on October 4, 2010, a truck painter adds the finishing touches to the bodywork of a truck in Rawalpindi.

Musharraf won’t appear in treason court : lawyer

A lawyer representing Pa-kistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf

said yesterday the retired gen-eral would not make a scheduled appearance at his treason trial today because of an ongoing ill-ness.

The 70-year-old was rushed to a military hospital on Thurs-day after developing what a police offi cial called a “heart problem” while being taken to hear treason charges against him at a special tribunal in Is-lamabad.

Musharraf’s team says the treason allegations, which re-late to his imposition of emer-gency rule in November 2007, are politically motivated and his lawyers have challenged the authority of the three-judge tribunal.

“Everyone is aware of his sickness. The whole world knows that he is in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) and the court also knows that,” lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri said by tel-ephone.

“We just have to make an oral request in the court that since he is not well, his presence should be dispensed with,” Kasuri said.

The ex-dictator spent his fourth day in the Armed Forc-es Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi, the garrison city bordering Islamabad, yester-day.

The court had adjourned its proceedings Thursday and sum-moned Musharraf to appear to-day, but Kasuri said he hoped it would now “exempt his personal presence”.

“The court is not making a special concession to Musharraf. It is according to the law. Human life is over and above justice,” Kasuri added.

Doctors treating Musharraf

had sent his medical reports to experts in Britain, Kasuri said on Saturday, to determine his further treatment at home or abroad.

The ex-dictator’s sudden health scare was met with scep-ticism from some observers and feverish media speculation that his departure from Pakistan on medical grounds — possibly to either Saudi Arabia or the UAE — could be imminent.

Some analysts believe such a move is necessary to head off a potentially destabilising clash between the government and the all-powerful military.

Siddiq-ul-Farooq, a spokes-man for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) de-nied a deal was in the offi ng but added the government would follow the court’s ruling.

“We neither wish to settle scores nor give any undue con-cession,” he said.

“No foreign pressure will be entertained: let the law take its course.

“If the court allows Mushar-raf to travel abroad for medical reasons then we will not try to stop it.”

Aside from the treason al-legations, Musharraf also faces trial over the assassination of former prime minister Bena-zir Bhutto, the death of a rebel leader, a deadly raid on a radi-cal mosque and the detention of judges.

AFPIslamabad

Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf is scheduled to appear in court to face treason charges today; He is in hospital with complaint of ‘heart problem’

Pervez Musharraf

Supporters of Hizbul Mujahideen chant slogans as they take part in a protest in Muzaff arabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, yesterday. The protest was held to mark Right to Self-determination Day, observed by Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control which separates Pakistan and India.

Right to Self-determination Day

Sharif govt may seek reopening

of Swiss cases against Zardari

The Nawaz Sharif govern-ment of Pakistan Muslim League-N is contemplat-

ing reviving through the Swiss courts of the appeal graft cases against former president Asif Zardari of Pakistan People’s Party for the return of $60mn reportedly stashed away in Swiss banks.

Sources here say that the law

ministry is engaged in discus-sions with a Geneva-based law fi rm, Python and Peter, and an Islamabad-based fi rm, Am-hurst Brown, to revive cases against Zardari that Swiss au-thorities closed last year due to a time-bar.

The sources said the govern-ment’s legal minds are confi dent that the Swiss cases could be re-opened following a Rawalpindi accountability court’s revival of cases that had been kept pend-ing against Zardari because he

enjoyed presidential immunity for fi ve years.

“The appeal could be fi led in the Swiss court of appeal short-ly,” said a government offi cial.

Currently, the two private law fi rms are reviewing “the judg-ments of the accountability courts in Rawalpindi acquitting the persons co-accused with Zardari in [what are known as the] SGS and Cotecna cases to fi rm up a future course of ac-tion,” he said.

However, Law Secretary Bar-

rister Zafarullah Khan said: “Not in my knowledge,” in an SMS reply when asked if the govern-ment had decided to request the reopening of the SGS and Cotec-na cases in Switzerland.

The minister for law and information, Senator Pervez Rashid, said: “We have decided on oath that we will not po-liticise any issue. We will go by the book and keep taking steps under the law. We will not try to persecute anybody or try to exonerate anybody”.

InternewsIslamabad

PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN23Gulf Times

Monday, January 6, 2014

PHILIPPINES

Gulf TimesMonday, January 6, 201424

Typhoon brings unexpected medical relief to town AFPBasey

A devastating typhoon that killed thousands of peo-ple in the Philippines has

unexpectedly given young traf-fi c accident victim Mario Renos hope that he could one day walk again.

Hit by a motorcycle while walking to school months before Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the central islands, the 13-year-old’s shrivelled legs are taking their fi rst steps to recovery at a Red Cross tent hospital put up in Basey town.

“I want to go back to school,” said Renos, gritting his teeth as he held on to metal railings with both hands while trying to nego-tiate an improvised exercise stall made of lumber from typhoon-felled coconuts.

“There is no reason he can’t walk again,” said Norwegian nurse Janecke Dyvi as she coaxed the boy across.

Staff ed by doctors and nurses from 10 European nations and off ering its services for free, the $1.6mn hospital has uncovered a huge unmet need on Samar is-land, one of the country’s poor-est regions.

Survivors of the ferocious winds and giant waves that fl at-tened Basey’s coastal neigh-bourhoods on November 8 are now fl ocking by the thousands to the medical facility that locals

have aff ectionately named the “Norwegian Hospital”.

And it is not just those injured directly by the typhoon who are feeling the benefi ts of such aid.

Pitched beneath the damaged municipal gym, the hospital’s six air-conditioned tents have brought relief for a multitude of injuries including centipede bites, harelips, traffi c accidents, strokes and burns, and other ail-ments and conditions unrelated to the typhoon.

It also successfully delivered the town’s fi rst ever baby via caesarean section, said its Nor-wegian administrator Kjell Eng-krog.

Haiyan, one of the country’s deadliest natural disasters which left nearly 8,000 people dead or missing and 4.4mn others homeless, also wrecked Basey’s hilltop district hospital.

The temporary replacement is the same type as those put up by the Red Cross in confl ict areas around the world, and is being deployed in the Philippines for the fi rst time, Engkrog said.

It is part of the aid agency’s contribution to an internation-al humanitarian eff ort that is evolving from meeting the sur-vivors’ immediate needs, such as food and shelter, to addressing their longer-term issues.

UN agencies and interna-tional aid organisations are also involved in the eff ort across the disaster zone, which covers an area the size of Portugal.

Until Haiyan hit, the boy struck by a motorcycle in March last year had no access to a phys-iotherapist and his legs had atro-phied because he was bedridden at home, forcing him to stop at-tending his fi fth-grade classes, nurse Dyvi said.

“Maybe they don’t have the money to pay for the treatment,” she said.

Assistant Philippine Health Secretary Eric Tayag said the government acknowledges “problems concerning (health services) access in that area”.

The district hospital is to be rebuilt this year, he said, but the authorities do not yet know when it will reopen.

“While the rebuilding is tak-ing place, it is important that temporary facilities are available so that basic health services are delivered,” Tayag said.

Nearly 4,000 patients have been treated in the Red Cross hospital since late November, said Atishay Abbhi, spokesman for the Red Cross contingent at the disaster zone.

He said the aid agency has also built four water treatment plants across Samar, a region largely populated by coconut farmers and fi shermen.

Starting this month, the Red Cross will provide equipment like boats and hooks to fi sher-men and seeds for farmers as well as fund cash-for-work schemes for displaced labourers.

Cash grants will also be set

Norwegian nurse Janecke Dyvi (right) along with a Filipino volunteer helping traffic accident victim Mario Renos (second right) during a physical rehabilitation session at the $1.6mn Red Cross tent hospital in Basey town, Western Samar province, central Philippines.

up to help small businesses get back on their feet. About 60 lo-cal medical personnel are now being trained on the job to take over when the Europeans are gone, Engkrog said, adding all the hospital equipment will also be handed over to Filipino au-thorities.

The Red Cross has already shut down a 100-bed tent hospi-tal it had put up in Ormoc, a city on neighbouring Leyte island, where the local health needs were not as acute once typhoon-induced injuries were dealt with, Engkrog said.

Passing on medical expertise to the locals is vital if people are to continue benefi ting over the coming months and years.

As Abhi, the Red Cross spokesman, put it: “We are not going to be (here) forever.” Patients inside one of the ward-tents of the Red Cross tent hospital in Basey town, Western Samar province.

Participants cheer after taking part in “The Colour Run” in Manila yesterday.

Colour Run

Enforcement agency to monitor suspected drug traffi ckers By Joel M Sy EgcoManila Times

The Philippine Drug Enforce-ment Agency (PDEA) will wire-tap suspected drug traffi ckers to

fi nd out more about the presence of the Sinaloa cartel in the country.

PDEA chief Director General Arturo Cacdac said wiretapping is illegal in the Philippines, but it has become a necessity to counter the entry of drug syndicates which are looking at the Philippines as a key hub in an “East-West” network they want to set up.

Cacdac said there is a need to imme-diately pass a law allowing the agency to conduct communications surveil-lance of suspected drug traffi ckers.

The PDEA and other counter nar-cotic agencies must be able to hit the command structure of drug traffi cking organisations, he told Manila Times.

He said the agency is backing the passage of a bill authored by Sen. Gre-gorio Honasan that seeks to legalise the wiretapping of drug traffi ckers.

The US government recently placed the Philippines at the centre of its an-ti-narcotics operation in Asia follow-ing reports that notorious drug rings that used to traffi c drugs only in the West have found their way to the East through their Chinese associates.

US Ambassador William Brown-fi eld, assistant secretary for Interna-tional Narcotics and Law Enforce-ment Aff airs (INL), was credited for the Christmas Day bust of a drug syndicate

in Lipa City whose members include those from Sinaloa, the Mexican drug cartel.

Brownfi eld said the cartel is eye-ing the Philippines as a hub in Asia for selling narcotics that have too small a market in the US.

Some 84 kilos of shabu (metham-phetamine hydrochloride) were seized from a ranch in Lipa City on December 25. Government agents arrested four suspects, including the Chinese con-tact of the Sinaloa.

PDEA public information offi ce chief Derrick Carreon said wiretap-ping should be done on personalities who are suspected to be involved in the drug trade.

“Basically it involves intercept-ing all forms of communication so

that we can establish the involvement of personalities who do not directly handle the items but they instead call the shots in the illegal drug industry,” Carreon said.

“I believe the measure was for-warded even before the involvement of Mexicans came to light,” he said.

Besides wiretapping, Cacdac said moves to intensify drug operations include the activation of the National Coast Watch Council, which has been established to implement the National Coast Watch System.

“The system helps address threats such as the entry and transshipment of illegal drugs, terrorism, smuggling and illegal fi shing among others. PDEA is also part of the participating agencies in this endeavour,” Cacdac said.

The PDEA wants the Bureau of Cus-toms to be more actively involved in detecting drugs, controlled precursors, essential chemicals and other contra-band materials.

It said there is a need to enhance the X-ray systems and similar facilities in the country’s ports.

In 2012, the Senate approved a bill that would allow law enforcement agencies to conduct wiretapping and surveillance on individuals suspected of being involved in the illegal drug trade.

Senate Bill 3341, sponsored by Ho-nasan’s committee on public order and dangerous drugs, was approved on the third and fi nal reading.

“The bill addresses the need to fur-ther strengthen the campaign against

illegal drugs in the country by giving more power to law enforcement agen-cies to go after dealers, smugglers, fi n-anciers, manufacturers and even cul-tivators of substances declared illegal in Republic Act 9165 or the Compre-hensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002,” Honasan said.

“It will take more than the present methods to address the drug trade which has assumed global proportions and now poses a threat to national se-curity. We need to upgrade our coun-termeasures against this global men-ace,” he said.

The bill would allow authorised in-tercepted conversations as evidence in court and only if it involves the sale, manufacturing, importing and fi nanc-ing of illegal drugs.

Infi ghting brewing at Supreme Court By Jomar CanlasManila Times

Big trouble could be brew-ing at the Supreme Court after its most senior

member, Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, got a scold-ing from Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno during debates on the petition questioning the legal-ity of the cybercrime law.

An unimpeachable source of Manila Times said Sereno shouted at Carpio during the Court’s last en banc delibera-tions in December.

The source said Carpio wanted a more liberal interpre-tation of the cybercrime law, while Associate Justice Marvic Leonen proposed that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima be giv-en “fangs in penalising off end-ers of the law.”

The Court insider said Ser-eno backed Leonen, who is her close friend.

The two justices were debat-ing the draft ponencia of Jus-tice Roberto Abad. While Car-pio was speaking, Leonen kept

butting in. At this point, Ser-eno admonished Carpio. “Jus-tice Carpio keep quiet! Justice Leonen has the fl oor we should listen to him,” the source quot-ed the chief justice.

Sereno’s behaviour is said to have shocked the other jus-tices.

“We were all shocked. We never imagined Meilou to shout at Tony. No one has ever done that to Carpio but Ser-eno,” the source said.

The source recalled that former Chief Justice Renato Corona treated Carpio with re-spect even if they were not on good terms.

“We knew that chief Corona and justice Carpio were at odds because of the chief justice is-sue but they never resorted to shouting matches. They can disagree without being disa-greable,” the source said.

He said Carpio managed to keep his cool despite Sereno’s outburst.

“Justice Carpio did not re-act. He seldom reacts. But to shout at him in an en banc is to insult him,” the source said.

He said the other justices admired Carpio for not fi ght-ing back despite the rude treat-ment he got from Sereno.

A Court insider said they fear that Sereno may have dug her grave because she has offi cially declared war against Carpio.

Another source believes Carpio will not take the inci-dent lying down.

“Sereno had better watch out. Carpio may be quiet but he is dangerous. He will get back at her,” the source said.

Carpio is one of the found-ers of the Carpio Villaraza Cruz Marcelo law offi ce, which is popularly known as “The Firm.” The law offi ce became very powerful and infl uential in the appointment of several justices and judges, especially during the Arroyo administra-tion.

The Manila Times learned that Sereno’s position was “brokered” by The Firm.

A magistrate said Sereno was introduced to President Be-nigno Aquino as the architect of the Philippines’ victory in the Piatco case in Singapore.

SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL25

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 2014

At least 18 dead, polling booths bombed as Bangladesh votes

Thousands of protest-ers fi rebombed polling stations and at least 18

people were killed as violence fl ared across Bangladesh yester-day during a walkover election boycotted by the opposition.

Police said they had opened fi re at protesters as they torched more than 200 polling stations and stole and burnt ballot papers to try to sabotage the poll.

Two of those killed were beat-en to death while guarding poll-ing stations in northern districts but most of the victims were opposition supporters.

“We’ve seen thousands of protesters attack polling booths and our personnel at a number of locations with petrol bombs,” Syed Abu Sayem, police chief of the northern district of Bogra, said.

“The situation is extremely volatile,” he added after describ-ing how thousands of ballot pa-pers had been ceremoniously set on fi re.

Most of the other victims were opposition activists shot by po-lice, while a driver died of his in-juries from a petrol bomb attack on his truck.

Police put the overall toll at 18 although the opposition said 22 of its supporters were killed.

“We were forced to open fi re after thousands of them at-tacked us with guns and small bombs,” said Mokbul Hossain, police chief in the northern town of Parbatipur.

“It was a co-ordinated attack. They managed to seize some bal-lot papers and they tried to steal our weapons.”

In the capital Dhaka, whose streets were largely deserted apart from thousands of troops,

Police open fire at opposition protesters as they torch more than 200 polling stations and burn ballot papers to try to sabotage the general election

AFPDhaka

Police and volunteers carrying a voter injured by crude bomb thrown by opposition party supporters in Dhaka yesterday.

A polling off icial inking a female voter’s finger at a polling station during the 10th Bangladesh national elections in Dhaka yesterday.

police confi rmed three petrol bombings of polling stations.

Tens of thousands of troops were deployed across the country after around 150 people had been killed in the build-up to the election.

The ruling Awami League has accused the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of orchestrating the vio-lence and has kept its leader un-der de facto house arrest.

The opposition had demand-ed that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina make way for a neutral caretaker government before the election to ensure no bal-lot-rigging, a system in force in the past.

It staged weeks of deadly pro-tests, including transport block-ades and calls for strikes, to press its demands.

A general strike called by the BNP, which began on Saturday, has now been extended until Wednesday morning as the party tries to ratchet up the pressure.

Although there was no imme-diate fi gure on turnout, offi cials

acknowledged that it was poor. “The turnout was low, partly

due to the boycott by many par-ties,” said election commission chief Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad.

Munira Khan, head of a Bang-ladeshi team of election moni-tors, said the vote had been characterised by “widespread apathy” and confusion about the choice on the ballot papers.

Eyewitnesses said there were no queues to vote, while local tel-evision reported that only a sin-gle person voted in the fi rst three hours at one station.

Final results are expected in the early hours today.

But the outcome is not in doubt since voting took place in only 147 of the 300 parliamenta-ry constituencies. Awami League candidates or allies had a clear run in the remaining 153.

Hasina’s government says it had to hold the vote after parlia-ment’s fi ve-year term expired.

“The turnout doesn’t mat-ter, what is important is that the people defi ed violence and came

out to vote,” Information Min-ister Hasanul Haq Inu told local television.

The BNP, whose leader Kha-leda Zia has been confi ned to her home for a week, said the vote was a joke.

“The country has rejected these farcical elections which were meaningless, laughable and universally unacceptable,” said deputy leader Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Those who did vote showed little enthusiasm.

“I don’t really want to vote as I don’t think it’s a proper elec-tion with only the ruling party candidates participating,” An-war Hossain said outside a poll-ing station in Dhaka’s Azimpur neighbourhood.

“But I am scared about what might happen if I don’t as the candidates might think I am anti-Awami League.”

Analysts warn the election will likely stoke violence af-ter the bloodiest year of un-rest since Bangladesh broke

free from Pakistan in 1971. The former East Pakistan is

the world’s eighth most popu-lous nation but also one of the poorest in Asia, and more tur-moil will undermine eff orts to improve the lot of its population of 154mn—a third of whom live below the poverty line.

A local rights group says more than 500 people have been killed since January 2013, including victims of clashes that erupted after the conviction of Islam-ists for crimes dating back to the 1971 war.

The main Islamist party was banned by judges from taking part in the election, and its lead-ers are either in detention or in hiding.

Alarmed by the violence, the United States, European Union and Commonwealth all declined to send observers to yesterday’s election.

Bangladesh has been plagued by instability since independ-ence, with nearly 20 coups since 1975.

Opposition calls new strike after deadly vote

Bangladesh’s opposition called a new 48-hour gen-eral strike yesterday to

protest at the killing of its sup-porters by police during a vio-lence-plagued general election.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said the shutdown would begin today morning, ef-fectively extending a protest which was in place throughout the weekend as part of a cam-paign to wreck yesterday’s elec-tion.

“We’ve called the strike to demand that the government declares this farcical election null and void,” BNP spokesman Sayrul Kabir said.

“We are also protesting the deaths of 22 of our supporters

in police fi ring during today’s vote,” Kabir added.

Police say at least 15 people were killed in violence during the voting, most of them opposition activists who were shot dead as they tried to disrupt the poll.

A polling offi cer and a security guard were also beaten to death by opposition protesters, ac-cording to the police.

The BNP and 20 other par-ties boycotted the election after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spurned their demands for the polls to be overseen by a neutral caretaker government.

Hasina’s Awami League is guaranteed victory as its mem-bers or allies faced a clear run in 153 of the 300 constituencies.

Sri Lanka evacuates people as storm nears

Sri Lanka has begun evacuating people living along the coast areas, as a

major storm threatened to cre-ate havoc in the area, offi cials said yesterday.

The early warning centre of the department of meteorol-ogy said that strong winds of speeds about 100km per hour and very heavy rain are expect-ed over the Northern Prov-ince and the areas adjacent to northern sea, Xinhua reported.

It warned people living along the coastal areas of Jaff na, Mul-laitivu and Mannar to be more vigilant, as sea waves are ex-pected to rise above 3m. Offi cials said that people living within 100m from the sea were evacu-

ated as a precautionary measure and taken to safer locations.

The US navy and air force joint typhoon warning cen-tre earlier said tropical storm “one” was forecast to strike Jaff na with maximum sus-tained winds and high gusts.

In 2004, Sri Lanka suff ered extensive damages and lost over 30,000 lives when a dev-astating tsunami struck and caught the country unaware. Since then, Sri Lanka has put in place a natural disaster emer-gency system to evacuate peo-ple before the disaster strikes.

AUSTRALIAN KAYAK-ERS RESCUED: Strong winds and rough seas yesterday scuttled a bid by two Austral-ian kayakers to circumnavi-gate Sri Lanka, the Disaster Management Centre said.

The two men identifi ed as

David Rowlands and Ian Pex-ton got into trouble off Mullait-tivu on the northeast coast and were helped by local military personnel, said centre director Sarath Kumara.

“The weather was very bad at the time,” Kumara said. “There was a severe weather warning in that area from the morning because of wind speeds of up to 100km (60 miles) an hour.”

Military spokesman Briga-dier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said the two Australians were given a lift to a nearby hotel along with their kayak.

The duo had set out from southern Sri Lanka last month hoping to cover 1,200km (750 miles) in their kayak in just over three weeks ending January 12, according to their website.

There was no immediate comment from them yesterday.

AgenciesColombo

Top US envoy due in Colombo

A top US envoy will travel to Sri Lanka today to discuss allegations of

war crimes ahead of a UN re-view of Colombo’s human rights record, offi cials said.

US ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp will spend fi ve days in Sri Lanka discussing rights and reconcil-iation following the decades-long separatist war, the US State department said.

Rapp will meet with gov-ernment, political and civil

society offi cials “on a range of issues focusing on Sri Lanka’s justice, accountability, and reconciliation processes,” the US State Department said in a short statement on its website.

The visit comes as the UN Human Rights Council meets in March to discuss whether Sri Lanka has shown progress towards reining in alleged rights abuses and investigated suspected war crimes.

The UN estimates that the confl ict for a separate home-land for ethnic Tamils in the Sinhalese-majority nation cost

at least 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009.

Sri Lanka has resisted calls to investigate allegations that up to 40,000 ethnic Tamil ci-vilians were killed by the se-curity forces during the fi nal push that crushed the Tamil rebels.

UN rights chief Navi Pil-lay has warned Sri Lanka that it faces an international probe into the allegations if it has not shown progress by March.

There was no immediate comment from Sri Lanka’s for-eign ministry on Rapp’s visit and no further details were immediately available.

AFPColombo

With demand up, Nepal reels under heavy load-shedding

The state power monopoly in Nepal has extended load-shedding hours

from the earlier nine hours a day to 12 hours beginning yesterday.

The Nepal Electricity Author-ity (NEA), that had increased power cuts to nine hours a day in mid-December, announced last Friday further extension to 12 hours a day for domestic consumers.

It is not an abnormal phe-nomenon for NEA to increase the hours of power cut follow-ing the onset of the dry sea-son in Nepal, a country having one of the highest hydropower potential in the world.

The drop-off in electricity generation owing to the decreas-ing water level in rivers has been blamed for the extended rolling blackout.

Load-shedding during winter last year had gone up to 16 hours a day.

With the new schedule be-coming eff ective, Nepalis will have to cope with 84 hours a week in darkness.

“Increasing load-shedding is our compulsion,” Bhuwan Chet-tri, chief of NEA’s load dispatch centre, told Xinhua by phone.

“The power demand goes up to 100MW during the dry sea-son as compared to the wet sea-son and it is hard to balance the demand and supply chain.”

It has not even been a week since Nepal’s Energy Minister Umakant Jha promised to con-tain power cuts within 12 hours a day this winter that Nepalis have received the fresh load-shed-ding schedule equalling to the same period a day.

IANSKathmandu

“This is just the beginning and the power crisis cannot be lim-ited within only 12 hours a day in the near future,” Chettri said. “At present, there is a demand for 1,100MW a day while we have been able to supply only 575MW to 600MW.”

The NEA projected the de-mand for power to go up to 1,200MW a day during this year’s dry season.

Industrial consumers have been hit harder with the new schedule. NEA sources said load-shedding for industrial consumers have been extended to 14 hours a day.

“Sadly, the 14-hour-long power cut is arranged in a sin-gle shift. Factories that used to run three shifts of operation a

day have been restricted to only one shift,” Nepali industrialist Pashupati Murarka said.

Nepalese industries are forced to manage back-up power by installing diesel plants at their factory premises.

“Almost 95% of the industries, hotels, hospitals and academic centres, among other business enterprises, have their own die-sel plants,” said Murarka, who is also vice-president of Nepal’s apex business body, the Fed-eration of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

“The cost of production goes up to around 35% higher, if the factories are run with diesel plants,” he added

Similarly, general consum-ers have also begun to install

back-up electricity facilities in their residences to escape the dark hours. Nepal has already imported tens of millions of dol-lars worth of inverters and solar panels for household purposes.

Though the government had earlier announced import of 200MW hydropower from India to limit the deepening power crisis, the process has not begun so far.

More than 80% of Nepal’s hydro-power projects are run-of-the-river power stations and power generation from these projects goes down by as much as 60% during the dry season.

Several studies suggest that Nepal has commercially viable hydroelectricity potential of up to 45,000MW which remains largely untapped.

A man heading home with a cart filled with water as light fades before the sunset in Kathmandu yesterday. With 12-hour load-shedding in place, few areas in the capital have streetlights working.

Whoever coined the quote “Laws were made to be broken” would defi nitely be impressed by the fragrant violations of the traffi c law on the streets of Qatar.

Two surveys by Gulf Times in as many weeks have revealed that a campaign by the Traffi c Department to curb traffi c violations does not seem to have had any impact.

After the fi rst survey on December 26, Gulf Times reported on December 28 that traffi c violations in Doha had reached alarming levels, making a mockery of the country’s laws.

The very day, the Traffi c Department announced the campaign, which was launched from the next day. The second survey last Thursday confi rmed that all the fi ndings from the fi rst survey - that many motorists do not wear seat belts, use mobile phones while driving and take left or U-turns from lanes meant for proceeding straight - were continuing unchanged.

As done during the fi rst survey, Gulf Times sent two news photographers to some of the busiest points in Doha last Thursday. The pictures they took show eight out of 10 motorists using mobile phones while driving and at least fi ve out of 10 not wearing the seat belt.

The photographers also found that illegal left- and U-turns were common. These violations of the traffi c law are happening despite earnest eff orts by traffi c police personnel and even some senior offi cials who have been spotted

at roundabouts and traffi c signals looking out for violations.

The moment they come across a law enforcing offi cial, motorists who are otherwise averse to wearing the seat belt or keeping the mobile phone away, turn into a picture of obedience. Once they move clear of the monitoring zone, things are back to square one.

It is as if a good number of motorists got some thrill out of violating the traffi c law. As pointed out time and again by road safety experts, one of the reasons that encourage motorists not to wear the seat belt and use mobile phones while driving is the absence of black points for the off ences.

Each off ence carries only a fi ne of QR500 but if they came with at least three or four demerit points each, motorists would be careful once they are caught, because their driving licence would be suspended for three months if 14 points are accumulated.

Repeat off enders, if they get 12 points the second time, would see a licence suspension for six months. Accruing 10 points a third time entails the suspension of driving licence for nine months, a fourth time with eight points warrants a one year suspension, and fi fth time with six points result in the ultimate suspension of the license, following which the off ender would have to pass the driving test afresh after one year.

The provisions in the traffi c law are adequate, but only that the demerit point system should be made applicable to the most common off ences of not wearing the seat belt and using handheld mobile phones while driving.

Residents from all walks of life, both citizens and expatriates, are breaking the traffic law. It is not just a lack of awareness that is leading many to ignore road safety norms. It seems that arrogance is a factor too.

Violations of traffi claws are rampantdespite campaigns

P.O.Box 2888Doha, Qatar

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Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-AttiyahEditor-in-Chief : Darwish S AhmedProduction Editor: C P Ravindran

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 2014

COMMENT26

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Violations of the traffi c law are happening despite earnest eff orts by traffi c police personnel

While the change to digital money will not be eff ortless, the benefi ts of the transition will likelyoutweigh the problems

By Fernando ChávezMexico City

The history of currency has entered a surprising and mysterious phase, with the arrival of digital money,

presented like some novelty feature in a sci-fi fi lm. The media has amplifi ed this fascinating leg of fi nancial history as their noisy vocation requires, mixing fact and fi ction while reporting on Bitcoin, that has become the digital money most in demand in the world (there are others).

But beyond the hyperbole, this is a development that may soon become a major issue for central banks, precisely because it is bound to weaken their positions as exclusive emitters of money.

The costs and benefi ts of this digital innovation, we must all admit, are still far from clear. I suspect, however, that there will be a growing international consensus that such money forms will impose themselves, without the imminent disappearance of “our” money - coins and bills - and even less so credit and debit cards or electronic transfers. The writing of cheques, on the other hand, is already about to enter a display case for the money museums.

It is not about money disappearing then, but changing: from physical to virtual or digital. While the money we have known for hundreds of years may be palpable, money of the future will only be valuable. This will actually be far less traumatic as when humanity passed from merchandise-money to bank money – a currency ultimately based on confi dence.

We may cite here two indisputable examples from centuries ago. Cocoa beans were used as money in ancient Mexico - and if people grew tired of handling them, they could always consume them, hot or cold. Or a more extreme case from the distant past, when a female slave could be used for payment in the Roman world, to become a companion or wife.

While change from merchandise-money to fi duciary money was traumatic, going from physical to digital money will have more benefi ts than problems. It is cheap to make and move, effi cient as a means of payment, hygienic and as durable as can be. Clearly it would also be as vulnerable to forgery or theft as is money today. To suppose it would not, would be to suppose that human nature will change.

Let’s be very clear: the coming monetary change is only technical in nature, not social; a matter of form, not content.

Before this new monetary future arrives, what will happen to digital money like Bitcoin? One can already say that is highly volatile. Digital bubbles can be seen ahead: this new financial asset has seen its value rise in the past year (it skyrocketed from $15 in January to just over $1,000 on November 27, plunging again this week below $600), in the financially developed world and with the Chinese - who else? - attentive as always to such speculative movements.

It is also more or less clear that those fuelling a signifi cant demand for this type of money are crime bosses, for whom this is a practical, very effi cient and anonymous currency with no legal framework yet in place.

And as those tasked with controlling the legal monetary mass, what do the central bankers think? They are cautious, but optimistic. The most important one, Ben Bernanke, said that it may hold “long-term promise” if pertinent innovations ensure “a faster, more secure and more effi cient payment system”.

For these master regulators, any means of payment that is out of their direct or indirect control is of concern, above all if these will create infl ationary pressures. I spoke some months back to a free-market economist who told me with some annoyance that the little exchange markets emerging in Mexico, with their illegal money use, were not

effi cient. I doubt it, I said, because if that were the case they would not exist, even if they contravene Mexico’s money laws.

The physical money we use today, whose value is based on confi dence among its users and the evolution of prices, will gradually move toward their own place in the money museums, as well. We don’t know when, but it will. As far as I know my own Central Bank here in Mexico has no position yet on digital money, though I hope we shall soon hear what they think.

And what do our private banks and bankers think? They’re already involved in all this, though arguably the best thing for them is that nobody controls monetary emission, so money can become an even more lucrative business. Economists on the right have proposed as much, though paradoxically, central banks, the state organs with the monopoly on regulating money emission, are absolutely packed with people who think this way.

Technological changes are initially awesome, as was the case with the fi rst people to ride a horse, or drive a cart, travel by train and board an airplane. There are no technological changes without pain, even if we later gorge ourselves on the welfare they generate. That’s also how it is likely to wind up some day, not too far away, with digital money.- Worldcrunch/America Economia

Economist Fernando Chávez is a lecturer at Mexico City’s Autonomous Metropolitan University.

Why digital money is bound to take over

A more Machiavellian world than ever By Gianni RiottaTurin

Half a millennium after the publication of Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, one of the most brilliant

books ever written on political theory, the world has become more Machiavellian than ever.

The United States, which has been democratic for more than two centuries and invented the Internet as a place of transparency, has now ended up in trouble for its National Security Agency (NSA) spying on allies. The former KGB agent, Vladimir Putin, in his semifree country where independent journalists are murdered, welcomed NSA mole Edward Snowden as a political refugee, as he put on his laticlave and preached to the world about human rights and privacy.

Meanwhile, in Syria, just because President Bashar Assad is massacring his subjects doesn’t mean that he’ll meet the same fate as Hosni Mubarak or Moammar Gaddafi . He’s still in power in Damascus, a merciless and bloodthirsty character lifted right from the pages of Machiavelli, who pays no attention to his conscience, just to power and its cruel nature.

The clash between China, Japan and the US over the minuscule Senkaku-Diaoyu islands oozes pure Machiavelli.

Beijing implemented an “Air Defence Identifi cation Zone” around the islands, Tokyo challenged it and Washington still sent B52s into the zone, declaring that it would continue to carry out unregistered fl ights in the region.

In chapters 12-14, Machiavelli warns against troops borrowed from an ally because if they win, he is indebted to them. And if he loses, he is ruined. Thanks to the Treaty of Mutual Co-operation and Security between the United States and Japan, a threat to the islands would require the United States to come to Japan’s aid.

Who is right? Who is wrong? Who is on the side of ethics? Machiavelli would have laughed at such questions. He would have explained to those interested, as he tried to do with those who wanted to rise, that where power and politics are concerned, moral questions and ethical integrity aren’t even factored in.

In this way, America, in a delicate and yet existential way, has been celebrating the 500th anniversary of The Prince diligently. Canadian philosopher and politician, Michael Ignatieff , in The Atlantic magazine, commends Machiavelli, remembering that Barack Obama’s choice to eliminate Osama bin Laden, was a Machiavellian moment of excellence, even if it was outside the bounds of moral and international rights.

The assassination of an enemy, as well as innocent bystanders around him - something condemnable by any democratic jury - was deemed pardonable by the Florentine writer. Obama, he would have said, did well to defend his republic with each decision he made.

Yet, Machiavelli also praises restraint when it serves the republic. Ignatieff notes that it may even be advisable, for example, for the president to call off the cruise missiles to Syria if he cannot discern a clear target or a defensible strategic objective.

Five hundred years later and history

has fi nally vindicated Machiavelli. He was placed on the list of banned books in 1559 by the Pope and deemed by modern conservative political theorist Leo Strauss a “master of evil”.

New books argue that in order to understand Machiavelli’s brutal honesty, we must understand the times that produced him. These authors declare that he wasn’t “a gangster” of critical indulgence, but a patriot and a republican who fought for unification of the city-states that had too long been kept at odds, searching for a virtuous and true politician who was not superficial but capable of sacrifice and harsh choices.

He’s more alive than ever. Our world can be found in his: violence, hypocrisy, clashes of personalities and forces, as well as interests. The only thing that would surprise Machiavelli in this modern world is the Web, the huge information network where The Prince would be subject to direct debate, analysis, criticism and censorship.

Trading in his evenings networking in taverns, Niccolò Machiavelli would have delved to the depths of the Internet to make his plans, plotting and looking for his Prince, using the new technology to help him rise to a powerful government position, and then, with the help of big data, to help him keep it for as long as possible.- Worldcrunch/La Stampa

A man holding an iPhone with the Bitcoin digital transaction form ready for a payment.

While the money we have known for hundreds of years may be palpable, money of the future will only be valuable

COMMENT

Quad bike safety rulesDear Sir,

Regulations are required to protect lives of quad drivers at sand dunes. It is shocking to note that so many young lives are being lost near the Sealine resort sand dunes area in quad crashes.

Hundreds of shops in makeshift tents off er colourful quads on rental in the area and their prime customers are teenagers and even children. All these rental companies want is just the copy of a Qatari ID to issue a quad for driving .

Most accidents are caused by rider error. The best way to learn the skills necessary to ride an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) or a quad bike safely and avoid accidents is to attend a specialised training course.

The rental companies must check whether people are capable of driving or having a licence before renting the quads out as the powerful machines can easily turn turtle and cause serious injury or even kill the rider.

Fun-loving teens can be seen driving quads at high speeds at the sand dunes near the resort. Driving on sand dune slopes can cause quads to

fl ip over unexpectedly and could trap the driver under the heavy machine.

Following suggestions shall be useful to put an end to this uncontrolled sector.

1) Only professional rental companies should be given licence to operate outlets near sand dunes.

2) Quad users should have either a valid driving licence or should be 18 years and above.

3) Safety headgear, goggles, gloves and kneecap kits must be issued by rental companies to all drivers.

4) Brief demo class shall be given by rental companies to users explaining them how to drive the quad and safety lessons .

5) Traffi c police shall be posted to monitor compliance to all above .

Vasanth(e-mail address supplied)

Cryogenic rocket success Dear Sir,

India’s space agency, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), is in the limelight with the successful launch of GSLV D5.

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) D5 rocket has been launched from the Sriharikota spaceport, in the south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh, and after a 17-minute fl ight placed a communications satellite into orbit.

With the launch, India joins only fi ve countries - the US, Russia, France, Japan and China - in designing and developing the cryogenic technology. Cryogenic engines are rocket motors designed for liquid fuels that have to be kept at low temperatures as they turn into a gaseous state at room temperature.

Indian scientists have been working on the technology for over two decades.

This is a great acheivement for the entire team in ISRO: this is the fi rst successful mission in the last three years after two such rockets failed in 2010.

The GSLV, India’s most powerful space rocket, is crucial to the country’s future space missions, including its second mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-2, in 2016 that will use a GSLV rocket, media reports say.

The success of the cryogenic engine is crucial as it provides more thrust for every kilogram of propellant burnt compared to solid/liquid fuels. New rockets can be built using this

technology to carry heavier payloads. India can save a lot of foreign exchange as it can launch indigenous and foreign satellites from the country itself without depending on external space agencies.

Manoj C Velappan(e-mail address supplied)

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 2014 27

Automated computer programs - or “socialbots” - are assuming the identity of supposedly real people on social networking and dating sites

By Nic UlmiGeneva

He’s not human. He’s a robot. Dante Pryor is a socialbot,” lawyer and series’ heroine Alicia Florrick says in a

recent episode of the TV series The Good Wife.

“How could a robot defame your client?” the judge character asks her.

“It’s designed to repackage comments and gossip by others and disperse it onto sites,” Florrick responds. “It’s a computerised version of the worst part of human nature.”

These so-called “socialbots”, increasingly part of our zeitgeist, are more or less the same in real life. Anna Jobin, a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and at Lausanne University who is currently working on a doctoral thesis about our interactions with algorithms, notes that socialbots are ubiquitous in political campaigns, for example.

“An algorithm creates thousands of socialbots to exert infl uence or to drown divergent opinions,” she says.

The Mexicans, Russians and Syrians all have been accused of deploying armies of socialbots over the last three years. And Indiana University’s research group Truthy observed the use of this electoral weapon during the US congressional elections in 2010.

A socialbot is basically an automated computer program

capable of creating profi les on social networks, complete with names and photos, before establishing connections with users, chatting, commenting on friends’ posts, and fuelling discussions. It picks up on the living material uploaded by humans: attractive faces taken from the website Hotornot.com, elements of identity found on social networks, and clear-cut opinions gathered in the news or in tweets.

Websites such as 10minute-mail.com allow the swarm of “robots” to obtain disposable e-mail addresses to sign up to networks. Other online services are used to get around the CAPTCHA obstacle - the sequence of bent letters and numbers a user must decode to “prove that you are human”. The rest, the formula that mixes a variety of data to simulate the behaviour of an average person, is a matter of algorithms.

Most times, socialbots land on social networks as invaders. Their aims are political or commercial and are treated as unwelcome when discovered. But sometimes, the same site where they are active also creates them. “It’s the case for some dating sites,” Jobin says. “When there are more men than women among the users, the website may then deploy a large number of fake female profi les created by algorithms to increase the activity.”

She says that a single program can create up to 20,000 profi les. “These are malicious and deceptive manipulations,” Jobin says.

Internet robots (or bots) are nothing new. When Amazon suggests purchases, it’s because an algorithm analysed your previous purchases to determine your preferences. There is an attempt to influence your purchases, yes, but no fraud per se when algorithms are used in this way. But socialbots are,

as the saying goes, a different kettle of fish.

“The website Netfl ix - an online video-on-demand service - has determined that in 60% of cases, consumers choose according to suggestions based on the history of their purchases,” Jobin says.

And that leaves the other 40%, those whose viewing choices wander off the beaten track, as targets. The question is whether it’s possible to steer these users as well? “Startups in Silicon Valley are working on it,” Jobin says. “They talk about ‘serendipity algorithms’. In the case of socialbots, in a similar way, they create inconsistencies, irregularities, randomness, so their behaviour seems more credible.”

It’s not just about deceiving users, but also the social network itself. “On the one hand, there are algorithms conceived to influence users without being discovered,” Jobin says. “On the other, there are algorithms made to detect these social algorithms. It’s a game of hide and seek.”

When the herd of socialbots and their human owners (the bot herders, or “robot keepers”) succeed, no one talks about it because their activity is undetected. The socialbots that make the most headlines are those that are created with the singular aim if showing how a socialbot works.

Last summer, a Brazilian bot called Carina Santos managed to become a journalist, influencing Twitter by automatically recycling tweets from the newspaper Globo.

“Its creators - researchers at the Ouro Preto Federal University - wanted to show that the way Twitter measures infl uence is not reliable,” Jobin says.

Mission accomplished.- Worldcrunch/Le Temps

Robots are taking over the Internet

Live issues

Letters

America’s treacherous tipping culture By Liu TongNew York

Because of several successive business trips plus my holiday in the United States, I have been living from one hotel

to another for more than two weeks. Obviously I’m also obliged to dine out. What this means in terms of personal fi nances is that even before paying the hotel or restaurant bills, I must face a continued lineup of people expecting tips: waiters, room service, doormen — not to mention taxi drivers, unless of course you like to haul your heavy luggage out of the trunk yourself.

I have a colleague from Hong Kong, a place where tipping is also customary, though not as far-reaching or at such high percentages as it is in the United States. She, nonetheless, tried to pretend that she didn’t know how things work in the United States. The result: dirty towels left unchanged.

A friend who happens to be looking for an apartment tried hard to avoid renting anywhere with a concierge, because “If I carry something whenever I get home, the concierge will always come and open the door

and expect to be tipped. But when do I come home without a bag or something in my hand? Imagine how much extra cost that is every month?”

Chinese people always talk about how expensive it is to live in America. And while I have studied all kinds of fi gures related to the fi xed expenses of American households, none of them take tipping into account!

Indeed, bills in America often give people the wrong impression that it’s cheap, simply because the tax and the tips are rarely included. Sales tax rates can vary widely between diff erent states, by as much as 10%. When I tried to pay a 10% tip on top of my bill

in a Washington DC restaurant, I was immediately warned to add 15-20% by my friend “unless you want them to chase after you to recover it!”

I suppose I will learn how to live with all this tipping if I stay in the United States long enough. Still, on an economic level, I am convinced that the system is part of what makes hiring workers so costly.

Though it is a bit of a luxury to go and dine in a restaurant or take a taxi in America, the restaurateur or the cab company doesn’t seem to earn that much money. I once interviewed a top executive of a famous hotel chain who told me that he started off his career as

a doorman, and that it was still some of the best money he’d ever earned.

The tipping custom exposes a particular feature: If one expects to get a better tip, one has to off er a better sales proposition. This includes the appearance and the fi gure, smartness or likability of the attendant - in other words it means individual employees making themselves marketable.

When I went to cover the Miami International Art Fair, on the way to the venue I had a taxi driver who spoke only Spanish, and made no eff ort to use even a single word of English with me. On the way back to the airport, instead, the cabbie was eager to tell me all the artists he likes and complimented me on how Asian women look younger than their age. Though I was obliged to tip them both, guess who I tipped more heartily?

Recently, more and more Americans have called for the end of the tipping system, saying waiters enjoy high wages and lower taxes — not to mention making customers feel obliged to pay additional rates for their meals. I am not optimistic. All I can hope for is the person serving me next time is smart and pleasant and can’t guess my age.- Worldcrunch/Economic Observer

Please send usyour letters

By e-mail editor@gulf-times.comFax 44350474Or Post Letters to the EditorGulf TimesP O Box 2888Doha, Qatar

All letters, which are subject to editing, should have the name of the writer, address and phone number. The writer’s name and address may be withheld by request.

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Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 201428

600 bikers from GCC countries to take part in Doha shows Some 600 bikers from the

six GCC countries will be gathering in Doha to

participate in one of the big-gest motorbike shows, includ-ing a charity event, on January 17 at Aspire Zone Foundation, Soul Riders founder Khalid al-Hamadi has said.

Each biker will contribute a fi xed amount of cash to take part in the charity parade and a sepa-rate fee for those who want their motorbike entered as part of the bike show. Funds collected from the drive will be donated to the Qatar Red Crescent.

He said more than 45 mem-bers have confi rmed their par-ticipation. Some of the motor-bikes which will be showcased are valued at QR500,000.

All 600 bikers from Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar have already registered to join the event espe-cially the charity parade which will start from The Torch Doha at 1pm.

“It is a motorbike show where diff erent categories of bikes are

displayed by their owners,” he said.

These categories included: Sportster, Dyna, Softail Touring, V-Rod, Vintage, Touring, Metric Touring, Chopper, Bobber, Bur-gor, Radical, Trick, Super Shot, Spider CanAm, Hayabousa, the bike with the best paintwork, and the best bike voted by the public. Winners will receive trophies and other tokens.

Al-Hamadi also said that they have opened the event for pub-lic viewing. Some of the pro-grammes will feature entertain-ment and games for children, food outlets, traditional Qatari dancers and DJs.

Organised by Soul Riders and Mayfair Events, the motorbike show is supported by the Min-istry of Interior, Aspire Zone Foundation, The Torch, Qa-tar Racing Club, Qatar Photo-graphic Society and Qatar Red Crescent.

“This is to come together as one to help the needy, if it means to make someone in need smile in a way we know best by rid-ing motorbikes, which we do as our passion,” said George Th-achil, managing partner, Mayfair Events.

Soul Riders, one of the largest motorcycle groups in Doha, also wants to use their passion to help other people especially those who are in dire need.

The group started in October 2012 with only 11 bikers. Now, it has 62 active members coming from various expatriate com-munities in Qatar. They recently held a charity motorbike ride to help children with special needs.

Soul Riders had supported similar activities which in-cluded breast cancer awareness campaign and activities such as Ride for Hope, Wheels n’ Heels – Reach Out To Asia, Tour Of Qatar Cycling Race, Ride to sup-port the Heir Apparent Cup, Ga-rangao and the Qatar Sport Day Events.

“We are a mix of expatriates and locals who talk one language - motor biking. We are one fam-ily. Soul Riders is the only mo-torbike group from Qatar who are part of the “Bikers Network” which has over 2,000 motor-cyclists as its members,” said al-Hamadi.

The event is open to all motor-bikers. Those who are interested to join may call 7770-0074 to register.

By Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

Soul Riders members at a gathering in Doha.

Registration for participation in the 5th Qatar International Falcon and Hunting Festival concluded yesterday at the Qatari Society of Al-Gannas, Katara. Due to the huge turnout, the organising committee extended the registration deadline up to 10pm. A programme would also be launched at Al-Kass channel to follow up the activities of the festival.

Registration closes for falcon festival Commuting on Wukair-Mesaimeer road a nightmare

The absence of street-lights and road dividers makes driving a night-

mare for commuters after sun-set on the busy road connect-ing Wukair with Mesaimeer and surrounding areas.

The more than 7km stretch between the area housing the newly built residential com-pounds in Wukair and the intersection near the traffi c signal in the vicinity of the ex-patriate schools in Mesaimeer is being used round the clock by thousands of vehicles ply-ing from Wakrah to the Doha Industrial Area and in the opposite direction.

Several minor as well as ma-jor crashes have been reported on the road in recent months. Some of the daily travellers said most of the accidents occurred

owing to the absence of the streetlights along the stretch.

Despite heavy traffi c, most drivers pass through the area at a very high speed and the trend continues even in the evenings when there is no light along the route, it is learnt.

“Because of the absence of the streetlights, many drivers are unable to see clearly the line of vehicles coming from the opposite direction and some of the drivers have reported nar-row escapes from collisions in recent weeks,” said a resident in one of the new residential compounds in Wukair.

Though it has been more than three years since the road was completed, the vehicular traffi c through the area in-creased heavily during the last one year only, especially since the opening of most of the new residential properties in Wu-kair and surrounding areas.

“The route is being used

mainly by vehicles going to the Industrial Area, including trailers and also many others travelling to the city’s west-ern areas,” said a bus driver, who transports workers of a construction fi rm twice daily through the stretch.

He said even though the road is well constructed the absence of streetlights turns it into a big blind spot.

The number of light vehicles using the road, particularly in the evenings on Thursdays and Fridays, is very large, according to residents. With Al Wakra Hos-pital starting operations, many vehicles are using the road in the mornings as well, they said.

While appealing to the au-thorities to consider installing streetlights along the route and constructing road dividers, the residents also requested them to deploy more traffi c patrol vehicles along the stretch in the evenings.

By Ramesh MathewStaff Reporter

The unlit 7km stretch between Mesaimeer and Wukair. PICTURE: Najeer Feroke

Vodafone offers audio conferencing solution Vodafone has become the first company in Qatar to off er a “cost eff ective and eff icient” audio conferencing solution to help businesses improve their productivity. This comes shortly following the launch of Secure Device Management, “another first” for Vodafone in Qatar.Niraj Singh, director, Vodafone Business Services, said: “Vodafone is delighted to be the first to launch a conferencing solution with a local toll free dial-in number

for businesses here in Qatar. Audio conferencing has existed for a long time in many parts of the world but to date a Qatar local toll free dial-in-number has not existed and companies have had to make an international call if they wanted to take advantage of the significant benefits that audio-conferencing can deliver.“As Qatar’s position in the global economy grows, businesses in Qatar increasingly need to collaborate with partners

around the world and work in virtual teams to make decisions and share information quickly. Audio conference from Vodafone will ultimately save any business costs, especially for those that have international operations, increase productivity and gain competitive advantage.” More information on Vodafone’s audio conference and all of Vodafone’s other enterprise products and services can be had from www.vodafone.qa/en/business.

Monday, January 6, 2014Rabia-I 5, 1435 AH

BUSINESSGULF TIMES

Fed offi cials zero in on next policy steps

HTC Q4 profi t comes below expectations

TAPER DEBATE | Page 16COST CUTTING | Page 15

Brokerage units of Qatar banks see income gain By Santhosh V PerumalBusiness Reporter

The brokerage units of Qatar’s com-mercial banks witnessed enhanced incomes through intermediary

business, indicating higher non-interest earnings year-to-date (YTD) in Decem-ber.

QNB Financial Services, the broker-age arm of QNB, accounted for 14.9% of stocks trading value (QR23.95bn) YTD in December against 6.9% the comparable period of 2012. Through it, there were a total of 212,845 deals and volume was 415.06mn shares YTD December 2013.

Commercial Bank Investment Service, the stock broking subsidiary of Commer-cial Bank, accounted for 7.54% of trad-ing value (QR12.12bn) compared to 2.9% the previous year period. It had under-

taken 41,577 transactions on a volume of 99.87mn stocks YTD December 2013.

Al-Ahli Brokerage, a subsidiary of Ahl-ibank Qatar, saw its market share rise to 0.98% of trading value (QR1.57bn) against 0.89% the year-ago period. There were a total of 13,086 deals and volume was 34.58mn equities YTD December 2013.

Al Rayan Financial Brokerage, a stock broking unit of Masraf Al Rayan, account-ed for 0.31% of trading value (QR497.1mn) compared to 0.16% the previous-year pe-riod. Through it, there were a total of 5,770 transactions and volume was 13.65mn shares YTD December 2013.

The Group Securities continued to be atop the chart, accounting for 29.15% of trading value (QR46.86bn) YTD in De-cember against 29.09% the year-ago pe-riod. The entity had undertaken 845,035 transactions on a volume of 1.4bn stocks YTD December 2013.

The Qatar Financial Market Authority had earlier approved the Group Securities as liquidity provider, while saying other licenses are on the pipeline.

Dlala Brokerage, a traditional conven-tional stock broking business arm of Dlala Holding, cornered 12.25% of trading value (QR19.7bn) compared to 11.01% the com-parable period of 2012. It had undertaken a total of 179,027 transactions and volume was 517.03mn equities YTD December 2013.

The Gulf Investments Group’s share substantially fell to 9.38% of trading value (QR15.08bn) YTD in December against 27.17% the previous year period. Through it, there were a total of 154,808 deals on a volume of 377.07mn stocks YTD Decem-ber 2013.

Qatar Securities accounted for 10.26% of trading value (QR16.49bn) against 7.4% the year-ago period. Through it, there

were a total of 186,474 deals and volume was 342.58mn shares YTD December 2013.

International Securities’ share stood at 6.81% of trading value (QR10.94bn) against 5.62% the comparable period of 2012. Through it, there were a total of 106,072 deals and volume was 269.04mn equities YTD December 2013.

Islamic Securities’ market share was 5.41% of trading value (QR8.7bn) com-pared to 6.12% in the previous year pe-riod. The brokerage outfi t had undertak-en 111,326 transactions and volume was 231.22mn stocks YTD December 2013.

Dlala-Islamic Brokerage, a Shariah-principled broking unit of Dlala Hold-ing, cornered 3.02% of trading value (QR4.86bn) against 2.74% the compara-ble period of 2012. Through it, there were a total of 67,738 deals and volume was 175.03mn shares YTD December 2013.

‘Q4 earnings to drive Gulf markets in coming weeks’By Santhosh V PerumalBusiness Reporter

Fourth-quarter (Q4) earnings are likely to be the main in-fl uence on the Gulf stock markets in the coming weeks, even as investors in the region are now “cautiously opti-

mistic” despite the US Fed tapering this year, according to Abu Dhabi Investment Company (Invest AD).

“Q4 earnings results are likely to be the main drivers of per-formance of the Gulf markets in the coming weeks, with divi-dend pay-outs also important given the predominance of retail investors in the region,” Invest AD said in a report.

With the upcoming full-year corporate results, investors were seen on a buying mode in the Qatar Exchange in expec-tations of dividends, a usual phenomenon during the earnings season.

Investors will also be closely watching the announcement of federal budgets for 2014 for an indication of continued fi scal support to the region’s economies, with Saudi Arabia’s budget particularly of interest, Invest AD said.

In December, Qatar announced a few new infrastructure projects, which is an early sign of the likely revival of projects in the country, the report said.

Meanwhile, in Kuwait, the constitutional court has ruled in favour of the validity of the national assembly, which implies that it will complete the term, thus removing one element of political uncertainty hanging over the Kuwait market, the re-port said.

Investor sentiment across the region remains robust with Dubai’s successful bid to host the Expo 2020, reinforcing the UAE economic story, although benefi ts for trade, tourism, re-tail and real estate sectors will be gradually felt in the coming years.

“The pace of the US Federal Reserve’s tapering in the coming year is likely to impact emerging market and frontier market sentiment, but investors in the Gulf are in a cautiously opti-mistic mode for now,” it said.

On Middle East fi xed income market, Invest AD said, in 2014 market direction will primarily be driven by moves in the US benchmark rates.

“The key factors in market direction in 2014 are likely to be the US Fed’s tapering process and the US fi scal situation, and their interrelation with a recovering US economy,” it said.

Investors would also be looking to the European Central Bank, and in particular whether it needs to implement nega-tive deposit rates or introduce quantitative easing, according to the report.

SEVEN-VESSEL ORDER: Page 2

Nakilat Damen Shipyards Qatar lays keel for two 16m ‘stan tugs’

Global governance should recognise global citizenship By Dr R Seetharaman

The advanced economies have recently gained some speed, while the emerging market economies have slowed. The impulse to global growth is expected to come mainly from the US as fiscal consolidation eases and fed tapering begins. The emerging market economies, however, continue to account for the bulk of global growth. Emerging economies had contributed to global economic recovery after the crisis. They will continue to exercise their power in global forums such as G20, while advanced economies and emerging economies will play a vital role in the area of “global governance”. The global governance had brought significant measures in response to global financial crisis. The interconnected nature of our world demands that global governance recognise the necessity for co-ordination to keep pace with the demand for a more farsighted global order, and hence encourage “global citizenship”.

Global citizenship is based on the belief that each of us can change things and has choices about how we behave. It is also based on the belief on the power of the individual and it aims to empower people to lead their own action. It enables you to build knowledge and values based on learning about global issues. In a changing world, global citizenship is about flexibility and adaptability and a positive image of the future. In an interdependent world global citizenship encourages us to recognise our responsibilities towards each other and learn from each other. Global citizenship should lead to a single world. Modern technology has created a single-world culture. The highly-developed world-wide-web enables us to broaden our view of the world, experiencing various cultures across the world. There are opportunities for those who want to expand their knowledge about other countries’ cultures due to the development of modern technologies. If culture diff erences are addressed it is possible to work towards a single world. Understanding other countries culture is the first step to address

cultural diff erences. There have been significant migration of people and vast exchange of ideas between various countries, which has given momentum to the concept of “single world.” A single world will have a single global currency. The single global currency would be managed by a single global central bank, with representative governing boards for the people, governments and financial institutions of the world. The Global Central Bank will be financed by benefits, which come from the printing of money and seigniorage. Any surplus monetary benefits coming to the bank would be allocated to the agreed-upon goals. The conditions based on which the countries will participate and the goals to be achieved should be agreed to develop a single global currency.In recent years the global trade has rebounded between advanced and emerging economies as global economy recovered from crisis. US and China have featured in the list of top 5 exporters and importers of world merchandise trade and commercial services in 2012.

Since 2009, China has promoted RMB internationalisation by facilitating international trade and investment, encourage development of off shore RMB-denominated financial products, and encouraging central banks to hold RMB as part of their foreign exchange reserves. Emerging economies have also provided an ideal platform for those US corporations which had struggled in their local economies and for those which looked for opportunities in emerging economies to diversify the risk. Economic and global developments have made emerging economies more visible and hence promoted more international collaborations with advanced economies. Advanced economies and emerging economies can play an important role as part of global governance to bring mechanisms to strengthen ties among global citizens and link their eff orts towards national and international policies.

Dr R Seetharaman is Group CEO of Doha Bank. The views expressed are his own.

BANKING ON KNOWLEDGE

QNB Financial Services, the brokerage arm of QNB, accounted for 14.9% of stocks trading value (QR23.95bn) YTD in December against 6.9% the comparable period of 2012.

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 20142

Eversheds assists Kahramaa in $500mn, 25-year water supply deal with QEWC

Nakilat Damen Shipyards lays keel for 2 ‘stan tugs’

Global law fi rm Eversheds has worked with Qatar General Electricity and Water Corp (Kahramaa) on a 25-year water supply deal

with Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWC) worth $500mn, which reached a fi nancial close in Doha last month.

The fi nancial close that follows earlier signa-ture earlier by Kahramaa and QEWC of a 25-year Water Purchase Agreement (also with the legal support of Eversheds) is the fi nal stage of com-pleting the funding of the project.

The funders are entirely Qatari banks – the fi rst time an IWP project in Qatar has been fund-

ed entirely by domestic lenders. The project will enable Kahramaa to meet the water grid require-ments of 2015. The 36-MIGD (million imperial gallons per day) plant will deliver fi rst water in June 2015. Kahramaa will purchase the entire production.

QEWC signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with a consor-tium of Mitsubishi Corp and Toyo Thai Public Company for the construction of the plant earlier last year.

The Eversheds team, led by partner Tim Arms-by and Jennifer Westall, advised the client on the tender for its water capacity expansion project as well as the negotiation of the Water Purchase Agreement and related agreements for this plant.

Armsby said, “This project is a signifi cant step forward for Qatar as it will ensure that Qa-tar maintains a surplus capacity pending the launch of the next Independent Water and Power Plant (IWPP), known as Facility D. The fast track project demonstrates the Qatari government’s commitment to updating utilities infrastructure across the country.”

Westall said, “Now that the project has reached fi nancial close funded entirely by domestic lend-ers, we are entering a new era for the power & wa-ter sector in Qatar.”

Energoprojekt (lead and technical) and PWC (fi nancial) advised Kahramaa alongside Ever-sheds. HSBC (fi nancial) and Norton Rose (legal) advised QEWC.

Nakilat Damen Shipyards Qatar (NDSQ), a joint venture between Nakilat

and Dutch shipbuilder Damen, has laid the keels for two 16m-long stan tugs.

This is part of a seven-vessel order for marine services pro-vider Nakilat SvitzerWijsmuller (NSW), which is owned 70% by Nakilat and 30% by Svitzer Mid-dle East. The two twin-screw stan tugs have a bollard pull of 15 tonnes and will be used for mooring vessels visiting the Port

of Ras Laff an, said a spokesman for Nakilat.

NDSQ is also currently build-ing fi ve other vessels for the NSW order: two 28m-long azi-muth stern drive (ASD) tugs, two 31m-long ASD Tugs and one 22m-long glass reinforced plas-tic (GRP) pilot boat. The stan tugs, the ASD tugs and the pilot boat will be delivered to NSW for use at Ras Laff an.

“This milestone further con-fi rms the solid contribution that NDSQ’s shipbuilding operations

are making towards Qatar’s in-dustrial sector,” Abdullah Fad-halah al-Sulaiti, managing di-rector of Nakilat and chairman of NDSQ and NSW, said.

Vessels operated by NSW in-clude tug boats, pilot boats, line boats and crew boats. It off ers a range of services including tow-ing, escorting, berthing, pilot support, line handling services afl oat and ashore, emergency response, and marine mainte-nance support.

Nakilat is a Qatari marine

company providing the essential transportation link in Qatar’s liquefi ed natural gas (LNG) sup-ply chain. Its LNG shipping fl eet is the largest in the world, com-prising 56 vessels.

Nakilat also manages and op-erates four liquefi ed petroleum gas carriers. Through two strate-gic joint ventures, Nakilat-Kep-pel Off shore & Marine (N-KOM) and NDSQ, Nakilat operates the ship repair and construction fa-cilities at Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard.

QE breaks ‘10,600 level’ on transport, telecom and banking stocks support By Santhosh V PerumalBusiness Reporter

The Qatar Exchange yesterday opened the week on a stronger note to break the 10,600 level,

mainly lifted by transport, telecom and banking stocks.

Buying support from local and for-eign retail investors led the 20-stock Qatar Index to gain for the third day by a robust 1.13% to 10,664.16 points.

With full-year results yet to be an-nounced, investors sought to buy stocks expecting dividends, a usual phenom-enon during the earnings season.

Local retail investors’ buying support came despite the ongoing QR3.23bn initial public off er of Mesaieed Petro-chemical Holding Company, a Qatar Petroleum unit.

However, domestic institutions sought to book profi ts in the market, which is up 2.74% year-to-date.

Foreign institutions continued to be net buyers but with lesser vigour in the bourse, whose key index has been re-maining above the 10,000 mark for the 37th consecutive day.

The index that tracks Shariah-prin-cipled stocks was seen to outperform the other major indices.

The 20-stock Total Return Index rose 1.13% to 15,236.64 points, the All Share Index (with wider constituents) by 0.91% to 2,646.32 and the Al Rayan Islamic Index by 1.47% to 3,151.22.

All the three indices factored in divi-dend income as well.

Insurance stocks surged 1.42%, fol-lowed by transport (1.39%), telecom (1.21%), banks and fi nancial services (1.1%), industrials (0.63%), real estate (0.52%) and consumer goods (0.06%).

Around 65% of the stocks gained

with infl uential movers being Doha Bank, Barwa, Qatar Islamic Bank, Mas-raf Al Rayan, Ezdan, Mazaya Qatar, Mi-laha, Gulf International Services, Qa-tari Investors Group and International Islamic.

However, Industries Qatar and Vo-

dafone Qatar were seen to buck the trend.

Market capitalisation expand-ed 0.79%, or more than QR4bn, to QR566.14bn. Small cap equities gained more than 3%, mid (0.86%), large (0.72%) and micro (0.28%).

Foreign institutions’ net buy-ing stood at QR26.45mn against QR45.44mn the previous trading day.

Non-Qatari institutions were buy-ers to the tune of QR1.26mn com-pared to net sellers of QR21.36mn last Thursday.

Qatari individual investors’ net buy-ing was QR2.37mn against QR24.97mn the previous trading day.

Domestic institutions turned net sellers to the extent of QR25.39mn com-pared with net buyers of QR0.89mn last Thursday.

Total trading volume gained 68% to 13.04mn stocks, value by 52% to QR503.79mn and transactions by 36% to 6,120.

The real estate sector’s trading vol-ume doubled to 4.65mn shares, value soared 83% to QR100.56mn and deals by 38% to 1,177.

The banks and fi nancial services sec-tor reported 91% surge in trading vol-ume to 3.11mn equities, 64% in value to QR127.3mn and 68% in transactions to 1,714.

The transport sector’s trading vol-ume expanded 81% to 0.96mn stocks but on more than doubled value to QR27.12mn and deals gained 63% to 339.

The consumer goods sector’s trading volume shot up 61% to 0.74mn shares, value by 95% to QR42.47mn and trans-actions by 55% to 549.

The insurance sector witnessed 50% rise in trading volume to 0.18mn equi-ties, 52% in value to QR10.19mn and 20% in deals to 83.

There was 49% expansion in indus-trials sector’s trading volume to 2.45mn stocks, 26% in value to QR181.16mn and 15% in transactions to 1,946.

However, the telecom sector’s trading volume tanked 13% to 0.93mn shares; while value rose 14% to QR15mn. Deals were up 1% to 312.

In the debt market, there was no trading of government bonds. However, a total of 40,000 treasury bills valued at QR396.68mn were traded across two transactions on special market.

Dubai stocks slip aft er lending rules change

Momentum driving markets in the UAE was tempered yesterday after the regulator approved changes to margin lending rules and said it would crackdown on unlicensed lending, while most other regional bourses scaled higher. Dubai’s index slipped 0.2%, easing off Thursday’s five-year high. The market gave back early-session gains as brokers told clients to sell shares so margin limits would fall within the amended regulations. Although changes to the lending rules aim to improve trading volumes going forward, the likelihood of penalties for not complying with the set limits sent some brokers scrambling to lower margin levels. Most of the trading on Dubai’s bourse was on margin, which is now being cut back, traders said. “Today, margin trading business from what we can see in volumes is low,” said Mohammed Ali Yasin, managing director of Abu Dhabi Financial Services. “This is for the short-term as brokers will raise their capital to allow for more leverage.” Abu Dhabi’s index rose 0.6%, in its fifth consecutive gain, to a new five-year high. Banks supported, with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank up 3.5% and Union National Bank 3.9% higher. Analysts expect Abu Dhabi lenders to announce strong dividends in the coming weeks. In Egypt, Cairo’s benchmark index added 0.6% to 6,854 points, heading back to the previous peak of 6,876 points - the intraday high of December 26. The market gained despite fresh violence over the weekend. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia’s index gained 0.2% to 8,638 points; Oman’s measure gained 0.1% to 6,899 points; Kuwait’s index was flat at 7,551 points, while Bahrain’s benchmark was flat at 1,248 points.

QP refi nery’s 2012 exports total 1.52mn tonnes QP Refi nery exported refi ned

products totalling 1.52mn tonnes in 2012 compared with

the planned export volume of 1.5mn tonnes, Qatar Petroleum said in its re-port for 2012.

The refi nery imported 114,922 tonnes of light gas oil (LGO) and 513,719 tonnes of Jet A-1 to meet the high increase in local demand.

The QP refi nery processes crude oil

and condensate into various fi nished products, which are intended to meet both domestic and export demands.

The main fi nished products are lique-fi ed petroleum gas, petrochemical naph-tha, premium gasoline, super gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, decant oil and fuel oil.

In 2012, GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries were the major destination for gasoline, diluted crude oil and “straight run” fuel oil, while

naphtha was exported to petrochemi-cal plants in Japan, the report said.

Major international customers for QP’s refi nery are Trafi gura, Vitol, Glencore, Totsa, Ginvor, Bakri, Arca-dia, Phillips, Shell and Marubeni.

The refi nery also supplies refi ned products (locally) to Woqod, Seef, Qafac, Qapco and QP’s NGL Complex (Mesaieed).

The marketing of QP Refi nery’s

products is being undertaken by Qa-tar International Petroleum Marketing Company (Tasweeq), working in close co-ordination with the production planning, scheduling and export division. This di-vision is responsible for working out the annual, quarterly and monthly planning and products export schedule.

QP Refi nery started as a “small top-ping plant” in 1958 and has grown over the years into a giant organisation,

“successfully making Qatar self-suffi -cient and export-oriented in refi ned oil and petroleum products.”

“It has provided value addition to the country’s natural wealth, improved refi ning economics in Qatar and pro-vided citizens with the necessary ex-pertise in areas such as management, operations, engineering, maintenance and marketing.

The report also said Qatar is entering

a new phase in its economic develop-ment with “great determination”.

“The country’s hydrocarbon rev-enues have maintained “impressive” growth rates, while its sustainable de-velopment eff orts move forward with great resolve and dedication. Revenues are being invested in strategic projects that help create a solid foundation for greater economic growth and expan-sion,” the report said.

The project will enable Kahramaa to meet the water grid requirements of 2015

Representatives from NDSQ and NSW at the keel-laying ceremony at Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard in Ras Laff an.

Buying support from retail investors led the 20-stock Qatar Index to gain a robust 1.13% yesterday to 10,664.16 points.

BUSINESS3Gulf Times

Monday, January 6, 2014

Kuwait 6-mth budget surplus down 15% as spending jumps Spending soars over 50% in first half; most of rise due to current expenditure, not investment; may partly reflect payments’ timing, not annual allocations; impact on domestic demand not as large as figures suggest; but figures underline growing pressure on state finances

ReutersKuwait City

Kuwait’s budget surplus nar-rowed in the fi rst six months of its fi scal year as spending

soared over 50%, partly thanks to increased outlays on public sector wages, while oil revenues fell, fi gures from the Finance Ministry showed.

The budget surplus for April to September was 10.72bn Kuwaiti di-nars ($37.9bn), a Reuters calculation based on official data showed. That was down 15% from 12.65bn dinars during the same period a year ear-lier.

Although Kuwait’s fi scal position is still strong because of its oil wealth, the International Monetary Fund has told the government that it will need to invest in infrastructure projects and control public wage growth to strengthen the economy and main-tain a healthy balance sheet.

Kuwait’s prime minister echoed the IMF in October when he described the country’s expensive welfare system as unsustainable and said the govern-ment needed to cut spending and consumption of natural resources.

Six-month state expenditure reached 5.10bn dinars, up 52% from 3.36bn dinars a year earlier, the fi g-ures showed. Revenues fell to 15.82bn

dinars from 16.01bn dinars because of a decrease in the oil price. National Bank of Kuwait, the country’s biggest commercial bank, said in a report that the jump in spending was mostly due to current expenditure such as wages, rather than to investment.

Part of the increase may be due to the timing of some payments rather than to any increase in allocations over the full fi scal year, so spending growth is expected to moderate con-siderably by the end of 2013-14, NBK said.

It added that much of the fi rst-half spending surge apparently involved governmental transfers that would not aff ect the real level of demand in the economy, so the fi gures did not necessarily mean a huge boost to eco-nomic growth.

Kuwait pledged $4bn in aid to Egypt after the overthrow of former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi in July, and quickly began disbursing that aid.

Nevertheless, the spending and revenue numbers are in line with the IMF’s warning that if Kuwait does not curb spending growth, government expenditure could exceed oil revenues by 2017-18, raising the risk of budget defi cits.

Although senior government offi -cials are discussing that risk, it is not clear whether they have the political freedom to address it.

Kuwait’s political system has made it diffi cult for the government to push through economic reforms that are unpopular with voters. Any govern-ment attempt to cut subsidies for citizens or curb public wage growth could cause a backlash in parliament from lawmakers who support raising benefi ts.

Gulf banks to play bigger air fi nance role in 2014 BloombergDubai

Arabian Gulf banks are set to in-crease funding to the region’s airlines, who have placed a

record number of plane orders as part of their expansion plans, according to lenders including Novus Aviation Capital.

Airlines will be a strong driver of borrowing this year as they tap fi nan-cial markets to cover their large capital expenditure requirements, the banks said. The most popular debt instru-ments may include fi nance leases, bonds, Shariah-compliant sukuk, En-hanced Equipment Trust Certifi cates (EETCs) and debt.

“There is a strong expectation that the region’s banks will play an increas-ing role in fi nancing the region’s air-

lines,” Mounir Kuzbari, executive vice president and board member of Novus Aviation, said by e-mail on December 29. “There is still a signifi cant surplus of Middle Eastern airline demand for fi -nancing over Middle Eastern banks sup-ply, indicating an opportunity for the region’s banks to play a greater role.”

Credit growth in the UAE will accel-erate to 8.4% in 2014, up from 6% last year and 2.3% in 2012, the International Monetary Fund said in a November 12 report. Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways and FlyDubai will contribute to that growth after announcing more than $160bn in combined plane orders at the Dubai Airshow last month.

Middle East fi nancial institutions provided about $4bn for new Boeing Co aircraft to airlines in 2012 - almost dou-ble the fi gure for 2011, according to the Chicago, Illinois-based manufacturer. Bank debt will provide 25% of fi nanc-

ing to airlines around the world as they look to fund $112bn in jet deliveries in 2014, Boeing said in its annual market outlook report last month.

“The trend is defi nitely for a more important portion of fi nancing to come from the region,” Montasser Khelifi , a Dubai-based senior manager for global markets at Quantum Investment Bank Ltd, said by phone on December 29. “Following the fi nancial crisis, banks - especially big European banks that were involved in air fi nancing - have shied away from the region and are back to their core markets, so there’s an op-portunity to replace these.”

Sovereign ownership of the major Gulf airlines could help local banks to step up their air fi nancing as some of those lenders are also government-owned, Khelifi said.

“When there is a government-relat-ed entity that needs fi nancing, there

was always support from the local banks,” he said. Emirates sukuk issu-ance last year involved four local lend-ers including Dubai Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, while Etihad obtained a $359mn loan from First Gulf Bank in April to buy two Boeing 777s.

Popular fi nancing tools for the re-gion’s airlines could include EETCs, bonds specifi cally to pay for aircraft that aren’t yet widely used locally, Sidanth Rajagopal, aviation fi nance partner at Clyde & Co, said by phone on December 30.

“That’s the scene going forward in the next two years - airlines will be looking to access the EETC market and the big three Gulf airlines have the name recognition,” he said.

Emirates is considering the sale of sukuk or bonds to raise $4.5bn in the fi -nancial year starting April to fund plane deliveries, Brian Jeff ery, former senior

vice president for corporate treasury, said in August. The yield on the air-line’s 5.125% bond maturing in June 2016 declined 48 basis points last year to 3.01%.

Kuwait Airways plans to fi nance the purchase of 10 aircraft by issuing bonds or sukuk and through loans from local and foreign banks, its fi nancial consult-ant Amani Bouresli said in December.

Middle East airlines will need 2,610 new planes worth $550bn over the next 20 years as traffi c grows rapidly in the region, according to Boeing. Local car-riers probably made a combined net income of $1.6bn in 2013, increasing to $2.4bn in 2014, according to the In-ternational Air Transport Association (Iata).

“Given the size of orders and aircraft deliveries, you would hope banks would start to ramp up their asset fi nance portfolio in aviation,” Rajagopal said.

Libya restarts El Sharara oilfi eld, but new protest erupts in west

Libya has restarted oil production at the southern El Sharara field with an initial output of 60,000 bpd after protesters ended a blockade, the state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) said yesterday. But in a new sign of trouble, protesters blocked an oil pipeline in western Libya, adding to disruptions that have slashed Libya’s oil production to 250,000 bpd from 1.4mn. Tribesmen calling for greater local powers had blocked the El Sharara field since the end of October. NOC now hopes to reach the field’s maximum output capacity of around 340,000 bpd within two to three days, spokesman Mohamed al-Harari said. “Production started last night,” he said. Libya remains in turmoil as the government struggles to rein in dozens of militias that helped topple leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but kept their guns and continue to make political and financial demands. Last week, the protesters at El Sharara agreed to suspend their action after the defence minister visited them and said the government would look into their demands. They are calling for the establishment of a local council and the granting of national identity cards for tribesmen from the Tuareg minority. The field, located in the remote and volatile south, supplies crude to the western Zawiya export terminal and feeds the 120,000-bpd Zawiya refinery. Separately, in western Libya, protesters blocked a pipeline near Nalut carrying condensates from the Wafa field to the port of Mellitah, co-owned by Italy’s ENI, oil off icials said. Al-Harari said production of condensates remained normal as the field had suff icient storage capacity. “We hope the government will solve the problem before we have to decrease production,” he said. No more information was immediately available about the protest. The pipeline feeds the Mellitah oil and gas terminal, a joint venture operated by ENI and the NOC. There is no sign of progress in eastern Libya despite reported attempts by tribal elders to help end a blockade of the Ras Lanuf, Es-Sider and Zuweitina ports, which previously accounted for 600,000 bpd in crude exports. The group behind the blockade is demanded autonomy for the east and a greater share of the oil wealth, Libya’s main source of income.

A plane takes off at the concourse in Dubai International Airport (file). Middle East airlines will need 2,610 new planes worth $550bn over the next 20 years as traff ic grows rapidly in the region, according to Boeing.

Pipes lead from Kuwait Petroleum Co’s Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery to the South Pier loading area in Kuwait City (file). Although Kuwait’s fiscal position is still strong because of its oil wealth, the International Monetary Fund has told the government that it will need to invest in infrastructure projects and control public wage growth to strengthen the economy and maintain a healthy balance sheet.

Words, but no action from ECB: analysts AFPFrankfurt

The European Central Bank looks set to ring in the New Year with interest rates on

hold, but will have its work cut out for it in 2014, analysts say.

The ECB’s policy-setting gov-erning council is scheduled to hold its fi rst meeting of this year on Thursday, but central bank watch-ers are not projecting any new measures just yet after a surprise rate cut in November.

“The ECB’s governing council appears unlikely to make any sub-stantive policy changes at its fi rst policy meeting of the year,” said Jonathan Loynes at Capital Eco-nomics.

“But the ongoing combination of weak economic growth, a dam-agingly strong currency and poor liquidity conditions will maintain the pressure on the central bank to take further action to support the region’s fragile economic recovery in 2014,” he said.

The ECB took markets by sur-

prise in November and pared back its central “refi ” refi nancing rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a record low of 0.25%.

The reason behind the move was an expectation that the single cur-rency area is facing a prolonged pe-riod of very low infl ation.

Area-wide infl ation picked up fractionally in November, but ana-lysts believe that does not sound the all-clear and the ECB may have to take further action again at some point.

There is “no immediate need to act,” said Commerzbank economist Michael Schubert.

“ECB council members signalled in recent weeks that they currently see no need for further measures,” the expert said.

“Against this backdrop we ex-pect that at ECB President Mario Draghi will merely emphasise once again that the ECB is ready to act,” Schubert suggested.

In addition to changing interest rates, the ECB could pump more liquidity into the fi nancial system to get credit fl owing again between banks and businesses, crucial if any

economic upturn is to be sustained. For the moment, loans to busi-

nesses in the euro area are con-tinuing to decline, new ECB data showed on Friday.

Private sector loans dropped by 2.3% in November in a year-on-year comparison, after already contracting by 2.2% in October, the ECB calculated.

The ECB already pumped more than €1.0tn ($1.3tn) into the banking system at the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012 to avert a potentially disastrous credit crunch.

But the banks preferred to use the ultra-cheap cash to buy up sovereign bonds rather than lend it on to businesses and the ECB is considering ways of channelling the cash directly to businesses if it decides to open the liquidity gates once again.

“The governing council obvi-ously agrees that with possible fur-ther steps the ECB wants to provide targeted support to the real econo-my. But there seem to be diff erenc-es of opinion as to what is the most eff ective way to reach this target,”

said Loynes at Capital Economics. Berenberg Bank’s Schmieding

said the weak credit data did sug-gest a possible credit crunch.

However, “companies are — on aggregate — in such a comfortable fi nancial position that they can re-duce their bank loans and increase their cash reserves at the same time. On aggregate, companies do not need credit at the moment,” Schmieding suggested.

“The data on money and credit show that eurozone companies have the fi nancial strength to in-crease their investment. The ques-tion is whether they will do so.”

Confi dence in the future was key to investment and in the wake of the post-Lehman turbulences and the euro crisis, companies are more reluctant to invest than before, the expert argued.

However, rising business confi -dence in the eurozone “does sug-gest that business investment will pick up over the course of 2014. In Germany, this started in the spring of 2013 already. We expect more and more companies elsewhere to follow suit soon,” Schmieding said.

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 20144

President Mario Draghi (centre) and Vitor Constancio, president and vice-president of the European Central Bank, arrive for a news conference at the bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt. ECB’s policy-setting governing council is scheduled to hold its first meeting of this year on Thursday, but central bank watchers are not projecting any new measures.

Afghan govt revenues 20% short of target ReutersKabul

Afghanistan fell about 20% short of its do-mestic revenue tar-

get in 2013 despite better tax collection as the economy slowed ahead of this year’s planned withdrawal of for-eign troops, the Ministry of Finance told Reuters yester-day.

“There’s concern that af-ter the withdrawal of inter-national troops, Afghani-stan will fall again and that economic growth will drop,” spokesman Abdul Qadir Jaillani said.

“There was tension cre-ated by the media and in-vestors held back, which brought some problems in,” he said regarding 2013.

The government col-lected about 100bn Afghani (about $1.8bn) towards a budget of 354bn. The data is preliminary and fi gures are expected to be fi nalised this week.

Despite missing a target of about 123bn Afghani, funds collected rose by about 15% from the previous year, the fi gures showed.

Still, most of the govern-ment’s budget is provided by foreign aid and donors say that corruption contin-ues to mar tax collection.

Afghanistan regularly ranks among the most cor-rupt in the world and di-verting revenue is an easy way for powerful offi cials and warlords to boost their incomes.

“Weaknesses in admin-istration and higher leak-ages, particularly in cus-toms” play a signifi cant part in weak tax collection, the World Bank said a recent report.

Jaillani said the gov-ernment had worked to strengthen mechanisms for collecting taxes and that he expected further improve-ment this year.

“For the last three years we have concentrated on our revenue, we have trained our staff and worked on capacity-building,” he said. “We are improving day by day.”

“We are still optimistic. I think 2014 will be very good for Afghans because this is the year Afghans will take responsibility for their country.”

Norwegian Air CEO plans to meet Boeing over Dreamliner problems

ReutersOslo

The Chief Executive of budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle, Bjoern Kjos, plans to meet Boeing management in

the US next week to discuss problems with its Dreamliner planes, Norwegian media re-ported yesterday.

Norwegian Air, Europe’s third-biggest budget airline after Ryanair and EasyJet, launched long-haul operations last year and hoped to capitalise on the Dreamliner’s lower operating costs.

But during the autumn its first two Dreamliners broke down more than half a dozen times, forcing it to lease back-up planes at short notice or cancel flights.

Its newest, the third, plane was grounded in the US before Christmas, and the com-pany said spare parts had to be ordered for the replacement.

“As far as I know the plane is not back in service yet, we have a wetleased (Boe-ing) 777 today between Oslo and New York,” Anne-Sissel Skaanvik, a spokeswoman for

the Norwegian, said in an e-mail to Reuters.Wetleasing means hiring a plane with a

crew.Norwegian Air might see whether it needs

to replace its maintenance service provider, daily VG quoted Kjos as saying in an inter-view.

Skaanvik could not confirm the quote, but said Kjos, who was already in the US, was planning a number of meetings there next week.

The Dreamliner was intended as a game changer for the aviation industry as its lightweight body and sophisticated engines cut fuel consumption by 20%.

But it has been beset by problems, includ-ing battery fires that grounded the model for months last year and forced Boeing to come up with a new battery design.

The first two Dreamliners bought by the Norwegian Air have previously suffered hy-draulic and electrical faults.

Boeing promised to fix problems quicker after its executives met with Norwegian Air in Oslo in September.

After that, Norwegian ordered two more Dreamliners for delivery in 2016.

BUSINESS5Gulf Times

Monday, January 6, 2014

Canada auto sales best ever in 2013; Ford tops ReutersToronto

Canadians bought more vehicles in 2013 than ever before, as consumers

brushed off high debt and a slow economic recovery to buy trucks and luxury models, though icy weather limited December pur-chases, numbers released on Fri-day showed.

Industry-wide sales grew 3.8% to 113,036 vehicles in December, bringing total sales for the year to 1.74mn, a 4% increase, ac-cording to independent auto in-dustry fi rm DesRosiers Automo-tive Consultants, which collates manufacturer data. That topped the previous highest sales year of 2002.

Truck sales jumped 6.9% while passenger car sales were almost fl at for the year, with the discrepancy even wider in December with truck sales up 14.4% and car sales shrinking by 9.7%.

Ford Motor Co’s Canadian arm sold fewer vehicles in De-cember than a year earlier but held its position as the country’s best-selling automaker in 2013 as truck sales helped it notch over-

all growth of 2.7%, the company said.

Chrysler claimed second place, with a 4.7% jump in December sales and 6.6% growth for the year, helped by record sales of its Ram trucks.

“Overall 2013 goes down as the year of the truck,” DesRo-siers wrote. “The F150 alone outsells other full-line name-plates including Kia, Mazda and Nissan.”

General Motors Co, mean-while, posted the biggest gain in December sales, up 17%, while taking third place for the year on 4% growth. Its Cadillac brand notched 44.6% annual sales gains for its best-ever Canadian sales.

Toyota Motor Corp said its luxury Lexus brand had a mar-

quee year that helped the com-pany notch 1.7% annual growth and cemented its fourth-place position.

Other luxury brands including Land Rover, Porsche and Jaguar recorded double-digit annual growth.

Ford said it was their best year for Canadian sales since 1997, with the F-Series pickup truck leading all vehicle sales for the fourth straight year. The com-pany’s Fusion and Escape mod-els also recorded their best-ever sales.

Honda Motor Co said its Civic was Canada’s top-selling car for the 16th straight year. Honda’s monthly sales nudged slightly higher overall to 13,316, but grew 10.4% for the year to 164,236.

Ford’s total vehicle sales in De-

cember slipped 4.2% to 16,161, as it sold fewer cars than a year ago. For the year, it sold 283,588 vehi-cles, an increase of 2.7%.

Chrysler, which is owned by Italy’s Fiat, sold 15,445 vehicles in December and 260,015 in all of 2013, while GM sold 17,036 vehi-cles in December and 234,944 in the year. Toyota sold 12,348 ve-hicles in December and 195,360 in 2013.

Ford said in September that it would invest C$700mn ($659mn) in its Oakville assembly plant as North American demand surged to pre-recession levels.

December sales in the much larger US market came up short of expectations, but 2014 sales are forecast to keep outpacing the overall US economy recovery from recession.

An employee walks near a vehicle on the production line at Ford Motor’s assembly complex in Oakville, Ontario, Canada (file). Ford’s Canadian arm sold fewer vehicles in December than a year earlier, but held its position as the country’s best-selling automaker in 2013.

Goldman sees risk in bank bailouts and Ukraine aid BloombergMoscow

Bank Rossii’s decision to withdraw licences from a slew of lenders and

Vladimir Putin’s $15bn of aid for Ukraine are increasing the risk associated with invest-ing in Russian debt, Goldman Sachs Group said.

The state may have to pay as much as $100bn in compen-sation to depositors as it clos-es banks and pulls licences in an industry cleanup, Clemens Grafe and Andrew Matheny, Goldman analysts in Moscow, said in an e-mailed report. The premium investors pay to hold Russia’s five-year credit default swaps over those of Mexico, rated the same at Moody’s Investors Service, more than doubled this year to 72 basis points on December 26, data compiled by Bloomb-erg show.

Bank Rossii has revoked 30 licences since Elvira Na-biullina became chairman in June, more than the total for all of last year. The Goldman analysts also cited funding for Ukraine and Belarus equiva-lent to 2% of Russia’s gross domestic product as they cut their credit recommendation for the nation to neutral from constructive.

“If it becomes necessary for the government to bail out more than a handful of banks at once, we will all have much bigger problems,” Richard Segal, chief of credit strategy at Jeff eries International Ltd in London, said. “The Deposit Insurance Agency is very un-derfunded and the cleanup of the banking system will likely gather pace.”

The Deposit Insurance Agency, which caps reim-bursements at 700,000 rubles ($21,434) per account, has about $4bn to $6bn available for payments, according to Goldman. Retail deposits in banks outside the nation’s top 50 amount to about $100bn, the upper limit the state will need in the event of “real stress” in the banking indus-try, Goldman said.

“While we currently fi nd lit-tle evidence of systemic bank-

ing sector stress, we believe the risk of bank stress devel-oping — and of potential sov-ereign exposure — resulting from the regulator’s actions has nonetheless risen,” Grafe and Matheny said in the note. At the same time, stronger su-pervision is “clearly positive” for the country “in the long run,” they said.

The banks that lost their li-cences this year had assets of 177bn rubles, compared with 23bn rubles for all lenders tar-geted last year, the analysts said. The banks weren’t active on the money market and the license revocations haven’t hurt fi nancial stability, central bank First Deputy Chairman Ksenia Yudaeva told reporters in Moscow.

The Finance Ministry press service didn’t immediately respond to questions sent by e-mail.

The Ukraine deal and a fur-ther $2bn of support off ered to non-investment grade Belarus on December 25 won’t help Russia’s credit profi le, accord-ing to Jean-David Haddad, an emerging-markets strategist at OTCEx Group’s fi xed in-come arm in Paris. The Ukraine deal comes “at the expense of rising credit risks,” he said.

The “current quantifi able Russian exposure” to Ukraine and Belarus is about $45bn, not counting the additional $15bn for Ukraine by the end of next year, the Goldman ana-lysts said.

Russia bought the fi rst $3bn of two-year securities from Ukraine on Dec 20, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said. Russia will use its $88bn Na-tional Wellbeing Fund for the purchases, though it may seek other sources, he said.

The purchases are “small” relative to the size of the wealth fund, according to Jef-feries’s Segal, who said he isn’t concerned by the deals with Belarus and Ukraine.

Russia’s exposure to Belarus and Ukraine is “large and ex-pected to rise further,” Gold-man’s Grafe and Matheny said. Money market rates have risen after the bank closures, and “both factors could be credit-negative for the Russian sover-eign,” they said.

Brazil trade surplus falls sharply in 2013 ReutersBrasilia

Brazil’s trade surplus fell to its lowest level in over a decade in 2013, hurt by lower com-modities prices, an increase in fuel imports

and declining competitiveness among manufac-turers.

Brazil posted a trade surplus of $2.561bn in 2013, the Trade Ministry said. It was the coun-try’s worst trade result since 2000 and a sharp drop from the $19.396bn surplus posted in the previous year.

The worsening trade balance is a serious chal-lenge for Brazil, which is struggling with a sub-dued global economy and productivity short-comings at home. The diminishing surplus has also weakened the local currency, the real, as fewer US dollars enter the economy. That could lead to additional infl ation pressure as imports become more costly.

For December, Latin America’s largest economy

posted a trade surplus of $2.654bn, above the me-dian forecast for a $1.35bn surplus in a Reuters sur-vey of six analysts.

A 15.3% increase in manufactured goods over the previous year helped support the trade balance in December, with the largest portion of that at-tributed to the $1.2bn export of an oil rig.

That oil rig, however, was sold by state-run oil fi rm Petroleo Brasileiro, known as Petrobras, to one of its foreign subsidiaries and will likely re-main in Brazil.

Petrobras obtains certain tax and other benefi ts by registering its ships and off shore oil rigs in the Netherlands, and any transfer of ownership out of Brazil is accounted for as an export.

Imports reached a record $239.6bn in 2013, a 6.5% increase over the previous year, the trade ministry said. In contrast, exports fell 1% to $242.2bn.

President Dilma Rousseff ’s government has of-fered billions of dollars in subsidized lending to help exporters, mostly those who produce fi nished goods. Still, Brazilian manufacturers have strug-

gled to remain competitive with their global peers due to a heavy tax burden, high labor costs and poor infrastructure.

Raw materials such soy, corn and iron-ore ac-counted for about half of total exports from Bra-zil last year, though the country is earning less for some of those products as prices on global markets decline. The Reuters/Jeff eries CRB index of the 19 most-traded agricultural, energy and metals com-modities fell 5% in 2013.

Imports, on the other hand, remain robust even after the real weakened a little over 13% against the US dollar last year.

A big part of that is fuel, with the country’s lim-ited refi ning capacity requiring costly shipments from abroad. The total value of fuel and lubricant imports rose 13.8% in 2013 from the previous year, while intermediate goods rose 5.8% and capital goods rose 5.4%.

Brazilians’ appetite for foreign products has also remained strong, bolstering imports of con-sumer goods such as electronics and clothes by 3.2% in the year.

Industry-wide sales grew 3.8% to 113,036 vehicles in December, bringing total sales for the year to 1.74mn, a 4% increase, according to independent auto industry fi rm DesRosiers Automotive Consultants

Turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems has received its highest ever monthly total of orders in December as wind farm developers in the US rushed to meet a year-end deadline to qualify for a tax credit.The Danish company booked orders for capacity of 1,346 megawatts (MW) in December and is set for its second-best sales ever in the US this year, according to Nordea Markets analysts.The Unites States has been off ering a Production Tax Credit (PTC) to help finance wind farm projects to promote renewable energy. Last January, the US congress extended the credit for one more year.While the wind energy sector is seeking a further extension, many developers are keen to ensure they qualify now for the credit, which is worth $23 for every megawatt-hour of electricity a wind farm produces over its first 10 years.In previous years, projects had to be in commercial operation by December 31. This year, they need only to have begun.“Vestas has had a terrific year which also means that the share price has increased explosively,” Nordea Markets wrote in a note to clients on Friday.On December 23 the wind turbine maker signed a contract to deliver 150 megawatts to the Route 66 project near Amarillo, Texas with potential for up to 568 MW more.On December 24 the company announced an order of 110 MW for another project in the US but did not reveal the name of the customer or the new project’s name and location.

Vestas Dec orders hit monthly record in rush for US tax credits

Qatar National BankIndustries Qatar

Ezdan Holding Group#N/A Requesting Data...

Masraf Al RayanQatar Fuel Co

Qatar Electricity & Water CoCommercial Bank Of Qatar Qsc

Qatar Islamic BankDoha Bank Qsc

Barwa Real Estate CoQatar Gas Transport(Nakilat)

Qatar NavigationGulf International ServicesQatar International Islamic

Vodafone QatarAamal Co

Qatar Insurance CoUnited Development Co

Al Ahli BankAl Khaliji Bank

#N/A Requesting Data...Qatar National Cement Co

Mannai Corporation QscQatar General Insurance & ReAl Meera Consumer Goods Co

Qatar Industrial ManufacturGulf Warehousing Company

Medicare GroupNational Leasing

Salam International InvestmeMazaya Qatar Real Estate Dev

#N/A Requesting Data...Zad Holding Co

Qatar Islamic InsuranceAl Khaleej Takaful Group

Doha Insurance CoDlala Holding

Qatar & Oman Investment CoQatar Cinema & Film Distrib

Islamic Holding GroupQatar German Co For Medical

172.90

171.50

17.40

0.00

33.65

289.10

178.20

71.30

70.50

60.00

30.85

20.50

87.50

66.20

63.60

10.90

15.00

68.50

23.13

57.00

20.00

0.00

120.50

89.00

47.80

133.80

50.50

41.30

54.00

30.45

13.10

11.53

0.00

69.00

57.60

38.40

25.45

21.90

12.70

40.15

45.30

13.72

-0.06

-0.46

2.35

0.00

3.38

0.03

-0.72

0.56

1.00

2.04

0.82

0.00

3.43

2.95

2.25

-1.09

0.33

1.48

-0.09

3.64

0.10

0.00

1.26

-1.00

1.70

0.00

-0.59

0.24

0.75

1.16

0.00

1.59

0.00

0.00

0.88

2.40

-0.59

-0.77

-0.70

0.00

0.67

-2.90

81,844

274,443

300,063

-

1,067,178

34,211

46,745

81,706

414,816

199,317

2,053,602

835,153

111,690

932,034

98,310

890,944

13,058

41,767

460,863

1,604

581,920

-

15,854

4,294

4,923

11,670

20,820

10,303

327,512

169,866

141,457

1,834,936

-

-

113,164

6,587

16,301

143,687

238,903

-

34,102

1,000

QATAR

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Saudi Hollandi BankAl-Ahsa Development Co.

Al-Baha Development & InvestAce Arabia Cooperative InsurAllied Cooperative Insurance

Arriyadh Development CompanyFitaihi Holding Group

Arabia Insurance CooperativeAl Abdullatif Industrial Inv

Al-Ahlia Cooperative InsuranAl Alamiya Cooperative Insur

Dar Al Arkan Real Estate DevAl Babtain Power & Telecommu

Bank AlbiladAlujain Corporation (Alco)

Aldrees Petroleum And TranspFawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair & C

Alinma BankAlinma Tokio Marine

Al Khaleej Training And EducAbdullah A.M. Al-Khodari Son

Allianz Saudi Fransi CooperaAlmarai Co

Saudi Integrated Telecom CoAlsorayai Group

Al TayyarAmana Cooperative Insurance

Anaam International HoldingAbdullah Al Othaim Markets

Arabian Pipes CoAdvanced Petrochemicals Co

Al Rajhi Co For Co-OperativeArabian Cement

Arab National BankAsh-Sharqiyah Development Co

United Wire Factories CompanAstra Industrial Group

Alahli Takaful CoAseer

Axa Cooperative InsuranceBasic Chemical Industries

Bishah AgricultureBank Al-Jazira

Banque Saudi FransiUnited International TranspoBupa Arabia For CooperativeBuruj Cooperative Insurance

Saudi Airlines Catering CoMethanol Chemicals Co

City Cement CoEastern Cement

Etihad Atheeb TelecommunicatEtihad Etisalat Co

Emaar Economic CitySaudi Enaya Cooperative Insu

United Electronics CoFalcom Saudi Equity Etf

Filing & Packing Materials MFood Products Company

Falcom Petrochemical EtfGulf General Cooperative Ins

Jazan Development CoGulf Union Cooperative Insur

Halwani Bros CoHail Cement

Herfy Food Services CoAl Jouf Agriculture Developm

Jarir Marketing CoJabal Omar Development Co

Al Jouf CementSaudi Kayan Petrochemical Co

Knowledge Economic CityKingdom Holding Co

Saudi Arabian Mining CoMalath Insurance

Makkah Construction & DeveplMediterranean & Gulf Insuran

Middle East Specialized CablMohammad Al Mojil Group Co

Al Mouwasat Medical ServicesNational Agriculture Develop

Najran Cement CoNama Chemicals Co

National GypsumNational Gas & IndustrializaNational Industrialization C

MaadaniyahNational Shipping Co Of/The

National Petrochemical CoRabigh Refining And Petroche

Al Qassim Agricultural CoQassim Cement/The

Red Sea Housing Services CoSaudi Research And Marketing

Riyad BankAl Rajhi Bank

Saudi Arabian Amiantit Co

43.10

14.75

0.00

59.75

26.60

28.50

16.35

23.90

40.60

47.50

47.40

10.05

32.30

34.90

26.00

45.60

137.00

14.90

63.50

45.50

32.70

78.50

52.75

0.00

21.30

107.25

40.30

33.10

124.50

26.20

42.90

42.50

64.75

31.00

54.25

39.90

52.75

50.25

23.05

35.70

33.40

0.00

38.60

34.90

74.25

43.40

44.50

142.50

15.75

23.45

60.00

14.55

85.50

13.75

37.30

96.75

30.10

52.25

32.00

31.70

42.50

17.15

23.00

58.00

21.40

111.25

48.10

160.75

31.50

17.65

16.00

17.80

23.85

32.50

20.95

72.75

32.90

14.05

0.00

91.25

30.10

24.45

14.25

31.20

26.70

34.30

31.00

28.50

27.00

25.50

17.85

87.25

61.00

21.65

29.90

73.00

15.55

1.41

0.00

0.00

-2.45

-1.85

0.71

-1.21

-1.04

-0.25

-2.26

-3.85

1.01

1.25

-1.13

-2.26

2.47

-0.36

0.00

-1.93

0.89

-0.30

-1.57

-0.47

0.00

-0.70

0.23

-6.50

-0.90

0.81

6.94

0.70

-1.85

-0.77

0.00

-0.91

-0.50

1.44

-0.99

-1.07

-3.25

0.30

0.00

1.31

0.29

3.85

0.93

-3.68

1.60

-0.63

0.00

0.00

1.39

-0.87

1.48

-3.87

-1.53

0.00

-0.95

0.00

0.00

-3.85

-0.58

-1.08

0.87

0.23

0.91

-0.62

0.31

5.35

0.00

-0.62

1.42

-2.45

0.31

-1.18

2.83

-2.08

0.36

0.00

0.27

0.00

1.03

-1.04

1.30

-0.74

-0.58

0.00

-1.04

2.66

0.39

-1.11

-0.85

9.91

0.00

0.00

0.34

-0.96

78,223

1,259,557

-

119,259

394,118

1,214,434

1,756,305

685,209

284,978

491,736

309,893

14,815,549

963,894

514,244

830,922

826,302

92,565

16,046,196

123,550

348,097

175,142

494,246

233,418

-

591,452

148,705

2,297,042

321,091

35,880

3,255,240

471,450

133,480

202,037

500,577

167,806

329,807

176,037

163,232

1,320,018

481,024

394,070

-

942,342

167,809

270,459

356,707

531,048

106,056

2,997,638

671,528

178,439

3,146,715

627,238

10,843,948

846,639

64,453

561

137,707

469,580

9,462

286,216

434,372

404,535

112,907

297,154

70,303

289,567

51,179

9,577,605

638,451

7,922,243

3,936,079

672,411

1,399,765

587,582

1,360,792

458,981

1,431,722

-

23,016

409,080

600,457

4,363,615

493,630

94,584

1,018,832

333,414

1,268,207

2,133,876

3,054,855

1,410,779

122,152

654,750

326,467

389,246

2,174,387

1,822,548

SAUDI ARABIA

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Saudi British BankSabb Takaful

Saudi Basic Industries CorpSaudi Cement

SascoSaudi Dairy & Foodstuff CoSaudi Arabian Fertilizer Co

Al Sagr Co-Operative InsuranSaudi Advanced Industries

Saudi Arabian Coop Ins CoSalama Cooperative Insurance

Samba Financial GroupSanad Cooperative Insurance

Saudi Public Transport CoSaudi Arabian Refinery CoHsbc Amanah Saudi 20 Etf

Saudi Re For Cooperative ReiSavola

Saudi Cable CoSaudi Chemical Company

Saudi CeramicSaudi Electricity Co

Saudi FisheriesAl-Hassan G.I. Shaker Co

Saudi Hotels & ResortArabian Shield Cooperative

Saudi Investment BankSaudi Industrial Development

Saudi Industrial Export Co

44.40

34.00

113.50

101.00

23.20

86.50

156.25

26.30

18.45

47.50

42.70

50.50

22.15

27.30

58.75

29.40

11.55

63.50

13.05

55.25

112.50

14.65

30.20

70.75

34.90

34.10

28.50

19.85

45.70

0.23

0.00

0.22

-0.49

0.00

0.00

-0.16

-1.13

-0.81

-2.46

-3.17

1.20

-1.77

0.37

0.43

0.00

-2.12

2.01

0.38

-0.90

1.81

0.34

-0.33

1.07

-0.57

-1.45

-2.73

-0.50

-0.87

42,700

535,195

4,552,519

122,730

899,643

47,689

124,996

259,869

827,363

281,007

421,428

470,058

349,454

1,183,952

108,085

995

2,413,038

270,370

1,179,757

224,079

248,790

911,264

919,520

417,817

807,312

263,462

330,993

1,123,414

266,153

SAUDI ARABIA

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Aayan Leasing & InvestmentA’ayan Real Estate Co

Burgan Co For Well DrillingAl Ahli Bank Of Kuwait

Abyaar Real Eastate DevelopmAcico Industries Co Kscc

Al-Dar National Real EstateAfaq Educational ServicesAl Arabi Group Holding Co

AgilityAl-Ahleia Insurance Co

Ajwan Gulf Real Estate CoAviation Lease And Finance C

Al Aman Investment CompanyKuwait Real Estate Holding C

Al-Deera Holding CoAl-Eid Food Co

Alimtiaz Investment Co KsccAlkout Industrial Projects C

Al Madina For Finance And InAl Mal Investment CompanyAl Mudon Intl Real Estate Co

Ahli United Bank (Almutahed)Al-Nawadi Holding Co K.S.C

First Investment Co KsccAl-Qurain Petrochemicals Co

Alrai Media Group CoAl Safwa Group Co

Al Salam Group Holding CoAlshamel International Hold

Commercial Real Estate CoAmar Finance & Leasing Co

Amwal International InvestmeAqar Real Estate Investments

Arab Real Estate CoAjial Real Estate Entmt

Alargan International RealArkan Al Kuwait Real Estate

#N/A Requesting Data...Automated Systems Co

Advanced Technology CoAhli United Bank B.S.C

Al Bareeq Holding Co KsccBayan Investment Co Kscc

Boubyan Intl Industries HoldBahrain Kuwait Insurance

Boubyan Bank K.S.CBoubyan Petrochemicals Co

Burgan BankGulf Cable & Electrical Ind

Kuwait Cable Vision SakLivestock Transport & Tradng

Commercial Bank Of KuwaitCombined Group Contracting

City GroupNational Cleaning Company

Coast Investment DevelopmentDulaqan Real Estate Co

Danah Alsafat Foodstuff CoEducational Holding Group

Egypt Kuwait Holding Co SaeEkttitab Holding Co S.A.K.C

#N/A Requesting Data...Equipment Holding Co K.S.C.C

Al-Enma’a Real Estate CoKuwait Bahrain International

Eyas For High & Technical EdCommercial Facilities Co

Fujairah Cement IndustriesFirst Dubai Real Estate Deve

Flex Resorts & Real EstateKuwait Foods (Americana)First Takaful Insurance Co

Future Communications CoFuture Kid Entertainment And

Gulf BankGulf Cement Co

Gulf Franchising KsccGulf Finance House Ec

Gulf Glass Manuf Co -KsccGulf Investment House

Gulf Insurance Group KscGulf North Africa Holding Co

Gulf Petroleum InvestmentKuwait Gypsum Manufacturing

Hayat CommunicationsHilal Cement Co

Hits Telecom HoldingHuman Soft Holding Co

Intl Financial AdvisorsIfa Hotels & Resorts Co. K.S

Industrial & Financial InvesIkarus Petroleum Industries

Injazzat Real State CompanyInovest Co Bsc

Investors Holding Group Co.KIndependent Petroleum Group

International Resorts CoHousing Finance Co S.A.K.C

Ithmaar Bank BscJazeera AirwaysJeeran Holdings

Kipco Asset Management CoKuwait Building Materials

Kuwait Business Town Real EsKuwait Cement Co

Kuwait China Investment CoKuwait National Cinema CoKuwait Medical Services Co

Kuwait Co For Process PlantKuwait Finance & Investment

Kuwait Finance HouseKuwait Foundry Co

Kuwait & Gulf Link TransportKuwait Hotels Co

Kuwait International BankKuwait Insurance Co

Kuwait Investment CoKuwait & Middle East Fin Inv

Kout Food GroupKuwait Packing Materials Mfg

Privatization Holding CompanKuwait Projects Co Holdings

Kuwait Real Estate CoKuwait Slaughter House Co

69.00

93.00

234.00

445.00

55.00

295.00

52.00

160.00

200.00

700.00

480.00

61.00

275.00

80.00

68.00

65.00

90.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

152.00

720.00

124.00

102.00

218.00

134.00

0.00

142.00

0.00

93.00

70.00

64.00

94.00

61.00

210.00

162.00

130.00

0.00

400.00

910.00

204.00

0.00

97.00

98.00

0.00

560.00

650.00

550.00

840.00

61.00

250.00

720.00

1,280.00

500.00

138.00

65.00

0.00

88.00

160.00

248.00

74.00

0.00

136.00

87.00

0.00

0.00

275.00

90.00

124.00

0.00

2,520.00

120.00

148.00

118.00

365.00

116.00

88.00

51.00

670.00

48.00

550.00

59.00

76.00

180.00

94.00

230.00

69.00

230.00

95.00

280.00

0.00

166.00

95.00

77.00

25.00

410.00

77.00

38.50

64.00

495.00

74.00

126.00

290.00

40.00

365.00

65.00

990.00

0.00

350.00

92.00

780.00

410.00

102.00

150.00

295.00

290.00

132.00

64.00

740.00

465.00

70.00

620.00

98.00

236.00

2.99

2.20

0.00

1.14

1.85

0.00

-1.89

0.00

1.01

1.45

0.00

1.67

-3.51

1.27

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-2.56

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.80

-2.90

0.00

-4.05

0.00

1.09

0.00

1.59

0.00

1.67

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.18

0.00

0.00

-2.70

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.52

0.00

2.33

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-5.56

1.16

0.00

0.00

0.00

5.88

1.64

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-2.67

9.43

-5.38

3.03

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-6.17

0.00

-4.08

4.55

4.55

0.00

-4.04

-1.75

0.00

1.22

1.06

1.32

0.00

0.00

0.00

14.93

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.23

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.08

-2.50

3.80

2.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-7.25

0.00

0.00

1.45

0.00

1.03

0.00

1,154,703

737,800

88,298

6,600

10,914,766

110

743,819

30,000

270,100

345,187

8,397

219,932

141,200

258,510

55,000

6,295,230

6,784

-

-

-

-

401,721

11,080

10

18,200

80,000

55

-

582,001

-

1,939,150

500

406,379

6,620

2,697,782

50,000

110,000

29,203

-

10,000

3,000

803,000

-

1,034,541

1,231,050

-

26,414

440,812

2,164,904

37,510

8,164

20,207

278

41,261

1

27,000

2,124,278

-

90,001

50

10

2,543,757

-

787,380

187,011

-

-

5,000

4,269,520

2,851,229

-

257,520

10

20,000

80,000

315,503

16,387,750

70,000

30,274,458

3,000

1,355,625

10,250

226,432

55,837,702

10

125,057

767

5,424,625

60

24,286,880

7,150

-

616,882

35,105

906,922

10,445,650

500

1,245,358

220,000

1,815,780

362,650

97,200

340

35

3,125,746

1,066

140,400

2,000

-

82,800

62,400

4,216,850

2,000

273,445

20,000

875,471

4,990

70,500

40,000

1,000

10,700

815,001

967,576

5,000,628

6,779

KUWAIT

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Voltamp Energy SaogUnited Finance Co

United Power CoUnited Power/Energy Co- Pref

Al Madina Investment CoTaageer Finance

Salalah Port ServicesA’saff a Foods Saog

Sohar PoultryShell Oman Marketing

Shell Oman Marketing - PrefSmn Power Holding Saog

Al Shurooq Inv SerAl Sharqiya Invest Holding

Sohar Power CoSalalah Beach Resort Saog

Salalah Mills CoSahara Hospitality

Renaissance Services SaogRaysut Cement Co

Port Service CorporationPackaging Co Ltd

Oman United Insurance CoOman Textile Holding Co Saog

Oman Telecommunications CoSweets Of Oman

Oman Orix Leasing Co.Oman Refreshment Co

Oman PackagingOman Oil Marketing Company

0Man Oil Marketing Co-PrefOman National Investment Co

Oman National Engineering AnOman National Dairy Products

OminvestOman Medical Projects

Oman Ceramic ComOman Intl Marketing

Oman Investment & FinanceHsbc Bank Oman

Oman Hotels & Tourism CoOman Holding International

Oman Fiber OpticsOman Flour Mills

Oman Filters IndustryOman Fisheries Co

Oman Education & Training InOman & Emirates Inv(Om)50%

Oman & Emirates Inv(Emir)50%Oman Europe Foods Industries

Oman Cement CoOman Chlorine

Oman ChromiteOman Cables Industry

Oman Agricultural DevOmani Qatari Telecommunicati

National SecuritiesOman Foods International Soa

National Pharmaceutical-RtsNational Pharmaceutical

National Packaging FacNational Mineral Water

National Hospitality InstituNational Gas Co

National Finance CoNational Detergents/The

National Carpet FactoryNational Bank Of Oman Saog

National Biscuit IndustriesNational Real Estate Develop

Natl Aluminium ProductsMuscat Thread Mills Co

Muscat Insurance CompanyModern Poultry Farms

Muscat National HoldingMusandam Marketing & InvestAl Maha Petroleum Products M

Muscat Gases Company SaogMajan Glass Company

Muscat FinanceAl Kamil Power Co

Interior HotelsHotels Management Co Interna

Al-Hassan Engineering CoGulf Stone

Gulf Mushroom CompanyGulf Invest. Serv. Pref-SharGulf Investments Services

Gulf International ChemicalsGulf Hotels (Oman) Co Ltd

Global Fin InvestmentGalfar Engineering&Contract

Galfar Engineering -PreferFinancial Services Co.Flexible Ind Packages

0.49

0.15

1.40

1.00

0.00

0.15

0.60

1.14

0.21

2.35

1.05

5.51

1.04

0.28

2.74

1.38

1.46

2.45

0.75

2.05

0.58

0.37

0.43

0.28

1.52

0.94

0.15

2.60

0.30

2.16

0.25

0.52

0.34

0.00

0.44

0.00

0.49

0.52

0.27

0.00

2.20

0.43

4.85

0.62

0.04

0.10

0.17

0.19

0.00

1.00

0.83

0.64

3.90

2.25

1.45

0.60

0.09

0.52

0.00

0.10

0.00

0.04

2.05

0.98

0.16

0.81

0.00

0.33

3.75

0.00

0.42

0.18

0.00

0.00

1.66

0.00

22.01

0.87

0.31

0.16

2.80

0.00

1.25

0.26

0.08

0.43

0.18

0.21

0.22

11.50

0.16

0.27

0.43

0.16

0.02

2.50

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.92

-0.55

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.53

1.24

0.34

0.00

2.38

0.71

0.66

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.14

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.74

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.52

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.27

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.61

0.00

0.00

0.48

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.83

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.77

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.47

-0.45

0.00

-1.25

-1.10

0.00

0.00

0.00

851,334

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

22,340

-

-

-

1,811,881

4,508

-

1,011

-

632,196

128,300

175,830

-

1,594,380

2,300

49,021

-

-

-

-

11,600

-

575,850

342,747

-

111,742

-

-

-

635,166

-

-

17,000

-

-

-

-

-

1,303,100

-

-

100,000

-

-

176,500

-

126,818

-

-

-

-

-

799

-

207,829

-

-

-

634,199

-

-

505,444

-

-

-

-

-

1,122

-

-

-

-

-

-

2,941,865

-

-

-

1,559,430

9,750

-

130,745

73,865

-

6,000

-

OMAN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Financial Corp/TheDhofar Tourism

Dhofar PoultryAloula Co

Dhofar Intl DevelopmentDhofar Insurance

Dhofar UniversityDhofar Power Co

Dhofar Power Co-PfdDhofar Fisheries & Food Indu

Dhofar CattlefeedAl Batinah Dev & Inv-50%

Dhofar Beverages CoComputer Stationery Inds

Construction Materials IndCement & Gypsum Pro

Marine Bander Al-RowdhaBank Sohar

Bankmuscat SaogBank Dhofar Saog

Al Batinah HotelsMajan College

Areej Vegetable OilsAl Jazeera Steel Products Co

Al Sallan Food IndustryAcwa Power Barka Saog

Al-Omaniya Financial ServiceTaghleef Industries SaogGulf Plastic Industries Co

Al Jazeera ServicesAl Jazerah Services -Pfd

Al-Fajar Al-Alamia CoAhli Bank

Abrasives Manufacturing Co SAl-Batinah Intl Saog

0.12

1.00

1.93

0.53

0.62

0.29

1.35

0.00

0.00

1.28

0.26

0.09

0.26

0.33

0.07

1.00

0.00

0.21

0.64

0.36

1.21

0.45

5.10

0.36

0.00

0.66

0.40

0.00

0.39

0.58

0.55

0.75

0.19

0.05

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.56

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.56

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-

-

-

-

112,286

2,000

-

-

-

-

-

160,000

-

-

-

-

-

1,445,200

637,486

118,000

-

-

-

339,665

-

-

-

-

-

618,000

-

-

83,372

-

-

OMAN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

National Takaful CompanyWaha Capital Pjsc

Union Insurance CoUnion National Bank/Abu Dhab

United Insurance CompanyUnion Cement CoUnited Arab Bank

Abu Dhabi National Takaful CAbu Dhabi National Energy Co

Sudan Telecommunications Co$Sorouh Real Estate CompanySharjah Insurance Company

Sharjah Cement & Indus DevelRas Al Khaima Poultry

Ras Al Khaimah CoRak Properties

Ras Al-Khaimah National InsuRas Al Khaimah Ceramics

Ras Al Khaimah Cement CoNational Bank Of Ras Al-Khai

Ooredoo QscUmm Al Qaiwain Cement IndustOman & Emirates Inv(Emir)50%

National Marine Dredging CoNational Corp Tourism & Hote

Sharjah Islamic BankNational Bank Of Umm Al Qaiw

National Bank Of FujairahNational Bank Of Abu Dhabi

Methaq Takaful Insurance#N/A Invalid Security

Gulf Pharmaceutical Ind-JulpInvestbank

Insurance HouseGulf Medical Projects

Gulf Livestock CoGreen Crescent Insurance Co

Gulf Cement CoFoodco Holding

Finance HouseFirst Gulf Bank

Fujairah Cement IndustriesFujairah Building Industries

Emirates Telecom CorporationEshraq Properties Co Pjsc

Emirates Insurance Co. (Psc)Emirates Driving CompanyAl Dhafra Insurance Co. P.S.

Dana GasCommercial Bank Internationa

Bank Of SharjahAbu Dhabi Natl Co For Buildi

Al Wathba National InsuranceIntl Fish Farming Co-Asmak

Arkan Building Materials CoAldar Properties Pjsc

Al Ain Ahlia Ins. Co.Al Khazna Insurance Co

Agthia Group PjscAl Fujairah National Insuran

Abu Dhabi Ship Building CoAbu Dhabi National Insurance

Abu Dhabi National HotelsAbu Dhabi Islamic Bank

Abu Dhabi Commercial BankAbu Dhabi Aviation

1.15

2.16

1.05

6.13

0.00

1.89

6.65

0.00

1.44

1.36

0.00

0.00

1.41

1.80

1.76

0.98

3.50

3.14

1.32

7.40

139.00

1.39

1.45

9.00

5.85

1.71

3.30

4.75

14.25

2.03

0.00

3.27

2.60

1.42

2.34

0.00

1.30

1.64

3.00

3.75

19.15

0.00

1.35

11.70

2.24

6.95

3.90

0.00

0.90

1.89

1.87

1.72

0.00

12.95

1.30

2.80

38.60

0.82

4.27

0.00

2.85

5.90

3.10

6.05

7.14

3.50

0.00

-1.82

0.00

3.90

0.00

0.00

3.10

0.00

-0.69

3.03

0.00

0.00

11.02

0.00

6.67

2.08

0.00

1.29

14.78

3.64

3.19

13.93

0.00

4.65

0.00

0.59

0.00

0.00

-0.35

9.73

0.00

0.00

-3.35

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

13.10

0.00

0.00

-0.26

0.00

14.41

-0.43

6.16

0.00

-6.02

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.54

1.18

0.00

1.57

8.33

0.36

0.00

0.00

1.43

0.00

-4.68

0.00

0.00

0.83

3.48

0.00

377,421

5,978,278

15,000

1,149,000

-

993,561

200,000

-

2,719,618

6,335,764

-

-

2,315,811

10,000

310,400

29,665,644

10,500

2,069,699

63,970,940

151,700

2,000

2,629,482

1,469

1,035

25,000

3,826,450

121,907

11,000

1,043,352

32,984,256

-

203,700

115,705

50,000

2,165

-

3,359

16,891,464

60,000

207,583

899,616

-

354,514

1,606,176

95,159,488

16,470

19,000

-

56,575,028

784,159

2,201,370

1,014,413

-

46,885

9,916,594

53,588,596

18

100,000

75,400

-

223,204

37,206

14,159

2,376,449

1,628,071

200,000

UAE

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

United Paper Industries BscUnited Gulf Investment Corp

United Gulf BankUnited Finance Co

Trafco Group BscTakaful International Co

Taib Bank -$UsSecurities & Investment Co

Seef PropertiesSudan Telecommunications Co$

Al-Salam BankDelmon Poultry CoNational Hotels Co

National Bank Of BahrainNass Corp Bsc

Khaleeji Commercial BankIthmaar Bank Bsc

Investcorp Bank -$UsInovest Co Bsc

Intl Investment Group-KuwaitGulf Monetary Group

Global Investment House KsccGulf Finance House Ec

Bahrain Family Leisure CoEsterad Investment Co B.S.C.

Bahrain Duty Free ComplexBahrain Car Park Co

Bahrain Cinema CoBahrain Tourism Co

Bahraini Saudi Bank/TheBahrain National Holding

Bankmuscat SaogBmmi Bsc

Bmb Investment BankBahrain Kuwait Insurance

Bahrain Islamic BankGulf Hotel Group B.S.CBahrain Flour Mills Co

Bahrain Commercial FacilitieBbk Bsc

Bahrain Telecom CoBahrain Ship Repair & Engin

Albaraka Banking GroupBanader Hotels Co

Ahli United Bank B.S.C

0.00

0.13

0.25

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.16

0.00

0.14

0.00

0.37

0.70

0.16

0.05

0.23

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.18

0.00

0.00

0.77

`

1.30

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.81

0.00

0.00

0.14

0.65

0.35

0.68

0.43

0.30

0.00

0.73

0.00

0.73

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.01

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.27

-2.17

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.86

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.94

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.68

-

10,000

7,000

-

-

-

-

-

10,000

-

3,692,000

-

1,051

39,300

80,000

105,600

30,881

-

-

-

-

-

115,000

-

-

508,174

10,000

447

-

-

-

-

10,000

-

-

60,000

3,000

2,887

7,660

14,831

154,475

-

15,000

-

44,487

BAHRAIN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Kuwaiti Syrian Holding CoKuwait Invest Co Holding

Kuwait Reinsurance Co KscKgl Logistics Company Kscc

Mabanee Co SakcAl-Madar Finance & Invt Co

Manafae Investment CoManazel Holding

Real Estate Trade Centers CoMarkaz Real Estate Fund

Marine Services CoKuwait Financial Centre

Al Masaken Intl Real EstateMashaer Holdings

Al-Massaleh Real Estate CoNational Ranges Company

Al-Mazaya Holding CoMena Real Estate Co

Al Mowasat Health Care CoAl Maidan Dental Clinic Co K

Metal & Recycling CoMushrif Trading & Contractin

Mubarrad Transport CoMunshaat Real Estate Project

Kuwait Resorts Co KsccNafais Holding

National Petroleum ServicesNational Bank Of Kuwait

National Consumer Holding CoNational Industries Co

National International CoNational Industries Grp Hold

National Investments CoNational Mobile Telecommuni

Noor Financial Investment K.National Real Estate Co

National Slaughter HouseOsoul Investment Kscc

Oula Fuel Marketing CoPalms Agro Production Co

Shuaiba Industrial CoKuwait Portland Cement CoPearl Of Kuwait Real Estate

Kuwait Pipes Indus & Oil SerKuwait United Poultry Co

Umm Al Qaiwain Cement IndustQurain Holding Co

Real Estate Asset ManagementRefrigeration Industries Co

Kuwait Remal Real Estate CoRas Al Khaimah Co

Al Safat Real Estate CoAl-Safat Tec Holding Co

Safwan Trading & ContractingSalbookh Trading Co K.S.C.C

Sanam Real Estate Co KsccSharjah Cement & Indus Devel

Securities House KsccAl Safat Energy Holding Comp

40.50

0.00

150.00

265.00

1,120.00

56.00

67.00

62.00

61.00

1.42

188.00

156.00

80.00

228.00

94.00

24.50

104.00

54.00

170.00

0.00

136.00

110.00

75.00

156.00

90.00

89.00

510.00

890.00

140.00

202.00

75.00

234.00

160.00

1,720.00

112.00

156.00

146.00

71.00

224.00

126.00

255.00

1,400.00

26.50

0.00

150.00

97.00

38.50

104.00

320.00

114.00

130.00

45.00

79.00

460.00

106.00

68.00

96.00

95.00

48.50

-3.57

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.70

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

5.62

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.17

0.00

0.00

-1.82

6.25

0.00

1.49

1.85

0.00

0.00

2.27

-3.26

0.00

0.00

0.00

5.21

0.00

0.00

0.00

-2.27

-1.75

1.30

0.00

-6.58

3.70

0.00

0.00

0.00

-8.62

0.00

-5.06

5.43

0.00

0.00

1.59

-1.72

6.56

1.12

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.45

5.49

-2.06

-1.02

515,026

-

1,000

11,000

271,566

262,109

70,015

2,268,567

25,050

-

1,000

3,500,000

5,000

10,000

114,130

11,499,902

2,196,778

172,648

1,645

-

73,003

216,790

123,214

456,200

700,986

27,100

15

553,327

40

201

21,000

103,175

680,005

1,063

227,120

10,032

300

179,000

19,998

50

15,000

27,330

1,879,465

-

3,138

4,962,747

1,013,350

384

6,638

1,302,941

1,607,952

1,557,601

290,000

1

2

550,866

7,992,637

822,510

2,357,941

KUWAIT

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

LATEST MARKET CLOSING FIGURES

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 20146

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 201414

Low interest rates in Australia boost Lend Lease outlook BloombergSydney

Bond risk is tumbling for Australia’s

biggest developer as an improved

global economy boosts the outlook

for its record project pipeline,

which includes makeovers for a

Sydney shipyard and a former

London slum.

Credit-default swap contracts

on Lend Lease Group slid 89 basis

points to 186 in 2013, the most after

QBE Insurance Group Ltd among 25

members of the benchmark Markit

iTraxx Australia index, according

to CMA prices. A gauge of costs to

protect against non-payment by

Asia-Pacific builders and real-estate

companies, including Singapore’s

CapitaLand Ltd and Hong Kong’s

Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, fell

17.5 basis points.

Record-low interest rates in Aus-

tralia and reviving European and

US economies are helping boost

the outlook for Lend Lease’s record

A$37 billion ($33 billion) of future

developments, including Baranga-

roo South in downtown Sydney and

Elephant & Castle in central Lon-

don. The Reserve Bank of Australia

has flagged growth in investment

outside of mining over the next few

years, while housing demand in the

UK rose 25% last year, the fastest

pace in three years.

“The market’s hoping they can

add to that pipeline given the im-

proving economies,” said Winston

Sammut, who helps oversee about

A$100 million as managing director

of Sydney-based Maxim Asset Man-

agement. “Investors are now willing

to take on more risk, and their focus

has shifted, to some extent, from

more passive to more active, more

aggressive.”

Lend Lease reported a 10% jump

in profit in the year ended June

30, driven by a surge in income

at its development business and

improving residential construction

in the US. The company saw an 18%

increase in operating profit from its

Australian business in the year to

June 30.

Even as it’s taken on more

developments, net debt fell to 6.1%

of total tangible assets excluding

cash in the 12 months to June 30

from 6.3% the previous year, the

company said. Its borrowing costs

declined to 5.7% from 6.2%, regula-

tory filings show.

“The fundamentals of the

company are sound, and the overall

rally in credit markets contributed

to the tightening in spreads,” said

Gus Medeiros, a Sydney-based

credit strategist at Deutsche Bank

AG. While the company has a

significant development pipeline,

“they have good financial flexibility

and their financial profile has been

relatively stable.”

The Markit iTraxx Australia index

fell to 98.2 basis points on Decem-

ber 31 from a 2013 high of 149.5

basis points on June 24, and 127.5 at

the start of the year.

Lend Lease credit default swaps

slid to a 2013 low of 167.9 basis

points in May before climbing to

250 basis points the following

month when the company said it

would report reduced earnings

from construction in the year

to June 30 due to weakness in

Australia and Europe. That came as

house and apartment prices across

Australia’s biggest cities stalled in

the second quarter of 2013 after

posting gains of 2.8% in the first

three months, the RP Data-Rismark

Home Value index showed. Since

then, conditions have improved as

the RBA reduced rates to a record

low 2.5% in August and previous

cuts filtered through the economy.

The central bank has reduced its

benchmark by 2.25 percentage

points since late in 2011.

Dwelling prices climbed 6.6

percent in the second half of 2013,

taking gains for the year to 9.8%,

the most since 2009, according to

RP Data. The Australian Industry

Group’s Performance of Construc-

tion Index climbed in November

to the highest level since April

2010, signaling a second month of

growth following more than three

years of contracting activity.

The Australian dollar, the world’s

fifth most-traded currency, traded

at 89.73 US cents of 5 p m in Sydney

on January 3. The nation’s 10-year

bond yield was at 4.35%.

Lend Lease “performed strongly”

last year and it has continued to

build on its construction pipeline,

company spokeswoman Vivienne

Bower said by e-mail. The develop-

er recorded the first profits during

the year from Barangaroo, where it

has secured tenants for almost 80%

of the first two off ice buildings, now

under construction. In August, the

Sydney-based company sold all 159

apartments at the development’s

first two waterfront towers within

three hours of starting sales simul-

taneously in Sydney, Hong Kong,

Singapore and Shanghai.

Income from developments

including Barangaroo and Darling

Harbour Live, also in Sydney’s

centre, and planned infrastructure

projects will contribute to future

earnings in its Australian business,

the company said in October.

Lend Lease, which in January

2013 received approval for its 31.5

billion pound ($2.5 billion) regen-

eration of Elephant & Castle, includ-

ing about 2,500 homes as well as

shops, restaurants and community

facilities, began construction on the

site in July.

That project and the 2 billion

pound redevelopment of the Inter-

national Quarter, close to the site of

the 2012 Olympics, will contribute

to European earnings over the

next 10 years, it said in October.

The developer’s Americas business

took advantage of an improving

US housing market to secure new

construction projects in New York,

Chicago and San Francisco last

year.

Lend Lease plans to add further

developments in the US and is

seeking to expand its presence in

Malaysia, Japan and China, Chief

Executive Off icer Steve McCann

said at its annual shareholder meet-

ing in November. Lend Lease plans

to reduce Australia’s contribution to

earnings to between 60% and 70%

from 75% now, as it boosts its focus

on off shore markets in the next few

years, McCann said.

“We expect this re-weighting will

occur as the strong US construc-

tion backlog wins in fiscal year

2013 manifest in revenue in fiscal

year 2014, and as Lend Lease

seeks more opportunities in Asia,”

Simon Wheatley, Sydney-based real

estate analyst at Goldman Sachs

Group, said in an e-mailed note on

November 15.

FOCUS

The Reserve Bank of Australia has fl agged growth in investment outside of mining over the next few years, while housing demand in the UK rose 25% last year, the fastest pace in three years

Latin American markets poised for recovery in 2014 Stock market indexes from Mexico to Chile fell enough over the course of 2013; weaker currencies around the region add to the potential for smart stock picking

Dow JonesSao Paulo

Investors have high hopes for Latin American stocks in 2014, after a disappoint-

ing 2013 left share prices lower across most of the region.

Stock market indexes from Mexico to Chile fell enough over the course of 2013 to off er up plenty of bargains, and weaker currencies around the region add to the potential for smart stock picking.

“It’s a good buying opportu-nity,” said Geoff rey Dennis, head of global emerging-markets strategy at UBS. “People are saying “It was a terrible year in 2013, it has to be better in 2014.’”

Foreign-exchange woes have piled on further misery. The region’s currencies have been losing ground against the dollar for months, with the Brazilian real weakening 15.2% last year and the Peruvian sol weakening 9.7% partly because of inves-tor concern about the looming end to the US Federal Reserve’s $85-billion-a-month bond-buying programme.

Brazil’s benchmark Ibovespa index lost almost 16% in 2013 and in dollar terms plummeted 26%. The index’s most heav-ily weighted shares, iron miner Vale SA and oil company Pe-troleo Brasileiro SA, lost the most market value in the year, according to Economatica. Vale lost $30 billion and Petrobras lost $34 billion.

Worst hit was Peru’s IGBVL index, which dropped 23.6%,

while Colombia’s IGBC fell 11.2% and Chile’s IPSA declined 14%. All three were even worse off in dollars. All stock index and currency fi gures were provided by FactSet.

One major market escaped some of the bloodbath. Mexico’s IPC index fell 2.2% in 2013 and retreated 3.1% in dollar terms. The Mexican peso was down a mere 1.4% against the dollar last year, helped by a series of reforms passed by the govern-ment expected to attract more investment infl ows in the fu-

ture. While opinion is mixed about the potential for the re-gion as a whole this year, inves-tors see plenty they like in in-dividual countries, though not always in the same countries.

For Audrey Kaplan, a senior portfolio manager at Federated Investors in New York, Brazil is the only country in Latin Amer-ica worth investing in at the moment.

“We have a favourable view of global equities, but are cautious about Latin America,” Kaplan said. “In Latin America we fa-

vour Brazil, primarily because Brazilian equities are cheap. The valuation is driving our view.”

The forward price/earnings ratio for Brazil’s Ibovespa in-dex was at 10.7 on December 31, down from 19.2 a year earlier, according to FactSet. That com-pares with 15.4 for the S&P 500 on the last day of 2013.

The International Monetary Fund predicts GDP growth of just 2.5% in Brazil for 2014, but there are some bright spots.

One of the companies Kaplan likes is beer-maker Companhia

de Bebidas das Americas SA, or AmBev. The World Cup soc-cer competition will be held in Brazil later this year and should help boost beer sales there, she said, and raise the tournament sponsor’s profi le around the world.

In Mexico, Latin America’s second-biggest economy af-ter Brazil, the economy should bounce back in 2014, with an expansion of 3% after 2013’s 1.2% growth rate, according to the IMF. The growth slump last year may have been tied to

Mexico’s political cycle. Gov-ernment spending rises ahead of a presidential election then declines rapidly afterward. Last year was no diff erent with newly elected President Enrique Peña Nieto focusing on guiding re-forms through Congress rather than on boosting short-term growth.

The biggest reform of all, the opening up of the country’s oil industry to outside investors after a seven-decade monopoly by Pemex, could start to pay off quickly.

“The oil thing isn’t getting nearly as much press as it de-serves” based on the positive eff ect on investment it will have, said Greg Lesko a manag-ing director at New York-based Deltec Asset Management LLC.

The next tier of Latin Ameri-can economies, Chile, Colom-bia and Peru, will all see faster economic growth in 2014 than Brazil and Mexico, according to the IMF’s forecasts. None of the three off er the breadth of options available in Brazil and Mexico, but there may be op-portunities for careful stock-pickers that can hang on to shares, said Sammy Simnegar, a portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments

Peru is a favourite among the investors and analysts. The IMF expects GDP growth of 5.7% in 2014, the second-fastest pace the organisation expects in all of Latin America after Guyana, after an expansion of 5.4% last year.

Peru’s neighbour Chile is also expected by the IMF to have fast economic growth, of 4.5% in 2014 compared with 4.4% last year. Colombia’s economic growth in 2014 will be slower than Peru’s and Chile’s, accord-ing to the IMF, but will still be an impressive 4.2%—after an increase of 3.7% last year.

Traders monitor the markets on the trading gallery of Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV), Mexico’s stock exchange, in Mexico City (file). The fall in Latin American markets off ers plenty of bargains to prospective investors, say analysts.

Peso leads losses in Asian currenciesBloomberg Kuala Lumpur

The Philippine peso and India’s rupee led declines in Asian currencies last

week as data fueled concern that some of the region’s biggest economies are cooling.

A gauge of China’s services industries growth fell to a four-month low in December, an of-fi cial report showed, after fi g-ures released January 1 signaled a manufacturing slowdown. A Purchasing Managers’ Index for India compiled by HSBC Hold-ings Plc and Markit Econom-ics fell to 50.7 last month from 51.3 in November, according to a report on January 2. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

The peso slid 0.6% from De-cember 27 to 44.648 per dollar

in Manila, according to Tullett Prebon Plc. The rupee weak-ened 0.5% to 62.1550, according to prices from local banks com-piled by Bloomberg. Thailand’s baht dropped 0.4% to 32.970 and South Korea’s won lost 0.1% to 1,055.23.

“Growth will remain slug-gish,” said Ashtosh Raina, head of foreign-exchange trading at HDFC Bank Ltd in Mumbai.

The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index was at 115.82, compared with 115.72 on De-cember 27. The gauge of 10 re-gional currencies excluding the Japanese yen fell 1.9% in 2013, the most since 2008.

China’s non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index slumped to 54.6 in December from 56 in November, the Bei-jing- based National Bureau of Statistics and China Federa-

tion of Logistics and Purchas-ing said. The manufacturing index declined to 51 from 51.4,

the bureau said on January 1. The baht traded near the low-est level since June 2010 as local

stocks tumbled amid concern prolonged political unrest in the country will hurt the economy and deter investors. Caretaker Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said yesterday he’s con-cerned about baht weakness. The Thai government cut its 2014 economic-growth forecast last week to 4% from 5.1% citing export declines and political in-stability.

Anti-government protests that began in late October forced Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to dissolve parlia-ment in December and call a snap election in February.

“People are still held in sus-pense trying to fi gure out how this will resolve itself,” said Leong Sook Mei, Southeast Asian head of global markets research in Singapore at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. The

baht may fall to 34 by June, she said.

South Korea’s won fell 0.5%, erasing the week’s gain amid concern policy makers will intervene to shield exporters against the impact of a slide in Japan’s currency. The govern-ment needs to aid companies because of the weak yen, Yon-hap Infomax reported today, citing Finance Minister Hyun Oh Seok.

The won strengthened 23% versus the yen in 2013, the most in Bloomberg data going back to 1986, following an increase of 22% in 2012. The won’s ad-vance against the yen hurts local exporters, which compete with Japanese companies in overseas markets.

China’s yuan gained for a second week, advancing 0.3% to 6.0515 per dollar.

Philippine one thousand- peso banknotes are arranged for a photograph in Manila, the Philippines (file). Peso and India’s rupeeled declines in currency market last week.

US economy needs more stimulus: Bernanke

Dow JonesPhiladelphia

The US economy’s recovery from the 2007-09 reces-sion likely would have

been far more feeble without the extraordinary stimulus ef-forts of the Federal Reserve, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech.

“The recovery has faced pow-erful headwinds, suggesting that economic growth might well have been considerably weaker, or even negative, without sub-stantial monetary policy sup-port,” Bernanke said, defending the Fed’s record against skeptics who see disappointing growth as proof of Fed’s failure.

For the most part, research shows that the Fed’s massive bond purchases and communi-cation about the likely path of future policy have “helped pro-mote the recovery,” he said, ac-cording to his remarks prepared for delivery at the annual meet-ing of the American Economic Association in Philadelphia.

Bernanke’s speech comes less than a month before he is set to step down from the helm of the central bank. He appeared to use the opportunity to start defi ning the legacy of his eight tumultu-ous years leading the institution.

The US Senate is scheduled to vote to confi rm Bernanke’s replacement, Fed Vice-Chair-woman Janet Yellen, today. Her term would begin February 1.

Among economic headwinds, Bernanke highlighted the drag on growth produced by tighter fi scal policy especially at the federal level, saying that budget belt-tightening and tax increas-es in recent years “have likely been counterproductive.”

Bernanke has long highlighted the challenge tighter fi scal poli-cy has posed to the economy, but his criticism seemed particularly forceful in the speech.

“With fiscal and mone-tary policy working in oppo-site directions, the recovery is weaker than it otherwise would be,” Bernanke said. The Fed and Congress working at cross purposes is particularly problematic when short-term interest rates are pinned near zero, as they have been since late 2008.

The Fed’s tools are less pow-erful when rates are near zero, while Congress may have more room to maneuver, he said.

“Expansionary fi scal policy is likely both more eff ective and less costly in terms of increased debt burden when interest rates are pinned at low levels,” he said.

Bernanke: Call for drastic measures .

BUSINESS15Gulf Times

Monday, January 6, 2014

HTC posts worse than expected profi t in Q4 HTC has lost nearly three quarter of its market value; current value is worth about $4 billion

Reuters, AFPTaipei

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC reported a worse than expected net

fourth-quarter profi t yesterday, despite aggressive cost cutting and a one-time gain.

The company reported net profi t of T$0.3 billion ($10 mil-lion), compared to a net loss of T$2.97 billion ($99.9 million) in the previous quarter and profi t of T$1.01 billion ($34 million) in the same quarter of 2012.

The fi gure lags expected net profi t of T$721.71 million ($24.3 million), according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The number highlights how quickly problems have piled up at a company that just over two years ago supplied one in every 10 smartphones sold around the world.

The company, which has lost nearly three-quarter of its market value in the last two years, is now worth about $4 billion, dwarfed by rivals like Apple and Samsung Electron-ics Co Ltd.

New management installed in the last quarter to tackle that slide must persuade custom-ers the brand can still stand for stylish, feature-loaded phones, while keeping a lid on develop-ment costs.

Despite its latest flagship product, the HTC One, gar-nering rave reviews, the com-pany’s global share of the smartphone market has de-clined to a mere 2.2% in the third quarter of 2013 from a peak of 10.3% in the third quarter of 2011, data from re-search firm Gartner show.

While the company’s recent “Here’s To Change” campaign has seen an advertising revamp featuring “Iron Man” star Rob-ert Downey Jr., analysts remain skeptical about the fi rm’s ability to diff erentiate its brand image in a highly-saturated playing fi eld.

The company has embarked on a cost-cutting campaign that includes buying its chips from cheaper vendors and out-sourcing production.

It also sold its stake in head-phone brand Beats Electronics LLC, booking a one-time pre-

tax profi t of T$2.5 billion ($85 million), which would be re-corded in the fourth quarter.

Shuttered factories, a wave of executive departures and top-level reshuffl ing are symptoms of what industry insiders see as the company’s biggest problem: connecting with consumers.

In its brief statement, the company neither elaborated on its results nor provided year-earlier fi gures.

It reported a net profi t of NT$1.0bn and revenue of NT$60.0bn in the same period a year earlier, but Taiwan’s ac-

counting standards have since changed.

Once the top Android smart-phone maker in the US during its heyday in 2010, HTC has since found it diffi cult to keep up with competition and is no longer among the top 10 global smartphone makers.

Despite the launch of a larger-screen high-end smartphone, One Max, in the fourth quarter, HTC’s sales haven’t returned to 2012 levels as the company faces stronger competition from the likes of Samsung Electronics Co The company’s plan to look for

growth in China has also proved to be challenging as popular lo-cal brands like Xiaomi retail for much lower prices.

To turn around its business, HTC is undergoing reorganisa-tion, with Chairwoman Cher Wang stepping in late last year to take on a more active man-agement role. Chief Executive Peter Chou has announced he is focusing on research and devel-opment.

The company said earlier that Chief Financial Offi cer Chang Chialin is now doubling as pres-ident of global sales.

Members of the media try HTC smartphones at an unveiling ceremony in Tokyo (file). HTC reported a worse than expected Q4 net profit despite aggressive cost cutting.

Why following the winners isfor losers By Mark Hulbert

“Past performance is no guaran-

tee of future results.” This phrase,

ubiquitous in the small print of

financial products, often falls on

deaf ears, according to Adam

Reed, a finance professor at the

University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill. “Investors have a

tendency to rush into those funds

that are at the top of the previous

year’s performance rankings,” he

says, citing numerous studies.

They shouldn’t. The evidence is

that last year’s top performers will

lag behind the market in 2014—if

not lose a lot of money.

You should instead be focusing

on strategies with superior track

records over far longer than just

the last 12 months. More like 15

years, in fact.

Consider a hypothetical port-

folio that, each January 1, began

following the strategy espoused

by the investment newsletter

that--among the more than 500

tracked by the Hulbert Financial

Digest—had the best record over

the previous year. Over the past

two decades, this portfolio would

have been a disaster, losing an

average 17% a year.

Such a “follow the winners’

strategy didn’t trail the S&P 500

every year. But in the majority of

years it did, and in a handful of

cases it suff ered huge losses. That

is because one-year performance

rankings will almost always be

dominated by high-risk strategies

that hit it big. When they don’t pan

out, those same strategies also

can lose big.

Take the portfolio with the

best 2013 return, according to

the Hulbert Financial Digest: the

“Traders Portfolio” of the Medical

Technology Stock Letter, edited by

John McCamant. It gained 216%

in 2013 by investing in emerging

biotechnology companies.

When judged by the volatility of

its returns, a common measure of

risk, the portfolio has been more

than three times riskier than the

market as a whole. Its worst single

calendar-year performance, in

2008, was a loss of 68%, versus

a loss of 37% for the S&P 500

index, assuming dividends were

reinvested.

McCamant, in a telephone

interview, acknowledged the

volatility inherent in the biotech

sector, though he added that, in

the future, he will be “doing his

best to manage that volatility.”

He says that “biotech stocks

are one of the premier growth

sectors going forward,” and that

even though another 216% gain

in 2014 is unrealistic to expect, “a

triple-digit gain is still achiev-

able.”

So does the “first shall be last”

pattern mean you should instead

follow the lead of the worst

performer of the previous year?

Absolutely not.

A portfolio that did that over

the past 20 years would have lost

even more than the follow-the-

winners strategy.

That shouldn’t be particularly

surprising, since the bottom of the

one-year performance rankings

also will be dominated by risky

strategies whose bets didn’t work

out. The need to avoid huge

amounts of risk has suggested

to some an amendment to the

follow-the-winners strategy: Focus

only on lower-risk approaches,

avoiding those that concentrate

on a single industry sector or

which borrow heavily to increase

the size of their bets.

This amended approach per-

forms better than the plain-vanilla

follow-the-winners strategy--but it,

too, has ultimately proved disap-

pointing.

Consider a strategy introduced

at the beginning of 1992 by Shel-

don Jacobs, then the editor of an

investment newsletter called the

No-Load Fund Investor. Each year

it followed the previous year’s

best-performing diversified US

stock mutual fund that could be

purchased without a sales com-

mission.

That strategy didn’t perform ap-

preciably better than the S&P 500

over the next 19 years, however,

and in 2010--after three years in a

row of underperforming the aver-

age diversified US stock fund--the

newsletter stopped recommend-

ing it.

Mark Salzinger, who in 2003

succeeded Jacobs as editor of

the No-Load Fund Investor, said

that disappointing performance

was the reason he decided to stop

featuring this follow-the-winners

strategy in his newsletter.

You would do much better to

focus on performance over far

longer periods than the past 12

months. That is because, when

picking an adviser based on his

track record, you implicitly are

betting that the future will be just

like the period over which that

record was produced.

Picking an adviser on the basis

of 2013’s returns, for example, is

tantamount to betting that 2014

will be just as good a year for

the stock market as last year. But

if you were confident that the

market this coming year would be

up more than 30%, you wouldn’t

need an adviser in the first place.

While there is no magical

track-record length on which you

should always focus, 15 years is a

good rule of thumb. The past 15

years--from the beginning of 1999

through the end of last year—

encompass two powerful bull

markets as well as two punishing

bear markets.

The investment newsletter with

the best 15-year returns, among

those monitored by the Hulbert

Financial Digest, is a service titled

the Turnaround Letter, edited by

George Putnam. It focuses on

out-of-favour stocks that Putnam

judges to have attractive long-

term potential.

Its model portfolios have

produced an average annualised

return of 14.2% over the past 15

years, versus 4.7% annualised

for the S&P 500 index, assuming

dividends were reinvested.

Recent additions to Putnam’s

buy list include EMC, the data-

storage company; PennyMac

Mortgage Investment Trust, a

financial-services firm; and Layne

Christensen, a water-management

company.

The US diversified equity

mutual fund with the best 15-year

return, according to Lipper, is the

Turner Emerging Growth Fund,

with a 1.4% annual expense ratio,

or $140 per $10,000 invested.

Its largest current holdings are

Huron Consulting Group, which

provides consulting services for

organizations in financial distress;

Middleby, which manufactures

food-service equipment; and

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store,

the restaurant chain.

One word of caution: Even

though you can increase your

chances of success by picking

your adviser based on long-term

performance, beating the market

is by no means guaranteed.

For those of you who don’t

want to even bother analysing the

year-end performance rankings, a

broad-based index fund remains

the obvious choice.

FOCUS

Investors have a tendency to rush into those funds that are at the top of the previous year’s performance rankings

Deutsche Bank, BDO Seidman sued by Lane over tax shelter BloombergSan Francisco

Deutsche Bank AG, BDO Seidman and an ex-BDO Seidman partner were

sued over claims they designed a fraudulent tax shelter that caused losses for a former chief operating offi cer of a Fortune 100 software company.

The plaintiff, RJ Lane, didn’t identify his former employer in the complaint, which was filed yesterday in state court

in Chicago. The tax shelters described in the lawsuit are similar to those used by Ray J Lane, the former Oracle Corp COO and president and former Hewlett-Packard Co chair-man, who reached a $100 mil-lion agreement with the In-ternal Revenue Service over a tax shelter called Partnership Option Portfolio Securities, or POPS.

Lane used POPS to shield $250 million of income through what tax regulators ruled were “sham” transactions.

RJ Lane, identifi ed as a Cali-fornia resident in his complaint, said he placed his trust in senior tax partner Michael Kerekes at BDO Seidman, who advised him in the POPS strategy.

Kerekes, who worked as a partner at BDO Seidman’s Los Angeles offi ce from 1998 to 2008, pleaded guilty in 2009 to conspiracy to defraud the US and tax evasion.

“In reality, BDO, Deutsche Bank, and A&P were peddling a tax shelter that they knew was illegal and that they knew

possessed no chance for profit after the subtraction of fees and costs,” RJ Lane’s attorneys

said in the complaint. A&P is the law firm Arnold & Porter LLP, which is also named as a defendant.

Deutsche Bank, Germany’s

largest bank, admitted criminal wrongdoing in 2010 and agreed to pay $553.6 million to avoid

prosecution over its participa-tion in 15 fraudulent tax shel-ters, including POPS transac-tions. BDO, now known as BDO USA LLP, said in June 2012 it

would pay $50 million to settle a charge of tax-fraud conspiracy for helping wealthy individuals evade about $1.3 billion in taxes from 1997 to 2003.

Jerry Walsh, a spokesman for BDO, and Catherine Woot-ers, a spokeswoman for Deut-sche Bank, didn’t immediately respond to e- mail messages yesterday after regular business hours seeking comment on the lawsuit.

James Ross Smart, an attor-ney for Kerekes, and Darryl Van Duch, a spokesman for Arnold

& Porter, didn’t immediately re-spond after business hours yes-terday to e-mails seeking com-ment on the case.

Ray Lane left Oracle with more than $1 billion in stock and stock options in mid-2000 and agreed to settle with the IRS on a tax bill that could be as much as $100 million.

“My tax advisers put me into an investment,” he said in an interview in June. “Somewhere along the way I knew these things were being questioned by the IRS.”

The tax shelters described in the lawsuit are similar to those used by Ray J. Lane, the former Oracle Corp COO and president and former Hewlett-Packard Co. chairman, who reached a $100 million agreement with the Internal Revenue Service over a tax shelter called Partnership Option Portfolio Securities

LNG deal ushers in tighter Shell spending regime ReutersLondon

Royal Dutch Shell’s new boss Ben van Beurden will be able to point to a clear

downward trend in spending this year, thanks in part to the way the oil company is account-ing for an acquisition completed this week.

In a deal announced on Thursday just 24 hours after the former head of refi ning and marketing took over offi cially as chief executive, Shell complet-ed the acquisition of liquefi ed natural gas (LNG) assets from Spain’s Repsol.

Shell will burden its 2013 ac-counts with most of the cost, helping van Buerden commit to signifi cantly lower spend-ing from this year - something Shell’s shareholders are very keen to see happen given that any budget strains can only dim the outlook for dividends.

Shell and its peers in the in-dustry are facing increasing in-vestor pressure to keep a lid on spending as costs rise and pros-pects for oil prices wane.

Shell said it would pay a net $3.8bn to buy Repsol’s LNG portfolio outside North Amer-ica and take on $1.6bn of as-

sociated debt. The debt, which does not count as investment spending, becomes part of the balance sheet in 2014, and some $400mn of the actual payment will count as spending this year. The bulk of the transaction cost - some $3.4bn - is being loaded onto the 2013 spending budget.

Shell had originally planned to complete the deal in 2013, and in its Oct. 30 third-quarter re-sults conference with analysts, fi nance director Simon Henry forecast net investment spend-ing for the whole year - includ-ing the Repsol transaction - of some $45bn.

That was up from guidance

of $40bn given in the second quarter as a result of the timings of some other acquisitions and divestments.

Shell has pledged a four-year net investment spend of $130bn for 2012 to 2015, based on a $100 oil price scenario.

Including $30bn spent in 2012, if 2013 spending now comes in on track, the company will have eaten through $75bn in the fi rst two years - leaving only $55bn to spend in 2014 and 2015.

Henry fl agged in October that 2013 would be “a clear peak year” for net investments, with divestments stepping up “sig-nifi cantly” in 2014 and 2015.

Since van Beurden began working alongside outgoing boss Peter Voser at the begin-ning of the fourth quarter, the company has cancelled plans to build a gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in the US. Industry sourc-es have said its Arrow coal bed methane LNG export project in Queensland is another likely casualty of a tighter spending regime.

And bankers are speculating that Shell’s 23.1% stake in Aus-tralian group Woodside Petro-leum - worth over $6bn at cur-rent prices - will be among the divestments that Henry fl agged.

A Shell spokeswoman said

the accounting had been split because a part of the transaction was done in the 2013 calendar year, and it “involved a number of legal entities in various loca-tions and hence requires several steps to complete.”

Projects like Arrow and the GTL plant are considered as “organic” spending - unlike the Repsol acquisition and any di-vestment of Woodside.

And looking behind the head-line fi gures, analysts say it is or-ganic spending that investors are most concerned about, since these are the areas where cost infl ation, project delays and other factors can blow strategy off course.

Shell has no four-year target for organic spending, but Henry estimated 2013 organic spend-ing at $36bn.

Van Beurden will face inves-tors on Jan. 30 as the company reports fourth-quarter results, and on March 13 at a planned investor day. In a separate an-nouncement on Thursday, Shell revealed that Voser, who sur-prised investors last year with news of his early retirement, will be repatriated to his native Switzerland, where he will work for the local subsidiary on his full group chief executive pay and with a full pro-rata bonus.

Shell and its peers in the industry are facing increasing investor pressure to keep a lid on spending as costs rise and prospects for oil prices wane

Top Fed offi cials zero in on next policy steps ReutersPhiladelphia

The US Federal Reserve, having just reduced its bond-buying programme,

now appears deep in debate over the best way to unwind its extraordinary stimulus in the months and years ahead.

Wrapping up a big econom-ics conference in snow-swept Philadelphia, a handful of top US central bankers were some-times at odds over the ideal pace at which to wind down the pur-chases and, eventually, start to shrink the Fed’s balance sheet and raise interest rates.

The Fed has held benchmark rates near zero since late 2008 to spur growth and hiring in the wake of the Great Recession. It has also quadrupled the size of its balance sheet to around $4tn through three rounds of massive bond purchases aimed at hold-ing down longer-term borrow-ing costs.

In what came as a surprise to some, the Fed decided last month to cut its current quan-titative easing programme, or QE3, by $10bn to $75bn per month. It cited a stronger job market and economic growth in its landmark decision, which amounts to the beginning of the end of the largest monetary poli-cy experiment ever.

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren dissented against that decision. On Saturday he urged patience as the Fed con-tinues to trim the purchases, in part because he said it risks a permanent rise in the number of Americans who are out of work.

“The failure of monetary and fi scal policy to generate a more rapid recovery risks creating a long-term structural unemploy-ment problem out of a severe cyclical downturn,” the dovish Fed offi cial said at the meeting of the American Economic As-sociation.

US unemployment has dropped from a post-recession high of 10% in 2009 to 7% in No-

vember, a fi ve-year low. Still, the proportion of the unemployed who have been so for more than six months remains high, at al-most 40%.

In what might be his last key-note speech as Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke told the confer-ence on Friday that the econom-ic recovery has a long way to go, and that the Fed is committed to stimulus as long as needed. Last month, he said the Fed plans to keep buying bonds through much of the year.

Beyond that, the central bank has tried to telegraph its future intentions by saying it will most likely keep rates near zero well beyond the time joblessness falls below 6.5%.

Those promises make hawkish Fed offi cials like Charles Plosser uncomfortable. On Saturday Plosser, the head of the Phila-delphia Fed, warned the reces-

sion could have done permanent damage to potential US output.

Taking an indirect swipe at an approach favoured by Fed Vice-Chair Janet Yellen, Plosser said he is sceptical of “optimal con-trol” policy-making in which mathematical models are used to predict when things like unem-ployment and economic growth will return to more normal levels.

“Measures that arbitrarily, or by assumption, assign the bulk of fl uctuation in GDP to purely temporary factors may pro-vide poor policy guidance when shocks are more permanent in nature,” he said.

Yellen, who is set to take the reins at the US central bank next month, has in the past suggested higher infl ation could be toler-ated for a short while in order to speed up the overall economic recovery.

While gross domestic prod-

uct growth rose above 4% in the third quarter, it has gener-ally stayed closer to 2% since the recession ended in 2009, caus-ing some to think that longer-term potential GDP growth is no longer the 3% rate to which Americans are accustomed.

If that is the case, the Fed’s ul-tra-easy policy stance, including promises to keep rates near zero for a while to come in order to drive down joblessness, may be misdirected.

“The shock that hit the econ-omy appears to have had very persistent, if not permanent, ef-fects,” said Plosser, who regains a vote on policy this year under the Fed’s rotating system. “From a statistical perspective, the econ-omy appears to have taken a per-manent hit to the output level.”

For now, the Fed is looking for sustainable economic growth and labour market improvement

before it stops buying bonds and starts looking to shrink its bal-ance sheet.

William Dudley, the infl uential head of the New York Fed, said he hopes the balance-sheet trim-ming will start to happen in the next four years — the duration of Yellen’s term if she wins US Sen-ate approval as expected today.

“But there is a lot of uncer-tainty about how monetary policy exit will occur with the very large balance sheet,” Dudley said. “We have a pretty strong presumption that the instru-ments we have in place will work very well ... But there is no ques-tion that there could be unin-tended consequences.”

Clearly communicating policy intentions “becomes critically important” in this phase because “the real question is not what will happen today but what will happen in the future,” he said.

Monday, January 6, 2014

BUSINESSGULF TIMES

Janet Yellen, vice-chairman of the US Federal Reserve (right), laughs with Charles Plosser, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, at an event commemorating the Federal Reserve Act, the legislation that created the central bank, in Washington, DC (file). Taking an indirect swipe at an approach favoured by Yellen, Plosser on Saturday said he is sceptical of “optimal control” policy-making in which mathematical models are used to predict when things like unemployment and economic growth will return to more normal levels.

Better economy puts US central bank at crossroads; winding down QE; shrinking balance sheet; raising rates

AFPLagos

Nigeria’s fi nancial mar-kets posted healthy gains in 2013 but fi ve years on

from the global fi nancial melt-down, local investors are still wary of sinking their money into stocks.

The market capitalisation of the nearly 200 listed compa-nies on the Nigeria Stock Ex-change (NSE) rose by 41% in the 12 months to December 31 to around 13tn naira ($58bn).

The All-Share Index on west Africa’s leading bourse closed up nearly a third over the year, to 41,329.19 points.

The fi gures indicated that the market appears to have re-bounded well from the global meltdown, which saw some eight trillion naira wiped off the value of stocks.

Industry operators said the market has been buoyed by for-eign investors looking for bar-gains.

“Foreigners made our capital market their investment des-tination as a lot of shares were selling far below their par value following the 2008 fi nancial crash,” broker Mukaila Alogba told AFP.

Investments from off shore accounted for some 60% of total transactions in the stock market in 2013, he added.

Also, the World Bank’s Inter-national Finance Corp, which backs private enterprise, fl oated 12bn naira in bonds to lure inves-tors into Nigeria’s nascent capi-tal markets, he said.

“The IFC also approached the Securities and Exchange Com-mission for a naira-dominated medium-term notes programme of $1bn,” Alogba said.

A $1.5bn African Development Bank facility for projects by tel-ecoms fi rm MTN was also driv-ing the market, he added.

But despite the more optimis-tic outlook — including for the Nigerian economy as a whole — Nigerians remained wary of sinking their cash into equities.

“Local investors cannot forget in a hurry irrational manipula-tion of share prices which stock-brokerage fi rms, in connivance with banks, engaged in to cause the market crash,” said one

stocks analyst. Lagos business-man Soji Fadairo would rather forget what happened fi ve years ago.

“Each time I tried not to re-member, my memory keeps re-calling how I lost my entire sav-ings to stock market crisis,” he recalled.

“Overnight, my entire invest-ment running to several millions of naira evaporated like air.”

Fadairo’s experience forced him to sell property in the up-scale Ikeja neighbourhood of Nigeria’s fi nancial hub to off set a fi ve million naira bank loan.

“I will never put my money on stocks again. Experience they say is the best teacher,” he said.

Funke Bello, a 45-year-old civil servant, also lost out but has now dumped stocks for bricks and mortar to assure her long-term fi nancial future.

“I used to be active on mar-ket with thousands of stocks in blue-chip companies. I was making a lot of money in terms of capital gains until the crisis,” she said.

The losses she suff ered forced her to withdraw her son from his school overseas.

“I will not venture into stocks again. I am now into properties business. If you buy a house or a plot of land today and decide to sell it tomorrow, it will be at a good margin,” she said.

One senior manager at the NSE said the future looked brighter for the market on the back of strong economic indica-tors for the country as a whole.

The economy is predicted to grow at a rate of seven%, the naira is stable against the US dollar, infl ation is at a manage-able 7.9% and interest rates are favourable for savings and in-vestment.

“A lot has changed since the global recession,” said the offi -cial, who requested anonymity.

“Investors are also enjoying high returns on investment due to impressive performances of quoted companies,” he said.

The offi cial urged reluctant investors to take advantage of the gains and pointed to new regulations to protect investors.

“We are poised to promote good corporate governance as well as prevent inside dealings and abuse in the market,” he said.

Nigerian fi nanceresurges, butinvestors still shy

Prices mostly fall in downbeat start to new year WEEKLY COMMODITIES REVIEW

AFPLondon

Commodity prices mainly fell this week in low-volume trade on

the back of weak Chinese economic data, while many partici-

pants were away for an extended Christmas and New Year break.

Beijing released figures on Friday showing that growth in

China’s services sector slowed sharply in December.

The data followed news on Wednesday and Thursday that

manufacturing in the country had also suff ered a slowdown in

growth last month.

On the upside, precious metals eked out slender gains follow-

ing heavy losses during 2013.

BASE METALS: Base or industrial metals prices mostly slid as

the poor Chinese data cast a shadow over markets.

“The lower than expected China non-manufacturing PMI fig-

ure in December has got metals lower,” said Richard Fu, director

of Asian commodities trading at Newedge.

“The metals market is still a bit jittery as most people are still

not sure of the macroeconomic trend for 2014.”

Asian powerhouse China is the world’s second biggest

economy after the US and is a leading consumer of many raw

materials.

“Softer-than-expected manufacturing data from China is still

weighing on confidence,” added analyst David Madden at trad-

ing firm IG.

By Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery

in three months fell to $7,341 a tonne from $7,385 a week earlier.

Three-month aluminium increased to $1,798 a tonne from

$1,784

Three-month lead dropped to $2,204 a tonne from $2,265.

Three-month tin gained to $21,550 a tonne from $22,949.

Three-month nickel fell to $13,846 a tonne from $14,344.

Three-month zinc declined to $2,051.75 a tonne from

$2,096.75.

PRECIOUS METALS: Gold rebounded slightly, having suff ered

a 28% slump in 2013 on the back of weaker demand and easing

inflation.

“Gold continues to shine in these early days of 2014,” said

Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.

“However, given the low liquidity I am sceptical about this

rally, which I think is fuelled by position squaring from the sellers

who will likely re-emerge at higher prices.”

In 2013, gold suff ered its first annual loss for 12 years, while

sister metal silver shed a third in value.

“It is diff icult to see why gold would fall significantly further,

given, for example, its price is close to the cost of production for

many precious metals miners,” added Razaqzada.

“On top of this, demand from China remains very strong in the

physical market.” By late Friday on the London Bullion Market,

the price of gold rose to $1,234.50 an ounce from $1,214.50 a

week earlier.

Silver climbed to $20.18 an ounce from $19.92.

On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum

increased to $1,388 an ounce from $1,374.

Palladium advanced to $723 an ounce from $711.

OIL: Prices fell heavily, hit hard by news that a major Libyan field

could come back on line later this week, while the Chinese data

also weighed.

The market slumped by about three dollars on Thursday,

following the Libya news that could spark an increase in global

supplies.

“Oil prices dropped sharply by over three dollars yesterday,

as supply concerns in Libya eased off with news that protestors

would stop striking at one of the major oilfields, El Sharara, which

has been shut down by protests since October,” said Inenco

analyst Lucy Sidebotham.

She added: “Weaker stock markets have also weighed on

prices, and poor economic data from China.”

A spokesman for the Libyan National Oil Corp (NOC) told AFP

on Thursday that the 330,000 barrel a day El Sharara field is ex-

pected to resume normal output within two or three days, once

protesters who have blocked production pull out.

Oil production in Libya has plunged to about 250,000 barrels

a day from nearly 1.5mn in the face of demands from armed

protesters for more regional autonomy and greater say over the

distribution of oil revenues.

Key export terminals in eastern Libya remain blockaded.

However, NOC announced earlier this week that two oilfields in

southern Libya had resumed yesterday.

Over the course of 2013, Brent crude prices were virtually un-

changed, while New York futures have risen more than 12%, amid

tight supply concerns earlier in the year caused by the threat of

US military action on Syria.

By Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North

Sea crude for delivery in February dropped to $108.25 a barrel

from $111.83 a week earlier.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermedi-

ate or light sweet crude for February fell to $95.45 a barrel from

$99.62.

COFFEE: Prices touched multi-week lows this week on the back

of heavy speculative selling, dealers said.

“Speculators were the big sellers in New York, with little inter-

est noted by producers or roasters in any trading,” said Price

Futures Group analyst Jack Scoville.

Prices sank in 2013 by 24% in New York and 12% in London, hit

by plentiful supplies.

By Friday on the ICE Futures US exchange, Arabica for delivery

in March dipped to 111.65¢ a pound from 117¢ a week earlier.

On Liff e, Robusta for March fell to $1,596 a tonne from $1,699.

COCOA: Futures sank on profit-taking after striking the highest

points since September 2011 in the prior week.

Cocoa dived as low as £1,676 per tonne in London and $2,629

per tonne in New York.

“Cocoa futures finished significantly weaker on Thursday, fall-

ing to a near seven-week low as fresh supplies reach the global

market,” said analysts at industry publication The Public Ledger.

Prices had rebounded sharply last week on undersupply

concerns. Cocoa prices rose by a quarter during 2013.

By Friday on Liff e, London’s futures exchange, cocoa for deliv-

ery in March dipped to £1,677 a tonne from £1,788 a week earlier.

On ICE Futures US, cocoa for March decreased to $2,636 a

tonne from $2,815.

SUGAR: Prices fell over the week, and slid by about 15% during

2013, as the market was hit once again by abundant supplies.

“The primary focus of the market remains big supplies. Strong

off ers from India and Thailand keep overall (price) trends down,”

added Scoville.

By Friday on Liff e, the price of a tonne of white sugar for

March slipped to $443 from $444.10 a week earlier.

On the ICE Futures US exchange in New York, the price of

unrefined sugar for delivery in March fell to 16.24¢ a pound from

16.32¢.

RUBBER: Prices in Kuala Lumpur fell further due to inactivity

amid year-end festivities.

The Malaysian Rubber Board’s benchmark SMR20 slid to

225.50¢ a kilo from 229.25¢ the previous week.

A woman fills petrol in her car at a station in Peoria, Illinois, US. Oil prices fell heavily last week, hit hard by news that a major Libyan field could come back on line later this week, while Chinese data also weighed.

Monday, January 6, 2014Rabia I 5, 1435 AH

SPORTGULF TIMES

Eusebio dies of heart attack, aged 71

Swansea dump Man United out of FA Cup

FOOTBALL | Page 3 FOOTBALL | Page 4

TENNIS

Federer goes down to Hewitt in Brisbane fi nalPage 7

GOLF | Page 6

Zach Johnson takes control in Hawaii

Aussies take sweep revengeReutersSydney

Australia obliterated Eng-land’s batting in a shade over 31 overs to claim a thump-ing 281-run fi fth Test victory

with more than two days to spare and seal only the third 5-0 sweep in the long history of Ashes series yesterday.

The triumph at a sunbaked Sydney Cricket Ground completed a remarka-ble turnaround for Australia, who were in disarray after being swept them-selves in India and going down 3-0 in England to lose a third successive Ash-es series last year.

A big clue to how Australia man-aged that turnaround came when pace-man Mitchell Johnson was awarded the Compton-Miller medal as Man-of-the-Series after taking 37 wickets at a shade

under 14 runs apiece over the fi ve Tests. Johnson’s ferocious pace again

played an integral part in Australia’s victory in Sydney but it was no one man show and his fellow quick Ryan Harris won the Man-of-the-Match honours after taking fi ve for 25 as Eng-land were skittled for 166 yesterday.

“It’s very special after the roller-coaster ride, the ups and downs of 2013,” said Australia captain Michael Clarke, who also played in the 2006-7 sweep but clearly not that of 1920-21. “It’s been a lot of work to get us where we are today. I said to the bowlers at the start of the series that I thought they were the best attack in the world and I think they’ve shown that in fi ve Test matches.”

Johnson’s revival was even more re-markable than that achieved by Aus-tralia, turning him from a fi gure of ridicule for England’s travelling Barmy Army into a bowler who struck fear into

the touring batsmen. It was his inter-vention after tea yesterday that turned what had been a stately progression to victory into another humiliating rout for the tourists.

After fi nally dismissing Chris Rogers for 119 and bowling Australia out for 276, England stumbled to the break on 87 for three chasing a highly improbable 448 for victory. A fi fth thumping victory had always looked on the cards after Austral-ia’s pace attack tore through England’s top order in the fi rst hour of Day 2.

A more spectacular collapse in 11 balls after the second interval on Day 3 made it certain with Johnson dis-missing opener Michael Carberry for 43 and Gary Ballance three balls later in the fi rst over. Spinner Nathan Lyon took over for the next over and he dis-missed Jonny Bairstow (0) and Scott Borthwick (4) to reduce the tourists to 95-7 in a matter of minutes. With Eng-

land’s top order having failed yet again, Ben Stokes (32) and Stuart Broad (42) provided their country’s stiff est resist-ance down the order but they could only delay the inevitable.

Australia had already reclaimed the coveted Urn after winning the opening Brisbane Test by 381 runs, the Adelaide match by 218 runs, in Perth by 150 runs and an 8-wicket win in Melbourne.

For a dispirited England, their tri-umphs in India in 2012 and in Australia in 2010-11 will appear a distant memory and they face an immediate future of re-crimination and rebuilding.

Aside from criticisms of his captain-cy, Cook’s miserable series was a refl ec-tion of that of a vaunted batting line-up which simply failed to fi re in the face of sustained pressure from the Austral-ians. The England skipper’s seven runs yesterday gave him 246 at an average of 24.6 for the series.

ASHES

‘I told the bowlers at the start of the series that I thought they were the best attack in the world and I think they’ve shown that’

SCOREBOARDAustralia (1st innings) .......................... 326England (1st innings) ............................ 155Australia (2nd inngs; overnight 140-4)C Rogers c & b Borthwick ................... 119D Warner lbw Anderson ...................... 16S Watson c Bairstow b Anderson ...9M Clarke c Bairstow b Broad .............6S Smith c Cook b Stokes ......................7G Bailey c Borthwick b Broad ...........46B Haddin b Borthwick ...........................28M Johnson b Stokes ...............................4R Harris c Carberry b Borthwick ..... 13P Siddle c Bairstow b Rankin .............4N Lyon (not out) .......................................6Extras (lb-14, w-2, nb-2) ........................18Total (all out, 61.3 overs) .....................276Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-47, 3-72, 4-91, 5-200, 6-239, 7-244, 8-255, 9-266Bowling: Anderson 15-6-46-2, Broad 14-1-57-2 (nb-2, w-1), Rankin 12.3-0-47-1,

Stokes 10-0-62-2 (w-1), Borthwick 6-0-33-3, Pietersen 4-1-17-0England (2nd innings)A Cook c Haddin b Johnson ..............7M Carberry c Haddin b Johnson .....43I Bell c Warner b Harris ......................... 16K Pietersen c Bailey b Harris .............6G Ballance lbw Johnson ......................7B Stokes b Harris .....................................32J Bairstow c Bailey b Lyon ..................0S Borthwick c Clarke b Lyon ..............4S Broad b Harris .......................................42J Anderson (not out) ............................. 1B Rankin c Clarke b Harris ..................0Extras (b-5, lb-2, nb-1) ...........................8Total (all out, 31.4 overs) .....................166Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-37, 3-57, 4-87, 5-90, 6-91, 7-95, 8-139, 9-166Bowling: Harris 9.4-4-25-5, Johnson 9-1-40-3, Siddle 4-1-24-0, Lyon 9-0-70-2

CRICKET

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 20142

ReutersLondon

England’s Ashes whitewash trig-gered a scathing attack from former players yesterday with Ian Botham lashing out at the

team’s “spineless” display in Australia. Having won the home series 3-0

last year, captain Alastair Cook and his men landed in Australia in October as the overwhelming favourites to retain the famous Urn. Instead, they were ruthlessly brushed aside by a rampant Australian side, failing to get close to victory in any of the fi ve matches as pace bowler Mitchell Johnson’s express speed and Brad Haddin’s never-say-die batting exposed their limitations.

What proved to be the fi nal day of the series was synonymous of Eng-land’s feeble showing as they were bowled out for 166 inside 35 overs, chasing an improbable 448 for victory, as Australia completed the clean sweep with two days to spare.

“I’m pretty depressed and embar-rassed — I use that word, embarrassed, and I mean it,” former captain Botham told Sky Sports. “I am not allowed to use the words that are fl ashing through my head at the moment. I just think it was spineless,” added the former all-rounder.

Australia never took their foot off England’s throat registering com-prehensive victories at Brisbane, Ad-elaide, Perth, Melbourne and fi nally in Sydney to avenge last year’s series defeat in England. “England have been

steamrollered. If it had been a box-ing match it would have been stopped weeks ago,” Botham said.

“This is a worse loss than when we lost before 5-0 because they had great players like (Glenn) McGrath, (Shane) Warne and (Adam) Gilchrist last time. England have just disintegrated”

Former skipper Michael Vaughan echoed his sentiment, saying the sen-ior players had let the team down. “I’ve lost words to describe how England played. That was pathetic — it was al-ways going to happen but there’s a way to lose,” Vaughan told BBC Sport.

“I have never seen an England team throw in the towel, but they did this af-

ternoon. Our senior core of players have not been able to get into any sort of form,” said Vaughan, who in 2005 became the fi rst England captain to win an Ashes se-ries since Mike Gatting in 1986-87. “The Australian wagon got into motion at Brisbane and England have not been able to cope since. That last innings there showed how frazzled the team is.”

In many ways, the fi nal Test in Syd-ney Test mirrored England’s shambolic campaign as they were shot out for 155 and 166 on a green-tinged wicket. “It’s pathetic — there is no other word. It’s humiliation,” former opener Geoff Boycott said. “This is a worse loss than when we lost before 5-0 because they had great players like (Glenn) McGrath, (Shane) Warne and (Adam) Gilchrist last time. England have just disintegrated.”

Ex-players slam ‘spineless’ England aft er Ashes routBACKLASH

WHITEWASH HELPS AUSTRALIA CLIMB TO NO 3 IN TESTS

Australia jumped two places to third on the ICC’s World Test Rankings after sealing a 5-0 whitewash in the Ashes series in Sydney yesterday, overtaking England and Pakistan.

Michael Clarke’s men climbed to within six points of second-placed In-dia with their 281-run rout of England. Australia’s third-ever clean sweep of the Ashes brought them 10 points for ratings of 111. England’s crushing defeat cost them nine points and saw them slide to fourth place at 107, five points clear of Pakistan.

South Africa remain comfortably atop the world rankings at 133 points.

It is a remarkable turnaround for the Australians who had a forgettable year in 2013 — losing a four-Test series to India without a single win and the previous Ashes series in England 3-0.

Clarke is targeting the top spot in Test cricket and Australia’s three-game series against South Africa in February-March will be a major test of his in-form squad.

India will have a chance to shore up their position with a two-Test series against eighth-placed New Zealand beginning in February. England face Sri Lanka, ranked sixth, for two Tests in June.

Beware SA, we are coming, says Clarke

AFPSydney

Michael Clarke said Australia will take the greatest bowl-ing attack in world cricket to South Africa next month in

a bid to challenge the number one Test side, after securing a 5-0 Ashes white-wash over England yesterday.

The victorious Australian skipper knows that Graeme Smith’s Proteas will give his Australians an idea of where they stand in Test cricket after a lop-sided se-ries against England, which culminated in a three-day fi nal Test win.

“We have the greatest attack in the world and they’ve shown it,” Clarke said.

“It’s certainly going to be a challenge for us to perform over there and then our next Test series is in the UAE against Pakistan which is going to be extremely tough as well. We believe we have the team to have success”

“It’s certainly going to be a challenge for us to perform over there and then our next Test series is in the UAE against Pakistan which is going to be extremely tough as well. Playing away from home in international cricket seems to be hard to get results. We believe we have the team to have success.”

Clarke said it will take more than one series win to prove Australia are the best team in world cricket.

“We are not going to win in South Af-rica and all of a sudden think we’re the best team in the world,” he said. “It’s not about that. It’s about consistency home and away over long periods of time and if you do that you will get the results you’re after.”

Australia play South Africa in three Tests, starting at Centurion on February 12. Clarke said it was satisfying to turn things around after a poor start to last year.

“It’s been a roller-coaster ride... the start of 2013 certainly didn’t go any-where near as well as we would have liked,” he said. “I think that’s what feels so satisfying at the moment. We’ve been able to turn things around.

“I don’t want to disrespect anyone in that 2006-07 team (last Australian team to win 5-0 series) to say that this is a bet-

ter win than then. I just think it’s a diff er-ent time, diff erent era. To me it’s as spe-cial and probably more personal because I’m captain,” he added.

Australia coach Darren Lehmann said he took over a team which needed direc-tion when appointed in England last year and he put his faith in a band of experi-enced players to win back the Urn at home after three-straight series of Ashes failure.

Lehmann admitted the extent of his team’s dominance surprised even him but said they still had plenty more to prove.

“They just needed some direction on where we wanted to go and how we wanted to go about it,” the coach said. “I thought we had the makings of winning the Ashes com-fortably, but not 5-0. We need to move for-ward as a team and win away from home.”

WARNING

‘It’s about consistency home and away and if you do that you will get the results’

AFPSydney

Alastair Cook yesterday apologised to England fans for letting them down in the Ashes se-

ries and said he wanted to stay on as captain to help turn around the team’s fortunes.

Cook was at a loss to explain what had gone wrong but was adamant he had no intention of walking away from captaincy. “If I knew that answer, I would be telling the guys out there rather than telling you guys,” he said.

The England captain said he knows what it takes to rebuild the shattered team from the rubble of their 5-0 Ashes se-ries humiliation, adding that he has been given the vote of con-fi dence from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to continue as captain.

“I was given the vote of con-fi dence from the board which usually means in football terms you have two weeks and then you’re on your bike,” he said.

“But I am desperate to try and turn it around. I feel as if I am the right man to do it. If I’m not and people higher up want a change because they think that’s the best way, I have to take it on the chin.”

Cook, who scored just 246 runs at 24.60 in the series, said he had the qualities to take the England team forward.

“I have a lot of experience as a player. I have seen a 5-nil before and I’ve seen the drive and de-termination which that caused that team then. I know what that takes to do,” he said.

“When you strip everything down, every single player now has to go back and have a look at themselves, have a look at their techniques. Have a look at the

way they’ve bowled and start re-building again. And that hunger has to come from within to do it.”

Cook said only all-rounder Ben Stokes and paceman Stuart Broad played to their potential on a miserable tour where senior batsmen Ian Bell and Kevin Pi-etersen both averaged less than 30 in the series.

“I think we’ve seen some very good stuff from Ben Stokes. He looks like he can balance our side, something we’ve been try-ing for a long time. I think he’s obviously been the fi nd of the tour,” Cook said.

“Every player will be feeling that they let themselves down because we haven’t performed. Only Broady (Broad) and Stokesy have delivered close to their po-tential. I think everyone else will be hurting.

“I think what it does mean when you lose 5-0 is a lot of places are for grabs. That should be a real inspiration for people outside the team and also for people inside the team. As a side we’ve let the supporters down because we haven’t played very well. The results suggest that. The work ethic is there, we’ve just got to go back to basics.”

Cook said he felt anger and frustration within because of England’s woeful Test results, but added “the buck stops with me”.

He paid tribute to Australia for what he said was a “thoroughly deserved” victory and apologised to England’s vocal ‘Barmy Army’ band of travelling supporters.

“As a side we’ve let the sup-porters down because we haven’t played very well. The results sug-gest that,” he said. “The work ethic is there, we’ve just got to go back to basics. Every player will be feeling that they let them-selves down because we simply haven’t performed.”

Cook apologises to England fans

FOCUS

AGONY & ECSTASY: Dejected members of the English cricket team led by captain Alastair Cook (extreme left) look on as the Australian players (above) celebrate their 5-0 series sweep in Sydney. (EPA)

Clarke pays fulsome tribute to JohnsonReutersSydney

Australia captain Michael Clarke paid fulsome tribute to Mitchell Johnson for his part in the 5-0 Ashes sweep, saying nobody could ever again doubt the paceman’s character.

Johnson was awarded the Compton-Miller medal as Man-of- the-Series after taking 37 England wickets over the fi ve Tests at an average of below 14. There are few cricketers more enigmatic than the quietly spoken and introspective Queenslander, whose fortunes over his Test career have mirrored those of his country—in his pomp from his debut in 2007 to 2009, with a steady decline and the occasional brilliant performance since.

Recalled for the current series after more than a year in the Test wilderness, he buried fi ve years of ridicule from England fans at his sometimes erratic bowling with a barrage of deliveries in excess of 150 kilometres per hour. For perhaps the fi rst time since the retirement of Glenn McGrath, there was fear in the eyes of the English batsmen, particularly those of the tailenders.

“I hate to say I told you all so, but I told you all so,” Clarke laughed. “Man of the Series, who would have thought? Except me and perhaps Mitch. To be able to bowl at that pace is one thing, to do it for fi ve Test matches, every single innings, to be able to back it up is an amazing achievement.

“Mitchell’s bowled a couple of spells in this series that are without doubt as good a spell as I’ve seen in my career. And I’ve been lucky enough to play with Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and Shane Warne. Mitch’s spells certainly match the greats, if not better. He deserves all the credit he’s received, he’s copped a lot of criticism, he’s been dropped from the team.

“No one in the world can doubt Mitchell Johnson’s character ever again. He’s as tough a cricketer as I’ve played with. To be able to come back from the criticism he’s copped, to be dropped at an older age and have the attitude and hunger to say ‘no, I’m not going to give up’, credit to him. He deserves the accolades.”

Johnson, still sporting the distinctive moustache he grew for chari-ty in November but retained as a symbol of his rediscovered form, said he was glad it was all over. “I’m absolutely exhausted now,” said the 32-year-old. “It’s a huge relief to fi nish the Test series.”

SPOTLIGHT

‘Eternal’ Eusebio dies of heart attack, aged 71

ReutersLisbon

Portuguese great Euse-bio, top scorer at the 1966 World Cup, died yesterday from a heart

attack at the age of 71 with the small Iberian nation mourning him as an ‘eternal symbol’ of their football pride.

The death of the charis-matic striker, who was idolised throughout the Portuguese-speaking world and considered one of the game’s greatest play-ers was confi rmed by former club Benfi ca and the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF).

“Portugal is mourning. Euse-bio, the King of Portugal’s 1966 team and the eternal symbol of the country, national team and Benfi ca passed away,” the FPF said in a statement.

The Portuguese government declared three days of national mourning and many fans paid homage by visiting an iconic statue of him erected next to Benfi ca’s Luz stadium, leaving fl owers, scarves and other trib-utes. Eusebio, whose full name was Eusebio da Silva Ferreira, was European Footballer of the Year in 1965 but won global ac-claim a year later at the World Cup in England, where his nine

goals helped Portugal reach the semi-fi nals. He earned 64 caps and scored 41 goals for Portu-gal, records that stood for almost two decades. Nicknamed the ‘Black Panther’, Eusebio was a European Cup winner with Ben-

fi ca in 1962 and played in three other fi nals, including the loss to Manchester United at Wembley in 1968. Eusebio helped Benfi ca to 11 Portugues championships and later served as an ‘ambassa-dor’ for the club. He scored more

than 300 league goals for the Lisbon outfi t. “The news caught us by surprise brutally, be-cause there are men who should never go away,” a Benfi ca state-ment read. “The life of Eusebio is the patrimony of everyone who loves football.” As news of Eusebio’s death spread, tributes began pouring in from the foot-ball family. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on his Twitter page: “football has lost a legend but Eusebio’s place among the greats will never be taken away.”

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who overtook Eusebio last year to go to the top of the country’s list of top marksmen and trigger a debate on who is the best Portuguese player of all time, shared a picture of him and Eusebio on Twitter. “Always eternal Eusebio, rest in peace,” read the caption.

THE KING Eusebio hailed from Lourenco

Marques, now Maputo, in colo-nial Mozambique and as a teen-age prodigy was expected to join Benfi ca’s great rivals Sporting Lisbon but changed his mind at the last minute.

Even though he played for Portugal, he was widely regarded as the best known African player of all-time, until the emergence in more recent times of the likes

of Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba and Abedi Pele. “He was one of the great fi gures of Portugal. I think he is immortal. We all know what he meant for football and especially for Portuguese football,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho told Portugal’s state broadcaster RTP.

“He was not only a great inspi-ration but also an important fi g-ure in upholding the values, prin-ciples and feelings of football, even after fi nishing his career,” the former Porto, Inter Milan and Real Madrid coach added.

Eusebio ended his career playing in the US but returned to Portugal to various roles with Benfi ca and the Portuguese fed-eration. He was referred to as the “O Rei” (the king) in his later years, enjoying widespread af-fection. Among the fi rst reac-tions to his death came from former Benfi ca and Portugal teammate Toni.

“I told him when he was alive much of what I felt... that it was a privilege to have played with him. We have lost one of the greatest fi gures of Portuguese sport,” the former midfi elder said in a statement. “There were many princes in football but few kings. He is in the gallery of the greats. He was gifted both physi-cally and technically, he was like a Greek statue,” he added.

OBITUARY

Top-scored with nine goals at 1966 World Cup; Named European Player of the Year in 1965

ReutersLondon

There are too many for-eign coaches in the Pre-mier League and Brit-ish candidates should

be given more opportunities, Chelsea’s Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho has said.

“In this moment in the Pre-mier League - and I’m speaking against myself - I disagree with so many foreign coaches in this country,” Mourinho told Brit-ish media. “I don’t see a reason for that because I don’t feel the English managers are in any point behind the foreign ones.

“But I think if there are no jobs in the country as a manager or a player then you have to go (abroad) because this is a short professional life. So go and en-

joy. You always have the chance to come back as a manager and a player.”

There are now nine foreign managers from outside Brit-ain and Ireland in the top fl ight after Cardiff City this week named Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to replace Scot Malky Mackay. There were none in 1992 when the Premier League was launched. West Bromwich Albion have been consider-ing appointing a Spaniard, ex-Osasuna manager Jose Luis Mendilibar, to succeed another sacked Scot Steve Clarke, Brit-ish media have reported.

“I have to say, the ones that are coming, and I can analyse (them) one by one, all of them are good coaches and good peo-ple and they try to do good jobs for them and for their clubs,” Mourinho was quoted as saying

in The Independent yesterday. “So I’m not saying these peo-

ple are not top people or people that don’t deserve to be here the same way I deserve to be here. I just feel sorry that in a football country like England, that is the country of so many manag-ers, they (British managers) are not getting enough jobs in this country.

“At the end of the day, infl u-ence from abroad is good, you can learn the diff erences from other cultures, but I think the main culture has to be always the English, or in this case the British culture,” he added.

Mourinho believes more Brit-ish coaches should go abroad to develop their skills and he praised Derby County’s former England coach Steve McClaren, whose in-form Champion-ship (second division) side host

Chelsea in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.

“If you ask me, the fi rst thing that comes to my memory about Steve is not being the England manager but being a cham-pion in Holland. So I think he did well...,” he said, referring to McClaren’s 2010 league tri-umph with Twente FC.

“In this country people shouldn’t be afraid to be a bit adventurous, like other coaches from other nationalities are,” added Mourinho, who is in his second stint at Chelsea, hav-ing initially joined the club from Porto in 2004 before then managing Inter Milan and Real Madrid. “In Portugal, people say there are lots of Portuguese coaches working abroad and I opened the door for them. Peo-ple are not afraid to go and fi nd a future in other countries.”

Too many foreign coaches in England: MourinhoSPOTLIGHT

FOOTBALL3Gulf Times

Monday, January 6, 2014

The ‘Black Panther’ who lit up 1966 World Cup

Known as the “Black Panther” or simply “The King”, football legend Eusebio, who has died aged 71, reigned over Portuguese football in the 1960s, bringing glory to both his club Benfica and his country. The top scorer in the 1966 World Cup and considered one of the best footballers of all time, Eusebio da Silva Ferreira died of cardio-pulmonary arrest early yesterday morning. His death lead to an outpouring of tributes with the Portuguese government decreeing three days of national mourning, with flags in Lisbon to fly at half mast. The top Portuguese footballer of all time Eusebio rivalled all-time greats including Brazilian Pele, Argentina’s Alfredo Di Stefano and England’s Bobby Charlton. “I was the best player in the world, top scorer in the world and Europe. I did everything, except win a World Cup,” Eusebio said in a interview in 2011, recalling his tears after Portugal’s loss in the 1966 World Cup semi-final to England. From humble origins in the former Portuguese colony of Mo-zambique, Eusebio da Silva Ferreira was to emerge as one of the World Cup’s most feared strikers, combining panther-like pace with a ferocious shooting ability. Known throughout his career simply as Eusebio, the poor boy from Maputo became a legend for his exploits with Portugal and Lisbon giants Benfica during the 1960s. Born in 1942, he rose to prominence in Mozambique football circles as a teenager through his performances for Sporting Lourenco Marques, a team with links to Sporting Lisbon. With his exceptional technique, strength and goal-scoring record, it was not long before word of Eusebio’s prowess soon filtered back to Portugal. In December 1960 he was off ered trials with Sporting. Although keen, Eusebio was not willing to risk leaving his beloved mother unless there was the firm promise of a contract. Sporting baulked, creating an opening for Benfica, who snapped up the youngster’s signature. A wrangle with Sporting Lourenco Marques over Eusebio’s regis-tration was finally settled, and in 1961 he made his debut for the club, scoring a hat-trick in a friendly. Over the next five years, Eusebio developed as one of world football’s best players. In an early game for Benfica, he had outshone Pele in a friendly with Santos, and in 1962 he scored the crucial goals in a 5-3 vic-tory over Real Madrid in the European Cup final. When Madrid’s legendary Hungarian Ferenc Puskas symbolically handed his jersey to Eusebio after the match, the message was clear - the torch had passed, and in 1965 Eusebio was named European Player of the Year. 1966 World Cup exploits But while Eusebio excelled with Benfica in Europe, it was his exploits at the 1966 World Cup for which he will be best remem-bered. Eusebio’s nine goals in England propelled Portugal to a third-place finish, and a succession of opposing teams simply had no answer to the power and pace of his play. He scored twice in the 3-1 victory which sent holders Brazil out of the competition. In the quarter-finals Eusebio was unstoppable, pulling off a one-man rescue act after Portugal went 3-0 down against North Korea after just 20 minutes. The Koreans were blown away by a four-goal display from Euse-bio as the Portuguese won 5-3. In the semi-final against England Eusebio was eff ectively marked out of the match but he did find the net again. He scored his ninth of the tournament in the third-place play-off win over the Soviet Union. He finished his 64-cap career having accumulated 41 goals for Portugal. He also earned European football’s Golden Boot award twice and was Portugal’s top scorer every season between 1964 and 1973. He helped Benfica to 11 league championships and five domestic cups. He also appeared on the losing side in the European Cup finals of 1963 and 1968. In 1975 he joined the flow of players involved in the ill-fated North American Soccer League, before retiring in 1979 after winding down his career in Mexico and Portugal. Married with two daughters, in retirement he became an ambas-sador for Benfica and the Portuguese football federation. Always present at major events, he rubbed shoulders with current stars, among them the young Cristiano Ronaldo, now the Portugal captain, and the only one who could one day dethrone “The King”. “Eusebio will always be eternal. Rest in peace,” wrote Ronaldo, in a message posted on Facebook alongside a photo of himself and his hero Eusebio..

Former Portugal national soccer player Eusebio gestures before their Group A Euro 2008 match against Czech Republic at Stade de Geneve Stadium in Geneva in this June 11, 2008 file photo. (Reuters)

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho gestures on the bench during their FA Cup match against Derby County at the iPro Stadium in Derby yesterday. (Reuters)

A file photo dated 1968 shows Manchester United player George Best (centre) with Benfica Lisbon players, Eusebio (right) and Coluna (second right) during their European Champions Cup final at Wembley stadium in London. (EPA)

FOOTBALL

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 20144

AFPBarcelona

Barcelona moved back to the top of La Liga on goal diff erence with a comfortable 4-0 win

over Elche yesterday thanks to a hat-trick from Alexis Sanchez.

The Catalans are tied with Atletico Madrid on 49 points with the two set to meet for the fi rst time in the league this season next weekend at the Vi-cente Calderon.

Lionel Messi was once again watching from the sidelines as he nears a comeback from a hamstring injury and Neymar was left on the bench hav-ing recently returned from a Christmas break in Brazil.

However, Sanchez and Pedro Rodriguez once again proved able deputies as they slotted home inside the open-ing 15 minutes.

Xavi Hernandez also missed a second-half penalty for the hosts, but it mattered little as Sanchez rolled home his sec-ond goal from Pedro’s pass shortly afterwards.

And the Chilean sealed his fi rst hat-trick for the club with a stunning free-kick 21 min-utes from time.

Barca now lead Real Madrid by eight points, but Madrid can cut the gap on the leaders to fi ve with victory over Celta Vigo today.

It took Gerardo Martino’s men just seven minutes to open their account in 2014 as Jordi Alba’s enticing cross

from the left was expertly fi n-ished by Sanchez at the back post.

Victor Valdes was making his return in goal for Barca after six weeks out with a calf injury, but he was very nearly beaten on 14 minutes when Richmond Boakye fi red a pow-erful drive off the outside of the post.

Moments later, though, Barca had made the game safe as Cesc Fabregas’ 10th assist of the season released Pedro to round Elche keeper Tono and roll the ball into an unguarded net.

Pedro could have added to his tally twice more in the fi rst-half as he fl ashed a shot just past the far post before seeing an attempted chip over Tono also fl oat off target.

Barca had a great chance to extend their advantage four minutes after the break when Cristian Sapunaru upended Fabregas inside the area and was extremely fortunate not to be shown a red card for deny-ing a clear goalscoring oppor-tunity.

And Elche had another slice of luck when Xavi side-footed the resultant spot-kick wide of the target.

The third goal did fi nally ar-rive just after the hour mark as Pedro unselfi shly squared for Sanchez to double his tally for the afternoon.

Six minutes later Sanchez sealed his hat-trick with a fi ne curling free-kick from 25 yards that brought wild celebrations from Martino on the touch-line.

SCHALKE AT ASPIRE ACADEMY

Swansea dump Man United out of FA Cup AFPLondon

Wilfried Bony snatched a dra-matic last-minute winner as Swan-

sea City visited fresh misery on Manchester United with a shock 2-1 success in the FA Cup third round yesterday.

Eleven points off the pace in the Premier League, where they have already lost six games, United crashed out at the fi rst hurdle in the FA Cup to give be-leaguered manager David Moyes even more problems.

To compound matters, Unit-ed’s injury list swelled further after Rio Ferdinand had to go off with a knee injury, while Fabio da Silva was sent off shortly af-ter coming on to replace him.

In a game preceded by a minute’s applause for late Por-tugal great Eusebio, who died yesterday, Swansea took a 12th-lead through Wayne Routledge, who cantered onto a pass from Alejandro Pozuelo to lob Anders Lindegaard.

The hosts equalised four minutes later, Javier Hernandez volleying in a cross from Alex-ander Buttner, but they could not fi nd a second goal.

Ferdinand had to hobble off due to injury late on and his replacement, Fabio, was sent off for a high challenge on Jose Canas shortly after coming on.

Worse was to follow at the death, with Routledge lifting a cross into the box from the left and Bony powering home a near-post header to add a new chapter of disappointment to the tale of United’s unravelling season.

West Ham United also fell in the third round yesterday, crashing to an embarrassing 5-0 defeat at second-tier Not-tingham Forest, but Chelsea and Liverpool both progressed against lower-league oppo-nents. Chelsea beat in-form Championship side Derby County 2-0, with Liverpool avenging their shock defeat by third-tier Oldham Athletic in last season’s competition with a 2-0 success at Anfi eld.

Chelsea enjoyed the best of the fi rst half against Derby at Pride Park, but they had to wait until the 66th minute be-fore making the breakthrough against former England man-ager Steve McClaren’s side.

Eden Hazard’s trickery wide on the left yielded a free-kick

and from Willian’s wicked, in-swinging cross, John Mikel Obi glanced home a header to mark his 300th Chelsea appearance with his fourth goal for the club.

Oscar got on the score-sheet shortly afterwards, gathering a pass from Hazard and beating Lee Grant at his near post with a powerful shot.

Chelsea manager Jose Mour-inho highlighted the impor-tance of Mikel’s goal, syaing: “It was important for us, because we were dominating and domi-nating, creating and creating, but the goal was not arriving. It was like the winning goal.”

Liverpool will visit either

Bournemouth or Burton Albion in round four after seeing off Oldham, who stunned Brendan Rodgers’s side 3-2 at Bound-ary Park in the fourth round last season. Iago Aspas, a close-season signing from Celta Vigo, broke the deadlock in the 54th minute by dispatching a cross from Raheem Sterling to claim his fi rst goal for the club.

The Spaniard then hit the post, but Liverpool did not se-cure victory until Oldham’s James Tarkowski put through his own goal with eight minutes to play. West Ham became the second Premier League team to be eliminated by lower-league

opposition in this season’s competition when they were crushed 5-0 by Championship side Forest at the City Ground.

A day after Aston Villa fell to third-tier Sheffi eld United, West Ham were undone by a 14-minute hat-trick from For-est forward Jamie Paterson, sandwiched by an early Djamel Abdoun penalty and a late Andy Reid strike.

West Ham manager Sam Al-lardyce made nine changes to his starting XI and gave debuts to three young players, but he told ITV: “What choice did I have? I don’t think I had one.

“I make the decisions for

the benefi t of everyone at the football club. We have a huge amount of problems in terms of available players.”

Sunderland overcame third-tier Carlisle United 2-1 at the Stadium of Light to take their place in round four.

Adam Johnson put Sunder-land ahead with a fi ne 34th-minute free-kick and then sup-plied the cross from which Sean O’Hanlon put through his own goal after Matty Robson had levelled the scores.

A 90th-minute strike from 20-year-old French midfi elder El-Hadji Ba completed victory for Gus Poyet’s men.

SPOTLIGHT

West Ham United humiliated by Nottingham Forest; Chelsea and Liverpool win

Schalke 04’s Atsuto Uchida (centre) controls the ball during a training session at the Aspire Academy of Sports Excellence in Doha yesterday. (Reuters)

Sanchez hat-trick puts Barca back on top

LA LIGA

Barcelona’s Alexis Sanchez celebrates his third goal during the La Liga match against Elche at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona yesterday. (Reuters)

Commons at the double in emphatic Celtic victoryAFPGlasgow

Kris Commons scored two goals in two minutes for Celtic in an emphatic sec-ond half display that sealed a 4-0 win over St Mirren and extends his side’s

lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to 14 points.

In a tight fi rst half Celtic twice came close to opening the scoring with both Charlie Mulgrew and Commons fi ring strikes off the post.

With no goalless draws between the sides since 1990, there were always likely to be goals in the second half and Mulgrew started the scor-ing when he coolly fi nished in the box after great work from Adam Matthews in the 53rd minute.

Stokes scored his 100th career goal with a su-perb 58th minute strike before Commons added his 50th goal for Celtic with a 70th minute header.

The Scottish midfi elder fi red in his 16th of the season two minutes later to seal Celtic’s ninth win in a row in the league and extend their undefeated start to the season to 20 games going into a two-week winter break.

“I thought we were exceptional from start to fi nish. We could have been two up in the fi rst half but for the inside of the post,” Celtic manager Neil Lennon said.

“We felt at half time if we got one goal we would go on to dominate the game and that’s exactly how it panned out. It was a magnifi cent team performance.”

St Mirren manager Danny Lennon said his side couldn’t cope with Celtic in the second half.

“I thought in the fi rst half we were bang on and we matched them and we grew in confi dence as

the game went on,” he said. “But in the second half they certainly turned

it up a notch with the quality they do have and there was a 15 minute period where they were on fi re and we just couldn’t handle it.”

Celtic had made just one change from Wednes-day’s win over Partick Thistle with Stokes re-stored to the starting line-up in favour of the Finnish striker Temmu Pukki.

Stokes had a shot blocked before Mulgrew nearly opened the scoring with a fi ne strike that bounced off the post and into the hands of ‘keep-er Marian Kello.

In the 32nd minute Commons came even closer to putting Celtic in front when his superbly hit shot on the turn fl ew over the head of Kello and smacked the post before bouncing along the line and out. Commons was again involved just before the break when Emilio Izaguirre’s cross from the left went evaded Joe Ledley and fell to the Scot-tish midfi elder six yards out but he couldn’t di-rect his header on target.

Mulgrew gave Celtic the lead in the 53rd minute but it was Matthews who deserved the plaudits. The Welsh defender burst into the box and evad-ed two challenges before backheeling the ball to Mulgrew, who took a touch before burying the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.

Celtic moved further ahead in the 58th minute through Stokes with only his second goal in his last 16 outings.

The Irish striker peeled away from his marker to collect a pass from Ledley before curling a shot across Kello and into the bottom right-hand cor-ner from just inside the box.

Only a fi ne save from Kello denied Celtic a third in the 68th minute as he got his fi ngertips to a fi erce 25 yard strike from Scott Brown.

SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP

Manchester United’s English defender Chris Smalling (left) vies with Swansea City’s English midfielder Wayne Routledge during the English FA Cup third round match at Old Traff ord in Manchester yesterday. (AFP)

SPORT5Gulf Times

Monday, January 6, 2014

Durant’s 48 rally Thunder, Clippers sputter without Paul

Sheikh Saoud meets Brunei Olympic chief

Wood to defend Qatar Masters title

DPALos Angeles

Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder are doing a little better with-out their All-Star point guard than Blake Griffi n and the Los Angeles

Clippers are doing without theirs. Durant scored 23 of his NBA season-high

48 points in the fourth quarter Saturday night - including the go-ahead basket with four sec-onds to play - to rally the Thunder to a 115-111 road victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Meanwhile, the Clippers got their fi rst ex-tended look at life without Chris Paul and it was not good as they were overwhelmed, 116-92, by the host San Antonio Spurs.

The Thunder were coming off consecutive home losses but improved to 3-2 without All-Star Russell Westbrook, who is out until at least the All-Star break after having knee surgery. Oklahoma City trailed by 13 points early in the fourth quarter before rallying behind Durant, the NBA scoring leader.

“I was hanging my head (in the fi rst half),” Durant said. “My teammates kept me encour-

aged and Russell was great on the bench as a coach for me and helped me out.”

In the fi nal period, Durant made 7-of-11 shots, including four three-pointers. His mid-range jumper with four seconds left gave Okla-homa City (26-7) a 113-111 lead.

Minnesota had a chance to tie or take the lead when Kevin Love, who had 30 points and 14 rebounds, was fouled while shooting a three-pointer with 2.2 seconds to go. But Love - who had missed a potential go-ahead free throw be-fore Durant’s shot - missed all three foul shots, and Durant sank two to seal it.

“First time in my career in a situation like that where I missed four straight,” Love said.

Overall, Durant made 16-of-32 shots and 12-of-13 free throws, adding seven rebounds and seven steals. He is averaging 35.2 points in the fi ve games without Westbrook.

“He makes shots from a lot of diff erent an-gles,” Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said. “He puts a lot of pressure on you. When he gets it going like that, he’s pulling up from 30-35 feet and knocking them down.”

Montenegro’s Nikola Pekovic had 31 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota (16-17), which fell to 1-2 vs Oklahoma City this season.

By Sports ReporterDoha

HE Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, secretary general of the Qatar

Olympic Committee (QOC) met HRH Prince Haji Su-fri Bolkiah, president of Brunei Olympic Committee and Foot-ball Federation, at the QOC headquarters yesterday.

Sheikh Saoud greeted the senior Brunei offi cial, who is on an offi cial visit at Qatar, and stressed the importance of ef-fective co-operation between the two countries to serve their sport development eff ort.

Talks during the meeting focused on ways of expanding

common co-operation be-tween Qatar and Brunei espe-cially in the fi eld of sport. Both sides also reviewed the possi-bility of Brunei to benefi t from Qatar’s experience in “Schools Olympic Program” and “Na-tional Sport Day”.

HRH Prince Haji Sufri Bol-kiah applauded Qatar’s com-prehensive development in the sports infrastructure and its ambitious strategy for devel-opment in all fi elds especially sport. He also lauded Qatar’s professional abilities in host-ing major international sport events.

The meeting was attended by Fisal Saleh al-Mansoori, director of the QOC Public Re-lations and Marketing Depart-ment.

By Sports ReporterDoha

The 2014 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters confi rms that tower-ing Englishman Chris

Wood will return to defend his title at the 17th edition of the tournament, which will be held at Doha Golf Club from January 22 to 25, 2014.

The six-foot fi ve-inch Wood produced a spectacular fi nish to claim his fi rst Europe-an Tour title last January, sink-ing a pressure-packed, 12-foot eagle putt on the 18th to beat Spanish legend Sergio Garcia and South African George Co-etzee by one stroke.

Hassan al-Nuaimi, president of the Qatar Golf Association, said: “We are delighted to con-fi rm that Chris Wood will be back to defend his title at the 17th Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club.

“Chris was a very popu-lar winner last year and we all know how much he wanted his well-deserved fi rst European Tour victory. Furthermore, he earned it in the most dramatic way, with an eagle on the fi -nal hole, which gave us one of the most exciting fi nishes in the tournament since it began in 1998. We will soon be con-fi rming more star players who

will all aim to challenge Chris for the Mother of Pearl Trophy next month.”

Wood, who led by three after the third round, claimed vic-tory in Doha with an 18 under par total of 270. After sinking the winning putt, the usually mild-mannered Englishman punched the air in delight after ending years of frustration fol-lowing 19 top-tens on The Eu-ropean Tour, including three runner-up fi nishes since 2011.

Currently ranked 74th in the Offi cial World Golf Ranking, the Bristol-born golfer also reached the quarter-fi nals of the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Bulgaria, fi nished joint-seventh at the Alfred Dunhill Links Cham-pionship in Scotland and rep-resented England at the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf in Australia.

Day tickets and season tick-ets for the 2014 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters are availa-ble to purchase online at www.virginmegastore.me and in-store from Virgin Megastore shops in Villaggio Mall and Landmark Mall, Doha, as well as Doha Golf Club.

For those looking for an ex-tra-special experience, event hospitality packages are avail-able through the tournament’s offi cial website, www.qatar-masters.com

NBA

FOCUS

SPOTLIGHT

Success is all about attitude, Nadal tells Aspire students

PEP TALK

‘Fight with a positive attitude, until the very last moment’

By Sports ReporterDoha

Tennis champion and world number one, Rafael Nadal visited Aspire Academy yesterday, fresh from his victory at the Qatar Exx-

onMobil Open, to advise students on the road to sports stardom.

Only the second male tennis player to achieve a Career Golden Slam, Nadal at-tributed his incredible record to a positive mental attitude and a love of his chosen sport.

“The only advice I can give young and aspiring sportsmen is to fi ght with a posi-tive attitude, until the very last moment,” said Nadal. “On the days you’re not feel-ing your best and just want to go home, push through and give it all you’ve got because it is by getting through those mo-ments that you become a winner.”

Having begun playing tennis at the age of three, Nadal told the crowded auditori-um that it is with hard work that amateur players will develop successful sporting careers. “I believe that most of the work I’ve put into my career was between eight and 21-years-old, because after you be-come professional and play matches every week you have less time to prepare your-self. If you manage to maintain the right attitude on top of all the pressure, it will be very diffi cult to become a successful professional but, without the right atti-tude, it’ll be impossible,” he said.

Recalling how he trained for up to nine hours a day in his early years, when asked by a student how much training he puts in these days, Nadal said, “A sports ca-reer isn’t forever. It lasts for a short period

of time so it’s in this time where you will have to work the hardest, after which you will have more time to enjoy lots of diff er-ent things.”

When asked by another student how he has stayed motivated throughout his ca-reer, Nadal said, “It’s not going to be easy. Everybody, including me, has their bad moments, and the most important thing is to go back to basics when that does hap-pen. Start again from the beginning with the right attitude and then you will over-come a tough situation because the hap-piest victories for me have been when I came from a low moment.”

Attributing a positive mental attitude to keeping in top form he added, “It’s im-portant to understand that in a sporting career you can’t always be on top. Some-times you will be on the bottom, but you have to work every day at getting back to the top. It’s a step-by-step game and my experience says that if you are able to keep working with a positive attitude, you will get back to the top of your game.”

Aspire Academy’s student-athletes were clearly enthralled by the presence of such an illustrious and inspirational visitor. “It is an honour for us to host Rafa at Aspire to speak to our young athletes,” said Ivan Bravo, di-rector general of Aspire Academy.

“He represents the highest values in-trinsic to sporting excellence such as pas-sion, hard work, discipline, determination, fair play, humility, and generosity. He is the world’s number one player, but he’s also an inspiring fi gure for millions of young sportsmen around the world. We tell our talented players that if there is one person they can look up to, try to learn from, and imitate, then Rafa is that person. He is a wonderful role model.”

Rafael Nadal poses with the students of Aspire Academy here yesterday; (Below) Nadal with Aspire Academy director general Ivan Bravo (left) and Al Sadd player Raul.

Al Rayyan’s Abdulla Malek Salim (left) rises to score against Al Wakrah during their Qatar Men’s Basketball League match at Al Gharafa Sports Club here yesterday. Al Rayyan won the match 91-74. In the other match of the day, Al Khor beat Al Shamal 64-56.

Rayyan down Wakrah

Qatar players celebrate their 34-27 win over Norway in the Golden League handball tournament at the Palais-Omnisport de Paris-Bercy (POPB) in Paris yesterday. (AFP)

Golden win for Qatar

SPORT

Gulf Times Monday, January 6, 20146

AFPGrenoble, France

Formula One legend Michael Schumach-er remained in critical condition yes-terday a week after his skiing accident in the French Alps, which a German

eyewitness said he inadvertently caught on his smartphone.

Investigators are focusing on the retired rac-er’s speed when he fell and slammed his head on a rock on a small off -piste section of the Meribel ski resort, prompting his evacuation by heli-copter to the Alpine city of Grenoble.

They are hoping that a helmet-mounted camera Schumacher was wearing will pro-vide some clues, as will footage by a 35-year-old German steward who says he was filming his girlfriend on the slopes when by chance he captured the moment when the retired driver fell.

In the background, a skier is seen descending an unmarked run between two groomed pistes before falling, news magazine Der Spiegel re-ported.

According to the witness, who spoke to the magazine, the seven-time world champion was descending the slope at a “leisurely” pace—“a maximum speed of 20 kilometres an hour”. He plans to hand over the footage to French inves-tigators.

This would corroborate claims by Schu-macher’s spokeswoman Sabine Kehm, who said he could not have been going fast “because it appears he helped a friend who had just fallen”.

But in a press conference last week, doctors who treated Schumacher said he had been skiing at great speed when he fell on Decem-ber 29.

Edouard Bourgin, a specialist on accident

claims, said there could have been “a catapult eff ect that explains the violence of the shock, even in the absence of excessive speed”.

Prosecutors are also looking at whether the limits of the ski runs next to the accident site

were correctly marked and whether the rock in question was lying close enough to the piste to require some kind of protection or signage.

In addition, they are examining whether the safety releases on Schumacher’s skis operated properly in a probe aimed at determining re-sponsibility for the accident.

Schumacher turned 45 on Friday, and fans marked the birthday with a silent vigil outside the facility, part of which was organised by Fer-rari, Schumacher’s former team.

His wife Corinna and two teenage children have been at his bedside throughout, and other family members have come to visit, including his father Rolf and his brother Ralph, who is also a racing driver.

Kehm said Schumacher remains in a “critical but stable” condition after he underwent two surgeries earlier in the week to ease pressure and bleeding in the brain.

No further press conferences are scheduled before today, and prosecutors and police prob-ing the circumstances of the accident will brief journalists around the middle of the week, pub-lic prosecutor Patrick Quincy said yesterday.

The accident has shocked legions of fans and racing stars used to seeing Schumacher cheat death on the track.

Mika Hakkinen, the double Formula One world champion who suff ered a near fatal crash during a practice session for the 1995 Austral-ian Grand Prix, wrote to his former rival wish-ing him a quick recovery, the Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported.

“Your accident is now just another chal-lenge. You have to fight hard again, just like we both used to do on the track,” the Finnish driver said.

“Do me a favour: just this once don’t try to beat the clock. You don’t have to post your best time in this race. You have to take all the time you need.”

It is not known whether the miniature cam-era Schumacher had strapped onto his helmet fi lmed the accident, or whether images have been damaged by the impact of his fall, which was so hard it split the helmet in two.

Any usable images should shed light on the circumstances of the accident on the small, seemingly innocuous off-piste sec-tion of Meribel located between two ski slopes—one classed as easy and the other as intermediate.

Police have also obtained eyewitness tes-timony from Schumacher’s 14-year-old son Mick, who was skiing with his father at the time, as well as a friend.

Schumacher, who made his debut in 1991, dominated Formula One during his career, win-ning more world titles and races than any other driver. He retired in 2012.

Witness says he inadvertently fi lmed Schumi accident FOCUS

Sharp wedge game helps Johnson take control in Hawaii

GOLF

‘If you have the proper winds, for me not being a bomber, I feel like I can take advantage’

ReutersMaui, Hawaii

Zach Johnson failed to take ad-vantage of the par-fi ve holes but his renowned, razor-sharp wedge game helped him seize a

three-shot lead after Saturday’s second round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

One stroke off the lead overnight after opening with a six-under-par 67, the American broke clear of a log-jammed leaderboard as he fi red a seven-birdie 66 in the elite, winners-only PGA Tour event at the picturesque Kapalua Resort.

Though Johnson did not birdie any of the four par-fi ves on the hilly Plan-tation Course, he hit a series of wedge shots close to the pin on the par-fours and putted well as he posted a 13-under total of 133.

Matt Kuchar (68), Jordan Spieth (70) and champion Dustin Johnson (66) were tied for second place, with fel-low Americans Webb Simpson (71) and Michael Thompson (71) a further stroke back at nine under.

Zach Johnson, who upstaged tour-nament host Tiger Woods in a playoff to win the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge in California last month, was delighted to see the prevailing trade winds return to Kapalua on Sat-urday.

“If you have the proper winds, for me not being a bomber, I feel like I can take advantage,” Johnson, who is known for his accuracy off the tee and brilliant short game, told Golf Channel.

“There were a lot of wedges today and that’s where I’ve got to continue to stick it close, with those wedges.”

Sole Regret Johnson’s sole regret on another mainly sunny day on the Hawaiian island of Maui was his mediocre performance on the par-fi ves.

“You know I parred every one of them,” said the 37-year-old, a 10-time winner on the PGA Tour. “I had a three-putt on one of them for par, which can happen. A couple of missed opportuni-ties, certainly one at the last, and also at 15, but I putted well today.”

Long-hitting Dustin Johnson, who triumphed by three shots last year in a tournament reduced to three rounds and forced to a rare Tuesday fi nish be-cause of relentless howling winds, bird-ied all the par-fi ves as he surged into contention.

“This golf course sets up well for me,” said the 29-year-old American, who clinched his eighth PGA Tour title at the

WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai two months ago.

“I can reach all the par-fi ves and then there are a few short holes where you can drive it up close to the green. If I chip and putt it well, I’m going to shoot a good score pretty much every time around here.

“It was back to a pretty normal wind here today ... I thought the golf course

played a little tougher yesterday. Today it was in great shape and I played a little better,” said Johnson, who birdied six of the fi rst nine holes.

Masters champion Adam Scott, the world number two and highest-ranked player in the elite fi eld of 30, carded a second successive 70 to end the day at six under, seven strokes off the pace.

Scores133 - Zach Johnson (US) 67-66 136 - Dustin Johnson (US) 70-66, Jordan Spieth (US) 66-70, Matt Kuchar (US) 68-68137 - Webb Simpson (US) 66-71, Michael Thompson (US) 66-71138 - Ryan Moore (US) 67-71, Kevin Streelman (US) 67-71

139 - Jason Dufner (US) 67-72, Brandt Snedeker (US) 70-69, Ken Duke (US) 70-69 140 - Adam Scott (Australia) 70-70141 - Gary Woodland (US) 71-70, Chris Kirk (US) 66-75, Harris English (US) 70-71 142 - Patrick Reed (US) 70-72, Bae Sang-Moon (South Korea) 69-73, Woody Austin (US) 72-70

Germany’s Michael Schumacher. (Reuters)

Zach Johnson plays a shot on the 16th hole during the second round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Saturday. (AFP)

Barcelona: Evergreen golfer Miguel Angel Jimenez has set his sights on being Ryder Cup captain one day having marked his 50th birthday yesterday by say-ing he will compete in The Senior Open Championship. The Spaniard, who claimed his 20th European Tour win in last month’s Hong Kong Open, is maintaining a busy schedule and will take part in this week’s Volvo Golf Champions tournament, held in South Africa, but plans to take time out to make his debut in the senior tournament in July. Jimenez is then aiming to become Europe’s oldest Ryder Cup player by earning a place in the team ahead of the event in Gleneagles in September, and believes one day he can be captain. “I think I can do it but I have to go step by step,” he told Marca, while adding he is hoping to play in this year’s competition. “I would like to be there. I am waiting for news and it would be great if I can.” Jimenez has been a Ryder Cup player on four occa-sions, the last in 2010 at the Celtic Manor Resort. He will return to Wales for the Senior Open Championship at Royal Porthcawl. The veteran player who began his career as a caddie remains as driven as ever. “I feel fine. I have spent 25 years travelling the world and competing and if you aren’t happy doing that then it would be impossible to be so. I am motivated,” he said, before evaluating how the sport has changed in Spain. “I am the last of the caddie players,” he said. “Golf has evolved and before it was much more diff icult as we had to be caddies. “We couldn’t play with the children of (club) members and play better than them. I am the last caddie and (Jose Maria) Olazabal is the first amateur player that came from humble roots.”

Ambitious Jimenez aims

to be Ryder Cup captain

“Your accident is now just another chal-lenge. You have to fi ght hard again, just like we both used to do on the track,” Mika Hakkinen said. “Do me a favour: just this once don’t try to beat the clock. You don’t have to post your best time in this race. You have to take all the time you need”

Resurgent Hewitt stuns Federer with Brisbane victory

AFPBrisbane

Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt stunned top seed Roger Federer of Switzerland to win the Bris-bane International yesterday.

Hewitt raced through the fi rst set and then held off a comeback from the world number six to win 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and seven minutes.

It was Hewitt’s 29th title on the ATP tour but his fi rst since 2010, when he also beat Federer in the fi nal at Halle. Hewitt has been plagued by injury in recent years and underwent surgery in 2010, 2011 and 2012 to fi x various hip and foot problems.

“I think the most pleasing thing is what I’ve had to come through and the tough times in terms of surgery,” the former Wimbledon and US Open champion said.

“Before the last surgery I made no se-cret (that) there were no guarantees I

would be able to play again at all. “There were still times when I came

back from that surgery and played that Wimbledon straight after it, and I was still doubting whether I was ever going to be pain-free again. For me that’s the most pleasing thing.”

Hewitt, the world number 60, is pro-jected to rise to 43 in the rankings as a result of the win, and will be one of the most dangerous fl oaters when the Aus-tralian Open draw is made on January 10.

Federer started the fi nal poorly and made a staggering 22 unforced errors in the fi rst set, perhaps showing the eff ects of playing both singles and doubles in the heat and humidity of a Brisbane summer.

However, Federer denied the high workload was to blame for his perform-ance despite looking fatigued at times.

“I feel actually pretty good considering playing fi ve sets yesterday and coming out and playing another three-setter today, (considering) the warmer weather the last

couple of days in particular,” he said. The Swiss great had not lost his serve

all week, but he appeared sluggish from the beginning and was broken to love in the fi rst game. “I really was struggling with all sorts of rhythm,” Federer said.

“I wouldn’t say I was serving poorly, but it was just a tough set for me. I was put on the back foot very often.”

He managed to stop the rot on his next serve but Hewitt was soon back in con-trol, breaking Federer twice more to take the fi rst set in only 27 minutes.

Hewitt lost only one point on serve in the fi rst set as Federer imploded, stun-ning the sellout crowd in the Pat Rafter Arena. The second set started much the same way, with Hewitt holding easily and Federer struggling.

But the top seed gradually worked his way into form, halving his error rate and beginning to pressure the Australian.

He had the chance to break Hewitt in the fi fth game but couldn’t convert. However

he struck immediately to break the Aus-tralian’s next serve, then served three aces on his way to levelling the match.

Hewitt struggled to hold serve at the start of the third but surprisingly it was Federer who cracked fi rst, dropping serve in the fourth game when a tired-looking forehand sailed long on break point.

The Australian then held serve easily to jump out to a 4-1 lead in the decider, and maintained the advantage to win the title.

“For the fi rst set I was seeing the ball like a football—it didn’t really matter where he served, I was on it. I felt great out there,” Hewitt said. “As the match went on, I think I started getting a little more sluggish just after, obviously back-ing up from yesterday (when he beat Kei Nishikori in three sets).”

Hewitt said he was heading to the Aus-tralian Open full of confi dence.

“I’ll go out there and I’ll compete ex-actly the same as I’ve competed here this week,” he said.

COMEBACK

‘I think the most pleasing thing is what I’ve had to come through’

AFPChennai, India

World number eight Stanislas Wawrin-ka warmed up for the Australian

Open later this month by bag-ging the ATP Chennai Open title with a fl uent victory over Ed-ouard Roger-Vasselin yesterday.

The top-seeded Swiss, play-ing his 500th ATP Tour match, outclassed the 52nd ranked Frenchman 7-5, 6-2 in the 90-minute fi nal at the Nun-gambakkam Tennis Stadium.

It was the fi fth career title and the second in Chennai for 28-year-old Wawrinka, who emerged from the shadows of his renowned Swiss compatriot Roger Federer with a top 10 fi n-ish last year.

“This is big for sure,” said Wawrinka, who has a 302-198 career win record. “It has been an amazing week for me and put me in the right frame for the Australian Open.

“Winning in Chennai means a lot to me. I like the place and that is why I have played here for six years now. This is just the place I want to start the season from.

“Last year was very good for me and I hope this year will also be the same. I have practised hard and tried to improve my game. This is just the fi rst tour-nament of the year, I hope I can continue this way.”

The morale-boosting win ahead of the year’s fi rst Grand Slam in Melbourne, starting January 13, earned Wawrinka the winner’s purse of $72,490 and 250 ranking points.

Seventh-seeded Roger-

Vasselin received $38,180 and 150 points. The fi rst set lasted an hour as both players held serve till the 10th game, before Wawrinka broke through in the 11th with a backhand cross-court shot that left Roger-Vas-selin stranded. The Frenchman, playing only his second fi nal in a 12-year career, lost his serve in the opening game of the second set and then again in the fi fth game before Wawrinka served out the match with an ace.

Roger-Vasselin said he will leave Chennai with mixed feel-ings as he heads for a tourna-ment in Sydney.

“This is a bit of a heartbreak for sure,” said the 30-year-old. “It was very disappointing to lose the fi nal but there was little I could do to change that.

“Stan was too good for me and deserved to win.”

Wawrinka wins Chennai Open DOMINANCE

AFPPerth

Powerful Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will head into the Austral-ian Open full of confi -

dence as he chases his maiden Grand Slam win after leading his country to their fi rst Hopman Cup triumph. Tsonga, who has slipped to 10th in the rankings after an injury-plagued 2013, teamed up with Alize Cornet to win the title, beating the Polish pair of Agnieszka Radwanska and Grzegorz Panfi l in Saturday’s fi nal in Perth.

For the Frenchman, the mixed teams event was a perfect way to complete his preparations for the year’s fi rst major in Mel-bourne, where he reached the fi nal in 2008 - his best ever per-formance at a Grand Slam.

Having overcome the knee problems that dogged him last year, forcing him to retire in the second round at Wimbledon and miss the US Open, the 28-year-old, unbeaten in Perth, said he was confi dent his best tennis is still ahead of him.

Speaking after the fi nal, Tson-ga, once ranked number fi ve in the world, said he was well-placed for a serious tilt at the Australian Open. “I have had a good prepara-tion and the Hopman Cup is part of it,” he said. “Even while I have been playing matches here I have

continued to work. “I was bit tired for my sin-

gles (in the fi nal) but now I have seven days to recover and to be ready for the Australian Open.”

Tsonga, seen as one of the main challengers to the domi-nance of the likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, is now coached by countrymen Nicolas Escude and Thierry Ascione.

Among the highlights of his week in Perth were straight-sets wins over world number 14 John Isner and Radek Stepanek but he said he would have to cut out mental lapses that meant he dropped sets against Spaniard Daniel Munoz-De La Nava and Panfi l. “When you play in Grand Slams, you cannot do that,” he said. Tsonga fl ew to Melbourne on Sunday ahead of the Australian Open, which starts on January 13.

Cornet, 23, said the hamstring tightness she experienced dur-ing her fi nal group match and again in the title decider would not aff ect her preparations for Melbourne.

Although the 27th-ranked player won just one of her singles matches, against Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues, she was bu-oyed her overall form.

“It was a good preparation be-cause I had four good matches,” she said. “I lost two tight match-es against top 10 players, which is frustrating but a good sign for the future.”

Lleyton Hewitt of Australia reacts as he wins the final against Roger Federer of Switzerland at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane. (Reuters)

Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland holds the trophy after winning the final at the Chennai Open. (AFP)

TENNIS7Gulf Times

Monday, January 6, 2014

Tsonga all fi red up for Australia

CONFIDENCE

Venus drops out of Hobart ahead of Australian Open

AFPHobart

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Wil-liams pulled out of the Hobart International

yesterday to give herself a full rest and recovery ahead of this

month’s Australian Open. Williams, ranked 47 in the

world, dropped out of the Ho-bart tournament after losing the Auckland Classic in a marathon three-set fi nal to Ana Ivanovic on Saturday.

“After a long week during my fi rst tournament of the year, my body needs time to rest and re-cover,” Williams said, announc-ing her withdrawal.

“Unfortunately, I am not able to play this week in Hobart. I was looking forward to playing in Tas-mania and I sincerely do hope to play there in the coming years.”

Williams, 33, has not won a title since October 2012, and Auckland was her fi rst appear-ance in a WTA fi nal since then. Her last Grand Slam win was in 2008. The former world number one is seeking to rejoin the game’s elite after two years marred by auto-immune disease and injury.

Williams was to be among the Hobart International’s star at-tractions and her withdrawal is a blow for the tournament.

“I know it was a hard deci-sion and we wish her the best of luck for the Australian Open,” said tournament director Mark Handley. Williams is expected to travel straight to Melbourne for practice ahead of the Australian Open, which begins on January 13.

INJURY WOES