A red carpet revolt byMiley Cyrus

FASHION | 09 HEALTH | 10 ENTERTAINMENT | 12

Why theMediterranean

diet works

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016 @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatarEmail: dohatoday@pen.com.qa thepeninsulaqatar

London Fashion Week returns with

big names

WOMEN IN THEWHITE HOUSEFacing the challenge of a male majority in the White House was no easy task. For years, women were overshadowed by men and kept out of key meetings. Things have changed for the better now.

P | 4-5

US President Barack

Obama carries the twin

boys of Katie Beirne

Fallon, director of

legislative affairs, into

the Oval Office just a few

months after they were

born in 2015; White

House aides say a slew

of recent changes have

improved conditions for

working mothers.

| 03SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

CAMPUS

BPS ready to reopen with renewed vigourThe Peninsula

Birla Public School reopens with

Principal A K Shrivastava urg-

ing teachers to renew their

strength and vigour towards

excellence with which they have built

a reputation for the school among the

community for academic excellence

and discipline vouched for by the par-

ents. He also cautioned the teachers

not to rest on their laurels which can

make them complacent. He advised

the teachers to be on guard and re-

new their dynamism and strive to-

wards perfection.

“A child is a trust so every teacher

needs to be responsible for every child

under their care and be accountable to

the parents and the school,” said Shrivas-

tava. The whole campus, both the main

and the annexes are spruced up to re-

ceive students staring from today.

In all, 375 teachers of Primary,

Middle, Second and Senior Second-

ary met section-wise and depart-

ment-wise to review the academ-

ic and the co-curricular activities for

the next term in addition to review-

ing the revision activities to prepare

students for the forthcoming Sum-

mative Assessments starting on Oc-

tober 2. Senior Vice-Principal Shirly

Rappai and Vice Principal George Ed-

ison as well addressed the teachers

and briefed them about the forth-

coming programmes.

Vice-Principal George Edison addressing teachers to brief them about the forthcoming programmes.

The Peninsula

DPS-Modern Indian School

organised a five-day inten-

sive training session for its

teachers to equip them with

the latest technological advance-

ments and improvised teaching tech-

niques. Yasir Nainar, Vice-President,

explained the latest developments in

education to make learning more ef-

fective and student-friendly.

Teachers were introduced to the

new software MograSIS and Learn-

tron, implemented in the school to

add value to the teaching — learning

process.

A three-day session included

meditation, stress management, in-

tuition development, compassion,

kindness and love etc.

The Heartfulness facilitator ed-

ucated the teachers to embrace

a way of living to develop a better

understanding of life as it unfolds

around us and remain positive and

appreciative.

DPS-Modern Indian School holds teacher training

COVER STORY

04 | SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

White House women make their presence felt

By Juliet Eilperin

The Washington Post

When President Barack

Obama took office, two-

thirds of his top aides

were men. Women com-

plained of having to elbow their way

into important meetings. And when

they got in, their voices were some-

times ignored.

So female staffers adopted a meet-

ing strategy they called “amplification”:

When a woman made a key point, oth-

er women would repeat it, giving cred-

it to its author. This forced the men in

the room to recognise the contribution

— and denied them the chance to claim

the idea as their own.

“We just started doing it, and made

a purpose of doing it. It was an eve-

ryday thing,” said one former Obama

aide who requested anonymity to

speak frankly. Obama noticed, she and

others said, and began calling more of-

ten on women and junior aides.

For decades, women have strug-

gled to crack the code of power in the

White House, where gruelling hours,

hyper-aggressive colleagues and lack

of access to the boss have proved chal-

lenging to women from both parties.

The West Wing is also home to the ul-

timate glass ceiling: Men have had a

lock on the Oval Office for more than

200 years.

That could change if Democrat Hil-

lary Clinton prevails in November. Not

only would she break a gender barri-

er by winning the presidency, she also

could bring in a female chief of staff —

another first in the White House — like

she did as first lady, as a senator and

as Obama’s secretary of state.

During Obama’s second term,

women gained parity with men in the

president’s inner circle; Clinton has ac-

tually had women outnumber men

within her senior staff at times during

her government career. GOP nominee

Donald Trump has installed some fe-

male managers while working in the

male-dominated construction industry,

and has at least three women playing

senior roles in his campaign.

The White House is unlike any

workplace in America. Power is de-

fined by proximity to a single individ-

ual: the president. Being “in the room”

— whether it’s the Oval Office or the

7:30am senior staff meeting where the

chief of staff hashes out the adminis-

tration’s top priorities — is crucial to ex-

erting influence.

And the job is a constant race

against the clock: Presidents have as

few as four years to pursue an agen-

da and cement a legacy. Burnout is en-

demic, and top White House aides typ-

ically leave after less than three years.

“Given the short period you are in

the White House, you leverage every

minute to ensure that you can be there,

fully committed and totally present,”

said Juleanna Glover, who served as

press secretary to Vice-President Rich-

ard Cheney during President George W

Bush’s first term.

Women often struggle just to get

a foot in the door. Presidents typically

select their most senior advisers from

the male-dominated ranks of their

campaigns. As late as the Eisenhower

administration, the only women work-

ing in the West Wing were secretar-

ies — and they were barred from din-

ing with men in the White House mess.

“Regardless of the weather, we had

to slog out to any hole-in-the-wall we

could find,” recalled Patty Herman, who

worked there until she met and mar-

ried George Herman, the White House

correspondent for CBS. “Now, I under-

stand, that’s changed.”

Once your foot is in the door, you

have to get a seat at the table. Anne

Wexler, who served as Jimmy Cart-

er’s assistant for public outreach, com-

plained that Chief of Staff Hamilton

Jordan never invited her to a key dai-

ly meeting where aides offered ideas

to the president, even though Jordan

publicly described Wexler as “the most

competent woman in Democratic pol-

itics.”

“Personally, I never spent a great

deal of time with the president,” Wex-

ler said in a 1980 interview for Carter’s

presidential library. “I think that was a

mistake on [Carter’s] part.”

Bonnie Newman got a job in the

Reagan administration in 1981 after

playing squash with Helene von Damm,

who had acted as Ronald Reagan’s

personal secretary since the 1960s. Al-

though von Damm had “access and

proximity” to the president, Newman

recalled, “There weren’t a whole lot of

other women” in the West Wing: “So

when you looked around, you looked a

little out of place.”

For decades, women have struggled to crack the code of power in the White House, where gruelling hours, hyper-aggressive colleagues and lack of access to the boss have proved challenging to women from both parties.

President Obama carries the twin

boys of Katie Beirne Fallon, director

of legislative affairs, into the Oval

Office just a few months after they

were born in 2015; White House

aides say a slew of recent changes

have improved conditions for

working mothers.

President Barack Obama holds a meeting about Ebola with, from left, Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for

Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; National Security Adviser Susan E Rice; Homeland Security Secretary

Jeh Johnson; Tony Blinken, Deputy National Security Adviser; CDC Director Thomas Frieden; Communications

Director Jennifer Palmieri; and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell.

COVER STORY

| 05SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

In Bill Clinton’s presidency,

several women gained greater

influence, including the first lady,

who spearheaded Clinton’s signature

health-care reform initiative. But Hillary

Clinton retreated to a more traditional

role after the initiative foundered.

And the president’s affair with intern

Monica Lewinsky served to undermine

his claims of gender progress.

In the early days of the Obama

administration, the West Wing

was a well-documented bastion

of testosterone, due largely to the

dominating roles of men such as Chief

of Staff Rahm Emanuel, now mayor of

Chicago, and then-economic adviser

Lawrence Summers. At a dinner in

November 2009, several senior female

aides complained to the president

that men enjoyed greater access and

often muscled them out of key policy

discussions.

“If you didn’t come in from the

campaign, it was a tough circle to break

into,” said Anita Dunn, who left her

post as White House communications

director shortly after that meeting.

Dunn says it was a matter of simple

math: “Given the makeup of the

campaign, there were just more men

than women.”

The atmosphere has changed

considerably in Obama’s second term.

Many of the original players have

moved on. Today, Obama’s closest

aides — the ones who sit in the 7:30am

meeting and earn the top White

House salary of $176,461 a year — are

equally divided between men and

women. Overall, the average man still

earns about 16 percent more than

the average woman. But half of all

White House departments — from the

National Security Council to the Office

of Legislative Affairs — are headed by

women.

“I think having a critical mass makes

a difference,” said White House senior

adviser Valerie Jarrett, who came in

with the president and remains one

of his top aides. “It’s fair to say that

there was a lot of testosterone flowing

in those early days. Now we have a

little more estrogen that provides a

counterbalance.”

National security adviser Susan Rice

also has served throughout Obama’s

administration. In previous positions,

Rice said, she had to push to get into

key gatherings. “It’s not pleasant to

have to appeal to a man to say, ‘Include

me in that meeting,’ “ she said.

Now, said Domestic Policy Council

Director Cecilia Muñoz, “the folks who

were jockeying to get into meetings or

struggling over manifests are just kind

of not around anymore.”

Today, “if we’re not in the room,”

Rice said of herself and other senior

female advisers, “it’s not happening.”

Second terms have traditionally

served as a critical period for women, an

opportunity to move up after the men

move out. After Obama’s reelection,

Jennifer Palmieri replaced Dan Pfeiffer

as communications director. She

remembers the moment the president

expressed his confidence in her and

shared his high expectations.

“This is it, you’re in the room. There

is no other room: This is the Oval Office,”

Palmieri recalls him saying. “You’re

here for a reason, and I want to know

what you think.”

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, secretary of

health and human services, describes

a “woman pull” during Clinton’s

second term, when she was promoted

from deputy chief of staff to deputy

director of the Office of Management

and Budget. Another woman, Maria

Echaveste, got Burwell’s former

position, and a third woman, Minyon

Moore, moved into Echaveste’s spot.

In George W Bush’s second term,

Condoleezza Rice and Margaret

Spellings were promoted to the

Cabinet, becoming secretary of

state and secretary of education,

respectively. Other women moved

into more senior White House jobs,

including legislative affairs director

Candi Wolff and press secretary Dana

Perino.

Regardless of when they served,

women described a constant struggle

to balance work and family, especially

if they had young children. After Bush

was elected in 2000, longtime aide

Karen Hughes said she recoiled when

incoming chief of staff Andrew Card

tried to establish a 24/7 work schedule.

Hughes said she called Bush and

told him that she didn’t “have to be

there at 10:30 at night” to do her job.

Bush responded quickly, Hughes

said, telling Card: “Don’t run off all my

working mothers!”

Although Card made

accommodations, Hughes left the

White House after a year and a half,

saying the job was too hard on her

“homesick” Texan family. That fact hit

her one Saturday morning, she said,

when her teenage son asked her to

bake him some brownies and she was

simply too exhausted to do it.

Sarah Bianchi had two children

under 3 when she joined the White

House in June 2011 as a deputy

assistant to the president and the vice-

president’s head of economic policy.

She left in May 2014 to return to the

private sector.

“Half the battle from there is

parenting,” Bianchi said. “We’re just

not doing well enough on this.”

White House aides say a slew of

recent changes has improved conditions

for working mothers. Last year, when

legislative affairs director Katie Beirne

Fallon and public engagement director

Paulette Aniskoff were pregnant, the

General Services Administration set up

a tasteful Japanese screen in a West

Wing bathroom to provide a private

spot for pumping breast milk. (Years

earlier, then-deputy chief of staff

Alyssa Mastromonaco had successfully

procured a tampon machine.)

Meanwhile, the administration

encourages staff to take advantage of

up to 12 weeks of paid medical and

family leave — a much more generous

benefit than what most federal

workers receive.

Aniskoff said she assumed she

would have to quit when her son was

born, but decided to stay after Jarrett

helped her work out the logistics.

“Even though I know theoretically

that we had paid leave and all these

things,” Aniskoff said, “I just didn’t

know that it applied to me.”

President Barack Obama

meets with top aides including

National Economic Council

Director Gene Sperling; Chief

of Staff Bill Daley; Biden Chief

of Staff Bruce Reed; Legislative

Affairs Assistant Rob Nabors;

OMB Director Jack Lew; Vice-

President Joe Biden; and

Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett;

“I think having a critical mass

makes a difference,” said

Jarrett, who came in with the

president and remains one of

his top aides.

COMMUNITY

06 | SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

Al Abeer launches Family Club Card

Al Abeer Medical Center, as part

of its community initiative, has

introduced Family Club Card

to provide quality healthcare

at an affordable cost. Family Club pro-

vides an opportunity for families in Qa-

tar to enroll into the scheme and avail

benefits by way of treatment at Al

Abeer Medical Center.

Benefits include discounts on con-

sultations, diagnostics and procedures.

Dr Nazeem Shamsuddin, Head —

Operations, Al Abeer Medical Center,

Qatar said that the Family Club Card

is a unique membership programme

that provides members with a range

of exclusive privileges and discounts at

our center. As a member of the Fami-

ly Club, your entire family can now be

under the care of a family doctor. The

family doctor will manage the care

of newborns, children, men, women

and elders and cover areas including,

Adult & Child Wellness, Well Woman

Care, Management of Chronic Medi-

cal Conditions, Diagnostic & Preventive

Healthchecks, and Nutritional, Fitness

& Dietary Counseling.

The enrolment into the Family Club

is free for families. Family includes the

card holder, spouse and any number

of children. The parents of the prima-

ry card holder can also be enrolled in-

to the scheme. The card holders can

avail the benefits available under the

Family Club immediately after enrol-

ment.

Indian Ambassador Sanjiv Arora

launched the Family Club Card during

a recently organised event at Al Abeer

Medical Center. Applications for the

Scheme are available at Al Abeer Medi-

cal Center, Abu Hamour.

A Helpline Number — 44445678

has also been set-up to provide more

information on the Scheme.

Indian Ambassador Sanjiv Arora (fifth right) launching the Family Club Card at Al Abeer Medical Center.

The Qatar National Team is travelling today to Nairobi in Kenya to play a Quadrangular Bilateral Cricket Series. Participating countries include, Saudi

Arabia, Uganda and Kenya. Players in the picture are InamUlHaq (Captain 50-over game), Awais Malik (Captain T20), Rizlan (Vice Captain), Iqbal

Chaudhry, Faisal Javed, Muhammad Nadeem, Kamran Khan, Mujeebur Rehman, Noman Sarwar, Dharmang Hasmukh, Tamoor Sajjad, Zaheeruddin

Ibrahim, Qalandar Khan, Khalid Khatib, Imran Ashraf, Abdul Rehman (coach), Shamsuddin (coach), and Mohammad Jahangir (trainer). QCA officials:

M A Shahid (President), Manzoor Ahmad (Team Manager), Jamshaid Ahmad (Team coordinator), Mohammad Jahangir (Trainer), Mohammad Asif (Accountant).

Qatar will play three matches of 50 overs each with three countries and three T20 matches.

Qatar National Team leaves for cricket tournament in Kenya

MARKETPLACE

| 07SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

The Peninsula

“Cat Lashes is the ideal mascara

if you like a full lash look. I love

that the brush allows you to cre-

ate length, volume and definition

from corner to corner, instantly. This

is such a quick way to achieve full

lashes.”

Burberry Make-up Artistic Con-

sultant, Wendy Rowe.

Burberry has introduced Cat

Lashes — the eye-opening

volume mascara that creates

a cat eye effect. Powerful

and captivating, lashes are extended,

beautifully styled and fanned out.

Burberry Cat Lashes have been

available from August 2016 via Burb-

erry.com, Burberry Beauty Box and

selected Burberry stores worldwide.

The key features of the mascara

include:

• The innovative hourglass-

shaped brush, made with elastomer,

hugs, extends and separates each

lash to deliver incredibly fanned-out

lashes, defined length and eye-open-

ing volume from corner to corner.

• The short bristles wrap lash-

es in the formula to create volume,

while the longer bristles comb to cre-

ate separation and definition, result-

ing in a clump-free finish.

• The cone-shaped tip extends

the outer corner lashes to create a cat

eye look.

• The buildable, lightweight

formula lifts and sculpts each lash

from root to tip. Lashes remain soft

and flexible.

The shades

Burberry Cat Lashes is available in

three shades:

• Jet Black No.01

• Chestnut Brown No.02

• Midnight Blonde No.03

The Burberry Cat Lashes collec-

tion

To complement the launch of

Burberry Cat Lashes, Burberry will in-

troduce a collection of make-up for

eyes including new shades of Effort-

less Liquid Eyeliner and Complete Eye

Palette:

• Effortless Liquid Eyeliner —

Jet Black No 01

• Effortless Liquid Eyeliner -

Chestnut Brown No.02

• Eye Colour Contour - Stone

Grey No.124

• Eye Colour Contour - Mid-

Mascara that adds a cat eye effect

night Brown No.108

• Complete Eye Palette - Smok-

ey Grey No.01

• Complete Eye Palette - Smok-

ey Brown No.00

• Effortless Eyebrow Definer

About Burberry make-up

• British, effortless, runway-in-

spired and timeless.

• Burberry make-up is easy to

apply and the products are often mul-

ti-use.

• Creating a quintessentially

British look, a natural glow stands at

the heart of Burberry make-up: a ra-

diant, healthy-looking complexion, in-

spired by the brand’s British heritage

and outdoor roots.

• Burberry make-up includes

Burberry eyes, lips, face, and nails.

• Burberry make-up is devel-

oped by Burberry Make-up Artistic

Consultant Wendy Rowe, under the

creative direction of Chief Creative

and Chief Executive Officer Christo-

pher Bailey.

FOOD

08 | SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

The p

late becomes a comical canvas

Whoever said you shouldn’t play with your food took eating way too seriously. Bill

and Claire Wurtzel employ the opposite approach, encouraging kids and their families to make mealtime fun by creating plate art in which scrambled eggs become birds, waffles become the Eiffel Tower, and bananas become planes, giraffes and skateboarders.In their second book, “Funny Food Made Easy” (Welcome Books, 2016), they expound on the inspirational breakfast art they made in “Funny Food” and add step-by-step photographs, nutrition tips and instructions on how to host a fun-food workshop for schoolchildren. And their plate art is no longer just for breakfast: Just wait till you see what they do with cheese.

— The Washington Post

FASHION

| 09SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

By Gregory Katz

AP

The world’s style spotlight

shifted to Britain Friday

as London Fashion Week

kicked off with the first in a

dizzying series of shows planned

for the coming days.

The focus is on British style

and creativity but the lineup in-

cludes many contributors from

other parts of the world.

Friday’s shows included Paul

Costelloe, Aquascutum, Bora Ak-

su and other standouts.

On following days there will

be shows by Burberry, Julien

Macdonald, Christopher Kane,

Mulberry, Roksanda and many

others.

Some fashion houses are fo-

cusing on making new items avail-

able immediately to online buyers

to streamline the shopping proc-

ess, blurring the lines between

the traditional fashion seasons.

Others have merged their mens-

wear and womenswear shows in-

to one extravaganza.

The first few shows drew large

crowds despite on-and-off rains

that marked the end of a hu-

mid late summer heat spell. Cen-

tral London was once again filled

with tall, slim models in jeans

and oversize sweaters rushing to

backstage rooms where makeup

artists and stylists transformed

them into figures of fantasy.

At the Bora Aksu show, the

fantasy involved an invocation of

rural Greece — in homage to the

designer’s late grandmother and

her lifestyle in a small town near

the Aegean Sea — but a rural

Greece where the peasants wore

beautiful but extremely revealing

hand-embroidered gowns with

sheer mesh panels on the backs

and sides.

It was a mixture of the tra-

ditional and the eye-catching,

many pale cherry pinks and yel-

lows and blues giving the clothes

a timeless feel. He opted for

many high-necked dresses, but

with the backs totally exposed,

creating an unusual but attractive

silhouette.

The fashion crowd has already

been feted by Prime Minister

Theresa May at a Downing Street

reception and partied at a lavish

Perrier-Jouet party that featured

model Naomi Campbell, wearing

a plunging black dress, serving a

brief stint as a surprise DJ.

She was joined by model Erin

O’Connor, Arizona Muse and oth-

er Fashion Week veterans at the

event, which featured a “bio-re-

sponsive” garden with trees and

plants that responded to the

movement of the crowd.

At the Downing Street recep-

tion, May — whose fondness for

stylish shoes is well known — said

Britain’s fashion industry is “of

huge importance to our country”

and contributed some £28bn to

the economy each year.

This is the first London Fash-

ion Week held since Britain voted

in June to leave the European Un-

ion. Luxury designer Anya Hind-

march told BBC yesterday that

most of the fashion industry was

opposed to Brexit but that most

designers are determined to find

ways to make it work.

London Fashion Week returns with big names

HEALTH

10 | SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

By Ellie Krieger

The Washington Post

The magic of the Mediterranean

diet is that it manages to sat-

isfy both chefs and nutrition-

ists. With its bounty of vege-

tables, fruit, nuts and grains, its garlic

and herb seasonings, its luxurious use

of olive oil, it offers plenty of inspiration

for any food lover. There is also solid

science pointing to its health benefits:

It is well established that the diet low-

ers bad cholesterol and can dramati-

cally reduce the risk of heart disease,

and there is emerging evidence that it

may protect brain function as we age,

among other benefits.

But as I experienced on a fami-

ly vacation that took us from Rome to

Provence to Barcelona this spring, the

culinary and health attributes of the

Mediterranean diet go beyond what

is traditionally eaten in that region —

they are also about how food is eat-

en and approached there. From what

I could see, the lifestyle around eat-

ing Mediterranean-style is as valuable

as the food itself, so I brought back a

few pointers to keep in mind as I set-

tled back into my hectic post-holiday

reality and to share with you. The goal

is to enjoy a little more of “la dolce vita”

here and be healthier for it.

Make good food a priority

One thing that really stuck with me

from the trip was something our Ro-

man guide said as he led us on a tast-

ing journey of the city’s Testaccio sec-

tion: “There is no word for ‘foodie’ in

Italian. Food is central to everyone’s life

here. It’s normal to care deeply about

food.” Quality and taste are held to a

high standard in Italy and throughout

the Mediterranean. There is a great

respect for the craft of food produc-

tion, and although dishes are often

prepared simply, excellent ingredients

are valued and shortcuts that compro-

mise quality shunned. It was an impor-

tant reminder of the wisdom of mov-

ing away from low-quality, hyper-proc-

essed foods — which are often laden

with unhealthy additives, sodium and

sugar — in favour of top-notch ingredi-

ents, served close to their source and

simply prepared.

Eat seasonally

Artichokes were just out of season

when we were there, so although they

were on the printed menu at a mod-

est trattoria we went in, they were not

being served. In a world where peo-

ple who can afford it can get just about

any ingredient any time of year, it is al-

most startling to hear, “No, the season’s

over.” But sticking to seasonal produce

connects to the previous point about

excellent ingredients. Fruit and vegeta-

bles taste best at the height of their

season, so get them while the getting’s

good and then move on. This approach

offers built-in variety, providing an ar-

ray of different flavours and nutrients

throughout the year, and it means eat-

ing more locally, which is better for the

environment.

Savour mealtime

With only one afternoon to spend

in Aix-en-Provence, we were told that

if we sat down at a restaurant for

lunch, even at a simple bistro, not to

expect the in-and-out service we are

used to in the States. In the Mediter-

ranean, a meal is generally a thing to

slow down for, to be savoured. Not on-

ly is the food valued, so are the rituals

and the communal pleasure of eating

it together. We opted for a sit-down

lunch, which, as promised, took a cou-

ple of hours, and we relished every

minute of it. It was not only memora-

bly delicious but also a welcome break

from chasing around; we were able to

truly connect with each other and ob-

serve, from our outdoor table, the life

of the people around us.

Most of us have no chance of a lan-

guorous two-hour lunch on a regular

workday, but we can sit down, unplug

the electronics and slow down, if even

just a little, to enjoy the food and the

company. Eating more mindfully like

that can help us consume less while

enjoying it more, and eating together

can foster stronger relationships.

Consider how food makes you

feel

Another thing that struck me on

this journey was how much attention

to good digestion was integrally woven

into the Mediterranean way of eating. It

is the rationale I was given for many of

the traditional eating patterns — serving

salad after the entree, having cheese at

the end of a meal instead of beforehand

and never having a big pizza for lunch

or a cappuccino after noon (apparently,

espresso is okay, though). I have not

seen any research on how these

patterns impact digestion, but whether

the reasons are valid is beside the point.

The takeaway is the value of making

decisions based on how a food or meal

pattern makes you feel after you have

eaten. That kind of awareness, which

goes hand in hand with slowing down

and savouring your food, can go a long

way towards preventing overeating and

help keep you feeling good in the short

and long run.

Why theMediterranean

diet works

ENTERTAINMENT

| 11SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

By Stephanie Merry

The Washington Post

Is Edward Snowden a traitor or a he-

ro? That depends on whom you ask

But there’s no question how Oliver

Stone feels about it.

In his biopic “Snowden,” which

opened yesterday, the whistleblow-

er is a tough kid who wants so badly

to be in the Army Special Forces that

he fractures both legs during training.

He’s brilliant, acing a CIA entrance ex-

am in record time, but so earnest that

he’s nicknamed Snow White. He has

a sense of moral duty, though not in

an insufferable self-righteous way, and

— just to drive the point home — he’s

played by one of Hollywood’s most

universally appealing actors, Joseph

Gordon-Levitt.

In short, “Ed” is a likeable patriot,

even after leaking a trove of classified

documents that exposed, among oth-

er things, a pervasive government sur-

veillance programme that monitored

Americans’ emails and listened in on

phone calls.

Not everyone would call what Snow-

den did patriotism. The Justice Depart-

ment, for example, calls it theft and a

violation of the Espionage Act. Millen-

nials love him, according to a 2015 sur-

vey from the American Civil Liberties

Union, especially abroad — perhaps

because he revealed how his country

was spying on other governments. Of

course, none of that won over those

concerned about foreign policy, es-

pecially when the United States had

to put out fires in places such as Bra-

zil and Germany, where leaders were

publicly condemning US spying.

But Snowden may yet return to this

country unshackled. This week, coin-

ciding with the movie’s release, he and

his attorney are launching a campaign

to get him pardoned. Stone has a his-

tory of making viewers sympathise,

despite themselves, with the likes of

George W Bush and Richard M Nixon.

The timing makes you wonder: What

role might a movie play in exonerating

Snowden in the eyes of the justice sys-

tem — and the public?

“I hope that the voice reaches to the

world and people see it and they have

a new perception of what happened,”

Stone said of the film during a recent

Skype interview.

Pop culture has a long history of

vindicating people. Before Errol Mor-

ris’ 1988 documentary “The Thin Blue

Line,” Randall Dale Adams was in pris-

on for killing a police officer; after, he

was a free man. The podcast “Serial”

introduced enough reasonable doubt

into the case of Adnan Syed, who is in

prison for killing his ex-girlfriend, that

he is getting another trial. And Netf-

lix’s “Making a Murderer” helped over-

turn Brendan Dassey’s conviction for a

2005 murder. (Of course it can go both

ways. Robert Durst is awaiting trial af-

ter a confession caught on camera in

HBO’s “The Jinx.”)

In each case, public sentiment

kicked the slow gears of the law into

motion. For impassioned viewers, pe-

titions are always the next logical step.

They never get the immediate results

signers want, but they do create buzz.

Just look at the major news outlets that

covered President Barack Obama’s de-

cision to decline to pardon the subjects

of “Making a Murderer.” “Since Steven

Avery and Brendan Dassey are both

state prisoners, the President cannot

pardon them,” a White House state-

ment said.

Snowden’s story isn’t quite as sala-

cious as the true-crime wave sweeping

pop culture. Even though his actions

have directly affected far more people

than any murder trial has, it’s hard to

say how many will flock to see a mov-

ie about his life. Prognosticators are

predicting a $10m opening weekend —

not bad for a movie with a relatively

low budget — although mixed reviews

could have an effect on those numbers.

“There were definitely voices in my

professional life who said, ‘Look, he’s a

polarising figure ... that might have an

impact on the commercial viability of

your career,’” Gordon-Levitt said. “But I

found the story incredibly inspiring.”

“Snowden” is less of a thriller than

Laura Poitras’ Oscar-winning 2014 doc-

umentary “Citizenfour,” which chroni-

cled the week leading up to Snowden’s

big reveal in 2013 while he was hid-

ing out in Hong Kong. Snowden didn’t

come across at all like a cocky vigilan-

te, the way some media reports had

portrayed him. But the film earned on-

ly $3m at the box office worldwide.

Stone’s version is more of a love sto-

ry. On Ed’s first date with longtime girl-

friend Lindsay Mills (played by Shailene

Woodley), they almost immediately get

into a debate about what it means to

be a good American. She thinks ques-

tioning power is part of our responsibil-

ity, but Ed sees things differently — at

least at first. That’s before he becomes

a government contractor and realis-

es how inescapable the NSA’s surveil-

lance programme is. Pretty soon he’s

covering up the camera on his compu-

ter monitor with a Band-Aid and scold-

ing Lindsay for keeping nude photos of

herself on her hard drive.

“I have nothing to hide,” she says,

brushing him off. That’s the attitude a

lot of Americans had when they first

heard about the surveillance, but the

movie makes a case for why people

should care.

“The film is likely to bring Snowden’s

story to new audiences that maybe

have paid less attention to the disclo-

sures,” said Snowden’s attorney, the

ACLU’s Ben Wizner. “I also think that

the narrative force of the film can make

the issues that Snowden has champi-

oned less abstract for people who may

not focus on surveillance and privacy.”

Right now, Snowden lives in Mos-

cow, where the Russian government

granted him asylum. The US govern-

ment revoked his passport, so he is un-

able to travel internationally — and if

he were to try to, he’d most likely be

brought back to the United States to

stand trial.

As part of his push for a pardon,

Snowden made his case in a video in-

terview with the Guardian’s Ewan Ma-

cAskill on Tuesday.

“If not for these revelations, we

would be worse off,” he said. “Maybe

this is why the pardon power exists:

for the exceptions, for the things that

may seem unlawful in letters on a page,

but when we look at them morally ... it

seems obvious that these were neces-

sary things.”

The White House sees the situation

differently.

“Mr Snowden has been charged

with serious crimes, and it’s the poli-

cy of the administration that Mr Snow-

den should return to the United States

and face those charges,” White House

press secretary Josh Earnest said

during a news conference on Mon-

day. “The fact is the manner in which

Mr Snowden chose to disclose this in-

formation damaged the United States,

harmed our national security, and put

the American people at greater risk.”

Meanwhile, former attorney gener-

al Eric H Holder Jr recently told Dav-

id Axelrod on the “Axe Files” podcast

that “we can certainly argue about the

way in which Snowden did what he did,

but I think that he actually performed

a public service by raising the debate

that we engaged in and by the chang-

es that we made.”

It’s clear where Gordon-Levitt’s al-

legiance lies. He donated most of his

acting fee to the ACLU and used the

rest to create short films about the in-

tersection of technology and democra-

cy. (One of the films starred Snowden.)

The actor sees two types of patri-

ots — the kind who accept everything

the government does without ques-

tion and the type who want the coun-

try to be as good as it can be.

“If you have a friend who you love

and they’re doing something you know

they shouldn’t be doing, you talk to

them about it,” he said during a re-

cent phone interview. “You don’t just

let it go by. You bring it up and try to

get them to change. That’s what love

is. Not asking about it wouldn’t be love.

To me that’s more like apathy.”

Stone had a hard time getting the

movie made. Big studios didn’t want to

finance the film, but Open Road, which

produced last year’s Oscar winner for

best picture, “Spotlight,” stepped up.

Stone was awed by the ability of a

29-year-old to take on the most pow-

erful nation in the world; he was also

impressed with the way Snowden out-

ed himself to avoid a witch hunt that

might have put his co-workers under a

microscope.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt said of Edward Snowden, “I found the story

incredibly inspiring.”

Can ‘Snowden’proclaim his innocence

ENTERTAINMENT

12 | SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

By Derrik J Lang

AP

If a celebrity doesn’t walk a red car-

pet, are they still a celebrity? In the

next phase of her career, that’s the

bold question Miley Cyrus will face af-

ter her unprecedented vow to “never

do a red carpet again.”

With Hollywood’s awards season

kicking off at tomorrow’s Primetime

Emmys, will other celebs sidestep the

frenzy and follow Cyrus off the carpet?

In show business, such a daring decla-

ration could have implications beyond

what’s beneath those designer heels.

In recent years, media shenanigans

on red carpets have prompted push-

back from such A-listers as Julianne

Moore, Reese Witherspoon and Jenni-

fer Aniston.

Last awards season, they opted

against sticking their well-manicured

and bejewelled hands in front of E!’s

“mani-cam,” while younger actresses

like Jena Malone and Elizabeth Moss

publicly mocked the paw parade.

“I couldn’t care less, to be honest,”

said Emmys host Jimmy Kimmel after

ceremoniously unrolling the red carpet

Wednesday morning outside the Mi-

crosoft Theater. “I’ll be up in my dress-

ing room staring at people on the red

carpet while it’s happening.”

Cyrus’ last appearance on a red car-

pet was back in December at the pre-

miere of the Netflix film “A Very Murray

Christmas.” Cyrus ominously captioned

an Instagram photo of herself posing

on it: “(hashtag)mylastredcarpet4eva.”

Apparently, she meant it.

“I had to do the premiere, and I will

never do a red carpet again,” the sing-

er-actress said in the October issue of

Elle magazine , out Wednesday. “Why,

when people are starving, am I on a

carpet that’s red? Because I’m ‘impor-

tant’? Because I’m ‘famous’? That’s not

how I roll. It’s like a skit — it’s like ‘Zo-

olander.’”

Stacy Jones, president of enter-

tainment marketing agency Hollywood

Branded , said stars who shun the red

carpet lose fame and fortune. She ex-

pects Cyrus, who is appearing as a

coach on the latest season of the NBC

singing competition “The Voice” and

starring in the upcoming Amazon se-

ries “Crisis in Six Scenes,” will likely miss

out on future roles and deals because

of her decision.

“It’s part of the job,” said Jones. “In

today’s world, when you sign up to be

a celebrity, you’re singing up to be in

the limelight. You’re going to be in gos-

sip columns and have paparazzi follow

you. You will have fans idolize you. It’s

damaging to your career and people

you work with to say you won’t be part

of the glitz and glamour that comes

along with the job.”

Over the past nine decades, the red

carpet has transformed from simply

serving as an elegant entrance to Hol-

lywood premieres and ceremonies into

a publicity-generating business where

celebrities are expected — and often

paid — to pose in front of logos and be

probed by the media.

Now, it’s not just about flash-

ing smiles for photographers and an-

swering the clichéd question, “Who

are you wearing?” On today’s red car-

pets, awareness is raised and brands

are built.

Jones said she once worked with

a company that sponsored a premiere

party at the Toronto International Film

Festival where the film’s star refused to

walk down or pose on the red carpet.

The company decided that night to

pass him over for a seven-figure deal

to support his music project.

“Miley has worked so hard to get

where she is in celebritydom,” said

Jones. “It doesn’t make sense that she

would give up any chance in the spot-

light to at least support the projects

and causes she cares about in her life.”

While many celebs control when

they’ll appear, how they’ll look and

who they’ll talk to on red carpets, it’s

virtually unheard of for a star to public-

ly announce a complete boycott of the

long-established practice, according to

Bonnie Fuller, editor-in-chief of celebri-

ty site HollywoodLife.com .

“I don’t think this is going to set off

a trend,” said Fuller. “It’s integral to the

promotional aspect of being a celebri-

ty to do red carpets. It’s usually part of

a contract.”

Fuller noted the anti-carpet stance

is in itself part of building Cyrus’ brand.

The performer has spent the past five

years shedding her wholesome “Han-

nah Montana” reputation in favour of a

wild child image.

“At the end of the day, Miley is still

23,” said Fuller. “She’s got a long career

ahead of her. She could have a change

of heart. In the meantime, we’ll respect

the choices she’s making right now.”

A red carpet

revolt by

Miley Cyrus

TECHNOLOGY

| 13SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

Will Note 7 leave a scar on Samsung?By Hayley Tsukayama

The Washington Post ·

All is not well for the world’s

largest smartphone maker.

Samsung continues to face

criticism as it works to call

back millions of its latest flagship Gal-

axy Note 7 smartphones after reports

of batteries catching fire and exploding.

The Note 7 was supposed to be a

victory lap for Samsung. It launched to

rave reviews, which looked particularly

good while analysts and pundits cau-

tioned that Apple’s iPhones were go-

ing to be somewhat less spectacular

this year.

Now the phone’s name has become

synonymous with danger, prompting

Samsung to work with the US product

safety watchdog, the Consumer Prod-

uct Safety Commission. The agency

has advised people to stop using the

phones. Not only that, the Federal Avi-

ation Administration’s recommenda-

tion that the phones not be used or

even powered on during flights means

that at least a million people are hear-

ing a warning about the Galaxy Note 7,

by name, on flights each day.

With the unprecedented return of

so many potentially defective smart-

phones comes the question: How

much of a brand blemish will a Note 7

recall be for the company?

Even with the bad timing and the

bad press, there shouldn’t be too much

lasting damage as long as Samsung

continues to be responsive to consum-

ers’ problems, said Robert Cuthbert-

son, vice-president at the consulting

firm Boston Retail Partners.

Companies, he said, have overcome

recalls before, noting that Tylenol —

which had to recall all of its pills in 1982

— and others have recovered from re-

calls by acting quickly and doing eve-

rything to demonstrate that their cus-

tomers come first.

Samsung has told South Korean

media that it will now obtain its batter-

ies from China’s ATL — the same firm

that is the main supplier of iPhone bat-

teries.

“Samsung is trying to rectify their sit-

uation and do their best to control their

damage and make sure it doesn’t hap-

pen again,” Cuthbertson said. As long

as there are no further issues with the

new phones, he said, Samsung should

be able to recover.

Samsung, which is the world’s larg-

est smartphone maker, has battled for

years with Apple for dominance in the

smartphone market. In the past five or

so years, the firm has tried to position

itself as a premium smartphone maker

with devices that can rival the iPhone.

In the 2016 American Consum-

er Satisfaction Index telecommunica-

tions survey, the Galaxy Note 5 actual-

ly beat the iPhone 6s Plus as the top-

rated phone, showing that Samsung

had succeeded in at least some of its

goals. And while a slowdown in the

smartphone market overall had hurt

sales, Samsung announced last quar-

ter that it was in a great position for

2016, as sales of its Galaxy S7 and S7

edge had sent the company’s profits to

their highest point in two years.

Cuthbertson doubts that Samsung

will lose too many customers to rival

Android smartphone makers, as its

products still have the unique features

such as their screens and software that

made them sell in the first place. Cuth-

bertson also said he doesn’t think Ap-

ple will benefit much from this contro-

versy, because many people choose

Samsung primarily as an alternative to

Apple.

“Samsung has positioned them-

selves as the anti-iPhone, and they

have loyalists to the Android platform.

There are also definitely those with

a loyalty to the Galaxy in particular,”

Cuthbertson said.

Online surveys have shown that,

certainly among Android fans, Sam-

sung’s brand loyalty hasn’t taken too

much of a hit. Android Police, an An-

droid-focused news site, asked its

readers and found that most of its re-

spondents, 39 percent, said their per-

ception of Samsung hasn’t changed at

all in light of the recall.

Analyst Peter Yu said in a note that

signs so far signal the firm will be all

right, even with the cost of a recall that

Samsung acknowledges will be “heart-

breaking.”

“Telcos at least have purchased more

Galaxy S7/S7 Edges to replace demand

for Note 7s rather than moving to oth-

er smartphone vendors. Hence, Sam-

sung has maintained its 3Q16 smart-

phone shipment guidance despite the

expected impact on Note 7 sales,” Yu

wrote in a note, obtained by CNBC.

Shares of the firm are already re-

covering, easing some of the $22bn in

losses the company experienced im-

mediately after reports of the explo-

sions hit the news.

AL KHOR

ASIAN TOWN

NOVO

MALL

ROYAL PLAZAVILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

PINK

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

A lawyer with wild mood swings helps three women sue the men who attacked them.

14 SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

CINEMA PLUS

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

Bridget Jone’s Baby (2D/Comedy) 10:00am, 12:20, 2:40, 5:00, 7:20, 9:40pm & 12:00midnight Taht El Tarabiza (2D/Arabic) 11:00, 11:30am, 1:10, 3:20, 4:00, 5:30, 7:40, 8:30, 9:50pm & 12:00midnight Sully (2D/Drama) 11:30am, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm Lights Out (2D/Horror) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 6:30, 8:00, 10:00, 11:00pm & 12:00midnightBilal (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 2:30, 7:00 & 11:30pm Ben-Hur (2D/Action) 12:10, 4:40 & 9:10pmSheep & Wolves(2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00 & 6:00pm Mechanic:Resurrection(2D/Action) 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnightPete’s Dragon (2D/Adventure) 11:00am, 1:00, 3:00, 5:00 & 7:00pm Blood Father (2D/Action) 9:00 & 11:00pm Snowden (2D) 10:30am, 1:10, 3:50, 6:30, 9:10 & 11:50pmSully (IMAX/Drama) 11:30am, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm

Pete’s Dragon (2D/Adventure) 11:30am, 4:30 & 6:30pmIru Mugan (2D/Tamil) 10:30am & 11:15pm

Bridget Jone’s Baby (2D/Comedy) 1:15 & 5:00pm Bilal: A New Breed of Hero (2D/Animation) 12:00noonSheep & Wolves (2D/Animation) 11:15am & 3:30pmPink (2D/Hindi) 2:00 & 8:30pm Ben-Hur(2D/Drama) 3:00pm Ashan Khargeen (2D/Arabic) 1:00, 7:30 & 11:00pm Taht El Tarabiza(2D/Arabic) 5:30pm Snowden (2D/Drama) 7:00pm Blair Witch (2D/Horror) 9:30pmVigilante Diaries (2D/Horror) 9:30 & 11:30pm Sully(2D/Drama) 11:15pm

Iru Mugan (Tamil) 7:30, 8:45, 10:30 & 11:45pm

Pink (Hindi) 5:30 & 10:30pm

Ann Maria (Malayalam) 5:30 & 8:00pm

Pretham (Malayalam) 8:00pm

Iru Mugan (3D/Tamil) 11:00am, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pmBridgete Jones (3D/Comedy) 11:30am, 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30pm & 12:00midnightBlair Witch (Horror) 11:30am, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm

Iru Mugan (2D/Tamil) 11:00am & 11:15pm

Sheep & Wolves (2D/Animation) 11:30amBilal: A New Breed of Hero (2D/Animation) 11:45amBridget Jone’s Baby (2D/Comedy) 1:30, 2:30 & 7:00pmPete’s Dragon (2D/Adventure) 3:45 & 5:30pmBen-Hur(2D/Drama) 3:00pm Pink (2D/Hindi) 1:15 & 9:00pm Taht El Tarabiza(2D/Arabic) 3:30 & 5:30pm Janaan (2D/Drama) 9:00pm Ashan Khargeen (2D/Arabic) 9:30pm Snowden (2D/Drama) 4:30pm Blair Witch (2D/Horror) 7:15pmVigilante Diaries (2D/Horror) 7:30 & 11:30pm Sully(2D/Drama) 11:30pm

SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

15SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

Yesterday’s answer

Conceptis Sudoku: Conceptis Sudoku is

a number-placing puzzle based on a 9×9

grid. The object is to place the numbers

1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each

row, each column and each 3×3 box

contains the same number only once.

Yesterday’s answer

MEDIUM SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

CROSSWORD

BRAIN TEASERS

Can you find the hidden words? They may be horizontal,vertical, diagonal, forwards or backwards.

ASTEROID, ASTRONAUT,

ASTRONOMY, BETELGEUSE,

BIG BANG, BLACK HOLE,

CALLISTO, COMET,

CONSTELLATION, CORONA,

COSMOS, CRATER,

EARTH, EUROPA, GALAXY,

GANYMEDE, GRAVITY,

JUPITER, LEONIDS, LIGHT

YEAR, MARS, MERCURY,

METEOR, MILKY WAY,

MOON, NEBULA, NEPTUNE,

NORTH STAR, OBERON,

ORBIT, PHOBOS, PLANET,

PLUTO, PULSAR, QUASAR,

RED DWARF, SATURN,

SIRIUS, SPACE, STAR, SUN,

SUNSPOT, SUPERNOVA,

TITAN, URANUS, VENUS.

07:00 News

07:30 UpFront

08:00 News

08:30 People &

Power

09:00 Pricing The

Planet

10:00 News

10:30 Inside Story

11:00 News

11:30 Talk To Al

Jazeera

12:00 News

12:30 TechKnow

13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:00 News

14:30 Inside Story

15:00 Al Jazeera

World

16:00 NEWSHOUR

17:00 News

17:30 The Listening

Post

18:00 NEWSHOUR

19:00 News

19:30 101 East

20:00 News

20:30 Inside Story

21:00 NEWSHOUR

22:00 News

22:30 Talk To Al

Jazeera

23:00 Al-Nakba

11:00 Vishkanya

11:30 Sanyukt

12:00 Ek Tha Raja

Ek Thi Rani

12:30 Chef On

Wheels

13:00 Yeh Vadaa

Raha

13:30 Sanyukt

14:00 KumKum

Bhagya

15:00 Jamai Raja

15:30 Tashn E Ishq

16:00 Vishkanya

16:30 Jamai Raja

17:00 Yeh Vadaa

Raha

18:00 KumKum

Bhagya

18:30 Vishkanya

19:00 Tashn E Ishq

19:30 Kaala Teeka

20:00 Sanyukt

20:30 Yeh Vadaa

Raha

21:00 Ek Tha Raja

Ek Thi Rani

21:30 Jamai Raja

22:00 KumKum

Bhagya

22:30 Tashn E Ishq

23:00 Vishkanya

23:30 Ek Tha Thi

Rani

00:00 Best of Fear

Files Season

2

TV LISTINGS

10:55 Austin Stevens:

Snakemaster

11:50 Gator Boys

15:25 Wildest Africa

16:15 Mutant Planet

19:00 Call Of The

Wildman

19:25 My Cat From Hell

20:15 Yankee Jungle

22:05 Australia

Doesn’t Just

Want To Kill

You

23:00 Rugged Justice

23:55 Austin Stevens:

Snakemaster

00:50 Deadly Islands

01:45 Village Vets

13:05 Dirty Money

14:20 Yukon Men

16:00 Fast N’ Loud:

Demolition

Theater

16:50 How It’s Made:

Dream Cars

18:30 Marooned With

Ed Stafford

20:10 Storage Wars

Canada

21:00 What On Earth?

22:40 Manhunt With

Joel Lambert

23:30 Fast N’ Loud:

Demolition

Theater

01:10 What On Earth?

King Features Syndicate, Inc.