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THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 COMMUNITY MARKETPLACE HEALTH BOOKS TECHNOLOGY LEARN ARABIC P | 5 P | 6 P | 7 P | 11 P | 12 P | 13 • Philippine School Doha holds annual promenade Combating cover-up of practicing non-Qatari business and professions Emerging deadly virus demands swift sleuth work Tea cozies and pencil sharpening vie for oddest book title award Smartphones and tablets meet in ‘phablet’ mania Learn commonly used Arabic words and their meanings inside P | 8-9 P | 2-3 Kevin Spacey: Busy on both sides of the pond RACE TRACK MASTERS OF THE A number of jockeys from all over the world have come to Qatar to compete. Many men and women, even Qataris, are pursuing their passion at the Racing and Equestrian Club.

Transcript of THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013 • [email protected] • www ... · 10/8/2016  · THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY...

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THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741

COMMUNITY

MARKETPLACE

HEALTH

BOOKS

TECHNOLOGY

LEARN ARABIC

P | 5

P | 6

P | 7

P | 11

P | 12

P | 13

• Philippine SchoolDoha holds annual promenade

• Combating cover-up of practicing non-Qatari business and professions

• Emerging deadlyvirus demandsswift sleuth work

• Tea cozies and pencil sharpening vie for oddest book title award

• Smartphonesand tablets meetin ‘phablet’ mania

• Learn commonlyused Arabic wordsand their meanings

inside

P | 8-9

P | 2-3

Kevin Spacey: Busy on both sides of the pond

RACE TRACKMASTERS OF THE

A number of jockeys from all over the world have come to Qatar to compete. Many men and women, even Qataris, are pursuing their passion at the Racing and Equestrian Club.

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2 COVER STORYPLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013

By Isabel Ovalle

Jockeys from all over the world have made Qatar home to take advantage of the enviable opportunity to race in the state-of-the-art equestrian club here. The number of professional jock-eys in the country has grown in the past few years, and so has

the number of European riders, of whom there are more than 20 now.Jockeys begin riding at a young age and can race professionally until

their mid-forties. One such jockey is David Bouland from France, who started riding horses at 16 in his home country and has been based in Doha for the past 15 years.

Yesterday, he won the third race of the Qatar International Race Day, part of the 22nd Qatar International Equestrian Festival. “I decided to come to Qatar 15 years ago because in France it was more difficult. When I first came to Qatar, there were not so many races, but now there are big competitions,” he said.

Bouland knew he wanted to work with horses since he was five, because his father was a trainer. He’s very happy with his life in Qatar: “I have many friends, and a good balance.”

In order to keep fit and train between races, he rides four horses every morning. Friday is his only day off, and he uses his free time to play golf and do a little running.

A big challenge for all jockeys is to maintain the ideal body weight, which ranges from 54 to 58 kilos. “It’s very hard,” said the French rider.

There are between 15 and 20 European jockeys currently riding in Qatar. In most cases, when the season ends they go back to their country. This is the case with Bouland; in May, he goes to France, where he lives for four months.

Bouland is 42 and hopes to keep working until he’s 45. “It’s a job for young people, but the extra years can be compensated with experi-ence,” he explained. When he ends his career as a jockey, he wants to stay in Qatar because he likes living here.

Italian jockey Pierantonio Convertino is 28 years old and has been riding for over a decade, and has taken part in more than 1,000 races. “It’s been a good season for me because I won nine races. I am very lucky also because, after two seasons, I’m sure I’ll stay for another week.”

“In Qatar we race one or two times a week, while in Italy I used to do so every day,” he said. Due to the fewer number of races, keeping the right weight becomes a bigger test. “Every day is a fight with food, you can eat everything but you have to control yourself, sometimes we eat only one time a day,” he added.

Jockeys usually ride different horses in each race, a decision that is up to the owner or trainer and, ultimately, up to the horse. “I ride four horses every morning and I have good training, and almost all the jockeys I compete with are from different countries,” Convertino said.

Like many of his colleagues, he’ll go back to Italy before the end of the season to take part in the races in Milan and Rome, because “those are the best tracks in Italy,” he said.

About his life outside the race club, he thinks in Doha there are many places to go, “but now I have a baby that keeps me very busy,” he joked.

JOCKEYLife of a

Naif K Alanazi

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3PLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013

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Jockeys find riding Arabian horses is differ-ent. “They only have one speed, they are strong, have more stamina, but they go slow, and they are lazier,” said Convertino.

A number of jockeys from all over the world, even Qataris, have come to Qatar to compete in the 38th Race Meeting. One of them is S Sanders from Britain, who had been in Doha for only six hours when he told The Peninsula that it was not his first visit to the country. He first came here a few years ago, and has noticed a great improvement in the facilities.

Like his peers, he stresses the fact that among the main requirements for being a jockey is “being light, fit and very dedicated to the job, because it’s not an easy one.”

He has been racing for over two decades, but says the length of the professional life of a jockey depends on each person: “Some even ride until they are 59.”

Also in Qatar for a couple of days is Naif K Alanazi from Saudi Arabia, a 19-year-old who took part in the race yesterday and was lucky to win – “for my country” - in his first profes-sional competition. For this youngster, riding was a dream. “I love horses, it’s my dream, no matter how many times I fall. For me it’s like water for other people”.

Cristina Buesa from Spain is also taking part in the world championship, which has brought 15 women riders to Doha. “The ambience is very different from that in Europe, the one I know, partly because there is no gambling,” she said.

The Peninsula

S Sanders

Cristina Buesa

Pierantonio Convertino

David Bouland

ABOUT REC

The Racing and Equestrian Club (REC) was established in 1975. Located in New Rayyan, it has the mission to develop thoroughbred and pure

bred Arabian horse racing events, organis-ing Arabian horse shows and encouraging horse owners to own the best horses and to develop horse breeding. Racing events take place every Thursday from October to May, with over 40 race meetings held annually.

Since 2008, REC is the official sponsor of the weekend of Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which is held in Longchamp, Paris during the first weekend of October. REC will be the official sponsor of this prestigious rac-ing event till 2022.

There is a sand track and a turf at the club. There are also show arenas, where horse shows and national championships are held, as well as grandstands for spectators. The REC’s stables have been equipped with all that is necessary for care of horses. The club has professional vets for providing veterinary care to the steeds.

With effect from the 2000-2001 racing season, the REC has been organising the Qatar International Equestrian Festival (QIEF), which is an annual week-long event. The first Festival was held in March 2001. Arab and international horse owners, trainers and jock-eys are keen to participate in QIEF.

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PLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 20134 CAMPUS

Kelso helps Qatar Academy students to make good decisions

“I’m here because I have a problem and I need your help,” Qatar Academy teacher Crista Everett opened up to a class of first graders. With 19 years of experience work-

ing with primary school students, Everett’s presen-tation revolves around Kelso — a conflict resolution programme for school-aged children which Qatar Academy has been using for the last few years.

“The Kelso conflict management system provides students with choices that enable them to become better communicators and more independent, responsible problem solvers,” says Everett.

There are nine simple and easy to remember choices which the students can apply when in a dif-ficult situation. This year, to further instill the pro-gramme’s lessons, life-sized Kelso structures have been strategically placed along the primary school learning pods and corridors. The frog sculptures hold signages like ‘Talk it Out’, ‘Share and Take Turns’ and ‘Apologise’, among other words — all part of the nine-choice strategy which Everett is highlighting in her lesson.

The teacher makes the presentation as engaging and real as possible, using everyday situations like waiting in line or playing in the playground to send her message across. She interacts with the students through role playing and by asking questions so that her message resonates clearly with them. However, she also acknowledges that everybody can have bad days and encounter problems but, in reference to the Kelso system, ‘one always has a choice’.

“Raise your hand if you’ve made bad choices,” she instructs them. “Everybody makes a bad choice some-times because we’re just humans. It’s normal to have a bad day but always remember that we can always try to do the right thing”.

According to Everett, who is now doing her gradu-ate studies in counselling, “I always consider their age level and ability to understand the material and try to deliver the information so that it will be interesting

and memorable. I wanted to be animated in order to capture their interest. I asked questions to determine whether or not they understood and I also involved them in role playing with the puppets in order to assess the learning. At the end of my discussion, I reviewed my key points and allowed a bit of time for questions. The Kelso fixtures outside drive these points home and hopefully remind them to always make the right choices when the need arises”. The Peninsula

Students attending the Kelso presentation.Students attending the Kelso presentation.

Six students of MES Indian School participated in the Model UN Conference at Qatar National Convention Centre under the aegis of Georgetown University, from February 21 to 24.

The school delegation comprised Mohammed Shaheen, Soorya Narayan, Ausby Rodrigues, Abilash, Shruthi Sivadas and Sharon D’Souza, representing Spain, Lebanon, Djibouti, Iraq and Maldives, in different UN bodies, such as the UN Human Rights Commission, IAEA, Economic and Social and Press Committee.

Mohammed Shaheen was honoured with the Best Delegate Award in the Human Rights Commission. Manmadhan Mambally, chief coordinator of literary activities in the school, accompanied the MES delegation. The Peninsula

DPS-MIS in Georgetown MUN debates

DPS-Modern Indian School MUNers Saurabh Kadam, Anjas Kapur, Akshay Malhotra, Atrayee Mukherjee, Farah Khan and Apoorva D participated in the eighth annual Model United Nations (MUN) con-ference held recently at the Qatar National Convention Centre. The

three-day conference, hosted by Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, saw representation from more than 25 countries and featured intensive and transformative dialogues and debates among hundreds of participating high school students.

This year’s theme for the conference was sustainability, and all topics discussed during the conference were related to sustainability, which is applicable in almost all aspects of human life.

Human rights, pollution, the debt crisis, and standards for intervention and the case of Syria were some of the issues the model UN shared on its agenda with that of the real UN.

During the conference, the participating students debated, deliberated, con-sulted and developed solutions to real world issues in a recreation of the working of the UN.

DPS-MIS MUNers Saurabh Kadam, Anjas Kapur, Apoorva D and Farah Khan were the proud recipients of Honorary Mention Awards. The Peninsula

MES delegates shine in model UN meet

MES delegates to model UN

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5CAMPUS / COMMUNITY PLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013

Kuwaq elects new office bearersKuwaq, expat association of people from Kannur, Kerala, India, convened its 19th annual general body at Hotel Horizon on Friday. Abdul Karim, President, T P Unnikrishnan, Vice-President, and Vinod Vallikkol, General Secretary, were selected to lead the team.

UBL conducts awareness campaign

United Bank Limited (UBL) held an awareness campaign at the Pakistan Embassy yesterday.

UBL staff members also conducted a live demonstration about sending fast money to Pakistan through the recently installed ATM machine at the premises of the embassy.

The event was part of UBL’s com-munity awareness campaign that began at the embassy on February 24 and ends today.

The Ambassador of Pakistan, Mohammad Sarfaraz A Khanzada, General Manager of UBL, Shahid Amin Sheikh, and other senior offi-cials of the embassy and bank were present.

“The 24-hour ATM service can be used for home country remittance and

it is free,” Sheikh said.The ATM allows UBL account hold-

ers as well as non-account holders to send money to Pakistan through the Tezraftaar service.

“People will also get concessional rates through the ATM compared to the bank counter,” Sheikh said.

“We can also assist people who want to open their bank accounts in Pakistan from Qatar,” he added.

The ambassador, meanwhile, praised the bank for its efforts to serve the community.

“Sending money to family and friends back home is very important for our community members, and the new ATM service will make this easier and convenient for Pakistanis here,” Khanzada said. The Peninsula

The Ambassador of Pakistan, Mohammad Sarfaraz A Khanzada, and Shahid Amin Sheikh, General Manager of UBL, with community members at the Pakistan Embassy yesterday.

Philippine School Doha holds annual promenade

‘An Enchanting Night in Wonderland’ was the theme of Philippine School Doha’s

(PSD) annual Juniors and Seniors Promenade held recently at Sheraton Doha.

Hundreds of junior and senior stu-dents stunning in their formal attire attended the event which has been a tradition at PSD.

Aside from fun and camaraderie, the event signalled the coming of age of the participants as they stepped into young adulthood, according to Principal Dr Alexander S. Acosta.

He said it was an occasion for the juniors to salute the triumphs of the seniors, while the senior students bequeathed the mantle of leadership to them.

The event was made memorable as selected students from the seniors shared their Class History, Prophecy and Legacy. The bequeathal of the Key of responsibility from the seniors to the juniors was a highlight of the night. Senior student Ranica Casipit delivered the bequeathal speech, while junior student Rolen Rivera gave the acceptance speech.

The students danced with elegance

and style during the Cotillion de Honor which invigorated the night. Winners of the awards included Prom King Benedict Olido and Prom Queen Justine Mae San Jose; Stars of the Night Keziah Sadiwa and Jaypee Soriano; Mr and Ms Junior Mardrin Quimba and Denise Fernandez; Mr. and Ms Senior Caryll Aguit and Kyra Vinuya and Dancing King and Queen Adrian Alim and Star Prieto.

PSD BOT Chairman Gerardo P

Macasa, Jr described the prom as a rite of passage for juniors and seniors in high school which they anticipate during the school year.

Philippine Ambassador Crescente R Relacion graced the event. He said JS Prom is the day when the sun is like the day of a monarch; it is an espla-nade during sunrise, a sitting on the cathedral at midday and a pageant in the evening. Everyone enjoyed danc-ing until midnight making the prom

another memory treasured both by the students and teachers.

This year’s promenade was made possible through the joint efforts of the third year and fourth year advisers as spearheaded by Noemi Formaran and Julius Edrosolam under the supervi-sion of the High School Department Coordinator Caridad Canete. Don John Vallesteros and Elena D Casto hosted the event.

The Peninsula

Winners of various awards at PSD JS Prom.Winners of various awards at PSD JS Prom.

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PLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013 LAW6

Law No. 25/2004 on combating the cover-up of non-Qataris engaging in business, eco-nomic activities and profes-

sions stipulates that non-Qataris not be allowed to engage in business, eco-nomic activities or professions unless they have permission to do so in accor-dance with law.

It is unlawful for any lay person or legal professional to give cover to a non-Qatari and enable him by any means to engage in business or com-mercial activities or professions in violation of the law, whether this is done by misusing the name, licence or commercial registration of the person providing the cover or by any other means, or whether the non-Qatari is engaged in the business or profession for himself or for the person provi-ding the cover, or in association with others.

A committee has been set up at the Ministry of Business and Trade by this law for combating the cover-up of non-Qataris illegally engaging in business or a profession. The committee recei-ves complaints of violation of this law, conducts investigations and transfers cases to the public prosecutor for legal action after ascertaining that the vio-lation is serious.

The chairperson of the commit-tee and authorised employees of the Ministry of Business and Trade have the power to investigate the cases and confirm violation of the law. They are also authorised to enter any establis-hment or business site for inspection and investigation, and access docu-ments and other records.

PUNISHMENT The law prescribes a jail term of not

more than one year and/or a fine of not less than QR20,000 and not more than QR500,000 for any non-Qatari viola-ting the provisions of this law by doing business or engaging in economic acti-vities or professions not permitted for him. In all cases, the law stipulates confiscation of property and capital obtained through the business or pro-fession, taking into consideration the rights of innocent persons.

Furthermore, the court can cancel the licence and commercial registra-tion, close the business or stop the person providing the cover from prac-tising the profession or engaging in the economic activity for a period of not more than one year.

The Qatari and non-Qatari violators of law No. 25/2004 are jointly respon-sible for all fees, taxes or any other financial obligations resulting from their business or profession.

Starting business without proper permission illegal

Legal corner

By Abdelaal A KhalilLegal Consultant

Please send your queries to: [email protected]

It is unlawful for any lay person or legal professional to give cover to a non-Qatari and enable him by any means to engage in business or commercial activities or professions in violation of the law, whether this is done by misusing the name, licence or commercial registration of the person providing the cover or by any other means, or whether the non-Qatari is engaged in the business or profession for himself or for the person providing the cover, or in association with others.

Is it legal to bring your family to live with you during your stay in Qatar? What are the conditions for that?

- It is possible for you as worker after acquiring a residency permit to apply to bring your spouse and under-age children, male children who did not finish their college up to 25 years, and non-married daughters to stay with you in Qatar on your sponsor-ship. If you have appropriate accom-modation and your salary is enough to support them during their stay in Qatar — minimum wages decided by the permanent immigration commit-tee in the Labour Ministry.

- It is possible for a working woman to apply to the Interior Minister to bring her spouse, the minister may consent her application if he finds this justifiable.

To whom should I apply to bring my family?

An application must be submit-ted to the Permanent Committee for Immigration Affairs in the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs. Your request must include a salary certifi-cate from your employer indicating the amount you receive, together with documents to prove you are staying in an appropriate dwelling, your marriage certificate, the birth cer-tificates of your minor children, and an account statement from the bank your salary is transferred to. The application is reviewed by a special committee to determine the merit of your request.

If your wife starts working after she joins you in Qatar, does that require her to transfer her sponsorship?

A foreign woman who comes to stay with her husband and starts to work after coming here, stays on her husband’s sponsorship.

Can you sponsor your parents?This is possible through consent

from interior minister or his dep-uty giving you permission for your parents to stay with you if this is justifiable.

Can any of your parents and family members visit you during your stay in Qatar, what is the procedure?

- You can apply to the General Department for Passports and Immigration Affairs to receive visit visa for them. The period of their stay in Qatar shall not exceed six months after paying fees.

Excerpts from Handbook OfWorkers’ Rights published byNational Human Rights Committee.

Sponsoring family

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HEALTH 7

Health Tipsfrom DOCTOR

Food allergy is an immune system reaction that occurs soon after eating a certain food. Even a tiny amount of the allergy-causing

food can trigger signs and symptoms such as diges-tive problems, hives or swollen airways. In some people, a food allergy can cause severe symptoms or even a life-threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis.

Food allergy affects an estimated 6 to 8 percent of children under age 5, and about 3 to 4 percent of adults. While there’s no cure, some children outgrow their food allergy as they get older. It’s easy to confuse a food allergy with a much more common reaction known as food intolerance. While bothersome, food intolerance is a less serious con-dition that does not involve the immune system.

For some people, an allergic reaction to a par-ticular food may be uncomfortable but not severe. For other people, an allergic food reaction can be frightening and even life-threatening. Food allergy symptoms usually develop within a few minutes to two hours after eating the offending food. Food aller-gies can occur even the first time you eat a food.

The most common food allergy symptoms include: tingling or itching in the mouth, hives, itching or eczema, swelling of the lips, face, tongue and throat, or other parts of the body, wheezing, nasal conges-tion or trouble breathing, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea or vomiting, dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting

When you have a food allergy, your immune sys-tem mistakenly identifies a specific food or a sub-stance in food as something harmful. Your immune system triggers cells to release antibodies known as immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to neutralise the culprit food or food substance (the allergen). The next time you eat even the smallest amount of that food, the IgE antibodies sense it and signal your immune system to release a chemical called histamine, as well as other chemicals, into your bloodstream.

These chemicals cause a range of allergy signs and symptoms. They are responsible for causing allergic responses that include dripping nose, itchy eyes, dry throat, rashes and hives, nausea, diar-rhoea, laboured breathing, and even anaphylactic shock. The majority of food allergies are triggered by certain proteins in: Shellfish, such as shrimp, lobster and crab, Peanuts, tree nuts, such as wal-nuts and pecans, fish, eggs

In children, food allergies are commonly trig-gered by proteins in: Eggs, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat See a doctor or allergist if you have food allergy symptoms shortly after eating. If possible, see your doctor when the allergic reaction is occur-ring. This will help your doctor make a diagnosis.

Dr M M Abdul Kharim Specialist – Internal Medicine

Healthspring World Clinic

Food allergy By Kate Kelland

The emergence of a deadly virus previously unseen in humans that has already killed half

those known to be infected requires speedy scientific detective work to figure out its potential.

Experts in virology and infec-tious diseases say that while they already have unprecedented detail about the genetics and capabilities of the novel coro-navirus, or NCoV, what worries them more is what they don’t know.

The virus, which belongs to the same family as viruses that cause the common cold and the one that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), emerged in the Middle East last year and has so far killed seven of the 13 people it is known to have infected worldwide.

Of those, six have been in Saudi Arabia, two in Jordan, and others in Britain and Germany linked to travel in the Middle East or to family clusters.

“What we know really con-cerns me, but what we don’t know really scares me,” said Michael Osterholm, Director of the US-based Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and a professor at the University of Minnesota.

Less than a week after iden-tifying NCoV in September last year in a patient at a London hospital, scientists at Britain’s Health Protection Agency had sequenced part of its genome and mapped out a so-called “phylogenetic tree” — a kind of family tree — of its links.

Swiftly conducted scientific studies by teams in Switzerland, Germany and elsewhere have found that NCoV is well adapted to infecting humans and may be treatable medicines similar to the ones used for Sars, which emerged in China in 2002 and killed a tenth of the 8,000 people it infected.

“Partly because of the way the field has developed post-Sars, we’ve been able to get onto this virus very early,” said Mike Skinner, an expert on corona-viruses from Imperial College London. “We know what it looks like, we know what family it’s from and we have its complete gene sequence.”

Yet there are many unan-swered questions.

“At the moment we just don’t know whether the virus might

actually be quite widespread and it’s just a tiny proportion of people who get really sick, or whether it’s a brand new virus carrying a much greater virulence potential,” said Wendy Barclay, a flu virologist, also at Imperial College London.

To have any success in answering those questions, scientists and health officials in affected countries such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan need to conduct swift and robust epi-demiological studies to find out whether the virus is circulating more widely in people but caus-ing milder symptoms.

This would help establish whether the 13 cases seen so far are the most severe and rep-resent “the tip of the iceberg”, said Volker Thiel of the Institute of Immunobiology at Kantonal Hospital in Switzerland, who published research this month showing NCoV grows efficiently in human cells.

Scientists and health officials in the Middle East and Arab Peninsular also need to collabo-rate with colleagues in Europe, where some NCoV cases have been treated and where samples have gone to specialist labs, to try to pin down the virus’ source.

“ONE BIG VIROLOGICAL BLENDER”

Initial scientific analysis by laboratory scientists at Britain’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) found that NCoV’s clos-est relatives are most probably bat viruses.

It is not unusual for viruses to jump from animals to humans and mutate in the process — high profile examples include the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes Aids and the

H1N1 swine flu which caused a pandemic in 2009 and 2010.

Yet further work by a research team at the Robert Koch Institute at Germany’s University of Bonn now suggests it may have come through an intermediary — possibly goats.

In a detailed case study of a patient who was infected with NCoV and treated in Germany, researchers said the man reported owning a camel and a goat farm on which several goats had been ill with fevers before he himself got sick.

Osterholm noted this, saying he would “feel more comfort-able if we could trace back all the cases to an animal source”.

If so, it would mean the infec-tions are just occasional cross-overs from animals, he said — a little like the sporadic cases of bird flu that continue to pop up - and would suggest the virus has not yet established a reservoir in humans.

Yet recent evidence from a cluster of cases in a family in Britain strongly suggests NCoV can be passed from one person to another and may not always come from an animal source.

An infection in a British man who had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, reported on February 11, was swiftly followed by two more British cases in the same fam-ily in people who had no recent travel history in the Middle East.

The World Health Organization says the new cases show the virus is “persistent” and HPA scientists said the clus-ter provided “strong evidence” that NCoV, which like other coronaviruses probably spreads in airborne droplets, can pass from one human to another “in at least some circumstances”.

Despite this, Ian Jones, a pro-fessor of virology at Britain’s University of Reading, said he believes “the most likely out-come for the current infections is a dead end” — with the virus petering out and becoming extinct.

Others say they fear that is unlikely.

“There’s nothing in the virol-ogy that tells us this thing is going to stop being transmit-ted,” said Osterholm. “Today the world is one big virological blender. And if it’s sustaining itself (in humans) in the Middle East then it will show up around the rest of the world. It’s just a matter of time.” Reuters

Emerging deadly virusdemands swift sleuth work

PLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013

Coronavirus

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ete

ran is

all p

rais

es

for K

ash

yap, know

n for m

ovie

s like D

ev

D a

nd G

an

gs

of

Wa

sseyp

ur.

“I a

m d

elighte

d t

o b

e w

orkin

g w

ith A

nurag,

a d

irecto

r, w

ho h

as

through h

is r

ugged b

elief

in h

is k

ind o

f cin

em

a, com

pelled u

s to

fall in

line w

ith h

im. I

have a

general concept

of

the s

tory a

nd a

nxio

usl

y w

ait

fo

r h

im t

o b

egin

shooti

ng,” A

mit

abh s

aid

in a

sta

tem

ent.

Kash

yap t

oo is

“thrille

d”

about

the c

ollaborati

on.

“Lik

e e

veryon

e,

I have a

lso b

een

a f

an

of

Mr B

achchan

from

my

grow

ing-u

p y

ears.

Though I

wante

d t

o m

ake a

film

wit

h h

im f

or t

he

longest

tim

e, I

wante

d t

o b

e s

ure t

hat

the r

ole

is

som

eth

ing h

e h

as

never

done b

efo

re. W

hile w

ork

ing o

n t

he s

hort

film

wit

h h

im, I

got

this

idea,

whic

h w

e d

iscuss

ed a

nd h

e a

greed,” h

e s

aid

.

Faro

oque

She

ikh

wis

hes

Cha

shm

e B

addo

or t

eam

‘all

the

best

The t

eam

of D

avid

Dhaw

an’s

versi

on o

f C

ha

shm

e B

ud

door

recentl

y

met

vete

ran a

cto

r F

arooque S

heik

h, w

ho h

ad a

cte

d in t

he o

rig

i-nal in

1981.

Acto

rs

Ali Z

afa

r, S

iddharth

, D

ivyendu S

harm

a a

nd T

aapse

e P

annu,

were a

t a s

uburban h

ote

l here a

long w

ith D

haw

an, and s

ippin

g s

om

e

coff

ee w

hile d

iscuss

ing a

bout

the fi

lm’s

musi

c launch.

Post

the c

off

ee, everyone w

as

about

to l

eave a

nd r

eti

re f

or t

he d

ay,

but

while leavin

g t

he h

ote

l, t

hey s

uddenly

bum

ped into

Farooque.

“David

and F

arooque, w

ho h

ave b

een frie

nds,

greete

d e

ach o

ther a

nd

the f

orm

er i

ntr

oduced A

li, S

iddharth

and D

ivyendu t

o h

im. F

arooque

seem

ed d

elighte

d a

nd w

as

seen e

xchangin

g p

leasa

ntr

ies

and w

ishin

g

the y

oungst

ers

all t

he b

est

for t

he fi

lm,” s

aid

a s

ource.

In t

he o

rig

inal

Ch

ash

me B

ud

door,

acto

rs

Ravi

Basw

ani

and R

akesh

B

edi pla

yed t

he o

ther t

wo f

rie

nds.

“On h

earin

g t

hat

Ali h

as

repris

ed h

is r

ole

from

the fi

lm, F

arooque

gave h

im h

is g

ood w

ishes

and b

less

ings,

” th

e s

ource a

dded.

Produced b

y V

iacom

18 M

oti

on P

ictu

res,

Ch

ash

me B

ad

door

hit

s th

ea-

tres

April 5

.

Anu

pam

Khe

r ho

nour

ed in

LA

Vete

ran

acto

r A

nupam

Kher

was

hon

oured

by

the

Los

Angele

s C

ity C

ouncil w

ith t

he

Cit

y P

rocla

mati

on f

or h

is c

inem

ati

c

achie

vem

ents

.T

he h

onour w

as

best

ow

ed u

pon t

he

acto

r b

y H

erb J

. W

ess

on,

Jr.

, presi

-dent,

Los

Angele

s C

ity C

ouncil a

nd

Tom

Labonge,

council m

em

ber,

4th

D

istr

ict,

Tuesd

ay.

Anupam

has

been a

cti

vely

involv

ed

in inte

rnati

onal cin

em

a a

nd h

as

done

film

s like B

en

d I

t L

ike B

eck

ha

m,

Th

e

Mis

tress

of

Sp

ices

and m

ost

recentl

y

Sil

ver

Lin

ings

Pla

ybook.

“The P

rocla

mati

on f

rom

the C

ity

of

Los

Angele

s w

ould

be a

n e

ndorse

-m

en

t of

the f

act

that

Asi

an

acto

rs

are n

ot

seen a

s peculiar p

henom

ena

on a

glo

bal

pla

tform

,” A

nupam

said

in

a s

tate

ment.

Mel

anie

Bro

wn

still

in t

alks

for

The

X F

acto

r

Sin

ger M

ela

nie

Brow

n is

still in

talk

s w

ith S

imon C

ow

ell t

o b

e p

art

of

his

sin

gin

g r

eality

show

Th

e X

Fa

ctor.

The s

inger h

as

alr

eady b

een

sig

ned a

s on

e o

f th

e j

udges

for

Am

eri

ca’s

Got

Ta

len

t and r

eporte

dly

Cow

ell is

ready t

o s

tart

audit

ions

of

Th

e X

Fa

ctor

a m

onth

late

to g

et

Brow

n o

n b

oard.

“She’s

kept

dia

logue g

oin

g w

ith S

imon a

nd h

e h

asn

’t r

ule

d o

ut

brin

gin

g

her o

ver.

He l

oved h

er b

itchin

g a

nd t

hin

ks

that

she c

ould

help

lif

t th

e

show

,” t

hesu

n.c

o.u

k q

uote

d a

source a

s sa

yin

g.

It is

said

that

Cow

ell h

as

fired c

urrent

judge T

ulisa

Const

ost

avlo

s but

has

yet

to m

ake a

n o

fficia

l announcem

ent.

Whe

n M

adon

na c

hose

Kut

cher

ove

r M

oore

Sin

ger

Madonna h

as

report

edly

show

n c

lear

support

to A

shto

n K

utc

her,

sn

ubbin

g h

er

once-b

est

fri

end D

em

i M

oore

.K

utc

her

was

seen p

art

yin

g a

t M

adonna’s

annual

post

-Osc

ar

part

y

but

his

est

ran

ged w

ife D

em

i M

oore w

as

now

here i

n t

he p

ictu

re,

reports

ra

daro

nline.c

om

.M

oore

and M

adonna a

re k

now

n a

s best

of

frie

nds

and t

he f

orm

er

even

pla

yed a

host

at

the 2

011

Osc

ar

bash

.A

sourc

e p

rese

nt

at

the p

art

y s

aid

: “W

hen A

shto

n w

alk

ed i

n, it

got

the

cro

wd b

uzz

ing. M

adonna’s

never

spoken a

bout

the s

plit,

but

it’s

obvio

us

she’s

si

ded w

ith h

im o

ver

Dem

i.”“I

t w

as

kin

d o

f sh

ock

ing a

s D

em

i has

even h

ost

ed t

he p

art

y w

ith M

adonna

in t

he p

ast

, so

it’s

even m

ore

of

a m

ega s

nub. M

adonna c

learl

y loves

Ash

ton

though, th

ey w

ere

dancin

g t

ogeth

er

a l

ot

thro

ughout

the n

ight

and fl

irti

ng

up a

sto

rm,” t

he s

ourc

e a

dded.

Kutc

her

and M

oore

part

ed w

ays

in 2

011

aft

er

he w

as

caught

cheati

ng o

n

their

six

th w

eddin

g a

nniv

ers

ary

.

Law

renc

e’s

Silv

er L

inin

gs...

clot

hes

up f

or a

uctio

n

Osc

ar-

win

ing a

ctr

ess

Jennif

er

Law

rence’s

som

e o

utfi

ts w

hic

h s

he w

ore

in

Sil

ver

Lin

ings

Pla

ybook a

re u

p f

or

aucti

on.

The 2

2-y

ear-

old

walk

ed a

way w

ith t

he b

est

act

ress

pri

ze a

t th

e 8

5th

A

cadem

y A

ward

s fo

r her

perf

orm

ance in D

avid

O’R

uss

ell-d

irecte

d m

ovie

.N

ow

mem

ora

bilia

deale

r N

ate

D S

anders

has

put

severa

l it

em

s, inclu

din

g

the s

kin

-tig

ht

whit

e d

ance p

ants

that

Law

rence w

ore

in t

he fi

lm, up for

sale

in

an o

nline a

ucti

on t

hat

will end T

hurs

day,

report

s fe

male

firs

t.co.u

k.

There

are

five i

tem

s alt

ogeth

er,

and a

ucti

on e

xpert

s expect

them

sell f

or

betw

een $

500 a

nd $

1,500.

“She’s

now

on t

he r

ecord

for

havin

g a

n A

cadem

y A

ward

, w

hic

h d

efinit

ely

giv

es

it (

the ite

ms)

sta

tus

now

,” s

aid

a s

pokesp

ers

on o

f th

e a

ucti

on h

ouse

.

PLU

S |

TH

UR

SD

AY

28

FE

BR

UA

RY

2013

By

Fara

h N

aye

ri

He

pla

ys

a

crook

ed

Wash

ingto

n

con

gress-

man

, run

s

a

Lon

don

theatr

e,

an

d f

ollow

s his

fa

vourit

e t

ennis

pla

yer a

ll t

he w

ay

to M

elb

ourne.

Kevin

Spacey l

eads

a t

ran

scon

-ti

nen

tal

exis

ten

ce.

Th

e tw

o-t

ime

Oscar w

inn

er,

53,

is soon

due to

sta

rt

shooti

ng th

e secon

d season

of

the s

erie

s H

ou

se o

f C

ard

s (w

hic

h

he e

xecuti

ve-p

roduced),

where h

e

pla

ys

the s

chem

ing C

ongress

majo

r-

ity w

hip

.In

L

on

don

, h

e’s

cele

brati

ng 10

years as arti

sti

c dir

ecto

r of

the

Old

Vic

Theatr

e, w

ith t

wo m

ore t

o

go.

An

d i

n h

is s

pare t

ime,

he’s

on

th

e t

en

nis

cir

cuit

watc

hin

g A

ndy

Murray,

most

recen

tly a

t th

e U

S

and A

ust

ralian O

pens.

Spacey join

s m

e f

or a

phone c

on-

versa

tion

just

befo

re fl

yin

g t

o t

he

Unit

ed S

tate

s. H

e s

ounds

as

suave

as

his

congress

man c

haracte

r, m

inus

the h

ypocris

y.

I ask

if

his

team

-up

wit

h o

nline m

ovie

-str

eam

ing c

om

-pany N

etfl

ix i

s a c

om

men

t on

the

state

of

cin

em

a.

“In a

lot

of case

s, t

he s

tudio

s have

starte

d t

o focus

more o

n t

he s

ort

of

big

tent-

pole

film

s and t

he fi

lms

that

are n

ot

necess

arily d

riv

en b

y c

har-

acte

r,”

says

Spacey.

“It

does

seem

th

at

when t

here is

a v

acuum

, people

go t

o a

dif

ferent

pla

yground.”

Good w

rit

ers,

acto

rs

an

d d

irec-

tors

are n

ow

flockin

g t

o t

ele

vis

ion,

he s

ays,

while p

orta

ls l

ike N

etfl

ix

are s

ayin

g,

“we w

an

t to

com

pete

in

a b

igger a

ren

a.”

Netfl

ix “

outb

id

everybody a

nd g

ave u

s th

e k

ind o

f arti

stic

, creati

ve f

reedom

that

we

were lookin

g f

or.”

Spacey

soun

ds

prett

y

dis

illu

-si

oned w

ith t

he s

tudio

s.“H

ollyw

ood w

ill

make w

hate

ver

makes

mon

ey,

” he s

ays.

“S

o i

f w

e

retu

rn t

o a

kin

d o

f brilliant,

1970s

Ala

n P

akula

/Hal

Ash

by w

orld

of

cin

em

a a

nd i

t m

akes

mon

ey,

how

aw

eso

me, how

brilliant,

how

great,

le

t’s

do m

ore o

f th

ose

.”In

reality

, sm

aller m

ovie

s don

’t

get

big

rele

ase

s, h

e s

ays.

There a

re e

xcepti

ons,

such a

s th

e

trio

of

“not

obvio

us”

movie

s t

hat

Spacey,

wearin

g h

is p

roducer h

at,

persu

aded S

ony P

ictu

res

to fund: 21

(2008),

Th

e S

oci

al

Netw

ork

(2010

),

and t

he u

pcom

ing C

ap

tain

Ph

illi

ps,

st

arrin

g T

om

Hanks,

about

Som

ali

pir

ate

s hijackin

g a

US

cargo s

hip

.O

ne r

ecent

independent

movie

he

starred in, O

scar-n

om

inate

d M

arg

in

Ca

ll (

2011

), i

s about

a b

ank e

xecu-

tive w

ho g

ets

fired a

nd s

oon r

ealize

s his

boss

es

were c

ookin

g t

he b

ooks.

Spacey s

ays

he w

as

driv

en t

o d

o

the fi

lm b

ecause

“th

ere w

as

a p

erio

d

of

tim

e w

here b

ankers

becam

e t

he

bad g

uys

no m

att

er w

ho t

hey w

ere.”

Research

ing th

e m

ovie

, h

e m

et

many “

just

doin

g t

heir

jobs”

who’d

“p

ick u

p t

he p

aper a

nd r

ead a

bout

them

selv

es a

s i

f th

ey w

ere a

ll i

n

one b

oat,

and a

ll d

ese

rved t

o b

e s

o

maligned.”

“Th

ere’s

n

o doubt

there are a

num

ber o

f th

em

who c

ross

ed t

he

lin

e,

in an

in

dustr

y th

at

cle

arly

needs

and n

eeded c

leanup.”

At

the

Old

V

ic,

Spacey

has

been

sta

gin

g w

ell-a

tten

ded,

well-

revie

wed p

lays

in a

house

wit

h n

o

subsi

dy. R

ecent

hit

s in

clu

de N

ois

es

Off

, H

ed

da

Ga

ble

r, a

nd K

iss

Me K

ate

.I

tell

S

pacey th

at

a L

on

don

-base

d fi

nancie

r o

nce c

alc

ula

ted h

e

was

giv

ing u

p $

30m

a y

ear in m

ovie

earn

ings

by b

ein

g a

t th

e O

ld V

ic.

“It’s

alw

ays

nic

e t

o h

ave s

om

eon

e

menti

on t

he m

oneta

ry s

ide,” S

pacey

says,

dip

lom

ati

cally.

It’s

“not

som

eth

ing t

hat

I eit

her

kn

ow

about

or f

ocus

on

, an

d w

ho

really k

now

s,”

he s

ays.

When t

he O

ld V

ic o

ffered h

im t

he

job, he’d

spent

a d

ecade “

carvin

g a

film

career,”

and a

fter t

he O

scar for

Am

eri

can

Bea

uty

(19

99),

“I

felt

that

that

had g

one m

uch b

ett

er t

han I

could

have p

oss

ibly

hoped.”

“I d

idn’t

want

to p

ursu

e t

he s

am

e

parti

cula

r d

ream

for a

noth

er d

ec-

ade,” h

e e

xpla

ins.

Befo

re leavin

g t

he O

ld V

ic, S

pacey

has tw

o m

issio

ns:

to rais

e £

30m

($

46m

) fo

r a

n e

ndow

ment,

and t

o

repair

the b

uildin

g —

“th

e d

am

p a

nd

the V

icto

ria

n p

lum

bin

g a

nd t

he r

oof

that

was

never fi

xed i

n W

orld

War

II a

fter it

was

bom

bed.”

Th

e

theatr

e

mu

st

gen

erate

£2.7

m a

year t

o k

eep a

float.

Ban

k

of A

meric

a M

errill L

ynch is

its

sea-

son s

ponso

r.S

pacey w

on’t

be l

eavin

g L

ondon

for g

ood. “I

susp

ect

I’ll a

lways

want

to b

e i

n t

he U

S a

nd b

e i

n G

reat

Brit

ain

: T

hey’v

e b

ecom

e m

y h

om

es.

” S

o w

hat’s

next

besi

des

“House

of

Cards”

and t

he O

ld V

ic?

“I c

ould

not

poss

ibly

look b

eyond

both

of

those

tw

o t

hin

gs,

” he s

ays.

W

hat

about

the s

crip

ts t

hat

must

be p

ilin

g u

p o

n h

is d

oorst

ep?

“The g

reat

new

s is

, I’m

really n

ot

available

.”W

P-B

loo

mb

erg

Kev

in S

pac

ey: B

usy

on

bot

h s

ides

of

the

pon

d

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SCIENCEPLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 201310

© GRAPHIC NEWSSource: NASA *Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System

Comet C/2011 L4 Pan-STARRS, the first of two bright comets expectedin 2013, should be visible to the naked eye in the northern hemisphere

as it makes its first visit to the inner solar system

Cygnus

Cepheus

Andromeda

LacertaPegasus

Aquarius

Pisces

Cetus

Cassiopeia

Aries

Cometshould bebrightestbetweenMar 8-24,visible abovewestern horizonjust after sunset

Path ofcometacrossnight sky

Mar 14

Mar 7

Mar 21

Mar 28

Apr 4Apr 11

Comet Pan-STARRS

Mar 10: Closestapproach to sun –45 million km

Discovery dateDiscovered byOrbital periodOrigin

June 6, 2011Pan-STARRS* arrayApprox. 110,000 yearsOort cloud region at edgeof solar system

Earth

Sun

Mercury

MarsVenus

Comet tailsget longer ascomet nears sun

Gas (ion) tailpoints away from sun

Dust tail(most visible)curves towardsorbital path

Sun

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11BOOKS PLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013

Pippa Middleton to write cookery column for UK supermarket

Pippa Middleton, the sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, is to give cooking tips to

the masses in a new column for British supermarket chain Waitrose.

Middleton, 29, will write a column for the upmarket chain’s monthly magazine, Waitrose Kitchen, called Pippa’s Friday

Night Feasts.Her foray into kitchen advice

comes after she released a book called Celebrate last year, which was a guide to entertain-ing through the year and built on the experience she gained working for her family’s party-planning business.

The book by the sister of Britain’s future queen was both praised and pilloried in equal measure but did not sell well and was quickly discounted in book stores.

William Sitwell, Editor of Waitrose Kitchen, said readers would enjoy Middleton’s relaxed and easy entertaining ideas.

“Pippa will be an excellent contributor to the magazine, bringing with her a wealth of experience of entertaining, gained in part from working at her family’s party business,” he said in a statement.

Her first column will appear in the magazine’s April issue and will feature casual dining ideas and recipes.

Middleton said her column would be an “exciting opportu-nity to share my own passion and enthusiasm for food and entertaining and I can’t wait to get started”.

Reuters

By Michael Cavna

Cartoonist Stephan Pastis thinks there’s one thing that makes him well-prepared for his new career as an author

of illustrated kids’ books.“I’ve never been a good artist,” con-

fesses Pastis, whose style of drawing uses clean, bold lines. Drawing for books lets him rely more on the words.

Pastis, who created the popular Pearls Before Swine comic strip, is too modest about his own talents. Which perhaps makes him the polar oppo-site of his new creation, little Timmy Failure. Timmy is a boy detective who, while looking for clues, remains abso-lutely clueless.

“I have an unreliable narrator,” Pastis says of the lead character in the new book, Timmy Failure: Mistakes

Were Made. “I have to remind myself every chapter: He gets everything wrong.”

Timmy Failure’s name fits him per-fectly. Timmy is, in his own mind, “the founder, president and CEO of the best detective agency in town, probably the nation.” But the more obvious the clues seem to be in front of him — hints that most young readers will quickly pick up — the more likely Timmy is to miss or misread them completely.

Yet Pastis is smart enough to also make Timmy likable. Timmy is an only child who lives with his mom, but he doesn’t have a dad or any truly close human friends in his life. His best pal is Total, a sidekick who happens to weigh 1,500 pounds. Because he’s a polar bear. The catch: Total may or may not be real.

“I leave that ... up to the reader,” Pastis says of whether Total is real or imaginary. The forever-hungry polar bear is real enough to Timmy, which — as with the tiger in Calvin and Hobbes — is what really matters. Total’s presence is a reminder of Timmy’s loneliness,

which only makes us like the young detective more.

Pastis wasn’t necessarily looking to write children’s books. Drawing “Pearls Before Swine” keeps him busy: It appears in more than 650 newspapers and has been collected in books. But his agent suggested he try a children’s book, and Pastis is glad he did.

“Novel writing is so freeing,” Pastis says. “Writing for comic strips is restricting. I only have three panels to say what I want to say.”

Pastis is also very careful in how he draws Timmy. Every part of how he looks is done to create a character. For example, one of Timmy’s eyes is also looking slightly off-centre, to match the boy’s approach to life. In that way, Pastis says, “I have the ability to convey what I want to, emotionally.”

In other words, Pastis may not be a “good artist” — but he is one great illustrator.

WP-Bloomberg

Tea cozies and pencil sharpening vie for oddest book title award

The defective detective

A guide to sharpening pencils and a craft manual about how tea cozies changed the world are among a shortlist of books that

are competing for the Oddest Book Title of the Year award.

The shortlist in the 35th annual Diagram Prize also includes a study of Adolf Hitler’s health by Henrik Eberle and Hans-Joachim Neumann titled Was Hitler Ill? and Lofts of North America: Pigeon

Lofts by Jerry Gagne.These are up against How to Sharpen Pencils by

David Rees, Goblinproofing One’s Chicken Coop by Reginald Bakeley and How Tea Cosies Changed the

World by Loani Prior.

Philip Stone, coordinator of the prize run by industry publication the Bookseller, said the award might seem flippant but publishers and booksellers are well aware of the fact that a title can make all the difference to the sales of a book.

“Publishers realise that if a book has an unusual title, particularly a novel, it can help make them more attractive to the public,” Stone said.

“People think it looks interesting and will pick it up and read the synopsis and that makes them more likely to buy it.”

As examples he cited A Short History of Tractors

in Ukrainian that has sold almost a million copies and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

that has sold more than two million copies and was adapted for the theatre.

“There is a cliché that you can’t judge a book by its cover but I think people do, the cover and the title,” said Stone.

The winner, chosen by an online public vote, will be announced on March 22.

The Diagram Prize was founded at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1978 and first awarded to Proceedings

of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice.Last year’s winner was Cooking with Poo, a Thai

cookbook by Bangkok resident Saiyuud Diwong whose nickname is Poo.

Reuters

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PLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013 TECHNOLOGY12

Augmented reality apps bring video-game technology to clothing, furniture stores

Will augmented reality replace fitting rooms? Augmented reality

technology, which overlays digital images onto pictures of real objects or backgrounds, is becoming more widely used in product selection and advertising.

Along with the focus on the tech-nology as a new avenue for sales promotion, market players such as cellphone companies offering aug-mented reality software hope the market will continue to expand.

Interior retailer Francfranc hopes to release a mobile devices application that will let customers simulate furniture arrangements in their homes before purchase by as early as March. To use the app, a user takes a picture of a room with a smartphone or tablet and selects pieces of furniture to sample. An image of the furniture inside the room appears on-screen.

Toshiba offers a similar app that allows customers to visualise what TVs and other large appliances will look like in their homes. It ays the app has boosted sales of products not on display at retail stores.

Similar technology is being used in apparel retail. Uniqlo, the casual clothing chain run by Fast Retailing, has outfitted its San Francisco out-let with two virtual fitting rooms. Customers have their pictures taken while standing in front of a large monitor. They then select clothing items such as fleeces on a tablet, and an image of them wearing the clothes appears on the screen.

“We’re using the feel of video games to get people to try colours they’ve never worn before,” a Fast Retailing official said.

A-net, another clothing retailer, has installed systems at a store in Tokyo and one in Osaka that can adjust virtual clothes to body type and follow body movements. Customers can choose from about 200 items.

Augmented reality applications are expanding as camera-equipped, high-tech smartphones become more common and data networks increase in speed. The research firm Seed Planning says the market for augmented reality technology is pre-dicted to increase ninefold from 2009 to 2015, going from about 20bn yen to about 180bn yen.

Anticipating the increase, com-munications giant KDDI is mar-keting development software for system firms creating apps. After testing it with 16 firms from January to May, the company hopes to sell the package to 200 firms in 10 months from June. WP-Bloomberg

Apps of the DAY

The “phablet” phenomenon is taking the mobile world by storm.

Manufacturers at the world’s biggest mobile fair in Barcelona, Spain, released a

slew of outsized smartphones that can barely fit in one hand and tablets that have shrunk dramatically.

Further blurring the lines between smartphone and tablet, a selection of the latest tablets can be used as phones, albeit somewhat awkwardly.

At the February 25-28 World Mobile Congress, the Ascend Mate by Chinese manufacturer Huawei, the world’s number three smartphone manufacturer, was the champion with a vast six-inch screen.

Not far behind in the smartphone screen real estate contest, rival Chinese handset maker ZTE released its Grand Memo boasting a 5.7-inch display.

South Korean giant LG trailed with its Optimus Pro, at 5.5 inches.

“It’s a growing trend, especially in Asia, and a lot of these phones are favoured by women, women who don’t have to worry putting it into their pock-ets, they carry it in their purse,” said Ken Hong, Communications Director at LG.

More than 120 million tablets were sold world-wide in 2012, up 50 percent from the previous year, and shipments of smartphones are predicted to hit one billion this year according to global consultants Deloitte.

But the size of tablets is shrinking.The Samsung Galaxy Note 8, released just ahead

of the congress, trimmed its screen to eight inches to compete with Apple’s new iPad mini.

Taiwan’s Asus has managed to marry the two devices.

Asus showed off the Padfone Infinity, a five-inch, high-definition screen smartphone that can harness the latest superfast fourth-generation wireless net-work and which slots into 10.1-inch tablet.

The smartphones of 2013 have to be fast, too, how-ever, as the 4G network, also known as Long Term Evolution, or LTE, expands worldwide.

China’s Huawei unveiled a new mobile at the show, the Ascend P2, which it claims is the fastest in the world.

Sharp-cornered and thinner than a pencil at 8.4 mm, the company said it can achieve speeds of 150 Mbps, fast enough to download a two-hour high-definition movie in less than five minutes.

The mobile, which has a more modest 4.7-inch, high definition screen, is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and is able to use LTE networks.

Huawei held 5.3 percent of the market in the fourth quarter of 2012.

That is still well behind Samsung and Apple which held more than 50 percent of the sales combined -- 29.0 percent for Samsung and 22.1 percent for Apple.

If you can’t be the biggest, smallest or fastest, there is another way to the hearts of mobile phone consumers.

Finnish manufacturer Nokia, once the leader of the mobile phone world, tried to lure shoppers with lower prices.

Nokia released two Windows Phone-operated smartphones — the Lumia 520 and 720 — to be offered with pre-tax price tags of €139 ($189) and €249 respectively.

But Nokia also offered the Nokia 105, the kind of mobile handset people use mostly for making tel-ephone calls, for just €15. AFP

Ascend Mate

Grand Memo

Smartphones and tabletsmeet in ‘phablet’ mania

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COMICS & MORE 13

Hoy en la HistoriaFebruary 28, 1953

1912: The first parachute jump was made by Albert Berry in Missouri, U.S. 2003: Former prime minister Vaclav Klaus was elected president of the Czech Republic 2003: Bill Gates topped Forbes’ list of billionaires for the ninth straight year, but his fortune was down by 60 percent 2011: As Libya’s civil war escalated more than 200,000 people fled across the Tunisian and Egyptian borders

James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule containing human genes

Picture: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS

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

ACCESSORY, APPEARANCE, ARTISTIC, ATTIRE, ATTITUDE,CATWALK, CLOTHES, COSTUME, COUTURE, DEMONSTRATION,DESIGN, DISPLAY, ELAN, ELEGANCE, EXHIBITION, EXPRESSION,FASHION, FINERY, FLAIR, FORM, GARB, LOOK, MANNEQUIN,MANNER, MILLINER, MODE, MODEL, OUTFIT, PANACHE,PARADE, PATTERN, POSE, RAIMENT, SHOW, STATEMENT,STYLE, SUPERMODEL, TREND, VOGUE, WALK.

Baby Blues Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman

Zits by Dennis Young and Denis Lebrun

Hagar The Horrible Chris Browne

LEARNARABIC

The Destinations / Directions:

Qab’l Before

Ba’ed After

Sha’ri’e Street

Daw’war Roundabout

Ma ha’t bitrool Petrol station

Isha’rat almuroor Traffic signal

Jiss’r Bridge

PLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013

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PLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013

HYPER SUDOKU

CROSSWORD

CROSSWORDS

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

How to play Hyper Sudoku:A Hyper Sudoku

Puzzle is solved

by filling the

numbers from 1

to 9 into the blank

cells. A Hyper

Sudoku has

unlike Sudoku

13 regions

(four regions

overlap with the

nine standard

regions). In all

regions the numbers from 1 to 9 can appear

only once. Otherwise, a Hyper Sudoku is

solved like a normal Sudoku.

ACROSS 1 Skirt raisers?

9 Toward the tip

15 Equivalent of “ibidem”

16 ___ 400 (Pennsylvania Nascar event)

17 They’re often swiped at stores

18 Parnassian

19 Stereotypical bouncers

20 Do some post-harvesting work

21 Marion ___, Emmy-winning actress on “Bewitched”

22 A hand

24 Singer in the “Odyssey”

25 “What ___?”

26 Subject for Enrico Caruso

28 Kiss hit “Rock and Roll All ___”

29 Western wear

31 Cousin of bridge

35 Discards

36 2001 presidential biography by Edmund Morris

40 Pull down

41 Michael who sang “I’m a lumberjack and I’m O.K.”

42 Rudimentary run

46 Puts on a graph, say

48 Zero-deg. setting

49 Source of a feather in one’s cap?

50 Symbol of power

52 TV hotline

54 Captured for posterity, maybe

55 Spanish port

56 Classic Lorre role

57 Jabbed back

58 Like classic stories

59 Macramé creators

DOWN 1 Helpful

2 Lorry supply

3 Shows reservations

4 Molière contemporary

5 Put to shame

6 “Heads up!”

7 Many an HBO show

8 Shrink time, say

9 8-Down, e.g.: Abbr.

10 Some toy bears, informally

11 They have two goals

12 Sets of friends

13 Liqueur sweetened with syrup

14 Locale in a much-studied 1934 photo

23 1970s-’80s N.B.A. nickname

26 Classical subject of a Velázquez painting in the Prado

27 Gone from a plate

29 “The Beverly Hillbillies” role

30 1920 Democratic presidential nominee

31 “Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves,” in Alcoholics Anonymous

32 Digital bone

33 1980s-’90s Ford model

34 “Whatever”

37 Catchy tune

38 Medicinal tea source

39 Narcolepsy drug

42 Totally shaken

43 Family name in English literature

44 See 49-Down

45 Strong mounts

47 Walls of the heart

49 With 44-Down, it had its grand opening on 10/1/1982

51 Ranked player

53 ___ the hat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16

17 18

19 20

21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28

29 30

31 32 33 34 35

36 37 38 39

40 41 42 43 44 45

46 47 48 49

50 51 52 53

54 55

56 57

58 59

G I V E M E O N E R E A S O NI N O N E S S A L A D D A Y SS O W H A T E L S E I S N E WT I T A N S S T I R

L O N E E N E T A I LC R A N N Y D E F O E

F R E E S T A T E S A W NW T O C O W B I R D E A TE L O I F I L M R E E L SL E F T S N E E S O NL E T H E E R S I S T

R U M P R A G T O PY O U R P L A C E O R M I N EI N S T R U M E N T P A N E LP A S S E S O N D E S S E R T

How to play Kakuro:The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers.However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number.Within each collection of cells - called a run

- any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once.

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

14

EASY SUDOKUEasy Sudoku PuzzlesPlace a digit from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so everyrow, every column and every 3x3 box contains allthe digits 1 to 9.

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

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CINEMA / TV LISTINGS 15

14:00 English Sports

News

14:15 Copa Del

Rey Sevilla V

Atletico

16:00 Fa Cup Everton

V Oldham

18:00 English Sports

News

18:15 Atp Tennis

Magazine

18:45 German Cup

Byern Munich

V Borussia

Dortmund

20:30 Transworld

Sport

21:30 Total Italian

Football

22:00 Capital One Cup

Final Bradford V

Swansea

24:00 Rugby 6

Nations England

V France

08:00 News

09:00 Revolution

Through Arab

Eyes

10:00 News

10:30 Inside Story

11:30 The Stream

12:00 News

12:30 People &

Power

13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:30 Inside Story

15:00 Witness

16:00 NEWSHOUR

17:00 News

17:30 The Stream

18:00 NEWSHOUR

19:30 Witness

20:00 News

20:30 Inside Story

21:00 NEWSHOUR

22:00 News

22:30 The Stream

23:00 Revolution

Through Arab

Eyes

13:40 Around The

World In 80 Ways

15:05 Auction Kings

15:30 Auction Hunters

16:00 Bear Grylls

17:50 Mythbusters

18:45 American Guns

20:05 How It’s Made

20:35 Auction Kings

21:00 Auction

Hunters

21:30 Flying Wild

Alaska

22:25 Man, Woman,

Wild

13:00 Expedition

Wild

16:00 Man v.

Monster

17:00 Fish Warrior

18:00 Animal Mega

Moves

20:00 Swamp Men

21:00 Caught In The

Act

22:00 Man v. Monster

23:00 The Phantom

Cat

13:40 Courage The

Cowardly Dog

14:30 Powerpuff Girls

17:00 Ben 10:

Omniverse

17:40 Johnny Test

18:00 Level Up

20:55 Ben 10:

Ultimate Alien

21:20 Hero 108

22:10 Grim

Adventures Of...

12:00 Zathura:

A Space

Adventure

14:00 Snow Day

16:00 The Ladykillers

18:00 The Winning

Season

20:00 High Fidelity

22:00 Paul

13:20 Wildlife SOS

13:50 Shamwari: A

Wild Life

14:45 Animal Precinct

16:30 Escape To

Chimp Eden

17:00 Really Wild Show

17:30 Dogs 101

18:25 Animal Airport

20:15 Monkey Life

20:40 Wild Africa

Rescue

21:10 Rescue Vet

22:05 Wildest Latin

America

13:55 Sketches

15:35 Bonanza Under

Attack

17:05 War Stories

18:30 The 70’s

20:25 Valley Girl

22:00 Funny Thing

Happened On

The Way…

23:35 It’s A Mad Mad

World

12:20 The Belle Of

New York

13:40 Brigadoon

15:30 The

Comedians-PG

18:00 Light In The

Piazza

19:40 Never So Few-

PG

21:40 Little Caesar

23:00 Butterfield 8

13:00 The Search For

Santa Paws

14:45 Horrid Henry

16:30 Cheaper By The

Dozen

18:15 Princess Lillifee

20:00 Cher Ami

23:30 Emperor’s

Secret

TEL: 444933989 444517001

MALL CINEMA

1Zila Ghaziabad (Hindi)

– 2.30, 5.15, 8.00 & 10.45pm

2

Mohema Fi Film Kadeem (2D/Arabic) – 3.00pm

Aadhi Bhagavan (2D/Tamil) – 5.00 & 10.30pm

Identity Thief (2D/Crime) – 8.00pm

3

Top Cat: The Movie (3D/Animation) – 2.30pm

Parker (2D/Action) – 4.30 & 9.00pm

Silent Hill Revelation (3D/Horror) – 7.00 & 11.15pm

ROYAL PLAZA

1

Top Cat: The Movie (3D/Animation) – 2.15pm

Identity Thief (2D/Crime) – 4.00pm

Parker (2D/Action) – 5.45 & 9.30pm

Silent Hill Revelation (3D/Horror) – 7.45 & 11.30pm

2Lokpal (Malayalam)

– 2.30, 5.15, 8.00 & 10.45pm

3

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (3D/Fantasy)

– 3.00 & 5.00pmMy Boss (Malayalam)

– 7.30 & 10.30pm

LANDMARK

1

Mohema Fi Film Kadeem (2D/Arabic) – 3.00 & 5.00pmIdentity Thief (2D/Crime)

– 7.00pm

Argo (2D/Drama) – 9.00pm

Parker (2D/Action) – 11.00pm

2

Top Cat: The Movie (3D/Animation) – 2.30 & 4.30pm

Parker (2D/Action) – 6.30pm

Identity Thief (2D/Crime) – 9.00pm

Silent Hill Revelation (3D/Horror) – 11.15pm

3

I, Me aur Main (2D/Hindi) – 2.30pm

The Attacks of 26/11 (2D/Hindi) – 4.30 & 11.15pm

Romans (2D/Malayalam) – 6.45pm

Silent Hill Revelation (3D/Horror) – 9.30pm

PLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013

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PLUS | THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013 POTPOURRI16

Editor-In-Chief Khalid Al Sayed Acting Managing Editor Hussain Ahmad Editorial Office The Peninsula Tel: 4455 7741, E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]

If you want your events featured here mail details to [email protected]

Islamic Arts workshops at Katara Art Studios When: March 3; 10:00 - March 16; 21:30Where: Katara Art Studios, Building 19 What: A series of Islamic Arts workshops facilitated by The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, which specialises in teaching, researching, and promoting the practice and theory of the arts and crafts of the world’s great traditions.Ticket: Free of cost. To reserve your place and to find out the schedule email [email protected] or call the Katara Education team on 4408 0233.

Forever NowWhen: Until March 31, 2013; 11am-6pmWhere: Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

What: Forever Now proposes new readings based on the works of five artists from Mathaf’s permanent collection. This exhibition unpacks new narratives that posit a unique understanding of five diverse artists: Fahrelnissa Zeid, Jewad Selim, Saliba Douaihy, Salim Al Dabbagh and Ahmed Cherkaoui. Free entry

The FamilyWhen: Until Feb 28; 10am-10pmFriday: 2pm-10pmWhere: Anima Gallery, The Pearl-QatarWhat: First Guiragossian family exhibition. Despair, separation, re-union, love... Life in all its forms is portrayed in the works of Paul, Emmanuel, Jean Paul and Manuella Guiragossian. Free entry

Tea with NefertitiWhen: Until March 31, 2013; 11am-6pmWHERE: Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art WHAT: Offer a critical perspective on how to perceive an artwork, particularly in and from the Arab world. Free entry

Chamber Music at Museum of Islamic Art:Death and the MaidenWhen: March 7; 6pmWhere: Museum of Islamic Art Atrium

Encounter: The Royal Academy in the Middle East ExhibitionWhen: Until March 6; 10am-10pmWhere: Gallery 1&2 Building 19 and Katara Gallery Building 22 What: An exhibition featuring over 80 works of art in a wide variety of media by 25 Royal Academicians and 25 prominent artists from across the Middle East.Free entry

Events in Qatar MEDIA SCAN

IN FOCUS

• Demand for strict monitoring of cafes, especially those serv-ing shisha, to enforce safety standards.

• Calls to speed up installation of traffic lights at roundabouts on roads leading to Industrial Area.

• Insurance firms are complain-ing that some companies are not paying enough premium to cover the needs of the beneficiaries.

• Qtel will use its new name, Ooredoo, from March 11.

• Suggestion for opening a special bank to help young couples who are getting married.

• Call for drawing up and sticking

to a time frame for completion of infrastructure projects.

• Complaints against elementary school that took away school books from students to force their parents to pay tuition fees.

• Discussion about whether the Supreme Educational Council’s e-learning initiative will succeed, since it needs good internet connectivity.

• Authorities urged to switch off streetlights that are on even dur-ing the day in some areas.

• Four ladies hit a girl in front of onlookers in Dafna area in a dis-pute over parking space.

A summary ofissues of the daydiscussed by the Qatari communityin the media.

A photo taken at the Wakrah beach by a reader.

by Shaji Panicker

Lions and bears removed from gangster’s property

A notorious gangster known as Nutzu the Pawnbroker has been indicted for head-

ing a gang charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, blackmail and illegally possessing weapons, but the public seems to be more interested in his pets: four lions and two bears.

Press reports, not confirmed by authorities have claimed that Ion Balint — his real name — use the lions to intimidate rivals and victims.

When he rode away from prison on a black stallion in 2010, Balint played up that fearsome image.

“You said I fed men to the lions?” Balint can be heard saying on a tape. “Why don’t you come over and I’ll give you some lions!”

Authorities won’t speculate about why Balint kept lions and bears, as well as thoroughbred horses and canaries, at his high-walled and heavily guarded estate in the poorest part of Bucharest.

“Many untruths are being reported,” Balint’s son-in-law Marius Vlad said, referring to other rumours of a torture cham-ber. Police removed the animals from the house. AP

If you want a photograph taken by you featured here mail it to [email protected]