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• Prizes distributed in ICBF Hajikaessay contest

• 10 best selling books • Book review: The

Word Exchange

• Return to Homs shows a slice of Syrian crisis

• Cholesterol drugusers may use pillsas a licence to overeat

• Facebook buys fitness-tracking app Moves

inside

Learn Arabic • Learn commonly

used Arabic wordsand their meanings

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Cargo overload cited in ferry sinking

TRAVEL TIPS:TRAVEL TIPS: SÃO PAULOSÃO PAULO

A sprawling metropolitan area of nearly 20 million people, São Paulo is sometimes referred to as the New York of South America. Brazil’s business capital boasts a rich cultural life and restaurant scene that rival the world’s premier cities.

2 COVER STORYPLUS | SUNDAY 27 APRIL 2014

Brazil’s beachless metropolis is a foodie’s paradise

By Todd Benson

If your idea of Brazil is beaches, São Paulo is not the place to go. That’s what Rio de Janeiro is for.

But if you’re a seasoned traveller who tends to shun traditional tourism hot spots for urban adventures off the beaten trail, then put Brazil’s biggest city on your bucket list.

A sprawling metropolitan area of nearly 20 million people, São Paulo is sometimes referred to as the New York of South America. While the comparison may be a bit overstated, Brazil’s business capital boasts a rich cultural life and restaurant scene that rival the world’s premier cities. (Map: https://goo.gl/maps/3UJKd)

It is also Brazil’s most global city, with long-established immigrant communities from Portugal, Spain, Italy, Japan and the Middle East. More recently it has attracted waves of immigrants from west Africa, China, Haiti and neighbouring Spanish-speaking countries such as Bolivia and Peru, giving it a distinctly inter-national vibe felt nowhere else in Latin America.

Antonio Carlos Jobim, the late singer-song-writer who was the godfather of bossa nova, once famously said, “Brazil is not for beginners.” That rings particularly true in São Paulo, whose sheer size, helter-skelter urban blueprint and epic traf-fic jams can wear down even the most experi-enced globetrotter.

But that chaos is also São Paulo’s allure. Whereas Rio’s natural beauty overwhelms the senses, São Paulo plays hard to get. It takes time and tenacity to discover its many charms, but once you do, you’ll feel like you’ve joined a select club of travellers who have cracked one of the world’s toughest cities.

Soccer fans will get a chance to do so in June and July, when São Paulo will hold six World Cup games at a brand-new stadium on the city’s long-neglected east side. In addition to the opening match between Brazil and Croatia, the stadium will host Uruguay vs England, Netherlands vs Chile, South Korea vs Belgium, plus a Round of 16 showdown and a semi-final.

Here are tips for getting the most out of a trip to São Paulo.

Restaurants GaloreWhat São Paulo lacks in beaches and beauty, it

makes up for in food. From world-class haute cui-sine to simple but satisfying lunch buffets where you pay by the weight of your serving, there is something for just about every appetite and wal-let size.

True to its immigrant roots, São Paulo has long been known for Italian cantinas, Japanese sushi bars and authentic Lebanese food. Until recently, however, one cuisine that the city’s restaurant scene largely lacked was, oddly enough, Brazilian.

That changed in the last decade, thanks to a group of chefs whose passion for local ingredients spawned a Brazilian food revolution that put São Paulo on the global gourmet map.

At the forefront of this movement is Alex Atala, a tattoo-loving celebrity chef whose res-taurant D.O.M. in the swanky Jardins district ranks sixth on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list sponsored by Britain’s Restaurant magazine. If you have deep pockets and you’re lucky enough to secure a reservation, D.O.M.’s eight-course tast-ing menu will take your palate on a tour of the Amazon. (www.domrestaurante.com.br)

For a more down-to-earth Brazilian food expe-rience, try Tordesilhas about six blocks away. This place serves up regional classics. If you’re in a group, get the barreado, a succulent beef feast that simmers in a sealed clay pot for 14 hours. (www.tordesilhas.com)

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Two other flag-bearers of São Paulo’s Brazilian food movement are Brasil a Gosto (www.brasilagosto.com.br), a stone’s throw from D.O.M., and Mocotó (www.mocoto.com.br), where chef Rodrigo Oliveira turned his father’s eatery on the city’s unglamorous north side into a favourite of frugal foodies. It’s well worth the 30-plus minute taxi ride from downtown.

Another long-overlooked cuisine that has taken São Paulo by storm in recent years is Portuguese. For a taste of the sun-baked shores of the Algarve, order the grilled sardines and octopus rice at Taberna 474 in Jardim Paulistano. (www.taberna474.com.br)

Other popular newcomers to the city’s food scene hail from Brazil’s Andean neighbors. Suri, a Peruvian ceviche place run by a Colombian chef, draws a hipster crowd and is packed on weekends. (www.suri.com.br)

São Paulo By Foot?Make no mistake, the automobile is

king is São Paulo. There are almost 6 million cars, more than a million motorcycles and nearly 34,000 taxis on the congested streets, causing up to 300km (186 miles) of gridlock at rush hour on a bad night.

Fortunately, some of the city’s most interesting attractions are best dis-covered on foot. Just be careful when crossing the street, because Brazilian motorists rarely stop for pedestrians.

For a walking tour of old downtown, take the metro on a weekday to São Bento, the historic monastery that Pope Benedict XVI visited on a trip to Brazil in 2007.

From there, stroll through the cen-tre’s maze of pedestrian streets and take in the architecture of a more ele-gant São Paulo of yesteryear, including the Depression-era Martinelli building, the city’s first skyscraper. (www.predi-omartinelli.com.br)

Other must-see downtown landmarks:

the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center (www.bb.com.br/cultura), which hosts art exhibits and cultural events for free in a beautiful building from 1901; and the Municipal Theater, a recently restored gem from 1911 that houses the São Paulo Symphonic Orchestra.

When hunger sets in, walk a few more blocks and get the lunch spe-cial at Bar da Dona Onça, another exponent of the Brazilian food move-ment. (www.bardadonaonca.com.br) It is located in one of São Paulo’s most iconic buildings, the curvy Edifício

Copan designed in 1954 by the late Oscar Niemeyer.

After lunch, grab a cab and head over to the art deco Pacaembu Stadium, which houses one of the city’s most beloved museums. Opened in 2008, the Museu do Futebol is a shrine to soccer that uses interactive technol-ogy to chronicle the history of Brazil’s national pastime. (www.museudofute-bol.org.br)

Another good spot for a walk is Avenida Paulista, the quintessential São Paulo postcard. Once a sleepy resi-dential boulevard where coffee barons built lavishly ornate mansions, today it is a bustling thoroughfare lined with skyscrapers, stores and, this being São Paulo, restaurants.

Spend a Saturday exploring Vila Madalena, a hilly bohemian enclave of art galleries and shops. Make sure to sample the tropical fruits on offer at the farmer’s market on Rua Mourato Coelho, and eventually circle back to Rua Fidalga for a traditional lunch at Bar Filial. (www.barfilial.com.br)

If you weren’t lucky enough to score any World Cup tickets, don’t despair. It might be just as fun to watch the games at Filial or any other of the dozens of eateries scat-tered around Vila Madalena. Another local favourite is São Cristóvão, where the walls and ceilings are lined with sports memorabilia and the waiters wear throwback soccer shirts. This may very well have been the loudest place in the city when Brazil last won a World Cup in 2002.

If you’re not in a food coma by now, wind up your trip with a nightcap at Skye Bar on the roof of Hotel Unique, a boat-shaped boutique hotel designed by the Brazilia n architect Ruy Ohtake. The place is expensive, but what you’re really paying for is the stunning view of the never-ending São Paulo skyline. (www.hotelunique.com.br)

Reuters

PLUS | SUNDAY 27 APRIL 2014

PLUS | SUNDAY 27 APRIL 20144 CAMPUS

DMIS marks Earth Day

The students of DMIS expressed their feelings towards saving ‘Mother Earth’ by displaying

their thoughts and ideas through colourful posters. The poster making activity was conducted by the

Department of English as part of the Earth Day cel-ebrations. Students of Grade 9 and 10 participated in the activity and the topic given was ‘Save the Earth’. Bright and colourful posters with practical solutions for pollution and slogans that warn about our neg-ligence towards the environment were displayed in the chart sheets.

The posters were exhibited in the school to cre-ate awareness in students on the need to protect the earth from the disasters caused by human interference.

Students of Grade 2 CBSE showed the best way to encourage others for the cause of saving environ-ment is to write and share some short messages. Their slogans stamped on the outline of a tree to save Earth were “Save Trees” and “Do not cut Trees”. This simple tree making activity helped them to learn importance and uses of trees.

The Peninsula

School Olympic Programme held swimming competitions for the girls at Aspire Dome recently. Birla Public School students won gold medal in 4X25mts Freestyle Relay. Simon Franseca of VI D, Gurkashish Kaur of V Ai, Sejal Sanil of V D and Shreya Manoj of VI N were part of the team. Franseca also won a silver medal in 25mts Back Stroke (Group-Primary II).

MES Indian School scrabble team won the runner-up title in the scrabble tournament hosted by Stafford Sri Lankan School, Doha, recently. Mahalakshmi Rajeev of class VIII, won the Champion of the Event trophy while Deep Chandra of class VII of the school, won the Best Highest scoring word award in the tournament. Mini Ramesh, Ambika Sukumaran and Manmadhan M, trained the students.

Tiny tots at the KG section of Bhavan’s Public School organised many activities to mark the Earth Day. All the students took part in the drawing competi-tion conducted at the campus to celebrate the day.

5COMMUNITY PLUS | SUNDAY 27 APRIL 2014

The second ‘Total Alreyada: Connecting Young Leaders’ summit successfully concluded

in Doha with a pledge to further expand the annual gathering of aspiring energy industry professionals across the Middle East and North Africa.

Forty-four students and young professionals, both men and women, from seven Middle East countries took part in the four-day workshop and team building event, which hosted presentations from leading Middle East experts in the oil and gas sector. Alreyada 2014 received 20 participants from Qatar.

Opening the event, H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari, Minister of Culture, Arts & Heritage, said: “Human development is one of the

most essential issues, which needs cooperation between all the State authorities and all foreign countries.”

Total Alreyada 2014 invited young leaders from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman and Iran to compete in a team assignment themed on ‘long-lasting partnerships’. Besides experiencing workshops and team challenges, the participants visited the Qatar Science and Technology Park and Doha’s renowned Museum of Islamic Art.

The event’s speakers and panellists at the Ritz Carlton Doha included Sheikh Khalid Abdulla Al Thani, COO of Qatargas; Sara Akbar, CEO of Kuwait Energy; Dr Mohammed Al Mulla, Vice Chairman and CEO of Qapco; Adel Albuainain, General

Manager of Dolphin Qatar; Saad Al Kaabi, Director of Oil & Gas Ventures at Qatar Petroleum; and Shabir Hussain, Omanisation Manager of Petroleum Development Oman. Talent development, leadership, innovation and sustainability, and the challenges facing the energy sector in the face of rapidly growing local and global demand were among the topics under discussion.

Guillaume Chalmin, Managing Director of Total E&P Qatar and Total Group representative in Qatar, said: “We’re thrilled that so many young leaders could attend Alreyada 2014 from around the Middle East to share their ideas and creativity, and the team spirit on show during the four days of the event was truly

inspirational. “Alreyada is an event by and for

the Middle East and we are proud to support this dialogue between its young leaders and experts from many different countries.”

The inaugural Total Alreyada, which took place in Abu Dhabi last year, was named Best CSR Initiative in the Middle East at the 2013 ADIPEC Awards, one of the oil and gas industry’s most prestigious awards.

Commenting on the success of Total Alreyada 2014 in Doha, Qatar University student Fahad Adnan Al Naimi said: “Alreyada was a good way to test myself against other young leaders before I start my career, and to try to be the best of the best.”

The Peninsula

Total Alreyada 2014 promotes spirit of energy industry partnership

Prize distribution function for Hajika Memorial Essay Contest, conducted by ICBF, was held at MES Indian School KG wing. Arvnd Patil,

General Secretary of ICBF conducted the function. President of ICBF Kareem Abdulla welcomed the gath-ering and announced that ICBF would conduct this contest every year.

The Indian Ambassador Sanjiv Arora distributed the certificates to all the school representatives and a special token of appreciation was presented to MES school which was received by General Secretary of Management board KP Abdul Aziz.

First place winner in senior category was Nikhat Sayed of Shantiniketan-School and second place went to Sana Shanawaz Shaikh of Ideal Indian School and in the junior category first place win-ner was Jyotsna A J of MES School and second place went to Aashiya Anitha Shaji of Birla Public School.

Shaheen Abdul Kader son of late Hajika was present during the event and said that it is matter of pride being son of Hajika and thanked the ICBF for constituting the contest in his father’s name. Baby Kurien, Vice President of ICBF, gave the vote of thanks. The Peninsula

Telugu Kala Samiti to hold comedy and music show on May 9

Telugu Kala Samiti (TKS) is organising a music and comedy

show “Happy Beats” on Friday, May 9 at Delhi Public School, Al Wakra campus. Popular south Indian sing-ers Hemachandra and Sravana Bhargavi will perform at the event. Hemachandra was Runner-up in “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” 2005 edition and Super singer award winner in Gemini TV channel. Sravana Bhargavi is an anchor in Bol Baby Bol programme in Gemini TV and Super Singer programme in MAA TV.

South Indian film actress Richa Panai along with a team of stage art-ists Zareen, Sneha Thapa and Komal will also perform at the event. TV anchor Rashmi Gautam will replicate super hit comedy show Jabardasth on stage led by a team of comedians from ETV channel. Comedians Dhanraj, Jabardasth Srinu, Sudigali Sudheer will support the event with their live comedy skits.

Entry passes can be collected from TKS Executive committee members. For more information, call 66571823 or 55817883. The Peninsula

Prizes distributed in ICBF essay contest

PLUS | SUNDAY 27 APRIL 20146 MARKETPLACE

Blue Salon launches perfume line by Atelier Cologne

Blue Salon celebrated the launch of the latest perfume collection, Cologne Absolute, by Atelier Cologne. The

Cologne Absolute collection is an unique fam-ily of fragrances dedicated to and inspired by the elegance of citruses and the traditional ingredients of cologne.

Citruses are blended with the raw materials in perfumery for a balanced creation with out-standing lasting power. Following Collection Originale and Collection Matieres Absolutes, Atelier Cologne unveiled the Collection Metal.

The bottles are covered in precious metals, marking an industry first technology. Real Gold and Silver give the bottles a linear and simplistic look. Silver Iris and Gold Leather are the first two colognes that are to be avail-able through this distinctive collection.

The Peninsula

LuLu Exchange to award gift vouchers for remittances

LuLu Exchange Company announced their remittance promotional activity in association

with LuLu Hypermarkets. The company will offer a redeemable gift voucher worth QR15 to each of its customers doing a remittance transaction. The gift vouchers can be redeemed at any LuLu Hypermarkets in Qatar on purchase of footwear or garments exceeding QR100.

The offer is valid from April 25 till May 25 only and the final date to redeem the voucher is 06th June, 2014.

Adeeb Ahamed, Managing Director, LuLu Exchange, said: “We are bringing in new initiatives to increase value and benefits for our customers. It must be recalled that we partnered with Naseem Al Rabi Medical Group keeping the interest of our Gold Card customers in mind. Our customers hold-ing Gold Card can avail one free annual lifestyle checkup, apart from discounts on specified lab inves-tigations and consultation charges at Naseem Al Rabi Medical Group. All these initiatives perfectly ties in with our aim to turn every customer visit into an exciting experience.”

The company at present has two branches in Al Khor and D-Ring Road. The Peninsula

The much awaited Priority Occupation List (POL) corre-

sponding to the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) of Canada was revealed yesterday by the Citizenship & Immigration Canada (CIC). It carries 50 occupations which are in high demand in Canada. The number of eligible occupations has more than doubled, from just 24 last year. Prospective immigrants can file their cases under this programme when it re-opens on May 1, 2014.

Commenting on the FSWP details released, Lt Col B S Sandhu (Retd) (pictured), CMD, WWICS Group

of Companies said: “After 2008, it is for the first time that such an extensive list has been laid down by the Canadian Immigration Authorities. This occupa-tion list has been identified after scanning the massive shortage of professionals in the mentioned occupation areas and will assist Canada in its economic growth. This

is probably the last time for individu-als to file their immigration cases under the FSWP with the existing selection criteria as in the year 2015, FSWP will get changed into a new format of select-ing applications known as Expression of Interest, popularly known as Express Entry.” The Peninsula

Hankook Masters tyre centre opened its doors at Barwa Commercial Avenue recently. The inauguration was attended by the Korean Ambassador Keejong Chung, Hankook Regional Manager B H Kim, Chairman of Imalco Khalifa Al Khulaifi in the presence of other Imalco executives. According to Imalco’s CEO Aboo Backer Bavu, this event marks an important milestone to the Hankook brand of tyres in Qatar with its partner Imalco in their drive to expand the existing network. With the Sales Promotion running concur-rently, all potential clients changing to Hankook tyres will avail chances of winning many attractive prizes including an SUV vehicle.

Galfar Cricket Club beat Khyber CC by 72 runs to become champions at the Qatar Airways ‘B’ Division Cricket tournament organised by Qatar Cricket Association. Saman of Galfar was adjudged Man-of-the-Match for his 36 runs, 1 run out and one stumping.

New Canadian Priority Occupation List revealed

From Left: Nabil Belaich, Brand Manager, Yvan Jacqueline, Group General Manager, Christophe Cervasel, Founder and Creator of Atelier Cologne, Fawaz Idrissi, CEO of Blue Salon, and Veronique Rousselle, Europe & Middle East Director, at Atelier Cologne during the Atelier Cologne launch at Blue Salon.

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BOOKS 7

10 BEST SELLING BOOKS(Non-Fiction)

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

I Can Make You Smarter by Paul McKenna

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus by John Gray

The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli

The Secretby Rhonda Byrne

Quiet by Susan Cain

It’s Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be by Paul Arden

The Four Agreements by Miguel Ángel Ruiz

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Married Life! by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Amy Newmark

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By Rebecca Onion

The Word Exchangeby Alena Graedon(Doubleday)

The effects of smartphone use on everyday life — parenting, friendship, walking, driving, wayfinding — are both scientifically meas-urable and anecdotally visible. Many people

will ruefully acknowledge that they’ve forgotten how to read a map, or how to wait in line without check-ing Twitter. The smartphone’s sudden omnipresence makes it a great device for science fiction. What, writers have begun to ask, will our phones offer to do for us next? And how will we react?

Alena Graedon’s dazzling but unsatisfying debut novel The Word Exchange sketches a smartphone hat-er’s worst nightmare. It offers a snappy, noir-inflected vision of a future New York suffering from an epi-demic of aphasia brought on by super-smartphones. Against the spreading sickness, an employee of one of the last surviving print dictionaries struggles to find her missing father and to uncover the shadowy evildoers whose profit-grabbing has resulted in this dangerous “word flu.”

The Meme — the smartphone that seems to have annexed all of the market share in this version of New York — can dispense medicine, hail you a cab, pay your taxes, scan you through the turnstile in the subway, manage traffic, and call 911 when you’re in trouble. In social situations, the device advises you what to say next and when to shut up, stays quiet if it senses somebody in a group is hostile to its pres-ence, or saucily beams your contact information into an attractive stranger’s Meme. If you’re willing to implant a microchip in your head, the Meme can offer a new level of service. The next-generation Nautilus, a biotech device that partners with the user’s DNA, promises even more.

The characteristic of the Meme that’s the most relevant to the book’s plot is its app called Word Exchange, which lets you look up definitions of unknown words — for a small fee. Eventually, users come to over-rely on the Word Exchange to provide meanings. This natural dependency, preyed upon by nefarious tech companies out to make a buck, pro-vides the conditions for the spread of the word flu.

Anana Johnson, the book’s primary narrator, is a twentysomething Meme user with personal tastes that lean toward the quirky and historical (comics, Buster Keaton movies, vintage sweaters, cooking). As the book begins, Anana has just broken up with a boyfriend. She mourns, works her low-level editorial job at the North American Dictionary of the English Language, suffers through a bad case of artist’s block, and somehow manages to miss the strong signals that the lovelorn Bart, a fellow dictionary employee and friend of her ex, sends her way. (Excerpts from Bart’s witty, literate journal entries offer his point of view on these matters.)

Anana’s father, Doug, the diction-ary’s editor-in-chief, whose disap-pearance kick-starts the novel, is the book’s moral centre. Doug, pre-sented as a distinctive assemblage of affinities and fatherly affection, loves sherry vinegar, licorice, Bay Rum aftershave, bromeliads, pineapples. A hardline anti-Memer, he uses email and a system of pneumatic tubes to convey interoffice messages. He’s prone to soliloquies on the pernicious nature of Memes:

Our natural tendency is to be distracted — to scan the horizon

constantly for predators and prospects. Books made us turn that attention inward, to build higher and higher castles within the quiet kingdoms of our minds. … The skills we once used for survival — scat-tered attention, diffused concentration — have been adapted to finding glowing dots on screens, skimming pop-ups, beams, emails, video streams. Our thinking has been flattened; our progress ceded to machines.

As readers, we’re meant to agree with Doug. The narrative demands it: Who would be on the side of the tech companies that wreak such havoc, when it’s Doug and his ragtag bunch of collaborators who are preventing people from getting sick and language from disappearing? There’s an inherent weakness in using the structure of a thriller to explore complex questions about technology and culture. There have to be good guys and bad guys, and so we end up rooting for the Luddites, even though we know the issues are much more complicated than that.

Social class is almost absent in Graedon’s vision of Meme-dominated New York. In other science-fiction narratives that play with the effects of smartphone-like devices, like Will McIntosh’s Love Minus Eighty, the reality-enhancing technology of the “system” is unevenly distributed. People judge new acquaintances based on how snazzy their systems are. Systemless, you could find yourself excluded not only from the enhanced informational landscape made possible by virtual reality but also from all kinds of social interaction. Likewise, in M T Anderson’s epically sad Feed, the chips implanted in young people’s heads are expensive — a barrier to entry that eventually leads to tragic consequences for one of the book’s protagonists. But in the world of The Word Exchange, use of the Meme and Nautilus is personal choice, not a matter of class or privilege.

Much of Graedon’s book is written in the voices of characters who have begun to suffer from aphasia. The disease replaces random words with nonsense, and Graedon’s language is sparklingly inventive:

It’s harder now to write this. My lavo arm hurts. I think I sprained my wrist. It’s not just my rookbee, actually. One of my teeth feels loose. And … it’s kind of tricky to see the page with this black eye. My nose might also be broken — it makes a weird clicking shung when I touch it.

The aphasia-speak should evoke a sentiment of displacement or alienation. But Graedon is too good a writer, it seems, to let an opportunity for linguistic play slip. Indeed, there’s an in-text reference to Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky, a nonsense poem that’s nothing but delightful to read and hear. Graedon’s aphasics sound like they’re improvising new nonsense verse — and that may be scary for them, but it’s merely fun for us.

Despite all of its considerable linguistic sophistica-tion, the novel offers a blunt message: Words are good. Reading is good. Books are good. The forces of good

(reading/words/history) can defeat the forces of evil (technology/capital). Because the Meme isn’t part of a dra-matically different social fabric, we can imagine the removal of the device restoring this world to the way it was meant to be. And because the language in Graedon’s book is so enjoyable, we can congratulate ourselves on being the kinds of people who recognize the importance of books and words.

I’m on board with one of the basic tenets of the Diachronic Society, Graedon’s group of scholarly rebels who combat the word flu: “Take the long view.” In my long view, technology is us — not an alien imposition to be tracked down, fought and ultimately excised.

WP-Bloomberg

When smartphones attackPLUS | SUNDAY 27 APRIL 2014

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PLUS | SUNDAY 27 APRIL 2014 ENTERTAINMENT8 9

By Mark Jenkins

In 2011, near the beginning of the Syrian civil war, Damascus-based husband-and-wife film produc-ers Orwa Nyrabia and Diana El

Jeiroudi began raising money for mov-ies about their country’s situation. Three years later, the couple is in exile in Berlin, and the central character in one of their films, charismatic soc-cer-player-turned-rebel Abdul Basset Saroot, is under siege in Homs.

And the documentary about him and his cohorts, Return to Homs, is screening as part of the Washington International Film Festival.

Nyrabia is troubled that Western nations have done so little to end the Syrian conflict. “I am getting radical-ized, living in Europe,” he told the audi-ence at Filmfest DC’s first showing of the movie. “I was nicer a year ago. I was even nicer two years ago.”

Yet the 38-year-old producer proves genial in a conversation after the screening and is more complimentary about the West’s filmmaking commu-nities than its presidents and prime ministers. Nyrabia credits international pressure for his release from the Syrian jail where he was held for three weeks in 2012, sharing a medium-sized cell with more than 80 other prisoners.

“They had very uncertain informa-tion about me working on a film that involved Basset Saroot, but they didn’t have details, so it was not impossible for me to create a counter-narrative. Ten, 11 days of continuous lying was extremely scary and at the same time challenging,” he says with a laugh.

“They also had heard bits and pieces about me being involved in humanitar-ian aid for displaced people who had to flee Homs. That was certainly true, but I had to deny that categorically.

“It could have been very different if not for the international campaign,” he notes. “Otherwise, they could have tortured me more. Or forgotten me for months in such a terrible condition. They could have done anything.”

After Nyrabia’s release, he and El Jeiroudi went to Cairo to work and then got word that the Syrian government was ready to arrest him again. They stayed in Cairo for a year, but after the new Egyptian government was over-thrown, the chance of being returned to Syria greatly increased. “Thankfully, the German government welcomed some people, including us,” he says.

The second film to result from Nyrabia and El Jeiroudi’s project is Silvered Water, which will debut next month at the Cannes Film Festival. It was co-directed by experienced Syrian filmmaker Usama Mohammed, an expa-triate, and a young female newcomer, Wiam Bedirxan, who’s inside the rebel-held section of Homs.

“From besieged Homs to Cannes, I think this is a rare thing,” says Nyrabia, smiling.

Communicating with people inside Homs, and getting video footage out, is “a huge problem,” Nyrabia says. “But it’s part of what the film is about. It’s a friendship that started between the two filmmakers. The veteran and the

newcomer. One in exile in France and the other in the siege.”

Bitterly contested Homs has been called “the capital of the Syrian revo-lution,” but Nyrabia was initially dubi-ous when director Talal Derki proposed making The Return to Homs. A Kurd who then lived in Damascus, Derki admitted to Nyrabia that he didn’t exactly know Homs well.

“He said, ‘No, I’ve never been to the city, but it looks great on television.’ “

“I told him then, ‘It’s the most stupid idea I could think of. I don’t see how you could make a film in Homs. It’s not your place. You don’t know it.’ “

“So he told me he was going to Qamishli, where his family comes from. He went to Homs and returned with five minutes, presenting Basset and Ossama,” another major character in the movie. (Ossama, who also photo-graphed some of the movie, is now miss-ing and likely held by the government.)

“He totally cheated me! I was laugh-ing a lot, and told him, ‘You totally got me. I can’t tell you not to go to Homs anymore.’ “

For the first year of shooting, Nyrabia travelled with Derki to Homs, serving as the documentary’s cinematographer. “We used to dismantle the camera into 14, 15 small pieces and hide it in the car’s chassis. We’d drive to Homs, pro-tected by my mother sitting in the front seat so the checkpoint guys would be a little embarrassed to be too bad.”

HOLLYWOOD NEWS BOLLYWOOD NEWS

Kim, Kanye to have three weddings

Socialite Kim Kardashian and singer Kanye West will get married as many as three times! The duo will tie the knot first in Southern

California and then twice in France, reports radaronline.com.“Typically, the US recognises citizens getting married in France,

but dealing with a foreign government and paperwork could be a nightmare. So just to make sure it’s legal, Kim and Kanye will first be having a civil ceremony in Southern California,” said a source.

The pair will cross the Atlantic for their dream ceremony that will take place in Paris and French law dictates that there be two wedding ceremonies.

“A religious ceremony has to be performed after a civil ceremony, and not before. The minister, priest or rabbi will require a certificate of civil marriage before any religious ceremony takes place,” said French Embassy in Washington.

“Kim will have at least three dress changes on the big ceremony day in France. It will be over the top. Kim and Kanye want it to be the wedding of the century,” added the source.

IIFA fever in US: Fans, stars take selfies

The selfie bug bit celebrities and fans at the green carpet of the tech-nical categories of Bollywood’s most extravagant celebration, the

International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend and Awards 2014 here.The star-studded event here saw actors and filmmakers not only look-

ing their best, but much in action wherein they clicked selfies with their fans and even posed for candid pictures.

Hrithik Roshan, who walked the green carpet, looking his usual dapper self, said: “This has a magical effect on me. Now I am over excited after looking at my fans. It’s a great feeling to be here today.”

Vivek Oberoi agreed: “There is so much of energy here and look at the fans showering their love on us...what more can we ask for?”

“I am here to clap and cheer for the lovely people who make us look good,” he added.

“Jhakaas” actor Anil Kapoor’s fans greeted him with whistles galore, and to top it all, they sang his hit song “One Two Ka Four” in unison when he took to the green carpet.

Vaani Kapoor of Shuddh Desi Romance fame, also felt the excitement and said: “It’s so nice to be here. I am happy...all these fans they are mak-ing my day.”

The stars said that they were attending the technical awards distribu-tion at the event Friday to applaud the technicians.

“A film is made with so much effort, so we are here to cheer the techni-cians. I am here to applaud them,” said Bipasha.

Other celebrities who attended the event included Deepika Padukone, Madhuri Dixit, Kareena Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Shabana Azmi, Arshad Warsi, Boney Kapoor and Sridevi, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharman Joshi, Riteish Deshmukh, Boman Irani, Shatrughan Sinha and Dia Mirza.

The event was co-hosted by Saif Ali Khan and Vir Das, who regaled the audience with their sense of humour.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag won nine technical awards at IIFA 2014. The former athlete, on whose life the National award-winning movie is made, is attend-ing the IIFA gala.

Jared Leto’s Oscar trophy a filthy mess

Actor Jared Leto’s Oscar trophy is full of scratches and bumps after he freely handed it around at parties for everyone to have

a hold.As a result, the trophy is now a “filthy mess.”“I damaged it. But then I came home and saw it had another nick

on it. So it looks like someone else had fun with it, too. My Oscar is a filthy mess,” contactmusic.com. quoted Leto as saying.

“Everybody was pawing that thing. I kind of was just passing it around at parties. A couple of times I lost sight of it and I thought, you know, if it goes away, it’s not meant to be mine. But it always seemed to find its way back to me,” he added.

The 42-year-old said that he is getting a lot more opportunities in Hollywood, but the coveted gold statue itself doesn’t mean that much to him.

Leto won the Oscar for best supporting actor at the 86th annual Academy awards earlier this year for his role as a drug addict Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club.

When Victoria felt like a ‘laughing stock’

Model-turned-designer Victoria Beckham says that there was a time when she knew that she was a “bit of a laughing stock”.

But, she says that while people were busy laughing at her, she was building her successful career in fashion.

The 40-year-old said it was a struggle to prove herself in the fash-ion industry after initially rising to prominence for her pop career, reports mirror.co.uk.

“For a long time there, I was a bit of a laughing stock. And while everybody was busy laughing, what was I doing? I was laying the foundation to what I have in place now,” said Beckham.

The mother of four also said it’s good she doesn’t have to rely on advertising.

“It’s a double-edged sword really. The most valuable part of being famous is that you have a voice and people will listen. I mean I can get a lot of attention. I don’t have to rely on advertising campaigns,” added Beckham.

The designer made her grand debut at New York Fashion Week in 2008 and said that the fact that everyone thought she would fail, took some pressure off her.

“I like to keep my head down, work hard, focus on what I’m doing business-wise. I like to try and control how much I’m seen. I don’t want to go out and be photographed every day, you know,” she said.


Return to Homs shows a slice of Syrian crisis

Orwa Nyrabia Anushka for ban on horse-drawn carriages

Actress Anushka Sharma has lent her support for banning the use of horse-drawn carriages here. She took to Twitter to help put an end

to horse-drawn carriages, said a statement."Friends, please join Peta India and me in asking for a complete ban

on horse carriages in Mumbai. Take action here: http://bit.ly/1ft3UqE", tweeted Anushka.

“It is extremely saddening to witness the cruelty towards these horses used as carriages in tourist spots in Mumbai. Please show your support,” she added.

Anushka has joined the list of celebrities like Arjun Rampal, Hema Malini, John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez and Zeenat Aman who have asked for a ban on horse-drawn carriages.

“And then,” he adds, “it took us two hours to dismantle the car to get out the camera pieces and put it together.”

Later, it was difficult for either the producer or the director to visit Homs. Shooting the footage became the responsibility of people inside the city, and the large professional camera was retired.

“We had to provide small cameras, spy cameras, sports cameras, all kinds

of small solutions that could help them get good footage without risking their life,” the producer says.

Although Basset Saroot likes to sing chants that oppose Syrian leader Bashar Al Assad, he doesn’t articulate a political platform in the movie. That suits Nyrabia, who’s frustrated with the approach of both politicians and reporters to the war.

“What’s natural to cinema, in my opinion, is that it can bypass prejudice and help people identify,” he says. “I think it’s probably only film that can tell people that, ‘You could be there. And you could have similar choices, under similar conditions. You can even be inspired by those people you’re only scared of when you’re watching the news.’

“When an American audience finally feels that what’s happening in Syria is a human situation they can identify with, then we can all together find a way to do something.”

Nyrabia is quick to add that his criticism of Western indifference does not apply to the cinematic world. “We always have wonderful support from organizations, filmmakers, festivals. All of these people who are not [politi-cal] decision-makers are really very human and connected and believe in what we’re doing.”

“In that sense, we’re not alone. We couldn’t have done it alone.”

WP-Bloomberg

SOUTH KOREAPLUS | SUNDAY 27 APRIL 201410

© GRAPHIC NEWSSources: South Korean government, wire agencies Picture: Associated Press

Investigations into the sinking of the South Korean ferry Sewol arefocusing on its cargo and changes made to the vessel which could have

caused it to capsize on a routine trip from Incheon to Jeju Island

MV Sewol

April 15, 21:00Leaves Incheon with476 passengers and crew

FERRY DISASTERAll times local

April 16, 08:49: Makesscheduled turn on coursefor Jeju Island

08:51: Begins drifting backon itself and listing to port side

08:55: Ferry makes first distress call

09:40: Evacuation begins. Many passengerstrapped by angle of ship’s list. Ferry sinks 11:00

YellowSea

(WestSea)

SOUTHKOREA

N. KOREA

Seoul

Incheon

JejuIsland

DetailmapDetailmap

100km

60 miles

SongdoIsland

*AutomaticIdentification

System

JindoIsland

HajodoIsland

DadohaehaesangNational Park

DadohaehaesangNational Park

5km

3 miles

ByeongpungIsland TurnTurn

Approximatelocation of sinking

Approximate route of ferryaccording to AIS* records

08:30

08:40

200m

650ft

08:52

08:48

Vehicles and freight

CAPACITY: Extra cabins built in 2012 for 117 morepassengers. Ship’s centre of gravity raised 0.5m

Passengercapacity: 921

Middle: 484Top: 11

Bottom: 426Cargo: Korean Register of Shipping recommended loadof 987 tonnes. Ship carrying 3,608 tonnes when it sank

HEALTH / FITNESS 11

By Andrew M Seaman

People who take the com-mon cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins may feel a false sense

of security and eat a bit more, according to a new study.

Researchers found that US adults taking statins in 1999-2000 were eating fewer calories than people not taking the drugs, but statin users were eating about the same amount as non-users by 2009-2010.

“We believe that physicians need to reemphasise the impor-tance of a healthy lifestyle to sta-tin-users,” Dr Takehiro Sugiyama said.

He is the study’s lead author from the University of Tokyo in Japan.

Eating excess calories and fat would not only compromise the cholesterol-lowering effect of stat-ins, he said. It would also increase a person’s risk of becoming obese and developing diabetes.

Statins — such as Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor — inhibit the pro-duction of cholesterol, which is used to build new cells and keep the body functioning. Too much cholesterol increases a person’s chances of developing heart dis-ease and fatty deposits in blood vessels, however.

Under new recommendations from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, the number of US adults eligible to take the drugs may reach 56 million.

The new guidelines deem-phasize the use of LDL or “bad”

cholesterol as a measure of when to put people on the drugs. Instead, doctors are encouraged to take several risk factors into account to target people at high risk for heart attacks or strokes.

Previous studies had found no evidence that statin users eat more after being prescribed the drugs, the authors write in Jama Internal Medicine. Use of the drugs has increased substantially since those studies were con-ducted, however.

For the new study, the research-ers used data from a national sur-vey of US adults that’s conducted every two years.

They found that statin users were consuming about 2,000 calories per day in 1999-2000, on average, compared to about 2,179 calories per day among non-users.

Sugiyama writes that it would be expected that stain users eat less in an attempt to control their cholesterol and weight.

Calorie consumption among the statin users increased as time went on, however. By 2005-2006 there were no differences between the two groups.

Overall, calorie consumption among statin users increased by about 10 percent during the dec-ade. Statin users significantly increased the amount of calories they got from fat during the study period, too.

Meanwhile, calorie and fat con-sumption remained unchanged among people not taking statins.

Sugiyama said there could be two explanations for the findings.

“We suppose (patients) noticed the potency of the statin

treatment because their LDL-cholesterol level would drop dras-tically regardless of no change on diet,” he said. “Through this process, statin users may learn that they do not need to restrict their diet to achieve the LDL-level goal.” Alternatively, doctors may have started prescribing statins to people who tend to eat more and they may not be as reluctant to prescribe the drugs to people who don’t control their diets.

“Because of the study design, we were not able to disentangle the mechanism,” he said.

The research also can’t say for certain that statins caused peo-ple to eat more as time went on. There could be another unknown factor that influenced the results.

“I think the biggest impact of this trial is that as physicians when we put patients on statins it shouldn’t be the end of the discus-sion about other lifestyle interven-tions,” Dr David Frid said.

Frid is a staff cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. He was not involved with the new study.

“Even on a statin, you do need to continue following your dietary recommendations,” he said.

Sugiyama agreed that statin use should be paired with lifestyle modification.

“Over-relying on medication would cause side effects, unnec-essary medical costs and perhaps an ethical concern,” he said.

“I think physicians need to reemphasize the importance of dietary control for statin-users.”

SOURCE: bit.ly/1k1CVFl JAMA Internal Medicine, online April 24, 2014. Reuters

How bariatric surgery can help control diabetes

That bariatric surgery, or obesity surgery, leads to weight loss is well known, but

researchers have now identified the mechanism why obesity surgery also leave positive effects on diabetes and heart diseases.

Health benefits from obesity surgery are not caused by a reduction in the stomach size but by increased levels of bile acids in the blood, said the study. Bile acids could be a new target for treat-ing obesity and diabetes, suggested the study.

For the study, researchers focused on a spe-cific receptor called FXR, which is involved in bile acid signaling. “Our study shows that signal-ing through FXR is essential for the beneficial effects of the surgery to be achieved,” Fredrik Bäckhed from Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden.

“This is a major breakthrough in under-standing how bariatric surgery affects metabo-lism and in the development of new treatment strategies,” Bäckhed said.

Bariatric surgery is associated with a risk of complications and therefore treatment strategies based on the FXR receptor could be an impor-tant future therapeutic approach, said the study.

In this study, mice with or without the FXR gene underwent an operation termed vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) in which approxi-mately 80 percent of the stomach was removed.

The surgical procedure is the same as that performed in humans.

The researchers observed that the operation promoted weight loss and improved glucose metabolism in mice with FXR while the opera-tion had no effect in mice that lacked FXR.

The study appeared in the journal Nature.

Now, 3D-printed plaster cast to heal wound faster

In what could revolutionise plaster cast tech-nology, a Turkish design student has unveiled

a slick 3D-printed cast with ventilation holes that reduces healing time by around 40 percent than currently used plaster casts.

The new-age cast relies on ultrasound vibra-tions to heal wound faster and more easily.

The ventilation holes on the ‘Osteoid Medical Cast’ prevent itches and smells normally asso-ciated with plaster casts that have changed very little over the past 300 years.

“Conventional medical casts sacrifice ventila-tion for structural integrity,” Deniz Karasahin said in a study.

“As a result, they are itchy, they smell very bad and due to plaster’s material properties they are bulky, heavy and they limit patient’s expo-sure to water,” Karasahin, who won the 2014 Golden A’Design Award for his concept, noted.

The new cast tackles the problem by 3D-printing the cast to fit the shape of the patient’s arm, and also providing ventilation holes, Karasahin claimed.

To accelerate the healing process, a low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (Lipus) bone stimu-lator is placed directly on the patient’s skin when the design is printed.

The ventilation holes on the cast allows the Lipus bone stimulator probes to be placed directly over the injured area, said the study.

“The most difficult part was to come up with a fully functioning locking mechanism which is strong enough to protect the limb,” Karasahin said.

Agencies


Cholesterol drugusers may use pillsas a licence to overeat

TECHNOLOGYPLUS | SUNDAY 27 APRIL 201412

The app will keep running as a standalone service for now, but marks a significant move for the social network into health dataBy Stuart Dredge and Alex Hern

With four million downloads on iPhone and Android, activity-tracking app Moves is one of the more popular fitness apps for smartphones. Now

Facebook has made it its latest in a string of signifi-cant acquisitions.

Developed by Finnish start-up ProtoGeo, the app runs in the background on users’ phones, using location data to build up a profile of their activities throughout the day. Described as a “surprise hit” by Apple following its 2013 launch, it has been down-loaded four million times.

ProtoGeo announced the news on its blog. “Today, we’re delighted to announce that Facebook has acquired our company and the Moves app,” explained the company.

“Since we launched Moves, we’ve been focused on running a simple and clean activity diary that mil-lions of people have enjoyed using. Now, we’re joining Facebook’s talented team to work on building and improving their products and services with a shared mission of supporting simple, efficient tools for more than 1 billion people.”

ProtoGeo added that Moves will “continue to oper-ate as a standalone app” while stressing that there are no plans to “commingle data with Facebook”.

That’s a potentially sensitive topic: Moves tracks each user’s walking, running and cycling activity, as well as the locations they have visited over the course of every day. Users who were comfortable with Moves storing that data may have concerns about Facebook owning it.

“For Facebook to really have a global business that can be more than just a fad, it is important for the company to branch out, to invest in apps and services that are not only complimentary but also help the

business grow into different vertical market,” says Gartner’s Brian Blau.

“Moves fits right in line with Facebook’s goal in this regard, to provide a different type of service which is focused on mobility and social. In keep-ing Moves as a separate app, Facebook can let the users continue to enjoy the app and improve it, and hopefully grow that app into a top line technology or product for the company.”

Moves launched in January 2013 for iPhone, and had been downloaded 2.5m times from Apple’s App Store by the time it launched for Android in September 2013. The app stood out from other fitness trackers because it didn’t require an external gadget to track people’s steps, unlike Fitbit and other rivals.

“We wanted to make a mainstream product for people who are not that into sports or the quantified self,” ProtoGeo’s designer and chief executive Sampo Karjalainen told The Guardian in September.

“That’s also why we have kept the app very simple,

clear and approachable, with that element of lifelog-ging – the complete story of your day – that makes for a different experience to the more fitness-ori-ented products.”

Karjalainen, previously famous for co-founding the Habbo Hotel social network, started the company in January 2012, along with computational scientist Juho Pennanen and developer Jukka Partanen.

Facebook’s decision to buy an activity-tracking app comes at an interesting time, with Apple expected to make fitness a key feature in its long-rumoured “iWatch” smart watch. Leaked details have also sug-gested that the company is working on an app called Healthbook, possibly to launch as part of its iOS 8 software later in 2014.

Meanwhile, Nike was recently forced to deny claims that it is shutting down the team working on its FuelBand activity tracker, amid separate rumours that it is a key partner for Apple’s fitness plans.

The Guardian

Facebook buys fitness-tracking app Moves

By Stuart Dredge

Messaging app WhatsApp now has 500 million active users, having added 70 mil-

lion since announcing in February that it was being bought by Facebook for $19bn.

“In the last few months, we’ve grown fastest in countries like Brazil, India, Mexico, and Russia, and our users are also sharing more than 700 million photos and 100 million videos every single day,” wrote WhatsApp chief executive Jan Koum in a blog post.

Koum provided more details in an interview with technology site Recode, claiming that WhatsApp has 48 mil-lion active users in India and 45 mil-lion in Brazil. “The message growth rate in Brazil — it’s not like a hockey stick, it’s like a vertical line,” he said.

He also took a potshot at rivals like Line and KakaoTalk, which have ambitions to expand globally from their strongholds in Asia.

“There’s not enough money and

not enough celebrities in the world to convince people to use a shitty prod-uct,” said Koum. “People are so savvy these days. People expect a good user experience.”

WhatsApp has encountered a few gremlins on that front since the Facebook deal was announced, includ-ing a three and a half-hour outage that week in February and another early in April, the same day it announced record figures of handling 64 billion messages in a 24-hour period.

Koum was referring to what he sees as “bloated” apps from rivals, which are adding games, shopping, music and other features to their core messaging functions. WhatsApp has focused on text, photos and videos, with plans to add voice calling by the summer.

This focus has driven startling

growth for WhatsApp over the last year. In April 2013, the company had more than 200 million active users, and was processing an average of 8 billion inbound (sent) and 12 billion outbound (received) messages a day — the difference comes from messages sent to multiple recipients.

WhatsApp reached 250 mil-lion active users in June 2013, then 300 million in August, when it was processing 11 billion inbound and 20 billion outbound messages a day, while users were sharing 325 million photos a day.

By December 2013, WhatsApp had 400 million active users, and now four months later it has 500 million. At the start of April, the company tweeted that it had just processed 20 billion inbound and 44 billion outbound mes-sages in a 24-hour period.

In short, WhatsApp has doubled its daily message and photo counts since August 2013, while adding 200 million active users in that eight-month period.

Facebook is focused on further growth following its acquisition, though: “WhatsApp is on a path to connect 1bn people,” said its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg as he announced the deal in February.

“WhatsApp is the only widely used app we’ve ever seen that have more engagement in a higher percent of people using it daily than Facebook itself,” he added in a subsequent call with analysts. “Internet services that reach a billion people are all incredibly valuable, and we believe WhatsApp will be as well.”

It has taken WhatsApp five years to reach 500 million users, as it first launched in early 2009. Facebook took just over six years to reach a similar milestone, having launched in February 2004 before surpassing 500 million active users in July 2010.

The Guardian

WhatsApp now has 500m active users sharing 700m photos a day

COMICS & MORE 13

Hoy en la HistoriaApril 27, 1994

1830: South American revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar abdicated as president of Greater Colombia1978: Afghanistan’s President Daoud was killed by armed forces who then set up an Islamic government1992: Zambia’s entire national football team perished in a plane crash2001: Scientists revealed how plumes of hot, slow-moving, mantle beneath the earth’s crust drive earthquakes and climate change

Nelson Mandela cast his vote in South Africa’s first all-race elections, which resulted in a resounding victory for Mandela and the African National Congress

Picture: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS

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

ALEXANDER SEVERUS, ANTONIUS PIUS, AUGUSTUS, CALIGULA, CARACALLA, CLAUDIUS, COMMODUS, DOMITIAN, GALBA, HADRIAN, HELIOGABALUS, JULIUS CAESAR, LUCIUS VERUS, MACRINUS, MARCUS AURELIUS, NERO, NERVA, OTHO, PERTINAX, TIBERIUS, TITUS FLAVIUS, TRAJAN, VESPASIAN, VITELLIUS.

LEARN ARABIC

Baby Blue

Zits by Dennis Young and Denis Lebrun

Hagar The Horrible by Chris Browne


Invitations

Welcome Ahlan wa sahlan

Come in Tafa��al

I like your visit Ta�ourounee ziyaratouk

You are invited to lunch Innaka madçoo ila al�a�a'

Where do you like to spend the holiday?

Ayna tou�ibbou an taq�ee alçou�la?

I have invited the friends Laqad daçawtou ala�diqa'

You are invite to a dancing party Innaka madçoo ila �aflatin raqi�a

Can I see you again? Hal asta�eeçou an araka aniatan?

Are you busy? Hal anta maš�ool?

Let us drink coffee together tomorrow morning

Linatanawal alqahwa maçan �adan �aba�an

Good-bye Ila lliqa'

Note: ç = ‘a’ in ‘ag

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 Green gem used in

Chinese carvings 5 Noisy bird10 Mimicked14 Mountain goat15 Actor Davis of “Grumpy

Old Men”16 Enclosure for a pet bird17 Expensive neighborhood

in 43-Across19 Istanbul resident20 Acts of the Apostles

writer21 Co-creator of Spider-

Man23 Doctor’s request before

a throat examination26 Some gym wear27 The Beatles’ “___

Road”30 Understand32 Impress and then some33 “Just the facts, ___”34 Nickname for

43-Across36 Chill out39 Boxer Tyson

40 More robust41 Self-referential, in

modern lingo42 Cheer at a bullfight43 Theme of this puzzle44 ___ hygiene45 Joe Biden’s state: Abbr.47 Oozy road material48 Gas and coal49 Rub elbows (with)52 Firebugs54 Boxing combos56 Applies, as influence60 Backside61 43-Across stadium64 Not wacko65 Emancipated66 Song for a diva67 “So what ___ is new?”68 Orchestra woodwinds69 Amount owed

DOWN 1 Triangular sails 2 Drive the getaway car

for, say 3 Hand out cards

4 “I beg your pardon” 5 $$$ 6 Cigar remnant 7 “___: NY” (cop show

spinoff) 8 Is sick 9 Whip marks10 “Hurry or you’ll miss

out!”11 43-Across patriot who

went on a “midnight ride”

12 Snowy ___ (marsh bird)13 Hockey feints18 “Fine by me”22 Fictional captain who

said “Thou damned whale!”

24 Horrified25 Shoe lift27 Bullets and such28 What some bondsmen

offer29 Popular food in

43-Across31 Big Bang ___34 Nonetheless, briefly35 Vase

37 And others: Abbr.38 Dames41 Rubber item next to a

computer43 Squander46 Course between

appetizer and dessert48 Devious49 Basketball game that

involves spelling50 Shaquille of the N.B.A.

51 Highly successful, in Varietyese

53 Peruses55 Belgrade native57 Opposite of well done58 Windy City daily, with “the”59 Trick-taking game

played with 32 cards62 Prefix with natal63 Tiny

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

60 61 62 63

64 65 66

67 68 69

H E Y M R D J A S C R I B EI C K Y P O O M A R I N E ST O N S I L S A D E P T A TC L O T L E G A T T E N DH E W E D P E T H A I R

R I G H T H A N D M A NS A W Y E R A I R E S T EP E A T E A R S U P O W EE R R S C S A O U T F O RC O M E G O W I T H M E

H E I R E S S A A R G HG H E T T O E G O B O S EM I A H A M M A N N A S U IA D R E N A L R E E L S I NJ E T S O N S P R B L I T Z

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 SUDOKUCartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

Easy 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.


CINEMA / TV LISTINGS 15

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Hudson

21:00 Lawless

23:00 Small

Apartments

MALL

1

Tinker Bell And The Prirate Fairy (3D/Animation) – 2.30 & 6.15pm

Rio 2 (3D/Animation) – 4.15pm

Revolver Rani (2D/Hindi) – 8.00 & 10.30pm

2

Welcome To The Jungle (2D/Comedy) – 3.00pm

Battle Of The Damned (2D/Action) – 5.00pm


Lamo Akhza (2D/Comedy) – 9.00pm

In The Blood (2D/Action) – 11.00pm

3

Snowpiercer (2D/Action) – 2.30 & 11.15pm


Captain America: The Winter Soldier (3D/Adventure) – 7.00pm


LANDMARK

1

Rio 2 (3D/Animation) – 2.30 & 6.30pm

Tinker Bell And The Prirate Fairy (3D/Animation) – 4.30pm

Vaayai Moodi Pesavum (2D/Tamil) – 8.30pm

Snowpiercer (2D/Action) – 11.00pm

2


In The Blood (2D/Action) – 4.30 & 11.00pm



3

Welcome To The Jungle (2D/Comedy) – 3.00 & 11.15pm

Lamo Akhza (2D/Comedy) – 5.00 & 9.00pm


ROYAL

PLAZA

1


Kaanchi (2D/Hindi) – 3.45 & 9.00pm



2



Lamo Akhza (2D/Comedy) – 7.00pm



3






13:00 Do Dil Bandhe Ek

Dori Se

13:30 Ek Mutthi

Aasmaan

14:00 Doli Armaano Ki

14:30 Jodha Akbar

15:00 Kumkum Bhagya

15:30 Pavitra Rishta

16:00 Aur Pyaar Hogaya

16:30 Qubool Hai

17:00 Word Match

17:30 Zee Connect

Season 4

18:00 Sapne Suhane

Ladakpan Ke

18:30 Ek Mutthi

Aasmaan

19:30 DID L'il Masters

Season 3

21:00 Qubool Hai

21:30 Aur Pyaar Hogaya

22:00 Doli Armaano Ki

22:30 Pavitra Rishta

11:00 One Foot In The

Grave

11:40 The Weakest Link

12:25 Lorna Doone

13:15 Doctor Who

14:00 Doctors

14:30 Doctors

16:00 Doctors

16:30 Doctor Who

17:15 King George &

Queen Mary

18:05 Upstairs

Downstairs

19:00 Me & Mrs Jones

19:30 Absolutely

Fabulous

20:00 Silk

20:50 Waking The Dead

21:40 Rev.

22:10 Alan Carr: Chatty

Man

22:55 Being Erica

23:40 Me & Mrs Jones

13:00 My Boys

14:00 The Neighbors

14:30 Cougar Town

15:30 The Daily Show

With Jon Stewart

16:00 The Colbert

Report

17:00 Late Night With

Seth Meyers

18:00 Dads

18:30 The Neighbors

19:00 2 Broke Girls

19:30 Two And A Half

Men

20:00 Men At Work

20:30 Parks And

Recreation

21:00 The Daily Show

With Jon Stewart

21:30 The Colbert

Report

22:00 Saturday Night

Live

23:30 Men At Work


PLUS | SUNDAY 27 APRIL 2014 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]

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

• The Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning will henceforth make public the names of outlets caught violating health rules. The names will be posted on the ministry’s website.

• There is talk about Ashghal and the company that implemented the Salwa Road project being held accountable for the flooding of a tunnel following rains last month.

• There are demands for strict monitoring of truckers, who throw away old tyres in the open, as discarded tyres spoil the look of the area and pollute the environment as the tyres release chemicals into the air in scorching heat.

• There are complaints about the public relations departments of

many companies and organisations not having Arabic-speaking employees, because of which many visitors face problems in communication.

• Some citizens who have crossed the maximum age limit for mandatory military service want to be allowed to serve as volunteers.

• There are demands that the authorities regularly check fuse boxes, because sometimes the boxes are found open, and that might result in harm to passers-by.

• There is talk about the Supreme Council of Health announcing that no fresh case of Coronavirus (MERS) has been detected in the country since November 2013.

IN FOCUS

A bird spotted at the Al Khor Community.

by Saritha Kurup

Send your photos to [email protected]. Mention where the photo was taken.

Khalid Mubarak Al Delaimi, Director, Hassad Australia

He is the Vice Chairman for First Lease Company and Smeet. He currently chairs

several boards including Hassad Food, Barwa Real Estate, Lusail Hochtief, QD-SBG Construction, QC-CPC Industries, Audit Committee BARWA Real Estate Co, Qatari Diar Real Estate Company. In April 2010, he was appointed as a Group CEO Advisor at Qatari Diar Real Estate Company. Khalid holds a bachelor’s degree in Management and Computer Sciences and a master’s degree in Management and Leadership from Webster University, London.

Who’s who

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

Hekayat Khaleejiya (Khaleeji Stories) When: May 1-2; 7pm Where: Museum of Islamic Art Auditorium

What: Creening of The Brain That Sings by Amal Al Agroobi. Preceded by a screening of the short film One in Five by Jawaher Al Khater. Hekayat Khaleejiya’ is a quarterly screening series dedicated to showcasing cinematic voices from the Gulf region.Tickets available at DFI Ticket Outlet in the Museum of Islamic Art(www.dohafilminstitute.com)

Richard Serra: Concurrent ExhibitionsWhen: Till July 6, 8:30am- 5:30pmWhere: QMA Gallery Building 10, KataraWhat: Richard Serra is among the most important contemporary sculptors. The exhibition organised by the QMA in Doha is one of Serra’s most ambitious ever in that it brings together sculptures and drawings from different periods, ranging from the seminal One Ton Prop (House of Cards) of 1969 (on rare loan from the Museum of Modern Art in New York) to a new large-scale work, Passage of Time, especially created for this occasion.Free Entry

Plants of Qur’anic Botanic Garden Exhibition When: Till April 30; 10am-10pmWhere: Katara Gallery — Bldg 18 What: The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development organises, in collaboration with the Qatar Photography Society and Katara the first exhibition of its kind. The exhibition includes 58 artworks of all the plants mentioned in the Holy Quran and the Sunnah. These pictures have been captured in Doha, Indonesia, Yemen and other Arab countries. Free Entry

Kings and Pawns When: Till June 21Where: Museum of Islamic Arts What: This exhibition uncovers the history of board games in the Islamic world, from India to Spain between 7th and 20th century.Free Entry

VCUQatar Faculty Exhibition - Strange WondersWhen: Till May 6Where: Msheireb Enrichment Centre,

Sheraton Park, Corniche

What: VCUQatar annual faculty exhibition showcasing new work by current VCUQatar faculty and staff. This year’s exhibition takes its inspiration from Company House, one of the heritage buildings within Msheireb downtown area, which played an important part in the lives of Qatar’s original oil pioneers.Free Entry

Events in Qatar

page 01 april 27 - the peninsula qatar · • book review: the word exchange • return to homs ......

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