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KUWAIT: Toyota Motor Corporation’s & MNSS Kuwait has announced the launch of the all-new 2013 Lexus ES lineup including the ES 350 and ES 250. Featuring a progressive new design and enhanced handling, the 2013 ES sedan range is set to continue as a favorite of luxury car buyers in the region. The ES 350 is powered by a 2GR-FE V6 DOHC VVT-i engine, featuring advanced technologies and providing excellent acceleration feeling and sporty driving. The six-speed automatic Electronically Controlled Transmission with intelligence (ECT-i) provides enhanced performance, fuel efficiency and smooth shifts. Low friction materials further improve efficiency. In addition to ES350, Lexus newly introduces ES 250 which is powered by a 2AR-FE I4 DOHC 4-Valve Dual VVT-i engine and has adopted various features such as roller rocker arm system which help achieve advanced engine performance and low fuel consumption. Signature Lexus design The new ES features a lower, progressive profile, and clean, continuous styling lines from front to rear. All four corners are pulled tightly inward to the wheel arches, creating distinctive proportions. The wheelbase of the new ES has been lengthened by 45mm, while the overall length of the vehicle has grown by just 25mm, resulting in a more spacious interior. The new ES unmistakably bears the new face of Lexus with its distinctive, spindle grille. Oversized grille molding with a chrome plated finish and a grille with a dark gray metallic finish have been adopted, creating a sense of luxury. High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps have been adopted, effectively ensuring nighttime visibility. LED daytime running lights which enhance product appeal while effectively ensuring visibility, and combination rear lamps which enhance appearance and fuel economy, reflect the “L” design motif. Interior designed for comfort, spaciousness The modern interior of the 2013 ES has been designed to provide both a sense of openness and security. Sightlines and visibility are improved, controls are logically placed, and new cabin materials express a high level of craftsmanship. A newly sculptured seat enhances driver comfort. A power tilt & telescopic steering column has been adopted. The steering wheel position can be adjusted in the up/down and forward/rearward directions, ensuring an optimum driving posture. Fluid-filled engine mounts, new sound absorbing materials and a tuned engine intake minimize the intrusion of outside noise. Greater rear seat legroom and knee room are the hallmark of the redesigned, more spacious cabin. The seat backboards have been made thinner to expand knee space for rear seat occupants. Knee room is increased by 70mm and legroom is increased by 104mm. The new design also offers additional foot room below the front seats. Available comfort and convenience features include manual door window shades, a power rear shade, and a one-touch power trunk closer. Optional ambient lighting, discretely placed under the wood trim, softly illuminates the surfaces of the instrument panel and all four doors. The new ES will feature enhanced NuLuxe seating surfaces, developed to reduce environmental impact. Embossed leather is also available, as is semi-aniline leather for an even more refined look and feel. In addition to the Black, Light Gray and Ivory color schemes from the current generation semi-aniline interior colors, Criollo*1 has been newly added to the lineup for a total of four available color schemes. Crisp, confident driving dynamics Suspension and steering changes and a stiffer body deliver more precise handling. Opposite-wound coil springs on the front suspension enhance straight-line stability. Revised rear suspension geometry and improved shock absorber damping characteristics enhance ride comfort. A reduction in the steering gear ratio delivers a more responsive and direct steering feel. Increased body rigidity is achieved through lightweight, high tensile strength steel, added bracing and additional spot welds. The ES 25 business comes equipped with standard 215/55R17 low rolling resistance tires on 17-inch alloy wheels. Driver-focused cockpit Designed with attention to ergonomics and driver focus, the cockpit features separate display and operation zones to help keep the driver’s eyes on the road. The instrument panel, with its long, layered look, places the main information display directly in the driver’s line of sight. Just below the center display is a dial-illuminating LED analog clock. Controls are clustered beneath the information zone, on the steering wheel, and on the center console. The second-generation Remote Touch Interface (RTI) allows the user to operate the climate, audio, phone controls, optional navigation system and more. The screen menus are selected with a controller conveniently located on the center console. RTI reduces eye and hand movement, helping reduce effort and distraction. Safety features An array of safety features aid the driver. The available Blind Spot Monitor helps detect vehicles in side blind spots. Available Lane Departure Alert (LDA) is integrated with automatic high beam dimming technology. The available Pre-Collision System (PCS) uses sub-millimeter wave radar to detect obstructions and prepare the vehicle for a potential collision. The brake control system features that have been adopted include: Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist, TRaction Control (TRC), Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) and Emergency Stop Signal. A brake mechanism developed with the concept of braking performance that provides the driver with a sense of security has been adopted, realizing excellent brake feeling and anti-fade performance. Ventilated front 17-inch(V6) or 16-inch(L4) disc brakes are available and solid rear 16-inch disc brakes have been adopted. The ES features a segment-leading 10 airbags as standard equipment, including dual-stage SRS airbags for the front seats as MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012 Lexus unveils 2013 ES 350 and ES 250 in Kuwait An elegant sporty style with spindle grill KUWAIT: Toyota and Al-Sayer officials are pictured during the launch of the all-new Lexus ES lineup. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat well as driver and front passenger SRS knee airbags, front and rear SRS side airbags, and full-length SRS curtain shield airbags. Whiplash Injury Lessening (WIL) front seats are designed to limit excessive head movement in certain rear-end collisions helping to decrease the severity of whiplash-type injuries.
26 BUSINESS Wary consumers, trade curb US growth in Q2 Second-quarter GDP rises 1.5% WASHINGTON: US economic growth slowed as expected in the second quarter as consumers spent at their slowest pace in a year, potentially pushing the Federal Reserve closer to pumping more money into the economy. Gross domestic product expanded at a 1.5 percent annual rate between April and June, the weakest pace of growth since the third quarter of 2011, the Commerce Department said on Friday. First-quarter growth was revised up to a 2.0 percent pace from the previously reported 1.9 percent. Output for the fourth quarter was raised to a 4.1 percent rate from 3.0 percent. “The economy is struggling to maintain altitude,” said Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica in Dallas. Dye made the comments before the release of the report. The ailing economy could cost President Barack Obama a second term in office when Americans vote in November. The expansion following the 2007-09 recession is the slowest since the 1980-81 period and the recession itself was the deepest in the post-war period, annual revisions to the data showed. The weak second-quarter reading, which was in line with economists’ expectations, could raise expectations of a third round of bond purchases, also known as quantitative easing, by the Fed. No major policy announcement is expected at the Fed’s two-day meeting next week, but many economists now say the central bank could move when policymakers gather on Sept. 12-13. The economy has been hit by worries of deep government spending cuts and higher taxes scheduled to kick in at the start of 2013, as well as troubles from the debt crisis in Europe. The biggest factor weighing on the recovery is fear that politicians in Washington would be unable to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff at the turn of the year, economists said. Recent economic data ranging from employment to manufacturing suggest limited scope for growth to bounce back in the third quarter. Consumers hunker down Much of the slowdown in growth in the second quarter was caused by a softening in consumer spending as Americans eased off on automobile purchases due to tepid job and income growth. Consumer spending, which makes up about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, increased at a 1.5 percent rate, a step down from the 2.4 percent pace logged in the previous three months. Consumer spending was the weakest in a year. Much of that reflected a drop in spending on long-lasting goods such as automobiles, which had buoyed consumption in the prior period. But there was some silver lining, with spending on services rising at a 1.9 percent rate, stepping up from 1.3 percent. Labor market weakness, marked by three straight months of job growth at less than 100,000 jobs per month, remains a major constraint to spending. The economy needs to grow at a rate of between 2 percent and 2.5 percent to keep the unemployment rate stable. Business inventories rose $66.3 billion in the last quarter, contributing nearly a third of a percentage point to GDP growth. However, with domestic demand slowing, businesses could find themselves with unwanted stock, which would hurt growth in the third quarter. Excluding inventories, GDP rose at a 1.2 percent rate, the weakest pace since the first quarter of 2011. In the first quarter, the comparable figure was 2.4 percent. Export growth pushed higher, despite slowing global demand, especially in Europe and China. But that was offset by a strong rise in imports. Trade subtracted almost a third of a percentage point from GDP growth. Government spending contracted for an eighth straight quarter, but the pace of decline slowed. Defense spending fell marginally after two quarters of hefty declines. There was no relief from state and local government spending, which has been a drag through much of the recovery. State and local government spending fell at 2.1 percent rate after dropping 2.2 percent in the first quarter. Housing - the Achilles heel of the US economy for six years - increased at a 9.7 percent rate, slowing from the prior period’s weather-related 20.5 percent surge. Business spending on equipment and software rose at a 7.2 percent rate. With demand weak, inflation pressures subsided during the quarter. A price index for personal spending rose at a 0.7 percent rate, the lowest rate since the second quarter of 2010, after rising 2.5 percent in the first quarter. A core measure that strips out food and energy costs advanced at a 1.8 percent rate, moderating from 2.2 percent in the prior quarter. —Reuters Al-Tijari Announces Najma draw winners KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al-Najma Account draw yesterday. The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry represented by Saquer Al-Manaie. The winners of the Al-Najma Daily Draw who get KD 7,000 are: Jumana Rezq Jerjes Abdulmaseeh Jerjes; Mohammed Fahad Mohammed Al-Atiqi; Diab Ahmad STUTTGART: With the new CLS Shooting Brake, Mercedes-Benz is once again setting an example when it comes to creativity of design, and as such highlighting its leading role in this area: in terms of its proportions, the new CLS is quite clearly a coupe, but with five doors and a roof which continues through to the rear, it promises some remarkable new possibilities. The idea of the four-door coupe - successfully introduced in 2004 with the first CLS and long imitated in the meantime - has now been taken to new heights and to innovative effect. The result is automotive independence at its most beautiful. According to CEO Dr. Dieter Zetsche: “Any memorable machine is equal parts art and science. A car has to first deliver in function - the ticket of entry - and then in fascination: the ticket to real excitement. The CLS Shooting Brake excels on both accounts - unlike any other car in the market”. The proportions of the CLS Shooting Brake are surprising but clearly those of a coupÈ, and create a basic stance which makes it look ready for the off: the long bonnet, narrow-look windows with frameless side windows, and dynamic roof sloping back towards the rear. It is only when taking a second look that it becomes clear that the Shooting Break actually has five doors and offers “more” in terms of function. In essence it represents an unprecedented version of a sports car with five seats and a large tailgate. It is a special proposition for people looking to differentiate themselves from the mainstream, and who do not wish to compromise on either sportiness or stowage space when it comes to travelling in style. The Shooting Brake is a further highlight in the innovative luxury vehicle series from Mercedes-Benz and, like the CLS CoupÈ, has the potential to become the role model for a new market segment. “The CLS Shooting Brake is based on the great tradition of stylish sportiness which has always characterised Mercedes, and takes these unique icons an exciting step further”, explains Gorden Wagener, Head of Design at Mercedes- Benz. “It stands for the enhanced design idiom of Mercedes-Benz which is oriented towards aesthetic, avant- Jabr; Mohammed Ashraf Mohammed Aazzam; and Fidaa Jamel Al-Tabaa. The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in Kuwait with the launch of the new Najma account. Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega prizes during the garde principles”. This is seen in the impressive series of market-defining new vehicle concepts, such as the SLK for example, which in 1996 established a genre as the first Roadster with a retractable steel roof, the M-Class as the first premium SUV in 1998, or the first four-door CLS CoupÈ in 2004. Exclusive innovation in the interior The second generation of the CLS set high standards in terms of the design and quality of the interior: straightforward elegance combined with innovative details and handcrafted perfection. The Shooting Brake also applies this same aspiration in the luggage compartment. It is lined with high-quality carpet, and the handstitched material is also incorporated into the sideliners in conjunction with leather appointments. Optional designer loading rails made of aluminium give an even more exclusive look. An extravagant and unique feature for the automotive industry is the designo wooden luggage compartment floor, which serves to underscore the hand-finished nature of the interior. Cherry tree wood is a classic among fine wood species and contrasts perfectly with the inlaid smoked oak and aluminium rails. This affords the luggage compartment a touch of elegance normally found on yachts, combined with the exciting worlds of technology and precision craftsmanship. The wood is characterised by its flexibility and elasticity, as well as its density and fine texture. For the luggage compartment floor made of American cherry tree wood, selected veneer sheets are glued and pressed together by hand in five cross-bonded layers to achieve high dimensional stability. The blanks are milled into their precise shape using a CNC machine, and the surfaces sanded to a smooth finish and waterproofed to maintain the natural beauty of the wood. Inlaid work using darker smoked oak, precisely cut into three millimetre strips using laser technology, helps to enhance the design of the wooden floor. The lavishly produced aluminium rails have a brushed finish and rubber inserts, and not only help to protect the wooden floor but also feature anti-slip properties. year worth KD 100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha and on June 19 which is the date of the bank’s establishment. With a minimum balance of KD 500, customers will be eligible for the daily draw provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or two months prior to the mega draw. In The CLS coupÈ already set new standards in interiors with its wide variety of individualisation options. The Shooting Brake also offers five interior colours, five trim designs and also three qualities of leather to choose from. Customers have a choice of three exclusive wood types: high-gloss brown burr walnut, high-gloss black ash and satin-finish light-brown poplar. The interior is given an even more progressive look with the addition of piano lacquer or AMG carbon fibre/black piano lacquer trim elements. A completely new addition comes in the form of porcelain interior appointments which afford both CLS models a sense of luxury normally found in the S-Class. The CLS Shooting Brake also lives up to its role as a design icon thanks to the innovative nature of the materials used. These comprise a mixture of satin and highgloss finishes used on the metal surfaces. A new dimension in vehicle concepts No-one likes to have to compromise: even when the focus is not on the practical elements of the design of the Shooting Brake (length x width x height: 4956 x 1881 x 1413 mm), the new CLS model still has some trump cards up its sleeve. With a load volume of between 590 and 1550 litres, the luggage compartment offers a lot of room despite the flat, sporty lines of addition, for each KD 25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD 50. Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner. the roof, and is easy to use thanks to the automatically opening tailgate fitted as standard. A load compartment cover also protects luggage from prying eyes. The standard air suspension at the rear helps to ensure optimum road holding at all times. For additional flexibility, the rear seat backrests can be folded down from the luggage compartment as standard. The rear seats themselves provide room for three people, with individual seats on the outsides and a third seat in the middle. The three saddle-type head restraints on the rear seats barely affect the view towards the rear, and can be lowered at the touch of a button by the driver. An optional trailer coupling is also available. Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Board Member of Mercedes-Benz Cars responsible for Sales & Marketing, sums it all up: “The new CLS Shooting Brake represents a new dimension in vehicle concepts and offers discerning customers independence at its most beautiful.” Lightweight construction and aerodynamics Intelligent lightweight construction plays a decisive role in bridging the classic conflict between the objectives of low weight and high strength in the CLS Shooting Brake. The model features frameless, all-aluminium doors made from deep-drawn aluminium SEVILLE: Andalusia’s sunny beaches, shady plazas and flamenco dancing attract millions of northern European visitors each year but the southern region has become symbolic of Spain’s decline and its small businesses are paying the price. Nearly one in 10 of Andalusia’s companies has closed in the last three years and more than 80 percent of those remaining are tiny, with less than three employees. This makes them particularly vulnerable to the economic slump caused by a 2008 property crash, a banking crisis and growing concern over the future of the euro zone. After growing faster than the national average for more than a decade, Andalusia is slumping faster than the rest of Spain and is stuck with massive unemployment and growing poverty. Local authorities say they don’t plan to follow Valencia and ask for a central government bailout. While Andalusia has one of the country’s highest debt levels, it is also the most populous region with the lowest debt-per-person ratio. However, with its economy expected to shrink this year and next, pressure to slash its deficit and no access to credit markets, doubts linger about how it can refinance some 1.6 billion euros of debt by the end of the year without help. Since the real estate boom years ended, Andalusia has survived almost entirely on tourism and agriculture. Parked in front of a centuries-old bullring on the banks of the Guadalquivir river, Juan Zabala Franco, 44, who has been offering visitors horse and cart rides around the city for 25 years, can’t remember such a quiet summer. “Tourism right now is a disaster. There was an explosion of money as the banks lent to everyone, and now we’re paying for that,” he said, offering a halfprice ride to a Spanish family. “Families come here on package holidays, with their little paper bracelets and all included. They don’t have a budget for anything else.” The story is the same in the bars and restaurants surrounding the Cathedral, the world’s oldest gothic church, with empty tables at the Bar Giralda. “Many don’t spend and would rather buy lunch from a supermarket than eat in a restaurant,” says Yusef Najib, a waiter at the Giralda since 2006. “Before, this bar would take in 5-6,000 euros a day. We’re lucky if we make half that now.” Accelerated development For a quarter of a century, Andalusia gorged on European Union funds that helped it blossom from a backwater with a high illiteracy rate, paying for high-speed rail lines, thousands of panels with extruded sections, and in comparison with conventional steel doors, are some 24 kilograms lighter. The tailgate, bonnet, front wings, various support profiles and substantial parts of the suspension and engines are all made of aluminium too. The aerodynamics also make a significant contribution to the efficiency of the Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake. With a frontal area of 2.30 msq and a Cd value of 0.29, the drag area is 0.67 msq. Drive system: powerful and efficient The CLS Shooting Brake is available with two different Petrol engine variants -Features common to all engines include the 7G-TRONIC PLUS automatic transmission as well as the ECO start/stop function. In addition, CLS 500 4MATIC BlueEFFICIENCY, available with all-wheel drive CLS 350 BlueEFFICIENCY produces 225 kW (306 hp). The top-of-the-range model is the CLS 500 BlueEFFICIENCY with a V8 biturbo engine producing 300 kW (408 hp). Efficiency is also increased by the standard electro-mechanical power steering EPS (Electric Power Steering). EPS is a radical move in the relationship between the driver, car and road surface. This is because for the first time, it gives engineers the freedom to choose and programme many of the parameters that influence steering feedback. So they defined a Mercedes-Benz feeling behind the wheel. In addition to fuel economy, the result is a considerable improvement in handling and agility. The electromechanical power steering also enables another innovation to be implemented - Active Park Assist. The CLS Shooting Brake is not only able to detect parking spaces, but can also park automatically. Another world exclusive: dynamic full LED headlamps The CLS was the first passenger car in the world to offer optional dynamic full LED High Performance headlamps, which combine the exciting colour elements of LED technology - similar to those of daytime driving lights - with the performance, functionality and energy efficiency of today’s bi-xenon generation. Some MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012 Andalusia’s small business crushed by Spanish slump km (miles) of highways, modern schools and universities. Much of this bonanza was negotiated by the region’s favourite son, former Socialist Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, who signed Spain’s accession treaty in 1985 and brought an extravagant world fair to his home town, Seville, in 1992. EU funds accounted for one-third of all investments in the region in 1996 but only 12.3 percent by 2008, according to the OECD. They run out next year, and their loss will only add to growing pressure on the region. Andalusia was sucked into the property fever and grew fast as cheap money poured into concrete especially along its hundreds of km of once-pristine coastline. The construction industry has collapsed and gross domestic product per capita is now 17,587 euros, one of the lowest in the country, compared to 31,288 euros in the industrialised northern Basque Country region and an EU average of 25,134 euros. One in every three workers in Andalusia is now unemployed, compared to a national average of nearly one in four. Some 7.5 percent of all the jobless in the euro area live here. Almost 30 percent of the region’s residents live below the poverty line, compared to the national average of 19.5 percent. “Every day we hear worse news about data and risk premiums and that has pushed people from fear to panic,” said Seville Business Confederation president Miguel Rus Palacios. Palacios, whose office is in the orange-treelined centre of Seville, says he has been criticised for his outright views, but needs to speak his mind. “Businesses must make some very difficult decisions to define their own futures. Our project, as a country, is just not viable and we can’t carry on like this.” Andalusia is only one of three regions the Socialists managed to hold this year after losing national power when they were trounced by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservatives in a general election last November. They blame his austerity measures aimed at reducing the deficit for worsening the crisis. “No one will ever grow through Rajoy’s policies. How can we grow with these cuts? We agree with cuts, but not with these cuts,” says Pepe Caballos, economy secretary for the Socialists in Andalusia’s parliament. “To rise from this crisis, we need to change the model of productivity, invest in it, invest in research.” The conservatives accuse the Socialists in Andalusia of having squandered boom-year revenues on an inflated bureaucracy designed to keep themselves in power indefinitely. —Reuters Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake sets a striking example 95 percent of all customers have opted for these lights in the CLS CoupÈ. Of course, as the world’s second car to feature this optional extra, the CLS Shooting Brake also offers the new light system. For the first time ever, it provides the Intelligent Light System already proven in Mercedes models fitted with bi-xenon headlamps in combination with LED technology. The headlamps, with their 71 LED lamps in total, look exciting; and they serve to underline the unmistakable appearance of the CLS. The light specialists from Mercedes-Benz have for the first time been able to use LED technology in the innovative Adaptive Highbeam Assist, resulting in an entirely new quality of illumination when driving at night. In contrast to the first vehicles equipped with LED headlamps, no compromises are now necessary with respect to the functionality and performance of the lighting technology. There are further arguments for LED-based lighting technology: the average operating life of an LED is around 10,000 hours, around five times longer than that of a xenon light; moreover, LED headlamps most closely approximate to the colour of daylight. This means that LED light is in keeping with the normal human perception patterns and that the driver experiences significantly more brightness on the road at night. Studies have shown that the closer the colour of artificial light comes to daylight, the less the strain on the eyes. With a colour temperature of 5,500 kelvin, LED light is closer to daylight (6,500 K) than xenon light (4,200 K). More than a dozen driving assistance systems help to prevent traffic accidents and reduce the severity of an accident. Active Blind Spot Assist and Active Lane Keeping Assist are available as part of the Driving Assistance package Plus, in combination with Distronic Plus, Bas Plus and the Pre-Safe Brake. Both assistance systems are not only able to detect an unintentional lane change or vehicles in the blind spot, but can also correct the direction of travel by gentle brake intervention if the driver ignores the visual or audible danger warnings.
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Page 3 and 4: INGREDIENTS KUWAIT: The Regency’s
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UAE widENS cRAckdOwN; MORE ISlAMiStS ... - Kuwait Times

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