April 6,2012

FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012

@alwatandaily

Issue No. 1396

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150 Fils with IHT

Annan: Syria claims ‘partial withdrawal’ from cities UN envoy reports alarming casualties in Syria

UNITED NATIONS: International envoy Kofi Annan says violence is clearly continuing in Syria, with “alarming levels” of casualties being reported daily.

Annan told the UN General Assembly in a video conference briefing from Geneva on Thursday that Syria has informed him of a partial withdrawal from several towns and cities, but he said more far-reaching action is “urgently needed.” He appealed for an immediate end to all violence and a speedy start to an inclusive political dialogue involving all Syrian parties.

On Thursday, a team led by a Norwegian major general arrived in Damascus to negotiate the possible deployment of a UN team that would monitor a ceasefire agreement between Syrian government troops and rebel forces, a spokesman for the UN Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said.

Ahmad Fawzi said the UN is already asking member nations to contribute about 200 to 250 soldiers who would monitor a cease-fire that should come into effect on April 10.

His comments came as activists said Syrian troops attacked the Damascus suburb of Douma, an assault the opposition says shows President Bashar Assad is intensifying violence in the days before the deadline.

Annan has asked the Norwegian major-general,

Robert Mood, to “begin discussing with the Syrian authorities the modalities of the eventual deployment of this UN supervision and monitoring mission,” Fawzi said.

Such a contingent would first have to be authorized by the 15-nation Security Council on which permanent members Russia, China, the US, Britain and France have veto powers.

The Syrian government should remove its troops and heavy weapons from populated areas and “begin pullback of military concentrations in and around population centers” by April 10, and then both sides will have 48 hours to stop fighting, Fawzi said. “The clock starts ticking on the 10th for both sides to cease all forms of violence,” Fawzi said.

Fawzi’s comments were an attempt to clarify the sequence of events envisioned by Annan’s peace plan aimed at bringing an end to an uprising that has left thousands of people dead.

In New York, diplomats said the Security Council has agreed on a statement endorsing the April 10 deadline. The statement calls on Assad’s government to “urgently and visibly” carry out the withdrawals, and raises the possibility of “further steps” if Syria doesn’t More on 4 comply.

Parliament passes Tenders Law

Staff Writers

KUWAIT: The Parliament overwhelmingly passed the Tenders Bill on Thursday during the first round of deliberations with a majority of 48 votes.

The bill was approved amid accusations and arguments among the lawmakers about certain provisions of the law. In the meantime, parliamentary sources have revealed that the Majority Bloc plans to include the Chamber of Commerce Bill in the Parliament’s agenda in preparation for its endorsement like the Tenders Law. A parliamentary source within the Majority

Mali slips into chaos as world waits for response

BAMAKO: Fears mounted Thursday that Al-Qaeda-linked Islamists were turning Mali into a rogue state despite the announcement by Tuareg rebels that their 10-week military offensive was complete.

As the Tuareg trumpeted the success of a decades-old struggle to “liberate” their homeland, their fundamentalist comrades-turned-rivals began imposing sharia in northern Mali, also leaving an embattled junta looking very vulnerable in Bamako. The UN Security Council on Wednesday called for an immediate ceasefire but proposed no firm action to reverse a sequence that has seen a country hailed as a democratic success story descend into chaos in barely two weeks.

The United States, which had grown increasingly concerned since the collapse of Muammer Gadhafi’s Libya scattered weapons across the region, engaged talks with Algeria, the most powerful of Mali’s seven neighbors.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Boutef-

Mountains of discarded tires in Jahra, Kuwait. Officials say that at least five million tires are dumped and no plan to dispose of them has More on 2 been put forward. (Al Watan)

Bloc told Al Watan that the bloc will soon meet to deliberate over the provisions of the new Chamber of Commerce Bill in order to place it on top of the priorities for the month of April so that it can be discussed and approved by the Parliament. The source added that the Parliamentary Majority will press for a speedy deliberation of the said bill just as was the case with the Tenders Bill.

“The majority, including the National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun, support the amendment of the existing Chamber of Commerce law, along with a significant number of independent More on 2 lawmakers,” the source suggested.

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Pope reaffirms ban on women priests

lika met General Carter Ham, who heads the US Command for Africa (AFRICOM) in Algiers on Wednesday.

They had in-depth talks on the security situation in Mali, Carter told the Algerian news agency. Military cooperation and anti-terrorism coordination were also discussed during the talks, attended by several other top officials from both sides, including Washington’s top Africa diplomat Johnnie Carson.

Three of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s (AQIM) top leaders, all of them Algerians, were spotted in the Malian city of Timbuktu in talks with Iyad Ag Ghaly, a former Tuareg rebel who recently founded the Islamist group Ansar Dine.

The group, whose name means “Defenders of Faith” in Arabic, has ordered women to wear headscarves and threatened to cut off the hands of thieves in the city, once known as the “pearl of the desert” and once the jewel in Mali’s burgeonMore on 5 ing tourism industry.

Mountains of discarded tires pose health, environment threat to Jahra residents

Egypt Brotherhood’s Shater registers candidacy CAIRO: Khairat El-Shater, a leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, registered his candidacy for the country’s presidency on Thursday as crowds of supporters cheered him on.

More than 1,000 of his backers chanted “the people want Shater as president” when the Islamist, until recently the Brotherhood’s deputy leader, arrived at the election committee’s headquarters in northern Cairo.

Last week’s announcement of Shater’s candidacy sent political shockwaves throughout the post-uprising country as people accused the Brotherhood of trying to monopolize power.

The Brotherhood, which dominates parliament and the senate through its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), had pledged not to field a More on 4 candidate for the May election.

Tunisia’s ex-first lady to tell her ‘truth’ in memoir

TUNIS: Leila Ben Ali, the wife of Tunisia’s ousted dictator, will publish a memoir of her life that is likely to stir controversy in the North African country where she was reviled by many as a latter-day Marie-Antoinette. Her book, to be published in French under the title “Ma Verite” or “My Truth”, appears on amazon.fr, the French language arm of amazon.com, as a forthcoming title with a publication date of May 24. It is priced at 16.10 euros. Contacted by Reuters, the Paris-based publisher, Les Editions du Moment, was not immediately available for comment. Tunisian news website Tunisia Live reported on Wednesday that the publisher had confirmed the book was “in the process More on 16 of being prepared” but had not given details.

Weather during weekend expected to be cloudy with a chance of rain: Forecaster

KUWAIT: Kuwait is expected during the weekend to experience thermal lows, which could turn the weather conditions to partly cloudy with a chance of scattered rain, a forecaster mentioned Thursday. Clouds will gradually disperse by Saturday followed by light to moderate north to northeasterly winds, with an estimated speed of 45 kmph, Head of the meteorological department at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Mohammad Karam told KUNA. (KUNA)

Giant feathered dinosaur fossil found in China

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Study suggests rising CO2 in the past caused global warming

WASHINGTON: The dramatic temperature increases that thawed the last ice age followed spikes in carbon dioxide levels in the air, a new study finds.

Researchers say that further strengthens the scientific case explaining current man-made global warming.

In the new study, scientists show the atmospheric concentration of that heattrapping greenhouse gas jumped more than 40 percent. Then global temperatures went up about 6 degrees Fahrenheit (3.5 degrees Celsius). More on 15

Sequel to Kony 2012 video released, addresses criticisms

A scene from the video “Kony 2012 Part II” made by California advocacy group Invisible Children, is pictured in this handout photo received by Reuters April 5, 2012. Invisible Children has released a sequel to its video highlighting the activities of Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony. (Reuters)

SAN DIEGO: Invisible Children released the sequel to what has become the most-viral video of all time, KONY 2012 on Thursday. The San Diego-based organization Invisible Children released “Beyond Famous.” Coming in at 19 minutes - about 10 minutes less than the group’s first video - the sequel addresses media criticism of the first “Kony 2012” video, which caught fire on Twitter and was reportedly viewed on YouTube 100 million times. It also explains what politicians in Washington and in Africa have done in the past month since the original “Kony 2012” video.

The second video continues to advocate for the capture of Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Formed in the 1980s, the LRA is a sectarian military and religious group that operates in Uganda and South Sudan. As its leader, Kony recruited child soldiers and committed numerous atrocities include raping and maiming civilians, ex-

perts say. Kony is at large.

Ben Keesey, Invisible Children’s executive director, told CNN the makers of the first video said they wanted to explain the plight of children affected by the LRA. The video hung its narrative on 30-something American filmmaker Jason Russell, his friendship with a young Ugandan boy who had escaped from the LRA, and Russell’s young son, Gavin.

At one point in that video, Russell tells his son on camera that there are bad guys like Kony in the world. The child reacts as any child would - incredibly scared. Russell, who recently had a public meltdown, is not part of the sequel. Critics blasted the video as overly simplistic.

“We made the first video intentionally for a young Western audience, and therefore it was a priority that the video keep their attention,” Keesey told CNN on Thursday. “This (new) video goes deeper. I think people will respond.”

-AP

Catholics leave the San Antonio de Padua church with a statue of Jesus Nazareno for a procession known as “Jesus Nazareno of the tapes”, during Holy Week in Cot de Cartago, 32 km (20 miles) from San Jose, April 4, 2012. According Jorge Masis, a priest of the church, this procession, where people tie ribbons to the statue to symbolize promises they make to Jesus during Holy Week, is a tradition that dates back 50 years ago. (Reuters)

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Staff Writers

friDAY, april 6, 2012

Parliament passes Tenders Law

KUWAIT: The Parliament overwhelmingly passed the Tenders Bill on Thursday during the first round of deliberations with a majority of 48 votes. The bill was approved amid accusations and arguments among the lawmakers about certain provisions of the law.

In the meantime, parliamentary sources have revealed that the Majority Bloc plans to include the Chamber of Commerce Bill in the Parliament’s agenda in preparation for its endorsement like the Tenders Law. A parliamentary source within the Majority Bloc told Al Watan that the bloc will soon meet to deliberate over the provisions of the new Chamber of Commerce Bill in order to place it on top of the priorities for the month of April so that it can be discussed and approved by the Parliament. The source added that the Parliamentary Majority will press for a speedy deliberation of the said bill just as was the case with the Tenders Bill.

“The majority, including the National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun, support the amendment of the existing Chamber of Commerce law, along with a significant number of independent lawmakers,” the source suggested. This, he added, implies that the bill will be easily passed without any hindrances.

Several government officials have however expressed reservation over all the provisions of the new

law, except for two it had agreed to with MPs. The Minister of Electricity and Water and the Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim affirmed that passing the bill as it currently stands will hamper and stall the Development Plan. The minister demanded that the bill be returned to the specialized committee for further study. “Stubbornness will do no good, and we shouldn’t be held accountable for past accumulations,’ Al-Ibrahim was cited as saying.

Moreover, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali warned against including the operations of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) in the Tenders Law. For his part, the Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled stressed that the representation of government in parliamentary committee meetings depends on the extension of invitations to the officials. He called for the involvement of all the concerned authorities and ministries in the provisions of the law.

A group of MPs were in tandem with the government’s standpoint that military tenders should be exempted from the new law on confidentiality grounds in this regard. Other lawmakers, nevertheless, argued that they should be included, saying that there is no more confidentiality in light of the information revolution and the fact a lot of international arms dealers publish their information on the web.

MP Saleh Ashour stated that the issue of arms is no longer a secret, adding that military magazines

Kuwait-Iraq flights to resume after 20 years BAGHDAD: Iraq has approved a request from Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways to operate services to Baghdad and Najaf, more than 20 years after direct flights between the neighbors were halted, officials said Thursday.

“We agreed yesterday to the request of the Kuwaiti Jazeera Airways company to (begin) flights from Kuwait to Iraq,” said Nasser Hussein Bandar, the head of Iraq’s civil aviation authority. Bandar said Jazeera Airways, which was founded in 2004, had requested four flights a week to Baghdad and four more to the central Iraq city Najaf.

Karim Al-Nuri, an adviser to Iraq’s transport minister, confirmed that a deal was approved.

“This is a step on the path to resolve all the suspended files between Iraq and Kuwait,” including unresolved disputes over borders, said Al-Nuri.

Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, after which flights between the Iraq and its small neighbor to the south were suspended.

During a visit by Iraqi premier Nuri AlMaliki in mid-March, Kuwait agreed to a 500 million US dollar deal with Baghdad aimed at ending a decades-long debt dispute that saw an Iraqi Airways flight impounded in London. According to Kuwait Airways, Iraq’s flag carrier owes it $1.2 billion as a result of the 1990 invasion. Kuwait says 10 of its planes as well as aircraft parts were plundered after its airport was seized during the invasion.

The dispute saw British authorities seize the passport of Iraqi Airways chief executive Kifah Hassan Jabbar and impound the plane which he flew to London in April 2010. The incident marred Iraqi Airways’ first commercial flight from Baghdad to London in 20 years. -AFP

publish all the details.

The National Assembly Deputy Speaker Khaled Al-Sultan remarked that the government’s resistance to the law stems from what he described as the continuing “chaos” in tenders.

Further, MP Faisal Al-Mislem explained that the law is aimed at confronting widespread corruption, which reached a level of “crime.”

In the meantime, MP Faisal Al-Yahya pointed out that although the National Assembly has taken a tough line in oversight, corruption has been rising, and stressed that laws alone cannot achieve reform.

MP Khaled Al-Tahous agreed with him that a firm stance should be made to halt malpractices in tenders in order to safeguard the country.

Commenting on the matter, MP Al-Saifi Al-Saifi lamented the magnitude of irregularities in the Ministry of Defense. “Certain companies’ capital is not more than 100,000 Sterling pounds.

However they win tenders amounting to hundreds of millions,” the lawmaker charged. He complained that Shell’s 800 million US dollar contract was never scrutinized by the Tenders Committee.

MP Mohammad Al-Khalifa described the law as national, stressing that it should be enacted without any flaws as the country is going through an important development period, while MP Adel Al-Damkhi considered it as the gate of cooperation between the executive and legislative authorities.

Parliament Speaker Ahmed Al-Saadoun during Thursday’s session, April 5, 2012. (Al Watan)

Mountains of discarded tires pose health, environment threat to Jahra residents

Lawyer Al-Ali threatens to initiate sit-in if Al-Melaifi is not arrested Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Lawyer Ali Al-Ali filed a new State Security complaint against writer Mohammed Al-Melaifi for taking part in a forum that discussed Iran’s influence in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Al-Ali accused Al-Melaifi of causing sedition and jeopardizing national unity. He threatened that if the Ministry of Interior does not arrest Al-Melaifi for describing Shiites as ‘atheists’, Shiites will hold a sit-in in front of the State Security building and will not leave until Al-Melaifi is arrested.

He condemned Al-Melaifi for describing Shiites as ‘sheep’ and for accusing Shiites of being loyal to Iran, in addition to insulting prominent Shiite scholars. He stressed that Shiites in Kuwait are loyal to Kuwait and its ruling family, but asserted that if the govern-

ment does not silence such voices, Shiites will escalate the issue.Meanwhile, Al-Melaifi responded by saying that what Al-Ali has accused him of saying is false. He added that the forum that sparked this controversy was recorded and can be found on YouTube.

He stressed that no one mentioned anything about Shiites. He stated that during the forum, they discussed Iran’s role in the unrest in Bahrain, and its schemes against other GCC countries. He criticized Yasser Al-Habib for calling for the expansion of the Persian state, and toppling the regimes of the GCC countries.

He explained that if State Security has to arrest anyone, it should be Al-Ali for attempting to cause sedition. He went on to say that Al-Habib slandered Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and his wives, and asked Al-Ali to settle any issues at court.

Nahar Al-Hajeri detained over flag burning released

Photos of tires junkyard with over 5 million discarded tires. (Al Watan) Ali Al-Saoud Staff Writer

KUWAIT: More than five million discarded used car tires in a junkyard pose legitimate health and environment threats; especially if a fire breaks out in the area, because it will affect people living in Jahra and Saad Al-Abdullah area. Al Watan television and newspaper toured the location of the junk yard that is five kilometers away from Jahra and Saad Al-Abdullah cities. Al Watan crew was escorted by Municipality Council member Abdullah Al-Enezi, who highlighted the fact that the tires junk yard is a serious health threat;

especially that those discarded tires form black hills and valleys.

He highlighted that in case of a fire, firemen will not be able to overcome the flames, and stressed that the fire will be much worse than the fire that broke out at oil wells during the Iraqi invasion. He called for handling those discarded tires in a scientific way that can be profitable to the government, such as allowing private sector companies specialized in that field of business to handle that matter and invest in this field.

Al-Enezi went on to say that the municipality rejected a request made by the Cabinet to allocate another location that occupies 500,000

square meters to discard more tyres, because the government has no clear plan on how to discard the tires in the existing junkyard.

He asserted that since the government is unable to properly discard millions of tires, the municipality will be adamant in not allocating another piece of land to discard more tires, since this will further harm the environment.

He explained that the municipality will not stand idly; he pointed that rubber and plastic need about 1000 years to decompose.

He revealed that a workshop will be held to discuss this impending disaster, in order to find an effective and scientific solution.

Disparaging Prophet leads to excommunication: Al-Otaiba Forum

Nasser Al-Otaibi Staff Writer

Photo of Nahar Al-Hajeri’s supporters holding banners asking for his release. (Al Watan) Yousef Al-Yousef,

KUWAIT: The General Department for Investigations on Thursday released Nahar Al-Hajeri on bail after a weeklong detention.

Al-Hajeri faces charges of degrading and burning the flag of a non-hostile state (Iran). His detention triggered daily sit-ins at the State Security Bureau by his supporters demanding his release.

Following his release, Al-Hajeri exclusively spoke to Al Watan to voice dismay over the abuse meted out to him and the rumors peddled against him. He also lamented what he described as selectivity and abuse

in the application of law, and promised to reveal some of the things he came to know during his detention.

Additionally, he thanked all segments of the society and officials in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain who were in touch with him.

Al-Hajeri, in the meantime, expressed gratitude to all those who staged sit-ins in his support, particularly Members of Parliament (MP) Waleed Al-Tabtabaie as well as his lawyers.

It could be recalled that the Iranian flag was set on fire during a gathering at the Determination Square where participants denounced a twitter who allegedly blasphemed Prophet Mohammed, (PBUH).

KUWAIT: Participants of the Al-Otaibi Tribe Forum stressed that disparaging the Prophet of Islam Mohammed (PBUH) is not an issue that can be compromised on and that it is seen as a red line that cannot be crossed under any circumstances. There was a unanimous demand that stricter measures and maximum penalty should be introduced and strictly applied against any attempt to disparage and slander the Prophet Mohammed PBUH and his sacrosanct household.

The Al-Otaibi Tribe Forum is held annually in coordination with the Al-Hila magazine in the Heritage Hall in Fahad Al-Ahmad city.

Participants included senior members of the tribe as well as current and former members

of Parliament (MPs).

The forum began with a speech delivered

by Falah Matar Al-Otaibi saying that the aim and purpose of the forum is to maintain closer ties among the members of the tribe on one hand and to cement ties with the rest of the community here in Kuwait on the other.

Al-Otaibi went on to discuss the controversial issue of disparaging the Prophet Mohammed PBUH. Al-Otaibi was referring to a local blogger who degraded the Prophet with harsh comments about him and his wife as well as companions. He explained that the very fact of attacking the Prophet PBUH constitutes an ex-communication.

The speaker called on the government to not stand idle and check in all attempts to degrade the Prophet Mohammed PBUH, expressing his astonishment at the same time

because the Kuwaiti government hasn’t issued any formal condemnation against the blogger and his criminal act.

“I call on the government, on behalf of Al-Otaibi Tribe Forum and Al-Haila magazine, to come up with stricter measures and maximum penalty in the quickest fashion,” he remarked.

Al-Otaibi then moved to another topic where he described the attack between Kuwaiti families and tribes as an “outside job” because as he explained that no one with the spirit of patriotism would even venture on doing something against the country’s tribes. He explained that two leading tribes in the country Al-Mutairs and Al-Azmis were subject of ferocious attack and once again the government failed to counteract such attack without the slightest attempt to curtail it.

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Minister of Information urges youth to join Science Club Mervat Abdul Dayem Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Minister of Information Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah urged Kuwaiti youths to join the Kuwait Science Club to discover and hone their talents in a scientific environment, since the club offers unique training courses. He applauded those in charge of the club, and praised their role in improving the club’s services.

The minister stated during an honoring celebration held at the club two days ago under the patronage of the club’s Chairman Engineer Eyad Al-Kharafi and attended by a number of ministers and officials, that loyalty is always rewarded in Kuwait. He expressed towards those who spent long years of their lives in catering to the needs to the up and coming generation of Kuwaiti inventors and innovators. He asked Kuwaiti youths to visit the club and unleash their potential.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Planning and Development Affairs Fadhil Safar expressed his pleasure in taking part in the honoring of competent Kuwaiti employees who had been serving the club for many years. He added that those employees managed to youths and through this scientific establishment.

He also praised the role played by the club in developing the talents of youths, training, and supporting them financially, which allowed them to take part in scientific contests and global exhibitions, despite limited resources.

Ministry of Information Undersecretary Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah highlighted the achievements made by the club during the past years under the wise leadership of Al-Kharafi. He noted that the honoring event is a token of gratitude and appreciation to the efforts exerted by a group of former dedicated board members. He lauded the role played by the honorees in developing the club’s activities.

It is worth noting that the event began by a speech made by Al-Kharafi, who mentioned that the club’s administration has been working relentlessly to boost the club’s activities and various scientific courses, which led to the significant increase in number of members. He went on to say that despite limited resources and financial support that fail to accomplish the club’s goals, the club managed through its successive boards to trigger a paradigm shift in its scientific activities. He also praised the role of the honorees in allowing club members to take part in forums, camps, exchange visits, and contests; in addition to taking part in international inventions expos.

Moreover, former board member Adel Al-Kharafi thanked the club management for this kind gesture, and expressed his joy because Kuwaiti youths will be managing the club and granting other youths the opportunity to excel. He stressed that Kuwait will never develop, unless

Photo of Kuwait Science Club Chairman Engineer Eyad Al-Kharafi giving a speech Thursday, April 5, 2012.

(Al Watan)

it grants youths the opportunity to take part in development. He noted that Kuwait has shortcomings in scientific research as a result of being engrossed in politics. He went on to say that Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science is isolated and does not exist among the civil society, not to mention placing constraints that erode the production of youths and hinders their abilities. He remarked that he is pessimistic regarding their method of work. Furthermore, Ahmed Al-Manfouhi thanked the chairman, board members, ministers, and officials who were keen to attend the celebration. He expressed his confidence that the current officials in the club will be able to shoulder the responsibility efficiently.

Former board member Matar Al-Mutairi stressed that all former board members exerted sterling efforts to improve the services and activities that take place in the club. He added that he has gained experience during the years he had spent in the club.

Raising salaries of expatriate workers at PAHW next week

Abdullah Al-Shimmery Staff Writer

KUWAIT: An informed source at the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) revealed that the committee was formed to assess the salary and salary raise of expatriate employees at the authority is about to complete its report.

When the report is completed then it will be referred to the supreme planning committee within the next week and the latter in turn will refer the report to the minister Shuaib

Al-Muwaizri to get approval. The source told Al-Watan that the different expatriate employees- who are estimated at 40 percent of the employees of authority- will benefit from the raise. The committee also considered the salary of Kuwaiti Civil Servant at the authority, wherein some of them will get a salary raise as well as increasing certain awards that Kuwaiti Civil Servants used to obtain. The sources affirmed that the minister is serious about raising the morale of all employees of the authority including the Kuwaiti and the expatriate ones.

Kuwait’s participation ‘well-received’ in Sharjah Heritage Day’s Festival SHARJAH: Kuwait’s participation in the 10th Sharjah Heritage Days Festival was well received by the public. It displayed an array of Kuwaiti history and folk artifacts, Head of Kuwaiti media delegation said on Thursday. Sharjah Heritage Days festival kicked off, late Wednesday until April 20, under the patronage of Sharjah ruler and Supreme Council Member Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammad Al-Qasimi. It is held to preserve and revive not only Sharjah’s heritage but also that of the Gulf region.Director of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries Media Department at the Foreign Ministry Mishaal Al-Thayyid said that Kuwait’s participating in the event was lauded by Sheikh Sultan who expressed wishes that future participation would be even bigger and better. Al-Thayyid told Kuwait News Agency

(KUNA), after the event opening, the Foreign Media department at the Ministry of Information has supervised the Kuwaiti delegation second engagement in the festival. Baid Al-Sadu and Sailor’s Day village were among the participants. The Kuwaiti aisle displayed many photographs that told the historic story that bound Kuwait and United Arab Emirates (UAE) together through many years.The photographs also captured moments from Kuwait past and present.

Other heritage and folk artifacts of desert and marine lifestyles were on display as well. This year’s slogan is “A Decade of Heritage.” The festival will be held throughout the Emirates, including Sharjah city, to celebrate the country’s popular heritage, culture and literature. -KUNA

US ‘willing’ to assist Kuwait in special education: Ambassador

KUWAIT: The US is very keen on bolstering educational ties with Kuwait and providing assistance in special education as one of the various ways to boost relations, said US Ambassador to Kuwait Matthew Tueller on Thursday.

Ambassador Tueller told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) during a books donation event atAl-Nibras School, “I’ve had great pleasure visiting the Nibras school this morning to be able to see the wonderful work that they’re doing in really cutting edge education here for the young people of Kuwait.

I’m very proud to be associated with this school and have been able to make a donation of books from the United States to reach children of all ages and ability groups here at this school.”

He was asked about extending such donations to public schools, Ambassador Tueller said that the US embassy had cooperated with many schools in Kuwait, indicating that the Nibras schools have been cooperating with the Embassy and teachers in the United States particularly within the areas of special education, a field which the US could closely cooperate with Kuwaitis from non-governmental organizations in bringing the best practices from the US to the young people of Kuwait. On her part,

General Manager and Founder of Nibras Schools Dr. Nora Al-Dahery said that the school was honored to have received the US Ambassador of Kuwait, thanking him for his generous donation.

In regards to the activities of the school, AlDahery noted that Al-Nibras was connected with the Kansas State University (KSU), revealing that a memorandum signed with the university helped to shape the school’s curriculum, magma of US and Kuwaiti educational systems.The deal also includes training courses for Al-Nibras teachers under supervision from their US counterparts.She said that Al-Nibras School is opened to students of all nationalities and ability groups, adding that the motto of the school “Everyone has the right to success” was aimed for reflecting such an attitude.

Al-Dahery said that the school links itself with local and international educational institutions to build a future for children, stressing that all individuals have skills and special gifts.

On the curriculum of the special needs school, Al-Dahery revealed that the school had a unique curriculum for children aged three to adults aged 21, the only system of its kind in Kuwait and the Arab world. -KUNA

Group photos during an honoring celebration held at the Kuwait Science Club on Thursday, April 5, 2012. (KUNA)

Kuwait abides to achieving justice, protecting human rights: Minister of Justice KUWAIT: The Minister of Justice and the Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Jamal Shahab announced in a press release that Kuwait abides to all articles and items of the Kuwaiti institution that calls for achieving justice and protecting human rights in the country.

The constitution which, was endorsed in 1962, highlights human rights as well as developing all human rights laws to meet the requirements of the international community.

The minister released this statement through commenting on the last

ministerial decisions which stipulated re-forming the supreme committee for human rights and adding more members to the committee from different ministries, government institutions and private sector institutions as well.

The minister unveiled that the decision was adopted in order to show respect and interest in Arabian, regional and international charters and agreements that Kuwait had signed.

He indicated that the number of such charters and agreements exceeds

25 including some agreements with the United Nations.

The agreements and charters deal with protecting civil, economic, social and cultural rights, however some agreements focus on protecting intellectual property and eradicating discrimination against women and children as well as torture and human trafficking.

Shahab added that the committee has other tasks to do such as submitting consultations and advices to the decision makers in the field of human rights.

Al-Mutter: Metro project best solution for avoiding traffic jams

Staff Writer

KUWAIT: The Head of the Kuwaiti Society for Traffic Safety Dr. Bader AlMutter extolled the stance of the Member of Parliament (MP) Dr. Abdullah Al-Turaiji for adopting the traffic issue in the country through directing several parliamentary questions to the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud regarding traffic related issues which people suffer from at the present time. The lawmaker asked the Ministry of Interior to answer

all questions transparently, calling the ministry to exert all possible efforts to solve traffic problems.

He added that there are other responsible sides for the traffic problems such as the Ministry of Public Works and the Public Authority for Transport. He indicated, “The convenient solution for traffic jams is floating the project of metro in order to be carried out as soon as possible since Kuwait has a large financial surplus nowadays and the sole thing that the government needs right now is the ability to take final decisions.” The project of metro

is expected to decrease traffic up to 50 percent when compared to the current traffic jams.

Al-Mutter asked His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak to issue immediate instructions for speeding up the execution of the project as well as avoiding bureaucracy that will interrupt the project. He also called all MPs for adopting and supporting the metro project and assigning a special session to discuss traffic jams with the relevant officials besides to looking for effective solutions to end all traffic problems.

Desert clean-up campaign continues

KUWAIT: A clean-up campaign in all desert areas of the country organized by the Municipality continues with the end of the camping season as temperatures begin heating up. Held under the slogan “a desert free of pollutants”, the campaign aims to leave all deserts in the country free of

waste, announced Director General of the Municipality, Ahmad Al-Sabeeh on Thursday. The campaign is currently targeting the area around the Ahmadi Equestrian Club. The official urged people to cooperate with the country’s efforts to keep the country clean by refraining from throwing waste in these areas. -KUNA

Photo of volunteer children during the desert cleaning campaign on Thursday, April 5, 2012.

(KUNA)

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ALWATAN DAILY

regional

FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012

Annan: Syria claims ‘partial withdrawal’ from cities UN envoy reports alarming casualties in Syria

UNITED NATIONS: International envoy Kofi Annan says violence is clearly continuing in Syria, with “alarming levels” of casualties being reported daily. Annan told the UN General Assembly in a video conference briefing from Geneva on Thursday that Syria has informed him of a partial withdrawal from several towns and cities, but he said more far-reaching action is “urgently needed.”

He appealed for an immediate end to all violence and a speedy start to an inclusive political dialogue involving all Syrian parties.

On Thursday, a team led by a Norwegian major general arrived in Damascus to negotiate the possible deployment of a UN team that would monitor a cease-fire agreement between Syrian government troops and rebel forces, a spokesman for the UN Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said.

Ahmad Fawzi said the UN is already asking member nations to contribute about 200 to 250 soldiers who would monitor a cease-fire that should come into effect on April 10.

His comments came as activists said Syrian troops attacked the Damascus suburb of Douma, an assault the opposition says shows President Bashar Assad is intensifying violence in the days before the deadline.

Annan has asked the Norwegian majorgeneral, Robert Mood, to “begin discussing with the Syrian authorities the modalities of the eventual deployment of this UN supervision and monitoring mission,” Fawzi said.

Such a contingent would first have to be authorized by the 15-nation Security Council on which permanent members Russia, China, the US, Britain and France have veto powers.

The Syrian government should remove its troops and heavy weapons from populated areas and “begin pullback of military concentrations in and around population centers”

by April 10, and then both sides will have 48 hours to stop fighting, Fawzi said.

“The clock starts ticking on the 10th for

In this Wednesday, April 4, 2012 photo, Syrians raise their hands vowing to continue fighting until President Bashar Assad’s regime falls during a protest in a neighborhood in Damascus, Syria. Syrian troops launched a fierce assault on a Damascus suburb Thursday with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks since the year-old uprising began. (AP)

Syrian youth stand in a building damaged by tank shells in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, after a raid by Syrian troops killed several rebels and civilians Thursday, April 5, 2012. Syrian troops launched a fierce assault Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began. (AP)

both sides to cease all forms of violence,” Fawzi said. Fawzi’s comments were an attempt to clarify the sequence of events envisioned by Annan’s peace plan aimed at bringing an end to an uprising that has left thousands of people dead. In New York, diplomats said the Security Council has agreed on a statement endorsing the April 10 deadline. The statement calls on Assad’s government to “urgently and visibly” carry out the withdrawals, and raises the possibility of “further steps” if Syria doesn’t comply. France’s Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he was not optimistic about a peace plan for Syria and is ready to push for stronger UN action if the deadline is not met. Assad “is deceiving us” when he promises to abide by the peace

said, referring to Syria’s authorities. “And we are receiving positive signals from the opposition that once the government abides by the 10th of April deadline, they too will lay down their arms.”

The UN has previously said that Syria has pledged to withdraw troops and heavy weapons from populated areas by April 10, in what could be a first step toward ending the bloody yearlong conflict.

Syria’s key ally Russia, meanwhile, said it could support a Security Council motion backing Annan’s peace plan if it doesn’t contain ultimatums to Assad’s government.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov didn’t specify whether he was referring to a

plan, Juppe said.

“If we manage to get 200 observers (and the other measures in the peace plan) in place, things will change dramatically,” he told reporters in Paris. “If we don’t manage to get this by April 12, we have to go back to the UN Security Council.” Syria has told UN officials that it is withdrawing troops from the southern province of Daraa, the northwestern province of Idlib and mountain resort town of Zabadani, north of Damascus, Fawzi said.

Fawzi warned that they do not “expect anything to happen magically.”

“We expect things to happen methodically, in a disciplined manner, and yes, they have told us that they have begun withdrawing,” Fawzi

Fugitive Iraqi VP will return to Iraq RIYADH: Fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq alHashemi will return to Iraq, a close aide said on Thursday, denying a claim by a Saudi official that he might remain in the kingdom until his political foe, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, leaves office.

“He will return very soon to Kurdistan,” said a member of his delegation in reference to the autonomous Iraq region where Hashemi has been sheltering since he was accused late last year of running a death squad. The spokesman added that for Hashemi to stay abroad is “the wish of his enemies,” in a clear reference to Maliki. Only hours earlier, Hashemi said in an interview that, although Maliki wants him “out of Iraq ... I will return.”

He also accused Maliki, a Shiite Muslim, of waging a systematic campaign against Sunni Arabs in Iraq.

For his part, Hashemi spokesman Medhat Abu Abdallah told AFP: “We deny this information categorically. The vice president will leave Saudi on Saturday to continue his regional tour.”

The Saudi official had said Hashemi “will remain in

Saudi Arabia for the time being,” adding that he might stay until Maliki is pushed out of office “by democratic means.”

He also lashed out at Maliki, describing him as “an extension of Iran in the region.”

Hashemi arrived in the kingdom on Wednesday from next-door Qatar, after a controversial four-day visit that sparked criticism from Iraq’s Shiite-led government and demands that Doha hand him over.

Qatar refused those demands, saying they violated “diplomatic norms.”

In Riyadh, Hashemi met the kingdom’s foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal.

Hashemi fled to Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region in December to avoid formal charges and arrest.

Hashemi has said the accusations against him “have a sectarian dimension” that are part of what he said was a systematic campaign against Sunni Arabs.

He said he is the “fifth Sunni figure to be targeted” by the government, and that “more than 90 percent of the detainees in Iraq are Sunnis.” -AFP

Egypt Brotherhood’s Shater registers candidacy

Egyptian women supporting Muslim Brotherhood presidential hopeful Khairat el-Shater hold English letters spelling his name outside the Higher Presidential Elections Commission, in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, April 5, 2012. (AP)

CAIRO: Khairat El-Shater, a leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, registered his candidacy for the country’s presidency on Thursday as crowds of supporters cheered him on.

More than 1,000 of his backers chanted “the people want Shater as president” when the Islamist, until recently the Brotherhood’s deputy leader, arrived at the election committee’s headquarters in northern Cairo.

Last week’s announcement of Shater’s candidacy sent political shockwaves throughout the post-uprising country as people accused the Brotherhood of trying to monopolize power.

The Brotherhood, which dominates parliament and the senate through its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), had pledged not to field a candidate for the May election.

But it reversed its position when the ruling military

refused to sack the government and replace it with an FJP-led cabinet.

On Wednesday, a Muslim group that met with Shater said he promised to push for the implementation of Islamic law sharia if elected. A campaign official said Shater shared the FJP’s programme, which calls for an Islamic and democratic state.

The election on May 23 and 24 will be the first presidential vote since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising in February 2011 that led to military rule.

The winner will be announced in June, when the military is scheduled to hand over power.

Shater had been jailed under Mubarak, whose government regularly rounded up members of the thenbanned Brotherhood, and was released after the dictator’s ouster. -AFP

Security Council resolution or a less binding statement, but warned that the document shouldn’t contain “any ultimatums or threats.”

Russia has grown increasingly impatient with Assad, criticizing him for being slow at reforms and urging him to take the first step in implementing Annan’s plan.

Lavrov’s warning against the use of ultimatums or threats in a UN motion backing Annan’s plan indicated that Moscow will continue to protect Assad from foreign intervention.

Russia has vowed to block any UN resolution that could pave the way for a replay of what happened in Libya, where NATO action helped oust longtime dictator Muammar Gadhafi. -Agencies

Accused September 11 mastermind to face trial at Guantanamo

WASHINGTON: Accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four suspected co-conspirators were ordered on Wednesday to stand trial before a Guantanamo war crimes tribunal, the Pentagon said, a move that throws the politically charged case into the limelight in an election year.

Convictions on the most serious charges, which include terrorism, hijacking, conspiracy and murder in violation of the law of war, could carry the death penalty.

The decision to move to trial in a military court is the latest chapter in a decade-long political and legal battle over handling detainees. One of the most contentious issues has been whether ter-

rorism suspects like Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators should be tried in civilian courts as criminals or before military courts as enemy combatants.

The trial will bring a deep examination of the events leading up to 9/11, the deadliest attack ever carried out on US soil and one that propelled the country into a global war against Al-Qaeda and its affiliates.

The trial stands to be double-edged for President Barack Obama, who is running for a second term in November. It will remind voters about the killing of long-fugitive Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last year, a highlight of his presidency. But it could also draw attention to his failure to close the Guantanamo Bay

prison, which he had promised to do as a candidate in the 2008 election.

The official overseeing the Guantanamo tribunals, retired Vice Admiral Bruce MacDonald, referred the case to a capital military commission on charges of terrorism, hijacking aircraft, conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, attacking civilians and other counts, the Pentagon said. The case is fraught with controversy. All five defendants were held in secret CIA prisons before being sent to Guantanamo in 2006. The CIA has acknowledged subjecting Mohammed to a simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding during his interrogation, and other defendants have said they were abused.-Reuters

Iran eyes spiritual leadership of Iraq’s Shiites BAGHDAD: Iran is promoting a conservative cleric close to its supreme leader as a possible successor for the aging spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shiites, a move that would give Tehran a powerful platform to influence its neighbor, according to figures close to Iraq’s religious leadership.

The 81-year-old spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is one of the most influential figures in Iraq, revered by its Shiite majority as well as by Shiites around the world. In the years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and fall of Saddam Hussein, he was strong enough to shape the new Iraq, forcing American leaders and Iraqi politicians to revise parts of their transition plans he objected to.

The man Iran is maneuvering in hopes of eventually replacing him is Grand Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, a prominent insider in the clerical hierarchy that rules Iran. He was the head of Iran’s judiciary for 10 years until 2009, playing a major role in suppressing the country’s reform movement, and sits on one of Iran’s main ruling councils.

Shahroudi has started to build a presence in Najaf, the Iraqi holy city of dozens of seminaries that is the center of Shiism’s religious leadership, to which many of the world’s 200 million Shiites turn for spiritual and political guidance. Posters bearing his portrait have sprung up in the Baghdad district of Sadr City, a bastion of Shiite activism and home to some 2.5 million Shiites.

Iran’s growing influence in Iraq - through the economy and ties with Shiite politicians in Baghdad - is already a source of alarm to the United States and its Gulf Arab allies who see Shiite-majority Iran as a rival.

It would boost Tehran’s voice in Iraq even more if Shahroudi ever succeeds al-Sistani as “al-marjaa al-akbar,” or “the greatest object of emulation.”

The 63-year-old Shahroudi would likely take an even more assertive political role than al-Sistani has. Al-Sistani adheres to a “quietist” school of Shiism that rejects formal rule by clerics, in contrast to Iran’s school in which clerics hold ultimate power.

Also, al-Sistani has lived in seclusion for years - he is thought not to have left his Najaf house since 2004 - and some feel he has grown out of sync with Iraq’s new generation of young and empowered Shiites. Disillusioned over unemployment and erratic services, many young Shiites are looking for a more dynamic religious leadership to counter what they see as the rising power of Sunni fundamentalists in the Arab world.

“Iraq’s Shiites are deeply politicized and they have had enough of traditional marjaiyah (religious authorities) like alSistani’s,” said one insider in Najaf, who is in daily contact with the city’s top clerics. “Iran is taking advantage of this by working energetically to replace him with one of its own.”

The insider is one of six who are well connected to the Shiites’ secretive religious establishment in Najaf and in Baghdad.

They said Shahroudi appears to be angling for the post. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Al-Sistani, who was treated in London for heart problems in 2004, remains healthy and alert, according to visitors who saw

him recently. But his advanced age has fueled speculation about his succession in Najaf.

But the succession does not necessarily have to wait until al-Sistani’s death. It could effectively take place if al-Sistani is deemed too old to guide his followers.

The position of al-marjaa al-akbar is considered the highest in Shia Islam’s spiritual hierarchy, more elevated than the several dozen clerics with “marjaa” - or “object of emulation” - status in the Shiite world. Pious Shiites generally choose a marjaa to follow. Al-Sistani has been al-marjaa al-akbar since the 1990s.

Filling the post is done by an informal process of consensus among senior and middle-ranking clerics, aimed at choosing the learned and respected figure. “Campaigning” for it means showing religious clout among Shiites in general and in Najaf specifically.

Ibrahim al-Baghdadi, Shahroudi’s top aide in Najaf, would not say if Shahroudi has ambitions for the position. Morteza Monajjem, a spokesman for Shahroudi’s office in the holy city of Qom, Iran’s religious capital, said the cleric “has no plan to stand next to other marjaas” and “has not officially defined himself as a marjaa.” -AP

FILE: Former Iran’s judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi. (AP)

ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD

fridAY, april 6, 2012

Mali slips into chaos as world gropes for response Washington suspends $13 million in aid to Bamako

BAMAKO: Fears mounted Thursday that Al Qaeda-linked Islamists were turning Mali into a rogue state despite the announcement

by Tuareg rebels that their 10-week military offensive was complete. As the Tuareg trumpeted the success of a decades-old struggle to “liberate” their homeland, their fundamentalist comrades-turned-rivals began imposing sharia in northern Mali, also leaving an embattled junta looking very vulnerable in Bamako.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday called for an immediate ceasefire but proposed no firm action to reverse a sequence that has seen a country hailed as a democratic success story descend into chaos in barely two weeks.

The United States, which had grown increasingly concerned since the collapse of Moamer Kadhafi’s Libya scattered weapons across the region, engaged talks with Algeria, the most powerful of Mali’s seven neighbors.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika met General Carter Ham, who heads the US Command for Africa (AFRICOM) in Algiers on Wednesday. They had in-depth talks on the security situation in Mali, Carter told the Algerian news agency. Military cooperation and anti-terrorism coordination were also discussed during the talks, attended by several other top officials from both sides, including Washing-

Malians, who originate from the north, attend a meeting at the Palace of Congress in Bamako April 4. (Reuters)

ton’s top Africa diplomat Johnnie Carson.

Three of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s (AQIM) top leaders, all of them Algerians, were spotted in the Malian city of Timbuktu in talks with Iyad Ag Ghaly, a former Tuareg rebel who recently founded the Islamist group Ansar Dine.

The group, whose name means “Defenders of

Faith” in Arabic, has ordered women to wear headscarves and threatened to cut off the hands of thieves in the city, once known as the “pearl of the desert” and once the jewel in Mali’s burgeoning tourism industry.

InWashington, the United States is suspending at least 13 million US dollars of its roughly

US to soften sanctions on Myanmar, says Clinton WASHINGTON: Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has said Washington would ease restrictions on investment to Myanmar and move quickly to name an ambassador after landmark elections.

Hoping to boost reformers in the country, Clinton said on Wednesday that the US would also make it easier for Myanmar officials to visit but would not yet ease the bulk of sanctions on the long-isolated state.

Clinton hailed the “leadership and courage” of President Thein Sein after the country held by-elections that will see opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi entering parliament for the first time.

“The United States will stand with the reformers and the democrats both inside the government and in the larger civil society as they work together for that more hopeful future that is the right of every single person,” Clinton told reporters.

Al Jazeera’s Rosalind Jordan, reporting from Washington, described Clinton’s statement as a “confidence-building message”.

“This is an opportunity not just for renewed diplomatic ties, but for US non-governmental organizations to carry out work in civil society building and to protect the environment. Also for [US] businesses to go in and help the people of Myanmar develop their agriculture and tour-

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (right) speaks with Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci during a press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, April 4. (AFP)

ism sectors,” Jordan said.

Clinton announced “the beginning of the process” of a “targeted easing of our ban on the export of US financial services and investment”.

She said that the step on investment was “part of a broader effort to help accelerate economic modernization and political reform”.

But she added: “Sanctions and prohibitions will stay in place on individuals and institutions

$140 million in annual aid to Mali following last month’s coup in the West African nation, the State Department said on Wednesday. The suspension affects US assistance for Mali’s ministry of health, public school construction and the government’s efforts to boost agricultural production. The United States, which sees Mali as an important partner in regional efforts to combat Islamic extremism, has warned that Mali’s political crisis was putting the territorial integrity of the country at risk.

US law bars aid “to the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree.”

The United States announced the suspension of some aid to Mali a day after calling again on coup leaders to immediately return power to civilian authorities. The new military rulers’ efforts to restore order fell apart as a coalition of some 50 political parties and 100 civil society organizations refused to take part in a proposed national meeting on the country’s future.

The junta, which had planned the meeting for Thursday, was quickly forced to postpone it.

The mutineers had justified their coup by arguing that Toure’s regime had failed to effectively tackle the Tuareg uprising but the rebels have since then conquered a chunk of territory larger than France virtually unopposed.

In an interview with the French dailies Le Monde and Liberation published Thursday, coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo begged Western powers to help him counter the Islamist push in the north. -Agencies

that remain on the wrong side of these historic reform efforts.”

Clinton, who previously announced that the US would restore full diplomatic relations with Myanmar for the first time in two decades, said the administration would complete formalities “in the coming days” and then formally nominate an ambassador to the senate for confirmation.

Aung Din, a former political prisoner and executive director of the US Campaign for Burma advocacy group, was more critical.

Referring to the country by its former name, he said Myanmar’s leaders had won “enormous” rewards even though Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy would hold a tiny number of seats in the military-dominated parliament.

“Today will be the best day for the Burmese regime, which is still killing innocent civilians in ethnic areas in Burma,” he said.

Clinton said that the US administration would still press for greater progress on key concerns including a release of all remaining political prisoners and an end to any military co-operation with North Korea. Al Jazeera’s Jordan said Washington was “sending a message of encouragement for the reform-minded, but it has been made clear that the US won’t ignore human rights abuses”. -AFP

UK’s Cameron rating hits lows after bruising fortnight North Korea launch an intelligence opportunity for US, allies LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron’s approval rating has tumbled to its lowest level since he was elected two years ago, according to a poll on Thursday, after two weeks in which policy gaffes and a funding scandal battered his Conservative Party.

Only 30 percent of voters thought Cameron would make the best prime minister out of the leaders of Britain’s three main political parties, the YouGov poll for the Sun newspaper conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday showed.

The figure is the lowest since the May 2010 general election that brought Cameron into power as head of a coalition government with the smaller Liberal Democrat party.

Many have billed the last two weeks as the most damaging for Cameron and his party, after a key fundraiser was secretly taped offering access to the prime minister for cash, and many in the media interpreted last month’s annual budget as imposing a “Granny Tax” on pensioners to pay for tax cuts for the rich.

Mixed messages on how to handle a fuel strike triggered panic and an embarrassing retraction of advice telling drivers to store petrol at home, while a tax on hot food - including on a snack said to be favored by the working class - reinforced accusations that upper class Cameron and his posh inner circle are out of touch with the poor.

Compounding Cameron’s problems is a new row this week over plans to boost the state’s digital surveillance powers and

British Prime Minister David Cameron delivering a statement to the press following a Cobra meeting at 10 Downing Street in central London, Britain. (Reuters)

to hold some trials in secret for national security reasons. The proposals have drawn criticism from members of his own party, the Liberal Democrats and civil liberty groups.

The prime minister may draw some comfort from the fact that opposition Labor party leader Ed Miliband has failed to capitalize on the turbulence, with the number of people who think he would make the best prime minister rising only one point in the last two weeks to 19 percent.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg’s rating is still bumping along rock bottom

at five percent, down one point.

Almost half of voters said they did not know who would make the best prime minister, the highest level since the 2010 election, a statistic that may reflect general disappointment with Britain’s mainstream parties.

Such sentiment was seen as the driving force behind the shock win last month of maverick leftist George Galloway in a local election in the city of Bradford in northern England. The YouGov poll weighted its data by age, social class, region, newspaper readership and political party support. -Reuters

Boko Haram kills seven in northeast market, says Nigeria MAIDUGURI: Suspected members of Nigerian militant group Boko Haram have killed seven people in a market in Maiduguri, the police said on Thursday, the latest in almost daily killings in the restive northeast.

Boko Haram, an Islamist group which wants sharia law imposed more widely in Nigeria, has been unrelenting in its low level insurgency against President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. The majority of attacks take place around Boko Haram’s home town

of Maiduguri, the capital of remote Borno state which borders Chad, Niger and Cameroon. “Seven traders were shot dead by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram on Wednesday. Three other civilians also sustained injury during the attack at Monday Market,” Borno police spokesman Samuel Tizhe said.

Borno government chairman, Wanangu Kachuwa, was assassinated by Boko Haram members in Maiduguri on Sunday. Hours lat-

er two policemen and a Boko Haram member were killed during a siege on a police station.

On Monday, a member of the state security service was shot dead while getting his hair cut in Maiduguri. Many of Boko Haram’s attacks target government or security personnel. Nigerian forces have begun a harder crackdown in the city, carrying out house-tohouse searches last week. Similar efforts in the past have triggered a backlash from Boko Haram. -Reuters

TOKYO: As the US and its allies decry North Korea’s planned rocket launch, they’re also rushing to capitalize on the rare opportunity it presents to assess the secretive nation’s ability to strike beyond its shores.

If North Korea goes ahead with the launch, expected to take place sometime between April 12-16, the United States, Japan and South Korea will have more military assets on hand than ever to track the rocket and - if necessary - shoot it out of the sky.

Behind the scenes, they will be analyzing everything from where the rocket’s booster stages fall to the shape of its nose cone. The information they gather could deeply impact regional defense planning and future arms talks.

Military planners want to know how much progress North Korea has made since its last attempt to launch a satellite three years ago. Arms negotiators will be looking for signs of how much the rocket, a modified ballistic missile launcher, depends on foreign technology.

“There are a number of things they will be watching for,” said Narushige Michishita, a North Korea expert with Japan’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. “If North Korea does get a satellite into orbit, that means it could deliver an object anywhere on the globe, and that has intercontinental implications.”

One thing analysts could quickly put to the test is North Korea’s insistence that the satellite launch is a peaceful mission. Experts can easily estimate from photographs the rocket stages’ mass ratio - a measure of their efficiency - and that will give a quick indication of whether the rocket is designed primarily to be a space vehicle launcher or long-range missile.

They also will be watching where the rocket goes.

North Korea says it will fire the satellite into a polar orbit.

The “splash zones” for the booster stages suggest it will travel south over the East China Sea and the Pacific, rather than the easterly path it chose for a launch in 2009 that sent the rocket directly over Japan’s main island.

That could indicate North Korea is being more cautious about its neighbors’ reactions - though it has alarmed others such as the Philippines which could be in the rocket’s path. But the launch could also have military implications.

In North Korea were to attack the United States, Michishita said, it would likely launch to the north. It can’t feasibly conduct such a test, because that would anger Russia and China, which would be under the flight path. Launching to the south can provide similar data.

Actually reaching the splash zones is another hurdle. In its 2009 launch, the stages barely made their zones, suggesting they had lower thrust than expected.

Analysts stress that success by no means suggests North Korea could pull off an attack on the US. -AP

5

NEWS IN BRIEF Cambodia bodies identified as French family PHOM PENH: DNA tests have confirmed that the remains of five people found in a submerged car in Cambodia in January are those of a Frenchman and his four children, embassy officials said Thursday. The Cambodian government has agreed to send the skeletal remains to France for “additional examination” by forensics experts, the French embassy in Phnom Penh said in a statement. No cause of death has been determined yet for widower Laurent Vallier, 42, and his young children. -AFP

Indian prisoners to be released for Italian hostage NEW DELHI: Indian authorities have agreed to release 27 prisoners in exchange for an Italian tour guide and a local lawmaker held hostage by armed Maoist rebels in the eastern state of Orissa. The state’s chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, announced the exchange late on Wednesday and called for the two hostages to be released “immediately, unharmed and in good health.” Paolo Bosusco, who runs a tour company in Orissa, was captured by the rebels on March 14 along with another Italian man, Claudio Colangelo, who was released 11 days later. -AFP

Man due in court over toddler ‘carjacking’ LONDON: A man will appear in court Thursday accused of kidnap after allegedly stealing a woman’s car in Birmingham with two toddlers in the back. Cedric Brown, 44, of no fixed address, faces charges of robbery, two counts of kidnap, and possession of a knife. He is accused of dragging a woman from her car in Erdington on Tuesday and speeding off with her two young children still strapped in the back seats. The two children - a oneyear-old boy and his two-year-old sister were unhurt and later reunited with their mother by police. -AFP

Suicide bomb ‘kills three in Karachi’ KARACHI: A suicide bomber targeted a police official in Pakistan’s financial capital Karachi on Thursday, killing at least three people and wounding 13 others, police said. Senior police official Rao Anwar said he was the target and claimed to have been threatened for a month by “unknown terrorists”. “The attack was against me. I was moving with my squad in Malir Halt district when the explosion took place. I am unhurt, but some of my men have been injured,” Rao Anwar told AFP. -AFP

Four detained over deadly Thai blasts BANGKOK: Thai police have arrested four suspects in connection with a series of devastating bomb blasts in the insurgency-plagued deep south, an official said Thursday. The car bombings in two southern cities on Saturday killed 15 people and wounded hundreds more in the deadliest attacks in the region in recent years. Three Muslim men were detained on Wednesday evening at a house in Rueso district of Narathiwat province in an operation involving 50 police and paramilitaries, authorities said. -AFP

Eight Afghan local police killed in outpost attack KABUL: Gunmen attacked an outpost of a governmentsponsored militia force in western Afghanistan, killing eight people, officials said Thursday. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack. Men armed with assault rifles stormed the outpost late Wednesday in Farah province’s Khaki Safed district, said provincial police chief Shamsul Rahman Zahid. He says eight members of the Afghan Local Police were killed and two captured.

The attacks first shot a guard who was posted outside then pushed into the compound and opened fire on those inside, said Abdul Khaliq Noorzai, the district administrator. The attackers then made off with their weapons.

The assault happened on the same day that a Taliban suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed at least 10 people, including three American soldiers, at a park in northern Afghanistan. The attacks appear to be part of an increase in violence at the start of the spring fighting season. During the harsh Afghan winter, snow often blocks roads and fighting dies down.

The Taliban are targeting Afghan and NATO security forces as they fight to assert their power and undermine US efforts to try to build up the Afghan military, which will take the lead in combat responsibility over the next couple of years. -AP

6

ALWATAN DAILY

OPINION

friDAY, april 6, 2012

The enigmatic figure of future president Khayrat Al-Shater Khalil Ali Haydar

L

et us begin by defining and introducing Khayrat Al-Shater the man who has been nominated by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood as their ideal candidate for the position of future president of Egypt.

I would like to refer the reader to a very interesting book written by Dr. Hisham Al-Awadhi published under the title The Muslim Brotherhood and Mubarak: Legitimacy Conflict 1982-2007”. The book, which was published by Arab Studies Unit Center in Beirut, was initially a PhD thesis in Political Science done in the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.

I believe the book is highly interesting to read and extremely enjoyable not only because it discusses a very important era in the history of the Middle East and in particular in the history of Egypt. The book is written for an academic purpose and at the same time it furnishes the reader with many important datas, dates and insightful information about the relationship between the two opposing forces. The author did field research, meeting with people and consulting a large number of archives to come up with an accurate and definitive work in a field that has been long marginally neglected.

The very name of Khayrat Al-Shater is mentioned repeatedly in the book linked to different and various topics. First mention of the Egyptian presidential candidate was on page 116 when the author was discussing the Islamic banks. The author explained that the Islamic banks were tolerated by Mubarak’s regime in the beginning of the 1980s. The Muslim Brotherhood was actively busy in developing such a banking system. The result of which was

The Muslim Brotherhood still enjoyed the cash and the capital despite the pressure by the government.

the introduction of two Islamic banks: Bank of Faisal and the International Islamic Bank for Development and Investment. The latter bank had three senior Muslim Brotherhood members on its board: Abdulhamid Al-Ghazali, Saad Umara and Khayrat Al-Shater.

The three of them were the most influential figures in the bank but as the author Al-Awadhi noted they lacked the expertise, profession and management coupled with the fact that there was a continuous personal clash and state pressure which had led ultimately to the collapse of the two banks.

The author then moves on to discuss in the Fourth Chapter specifically on page 196. He writes that the International Islamic Bank for Development and Investment was initially doing well and was steadfastly prospering until a clash between the Director of the Board Ahmad Amin Fuad and the rest of the board members had taken place in 1988.

The Central Bank of Egypt decided to interfere but then the multimillionaire Abdulatif Al-Shareef, a leading Muslim Brotherhood member decided to step in to salvage the bank. Al-Shareef himself was a former prisoner during the Jamal Abdulnasser era in the 1970s but was then released and soon after managed to amass a fortune reaching 300 million Egyptian pounds.

Al-Shareef was quick to appoint Khayrat Al-Shater

along with other leading Muslim Brotherhood senior members in the board. That move was seen by some as an attempt to maintain the grip of the Brotherhood on this particular aspect in the Egyptian economy.

But this didn’t go down very well for president Mubarak and his people. The Egyptian government became extremely and increasingly weary of the power of the Muslim Brotherhood, their businesses and its affiliates. It was in 1992 when the Egyptian intelligence raided the offices of Salsabeel Computers owned by Khayrat Al-Shater along with his partner Hasan Malik.

The Egyptian intelligence supported by the government continued to hassle and harass the Muslim Brotherhood and in 1995 it is recorded that 95 of their members were taken to a military court. Khayrat Al-Shater was one of them.

According to the author, the Egyptian intelligence opted for striking the Muslim Brotherhood where it hurts.

Almost 900 businesses were raided and closed. But in reality, the organization was slightly affected by abrupt decisions to close the organization’s businesses. The Muslim Brotherhood still enjoyed the cash and the capital despite the pressure by the government.

Al-Awadhi pointed out that the Egyptian’ government’s policy of harassment began when the first Gulf war of 1991 erupted. The Egyptian government asked some of

the Gulf States to stop pouring money in donation to the Brotherhood. The United Arab Emirates for example introduced stricter measures on the way the donations were handled. As for Kuwait, it was not difficult for the government to discourage Kuwaitis because of the Brotherhood’s official stance during the Iraqi invasion. The Kuwaitis were not pleased with the organization’s view on the conflict.

Inevitably, sympathetic Kuwaitis were also keen not to be seen as supportive of an organization which didn’t support the Kuwaiti cause in 1991.

Khayrat Al-Shater and other Muslim Brotherhood businessmen continued to support the organization through different channels. According to the author, there is a 10 percent amount of the income fees which rich people like Khyarat Al-Shater, Abdulrahman Saadi and Hasan Malik pay to the organization regularly. The rate of donations increased in times of crisis and most importantly in the time of elections.

The author stresses that there were always coordinated efforts among the leading figures in the Brotherhood to come up with cash when needed. Rich Muslim Brotherhood members working in the Gulf States and Libya are in the habit of sending money regularly and even monthly but marginally increase during the election period in Egypt.

As for the number of officially registered members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt alone, it is estimated that it is approximately 800 thousand.

We here in Kuwait need to know the amount of money reimbursed to Egypt by the Brotherhood members working in Kuwait and other rich Gulf nationals.

National interests are much more important than personal ones

We hope officials at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor could summon the officials of the two organizations and force them to submit documents about the sums that they collected in addition to warning organizations not to do that again.

Abdullah Al-Hadlaq

S

howing love to the country is valueless if the persons who claim loving the country don`t contribute in serving the country! What benefit can the country get from claiming love especially that some persons who claim loving the country might interrupt the public interests just to achieve some personal interests!

We extol the hard efforts of Tatawae Campaign (voluntary) and its national goal because the very campaign aims at filling positions which became vacant due to strikes and getting ready to fill vacant positions of strikers in the future as well. The campaign includes qualified cadres such as retired employees to maintain work progress at any authority or institution whose employees stage strikes. Such a step will force civil servants to cancel strikes and take part in their jobs because they might lose their jobs if the government has alternative people to fill vacancies.

The volunteers of the campaign exceeded 4,000 people and the number is still increasing. The volunteers oppose staging strikes and they oppose interrupting the public interests by civil servants just who try obtain some personal advantages. They are ready to meet the shortage that any government institution or department faces due to strikes in the future.

Informed sources at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor have stated recently that inspection teams which are charged to follow up the charitable field work unveiled violations to the laws that organize collecting donations.

According to the sources the violations were committed by two charitable organizations wherein one of them was collecting donations for the stricken Syrian people in cash while the second was collecting donations for the Bahraini people by SMS messages. The laws ban collecting cash donations or through SMS if the organization did not get an approval for that. The two organizations ignored laws and exploited the ordeal of the Syrian people to get more money that might not reach its suggested destinations!!!

However, the Kuwaiti leadership has issued instructions- after considering the suffering of the Syrian people- and permitted the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) to collect donations for the Syrian people on the condition that IICO reaches donations to the needy Syrian people through Kuwait’s Red Crescent. We hope officials at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor could summon the officials of the two organizations and force them to submit documents about the sums that they collected in addition to warning organizations not to do that again.

The Ministry has to penalize the officials of the violating organizations as well as dropping the licensees of organizations if they commit the same violation again.

Kuwait Transparency Society looks forward to establishing a public authority for integrity wherein the very authority is expected to be a part of the cabinet. The authority aims at eradicating corruption and following up all persons who are involved in corruption cases in addition to protecting the government institution from corruption and bribery. The authority is also expected to be established according to the agreements that were already signed with the United Nations for fighting corruption besides to enhancing accountability. Meanwhile, a number of male and female youths and volunteers exert hard efforts to support the idea of establishing integrity authority because such authority might play an important role in fighting corruption and enhancing transparency in the different fields especially the administrative and the financial one.

Can we achieve reforms and development?

Dr. Shamlan Yousef Al-Esa

A

lot of Kuwaiti citizens question whether their aspiration will be achieved especially after the opposition swept the parliament following the last parliamentary election. The opposition held 35 seats out of the 50 parliamentary seats and citizens hope to witness positive changes such as achieving development and economic prosperity.

Till now we could witness nothing in terms of development and changes and MPs still pursue the same policy that they endorsed in the previous stage such as forming committees and attempting to suggest more laws although most of the suggested laws are unconstitutional such as the decency law and monitoring the Husainiya.

The MPs have turned towards a new game; it is the game of interpellation motions in which MPs who have certain problems with ministers attempt to grill them.

The queerest motion is that of the MP Dr. Waleed Al-Tabtabaie who plans to grill the minister

The question is ‘can we achieve development in this atmosphere’?

of interior just because the minister applied laws through detaining the person who burned the flag of Iran.

How can we, as normal citizens, respect the MPs who violate laws which they make by themselves. Moreover, opposition MPs encourage the civil servants to stage strikes in which MPs behaved like teenagers or school boys. They did not behave like MPs because MPs have to observe applying laws, not violating laws!!

The question is “can we achieve development in this atmosphere?” The parliament is controlled not by the opposition, so why doesn’t the opposi-

tion submit its developmental visions and plans before the Kuwaiti people!

Anyway, such MPs have no clear plans or visions for real reforms and they cannot prove themselves to be capable of saving the country from deteriorating. Some people might wonder why we only blame MPs while excluding the government and its blunder. The answer is that I have already written about the government which also does not have an integrated vision for treating the pending issues. The government also doesn’t have strong political determination for reforms and applying laws on all citizens.

Let’s be fair to ourselves; we as people are also responsible to what happens in the country.

We became a dependant nation which looks for salary raises without exerting extensive efforts for serving the country. We also look forward to getting free educational, health and housing services from our rentier state without working hard to present better services to our country. The state became a state of employees that spends the revenues of oil on the salary of civil servants.

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friDAY, april 6, 2012

A centerless Euro cannot hold

For a normal country, the national income-tax system constitutes a huge automatic stabilizer across regions.

Kenneth Rogoff Project Syndicate

W

ith youth unemployment touching 50 percent in eurozone countries such as Spain and Greece, is a generation being sacrificed for the sake of a single currency that encompasses too diverse a group of countries to be sustainable? If so, does enlarging the euro’s membership really serve Europe’s apparent goal of maximizing economic integration without necessarily achieving full political union?

The good news is that economic research does have a few things to say about whether Europe should have a single currency. The bad news is that it has become increasingly clear that, at least for large countries, currency areas will be highly unstable unless they follow national borders.

At a minimum, currency unions require a confederation with far more centralized power over taxation and other policies than European leaders envision for the eurozone.

What of Nobel Prize winner Robert Mundell’s famous 1961 conjecture that national and currency borders need not significantly overlap? In his provocative American Economic Review paper “A Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,” Mundell argued that as long as workers could move within a currency region to where the jobs were, the region could afford to forgo the equilibrating mechanism of exchange-rate adjustment. He credited another future No-

bel Prize winner, James Meade, for having recognized the importance of labor mobility in earlier work, but criticized Meade for interpreting the idea too stringently, especially in the context of Europe’s nascent integration.

Mundell did not emphasize financial crises, but presumably labor mobility is more important today than ever.

Not surprisingly, workers are leaving the eurozone’s crisis countries, but not necessarily for its stronger northern region. Instead, Portuguese workers are fleeing to booming former colonies such as Brazil and Macau. Irish workers are leaving in droves to Canada, Australia, and the United States. Spanish workers are streaming into Romania, which until recently had been a major source of agricultural labor in Spain.

Still, if intra-eurozone mobility were anything like Mundell’s ideal, today we would not be seeing 25 percent unemployment in Spain while Germany’s unemployment rate is below seven percent.

Later writers came to recognize that there are other essential criteria for a successful currency union, which are difficult to achieve without deep political integration. Peter Kenen argued in the late 1960’s that without exchangerate movements as a shock absorber, a currency union re-

For Europe, it doesn’t get better John Lloyd Reuters

T

he European crisis isn’t over until the First Lady pays, and the First Lady of Europe, Angela Merkel, cannot pay enough. She needs to erect a large enough firewall to ensure that the European Union’s weaker members do not, again, face financial disaster. That will not happen - which means the euro faces at least defections, and perhaps destruction.

The crisis had seemed to recede somewhat in early 2012, and the headline writers moved on.

But it had only seemed to recede, and relaxation was premature. As Hugo Dixon of Reuters’ Breaking Views put it on Monday, “the risk is that, as the short-term funding pressure comes off, governments’ determination to push through unpopular reforms will flag. If that happens, the time that has been bought will be wasted - and, when crisis rears its ugly head again, the authorities won’t have the tools to fight it.”

But the underlying tension remains between high indebtedness in nearly all the EU countries and the need to pare back public spending without suffocating the economies. The flat, or negative, growth lines in the same countries that are indebted are likely to be made worse as demand falls and a malign cycle threatens.

Merkel commands the stage, but she is a constrained commander. She has an electorate and a parliament that has been reluctant to agree to more assistance to those whom many Germans see as architects of their own misfortune, not to be trusted to do anything other than load the burden on to the backs of hard-working Northerners.

In other parts of the Union, signs of strain now manifest themselves daily. In France, the leading candidates - President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist contender François Hollande - have turned inward and, in the words of a sharply worded Economist editorial, while “it is not unusual for politicians to ignore some ugly truths during elections, it is unusual, in recent times in Europe, to ignore them as completely as French politicians are doing.”

Sarkozy has transformed himself from responsible European statesman into an anti-immigrant, anti-free-trade super patriot and his ratings improved.

Hollande, from the Socialist Party’s moderate wing, has likewise transformed, but into a “hater” of the rich. Both see strong contenders to their right and left: Marine Le Pen of the far-right Front National has faltered recently - perhaps because Sarkozy has stolen some of her clothes - but she still polls at around 14 percent. And on the left, former Socialist minister Jean-Luc Mélenchon has swung hard-left, put together a group that includes the Communist Party, and seen his support rising in the latest poll, for LH2/Yahoo, up to 15 percent so far.

Britain is not in the euro but is deeply dependent on European resurgence. Its Conservative-Liberal coalition government finds itself faced with strikes by tanker drivers - men with a capacity for squeezing a nation’s windpipe - and plunging polls. Nor is anyone else enjoying support. All the main party leaders see their ratings deep into negative territory; and in a by-election last week, the renegade Labor MP George Galloway played for and won a heavily Muslim vote in the city of Bradford, destroying a long-held Labor majority.

Italy’s governing technocrats, led by Mario Monti, enjoyed a honeymoon even as they sketched out a program of cuts, but now enter a tougher time.

The government wants to remove or at least dilute Article 18 of the labor code, which makes it hard for employers to fire workers.

The unions have threatened strike action, and Monti, earlier this week, agreed to a compromise with political leaders - but no one knows if the unions will accept it. The Italian press agrees: The hard pounding on his government has begun.

Spain’s center-right government passed a budget last week that was described as “the most austere in democratic history,” with £27 billion worth of cuts.

The day before it was passed, a general strike flared across the country, with 1 million protesters on the streets.

The government itself fears that the depths of the cuts will stall any growth and that the huge unemployment, especially among the young, will become uncontrollable.

And now little Ireland, which had been the good girl of the euro class, taking its medicine without

John Lloyd co-founded the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, where he is Director of Journalism.

Italy for the last century. Indeed, more than 20 years on, Western Germans still see no end in sight for the bills from German unification.

Later, Maurice Obstfeld pointed out that, in addition to fiscal transfers, a currency union needs clearly defined rules for the lender of last resort. Otherwise, bank runs and debt panics will be rampant.

Obstfeld had in mind a bailout mechanism for banks, but it is now abundantly clear that one also needs a lender of last resort and a bankruptcy mechanism for states and municipalities.

A logical corollary of the criteria set forth by Kenen and Obstfeld, and even of Mundell’s labor-mobility criterion, is that currency unions cannot survive without political legitimacy, most likely involving region-wide popular elections.

Europe’s leaders cannot carry out large transfers across countries indefinitely without a coherent European political framework.

European policymakers today often complain that, were it not for the US financial crisis, the eurozone would be doing just fine. Perhaps they are right. But any financial system must be able to withstand shocks, including big ones.

Europe may never be an “optimum” currency area by any standard. But, without further profound political and economic integration - which may not end up including all current eurozone members - the euro may not make it even to the end of this decade.

Kenneth Rogoff is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Harvard University, and was formerly chief economist at the IMF.

What should the World Bank do?

The salvation of the euro, and of the Union, is of global import.

It has yet to be ensured. complaint, has turned. A group of parliamentarians called on their fellow citizens not to pay a recently levied flat-rate property tax - and were (presumably) gratified to see that, by the weekend deadline to register for the tax, half of the eligible population had not done so, signaling a taxpayers’ revolt. Thomas Pringle, one of the MPs, was quoted as saying that “if a law is unfair and unjust you have a right to oppose it.” Ireland, which had begun to recover early last year, has seen two quarters of negative growth, slipping the country into recession.

All of this is bad, but worse is the straining away from conventional politics. It takes different forms.

The victorious George Galloway, the Bradford victor and a man of apparently indefatigable ability who can muster a ruthless populism, is less important (though not in his own eyes) than the contempt that seems to attend the harassed leaders of the British parties.

Parties of the far right and left are significant in France and Greece. In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom has, by contrast suffered a drop in popularity - but that seems to be because he has supported the center-right government, and thus tarnished himself in the eyes of voters impatient for radical action on immigration and crime.

Italy’s main parties have been given a holiday from government and even from opposition; but they do not seem to be putting it to use to prepare themselves for hard choices when, as he has promised, Mr. Monti bows out early next year.

Yet only the mainstream parties can command and defuse this crisis.

That is not because they have an automatic right to fill the political stage, but because no alternative that can plausibly present itself as better has emerged. The far left and right recycle their nostrums: the end of capitalism or the end of immigration. The Green Party, once a real force in some states, is back to minor status everywhere.

No force, conventional or novel, has yet been able to articulate and win assent for a manifest truth: that Europe’s centrality to world events, wealth and cultural dominance over long centuries are now much reduced, and the decades of growth that brought relative wealth and ease are over.

We need not sink, but we have to paddle harder if we wish not to. This crisis is not gone if and when the continent’s finances are made less perilous. If and when that happens, the next mountain to climb is to discover a political and economic structure that can ensure renewed growth, if possible without further gross inequity and without further pollution (some trick!).

The challenge of the emerging countries is not just to the cost of labor and the survival of industries: It is to the very understanding we in the West have of our world and our place in it.

The US has sheltered Europe since the war. Europe outsourced most of its defense, and enjoyed - as did the rest of the world - trade, air, shipping and Internet pathways kept open by, in the end, US power. Now, a raft of jeremiads, by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Robert Kagan and Ian Bremmer, all out this year, point to a dangerous, much more anarchic world that would emerge if the global sheriff lacked the strength to take his boots off the desk and ride out.

All of these see Europe as of little help, either unable or unwilling - or both - to shoulder a burden that now urgently needs sharing. The salvation of the euro, and of the Union, is of global import. It has yet to be ensured.

quires fiscal transfers as a way to share risk.

For a normal country, the national income-tax system constitutes a huge automatic stabilizer across regions. In the US, when oil prices go up, incomes in Texas and Montana rise, which means that these states then contribute more tax revenue to the federal budget, thereby helping out the rest of the country. Europe, of course, has no significant centralized tax authority, so this key automatic stabilizer is essentially absent.

Some European academics tried to argue that there was no need for US-like fiscal transfers, because any desired degree of risk sharing can, in theory, be achieved through financial markets. This claim was hugely misguided. Financial markets can be fragile, and they provide little capacity for sharing risk related to labor income, which constitutes the largest part of income in any advanced economy.

Kenen was mainly concerned with short-term transfers to smooth out cyclical bumpiness. But, in a currency union with huge differences in income and development levels, the short term can stretch out for a very long time. Many Germans today rightly feel that any system of fiscal transfers will morph into a permanent feeding tube, much the way that northern Italy has been propping up southern

7

FILE- World Bank President Robert Zoellick greets villagers as he visits the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project and Orissa Rural Livelihoods Project at Gupti village in the eastern Indian state of Orissa March 28, 2012.

(Reuters)

Targeting can be a useful instrument of universal policies, but it can never serve as a substitute for them.

Jose Antonio Ocampo Project Syndicate

I

have been honored by World Bank directors representing developing countries and Russia to be selected as one of two developing-country candidates to become the Bank’s next president. So I want to make known to the global community the principles that will guide my actions if I am elected - principles based on lessons learned from development experience.

That experience has taught me that successful development is always the result of a judicious mix of market, state, and society. Trying to suppress markets leads to gross inefficiencies and loss of dynamism. Trying to do without the state leads to unstable and/or inequitable outcomes. And trying to ignore social actors that play an essential role at the national and local levels precludes the popular legitimacy that successful policymaking requires.

Indeed, the specific mix of markets, state, and society should be the subject of national decisions adopted by representative authorities. This means that it is not the role of any international institution to impose a particular model of development on any country - a mistake that the World Bank made in the past, and that it has been working to correct.

Because no “one-size-fits-all” strategy exists, the Bank must include among its staff the global diversity of approaches to development issues.

Development is a comprehensive process that involves economic, social, and environmental dimensions - the three pillars of sustainable development.

And, frankly, I have concerns about some of the World Bank’s views and priorities in recent decades. For example, while the Bank has made important contributions to the nurturing of deep financial sectors, it still has much to learn about financial inclusiveness and the role that well designed development banks have played in fostering sustainable and inclusive growth in countries around the world. We should never forget, in this regard, that the World Bank is itself a global public-sector development institution.

The Bank contributed significantly in its early decades to the development of high-quality physical infrastructure, a critical area that, unfortunately, was later marginalized. The return of this issue to the center of the Bank’s focus is a welcome development.

Above all, I believe that economic development should be viewed as a process of persistent structural change, which, if successful, supports constant technological upgrading of production and trade. This approach was central to the World Bank’s activities up to the 1970’s, and, while it has been partly revived, it is still far from being incorporated into the Bank’s operations.

The goal of development is greater and more equitable human welfare. Human development is about much more than the generation of human capital: it is essentially about

expanding the scope of human freedom. And that can be achieved only with universal education, health care, and social protection.

Targeting can be a useful instrument of universal policies, but it can never serve as a substitute for them. Likewise, social protection goes beyond the narrow concept of the “social safety net” that has dominated debate in recent decades.

The concept of the “social protection floor,” recently proposed by the Bachelet Report (produced by the International Labor Organization under the leadership of former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet) provides better intellectual grounding.

Equity and inclusiveness require placing the advancement of the poor and other marginalized groups at the center of development specialists’ concern. In particular, gender equality deserves special attention, an approach that the World Bank today rightly characterizes as smart economics.

Guaranteeing these objectives is not just about compensating for market outcomes and social forces that generate or reproduce inequalities. It is also about incorporating these objectives into economic policymaking, by placing the creation of fulfilling jobs and well-developed welfare institutions at the center of the economic agenda, and by respecting the role of cultural diversity in economic development.

This approach also applies to the environmental pillar of development: intervention to counter damage generated by the economy is not enough. Environmental concerns must be fully assimilated into economic policymaking - that is, into the incentive structure that drives decisions. Only then can economic development be made compatible with the contributions that developing countries must make to mitigating climate change and preserving our planet’s remaining natural forests and biological diversity.

The World Bank’s capacity to contribute to achieving these goals depends on it remaining a true global institution with a special responsibility vis-à-vis the world’s poorest countries and a commitment to helping middle-income countries face their own challenges. It must count on the vision and contributions of more advanced nations, as well as those of emerging powers. And it must do so as part of the system of global governance, strengthening its cooperation with other multilateral organizations, in particular those in the United Nations system and regional and subregional development banks.

These are the development principles and priorities for which I stand. If elected to head the world’s leading development institution, I will work with all of its members to fulfill them.

José Antonio Ocampo, a professor at Columbia University, was Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Economic and Social Affairs, and Finance Minister of Colombia. He is one of three nominees for President of the World Bank.

8

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Abu Halifa 2371 7656 Ahmadi 2398 0304 Ardiya 2488 1273 Bayan 2538 7762 Dahar 2383 0500 Dahiya 2256 0855 Dasma 2253 1917 Fahaheel 2391 2959 Faiha 2255 2693 Farwaniya 2471 1977 Ferdous 2489 0583 Fintas 2390 4388 Hawalli 2264 1116 Jabriya 2531 5855 Jahra Ind. Area 2457 5565 / 2458 7392 Jahra North 2455 2295 Jleeb Al Shouyoukh 2431 1234 Keifan 2483 2839 Kheitan 2472 2590 Mina Abdullah 2326 1144 Nugra 2261 6662 Omariya 2474 2160

Ambulance

Central Adan Amiri Hospital Da’iya Fahaheel Farwaniya Farwaniya Jahra Mubarak Al Kabir Sabah Salmiya Shuaiba

23940600 / 23941455 22422366 22510854 23919098 24883000 24725149 24570583 25311437 24815000 25739011 23261927

Private Hospitals

Al-Rashid Hospital Dar Al-Shifa Hospital Hadi Clinic London Hospital Mowasat Hospital Salam Hospital

Qadsiya 2257 4386 Qurain 2542 3772 Rabiah 2474 2160 Rawda 2256 0058 Riqqa 2394 1958 Rumaithiya 2562 4123 Sabah Al-Salem 2551 7229 Sabahiya 2361 5619 Salhiya (Kuwait City) 2242 7157 Salmi 2457 6576 Salmiya 2572 6950 Salwa 2562 6950 Shamiya 2484 5953 Sharq 2244 2466 Shuaiba Ind. Area 2326 1789 Shuwaikh 2481 3726 / 2484 4842 Sulaibekhat 2487 6555 Sulaibiya 2467 0672 Sulaibiya Ind. Area 2467 2728 Surra 2531 2220 Tayma’a 2457 1700 Wafra 2381 0412 Waha 2455 7902 Zour 2395 0160

Adan General Hospital Al-Sabah Chest Hospital Al-Sabah Maternity Hospital Amiri General Hospital As’ad Al-Hamad Dermatology Center

Farwaniya General Hospital Ibn Sina Hospital Jahra General Hospital Mubarak Al-Kabeer General Hospital Subhan Renal Hospital Sulaibikhat Orthopedic Hospital

25624000 22802555 1828282 1883883 25726666 22533177

Private Health Centers/ Clinics

Boushahri Clinic British Medical Center Care Clinic International Clinic

Public Hospitals

cons u l a tes

Fax 2532 6274 2251 9497 2537 9212 2256 3052 2232 2430 2535 5246 2533 0882 2531 6041 2574 8389 2251 6550 2539 2106 2532 8613 2532 1453 2256 4167 2533 3341 2254 9360 2240 2971 2252 9021 2534 1007 2256 3877 2533 1179 2531 7429 2532 4198 2257 1058 2252 0763 2481 7103 2535 4707 2532 3904 2257 1192 2481 9250 2252 9868 2535 6030 2530 9401 25353316 2257 2182

centr a l 4 7 2 2 0 0 0

94904040

hospital charges

medical services

Call, sms, Email us

O n- s i t e I T s e r v i c e s

23940600 24815000 24848067 22450080

1885544 23713100 22610666 25745111

Public Health Centers/ Clinics:

Dasman Clinic Faiha Polyclinic Farwaniya Polyclinic Hawalli Polyclinic Inaya Germen Medical Center Sabah Al-Salem Clinic Salmiya Polyclinic Shamiya Clinic Shuwaikh Clinic Yarmouk Clinic

24832067 24883000 24840300 24575300 25312700 24840027 24874240

22447602 22545188 24726033 22611645 25750777 25524821 25723500 25610660 24848913 25336482

DOCTORS & DENTISTS

I N PR I VAT E PR AC T ICE

Andrology, Male Infertility and Impotence Specialist Abdullatif A. Al Salim 2533 4438

Dermatologist & Venereologists Fahad I. Al Othman 2266 5166 Taibah M. Almonayes 2573 7477 Dr. Mohamed Bo Hamra 2266 5166

Dentists & Oral Surgeons Ahmed Al Balool 2262 2211 Badri K. Al Rayes 2574 2557 Duha Al Shaqan 2264 4614 Ebraheem Behbehani 2573 0000 Farida Al Herz 2257 3883 Maria Blanaru 2573 0000 Najat Essa-Bahman 2262 4595 Najeeb Kassim 2573 9277 Salwa A. Abdulsalam 2573 0000 Kuwait Medical Center 2575 9044 / 5 Endocrinologists Latifa Al Dowaisan Kamal Abdulaziz Al Shome

Gastroenterologist Mohamed A. Al Shimali 2532 2030 - 2263 9955 Urologist Fawzi Taher Abul Ali Yousef Mehdi

2565 0064 2533 3501

General Practitioner Dina Al Rifai 2533 3501 - 2533 3502 Obstetricians & Gynecologists Samira Al Awadi 2573 8055 Ma’asouma Maksheed 2573 1275 Mohamed Gamal 2534 9077 Mai Al Snan 2532 1171

2572 8004 2532 9924

Ear, Nose & Throat Surgeons Hossam Eldin Abdulfattah 2574 5056 Abdulmohsen Mousa Jafar 2565 5535

Cosmetic Surgeon Dr. Adel Quttainah

2562 5030 / 60

Ministries

Awqaf & Islamic Affairs Commerce & Industry Communications Defense Education Health Higher Education Electricity & Water Finance

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Foreign Affairs Housing Information Justice, Legal & Administrative Affairs Energy Planning Social Affairs & Labour Public Works

2242 5141 2530 1000 2241 5301 2248 0000 2241 5201 2242 8200 2248 0000 2538 5520

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Tel: 1815050 • French Le Notre Gulf Road Tel: 25758888 • Indian Dawat Restaurant Bneid Al Gar Tel: 22411728 Abu Halifa Tel: 23724251 Al Alamia Mall, Jahra Tel: 24554642 Taal Restaurant Salmiya Beda’ Tel: 22253142 Winner’s Salmiya Tel: 25739954 Abu Halifa Tel: 23711374 / 5 Riggae Tel: 24895501 / 2 Jahra Tel: 24560088/8800

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Nino Gulf Road Tel: 22541900 Pizza Express Abdullah Al-Salem Tel: 22560273 Al-Bida’a Tel: 22253166 Airport Tel: 24342681 Tel: 23725500 Ricardo Sheraton Hotel Tel: 22422055 • Japanese Edo Shaab Tel: 22659590 Kei JW Marriott Hotel Tel: 22422650 Korea & Japan Restaurant New Park Hotel Tel: 25634200

Sakura Crowne Plaza Hotel Tel: 24742000

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Il Forno Restaurant Courtyard Marriot Hotel Tel: 22997000 Johnny Carino’s Salmiya Tel: 22667050 La Piazza Kuwait City Tel: 24246639 Lorenzo

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Al-Noukhaza Crowne Plaza Hotel Tel: 24742000

Fakhr Al-Din Restaurant Kuwait City Tel: 22423180

Villa Fairouz Shaab Tel: 22652030

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Garden New Park Hotel Tel: 25634200

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Palm Palace Salmiya Tel: 25756331 Saj Express Kuwait City Tel: 22497822 Sarai Al-Bida’a Tel: 22253180/1 Shisha &

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• Steak House Relais De L’Entrecote Al-Fanar Complex Tel: 25729600 Terrace Grill JW Marriott Hotel Tel: 22455550

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The Gaucho Grill The Palms Hotel Tel: 25667370 -

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Iran loses loyal oil customer Greece over payment restraints CAPITALS: Iran’s oil flows to Greece have stopped this month, depriving the Islamic Republic of one of its most loyal European customers and leaving Greece with its financing troubles struggling to buy crude elsewhere.

The European Union will impose a full embargo on Iranian oil imports from July 1 as part of an international stand-off over Tehran’s nuclear program.

BUSINESS

fridAY, APRIL 6, 2012

m ar ket watc h KUWAIT

DUBAI

QATAR

0.21% 6146

0.1% 1687

0.3% 8825

OMAN

ABU DHABI 0.2% 2559

0.4% 5827

OIL MARKETS BAHRAIN 0.0% 1141

EGYPT

SAUDI

0.2% 4827

0.0% 7895

See page 10

CURRENCIES

US Crude $101.66 $0.19 London Brent $122.78 $0.16 Kuwait Crude $121.13 $0.45 Information Courtesy: KAMCO

US Dollar

British Pound

Saudi Riyal

Qatari Riyal

Indian Rupee

Euro

Japanese Yen

UAE Dirham

Bahraini Dinar

Philippine Peso

Buy 0.2784 Sell 0.2789 Buy 0.3641 Sell 0.3643

Buy 0.4414 Sell 0.4417

Buy 0.003399 Sell 0.003402

Buy 0.0743 Sell 0.0743

Buy 0.07578 Sell 0.07592

Buy 0.07653 Sell 0.07646 Buy 0.7382 Sell 0.73975

Buy 0.005471 Sell 0.00546 Buy 0.006525 Sell 0.006506

Kuwaiti oil price drops $0.45 to settle at $121.13

Prices in Kuwaiti fils As of April 5, 2012 Courtesy: KAMCO

Supply fears push oil higher

CAPITALS: Price of Kuwaiti crude dropped 0.45 US dollars to settle at $121.13 per barrel (pb) on Wednesday, in comparison to $122.85 pb on the day before, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said on Thursday.

The drop of oil prices was due to the increase of US dollar against other major currencies. The rise of the US dollar came after the Federal Reserve announced the release of third stimulus plan to improve the economy.

In more news, oil prices edged up on Thursday, after two days of losses, supported by concerns over disruptions to Iranian oil supplies due to nearing Western sanctions.

In a move that could seriously complicate Iran’s oil exports after a European Union embargo comes into force on July 1, a major Chinese ship insurer will halt indemnity cover for tankers carrying Iranian oil, sources told Reuters.

Brent crude oil futures rose 33 cents to $122.67 a barrel by 1152 GMT and US crude gained 48 US cents to $101.95. Trading volumes were moderate for both contracts ahead of Easter public holidays in Europe and the United States.

Oil prices have fallen by three dollars per barrel over the last two sessions together with other risk assets amid fading expectations for more monetary stimulus from the United States and due to an increase in US oil inventories.

“The stock market and oil both moved lower yesterday.

Oil is recovering because of geopolitical risk over the long weekend,” said Christopher Bellew, broker with Jefferies Bache.

China is the top buyer of Iranian crude and the insurance move is the first sign Chinese refiners may struggle to obtain the shipping and insurance they need to keep importing from the second-biggest producer of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Industry sources earlier told Reuters Japanese refiners

KFIC restructures KD 158 million debt KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Finance & Investment Company (KIFC) has completed a restructuring to partially deal with the 158 million Kuwaiti dinar (567.22 million US dollars) debt it had built up by the end of last year, its chief executive said in an interview.

The company suffered net losses of more than 75 percent of its capital as a result of the global financial crisis, leading to a halt on trading of its shares.

Chief Executive Abdulmoghni Al-Abdulmoghni said that creditor banks and bondholders had participated in a KD 50 million share issue. The takeup was 100 percent, he said. The company’s existing shareholders had also taken up KD 15 million worth of shares, he said in remarks for release on Thursday.

The KD 65 million will help the company fulfill its immediate debt obligations.

“Although the company lost its capital, it didn’t ever fall behind on paying or servicing debt...this had a significant impact on persuading creditors to enter into the restructuring,” he said.

The company started talks with creditors in mid2010. They included a total of 23 local and foreign banks and bondholders. -Reuters

about a quarter of Iraq’s crude exports from Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.

But exports from Ceyhan continued, using inventories.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the blasts but sabotage is common on oil pipelines into Turkey from Iraq, an area where Turkish Kurd separatist militants operate.

Later in the day, the market’s focus will shift to jobs data from the United States, the world’s top oil consumer and importer.

The key jobs report for March from the US Labor Department is expected to show a gain of 203,000 jobs, including a rise in private payrolls of 218,000.

On Wednesday, a report showed US businesses added 209,000 jobs in March, slightly beating expectations Oil was also supported by easing fears of a sharp slowdown in China following a survey which showed that services sector expanded again in March and business confidence hit an 11-month high, though overall activity remained below its long-term average.

OPEC basket down

A man pulls his load of whicker chairs on a cart in a street in Shanghai on April 5, 2012. China’s manufacturing activity rose to the highest level in a year in March official data showed but analysts tempered enthusiasm, saying the world’s second largest economy was still slowing. (AFP)

planned to cut crude imports from Tehran yet again in April as they shy away from renewing annual contracts.

“The situation regarding Iranian crude exports is getting more and more complicated as US and EU sanctions are

starting to have an ever bigger impact,” said David Wech from JBC Energy.

Adding to supply disruptions worries, explosions had temporarily shut on Thursday both of the pipelines bringing

Dubai secures $2.5 billion debt delay DUBAI: Dubai Holding, the investment conglomerate owned by the emirate’s ruler, said on Thursday its private equity arm has reached an agreement with creditors to restructure 2.5 billion US dollars of debt, ending nearly two years of talks.

Dubai International Capital (DIC), which has stakes in British-based budget hotel chain Travelodge and German alumina products maker Almatis, will extend $2.15 billion of outstanding bank loans by five years at an interest rate of two percent.

A further $350 million in loans will be extended for three years, said Dubai Holding, owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum. The debt agreement marks another milestone in Dubai’s effort to rebuild its credibility with investors who fled the region after state-owned conglomerate Dubai World shook markets in 2009 with plans for a $25 billion debt restructuring. Dubai World had built up the debts during the boom years before the financial crisis. It reached a final deal with creditors in 2010, extending repayment over five to eight years.

Dubai International Capital gave no details on how it plans to repay the debt

at maturity but the private equity firm has been selling down assets.

It sold hotel operator Ishraq Dubai to diversified firm Almulla Group in October last year. It also sold its 45-percent stake in valve maker KEF Holdings Inc for $178 million earlier in 2011.

It also owns a 27-percent stake in hedge fund firm Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, according to Reuters data.

“Although we are under no pressure to sell assets, we have been able to make a number of profitable exits in recent months demonstrating the quality of our investments and our ability to find buyers in current market conditions,” Chief Executive David Smoot said.

Parent Dubai Holding’s portfolio includes brands in the property and hospitality sectors, organized under three main groups: Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG), DIC and Dubai Group.

Dubai Group is itself in talks to restructure debts of around $10 billion. “Dubai Holding will continue to focus on reaching a consensual agreement with Dubai Group lenders,” its Chief Executive Ahmed Bin Byat said in the statement. -Reuters

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) daily basket price dropped on Thursday, falling to the level of $121.94 a barrel, compared with $121.95 pb the previous day.

OPECNA, the news bulletin of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said in a statement released on Friday that the average annual price of OPEC’s 12-crude basket, of the past year, stood at $107.46 pb.

OPEC’s basket of crudes is made up of Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

Oil ministers of OPEC’s member states decided, on December 14, to lift ceiling of production by the cartel producers to 30 million barrels per day. -Agencies

Agility says wins fish market contract appeal

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti logistics company Agility will be able to go ahead with a contract to build and maintain a fish market thanks to a court appeal ruling, the stock exchange said on Thursday. Shares in the company had been suspended ahead of the announcement. The bourse, which makes announcements on behalf of companies, said trading would begin again shortly. The shares closed at 410 Kuwaiti fils (1.47 US dollars) on Wednesday according to Reuters data.

The government had originally cancelled the contract but Agility managed to appeal that decision in court, the statement said. It added that the outcome would not affect Agility’s financial statements.

The company reported a 114-percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit compared with the same period in 2010, the firm said in a statement on Saturday.

Net profit in the three months to Dec. 31 came in at 3.5 million Kuwaiti dinars ($12.60 million) compared with a loss of KD 23.7 million in the fourth quarter (Q4) 2010. Fourth-quarter revenues were five percent lower at KD 368.6 million due to the loss of government contracting business, Agility said.

For the full year ended Dec. 31, net profit was up eight percent at KD 27 million.

Agility, which was the largest supplier to the US Army in the Middle East during the war in Iraq, pleaded not guilty in August to charges it defrauded the US government over multi-billiondollar supply contracts. -Agencies

Small Palestine sovereign fund targets development DUBAI: Palestine’s sovereign wealth fund is aiming to boost the private sector and wean the strife-torn region off aid, with investments in sectors like tourism and power generating profits despite difficult relations with Israel, its boss told Reuters.

While most other, much larger, sovereign wealth funds invest heavily abroad in a bid to spread risk and maximize returns, the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) is focused on developing the local economy.

“Our objectives differ from that of some sovereign funds elsewhere,” the PIF’s chief executive, Mohammad Mustafa, said in a telephone interview from his office in Ramallah.

“We want to create jobs, contribute to increasing taxes and build a revenue base for the government. We want to build a Palestinian economy less dependent on the government and less dependent on aid from donors,” he said.

The strategy appears to be having some success. The PIF is on track to deliver cumulative net profit of 800 million US dollars in the decade to 2013, most of which is paid as dividends to the Palestine Authority.

Mustafa said the fund had achieved strong results in challenging conditions.

“Increasing political risk makes attracting investments more difficult - control by Israel of the natural resources in the region affects business,” he said.

He gave the example of telecom operator Wataniya Mobile - launched in 2009 in a venture with Qatar Telecom’s Kuwaiti unit Watani-

ya, saying it faced an initial delay of two years because Israeli authorities would not release spectrum.

The operator is facing fresh problems in Gaza, with its equipment lying in storage for the past six months, he said.

Mustafa said PIF made a net profit of $33 million in 2011, down from $59 million a year earlier, when it had made profits on the sale of some of its assets.

“As a fund we operate on a cycle of ten years - by the end of 2013, we estimate we would have made cumulatively $800 million in profit and distributed $700 million in dividends, a return of 15 percent per year,” he said.

“Our main shareholder, the Palestine Authority, needed us to pay higher dividends in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and now we’re trying to moderate that.”

The political imperatives of the funds are evident from investments such as the one in an economic empowerment program for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

The 58-year-old Mustafa, a Palestinian with a doctorate in management and economics and a degree in engineering, came to PIF after 15 years at the World Bank.

Small, but a contributor

The PIF pales in comparison with some of the sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf Arab region, which have ploughed petrodollars into investments ranging from British supermarkets to U. banks and German carmakers.

FILE- A poster reading “Visit Palestine” hangs in a market in Jerusalem’s Old City Sept. 19, 2011. Palestine’s sovereign wealth fund is aiming to boost the private sector and wean the strife-torn region off aid, with investments in sectors like tourism and power generating profits despite difficult relations with Israel, its boss told Reuters. (Reuters)

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s assets, for instance, are estimated in a wide range of $300 billion to over $600 billion, and the aggressive Qatar Holding is thought to have $100 billion under its belt.

PIF was formed with assets of $570 million

in 2003, transferred to it from the Palestine Authority after a valuation exercise by international auditors in coordination with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Its assets under management as at end-2010 were $868 million.

KSE indices in red at closing

KUWAIT: Main indices of Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) dropped at closing of Thursday’s session with the price index down 13.1 points, reaching 6,145.5 points. Weighted index dropped 3.58 points to the level of 409.77 points. Number of trades reached 3,971, value of traded stocks 33.4 million Kuwaiti dinars and volume of deals 235.3 million shares.

Trading began at Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), Thursday, in green with the price index at 6,159.3 points up with 0.7 points at 9:30 a.m., while the weighted index came to 413.2 points, down 0.15 points. Trades came to 787 transactions by the time with value of KD 6.7 million and involving 54.6 million shares. -KUNA

While most sovereign funds depend on their governments for cash, often from exports of oil, the PIF has been a source of revenue to the Palestine Authority.

“It’s been a one-way relationship, as our objectives differ from that of some sovereign funds elsewhere,” said Mustafa.

He said that in the last five years the fund’s investments helped create 10,000 jobs.

Real estate, which contributes 15 percent to the Palestinian economy, is a major sector for the fund, and in the hospitality business, it has stakes in the Grand Park hotel in Ramallah and the Intercontinental in Jericho.

In the power sector, investments include the Palestine Electric Company and a power station in the northern West Bank. The small and medium-sized enterprise sector is also an area of focus for the fund.

Recently, PIF linked up with Dubai-based Abraaj Capital, the region’s biggest private equity fund, US tech firm Cisco , Bank of Palestine and the European Investment Bank to set up the Palestine Growth Capital Fund, with plans to invest and help manage SMEs in the Palestinian territories.

Mustafa said the Growth Capital Fund, which raised $36 million from investors in a first round of funding, targeted raising $100 million in three years.

PIF has invested $15 million in another fund, set up by investment bank Rasmala. Mustafa said the target with this fund was similar - to boost its size to $100 million in three years from $38 million currently. -Reuters

10

ALWATAN DAILY

BUSINESS

friDAY, april 6, 2012

Iran loses loyal oil customer Greece over payment restraints China ship insurer deals new blow to Iran oil exports

Starting in July, European insurers and reinsurers will be barred from indemnifying ships carrying Iranian crude and oil products anywhere in the world, in line with sanctions on Tehran.

Iran sells most of its 2.2 million barrels per day of oil exports in Asia, where China, India, Japan and South Korea are the four biggest buyers.

Growing pressure by the West has led some Iranian oil buyers to cut imports, but the problem over obtaining maritime insurance could altogether halt shipments to Asian customers. Chinese imports from Iran are already down more than 21 percent in the first two months of 2012 to around 395,000 barrels per day compared to the same period last year.

CAPITALS: Iran’s oil flows to Greece have stopped this month, depriving the Islamic Republic of one of its most loyal European customers and leaving Greece with its financing troubles struggling to buy crude elsewhere.

The European Union will impose a full embargo on Iranian oil imports from July 1 as part of an international stand-off over Tehran’s nuclear program.

That has refiners in Europe and Asia scrambling for alternate suppliers, citing the banking difficulties in paying Iran for its oil.

Greece is considered more vulnerable than most buyers as it is suffering a major economic crisis and has relied heavily on Iran, supplier of more than half its oil imports some months last year.

Such imports rose as the EU country’s woes prompted traders and oil majors to pull plug on supplies and banks refused to provide financing for fear that Athens would default on its debt.

On Thursday, Iranian state television Press TV reported that the Iran had blocked oil sales to Greek companies Hellenic Petroleum and Motor Oil Hellas, accusing them of defaulting on payments.

A senior source at top Greek refiner Hellenic told Reuters on Tuesday it had suspended Iranian purchases because sanctions imposed made it impossible to pay.

US and EU sanctions are designed to force Tehran to abandon uranium enrichment activities which they suspect are part of a program to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly denied this, saying its nuclear know-how is for peaceful purposes only.

The United States has exempted Japan and 10 EU nations, including Greece, from financial sanctions because they have significantly cut their purchases.

But the exemption has little meaning because banks have grown reluctant to deal with Iranian oil-related transactions altogether.

“Payment is the problem ...EU banks don’t do the payments,” a source at refiner Motor Oil Hellas said.

The refiner stopped buying Iranian crude after the EU announced an embargo of Iran in January but was able until recently to take a monthly contractual cargo.

As part of Greece’s efforts to find new oil supply, Hel-

Few alternatives

FILE - Gas flares from an oil production platform, as an Iranian flag is seen in the foreground, at the Soroush oil fields on July 25, 2005. Iran’s oil flows to Greece have stopped this month, depriving the Islamic Republic of one of its most loyal European customers and leaving Greece with its financing troubles struggling to buy crude elsewhere. (Reuters)

lenic secured a cargo of Russian Urals crude in a rare tender last month.

Insurance halts

In other news, a major Chinese ship insurer will halt indemnity cover for tankers carrying Iranian oil from July, dealing a blow that narrows the insurance options for Tehran’s main export already constricted by payment barriers caused by Western sanctions.

With Western sanctions on Tehran increasing, sources at the China P&I Club told Reuters on Thursday it did not want to stand alone in the market, especially after insurers in Japan and Europe plan to either limit or ban their own coverage for tankers operating in Iran.

This is the first sign that refiners in China, Iran’s top crude buyer, may struggle to obtain the shipping and insurance to keep importing from the Middle Eastern country.

Iran’s other top customers - India, Japan and South Korea are running into similar problems, raising questions on how Tehran will be able to continue to export the bulk of its oil.

Crude oil prices are up nearly 14 percent since the start of this year on concerns that Iranian supplies may be disrupted due to Western sanctions. Brent crude traded above 123 US dollars a barrel on Thursday.

The China P&I Club, whose members include major Chinese shipping firms Sinotrans and COSCO Group, is the first Chinese maritime insurer to confirm it will halt business with tankers operating in Iran.

UAE oil output 2.7 million barrels per day in March DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) produced 2.70 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in March, up from 2.60 million in February, an industry source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

“The production is at full capacity in March, demand is high and there is more oil going into storage,” the source said.

In February the member of the Organization of Petro-

leum Exporting Countries (OPEC) UAE pumped 2.6 million bpd of oil, its oil minister Mohammed bin Dhaen Al-Hamli said.

OPEC’s output last month rose to its highest level since October 2008 despite a drop in shipments from Iran, and the UAE’s production was above the traders’ expectations.

Pressure is mounting on buyers of Iranian crude to cut

imports as the United States and European Union tighten sanctions.

The European Union will impose a full embargo on Iranian oil imports from July 1.

Like other Gulf OPEC members, the UAE has promised Asian customers it will meet any additional demand, however with a capacity of around 2.7 million bpd, the country has no spare is producing at its limit. -Reuters

Israel must keep gas for 25 years for own use TEL AVIV: Israel should retain enough of its natural gas resources to satisfy its own needs for 25 years and producers can export the surplus, a government panel recommended on Thursday.

Gas production is poised to soar in Israel after the discovery of two of the world’s largest offshore reserves in recent years.

The Tamar prospect off Israel’s Mediterranean coast holds an estimated 250 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas, while the nearly Leviathan well holds about 450 bcm. Tamar is set to come online in 2013 and Leviathan in 2017.

As the quantity of gas is well above Israel’s needs, the finds have raised hopes among exploration firms of a windfall from exports.

A committee appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late 2011 estimated that Israel needs between 420 and 540 bcm of gas till 2040.

“We have allocated about 400 bcm for the domestic mar-

ket and we have allowed the excess capacity to be exported,” Shaul Zemach, managing director of the Energy and Water Ministry, told a news conference to publish the preliminary findings.

Zemach, who heads the committee, said 400 bcm should be enough for Israel’s energy needs for 25 years.

Any liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal that would be built for export purposes would be controlled by the Israeli government, according to the recommendations.

The panel recommended that wells with more than 200 bcm must keep at least 50 percent for the local market, while wells between 100 and 200 bcm need to hold 40 percent for Israeli needs. Small sites of 50-100 bcm only need a minimum of 25 percent. Final recommendations are due in June.

Israel’s government aims to become more energy independent following problems with supply of natural gas from Egypt. Militants opposed to deals made by the Mubarak government to sell gas to Israel have blown up the pipeline 13

times since the beginning of 2011.

Israel’s electricity provider has been forced to use more expensive alternatives such as fuel oil and diesel as the country’s only gas field in operation is projected to run out this year.

A group led by Texas-based Noble Energy is developing the Tamar prospect. Noble holds 36 percent of Tamar.

Isramco Negev owns 28.75 percent, Avner Oil Exploration and Delek Drilling hold 15.625 percent each and Dor Gas Exploration has a 4 percent stake.

Delek Drilling and Avner, whose shares were down 3.6 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively in afternoon trade in Tel Aviv, are both part of Delek Group.

The group has already signed a number of deals, including one for eight billion US dollars to supply Israel Electric Corp with gas.

Noble also holds 40 percent of Leviathan, while Delek Drilling and Avner own 22.67 percent. -Reuters

Gold edges up, fading stimulus hopes weigh LONDON: Gold inched higher on Thursday after falling to a near three-month low the previous day as weaker prices tempted some buyers, but gains were capped by a stronger dollar and fading hopes for a fresh round of monetary stimulus in the United States.

Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at 1,622.30 US dollars an ounce at 1121 GMT, while US gold futures for June delivery were up $9.60 an ounce at $1,623.70.

The metal has fallen nearly three percent this week and while prices regained some ground on Thursday, it was still hovering around its lowest since early January.

Traders are awaiting key US payrolls data due on Friday for fresh direction.

“You have the release of the US labor report tomorrow so there is some risk over the weekend,” said Peter Fertig, a consultant for Quantitative Commodity Research. He said volumes were likely to be light, with European and US markets largely closed for the Easter weekend. “For some investors (there is) risk and therefore they are closing short positions.”

Appetite for gold has weakened over the past two days after minutes from the Federal Reserve on Tuesday suggested a fresh round of US quantitative easing was unlikely. Ultra-loose monetary policy, which keeps real interest rates and consequently the opportunity cost of holding gold low, helped push the metal to record highs in 2011.

“The main pressure has come from the (Fed) minutes,” Fertig said. “The minutes did not show any willingness to implement (a fresh round of quantitative easing) which the market has hoped for and that of course has strengthened the US dollar.”

“The Spanish bond auction ... is also a factor currently supporting the US dollar and weighing on the euro,” he added. Spanish borrowing costs jumped at bond auctions on Wednesday, spreading fear in European markets of a return of the euro zone debt crisis and overshadowing a successful step back into debt markets by neighboring Portugal.

The euro hovered near a three-week trough against the dollar on Thursday and could fall further due to a deteriorating economic outlook in the euro zone. A stronger dollar tends to weigh on gold, which is priced in the US currency, and it is receiving little support from safehaven demand.

“Growing unease in the European credit markets, evidenced by a sloppy Spanish bond auction that took place on Wednesday, failed to provide any support to gold, as investors once again piled into the relative safety of the dollar and the US treasury bond market,” INTL FC Stone analyst Edward Meir said in a note late on Wednesday. European shares fell on fears the euro debt crisis is flaring up again, crimping investors’ appetite for riskier assets ahead of a long holiday weekend for many global markets, while German government bonds held near the previous day’s three-week highs.

“As long as there remains a flight into the safe havens of government bonds in the euro zone, German Bunds, or US Treasuries, that is a bit of a negative factor (for gold),” Fertig said.

Jobs data eyed

Euro zone businesses floundered in March and growth cooled in the service sectors of the United States and India, taking some steam out of the global economy, data showed on Wednesday.

“In addition to Euro jitters potentially offering a ‘prop’ for gold, we also cannot rule out the possibility of the US economic recovery ‘topping out’, bringing the easing option back onto the table, and thus throwing another lifeline to the precious metal,” INTL FC Stone analyst Meir said. Investors will be looking on Thursday at US weekly jobless claims due at 1230 GMT for signs about the health of its labor market ahead of a key US job market report due on Friday. Among other precious metals, spot silver was flat at $31.32 an ounce, spot platinum was up 0.1 percent at $1,594.19 an ounce, and spot palladium up 0.8 percent at $634.70 an ounce. -Reuters

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 14, 2012 photo, an Iraqi goldsmith displays gold bracelets at his shop in downtown Baghdad, Iraq. Gold inched higher on Thursday after falling to a near three-month low the previous day as weaker prices tempted some buyers. (AP)

Along with Russia and the Middle East, China is one of the few remaining alternatives for Asian ship owners to replace European-based coverage. It is not clear if other Chinese ship insurers also planned to follow China P&I Club and cut coverage.

European insurers provide cover for the majority of the world’s oil tanker fleet. Industry officials say ship owners who still legally trade with Iran will be pressed to find sufficient, or comprehensive, alternative insurance.

An official with the China P&I club held out hope the European Union would decide on a last-minute easing of the sanctions. European nations are divided over the sanctions, while oil refiners, insurers and tanker owners face lost business opportunities with second-largest producer of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

China P&I Club is not a member of the Group of International P&I Clubs, an association of customer-owned ship insurers which cover 95 percent of the world’s tankers against pollution and personal injury claims. The Chinese insurer has applied to join the club and could be taking the action on Iranian coverage to ensure it becomes a member, industry sources said.

The Japan P&I club, the only Asian-based member of the Group of International P&I Clubs, said last month it would only be able to provide a fraction of cover for tankers operating in Iran.

“It’s now non-life (insurers) and shippers who can tell us how many cargoes we will be able to ship from Iran,” said a manager from a Japanese firm that buys Iranian crude, adding that importing cargoes without insurance was unthinkable. -Agencies

Scotland is the hub of green energy, says Hughes

Jameel W. Karaki Staff Writer

KUWAIT: In an interview with Al Watan Daily, Paul Hughes, Financial and Business Services Manager at Scottish Enterprise, asserted that innovation is fundamental to economic development, where only by continually investing in new products and processes and looking for new markets can firms hope to be globally competitive. Economic Development agencies, such as Scottish Enterprise can work closely with firms to help them to identify those areas where they can improve their performance through innovation. He also indicated that they have a network of offices across the Gulf from United Kingdom Trade and Investment. This government body has offices in; Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

When asked about how Scottish Enterprise views the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market he said, “Our sister organization Scottish Development International, recognizes the importance of the GCC markets as growing economies with substantial expertise, particularly in energy. There is an obvious case for partnership to help deliver economic growth in our respective regions. For example, the Scottish Government is working closely with Masdar to help grow our respective renewable energy industries.

He added, “Recognizing this importance, we have a dedicated office in Dubai which facilitates market access to the area for Scottish based companies and also acts as an intermediary for Gulf-based companies, funders and institutions wishing to invest in Scotland.”

About the feasibility for a regular investor to invest in green energy, he pointed out that the scale of opportunity for investment in renewable energy means that it cannot be delivered solely by the government. The Green Investment Bank (GIB) therefore has partnering with financial institutions as one of its key objectives. With an initial investment of three billion Sterling pounds, it is hoped that the GIB will leverage up to 15 billion pounds of other funding, including private funders and sovereign wealth funds.

As any investment, Hughes clarified that the risks with green investments are similar to investments in other technologies and companies. According to him, no investment is certain to give a guaranteed return but he believes that by undertaking significant due diligence on the technologies and company capability, backed up by robust market information, these can be minimized. Furthermore, any risks would be shared on an equal basis between partners.

Hughes believes that Scotland is a green investment hub for many reasons such as the Strength of Financial Services, Renewable Energy Expertise, and University Research.

With regards to GCC investments in Scotland, he clarified that there are a number of current investors from the Middle East in Scotland.

TAQA continue to invest heavily in the future of their UK North Sea business, with likely capital expenditure of one billion US dollars over the next few years. In the engineering sector Hyspec Engineering of Ayrshire is owned by Oman based United Engineering Services (UES) and John Brown Engineering Ltd. (JBE) of Linwood, near Glasgow, is owned by Masaood John Brown an Emirati company.

ALWATAN DAILY

BUSINESS

Facebook e-commerce: The next big thing?

SAN FRANCISCO: A group of ecommerce start-ups, backed by some of the tech world’s most pedigreed financiers, are betting that Facebook Inc can become an e-commerce powerhouse to rival Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc. As the world’s largest social network hurtles toward a five billion US dollar initial public offering (IPO), it will come under more pressure from Wall Street to find new sources of profit growth and reduce its reliance on advertising, which accounted for 85 percent of its 2011 revenue.

Some entrepreneurs and investors increasingly think “f-commerce” - meaning e-commerce on Facebook - is the answer.

Start-ups such as BeachMint, Yardsellr, Oodle and Fab.com are coming up with novel ways to persuade Facebook users to not just connect with friends on the social network, but to shop as well.

Backed by tens of millions of dollars from venture capital firms like Accel Partners and Andreessen Horowitz, and other big investors like Goldman Sachs, these start-ups are pushing out shopping apps, hosting online garage sales and testing out new business models on Facebook.

“E-commerce is a huge category with very strong tailwinds and it’s a natural move for Facebook,” said Sam Schwerin of Millennium Technology Value Partners, which owns Facebook shares and has a stake in BeachMint.

Amazon revolutionized online shopping by crunching lots of customer and purchase data to come up with relevant, personalized recommendations. In the same vein, Facebook’s combination of data, analytics and payment technology could fuel the next generation of e-commerce, Schwerin said. Facebook declined to comment, but investors said the company understands the importance of having an e-commerce strategy.

“It’s a big imperative for them,” said Theresia Gouw Ranzetta of Accel Partners, an early backer of Facebook. “They understand it’s an important strategic benefit for them to make e-commerce players successful on the platform.”

Big brand stores flop

Facebook had 845 million monthly

than three million unique monthly users.

When buyers and sellers post items, their Facebook identities are attached, giving users more confidence in the transactions, Donato said.

Making money

FILE - A man sits near a Facebook advertisement in this undated file photo. A group of e-commerce start-ups, backed by some of the tech world’s most pedigreed financiers, are betting that Facebook Inc can become an e-commerce powerhouse to rival Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc. (Reuters)

active users at the end of 2011, far higher than Amazon’s 164 million active accounts or the eBay online marketplace’s 100 million active users.

But despite that huge base, Facebook is primarily a way to connect with friends, and not an online shopper’s first destination. Big retailers including J.C. Penney, Gap and Nordstrom had previously set up stores on Facebook but shut them after generating few sales. That has not stopped venture capital firms from pouring money into rookie companies they think have cracked the code.

There is a lot of buzz about Fab.com, a one-year-old company that has amassed two million users who broadcast their purchases via a “bought” button that advertises their shopping habits to friends.

Fab built its user base in part by offering five dollars a month to those who sign up - Chief Executive Jason Goldberg said “tens of thousands” opted in.

BeachMint co-founder Diego Berdakin said his company had set up a live video event called StyleMint.tv last

holiday season featuring a brief appearance by Facebook chief executive officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg’s sister, Randi Zuckerberg. For about two hours, they showcased BeachMint products that people could buy with one click.

More than 50,000 Facebook users watched the show and a “huge percentage” bought something, Berdakin said, adding, “At the time, it was the biggest day in our history in terms of sales.”

Yardsellr, started in 2010 by former eBay manager Danny Leffel, organizes people into 3,000 communities, or “blocks,” based on common interests.

When someone posts a product for sale, it is sent to the news feeds of people in that block and purchases can be made with a few clicks. Gross merchandise sales, a measure of the value of products, has been growing about 30 percent a month, according to Leffel. “Social commerce could be bigger than eBay,” he argued.

Then there’s Oodle, a start-up headed

by Craig Donato, who runs Facebook’s official marketplace, which boasts more

Company

ź

High

Low

National Bank Gulf Bank Commercial Bank Ahli Bank Ahli United Bank International Bank Burgan Bank Kw Finance House Boubyan Bank

1,080

1,060 425 275 410 770 550

Kw Investment Commercial Facilit.

Int'L Financial Adv. National Invest.

Kw Projects Ahlia Holding Coast Invest.

Int'L Investor Securities House Ind. & Fin. Inv. Securities Group Int'L Finance MARKAZ KMIFIC Aref Inv. Group Al AMAN Inv. ALOLA Inv. ALMAL Inv. Gulf Inv. House A'ayan Leasing Bayan Inv. GLOBAL Inv. Osoul Inv. KFIC KAMCO Nat. Int'l Holding Housing Finance MADAR Al Deera Holding Al Safat Inv. Al Salam Group Ekttitab Holding Al Qurain Holding Sokouk Holding Al-Madina Finance NOOR Tamdeen Inv. Int'll Exch KW BH Int Exch.

106 280 160 340 112 144 52 39.5 57 40.0 -

440 285 425 780 560

Global Index - Banking

Taiba Kuwaiti Holding

Kuwait Syrian Strategia Kuwait China Inv. Manafae Inv. Gulf North Africa Amwal Al Masar Al-Imtiaz

ź

77.0 192 305 29.0 67 128

104 280 160 335 112 140 51 37.0 57 38.0 255.0 104.0 72.0 186 305 28.0 67 128

-

-

260.0 110.0

Global Index - Investment

Kuwait Insurance Gulf Insurance Ahlia Insurance Warba Insurance Kuwait Re-Ins. First Takaful Ins. Wethaq Insurance

-

Global Index - Insurance

Kuwait R.E. United R.E. National R.E. Salhia R.E. Pearl R.E. Tamdeen R.E. Ajial R.E. Massaleh R.E. Arab R.E. Union R.E. ERESCO Mabani INJAZZAT RE Inv. Holding Grp Int'L Resorts Commercial R.E Sanam R.E. Aa'yan R.E Aqar Kuwait R.E Holding AL Mazaya Al Dar National R.E Themar Int'L Holding Grand R.E Projects Tijara & R.E Invest Al Tameer Arkan Al-Kuwait R.E Al Argan Int'L Abyaar Munshaat First Dubai KBT Manazel REAM Mena Real Estate Al Moudon Intl. R.E Markaz Real Estate Kuwait Remal R.E

58 116 140 244 240 39.0 97

1,060

70 62.0 94 59 69 84 19.0 38.0 66 43.0 33.5 22.0 55 350

Global Index - Real Estate

Nationl Ind. Group Pipes Ind. & Oil Kuwait Cement Refrigeration Ind. Gulf Cables & Elec.

Heavy eng. & Ship.

Marine Services Portland Cement Shuaiba Industrial Metal Collecting Kuwait Foundry

ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ź ŷ ŷ Ÿ

234 118 -

1,300

300 890 315

ŷ ŷ ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ Ÿ ź ŷ ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ Ÿ ŷ ŷ ź ŷ ŷ Ÿ ŷ ŷ Ÿ ŷ ź Ÿ ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ Ÿ

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57 116 124 242 240 38.0 97 1,020 68 59.0 92 58 68 84 18.5 37.5 66 42.0 33.5 22.0 54 350

ź ŷ ź ź ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ź ŷ ź ź ź ŷ ź Ÿ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ź Ÿ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ź ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ź ź ź

230 116 1,300 300 880 315

ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ź ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ

1060 425 790 610 810 280 415 770 560 316.93

106 280 52 160 340 13.0 55 25.0 130 25.0 230 99 112 102 52 26.0 144 51 26.5 71 37.0 48.5 64 26.0 242 57 38.5 51 38.5 100 255.0 108.0 22.0 22.5 75.0 29.0 186 305 114 28.00 80 67 56 52 64 42.50 128 83.35 300 560 500 148 220 122 40.50 44.17

58 116 124 242 32.5 240 118 91 38.0 110 97 1,020 68 12.5 60.0 94 58 69 74 36.0 84 19.0 87 17.5 37.5 66 80 174 42.0 28.5 33.5 17.5 22.0 134 134 220 55 350 56.83

234 118 445 126 1,300 300 140 890 216 112 315

1060 445 790 610 810 285 415 770 550 317.93 106 280 52 162 340 13.0 55 25.0 130 25.0 230 99 112 102 52 26.0 138 52 26.5 71 38.0 48.5 64 26.0 242 52 38.5 51 40.0 100 255.0 106.0 22.0 22.5 73.0 29.0 188.0 290 114 30.50 80 67 56 52 64 42.50 128 83.29

Previous Close Change 178.41 -1.61 -13.10 6,158.60 Trading Activity Chng Volume Tran. Value(KD) -20 -5 10 1.00-

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5 1.52.0 2.0 2.015 0 15.0 -2.5 0.07

300 560 500 148 220 122 40.50 44.17

Ex-D Ex-D Ex-D Ex-D -

59 116 134 244 32.5 248 118 91 39.0 110 98 1,040 71 12.5 62.0 93 59 69 74 36.0 84 19.0 87 17.5 38.0 61 80 174 42.0 28.5 35.0 17.5 22.5 134 134 220 56 355 57.60

-1 -10 -2 8.01.0-1 -20 -3 2.01 -1 0.55 1.50.5Ex-D -1 -5 0.77-

234 118 445 126 1,320 305 140 890 216 112 360

-20 -5 Ex-D

DTD -0.90% -0.21%

Last Bid

05 / 01 / 2012

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LONDON: Rapid growth of Islamic finance is increasing pressure for the industry to enter the accounting mainstream, by seeking guidance from the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the global body which sets the tone for book-keeping in conventional finance. It would be a controversial move - by basing itself on religious principles, Islamic finance seeks to set itself apart from conventional finance. But some experts think the industry is becoming so big that it can no longer sit comfortably outside a trend towards harmonizing accounting rules across the world.

“The whole thing about financial reporting around the world today is the global move towards a single comparable set of highquality financial reporting standards...” said Samer Hijazi, financial services audit director at accounting giant KPMG, who monitors the development of Islamic finance.

Islamic financial assets hit 1.3 trillion US dollars globally in 2011, a 150 percent increase over the past five years as the industry expanded into new countries beyond core markets in the Middle East and Malaysia, financial lobby group TheCityUK estimated last week. At present the industry remains governed by a patchwork of national regulators, Islamic standard-setting bodies and scholars interpreting Islamic law - a recipe for different rules and practices. This is creating confusion among investors, especially as major Western banks begin to enter the market.

Most of the countries in which Islamic banks operate already use the IASB’s International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). But these standards have been developed for conventional finance, not Islamic transactions, in which interest and pure monetary speculation are banned and trades must be underpinned by physical assets.

So there is the potential for conflict between Islamic finance and conventional accounting rules. For example, in order to earn returns but not contravene the ban on interest, Islamic banks buy an asset such as a house on behalf of a customer and lease it out until the customer is able to acquire ownership. Under current IFRS standards, accountants say, this would probably be treated as a financial lease, requiring the bank to record the lease as an interest-earning loan - in apparent contravention of Sharia law.

“IFRS is all about substance over form whereas Sharia law is very much about compliance with legal form,” said Andrew Hawkins, Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The solution, some experts say, is to have the IASB introduce standalone guidelines under its IFRS framework that are tailor-made for Islamic finance. These guidelines would ensure a uniform approach across the industry while blending with the IASB’s standards for conventional finance. Bodies such as the Asian-Oceanian Standard Setters Group (AOSSG), a regional organization which creates accounting guidelines, are calling on the IASB to put the drafting of Islamic finance standards on its agenda. The AOSSG has set up a working group to liaise with the IASB. More than three-quarters of 24 financial standards-setting bodies that responded to a survey by the AOSSG at the start of this year said there should not be separate Islamic accounting standards issued by other bodies outside the IFRS framework, because they could be incompatible with the global move towards convergence around IFRS, according to the AOSSG. -Reuters

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Date of Closing Prices: 05 / 04 / 2012 For more information please contact “Global” at (+965) 180 42 42 or www.globalinv.net ź

For now, Facebook is making money mostly by selling ads to merchants trying to target potential customers. But many experts say it is a matter of time before the eight-year-old social network will ask for a cut of shopping transactions, or seek other ways to profit.

They point to Facebook’s relationship with online games developer Zynga Inc as an example. Facebook takes a 30 percent cut of revenue generated from the sale of virtual goods used to play Zynga games.

Gamers pay for those virtual goods using Facebook Credits, a virtual currency that could eventually be used to buy physical goods, according to some Internet entrepreneurs.

“Facebook has a huge opportunity to monetize e-commerce,” said Christian Taylor, chief executive of Payvment, a startup that operates thousands of Facebook stores. “They have the infrastructure and team to pursue that.”

Others downplay the potential for Facebook Credits, saying physical goods offer much thinner profit margins than virtual products.

“The 30 percent model is great for products with near-zero cost of goods sold,” said Kevin Hartz, head of ticketing start-up Eventbrite, which works closely with Facebook. “But selling a TV with thin margins, that model will just not apply.”

Nevertheless, if e-commerce on Facebook takes off, many expect the social network to find a way to make money off it.

“When you build on top of a platform like Facebook, there is always the risk that the platform provider decides to change the rules later on,” said Laura Valverde of Beetailer, which runs more than 3,000 stores on Facebook.

“We have seen this with Facebook Credits and games. So, once social commerce fully takes off, it will only be natural that Facebook tries to benefit one way or another from it.” -Reuters

Islamic finance pressured to join accounting mainstream

Trading Prices of Kuwait Stock Exchange Date of Closig Prices: 5/04/2012

Trading Prices of Kuwait Exchange Trading Prices of Kuwait StockStock Exchange

Global General Index KSE Price Index

11

FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012

Last Ask

MTD YTD -3.49% -1.40% 5.70% -0.32% Div. Annual Close Low P/E Yield High

3,452,500 1,110,000 8,750,000 1,250,000 1,705,000 1,640,000 17,907,500

79 41 127 22 49 79 397

3,662,050 484,700 2,428,550 517,900 1,313,200 913,050 9,319,450

1,040 425 610 810 275 410 760 550

1,060 430 630 820 280 415 770 560

3.8% 0.0% 1.9% 3.3% 1.7% 0.0% 0.0% 2.6% 0.0% 2.0%

1,220 510 800 680 920 285 480 900 590 326.42

1,060 425 700 600 790 236 415 770 530 316.93

15.34 30.61 90.92 17.36 29.70 26.63 11.62 23.69 106.53 18.49

140,000 350,000 1,540,000 350,000 1,240,000 7,160,000 440,000 2,640,000 40,000 9,680,000 2,220,000 10,520,000 28,640,000 440,000 10 000 10,000 160,000 160,000 1,020,000 66,750,000

3 17 38 7 30 91 9 24 1 82 101 216 391 17 1 2 2 39

104 275 160 335 112 142 51 37.0 59.0 38.0 255.0 106.0 75.0 182 28 67 51 52 126.0

108 280 162 340 230 114 91 144 52 37.5 69.0 57 38.5 260.0 108.0 76.0 188 300 31 85 68 56 53 128.0

0.0% 7.9% 0.0% 0.0% 5.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 8.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.2% 4 3% 4.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 9.6% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2.4%

112 285 67 182 345 18.5 69 25.0 130 36.0 230 122 120 102 52 35.5 144 65 35 71 44.0 48.5 70.0 26.0 244 62 39 51 47.5 104 270.0 130.0 25.0 33.5 96.0 29.0 190 305 114 32 89 73 60 59 64 42.5 140.0 85.99

104 255 40 158 295 11.5 50 25.0 130 21.0 230 99 102 50 52 24.0 106 47 21 71 28.5 48.5 64.0 26.0 242 51 36 51 26.0 61 99.0 19.5 19.0 16.0 38.0 29.0 154 255 114 26 58 50 51 47 64 42.5 112.0 74.96

40.56 13.02

1,071

14,800 98,000 246,400 117,300 138,880 1,007,240 22,840 102,280 2,280 376,800 566,950 1,124,240 2,135,840 83,400 3 050 3,050 4,560 10,720 130,560 6,186,140

-

-

-

255 480 495 112 29.5

300 520 550 146 43.0

6.7% 4.5% 5.0% 6.8% 2.7% 0.0% 0.0% 4.7%

325 610 540 148 220 134 40.5 44.91

280 550 450 102 220 102 40.5 42.22

15.67 12.90 10.21 23.37 296.83

320,000 100,000 3,460,000 500,000 20,000 960,000 1,120,000 1,390,000 160,000 9,760,000 2,720,000 440,000 880,000 40,000 2,240,000 960,000 240,000 19,280,000 80,000 1,200,000 80,000 50,000 46,000,000

6 1 89 21 1 10 24 116 4 92 36 11 18 1 22 12 3 117 1 13 2 4 604

18,360 11,600 452,320 121,320 4,800 36,760 108,640 1,445,600 11,080 591,400 253,000 25,640 59,960 3,360 41,560 36,200 15,840 817,360 2,680 26,400 4,360 17,500 4,105,740

57 114 242 238 110 90 37.5 100 97 1,040 68 60.0 93 57 67 83 18.0 87 37.5 56 75 164 42.0 33.5 21.5 31 54 345

58 116 124 244 246 134 38.5 120 98 1,060 71 61.0 94 59 69 86 19.0 97 38.0 64 85 180 42.5 35.5 22.0 130 34 55 350

0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 8.3% 0.0% 4.2% 0.0% 5.5% 0.0% 6.4% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 5.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.0%

63 118 152 246 37.5 250 130 100 52.0 120 104 1,080 85 20.0 67.0 94 75 73 90 38.0 92 23.0 91 17.5 45.0 66 80 174 52.0 39.5 39.0 28.5 25.5 134 34 220 70 480 57.93

47 97 108 200 32.5 224 114 77 27.0 108 94 840 62 11.0 35.0 77 56 52 74 33.0 59 13.5 87 17.5 31.0 57 64 116 27.5 22.0 25.0 17.5 15.0 134 31 220 49 270 49.06

44.95 14.88 22.21 21.58

1,220,000 320,000 5,000 10,000 75,000 10,000

35 9 1 1 6 1

283,040 37,240 6,500 3,000 66,300 3,150

232 116 445 124 1,280 295 136 880 106 -

234 120 450 126 1,300 310 144 890 216 118 330

0.0% 0.0% 2.2% 4.0% 5.0% 3.3% 3.6% 11.2% 4.6% 0.0% 6.3%

260 136 470 158 1,480 345 222 920 216 120 495

214 118 415 126 1,300 300 140 660 180 102 315

71.18

83.70 13.75 1.39 0.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 30.41 0.00 130.54 0.00 0.00 0.00

0.00 9.75 27 23 27.23 11.92 50.59

0.00 5.19 13.92

12.81

17.36 5.87 15.57 39.65 25.73 0.00 17.55 33.63

5.63 23.51 12.99 7.55 42.45

23.07 18.82 0.00 0.00 19.01

18.18 5.94 7.18 128.01 118.86 13.09 24.93 20.17

Last Close 212 212 ŷ źź 89 176.5390 6205,726.90 630 źź 1,100 1,100 Gulf Glass ŷ Last Prev.

216 216 HilalCompany Cement ŷ Close Close High 415 415 Al Kout Ind. Project ŷ 1,140 1120 1120 National ŷ 275 275 K-PAK Bank ŷ 495 495 Gulf BankMaterial 495 ŷ 224 224 Building 770 770 Commercial 770 ŷ 300 300 Nat. Ind.Co.Bank ŷ 640 660 Ahli Bank 640 ź 100 106 106 Equipment Holding ź 800 850 Ahli United Bank 850 Ÿ 33 33 Mena Holding ŷ 248 248 International Bank 248 ŷ 102 102 Consumer Industries ŷ 460 465 460 Burgan Bank ź 128 128 Kuwait Gypsum 890 880 890 Kw Finance House ź 216 216 218 Qurain Bank ŷ 590 590 Boubyan 590 ŷ 44 44 Salbookh Trading ŷ 319.37 319.54 ź Global Index - Banking 202 202 IKARUS ŷ 106 106 Kw Investment ŷ 75 75 75 Boubyan Int'L Ind. ŷ 260 265 265 260 źź Commercial Facilit.

168.89 167.90 Global Index - Industrial 40 41 41 40 ź Int'L Financial Adv. 960 960 NationalInvest.

Cinema 170 172 174 National 170 - źŷ 280 280 KwProjects Hotels 300 295 300 - Ÿŷ Kw 300 405 410 12.5 12.5 410 12.5 400 ŷź Agility Ahlia Holding 13.5 52 53 52 52 Coast Invest.

53 52 - źŷ Market Complexes 25.0 25.0 -730 -700 ŷź Int'L Investor 700 740 ZAIN 130 130 Securities House - ŷŷ 76.0 76.0 76.0 75.0 Safat Energy 31.0 31.0 Ind. & Fin. Inv.Group 110 110 Educational - ŷŷ 230 230 -Securities Group - - ŷŷ 340 340 Indep. Petroleum 102 102 Int'L Finance ŷ 152 150 152 148 Ÿ National Cleaning 108 112 110 MARKAZ 108 108 112 114 Sultan Center 108 ŷź 50 50 KMIFIC - ŷŸ 104 102 104 Arabi Group 102 44.0 44.0 Int'L Inv. Group 550 550 City Group - ŷŷ 52 52 Aref Inv. Group - ŷ 2,220 2,200 2,220 2,200 Ÿ Wataniya Tele.

74 74 Investment Dar - ŷ 112 112 110 ŷ 114 Kw Gulf Link 28.5 28.5 Al AMAN Inv. ŷ 58 58 Kw Cable 108 108 ALOLA Inv.Vision 110 108 - ŷŷ 300 300 Automated System ŷ 49 49.5 ALMAL Inv. 50 49 ź 370 370 NAPESCO 23 23 -Gulf Inv. House - - ŷŷ 285 285 285 285 KCPC Leasing 71 71 - ŷŷ A'ayan 255 255 K.S.HInv. 31.0 31.0 32.5 - 31.0 - ŷŷ Bayan 260 260 - ŷŷ Eyas 48.5 48.5 GLOBAL Inv. 108 106 Hits Telecom 68 68 -110 -104 ŷŸ Osoul Inv. 18.0 17.5 18.0 Al Safwa Holding 20.5 20.5 -17.5 ŷź GULFINVEST 26.0 270 270 26.0 KFIC Human Soft - ŷŷ 244 244 KAMCO - ŷź 79 78 Privatization Holding 78 78 94 94 Int'l Leasing & Inv. -- - ŷŷ 89 89 Nafaaes Holding 51 51 - - ŷŷ Nat. Int'l Holding -154 154 National Slaughter 36 36 - ŷŷ Housing Finance 106 106 108 106 Aref energy 51 51 MADAR -- - ŷŷ 600 600 Safwan 26.5 26.5 26.5 Al Deera Holding 26.5 ŷ 76.0 75.0 76.0 75.0 ź Gulf Petroleum 75 75 Al Safat Inv. 22.5 22.5 - - ŷŷ -Gulf Franchising 122.0 120.0 112.0 Al Salam 120 120 Credit & Group Collection - 114.0 - Ÿŷ 39.5 41.5 39.0 ź 41.0 Ekttitab Holding 15.0 15.0 National Ranges ŷ 19.0 19.0 Al Qurain Holding ŷ 260 260 Burgan Well Drilling - ŷ 16.5 16.5 16.5 Sokouk Holding 16.5 ŷ 380 380 - 38.5 - ŷ IFA H&R 39.0 38.5 Al-Madina Finance 40.0 ź 1,600 1,640 1,660 1,600 Combinted Group Ÿ 29.0 29.0 NOOR ŷ 80 80 Jeeran Holding ŷ 160 158 Tamdeen Inv. 160 158 ź 118 116 116 116 Palms 255 255 KW BH Agro Int'l Exch.

- ŷź 75.0 75.0 Safat TEC ŷ 114 114 Taiba Kuwaiti Holding - ŷ 89 89 89 88 Mushrif Trading 26.00 26.00 Kuwait Syrian - ŷŷ 325 335 UPAC 325 325 68 68 Strategia - ŷź 315 315 315 ALAFCO 310 53 53 53 53 ŷŷ Kuwait China Inv. 160 160 60 60 Al-Muwasat -- - ŷŷ Manafae Inv. 46.5 46.5 Gulf NorthHolding Africa - ŷŸ 275 280 Mashaer 280 275 64 64 Amwal - ŷŷ 275 275 Oula Fuel 275 275 42.50 42.50 Al MasarComm.

285 285 Future - ŷŷ 128 130 124 Al-Imtiaz 132 94 90 Hayat Comm.

88 źŸ 94 76.02 62 62 Global Index - Investment Mubarrad Transport 64 62 źŷ 75.90 52.0 52.0 KuwaitInsurance Resorts -- - ŷŷ 325 325 Kuwait 750 750 Advanced Technolgy ŷ 560 560 - ŷ Gulf Insurance 360 360 Yiaco Medical 485 485 -- - ŷŷ Ahlia Insurance 460 460 Al Jazeera Airways 450 źŷ 460 118 110 112 108 Warba Insurance 242 246 Al Soor Fuel 242 242 220 220 ź Kuwait Re-Ins. 114 114 98 98 First Takaful -- - ŷŷ Future Kid Ins. 40.50 40.50 Wethaq -290 -285 ŷŷ 285 285 K G L Insurance 79 77 81 76 ź Al Nawadi 43.63 43.43 Global Index - Insurance 120 120 Alrai Media 49 48 48 - źŷ Kuwait R.E. 48 96 98 98 Zima Holding 98 ŸŸ 100 99 100 United R.E. 100 -

ACICO

Global General Index 89 United Industries 620 Boubyan Petroch.

KSE Price Index

89 620 Low 1,120 490 770 640 100 800 248 455 880 216 580 73

Global R.E. Index - Services 118 National 126 200 Salhia R.E. Trans.

204 LiveStock 190 188 - 99 Pearl -102 DanaR.E. Al-Safat 224 224 Tamdeen R.E. United Poultry Ajial R.E. 1,420 1,400 Kw FoodStuff Massaleh R.E. United Food Arab R.E. 30.0 30.0 Kout Food Union R.E. Global Index Food 98 96 ERESCO 860 840 Mabani Sharjah Cement 87 85 75 74 INJAZZAT RE Gulf Cement 97 100 Inv. UmHolding QuwainGrp Cement 12.0 71 11.5 70 - 93 - 93 Int'L Resorts Fujaira Cement 78 77 Commercial R.E 122 Ras AlKheimah 122 70 65 Sanam R.E. ARIG 54 53 Aa'yan R.E United Gulf Bank 188 168 Aqar 295 Egypt Kw Holding 295 Kuwait R.E Holding Bahrain Kw Ins. 59 AL Mazaya 60 Gulf House 62.0 14.0 60.0 Al DarFin. National R.E 14.0 Inovest Int'L Holding 66 61 Themar -168 Grand R.E Projects -168 Ahli United Bank -25.0 Tijara & R.E Invest Ithmaar Bank 25.5 Al Tameer Global Index - Non-Kuwaiti Arkan Al-Kuwait R.E 70 70 Markaz Real Estate Safat Global Al Argan Int'L Funds Investment 28.5 28.0 Abyaar Al-Bareeq Holding 23.5 23.5 Munshaat AFAQ 25.5 First Dubai 26.0 Al-Shamel KBT 27.0 27.0 Al-Safat Real Estate 16.5 Manazel 15.5 Ajwan Real Estate REAM Specialities Group 395 405 Mena Real Estate Masaken Al Moudon Inter.

Intl. R.E --Dulaqan R.EEstate Markaz Real 57 56 Eid Food Kuwait Remal R.E 295 285 Maidan Index Clinic - Real Estate Global Flex

-

-

-

Nationl Ind. Group 232 Dar Al-Thuraya Real E 242 Pipes Ind. & Oil 128 126 Kw Medical Services Kuwait Cement 455 450 Amar For Fin. & Leas.

-Refrigeration Ind. 1,420 1,420 Total Parallel Market Gulf Cables & Elec.

Heavy eng. & Ship.

Total Services Market Marine 720 Portland 720 Global Cement Special Indices Shuaiba Industrial Global Index - Kuwaiti Co.'s 104 Metal Collecting 110 Global Index - 10 Large- Cap. Kuwait Foundry

Global Index - Islamic

Ÿź źź ŷ Ÿ ź ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ź ŷ ŷ źź Ÿź ŸŸ źŸ ŷ Ÿ Ÿ ŷ ź ŷ ź ź ŷ ź ŷ ź źŸ Ÿ ŷ ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ź ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ź ŷ ź ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ź ŷ ŷ Ÿ ŷ ŷ ŷ źŷ Ÿŷ źŷ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ź

ŷ ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ź ŷ

711.11 124

200 188 37.5 102 224 130 120 1,400 82 340 30.0 580 108 344.52 97 860 85 75 100 11.5 70 38.0 93 78 122 65 112 54 172 90 295 38.0 455 59 62.0 14.0 91 65 17.5 168 31.0 25.5 59 42.07 70 122 48.5 124 28.0 144 23.5 106 25.5 250 27.0 22.0 15.5 33 134 395 134 51 220 345 57 106 295 2,260 49.73

40.5

232 93.0 128 65 450 60 150 1,420 335 212 720 180 ź 104 ź 460 Ÿ

728.14 120

204 190 37.5 99 234 130 120 1,420 82 340 30.5 580 108 348.25 98 850 86 73 95 12.0 69 38.0 89 77 122 70 112 55 178 90 300 38.0 455 63 61.0 14.5 91 62 17.5 170 31.025.5 59 42.36 74 122 48.5 124 28.5 144 24.5 106 26.0 250 27.0 22.0 16.5 33 134 390 134 51 220 345 58 106 290 2,260 49.75

40.5

Previous Close DTD MTD YTD - Change 208 218 4.7% 224 196 24.45 -0.40% -1.55% 177.24 -0.7021,360 -1.55% -1 240,000 6 88 89 0.0% 102 88 32.35 -10 5,754.20 2 -27.3093,000 150,000 610 5.6% 630 550 88.41 -1.50% -0.47% 620 -1.50% 1,200 3.6% 1,400 1,100 16.54 Trading Activity Div. Annual Close Last Last 4.6% 216 206 11.21 Volume Tran. Value(KD) Bid Ask Yield High Low P/E Chng 390 4.8% 415 340 9.20 3,796,050 - 1,120 - 69 3,377,500 1,140 - 3.6% 1,120 14.74 7.3% 300 1,100 275 13.23 20 830,000 407,950 490 495 510 490 33.95 Ex-D 0.0% 228 224 27.09 234 0.0% 10,000 1 7,700 - 770 780 790 770 88.62 2.7% 260 300 310 1.9% 325 19.25 -20-6 277 6,400 10,000 640 660 660 64051 17.34 409,720 4,000,000 102 3.1% 0.0% 100 110 47.93 50 350,000 23 282,700 840 850 1.6% 850 790 29.68 0.0% 33 33 0.00 16 700,000 173,600 246 248 0.0% 255 248 23.59 102 93 0.0% -5 500,000 10 229,750 460 465 0.0% 475 460 12.26 Ex-D 128 17.06 128 9.4% -10 1,280,000 66 1,127,050 880 2.3% 900 880 25.07 870 280,840 1,300,000 222 216 218 0.0% 210 112.24 8.71 0.0% 607,850 - 1,035,000 3327 590 580 590 590 51 41 0.0% 8,092,500 6,639,050 2.0% 319.54 318.41 18.61 0.17240 214 162 11.86 202 204 0.0% -3 - 10271 10676 0.0% 10688 10670 40.56 8,880 120,000 0.0% -5 250,000 14 65,750 260 265 8.5% 265 260 12.09 7,450,000 168 0.99174.76 163.04 10.67 1,213,030 2.7% 1,680,000 1,040,000 110,000 270,000 7,040,000 - -5 1,280,000 -1 - -40 4,735,000 1,320,000 -- -- -2,540,000 2.0 --4 680,000 2,800,000 -2 320,000 97,500 20 1,260,000 - 500,000 -1 320,000 - - 30,000 - 1,840,000 - - 27,120,000 2 4,080,000 - -1 - --1 1,360,000 - - - - - 80,000 - - - 1.0240,000 3,320,000 - -8.0 - 11,180,000 2.01,920,000 480,000 0.510,640,000 250,000 - 40 2.080,000 20,000 - -2 -- -200,000 10- 0 10 000 10.010,000 2,580,000 - 200,000 - - -5 360,000 - 20,000 - - -4.0 2 1,240,000 520,000 0.12- - 40,720,000 3,800,000 -1 -2 5 -

---

- -8 Ex-D-4 - - Ex-D 0.19-

- - - 140,000 120,000 40,000 - 540,000 680,000 120,000

13 20 5 4619 22 230 19 - - 42 1898 16 22 36 14 4 - -3 22 - 385 37 - 25 - - -4 - 255 - 212 24 5 93 37 4 -1 - -5 -1 262 - 11 -1 - 3812 55850 - - - 66 -2 - 26 616

1 -1 80,000 160,000 91 12 920,000 1,222 17.0358,652,500 105 4 3,100,000 12 -4-2 520,000 2 40,000 -3 1,580,000 24 3 10.0100,000 Ex-D 7,500 2 -20 1 80,000 0.53.731,627,500 -1 320,000 828 10-1 1,935,000 5728 1,200,000 238 120,000 25 4,080,000 1525 0.5-1 2,000,000 1,800,000 -1 4 40,000 3 1 240,000 100,000 2 17 1,000,000 -5 4 -1 200,000 -6 400,000 20 40,000 4 5 Ex-D 11 440,000 -4 11,960,000 166 1 80,000 0.5-1 14,760,000 167 3 - -2 -4 180,000 2,400,000 26 0.2936,960,000 481 -4 320,000 2 - - - - 12 0.52,720,000 1.080,000 1 0.5240,000 3 Ex-D 35,040,000 4 1,200,000 8 1.0- - 5 370,000 15 - - - -1 240,000 6 47 5 2,110,000 0.02- - 53,085,000 - 332 -

Ex-D

-

-

242 -10 13,220,000 - 154 93.0 128 140,000 6 65 470 -20 50,000 2 60 150 - - - 370,000 1,460 -40 2,500 115 335 3,971 212 - 235,347,500720 Close 230,000 19 Prev Close Prev.

180 186.41 188.14 106 -2 80,000 3 181.94 460 179.81 -

563.85

562.11

67,160 40 910 177,720 168 33,000 295 109,200 90,920 400 12.5 67,280 51 - 700 3,390,800 99,240 75.0 - - 315 379,040 150 73,920 106 309,800 106 33,120 102 214,800 2,200 140,920 112 27.0 54,920 108 285 15,840 49 345 - 21 8,550 280 58,760 31.0 - 2,901,800 106 64.0 72,680 -17.5 - -77 106,080 - -84 - - 8,520 104 - 550 6,360 26.0 249,800 74.0 - 21.0 1,305,280 - 118.0 77,080 18.0 7,920 16.0 370 419,440 38.5 407,800 1,620 12,680 15675 2,320 108 74.0 17,640 -88 3 250 3,250 315 63 807,950 310 10,600 52 - - 99,750 275 5,500 275 - - 265 157,920 47,560 124.093 2,702,550 237,240 61 - - - 63,600 13,200 9,680 - 154,000 53,480 13,200

3,840 15,680 92,000 9,949,800 383,920 104,680 7,560 159,160 22,400 10,550 2,400 177,270 31,160 1,656,950 103,040 8,960 405,280 23,960 126,840 3,720 18,520 12,200 67,400 10,720 69,320 11,800 26,160 726,280 1,120 939,000 30,240 60,840 2,488,560 22,400 - - 76,880 1,880 6,160 946,080 19,240 - 147,200 - 13,520 610,850 4,151,200 -

-

48.5 300 510 360 460 455 108 240 -93 - 280 78 112 48 99 -

122 200 186 - 100 130 110 1,380 530 112 95 86085 7185 11.599 35.570 77 88 120 53 104 - 174 295 13.5 9061 - 64 30.0 166.0 70 116 28.0 23.5 25.0 24.5 15.5 32 395 29 218 55 290 -

-

-

3,111,120 -17,800 122 22,550 455 - 150 147,200 3,550 1,420 310 33,439,990 165,600 Change 710 178 -1.73 8,480 104 -2.13 435

1.74

40 0.0% 990 0.0% 4.2% 172 0.0% 300 - 6.7% 405 0.0% 9.9% 13.0 52 - 0.0% 0.0% - 710 0.0% 28.6% 0.0% 0.0% 76.0 33.5 - 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 340 8.8% 0.0% 0.0% 152 110 0.0% 108 9.3% 0.0% 0.0% 104 0.0% 600 0.0% 0.0% 2,220 2.3% 0.0% 0.0% 114 29.5 0.0% 0.0% 11058 0.0% 8.3% 325 50 0.0% 5.4% 24 - 0.0% 1.8% 290 0.0% 6.1% 32.5 - 0.0% 3.8% - 0.0% 0.0% - 108 0.0% 0.0% -18.0 0.0% 0.0% - 0.0% 23878 0.0% 0.0% -94 0.0% 0.0% 54 5.2% 184 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 106 0.0% 590 3.7% 0.0% 27.0 75.0 0.0% 0.0% 23.0 0.0% 120.0 130 0.0% 0.0% 39.0 0.0% 0.0% 20.0 0.0% 0.0% 260 16.5 0.0% 0.0% 390 0.0% 39.0 1,660 4.3% 0.0% % 82 0.0% 3.8% 160 6.9% 120 5.1% 270 75.0 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2789 0.0% 9 2% 325 0.0% 9.2% 73 3.2% 315 0.0% 53 170 0.0% 4.4% 61 47 280 10.8% 0.0% 69 280 0.0% 0.0% - 275 0.0% 8.8% 128.094 0.0% 10.6% 62 2.4% 0.0%

52.0 325 730 610 370 500 460 114 244 110 106 43.0 285

80 120 49 100 -

126 202 190 37.5 102 224 130 1,400 85 365 31.5 600 118 98 87087 7687 12.0 100 37.071 79 93 65 124 54 122 91 182 40.5 300 60 14.5 9462 - 65 33.5 170.0 57 74 126 28.5 25.0 25.5 28.0 23.0 16.0 35 130 400 32 -50 320 57 29599

43.0

232 93.0 130 70 465 -65 1,440 340 216 720 DTD 190 -0.92% 108 -1.17% -

0.31%

0.0% 6.2% 0.0% 4.5% 2.8% 5.2% 0.0% 9.1% 0.0% 2.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.8% 6.3% 4.7%

0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 12.7% 0.0% 10.0% 0.0% 0.0% 4.9% 4.5% 0.0% 0.0% 4.6% 6.1% 1.5% 0.0% 3.4% 6.5% 4.1% 0.0% 0.0% 5.9% 0.0% 10.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 8.2% 0.0% 6.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 10.2% 0.0% 7.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 5.5% 0.0% 6.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 4.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.7% 1.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.1% 0.0%

0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2.2% 8.3% 3.3% 0.7% 4.6% 3.0% 4.79% 2.4% 13.9% 5.6% 0.0% 4.3%

42 40 960 1,120 174 170 280 280 305 295 430 340 13.5 12.5 5465 5241 25.0 25.0 900 700 130 130 81.0 45.0 36.0 31.0 110 110 230 230 295 345 102 102 154 110 116 108 104 136 50 5084 110 44.0 44.0 530 550 52 52 1,920 2,280 74 74 95 126 28.5 28.5 11268 10858 230 350 51 49 340 395 23 22 260 305 71 71 260 255 31.5 31.0 260 260 48.5 48.5 132 68.0 68.054 23.5 14.0 20.5 20.5 26.0 26.0 280 270 24484 24461 94 9489 104 51 51 154 154 36 3691 120 51 51 520 710 26.5 27.5 30.0 76.0 75 75 28.5 16.0 99.0 120.0 140 120 19.5 41.5 19.5 12.0 19.0 19.0 275 198 17.0 16.5 490 380 39.0 38.0 1,640 1,500 29.0 29.0 89 15673 162 124 25586 255 78.0 57.0 114 114 104 2680 28 340 270 68 68 280 315 53 55 130 160 60 60 47 47 172 280 64 64 265 305 42.5 42.5 265 300 132.094 128.070 76.32 72 75.90 51

62.0 44.0 325 325 750 640 560 560 390 345 520 485 485 410 118 110 270 236 220 220 134 11498 114 40.5 40.5 295 218 44.80 92 43.43 77

114 156 49 48 110 100 9994 791.90 711.11 120 128 200 208 182 222 37.5 37.590 114 234 224 130 126 130 120 1,500 1,400 82 82 390 340 30.5 30.0 610 500 108 108 365.22 344.52 100 96 86095 84044 76 7355 108 12.573 11.543 38.0 38.0 122 46 78 77 126 118 75 65 132 102 54 55 232 172 90 90 330 250 38.0 38.0 455 455 63 59 40.5 74.0 14.5 14.0 91 91 17.5 17.5 31.0 31.0 59 59 47.16 40.74 78 70 1,220 1,220 48.5 48.5 144 124 29.0 28.0 24.5 23.5 26.0 25.5 28.5 27.0 16.5 15.5 134 134 32 32 220 220 57 60 295 270 49.8649.73-

-

232 260 130 128 470 450 158 150 1,460 1,420 340 335 212 222 710 740 MTD 180 -3.50% 180 104 116 -5.50% 460 460

0.76%

16.44 88.93 12.13 13.48 1.33 0.00 10.72

23.89 0.00 20.47 0.00 25.70 0.00 55.09 0.00 14.37 0.00 0.00 0.00

14.98 7.04 9.92 0.00 11.74 9.19 398.75 32.31 0.00 13.80

12.80

0.00 116.80 9.60 0.00 0.00 14.91

6.91

0.00

0.00 73.05 82.89 17.93 0.00 3.31 8.28 9.92 22.77 11.92

10.04

60 55 60.55 43.00

5.26 9.60 9.25 23.31 0.00 17.39

5.19 10.01

3.64 16.97 29.36 12.90 11.58 9.91 8.20 17.37 16.90 296.83 10.92 7.52

5.96 12.60

10.71 37.20 12.83 11.28 22.21 17.83 16.20

5.72 11.09 22.14 10.76 15.28 10.92 39.65 5.29

21.70

0.00 14.56

9.76

26.32

26.87 6.71 8.10 41.28 4.15 9.00

19.44 80.15

9.40

11.37 0.00 5.38 27.28

20.67 9.93 23.07

13.56

18.82 63.06 0.00 11.03 0.00 16.27

16.24

70.58 18.38

12.81 6.49 8.02 14.16 193.84 96.15 YTD 10.91 -1.65% 23.15 -5.41% 26.77

0.33%

STOCKS WITH NBK CAPITAL

12

ALWATAN DAILY friday, april 6, 2012

April 21, 2009 April 05, 2012

2% 6%

2% 6% Oman

113 116 1%

2% 0%

-1%

-4%

Qatar

-2%

Kuwait

Dubai

90

-6%

GCC Best Performers

Saudi

95 5-Jan-12 85

5-Feb-12

5-Mar-12

MENA Best Performers

-2%

5-Apr-12

-6% -2

S&P Pan 3-Feb-09 Arab Large/ 18-Feb-09 Mid Composite S&P 20-Mar-09 GCC Large/ Mid Composite 19-Jan-09 5-Mar-09 4-Apr-09 19-Apr-0

1 Period's Liquidity 1 Ratio (PLR x)

-1

MENA Indices Highlights Country (Index)

Index Level

% Chg.

YTD

Sa Saudi Arabia (Tadawul All Share Index)* Country (Index)

Index 7,895 Level

UASa UAE (ADX Index) Saudi Arabia (Tadawul All Share Index)

2,559 5,250

-0.2% -4.0%

QaUAUAE Qatar (DSM Index) (ADSM Index)

8,825 2,695

-0.3% 0.6%

BaQa Bahrain Qatar (BSE (DSMIndex) Index)

1,141 5,590

Jo Jordan (Amman General Index)

2,006

Ku Kuwait (KSE Weighted Index)

UAE (DFM(KSE Index) Ku Kuwait Weighted Index)

OmOman UAE(MSM (DFMIndex) Index)

410

1,687 406

5,827 1,745

Eg Egypt (EGX 30 Index)

OmOman (MSM Index)

Ba Bahrain (BSE Index)

M Morocco (Casa All Shares Index)

Eg Egypt (Hermes Egypt Index (HFI))*

Le Lebanon (Beirut SE Index)

Jo Jordan (Amman General Index)

Pa Palestine (Al-Quds Index)

M Morocco (Casa All Shares Index)*

Tu Tunisia (Tunis SE Index)

Le Lebanon (Beirut SE Index)* *Market Closed

Pa Palestine (Al-Quds Index) * Market Closed

4,827

5,478

1,681

10,648

463

1,203

2,825 486

10,621

4,988

1,094 546

Tu TunisiaClosed (Tunis SE Index)* * Market

3,282

52 Wk High

% Chg.-

23.0% YTD

-0.9%

1.0%

8,892 5,148

8,071 2,137

88 122

126,775 69,783

11.76 7.29

0 196

17,107 65,352

9.21 8.85

0.1%

-6.8%

-4.2%

8.5%

2.2%

2.2%

0.1%

1.3%

1,754 787

6,406 5,860

4,224

5,044

2,551

1,414 513

328

465

14,635 4,979

4,091

23.6%

739

407

13.6%

-

1,164

-3.3%

2,119

46

9,406

3,418

-

1,043

-

2,837

-

4

13.82

63,640

7.67

1

33,782

8

9,964

0

1.63

1.29

3.34

1.56

6.39

0.86

12.71

2,549

2.15

9.46

59,990

1.19

18.36

3.95

15.46

8,507

2

1.68

15.65

10,676

67

1.76

6.47

2,079

0.86

8.67

6,576

2.50

13.85

1.92

SAUDI ARABIA *Market Closed

125

KWD 0.425 SAR 22.95

225 Saudi Industrial Inv. Grp.

101 Riyad Bank

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

SAR 24.70

-6.4%

31,448,938 26,231,190

TAMTamweel (UAE)

343,553,085 18,858,138 119,955,261 13,158,642

115 Alinma Bank (KSA) NBK National Bank of Kuwait (KUW)

97,126,838

NBKNational Bank of Kuwait (KUW)

115

-

Turnover (SAR '000)

116

1,533,720,715

Market Cap. (SAR '000)

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

88,742,222

Highest Turnover

105

#N/A

#

#N/A

#

5-Feb-12

5-Mar-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

5-Apr-12

#

Close

#N/A

#N/A

% Chg. #N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

50.50 -

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

Worst Performers Turnover (SAR) 3020.SSE Yamama Saudi Cement Co. #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A

1 Al Rajhi Bank

#

64,280,166

3020.SSE Yamama Saudi Cement Co. #N/A

-6.8%

Turnover (USD)

201 Saudi Industries Corp.

(KSA) DFM DubaiBasic Financial Market (UAE)

7,931 / 5,916

Tadawul Index 52 week High / Low

-4.5% -8.9%

32,393,412

ARTArabtec Holding (UAE)

#N/A

-8.5%

Turnover (USD)

MENA Highest Turnover

-

Advance/Decline Ratio

% Chg.

-4.0% -8.6%

EMAEmaar Properties (UAE)

93%

1.8%

8.0%

3.11 SARAED 48.00

SAR 13.70

GCC Highest Turnover

7,895 (0.0%)

Tadawul Index (% Chg.)

123

1.9% 8.6%

KWD 0.700 -13.1% -5.4% KWD 0.265

EMAEmaar Properties (UAE) Best Performers

Summary

1.9% 8.8%

KWD 0.124% Chg. -7.5% Close

KFI Kuwait Finance House (KUW)

Rebased Performance

95 5-Jan-12

AED 0.86

0.88 201 ZAISaudi du Basic Industries Corp.

1.74 1.33

2.5% 9.8%

8.0%

Close

OU Sharjah Islamic Bank

1.92 FAC SIBCommercial Zain KuwaitFacilities Co. 1.37 1.59 NR Gulf Bank 0.88 238 Rabigh Petrochem.

8.07

58,087

MENA Worst Performers

0.80 ### National Real Estate Co. 1.52

9.50

27,618

18,727

9

1.06 1.77

OMR 0.720

GCC Worst Performers

2.11

9.62

15,024

QAR 21.60

BKMBankMuscat

PB

10.67 6.87

56,735

KWD 0.560

QGTQatar Gas Transport Co.

10.81 9.99

18,046 37,413

OMR 0.991 QAR 6.35

BO Boubyan Bank

PB1.40

8.94 10.24

35,157 98,547

15

1,572

10,650

-7.2%

-

66

1,921

1,033

4.8%

0.9%

3,587

12,203

2.4%

-

16 305

2,246

2,903

171 718

5,419 1,433

1,129 4,230

12,109

1.9%

-

1,301 316

1,419 12,627 5,628

0.7%

0.7%

-

13.68

PE 13.88

99,386

0.6% 12.8%

-0.2% -18.8%

0.4%

121

67,603 264,263

33.3%

5.1%

Mkt.408,959 Cap. USD million

QAR 19.98 OMR 0.703

RCCRaysut Cement Co. KCB Al Khaliji Commercial Bank

Trailing

24 2,183

2.3% 6.6%

0.1%

Turnover USD million

PE

KWD5.60 1.640 SAR

ERE EzdanEngineering Real Estate&Co. GEC Galfar Contracting

Trailing

2,293 4,130

0.4% 1.9%

-0.2%

396

Mkt. Cap. USD million

2,775 10,090

24.6% -0.2%

0.0%

467

525,916 Wk Low

Turnover USD million

6.5% 9.3%

-1.0% 1.8%

0.0% 3.9%

52 Wk 7,931 High

52 Wk Low

% Chg.

AED 1.39% Chg. 11.2% Close

CGKingdom Combined GrpCo. Contracting Co. 3 428 Hldg.

Period's Liquidity Ratio (PLR x)*

MENA Indices Highlights

Close

4 TAMTamweel

Abu Dhabi

95 100

Bahrain Bahrain

Tunisia Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi

0%

-2% -1%

Palestine Palestine

Abu Dhabi

0%

100

105

Kuwait

Oman

Dubai Dubai

Return DailyDaily Return (%)(%)

Dubai

Qatar

110

0%

Oman Saudi

105

Morocco Qatar

114

1%

Qatar

Oman Lebanon

111

4%

Jordan

115110

Kuwait Kuwait

113

DailyIndex Index Performance Snapshot Daily Performance Snapshot

Egypt Jordan

120115

Bull/Bear Indicator Bull/Bear Indicator

Bahrain Bahrain

Rebased RebasedPerformance Performance

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

Close

50.50 -

% Chg.

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

Saudi SE

Quotes Company Name 1 Al Rajhi Bank

Close 80.50

% Chg.

Daily -

High -

Low

Turnover (SAR '000)

-

-

-

-

-

-

1 Alinma Bank

15.75

-

-

-

-

1 Arab National Bank

32.50

-

-

-

-

2 Almarai Co.

1 Bank AlBilad

1 Bank Al Jazira

71.75 29.30

29.60

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1 Banque Saudi Fransi

49.20

-

-

-

-

4 Emaar the Economic City

13.00

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

4 Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev. Co. 7 Etihad Etisalat Co.

4 Jabal Omar Development Co. 4 Jarir Marketing Co.

4 Kingdom Holding Co.

2 National Industrialization Co.

2 Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Co. 1 Riyad Bank

1 Samba Financial Grp.

2 Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co.

1 Saudi Arabian Mining Co.

2 Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

3 Saudi Cement Co.

5 Saudi Electricity Co.

1 Saudi Hollandi Bank

22 Saudi Industrial Investment Grp.

2 Saudi International Petrochemical Co. 1 Saudi Investment Bank 2 Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. 7 Saudi Telecom Co. 2 Savola Group Co. 0 3 Southern Province Cement Co. 0 1 SABB 3 Yamama Saudi Cement Co.

2 Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co. 7 Zain - Saudi Arabia

12.90

66.25

19.35

154.25 12.60

50.25

26.40

25.40

56.25

200.00

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Volume ('000) -

-

91.2%

11,050,000

-

13.60

6.20

-4.4%

76.9%

-

-

-

155.00

95.33

-

50.75

33.60

26.90

23.10

-

-

-

-

-

-

16.30

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

96.50

-

-

-

-

50.50

-

-

-

-

-

-

36.30

53.50

10.25

-

-

-

-

-

-

56.75

112.50

-

35.30

-

29.80

-

-

40.50

-

13.10

200.00

-

-

20.15

-

-

20.20

-

6.05

50.00

-

-

13.85

68.25

-

-

74.6%

16.9%

-

-

-1.7%

-1.6%

-

-

15.75

18.2%

37.50

-

-

1.8

35,582,144

30.10

-6.9%

50.00

-

20.35

12.2

0.8%

-

26.60

-

29.30 24.10

2.6

51.8%

-

-

26.9

47.6%

-

-

8,790,000

0.0%

-

-

14.5

23,625,000

17.20

-

-

16,502,500

59.1%

-

37.50

11.10 7.05

-6.9%

-2.9%

-4.0%

-0.5%

-3.8%

-1.0%

36.5%

26.2%

29.3%

59.3%

10.8%

42.4%

23.5%

-11.4%

13.5%

42.40

-0.9%

20.7%

165.00 24.25

87.75

0.0%

53.8%

77.9%

21.20

-5.6%

-5.8%

42.0%

61.8%

6.1

2.1%

327,000,000

11.2

2.4

10.5%

61,248,929

27.6

1.2

12.7%

29.30

21.42

0.0%

18.0%

14.2%

-

24.45

17.75

-1.4%

22.3%

7.4%

-

21.30

15.55

-3.1%

15.50

-5.2%

16.1%

-

41.30

33.00

-

106.75

60.75

-

83.25

47.50

-39.3%

-27.9%

5.25

-10.9%

84.7%

-

-

35.50

46.30

56.00 11.50

23.70 34.20

41.60

-1.9%

26.0%

-0.6%

-9.6%

-21.6% -4.5%

19.8%

6.4%

34,687,500

13,540,500

-20.0%

21.6%

5.4%

58.8%

nmf

16.3

1.3 1.8 2.0

4.1

8,836,667

12.5

1.6

30,300,000

nmf

2.0

11,295,000

81,000,000

-10.8%

11.8

2.9

1.6

4.4%

30.7%

nmf

1.8

11.5

11,192,500

9.5%

nmf

11,629,170

0.7%

23.0%

12.2%

2.0

12.2

50,625,000

-

21.00

2.5

50,000,000

0.4%

68.6%

-

1.5

12.1

13.6%

32.1%

nmf

0.9

38,100,000

23,126,400

22.9%

-7.7%

9.1

1.9

2.5

9.3%

52.7%

18.55

nmf

1.7

11.5

-9.7%

27.20

12.8

2.5

28,010,781

49.6%

52.50

-

32.8

1.5

10.2

-2.7%

5.8%

17,983,890

12.7

3.7

18.0

48.2%

-9.8%

46,375,000

nmf

9,255,000

98.00

12.85

13,932,000

46,694,117

9.0%

13.2%

8,880,000

39.2%

0.0%

-3.1%

27,625,000

16.4

PB

120,750,000

29.30

34.90

Trailing

PE

4.9%

-

-

25.10

68.4%

Market Cap. (SAR '000)

-23.3%

88.50

-

15.8%

12 mths

-27.5%

-

-

-3.1%

YTD

-37.3%

-

14.70

9.05

-2.7%

% Change

71.50

-

-

16.25

67.25

on high

114.50

-

-

-

82.75

Low

-

37.50

109.00

52-Week

High

17,650,000

13,510,000

36,300,000

21.4 15.8

10.6

14.8

15.1

12.6

-6.5%

10,226,250

13.9

47.5%

14,350,000

nmf

30,093,750

9.5

1.9 1.3

1.7

2.3

5.1

2.1

3.0

2.9

3.3

STOCKS WITH NBK CAPITAL

13

ALWATAN DAILY friday, april 6, 2012

KUWAIT Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 6,146 (-0.2%)

KSE General Index (% Chg.)

120

115

410 (-0.9%)

Advance/Decline Ratio

0.31 ALTIJARIA The Commercial Real Estate Co. 6,523 / 5,694 NMTC.KSE Wataniya

44%

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

116

KSE General Index 52 week High / Low

467 / 396

KSE Weighted Index 52 week High / Low

110

33,565

Turnover (KWD '000)

5-Mar-12

5-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

1.640

BOUBYAN. Boubyan Bank

-

% Chg.

2.5%

0.560

1.8%

0.094

1.1%

-

0.0%

2.220

#N/A

0.9%

Worst Performers Turnover (KWD) 3,662,050

N National Bank of Kuwait

100

5-Feb-12

Combined Grp Contracting Co.

Highest Turnover

104

95 5-Jan-12

CGC.KSE

27,659,221

Market Cap. (KWD '000) 105

Close

KSE Weighted Index (% Chg.)

ZA Zain Kuwait

3,390,800

MMabanee Co.

1,445,600

K Kuwait International Bank

2,428,550

K Kuwait Finance House

1,313,200

NRE.KSE

National Real Estate Co.

GBK.KSE

Gulf Bank

TAM.KSE

Tamdeen Real Estate Co.

Close

0.124

ZAIN.KSE Zain Kuwait

% Chg.

-7.5%

0.700

-5.4%

0.425

SULTAN.KSSultan Center Food Products Co.

-4.5%

0.108

-3.6%

0.240

-3.2%

KSE Weighted Index

Quotes Company Name

Close

A Agility

0.405

T Al Themar Intl. Holding Co.

0.087

A AREF Energy Holding Co.

0.106

A Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait

0.610

A Alafco Aviation Lease and Fin. Co. B Boubyan Bank

B Boubyan Petrochemical Co.

0.104

0.079

0.550

913

1,640

0.620

0.530

-9.7%

0.0% -1.6%

0.108

0.106

0.620

0.620

9

80

93

0.126

150

0.085

0.630

0.510

-15.7%

0.280

0.0%

0.280

0.280

98

350

0.395

0.255

-29.1%

0.425

-4.5%

0.440

0.425

485

1,110

0.552

0.425

-23.0%

-12.6%

0.380

-

-

-

-

-

0.495

0.285

-23.2%

-20.0%

-

-

0.096

-59.1%

-2.9%

-

-

0.236

-15.1%

-

-1.5% -

0.099

-

0.0%

0.242

-

-

-

-

-

-

1.300

1.300

-

-

-

0.460

0.450

-

-

-

-

-

-

0.940

-

7

-

5

0.019

1.700

1.300

0.214

-

0.136

0.242

140

0.485

-

-

0.700

0.055

64

0.198

0.118

0.285

-

0.630

0.415

-10.9%

-23.5% -5.6%

-5.2%

-29.4%

1.0

4.2

641,161

12.7

1.4

158,474

19.9

4.3

150,294

10.6

0.9

-10.7%

1,119,062

36.5

2.6

-16.5%

172,475

nmf

300,762 54,503

1,004,898

-27.3%

32.4%

-8.5%

-18.8%

18.8%

46.4%

64,309

272,911

-61.2% -16.6%

nmf

34.3

1.2

26.7

1.0

nmf

1.9

nmf

3.1

7.5

1.6

3.6

18.0

1.0

101,200

9.6

3.9

nmf

63,719

-24.6%

1.2

151,500 79,485

271.0%

-3.3%

1.9

nmf

nmf

-16.0%

-0.8%

0.5

18.3

79,500

-44.7%

1.1%

PB

1.6

21.6%

0.0%

15.7

6.2

-8.6%

7.7%

PE

283,757

0.7

nmf

0.8

20.6

2.0

0.0%

0.780

0.770

1,313

1,705

1.019

0.759

-24.4%

-7.6%

-21.5%

2,236,206

37.2

1.2

0.280

-1.8%

0.285

0.275

2,429

8,750

0.350

0.236

-20.0%

9.8%

-9.7%

290,451

26.8

1.4

0.340

0.0%

0.335

117

350

0.425

0.295

-20.0%

-15.0%

432,795

14.4

0.890

-1.4%

1.420

1.400

11

8

66

1.620

1.020

1,446

1,390

1.080

0.680

1.060

0.0%

1.080

1.060

3,662

3,453

1.145

0.909

N National Industries Grp. Holding

0.234

0.0%

0.234

0.230

283

1,220

0.285

N National Real Estate Co.

0.124

-7.5%

0.140

0.124

452

3,460

0.216

0.0%

0.216

281

0.108

310

0.033

-

0.300 0.160 0.275

-

-1.2%

0.340 -

-

-

-

0.160

-

0.160

246 6

0.275

0.275

0.242

-0.8%

0.244

0.242

121

0.240

-3.2%

0.240

5

0.108 0.094

-3.6%

0.130

2.220 0.700

0.114 0.240

1.1%

0.094

0.092

253

0.9%

2.220

2.200

215

-

-5.4%

-

-

0.730

0.700

1.580

-5.4%

562,803

1.9

-5.6%

18.6%

50.0%

566,738

27.3

3.9

-7.4%

4.1%

0.5%

4,614,707

15.2

2.1

0.192

-17.9%

-10.0%

-8.2%

303,053

nmf

0.8

0.168

0.056

-26.2%

-3.1%

1,300

0.226

0.176

-4.4%

0.9%

22.7%

237,600

2,800

0.136

0.093

-20.6%

-10.0%

-14.3%

62,514

2,720

0.094

0.067

0.0%

22.1%

27.0%

172,473

16.4

0.7

98

2.280

1.760

-2.6%

14.4%

26.1%

1,118,953

3.1

1.4

-

0.340

0.260

0.295

20

0.158

0.360

500

0.265

0.246

20

-

-

0.200

0.270

0.216

-

4,735

-

1.380

0.700

0.0%

-11.8%

-45.8%

-23.6% -1.6%

-11.1%

0.0%

-49.3%

11.5% 0.0%

80,905

11.7

-38.8%

1,540

3,391

-5.4%

25.4%

-

-

0.660

-13.6%

-43.7%

-

-

0.0%

0.218

75

1.400

1.060

Z Zain Kuwait

0.0%

1.300

0.420

-1.9%

N Wataniya

-16.0%

1.945

-

1.020

S The Securities House

-8.9%

22.6%

250

0.880

A The Commercial Real Estate Co.

3.8%

-38.1%

408

0.890

T Tamdeen Real Estate Co.

-11.1%

10.7%

1.600

0.0%

S Sultan Center Food Products Co.

-8.2%

-1.6%

1.660

K Kuwait Projects Co. (Holding)

S Salhia Real Estate Co.

979,012

2.5%

1.400

A Qurain Petrochemicals Industries Co.

-3.4%

0.0%

1.640

K Kuwait International Bank

O Oula Fuel Marketing Co.

-5.1%

-20.8%

-

88,088

245,628

0.415

-

-14.7%

923,076

-11.3%

0.524

-

423,969

0.0%

1,250

-

3.8%

5.0%

-4.4%

518

0.445

N National Investments Company

-3.0%

Trailing

Market Cap. (KWD '000)

12 mths

8.0%

0.410

0.770

N National Industries Co.

YTD

0.425

K Kuwait Finance House

N National Bank of Kuwait

-15.9%

% Change

0.0%

0.460

M Mena Holding

-16.3%

0.560

JAJazeera Airways

M Mabanee Co.

-7.2%

1.8%

0.202

P Kuwait Portland Cement Co.

-

0.581

0.560

IK Ikarus Petroleum Industries Co.

F Kuwait Food Co.

-

0.657

-6.9%

-17.1%

1.300

K Kuwait Cement Co.

-

0.248

0.280

C Gulf Cable and Electrical Industries Co.

K KIPCO Asset Management Co.

-

-

0.435

on high

0.380

0.049

IF International Finance Co.

-

270

Low

2,580

0.790

IF IFA Hotels & Resorts

-

109

High

808

C Commercial Bank of Kuwait

G Gulf Bank

-

52-Week

Volume ('000)

0.310

0.260

G Global Investment House

-

0.400

Turnover (KWD '000)

0.315

A Burgan Co. for Well Drilling

F Commercial Facilities Co.

-

0.410

Low

0.0%

0.415

C Combined Grp Contracting Co.

-1.2%

High

0.315

0.620

B Burgan Bank

Daily

% Chg.

0.0%

7.1%

21,780

-3.2%

-7.0%

103,861

-44.8%

-

-3.8%

16.3%

0.8%

4.3%

-7.7%

0.0%

-22.2%

0.1

36.2

1.3

nmf

0.8

nmf

0.5

22.3

2.1

124,079

17.3

1.0

88,400

-49.3%

0.8

90,667

89,549

0.0%

1.3

2.3

140,194

24.0%

-8.3%

31.9

3,015,274

13.1

1.1

nmf

0.9

18.1

0.9

nmf

7.0

10.6

1.4

UAE Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 1,687 (-1.0%)

DFM Index (% Chg.)

130

2,559 (-0.2%)

ADSM Index (% Chg.)

126

DFM Index 52 week High / Low

116

Highest Turnover

100

Turnover (AED) 118,981,004 SIB.ADSM 115,511,949 DU.DFM

A Arabtec Holding

96,347,160

TATamweel

5-Feb-12 S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

5-Mar-12 Abu Dhabi SE

69,265,942

D Dubai Financial Market

5-Apr-12

1.1%

1.16

0.9%

0.71

0.6%

Worst Performers

E Emaar Properties

90 5-Jan-12

1.5%

405,982,288

Market Cap. (AED '000) 107

11.2%

0.45

721,714

Turnover (AED '000)

% Chg.

1.33

2,775 / 2,293 AIRARABIA Air Arabia

ADSM Index 52 week High / Low

110

1.39

77% TAQA.ADS Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. 0.62 UPP.DFM Union Properties 1,754 / 1,301 GCEM.ADS Gulf Cement Co.

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price Advance/Decline Ratio

120

Close

TAMWEEL Tamweel

28,275,777

D Deyaar Development Co.

Close

Sharjah Islamic Bank

0.86

du

% Chg.

3.11

-8.5%

-4.0%

DEYAAR.D Deyaar Development Co.

0.42

-3.7%

UNB.ADSM Union National Bank

3.06

-2.9%

ARTC.DFM Arabtec Holding

3.44

-3.6%

Dubai FM

Quotes Company Name

Close

Daily

% Chg.

A Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

3.26

T Abu Dhabi National Energy Co.

1.33

1.5%

A Air Arabia

0.71

0.6%

A Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

A Abu Dhabi National Hotels A ALDAR Properties A Amlak Finance

A Arabtec Holding A Aramex

A Arkan Building Materials Co. C Commercial Bank of Dubai D Dana Gas

D Deyaar Development Co. D du

3.49

2.19

0.0%

0.3% -

1.17

-0.9%

3.44

-3.6%

0.99

0.0%

1.02 1.79

2.80

0.49

-

0.6% -

-2.0%

0.42

-3.7%

High

Low

2,732

1.34

1.32

664

499

0.72

0.71

9,292

13,064

3.50 -

3.46 -

3.62

3.42

115,512

0.99

0.99

82

1.80 -

0.50

0.43

1.78 -

0.49

0.41

0.0%

1.25

1.18

D Dubai Islamic Bank

2.06

-1.4%

2.08

2.05

E Emirates NBD

2.86

-0.7%

2.88

2.85

F First Gulf Bank

G Gulf Cement Co. M Mashreq

N National Bank of Abu Dhabi N National Bank of Fujairah

N National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain S Sharjah Islamic Bank

S Sorouh Real Estate Co. T Tamweel

8.83

9.67 1.16

91.45

0.9% -

0.2%

1.78

-

4.51

-

3.33

8.89

9.74

1.26 -

8.79 -

3.06

-

3,020 -

2,841

28,276 3,896

69,266 8,550

838

199 -

18,879 -

52-Week

High

3.32

3.55

1.63

Low

2.55

2.92

1.14

-44.1%

-2.0%

-41.8%

1,732,500

nmf

8.9%

-24.6%

-

5,740

67,200 1,255

56,665 4,147

1.69

709

907 -

61

-

2.76

-13.5%

0.46

0.20

-7.7%

0.71

3.30

1.46

2.31

0.34

2.80

4.63

10.75

1.88

-10.8%

2.65

-38.2%

6.98

0.67

74.70

4.70

2.91

1.02

0.80

2.39

7.38

14,607

32,390

0.50

0.24

-

-

-

-

-

5.00

6.2%

-6.8%

-2.7%

-13.3%

-10.0%

25.2%

20.9%

-10.3%

-9.9%

-6.9%

26.5%

-21.2%

-3.3%

-25.6% -3.0%

-4.0%

63.4% 7.6%

-0.9%

-15.7%

2.4%

-6.7%

130.5%

-9.9%

72.9%

2.82

-21.5%

3.28

-21.0%

5.9%

8.5%

12.4

0.8

1.3

0.3 0.7

1.1

1.7

1.4

1.1

6.9

0.9

2,426,760

nmf

0.6

14,217,143

13.0

2.3

3,234,981

9,680,000

7,821,931

6.4

nmf

7.7

0.4

1.3 0.9

2.5%

19,796,525

11.0

0.6

-13.9%

69,811,216

12.0

1.8

952,472

nmf

-17.7%

22.4%

15,895,236

29,010,000 -

16.7%

33,824,895 2,848,000

27.8%

-12.7%

0.43

3.95

-5.5%

37.6%

1.1%

U United Arab Bank

2.0%

44.0%

-24.0%

0.45

3.90

77.2%

0.67

0.53

207

7.6%

5,707,386

-18.7%

1.49

634

97.2%

2,620,739

-2.0%

-1.7%

71,521

3.01

1.4%

0.0%

-25.5%

96,347

1.54

-0.6%

1.63

1.22

9,739

-5.8%

-17.1%

102.00 9.00

-31.0%

0.68

1.43 0.46

307

-8.7%

3.24

11.2%

3.18

7.4

0.71

1.96

1.39

-2.9%

nmf

4,779,601

1.77

1.56

11,375

1,530,000

0.0%

83

1,680

57

1.15

0.0%

0.0%

8.7

20.2

0.86

1.18

12.4

2,190,000

5,142,800

0.90

-0.9%

3,332,024

-19.5%

159.0%

-8.5%

1.17

-3.5%

-0.5%

116.4%

66

264

21.8%

-5.2%

1.06

-

-7.4%

1.24

8.64

-

-10.7%

3.63

11.20

-

0.6

10.8%

32,585

1,460

531

1.1

7.1

-18.4%

-20.4%

12,881

-

12.7

8,252,824

6.0

PB

8,279,250

7.7%

27.2%

8.73

8.71

PE

18,241,647

-30.4%

-

2.41

-

10.4%

Trailing

Market Cap. (AED '000)

25.4%

0.76

-

3.49

-

17.3%

12 mths

1.68

36,341

8,772

-1.7%

YTD

-25.5%

0.57

118,981

9.41

-1.8%

% Change

2.02

3.22

2,025

on high

2.94

0.77

0.86

3.06

* Closing Prices, Turnover and Market Cap. in USD

-0.3%

8.73

U Union National Bank U Union Properties

-0.1%

3.12

-

-4.0%

E Etisalat

-

22,031

-

3.11

-0.6%

695

1.15

1.18

1.21

3.25

Volume ('000)

3.24

3.29

D Dubai Financial Market

E Emaar Properties

Turnover (AED '000)

1.2%

6.3

7.8

18.8

8.9

0.9

2,085,930

8.3

9.2

1,390,000

13.6

51.2%

1,501,618

nmf

-25.5%

7,636,613

3,935,785

0.8

1.3

1.3

17.7

40.4% 1.0%

1.1

9.1

4,961,000

3,071,250

0.5

5.1

11.9

2.4

0.5

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.6

1.9

STOCKS WITH NBK CAPITAL

14

ALWATAN DAILY friday, april 6, 2012

QATAR Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 8,825 (-0.3%)

DSM Index (% Chg.)

120

DSM 52 week High / Low

56% ERES.DSMEzdan Real Estate Co. 0.88 QIIK.DSM Qatar International Islamic Bank 8,892 / 8,071 VFQS.DSM Vodafone Qatar

Market Cap. (QAR '000)

461,690,804

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

116

Advance/Decline Ratio

320,917

Turnover (QAR '000)

110

QEWS.DSMQatar Electricity & Water Co. IQCD.DSM Industries Qatar

Highest Turnover

100

99

5-Mar-12

Q Qatar Gas Transport Co.

5-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

% Chg.

1.9%

51.60

1.0%

7.58

0.5%

145.80

0.4%

142.40

Turnover (QAR) 45,387,903 AHCS.DSMAamal Co. 21,790,317 QIBK.DSM Qatar Islamic Bank 19,365,728 CBQK.DSMThe Commercial Bank of Qatar 14,022,449 QTEL.DSM Qatar Telecom

Q Qatar National Bank MMasraf Al Rayan

5-Feb-12

19.98

0.3%

Worst Performers

Q Qatar Telecom 90 5-Jan-12

Close

10,602,207

IQIndustries Qatar

Close

17.62

% Chg.

-2.1%

77.10

-1.0%

130.00

-1.0%

76.50

DHBK.DSMDoha Bank

-1.0%

60.40

-1.0%

Doha SM

Quotes Company Name

Close

A Aamal Co.

17.62

Daily

% Chg.

-2.1%

Low

18.49

3,257

28.40

8,362

C The Commercial Bank of Qatar

76.50

-1.0%

77.30

76.50

9,502

E Ezdan Real Estate Co.

19.98

1.9%

19.99

19.75

128

D Doha Bank

60.40

IQIndustries Qatar

142.40

Q Qatar Electricity & Water Co.

145.80

M Masraf Al Rayan

Q Qatar Gas Transport Co.

Q Qatar International Islamic Bank

0.4%

146.10

145.60

954

1.0%

51.60

51.20

7,920

-1.0%

76.80

0.1%

7.58

2,253 10,602

77.10

130.00

V Vodafone Qatar

60.40

142.00

0.2%

Q Qatar Telecom

61.00

142.80

17.84

135.50

28.60

0.3%

-0.5%

Q Qatar National Bank Q Qatar Navigation

-1.0%

27.55

51.60

Q Qatar Islamic Bank

-0.5%

16.45

27.70

17.90

77.90

27.45

19,366

17.75

14,022

-0.3%

136.00

134.30

45,388

-1.0%

132.90

126.00

21,790

0.5%

77.00

24.09

Low

18.95

123

85.50

68.00

6

24.97

35.55

-10.0%

-14.1%

52,996,884

nmf

1.9

22.50

-2.0%

-1.1%

21.1%

20,662,500

45.50

-9.9%

-4.1%

-5.0%

16.59

-8.9%

76.30

-9.6%

336

141.73

117.15

168

168.50

130.00

8.12

1.5

-20.0%

56.20

292

11,070,596

PB

18.60

154

87.50

-19.7%

17.7

1.3

-5.0% -5.8%

7.1% 4.4%

1.9%

-8.2%

-4.4%

-4.4%

-1.9%

69.90

-12.2%

7.24

-6.7%

-22.8%

-8.5%

5,940,000

PE

10.0

129.50

34

8,721,900

18,929,647

153.50

85.30

-1.1%

1.7%

7

19.58

12 mths

-8.9%

-20.0%

50.00

28.10

10.8%

Trailing

-10.5%

28.00

67.00

YTD

Market Cap. (QAR '000)

-12.9%

118.80

59

-12.9%

% Change

-3.9%

148.50

787

-26.9%

16.06

74

703

on high

15.40

47

37

2,201

7.51

High

293

2,587

76.00

7.58

181

4,588

77.00

52-Week

Volume ('000)

773

16.50

28.45

16.50

17.50

K Al Khalij Commercial Bank B Barwa Real Estate Co.

0.0%

High

Turnover (QAR '000)

5.0%

12,484,547

4.0%

78,320,000

6.5%

14,580,000

10.5%

7,810,627

-3.5%

9,880,577

12.2

1.1

9.2

0.9

10.1

1.8

9.9

3.0

11.2

4.8

14.7

2.4

11.9

6.8

12.0

1.6

-4.8%

18,218,206

0.4%

-11.8%

8,795,535

12.5

0.8

0.4%

-5.4%

6,408,132

nmf

1.0

-7.7%

15.7%

94,813,339

-9.7%

29,744,000

13.3

1.6

12.6

2.3

11.5

1.4

OMAN Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 5,827 (0.4%)

MSM Index (% Chg.)

120

37% RCCI.MSM Raysut Cement Co.

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

116

0.75

Advance/Decline Ratio

MSM 52 week High / Low

6,947,554

Market Cap (OMR '000)

179,637

O Oman Cement Co. 5-Mar-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

155,115

B Bank Dhofar

5-Apr-12

1.4%

0.46

1.3%

0.62

-0.3%

1.30

Turnover (OMR) 374,598 RNSS.MSMRenaissance Services 191,737 NBOB.MSMNational Bank of Oman

O Oman Telecommunications Co.

5-Feb-12

1.9%

-0.5%

Worst Performers

B Bank Muscat

90 5-Jan-12

% Chg.

0.57

OTEL.MSMOman Telecommunications Co.

Highest Turnover

102

100

0.99

OCOI.MSM Oman Cement Co.

6,406 / 5,419 BKDB.MSMBank Dhofar 6,119 BKMB.MSMBank Muscat

Turnover (OMR '000)

110

Close

97,352

R Raysut Cement Co.

Close

0.59

% Chg.

-0.8%

0.29

OTEL.MSMOman Telecommunications Co.

-0.7%

1.30

BKMB.MSMBank Muscat

-0.5%

0.62

BKDB.MSMBank Dhofar

-0.3%

0.46

1.3%

Muscat SM

Quotes Company Name

Close

Daily

% Chg.

B Bank Dhofar

0.461

N National Bank of Oman

0.291

O Oman Telecommunications Co.

1.298

-0.5%

R Renaissance Services

0.591

-0.8%

B Bank Muscat

0.623

O Oman Cement Co.

0.571

R Raysut Cement Co.

0.991

1.3%

-0.3% -0.7%

1.4% 1.9%

High

Turnover (OMR '000)

Low

0.469 0.625 0.293 0.579

1.300

1.010

0.600

0.455

155

0.291

28

0.620

375

0.563

180

0.979

97

1.295

192

0.590

23

Volume ('000) 336

52-Week

High

0.549

602

Low

0.679

96

0.608

148

1.099

39

-8.2%

0.291

-10.2%

1.041

-8.9%

0.416

1.425

98

-16.0%

0.572

0.324

315

on high

0.423

0.711

1.094

0.458

% Change YTD

1.3%

-6.5%

-16.5%

PB

2.2

188,928

14.8

1.3

198,200

13.2

1.9

17.0%

8.4%

-41.1%

30.4%

12.6

-1.2%

-0.8%

-9.8%

PE

1,119,402

-4.3%

32.2%

507,154

Trailing

-2.5%

-6.7%

-6.1%

-46.0%

12 mths

Market Cap. (OMR '000)

322,435

973,500

-9.1%

166,718

9.5

1.3

9.4

1.1

8.7

2.0

nmf

1.0

BAHRAIN Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 1,141 (0.0%)

BSE Index (% Chg.)

120

26% BATELCO.BBahrain Telecommunications Co. 1.00 AUB.BSE Ahli United Bank

% of stocks trading above 1 yr avg. price

116

Advance/Decline Ratio

1,419 / 1,129

BSE 52 week High / Low

85

Turnover (BHD '000)

110

6,449,281

Market Cap. (BHD '000)

B Albaraka Banking Grp.

5-Mar-12

#

5-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

#N/A

#

Bahrain SE

#N/A

% Chg.

1.4%

0.61

-0.8%

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

Turnover (BHD) 76,147 AUB.BSE Ahli United Bank 3,204 BATELCO.BBahrain Telecommunications Co.

B Bahrain Telecommunications Co.

5-Feb-12

#N/A

#N/A

0.44

#N/A

Worst Performers

A Ahli United Bank

90 5-Jan-12

#N/A

Highest Turnover

100

100

#N/A

Close

#N/A

#N/A

-

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

BARKA.BS Albaraka Banking Grp. #N/A

#N/A

Close

0.61

% Chg.

0.44

0.93 #N/A

#N/A

#N/A

-0.8%

1.4%

#N/A

#N/A

Quotes Company Name

Close

A Ahli United Bank*

0.605

A Arab Banking Corp.*

0.420

B Albaraka Banking Grp.* B Bahrain Islamic Bank

B Bahrain Telecommunications Co. B BBK

IN Investcorp Bank* IT Ithmaar Bank*

N National Bank of Bahrain U United Gulf Bank

* Closing Prices, Turnover and Market Cap. in USD

0.930 0.090

Daily

% Chg.

-0.8% -

0.440

1.4%

797

-

0.420 0.095

0.570

0.304

-

-

High

0.605 -

Low

0.605

Turnover (BHD '000)

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

0.434

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

8 -

-

0.442 -

Volume ('000) 14

76

-

173 -

-

52-Week

High

0.680

Low

0.599

on high

-11.0%

1.089

0.857

-14.6%

0.116

0.082

-22.4%

0.570 0.492 0.436 797

0.420 0.380 0.390 797

-26.3% -10.6% -3.7%

0.0%

% Change YTD

0.3%

1,306,200

-9.5%

633,600

-22.4%

1.4%

0.0%

-9.5%

46.2%

-

0.424

0.270

-28.3%

1.3%

-9.5%

-26.3%

0.0%

12.2%

0.065

0.560

3,166,301

-14.6%

0.0%

0.105

0.630

-8.6%

-0.4%

-

-

12 mths

-0.9%

Market Cap. (BHD '000)

-3.7%

-30.0%

-17.4% -9.5%

-25.1%

943,462

Trailing

PE

10.2 8.0 6.4

84,571

nmf

357,570

11.2

254,388

nmf

637,560

487,555

253,707

7.9

PB

1.2

0.8 0.4

0.8

1.3

1.5

4.5

0.6

10.7

1.8

nmf

0.4 1.2

LIFE

How to avoid secondhand smoke

Secondhand smoke can cause illness and early death in adults and children who don’t smoke.

The womenshealth.gov website offers some suggestions on how to reduce your exposure to secondhand smoke: •Ask smokers not to smoke in your home or car.

•If you are near someone who is smoking, keep the windows open.

•Politely ask people not to smoke around you. Mention that it makes you cough and your eyes itch.

•Avoid areas, such as restaurants or bars, where smoking is allowed.

friDAY, april 6, 2012

Giant feathered dinosaur found in China was too big to fly The dinosaur Yutyrannus huali - ‘beautiful feathered tyrant’ either used its feathers to keep warm or attract a mate

LOS ANGELES: The discovery of a giant meat-eating dinosaur sporting a downy coat has some scientists reimagining the look of Tyrannosaurus rex.

With a killer jaw and sharp claws, T. rex has long been depicted in movies and popular culture as having scaly skin.

But the discovery of an earlier relative suggests the king of dinosaurs may have had a softer side.

The evidence comes from the unearthing of a new tyrannosaur species in northeastern China that lived 60 million years before T. rex. The fossil record preserved remains of fluffy down, making it the largest feathered dinosaur ever found.

If a T. rex relative had feathers, why not T. rex? Scientists said the evidence is trending in that direction.

“People need to start changing their image of T. rex,” said Luis Chiappe, director of the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, who was not part of the discovery team.

Much smaller dinosaurs with primitive feathers have been excavated in recent years, but this is the first direct sign of a huge, shaggy dinosaur. Scientists have long debated whether gigantic dinosaurs lost their feathers the bigger they got or were just not as extensively covered.

The new tyrannosaur species, Yutyrannus huali, is de-

scribed in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature. Its name is a blend of Latin and Mandarin, which translates to “beautiful feathered tyrant.”

A team of Chinese and Canadian scientists analyzed three well-preserved fossil skeletons - an adult and two juveniles - recovered from a quarry in China’s Liaoning province by a private fossil dealer. Most striking were the remains of down-like feathers on the neck and arm. Though coverage was patchy, scientists suspected the species had feathers over much of its body.

It would have felt like touching “long, thick fur,” co-author Corwin Sullivan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said in an email. Another scientist, Thomas Holtz Jr. at the University of Maryland, compared it to the feathers of an emu.

The creature lived about 125 million years ago. At 30 feet long and weighing a ton, Y. huali would have reached T. rex’s chest.

The dino-fuzz likely provided insulation, though camouflage or showing it off like a peacock could not be ruled out.

Since T. rex is related to this newfound feathery species, chances are good that T. rex was feathered as well, scientists said. Just don’t mistake fuzzy for cuddly. The predatory dinosaur would have been just as menacing.

Having feathers “doesn’t make it less threatening or less fearsome,” said Holtz, who had no role in the research.

Matthew Lamanna, assistant curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, said T. rex most likely was covered in both feathers and scales.

Whatever the coverage of feathers, the latest fossil finds “force us to conceive of tyrannosauroids in a new way,” said Julia Clarke at the University of Texas at Austin. -AP

Half of giant panda habitat may vanish in 70 years: scientists NEW YORK: For all their cuteness, giant pandas are in a tight spot. There are fewer than 1,600 pandas left in the wild, and a new study found that more than half of the bears’ already diminished natural habitat will be unlivable in 70 years thanks to climate change according to LiveScience.

To protect the adorable black-and-white creatures, zoologists are working furiously to understand and improve panda-breeding in captivity.

Toward that end, another recent study investigated male pandas’ reproductive cycle, and found that, contrary to females, males are ready and able to mate during more than six months of the year.

This is welcome news, given that female pandas have a sharply limited fertility window of only 24 to 72 hours a year.

“The more we know, the more we can understand them and the better we’re able to put guidelines in place for their protection,” said Copper Aitken-Palmer, head veterinarian at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., and leader of the reproduction study. “We can potentially manage them better in captivity, and we’re actually looking toward reintroduction programs to put captive pandas back into the wild.”

When the time is right

Aitken-Palmer and her colleagues studied eight male pandas over the course of three years at the Chengdu Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China. They analyzed pandas’ sperm density, hormone levels and testes size, as well as reproductive behaviors such as movement, scent-marking and vocalizations, to map out their reproductive

viability over time.

The research showed that male pandas have a breeding season, but it is much longer than that of females.

“The coordinated increases in testes size, androgen production, sperm density, and sexual behaviors occur over a protracted interval, likely to prepare for, and then accommodate a brief, unpredictable female estrus,” the scientists wrote in a paper reporting the results published in the journal Biology of Reproduction’s Papers in Press.

Turning up the heat

Though pandas are the pride of many zoos around the world, their situation in the wild is growing dire. One of the greatest threats to the furry creatures is habitat loss from climate change and human encroachment, scientists say.

While the species used to roam over most of southeastern China, northern Myanmar, and northern Vietnam, now pandas are limited to six mountain ranges between the Sichuan plain and Tibetan plateau.

And that habitat is looking to grow much smaller, with pandas set to lose 60 percent of their current range due to climate change by 2080, researchers reported in a paper published in the International Journal of Ecology in March. That’s a loss of more than 6,200 square miles (16,000 square kilometers).

As global temperatures become warmer, on average, the panda-suitable habitats will move to higher elevations and latitudes, according to climate models. In addition to pandas’ limited geographic range, the species has other traits that suggest climate change could hit it hard.

CERN particle collider notches new world record

PARIS: The world’s largest particle collider notched up a new record on Thursday as it escalated its quest to find fundamental matter and explore the origins of the Universe, CERN said. At 00:38 am Thursday (2238 GMT Wednesday), the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) brought together two opposing beams of protons, each with an energy of four teraelectronvolts, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said in a press release. “The collision energy of 8 TeV is a new world record, and increases the machine’s discovery potential considerably,” it said.

The LHC comprises a ring-shaped tunnel near Geneva, 27 kilometers (17 miles) long and up to 175 meters (570 feet) below ground. Beams of protons are accelerated in opposed directions to nearly the speed of light.

Superconducting magnets “bend” the beams so that the particle streams collide within four large chambers. Swathing the chambers are detectors that give a 3-D image of the traces of sub-atomic particles hurled out from the protons’ destruction.

The tracks are then scrutinized for movements, properties or novel particles that could advance understanding of matter. The big goal of 2012 is to determine the existence or otherwise of the Higgs Boson, which according to a theory of matter called the Standard Model would explain mass. The LHC had been running smoothly for two years at a collision energy totalling 7 TeV before a winter break when the decision was made to escalate to 8 TeV. “Although the increase in collision energy is relatively modest, it translates to an increased discovery potential,” CERN said.

Higher energy collisions mean that Higgs Bosons, if they exist, will be produced more copiously, the organization said.

On the other hand, they also boost background noise that mimics the likely signal of the Higgs. “That means that the full year’s running will still be necessary to convert the tantalizing hints seen in 2011 into a discovery, or to rule out the Standard Model Higgs particle altogether,” CERN said. Thursday’s increase also hikes the potential for creating hoped-for “supersymmetrical” particles.

These could explain why visible matter only accounts for some four percent of the cosmos. Dark matter (23 percent) and dark energy (73 percent) account for the rest. The LHC is scheduled to run until the end of 2012, when it will go into a long maintenance shutdown ahead of running at 13 TeV from late 2014, ultimately ramping up to its designed maximum of 14 TeV. LHC collisions amount to a high concentration of energy but only at an extraordinarily tiny scale. One TeV is the equivalent energy of motion of a flying mosquito, according to CERN. -AFP

This artist concept provided by the Beijing Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology shows Y. huali and other smaller dinosaurs roaming 125 million years ago. (AP)

Study suggests rising CO2 in the past caused global warming

WASHINGTON: The dramatic temperature increases that thawed the last ice age followed spikes in carbon dioxide levels in the air, a new study finds. Researchers say that further strengthens the scientific case explaining current man-made global warming.

In the new study, scientists show the atmospheric concentration of that heat-trapping greenhouse gas jumped more than 40 percent.

Then global temperatures went up about 6 degrees Fahrenheit (3.5 degrees Celsius).

What is remarkable is that when the two are plotted they rise, plateau and rise again in a striking similar way with a slight lag. The warming over 6,000 years follows the greenhouse gas increase, just as scientific theory has long held. This is important because, until this study, the two curves weren’t quite so in sync.

At some points, it seemed that the temperatures warmed before the carbon dioxide levels increased, something that climate skeptics seized upon.

How could carbon dioxide cause warming if the temperatures warmed first, argue skeptics, who are in the scientific minority.

Earlier studies had looked at carbon dioxide levels and temperature readings from Antarctica, not the entire world. A study published

Wednesday in the journal Nature estimated global temperatures using 80 different proxies - ice and mud samples from dozens of places around the world - and found that globally, temperatures clearly went up only after carbon dioxide jumped.

“You end up with something that looks remarkably similar to the pattern of rising carbon dioxide through time,” study lead author Jeremy Shankun of Harvard University said.

“This, to me, seems like pretty powerful proof of theory of the connection between greenhouse gases and global warming.”

There are two main sources of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas. The natural source comes mostly from dead plants and animals and that amplified the ice age thaw. In modern day, emissions from burning coal, oil and other fossil fuels add greatly to that natural carbon dioxide. The ice age warming in Antarctica still appears to come before the carbon dioxide increases, which are calculated using an 800,000 year old Antarctic ice core, but there’s good reason, Shankun said.

Temperature records and other ocean data paint a complicated picture of just how the last ice age thawed. It’s almost like a Rube Goldberg machine, with one step leading to anoth-

er and another. When the last ice age peaked about 25,000 years ago, the ice sheet extended to Iowa and New York City, Shankun said.

The ice sheet was actually so large that it was unstable, said study co-author Peter Clark of Oregon State University. The initial trigger to the melt: A small and predictable wobble in Earth’s orbit around the sun.

That tiny wobble meant a tilt toward the sun that brought more sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere, causing ice sheets to melt and sending whopping levels of fresh water into the world’s oceans. That caused the global circulation of the oceans to stop, which in turn warmed the southern oceans, melting southern ice sheets over areas where more of the world’s carbon dioxide is trapped, Shankun said.

That released massive amounts of the greenhouse gas, which then amplified the global temperature spike, Shankun said.

By 11,000 years ago, the ice age was history and greenhouse gas and temperature levels had stabilized. That changed with the industrial age and the increased use of fossil fuels.

Carbon dioxide levels have jumped roughly the same amount in the last century as they did over 6,000 years to get out of the ice age, Shankun said. -AP

Natural disasters tied to unnatural causes NEW YORK: Air pollution does more than make the skies hazy, with a new study suggesting the industrial ick is linked to drought, flooding and even hurricanes according to LiveScience.

The research, detailed this week in the journal Nature, suggests human activity can, and already has, driven large-scale regional climate changes.

The “dirty pollution,” it seems, can cause changes in the temperature of the Atlantic Ocean, which in turn drives the stormy activity, say the researchers from the Met Office, the U.K.’s National Weather Service. To a lesser extent, volcanic activity also drives this temperature variation and subsequent weather phenomena. The researchers focused on the so-called Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, which are shifts in sea-surface temperatures that run in cycles, with warm and cold phases lasting 20 to 40 years; since the mid-1990s we’ve been in a warm phase, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A warm period in this cycle increases hurricane activity in the North Atlantic - warm water acts as fuel for the high-energy storms - and rainfall in parts of Africa, while reducing rainfall in South America. A cold phase has the opposite effects.

“Until now, no one has been able to demonstrate a physical link to what is causing these observed Atlantic Ocean fluctuations, so it was assumed they must be caused by natural variability,” lead study author Ben Booth, a climate processes scientist at the MET Office, said in a statement. “Our research implies that far from being natural, these changes could have been largely driven by dirty pollution and volcanoes.” Using a computer climate model, Booth and his colleagues looked at sea-surface temperatures in the North Atlantic between 1860 and 2005. The model, which simulates physical processes in Earth’s atmosphere, reproduced these warm-cold variations in the North Atlantic. The simulations actually showed a clear link between the temperature changes in the Atlantic Ocean and the peaks and troughs in industrial pollution from surrounding countries.

Results showed that industrial aerosols and volcanic activity (to a lesser extent) could explain about 75 percent of these sea-surface temperature variations. Here’s how pollution may be linked with climate, the researchers suspect: Most clouds

FILE - Industrial pollution has been linked with changes in sea-surface temperatures in the Atlantic, which have led to droughts and even hurricanes. (Agencies)

owe their existence to aerosols that act as tiny seeds (called cloud condensation nuclei) around which water vapor droplets can cling and condense. This mostly happens around natural aerosols, such as sea salts. However, particles in polluted air can also seed clouds. Polluted air holds much higher concentrations of water-soluble particles, and, as such, clouds formed from the polluted air tend to have more, and smaller, droplets compared with “natural” clouds, according to the NASA Earth Observatory. The small droplets make these clouds look brighter since sunlight has many more surfaces to reflect off. With increased light scattering, these brighter clouds actually keep sunlight from reaching Earth’s surface and shade the planet. Result: cooling of the ocean beneath. If the research bears out, it could redefine some “natural” disasters.

“If so, this means a number of natural disasters linked to these ocean fluctuations, such as persistent African drought during the 1970s and 80s, may not be so natural after all,” Booth said.

The researchers do caution, however, that the results are based on one computer model and that further research is needed to firm up the link between industrial pollution and climate.

Scientists develop ultrathin solar cells

PARIS: Austrian and Japanese researchers on Wednesday unveiled solar cells thinner than a thread of spider silk that are flexible enough to be wrapped around a single human hair.

The thin-film device, comprising electrodes on a plastic foil, is about 1.9 micrometers thick, a tenth the size of the thinnest solar cells currently available, the researchers said.

One micro-meter is one millionth of a meter (3.3 feet).

“The total thickness of this device is less than a typical thread of spider silk,” the researchers said in a report carried by online science journal Nature Communications.

“Being ultra-thin means you don’t feel its weight and it is elastic,” said one of the researchers, Tsuyoshi Sekitani from the University of Tokyo.

“You could attach the device to your clothes like a badge to collect electricity (from the sun)... Elderly people who might want to wear sensors to monitor their health would not need to carry around batteries,” Sekitani told AFP. The research was done jointly by Martin Kaltenbrunner, Siegfried Bauer and other researchers from Johannes Kepler University of Austria as well as Sekitani and other contributors from University of Tokyo.

Sekitani said it was possible to make the cells bigger.

“Power generation by solar cells increases with their size. As this device is soft, it is less prone to damage by bending even if it gets bigger,” he said.

Sekitani said the team hoped to increase the rate at which the device converts sunlight into electricity and put it to practical use in around five years. -AFP

16

ALWATAN DAILY

CULTURE

friDAY, april 6, 2012

Tunisia’s ex-first lady to tell her ‘truth’ in memoir TUNIS: Leila Ben Ali, the wife of Tunisia’s ousted dictator, will publish a memoir of her life that is likely to stir controversy in the North African country where she was reviled by many as a latter-day Marie-Antoinette.

Her book, to be published in French under the title “Ma Verite” or “My Truth”, appears on amazon.fr, the French language arm of amazon.com, as a forthcoming title with a publication date of May 24. It is priced at 16.10 euros.

Contacted by Reuters, the Paris-based publisher, Les Editions du Moment, was not immediately available for comment.

Tunisian news website Tunisia Live reported on Wednesday that the publisher had confirmed the book was “in the process of being prepared” but had not given details.

The book has already caused a stir on micro-blogging site Twitter, where some have labeled it “a book to boycott” in parody of the many books that were banned during Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali’s 23-year stint as president.

Leila Ben Ali, nee Trabelsi, was a former hairdresser and her lavish lifestyle and clique of wealthy relatives were seen by many Tunisians as symbols of the corruption of the Ben Ali era.

Corruption, along with unemployment and a lack of freedom, were among the main complaints raised by protesters who ousted Ben Ali in 2011 in a popular revolution that sparked the Arab Spring uprisings.

Ben Ali and Leila fled Tunis for exile in Saudi Arabia as protests engulfed the capital on January 14, 2011.

In June, a Tunisian court found Ben Ali and his wife guilty of theft and of illegally possessing jewelry and large sums of cash and sentenced them in absentia to 35 years in jail each.

Pope reaffirms ban on women priests

FILE-Tunisia’s First Lady Leila Ben Ali attends the opening of the 3rd Arab Women’s Organization conference in Tunis Oct. 28, 2010. (Reuters)

During Ben Ali’s term in office, members of the Trabelsi family accumulated vast fortunes while his secu-

rity forces routinely arrested anyone who dared dissent.

-Reuters

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict on Thursday re-stated the Roman Catholic Church’s ban on women priests and warned that he would not tolerate disobedience by clerics on fundamental teachings.

Benedict, who for decades before his 2005 election was the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer, delivered an unusually direct denunciation of disobedient priests in a sermon at a morning Mass on Holy Thursday, the day the Church commemorates the day Christ instituted the priesthood.

The pope responded specifically to a call to disobedience by a group of Austrian priests and laity, who last year boldly and openly challenged Church teaching on taboo topics such as priestly celibacy and women’s ordination. “Is disobedience a path of renewal for the Church?” he asked rhetorically in the sermon of a solemn Mass in St Peter’s Basilica on the day Catholic priests around the world renew their vows.

In his response to the Austrian group, his first in public, Benedict noted that, in its “call to disobedience”, it had challenged “definitive decisions of the Church’s magisterium (teaching authority) such as the question of women’s ordination ...”

He then restated the position by citing a major 1994 document by his predecessor John Paul II that stated that the ban on women priests was part of the Church’s “divine constitution”.

A year later in 1995, the Vatican’s doctrinal department, which the current pope then headed when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, ruled that the teaching on an exclusively male priesthood had been “set forth infallibly”, meaning it could not be changed. The Catholic Church teaches that it has no authority to allow women to become priests because Jesus Christ willingly chose only men as his apostles when he instituted the priesthood at the Last Supper.

Proponents of a female priesthood say Jesus Christ was only acting according to the customs of his times. -Reuters

Outdoor gyms fight fat in South Africa FRANCE: Sweat drips down the face of a plump woman as she shuffles between exercise machines and pauses to greet passersby in Soweto’s first outdoor gym, a new trend in South Africa, one of the world’s fattest nations.

The facility, set in a park among tiny two-bedroom homes, has caught on with many Sowetans who are determined to lose the flab without signing expensive gym contracts.

Opened by the Johannesburg city council a month ago, the gym has seen the people of all ages pumping iron and swaying around in swing-like contraptions designed to target problem fat.

“Joining a gym has never ever crossed my mind. But this place has made things much easier for me because it is close to my house and free,” said 37-year-old Chichi Mofokeng.

“I can simply walk here anytime. Doctors have repeatedly told me to lose weight and get healthy, so this is my chance,” said the enthusiastic mother of two who weighs 90 kilograms.

Unlike Brazil, Britain, the United States and some other countries, outdoor gyms in South Af-

rica are not common, despite the pressing need to tackle the increasing obesity rates.

Last year the city of Cape Town unveiled its first outdoor gym on the beach front, catering for residents of affluent suburbs along the Atlantic seaboard. The city is considering opening more free gyms in other areas to promote physical wellness.

In some studies, South Africa could soon overtake the United States as the world’s fattest nation.

In 2007, the Medical Research Council found that 56 percent of adult women and 29 percent of adult men in South Africa were overweight or obese.

Another study by a pharmaceutical company in 2010 revealed that 61 percent of the country’s 50 million people were obese, trailing only the United States and Britain.

Health authorities blame the easy access to unhealthy fast foods, with an assortment of outlets available in almost all public places, as well as a decline in overall fitness levels.

Tim Hogin, managing director of Green Outdoor Gyms, the company that provided the ecofriendly gym equipment, said he decided to get in-

RUSSIA FASHION WEEK

volved after reading about the staggering obesity statistics in the country.

“I was shocked by the figures. Our aim is to get people moving, fit and healthy,” said Hogin.

“I realized that not everyone could afford paying for a gym membership and that was the biggest excuse for not exercising,” he added.

Hogin said his company plans to roll out 1,000 more gyms across the country in two years.

The immovable machines are designed to withstand the outdoor weather conditions and minor wear and tear. Grouped together in the middle of the park, the machines could easily be mistaken for playground equipment, until they are seized by the ample-sized patrons.

“As you can see I am a bit big, so I want to get slim and healthy and encourage my children to get active. Working out is no longer reserved for the well-off, even people like us can now get fit,” said Chewa Letsoale. Soweto which has a 1.7 million population had no gymnasiums until Virgin Active, the chain owned by British mogul Richard Branson, opened its doors there last December. -AFP

Young Gulf Arabs question tradition of cousin marriages DOHA: Noor was not the first in her Qatari family to marry a close relative, but she may be one of the last.

Throughout the Middle East, Africa and parts of South Asia, marriage between family members has been widely practiced for thousands of years, largely as a means of securing relationships between tribes and preserving family wealth, but also as a practical necessity given that genders are often kept separate.

“I wouldn’t say that my parents pressured me, but I felt that society expected it,” said Noor, who married her first cousin when she was 19. They had a son together but the marriage ended after a year and a half.

“We broke up because of the family dynamics, all the interference. It’s not just the couple that’s involved, it’s the whole family,” she said, wearing the traditional black head-and-body-covering abaya and declining to give her family name.

“This society has invisible constraints. They’re never mentioned, but you have to follow them.”

At least half of all Gulf Arab marriages are between cousins, with at least 35 percent of Qatari marriages between first cousins, according to current research by the Centre for Arab Genomic Studies based in Dubai. In Saudi Arabia, the number ranges from 25 to 42 percent while in the United Arab Emirates, it is between 21 and 28 percent.

Science vs. culture

Models display creations by designer Migle Janusaite during Fashion Week in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 5, 2012. (AP)

People work out at new outdoor gym in Soweto on March 19, 2012. (AFP)

At a recent public debate on intermarriage in Doha, much of the discussion focused on the tensions between cultural practices and the science cautioning against consanguineous marriage - defined as marriage between second cousins or closer.

The discussion was part of the “Doha Debates”, a series sponsored by the Qatar Foundation and aired internationally that presents four speakers arguing for and against a controversial motion, in this case the idea that the practice of intermarriage should be discouraged.

“I’m living evidence that cousin marriage doesn’t work,” said Salma, a Sudanese woman living in Qatar who was in the audience and spoke during the question and answer period.

“My parents are both first cousins. My aunt married a first cousin and had two children, both of whom died young. I’m now afraid I’ll get diabetes, because everyone in my family has it.”

In recent years Gulf countries have introduced mandatory premarital testing for genetic diseases including sickle cell anemia, as well as infectious diseases such as hepatitis and HIV. In Qatar, coun-

seling is required if a potential genetic problem is detected, though the couple are free to marry if they choose.

Public awareness campaigns - particularly one started in Bahrain two decades ago targeting university students in their late teens and early 20s - have been notably successful in reducing rates of genetic diseases such as sickle cell anemia in the country, Ghazi Tadmouri, assistant director of the Arab Centre for Genomic Studies in Dubai, told Reuters.

Yet even Tadmouri, a geneticist, acknowledges that the social advantages of marrying a family member might outweigh the potential genetic disadvantages in some societies.

“It’s expensive to marry in the Gulf. Premarital financial negotiations are much easier when done among family members,” Tadmouri said. “And it provides a sense of security for the woman. She’s not entering into a new world; she’s entering a family she knows very well.”

Others have expressed concern that testing could lead to social stigmatization.

“Gulf society is a very fragile society. These tests might suggest, ‘This girl has a problem, don’t touch her’,” said Omar, an Omani in his 20s who was in the audience.

When asked in the debate if they were married to or would consider marrying a cousin or other family member, only two out of the more than 300 Qataris, citizens of other Gulf and Middle Eastern countries as well as Westerners of varying ages in the audience raised their hands.

Religious sanction

Though not prohibited by Islam, Christianity or Judaism, some cite the hadith, or saying of the Prophet Mohammad, as an injunction against the practice: “Marry those who are unrelated to you, so your children do not become weak.”

Others in support of it point out that the Prophet married his own daughter to a first cousin.

“There’s a misconception that parents often force their daughters to marry within the family.

Our segregated lifestyle often doesn’t allow for mixing of the sexes except within the family environment, so many times the only chance of falling in love is within the family, because you are completely closed off from others,” Saudi author Samar Fatany told Reuters.

Fatany said that whereas marrying a stranger is often frowned upon, marriage between family members promotes harmony and stability within the family, and encourages a family-focused way of life. -Reuters

Malaysia says Singapore ballet show can go on

FRANCE: Malaysia on Thursday denied reports that the Muslim-majority country blocked a performance by a Singapore ballet troupe due to squeamishness over tights-wearing dancers and said the show could go on.

However, the Singapore Dance Theatre had earlier said it was too late to stage the performance after it said Malaysian authorities this week denied them approval for the weekend appearance in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

“There is no ban and the show should go on as planned,” Rais Yatim, minister of information, communications and culture, was quoted saying by state news agency Bernama.

Janek Schergen, artistic director of Singapore Dance Theatre, told AFP the organization had been seeking approval for licenses to perform but was denied without explanation.

However, Bilqis Hijjas, president of Malaysian arts group MyDance Alliance, said the move was taken out of concern over the “indecency” of the costumes.

The Singapore dance group was scheduled to perform a selection of classical ballet works including “The Nutcracker”, which was to be performed in traditional short tutu and tights.

The Malaysian government occasionally pulls the plug on shows by foreign -- usually Western -- artists out of fear of angering conservative Muslims.

In February, Rais announced a ban on a concert by American singer Erykah Badu after a photo of her with body art including the Arabic word for “Allah” was published in a Malaysian newspaper.

He had said the Badu show was scuttled out of respect for “religious sensitivities and cultural values”.

But he was quoted Thursday by Bernama as saying the costumes for the ballet performance should not be a problem.

“I mean, ballet doesn’t go with big gowns, does it?” he said.

Schergen said it was “certainly too late” now but added the performance could take place later in the year.

He also was skeptical of a comment by Rais, who was quoted saying no application to perform had been received.

“We had someone talking to them on Tuesday so it is strange that now they say they have not received anything,” he said.

All of the costumes for women were to include long skirts except for “The Nutcracker”.

Bilqis, whose group promotes dance, called the alleged permit denial “deplorable” and warned it would make Malaysia appear an unreliable host for cultural performances, scaring off foreign arts investors. -AFP

ALWATAN DAILY

entertainment Song Of The Day

Fahad AlSabah Staff Writer

Song: Cannonball Artist: Brandi Carlile Album: The Story Genre: Folk/Acoustic In short: Brandi Carlile’s rough voice sets her apart from most singer-songwriters out there, and her sophomore album, The Story, is a testament of her prowess as a vocalist and a songwriter. On the melancholic “Cannonball,” Carlile sings: “Someone told me a lie / Someone looked me in the eye / And said time will ease your pain / But behold, when you fall / It’s the same old cannonball / Coming back for your heart again.”

To listen to the song visit www.alwatandaily.com E-mail your feedback to falsabah@alwatandaily.com

The Buzz Dempsey’s Le Mans journey headed for TV Patrick Dempsey is bringing his passion for auto racing to television with a new documentary series. The “Grey’s Anatomy” star will produce “Road to Le Mans,” a four-part series about his competition in the venerable French race next year, the Velocity channel said Thursday. Dempsey, who has a professional auto racing team based in Georgia, will be both owner and driver at the 24-hour endurance race. “Road to Le Mans,” set to air by mid-2013. -AP

George Michael pens song about battle with illness George Michael is writing a song about his near-death battle with illness in a Vienna hospital last year, the British singer announced on Twitter on Wednesday. Michael, 48, was diagnosed with severe pneumonia in November and treated in the Austrian capital where he was taken ill. He was forced to postpone his tour and spent several weeks in hospital, describing his illness as “touch and go”. On his Twitter feed, he wrote: “I’ve been a busy boy in the studio this week ... finally ready to write about what happened to me in Vienna ... and how grateful I am to be given another chance to live and breathe alongside you all in this wonderful world that we share.”-Reuters

HBO confirms True Blood, Newsroom premiere dates “True Blood” will sink its teeth into its fifth season on June 10, HBO said on Wednesday. The cable network also announced that its new series “The Newsroom” will premiere on June 24. The hit vampire drama “True Blood” kicks off its 12-episode season Sunday, June 10 at 9 p.m. In addition to bringing characters Sookie Stackhouse and Bill Compton back to the air, this season will mark the last with creator Alan Ball at the helm, though he will maintain a supervisory. The Aaron Sorkin-created series “The Newsroom,” meanwhile, begins its 10-episode maiden season on Sunday, June 24 at 10 p.m. The series, which stars Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn and Sam Waterston, revolves around a cable news anchor (played by Daniels) and his new executive producer, newsroom staff and boss as they attempt to do honest reporting in an atmosphere of corporatecontrolled media. -Reuters

Fox special to feature That 70s Show cast Ashton Kutcher might be a big-shot “Two and a Half Men” star these days, but he’s not abandoning his roots. Kutcher will join his fellow former “That ‘70s Show” co-stars Mila Kunis, Laura Prepon and Wilmer Valderrama for a cast reunion on “Fox’s 25th Anniversary Special,” airing Sunday, April 22 at 8 p.m. The cast members of the show -- which ran from 1998 to 2006 on Fox -will “remember their earliest break into stardom and growing up on set,” according to Fox. -Reuters

Gary Sinise cancels appearances after car accident Gary Sinise is canceling appearances with his Lt. Dan Band after suffering injuries in a car accident. A spokeswoman for the actor says Sinise was a passenger in a car involved in an accident Friday. Staci Wolfe did not offer details about the extent of his injuries. The 57-year-old Sinise was to perform with his band at a fundraising event last weekend in Martinsville, Va., and next week in Palm Desert, Calif. The Martinsville concert will be rescheduled. -AP

FRIDAY, april 6, 2012

Disney Channel stars speak out against cyberbullying LOS ANGELES: Even some young Disney Channel stars, as popular as they seem to be, have suffered at the hands of bullies, and now dozens of them are urging kids to stand up against bullying - not by lashing out, but by speaking up.

In a campaign launching on Thursday on Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney. com, actors like Billy Unger, Bridgit Mendler and Bella Thorne are urging 6 to 14-year-olds to treat each other better, both in the playground and online.

The campaign also encourages parents to teach their children how to use cell phones, social networking sites and gaming websites responsibly, and gives advice on what to do when cyberbullies strike.

Unger, 16, who plays a bionic teen in the hit Disney XD series “Lab Rats”, recalls in one public service announcement for the campaign how he was taunted with nicknames like “small fry” and “shortie” when he was in elementary school.

Unger told a teacher who met with his parents. But what also helped, he said, was a casting agent telling the budding young actor that being short was a good thing for a kid entering the entertainment industry.

“So from that point on, when people called me small fry or shortie I was like, ‘yeah, you’re right and I am proud of it,’” Unger says

Actor Billy Unger poses in this undated publicity photograph from the Disney Channel’s “Lab Rats” television series. (Reuters)

in his message.

China Anne McClain of “A.N.T. Farm”, Zendaya of “Shake It Up” and Debby Ryan

of “Jessie” are also taking part in the Disney campaign, run jointly with the non-profit group Common Sense Media.

“When kids see other kids who have had experiences they can relate to, that is so much more profound and inspiring than hearing from an adult,” said Caroline Knorr, parenting editor of Common Sense Media.’

“These Disney Channel characters are real people, and kids really look up to them ... So for them to come out and say ‘this happened to me’ or to advocate for good digital citizenship, it will make a huge impact,” Knorr said.

Disney Channel SVP of original programming Adam Bonnett said the family friendly network felt it had a duty to speak out against cyber-bullying.

The campaign, which is expected to run for several months, directs kids and parents to a dedicated website www.Disney.com/commonsense for information and advice.

Although confiding to a teacher or trusted adult is important, Knorr said ‘tweens and older kids often prefer to turn to friends first, rather than parents. But parents also have a huge role to play.

“Parents really need to have a conversation with their kids, when they give them a cell phone or allow them do social networking, about what responsible behavior is.

“These are not toys. You can’t just hand your kid a cellphone and assume they will use it responsibly,” Knorr said. -Reuters

Guitar amp pioneer Houston drowned in very hot water, cocaine in system Jim Marshall dies aged 88 LOS ANGELES: Whitney Houston drowned in a hot bathtub in a Beverly Hills hotel room with cocaine in her system and white powder nearby, a final coroner’s report revealed on Wednesday.

Detectives found white powdery substances, a rolled-up piece of paper, a small spoon and a mirror in the bathroom shortly after Houston’s naked body was found face down in the bathtub on February 11, the 40-page Los Angeles County coroner’s report said. Houston, 48, had a history of drug addiction. An autopsy in March determined she died of accidental drowning due to the effects of cocaine and heart disease. Wednesday’s report revealed that Houston had a perforated nose, indicating substance abuse, filled with a bloody discharge. Detectives said she was found in about 12 inches of extremely hot water, which was determined to be 93 Fahrenheit (34 Celsius) some six hours after her death.

The singer also had traces of marijuana in her system and an open bottle of champagne was found in her room at the Beverly Hilton, hours before she was due to attend a pre-Grammy party.

On a counter in the bathroom, detectives

found “a small spoon with a crystal-like substance in it and a rolled up piece of white paper.”

In a drawer, they found “a white powdery substance and a portable mirror on a base” together with more remnants of powder on the base of the mirror. Wednesday’s report did not identify the substance. The “I Will Always Love You” singer appears to have been left alone in the hotel room for less than an hour. Houston had complained of a sore throat and her personal assistant advised the singer to have a bath to get ready for the party while she went to a nearby Neiman Marcus department store to pick up items for her appearance. When the assistant returned, she found a naked Houston face down in the bathtub and unresponsive, according to the report.

Houston was one of the world’s best known singers in the 1980s and 1990s with hits such as “Saving All My Love For You” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.”

Houston’s family said in statement last month that they were “saddened to have learned of the toxicology results” that revealed recent cocaine use, but were glad to have closure. -Reuters

Murdoch’s News Int’l challenges actress over costs LONDON: Rupert Murdoch’s News International is challenging celebrity phone hacking victim Sienna Miller over her legal bill, a person close to the case said late Wednesday.

Miller was one of the first public figures to take the British newspaper company to court for illegally eavesdropping on her telephone messages.

In May, News International agreed to pay the “Alfie” star 100,000 pounds (about $160,000) to settle her claim, but a person close to the case says there’s been no agreement how much to pay out in legal costs and that the issue is headed to court.

The person provided no detail as to when any potential hearing would take place, speaking anonymously because the information wasn’t cleared for release. News International spokes-

woman Daisy Dunlop declined comment, as did Miller’s lawyer, Mark Thomson.

The scandal over illegal interception of voicemail messages at News International’s now-defunct News of the World tabloid has taken a bite out of parent company News Corp.’s bottom line.

In February, Murdoch’s international media company disclosed that the bill linked to police and parliamentary probes, a judge-led inquiry, and a slew of lawsuits was close to $200 million.

In the last quarter of 2011 alone, the company paid out $87 million, the vast majority of which was for legal and consulting fees.

Attorneys have said that dozens of lawsuits are still in the pipeline, with legal action expected to continue into next year. -AP

UK teen Conor Maynard compared to Bieber LONDON: Being called the new Justin Bieber has put British singer Conor Maynard on the music world’s radar. The 19-year-old from Brighton has gone from uploading videos of himself singing at home to working with Pharrell Williams on his debut album in Florida.

Maynard realized that by putting up covers of current tracks, people would stumble across his own versions. The results were impressive - NeYo offered to work with him after watching his version of “Beautiful Monster” and Chris Brown

Two Real Housewives get their own shows on Bravo Two of “The Real Housewives” are getting their own shows on Bravo.The network announcedWednesday that Beverly Hills cast member Lisa Vanderpump will get her own reality show centered on the inner workings of her new Hollywood restaurant, SUR. Kandi Burruss from the Atlanta “Housewives” will star in “The Kandi Factory,” inspired by a special of the same name that aired in March. Burruss will work with wannabe pop stars with no experience who want to make it in the music industry. -AP

Katy Perry 3-D concert movie to be released in July A 3-D documentary concert feature film billed as an on-and- off stage close up look at Perry and her 2011 California Dreams Tour began production more than year ago, Paramount Pictures said in a statement on Wednesday.The movie, called “Katy Perry: Part of Me,” is named after her new single “Part of Me,” which was released in February and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The film will be released in cinemas in the United States on July 5. -Reuters

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FILE - In this photo taken Wednesday, March 28, 2012 British singer Conor Maynard, poses for pictures in London. (AP)

retweeted the video of his “Yeah 3x.”

Maynard couldn’t believe his luck.

Actually, he was so skeptical he insisted on a chat with NeYo, to make sure it was the real R’n’B deal, rather than his friends joking around.

Record company interest followed and now Maynard is dropping his debut single, “Can’t Say No,” on April 20 through Polydor.

The comparisons with Canada’s Bieber aren’t that far off the mark. Both got their break via YouTube, both were mentored by an established rhythm and blues star (Bieber’s being Usher) and both, while inspired by American urban music, are foreigners.

“In terms of the music, it ends there,” says Maynard. “(I have) a very different sound. But it’s obviously flattering to be compared to one of the biggest artists in the world right now when I haven’t even released my first single yet.”

His talent was discovered when he was overheard singing to himself on the way home from school in Brighton, a hip coastal town in southern England.

Soon after NeYo spotted him, record companies caught on and he signed with Polydor in the UK. MTV has picked him as being one to watch for 2012 after he won their “Brand New” competition.

Thanks to Maynard’s online following, “Can’t Say No” has already clocked up over three million views in a month. He’s also got 124,560 followers on Twitter - and the number is rising.

An album is set to follow this summer and it has already gone down well with his five-star friends. Maynard has played it for Pharrell, Luadcris, Tyler The Creator, Lil Wayne and NeYo, among others -AP

FILE - Jim Marshall, builder of amplifiers, poses with one of his products at the ‘Musikmesse’ in Frankfurt in this March 13, 2002 file photo. (Reuters)

LONDON: Jim Marshall, who pioneered guitar amplifiers used by some of the greatest names in rock earning him the nickname “Lord of Loud”, has died aged 88. “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved founder and leader for the past 50 years, Jim Marshall,” said a statement on the company’s website. “While mourning the Guv’nor though, we also salute a legendary man who led a full and truly remarkable life.”

Tributes poured in for a man credited with helping to shape the sound of guitar rock. “The news of Jim Marshall passing is deeply saddening,” former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash said in a message on Twitter.

“R & R will never be the same w/out him.

But, his amps will live on FOREVER!”

His company said in a written tribute: “Your memory, the music and joy your amps have brought to countless millions for the past five decades and that world-famous, omnipresent script logo that proudly bears your name will always live on.”

Born in London in 1923, Marshall started out as a drummer before going into business and founding Marshall Amplification in 1962.

He began making guitar amplifiers in Britain as a cheaper alternative to US imports, and soon after legendary musicians including Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton were using his equipment. He is revered as one of the four forefathers of rock music equipment along with Leo Fender, Les Paul and Seth Lover. -Reuters

Stephen Colbert wins Peabody Award for SuperPAC satire LONDON: Comedy show “The Colbert Report” won a prestigious Peabody Award on Wednesday for its segments on SuperPACs, in which host Stephen Colbert launched his own SuperPAC as a satirical protest against political spending.

The Peabodys, the oldest in broadcasting, recognize excellence in television and radio broadcasting, as well as by webcasters, producing organizations and individuals.

It was the second Peabody for “The Colbert Report,” Comedy Central’s satirical look at current events and the news.

“Launching his own SuperPAC as a satirical protest against megabucks politics, Colbert mixed cerebral comedy with inspired sight gags, interviews and preposterously funny monologues,” the University of Georgia’s Grady College

of Journalism and Mass Communication, which administers the awards, said in a statement. Colbert, who assumes the persona of a pompous, conservative talk show host on the program, built the segments around his establishment of the Colbert SuperPAC. Colbert won his first Peabody in 2008. Other winners ranged from television game show “Jeopardy!” and IFC’s satire “Portlandia” to news coverage of the Arab Spring popular uprisings by Al Jazeera English, CNN, CBS News and National Public Radio. Multiple Peabodys were won by PBS, HBO, NPR and CNN, while Human Rights Watch was cited for its detailed online reports. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in New York on May 21 hosted by Patrick Stewart. -Reuters

FILE - Comedian and Charleston native Stephen Colbert, left, sings to the crowd during the “Rock Me Like a Herman Cain South Cain-olina Primary Rally” at the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C., on Jan. 20, 2012. (AP)

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ALWATAN DAILY

AROUND TOWN / TIME OUT

FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012

If you have an event you wish to include, please email: aroundtown@alwatandaily.com

Feature o f

graffiti

the day

moderately confused

Young student designer, Varshini Srinivas mixes stylish fashion with environmental touch

KUWAIT: Kuwait English School (KES) held its annual fashion show on March 8, 2012 in aid of the Kuwait Society for the Protection of Animals and Their Habitat (K’S PATH) and in celebration of Earth week.

The event showcased a number of young designers’ dresses and every one of them was created using environmentally friendly materials.

Varshini Srinivas, aka Varshi, was a participant in the annual fashion show and won the competition for the 3rd consecutive year.

Speaking of her winning 2012 entry (called “We are Golden” after the song by the English musician Mika) Varshi said: “The dress is made out of used garment bags and decorated with PET bottle bases, candy wrappers, gift wrappers, and accompanied by a necklace made of Scotch Brite. As a young child, I went with my mother to a handloom house in India where I saw people carefully weave fine silk with strands of gold.

Though the designs were beautiful, it bothered me that the silk was obtained from caterpillars against their will. That’s why I made this dress to show that we can be sustainable and ethical, eco-friendly yet grand.”

Varshi, recalling her winning entry for 2011 called ‘I Just tied the knot in Vegas!’ said: “It was a mystery what Kate Middleton would wear on her wedding day.

So I decided to design a bridal dress that would have taken her breath away. I added a fun and personal touch with the bright metallic roses...what better occasion to promote environmental awareness than make a recycled wedding dress for the royal bride? What’s more, the dress cost absolutely nothing to make! I used shopping bags, mesh bags that lemons come in, recycled printer paper and a wee bit of gift wrappers to create one of my best pieces.”

Her winning entry for 2010 was inspired by Varshi’s trip to the Keukenhof Gardens in Amsterdam: colorful

Month a t

Sudoku

Elementary

Intermediate

Advanced

and vivacious yet stately. Varshi Srinivas is committed to raising awareness on preserving the environment by designing dresses using recyclable material.

General A n n o u n c e m e n t s

a glance countries. His body of work consists of a central iconic image that of a finger imprint, within each thumb impression he has formulated a pseudo-calligraphic narrative of life experiences on luminous and luxurious enamel weaves.

Help save animals April 10/ 7 p.m. /The AWARE Center: The AWARE Center cordially invites you to its lecture entitled, “you can help us save animals in Kuwait,” on Tuesday

by Claudia Farkas Al-Rashoud & Nadia Al-Kandari. With the inhumane ongoing official policy of poisoning stray dogs & cats, the status of animal rights in Kuwait has reached a new low. For more information, call 25335260/80 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw.

K’S PATH invites applicants for the adoption of pets Sepp is a Domestic Long Haired (DLH) male cat. He will be 2-years-old April 2012. This friendly, laid-back boy loves a good cuddle and likes a high vantage point in a cat tree or ledge to look out from. He would do best in a home with children over 12 years of age.

To adopt, contact +965 67006122 or visit the website www.kspath.org

Golden era club

K’S PATH’s last Shelter Open Day April 14/ 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. / Wafra: This is a great opportunity for visitors to interact and socialize with our dogs and cats for adoption, get acquainted with K’S PATH’s work in animal welfare and habitat protection through a shelter tour, and meet K’S PATH’s growing team of volunteers and staff. We will also hold an educational session for children on Kuwait’s desert and marine species followed by a crafts session to build a model desert and marine habitat.

Arabic course March 11-April 19/ TIES Center: TIES Center is glad to announce the start of Arabic courses. We offer classes for all levels, from beginners to advance and also introduced new classes called Kuwait dialect. TIES Arabic classes are intended for all expatriates who wish to learn Arabic for whatever purposebusiness, basic communication, as a second language or simply as a hobby. For more information/registration, contact 97228860/97793440.

Dar Al Funoon hosts artist Karim Ghidinelli April 2- 19/ 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. / Dar Al Funoon: Born in Italy in 1976, Karim spent his childhood in this city; he went to middle school and high school in African

April 13/ 5 p.m. -7 p.m. /Rumaithiya: Join the Golden Era club for a fascinating Earth Day activity. Come armed with old newspapers, a pair of scissors and a bottle of glue. You also get to join Dr. Leos on a fascinating journey through a jewel nestled in central Europe, ranking high in human development. Seniors (60+) don’t miss out on the adventure! Venue- House #34, next to Abu-Tammam Intermediate School for Boys, Sate Alhusari St., Block 2, Rumaithiya. For details call 97172788/ 66208183 or drop a line to goldenera60@yahoo.com

Mario is a gentle and affectionate 6-years-young Spitz male. This friendly boy does great with people and dogs of all ages.

New Toastmasters Club Second and fourth Tuesday/ 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. / Jabriya: A new Toastmasters Club is being formed and encouraging new members to join. Toastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development. It is a non-profit international organization dedicated to improve member’s communication and leadership skills by attending and participating toastmasters meetings. For more information, please contact Khaled Al-Hashem at 65588824.

On the occasion of the Easter holiday, the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Kuwait would like to inform the public that the Embassy will be closed on Sunday, April 8 and Monday April 9, 2012. The Embassy will resume its normal duties on Tuesday April 10, 2012.

French Embassy

Brainbang session

The French Embassy in Kuwait will be closed on Sunday April 8, 2012 for Easter holidays.

October 7-April/ 11:45 a.m. -1:45 p.m. /Salmiya: BRAINBANG, the creative arm of Friends of CRY Club (FOCC) invites all students aged 11 and above, to join us fortnightly on Fridays. The areas of development are: Creativity in learning, tools and techniques to empower your mind, profile based learning, activity, fun, games and worksheet based assignments, practical experiments, mind gymnastics and application of learning techniques to conventional study.

E-mail: brainbang@focckwt.org or call 25660835/25618471/97677820.

Dilbert

Embassy of the Slovak Republic

Embassy of Korea The Embassy of the Republic of Korea wishes to inform that it has moved to Mishref, Block 7A, Diplomatic Area 2, Plot 6. Contact: 25378621/2/3/4/5. The embassy also wishes to inform that it will be opened to the public on the following office hours: Morning: 8 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Lunch break: 12:30 p.m. - 1 p.m. Afternoon: 1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Nancy

Horoscopes Aries: March 21 - April 19

This is a day to think about your private life, Aries. Expect to be particularly sensitive to all kinds of demands from those close to you. You have the power to create greater harmony at home, specifically in your relationship. Take stock of everyone’s desires and consider any limitations in fulfilling them. Even if the answers aren’t found today, it will be useful to simply ask the questions.

Taurus: April 20 - May 20

Today can be a relaxing day, provided you make the necessary effort to deal with material constraints, Taurus. You would like nothing better than to spend much of the day planning fun activities for the future. But, alas, demands from your family, friends, or boss force you to concentrate on the here and now instead. Still, don’t abandon your wonderfully pleasing ambitions altogether.

Gemini: May 21- June 21

There is a lot on your mind today, Gemini. Over the last three weeks you’ve analyzed your relationships on a deep and profound level. New people with attractive qualities could be tempting you to make a change. But is this a good time in your life to start up friendships or love relationships?

Cancer: June 22 - July 22

After a few days that were a bit serious, Cancer, today you awake with a light heart and boundless energy! Your capacity for seduction will be at its peak, so why not use it to your advantage? The men and women at work, in particular, will yield to your wishes today.

Your influence extends to all levels of the organization. If you’ve been thinking about asking your boss for a raise, do it today!

Leo: July 23 - August 22

If you have children, Leo, you could be feeling a bit overworked and overwhelmed. If you don’t have children, perhaps the constraints and demands of your professional life are weighing heavily on your mind. Don’t worry - these feelings shall pass. Expect an opportunity to get free of the ties that bind. Even though it will only be a temporary respite, take advantage of it!

Virgo: August 23 - September 22

Feeling grumpy lately, Virgo? Don’t fret, because your bad mood won’t last. This attitude is unlike you. Co-workers notice your change in personality but still treat you with consideration and respect.

You’re fortunate to be able to draw upon a considerable wealth of kindness and good karma that you have built up over the years.

Libra: September 23 - October 22

How hard you have to work to achieve your purposes, Libra! It’s as though you carry around an overstuffed sandbag and each step requires a huge effort! This would be a good day to identify the source of the trouble. Ask if you aren’t sabotaging yourself and letting your subconscious resist the goals you have so deliberately set. You have a deep inner mystery to solve.

Scorpio: October 23 - November 21

You could have an urge to invent new things, Scorpio.You feel compelled to create something in the artistic, technical, or philosophical field. If only you’d give yourself enough time to pursue these ideas! Today, realize that concentration is the key to accomplishment. Put away periodicals, computers, phones, and other such distractions and you might well be surprised by the wealth of inspiration.

Sagittarius: November 22 - December 21

Generally, you come up with the perfect, witty answer one day too late. Impulse and intuition take a back seat to your excellent self-control. The day ahead presents one opportunity to let go of the inhibition that sometimes stymies you.Yield to your instincts a little and see what happens. A little more socializing wouldn’t hurt, either.

Capricorn: December 22 - January 19

You think of yourself as fairly modern in your thinking, don’t you, Capricorn? But have you really been able to reject tradition entirely? Have you rid yourself of all the outmoded conventions that confined earlier generations? If not, today you’ll be inspired to revamp your role models and lighten your workload. Equality in the home is just as important as equality in the workplace.

Aquarius: January 20 - February 18

There is some likelihood of a slight career conflict.

You might have to deal with a co-worker who steps on your toes or runs roughshod over your gentle nature. Defend yourself with your favorite weapons - silence, laughter, and perspective. Let your adversary tangle himself or herself in desperate attempts to justify their behavior.

Let your boss be the wise and discerning judge of the matter.

Pisces: February 19 - March 20

For a few weeks now you’ve understood that each day brings its share of constraints, Pisces. For example, today you could feel doubts about your physical appearance. Are you questioning your attractiveness or your ability to make an impression on someone special?

ALWATAN DAILY

SPORTS

friDAY, april 6, 2012

19

Basketball

Spurs hold on, beat Celtics 87-86 for 9th in a row BOSTON: Duncan prevented Pierce from driving to the basket, forcing him to take a fadeaway jumper that clanged off the rim at the buzzer and the San Antonio Spurs held on for their ninth straight win, 87-86 over Boston on Wednesday night.

Pierce had 15 points and 10 rebounds, but he couldn’t maneuver into open space after Boston inbounded the ball with 7.9 seconds left.

The 6-foot-11 Duncan stayed on him, forcing the 6-foot-7 Pierce to step back near the top of the key for a floater.

Danny Green scored 14 points, and Gary Neal had 13, including a 3-pointer with 2 minutes left that put the Spurs back in front after they blew a 17-point, first-half lead. Rajon Rondo had 17 points and 11 assists for Boston, which had won five in a row.

Avery Bradley scored 19 points off the bench for Boston, and Kevin Garnett had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Ray Allen returned after missing six games with a sore right ankle and added seven rebounds and five points, including a 3-pointer in the final minute that brought Boston within a point.

The Celtics trailed 77-70 with 8:20 left before scoring 13 of the next 17 points to take the lead.

San Antonio, which averaged 107 points in the first eight games of its winning streak, had 59 in the first half and 28 in the second.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Bonner said. “We weren’t as sharp and didn’t make as many shots in the second half, but we still played good defense, we rebounded the ball, kept us in it and made a few plays down the stretch to pull out the win.”

It was 36-all when the Spurs scored 12 consecutive points, including back-to-back 3-pointers

Boston Celtics Kevin Garnett (left) competes for the ball with San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan in the first half of their NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston, April 4, 2012. (Reuters)

from Matt Bonner. After Bradley snapped the string with a jumper, San Antonio rattled off another seven in a row to make it 55-38.

Boston cut it to 11 points by the end of the half and got within four in the third, holding the Spurs

to nine points in the quarter. It was two points early in the fourth, and San Antonio led 77-70 before Garnett hit a pair of free throws, Rondo stole the ball and fed it to Bradley for a layup and then Garnett hit a layup to make it a one-point game. -AP

Cricket

England in command after Pietersen hundred

England’s batsman Kevin Pietersen plays a shot as Sri Lankan wicket keeper Prasanna Jayawardene watches on the third day of the second cricket test match between England and Sri Lanka, April 5, 2012. (AP)

COLOMBO: Kevin Pietersen hit a swashbuckling and eventful 151 to brighten England’s prospects of a series-levelling victory in the second and final test against hosts Sri Lanka on Thursday.

The 31-year-old batsman lit up day three’s play with his array of scintillating shots, hitting 16 fours and six sixes as England secured a handy 185-run lead before being bowled out for 460 in their first innings.

Pietersen, whose attempts at playing his switch-hits earned him an warning, joined Ken Barrington with 20 test tons and now has more international centuries (29) than any other English batsman. Sri Lanka had one over to face and they survived scoring four without loss, all leg byes. Nightwatchman Dhammika Prasad came out to open with Lahiru Thirumanne and survived a leg before appeal off Jimmy Anderson. The day belonged to Pietersen and there was drama when he was in the 90s.

Twice he moved into position to play the controversial switch-hit shot and bowler Tillakaratne Dilshan pulled up during his delivery stride on both occasions when he saw the batsman changing his stance.

Pietersen was subsequently warned for the premeditated movement and was told a repetition would mean a five-run penalty, match referee Javagal Srinath said in a statement. That, however, did not happen and Pietersen was trapped leg before by left-arm spinner

Rangana Herath (6-133) who picked up his 10th five wicket haul in a test innings.

Sri Lanka picked up two wickets during the afternoon session with Herath accounting for Jonathan Trott (64) and Prasad removing Ian Bell (18).

Trott, pushing forward, edged the ball to Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene at slip to depart after a 137-ball knock that included seven fours.

Bell was dismissed when his hook found Suraj Randiv at mid-wicket, having helped Pietersen in a fourthwicket stand of 94 off 118 balls.

Left-arm spinner Herath went on to account for Matt Prior (11),Tim Bresnan (five), Graeme Swann (17) and Anderson (two) as England lost their last five wickets for 49 runs. Sri Lanka’s only success of the morning session came when Dilshan ended Alastair Cook’s (94) 5-1/2-half hour vigil at the crease, denying the batsman his 20th test century. The opener failed to get to the pitch of ball and his edge was held by Jayawardene in the lone slip position. The left-hander faced 278 balls in his watchful knock, during which he hit nine fours.

Cook and Trott, who had scored a valiant century in England’s loss in the Galle test, added 91 for the second wicket. Sri Lanka, who lead the two-match series 1-0, used up both their reviews unsuccessfully before they had taken the second new ball. -Reuters

Formula one

Chinese driver dreams of F1 future with HRT deal CAPITALS: Ma Qing Hua set his sights on becoming the first Chinese to race in Formula One after being announced as a member of the HRT team’s ‘young driver development program on Thursday. In a deal timed to generate interest ahead of next week’s grand prix in Shanghai, Qing Hua’s home city, struggling HRT held out the possibility of the 24-year-old testing their car later in the year.

HRT have struggled to compete since they arrived in the sport and, without testing their car before the season started, failed to qualify for this year’s opening race in Australia.

They are now in their third season in Formula One still without a point and with the oldest driver line-up on the starting grid in Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa and Indian Narain Karthikeyan.

Spaniard Dani Clos, the team’s official test and reserve driver, is also in the development programme. While it could be some time before a Chinese driver competes for any of the leading teams, those at the slow end of the paddock have long offered a way in for drivers bringing sponsorship cash. “I’m

very honored to form a part of the driver development program at HRT Formula One team since, with work and effort, it will allow me to become the first Chinese Formula One driver,” Qing Hua said in a statement. China has hosted a grand prix since 2004 but, with motor racing in its infancy there, has yet to provide a local for the fans to get behind despite an immense potential pool of talent. Dutch-born Ho-Pin Tung was the first Chinese national to be involved in a Formula One team’s line-up when Renault, now Lotus, named him as an official reserve in 2010.

He also tested with Williams in 2003, after winning that year’s Asian Formula BMW series. Last year he became the first Chinese licensed driver to compete in the US Indycar series. Qing Hua won the Chinese national karting championship at the age of 12 and won the Asian Formula Renault title in 2004. Last year, he won the Chinese touring car championship. HRT said they wanted to serve as a platform to launch young talents like Qing Hua into Formula One and had followed his progress when he was racing in Spain. -Reuters

Nash lifts Suns past Jazz, 107-105 SALT LAKE CITY: Steve Nash scored only 13 points but hit two shots in the final 14 seconds and the Phoenix Suns won their seventh straight meeting against Utah, 107105 on Wednesday night to jump over the Jazz in the Western Conference playoff race.

The Suns (28-26) are in ninth place, a half-game ahead of the Jazz (28-27) and a game behind Denver, which lost Wednesday at New Orleans, and idle Houston. Phoenix also owns the tiebreaker with the Jazz.

Paul Millsap led Utah with 25 points and had a chance to force overtime, but his putback came just after the buzzer.

Michael Redd led the Suns with 19 points. Redd and Sebastian Telfair, who had nine points, combined for 14 points during a 14-2 run fourth-quarter run that put Phoenix up 97-87 with 6:43 remaining. Nash also had nine assists.

Millsap brought Utah back, even stealing the ball from Nash. Nash made amends, hitting the winner with 1.7 seconds left.

Nash looked as if he might be the goat after he had the ball stolen by Millsap, then committed a clear-path foul with 34 seconds left and Phoenix up by three.

Millsap made just one of two free throws, but Al Jefferson hit a jumper that tied it at 103 with 28 seconds

left. Nash responded with a 15-foot jumper with 14 seconds left.

Jefferson tied it again after Millsap fed him for an easy layup with 9.4 seconds left, only see Nash get the ball in the lane and hit the jumper with 1.7 seconds remaining.

C.J. Miles’ last-ditch shot was well short, but Millsap grabbed it and put it in. Officials reviewed the play and determined it was after the buzzer.

Utah has 11 games remaining, with lowly Golden State up Friday night before a home-and home series with San Antonio, then a three-game trip starting April 11 in Houston. The Jazz also close out the regular season with four of five games at home, where they are 19-8.

The Suns have a seemingly tougher road. Nine of Phoenix’s remaining games are against teams that would be in the playoffs if they started today.

They’ll face the Jazz again on April 24 in Salt Lake City.

The Jazz had another slow start, falling behind by eight in the first quarter and nine in the second only to go on a 12-5 run and pull to 58-56 at the break. The Suns had six 3-pointers in the first half, and held a 32-30 advantage in points in the paint. They opened the second half on a 10-2 run to surge ahead 68-58. The Suns also hit 13 3-pointers to just three by the Jazz, with Nash, Redd and Channing Frye making three apiece. -AP

Tennis

Venus topples Jankovic at WTA Charleston clay event CHARLESTON: In a clash of former world number ones, Venus Williams toppled seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 6-0 to reach the third round of the WTA’s green clay Charleston tournament. Jankovic had won her last four meetings on clay against Williams, but once the American heated up in the wake of a first-set rain delay on Wednesday, the Serbian couldn’t stop her.

Jankovic served for the first set at 5-4, but Williams broke and never looked back. By the time she won the second set she had reeled off nine games in a row, capping the match with a backhand winner down the line. Marion Bartoli got past Russian Vera Dushevina 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 in a 2nd-round match lasting more than three hours Third-seeded Marion Bartoli of France found the going much tougher, but persevered to get past Russian Vera Dushevina 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 in a second-round match lasting more than three hours. Bartoli, who snapped Victoria Azarenka’s 26-match unbeaten streak when she downed the world number one en route to the semi-finals at Miami last week, was playing her first match after enjoying a first-round bye.

She next faces Slovenia’s Polona Hercog, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over American Varvara Lepchenko.

Russian Nadia Petrova, the 13th seed, saved two match points en route to a 2-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 victory over US veteran Jill Craybas, a qualifier.Sixth-seeded German Sabine Lisicki, who claimed her first WTA Tour title at Charleston in 2009, rallied to beat Czech Andrea Hlavackova 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Lisicki next faces Yaroslava Shvedova, who upset 12th-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-2, 7-6 (7/2). In other matches, Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan defeated Argentine qualifier Paula Ormaechea 6-2, 6-3 to set up a third-round clash with Samantha Stosur. New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic, seeded 17th, beat Georgia’s Anna Tatishvili 7-5, 6-3 to advance to a meeting with fifth-seeded American Serena Williams. -AP

Venus Williams returns a shot to Jelena Jankovic, of Serbia, at the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Wednesday, April 4, 2012.

Hill calls for re-think Bahrain GP BAHRAIN: Former world champion Damon Hill has called on Formula 1 bosses to reconsider going ahead with this month’s controversial Bahrain Grand Prix and warned that the sport’s image could suffer if the race is held.

The 1996 champion had previously supported the race after taking part in a fact-finding visit to Bahrain in December last year.

But he told the Guardian on Thursday he now felt a re-think was necessary for the event that was cancelled in 2011 following prolonged civil unrest that some reports claimed more than 40 lives.

Hill added that he was worried that the race might create more problems than it solved if it went ahead as scheduled on April 22, a week after the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

Human rights activists and opposition groups in Bahrain, where unrest has continued daily, have called for the race to be cancelled again.

Hill explained: “Looking at it today, you’d have to say that it could be creating more problems than it’s solving.

The protests have not abated and may even have become more determined and calculated. It is a worrying state of affairs.”

Bahrain race organizers held a lunch in London last week at which they argued that holding the grand prix would have an important unifying role in their strife-torn country.

And F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone said he has no doubts about going ahead, after persuading several teams to send senior representatives to the lunch.

But Hill said: “The view I gave after returning from the visit last year was

FILE - In this photograph taken May 31, 2011, the Bahrain International Circuit tower is seen at the Sakhir, Bahrain, racetrack that hosts a Formula One Grand Prix. (AP)

based on my understanding of several factors -- the substantial economic significance of the GP for Bahrain; that the report on the riots condemned the actions of the police and security forces, and that both sides were to take part in meaningful dialogue to resolve the problems peacefully. Under those conditions one could imagine the GP being a great fillip for a Bahrain on the road to recovery. However, with under three

weeks to go, conditions do not seem to have improved, judging by the reports in our European newspapers, social media and on Al Jazeera TV. I’m just saying we have to tread carefully. I hope that events in Bahrain are not seen as they are often sold, as a bunch of yobs throwing Molotov cocktails, because that’s a gross simplification. You don’t get 100,000 people risking their lives in protest for nothing.” -Reuters

FRIdAY, april 6, 2012

SPORTS

Football

Real’s Di Maria returns in time for Bayern test

Real Madrid’s Angel di Maria (Rright) vies with APOEL’s William Boaventura during the UEFA Champions League second leg quarter-final football match Real Madrid against Apoel Nicosia, April 4, 2012. (AFP)

MADRID: Angel Di Maria’s late goal for Real Madrid against APOEL Nicosia will have been the icing on the cake for coach Jose Mourinho, as it appeared to signal the return to fitness of one of his most potent forwards.

The pacy Argentine winger completed a 5-2 thrashing of the Champions League debutants with a delightful lob on Wednesday and he should be firing on all cylinders by the time they meet Bayern Munich in the semi-finals later this month.

Di Maria is still one of the side’s highest providers of assists despite having sidelined with a string of niggling muscle injuries since the turn of the year and he has only started 12 league games and three in the Champions League.

Kaka and Jose Callejon also netted on Wednesday, as did ever-present leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, who bagged a brace, and Mourinho was able to rest regulars such as striker Karim Benzema and midfielders Xabi Alonso and Mesut Ozil.

The former Chelsea and Inter Milan boss appears to have most of his multi-million euro squad in prime condition for the final push and he has enviable options

going forward. His fearsome trio of Ronaldo, Higuain and Benzema have scored a total of 101 goals between them in all competitions this year.

“The competition in the squad is very good,” said Kaka, one of the world’s most expensive players who is not guaranteed a place in the starting XI. “Obviously there are players who are decisive but our strength has been the group.”

A Champions League semi-final between two clubs who have won the competition a total of 13 times presents a huge challenge for Real and for Mourinho who has a chance to win a fourth European Cup with a fourth club.

Mourinho guided Inter Milan to a 2-0 victory over the Germans in the 2010 Champions League final at the Bernabeu just before he left to join Real Madrid.

Real beat Bayern on their way to lifting their last two European Cups in 2000 and 2002 but Mourinho said he only knew one thing for sure about who would be in the final.

“The big question is to know who will play Barcelona in the final,” Mourinho said. Asked to elaborate, he replied: “Because they are very good.” -Reuters

Gloom descends over Serie A after unhappy week MILAN: A fresh refereeing row, another match-fixing scandal and failure to get a team to the Champions League semi-finals for the second year running have cast gloom over the weekend’s Serie A matches.

Leaders AC Milan will go into their match at home to Fiorentina still smarting from their Champions League exit at the hands of Barcelona in midweek and the goal that never was against Catania the weekend before. They will, however, have the comfort of knowing that opponents Fiorentina are even worse off than themselves after a miserable run of one win in nine matches, which has seen them plummet towards the relegation zone.

Juventus, who have cut Milan’s lead to two points and remain unbeaten after 30 games, visit unpredictable Palermo. Juventus’ form over the last few weeks has been one of the bright spots and they can be credited with making the title race one of the most exciting in recent years.

Their sleek new stadium, invariably full and with the crowd urging the team on only meters from the pitch, is a novelty in a league usually criticized for its rundown, half-empty arena.

But this week has shown that the old problems are still bubbling under the surface. On Monday, former

Bari defender Andrea Masiello was arrested and eight of his former team mates placed under investigation for allegedly fixing matches in Serie A last season, when their side was relegated.

Masiello, interrogated for three hours on Wednesday, is still playing in Serie A for Atalanta, themselves deducted six points this season over match-fixing in Serie B last season when they won promotion.

There was another reminder of Italy’s problems on Wednesday when former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi lost his appeal against a life-ban for his part in the scandal which led to the Turin club being demoted and stripped of the 2005 and 2006 titles.

Refereeing has also been in the spotlight after Milan were on the wrong end of a goal-line controversy for the second time in a matter of weeks as officials failed to spot that a Robinho shot had crossed the line in the 1-1 draw at Catania.

Fiorentina, 17th with 33 points and five clear of the relegation zone, may almost be relieved to be playing at San Siro after being given a hostile reception by fans in recent home matches. Milan have 64 points, followed by Juventus on 62, and the pair look certain to take Italy’s two direct places in the Champions League group stage next season. -Reuters

Sports Editors Highlight RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: A Saudi Arabian newspaper says the ultraconservative kingdom will not send women the London Olympics, weeks after saying it would.

Al-Watan newspaper quoted Prince Nawaf, the head of the Saudi Olympic Committee, saying the kingdom opposes sending female athletes to the Olympics for the first time. But he left room for Saudi women to compete on their own outside the official delegation, a plan that may not satisfy demands by the International Olympic Committee.

A similar arrangement was made at theYouth Olympics in 2010 for Saudi equestrian competitor Dalma Rushdi Malhas to participate. She won a bronze medal in show jumping.

Officials at the Saudi Olympic Committee could not be reached for comment. -AP

Chelsea on Barca revenge mission: Di Matteo LONDON: Roberto Di Matteo admits Chelsea will be motivated by revenge when they face Barcelona in a potentially explosive Champions League semi-final showdown after they battled past Benfica.

Many of Chelsea’s current stars can still feel the emotional scars from Barca’s controversial Champions League semifinal victory over the Blues in 2009.

Chelsea, managed then by caretaker boss Guus Hiddink, felt they were denied several clear penalties before Andres Iniesta’s last-gasp strike sent Barca through to the final on away goals. The sense of injustice prompted Chelsea striker Didier Drogba to abuse Norway referee Tom Henning Ovrebo on the pitch after the final whistle, while several other players hinted they had been cheated.

That was the last meeting between two clubs whose rivalry has been become increasingly bitter since first erupting during Jose Mourinho’s time in charge at Stamford Bridge. Now Chelsea, 3-1 aggregate winners against Benfica in the quarter-finals, have a chance to avenge that loss by ending Barca’s reign as European champions and Blues interim boss Di Matteo says his players are determined to seize the opportunity.

“We have faced them a lot of times over the years and a lot of our players have some history against Barcelona,” Di Matteo said. “Certainly they feel a bit hard done by from when we played against them three years ago.”

Barca have proved themselves Europe’s pre-eminent force twice in the last three seasons and they look in the mood to collect yet another title this year.

Few teams in Europe have been able to find an answer to the problems posed

by Barca’s bewildering array of attacking options, but Di Matteo insists he is look-

Chelsea players Frank Lampard, John Terry and Ashley Cole train with interim manager Robert Di Matteo at Stamford Bridge, April 3, 2012. (Reuters)

ing forward to the challenge.

Di Matteo deserves immense credit for getting Chelsea back on track after stepping up from his role as assistant to the sacked Andre Villas-Boas.

Some critics claimed the former Chelsea midfielder would fare just as badly as Villas-Boas because few of the players liked his supposedly aloof attitude. Instead, his calm, understated leadership has led Chelsea to the brink of a second Champions League final appearance.

But Di Matteo will know it will need a massive improvement on Wednesday’s nervy 2-1 quarter-final second leg win over Benfica to see off Barca.

Despite taking the lead through

Frank Lampard’s first half penalty and then seeing Benfica’s Maxi Pereira sent off before the break, Chelsea struggled to kill off their opponents and conceded a late goal from Javi Garcia before Raul Meireles finally settled the tie in stoppage time.

“We expected a difficult game and it proved that way,” Di Matteo said. “We made it a little more difficult for ourselves by not scoring the second goal, especially in the second half with all those chances. The team wasn’t as sparkling as we hoped. Maybe they were a little tired in stages but we are pleased to go through and I think we deserved to go through.” -AP

Marseille captain questions squad motivation PARIS: Olympique Marseille captain Steve Mandanda has questioned the squad’s motivation in the run up to Sunday’s Ligue 1 clash against arch-rivals Paris St Germain after nine defeats in their last 10 matches in all competitions.

Marseille, who were knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich this week, are ninth in the league with 40 points, 16 adrift of the Champions league playoff berth and 20 behind leaders Montpellier and second-placed PSG. Marseille face a series of domestic high-profile clashes with the away match in Paris, a home game to Montpellier on Wednesday and their League Cup final against Olympique Lyon next weekend.

Defender Nicolas Nkoulou echoed Man-

danda’s feelings and said he was asking a lot of questions about his team mates dedication on the pitch.

Paris St Germain, who have not won a game since March 11 and lost at lowly Nancy last weekend, also need to regroup for a ‘special game’, said defender Milan Bisevac.

“It is the most important game of the year for our fans and it will also be crucial for us.We need a victory to revive our title hopes,” the Serbian added.

Centre halfAlex and midfielderThiago Motta, who missed the Nancy clash with minor injuries, are back in the squad.

Unheralded leaders Montpellier, who have never won the French title and have a game in hand, host Sochaux on Satur-

day. “The title is obviously our goal now,” Ligue 1 top scorer Olivier Giroud told French public radio. “It will be a shame to claim we would be happy with a final third spot,” midfielder Geoffrey Dernis added. Third-placed Lille have reduced the gap on the top two to four points in recent weeks thanks to in-form Eden Hazard, who earned them three consecutive wins.

“We all know why he is Ligue 1 best player,” goalkeeper Mickael Landreau said of the Belgian forward, before Saturday’s trip to strugglers Brest. “I enjoy each and every moment I spend by his side. Beyond his great talent, he’s an example for all others young players,” he concluded. -Reuters

Dortmund heads to surging Wolfsburg in Bundesliga

City clash hold no fears for United star Rooney

ENGLAND: Wayne Rooney insists Manchester United are capable of clinching the Premier League title with a victory at Manchester City later this month.

United are five points clear at the top of table and could win their 20th English league title at the Eastlands home of bitter rivals City on April 30.

That is a mouth-watering prospect for everyone associated with United, especially with the painful memories of City’s 6-1 win at Old Trafford earlier this season still fresh in their minds.

After that superb City display, Roberto Mancini’s men were widely expected to end United’s hold on the title, but the momentum has since shifted back to Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.

United striker Rooney knows City have a formidable home record, they recently set a Premier League record for 20 successive victories but his side’s FA Cup third round win at Eastlands in January guarantees they will have no fear about playing a potential title decider on enemy soil.

“We’re certainly good enough to beat them there,” Rooney said. “We showed that when we

beat them 3-2 in the FA Cup in January. They have a great home record in the league but we managed to get the result there in the Cup. That shows we can go there and win. We just have to be ourselves and play our normal football. We’ll take full confidence into that game and hopefully we can get the three points. We’ll approach it as we do any normal game. There are three points up for grabs and we’ll be trying to get them. We won’t be doing anything different.”

Meanwhile, Rooney has praised the impact of Danny Welbeck and believes his fellow striker is a leading candidate to be United’s player of the season.

“To play so many games for United in his first full season has been brilliant. There has been a lot of pressure on him but he’s done really well and scored some important goals for us. He got an opportunity from the start of the season and he came in and played very well and scored a few goals. He’s an exciting player and credit to him for the way he’s performed - he’s played in a lot of matches this season.” -AP

FILE - Shinji Kagawa of Dortmund celebrates with team mates after winning the Bundesliga match between FC Koeln and Borussia Dortmund, March 25, 2012. (AFP)

FRANKFURT, Germany: A once discarded striker has come back to rescue Wolfsburg’s season, revive his hopes of going to the European Championship and perhaps play a major role in deciding the Bundesliga championship.

Patrick Helmes has scored six goals in his last six games, helping Wolfsburg go on a four-match winning streak.

Borussia Dortmund is the next to visit Wolfsburg and the defending champions could be knocked off the top of the Bundesliga standings if Helmes remains on target and Wolfsburg extends its run.

Dortmund is three points ahead of Bayern Munich, which hosts Augsburg and has a better goal difference.

Dortmund is undefeated in 22 matches, but two draws in the last four games has allowed Bayern to cut the deficit.

Last week, Dortmund played to a scintillating 4-4 draw at home to Stuttgart, losing victory in stoppage time.

Bayern visits Dortmund on April 11 and the winner of that match is likely to claim the Bundesliga title.

Bayern may be more concerned with the Champions League since reaching the semifinals, but it is now within striking distance of a treble. Dortmund and Bayern will also play in the German Cup final next month.

Dortmund’s most imminent worry will be to stop Helmes and his forward partner Mario Mandzukic. Helmes made 13 appearances for Germany between 2007 and 2010, scoring two goals. But a knee injury put his career on hold and he was released by Bayer Leverkusen to join Wolfsburg, where he stagnated.

Wolfsburg is in a four-team tie between sixth and ninth place, with six matches remaining. Magath’s teams have a history of playing strongly in the decisive stretches of the season and this year is no exception after a dismal start and a remarkable shopping spree in January.

Dortmund has been playing some electrifying football but may have lost a little edge. Young midfield star Mario Goetze is back in training after being sidelined since December with a nagging pubic bone injury but it remains to be seen if he will be in the squad on Saturday.

Bayern finished off Marseille on Tuesday to make the semifinals of the Champions League but cannot afford to slip in the Bundesliga if it wants to keep up with Dortmund. -AP