May 15, 2012

TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012

@alwatandaily

Issue No. 1435

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150 Fils with IHT

Former PM will not appear before probe panel Panel rejects ex-PM’s apology for not attending session

Mohammed Al-Salman, Mohammed Al-Khaldi, Osama Al-Qatari and Ahmed Al-Shemmari Staff Writers

KUWAIT: The former Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah has informed the panel probing alleged overseas illicit financial transfers that he will not be attending future hearings, citing in a letter he addressed to the panel that the case being probed by the panel has been shelved by the court.

However, the Chairman of the Investigation Committee MP Dr. Faisal Al-Mislem described the letter of apology as a “rebuff” to attending the meeting, and not an apology. The MP went on to state the committee denunciation of the content of the letter, and decided to extend another invitation to Sheikh Nasser to attend the upcoming hearing slated for May 26 to give his testimony.

“We are committed to the task relegated to us by the Parliament to look for the truth concerning State institutions and public funds. We will move forward until we compile a report in a professional, objective and impartial manner,” Al-Mislem was quoted as saying.

He added that the committee on Monday invited a number of legal and constitutional advisors as well as a criminal law advisor to hear their standpoint regarding the letter of apology.

For his part, a member of the committee, MP Abdulatiff AlOmairi, indicated that there is a major flaw in the manner the case has been handled. The lawmaker explained that the report that has been shelved was presented by a citizen who had newspaper clippings and internet citations.

Twitter trial set for May 21: Lawyer

KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti man charged with defaming the Prophet Mohammad on Twitter as well as insulting the rulers of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will stand trial on May 21 and plead not guilty, his lawyer said on Monday.

The case of Shiite Muslim Hamad Al-Naqi, who faces up to 10 years in jail if convicted, has caused uproar in the Gulf Arab state, where dozens of Sunni Muslim activists and lawmakers have protested against his alleged crime in the streets. Some have called for him to be put to death. Blasphemy is illegal under Kuwaiti law as is libel.

Al-Naqi was arrested in March and charged with defaming the Islamic faith and the Prophet Mohammad, as well as his companions and his own wife on the popular micro blog. Prosecutors later charged him with insulting the rulers of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia on Twitter too.

Al-Naqi has told police that he did not make any of the comments and that his account was hacked.

Earlier this month, lawmakers endorsed a legal amendment that could make such crimes - if committed More on 2

by Muslims - punishable by death.

He pointed out that the nature of the parliamentary committee probing the case differs from that of the panel constituted by the Tribunal for the Trial of Ministers in the sense that while the latter rests on the law, the former operates in accordance with the Constitution, particularly Article 114. The aforementioned article stipulates that “The National Assembly, at all times, has the right to set up committees of inquiry or to delegate one or more of its members to investigate any matter within its competence. Ministers and all Government officials must produce testimonials, documents, and statements requested from them.”

He further remarked that some people confuse the issue of multimillion deposits with the financial transfers.

An informed source stated that the constitutional experts have reiterated the authority of the committee probing financial transfers in mounting the investigation away from criminal indictment, which is determined by the judiciary.

The source added that the panel extended an invitation to Sheikh Nasser to give his testimony, and that if he fails to appear next time, the matter will be communicated to the National Assembly in writing, containing a complaint that the government has not been cooperative.

This comes at a time when a government source indicated that Sheikh Nasser’s failure to appear before the panel came out of respect for the judicial authority, which shelved the case and turned the page on it.

In a related vein, MPs Musallam Al-Barrak, Abdurrahman Al-Anjeri and Faisal Al-Yahya met at National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun’s office to discuss the letter of apology that has been sent by the former premier.

NGOs demand delay in proposed Gulf union

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KD 75,000 per year for Internet service licenses

Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Minister of Communications Salem Al-Othaina issued a ministerial decree regarding regulations for Internet service providers licenses, it orders the cancellation of all licenses issued to Internet service sub-providers before May 13, which is the date at which the new law comes into effect. The decree also stipulates issuing temporary one year licenses for 75,000 Kuwaiti dinars. The licenses can be renewed based on a ministerial approval, until the communications authority is established.

This authority will have the right to extend licenses or cancel them. The decree specified the penalties that will be enforced on violators, which includes a fine of KD 5,000 and disconnection of service for two weeks following the first violation. The second violation will lead to a KD 10,000 fine and the disconnection of service for a period not exceeding one month. The third violation will carry a KD 20,000 fine and the cancellation of the license.

Palestinian inmates agree to end hunger strike

Palestinian women hold pictures of their jailed relatives as they celebrate in Gaza City on May 14, 2012 after Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike have agreed a deal with Israel to end their fast in exchange for an easing of their conditions. (AFP)

GAZA: Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails agreed on Monday to end a mass hunger strike under the terms of a deal brokered by Egypt, an official close to the talks told Reuters.

Some 1,600 prisoners, a third of the 4,800 Palestinians held by Israel, have been refusing food since April 17 in a protest that has challenged Israel’s policy of detention without trial and put the spotlight on jail conditions.

“Palestinian prisoners just signed the Egyptian drafted deal in which Israel met their demands,” the official told Reuters.

One in three of the 4,800 Palestinians serving time in Israeli jails began refusing food on April 17 in protest against detention without trial and to demand better conditions like an increase in family visits and ending solitary confinement.

“Egypt has concluded a deal to resolve the prisoner crisis that included Israel’s acceptance of prisoners’ demands in exchange for ending the hunger strike,” said the Palestinian source who is close to More on 4 the talks in Cairo.

Britain celebrates 350 years of Punch and Judy

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Australian project simulates effects of runaway climate change LONDON: The Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment’s extensive facilities in Richmond, New South Wales, are dedicated to researching the impact of climate change An Australian university has embarked upon an ambitious project - hailed as the first of its kind in the world - to simulate how the environment would cope with runaway climate change according to The Guardian.

The decade-long study, at the University of Western Sydney’s Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, will subject Australian bushland to heightened CO2 levels and altered rainfall patterns consistent with a “business as usual” global increase in

greenhouse gases.

The centerpiece of the study is the Eucalyptus Free Air CO2 Enrichment experiment, which has involved the construction of six fiber glass and steel ring structures 28 meters high and 25 meters in diameter in native woodland in Richmond, New South Wales. The structures contain an array of sensors that will deliver a concentration of CO2 to the trees within the rings.

This, scientists say, will recreate an atmosphere where CO2 is at 550 ppm - about 40% higher than current levels - to see how the environment would change for living things, including More on 15 humans.

Amir attends GCC meet in Saudi Arabia

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (left) meets with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah upon his arrival at Riyadh airport May 14, 2012. Leaders of the Gulf Arab States arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday for the Gulf Cooperation Council summit. (Reuters)

West African bloc may re-impose Mali sanctions BAMAKO: West Africa’s regional bloc threatened Monday to re-impose sanctions on Mali, saying that the junta’s actions “appear clearly designed to disrupt the political transition” after a coup in the West African nation.

The statement came as Mali’s junta leader declared that the country would hold a national convention to choose a leader to rule until elections can be organized.

One of the key points of disagreement now between the junta and the Economic Community of West African States is who should be president of Mali once the current interim president’s term ends May 22. ECOWAS would like the interim president to remain; junta leader Capt. Amadou Sanogo has said that this decision can’t be imposed on them.

Airlift of South Sudanese begins from Khartoum KHARTOUM: An airlift of up to 15,000 ethnic South Sudanese began on Monday from Khartoum, taking them back to a homeland some have never known.

The first of dozens of planes chartered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) took off at 0615 GMT with around 160 South Sudanese.

They are among 12,000-15,000 Southerners who have been waiting to travel South from the Kosti waystation 300 kilometers (190 miles) from Khartoum.

Kosti became home to the biggest single concentration of South Sudanese needing transport to South, with many living in makeshift shelters or barn-like buildings for up to a year, and dependent on foreign aid. The governor of the Kosti area declared the migrants a threat to security and the environment and ordered them out by May 5, sparking concern from the United Nations and the IOM which has already helped thousands of South Sudanese head South. Officials extended the deadline to May 20 but then told IOM to disregard the time limit afMore on 4 ter plans for the airlift were devised.

“The ECOWAS Commission has observed with deep concern the worrying statements and actions emanating from members of the (junta) and their civilian associates in the last few days,” said a statement from ECOWAS. The statement warned that Mali would again face sanctions if the putsch did not alter its behavior. “Failure on the part of the (junta) and their civilian allies to clearly reaffirm their commitment to the transitional arrangement in the next few days ... will be met with the immediate reinstatement of the targeted sanctions,” the statement said. ECOWAS imposed heavy sanctions on Mali shortly after the March 21 coup, but lifted the measures a few days later when the junta agreed in principle to return the country to constitutional rule. -AP

Group claims Afghan peace envoy killing

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Plane crash at ‘gateway to Himalayas’ airport, kills at least 15 KATHMANDU: A plane with 21 people on board has crashed while trying to land at a mountain airstrip near a popular tourist destination in Nepal’s northern Himalayas, killing at least 15, authorities said.

Monday’s accident happened at Jomsom airport, about 200km northwest of the capital Kathmandu, a gateway to a popular tourism and trekking destination situated more than 2,600m above sea level.

“Fifteen people have been killed. Thirteen of them were Indian tourists and the other two were Nepali pilots,” Binod Singh, police spokesman, told AFP news agency on Monday.

“There are six survivors, among them one Nepali air hostess,” he added.

Survivors in critical condition were flown by helicopter to a More on 5 hospital in the nearby city of Pokhara.

Iranian rapper draws religious wrath, death bounty

DUBAI: An Iranian rapper living in Germany has a $100,000 bounty on his head after an Islamist website offered a reward for anyone who kills him over a song that satirizes the Islamic Republic and irreverently addresses a historic religious figure.

The Iranian news and religion website Shia-Online.ir said hip-hop star Shahin Najafi deserved to die for a song which it said “grossly insulted” Ali al-Hadi alNaqi, one of the 12 imams, the religious figures highly revered by Shi’ite Muslims.

Najafi denied his song focused on the revered Shi’ite imam or was meant to criticize Islam.

The song takes the form of a prayer to the ninth century Naqi and expresses ironic reverence for many contemporary Iranian figures. With references ranging from Iranians’ love of nose jobs to economic sanctions and the contested 2009 More on 17 presidential election.

Faces of fallen journalists are displayed at the Journalists memorial wall during a rededication ceremony at the Newseum in Washington on May 14, 2012 of the Journalists Memorial in honor of the 2,156 journalists who have died covering the news, with special recognition for the 70 journalists who lost their lives in 2011. (AFP)

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ALWATAN DAILY

kuwait

tuesDAY, may 15, 2012

Visa issuance on board for Kuwaitis bound for Indonesia Ricky Laxa Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Entry visas to Indonesia are issued to Kuwaitis on board Indonesia’s flag carrier Garuda Airlines or upon entry to the country says Indonesian Envoy to Kuwait Ferry Adamhar in an interview during the opening of Kuwait Travel Expo 2012 held at Kuwait International Exhibition grounds Monday morning. The opening of the expo was officiated by the Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Communication Abdulmohsen Al-Mutairi.

“Since the launch of Tourism Indonesia in Kuwait, the response was excellent and we would like to re-enforce our stand in promoting the many touristic features of Indonesia that cater to family and single tourists for the coming summer holidays. In fact, visa entry can now be processed on board should Kuwaitis decide to book their flights with Garuda Airlines or avail with ease upon entry at the airports” commented Ambassador Adamhar.

The Indonesian Envoy added that Kuwait is equally important with other states in the region or the Middle East and that its participation in such event hopes to boost and encourage tourists to discover further the country’s rich touristic destinations. Among other events mapped for the year is series of promotions including table top consultations and individual meetings with local agencies. He also said that the embassy is in close cooperation with tourism agencies and sectors in Indonesia to further enhance its approach to promoting the country.

On the side, Director for International Tourism Promotion, Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia, Nia Niscaya told Al Watan Daily that Indonesia

Group photo of Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Communication Abdulmohsen Al-Mutairi, Ambassador of Indonesia to Kuwait Ferry Adamhar, Director for International Tourism Promotion, Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia Nia Niscaya during the opening of Kuwait Travel Expo 2012 Monday, May 14, 2012. (KUNA)

has taken a serious approach in promoting its tourism sector and with 1,031 Kuwaiti visitors last summer proved a relevant number to have begun with. “Kuwaitis will love Indonesia for

its diverse destinations, value for Kuwaiti Dinar and since the fasting month coincides with the summer vacation, Indonesia offers variety of activities with sumptuous “Buka Puasa”

or break of fast dining facilities that will offer local to international delicacies. Prior to the “Hari Raya Aidilfitri” or “Eid” a lavish carnival will take center stage to welcome the occasion,

‘Immunity protects MP while shouldering responsibilities, doesn’t place him above law’ Staff Writer

KUWAIT: In a study prepared by constitutional and law expert Faleh Al-Azab, he said that the recent incidents that occurred at the National Assembly have raised a heated political and legal debate regarding freedom of speech and its limits. He explained that the parliamentary immunity is not a personal privilege to place the Member of Parliament (MP) above the law, but a means to guarantee that the MP can shoulder his responsibilities effectively. He added that the immunity is a necessary legal exception that aims to make the legislative authority immune to attacks that might occur by other authorities. However, that does not mean that MPs are above the law and that they are not to be supervised, since the immunity was

granted to MPs for a specific reason. MPs must not break the law, or else they will be held fully responsible.

Furthermore, he said that he will tackle the crime of slander and defamation, because many people confuse those crimes with freedom of speech. He mentioned that any words that are used to insult a person or tarnish his image among others are considered to be slander. He asserted that responsibility and freedom are two faces of the same coin, and criticized some MPs for taking advantage of freedom of speech to make personal gains. He went on to say that this triggers a state of disgruntlement among citizens who fear that this would render the Constitution and parliamentary control obsolete.

Moreover, a few MPs believe that their consti-

tutional rights are absolute while other constitutional laws can be broken, although the Constitution’s 183 articles are binding, where one article cannot be violated for another article. The immunity of MPs is not a divine right, but is a constitutional right that is restrained by the National Assembly. He remarked that the MP has an absolute right in discussing the performance of the government, but if he decides to discuss other issues, his immunity is void. He said that unfortunately, some MPs believe that their immunity is absolute, even if he breaks all constitutional laws.

In addition, he stated that the MP is loyal to his tribe, sect, and family, which makes people from this sect or tribe vote for him. He went on to say that the tribe and sect have become far more powerful than culture and the law.

No conflict of interest between committees: MP Al-Omairi Staff Writer

KUWAIT: In a press release made available to Al Watan, the member of the committee set up to investigate the overseas cash transference and Member of Parliament (MP) Abdulatif Al-Omairi said that the former Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed had sent a written apology in which he stated that the case has been closed by the court.

MP Al-Omairi said that there is clear discrepancy in the way the issue of overseas cash transference has been dealt with. He further explained that the lawsuit was based on some paper clips from various national newspapers submitted by a citizen and therefore the court ordered that the case would be closed.

He went on to add that the parliamentary committee is authorized by Article 114 and that it will never collide with the work of the investigative committee assigned to look into the issue.

“The parliamentary Overseas Cash Transference Committee is by no means an investigative committee and we are certainly no CID officers.

The committee has a great role to play assigned by the National Assembly to look into the matter.

The committee may recommend that some form of amendments into the bylaws should be made.

There is a possibility however that it will end up with a political interpellations and subsequently the removal of some state officials. Another possibility is that the case may end up in the Criminal

Twitter trial set for May 21: Lawyer

KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti man charged with defaming the Prophet Mohammad on Twitter as well as insulting the rulers of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will stand trial on May 21 and plead not guilty, his lawyer said on Monday.

The case of Shiite Muslim Hamad Al-Naqi, who faces up to 10 years in jail if convicted, has caused uproar in the Gulf Arab state, where dozens of Sunni Muslim activists and lawmakers have protested against his alleged crime in the streets.

Some have called for him to be put to death.

Blasphemy is illegal under Kuwaiti law as is libel.

Al-Naqi was arrested in March and charged with defaming the Islamic faith and the Prophet Mohammad, as well as his companions and his own wife on the popular micro blog. Prosecutors later charged him with insulting the rulers of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia on Twitter too. Al-Naqi has told police that he did not make any of the comments and that his account was hacked.

Earlier this month, lawmakers endorsed a legal amendment that could make such crimes - if committed by Muslims - punishable by death. Al-Naqi’s lawyer said the amendment should not affect his client however. “The new law does not affect this case because it happened in the past,” his lawyer, Khaled Al-Shatti, told Reuters. “The new law will only take effect in the future,” he said.

“If Al-Naqi is found guilty of endangering state security the maximum penalty he could face would be 10 years in jail,” Al-Shatti added.

Twitter is extremely popular in Kuwait. One million accounts were registered in the country of 3.6 million as of April, a two-fold rise in 12 months, according to Paris-based Semiocast, which compiles Twitter data.

Although Kuwait has largely been spared the sectarian violence that has flared in other countries in the region, the Sunni government is acutely aware of the risk of tensions between Sunnis and minority Shiites boiling over.

The authorities are particularly sensitive to developments in Bahrain, where the Sunni monarchy has cracked down on mainly Shiite Muslim protesters.

In the past, those convicted of blasphemy in Kuwait or of insulting Gulf rulers have faced fines or jail terms of varying lengths depending on the severity of the comments, lawyers say. -Reuters

Kuwaiti journalists share their experiences with Indians

Member of the Parliament (MP) Abdulatif Al-Omairi during a press conference held at the National Assembly on Monday, May 14, 2012. (Al Watan)

Court,” he explained. He added that the role of the investigative committee first and foremost is to get to the bottom of the issue.

As for the written letter submitted by the for-

mer Prime Minister, the MP said that this is easily refutable because his committee has nothing to do with the Ministers’ Court which is independent by function and role.

Municipal Council designates 4 conservation areas KUWAIT: The Municipal Council agreed on Monday to designate four locations in Kuwait as wildlife and marine conservations under a cabinet decree for rehabilitating the local environment. These are Umm Niqa, AlHuwaimilia, Wadi Al-Baten and Om Qdair.

During its routine meeting, the Council, chaired by Zayd Ayesh, adopted a range of decisions relating to the municipal, social and public health, and traffic affairs.

The meeting approved a recommendation

which tourists will definitely enjoy and remember”, commented Niscaya.

The Indonesian booth displays various tourism promotion materials across such various tourism themes as history and heritage, culinary, recreational sports, MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) and golf with more emphasis on rafting and spa. This is in addition to the natural beauty and fascinating sceneries that Indonesia is blessed with, the wealth of art and culture that reflects the presence of hundreds of ethnic groups as well as the kindness of its people. To show a part of this wealth of culture, a well-known Indonesian traditional and contemporary dancer, Didi Nini Thowok, is also scheduled to perform on the stage of the Kuwait Travel World Expo Hall 4A on May 16, 2012 at 7 P.M. Indonesia has increasingly been the destination of many Kuwaitis to spend their holiday overseas reflected in the growing number of Kuwaiti tourists to Indonesia year by year.With the beauty of nature across 17,000 islands, wealth of culture and kindness of its people, Indonesia offers an extensive choice of tourism destinations that are not merely based on business and money, but also on the historically close bonds between the people of Indonesia and Kuwait. Taking this opportunity, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia would like to invite all people in Kuwait to visit the Indonesian booth in the Kuwait Travel World Expo at Kuwait International Fairs Hall 4A booth no.

B8 from 14 to 16 May and explore the beauty of Indonesia. Among other embassies that participate in the event are Republic of Botswana, Malaysia, Republic of Brazil, Korea, Holland, Republic of Malawi, Morocco, Thailand, South Africa and special booths to promote Kuwait Airways and Kuwait Ministry of Commerce.

by Council member Jenan Boshehri for allocating warehouses for the foodstuff consignments belonging to Kuwait Municipality.

Rapporteur of the fact-finding committee on Al-Qurain markets Mohammed Al-Hadiyah, briefed the meeting, in a report, on the problems that faced his panel, including the lack of cooperation from the concerned executive body.

The Council members debated a study, worked out by the council member Moham-

med Al-Hadiya, on the traffic jams in Salwa and Al-Rumaithia areas.

They approved the recommendation by former MP Mokhallad Al-Azemi for launching a flyover linking Salwa to Injefah Beach, a recommendation for posting commercial ads atop of Kuwait disabled sports club, a suggestion by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs to expand a mosque in Al-Salmiya neighborhood by 1,200 sq m., and a suggestion to expand Teiba Hospital in Sabah Al-Salem area. -KUNA

NEW DELHI: A visiting delegation of ten senior Kuwaiti journalists shared their experiences with Indian scholars, academicians and journalists, about their society, role of women, and media, back home.

They delved into how Kuwaiti media has grown over the years, and is still developing at a fast pace.

The journalists were speaking at a seminar titled “Society, Gender and Media: Experiences from Kuwait” at New Delhi-based Jamia Milia Islamia University’s “India-Arab Cultural Centre”.

Initiating the discussion, coordinator of the Kuwaiti delegation Adnan Khalifa Al-Rashed emphasized that India has a great influence over the Kuwaiti society and media, as it is a “great ancient civilization not only in Asia but internationally”.

“It has a rich mix of traditions, customs, dreams and aspirations,” said Rashed and added that his country attaches great significance to India. According to him, this is the first Kuwaiti media delegation (of this level) visiting India.

Commenting on journalism in his country, he said that it began in 1928 when three journals started getting published, and “daily journalism” began in 1960s.

“Indians played a significant role in technical aspects in the development of Kuwaiti journalism. Today, there are more than 15 Arabic dailies in Kuwait, three mainstream English dailies, tens of weekly magazines and tens of specialized magazines being published in Kuwait,” said Adnan.

Delving on the role of Kuwaiti women, Haila Al-Metaimi, a professor of political science at Kuwait’s College of Social Sciences, said that her country’s female gender has come a long way of struggle

to achieve political power. “The Kuwaiti women struggled for nearly 30 years, before finally getting voting rights in 2006, but then took just three years to enter Kuwaiti parliament after successfully winning four parliamentary seats in 2009. But, the last elections were again a setback for the Kuwaiti women when not even a single woman leader could win,” she said.

Haila further stated that Kuwaiti women played even a greater role in liberation of Kuwait (from Iraq), and thereafter began asserting their role in active politics, “though they started taking interest in Kuwait politics from 1970s.” “Kuwaiti Constitution provides equal rights to women in fields of politics and employment,” she added. According to her, “Women Diwanias” also played an important role in the development of women-politics in Kuwait, “as they are the best way of communicating and interacting about day-to-day issues faced by the country”. Among other Kuwaiti journalists present on the occasion were Kuwait News Agency’s (KUNA) Editor-in-Chief Rashed Mohammed Al-Ruwaished, Chairman of Kuwait Journalists Association and head of delegation Ahmed Yousuf Behbehani, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Al-Jazeera Saoud Rashed Al-Anezi, Editor-in-Chief of Kuwait Times Abdul Rahman Yousuf Al-Alyan, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Anba Yousef Khaled Al-Marzook, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Nahar Emad Jawad Bukhamseen.

The Kuwaiti journalists’ delegation arrived in New Delhi early Monday morning. They were received by officials of the Kuwait embassy and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. Later, Kuwait embassy hosted a lunch in their honor. -KUNA

ALWATAN DAILY

KUWAIT

tuesDAY, may 15, 2012

Cabinet supports legislative-executive powers’ dialogue

Cabinet is seen during their weekly meeting chaired by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad AlSabah (center) at Kuwait International Airport on Monday, May 14, 2012.

(KUNA)

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Amir heads to Riyadh for 14th GCC Consultative meeting

Photo of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Monday, May 14, 2012. (KUNA)

KUWAIT: The Cabinet supports and encourages the constructive dialogue between the legislative and executive powers to achieve the aspirations and goals of the Kuwaiti people, a statement by the Cabinet of ministers said here Monday.

During the Cabinet weekly meeting chaired by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah at Kuwait International Airport, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, said the meeting had discussed the recent happenings at the National Assembly, expressing discontent towards irresponsible acts carried out by several individuals which were against constitution, parliamentary by-laws, as well as Kuwaiti customs and

Islamic teachings.

He noted that the continuation of such acts would affect the parliament’s role in development and would lead to grave social consequences, adding that it would also reflect a negative image of the country, both locally and internationally.

The Cabinet, said the minister, believed in the constructive dialogue between the legislative and executives authorities, which in turn would help overcome differences and find solutions to problems.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled affirmed that the Cabinet supported the National Assembly’s steps and measures to tackle the issue of irresponsible acts at parliament and to prevent that from occurring in future sessions.

He said that the Cabinet called on MPs to

act within their jurisdictions and abide by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s calls for respect and dialogue between parliament and government.

On the recent fires in Rhayya and Amghara junkyards, the meeting was briefed on the issue by Minister of Commerce and Industry Anas Al-Saleh, as well as Minister of Electricity and Water and Minister of State for Municipal Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim, said Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled.

The Cabinet agreed on continuing the investigations on the matter to determine the causes of the fires, stated the minister, noting the Cabinet also called for measures to prevent such accidents from reoccurring due to its negative impacts on Kuwait’s security, economy and environment. -KUNA

‘Limited fire’, no damage to any documents: Foreign Ministry

KUWAIT: Foreign Undersecretary Khalid Suleiman Al-Jarallah issued a statement Monday reporting on a fire that broke out in a small office at the ministry, stressing it was “limited”, “had been controlled within 15 minutes”, and “had not damaged any documents”.

The statement pointed out the small fire was in an office and doused by ministry staff themselves using fire extinguishers before the arrival of the Fire Department team to the building.

There were only material losses with flames damaging furniture, and there is no damage of any sort to documents or files, Al-Jarallah stressed.

The undersecretary said the specialized bodies have started an investigation into the incident. -KUNA

Side from the fire that broke out in a small office at the ministry.

(KUNA)

Environmental Voluntary Foundation works to enhance awareness in society KUWAIT: The Kuwait Dive Team affiliated to the Environmental Voluntary Foundation (EVF) stressed keenness on enhancing environmental awareness and the spirit of volunteerism of all society segments inside Kuwait and abroad.

Head of the Environmental Voluntary Foundation (EVF) diving team Waleed Al-Fadhel said on Monday that 2012-2013 strategy, future programs and plans of the foundation were discussed in the annual EVF meeting late Sunday.

The meeting tackled the approved work values and operational plans of EVF for this year, including spreading the message of the foundation locally and abroad.

The main target of the team is to protect

and save Kuwaiti marine environment through implementing major projects, head of environmental projects of the team, Mahmoud Ashkanani said.

He talked about the projects meant to be implemented this year including cultivation of coral colonies and ceremonial sites, launching the team’s environmental films, besides others. Founder and Head of “Kuwait the Oasis” team Khalid Al-Klaib said that the message of the team is to expand the green squares in the country.

The team is working to create connections with a number of local and international groups of the same values.

He mentioned the future plans of the team for this year, and of top importance continuing

maintenance of the current three oases. EVF member Dalal Al-Se’eid said that the new slogan of the foundation is presenting the main components of the environment, namely water and plants.

EVF is a group of volunteers who are working to achieve programs, initiatives and projects of further protection to Kuwaiti environment, and working to convey the message of the foundation for the local and international communities, team member for cultural affairs Salwa Al-Asfar told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). EVF agenda includes a number of activities including Kuwaiti voluntary work forum, visits of schools and universities, launching Environmental Development commission, she added. -KUNA

Travel World Expo 2012 includes local, international agencies KUWAIT: Travel World Expo 2012 kicked off here Monday, with the participation of 30 local and international travel agencies.

“This exhibition have become a much-awaited annual event for travel lovers in Kuwait,” said Assistant Undersecretary of Ministry of Communications Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi in his opening speech, he read on behalf of Communication Minister Salem Mutheeb AlOthaina.

“It also sheds light on tourist destination in the State of Kuwait,” he added, wishing it would help revive local tourism industry.

The three-day event, held at the Kuwait International Fairs Ground, provides consumers a great opportunity to meet with travel industry representatives that showcase a wide array of destinations from a relaxed getaway to an exotic retreat in Kuwait.

Travel World Expo offers a huge platform for tour operators in Kuwait, Arab and non-Arab countries to explore their marketing strategies, as they get to meet a number of customers coming from different parts of the world. -KUNA

Travel industry representatives showcasing the South African destinations and culture Monday, May 14, 2012. (KUNA)

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah departed the country on Monday afternoon accompanied by an official delegation to attend the 14th Consultative meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders held in Riyadh.

The Amir was seen off at Kuwait International Airport by His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Abdulaziz Al-Saadoun, senior sheikhs, Deputy Chief of the National Guards Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

His Highness was also seen off by the Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, top state officials, top ranked

army, police and National Guards officials.

The Amir’s delegation to the meeting includes First Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shimali.

The delegation also includes Member of the Consultative Committee of the Supreme Council of the GCC Abdullah Yaqoub Basharah, Head of the Amir’s Office Ahmad Fahad Al-Fahad, Amiri Diwan Advisor Dr. Adel Al-Tabtabaie, Head of Amiri Protocols Sheikh Khalid Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah Al-Nasser Al-Sabah, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khalid Suleiman Al-Jarallah and senior Amiri Diwan and Foreign Ministry officials. -KUNA

American Cancer Society adopts Kuwaiti study on disease KUWAIT: The American Cancer Society adopted Monday a Kuwaiti study on the terminal illness, which would be featured in the society’s international conference next month. The study on head and neck cancerous diseases revealed that concentrated therapy provided better treatment results and less side-effect. The study, the first of its kind in the Gulf Cooperation Council

(GCC) region, attracted interests from regional states, namely Oman and Bahrain, as both expressed desires to support the continuation of the study with the Kuwaiti society to combat cancer. The Kuwait Society for Smoking and Cancer Prevention has been very active in this matter, issuing more than 30 medical studies on improving treatment methods for the disease. -KUNA

CSC may face confrontation by Islamic studies graduates Nora Janat

Staff Writer

KUWAIT: The Civil Service Commission (CSC) might be expecting possible confrontations with graduates of the Islamic Studies Faculty at Kuwait University, after it endorsed a recent decision which grants legal practitioners a financial bonus. According to the decision, legal practitioners from the Islamic Studies will not get bonus.

CSC endorsed a decision six year ago that equalizes the rights and duties of legal practitioners, whether they study law or Islamic studies

as both majors will fall under legal practitioners or legal researchers categories.

However, the new decision excludes graduates of Islamic studies, as the fourth item of the decision stipulates that positions of legal practitioners should be held just by law graduates.

CSC adopted the decision although the two faculties of law and Islamic studies were one faculty in the past.

A source at CSC disclosed that graduates of law will have bigger opportunities to hold such positions after excluding graduates of Islamic studies, adding that 400 law graduates are waiting for jobs as legal practitioners.

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ALWATAN DAILY

regional

The desert palace

By Hossam Fathi

How could a man sell a 40,000 square meter property on Lake Beach at a cost of only 75 Egyptian piasters for each square meter?! The price of a meter doesn’t exceed 8 cents and we know that one dollar is 100 cents.

About 7 years ago, my wife and I went to the Green Belt area to buy 5 acres near October City. We entered through gate no. 7 and walked inside the area in which there was nothing on the right or the left. After that we reached a white palace built on a big area estimated at more than 2,000 meters, we saw an open desert in front of the palace. The desert looked empty except for a very small mosque built there.

A man accompanied me to take me to the plot that I would buy. We went behind the mosque in the open desert and he said to me this is the plot, sir! I did not show interest in the plot. I headed towards the palace, when the man followed me and said “please this is the palace of (...) they will shoot us, please get back.”

The owner of the palace is the man who sold land at very cheap prices and sold about 300,000 square meters near the Ministry of Civil Aviation worth 1 Egyptian Pound for each meter!! hossam@alwatan.com.kw Twitter:@hossamfathy66

NGOs demand delay in proposed Gulf union CAPITALS: Liberal civil society groups in Gulf states called Monday on Saudi and Bahraini leaders to postpone plans to announce a union between them, saying such a step must be preceded by a referendum. “We urge the Saudi and Bahraini leaderships to review such a step and calculate the reactions of the two peoples,” the Gulf Forum for Civil Societies said in a statement signed by its secretary general Anwar Al-Rasheed. “We believe that postponing the announcement of such a step at this time will be appropriate,” said the forum which consists of mostly liberal activists from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. A consultative summit later Monday of leaders of the GCC states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia - could discuss a proposal to transform their six-nation council into a union. The exact nature of this union, first floated by Saudi King Abdullah in December, remains unclear but Bahrain’s state minister for information, Samira Rajab, said it could follow the “European Union model.”

The forum said a Saudi-Bahraini union “will not succeed if it is not preceded by taking the opinions of the Saudi and Bahraini peoples in order to gain legitimacy,” and called for a European Union-style referendum. The activists said that actions by the energy-rich GCC governments have so far been directed at averting the impact of sweeping pro-democracy protests in the Arab world but without fulfilling the ambitions of the people. Bahrain Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman said on Sunday the Gulf union has become urgent, in comments that were immediately followed by criticism from the Sunni-ruled and Shiite-majority kingdom’s main opposition formation Al-Wefaq. -AFP

NATO urged to probe 72 Libyan civilian deaths CAPITALS: NATO’s bombing campaign in Libya left 72 civilians dead last year, a leading human rights group said Monday, accusing the military alliance of failing to acknowledge the deaths.

In a 76-page report, Human Rights Watch urged NATO to provide “prompt and suitable compensation” to families for the civilian deaths, injuries and loss of property. HRW’s field investigation at the sites of eight NATO air strikes found that 20 women and 24 children were among the 72 people killed. “To date, NATO has failed to acknowledge these casualties or to examine how and why they occurred,” the New York-based group said in the report.

HRW reported a higher death toll than an investigation conducted by Amnesty International, which said in March that 55 people, including 16 children and 14 women, were killed in strikes in Tripoli and the towns of Zliten, Majer, Sirte and Brega.

The NATO campaign, which was authorized by the United Nations, played a key role in helping rebels bring down dictator Muammar Gadhafi, but it left a deep rift in the UN Security Council.

Russia, China, South Africa and India all say NATO’s tactics breached UN resolutions, but the Western alliance insists that its action were legal and saved civilians from a massacre. “NATO conducted the campaign for Libya with unprecedented care and precision and to a standard exceeding that required by international humanitarian law,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in a statement. “NATO did everything possible to minimize risks to civilians, but in a complex military campaign, that risk can never be zero,” she said. “We deeply regret any instance of civilian casualties for which NATO may have been responsible.” She added that the alliance “looked into each credible allegation” of harm to civilians and “confirmed that the specific targets struck

by NATO were legitimate military targets.” HRW acknowledged that NATO took great care to minimize civilian deaths during the seven-month campaign, during which the alliance flew some 26,000 sorties and hit almost 6,000 targets. “But information and investigations are needed to explain why 72 civilians died,” said Fred Abrahams, the report’s principal author. “Attacks are allowed only on military targets, and serious questions remain in some incidents about what exactly NATO forces were striking,” he said. -AFP

TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012

Palestinian inmates agree to end hunger strike: Official GAZA: Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails agreed on Monday to end a mass hunger strike under the terms of a deal brokered by Egypt, an official close to the talks told Reuters.

Some 1,600 prisoners, a third of the 4,800 Palestinians held by Israel, have been refusing food since April 17 in a protest that has challenged Israel’s policy of detention without trial and put the spotlight on jail conditions.

“Palestinian prisoners just signed the Egyptian drafted deal in which Israel met their demands,” the official told Reuters.

One in three of the 4,800 Palestinians serving time in Israeli jails began refusing food on April 17 in protest against detention without trial and to demand better conditions like an increase in family visits and ending solitary confinement.

“Egypt has concluded a deal to resolve the prisoner crisis that included Israel’s acceptance of prisoners’ demands in exchange for ending the hunger strike,” said the Palestinian source who is close to the talks in Cairo.

While Israel had signaled it was prepared to offer concessions on prison conditions, it has showed no willingness to end so-called administrative detention, where

prisoners can be held indefinitely without charge or trial.

Azzam Al-Ahmed, a senior official of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s mainstream Fatah movement, said prisoner leaders had been brought to a jail in the Israeli town of Ashkelon for discussions with Israeli officials on implementing the deal.

“We hope the agreement concludes today, barring any obstacles,” Ahmed told Voice of Palestine radio.

Ahmed said that under the draft accord, Israel would release so-called “administrative detainees”, prisoners held without trial, once their detention period was over. Israel usually holds such prisoners for six-month terms that a military court can extend.

A Palestinian official in Cairo said Israel also had agreed to renew family visits for prisoners from the Gaza Strip that had been suspended after Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants and taken to the Hamas-ruled territory in 2006.

He was released last October in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

On Monday, thousands of people held a rally in Gaza in support of the hunger strikers. “We will give our souls and blood to redeem the prisoners,” the crowd chanted. -Reuters

Palestinian women hold pictures of incarcerated relatives and flash the sign for victory during a sit-in demonstration in Gaza City on May 14, 2012 in support of Palestinian prisoners who are observing an open-ended hunger strike in Israeli jails. (AFP)

Heavy clashes between Syrian army, rebels in Rastan

AMMAN: Rebels killed 23 Syrian soldiers on Monday, according to a rights group opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, in battles around the town of Rastan that further undermined a sagging UNbacked ceasefire.

The fighting on the outskirts of Rastan followed heavy army shelling of the town in which opposition sources said at least nine people were killed, including a local rebel commander.

Rastan, 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Homs city, has slipped in and out of government control several times since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011. Shelling began on Sunday and intensified overnight, activists said, a new blow to a ceasefire declared by peace envoy Kofi Annan a month ago and which U.N. monitoring mission on the ground are observing.

“Shells and rockets have been hitting the town since three a.m. (midnight GMT) at a rate of one a minute. Rastan has been destroyed,” a member of the

rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA)in Rastan who declined to be named told Reuters by satellite phone.

He said among those killed was Ahmad Ayoub, an FSA commander whose fighters were battling the army forces which he said were made up of elite units and members of Military Intelligence.

The British-based Observatory said fighting began at dawn on Monday and that rebels destroyed three armored personnel carriers and seized two others, capturing around 15 soldiers.

Syria’s uprising began as a peaceful protest movement but has become increasingly militarized as rebels fight back against Assad’s violent crackdown. Syria restricts media access, making it difficult to verify accounts of the unrest.

Syria’s Sunni majority is at the forefront of the uprising against Al-Assad, whose minority Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Assad’s government says it is fighting a terrorist attempt to divide Syria.

Rastan has in the past been a major source of Sunni Muslim conscripts who provide most of manpower in the military, which is dominated by Alawite officers.

Sunni officers from Rastan began defecting after security forces shot dead dozens of demonstrators in the town and arrested many of its notables.

The area was scene of the first serious armed confrontations between army defectors and loyalist forces last year. Assad’s forces regained control of the city several times but it has kept falling back into rebel hands.

Its strategic location and the terrain has helped deserters from disparate units mount raids against army buses and roadblocks manned by Military Intelligence and pro-Assad militia, opposition activists said.

Rastan lies about 180 km (110 miles) north of Damascus, among farmland and wheat fields on the Orontes River and on the northern highway leading to Aleppo. -Reuters

Airlift of South Sudanese begins from Khartoum KHARTOUM: An airlift of up to 15,000 ethnic South Sudanese began on Monday from Khartoum, taking them back to a homeland some have never known.

The first of dozens of planes chartered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) took off at 0615 GMT with around 160 South Sudanese.

They are among 12,000-15,000 Southerners who have been waiting to travel South from the Kosti way-station 300 kilometers (190 miles) from Khartoum.

Kosti became home to the biggest single concentration of South Sudanese needing transport to South, with many living in makeshift shelters or barn-like buildings for up to a year, and dependent on foreign aid.

The governor of the Kosti area declared the migrants a threat to security and the environment and ordered them out by May 5, sparking concern from the United Nations and the IOM which has already helped thousands of South Sudanese head South.

Officials extended the deadline to May 20 but then told IOM to disregard the time limit after plans for the airlift were devised.

All ethnic Southerners were dismissed from Sudan’s civil service ahead of South Sudan’s independence last July under a peace deal that ended 22 years of civil war which killed two million people and drove many more to the north.

The South Sudanese in Kosti are

VIENNA: The UN nuclear watchdog signaled on Monday it would press Iran for access to a military facility where it suspects the Islamic state has built a chamber for high-explosive tests that could serve a bid to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran, which rejects Western accusations it seeks atomic arms, has so far resisted requests by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the extensive Parchin complex southeast of Tehran. The issue was expected to be raised during a high-level May 14-15 Vienna meeting between Iran and the IAEA. An IAEA report last November found Iran had built a large containment vessel in 2000 at the site in which to conduct high-explosive tests that the UN agency said were “strong indicators of possible (nuclear) weapon development”. “A building was constructed at that time around a large cylindrical object ... A large earth berm was subsequently constructed between the building containing the cylinder and a neighboring building, indicating the probable use of high explosives in the chamber.”

The IAEA said it had obtained satellite images that were consistent with this information. The vessel was designed to contain the detonation of up to 70 kg of high explosives. Western diplomats say they suspect Iran may be cleaning the location to remove incriminating evidence before inspectors can go there. A US security institute said last week satellite imagery showed activity there which it said raised concern that Iran may be “washing” the building the IAEA wants to see.

Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA has previously dismissed such suspicions about Parchin as “childish” and “ridiculous”. Herman Nackaerts, IAEA deputy director general, said Iran must give his inspectors access to sites, information and people as he began the two-day meeting with Iranian officials on the country’s disputed atomic activities. Nackaerts did not name the sites, but IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said earlier this month that gaining access to Parchin would be the priority for the IAEA in the talks.

The IAEA wants Iran to address in particular Western intelligence reports pointing to past and possibly current research activity relevant to developing the means and technologies to build nuclear weapons, including those suspected to have taken place at Parchin.

Iran says the accusations are fabricated.

It has suggested that a broader agreement with the IAEA - which regularly monitors Iran’s declared nuclear sites - on how to address the agency’s outstanding questions must be reached before it would consider letting inspectors into Parchin. -Reuters

Iraq bombings kill six Ethnic South Sudanese board a plane to fly home at Sudan’s Khartoum airport on May 14, 2012 as an airlift of up to 15,000 South Sudanese began. (AFP)

among about 350,000 ethnic Southerners who the South Sudanese embassy estimates remain in the north after an April 8 deadline to either formalise their status in the north or leave the country.

Hundreds of thousands of others have already gone to South Sudan.

The IOM said most of the Southerners in Kosti did not have their own means to arrange transportation. Jill Helke, who

heads the IOM in Sudan, said a second flight may take more Southerners to Juba later Monday.

Initial plans had called for six flights a day, but the aircraft and crews have been delayed in arriving, she said. Even with six daily flights the airlift would require about two weeks to move all the Kosti Southerners, who are first bussed to Khartoum. -AFP

Libya election candidate killed in remote south

TRIPOLI: A candidate for Libya’s national elections was killed in the desert south shortly after submitting his registration, security sources said, highlighting the North African country’s volatility a month before the polls.

Khaled Abu Saleh had registered as a candidate for the national assembly elections in the town of Obari around midday on Sunday and was travelling back home when his car was targeted by an armed group, a security source said.

“We believe it was a criminal gang, an investigation is under way,” the source

UN inspectors to push Iran on military site access

said. “He was travelling alone by car.”

The election, set to take place on June 19, will be a novelty for Libyans as it will be the first since the fall in a popular uprising last year of Muammar Gadhafi, who banned the ballot box during his 42-year iron-fisted rule. The vote will play a central role in allocating power among competing regions and tribes and pave the way for a new constitution, although shaky security has raised concern for the viability of the election.

The interim government is struggling to assert its authority over dozens of mili-

tias who take orders only from their commanders and refuse to disarm.

Last week, one person was killed and several injured when militiamen protesting outside the prime minister’s office started shooting.

In the assembly, 80 of the 200 seats will go to political parties and the rest to independent candidates. More than 1.5 million Libyans have registered to vote so far, according to the national electoral commission. It estimates a total 3.4 million potential voters out of a population of 6 million people. -Reuters

BAGHDAD: Six people were killed in attacks in central and northern Iraq on Monday, including five who died in a spate of bombings in the former insurgent bastion of Fallujah, officials said. In Fallujah, just west of Baghdad, three bomb attacks in close succession killed five people and wounded 18 others.

An initial car bomb detonated in the centre of the city, killing five people and wounding eight, Anbar provincial police spokesman First Lieutenant Ali Al-Amiri and doctor Omar Dalli from Fallujah hospital said.

Two more attacks - a motorcycle bomb and a roadside bomb - in the east and west of the city respectively wounded 10 more people, including two traffic policemen, the officials said.

Explosives experts defused one more car bomb and two roadside bombs.

Fallujah is in western Sunni Arab Anbar province. It was one of several towns along the Euphrates valley that became Al-Qaeda strongholds after the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

However, from 2006, local Sunni tribes sided with the US military and unrest dwindled in Anbar as rebel fighters were ejected from the region.

Another attack on Monday in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk left intelligence service First Lieutenant Abbas Fatih Ahmed dead when a magnetic “sticky bomb” attached to his car detonated shortly after he left his house, deputy provincial police chief Major General Torhan Abdulrahman said. Violence across Iraq is down from its peaks in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common. A total of 126 Iraqis were killed in April, according to official figures. -AFP

ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD

tuesdAY, may 15, 2012

Plane crash at ‘gateway to Himalayas’ airport, kills at least 15 KATHMANDU: A plane with 21 people on board has crashed while trying to land at a mountain airstrip near a popular tourist destination in Nepal’s northern Himalayas, killing at least 15, authorities said.

Monday’s accident happened at Jomsom airport, about 200km northwest of the capital Kathmandu, a gateway to a popular tourism and trekking destination situated more than 2,600m above sea level.

“Fifteen people have been killed. Thirteen of them were Indian tourists and the other two were Nepali pilots,” Binod Singh, police spokesman, told AFP news agency on Monday.

“There are six survivors, among them one Nepali air hostess,” he added.

Survivors in critical condition were flown by helicopter to a hospital in the nearby city of Pokhara.

The plane hit a mountain while it was turning to land at the airport, Laxmi Raj Sharma, chief government administrator in the area, said, adding initial investigations show that the plane might have suffered technical problems.

The wrecked aircraft was in pieces but did not catch fire.

Nareswor Aryal, a local police official, said the plane carried two pilots and a flight attendant, along with 16 Indians and two Western-

Air hostess Roshni Saiju is brought to the hospital for treatment and (right) an Agni Air Dornier Do 228 light passenger aircraft at Jomsom Airport. (Reuters)

ers. Baburam Bhattarai, the prime minister, issued a statement expressing condolences at the deaths of the 15 people.

Merkel weighs up party’s crushing defeat in state vote

North Rhine-Westphalian top candidate of the CDU Norbert Roettgen (right) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) attend the federal board meeting of the Christian Democrats at the Konrad Adenauer House in Berlin, Germany, May 14.

(EPA)

BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel was counting the cost Monday of an historic drubbing for her conservative party by voters in Germany’s most populous state, in the countdown to next year’s national polls.

With about 16 months to go until she seeks a third term in office, Merkel must weigh up how to ensure a national victory for her Christian Democrats (CDU) as well as see through her eurozone crisisfighting policy.

A snap vote in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany’s most populous with 18 million people, handed her CDU party its worst ever result in the state, with just over 26 percent, according to preliminary results.

The main opposition Social Democrats (SPD) took 39 percent in NRW, home to the Ruhr industrial heartland, and looks set to again form a state coalition government with the ecologist Greens, although, this time, with a majority.

A senior CDU official denied the party’s heavy losses in NRW would impact its national policy.

Support for Merkel’s drive for austerity and balanced budgets is “independent of this painful result from this regional parliamentary election,” CDU General Secretary Hermann Groehe said, accord-

ing to the German DPA news agency.

The NRW vote does not directly affect Merkel’s national coalition and surveys have consistently indicated strong national support among German voters for her austerity drive in Europe and for her party.

However, the NRW defeat may bolster the opposition in its bid to force Merkel to soften her austerity policy and is a further setback after voters punished governments in fellow eurozone nations France and Greece that had toed the line for Germanimposed budgetary belt-tightening. And it came two days ahead of a highly-anticipated meeting in Berlin between Merkel and France’s president-elect Francois Hollande who beat her centre-right ally on Europe, president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Socialist Hollande campaigned on a pledge to renegotiate the eurozone’s fiscal pact, agreed in March, which binds member states to austerity measures and which Merkel argues is essential to underpin the continent’s eventual recovery.

The SPD has echoed calls by Hollande to place more emphasis on growth in the fiscal pact and Merkel, who needs a twothirds majority in parliament to ratify the fiscal pact, will therefore require opposition support. Der Spiegel news weekly said the SPD now faces a dilemma. -AFP

Uighurs ‘face fight for existence’ against China

XINJIANG: Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer said Monday her people face a fight for their very existence against Chinese repression as a conference in Japan threatened to drive a wedge between Tokyo and Beijing. And in a move that looked likely to provoke China, Kadeer also visited Japan’s controversial Yasukuni shrine, which commemorates those responsible for the brutal 20th-century invasions and occupations in the name of the emperor.

Ethnic Uighurs and their supporters from around the world gathered in the Japanese capital for a meeting aimed at pressing their claim for freedom from what Kadeer called China’s intensifying crackdown. “Before, we were fighting for our rights, we were protesting against China’s oppression,” Kadeer told reporters after opening the conference. “But now we face a fight for our existence.”

“The situation is now worse than it was in 2009,” when Uighurs demonstrated and clashed with the Chinese authorities, she said.

Many Uighurs complain that they are the victims of state-sanctioned persecution and

marginalization in their homeland in northwest China, aided by the migration of millions of Han Chinese into the territory. The resulting ethnic tensions have led to sporadic flashes of violence in the Xinjiang region, which is home to nine million Uighurs. Kadeer told the meeting that Beijing’s policy of “forcible assimilation” was unacceptable in a modern democracy.

“The Chinese government says it is assimilating and eventually eliminating the Uighur people and other indigenous people... meanwhile China is becoming a global power,” she said at the opening of the congress.

“We are peacefully struggling and hope the Chinese government will stop the repressing of Uighur people... and take political reforms to change their authoritarian rule,” she said.

Beijing says it has poured money into Xinjiang in a bid to raise living standards and boost the local economy. Xinjiang authorities have also announced measures stipulating all businesses and projects hire more ethnic minority workers, but Uighurs say the rules are not always respected. -AFP

The passengers had chartered the flight to take them from the central tourist hub of Pokhara to Muktinath, a sacred place for Hin-

dus and Buddhists at the foot of the Thorong La Himalayan mountain pass, said Rajendra Singh Bhandari, Nepal police regional spokesman.

“A Nepal army barracks was near the accident site which made the rescue of survivors easier,” he added.

The aircraft involved in the accident was a Dornier plane belonging to the local Agni Air company. The airline operates three Germanbuilt Dornier 228 aircraft, according to the airline’s website.

Pramod Pandey, Agni Air marketing manager, said two Danish nationals were among the passengers, although their condition was not known.

The crash was the second deadly air accident for Agni Air in less than two years.

In August 2010 one of the private carrier’s Everest-bound planes crashed in bad weather near Kathmandu, killing all 14 people on board, including four US citizens, a Japanese and a British national.

Aviation accidents are relatively common, particularly during the summer monsoon season, when visibility is usually at its worst.

A small Buddha Air plane taking tourists on a sightseeing trip around Mount Everest crashed in September last year, killing all 19 people on board. -Reuters

Group claims Afghan peace envoy killing KABUL: A Taliban splinter group has claimed responsibility for the killing of Arsala Rahmani, a top negotiator for Afghanistan’s High Peace Council (HPC), according to Pakistani media reports.

The little-known Mahaz-e-Mullah Dadullah, or Mullah Dadullah Front, said it was behind Sunday’s shooting in a text message, the Express-Tribune newspaper said on Monday.

According to a spokesman who identified himself as Qari Hamza, Rahmani had been targeted because of his connections to the government in Kabul and its foreign allies.

“The infidel forces had assigned Arsala [Rahmani] to sell out the mujahideen to non-Muslims, so that the non-Muslims continue their occupation of Afghanistan,” the man said. “We will target and eliminate all such people.”

Mahaz-e-Mullah Dadullah, which operates mainly out of Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan provinces, is named after a senior Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah, who was killed in Helmand province in 2007, and opposes Taliban negotiations with the US. Rahmani was killed in western Kabul on Sunday when an unknown attacker in a vehicle shot the former Taliban deputy education minister while on his way to work, said Mohammad Zahir, head of the

Kabul police department’s criminal investigation division.

“Shortly after leaving home he was hit by a single bullet from a passing car. The bullet passed through his left arm and hit his heart,” Mohammad Waris, Rahmani’s grandson, told the AFP news agency. “He died in the hospital.”

The former British ambassador to Afghanistan discusses the prospects for peace and stability.

Rahmani was on his way to a meeting with politicians and other officials in a government-run media centre in the heavily barricaded diplomatic centre of Kabul. At a news conference in Kabul, the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s domestic intelligence agency, said on Sunday that it had received prior information about assassination attempts on Rahmani.

“We had twice informed Rahmani about the plot.

The information was shared with him by an NDS operative in person,” a spokesman for the Afghan spy service, Shafiqullah Tahiri, said.

Authorities had taken precautions to ensure round-the-clock security for the peace negotiator, installing barricades and placing guards on patrol outside his west Kabul residence, Tahiri said while invoking the term Afghan authorities use to describe the Taliban and other anti-government fighters. -AFP

Lee makes 1st South Korean trip to Myanmar since attack

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak (center) walks past honour guards after he arrived in Naypyidaw on May 14. (AFP)

YANGON: Myanmar tightened security for an official visit by President Lee Myung-bak on Monday, the first by a South Korean leader since an assassination attempt by North Korean commandos nearly 30 years ago.

Lee flew first to the capital Naypyitaw to meet with Myanmar’s President Thein Sein as part of a two-day visit that “is expected to strengthen ties” between the Asian countries, a statement from Lee’s office said.

The South Korean president is the latest dignitary to visit Myanmar as it transitions from a military dictatorship to a fledgling democracy and opens its massive investment potential to the eager international community. The statement said Lee planned to discuss how to increase economic ties and cooperation in energy, the development of natural resources and other sectors.

Truckloads of riot police were stationed at major intersections in Naypyitaw and around Yangon, where Lee was to visit Tuesday and meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Security was particularly tight at the Martyr’s Mausoleum, a monument to Suu Kyi’s father where then-South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan was nearly killed in 1983.

The bomb blast killed 21 people, 17 of them

South Korean, including four Cabinet ministers and the South Korean ambassador to what was then known as Burma. Chun was not hurt because he arrived a few minutes late at a ceremony to pay tribute to Gen. Aung San, the country’s slain independence hero.

Three North Korean agents were arrested for the attack. One of them blew himself up while being arrested, a second was hanged in prison and a third died inside Yangon’s infamous Insein Prison in 2008.

After the bombing, Myanmar’s then-dictator Ne Win severed diplomatic relations with North Korea, but those ties were restored in 2007.The United States and other nations have expressed concern about Myanmar’s ties with nuclear-armed North Korea.

Arms experts say Myanmar- which faces an arms embargo from many Western states - gets weaponry from Pyongyang in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. Some believe there is nuclear cooperation between the two countries, which Myanmar denies.

South Korea is the fourth largest foreign investor in Myanmar after China, Hong Kong and Thailand with a total investment of $2.67 billion for the 20102011 fiscal year, according to the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development. -AFP

5

NEWS IN BRIEF Eleven killed in Philippine bus plunge BAGUIO CITY: Eleven people died and 10 others were injured when a bus fell into a ravine in the northern Philippines, police said Monday. Disaster struck near the town of Bontoc, 275 kilometers (170 miles) north of Manila, on Sunday when a bag fell off the vehicle as it labored up an uphill road and the driver stopped for it, a provincial police report said. The bus however rolled backwards until it pitched down a 150-metre (500-foot) cliff. Rescuers pulled 11 corpses from the bottom of the ravine and rescued 14 people, including four who escaped injury. -AFP

Blast kills nine in Afghan north kabul: Explosives planted on a bicycle killed nine people in the relatively peaceful Faryab province of northern Afghanistan on Monday, including a provincial council member, police said, amid an increase in violence across the country.

The attack came a day after gunmen shot dead a top Afghan peace negotiator in the capital Kabul, dealing another blow to the country’s attempts to negotiate a deal with the Taliban as a means to ending the war. The Taliban denied involvement.

Police said the remote-controlled bomb killed eight civilians and council member Amanullah Shahabzai as they sat in front of a pharmacy in the Ghormach district of Faryab. -Reuters

Indian Maoist rebels kill seven in attack on police CHATTISGARH: Indian Maoist rebels ambushed a police patrol and shot dead six officers and a civilian in the central state of Chhattisgarh, a hotbed of leftwing extremism, according to police. The police were heading towards their post in Kirandul town, 475 kilometers (300 miles) south of the state capital Raipur, on Sunday when a large number of rebels attacked them, the local head of the antiMaoist operation Ramniwas, who uses one name, told AFP. “Six personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force and a civilian driver were killed in the indiscriminate firing by the Maoists,” he said. -AFP

Dalai Lama alleges poison plot, China cries foul BEIJING: China accused the Dalai Lama of being deceitful Monday after he reportedly alleged that Chinese agents trained Tibetan women to assassinate him by planting poison in their hair for him to touch during blessings. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the Tibetan spiritual leader’s allegations, reported in the London-based Sunday Telegraph newspaper, were not worth refuting, but added that he generally spreads false information.

“The Dalai always wears religious clothes while carrying out anti-China separatist activities in the global community, spreading false information and deceiving the public,” spokesman Hong Lei said at a routine daily news briefing. -AP

Greece hits political stalemate, euro exit fears grow

ATHENS: Greece’s president met little enthusiasm from political leaders summoned to a final round of talks on Monday to avert a new election, reinforcing fears the country was firmly on the path to bankruptcy and an exit from the euro zone.

European shares slid and Spanish and Italian bond yields rose as the political deadlock threatened to reignite the euro zone debt crisis. Greek banking stocks tumbled 7 percent.

Greece’s political landscape has been in disarray since an inconclusive election on May 6 left parliament divided between supporters and opponents of a 130 billion euro (168.3 billion US dollars) EU/IMF bailout, with neither side able to form a government.

After Sunday’s effort at cajoling party leaders into a coalition proved fruitless, President Karolos Papoulias summoned four party leaders for a fresh round of talks on Monday evening.

But the talks appeared doomed long before they began, as the young leader of the radical leftist SYRIZA party said he would not attend and another leftist leader refused to take part in any coalition unless SYRIZA was on board.

Papoulias must call a new election if he fails to engineer a compromise. Such a poll is expected to be held in mid-June.

With Greece set to run out of money as early as next month and no government in place to negotiate the next aid tranche, investors have begun betting that a long-speculated Greek default and euro exit will happen sooner rather than later.

European paymaster Germany appealed to Greeks to build a viable government, but acknowledged that the country was in a difficult situation.

The prospect of national bankruptcy and a return to the drachma appeared to be slowly sinking in among Greeks, who must now choose between the pain of spending cuts demanded in return for aid and an even more painful existence outside the euro. -Reuters

6

ALWATAN DAILY

OPINION

tuesDAY, may 15, 2012

In dire need of a parliamentary regulatory committee Nabeel Al-Fadhl

W

e strongly censure and condemn the recent incident in parliament wherein MP Mohammad AlJuwaihel not only insulted but actually plucked the raw nerve of spitting on colleague MP Hamad Al-Mattar wherein; in his capacity as a respectable and responsible representative of the people, he should have exercised decorum and etiquette in handling the situation in a decent and responsible manner. And although he can never bring himself to justify his irrational behavior, no matter how rationally he might try to portray his sudden outburst, we can take consolation in the underlying fact that his indignant behavior will surely culminate in realizing three positive points.

The first positive point lies in the fact that his unwarranted arrogance will surely prompt other MPs to maintain a unified and consolidated stance against the repetition of similar behavioral patterns witnessed among other MPs in the future. The second point has already been enforced as is evident in the fact that members of the National Assembly have already called for the enforcement of Article 89 of the Constitution which, by law, compels MPs to refrain from engaging in rash behavior for any reason whatsoever.

The third point to be noted here is that some MPs are now calling to have certain penalties imposed, on those that engage in irrational behavior, which are non-existent at this current point of time. All these points further enhance and consolidate the notion of realizing the formation of a parliamentary regulatory committee to observe and monitor the demeanor of MPs inside the parliament and outside as well.

Members of parliament are not only responsible for legislation and monitoring the government’s performance but are also expected to be role models by setting good examples for citizens through their own performance and deportment. And in the event that the proposed committee

All those who nurse the erroneous belief that the former premier has been absolved of any wrongdoing are definitely wrong simply because the court has never leveled any accusations against him.

eventually sees the light of day, I suggest it should be aptly named the Hamad Al-Mattar Committee in a show of respect to the rude and shameful insult that he was subjected to last Thursday. However, one must also bear in mind the fact that the formation of such a committee will surely be a cause for concern taking into consideration the mindsets of various MPs following the furor witnessed in parliament culminating from the unwarranted assault on Al-Mattar. I say this in light of the fact that there is every possibility that some exaggerated clauses might be included in laws that govern the functioning of the committee. And although we support the establishment of such a committee, I will certainly not call for its establishment before holding several consultations with the Constitutional Court over the issue.

I, for one, am definitely not defending Al-Juwaihel’s course of action and firmly believe that even those who try to defend him will be compelled to pay a huge price for their defense! Hence, although we unanimously condemn Al-Juwaihel’s unwarranted arrogance, we should ensure that his delinquent behavior is not exploited by others to achieve certain targets. On the other hand, such violent outbursts and irrational behavioral patterns should never be permitted under the dome of the National Assembly building. And in the event that MP Al-Juwaihel was indeed intoxicated during that session as alleged by other MPs present there, then those MPs too should be condemned for behaving irrationally; taking into consideration the fact that they were

not under the influence of alcohol. They should have acted in a more rational way since they were fully aware of their actions while Al-Juwaihel was not - assuming their allegations, that Al-Juwaihel was intoxicated, are true of course.

More importantly, all those who contribute to the fact that Al-Juwaihel was indeed drunk, unwittingly showered him with a convenient excuse simply because those that are intoxicated are usually not aware of their course of actions. Moreover, even the MPs themselves are divided over invoking Articles 79 and 88 of the Kuwaiti Constitution since there are others who have refrained from voicing their views.

On the other hand, there have been several other occasions wherein similar incidents have erupted and inappropriate language used in parliament and hence; it would be unfair to ostracize Al-Juwaihel or even make a mountain out of a molehill. We should also bear in mind the fact that most unconstitutional requests are not as complex and complicated as those that have been recently submitted by certain personalities; urging the Amiri Diwan to intervene and express its opinion over the issue despite being fully aware of the fact that the issue does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Amiri Diwan.

In another development, all those who nurse the erroneous belief that the Ministerial Court has legally absolved the former prime minister of any wrongdoing in the overseas money transfers issue are definitely wrong simply be-

cause the court has never leveled any accusations against him. In this context, how can the court either condemn or absolve the former premier if accusations to that effect have not been submitted yet? The alleged overseas financial transfers issue has been concocted by those that are blissfully ignorant of the fact that they were transacted to achieve certain goals pertinent to the supreme interests of the country and this is the main reason why the court ruled that those transfers were indeed legal and hence no criminal intent or motive is involved in the case.

It is indeed ridiculous that MP Faisal Al-Mislem headed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and tried to coax the employees into letting him get a sneak preview of the relevant transfer documents. Much to his embarrassment, the adept and professional employees at the ministry refused to accede to his request. I must commend the employees there for maintaining a unanimous stand; simply because in the event that they had permitted him to peruse the contents of the document, he would surely lose no precious time in disclosing those contents through electronic means just like he did on an earlier occasion when he spilled the beans on a discreet session that was held in parliament!

Furthermore, one of our intelligent personalities has actually plucked the raw nerve to link the huge number of cars owned by the former premier to the alleged overseas money transfers! He is actually implying that the entire collection of cars has actually been financed by those money transfers! The former premier has always been considered to be a keen and avid automobile enthusiast and it is common knowledge that he boasted a rare and impressive collection even before his appointment as premier. It is evidently clear that all those who engage in spreading lies will leave no stone unturned in spreading more lies even if those lies are aimed at devastating the spotless reputation of a premier. It is only a matter of time before the truth will be out in the open and all those that engage in such blatant lies will surely be exposed before the general public.

Anticipating a fair outcome of the upcoming interpellation Rashid Al-Radaan

W

onders never cease to amaze citizens in Kuwait especially in the political arena wherein parliamentarians and ministers always seem to be at loggerheads with one another at the drop of a hat. And in the midst of all that chaos, commotion and mayhem, it is the unsuspecting citizens of the country that have to bear the brunt of the animosities of their leaders and representatives. The current political situation in the country is one that is riddled with a host of animosities between both houses of governance in which MPs seem to be more adamant on filing an interpellation motion against the Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali.

The situation has now become so monotonous and ineffective that it does not really matter to the people whether their leaders and representatives will ever see eye-to-eye on a host of vital issues that have been kept on indefinite hold since time immemorial. In fact, things have come to such a head that it does not really matter to the people if the country is led down a steep decline to the point of no return. They have simply resigned themselves to the fact the situation will always remain the same for all eternity and all their hopes and dreams of witnessing development and progress will simply be shattered to smithereens.

Members of the National Assembly are now gearing up for another round of interpellation motions that are expected to be filed against Al-Shamali and we can, rest assured, in the hope that these will definitely not be the last as more are being lined up. It is indeed unfortunate that our honorable members of parliament refuse to relent and are adamant on challenging the ministers every step of the way despite the ministers’ repeated attempts at trying to appease members of the Majority Bloc every step of the way.

Members of the media, on the other hand, are witnessed expressing a keen interest over the various points contained in the interpellation motion that has been filed against Al-Shamali; especially after the minister publicly declared that he was ready to answer all allegations filed against him. We must commend the minister for adopting such a brave and daring stance in agreeing to mount the podium simply because the general impression was that he would succumb to undue pressure and opt to tender in his resignation rather than face a motion which could be followed by a vote of no-confidence against him. And in the event that a vote of no-confidence is called, there is every possibility that members of the Majority Bloc might vote against the minister; leaving him with no other option than to tender in his resigna-

tion. Despite all those odds, it is indeed commendable that the minster has chosen to face motion and defend his integrity.

Regardless of the points contained in the motion, irrespective of the fact that there are strong or weak and regardless of the magnitude of corruption that is sweeping the country, people are nursing apprehensions over the MP’s capability of surviving the motion and emerging unscathed. Will members of the Majority Bloc offer their support to the minister in the event that he submits reasonable and effective answers to questions directed by those MPs? Will the MPs, on their part, treat him fairly like judges who endorse verdicts in accordance with evidences submitted by witnesses? We sincerely urge the MPs to be fair in their accusations or judgments and request them not to vote against him without even listening to his clarifications.

I personally believe that members of the Majority Bloc have already decided the fate of the minister; bearing in mind the fact that a number of them have already signed the no-confidence motion against him. The government, on the other hand, might be faced with a different situation simply because it cannot afford to sacrifice prominent ministers; especially the likes of ministers like Al-Shamali.

And in the event that the government is indeed faced with such a predicament, it might resort to endorsing a preventive step before the vote of no-confidence is cast such as choosing to reshuffle its members as was the case on several earlier occasions. I am certain that the government will surely resort to endorsing such a step if it feels that the political conditions are not in favor of Al-Shamali.

Although all that we have mentioned here are merely expectations and speculations, the minister’s bold stance of mounting the podium is enough ground for citizens to extol his stand of facing members of the Majority Bloc.

However, despite the underlying fact that MPs have long experience in submitting interpellation motions, we are still accorded the opportunity of listening to what the minister has to offer in his defense. Does the minister have any irrefutable evidence to present during the session? Does he have any cards up his sleeve in getting off the hook? We will soon know the outcome.

Last, but not least, a parliamentary source who requested anonymity recently disclosed that the government is expected to implement several popular decisions during the next couple of days; wherein citizens will surely stand to benefit from them.This is indeed a great piece of news and I’m certain citizens are just waiting with bated breath to know about the benefits.

Ali Farzat

“Parliamentary Session”

Discriminations witnessed in government institutions Waleed Jassem Al-Jassem

I

t is evidently clear that the government does not want to understand the seriousness of the current state of affairs in the country nor does it want to learn from past mistakes. Looking at the way that the government is going about its daily operations, there can be no doubt in one’s mind that it is embarking on a dangerous policy of inciting civil servants to further escalate a volatile situation; little realizing that any escalation in the crises could also urge those civil servants to support members of the opposition who in turn will be prompted to look for ways to dismiss the current government and opt for a popular government in which the future premier could most probably be an ordinary citizen.

The very notion of granting huge salary increases and bonuses for civil servants at the oil sector has actually provoked civil servants at other government institutions to demand the same. It is discrepancies such as these that actually raise the specter of dividing civil servants into two classes namely; one that is showered

with a host of benefits while the other is a deprived lot. Moreover, these increments in salaries are paid retroactively while the government has also approved payments of “additional bonuses” to employees in the oil sector which are equivalent to the basic salaries of other civil employees fourfold. Why are such huge bonuses paid to employees in the oil sector? Or are they being paid under the pretext that the oil sector accrues huge profits!!

It is a proven fact that the government has actually encouraged the oil sector to lavish a host of financial benefits on its employees since the era of the former oil minister Mohammad AlBusairi when employees at the oil sector threatened to go on indefinite strikes if their demands were not met. Ever since that time and until this very moment, employees in the oil sector enjoy a certain degree of independency in terms of taking decisions, prompting the sector to be on par with the Kuwaiti parliament!

The sector loses no precious time in paying additional bonuses, periodic increments in salaries not to mention the fact that employees are

even granted cars for their personal use. It is also given a free hand to appoint new employees at any given point of time; not to mention the other fact that it is empowered to take any decisions within its jurisdiction without being questioned by higher authorities. We cannot really blame employees in the oil sector simply because, like all other employees in various other sectors they too look forward to receiving goodies and achieving their goals.

It is the government that should be blamed simply because it actually insists on inciting employees to demand those privileges. It is malpractices such as these that actually prompt civil servants to disobey the government’s instructions; knowing only too well that the government will realize their demands.

Salary increments and bonuses granted by the oil sector run into tens of thousands of dinars while civil servants employed in other government institutions get absolutely and even in the event that they receive increments in salaries, they are miserably low in comparison with those that are accorded in the oil sector.

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ALWATAN DAILY

views

tuesDAY, may 15, 2012

Is Europe on a cross of gold?

Political tensions between France and Germany may grow in the coming months and years, following Francois Hollande’s victory but they will not begin to rise to that level.

Barry Eichengreen Project Syndicate

I

ncreasingly, one hears predictions that the euro will go the way of the gold standard in the 1930s. And, increasingly, the reasoning behind such forecasts seems persuasive. But does that mean that the euro doomsayers are right?

Following the 1929 stock market crash, Europe was hit by a massive deflationary shock. Output collapsed and unemployment soared. Unable to agree on coordinated reflationary action, governments opted to move unilaterally. One after another, they abandoned the gold standard, depreciating their currencies. By loosening credit in this way, they recovered, one after another, from the Great Depression.

Today, Europe has been hit again by a massive deflationary shock. This time, the constraint on reflationary action is the euro. Governments lack a national currency to depreciate, and lack the power to relax credit, having delegated monetary policy to the European Central Bank. As unemployment again rises to catastrophic heights, they will have no alternative, it is said, but to abandon the euro unilaterally.

I wrote the book on Europe and the gold standard. Literally. In Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, published in 1992, I argued that the deflationary engine that was the gold standard was a key cause of the 1930s depression, and that abandoning it opened the door to recovery. Yet I am reluctant to believe that things will turn out the same way this time. Four differences lead me to believe that maybe - just maybe - the euro will survive.

First, mounting an appropriate monetary response is easier when you have a single central bank. Under the gold standard, it still would have been possible for central banks to reflate their depressed economies had they moved together. Unfortunately, getting central banks to move together is easier said than done. Central bankers speak different languages. They view economic prospects through different lenses. By contrast, were the ECB to adopt decisive measures, it could reflate the entire eurozone and obviate the need for countries to act unilaterally. But, while the ECB has the capacity, the question remains whether it is has the will.

A second difference is that, notwithstanding recent cuts in social programs, the unemployed receive more extensive public support than in the 1930s. This makes populist pres-

7

Thousands of Socialist Party supporters celebrate after French television announced the victory of French presidential election, Francois Hollande at Bastille Square, in Paris, France May 06, 2012. European countries today are prepared to go to great lengths to save the euro, fearing that its collapse would jeopardize their single market, analysts said.

(Agencies)

sure to abandon the euro correspondingly less severe - the key questions, of course, being how much less severe, and whether the political center can hold.

A third difference is that the political preconditions for a cooperative response are better today. In 1931, France refused to help stem the Central European financial crisis because it believed that Germany was rearming, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, signed at the end of World War I. Political tensions between France and Germany may very well grow in the coming months and years, following François Hollande’s victory in the French presidential election, but they will not begin to rise to that level.

Moreover, European countries today are prepared to go to great lengths to save the euro, fearing that its collapse would jeopardize their single market. By contrast, when

countries started abandoning the gold standard in 1931, tariff barriers had already gone up. There was no longer a single market to protect.

Finally, abandoning the gold standard was less disruptive than abandoning the euro would be. Reintroducing national currencies today would take weeks, at a minimum, whereas Britain in 1931 could take sterling off gold while the markets were closed for the weekend. Back then, countries still had their national currencies; they could simply stop supporting them. Bank deposits, along with most other private and public debts, were denominated in that national currency.

Today, these assets and liabilities are all in euros. Reintroducing the national currency in order to depreciate it, but leaving the euro value of other financial instruments un-

Reinventing NATO

touched, would destroy balance sheets and wreak financial havoc. The alternative - converting those other instruments into the new national currency - would tie up the offending country in litigation for years.

Each of these differences casts doubt on the notion that the euro will go the way of the gold standard. But a fifth difference points in the other direction. In the 1930’s, countries could not act together because they could not agree on a diagnosis of the problem. Each attributed the Great Depression to different causes, leading them to prescribe different remedies, which they administered unilaterally.

Agreement today on the diagnosis facilitates mounting a common response. Unfortunately, there is growing evidence that the medicine on which European countries have agreed - austerity - is killing the patient. There is now talk of adjusting the dosage, but talk has not yet given way to action. Will things turn out differently this time? There is no question that the greater scope for cooperation that exists today bodes well for the euro. But it is the precise policies on which European governments cooperate that will tell the tale. * Barry Eichengreen is Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

A conscientious conversation with your inner self Alaa Nasr Australian College of Kuwait

Karl-Heinz Kamp

H

Project Syndicate

T

his month, NATO will hold its next summit in Chicago. Unlike European Union summits, which take place almost monthly, NATO’s are infrequent. This helps to explain the inflated rhetoric that surrounds them: the November 2010 summit in Lisbon, for example, was described as nothing less than “the most important in NATO’s history.” Will the Chicago summit prove to be an exception to this rule? For a while, that seemed likely, with the meeting initially billed as an “implementation summit,” at which NATO’s political leaders would focus on assessing the progress of the ambitious agreements reached in Lisbon. But four political developments that have modified the international security agenda are likely to transform Chicago into a high-profile summit in its own right.

First, the revolutions in the Arab world and NATO’s military intervention in Libya have refocused the alliance’s attention on the Middle East and Northern Africa. Second, the international financial crisis will have an immense impact on NATO members’ defense budgets. Third, in a speech last June, outgoing US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates revived the debate on transatlantic burden-sharing and solidarity within the alliance.

Finally, the first NATO summit to be held in the United States in 13 years is taking place not only in an election year, but also in President Barack Obama’s hometown.The Obama administration is therefore particularly interested in summit “deliverables” - outcomes that can be announced as major successes. The foremost item on the agenda for Chicago will certainly be Afghanistan, from which NATO has decided to withdraw its combat forces by 2014.

The alliance needs to train enough Afghan military and police forces to take over full responsibility for stability in the country when it leaves. At the same time, it must convey the message that its long-standing mission there has been a success - in terms of routing Al-Qaeda, increasing employment opportunities for women and schools for children, and NATO’s ability to maintain unity - despite all of the sacrifices.

Next on the list in Chicago will be the traditionally tense NATO-Russia relationship. Russia has done little to alleviate fears among its neighbors and former allies about its intentions.

Furthermore, now that the country’s attempts at modernization are stagnating, it may compensate by becoming increasingly aggressive on the international scene. These worrisome trends seem to be embodied in what some see as the showcase project of the NATO-Russian relationship - a common missile-defense system.

The Russian government has insisted on a truly common project, in which both sides would jointly decide on whether or not to intercept an incoming missile. The US, on the other hand, is promoting the idea of cooperation with Russia on missile defense, while knowing that Russia cannot be an equal partner either militarily or technologically. There seems little chance that this Gordian knot can be cut in Chicago. The summit will also address NATO’s internal debate over missile defense.

While the US has been pursuing its plans for a national missile-defense system for roughly 30 years, NATO governments declared in Lisbon that missile defense should be an alliance-wide project. But a genuine NATO-wide missile-de-

In this Nov. 17, 2011 file photo, a Chicago police officer watches protesters, in their act of civil disobedience and will be facing far bigger challenges when protesters descend on the city for the upcoming summit of NATO leaders May 20-21. Amid these challenges for NATO, the one bright spot on the Chicago agenda might be the ongoing developments in the Arab world, analysts said. (AP)

Having addressed issues raised in Lisbon, the first new topic on the summit agenda will be what NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen calls “smart defense.” fense system, in which the US grants its partners a decision-making role, would require the Europeans to do more than simply provide cost-neutral contributions - a problem at a time when all of the NATO countries are cutting their defense budgets sharply.

A related topic also has its roots in the Lisbon summit: the alliance’s attempt to find a new consensus on the role of nuclear weapons. The core of the nuclear question, namely how to deter whom with what, has been papered over for a long time, but the depth of disagreement within NATO can no longer be ignored. NATO is trying to square the circle of defense, deterrence, and arms control, but, thus far, its members’ conflicting positions on the role of nuclear weapons have not been reconciled.

Having addressed the issues raised in Lisbon, the first new topic on the summit agenda will be what NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen calls “smart defense.” Given that there is little hope of increasing defense expenditures, existing budgets, according to Rasmussen, must be spent in smarter ways. Instead of planning and procuring individually, the 28 NATO members should try to pool their efforts and share costly military hardware as much as possible. The idea is not new, but NATO countries have instead tended to compete among themselves with various types of tank, aircraft, and electronic devices.

Smart defense is a reasonable idea, but it collides with some harsh political realities. The major NATO allies all support pooling and sharing in principle; in practice, they are reluctant to provide their military assets for common operations, as was the case in the recent Libya operation. Such opting-out not only erodes NATO’s cohesion, but also renders smart defense impracticable, as no NATO country will be willing to forego certain military equipment without a guarantee that its allies will provide it when necessary.

Amid these challenges for NATO, the one bright spot on the Chicago agenda might be the ongoing developments in the Arab world. Although it is not yet possible to predict the outcome of the Arab Spring, the alliance proved its ability to act wisely in Libya, thereby improving its image in North Africa. In Chicago, NATO will agree on a major political declaration offering further support for the region, on the condition that the region’s countries request it.

The participants in Chicago will have major differences over these issues, and the results may not be ideal. But reinventing NATO is a long-term process, and will necessarily occur in small steps.

The alliance’s main goal must be to ensure that they are steps forward. * Karl-Heinz Kamp is Research Director of the NATO Defense College in Rome. The views expressed here are his own.

ave you ever felt like you are literally fed up from having to deal with so many issues at the same time? Have you ever felt a sense of desperation seeping in whenever you desperately strive to get things right on track but they only seem to get worse? Have you ever felt like you are plunging down a deep ravine but no one seems to understand you well enough to pull you out and help you get back on your feet again? Isn’t this one of those desperate times when you feel like you must trudge along; not because you want to; but because you have to? Isn’t this that point of time in life when you feel sorry for yourself for feeling so weak and nothing seems to motivate you enough to act up and do something about it?

If most of your answers to the above questions are yes, then you should immediately be aware of the underlying fact that there is surely something lacking in the way you treat yourself; especially during these hard and trying times. But then again, how do you zero in on those shortcomings? Well, it differs from person-toperson depending on the circumstances involved.

Generally; the one thing we all have in common when we pass through such a challenging phase is that we create such a huge fuss and in the process, end up making things much more difficult than they really are; not to anyone else but to ourselves.

It is only when you exhaust your energy in trying to fix and analyze a situation by giving it all your attention that you tend to drift away with your own bubble of thoughts heading towards one direction while narrowing your mind, closing your eyes and turning your back on everything else that is going on around you. These are those trying times when you usually come with a plethora of excuses like: “I’m sick and tired over having to deal with this situation” or “I can’t really do anything about it.” From then on, everything seems to evolve around your thoughts, pushing you an inch closer towards giving up. Is there anything that you can do to get things back on track? Yes You Can!!! I would like to ask you to stop reading this for a few seconds, look around and ask yourself what you see and hey presto, you have actually created a positive situation around you.

It is the choices that you have opted for in life that have led you to where you are standing at this very moment. Now, ask yourself WHY? Why am I making things so much more difficult for me than they really are? Is the exercise really worth it?

Because if something is meant to be it will eventually find its way and there is no need to torture yourself about things that are simply not within your jurisdiction.

It’s not what happens to you that matters, but how you handle it that does. This is the ultimate challenge towards the road to success and we must bear in mind that although challenges are inevitable, the struggle is always optional.

Another important aspect that is common among us all is that whenever we seek solutions we expect to witness changes and results right away; little realizing that things don’t work that way. Just because we don’t see results within a week or even a year, we shouldn’t give up. And although we may not see changes right away, there are some smart choices affecting us in a way that we can never imagine. It’s like planting a seed and waiting for it to grow and blossom into a tree. All you have to do is exercise some patience, and maintain a “Great Attitude,” simply because in doing so, you are not only influencing people around you, but actually portraying how you treat your dear old self.

The feeling of simply giving up is so easy; especially when things do not work out as planned. It is especially true when you think that dreams are a distant reality or during those times when you try to fix something another obstacle stands in the way. I know how hard it is to face them every day, but no matter how mighty the challenge is, ignite your heart with a ray of hope and spark your soul with the beauty of faith. Compile an account of you and your past, become your own motivator, encourage yourself to be resourceful and be passionately romantic with your inner self. Remember, no one is going to love you more than yourself, so don’t blame people for not being by your side simply because they are not expected to. Just lift your hands up in solemn prayer to the Lord God Almighty to ease your afflictions simply because He is there with you all the way, and he will never impose anything on you that you can’t handle.

What happens next is “Improvement.” And once you know that everything is moving on in the right context, your present will simply be the story of your past and in the end the “Choice” is yours with regards to how you want to survive: Do you want to sparkle and shine when the sun is out? Since real beauty is reviled from within, it’s time to open your warm heart, beautiful eyes and open mind and remind ourselves, that there are several people out there who have gone through the worst and yet have managed to survive with a heart full of strength and a mind full of hope. “These are the real beautiful people; these are the ones that have known defeat, seen suffering and experienced struggle. They have witnessed losses and have yet managed to find their way out of crises. These are the people who are appreciative, sensitive, and have an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people don’t just happen” - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Since you are already beautiful on the outside, how about transforming your inner self to also be more beautiful?

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5) MOTHERCARE Toilet Training Set 6) MOTHERCARE 2 position Baby Carrier 7) SCENIQUE Baby Crib Musical Mobile with Sonic Control 8) AVENT Breast Pump Set with 2 Bottles & Accessories

KD 5 KD 5 KD 5 KD 20

Slimming massage, manicure, pedicure, acrylic and nail extension. Please call

69696177

21-03/21-04

Driving Instructors Available Flexible timing Reasonable price For males and females Abu Khaled

Contact: 55224747

WDLR

We carried out all kind of electrical house holds LCD TV Telephone PBX maintenance and installation. DSL wirings trouble shootings and wireless solutions.

Required licensee for a tax business.Tel:66689802

- Flexible Timing - Reasonable Price - For all languages Mudarrib Nafais : Contact: 65553012

SLR

Kitchen Equipment repairs 24hours.

Abu Mahmud: SLR

Professional gardening services.

Tel:67058331

SLR

Garmin GPS Tel:99226042

for

sale.

Selling the numbers (90008944-5500503).

Tel:69644449 Selling the number (60601313) KD800. Tel:50250500 Used furniture’s for sale with air conditioner.

Tel:99739700 Kitchen Tel:24762688

appliances.

Carpenter.

Tel: 66291129 SLR

Westener teacher available to tutor English American and British Curriculums in English, Math and Science or Art.

For rates, please call

6068 5554

WDLR

One big room available for Keralite couple or working ladies in Hawally with Keralite family.

2 bedroom, 1 bathroom rent KD 85. Tel: 50824257

bathrooms, living room and kitchen along a maid room.

Tel: 90958689-99925977

Arabic Teacher for non-native speakers Beginners and advanced - All levels of the Arabic language - IGCSE & GCSE. Only 10 KD for an hour and free books

WDLR

Apartment in Jabriya, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living and kictehen.Tel: 66256814 Apartment in Zahra, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room and kitchene, KD360, Tel: 99725755 Apartment in Manqaf, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living room and kitchen.Tel: 90958689 Studio in Salwa, block 1, street 6, house360, KD260.

Tel:66143662

Apartment in Mahboula, 4 master bedrooms with baths, living room, kitchen, maids room, laundry and storage room ,swimming pool, parking.

Tel: 65563683

Apartment in Salmiya, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living room, kitchen, pool, DSL and kids playground, KD475.Tel: 66297171

Apartment in Hawalli, 2 master rooms, kitchen, balcony and living room.

Tel:60001848

Chevrolet Lumina V6 2008 model done 80000 km in good condition for KD 2800, single used. Tel: 99962456

Volkswagen Touareg 2005, navy exterior in a very good condition, KD 2500.Tel: 94404405

Toyota mini buss KD2900.Tel:24747418

2005.

Ford Lincoln, grey exterior.

Tel: 99288558

2005,

Mercury Grand Marquis 2005, hardly used in great condition with valid insurance.Tel:97175533

Lexus IS400 1998, navy full option, KD 1900.Tel: 97803380 Hyundai 2000, green exterior, KD 500.Tel:99628345 BMW 2000, White exterior, beige interior, KD 1250 Tel: 97878183 Toyota Camry 2000, in great condition.Tel:99734995

Learn French, Speak French!

Private French lessons with an experienced teacher in all levels and with all age groups. Interested?

Please call: 97722008

21-03/21-04

Laptop repairs, Formats, anti-virus program and games.

A well known Bakala

located at Block 4 Mahaboula behind Alia and Galia Tower.

Floor space 5mX5m, with bathroom, include 2 chillers, 2 freezers, cash register, vegetable scale, with stocks.

SLR

Paints and wallpapers, professional work.

Tel:99795097

Interested parties may contact

60452716

SLR

20-03/20-04

I am an MBA holder with more then 23 years experience in Accounting, Analysis, and Business development. Responsibilities in India & Kuwait, now I am looking part time job after 6 pm from Sunday to Thursday, Friday & Saturdays full day free, if any suitable vacancies for me please contact 55710397.

Learn Arabic For foreigners to learn Arabic easily.

Contact: 66972388

SLR

Packing and moving services.

06-03/06-04

Required Sales person for men’s textiles shop with sales experience (speaks Arabic). Salary KD 160 + commission.

Tel: 66970789

Tel:65599091

SLR

24-01/24-02

Laptops rent,

Seeking qualified female Nail Technicians of Filipino Nationality. If interested please contact 99030565 or 25319812.

Tel: 66644270

16-01/16-02

Required sales person with knowledge of using the computer. Tel:66292269

SLR

Egyptian babysitter, baby sit kids from 1 years old to 4.

Tel:94996159

Required chef for Lebanese restaurant. Tel: 6509292697686366

SLR

Apartment in Abdullah Al Ahmad, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room and kitchen.

Tel:90958689.

Cars

30-01/30-02

Those interested can call: 97932925

Tel:97601745

Apartment in Salmiya, 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, maid room, living room and kitchen, KD400.

Tel:67004704

Cars

Nissan Altima Tel:94915050

25/12 - 25-02

Super deluxe furniture apartment in Salmiya, 2 rooms, 2 baths, living room, kitchen and laundry room, KD500.Tel:25352200

Apartment in Hawalli, duplex furnished, great location, 2 master rooms, kitchen, living.

Tel: 97720081

Apartment in Manqaf, private entrance, 3 bedrooms, 3

Arabic Teacher

contact Mr. Khaled Ph: 99619998 & 55619998

FOR RENT

Deluxe villa for rent in Egila, strategic location located around 3 streets, 2 floors, 7 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, 4 living rooms + 2 kitchens and 2 gardens. Tel: 55969322

FOR SALE

Work/Employment

FOR RENT

Room available only for Filipino, single lady near Kuwait National English School, Hawally. Accessible to bus going to City and Sharq. New building with Pinoy TV Channel and large sala & dining area. Tel: 97197268

Investors looking to take advantage of EB-5 Investor Program to obtain US Citizenship, Investing US$ 500,000 in Approved Regional Center, investors receives “Green Card” within 4 months allowing permanent residency. Fund is placed on real estate investment for 5 years with up to 6% income per year. For appointment call: (965) 66834599, Email: nkoni@ konikonsultants.com / website: www.KoniKonsultants .com

25/12 - 25-01

SLR

TREADMILL excellent condition, high-tech screen, KD 35.

Tel:90989840 Billiard table for sale in great condiditon.Tel:66666168

1. Showcase – from Home Centre (three piece – TV unit, book case and glass case)

Price: KD. 15 each

(All three pieces for KD. 35) 2. Wooden coffee table with 4 drawers (Home Centre) Price: KD. 15 3. Side table with wooden drawers (3 shelves) Price: KD. 6 4. Dark brown three door cupboard with two full length mirrors Price: KD. 30 5. Full length light brown cupboard with mirror Price: KD. 30 6. Wooden shelves Price: 500 fills each 7. Book stand Price: KD. 5 8. Ikea Wooden crib Price: KD. 15 9. Ikea changing table Price KD 8 10. Playpen Price: KD. 5 11. Baby Pram Price: KD. 8 12. Sony Trinitron TV, 29 inches Price: KD. 25 13. Queen size bed (includes mattress) Price: KD. 30 14. Wooden Master bed (King size) Price: KD. 40

(includes mattres)

50kgs Weight lifting set of dumbbells - KD 30 Exercise bench for lifting - KD 25 AB King Pro W/C - KD 15 All the above are as good as new.

16-04/16-05

28-02/28-03

Serious buyers please contact 67002524

Tel: 9769364

WDLR

Items for sale

Tel: 93399180

Satellite service, 24hours, covers all area.

16-04/16-05

Driving Instructors available for learners

Birthdays and weddings

Satellite

Boston whalev super sport 150 boat.Tel:65880918

Contact: 67009278

02-04/02-05

EB-5 Investor Program

Pictures and Information of all items available upon request...!!!

Events planner

16-04/16-05

miscellaneous

Senior Manager available in Furniture, General Trading, FMCG, Air & Sea Freight Forwarding, Retails, Wholesales.

Can suggest acquiring profitably running Cash businesses with line-of-products.

Please Call: 9983 4436

24-04/24-05

Please contact Mr. Sabir, mobile 99509163

Tel: 60091481

30 years experienced

Exercise equipments for sale

GMC Yukon 1999, spacious and clean. KD 1700, price is negotiable. Tel:66694310 Nissan Maxima 2008, 6VS, KD 3200. Tel: 99997494 Nissan Maxima KD1500. Tel: 66565511

2004,

WDLR

Carpool service, female driver covers all Kuwait areas.

Website designer and management

Tel:60361977

SLR

Sewer system cleaning.

Tel:66070166

Tel:66238890

SLR

Paints and wallpapers.

SLR

Baraka: Tel: 99881053

SLR

BUSINESS

tuesdAY, may 15, 2012

m ar ket watc h

Australian gas reserves to last almost 200 years, rivals Qatar CAPITALS: Australia has enough gas reserves to maintain current production for almost 200 years, according to a report released on Monday, supporting the nation’s push to become a global exporter to rival Qatar. The nation has identified gas resources of about 390 trillion cubic feet, but this could double if exploration for shale gas is successful, Energy and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said.

OIL MARKETS

KUWAIT

DUBAI

QATAR

OMAN

ABU DHABI

BAHRAIN

EGYPT

SAUDI

0.21% 6432

0.42% 1482

0.55% 8489

1.42% 5654

0.02% 2473

0.27% 1157

0.42% 5062

1.6% 7068

US Crude $94.09 $2.04 London Brent $110.34 $1.92 Kuwait Crude $108.10 $0.30 Information Courtesy: KAMCO

CURRENCIES US Dollar

British Pound

Saudi Riyal

Qatari Riyal

Indian Rupee

Euro

Japanese Yen

UAE Dirham

Bahraini Dinar

Philippine Peso

Buy 0.2786 Sell 0.2791 Buy 0.3575 Sell 0.3582

Buy 0.4478 Sell 0.4487

Buy 0.003494 Sell 0.003502

Buy 0.0743 Sell 0.0744

Buy 0.07585 Sell 0.07599

Saudi price target

The world’s biggest exporter, Saudi Arabia wants an oil price of around $100 a barrel and would like to see global inventories rise before demand picks up in the second half of the year, Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said.

China’s central bank on the weekend cut the amount of cash banks must hold as reserves, freeing an estimated 400 billion Chinese yuan ($63.5 billion) for lending, after data showed the economy weakening, not recovering, from its slow-

Buy 0.07667 Sell 0.07651 Buy 0.739 Sell 0.74043

Buy 0.005177 Sell 0.005166 Buy 0.006514 Sell 0.006495

Prices in Kuwaiti fils as of May 14, 2012 Courtesy: KAMCO

Oil slides on euro zone, China fears LONDON: Oil fell sharply on Monday, extending recent heavy losses, as mounting political uncertainty in Greece and worry about the prospects for growth in China added to a sense that the demand outlook is worsening.

Adding to jitters about the future of the euro zone, Greece’s radical leftist leader spurned an invitation from the president for a final round of coalition talks on Monday, pushing Athens to the brink of fresh polls. This added to already mounting worries of a global economic slowdown triggered by last week’s lackluster industrial output data from China, the world’s second-largest economy and energy consumer.

Brent crude was down by 1.65 US dollars to $110.61 a barrel by 1307 GMT, stretching its losses into a third session and after settling at $112.26 on Friday.

It earlier fell more than two dollars, and was heading for its lowest close since Jan. 25. It was as high as $128 per barrel at the start of March.

US crude fell $1.82 to $94.31. It sunk to its lowest since December 19.

“With the Greek elections putting in peril the euro zone unity, the Chinese industrial production putting in peril the main engine of growth...last week was a pretty bad week for global sentiment,” said Olivier Jakob, at Petromatrix in Zug. He said this poor sentiment was dragging on into this week, and that a Saudi call for oil at $100 per barrel was adding to the negative tone.

See page 10

In Focus

Fat cats Savio S. Gomes

Exclusive to Al Watan Daily

Women cut grass to feed their cattle in a field on the outskirts of Srinagar May 14, 2012. India inflation posts surprise 7.23 percent jump as food bills soared, data showed on Monday, diminishing chances of swift interest rate cuts to boost a stumbling economy. (Reuters)

est quarter of growth in three years.

German chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives suffered a defeat on Sunday in an election in the country’s most populous state, a result which could embolden the left opposition to step up attacks on her European austerity policies.

Giving some support to the oil price, Iran warned Western powers on Sunday that applying pressure on Tehran could

KAMCO logs KD 0.40 million net profit in Q1

Results show first signs of recovery KUWAIT: Kuwait Projetcs Company (KIPCO) Asset Management Company KSC (KAMCO) reported in a press release on Monday, its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012.

The Company recorded a net profit of 0.40 million Kuwaiti dinars with earnings-per-share (EPS) of 1.68 Kuwaiti fils in the first quarter (Q1) of the fiscal year (FY) 2012. In the first quarter, KAMCO realized a net income of KD 0.40 million and total revenues of KD 2.61 million, with strong contributions from investment/trading income.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of KAMCO, Sadoun Abdullah Ali commented, “The company has had to make some very difficult managerial decisions in order to secure its future. These financial indicators are evidence of an extremely tough financial environment and underline the wisdom and knowhow of our managers. These figures are the first signs of the strengthening of our financial position, and KAMCO is still on course to successfully weather this storm and is on track to provide its clients with exciting new investment opportunities. For example, we have already reduced our net debt to KD 56 million in 2012 through funds generated from asset sales and have already been mandated for a number of new transactions in 2012 in its investment banking activity and will build further on its past success in placing debt and equity transactions with clients.”

KSE keeps to red for second day with XSTREAM in action

KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) failed to shake off red till closing Monday and ended the second day of trading with the XSTREAM system on a KSX 15 (Kuwait 15) drop of 7.72 points to 990.76 points, while the KSE price index also shed 13.78 to 6,432.28 points and the weighted index lost 2.81 to reach 416.19 points.

Trades came to 3,318 transactions by closing, worth 15,547,910.768 Kuwaiti dinars, and with volume reaching 166,056,089 shares.

As for the sector indices, now 14 instead of the old eight, the board showed eight in red topped by the consumer services index (IXP) which shed 14.98 points. There were another four indices in green topped by that of oil and gas which put on 22 points.

The remaining investment instruments and utilities indices were unchanged. Top share for the day was that of Metal and Recycling Company, biggest lost was suffered by the National Ranges Kuwait Stock Exchange showed mixed reading at 9:30 a.m.

Monday with a drop of 3.16 to 6,442.9 points in the price index, 0.37 to 418.63 points in the weighted, and 0.21 to 998.27 points in the KSX 15 index.

Trades came to 432 transactions worth KD 2,677,393.307, and volume so far came to 24,801,516 shares. -KUNA

jeopardize talks on its nuclear program, state television reported.

Iran’s dispute with the West about its nuclear program and a European Union embargo on Tehran’s oil, set for July, sent prices soaring in the first quarter.

A senior UN nuclear official said Iran must give his inspectors access to information, people and sites as he began a twoday meeting with Iranian officials on the

Islamic state’s disputed atomic activities on Monday. Technical analysts saw scope for further weakness in Brent crude, given the price action seen in recent days.

“The next support is seen at $108.90 and $108.50 but the price signals are not indicating that the price is basing out at the moment,” said Lynnden Branigan, technical analyst at Barclays Capital.

-Reuters

Warba Bank acquires a $33 million building in United Kingdom KUWAIT: Warba Bank announced in a press release on Monday the acquisition of the new headquarters of British Telecom (BT) located in the town of West Bromwich in the UK, which was officially opened in February 2012. The building benefits from a new 15-year lease to BT. “Since establishment, the bank’s strategy was defined and then approved by the board of directors with the help of one the biggest consultancy firms.

Accordingly, several investment opportunities were studied and the best were seized. This substantial transaction marks one of them, and reflects Warba Bank’s competency and capability to conclude successful investments generating ongoing returns and cash flows at a carefully considered risk profile. This achievement is in line with our vision aiming at building an investment base which is lucrative for the Bank and its shareholders on medium to long-term basis,” said Jassar AlJassar, Chairman and Managing Director of Warba Bank.

The building enjoys excellent characteristics and is distinguished by its unique and awardwinning design. It provides long-term income and

a security of a world class covenant for Warba Bank. The transaction delivers an annual cash yield of eight percent, and is expected to generate an internal rate of return of more than 10 percent. Given its experience and reputation in this field, London-based Gatehouse Bank plc has been appointed as an adviser for the transaction. The British Telecom building is located in the center of West Bromwich, just five miles north-west of Birmingham, the second largest city in the UK after London.

The building is compliant with the latest international superior standards, and benefits from the reputation of the tenant. Moreover, the building is located in a rapidly growing region; where the global retailer “Tesco” is building a 200 million Sterling pounds shopping center near BT building. Further, several new public buildings; such as the “University of Sandwell”, worth GBP 77 million, and a new police station at a cost of 10 million pounds are currently under constructed. All these factors will contribute to improving the infrastructure, which in turn will attract several new investments and support the local economic growth.

KUWAIT: The weight management industry clocks over 10 billion US dollars in retail sales each year. The diet and weight watch aids industry has always been extremely innovative. Powders that signal a full stomach to the brain, sprays that curb craving for food and powders that block absorption of fat or calories by the cells, stomach constricting devices are only some of the industry’s many innovations. One pill, ‘Qnexa’ promises to melt body weight. Financial markets must be hoping to take a leaf from the book of the weight management industry. A pill that would melt debt and nonperforming assets, a powder that would signal high levels of borrowings or sprays that would curb shareholder cravings for profits or management cravings for bonus payouts would be welcomed by the business community and governments.

‘FATCA’ is a more serious problem for the wealthy. Not to be confused with ‘Fat Cats’, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) impacts those with obese bank balances.

While Buffett continues to soft campaign for higher taxes on the wealthy, over 1,700 people gave up their US nationality in 2011 (only 235 in 2008). The US levies taxes on global income of its citizens. Strict asset disclosure rules under FATCA, disclosure of foreign financial assets, shareholdings in on US companies and other provisions including withholding taxes on US connected payments has made personal tax planning incredibly difficult. A $450 fee, an exit tax and a less than ten minute renunciation interview is all that it takes to give up US citizenship. Post FATCA, Swiss and German banks are no longer safe tax havens for Americans. Meanwhile, the Gini Index in the US shows that the genie is well and truly out of the bottle. Inequalities in distribution of income are at all time high levels, seen before only during the 1920s and 1930s. The economic crises has lent credence to the theory that income inequalities leads inevitably to declining economic performance. The issue of whether to tax the rich more is hotly debated in the US. One school of thought subscribes to the view that people are either already wealthy or wanting to be wealthy, and neither category wants higher taxes. There is little empirical evidence, from the days of Robin Hood and his merry men, that taxing the rich has solved the problem of inequalities in distribution of income. Income inequality, is generally a good social motivator and generates aspirations, ambition and private enterprise. In extremes, with a high Gini Index, it can be a socially divisive factor. However, almost anything in extremes is destructive of social fabric.

It may surprise people to learn that Sony is essentially currently a Japanese banking and insurance company. For long known as an electronics and entertainment company, Sony plans to cut 10,000 jobs and continue to scale back its highly unprofitable television manufacturing businesses. Banking and insurance generates more profits for Sony than music, mobile phones, music, films combined. Other old school companies however, continue to soldier along. Companies such as Dow Chemicals, Colgate - Palmolive, Kellogg, ExxonMobil and other old school companies have solid traditions of dividend payouts. The strength of their brands allows them to increase retail selling prices to offset rising material costs and to generate organic sales growth. Globally diversified companies with strong brands are also better equipped to withstand regional economic downturns. For ‘new age’ businesses lacking brand equity, the European crises, falling demand in China, rising commodity prices, lack of consumer confidence, lack of investor confidence, rising interest rates, foreign exchange fluctuations, over capacity, slump in real estate are some of the management excuses finding their way into investor reports.

Meanwhile, as the Olympics draws nearer, Greece spreads its own flaming torch of economic tribulation through Spain, Portugal and Italy in a macabre relay.

The views expressed above are the writer’s own and do not necessarily represent those of Al Watan Daily and its staff. Savio is a financial and management advisor with a background in economics. He has carried outconsulting and management intervention projects in several countries such as USA, UK, Australia, Kenya, Armenia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia etc. The writer may be contacted on saviosgomes@gmail. com.

Burgan Bank selects ICS banks to replace its existing banking system KUWAIT: Burgan Bank, one of the leading banks in Middle East and North Africa (MENA), selected ICS BANKS, the universal banking software from ICS Financial Systems Limited (ICSFS), the global software and services provider for banks and financial institutions.

Burgan Bank has been using its existing banking system SYMBOLS from System Access that was acquired in 2006 by SunGard, and decided to replace it after evaluating many international systems before choosing the universal banking solution, ICS BANKS. The signing took place in Kuwait, at the Burgan Tower (headquarter offices of Burgan Bank). Attending the signing ceremony were the Group Chief Operation Officer of Burgan Bank; Adrian A. Gostuski, Chief Operations Officer; Venkatakrishnan Menon, and Executive Director for Business Development of ICSFS; Wael Malkawi.

In regards to this milestone, Adrian A. Gostuski of Burgan Bank, stated, “Choosing a comprehensive

banking system that is in harmony with Burgan Banks’ regional and global expansion strategy was one of the most essential objectives for the past couple of years.

Selecting ICS BANKS will play an important role in growing our footprint worldwide, as well as supporting our vision of becoming the region’s leading banking group through providing high standards of financial services in the banking industry.”

Executive Director of Business Development ICSFS; Wail Malkawi, stated, “The major reason behind Burgan Bank’s selection to the universal banking solution, ICS BANKS, is not restricted to the offerings of high levels of operational efficiency, but also to the ability of addressing ICS BANKS’ users requirements for various market segments. The Bank will be able to enhance and robust its business and provide comprehensive integrated and valuable financial services, to best serve their customers. As ICSFS aims to expand, penetrate and bolster its existence in the Kuwaiti Market; it will strengthen its position in this relatively steady Market.

With this strategic partnership, the bank will offer integrated solutions that meet customer needs, covering unique financial services.”

Burgan Bank Group have recently won “Best Banking Group in MENA 2012” award by Global Banking & Finance Review; along with many other international awards for various business lines that reflect the bank’s turnaround process that is delivering solid financial performance, superior returns and placing the group on the right growth trajectory.

It is worth mentioning that ICS BANKS provides a complete suite of banking business modules with a rich sweep of functionality and features, addressing business needs and automating accounting processes, as needed, to improve a bank’s business performance.

ICS BANKS has always been a pioneer in utilizing the latest technology to serve financial institutions. In addition to its embedded Service-Oriented-Architecture (SOA), the system is deployed in a multi-tiered setup that runs on a web thin client, J2EE environment.

10

ALWATAN DAILY

BUSINESS

tuesDAY, may 15, 2012

Australian gas reserves to last almost 200 years, rivals Qatar CAPITALS: Australia has enough gas reserves to maintain current production for almost 200 years, according to a report released on Monday, supporting the nation’s push to become a global exporter to rival Qatar.

The nation has identified gas resources of about 390 trillion cubic feet, but this could double if exploration for shale gas is successful, Energy and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said.

“This report reconfirms Australia’s capacity to continue to be a major gas exporter supplying the world’s growing demand for gas well into the future,” he said.

As Australia rides a minerals boom, Ferguson said the nation’s known gas resources, which the report found would maintain current production rates for 184 years, could rocket.

“While exploration for shale gas in Australia has only recently commenced and resources are poorly understood, shale gas could potentially double Australia’s gas resources,” he said.

Gas ranks third behind coal and uranium as the country’s largest energy resource, the Australian Gas Resources Assessment 2012 found.

Most of the country’s conventional gas resources sit off the north-west coast and are being progressively developed for domestic use and liquid natural gas (LNG) export.

The report by Geoscience Australia, the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics and the Department of Resources found the industry was being transformed by technology and markets, with new gas resources coming into play.

“In the past two years coal seam gas (CSG) reserves have doubled and three CSG/LNG projects are now under construction,” it said.

“There have also been major new offshore conventional gas projects that have committed and commenced construction, including Ichthys in the Browse Basin and Prelude, the world’s first floating LNG project.”

The report found that Australia’s gas resources were

large enough to support projected domestic and export market growth to 2035 and beyond and were also set to expand. Because gas is a relatively flexible and clean fuel it is forecast to be the fastest growing non-renewable energy source over the next 25 years, particularly for Asian economies looking for cleaner energy.

Australia exported about 20 million tons of LNG val-

ued at 10.4 billion Australian dollars (10.4 billion US dollars) in 2010-11, primarily to Asia, Ferguson said.

“This is forecast to grow by a further 19 percent in 2012-13,” he added. “Based on projects under construction, LNG production capacity is projected to quadruple by 2017 to make Australia one of the world’s largest exporters of LNG.” -AFP

Oula installs air, water towers at 20 of its stations

Facilitating car maintenance process

KUWAIT: As part of Oula Fuel Marketing Company’s ongoing efforts to upgrade and add valuable services to its existing and new stations, the company has recently installed new air and water towers in 20 stations with the goal to complete installation in the remaining stations in the upcoming year. This was mentioned in a press release Monday.

Commenting on the installation of the towers, Adel AlAwadi VP Marketing and Business Development said, “We are proud to keep introducing new initiatives and services at our stations that ease the process for our customer whenever they need it. We are happy to officially guarantee our customers that within one year water and air towers will be installed in all Oula stations distributed around Kuwait for their convenience at anytime.” Customers can now rely on Oula stations whenever they need to go for quick car maintenance such as oil change or to fill air for their car tires.

Worthy of mention, Oula has recently introduced Geowash car cleaning service and has officially opened the remodeled station in Bayan, which represents the company’s objective to continue upgrading pre-existing services as well as introducing new ones to better serve the community in Kuwait.

Global ethylene market to exceed 160 million tons in 2012 KUWAIT: Equate Petrochemical Company and Schmidt + Clemens Group (S+C) announced signing a strategic cooperation agreement relevant to enhance and optimize production performance of ethylene crackers. This was stated in a press release on Monday.

On this occasion, Equate Procurement Leader Ahmad Al-Saleh said, “As Equate owned and managed ethylene production capacities reach 1.8 million metric tons annually, this strategic accord leverages a decade long business relationship with S+C to implement solutions, best practices and latest technologies in operational and lifecycle optimization of ethylene crackers radiant coils.”

Al-Saleh added, “This partnership with S+C is a manifestation of Equate’s reputation and focus in the area of operational excellence as well as its determination to equally promote value adding strategic relationships through its Strategic Supplier Management Program.”

On his part, S+C Centrifugal Casting Division Managing Director Thomas Hellige said, “This strategic partnership will bring both our companies the great benefit of enhancing ethylene cracking coils perfor-

SEOUL: South Korea and Japan are asking the European Union to give them access to European insurance for Iranian oil shipments even after a July 1 embargo comes into effect, the Korean economy ministry said on Monday.

South Korea and Japan are major buyers of Iran’s oil and the EU ban would prevent EU insurers and reinsurers from covering tankers carrying this crude anywhere in the world.

“To the EU members, we explained the problems that could be caused to non-EU members by the EU insurance embargo,” the ministry said in a statement. “In close cooperation with Japan, we are in the process of discussing this with the EU.” The statement said the South Korean government would take unspecified measures against the possibly disruption in Iranian oil from July 1. Economy ministry official Jae-do Moon also declined to give details.

“It will be hard to find entities to provide alternative insurance coverage to European P&I (protection and indemnity),” Moon, deputy minister for international affairs, told reporters in a briefing.

Iran exports most of its 2.2 million barrels of oil per day to Asia.The four main buyers - China, India, Japan and South Korea - have yet to find a way to replace shipping insurance cover that is mostly provided by London insurers.

Britain is also seeking to persuade fellow European Union members to postpone by up to six months a ban on providing insurance for tankers carrying Iranian oil, arguing that it could lead to a damaging spike in oil prices.

The Western sanctions seek to stem the flow of petrodollars to Iran to force it to halt a nuclear programme that the West suspects is intended to produce weapons.

Some Indian and Chinese firms have already asked state insurers to step in and provide coverage by offering government guarantees. Asked if the Korean and Japanese governments were considering doing the same, Moon said nothing had yet been decided.

Like other Asian buyers, South Korea has been gradually decreasing its oil imports from Iran ahead of the sanctions, relying on other Middle Eastern producers to plug the gap.

Data from state-run Korea National Oil Corp showed last month South Korea’s Iranian crude oil imports fell by more than 20 percent to 195,000 bpd in the first quarter of this year, led by a 40 percent cut in its import in March.

Of South Korea’s four refiners, SK Energy and Hyundai Oilbank import Iranian crude. Industry and company sources said last month that Hyundai Oilbank had decided to stop lifting cargoes from June, while SK Energy is sticking to a plan to lift annual committed volumes at least until June. -Reuters

FILE - This file photo shows a gas flare at the Woodside operated North West Shelf Venture in the north of Western Australia, in 2008. Australia has enough gas reserves to maintain current production for almost 200 years, according to a report released on Monday, supporting the nation’s push to become a global exporter to rival Qatar. (AFP)

Equate, S+C sign cooperation accord for ethylene cracker performance optimization

Group photo of officials at the signing ceremony

South Korea, Japan want EU insurance for Iran oil post-embargo

mance and at the same time the opportunity to explore new key technology.

Additionally, S+C Middle East Sales Director Aurelio Muñoz appreciated Equate’s determination to pro-actively evaluate the option to implement the latest innovative generation of anti-coke resistant alloy, so called S+C Centralloy HTE as a part of this strategic cooperation agreement.

Established in 1995, Equate is an international joint venture between Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Boubyan Petrochemical Company (BPC) and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC). Commencing production in 1997, Equate is the single operator of a fully integrated world-scale manufacturing facility producing over 5 million tons annually of high-quality petrochemical products which are marketed throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.

The family owned German Group, Schmidt + Clemens, is the worldwide leader producer of high alloy castings for the Petrochemical, refining, fertilizer and Direct Reduction of Iron ore Industries.With more than 130 years of history and six production mills located in Europe, America and Asia, Schmidt + Clemens owns the largest centrifugal casting capacity in the world and supplies high -performance materials with the highest quality standards.

Al Rajhi starts Saudi’s Safco, APC with overweight

CAPITALS: Saudi Arabian Petrochemical producers will likely outperform their global peers because of higher margins and a greater focus on expansion, but project execution will be a key challenge for these companies, Al Rajhi Capital said. The brokerage started coverage of Saudi Arabian Fertilizers Co (Safco) and Advanced Petrochemical Co (APC) with “overweight” ratings. It set a “neutral” rating on Sahara Petrochemical Co. Saudi producers will boast better margins on lower costs from cheaper feedstock, strong demand from Asia and improved pricing on products, said the brokerage.

Expansion will be the key catalyst for growth in Safco, APC and Sahara Petrochemical, Al Rajhi said. The brokerage prefers Safco to the other two companies due to its focus on fertilizers and ambitious expansion program. “Safco will continue to outperform its peers with very high margins operating margin averaging around 70 percent -- benefiting from cheap feedstock costs,” the brokerage said in a note dated May 12. Shares of Safco closed at 182.25 riyals on Sunday, while those of APC closed at 26.70 riyals. Sahara Petrochemical shares closed at 15.70 riyals. -Reuters

Japan’s JX may cut refining capacity more than planned TOKYO: Japan’s top oil refiner, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation, may cut its crude refining capacity by more than the 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) planned by the end of March 2014, if the step is needed to meet government rules, the company’s president said.

The comments signaled for the first time that the firm would not necessarily stick to cuts of 200,000 bpd to meet government policy, aimed at streamlining the overcrowded market and cutting excess capacity amid flagging domestic demand.

Aiming to boost Japan’s capacity to handle cheaper, heavier oils, the government introduced new rules in 2010 that forced oil refiners to choose between closing existing crude distillation units (CDUs) and building new secondary units to process heavy oil residue.

So far, Idemitsu Kosan Company, Showa Shell Sekiyu and AOC Holdings are set to meet the requirements by pledging to shut nearly 30,000 bpd of capacity. Surplus refining capacity was estimated at around 20 percent, or more than one million bpd, in 2010.

JX had already cut CDU capacity by 400,000 bpd by October 2010, but still needs to cut 220,000 bpd of capacity by March 2014, or 20,000 bpd more than the company’s plan, in order to meet a trade ministry directive, a Reuters calculation shows.

The company has not disclosed the exact size of capacity cuts necessary to meet the law.

JX said it had not made any decision on which refining capacity to trim, but industry sources said it was considering scrapping a sole 180,000 bpd CDU at its northernmost Muroran refinery, due to high delivered costs of crude and the lack of a lucrative secondary unit to convert residue, or very heavy oil, into more expensive lighter products, such as gasoline.

“We would only need to make sure our calculations add up with the upgrading law,” JX Nippon Oil President Yasushi Kimura told the Reuters Global Energy & Environment Summit. “We would not necessarily fixate on the 200,000 (bpd cut), and the cuts could be more or less than 200,000 bpd.”

The company plans to complete a study of the planned cuts by September and start talking to local governments, among others, he said at the summit, held at the JX headquarters in Tokyo. -Reuters

Global skill gap leaves 10 million manufacturing positions unfilled

CAPITALS: The future of global manufacturing is turning into a competition for global talent according to a new report, The Future of Manufacturing: Opportunities to Drive Economic Growth, released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in collaboration with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (Deloitte) on Monday.

The report estimates that 10 million manufacturing jobs worldwide cannot currently be filled due to a growing skills gap. This shortage is pervasive despite the high unemployment rate in many developed economies where companies are struggling to fill manufacturing jobs, such as highly trained workers and engineers. At the same time, emerging economies cannot fuel their growth without more workers in the skilled production category.

“In the race to future prosperity, nothing will matter more than talent,” says Craig Giffi, Vice Chairman and Consumer & Industrial Products Industry Leader at Deloitte LLP, who helped author the report. “The skills gap that exists today will not likely close in the near future, which means companies and countries that can attract,

develop and retain the highest skilled talent-from scientists, researchers and engineers to technicians and skilled production workers-will come out on top.”

“Sourcing talented human capital will be the most critical resource and top priority globally. It will act as the differentiating factor in the prosperity of countries and companies,” said Ghassan Turqieh, Human Capital consulting partner at Deloitte in the Middle East. “Emerging economies, such as the Middle East, cannot begin to fuel growth without the proper talent,” he added.

Innovation leads to differentiation

According to the report, innovation will play a key role in determining which countries and companies can succeed in global manufacturing looking two decades down the road.

“Companies regarded as more innovative grew net income nearly two times faster from 2006 to 2010 than their non-innovative counterparts,” says John Moavenzadeh, Senior Director for Mobility Industries at the Forum.

“Meanwhile, countries that are more successful at fostering innovation performed better when it comes to both gross domestic product (GDP) and GDP per capita.”

The bottom line is that manufacturers must innovate to stay ahead of competition. They must also be enabled by infrastructure and a policy environment that better supports university and research lab breakthroughs in science and technology.

Surging energy consumption is top priority

The report also looked at the role energy will play in the future of manufacturing, finding that affordable clean energy strategies and effective energy policies will be a top priority for manufacturers and policymakers.

“By 2035, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects world energy consumption will more than double from a 1990 baseline,” says Tim Hanley, Global Leader for Manufacturing at Deloitte. “Manufacturers will need to seek new energy-efficient ways of manufacturing, from energy efficient product designs to more ef-

ficient production and logistics. Collaboration between manufacturers and policymakers will increasingly be an imperative to solve the global energy puzzle.”

The Future of Manufacturing report is the result of a year-long effort combining primary and secondary research, including a review of academic and industry literature, interviews with more than 30 manufacturing business, academia, and policy leaders, and virtual task force meetings. In addition, industry, policy, and academic stakeholders provided valuable input to the report during seven face-to-face global workshops.

In summarizing the report, Giffi emphasizes one frequently recurring theme, ‘Collaboration between governments and private sectors will be critical.’

“With competition increasing for so many resources and capabilities-and with the prosperity of nations hanging in the balance-policymakers will be actively looking for the right combination of trade, tax, labor, energy, education, science, technology, and industrial policy levers to generate the best possible future for their citizens.”

ALWATAN DAILY

BUSINESS

Dubai’s Arabtec refutes ownership reports, shares rise

DUBAI: Arabtec Holding on Monday denied reports that shareholder Aabar Investments had taken a majority stake in the builder, saying the Abu Dhabi fund’s current position was only 20.8 percent.

Shares in Arabtec, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) biggest builder by market value, slumped a day earlier on fears it may de-list after an official at the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) told Reuters the state-owned fund had raised its stake to 53 percent.

That followed an Arabic daily report which quoted Aabar’s chairman - who was appointed to the same post at Arabtec last week - as saying the fund owns the majority stake.

“The newspaper article posted in Alrroya Aleqtissadiya ‘Aabar acquires 53 percent of Arabtec’ on 12/05/2012 includes incorrect information,” Arabtec said in a statement Monday.

“Aabar’s companies’ investments in Arabtec Holding through its investments funds totals is 20.76 percent, according to the share register settlement May 10.”

Arabtec shares recovered some ground on Monday, rising more than five percent in early trading before easing lower. The

stock was up 1.44 percent at 0827 GMT. “Arabtec’s free float is now very low with Aabar buying stakes through different subsidiaries and it is easy to manipulate the move,” said Samer Al-Jaouni, general manager of Middle East Financial Brokerage Company “Today, it is pure speculation from small traders.”

Aabar Chairman Khadem al-Qubaisi on Saturday told Arabic daily Alrroya that the fund had taken control of the builder by buying a 23-percent stake directly from Arabtec and the remaining 30 percent from other shareholders.

Aabar, which owns stakes in highprofile names such as German carmaker Daimler and commodities trader Glencore, first raised its Arabtec stake to disclosure levels in March when it emerged it owned 5.3 percent. It later doubled it to 10.5 percent through another subsidiary.

The Abu Dhabi fund dropped a 1.7 billion US dollars bid for a 70-percent stake in Arabtec two years ago. Months later, Aaber delisted from the Abu Dhabi bourse after it was taken private by its then-majority shareholder, International Petroleum Investments Corporation (IPIC). -Reuters

Shoddy workplaces cost Middle East companies millions

Monday 14 May, 2012 Index Price index Weighted Index KSX 15

Low

MARIN

154

154

IKARUS IPG

NAPESCO

AREFENRGY GPI

330 0

130 70

194 325 0

126 67

6,432.28 416.19 990.76

Volume

1

10

10,849 0

116,000 903,500

ABAR

255

255

1 1,030,361

PIPE

118

116

39,764

BPCC

610

610

16,750

Oil & Gas

KFOUC ALKOUT

ALQURAIN Basic Materials KCEM

REFRI

CABLE SHIP

PCEM

PAPER MRC

ACICO GGMC HCC

KPAK

KBMMC NICBM

EQUIPMENT NCCI

GYPSUM

SALBOOKH AGLTY EDU

340 0

340 0

MTCC UPAC

ALAFCO

MUBARRAD LOGISTICS SCEM

GCEM QCEM FCEM

RKWC Industrials KSH

NSH

PAPCO CATTL

DANAH POULT

FOOD Consumer Goods MHC ATC

0

14,828 61,877

4

610

748 0

FUTUREKID ALNAWADI ALRAI

ZIMAH UFIG

KOUTFOOD Consumer Services ZAIN

NMTC

GBK CBK

0

340 0

▬ ▬ ▬

0

0

0

0

265

255

228,701

59,323

23

265

0

0

0

0

0

0

880 140 250 0 0 0 0 0

180 0 0

39

415 0

880 132 248 0 0 0 0 0

180 0 0

35

405 0

120 0 0 0

35 22

1,680 106 350 290 66

280 90

106 0

108 0

0 0

112 0

95 0

650 200

112,000 0 0 0 0 0

20,010 0 0

397,968 88,911 0

572 27

27,780 0 0 0 0 0

3,602 0 0

14,013 36,596 0

2 6 7 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0

16 22 0

880 140 248 0 0 0 0 0

180 0 0

35

410 0

▬ ▬ ▲ ▬ ▲ ▼ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▼ ▬ ▬

0.0

-6.0 0.0 0.0

10.0 0.0

20.0 -7.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

-2.5 0.0 0.0

-2.0

0

33 20

1,680 102 350

0

250,000

21,555,161 14,361

298,355 50,000

290

162,692

275

293,710

63 88 99 0

99

531,571 479,869

10,677,869 0

2,423,659

0

8,265

446,258 24,126 30,879 17,500 47,181 34,426 81,083 42,842

1,092,333 0

250,209

0 4

157 7

32 5 8

36 17 19

179 0

65

0

35 20

1,680 104 350 290 66

280 88

100 0

100

▬ ▲ ▼ ▼ ▬ ▲ ▬ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▼ ▬ ▼

0.0 0.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 1.5

-2.5

-20.0 0.0

10.0 0.0 1.0 5.0

-1.0 -2.0 0.0

-2.0

0

0 38,329,340

0 2,332,879

0 668

0 996.15

▬ ▼

0.0 -0.01

0

0

0

0

0

▬

0.0

0

106 0

94 0

0

16,758 0

31,001 0

0

1,809 0

2,926 0

0 3 0 5 0

0

106 0

95 0

▬ ▲ ▬ ▼ ▬

0.0 2.0 0.0

-1.0 0.0

1,420

1,360

84,500 132,259

119,290 124,025

7 15

1,360 990.28

▼ ▼

-60.0 -5.16

0

0

0

0

0

0

▬

0

0

0

0

0

255 106 0 0 0

270 250 55

425 214 0

100 124 0 0 0

750

2,360

1,080 430 760

255

2,100

536

0

▼ ▼

-5 -4.12

2

960

▼

-60

1

20,075

10

0

0

0

0

0

265 246 53

425 210 0

95

124 0 0

0

16,081 38,580 80,795 2,000

57,059 0

4,000 1 0 0

0 0

4,261 9,612 4,363 850

12,132 0

390 0 0 0

0

390 987.65

192,033 0

▬

5 5

104 0

0

0 0 3

17 3 1

24 0 3 1 0 0

255 106 0 0 0

270 246 53

425 212 0

95

124 0 0

▼ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▼ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▼ ▬ ▼ ▲ ▬ ▬

-25 0 0 0 0

-5

-14 1

-5 -8 0

-2 2 0 0

0

0 393,569

0 53,103

0 65

0 988.32

▬ ▼

0 -14.98

730

297,143

219,993

37

730

▼

-10

2,320

36,770

86,037

18

2,360

▼

-40

90

2,134,052 2,467,965

194,211 500,241

76 131

91 995.50

▬ ▼

0 -10.15

1,060

1,395,114

1,478,988

58

1,060

▬

0

425 760

230,201 6,071

97,960 4,614

12 1

425 760

▼ ▼

-5 -50

0

▬

0

ALMUTAHED KIB

900 275

880 275

137,391 1,860,596

121,911 511,664

10 34

880 275

▼ ▬

420

-10 0

▼

-5

KFIN

720

710

348,936

249,564

81

720

▬

0

ABK

BURG

BOUBYAN UGB

AUB ITHMR Banks KINS

GINS AINS

WINS

KUWAITRE FTI

WETHAQ ARIG

BKIKWT Insurance AINV

SOKOUK KRE

0

425 610 164 172 47

300 500 435 136 0 0 0

112 0

0

0 57

0

420 590 162 168 47

290 495 435 130 0 0 0

112

0

198,574

3,316,909 49,331

654,000 30,160

0

83,976

1,989,363 8,010

111,408 1,402

0

7

93 5

18 9

600 164 172 47

▬ ▲ ▬ ▼

0 2

0 -3

8,227,283

4,658,860

328

984.34

▼

-10.94

96,243

28,742

3

300

▲

20

3,213 6,474

11,025 0 0 0

83,776

1,593 2,816 1,439 0 0 0

9,383

2 2 4 0 0 0 2

500 435 136 0 0 0

112

▼ ▼ ▲ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▼

-20.0 -25.0 8.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

-2.0

0

0 200,731

0 43,973

0 13

0 1000.92

▬ ▲

0.0 2.11

0

0

0

0

0

▬

0

0 56

0 1,495,541

0 83,750

0 24

0 56

▬ ▼

▬

10.0 0.0

2

10.0

▬

▲

2,719

▲

0

0

39,999

▼

0

238

67

360

0

0

1

INJAZZAT

118

0

0

0

0.0

-1.5

0.0

0.0

11

0

0

▼

0.0

0.0

28,932

▬

1

36

▬

0.0

-1.0

81,176

0

0

14

▬

▼

464,365

0

238

18,793

246

▬

▬

355

0

0

9

132

0

112

0

238

506,229

62,733

112

3

93

156 0

0

AREEC

35

256,100

22

14

10 0 28

TAM

39

244

5,121

17,525

13,402 0 54,141

PEARL

248

76,731

190,055

86,112 0

▬ ▬

SRE

38,795

92

0.0

0

697,556

132

Change

93

▬

0

110

132

Last

ERESCO

0

▼

112

NRE

Trades

-2.0

0

174

URC

Trades Value (KD)

128 38

0

11

Volume

3 14

0

19,388

Low

2,107 13,001

0

112,000

High

16,566 350,020

0

172

Security

166,096,095 15,549,511 3,322

126 37

0.0 -3.34

176

Volume Value (KWD) Number of Trades

128 39

▬ ▼

HITSTELEC 92 Telecommunications NBK

2

Low

6,425.83 415.16 987.44

MASSALEH ARABREC

216 990.95

883

SOOR

4.0

-1.0

10,218

920

JAZEERA

▼

0.0

▼

960

MUNTAZAHAT

▲

-5.0

118

960

OULAFUEL

69

▬

6.0

6

KCIN

MASHAER

130

▼

10.0

4,651

13,551 13,551

IFAHR

7

35

0

▲

13.0 22.00

35,002 35,002

EYAS

0

325

▲

▲ ▲

380

CABLETV

4

194

255 1032.41

395

SULTAN

154

1

1 49

0 80,283

YIACO Health Care

KHOT

1

Change

30 42

375

SAFWAN

3,576

Last

87,126 102,742

KCPC

NAFAIS

2

Trades

6,453.95 420.76 1,006.05

404,518 463,232

154 0

HUMANSOFT

0

0

High

6,446.06 419.00 998.48

214

156 0

KGL

2,200

Trades Value (KD)

Last Closing

216

CLEANING CITYGROUP

CGC

to a poor impression of other businesses, respondents cited: dirty or untidy offices (70 percent); unpleasant smells (66 percent); noisy or chaotic offices (52 percent); and cheap or outdated décor (52 percent).

These concerns were followed closely by: uncomfortable or inappropriate seating in a meeting room (49 percent); substandard technology (50 percent); and uncomfortable or inappropriate seating in a reception area (50 percent).

In fact, more than two thirds of respondents (69 percent) said they find themselves wanting to leave a meeting early because of uncomfortable seating.

A further 56 percent of respondents admitted to avoiding meeting at someone’s place of work all together because they did not like their offices.

In addition to lost revenue, poor office design is likely to have other negative ramifications on a business.

Cheryl Durst, Executive Vice President and CEO of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), comments: “Studies like this reaffirm that in business first impressions matter and allow us to justify the return on interior fit out investments. Business owners need to understand that their office represents their shop window. Poorly designed offices will see business walk straight out the door - if it even reaches the front door in the first place.

When you add to that the more intangible costs of low employeemorale andpoor work rates, it is reasonable to assume that the true cost of bad office design to a business could reach millions of dollars.”

The Office Exhibition is the Middle East’s leading and largest industry platform for office design and fit-out solutions. Businesses wanting to learn more about how good workplace design boosts the bottom line should visit the showat the Dubai World Trade Center from May 15-17, 2012.

194

Closing

-13.78 -2.81 -7.72

High

MAYADEEN

A handout picture of a shoddy office. No matter how slick your business attire, pitch or product, if presented in an unsightly office, it could be costing your company millions in lost revenue.

Change ▼ ▼ ▼

Security

GFC

DUBAI: No matter how slick your business attire, pitch or product, if presented in an unsightly office, it could be costing your company millions in lost revenue. For the first time in the Middle East there is now proof that business owners and senior executives avoid awarding contracts in significant numbers due to a supplier’s shoddy workplace environment. This was mentioned in a press release on Monday.

The Office Exhibition, in partnership with research company YouGov, surveyed 1,172 CEOs and directors from across the MENA region, to find out the extent a supplier’s office setting influences theirprocurement decisions. The results are astonishing.

According to the findings, untidy, smelly and poorly designed offices cost Middle East companies, on average, 0.5 million US dollars in lost revenue.

“These results confirm, with quantifiable evidence, what we and the design industry have always known,” says David Wilson, Event Director of The Office Exhibition. “A healthy workplace environment not only boosts productivity, it signals professionalism and inspires confidence in the company’s product or service. Conversely, offices which smell of food or cigarette smoke, are dirty, or have furniture that is old and unwelcoming turn business away. Businesses in the region need to take a good look at what their work environment says about their company. Ignoring this could literally mean they are throwing contracts away!”

Released on the eve of The Office Exhibition 2012 - opening tomorrow the Dubai World Trade Center -the results confirm that in business all first impressions count. Business decision makers almost unanimously (85 percent) agreed they would be concerned about a company’s professionalism if their offices did not look respectable.

Among the top factors contributing

11

TUESDAY, may 15, 2012

0.0 -1.0

UREC

MABANEE INVESTORS IRC ALTIJARIA SANAM

AAYANRE AQAR

ALAQARIA MAZAYA ADNC

THEMAR GRAND TIJARA

0

1,020 68 19 59 86 62 72

100 38 81 33 0 0 0

0

1,000 16 55 85 57 69

100 38 81 29 0 0 0

0

21,049

12,231,450 747,000 207,917 851,000 591,802 2,700 10

80,000

7,607,239 0 0 0

0

21,067 203,865 42,907 17,673 50,850 42,046 270 0

6,480

218,076 0 0 0

TAAMEER

61

58

10,001

580

ARGAN

0

0

0

0

ARKAN

ABYAAR

MUNSHAAT

FIRSTDUBAI KBT

REAM MENA

ALMUDON MARAKEZ

85 48 38 41 0 0

42 0 0

80 46 33 38 0 0

42 0 0

REMAL Real Estate

350

345

KINV

104

100

FACIL IFA

NINV

KPROJ

COAST TII

SECH IIC

275 53

148 335 58 0 0 0

270

57 0 0 0

116

114

AIG

ALAMAN ALOLA

ALMAL GIH

AAYAN BAYANINV GLOBAL OSOUL KFIC

KAMCO NIH

ISKAN MADAR

0

38

148 50 37 0

41 0

69 0

226 61 0 0

0 0

10 0 0

400,100 31,314,628 45,297

606,402

78,351

MARKAZ

0

92,846

320

146

220

KMEFIC

589,999

3,219,192

220 102

4,290,641

51

SGC IFC

2

92 0 0

820,188 365,000 0 0 0 5

24,692,947 5,300 0 0

36

1,237,651

50 35

355,000 8,249,708

144

0

39 0

69 0

226 61 0 0

2,500,000

0

107,010 0

4,937 0

5,000 2 0 0

0

200,024 21,297 3,528 0 0 0 0 0

138,035 1,249,180 4,630

163,739 166,103 121,008 25,827 21,130 0 0 0 1

2,420,450 605 0 0

0 7

173 25 18 36 18 1 1 2

146 0 0 0

61 21 4 0 0 1 0 0

0 0 0

▼ ▬ ▬

-3.0 1.0

100 38 81 29 0 0 0

80 47 37 41 0 0

42 0 0

▬ ▲ ▼ ▼ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▼ ▼ ▬ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▬ ▬ ▲ ▬ ▬

79 27 35 14 0 0 0

51

146 330 58 0 0 0

1

220

2

116

181 0 0

13

0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0

98 0 0

36

146 50 37

▼ ▼ ▲ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▼ ▲ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▲

69 0

226 61 0 0

▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▲ ▬ ▬ ▬

TAMINV EXCH

TAIBA KSHC

STRATEGIA KCIC

MANAFAE

190 246 0

34 75 70 0

1,238,119

0

0

190 246 0

30 67 66 0

29,000 500 0

81,010 7,823

154,652 0

77,432 0

5,510 123 0

2,562 529

10,207 0

GNAHC

50

49

180,000

8,870

MASAR

0

0

0

0

AMWAL

0

0

ALIMTIAZ

110

106

NIND

226

222

MANAZEL UIC

BIIHC

SHOP SENERGY

36 89 70 0 81

34 88 70 0 79

0

419,936

7,568,593 2,269,500 104,370 80,000 0 86,000

0

31 33 0 55 0 2 1 0

11 2 4 0

265 95 0

0.0

246 0

34 75 68 0

0

0

0

40

224

11 2 0 3

5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

-10.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

-1.0 -2.0 -0.5 2.5

▼ ▲ ▬

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 0.0

-0.5 0.0

-5.0 1.0 0.0 0.0

190

49

92

-2.0

1.0

2 0

5.0

-1.0

▬

508,008

0 6,806

0.0

▲

106

5,600

2.5

0

20

9,189

0.0

64

44,913

255,920

0.0

0.5

0

▼

62

1.0

0.0

0

0

1.0

▲

39

64

0.5

▬

0

NOOR

0.0

0

13

ALMADINA

-5.0

40

0

59,327 0

0.0

-2.0

0.0

▲

10,795

628,739 0

0.0

▬

275

0

94 0

0.0

102

280,001

95 0

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6

24

0

EKTTITAB QURAINHLD

1.0

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0.0 -5.97

38

94,367

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0.0 0.0

▲

39

260

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▼

ALSAFAT

265

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20.0

350 995.39

11

1,130

▼

25 650

4,260

0

▲

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59

0

15 149

341

58 85

0

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17,598 296,080

0

17

61

37

0

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365,200

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▼ ▬

34 88 70 0 81

▬ ▼ ▬ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▬ ▼ ▬ ▬ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▬ ▼

0.0

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-1.0 0.0 0.0

-2.0 -2.5 -2.0 -2.0 -2.0 0.0 -1.0

AGHC

160

152

1,470,000

233,600

21

160

▲

10.0

ALSAFWA

20

19

4,687,064

89,888

78

19

▼

-1.0

KPPC

79

77

TAHSSILAT JEERANH

0 110

0 110

GFH

52

50

EKHOLDING INOVEST Financial Services

0

64

0

62

8,052,965 0 5 0 13,100,495

628,286 0 1 0 659,978

75

78

▲

1.0

0 1

0 110 0

▬

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246

50

▼

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0

▬ ▲

0.0 10.0

364,856 83,457,718

23,146 6,388,034

9 1,350

63 1003.97

▼ ▲

-1.0 1.68

MAREF 0 Investment Instruments

0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0.00

▬ ▬

0.0 0.00

ASC

0

0

0

0

0

▬

0.0

SAFTEC

FUTURE

HAYATCOMM Technology

0 0

260 118

0

260 118

0

4,000 1 4,001

0

1,040 0 1,040

0 1

0

260

▬ ▼

0.0

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1 2

118 999.59

▲ ▲

6.0 8.21

BAREEQ

0

0

0

0

0

0

▬

0.0

AFAQ

0

0

0

0

0

0

▬

0.0

ALSHAMEL

0

0

SAFRE

17

17

SPEC

0

0

AJWAN MASAKEN DALQAN ALEID

MIDAN FLEX

THURAYA KCLINIC

AMAR Parallel Market

41 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

For more information, call 1 80 42 42, www.globalinv.net

40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 1

40,005 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 40,006

0 0

1,600 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 1,600

0

0

1

17

0

0

3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4

40 0 0 0 0 0

▬ ▼ ▲ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬

0.0

-2.0 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0

▬

0.0

0

▬

0.0

0 995.90

▬ ▼

0.0 -3.67

STOCKS WITH NBK CAPITAL

12

ALWATAN DAILY tuesday, may 15, 2012

April 2009 May21, 14, 2012

2% 6%

1% 6% Oman

113

Dubai

-2%

-6%

Kuwait

-1%

90

Oman

Saudi Saudi

95 14-Feb-12 85

14-Mar-12

14-Apr-12

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

-6%-2

19-Apr-0

1

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

Index 7,068

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

2,473 5,250

Qa UAUAE Qatar (DSM Index) (ADSM Index)

8,489 2,695

Ku Kuwait (KSE Weighted Index)

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

OmOman UAE(MSM (DFMIndex) Index)

Level 416

% Chg.

YTD

%-1.6% Chg. -0.7%

127,898 69,783

1 196

17,338 65,352

8

26,783

12.64

63,640

7.67

-1.4% 1.9%

-0.7%

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)

1,681 463

1,179

2,825 463

10,621

5,131

1,094 546

Tu Tunisia (Tunis SE Index)* * Market Closed

3,282

-0.4%

5.1% 0.4%

-0.1%

0.0%

-

2.2%

0.2%

0.1%

-

-

0.9% -

-0.7% 6.6%

6,152 5,860

1.1% -18.8%

39.7%

0.7%

-2.3%

-6.8%

-8.0%

8.5%

0.2%

2,903

1,033

1,403

5,044 513

14,635

23.6%

739

-7.2%

66

1,921

-3.3%

7.8%

3,587

2,202

12,203

2.4%

10 305

1,129 4,230

12,109

-2.9%

5,419 1,433

1,383 12,627 5,628

5,138

13.6%

2,119

3,418

71 718

4,224

31,343 98,547

1,572

10,218

328

-

1,164

2,551 462

9,406

-

4,091

1,043

-

2,837

-

407

15,024

4

18,727

1

1

8.07

12.71

2.95

1.56

9,978

16.23

0.85

2.15

9.19

59,990

1.09

18.36

8,507

2

1.29

6.29

33,782 2,491

9

1.55

3.95

6.47

2,079

8.67

6,576

13.85

SAR 24.70

-6.4%

211,772,114 127,732,496

Turnover (USD)

94,662,679

201 Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (KSA)

343,553,085 83,165,360 119,955,261 57,055,548

115 (KSA) 422Alinma EmaarBank the Economic City (KSA)

97,126,838

NBKNational Bank of Kuwait (KUW)

88,742,222

65% 3050.SSE Southern Province Cement Co.

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

0.07

Advance/Decline Ratio

115

6,838,379

Turnover (SAR '000)

1,388,668,386

Market Cap. (SAR '000)

106

105

20Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

70Zain - Saudi Arabia

14-May-12

% Chg.

98.50

1.6%

19.40

0.5%

29.60

0.0%

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

Turnover (SAR) 794,251,315 7030.SSE Zain - Saudi Arabia 479,060,725 1150.SSE Alinma Bank 355,032,378 4220.SSE Emaar the Economic City 311,911,681 4300.SSE Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev. Co. 213,986,831 7020.SSE Etihad Etisalat Co.

1 Alinma Bank

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

#N/A

#N/A

Close

#N/A

Worst Performers

43Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev. Co.

100

14-Apr-12

#N/A

Highest Turnover

105

14-Mar-12

4250.SSE Jabal Omar Development Co.

7,931 / 5,916 1080.SSE Arab National Bank

Tadawul Index 52 week High / Low

110

64,280,166

7,068 (-1.6%)

Tadawul Index (% Chg.)

-6.8%

Turnover (USD)

MENA Highest Turnover

EMAEmaar Properties (UAE) Best Performers

Summary

120

95 14-Feb-12

-4.50% -8.6%

KFI Kuwait Finance House (KUW)

Rebased Performance

-17.8%

SAR 8.45 SAR 48.00

430 Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev. Co. (KSA)

201 Corp. (KSA) 703Saudi Zain -Basic SaudiIndustries Arabia (KSA)

1.92

SAUDI ARABIA *Market Closed

101 Riyad Bank

2.50

0.86

% Chg.

SAR 13.70

GCC Highest Turnover

115 Alinma Bank (KSA)

3.2%

8.0%

BHD 0.234% Chg. -10.0% Close

225 Saudi Industrial Inv. Grp.

1.82

3.2% 8.6%

KWD 0.760 -13.1% -6.2% KWD 0.265 AED 2.00 -4.8% SAR 22.95 -8.9%

0.89 201 ADN Zain -Basic SaudiIndustries Arabia Corp.

1.74 Saudi

1.68

4.7% 8.8%

KWD 0.226

UG United Gulf Bank

1.38

5.4% 9.8%

8.0%

Close

KAMKIPCO Asset Management Co.

10.01 14.94

10,482

67

MENA Worst Performers

10.19 6.87

9.50

55,090

OMR 0.720

GCC Worst Performers

1.95 FAC CBK CommercialFacilities Bank of Co. Kuwait 1.37 Commercial 1.57 ### Abu Dhabi National Hotels 0.88 238 Rabigh Petrochem.

9.01 8.85

57,824

2

1.01 1.77

11.61 7.29

17,731 37,413

46

1.87

0.71 1.52

83 122

1,301 316

QAR 21.60

BKMBankMuscat

PB

10.30 9.99

8,071 2,137

1,754 787

8.23 10.24

KWD 0.130

QGTQatar Gas Transport Co.

PB1.44

8,892 5,148

9.5% -0.2%

65,358 264,263

KWD 0.194 QAR 6.35

AREAREF Energy Holding Co.

PE 17.01

-3.2% 12.8%

5,654 1,745

10,230

12.05

102,632

-0.6% 0.6%

1,948

Ba Bahrain (BSE Index)

55

26 2,183

Jo Jordan (Amman General Index)

Eg Egypt (Hermes Egypt Index (HFI))*

Mkt. Cap. 370,262 USD million

AED 2.91 OMR 0.703

IKA Ikarus Petroleum Industries Co. KCB Al Khaliji Commercial Bank

Trailing

2,293 4,130

-0.3% 3.9%

M Morocco (Casa All Shares Index)

396

Turnover 1,823 USD million

PE

KWD 0.255 SAR 5.60

ART Arabtec Holding & Contracting GEC Galfar Engineering

Trailing

Mkt. Cap. USD million

2,775 10,090

-0.4% 1.8%

5,478

458

52 Wk 5,916 Low

Turnover USD million

2.9% 9.3%

1,157 5,590

OmOman (MSM Index)

2.6%

52 Wk Low

0.0% -4.0%

1,482 406

5,062

52 Wk 7,931 High

10.1% YTD

Ba Qa Bahrain Qatar(BSE (DSMIndex) Index)

Eg Egypt (EGX 30 Index)

52 Wk High

% Chg.

AED 1.26% Chg. 6.8% Close

ABA Burgan Co. forCo. Well Drilling 3 428 Kingdom Hldg.

Period's Liquidity Ratio (PLR x)*

Index Level

Close

4 GC Gulf Cement Co.

Period's Liquidity 1 Ratio (PLR x)

-1

MENA Indices Highlights

MENA Indices Highlights

MENA Best Performers

-2%

14-May-12

GCC Best Performers

Tunisia Abu Dhabi

Qatar

Abu Dhabi

-4%

Bahrain

Dubai

Palestine Palestine

95

-2%

Dubai Dubai

0%

102

-1%

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi Bahrain

0%

100

0%

Kuwait

Qatar Saudi Saudi

Return DailyDaily Return (%)(%)

106

100

2%

Oman Qatar

105 105

0%

Qatar

1%

Oman Morocco

111

110

4%

Kuwait Kuwait

110

Jordan

113

DailyIndex Index Performance Snapshot Daily Performance Snapshot

Egypt Jordan

115115

Bull/Bear Indicator Bull/Bear Indicator

Bahrain Bahrain

Rebased RebasedPerformance Performance

42Emaar the Economic City

Close

% Chg.

8.45

-4.5%

11.15

-3.9%

13.00 11.00 65.25

-4.1% -3.5% -2.3%

Saudi SE

Quotes Company Name 1 Al Rajhi Bank

Close 74.25

Daily % Chg. -1.3%

High 75.00

Low 74.00

Turnover (SAR '000) 72,625

1 Alinma Bank

13.00

-4.1%

13.40

13.00

479,061

1 Arab National Bank

29.60

0.0%

30.50

29.30

2,083

2 Almarai Co.

68.25

-1.8%

69.25

67.50

47,678

1 Bank AlBilad

27.20

-0.4%

28.00

26.60

19,697

1 Banque Saudi Fransi

36.80

-0.5%

37.10

36.40

1,900

4 Emaar the Economic City

11.15

-3.9%

11.65

11.00

213,987

19.00

141,018

1 Bank Al Jazira

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.

25.50 11.00

65.25

19.40

150.50 11.50

33.10

21.05

24.00

48.20

179.75

-0.4% -3.5%

-2.3%

0.5%

-1.0%

-2.5%

-1.5%

-2.3%

-0.8%

-1.4%

25.90 11.55

66.25

19.65

152.00 11.75

33.60

21.50

24.15

48.70

25.00

11,713

10.90

794,251

65.00

42,804

150.00

21,252

32.90

34,815

23.85

8,171

11.45

21.00 48.20

6,423

20,751 9,406

19,192

13.60

6.20

72,205 656

7,269 141

559

1,052 986

340

195

13.85

165.00

107.83

13.10

50.75

28.20

26.90

56.75

29.3%

18,030,360

7.05

-12.2%

29.9%

32.2%

42,617,646

33.60

21.20

23.10

42.40

-34.8%

-18.7%

-10.8%

3.0%

-25.4% -15.1%

2,901

16.45

88,282

34.20

14,760

34.30

5,469

-1.8%

17.30

16.70

40.30

-1.5%

40.70

40.10

26,588

98.50

1.6%

98.50

95.00

1,392

-1.3%

47.90

47.20

17,058

8.40

311,912

-0.3%

0.0%

-0.8%

-4.5%

35.30

35.10

49.20 8.80

48.40

43,041

24.25

3.4%

-11.6%

2.1%

5,350

21.30

15.50

-22.5%

35.50

23.70

22.6%

11.7%

43.8%

7.5%

-6.4%

-6.1%

5.3%

-10.5%

-5.4%

19.2%

11.3%

-7.7%

14.5%

41.2%

-2.0%

-5.2%

21.3%

-9.6%

24.3%

14

106.75

68.50

359

83.25

47.50

-42.9%

-32.1%

-20.8%

5.25

-26.5%

52.3%

15.0%

156

884

36,913

37.00

56.25

11.50

27.82

41.60

-5.4%

-13.4%

1.2

10.0

2.2

1.5

54,790,709

1.3%

424

11.4

-4.4%

-18.4%

33.00

1.6

nmf

1.6

-5.4%

17.75

42.60

7.7

nmf

2.0

24.45

660

9.3

10.0

1,434

-19.0%

2.0

16.7

289,500,000

11.1%

15.55

2.5

-10.9%

-5.8%

21.00

nmf

1.3

0.3%

21.42

171

43,380,000

8.6

0.8

5.0

20.9%

-7.9%

36,000,000

nmf

11.1

29.30

18.55

18,450,882

18,439,800

10.7

1.6

44,937,500

20.8%

25.30

-7.3%

9,030,000

28.2

0.7%

-18.4%

-19.3%

-14.0%

-24.0%

-11.2%

12.85

39.6%

-9.5%

57.25

747

45,675,000

59.7%

16.90

-2.9%

23.35

37.50

11,880,000

-15.3%

98.00

6

9,477,500

7,650,000

11.10

22.90

-2.3%

153

50.7%

25.5%

17,395

163

1.6

24.3%

16.30

13.15

14,186

632

11.2

-5.8%

8.1%

3.8

1.5

33,267,858

50.00

-8.8%

1.2

-4.2%

69.25

22.90

11.6

3.4

2.1

19.6%

51.7%

25,160,000

38.1

19.9

51.7%

-18.0%

19,500,000

8,160,000

-20.6%

3,133

0.0%

30.50

41.3%

6.05

41,203

2 1 Saudi Investment Bank 2 Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. 7 Saudi Telecom Co. 2

8.45

9.3%

13.05

28,605

7 Zain - Saudi Arabia

-8.0%

-20.1%

-12.1%

19.90

48.70

30.00

87.75

20.10

2 Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co.

40.00

109.75

-1.5%

47.50

52

3,679

31.10

19,342

19.95

3 Yamama Saudi Cement Co.

37.0%

15.75

23.8

30.4%

-17.3%

31.90

27,300,000

50.4%

17.20

459

26.6%

-10.0%

32.90

PB

14.5

7.6%

724

Trailing PE

111,375,000

-12.2%

355,032

27.30

35.00

26.60

96.50

27.60

34.80

33.70

19.3%

Market Cap. (SAR '000)

-1.7%

26.2%

98.25

-1.4%

Savola Group Co. 0 3 Southern Province Cement Co. 0 1 SABB

70

6.8%

12 mths

39.0%

-1.8%

27.60

16.50

-4.9%

YTD

-20.0%

-10.1%

1 Saudi Hollandi Bank

17.00

48.41

9.05

165.00

85.00

23.30

71.75

16.25

200.00

87.75

Saudi International Petrochemical Co.

-10.3%

130

-1.1%

22 Saudi Industrial Investment Grp.

67.25

23,384

87.00

13.15

82.75

36,851 699

on high

179.75

3 Saudi Cement Co.

5 Saudi Electricity Co.

978

% Change

Low

181.75

-1.3%

96.50

High

-1.4%

30.60

2 Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

52-Week

Volume ('000)

14.4%

10.7%

28,305,000

46.0

1.6

13,311,000

14.1

4.6

10,954,440

10.8

1.5

10,485,000 7,315,000

22.7

21.1

1.1

1.7

9.9

1.4

nmf

1.6

9,350,000

13.1

80,600,000

9.4

1.6

14.5

5.6

24,750,000

17,400,000

13,790,000

13.7

1.1

2.1

3.9%

35,000,000

11.7

2.0

-1.0%

27,393,750

8.6

2.4

9,618,750

11,830,000

11.5 nmf

2.8 3.0

STOCKS WITH NBK CAPITAL

13

ALWATAN DAILY tuesday, may 15, 2012

KUWAIT Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 6,432 (-0.2%)

KSE General Index (% Chg.)

115

416 (-0.7%)

Advance/Decline Ratio

0.75 AREFENRGAREF Energy Holding Co. 6,496 / 5,694 MABANEE. Mabanee Co.

54%

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

110

KSE General Index 52 week High / Low

105

Highest Turnover Turnover (KWD) 2,420,450 1,989,363

B Boubyan Bank

1,478,988

N National Bank of Kuwait

14-Mar-12

14-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

511,664

K Kuwait International Bank

14-May-12

5.4%

0.194

3.2%

0.130

3.2%

1.020

2.0%

0.275

1.9%

Worst Performers

IFInternational Finance Co.

95 14-Feb-12

IKARUS.KSIkarus Petroleum Industries Co.

28,613,879

Market Cap. (KWD '000)

100

% Chg.

0.255

15,469

Turnover (KWD '000)

104

ABAR.KSE Burgan Co. for Well Drilling

458 / 396 FACIL.KSE Commercial Facilities Co.

KSE Weighted Index 52 week High / Low

106

Close

KSE Weighted Index (% Chg.)

508,008

N National Industries Grp. Holding

Close KAMCO.KSKIPCO Asset Management Co.

CBK.KSE

Commercial Bank of Kuwait

% Chg.

0.226

-17.8%

0.246

-5.4%

0.760

OULAFUELOula Fuel Marketing Co. FOOD.KSE Kuwait Food Co.

-6.2%

1.360

NMTC.KSE Wataniya

-4.2%

2.360

-1.7%

KSE Weighted Index

Quotes Company Name

Close

Daily % Chg.

High

A Agility

0.410

0.0%

T Al Themar Intl. Holding Co.

0.086

-

A AREF Energy Holding Co.

0.130

A Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait

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

B Boubyan Petrochemical Co. B Burgan Bank

0.600

-

0.590

1,989

3,317

0.610

0.530

-1.6%

0.420

84

199

0.514

0.410

-18.3%

1.680

24

0.270

164

606

0.430

0.425

98

230

-

-

-

0.092

2,420

0.610

0.0%

0.420

-1.2%

1.680

0.610

10 1

0.255

0.255

-6.2%

0.760

0.760

1.9%

0.116

0.425

5.4%

-1.2%

0.275

0.610

-

0.425

-1.2%

0.400

-

-

1.680

0.275 -

-

-

-

0.425

0.425

0.226

1.0%

-17.8%

0.440

K Kuwait Finance House

0.720

K Kuwait International Bank

0.275

K Kuwait Projects Co. (Holding)

0.330

-

0.102

0.226

-

0.710

250

0.0%

0.275

0.275

1.5%

0.335

0.320

0.880

1.2%

1.420

0.880

A The Commercial Real Estate Co. S The Securities House N Wataniya

Z Zain Kuwait

17.3

1.0

-6.6%

169.0%

102,850

9.6

3.8

-4.3%

-26.7%

19.7

1.9

-8.1%

-11.7%

0.485

0.168

-

0.096

0.226

0.610

0.415

-9.3%

-55.9%

-12.4% -28.3%

-27.9%

-3.9%

-7.4%

0.236

-19.1%

26

78

0.386

0.281

-14.5%

85

1.620

1

1.340

1.240

0.660

-16.0%

1,119,062

39.7

2.6

-1.2%

181,553

nmf

-16.3%

285,265

24.1

13.8%

-16.5%

441,069

30.4%

-29.0%

623,412

29.7

4.1

-7.4%

4,614,707

15.2

2.0

290,102

nmf

0.8

0.056

-21.4%

3.1%

33.3%

0.0%

0.216

0.214

87

405

0.226

0.186

-4.4%

0.104

20

0.085

18

0.246

10

0.244

63

0.238

0.9%

0.238

0.238

73

0.0% 0.0% -

-1.7%

-1.4%

0.250

0.106 0.086 -

2.360

0.750

-

-

2.320

39

0.242

-0.8%

18.3% 3.5%

0.200

0

0.270

0.216

-11.9%

0.170

0.170

0.0%

208 -

86

0.093

0.097

37

0.067

2.480

297

1.880

1.080

0.690

107,323

-44.9%

-20.6%

0.9%

280,500

-8.8%

-18.0%

0.248 0.136

1187.9%

-31.7%

256 192

220

0.730

0.360

-15.1%

-

30.2

1.7

25.3

1.4

nmf

0.7

nmf

0.7

21.0

2.0

17.1%

126,130

17.6

1.0

-6.7%

88,803

23.2

115,600

nmf

237,600

-12.4%

10.4%

23.2%

155,959

-4.8%

21.6%

16.8%

1,189,517

-18.9%

0.8

85,161

4.9%

-11.7%

-32.4%

14.5

127,927

-22.1%

30.8%

1.9

1.4

32.0%

0.168

-43.8%

1.6

11.4

1.3

39

0.144

10.7%

0.7

31.5

5

0.260

-8.8%

4.1%

0.7

79,996

0.132

820

0.260

1187.9%

3.7

nmf

-21.4%

546,723

1.7

nmf

59,506

280,568

8.3

8.0

7.8%

0.132

0.340

78,682

nmf

26.9

0.0%

0.0%

289,705

-59.5%

0.0%

-

0.425

152,242

2,090,998

23.9%

1.8

-23.0%

-25.2%

-29.0%

4.0

0.9

-18.5%

0.425

16.4

10.4

-13.8%

0.248

0.730

145,500

0.138

-15.8%

0.340

0.0%

2.360

34.7%

0.214

-13.8%

1,861

0.246

0.170

14.1%

-19.2%

1.240

512

-5.4%

0.085

-12.7%

0.285

-13.6%

0.246

0.106

-2.8%

1.600

0.495

-12.6%

1.0

147,610

-18.5%

0.132

T Tamdeen Real Estate Co.

132.0%

-21.7%

162,339

-26.7%

0.192

N National Real Estate Co.

nmf

136.7%

0.425

5.8%

-25.2%

121

966,737

1.4

0.0%

0.543

-24.7%

0.710

0.146

36.5

0.019

0.255

-11.6%

0.275

0.148

53,454

1.2

11.5

0.116

0.365

6.3%

2,270

-1.4%

33.8

-17.4%

0.315

-

295,911

1.4

-3.8%

-13.4%

508

-

4.3

nmf

-18.3%

1.300

0.222

-

nmf

0.700

1.940

5

-

1.5

0.930

0.963

-

-

1.0

5.7

6

0.226

-

-

1.9

-45.7%

-5.9%

-0.9%

S Sultan Center Food Products Co.

648,886

0.5

20.0

97,500

5.2%

0.909

0.224

S Salhia Real Estate Co.

-19.8%

8.9%

-7.1%

1.127

-

0.216

1,048,941

1,395

N National Industries Grp. Holding

A Qurain Petrochemicals Industries Co.

0.0%

12.1%

1,479

1.080

O Oula Fuel Marketing Co.

1.7%

1.060

0.0%

907,944

226,134

0.709

1.060

0.146

nmf

1.020

1.000

N National Investments Company

87,075

21

1.020

0.310

-17.3%

-4.6%

21

2.0%

N National Industries Co.

15.9

20.3%

0.222

1

429,203

-18.3%

22.6%

PB

9.3%

-7.9%

349

0.880

1.020 0.425

-5.5%

PE

-39.3%

2

119

1.360

-4.6%

Trailing

Market Cap. (KWD '000)

0.198

24,693

-

-3.2%

9.3%

12 mths

0.420

0

1

0.226

0.530

-1.5%

YTD

0

-

-

0.085

0.630

14

0

0.720

-4.2%

17

1

-

0.132

-

0.0%

1.360

116

5

-

-1.2%

0.098

-

15

0.126

0.425

N National Bank of Kuwait

-17.3%

0.610

0.130

JAJazeera Airways

M Mena Holding

0.079

-8.7%

0.0%

3.2%

0.194

M Mabanee Co.

-

0.580

0.600

0.194

P Kuwait Portland Cement Co.

0.104

0.657

-18.3%

3.2%

F Kuwait Food Co.

-4.7%

0.280

0.194

K Kuwait Cement Co.

0.248

0.355

IK Ikarus Petroleum Industries Co.

K KIPCO Asset Management Co.

0.430

163

1.380

IF International Finance Co.

-

-

on high

47

C Gulf Cable and Electrical Industries Co. IF IFA Hotels & Resorts

-

-

89

% Change

Low

0.290

0.760

G Gulf Bank

-

-

37

High

0.290

C Commercial Bank of Kuwait G Global Investment House

0.405

52-Week

Volume ('000)

0.0%

0.255

F Commercial Facilities Co.

0.415

Turnover (KWD '000)

0.290

A Burgan Co. for Well Drilling

C Combined Grp Contracting Co.

-

Low

-8.6%

61,356

30.8%

-33.6%

3,144,500

13.1

1.1

nmf

1.6

0.9

14.8

0.6

9.1

11.3

1.5

11.0

1.5

UAE Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 1,482 (-0.4%)

DFM Index (% Chg.)

115

2,473 (0.0%)

ADSM Index (% Chg.)

32% ARTC.DFM Arabtec Holding 0.50 TAMWEEL Tamweel 1,754 / 1,301 TAQA.ADS Abu Dhabi National Energy Co.

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

110

DFM Index 52 week High / Low 106

99

95 14-Feb-12

14-Mar-12 S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

14-Apr-12 Abu Dhabi SE

0.9% 0.7%

Worst Performers

E Emaar Properties E Etisalat

20,039,103

TATamweel

14-May-12

0.9%

4.7%

2.78

Turnover (AED) 134,378,351 ADNH.ADS Abu Dhabi National Hotels 45,315,923 DEYAAR.D Deyaar Development Co. 22,099,954 DANA.ADS Dana Gas

A Arabtec Holding

97

1.16

382,567,389

Market Cap. (AED '000)

Highest Turnover 100

6.8%

1.18

358,137

Turnover (AED '000)

% Chg.

1.26

2.91

2,775 / 2,293 EMIRATES Emirates NBD

ADSM Index 52 week High / Low 105

Close GCEM.ADS Gulf Cement Co.

9,818,940

D du

Close 0.31

0.39

EMAAR.DF Emaar Properties DIB.DFM

% Chg.

2.00

2.89

Dubai Islamic Bank

1.92

-4.8%

-2.9% -2.5%

-1.7%

-1.5%

Dubai FM

Quotes Company Name

Close

A Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

3.14

T Abu Dhabi National Energy Co.

1.18

A Air Arabia

0.59

A Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

A Abu Dhabi National Hotels A ALDAR Properties A Amlak Finance

A Arabtec Holding A Aramex

5,099

0.9%

1.18

1.18

-0.2%

0.60

0.59

1.03

-1.0%

1.81

D Dana Gas

0.39

D du

3.11

-4.8%

2.91

2.80 0.31

3.01

-

3.15

2.00

1.05 -

-13.2%

-1.7%

-11.9%

7,345,500

7.1

0.8

0.57

-21.6%

1.0%

-19.0%

2,762,686

10.3

0.5

1,530,000

nmf

1.98

0.76 -

-31.0%

-1.6%

-9.1%

-29.0%

12.0%

-29.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.86

0.76

131

166

1.45

0.71

-45.5%

-21.8%

-43.2%

-2.5%

0.40

0.38

4,049

0.30

1,820

10,353

-41.8%

-13.3%

-43.5%

3.01

9,819

-

-2.9%

-1.3%

-1.7%

0.6% -0.3%

67.00

-

6.8%

8.81

-0.5%

1.75

-

1.82 -

0.32

3.10

1.80 -

-

2.99

8.80 8.82

1.29 -

8.85 -

1,292 -

8,805 2,131

713

1.96

1.69

-7.7%

-

3.24

2.67

-13.5%

5,837

0.46

0.20

-33.0%

3,235

8,924 1,094

0.67

3.63

1.31 2.26

0.34

2.80

0.68 1.88

-17.1%

-26.0% -15.0%

0.6%

1.4%

43.2% 4.2%

15.5% -1.0%

0.5

13,760,000

11.2

7,760,000 7,290,344

nmf

4.6

0.3

2.3

1.0

0.8

22,100 4,348

2,522 494

11.20 10.75

8.57 6.98

-21.8% -18.1%

-4.1% 13.9%

-15.0% -6.4%

69,257,786 26,400,000

11.9 7.0

1.8 1.0

-34.3%

-34.0%

0.0%

8.8%

1.23 -

8.80 -

1,455

-

69

5,906 -

268

520

-

55

4.63

1.44

2.65

0.67

102.00

67.00

-

4.95

3.00

306

1.02

0.80

670 -

9.00

2.24

7.38

-40.0%

-12.5% -2.1%

-5.4%

77.5% 8.6%

-18.0%

8.5%

-12.2%

0.24

-24.2%

45.3%

-

-

-

3.90

4.50

2,625,000

1.0%

0.50

100

2,800,000

-27.5%

2.82

3.28

-25.1%

-12.2%

4.8%

-

-7.9%

17.6%

-13.7%

1,034,582

34,134,860

-31.0%

2,150

1.45

15,450,614

3.9%

48.6%

0.67

818

292

5,125

-10.3%

-3.3%

0.37

2.92

5,107

-13.7%

-21.9%

92.4%

0.99

-28.7%

1.63

-22.1%

-

nmf

8.70 8.71

0.53

-

1,762,290

0.6

1.49

3.95

0.9

5.1

8.9

17,129

U United Arab Bank

7.1

2,574,781

17,603,679

20,039

0.39

1.4

-10.2%

1.13

2.92

0.9

11.9

12.5%

1.21

0.3%

nmf

2,650,021

-12.4%

0.9%

-0.3%

1,382,500

2.41

1.16

2.92

1.5

-2.6%

-11.1%

1.1

14.7

5,707,386

-7.1%

0.6

4,567,973

-2.0%

-23.6%

4.5

0.2

3.30

0.86

U Union National Bank

4,207,683

8.5

1.1

15,445

0.88 1.01

2,000,000

6.4

45,316

0.0% 0.0%

-2.2%

7,354,235

2.89

0.88

0.38

-31.0%

0.0%

-0.6%

8.76 8.80

1.00

0.6%

123.0%

2.78

* Closing Prices, Turnover and Market Cap. in USD

1.14

-12.4%

92.2%

2.80

U Union Properties

0.8

2.92

-15.8%

0.7%

T Tamweel

5.4

1.18

2.78

S Sorouh Real Estate Co.

-

17,570,176

3.46

E Emirates NBD

S Sharjah Islamic Bank

-

1.45

PB

10.6%

46,527

1.92

N National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain

-

9,151

2.90

PE

13.0%

134,378

1.97

4.95

0.76

288

Trailing

Market Cap. (AED '000)

-5.4%

2.75

-1.5%

N National Bank of Fujairah

1,649

3.55

12 mths

2.99

1.92

N National Bank of Abu Dhabi

981

632

YTD

4.7%

D Dubai Islamic Bank

1.26

1.36

9,447

0.97

M Mashreq

292

1.02

1.01

G Gulf Cement Co.

on high

344 576

-1.4%

E Etisalat F First Gulf Bank

% Change

Low 2.69

2.00

0.97

2.89

52-Week High 3.32

1,968

-

Volume ('000) 1,624

3.08

D Dubai Financial Market

E Emaar Properties

Turnover (AED '000)

3.15

2.00

1.02

Low

0.0%

-0.3%

0.79

D Deyaar Development Co.

High

3.11

A Arkan Building Materials Co. C Commercial Bank of Dubai

Daily % Chg.

-1.1%

8.8

nmf

13.8

1.3

8.3

0.9

18.5

2,134,440

8.1

7.4

36.5%

1,160,000

12.5

-11.6%

1,262,571

nmf

3,935,785

0.8

0.9

8.9

5,445,000

7,287,225

0.4

4.8

11.4

2.7

0.5

0.4

0.5

0.7

0.5

2.0

STOCKS WITH NBK CAPITAL

14

ALWATAN DAILY tuesday, may 15, 2012

QATAR Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 8,489 (-0.6%)

DSM Index (% Chg.)

115

Advance/Decline Ratio Turnover (QAR '000)

465,741,487

Market Cap. (QAR '000)

% Chg.

16.40

0.4%

58.10

8,892 / 8,071 QEWS.DSMQatar Electricity & Water Co. 301,299 #N/A #N/A

DSM 52 week High / Low

110

Close

44% KCBK.DSMAl Khalij Commercial Bank 0.17 DHBK.DSMDoha Bank

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

0.2%

142.00

0.0%

#N/A

CBQK.DSMThe Commercial Bank of Qatar

#N/A

71.50

-0.4%

106

105

Highest Turnover 100

Worst Performers Turnover (QAR) 43,094,168 VFQS.DSM Vodafone Qatar 36,322,334 AHCS.DSMAamal Co.

IQIndustries Qatar

98

MMasraf Al Rayan

33,241,221

V Vodafone Qatar 95 14-Feb-12

14-Mar-12

14-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

25,419,430

C The Commercial Bank of Qatar

14-May-12

12,824,953

Q Qatar Islamic Bank

Close

% Chg.

9.00

-2.0%

139.50

-1.7%

19.80

-1.0%

16.55

IQCD.DSM Industries Qatar

BRES.DSMBarwa Real Estate Co.

-2.0%

26.25

ERES.DSMEzdan Real Estate Co.

-1.3%

Doha SM

Quotes Company Name A Aamal Co.

Close 16.55

Daily % Chg.

High

-2.0%

16.88

16.52

851

26.25

6,494

C The Commercial Bank of Qatar

71.50

-0.4%

72.00

71.40

25,419

E Ezdan Real Estate Co.

19.80

-1.0%

19.80

19.50

90

D Doha Bank

58.10

-1.3%

0.2%

16.30

26.60

58.50

57.10

4,217

IQIndustries Qatar

139.50

-1.7%

141.30

139.50

43,094

Q Qatar Electricity & Water Co.

142.00

0.0%

142.00

141.00

4,362

-0.6%

50.70

50.20

1,384

M Masraf Al Rayan

Q Qatar Gas Transport Co.

Q Qatar International Islamic Bank Q Qatar Islamic Bank

26.75 16.11

-0.6%

76.80

-0.7%

50.30

Q Qatar National Bank

133.50

Q Qatar Telecom

119.70

Q Qatar Navigation

67.70

V Vodafone Qatar

-0.6%

9.00

26.90

16.20 77.30

26.75

36,322

16.10

5,899

76.80

12,825

67.50

1,841

8.98

33,241

0.0%

133.50

132.90

8,115

-0.5%

121.50

119.70

6,482

-0.6%

-2.0%

68.00 9.35

52-Week

Volume ('000)

High

51

303

16.40

26.25

16.40

Turnover (QAR '000)

K Al Khalij Commercial Bank B Barwa Real Estate Co.

0.4%

Low

21.90

18

246

on high

14.00

18.00

16.06

31.90

355

% Change

Low

26.60

24.97

18.60

-20.7%

nmf

-4.8%

-4.0%

12.9%

20,062,500

14.0

16.20

-12.2%

-8.0%

-12.3%

8,922,427

10.9

4.6

76.30

-10.0%

-8.9%

-5.2%

18,147,318

12.7

1.7

-11.5%

-22.1%

7,753,356

19.2%

12.9%

27

56.20

45.50

61

141.73

122.73

54

123.30

55.80

3,625

22.50

9.22

0.9

52,519,434

129.50

86.70

7.5

-14.7%

148.00

27

1.1

-10.8%

31

85.30

10,214,522

1.5

12.1 9.3

118.80

166

-18.1%

PB

18.7

17,692,416

146.80

18.34

5,904,000

Trailing PE

-3.2%

50.00

28.10

9,011,475

-8.4%

-12.4%

-14.9%

306

365

-17.7%

-16.4%

Market Cap. (QAR '000)

0.7%

-4.5%

68.00

67.00

1,355

-8.9%

12 mths

14.5%

85.50

73 5

-24.4%

YTD

-13.3% -5.0%

-4.1%

-10.5% -5.8%

67.70

-21.9%

7.24

-2.4%

-2.9%

-9.4%

7.8%

4.9%

12,009,142

-5.1%

1.7%

76,725,000

-3.7%

-6.9%

14,200,000

6.6%

-3.4%

7,613,848

0.7%

114.5%

93,413,880

83.6%

38,342,304 7,608,600

1.3

9.5

1.8

1.9

9.9

3.2

10.4

4.7

2.4

11.4

1.7

12.0

2.3

10.7

0.7

15.2

1.8

nmf

1.1

OMAN Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 5,654 (-1.4%)

MSM Index (% Chg.)

115

42% BKDB.MSMBank Dhofar OTEL.MSMOman Telecommunications Co.

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

6,152 / 5,419 OCOI.MSM Oman Cement Co. 3,865 NBOB.MSMNational Bank of Oman

MSM 52 week High / Low

110

Turnover (OMR '000)

6,826,620

Market Cap (OMR '000)

BKMB.MSMBank Muscat

Close

% Chg.

0.44

0.0%

1.29

-0.2%

0.29

-0.7%

0.65

-0.6%

0.58

-1.0%

106

105

Highest Turnover

102 100

Worst Performers Turnover (OMR) 321,783 RNSS.MSMRenaissance Services 243,315 RCCI.MSM Raysut Cement Co.

R Raysut Cement Co.

B Bank Muscat

156,714

O Oman Telecommunications Co.

95 14-Feb-12

14-Mar-12

14-Apr-12

14-May-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

85,091

R Renaissance Services

51,707

B Bank Dhofar

Close

% Chg.

0.56

BKMB.MSMBank Muscat

-4.2%

1.20

-2.1%

0.29

-0.7%

0.58

NBOB.MSMNational Bank of Oman

OCOI.MSM Oman Cement Co.

-1.0%

0.65

-0.6%

Muscat SM

Quotes Company Name

Close

Daily % Chg.

High

B Bank Dhofar

0.442

N National Bank of Oman

0.290

O Oman Telecommunications Co.

1.287

-0.2%

R Renaissance Services

0.555

-4.2%

B Bank Muscat

0.584

O Oman Cement Co.

R Raysut Cement Co.

0.645 1.203

Low

Turnover (OMR '000)

52-Week

Volume ('000)

52

High

% Change

Low

on high

0.0%

0.442

0.435

-0.7%

0.290

0.288

48

1.290

1.281

157

122

1.425

1.041

-9.7%

0.562

0.550

85

153

0.950

0.458

-41.6%

-1.0%

-0.6% -2.1%

0.590

243

0.577

0.646 1.225

0.423

-17.7%

167

0.324

0.290

-10.5%

0.671

40

322

1.200

0.537

417

26

0.645

117

0.572

0.693

267

0.416

1.250

0.711

YTD

12 mths

-2.9%

-18.3%

-7.1%

-4.0%

-13.0%

-12.3%

-6.9%

49.3%

-3.8%

58.3%

Market Cap. (OMR '000)

-8.3%

PB

12.1

321,327

8.9

15.5

240,600

14.3

15.9%

965,250

1.8%

-40.9%

156,562

2.1

8.5

213,413

-1.7%

15.0%

PE

486,251

1,049,328

9.9%

Trailing

1.2 1.2

1.5

8.6

2.0

nmf

0.9

2.4

BAHRAIN Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 1,157 (-0.3%)

BSE Index (% Chg.)

115

32% AUB.BSE Ahli United Bank 1.00 BATELCO.BBahrain Telecommunications Co.

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

1,383 / 1,129 BBK.BSE 310 #N/A

BSE 52 week High / Low

110

Turnover (BHD '000)

6,536,392

Market Cap. (BHD '000)

BBK

#N/A

Close

% Chg.

0.62

0.8%

0.47

0.4%

0.39

0.0%

#N/A

BARKA.BS Albaraka Banking Grp.

#N/A

0.91

-2.2%

106

105

Highest Turnover

Worst Performers

101

100

Turnover (BHD) 74,365 UGB.BSE United Gulf Bank 37,432 BARKA.BS Albaraka Banking Grp. 15,760 #N/A #N/A

A Ahli United Bank

B Albaraka Banking Grp.

B BBK

95 14-Feb-12

14-Mar-12 14-Apr-12 S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

9,360

B Bahrain Telecommunications Co.

14-May-12 Bahrain SE

2,340

U United Gulf Bank

BBK.BSE

Close

% Chg.

0.23

-10.0%

#N/A

#N/A

0.91

BBK

BATELCO.BBahrain Telecommunications Co.

0.39

0.47

-2.2%

0.0%

0.4%

Quotes Company Name

Close

A Ahli United Bank*

0.615

A Arab Banking Corp.*

0.460

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

Daily % Chg.

High

0.8%

0.910

-2.2%

0.090

-

-

0.468

0.4%

797

-

0.394 0.220

0.550

0.234

0.0% -

0.0%

-10.0%

Low

0.615

0.610

-

-

0.910 -

0.910 -

0.468

0.468

-

-

0.394 -

0.550

0.234

0.394 -

0.550

0.234

Turnover (BHD '000) 197 -

-

52-Week

Volume ('000)

99

9

on high

0.676

0.599

-

0.530

0.420

-13.2%

0.486

0.380

109 -

-

2

% Change

Low

320

16

2

High

-

20 40

3

10

1.029

0.116

0.420 797

0.857

0.082 0.390 797

-9.0%

YTD 2.0%

12 mths -8.3%

3,218,637

9.5%

-19.3%

1,430,600

-3.7%

19.4%

-2.5%

673,920

0.0%

0.0%

-30.0%

637,560

-8.3%

470,448

-11.6%

-2.6%

-22.4%

0.0%

-6.2%

-4.8%

-11.6%

-22.4% -5.7%

0.240

0.065

-8.3%

238.5%

158.8%

0.424

0.234

-44.8%

-22.0%

-33.1%

0.600

0.545

Market Cap. (BHD '000)

-8.3%

-4.3%

923,172

Trailing PE

PB

10.2

1.3

6.8

0.4

8.6

1.3

4.5

0.6

10.2

1.7

7.7

84,571

nmf

335,434

10.5

589,108

195,287

nmf

nmf

0.8 0.8

1.4 1.0 0.9

LIFE

How to wash your hands properly Got germs? Everyone does. So you need to wash your hands properly to prevent the potential spread of infection. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers these guidelines for proper hand washing: • Rinse your hands under warm or cool running water, then apply soap.

• Lather the soap between your hands, scrubbing your fingers, the fronts and backs of your hands and under your nails.

• Wash for at least 20 seconds. That’s about how long it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” to yourself.

• Thoroughly rinse under clean running water, then dry your hands on a dry towel or let them air dry.

tuesDAY, may 15, 2012

Australian project simulates effects of runaway climate change Multimillion-dollar study subjects bushland to heightened CO2 levels and altered rainfall patterns

LONDON: The Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment’s extensive facilities in Richmond, New South Wales, are dedicated to researching the impact of climate change An Australian university has embarked upon an ambitious project – hailed as the first of its kind in the world – to simulate how the environment would cope with runaway climate change according to The Guardian.

The decade-long study, at the University of Western Sydney’s Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, will subject Australian bushland to heightened CO2 levels and altered rainfall patterns consistent with a “business as usual” global increase in greenhouse gases.

The centerpiece of the study is the Eucalyptus Free Air CO2 Enrichment experiment, which has involved the construction of six fiber glass and steel ring structures 28 meters high and 25 meters in diameter in native woodland in Richmond, New South Wales. The structures contain an array of sensors that will deliver a concentration of CO2 to the trees within the rings. This, scientists say, will recreate an atmosphere where CO2 is at 550 ppm – about 40% higher than current levels – to see how the environment would change for living things, including humans. This level of CO2 has been chosen to mimic how the environment would react in a world where no significant action is taken to reduce carbon emissions over the next 35 years.

It has been predicted that a 40 percent increase in CO2 would result in an average global temperature increase of about three degrees centigrade. An automated computercontrolled system will modulate the amount of CO2 pumped from the rings, to account for environmental variability.

Scientists will use a giant 43-metre high crane to study

FILE - Koalas are listed among the many things threatened because of climate change. The Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment’s extensive facilities in Richmond, New South Wales, are dedicated to researching the impact of climate change. (Agencies)

the impact on all parts of the towering eucalypt trees, such as soil bacteria and fungi, the growth patterns of the tree canopy and the insects that dwell in the foliage.

The sprawling facilities at the institute have been funded via a AUS$40 million (£25m) grant from the federal government, bolstering a $15m investment by the University of

Key found to rare genetic disease Hamamy syndrome

NEW YORK: A single genetic mutation seems to cause the abnormal facial features and other defects that come along with Hamamy syndrome, a rare disorder, according to LiveScience. The work lends new insights into common ailments such as heart disease, osteoporosis, blood disorders and possibly sterility.

“We believe that this discovery could open up new therapeutic solutions to common diseases like osteoporosis, heart disease, anaemia which affect millions of people worldwide,” study researcher Bruno Reversade, of the Institute of Medical Biology in Singapore, said in a statement.

“The findings also provide a framework for understanding fascinating evolutionary questions, such as why humans of different ethnicities have distinct facial features and how these are embedded in our genome.

IRX genes have been repeatedly co-opted during evolution, and small variation in their activity could underlie fine alterations in the way we look, or perhaps even drastic ones such as the traits seen in an elephant, whale, turtle or frog body pattern,” Reversade said.

Rare genetic diseases, usually caused by mutations in a single gene, provide a unique opportunity to better understand more common disease processes. These “natural” experiments are similar to carefully controlled lab experiments in which the function of single genes are analyzed and often give major insights into general health issues.

Hamamy syndrome is one of these rare genetic disorders, and is marked by abnormal facial features and defects in the heart, bone, blood and reproductive cells. Only a handful of people in the world have been identified with Hamamy syndrome making it a very rare genetic disorder. Its exact cause was unknown until researchers pinpointed the genetic problem, in their recent paper, that produces the disease to be a mutation in a single gene called IRX5.

This is the first IRX5 mutation discovered in man. IRX5 is part of a family of proteins that is highly similar in all animals. Using a frog model, the scientists demonstrated that the protein made by the IRX5 gene orchestrates cell movements in the head and genitals of the developing fetus.

“Because Hamamy syndrome causes a wide range of symptoms, not just in newborn babies but also in the adult, this implies that IRX5 is critical for development in the womb as well as for the function of many organs in our adult body,” study researcher Carine Bonnard, a graduate student at the Institute for Medical Biology, said in a statement.

“This discovery of the causative gene is a significant finding that will catalyze research efforts into the role of the IRX gene family and greatly increase our understanding of human health, such as bone homeostasis, or gamete formation for instance.”

Testosterone injections can aid weight loss: Study PARIS: Obese older men with low testosterone levels can lose weight by taking supplements of the male hormone, according to the findings of a study released Wednesday.

In a test group of 115 testosterone-deficient men with a mean age of 61, hormone injections over five years yielded an average weight loss of 16 kilograms (35 pounds), said the study presented to the European Congress on Ovesity in Lyon, France.

The mean waist circumference fell from 107 centimeters (42 inches) to 98 cm (38.5 inches).

“Raising serum testosterone to normal reduced body weight, waist circumference and blood pressure, and improved metabolic profiles,” said a statement on the study led by Farid Saad of German phar-

maceutical giant Bayer Pharma.

The improvements were progressive over the five years of the study. “Increased testosterone levels improve energy and motivation to do physical exercise and more movement in general; testosterone also increases lean body mass (fat free mass), increasing the energy used by patients,” the statement said.

Approached for comment, Sanjay Kinra, an obesity expert and researcher at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, urged caution.

“It is quite possible that a drug that is improving the mood of middle-aged people over a period of time will likely make them a bit more active and help them lose a little bit of weight, but it is a serious drug, testosterone, and it causes serious health effects,” he

‘Ring of Fire’ solar eclipse occurs May 20 WASHINGTON: Skywatchers in East Asia and the western United States should circle Sunday (May 20) on their calendars according to SPACE. That’s when a solar eclipse will block out most of the sun, leaving a spectacular “ring of fire” shining in the sky for observers located along the eclipse’s path. The event is what’s known as an annular solar eclipse - from the Latin “annulus,” meaning “little ring” - and its full glory should be visible from much of Asia, the Pacific region and some of western North America, weather permitting. At its peak, the eclipse will block about 94 percent of the sun’s light.

Other parts of the United States and Canada will still see a partial solar eclipse, without being treated to the ring of fire effect, though the East Coast will miss the event since the sun will have set before it begins. The eclipse will occur in the late afternoon or early evening of May 20 throughout North America, and May 21 for observers in Asia.

Check out this eclipse skywatching guide to learn more about viewing locations and times.

Solar eclipses occur when the moon comes between Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on our planet. When the moon lines up perfectly with the sun and blots out all of its light, the result is a total eclipse. Partial eclipses cover only part of the sun’s face.

Annular eclipses are similar to total eclipses in that the moon lines up with the sun dead-on. But in this case, the moon is close to apogee - the farthest point from Earth in its elliptical orbit around our

US panel gives nod to new obesity drug PARIS: A panel of experts on Thursday urged US regulators to approve what could be the first new anti-obesity drug on the market in more than a decade -- Lorcaserin, made by Arena Pharmaceuticals.

The committee voted 18-4 in favor of the drug, which works to control the appetite through receptors in the brain, after trial data showed it helped nearly half of patients studied lose up to five percent of their body weight.

The Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to decide June 27 whether or not to approve the drug. The US regulator does not have to follow the advice of its advisory panel, though it often does.

In February, FDA advisors also urged the approval of Qnexa, made by California-based Vivus. The FDA is to decide on that drug in mid-July.

Lorcaserin was rejected in 2010 by the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee, which advises the FDA, over concerns that it formed breast tumors in rats.

However, those effects did not appear in trials on overweight and obese humans, and the panel’s latest vote showed

Western Sydney. Prof David Ellsworth, who is leading the “free air” experiment, was involved in a similar study at Duke University in the US. “That study was with plantation trees and we found there was less [growth] enhancement than we expected with the higher CO2 levels,” he said.

“But there’s been nothing like this before, on this scale.

We’re dealing with native woodland and poorer soils. It’s an area with impoverished phosphorus and nutrition in the soil, which is the same as the environment in many areas of the world in the tropics and sub tropics.

“It will give us a window into how biodiversity will behave in futuristic conditions.” The first results from the study, which is due to launch in September, will be published next year.

However, the institute has already conducted preliminary research – the findings can be read here and here – on a small collection of trees over the past 18 months, to test their responses to heightened CO2 and warmer temperatures. “The outcome was that the trees had a limited ability to adjust,” said Ellsworth. “They didn’t cope well with a warm Sydney summer. Photosynthesis decreased. They stopped growing, basically.

“Heightened CO2 levels have been shown to initially aid plant growth, but previous studies have shown this can last as little as a few months. “To put it crudely, plants want a balanced diet. CO2 is part of that diet, but they also need nutrients that aren’t depleted.”

The institute insists its work isn’t only of interest to Australia, where modelling has predicted a temperature rise of as much as 5C, coupled with more frequent droughts, by 2070 if no action on emissions is taken.

Prof Ian Anderson, director of research at the institute, said scientists from the UK, Brazil and South Africa had already contacted the institute about the research.

“The soils are very different here to the northern hemisphere, but plants there rely on the same equation of CO2, nitrogen and phosphorus as they do here,” he said.

“We are also looking at the impact of drought and because we will potentially see big water reductions in the future, the results here will be very important for the rest of the world.” Ellsworth said: “I really hope the big players, like China and the US, are paying attention to research like this.

“If we don’t want to be saturated by carbon in 2040 or 2050, the international community really needs to be in its final run of cutting of emissions right now.”

strong support that its benefits outweigh the risks. “The advisory committee’s positive vote supports our belief in Lorcaserin as a potential new treatment option for the medical management of overweight and obesity,” said Jack Lief, Arena’s president and chief executive officer.

“We will continue to work with the FDA as the agency completes its review of the lorcaserin new drug application.”

Among those taking a 10 milligram dose of Lorcaserin, the most common adverse events were headache, dizziness, nausea, fatigue and dry mouth. “It is not very impressive, the weight loss, but it is better than a placebo,” said Michael Aziz, an internist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

“However, when people stop the drug they gain the weight back.”

About two thirds of US adults are overweight or obese, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“There is a need for a drug that can address the obesity issue. But we are really not covering the root of the problem which is lifestyle changes and eating right. Many people are

FILE - On Jan. 4, 2011, the moon passed in front of the sun in a partial solar eclipse - as seen from parts of Earth. Here, the joint JapaneseAmerican Hinode satellite captured the same breathtaking event from space. (AFP)

planet - so it’s a smidge too small in the sky to cover the solar disk completely.As a result, a ring of bright sunlight will still blaze around the moon’s circumference. Like other types of solar eclipses, annular eclipses are spectacular but potentially dangerous skywatching events. Care must be taken to observe them properly, or serious and permanent eye damage - including blindness - could result.

just looking for a quick fix,” added Aziz.

US patients looking for a pill-based solution currently have little to choose from when it comes to weight loss drugs.

One drug, known as Xenical (Orlistat) by Roche and over the counter as Alli by GlaxoSmithKline, works by preventing the body from absorbing fat, though its tendency to cause gastrointestinal side effects such as oily, loose stools have curbed its popularity among patients.

Xenical was approved in the United States in 1999.

Phentermine, approved in 1959, is also on the market for controlling appetite, and makes up one of the two key ingredients in Qnexa. The other is topiramate, an anti-convulsant that can be used in conjunction with other drugs for weight loss.

Some doctors already prescribe the combination as an off-label use for helping patients manage their weight. Studies have shown dieters could lose up to 10 percent of their weight when taking Qnexa, along with regular exercise and following a healthy diet. -AFP

told AFP. Testosterone, a steroid hormone secreted by the male testes and to a lesser extent by the female ovaries that affects brain development and sexual behavior, has been linked by some researchers to prostate cancer and heart disease.

Kinra said there were “hundreds of things out there” that could make people lose weight in the short term, but only a change of lifestyle would ensure a long-term thinner self.

“As a mass treatment of obesity it (testosterone) is not meaningful because you are not going to trade off your risk of getting prostate cancer or heart disease for a bit of weight loss that is not going to be lifelong anyway, it will only remain for the time that you are on testosterone.” -AFP

Climate talks open in Bonn to tackle emissions targets PARIS: A new round of global climate talks opened in Bonn on Monday with rich and poor countries squaring off over greenhouse gas reduction targets to halt the pace of planet warming.

As UN climate chief Christiana Figueres urged all states to turn political pledges into concrete action to save the planet, observers and developing states insisted the rich world should commit to tougher reduction goals. Figueres cited new research which predicted Earth’s temperature rising by as much as five degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels on current pledges, instead of the 2 C limit being targeted. “We still have a gap remaining between intent and effort,” Figueres told journalists as experts and diplomats from some 170 countries met to start laying the groundwork for a new global warming pact to be finalized by 2015.

These are the first formal talks since UN member states agreed in Durban, South Africa, last December to bring all major greenhouse-gas emitting countries under a single legal roof from 2020. Officials started Monday the process of drawing up amendments to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change for adoption at the next UN climate conference in Doha in November and December. There has been much debate about how much proportional responsibility the rich and poor world should bear for curbing greenhouse gases. “All countries have a responsibility to do their fair share, particularly those with the largest historical emissions,” the Alliance of Small Island States said in a statement. A grouping of least developed countries accused developed nations of “trying to renegotiate pledges and decisions made” instead of delivering on financial promises made to help curb climate change in the developing world. And environmental body Greenpeace International urged the European Union to boost its commitment to reduce Earthwarming gas emissions by 20 percent. But EU official Christian Pilgaard Zinglersen told a press conference: “I don’t think the EU would change its stand” on the emissions target in Bonn.

Figueres conceded the political process was “incredibly challenging”. “We need to temper our excitement with realism,” she told a press conference broadcast live on the Internet, but added a solution was “technically attainable and economically feasible.” -AFP

16

ALWATAN DAILY

CULTURE

TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012

Shock-seekers snap up new Aussie art dare SYDNEY: Smelling excrement may not be everyone’s idea of fun, but for those who like to push the boundaries, Australia’s most controversial new museum may be just what they are looking for.

Dubbed “the subversive adult Disneyland”, the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) is located in Tasmania and features around 400 works of art from Egyptian mummies to Young British Artists including Chris Ofili and Jenny Saville.

But the most talked-about piece is the Cloaca Professional, labeled the “poo-machine.”

It was built by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye to mimic the actions of the human digestive system.

A series of glass receptacles hang in a row with the machine being “fed” twice a day on one end. The food is ground up “naturally,” the way it is in the human body, and the device produces feces on the clock at 2 pm at the other end.

The smell is so powerful that not many visitors can take it.

“It put me off because of the overwhelming assault on the senses,” said Diane Malnic, a Sydney-based accountant.

Yet this was her second visit in five months, following a family holiday in Tasmania earlier in the year. This time, she flew without her husband and children just to have another look at the collection, interested in Delvoye’s other pieces.

She took great care to avoid the “smelly” parts and still talked vividly about the “vomit room” which was part of an earlier exhibit no

longer on display.

“I wouldn’t go back to see them,” she said, laughing.

The Cloaca is part of a series of at least five similar machines built by the artist, another of which will soon be exhibited at the Louvre. It is the most hated piece in the museum but also the most visited.

The museum, which opened in January 2011, is owned by eccentric and philanthropist David Walsh, who made his fortune as a professional gambler, and features one of the largest private art collections in the world with an estimated value of around A$100 million.

Its motto is to shock, offend, inform and entertain. “It definitely challenges your interpretation of what art is,” said Malnic.

Detractors argue that some of the pieces don’t belong to a museum, which is also what Malnic initially thought. But upon reflection, she said the Cloaca machine opened her mind and argued that perhaps it was the future of art.

For Silva, her favorites were a soundproof room of 30 Madonna fans who were individually filmed singing a capella the artist’s Immaculate Collection album. The other was a waterfall with droplets spelling out a series of words.

Keeping with the MONA’s sensibility, none of its art work is grouped or chronological, leaving viewers to walk at random. “Overall, it’s a fantastic experience,” said Silva.

The museum charges A$20 ($20) for entry and has drawn around 389,000 visitors in its first year. -Reuters

The installation “Cloaca Professional, 2010” by Belgium artist Wim Delvoye, which has been labelled the “poo-machine” is shown on display at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart in this undated handout picture. (Reuters)

Britain celebrates 350 years of Punch and Judy PARIS: Dozens of puppeteers gathered in central London on Sunday to celebrate 350 years of the Punch and Judy show, an anarchic English seaside entertainment known for its slapstick and casual violence. On the second of two days of festivities, Punch and Judy men and women -- known as “professors” -- took their hand puppets on a procession in London’s Covent Garden, staged shows for hundreds of children and held a church service with the red-nosed Mr. Punch in the pulpit.

“Punch and Judy pokes fun at all the establishment, but it’s got a lot of heart,” said Maggie Pinhorn, organizer of Sunday’s events, which commemorate the first recorded mention of Punch and Judy by diarist Samuel Pepys.

The show, performed by a single puppeteer in a

striped booth, features the outrageous Mr. Punch, who initially appears happy with his wife Judy and their baby before things go downhill when he is asked to babysit.

He fails terribly, sometimes even feeding the baby into a sausage machine, before getting into a fight with his returning wife, then a policeman, plus usually a crocodile and a ghost.

Punch fights off his opponents -- who can also include a devil, a doctor and a hangman -- using a stick, the original “slapstick”, in a story descended from the Italian Commedia dell’Arte and its longnosed character Pulcinella.

Children screamed with delight Sunday as they watched a series of shows in different booths dotted around the central London venue, each with its

Mr. Punch prepares to hit a puppet of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (right) in a satirical version of the Punch & Judy story during a weekend of performances and shows on May 13, 2012 in England outside Saint Paul’s church in Covent Garden, central London. (AFP)

Full beards making a comeback with young men BERLIN: Thick, full beards have mainly been the preserve of rockers, hippies and miners but it seems facial hair is making in-roads among men of other persuasions.

Young men in particular are abandoning their razors and allowing their beards to grow to “five o’clock shadow” length and even longer. Stylist and fashion consultant Bernhard Roetzel from Berlin says the aim of growing a beard is to demonstrate “unrestrained manliness.” The type of full beard as sported by American actor Ashton Kutcher is especially widespread among young urban hipsters who grow them out of a sense of irony.

“Even a teddy bear type guy can look a little like a lumberjack with a beard,” says Roetzel. But the stylist says beards have yet to gain popularity among the broader male population.

“Many men try growing a beard but only a few keep them.” Roetzel says one

FILE - Championship beard-wearer Willi Chevalier. (dpa)

advantage the beard enjoys is that it suits every type of face. “Round faces take on an appealingly smaller shape while lean faces get more contours.”

Klaus-Dieter Kaiser from Germany’s Hairdressers Association says full beards are best worn by young men. “The attraction is the contrast between a youthful looking face and a venerable full beard.

Anyone over the age of 30 who has a full beard often looks just old by having one.”

If you have individual strands of grey hair growing on your face you should forget about having a beard. “It’s almost impossible to evenly dye hair on your face.”

Kaiser recommends a beard length of about two centimeters. Blond-haired men can get away with a longer beard so they can show off their fair bristles better.

Another requirement is that there must be enough hair growth in the first place. “If beard growth is thin, or if you have bare

own special features, including French, Japanese, US and Australian versions.

Puppeteers insert a “swazzle”, or two pieces of metal bound with fabric, into the roof of their mouths to produce the show’s trademark squeaky voices. “It’s pantomime, it’s a live cartoon,” said Katey Wilde, 40, who performs in the seaside town of Brighton as Professor Peanut, having learned the art from her father aged 17.

Punch and Judy’s popularity waned in the 1980s and 1990s as critics objected to what they saw as a ruthless portrayal of domestic violence, but Wilde said Punch had “weathered the storm”.

“It’s not violence, it’s physical comedy. It’s much too knockabout and silly to compare with real life -- that actually trivializes problems in real life,” she said.

Professor Patel, otherwise known as Aftab Khan, a puppeteer, stilt-walker and Elvis impersonator from Enfield, said Punch could “lend itself to a lot of different cultures”.

His Indian-flavored show Punjeet and JudyGee features Bollywood music and turbaned puppets. “It’s about arranged marriages, domestic violence and infanticide -- it’s a family show!” he said. Pinhorn has run a yearly Punch festival for 37 years.

“It doesn’t matter how bad he is. Children always love it,” she said, adding that several of the Punch professors she knows are also clergymen.

Pepys, known for his frank and colorful account of 17th-century London, wrote on May 9 1662 that he had been to Covent Garden “to see an Italian puppet play that is within the rails there, which is very pretty, the best that ever I saw”.

Audience member Ellis, 7, said Sunday that he would rate Punch and Judy second to Transformers, the film and animation series about alien robots. “But I like Punch because of the bit where he whacks the policeman,” he added. -AFP

patches, then you should not grow a full beard,” says Kaiser who advises against shaving at all in the first four weeks.

“When the bristles are thick enough you can trim them to give your beard shape,” recommends Roetzel. “After six weeks you will have the right length that you should stick to.” Try to avoid the shaggy look as that can be a turn-off.

After you have cultivated a fine looking beard you must groom it. It should be combed every morning, according to Juergen Burkhardt, president of Germany’s “Belle Moustache” beard club. “You should also draw your fingers through it to give it shape.”

Clean your beard every time you shower and it should be washed with a gentle shampoo every two days. “It’s difficult to apply a lotion to the skin with a beard as most of it just sticks to the hairs,” says Burkhardt. Do not use hairspray or gels on a beard. “The key to a good beard is naturalness.”

“Do not allow your beard bristles to grow down to the hairs on your chest. You should shave a clear border between the two on your throat,” says Roetzel. Burkhardt recommends using a beard scissors to keep it trim as its rounded blades will prevent you from cutting yourself.

“I don’t advise using a scissors for cutting long hair as they are too imprecise.”

The moustache should not be allowed to grow over the upper lip, while hair on the chin should be given a rounded trim.

Klaus-Dieter Kaiser says almost any type of hairstyle suits a full beard. Both long locks and short hair can add to your full beard’s swashbuckling character.

However, Roetzel advises against cutting the hair on your head very short or shaving it bald: “When a beard is longer than the hair on your head it just makes you look like a hermit or even plain foolish.” -dpa

Children being held in ‘degrading’ Heathrow units PARIS: Children and adults are being detained in “degrading” conditions at Heathrow Airport while their right to enter Britain is checked, according to a new study.

“The UK Border Agency has again failed in its duty to treat everyone in its care in Heathrow holding rooms with decency,” the report by the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for the busy airport said.

The agency’s five non-residential short-term holding facilities at Britain’s biggest international airport still contain “regrettably degrading features”, the watchdog claimed.

There are no proper facilities for sleep, no proper facilities for personal hygiene and no natural light, the IMB said.

At the Terminal One unit, “lighting cannot be dimmed, and so blazes 24/7”, while in some rooms “air temperatures... move from the very hot to the very cold and seemingly cannot be regulated,” according to the board’s annual assessment..

It said: “In our last report we drew attention to the wholly unsuitable conditions in which men, women and children were held. There has been no change: they are still held in these conditions and still for too long.”

During the past year 15,011 individuals were held in Heathrow holding rooms, some of them for 24 hours or more, while their immigration status was verified.

A total of 48 nations were represented with Indians, United States citizens and then Brazilians providing the greatest numbers, the IMB study showed.

“About a quarter of holding room detainees are from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka,” it said.

The IMB is appointed by the Home Secretary to monitor and report on the welfare of people in immigration custody at the airport. Board members are unpaid volunteers, who visit the airport at least once every week.

A spokesman for the UK Border Force said: “We share the Independent Monitoring Board’s concerns about the quality of the accommodation, provided by (Heathrow operator) BAA. “We have raised this with them on numerous occasions in the past and will continue to do so to ensure those held at the border have proper facilities to meet their and our needs.” -AFP

Madame Tussauds unveils queen’s jubilee waxwork

A new waxwork figure of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II (center) is unveiled beside figures of her husband Prince Philip (right) her grandson Prince William (left) and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at Madame Tussauds in London, on May 14, 2012. (AFP)

LONDON: Capturing an exact facial expression of The Queen proved a challenging task for sculptor Steve Swales during the creation of the latest royal wax figure for London tourist attraction Madame Tussauds. “It’s quite difficult because when you’re sculpting something you have the main features, the eyes, nose, mouth. And you can say they’re difficult but really the difficult thing is linking them all together. The bits in between I think are the hardest to do,” he told Reuters.

Swales, who had previously sat with the British monarch at her Windsor and Balmoral homes, said he could barely speak when he first met her.

“I didn’t think I would be nervous, I must admit, because we’ve done some things with some very eminent people in the past, but as soon as she walked in the room, I remember my throat just caught. So it was quite an experience,” he said.

The sculptor led a dedicated team of 20 people for more than four months to create the new figure, which cost 150,000 pounds to make, as part of Madame Tussauds’ plans to celebrate Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee this year.

“Our guests come from all over the world, and she is the most photographed wax figure, she is the person that people come and see. It’s such an exciting

year in London this year and we want to be part of that celebration,” Madame Tussauds spokeswoman Liz Edwards said.

Dressed in a white and silver lace dress, embellished with 53,000 Swarovski crystals, and a blue silk sash, the wax figure of the queen is a commanding presence, despite stiff competition from pop stars Rihanna and Lady Gaga in the same room. Madame Tussauds has been making wax figures of Elizabeth since she was two years old and the latest version is expected to steal some of the limelight away from the figures of her grandson Prince William and wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, whose fans have flocked to the attraction.

Swales said he adjusted the latest figure’s posture slightly from the last one he created for the Golden Jubilee to make her appear more welcoming to the public.

“I think that the Royal family are a lot more accessible than years ago, when I was very small, you might see them going past in a car or something like this, but now I think people have taken her to their hearts really.”

“She’s an amazing professional, very, very nice and I just think she’s just such a patient person. It’s amazing working with someone like that.” -Reuters

ALWATAN DAILY

entertainment Song Of The Day

Fahad AlSabah Staff Writer

Song: Picking Up The Pieces Artist: Paloma Faith Album: Fall to Grace Genre: Pop In short: Paloma Faith’s debut album spawned five singles-a feat for any new artist-and cemented her position ahead of the 60’s soul pastiche camp that flourished notably thanks to one Amy Winehouse. Faith’s follow-up Fall to Grace is set to be released later this month, with “Picking Up The Pieces” leading the campaign; the string-laden ballad sounds more grand than her previous material, and her vocal delivery has matured notably since.

To listen to the song visit www.alwatandaily.com E-mail your feedback to falsabah@alwatandaily.com

The Buzz Dan Stevens joins Broadway’s The Heiress Dan Stevens, who is currently shooting the third season of “Downton Abbey,” will be staying posh: He’s joining the cast of Broadway’s “The Heiress.” Producers said late Sunday that Stevens, who plays the aristocratic Matthew Crawley on the hit PBS show, will make his Broadway debut opposite Jessica Chastain and David Strathairn. “The Heiress” will open this October at a theater to be announced. The play is based on the Henry James novel “Washington Square” and became an Academy Award-winning film. It will be directed by playwright and director Moises Kaufman. Stevens’ stage credits include the role of Septimus Hodge in David Leveaux’s West End production of Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia” and the Doctor in Tom Stoppard and Andre Previn’s “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour” at the National Theatre. -AP

Alec Baldwin to co-chair amfAR gala in Cannes Alec Baldwin, Janet Jackson and Kylie Minogue are headed to the South of France to co-chair amfAR’s annual gala at the Cannes Film Festival. Other co-chairs for the charity soiree are actress Milla Jovovich, designer Karl Lagerfeld, producer Harvey Weinstein, “The Artist” co-star Berenice Bejo and director Michel Hazanavicius, Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai and amfAR chairman Kenneth Cole. The Cinema Against AIDS event on May 24 will feature a live auction and runway show to benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

Past big-ticket auction items included a kiss from “Twilight” star Robert Pattinson, a dress right off Gwen Stefani’s back and Madonna’s one-of-a-kind Chanel handbag. The event has raised more than $70 million since launching in Cannes in 1993. -AP

Michael Jackson costumes to be exhibited, sold Michael Jackson’s glittery gloves, spangled jackets, stageworn costumes and personal fashion effects are going on a world tour. Celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien says clothing created by Jackson’s longtime costume designers will be exhibited in South America, Europe and Asia before being sold to the highest bidder in December. The exhibit opens May 18 at the Museo de la Moda in Santiago, Chile. It features items such as Jackson’s Captain EO shirt, the black spandex outfit from his “Scream” video and the breakaway suit he wore during his BAD tour in the late 1980s. The items will be sold by Julien’s Auction on December 2, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Guide Dogs of America and Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas. -AP

tuesDAY, MAY 15, 2012

Thatcher did not help Murdoch buy Times: Lawyer LONDON: Rupert Murdoch did not ask Margaret Thatcher to bend the rules to allow him to buy the Times of London in 1981, one of his lawyers said on Monday, dismissing theories of a deal as “science fiction”.

Lawyer Rhodri Davies said the media mogul had nothing to hide and rejected as baseless an accusation that Murdoch was suffering from “selective amnesia” when he said he had forgotten a 1981 meeting with the former British prime minister.

“The suggestion that he must be lying is not an argument or a theory based on evidence, but a conviction,” Davies told an inquiry into press ethics, whose lead prosecutor Robert Jay made the accusation last week.

“In the absence of any such evidence, Mr. Jay opened up instead what one can only describe, with respect, as a science fiction theory, that deals were done not expressly but through implied messages,” he said.

Murdoch’s acquisition of the Times is considered by some critics as a paradigm of how he exercises political influence, allegedly promising the support of his tabloids for politicians in exchange for their supporting his often controversial business deals.

Last month, documents handed to the inquiry showed that a British government minister had given highly sensitive information to News Corp executives to help the company’s intended $12 billion acquisition of BSkyB. The minister, Jeremy Hunt, has denied

FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2011 file photo, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch delivers a keynote address at the National Summit on Education Reform in San Francisco. (AP)

giving News Corp special treatment and is resisting opposition calls for his resignation. A senior aide to Hunt resigned the day after the documents were read out in court.

News Corp was forced to drop its bid for

the pay-TV operator after a phone-hacking scandal at its News of the World tabloid spiraled out of control last July when it was revealed that it had hacked the voicemail of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.

Iranian rapper draws religious wrath, death bounty DUBAI: An Iranian rapper living in Germany has a $100,000 bounty on his head after an Islamist website offered a reward for anyone who kills him over a song that satirizes the Islamic Republic and irreverently addresses a historic religious figure.

The Iranian news and religion website Shia-Online. ir said hip-hop star Shahin Najafi deserved to die for a song which it said “grossly insulted” Ali al-Hadi alNaqi, one of the 12 imams, the religious figures highly revered by Shi’ite Muslims. Najafi denied his song focused on the revered Shi’ite imam or was meant to criticize Islam. The song takes the form of a prayer to the ninth century Naqi and expresses ironic reverence for many contemporary Iranian figures.With references ranging from Iranians’ love of nose jobs to economic sanctions and the contested 2009 presidential election, the song’s Farsi language lyrics would mean little to a foreigner but have resonated with Iranians and have earned it more than 320,000 hits on YouTube. Many rap songs by exiled Iranians would be politically and morally offensive to authorities in the Islamic Republic, where little home-grown pop music is allowed. But Najafi’s constant refrain of “O Naqi” has drawn more ire than usual. “A (website) founder who lives in one of the Gulf Arab states has promised to pay the ($100,000) bounty on behalf of Shia-Online.ir to the killer of this abusive singer,” the site said in a posting.

In echoes of the 1989 fatwa - religious ruling - or-

dering the death of British author Salman Rushdie for his novel “The Satanic Verses”, which was deemed blasphemous - a senior cleric in Iran said Najafi’s rap might merit a death sentence. Asked by his followers about the song, Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi said in a ruling: “Any outrage against the infallible imams ... and obvious insult against them would make a Muslim an apostate,” Iran’s Fars news agency reported.

Apostasy carries a death sentence under Islamic laws which are applied in Iran.

Speaking to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Najafi said: “I thought there would be some ramifications. But I didn’t think I would upset the regime that much. Now they are taking advantage of the situation and making it look like I was trying to criticize religion and put down believers. “For me it is more of an excuse to talk about completely different things. I also criticize Iranian society in the song. It seems as though people are just concentrating on the word ‘imam’.”

Najafi, in his early 30s, was active in Iran’s underground music scene before he left the country in 2005.

Iranian officials have not yet commented on Najafi’s song and Iran’s media have not widely reported the bounty put on his head by the Shi’ite website.

Najafi said he had taken some “precautionary measures” because “some of the supporters of the regime want to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation”. -Reuters

Delhi jailhouse rocks to live music therapy

CBS cancels freshman series Unforgettable, NYC 22, Rob Following its pick-up of seven new series, CBS has cancelled first-year shows “Unforgettable,” “NYC 22” and “Rob,” Deadline reports; according to TV Guide. “Unforgettable,” starring Poppy Montgomery as a detective who has the ability to remember everything, premiered strong in September to 13.9 million viewers and a 2.9 rating in the adults 18-49 demo, before falling to 10.6 million viewers and a 1.8 rating for its most recent episode. “NYC 22,” about a group of rookie cops, premiered in April to 8.9 million viewers and a 1.5 rating. Its most recent episode grabbed 6.8 million viewers and a 1.2 rating in the demo. “Rob,” starring Rob Schneider, premiered to 13.4 million viewers and a 4.1 rating, before falling to 8.9 million viewers and a 2.6 rating. “Unforgettable,” “NYC 22” and “Rob’s” cancellations follow those of “A Gifted Man” and the long-running “CSI: Miami.” “’CSI: Miami’ leaves an amazing television legacy - a signature look and style, global popularity and as a key player in CBS’s rise to the top over the past decade. We thank all the producers - led

by Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman and Ann Donahue – and its talented cast, led by David Caruso, for 10 outstanding seasons,” the network said in a statement Sunday.

Michael Caine given freedom of London borough Oscar-winner Michael Caine Saturday received the freedom of the London borough of Southwark, where the veteran British actor grew up. The 79-year-old received the honor in a ceremony at St George’s Cathedral, not far from the Elephant and Castle district where he spent his childhood.The honorary freedom of Southwark is given to individuals or organizations in recognition of their contribution to life in the borough. He was nominated for the award by Southwark Council leader Peter John. “Sir Michael has been an exceptional ambassador for the place where he grew up and an example for all Southwark residents,” the politician said. -AFP

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Rebuttal

Davies said there was no evidence of either an explicit or an implicit deal with Thatcher, whom Murdoch publicly admired, and mocked prosecutor Jay’s suggestion last week that a deal could have been done without anything being said. “Deals cannot be done by telepathy,” he told the Leveson Inquiry, a judge-led probe into press ethics that was ordered by Cameron at the height of the phone-hacking scandal last July.

Murdoch’s News Corp bought the Times and the Sunday Times in 1981 from Canada’s Thomson Corporation, which had threatened to shut down the titles for good after a bitter and long-running dispute with labor unions.

The deal with Murdoch, who already owned the Sun and the News of the World and beat other potential suitors including media tycoon Robert Maxwell, was never referred to Britain’s Monopolies and Mergers Commission. Murdoch discussed his proposed acquisition with Thatcher at the prime minister’s country residence, Chequers, during a private lunch meeting that was only revealed in March of this year to have taken place.

He has said he has no recollection of the meeting, which took place less than three weeks before the acquisition was agreed.

“Could an intimate lunch at Chequers really have been forgotten?” prosecutor Jay asked in a submission to the Leveson Inquiry last week. “One does at least have to ask whether this is selective amnesia.” -Reuters

Survivor: One World winner crowned

In this photo provided by CBS Entertainment, “Survivor: One World” contestants Kim Spradlin (center), Chelsea Meissner (right), and Sabrina Thompson react after Spradlin is crowned sole survivor in New York, May 13, 2012. (AP)

LOS ANGELES: “Survivor: One World” should have probably just been called “Survivor: Kim’s World.” Kim Spradlin not only won the CBS reality competition’s $1 million grand prize Sunday, the crafty 29-year-old bridal shop owner from San Antonio, Texas, also brought the alliance that she helped form at the game’s outset to the final tribal council all while engineering the dismissal of each member of the show’s nine-person jury of former players. “I strategized until I was blue in the face,” said Spradlin. The jury ultimately voted for Spradlin over her allies, 33-year-old high school teacher Sabrina Thompson of New York and 26-year-old medical saleswoman Chelsea Meissner of Charleston, S.C. Spradlin, Meissner and Thompson worked together from the first day of the game, which originally featured two tribes divided by sex living on the same beach in Samoa. “We were a mess at the beginning, and then we just pulled it together,” said Thompson, who nabbed two jury votes to Spradlin’s seven. Spradlin also received the most viewer votes, winning an additional $100,000 fan-favorite prize.

Spradlin secured her place among the final three contestants on the 24th edition of “Survivor” by winning four individual immunity challenges, including the final two physical competitions, which ousted 29-year-old career consultant Christina Cha of Los Angeles and 25-year-old special education teacher Alicia Rosa of Chicago from the 39-day contest.

At the end of the finale, “Survivor” host Jeff Probst announced that the upcoming 25th season would be titled “Survivor: Philippines” and would feature three tribes as well as three returning contestants that previously removed from the game for medical concerns. -AP

Bobby Brown says his new album represents healing

FILE - An inmate dances in front of other prisoners to music being performed during a small concert at the Tihar jail in New Delhi on April 26, 2012. (AFP)

PARIS: Strutting across the stage wearing red stilettos, red lipstick and a flower in her hat, Samara Chopra was always going to be a hit with the inmates of Tihar high-security jail in New Delhi.

The audience of about 1,000 male prisoners whooped with delight as Chopra, lead singer of the Ska Vengers, ran through a high-energy one-hour set at an afternoon concert inside the prison grounds.

The event was an unusual break from the daily routine at Tihar jail, a vast complex in the west of the Indian capital where 12,000 inmates ranging from trial suspects to convicted murderers are incarcerated. The Ska Vengers, a popular Delhi band, have developed links with “Jail 4” at Tihar, and they held the gig to celebrate arranging for 300,000 rupees ($5,700) of music equipment to be donated to the prison by a music store.

“Jail 4”, one of 10 separate facilities within the prison, houses 1,615 inmates including 160 foreigners and 230 convicts, four of whom are on death row, according to an official register at the entrance gate.

The concert was attended by guest of honor Neer-

aj Kumar, the director general of Delhi prisons and a keen advocate of music for inmates. Kumar said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the depth of talent among prisoners and that he had recently started a “Tihar Idol” competition to select inmates who will make a commercially produced album.

The idea of providing Tihar with better music facilities came from Stefan Kaye, the London-born keyboard player of the Ska Vengers who found very little equipment on offer when he held music workshops in the jail late last year.

Among the kit donated to Tihar were drum sets, tabla Indian drums, keyboards, amplifiers and crucial smaller items such as scores of guitar strings.

Tihar jail has a record of innovative rehabilitation schemes for prisoners including yoga, meditation, art classes and a shop selling products made by inmates.

Guards even allowed a handful of the jail’s best dancers to squeeze out of the crowd to show off their wildest moves in front of the stage, triggering the biggest cheers of the day from their delighted comrades. -AFP

NEW YORK: Bobby Brown says it took him a long time to come out with a new album because he’s spent so much time trying to get his life on track. Now on tour with bandmates New Edition, Brown says he’s ready to return to his solo career with the album “Masterpiece,” due out June 5. “It’s what I’ve been through throughout my life, and just trying to heal myself through my music,” the 43-yearold singer said in a recent interview.

“Masterpiece” is Brown’s first album in 14 years. He was a multiplatinum star with New Edition and later developed his solo career.

But his well-documented battle with drugs and his legal woes led to his musical decline. His turbulent marriage to Whitney Houston further eroded his image. In a recent interview with the “Today” show’s Matt Lauer, Brown denied that he got his late ex-wife addicted to drugs. Houston’s career was derailed by her drug use, which came to the public’s attention during her marriage to Brown. The superstar drowned in February in Beverly Hills, Calif.; her death was complicated by heart disease and cocaine use, according to authorities.

“The Matt Lauer interview was just for me to clear the air about what everyone was feeling about my ex-wife’s death,” Brown said.

Although he was arrested for DUI in March, Brown insists he has been drug-free for more than seven years. He said his attempt to get his life in order is part of the reason why the album took so long to make. “When you’re working on yourself, you have to really concentrate on working on yourself and it takes a back seat to what you want to do and what I’m gonna do,” he said.

Brown says “Masterpiece,” which he started working on last year, is “the best album I’ve done so far. -AP

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ALWATAN DAILY

AROUND TOWN / TIME OUT

TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012

If you have an event you wish to include, please email: aroundtown@alwatandaily.com

Feature o f

graffiti

the day

moderately confused

IKEA sponsors ‘Carnival of Hope’ at the Hope School

Sudoku

Elementary

KUWAIT: IKEA Kuwait recently sponsored the second Carnival of Hope at the Hope School for special needs in Kuwait. The event was held in an effort to showcase the school’s appreciation for the ongoing support of families, staff, and community organizations that have been devoted to the cause of special needs students locally.

Hope School’s students’ families and friends attended the ‘Carnival of Hope’ which hosted a series of entertaining activities such as games, face painting, car-

Month a t

Advanced

Intermediate

toon characters, music and much more. Various shows were organized on stage along with many contests and raffle draws that were held throughout the evening.

IKEA Kuwait also participated by placing a booth with IKEA toys and the 2012 catalogue to provide the visitors an insight into the latest offerings and enable them to learn more about the store.

IKEA Kuwait was presented with a plaque of appreciation during the event for continued contributions over the last year.

General A n n o u n c e m e n t s

a glance intersection between concept, design and the individual voice. Social activism campaigns to re-brand identity is the core essence of this year’s exhibition.

Diwaniya presentation May 15/ 7 p.m. / The AWARE Center: The AWARE Center cordially invites interested westerners to its special diwaniya presentation entitled, “My experience in Kuwait and the six sigma,” by Frank Serafini. Improvements in engineering and construction processes provide better oil refineries and hotel structures. But without improvements in business process then the new facilities would do little to improve customer satisfaction, employee loyalty, and shareholder revenue. Lean Six Sigma is a business process methodology that eliminates waste, improves speed, removes complexity, and reduces defects.

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

Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main

Golden era club May 11 and 25/ 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. / Rumaithiya: Golden Era Club presents ‘The Eight Fold Path to Yoga’. Yoga here! Yoga there! Yoga everywhere! Yet, few comprehend Yoga’s true nature! Join Yoga Guru - Aacharya Shashikala Pushkarna - on this unique journey to the true ‘union’ between the mind, body and spirit. All seniors (60+) are cordially invited. Venue- House #34, next to Abu-Tammam Intermediate School for Boys, Sate Alhusari St., Block 2, Rumaithiya. For registration call 97172788/ 66208183 or drop a line to goldenera60@yahoo.com

May 18/ 7 p.m. / Maidan Hawally: Indian Cultural Society presents” Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main” with renowned playback singer from Bollywood Abhijeet and world fame theater cum comedy king Umar Sharif from Pakistan. The Chief Guest for the event will be Ambassador of India, Kuwait. Also guest of honor will be prominent personalities from Kuwait and respected embassies from different countries. It will take place at Dr. Kamil Al Rayes Auditorium, AIS opposite Police Station. Contact numbers for your assistance and information: 97270386, 94450833.

Mario is a gentle and affectionate 6-years-young Spitz male. This friendly boy does great with people and dogs of all ages.

International bazaar

Kuwait Fashion Showcase May 14-16/ 9 a.m. - 10 p.m. / Crowne Plaza Hotel: The Kuwait Fashion Showcase (KFS), a premiere fashion, beauty and bridal exhibition of high end fashion labels from the Middle East, Europe and India. The KFS exhibition is different not only because it will bring together well-accomplished brands from international markets but also because the magnitude and influence of it will surpass all previously held exhibitions in its field.

May 26/ 10 a.m.-3 p.m. / TIES Center: Stop by and have the opportunity to see and even own some international antiques on display and taste the delicious foods on display. Also have your name inscribed in Arabic calligraphy at no cost and have a taste of our Arabic ice cream. Various items will be available for sale, such as pashmina shawls, accessories, jewelry, Mexican food, Indian food, cosmetics, cookies, handbags, traditional Kuwaiti - style dresses and many more. For more information please contact 2523105/6 or 97228860

Graphic Design exhibition

Waist Watchers

May 15-17/ 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. / AUK: The Art & Graphic Design Program (GDES) at AUK will be holding the official opening of the Spring Senior Capstone Exhibition. Under the supervision of Professor Maryam Hosseinnia, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at AUK, students will be displaying their graduation projects that reflect their ability to visualize and process the complex

Every Tuesday/ 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. / British Ladies Society: Meetings are based on the world’s most successful healthy eating plan. Weekly meetings include private weigh in, motivational talks, recipes to try, and cooking demonstrations.

Fee of KD 2.500 is required to cover for the cost of course material. For more info contact; Danielle desertdanny@hotmail.com.

Dilbert

Inauguration of Courier Service Facility The Ambassador of India in Kuwait will inaugurate the Courier Service Facility for delivering the processed passports to the applicants at BLS Service Centre, Sharq on May 15, 2012 at 11:45 a.m. This new optional service would save the inconvenience to applicants of coming back to the outsourced centers for collecting their processed passports. It is one of the steps in the Embassy’s Endeavor to provide better consular services and respond to the needs of the applicants. Procedure and details related to this new service are available on the websites of Embassy of India, Kuwait and BLS International Visa Service Company.

Royal Thai Embassy The Royal Thai Embassy in Kuwait wishes to invite Kuwaiti companies that deal business with Thai companies or those agencies of Thai commercial companies to visit the Embassy’s Commercial Office to register their relevant information to be part of the embassy’s business and trade database. The Royal Thai Embassy is located in Jabriya, Block 6, Street 8, Villa No. 1, Telephone No. 25317530 -25317531, Ext: 14.

Nancy

Horoscopes Aries: March 21 - April 19

This is a good day to devote time and thought to spiritual pursuits, Aries. Do something inspirational that instills a sense of wonder deep in your soul.

Go to a church and light a candle, sit outdoors and watch the changing sky, or study a painting at the local museum.

Meditate on concepts of spirituality, the connection of humans and savor the connection.

Taurus: April 20 - May 20

A new phase in your life is beginning, Taurus. The previous phase could be interpreted as having taught you to be serious and devoted to professional responsibilities. Since you did accomplish some good deeds to boot you can now relax and look ahead to what’s next. Let yourself feel the welcome tug of the future and do the best you can to guarantee success.

Gemini: May 21- June 21

Today’s aspects might clear up some rather sketchy ideas about your professional future, Gemini. If you long for a change, such as daring to undertake a more artistic pursuit, now is the time to begin planning exactly how to go about it. The first step is to figure out how you can make a living from it.

Cancer: June 22 - July 22

You have acquired some sound confidence in yourself, Cancer. Now it’s time for you to show everyone else by actually putting it to good use. It looks like you have symbolically just about completed an in-depth acting class. Well, now is the time to go on stage. Smile, remember all your lines, and don’t forget to bow when everyone applauds. You’ll just knock ‘em dead!

Leo: July 23 - August 22

Today’s planetary energy should compel you to commit certain acts of self-affirmation that are needed to define your territory and protect your rights. You’ll be encouraged to explore your desires and personal tastes and express your opinion openly and clearly.

Everyone has an identity to claim! Don’t be bashful about claiming yours simply because it’s about time.

Virgo: August 23 - September 22

Today your brain is supercharged, Virgo. If you’ve been thinking about doing some writing or have put off analyzing a particularly tricky problem; this is the perfect day to get started.You will have all the inspiration you could possibly need. Don’t worry about shocking the people around you with your directness and assertiveness.

Libra: September 23 - October 22

With today’s planetary energy, you’ll find yourself a little more extraverted than usual, Libra. You’ll finally be able to say what you really think about things and this will be an important change for you. You will also find that expressing all your ideas and beliefs is a great help in reaching all your goals in life. Just don’t fret over it too much and you’ll reach all your goals.

Scorpio: October 23 - November 21

Today you’re unstoppable! You’re a very hard worker by nature, and with current planetary alignment you’ll be able to accomplish even more than usual.

You have abundant energy, more than enough to handle everything that comes your way. Just use your good judgment. Rash decisions, especially those concerning your personal life, could lead to some regret later.

Sagittarius: November 22 - December 21

Discard those items from the past which are of no real use. As much as you like to surround yourself with objects of sentimental value, the time comes when it’s necessary to look to the future rather than dwell on the past. The time spent in cleaning your home and throwing out extraneous things will release you from the past.

Capricorn: December 22 - January 19

Intimacy will be in the air over the next few days.

Loved ones suddenly want to spend more time with you and you’ll want to invite friends over.

You’ll be so recharged and some of the wonderful discussions could lead to something great. However, there may be a bit of tension in the air to temper all that closeness, since not everyone will agree with your point of view.

Aquarius: January 20 - February 18

Feeling unusually adventurous, Aquarius? You’re motivated by your idealistic expectations, and the planetary configurations today are going to push you even further on your spiritual quest. Satisfy your desire to discover new horizons and meet new people by saying hello to anyone you feel like talking to. Sometimes life’s biggest adventures begin with simple actions.

Pisces: February 19 - March 20

The celestial energy signals a pleasant change for you today. Finally, overpowering emotions that have been surging from your relationships will subside. You are embarking on a more contemplative phase. You may feel as if you’re about to depart on a long trip, with all the time in the world to meditate on events that transpired over the past months.

ALWATAN DAILY

SPORTS

tuesDAY, may 15, 2012

19

Tennis

In-form Federer eyeing return to tennis summit MADRID: After capturing the Madrid Open title and knowing he will climb back above Rafa Nadal to number two in the world, Roger Federer has set his sights on reclaiming the top ranking.

The resurgent 30-year-old Swiss came from a set down to beat Tomas Berdych in the Madrid final on Sunday, a fourth title of the year and a third in the Spanish capital that put him level on 20 Masters crowns with great rival Nadal.

Success in one of the upcoming grand slams could catapult him above Novak Djokovic to number one, a position he last held in May 2010, and he would then equal, and almost certainly break, his idol Pete Sampras’s record of 286 weeks at the top.

A buoyant Federer told a news conference that would be absolutely amazing.

“Back then I was just trying to stay world number one and I never really looked at Pete’s record that much,” he said. “I guess I could have chased it a few years ago, just really trying to beat that record,” added the 16-times grand slam singles champion.

“It’s no secret for any player out there that you’d rather be number one than number two. But I look at the long term, maybe if I wasn’t good enough to break that record then maybe I never will be.”

Before Madrid, Federer had not played for six weeks since losing to Andy Roddick in Miami, decid-

ing he needed some time away from tennis to recharge his batteries and rid himself of one or two niggling injuries.

He has played some of his best tennis in years in winning his four titles this year, including the Indian Wells Masters, and will bid for a second French Open crown in Paris starting later this month after his triumph in 2009, which was also the year he last won in Madrid.

“I don’t need to beat every record Pete set, he’s my idol after all and I’m just happy I’m that close already,” Federer said. “But it’s exciting times ahead for me. Winning so many tournaments and playing so well obviously I do believe I can win the grand slams.

But I know the difficulty of the French Open and the focus will be a lot on Novak because he’s going for four in a row and on Rafa because he’s the defending champion. It’s going to be an exciting tournament.”

Federer said equaling Nadal’s record of Masters titles was not such a big deal for him given that the series has only been running for a relatively short time.

“That one for me is just a number at the moment,” he said.

“It’s amazing how many Rafa has got in such a short time and it’s nice to win another one,” he said.

“I have won three of the last four now and it’s been a great streak and that’s what I look at.” -Reuters

Basketball

MVP James, Heat top Pacers 95-86, await Bosh word

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball to Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic during their men’s final match at the Madrid Open tennis tournament, May 13, 2012.

(Reuters)

Clippers advance, knock out Grizzlies 82-72

MEMPHIS: Chris Paul played with an aching right hip and Blake Griffin’s sprained left knee stiffened up during the game. If the Clippers were truly a two-man team, then they would have been in trouble facing elimination by the Memphis Grizzlies. Good thing the guys on the Clippers’ bench want to keep playing.

Kenyon Martin’s 23-footer put the Clippers ahead to start a fourth quarter in which backups scored 25 of their 27 points, helping Los Angeles’ other NBA team beat Memphis 82-72 Sunday and advance to the Western Conference semifinals.

The Clippers reserves outscored Memphis’ bench 41-11 to help Los Angeles clinch its first playoff series since 2006 and only the franchise’s third overall. They also helped the Clippers

avoid becoming the ninth NBA team to blow a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series and now they head to San Antonio for a second round starting Tuesday night.

Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said they will regroup Monday and focus on the Spurs then. He wanted his team to enjoy the series win for a little bit.

Chris Paul scored 19 points despite his strained right hip flexor, and he was the only starter to score in the fourth quarter. Paul was so confident of victory he bought plane tickets for his wife and son to San Antonio on Saturday.

Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol each had 19 for Memphis, which lost a Game 7 at Oklahoma City a year ago in the second round of the playoffs.

Zach Randolph had a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Clippers trailed 56-55 after three quarters until Martin’s jumper started an 11-2 run, and they led by as many as 11 down the stretch.

Los Angeles finished off the win by hitting 9 of 10 free throws in the final 3:26. The Clippers also managed to outrebound the Grizzlies 4644 for only the second time this series.

The Clippers and Grizzlies scrapped and fought for every ball with each possession feeling like a knockdown, drag-out fight.

Memphis should have had an advantage against the hobbled Clippers, who were tipping off when they usually eat breakfast on the West Coast.

Blake Griffin scored only eight points and looked tentative before spending all but 99 seconds of the fourth on the bench cheering. -AP

Bryant, Lakers need to get swagger back Forward Lebron James (6) of the Miami Heat dunks against the Indiana Pacers in Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the 2012 NBA Playoffs, May 13, 2012. (AFP)

MIAMI: LeBron James and Dwyane Wade carried the Miami Heat offense in the second half.With Chris Bosh gone, they had no other choice. And if Bosh doesn’t return soon, it may have to become a trend.

James accepted his third MVP trophy from Commissioner David Stern before the game, then scored 26 of his game-high 32 points while playing every second of the second half - adding a season-high 15 rebounds as well - to help the Heat survive some rough stretches and pull out a 95-86 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Sunday night.

Wade scored 29 points for the Heat, but the concern level was ramped up considerably afterward because of Bosh, who did not play in the second half because of a lower abdominal strain. The Heat expected to learn results of an MRI exam on Monday.

David West and Roy Hibbert each scored 17 points and combined for 23 rebounds for the Pacers, who got 10 points each from Darren Collison and George Hill.

Indiana controlled long stretches of the first half and didn’t trail by more than two points at any time until the fourth quarter, when it was outscored 25-16. Wade and James scored 42 points in the second half, while Indiana’s entire roster managed 38.

James scored 16 points alone in the fourth, matching Indiana’s total. Nonetheless, the Pacers sounded confident for days leading up to the start of the series, and left Sunday night sounding the same way.

Bosh caught a pass from James near the foul line late in the first half, took one dribble to start a drive past Hibbert, got down the lane and dunked the ball hard with his left hand while the Indiana center appeared to hit his right arm. Bosh fell forward as he landed, resting on his hands and knees for about 15 seconds before getting up slowly. He made his free throw, and as he headed back the other way he grimaced and grabbed at his midsection.

He was defending Hibbert on the ensuing possession, simply letting him get off a shot as he fell forward to his hands and knees again. Bosh looked at the Miami bench, got up and headed to the locker room for evaluation. He did not return, and sitting courtside, his wife, Adrienne, covered her anguished expression with her hands as he hobbled off.

Everything was undecided until the final moments. Hill made a 3-pointer with 4:51 left, getting Indiana within 86-85. But the Pacers went cold from the field, James had a dunk in transition to make it 90-85 with 4:10 left, and his jumper with 31.8 seconds remaining wrapped up the Heat win. -AP

LOS ANGELES: Kobe Bryant hit his only shot that really mattered, then celebrated by slapping hands with Justin Timberlake. In the closing seconds of a Game 7 playoff win, the stars were aligning in Los Angeles once again, just like old times.

Except this was a first-round playoff series against a seriously less talented opponent. And these aren’t anything like old times. The Lakers used to swagger through the playoffs with an attitude, mostly because Bryant would always seem to find a way to make them win. Now they go to Oklahoma City uncertain and unsure, and even Bryant may not have anything left in his bag of tricks to use against the Thunder.

He got them past the Denver Nuggets by finally getting Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol to play hard. That worked for one night, but the Lakers won’t be long for these playoffs if Bryant is forced to babysit his teammates every game.

Bryant is clearly frustrated with the inconsistent effort he’s getting from those around him, though he’s hardly alone. First year coach Mike Brown can’t seem to figure out how to motivate the team, which trailed Denver in the final quarter Saturday night before rallying to win.

The one constant is Bryant, whose will to win is unmatched, even with five NBA championship rings in his collection. At the age of 33 he may have lost half a step on his drives and his shot can be streaky, but he’s a fiery leader who’s not afraid to get his teammates’ attention when needed.

Even with World Peace back, the Lakers are a decided underdog against a young and rested Thunder team that holds both home court advantage and a 2-1 series edge this year. Oddsmakers have made the Thunder 7-point favorites in Monday night’s Game 1.

But funny things can happen in the playoffs.

That was evident in Game 7 against the Nuggets

Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant (24) is double-teamed as he dribbles the ball against the Denver Nuggets during Game 5 of their first round NBA Western Conference, May 8, 2012. (Reuters)

when Bryant resisted the urge to fight through double teams and try to take the game over. Instead, he passed to open teammates and played lockdown defense in the fourth quarter before hitting a late 3 that secured the win.

What’s been missing has been chemistry and

desire, the intangibles that often mean the difference between advancing in the playoffs and going home. To his credit, Bryant has taken it upon himself to instill both in his teammates, but it’s a work in progress. The swagger is still missing. And soon the Lakers may be, too. -AP

Formula one

Maldonado’s triumph unites polarized Venezuela

Williams Formula One driver Pastor Maldonado of Venezuela celebrates on the podium after his victory in the Spanish F1 Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo, May 13, 2012. (Reuters)

CARACAS: Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado’s remarkable first Formula One victory brought a rare moment of national unity to a homeland bitterly divided months before a presidential vote.

The 27-year-old driver has been closely associated with President Hugo Chavez’s socialist government due to numerous friendly appearances alongside the Venezuelan leader and the sponsorship of state oil company PDVSA. Yet his thrilling Spanish Grand Prix win on Sunday - the first for a Venezuelan - elevated him beyond a symbol of Chavez’s socialism into a cherished national hero.

During Chavez’s 13-year rule, the South American nation has become deeply polarized, with supporters seeing him as a messiah overcoming decades of injustice and foes casting the president as a dangerous dictator.

The national jubilation over Maldonado’s echoed last year’s feel-good over Venezuela’s soccer team, which was the laughing stock of the region for years before finally starting to perform decently in recent tournaments.

As with their support for Maldonado, both Chavez

and Capriles tout their love of the soccer team for barely-disguised electoral purposes.

State oil company PDVSA, which has controversially ousted a local private company to take over sponsorship of the national soccer team, has been backing Maldonado since his debut season last year. It is unknown how much money PDVSA has put in.

“Venezuela has covered itself with glory,” said PDVSA, whose oil revenues have financed Chavez’s self-styled “revolution” since he took power in 1999.

Maldonado’s beaming face and clenched fist dominated newspaper headlines and television footage.

In the most dramatic day of his life, Maldonado not only brought a first win for his success-starved Williams team in nearly eight years, but then carried a young cousin to safety after fire engulfed his team’s garage.

That only added to his aura of heroism back home.

The usually modest and softly-spoken Maldonado was ecstatic.

“I think there is a new generation coming in Formula One which will be talked about a lot,” he said.

“This has been my first podium and my first victory.

You can imagine how I feel.” -Reuters

tuesday, may 15, 2012

SPORTS

Sports Editors Highlight

SPAIN: Malaga’s Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy retired from professional football on Monday, ending a stellar career that included stints with Manchester United and Real Madrid. During his two-decade career, Van Nistelrooy was crowned top scorer in three countries, The Netherlands, England and Spain.

With 60 goals in the Champions League, he remains that competition’s secondhighest scorer, behind Raul of Spain. He played for five seasons with Manchester United, winning the English league once with them, and then played a part in two Liga titles during four seasons with Real Madrid. He moved to Malaga last year after a two-season stint with Hamburg. -AFP

Football

Mancini’s steady hand key for City in title race

Wenger salutes third place Arsenal

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini looks on before the Barclays Premier League match between Newcastle United and Manchester City, May 6, 2012. (AFP)

LONDON: There has been an inevitability about Manchester City’s journey to the Premier League title since Abu Dhabi petro-dollars began flooding into the club in 2008 but they still required a steady hand at the tiller to navigate them to glory through one of the most unpredictable seasons for decades.

Mancini was appointed in December 2009 as the man to make realize the dream, knocking cross-town rivals Manchester United off their perch, and the former Inter Milan coach proved himself equal to whatever the job threw his way.

Since taking over from the sacked Mark Hughes, Italian Mancini has endured the initial disappointment of failing to qualify for the Champions League in 2010, suffered criticism over his style of football and even quelled mutiny within the ranks.

Importantly, however, even when making a disappointing group stage exit on their Champions League debut this season, there has been no sense of panic at the top.

More than 400 million pounds ($643.88 million) has been spent on players since Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan bought City as, first under Hughes, they began assembling a squad that is the envy of almost every club in world football.

There is a price to pay, though, for the man in charge of such a shopping list and caressing the egos of enormously well-paid footballers week in and week out has often proved the undoing of many high-calibre managers in the Premier League.

Initially, City’s detractors said they were a bunch of individuals, lacking the required team bond that has been the hallmark of United and Chelsea in the past decade. When Carlos Tevez refused to warm-up as a substitute in a Champions League clash with Bayern Munich last September, an act which sparked a high-

profile stand-off between striker and manager, the alarm bells were ringing again.

Mario Balotelli’s volatile behaviour on and off the field, including an incident in which his apartment caught light after fireworks were set off inside, also tested Mancini’s resolve, as did a post-Christmas dip in away form that let United back in the hunt.

Mancini never took his eye off the ball, however, and his biggest success has been instilling a togetherness and harmony while also managing the expectations of the fans, many of whom still appear giddy at their club’s recent rise from the shadows rather than arrogantly expecting silverware.

Like any self-respecting Italian manager Mancini spent the early part of his tenure making his team hard to beat, impossibly so this at the Etihad Stadium where they won 18 and drew one of their 19 league matches.

That stability was based on the rock-like defending of skipper Vincent Kompany and the emergence of Joleon Lescott as his number one central defensive partner.

With goalkeeper Jo Hart rubber-stamping his England No.1 status, and Yaya Toure a formidable presence in the midfield engine room, City have been able to unleash their attacking threat to the maximum, much of it instigated by the brilliance of Spanish playmaker David Silva.

Up front, Aguero has proved a class act, netting 23 league goals while in support Balotelli, despite his erratic behaviour, and Dzeko also reached double figures, scoring some vital goals.

While some may scoff at Mancini’s achievement in finally bringing City out of the shadow of their illustrious neighbors, pointing to the vast wealth at his disposal, he has repaid the faith of the owners to the full. -Reuters

LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger paid tribute to his players after they qualified for the Champions League once again despite a disastrous start to the campaign.

The Gunners’ 3-2 victory at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday secured third place as they finished a point and a place ahead of North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur to guarantee entry to Europe’s elite competition next season.

That was something of an achievement for Wenger’s team, who lost four of their first seven Premier League matches, including an 8-2 humiliation at Manchester United, and the Frenchman insisted his players deserve credit for turning their fortunes around.

“If you look at the season as a whole, in the last 16 league games we have lost only twice,” said Wenger, who said Robin van Persie’s lingering applause towards the away fans afterwards was a positive sign he will still be at the Emirates Stadium next season.

“We have created a fantastic run. In the end we finished with 70 points. That is respectable. We were 17th in the league in September and after the first seven games we had lost four of them. It’s very difficult to imagine you can finish third. But we have had an exceptional run after our Champions League exit.”

Defeat was a disappointing end to a superb 16-month spell with the Baggies for outgoing head coach Roy Hodgson, in his final game before taking on the England job on a permanent basis.

He addressed the Hawthorns crowd after the match to express his gratitude.

“I am touched by the reception. It is a fantastic football club of great tradition and support,” Hodgson said. “You deserve another year in the Premier League.

Everyone has been fantastic and I would not have been England manager if it was not for the contribution of everyone at this club.”

Mistakes from Baggies understudy goalkeeper Marton Fulop, only in the side because of a groin injury to Ben Foster, gifted the Gunners their first and third

Manchester United’s manager Sir Alex Ferguson, applauds after his team’s English Premier League soccer match against Swansea at Old Trafford Stadium, May 6, 2012. (AP)

with that very well. They are only young players, it was excellent for them,” Ferguson said on Sunday, offering a silver lining to the club’s fans who have no trophy to celebrate for the first time since 2005.

“They’ve experienced what has happened today and they’ll be around in five, six or 10 years time for Manchester United. The experience is good for them, even if it’s a bad one. I would like to say on behalf of Manchester United, congratulations to our neighbors,” he added. “It is a fantastic achievement to win the Premier League, it’s not easy to win, it’s the hardest league in the world and anyone that wins it deserves it.”

It was a defeat that took matters out of United’s hands and while they finished with wins over Swansea City and Sunderland, City’s stoppage time 3-2

goals from Yossi Benayoun and Laurent Koscielny.

The hosts had responded with strikes from Shane Long and Graham Dorrans, only for Andre Santos to level matters before Koscielny clinched the points early in the second half.

Baggies assistant manager Keith Downing said: “When you are playing a side of quality you cannot afford to give those types of goals away. It left us with a mountain to climb. Marton is devastated.

He sets high standards and he knows one or two of the goals were down to him.”

Meanwhile, Foster confirmed after-

wards that he will not be ending his international exile to link up with Hodgson at Euro 2012.

“I’ve always said all along my best form has been since I retired from England and I feel my body gets a good rest, and I feel it needs that rest as well,” Foster said. “Roy tried hard to persuade me. I get on with him so well and he is a fantastic manager. You learn so much off him.

I know he will do a fantastic job for England but he totally understood my reasons why and was very respectful of that and understood my decision and my way of thinking.” -AFP

Andrei Arshavin to captain Russia at Euro 2012 MOSCOW: Russia’s star striker Andrei Arshavin will captain his country’s campaign at the Euro 2012 in Ukraine and Poland, coach Dick Advocaat announced on Monday.

“Arshavin is going to be the captain,” the Dutchman, who is stepping down from his post after the Euros to return to PSV Eindhoven, told reporters, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.

Arshavin has appeared rejuvenated in the last months after rejoining his old club Zenit on a loan deal from England’s

Ferguson upbeat as United end empty-handed LONDON: Alex Ferguson remained defiantly upbeat after a 20th English title was snatched from Manchester United’s clutches on Sunday but when the dust settles on a dramatic season the wily Scot will ponder long on where it went wrong.

He talked up the experience gained by new signings such as Phil Jones and Ashley Young, whose first title chase ended in bitter disappointment as they lost out on goal difference to Manchester City despite ending with a very healthy 89 points.

Ferguson can also point to injuries and illness to key players, particularly leading central defender Nemanja Vidic and midfield workhorse Darren Fletcher.

“We take great credit from the fact that we have had so many injuries this season and we’ve coped

Arsenal’s Robin van Persie (left) acknowledges the crowd at the final whistle after qualifying for next years Champions League during an English Premier League football, May 13, 2012. (AFP)

Arsenal in February, helping the Saint Petersburg side to a league victory with a string of crucial goals. His return to Zenit after a sometimes lackluster three years at Arsenal was seen as ensuring his place in the national side. Arshavin’s scintillating performance in Euro 2008 was instrumental in helping Russia to the semifinals.

Russia have been placed with co-hosts Poland, the Euro-1996 finalists Czech Republic and the 2004 European champions Greece in the Euro-2012 Group A, which

victory over QPR left United empty-handed.

While Wayne Rooney’s 27 goals under-pinned United’s assault on the title, the England striker lacked support at times with Mexican Javier Hernandez, so lethal las year, the only other player to reach double figures in the league with 10.

A lack of creativity in central midfield area was also a concern with veteran Paul Scholes coming out of retirement in January to provide guile. At the back Rio Ferdinand’s battle scars began to catch up with him while Chris Smalling and Phil Jones are still works in progress, albeit highly-rated ones.

While United will lick their wounds, it is not all doom and gloom. Ferguson will be scouring the transfer market and with a couple of tweaks, will be ready to do battle with City again. -Reuters

however is considered to be the easiest group of the event.

Advocaat, who took Russian football by surprise by announcing he would not be extending his contract after the Euros, suggested that Russia could even be an outside bet to take the title.

“When people talk about the Euro, they all talk about the Netherlands, Spain and Germany,” he said. “But if we can play our kind of football as we are capable then we could be dark horse favorites,” he added. -AFP

Di Matteo in dark over Chelsea future

LONDON: Roberto Di Matteo has admitted he has no plans to meet with the Chelsea hierarchy to discuss his future.

The interim first-team coach oversaw his side’s final day Premier League victory over Blackburn Rovers in what could be his last game in charge at Stamford Bridge.

Di Matteo will lead the club into their meeting with Bayern Munich in the Champions League final at the Allianz Arena on May 19th.

Club officials have always maintained they will not decide on a permanent successor to Andre Villas-Boas until after the end of the season but Di Matteo does not believe his chances of landing the job hinge on the outcome of the Bayern clash.

Asked if he thought that success or failure in Munich would influence the decision, he said: “I don’t think so. But I have no problem with it.”

And admitting no firm arrangements had been made to talk about the club’s next move, he added: “My wife has booked our holidays. And I am looking forward to it. There are mobile phones. They work everywhere these days.”

While the manager’s position remains unresolved, Di Matteo admitted the final day of the season had underlined his connection with the club he once played for.

“It’s been great.We have had a very intense nine weeks together and it has been fantastic and we are all looking forward to next Saturday as well,” he said. “It’s been very emotional because I feel very responsible with this club because I have played here and been part of it so it’s been a nice day.”

Didier Drogba’s future also remains unresolved, with the striker so far yet to agree a new deal.Drogba has so far rejected the club’s offer of a one-year contract and Di Matteo said: “I don’t know if it’s going to be his last game here. I think that’s something the club will deal with, with the player. But I’m sure we will know whatever it is.”

Chelsea rounded off their league campaign with a 2-1 win courtesy of goals from John Terry and Raul Meireles, who are both suspended for the Champions League final.

Florent Malouda was withdrawn in the first half with hamstring injury and Di Matteo said: “We took him off as a precaution. He has a little tight hamstring but hopefully he will recover as soon as possible. It was a risk to play whoever was going to play today so we wanted to get through without any injuries and more or less we did both.”

Gary Cahill and David Luiz were again missing with hamstring injuries and Di Matteo admitted it could get to the day of the final before he knows whether either centre-back can face Bayern. -AFP