May 23, 2012

WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012

@alwatandaily

Issue No. 1443

20 PAGES

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150 Fils with IHT

Government walks out on quizzing session over merger

Staff Writers & Agencies

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad AlSabah said, after a government walk-out from the National Assembly session earlier Tuesday, said “the government would not stand for violation of the National Assembly Standing Order; we should not, and I am amazed some are insisting upon such violation today.”

The Kuwaiti government representatives had walked out of the session earlier in protest over MPs’ insistence to merge two motions filed against Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali, in his official capacity, into one interpellation.

His Highness added, “we will not stand for this violation, and should others insist upon it, we shall walk out of the session.” After National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun announced a vote on the merger request, the government representatives walked out of the hall, and the session had to be postponed to Wednesday.

Al-Mubarak further disclosed that there are ongoing government contacts with the parliamentary majority through the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shuaib Al-

Muwaizri. MP Msallam Al-Barrak had preceded the discussion of the first grilling with the request for the merger of the interpellation motion he filed along with MP Khalid AlTahous and Abdelrahman Al-Anjari with the other filed by MP Obaid Al-Mutairi into one 11-item interpellation, via provisions of article 137 of the Standing Order.

The said article states that interpellations on the same subject or on closely related subjects can be merged, and are discussed simultaneously, with the approval of the Prime Minister or the minister concerned, or by virtue of a decision by the National Assembly.

Al-Shamali argued neither condition were met in this case, saying there was no approval by the premier or the minister concerned, and the items covered in the interpellations are not linked at all.

“We, the government, do not support a merger, and see no need for it,” he said, adding, “I am willing to respond, and to do so in detail, to all items included in the interpellation motions.”

Minister of Information Sheikh Mohammad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah for his part said the article concerned shows that the merger is an exception, not the rule, and the consti-

Tunisia to extradite former Gadhafi PM to Libya

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tutional experts had all agreed the request is unjustified because the items are not linked.

Addressing the session chairman, he requested the matter be put to legal experts, arguing this is a futile and meaningless point.

“What we are doing is making precedents in parliamentary action,” he stressed, and added “the government is willing to cooperate fully, but only within the restraints and guidelines of the constitution and the Standing Order, and shall stand for no violation.”

In statements following the incident, he underscored the government’s decision to walk out of the session as an act based on its respect to the constitution and National Assembly bylaws.

On the other hand, the minister of information dismissed reports that the government had discussed no-cooperation with the Parliament, while describing such claims are inaccurate and completely baseless.

When it came to stances of MPs regarding this request, there was no agreement on the matter, but those in favor of the merger were very firm and inflexible in their opinion, which led the government to walk out in protest.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Al-Muwaizri says will resign if housing crisis not resolved

Abdullah Al-Shammari

Staff Writer

KUWAIT: A group of citizens have announced a new cause called, “Waiting for Home,” with the aim of highlighting the longstanding housing crisis As well as shed light on the plight of citizens who have to wait for long periods. The newly founded group staged their first protest opposite the Public Authority for Housing Welfare on Monday evening.

The protesters demanded the reduction of waiting time and the expedition of

In this photo a general view of buildings can be seen in the foreground while the rest are obscured by heavy dust, on May 22, 2012. According to the Kuwait Meteorological Center, forecasts for the next two days indicate the dusty weather will continue. (Al Watan) See also 2

Reagan foundation protests over blood auction

LOS ANGELES: The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation is threatening legal action to prevent a vial of the late US president’s blood being sold in an online auction, calling it a “craven act.”

The foundation’s executive director John Heubusch voiced outrage over the sale of the blood - dating from the 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan - by an auction house based on Guernsey, in the British Channel Islands.

“We’ve spoken to GW (George Washington) Hospital and are assured an investigation as to how something like this could possibly happen is underway,” he said in a statement. And added: “Any individual, including a president of the United States, should feel confident that once they enter into the care of a medical system their privacy and rights are held inviolable.”

The five inch long, half-inch diameter phial of blood was being sold by PFC Auctions, accompanied by a laboratory report and a letter from the seller - who claims he offered it to the Reagan National Library, but was turned down.

“These articles have actually been in my family’s possession since 03/30/1981,

the day that President Reagan was shot,” said the seller, adding that his mother worked for the laboratory which tested the blood.

“The testing was completed and the test tube was sitting on my mother’s desk.

At the end of the week, she asked the director of her laboratory if she could keep the paper work and the test tube. “The director of the lab told her no problem and really never gave it a second thought. It has been in my family ever since.”

The seller said he contacted the Reagan National Library and spoke with its head, a federal agent, who told him he had to make a few calls to check what to do. “He called back in 25 minutes and said that everything was ok, National Archives was not interested in what I had, nor was the Secret Service, the FBI and other agencies.

“Since 30 years had passed by, he thought that it was simply something that was of no importance at this time and that I was free to do with whatever I wanted with it.” As of late Tuesday, the highest bid for the vial was 7,587 pounds. The auction is due to end on May 24 at 1900 GMT, it said. -AFP

SpaceX launches private capsule on historic trip to space station CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: An unmanned rocket owned by privately held Space Exploration Technologies blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday for a mission designed to be the first commercial flight to the International Space Station. The 178-foot (54-meter) tall Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 3:44 a.m. from a refurbished launch pad just south of where NASA launched its now-retired space shuttles. Less than 10 minutes later, the rocket delivered its cargo - a Dragon capsule with 1,200 pounds (544 kg) of supplies for the station crew - into orbit.

More on 15

In this photo taken on May 22, 2012, ministers are seen vacating the Abdulla Al-Salem hall during the parliamentary session meant to decide on the merger of motions filed against Minister Al-Shamali.

(Al Watan)

ILO says 75 million jobless youth around globe

the process of distributing housing units and government houses where by an average of 1,000 homes are handed over every month, as they stressed that such a measure will eliminate long periods of waiting. The placards raised at the protest reflected the suffering of citizens from high rents and the waiting periods, which can be as long as 16 years. The Minister of Housing and the Minister of State for Housing Affairs Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, who accepted the challenge despite the difficulty of the situation, met with the proMore on 2 testers.

Middle East youth unemployment rate at 26.5% GENEVA: The global youth unemployment rate for 2012 remains stuck at crisis peak levels and is not expected to come down until at least 2016, says the International Labor Organization (ILO) in its Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012 report. The ILO said nearly 75 million youths or 12.7 percent of people aged 15 to 24 will be out of work this year, up from 12.6 percent in 2011.

The jobless total is creeping towards the 75.4 million unemployed in 2009 when the financial crisis caused the number to soar.

The rate would even be higher if one takes into account those who - often discouraged by the lack of prospects - give up or postpone looking for a job. The adjusted rate would put the global youth unemployment rate at 13.6 percent in 2011. Further pressure on unemployment rates is expected when those extending their stay in the education system because of limited job prospects eventually enter the labor market.

“The youth unemployment crisis can be beaten but only if job creation for young people becomes a key priority in policy-making and private sector investment picks up significantly,” said Executive Director of the ILO Employment Sector, Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.

Russia raises protest fines above annual wage

MOSCOW: Russia’s parliament on Tuesday hiked fines for unsanctioned protests to more than three times the annual wage after a march on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s historic inauguration ended in battles with police.

But the ruling party United Russia needed almost every one of its votes to pass the measure with 236 votes to 207.

Opposition parties voted against it and protesters tried to picket the building before being dispersed. Police reported detaining at least five people.

“Using the May 6 and 7 protests as an excuse, United Russia is attacking the last of our more or less functioning democratic rights,” Communist Party lawmaker Vadim Solovyov said.

The legislation passed in the initial reading hikes the maximum penalty for those who join illegal actions to one million rubles (32,100 US dollars) from 5,000 ($160) today.

The penalty is about 3.5 times the average annual salary reported by the Rosstat statistics agency at the end of last year.

Russia’s laws on protests are both strict by Western standards and at times randomly enforced.

No public actions are allowed without city consent and functions that grow larger than the number originally declared to the authorities get penalized. But opposition leaders often complain that these rules rarely apply to the huge functions that close down entire streets in Moscow staged by pro-Kremlin youth groups.

The vote in parliament had been delayed from Friday after Communist Party lawmakers and their socialist allies threatened to stage an embarrassing walkout during the vote. The measure passed on Tuesday after some ruling party members promised to substantially lower the maximum final level in the second reading. -AFP

New frog species is bright yellow

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More on 9

Suu Kyi to address UN body in Geneva next month

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Eastern DR Congo clashes kill 100 in a week says group

CAPITALS: A feud between Rwandan Hutu rebels and the Mai Mai militia in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week left more than 100 people dead, including civilians, a local activist said Tuesday.

“A week ago, the Mai Mai attacked the FLDR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), who retaliated by targeting everybody they could find, accusing them of collaborating with the Mai Mai,” Nord-Kivu province civil society coordinator Omar Kavota told AFP. “The Mai Mai who were hunting the FDLR also targeted anybody who stood in their path, claiming they were working

with the FDLR,” said Kavota, whose umbrella organization includes rights groups and workers’ unions. “We’re talking about more than 100 dead, mostly with knives and machetes.”

The tit-for-tat killing is only one of several ongoing conflicts between the myriad armed groups based in the remote regions of eastern DR Congo.

Deadly fighting is also raging in NordKivu province between the regular army (FARDC) and former rebels who were integrated into the military as part of a 2009 peace deal but recently started to defect en masse, complaining of poor treatment. -AFP

Hezbollah leader urges restraint after Syria kidnappings

BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah urged restraint on Tuesday after a group of Shiite Muslim Lebanese were reported kidnapped by rebels in Syria while returning home from a pilgrimage in Iran.

“I call on everyone to show restraint,” the leader of the Shiite militant group said in an address carried on the party’s Al-Manar television station.

“It is not acceptable for anyone to block roads or carry out violent acts.” The national news agency put the number of those abducted at 13. Nasrallah spoke after families of those abducted, along with thousands of supporters, turned out in Beirut’s mainly Shiite southern suburbs to demand the release of the men.

The protesters closed down several roads, including the old airport road, with burning tires and garbage bins. There were also reports of roads being closed in

the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Nasrallah said contacts were underway with Syrian authorities and other countries in the region to ensure the safe release of the men.

“We will work day and night until those beloved are back with us and hopefully ... by cooperating together we will reach a happy ending,” he said.

He added that Hezbollah was also in contact with Prime Minister Najib Mikati. “The Lebanese state and government have a responsibility to work toward the release of those kidnapped,” he said. He also urged followers not to carry out revenge attacks against Syrians in Lebanon.

The brother of one of those kidnapped said the rebel Free Syrian Army had vowed to release the men in exchange for FSA members being held by Syrian authorities. -AFP SEE ALSO 4

Lebanese security forces open a blocked road at the Tayyouneh roundabout in Beirut’s southern suburbs after angry demonstrators set tires on fire to close the main artery in protest against the kidnapping of 13 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in the Syrian northern province of Aleppo, as they were headed back home by bus on May 22, 2012 from a pilgrimage in Iran. (AFP)

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ALWATAN DAILY

kuwait

WEDNESDAY, may 23, 2012

Majority says government used internal charter to walk out of session KUWAIT: The Majority Bloc issued a statement after the government walked out of the interpellation session at the National Assembly. The session was expected to hold a questioning for Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali. The statement said that the government used the internal charter as a pretext to the session, in an unprecedented incident.

The Majority urged the government to respect the provisions of the Constitution, the will of people and attend today’s session.

The statement added that Article 6 of the Constitution stipulates that the government in Kuwait shall be democratic, under which sovereignty resides in the people, the source of all powers. The bloc stressed that the Kuwaiti people elected their representatives and expressed rejection to the practices of the previous governments, which imposed serious threat to the unity of people and forestall development. Accordingly, the Majority Bloc proposed taking part in the formation of the government in order to represent the people.

However, the proposal was rejected. Yet, the bloc expressed willingness to cooperate with the government in order to build the achievements and developments expected by the people of Kuwait, which was embodied by enacting laws in a short period such as Jaber University Law, National Fund for Small and Medium Laws, Student’s Portfolio Law and a law to stiffen Penalty of blasphemy and blaspheme Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

Several MPs extol tough government stance during session

The ministers are seen voting against merging the interpellations submitted against Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali during the parliamentary session held on Tuesday, May 22, 2012. (Al Watan)

The statement said that during this short period, the Head of government, his Deputy and Minister of Information faced several interpellations despite their

claims about the unconstitutionality of the grilling, but the government stepped out of the session in order to avoid the interpellation filed against Al-Shamali.

KUWAIT: The Member of Parliament (MP) Ali Al-Rashid said that the government’s stance yesterday, in which they walked out of the interpellation session in objection to merging the questioning, “Pleased the Kuwaiti people as the government defended the Constitution and the bylaws of the Cabinet.” In his statement to the press, the lawmaker said that the interpellation motion against the finance minister is still on the agenda of the Cabinet and will be so as long as the government doesn’t submit a non-cooperation motion against the Parliament or the government resigns.

Meanwhile, the MP Nabeel Al-Fadhl said that Article 137 of the Parliament bylaw indicates that each motion should be discussed alone, which also means that motions should not be merged with any other.

He described accusing the finance minister’s walk out as an attempt to escape the motion as unfair, given that the minister has already announced that he would face the two motions.

On his part, the MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan considered the insistence of the Majority Bloc to combine both motions as a critical step that might mark a new stage between the legislative and the executive authorities. It might also lead to dissolving the parliament, said the MP. He emphasized that this is the start of a division amongst the Majority Bloc and extolled the tough government stance, expecting many surprises to occur within the coming 24 hours.

MP Hussein Al-Qallaf described the stance of the prime minister, who withdrew from the session, as a daring move, adding the Majority Bloc is responsible for the current escalation.

Increasing GDP, improving living standards are main objectives of development plan: Safar Mervat Abdul Dayem Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Planning and Development Fadhil Safar stated that increasing the gross domestic product (GDP) and improving the living standards of citizens is the main objective of the strategic development plan until year 2035; in addition to boosting economy growth rates of non-oil sectors. He explained that this will increase the income of individuals in light of the stability of prices. He revealed that the second objective is supporting human development, which is possible through the development of education, training, scientific research, and health services. He added after meeting with governors and members of the Municipal Council two days ago, that people are calling for clean streets and a healthy environment, in addition to exerting efforts in the human development field. Safar announced that other sectors will follow the same plan, in order to set up the main

pillars of the next development plan.

Moreover, Safar explained that the previous plan was set hastily without consulting all concerned authorities from various civil society institutions and the private sector.

He added that this plan was formed by ministries only and was embedded forcefully in the development plan. He stated that another objective of the strategic development plan is the development of policies regarding population in favor of development. He mentioned that this objective seeks to organize the increase in population, in addition to causing a paradigm shift in the local labor market through advanced skills; thus improving work at the public and private sectors.

The plan also tackles developing and training of Kuwaiti labor force to support Kuwaiti employees, in addition to improving the quality of production of non-Kuwaiti labor force.

Moreover, Safar said that the ministry has ranked first among ministers and ninth among public authorities, according to the reformation index of Kuwait Transparency

Society. He added that this is a source of pride and a morale booster for the employees, and hoped that they would exert more relentless efforts to execute the ambitious development plan.

Meanwhile, Secretary General of Supreme Council for Planning and Development Adel Al-Weqayyan highlighted the importance of meeting governors, since they meet and interact with the public, which makes them fully aware of the problems facing them. He revealed that during the meeting, people called for reducing bureaucratic obstacles regarding the license for facilities, insurance, improving services such as cleaning and recycling of wastes, and changing the concepts of citizens in dealing with their environment.

They also discussed during the meeting the organizational frame required for the development plan. He explained that when authorities communicate with the common citizen, the citizen will feel that he is part of the development plan, and that this plan is not owned by any ministry or authority. He applauded governors and elders for supervis-

ing work, because quality of execution and production affects citizens. Regarding the centrality of the development plan, he mentioned that the plan was not set based on a narrow point of view. He added that the members of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development, who have set this plan, represent various society segments with various points of views.

Furthermore, Al-Weqayyan remarked that the tourism sector was sidelined during the first development plan, and asserted that it should be included in the second development plan.

He explained that the lack of issuance of any shareholding companies until now is not in favor of the development plan. He hoped that the government would focus on speeding the process of establishing those companies, in order to allow the private sector to play a more prominent role in developing the economy. He also stressed the importance of diversifying sources of income to establish a base for Kuwait’s financial and commercial status.

Al-Muwaizri says to resign if housing Sand storm suspends marine navigation at Shuwaikh, Shuaiba ports crisis not resolved in six months

The Minister of Housing and the Minister of State for Housing Affairs Shuaib AlMuwaizri stands next to two children who were taking part in the “Waiting For Home” protest on Monday, May 21, 2012. (Al Watan) Abdullah Al-Shammari Staff Writer

KUWAIT: A group of citizens have announced a new grouping called, “Waiting for Home,” with the aim of highlighting the longstanding housing crisis As well as shed light on the plight of citizens who have to wait for long periods. The newly founded group staged their first protest opposite the Public Authority for Housing Welfare on Monday evening.

The protesters demanded the reduction of waiting time and the expedition of the process of distributing housing units and government houses where by an average of 1,000 homes are handed over every month, as they stressed that such a measure will eliminate long periods of waiting. The placards raised at the protest reflected the suffering of citizens from high rents and the waiting periods, which can be as long as 16 years.

The Minister of Housing and the Minister of State for Housing Affairs Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, who accepted the challenge despite the difficulty of the situation, met with the protesters.

The minister pledged to provide 50,000 housing

units in six months’ time in addition to the Kheiran housing project, which is expected to create 35,000 housing units and Mitla project of 20,000 housing units. He lamented that the housing crisis has been dragging on for more than 30 years without serious solutions, while reaffirming his resolve to provide plots to set up housing projects, in conjunction with the municipal authorities. Addressing the protesters, Al-Muwaizri vowed that he would resign if his efforts to address the matter failed. “After six months from now, I will announce the success of my plan or offer my apologies to you for not being able to resolve housing crisis, and tender my resignation. I have the courage to declare my failure in public,” the minister bluntly said.

The leader of the group Eid Al-Shahri addressed the minister challenging him to adopt their demands before the Cabinet because “we have been waiting for too long. Ministers have come and gone making sheer promises without tangible results.”

He added, “We lost confidence in the government because it did not fulfill its promises to citizens over the previous years.Today, we are forced to take to the street to demand for decent housing for us and families.”

Kuwait University inks contract to build two colleges KUWAIT: Kuwait University (KU) on Tuesday signed with China’s Sinohydro Corporation a contract to construct and maintain the girls’ faculty and the faculty of administrative science at Sabah Al-Salem University City.

The Chinese corporation, which bid successfully for the project, will implement it in association with AlHani Construction and Trading Company.

The signing ceremony was attended by KU Rector Dr. Abdullatif Al-Badr, director of the project at the KU Dr. Rana Al-Fares and representative of Al-Hani Co. Abdulmohsen Al-Qattan, as well as members of the higher technical committee on the project.

Speaking to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) after the ceremony, Dr. Al-Fares said the project, the ninth of its kind, costs up to 143,562,000 Kuwaiti dinars and will take 42 months to complete. “The designs and supervision were entrusted to the global Cambridge Consultants and the local Dar Gulf Consult,” Eng. Amal Al-Ayyadhi said. “The faculty of administrative science will be built over an area of 109, 584 square meters and will be able to house 4,000 students and 770-strong teaching staff,” she disclosed. The girls’ faculty will cover an area of 107,312 square meters and house 3,000 students and 690-member teaching and administrative staff, she added. -KUNA

KUWAIT: The movement of marine shipping in the ports of Shuwaikh and Shuaiba were put on halt on Tuesday as a result of the sand storm that is sweeping the country.

Director of marine operations at the port of Shuwaikh in Kuwait Ports Authority Suleiman Al-Yahya told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the wind speed exceeded 50 kmph and there are no incoming or outgoing ships at the port.

He added that Shuwaikh port is awaiting the arrival of the first ships this evening to anchor in the waiting area until weather conditions improve.

For his part, director of marine operations at the Shuaiba port Captain Faraj Al-Saeed told KUNA that the wind speed reached 60 kmph, while a low level of visibility was also reported at the port.

He said that bad weather forced three ships to dock in the waiting area, would be allowed entry as soon as the weather improves. -KUNA

Sand storm hit Kuwait on Tuesday afternoon, causing the movement of marine shipping in the ports of Shuwaikh and Shuaiba to be put on halt on the same day.

(Al Watan)

Government walks out on quizzing session over merger continued from page 1

A number of MPs pointed out to the session chairman that it was up to the presidency to settle the matter after the government’s walk-out, at which point, Speaker Al-Saadoun said he does not see it in his capacity to decide the matter, and called for a vote on the issue.

The cabinet issued on Tuesday a statement justifying its walk-out from the National Assembly meeting held earlier to discuss steps toward quizzing Al-Shamali.

The statement noted that the present government set out from the very beginning to put its hand in the hand of the National Assembly toward working together assiduously to bring about further progress and success to the Kuwaiti people.

The government fully realizes that no degree of societal progress can be achieved without firm cooperation between the executive branch and the legislative branch, said the statement, emphasizing the government’s understanding that any lawmaker has the right to question the performance of any or all ministers in the cabinet.

Al-Shamali expressed his full readiness to comply with the two grillings filed against him, in his official capacity, since they go according to the National Assembly’s laws and its standing order. Al-Shamali commented to the press after the end of the session saying, “I am fully ready to comply with the two motions. However, there was a pre-determined sabotage in today’s session. That is all it was.”

Article 137 of the standing order does not allow for the merger the two motions into one interpellation since they are of a different nature, the minister clarified.

He further pointed out that the merger request has some other hidden agendas.

Both interpellations had been filed May 7. The first deals with “slack in bank lending policies supervision duties”, “facilitating spending of national funds with cause for suspicion of profiteering”, and “gross financial violations.”

The second interpellation included eight items. It deals with “violating the law on founding Al-Zour Plant company”, “violations on the part of Kuwait Investment Authority”, “putting the interests of banks and financing companies over that of the public”, and “failure to implement

law 49/1982 on pay increase for civilian employees and retired military personnel.”

This is in addition to “violations related to the Customs Department”, “violations regarding layoffs of Kuwaitis from private sector bodies”, “failure to implement law 49/1982 on pay increase for civilian employees and retired military personnel.” This is in addition to “violations related to the Customs Department”, “violations regarding layoffs of Kuwaitis from private sector bodies”, “failure to impose the law regarding state property”, and “infringements to do with Social Security”.

National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun rejected, during a meeting by the Majority Bloc, the government’s walk-out from Tuesday’s session. “Merger is permissible but the government just wanted a pretext to evade the interpellation in order to cover up violations and escalation toward the dissolution of Parliament,” Al-Saadoun was quoted as saying. The speaker added, “If the Parliament is dissolved, the Determination Square will be turned into a campaign headquarters for the parliamentary majority.”

ALWATAN DAILY

KUWAIT

wednesdAY, may 23, 2012

Amir honors students, children of martyrs

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More dusty weather in upcoming days: Forecast

KUWAIT: The current sandstorm and shifting weather conditions is expected to continue for the next couple of days, said a weather forecaster here Tuesday.

Head of weather forecast at the Directorate General for Civil Aviation Mohammad Karam told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the northern to northwest winds are carrying a huge quantity of sand, resulting in a sandstorm that is expected to prevail for the upcoming days.

Visibility would be low in the country, said the official who added that on the bright-side, the sandstorm would help decrease the hot summer temperature in Kuwait.

Karam urged people to steer away from the sea due to strong wind movement and high waves. -KUNA

Kuwait to soon announce acceptance plan of high school graduates: Minister Al-Hajraf

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah is seen with the children of national martyrs in a group photo after a celebration held in Bayan Palace on Sunday, May 22, 2012. (KUNA)

KUWAIT: Students of excellent record, children of national martyrs, expressed gratitude to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for their honoring at a ceremony held at Bayan Palace, with attendance of His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, on Tuesday.

Ahmad, son of the martyr Nawaf Ahmad, expressed deep pleasure and pride for shaking hands with His Highness, praising the Amir’s unlimited support for the children of the martyrs.

Such care by His Highness “motivates us to seek further excellence and success for service of the dear homeland, which we aspire to see it in the front ranks,” he said at the ceremony for the scholastic year 2010-2011.

Ahmad added that the Amir, during his meeting with him and his fellow students, guided them to seek further perseverance, to join their fellow students who are taking part in construction of the country. The son of the martyr, Nasser Al-Qahtani, affirmed that the honoring by “our Amir, father

and leader” gives us strong boost for striving further for more excellence.

Sara, daughter of the martyr, Mohammad AlHais, expressed pride for meeting the Amir. Her younger sister, Nora, said she would strive more for sake of securing another meeting with the Amir.

Mohammad, son of the martyr Jassem Al-Ustath, expressed hope that such gatherings be held in the future. Identical sentiments were expressed from other junior attendees. -KUNA

Kuwait to spend $6 billion to double airport’s capacity

FILE- Photo of the concept of the new airport to be built in Kuwait.

(Al Watan)

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s government will spend six billion US dollars to almost double the number of passengers its international airport is able to handle by the end of 2016, the head of the country’s aviation regulator said. Work will begin this year on adding a terminal and renovating infrastructure to raise capacity to 13 million passengers, Kuwait Civil Aviation President Fawaz Abdul-Aziz AlFarah told reporters in Dubai today. The airport,

which is built to handle seven million travelers a year, received 8.5 million passengers in 2011, and the figure may exceed nine million this year, he said.

The expansion is part of Kuwait’s $111 billion four-year development plan announced in February 2010 to build a subway and rail network, expand the airport and construct power stations, hospitals, roads and a port for the nation of 3.7

million people. Neighboring Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are building airports and expanding existing ones to accommodate growth in travel.

Kuwait International Airport’s capacity may be expanded to 25 million passengers by 2025 and 50 million people by 2035, Al- Farah said. The emirate’s main carriers are Jazeera Airways KSC (JAZEERA), a low- cost operator, and state-owned Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC). -Agencies

France institute in Kuwait organize media seminars KUWAIT: A French institute here, Kuwait Journalists Association (KJA), Kuwait lawyers Association and Kuwait Graduates Society opened Monday evening a series of seminars about modern media means and democracy, which would be concluded on May 23.

French Ambassador to Kuwait Nada Yafi, opening the first seminar about challenges and limits of the organization of modern media, said the seminars and dialogue with Kuwaiti and French intellectuals aimed at exchanging exper-

tise over modern communication methods.

“We have a problem to discuss, which is organizing and controlling cross-border modern communication means ...,” she said while praising the large margin of freedom of Kuwait civil society.

Chairman of Kuwait Lawyers Association Khaled Al-Kandari said the rapid spread of modern communication means required a legislative intervention.

Kuwait University (KU) law professor Dr. Yusuf Al-Herbesh said freedom was a gift from

Allah the Almighty, and it was a basic right like education and health care.

Every person has the right to express his opinion, noted Al-Herbesh.

Dr. Fayez Al-Kandari, another law professor at KU, said freedom of opinion was not absolute but responsible and restricted to the respect of others.

He said traditional media were forced to use modern communication methods to report news at a quick pace. -KUNA

KUWAIT: Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf said Monday evening a ministry plan to accepting high school graduates in colleges, universities or granted scholarships would be announced early next month. Al-Hajraf hoped all post-high school institutions would accept all graduates. He was speaking to the press after a ceremony to honor former ministers of education and higher education Ahmad

Al-Mulaifi and Dr. Moudhi Al-Humoud.

Al-Hajraf, meanwhile, said the ministry’s development projects were suspended because the parliament has not yet approved the third year of the government’s development plan.

He noted that a project to evaluate and classify private schools and nurseries would be announced soon. He hoped this assessment would be applied on public schools. -KUNA

Work underway on precast yard for Jamal Abdul Nasser Street project

KUWAIT: The contractor of the Jamal Abdul Nasser Street Upgrade project has started preparing to use a yard in the remote area of Doha for building precast segments for the project’s bridges, a senior official at the Ministry of Public Works said in a press release issued Tuesday.

Saud Al-Naqi, Assistant Undersecretary for the Road Department at the ministry, said that Kuwait Municipality has granted the project 100,000 square meters in Doha City for the factory. “We would like to assure the public that the yard is fairly distant from any residential area which will guarantee little to no public disturbance,” he added.

According to the assistant undersecretary, the contractor of the Jamal Abdul Nasser Street Upgrade, which is one of the ministry’s largest projects to date, is currently in the process of mobilizing all the equipment of the precast yard.

“The segments which will be fabricated there, will be then transported on lowbed trucks to construction sites of road and bridge works for installation,” he said.

Using precast segments ensures speedier production because it allows operations to move in parallel with those on site such as foundation works and erecting bridge columns.

The precast yard provides a greater space for work and an environment in which the quality of production can be assured.

The Jamal Abdul Nasser Street Upgrade project is located in the western region of Kuwait City. It extends from Jahra Gate (Jahra Gate Roundabout Sheraton) to Grenada area from Sharq. It is a major project in the ministry’s strategic plan to develop roads and motorways in the State of Kuwait in order to address increasing traffic demands, minimizing congestions and improving road safety.

The MPW has employed the joint venture of Louis Berger (LBG) and Pan Arab Consulting Engineers (PACE) along with the global companies: Rizzani De Eccher, SPA-Italy, Obrascon Huarte Lain, SA-Spain, TREVI, SPA-Italy and Boodai Construction-Kuwait to undertake the ambitious program of this project.

Meeting targets wider civil society role in Kuwait development plan: Minister

KUWAIT: The Supreme Council for Development and Planning’s annual meeting on Monday was praised by Public Works Minister Dr. Fadhil Safar, who said it aid expanding the civil society’s role in fulfilling Kuwait’s development goals.

In his talks with governors, state Municipal officials and Interior Ministry officials, Safar, also the State Minister for Planning and Development Affairs, told reporters that the talks mostly focused on what he described as the “second midterm goals”, which include “youth projects” in Kuwait’s ambitious development plan.

These also include electricity, roads, environmental projects and the demographics of the country, said Amiri Diwan advisor, Dr. Yousif Al-Ibrahim.

Removing bureaucracy pertaining to the execution of development projects was urged during the talks, according to

Secretary General and chief spokesman of the Supreme Council for Development and Planning, Adel Al-Wegayan.

The discussions aimed to find common ground between various state bodies, on how to approach the specified priorities for the upcoming stage.

Al-Wegayan went on to highlight the need to enable an effective tourism policy, as the development plan targets a diversification of state income - with tourism, he regarded, one of these priorities.

On the country’s demographics, with the expatriate workforce currently surpassing the number of their local rivals by far, he said the government aims to decrease this number to only 35 percent in the coming years.

This will be achieved by decreasing immigration to Kuwait, particularly of low-skilled labor, while increasing the reliance on nationals, he added. -KUNA

Kuwaiti participates in Petrotech exhibit 2012 in Bahrain Kuwaiti ambassador to Bahrain Azzam Mubarak AlSabah (fourth left) taking part in Petrotech 2012 exhibition held in Manama on Sunday, May 22, 2012.

(KUNA)

MANAMA: Kuwait is taking part in Petrotech 2012 exhibition held here, represented by Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) with its significant experience in the field of refining and petrochemical industry, Kuwaiti ambassador to Bahrain Azzam Mubarak AlSabah said. The ambassador told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that this participation is a great opportunity to take a look at the latest technology in this field, especially in manufacturing environment-friendly products. He expressed gratitude to KNPC officials for offering him a memorial shield.

The Kuwaiti embassy is best serving the Kuwaiti institutions working in Bahrain, he added The Kuwaiti participation in a conference accompanying the exhibition is a great chance for the KNPC to present scientific researches, and also benefit from the experiences of international companies taking part in the fair, Deputy Managing Director of Planning and Local Marketing of the KNPC, Bakheit Al-Rashidi, said. -KUNA

Public Works Minister Dr. Fadhil Safar is seen heading the Supreme Council for Development and Planning’s annual meeting that was held on Monday, May 22, 2012. (KUNA)

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ALWATAN DAILY

regional

Our national TV

By Hossam Fathi Staff Writer

The man with the mild smile, Esam Al-Amir, was appointed as the director of our national TV during very difficult circumstances, when the TV and the various media institutions were suffering from corruption. The media at the time had a very bad reputation because it was run by the former regime. The TV also took a negative stance during the revolution, but we can’t blame any employees for what the regime was ordering them to do.

The director was able to change this important institution, and he succeeded in changing the Egyptian people’s minds about their national television station. After he took up his position we began to see some personalities that we had never expected to watch on our national channels! We were also able to hear a variety of opinions through different programs that made us enjoy our national channel.

We know that the director will most likely not be able to get rid of all employees stuck in the ‘old mentality’ immediately, but we would like for him to focus on certain important issues like the presidential election. We hope to watch unparalleled coverage of the elections process so that we may forget the mistakes committed by our national media in the past. We would like to advise the director to dismiss all submissive figures and to depend on youths who are not likely to bow to the corruption of the former regime. hossam@alwatan.com.kw Twitter:@hossamfathy66

NEWS IN BRIEF Car blast in Sudan, one killed KHARTOUM: One person was killed when a car exploded in the eastern Sudanese city of Port Sudan on Tuesday, residents and state media said. State news agency SUNA, showing a picture of the damaged front of the car, gave no reason for the explosion at the Red Sea port. SUNA said the dead driver was trader Nasser Awadallah Ahmed Said, 65. A Port Sudan resident said he belonged to the Ababda tribe, known for smuggling goods into Egypt. East Sudan has long been a route for arms smuggling, often through Egypt’s Sinai desert into the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory run by Hamas Islamists. Government officials contacted by Reuters declined to comment, saying the incident was under investigation.-Reuters

EU protests conviction of West Bank activist Tamimi BRUSSELS: European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton expressed strong concern Tuesday over the weekend conviction of Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi.

A statement from Ashton’’s office said she was “very concerned” over Tamimi’’s May 20 conviction by an Israeli military court for taking part in illegal demonstrations and soliciting protesters to throw stones. “The EU considers Bassem Tamimi to be a ‘’human rights defender’’ committed to nonviolent protest against the expansion of an Israeli settlement on lands belonging to his West Bank village of Nabi Saleh,” the statement added.-AFP

Rocket damages Red Cross office in Libya’s Benghazi BENGHAZI: A rocket-propelled grenade hit the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi overnight, leaving a small hole in the side of the building but causing no casualties, an ICRC spokeswoman said on Tuesday. “The offices in Benghazi were hit by an RPG rocket overnight. They were empty... and no one was harmed,” Soaade Messoudi told Reuters.

The building where 35 international and local staff members normally work is located in the western part of the city. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. Benghazi has suffered a series of small attacks since the beginning of the year that have raised concerns over the ruling National Transitional Council’s (NTC) ability to impose its authority and ensure security after last year’s rebellion ended Muammar Gadhafi’s 40-year rule. -Reuters

wednesDAY, may 23, 2012

Rebels claim Syria police kill two, UN monitors dispute AMMAN: Syrian rebels said police had opened fire and killed two people on Tuesday when a crowd turned out to greet a team of UN ceasefire monitors in the eastern province of Deir El-Zor. A United Nations spokeswoman said the team had heard gunfire but said they had not seen any casualties.

The UN team was part of a contingent of about 260 unarmed observers sent to Syria to monitor an internationally-brokered ceasefire in the conflict between President Bashar Al-Assad and opponents trying to overthrow him.

Government forces have been widely condemned for their repression of the uprising but both sides have regularly violated the ceasefire.

Abu Laila, a Free Syrian Army official, told Reuters by phone from the town of Al-Busaira: “As soon as the UN convoy entered Al-Busaira, a jubilant crowd of hundreds came out to welcome them. It was not minutes before they came under fire.”

Another opposition source in the province said government forces surrounding Al-Busaira had fired anti-aircraft guns at the town. The spokeswoman for the monitors, whose mission is part of a peace plan laid out by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, said the UN team had heard gunfire near the town but had no information on casualties.

“A group of villagers from elsewhere followed the UN patrol to Al-Busaira, which is government-controlled. They were asked not to follow the patrol into the town,” she said.

“The team left by another checkpoint to avoid any contact between the military and villagers, and there they heard the use of heavy weapons.”

Claims from both sides in the conflict are hard to confirm independently as Syria restricts access for most journalists.

Deir El-Zor, an oil-producing province bordering Iraq, has often seen skirmishes in recent months between insurgents and government troops trying to regain control of rebel-held areas.

Al-Assad, a member of Syria’s Alawite minority, had relied on a network of alliances with Sunni Muslim tribes forged by his late father, Hafez Al-Assad, to keep Deir Al-Zor under control.

But these began to break down after anti-Assad demonstra-

Members of the Free Syrian Army walk as they carry rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at Bab Al Hawa on the outskirts of Idlib, near the Syrian-Turkey border May 21, 2012. (Reuters)

tions broke out in July and the government sent in tanks to quell them.

The United Nations says Al-Assad’s forces have killed at least

Egypt court convicts police over protest deaths CAIRO: An Egyptian court sentenced five policemen, in absentia, to 10 years each in prison on Tuesday for their role in killing protesters in the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, the first such conviction against the force that was blamed for hundreds of deaths.

Typically defendants who do not appear in court are automatically convicted, but will also receive a new trial once apprehended. However, families of slain protesters attending the court session counted the convictions as a victory.They broke down in tears and chanted “God is great!” in a show of relief.

Until now, out of the nearly 200 policemen and security officials who face charges related to the killing of protesters in 2011, one was convicted in absentia.

When he had a retrial, he received a one-year suspended sentence.

Others are still standing trial, including Mubarak himself. A verdict in his case is expected next month.

Two more policemen were sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence, while 10 others were acquitted,

one of the judges involved in the case before the court in the Cairo district of Giza, Mohamed Darwish, said.

The 17 were charged in relation to the killing of five protesters and the injury of 17 others in front of three police stations during Egypt’s 2011 uprising in Giza, Cairo’s twin city.

More than 800 protesters were killed during the upheaval that forced longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak to step down. Many died from gunshot wounds sustained in clashes outside police stations.

Many Egyptians accuse authorities of failing to adequately investigate what happened during the 18 chaotic days of street protests in January and February 2011, or to hold those responsible for killing protesters to account. Some critics say it is because the investigating prosecutors were loyal to the old regime and intentionally brought to court cases that lacked adequate evidence. Others say that most of policemen facing trials were in fact acting in self-defense, and were protecting police stations attacked by crowds during the uprising.-Agencies

Somber Yemen parade takes place after huge bomb attack

Iran says supplies home-made fuel to nuclear reactor DUBAI: Iran said on Tuesday it had delivered two batches of domestically made nuclear fuel to a research reactor in an apparent attempt to trumpet nuclear advances before negotiations with six world powers on Wednesday. If confirmed, Iran’s ability to run the reactor with its own fuel could remove any basis for a mooted deal under which Iran would send enriched uranium abroad in exchange for such fuel, reducing its stockpile of potential atom bomb material.

“In their latest efforts, experts from Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization succeeded in delivering two domestically-made nuclear fuel plates to the Tehran research reactor,” state television reported on its website.

“One of the two plates was loaded to the reactor,” the report added, without making clear when this had taken place.

Western diplomats and analysts say the Islamic Republic at times exaggerates its progress with nuclear technology to try to beef up its bargaining position towards world powers who want curbs on the program to ensure it is for peaceful ends only. Envoys for Iran and six world powers will meet in Baghdad on Wednesday to discuss ways of easing suspicions about Tehran’s nuclear energy program, which Western leaders suspect is aimed at developing bomb capability, a charge Tehran denies.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi had indicated last month that Iran might be prepared to consider an updated version of a 2009 fuel-swap deal with major powers that collapsed when the two sides failed to agree on the details of implementation.

That deal would have seen Tehran export the bulk of its low-enriched uranium stockpile in return for fuel processed from higher grade uranium required to replenish imported fuel stocks for the Tehran reactor that will run out soon. But Iran is meanwhile enriching uranium to a fissile purity of 20 percent for reactor fuel. Western states suspect Iran’s underlying purpose here is to advance towards the 90 percent enrichment threshold required for an atomic bomb.

Western experts estimate Iran’s present stockpile of refined uranium is enough for four atom bombs if processed much further.-Reuters

Dubai prisoners on hunger strike over debt sentences

Tunisia to extradite former Gadhafi PM to Libya

TUNIS: Tunisia will extradite former Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi’s prime minister to Libya and the handover could take place in “days or weeks”, Justice Minister Noureddine Bouheiri said on Tuesday.

Should he be handed over, Al Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi would be the first senior official to be sent back for trial under Libya’s transitional leadership and his extradition could establish a precedent for other countries who have given refuge to or arrested members of Gadhafi’s old entourage.

Al-Mahmoudi served as the Libyan dictator’s prime minister from 2006 until he fled to neighboring Tunisia around the time that rebel fighters took the capital Tripoli in August.

A Tunisian court ruled as far back as November that AlMahmoudi should be extradited.

But President Moncef Al-Marzouki later said the handover would not happen until the situation in Libya had stabilized and Al-Mahmoudi could be guaranteed a fair trial after Gadhafi himself was killed by rebels and his rotting corpse left on display.

Bouheiri said on Tuesday that decision had been made.

“The government has decided to hand over Al-Mahmoudi and all that remains is the completion of some organizational issues,” Bouheiri told Reuters in an interview.

“This could be within days or weeks or perhaps longer...

Our Libyan brothers have pledged to respect Al-Mahmoudi physically and emotionally and to give him a fair trial.” Officials from Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC), in power since Gadhafi’s ouster, have long called on their North African neighbor to turn over Al-Mahmoudi for trial.

An NTC spokesman welcomed the news but said there were no firm arrangements yet in place for the move.

“We have been expecting Al-Mahmoudi to be sent back to us because we negotiated this with the Tunisians and now they are fulfilling their promise to us,” NTC spokesman Mohammed Al-Harizy said. “We are glad he will come back to face trial here. When he arrives we will feed him and put him in a safe place.”-Reuters

9,000 people since the uprising started in March 2011. The government says armed opposition groups have killed about 2,600 soldiers and members of the security forces. -Reuters

Yemeni police cadets march during a military parade marking the 22nd anniversary of Yemen’s 1990 reunification in Sanaa on May 22, 2012. (AFP)

SANAA: Yemeni soldiers marched in a National Day parade on Tuesday, watched from behind a bulletproof glass shield by the president, in a show of defiance one day after a bomber killed more than 90 troops in an attack on the ceremony’s rehearsal. A somber mood hung over the event, meant to celebrate the 1990 unification of north and south Yemen, but it passed off without any repeat of Monday’s bloodshed despite militant threats to carry out more attacks.

The bombing, one of the deadliest in Yemen in recent years, was a setback to the Gulf state in its battle against Islamists linked to Al-Qaeda and heightened US concerns over a country in the front line of Washington’s global war on militants. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and its affiliate Ansar Al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) both claimed responsibility.

Heavy security surrounded President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and senior civilian and military officials as they watched Tuesday’s parade, which was moved from the scene of the attack at Sabaeen Square to

the air force academy in Sanaa. Patrols were stepped across the city and dozens of policemen were stationed at street intersections. Few people ventured out, partly due to the holiday and partly for fear of more attacks.

“We are sad for our comrades, but Al-Qaeda will not scare us,” said Khaled Al-Ansi, a soldier stationed at a street corner in central Sanaa. “We will confront it and defeat it,” he added, fingers on the trigger of his gun. One Yemeni investigator said preliminary findings suggested the bomber was a rogue soldier recruited

by Al-Qaeda, who somehow evaded security checks.

Officials said only military cadets, rather than regular troops, took part in Tuesday’s parade as a security precaution. Turkish Ambassador Fazli Corman, who attended the ceremony, told Reuters: “Everyone was relieved at the end that it went safely, there was not a celebratory atmosphere, it was solemn.”

The AQAP said the parade attack was in response to the “crimes” of the security forces in southern Abyan province. -Reuters

DUBAI: Five expatriates jailed in Dubai said they were among a group of prisoners who have gone on hunger strike to protest against lengthy prison sentences handed down to most of them for financial crimes.

The men, most of them real estate developers and businessmen working in Dubai during its economic boom years, fell into debt when the emirate’s property bubble burst after the 2008 global credit crisis.

Zack Shahin, a US citizen accused of embezzlement while at the helm of Deyaar, was arrested in 2008 after a corruption investigation and is one of those who have gone on hunger strike in the emirate’s jail. There have been hearings of his case but no judgment.

“I no longer wish to engage in this game. I’m now in prison for four-anda-half years without a judgment. This is inhuman,” he said, speaking from jail. “I’ve told my daughter that I’m coming home, even if it’s in a box.”

Other hunger strikers have told Reuters over the past few days that around 16 men are part of the protest against sentences handed down for bouncing cheques, a criminal offence in the UAE punishable by fines or jail terms.

Police and the public prosecution service in Dubai did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

“I would rather go on hunger strike than stay here for 23 years,” said Peter Margetts, a British property developer, speaking by telephone from prison.

Margetts, 48, who says he has been on hunger strike since April 22, was convicted after checks securing a 20-million dirham (5.45 million US dollar) loan bounced.

A British embassy spokeswoman said the embassy was aware of the hunger strike and was monitoring the situation.

The strikers jailed for bouncing checks want their cases reviewed, sentences reconsidered and to be released. Lebanese prisoner Tarek Saleh, reading a statement from the protesters, said 16 men had stopped taking solid food for more than 20 days and would stop taking all fluids and medication unless they won a review of their cases.

Post-dated checks are frequently used as a guarantee by businesses, banks and individuals in the UAE for everything from apartment rentals to multi-billion dollar deals.

Lawyers say the cases highlight the need for financial and legal reforms in a country that has no bankruptcy law to protect debtors. Many call for the decriminalization of bounced checks.-Reuters

ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD

wednesdAY, may 23, 2012

NATO traces path out of Afghanistan CHICAGO: NATO leaders mapped a path out of the unpopular war in Afghanistan, backing plans to hand Afghans the combat lead from mid-2013 while vowing to stand by them as they seize their own destiny.

In a Chicago summit declaration, US President Barack Obama and his NATO military allies ratified an “irreversible” roadmap to “gradually and responsibly” withdraw 130,000 combat troops by the end of 2014.

But they also ordered military officers to begin planning a post-2014 mission to focus on training, advising and assisting Afghan troops to ensure the government can ward off a stubborn Taliban insurgency.

“As Afghans stand up, they will not stand alone,” Obama told the gathering of more than 50 world leaders, focused on ending a decade of war that has left over 3,000 coalition soldiers and tens of thousands of Afghans dead.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who attended the talks, sought to reassure nervous allies that the sacrifices made on all sides would not have been vain, maintaining Taliban Islamic militants could not recapture power.

“The Taliban may have the ability to launch attacks, to explode IEDs (improvised explosive devices), to send suicide bombers. But for them to come and take over the country and take it backwards, no,” Karzai told CNN. “Afghanistan has moved forward, and Afghanistan will defend itself. And the progress that we have achieved, the Afghan people will

Indian passenger train rams freight train; 16 die

And a row over re-opening Pakistan supply routes into Afghanistan to NATO convoys also lingered, although Obama and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen seemed optimistic the issue would be resolved.

“We are actually making diligent progress

Local villagers watch the clear up operation of the mangled remains of the Bangalorebound Hampi Express after it collided with a stationary goods train near Penneconda town in Ananthpur District, about 145 kms from Bangalore on May 22. (AFP)

ple were burned to death, Sinha said.

“We are trying to identify the bodies and will hand them over to the families,” Das said.

Railway officials said an investigation has begun on the cause of the accident and whether it was due to a faulty signal or caused by a driver error.

“Investigations are on and stringent action will be taken against the guilty,” said Mani Kumar, a railway manager.

The Hampi Express was headed for the southern city of Bangalore when the crash took place.

Penukonda is about 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of Bangalore. India has one of the world’s largest railroad networks. Around 20 million people in India travel by train each day. -AFP

North Korea to boost nuclear deterrent after US pressure SEOUL: North Korea vowed on Tuesday to bolster its nuclear deterrent in response to diplomatic pressure from Washington over a recent failed rocket launch.

The United States, backed by the United Nations Security Council, has warned North Korea that it will face more sanctions if it undertakes what would be its third nuclear test.

Even staunch ally China has put pressure on Pyongyang to back down on any plans for a nuclear test, that experts fear could use highly enriched uranium for the first time, potentially giving North Korea a second path to a nuclear bomb to supplement its limited stocks of plutonium.

The reclusive state said the “nuclear test rumor” had been started by Washington.

The country’s foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement via the official KCNA news agency that it would “bolster its nuclear deterrent as long as the United States was continuing with its hostile policies” and that it planned “countermeasures” following the pressure from Washington.

In April this year, North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong-un pushed ahead with a long range rocket launch that the United States said was essentially a test for a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, although Pyongyang said it was a peaceful satellite launch.

Kim, who has pushed the same “military first” policies as his dead father and abrogated a February deal with Washington that would have seen food aid exchanged for nuclear inspections and an end to rocket launches, among other things. -Reuters

on it,” Obama told the final press conference ending the two-day unprecedented summit.

French officials said a calendar for withdrawing French troops by the end of 2012 - a year early - would be drawn up within the next 10 days, as Hollande signaled reluctance to stump more cash for Afghan security forces.

The 28 NATO leaders and their 22 partners in the war, as far afield as Australia, Georgia and South Korea, issued a final statement saying Afghans will be in “lead for security nationwide” by mid-2013. Though NATO troops will gradually shift focus to training and support, alliance officials stressed foreign soldiers would still participate in combat operations when needed until late 2014. The summit gave Obama a platform to show a war-weary American public that he has global support for plans to end the war ahead of a tough re-election campaign against Republican Mitt Romney in November.

NATO leaders also sought to reassure Karzai that the international community would not abandon his country once the combat troops are gone.

The 50 nations involved in the war endorsed a US plan to provide $4.1 billion in annual security aid to Afghanistan and reduce the size of Afghan forces from a peak of 352,000 to 228,500. The United States has offered to pay half the bill while the international community is expected to fund the rest. But the summit declaration makes clear that the security aid will not last forever. -AFP

Suu Kyi to address UN body in Geneva next month GENEVA: Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will deliver her first speech outside the country since at least 1988 before a UN labor conference in Geneva on June 14, the head of the UN labor office said Tuesday.

Suu Kyi’s speech to the annual conference of the Geneva-based UN’s International Labor Organization will be a key element of her first trip abroad since 1988, when she returned to Myanmar to care for her ailing mother.

“This will be the first place where she will speak internationally after leaving Myanmar,” Juan Somavia, the ILO’s director-general, said Tuesday.

After becoming leader of Myanmar’s prodemocracy movement, Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest for 15 of the following 22 years of military rule. Her confinement also prevented her from attending the ceremony in Oslo, Norway, where she was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

Over the past couple of decades or so, Suu Kyi was only rarely allowed to receive visitors or to communicate with the outside world at her lakeside home in Yangon, the capital. And while she was always free to leave Myanmar, she chose to stay partly out of fear she would be denied permission to re-enter and forced to live as a political exile.

HYDERABAD: A passenger train rammed into a freight train before dawn Tuesday in southern India, killing at least 15 people in the collision and fire, officials said.

At least 70 people were rescued from the crash in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh state, and at least 35 were injured and taken to nearby hospitals, said Charu Sinha, a top district police official.

The freight train had been stopped at the station near Penukonda when the Hampi Express slammed into it. Four coaches of the passenger train derailed when the driver applied emergency brakes on seeing the freight train on the same track, said district official Durga Das. One of the coaches caught fire, trapping many passengers. At least eight peo-

NEWS IN BRIEF

US President Barack Obama arrives for a press conference at the closing of the NATO summit on May 21, at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. (AFP)

not allow it to be put back or reversed.”

But in a sign of growing frustrations with the dragging conflict, France’s new President Francois Hollande said his country had done “more than its duty” since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the hardline Taliban leadership.

The ILO has long been a vocal critic of forced labor in Myanmar. The junta was shunned for its human rights abuses and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government led by Suu Kyi after her victory in a 1990 general election.

But after a 2010 general election and Suu Kyi’s election to parliament last month, the United States and other Western governments have begun to roll back years of hard-hitting restrictions against the Asian nation, which is also known as Burma.

Suu Kyi also plans to visit Norway, where she will deliver her acceptance speech for the Nobel prize nearly 21 years after winning it. Her eldest son, Alexander Aris, had accepted the peace prize on her behalf during the 1991 ceremony. Norway’s government said Suu Kyi will also meet Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg during her visit.

She is also expected to visit Britain, where she got a college degree in philosophy and spent much of her married life raising two sons.

In 2010, she was able to see her youngest son, Kim Aris, after a decade-long separation when the junta finally gave him a visa to enter Myanmar and visit her.

She received her first passport in 24 years earlier this month. -AP

Colombian troops killed in FARC attack BOGOTA: At least 12 Colombian soldiers have been killed in an attack by members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s largest rebel group.

Four other troops were also wounded after the rebels ambushed them in a rural area in the coastal La Guajira province near the Venezuelan border.

“Unfortunately we have received reports of 12 soldiers dead and four wounded,” said Yusti Maria Lopez, a security official in La Guajira.

Eliecer Suarez, a regional army commander, said the rebels attacked his troops in the Serrania de Perija mountain range. He also said that the fighters also retreated back into Venezuela after the ambush.

The FARC has long used Venezuelan territory for sanctuary, rest and medical treatment.

Eurpides Pulido, La Guajira’s local mayor con-

5

demned the attack, which rocked a quiet and isolated area in which numerous indigenous tribes live.

Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s president, said that he boosted border security following Monday’s raid.

“We have stepped up air patrols as of this morning because we maintain our position, that we will not permit incursions of any armed force, whatever its type might be, into Venezuelan territory,” Chavez said on state TV. The rebel group has stepped up attacks on Colombian security forces over the past year in remote parts of the country.

In April, 15 soldiers were killed in fighting in the southern department of Caqueta, while in March 11 other soldiers were ambushed and killed in the eastern department of Arauca, which also borders Venezuela. -AFP

Many Colombians have held nationwide protests against FARC, blaming it as the main source of unrest.

(Reuters)

UK’s Royal Navy has first woman at command of ship LONDON: The first woman to command a major Royal Navy warship is taking up her post. Britain’s Ministry of Defense says Commander Sarah West will take control of the frigate HMS Portland Tuesday. The 40-year-old has served in the Royal Navy for 16 years. The ship is being refitted and will be based in Devonport.

Officials say women first went to sea with the Royal Navy in 1990 and have served as pilots and mine clearance divers in addition to other posts. -AP

Greece’s caretaker government meets ahead of EU summit ATHENS: Greece’s caretaker prime minister will convene a meeting of Cabinet members ahead of this week’s summit of European Union leaders that’s expected to look into spurring economic growth across the continent. The meeting later Tuesday under Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos will include his predecessor Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Giorgios Zanias. Pikrammenos cannot make any binding decisions and is only tasked with leading the bailed-out country to new elections next month. But he wants to head into Wednesday’s EU summit better prepared to plead Greece’s case for more growth-enhancing measures to counterbalance the austerity drive. -AP

Pakistan disciplines officers over base attack ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is to discipline three navy officers for negligence a year after a 17-hour militant assault on a military base in the heart of Karachi, a navy spokesman said on Tuesday. Heavily armed militants stormed the naval base in the country’s biggest city on May 22, 2011, destroying two US-made P-3C Orion surveillance planes and killing 10 personnel. It was one of the worst such assaults in Pakistan and embarrassed the armed forces just weeks after US Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden near the country’s premier military academy in the town of Abbottabad. -AFP

Philippine chief justice may lose case because of ‘walkout’ MANILA: Chief Justice Renato Corona stands to lose his impeachment case because of his apparent walkout from the Senate session hall Monday afternoon, analysts said.

University of Sto. Tomas Faculty of Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said Corona’s testimony in trying to explain why he did not declare his dollar deposits in his statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth would have been “perfect” if not for his move to suddenly leave the witness stand without permission from the court. “The testimony and performance would have been brilliant,” he told ANC. “All of these things were lost because of the walkout.”

“We hope that the chief justice allows himself to be cross examined or his statement will be stricken off the record,” Divina said. “I am afraid for him that the senators will render a judgment against him,” he added. Political analyst Malou Tiquia echoed Divina’s assessment.

“He already had the upper hand, and suddenly he stood up,” she said.

She also questioned Corona’s offer of a conditional waiver on the disclosure of his dollar accounts. “The waiver should have not been conditional,” she said. “If you offer a waiver, it should not be conditional to others.”

Corona suddenly stood up and left the witness stand after ending his opening statement on day 40 of his trial. Enrile had to order security to padlock the Senate exit gates, even as Corona’s vehicle was seen parked outside the Senate building exit waiting for the chief justice.

Corona left the Senate session hall after giving a nearly 3-hour-long opening statement since he was not feeling well and had difficulty walking after experiencing low blood sugar level. Defense lawyer Juddy Roy said Corona, a diabetic, suffered a drop in blood sugar.

Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said Corona went to the Senate clinic after leaving the session hall. “Feeling very weak and can’t walk,” he said.

Corona later recovered and then sat on a wheelchair. As of posting, he already entered the session hall. His son-in-law, Constantino Castillo, said the chief magistrate did not eat lunch and felt he would faint so he quickly left the hall. Corona also experienced blurred vision 20 minutes before the end of his statement, he added. “He’s suffering from a hypoglycemic episode...We fed him sugar and Coke,” Castillo said. Many initially thought what Corona did was a “walkout.” After getting an applause for signing a waiver opening his bank accounts, he stood up and left the session hall, confusing even his lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas.

Senator Juan Ponce Enrile asked Cuevas to return to the witness stand since he has not yet been discharged. He warned that if the court is disrespected, the Senate will right then and there decide the case. ANC analysts said that if he had walked out of the trial, Corona’s testimony would be stricken off the records. -AFP

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ALWATAN DAILY

OPINION

wednesDAY, may 23, 2012

Misinterpreting dreams to exalt leaders Fuad Al-Hashem

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ecent news indicated that the beautiful and talented actress Ranya, who happens to be the daughter of the renowned Egyptian actor Mahmoud Yassin, will soon be playing the role of Zainab Al-Ghazali in a TV series that is expected to be telecast during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan. During her formative years Al-Ghazali was a famous female propagator and member of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement. She died a couple of years ago at the ripe old age of 80. I happened to read a book that was written by her some 25 years ago in which she wrote about her horrible experiences in prison during the tenure of the late Egyptian President Jamal Abdulnasser.

The most hilarious incident that she mentioned in her book was “when a guard wanted to lash her back with a whip, his arm was suddenly paralyzed. An invisible power unleashed a piercing pain in his shoulder causing him to collapse while writhing in pain. The minute he regained control after the pain subsided, he bowed, then knelt before her and kissed her foot and begged to be forgiven.”

In another hilarious incident, the board member of the Salafi Movement Sheikh Ahmad Farid said that he actually witnessed potential candidate in the presidential elections, and ex-member of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement Abdulmoneim Abulfotooh several times in his dreams. He interpreted those dreams as follows: Abulfotooh will surely win the elections and become president, adding: “One of our Salafi sisters too saw Abulfotooh

Egypt has been ruled by great and mighty pharaohs for over thousands of years. Can this great country be ever ruled by a candidate riding a flying white horse? riding a flying white horse in her dream, which means that he will definitely be elected as the next president.”

The hilarious part of the entire dream that Sheikh Farid narrated was that the candidate Abulfotooh was actually sitting right next to him when he was narrating his dreams to the audience. Another disaster lies in the fact that he probably expected the imaginary future president to take the issue lightly. Egypt has been ruled by the great pharaohs for over thousands of years. Can this great country be ever ruled by a candidate riding a flying white horse?

Dwelling on local issues, I personally believe that MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizeri has become so arrogant and egotistical that he wants to give one the impression that he is the one who is seeking to be questioned or fired in desperate attempts to achieve a “fabricated political triumph” and be hailed as a hero. I appeal to His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber AlHamad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah to initiate action against him as soon as possible before he tries to inflict more harm and in attempts to deteriorate the situation even further. I nurse this strong belief that Al-Muwaizeri is intentionally

acting this way in desperate attempts to compel the government to clash with parliamentarians that will finally culminate in the government tendering its resignation in the faint hope that all interpellations that have been filed against it will be cancelled.

MP Al-Omairi, on the other hand, said with utmost conviction that: “We have received a letter of apology from the former premier in which he allegedly said that the case had been shelved by the Ministerial Court.” Elaborating further he said that their response to that statement was as follows: “This is a parliamentary investigatory committee, which has nothing to do with any complaint filed by citizens. The committee handling the case of money transfers may recommend sacking some officials.”

However, my personal comment on the situation is this: “Let us for once assume that Al-Omairi and his colleagues intend to sack some officials. Does the internal charter imply that any such recommendations are legal and binding? I just hope and pray that one of the MPs take the initiative of directing a question at the Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs over the number of recommendations that have approved by successive parliaments

in 200l, 2007, 2008 and 2009 and implemented by the government. I would also like to demand that he provide us with the names of all those MPs who provided the recommendations as well as the subsequent dates.”

Breaking regional news

The mullahs of Iran seem to have given strict instructions to Muqtada Al-Sadr to provide full protection and support to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and in the event that he fails to provide that support; all the funds that he receives from Iran on a monthly basis, along with all those funds that he also receives from Kuwait will certainly stop. In a sharp response, Al-Sadr advised the Iranians to double the funds if they expect him to provide AlMaliki with any protection. The strange issue is that the republic of the mullahs actually acceded to Al-Sadr’s demands agreed to increase the funds.

If this is true indeed, we can surely expect to listen to volumes of statements issued by Al-Sadr pledging his support for Al-Maliki. Accordingly, as of the beginning of next month,Al-

Sadr will be expected to receive some two million US dollars a month from Iran. The money will be delivered in cash in order to avoid any intelligence surveys and international controls on such illegitimate money transfers. Al-Sadr’s share from the Khums (zakat paid by Shiites) coming from Kuwait will also be doubled and which will most probably be delivered to him by two prominent Kuwaiti businessmen who will be expected to travel to Iraq at the beginning of each and every month.

Breaking local news

• In desperate attempts not to tamper with an iron safe, a Kuwaiti sheikh has actually provided Syrian intelligence agents with the secret code in order to empty the contents of that safe which is kept locked at his farm. I personally think Kiwai must have been informed about the operation threatened the intelligence agents of dire consequences and who in turn offered to split the booty into half. Taking all these issues into consideration; I wonder how this monstrous gang managed to rule Syria for over forty long years.

• The current health minister has decided to refer a number of senior doctors for early retirement. And in attempts to justify his decision, the minister is reported to have confided to an official at the ministry saying: “Frankly, I cannot deal with them.” My comment over that statement is: “Why can’t you deal with them. Are you and all those doctors living in the same room that you cannot bring yourself to discuss the issue with them?”

A society deeply dependent on the government Shamlan Yousef Al-Esa

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Ali Farzat

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t is indeed appalling that some local newspapers resort to publishing news that is simply not true. A recent article that was published in a local newspaper implied that scores of male Kuwaiti citizens gained employment in the private sector whereas the reality of the situation is that the majority of citizens that gain employment in that sector are Kuwaiti women that are married; not single. I cannot really comprehend what this fuss about employing citizens in the private sector is all about!

Citizens in countries across the world are employed in the private sector; even in those countries that are capitalist and socialist by nature. The aspects of this issue differ from one country to another in accordance with the concepts of employment that are in force in those countries. In fact citizens in capitalist countries prefer being employed in the private sector because it is this sector that grants a host of social benefits to its employees.

There are, of course, other countries like China which usually grants certain facilities to employees who work in the private sector like entitling them to receive coupons which enable them to avail of several discounts on foodstuff, and other subsidies including entertainment. After China changed its system of governance from a socialist country to capitalism, many things changed. The salary ceiling has been shelved while the government has stopped subsidizing foodstuffs. However, it sets aside some excellent job opportunities for citizens at its various production sectors.

While China was in the process of changing from a socialist country to a capitalist one, it established a mega bank that was provided with a huge budget in order to support small industrial as well as agricultural projects. It also encouraged intellec-

tual pursuits of its citizens and turned those pursuits into productive projects. In most developing countries across the world, governments support the youths who exhibit a great deal of innovation but in countries that are blessed with huge natural resources the trend of extreme consumption is actually encouraged through disbursing huge sums of money to unproductive employees who don`t even work.

Kuwait has endorsed a hybrid system which is far different from socialist and capitalist countries.

The Kuwaiti system involves appointing employees in both the private and public sectors even if vacancies do not exist thus creating a market that is simply non-existent. We have 350,000 Kuwaiti civil servants employed in the government sector despite the fact that the actual requirement does not exceed 50,000. Such an initiative has actually created masked unemployment wherein most civil servants receive huge salaries and which in turn, imposes a huge burden on the state’s financial coffers.

In the event that the government embarks on lending support to Kuwaiti employees in the private sector through appointing them in non-existent companies with each employee being accorded a monthly salary between KD 250 to 400, it is only too evident that the government will stand to lose. On the other hand, it is actually encouraging its citizens to become lethargic and subsequently dependent on the government to sustain their livelihoods. It is no secret that members of both; the government and the parliament engage in squandering public funds through such irregularities and it is appalling that they seem to be oblivious to the repercussions of their actions.

It is indeed unfortunate that they will only begin to feel the squeeze when oil prices begin to plunge to dangerous levels.

Development projects 2012

The new trend of merging interpellation motions Nabeel Al-Fadhl

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here is absolutely no doubt in the minds of all political personalities over the reasons why MP Obeid AlWasmi chose to ignore MP Musallam Al-Barrak and decided to go ahead and merge his own interpellation motion (with other MPs) against Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali. It is also an irrefutable fact that MP Al-Barrak is fully aware of the fact that in the event that deliberations on the motion filed by Al-Wasmi would possibly lead to a vote of no-confidence against the minister, then Al-Barrak’s own motion would not be put up for deliberations. The main reason why MP Obeid Al-Wasmi chose to merge his own motion with other MPs was to achieve two objectives with a single effort. It is important to note here that the merger could also save Al-Barrak from being involved in issues surrounding the Public Authority for Social Securities.

It should be noted here that several MPs in the recent past had leveled various accusations against the institution and Al-Barrak would definitely not want to be dragged into any controversies surrounding the institution simply because it is administrated by one of his relatives.

Now although Al-Wasmi sidestepped Al-Barrak, it is common knowledge that the latter will not give up and instead; will certainly try to turn the rebuff to his advantage.

Moreover all those MPs who submitted the motion unanimously agreed to deliberate on all the issues mentioned in the motion but leave issues pertinent to Kuwait Investment

The main reason why MP Obeid Al-Wasmi chose to merge his own motion with other MPs was to achieve two objectives with a single effort.

Authority (KIA) to Al-Barrak to deliberate upon. It is also common knowledge that KIA has been targeted by Al-Barrak since a long time as is clearly evident in the fact it has always been the real target for all interpellation motions that were filed by Al-Barrak against former finance ministers in the past.

Since KIA is Kuwait’s second source of income after oil, there can be no doubt that some MPs are desperately attempting to restrict its crucial role through imposing some surveillance tools and directing accusations against it in drastic attempts to degrade its performance and portray it as a disintegrating authority. I cannot really comprehend the actual reasons that actually prompt these personalities to stoop so low just to realize their own vested interests but one thing is for certain and that is; they will never succeed in getting away with all their wrongdoing no matter how hard they try. The long arm of the law will surely catch up with them and bring them to justice at the first given opportunity.

These personalities should realize an undisputed fact that

nobody runs forever and hence; will surely have to meet their fate one day or another.

Uproarious situations

• In a hilarious precedent, MP Faisal Al-Mislem recently said that whenever he visits Dubai, he is indeed saddened over the fact that Dubai has made magnificent strides in overall development and is now considered as among the most preferred touristic destinations worldwide while Kuwait is lagging far behind. He however attributed the reasons for Kuwait’s stagnant progress to erroneous decisions taken by certain individuals who are simply not interested in the country’s development or progress. In a fitting response to that statement, I would like to ask the honorable MP this question: “Were pluralism in decisions undertaken and the strenuous efforts of the Emirati parliament behind Dubai`s phenomenal rise? Dubai was built by enterprising leaders like the late Sheikh Rashid Bin Al-Maktoum and Mohammad Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum; not by successive

parliaments! Does he think we are naïve enough to actually believe such statement?!

• During the last parliamentary election campaigns wherein 31 potential candidates promised to implement several changes including some vital amendments in six laws, 19 of those 31 candidates have been elected to office and are MPs now! One of those six promises included one that called for disclosures of financial statements and real estate holdings of MPs before and after their election to office. Among those MPs were members of the Nahaj Movement who promptly disappeared into thin air; simply because the main reason for its formation was to achieve a certain aim!

• Another MP (not among the 19 MPs mentioned above) recently submitted a draft law calling for disclosures of financial statements and real estate holdings of MPs before and after their election to office. None of those 19 MPs supported that draft law!! The question that surely needs to be answered here is: “Why do they refuse to abide to their promises?!” Is it because they have resigned themselves to the fact that nothing can be achieved no matter how hard they try, or is it because they have resigned themselves to the fact that since they could not succeed in realizing their goals; no one else can or should? Should they pay heed to their conscience and do what they think is in the best interests and welfare of the nation and its citizens?

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wednesDAY, may 23, 2012

Globalizing NATO

NATO’s own identity is becoming that of an alliance that exists to empower - to offer assistance and partnership - as much as to overpower.

Anne-Marie Slaughter Project Syndicate

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ext week, NATO’s 28 members will meet in Chicago for their annual summit. Sixty-two years after the North Atlantic Treaty was signed, binding the United States, Canada, and ten European states to consider an attack on one an attack on all, NATO is transforming itself into a twenty-first-century global security organization. The result will be a safer world. In 1949, the world was rapidly dividing into two principle political-military blocs, East and West, alongside a large “non-aligned movement.” NATO faced off against the Warsaw Pact, created by the Soviet Union and its allies in 1955.Within both blocs, smaller powers clustered around the superpower. No flexibility existed within either bloc for smaller groups of members to deploy alliance assets.

Today, NATO is becoming, in the words of its secretarygeneral, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, “a hub of a network of security partnerships and a center for consultation on global security issues.” It is a “globally connected institution,” with more than 40 individual country partners and growing ties to other international organizations. Indeed, the country partners include all of Europe’s non-NATO countries, such as Austria, Switzerland, Finland, and Sweden, and aspiring and possible NATO members such as Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, Ukraine, Belarus, and even Russia.

Virtually all of the Central Asian countries - from Turkmenistan to Kazakhstan, as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan - are partners, as is the entire Maghreb, from Morocco to Egypt, as well as Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

Finally, Pacific partners include Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Mongolia. On the organizational side, NATO describes itself as having developed “close working relations” with the United Nations, the European Union, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

It also collaborates regularly with the African Union, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Organization for Migration, the World Bank, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. If one draws links radiating outward from NATO to all of these different countries and organizations, the result is a security network that has multiple hubs and clusters - much like a map of the

FILE -- A US Coast Guard boat patrols the Chicago River a day before the NATO Summit in Chicago May 19, 2012.

The main topic on the agenda will be getting NATO forces out of Afghanistan but the longer-term subject will be getting as many countries as possible into the global NATO security network, analysts said. (Reuters)

Internet or of planets and galaxies. This world is no longer unipolar, bipolar, or even multipolar, because the actors that matter are not single states but groups of states that are more or less densely connected.

It is a multi-hub security network, in which the hubs are regional organizations of different sizes and strengths.

This structural shift has enormous practical significance. For starters, it means that not only NATO’s military resources, but also its human capital and practical knowledge in combating many different kinds of threats are available globally.

NATO has created a Comprehensive Crisis and Operations Management Center that brings together civilian and military expertise on crisis identification, planning, operations, reconstruction, and stabilization capabilities in ways that are explicitly designed to connect NATO headquarters in Europe to “the networked world.”

Second, NATO’s own identity is becoming that of an alliance that exists to empower - to offer assistance and partnership - as much as to overpower. NATO is no longer

just a hammer; it is an entire toolbox of security options.

These options include developing counter-networks to meet networked security threats such as terrorism and proliferation of nuclear, chemical, or biological materials, as well as highly decentralized threats such as piracy. As a result, when a crisis like the war in East Timor in 1999 or last year’s political stalemate in Côte d’Ivoire arises, NATO can backstop whichever country or group of countries chooses to take the lead in carrying out a UN mandate.

NATO members themselves also have much more flexibility to draw on NATO’s collective assets. Even skeptics of NATO expansion and operations like the intervention in Libya now recognize that joint operations by member countries, operating under a UN mandate and in conjunction with regional partners, is likely to be a model for the future. As General Brent Scowcroft, National Security Adviser for President George H.W. Bush, observed recently, the UN Charter originally envisioned a standing military force to enforce Security Council resolutions -

The paradox of China’s reform Jamie F. Metzl Project Syndicate

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he compelling drama of former Chongqing Communist Party chief Bo Xilai’s ouster amid allegations of corruption and murder, and of blind Chinese human-rights advocate Chen Guangcheng’s dash to safety in the US Embassy in Beijing, are more than just fascinating narratives of venality and courage. Unless China can purge the thousands of corrupt Party leaders like Bo, and empower people - like those Chen represents - who have been left behind or harmed by rapid growth, its economy will increasingly suffer.

Like the Asian Tiger economies before it, China has excelled in the first phase of capitalist economic growth, benefiting from massive infusions of capital, low-cost labor, intellectual-property theft, and centralized planning. And, like many of them, China is now facing a “middle-income trap”: as wages rise, its low-end manufacturing is losing global competitiveness while government policies, endemic corruption, and dominant state-owned enterprises are stifling the type of private-sector innovation that China needs most to generate products and services with higher added value.

China’s leaders understand this, which is why the government’s 12th Five-Year Plan calls for a gradual opening up of the Chinese economy. Likewise, a Chinese government think tank worked with the World Bank to produce the China 2030 report, which outlines the structural reforms needed to strengthen the foundations of the country’s market-based economy and create a climate of open innovation.

But if China’s national imperative today is reform, the greatest threat to that goal

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Chinese officials and other elites store so much of their wealth in real estate, which also comprises much of the collateral of stateconnected banks. is the massive influence and institutionalized corruption of the country’s entrenched elites. For years, senior Chinese officials and their families have received a cut of countless major investments throughout China.

They and their families have become multimillionaires by exploiting the close association of business and politics, as well their strong links with China’s state-owned enterprises.

The resulting rise in inequality has been exacerbated by China’s capital controls and mandated low interest rates on savings. For lack of other options, poor people put their money in banks which then lend to more privileged people to fund state-owned enterprises or much higher-yielding real-estate investments.

This system worked to drive overall economic growth and financial rewards in the first phase of China’s post-reform growth, but the incomes of ordinary Chinese have stagnated over the past decade, their interests have been neglected, capital has been misallocated, and major negative environmental and social side effects have emerged.

Now those who have benefited most from the current system are blocking badly needed reforms.

For example, years of imbalanced incentives have led China to overbuild premium

FILE -- Laborers work at a construction site in Yueyang, Hunan province April 24, 2012.

Over the last decade China has seen one of the biggest construction booms in history to house a surging urban population; but years of imbalanced incentives have led China to overbuild premium residential real-estate, which should cause prices to fall dramatically, analysts said. (Reuters)

aresidential real-estate, which should cause prices to fall dramatically. But, although the government is trying to take some of the air out of the market, the authorities cannot easily take the more aggressive action that is required, because Chinese officials and other elites store so much of their wealth in real estate, which also comprises much of the collateral of state-connected banks, Similarly, although state-owned enterprises are sucking too much oxygen out of China’s economy, reforming them would require taking on China’s most powerful business and government leaders.

This is why the Chinese government’s dance around the Bo scandal has been so complicated. Bo may have lost an internal political struggle, and may have crossed a line after the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, for which Bo’s wife is under arrest; but vilifying him is a double-edged sword for the government. On one hand, the authorities need to pursue him aggressively to justify the purge of someone who was so recently lauded. On the other hand, many of the accusations against Bo could be leveled at an extremely large number of senior officials across China who, like Bo, have amassed multimillion-dollar family fortunes.

In highlighting Bo’s misdeeds, the Party is trying to demonstrate that it alone can and should be responsible for addressing official corruption. But given that the people who have benefited so much from the current system are unlikely to clean it up, the only other way to generate reform would be to empower the people getting the short end of the stick - people like Chen and those he has helped.

The crackdown on Chen for representing villagers who have been abused by the authorities follows the same pattern as the silencing of parents who protested shoddy school construction after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and of opponents of the environmentally damaging Three Gorges Dam. If China is serious about reform, it will need armies of people like these, fighting for their rights, in order to balance the overwhelming political power of its entrenched elites.

China’s reform process can succeed only if it is pushed from the top and the bottom.

The Party needs to find every possible way to get rid of the Bo’s in its midst. Instead of threatening people like Chen, the Party should give them recognition and support.

None of this will be easy, but the future of China’s economy depends on it. * Jamie Metzl served on the National Security Council in the Clinton Administration and is Co-Chairman of Partnership for a Secure America and a former Executive Vice President of the Asia Society.

a vision that the NATO partner model might ultimately realize.

Power in a network flows from connectedness, or what network theorists call “centrality.” The most powerful member of a network is the node that has the most connections to others, which means that a node can increase its power not only by adding connections directly, but also by increasing the connectedness of nearby nodes. In other words, the US can increase its own power both by connecting to other NATO members (and then ensuring that NATO is connected to as many other countries and organizations as possible) and by increasing the connectedness of those other countries and organizations.

If NATO connects with the African Union, for example, and increases the AU’s connectedness, then both NATO and the AU become more central to the network and hence more powerful in terms of their ability to exercise influence and marshal resources. The logic of centrality as a source of power creates a virtuous circle, in which members of a network gain advantage by bringing more members into the network and connecting more densely to them. That is exactly the logic behind NATO’s transformation.

The immediate topic on the agenda in Chicago next week will be getting NATO forces out of Afghanistan. But the longer-term subject will be getting as many countries as possible into the global NATO security network. * Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former director of policy planning in the US State Department (2009-2011), is Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Africa can build a food secure future

Basidia Drammeh

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ne of the questions that have been lingering in my mind since a long time is: “why is Africa poor or, perhaps, perceived to be so?” In the process, I have struggled within myself to come up with an unequivocal answer to a question which rages whenever I set my eyes on footage of Sub-Saharan African children with bloated bellies which clearly proves that they are malnourished and stunted. To be honest, these images drive me nuts!

Yet, they prompt me to move beyond emotional outbursts and ponder deeply on the root causes. After all, Africa is so fertile that it can feed the rest of the world, and is currently one of the fastest growing economies in the world, at a time of severe austerity and economic turbulence elsewhere.

This month, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi -- the first Africa Development Report, which I found to be interesting and quite revealing, not surprisingly, because it addresses my lingering question. Themed, “Toward a Food Secure Future,” the document represents a serious attempt toward pinpointing the fundamental causes of underdevelopment in Africa and concludes that food insecurity is the topmost critical factor. It defines food insecurity as the “inability to consistently acquire enough calories for a healthy and productive life.” The report argues that a well-nourished and empowered population is more likely to seek education, participate in society and expand its production and human potential.

Hence, it puts forth envisaged solutions to end this longstanding predicament.

The Kenyan president, Mwai Kibaki, who presided over the launch of the report, along with the top brass at the UN, didn’t mince his words.Africa, the Kenyan leader noted, has seen rapid economic progress in recent years but this has not translated into the elimination of hunger. He remarked that an estimated number of 239 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa, representing 38 percent of the population, are suffering from chronic hunger and malnutrition.

His assertion was echoed by the UNDP Administrator, Helen Clark, who stated: “Impressive GDP growth in Africa has not translated in the elimination of hunger and malnutrition.” Clark, who assumed office in 2009 becoming the first woman to lead this organization, added that inclusive growth and people-centered approaches to food security are needed.

Stinging words, however, were uttered by the UN Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director for Africa, Tegegeework Gettu when he addressed the gathering saying: “It is a harsh paradox that in a world of food surplus, hunger and malnutrition remain pervasive on a continent with ample agricultural endowment.” Gettu, an Ethiopian national, attributes food insecurity to decades of poor governance in Africa. “Regimes bent on amassing wealth absorbed the region’s resources into patrimonial power structures,” he lamentably said. The top UN official did not spare external powers either. “Developed countries maintain agricultural subsidies that benefit their rich producers, while pushing Sub-Saharan Africa’s impover-

Like Asia, Africa has knowledge, technology and the means to end hunger and food insecurity.

However, what is still missing is the political will and dedication. ished small holder farmers to the margins.

In spite of the complex factors behind the current state-of-affairs, Africa must stop reliance on foreign aid to achieve development.

The continent should not be carried away by US President Barack Obama’s announcement of $3 billion in private sector pledges to help boost agriculture and food production in Africa. Personally, I believe the announcement Obama made during the G8 Summit at Camp David is intended to yield African votes in an election year.

William Easterly, who conducted a study entitled: “Can Foreign Aid Save Africa?” concludes that he sees no reason to dismiss the hope that Africans on their own will achieve economic and political changes that promote African economic development, and some of these changes are already happening (such as the movement towards freer markets and the expansion of democracy).

The UN Regional Director for Africa called on Africa to stop begging because that is an affront to both its dignity and potential, as he drew a comparison between Africa and Asia.

“Like Asia, Africa has knowledge, technology and the means to end hunger and food insecurity. However, what is still missing is the political will and dedication.”

The report recommends policy change in four key areas:

• Boost small farmers’ productivity through access to improved seeds and fertilizers.

• Improve nutrition by educating people.

• Build resilience for individuals and countries by offering social safety nets, crop insurance, food-for-work program and repair of degraded environment.

• Marginalized segments be given more access to land and decision-making Despite the challenges it highlighted, the report struck an optimistic tone, concluding that “Africa can build a food secure future.”

Africa Day

Africa Day is the annual commemoration on May 25 of the 1963 founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). On this occasion, I do hope that the continent consolidates the gains it has achieved over the past years and take even greater strides toward ensuring more prosperity for all its citizens.

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Tel:67058331

SLR

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

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 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

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 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

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

Toyota Corolla 2008 in very good condition white color.

Ran only 60000km. Call Abul Kawshar: 99867323

BMW 2000, White exterior, beige interior, KD 1250 Tel: 97878183

Nissan Altima Tel:94915050 Toyota mini buss KD2900.Tel:24747418

30-01/30-02

2005.

2005,

Lexus IS400 1998, navy full option, KD 1900.Tel: 97803380 Hyundai 2000, green exterior, KD 500.Tel:99628345

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.

Tel:97601745

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

Work/Employment 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

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

FOR SALE

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

Tel:67004704

Cars

21-05/21-06

25/12 - 25-02

Apartment in Jabriya, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living and kictehen.Tel: 66256814

Studio in Salwa, block 1, street 6, house360, KD260.

Tel:66143662

Apartment in Manqaf, private entrance, 3 bedrooms, 3

Arabic Teacher

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

Tel:60001848

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

Professional gardening services.

contact Mr. Khaled Ph: 99619998 & 55619998

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)

Those interested can call: 97932925

16-04/16-05

28-02/28-03

Serious buyers please contact 67002524

Tel: 9769364

WDLR

Items for sale

Kitchen Equipment repairs 24hours.

Abu Mahmud:

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

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

16-04/16-05

- Flexible Timing - Reasonable Price - For all languages

SLR

SLR

EB-5 Investor Program

Driving Instructors available for learners

Tel: 93399180

Satellite service, 24hours, covers all area.

Boston whalev super sport 150 boat.Tel:65880918

Contact: 67009278

Birthdays and weddings

Satellite

21-05/21-06

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

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.

99867323

21-03/21-04

Driving Instructors Available

Exercise equipments for sale

Toyota Camry 2000, in great condition.Tel:99734995 Volkswagen Touareg 2005, navy exterior in a very good condition, KD 2500.Tel: 94404405 Ford Lincoln, grey exterior.

Tel: 99288558 Mercury Grand Marquis 2005, hardly used in great condition with valid insurance.Tel:97175533 GMC Yukon 1999, spacious and clean. KD 1700, price is negotiable. Tel:66694310

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

Oil falls below $109 on progress in Iran talks

BUSINESS

wednesdAY, may 23, 2012

m ar ket watc h KUWAIT 0.53% 6381

DUBAI

QATAR

OMAN

ABU DHABI

0.57% 1497

0.9% 8499

2.26% 5750

0.1% 2471

LONDON: Oil fell below 109 US dollars a barrel on Tuesday as signs of a deal over Iran’s nuclear program eased fears of oil supply disruptions and as a report predicted more misery for the euro zone. The United Nations nuclear agency chief said on Tuesday he expected to sign a cooperation deal with Iran. “(A) decision was made to conclude and sign the agreement...I can say it will be signed quite soon,” Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told reporters after returning from Tehran, where he held talks with senior Iranian officials.

See page 10

OIL MARKETS BAHRAIN

EGYPT

0.71% 1138

0.29% 4864

SAUDI

1.06% 7104

US Crude $92.56 $0.30 London Brent $108.64 $0.58 Kuwait Crude $104.48 $0.75 Information Courtesy: KAMCO

CURRENCIES US Dollar

British Pound

Saudi Riyal

Qatari Riyal

Indian Rupee

Euro

Japanese Yen

UAE Dirham

Bahraini Dinar

Philippine Peso

Buy 0.279 Sell 0.2795 Buy 0.3556 Sell 0.3564

Kuwaiti crude rises $0.74, settles at $104.48 per barrel KAFCO daily sales of aviation fuel stand at 2.2 million liters

KUWAIT: The price of Kuwaiti crude oil went up 0.74 US dollars to $104.48 per barrel (pb) in transactions on Monday, compared with USD 103.74 on Friday, reported Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) on Tuesday.

Global oil price went up after being down for quite some time due to China’s calls for revitalizing world economy and the G-8 decision to support the step to keep Greece within the euro-zone. Also the increase of pressure on Iran’s nuclear file led to the increase of oil price.

In more news, Chairman and Managing Director of Kuwait Aviation Fuel Company (KAFCO) Asaad Ahmed Al-Saad said Tuesday that the geopolitical unrest in the Arab region has negatively impacted the company sales.

Al-Saad, however, noted that this negative impact is gradually vanishing in the past months.

The KAFCO sells currently about 2 to 2.2 million liters of aviation fuel per day, Al-Saad told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), expecting the figure to jump in the summer holidays season.

He pointed out that company is embarking on a giant project, cooperation with the civil aviation authority, to extend fuel pipelines network from new storage site into the airport.

In other news, Kuwait is taking part in Petrotech 2012 exhibition in Bahrain, represented by Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) with its significant experience in the field of refining and petrochemical industry, Kuwaiti ambassador to Bahrain Azzam Mubarak Al-Sabah said.

The ambassador told KUNA that this participation is a great opportunity to take a look at the latest technology in this field, especially in manufacturing environment-

A woman walks past a bus featuring a picture of the temple of the Parthenon in central Athens May 22, 2012. Greece’s battered economy will keep shrinking until mid-2013 as fiscal belt-tightening continues to weigh while austerity fatigue may hamper the pace of reforms, the OECD projected in its May outlook on Tuesday. (Reuters)

friendly products. He expressed gratitude to KNPC officials for offering him a memorial shield.

The Kuwaiti embassy is best serving the Kuwaiti institutions working in Bahrain, he added The Kuwaiti participation in a conference accompanying the exhibi-

People walk past a roadside currency exchange vendor in the old quarters of Delhi May 22, 2012. The Indian rupee fell to a new record low of 55.09 to the dollar, its fifth consecutive all-time low, as arbitrage measures taken by the central bank late on Monday provided only a brief sentiment boost. (Reuters)

CAPITALS: The exchange rate between the Kuwaiti Dinar (KD) and the US dollar (USD) was unchanged Tuesday, with USD at KD 0.279, and the euro was also unchanged and traded for KD 0.356, said the Central Bank of Kuwait daily bulletin. The bulletin said the sterling pound is at KD 0.441, the Japanese yen still at KD 0.003, and the Swiss franc at KD 0.297.

The euro is losing ground amid anticipation of release of data indicating drop in confidence in the European economy as a result of consecutive financial crises. The leaders of the G8 seemed inclined to use a tone expressing support for growth and continued austerity, while toning down stress on the latter part, which is an obvious change of language since the previous meeting. The Japanese yen is still weighed down by anticipation of the Bank of Japan meeting which is expected to increase monetary stimulus, and bring the national currency down as a result.

China meanwhile showed inclination to support the economy through special measures, amid a global slowing down of economy, ongoing European sovereign debt crisis, and other challenges.

In more news, India’s rupee hit an alltime low against the dollar for the fifth successive trading day on Tuesday amid concern about slowing domestic growth and

Buy 0.003489 Sell 0.003498

Buy 0.0744 Sell 0.0745

Buy 0.07594 Sell 0.07608

Buy 0.07676 Sell 0.07660 Buy 0.7398 Sell 0.74135

Buy 0.00505 Sell 0.005039

Buy 0.006481 Sell 0.00646

Prices in Kuwaiti fils as of May 22, 2012 Courtesy: KAMCO

ILO says 75 million jobless youth around globe

Middle East youth unemployment rate at 26.5%

Greenback, euro exchange rates against KD unchanged

India’s rupee hits new low against dollar

Buy 0.4401 Sell 0.441

continuing global uncertainty.

The Indian unit fell to 55.20, below its previous record low of 55.05 a day earlier, as demand for the US currency grew.

The partially-convertible rupee opened Tuesday slightly higher on improved global risk appetite, but steady dollar buying pushed the Indian currency down.

While Europe’s debt crisis is a major concern, the rupee has also been affected by several domestic problems including India’s widening trade and current account deficits and declining foreign fund inflows.

There has also been pressure from oil importers, who exchange rupees for dollars when they buy crude for energy-scarce India, which imports four-fifths of its crude oil needs.

Many analysts and traders predict the rupee may fall further in the coming days with risk-aversion hitting global markets and sentiment souring over India due to its gaping deficits and poor economic data.

The Indian economy is predicted to have grown 6.9 percent in the last fiscal year to March - the slowest pace since the 2008 global financial crisis.

On Tuesday, there was no immediate sign of fresh central bank intervention as the rupee weakened further, but the bank is believed to have stepped in to prop up the currency more than a dozen times this year.

The rupee was Asia’s worst performing currency in 2011, losing more than 20 percent of its value against the dollar compared to the previous year. -Agencies

tion is a great chance for the KNPC to present scientific researches, and also benefit from the experiences of international companies taking part in the fair, Deputy Managing Director of Planning and Local Marketing of the KNPC, Bakheit Al-Rashidi, said. -Agencies

Standard & Poor’s affirms NBK’s ratings, outlook stable KUWAIT: Standard & Poor’s (S&P), the international credit rating agency, affirmed the long-term credit ratings of National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) at ‘A+’. All the bank’s ratings carry a stable outlook, according to a press release on Tuesday.

“Our outlook on NBK is stable, reflecting our belief that its overall business and financial profile will remain resilient and generally unchanged over the next 12-24 months,” said Standard & Poor’s in a recent report on NBK. The agency pointed out that NBK’s major rating strengths include the leading commercial position in its domestic market, strong capitalization on the back of good earning capacity, and more resilient asset quality than that of its peers.

Standard & Poor’s said that “NBK’s business position is strong. We believe the bank’s business position will remain stable, underpinned by its leading position in Kuwait, long track record of good and stable performance, as well as good and experienced management.”

“We assess NBK’s capital and earnings as ‘strong,’ mainly based on the bank’s level of capitalization and profitability,” the agency added. “NBK is the largest bank in Kuwait, with 48.8 billion US dollars of consolidated assets on Dec. 31, 2011, and market shares in loans and deposits exceeding 25 percent. Earnings by segment and geography tend to be well diversified.”

NBK has consistently been awarded the highest credit ratings of all banks in the region by the major international rating agencies: Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings. In 2012, NBK moved up 14 positions to rank 33 among the 50 safest banks in the world. NBK is the only Arab bank to be listed among the world’s 50 safest banks five times in a row.

Saudi Arabia spending on track, shielded from euro zone crisis

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will feel only a limited impact from the euro zone debt crisis and will not cut spending even if there is a fall in oil prices, the main source of revenue for the world’s leading producer, Saudi officials said on Tuesday.

The Saudi government boosted expenditures to a record 804 billion Saudi riyals (214 billion US dollars) in 2011, nearly 40 percent over its initial plan, to ease social tensions during the unrest of the Arab Spring Finance Minister Ibrahim Alassaf said.

Revenues and spending in Saudi Arabia were higher than budgeted in the first five months of 2012, Alassaf said, speaking at a Euromoney conference in the capital Riyadh.

“We are in a very comfortable fiscal position,” he said, adding that he expected inflation to ease after hitting highs earlier this year.

Oil prices have been edging closer to January lows, on market concerns over Greece’s impact on Europe’s economy and whether China can sustain growth. Saudi government spending has traditionally fluctuated, in part, on oil price movements since it affects both private and public revenues.

Saudi Arabia’s annual inflation rate edged slightly lower to 5.3 percent in April from a 14-month high of 5.4 percent in February. The rise was mainly due to upward pressure from higher food and housing costs but inflation is far below a record high of 11.1 percent hit during an oil boom in July 2008.

The data underlined how strong economic growth in the country, on the back of high oil prices and heavy government spending, was creating conditions for inflation.

Mohammed Al-Jasser, formerly governor of the kingdom’s central bank, said later at the same event that any impact to Europe’s debt crisis on Saudi Arabia would be limited, thanks to Europe’s efficient use of oil and Saudi Arabia’s “negligible exposure” to European banks.

“If Europe has a serious recession it will affect the whole world, but it will affect us less,” Al-Jasser said. “Our ability to maintain a good level of spending will be okay.

Al-Jasser added he was hoping to see economic growth of around six percent in 2012, adding that the inflation outlook was stable in the near- to mediumterm. -Reuters

GENEVA: The global youth unemployment rate for 2012 remains stuck at crisis peak levels and is not expected to come down until at least 2016, says the International Labor Organization (ILO) in its Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012 report.

The ILO said nearly 75 million youths or 12.7 percent of people aged 15 to 24 will be out of work this year, up from 12.6 percent in 2011.

The jobless total is creeping towards the 75.4 million unemployed in 2009 when the financial crisis caused the number to soar.

The rate would even be higher if one takes into account those who - often discouraged by the lack of prospects - give up or postpone looking for a job. The adjusted rate would put the global youth unemployment rate at 13.6 percent in 2011.

Further pressure on unemployment rates is expected when those extending their stay in the education system because of limited job prospects eventually enter the labor market.

“The youth unemployment crisis can be beaten but only if job creation for young people becomes a key priority in policy-making and private sector investment picks up significantly,” said Executive Director of the ILO Employment Sector, Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.

“This includes measures such as offering tax and other incentives to enterprises who hire young people, efforts to reduce the skills mismatch among youth, entrepreneurship programs that integrate skills training, mentoring and access to capital, and the improvement of social protection for the young”, he added.

Even though some regions have recovered from the economic crisis, or at least mitigated its impact, all face major youth employment challenges.

In developed economies the situation is even worse than suggested by the 18 percent youth unemployment rate projected for this year, due to a massive drop-out from the labor force.

In the CIS, Central and South-Eastern Europe region, the youth unemployment rate dropped slightly to 17.6 percent in 2011. In contrast with the developed economies, youth participation rates appear to have increased due to the economic crisis in this region, which is likely to be partly poverty-driven.

In North Africa, youth unemployment rose by five percentage points following the Arab Spring, leaving 27.9 percent of young people jobless in 2011. In the Middle East the rate was of 26.5 percent.

In Latin America and the Caribbean the youth unemployment rate rose sharply during the economic crisis, from 13.7 percent in 2008 to 15.6 in 2009. It decreased to 14.3 percent in 2011, but no further improvement is expected in the medium term.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the rate, at 11.5 percent in 2011, has been fairly stable since 2005.

In South-East Asia and the Pacific it was 13.5 percent in 2011, a 0.7 percentage point drop from the 2008 level.

Even in East Asia, perhaps the most economically dynamic region, the unemployment rate was 2.8 times higher for young people than for adults.

Globally and in most regions, the crisis had a stronger impact on youth unemployment rates among women than men. The difference was particularly strong in North Africa, while in developed economies, the impact was stronger for young men.

Many young people are trapped in low-productivity, temporary or other types of work that don’t pave the way for better jobs. In developed economies, youth are increasingly employed in temporary and part-time jobs while in the developing world many perform unpaid work supporting informal family businesses or farms.

Young people who are neither in employment nor in education have become a serious concern, particularly in developed economies. This group often constitutes at least 10 percent of young people, and has grown rapidly in many developed countries.

The Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012 is published ahead of the May 23-25 global Youth Employment Forum (YEF) that will bring together 100 young people involved in the promotion of decent work for youth. The issue also features prominently on the agenda for the ILO’s annual International Labor Conference in June. -Agencies

KSE boards mixed at close of trading session KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange’s KSX 15 index ended Tuesday’s trading session with a gain of 5.29 points to read 979.55 points. The price index; however, lost 34.23 points to 6,381.01 points. Meanwhile, the weighted index increased 1.17 points to 411.55 points.

Trades came to 4,387 transactions, worth 20,596,346.805 Kuwaiti dinars and volume reached 292,816,065 shares.

Top share for the day was that of Arab Insurance Group. The biggest loser was Investors Holding Group, and top volume share was that of National Ranges Company.

The 14 sector indices were mixed upon closing. -KUNA

10

ALWATAN DAILY

BUSINESS

wednesDAY, may 23, 2012

Oil falls below $109 on progress in Iran talks LONDON: Oil fell below 109 US dollars a barrel on Tuesday as signs of a deal over Iran’s nuclear program eased fears of oil supply disruptions and as a report predicted more misery for the euro zone.

The United Nations nuclear agency chief said on Tuesday he expected to sign a cooperation deal with Iran. “(A) decision was made to conclude and sign the agreement...I can say it will be signed quite soon,” Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told reporters after returning from Tehran, where he held talks with senior Iranian officials.

Brent oil prices reversed early gains to trade 40 US cents down at $108.41 a barrel by 1040 GMT and US. crude slipped 52 cents to $92.05 a barrel.

Major powers will meet Iran on Wednesday in Baghdad to discuss its nuclear program, but tensions with the West remain high as the US Senate approved a package of new economic sanctions on Iran’s oil sector on Monday.

“The mere possibility of the negotiations failing is keeping markets on their toes,” said David Wech from JBC Energy.

Consultant Olivier Jakob at Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland said the Baghdad meeting could set the tone for some time.

“The IAEA and Iran seem to have made some progress in Tehran yesterday for a new momentum on inspections,” he said.

“Tomorrow’s meeting should be a key input for the trading range of the next few weeks.”

Worries about the loss of supply from Iran, the second largest producer of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), have kept Brent futures prices between $110 and $125 per barrel for most of 2012.

The European Union is due to impose a full embargo on Iranian oil imports from July and Washington is also pushing major Asian customers to cut Iranian oil

UAE’s Fujairah port boosting oil storage capacity

TAQA eyes investments in Turkey

FILE - In a March 16, 2012 file photo, Delta Brogden pumps gas at a station in Atlanta. Oil fell below 109 US dollars a barrel on Tuesday, May 22, 2012, as signs of a deal over Iran’s nuclear program eased fears of oil supply disruptions and as a report predicted more misery for the euro zone. (AP)

purchases. But those worries have been overshadowed by a debt crisis in the euro zone and aggravated by a poor set of US and Chinese data, which have pushed oil below $110 during the past week.

As markets await Wednesday’s meeting of European Union leaders, a report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that a failure by Europe to contain the crisis could derail fragile glob-

al growth led by Japan and the United States.

“Clearly Europe may eventually come out with huge intervention this summer but it is unlikely to be this pre-emptive and unlikely before the EU leaders know which way the political wind is blowing in Greece,” said analysts from Deutsche Bank, referring to new elections in Greece on June 17.

French President Francois Hollande

will push a proposal to share the burden of European debt at a EU summit this week.

Rising crude stockpiles in the United States may also weigh on oil prices. Crude inventories were expected to rise 1.0 million barrels last week, up for the ninth straight week, a Reuters poll of analysts showed. Distillates and gasoline stocks were forecast unchanged from the previous week’s level. -Reuters

CAPITALS: Oil storage capacity in the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) port of Fujairah is expected to rise to around 7.8 million cubic meters by 2014 from its current capacity of 5.8 million cubic meters, the harbor master at the Fujairah port said on Tuesday.

Fujairah is poised to rival the world’s top two bunkering hubs, Singapore and Rotterdam, thanks to booming demand from the Middle East as well as Asia.

“We’re working to develop our infrastructure parallel to the oil storage growth,” Tamer Masoud told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry event in Dubai.

He added that by the end of this year oil storage capacity is expected to rise to 6.8 million cubic meters, and the increase will come from the completion of projects by Aegean Maritime, Gulf PetroChem and Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), as some of these firms are building in Fujairah for the first time.

With growing capacity and a strategic location which bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, Fujairah may eventually challenge Singapore’s crown as the top oil storage and products trading centre. “We’re offering a one-stop shop in terms of maritime services, plus the strategic location makes an important difference,” Masoud added.

In more news, state-controlled Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) and the Turkish energy ministry have formed a joint committee to discuss investment opportunities for the oil and gas utility in Turkey, the firm said on Tuesday.

The committee will “discuss the investment opportunities available in the energy sector in Turkey,” TAQA said in a statement.

The announcement came after a delegation from TAQA, headed by the firm’s chairman Hamad Al-Hurr Al-Suwaidi, went to Turkey to meet with officials from the energy ministry, including Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz, TAQA said.

Al-Suwaidi, who is also the chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Finance, also met with Turkey’s Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, the statement said.

“Developing our international power business in the Middle East and North Africa region is a core to TAQA’s growth strategy. We have ambitious plans for growth and consider Turkey to be an attractive market offering a range of investment opportunities,” TAQA chief executive Carl Sheldon was quoted as saying in the statement.

Earlier this month, TAQA, which is 75-percent owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, said its first-quarter net profit more than tripled to 534 million UAE dirhams ($145 million), helped by a gain selling non-core Canadian assets. TAQA has also said it planned to spend up to $2.2 billion in capital expenditure this year, and will seal a deal on acquiring 50 percent of a power plant in the Kurdish region of Iraq in the second quarter. -Agencies

Gold falls as euro sags ahead of EU meeting Less Iranian oil passing through the Suez Canal DUBAI: The number of Iranian crude vessels passing through Egypt’s Suez Canal has dropped this year as Western sanctions bite, an official from the Suez Canal Authority said on Tuesday.

“I can say there’s been a five to six percent drop in Iranian crude ...since the first of January,” Sayed Mariee, deputy director of planning, research and studies at Suez Canal Authority told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry event on Tuesday.

He added that the Egypt will continue to allow Iranian vessels to use the Canal even after July, when the European Union fully moves ahead with an embargo on Iranian crude.

“These sanctions are by Europe and the US, they’re not sanctions from Egypt,” said Mariee. “There’s no discrimination.

FILE Customers buy and sell gold at a local gold shop in Hanoi on August 19, 2011.

Gold fell on Tuesday under the weight of a weaker euro.

(AFP)

Iranian tankers pass through Suez, Israeli tankers pass too.”

Asked if Iran was still using the Sumed pipeline connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean to transport its oil, Mariee said that it was but was not certain if volumes had dropped.

The 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) Sumed pipeline is filled with 65 percent Saudi crude, 25 percent Iranian and four percent Kuwaiti.

This year revenues from the Canal, a vital source of foreign currency for Egypt, was expected to slightly increase to 5.4 billion US dollars from $5.3 billion a year ago, said Mariee.

“The problem is not in the container business. But we have some challenges, we have competition from other routes

like the Panama Canal and North Sea.” The Suez Canal Authority increased the toll for vessels by three percent in March and Mariee played down prospects for a further rise.

“Our philosophy is not only boosting revenues but also increasing the number of clients and the number of passenger ships,” he said. “The Suez Canal must be the cheapest way of transportation.”

Mariee said the authority was looking at increasing revenues by expanding its fuel bunkering base.

“But we have a shortage of (fuel).

One alternative is to import from Yanbu (Saudi Arabia),” said Mariee, adding that the plan was to increase bunker quantities from three million tons annually to eight million tons. -Reuters

DHL Express extends its Road Service to Iraq LONDON: Gold fell on Tuesday under the weight of a weaker euro, while platinum shrugged off news of fresh disruption to production at South Africa’s largest miner of the metal.

The euro remained clear of last week’s four-month lows but was stuck in negative territory against the dollar ahead of an informal meeting later this week of European leaders aimed at discussing ways of stemming the debt crisis.

Across the broader markets, European blue-chip shares clung on to their gains, lifted by investors buying back some of the more heavily-sold names, while modest optimism that the summit could offer some interim solution to the crisis put pressure on safe-haven German Bunds.

Spot gold was down 0.8 percent at 1,580.50 US dollars an ounce by 1205 GMT. The price is still showing its largest week-on-week gain since mid-April, having risen by 2.5 percent.

“Having failed at $1,600 yesterday, the market has looked for the direction of least resistance and that is currently down,” Ole Hansen, a senior manager at Saxo Bank, said.

“The EU summit could get quite interesting behind closed doors given Merkel’s statement yesterday that she would not hesitate to disagree with Hollande,” he said, adding that soft physical demand also put the gold price at some risk of further corrections.

France’s Francois Hollande will push a proposal for mutualizing European debt at an informal summit of EU leaders in Brussels this week, increasing pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to drop her opposition to the idea.

The new French president raised the idea of bonds jointly underwritten by all euro zone member states during G8 talks at the weekend and intends to raise it again when EU leaders meet on May 23, even if it goes against Merkel’s wishes.

Gold tends to trade together with the euro, so any weakness in the single European currency can lead to investors in the region cashing in on their bullion positions to realize a higher profit in their local currency.

The drop in the Indian rupee to record lows against the dollar has tempered demand from local consumers in the world’s largest bullion market over the last few weeks.

Options draw

Looking at the likely course of the gold price this

week, options on June COMEX futures that expire on Thursday show investors are divided on the gold’s chances of breaking and staying above $1,600 an ounce.

Most near-the-money open interest, positions in options contracts with strike prices close to the current futures price, is split almost evenly between calls, contracts that give the owner the right, but not the obligation to buy the underlying future at a pre-determined price by a set date, and puts, which confer the right without obligation.

Platinum offered little response to news that Impala Platinum, the world’s second-largest platinum producer and South Africa’s largest, said it was losing production of 3,000 ounces a day as most workers were not reporting for duty at its Rustenburg mine on Tuesday because of labor unrest.

The mine, shut for six weeks earlier this year because of a power struggle between unions, has been hit again by fresh clashes between the dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

The platinum price, which rose by as much as 24 percent on the year because of the strike that spanned February and March, traded down 0.2 percent on the day at $1,453.49 an ounce.

“By its own account, platinum miner Impala is currently losing 3,000 ounces per day due to another labor unrest at its Rustenburg platinum mine in South Africa. The mine accounts for 15 percent of worldwide platinum production,” Commerzbank said in a note.

The impact of the euro zone debt crisis on the global economy, and in particular, on the European car market, where platinum is used extensively in catalytic converters for diesel vehicles, has prompted speculators in US platinum futures to cut their holdings to their lowest level in 2.5 years over the course of the last three months.

Holdings of platinum in exchange-traded products have also eroded since hitting a record 1.398 million ounces in early March and are down to 1.323 million ounces, their lowest in nearly four months.

Yet platinum remains the best-performing precious metal of 2012 to date, with a gain of 5.2 percent, compared with a rise of 1.2 percent in gold and a loss of 6.25 percent in palladium.

Palladium was down 0.3 percent on the day at $607.65 an ounce, having pared earlier gains. Silver was down 0.8 percent at $28.19 an ounce. -Reuters

MANAMA: DHL has officially extended its Road Service (DHL Economy Select) into Iraq. This new service will complement the existing Airfreight Program, the DHL Time Definite services, and will serve countries across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Levant with a slower transit time offering according to a press release on Tuesday.

“No one knows the Middle East like DHL, and as we continue to expand our network and services, we continue to provide our customers with more cost-effective options.

The new Road Service will provide unprecedented logistical solutions into Iraq” commented Nour Suliman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DHL Express Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The new DHL Economy Select Service has been successfully tested earlier this year and will now link

the GCC and Levant regions to Iraq, for the very first time, with an integrated road and air network.

“The new service will eliminate weight and size restrictions into Iraq and provide an economically attractive solution to customers who ship less urgent and heavier weight consignments.” continued Suliman.

DHL was the first logistics company to establish operations in Iraq in 2003 and since then, has expanded across the country with 18 Service Points and 3 main gateways in Iraq’s key cities; Erbil, Baghdad and Basra. DHL Express Iraq currently operates 117 vehicles that handle on average 16,000 shipments per day, and is considered the number one specialist for logistics in the Oil and Gas industry, providing a daily door-to-door service to most oil and gas fields in Basra.

Local factors to support DIB amid weak global backdrop DUBAI: Dubai Islamic Bank’s (DIB) five-year benchmark-sized Sukuk, set to be priced on Tuesday, will find support from local bids despite value elsewhere, benefiting from an uptick in sentiment towards the emirate and demand for Sharia-compliant assets.

The lack of any significant new issue premium and a modest targeted deal size of 500 million US dollars, plus support from Middle Eastern accounts should ensure the bond gets away and trades stably, though euro zone worries will cool the market response.

DIB, majority-owned by the Dubai government, released initial price guidance for the Islamic bond at a spread of 375 basis points (bps) over midswaps, equating to a profit rate of 4.85 percent.

The lender, heavily exposed to real estate and Dubai government-related entities, is hoping to capitalize on strong regional demand for Sukuk to prop up the deal at those price levels, even if investors say they leave little by way of a “sweetener” to attract large orderbooks.

Lead arrangers said on Tuesday that the deal already had orders of around $1.8 billion. Deutsche Bank, Emirates National Bank of Dubai (NBD), Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and

DIB itself are mandated arrangers.

“The general trend observed recently of huge support from local investors will continue and the majority of the allocation of the bond will be to Middle Eastern investors,” said Anas El Maizi, senior portfolio manager at Royal Capital.

He added a cautionary note, saying that market conditions had worsened since the Greek elections, making it difficult for DIB to tighten the pricing if the bank wanted the bond to perform reasonably in the secondary market.

Investor skittishness has been heightened by the prospect of a Greek exit from the euro zone and some funds may stay on the sidelines, waiting for clarity to emerge on the European debt crisis.

Value elsewhere?

The Sukuk market has proved relatively resilient amid the latest phase of euro zone volatility, and a large majority of regional deals so far this year have opted to take advantage of this format to meet capital raising needs.

Although the imbalance between supply and demand for Islamic bonds allows borrowers to price at tighter levels than conventional issuers, DIB’s latest price guidance may appear to offer little for investors, especially when compared

to other, similar deals.

DIB’s last debt markets foray was to back a $300 million Sukuk issued by its Islamic mortgage lender subsidiary Tamweel in January, which priced at 400 bps over mid-swaps.

That Sukuk, fully guaranteed by DIB, was bid at a cash price of 101.5 by some local accounts on Tuesday morning, from 100 levels earlier, indicating that investors see more value in that bond versus the latest DIB issue, for the same risk.

“If orders are heading towards two billion dollars, it could be because Sukuk investors are more comfortable to hold the bank’s paper versus a guaranteestructure Sukuk, like Tamweel,” said a regional fixed income trader, adding he was not convinced by the deal.

“Tamweel 2017s are the best comparable for DIB and, for the same risk, it gives you better value in spread and yield terms,” the trader added.

Tamweel 2017s were trading at a zspread of 415 bps on Monday, but the bonds are not very liquid. The z-spread is a pricing tool which calculates the number of basis points that need to be added to a zero-coupon yield curve to make the bond’s discounted cash flows equal the bond’s present value. Other, less risky, Dubai names also appeal. -Reuters

ALWATAN DAILY

BUSINESS

11

WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012

Fight over Gulf wealth funds to intensify DUBAI: A shift in focus from global to local investments by the big Gulf sovereign wealth funds (SWF) after the Arab Spring is set to step up competition among Western governments, asset managers and companies hoping for some of their cash, a study by US fund manager Invesco Ltd showed.

“Western governments, including the UK, have approached SWFs (the funds) from the Middle East to help with economic recovery, but many will fight a losing battle,” Nick Tolchard, head of Invesco Middle East told reporters at a conference in Dubai.

“There is certainly less money to invest internationally so the stakes are higher.”

These funds are being allocated less money by their oil-rich governments post the Arab Spring, with surplus government cash available for international investment in Gulf Arab region set to fall by nine percent in 2012.

The Arab Spring’s popular anti-government protests forced governments to put more emphasis on boosting local economies and infrastructure, the study said, resulting in lower international investments.

“Western governments and large institutions need a strategic re-think on how they approach Gulf funds. There is clearly a lot more emphasis on local investments,” Tolchard said.

The Gulf region is home to some of the world’s most prominent sovereign funds such as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, considered to be the world’s largest and the Qatar Investment Authority, among the most aggressive of global funds with stakes in large European corporates.

Abu Dhabi’s ruling family has been involved in talks this year over a stake in

Britain’s state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland. Large global asset managers and Western governments have flocked to the regional sovereign funds to grab a share of their wealth.

At the peak of the global financial crisis, some of the large Gulf funds stepped in to invest in high-profile financial names such as Citigroup Inc, Credit Suisse and Barclays. They are also heavy investors in high-end real estate in Europe and own trophy assets such as London’s Harrods store and football clubs.

But after the Arab Spring, many Gulf governments have committed billions of dollars to boost salaries, provide housing and better infrastructure to the young Arab population.

Invesco predicts Gulf sovereign funds to account for about 35 percent of the 1.6 trillion US dollars of sovereign fund flows globally. The asset manager expects money allocated to the funds by the Gulf governments this year to rise eight percent, compared with a 13 percent increase in money allocated in 2011.

Funds that invest in local development projects are getting a larger share of the funding than those whose mandate is to diversify away from oil wealth. That means global asset managers who sell investment schemes to these funds need to change their strategies, Tolchard said.

“The strategy has to change from just winning mandates from these funds. It has to be focused more on joint-venture opportunities and how global (asset management) firms can play a participatory role in the investment process,” he said.

Invesco, based in Atlanta, which has about $668 billion in assets under management, first launched its survey in 2010.

The study is based on more than 100 interviews with retail and institutional investors, Invesco said. -Reuters

Tuesday 22 May, 2012 Index Price index Weighted Index KSX 15

KUWAIT: Mada Communications unveiled in a press release on Tuesday Kuwait’s first real wireless and mobile alternative to broadband internet service with the launch of the ‘Mada Soho’ wireless ISDN device and service, which provides internet speeds reaching up to 10 Mbps and voice as well.

The Mada Soho device with ISDN service only requires a power outlet to run, thus providing high speed internet without data or voice cables and enabling users to carry it with them from the office to an off-site, or from home to the outdoors.

Mada Communications Marketing Manager Shahad Ibrahim said, “The new device is ideal for customers who work from construction sites, refineries, and for customers who are always on the go, and is available from Mada Communications at competitive prices.”

Mada Communications is one of the leading wireless data providers in Kuwait.

The company’s services includes a widerange of data and voice mobile connectivity solutions that are always based on the latest available technologies.

High

Low

Volume

MARIN

0

0

0

IKARUS

0

0

0

IPG

0

0

0

NAPESCO

0

0

0

AREFENRGY

126

126

GPI

66

ABAR

PIPE

KUWAIT: MasterCard revealed in a press release on Tuesday the results of the latest MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence, which found that consumers in Kuwait are very optimistic about the coming months, with a score of 88.3.

The MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence is based on a survey conducted between Dec. 5, 2011 and Feb. 8, 2012 on 12,915 respondents aged 18 to 64 years in 25 countries within Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Now in its 20th year in Asia/Pacific and its 9th year in the Middle East and Africa, the Index is the region’s most comprehensive and longest running consumer confidence survey.

The Index is based on a survey which measures consumer confidence on prevailing expectations in the market over the next six months, based on five economic indicators: Economy, Employment, Stock Market, Regular Income and Quality of Life. The Index score is calculated with zero as the most pessimistic, 100 as most optimistic and 50 as neutral.

Consumers in Kuwait have remained optimistic in their attitudes towards all five indicators.

Consumers are most optimistic about regular income (93.8 vs. 91.7 in previous Index) and quality of life (90.5 vs. 89.7). However, all indicators of consumer confidence were rated as being positive, including employment (88.4 vs.

95.4), economy (86.5 vs. 92.5) and the stock market (82.0 vs. 83.7).

The survey also highlighted that male respondents (88.6) tend to be more optimistic about their prospects for the coming months than their female counterparts (87.3) and that consumers under the age of 30 (88.8) are more optimistic than respondents aged 30 and above (87.2).

“Kuwait remains one of the most consistently positive markets in the Middle East. Consumers in Kuwait have indicated high levels of optimism for the last few years, highlighting the country’s stable economy amid continuing high oil prices,” said Raghu Malhotra, division president, Middle East and North Africa, MasterCard Worldwide.

In the Middle East, the consumer confidence score of 85.7 is not only an increase as compared to six months ago (82.8), but consumer confidence levels are at a record high since the Index was launched in the region in 2004.

Respondents indicated an increase in confidence levels for four of the five indicators as compared to six months ago, and were most optimistic about regular income (91.3 vs. 86.3). Consumers in the Middle East were also very optimistic about quality of life (87.6 vs. 81.5), economy (86.5 vs. 82.5) and employment (85.5 vs. 82.9). Despite witnessing a slight decrease in confidence levels, consumers remain very optimistic about the stock market (77.8 vs. 81.0). The Middle East’s aggregate score of 85.7 also remains substantially higher than that of Asia/ Pacific (52.1) and Africa (73.8).

Last Closing

High

Low

6,381.01 411 55 411.55 979.55

6,415.24 410 38 410.38 974.26

6,425.58 411 87 411.87 979.55

6,344.40 408 57 408.57 970.67

Trades Value (KD)

Last

0

0

0

ŷ

00 0.0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

0

0

ŷ

1,809

228

1

126

64

532,501

34,634

15

216

216

200 534,510

43 34,905

110

110

351,963

38,716

Change

Security

Volume Value (KWD) Number of Trades

293,160,179 20 640 261 20,640,261 4,406

Trades Value (KD)

Trades

372 861 372,861

40 087 40,087

12

108

ŷ

00 0.0

203,000

26,370

9

130

ź

-2.0

1,323,837

339,723

55

265

Ÿ

17.0

11,010

409

4

38

ź

-1.0

230

7,150,000

1,644,500

25

230

ŷ

0.0

164

164

100

16

1

164

Ÿ

4.0

112 38

104 37

15,000 400,000

1,600 14,925

3 11

112 37

Ÿ ź

2.0 -1.5

Volume

Last

Change

High

Low

URC

108

106

NRE

130

128

0.0

SRE

265

248

0.0

PEARL

39

37

Ÿ

2.0

TAM

230

65

ź

-1.0

AREEC

1 17

216 1001.68

ź ź

-10.0 -5.40

MASSALEH ARABREC UREC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

16

110

ŷ

0.0

ERESCO

93

92

321,033

29,765

6

92

ŷ

0.0

KFOUC

335

335

225

75

1

335

ŷ

0.0

MABANEE

990

980

133,175

131,764

16

990

ŷ

0.0

BPCC

610

600

98 124 98,124

59 829 59,829

10

610

ŷ

0.0

INJAZZAT

68

62

67 010 67,010

4 289 4,289

6

64

ŷ

0.0

ALKOUT ALQURAIN Basic Materials KCEM

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

INVESTORS

22

19

38,354,981

766,949

399

19

ź

-2.5

220

216

811,719 1,262,031

177,214 275,834

58 85

220 978.47

Ÿ Ÿ

2.0 1.86

IRC ALTIJARIA

58 84

54 82

2,277,250 411,000

127,667 34,254

44 10

55 84

ź ŷ

-1.0 0.0

SANAM

60

59

220,807

13,030

15

59

ź

-1.0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

AAYANRE

92

85

2,400,600

206,078

53

85

ź

-5.0

REFRI

168

168

446

75

1

168

ź

-4.0

AQAR

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

CABLE

1,340

1,340

40

54

1

1,340

Ÿ

20.0

ALAQARIA

36

36

60,500

2,158

3

36

ź

-2.0 -3.0

SHIP

255

242

158,700

39,437

22

244

ź

-2.0

MAZAYA

86

83

469,000

39,546

24

84

ź

PCEM

920

870

285,500

254,596

53

920

Ÿ

50.0

ADNC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

PAPER

198

198

100

20

1

198

ź

-10.0

THEMAR

86

86

60,000

5,160

1

86

ŷ

0.0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

GRAND

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ACICO

255

244

255,050

62,323

20

246

ź

-2.0

TIJARA

42

42

80,000

3,360

3

42

ŷ

0.0

GGMC

1,000

900

152

142

5

900

ź

-50.0

TAAMEER

56

52

27,000

1,482

4

56

Ÿ

3.0

HCC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ARKAN

87

87

1,000

87

1

87

ź

-5.0

KPAK

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ARGAN

138

138

50

7

1

138

ź

-10.0

KBMMC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ABYAAR

47

46

5,645,000

262,850

50

47

ŷ

0.0

NICBM

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

MUNSHAAT

37

35

1,305,004

47,133

35

36

ŷ

0.0 -2.5

MRC

176

168

87,010

14,859

18

176

ź

-2.0

FIRSTDUBAI

44

40

741,500

31,210

35

40

ź

NCCI

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KBT

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

GYPSUM

96

96

1

0

1

96

ź

-6.0

REAM

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

EQUIPMENT

SALBOOKH

37

35

180,001

6,279

6

37

Ÿ

1.5

MENA

40

38

85,000

3,198

3

38

Ÿ

0.5

AGLTY

410

405

556,398

227,923

31

410

ź

-5.0

ALMUDON

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

MARAKEZ

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

CLEANING CITYGROUP

158 0

154 0

142,889 0

22,070 0

10 0

156 0

Ÿ ŷ

4.0 0.0

REMAL Real Estate

340

335

215,600 65,402,873

73,254 4,018,266

33 892

340 987.83

ź ź

-5.0 -11.19

KGL

118

112

633,234

72,457

28

116

ŷ

0.0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KINV

102

102

60,000

6,120

2

102

ŷ

0.0

HUMANSOFT

248

240

4,600

1,112

4

248

ź

-2.0

FACIL

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

NAFAIS

98

91

2,600

251

11

98

Ÿ

5.0

IFA

52

47

31,816,100

1,593,047

259

50

Ÿ

1.0

SAFWAN

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

NINV

140

134

953,501

130,247

61

136

ź

-4.0 0.0

KCPC

GFC

31

28

501,000

14,884

13

30

ź

-1.0

KPROJ

325

320

263,065

84,601

19

325

ŷ

MAYADEEN

24

22

60,203,439

1,368,134

344

23

ź

-1.5

COAST

54

51

894,875

46,796

44

53

ŷ

0.0

1,440

1,440

19,500

28,080

8

1,440

Ÿ

20.0

TII

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

MTCC

97

95

487,000

46,972

27

95

ź

-2.0

SECH

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

UPAC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

IIC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ALAFCO

295

295

41,340

12,195

5

295

ŷ

0.0

SGC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

MUBARRAD

66

63

255,741

16,563

15

65

ź

-1.0

IFC

104

99

10,449,454

1,064,763

142

100

ź

-4.0

LOGISTICS

285

280

471,721

132,994

17

280

ŷ

0.0

MARKAZ

120

118

85,500

10,090

4

118

ŷ

0.0

SCEM

83

83

30,000

2,490

2

83

ź

-3.0

KMEFIC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0 0.0

GCEM

99

98

2,620,766

258,122

46

98

ź

-2.0

AIG

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

QCEM

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ALAMAN

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

FCEM

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ALOLA

146

144

210,000

30,620

6

146

ŷ

0.0

RKWC Industrials

0

0

0 66,937,228

0 2,582,033

0 689

0 976.90

ŷ ź

0.0 -5.19 5.19

ALMAL GIH

0 36

0 35

0 6,262,500

0 220,750

0 81

0 35

ŷ ź

0.0 -1.0 1.0

AAYAN

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KSH

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

BAYANINV

40

39

367,500

14,445

17

40

ŷ

0.0

NSH

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

GLOBAL

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

PAPCO

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

OSOUL

74

67

21,928

1,525

7

74

Ÿ

2.0

CATTL

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KFIC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

DANAH

90

89

422,739

37,869

15

90

ŷ

0.0

KAMCO

240

224

2

0

2

240

Ÿ

6.0

POULT

126

126

79,995

10,079

2

126

ŷ

0.0

NIH

63

57

161,302

9,834

7

60

ź

-2.0

1,340

1,320

9,500 512,234

12,626 60,575

4 21

1,340 980.76

Ÿ Ÿ

20.0 2.07

ISKAN MADAR

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.0

ALDEERA

40

38

1,527,882

59,024

42

38

ź

-0.5

MHC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

ALSAFAT

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ATC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

ALSALAM

275

255

3,283,286

863,650

99

265

ź

-5.0

400

395

116,606 116,606

46,060 46,060

8 8

400 995.88

ŷ ŷ

0 0.00

EKTTITAB QURAINHLD

93 0

89 0

597,738 0

54,689 0

33 0

91 0

ź ŷ

-2.0 0.0

ALMADINA

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KCIN

1,000

990

5,050

5,048

5

990

ź

-10

NOOR

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KHOT

202

202

1,000 1 000

202

2

202

ź

-10 10

TAMINV

182

176 1 6

428,000 428 000

76,136 6 136

20

176 1 6

ź

-8.0 80

SULTAN

104

102

177,071

18,135

10

104

ŷ

0

EXCH

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

CABLETV

49

49

4,100

201

3

49

ź

-4

TAIBA

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0 -2.5

FOOD Consumer Goods

Consumer confidence remains high in Kuwait: MasterCard Survey

Closing

Trades

Oil & Gas

CGC

Shahad Ibrahim Mada Communications Marketing Manager

-34.23 1 17 1.17 5.29

Security

EDU

Mada Communications launches high-speed wireless ISDN service

Change ź Ÿ Ÿ

YIACO Health Care

EYAS

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

KSHC

32

32

135,000

4,260

8

32

ź

IFAHR

400

370

3,931

1,507

5

400

Ÿ

5

STRATEGIA

75

75

7

1

1

75

Ÿ

5.0

MASHAER

275

270

609,736

167,584

20

275

ŷ

0

KCIC

71

70

254,048

17,823

12

70

ź

-1.0 1.0

OULAFUEL

285

265

286,759

81,198

25

285

Ÿ

5

MANAFAE

60

57

191,787

11,077

10

60

ź

-1.0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

GNAHC

48

48

14,950

718

2

48

ŷ

0.0

420

420

10,000

4,200

2

420

ź

-5

AMWAL

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

SOOR

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

MASAR

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

FUTUREKID

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

ALIMTIAZ

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ALNAWADI

108

106

2,675 2 675

285

2

108

ŷ

0

MANAZEL

37

34

2,270,842 2 270 842

81 108 81,108

55

35

ź

-1.0 10

ALRAI

116

114

40,148

4,657

5

116

ź

-8

NIND

226

222

1,982,550

444,976

51

224

ź

-4.0

ZIMAH

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

UIC

89

86

2,325,076

200,678

47

88

ź

-1.0

300

260

4,440

1,155

3

300

Ÿ

15

BIIHC

71

66

13

1

4

68

Ÿ

2.0

0

0

0 1,144,910

0 284,171

0 82

0 982.66

ŷ ź

0 6.75 -6.75

SHOP SENERGY

0 81

0 75

0 6,675,501

0 511,110

0 77

0 79

ŷ ź

0.0 1.0 -1.0

AGHC

152

146

1,088,742

160,105

36

148

ź

-4.0

720

700

1,937,433

1,375,501

84

710

ŷ

0

ALSAFWA

23

20

23,547,831

489,154

233

20

ź

-2.5

2,260

2,240

228,475

515,814

37

2,260

ŷ

0

KPPC

74

73

2,517,500

185,561

23

74

ź

-1.0

81

7,437,856 9,603,764

607,389 2,498,704

212 333

81 935.73

ź ź

-5 -18.32

TAHSSILAT JEERANH

0 99

0 99

0 2,000

0 198

0 1

0 99

ŷ ź

0.0 -9.0

MUNTAZAHAT JAZEERA

UFIG KOUTFOOD Consumer Services ZAIN NMTC

HITSTELEC 86 Telecommunications

EKHOLDING

290

290

10,000 10 000

2,900 2 900

1

290

Ÿ

10 10.0 0

NBK

1,060

1,040

870,333

917,637

19

1,060

Ÿ

20

GFH

51

49

26,712,563

1,314,913

304

49

ź

-1.0

GBK CBK

410 770

410 770

256,696 300

105,245 231

20 1

410 770

ź ź

-5 -10

INOVEST Financial Services

59

56

2,388,000 127,499,043

137,115 7,828,035

56 1,766

58 982.10

ŷ ź

0.0 -9.42

MAREF 0 Investment Instruments

0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0.00

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.00

ABK

590

590

134

79

1

590

ŷ

0

ALMUTAHED KIB

890 270

880 265

50,262 356,470

44,730 95,982

4 11

890 270

Ÿ ŷ

10 0

BURG

415

415

54,000

22,410

3

415

ŷ

0

KFIN

710

700

1,177,619

828,375

90

710

Ÿ

10

ASC

420

420

66,100

27,762

13

420

Ÿ

25.0

BOUBYAN

610

600

208,475

125,685

24

610

ŷ

0

SAFTEC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

UGB

162

162

2,450

397

1

162

ŷ

0

FUTURE

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

AUB ITHMR

170 44

170 42

640,000 640 000 15,989,451

108,800 108 800 673,022

11 273

170 42

ŷ ź

0 -3

HAYATCOMM Technology

116

116

122,001 122 001 188,101

14 14,152 152 41,914

18 31

116 1131.56

ź Ÿ

-2.0 20 17.24

19,606,190

2,922,594

458

969.84

ź

-2.28 BAREEQ

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ŷ

0

AFAQ

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

Banks KINS

0

0

0

0

0

0

GINS

495

490

5,881

2,890

2

490

ź

-5.0 5.0

ALSHAMEL

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

AINS

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

SAFRE

20

20

1

0

1

20

ź

-2.0

WINS

138

138

1,954

270

1

138

Ÿ

2.0

AJWAN

38

34

19,102

726

4

38

Ÿ

1.5

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

SPEC

495

485

35,000

17,135

4

485

ź

-5.0 -2.5

KUWAITRE FTI

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

MASAKEN

41

41

55,000

2,228

2

41

ź

WETHAQ

71

71

50

4

1

71

Ÿ

5.0

DALQAN

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ARIG

134

134

690

92

1

134

Ÿ

10 10.0 0

ALEID

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

00 0.0

BKIKWT Insurance

0

0

0 8,575

0 3,256

0 5

0 1095.90

ŷ Ÿ

0.0 24.01

MIDAN FLEX

0 36

0 31

0 10,011

0 355

0 2

0 31

ŷ ź

0.0 -2.0

THURAYA AINV

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

SOKOUK KRE

0 55

0 54

0 3,051,555

0 167,394

0 30

0 55

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.0

108

102

225,000

23,470

6

108

Ÿ

6.0

KCLINIC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

AMAR Parallel Market

0

0

0 344,114

0 43,914

0 19

0 964.10

ŷ ź

0.0 -7.35

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

STOCKS WITH NBK CAPITAL

12

ALWATAN DAILY wednesday, may 23, 2012

April 2009 May21, 22, 2012

3% 6%

3% 6% Oman

113

-6%

GCC Best Performers

Saudi

95 22-Feb-12 85

22-Mar-12

22-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

MENA Best Performers

-3%

22-May-12

-6%-2

19-Apr-0

1

MENA Indices Highlights Country (Index)

Index Level

% Chg.

YTD

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

Index 7,104

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

2,471 5,250

0.1% -4.0%

Qa UAUAE Qatar (DSM Index) (ADSM Index)

8,499 2,695

0.9% 0.6%

Ba Qa Bahrain Qatar(BSE (DSMIndex) Index)

1,138 5,590

-0.7% 3.9%

Jo Jordan (Amman General Index)

1,906

Ku Kuwait (KSE Weighted Index)

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

OmOman UAE(MSM (DFMIndex) Index)

Level 412

1,497 406

5,750 1,745

Eg Egypt (EGX 30 Index)

OmOman (MSM Index)

Ba Bahrain (BSE Index)

M Morocco (Casa All Shares Index)

Eg Egypt (Hermes Egypt Index (HFI))*

Le Lebanon (Beirut SE Index)

Jo Jordan (Amman General Index)

Pa Palestine (Al-Quds Index)

M Morocco (Casa All Shares Index)*

Tu Tunisia (Tunis SE Index)

Le Lebanon (Beirut SE Index)* *Market Closed

Pa Palestine (Al-Quds Index)

4,864

5,478

1,681

9,722

463

1,165

2,825 455

10,621

5,109

1,094 546

Tu Tunisia (Tunis SE Index)* * Market Closed

3,282

52 Wk High

% 1.1% Chg.

10.7% YTD

0.3%

1.5%

0.4%

-0.3%

-

2.2%

-0.1%

0.0%

-

-

0.9% -

396

Mkt. Cap. 370,565 USD million

74

11.97

101,319

77 122

127,930 69,783

11.58 7.29

-0.5% -18.8%

1,366 12,627

1,129 4,230

16 196

17,117 65,352

8.99 8.85

34.3%

0.7%

-4.3%

-6.8%

-12.6%

8.5%

-1.0%

2.4%

-4.6%

6,082 5,860 5,628

12,109 2,192

2,903

12,203

1,033

1,380

5,044 513

-3.3%

14,635

23.6%

739

7.4%

-7.2%

5,141

2,119

13.6%

3,418

44 718

5,419 1,433

12 305

3,587

42

4,224

31,525 98,547

17,966 37,413

46

1,879

1,572

9,747

4

-

1,164

2,551 455

9,406

-

4,091

1,043

-

2,837

-

407

63,640

7.67

18,727

24

328

12.53

0

1

12.71

1.29

2.77

1.56

9,876

16.42

0.82

2.15

9.04

59,990

1.07

18.36

8,507

2

1.53

6.19

33,782 2,468

4

1.68

14.05

10,384

67

1.35

8.07

51,836

3.95

6.47

2,079

Close

ITH Ithmaar Bank

13.85

1.92

SAUDI ARABIA *Market Closed

SAR 24.70

-6.4%

108,425,882 102,257,749

Turnover (USD)

101,815,248

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

343,553,085 75,161,709 119,955,261 47,568,999

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

97,126,838

NBKNational Bank of Kuwait (KUW)

88,742,222 64,280,166 Close

63% 1211.SSE Saudi Arabian Mining Co.

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

28.00

Advance/Decline Ratio

7,835,688

Turnover (SAR '000)

1,389,805,460

Market Cap. (SAR '000)

% Chg.

31.20

3030.SSE Saudi Cement Co.

91.50

1120.SSE Al Rajhi Bank

74.00

7,931 / 5,916 1020.SSE Bank Al Jazira

Tadawul Index 52 week High / Low

-6.8%

Turnover (USD)

MENA Highest Turnover

115 Alinma Bank (KSA)

7,104 (1.1%)

Tadawul Index (% Chg.)

115

-9.4%

-3.9% -8.6%

EMAEmaar Properties (UAE) Best Performers

Summary

8.0%

KWD 0.100 SAR 48.00

KFI Kuwait Finance House (KUW)

Rebased Performance

3.6%

8.0%

% Chg.

SAR 13.70

101 Riyad Bank

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

3.7% 8.6%

AED 1.71% Chg. -9.0% Close

GCC Highest Turnover

2.50

3.9% 8.8%

KWD 0.216 -13.1% -4.4% KWD 0.265 USD 0.870 -4.4% SAR 22.95 -8.9%

225 Saudi Industrial Inv. Grp.

201 Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (KSA)

5.8% 9.8%

USD 0.145

NBQNational Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain

1.81

0.86

8.67

6,576

MENA Worst Performers

0.88 201 IFCSaudi International Finance Co. 1.74 Basic Industries Corp.

9.50

26,429

OMR 0.720

GCC Worst Performers

1.94 FAC ABA Burgan Co. Facilities for Well Drilling 1.37 Commercial Co. 1.61 BAR Albaraka Banking 0.88 238 Rabigh Petrochem. Grp.

9.77

15,024

9

1.01 1.77

10.22 6.87

56,001

1.87

0.71 1.52

8,071 2,137

QAR 21.60

BKMBankMuscat

PB

10.37 9.99

8,892 5,148

1,301 316

8.18 10.24

OMR 0.456

QGTQatar Gas Transport Co.

PB1.45

-3.1% 12.8%

1,754 787

65,307 264,263

AED 1.11 QAR 6.35

BKDBank Dhofar

PE 16.88

41 2,183

1.0% 6.6%

-0.9%

Turnover 2,089 USD million

AED 1.07 OMR 0.703

ALDALDAR Properties KCB Al Khaliji Commercial Bank

Trailing

2,293 4,130

2.3% 1.9%

5.1%

52 Wk 5,916 Low

PE

KWD 0.920 SAR 5.60

SO Galfar Sorouh Real Estate GEC Engineering & Co. Contracting

Trailing

Mkt. Cap. USD million

2,775 10,090

10.6% -0.2%

1.5%

452

Turnover USD million

2.8% 9.3%

0.6% 1.8%

-0.3%

52 Wk 7,931 High

52 Wk Low

% Chg.

KWD 6.9% Close0.265 % Chg.

PCE Kuwait Portland Cement Co. 3 428 Kingdom Hldg. Co.

Period's Liquidity Ratio (PLR x)*

MENA Indices Highlights

Close

4 SRESalhia Real Estate Co.

Period's Liquidity 1 Ratio (PLR x)

-1

Abu Dhabi

-1%

Bahrain

Tunisia Abu Dhabi

98

90

-4%

Palestine Palestine

95

-2% 0%

Saudi Dubai Dubai

101

Kuwait

Qatar Saudi

0%

0%

Kuwait

Dhabi AbuAbu Dhabi Bahrain

0%

100

1%

Saudi

Qatar Dubai Dubai

Return DailyDaily Return (%)(%)

105

2%

Qatar Oman

105

100

2%

Qatar

Morocco

111

110

4%

Oman

Lebanon Oman

110

Kuwait Kuwait

113

DailyIndex Index Performance Snapshot Daily Performance Snapshot

Egypt Jordan Jordan

115115

Bull/Bear Indicator Bull/Bear Indicator

Bahrain Bahrain

Rebased RebasedPerformance Performance

3.0%

2.8%

25.20

3050.SSE Southern Province Cement Co.

2.4%

2.4%

101.00

2.3%

105

Highest Turnover

101

Worst Performers Turnover (SAR) 406,651,271 1080.SSE Arab National Bank 383,517,688 #N/A #N/A 381,858,087 #N/A #N/A

1 Alinma Bank

100

20Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

43Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev. Co.

95 22-Feb-12

22-Mar-12

22-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

281,893,991

70Zain - Saudi Arabia

22-May-12

178,407,531

42Emaar the Economic City

#N/A

Close

% Chg.

28.90

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

#N/A

7020.SSE Etihad Etisalat Co.

-0.3%

#N/A

66.75

#N/A 1.1%

Saudi SE

Quotes Company Name 1 Al Rajhi Bank

Close 74.00

Daily % Chg. 2.4%

High 74.25

Low

Turnover (SAR '000)

72.75

131,280

67.25

24,953

26.90

46,938

35.80

2,840

1 Alinma Bank

13.20

1.2%

13.30

13.10

406,651

1 Arab National Bank

28.90

-0.3%

29.10

28.90

4,414

2 Almarai Co.

1 Bank AlBilad

1 Bank Al Jazira

1 Banque Saudi Fransi

67.75

27.10

25.20

36.00

0.7%

1.5%

2.4%

0.0%

68.00

27.40

25.30

36.30

24.95

15,824

4 Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev. Co.

11.00

0.5%

11.15

10.95

381,858

7 Etihad Etisalat Co.

66.75

1.1%

66.75

66.25

31,494

4 Emaar the Economic City

4 Jabal Omar Development Co. 4 Jarir Marketing Co.

4 Kingdom Holding Co.

2 National Industrialization Co.

2 Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Co.

1 Riyad Bank

1 Samba Financial Grp.

2 Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co.

1 Saudi Arabian Mining Co.

2 Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

11.00

19.65

153.50 11.10

33.50

21.15

23.90

47.80

179.00 31.20

95.25

1.4%

1.8%

1.0%

0.5%

1.8%

0.0%

1.3%

1.3%

11.10

19.90

154.25 11.35

33.80

21.35

23.90

48.20

10.90

178,408

19.50

121,334

152.00

3,377

33.10

49,450

23.70

7,913

37,263

23.00

32,819

17.05

706

13,992

0.7%

27.30

27.00

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

20.20

0.8%

20.30

20.10

12,921

16.35

82,199

35.30

8,946

34.60

3,305

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

2 Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co.

7 Zain - Saudi Arabia

16.50

322

40.30

0.5%

40.50

40.10

38,628

101.00

2.3%

101.00

99.00

2,075

48.80

0.6%

49.20

48.60

18,714

9.10

281,894

35.50

35.00

48.00 9.15

0.3%

0.0%

1.9%

0.6%

35.60

35.10

48.80 9.30

6.9%

13.60

6.20

-19.1%

13.85

474

69.25

50.00

165.00

108.67

6,146 22

22.90

6.05

-21.0%

47.70

70,254

1,480 333

13.10

50.75

26.90

24.25

57.25

21.42

1,419

25.30

18.55

41

21.00

15.55

35.50

23.70

383

83.25

47.40

1,458

30,636

56.25

11.50

27.82

41.60 5.25

18,673,854

43,020,000

-16.8%

23.3%

14.3%

-6.6%

27.1%

-6.8%

9.9%

2.6%

10.7

1.5

0.8

1.3

8.8

2.6

17.0

9.4

nmf

nmf

7.8

nmf

2.0 1.5

1.6

2.3

35,850,000

10.8

-0.3%

44,750,000

11.0

4.9

-1.0%

-11.6%

285,750,000

9.9

2.0

-5.4%

-4.0%

54,790,709

1.7%

-6.6%

27.9

41.9%

8.1%

28,860,000

9.9

46.9

1.2

1.5

1.7

13,999,500

14.8

4.8

10,835,370

10.0

1.5

22.7

1.1

-8.5%

21.8%

-3.1%

10,417,500

21.0

1.7

-18.6%

5.9%

-10.0%

9,405,000

13.2

1.1

-5.4%

19.2%

10.7%

-5.4%

17.4%

40.3%

-23.0%

70.00

-18.5%

9,210,000

-11.9%

15.50 33.00

39.5%

2.6%

-11.2%

-17.4%

106.75 37.00

46,725,000

18,527,400

17.75

21

95

nmf

-24.7%

-19.3%

252

9,350,000

11,880,000

-9.0%

12.85

42.60

51.7%

41,135,294

16.30

958

1.6

26.9%

2,832

21.30

10.9

7,560,000

25.4%

-13.2%

5,004

32,544,644

-15.3%

23.10

3.8

1.5

-8.2%

7.05

-17.7%

1.2

2.1

18,262,710

-34.0%

11.0

3.4

19.8

33.0%

32.60

38.7

8,130,000

61.7%

87.75

24.45

24,565,000

-14.2%

109.75

639

28.9%

19,800,000

11.10

4,020

29.30

48.7%

40.4%

25.9%

-10.5%

12

23.6

27.1%

165.00

98.00

27,100,000

-3.6%

200.00

154

25.0%

30.0%

-11.1%

10.2%

PB

14.4

20.9%

-7.0%

Trailing PE

111,000,000

5.1%

49.7%

Market Cap. (SAR '000)

-3.0%

51.7%

94

37.50

12 mths

-20.6%

1,282

13.10

0.6%

-10.0%

15.75

39,626

30.50

27.30

16.40

30.00

31.90

-15.8%

383,518

17.20

40.00

42.40

94.75

0.6%

36.5%

56.75

1 Saudi Hollandi Bank

17.10

-17.6%

34,521

16,202

41.2%

17.20

139

96.25

23.35

-14.2%

6.5%

18.4%

6,662

1.1%

0.0%

79

630

26.60

YTD

-5.6%

47.50

89.50

23.15

32.90

33.70

-18.8%

-24.7%

92.00

Saudi International Petrochemical Co.

1,730

152

369

9.05

21.00

2.8%

22 Saudi Industrial Investment Grp.

48.41

16.25

28.10

16,937

13.20

71.75

30,807

-10.6%

1,369

178.00

0.0%

67.25

29,082

91.50

13.15

82.75

on high

21.15

3 Saudi Cement Co.

5 Saudi Electricity Co.

% Change

Low

395

180.00 31.40

1,791

52-Week High

4,418

11.10

0.9%

3.0%

Volume ('000)

0.0%

-5.4%

2.5%

-5.7%

23.7% 14.4%

-4.9%

24,600,000

28.6%

17,750,000

14.0

3.9%

35,000,000

11.7

-1.4%

27,000,000

-30.3%

-23.2%

-20.4%

64.9%

24.5%

9.1%

10.1

-9.9%

-41.4%

-14.7%

7,406,667

80,600,000

14,140,000

nmf

1.4

1.6

9.4

1.6

14.8

5.8

9,882,000

11.8

12,810,000

nmf

8.5

2.1

2.0

2.8

2.4

3.3

STOCKS WITH NBK CAPITAL

13

ALWATAN DAILY wednesday, may 23, 2012

KUWAIT Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 6,381 (-0.5%)

KSE General Index (% Chg.)

120

412 (0.3%)

KSE Weighted Index (% Chg.)

53%

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

1.33

Advance/Decline Ratio

115

KAMCO.KSKIPCO Asset Management Co. National Bank of Kuwait

Turnover (KWD) 1,644,500 1,375,501

ZA Zain Kuwait

1,064,763

IFInternational Finance Co.

95 22-Feb-12

22-Mar-12

22-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

917,637

N National Bank of Kuwait

22-May-12

2.6%

5.8%

1.9%

0.285

1.8%

Worst Performers

Tamdeen Real Estate Co. TA

100

0.240

28,288,374

Highest Turnover 101

6.9%

1.060

20,562

Market Cap. (KWD '000)

100

% Chg.

0.265

0.920

452 / 396 OULAFUELOula Fuel Marketing Co.

Turnover (KWD '000)

105

Salhia Real Estate Co.

PCEM.KSE Kuwait Portland Cement Co.

6,492 / 5,694 NBK.KSE

KSE General Index 52 week High / Low

KSE Weighted Index 52 week High / Low

110

Close SRE.KSE

828,375

K Kuwait Finance House

Close ABAR.KSE Burgan Co. for Well Drilling

0.216

NINV.KSE National Investments Company

0.136

IFC.KSE

International Finance Co.

-4.4%

0.100

NIND.KSE National Industries Grp. Holding NRE.KSE

% Chg. -3.9% -2.9%

0.224

National Real Estate Co.

-1.8%

0.130

-1.5%

KSE Weighted Index

Quotes Company Name

Close

Daily % Chg.

High

Low

A Agility

0.410

-1.2%

0.410

0.405

T Al Themar Intl. Holding Co.

0.086

0.0%

0.086

0.086

A AREF Energy Holding Co.

0.126

1.6%

0.126

0.126

A Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait

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

B Boubyan Petrochemical Co. B Burgan Bank

0.590

0.0%

0.295

0.0%

0.610

0.0%

0.610

0.415

0.0% 0.0%

A Burgan Co. for Well Drilling

0.216

-4.4%

C Commercial Bank of Kuwait

0.770

-1.3%

C Combined Grp Contracting Co. F Commercial Facilities Co. G Global Investment House

1.440 0.270 0.116

G Gulf Bank

12

0.600

126

0.415

22

1.440

1.440

28

-

-

0.610

0.610 0.415

0.216

0.770 -

0.104

2

41

0

60

0.216

0

-

60

0

5

0.600

0.770

0.430

208 54

-

20

-

0.560

0.355

0.280

-9.2%

9.3%

-6.2%

0.410

-19.3%

0.198

-48.0%

0.920

0.700

0.116

0.019

1.182 0.255

-8.2%

-16.3%

-2.5%

-15.4%

0.0%

136.7%

152.2%

-5.6%

-15.2%

12.9%

35.2%

-17.5% -26.0%

0.3% 3.8%

4

0.495

0.285

-19.2%

-15.8%

0.100

-3.9%

0.104

0.099

10,449

0.162

0.096

-38.3%

-2.0%

0.240

2.6%

0.240

0.224

0

0.315

JAJazeera Airways

0.420

-1.2%

0.420

-

0.420

-

1,065 4

0.420

-

-

-

0

-

0.410

1.600

1.240

0.214

10

0.142

0.485

-

641,161

-45.3%

2

-

-17.8%

0.182

0.226

0.600

0.415

-23.1%

-16.3%

-10.3% -13.4%

-23.8%

-30.0%

-15.6%

-7.7%

-1.6%

-8.7%

87,075

5.2%

1.9%

0.370

-

1,066,424

8.9%

0.400

-

3.4%

-3.2%

0.533

0

1.5

0.530

1.3%

0

5.8

0.630

0.400

1.340

230,033

6.8%

257

1.340

-15.7%

18.9%

0.415

0.5

1.8

-4.5%

3.4%

PB

16.2

19.6

0.085

0.0%

429,203

892,811

0.132

0.530

PE

-10.2%

-15.7%

-6.3%

105

1.5%

6.5%

-5.5%

-16.9%

Trailing

Market Cap. (KWD '000)

12 mths

-17.3%

0.365

-

-4.7%

YTD

0.079

1.745

0

-

0.650

0.514

0

0

0.248

0.610

98

on high

0.410

0.192

K Kuwait Cement Co.

0.295

0.295

556

% Change

Low

0.410

IK Ikarus Petroleum Industries Co.

K KIPCO Asset Management Co.

-

0

High

-1.2%

1.340

IF International Finance Co.

-

228

0.590

0.590

52-Week

Volume ('000)

0.410

C Gulf Cable and Electrical Industries Co.

IF IFA Hotels & Resorts

1.4%

Turnover (KWD '000)

-16.6%

1.0

94,500

nmf

295,911

33.8

1.2

45,279

30.9

0.9

979,457

nmf

153,063

-26.0%

nmf

1.4

nmf

4.3

11.4

1.4

15.4

3.8

1.8

144,926

10.2

0.9

-23.1%

1,079,566

38.3

2.5

-1.2%

181,553

nmf

-55.0%

80,288

152,242

281,308

118.8% -11.1%

nmf

9.3

45.6

144,000

17.1

1.0

101,640

9.5

267,815

3.7

nmf

63,192

-30.0%

8.3

0.7

3.8

nmf

0.8

18.8

1.8

K Kuwait Finance House

0.710

1.4%

0.710

0.700

828

1,178

0.963

0.690

-26.3%

-14.8%

-24.8%

2,061,956

26.5

1.6

K Kuwait International Bank

0.270

0.0%

0.270

0.265

96

356

0.340

0.236

-20.6%

5.9%

-20.6%

280,078

23.6

1.4

K Kuwait Projects Co. (Holding)

0.325

0.0%

0.325

0.320

263

0.381

0.281

-14.7%

12.1%

-14.7%

434,387

F Kuwait Food Co.

1.340

P Kuwait Portland Cement Co.

1.5%

0.920

5.8%

1.340

0.920

1.320

13

0.870

255

10

1.620

286

85

1.320

1.240

0.660

-17.3%

-9.5%

-25.8%

29.6%

-2.9%

26.6%

0.990

0.0%

0.990

0.980

132

133

1.020

0.709

1.060

1.9%

1.060

1.040

918

870

1.109

0.909

N National Industries Grp. Holding

0.224

-1.8%

0.226

0.222

445

1,983

0.275

0.192

-18.5%

-13.8%

N National Real Estate Co.

0.130

-1.5%

0.130

0.128

26

203

0.168

0.056

-22.6%

1.6%

0.220

0.9%

0.216

177

M Mabanee Co.

M Mena Holding

0.425

N National Bank of Kuwait N National Industries Co.

N National Investments Company O Oula Fuel Marketing Co.

A Qurain Petrochemicals Industries Co. S Salhia Real Estate Co.

S Sultan Center Food Products Co. T Tamdeen Real Estate Co.

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

0.285 0.136 0.285

-

-

-2.9%

0.265 0.104

Z Zain Kuwait

0.134

0.265

0.248

0.0%

0.710

0.140

6.9%

-

2.260

-

0.265

0.0%

0.170

-

0.285

0.0%

0.084

-

1.8%

0.0%

0.230

-

0.0%

0.220

0.104 0.084 2.260

-

130

0.325

954

81

0.425

0.260

0.260

0.136

1.3

23.8%

605,077

28.8

4.0

-4.4%

4,614,707

15.2

-18.5%

290,102

nmf

0.0%

1187.9%

1187.9%

-12.3%

1.8%

-16.2%

-20.9%

-47.7%

-4.4%

-47.7%

4.1%

-5.0%

-20.8%

340

1,324

0.265

0.200

0.0%

27.4%

0.230

1,645

7,150

0.270

0.216

-14.8%

-

-

-

0.170

0.170

0.0%

0.700

18

0.226

177

34

0.136

411

516

0.093

0.097

228

1,376

0.186

0.067

2.480

1,937

1.880

1.080

0.690

-2.7%

-23.5% -13.4% -8.9%

-34.3%

2.8%

280,500 98,273

2.0

23.2

1.3

0.7

nmf

0.7

nmf

0.6

24.3

22.7%

135,872

18.9

1.0

-8.0%

85,818

22.4

0.9

115,600

nmf

242,000

9.1%

25.4%

154,124

16.5%

13.0%

1,139,114

-21.1%

1.7

98,662

12.2%

-10.3%

30.8%

0.7

30.2

-

-13.3%

0.0%

14.3

119,165

25.0%

-20.8%

812

1.9

33.0

0.242

2.240

0.720

-

0.425

11.2

83,632

0.360

0.082

-

-

538,683

-22.0%

287

0.102

0.230

-

-14.1%

60,198

30.8%

-34.3%

3,058,350

2.3

13.4

1.2

nmf

1.6

16.4

0.6

9.1

10.8

1.4

10.7

1.6

UAE Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 1,497 (0.6%)

DFM Index (% Chg.)

115

2,471 (0.1%)

ADSM Index (% Chg.)

Advance/Decline Ratio

DFM Index 52 week High / Low

97

Highest Turnover

92

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

22-Apr-12

A Arabtec Holding

Abu Dhabi SE

28,867,803

F First Gulf Bank

22-May-12

1.6%

Worst Performers

A ALDAR Properties 22-Mar-12

1.9%

0.31

Turnover (AED) 43,753,683 NBQ.ADSM National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain 35,477,438 TAMWEEL Tamweel 31,053,837 UPP.DFM Union Properties

S Sorouh Real Estate Co.

85 22-Feb-12

2.5%

0.99

383,460,869

Market Cap. (AED '000)

95

3.7%

0.41

312,189

Turnover (AED '000)

101

3.9%

1.11

2,775 / 2,293 DEYAAR.D Deyaar Development Co.

ADSM Index 52 week High / Low

% Chg.

1.07

32% ALDAR.AD ALDAR Properties 4.00 DANA.ADS Dana Gas 1,754 / 1,301 DFM.DFM Dubai Financial Market

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

105

Close SOROUH.A Sorouh Real Estate Co.

25,585,631

E Emaar Properties

Close

#N/A

-9.0%

1.17

-0.9%

2.91

-0.3%

0.38

UNB.ADSM Union National Bank #N/A

% Chg.

1.71

#N/A

-0.5%

#N/A

Dubai FM

Quotes Company Name

Close

Daily % Chg.

High

Low

Turnover (AED '000)

A Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

3.10

0.0%

3.14

3.09

3,076

T Abu Dhabi National Energy Co.

1.17

0.0%

1.18

1.16

A Air Arabia

0.61

0.8%

0.61

0.60

A Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

A Abu Dhabi National Hotels A ALDAR Properties A Amlak Finance

3.13

2.00

1.11 1.02

1.0% -

3.7% -

3.16 -

1.13 -

3.11 -

2,266

1,945

1.36

1.14

2,406

3,983

78

-

-37.9%

-8.9%

-37.9%

-

1.90

E Emirates NBD

2.75

1.1%

2.75

2.72

N National Bank of Abu Dhabi N National Bank of Fujairah

N National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain S Sharjah Islamic Bank

S Sorouh Real Estate Co. T Tamweel

-

-

1.07

3.9%

1.10

1.05

35,477

2.90

945

0.38

-0.5%

U United Arab Bank

3.95

-

1.21 2.94

0.39 -

-

1,059

1,617 3,318

2.80

14,672

0.38

2,377 -

3.30

4.63

2.41

11.20 10.75

8.57 6.98

-

102.00

67.00

-

4.95

3.37

667

3

1.17

-

8,654

-

-

112

-0.3%

3.63

-16.5%

-40.6%

1.71

-0.9%

-31.9%

2.65

2,911

1.71

1.17

0.20

-15.5%

14,236 28,868

0.86

0.46

1.88

-9.0%

0.86

-15.1%

0.34

2.26

1.71

0.0%

2.67

0.66

1,018

5,824

0.86

3.24

1,946

8.76 8.67

-

654

-7.7%

-24.4%

8.73

-

9,224

1.69

0.0%

0.68

8.78

-

-

13,782

1.96

-

1.31

25,586

-

2,053

-

9,077

2.93

-

-

8,962

0.1%

4.95

2.91

* Closing Prices, Turnover and Market Cap. in USD

-

-

3,715

8.73

U Union National Bank U Union Properties

-

0.5

0.9

1.92

-

0.6

nmf

0.5%

1.26

4.9

1,417,500

1.91

67.00

0.2

-41.7%

D Dubai Islamic Bank

M Mashreq

8.5

10.4

-19.8%

1,988

G Gulf Cement Co.

2,842,020

-44.1%

3.02

8.84 9.02

2,000,000

-16.6%

0.71

0.98

0.0% 0.4%

-28.1%

3.9%

1.45

0.99

8.80 8.70

-9.1%

-19.3%

78

1.80

1.9%

E Etisalat F First Gulf Bank

-28.6%

0.57

1.5

0.99

2.97

1.98

14.7

D Dubai Financial Market

0.7%

2.80

1.1

4,583,670

2,843

2.97

0.8

128.8%

0.30

E Emaar Properties

7.0

92.9%

5,650

3.06

7,283,250

6.4

-15.5%

0.40

0.3%

-5.6%

7,401,529

1.18

0.41

3.03

-2.5%

1.3%

3.46

-

2.5%

D du

-14.0%

-0.9%

14,785

-

0.41

0.31

0.8

-11.8%

4,534,493

D Dana Gas

1.6%

5.3

-22.9%

63

0.31

17,346,352

20.7%

0.79

D Deyaar Development Co.

8.8%

-23.4%

0.82 -

11.5%

-

0.76

PB

-6.6%

0.76

1.3% -

PE

1.45

0.81 2.75

2.92

Trailing

Market Cap. (AED '000)

28,005

A Arkan Building Materials Co. C Commercial Bank of Dubai

3.55

12 mths

31,054 43,754

1.82

25

YTD

1.09 2.91

0.6%

on high

2.69

3.00

1.81

% Change

Low

3.32

0.7%

A Aramex

High

991

2.92

A Arabtec Holding

52-Week

Volume ('000)

65 4

1.44

9.00

2.24 1.02

0.67

7.38

0.0%

0.6%

-0.4%

45.5% 4.8%

-1.1%

0.0%

-8.2%

-1.5%

-11.2%

-6.5%

-28.2%

-21.4% -19.1%

-3.6% 12.6%

77.5%

0.9

1,791,180

nmf

0.5

13,851,429

11.3

7,920,000 7,252,373

1.8 1.0

-0.8%

8.8%

50.0%

1,034,582 -

4.3%

33,824,895 5,445,000

-5.5%

-10.0%

2,736,000

-5.5%

2,085,930

0.67

-26.2%

25.9%

-18.9%

2,808,750

325

3.90

2.82

-25.4%

0.7%

-17.1%

7,262,269

8.5%

-11.2%

6,156 -

0.50

4.50

0.24

3.28

-21.5%

-23.8%

-12.2%

94.0% 46.1%

0.8

11.9 6.9

-23.7%

0.53

1.1

69,574,032 26,100,000

15,283,880

1.45 1.49

4.6

2.4

-14.6% -4.7%

33,087 12,313

nmf

0.3

0.6

0.0%

2.4%

4.4

9.1

-10.3%

-15.7%

1.4

7.0

2,706,821

1.63 0.80

11.9

1.1

18,090,978

-34.0%

7.6%

nmf

-5.4%

-34.3% -3.0%

2,650,021

5,605,468

-20.8%

15.6%

1,530,000

-3.7%

17.9%

-10.0%

-12.5%

0.0%

24.5%

-11.5%

8.7

nmf

13.8

0.8

0.9

8.9

1.2

8.1

0.9

7.9

0.4

4.8

0.7

18.5 7.9

1,170,000

12.6

1,269,305

nmf

3,935,785

0.4

11.4

2.7

0.5

0.5

0.5

2.0

STOCKS WITH NBK CAPITAL

14

ALWATAN DAILY wednesday, may 23, 2012

QATAR Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 8,499 (0.9%)

DSM Index (% Chg.)

120

Advance/Decline Ratio

Turnover (QAR '000)

465,844,137

Market Cap. (QAR '000)

97

22-Apr-12

16,340,323

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

12,078,794

Q Qatar Islamic Bank

22-May-12

1.6% 1.6%

78.70

Turnover (QAR) 41,808,428 BRES.DSMBarwa Real Estate Co. 18,230,816 QGTS.DSMQatar Gas Transport Co.

V Vodafone Qatar

MMasraf Al Rayan 22-Mar-12

57.90

1.7%

1.4%

Worst Performers

Q Qatar National Bank 90 22-Feb-12

1.8%

19.60

QIBK.DSM Qatar Islamic Bank

Highest Turnover

101

100

% Chg.

9.49

16.36

8,892 / 8,071 DHBK.DSMDoha Bank 280,916 ERES.DSMEzdan Real Estate Co.

DSM 52 week High / Low 110

Close

50% VFQS.DSM Vodafone Qatar - AHCS.DSMAamal Co.

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

11,515,473

C The Commercial Bank of Qatar

Close

0.0%

15.80

QTEL.DSM Qatar Telecom

0.4%

117.00

QEWS.DSMQatar Electricity & Water Co. #N/A

% Chg.

26.65

0.6%

141.00

#N/A

0.7%

#N/A

#N/A

Doha SM

Quotes Company Name A Aamal Co.

Close 16.36

Daily % Chg.

High

1.7%

16.59

15.83

3,856

26.50

10,370

57.10

830

C The Commercial Bank of Qatar

71.00

1.3%

71.00

69.50

11,515

E Ezdan Real Estate Co.

19.60

1.6%

19.60

19.20

58

D Doha Bank

57.90

0.0% 1.6%

17.23

26.65 57.90

IQIndustries Qatar

139.00

1.2%

139.00

136.60

11,198

Q Qatar Electricity & Water Co.

141.00

0.7%

141.00

140.00

3,385

1.4%

50.20

49.50

M Masraf Al Rayan

Q Qatar Gas Transport Co.

Q Qatar International Islamic Bank Q Qatar Islamic Bank

26.85 15.80

0.4%

78.70

1.4%

50.20

Q Qatar National Bank

134.30

Q Qatar Telecom

117.00

Q Qatar Navigation V Vodafone Qatar

0.8%

26.85

15.81 78.70

26.55

16,340

15.70

10,611

76.90

12,079

63.90

4,334

9.25

41,808

0.8%

134.30

133.20

0.6%

117.00

115.20

64.50

0.8%

9.49

1.8%

64.50 9.70

52-Week

Volume ('000)

High

236

6,648

17.38

26.65

17.39

Turnover (QAR '000)

K Al Khalij Commercial Bank B Barwa Real Estate Co.

0.8%

Low

21.90

384

31.20

26.25

-3.4%

-14.6%

-18.7%

-11.0%

-14.6%

1.2%

68.00

-17.0%

-15.5%

3

24.97

18.60

-21.5%

22.50

67.00

-3.6%

15.2%

20,137,500

14.0

15.74

-13.8%

-9.8%

-13.4%

8,750,735

10.6

4.5

76.30

-7.7%

-6.6%

-1.7%

18,596,275

13.0

1.8

7,386,875

10.2

0.7

8,022,846

nmf

1.2

56.20

45.50

137

141.73

122.73

47

123.30

94.31

4,400

9.32

0.9

-4.4%

35

5,423

7.6

nmf

129.50

86.70

1.2

51,988,935

148.00

68

10,370,172

1.5

12.8

-14.8%

24

85.30

6,256,800

-11.7%

118.80

155

-2.7%

PB

18.4

9.2

146.20

18.32

8,908,020

Trailing PE

17,568,692

81

673

Market Cap. (QAR '000)

-3.1%

50.00

28.10

12 mths

13.2%

85.50

612

18,231

16.06

-25.3%

YTD

164 14

1,733

on high

14.00

18.00

390

% Change

Low

-13.6% -4.9%

-4.7%

-10.7% -5.2%

-9.7%

8.6%

4.5%

-4.7%

1.0%

76,450,000

-4.7%

-7.0%

14,100,000

6.6%

-2.8%

7,598,711

2.7%

64.00

-25.6%

-15.7%

-25.6%

7.24

1.8%

25.7%

18.6%

-5.1%

11,967,803

24.1%

93,973,664

9.9%

37,477,440

1.3

9.4

1.8

1.9

9.9

3.2

10.4

4.7

2.4

11.3

1.7

12.0

2.3

14.8

1.8

OMAN Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 5,750 (2.3%)

MSM Index (% Chg.)

120

42% BKDB.MSMBank Dhofar - OCOI.MSM Oman Cement Co.

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price Advance/Decline Ratio Turnover (OMR '000)

6,909,818

Market Cap (OMR '000)

99

22-Apr-12

203,610

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

91,814

O Oman Cement Co.

22-May-12

1.25

2.2%

0.53

2.1%

0.59

Turnover (OMR) 453,699 OTEL.MSMOman Telecommunications Co. 412,171 NBOB.MSMNational Bank of Oman

R Renaissance Services O Oman Telecommunications Co.

22-Mar-12

3.4%

1.9%

Worst Performers

B Bank Muscat

90 22-Feb-12

3.6%

0.68

BKMB.MSMBank Muscat

Highest Turnover

101

100

% Chg.

0.46

6,082 / 5,419 RCCI.MSM Raysut Cement Co. 4,535 RNSS.MSMRenaissance Services

MSM 52 week High / Low

110

Close

37,639

R Raysut Cement Co.

BKMB.MSMBank Muscat

RNSS.MSMRenaissance Services RCCI.MSM Raysut Cement Co.

Close

% Chg.

1.30

1.1%

0.29

1.4%

0.53

2.1%

0.59

1.9%

1.25

2.2%

Muscat SM

Quotes Company Name

Close

B Bank Dhofar

0.456

N National Bank of Oman

0.291

O Oman Telecommunications Co.

1.299

R Renaissance Services

0.531

B Bank Muscat

O Oman Cement Co.

R Raysut Cement Co.

Daily % Chg.

High

3.6%

Low

0.460

1.9%

0.595

0.582

0.675

3.4%

0.685

0.660

1.245

1.1% 2.2% 2.1%

0.291

1.310

2

1.251

204

0.535

0.528

454

Low

0.522

on high

0.423

-12.6%

YTD

-11.5%

-6.7%

-3.3%

0.565

-12.1%

-11.4%

136

0.693

0.416

-2.6%

56.3%

-0.4%

63.8%

0.324

0.286

1.425

30

1.041

1.250

854

0.711

0.950

0.458

-10.2% -8.8% -44.1%

12 mths

0.2%

0.671

157

38

1.221

% Change

699 8

92

1.286

High 9

412

0.291

52-Week

Volume ('000)

4

0.450

0.590

1.4%

Turnover (OMR '000)

-0.8%

Market Cap. (OMR '000)

PE

PB

501,653

12.5

322,435

8.9

-5.3%

1,060,108

18.6%

223,339

16.2

249,000

14.8

19.8%

974,250

17.0%

-2.6%

Trailing

-43.9%

149,792

2.2

8.6

1.2 1.2

1.6

8.4

2.2

nmf

0.9

2.5

BAHRAIN Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 1,138 (-0.7%)

BSE Index (% Chg.)

120

42% BATELCO.BBahrain Telecommunications Co. 0.25 BISB.BSE Bahrain Islamic Bank

% of stocks trading above 1 yr avg. price

Advance/Decline Ratio

1,366 / 1,129

BSE 52 week High / Low

5,889

Turnover (BHD '000)

110

6,435,963

Market Cap. (BHD '000)

99

12,420 8,369

B BBK

22-May-12 Bahrain SE

BBK

0.4%

0.09

0.0%

#N/A

#N/A

0.39

Ahli United Bank

-0.5%

0.60

Turnover (BHD) 5,734,710 ITHMR.BSE Ithmaar Bank 21,796 BARKA.BS Albaraka Banking Grp.

A Ahli United Bank

B Bahrain Telecommunications Co.

22-Mar-12 22-Apr-12 S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

AUB.BSE

#N/A

% Chg.

0.48

-0.8%

Worst Performers

IT Ithmaar Bank

90 22-Feb-12

BBK.BSE

Highest Turnover

101

100

#N/A

Close

3,260

B Albaraka Banking Grp.

AUB.BSE

BBK.BSE #N/A

Close

% Chg.

0.15

0.87

Ahli United Bank

0.60

BBK

0.39

#N/A

#N/A

-9.4%

-4.4%

-0.8%

-0.5%

#N/A

Quotes Company Name

Close

A Ahli United Bank*

0.600

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

0.870

Daily % Chg.

High

-0.8% -4.4% -

0.605 0.870 -

Low

15,252

-

-

0.870

0.0%

0.090

0.090

0.390

-0.5%

0.390

0.386

0.145

-9.4%

0.234

-

797

0.560

0.4% -

0.0%

0.480 -

-

0.145

0.145

-

-

0.560

0.560

9

2

-

-

-

1

10

-

0.676

1.020

0.599

0.857

on high -11.2%

YTD -0.5%

-14.7%

-6.9%

-22.4%

0.0%

Market Cap. (BHD '000)

-9.4%

3,140,133

-19.3%

1,430,600

4.8%

691,200

-14.7%

882,593

-13.2%

0.486

0.380

-1.2%

22.4%

0.0%

0.0%

-30.0%

637,560

-2.6%

-4.3%

479,002

22

0.420 797

227

0.240

-

0.424

0.600

0.082 0.388 797

-7.1%

9.5%

12 mths

0.420

0.116

2

% Change

Low

0.530

20 45

8

33

High

25,140

22

0.480

52-Week

Volume ('000)

0.600

0.090

0.480

Turnover (BHD '000)

-5.8%

0.065

-39.6%

123.1%

0.234

-44.8%

-22.0%

0.545

-6.7%

-22.4% -7.1%

70.6%

-32.0%

Trailing PE

PB 9.9

7.3

6.8

0.4

8.8

1.3

4.5

0.6

10.4

1.8

84,571

nmf

332,029

10.4

388,276

195,287

1.2

0.7

nmf

nmf

0.8

1.4 0.7

0.9

LIFE

Eat a healthy diet when nursing

While you’re nursing, eating a healthy diet is particularly important for both you and baby. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics offers these dietary guidelines for nursing mothers: •Drink plenty of fluids; aim for 12 to 15 cups per day.

•Limit yourself to no more than 300 milligrams per day of caffeine.

•Avoid alcohol. If you do drink, do so along with plenty of food and water, and allow several hours before you nurse your baby.

•Avoid fish that are high in mercury (i.e. shark, swordfish, mackerel, tilefish), but do eat up to 12 ounces per week of fish that are lower in mercury.

•Avoid foods that seem to make baby fussy.

WEDNESDAY, may 23, 2012

SpaceX launches private capsule on historic trip to space station CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: An unmanned rocket owned by privately held Space Exploration Technologies blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday for a mission designed to be the first commercial flight to the International Space Station.

The 178-foot (54-meter) tall Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 3:44 a.m. from a refurbished launch pad just south of where NASA launched its now-retired space shuttles. Less than 10 minutes later, the rocket delivered its cargo - a Dragon capsule with 1,200 pounds (544 kg) of supplies for the station crew - into orbit.

“Feels like a giant weight just came off my back,” company founder and chief executive Elon Musk posted on Twitter after Dragon deployed its solar panels, the first of several key milestones that must be met before the spacecraft is cleared to dock at the station.

“Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting because it represents the potential of a new era in American spaceflight,” John Holdren, President Barack Obama’s chief science adviser, said in a statement.

NASA is counting on companies like Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, to take over the task of flying cargo - and eventually astronauts - to the $100 billion space station, which orbits about 240 miles above Earth.

Currently, NASA is dependent on Russia to fly crew to the station, at a cost of more than $60 million per person. Russia, Europe and Japan also fly cargo to the station.

If its test flight is successful, SpaceX would become the first private company to reach the space station, a microgravity research complex for biological, materials, fluid physics and other science experiments and

technology demonstrations.

SpaceX and a second company, Orbital Sciences Corp, already hold contracts worth a combined $3.5 billion to fly cargo to the station.

SpaceX also is among four firms vying to build space taxis to fly astronauts, tourists and non-NASA researchers.

Separately, NASA contributed nearly $400 million to SpaceX’s $1.2 billion commercial space program, which includes development and up to three test flights of Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon capsules.

An analysis by the US Government Accountability Office shows that a similar program under traditional NASA procurement would have cost four to 10 times as much, said NASA’s Alan Lindenmoyer, who manages the agency’s commercial spaceflight initiatives.

Tuesday’s launch followed a last-second cutoff of Falcon’s planned liftoff on Saturday. Engineers later traced the problem to climbing pressure in an engine chamber due to a faulty purge valve.

“It looks like we probably could have flown with the condition,” SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said. “Once we separated from the ground, things would have settled down a bit, but it was still the right thing to do.”

Dragon will take about a day to reach the space station’s orbit. It will then spend another day practicing maneuvers and testing its communications systems and navigation aids. If all goes as planned, NASA is expected to clear Dragon for berthing at the space station on Friday. “Everything is looking really good,” Musk told reporters after launch. “I would count today as a success no matter what happens the rest of the mission.” -Reuters

The SpaceX Falcon 9 test rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, May 22, 2012. (Reuters)

Scientists deploy genetics in search for bigfoot LONDON: Scientists are turning to genetic testing to see if they can prove the existence of the elusive hairy humanoid known across the world as bigfoot, yeti and sasquatch. A joint project between Oxford University and Switzerland’s Lausanne Museum of Zoology will examine organic remains that some say belong to the creature that has been spotted in remote areas for decades.

“It’s an area that any serious academic ventures into with a deal of trepidation ... It’s full of eccentric and downright misleading reports,” said Bryan Sykes at Oxford’s Wolfson

College. But the team would take a systematic approach and use the latest advances in genetic testing, he added. “There have been DNA tests done on alleged yetis and other such things but since then the testing techniques, particularly on hair, have improved a lot due to advances in forensic science,” he told Reuters.

Modern testing could get valid results from a fragment of a shaft of hair said Sykes, who is leading the project with Michel Sartori, director of the Lausanne museum.

Ever since a 1951 expedition to Mount Everest returned with photographs of giant

footprints in the snow, there has been speculation about giant Himalayan creatures, unknown to science. There have been eyewitness reports of the “yeti” or “migoi” in the Himalayas, “bigfoot” or “sasquatch” in America, “almasty” in the Caucasus mountains and ‘orang pendek’ in Sumatra.

Tests up to now have usually concluded that alleged yeti remains were actually human, he said. But that could have been the result of contamination. “There has been no systematic review of this material.”

The project will focus on Lausanne’s archive

New frog species is bright yellow NEW YORK: A new bright yellow frog species has been found in the mountains of western Panama according to LiveScience.

The frog belongs to a species-rich group of frogs, the so-called rainfrogs that lack a tadpole stage, but develop directly as little frogs inside the egg.

Andreas Hertz and colleagues from the Senckenberg Research Institute in Germany discovered the frog in 2010. The frog measures less than 0.8 inches (2 centimeters) and lives in the Serranía de Tabasará of western Panama, a highly understudied part of the Panamanian central mountain range. “Although we recognized that the male mating call of this species differs from all what we had heard before and therefore suspected it to be new, much effort was involved to finally spot it in the dense vegetation,” Hertz said in a statement. “When we finally caught the first individuals by hand, we noticed that it dyes one’s fingers yellow when it is handled.

The scientific name (Diasporus citrinobapheus) of this new frog refers to this characteristic and means yellow dyer rainfrog.” To assure the validity of the frog as a new species, the biologists studied body structure, coloration, molecular genetic data, and vocalizations of a series of individuals, and compared the results with the data derived from closely related species. Additionally, the researchers took into consideration the possibility that the yellow stain may be poisonous and performed

FILE - This is a yellow dyer rain frog, type specimen.

(Agencies)

an analysis of skin secretions.

“We cannot say whether the dye is any good as a predatory defense, as we could not find any poisonous components,” Hertz said. “Maybe the color is just easily washed out and has no particular function. However, for now, this peculiarity of the new species remains enigmatic.”

Pollution-hunting robot fish take to the sea

of remains assembled by Bernard Heuvelmans, who investigated reported yeti sightings from 1950 up to his death in 2001.

Other institutions and individuals will also be asked to send in details of any possible yeti material. Samples will be subjected to “rigorous genetic analysis”, and the results published in peer-reviewed science journals.

Aside from the yeti question, Sykes said he hoped the project would add to the growing body of knowledge on the interaction between humanity’s ancestors.

“In the last two years it has become clear

that there was considerable inter-breeding between Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals ... about 2 to 4 percent of the DNA of each individual European is Neanderthal,” he said. One hypothesis is that yetis are surviving Neanderthals. The joint project will take DNA samples from areas where there have been alleged sightings to see whether the Neanderthal DNA traces are stronger in the local population.

As for the project’s chances of success?

“The answer is, of course, I don’t know,” said Sykes. “It’s unlikely but on the other hand if we don’t examine it we won’t know.” -Reuters

Disputed dinosaur fossil auctioned for 1M$ in NYC NEW YORK: A dinosaur dispute is brewing between the Mongolian government and an American auction house, which sold a fossil of a fearsome T. Rex relative despite a court order not to.

The 8-foot-tall, 24-foot-long skeleton of a Tyannosaurus bataar - or tarbosaurus, a name that means “alarming lizard” - went for $1,052,500 Sunday at a New York auction, says Heritage Auctions, which hasn’t identified the buyer or seller.

But the sale is contingent on the outcome of the Dallas-based auction house’s court fight with Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia, the auction house said.

Elbegdorj says the fossil - a nearly complete skeleton of a two-legged, fanged beast that stalked Central Asia about 80 million years ago - may belong to his country. Heritage says that it was assured the specimen was obtained legally, and that Mongolia hasn’t established the fossil’s origins lie there.

The auction came a day after a Dallas judge ordered Heritage not to sell the specimen while the case played out - and the sale happened even with Texas state District Judge Carlos R. Cortez listening via cellphone, said Elbegdorj lawyer Robert Painter. He said Monday he planned to ask the judge to find that Heritage defied his ruling and hold the auction house in contempt of court.

“It’s an order, not a suggestion,” Painter said by phone. “I think Heritage Auctions has a lot of explaining to do.”

Heritage President Greg Rohan said in a statement Sunday that the auctioneers “respect the various opinions on the subject and wish to protect the legal rights of all parties involved.”

FILE - This nearly complete Tyrannosaurus bataar is set to go on auction. (AP)

About 75 percent complete and assembled so it’s ready for display, the fossil is “a once-in-a-generation” opportunity for collectors, Heritage natural history director David Herskowitz said in a release.

He told the Daily Mail of London last week that the skeleton was found more than a decade ago in the Gobi desert and is owned by a fossil collector from Dorset, a county in Britain’s southwest.

News of the sale stirred alarm in Mongolia, which bans the exporting of dinosaur bones and fossils. While the tarbosaurus skeleton’s discovery site hasn’t been disclosed, much of the Gobi desert is in Mongolia, and Elbegdorj’s court papers include a statement from an American Museum of Natural History paleontologist saying that Mongolia is the only

place in the world where the tarbosaurus is known to be found.

“At stake are the heritage, history and culture of a sovereign nation,” Elbegdorj’s court papers say.

Rohan said in a statement that Heritage has “legal assurances from our reputable consignors that the specimen was obtained legally.”

While the judge hasn’t yet ruled on the heart of the dispute, he ordered Heritage not to auction or transfer the fossil to anyone for now.

“The skeleton is inherently unique and irreplaceable, and if it is sold to a bona fide purchaser, it will likely be unable to be recovered” by the Mongolian government, Cortez wrote.

A hearing is set for June 1. -AP

Oldest fossilized ink found in ancient squid cousin

The SHOAL robotic fish, a state-of-the-art pollution monitoring system, is seen in this undated handout photo. (AFP)

LONDON: Robot “fish” developed by European scientists to improve pollution monitoring moved from the lab to the sea in a test at the northern Spanish port of Gijon on Tuesday. The developers hope the new technology, which reduces the time it takes to detect a pollutant from weeks to seconds, will sell to port authorities, water companies, aquariums and anyone with an interest in monitoring water quality. It could also have spin-offs for cleaning up oil spills, underwater security, diver monitoring or search and rescue at sea, they said.

The fish, which are 1.5 meters (5 feet) long and currently cost 20,000 pounds ($31,600) each, are designed to swim like real fish and are fitted with sensors to pick up pollutants leaking from ships or undersea pipelines.

They swim independently, co-ordinate with each other, and transmit their readings back to a shore station up to a kilometer away. “Chemical sensors fitted to the

fish permit real-time, in-situ analysis, rather than the current method of sample collection and dispatch to a shore based laboratory,” said Luke Speller, a scientist at British consultancy BMT Group who led the project.

The fish can avoid obstacles, communicate with each other, map where they are and know how to return to base when their eight-hour battery life is running low, their makers say. After the tests this week, the team will look at modifications needed to move the fish into commercial production, which they expect to reduce the cost of each unit. The development project was part-funded by the EU and drew on expertise from the University of Essex and the University of Strathclyde in Britain, Ireland’s Tyndall National Institute and Thales Safare, a unit of Europe’s largest defense electronics group, Thales, which was responsible for the communication technology. -AFP

NEW YORK: The oldest fossilized pigment ever found has been discovered inside the preserved ink sacs of an ancient cuttlefish ancestor according to LiveScience.

The ink sacs belonged to a cephalopod, the group that includes squid, octopus and cuttlefish, 160 million years ago, during the Jurassic era. The molecular structure of the ancient ink is surprisingly similar to that of modern cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, said study researcher John Simon, a professor of chemistry at the University of Virginia.

“They’re essentially indistinguishable,” Simon told LiveScience.

Previous studies have turned up tiny structures in everything from fossil fish eyes to dinosaur feathers containing the dark brown or black pigment melanin.

But it can be tough to tell pigment structures, called melanosomes, from fossilized

bacteria. Simon and his colleagues used a barrage of chemical tests to examine two fossil ink sacs found in the United Kingdom. These tests gave them a remarkably detailed look at the molecular makeup of the ink sacs’ contents.

The research confirmed that the pigment in the sacs is, in fact, melanin.

There are two types of melanin: eumelanin, which is black or dark brown, and pheomelanin, which is orange-red. Using chemical methods, the researchers were able to determine that the squid ink contained eumelanin. These methods are more reliable than attempts to determine color by looking at melanosome structure, Simon said, as structure is not necessarily related to color. “This would have been totally black,” Simon said.

At 160 million years old, the ink is the oldest pigment ever found. But Simon and his colleagues suspect that with state-of-

the-art chemistry, they’ll be able to reach even further back into the fossil record.

They’re now planning to investigate some fossil deposits from England that may contain pigment dating back 500 million years. There are signs that amino acids, the molecules that make up proteins, still persist in fossilized pigment, Simon added, which would give researchers an unprecedented look at the building blocks of nature’s colors. Modern cuttlefish use their ink to distract predators, an ability that seems to stretch way back.

“The ‘aha moment’ for me was when we looked at the techniques for chemical bonding and we couldn’t find anything that distinguished the pigment in the fossil from the pigment in a modern-day cuttlefish, which suggests the pigment hasn’t changed in 160 million years,” Simon said. “When I think about other evolutionary transitions that just amazes me.”

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ALWATAN DAILY

CULTURE

wednesdAY, may 23, 2012

Painting that ridicules S. Africa’s leader defaced JOHANNESBURG: Two men wielding cans of red and black paint entered a Johannesburg gallery on Tuesday and defaced a painting that draws attention to the South African president’s genitals and his reputation for promiscuity, witnesses said, as a judge determined the art could be challenged in court by the president and his party.

“Now it’s completely and utterly destroyed,” said Iman Rappetti, a reporter for a South African TV channel who was in the Goodman Gallery when the men struck.

Her channel showed footage of a man in a suit painting a red X over the president’s genital area and then his face. Next a man in a hoodie used his hands to rubbed black paint over the president’s face and down the painting. Rapetti said the men were detained by gallery staff and police arrived later to take them away.

The painting by Brett Murray entitled “The Spear” has been on display since early this month, but made the news only last week when it came to the attention of South Africa’s governing African National Congress party.

Earlier Tuesday in a Johannesburg courtroom a few kilometers (miles) from the gallery, a judge said that in an unusual move a full bench of the

High Court would hear the ANC’s and President Jacob Zuma’s challenge of the gallery’s rights to display the painting.

Rappetti said she initially thought the first man was part of a performance art piece, and that staff at the well-known gallery also were slow to react.

The Goodman, which had said in a statement a day earlier that it was stepping up security, refused to comment Tuesday and closed the gallery as reporters and passers-by gathered outside its gate.

The gallery’s attorney, Greg Palmer, said they are going to file a charge for malicious damage to property. He said they did not know who the two men were who defaced the painting.

“The gallery has closed and they feel that their security is sufficient,” he said.

Judge Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane had been expected to begin hearing the case against the painting Tuesday. Instead, citing its national interest and the constitutional issues at stake, she said the case would start Thursday. Kathree-Setiloane and two other High Court judges, among the most senior in South Africa, will hear the case.

Nearly one hundred pro-Zuma protesters were outside the court.

Also Tuesday, Zuma’s children asked to par-

ticipate on the side of their father. Murray, the artist who painted the portrait, asked to participate alongside the Goodman. Murray has refused to comment on the controversy the show has sparked.

The painting is part of a large exhibition of Murray’s sculptures and paintings titled “Hail to the Thief II.” The ANC has called the show an “abuse of freedom of artistic expression.”

The painting defaced Tuesday is a black, red and yellow acrylic on canvas priced at 120,000 rand (about $15,000). In a style reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s brightly colored Marilyn Monroe portraits, “The Spear” depicts Zuma in a suit and what could be a codpiece accentuating his genitals.

Some observers say it depicts Zuma exposing his genitals. The painting had been sold before the defacement.

Other work in the show recalls Soviet-era propaganda posters, and twists political slogans to acerbic effect. In an essay accompanying the exhibit, curators say the work forms “part of a vitriolic and succinct censure of bad governance and are (Murray’s) attempts to humorously expose the paucity of morals and greed within the ruling elite.”-AP

The controversial portrait of South African President Jacob Zuma painted by Brett Murray stands defaced at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday May 22, 2012. (AP)

Houston museum unveils $85 million dinosaur hall Tokyo Skytree, the world’s tallest tower, opens to the public

Visitors wait in front of the entrance of the Tokyo Skytree in Tokyo, Tuesday, May 22, 2012. (AP)

LONDON: The world’s tallest tower and Japan’s biggest new landmark, the Tokyo Skytree, has opened to the public, reports The Guardian.

Nearly 8,000 visitors were expected to take high-speed elevators up to the observation decks of the 634-metre (2,080ft) tower to mark its opening. Some reportedly waited in line more than a week to get the coveted tickets for a panoramic view, although Tuesday ended up being cloudy in Tokyo.

Skytree is recognized by Guinness World Records as the tallest tower, beat-

ing the Canton Tower in China, which is 600m (1,968.5ft).

The world’s tallest structure is Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which stands at 828m (2,717ft). That is in a different category because it’s classed as a skyscraper - habitable and designed for office and commercial use.

The Skytree will serve as a broadcast tower for television and radio, as well as being a tourist attraction. It replaces the 333m tall (1,092.5ft) Tokyo Tower - a symbol of Japan’s capital since 1958 - as the broadcast hub.

Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf (left) looks at Crown Princess Victoria as she holds Princess Estelle, next to Prince Daniel (right) and his parents Ewa Westling and Olle Westling during the christening ceremony of Princess Estelle of Sweden in the Royal Chapel in Stockholm on May 22, 2012. Princess Estelle, second in line to the throne after her mother Crown Princess Victoria, is the daughter of Prince Daniel of Sweden. (AFP)

HOUSTON: Pups in her womb, a large eye visible behind the rib cage, one baby stuck in the birth canal: all fossilized evidence that this ancient marine beast, the Ichthyosaur, died in childbirth.

Jurassic Mom’s almost certainly painful death is perfectly preserved in a rare fossil skeleton, one of the many unique items that will go on display in the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s $85 million dinosaur hall when it opens to the public June 2. The Associated Press got a first peek at the exhibit as the finishing touches were put in place.

Paleontologists and scientists at the museum and the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in Hill City, S.D. have worked tirelessly for three years to collect, clean and preserve artifacts designed to give visitors a look at how life evolved beginning 25 billion years ago.

“You’ll actually be able to touch a fossil that’s 3.5 billion years old,” Robert Bakker, the museum’s curator of paleontology, says in a conspiratorial whisper. “A microbe, simpler than bacteria, which had in its DNA the kernel that would flower later on into dinosaurs, mammals, then us. That’s the beginning of the safari.”

His long white beard and locks bobbing with all-too-obvious excitement, Bakker raises his brows below his cowboy hat as he continues to describe the journey visitors will experience when they enter “The Prehistoric Safari,” expected to be among the top six dinosaur exhibits in the United States.

Jack Horner, curator of the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Mont., who acted, along with Bakker, as an adviser on the Jurassic Park movie series, agreed there will be some unique and exclusive items on display in Houston, including Triceratops skin. But he said that to him, an object’s value is determined by science and should always be peer-reviewed before being displayed.

“Anybody can have stuff,” Horner said, adding that he is curious to see the scientific findings on the items displayed in Houston. “Opinions are cheap.” Bakker says the safari is designed to teach about evolution. Visitors, he explains, will experience the Cambrian explosion, when life went from “literally slime” into “beautiful, elegantly sculptured things, the trilobites, which are gorgeous.”

At the Houston museum, visitors will be treated to one of the largest displays of trilobite fossils in the world, and Bakker rubs his hands with enthusiasm at the thought of young children pressing their nose to the glass to get a glimpse or reaching

In a May 15, 2012 photo paleontologists from the Black Hills Institute of Geologic Research with the help of film industry prop artists install a T-Rex fossil skeleton in the new Hall of Paleontology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science Tuesday. (AP)

a tiny finger out to touch an impossibly old piece of rock.

“Dinosaurs are the jumper cables to the human mind. Kids can’t curb their enthusiasm when they’re in a hall of dinosaurs and mammoths and mammoth hunters and trilobites and giant fish that could chomp up a shark. These natural objects in motion and context make kids want to read, you can’t stop them from reading and thinking,” said Bakker, who in the 1970s was one of the first to argue the massive prehistoric beasts were warmblooded and further challenged scientific thinking in his 1986 book “The Dinosaur Heresies.”

For scientists, and the museum community, the exhibit offers unique objects, including the only Triceratops skin found to date, a specimen that showed they had been wrong in believing the horned vegetarians had smooth skin. In fact, it had bristles, Bakker said.

Then there is the museum’s skeleton of a T. rex, one of only two with complete hands, two long fingers and one stub, which Bakker believes could be proof this massive, feared predator also had a soft

side. The fingers, too small and badly configured, wouldn’t have helped in hunting, or even grabbing things, leaving Bakker and other paleontologists to believe they were for tickling, fondling and even falling in love. The fossil also has a piece of its tail missing, likely because it was bitten off by another Tyrannosaurus Rex. The hall also will house the world’s only complete fossil of a snake-type creature from 50 million years ago, said David Temple, the museum’s associate curator of paleontology. The snake is related to the constrictor, and the only other fossil of this type disappeared about 60 years ago.

Original sculptures, paintings and murals will depict scenes scientists and paleontologists believe occurred based on the fossil evidence, Temple said.

And there are creatures native to Texas, including a Glyptodon, an Ice Age, armadillo-type creature the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, and one of the best preserved fin-backed reptiles that preceded the dinosaurs.

“This is what life was like at the beginning of natural history,” Temple said.-AP

At Egypt’s step-pyramid, vendors wait for tourists FRANCE: On the road to Egypt’s Djoser step pyramid at Saqqara there’s not a trace of a tourist anywhere, and a handful of trinket and souvenir salesmen sit on a metal railing hoping for a lucky break.

The uprising that overthrew former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 dealt a serious blow to Egypt’s vital tourism sector, and a year on, visitors have been slow to return to this key archaeological site south of Cairo.

“After January 25, tourism stopped. There’s no more work,” laments Saad Darwish, who sports around a dozen of the baseball caps he has for sale, one atop another, on his head.

In ordinary times, around 1,000 tourists a day would be flocking to Saqqara, one of the oldest and richest of Egypt’s many archeological sites.

But these days the numbers range from a handful to about 200, according to vendors here. Darwish, the father of five children between the ages of four and 21, estimates he needs to earn “100 pounds minimum” each day -- around $16 -- to keep his family afloat.

“At the moment, I don’t earn more than five, 10, 20 pounds a day. I don’t always have money to buy food. I go to the shop and they let me buy on credit.

When I have a little money, I pay them back,” he says. Adel Abdel Hadi, stands waiting for tourists in his grey galabeya -- the traditional Egyptian robe -- his head wrapped in a red scarf. He and his donkey once took tourists across this vast site, but since the uprising, there have been few takers. Pointing towards his animal, he says sadly: “If I eat, he eats, if I don’t eat, neither does he.”

The vendors say whatever meals they do get are made up of bread and the ubiquitous Egyptian bean dish known as ful. Meat, once a regular part of their diet, is no longer an option. “The government hasn’t done anything, they aren’t giving us money,” Darwish says.

Despite the hard times, there’s little in the way of bitterness about the uprising itself. It may have deprived many of the living they used to enjoy, but it’s given them “freedom,” points out Mansour Faheem, 46, who sells alabaster statues. Among the vendors, there is excitement about the country’s upcoming presidential election, the first since the uprising. They are hoping that the vote, on May 23 and 24, will mark the end of a post-uprising transition, and perhaps mark the gradual return of tourism. Here, most express support for leftist candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi, moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Aboul Foutouh and Egypt’s former foreign minister Amr Mussa.

Abdel Hadi is hoping that whoever the new president is he’ll take on corruption, saying that under Mubarak vendors were forced to “transfer half their profits to the police.” But the top priority for all the merchants here is security,

without which they say tourists will continue to stay away. “If the tourists see that the country is stable and safe, they will return,” predicts Amir Samir, a tourist guide.With Samir are American tourist Jorge Vasquez and his wife, who have come from Miami despite the unrest that has kept others away. Vasquez expressed ambivalence about the pleasures of visiting one of Egypt’s top tourist destinations in near isolation, a rare experience before the uprising. “(I’m) happy and not happy at the same time: happy I’m not standing in line and sad that no people are here,” he said.

“People are wrong about Egypt. Egypt deserves a second chance. It is a beautiful country, with beautiful people,” he added. “Tourists should support this economy and enjoy the beauty and history of Egypt.”

Tourism minister Munir Fakhry Abdel Nour told AFP he was “optimistic” about 2012, which should climb to reach the record figures of 2010. “Hotel occupancy in Cairo is improving,” he said, conceding it still wasn’t “huge.”

The rise is faster in Sinai and at the Red Sea resorts, “which continue to make up 85 percent of tourism,” at the expense of the historic destinations of Luxor and Aswan which were badly hit. -AFP

FILE-An Egyptian policeman on camel back stands guard, south of Saqqara in Giza, 2011. (AFP)

ALWATAN DAILY

entertainment Song Of The Day

Fahad AlSabah Staff Writer

Song: I Wish I Never Met You Artist: Sam Sparro Album: I Wish I Never Met You - Single Genre: Pop In short: Sam Sparro has rush-released the second single off his sophomore album Return to Paradise after the lead single, “Happiness” failed to make an impact on the charts.

“I Wish I Never Met You” is an excellent piece of pop perfection; the song doesn’t try to be something it isn’t, it just works the way it is.

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

The Buzz Whitney Houston’s last recording released Whitney Houston’s final recording is being released. The song, “Celebrate,” is a duet with Jordin Sparks from Houston’s last movie, a remake of the film “Sparkle.” The song debuted Monday on Ryan Seacrest’s website and will be available on iTunes June 5. Sparks performed a tribute to Houston Sunday night at the Billboard Music Awards, singing “I Will Always Love You” as Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina wiped away tears. Houston’s death in February at age 48 came as the singer had been attempting a comeback and had finished filming “Sparkle.” She drowned in a bathtub in Beverly Hills, Calif. Authorities said her death was complicated by cocaine use and heart disease. “Sparkle” opens in theaters August 17. -AP

Garcelle Beauvais writing children’s book series Actress Garcelle Beauvais is planning to share life lessons through a series of children’s books. A statement released Monday says the “Franklin & Bash” star has an agreement with Stranger Comics for three books that will “address identity issues relevant to many children today.” The series will be called “I Am.” The first book, “I Am Mixed” with coauthor Sebastian A. Jones, is coming out this fall. It will tell of a brother and sister and their mixed ethnicities. A second book will be about children of divorce. Beauvais’ parents were divorced, and she has been married twice. The Haitiborn actress and mother of three is known for her roles on “The Jamie Foxx Show” and “NYPD Blue.” –AP

Sheen’s ex-wife avoids jail for now in drug case Actor Charlie Sheen’s former wife has received a deferred judgment in a drug case in Aspen, Colo., meaning her record will be cleared if she lives up to terms of a one-year probation. Brooke Mueller pleaded guilty in March to felony drug possession of four grams or less of cocaine. The charge stemmed from her arrest Dec. 3 after another woman reported being assaulted at a nightclub. Mueller’s spokesman confirms that terms of a sentence handed down Monday bar Mueller from drinking alcohol while she is on probation. She also must submit to random urine tests. Sheen and Mueller divorced last year. Sheen was arrested on suspicion of assaulting her in 2009. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and completed his probation in 2010. -AP

Rules of Engagement renewed by CBS The CBS sitcom “Rules of Engagement” has been picked up for a seventh season. The series, which stars Patrick Warburton and Megyn Price, averaged a solid 3.3 rating/9 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic for its most recent season. The “Rules of Engagement” renewal comes at the 11th hour, following “Two and a Half Men”’s renewal earlier this month, and the earlier renewal of 18 of CBS’ series, including “How I Met Your Mother,” “2 Broke Girls” and “The Big Bang Theory.” –Reuters

Breaking Bad to premiere on July 15 “Breaking Bad” has received a season premiere date. AMC announced that the Bryan Cranston series will return for its fifth and final season on July 15 at 10 p.m. The final season will consist of 16 episodes, with the second eight episodes of the season to run in summer 2013. July 15 will also see the series premiere of the network’s new reality series “Small Town Security,” which will bow at 11 p.m. “Small Town Security” will focus on a small, family-owned private security company located in rural Georgia. The network also said that its western drama “Hell on Wheels” will return for a second season on August 12 at 9 p.m. -Reuters

Anchors named for Good Afternoon America Josh Elliott and Lara Spencer will be going into overtime in July. The “Good Morning America” anchors will also co-anchor the upcoming one-hour extension of the series, “Good Afternoon America,” ABC said Monday. “Good Morning America”’s Sam Champion, Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos will also make special appearances on the extension, which premieres July 9 at 2 p.m. ET and will run for nine weeks. According to the network, “Good Afternoon America” will “feature the most-talked about celebrities, performances by the biggest names in the music industry, the latest pop culture news plus offer original entertainment, lifestyle, health, workplace and consumer reporting.” Elliott said that it’s “gratifying to play a role in” the extension, adding, “ genuinely hope our audience will come along for the ride.” “I am beyond excited and honored to be part of this new chapter for the ‘Good Morning America’ family,” Spencer added. -Reuters

wednesDAY, may 23, 2012

17

Lady Gaga tweets about Islamic hardliner threats FRANCE: Lady Gaga broke her silence about a jeopardized concert in Jakarta, saying on Twitter Tuesday that she was facing censorship from Indonesian authorities and threats of violence from Islamic hardliners.

Indonesian police have said they would not issue a permit for the June 3 show after objections from Islamic groups, but the promoters say they are still fighting for a way to stage the event.

“The Jakarta situation is 2-fold: Indonesian authorities demand I censor the show & religious extremist separately, are threatening violence,” Lady Gaga tweeted on her official @ ladygaga account.

“If the show does go on as scheduled, I will perform the BTWBall alone,” she said, referring to her Born This Way Ball show for which more than 50,000 tickets have been sold.

It was not clear what the US pop diva meant by saying she would perform solo.

Indonesian police said last week they would not issue a permit for the concert after receiving objections to the provocative performer’s risque shows from Islamic groups, including the country’s top Islamic body the National Ulema Council (MUI).

Lawyers representing production company Big Daddy said they met with Jakarta police Tuesday to discuss conditions necessary for the show to go ahead.

“The deadline they gave was seven days before the show.

We are working hard to fulfill all the requirements, which are mostly administrative. We have covered almost all the conditions,” lawyer Minola Sebayang told AFP. But Jakarta police spokesman Rikwanto said Tuesday that besides securing permits from the tourism ministry and the concert venue owner, promoters must “ensure she is dressed appropriately and does not violate cultural norms in this country.”

In the past, pop stars including Beyonce and the Pussycat Dolls have been allowed to perform in the country on condition they wore more conservative dress than usual.

But the MUI said it objected to the concert not only because of her provocative dresses, but also the “blasphemous” song lyrics.

“Lady Gaga is considered an icon for liberal culture and Indonesia’s freedom is not without limits. There are restrictions related to norms, morals and religion,” MUI official Asrorun Niam told AFP.

Fans of US pop singer and songwriter Lady Gaga are pictured in outlandish costumes and placards as they gather to attend her concert in Manila on May 21, 2012. (AFP)

Lady Gaga also faced opposition from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which said it would create havoc if she were allowed to perform in Indonesia, calling her the “devil’s messenger” who wears only a “bra and panties” on stage.

Ninety percent of Indonesia’s 240 million identify themselves as Muslims, giving it the world’s largest Islamic population, but the vast majority practise a moderate form of the religion. Lady Gaga’s world tour has been dogged by controversy elsewhere in Asia.

Her performance in the Philippine capital Manila on Monday went without a glitch despite opposition from conservative Christians in the Catholic-majority nation.

She has been allowed to hold a second concert Tuesday after state censors ruled her “provocative” act was within legal bounds. The Korean Association of Church Communication vowed in March to take “concerted action to stop young people from being infected with homosexuality and pornography” during the star’s concert in Seoul.-AFP

Brad Pitt mob movie portrays broken American dream CANNES: Brad Pitt’s latest movie paints a bleak picture of the broken American dream, blending a violent but comic gangster story with overt criticism of politicians’ failure to address the economic crisis.

“Killing Them Softly” takes place in an unspecified US city which has borne the brunt of the financial collapse - houses are abandoned, shops are shuttered and petty criminals and mobsters alike are struggling to get by. The movie, co-produced by Pitt, is in the main competition at the Cannes film festival this year, and has its red carpet world premiere on Tuesday. Pitt plays ruthless hitman Jackie Cogan, brought in by a syndicate of mafia bosses to eliminate a group of thieves who raid a high-stakes poker game.

The title derives from his insistence on avoiding unnecessary pain and suffering when he carries out his killings.

It features gangster movie mainstays Ray Liotta and James Gandolfini, and reunites Pitt with New Zealand-born director Andrew Dominik after the two collaborated on “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”.

The political message of the film is unavoidable. News channels play in the background in bars and on the radio in cars, and the topic of debate is invariably the financial crisis, political failure, greed and shattered dreams. Barack Obama, John McCain and George W. Bush appear on the 2008 campaign trail making promises to address the economy and preserve the ideals on which the country was built. In a scene at the end, Cogan launches a scathing attack on Thomas Jefferson, the main author of the US Declaration of Independence, whom he accuses of being a liar and hypocrite. “I live in America and in America you’re on your own,” Pitt’s character declares. “America’s not a country, it’s just a business.”

Cast member Brad Pitt attends a photocall for the film “Killing Them Softly”, by director Andrew Dominik, in competition at the 65th Cannes Film Festival, May 22, 2012. (Reuters) Not Anti-Obama

At a news conference following a press screening of the film, Pitt said he did not want “Killing Them Softly” to be seen as an attack on President Obama. “I lean more towards the left and I want to understand my own bias and so I am not opposed to characters that have different views from yourself,” he said.

He spoke of a “toxic” political divide in the United States where “it’s more about the party winning the argument than about the issues themselves. It’s a serious, serious problem.”

Pitt did not seem surprised when ques-

Michaels cagey on SNL cast roster

NEWYORK: Lorne Michaels says he hasn’t had to bid goodbye to anyone in the current “Saturday Night Live” cast except for Kristen Wiig - “so far.”

But in an interview with Reuters on Monday, he was noncommittal about who’s staying and going. The show often waits until late summer to make such decisions. Wiig left the show with a tearful sketch Saturday in which she hugged her castmates goodbye.

Although many have speculated that Andy Samberg and Jason Sudeikis would also leave after this season, neither received a similar goodbye. Reuters spoke to Michaels at the Peabody Awards on Monday, where he was honored for executive producing the IFC comedy “Portlandia,” which was created by and stars Carrie Brownstein and “SNL” vet Fred Armisen. We noted the lack of an “SNL” sendoff for anyone but Wiig. “Not so far, yeah,” Michaels said.

Did the lack of a goodbye mean Sudeikis and Samberg are staying?

“You never know,” Michaels said. “I think everyone gets through the season and just the level of fatigue by the end is just overwhelming, and it’s a very emotional time. I’ve had a rule since the second season, which is to not make any decisions in June. We’ll see in July.” Some have speculated that a line in Samberg’s “Lazy Sunday 2” digital short on Saturday suggested that he, too, was on the way out.

“Lazy Sunday” was his breakthrough sketch on the show in 2005. Saturday’s sequel ended with the lines, “On these New York streets I honed my fake rap penmanship/That’s how it began, and that’s how I’m-a finish it.”

One cast member with no immediate plans to exit “SNL” is Armisen. He said he hopes to continue with both “SNL and “Portlandia,” as he has done for the first two seasons of the IFC show. “I hope things keep going,” he said.

“I don’t take anything for granted.” Armisen, who has been on “SNL” for a decade, said he isn’t worried about burning out. -Reuters

tions turned from the film and its political message to his personal life.

He told journalists that his fiance Angelina Jolie was not in Cannes, quelling rumors that the Hollywood power couple would appear together on the red carpet.

Asked when they planned to get married, he replied: “We have no date. We actually really, truly have no date. Certainly date-wise it’s absolutely rumor. “And I’m still hoping we can figure out our marriage equality in the States before that date,” he added, referring to his support for same-sex marriage countrywide. -Reuters

Comedian Andy Dick to undergo pretrial diversion CHARLESTON: Comedian Andy Dick has agreed to enter a pretrial diversion program that, if completed successfully, would absolve him of sex abuse charges arising from a 2010 nightclub incident, authorities said. Corky Hammers, an assistant prosecutor in West Virginia’s Cabell County, said Monday that the program requires Dick to stay out of legal trouble for the next six months under the agreement. It allows for no drug use and no arrests during that time.

If Dick fails to comply, Hammers says Dick could be tried on felony charges stemming from the club incident in which he was accused of grabbing a bouncer’s crotch and groping and kissing a male patron at a Huntington bar. At the time, Dick was in town for a comedy club performance. Dick wasn’t present for a status hearing Monday in the county circuit court. His attorney, Marc Williams, didn’t immediately return a phone message. Hammers said that under the agreement, Dick also could be summoned for random drug screenings and must report to the county prosecutor’s office if he is arrested or has a run-in with police anywhere.

He also must remain employed. Two previous trial dates were postponed. Hammers said Monday the case isn’t over, adding Dick must comply with the agreement’s terms and conditions. “If he doesn’t do that ... we get to start from scratch and we get to try the case,” Hammers said. -AP

Iranian film noir casts spell in Cannes PARIS: An Iranian film noir about an academic who returns home after two decades in the West to a family and country he no longer recognizes made a splash at the Cannes festival this week.

“A Respectable Family”, the feature film debut of the 39-year-old Tehran documentary maker Massoud Bakhshi, is rooted in the director’s own experiences as a teenager growing up during the IranIraq war of 1980-88.

“It’s not an autobiographical film, but it was inspired by real-life events from the lives of people around me,” the director told AFP after a screening in Cannes’ Directors’ Fornight sidebar section. “I’m talking about a generation that lived through the Iran-Iraq war, a war that changed the destiny of my generation.”

The picture tells the story of Arash, whose family breaks up when his teenaged brother is killed in the conflict, as his violent father commits his griefstricken mother to an asylum and brings home a second wife and her son.

The action opens in contemporary Iran, where Arash, a college professor, is invited home after 22 years in Paris to teach in the southwestern city of Shiraz where his elderly mother now lives.

While there, he is contacted by his stepbrother’s son, who convinces him to renew ties with his dying father. But when his father dies, and money comes into the equation -- in particular the money paid to his family as compensation for the death of his war martyr brother -- things take a menacing turn.

Weaving in flashbacks and documentary footage, the story takes the viewer back and forth in time, towards the dark family secrets at the film’s core.

From the opening handheld shots of a taxi crossing the city at night, to scenes of family life or negotiations with the thuggish stepbrother, the film distils a compelling portrait of modern-day Iranian society.

Through the financial intrigue in Arash’s family, Bakshi hints repeatedly at the scourge of corruption and profiteering.

We also see repeated attempts at censorship by the university where Arash teaches, although Bahkshi smiles that: “In Iran we don’t have a word for censorship – we have surveillance.”

But he also sought to celebrate “the enthusiasm of young Iranians today”, shown through Arash’s lively students, and the vital role played by women in Iranian society, through a string of finely drawn female characters.

The film premiered in Cannes to a warm critical reception with Screen Daily praising an “invigorating and accessible drama” and The Hollywood Reporter describing it as “an artfully woven political indictment”. -AFP

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ALWATAN DAILY

AROUND TOWN / TIME OUT

WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012

If you have an event you wish to include, please email: aroundtown@alwatandaily.com

Feature o f

graffiti

the day

moderately confused

Lifestyle reaches out to customers better as it launches its first Kiosk in Kuwait

KUWAIT: Located within the newest shopping mall in Fintas, Lifestyle the market leader in home fragrance, recently launched its first kiosk at Al Liwan Mall.

This beautifully designed black kiosk is the first of more in the pipeline and will provide residents with faster and more convenient access to a wide range of products.

“As a group we try to reach out to our customers in every possible manner and are committed to serve them with the highest standards as we believe our customers deserve the best.

Expanding our services is in line with our strategy of broadening the range of our products available and deepening existing customer relationships at the same time, and new kiosks like this will serve to expand our overall presence in Kuwait.

The kiosk’s prominent location and its beautiful design make it very accessible to shoppers and visitors” commented Saibal Basu, Chief Operating Officer, Landmark Group Kuwait The kiosk is specifically designed for Lifestyle’s Home fragrance merchandise and houses

Month a t

Sudoku

Elementary

major brands including Made By Zen which is all about French fragrances also available in Arabic format, Apsley and Waxlyrical.

The kiosk offers a wide range of products from reed diffusers and electric aroma diffusers, to fra-

Advanced

Intermediate

grance oils and scented sachets, to car perfumes, candle and oils.

For the convenience of customers the Kiosk is open from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. from Sunday to Wednesday and 10:00am to 11:00 p.m. from Thursday to Saturday.

General A n n o u n c e m e n t s

a glance with family and friends for a public program - Protect yourself and your progeny from hell fire (Quran 66:6) on Thursday at Jamiyatul Islah Auditorium Rawdah, adjacent to highway 40. Dinner packet shall be served after the program. Contact: 99037240|66037944|66218674 for more details.

Carnatic concert May 24/ 6:30 p.m. / Jleeb Al Shoyoukh: Kalanjali Kuwait is organizing “Padma Vibhushan” “Chevalier” Dr. Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna Carnatic Concert at the Integrated Indian School auditorium, Jleeb Al Shoyoukh. Accompanying artistes are Violin - Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi (D/o Padma Vibhushan Dr. Lalgudi Jayaraman), Mrudangam - “Padmasri” Dr.Yella Venkateswara Rao, Ghatam - Sri Giridhar Udupa and Thambura - “Kalaimamani” Dr. Saraswathi.

For more details send an email to kalanjaliq8@gmail.com

K’S PATH invites applicants for the adoption of pets Lilly is a gentle and gorgeous two-year-old female Tiffany cat. She is confident and loves being the center of attention. Lilly will be a wonderful addition to a family with children aged 5 and above. To adopt contact K’S PATH at (+965) 67001622 or visit the website www. kspath.org

International bazaar

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

GF Handel’s Opera SEMELE May 24-26/ Dar Al Athar Al Islammyah: International Opera singers Nicola Beckily and Matthew Long join Anna Karadimtrova and Haytham Abdulla to present the delightful story of SEMELE by GF Handel. Semele is the story of a young woman in ancient Greece, who falls in love with Jove, the King of the Gods on Mount Olympus. She begins to believe that she can become immortal, but will her ambition make her forget her true self? Music, humor, and strong feeling bring the story to life. For information, go to www.ahmadimusicgroup.com or email tickets@ahmadimusicgroup.com.

IMAK organizes public program May 24/ Rawdah: Indian Muslim Association-Kuwait cordially invites you

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.

Cissi is a pretty and friendly 6-month-old mix-breed female dog who loves to play and run. She is very affectionate and enjoys a cuddle. Cissi will do great in a family with children aged 8 and above.

Ugandans in Kuwait (UIK)

New Toastmasters Club Second and fourth Tuesday/ 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. / Jabriya: A new Toastmasters Club is being formed and encouraging new members to join. Toastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development. It is a non-profit international organization dedicated to improve member’s communication and leadership skills by attending and participating toastmasters meetings. For more information, please contact Khaled Al-Hashem at 65588824.

Are you a UGANDAN living and working in Kuwait? Would you like to get in touch with other Ugandans in Kuwait both socially and professionally? We would like to invite you to register with the Ugandans in Kuwait (UIK) association, an informal organization of Ugandans living and working in Kuwait. This association is voluntary. It is designed to create a forum for Ugandans in Kuwait to foster a sense of community, to communicate more effectively with each other and to encourage Ugandans out here to work together.We are also planning a celebration to mark 50 years of Ugandan’s Independence this year. If you have any questions regarding this then please send an email at ugandansinkuwait@gmail.com.

Waist Watchers 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

Embassy of Korea The Embassy of the Republic of Korea wishes to inform that it has moved to Mishref, Block 7A, Diplomatic Area 2, Plot 6. Contact: 25378621/2/3/4/5. The embassy also wishes to inform that it will be opened to the public on the following office hours: Morning: 8 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Lunch break: 12:30 p.m. - 1 p.m. Afternoon: 1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Nancy

Horoscopes Aries: March 21 - April 19

For a while now, a certain number of planetary configurations have been continually pushing you to become aware that you live on a whole planet and not just in a city or neighborhood. You’re becoming more aware of your society at large, Aries and it means you may be getting increasingly attracted to large-scale movements. Now is the time to get thoroughly involved!

Taurus: April 20 - May 20

The current configuration of planets will make you the bearer of a new philosophy, Taurus. This doesn’t mean that you’ll be New Age, but more precisely you’ll have ideas that evolved from it. It’s easy to imagine you attending conferences given by the leading minds of the day. Though you’re looking for answers don’t be convinced by any “truth” that comes your way.

Gemini: May 21- June 21

You may feel that you’ve made real progress in your relationships, Gemini. “Evolution” best defines the path you’re on right now. You can be proud of yourself, because the work you do on an individual level is the best way you can contribute to the development of society.

Cancer: June 22 - July 22

Why not radically change the way you behave toward others, Cancer? You’re in the process of orienting yourself toward establishing relationships that are more solid and enriching with far fewer risks involved. This wasn’t the case before. When you don’t try hard to seduce and impress your audience claps louder. Just be yourself, and gain approval of those around you.

Leo: July 23 - August 22

This could be a good day to try relaxation techniques that are a little bit out of the ordinary. Maybe you’ll learn something from these unorthodox methods. Explore shiatsu or polarity. These techniques can do wonders for restoring your energy, an element that has been in short supply for you lately. Give it a try. As the good doctor said, “This won’t hurt a wee bit.”

Virgo: August 23 - September 22

Currently, you are in the midst of some profound questioning over emotional attitudes. You will probably find yourself totally free of inhibitions, much to your delight. It’s an opportunity to meet new people and become a bit more open-minded. Expect some lively events in your life and much pleasure from love.

Libra: September 23 - October 22

If you find your companions a bit stodgy, today is the day to jostle them out of complacency. You may enjoy experimenting with a bit of naughtiness. For example how will people around you react if you flout certain social taboos, such as talking openly about sex?

Since you’re so comfortable with the subject, why not have fun stretching the limits of convention? Enjoy!

Scorpio: October 23 - November 21

There is the likelihood that you’ve been a bit of a loner lately. It’s as though you decided to look at things differently from the rest of the world, rejecting the individualistic viewpoint in favor of a more global one. Today, you may achieve a new phase in this process.

You could attain some summit of consciousness from which you can finally have the ability to forgive!

Sagittarius: November 22 - December 21

Are there some material needs weighing on your spirit right now? If you can’t see how to solve the problem alone, why not discuss it with your friends?

They may have some ideas. Today, the word “impossible” has been banished from the English language.Take advantage of the opportunity to look for solutions in most unlikely places.

Capricorn: December 22 - January 19

Today’s prospects should suit the dynamic, idealistic being that you are, especially right now. There will be some criticism in the air, and you won’t miss an opportunity to punctuate your comments with your famous irony. All your viewpoints on corporate rigidity and conformist attitudes are well known. Today your sense of humor prevails and people will listen to you!

Aquarius: January 20 - February 18

An excellent day is on the horizon,Aquarius. If you feel hemmed in by fears or uncertainties in your love life, the day ahead will give you the courage to discuss these matters with your mate. Even if more time is necessary to settle things completely, you should make good use of today’s clear communication channels. You won’t be disappointed; neither will your mate.

Pisces: February 19 - March 20

You can expect to be more interested in new technologies these days, Pisces. What you once considered very progressive now seems closer to reality.

You’ll notice to what an extent it is now crucial for you to align yourself with the cutting-edge technology that surrounds you. Don’t hesitate.

ALWATAN DAILY

SPORTS

wednesDAY, may 23, 2012

19

Basketball

Bass erupts for Celtics in 101-85 win over Sixers BOSTON: They started as a Big Three and grew to a Big Four when Rajon Rondo earned the right to be mentioned along with the other Boston Celtics All-Stars. At no point, however, did Brandon Bass merit marquee billing in his first season in Boston. The fifth, newest and least-heralded member of the Celtics’ starting lineup, Bass erupted for a career playoff-high 27 points on Monday night, scoring 18 in the third quarter as Boston pulled away from the Philadelphia 76ers to win 101-85 and take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. ‘’We’ve got a few good players on the team that they had to focus on,’’ said Bass, who left the game to a standing ovation with 2 minutes left and Boston leading by 18. ‘’That left me open, and I was able to take advantage of my opportunity.’’

The 27 points matched Bass’ regular-season career high, and the 18 points in the third was one off his career playoff high for an entire game. It was also more than the Sixers scored in the quarter as a team. ‘’It was one of those games we needed something to ignite us together,’’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. ‘’I thought the biggest difference was his energy. He played with a force. I thought he just let himself go.’’ Kevin Garnett added 20 points and Rajon Rondo had 13 points and 14 assists for the Celtics, who can advance to the East finals with a victory in Philadelphia in Game 6 on Wednesday. The Sixers would need a win at home to force the series back to Boston for a decisive seventh game. As he walked to his postgame interview, Elton Brand told the Celtics’ ball boys in the hallway outside the locker rooms: ‘’See you on Saturday.’’

No team has won consecutive games yet this series. ‘’It would just be nice to win two in a row. That would be terrific,’’ Rivers said. ‘’It’s not going to be easy. This series has been

hard. Every minute, you think we’re leaking oil physically.’’

Brand scored 19 and Evan Turner had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia, which led by six points early in the third quarter before Boston scored 14 of the next 16 points.

Bass had eight of them, including back-to-back dunks followed by a steal that set up Ray Allen’s fast-break layup to give the Celtics a 6357 lead with five minutes left in the quarter.

Boston closed out the third with a 10-2 run over the final 3 minutes and outscored the Sixers 28-16 in the period. The Celtics also scored 16 of the first 22 points in the fourth quarter seven from Rondo - to put away the game. ‘’We had too many turnovers and that just got those guys going,’’ 76ers center Spencer Hawes said. ‘’They got a couple of easy baskets in transition off our mistakes. It got them going, they took advantage of it and held home court. Now we have to go home and take care of ours.’’

The Celtics acquired Bass in December in a trade with Orlando for Glen ‘’Big Baby’’ Davis, and he worked his way into the starting lineup after the All-Star break. Although he solidified the power forward position after Garnett moved to center, he hadn’t done anything spectacular - until Monday.

Bass hadn’t scored more than 22 points in a game this season. His playoff high was 19 points, in 2008.

Paul Pierce had 16 points - a perfect 9 for 9 from the free throw line - and Allen, back in the starting lineup because of an injury to Avery Bradley, had five points. Boston tied it 57-all when Bass stole the ball from Thaddeus Young and got to the free throw line, making both foul shots. After a Sixers miss, Rondo found Bass underneath for the dunk. Bass added another crowd-pleasing dunk before knocking loose a ball to start Rondo on a fast break he finished by finding Allen for the layup. - AP

Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo (center) is double teamed by Philadelphia 76ers defenders Elton Brand, left, and Spencer Hawes on a drive to the basket during the first quarter of Game 5 in Boston, Monday, May 21, 2012. (AP)

Thunder top Lakers 106-90 to reach West finals OKLAHOMA CITY: Ramon Sessions did the best he could to keep Russell Westbrook from making a high-flying dunk that would energize the Oklahoma City Thunder. No matter.

Even with his feet flat on the ground, Westbrook found a way to get the Thunder rolling past the Los Angeles Lakers and into the Western Conference finals for the second straight year.

After Sessions committed a foul to stop him on the fast break, Westbrook flipped the ball up toward the rim and got it to go in for what would become a threepoint play. Westbrook took off toward the scorer’s table, pumping his fist as the home crowd celebrated.

There was no turning back after that, and Oklahoma City pulled away for a 106-90 victory in Game 5 on Monday night to knock the Lakers out of the playoffs.

“That was an amazing play,” coach Scott Brooks said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of luck to that. You put yourself in that position to get a little lucky there.

Westbrook finished with 28 points, Kevin Durant added 25 points and 10 rebounds and the two All-Stars skipped their usual rest periods to power the Thunder ahead in the second half.

After Westbrook’s pair of three-point plays fueled a 14-3 burst that put Oklahoma City ahead to stay late in the third quarter, Durant hit two 3-pointers as the Thunder scored the first 10 points of the fourth to push their lead to 93-77.

Los Angeles never got closer than 13 after that.

“That’s a tough team, man. They weren’t laying down,” Westbrook said. “We got a little down on ourselves and we had to come together and be better teammates, and we did that.”

Kobe Bryant scored 42 points for the Lakers and took the briefest of rest – less than 2 minutes – in the second half. It didn’t even take that long for the game, and their season, to slip away.

Bryant was waiting to check in when Durant connected on his second 3-pointer, just 89 seconds into the fourth quarter. But by the time he got in, there was little he could do – despite the 13th 40-point game of his playoff career. After getting eliminated by Los Angeles in 2010 and Dallas in 2011 before both of those teams went on to win it all, the Thunder knocked both out on their way to the West finals for the second straight year.

The only other time the franchise made consecutive conference finals was from 1978-80, including Seattle’s only NBA title in 1979. Once there, they’ll face topseeded San Antonio, which is riding an 18-game winning streak and is the only team other than the Lakers or Mavs to win the West in the past 13 years. The series starts Sunday night in San Antonio. Los Angeles has followed back-to-back championships with two straight second-round exits. Certainly, not this offseason.

Westbrook made sure of that when he went run-

Tennis

Tomic reaches 2nd round at French Open warmup NICE, France: Fifth-seeded Bernard Tomic beat Lukas Lacko6-2, 6-3 Tuesday to reach the second round of the Open de Nice.

The Australian broke Lacko’s serve twice in each set to set up a second-round match against Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, who eased past big-serving American Sam Querrey 6-2, 7-5.

Seventh-seeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan also advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-1 win over Alejandro Falla of Colombia, and will play Nikolay Davydenko after the Russian defeated Matthew Ebden of Australia 6-3, 6-3.

Also, Xavier Malisse of Belgium beat Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan 7-5, 6-4, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria defeated Dudi Sela of Israel, 7-5, 6-1 and Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Benoit Paire 6-4, 7-6 (2) in an all-French match. – AP

The Paris’ Grand Slam tournament takes place from May 22 to June 10, 2012.

(AFP)

Olympics Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (right) blocks a shot by Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol in the first quarter of Game 5 in their NBA basketball Western Conference semifinal playoff series, May 21, 2012. (AP)

ning to the scorer’s table and pumped his fist in the air after his energizing three-point play.

Westbrook converted another after banking in a jumper from the left side despite Sessions slapping him on the arm to make it 82-76 with 1:29 left in the third quarter. Durant extended the lead with a 3-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth and then hit another 32 seconds later – just after Bryant had stepped to the scorer’s table to check in after a brief rest. Bryant described it as “tough, to say the least.”

After blowing a fourth-quarter lead in Game 4, Bryant had called out forward Pau Gasol to be more aggressive – much as he had with Gasol and Bynum before the Lakers faced elimination in Game 7 of the first round against Denver.

Gasol then came through with a monster game – 23 points, 17 rebounds and six assists – and Steve Blake scored a playoff career-best 19 points to save the Lakers that time. Bryant didn’t get nearly as much help against the Thunder. - AP

Ankle injury dents Lee Olympic bid WUHAN, China: Badminton’s world number one Lee Chong Wei was put out for up to a month with a torn ankle tendon at the Thomas Cup in Wuhan Tuesday, casting serious doubt over his Olympic title bid in London. “It is a torn ankle tendon, not a rupture. He will be out for about three to four weeks,” said Tey Seu Bock, Malaysia’s singles coach. “He will go back to Malaysia as soon as possible for another MRI scan. “It is still OK for the Olympics,” Tey said, adding that Lee was “more upset about not contributing to the team at the Thomas Cup.” But with the London Games starting in July the injury is a major blow to Lee’s preparations, already hampered by

a shoulder problem, a bout of influenza and a series of disappointing results this season. “Our biggest enemy is not each other but injury,” said Lee’s arch-rival and world number two Lin Dan, who took gold ahead of the Malaysian at the Beijing Olympics four years ago. “We are not so young anymore and in the future injuries will happen more and more. We don’t have so much time left,” said the 28-yearold Lin, the game’s most decorated player, about his 29-year old opponent.

Lee landed awkwardly after going two points ahead in his match against Denmark’s Peter Gade. Doctors rushed onto court but the tearful player was in visible pain as he was taken away for scans

Cricket

Broad achieves career-best ranking New Zealand to tour India this year

CAPITALS: Stuart Broad has achieved a careerbest position in the latest ICC Player Rankings released on Tuesday following his maiden 10-wicket haul in England’s first Test victory over the West Indies.

The fast bowler has jumped to third place in the rankings - level with team-mate James Anderson - after recording figures of seven for 72 and four for 93 in England’s five-wicket win at Lord’s on Monday.

England off-spinner Graeme Swann drops one to fifth position on the list headed by South Africa’s Dale Steyn. In the rankings for Test batsmen, West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul extended his advan-

tage over South Africa’s AB de Villiers after scores of 87 not out and 91 in the defeat to England, for whom Ian Bell, in 17th, and Andrew Strauss, in 27th, have climbed the rankings. New Zealand will play two Test matches and two Twenty20 internationals during their tour of India in August-September, the Board of Control for Cricket announced on Tuesday. The first Test will be played in Hyderabad from August 23 to 27, followed by the second in Bangalore from August 31 to September four. The Twenty20 internationals will be held in Visakhapatnam on September 8 and Chennai on September 11. The New Zealand series opens a busy home season for India that also includes Test and limited-overs tours by England and Australia. - AFP

FILE- Malaysian Badminton player Lee Chong Wei returns a shot against Shon Wan Ho of Korea during their Men’s Singles Final match of the Yonex-Sunrise IndiaOpen 2012 at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi on April 29, 2012. (AFP)

and treatment at a nearby hospital. Head singles coach Rashid Sidek said they had considered flying Lee immediately back to Malaysia from the tournament in China for treatment, a sign of how seriously they were taking his condition.

“We are jinxed at the Thomas Cup,” said Tey, referring to the event in 2006 when Malaysia lost their team captain Wong Choong Hang in a similar incident in the quarter finals.

The player, once ranked tenth in the world, snapped his Achilles tendon and was put out for six months.

When Lee went down on the court in Wuhan, Tey said the memories of 2006 came flooding back, “but when I saw Lee’s toes moving, I knew it couldn’t be as bad.”

The injury scare is the latest in a run of problems to hit Lee as he makes his last bid to win gold at the London Olympics At the India Open in April, Lee was stunned in the final by the unseeded South Korean Shon Wan-Ho, who beat him in a three-game, 66-minute thriller.

That defeat came a month after Lee was forced to retire against Lin from the AllEngland Championships final.

Just ahead of the Thomas Cup, Lee was struck with flu and unable to join his teammates for early training, but had looked fit and focused in his first group match against South Africa.

The Thomas Cup was a key part of Lee’s Olympic preparations, Rashid had said in a confident mood earlier this week.

“Mentally he is prepared for the Olympics. The Thomas Cup is the main part of preparation. If he does well here it will boost his confidence, especially if he plays Lin Dan and beats him,” the coach said on Monday. – AFP

WEDNESDAY, may 23, 2012

SPORTS

Sports Editors Highlight BUDAPEST, Hungary: World soccer’s governing body has given Kosovo approval to begin playing exhibitions against its 208 member countries.

FIFA’s executive committee made the decision after previously blocking Kosovo’s ambitions because it is not recognized by the United Nations.

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008.

However, FIFA and European soccer’s governing body UEFA had repeatedly denied Kosovo’s demands for recognition for its national team and clubs.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter proposed the policy change to his executive committee at a meeting on Monday. -AP

Football

FIFA names woman to Mourinho extends contract with Real until 2016 executive committee for first time BUDAPEST: FIFA co-opted a woman to its executive committee for the first time on Tuesday and continued its reform process by pressing ahead with changes to its ethics committee.

Lydia Nsekera, the president of the Burundi Football Association, will be installed as the co-opted executive committee member at the 62nd FIFA Congress this week with the formal election of a woman on the committee to follow at next year’s Congress, soccer’s governing body said in a statement.

Nsekera, 45, is a member of the women’s football and the women’s World Cup committees and is also on the organising committee for the Olympic Football Tournaments having been part of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 2009.

FIFA also confirmed its ethics committee is being restructured with a new system involving two committees to be established, one to investigate matters and the other to adjudicate on them.

An announcement on who would lead the committees had been expected on Tuesday but one of the candidates was ill so it was deferred.

“In view of this, the executive committee decided to hold an extraordinary meeting to designate both chairmen together once the FIFA Congress has approved the relevant amendments to the FIFA Statutes, which will come into force 60 days after the Congress,” a FIFA statement said.

The meeting will take place in Zurich in the first week of July when the new Code of Ethics is adopted and both chair-

men will be named.

There was no such delay for Domenico Scala, a Swiss-Italian business executive, who was appointed as the independent chairman of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee, with the appointment to be ratified at Congress. In other matters, FIFA said its players’ insurance program was being extended to cover the Olympic tournament. It also named six cities to host next year’s Confederations Cup in Brazil, the warm-up tournament for the 2014 World Cup finals. Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, and Salvador have been approved as venues, but FIFA said it has contingency plans and match schedules in place based on only four or five cities being fit to host games because of continued worries over stadium rebuilding. -Reuters

Drogba tells Chelsea team-mates he’s off FILE - Real Madrid’s coach Jose Mourinho celebrate at Cibeles square after Real Madrid won the Spanish Soccer La Liga, in Madrid, Thursday, May 3, 2012. (AP)

MADRID: Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has extended his contract for four more years, after taking the Spanish giants to victory in La Liga, the team said Tuesday.

“Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho have reached an agreement to extend the latter’s contract with the club until June 30, 2016,” the club said in a statement published online.

The 49-year-old self-appointed the “Special One” took Real Madrid to their 32nd league title last month, ending a run of three successive league crowns for bitter rivals Barcelona. That made him only the fourth coach to have won four different league titles after taking the English, Italian and Portuguese crowns, along with Austria’s Ernst Happel, the late Croat Tomislav Ivic and Italian veteran Giovanni Trapattoni.

Mourinho, who joined Real in May 2010 on a fouryear deal, said early in May he had no ambition to coach in new countries. Media reports had speculated on his returning to England. During his first season at the club, critics said the Portuguese coach’s approach was too aggressive both on the field and in comments at press conferences about rivals and referees.

In one infamous incident in August last year when Barcelona won the domestic Super Cup against Real, a brawl broke out after Marcelo was red carded for a reckless challenge on Cesc Fabregas. During the melee, Mourinho was shown on public television poking his finger into the eye of Barca assistant coach Tito Vilanova, who has since been promoted to the top to replace departing Pep Guardiola.

Asked about the incident at the time, which earned him a two-match ban, Mourinho famously asked journalists at a post-match news conference: “Pito Vilanova? I don’t know who this Pito is.”

Mourinho has been supported through thick and thin by Real president Florentino Perez. Former Real director general Jorge Valdano had unsuccessfully argued against Mourinho’s appointment, but then found himself out of a job. In May 2011 Perez terminated the position of director general occupied by Valdano to give Mourinho more autonomy, in what was seen as a victory for the Portuguese coach. Spanish media reported at the time that Mourinho had demanded that Valdano, a former Argentine international, be dismissed as a condition for his staying on at the club. -AFP

Shanghai plan Batista swoop AS Anelka simmers

LONDON: Ivory Coast great Didier Drogba has told his Chelsea team-mates he is leaving the newly-crowned Champions League winners because he doesn’t fancy spending time on the substitutes bench, France Football said Monday.

Drogba has been widely rumored to be quitting Chelsea for Shenhua to join Anelka. The 34-year-old - who scored the late equalizer and then the decisive penalty in the shootout win over German side Bayern Munich on Saturday is quoted by the magazine as saying he burst into tears when he told the rest of

the squad during their open top bus parade with the trophy on Sunday.

“We will not be together next season,” the magazine cited Drogba as saying. “As I have decided to leave, I wanted to tell them to their faces. Only that I couldn’t do it.

They made me break down. Even if it has been three years that I have said I wanted to leave, I found it hard to admit that it was finished with me and the club.

Especially since I had no great desire for this end.

But I don’t envisage sitting on the

bench watching others play at a time when the club is looking at putting together a new team. So there we go, I am readying myself for a great leap into the unknown. It will be another adventure,” added Drogba, who is out of contract having been at the club since 2004 after joining from Marseille.

English media have linked the Ivorian target man, scorer of 55 goals in his 84 international appearances with Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua, where his former Chelsea team-mate Nicolas Anelka is player-coach. -AFP

Garcia wants to keep Cole at Lille PARIS: Lille coach Rudi Garcia said on Monday he would love to have former England international midfielder Joe Cole back for next season provided they reach agreement with his English Premier League side Liverpool.

The 30-year-old has returned to Liverpool after a season on loan at the 2011 Ligue 1 champions where he scored four times in 27 appearances and Garcia admitted he would be interested in having him back.

“From a sporting angle we would like to keep him,” said Garcia, who is resigned to losing his Belgian playmaker Eden Hazard in a multi-million euro deal during the summer.

“But he does not belong to us and he has not discussed matters with Liverpool. It is a very fluid situation. The only certainty for the moment is that he is returning to Liverpool, the club to which he belongs.”

Should Cole return to Lille he would have Champions League football to look forward to, as they finished third in Ligue 1 last season, whereas Liverpool finished eighth and have only a Europa League campaign ahead of them owing to their

FILE - Lyon’s Anthony Reveillere (right) vies with Lille’s Joe Cole during the French L1 football match Olympique Lyonnais and Lille, March 10, 2012. (AFP)

success in the League Cup. Cole joined Liverpool on a four year contract in 2010 on a free transfer from Chelsea but failed

to impress in his first season and was sent out on loan by then manager Kenny Dalglish at the beginning of last term. -AFP

Balotelli must create right headlines: Prandelli

French striker Nicolas Anelka of Shanghai Shenhua ( right) takes part in a training soccer match against Nanchang Hengyuan, Feb. 25, 2012. (AP)

BEIJING: Shanghai Shenhua say they plan to name a new head coach, just weeks after the big-spending Chinese football club appointed mercurial French striker Nicolas Anelka as player-coach.

There was no immediate comment from Shenhua about British reports that Anelka’s former team-mate Didier Drogba, fresh from his Champion’s League triumph with Chelsea, is set to join them.

Former Argentina manager Sergio Daniel Batista has been tipped for the coach’s job, and Shenhua’s star player Anelka is said to be threatening to quit the club in response, according to reports.

“The club has actively sought a head coach candidate, and is looking for him to take up the post and assume command soon,” the Chinese club said in a statement posted on its microblog late Monday. The coming of a new head coach has sparked a public outburst by the striker, who told local media that he was considering leaving.

Anelka is serving dual roles for Shenhua, although the club also named former DR Congo national man-

ager Jean-Florent Ikwange Ibenge as acting head coach after sacking Frenchman Jean Tigana last month.

The Shenhua statement added the club “hopes he (Anelka) will help the new coaching group to quickly become acquainted with the state of the team without delay”.

The Shanghai Daily newspaper said Shenhua were close to signing Batista, who led Argentina to the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Speaking in an interview with the Xinmin Evening News published on Monday, Anelka criticised a lack of support from the club and said he would find it difficult to accept someone taking over his coaching duties.

“If there is still no one to support me and they continue to play little tricks behind my back then I will quickly decide whether or not to retire,” he said, in comments published by the newspaper in Chinese.

Anelka, the most high-profile foreign footballer to sign for the Chinese league, joined Shenhua in January on a two-year contract for a reported salary of 234,000 Euros ($307,000 US dollars) a week. -AFP

ROME: Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said on Monday he wanted to see headlines only about what volatile Italian striker Mario Balotelli did on the pitch and not off it during next month’s European Championship.

The 21-year-old Manchester City star has been included in Prandelli’s squad despite several moments of injudicious behavior on and off the pitch last season.

However, Prandelli, who is desperately light of striking options, made it clear that Balotelli was on probation.

“In my opinion, he has to see it as an extraordinary occasion for him as it is for the national side,” said Prandelli. “It is a time for him to be written about for what he does on the pitch and not what he has done off it.”

Prandelli added that in the bigger picture he did not see Italy winning the tournament, they last reached the final in 2000 but certainly restoring some of the luster lost when they became the first defending champions to go out in the World Cup finals group stages in 2010.

“We are not going to win Euro, but I like to say that the Italians know how to surprise,” said the 54-year-old, who replaced Marcello Lippi after the 2010 World Cup debacle. “I would like to show that the team has at least worked well and which is arriving at this Euro knowing it is experiencing a unique moment with a smile on its lips.” Italy have been drawn in Group C alongside defending champions Spain, 2008 quarter-finalists Croatia and the Republic of Ireland and get their campaign off on June 10 against the Spaniards. -AFP

Italy’s forward Mario Balotelli, looks on during a training session ahead of the Euro 2012, at the Italian Football Federation center in Coverciano near Florence, May 21, 2012. (AFP)