04 April 2012

CR IP TI ON BS SU

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

US offers $10m for founder of Pakistan militant group

James Murdoch quits as BSkyB chairman

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Sharks, skulls, merchandise: Hirst’s first retrospective

Messi sends Barca into semis as Bayern cruise

NO: 15408

39 20 Mixed signals from Iran over US, Saudis, Turkey

40 PAGES

150 FILS

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www.kuwaittimes.net

JAMADI ALAWAAL 13, 1433 AH

Saudi, Qatar media attack Iraqi prime minister conspiracy theories

Are you satisfied?

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

A

s I was coming into the newspaper yesterday, it started drizzling. I saw one of our editors running outside. When I asked him why he was outside, he said: “I wanted to get wet. The rain reminds me of home.” I told myself: ‘OK, it could be because he hasn’t seen rain for two years.” When I went into the editorial room I saw others snapping pictures of the rain outside with their mobiles. As if rain is the strangest thing on Earth. Of course, in Kuwait rain is very rare. Humans are never satisfied with what they have.

I told myself, when I go to the UK it rains for days and nights on end and I hide inside. It would never come to anyone’s mind to take out his mobile and take pictures of the rain. I have never seen anyone taking pictures of the rain. In Kuwait, rain is news. It makes it even to the front pages. I bet you that by tomorrow all newspapers will be showing pictures of the rain in different areas of Kuwait.

It is amazing how the world goes. Nobody appreciates what they have. If it is hot, people want to travel to Siberia. I am sure the Siberians long to come to Dubai and Kuwait and vice versa. Look at people and their looks. Nobody seems to be satisfied with their skin colour. White people will go out of their way to run to a place where they can lie on the beach under the sun and get what is called a fashionable bronze tan. Don’t forget the creams and self-tanning oils which could be very expensive too.

Come to people with darker skin colour. They will spend fortunes to become white. Even if they have a little fair complexion, they will continue trying to be fairer. Just go to the co-ops’ shelves and read all the creams and what they are used for. Most are creams for whitening, even the big brands. Statistics show that in Asia where people are not very dark, cosmetic companies have been selling millions of whitening stuff. This, by the way, could harm the skin. Forget the Gulf, where most of the women are in love with the creams that contain whitening ingredients. Though they know it is not healthy, they still take the risk. They sell far better than the plain ones which are healthier and skin-friendly. If a woman has curly hair she will go to the hairdresser in the salon to straighten it with heavy chemicals which makes it look sleek. On the other side of the spectrum, women with naturally straight hair will visit the hairdresser to make it curly.

I wonder if it is human nature that people are never satisfied with what they have. They always look at what they don’t have. Girls with dark hair turn into Marilyn Monroes overnight. The blonde girls go for the auburn and dark looks. Let’s not forget lenses. When I meet my friend in the morning, she has blue eyes and in the evening she has green eyes. One time we had a journalist who matched her eye colour with her shoes. If she was wearing black shoes, her eyes were black. She didn’t mind the jokes we threw at her mix and match. She enjoyed it.

I bet you, if people were not like that, life would be boring. People are striving for something new and constant change in their lives. Why not if it keeps them happy?

Panel takes two officials to task

By B Izzak KUWAIT: The National Assembly’s public funds committee intends to refer two senior financial officials from the Amiri Diwan to the public prosecution over alleged financial irregularities, the head of the panel said yesterday. MP Musallam Al-Barrak said the two officials Nasser Al-Nukhailan and Abdulaziz Ishaq - have refused to supply the committee in its capacity as an investigation panel documents related to the probe. The committee has been asked to investigate alleged financial irregularities at the diwan of the crown prince which Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah meet students in festive attire during an award ceremony in honor of members of the legal committee of binders of the constitution at Bayan Palace yesterday. — KUNA (See Page 2)

Max 32º Min 17º High Tide 08:24 & 19:08 Low Tide 01:10 & 12:50

DUBAI: The United States would not be safe from retaliation if Iran is attacked by Washington, the Iran newspaper quoted a senior Revolutionary Guards commander yesterday as saying. “In the face of any attack, we will have a crushing response. In that case, we will not only act in the boundaries of the Middle East and the Gulf, no place in America will be safe from our attacks,” Massoud Jazayeri was quoted as saying by the daily.

Iran would not strike any country first, he said. Tehran is locked in a dispute with the West over its nuclear program.

Israel and the United States have threatened military action against Iran unless it abandons activities which the West suspects are intended to develop nuclear weapons.

Further talks between Iran and world powers are expected to take place this month in an attempt to reach a compromise. The most recent talks failed in Jan 2011 after Iran refused to suspend its sensitive uranium enrichment work, as demanded by several UN resolutions.

Tehran says its nuclear work is peaceful and it has the right to develop its program under the nuclear NonProliferation Treaty. “America, the Zionists and reactionary Arabs should pay attention that we will seriously confront them wherever the Islamic Republic’s interests are threatened,” Jazayeri said, according to Iran daily. Iranian officials have warned that the Islamic Republic’s response to any military strike would be painful and has said it could close the oil shipping thoroughfare — the Strait of Hormuz.

Continued on Page 13

Artist ‘more determined’ after ban KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti artist whose pictures of men were deemed “obscene” by authorities said she would keep on producing art that challenged perceptions of society in the state after her exhibition was shut down. Officials sent by the government told the galler y showing Shurooq Amin’s work to close her “It’s a

Man’s World” exhibition last month, three hours after it opened, the artist said. The works were “indecent” and “obscene”, a notice from the Commerce Ministry, seen

by Reuters, said. Officials from the ministry - which issues licences for art galleries to operate - declined repeated requests to comment.

Amin said officials focused on two of her 16 works - a painting of a woman in a mini-dress sitting on a man’s lap entitled “My Mistress and Family” and a picture showing three men playing cards and drinking “grape juice” from a bottle which suggested contraband alcohol. An Interior Ministry spokesman also

declined to comment. “I am going to continue to paint and I am going to continue to push the envelope. If anything, this is making me more determined than ever and more stubborn than ever,” Amin told Reuters. She has held nine solo exhibitions in Kuwait, including one called Continued on Page 13

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

LOCAL

Legal committee honored KUWAIT: Under the patronage and attendance of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, an award ceremony in honor of members of the legal committee of binders of the constitution was held at Bayan Palace yesterday. The event was attended by HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah.

HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, former

National Assembly Speaker Jassim AlKhorafi, Deputy Chief of the National Guard Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and other senior sheikhs and officials were also present. On the occasion, students of various grades carried out traditional dances to honor the visitors. HH the Amir presented the honorees with the Kuwait Ribbon of the First Special Order. — KUNA

Pay hike for Sri Lankan housemaids delayed Employers express reservations

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: The implementation of the KD75KD85 monthly salary for Sri Lankan housemaids will be delayed for at least three weeks, the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Kuwait said. The Sri Lankan government decided to delay the implementation, pending an appeal from Kuwait recruitment agencies and local employers. C.A.H.M. Wijeratne was speaking on the sidelines of a forum held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Monday night organized by the Sri Lankan Embassy to promote their skilled and semi-skilled manpower in Kuwait. The Sri Lankan ambassador to Kuwait said the implementation of the salary increase will be delayed for some time.

“It will be implemented maybe in two to three weeks time,” he said. “We delayed it because we want to listen to Kuwaiti employers and recruitment agencies who expressed reservations on our plan,” he stated. The ambassador said, the Sri Lankan government believes that increasing the salaries of their housemaids could ease the cases of runaways.

“We are the highest, in terms of runaway housemaids. We receive at least 15-20 people every day. We have more than 400 runaways in our shelter,” he added.

The Sri Lankan envoy welcomed Dilan Perera, minister of foreign employment promotion and welfare, to the event. He said he personally proposed the salary increase, and it was brought to the attention of the ministry back in Sri Lanka.

“Upon studies, they found out that it is now necessary to raise the salaries of our domestic helpers, but when it was announced here everyone reacted. Some people said it is impractical, so we delayed the implementation and opened the floor for dialogue,” he reiterated. He asserted that everyone agrees that salaries need to be increased, as the cost of living has skyrocketed everywhere in the world.

“Kuwaitis want their salaries to be increased by the hundred folds. What we want is an increase of KD10 on top of what the domestic helpers are currently receiving. This is small. Peanuts.

The situation here is that you need people, you need housemaids. Without them you cannot work. Who will look after your children, your househol? Therefore, our housemaids

deserved to be treated well, at least with decency and with better salary. Give them what they deserve. We do not ask too much, not for luxury treatment. Treat them as human beings, with dignity,” he said.

The ambassador mentioned one instance which he witnessed himself. “I witnessed one family eating at a party. Their housemaids were left and sat aside on one chair, starving.

Where is the heart (of some people)? I personally was disturbed and agonized for some times after seeing that scene with my own eyes,” he observed.

Another abused Sri Lankan maid he mentioned was a case of a domestic helper who had complained sometime ago about abuse.

She died recently at the hands of her employer. “Besides unexplained death, we found out that for over three years she had not had any salary. I asked the employer to give the money, but the employer did not show up yet,” he lamented. He said Sri Lankan housemaids have made enough sacrifices for themselves and also their families. “Most of the time they lose their loved ones. They lose their husband, their children are raped, and they return home with broken families. These people have not even had any chance for themselves either.

“The ambassador repeated his support for salary increases but conceded that discussions and dialogues with various concerned groups are needed.

Amal Senalankadikara, Chairman of the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment, said Sri Lankans demand higher payments as the cost of living has increased too high these days. “As you know the cost of living has increased elsewhere. But then again, if employers are not very happy about it we are open for dialogue and hope to come up with better alternatives. We have a good relationship with Kuwait and we want to protect that,” he reiterated.

Senalankadikara is in Kuwait with Dilan Perera to promote skilled and semi-skilled workers. He confirmed that about 300 nurses will be hired by the Ministry of Health, in addition to about 300 nurses already in the country. “We are here to encourage Kuwait to go and get more Sri Lankan workers, not just domestic helpers. We have skilled workers, we have many pilots available, we have engineers.

KUWAIT: Dilan Perera, the minister of foreign employment promotion and welfare, lights a ceremonial lamp at the start of a forum, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Monday night. With him are C.A.H.M. Wijeratne, Sri Lankan ambassador to Kuwait (second left) and Amal Senalankadikara, (extreme right) chairman of Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment.—Photos by Joseph Shagra

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

local

Desert environment badly damaged by campers Camping season ends

By Nawara Fattahova

Wataniya Telecom sponsors career fair KUWAIT: As a continuous evolution of its recruitment strategy within the telecom sector, and as part of its social responsibility to encourage and motivate the upcoming new generation of Kuwaiti graduates, Wataniya Telecom has announced its silver sponsorship to the College of Business Administration’s career fair. It was organized by the Student Training Center in collaboration with Kuwait University graduates and took place from March 27th till the 29th at the College of Business Administration campus in Shuwaikh.

This career fair marks the 17th this year, and aimed at familiarizing Kuwaiti graduates with job vacancies and opportunities available for them at the companies participating in this career fair; in addition to trainings and internships during the course of their study or even for postgraduation. In this regards, Majdi Ghannam Chief Human Resources & Admin Services Officer at Wataniya Telecom stated that the long-term strategic objective behind sponsoring CBA career fair was to capture the attention of fresh graduates with high potential and to grant them a chance to join the private sector in one of its agile industries, mainly the ICT (information and communications technology) market.

Ghannam added “Wataniya Telecom is always doing its best to stay close to the youth segment which constitutes the most important pillar of our country’s future manpower pool and its future leadership base. And this is why we work hard to provide suitable job vacancies for fresh graduates and to attract competent candidates and meet their aspirations to fulfill key posts in the company’s different operational venues.”

To achieve this goal, Wataniya Telecom will offer a series of training courses and professional guidance to its newly hired employees as it will also offer a career development program that is linked to its performance appraisal program. In addition, Wataniya will continue investing in its annual scholarship program which aims at encouraging its staff to pursue higher studies and develop their capabilities that most match the requirements needed in different departments at the company.

Expat drowns to death

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A 25-year-old Indian expatriate’s body was found near Kuwait Towers. The coroner recovered the body, and the cause of death was found to be drowning.

A 52-year-old Egyptian expatriate suffered a broken hand and pain in the back, while a 20-year-old Kuwaiti had bruises on the shoulder and neck after a car accident in Sharq. Both were taken to Amiri Hospital.

A 41-year-old Egyptian expatriate suffered a broken hand and a cut nose during a fight in Abbassiya. He was taken to Farwaniya Hospital.

A 44-year-old Saudi sustained a broken arm and a lacerated head after being hit by a car in Jahra. He was taken to Jahra Hospital.

A 42-year-old Egyptian expatriate was killed after an object fell on his head at a construction site in Nuzha. The body was recovered by the coroner.

KUWAIT: The camping season is over starting from the beginning of this month and according to the law, people were obliged to remove their tents and camps by March 31. Any existing camp after this date is illegal, and the Municipality team will remove it. But a more serious issue than the illegal tents are the remains and waste left littering the natural environment. The desert environment is seriously suffering from damage and harm caused by careless people, as they litter their camping site with different kinds of garbage and waste.

This bad behavior is not controlled, as the Municipality decree to make campers pay an insurance payment was not applied yet. This decree would enforce people to clean their site after they remove their camp to get their money back.

Ahmad Al-Hazim, Head of the Farwaniya Governorate branch of the Municipality, said although this decree was proposed previously, it was not approved by the Municipal Council yet due to disagreements on the amount of insurance.

“It was first proposed to be KD 500 and then it was reduced to KD 200. I think it will hopefully be applied next season (at the end of this year). This will give us better control over campers, who will be registered and can be penalized for any violations. It will be deducted from insurance that was paid in advance,” he told the Kuwait Times.

There are Municipality inspection teams controlling the desert to remove any remaining camps at the end of the season.

“The remaining camps including the tents, furniture and other things are removed by the inspection team and confiscated. It is not possible to identify a tent, as there is nothing official such as a chassis number on the vehicle. We remove about 50 or 60

KUWAIT: Different kinds of garbage and waste near a desert camp.

MP draws embassy into flag burning case KUWAIT: The case regarding the arrest of a Kuwaiti citizen for burning an Iranian flag took a new turn Monday, when an Islamist lawmaker suggested that “intervention from the Iranian Embassy” could have contributed to “swift” apprehension procedures.

“The process in which Nahar Al-Hajri was arrested was very fast, in a way that raises suspicions,” said MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei who reportedly plans to file a grilling motion against Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud AlSabah over the subject.

“There might be a possibility that the Iranian Embassy had a hand in this,” Al-Tabtabaei added. “We only seek the truth... as we do not see a reason for Al-Hajri’s arrest”.

Meanwhile, Al-Tabtabaei insisted that his inquiries or grilling plans are not to be regarded as intervention in the investigation process in Al-Hajri’s case.

Minister Al-Humoud said in a statement earlier this week that while lawmakers have the right to file interpellations, they do not enjoy a similar privilege to “interfere in police investigations”. Al-Tabtabaei said that he plans to view his grilling with fellow Development and Reform Bloc (DRB) members before showing it to the Parliament majority bloc.

MP Faisal Al-Mislem, DRB spokesman, hinted that AlTabtabaei’s grilling receives the bloc’s full endorsement, confirming that it will only be filed following discussions with the majority Opposition in Parliament.

“The question is, is Iran considered a hostile nation or not?” Al-Mislem speculated, mentioning “the spy network sent by Iran, whose members were convicted in Kuwaiti courts”.

Citizen Nahar Al-Hajri remains in custody following his arrest late last week when he reportedly burned an Iranian flag during a demonstration held in protest against an incident in which offensive remarks against the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) were made by a Twitter user in Kuwait. Al-Hajri faces state security charges under Kuwaiti law, which criminalizes the burning of flags of friendly nations. Following the arrest, Al-Tabtabaei argued that AlHajri’s action comes under the constitutional freedom of expression. —Al-Rai

Oil facilities need urgent maintenance, renovation KUWAIT: MEED, the Middle East Business Intelligence Magazine, recently said oil facilities in both Kuwait and other GCC states are aging, as most of them were built during the 1960s or 1970s. MEED stressed that most oil fields and related equipment needs immediate maintenance and renovation.

Sheikh Fahad Al-Dawood Al-Sabah, oil strategist and economics expert, said none of the oil sector officials who have been bragging that our oil facilities are up to date responded to the report published in MEED last month.

Al-Dawood said coping with the latest developments in the field have always been the biggest challenge to oil production, namely in the field of security and safety precautions in oil refining which involves high risks and hazards to workers.

Al-Dawood said Kuwaiti oil products are exported worldwide, including to East Asian markets where very strict specifications are imposed.

“We might suffer huge losses unless we develop our refineries by next year,” warned Al-Dawood, urging the concerned authorities to quickly get to work to finish delayed projects and avoid red tape.

IKARUS Petroleum Industries Company CEO, Suhail Bograiss, seconded MEED’s report, especially regarding oil refineries that were last revamped during the 1980s. —Al-Jarida

tents daily, so it is difficult to prove ownership. The tents and equipment will either be sold in an auction or are burned,” he said. “We mostly care about the waste left behind, which is damaging nature. The Municipality cleans the site after these careless campers leave, although it’s not our job to do so. We need to enforce the law and penalize the violators,” concluded Al-Hazim.

Fahad Al-Otaibi, Head of Ahmadi Governorate of the Municipality, stressed that the process of removing all remaining camps and tents is still ongoing as the area of the governorate is huge. “On April 1 we started our inspections and gave warnings to the campers that if they did not remove their camps the Municipality will remove it the next day. In fact most people are cooperating with us and removing their camps.

Those who did not, we confiscated the items in the camp and discarded most of it as scrap,” he stated. He also said the Municipality in Ahmadi Governorate is working on removing trucks that are blocking roads and are parked or left on state property, especially at Abdulla Port.

Municipality launches cleaning campaign

KUWAIT: The Municipality cleaning campaign in progress.

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Kuwait Municipality launched a campaign to clean open areas in all governorates, naming it ‘open areas free of pollutants’.

Engineer Ahmad Al-Subaih, Municipality director general, ordered the campaign to coincide with the end of spring camping season. The cam-

paign aims at cleaning all desert areas, and will continue until all leftovers, pollutants and dead animals are removed.

Kabad was one of the launching places of the campaign, at the instructions of Engineer Sami Al-Saudan, Jahra Municipality branch director. It resulted in hauling 39 truckloads of leftovers.

Al-Saudan said the Municipality aims at reaching the outstanding level which

every citizen looks for. He said the campaign does not interfere with daily cleaning work.

Mamdouh Al-Najdi, Director of public cleanliness and road occupancy, Faihan Al-Mutairi, director of public cleanliness, Mubarak Al-Shimmari, assistant supervisor, and Yousuf Al-Kashab Kabad center director, participated in the campaign.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

LOCAL kuwait digest

kuwait digest

Blinded by own beliefs

New public university

By Hamad Nayef Al-Enezi

By Dr Wael Al-Hasawi

T

he least one can say about the tweet in which a ‘ Tweeter’ broadcast blasphemy against the holy Prophet (PBUH) is that it lacked any manners, ethics or politeness.

Like many other tweets, with extremely low profile language, this one was thought to be a means to practice freedom of expression.

L

ess than two years ago, I was invited by teaching staff of the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) to join a committee that was preparing a study to establish a university of applied sciences in Kuwait. The study would focus on using the PAAET’s applied education faculties as the basis for the future university.

They think they are absolutely free to say whatever they wish without any restrictions. They believe that abusing and insulting others’ beliefs is a right of theirs, but they can’t be more wrong and naive. How can Muslims revolt for blaspheming the Prophet (PBUH), but accept burning the word of God before their eyes?!

They think they are absolutely free to say whatever they wish without any restrictions. They believe that abusing and insulting others’ beliefs is a right of theirs, but they can’t be more wrong and naive. No racial remarks or insults to others’ religions are to be considered part of freedom of expression, not even in the world’s most civilized, free and democratic countries. Contrarily, it is being incriminated by law regardless of the motive of the abuser!

Those who were enraged about the blaspheming of the Prophet (PBUH) have every right to be, and their demand to punish the abuser is very natural and accepted as a normal logical reaction from people who value their holy Prophet (PBUH) more than their parents or children!

Nevertheless, what is abnormal is the control of such rage by some MPs who, at the peak of their own rage, decided passing a law to authorize executing whomever insults the Prophet, his wives or his companions. This would make it impossible for any abuser to repent, and would cost lives. Such legislation might also treat all abusers equally, no matter if they were young or old, or if they were mockingly doing it, or were in moments of despair and anger. It will also treat repentant abusers as equally as those who insist on the abuse!

Had the Prophet (PBUH) himself been among us, would he have passed such a law? He was repeatedly abused and insulted by the Quraish for 13 years. When he had the upper hand and they all thought he would retaliate, he simply set them all free. He did the same with the people of Al-Taef when he went to invite them to Islam but their children stoned him and chased him away. The Prophet refused to smash them between two mountains lest one of their descendants might worship God. He settled for whipping those who blasphemed him and his wife, Ayesha (MABPWH), instead of asking to kill them. What about our distinguished MPs? We are all in favor of passing a law to deter all religious abuse, be it of moslems or non-moslems.

This can be achieved through a few years of imprisonment, a large fine or by both penalties.

Executions is, on the other hand, unconstitutional and unreligious.

This demand is a mere reaction of outrage and none of the MPs would demand it had the abuser been one of their children. Instead, they would ask to have him declare regrets and repent for his sin.

They would all give him a second chance, considering him to be a naive immature juvenile who was just ‘having fun with his tweets’!

What actually happened is that a complete sect has been prejudicially judged and many started taking advantage of the situation to express their own sectarian grudges towards people known for their love of the Prophet (PBUH) and his family more than others. They even went as far as accusing a neighboring county of being behind the incident, and had its flag burned in a rally despite the existence of the word ‘God’ on the flag, which is even worse. How can Muslims revolt for blaspheming the Prophet (PBUH), but accept burning the word of God before their eyes?! Do they worship the Prophet? Or are they blinded by their own sectarian beliefs?! They are probably blind?! —Al-Jarida

CONDOLENCES The Associated Engineering Partnership and its staff express deep sorrow for the sad demise of their colleague

Mr. Saleem Hayat Aslam Hayat Khan who passed away after 32 years of dedicated service, leaving behind a legacy of hard work, devotion and good relations with his co-workers and everyone else that knew him.

May His Soul Rest In Peace

We found in our study that this separation has become necessary for multiple reasons, first is the drastic difference between the two fields of study as well as the overcrowding problem at PAAET, which has nearly 50,000 students. kuwait digest

Defending freedom of religious practice

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

M

y position is often confused as biased towards the Shiite community against Sunnis, given how often I write in support of Shiite causes. The truth of the matter is that I never intend to side with one side against the other because, in the end, I believe that Sunni and Shiite citizens are all Kuwaitis who share equal rights and duties. It just happens that I comment in support of Shiite causes against what I believe is rising attempts of Islamist lawmakers to limit their right of practice of religious freedom.

The religious and conservative nature of the parliament’s majority often leads majority of MPs to overlook the fact that Kuwait has a democratic society where the relationship between people is organized by the Constitution. Sunni lawmakers act from an ideology which is heavily opinionated towards their beliefs, and that usually leads them to react with prejudice against Shiites regarding matters of conflict between the two religious sectors.

In general, I am against intervening in religious practice in the same way that I object to the intervention of religion in politics. I believe that clerics should have the freedom to practice and preach religion inside places of worship. Yet, I do not understand how the Government can be asked to monitor Shiite Hussainiyas, as they are not run by the state.

Islamist lawmakers demand that the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs monitors Hussainiyas in the same way it monitors Sunni mosques. What MPs overlook is the fact that Sunni mosques are affiliated to the ministry, and all imams, prayer callers and other workers at Sunni mosques are in fact MAIA employees. Therefore, it is normal for the ministry to monitor employees they pay and provide accommodation for, to make sure that they are carrying out their jobs properly.

On the other hand, Hussainiyas are mostly built on private property. These difficulties are part of

restrictions on freedom of religious practice on communities other than the Sunni majority.

With that being said, I agree with calls to monitor Hussainiyas if it is aimed at countering fanaticism, for the same main reason why Sunni mosques are monitored. The problem is, lawmakers demand that the ministry monitors speech inside Hussainiyas, in order to make sure that everything said there doesn’t contradict with their own beliefs.

Such demands are only the product of an ideology that seeks to gain supremacy over the other part of society by limiting their freedom of religious practice. —Al-Qabas

The religious and conservative nature of the parliament’s majority often leads majority of MPs to overlook the fact that Kuwait has a democratic society where the relationship between people is organized by the Constitution. Sunni lawmakers act from an ideology which is heavily opinionated towards their beliefs, and that usually leads them to react with prejudice against Shiites regarding matters of conflict between the two religious sectors.

kuwait digest

‘Long live government’

By Abdullah Al-Misfer Al-Adwani

A

ctor Adel Imam said “long live Mohammed Ali Clay’ in his well known play ‘A witness who saw nothing’. Because streets and vehicles here are almost empty, and cars do not find difficulty moving, we should shout ‘long live Al-Dossary and Mohammad Al-Khalawi,... and long live Arab unity.’

Truly we had enough from the state of traffic jams in Kuwait. It has become a trade mark that makes a person fed up with his life, and finds it difficult to go anywhere in Kuwait as all roads lead to traffic jams. You have no choice. Every day you find yourself subject to anger, high blood pressure and sugar in the blood.

The strange thing is that the traffic department has nothing except temporar y solutions which are of no use, and you need two capsules of Panadol daily when you are going to work and another two capsules when you return home.

You arrive at work in a bad mood and you return home with full anger. Without exaggeration, if you make a study in Kuwait you will find most of the problems at work are caused by traffic jams that employee face before arriving at work. Of all house fights and problems, I am sure that a high percentage of them are caused by traffic jams.

This happiness in a rich country, Kuwait, when our population did not reach three million and a

half. How about if our population was like China or Japan or Turkey, which I visit annually. What would Al-Dossary and his colleagues do if the population was one billion persons?

Reasons for traffic jams are well known to us. The first is that the traffic depar tment is not dealing with those old vehicles causing traffic jams, or drivers

What did those leaders do for the streets of Kuwait, which are as they were during the 70s of the last century.

While the number of cars and people have doubled tens of times, what can traffic police achieve alone? They put all their efforts into the street, while high ranking leaders in their offices sip tea and coffee and eat dates!

who occupy the roads like taxi drivers and those who are roaming around. This is in addition to the narrow roads, which are not suitable for the number of cars that use the roads.

Our problem is in the security leader who cares for nothing except politics. You find them declaring for everything, instead of working to solve basic security issues like traffic problems.

What did those leaders do for the streets of Kuwait, which are as they were during the 70s of the last century. While the number of cars and people have doubled tens of times, what can traffic police achieve alone? They put all their effor ts into the street, while high ranking leaders in their offices sip tea and coffee and eat dates!

Why does the Ministr y of Interior not coordinate with the Ministry of Public Works to put an end to this phenomenon, which worries ever yone in Kuwait?

If those leaders continue this system and do not look for solutions, at least like those suggested by MP Dr Waleed Al Tabtabae two days ago, then we advise Ministry of Interior to distribute the CD of the singer Ahmad Adwaiya which contains the song “crowded, the world is crowded” so that we get acquainted with the atmosphere surrounding us, while we are on our way to anywhere. — Al-Anbaa

The idea was very promising at the time, despite obstacles we initially faced due to the rejection by former education minister Moudhi Al-Hmoud to the concept of separating the applied education and training sectors of PAAET. We found in our study that this separation has become necessary for multiple reasons, first is the drastic difference between the two fields of study as well as the overcrowding problem at PAAET, which has nearly 50,000 students. Furthermore, we concluded that the best mechanism to achieve separation is by using applied education faculties at PAAET, as the core of a separate university for applied sciences. The fact that these colleges already have enough capabilities in the form of teaching staff and equipment makes the goal of establishing the university within three years highly achievable.

After we finished the study, we exerted strenuous efforts to transform the idea of the new university into reality. I would like to recognize the efforts of Engineer Ahmad Mandani, who was able to convince numerous Parliament members with our idea.

Finally, and after a huge role played by former education minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi who made a bold step to adopt our idea, Parliament voted recently to approve the establishment of the Jaber University for Applied Sciences within three years.

It makes me feel proud that Parliament endorsed initiatives which face troubles which the Government failed to address, especially initiatives in the higher education field. Who can believe that a country with a population of over three million has only one public university, established 46 years ago, and every year sends thousands of its citizens to complete their higher studies abroad. —Al-Rai

kuwait digest

Politicizing Husseiniyas!

By Dr Hassan Abdullah Johar

D

oes the occasional provocative statement against Hussainiyas or the threats to politically question the Prime Minister really have any significance? Can a word here or there change facts? Does such pressure affect any related decisions?

Well, if the answer was naturally ‘NO’ what’s the reason, then, for all the fuss, panic and nervousness towards such irresponsible statements that eventually get the whole country involved in continuous tension and endless mobilizations?

Needless to say how historically deep-rooted within the Kuwaiti society Hussainiyas are. They have historically played significant roles in both religious and social activities. They have been holding religious rituals at certain known seasons, have been used as platforms to explain the Holy Quran and speak about the virtues of the holy Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and his household members, to deliver religious and cultural sermons and to host funeral ceremonies. Therefore, they have been visited by many citizens who have very good and strong relations with their private owners.

One can probably say that all Shiites are keen on attending Hussainiya sermons. Many of them have even been brought up beneath their platforms.

Hussainiyas are no longer restricted to GCC states or the Arab World. They have extended to reach Europe, North America and Australia.

The fact that some extremists, who cannot be deterred by ethics or religion and have been so disrespectful to their Sunni fellow-citizens, does not necessarily mean that Husseiniya platforms can be accused or condemned for irresponsible individual practices that are even rejected by Shiites themselves. This is quite evident from the peaceful coexistence, friendship and love amongst all Kuwaitis.

The same can also be said about some radical Sunnis. We have always warned that such minorities have been annoying and have mal-practices. So, we should all avoid being carried away by the calls of such people, that lack any sense or logic. We should not allow fake heroes to use us to make their own glory. We should not keep applauding and praising them, as if they were the only defenders of our religion.

We already have enough concerns, problems and failures that have turned us into an idle stand-still society and into a country that comes last on lists for development and creativity. This country that wastes fortunes, that are squandered by a small number of its citizens while the rest of us are fighting and exchanging accusations over trivial issues.

We are trying to pick on each other and needlessly create new problems that usually affect the whole society because of such narrow-mindedness and personal complexes. MPs who are supposed to represent the whole nation and voice their concerns and aspirations. So have mercy on this country......even for a short while! — Al-Jarida

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

local

Kuwaitis only 5 percent of private sector workforce ‘Fake employment’ widespread KUWAIT: Kuwaitis form only five percent of the workforce in the Gulf state’s private sector, according to a recent report quoting a person with knowledge of Civil Ser vice Commission statistics.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source attributed the reducing number of Kuwaitis in the private sector to “the lack of financial incentives compared to how much public sector employees are paid”. Compared to 289,782 employees in the public sector, there are only 61,435 Kuwaitis employed in the private sector which has a total workforce of 1,213,221 employees. The statistics were provided by the source.

“In an attempt to address this issue, experts presented studies to enforce salary increases ranging between KD100 to KD400 for Kuwaitis in the private sector, “ said the source who explained that these studies were supposed to be discussed during a meeting

with the Civil Service Council earlier this week.

The meeting was canceled due to other obligations of CSC president, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mustafa AlShimali.

The Civil Service Council is the highest body to enforce legislation for public sector payrolls and social security. Governmental support for Kuwaitis in the private sector is listed with it. These legislations regulate the work of the Civil Service Commission, which handles employment and executive payment procedures for Kuwaiti citizens.

The source spoke of “disagreements” within the Civil Service Council over the proposed pay raises for Kuwaitis in the private sector.

“Minister Al-Shimali is not thrilled about large increases to the private sector, which suffers from fake employment”, said the source, referring to the practice by which

some private companies pay inactive citizens to meet the quota of Kuwaiti employees the government forces every private business to abide by.

A team from the Management and Government Restructuring Program (MGRP) gave a demonstration to explain how KD646,000 was retrieved from 500 Kuwaitis, who receive social security support while being employed inactively by eight companies.

The MGRP is a government body. Its main duties include distributing nearly KD300 million in social security to Kuwaitis in the private sector.

The source believe that turning the MGRP into an authority with full powers to organize affairs of Kuwaitis in the private sector would help the Civil Service Council focus on projects that invest in human resources. —Al-Qabas

Kuwait participates in Arab labor conference

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior’s Assistant Undersecretary for Security Operations, Maj Gen Abdullah Al-Muhanna, rewarded Lt Fahad Al-Muawad and Sgt Ali Al-Abdal, from the Hawally Patrol Police, for their efforts in a recent drug bust. The event was also attended by General Director of the General Department of Police Force, Brig Gen Zuhair Al-Nasrallah.

Bayt.com empowers careers through simplifying big data KUWAIT: It’s no secret that measurability is the key to success. Calling upon 12 years of Middle East job market data, Bayt.com has created an intuitive set of career-building tools for its website, giving jobseekers and employers alike access to vital statistics that will streamline - and significantly improve - both sides of the recruitment process. With 7.25 million jobseekers and more than 40,000 employers registered on Bayt.com, the jobsite’s measurability is certainly substantial.

Tapping into the extensive information stored in the Bayt.com datacenter, the newly refurbished jobsite features functions inspired by recruitment trends and career statistics from across the region.

The data, collected from information gathered from millions of people in the Middle East, has been used to empower members of Bayt.com to make better decisions, allowing them to get ahead in the recruitment process. “ With 12 years of operations under its belt, Bayt.com is now taking the successes of its past and translating them into the future. By addressing the professional, personal and market requirements of jobseekers and employers, we have created a nextgeneration brand that is at the vanguard of the employment revolution,” said Rabea Ataya, CEO, Bayt.com. “ We have created a brand that will become an indispensable extension of peoples’ lives, empowering them to create the lifestyle that they desire by utilizing our state-of-the-art functionalities to find the careers they desire. At the same time, we are presenting them with the opportunity to carve out their online footprint, which is an increasingly essential component to the employment market.”

Included amongst the tools are CV Visibility Charts, keyword tools, a Career Map and more, all of which display relevant data in a way that is most useful to the job-seeking process. Whether a candidate is looking to relocate, continue their education or switch their career path, Bayt.com now gives them access to trends and more to expose the way their peers fare in similar situations; how they make the same moves, based on industry, city, years of experience, education and more.

The CV Visibility Charts provide essential information on the number of views received in recent months, including the keywords being used by employers to find relevant candidates, and the skills that are in demand. Armed with these indicators, candidates are able to tailor their CV to better improve their employability. Members of Bayt.com have access to the answer that will empower them to find the career they desire, by giving them unprecedented access to data that allows for a fully customized experience and career trajectory, as opposed to merely a generic figure.

Kuwait, Saudi to trade illegal immigration data RIYADH: The State of Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed an agreement yesterday to trade information regarding illegal immigration.

Chairman of the Central System for the Remedy of Status of Illegal Residents (CSRSIR), Saleh Al-Fadhala, said that during his visit to the kingdom, the Kuwaiti delegation and Saudi officials shared expertise in countering illegal immigration and addressing its consequences and challenges.

The official added that many views were discussed to limit the negative trend and that there was an agreement regarding the importance of the exchange of information to serve the interests of both countries.

Al-Fadhala was pleased with the visit and urged Saudi officials to pay a similar visit to the State of Kuwait for further coordination and the exchange of ideas. — KUNA

CAIRO: Visiting Kuwaiti Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Lieutenant General Ahmad AlRujaib said yesterday Kuwait always seeks to improve the circumstances and conditions of laborers.

Speaking during the 39th session of the Arab Labor Conference held in Cairo, the minister said his country spares no efforts to create a congenial labor atmosphere.

Al-Rujaib is leading the Kuwaiti delegation participating in the conference, which also includes several officials of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.

Kuwait’s participation in the conference is mainly to buttress the concept of common Arab action and support diverse Arab issues, he said.

Kuwait is eager to effectively partake in various regional and Arab conferences, especially

regarding labor and workers, he added.

He stressed the significance to the Arab labor sector of the Arab Labor Conference, organized by the Arab Labor Organization (ALO). The Kuwaiti Government business and labor representatives are participating in the conference, which mainly focuses on Arab labor issues, he said.

As many as 400 representatives from several Arab countries

are meeting here to find solutions to drastic Arab labor problems, the minister stated.

Unemployment is the main issue on the agenda of the pan-Arab labor gathering, given that it is a chronic problem in all Arab countries, the Kuwaiti minister said.

The concerned Kuwaiti state bodies are doing their utmost to solve the unemployment problem in Kuwait, he remarked. —KUNA

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

local

Foul play suspected in Jahra suicide case Businessman gets burnt by partner

ABK sponsors ‘Hala Ramadan Expo 2’ KUWAIT: Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait announced its sponsorship of “Hala Ramadan Expo 2”, which will be held from April 22 to 25 in 360 Mall. A large number of Kuwaiti talents, as many as 85, as well as some small projects will participate in the exhibition showcasing Ramadan-related products made by them.

Sahar Al-Therban, public relations manager at ABK said “To reaffirm our commitment to our ongoing campaign “Our Society, Our Responsibility”, ABK is proud to announce the sponsorship of “Hala Ramadan Expo 2”. “Our Society, our

Responsibility ” is the slogan under which we support the bank’s corporate social responsibility initiatives, whether related to humanitarian, environmental, cultural or sport issues. This time we are supporting youth, today’s youth is the future of our nation, and support to them enables progress of the society we live in.”

The “Hala Ramadan Expo 2” organizers have thanked ABK for their sponsorship and the continuous support that the bank provides to young talent, in the belief that they play a pivotal role towards the betterment of society.

Development plan being implemented KUWAIT: Minister of State for Planning and Development, Dr Fadhel Safar, said on Monday that the final statement of the government is clear evidence of the implementation of the development plan.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar organized by the Arab Planning Institute regarding the reality and challenges of financial policy in Kuwait, Safar, who is also minister of public works, said that the supreme planning council was preparing the annual follow-up reform of the development plan.

He added that speakers pinpointed various deficiencies in Kuwait’s financial policy, such as its almost complete dependence on oil as a major source of income, the high

percentage of wages coupled with a marginal labor and demographic structure.

Safar said that the government was tackling the problems one at a time. He said the development plan included, for the first time, quarterly and bi-annual follow-up programs.

Asked about possible imposition of taxes to address economic structural deficiencies, Safar said that the government has many studies regarding income tax and how it would affect citizens.

He added, however, that there is a law forbidding the levying of taxes on citizens.

Safar said the culture of consumption should change into a productive one among the people. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Investigations are currently ongoing in a homicide case after evidence suggesting foul play was found at the scene of a reported suicide. Security officers, accompanied by crime scene investigators, headed to a residence in the industrial area of Jahra following reports from Asian expatriates that their Bangladeshi roommate had committed suicide. According to initial statements made to officers, the victim locked himself in the bathroom after becoming ‘deeply frustrated’ following a conversation with his roommate, during which he was informed that monies owed to him would not be repaid. Criminal investigators grew suspicious of the story, in which it was claimed that the victim hung himself, because they failed to find any items at the scene which the victim could have used to tie the rope on the bathroom’s notably high ceiling. The forensic examination report later confirmed their suspicions as it revealed that the real time of death was 12 hours before the alleged suicide was reported, as it had originally been claimed that the incident had taken place 5 hours prior to the police being informed.

Man gets burnt The search is on for a businessman accused of stealing thousands of dinars of revenue from a joint project. The case was filed recently at Salhiya Police Station by an Iraqi man, who reported that his Iranian business partner had disappeared after illegally seizing KD 400,000 from the profits of their joint real estate trading company project. The complainant provided full details regarding the

suspect, which police hope can be used to locate him and place him under arrest to face breach of trust charges.

Careless mother A 4-year-old child was critically injured after her mother accidently ran her over near their home in Saad Al-Abdullah. The woman was, reportedly, not paying attention as she moved her car, behind which her daughter was playing. The child was admitted to the intensive care unit at Jahra Hospital as soon as she was hospitalized by her mother. An investigation was opened into the incident.

Man shoots at nephew A Kuwaiti man faces attempted murder charges after reportedly shooting at, but missing, his nephew following a family dispute in Sulaibikhat. In his statement to local police officers, the complainant explained that he had engaged in an argument with his uncle, who was refusing his request to allow him to live at his, now deceased, father’s home. He explained that his uncle had taken over his brother’s residence following his death. As he was leaving, the victim was shot at twice. He was unharmed, however, as the bullets hit his car. He reported the incident to police, who are looking to summon the suspect.

Conman caught out A dismissed military officer enrolled in the state’s police force in order to assist him in committing robbery. According to a security source, the suspect recently reported to

Shamiya Police Station and informed officers that he had been sent by the Criminal Investigations General Department to complete a training period at the station. He was, reportedly, able to trick the officers into believing his story until his actions started arousing suspicion. The suspect was found setting up a checkpoint near the station late at night, without permission, “When officers approached him to get some answers, the suspect attempted to escape, but was arrested and interrogated,” said the source, adding that it was later discovered that the suspect was employed by the Ministry of Interior’s Department of Facilities Security. The suspect confessed that he was planning to steal cash from drivers using his fake police checkpoint.

A firearm, handcuffs and other items were found in his car, thus leading to further investigations which revealed that he was dismissed from the Ministry of Defense before joining the police force. The suspect remains in custody pending further action.

Fatal crash A driver was killed, and another injured, in a car collision on the King Fahad Road.

Paramedics, accompanied by firefighters and security officers, arrived to the scene to the two vehicles involved in a serious accident. A 55-year-old Egyptian man was pronounced dead at the scene, while a 25-year-old Egyptian national was hospitalized with several bruises and broken bones. An investigation was opened to determine the circumstances behind the accident.

— Al-Rai, Al-Qabas, Al-Watan

KVWC keen on participating in Arab voluntary activities BEIRUT: Kuwait Voluntary Work Center (KVWC) is keen on participating in various events in Kuwait and abroad, member of KVWC and researcher Suad Al-Furaih said yesterday.

Al-Furaih said, at the end of the Third conference on spreading the culture of voluntary work in the Arab World, held in Beirut, that participants had stressed

their keenness on activating voluntary work in the Arab World through societies, institutions and centers.

She stated that governmental institutions alone are not able to serve the requirements and meet the needs of the Kuwaiti society, while KVWC has a good reputation in Arab and foreign countries interested in this matter.

The participating delegations in the conference and member countries in the Arab Union for Voluntary Work carried out a treeplanting campaign on the sidelines of the conference, which included the planting of 250 trees in order to motivate Arab youth in the field of agriculture and preservation of the environment.

The five -day conference,

which is organized by the Lebanon Center for Volunteering Work and the Arab Union for Volunteering Work, is attended by delegations from Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi, Algeria, Morocco, Iraq, Yemen and Libya. The Arab Union for Voluntary Work, located in Doha, was established in 2003.

It is headed by Dr Muna Bint Suhaim Al-Thani. — KUNA

Shaab Club hosts kids marathon KUWAIT: The Shaab Sea Club hosted a marathon for elementary and middle school students organized by the Ministry of Education in cooperation with the Touristic Enterprises Company. Students

representing two public schools from each of the country’s six governorates took part in the event.

Meanwhile, management of the Shaab Sea Club organized an Open Day for club

members, featuring various entertaining and interactive activities. The event included a competition to select the best serving of Arabian food and desserts featuring fifteen contestants.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

Islamists, Qaeda gain ground in Mali Page 8

US puts $10 million bounty on Pakistani Islamist leader Page 9

DAMASCUS: Syrians wave revolutionary flags and chant slogans at a night protest against President Bashar Assad in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria. — AP

UN ‘indirectly’ supporting Assad Syrian cities bombarded as truce deadline nears ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused the UN Security Council yesterday of indirectly supporting the “oppression” of the Syrian people by failing to adopt a united stance on Syria. Once a friend of Damascus, Turkey has become a fierce critic of President Bashar Al-Assad over his year-long crackdown on his opponents and has called for the Syrian leader to step down. “In not taking a decision, the UN Security Council has indirectly supported the oppression. To stand by with your hands and arms tied while the Syrian people are dying every day is to support the oppression,” Erdogan said.

In February, the Turkish prime minister described a veto by perma-

nent Security Council members China and Russia of a UN resolution on Syria as a “fiasco for the civilized world”. Russia and China have vetoed two council resolutions condemning Assad for turning his army on civilians. “We will not turn our backs on the Syrian people, we will not leave the Syrian people to their own fate,” Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling AK Party yesterday. On Monday UNArab League peace envoy Kofi Annan told the 15-nation Security Council that Damascus had agreed to an April 10 deadline to withdraw all military units from towns to pave the way for a ceasefire with rebels two days later.

Opposition activists accused Syrian troops of shelling two cities

yesterday in a campaign to weaken forces fighting President Bashar AlAssad’s government before a ceasefire deadline next week. Rebel fighters also kept up their attacks, killing three soldiers in separate actions in northern Syria, activists said. Assad has agreed to a ceasefire negotiated by international peace envoy Kofi Annan from April 10, the latest effort to end a year of bloodshed stemming from an uprising against his rule.

An advance team from the United Nations’ peacekeeping department will arrive in Damascus in the next two days to work out how observers can monitor the truce, Annan’s spokesman said in Geneva. But Syrian opposition figures as well as Western governments have already

made it clear they are not convinced that Assad, who has failed to honor previous commitments, would keep his word this time. “He is a liar,” said Waleed Al-Fares, an opposition activist in Homs, a city which came to symbolize the anti-Assad struggle as opposition-held areas endured weeks of bombardments and sniper fire.

Fares said Assad was playing for time to gain the upper hand over poorly-armed rebel forces which have been driven from city strongholds in the past two months. Targets in Homs were coming under shelling yesterday, he said. Another opposition activist, Mortadha Al-Rashid said from Damascus that the western border town of Zabadani was also taking

a pounding. “The regime shows no signs of stopping. There are people being shelled in Zabadani right now,” Rashid said. “Where are Kofi Annan’s words? Because we have never seen them on the streets.”

In violence elsewhere, rebel fighters killed one soldier in a clash in northern Idlib province, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor which collates reports from inside Syria. Armed men also attacked the home of a military director of logistics in Aleppo, killing two guards, the Observatory said. The Syrian state news agency SANA said 10 soldiers and policemen were buried with honors on Monday.

Accounts of the violence can be diffi-

cult to verify because the Syrian government restricts access to Western journalists.

But the United Nations estimates Assad’s forces have killed more than 9,000 people in the past year, while the government says about 3,000 security personnel have been killed by what it describes as foreignbacked gangs of terrorists. SANA said Foreign M inister Walid AlMoualem met the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger, and agreed on “a cooperation mechanism” for humanitarian assistance. It made no mention of the ICRC’s call for a daily two-hour ceasefire to provide aid and evacuate the wounded. — Agencies

Al-Qaeda sites go silent in possible cyber attack WASHINGTON: Al-Qaeda’s main Internet sites have gone silent for more than a week in an unprecedented blackout that is most likely the result of a cyber attack, analysts said yesterday. “All of them essentially went down” as of March 23, said Aaron Zelin, a researcher at the politics department at Brandeis University. The outage hit several online forums including two “flagship” sites, Al-Fida and Shamukh alIslam, which serve as a channel for Al-Qaeda forums, providing a stamp of approval for any associated sites, Zelin said. “The forums authenticate Al-Qaeda’s message, therefore they’re very important,” said Zelin, who writes about extremist Islamist sites on jihadology.net.

“If someone is a true believer in the cause, they’re going to go to the forum because they know it’s the only place they can get Al-Qaeda’s message.” One of the two main sites, Shamukh al-Islam, reappeared online on Monday but had not yet resumed message threads, he said. A “second-tier” site, Ansar al-Mujahideen, was restored within three days, he said. No one has claimed credit for the blackout, which bore all the signs of a cyber attack, analysts and former US officials said, as the forums usually post messages announcing a temporary interruption if they close the sites themselves.

The digital sabotage could have been carried out by any number of governments or private hackers, said James

Lewis, director of the technology and public policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“There are some many potential suspects,” Lewis told AFP. The long silence at the sites suggested Al-Qaeda was having difficulty getting service restored and was no longer as capable in the cyber realm. “It’s not a good sign for them that they can’t straighten this out more quickly,” Lewis said.

“It could be seen as sign of decline.”

US officials have already concluded Al-Qaeda has been steadily weakened since the attacks of Sept 11, 2001, and traffic on the group’s online forums has declined in the past few years. The number of Internet forums has declined from up to 13 in 2008 to no more than seven before last week’s blackout, Zelin said. The last time Al-Qaeda’s sites faced a major outage was in June 2010, when British intelligence sought to disrupt the release of an online magazine from Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, according to Zelin.

Western officials have often debated the best approach to Al-Qaeda’s online presence. Although the group’s forums are used to encourage terror attacks and spread extremism, the sites also provide a way for intelligence services to monitor the network’s militants. “There is always a debate over whether it’s better to exploit or to disrupt. In this case, since one site came back up, it might be a way to funnel jihadis and make them easier to observe,” Lewis said. — AFP

WAUKESHA, Wisconsin: Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney looks on as he hands out sandwiches to supporters at Cousins Subs yesterday. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Egypt revolution graffiti brings down barricades CAIRO: They were hit, pushed back and even fired at, but Egyptian activists have returned to the scene of deadly clashes in the heart of Cairo, determined to keep their revolution alive, this time armed with paint brushes. From a distance, Sheikh Rihan Street, a wide avenue in Cairo’s usually busy administrative centre, looks eerily still. Not a car, not a moving soul. But get closer, and a trompe l’oeil becomes apparent. On the surface of a concrete wall built by security forces in the middle of the road, artists have painted a street scene recreating Sheikh Rihan with all its lamposts, pavements and trees, in a bid to melt away the barricades as part of their “No Walls” campaign.

Even after a popular uprising ousted veteran president Hosni Mubarak last year, activists have continued taking to the streets to push for the goals of their revolution-freedom, political transparency and social justice-which they say remain unfulfilled. In November and December, fierce clashes between protesters and security forces in Cairo’s administrative centre prompted authorities to erect a series of concrete walls to protect vital buildings, they said.

But protesters believe the walls were built to cage them in and prevent the spread of further protests. “We didn’t have a revolution so that in the end, they build walls to separate us from them and them from us,” said Ammar Abu Bakr, a

News

in brief

Saudi Arabia beheads Pakistani RIYADH: Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani man yesterday after he was convicted of smuggling a “large amount” of heroin into the kingdom, the interior ministry said. “Salim Shah Sayed Shah, a Pakistani, was accused of smuggling a large amount of the heroin drug into the kingdom,” said an interior ministry statement carried by state news agency SPA, adding that he was executed in the holy city of Makkah. On Sunday, the interior ministry said that the kingdom had arrested 681 people over the past four months allegedly involved in trafficking of drugs worth around $460 million. The ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom applies the death penalty for a wide range of offences, including rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking as well as murder. Shah’s execution brings the number of beheadings in the kingdom so far this year to 16, according to an AFP tally based on official reports.

Human rights group Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia executed 79 people in 2011.

10 refugees drown ROME: Six Somalis and four Eritreans drowned during a Mediterranean crossing from Libya to Italy, according to some of the 48 survivors on a boat that arrived on the island of Lampedusa said yesterday. The refugees, who were rescued by the Italian coast guard after their boat began drifting in stormy weather, said the victims fell off during the journey. The incident happened shortly after they left a port near the Libyan border with Tunisia in the night between Friday and Saturday, Italian media reported. Among the 48 survivors, there were 12 women, three of them pregnant. They managed to alert the coast guard via fellow refugees in Italy by satellite phone and have now been taken to Porto Empedocle in Sicily. Five people were found dead last month on a seven-meter dinghy from Libya carrying 56 surviving refugees that was rescued off Lampedusa.

Small plane crashes DELAND: A small plane sputtered and crashed in flames into a shopping center in US Monday evening, injuring at least five people and sending frightened shoppers running, authorities and reports said. Several people in a shopping center dialed emergency services around 7:20 pm to report the plane had plunged into the complex, the sheriff’s office said. The callers described seeing the plane sputtering just before it plunged and hit the building. The sheriff’s office said a pilot and a passenger from the plane were airlifted to a local hospital. Orlando Regional Medical Center pokesman Gerardo Morales later said that two people had been airlifted from the crash site for treatment but he wouldn’t elaborate on their injuries or identify them further. Emergency workers reported at least five people in all had been injured, two of them with burns, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.

Drug kingpin jailed SAN DIEGO: A Mexican drug kingpin was jailed for 25 years and ordered to pay back $100 million in a US court Monday, after pleading guilty to racketeering and money-laundering. Benjamin Arellano Felix, former leader of the notorious Arellano Felix Organization (AFO), caused “chaos and violence on both sides of the (US-Mexican) border,” said judge Larry Burns in San Diego. Arellano Felix was extradited from Mexico to the United States last April, to face charges of drug trafficking, criminal association, money laundering and organized crime. He admitted racketeering and conspiracy to money-laundering in January, in a plea deal for the 25-year sentence, and an order to forfeit $100 million in criminal proceeds. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Michele M Leonhart hailed Monday’s sentencing as “a major victory” for the DEA and the government of Mexican President Felipe Calderon “The Tijuana Cartel was one of the world’s most brutal drug trafficking networks, but has now met its demise with leader Benjamin Arellano-Felix’s sentencing today,” he said.

Home-made bombs explode ISTANBUL: Four home-made bombs exploded simultaneously in an Istanbul district yesterday, causing minor damage to an office of the ruling party but no injuries, Anatolia news agency reported. One of the bombs was thrown onto the balcony of a building housing an office of the ruling Justice and Development Party, while the others appeared to have been set off at random in the same Umraniye district.

“We do not know if the attack was targeting the party, because there are other bombs thrown elsewhere,” Umraniye mayor Hasan Can told Anatolia news agency.

lecturer at the Fine Arts School in the historic city of Luxor, in southern Egypt. “We have launched a non-violent campaign, simply by opening up the walls through

but we don’t see it,” said Amr Nazeer, a graffiti artist who participated in the No Walls campaign. In a cat and mouse game with the authorities, the artists

CAIRO: An Egyptian woman walks past graffiti depicting a three-headed snake bearing the faces of military figures in central Cairo.— AFP drawing,” Abu Bakr said. The once drab walls of downtown Cairo have turned into a giant graphic newspaper, recounting current events through an explosion of color and form.

Caricatures of the ruling generals, portraits of protesters who died in clashes, scenes depicting street battles have turned the centre of the capital into an open air art gallery. “Since our revolution is peaceful, if they play with walls, we will play with the mind. They put up a wall

work fast to get exposure for their work before it is removed. “It’s an exhibition for the people, you express yourself and at most in a few days or a week it will be removed, then you paint again,” Nazeer said.

“The message is always parallel to the events. When something happens or when there’s an event, the revolutionaries come first and then we step in,” said Abu Bakr, of the growing artists’ movement defying authorities through chalk,

paint, spray and stencils. ‘Authorities don’t accept graffiti movements’-A ballerina on points, women in traditional robes carrying gas cylinders on their heads, wolves, spears, snakes with human heads, rainbows and balloons are just some of the images depicted in the murals that have covered the grey concrete walls.

“Authorities don’t accept graffiti movements, not just in Egypt but all over the world... But we are trying to introduce a new style and propose new subjects,” said Alaa Awad, another lecturer at the Luxor Fine Arts School. Awad painted his own interpretation of a page from the Description de l’Egypte-a rare copy of a book written by French scholars who accompanied Napoleon on his expedition to Egypt-which was burned when the building housing it was set ablaze during clashes in December.

Authorities blamed protesters for starting the fire, saying they had deliberately destroyed precious Egyptian heritage, while the protesters insist they were the ones rushing to the scene to salvage what remained of the documents. State media “tried to show that the revolutionaries were behind the destruction,” Awad said. “My message is, there is no such thing as the Description of Egypt. Egypt needs to be described by its people,” he said, standing in front of his blue and sand-colored mural, which bears the slogan: “May we see the light of

day.” A few weeks after it was completed, the enormous concrete blocks that provided the canvas for Awad’s painting started coming down.

On Friday, dozens of angry anti-military activists, using a variety of creative mechanisms including ropes and levers, tore down the wall, on a main street leading to parliament near the protest hub of Tahrir Square. After Mubarak was toppled in 2011, the military council of elderly generals who took power was idolized for not siding with the fallen dictator, but has since come under attack for cracking down on dissidents. Back in central Cairo, the face of Samira Ibrahim, the woman who created a storm by taking the military to court over forced “virginity tests” of female protesters, features prominently.

On one wall, her face looks up defiantly above soldiers, all bearing the face of the army doctor who performed the virginity tests and who was recently acquitted.

Nearby, a series of portraits of the victims who died during clashes-with bright orange wings-cover one large wall. Abu Bakr said he gave them wings because in Coptic Art-his area of expertise-”wings are related to martyrs, saints and angels.”

The art has attracted many to the city centre, snapping pictures and posing in front of the graffiti. “I pass by this street and I recognize the martyrs, yes, they sacrificed their lives. But as the graffiti says, they have now become angels,” said Gamal Al-Sayyed, an IT consultant.—AFP

Islamists and Qaeda gain ground in Mali Sanctions hit post-coup Mali BAMAKO: Islamists gained ground in northern Mali, jostling with Tuareg rebels for control of the vast desert region as the troubled nation’s military rulers faced fuel and money shortages from sanctions yesterday. The United Nations Security Council was due to hold an emergency meeting on Mali, which is sliding further into chaos under the junta that seized power on March 22. A band of low-ranking soldiers ousted the democratically-elected government for its alleged incompetence in dealing with a Tuareg rebellion in the north, however more than half of Mali’s territory has fallen to insurgents since the coup.

Frozen out by the international community, the junta has been slapped with sanctions from its neighbors which could bring it to its knees. The vast landlocked country depends heavily on the import of fuel and basic goods from surrounding nations. The total embargo announced Tuesday by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) also cuts the putschists off from the regional central bank in Dakar, affecting their ability to pay public wages.

In Bamako, long lines formed at petrol stations shortly after the 15-nation ECOWAS announced the embargo, while other stations closed early, fearing looting by soldiers. “We hear there is an embargo, we are afraid of shortages so we are taking precautions,” said a youth who wanted to fill half a dozen empty bottles. As Bamako braced for the bite of diplomatic, economic and financial sanctions, armed Islamists began imposing Sharia law in towns where they had taken control alongside Al-Qaeda fighters.

The Islamists had been fighting with the Tuareg, despite having different objectives, but on Monday they chased their erstwhile allies out of the fabled city Timbuktu, flanked by the notorious Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) leader, Mokhtar Belmokhtar. “Timbuktu has passed its first night under Sharia, everything is calm in town,” civil servant Saliou Thiam said by telephone from the ancient trading city from where Islam was once spread through Africa. City residents reported women were being ordered to wear veils and stop wearing trousers. The fighting in northern Mali began in mid-Januar y by the Azawad

BAMAKO: Residents queue at a petrol station to buy fuel yesterday in Bamako. Islamists gained ground in northern Mali, jostling with Tuareg rebels for control of the vast desert region as the troubled nation’s military rulers faced fuel and money shortages from sanctions. — AFP National Liberation Movement (MNLA), which wants independence for its homeland in the northern triangle of the bow-tie shaped nation.

The Islamist Ansar Dine wants to implement Sharia law in the mostly Muslim but secular state. Asar Dine is under the command of Iyad Ag Ghaly, who played key roles in the two previous Tuareg rebellions in the 1990s and 2007-9. He has since taken up the Islamist cause, distancing himself from Tuareg nationalism and has developed links with AQIM. In Timbuktu on Monday, Ghaly and his fighters “took the city, chased away the people from MNLA who were there, burned the MNLA flag and put their own flag up at the military camp,”

said cameraman Moussa Haidara, who filmed the events.

Paris said Tuesday the Tuareg rebels were approaching the central town of Mopti where hundreds fled on Monday in panic as they saw soldiers fleeing their posts. French Cooperation Minister Henri de Raincourt said, “there has been information indicating that there could be rebel movements approaching”, while confirming that rebels were “around Mopti”. More than 200,000 people have been forced from their homes by the fighting and aid groups have warned that the combination of civil war and drought could lead to one of the continent’s worst humanitarian emergencies.

The West African bloc has also set up a military standby force, after earlier putting some 2,000 regional troops on alert. Mali’s junta said late Monday that it had “taken note” of the regional embargo. Coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo added in a statement that the junta remains “at the disposition of... mediation to find solutions out of the crisis” but said that its priority remained “recovering the country’s territorial integrity faced with the crisis in the north.” While the junta has restored the country’s constitution and promised not to stand in new polls, ECOWAS leaders remain unconvinced and have demanded they “hand power over to recognized constitutional authorities.”— AFP

Yemen airstrikes kill 43 Qaeda militants Militants blow up another oil pipeline SANAA: Yemeni government forces regained control of a strategic gateway in the south yesterday after intense, three-day shelling of Al-Qaeda hideouts in the area that left 43 militants dead, military and medical officials said. The military had stepped up attacks and airstrikes against Al-Qaeda in the mountainous area of Al-Rahha in the southern province of Lahj, a strategically important region that links the south with Yemen’s northern cities. The offensive followed two consecutive surprise attacks by militants on Yemeni army bases in the area.

The military officials said that the government forces are trying to reclaim key cities in Aden and Abyan provinces in the south that have been overrun by Al-Qaeda. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Al-Qaeda-linked militants have taken advantage of a year of internal political turmoil and security vacuum in Yemen to expand their gains in the country’s

south. The militants have seized several towns and cities and entire swaths of land, and the military’s campaign has so far not managed to retake those areas.

Yemen’s uprising, inspired by Arab Spring revolts elsewhere, forced longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office in February. His successor, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was later rubber stamped as president in a nationwide vote.

Hadi has vowed to fight Al-Qaeda while restructuring the armed forces in which Saleh’s loyalists and family members still hold key posts. Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is one of the movement’s most dangerous offshoots.

In February, it claimed credit for a daring assault on another military base in the south that left nearly 200 soldiers dead. The fighters riddled tents where soldiers were sleeping near the town of Zinjibar with gunfire, then paraded dozens of captured soldiers through a nearby town.

In another development, Islamist militants have claimed responsibility for blowing up an oil pipeline in southern Yemen late on Monday in a second such attack in retaliation for a US drone strike that killed five suspected Al-Qaeda militants. Yemen’s oil and gas pipelines have been repeatedly sabotaged since antigovernment protests broke out in January 2011, with the feed line for the Yemen LNG gas export terminal blown up within hours of Friday’s air strike.

Ansar Al-Sharia, an armed group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, said in a text message yesterday that the latest oil pipeline explosion was part of “a chain of attacks” planned in response to the US strike. Al-Qaeda has strengthened its hold on southern areas of the Arabian Peninsula country, seizing several towns during the past year of protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who left office in February 2012. An oil industry official said Monday’s explosion set fire to the pipeline which transports oil from the southern province of Shabwa

to the Bir Ali terminal.

In a separate incident, security forces defused yesterday a bomb near a police station in Aden’s Mansoura neighborhood, a security official said, without elaborating. Saleh was removed from power as part of a power-transfer deal brokered by Yemen’s rich neighbors. His long-time deputy Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was elected as president in Februar y as stipulated by the deal signed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Yemen is only a small crude oil producer with a daily output of about 260,000 barrels per day of oil when all fields are operating, but disruptions to Yemeni exports have added to tight global supplies. An attack a year ago by tribesmen on its main oil arter y cut off crude to the 150,000 barrel per day Aden refinery, forcing it to shut and causing fuel shortages in the countr y. Oil companies operating in Yemen include Austria’s OMV, the US-based Occidental Petroleum and French oil group Total SA.— Agencies

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

US puts $10 million bounty on Pakistani Islamist leader India welcomes Washington’s new initiative NEW DELHI: The United States has posted a $10 million reward for help in the arrest of a Pakistani Islamist leader, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, suspected of masterminding attacks on India’s financial capital and its parliament. The reward comes at a time of heightened tension between the United States and Pakistan and is likely to increases pressure on Pakistan to take action against the former Arabic scholar, who has recently addressed rallies in Pakistan despite an Interpol warrant for him.

Released from house arrest in 2009, Saeed is a free man in Pakistan. India has long called for Saeed’s capture and said the bounty - one of the highest on offer - was a sign the United States understood its security concerns. Last week, Saeed evaded police to address an antiUS rally in the Pakistani capital. “India welcomes this new initiative of the government of the United States,” Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said yesterday of the bounty announced on the US Rewards for Justice website. “In recent years, India and the United States have moved much closer than ever before in our common endeavor of fighting terrorists.”

The United States only offers a $10 million reward for three other people it suspects of terrorism, with a single reward of up to $25 million for Egyptian-born Al-Qaeda leader Ayman AlZawahiri. There was previously no US bounty for Saeed. In the 1990s, Saeed founded Lashkare-Taiba (LeT), one of the largest and best-funded Islamist militant organizations in South Asia.

He abandoned its leadership after India accused it and another militant group of being

behind an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001.

Saeed’s freedom of movement in Pakistan has angered India, which says it has given its neighbor a dossier of evidence to arrest the bespectacled firebrand. “There is enough material to detain him and we feel the Pakistan government is not doing its duty,” Home Minister P

Hafiz Mohammad Saeed Chidambaram said. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zadari is due to visit India on Sunday and is expected to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

CHARITY A FRONT? Saeed heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) charity, described by the United Nations as a front for the LeT, which is banned in Pakistan.

He denies any connection to the LeT. Yahya Mujahid, the JuD’s spokesman, said the reward was a reaction to his group’s campaign against attacks in Pakistan by US drone aircraft and its opposition to supplies being transported through Pakistan to NATO forces in Afghanistan.

“This inappropriate American behavior will not cause any problems for Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, but it will definitely intensify antiAmerican sentiments in the hearts of millions of Muslims,” Mujahid said in a statement. Saeed, 61, is suspected of masterminding numerous attacks, including the November 2008 militant assault on Mumbai in which 166 people, including six US citizens, were killed. Ten Pakistani gunmen killed commuters, foreigners and some of India’s wealthy business elite in the three-day rampage in the city, which included attacks on two luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and a train station.

This year, Saeed has made appearances in support of the Defense Council of Pakistan, an alliance of groups campaigning for a break in ties with the United States and India. The LeT was nurtured by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency to fight Indian forces in disputed Kashmir and analysts say it is still unofficially tolerated by Pakistan, though it was banned there in 2002. Admiral Robert Willard, the head of the US military’s Pacific Command, last year expressed concern over the expanding reach of LeT, saying it was no longer solely focused on India, or even in South Asia. — Reuters

Sectarian violence kills 300 in Karachi KARACHI: Ethnic, sectarian and politically linked violence in Pakistan’s financial capital Karachi has killed at least 300 people so far this year, a human rights organization said yesterday. Parts of the Arabian Sea port city have become battlegrounds in the last week, with authorities unable to prevent spiraling violence blamed on activists from political parties representing competing ethnic groups.

“About 300 people have been the victims of violent shootings in the last three months,” Zohra Yusuf, chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said. The HRCP previously

said 1,715 people were killed last year in sudden flare-ups of violence in the city, which is Pakistan’s most populous. “The figures compiled by our staff and the death toll for the last three months confirmed by the police shows the number of victims of violence was not less than 300,” Yusuf said.

The figures include the assassination of 49 political activists, while the rest of the victims were people with no political affiliations, the HRCP statement said.

The government has campaigned to end the clashes and deployed hundreds of additional police and paramilitary forces in the city, but

the killings have continued with at least 24 people reported dead in the past week.

Much of the violence has been blamed on tensions between supporters of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), rooted in the Urdu-speaking majority, and the Awami National Party (ANP), which represents ethnic Pashtun migrants.

Two people were killed and up to 40 others were wounded yesterday when gunmen opened fire during a strike in a northern Pakistani city popular with tourists, officials said. Sunni Islamists called the strike in Gilgit over the arrest of one of their

leaders for his alleged involvement in a sectarian attack on a funeral in February that left 18 dead. “ The unknown gunmen opened fire on a group of Sunnis while they were appealing to people to shut their shops in response to the strike call,” senior local police official Ali Sher said.

He said the incident “left two people dead and wounded up to 40 others” and added that officers were investigating reports of a hand grenade attack.

A curfew was imposed in the city after the incident to bring the situation under control, he said. —Agencies

Key political risks to watch in India NEW DELHI: India’s economy is exposed to an extended euro zone crisis and policy paralysis at home, while the coalition government is under tremendous strain from scandals and rebellious coalition partners. The risk of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s second term being cut short before a general election due in 2014 is low, but cannot be ruled out.

The failure of Singh’s Congress party in state elections in early March, and a looming fight over the cheap sale of coalfields have put him and the party under even more pressure. The 2012/13 budget, delivered in March, shied away from commitments to bold reform, its cautious tone reflecting the government’s frailty. The cost of insuring against default on 5-year sovereign debt traded at 83 basis points in midMarch, down around 25 points from the start of the year. Following is a summary of key political risks in India: SCANDALS, ELECTORAL FAILURE Lurching from crisis to crisis for more than a year, Prime Minister Singh’s government has a new front to deal with in the form of a looming fight over the low-priced sales of coalfields in his first term. A draft report by the federal auditor leaked to a newspaper estimated lost revenue of $211 billion from the sales, but the auditor has since backed away from that number. All parties will now wait for the final report to be tabled in parliament, when the government will once again be put under severe pressure.

Rahul Gandhi, son of current party leader Sonia Gandhi, utterly failed to deliver a promised comeback for the Congress party in crucial state elections early March, casting fresh doubt on his capacity to become the next member of a dynasty to lead the country. The party’s flop in Uttar Pradesh has reduced Singh’s scope to re launch reforms and reverse a slowdown in economic growth. Anger at Singh’s poor performance is rising, with some talk in the Indian media that he will not survive as prime minister until 2014 elections.

That is unlikely, and the government could probably also muster the support to survive a no-confidence vote. Also helping the government is the lack of appetite among the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a

general election before 2014. Despite Singh’s woes, it is by no means clear the BJP has won over sufficient voters to its Hindu nationalist cause. Party chief Sonia Gandhi, who is at least as influential as the prime minister, has made more public appearances of late, but shed no light on her illness, which some Indian media reports say is cancer.

ECONOMIC MALAISE Indian shares fell in response to Finance Minister Pranab Mukerjee’s annual budget on March 16, seen as a weak attempt at tackling the fiscal deficit, the worst among the big emerging market BRIC nations.

Mukherjee unveiled a smattering of anti-deficit measures including an increase in services and excise taxes, but dared not cut subsidies for petroleum products, which have weighed heavily on government finances especially as oil prices stay high. Some analysts believe the government may miss its newly-set target of cutting subsidy spending to 2 percent of GDP, as well as a goal of cutting the fiscal deficit to 5.1 percent from 5.9 percent in 201112.

In the main, the problems afflicting Asia’s third-largest economy remain unsolved. Inflation is down sharply, but almost entirely because of a drop in volatile food prices. With the government embroiled in corruption scandals, and dealing with unreliable coalition partners, the prospects seem slim for tricky tax reform or a softening of foreign investment rules that could help deal with infrastructure bottlenecks. An early-2012 Supreme Court order that 122 telcoms licenses be revoked was deeply embarrassing for the government, and Singh has had to roll back even modest economic measures like a railway fare rise.

The government has succeeded in passing no major legislation, leaving it with a heavy load of promised reforms to push through two fractious houses of parliament. Fickle coalition partners and a disruptive opposition mean the government is often effectively a minority when it tables bills. Singh has promised to revive a stalled policy to allow foreign supermarkets into India, along with a corruption ombudsman.

The first stage of a new tax system is planned for April. — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

US community in shock after school gun rampage OAKLAND: The tight-knit Korean American community here was in shock yesterday after one of their own allegedly carried out a brutal shooting rampage at a religious college, killing seven people. The latest American school shooting unfolded on Monday at a Christian college near San Francisco, when a former student allegedly shot someone at point-blank range in the chest before spraying a classroom with bullets.

The suspect-a local ethnic Korean who surrendered soon after the attacks at Oikos University in East Oakland, was described by a witness as looking “crazy” as he went on a shooting spree across the small campus. Police-who arrived on the scene after a string of panicked emergency calls-did not immediately say what type of firearm the gunman used, or if he had multiple weapons.

Some 35 people were in or near the building at the time. Of those, 10 were hit and five were pronounced dead at the scene. Two others died later in hospital. Sur vivors were found hiding in locked and darkened rooms. “No American mayor wants to have this situation,”

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan told reporters. “It seems that in the last decade we’ve gotten used to seeing senseless mass killings like this... This has been a terrible tragedy.” She said the city was trying to recruit more Korean-speaking grief counselors, saying the shooting “will leave the community asking questions for a long time.”

A memorial service was to be held at 6:00 pm yesterday. The gunman was detained near a Safeway supermarket in the neighboring city of Alameda, where he had fled in a car after the massacre, said Oakland police chief Howard Jordan. “The suspect, who is believed to be an Oakland resident, surrendered to officers of the Alameda Police Department,” he said. “He actually commandeered a victim’s car, and drove it to Alameda.”

Jordan said the suspect was believed to be a former student at the college with no previous criminal record. “He is a Korean national,” Jordan said, without specifying if he was from South or North Korea, and gave his name as One Goh, age 43.

The Oakland Tribune reported that the suspect’s brother, US Army

Data breach put 1.5 million credit card numbers at risk NEW YORK: A company that processes credit card transactions said Monday that as many as 1.5 million card numbers were compromised in a data breach early last month. The CEO of the company, Global Payments Inc., said the matter was “absolutely contained,” but Visa dropped the company from its list of approved third parties that process transactions between stores and banks.

The breach was revealed Friday when Visa and MasterCard said they had notified issuers of its credit cards. On Monday, American Express said it may have been affected, and Discover promised to reissue cards where appropriate.

Global Payments set up a website to help cardholders but did not provide the names of affected stores or banks. Its stock fell 4.5 percent on Monday. It fell 9 percent Friday before trading was stopped. Global Payments CEO Paul Garcia said card numbers were compromised but cardholder names, addresses and Social Security numbers were not.

He said the company was working with law enforcement. Besides processing cards in the US, Global Payments provides its services to government agencies, businesses and others in Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Global Payments reported financial results Monday and said profits rose 20 percent to $58 million from December

through February compared with the year before. It did not estimate what it would lose because of the breach.

The breach appeared to be one of the largest in the past several years. Last June, hackers stole information for 360,000 credit card accounts at Citigroup. In the past year, there have been attacks against the International Monetary Fund, National Public Radio, Google and Sony’s PlayStation Network.

When hackers get consumer information, they can use it to mine data from the Web about those people. That makes it easier to send targeted emails that mimic messages from the bank - a process known as spear phishing - in hopes of getting customers to divulge more valuable information. Data breaches and hacking affect as many as 8 million Americans each year, costing billions of dollars and countless hours to correct the problems it creates.

Yaron Samid, CEO of Bill Guard, a company that specializes in personal-finance security, said that hackers who have credit card data try to sell the information on the black market. He said hackers can use small transactions to confirm that a credit card is active before they charge larger amounts. Forty-six states require businesses to notify customers of a data breach when personal information has been placed at risk. — AP

UN discusses creation of Gross National Happiness UNITED NATIONS: Should happiness figure in a nation’s bottom line? And should the concept of Gross National Product be replaced by Gross National Happiness? Bhutan’s Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley told a high-level UN meeting Monday that it not only should but that it must if mankind is to avoid its current unsustainable and self-destructive course. Bhutan, the tiny Himalayan nation which tops Asia in the United Nations’ First World Happiness Report, convened the meeting seeking to develop a new economic model based on principles of happiness and well being.

“The GDP-lead development model that compels boundless growth on a planet with limited resources no longer makes economic sense. It is the cause of our irresponsible, immoral and selfdestructive actions,” Thinley said. “The purpose of development must be to create enabling conditions through public policy for the pursuit of the ultimate goal of happiness by all citizens.” The conference titled “Happiness and Well-being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm,” brought together hundreds of representatives of government - including Costa Rican President Laura Chincilla - academics and other civic leaders to discuss the

issue. All endorsed the importance of happiness, though not necessarily Bhutan’s proposed index.

Jeffery Sachs, a prominent development economist at Columbia University in New York who edited the World Happiness Report along with John Helliwell and Richard Layard, said that happiness could be achieved independent of economic well-being as measured

by GNP. The report was released to coincide with the conference. “GNP (gross national product) by itself does not promote happiness,” Sachs told the conference. “ The US has had a three time increase of GNP per capita since 1960, but the happiness needle hasn’t budged.

Other countries have pursued other policies and achieved much greater gains of happiness, even at much lower levels of per capita income.” Although wealthy nations like Denmark, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands lead the rankings of happiest countries while poor nations like Togo, Benin, Central African Republic and Sierra Leone ranked among the least happy, the report noted that social factors such as the strength of social support, the absence of corruption and the degree of personal freedom were more important than wealth. — AP

UNITED NATIONS: Lyonchoen Jigme Y Thinley (left) Bhutan’s Prime Minister and Laura Chinchilla (right), Costa Rica’s President, seen during a United Nations high level panel discussion on “Happiness and well-being” organized by Bhutan at UN headquarters. — AFP

Sergeant Su Wan Ko, died in a traffic accident in Virginia in March 2011 while on special assignment from a research institute in Germany. One Goh reportedly attended the memo-

Ko Won-Il, a US citizen of Korean descent. Police described the suspect as “male, Asian, heavy build, khaki clothing.” Lisa Resler, 41, said she was leaving the Safeway super-

OAKLAND: News media congregate at the scene at Oikos University after a shooting that killed multiple people on April 2, 2012. — AFP rial service. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing officials at the South Korean consulate in San Francisco, identified the shooter as

market in Alameda with her daughter when she saw store security confronting a young Asian man, whom she described as looking “very sedat-

ed” as he was handcuffed.

Within minutes of the mid-morning shooting, SWAT teams took up position around the building, some smashing glass with sledgehammers and rushing inside as officers helped students evacuate, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Angie Johnson, 52, said she saw a young woman leaving the building with blood coming from her arm and crying: “I’ve been shot, I’ve been shot.” The wounded woman said the shooter was a man in her nursing class who rose up and shot one person in the chest, then began firing wildly in the classroom, Johnson told the Chronicle. “She said he looked crazy all the time,” Johnson said, quoting the victim. “But they never knew how far he would go.” The female victim “had a hole in her right arm the size of a silver dollar with blood coming down,” Johnson said.

Oakland City Council President Larry Reid told CNN the motive for the killings was unclear. “That information will come out during the legal process that he now finds himself in,” he said. The school, which offers degrees in nursing, biblical studies and Christian ministry. —AFP

Latin American leaders grit teeth over sins of brothers Presidential brothers become a headache LIMA: With brothers like these, who needs enemies? From Peru to Chile and Ecuador, presidential brothers have become perpetual headaches by challenging authority or landing in embarrassing scandals. Peru’s President Ollanta Humala’s jailed brother Antauro-who led a failed 2005 uprising against a democratically-elected government-has now become his political sore spot. Fabricio Correa, the big brother of Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, is making strides toward founding his own political party in hopes of defeating his own flesh and blood in a real-life political telenovela.

And Chilean President Sebastian Pinera is scrambling to avoid fallout from a flurry of bad publicity involving his younger brother Miguel, a quirky musician. “For presidents, members of their families always have held a lot of potential for causing political damage or scandals, whether from their involvement in political issues, their private behavior or business issues,” said Patricio Navia, a political analyst at Chile’s Universidad Diego Portales.

“The wisest and most adept presidents manage to minimize the public activities of their family members,” Navia said. “That reduces the likelihood of scandal and helps reduce the number of weak fronts on which political opponents can attack.”

Antauro Humala, a former army major sentenced to 19 years in prison for leading a failed uprising against then-president Alejandro Toledo, has long been a media obsession thanks to his wide-ranging eccentricities. Justice Minister Juan Jimenez said Monday that the president’s brother was moved to a different prison because of disciplinary problems, which included engaging in “intimidation of prison staff.” His destination: Callao naval base maximum security prison, home to convicted terrorist leaders Abimael Guzman of the Shining Path and Victor Polay

of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA).

It also holds Vlaimiro Montesinos, the disgraced former head of national intelligence and top aid to former president Alberto Fujimori. Isaac Humala, the brothers’ father, told reporters he would file a lawsuit accusing the government of abduction and write to the International Red Cross “so they can verify the

LIMA: Former Army Major Antauro Humala, brother of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, attends a hearing at the lawcourt at the Peruvian Navy Base in Lima in this file photo. — AFP

Obama calls Republican budget a ‘Trojan horse’ WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama, seizing on Republican plans to slash deficits that the White House sees as a potent vote winner for Democrats in this year’s election, slammed his opponents yesterday to reinforce his claim that they favor the rich. In a week in which Republican Mitt Romney is expected to extend his lead in the race for his party’s nomination to confront Obama in the Nov 6 election, the president took aim at their recent budget plans to cut spending and taxes. “ This congressional Republican budget ... it’s a Trojan horse. Disguised as deficit reduction plan, it’s really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country,” Obama will say at a speech in Washington, according to excerpts of his remarks. The budget proposal, passed by Republicans in the US House of Representatives last week, would reduce the deficit by cutting spending while reforming the tax code, including lowering the top rate of tax to 25 percent from 35 percent.

They say it is an answer to Obama’s spending policies, which they blame for record US deficits on his watch.

It has no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate and becoming law in this Congress. But White House officials say the goal of the speech will be to hammer home a message that if Republicans win in November, their budget is coming to America. Stepping up the campaign against Romney, one of the richest men to ever to seek the White House, Obama officials say the president will also make remarks on Friday at a conference on women in the economy.

This focuses on a vital voter demographic that looks to be swinging hard his way after a new poll on Monday showed Obama opening a large lead over Romney among women in key election swing states.

Senior Obama officials say they were not surprised by the poll’s findings after recent remarks about birth control by Republican candidates on the campaign trail, which they said sounded like an echo from the 1950s, and were a clear turn-off for many young US women. Romney has said he would end federal funding for the Planned Parenthood women’s health organization that provides abortion services and Rick Santorum, his chief rival for the Republican nomination, has called contraception morally wrong.

Romney hopes to all but wrap the race up this week by winning election contests in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington DC, pressuring Santorum to stand aside to unite the Republican party in the goal of defeating Obama in November. Senior White House officials said the president would use the speech, at an Associated Press luncheon, to press his priorities on taxes, the future of federally provided Medicare healthcare, and a defense of the middle class they hope will peel vital blue collar voters away from Republicans.

O fficials told repor ters at a Monday briefing that the goal of fairness in the tax system captured by Obama’s so-called Buffett Rule would be a core part of the message, ahead of a tax vote in the Senate later this month. —Reuters

detention conditions of my son.” Peruvian television showed footage of Antauro Humala on March 25 appearing to smoke a marijuana joint in his cell. The video was made more than a year earlier-a day before his brother won the first-round presidential vote. Local media also pictured Antauro in jail in the company of women, and using a mobile phone.

Antauro granted a newspaper an interview without asking prison authorities’ permission, in which he announced that his goal was to run for office and win in 2016. He also dismissed his brother as a mere “palace security guard.” Publicly, the president has kept his distance. “I do not agree with what he does, what he says or what he thinks,” Ollanta Humala has said. But his family continues to deliver political headaches: another brother, Alexis, is accused of trying to negotiate natural gas deals with Russia before Ollanta Humala assumed power. Yet another brother, Ulises, unleashed a major controversy in machominded Peru by stating that the country is actually governed by charismatic First Lady Nadine Heredia.

Meanwhile Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera earlier this year was swept into an embarrassing family crisis as his musician brother Miguel was accused of beating his exwife, model Belen Hidalgo, at the presidential retreat. Miguel Pinera, who has wept in television interviews about his divorce, jokes that he lives off his brother’s fortune and has dressed only in black for years. In Ecuador, Fabricio Correa has presented signatures to legally launch a party to take on his brother next year in what would be the region’s first brother-versus-brother presidential race.

Asked about the potential showdown, the Ecuadoran president said his brother was out of line politically and added-in a quip that could echo across the region-”Is it my fault I have a bad brother?” — AFP

US procurement chief quits as agency accused of waste WASHINGTON: The head of the US government’s federal procurement office is resigning and two senior officials have been dismissed ahead of a report criticizing the agency’s lavish spending on an “over the top” training conference, the White House said on Monday. Many expenditures by the General Services Administration for the October 2010 conference at a resort outside Las Vegas were “excessive and wasteful” and violated the agency’s own policies, said a report by the GSA’s Office of Inspector General.

GSA spent $820,000 on the Oct. 25-29 gathering at M Resort Spa Casino, a cost that included pre-conference scouting trips, a “red carpet” dinner with “theatrical talent” and a post-dinner wrap party in a loft suite, according to an executive summary of the report made public on Monday. GSA Administrator Martha Johnson submitted her resignation to the White House on Monday. The inspector general’s report first came to the attention of the White House in early March. The report cited eight ‘scouting trips’ and pre-conference meetings that cost over $130,000 and travel by 31 GSA employees to the M Resort on a ‘dry run’ prior to the event as examples of excessive spending and waste.

Other questionable expenses detailed in the report include clothing purchases for GSA employees, tuxedo rentals and semi-private, catered parties in officials’ hotel rooms or loft suites. A $75,000 contract was also awarded to a vendor for a team-building exercise that included the purchase of 24 bikes, the report said.

“When the White House was informed of the Inspector General’s findings we acted quickly to determine who was responsible for such a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars,” White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew said in a statement.

GSA administrator Johnson fired two senior GSA officials and took disciplinary actions against others and ultimately decided that as the head of the agency she is accountable, senior White House officials said. The report concluded that keeping costs down for the conference was not a goal and that several suggestions to minimize expenses were ignored. — Reuters

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Twice-exiled former Ottoman princess dies ANKARA: Neslisah Osmanoglu, an Ottoman princess who married an Egyptian prince and was twice forced into exile when both royal households were abolished, has died. She was 91. Neslisah Sultan, or Princess Neslisah, died in Istanbul on Monday, according to her nephew, Abdulhamid Kayihan Osmanoglu. He didn’t give the cause of death, but new reports said it was a heart attack. A funeral ceremony was being held yesterday for the princess, who was the oldest member of the Ottoman dynasty.

Neslisah Sultan was born in Istanbul on Feb 4, 1921, two years before the Turkish Republic replaced the Ottoman Empire, which had ruled Turkey, parts of the Middle East

and Eastern Europe for 600 years. Her grandfather, the last Ottoman Sultan Vahdettin, and all other members of the dynasty were sent into exile in 1924, and the princess spent her childhood and adolescence in Nice, France, before moving to Egypt.

“When we were in exile we lived longing for the country,” she told historian Murat Bardakci, whose biography of the princess was published last year. “My mother had friends who would go to Istanbul. I would ask them to bring me back a bit of soil from Istanbul, but none did.”

Ottoman princesses were traditionally married to members of Muslim royal families, and in 1940, Neslihan Sultan married Egyptian Prince Muhammed Abdel Monem.

Prince Monem headed a regency committee that ruled from July 1952 to June 1953, when the new rulers of Egypt turned the country into a republic. The royal couple were placed under house arrest, accused of being part of an international plot against the Egyptian government of Gamal Abdel Nasser, but acquitted and forced to leave the country.

Exiled for a second time, Neslisah Sultan returned to live in France with her husband. In 1952, the Turkish government allowed female members of the Ottoman family to return to Turkey, and the prince and princess moved to Istanbul in 1957.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised the late princess. “She was the poster-child

for nobleness who carried the blood of Osman,” he said in Parliament, referring to Osman I, the Anatolian ruler who established the Ottoman Empire. “We remember her with high regard and our blessings.” The princess took the surname Osmanoglu, or son of Osman, along with other surviving members of the dynasty. “When I go out in the streets, I see that all nice things were built by my grandfathers,” she told Bardakci. “I therefore cannot help think that they belong to me. I feel like I am a part of this place and that I belong to this land.” Prince Monem, who was born in 1899, died in Istanbul in 1979. Neslisah Sultan is survived by a son, daughter and a grandson.—AP

Neslisah Sultan

Islamist clampdown boosts Sarkozy’s re-election hope French President captures far-right votes

Russian ex-oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Kremlin rules against Khodorkovsky pardon MOSCOW: Russia’s jailed anti-Kremlin tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky faced another four years in prison yesterday after a top Kremlin rights adviser said he had been refused a pardon by President Dmitry Medvedev. The outgoing president unexpectedly ordered a review of the conviction of Khodorkovsky and 31 others upon Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s election to a third term as Kremlin chief on March 4. The high-profile Yukos oil company founder was jailed on fraud charges in the middle of Putin’s first presidency in 2003 and then convicted again in 2010 in a second trial that was staged months before his scheduled release.

Press speculation that he would be granted a pardon before Medvedev formally hands over power to Putin on May 7 emerged after a group of experts decided that Khodorkovsky did not have to admit his guilt in order to win his release. “The president disagrees with this opinion,” Kremlin rights council head Mikhail Fedotov told Moscow Echo radio. He had earlier told RIA Novosti that Medvedev had already signed a resolution saying he disagreed with the experts’ opinion. The decision to review the cases was sparked by a February meeting between Medvedev and members of unregistered political parties that had been staging three months of street protests against Putin’s return.

Medvedev is scheduled to meet the opposition leaders for a second time yesterday and Fedotov’s announcement appeared aimed at calming speculation that Russia’s most famous prisoner could soon be released. Khodorkovsky’s initial conviction had long defined the dangers

in the eyes of Western investors of doing business in a country where much appears to depend on a person’s relationship with the state. The oil baron openly funded Putin’s opposition in the early stages of his 2000-2008 presidency.

The tycoon’s supporters claim that his second trial was orchestrated to make sure that Khodorkovsky did not interfere with Putin’s successful return to the Kremlin by speaking out against him upon his release. Medvedev was seen as the more liberal leader when he replaced Putin on the ex-KGB spy’s enforced departure at the end of a second consecutive term. But his decision drew resigned condemnation from Khodorkovsky’s family and resurrected old charges that Medvedev was-as he had been for most of his four-year term-too politically weak to act against Putin’s wishes.

“Medvedev has once again proven his dependence on Putin,” Khodorkovsky’s mother Marina said. “Medvedev is afraid to release him because he is scared of (Putin’s) people who would never forgive him for securing my son’s release.”

Khodorkovsky’s attorney said he still held out hope that Putin would find it prudent to respond to the street protests around him by releasing the person who represented the first powerful voice against his rule. “We hope that the current social changes and drive toward broader democracy will make Putin want to release Khodorkovsky,” Yury Schmidt said.

Yet Schmidt also confirmed that his client had no intention of admitting his guilt or asking for a pardon. “Khodorkovsky has said many times that he never would,” said Schmidt.—AFP

Angolans celebrate ten years of end to civil war LUANDA: Angola today celebrates 10 years of peace after a devastating civil war, with parades and concerts hailing President Jose Eduardo dos Santos for ushering in an oilfueled economic boom. Dos Santos will unveil a peace monument in the eastern town of capital of Luena, near the site where Unita rebel leader Jonas Savimbi was killed in battle on February 22, 2002. Savimbi’s death paved the way to a peace deal signed in the capital Luanda on April 4, 2002, ending the 27-year civil conflict that erupted soon after independence from Portugal in 1975.

But despite the parades and the peace monument tensions remain, with not everyone content at the dominance of Dos Santos.

The president, in power for 32 years, not only dominates the political sphere but presides over a vast network of patronage, according to former prime minister Marcolino Moco accuses . “In Angola the president is very powerful. He changed the law of presidential elections in a way that he doesn’t need to be elected directly,” Moco said. “For the international community it is very important to see that in Angola things aren’t good,” he said. “I am very concerned with the situation of human rights and problems of corruption in Angola.”

Angola is well used to international influence. Cold war powers turned the country

into a proxy battle that pitted the then-communist MPLA-government against Unita and the Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA).

Cuba and the Soviet Union supported the MPLA, while the United States and apartheid South Africa assisted the rebels. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, international pressure led to a peace agreement in 1991. Dos Santos won the first round of a 1992 election, but Savimbi rejected the result and pulled Angola back into war.

The conflict left an estimated 500,000 dead and displaced four million others.

Roads, bridges, farms and entire towns were destroyed. This legacy is still visible, even as Angola emerged from the ashes of war as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Nearly 2.4 million people, almost a fifth of the population, still live in areas riddled with landmines, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Angola is running behind on pledges to destroy all the landmines, and last month applied for an extension to its deadline under the Ottawa Treaty to complete de-mining by 2013. “Another legacy of the war is a lack of efficient public policies, which weren’t a priority during the conflict,” said Markus Weimer, Angola specialist at the Chatham House think-tank in London. —AFP

PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy edged ahead in polls yesterday, capturing votes from the far-right after a crackdown on Islamists weeks ahead of the April 22 vote boosted his security credentials. Sarkozy has come from behind to increasingly control the campaign’s themes, from security in the wake of last month’s AlQaeda inspired killings to the economy, and he will formally announce his manifesto later this week. But while Socialist Francois Hollande has been steadily losing ground in first-round intentions, polls say he is still set to win the second round over the rightwing Sarkozy, who was at one point France’s least popular president.

The latest Ipsos poll said yesterday that Sarkozy had risen two percentage points in first-round voter intentions to 29.5 percent, while National Front leader Marine Le Pen dropped two points to 14 percent. Hollande was forecast to win 27.5 percent in the first round, less than Sarkozy, but the poll said Hollande would still comfortably win the second round on May 6 with 55 percent to Sarkozy’s 45 percent. Around 64 percent of those polled said their choice was already definitive, while a poll at the weekend said almost a third of voters were thinking of abstaining in the first round.

Mohamed Merah’s shooting spree in and around southern city Toulouse, in which he murdered seven people including three Jewish children, allowed Sarkozy to assume his security mantle to guide a shocked nation through a time of crisis. Since then, Sarkozy’s ministers have launched a series of measures billed as anti-extremist, refusing entry last week to Islamic

preachers wanting to attend a conference and on Monday announcing the expulsion of five “radicals”.

A series of swoops by anti-terror police on Friday netted 19 alleged Islamists, with sources saying that some of them were planning kidnappings, including of a Jewish

TELE. “If there were dangerous Islamists before, then obviously they should have been arrested.”

“We have to take care not to lump things together and be duped by a rightwing manipulation of the matter.” The deputy leader of the anti-immigrant National Front,

to be in France at all was “unacceptable”. “Not only do we have to receive all the poor of the world but on top of that, if I might say, we get all the scum from other countries. That’s unacceptable,” he told RMC radio. “The government knew this Algerian was on

PARIS: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy reacts as she talks to former Ecology Minister, Jean Louis Borloo (right) during a meeting of France’s President and candidate for re-election in Paris. —AP magistrate in central city Lyon.

The spokeswoman for Left Front presidential candidate JeanLuc Melenchon, who has surged into third place in opinion polls, said she was “surprised” at the timing of Friday’s arrests, and warned against “rightwing manipulation.”

“I must say I’m surprised at the context,” Clementine Autain told i-

Louis Aliot, lashed out at Sarkozy, questioning the Islamist expulsions “two weeks ahead of the first round?”

Aliot said the fact one of those ordered expelled by Sarkozy’s Interior Minister Claude Gueant, an Algerian convicted in connection with 1994 attacks in Morocco’s Marrakesh, was allowed

our soil,” Aliot said, but “they wait for the last two weeks, most certainly for a publicity coup.” While Friday’s arrests were ordered by magistrates who are independent of the executive, the opposition has criticized the presence of television news cameras during the arrests three weeks ahead of the vote.—AFP

Kindergarten seen as key to fight Roma’s poverty ARACI: “Storks and swallows,” the kindergartners in this Transylvanian village cry out when asked what birds arrive in springtime, then proudly count to 20 - unaware they are part of an experiment to help Roma children beat the odds of a life mired in poverty. The class might seem unremarkable but in Romania, one of the European Union’s poorest members, early schooling is now seen as “an important step to fight the vicious circle of poverty-schoolfailure-poverty”, Szilard Dullo, the director of the school in Araci said.

The idea is simple: poor children who attend kindergarten enter primary school better prepared, with the same skills as other youngsters, which reduces their chance of failing. This central Romanian village was the first to try out the idea in 2010, developed by a non-governmental organization, Ovidiu Rom, in partnership with the local community. It has seen kindergarten enrolment more than double in two years, from 89 children to 190 today.

Romania has the EU’s highest rate of children 17 and under living in poverty-almost 49 percent, according to figures published by the European statistical office Eurostat in February. This compares to 27 per cent in the EU as a whole, 29 percent in Britain and barely 14 percent in Finland. Continued discrimination against this minority of two million leaves the country’s Roma children vulnerable. Only three percent reach high school, the education ministry said. “There are a lot of parallels between what happened in the US with the black Americans and what happens in Romania with the Roma”, the US ambassador to Romania, Mark Gitenstein, told AFP citing the “devastating legacy of slavery”. Like blacks in the southern US, Romania’s

Roma were reduced to slavery and emancipated only in 1856. Many still live in dire poverty, as in Araci and the neighboring hamlet Hetea where they occupy wooden shacks without running water or sanitation and often only a plastic sheet for roofing. Typical are Costel, 5, and Abel, 6, who live with their two older brothers and father and mother, Aurica Koskodar, in a one-room hut she painted yellow inside and decorated with flower garlands to cheer

but it closed down,” said Denes Balazs, the village social worker. “I’m happy,” said Aurica, 30. “Since going to school, the boys are better behaved. They recite poetry. I hope they have a better life than ours.” A monetary incentive has helped the program, as has involving Roma parents, many of whom where forced to leave school early and remain illiterate.

A food coupon of about 12 euros a month ($15) is given to families liv-

HETEA: A Romanian girl member of the Roma community carries a younger pupil back to their home at the end of their class at the local kindergarten in Hetea village. —AFP up. The youngsters sleep in the same bed and wash in a bucket of cold water their mother fetches at a nearby pump, sometimes waiting for an hour behind other families queuing for water.

Neither parent has a steady job and the family survives on social benefits, like 1,600 of the 4,000 people living in Araci and nearby villages. ‘It might take time’-”Twenty years ago, there was still a collective farm where lots of people worked

ing below the poverty level for each child who attends kindergarten daily-a measure that has led to average 89 percent attendance records. The expenses are covered by donations from corporations and private persons. “You cannot build a house without foundations. As far as education is concerned, kindergarten is the foundation,” said Maria Gheorghiu, a Romanian education specialist who founded Ovidiu Rom with American Leslie Hawke, the

mother of actor Ethan Hawke, who came to Romania as a US Peace Corps volunteer in 2001 and stayed on. “If all children get the same opportunity from the beginning, the chances to succeed in school will grow,” Gheorghiu said.

She and Hawke launched “Every kid in the kindergarten”, as the program is called, in 2010 and have vowed to keep it going for 20 years to try to effect real social change.

“You need only 440 euros to maintain one child a whole year in the kindergarten,” Hawke and Gheorghiu said. Today, 1,400 poor children in 20 villages across the country take part in the program, which the founders hope can be implemented elsewhere. In addition to special teacher training, Ovidiu Rom asks parents to attend a lesson and a school activity or meeting at least once a month. “Some parents were afraid of school ...Now we have a better relation with them. They see what their children are doing and they come with ideas and proposals,” said Dullo, who has taught in Araci for two decades.

Teacher Iuliana Pargaru agreed.

“Before coming here, I was told by a colleague that Roma parents do not care about school, but on the contrary they do everything they can to help.” Roma children in Araci had a 50 percent failure rate prior to the program’s start, but Dullo said fewer problems are already seen in elementary school. “In the south of the United States where I come from, we also heard things like, ‘blacks do not want to go to school’,” but today we have an Afro-American president who went to Harvard,” said Ambassador Gitenstein. “I believe that one day there will be a Roma president in Romania. It might take time but this can happen”, he said. —AFP

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Asian leaders call for lifting of Myanmar sanctions Southeast Asia nations, China bring rift to summit PHNOM PENH: Asian leaders yesterday called for Western sanctions against Myanmar to be lifted after its historic polls, as they held summit talks also dominated by North Korea and maritime disputes with China.

The call came amid international praise for Myanmar’s by-elections on Sunday which gave democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate and former political prisoner, a seat in parliament for the first time. Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) “call for the lifting of all sanctions on Myanmar”, Cambodian Secretary of State Kao Kim Hourn told reporters on the sidelines of the bloc’s summit in Phnom Penh.

“The lifting of sanctions would contribute positively to the democratic process and especially economic development of Myanmar,” he said, quoting leaders inside the meeting room. Myanmar President Thein Sein told reporters the polls were “held successfully”, in his first public remarks on the vote. Kao said the former general, who has overseen a series of dramatic reforms since tak-

ing office a year ago, told his counterparts inside the meeting room that he accepted the result. Election monitors from Cambodia, which holds ASEAN’s chair in 2012, have already declared the polls free and fair, and

said sanctions imposed over the Myanmar military’s long record of rights abuses should be lifted.

ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan on Monday said the vote should contribute to the “reintegra-

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian dancers perform at the opening ceremony of the 20th ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh yesterday. —AP

tion of Myanmar into the global community”. The by-elections are the latest sign that Myanmar’s military is genuine about loosening its grip on power after four decades of brutal rule which made the country a diplomatic pariah and economic backwater.

Over the past 12 months the country’s quasi-civilian government has freed hundreds of political prisoners, eased media restrictions and welcomed the opposition back into politics. At the last ASEAN summit in November, Myanmar was rewarded for its reforms by being promised the bloc’s chairmanship in 2014. It is also eager to win greater foreign investment with the prospect of sanctions being lifted. The easing of most US sanctions would require approval in Congress, where lawmakers have welcomed changes in Myanmar but also urged caution as they seek progress on more fronts including resolving ethnic violence.

The 27-nation EU already lifted some sanctions on the regime this year to encourage reforms and foreign ministers will decide the next

steps when they meet on April 23 in Luxembourg. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam-a grouping of nearly 600 million people from disparate economic and political systems. The bloc has often been dismissed as a talking shop but it has assumed new strategic importance in light of Washington’s foreign policy “pivot” to Asia and the economic rise of China in recent years.

North Korea’s plans to launch a rocket is also looming over the Cambodia summit.

Pyongyang says the launch will send a satellite into orbit but the United States and its allies have condemned it as a thinly disguised missile test. Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the ASEAN foreign ministers spoke with one voice against the launch, which is expected to take place in mid-April. “I think the countries that spoke on the topic... were all of the opinion that we should be discouraging (North Korea) from undertaking that launch,” Del Rosario said after a

meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers on Monday. He said words to that effect would be included in the chairman’s statement at the end of the leaders’ summit. The Philippineswhich lies beneath the rocket’s expected flight path-has lodged a formal protest with Pyongyang’s representatives at the United Nations.

Regional tensions with China over disputed islands in the potentially resource-rich South China Sea-a vital international shipping lane-have also been discussed, diplomats said.

China has competing territorial claims in the sea with ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The United States says it has a “national interest” in keeping the vital trade route open to shipping. US ally the Philippines has been leading a push for ASEAN to present China with a binding “code of conduct” governing activities in the sea, in a bid to prevent minor incidents from escalating into major conflicts. But Beijing is insisting it should be involved in the negotiations from the start, diplomats said.

—AFP

Rights coalition seeks UN probe into N Korea gulags US faces limited options on North Korea SEOUL: A human rights coalition called yesterday for a United Nations investigation into North Korea’s prison camps, saying more than 400,000 inmates have died in the past few decades from starvation or overwork. “It is estimated that over the past few decades more than 400,000 of the camp prisoners have perished,” said the group called the International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea.

In a petition submitted to the UN Human Rights Council, it urged the body to carry out an investigation and demand access to the gulag system. The petition also urged the council to help shut down the North’s network of camps, where it said as many as 200,000 prisoners are held.

“Prisoners, including children, must undergo backbreaking and usually dangerous labor, such as mining, logging, and farming, seven days a week for twelve or more hours a day,” the coalition said in a statement. Up to 25 percent of inmates die each year due to “horrendous” labor conditions, it said. The coalition is made up of more than 40 human rights groups and activists including Perseus Strategies, a legal firm specializing in human rights.

One defector reported the daily ration as about twenty grains of corn per inmate, prompting prisoners to dig through cow dung to search for undigested grain, the coalition said. “They are forced to work while sick, and for those who are no longer physically able to work, they are sent to sanatoriums to await their death,” it said. Along with hard labor and starvation, prisoners must also face “the routine occurrence of torture, rape, and extra-judicial killing”, it said. The North rejects widespread international criticism of its rights record. Last November it described a UN resolution expressing “very serious concern” as a smear campaign led by the United States.

OPTIONS ON NORTH KOREA Despite tough talk from President Barack Obama, the

United States and its allies have limited options if North Korea goes ahead with its planned long-range rocket launch in midApril. Washington is likely to take the matter to the UN Security Council, analysts say, and could tighten its already tough sanctions. Such efforts would struggle

ing out UN nuclear inspectors, pulling out of aid-for-disarmament negotiations and conducting its second detonation of an atomic device. “At minimum, there has to be a statement of criticism” at the Security Council, said Gordon Flake, a Washingtonbased Korea analyst. “The ques-

OKINAWA PREFECTURE: Mobile Patriot missile launchers are unloaded off Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s 8,900-ton transport ship Osumi after its arrival in Miyakojima island in Okinawa Prefecture, southwestern Japan yesterday. Last week Japan’s defense minister ordered interceptor missile units to prepare for North Korea’s rocket launch in the middle of this month. —AP without support from China, which can be expected to resist any moves that might threaten the stability of its neighbor.

There also is deep uncertainty about where turning the screw further on North Korea would lead. After the Security Council condemned its previous longrange rocket launch in 2009, North Korea responded by kick-

tion is how North Korea will react, and history suggests it won’t react well.”

The stakes are higher than they were in 2009 as the potential for tensions on the Korean peninsula to escalate into conflict are greater now than they were then. South Korea’s government came under heavy domestic criticism for what was seen as

a weak response to a Nor th Korean ar tiller y barrage that killed four people on a front-line island in 2010. Earlier that year, Nor th Korea was believed to have torpedoed a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors. The Nor th denied responsibility.

Nor th Korea says the missile launch is intended to place an observation satellite into orbit.

But the US and others view the launch as a cover for a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that one day could carr y a nuclear warhead.

Crucially for Washington, if the three-stage Unha-3 rocket works, it could demonstrate that Nor th Korea has par ts of the United States in its missile range.

The launch would violate both a UN ban and an accord the impoverished country reached with Washington on Feb 29, under which it would freeze nuclear activities and observe a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of food aid. The launch plans, disclosed a little more than two weeks after the accord was announced, undermined what little faith Washington and Seoul had in North Korea’s sincerity about talks on its nuclear program. It also all but squashed the fleeting prospect that the nation would change after the December death of longtime ruler Kim Jong Il. Obama, facing re-election and accused by opposition Republicans of naivete for reaching out to North Korea, pointedly visited the heavily militarized Korean border last week during a trip to South Korea for a nuclear summit. Nor th Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong Un, previously had made the visit from the northern side. Obama implored the North’s leaders “to have the courage to pursue peace,” but warned that unless they changed their ways, the country would face “more isolation.” But neither he nor other administration officials have said what steps the US will take should Nor th Korea launch the missile. —Agencies

Malaysia’s panel calls for electoral overhaul KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian parliamentary panel called yesterday for a raft of electoral reforms including several demands made in a mass protest last year that was crushed by police. The panel was set up in October by Prime Minister Najib Razak, who had been under mounting pressure after police three months earlier crushed the electoral reform rally by tens of thousands of demonstrators in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The panel’s final report tabled yesterday in parliament made 22 recommendations including independence for the country’s Election Commission (EC) and mainstream media access for the political opposition. “The panel suggests that all the recommendations in this report be considered to improve the electoral process and strengthen the EC to guarantee free and fair elections,” the report said. It also called for a clean-up of the electoral roll amid reports of widespread irregularities such as dozens of voters registered at a single address.

However, the opposition, which had members on the panel, said the report lacked

detailed steps and timeframes, especially on the voter roll. “The fundamental issue is not being addressed. Our contention is that the electoral roll should be addressed,” opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said. “Of course we have to reject (the report).” It was later endorsed by the parliament, majority-controlled by the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, obliging the government to implement the suggestions.

Critics say the coalition which has governed Malaysia since independence in 1957 has used electoral fraud, manipulation and a stranglehold on traditional media to help it stay in power. The government denies the charge.

Najib is widely expected to soon call elections that could be extremely close after the coalition had its worst showing ever in 2008 polls. Electoral reform group Bersih 2.0, which organized the rally by activists and opposition politicians last July, has said it may call a new march if the reform pace drags on. Police broke up the July rally using tear gas and water cannon, arresting 1,600 people. Outspoken Bersih 2.0 co-chair Ambiga Sreenevasan declined

comment yesterday, saying the group would issue a statement soon. The report did not meet some opposition and Bersih demands such as lowering the voting age to 18 from the current 21 and setting a minimum three-week campaign period. The panel said another demand, automatic registration for all eligible voters, required further study.

The Election Commission had earlier agreed to adopt an interim panel recommendation to use indelible ink on ballots to curb abuses. The independent National Institute for Electoral Integrity said it “cautiously welcomes” the report, but also decried a lack of specifics and urged a “total” overhaul of the EC. The report called on the election commission to devise a legal framework for overseas voting by Malaysians abroad and “free and fair media access” for all parties but gave no specific recommendations. Mainstream media are government-controlled. Maximus Ongkili, a coalition parliamentarian who chaired the panel, defended the panel’s findings as “a good report”. —AFP

TOKYO: Commuters walk a crosswalk in a rainstorm outside Shinjuku train station in Tokyo yesterday. A powerful rainstorm battered Japan yesterday, paralyzing traffic and leaving thousands of homes without electricity. —AP

Storm batters Japan 2 killed, thousands stranded TOKYO: A typhoon-strength storm brought travel chaos to Japan yesterday, as violent winds and rain killed at least two people and left tens of thousands of people stranded.

Gusts of up to 150 kilometers per hour have been recorded in western Japan, with coastal areas likely seeing even stronger winds, Japan’s weather agency said. At least 163 people suffered injuries across the country, knocked over by sudden gusts or hit by flying debris, public broadcaster NHK said. With the agency warning of possible tornadoes in the western part of Japan, airlines grounded over 550 flights and a number of train services were suspended. An 81-yearold man died in central Toyama prefecture when the wind blew over a shed, trapping him underneath, police said. On the western Japan island of Shikoku, a 69-year-old woman was crushed to death when a warehouse collapsed, police said. Forecasters said an expanding low pressure system in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) was forcing a cold front over the country, where it was bringing heavy rains and strong winds.

“This is like the core of a typhoon, but it is staying for a long time, whereas a typhoon usually moves rather quickly,” a spokesman for the Japan Meteorological Agency said, adding that it was a “rare” situation. The meteorological agency said on its website the strong winds would move northwards into Wednesday, producing waves up to 10 meters high. “In particular, ferocious winds are expected at sea (in the north) on the Sea of Japan side. Please be extremely wary of violent winds and high waves.” The agency also warned heavy rain

could trigger landslides and flooding.

Japan Airlines cancelled 288 domestic and seven Asia-bound flights, affecting more than 32,000 passengers.

All Nippon Airways grounded 336 domestic flights, affecting nearly 40,000 people. East Japan Railways, which operates a vast train network in the eastern and northern regions, including Tokyo, cancelled some commuter lines and a number of long-distance services. The nation’s main bullet train, linking Tokyo and the western city of Osaka, was experiencing delays after a brief suspension, but was running as of early evening. A number of trucks were toppled by the winds, creating localized traffic jams in Toyama prefecture. NHK also reported a recently-constructed 10,000 ton tanker, which was moored off Ehime prefecture, had run aground.

A train, carrying some 170 passengers, was stranded for seven hours due to heavy winds on a bridge linking the main islands of Honshu and Shikoku, the network said.

Many companies sent employees home early. Canon told about 14,000 workers mostly in Tokyo and neighboring Kanagawa prefecture to leave before the storm worsened. “Most of them use public transportation to commute. The rain isn’t so strong yet (in Tokyo) but the storm is likely to intensify and could disrupt train and other services,” said company spokesman Hirotomo Fujimori. Fujitsu permitted 25,000 employees in Tokyo and neighboring prefectures to go home early if they wish, according to a company spokesman. —AFP

Tycoon detained amid China political scandal SHANGHAI: A Chinese business tycoon with reported links to disgraced Communist party official Bo Xilai has been detained, state media reported, in the latest twist to a major political scandal. Xu Ming, one of the richest people in China, was taken into custody on March 15, said the ENN Weekly, a magazine backed by the official Xinhua news agency, in a report posted on its website. Xu, whose company Shide Group sponsors a Chinese football club, was detained by a powerful body which investigates corruption within the ranks of the ruling Communist party, the magazine said in a report dated Saturday. The report, which could not be independently confirmed, gave no details about the allegations against Xu, or his links to Bo, who was ousted as party leader of the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing also on March 15.

Xu was based in China’s northeast city of Dalian, where Bo served as mayor and Communist party chief over a decade ago before rising up the ranks. Hong Kong newspapers have reported that the two men were friends, and that Xu helped fund the education of Bo’s son Bo Guagua, who attended Oxford University and the elite British school Harrow. The Shanghai Daily newspaper said Xu, who is worth 4.4 billion yuan ($700 million) according to Forbes magazine, had lost contact with his company the Shide Group, which had revenues of 12 billion yuan last year. He had been scheduled to attend the annual Boao Forum, a major gathering of Asian political and business leaders being hosted by China this week, but reportedly failed to make an appearance. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

NEWS

KUWAIT: Cars navigate through flooded streets after a heavy downpour yesterday. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Jailed Bahraini hunger striker may die: NGO DUBAI: A human rights watchdog warned yesterday that Bahraini activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who was on the 55th day of a hunger strike, could die in jail. “It is impossible to imagine that the Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead if Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja dies on hunger strike in prison,” said Mary Lawlor of Front Line Defenders. “The Bahraini authorities clearly want to present an image of business as usual but their seeming indifference to the plight of Abdulhadi, who has reached his 55th day without food, risks tragic consequences,” she added in a statement.

A team of Front Line Defenders yesterday wound up a three-day visit to Bahrain. But they were unable to meet Khawaja, who was condemned with opposition activists to life in jail over an alleged plot to topple the Sunni monarchy during a month-long protest that was brutally crushed in mid-March 2011. He began his hunger strike on the night of Feb 8-9. “I was able to speak briefly with him on the phone and ask him to take some food,” said Lawlor, adding that “he insisted that he would continue with his hunger strike until freedom or death”.

“Unfortunately, I know just how determined he is,” she said. — AFP

in the

news

Panel takes two officials to task Continued from Page 1 Barrak said the committee met yesterday with the two officials who were told that they must produce documents related to a sum of KD 247,000 that is unaccounted for in the crown prince’s financials. The lawmaker said the two officials insisted that the amount was received by another employee who is dead and “we told them that it is illogical that a dead man received the sum”. Barrak said the two officials were reminded that they must submit the documents. He said the decision to refer the two officials to the public prosecution will be taken at a meeting next Monday. The allegations of financial irregularities at the office of the crown prince were raised in previous national assemblies and it was the crown prince who ordered the investigation to be carried out.

In a related development, MP Nabeel Al-Fadl, a supporter of the former prime minister, yesterday called for scrapping two investigation committees formed by the Assembly for breaching the Assembly’s internal charter on classified information. The two committees were formed last month to probe the banking deposits and foreign money transfers corruption scandals. Fadl said members of the two committees were not abiding by the secret investigation as required by the law and accordingly must be scrapped like what happened in the previous Assembly with a similar investigation committee. The newly-elected lawmaker also said that members of the investigation committees are behaving in a disrespectful way towards government officials who are summoned for investigation.

Meanwhile, members of the parliamentary majority are expected to discuss shortly whether to allow at least two grillings against the interior and awqaf ministers to go ahead now or not. Islamist MP Mohammad Hayef said yes-

terday that he has decided to file to grill Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and Justice Jamal Al-Shehab “any time” after a one-week ultimatum passed yesterday. Hayef had warned the minister that he must implement the law and extend the ministry’s supervision to Shiite mosques and places of worship known as husseiniyas like Sunni mosques.

The ministry supervises Sunni mosques and in the past had taken actions against preachers at mosques.

Shiite MPs Saleh Ashour and Hussein Al-Qallaf have welcomed Hayef’s planned grilling as an “opportunity to talk about the issue of mosques for Shiites” who have repeatedly complained of discrimination in getting licences to build their own mosques. Pro-Shiite Sunni MP Mohammad Al-

Juwaihel also blasted Hayef, saying that no one will be able to supervise the husseiniyas.

Another Islamist MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei said yesterday that his Reform and Development Bloc has agreed to a planned grilling against Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad AlHumoud Al-Sabah over the detention of an activist for burning an Iranian flag. Tabtabaei however said that the bloc insisted that the grilling should not be filed before coordination with the rest of the parliamentary majority MPs who have decided to study any grilling before filing it. A meeting of the majority is expected to take place in the coming few days to discuss the two grillings as their support is essential for the success of any grilling.

Artist ‘more determined’ after ban Continued from Page 1 “Society Girls” in 2010 about the role of women in society, which she said sparked debate but was not banned.

Although Kuwaitis enjoy greater freedom of expression than citizens in more conservative Gulf countries and have access to a comparatively lively and outspoken domestic press, the state can censor publications and films it deems morally offensive.

Amin and other members of the artistic community said that this was

the first time that they had heard of an exhibition being closed down. The Al M Gallery declined to comment but a notice on its website showed the exhibition was “suspended”.

Works seen to be insulting to Islam, HH the Amir, or calling for the overthrow of the leadership are prohibited in Kuwait where pornography and alcohol are banned and adultery is punishable by law.

Opposition Islamists made gains in a snap parliamentary election in February and liberal commentators have voiced concern that political

change in Kuwait could lead to restrictions on freedom of expression and public life. A small group of hardline Islamist parliamentarians said last month they wanted to propose a law banning flirtatious behaviour and “indecent attire” in public, which would include swimsuits on beaches. Most Kuwaitis dress modestly but there are no specific laws governing dress and women are not required to wear head coverings. Men and women can work together although universities are required by law to segregate the sexes. — Reuters

Saudi splurges $136K on vintage champagne DUBAI: A Saudi millionaire splurged $136,000 on a bottle of champagne at Dubai’s glitzy Cavalli club over the weekend, a UAE newspaper reported yesterday. “The Saudi Arabian and his friends guzzled” a bottle of Louis Roederer Cristal in the early hours of Saturday morning, the 7DAYS newspaper said, citing the club’s manager David Lescarret, The vintage bottle was “one of just three believed to be available worldwide,” the paper added. Lescarret said the other two were for sale at nightclubs in New York and London. He described the unidentified Saudi national as a “well educated gentleman... who spoke several languages and ordered the bottle in French”.

According to 7DAYS, the Cristal bottle was from a “batch made in 1990 in Champagne, France,” originally intended for the Millenium celebrations. Lescarret would not divulge the Saudi’s total bill for the night, saying only that it was “very high” and included a “luxurious dinner.” The manager said the Cavalli club bought the champagne at a Christie’s auction house in London at a cost of around $93,000.

Jazeera to begin flying to Iraq in two weeks BAGHDAD: Jazeera Airways will start operating return flights between Kuwait and Iraq in two weeks’ time after an agreement signed between the Kuwaiti airline and the Iraqi aviation authority. The agreement is seen by the Iraqi Transport Ministry’s legal advisor Karim Al-Nouri as an end to pending issues between the two countries and a result of positive discussions. The airline announced last month that it was planning to start operating flights to the holy city of Najaf, in addition to a number of cities like Mosul, Irbil and Baghdad. Privately-owned Jazeera Airways, founded in 2005, operates the largest number of flights from Kuwait to destinations in the Middle East.

With a fleet of 12 Airbus 320s, it transported 1.2 million passengers in 2011 from Kuwait International Airport.

Sky News Arabia to go on air May 6 ABU DHABI: Sky News Arabia, a 24-hour Arabic language news channel based in Abu Dhabi, is to go on air on May 6, following in the footsteps of Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, its management announced yesterday. “Our aim has been to create an impartial and independent breaking news channel for the Arab world across multiple platforms,” Nart Bouran, the channel’s head, said in a statement announcing the launch date. Sky News Arabia is a joint venture between British Sky Broadcasting, BSkyB, and Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corp, a private firm owned

by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahayan, a brother of the United Arab Emirates president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahayan. “Sky News Arabia will offer the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region a fresh approach to television news with an independent editorial mandate at the heart of everything we do,” Bouran said. Qatar’s Al-Jazeera and Saudi-owned AlArabiya, based in Dubai, are prominent in Arabic-language television news. Their competitors include BBC Arabic, France 24, Iran’s Al-Alam and Russia Today

Mixed signals from Iran over US, Saudis, Turkey Continued from Page 1 Meanwhile, a former president who now chairs an advisory body to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged yesterday that Iran should forge better ties with regional rival Saudi Arabia to counter Western sanctions on Iranian oil. “If we had good relations with Saudi Arabia, would the West have been able to impose sanctions (on Iran’s oil)?”, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani asked in the latest issue of the International Studies Journal, a three-monthly Iranian publication. “Only Saudi Arabia could fill the void left by Iran. (All they need do is) produce oil within their OPEC quota, and then no one would be able to harass us,” he said.

He also reiterated his longstanding position that Iran should resume diplomatic relations with the United States which were cut off in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution. “If we negotiate with them (other world powers: Europe, China and Russia), why should we not talk with America?” he said, taking up an argument he said he asked in a letter years ago to the late founder of Iran’s Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. “The meaning of negotiation is not that we submit to them. We negotiate, and if they accept our positions or we accept theirs, then it is done.”

Rafsanjani, who was president 1989-1997, now chairs Iran’s Expediency Council, which is tasked with providing counsel to Khamenei. He is seen as a pragmatic voice in the regime, but one who has lost much of his influence to hardliners who hold sway over the parliament and military. “We do not need to have relations with the US as we are in best conditions. It is America that needs relations with Iran,” one hardline MP, Hossein Ebrahimi who is the deputy head of parliament’s foreign policy commission, was quoted as telling the Mehr news agency. “Iran is considered to (hold) the key to American interests (in the region),” he said.

Saudi Arabia, a US ally that is also the biggest OPEC producer, is facilitating Western sanctions by promising to tap its spare capacity to make up for any imposed shortfall of Iranian oil exports. The United States this year has been actively working to try to curb Iranian oil sales, which are vital for Tehran’s finances. Washington and its allies believe Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons capability, something the Islamic republic denies. Iran and Saudi Arabia have long competed for influence over the Middle East. They remain divided by religion (Iran is Shiite while Saudi Arabia is Sunni) and by their relations with the United States. Rafsanjani said that “relations with Saudi Arabia are not a trivial matter” and stated: “I think it is still possible to form good relations (with Riyadh). But there are people who do not want this... some harsh remarks coming from both sides should be corrected.”

Iran is resisting Western efforts to make it yield on its nuclear program through sanctions. Talks between Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany are due to be held late next week to address the showdown. The last round of negotiations, held in Istanbul in Jan 2011, collapsed. A senior Iranian political figure has spoken out against Turkey hosting Iran’s next talks with world powers, in the latest anti-

Turkish broadside from politicians in Tehran, Fars news agency reported late on Monday. Last month Turkey offered Istanbul as the venue for talks expected to take place on April 13, a proposal which appeared to gather momentum last week when Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Istanbul would be “the best option”.

Turkey has repeatedly backed Iran’s right to develop peaceful nuclear technology. The United States and its allies suspect Tehran of covertly working on nuclear weapons and have imposed tough new sanctions on its financial and energy sectors. Tehran, which says its nuclear activities are purely peaceful, has agreed to renewed talks with the five permanent members of the Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - and Germany this month.

Once-warm Iranian-Turkish ties have cooled over the past year due to the popular revolt in Syria, Iran’s closest Arab ally and a steadfast backer of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Turkey, a former friend of Assad, has demanded he halt a bloody crackdown on his opponents and step down. “Given the fact that our friends in Turkey have failed to fulfill some of our agreements, the talks... had better be held in another friendly country,” said former presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaie, Fars News reported.

Speaking to staff of the Economic Cooperation Organisation, a regional trade body with offices in Tehran, Rezaie did not specify what Turkey’s failures were, but said that Baghdad, Damascus or Beirut would be a more suitable venue. “Offering Istanbul as the venue for the upcoming talks ... might give this wrong impression to the opposite side that Iran has grown weak and is in weak conditions,” he added. Rezaie has been an influential figure in Iranian politics for more than three decades since he was appointed commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards, the elite force created to protect Iran’s system of theocratic rule.

A critic and electoral rival of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, Rezaie is now secretary of the Expediency Council, an influential body that advises Khamenei, who directs nuclear policy. His comments are a rare public criticism of neighbouring Turkey, whose prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, stressed the value of relations with Iran during a visit to Tehran last week. Iran’s theocratic leadership has welcomed talk of more economic cooperation with Turkey to offset the impact of sanctions on the Iranian economy. However, some Iranian lawmakers are increasingly critical of Turkey’s regional role.

Iranian MP Esmail Kowsari has accused Turkey of being a messenger of the United States and Israel, saying that “it would surely be hated by its own people and other nations in the region because it is hand in hand with the arrogant (Western) powers,” the Iranian Labour News Agency reported on Monday. Kowsari ridiculed Turkey’s hosting on Sunday of a “Friends of Syria” of mostly Western and Arab countries, which he described as only enemies of Syria. Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani called the Istanbul event a “conference to bribe Israel” and said regional nations that described Syria as a dictatorship were no better themselves, Fars reported.

Tensions with Turkey over Syria are awkward for Iran,

which needs all the regional friends it can get to mitigate the effects of increasingly fierce Western economic sanctions.

Separately, Saudi and Qatari newspapers yesterday lashed out at Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki over his implicit criticism of Saudi Arabia and Qatar for their calls to arm Syrian rebels. “Gulf (states) should boycott Maliki and his government,” wrote Tariq Al-Homayed, the editor of Asharq al-Awsat, calling for the “punishment of all who stand with the tyrant of Damascus, first and foremost Maliki’s government.” “Boycott him to prevent the emergence of a new Saddam or another Bashar,” wrote Homayed in the Saudi owned pan-Arab daily, referring to the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and Syria’s embattled Assad.

The Saudi media campaign against Maliki came after the Iraqi prime minister said Baghdad rejected “any arming (of Syrian rebels) and the process to overthrow the Assad regime,” arguing that the call by Qatar and Saudi to arm Syrian rebels “will leave a greater crisis in the region.” He also cautioned that “those countries that are interfering in Syria’s internal affairs will interfere in the internal affairs of any country.” Maliki’s comments followed what media reports said was an “official visit” to Qatar, which began on Sunday, by Iraq’s fugitive vice president Tareq Al-Hashemi, who is accused of running a death squad.

Another Saudi daily, Al-Riyadh, struck at Iraq’s strong ties to neighbouring Iran and questioned Maliki’s allegiances in its editorial yesterday. “Is Maliki a voice for Iran or the ruler of Iraq?” asked the editorial, noting that “the Syrian people revolted against injustices similar to those suffered by Iraq under Saddam”. The newspaper argued that Maliki appears more concerned with the rise to power of the Sunnis in Damascus.

The Syrian crisis has raised sectarian tensions, as its minority rulers are Alawites - an offshoot of Shiism - who are trying to cling to power by brutally suppressing an uprising led by the country’s majority Sunnis. In Iraq, a Shiite government came to power after the 2003 US-led invasion ousted Saddam, whose Sunni regime marginalised the country’s Shiites for decades. Saudi’s Al-Watan daily further described Maliki’s prediction that Assad’s regime “will not fall” as “laughable”, noting that his stance on the year-long uprising in Syria is not “out of love for the Damascus regime but rather because of his bias towards the stance of (his) Iranian ally.”

Maliki also came in for harsh remarks in Qatari newspaper Al-Sharq. The newspaper slammed Maliki’s “campaign” against Hashemi “and countries that sympathise with him”.

“It is clear that the policy of this leader of the Shiite Dawa party is not just against the Sunni presence in the Iraqi administration, but also against every one whose opinion does not follow Maliki’s way in managing Iraq,” it said. “Due to his ignorance when it comes to diplomatic relations, he went asking countries visited by the vice president not to welcome him, and to hand him over,” it charged. Al-Sharq further said that Maliki’s behaviour “does not just reflect ignorance of diplomatic norms, but also ignorance of Arab and Iraqi traditions, which he must be lacking due to staying out of Iraq for a long part of his life.” Baghdad demanded Monday that Doha hand over Hashemi.

14

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

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Issues

Italy needs red tape bonfire before reform

By Lisa Jucca ario Monti’s government is battling to reform Italy’s labour laws, but hacking through a dense jungle of red tape is more urgent if it is to improve its poor record on attracting foreign investment. Foreign direct investment into Italy represented only 1.4 percent of the country’s economic output between 2005 and 2010, half the level that poured into Germany and France and less than a third of what Britain pulls in. Widespread corruption and organised crime play their part in deterring investors, but a tortuous bureaucracy, outdated infrastructure and a myriad of complex and at times conflicting rules make Italy less successful at attracting new investment than Zambia or Mongolia, according to World Bank data.

“This uncertainty on rules is unacceptable. The fact that at every step you must confront an array of officials, each of them saying something contradictory, does not help and is the biggest hurdle to investment,” Sandro De Poli, Chairman of the Italian unit of U.S giant GE, told Reuters last week while attending a business conference in Cernobbio. “We have never considered Italian labour laws as a problem. Everything the Monti’s government is doing is very good. The next fundamental step is tackling bureaucracy.”

In the 2012 Doing Business report by the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank, Italy ranked 87 in the world for ease of business, bottom of the class in Europe and behind a raft of developing African and Asian nations. Problems highlighted by the report were Italy’s inability to enforce contracts and a baffling and punitive tax system. Italy scored better in the World Economic Forum 2011-2012 Global Competitiveness report, where it came in 43 out of 142 countries surveyed. But when assessing the overall burden of its government regulation on business, Rome slid to the bottom of the index, ahead of only Angola and Brazil.

These poor showings stem from a regulatory system that gives officials at local, provincial, regional and national level a say on a single business project. The experience of UK gas producer BG Group is emblematic. Last month it abandoned plans to build a plant in the southern region of Puglia after failing for 11 years to obtain all the necessary permits. “They spent years trying to get the proper licences and approvals, and finally they gave up and left.

That underscores how dramatic the problem is ... Cutting red tape is a long and hard process, but it must be continued,” Emma Marcegaglia, outgoing head of the big business lobby Confindustria, told Reuters.

“The government has started deregulating, and has tackled labour reforms. The road is certainly the right one.

But from a practical point of view, the changes introduced up until now are not yet those that can convince a multinational that it should open a plant in Italy,” said Domenico Rubino, Chief Financial Officer of SwissSwedish giant ABB in Italy. “Bureaucracy limits us rather than blocking us completely. But I doubt we would have waited for 11 years.” ABB, which has invested around €200 million ($270 million) in Italy in the past five years and employs nearly 6,000 people in the country, is currently standing pat on investment until there are concrete steps to revive the flagging economy, and perhaps some incentives, Rubino said.

Business executives have praised the Monti government for its ability to push through fiscal and welfare reforms, but would now like to see decisive measures to unlock the country’s growth potential, including cutting red tape. The issue of greater deregulation and more simplification was discussed at a closed-door meeting between Monti and some of the country’s best-known businessmen at the end of February, a person who attended that meeting told Reuters. Confindustria’s foreign investors committee has written to the government to highlight the urgency of focusing on measures that can boost the real economy. It has suggested a dedicated administrative channel for multinationals and streamlining tax obligations.

But changing course after decades of inaction will take time and will require a raft of initiatives. In a decree on simplification currently before parliament, the Monti government is taking steps to streamline the process for environmental permits and business authorisations. Other measures should ease participation in public tenders, which the government says should save companies more than € 140 million a year. “Italy’s situation is shameful.

Simplification is a priority and the government is working on it,” a government source said.— Reuters

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Europe ponders free trade or fair trade

By Paul Taylor urope has opened a can of worms by trying to reconcile free trade with fair trade. Under pressure from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the European Commission adopted proposals on March 21 that could shut foreign companies out of bidding for public contracts in the European Union unless their home countries provide similar access to European firms. The EU executive, which has historically promoted free trade and opposed protectionism, insists the measure is intended as a crowbar to open lucrative government contracts in countries such as Japan, the United States and China, not to close EU markets.

Public procurement worldwide, ranging from building roads and railways to supplying software and running data networks, is worth some €1 trillion a year, and Europe’s market is far more open than those of competitors, the Commission says. Japan allows foreign bidders on less than 3 percent of public contracts, and the United States is only slightly more open. EU officials are irked by more “Buy American” provisions creeping into recent U.S. legislation. The plan has to be approved by the European Parliament and a qualified majority of EU governments, which is far from assured, but it has already prompted fierce debate.

Critics, notably the free-trading British, say the proposals send the wrong signal and would put Europe on a slippery slope towards fencing off markets rather than opening them.

A 2011 British government policy paper on trade said the principle of reciprocity might sound “superficially reasonable”, but it could open the door to protectionism. “The government does not think that the EU should close its own markets if others’ markets are not opened. This could weaken competitive forces, drive up costs and (in procurement) reduce value for money for the EU taxpayer,” it said. Germany, Europe’s biggest

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exporter, is also unenthusiastic, fearing retaliation against its cars, chemicals and industrial machinery, which are still conquering Asian growth markets. Sarkozy, who has long banged the drum for trade reciprocity and branded Europe “naive”, has gone further and demanded that the EU adopt a Buy European Act similar to the Buy American Act reserving certain markets for domestic producers. In an election campaign speech last month, he threatened to impose unilateral restrictions on public contracts if the EU does not act - a move that would breach European law.

Like many trade battles, the dispute pits the interests of producers against those of consumers and exposes the limits of Europe’s ability to spread its own system of rules-based governance worldwide. A study produced for the French government argues that aside from public procurement markets, European manufacturers face a growing problem of “unfair competition” from countries with lower labour, environment and safety standards. The report entitled “Ending Unfair Globalisation” by veteran industrialist Yvon Jacob and Economy Ministry official Serge Guillon rehearses familiar complaints about China’s subsidised finance for companies, intellectual property theft and exchange rate management.

But it also pinpoints issues such as the failure of European authorities to police the usage of the “CE” quality label, meant to reassure consumers that goods meet EU safety norms. In practice, importers put the CE stamp on products ranging from household appliances to toys that are rarely examined by national customs officials at the port of entry. “It’s Europe’s own fault. Europe does not supervise its own market, which is the largest in the world,” Jacob, a former conservative lawmaker who calls himself a “liberal internationalist”, said in an interview. “The European Union has imposed technical standards and safety norms on our own industry that don’t apply elsewhere and are not checked on imported goods,” he told

Reuters, citing tyres, lighters and chemical products as examples.

European tyre manufacturers estimated that 15 percent of imported tyres entering the EU market are below European safety standards, but no one inspects them, Jacob said. When it comes to throwaway lighters, 76 percent of imports, mostly from China, do not meet the ISO 9994 safety norm that French producer Bic has to respect, he said. The EU’s so-called REACH directive has forced European businesses to find substitutes for chemicals deemed unsafe, imposing costs that competitors do not face and inciting some companies to produce offshore at lower standards. It costs aerospace company EADS €80 million a year just to change the paint on the wings of its Airbus planes to conform with REACH, while rival Boeing faces no such cost, the president of EADS told Jacob.

That is peanuts compared to the EADS aircraft sales that are at risk in another dispute over Brussels efforts to make foreign airlines flying into Europe buy EU carbon emissions permits. China has suspended the purchase of $14 billion worth of Airbus jets as a result. Jacob and Guillon want the EU to put in place quality controls backed by sanctions to enforce the EC label on imports. They propose creating a European office for the surveillance of the internal market modelled on the EU’s anti-fraud agency, and hiring more staff to follow up industry complaints of dumping at below-cost price.

Whatever the justice of their complaints, it is hard to imagine governments in gateway states such as the Netherlands, Belgium or Britain hiring armies of customs officials to filter Chinese imports more thoroughly. The balance of power in Brussels is likely to remain with the free marketeers because the EU treaty puts the Commission in the driver’s seat on trade. Even if the new public procurement powers are adopted, the EU executive’s agreement would be required to trigger them. — Reuters

Hollande’s toned-down talk may assuage Berlin

By Daniel Flynn rance’s Socialist presidential candidate has become the standard bearer of the European Left’s fightback against austerity, but the toned-down additions he is proposing to a German-inspired fiscal pact should prove acceptable to Berlin. Francois Hollande, who leads in polls ahead of an expected May 6 runoff with conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, alarmed many by vowing to “renegotiate” a treaty on budget discipline signed by 25 European leaders last month. Relying on austerity alone would drag Europe’s fragile economy back into a prolonged recession, he argued. That appeared to set him on a collision course with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has made the pact a cornerstone of her strategy to avoid any repeat of the euro zone’s debt crisis and a condition for granting struggling Greece a second bailout.

However, Hollande has recently been at pains to make clear he accepts the treaty’s central tenet of balanced budgets and merely wants to “complete” it by adding new instruments to stimulate growth, rather than reopening its essence. Crucially, he has dropped calls for joint debt issuance by European nations - so called euro bonds which is a red line for Merkel’s centre-right government and might also embarrass his allies in the opposition Social Democratic Par ty (SPD), given public resistance in Germany. Instead, Hollande has said he aims to add to the treaty “the capacity for Europe as a whole to issue bonds, not to mutualise sovereign debt but to finance new development projects”.

This step - like his call for a financial transactions tax and better use of EU structural funds - is already on the EU agenda and seems unlikely to pose major problems in Berlin. “Now that he’s no longer going all the way and calling for euro bonds, his treaty change is sellable,” said Gilles Moec, senior European economist at Deutsche Bank. A European Union source said informal work was already going on to draft a political text on promoting growth and jobs that could go alongside the treaty if Hollande wins.

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That could draw on existing European Commission proposals for “project bonds”, due to be reviewed by a June EU summit. If leaders give the nod, the Commission would launch a pilot phase this year with the European Investment Bank to stimulate private investment in transport, energy, and information technology - almost exactly what Hollande proposes. While Merkel has voiced strong opposition to joint European

debt. But times may have changed. “On project bonds, there’s the possibility of compromise,” said Jean Pisani-Ferry, director of the Brussels-based Bruegel economic thinktank. “This could address the whole question of southern Europe, of countries which are struggling for investment and growth.”

German officials have urged Hollande’s camp to drop the term “renegotiation”, which triggered alarm bells in Berlin, but

France’s opposition Socialist Party candidate for the 2012 French presidential election Francois Hollande waves during an outdoor campaign meeting yesterday in Tours. — AFP debt issuance - a step she considers would allow spendthrift EU governments to avoid painful reforms to boost competitiveness diplomats suggest Berlin may be more open to the idea of project bonds, a long-standing European aim.

The idea was first put forward in 1993 by former Commision President Jacques Delors - one of Hollande’s political mentors - as a means to develop trans-European road, rail and information networks to consolidate the single market. It was blocked in 1994 by Germany, which opposed the EU issuing

they were told it was necessary for the election campaign. Sources in Berlin suggest some addition to the treaty to include more emphasis on stimulating growth could be possible, provided the key clauses on fiscal responsibility remain intact. The fiscal compact requires signatories to introduce national laws to balance their budgets and empowers the European Court of Justice to fine a country up to 0.1 percent of GDP if this is not done a year after ratification. The treaty is due to take effect in January once ratified by at least 12 countries.

“I accept this discipline,” Hollande told a meeting of European Socialists last month, repeating his pledge to introduce a law to balance France’s budget by 2017, one year later than Sarkozy has promised to do so.

His campaign manager, Pierre Moscovici, confirmed yesterday the Socialists would push for “add-ons” to complete the treaty with more pro-growth policies, not fundamentally re-write it.

In Berlin, officials are increasingly relaxed about Hollande’s plan. While the official line remains “no renegotiation”, one senior source said Germany would be willing to agree on a set of principles to append to the fiscal compact including language on growth. With his calls to include in the treaty calls for better use of EU funds to help poorer regions and more lending from the EIB, Hollande is pushing on an open door. At a January summit, EU leaders said they would deploy 82 billion euros of unspent funds from the EU’s 2007-2013 budget to help create jobs, especially for the young.

Moreover, his demands for balancing the treaty with growth measures have been taken up by left-wing opposition parties ahead of elections in Germany and Italy next year, providing leverage to his negotiating position. Merkel requires the support of the SPD to reach the two-thirds majority in the Bundestag needed to ratify the treaty. The SPD has said, like Hollande, that a financial transaction tax is a condition for approving the text. With opposition from EU partners including Britain - home to Europe’s largest financial centre - to a broad transactions tax including derivatives, Berlin proposed last week starting with a tax on the purchase of stocks, modelled on Britain’s stamp duty.

Under the plan, the EU would move towards a fuller transaction tax once critical mass was achieved. Striking a conciliatory tone, Moscovici appeared to back the German position and toned down calls for an immediate Tobin tax. “We are in favour of a financial transactions tax and will do everything to convince our European partners - which may take a bit of time - to move ahead as a group. A tax makes no sense unless it is applied throughout Europe,” he said.—Reuters

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

sp orts Cassano to resume playing MILAN: AC Milan and Italy striker Antonio Cassano has been given the definitive go-ahead to start playing again following minor heart surgery.

A 10-man commission gathered by the Italian Sports Medicine Federation (FMSI) approved Cassano’s return on Monday and Milan’s own medical institute added its assent after about an hour of further tests yesterday.

“Cassano is fit to play like all the other Milan footballers,” Milan club medic Rodolfo Tavana said.

“This is the definitive OK. The coach will now decide when he will play his first game.

“I thank the whole club because they all helped me manage a very complicated situation. It was the first case of this kind in the world of football, as well as the first real problem in Cassano’s career. I also want to thank the FMSI because it helped us a lot and allowed us to guarantee with maximum safety Cassano’s health.”—AP

London’s weekend warriors LONDON: Marno Herinckx is bruised and bloodied after a particularly vicious pummelling in a hot, floodlit boxing ring. But Herinckx is no battle-hardened prize-fighter. He’s one of a number of white collar London office workers who have spent the last few months training to box and tonight is fight night.

“It ’s like ever y moment was frozen in time. It was like fight or flight,” Herinckx told Reuters after his bout. As he spoke, the packed crowd gathered at an arena in southeast London were already erupting in a roar for the next city professional swaggering towards the ring, swathed in laser lights, smoke -

machine effects and the pumping beat of music.

Herinckx and the other 37 boxers strutting their stuff on Friday night have spent the last three months on a gruelling three days a week training routine run by Chrissy Morton, founder of Bad Boy Promotions.

“As soon as one of the guys on [a trading desk] signs up, they all have to,” Morton told Reuters. “It passes from one to the other. If they don’t do it - well...it’s a rite of passage.”

“We train the white-collars like professional boxers; they go from being a normal person in the office to someone who can go out there and fight in a ring.”—Reuters

Contador hopes for comeback MADRID: Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador, serving a two-year ban for doping, is hoping to compete in this year’s Tour of Spain and world championships, he said in an interview with El Mundo newspaper published yesterday.

“I want to be in the biggest races. La Vuelta (which begins on August 18) will be the main one at the end of the season, then the world championships” in Valkenburg, Holland, in September. “I want to be there,” he was quoted as saying.

Contador’s ban comes to an end on August 6 and he said that he had not asked for the suspension imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to be overturned because the deadline for submissions had passed.

“My lawyers explained to me that they didn’t see much point in pursuing the case,” he said, adding that he had been told that the chances of successfully appealing the ban were “minimal”. Contador said after the February 6 ruling that he had “lost confidence in sporting justice” and called again for a revision of the norms for doping products, in particular the anabolic steroid clenbuterol, because they were “obsolete”.—AFP

Lightning burn Capitals hopes NHL results/standings Tampa Bay 4 Washington 2; Los Angeles 2 Edmonton 0.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division

NY Rangers Pittsburgh Philadelphia New Jersey NY Islanders

W 50 48 46 45 33

L 22 25 24 28 35

OTL 7 6 9 6 11

GF 218 268 257 219 194

GA 175 214 222 205 241

PTS 107 102 101 96 77

Boston Ottawa Buffalo Toronto Montreal

Northeast Division 47 28 4 259 41 28 10 245 38 31 10 208 34 36 9 222 29 35 15 202

193 231 219 252 221

98 92 86 77 73

Florida Washington Tampa Bay Winnipeg Carolina

Southeast Division 37 25 17 193 40 32 8 214 37 35 7 227 36 34 9 213 31 32 16 208

217 227 270 233 237

91 88 81 81 78

St Louis Detroit Nashville Chicago Columbus

Western Conference Central Division 48 21 10 204 47 27 5 242 45 26 8 227 44 26 10 244 27 45 7 190

Vancouver Colorado Calgary Minnesota Edmonton

Northwest Division 49 21 9 239 41 33 6 205 35 29 16 194 34 35 10 173 32 39 9 210

191 209 222 219 233

107 88 86 78 73

Los Angeles Phoenix San Jose Dallas Anaheim

Pacific Division 40 27 13 39 27 13 40 29 10 42 32 5 33 35 11

170 202 201 212 219

93 91 90 89 77

187 206 214 207 195

156 196 208 234 255

106 99 98 98 61

Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L)

TAMPA: Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos scored two late goals, giving him a NHL-best 58 this season, as the Lightning handed the Washington Capitals’ playoff ambitions a damaging blow with a 4-2 win Monday. Stamkos gave the Lightning a 3-2 lead with 1:03 left, just after Jason Chimera had tied it for Washington. Stamkos then scored into an empty net at 19:58.

Washington, which also got a goal from Alexander Semin, is in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals have a two-point lead over the Buffalo Sabres with two games remaining. The Sabres have three games left.

The Capitals are three points behind Southeast Division-leading Florida. Teddy Purcell and Victor Hedman also scored for the Lightning, who have already been eliminated from playoff contention.

Kings 2, Oilers 0 In Los Angeles, the hosts edged closer to only their second division title in franchise history by beating Edmonton.

Jonathan Quick made 19 saves in his NHL-leading 10th shutout, while Slava Voynov and Dwight King scored in the third period for the Kings, who began a frantic final week in the Pacific Division by opening a two-point lead over Phoenix. San Jose and Dallas also are in the tight race for the division crown and three Western Conference playoff spots.

Los Angeles could clinch its first division title in 21 years with two regulation wins over San Jose in a home-andhome series starting Thursday - or the Kings could yet miss the playoffs. The Oilers will miss the postseason for the sixth straight year.—AP

TAMPA: Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steven Stamkos (center) celebrates with teammate Martin St. Louis as referee Kelly Sutherland signals Stamkos’ goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals.—AP

Kitajima powers to fourth Games TOKYO: Multiple gold medallist Kosuke Kitajima became the first Japanese swimmer to qualify for four Olympics by storming to the national 100 metres breaststroke title yesterday.

Kitajima, who won the 100 and 200 breaststroke double at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, rolled back the years to win the men’s final in a Japanese record 58.90 seconds.

The 29-year-old squeezed out rival Ryo Tateishi by 0.70 of a second at Tokyo’s Tatsumi Pool as both men booked their spots at this year ’s London Olympics. “ The Olympics only come once every four years - and that’s as often as I break the record now,” Kitajima, who

flirted with retirement after Beijing, told reporters. “Typical me!”

Kitajima was all business in the pool, however, and he smashed his fist into the water, letting out a roar of delight, after dominating Tateishi.

“The personal best will give me confidence going into the Olympics,” said Kitajima, the former world record holder in the 100 and 200 metres. “Now I have to work on turning it into the quickest time in the world.”

Australia’s Brenton Rickard currently possesses the world record of 58.58, set almost a year after Kitajima swam 58.91 at the 2008 Beijing Games.

“Eight years ago (in Athens) I had a rival I wanted to beat badly (American

Brendan Hansen),” Kitajima said.

“Four years ago, I knew I would go to Beijing and be the world’s best. This time was different. I knew I had to leave it all out there or else I wouldn’t make it.

“I did that so it’s a special feeling.

People say I’m expected to waltz into the Olympic team but I put myself through some punishing training.

“I’ll keep pushing to get closer to the world record and take on the world’s best at the Olympics,” added Kitajima, who races in the 200 later this week.

“I don’t like losing to anyone.” The Japanese nationals double as the country’s Olympic qualifiers.—Reuters

TOKYO: Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima reacts after winning the men’s 100-meter breaststroke, qualified for his fourth straight Olympics, during Japan’s national swimming championships.—AP

UAE racers enjoy great start to Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge Al-Mutaiwei and Bel Helei claim 2nd and 3rd in car category ABU DHABI: Competitors from the United Arab Emirates enjoyed a strong star t on day one of this year ’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. At the end of the 300km Nissan Patrol Leg 1, five of the nine podium places across the three categories had been filled by UAE nationals and residents.

K halifa Al-Mutaiwei marked his return to competitive racing in the UAE after eight years away from the sport with an impressive first day, finishing second in the car category behind early leader Jean-Louis Schlesser. Racing in the Team X-Raid Mini All4 Racing, AlMutaiwei nevertheless found himself battling the difficult terrain.

“I got stuck in the same place three times,” said Al-Mutaiwei. “It was very sandy and I wanted to take a path to the left, but there was a motorcycle

stuck there, so I got stuck myself and we had to dig ourselves out. This is where I lost the time, but I am not too unhappy - I still have the speed I had seven years ago.”

His Emirati compatriot, Yahya Bel Helei is also a celebrating a milestone this year - a remarkable 22nd consecutive appearance in the Deser t Challenge - and put in a t ypically robust performance to finish third, just over five minutes behind Al-Mutaiwei and ahead of many of many big international names.

In the bike category, reigning champion, Marc Coma laid down the gauntlet to his title challengers in the best possible way by claiming a stage win ahead of very strong competition.

The legendary Spanish racer, riding a KTM, came in first with a time of 3h

33m 22s, but that was only just enough to hold off the challenge from current FIM world champion, Helder Rodrigues, and a UAE-based star in the making, Sam Sunderland.

Portuguese rallying star, Rodrigues came in just over a minute behind Coma on his Yamaha, and a similar distance ahead of Sunderland. Riding for the Honda team, the Dubai-based youngster, who last year made history becoming the youngest ever rider to win a stage on the Desert Challenge, impressed again, despite the handicap of a pre-race injury.

“I started at the back, as that was our strategy,” said Sunderland. “It was hot and long, but worked well. I tried to be cautious, because of my foot, but the last 50km was really hard - I’m now waiting to see the physio before

tomorrow ’s stage to check out my foot.”

UAE riders set the early pace in the quads category, with Emirati Obaid Al Kitbe claiming the overall stage win.

Riding a Honda TRX 900CC, the Sharjah resident finished half an hour ahead of his nearest challenger and fellow UAE resident, Sebastian Husseini, who had finished first in Sunday’s Super Special Stage. Lukasz Laskawiec from Poland came in third.

Al Kitbe said: “I set off in 53rd place, and made a few mistakes but it all worked out well in the end. I’m trying to pace myself a bit for the race ahead.

The next stages will be harder, and the toughest will be the third, but if you finish that one, you’ve got a very good chance of completing the whole rally.”

Over five exhausting days that will

push them to their physical and mental limits, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge competitors will tackle some of the toughest terrain on the planet - the massive sand dunes of the Empt y Quarter desert of the Western Region.

The successful participants will cross the finishing line in Abu Dhabi on Friday, April 6.

The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is organised by the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE, whose President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, is also the founder of the rally. It is held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region and features a high-profile lineup of supporters, including the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, Nissan and ADNOC.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

sp orts

British face pre-Olympic gold test Down Under MELBOURNE: The Olympic gold-winning credentials of track superpowers Great Britain faces a crucial test this week when traditional rivals Australia host the 2012 world championships.

Held over five, action-packed days at the Hisense Arena, the event will serve as a pre-London tune-up for most and a crucial stepping stone on the way to Olympic qualification for others.

By Sunday, there should be little room for doubt concerning Olympic selection. For those already assured of a place, what needs done to win Olmypic gold in five months time will remain the biggest concern.

Given their resounding success at the 2008 Olympics when they won seven of 10 track gold medals, most would expect Britain to be strutting towards their home Games in five months time.

However changes to the Olympic programme-the men and women now

compete in the same five events and only one competitor is allowed per event-as well as efforts by rival teams to close the competitive gap mean Britain are no longer assured an easy ride.

Australia claimed only one medal, a sprint silver thanks to Anna Meares, in Beijing but are now confident of challenging in most of the 10 Olympic events.

“I don’t think I’m being unrealistic in saying that we’re in the hunt in most of the Olympic events,” Australia’s high performance director Kevin Tabotta said recently.

Today the Australian men’s team pursuit are expected to duel with Olympic champions and world record holders Britain as they aim for their third world title since Beijing.

Australia set a winning time of 3min 54.615sec, just outside the world record of 3:53.314, to beat Britain at the World

Cup last month-a defeat that Britain are desperate to avenge, preferably in London. “We will go to Melbourne to win, or at least to close the gap,” said Britain’s start man Ed Clancy after Great Britain finished in 3:56.330.

In the women’s team sprint, the twolap power event which will make its Olympic debut, Meares and partner Kaarle McCulloch are widely expected to come up against British duo Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish.

In London last month Meares and McCulloch beat their own world record, before it was then eclipsed by Pendleton and Varnish as the Brits took a surprise gold.

While Britain and Australia are expected to stake claims for medals in the women’s team pursuit and omnium, other nations will be among the reckoning for the men’s and women’s sprint events of the sprint, keirin and team

sprint. Despite being a four-time Olympic champion and the reigning champion in the sprint, keirin and team sprint Sir Chris Hoy is duelling with England’s Jason Kenny for the sole sprint spot for London.

The Scot underlined his Olympic ambitions in London last month when he won the sprint and keirin titles and took silver in the team sprint, but despite that success his place is not guaranteed.

“Obviously selection hasn’t been finalised for the British team yet so I’m looking forward to putting in another good performance, hopefully in the sprint, keirin and team sprint and try and stake my claim for selection,” said Hoy. As well as from Kenny, Hoy is expected to meet stiff opposition from Frenchman Gregory Bauge, Australian Shane Perkins and a strong German

team that also has eyes on the threeman sprint title.

Since being relegated to silver by Pendleton in Beijing, Meares has made significant progress in her long-standing sprint rivalr y with the Englishwoman.

She notably beat Pendleton to the world title in the Netherlands last year, where she also won gold in the team sprint and keirin. Meares was also strong in London last month where Pendleton mostly flattered to deceive.

Tabotta says Meares is ready to fire on all cylinders again. “When Anna Meares needs to step up in the biggest competitions, fatigued or fresh, she will step up,” he said.

In London this August the omnium-a five-discipline event akin to the pentathlon in athletics-will make its debut having been held at every world championships since Beijing. —AFP

India hockey coach eyes top-six finish

Chris Hoy in action in this file photo

Hoy aims to seal Olympic spot MELBOURNE: Triple Olympic champion Chris Hoy will offer a sneak preview of one of the most anticipated events at London 2012 when he leads a full-strength British team at the track cycling World Championships.

Hoy hopes to defend his team sprint, individual sprint and keirin gold medals in London and will race all three events at the worlds, which start today and which also serve as Olympic qualifiers.

Hoy leads a British squad that dominated the final round of the Track World Cup in London last month. The team includes Olympic and eight-time world champion Victoria Pendleton and fellow Olympic champions Jason Kenny, Ed Clancy and Geraint Thomas.

Changes to the Olympic qualification mean each nation can only have one representative in the sprint events, which could make competition for medals at the world championships tougher than at the London Games.

“Performance here is crucial as final selection for Britain’s one sprint spot at the games may ride on what occurs Down Under,” Hoy said. “I’ve done pretty well this year so far and if I can have another good performance (in Melbourne) then hopefully it will be enough for selection.”

After topping the medal tally at last year ’s world championships in the Netherlands, host Australia is expected to provide the British team with some strong competition at Hisense Arena.

Led by reigning sprint, keirin and team sprint world champion Anna Meares, the Australian team features men’s keirin world champion Shane Perkins and a men’s endurance squad that includes individual pursuit champion Jack Bobridge, Cameron Meyer and Leigh Howard.

Jack Bobridge leads Australia’s world champion team pursuit squad, which is expected by many to fight out the gold medal against Britain.

Despite the Australia vs. Britain hype, Bobridge said there are other teams threatening at the championship.

“I don’t think the British are our only competition at the moment, you have the Russians and New Zealand,” he said. “We get excited every time we win and it’s not just about beating the British, it’s about beating everyone.”

Russia has been weakened by the loss of Ivan Kovalev, who was hit by a car in training at Sydney last week. Australia’s Perkins was more lucky, escaping with a sprained wrist and bruises after colliding with a car during training on Sunday.

Perkins resumed training later the same day, and posted on Twitter: “Out for a ride today and just got hit by a car!! Seriously!!”

He later tweeted: “This was no April Fool’s Joke either! Got cleaned up, nothing broken, sprained wrist, bruising on glute!

Very lucky!!”

In the women’s competition, a hot rivalry will be played out between the world’s two top women sprinters. Pendleton beat Meares to sprint gold at the 2008 Olympics, seven months after the Australian rider injured her neck in a track accident.

Meares last year broke Pendleton’s fouryear run of world titles and then toppled her again in a titanic contest at the World Cup meeting in London.

Pendleton then combined with Jessica Varnish in the team sprint to inflict the first defeat on Meares and Kaarle McCulloch, who are aiming for a fourth consecutive world title this week.

Whenever they race, Meares says, it’s either in a semifinal or final and they “literally turn each other inside out.” Meares, however, insists the world titles won’t be just a battle between she and Pendleton.

The Germans, Chinese and French are all closing in on the team sprint, while Meares says up to seven women could win the individual sprint and nine are in contention for the keirin.

“This is a full dress rehearsal for me physical, mental, emotional,” Meares said.

“I’m practicing everything that I want to get right here in Melbourne. And what I get wrong, I have time to readjust and to tinker with before the Olympics.” —AP

AUB leads KBC Bowling League KUWAIT: The Ahli United Bank (AUB) stayed on top of the KBC Bowling League standings following a 7-0 victory over the Gulf Bank in week seven competitions concluded recently.

The victory gives the AUB a five-point lead ahead of the Kuwait Finance House (KFH) who extended their total to 35 points following their 7-0 victory against the Central Bank. The KFH is followed by Al-Ahli

Bank of Kuwait who defeated Boubyan Bank 5-2 to finish week seven with 31 points. The fourth and fifth places are held by the National Bank of Kuwait and the Gulf Bank respectively, with 25 points for the former and 20 to the latter.

Meanwhile, the Kuwait Banks Club announced that the doubles competition for the tournament at the Cozmo Bowling Hall in Salmiya will start April 7, 2012.

Ahli United Bank team

MUMBAI: Having “fed the 5,000” and fulfilled his duty of leading the India hockey team to Olympic qualification, Australian coach Michael Nobbs has set the target of a top-six finish in London.

The former hockey powerhouse won the last of their eight gold medals in 1980 but their gradual decline reached its lowest ebb in 2008 when the team failed to qualify for the Beijing, the first time India missed a Games in 80 years.

So it was a huge relief for the nation when the team won a qualifying tournament in Delhi in February to seal a London berth.

“I was very relieved. I was quite apprehensive.

I knew how Indian hockey had probably declined in the last number of years,” Nobbs, who took on the job in July 2011, told Reuters in an interview.

“They were just not going anywhere because they were sitting 10th in the world. “And then everyone came up to me and said ‘you realise you have to qualify?’ “At least 5,000 have told me and I was waiting for the rest of the nation to walk up to me and tell me. It was very stressful.”

A rumbling administrative row and cricket’s emergence as the most dominant sport in the country have not helped Indian hockey. But the team’s qualification gave hockey some rare front page coverage in local dailies and also dominated the primetime news slots.

Sponsors and local governments have jumped on the bandwagon by announcing cash bonuses for the national hockey team.

Nobbs considers India an “unseeded player” when they face-off against their higher-ranked opponents that include Australia, Germany and Netherlands, during the London Games.

“Realistically, let me put it this way. Anything can happen,” Nobbs said by phone from Bangalore, where a national camp for the players was being held.

“We are an unseeded player, playing against top seeds and there is always a chance that we

can knock a few of them off.

“I think if we can finish in the top six that would be realistic but it would be a pretty tough ask. If we can do anything better than that, we

India’s coach Michael Nobbs instructs the Indian team will be profoundly happy.” India remained unbeaten in six matches and scored 44 goals during the qualifiers.

Nobbs felt more time was needed before the players could match the fitness and strength of their counterparts from Australia and Europe.

“One thing that is hindering us is the fact that our European and Australian counterparts are six to eight kilos heavier,” the Australian said.

“They are physically stronger. Skill-wise we are pretty much at par. But that makes a huge difference. “They have spent five-six years preparing for this Olympic Games. We have spent six

Kazakh judo hopeful driven by family pride ALMATY: Judo is more than a sport for Maxim Rakov. It’s a way of life for the world’s top-ranked judoka and his entire family on the windswept steppe of Kazakhstan.

“You could say that we are a dynasty,” the 26-year-old former world champion said as he prepares for his Olympic debut. Rakov was trained by his father, a Soviet youth judo champion. His two younger brothers also compete and Rakov hopes his five-year-old son will also, one day, become a champion.

“My parents were grafters from a simple family,” said Rakov, who currently tops the International Judo Federation’s world rankings in the under 100 kg category and is one of Kazakhstan’s main gold medal hopes for the 2012 London Olympics.

“My father gave me an unbreakable character and a passion for hard work.

Perhaps you could even call it fanaticism.”

His dark blond hair closely cropped, Rakov trains in a three-storey sports centre and hostel in Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan. Pristine white judo robes hang out to dry on balconies in the early spring sunshine. He says he was attracted to the sport for its culture of discipline, respect and self-defence.

“It teaches you respect for your elders, as they have in Japan. Before you step onto the carpet, you must bow to your opponent,” he said. “You also aim to carry these qualities into your everyday life.”

Rakov watched the 2008 Beijing Olympics at home after a shoulder injury ruled him out of the competition. A year later, he was world champion, after defeating Dutchman Henk Grol in the final of the 2009 World Judo Championships in Rotterdam.

He identified both Grol and Japan’s Takamasa Anai, second and third respectively in the world rankings, among his main rivals for gold in London, as well as Russia’s Tagir Khaibulaev, his conqueror in the 2011 World Judo Championships final in Paris last August.

“I think there will be 10 or 12 people in with a shout,” Rakov said. “It’s the kind of sport where everything can literally be decided in seconds. You leave a gap somewhere, and that’s it. If you fall, that’s it. There is no way back. “Every sport is difficult in its own way. With us, there is

months and trying to repair the damage that’s been caused over a number years.” For the 57year old Nobbs, the development plan is more long-term for hockey in India.

simply no margin for error.” Rakov says he is proud to represent Kazakhstan, a Central Asian state five times the size of France and home to 16.7 million people that gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Maxim Rakov “It’s an honor for every citizen of Kazakhstan to represent his motherland in such competitions,” he said. “If you have a good result, if you win, then the whole world will know Kazakhstan. It’s a great honour.” Family pride, however, is also at stake. Recently, on the same day that Maxim was winning a Grand Prix event in Germany, his 16-year-old brother, Mikhail, placed third in the national championship in Kazakhstan.

A week later, his seven-year-old brother, Yegor, took second place in a junior contest in Karagandy, the windswept, coal-mining city on the Kazakh steppe where all three brothers live.

When at home, Rakov enjoys taking his son to the park and to watch cartoons in the cinema. Judo training will start soon. “As a father, I understand what’s required to make him a real man, to instill the right qualities in him,” he said. Rakov has never before visited London, but says he will have no time for sightseeing before flying into Britain for a single day of competition on Aug. 2.

“A lot of people think sportsmen have this jetsetting lifestyle, but we don’t see anything,” he said. — Reuters

“It’s a time factor more than anything else.

The publicity just shows the passion in the people in this country and how much they love the sport,” he said.

“We know we are not good, not yet. But we are going to be. And that’s going to take a bit of time to repair that. “It’s helped that the cricket team has been absolutely whitewashed (in England and Australia) in the last two overseas series. “People have started to focus on something that’s actually winning something. Hockey is the national sport of this country and it certainly helps.” — Reuters

Aussies eye elusive Masters title AUGUSTA: Jason Day calls the Masters ‘the Holy Grail’ of Australian sport. Adam Scott says it is a rare sporting hurdle that no-one in Australia has managed to get over.

But both men agree it is only a matter of time before an Australian is presented with the winner’s green jacket, and believe it could come as early as this week with six Australians in the field.

The pair almost ended the drought themselves last year when they finished tied for second at Augusta National but were denied by an extraordinary finish from South African Charl Schwartzel, who birdied the last four holes to win by two shots. “It’s going to happen, for sure,” said Scott. “We have a lot of great players and I think it’s just coincidence that it has not happened. One year someone is going to get across the line.

“It’s one of those sporting hurdles that no Australian has gotten over, and it may be one of the last ones for the sports that we play in our country, after Cadel Evans won the Tour de France last year.”

Scott, who is playing in his 11th Masters this week, has adopted an unconventional approach to the tournament in the belief he may have unlocked the key to winning through his performance last year.

Instead of playing a lot of tournaments, Scott took an extended break before last year’s Masters in the hope that he would play better fresh. It worked.

“If you look at the best players in history, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger (Woods) certainly have done that and were very successful at it,” Scott said.

“I don’t think I need to play a lot to be competitive and be sharp. You can get here, be fresh, and if you’re fresh in your mind, you can be sharp out there and not make the poor mistakes.”

Scott has also arrived at Augusta National with a new caddie, Woods’ former bagman Steve Williams, and expects his experience could give him an edge if he is in contention late on Sunday.

“He’s been caddying 30-plus years, and he’s obviously been very successful everywhere,” Scott said. “He’s got a great knowledge of this golf course and hopefully at some point there’s going to be that time when his knowledge shines through for us.”

Day was a revelation when he made his Masters debut last year and backed up his performance by finishing outright second at the US Open.

The 24-year-old has played just four events this year, making the cut each time, and returns to Augusta confident his first major win is not too far away.

“I feel like I’ve learnt a lot. I feel like I’m a lot more comfortable playing out here and playing against the best players in the world,” he said.

“I just have get over that hurdle and just put myself into contention, and hopefully I can win one soon.“For me, this is the Holy Grail to win this tournament. I do believe that an Australian will win it soon.” —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

S P ORT S

Tendulkar quits as IPL Mumbai captain NEW DELHI: Sachin Tendulkar yesterday stepped down as Mumbai Indians skipper on the eve of the Indian Premier League (IPL), saying he needed a “break from the responsibility of captaincy”.

The batting superstar, who led Mumbai in all of the previous four editions of the IPL, will be replaced by off-spinner Harbhajan Singh as captain in the Twenty20 tournament that starts today.

“The Mumbai Indians is more than a team. It is

like a family to me. At this point of time, I feel I need a break from the responsibility of captaincy,” Tendulkar, who turns 39 this month, said in a statement.

Tendulkar, who smashed an unprecedented 100th international century during the Asia Cup in Dhaka last month, said the new captain would have his “wholehearted support”.

“After due consideration, I discussed my inten-

tion to hand over the captaincy of the team to Harbhajan Singh,” he said.

Tendulkar, who has brushed aside any speculation about his retirement, holds four batting world records-most runs and centuries in Tests and oneday internationals. Mumbai, who lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the play-off last year, will clash with defending champions Chennai Super Kings in their opening match in Chennai today.

Harbhajan said he was looking forward to leading the team. “Mumbai Indians is a great team with explosive talent and promising youngsters,” said Harbhajan. “I am committed to do the very best and look forward to leading the team to play to its full potential during the season.”

Harbhajan is not new to captaincy, having already led the Mumbai Indians to the Twenty20 Champions League triumph last year. — AFP

Jayawardene rescues Sri Lanka once again

CHENNAI: In this handout photograph provided by the Indian Premier League (IPL), Indian Bollywood personality Amitabh Bachchan performs during the IPL 2012 opening night function and concert held at the YMCA College of Physical Education Grounds. — AFP

IPL faces popularity test as India team struggles CHENNAI: Indian Premier League organizers have spent big on the opening ceremony for the upcoming season, hoping fans will regard the return of the rich Twenty20 series as a welcome distraction from the struggles of the national team rather than a reminder of them.

American pop star Katy Perry and leading Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan and actors Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor perform at late yesterday’s gala opening.

India was whitewashed 4-0 in consecutive away test series in England and Australia. It also failed to qualify for the finals of a triseries in Australia and the Asia Cup in Dhaka last month, losing it No. 1 ranking in tests and sliding down the ODI standings within a year of winning the World Cup. “A performer of her (Perry’s) caliber makes the occasion even more special for the IPL family - players, organisers and fans,” IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said in a statement. “ The verve and originality of her music matches that of the competition.”

Even as the media speculates of a possible overkill of the game in recent months, Rupert Murdoch-owned Star TV won the rights for all cricket in India till 2018 for a whopping $750 million bid on Monday.

The contract, which includes broadcast, internet and mobile rights, covers 96 games and comes to about $7.85 million per game.

The previous rights holder, Nimbus, used to pay $6.38 million per game before its contract was terminated over a payments issue.

Two-time defending champion Chennai Super Kings play Mumbai Indians in the season-opener in Chennai today. The fifth edition comprising nine city-based franchises will feature 76 matches and will run till May 27.

The IPL has given cricket an even higher profile, with billionaires and Bollywood beauties falling over each other to buy stakes in the teams, which feature players from around the world. Franchises clamored for players during the 2012 player auction in February and during the preceding month-long trading window.

Last year’s runner-up Royal Challengers Bangalore managed to retain West Indian Chris Gayle, who joined them as an injury replacement and emerged player of the series last year, while Pune Warriors last week signed up Australia captain Michael Clarke, who will make his IPL debut during the second half of the season after Australia’s tour of the Caribbean.

But the Pune team, which agreed to compete after threatening to withdraw over differences with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, will be without South Africa test captain Graeme Smith who has decided to undergo surgery on his injured left ankle.

India’s Rahul Dravid, one of only six international batsmen to have scored over 10,000 runs in both test and one-dayers and who announced his retirement from international cricket last month, will lead Rajasthan Royals after Australia leg-spin great Shane Warne retired from IPL.—AP

COLOMBO: Skipper Mahela Jayawardene cracked his second century in consecutive matches to pull Sri Lanka out of trouble in the second and final Test against England in Colombo yesterday.

Jayawardene followed his match-winning 180 in the first Test in Galle with a classy 105 after seamer James Anderson had reduced the hosts to 30 for three within the first hour at P. Sara Oval.

Thilan Samaraweera (54) added 124 for the fourth wicket with his captain as Sri Lanka recovered to post 238 for six by stumps on the opening day in a remarkable re-run of the Galle Test.

Sri Lanka had slumped to 15-3 in the first four overs of the match at Galle, before Jayawardene and Samaraweera rescued the hosts by putting on a half-century partnership. A sell-out crowd of 5,000, mostly travelling English fans, applauded warmly when Jayawardene reached his 31st Test century with a single off left-arm spinner Samit Patel after tea.

The 34-year-old struck 11 fours and a six in his eighth hundred against England before he was trapped leg-before by offspinner Graeme Swann with a sharp, turning delivery. England, whose 75-run defeat at Galle followed a 3-0 rout by Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates earlier in the year, need a win to level the series and retain their number one ranking. Andrew Strauss’ men will slip to second spot behind South Africa if they lose or draw the match.

Angelo Mathews, returning to the side after missing the first Test with a calf injury, was unbeaten on 41 after adding 62 runs for the fifth wicket with his skipper.

Samaraweera said the sluggish pitch hampered shot-making. “This is not a typical Oval wicket which had true bounce,” he said.

“This time the ball is not coming on to the bat, it’s not easy to score runs.

“We have probably lost one extra wicket, but hopefully we can get to 300 and put England under pressure.”

Anderson struck in his third over when he forced Tillakaratne Dilshan to edge a catch to wicket-keeper Matt Prior after the previous two balls had been driven for boundaries.

Kumar Sangakkara was dismissed first ball for the second match in a row when he was snapped up by Strauss in the slips, the England captain taking the catch at second attempt. Jayawardene once again prevented a hat-trick, as he had done in Galle, and went on to master the England attack on a dry

COLOMBO: England’s bowler James Anderson (right) celebrates the dismissal of Sri Lanka’s Lahiru Thirimanne during the first day’s play of the second Test cricket match. — AP

wicket that is expected to crumble in the later stages of the match.

Lahiru Thirimanne padded up to a straight ball from Anderson and was given out leg-before by umpire Bruce Oxenford, a decision upheld by the third umpire after the batsman asked for a review.

Steven Finn, who joined Anderson and Tim Bresnan in a three-man seam attack, said England will be satisfied by the day’s play. “We have had a pretty good day,” said Finn, who turns 23 today. “It was a day of attrition. Jayawardene played really well and kept us at bay for a fair while, but it’s pretty even at the end of the day.

“You have to wait for batsmen to make mistakes. I think every bowler did that. We’ve played the patient game and we have to do it again tomorrow.”

Finn said Anderson’s bowling stood out after a hard day’s work in the field. “Jimmy is an exceptional bowler and he showed that again with three early wickets and being consistent throughout the day,” he said. “He is someone that I’ve looked up to and hopefully I can keep learning from him.”— AFP

SCOREBOARD COLOMBO: Scoreboard at the close on the first day of the second and final test between Sri Lanka and England yesterday: Sri Lanka first innings L Thirimanne lbw b Anderson 8 T Dilshan c Prior b Anderson 14 K Sangakkara c Strauss b Anderson 0 M Jayawardene lbw b Swann 105 T Samaraweera lbw b Bresnan 54 A Mathews not out 41 P Jayawardene c Prior b Finn 7 S Randiv not out 5 Extras (b-4) 4 Total (for six wickets, 90 overs) 238 Fall of wickets: 1-21 2-21 3-30 4-154 5-216 6-227 To bat: R Herath, D Prasad, S Lakmal Bowling: Anderson 17-2-52-3, Finn 18-3-43-1, Bresnan 15-2-32-1, Patel 16-3-32-0, Swann 22-2-71-1, Pietersen 20-4-0.

Sri Lanka lead series 1-0

Fish out of Davis Cup

Mohammed Yahya receiving the Lifetime achievement award from Asad Baig

Bader Muneer receiving the Lifetime achievement award from Rafique

Kuwait Cricket felicitates senior cricketers KUWAIT: Kuwait Cricket, in a memorable and praiseworthy gesture took the initiative to felicitate some senior cricketers in Kuwait by honoring them with Lifetime achievement awards. In fact, it was a reunion of many cricketers of the past and present, along with new generation players, especially the Kuwait National Under-19 women’s team.

The gathering of players was quite emotional as they shared the fond memories of the past. These players are

known for their passion, dedication and wonderful contribution to the sport of cricket and have always been emotionally attached to the cause of upliftment of cricket and sportsmanship.

The evening was memorable and it started with the address of Irfan Adil who briefed the crowd about Kuwait Cricket’s noble intension of honoring cricketers of the past.

Asad Baig, Director General, Kuwait Cricket was the chief

guest on this occasion and Lifetime achievement mementos were handed over to Andrew Pinho, Bader Muneer, Kazim Hussein, Mohammed Yahya, Arif Hussein and Chris Amarasekara. In his short message, Asad Baig praised the invaluable services rendered by these veteran cricketers and urged them to act as role models for the younger generation and inspire them with positive advise and share their cricketing experience.

Kazim Hussein receiving the Lifetime achievement award from Abdul Razzak

Andrew Pinho receiving the Lifetime achievement award from Rafique

Chris Amarasekara receiving the Lifetime achievement award from Merwyn Lewis

NEW YORK: Hours after losing his most recent match, Mardy Fish woke up in the middle of the night feeling ill and immediately went to be checked by a doctor. He saw another doctor the next day, too, and the diagnosis was fatigue. Told he needed to rest, and citing what the US Tennis Association called a “minor health scare,” the No. 9-ranked Fish pulled out of this week’s Davis Cup quarterfinal between the United States and France in Monte Carlo.

“We don’t want to get exactly into what the symptoms were. He didn’t feel normal. He said, ‘Hey, something’s wrong here.’ He was concerned about it,” Fish’s agent, John Tobias, said in a telephone interview Monday. “His body got out of whack, caused by a number of different variables ... (but) they ruled out any potential long-term issues.”

Late on Monday, Fish wrote on his Twitter page: “Thanks all for the nice messages. Resting comfortably with family. Hope to be back out there soon.”

Fish, the highest-ranked American, lost 6-1, 6-3 on Thursday to Juan Monaco in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne, Fla. The 30-yearold Fish appeared to be fine physically and said afterward he would have preferred more taxing conditions for the afternoon match.

“It was like the weather was almost too good,” said Fish, who lost about 30 pounds after having knee surgery in September 2009 and prides himself on his fitness. “It wasn’t that humid and it was a nice, comfortable temperature. So I was expecting it to be hotter. I wanted it to be kind of a Florida day. It was an LA day, I think.” Fish also said he was encouraged by his play in the tournament after a disappointing start to the year.

It was the first time he has won consecutive matches at a tournament in 2012. Fish’s biggest victory this year came in February in the first round of Davis Cup, when he rallied to edge Stanislas Wawrinka 9-7 in the fifth set, helping the US beat Switzerland.

From Switzerland, Fish went home to California, before traveling to Marseille, then Dubai, then home again, before tournaments at Indian Wells and Key Biscayne.

“Just a crazy amount of travel, and the time-zone changes, kind of wears you out after a while,” Tobias said. On Thursday night in Miami, Fish didn’t feel well and saw a doctor. His parents live a few hours away in Florida, and he went to see the family doctor on Friday.

After spending the weekend at his parents’ home, Fish was going to fly to his place in California on Monday, Tobias said.—AP

18

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

S P ORT S

Kentucky win NCAA title NEW ORLEANS: Impressive freshman Anthony Davis struggled to find the hoop but proved dominant in other phases of the game to lead Kentucky to an eighth national basketball championship with a 67-59 victory over Kansas on Monday.

Davis has been brilliant all season and despite connecting on just one-of-10 shots, the tournament drawcard had 16 rebounds, six blocks and five assists to power the Wildcats to their first title since 1998.

“It’s not hard to take a backseat, especially when playing with a great group of guys,” said Davis, who remained scoreless when the Wildcats reached halftime with a 41-27 lead.

“All these guys could play. I knew I was struggling. So I told them, ‘I’m going to defend and rebound, you all make all the points.’ That’s what they did tonight.”

Kentucky (38-2) dominated the first half but had to weather a late Kansas rally that cut the advantage to 62-57 on two free throws by Thomas Robinson with 1:37 left.

However, the Wildcats hit five of seven free throws down the stretch to seal the triumph and delight the largely blue -andwhite-clad, pro-Kentucky crowd at the Louisiana Superdome.

With Davis scoring just six points, guard Doron Lamb picked up the slack with 22 points on seven of 12 shooting. Marquis Teague added 14 and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 11.

Kentucky coach John Calipari was subdued despite winning his first national title in his fourth Final Four appearance with three different schools.

“I’m glad it’s done,” said Calipari, who has compiled a staggering 102-14 record since arriving in Lexington three years

ago. “Now I can get about my business of coaching basketball and getting these players to be the best that they can be, helping young people create better lives for themselves and their families.

“And also helping them prepare for life after basketball.”

Kansas (32-7) had problems in their four previous tournament games but found a way to win each time. On Monday, the magic

NEW ORLEANS: Terrence Jones No. 3 of the Kentucky Wildcats holds the trophy after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks 67-59 in the National Championship Game of the 2012 NCAA Division I Menís Basketball Tournament. —AFP

ran out. “ We been fighting all year, man,” said Jayhawks senior guard Tyshawn Taylor, who paced Kansas with 19 points. “We’re hard working guys. Just tough and want to fight.

“It sucks that we have to be down 14 before we want to start fighting. Guess that’s kind of what happened. The fight never stops with us. We were right there.

Right there.

“But they ’re a great team.

Played their hearts out, just like we did. They came out victorious today.” Thomas Robinson scored 18 points and had 17 rebounds but the muscular All-America forward hit only six-of-17 shots. He tipped his hat to Davis, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

“Anthony is a great player,” he said. “You see he impacted the game without even scoring today. That’s just what he does.”

Kentucky have been the nation’s best team virtually the entire season, losing only to Indiana and to Vanderbilt in the finals of the Southeastern Conference tournament.

The Wildcats have three freshmen and two sophomores in the starting line-up and while they could potentially win several more titles, it is likely some will make the jump to the NBA early. “ This team deserves all the accolades that they’ve been getting,” Calipari said. “And what I wanted them to show today is that we were not just a talented team, we were a defensive team, and we were a team that shared the ball.

“I told them I wanted this to be one for the ages. Go out there and show everyone what kind of team you are, even though we were young. “It doesn’t matter how young you are, it’s how you play together.” —Reuters

Kentucky fans tone down celebrations LEXINGTON: Kentucky basketball fans were far more sedate when they took to the streets to celebrate the school’s eighth NCAA championship on Monday, a stark contrast to the violence that followed the semi-final win over Louisville two days earlier.

The University of Kentucky Wildcats, college basketball’s most successful program, defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 67-59 in New Orleans on Monday, setting off a raucous night of partying on the campus in Lexington.

Thousands flooded the campus and the streets of downtown Lexington following the school’s first NCAA basketball title since 1998.

Lexington police said had put out one small fire and reported only a handful of arrests and several citations, all for alcohol related offenses.

“It’s controlled chaos right now and we’re all hoping it stays that way,” one campus police officer told reporters. “I have a feeling there’s not going to be much sleeping going on

around here tonight.” Thousands of students poured onto the streets surrounding the campus, some singing the school fight song, some waving University of Kentucky and American flags, and others snapping pictures and taking video to preserve the historic evening.

“This is unbelievable,” Lexington resident and former Kentucky student Dustin Harrison said after arriving at the campus to celebrate the victory with friends. “I’m just hoping none of that crazy stuff goes on like it did the other night,” the 33-year-old added.

Following Kentucky’s victory over bitter rivals Louisville on Saturday, at least one car was overturned and burned and several couches were set ablaze near campus.

About 30 people were arrested by police, the sheriff’s office, fire emergency services and campus police on charges ranging from alcohol intoxication to criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. Pictures and video footage of the

scene made national headlines, embarrassing school and local officials, who vowed to prevent a repeat performance on Monday.

Police Chief Ronnie Bastin said during a Monday afternoon press conference that several hundred officers, more than were on patrol following Saturday’s game, would be on the streets in an attempt to curtail such behavior.

During the news conference, Lexington Police Commander Shawn Coleman displayed photographs of 14 people being sought for allegedly throwing bottles at officers, shooting fireworks into a crowd, starting a vehicle fire and damaging a stop sign. Coleman said that if they were identified and apprehended, they would face charges of arson, wanton endangerment, assault or criminal mischief.

University President Eli Capilouto sent out an e-mail to students hours before the game, pleading with them to have fun and celebrate without endangering others. —Reuters

SACRAMENTO: Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) battles for position against Minnesota Timberwolves defenders Nikola Pekovic (left) from Montenegro and Martell Webster (right) during the second half of an NBA basketball game. —AP

Rockets end Bulls record streak CHICAGO: The Chicago Bulls record run of avoiding successive NBA defeats is over after a 99-93 loss to the Houston Rockets on Monday. Goran Dragic scored 21 points and Luis Scola added 18 points and 12 rebounds for Houston, which trailed by 15 points in the first half before a 14-1 run late in the third, and then a 17-2 burst turned the game on its head.

Luol Deng scored 24 points for the Bulls, who had gone a team-record 86 regular-season games without dropping successive games. That is second only to Utah’s 95-game effort in the late 1990s.

Jazz 102, Blazers 97 In Por tland, Paul Millsap had 31 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as Utah won its first game in four, beating Portland.

The Blazers led 97-94 but the Jazz reeled off the last eight points to snatch the game. Al Jefferson hit a shor t jumper to cut the gap to one and then Millsap’s dunk gave Utah the lead.

Millsap added another dunk to make it 100-97 and seal the game. Wesley Matthews led Portland with 33 points.

Grizzlies 94, Thunder 88 In Ok lahoma City, the hosts’ sixgame winning streak was ended by Memphis. OJ Mayo scored 22 points, including a key 3-pointer with 17 seconds left, while Tony Allen added 15 for the Grizzlies, who were without starting point guard Mike Conley for a second straight game because of an ank le injury. Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 21 points.

Kings 116, T’wolves 108 In Sacramento, Tyreke Evans had 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to lead Sacramento over slumping Minnesota.

The Kings, who came in having lost five of six, opened the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run and never trailed the rest of the way. Kevin Love had 23 points and seven rebounds for the Timber wolves, who lost their third straight.

Clippers 94, Mavericks 75 In Dallas, Los Angeles brought up its longest winning streak for 20 years, notching a sixth straight victory by comfortably beating defending champion Dallas.

Randy Foye had 28 points with a career-high eight 3-pointers while Blake Griffin had 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Clippers, who last won six in a row in March 1992. Foye was 10 of 19 from the floor, including 8 of 15 from 3point range. Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 19 points.

Bucks 112, Wizards 98 In Washington, Milwaukee moved within two games of the final playoff spot in the East by defeating Washington. Brandon Jennings scored 19 points while Monta Ellis and Mike Dunleavy scored 17 points apiece for the Bucks, who edged closer to New York for that prized eighth position. Milwaukee now returns home for a five-game homestand that starts with very winnable games against Cleveland, Charlotte and Portland. Jordan Crawford scored 23 points to lead the Wizards. —AP

NBA results/standings Milwaukee 112, Washington 98; Houston 99, Chicago 93; Memphis 94, Oklahoma City 88; LA Clippers 94, Dallas 75; Utah 102, Portland 97; Sacramento 116, Minnesota 108.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT Boston 30 22 .577 Philadelphia 29 23 .558 NY Knicks 27 26 .509 New Jersey 19 35 .352 Toronto 18 35 .340 Chicago Indiana Milwaukee Detroit Cleveland

Central Division 42 13 .764 31 21 .596 25 28 .472 19 33 .365 17 33 .340

Southeast Division Miami 37 14 .725 Orlando 32 21 .604 Atlanta 31 23 .574 Washington 12 41 .226 Charlotte 7 43 .140

GB 1 3.5 12 12.5 9.5 16 21.5 22.5 6 7.5 26 29.5

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 40 13 .755 Denver 29 24 .547 Utah 28 26 .519 Portland 25 29 .463 Minnesota 25 30 .455 LA Lakers LA Clippers Phoenix Golden State Sacramento San Antonio Memphis Dallas Houston New Orleans

Pacific Division 33 20 .623 32 21 .604 26 26 .500 20 31 .392 19 34 .358

Southwest Division 36 14 .720 29 22 .569 30 24 .556 29 25 .537 13 40 .245

11 12.5 15.5 16 1 6.5 12 14 7.5 8 9 24.5

Sheikh Abdallah shooting tourney

Abdelredha Ghareeb with two junior players

Hadi Mansour in action

Kuwait stars shine in Riyadh KUWAIT: Kuwait’s National Tennis team stars, Gulf and Arab Champions Mohammad AlGhareeb and Abdallah Maqdas ousted top ranked players in the Saudi Futures International tournament being held in Riyadh.

Al-Ghareeb and Maqdas outlasted Jonalko Perera and Gordy Sambeer 7-5, 6-7, 11-9 in the round of 16. This tournament includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Sweden, Britain, Pakistan, Australia, India, Germany, Thailand, Bulgaria, Austria and Russia.

Al-Ghareeb and Maqdas are participating with the support of the Public Authority for Youth and Sports, as they prepare for Davis Cup qualifications to be held in Iran on April 23.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s third Open Tennis Tournament continues with 4 days left. The matches yesterday started with the diplomats singles as Fadi Jarjokalian handly defeated Satch Maita, while Frank Man got past Alexander Kitchak, and Vadeem was able to beat Jassim AlSaleem. In the pioneers singles

event Kurtz disposed of Delarai and Renaldo got past Ashraf Kamal, while Godary beat Majdi Al-Bitar.

Fares Fawzi overcame Adel Safar, Hassan Al-Yousufi beat Fadi AlSamrani, while Avarim beat Mohammad Al-Alami.

In the mixed doubles Talal AlMayahi and Lina Shihadeh overpowered Andrew and Lija 6-0, 6-0, as Hassan Al-Ghareeb and Mariam Siraj defeated Mustafa and Doha Abdelsalam 6-0, 6-1. Meanwhile Youroush and Sarah Behbehani beat Georgio and Natalia 6-2, 6-2.

In the men’s doubles Abdelredha Al-Ghareeb and Mohammad Khaliq defeated Ali Al-Ghareeb and Nasser Al-Obaidly 6-1, 6-2 while Mansour and Abdallah Buhamad defeated Abdallah Al-Mashouti and Ali Mubarak 7-6, 6-0.

In the under 13 juniors Hadi Mansour defeated Daniel Ghassan, while Hussein Jamal was able to get past Hussein Hani. Fuad Behbehani got through at the expense of Ali Al-Herz, while Talal Kamal did the same with Ali Khalid.

KUWAIT: Kuwait Shooting Sports Club is geared up for the start of Sheikh Abdallah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah Shooting Tournament to held from April 5-7 in the Olympic Skeet, Trap, Double trap and 10m air pistol and rifle.

Assistant Secretary General at the club Eng. Mohammad Al-Ghurba the Board of Directors are pleased to organize this cup annually as it carries a name of a person who did not spare any efforts for the sake of Kuwait.

Al-Ghurba said, he expects many surprises in this particular event as participants have experience and several achievements and have the desire to attain higher goals.

Shooters from Serbia, Bahrain and Kyrgyzstan, are holding camps at Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex and will participate in the tournament.

He said the Higher Technical Committee aims at discovering more promising shooters, because the tournaments provide a good opportunity to select national team members. Al-Ghurba commended the efforts of the club and the Higher Technical Committee.

Mohammad Al-Ghurba

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

S P ORT S Preview

Preview

Real’s rampant strikers threaten to bury APOEL

LONDON: Chelsea’s Spanish striker Fernando Torres (left) and Spanish midfielder Juan Mata (right) take part in a training session at Stamford Bridge ahead of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg football match against Benfica today. —AFP

Revitalised Torres ready to lead Chelsea through LONDON: A revitalised Fernando Torres is expected to lead Chelsea’s attack today when they try to sweep Benfica aside to claim their sixth Champions League semi-final appearance in nine years.

Torres, 28, who scored his first Premier League goal since September in Saturday’s 4-2 triumph at Aston Villa, has netted three times in the last four starts and is set to continue at the expense of the injured Didier Drogba.

The Spain striker’s renewed sharpness has helped boost Chelsea’s team spirit in recent weeks as he has provided a series of key assists including one for Salomon Kalou in the 1-0 quarterfinal first leg victory at Benfica last week. “Strikers feed off goals but apart from that Fernando’s been playing very well, even without the goals, by assisting on other goals,” interim manager Roberto Di Matteo told reporters. “He works so hard for the team. He’s enjoying himself. He’s enjoying playing. He’s got a smile on his face and he’s confident.”

Ivorian Drogba, 34, who picked up a toe injury in training on Friday, is fighting to prove his fitness for Wednesday’s game, as is Brazil centre half David Luiz.

Former Benfica player Luiz limped off at Villa Park with an ankle ligament injury and is likely to be replaced by England international Gary Cahill.

Chelsea have lost just once in eight matches since Italian Di Matteo replaced the sacked Andre Villas-Boas last month.

The Londoners have won six of those games to rekindle ambitions in the Champions League, the FA Cup they face Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-finals of that competition later this month - and the Premier League where they occupy fifth place.

Chelsea will attempt to extend a 100 percent home record of four wins in the Champions League this season

against Jorge Jesus’s team who knocked Braga off the top of the Portuguese league at the weekend.

Benfica are now second behind Porto.

Twice European Cup winners Benfica demonstrated their potential for an upset when they drew 2-2 at Manchester United in the group stages in November.

Coveted Argentine winger Nicolas Gaitan will be out to repeat his outstanding performance in the 2-1 win over Braga on Saturday and further impress the scouts from Europe’s biggest clubs.

Compatriot Pablo Aimar, suspended against Braga, is also available to return with his vision and pinpoint passing skills. Jesus said Benfica’s firstleg defeat should galvanise his side at Stamford Bridge.

“I think Benfica were the better team in the first leg — even much of the English press recognised Chelsea were lucky to go away with the win,” said the coach.

“The Champions League is really making us sweat. We still keep playing with great intensity but the fact is we don’t have a lot of time to recover and we can already notice some fatigue.”

Jesus’s main concerns are in central defence where Ezequiel Garay, Jardel and Miguel Vitor are all out injured.

“Luisao is the only centre back we have. That is a difficulty and we will have to be a bit creative,” he said.

Probable teams: Chelsea: 1-Petr Cech; 2-Branislav Ivanovic, 24-Gary Cahill, 26-John Terr y, 3-Ashley Cole; 5-M ichael Essien, 8-Frank Lampard; 7-Ramires, 10-Juan Mata, 21-Salomon Kalou; 9Fernando Torres . Benfica: 1-Artur Moraes; 14-Maxi Pereira, 4-Luisao, 6Javi Garcia, 3-Emerson; 28-Axel Witsel, 21-Nemanja Matic, 20-Nicolas Gaitan, 8-Bruno Cesar; 10-Pablo Aimar, 7-Oscar Cardozo.— Reuters

MADRID: Real Madrid’s prolific trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain are likely to sweep aside APOEL Nicosia in the Champions League today, needing one goal to reach the 100 mark between them this season. Jose Mourinho’s men had no time for sympathy as they won their quarter-final first leg 3-0 in Cyprus last week, all but securing a semi-final place and ending tiny APOEL’s valiant first foray into Europe’s elite club competition.

The Cypriots failed to muster a shot on Iker Casillas’s goal in front of their own fans, and will face an onslaught from three strikers in rampant form at the Bernabeu.

Portugal’s former World Player of the Year Ronaldo has amassed 47 goals in all competitions this year, and scored two and set up two more as Real routed Osasuna 5-1 in La Liga last Saturday.

French international Benzema opened the scoring in Pamplona with a sumptuous volley reminiscent of Marco van Basten’s famous effort for Netherlands in the Euro 1988 final, and took his tally for the season to 28. Argentina’s Higuain bagged two and took his season total to 24 as leaders Real closed on the league title, six points ahead of Barcelona with eight games left to play and having scored 100 goals in their 30 matches.

Mourinho will have one eye on Sunday’s league clash against third-placed Valencia and will probably use the occasion to rotate his squad.

APOEL will want to bow out of the Champions League with their heads held high, and will take

MADRID: Real Madrid’s French forward Karim Benzema (left) and Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (right) take part in a training session, on the eve of their UEFA Champions League second leg quarter final football match against APOEL. —AFP Probable teams: some comfort from having held ahead of us.” Jovanovic will have Real Madrid: 1-Iker Casillas; the Spaniards at bay for more Sunday’s game for the play-offs against Anorthosis Famagusta on 17-Alvaro Arbeloa, 3-Pepe, 4than 70 minutes in the first leg.

They received a boost to his mind, but is likely to give his Sergio Ramos, 12-Marcelo; 5morale with a 2-1 victory over bit- regulars the opportunity to play Nuri Sahin, 6-Sami Khedira, 10Ozil; 7-Cristiano ter rivals Omonia Nicosia on in what will probably be their final M e s u t Ronaldo, 9-Karim Benzema, 20Saturday, which left them second match in Europe this season.

Defender Marcelo Oliveira, Gonzalo H iguain APOEL: 22in the domestic league behind AEL Limassol. “It is a very impor- whose early exit from last D i o n i s i s C h i o t i s ; 7 - S a v v a s tant win for us at a crucial stage of Wednesday’s game was a major Poursaitides, 98-Boaventura, 3the league,” APOEL coach Ivan setback, will be sidelined for sev- Pa u l o J o r g e, 2 9 - N e c t a r i o s Jovanovic said. “We still have a eral weeks after tests showed rup- Alexandrou, 23 Helio Pinto, 26long way to go, but I am pleased tured knee ligaments. Ivan Nuno Morais, 10-Constantinos 8-Ailton that my players responded the Trickovski will also miss the game C h a r a l a m b i d e s, way they should. We had a tough after breaking his arm during the Almeida, 21-Gustavo Manduca, 31-Helder Sousa.—Reuters week and we have another one first leg.

Brazil senators want to talk to Blatter over WCup SAO PAULO: Brazil’s senate will make another invitation to FIFA president Sepp Blatter to visit the country to discuss passage of a vital World Cup bill after he initially asked secretary general Jerome Valcke to go instead.

The senate wants Blatter to speak to a congressional commission which is debating a contentious bill that gives FIFA the needed guarantees to organize the World Cup. Among the issues in the bill is changing the law to allow alcohol sales in stadiums.

The commission was scheduled to meet next week, but the senate’s press office said Monday the date is likely to be postponed.

If Valcke comes, it would be his first visit to Brazil since his harsh comments over the country’s slow preparations ignited a spat with the local government.

FIFA did not immediately return an email message requesting confirmation of Valcke’s visit, and it remained unclear if the secretary general would also travel to inspect host cities preparing for the World Cup and next year’s Confederations Cup. Valcke’s planned visit last month was canceled after his complaints prompted Brazil’s Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo to tell FIFA that the government was going to cut ties with Valcke.

Blatter and Valcke apologized to Brazil, but the FIFA president said recently that Valcke would remain the person in charge of work-

ing with the local government to prepare Brazil for football’s showcase event.

Although the Brazilian government accepted the apologies, some congressmen openly said that they would rather see the government dealing with someone other than Valcke.

Rebelo was invited to speak to the congressional commission on the same day as Valcke but the minister said that he would not be able to make it because of other commitments.

Valcke told Brazil last month that, “You have to push yourself, kick your (backside),” to get preparations going. His words angered many in the country, including congressmen who made it more difficult for the government to approve the bill in the lower house.

Three senate commissions are expected to debate the bill before it goes to the floor for voting, which is not expected to happen before next week.

The proposed law gives FIFA the legal and financial guarantees to organize the event, and football ’s governing body wants it approved as soon as possible to keep preparations on track.

Valcke had said FIFA wanted the law in place by the end of March, but the controversy over the sale of alcohol helped delay the vote. Alcohol is not allowed inside Brazilian

stadiums but FIFA demands legislation is changed because Budweiser is a major World Cup sponsor. FIFA said Brazil agreed to change its law when it accepted to host the tournament in 2007. Although text which specifically authorizes the sale of alcohol was removed to expedite approval of the bill in the lower house, the government said the proposed law has other articles that ensure Brazil fulfills all of its commitments made in the hosting agreement.—AP

KEY BISCAYNE: Venus Williams eagerly looks forward to the London Olympics, and not just because she wants another gold medal. Williams also collects Olympic pins, and has souvenirs from each of the Summer Games going back to 2000. “I pretty much hide them around the house to the point where I can’t even find them,” Williams says. “So then it takes me a few months to figure out where I hid them. They’re my pride and joy. “I have an Olympic pin holder set. You unzip it and you open it, and I have 2000 and 2004 in there. Strange enough, I haven’t put 2008 in there. I need to get cracking.”

Indeed, as the 2012 Games approach, Williams has work to do. She must improve her ranking to qualify, with the teams to be chosen in early June after the French Open.

There’s a lot of tennis to be played before the

Olympics, including the French Open and Wimbledon. But Williams - a three-time gold medalist - says her focus on the London Games is what motivates her these days to practice.

“My goal is to peak for the Olympics,” she says. “When I don’t want to get up or, you know, I want to do something different, then I think about the Olympics and how if I don’t do the right thing I might not be there. That keeps me on the straight and narrow.”

Williams’ ranking fell to 134th because she has been idle for most of the past seven months after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain. She climbed to 87th by winning four matches at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne before a quarterfinal loss last week.

In the past, the cutoff for making the Olympics in singles has been around 68th. The former No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam champion pretends not to monitor her ranking status.

“That’s like such a rookie move to calculate points,” she says. “I try not to do that, but secretly I probably am.”

The clay season began Monday, which means Williams must accumulate some wins on her worst surface. She’s scheduled to play this week in Charleston, South Carolina - her first clay tournament since May 2010 - but was noncommittal about her plans beyond that.

Williams says she wants to become a fourtime Olympian because she enjoys everything about the games, from trading pins with fans to rubbing elbows with the world’s greatest athletes. The site of this year ’s tennis event Wimbledon - adds to the appeal.

“It’s just the ultimate level in sports,” she says.

“It’s about participating. It’s about having that experience. It’s about having the honor to be good enough to be there. It’s just, you know, the pinnacle of sports.” She has done well on the big stage, winning so many gold medals she strug-

gles to keep track. “Three - one in Sydney and two in Beijing,” she says. “No, wait. I want to get that right. Two in Sydney and one in Beijing.”

That’s correct: She won the gold medal in singles in 2000 at Sydney, and teamed with her sister Serena to win the gold in doubles at Sydney and again in 2008 at Beijing. She also competed in singles in 2004 at Athens, losing in the third round. Williams hopes to team with Serena in doubles again and also play singles. Mixed doubles - a new Olympic event this year - is probably out. “I used to think about mixed,” she says. “But that’s a lot of tennis.”

Williams’ disease - Sjogren’s syndrome - has forced her to pace herself. She says most of energy is devoted to matches and training, which means taking it easy when she’s not in the gym or on the court. “My life is one big workout,” she says.

She lives in Palm Beach Gardens with Serena, her best friend and biggest fan, who concedes Venus now tires more easily than in the past.

“She has been through so much,” Serena says.

“To know you can go through and that and continue to play and never give up really gave me hope and inspiration. At some points I would give up, and she never did. She just really inspires me. And not just in tennis but in life in general. She has inspired so many people.”

Venus says she considered retirement after being diagnosed. At 31 she’s among the tour’s oldest players, and she has been a pro for 16 years. She has plenty of other interests, including her interior design and clothing businesses.

But she wants to show resilience that can provide an example to others.

“For the first time in my life, I’m playing for more than myself,” she says. “There would be times where I would be scared for about five seconds, but I can’t spend that time being afraid. I have to move forward.” Her planned destination: The London Games.—AP

Matches on TV (Local Timings) UEFA Champions League Real Madrid v Apoel Aljazeera Sport +5 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD

21:45

Chelsea v Benfica Aljazeera Sport 1 HD Aljazeera Sport +4

21:45

Schwartzel: Masters win was no fluke Shot at Olympic berth motivating Venus AUGUSTA: Twelve months after his stunning victor y in the Masters, Charl Schwartzel is back at Augusta National and feeling confident about his chances and determined to prove his win was no fluke.

The South African said he felt a sudden tingle in his spine when he drove down Magnolia Lane, the short road that leads to the Augusta National clubhouse, as the memories of his amazing victory came flooding back.

But rather than be overawed by his ability to triumph at the Masters in only his second attempt, Schwartzel felt a calming surge of confidence that he could do it again.

“I have a different mind-set coming into this event knowing that you’ve won,” he told a news conference yesterday. “I almost expect myself to win. I feel like I’m playing good enough. I feel like if I’ve done it before, why can’t I do it again.”

Schwartzel was presented with the winner’s green jacket after producing the greatest finish in the 75-year history of the Masters, making birdies on each of the last four holes to clinch his first major title by two shots.

His life changed forever but not everything has gone according to plan for the 27-year-old since then. Although he has played consistently well and finished in the top 16 at each of the next three majors, he has been unable to reproduce his brilliant finish at the Masters.

He has not won a won a tournament since last year’s Masters and comes into the first major of 2012 after missing the cut at his last two PGA Tour events. “It has been pretty overwhelming. My life basi-

cally changed overnight,” he said.

“When I got back home, I didn’t realise how big it was, how many people actually saw it. Wherever I went, people congratulated, and still do. It doesn’t seem to ease down. It doesn’t stop, and it’s fantastic.”

As the defending champion, one of Schwartzel’s final responsibilities ahead of the April 5-8 Masters is to host the annual champions dinner at Augusta National, which includes selecting the menu.

He opted for a braai, a traditional South African barbecue, and had planned to do all the cooking himself until he thought better of it.

“I don’t want to get too much oil on my green jacket, either,” he joked. “To be honest, I am nervous and very excited.

I’m going to be around obviously past champions and legends that I never got to see play.

“We see the highlights of how these guys did it, and I’m going to be in a room with them. I think it’s going to be an unbelievable evening.”

Schwartzel found a South African in Georgia who helped him get some of the traditional foods for the braai, including biltong, a cured meat similar to beef jerky, but said he had to give some reassurance to the Augusta National chefs after including monkey gland sauce on the menu. “It’s got nothing related to the name,” he said. There’s no monkey and there’s no gland. “It is a sauce that’s pretty familiar in South Africa in all the restaurants. You put it over your meat. It’s a bit of chutney Worcester sauce and some onion.”—Reuters

Venus Williams

Kentucky win NCAA title

18

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

Revitalised Torres ready to lead Chelsea through

19

Real’s rampant strikers threaten to bury APOEL

Page 19

Messi sends Barcelona into semis

,

SPAIN: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi from Argentina (right) duels for the ball against AC Milan’s Massimo Ambrosini during the second leg, quarterfinal Champions League soccer match.—AP

BARCELONA: A double by three-time world footballer of the year Lionel Messi inspired holders Barcelona to a fifth successive appearance in the Champions League semi-finals after a 3-1 win over AC Milan here yesterday in their quarter-final second leg clash and win by the same scoreline on aggregate.

Messi’s brace of first-half penalties took him to 51 Champions League goals at 24 the youngest to achieve this landmark - and a total this season of 14 breaking the previous record held by himself and Ruud van Nistelrooy of 12.

Andres Iniesta’s well-taken goal early in the second-half wrapped up the match and they will face wither Chelsea or Benfica in the semi-finals as they bid to become the first team to retain the trophy since it became the Champions League in the 1992/93 season.

Antonio Nocerino had pulled a goal back for Milan to level briefly in the firsthalf but in the end there was no stopping Barcelona emulating the great Real Madrid side of the 1950’s in reaching five successive semi-finals.

A fired up Messi, who has been the top scorer in the Champions League for the past three seasons but had only scored once before against Italian opposition, had three chances inside the first ten minutes before finally scoring.

He shot straight at the keeper from the edge of the area and then side footed wide after a delightful link up with Cesc Fabregas.

At the San Siro, Milan had looked composed and managed to disrupt Barca’s usual passing game but now they were looking edgy especially at the back where they were missing Thiago Silva in the centre.

One error after another led to Barca’s opening goal. Massimo Ambrosini was dispossessed in midfield by Messi who tore into the area and then appeared to make the wrong decision in playing the ball back to Xavi. Full-back Luca Antonini dispossessed the Spain international but then went through the back of Messi and the referee awarded the penalty which the Argentine despatched into the corner.

Milan eventually began to settle and scored with their first moment of real danger. Robinho went on a jinking run and then found Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the edge of the area, who picked out Nocerino and he calmly slid the ball past keeper Victor Valdes.

Milan had got themselves back into the game but then found themselves chasing the game again before the break, after another penalty was signalled for a shir t tug by Nesta on Busquets as a corner was being delivered. Messi stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way from 12 yards.

Still Milan knew that a goal would put them through to the next round but their task was made a lot tougher after 53 minutes when Iniesta put Barca further ahead.

Messi was again involved with his shot blocked by Philippe Mexes and the rebound unluckily for the defender ran to Iniesta who slotted home clinically from close range.

Barca managed to take the steam out of the game in what was a scrappy final half an hour which was regularly broken up by niggly challenges.

The home side had the chances though to win by a larger margin with Thiago Alcantara and Adriano both shooting wide.—AFP

Olic’s double fires Bayern into semis MUNICH: Bayern Munich reached the Champions League semi-finals after Croatia striker Ivica Olic netted both goals in a 2-0 win over Marseille in yesterday’s quarter-final second leg.

With the Bavarians having won 4-0 on aggregate, Bayern will host the first leg of their semi-final on April 17, most likely against Real Madrid, who host APOEL with a 3-0 lead in the second leg of their last-eight match on Wednesday.

Olic was back in the hero role, two years after after his hat-trick in Lyon put Bayern through to the 2010 final, where they lost 2-0 to Jose Mourinho-inspired Inter Milan in Madrid.

Bayern are now within touching distance of the final that Munich’s Allianz Arena will host on May 19 as they look to win the Champions League trophy for the second time and claim their fifth European Cup title overall.

Having lost the first leg 2-0 in Marseille last Wednesday, the visitors were always facing an uphill task to win in Munich.

First-choice goalkeeper and captain Steve Mandanda was back from suspension and endured a busy night, while midfielder Alou Diarra was suspended.

He was replaced by Benoit Cheyrou, with Brazilian striker Brandao up front and top scorer Loic Remy on the right flank.

Bayern were missing suspended Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger and coach Jupp Heynckes opted to leave in-form pair Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben-the goal-scorers from the first leg-on the bench.

Germany’s Thomas Mueller started on the right, with Olic in front of Toni Kroos in the attacking midfield role.

Marseille had a good early chance when Cheyrou found his way through the Bayern defence and teed up Jeremy Morel to shoot, forcing Bayern’s Manuel Neuer into a low save.

The opening goal came on 13 minutes when Franck Ribery found space down the right wing and his cross was converted by Olic for his first goal for two months.

Marseille refused to lie down and Cameroon midfielder Stephane Mbia forced Neuer into another fine save on 18 minutes.

At the other end, Mandanda was kept

busy as Kroos and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk both tested him, while Olic managed a shot with two defenders shadowing him.

The 32-year-old was rewarded for his hard work with a second goal on 37 minutes after some fine play by Marseille old boy Ribery allowed Austria’s David Alaba to fire in a cross for Olic to convert again.

With his team 4-0 up on aggregate, Heynckes immediately brought off Mueller for Brazil’s Rafinha. The second half was mainly a dull affair with Bayern cruising into the last four and Marseille doing their best to frustrate the Germans.

Kroos also made way for Danijel Pranjic, possibly with one eye on Bayern’s showdown with German league leaders Borussia Dortmund on April 11, while Gomez, who hit four against Basel in the round of 16, replaced Olic with 15 minutes left.—AFP

MUNICH: Bayern’s Franck Ribery of France (right) and Marseille’s Stephane Mbia challenge for the ball during a second leg Champions League quarter final soccer match. —AP

AAOIFI proposes accounting changes for Islamic finance Page 22

KSE stocks edge lower as investors seek direction Page 24

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

Russia’s external surpluses to pose policy headaches Page 25

US auto industry looks set to ride ‘small car appeal’ Page 23

JEDDAH: A general view of the opening session of the 37th annual meeting of the Jeddah (Saudi)-based Islamic Development Bank’s 56-member nations yesterday in Khartoum. — AFP

Saudi promises to maintain high oil supply Hillary elicits Kingdom’s assurance on production DUBAI: Saudi Arabia is likely to maintain high oil production in the event consumer countries release emergency stocks, but it will not seek to lure buyers for more oil by discounting its crude, industry sources said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday in Riyadh sought an assurance from Saudi King Abdullah that the kingdom would not neutralize a release of inventories by consuming countries by cutting its production.

Saudi officials told the US delegation a drawdown was “unnecessary” but said the kingdom would continue to meet global oil market demand if the United States and allies went ahead, an industry source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

“Saudi production will unlikely change from the levels we see now, even if the stocks are released because the stocks will not have an impact,” another source familiar with the talks said.

“Everyone knows that Aramco is a commercial operation and it will not discount oil,” he added, in reference to oil sales by the Saudi state oil company.

The United States with Britain and France is considering a release from strategic reserves and is seeking cooperation from other consumer countries.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said it is meeting customer needs and that it is ready to meet any extra requirements. A European Union embargo and US financial

Tighter spreads to drive sukuk issuance: HSBC DUBAI: Issuance of Islamic bonds will be stimulated by a tightening of yields versus conventional bonds as banks chase a finite amount of quality sukuk instruments, HSBC’s Islamic arm Amanah said yesterday.

HSBC has previously forecast global sukuk volume of $44 billion in 2012, up from $26.5 billion last year.

Malaysia is expected to continue to dominate issuance with about 60 percent of the total; Malaysian toll expressway company PLUS Berhad conducted a $10 billion sukuk issue in January.

Average yields on dollar sukuk in the secondary market are currently about half a percentage point lower than for conventional Middle East bonds, HSBC said in a report, which presents an oppor tunity for Gulf issuers. The tightening spreads are a result of high demand for sukuk and a lack of supply to satisfy the liquidity available at Islamic banks in the region, it said.

“Mid-investment grade range is preferred” by investors, said Rafe Haneef, director of Islamic global markets at HSBC, with liquidit y becoming scarcer for high- grade issuance.

Haneef also said there was scope to develop Islamic finance in more Asian markets including Hong Kong, a key offshore yuan centre, which is considering amending the tax treatment of Islamic financial products. A consultation paper to study pro posed amendments to tax and stamp

duty requirements was published last Thursday by the Hong Kong Financial Services Branch.

Hong Kong issuers need legislation that ensures tax neutrality for a sukuk to be economically feasible.

Islamic finance transactions often require that asset ownership be transferred more than once between counterparties; this attracts additional duties in most jurisdictions, making the transactions more costly than conventional structures.

The first Hong Kong sukuk was a 500 million yuan ($79 million), threeyear issue from Malaysia’s Khazanah in Oc tober 2011. That sukuk was granted tax-exemption as its underlying assets were in M alaysia.

M eanwhile the sukuk market in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, is expected to double in size this year from the $1.9 billion seen in 2011, said Herwin Bustaman, head of HSBC Amanah Indonesia. The government has already sold $1.5 billion of local sukuk and HSBC estimates it will issue another $1 billion to $1.5 billion in the second half of the year.

Issuance remains driven by sovereign paper with conditions improving for corporates due to new regulations, Bustaman said. “Indonesia will see one or two corporates issue the country’s first dollar-denominated sukuk. Previously, it was difficult to do that because of issues such as tax and the transfer of beneficiary ownership.” — Reuters

sanctions on Iran are expected to deepen a decline in Iran’s oil sales over the next few months. Saudi is the only producer with spare capacity. “Aramco meets the needs of its customers whether an embargo is in place or whether a strategic stock is used,” Saudi Deputy Oil Minister Abdul Aziz Bin Salman bin Abdulaziz told reporters in Dhahran yesterday.

“The use of stocks or the embargo are both sovereign decisions and we do not want to be part of a zero-sum game.”

Riyadh has long avoided pushing down oil prices by offering deeper discounts for its crudes in an effort to encourage refiners to store more crude.

Last June, the International Energy

Agency (IEA) group of major consuming countries released stocks when prices rose during civil war in Libya. Saudi Arabia kept its output more or less steady after the announcement but then cut supplies as oil from consumer stocks reached the market.

Saudi pumped 9.85-9.90 million barrels per day from July to September, before falling to just over 9.40 million bpd in October and November. It has since risen steadily back to about 9.90 million bpd.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi last month said the kingdom had met all its customers’ requests for oil and stood ready to raise output to full capacity of 12.5 million barrels per day (bpd), if needed. — Reuters

Drydocks World closer to restructuring approval DUBAI: Drydocks World, which is testing a form of insolvency protection drawn up in response to Dubai’s 2009 debt crisis, has 87 percent of creditors signed up to its proposed restructuring plan, an external advisor said yesterday. But one hedge fund, US-based Monarch Alternative Capital, which won a $45.5 million legal claim against Drydocks in March for defaulting on a loan, is unlikely to accept the plan, Ian Schneider of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said.

“I remain skeptical that Monarch will agree to the deal,” Schneider told reporters.

The shipbuilder, a unit of conglomerate Dubai World, is using a special tribunal to force recalcitrant creditors to sign up to its $2.2 billion debt plan after some, including hedge funds, resisted the deal.

The tribunal process, created under Decree 57 issued by Dubai’s ruler, requires 100 percent consent from creditors for a plan to be adopted. But there is an option which can force dissenters to accept the plan once creditors holding 75 percent of the debt agree to it - a level Drydocks had reached before it began legal proceedings.

Twelve out of the 19 creditors have accept-

ed the plan and that figure is expected to rise to creditors holding 94 percent of the debt within a week. Of the holdouts, five each hold less than 0.1 percent of the debt, Schneider said. The process to agree the restructuring could be completed by early July, Schneider said. The plan extends the maturity of some of the debt for a further five years, Drydocks’ Chairman, Khamis Juma Buamim, told reporters last month.

Decree 57 is a law issued by Dubai’s ruler in 2009 which created a special tribunal for Dubai World and its subsidiaries to deal with any litigation related to debt restructurings.

The Drydocks move is the first real test of the tribunal which has so far only handled smaller claims but not faced a restructuring disagreement.

Companies using Decree 57 must appoint three nominees to supervise the legal process and ensure the company is adhering to the plan. Drydocks’s nominees are Schneider and two other PwC partners, Tony Lomas and Steven Pearson. Bookrunners on the 15-lender syndicate were BNP Paribas, HSBC Mashreq, Standard Chartered and Lloyds TSB Bank among others.— Reuters

Saudi CMA head expects gradual market opening RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s long-awaited opening of its stock market to foreigners will be “gradual”, the country’s capital market regulator said yesterday. “It is still within our strategy, but it should be done in an orderly and gradual manner to make sure it does not impact the market’s stability,” Abdulrahman AlTuwaijri, chairman of the Capital Market Authority (CMA), said at a meeting with executives from listed companies that was attended by reporters. “This gradual manner will hap-

pen, but we need time to make it happen in a safe and orderly manner. We also need to make sure it will not have any negative impact on the market.”The plan to widen foreign access to Saudi shares via limited direct ownership has helped to boost the stock market in the last several months. Analysts have predicted the market, the largest in the Arab world, could open this year, but the CMA has not given a date and Tuwaijri did not say anything concrete about timing yesterday.— Reuters

BSkyB Chairman James Murdoch quits over hacking LONDON: James Murdoch resigned as chairman of BSkyB yesterday to prevent his links to a phonehacking scandal that has convulsed his father Rupert’s media empire undermining the pay T V group, whose broadcast license is under scrutiny in Britain.

“I am aware that my role as Chairman could become a lightning rod for BSkyB and I believe that my resignation Britain’s Sky News says will help to ensure media executive James that there is no false Murdoch, under pressure conflation with events over his role in Britain’s at a separate organi- tabloid phone hacking zation,” Murdoch said. scandal, is stepping down The 39-year-old is a as chairman of British Sky previous chairman of Broadcasting. — AP News International, News Corp’s British newspaper arm that was the publisher of the News of the World tabloid at the heart of the scandal before it was shut down last year.

“As attention continues to be paid to past events at News International, I am determined that the interests of BSkyB should not be undermined by matters outside the scope of this Company,” Murdoch wrote in a letter to the BSkyB board. His conduct is under scrutiny by a powerful parliamentary committee that is expected to deliver a critical report soon, as well as by the UK TV regulator and a judge-led inquiry into press ethics.

The regulator, Ofcom, has been investigating whether BSkyB is a “fit and proper” owner of a broadcast license given its close relationship with Murdoch and its 39 percent owner News Corp.

Murdoch arrived at News International after the phone-hacking had died down but has been criticized for failing to uncover the scale of the wrongdoing. He will remain on the board and will be replaced as chairman by Nicholas Ferguson, who was previously deputy chairman and senior non-executive director.

Investors and analysts welcomed the move, although they said they had no complaints about Murdoch’s conduct at BSkyB, where he proved himself as a talented executive in his own right in his previous role as CEO. “I have no particular axe to grind about James Murdoch, but... at least it would remove some uncertainty from the stock. Investors could get back to focusing on the company’s business rather than its corporate governance issues,” said a UK-based top 30 BSkyB investor who asked not to be named. —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

BUSINESS

Banks jostle for roles in Abu Dhabi property merger DUBAI: Global banks, including the likes of Goldman Sachs and J P Morgan Chase, are jostling to win the advisory mandate for Abu Dhabi’s state-backed merger of its two property developers, a ticket seen opening doors in the wealthy emirate.

Abu Dhabi is contemplating merging local developers Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate in a state-backed tieup that could create a company worth some $15 billion in assets.

Mandate announcements for the proposed transaction are imminent, according to bankers who have pitched for the role, and even though the deal value and potential fees from advising are not massive, bankers are keen to get into the good books of the oil-rich emirate in the hopes of gaining future business.

“There is very little M&A (mergers and acquisitions) activity happening in the region and you don’t want to miss out on the one where Abu Dhabi is involved,” a Dubai-based banking source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“At the end of the day, it’s not going to be how much money you make out of this deal, but how much you can in future if you win this one.”

Other banks that have pitched for the advisory role include Banc of America, Citigroup Inc, HSBC and Standard Chartered among others, according to bankers familiar with the matter.

Analysts say the deal, outlined in March, is aimed at shoring up Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, which has a big stake in struggling Aldar, and stabilizing the emirate’s brittle real estate

market. A tie-up is seen as complicated, however, given the massive land banks the two companies hold and the work involved in arriving at a deal structure.

Abu Dhabi accounts for the vast majority of the UAE’s crude oil production and ranks amongst the top producers in the world. The emirate has previously bought multi-billion dollar stakes in companies such as Barclays and Citigroup and is said to be in talks to buy a stake in Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland.

Deal activity in the Gulf Arab region hit a rough patch in the wake of the financial crisis as an era of leverage buyouts waned and several high-profile investments suffered heavy losses.

Several deals have been shelved recently mainly due to discrepancies in valuation

expectations between buyers and sellers. Middle East M&A volumes slumped 43 percent in 2011 to $10.1 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data. Fee income from advising clients on deals fell 37 percent to $221 million, adding further pressure on international banks to justify their previous ambitious expansion in the region.

Bankers say mandates for the proposed merger could be awarded by Aldar, Sorouh and also the executive committee in Abu Dhabi reviewing the deal.

Abu Dhabi may decide to appoint a single bank for the entire deal, a second banking source who has pitched for the mandate said. Discussions involving the structure of the deal and the banks to be appointed are happening at the highest

level in Abu Dhabi, the banker added.

“Its a three-way structure that they are discussing but ... a single bank may get the entire deal,” the banker said.

At the time of the announcement on the proposed merger, the companies said a decision would be made within three months.

Aldar has relied heavily on the government over the past 18 months for funding. Abu Dhabi has spent more than $10 billion on the company, equivalent to the amount it deployed to rescue Dubai from a default in 2009.

The emirate, which accounts for more than half of the UAE’s economy, is also spending billions of dollars on infrastructure, housing and education, while closely reviewing state-linked entities and overseas investments. — Reuters

AAOIFI proposes accounting changes for Islamic finance Merger existing standards being considered DUBAI: The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) has proposed more detailed accounting standards for real estate while increasing disclosure for Islamic banks’ investment accounts.

The move by the Bahrain-based AAOIFI, one of the main standard-setting bodies in Islamic finance, suggests it is responding to the same kind of pressure to tighten standards that has been seen in the conventional finance industry since the global financial crisis erupted in 2008.

Both proposals were discussed at a public hearing for industry participants in Manama and there will be another hearing in Doha on April 12.

They could become effective as early as

July this year and would be applied retroactively. The new real estate standards focus on valuation methodology, clarifying the differences between mark-to-market values and book values, and specifying how to treat buildings that are still under construction. Disclosure requirements are increased.

“Complex accounting issues have evolved in line with the expansion of the real estate sector,” AAOIFI said, making the current standards look “very basic”.

Islamic investment houses across the Gulf have been under increased investor scrutiny over their exposure to the real estate sector and their approach to valuing those assets.

Bahraini investment house Arcapita, a

Abu Dhabi fund Aabar doubles Arabtec stake DUBAI: Abu Dhabi’s state-owned fund Aabar Investments has nearly doubled its stake in Arabtec to 10.45 percent, a bourse filing showed yesterday making it the largest shareholder in the Dubai builder and boosting its influence.

Sovereign fund Aabar, which owns stakes in high-profile names such as German carmaker Daimler, commodities trader Glencore and Italy’s UniCredit, raised its Arabtec stake to 10.45 percent just weeks after it boosted its holding to 5.3 percent in early March.

Shares in Arabtec - which Aabar unsuccessfully tried to buy two years ago in a $1.7 billion deal for a 70-percent stakejumped 13.3 percent on the Dubai bourse.

The stock is up 89 percent year-to-date.

The latest stake increase was made through unit, Aabar Real Estate, the filing showed.

“Aabar as the largest shareholder in the company could try to influence the management of the company and for the coming board meetings. It may try to materialize this increased stake in the shareholder structure,” said Sebastien Henin, portfolio manager at The National Investor in Abu Dhabi. “Now, there is speculation that they could increase their stake further,” Henin added. Last month, Arabtec’s chief financial officer said the firm had no plans to renew talks with Aabar about taking a stake because its funding needs had eased.

Arabtec, the largest builder in the United Arab Emirates by market value, saw a three-fold rise in fourth-quarter net profit last month. — Reuters

major real estate investor, filed for US bankruptcy protection last month ahead of the maturing of a $1.1 billion Islamic facility.

AAOIFI standards are applied in Bahrain and used as guidelines in many other national jurisdictions.

AAOIFI also proposed merging two of its existing standards for Islamic banks’ investment accounts, saying it wanted to eliminate “accounting arbitrage”. The investment accounts are the equivalent of deposit accounts at conventional banks, and are a major source of funds for Islamic banks.

Current requirements for banks to disclose risks surrounding the accounts are insufficient, considering the risk that investors are taking, AAOIFI said. —Reuters

ME naphtha premiums set to drop in Q2 DUBAI: Naphtha premiums in the Middle East Gulf, which hit multi-year highs last month, are likely to dive towards the end of the quarter on higher supplies and weaker demand, traders said.

Buyers had to pay premiums of more than $40 a ton over Middle East quotes when Kuwait sold a spot cargo of light grade naphtha for early April, while India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp. sold a March cargo to China’s Unipec for a record premium of $59.50 a ton.

Refinery turnarounds in Saudi Arabia and in the United Arab Emirates have tightened supplies in the Gulf, but some traders say market fundamentals do not justify such high premiums and that the market could be set for a correction.

“It is hard to make sense why the naphtha market has been going crazy,” one Gulf-based trader said. “We have a wobbly global economy, but if you’d like to bring a spot cargo of naphtha you had to pay a fortune.”

Many traders attributed the high premiums to refinery turnarounds in the Middle East and previously in India, which together brought Asia’s naphtha supply shortfall to around 770,000 tons in March.

Saudi Aramco, the top naphtha supplier to Asia, has shut a condensate splitter for a 50-day maintenance outage, which is likely to last until early May,

KHARTOUM: Sudan President Omar Al-Bashir (center) waves during the opening session of the 37th annual meeting of the Jeddah (Saudi)-based Islamic Development Bank yesterday in Khartoum. — AFP

Prestige and power fuel Qatar’s frantic shopping

depriving the market of at least 150,000 tons of A310 naphtha.

Six units at the Ruwais refinery, the largest in the United Arab Emirates, have also been under maintenance since midFebruary.

Naphtha cracks are seen as an important indicator of the health of the global economy as they are mainly used by the petrochemicals industry and to blend gasoline.

“The Chinese is economy slowing. The Indian economy is slowing. Where things are right now (with high naphtha premiums) are just not right,” another Gulfbased trader said.

“Supply will be restored and demand will narrow, pushing the premiums lower,” he added.

Maintenance in the Middle East is expected to end in May. But in June Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp., Asia’s top naphtha buyer, will start a 40day maintenance outage at a 700,000 ton per year cracker, slashing demand for naphtha feedstock.

Some traders say the market is already showing signs of easing.

“The market is not as tight as before.

Saudi Aramco has been selling privately, at least two cargoes a month,” a Singapore-based trader said. “Tasweeq has also been selling. Buyers are more relaxed seeing that there are cargoes in the market”. — Reuters

DUBAI: Investors searching for financial logic to Qatar’s raft of high profile foreign investments risk coming unstuck. Within recent weeks the tiny Gulf state’s sovereign fund has made moves on France’s Total, conglomerate Lagardere and luxury house LVMH. The Qataris rapidly expanding pick n’ mix portfolio has led bankers to compare the strategy to the one that led Dubai into crisis.

Unlike the debt-laden emirate, Qatar is investing at the bottom of the cycle and its cash is in search of a home. Hydrocarbons are forecast to generate revenue just shy of $100 billion in the 2012, according to a Reuters poll. The current account surplus is expected to hit 29 percent of GDP, or $54 billion. It’s not clear how much goes to the sovereign fund. But in a country with one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, the picture is one of plenty.

Qatar’s headline-grabbing punts are concentrated in western Europe. That, bankers say, reflects the top-down decision-making process of a still young sovereign fund where a small circle of individuals are focusing on a region they know well and in which they are welcome.

Europe is the number one destination, both financial and touristic, for rich Arabs seeking to escape the hot sweltering summer months.

Aside from geography, the assets bear little in common. Some investments look opportunistic, like the bet in Barclays, others strategic like the

recent move on European Goldfields. But it is hard to say what owning Harrods, live French domestic football rights, or shareholdings in floundering Greek banks bring to the state of Qatar beyond a sense of prestige and influence.

Tiny Qatar appears to want many conflicting things. To be seen as a reliable investor and energy partner, to be profitable as well as an influential regional power - alongside Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.

Stakes in Europe’s big names - especially those that come with board seats - give Qatar direct access to key movers and policymakers.

That might generate financial returns along the way but calling it a focused investment strategy would be overkill.

Qatar has increased its stake in Lagardere the French media-to-aerospace conglomerate, to 12.8 percent, adding that it could raise it further and may seek representation on the group’s supervisory board.

The announcement on March 19 came within a week of reports that Qatar had built a 2 percent stake in French energy giant Total and a 1 percent stake in luxury conglomerate LVMH. Qatar also owns stakes in Volkswagen, Porsche, Iberdrola, Hochtief, Vinci, Veolia, Vivendi, Sainsbury, the London Stock Exchange, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Agricultural Bank of China and Santander Brasil. It also owns Harrods outright. — Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2730000 .4420000 .3670000 .3050000 .2780000 .2860000 .0040000 .0020000 .0751740 .7323940 .3830000 .0710000 .7179800 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2769000 GB Pound/KD .4440780 Euro .3692050 Swiss francs .3065940 Canadian dollars .2798950 Danish Kroner .0496230 Swedish Kroner .0420090 Australian dlr .2881140 Hong Kong dlr .0356590 Singapore dlr .2213610 Japanese yen .0033780 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0754190 Bahraini dinars .7347750 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0738600 Omani riyals .7195010 Philippine Peso .0000000

.2805000 .4510000 .3750000 .3140000 .2870000 .2980000 .0070000 .0035000 .0759290 .7397550 .4000000 .0760000 .7251960 .0072000 .0500000 .2790000 .4474460 .3720050 .3089190 .2820180 .0499990 .0423270 .2903000 .0359300 .2230390 .0034030 .0055510 .0022020 .0030890 .0034250 .0759910 .7403480 .3946250 .0744200 .7249580 .0065880

US Dollar Pak Rupees

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

278.300 3.066

Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

5.480 2.175 3.404 6.535 75.875 74.370 739.900 46.050 450.600 3.190 1.550 377.200 285.100 3.510

Rate for Transfer

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal

277.750 373.000 447.600 283.100 3.400 5.495 46.000 2.180 3.398 6.510 3.070 739.600 75.650 74.150

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY

Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka

5.494 2.203 3.444 3.068 75.67 739.73 46.02 395.65 722.76 76.69 74.26

5.700 2.600 4.000 3.195 76.30 739.00 47.10 394.00 725.00 77.15 74.75

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency

Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

Selling Rate

279.050 282.725 443.005 367.850 304.965 738.960 76.950 76.595 74.375 392.800 46.252 2.226 5.556 3.081 3.412 6.502 684.499 4.340 9.165 5.875 3.555 92.335

SELL DRAFT SELL CASH

292.93 285.01 312.98 373.97 448.80 3.46 3.395

293.00 283.00 312.00 374.00 447.00 3.70 3.650

Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

Bahrain Exchange Company 10 Tola COUNTRY

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka

SELL CASH

SELL DRAFT

292.200 739.740 3.620

290.700 739.740 3.397

Sterling Pound US Dollar

284.800 546.300 45.400 50.700 167.800 47.390 374.700 36.530 5.740 0.032 0.159 0.238 3.490 394.190 0.188 92.720 45.600 4.280 232.800 1.802 50.200 722.500 3.140 6.800 76.950 74.270 223.760 39.030 2.650 449.800 43.200 311.600 4.200 9.390 198.263 75.840 278.500 1.340 GOLD 1,751.610

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 447.800 278.100

283.300

223.800 46.037 373.200 36.380 5.505 0.031

394.140 0.187 92.720 3.460 231.300 722.320 3.076 6.538 76.520 74.270 223.760 39.030 2.186 447.800 310.100 4.200 9.230 75.740 278.100

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

BUSINESS

Angola’s boom economy leaves many behind LUANDA: Luanda’s ever-expanding skyline and its newly renovated bay-side promenade, complete with manicured lawns and imported palm trees, are proud emblems of Angola’s post-war recovery.

The country has come a long way in the 10 years since the end of its three-decade civil war which killed and displaced millions, destroyed nearly all infrastructure and left an exhausted, fractured and divided population.

Oil exports have spurred this economy to outgrow even China at times, and billions of dollars have been poured into repairing roads, railways and airports, and building new schools, hospitals and universities.

And national prestige is on the rise, with Angola having played host to the pope, the Africa Cup of Nations football championship, and currently heading the 15-nation Southern African Development Community. But despite all the gains, most Angolans still live in grinding poverty with no access to clean water. Twenty percent of children die before age five.

“The Angolan people live below the misery line,” said

Makuta Nkondo, a lawmaker for former rebel group Unita, which ceded defeat to the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) on April 4, 2002, following the killing of their leader Jonas Savimbi two months earlier. “Things may be bad here in the capital, but go into the interior, and you’ll find Angolans who do not know of the words ‘drinking water’,” he added.

Nkondo blamed corruption among the political elite whom he said were hoarding their country’s resources at the expense of development. “All the members of the government are rich and this is a scandalous...when the people don’t have water, electricity, health services, or education,” he said.

Elias Isaac, of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), which campaigns for transparency in oil revenues, said vanity projects like the new bay-front designed for the elite, squandered resources. “Many people would say probably that 10 years is not a long period for major, major changes to take place, but with the amount of money this coun-

try is making, there have been plenty of opportunities,” he said.

Basic health care has improved, said UNICEF representative Koen Vanormelingen, with a government committed to improving child and maternal mortality.

“There are major investments being made and this shows the will is there,” he told AFP. “They have done the easy part, building the infrastructure. Now going forward they must focus on improving the human resources and training doctors and teachers.” Angola has also achieved macro-economic stability and was lauded by the International Monetary Fund for its sound policies to encourage investment in small businesses, create jobs and fight poverty. “Angola is definitely at a crossroads. It says all the right things but now it needs to prove it is committed to these policies and actually deliver,” one Western diplomat said.

For Enoque Vasco, peacetime Angola has brought many benefits. Born in the central highlands city of Huambo, Vasco and his family were caught up in

some of the country’s worst fighting and fled for their lives to Luanda.

Since then, he has qualified as an optician and built a home on the outskirts of Luanda, and touches an income that can just about support his family.

“Some places are very beautiful... but if you go just a few hundred meters from these beautiful areas, then you have people living in shacks, in inhumane conditions, and that is shameful,” the 33-year-old said. “The country is developing economically but in practice we are not seeing a lot of things and we have a lot of youth who are unemployed and that makes me fearful for the future.”

The huge wealth gap and slow delivery of public services have in the last year triggered a handful of street protests calling for President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s resignation. After nearly 33 years in power, he’s the second-longest serving leader in Africa. Few in number and quickly dispersed by police, these protests are no Arab Spring, but they mark a change in Angola where few dare criticize the authorities. — AFP

US auto industry looks set to ride ‘small car appeal’ Chrysler sales jumped in March

CREWE: Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (left) looks at a Bentley car during its final inspection at the Bentley Motors facility in Crewe, north-west England, yesterday. Clegg was to announce that Bentley Motors has successfully secured 3 million British pounds in funding from the second round of the Government’s Regional Growth Fund. — AFP

Ford revives Lincoln with glass roof and ‘date nights’ NEW YORK: Ford Motor Co is rolling out new Lincoln models with a panoramic glass roof option to lure younger, more affluent buyers, as the No 2 US automaker tries to revive a luxury brand whose sales peaked two decades ago. The new signature retractable 15-square-foot roof is just one feature designed to distinguish the 2013 Lincoln MKZ sedan in the crowded luxury market.

Ford is betting that fresh designs, glossier showrooms and a personalized approach to service will help drive sales. T he MKZ, which will be unveiled at the New York auto show this week, is one of seven new or revamped Lincoln models to be introduced by 2015 intended to resuscitate the brand. “We realize we have a long journey ahead of us, but I think we have set a good foundation for it from the product and also what we’re trying to do with the consumer experience,” said Mark Fields, head of Ford operations in North and South America, at a media event in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.

Lincoln was the top-selling luxury nameplate in the United States in the 1990s, but last year, sales totaled 85,643, less than half the vehicles sold by Lexus, Toyota Motor Co’s luxury brand.Ford aims to lower the average age of Lincoln buyers to 57 years from 65, and raise the target average income by more than 50 percent to nearly $160,000 a year.

Lincoln is also hoping that over time half of its buyers will come from other luxury brands. Currently, Lincoln’s “conquest” rate is 37 percent. To encourage more car shoppers to test drive a Lincoln, Ford is considering initiatives like “the Lincoln date night,” Ford’s head of global marketing, Jim Farley said. “To reward you for sampling the brand, we’d like to take you out to dinner, on Lincoln,” Farley said. “It’s a great way to eliminate that friction that so many conquest customers will have.”

Ford has not released pricing information on the MKZ, nor has it disclosed how much the glass roof option will cost. The MKZ competes against the Cadillac CTS and the Lexus ES. Lincoln is offering the MKZ with three different powertrain options, including a hybrid that can get 41 miles per gallon in the city, and a lane monitoring system. As a standard feature, the MKZ will also come with MyLincoln Touch, a touch-screen entertainment and navigation system.

The MKZ is the first Lincoln model since the 1970s to be crafted by a group of designers devoted exclusively to the luxury brand. The design team is headed by Max Wolff, a former Cadillac exterior designer at General Motors Co. “They are really trying to make an effort to differentiate them from a content standpoint, from a ride and handling standpoint, a quietness standpoint,” IHS Automotive analyst Rebecca Lindland said. — Reuters

LSE’s Rolet passes key LCH takeover test LONDON: London Stock Exchange boss Xavier Rolet passed a crucial test of his leadership yesterday when his shareholders back the takeover of clearing house LCH.Clearnet, his first major deal.

LSE and LCH.Clearnet shareholders voted overwhelmingly to ratify Rolet’s plan to take up to 60 percent of the clearing operator with an offer of 20 euros per share, which values LCH.Clearnet at 813 million euros ($1.1 billion).

Over 99.9 percent of LSE shareholders backed the LCH deal at an Extraordinary General Meeting on Tuesday while 94.3 percent of LCH shareholders gave their approval at a separate EGM. The support leaves the deal needing only regulatory and competition authority clearance before it can be completed, something the partners plan to do in the fourth quarter of this year.

The deal is seen as crucial for Rolet after his attempt to scoop up Canadian exchange TMX fell through last year after TMX shareholders opposed the deal.

LCH is also vital for the LSE as the AngloFrench clearing house will boost its clearing revenue overnight and position the LSE to profit from regulatory changes in the fast-growing market for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives.

“The deal is important strategically because it gives the LSE scope to compete in listed derivatives as well as exposure to the potentially fast-growing market for

clearing OTC derivatives,” said Richard Perrott, an analyst at Berenberg Bank.

Clearing houses work to cut the risk of trading on exchanges by guaranteeing each side of the transaction, minimizing losses for members if a counterparty goes bust.

Regulatory authorities in the United States and Europe are keen to introduce as soon as next year rules to force vast swathes of the $700 trillion over-thecounter markets to use clearing, a potentially massive boost for the sector.

LCH.Clearnet’s Swapclear is the marketleading service for clearing interest rate swaps, the largest OTC market, and is seen by analysts as a prized asset given the regulatory changes underway.

“LCH is perfectly positioned to profit from the regulatory move to force OTC derivatives through central clearing,” said Peter Lenardos, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

Rolet will be relieved the deal is going through after it was thrown into serious doubt when the planned mega-merger between NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse was blocked by European anti-trust authorities. NYSE Euronext, which is the largest shareholder and customer of LCH, was seen as a rival bidder for the clearing house and could have scuppered the LSE’s move or sparked a bidding war, but Rolet stuck to his guns and a rival bid never emerged. — Reuters

DETROIT: The auto industry looks set to ride the appeal of smaller cars to its best monthly performance in almost four years. The consulting firm LMC Automotive predicts US sales of new cars and trucks reached 1.37 million last month, up 6 percent from March of 2011 and the highest number since May of 2008. Industry analysts say sales could run at an annual rate of 14.1 million to 14.5 million vehicles, continuing a strong performance in January and February. Some companies could break sales records. Chrysler Group was the first automakers to report sales yesterday. Its US sales jumped 34 percent in March on strong sales of Fiat small cars and Chrysler sedans. It was the best month for the company in four years as consumers grow confident enough in the economic recovery to buy new cars.

Chrysler says Fiat sales hit 3,712, compared to just 500 last March when the car was first on the market. The subcompact Fiat is growing in popularity as new dealerships open and fuel prices rise. Sales of Chrysler’s 200 and 300 sedans each doubled over last March. Both cars have recently been revamped and have better fuel economy than previous models, which is attracting new buyers.

Jeep brand sales rose 36 percent on the strength of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Incentives on trucks also helped lure buyers in March.

Chrysler said its Ram pickup sales were up 23 percent over last March. General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co also were expected to report big gains in truck sales.

The factors driving sales early in the year continued last month. Americans who couldn’t bear a new car payment during the economic downturn are back on the market. They’re leaning toward new compacts and sub-compacts to save on gas, although incentives on trucks are good enough to lure buyers who want some-

thing bigger. One surprise in March: the return of the subprime buyer. Jefferies analyst Peter Nesvold wrote in a note to investors that nonprime buyers, or those with less than stellar credit, are coming back into the market after being shut out for several years due to lack of loan availability. AutoNation, the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, auto retailer, said yesterday that its sale rose 15 percent in March, mostly on the strength of Detroit brands, which were up 26 percent.

March could be a month of records. It could be the best sales month in the history of Hyundai Motor Co, Nissan Motor Co, and

DETROIT: A view of the Chrysler-Fiat display during the second press preview day at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in this file photo in Detroit, Michigan. — AFP

Spanish jobless rate hits new high, adds to deficit woes MADRID: The number of registered job seekers in Spain hit a new high in March, the government said yesterday, adding to its headaches as it tries to reduce the public deficit with a tough 2012 budget. The number of workers registered as without work climbed by 0.82 percent from the previous month to reach 4.75 million, the highest figure since the current statistical series began in 1996, the labor ministry said.

The rise-the eighth monthly increase in registered unemployed-comes as Spain heads back into recession with the economy expected by the government to contract by 1.7 percent this year after expanding 0.7 percent in 2011. It makes it harder for the government to meet its goal of bringing the public deficit down to 5.3 percent of output this year and to within a EUlimit of 3.0 percent next year as it causes spending on jobless benefits to rise. The latest unemployment figures were released on the same day that Budget Minister Cristobal Montoro presented his government’s 2012 budget to lawmakers.

The budget-approved by the cabinet on Friday-raised various taxes and froze wages of public sector employees, but spared jobless benefits and pensions amid growing public anger at the dire economic situation.The country is racing to slash its public deficit to reassure markets that it will not follow Greece, Ireland and Portugal in requesting an international bailout after it missed its public deficit target last year.

Volkswagen, said Jesse Toprak, vice president of market intelligence for auto buying site TrueCar.com. He also expects Detroit’s three car companies, plus Honda and Toyota to post big monthly numbers.

With the nationwide average for gas approaching $4, small cars remain the catalyst for sales. Compact and subcompact models combined are expected to account for 23 percent of retail sales for March, according to LMC. Compac ts include cars such as the Toyota Corolla and Chevrolet Cruze, while subcompacts include the Honda Fit and Ford Fiesta. — AP

Spain had agreed to cut its annual public deficit to 6.0 percent of GDP in 2011 but it ended up reporting a deficit of 8.51 percent of GDP. “We are convinced that this budget will meet the challenge of recovering the confidence of our European partners,” Montoro told a news conference held in the parliament.

Spain’s unemployment rate, released quarterly by the national statistics institute and which includes registered and unregistered unemployed, stood at 22.85 percent at the end of 2011 with 5.27 million jobless. The government expects the jobless rate-already the highest in the industrialized world-to hit 24.3 percent this year as the economy continues to reel from the collapse of a labor-intensive property boom in 2008. To fight unemployment Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government passed a labor reform package last month which makes it cheaper and easier for companies to lay people off and cut wages unilaterally.

The government argues the reform-which has been hotly contested by unions-will spur job creation in the long term as it will make Spanish labor competitive even though unemployment will rise in the short term.Unions argue the reform eliminates hard-won rights and will only increase unemployment. They staged a general strike last Thursday against the measure which was marred by clashes in Barcelona where youths set fire to garbage bins and a Starbucks coffee shop. —AFP

MADRID: People enter an unemployment office in Madrid yesterday. The number of people filing for unemployment benefits in Spain rose by nearly 39,000 last month to a little over 4.75 million. — AP

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad wants answers on A380 cracks ABU DHABI: Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi’s flagship carrier which is due to get its first Airbus A380 superjumbo in 2014, said it wants more clarity from the planemaker about wing cracks on the aircraft.

European air safety regulators ordered checks in February for Airbus A380 wing cracks for the entire superjumbo fleet after safety engineers found cracks in almost all the planes inspected.

“Obviously we are very concerned about this defect. They have given us assurances that they’ve been rectified ... we need them to be qualified,” Etihad chief executive James Hogan told reporters at the firm’s Abu Dhabi headquarters. Larger rival Emirates, the world’s largest operator of the A380, said in March it planned to seek compensation from Airbus after complaining of widespread disruption and an expected loss of revenue.

Etihad has an order of 10 Airbus A380s pending, with the first due for delivery at the end of 2014.

Unlisted Etihad has been on an acquisition spree recently and reported higher first-quarter revenues yesterday on increased passenger numbers and network expansion.

It acquired 30 percent of Germany’s Air Berlin last year and took a 40-percent stake in Air Seychelles in February.

But Hogan said the carrier was not interested in buying a stake in loss-making Air France and there were no current discussions with Irish airline Aer Lingus. “We continue to look at opportunities. That’s reflected in what we did with Air Berlin and Air Seychelles,” said Hogan who told an Irish newspaper in February that Etihad was interested in talks with the Irish government over its 25-percent stake in Aer Lingus. When asked if active talks were going on over Aer Lingus, he said: “There are no talks.”

Etihad reported a 28-percent rise in quarterly revenues to $989 million, up from $770 million in the year-ago period. Hogan said the airline expected to generate revenues of $5 billion in 2012 and to be profitable over the year. The carrier posted its first annual profit in 2011 since its creation nine years ago, notching up a small $14 million profit. “There are challenges in our region. But I’m bullish and hope to achieve profits this year,” Hogan said.

Average seat factor, a measure of capacity utilization, was 76.5 percent for the first quarter and the airline carried 2.36 million passengers during the period. — Reuters

24

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

business

KSE stocks edge lower as investors seek direction GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) closed lower yesterday as investors looked for direction amid light news flow prior to the start of the first quarter results season. The market benchmark KSE Price Index was down by 9.80 points (or -0.16 percent), and closed at 6,179.2. The market’s heavy-weights performed poorly during the day as highlighted by a 0.49 percent drop in the market’s blue chips-rich index, Global Large Cap Index. However, decliners topped advancers by a 41 to 34 margin, driving the Global General Index down by 0.45 percent, at 179.55. KSE Weighted Index too was down, reflecting the trend. The index closed at 416.03, down by 1.84 points (or 0.44 percent).

Volume and value of shares traded on the exchange rose as investors exchanged 386.30mn shares (+13.50 percent) at a total value of KD39.06mn (+21.11 percent). Real estate sector accounted for 32.76 percent of total volume traded during yesterday’s session. Gulf Finance House was the volume leader for the day.

Investors exchanged 79.08mn shares of the company. The scrip ended the day at KD0.061, down 7.58 percent. In terms of top gainers, Tijara & Real Estate Investment Co was the top gainer for the day, adding 6.58 percent.

On the other side, Gulf Finance House was the biggest loser, as its share price fell by 7.58 percent to close at KD0.061.

Sector-wise During the session, six out of the eight sectors ended the day on a negative note. Non-Kuwaiti topped the decliners’ list losing 1.73 percent. United Gulf Bank

dipped by 5.05 percent to close at KD0.188. Ras Al Khaimah Co For White Cement & Const, was the only gainer in the sector on Monday. The scrip closed up 1.67 percent at KD0.122.

Service sector followed, declining by 1.32 percent on the back of Zain, which closed at KD0.750, down 2.60 percent. Palms Agro Production was on the top losers list, dipping by 4.84 percent to close at KD0.118. On the other hand, Bank sector rose by 0.14 percent, as Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait

soared by 5.00 percent to end the day at KD0.630, followed by Kuwait International Bank. The scrip closed up by 1.96 percent at KD0.260.

Corporate news Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) announces that the Capital Market Authority (CMA) renewed its approval on March 26 for KIPCO Asset Management Co (KAMCO) to repurchase 10 percent maximum of its issued shares for further 6 months, from March 16 to September 16. Al-Safat

Investment Company denied media reports regarding giving up its assets, that are held as collateral, to Qatar National Bank.

Kuwait Finance and Investment Co or KFIC, said its loss narrowed 48 percent to KD1.81mn ($6.54mn) in the third quarter of 2011 from KD3.47mn a year earlier. Brent crude oil futures fell as worries about weaker demand in key oil consumer the United States took some of Monday’s bullish sentiment out of the market.

Dollar stabilizes vs dinar KUWAIT: Exchange rate of the US dollar against the Kuwaiti dinar stabilized, standing at KD 0.277, the euro also stood at KD 0.370, compared to Monday’s figures, said the daily bulletin of the Central Bank of

Kuwait (CBK) yesterday. Exchange rate of the Sterling pound rose to KD 0.444, and the Japanese yen remained unchanged, at KD 0.003. Meanwhile, the Swiss franc stood at KD 0.307. — KUNA

Oil slips as bearish data offsets supply fears LONDON: Oil slipped below $125 a barrel yesterday after US gasoline demand data weakened sentiment although the prospect of tighter North Sea supplies and positive economic data provided some support. Brent crude futures were down 74 cents to $124.69 a barrel by 1057 GMT, after settling up $2.55 on Monday at $125.43.

US crude futures fell 76 cents to $104.47, after rising $2.21 in the previous session.

“Essentially the market is continuing the pattern we saw last month, when it couldn’t find a clear direction,” said James Zhang, energy analyst at Standard Bank.

“Few people are willing to aggressively short this market given the geopolitical risk.”

A combination of delays to North Sea loadings, quarterly fund allocations, ongoing uncertainty over Iran and US manufacturing data helped fuel Monday’s rally and is likely to keep prices elevated this week, traders and analysts said.

However, oil futures gave up some of Monday’s gains after the market digested more bearish US oil and gasoline demand data from the Energy Information Administration.

Monday’s stronger-than-expected US manufacturing data from the Institute of Supply management (ISM) and Sunday’s Chinese PMI data had raised hopes of a pickup in demand for fuel.

But some skepticism set in following the softer demand data from the EIA. Although January’s demand figures were revised slightly higher, they were still down 4.5 percent year on year, and are at the lowest January level since 2001. “As prices have risen further since then, I don’t expect demand to pick up more than the seasonal pattern, if at all,” said Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. “Talk about demand destruction will continue and cap prices.”

Trading is thought likely to stay rangebound ahead of the long Easter bank holiday weekend as the market waits for key jobs data from the United States on Friday.

There are some fears that unless there is a strong positive number in the weekly jobs report, there could be a downward revision to the U.S. GDP forecast for the second quarter. This is contributing to the

bearish sentiment, although traders noted that volumes remained thin.

“The market is taking a breather today, and is likely to be subdued for the rest of the week,” said Victor Say, an analyst with Informa Global Markets in Singapore. “No speculator will want to get caught on the wrong side with a long weekend coming up,” agreed Michael Poulsen, an oil analyst at Global Risk Management. “Therefore some ‘strange’ price movements might occur, as speculators square their books or buy options to protect their current portfolio.”

Olivier Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix in Switzerland, said that for now Brent remains locked in the trading range it has occupied since early last month.

“The flat price has been doing a series of reversals - we saw a very strong rebound yesterday and now we are having a small price retracement,” he said.

The threat of further supply disruptions in the North Sea is helping to keep a floor under Brent, after British oil major BP said it had shut the Valhall platform in the North Sea last week.

This is creating loading delays for one of the four crude oil streams used for the global Brent price benchmark, traders said.

“Supply outtake in the North Sea has now hit at least 160,000 barrels per day,” said Poulsen. He suggested a year-on-year decline of 100,000 barrels per day would be a conservative estimate for 2012.

Traders and analysts also noted that oil futures sometimes benefit from an influx of investor flows at the start of a new quarter as asset allocators rotate into sectors that performed well in the previous quarter. “ The beginning of a new quarter is always a bit tricky - you have more investment money coming in and so the market can be a bit more volatile than normal,” said Zhang.

The oil market is awaiting the weekly US inventories figures from the American Petroleum Institute later today. A Reuters poll of analysts has forecast that crude oil stockpiles will rise by 2.1 million barrels.

Traders and investors will also be eyeing the minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting due today, for any hints of a third round of quantitative easing, which will be supportive for oil prices. — Reuters

25

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

business

Emerging Asia struggles to cut soaring fuel subsidies JAKARTA: Weeks of protests across Indonesia have thwarted a government plan for an immediate fuel price hike, the latest failure of an Asian administration to wean its country off costly subsidies. Emerging nations in Asia such as Indonesia and Malaysia have struggled to keep fuel prices low as they watch their spending on subsidies balloon in line with global oil prices soaring above $100 a barrel.

Indonesia’s parliament was widely expected on Friday to approve the hike from Rp 4,500 (49 cents) a litre to Rp 6,000. But after weeks of protests, sometimes violent, parliament rejected any price rises “in the near future”.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had hoped to implement the rise Sunday, but parliament instead agreed to a watered-down law that would allow hikes in the longer term if global

prices rose significantly higher.

Analysts said that low fuel costs, which also keep down the price of everyday needs, are one of few financial breaks awarded to the lower and middle classes in emerging Asian nations.

Wahid Institute director Ahmad Suaedy said Indonesians, the majority of whom live on less than $2 a day, were fed up with a corrupt government that spends its budget irresponsibly.

“I think Indonesians would be open to the price rise if they were assured the government was going to spend the money on something constructive, like infrastructure and education,” Suaedy told AFP. Fuel subsidies ate up around $14 billion, or 11 percent, of Indonesia’s state budget last year-more than what

the government spent on education and health combined, which stood at $9 billion and $1.4 billion respectively.

Governments around the region, including India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, have all experienced public pressure to maintain high subsidies. In 1998, a fuel price rise in Indonesia helped trigger student riots that toppled the 32-year Suharto dictatorship.

Ten years later, the government hiked the fuel price by a third but cut it back again in 2009 ahead of a presidential election. In Malaysia, street protests were brutally quashed in 2008 following an oil subsidy cut, after which the coalition lost a third of parliamentary seats and control of five states to a resurgent opposition.

Malaysia’s domestic trade, cooperatives and consumerism ministry reaf-

firmed recently the government would not hike the subsidized fuel price, despite sharply increasing oil prices.

The Malaysian government spent around 20 billion ringgit ($6.5 billion) on fuel and cooking gas subsidies last year, almost double what it spent in 2010. Malaysia subsidizes 0.93 ringgit ($0.30) per litre of petrol, with the last increase in December pushing pump prices to 1.90 ringgit.

Malaysia is the second-cheapest Asian nation for fuel, and 10th cheapest globally, according to Australiabased statistics site NationMaster.com, while Indonesia is Asia’s cheapest and the world’s fifth-cheapest, after Turkmenistan, Iraq, Iran and Venezuela.

Subsidies have long been seen as a drag on emerging economies, with the International Monetary Fund describing them as “costly, inequitable and ris-

ing”, and the G20 nations calling for a complete phase-out.Indonesia’s government estimated paying fuel subsidies to keep up with global oil prices would widen the deficit gap to 3.4 percent of GDP, above the three percent cap allowed by law. The current deficit is less than two percent. Since 2011, global oil prices have risen around 20 percent, with Brent crude oil hovering above $120 a barrel this week.

“As global prices increase, it increases the burden on the budget. The Indonesian government should have raised the price last year when prices started to creep up,” Standard Chartered economist Fauzi Ichsan told AFP. “The subsidy is also wrongly targeted. Around 90 percent of the fuel subsidy goes to the middle class, which is a massive misuse of resources.” —AFP

Russia’s external surpluses to pose policy headaches Central banker sees twin surpluses stoking inflation

BOAO: Zhou Xiaochuan (right), governor of the People’s Bank of China, shares a joke with Edmund Phelps, Nobel prize laureate of economics in 2006, at the panel of “Soft Landing: Tools Available for Emerging Economies” during the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference 2012 in Boao, south China’s Hainan Province, yesterday. —AP

Japan Inc faces ‘tectonic changes’, say analysts TOKYO: Sharp’s announcement that it will team up with Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision on a liquid-crystal display deal is the latest example of the “tectonic changes” rippling through hard-hit Japan Inc. Once the world’s top makers of home appliances and electronics, Japanese producers have lost much of their lustre as they bleed red ink in the face of a fearsome attack from rising Asian rivals.

Top names including Sharp, Panasonic and Sony, which had little trouble staying ahead of US rivals in decades past, “are now exposed to great tectonic changes”, Daiwa Institute of Research economist Satoshi Osanai told AFP. “Japanese manufacturers are facing a structural challenge in making products by themselves,” he added. “No matter how sophisticated the technologies they have, Asian rivals with a great price advantage keep catching up.”

Japanese firms have suffered deep losses, partly due to their unprofitable television units as the strong yen makes their products more expensive abroad and as tough competition from foreign rivals, including South Korea’s Samsung, lowers prices. They are also beset by Japan’s relatively high cost of labor, electricity, imported fuels and raw materials.

Their own mis-steps have not helped.

Sony, long the mightiest of Japan’s postwar champions, is struggling to match the innovation of rivals such as Apple, which has also stolen a march by sewing up a huge range of content.

Japan’s politicians are also blamed because of the paucity of free trade deals they have managed to sign, while regional powers such as South Korea have aggressively sought pacts that allow their exporters much greater reach. “Asia is taking over the jobs that Japan had long claimed. It is a path that we walked,” said Nobuo Kurahashi, analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities.

In a bid to stay alive, some firms are abandoning their traditional “vertical integration system”, in which they commit themselves entirely to the development, manufacturing and sale of their

products. “We have tried to do everything by ourselves, but the environment is tough,” said Sharp’s incoming president Takashi Okuda as he announced the Hon Hai deal last week.

Sharp, struggling with massive losses, will sell 121 million new shares worth about 66.9 billion yen ($808 million) to Hon Hai, which will also take half of Sharp’s 93.0 percent interest in a huge LCD plant in western Japan. Hon Hai, parent of manufacturing giant Foxconn which makes products for major names including Apple, will own about 10.0 percent of Sharp stock after the sale, making it the Japanese firm’s biggest shareholder.

The Taiwan firm agreed to take about half the LCD screens produced at the lossmaking factory in Sakai in a partnership aimed at creating stable demand for the TV panels.

The deal, which saw Sharp shares jump over 15 percent the next day, was also unusual because Japan’s big electronics makers have traditionally been reluctant to sell large chunks of their business to foreign companies. “This deal indicates that the mindsets of Japanese enterprises are changing,” said Mars Hsu, analyst at Grand Cathay Securities in Taipei. “It will not be the last of its kind... as Taiwan needs advanced technologies from Japan while providing its Japanese partners with cheaper manufacturing (capabilities).”

The deal comes after Japan’s struggling NEC Corp., which plans to cut about 10,000 jobs, merged its personal computer unit with China’s Lenovo, which itself purchased IBM’s PC business in 2005.

Chinese appliance maker Haier bought the washing machine and refrigerator business of Panasonic subsidiary Sanyo, which allowed the Japanese conglomerate to focus on specialty areas such as high-end batteries. For Hon Hai, the Sharp deal is a cheap buy because it means gaining access to a sought-after technology called active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED), which is used in mobile phone displays by rivals including Samsung. — AFP

MOSCOW: Strong oil prices and capital inflows will create policy headaches for Russia’s next government as it seeks to prevent the economy from overheating, curb inflation and put state finances on a sounder footing, senior officials said yesterday.

With just over a month to go until Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is sworn in as president, Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina raised her forecast for the average oil price this year to an unprecedented $115 per barrel.

That will sustain a current account surplus that last year reached $100 billion, or around 4 percent of gross domestic product, and tempt the government to continue spending freely as it did in the run-up to the presidential election.

The formation of a new government will also end months of political uncertainty prior to the March 4 vote, encouraging investors who had been pulling money out of Russia to dip back into its stock and bond markets. Russia’s successful placement of $7 billion in five-, 10-, and 30-year Eurobonds will lead to follow-on issuance by large firms, while underperforming Russian stocks may attract bargain hunters, said a top central bank official.

“It is possible that we will enter a situation of twin (capital and current account) surpluses, as we saw in 2006-2007, and this will create huge liquidity on the domestic market and inflationary risks,” said Alexei Ulyukayev, first deputy chairman of the central bank, told a conference put on by Moscow’s Higher School of Economics.

Inflation hit a post-Soviet low of 3.7 percent in February, but that figure was flattered by base effects and delays to hikes in household utility bills intended to create a feelgood factor before the presidential vote. Those effects will wear off from mid-year, when utility bills will also go up, making it tough - but still possible - to hit the central bank’s yearend inflation target of 5-6 percent, Ulyukayev said.

He signalled that policymakers would keep interest rates unchanged at their monthly meeting early next week. The current range of 225 basis points between the central bank’s main policy rates - the one-day fixed repo now at 6.25 percent and its 4 overnight deposit rate - was “comfortable” for the market, he said.

The government ran a budget deficit in the first two months of the year as public sector pay rises and pre-election spending kicked in, but Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the same conference that the balance turned positive in March. The federal budget ran a surplus of 125 billion roubles ($4.3 billion) last month, bringing down the deficit for the first quarter to 120 billion rubles.

Russia’s 2012 budget, based on an oil price forecast of $100, foresees a federal deficit of 1.5 percent of GDP. Nabiullina sounded a note of caution on oil prices, saying they would fall from their current highs. “In all probability we are at the cyclical peak for oil prices,” she said.

She left her 2013 and 2014 oil forecasts unchanged at $97 and $101 per barrel respectively. Around half of federal revenues are

generated by oil and gas levies.

Failure to shake off its resource dependence could condemn Russia to long-term growth rates of 2-3 percent, Nabiullina said.

Private-sector economists, meanwhile, say the economy already appears to be overheating even though they only expect it to grow by 3.7 percent this year.

Even though current oil prices at $125 per barrel are favourable for the world’s top energy producer, that is only just above the level at which the budget would balance in 2012.

Putin’s commitments to boost defense and social spending will force up that level in the coming years, leading policymakers like Siluanov to call for the re-introduction of a ‘fiscal rule’ to govern future state spending.

The rule was abandoned during the recent financial crisis, and Siluanov is now considering a framework by which the budget should balance based on a 10-year average of oil prices. “Whether oil prices are low or high, we still have to pay wages,” he said. “And if the oil price falls to $80 per barrel, where do we get the money to fulfil our commitments?”

Siluanov received support from his stillinfluential predecessor Alexei Kudrin, who said the 10-year rule should be phased in by mid-decade to ease the necessary fiscal adjustment.

“If we used the 10-year average (now) we would have to balance the budget at an oil price of $60-$70,” said Kudrin, adding that making the transition by 2015 would mean the average price would rise to $80-$90 per barrel. — Reuters

HK tycoon brothers in graft probe deny wrongdoing

NEW DELHI: Managing Director of Renault India Marc Nissaf poses with the newly unveiled Fluence E4D car in New Delhi yesterday. Renault unveiled the new 1.5d Ci diesel-engine powered Fluence E4D car on the Indian markets yesterday. — AFP

Renault targets 20-fold increase in India sales NEW DELHI: French carmaker Renault said yesterday it hopes to increase its India auto sales 20-fold this year as it fights to gain a foothold in the country’s vast car market.

The company, which made a belated entry in the Indian market, sold 1,500 cars last year and “we want to multiply that by 20 by December,” Renault India managing director Marc Nassif said in New Delhi.

In 2010, Renault abandoned its previous attempt to crack the Indian market a tie-up with India’s top sports utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra.

Renault India is now going solo and attacking the market from the top down, launching in the premium segment even though most car sales are in the small segment.

“We’re late, but not too late,” said Nassif, speaking at the launch of the $30,000 diesel version of its premium executive sedan Fluence it began selling last year in India.

The Fluence joins Renault counterparts the Koleos, a high-end sports utility vehicle and the premium compact Pulse on Indian roads. The automaker plans to launch two more cars this year. —AFP

HONG KONG: Hong Kong tycoon brothers Thomas and Raymond Kwok yesterday declared their innocence and sought to calm investors after their arrest last week as part of the city’s biggest corruption probe. The pair’s first comments since their arrest over bribery allegations came as their firm Sun Hung Kai Properties placed an advert in all the city’s major newspapers warning the media against “unfounded speculation” over the case.

At the news conference Raymond said: “I have not done anything wrong and I believe Thomas has not done anything wrong either. I hope the investigation will prove my innocence.”

The Kwoks, two of Hong Kong’s richest men and cochairmen of Sun Hung Kai Properties, the city’s biggest property developer by market capitalization were detained by the Independent Commission Against Corruption last Thursday. “This incident definitely will not affect the company’s operation and decision-making,” Raymond said at the firm’s harbourfront headquarters as he looked to reverse a slump in the company’s share price totalling 15 percent on Friday and Monday.

The firm’s price did edge up two percent yesterday ahead of the conference.

At the same brief news conference Thomas assured investors that the property giant would continue business as usual, saying: “Let me assure you-no worries, all is normal at Sun Hung Kai.” He added that the company has a professional team of managers to run things. “All the projects will continue, we will not slow down,” Thomas said. The pair were arrested late Thursday along with a former top government official, identified by local media as the city government’s former Number Two Rafael Hui, a close ally of outgoing Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang. All three were released on bail after questioning. None has been charged. — AFP

UK must sell RBS, Lloyds soon: Taxpayer lobby

TOKYO: A Tokyo Stock Exchange employee works at a computer terminal in Tokyo yesterday. Asian stocks rose yesterday lifted by a positive report on US manufacturing, but shares in Japan sank as a strengthening yen hurt the country’s powerhouse export sector. —AP

LONDON: Britain must sell its Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds stakes as soon as possible because keeping them is allowing politicians to gamble with people’s money on bank shares, according to a lobby group representing taxpayers.

“Clearly the best outcome for taxpayers would be if we don’t make a loss on those shares, but we simply cannot predict what the share price will be tomorrow,” TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign director Emma Boon told Reuters. “Politicians

shouldn’t play the stock market with other peoples’ money, imagining that they might get a better or worse price if they buy or sell today or tomorrow.

Who’s got a crystal ball and can say they ’ll be worth much more in the future?” said Boon, whose organization campaigns for lower taxes. “If we hold onto our shares in the banks, then that might turn a profit eventually but the returns could just as easily not justify even the current price. — Reuters

NEW DELHI: Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee (second right) meets Jim Yong Kim, the US Nominee for the World Bank Presidency, yesterday. — AFP

26

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

BUSINESS

Swiss Re Solutions receives license to operate in DIFC Branch to offer specialty risk solutions ZURICH: Swiss Re Corporate Solutions announced yesterday that it has received a license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to operate in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

The Dubai branch will initially focus on offering specialty risk solutions to corporate clients in the Energy, Power, Engineering, Construction and General Aviation (airports, airport-related services and business jets) industries in the Middle East.

Nikolaj Beck, Head of Specialties for Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, said: “We have long standing relationships throughout the Middle East and our Dubai branch will further strengthen our commitment. Our ambition is to significantly grow our book of business in the region and DIFC offers us the right plat-

form to achieve this goal.” The branch will also offer clients access to the entire range of Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ products, making long-term capacity available in the region.

Abdulla Mohammed Al-Awar, CEO of the DIFC Authority, commented: “Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ decision to operate from DIFC alongside other international companies, including four of the world’s top five insurance companies, is a further testament to the Centre’s position as the leading global centre in the region. Our world-class infrastructure and common-law jurisdiction provide a stable platform for insurance companies to access the region’s emerging markets and grow their business there.”

Scheduled to start operations immediately,

the Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ Dubai office will be headed by Raik Wittowski, a seasoned Swiss Re executive with more than 15 years of international experience in various positions involving underwriting of engineering and industrial risks across the Middle East, Asia and other regions. “The Dubai office represents Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ first local presence in the Middle East and North Africa region. Backed by the Swiss Re Group’s AArated insurance capacity, we will be equipped to locally underwrite specialty lines of business,” said RaikWittowski. “DIFC not only provides a stable and efficient platform to reach out to the markets in the region, but is also expected to increase in importance as the main hub for Energy, Power and Engineering risks for the Middle East.”

Al-Kandari wins Zain Grand Prize KUWAIT: Ahmad Al-Kandari became the winner of the Zain Telecom’s Grand Prize, a competition held in cooperation with Fonz International. The announcement came during a press conference yesterday. The event was attended by the representatives of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

By winning the grand prize, Al-Kandari became the owner of five brand new Ford Lincoln cars presented by the company’s official retailer in Kuwait worth a total of $315,000.

one of Kuwait’s leading financial institutions, as well as endorsing the high standards, quality and services of our operations. At Gulf Bank, we believe successful treasury management requires full clarity and transparency in financial transactions, and this is what we have sought to consistently deliver.”

Presenting the award were senior executives from Deutsche Bank, including Sumit Roy, Director - Head of Cash Management Financial Institutions - GCC Region, along with

Sorab Khan, Director - Cash Management Financial Institutions - GCC Region, and Poonam Gurung - Assistant Vice President Customer Service for Cash Management Financial Institutions - GCC Region. The award was jointly received by Khaled Al-Mutawa, General Manager - International Banking and Investments, Mona Mansour, Deputy General Manager - Operations and Faisal Al-Marzouq, Assistant General Manager - International Banking and Investments at Gulf Bank.

Alliance scoffs at rebel investor Laxey LONDON: Alliance Trust, one of Britain’s biggest investment trusts, has hit back at rebel investor Laxey Partners, dismissing the hedge fund’s demand it consider outsourcing the management of its assets as a short-term and selfinterested exercise which wastes money. Last month Laxey, which has waged a campaign dating back to 2010 to try and boost shareholder value at the trust, put forward a resolution to fellow shareholders demanding the investment trust consider bringing in outside fund managers.

In its response to shareholders, Alliance said yesterday Laxey’s proposals would make it harder to align the interests of shareholders and investment managers, and that it was already committed to improving shareholder value. “We are disappointed that Laxey has requisitioned the board again, having been convincingly defeated last year. This persistent requisition-

ing wastes shareholders’ money and demonstrates Laxey’s shortterm attitude to its investment,” Chairman Karin Forseke said in the statement. Dundee, Scotlandbased Alliance said the combined costs of the two shareholder resolutions will exceed 2.5 million pounds.

Forseke, who took over as chairman of the trust this month, told Reuters she was “totally, absolutely, fully, wholeheartedly” behind chief executive Katherine Garrett-Cox. Her comments came after Aberdeen Asset Management’s CEO Martin Gilbert told a British newspaper he would be interested in managing Alliance’s portfolio if it was put out to tender. Aberdeen declined to comment.

“Katherine and her team have done a fantastic job, she’s got a great reputation, I think the changes that she has done to this business in the last four years have built an incredibly good platform,”

KUWAIT: Canon Middle East has geared up for vertical growth in the Large Format Printing (LFP) under the brand name of imagePROGRAF series with the solutions to suit the CAD, Corporate, Photographic and Production markets.

The event held at Crowne Plaza Hotel saw over 50 channel partners experiencing interactive presentations of the key models and also gained insight into channel strategies for Canon’s LFP segment in the region. l In order to showcase the opportunities that Canon can offer the final customer, Canon focussed on a big segment of Graphic Arts focusing on the distinctive markets where large format printer solutions such as: l Uninterrupted Production — Production segment lBring Inspirations to Life — Photography segment lMedia Gallery — Media & advertising segment “Building on a heritage and expertise in digital color, Canon is committed to the LFP market in Kuwait. There is a huge opportunity in the LFP market, especially in still untapped industries such as edu-

cation, design and production where large format printing has become an essential tool in doing business. Through the reseller event, we can leverage our expertise and acknowledged leadership in imaging and business solutions to take advantage of this growth opportunity and create a viable business proposition for our strong network of channel partners,” said Venkatasubramium Hariharan, Sales Director, Canon Middle East.

The world leader in imaging solutions displayed two models, including the iPF6300 and iPF8300, which boasts a new ink system that increases the achievable colour range by as much as 20%, sub-ink tank system, Gigabit Ethernet support and Accounting Manager feature, making it a premier solution for the production, fine art, photography and proofing markets.

“There was also a strong positive feedback from the attendees on print quality, speed, easy cost monitoring which gives them greater confidence in the performance and reliability, in addition to the outstanding ‘solution bundling’ of the product,” said Nabil Iskandarani, General Manager, NMAS.

The competition was kicked off during the InfoConnect Exhibition and lasted for two months. In order to become eligible, participants had to purchase new EEZEE prepaid phone lines from Fonz International by which they also would be eligible for KD4 of extra credit free of charge.

“This prize is one of the largest prizes that Zain offers to its customers throughout the year”, said a statement made available to the press yesterday. The telecom player also promised its clients with “more surprises” this year.

Gulf Bank wins Deutsche Bank award KUWAIT: Gulf Bank yesterday announced it has been awarded the prestigious ‘2011 Deutsche Bank EUR STP Excellence Award’ for the exceptional quality of its commercial and treasury payments.

Khaled Al-Mutawa, General Manager, International Banking and Investments at Gulf Bank said: “We are honored to receive this award and proud to be recognized by such a renowned financial institution as Deutsche Bank. This award reinforces our reputation as

Canon calibrates for vertical growth in Large Format Printing Market in Kuwait

Forseke said. Forseke also said neither she nor the board had been approached by a rival to take over management of its 2.9 billion pound ($4.6 billion) portfolio.

“We feel very confident about our business at the moment and being self-managed ... There tends to be greater incentive for external managers to focus on short term returns,” she said.

Isle of Man-based Laxey’s campaign has targeted the discount to net asset value (NAV ) at which Alliance’s shares trade, demanding the trust close that gap through improved investment performance, share buybacks and bigger dividend payments.

Last year Alliance defeated a controversial shareholder resolution pushed by the hedge fund to set up an automatic buyback policy, which would have been triggered when a discount of its shares to NAV fell below 10 percent.A discount to net asset value occurs

when the market places a lower value on a company - measured by its share price - than the value of its component assets. This is often because investors believe those assets are poorly managed or illiquid, and so their full value is not reflected in the shares.

Alliance has since spent some 250 million pounds buying back 67.7 million shares - equating to more than 10 percent of its stock to try and narrow the gap, marking a sea-change in Alliance’s historical approach to buybacks.

At Dec. 31, Alliance had narrowed the discount to 15.5 percent from 17.1 percent 11-months earlier, and it has since fallen to below 15 percent. At 1045 GMT, Alliance Trust shares were down 0.4 percent at 370.7 pence.

Laxey owns around 1.7 percent of Alliance, according to Thomson Reuters data.Alliance’s annual general meeting will take place on April 27. —Reuters

Canon appoints new President & CEO for Europe, ME and Africa KUWAIT: Canon, world-leader in imaging solutions, yesterday announced the appointment of Rokus van Iperen as the new President & CEO of Canon Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He becomes the first European to lead Canon’s business across the EMEA region, succeeding Ryoichi Bamba, who is retiring after four years in the role and 40 years with Canon.

Van Iperen takes over an organisation that delivers world leading imaging products and services to millions of consumers as well as business and medical customers throughout the EMEA region, and contributes the largest regional share of total revenues for Canon Inc. He moves to his new role from within the Canon Group, having served as Chairman & CEO of OcÈ N.V. since 1999.

OcÈ N.V. was acquired by Canon Inc. in March 2010.

“I am honoured to be the first European to assume leadership of Canon’s business in the EMEA region,” said Rokus van Iperen, President & CEO, Canon Europe, Middle East and Africa. “I have always admired Canon for its world-class track record in innovation and strong business performance. After working closely with Canon over the last few years, I look forward to overseeing the integration of Canon and OcÈ in EMEA, and to driving continued business growth for

Canon throughout the region.”

Van Iperen joined OcÈ in 1978. After several posts within R&D, he became responsible for the Printing Systems business unit in 1989. He served as Managing Director of OcÈ-Belgium N.V.

Rokus van Iperen from 1992 until being appointed to the Executive Board of OcÈ N.V. in 1995. Key achievements for Van Iperen at OcÈ N.V. include the acquisitions and subsequent integration of the Siemens Nixdor f Printing Division and Imagistics Inc. into the OcÈ organisation. He is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Eindhoven.

Greek tax collectors hit back over graft charges ATHENS: Greek tax collectors are trying to salvage their reputations amid accusations that their corrupt practices and gross incompetence played a key role in destroying the country’s economy. Government experts charged with rescuing Greece’s desperate public finances have said tax collectors not only tolerate evasion, but often take bribes from tax transgressors in exchange for lighter penalties.

Greece, under immense pressure from its European creditors, has launched a massive project to restructure the tax collection system, but a key union in the sector is fighting the perception that its workers are the problem.

The POE-DOY tax office employees union filed a complaint with Greek prosecutors earlier this month against individuals it claims have made reckless corruption allegations against its members. The complaint targets Diomidis Spinellis, the former IT chief at the POE-DOY finance ministry and Nikos Lekkas, chief auditor at Greece’s financial crimes unit, known as SDOE. The public duel between the collectors’ union and the anti-corruption officials began a

month ago, during a conference called “Tax evasion and social justice.” Corrupt taxmen had long been a taboo subject in Greece, but Spinellis and Lekkas tried to clearly and quantifiably detail the systemic fraud and the extent of the bribe taking. “We are not going to tolerate this slander. If there are specific criticisms, they can be judged within the existing disciplinary institution,” said union boss Charalambos Nikolakopoulos.

“All tax collectors are not corrupt. We are defending their honor and the prestige of the sector,” he added. Spinellis has created a website aimed at raising fraud awareness and gathering taxpayers’ corruption complaints.He said the objective is to describe “the things that are already largely known” and were revealed in a reports released by Greece’s government ombudsman and the corruption watchdog Transparency International. “The statistics show there are difficulties in boosting government revenue and (installing) proper tax collection. Corruption is one of the key problems,” Spinellis added, while also assigning blame to Greece’s cumbersome bureaucracy. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

FASTtelco organizes online Call of Duty M.W.3 tournament KUWAIT: For the second year and as scheduled, FASTtelco, the leading Internet Service Provider in Kuwait , is looking for ward to strengthen its relationships with online gaming community and fans, and maintain its client’s satisfaction.

After the great success of last year’s gaming tournament, and given the willingness of gaming fans to participate again in such challenging event, FASTtelco will be organizing an online Call of Duty M.W.3 Tournament, hoping that this year’s tournament will be more chal-

lenging and rewarding, in both online gaming experience and prizes.

The tournament is considered to have the highest participation and appreciation among the online gaming community in Kuwait, not to forget that it will be offering the highest prize ever set for an online gaming tournament in Kuwait, exceeding a record award of 10,000 US dollars.

By organizing such a major event featuring valuable prizes, FASTtelco would be expressing gratitude and appreciation to loyal gaming

customers on a specific note, and to the public gaming Kuwaiti community in general.

As for all those video games lovers interested in participating in the tournament, they are invited to visit the following website: www.gamer-zone.net, and then click on the FASTtelco Tournament tab and follow the instruc tions and register their teams.

Subscriptions will start on the 3rd of April 2012 and end on the 10th of April 2012. The tournament will commence on Friday 13th of April, towards the finals, where they will be

announced further down the tournament.

Willing participants are required to submit their subscriptions at the earliest, where slots are limited. The tournament will be held on Fridays and Saturdays, featuring 64 teams, with 8 players each (6 participants, 2 substitutes).

For more information, interested participants may visit: www.gamer-zone.net .

At the end, FASTtelco would like to invite all online gaming fans and interested participants to join this year ’s tournament, and wishes them the best of luck.

Flying car gets closer to reality with test flight Vehicle dubbed the Transition

This March 23, 2012 photo provided by Terrafugia Inc. shows the company’s prototype flying car, dubbed the Transition, during its first flight. —AP

First Lady, Google launch White House virtual tours WASHINGTON: First Lady Michelle Obama said Tuesday that Google is opening doors to the White House on the Internet by letting users pay virtual visits to all the public rooms.

The US president’s home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is part of a Google Art Project that lets online visitors step into museums, galleries and other famous spaces and look around as though they were there.

“The White House isn’t simply a home to first families or a meeting space for world leaders, it’s also known as ‘The People’s House,’ a place that should be open to everyone,” Michelle Obama said in a video message.

“Thousands of people have walked these halls and gazed at the artwork.

They ’ve examined the portraits of Washington, Lincoln, and Kennedy,” she

said. “They’ve imagined the history that’s unfolded here. And now you can do all of that without leaving your home.”

Google used Street View cameras in rooms to capture images in 360 degrees to provide a sense of being able to gaze around full circle, zooming in on pieces of art or other features.

President Barack Obama and the First Lady have been known to unexpectedly drop in on groups touring the White House, which has logged about 2.5 million visitors during the past three years.

The online opening of the White House came with word of the expansion of the Google Art Project, launched early last year, to include more than two dozen new partners. The website at GoogleArtProject.com was not live when the addition of the White House was announced. — AFP

MansoftQatar opens EMC velocity solution center DOHA: MansoftQatar WLL, a subsidiary of Mannai Corporation QSC, announced the opening of its Mansoft-EMC Velocity Signature Solution Center, at anevent held in W Hotel yesterday yesterday. The Center replicates a framework of technology that demonstrates EMC Proven Solutions in approved environments, based on the immense success of EMC’s own Global Solution Centers.This Center, the first of its kind in Qatar, is designed to demonstrate and deliver new economic solutions by virtualizing conventional data centreinto cloud networks, therebyproviding a total experience of the solution and the benefits to the customer.

This Solution Center incorporates the latest trends and represents the evolution of new datacenter technologies, thus providing an ideal environment for IT professionals. Mansoft Qatar WLL focuses on the virtual computing environment, addressing major issues in the stream of server, storage, virtualization, cloud, backup/archiving and Disaster Recovery with an aim to reduce implementation risks, operational cost and increase productivity.

“We will enable our customers to understand and to evaluate the best data center solutions available on the market in line with their cost constraints, risk management policies and service level requirements.”, AlekhGrewal, CEO, Mannai Corporation commented.

Philippe Fosse, Vice President of EMEA Channels, EMC, commented: “Supporting our partners in the delivery of world class technologies lies at the heart of EMC’sbusiness. As businesses worldwide look to virtualisation and cloud technologies, it is more important than ever for us to work with our partners to demonstrate the power and flexibility of these services in a secure environment. The newEMC Velocity Signature Solution Centre with Mansoftis therefore is an important step for ward in helping businesses in the

Middle East transform their IT through the cloud.”

Mohammed Amin, Senior Vice President and Regional Manager, EMC Turkey, Emerging Africa and Middle East Region, commented, “At EMC we strive to fulfill the needs of our customers and the EMC Velocity Signature Solution Center is considered to be the first of its kind in Qatar.

This center is designed to demonstrate to customers how they may transform their data centers into flexible, scalable pools of virtualized infrastructure that can deliver IT as a service to business units in a much more agile way, while offering the greatest efficiency, control and choice.”

The Solution Center is designed to host a number of activities, including:proof of concept with live workshops;a real-time demonstration of ERP on active hardware and software;the consolidation of server, storage, network andbackup technologies under one stack;Enterprise Cloud solutions usingan IaaS(Infrastructure-as-a-Service) service model;data backup/restore with high level replication in a virtual environment;facilitating unified solutions covering storage (SAN/NAS), server-UCS and thenetwork - allunder a cost effective methodology;customer training planning;solutions fordata migration planning;performance fine-tuning;and exclusive design plans for data availability with sophisticated replication manager tools.

The Center will also provide comprehensive solutions development, live and remote demonstrations and development of near-customer environments via EMC’s Customer Integration Lab. The solutions demonstrated are based on the strategic collaboration that combines best-of-breed information infrastructure technologies from EMC, virtualization from VMware, and networking and compute solutions from Cisco and will focus on helping customers in their IT transformation towards the Private Cloud.

American scientists launch personalized robot project WASHINGTON: Imagine going to a local store, picking out a design for a robot to help with some household chores, and having the device built within a matter of hours. That is the vision of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where a five-year, $10 million project to bring the power of robots to the average person is just getting started.

“This research envisions a whole new way of thinking about the design and manufacturing of robots, and could have a profound impact on society,” said MIT professor Daniela Rus, leader of the project.

The first two designs under consideration for prototypes include an insect-like machine

that could be sent to explore a contaminated area, and an arm-extension device that could help people grip things that are out of reach.

The idea is eventually to create a library of home robotic designs that customers could choose from at a local store, select a blueprint and customize and build their own device from paper or plastic within 24 hours.

“This project aims to dramatically reduce the development time for a variety of useful robots, opening the doors to potential applications in manufacturing, education, personalized healthcare, and even disaster relief,” said Rob Wood, an associate professor at Harvard University. —AFP

MASSACHUSETTS: Flying cars aren’t just science fiction anymore. Woburn, Massachusettsbased Terrafugia Inc. said Monday that its prototype flying car has completed its first flight, bringing the company closer to its goal of selling the flying car within the next year. The vehicle - dubbed the Transition - has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car. Last month, it flew at 1,400 feet (426 meters) for eight minutes.

Commercial jets fly at 35,000 feet (10.668 meters).

Around 100 people have already put down a $10,000 deposit to get a Transition when they go on sale, and those numbers will likely rise after Terrafugia introduces the Transition to the public later this week at the New York Auto Show. But don’t expect it to show up in too many driveways. It’s expected to cost $279,000.

And it won’t help if you’re stuck in traffic. The car needs a runway.

The flying car has always had a special place in the American imagination. Inventors have been trying to make them since the 1930s, according to Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst who owns R.W. Mann & Co. in Port Washington, New York.

But Mann thinks Terrafugia has come closer than anyone to making the flying car a reality. The government has already granted the company’s request to use special tires and glass that are lighter than normal automotive ones, to make it easier for the vehicle to fly. The government has also temporarily exempted the Transition

The Transition, travels down a street with its wings folded. The vehicle has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car, and flew at 1,400 feet for eight minutes during its test flight. Commercial jets fly at 35,000 feet. — AP

from the requirement to equip vehicles with electronic stability control, which would add about six pounds (2.72 kilograms) to the vehicle. The Transition is currently going through a battery of automotive crash tests to make sure it meets federal safety standards.

Mann said Terrafugia was helped by the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision five years ago to create a separate set of standards for light sport aircraft. The standards govern the size and speed of the plane and licensing requirements for pilots, which are less restrictive than requirements for pilots of larger planes. Terrafugia says an owner would need to pass a test and complete 20 hours of flying time

to be able to fly the Transition, a relatively low hurdle for pilots.

The Transition can reach around 70 miles per hour (112 kph) on the road and 115 mph (185 kph) in the air, spokesman Steven Moscaritolo said. On the ground, it gets 35 miles per gallon (15 kilometers per liter).

Mann questions the size of the market for the Transition. The general aviation market has been in decline for two decades, he said, largely because of fuel costs and the high cost of liability for manufacturers. Also, fewer people are learning how to fly. “ This is not going to be an inexpensive aircraft to produce or market,” he said. “It has some uniqueness, and will get some

sales, but the question is, could it ever be a profitable enterprise?”

Mann sees the western US as the most likely market, where people could fly instead of driving long distances.

Terrafugia has been working on flying cars since 2006, and has already pushed back the launch once. Last summer the company said it would have to delay expected 2011 deliveries due to design challenges and problems with parts suppliers.

With the appearance in New York, the company hopes to attract the eye of customers as well as investors. “We are introducing ourselves as a viable company to the automotive world,” Moscaritolo said. —AP

iPad tops Consumer Reports’ list despite heat issue SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc’s new iPad topped Consumer Reports’ list of tablets despite the influential watchdog’s having earlier stoked doubts about the latest iteration of the best-selling tablet by saying it threw off more heat when used heavily.

The widely followed group that reviews a broad range of services and products-including electronics and cars-said on Monday it conducted additional tests on a number of tablets running Google Android software, including Samsung’s Gala xy Tab 10.1, and found higher temperatures common and not a cause for concern.

Consumer Reports also confirmed the iPad’s battery slowly discharged when “Infinity Blade II”-an intense video game- ran at full screen brightness, even when plugged in. It cited the higher power-demands of a faster graphics processor as well as a high-end “Retina” display.

“The problem was limited to times when the device was playing a demanding game with the screen fully bright,” it said.

Consumer Reports triggered widespread debate across the Internet two weeks ago after publishing initial test results that suggested the new iPad, which comes with 4G capability, threw off much more heat than its predecessors.

The non-profit group initially found the new iPad reached temperatures of 116 degrees Fahrenheit (47 Celsius) after 45 minutes of running an intense action game. That meant it was hotter by up to 13 degrees Fahrenheit than the previous model under similar conditions.

But in a later round of tests, the results of which were released later on Monday afternoon, the group said that, at maximum brightness on a 90-degree day, the iPad topped out at 122

The new iPad with faster graphics processor as well as a high-end “Retina” display.

degrees Fahrenheit at its hottest spot after running an intense action game for 45 minutes. That compared with 112 degrees for the iPad 2 under similar conditions.

That was also comparable with rivals. The Galaxy reached 121 degrees in the same test, while the Asus Transformer Prime hit 117 degrees, Consumer Reports said in a supplemental report.

The third iteration of the iPad is off to a strong start with sales of more than 3 million units since it hit store shelves last month. But competition is fierce and experts expect Google devices to encroach on its market share.

In its full report on Monday, the influential review organization recommended Apple’s tablet along with several others, such as Toshiba’s <6 502.T> ul tra-light,

one-pound Excite 10LE, and the reading-friendly Sony Tablet P. Consumer Reports generated headlines in 2010 when it said it could not recommend the iPhone 4 to buyers due to signal reception issues.

Apple’s co-founder, the late Steve Jobs, called a press conference to address the issues laid out by the publication and then gave consumers free bumpers, a frame-like cover, with the phone as the nonprofit group had said the case fixed the reception problem.

Reviews for the new iPad have generally been good. The latest version from Apple is not a complete redesign of the iPad 2, but takes advantage of faster 4G wireless technology and has a sharper display.

The iPad’s “retina” display

impressed Consumer Reports, which said the tablet had “achieved the highest score we’ve ever recorded for color accuracy in a tablet.”

US wireless carrier Verizon Communications Inc also drew praise for its 4G network, which the group said was fast and dependable.

“Our findings suggest that if you’re a serious gamer, you might want to manage how you use the new iPad by reducing screen brightness when possible,” Consumer Reports’ Paul Reynolds said in the supplemental report, released a few hours after its Monday report recommending the tablet.

“Other consumers should find little of concern in our extended tests, on either the heat or recharging issues.” — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Asbestos workers at risk from heart disease PARIS: Already facing heightened risks of cancer, asbestos workers also run a greater danger of heart disease and stroke, a British study published yesterday said. Researchers looked into more than 15,000 deaths that occurred among nearly 99,000 workers in the British asbestos industry between 1971 and 2005.

Almost 4,200 deaths were caused by

heart disease and more than 1,000 by a stroke, particularly among women.

Male asbestos workers were 63 percent likelier to die of a stroke and 39 percent likelier to die of heart disease when compared with the general public, even when smoking was taken into account. The corresponding figures for female asbestos workers were 100 percent and 89 percent. The workers were

part of a survey set up in 1971 to monitor the long-term health of people in the asbestos industry. Most of the male workers had been employed in removing asbestos, and the female workers were generally employed in manufacturing that included asbestos.

The investigation, led by Anne Helen Harding of Britain’s Health and Safety Laborator y, appears in the

Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Asbestos was widely used as a fire retardant until the late 20th century when it began to be outlawed for causing a form of cancer called mesothelioma and a lung disease called asbestosis.

D o c to r s h ave l o n g wo n d e re d whether asbestos, as an inflammatory agent, is also a risk factor for cardio-

vascular disease. But the connection has until now never been clear, mainly because studies lacked information about whether an individual smoked.

Over half of the women in the new study were smokers at the time of their first medical examination, and thes e propor tions were almos t unchanged when they had their last assessment. — AFP

IJBURG: In these March 28, 2012 photos amphibious houses float on the harbor in the IJburg neighborhood in Amsterdam. IJburg is a new district in the eastern part of town completely surrounded by water. The Netherlands, a third of which lies below sea level, has been managing water since the Middle Ages and has thus emerged as a pioneer in the field, exporting its expertise to Indonesia, China, Thailand, Dubai and the Republic of the Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago that with a maximum elevation of about 2 meters (8 feet) is the world’s lowest country. — AP

Most alcohol, drug abuse starts in teen years: Study NEW YORK: A survey of US teenagers found that most have used alcohol and drugs by the time they reach adulthood, and researchers said this could be setting many of those kids up for a lifetime of substance abuse.

The survey of more than 10,000 teens, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, found that almost four out of five teens had tried alcohol and more than 15 percent were abusing it by the time they turned 18-years-old. Some 16 percent were abusing drugs by the age of 18. “It’s in adolescence that the onset of substance abuse disorders occurs for most individuals,” said lead author Joel Swendsen, director of research at the National Center of Scientific Research in Bordeaux, France. “That’s where the roots take place.”

Some 18 percent of adults meet standards for “lifetime abuse” of alcohol, and 11 percent meet the criteria for drug abuse, the study said, suggesting an early start for at least some of those substance abusers.

The study is based on interviews with 10,123 US teens between the ages of 13 and 18-years-old. They were surveyed between February 2001 and January 2004. Of the approximately 3,700 teens between the ages of 13 and 14, about 10 percent were drinking alcohol regularly, defined as 12 drinks within a year. That number jumped to about half on the approximately 2,300 people surveyed 17to 18-year-olds.

According to Swendsen’s team, almost one in three of the regular users in the oldest age group met the criteria for lifetime alcohol abuse. The median age of onset for alcohol abuse, with or without “dependence,” was 14.

As for drugs, about 60 percent of the teens said they had the opportunity to

use illicit drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, tranquilizers, stimulants and painkillers. About one in ten of the 13and 14-year olds said they used at least one such drug, and that increased to about 40 percent in the oldest age group.

Marijuana was the most common type of drug used, followed by prescription drugs.

The median age of onset for drug abuse was 14 with dependence and 15 without dependence. “The reason we worry about it is that the earlier they use these substances the earlier they become addicted to it,” said Susan Foster, vice president and director of policy research and analysis at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York.

Foster, who was not involved in the study, said starting to use potentially addictive substances is especially dangerous to younger people because their brains are still developing. “There’s really a type of rewiring that goes on with continued use than can result in an increased interest in using and an inability to stop using,” she added.

Foster, whose organization published a comprehensive report on substance abuse in US adolescents last year, said the numbers in the current report were consistent with past research. “We’ve had spikes and declines of abuse across the population,” she told Reuters Health.

Swendsen’s team wrote that strategies need to target adolescents to prevent drug and alcohol abuse, but need to take into account the different forces that influence it. “We don’t need to bombard them with information that’s beyond their stage of development, but don’t think a 13-yearold doesn’t know what cannabis is,” Swendsen told Reuters Health in a telephone interview. — Reuters

Small kids lack outdoor time with parents: Study SEATTLE: Roughly half of preschoolers don’t spend time playing outside with a parent each day, despite the fact that outdoor play has been tied to a host of benefits for young children, including avoiding childhood obesity, a recent US survey found. In interviews with parents of close to 9,000 children, fewer than half of mothers and only a quarter of fathers reported taking their child for a walk or playing with them in the yard or park at least once a day. “Especially for parents who work outside the home ... it’s not so easy to have outdoor playtime with your children every day,” said Pooja Tandon, a pediatrician at the University of Washington in Seattle, who worked on the new study.

Guidelines from the National Association for Spor t and Physical Education suggest that children get at least an hour of physical activity a day for long-term health benefits, such as helping to ward off childhood obesity.

Preschoolers should also get a few hours of unstructured playtime each day.

But while some parents may assume their children are getting outdoor time in childcare or preschool, that may not always be the case, Tandon said. She and her colleagues used data from a nationally-representative study of US children born in 2001.

Along with other information collected when the children were infants, researchers, whose findings were published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, asked parents of preschool-aged youngsters how often they’d taken their child outside to play in

the last month.

Forty-four percent of mothers and 24 percent of fathers said they had parentchild outdoor playtime each day.

According to the interviews, half of the children got to play outside at least once daily with either one of their parents.

Neighborhood safety didn’t seem to be an important deterrent to going outside with more than nine in ten parents saying they felt their neighborhood was safe. Girls and non-white children were less likely to go outside with a parent, as were children whose mothers spent more time working outside the home.

Tandon and her colleagues did find that children with a few regular playmates were more likely to get daily time outside, perhaps because parents take turns taking a few children to the park at a time - a good strategy for time-pressed parents. Tami Benham Deal, who studies children’s physical activity at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, said it’s also important to consider what type of exercise children are getting when they go outside.

“They might be sitting in a sandbox they could be spending 20 to 30 minutes building sand castles and tunnels and the activity could be very low in intensity,” Benham Deal, who wasn’t involved in the new research, told Reuters Health.

“Parents encouraging their children to be physically active and parent recognizing the importance of and valuing physical activity are really key factors that influence kids’ physical activity,” she added. “That’s true across the age spectrum.”— Reuters

Floating homes Architects’ answer to rising seas BANGKOK: A floating mosque and golf course for the submerging Maldives islands.

Amphibious homes in the Netherlands lifted to safety as waters surge beneath them. A hospital perched on 400 stilts to protect patients from Thailand’s devastating floods and the encroaching sea nearby.

Around the world architects and city planners are exploring ways mankind and water may be able to coexist as oceans rise and other phenomenon induced by climate change, including extreme, erratic floods, threaten land-rooted living. With the Dutch at the helm, projects in the cutting-edge field of aqua-architecture are already in place, including a maritime housing estate, floating prison and greenhouses in the Netherlands. An increasing number are coming on stream, and while earlier blueprints appeared to be the stuff of science fiction, advocates say leaps of imagination are still needed given the magnitude of the danger.

“The focus on floating solutions has grown enormously. It has shifted from freak architecture to more sustainable, flexible alternatives,” says Dutch architect Koen Olthuis, citing growing support by governments and interest among private investors in Asia and Russia.

“We will have to live with a more watery environment. There is no choice,” says Danai Thaitakoo, a Thai landscape architect whose own Bangkok house was swamped last year as the country suffered its worst floods of modern times. The Thai capital is also among the mega coastal cities projected by the end of this century to lie totally or partially under water as global warming boosts sea levels, according to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Others include Tokyo, London, Jakarta, Sydney and Shanghai - an apocalyptic prospect of mass migrations and economic crises.

While in earlier decades architects and planners, particularly Japanese and Americans, dreamed of entire marine cities housing millions, most today are proposing a mix of defending communities with barriers and building on water using floating platforms, raised or amphibious structures and solutions still being devised.

“Climate change will require a radical shift within design practice from the solid-state view of landscape urbanism to the more dynamic, liquid-state view of waterscape urbanism,” says Danai, who is involved in several projects based on this principle. “Instead of embodying permanence, solidity and longevity, liquid perception will emphasize change, adaptation.”

In a study for low-lying New York, Olthuis says he envisioned Manhattan ringed by a sea wall with outlying boroughs allowing water to enter and adapting. The world’s Londons and

Bangkoks, he says, may become “hydro-cities,” their historic hearts and concentrated core development waterproofed and other areas “going with the flow.” The Netherlands, a third of which lies below sea level, has been managing water since the Middle Ages and has thus emerged as a pioneer in the field. It has exported its expertise to Indonesia, China, Thailand, Dubai and the Republic of the Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago that with a maximum elevation of about 2 meters (8 feet) is the world’s lowest country. The sea-battered city of New Orleans has also sought advice from Olthuis’s Waterstudio.

In the Maldives, Waterstudio has designed a network of floating islands, the first to be put in place next year, to accommodate hotels, a convention center, yacht club and villas. The “islands,” secured by steel cables, are made up of pontoons with a foam core encased in concrete that can be joined together like Lego blocks. An 18-hole golf course will also be set on such platforms, each with two to three holes, connected by underwater tunnels. The $500 million project, paid for by the Maldivian government and private investors, is slated for completion in 2015.

A floating mosque, originally destined for Dubai before an economic downturn hit, is also part of the master plan, Olthuis said in an interview. Following the principles of “water will always find its way” and “collaborating with nature,” the Dutch have reversed some of their earlier strategy of tightly defending their land with dikes by allowing the sea to penetrate some areas on which housing has been constructed.

One pioneering effort was the placement of amphibious and floating homes on the River Maas in 2005. All survived major 2011 floods that forced the evacuation of villages along rain-swollen rivers. Construction recently began on the Olthuis-designed New Water estate, 600 homes and a luxury apartment complex on land purposely inundated. Interest in water-based living and work space has accelerated over the past decade, he says, and Waterstudio’s drawing boards are stacked with plans for local and international projects.

Typical amphibious houses, like the two-story ones on the Maas, consist of a structure that slides into a steel framework over a hollow foundation which, like the hull of a ship, buoys up the building when water enters.

The Maas houses sell from $310,000, about 25 percent more than equivalent homes, in part due to the cost of connecting them to utilities and drainage. But Olthuis says such linkages are simple and present no inconvenience to owners.

“Just proven technology of plug-and-play systems. All tested and used for years in Holland,” he says. “The only time you will see a difference between a floating house and the traditional one is during floods - when your house rises above the water and your neighbor’s stays put,” Olthuis says.

Along similar lines will be Britain’s first amphibious house, recently granted planning permission along the banks of the Thames River in Buckinghamshire. The 225-square-meter (2,421-square-foot) home will be able to rise to 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) in the event of flooding.

Thai architect Chutayaves Sinthuphan, who will be unveiling a pilot amphibious house for the Thai government in September, says interest in such projects has grown since last year’s floods, which killed more than 600 people and affected more than a fifth of the country’s 64 million people.

“We have had proposals out for some time, but nobody paid much attention to them until the floods came,” he says. His Site-Specific Company has already built such houses for private clients, using modern techniques and materials but like other architects in Asia looking to a past when communities adapted well to annual monsoon season inundations.

They point to a riverside village in the southern province of Surat Thani, where everyone lived on homes atop bamboo rafts until all but three families moved on land. Those three homes were the only ones that survived last year’s floods.

In the mid-19th centur y, almost all of Bangkok lived on houses built atop stilts or rafts. Since then, most canals have been paved over and the stilt houses replaced by a concrete urbanscape that holds water back instead of allowing it to flow through.

Architect Prisdha Jumsai has borrowed from traditional methods to design Thailand’s first hospital for the aged. Work has begun on the 300-bed hospital over a permanently flooded area near Bangkok that is also subject to tides from the nearby Gulf of Thailand. Concrete stilts will raise its first floor about 4 meters (13 feet) above average water levels.

“We hope this will influence people not to just fill in land but to build on water. I think it will open up new ideas for Thais who can look to traditional architecture and make it more upto-date in design,” Prisdha says.

But this still appears to be a minority view.

“Most Thais look to Western, land-based models and most architects still don’t talk about environmental concerns. They talk about how a house will look and make you feel good,” says Danai. “But this will have to change. It’s about survival.” — AP

Cheap, safe device helps avoid premature birth

PITTSBURGH: In this Jan. 24, 2012 photo, Terri Kroh, the director of pharmacy services at Duquesne University’s Center for Pharmacy Services fills a prescription at the store in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. Duquesne has stepped in to fill a difficult role - delivering basic health care and medications in a poor inner city neighborhood. The school says the program is the first of its kind in the nation, and they hope it will be a model for other inner cities. — AP

PARIS: A simple low-cost silicon ring can slash the risk of premature birth, a major cause of death in newborns and health problems in adult life, according to a trial reported yesterday by The Lancet.

Spanish doctors tested the 38 euro ($49.50) device, known as a pessary, on women in their last three months of pregnancy who had cervical shortening, a condition that weakens the pelvic floor and leads to pre-term birth.

The pessary is designed to strengthen the cervix-the lower end of the uterus that leads to the vagina-so that it can cope with the extra weight of the final weeks of pregnancy. Silicon pessaries have been used over the past 50 years as one of several methods to prevent pre-term births.

But their effectiveness has been debated, and this was the first time the device had been investigated in a randomised trial. Six percent of women who were fitted with the pessary gave birth prematurely, compared to 27 percent of counterparts who did not have the device, according to the study. The so-called PECEP trial recruited 15,000 women who underwent ultrasound examination in five hospitals when they were in between 20 and 23 weeks of pregnancy. Of these, 380 had cervical shortening-defined as a having a cervix whose length was 25mm (0.98 inches) or less-and were randomly assigned to one of two groups, each comprising 190 women. In the pessary group, 12 had a baby before 34 weeks of pregnancy, while the number in the non-pessary group was 51. No side effects were reported in the pessary group, and 95 percent of its participants said they would recommend the treatment for others.

“Placement of a pessary is an affordable procedure, non-invasive and easy to insert and remove as required,” said lead researcher Maria Goya, an obstetrician at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

H E A LT H

Dar Al Shifa Hospital sponsors Kuwait Medica 2012 A group of renowned medical professionals will take part in Kuwait’s exclusive annual medical event and will share their insight across varied healthcare issues

Dr Muhammad Al Azemi

KUWAIT: Dar Al Shifa Hospital announced yesterday that it is the silver sponsor of the upcoming Kuwait Medica 2012 Conference & Exhibition, which is taking place from the 16th to the 18th of April in Courtyard by Marriott.

Dr Mohamed Wagih El-Deeb, Head of Ophthalmology Department at Dar Al Shifa Hospital, and Dr Muhammad Al Azemi, Consultant in nephrology, blood pressure and Internal Medicine, will be participating in the Health Awareness Camp at the conference. They will also be available for general consultation from 5 to 9 pm.

Covering the topic of lasik procedure and what comes after the procedure, Dr El-Deeb added, “The lasik procedure is quickly gaining momentum as a popular means of dealing with weak eyesight amongst all ages,” he said. “Naturally the technology and methodology of lasik is also changing at a fast pace. I believe that all patients must be well-informed about their conditions and treatments, which is why it is important for us at Dar Al Shifa Hospital to be present at Kuwait Medica.”

Dr. El-Deeb holds a Ph.D. in ophthalmology, and he is also an associate professor of Ophthalmology at Cairo University, a fellow of Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh as well as Alicante Institute of Refractive Surgery in Spain. He is also a member of the European

and American Societies of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

An expert in his field, Dr. Al Azemi will be taking on diabetes and kidney diseases as main points of discusion during the health awareness camp. “Though everyone knows of the diseases there are a lot of misconceptions, that can cause some to miss out on warning signs, and others who know they have the disease feel like there is no real cure,” he noted. “True understanding of the diseases and treatment methods has improved significantly in the recent years, and it is great to be able to share that with a wider audience,” he added.

Besides his post at Dar Al Shifa, Dr Al Azemi is a member of the Canadian board for Nephrology, the American Board for Blood pressure disease, and the American and Canadian Boards of Internal Medicine.

Other consultants from the dermatology and dietary department will also be participating in addition to the hospital training department. They will be available for free consultation and to showcase the different services offered by the hospital between 16 and 18 April during the allocated exhibition timings.

The Kuwait Medica 2012 Conference & Exhibition will be taking place from the 16th to the 18th of April at Courtyard by Marriott.

Dr Mohamed Wajih El-Deeb

Health fears as flood-ravaged Fiji begins massive clean-up SUVA: Flood-ravaged Fiji began a massive clean-up yesterday, as the South Pacific nation’s stretched health services expressed fears disease could quickly spread through evacuation centres.

At least three people have died in the floods, although local media reports, which police said they could not confirm, put the death toll as high as seven. As tourist flights to the island nation resumed, some people were able to regain a semblance of normality as shopkeepers took advantage of a break in the heavy rains to begin cleaning

up their properties to prepare for reopening. But there were growing fears about conditions in evacuation camps housing 12,000 people forced from their homes, with health authorities concentrating on preventing an outbreak of communicable diseases. “We are seriously concerned about the state of evacuation centres,” Western Division health inspector Dip Chand told the Fiji Times. “We have to put in place strategies that will prevent outbreaks and contain diseases if they do exist at these centres. We have to ensure that we do not

reach crisis level.”

Teams were issuing water purification tablets at the camps on the main island Vita Levu and inspecting sanitary conditions for those sheltering in them. At Nadi township, businessman Riyaz Ali said the situation was bleak as locals came to terms with the scale of the devastating flood that had left their home looking “like a war zone”.

“It’s not a sight for the faint-hearted, the devastation is utter and complete,” he told news website fijivillage.com. “There’s nothing left in most homes and you can see the

look of desperation in people’s eyes, it’s just gut-wrenching.”

In a rare piece of good news for the country, still struggling to recover from floods in January that claimed 11 lives, a cyclone warning was lifted after Tropical Cyclone Daphne missed the islands and moved further out to sea.

National carrier Air Pacific resumed inbound international flights to Nadi airport for the first time in three days. Officials in Canberra said about 2,000 Australian tourists were still stranded in Fiji and Qantas

had agreed to increase capacity on its flights to help them home.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said his government was donating NZ$500,000 ($413,000) to flood relief efforts, while Australia contributed Aus$1 million (US$1.04 million) on Monday.

Both countries have tense diplomatic relations with Fiji’s military government, which seized power in a 2006 coup, but stress the money would go to aid agencies rather than military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama’s regime. — AFP

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N Embassy Notice Embassy of Australia: On the occasion of Easter, the Australian Embassy wishes to advise that it will be closed on: Thursday 5th April 2012 Sunday 9th April 2012. The Embassy will reopen on Monday 10th April 2012 after the holidays.

Embassy of France: The French Embassy in Kuwait will be closed on Sunday April 8th, 2012 for Easter holidays.

Embassy of Kenya: The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform the general public that it will be closed on 8th and 9th April 2012, respectively on the occasion of Easter holidays. Normal office operation will resume on Tuesday 10th April 2012.

Embassy of Slovak Republic: On the occasion of the Easter Holiday, the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Kuwait would like to inform the public that the Embassy will be closed on Sunday, April 08 and Monday, April 09, 2012. The Embassy will resume its normal duties on Tuesday, April 10, 2012.

Swiss-Belhotel Plaza Kuwait shares Earth hour

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n Saturday 31st March 2012 at 20:30hrs SwissBelhotel Plaza Kuwait turns off the lights in the lobby, hotel main entrance and restaurants that were surrounded with candles. Guests & employees of the hotel gathered for cocktail drink to share the earth hour.

Hundreds of millions of people, businesses and governments around the world come together each year for one hour to support the largest environmental event in history. Earth Hour has done a lot to raise awareness of sustainability issues.

The aim of the event is to present our commitment for energy saving and work together to create a better future for our planet; said General Manager Ali Haddad.

Omar Al Gharabally scholarship

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uwait National English School in Hawally is a member of the UNESCO Associated Schools and is fully accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS) and New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC). One of our aims is to give the opportunity to the most able and dedicated students regardless of their financial means. In this connection, every year Kuwait National English School offers the Omar Al Gharabally

Scholarship to the best and brightest students. The Scholarship is in the memory of Omar Al Gharabally, the son of Madame Chantal Al Gharabally, the School Director, who was killed by a criminal driver a few years ago. As Omar would have said: “To be educated doesn’t mean only knowledge but to be able to demonstrate the intelligence of the mind and also the intelligence of the heart”.

Some of the previous holders of the

Omar Al Gharabally Scholarship are now studying in Universities around the world and many have successfully joined the work force.

This year’s Scholarship took place on Saturday 17th of March. Applicants from schools across Kuwait sat the examination in a variety of subjects in the hope of gaining a place. The Omar Al Gharabally Scholarship is awarded every year to students of exceptionally high academic ability. The successful students

are: Adam Tonsberg, Shouq Meshal Al Shatti, Nouran Alaa Al Sayed, Zeinab Ali, Reda Al Ghafeer, Haya Galal Elsebaee, Nouran Amr, Osama Al Shatti, Tala Muassess, Dima Omar, Sahad Al Akram and Suud Abdulaziz Ashur.

We would like to thank all applicants for participating and we look forward to the successful candidates making a positive contribution to the future of Kuwait National English School and reaching their full potential.

Announcements Open House for Indian Citizens The Ambassador of India will be holding an Open House for Indian citizens to address their problems/grievances on Wednesdays of the second and the fourth week of every month between 1500 hrs and 1600 hrs at the embassy. In case Wednesday is an Embassy holiday, the meeting will be held on the next working day. To ensure timely action/follow-up by the Embassy, it is requested that, wherever possible, Indian citizens should exhaust the existing channels of interaction/grievance redressal and bring their problems/issues in writing with supporting documents. It may be mentioned that Embassy of India’s Consular Wing is providing daily service of Open House to Indian citizen on all workings days from 1000 hrs to 1100 hrs and from 1430 hrs to 1530 hrs by the consular officer in the Meeting Room of the Consular Hall. For any unaddressed issues, Second Secretary (Consular) could be contacted.

Furthermore, the head of the Consular Wing is also available to redress grievances. Similarly, a labor wing Help Desk functions from 0830 hrs to 1300 hrs and 1400 hrs to 1630 hrs in the Labor Hall to address the labor related issue. There is also a 24X7 Help Line (Tel No. 25674163) to assist labors in distress. For any unaddressed issues, the concerned Attaches in the labor section and the head of the labor wing could be contacted.

Natya Kalamandalam dance celebration Natya Kalamandalam, Kuwait will conduct conferring celebration along with stage performance for its first batch of students on April 6, 2012 at 5:30 pm at the Indian Central School Auditorium. Natya Kalmandalam is a centre for learning Indian performing arts and culture. It was conceived to provide training to its students in Bharatanatyam dance form. Bharatanatyam is one of the most cherished and popular classical Indian danceform, not only within the country but also outside. It is considered the epitome of Indian cultural expression.

Festival of Football 2012 Premier GOAL Academy/Everton “Festival of Football 2012” will be held on April 7, 2012 at 9 am - 5 pm at Shaab Leisure Park (Shaab Seaside, Arabian Gulf Road.

Cost: free.

AE Arts competition, exhibition AE Arts will hold a competition on April 7 in drawing and fancy dress items for junior, sub-junior and senior levels and a comedy skit competition for adults at United Indian School, Abbassiya from 9.30am. The winners will be honored in a function on April 20 at United Indian School, at 6.30pm which will also feature exhibitions of PART members. Renowned Indian make-up man Pattanam Rashid will be the chief guest, AE Art’s Ajayaghosh said. For details: 99591496 Earth Day with Golden Era April 13, 2012 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm Where: Rumaithiya, Block 2, Sate Alhusari Street, House 34, Next to AbuTammam Intermediate School for Boys Contact: Golden Era Club goldenera60@yahoo.com Fun Run Radisson Blu Hotel hosts FuN RuN! The run will begin at 9.00 am from Messilah to Radisson Blu Hotel (3km race).

Transportation will be provided from the Radisson Blu Hotel to Messilah, but please be at the hotel by 8:15 am sharp. April 7th is World Health Day, and it is their way of spreading the word- to be healthy and keep fit! Best of luck to all the participants!

Amma Kuwait, PART to hold workshop Amma Kuwait and Progressive Art Realization Troop of Kuwait (PART) announce their maiden joint venture PRAKRUTI. The purpose of the workshop is to motivate children to explore art in nature by inspiring them to observe nature consciously. Prakruti is a 5 hour workshop from 9am to 3pm on 20 April 2012 on landscape painting for budding student artists in the age group ten to seventeen. This workshop which will take place in the Al Jawhara Al Ahlea School, Rigaae will be conducted by the professional artists of PART who will interact with the children and guide them on special effects and professional painting techniques. The medium of painting will be Acrylic/Water. Each participant will receive a certificate of participation at the end of the workshop.

Participants will get to showcase their paintings of the day and one previous work at the Exhibition that follows this workshop! Last date for registration is 10 April 2012.

So hurry and visit the website www.ammakuwaitprakruti2012.com to register yourself.

TSK visits Salwa Park

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t was definitely third time lucky for the Pre-KG children from The Sunshine Kindergarten (TSK) in Salwa this week.

Two weeks ago, the teachers planned to take the children to Salwa Park.

Unfortunately the weather intervened and the trip had to be postponed due to the recent sandstorms that closed many of the other schools in Kuwait. Last week the trip was organised to go ahead again, but once more sandstorms got in the way and the children were let down for a second time. Finally, this week the weather was glorious and 72 happy children found themselves in the park and having a wonderful time climbing, playing with the hoops, sliding and chasing quoits around the park.

At this very important stage in a child’s

physical development, it is imperative that everyone gets the chance to experience different types of physical activity. At TSK we love to give our children opportunities for them to get active and interactive in order to improve their skills of coordination, control, manipulation and movement.

Our TSK children are encouraged to use their senses to learn about the world around them and are supported in their understanding of the importance of physical activity and making healthy choices.

The Sunshine Kindergarten children are always ready to have fun and, as you can see from the photos, a great day out was had by all. If you want to find out more information about The Sunshine Kindergarten, take a look at the TSK website www.tsk.edu.kw, or send us a tweet!

BSK students set new records at Sports Day

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he British School of Kuwait’s students and staff headed to the splendid Kaifan athletics stadium and participated in the highly anticipated annual sports day. Students were sided with their respective houses of Wales, Scotland, England and Ireland in hopes of gaining the highly coveted sports day champion shield.

The athletes took part in a variety of sprinting and long distance running races and a host of field events

such as the high jump, long jump, discus, shot putt and javelin on this beautiful clear and bright day. There were some outstanding individual results and fourteen school records were broken on this day.

Bardiya Rezai, (Year 6) stole the show during the day’s competition setting two records including the Year 6 javelin and long jump marks.

Other notable school records in Year group ascending order were Fatemah Al Alawi (Year 6) javelin

(13.30 metres), Moneer Mourad (Year 8) 100 metres (12.87 seconds), Jad El-Kadri (Year 8) high jump (1.35 metres), Abdulmohsen AlShammari (Year 9) 800 metres (2 minutes and 24 seconds), Isaac AlSaleh (Year 9) discus (27.95 metres), Josephephina Saager (Year 9) javelin (15.25 metres), Omar Khalil (Year 10) discus (27.30 metres), Ali Ateaa (Year 10) long jump (4.90 metres), Romain Bellier (varsity boys) 800 metres (2 minutes and 21 seconds), Mohammed Al Hussaini

IKEA Kuwait announces new Facebook competition

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(varsity boys) high jump (1.55 metres), Iman Abu Marzouq- varsity girls javelin (22.91) metres.

The day was filled with a unique palpable sense of enjoyment that healthy competition and sportsmanship can only provide. Team Wales ending up taking the crown followed by Scotland and England in a very close race.

KEA Kuwait announced the launch of its next month long Facebook-based competition for all its fans in Kuwait. Running from April 1st to May 1st, 2012, fans are required to submit a photograph of themselves with a favorite IKEA furniture that they own for a chance to win one of 15 IKEA Kuwait’s products.

The best 50 pictures uploaded will be posted in an album on the IKEA Kuwait Facebook page, of which 15 pictures with the most number of likes will win the ultimate prize. The prizes are a selection of IKEA products which can be found on their Facebook page.

Criteria to enter the contest requests that each contestant submitting his/her picture should be a fan of the IKEA Kuwait Facebook. Those who wish to participate must ensure that both the participant and the IKEA furniture in the picture are visible and does not exceed 2MB. Also, each fan has up to five entries to broaden the possibility of winning and any digitally enhanced visuals will be automatically disqualified. The contestants names submitting the contest will be published every 24hrs and the winners will have to pick up their prize from IKEA Kuwait directly.

To enter the Facebook contest, please log onto www.facebook.com/ikeakuwait

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) in order to register or update contact information. The Embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the Embassy. The registration process helps the Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency. nnnnnnn

Characters come to life at BSK’s Book Week

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ook Week at The British School of Kuwait ended on a high last week with the Costume Parade.

Nearly 1000 students celebrated their love of books and reading by dressing up as their favourite book character.

Characters that made a surprise visit to BSK included Thomas the Tank Engine, Rapunzel and the Mad Hatter and White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

Jack climbed down from the beanstalk to show off his outfit as well as the farmer with the Enormous Turnip, Big Billy Goat Gruff, Stick Man, the Gruffalo and Pinocchio who all paraded before the guest judges on Thursday morning.

“Our Favourite Authors” was the theme of the week so students spent time learning about the life and books of Michael Morpurgo, Julia Donaldson, the Ahlbergs and Roal Dahl among others. Surprise guest readers visited classes and there were storytellers, plays and assemblies in the theatre. Students visited Reading Grottos and spent time in Q Garden where they could enjoy books in a magical atmosphere.

Another favourite feature of the week was DEAR or Drop Everything And Read. Once a day at the sound of a bell all students took a break from normal studies to read quietly on their own or to a friend. As Frank in Year 5 replied when asked, “Book Week? Best week ever!”

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah.

Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 A.M until 12:00 P.M on Sunday through Wednesday.

Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.uae.gc.ca. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS The Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus requests Cypriot citizens living in Kuwait to register with the Embassy has moved. This registration service is provided so that the Embassy can update its contact list and assist Cypriot citizens in cases of emergencies. Registration information can be emailed to cyprusembassykwt@gmail.com or faxed to 22253227 or given by phone to 65906048 (Mrs Christine). nnnnnnn

Movenpick Hotel Kuwait-Free Trade Zone increases interest in young guests

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ovenpick Hotel Kuwait -Free Trade Zone has recently enhanced and boosted its Kids Club with new game and entertaining activities. The effort comes within its attempt to implement its vision by communicating with the generation of children not only as Club guests, but also as hotel guests.

Children can now spend the most interesting times in the hotel several facilities including swimming pools, gardens and various restaurants in which they will find what they want regardless age.

Kids Club at Movenpick Hotel Kuwait is definitely characterized by sense of fun and joy it brings into the hearts of young guests. It hosts children from 2-10 years old as new packages of games are in place aiming at stimulating children’s energy and enhancing both mental and physical activity levels. The games include a large number of swings and sliding games as well as drawing and coloring games and many more for the children to enjoy at the outdoor garden under the sun.

Movenpick’s Kids Club opens its doors on Friday and Saturday weekly

throughout the year, from 9am to 8pm.

It’s worth pointing out that the Club is

not only provided with entertaining activities but with educational as well.

“Parents who work all week long are entitled to have some rest. Since it is so important, we’ve developed Kid’s Club as a safe place for children so as to support parents during their stay at or visit to the Hotel. It also provides children with an opportunity to enjoy a special place solely dedicated to them with loads of amusement and fun. This is what we like to offer to our guests while reassuring them that their children as well will be in safe hands. We have taken all precautions necessary for their safety and security with professional staff to watch children over while they are at the Club.” Said by Hotel General Manager Beat Peter.

Peter concluded by saying: “The Hotel also offers child-based menu (Power Bites) available at Bays International Restaurant.

Additionally, children can benefit from the swimming pool devoted to them and supervised by professional life guards. Also, babysitters are allowed to stay at Kid’s Club if children are accompanied.”

Marina Hotel Kuwait observes ‘Earth Hour’

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arina Hotel Kuwait recently participated in the Earth Hour, by turning off the lights of the hotel on 31 March at 07:00 pm to contribute in the worldwide initiative organized for Earth Hour.

Marina Hotel Kuwait went dark for one full hour and several measures were taken to save electricity to lend support for Earth Hour. This is an annual initiative where Marina Hotel Kuwait joins the growing list of supporting businesses that are committed to take a stand on climate change and create a cleaner, safer and more secure future. As a symbolic gesture to warn against global warming the hotel turned off lights in the lobby and public areas. Employees turned off non-essential electrical devices and guests were invited to participate in the initiative further underscoring the Hotel’s commitment to environmental sustainability.

Nabil Hammoud - General Manager of Marina Hotel said “We look forward in participating annually in the “Earth Hour” initiative

EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed tomorrow, April 5, 2012 on account of “Mahavir Jayanti”. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF KOREA The Embassy of the Republic of Korea wishes to inform that it has moved to Mishref. New Address: Embassy of the Republic of Korea Mishref, Block 7A, Diplomatic Area 2, Plot 6 The Embassy also wishes to inform that it will be opened to the public on the following office hours: Saturdays to Thursday Morning: 8:00 am to 12:30 pm Lunch Break: 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm Afternoon: 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, AlSalaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location.

Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF NEPAL The Embassy of Nepal will be moving from its current location to a new place in Jabriya, Block 8, St. 13, House No. 514, effective from Sunday, 15th April, 2012. Till the new telephone connections are installed, the Embassy may be contacted by email: info@nepembku.org nnnnnnn

SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY On the occasion of Easter Sunday, the South African Embassy will be closed from Sunday, 8 April 2012 to Monday, 9 April 2012. The Embassy will resume its normal working hours on Tuesday, 10 April 2012, from Sunday to Thursday. Please note that the working hours will be from 8h00 to 16h00 & the Consular Section operation hours will from 8h30 to 12h30.

and make sure not to miss this event organized for a great cause. We need to make sure that we use our resources wisely by not wasting energy and also encourage people to partake in this recurring event. We must make every effort to leave as minimal a footprint as possible on the environment for future generations.”

“Earth Hour is not just about one day in the year and Marina Hotel has committed to partnering in long term actions and initiatives to promote environmental awareness on a continuing permanent basis” further concluded Mr. Hammoud. The Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), to raise awareness towards the need and take action on climate change. And even with the challenges of the global economy, leaders and people worldwide remain focused on the growing threat of climate change and place a high priority on environmentally-friendly solutions as one of the ways to overcome those challenges.

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EMBASSY OF ROMANIA The Embassy of Romania to the State of Kuwait would like to inform that the Consular Section of the Embassy will be close for construction works beginning with 18 April 2012, till 10 May 2012. During this period of time the Consular Section will not issue any type of visas for Romania and will not issue any Romanian passports or travel documents. The Consular Section will only be able to assist with notary deeds. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF THAILAND The Royal Thai Embassy in Kuwait, wishes to invite the Kuwaiti companies that deal business with Thai companies or those agencies of Thai commercial companies to visit the Embassy’s Commercial Office to register their relevant information to be part of the embassy’s business and trade database. The Royal Thai Embassy is located in Jabriya, Block 6, Street 8, Villa No. 1, Telephone No. 25317530 -25317531, Ext: 14.

Write to us Send to What’s On

Marina Hotel Kuwait before and after turning off their lights on 31 March at 7 pm.

Nabil Hammoud, General Manager of Marina Hotel, (center) and on his right Ziad Boujaber, Director of Sales, with the Marina Hotel Kuwait team.

upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR QTR JZR JZR QTR ETH GFA UAE ETD DHX FDB QTR KAC THY DHX FCX JZR AFR KAC BAW JZR KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB IRA ETD BAB GFA RNV FCX MEA JZR MSR RBG IRM KNE JZR MIX IRC CLX MSR GFA RJA KAC FDB KNE QTR KAC SVA KAC JZR KAC QTR JZR KAC ETD IYE SYR UAE GFA SVA UAL JZR JZR ABY ALK KAC BAB KAC KAC FDB MSR JZR KAC KAC JAI KAC KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA KAC KLM UAE JZR ETD BBC ABY QTR DHX AIC GFA UAL SAI JZR RBG DLH THY

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 4/4/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 539 CAIRO 267 BEIRUT 6130 DOHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 370 BAHRAIN 67 DUBAI 138 DOHA 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 6702 PARIS 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 529 ASSIUT 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 362 COLOMBO 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 603 SHIRAZ 301 ABU DHABI 436 BAHRAIN 213 BAHRAIN 311 YEREVAN 203 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 606 LUXOR 3553 ALEXANDRIA 5066 MASHAD 460 MEDINAH 561 SOHAG 517 AL MAKTOUM INTERNATI 6791 MASHAD 792 LUXEMBOURG 610 CAIRO 219 BAHRAIN 640 AMMAN 672 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 790 MEDINAH 500 JEDDAH 788 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 535 CAIRO 538 SHARM EL SHEIKH 303 ABU DHABI 824 SANAA 341 DAMASCUS 857 DUBAI 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 227 COLOMBO 542 CAIRO 438 BEIRUT 166 PARIS 786 JEDDAH 63 DUBAI 620 ASSIUT 787 RIYADH 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 572 MUMBAI 102 NEW YORK 774 RIYADH 393 KOZHIKODE 61 DUBAI 647 MUSCAT 402 BEIRUT 146 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 514 TEHRAN 417 AMSTERDAM 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 307 ABU DHABI 43 DHAKA 129 SHARJAH 136 DOHA 372 BAHRAIN 975 CHENNAI 217 BAHRAIN 981 BAHRAIN 441 LAHORE 239 AMMAN 3563 ASSIUT 636 FRANKFURT 772 ISTANBUL

Time 0:15 0:20 0:30 0:50 1:40 1:45 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:55 3:10 3:25 4:10 4:35 5:00 5:30 6:00 6:05 6:15 6:30 6:40 7:15 7:30 7:45 7:50 8:05 8:15 8:20 8:20 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:20 9:25 9:30 9:35 10:00 10:20 10:30 10:55 11:05 11:10 11:10 11:55 12:10 12:25 13:00 13:15 13:15 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:15 14:25 14:25 14:30 14:55 15:00 15:05 15:15 16:00 16:10 16:35 16:35 16:40 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:00 18:15 18:40 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:55 19:10 19:15 19:25 19:35 19:35 19:40 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:50 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:40

Airlines AIC UAL DLH PIA THY GFA ETH QTR UAE FDB DHX ETD QTR QTR JZR JZR GFA THY AFR KAC KAC BAW FDB KAC JZR ABY JZR KAC KAC UAE KAC KAC QTR FDB ETD BAB IRA GFA RNV KAC FCX RBG MEA MSR JZR KAC KNE KAC JZR IRM IRC GFA FDB MSR RJA CLX KAC KNE SVA KAC JZR MIX QTR KAC KAC ETD JZR IYE SYR JZR QTR UAE GFA JZR ABY SVA UAL JZR ALK FDB BAB MSR JZR KAC KAC KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA KAC GFA JZR DHX KLM ABY ETD KAC UAE FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR DHX BBC QTR AXB GFA RBG KAC JZR SAI

Departure Flights on Wednesday 4/4/2012 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 981 WASHINGTON DC 637 FRANKFURT 206 LAHORE 773 ISTANBUL 218 BAHRAIN 621 ADDIS ABABA 6131 DOHA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 6702 DUBAI 545 ALEXANDRIA 537 SHARM EL SHEIKH 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 175 FRANKFURT 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 534 CAIRO 671 DUBAI 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 789 MADINAH 117 NEW YORK 133 DOHA 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 437 BEIRUT 602 SHIRAZ 214 BAHRAIN 312 YEREVAN 541 CAIRO 204 DUBAI 3564 ASSIUT 405 BEIRUT 619 ASSIUT 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 461 MADINAH 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 5065 MASHHAD 6792 MASHHAD 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 641 AMMAN 792 GIALAM 673 DUBAI 473 JEDDAH 503 MADINAH 617 DOHA 786 RIYADH 517 KANDAHAR 135 DOHA 773 RIYADH 513 IMAM KHOMEINI 304 ABU DHABI 238 AMMAN 824 SANAA 342 DAMASCUS 538 CAIRO 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 134 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 511 RIYADH 982 BAHRAIN 266 BEIRUT 228 DUBAI 64 DUBAI 439 BAHRAIN 621 ALEXANDRIA 184 DUBAI 283 DHAKA 361 COLOMBO 153 ISTANBUL 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 331 TRIVANDRUM 351 KOCHI 648 MUSCAT 403 BEIRUT 543 CAIRO 222 BAHRAIN 502 LUXOR 171 BAHRAIN 417 DAMMAM 120 SHARJAH 308 ABU DHABI 381 DELHI 860 DUBAI 102 BAHRAIN 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 554 ALEXANDRIA 373 BAHRAIN 44 DHAKA 147 DOHA 394 KOCHI 218 BAHRAIN 3554 ALEXANDRIA 415 KUALA LUMPUR 528 ASSIUT 442 LAHORE

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 1:25 2:15 2:30 2:45 3:10 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 4:50 5:40 6:00 6:55 7:05 7:10 7:55 8:10 8:20 8:25 8:25 8:55 9:00 9:05 9:10 9:20 9:35 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:25 10:25 10:45 11:30 11:30 11:45 11:50 11:55 12:10 12:15 12:30 13:00 13:10 13:20 13:25 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:35 14:45 15:05 15:15 15:45 15:50 15:50 16:00 16:15 16:25 16:25 17:20 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:35 18:40 18:50 19:10 19:25 19:30 19:55 20:05 20:15 20:20 20:30 20:35 20:40 20:50 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:45 21:50 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:10 23:30 23:45 23:50 23:50 23:59

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

and employed in Kuwait.

Contact with details. E-mail: thekalloors@gmail.com (C 3930) 3-4-2012

MATRIMONIAL Matrimonial correspondence invited for an Orthodox Christian boy, B.Tech + MBA, 5’7”, 30 years, fair, employed as an Associate Manager in a reputed company near Ernakulam, from parents of qualified girls preferably in Kerala. Please contact with telephone number to: nithya_thomas@yahoo.com 4-4-2012

years in KISR Kuwait and Sydney-Australia, fluent in English and Arabic. Contact: 65151142, E-mail: salsafadi@hotmail.com

SITUATION WANTED CHANGE OF NAME Australian businessman just arrived in Kuwait, speaks good Arabic, seeking opportunity with well organized company in the field of Management, Auditing and/or Motor Industr y.

Contact: 65835338. (C 3932) 3-4-2012

Kuwait Orthodox parents invite proposals for their son 29/172 cm, M.Com PGDBA, B & B in Kuwait and employed in a reputed MNC in Kuwait since 2008 from parents of Orthodox/ Jacobite/ Marthoma/ CSI girls B.Tech/ MCA/ MBA/ M.Com or suitably qualified

Qualified Chemical Engineer, extensive experience working at laboratory based research petroleum industries and industrial chemistry, more than 15

I, Thiru Vinoth Kannan K., holder of Indian passport No. E3242761 has converted to Islam with name of Abdul Rahman K. on 6th May 2009. (C 3933) 4-4-2012 TUITION I, Mona D/o Syed Anwar R/o 18-8-134, Dargah Barhaneshah, Riyasathnagar, Hyd having Passport No. H4559826 have changed my name, henceforth I shall be known & called as MONA SYED ANWAR. (C 3928) 1-4-2012

ST TATE T OF KUW K WAIT A

Te el.: 161

DIRECTORA AT TE GENERAL GEN OF CIVIL AV VIA ATION T METEOROLOGICAL DEP PA ARTMENT DA AY Y: Tuesday

Math teacher for secondary stage, language schools, bilingual schools and intermediate stage: Algebra, Gmath, Geometry, Statistics for arts and science branches. Tel: 66974020.

Ext.: 26 2627 - 2630

Fax: 24348714 WWW.MET.GOV V..KW

03/04/2012

Issue Time

19:00

Expected Weather e for the Next 24 Hours BY Y NIGHT:

Partly cloudy to cloudy with moderate to fresh south easterly to easterly wind, with speed of 20 - 45 km/h causing raising dust with a chance for rain that might be thundery at times

BY Y DA AY:

Cloudy to partly cloudy with moderate to fresh south easterly wind, with speed of 22 - 42 km/h causing raising dust with a chance for rain that might be thundery at times

WARNING A

No Current Waarnings arnin

ST TATION T

MAX. REC.

MIN. N. EXP P.

KUW WA AIT CITY

30 °C

22 °C

KUW WA AIT AIRPOR RT

32 °C

21 °C

NUW WA AISEEB

32 °C

21 °C

WA AFRA

36 °C

20 °C

SALMI

37 °C

20 °C

ABDAL LY

34 °C

20 °C

JAL ALIY YAH A

33 °C

20 °C

FAILAKA A

28 °C

21 °C

AHMADI POR RT

22 °C

21 °C

UMM AL-MARADEM

22 °C

21 °C

WA ARBA A - BUBY YA AN

24 °C

20 °C

SFC. CHART

03/04/2012 1200UTC

4 DA AY YS FORECAST Temperatures DA AY

DA ATE T

WEA AT THER

Wednesday e

04/04

Thursday

05/04

Friday Saturday

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

MAX.

MIN.

cloudy to partly cloudy+thunder rain

32 °C

21 °C

SE

22 - 42 km/h

partly cloudy

31 °C

17 °C

VRB

06 - 22 km/h

06/04

Mostly sunny + blowing dust

32 °C

18 °C

NW

15 - 40 km/h

07/04

sunny

34 °C

18 °C

NW-N

08 - 30 km/h

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WA AIT AIRPOR RT

PRA AYER Y TIMES Fajr

04:16

MAX. Temp.

Sunrise

05:36

MIN. Temp.

30 °C 15 °C

Zuhr

11:51

MAX. RH

40 %

Asr

15:23

MIN. RH

Sunset

18:07

MAX. Wind

Isha

19:25

TOT TAL AL RA AINF FALL A L IN 24 HR.

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

03/04/12 14:56 UTC

07 % SE 57 km/h .06 mm V1.00

T1.06

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

112 Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

A cherry blossom stands in front of a Chinese pagoda at the Yuyuan Tan Park at the start of the blossom season in Beijing yesterday.

Thousands of Beijingers flock to the park during the one month season which coincides with the Qingming tomb sweeping day. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; AFP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Untamed & Uncut 01:40 Human Prey 02:35 Wild Animal Orphans 03:00 Wild Animal Orphans 03:30 Venom Hunter With Donald Schultz 04:25 Killer Whales 05:20 Going Ape 05:45 Wildlife SOS 06:10 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 06:35 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 07:00 Orangutan Island 07:25 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 07:50 Talk To The Animals 08:15 The Really Wild Show 08:40 Cats Of Claw Hill 09:10 Dogs 101 10:05 Killer Whales 11:00 Animal ER 11:55 Animal Cops Houston 12:50 K9 Cops 13:45 SSPCA: On The Wildside 14:10 Wildlife SOS 14:40 Killer Whales 15:30 Animal Battlegrounds 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Breed All About It 17:00 Breed All About It 17:25 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 18:20 Bad Dog 19:15 Wildlife SOS 19:40 Going Ape 20:10 Orangutan Island 20:35 Animal Battlegrounds 21:05 Lions And Giants 22:00 Planet Earth 22:55 Wildest Africa 23:50 Animal Cops Houston

00:10 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 00:35 Indian Food Made Easy 01:00 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 01:25 Living In The Sun 02:10 Bargain Hunt 02:55 Rachel’s Favourite Food For Living 03:20 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 03:45 Antiques Roadshow 04:35 Living In The Sun 05:20 Bargain Hunt 06:05 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 06:30 Antiques Roadshow 07:20 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 07:45 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 08:15 MasterChef Australia 09:00 MasterChef Australia 09:25 Bargain Hunt 10:10 Antiques Roadshow 11:00 Come Dine With Me 11:50 10 Years Younger 12:40 What Not To Wear 13:30 What Not To Wear 14:25 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 15:10 House Swap 15:55 Bargain Hunt 16:40 Antiques Roadshow 17:30 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 18:00 Delicious Iceland 18:30 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 18:55 Indian Food Made Easy 19:20 Rick Stein’s French Odyssey 19:45 10 Years Younger 20:35 What Not To Wear 21:25 What Not To Wear 22:15 Bargain Hunt 23:00 Antiques Roadshow 23:50 Delicious Iceland

00:00 00:30 00:45 01:00 01:30 01:45 02:00 02:30 02:45 03:00 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:30 04:45

BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News America Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today

05:00 Newsday 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Sport Today 06:00 Newsday 06:30 Hardtalk 07:00 Newsday 07:30 World Business Report 07:45 BBC World News 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 Sport Today 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 Sport Today 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 Hardtalk 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 World Business Report 12:45 Sport Today 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 BBC World News 14:00 GMT With George Alagiah 14:30 GMT With George Alagiah 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 World Business Report 15:45 Sport Today 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 16:30 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 19:30 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 21:30 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World Business Report 22:45 Sport Today 23:00 BBC World News America 23:30 Hardtalk

00:00 Backstory 00:30 World Sport 01:00 The Situation Room 02:00 World Report 03:00 Anderson Cooper 360 04:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 05:00 Quest Means Business 06:00 Erin Burnett Outfront 07:00 World Sport 07:30 News Special 08:00 World Report 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Sport 10:30 Inside Africa 11:00 World Business Today 12:00 Backstory 12:30 Inside The Middle East 13:00 World One 14:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 15:00 News Stream 16:00 World Business Today 17:00 International Desk 18:00 Global Exchange 19:00 World Sport 19:30 Inside The Middle East 20:00 International Desk 21:00 Quest Means Business 22:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 23:00 Connect The World With Becky...

00:15 Macintyre: World’s Toughest Towns 01:10 Destroyed In Seconds 01:35 Dirty Jobs 02:30 Overhaulin’ 03:25 Ultimate Survival 04:20 Mythbusters 05:15 How It’s Made 05:40 How Do They Do It? 06:05 Dirty Jobs 07:00 Mythbusters 07:50 Penn & Teller Tell A Lie 08:45 Mythbusters 09:40 How Do They Do It?

10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 15:05 16:00 16:55 17:20 18:15 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings River Monsters River Monsters Overhaulin’ Wheeler Dealers Ultimate Survival Mythbusters How It’s Made How Do They Do It? Border Security Auction Kings Cake Boss Dynamo: Magician Impossible Mythbusters Penn & Teller Tell A Lie

00:35 Investigation X 01:25 The Tech Show 01:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 02:40 Bad Universe 03:35 Weird Connections 04:00 Weird Connections 04:25 Da Vinci’s Machines 05:20 Ecopolis 06:10 Investigation X 07:00 The Gadget Show 07:25 The Gadget Show 07:50 Building The Biggest 08:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 09:35 Bad Universe 10:25 Weird Connections 10:50 Weird Connections 11:20 Ecopolis 12:15 Da Vinci’s Machines 13:05 Investigation X 13:55 The Gadget Show 14:20 The Gadget Show 14:50 Weird Connections 15:15 Weird Connections 15:40 The Tech Show 16:05 Ecopolis 17:00 Building The Biggest 17:50 Investigation X 18:40 Weird Or What?

19:30 Cool Stuff & How It Works 19:55 Cool Stuff & How It Works 20:20 The Gadget Show 20:45 The Gadget Show 21:10 Build It Bigger: Rebuilding Greensburg 22:00 Weird Or What?

22:50 Cool Stuff & How It Works 23:15 Cool Stuff & How It Works 23:40 Building The Biggest

00:15 Fairly Odd Parents 00:40 Fairly Odd Parents 01:05 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 01:30 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 01:55 Replacements 02:20 Replacements 02:45 Emperor’s New School 03:10 Emperor’s New School 03:35 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 04:00 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 04:25 Replacements 04:50 Replacements 05:15 Fairly Odd Parents 05:35 Fairly Odd Parents 06:00 Fish Hooks 06:15 Recess 06:40 So Random 07:05 Wizards Of Waverly Place 07:30 Good Luck Charlie 07:55 Shake It Up 08:20 Phineas And Ferb 08:45 Jessie 09:10 A.N.T. Farm 09:35 So Random 10:00 Go Figure 11:25 Phineas And Ferb 11:40 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 12:05 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 12:30 Wizards Of Waverly Place 12:55 Phineas And Ferb 13:20 So Random 13:45 Suite Life On Deck 14:10 Wizards Of Waverly Place 14:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place 15:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place

15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:05 17:30 19:00 19:10 19:30 19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:05 23:30 23:45

A.N.T. Farm Phineas And Ferb Recess So Random Jessie Cheetah Girls 2 Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Have A Laugh Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Go Figure Phineas And Ferb Kim Possible

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:20 American Dragon 06:45 Rekkit Rabbit 07:10 Pokemon: Black And White 07:35 Timon And Pumbaa 08:00 Phineas And Ferb 08:35 Phineas And Ferb 08:50 I’m In The Band 10:05 I’m In The Band 10:30 Kickin It 10:55 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 11:20 Pair Of Kings 11:45 Zeke & Luther 12:10 Rated A For Awesome 12:35 Phineas And Ferb 13:00 Phineas And Ferb 13:25 Phineas And Ferb 13:45 I’m In The Band 14:10 Pair Of Kings 14:35 Zeke & Luther 15:00 Rekkit Rabbit 15:25 Pokemon: Black And White 15:50 Timon And Pumbaa 16:15 Kickin It 16:40 Pair Of Kings 17:05 Zeke & Luther 17:30 Phineas And Ferb 19:20 Phineas And Ferb 19:35 Pokemon: Black And White 20:00 Pair Of Kings 20:25 Kick Buttowski 20:50 Zeke & Luther 21:20 Aaron Stone 21:45 Phineas And Ferb 22:10 Phineas And Ferb 22:35 Kid vs Kat 23:00 Programmes Start At 6:00am KSA

00:55 Style Star 01:25 25 Celebrity Near Death Experiences 03:15 Behind The Scenes 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Bridalplasty 10:15 25 Most Sensational Hollywood Meltdowns 12:05 E! News 13:05 Kendra 13:35 Kendra 14:05 Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami 14:35 Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Dirty Soap 17:55 E! News 18:55 E!es 19:55 Ice Loves Coco 20:25 Ice Loves Coco 20:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:25 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:15 Featured 00:40 Blood, Sweat And Gears 01:30 World Combat League 02:20 Featured 02:45 Featured 03:10 Enfusion 04:00 Glutton For Punishment 04:25 Glutton For Punishment 04:50 Blood, Sweat And Gears 05:40 World Combat League 06:30 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2008 07:00 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2008 07:30 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2008 08:00 IFMXF 2010 08:25 Summer Dew Tour 2011 09:15 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships...

10:05 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships...

10:55 Dr Danger 11:20 Dr Danger 11:45 Breitling Airsports 2009 12:10 Breitling Airsports 2009 12:35 Featured 13:00 From Romania With Love 13:25 Blood, Sweat And Gears 14:15 World Combat League 15:05 Dr Danger 15:30 Dr Danger 15:55 Breitling Airsports 2009 16:20 Breitling Airsports 2009 16:45 IFMXF 2010 17:10 Summer Dew Tour 2011 18:00 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships...

18:50 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships...

19:40 Blood, Sweat And Gears 20:30 Featured 20:55 From Romania With Love 21:20 Man’s Work 21:45 Man’s Work 22:10 World Combat League 23:00 Enfusion 23:50 Featured

THE SIEGE ON OSN ACTION HD

00:05 00:30 00:55 01:20

Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Kid In A Candy Store Guy’s Big Bite Guy’s Big Bite

01:45 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 02:10 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 02:35 Meat & Potatoes 03:00 Meat & Potatoes 03:25 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 03:50 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 04:15 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 04:40 Good Eats 05:05 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 05:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 05:50 Food Network Challenge 06:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 07:00 Food Network Challenge 07:50 World Cafe Asia 08:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 08:40 Good Eats 09:05 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 09:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 09:55 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 10:20 Lidia’s Italy 10:45 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 11:10 Unwrapped 11:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 12:00 Food Network Challenge 12:50 Aarti Party 13:15 Cooking For Real 13:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:05 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 14:30 Unique Sweets 14:55 Paula’s Best Dishes 15:20 Meat & Potatoes 15:45 Unwrapped 16:35 Cooking For Real 17:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 17:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 17:50 Aarti Party 18:15 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 18:40 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 19:05 Unique Sweets 19:30 Food Network Challenge 20:20 Chopped 21:10 Unwrapped 22:00 Kid In A Candy Store 22:25 Kid In A Candy Store 22:50 Good Eats - Special 23:15 Good Eats - Special 23:40 Meat & Potatoes

00:30 01:20 02:05 02:55 03:45 04:30 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 Jones 11:10 12:00 12:25 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 Jones 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:55 20:20 Jones 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Ghost Lab Mysterious Journeys Couples Who Kill Deadly Women Dr. G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab Mysterious Journeys Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery ER Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Disappeared Street Patrol Street Patrol Murder Shift Mystery ER Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery ER Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Disappeared I Almost Got Away With It Extreme Drug Smuggling Dr. G: Medical Examiner

01:55 Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM 02:10 The Ranch 03:40 Thunderbolt And LightfootPG 05:30 Flesh And Blood-18 07:30 Angel Of Desire 09:05 Just Another Story-PG 10:20 Danielle Steel’s Remembrance-PG 11:50 Danielle Steel’s Mixed Blessings-PG 13:20 A Green Journey-PG 14:55 The Horse Soldiers-PG 16:50 Carrie (2002) 18:20 Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM 18:35 Delirious-PG 20:10 Smile-PG 22:00 Nobody’s Fool 23:50 Panther-18

00:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 01:00 A World Apart 02:00 Treks In A Wild World 03:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 04:00 Graham’s World 04:30 Graham’s World 05:00 The Green Way Up 05:30 The Green Way Up 06:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 07:00 A World Apart 08:00 Treks In A Wild World 09:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 10:00 Graham’s World 10:30 Graham’s World 11:00 The Green Way Up 11:30 The Green Way Up 12:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 13:00 On Surfari 13:30 Word of Mouth 14:00 Warrior Road Trip 15:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 16:00 Adventure Wanted 17:00 A World Apart 18:00 Treks In A Wild World 18:30 Sahara Sprinters 19:00 On Surfari 19:30 Word of Mouth 20:00 Warrior Road Trip 21:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 22:00 Adventure Wanted 23:00 A World Apart

AFRICAN CATS: KINGDOM OF COURAGE ON OSN CINEMA

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:15 10:15 13:45 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

The Alphabet Killer-18 The Siege-18 Repo Men-18 What Lies Beneath-PG15 Bangkok Adrenaline-PG15 Spartacus-PG15 Patriot Games-PG15 Bangkok Adrenaline-PG15 Taxi-PG15 Iron Man 2-PG15 X-Men-PG15

01:00 Fading Of The Cries-18 03:00 Camp Hope-PG15 05:00 Mars Needs Moms-PG 07:00 The Open Road-PG15 09:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 11:00 Sounds Like Teen Spirit-PG15 13:00 Mars Needs Moms-PG 15:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 17:00 Sounds Like Teen Spirit-PG15 19:00 St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold-PG15 21:00 African Cats: Kingdom Of Courage-PG 23:00 Death Race 2-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 02:00 Louie 02:30 Family Guy 03:00 Melissa And Joey 03:30 Mad Love 04:00 The Simpsons 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 06:00 Weird Science 06:30 How I Met Your Mother 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 The Simpsons 08:30 Melissa And Joey 09:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 09:30 Raising Hope 10:00 Traffic Light 10:30 How I Met Your Mother 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Weird Science 12:30 The Simpsons 13:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 13:30 How I Met Your Mother 14:00 Mad Love 14:30 Traffic Light 15:00 Raising Hope 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:30 Weird Science 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Melissa And Joey 18:30 Mad Love 19:00 Raising Hope 19:30 Traffic Light 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Angry Boys 22:30 Louie 23:00 Family Guy 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00

Private Practice House Pillars Of The Earth Grey’s Anatomy Combat Hospital Live Good Morning America C.S.I. Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View Private Practice Grey’s Anatomy Live Good Morning America C.S.I. The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Once Upon A Time Grimm The Glades

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Bones Pillars Of The Earth House Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice One Tree Hill Bones Emmerdale Coronation Street The Nine Lives Of Chloe King The Ellen DeGeneres Show Grey’s Anatomy House Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Nine Lives Of Chloe King Bones Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Nine Lives Of Chloe King Once Upon A Time Grimm The Glades Law & Order: Criminal Intent The Killing

01:00 03:00 05:00 18 07:00 10:00 PG15 11:30 13:00 PG15 15:00 PG15 17:00 19:00 21:15 23:00

Fade To Black-18 Repo Men-18 30 Days Of Night: Dark Days-

Altitude-PG15 Iron Man 2-PG15 X-Men-PG15 X2-PG

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Head Of State-PG15 Kuffs-PG Leave It To Beaver-PG Charlie & Boots-PG15 Charlie & Boots-PG15 French Kiss-PG15 That Old Feeling-PG15 Mr. Wrong-PG15 Head Of State-PG15 Jack Goes Boating-PG15 Snow Dogs-PG How High-18

The Postman-PG15 True Justice: Deadly CrossingBallistica-PG15 Snake In The Eagle’s ShadowTrue Justice: Deadly Crossing-

01:00 Romeo Is Bleeding-18 03:00 Two Lovers-18 05:00 Arlington Road-PG15 07:00 Le Code A Change-PG15 09:00 The Nutty Professor-FAM 10:45 On Broadway-PG15 12:45 Celine: Through The Eyes Of The World-PG15 15:00 Little Man Tate-PG 17:00 Return To Rajapur-PG15 19:00 All The Pretty Horses-PG15 21:00 The Burning Plain-18 22:45 Das Boot-PG15

01:30 Gentlemen Broncos-PG15 03:00 A Lot Like Love-PG15 05:00 Stomp The Yard 2: Homecoming-PG15 07:00 Good Hair-PG15 09:00 Lottery Ticket-PG15 11:00 The Wronged Man-PG15 13:00 Ice Age-FAM 15:00 Stone Of Destiny-PG15 17:00 Lottery Ticket-PG15 19:00 Date Night-PG15 21:00 African Cats: Kingdom Of Courage-PG 23:00 Love And Other Drugs-R

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Last Of The Mohicans-PG The Prince Of Dinosaurs-PG True Story Of Puss’n Boots-PG Furry Vengeance-PG The Thief Of Baghdad-PG Megamind-FAM In Search Of The Titanic-PG

14:00 True Story Of Puss’n Boots-PG 16:00 The Adventures Of Elmo In Grouchland-PG 18:00 Megamind-FAM 20:00 Cars 2-FAM 22:00 In Search Of The Titanic-PG

00:00 Super Rugby 02:00 Futbol Mundial 02:30 Trans World Sport 03:30 Premier League Darts 07:00 Super Rugby 09:00 Futbol Mundial 09:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 10:00 Super Rugby Highlights 11:00 WWE This Week 11:30 Trans World Sport 12:30 Futbol Mundial 13:00 Premier League Darts 16:30 Volvo Ocean Race 17:30 Futbol Mundial 18:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 19:00 Trans World Sport 20:00 WWE Smackdown 22:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 23:00 Volvo Ocean Race

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 15:30 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 22:00

European PGA Tour Highlights Futbol Mundial Mobil 1 The Grid NRL Premiership NRL Premiership Trans World Sport Futbol Mundial SPL Highlights Scottish Premier League Ironman Ironman City Center Races City Center Races City Center Races Volvo Ocean Race Highlights NRL Premiership Futbol Mundial AFL Winners Super Rugby Highlights Trans World Sports Top 14 Highlights NRL Full Time Super Rugby Scottish Premier League

03:00 NRL Full Time 03:30 Triathlon 04:00 Triathlon 04:30 Ironman 05:00 Ironman 06:00 Ping Pong World Championship 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Asian Tour Highlights 09:00 Super Rugby Highlights 10:00 Golfing World 11:00 AFL Winners 12:00 Super Rugby 14:00 Asian Tour Highlights 15:00 Golfing World 16:00 Mobil 1 The Grid 16:30 Pro 12 Celtic League 18:30 AFL Winners 19:30 Trans World Sport 20:30 Golfing World 21:30 European Tour Weekly 22:00 Top 14 Highlights 22:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 23:00 Futbol Mundial 23:30 Super League

01:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Prizefighter UFC Unleashed UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed WWE Vintage Collection WWE NXT Prizefighter Mobil 1 The Grid WWE This Week WWE SmackDown UAE National Race Day Series UAE National Race Day Series Mobil 1 The Grid WWE Vintage Collection V8 Supercars Extra V8 Supercars Highlights V8 Supercars Highlights UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed UFC The Ultimate Fighter V8 Supercars Highlights

35

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 637

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) This should be one of those feel good days. You feel good about your friends, smoothing ruffled feathers, a love relationship— and if there is none, you may feel good about finding one. The only things you do not feel good about are work and self-discipline—watch the finances! You may as well go on feeling good about everything else! Cooperation, support and service will bring you to a new level of life experience. Be aware of what your motivations are and express yourself with no expectations of a return on your time or feelings. This is a time during which you could accomplish a lot through sheer discipline—control of your energy and drive. You may appear very at ease today. Your loved ones may find you especially fun to be with this evening.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) This is a powerfully energetic time that instills great ambition in you. Try to channel some of this energy into constructive enterprises. Refrain from forcing issues in business at this time. Today is filled with joyous and harmonious feelings. A new friendship or romance started today has a bright and long-lasting future. Your energy is high and your creative juices are flowing—ready to be applied to whatever work is at hand. This time usually brings about good conditions among co-workers, particularly with the opposite sex. If emotional fences need mending, today is a good day for the task because you are in a truly mellow mood.

Home, is a nice place to be this evening and you may be pleased to discover someone else is serving the evening meal.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. A label made of cardboard or plastic or metal.

4. A printed impression that is blurred or doubled.

10. 32nd President of the United States.

13. A member of the Siouan people inhabiting the valleys of the Platte and Missouri rivers in Nebraska.

14. (Greek mythology) One of the three Graces.

15. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

16. Having a pair of equal and opposite charges.

18. The eighth month of the civil year.

19. Black tropical American cuckoo.

20. (Irish) God of love and beauty.

21. A person who practices masturbation.

23. A family of fish in the order Zeomorphi.

25. Small spiny outgrowth on the wings of certain insects.

26. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

28. A metric unit of length equal to 100 meters.

29. United States physicist who developed the first successful liquid-fueled rocket (1882-1945).

36. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

38. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest.

39. A small cake leavened with yeast.

41. Long pinkish sour leafstalks usually eaten cooked and sweetened.

44. A collection of objects laid on top of each other.

47. The compass point that is midway between north and northeast.

48. Informal terms for a mother.

51. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

53. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

57. Jordan's port.

59. Lacking or deprive of the sense of hearing wholly or in part.

62. The month following February and preceding April.

63. The federal agency that insures residential mortgages.

64. A member of an agricultural people of southern India.

66. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

67. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

68. A port city in southwestern Iran.

69. A white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves.

DOWN 1. A yellow quartz.

2. Make amends for.

3. Italian histologist noted for work on the structure of the nervous system and for his discovery of Golgi bodies (18441926).

4. Dark sweet or semisweet dessert wine from Sicily.

5. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

6. A user interface in which you type commands instead of choosing them from a menu or selecting an icon.

7. Knock unconscious or senseless.

8. A woody climbing usually tropical plant.

9. An ache localized in the middle or inner ear.

10. An implement consisting of handle with a free swinging stick at the end.

11. Permitting little if any light to pass through because of denseness of matter.

12. An Indian side dish of yogurt and chopped cucumbers and spices.

17. Wild sheep of northern Africa.

22. Lacking sensation.

24. A very light brown.

27. A public promotion of some product or service.

30. Leaf or strip from a leaf of the talipot palm used in India for writing paper.

31. A light touch or stroke.

32. German botanist who is generally recognized as founding bacteriology when he recognized bacteria as plants.

33. Fiddler crabs.

34. Relating to or characteristic of or occurring in the air.

35. Tag the base runner to get him out.

37. A hard brittle blue-white multivalent metallic element.

40. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

42. An organization of independent states to promote international peace and security.

43. A piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep.

45. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

46. A genus of Ploceidae.

49. A Loloish language.

50. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that was formed by an explosion.

52. A small ball with a hole through the middle.

53. A silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group.

54. Type genus of the Amiidae.

55. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

56. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

58. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

60. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

61. A device for creating a current of air by movement of a surface or surfaces.

65. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You may feel rushed this morning but there is time to get many things accomplished before the day begins. Having high energy spurts, you will find it easy to forget your personal thoughts as you attempt to accomplish many things around the office in a short amount of time. Perhaps you could make a list and mark off the achieved projects one at a time. This way you eliminate doing too many things at once. Your interest in investing is high. You seek investments more through rational, intellectual processes than with brute, physical actions.

Watching the results of investments that successful people have achieved may give you insight into your own future investment patterns. Perhaps a financial advisor would be beneficial.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Your energy could be at a slow pace just now, making you extremely sensitive. Your heightened sensitivity may be directed to others, however and you can pass the day successfully doing good deeds for those around you. This is not the time to invest or purchase items that are not necessary just now. You may engage in many emotional shifts and feel that your work and career are inadequate—perhaps you are thinking of changing jobs. Perseverance should be exercised as much as possible since slow and steady win the race. Evaluate your job situation when your energies are more positive. Your relationships are harmonious— it’s a good time to be intimate with loved ones. If you are not already in love, watch out . . . the love bug is nearby.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Stay out of uncharted waters today—the course will be much clearer tomorrow. New ways to communicate or an easy manner will make conversations and interactions go well. You may find yourself more talkative and easy-going just now. Public relations problems from yesterday—dissolve. A dialogue with superiors may prove lucrative. Stability and permanence satisfy a deep emotional need. There may be little time to do things with friends or family tonight. It is a good idea, however, to take the time to give someone you care about a call. Music is likely to play a more important role for you than usual. You may find yourself purchasing concert tickets or enjoying productions of music performances on some form of recording.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You might feel a bit rudderless today. Try to avoid making really important decisions. Stay out of uncharted waters—the course will be much clearer tomorrow. This may be a period of hard work and responsibility, both in salvaging some endeavors that appear to be failing and in branching out in new directions. Many projects come to fruition, especially large ones. Throughout this month, most aspects are positive. You can successfully get through today if you keep that sense of humor of yours upbeat, positive and in its proper place. There are many opportunities to meet people and make new friends. This is a good time to solidify existing friendships while gaining the affections of old acquaintances.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Today, your sensitivity to the needs of others is acute and your desire to help is strong. This should be one super day to work with people. If you are a salesperson, you should double your quota today! You have a deep desire to succeed and accomplish much. You reap what you sow; thus working hard now will most likely pay off with many good times with friends and family in the future. This afternoon, there is a desire and an opportunity to understand another person’s psyche, especially a close friend. A deeply emotional talk with a loved one is rewarding this evening. Take the time to really listen. Look into temporarily taking on a vegetarian diet that is rich in organic fruits and vegetables, providing energy and a boost to your immune system.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) This day can be rewarding or damaging, depending on how you handle it. If you focus on others, your understanding will enable you to fit into any group. This ability is helpful in any job or group gettogether. If, however, you are caught up in your own feelings, you are likely to see only what you want to see. This attitude can cause lots of problems. In any event, save the decisions that require clear logic for another day. For the most part, you should try to combine both work and pleasure in the best productive ways possible. Your relationships with others are most harmonious. On a more mundane level, it’s a good time to effect subtle changes in your personal life. Social activities are enjoyable this evening.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

Finish-rather-than-start is the attitude of this day. Today you have the mental concentration and discipline to work out the final details of a past project, but you may not be up to blocking out the broad borders of a new one. Once you start on a task today, you will find yourself seeing things through to the end. Your communicative powers may be a bit pinched—it would be best to put off any negotiations requiring personal contact. Patience and a positive attitude will be the answer to the frustrations of this day. Many conversations about out-oftouch friends may have you finding ways to get in touch with these people soon.

Perhaps a reunion is in the works. A forgotten debt that someone owes you is remembered this evening and is easily repaid.

There may be some serious decision made about the future of a project, investment or term of employment with your business at this time. This is a most beneficial time to exchange ideas and seek out new ventures in which to capitalize. Courage and confidence reign. Others will follow your lead in any group effort. Your energy remains high this afternoon and the time is perfect for getting some exercise or for shopping. Just make sure any new projects are short-term. Your position in society and your responsibilities as an adult are seriously examined now. You may be very pleased at what you find.

You enjoy good relations with family members and the financial position may improve because of your association with a relative.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Your mind is working very fast today. The world around you appears to be going in slow motion. Perception is accurate.

Complex problems are solved quickly and insights come in a flash. This is a good day to tackle some new technical discipline that may have had you worried you before today—such as mathematics or science. You tend to be extremely ambitious on the professional level. It is important to develop a team attitude so as not to alienate fellow workers that are negative. Leave any task that requires mechanical plodding for another day. This is not a particularly good time to invest, unless the venture is well planned and researched. There is fluency in your social skills, making it a good evening to be with friends or loved ones.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Ambition is a powerful motivation and can lead you into conflict if you let it get out of control. Properly channeled, it results in great achievement and brings recognition. You yearn to broaden horizons and learn new things. You may be tired of the old and really need a stimulating change of pace.

Anyone you attract today is likely to be totally different from your regular friends. A new love attraction may be very exciting—but brief. You could take a stab at some new form of artistic expression: if you like Norman Rockwell, try Picasso instead. If Mozart is normally your cup of tea, try Ellington or the Beatles for a change. A lover or child who is bright and articulate plays a bigger role in your life. Mentoring to this young person may bring out the best in you.

36

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

lifest yle G o s s i p

he 30-year-old actress is to marry preacher DeVon Franklin after he proposed to her in Los Angeles last month. DeVon is an executive at Sony Pictures Entertainment but also leads a religious life as a 7th Day Adventist preacher. Meagan and DeVon have known each other for years but only started dating after production wrapped on 2011 wedding comedy ‘Jumping the Broom’

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which starred Meagan and was produced by DeVon. The actress’ representative confirmed to TMZ.com that the couple got engaged last month and are very excited about their upcoming nuptials.

Rihanna he soccer star wants to purchase the back door of the yellow three-wheeler Robin Reliant from classic British comedy show ‘Only Fools and Horses’ when it goes up for auction in Britain later this month and hang it on a wall at the couple’s Los Angeles mansion. However, fashion designer Victoria isn’t keen on the idea as she doesn’t think it will fit in with their stylish home. A source close to the couple who have three sons, Brooklyn, 13, Romeo, nine, Cruz, seven, and eight-month-old daughter Harper together - said: “David reckons it would be great to buy and bring it back to Los Angeles. He’s a massive fan of ‘Only Fools and Horses’ and watches it with his sons all the time. “The main sticking point is Victoria. She’s not too keen on having a bright yellow car door knocking about.” The yellow door is emblazoned with the famous slogan, ‘Trotters Independent Trading Co, New York-Paris-Peckham’ and is signed by cast members including Sir David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst. The BBC One sitcom ran from 1981 to 2003 and followed the lives of wheeler dealer Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter (David) and his younger brother Rodney (Nicholas) in Peckham, south London.

plays ‘pregnancy’ prank

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he singer-and-actress has a wicked sense of humour and she has revealed one April Fool’s Day she and her pal decided to trick her friend’s older sibling into believing she was going to be an aunt, a joke which reduced the recipient to tears.

Rihanna recalled: “Me and my best friend called her big sister to fool it out she was pregnant - not cute. There were real tears being cried on the other phone, real panic, real anxiety attacks, it was funny in the end but in the moment we were like did we go too far?!” The ‘You Da One’ hitmaker is now very close friends with another prank-loving pop beauty Katy Perry. Rihanna - who

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stars in new blockbuster movie ‘Battleship’ has revealed she would love to work with the ‘Part of Me’ singer on a track. When quizzed on whether she and Katy have plans to collaborate on a project in the future during an interview with UK radio station Magic 105.4, Rihanna said: “Who knows, I don’t know, I really haven’t seen her movies, I know we’d love to do music together.”

he ‘30 Rock’ star - who turns 54 popped the question to girlfriend Hilaria Thomas at the weekend and the yoga instructor said yes. The actor’s representative told Us Weekly magazine: “Yes, it’s true! Alec proposed to Hilaria this weekend and we’re all excited for the newly engaged couple. Alec’s birthday is tomorrow. Great way to celebrate!”

Alec and Hilaria, 28, have been a couple for almost a year and first appeared in public together at several bashes in New York in May 2011. The Hollywood star was previously married to actress Kim Bassinger but the pair divorced in acrimony in 2002 after nine years of marriage and the pair were then embroiled in a bitter custody battle over their daughter Ireland, who is now 16. Things had been getting more and more serious between Alec and Hilaria for months, and the actor recently revealed he was considering having children with her.

He said: “Have I thought about having more kids? Oh sure, that would be great, that would be heaven, that would be fantastic.” He jokingly added: “As my friend said to me, ‘When you have children, typically in a second

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he pair were spotted enjoying a cosy meal together at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood on Sunday night and according to onlookers seemed as close as ever. At one point, Eva, 37, and 26year-old Eduardo - the brother of actress Penelope Cruz - were even seen holding hands at their table, sparking speculation they are back together.

A source told X17 Online: “Over the course of the evening, Eva and Eduardo were holding hands and whispering to each other, and things definitely appear to be back on between them.” Eva - who divorced exhusband Tony Parker in 2010 after three years of marriage amid allegations he had cheated on her - and Eduardo separated in March due to the ‘Desperate Housewives’ actress’ work commitments. A source said at the time: “It was mutual decision. They are staying friends. She’s focusing on work and the end of ‘Desperate Housewives’.” The pair were first introduced at a party by Eduardo’s Penelope before stepping out together as a couple in February 2011.

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he former Playboy model is grieving for her aquatic pal Mr Betta who passed away in his tank. Kendra praised her fishy friend for being there for her any time she needed to escape from her hectic life. She wrote on her twitter account: “Our fish tank is empty today. :( Mr Betta was there for me anytime I need to take my mind off of this crazy world. RIP Mr Betta. (sic)” The late Mr Betta isn’t animal loving Kendra’s only pet.

The 26-year-old star - who is married to Hank Baskett and previously dated Hugh Hefner also has a dog, Martini, and the pooch has a problem with flatulence. Kendra - who has a twoyear-old son Hank Jr. with her husband - revealed on twitter: “Finally ... Nap time! And just as I’m layin down my dog farts in my face again. Goodnight :) (sic)”

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marriage, when you’re older and you get married again to a woman who would have children, you must always remember that you make sure the children attend a college where the commencement ceremonies are held in a facility with a wheelchair accessible ramp.’” — Bangshowbiz

37

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

LIFESTYLE

Russian mansionfind

Workers restoring

or years, kopek-pinching Soviets sat down in a cheap restaurant in a former mansion of the nobility for plain meals, unaware of the treasure secreted nearby. Workers restoring the building this week finally found it, unexpectedly, in a storage space hidden between two floors - more than 1,000 pieces of jewellery, silver service sets stamped with the name of one of Russia’s most prominent noble families, mirrors and brushes in silver frames. Many of them were wrapped in newspapers dated from the early months of 1917, as Russia careened toward the Bolshevik Revolution that ended life as the nobles had known it. Friday’s announcement of the find by the Intarsia company, which is performing the restoration work, excited the news media and sparked arguments over who can claim the valuables.

Pieces of treasure discovered in a secret place in a The find is so new that experts 19th-century mansion under restoration are on dis- haven’t had time to inspect the goods and estimate their value. The play in St. Petersburg, Russia. —AP photos treasure tale touches on two of

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Russia’s most renowned and romantic figures: Peter the Great and Alexander Pushkin.

The mansion was purchased in 1875 by Duke Vasily Naryshkin, whose family included Nataliya Naryshkina, the second wife of Czar Alexis and the mother of Peter the Great. The mansion had been put together by connecting two 18-century houses, one of which belonged to Pushkin’s African grandfather Abram Gannibal.

After the Bolsheviks nationalized private property, part of the mansion was turned into a stolovaya, a canteen-like restaurant serving utilitarian meals, according to Russian news reports. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the building housed apartment, became private apartments, then was purchased by Intarsia to be turned into a conference and cultural centre. Intarsia said it would like to display the treasures for public view in the cultural centre once it’s completed; for now, they’re in custody of the city’s com-

treasure

mittee for historical preservation.

But who has the final claim to them hasn’t been resolved.

Sergei Malinkovich, head of a regional Communist organization, told the Rosbalt news agency that his group will apply for ownership of the items on the grounds that the group is the successor to the Communists who nationalized state property. “The essential thing here is that at the moment of the creation of the hiding-place, the treasure was no longer property of the Naryshkins,” he said. The state news agency, meanwhile, cited Ivan Artsishevsky, chairman of the House of Romanov in Russia, as saying it appears the closest relative to the Naryshkins who occupied the house lives in France, but that it was unclear if this person would seek the valuables. —AP

UAE students bring thematic novelty to 5th GFF 14 films by Emirati students in Gulf Students Competition

oung Emirati filmmakers are deriving inspiration for their movies from quirky trends in contemporary society - anything from home-bred wild cats that now make news headlines for their unexpected city prowl to fashionable hairdos

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Gamboo3a Revolution

Cats that defy conventions - bringing a fresh dose of novelty to the fifth Gulf Film Festival. Held under the patronage of Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid AlMaktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) from April 10-16, GFF 2012’s short-list of Emirati films selected for the Gulf Student Short Competition include 14 films - 10 of them

world premieres - that are as diverse as their content as in their filmmaking style.

If you have wondered about those lion cubs and leopards popping their heads out of Dubai-registered Land Cruisers with increasing frequency, Marwan Alhammadi’s Cats will present you a new perspective.

The short film, which makes its world premiere at GFF, puts the spotlight on four exotic cats that live in UAE homes. Discover their daily lifestyle, details of their breeding and the sheer passion of their owners, who have their own share of difficulties and challenges. Also listen to what veterinarians have to say about breeding wild cats at home.

Abdulrahman Al-Madani’s Gamboo3a Revolution, also a world premiere, raises an interesting question: Are those beehive hairdos, also known as the gamboo3a phenomenon or the camel hump, misusing fashion? The documentary on the fashion fad debates the argument that the gamboo3a contradicts its original purpose - to dress modestly.

Ahmed Al-Hebsi explores the existential dilemmas of an individual with Al-KMD, which makes its world premiere at GFF 2012. An argument on individualism versus conformation, the short drama probes the psyche of an individual who tries to escape from people and how he represses his feelings. On a similar philosophical vein is Beginning End directed by Aisha Abdullah.

The short, which also makes its world premiere, has just one striking argument to put forth - everything has an end, a finite conclusion.

The guilt of crime, committed unintentionally, is the theme of Death Circle, a powerful short by Tariq Alkazim, another world premiere. A mentally ill boy and his brother go hunting; the expedition takes an unexpected turn as they kill a man accidentally.

Shell-shocked and wanting to hide the crime, they decide to bury the body but unexpected things happen that test the two protagonists.

An intense psychological drama, The Grave by Ebrahim Al-Rasbi also makes its world premiere at GFF. The film is about a young man who must battle a psychological trauma as he is forced to carry food for patients who suffer from an infectious disease, until the inevitable happens. How much would an ice-cream cost, and what

does it take for a young boy to buy one? A lot actually, says Khalid Al-Abdulla with the world premiere of his movie Ice Cream. All that Eissa, the protagonist longs for is an ice-cream, and he is trying to save every fil to achieve it. Another world premiere is that of The Old Palm, directed by Eman AlSuwaidi, in which an old palm tree is the only consolation for an elderly woman who has been abandoned by her family. The film narrates the not-much-discussed side of old age.

In Fatema Abdulla’s Life Spray, which makes its world premiere at GFF, preparations are ongoing for a marriage and a young girl Aisha is brimming with joy.

However, it takes absolutely little to push her into a black hole and profound grief.

Mohammad Ahmad Fikree, the Emirati 2D animator and director of Mad Camel, the hilarious animated adventure about a family marooned in the desert and stalked by the foaming four-footed beast which regaled audiences in the past edition of GFF, is back this year with his new animation adventure, Children. The animated drama is about a mother and her children who are planning a desperate escape from a scary, hungry beast that preys on them.

Faisal Al-Moosa’s The Skipping, meanwhile, is a comedy about a group of boys who decide to skip school, which triggers a series of surprising events - including the president getting involved. Three student shorts that previously screened at the 2011 Dubai International Film Festival are also confirmed for the competition: Mohammed Swaidan’s Smell of Heaven, the story of an old local jeweler in Dubai, who is visited by a strange man that no one else can see.

Having won a Special Mention at the Muhr Emirati Awards of Dubai International Film Festival 2011, Mariam Al-Sarkal is showcasing her London in a Headscarf at GFF 2012. The documentary follows the journey of an Emirati girl who has decided to study abroad. She finds it challenging to adapt to the new culture, and soon realises that her decision to study abroad might have made her a not-so-eligible candidate for marriage.

Also short-listed for the competition is Moment directed by Mohammed Ghanim Al-Marri, who too returns to GFF. The silent film narrates the story of a young man in utter despair, who is on the verge of self-

destruction having lost all hope in life. And then dawns a seminal moment - that moment in time when he rediscovers joy through the secret delight of a bird. All GFF films are free for the public. The festival programme also includes children’s cinema showcase, master classes, nightly industry discussions and other special events.

GFF 2012 will be held at the InterContinental Hotel, Crowne Plaza and Grand Festival Cinemas at Dubai Festival

Life Spray

Smell of Heaven City. The Investment Corporation of Dubai is the presenting sponsor of the Gulf Film Festival; Emirates airline is its official carrier.

GFF is supported by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and held in association with Dubai Studio City. More details and updates on the festival are available online at www.gulffilmfest.com or at www.facebook.com/gulffilmfestival or @gulffilmfest on Twitter.

‘Titanic’ director says ocean ‘alien world’ resh from his journey to the deepest point of the Pacific in a solo submarine dive, Hollywood director James Cameron has spoken to Australian schoolchildren, answering questions on how fast his craft could travel to how he went to the toilet. The “Titanic” filmmaker, who last month plunged seven miles (11 kilometres) to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific, told students at Perth’s Roseworth Primary School that science had been his favourite subject.

In particular, he was intrigued by astronomy, the Perth Now website reported him as saying during a video chat yesterday via satellite from a ship lying in the Pacific off the coast of Guam. “I knew I was probably not going to be an astronaut and travel to another planet, but I knew there was something very much like another planet right here on earth, and that’s underwater,” Cameron said.

“Sometimes when you’re on a coral reef or a deep-sea dive, you see animals that are so colourful, so amazing and so different to anything you could have imagined, then you realise there is an alien world here on earth.” Speaking simultaneously to the school in Perth and one in California, he said the marine life he had seen was

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Cyclone strands Take That singer on Pacific island

“nature’s imagination”. After taking his submarine dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, where temperatures are barely above freezing and the pressure is a crushing thousand times that at sea level, Cameron described the landscape as “lunar”.

Cameron spent about two and a half hours at the bottom of the ocean, but cut short the planned stay of six hours because of problems with his specially designed submersible’s hydraulics system. Questions from the students, aged from about nine to 12, ranged from one about how fast the submarine could travel, to the personal: “How did you go to the toilet in the sub?”

As the students giggled, he reportedly replied: “Have you ever gone on a really long car trip with your family and they keep a bottle for you so you don’t have to pull over?” Cameron’s voyage to the valley of the Mariana Trench, which lies southwest of Guam, was the first manned expedition to the trench in more than half a century and the culmination of more than seven years of planning by the director. —AFP

tropical cyclone has stranded Take That singer Gary Barlow in the Solomon Islands, forcing the country’s government to send a boat to rescue him. The 41-year-old Briton travelled to the Pacific island nation to film a documentary about Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee when he became trapped by bad weather, taking to microblogging site Twitter to describe his adventure.

“We’re stranded on an island in the Solomons,” he wrote. “There’s a cyclone heading our way and there’s no way off.

Gonna have to sit it out!! “Power’s back on. The lovely government here are sending a search and rescue boat for us this morning”. Fiji, southeast of the Solomons, declared a state of emergency on Sunday amid severe flooding as Tropical Cyclone Daphne passed close by. Barlow is reportedly working on a BBC programme examining what the British monarch means to people in Commonwealth countries as part of celebrations to mark her 60th year on the throne. The Solomon Islands is a former British colony which gained independence in 1978. —AFP

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A hawker wears a flower hat to sell his goods at the Yuyuan Tan Park during the start of the blossom season in Beijing yesterday. Thousands of Beijingers flock to the park during the one month season which coincides with the Qingming tomb sweeping day. —AP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

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uebec pranksters revealed Monday they convinced actor Charlie Sheen to star in a sequel to the Oscar-winning silent film “ The Ar tist.” Marc-Antoine Audette, a Montreal radio personality known locally as half of the duo Masked Avengers, pretended to be the film’s award-winning actor Jean Dujardin in a telephone call to Sheen, once television’s highestpaid actor. He told Sheen in an exaggerated French accent that he wanted to make a comedy with him to raise money for a foundation against dic tators. Sheen congratulated Dujardin on his Oscar win. “Thank you for considering me, that’s very sweet,” he also said, accepting the offer despite at times being unable to understand what the caller was saying. Sheen earned $2 million per show for his role as a hedonistic bachelor in “Two and a Half Men” but he was fired for slamming its producer Chuck Lorre in a rant described by his bosses as part of a “self-inflicted disintegration.” The two Montreal pranksters have also snared Bill Gates, Britney Spears, Paul McCartney, even Sarah Palin during the 2008 US election, in their gags. — AFP

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een action film phenomenon “The Hunger Games” stayed on top of the North American box office for a second weekend, easily besting tales of Greek gods and Snow White, industry data showed Monday. The movie, which opened with a record $152.5 million last weekend, has surged to a total of nearly $250 million in just 10 days in theatres, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said. It made $58.6 million this weekend.

Armies of fans have flocked to see the movie, based on a book by Suzanne Collins, in which a teenage girl played

by Jennifer Lawrence fights to win a death match TV reality show featuring children in a post-apocalyptic world.

In distant second place was “Wrath of the Titans,” with $33.5 million. In the fantasy sequel to 2010’s “Clash of the Titans,” the gods lose control over the imprisoned Titans, and Perseus is called upon to save mankind. “Mirror, Mirror,” a modern take on Snow White starring Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen, also had a relatively modest debut, taking in $18.1 million for third place. In fourth were the youthful policemen of “21 Jump Street,” a big screen adaptation of the 1980s TV series, which pulled in $14.8 million for its third weekend in theatres.

The film, starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as underachieving cops sent on an undercover counternarcotics mission at a high school, so far has an overall haul of nearly $93 million.

Fifth was the animated film “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” with a $7.8 million weekend take and nearly $190 million in the bank after four weekends on the big screen.

The Disney critical flop-and huge lossmaker-”John Carter” came in sixth, with just over $2 million in its fifth weekend in theatres.

The film about an ex-Civil War soldier magically transported to Mars is based on books by “ Tarzan” author Edgar Rice Burroughs. Disney expects to lose $200 million on the movie in its second fiscal quarter. New release “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” Lasse Hallstrom’s feature about a fisheries expert’s bid to bring the sport of flyfishing to the desert, grabbed $1.3 million to land in seventh. In eighth came “Act of Valor,” a war film starring active duty US Navy SEALs, with $1 million in receipts. Eddie Murphy comedy “A Thousand Words” came in ninth after snatching $900,000, while rounding out the top 10 was “Journey 2: the Mysterious Island” on $810,000. — AFP

lifestyle

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

British artist Damien Hirst poses for photographers with a creation entitled “I Am Become Death, Shatterer of Worlds 2006” during the opening of his solo exhibition showcasing work at the Tate Modern in central London. — AFP/AP photos

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A visitor walks by a work by Damien Hirst entitled ‘The Incomplete Truth 2006’.

A butterfly lands on the head of a gallery assistant.

People are reflected as they look at Damien Hirst’s year 2000 piece “Trinity - Pharmacology, Physiology, Pathology”, consisting of glass, faced particle board, wood, steel and anatomical models.

Damien Hirst is seen beside the 1991 piece “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living”, a tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde in a vitrine.

ome artists prefer not to talk about the value of their work. Damien Hirst clearly revels in it, going so far as to call art “the greatest currency in the world”. On the eve of Hirst’s first major retrospective in his native Britain, he hit back at a leading critic who dismissed him as a conman and advised anyone owning his work to sell it fast.

Julian Spalding, a curator and critic who has just written a short book called “Con Art - Why you ought to sell your Damien Hirsts while you can”, went on the attack last week with articles in at least two national newspapers. They were designed to coincide both with the release of his book and the opening this week of an exhibition at Tate Modern tracing Hirst’s journey from a student at Goldsmiths College to the world’s most commercially successful living artist.

Spalding questioned whether Hirst, known for his shark suspended in formaldehyde, a diamond-encrusted skull, spot paintings and medicine cabinets, was an artist at all and described his works, which fetch millions at auction, as “worthless financially”. Hirst, speaking on Monday to a small group of journalists at the Tate Modern gallery overlooking the river Thames, was clearly used to such jibes and brushed Spalding’s criticism aside with a grin. “It’s like, you say ‘sell your Hirst’. I say ‘don’t sell your Hirsts, hang on to them.’ If you look at the numbers ... “It’s always healthy to have both views-people love it, people hate it. I once said as long as they spell my name right I don’t mind.

As I’ve got older I don’t really mind if they spell my name right either. “Andy Warhol said that great thing didn’t he?

‘Don’t read your reviews, weigh them’.”

Smell of decay and money The fact that Hirst quoted Warhol was hardly surprising- both artists have been commercially canny and saw the value of their works as inextricably linked to the art itself. Hirst’s spot paintings, for example, are made by employees and untouched by the artist, a fact that did not prevent them becoming status symbols for the rich and famous. The artist has come to embody the spirit of 1990s London where his works, often given intriguing titles, appealed to hedge fund managers and oligarchs as well as an art world clamouring for new ideas.

Championed early on by collector Charles Saatchi, Bristol-born Hirst personifies conspicuous consumption, yet the 46-year-old, with a fortune estimated at over 200 million pounds, insisted that the art came first. “I’m one of those lucky artists that makes money in their lifetime, and makes lots of money,” he said. “I’m not afraid of that but I think the goal’s always been to make art and not money.

Making money is a by-product, a very happy by-product. “I think art’s the greatest currency in the world. Gold, diamonds, art-I think they are equal ... I think it’s a great thing to invest in.”

The show itself focuses on some of Hirst’s most important early works with a view to putting his later series into context. The first spot painting, for example, was made in 1986 and, instead of the precise grid of equally spaced, equally sized circles of different hues comes a slap-dash affair with paint dripping down a canvas of rows of irregular shapes. Two years later Hirst conceived and curated the “Freeze” exhibition of his work and that of fellow students, an early and important step towards establishing him as the leading figure in the influential “Young British Artists” (YBA) movement. By 1995 he was a famous artist, winning the coveted Turner Prize and, in his acceptance speech, reminding the world of his humble academic background and rebellious spirit.

“It’s amazing what you can do with an E in A-Level art, a twisted imagination and a chainsaw,” he said. The chain-

saw referred to “Mother and Child, Divided”, a bisected cow and calf which went on display at the Turner show and provoked widespread criticism. Another Hirst work featuring a rotting cow and bull was banned in New York because of fears it would “prompt vomiting among visitors”. It was leading US dealer Larry Gagosian who showcased Hirst in the United States, presenting the “No Sense of Absolute Corruption” show in New York in 1996. Hirst’s mother encouraged his passion for drawing as an adolescent, but was less tolerant of his taste in music and fashion-she melted one of his Sex Pistols albums into the shape of a fruit bowl, according to online biographies, and cut up his “bondage” trousers.

Insect-o-cutor Hirst’s famous “pickled” shark, entitled “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” stands in the middle of the Tate show, a reminder of how death has been a dominant theme throughout Hirst’s 25year career. Also familiar will be cabinets filled with medicine and his “spin” and butterfly paintings, but new to many will be “In and Out of Love”, a room in which butterflies hatch, live and die as the public passes through.

Visitors are asked to check they are not unwittingly carrying a part of the art work with them when they leave.

It shares some of the themes with “A Thousand Years” from 1990 in which maggots hatch inside a glass vitrine, develop into flies, feed on the severed head of a cow and meet their end on an “insect-o-cutor”. A whiff of decaying flesh escapes from the glass container, to go with the odour of stale cigarette butts in his giant ash-tray “Crematorium” and the inescapable smell of money. That is strongest towards the end of the show in a gold wallpapered room dedicated to Hirst’s record-breaking auction at Sotheby’s in 2008 where he raised 111 million pounds ($177 million) from over 200 new works.

Called “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever”, it was a groundbreaking event, conceived as a single work of art that bypassed the dealers-and their hefty fees-altogether.

The Golden Calf, a bull in formaldehyde adorned with horns, hooves and a disk above its head made of 18-carat gold, raised 10.3 million pounds alone. In the Tate’s gift shop is a limited edition plastic skull decorated in “household gloss” paint priced at 36,800 pounds, while a roll of Hirst-designed wallpaper cost 675 pounds.

There is also the chance to see his diamond-encrusted skull “For the Love of God” displayed in a blacked-out box in the cavernous Turbine Hall lit only by spotlights shining on the 8,601 flawless gems set in a platinum cast of a human skull. The sculpture fetched the then equivalent of $100 million in 2007, when it sold to a consortium of investors that included Hirst himself. The artist has long avoided a retrospective, deeming it “more OAP” (old age pensioner) than YBA and worrying that his life’s work would “amount to nothing” once it went on display. But Hirst finally accepted the idea and the exhibition is one of the highlights of the Cultural Olympiad which is based around this summer’s Olympic Games in London. “I feel honoured to be given this slot and hopefully I’ve done it justice,” he said. “I definitely hope that more people walk away liking it than hating, but I’m not under any illusions that everyone’s going to love it.” “Damien Hirst” runs from today till Sept. 9 and is sponsored by the Qatar Museums Authority. Admission is 14 pounds. — Reuters

Photographers take pictures of a work by Damien Hirst entitled A visitor views a work by Damien Hirst entitled ‘Beautiful, childish, expres- People look at part of the Damien Hirst’s 2007 exhibition copy piece of the sive, tasteless, not art, over simplistic, throw away, kids’ stuff, lacking in 1993 original “Mother and Child Divided”, composed of a cow and a calf ‘Crematorium’. integrity, rotating, nothing but visual candy, celebrating, sensational inar- sliced in half in glass tanks of formaldehyde. guably beautiful painting (for over the sofa)’.

Workers restoring Russian mansion find treasure

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Kelly Osbourne

Anne Kreamer, author of “Going Gray: How to Embrace Your Authentic Self with Grace and Style” is pictured. — AP photos

ray heads have been popping up on runways and red carpets, on models and young celebrities for months. There’s Lady Gaga and Kelly Osbourne - via dye - and Hollywood royalty like Helen Mirren, the Oscar-winning British actress. Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund chief, is one of the most powerful women in the world, and she keeps her hair gray. So does Essie Weingarten, founder and now creative director of the nail polish company Essie Cosmetics. For regular working women, it’s a trickier issue.

“I don’t think a woman in the workplace is going to follow that trend,” David Scher, a civil rights attorney in Washington, said with a laugh. “I think women in the workplace are highly pressured to look young. If I were an older working person, the last thing I would do is go gray.” Yes, he’s a man, and at 44 he has virtually no salt in his hair, but he wasn’t alone in issuing a warning against workplace gray for women.

“While the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 was created to protect employees 40 years of age and older, some men and women may still encounter ageism in the workplace,” said Stephanie Martinez Kluga, a manager for Insperity, a Houston-based company that provides human resources services to small and medium-size businesses.

“The long-standing perception that men with gray hair are experienced and women with gray hair are simply old may still be an issue that affects employees in workplaces across the US,” she said.

Some of today’s new gray panthers also offer strong words of caution. Anne Kreamer is gray and proud, but she didn’t unleash the color until she left her day job to become self-employed.

She dedicates an entire chapter of her 2007 book “Going Gray” to workplace issues.

“We only fool ourselves about how young we look with our dyed hair,” said the Harvardeducated Kreamer, a former Nickelodeon executive who helped launch the satirical magazine Spy. When it comes to gray on the job, Kreamer said, context counts.

The colour might be easier in academia over high-tech, for instance, and in Minneapolis over Los Angeles. Job description and your rung on the ladder might also be in play.

In 1950, 7 percent of women dyed their hair, Kreamer said. Today, it’s closer to 95 percent or more, depending on geographic location. In the ‘60s, easy, affordable hair dye in a box hit store shelves. “When women were going to work, it was like they could reinvent themselves and say, ‘I’m no house frau anymore.’ Hair dye got kind of linked in there and we never looked back,” said Kreamer, who went prematurely gray and coloured for 25 years. “It’s still very complicated.”

Sandra Rawline, 52, in Houston knows how complicated it can be. A trial is scheduled for June in her federal lawsuit accusing her boss at Capital Title of Texas of ordering her to dye her gray hair in 2009, when her office moved to a swankier part of town. The suit accuses him of instructing her to wear “younger, fancier suits” and lots of jewellery, according to the Houston Chronicle. Rawline, an escrow officer and branch manager, wouldn’t comment for this story. The newspaper said her superior called her lawsuit preposterous.

The new “gray movement” doesn’t keep tabs on membership, but blogs like Terri Holley’s Going Gray are proliferating, along with pro-gray Facebook fan pages and Twitter feeds.

“Society has boxed in women on what’s considered to be beautiful, and this defies how we’re supposed to look,” Holley said. “People say, ‘I’m so glad I found you. I’m so glad we’re having this conversation.’”

Dana King, 53, started going gray in her 20s, began dyeing in her 30s and went to work for San Francisco’s KPIX in 1997, rising to news anchor. In January 2010, she first approached her general manager, a man whom she had known for a decade, about her giving up the dye. “He didn’t like the idea at all and he asked me not to do it,” King said. Soon after, she did it anyway, with the comfort of a no-cut contract good to May 2013.

After sharing her hair story on-air, King was deluged with emails from viewers, including many women who coloured and some who worried she had fallen ill. “The response was overwhelmingly positive,” King said. “They said it was a relief for them, that they could see someone that made it OK to be gray.” King knows her road to gray wouldn’t have gone so well had she been a TV news star elsewhere. “I work in a youth-oriented industry and I’m not an idiot,” she said. “This is not Miami. This is not Los Angeles. I would have been fired had I worked in some other markets. I can’t get a job anywhere else, I don’t think. I have no illusions about what I’ve done, and I’m good with that.” — AP

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