14 Feb 2012

CR IP TI ON BS SU

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

Ceremony marks century of formal education

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Adele triumphs at Grammys clouded by Houston death

Israel blames Iran for embassy bombs in Delhi, Tbilisi

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Bryant hits game-winner, Lakers edge Raptors 94-92

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Slow death by poison for strays of Kuwait

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RABIA ALAWAL 22, 1433 AH

Issue of animal cruelty ‘belittled’

Max 18º Min 12º High Tide 04:19 & 16:26 Low Tide 09:45 & 23:02

By Lisa Conrad conspiracy theories

Give us a break!

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

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he last thing to put the cream on the cake of Kuwait and on society is the news about banning sheesha and smoking in most public places. Do you see somebody sitting on the street smoking hubbly bubbly? People who want to smoke hubbly bubbly go to special cafes which are there for this reason. It means that everyone who attends such places is there by their will and nobody pushed them to go and inhale the sheesha smoke. What is the sudden awakening of the ministry of health on this issue? By the way, I would like to assure you that I am a non-smoker. I smoke neither sheesha nor cigarettes and of course nothing else, so don’t get carried away.

If you want to compare Kuwait with the West because they ban smoking everywhere, I would like to tell you that it is a totally different story.

Let’s first reach the advancement and democracy of the West and then talk about banning cigarettes and sheeshas. What suits the West does not suit the Arab world because the whole of the Arab world is stressed and sinking in poverty and insecurity.

Before banning smoking, the West started campaigning and warning people that they are going to implement a smoking ban. People had time to adjust their businesses and lifestyle to this new rule. You cannot ignore sheesha cafes and their employees - their income is dependent on customers who smoke sheesha. You cannot just come in one day and take a decision to ban smoking. In Europe it took a year of campaigning and in Canada it stretched to two years.

I am surprised at the sudden enthusiasm which hit the ministry of health to impose such a ban.

Hold your horses, guys! Go slowly on the matter.

Smoking is already banned at airports except in the “panic glass room”. Of course, smoking is banned in schools, hospitals, aircraft and corporate offices.

I think that to go and ban sheesha from cafes is a bit too much. This is one of the few entertainment places left for the nation. Everything else is banned. Please, find another area in the ministry of health which requires immediate attention, such as the collapsing hospitals, insufficient modern equipment or a dearth of people trained to use the available facilities. Or the negligence which is prevalent in all our hospitals.

I am not exaggerating. Just go and visit any hospital and compare it to any country around us; compare the hospitals even to a few countries which do not have petrol. I will leave the judgment to you. All that was left on the agenda of the ministry of health was banning sheesha at cafes. As if the nation needs more stress. Why are you in a hurry to stress the nation. Wait, the parliamentary sessions will resume tomorrow. You will be hearing the new laws and regulations which are coming from the great MPs starting with changing the second article of the constitution and starting with banning everything else. So, please give the nation a break.

KUWAIT: Photos provided to Kuwait Times show a dead dog lying decomposing after ingesting poison-laced food (inset) scattered across park grounds.

Central Bank governor quits over spending KUWAIT: The Central Bank governor resigned after 25 years in the post yesterday, protesting against a rapid rise in government spending, but his departure may be linked to political change in the state and not any immediate economic crisis. State news agency KUNA announced the resignaSheikh Salem tion of Sheikh Salem Abdul-Aziz Al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family. It quoted him as saying the government’s failure to push through economic reforms had created imbalances that could become serious if high global oil prices fell back.

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smoking banned in public places KUWAIT: Kuwait yesterday banned “all forms of smoking” in most public places, including cafes, restaurants, hotels and malls. Commerce and industry minister Amani Buresli ordered cafes, hotels and restaurants to allocate well-isolated places for smokers. Finance and health minister Mustafa Al-Shamali also banned smoking in shopping malls, schools, universities, hospitals, airports, government offices and many other places.

The smoking of sheeshas, or water pipes, very popular in Kuwait’s cafes, was included in the ban. — AFP

Oppn wants 9 Cabinet posts

By B Izzak KUWAIT: The opposition which controls a majority in the new National Assembly has officially agreed to be represented in the new Cabinet but with at least nine of the 16 posts, a number of MPs said. The decision came after a series of meetings that lasted the whole of yesterday by the main opposition blocs - the Popular Ac tion Bloc, the Reform and Development Bloc, the Salafist bloc and the Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM) in addition to a

large number of independents.

The opposition MPs first met at MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun’s diwaniya and later held a late night meeting at the diwaniya of MP Faisal AlMislem where they made the decision. Islamist MP Waleed AlTabtabaei said after the second meeting that the meeting chose MPs Musallam Al-Barrak, Adel AlDamkhi, Mislem, Khaled Al-Sultan, Salem Al-Namlan and Mubarak AlWaalan to deliver the message to the prime minister.

After the meeting, the delegation immediately headed to Prime

Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah and were expected to inform him that the opposition wants to join the Cabinet but with at least nine posts. The selection of nine posts appears to be devised to have a majority in the Cabinet and accordingly control decisive decisions in the government. The move came after the opposition came under fire from the press as well as other quarters for rejecting to take part in the Cabinet despite winning the majority in the new Assembly.

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KUWAIT: “After a walk in the local park, my dog began foaming at the mouth and shaking. I remembered that he had run towards something that had taken his interest in the park, and realized he had ingested poison,” recalls a French expatriate. “His legs were dragging on the way home and for once he was not pulling on the leash, but I did not realize what was wrong. By the time we realized it was too late, but there is no emergency animal hospital here so there was nothing I could do but watch him die,” she added. “Whether you are an animal lover or not, watching an animal die like that is awful. No one would impose that on any living thing if they saw how the animal dies after ingesting it.”

After her dog was killed by the poisoned food, she contacted the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR), but she said they refused to meet her or to send someone to investigate the problem. Still searching for answers, she sent a sample of the poisoned pellets abroad and said that the poison used is a controlled substance in Kuwait, and therefore cannot be imported freely by anyone. “This shows a lack of responsibility and a lack of forward thinking. There are specialists to address problems; they cannot be randomly dealt with in a haphazard manner,” she said. The PAAAFR was unreachable for comment when contacted

by Kuwait Times yesterday.

The scattering of poisoned food in an attempt to ‘manage’ the increasing numbers of stray dogs is, apparently, nothing new. Pet owners and animal activists have been trying to address the issue and call for change but, as of yet, they say the practice is still continuing. “I noticed five large, stray dogs in Shuwaikh park, so I called the PAAAFR to bring the issue to their attention because strays were sometimes coming after my dog, who is tiny,” said pet owner Shaikha Al-Khaldi.

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

LOCAL

‘From Kuwait we start and in Kuwait we end’ National conference begins

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The ninth national conference “From Kuwait We Start and In Kuwait We End”, held from Feb 12 to 15, was launched yesterday at the Al-Babtain Central Library for Arabic Poetry. The conference is sponsored by AlSalam International Hospital, AlBabtain Library, High Pro, Cinescape, and many others.

The conference adopted the motto of His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, that Kuwait is the home, existence, infinity, and continuity and we all should be with one heart in good and bad times.

“Through this conference we aim to strengthen the loyalty to our dear country Kuwait.

Although we witnessed some conflicts and disagreement between some groups and individuals before and during the elections, we all agreed on our Kuwaiti unity and the rule by AlSabah and are proud with our democracy and parliament, which includes different political opinions and groups,” Attorney Yousef Al-Yassin, Head of the Higher Supervising Committee,

said during the launching ceremony. There are further goals for the conference.

“We also aim to spread the meaning of the moderation and

manners and morals among youths and future generations,” he added. The conference will include various activities. “During the four days, different activities

KUWAIT: Yosif Al-Yaseen awarding Fahad Al-Shanfa

patriotism in society. In addition, it aims to commemorate the history of symbolic Kuwaiti personalities. The young generation should be aware of the outstanding traits of our fathers and encourage them to follow them.

We also aim to spread the good

will be held at Al-Babtain Library.

Every day there will be a raffle draw for prizes for the attendees.

The conference will conclude with awarding the organizing committee,” stressed Al-Yassin.

Thirteen personalities who participated in building Kuwait

will be honored this year. They are the late Amir Sheikh Mubarak Al Kabeer, Nasser Al-Kharafi, Abdulrazzaq Al-Sanea, Dr. Abdullah Al-Qinai, martyr Dhiya Al-Sayegh, martyr Abdullah AlDarmi, martyr Ghazi Al-Mutairi, Abbas Bin Nikhi, Ibraheem Buruki, Othman Al-Othman, Mishari Al-Khashram, Awad AlShanfa, and Hamad Al-Mutairi.

Dr. Tareq Mkhaizim, Chairman and Managing Director of AlSalam International Hospital expressed his happiness to sponsor this event and said the hospital is always keen to participate in such national and social events, which benefit the community and combat negative phenomena.

Attorney Kawthar Al-Jouan called for national unity and ignoring the religious and sectarian problems that appeared recently. “As we are a democratic country, each citizen has a moral responsibility to preserve behavior. Unfortunately some personalities were shouting and used bad words and they forgot that we are in democratic country with laws and regulations that will unveil corruption,” she pointed out.

Columnist charged with insult, sectarianism KUWAIT: A columnist has been charged by the Public Prosecution Department with damaging national interests by publically spreading baseless rumors in society, and with adopting an ideology that aims to damage the statutes of the state through illegal means.

The columnist was arrested recently for insulting Shiite religious figures, a top official revealed in a recent news report.

“A subpoena order against columnist Mohammad Al-Mulaifi was issued as soon as the State Security Service pressed charges against him regarding remarks in one of his columns’, Attorney General, Dherar Al-Asousy, told Al-Qabas on Sunday.

The charges were pressed as per articles of

the State Security Law, said Al-Assousy, who also confirmed that Al-Mulaifi faces charges of insulting a religious belief, conspiracy to damage national unity, and conspiracy to spread sectarian tensions in society.

In other news, a report quoting sources within the Government indicate that a law for online publishing has been prepared by the Ministry of Information. It could have been submitted to Parliament for voting as early as last December had the dissolution not take place. Speaking anonymously, as the subject cannot be addressed until it is made official, the sources indicated that the law covers everything posted by news websites, social networking websites that include Twitter and Facebook, and phone text messages (SMS).

“The law comes as part of joint efforts by the information and communication ministries to organize online publishing and make publishers responsible in front of the law for everything mentioned in their news website or any other website”, one source said.

The Ministry of Information reviewed similar regulations in the United States and Europe during the process of shaping up the online publishing law, the sources said, adding that it contains articles similar to those mentioned in the audiovisual and press laws mainly when it comes to making offensive remarks against God, Islamic figures and the Amir, in addition to damaging national unity, spreading sectarianism or threatening national security.—Al-Qabas, Al-Jarida

KUWAIT: A partial view of the audience.— Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Naturalization of first batch soon KUWAIT: Saleh Yousef Al-Fadhala, chairman of the executive committee for addressing the status of illegal residents, announced here yesterday the completion of formalities for the first batch of those entitled to naturalization. He has submitted them to the Council of Ministers to take appropriate action.

Al-Fadhala said this batch includes sons of divorced Kuwaiti women and

widows who meet the terms and conditions set forth in the law.

He added that the apparatus is currently processing a second batch, which is expected to be completed by March. These steps are being implemented according to the roadmap adopted by the Council of Ministers, which include comprehensive solutions for all segments of illegal residents, he said. —KUNA

Camel meet KUWAIT: The 12th Kuwait Camel Race commenced five days of activities on Sunday with the participation of delegations from 16 Arab and foreign countries. Faisal Al-Jazzaf, Chairman and Director-General of the Public Authority for Youth and Sports (PAYS), expressed his happiness at the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of the championship.

Al-Jazzaf who is also the Chairman

of the Organizing Committee for the Championship, said valuable prizes are allocated for the winners. These include 65 cars, in addition to cash prizes for the winners of the first 10 places. He expressed his pleasure at the increase in the number of participants in the championship this year.

For the 12th consecutive year, Kuwait Camel Racing Club and PAYS have managed to make Kuwait the destination for the sport.—KUNA

Sheesha smoking ban elicits angry response from residents

By Nawara Fattahova K U WAI T: The b an o n smo k ing sheesha (water pipe) announced yesterday in newspapers elicited an angry response from sheesha cafe frequenters. The cafes, however, appeared callous about the new law, and continued to go about normal business.

The ban is effective on public places, according to ministerial d e c ree no. 2 2 3 / 1 9 9 5 w hic h includes educational establishment, worship places, healthcare and medical places, social, cultural, sports, and entertainment venues, and public institutions. In addition, s m o k i n g i n a l l fo r m s h a s b e e n banned in means of public transportation, airport, malls, markets, co-op societies, hotels, restaurants and cafes come under the ambit of the law. I t was issued by the Ministry of Health, and yesterday the Ministry of Commerce decided to enforce it.

A waiter from Al-Tendeel Cafe located in Hawalli said that the cafe still offers sheesha and are open 24 hours a day. Its owner or manager could not be reached for

a comment. Ahmad Al-Shatti, owner of Cuba Cafe located in Al Qurain Markets, that has another branch in Sharq noted that both his cafes continue to offer sheesha.

“Such laws cannot be enforced and it does a lot of injustice to cafe owners and the sheesha smokers. I will really be forced to stop serving sheesha, if they strictly implement it. This would mean shutting down my cafe. I will definitely demand compensation and sue the authority,” he told Kuwait Times.

The Sheesha wu Manqusha Cafe located in Salmiya admitted to offering sheesha as well. “We don’t know if this law will be enforced.

We are still serving sheesha. I don’t k now what will happen in case such a decision is enforced, I think we will suffer great losses.

Therefore, I hope that it will not be enforced,” said Hosni.

S mo kers and no n- smo kers vo iced against the ‘ru d e’ l aw, “ Where l ies the p ro b l em if we smo ke o u td o o rs? I agree w ith smoking being banned in some places as mentioned in the decree.

Whoever does not like to smoke or feels suffocated can refrain from

visiting these places. There are hundreds of restaurants and even cafes that don’t ser ve sheesha where the non-smoker can go. This is not fair. After they demolished illegal diwaniyas we would gather in the cafe. Where will we go now?” questioned 24-year-old Hamad.

Some called for a more organized regulation. “I’m not a smoker, but I think that it shouldn’t be banned. I think better ventilation facilities can be offered in the cafe, so that there is a better separation of spaces between smokers and non-smokers,” stressed Suzan, a 27year- old expat.

Political reasons are believed to be the driving factor behind such decisions, “This is just my opinion, which may not be correct. Now most young Kuwaitis engrossed in the political country’s political situation. S o, the government thought of pre -occupying them w ith o ther issu es. They b egan enforcing this law because they know that most Kuwaitis smoke, and this law will annoy them and get them to discuss it rather than politics,” asserted Salah, a 28-yearold citizen.

Father accused of scalding daughter

By Hanaan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Investigations are currently ongoing at a Jahra police station where a woman accused her husband yesterday of deliberately injuring their child. The 26-year-old female stateless resident handed police officers a medical report showing that her 4-year-old daughter sustained burns to her face and on her back. She insisted in her statement to police officers that her husband, who works as a serviceman, intentionally poured boiling tea on their daughter after the married couple engaged in a dispute. The father denied the accusations when summoned for interrogation. He remains in custody pending ongoing investigations.

Child killed Meanwhile, a 5-year-old child was pronounced dead at Jahra Hospital

after a driver accidently ran over him in Taima. The victim was already dead on arrival at the medical facility. The driver who hit him rushed him there immediately after the accident. The man was taken into custody for legal procedures.

Falsely accused In Sharq, a Kuwaiti man approached officers at the area police station yesterday to press adultery charges against his wife. He claimed that he decided to follow his wife when she said she was going for prayer while they were shopping at a mall in the area, only to see her talking to a strange man. The woman rejected the charges however. She argued during investigations that her husband fabricated the story because he is looking for ways to end their marriage without having to pay any divorce settlements.

Intoxicated Meanwhile, an Asian man was arrested at a public place in Salmiya where he was found sleeping inside his car while being under the influence of alcohol.

Officers initially headed to the scene following a report about a dead body found inside a car, but eventually learned that the man was in an intoxicant-induced sleep. Similarly, a stateless resident was arrested in Jahra where he was found abusing drugs inside his car.

Criminal investigators recovered drug paraphernalia containing heroin traces from the scene.

Crash A collision between a minibus and a car on Jamal Abdul-Nasser street, in front of Sulaibikhat Sports Club, left an Egyptian man in critical condition and seven other compatriots injured.

All eight were rushed to Sabah Hospital shortly after the accident was reported.

local

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

Real estate business in Kuwait slowing down

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: The real estate business in Kuwait has experienced a drastic slow down at the start of 2012, a real estate broker admits. A female real estate broker, who requested anonymity, explained yesterday that the real estate business is not as promising compared to the same period last year. She related the current situation to the current political situation in the Middle East, the Arab Spring and Iran’s nuclear issue. Business owners who rent office space decry the availability of office and commercial space and the lack of vision for renting.

According to some renters, building owners continue to keep the prices high even at the expense of leaving a building halfempty. Many commercial buildings in Kuwait City, Farwaniya, Salmiya and as far as Jahra and Fahaheel seem abandoned where ‘For Rent’ signs could be visible in commercial, residential and apartment buildings. According to one business owner, tenants move from one building to another.

“Just like us; we previously occupied an old building on the corner and now, when a new building opened, we moved. The problem is that the rent is very high as there are plenty of empty buildings,” complained M. Hussein, a Deputy CEO of a computer school in Kuwait City. Other factors may play a role too. A real estate broker suggested that empty commercial buildings, vacant villas and apartments are a result of the company’s long-term planning. “We have some building owners who do not want office spaces to be occupied by small time businesses. Probably they need money, so they want multi-national companies rather than small time companies.

Some multi-national companies are paying rent for one year in advance or even more. It is one of the many considerations why we see lots of buildings unoccupied.”

Another real estate broker admits that many owners usually post requirements for new tenants. “Not only are tenants very selective nowadays, but even owners select their own tenants,” she admitted. “While I am not the right person to speak in regards to politics, the Middle East situation has somehow played a role in the decline of clients,” she noted.

“I remember the same period last year was very good. On a scale of 1 to 10, it was seven last year. Now we could be lucky if we have two. As we end the year 2011 and start 2012, we notice a considerable slowdown in the real estate business,” she said. “In fact, up until today we barely have any clients. I think it is the effect of the on-going Arab Spring and Iran nuclear issue,” she reiterated.

The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) 2011 report on real estate in Kuwait saw a 35 percent increase, compared to growth in 2010. NBK posted the total of real estate sales for 2011 at KD 2.7 billion, the report states. But, at the beginning of this year, the trend could change as many real estate establishments are making virtually the same comments. Yet another real estate company confirmed a weak entry into 2012. “Yes... at our business, it has really been very slow since early January. If it continues, it will be a very bad first quarter report. If I compare today to last year, I think we were far better last year. I do not blame anybody, and I do not think politics are playing a key role here. It could be because rental prices are increasing. Rents are still high so there is no movement by clients. If there are some, it is very little,” the broker admitted.

Kuwaiti men ‘best parliamentarians’ KUWAIT: Former MP Mubarak Al-Duwailah said that the opposition now has a free hand after obtaining more than 50 percent of the seats in Parliament.

He emphasized that Liberals fell for one reason. They had a ‘gray’ position and were not firm in facing the corrupt government, which made them lose credibility among their voters.

At the same time, the great failure of female MPs is a strong message from women “that man are the best to represent us in Parliament”.

Al-Duwailah denied that the Kuwait Muslim Brotherhood paid even one fil towards the election campaign in Egypt. He emphasized that the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood continues until now. “So far we are not ready to discuss our return to it. Kuwait Muslim Brotherhood is for Kuwait.”

He considered that “HADAS” non participation in the coming government is a wise decision. “We came based on popular support and we do not want to let our supporters down. Our supporters took us to the National Assembly and not to the Government. We must concentrate on our performance as Parliamentarians and work on supervision and legislation, which is required from us by the public.—Al-Anbaa

KUWAIT: Kuwait celebrated a century of formal education in a ceremony held under the patronage of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at the Kuwait University Theatre in Khaldiya yesterday. The event was also attended by HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, in addition to other sheikhs and officials. The event was launched by Minister of Justice, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Ahmad Al-Mulaifi. — KUNA

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

LOCAL kuwait digest

Local Spotlight

Pinky and the Brain!

Dissent against the ruling family

By Aziza Al-Mufarrej

By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

T

he situation in many Arab countries is really worrying and this Arab Spring is turning into a bloodbath. Are we about to confront civil conflicts due to religious differences? Who is trying to take over the world we always knew and adopted? What will happen if Brain finds his goal?

Pinky and Brain is a television series. The story is about genetic laboratory mice who reside in a cage in a research facility. Brain is self-centered and scheming while Pinky is good-natured but feeble minded. In each episode, Brain devises a new plan to take over the world. It ends in failure, usually due to Pinky’s idiocy or the impossibility of Brain’s plan! This show was made as a comedy and our condition is not like that at all. But stupidity creates wars.

In the last couple of weeks we all have witnessed the Arab move of sending an Arab committee to Syria. From the beginning it was obvious to observers that this committee would end up empty handed, or at least its report would not be discussed. Now, through times Egypt led such decisions in crises and due to its absence, Qatar is trying to show its influence possibly on behalf of the Gulf countries. That is clear and justified, I think.

Even if it is not enough and will not stop the bloodbath in Syria and Iran attempts to control, which is very clear by now, we should not disregard the fact that Iraq is widely open now. Also, the Hezbollah is backing the Syrian power in its full capacity. So, is this Arab Spring not about keeping or moving the old ruling systems and dictators or not?! I think it is more likely about establishing a new power to control the region by spreading its own radical ideas using all of its followers. Every single man and woman who believes in Hezbollah and Iran calls. I’m very much concerned about human rights in this region and the possibility of human rights to be abused, which I guess is a normal situation.

Another issue here which I am noticing these days is the decrease of freedom of speech and writing or expression by writers and journalists. It is expected to happen if anyone seem to oppose the general trend of those two countries or their followers. Finding excuses or justifications to kill should not be hard. The difficult part here is that the threat is high for free writers here.

No pacifists wish to see us dragged into the tunnel of civil conflict and I urge all human rights organizations around the world to observe closely the situation here ... It will not be a pleasant ride and Brain will not lead.

I

have read many books on tyrannical rulers from around the world, including those that lived in the Arab World in the recent past. The latest one is called ‘In the Shadow of Saddam,’ written by Haytham Rasheed Wahab. As usual, while reading each page I felt thankful for having being born a Kuwaiti citizen, living in this blessed land under the rule of Al-Sabah family, and not under a blood thirsty monster who enjoys lunch or dinner accompanied by the tortured cries of the dying!

We have seen criticisms against the ruling family of late, and sadly it has been ignoring it as mindless rhetoric that does not require any response. Dr Abdallah Al-Nafisi brashly voiced out that the family’s rule has become unbearable.

The book describes ruthlessness, greed and every possible abominable act! Iraq experienced this situation for 33 years, making them hate life completely.

It is strange to have a band of Arab leaders of the same kind come together, and people become victims of personal grudges and complexes. They ransack the wealth and resources of their people, deposit it in to their accounts and use what they want.

Late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi overthrew then king Idris Al-Sanousi, and people shouted slogan, “Iblis (Satan) but not the rule of Idris,” and God answered their prayers as Idris the good man left, and kept Iblis Gaddafi; suffocating them for 40 years.

During this period, they lost their rights, money, development and relations.

We have seen criticisms against the ruling family of late, and sadly it has been ignoring it as mindless rhetoric that does not require any response. Dr Abdallah Al-Nafisi brashly voiced out that the family’s rule has become unbearable. Mohammad Abdelgader Al-Jassim and his group are counting on the premiership and ministries to abolish monarchy.

Former Jahra candidate Mohammad Tana said that the people know better about Kuwait’s interests, and they chose and decide.

Strangely, Dr Tariq Al-Suwaidan, the Muslim Brotherhood member, keeps screaming at Al-Iradah Square saying that the corrupt regime will fall within days not weeks. After all this, we can only advice those concerned, with the hope it may prove to be beneficial. — Al-Watan

kuwait digest

What amendment really means

By Khalid Al-Awadhi

I

slamist lawmakers quickly announced their plans to accord top priority to amending Article 2 of Kuwait’s Constitution an aspect that was not given much attention during election campaigns. The amendment calls for making Sharia law the sole source of legislation instead of being the main source. This could prove to be problematic because it would subject all state laws to change based on MPs’ personal interpretations of Islamic regulations. I don’t think Islamist lawmakers truly realize what they are about to do, and the consequences it will have on Kuwait.

As per Islamic laws, all Muslims are equal to God as is proven by many scripts in the Holy Quran and Sunna. This means that regulations that fall in line with Sharia law must not differentiate between Muslims. If Islamist MPs realize that, then I would like to open their eyes on a couple of changes that their proposed amendment can bring about: The amendment of Article 2 should be adjusted to grant all Muslims equal right to participate in elections. Religion does not recognize differences based on nationalities. This means that Sharia law should be modified to grant an Indian, Egyptian,

Bangladeshi, Iranian or any other national (all Muslims, of course!) equal right to run for Parliament. A non-Kuwaiti could, in effect, have better chances of winning elections, given the fact that expatriate population are a majority in

If Islamist lawmakers are willing to abide fully by equality principle that Islam propounds, then it is fine; let them go ahead and submit their proposed amendment.

Otherwise, they should take their hands off from our Constitution and create plans to achieve political reforms that need to be given top priority.

Kuwait. Second, the government should assure that all Muslims are paid equally for jobs performed in Kuwait.

This means that under Islamic regulations, people belonging to all nationalities must be paid competitive salaries, allowances, grants and insurance policies just as Kuwaitis. However, the government, which is struggling to provide job opportunities to the 20,000 Kuwaitis that are expected to join the labor market in the next three years, will definitely not be able to provide job opportunities for more than two million Muslims living in Kuwait!

The same applies to the provision of privileges like housing, free education, medical services and social security that only Kuwaitis are entitled to. I am certain that not Islamist MPs are willing to adjust state laws that are in favor of services being granted to expatriates at par with Kuwaitis. Therefore, if Islamist lawmakers are willing to abide fully by equality principle that Islam propounds, then it is fine; let them go ahead and submit their proposed amendment.

Otherwise, they should take their hands off from our Constitution and create plans to achieve political reforms that need to be given top priority. — Al-Qabas

‘Allowances needed to boost development’ KUWAIT: The Parliament and Cabinet should work together to enforce regulations that contribute toward building the country. As such, revising salaries and paying allowances can ensure equal pay made to state employees. This was stated by Chairman of Kuwait Trade Union Federation(KTUF), Fayez Al-Mutairi. He added that pushing the development process forward is necessary for Kuwait to face challenges created by uncertain turmoil in the region. “[KTUF members] are optimistic given the significant number of qualified and competent MPs that are elected, among whom are PhD holders and activists experienced in unionist work,” Al-Mutairi said, expressing hope that “[Prime Minister] HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak forms a Cabinet capable of meeting managerial requirements to realize people’s ambitions.”

“The executive and legislative committees need to tackle many subjects that address people’s living conditions in general, especially middle and working classes,” AlMutairi added, mentioning “amendment to effectively adopt promotion in the working place so as to eliminate favoritism in employment.” —Al-Qabas

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

Local

Kuwait ready for any Hormuz Strait emergency: Al-Zanki Oil and Gas Summit opens KUWAIT: Farouk Al-Zanki, CEO and deputy chairman of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), has said that the State of Kuwait has developed an emergency plan for tackling a possible closure of the Strait of Hormuz. “Besides the already-set plan, there are also alternative plans for managing any crisis that could affect the oil exports stemming from the regional geo-political tensions as well as the domestic or external factors,” Al-Zanki told reporters here.

He made the remarks after opening the Second Kuwait Oil and Gas Summit and Exhibition, Feb 12-15, being organized by KPC.

KUWAIT: Farouk Al-Zanki and other officials at the inauguration of the Second Kuwait Oil and Gas Summit and Exhibition. —Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

‘Formative arts help build civilized, dynamic society’ KUWAIT: The Kuwait Society for Formative Arts hosted the opening of the Sixth Kuwait Creative Arts Festival, under the auspices of Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

During the event, prizes were handed out to winners of the Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Award, the Sheikha Fotouh Al-Salman Al-Sabah Award and the Sheikha Salwa Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah Award. The award ceremony was followed by the speeches of Sheikh Nasser and President of the Kuwait Society for Formative Arts, Abdulrasool Salman.

In his speech, Sheikh Nasser expressed joy over the ever-growing number of artists taking part in the competition,

which has reached 88, thus far.

“Formative arts and humanities in general are a personal human expression of the artist’s relation to the world around them. They reflect the artist’s understanding of the world and its affairs,” he said.

“They (the arts) aid the solving of problems, in order to build a civilized and dynamic society,” he added. For his part, Abdulrasool linked the event to the country’s national celebrations, including the National Day, Liberation Day and HH the Amir’s ascendance to power. He also hailed the 158 works handed in, noting to their varied approaches which, he said, reflect the diversity and modernity of the Kuwaiti society. —KUNA

Kuwaiti pavilion well received at Australian cultural festival KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuwaiti embassy in Australia participated in the activities of the National Cultural Diversity Festival in the city of Canberra, Australia, organized by the Ministry for Multicultural Affairs.

It was attended by around 100,000 people, with 44 foreign, Arab and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries taking part. Kuwait’s Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand Khalid Al-Shaibani said that the activities of the 2012 festival include valuable contributions by Arab and GCC participants. The participants exhibited pictures and paintings that show their heritage and folklore.

The Kuwaiti pavilion reflects many

beautiful aspects of its heritage and culture, and aspects of civil communication between various cultures within the country since its early history.

Al-Shaibani said that Kuwait participates in this event out of its belief in the importance of culture and the role it plays in nation-building and promoting sound citizenship, and to highlight its traditions.

The Kuwaiti pavilion was received very well by the Australian visitors.

A number of publications, flyers, pictures and postal cards were distributed to the visitors of the pavilion, and some also took photos dressed in traditional Kuwaiti dress. —KUNA

“The country’s daily oil output average ranged between 2.9 and 3 million barrels last January,” Al-Zanki pointed out.

Asked about the recent price hikes, he said, the last few days showed that the global oil market is controlled by not only the traditional factors such as supply and demand, but other geopolitical factors in the Middle East and beyond.

“The current prices are suitable and helpful for Kuwait to pump more investments into the oil exploration and development projects. The costs of the exploration operation ran high, so the price hikes struck a balance between costs and revenues,”

he explained. The State of Kuwait always seeks to maintain stability of the global oil market through insuring sufficient supplies,” he went on.

Regarding the countr y ’s gas strategy, he said the KPC devised a plan for developing the gas resources in the nor thern and southern parts of the country to meet the rising domestic needs in the coming two years. “The government has to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from neighboring countries in every summer to alleviate strains on the consumption of electricity,” Al-Zanki noted. He stated that an expert team from the KPC is reviewing the feasibility study of the

project to launch an oil refinery in China in collaboration with the French Total.

The annual oil and gas summit and exhibition, which gathers, for the second time, the major players in the hydrocarbon industry, provides an opportunity for Kuwait to know about the latest technologies in this sector while implementing its ambitious plans.

Al-Zank i added that Kuwait plans to expand its oil production to four million barrels per day by 2020 and construct new oil refineries and upgrade the existing ones, besides launching a petrochemical complex. —KUNA

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

local

Kuwait Fund pleased at cooperation with China GUANGZHOU, China: The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) Deputy Director General Hisham AlWigayan expressed pride at the level of cooperation with China yesterday.

Al-Wigayan’s remarks came during a luncheon held in his honor, hosted by the Kuwaiti Consul General in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, Abdulwahab Al-Sager.

The KFAED deputy chief and several Kuwaiti diplomats were seated together with Chinese trade officials in the leading commercial province of Guangdong.

The province, in which its capital city Guangzhou is located, contributes to approximately 12 percent of China’s national economic output, and is home to the production facilities and offices of a wide-ranging set of multinational and Chinese corporations.

Al-Wigayan said this cooperation includes direct loans provided to China for development purposes and opting to select Chinese firms to carry out projects the KFAED is administering, through its loans to developing countries, particularly in Africa.

The two countries are also members

of the African Development Bank, in which both are direct supporters, he said.

Al-Wigayan expressed the KFAED’s keenness in cooperating with the Guangdong Provincial Government’s Ministry of Finance.

For his part, Kuwaiti Consul General Al-Sager was impressed with the level of talks between both sides.

The level of development in the southeastern province was praised by the Kuwaiti diplomat, who also noted to the importance of developing eastern regions of the vast country and investment opportunities it could offer.

The KFAED recently signed a loan agreement worth $25 million for the construction of the Guiyang University’s library in the city, located in the southern Guizhou Province.

The contributions provided by the State of Kuwait through the KFAED, come as support for development projects for regions across China in the form of easy loans and technical assistance related to these projects. With the recent loan, the KFAED has so far provided China, since 1985, some 35 loans.— KUNA

KUWAIT: The Somali Ambassador to Kuwait, Dr Abdulkadir Sheikh Amin, hosted a lunch banquet at the Palms Hotel in honor of the outgoing Jordanian Ambassador to Kuwait, Jumaah Al-Abadi. Several Arab ambassadors and top diplomats attended the event.

Taxi driver tries to sell passenger to vice den Life-risking escape

EQUATE sponsors Kuwait Oil and Gas Summit KUWAIT: EQUATE Petrochemical Company announced its sponsorship of Kuwait Oil and Gas (KOG) Summit and Exhibition held in Kuwait during Feb 1215. On this occasion, EQUATE Senior Executive for Corporate Communications and Client Affairs Adel Al-Munifi said, “As Kuwait’s first ever international joint venture in the petrochemical industry, EQUATE has been playing a critical role in developing the nation’s energy sector at various levels.”

Al-Munifi added, “EQUATE’s role is not limited to manufacturing petrochemicals, as it greatly contributes in bringing latest relevant technologies into Kuwait, qualifying Kuwaiti human resources and supporting Kuwait’s income diversification efforts.” Al-Munifi noted, “EQUATE’s contribution with the value of over 80% of Kuwait’s non-oil exports is an achievement attained through the efforts of

Kuwaiti nationals who have been the true moving force behind the energy sector’s development within a context of overall sustainability.” Organized by CWC Group Limited with the participation of over 100 energy figures from around the world, more information can be obtained about KOG 2012 by visiting www.cwckuwait.com. Established in 1995, EQUATE is an international joint venture between Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Boubyan Petrochemical Company (BPC) and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC). Commencing production in 1997, EQUATE is the single operator of a fully integrated world-scale manufacturing facility producing over 5 million tons annually of high-quality petrochemical products which are marketed throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.

KUWAIT: A woman was hospitalized with serious injuries after risking her life to escape from a taxi driver, who planned to deliver her to a prostitution net. The Filipina woman reportedly took a cab from Abdullah Al-Salem to go to Salhiya. She heard the taxi driver talk on the phone in an Asian language which he did not know she could understand. The woman realized that the driver was offering to give her to someone for money, and that he was carefully describing her appearance to the person he was talking to. With little options to avoid kidnap, the woman reportedly jumped out of the moving vehicle, seriously injuring herself in the process. A passerby made an emergency call after witnessing the incident.

He was also able to write down the license plate number of the taxi cab. The victim was rushed to Amiri Hospital. She was diagnosed with a concussion and a fractured skull after medical staff stopped severe bleeding. Police later apprehended the driver, who initially denied the kidnap.

Eventually he admitted planning to sell the victim to a person who runs a brothel. He is currently held pending legal action as investigations are ongoing to raid the prostitution den.

Murder suspect escapes Kuwaiti authorities are coordinating with Interpol to arrest a Pakistani man believed to have escaped from the country after murdering a compatriot. The body of the victim was recently found in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. The man was identified as a prime suspect after investigations into the homicide case revealed he contacted the victim multiple times shortly before the crime took place. When detectives headed to the suspect’s place of residence, they found he was missing.

Later they realized he left Kuwait this past Saturday to a nearby Gulf state. Police detained the suspect’s father and brother, who share the same residence. They will be subjected to extensive investigations. According to security sources with knowledge of the ongoing investigation, crime scene investigators found clothes covered with bloodstains at the suspect’s apartment.

Investigators found further evidence that prove that the suspect is responsible for the crime, said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The victim was pronounced dead from a fatal head trauma and stab wounds.

Youth fights Three teenagers were hospitalized with stab wounds sustained during a fight they engaged in while playing soccer in a yard at Ahmadi.

Police and paramedics rushed to the scene following a report about a massive brawl between a group of youth due to sporting disagreements. The fight was still ongoing when police arrived, but the knifemen were able to escape before officers put them under arrest. The three victims were left behind at the square and were taken by ambulances to Adan hospital.

Meanwhile, six people were injured in a fight that broke due to a dispute between two school students. According to a security source, two classmates agreed to meet after school to settle their differences. The brawl became serious when one of them was joined by four brothers, while the other was joined by two brothers. The fight ended with the brawlers being hospitalized with multiple bruises and minor stab wounds. Police reported to the hospital to place the brawlers under arrest. They are currently held

at Jahra police station pending legal procedures.

Teen robs brother A Kuwaiti man dropped theft charges he pressed against a person who stole money from his bank account, after learning that the theft was committed by none other than his younger brother. Fahaheel police station officers were approached by a man who reported KD400 missing from his bank account. Police obtained surveillance tapes from the bank branch where the cash were withdrawn from, according to investigations. Much to the complainant’s surprise, the tapes showed that the person who used his credit card to withdraw cash from the ATM was his own teenage brother. The suspect was summoned for investigations, during which he admitted that he secretly stole his brother’s credit card and pin code. He justified his action by saying that his big brother is “very cheap” and always rejects his requests to borrow money in order to buy new clothes. The man eventually dropped the charges following his brother’s appeals and apology.

Residency violators More than 100 residency violators were arrested in crackdowns carried out recently in Farwaniya and Ahmadi governorates. According to a report quoting a security source familiar with the operation, 74 Asian nationals were held in Farwaniya, Khaitan and Omariya areas, while 42 others were detained in Ahmadi governorate. The detainees were referred to the proper authorities where they are currently being held pending deportation procedures.

—Al-Qabas, Al-Rai

Security officers thwart smuggling attempt

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Four Saudi citizens were arrested at Salmi border checkpoint recently after they tried to smuggle a compatriot who is a fugitive.

According to a security source, security officers found a person who was hidden in a car . Two men and two women were travelling in it to Saudi Arabia. The four were arrested after admitting to smuggle the fugitive whose name has been blacklisted and faces a travel ban. The detainees were taken to the proper authorities for further action.

Drunk driver arrested A drunk driver was arrested along Gulf Road after patrol police asked him to pull over in connection with reckless driving. The suspect faces multiple charges in connection with resisting arrest and attacking backup police officers who tried to restrain him.

Illegitimate child A citizen filed a case in Rihab police station stating that a domestic worker he employed gave birth in his home. She was charged with committing adultery after admitting to being in an illegal rela-

tionship with the driver of her employer’s neighbor.

Abduction or elopement?

Mina Abdullah police launched investigations into a case where a young man has been accused of kidnapping a minor girl. He has repeatedly denied all accusations. The suspect was arrested following a car chase which ended in an accident that left the girl injured. After verifying the girl’s identity, police learnt that an abduction complaint was filed by her family.

The suspect argued that the girl eloped with him after escaping from her family home.

NBK wraps up clean, safe camping campaign

ABK supports Indian Women’s Association KUWAIT: In line with CSR initiatives planned for the year, the Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait provides ongoing support to various social and health activities. This time the bank supported the activities of the Indian Women’s Association, an association that cares for children and women healthcare, and participated in the association’s annual event.

On this occasion, Sahar Al-Therban, public relations manager at ABK said: “The sponsorship of IWA for the second consecutive year reflects ABK’s stance in caring for various segments of the society, especially those concerning women and children, through financial and moral support, to motivate them to continue their activities for the betterment of women and children.”

Al-Therban added “ABK offers contributions and voluntary donations to sponsor many activities like sports, cultural, social and health agenda concerning the community, which reaffirms its mission to play a distinct and effective role across the board, so as to maintain open bilateral communication between the Bank and social institutions.”

On her part Muriel Alphonso, president, IWA profusely thanked ABK for its care and support to the association, which in turn enabled the association to support the lesser privileged women and children. She wished for a successful continuing relationship between the Bank and the Association, so more people could be reached out to.

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) wrapped up its environmental awareness campaign ‘Help Keep Kuwait Clean and Safe’ with a final desert clean up this past weekend.

Very well received, the campaign attracted a large number of volunteers to visit desert camps and help clean up.

“The environment is one of our most precious resources and NBK appreciates all the support and posi-

tive feedback from the community,” said Yaqoub Al-Baqer, NBK public relations officer. “We were delighted with the high numbers of volunteers and the support we received on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Volunteers distributed more than 250 waste bins and 1,000 pamphlets on security precautions and safety and how to maintain the environment.

The campaign was divided into

three phases. NBK team and volunteers visited campsites and cleaned up litter and other waste. Volunteers also spoke with campers and provided them with safety and security tips.

As part of its dedication to corporate social responsibility, NBK supports a range of initiatives -including electricity conservation and paper recycling - aimed at promoting environmental awareness.

Yaqoub Al-Baqer

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

‘Monsignors’ mutiny’ revealed by Vatican leaks Page 10

Suspected Bali bomber on trial in Indonesia Page 12

BANNU: Pakistani tribal protesters carry an effigy of US President Obama, left, before setting it alight, during a rally to condemn US drone strikes on the hideouts of alleged militants along the Afghan border in Pakistani tribal regions, in Bannu, Pakistan yesterday.—AP

Pakistani PM charged with contempt Top court also takes on country’s powerful army

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court charged Pakistan’s prime minister with contempt yesterday for defying its order to reopen an old corruption case against the president, sharpening a political crisis that has shaken this already volatile country. At a separate hearing, the top court also took on the country’s powerful army, demanding that two military intelligence agencies explain why they held seven suspected militants for 18 months in allegedly harsh conditions without charging them.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani pleaded not guilty to the contempt charge. If convicted, he could be imprisoned and will likely lose his job. But analysts said the premier seems willing to sacrifice himself for the benefit of his party and his political ally, President Asif Ali Zardari.

Gilani’s ouster would not topple the government. But the case has distracted officials from dealing with a host of ills facing the nuclear-armed country, including a stuttering economy and a vicious Islamist insurgency. The political turmoil has also been a problem for the United States because it wants Pakistan to focus on repairing troubled bilateral relations and help negotiate peace with the Taleban in Afghanistan.

Gilani drove himself and his lawyer to court, an apparent attempt to show humility to the judges. Security was tight, with helicopters buzzing through the rainy, overcast sky and hundreds of police blocking roads leading to the

court building in the capital, Islamabad. One of the judges, Nasirul Mulk, read out the contempt charge, saying Gilani had “willfully flouted, disregarded and disobeyed the direction given by this court.”

The prime minister, who was surrounded by his Cabinet members and coalition partners, said he understood the charge and would contest it. The move was the formal start to a process that will take months or weeks to conclude.

The next session will be on Feb 22. Court supporters have applauded the judges for upholding the rule of law. But government loyalists accuse the chief justice of pursuing a personal vendetta against president.

The case against Zardari relates to kickbacks he and his late wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, allegedly received from Swiss companies when Bhutto was in power in the 1990s. They were found guilty in absentia in a Swiss court in 2003. Zardari appealed, but Swiss prosecutors dropped the case after the Pakistani parliament passed an ordinance giving the president and others immunity from old corruption cases that many agreed were politically motivated. The bill was decried by many in Pakistan, who saw it as an attempt to subvert the law. The Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 2009, and also ordered the government to write a letter to Swiss authorities requesting they reopen the case. The government has refused, saying the president enjoys immunity from prosecution while in

office. Analysts said Gilani seems unlikely to bend to the court’s demands and will likely be convicted and lose his job. The national assembly would then vote for a new prime minister, but the process could drag for months.

Most legal experts think the president would be in no immediate danger even if Gilani did ask Swiss authorities to reopen the case. Last year, a Swiss prosecutor told the media that Geneva couldn’t bring proceedings against Zardari because he has immunity as a head of state. But the government may be concerned that the court may question the president’s immunity if Gilani agrees to write the letter because of bad blood between Zardari and Chief Justice Iftikar Mohammad Chaudry.

Zardari refused to reinstate Chaudry for many months after he was fired by former President Gen. Per vez

Musharraf, despite having promised to do so. He was eventually forced to relent after public demonstrations. The government’s goal seems to be to survive through at least the summer, when it would finish the next annual budget.

That would allow the ruling Pakistan People’s Party to funnel dollars to the right places to improve its chances in national elections, which are scheduled for 2013 but which many expect could be called early in the fall.

Some government supporters have accused the Supreme Court of acting on behalf of the army to oust Zardari. But no evidence has surfaced to support that allegation, and the court has hounded the military as well. The court had ordered the country’s most powerful spy service, the ISI, to produce seven suspected militants before the judges yesterday. —AP

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

i n t e r n at i o n a l

Syria ignores Arab League plan to stop bloodshed Ceasefire needed before peacekeepers: Russia

CAIRO: An Egyptian butcher cuts meat in a market in Cairo, Egypt yesterday. —AP

US used NGOs to create chaos in Egypt: Minister CAIRO: An Egyptian minister seen as the driving force behind impending trials of democracy activists, including 19 Americans, had told investigators that Washington funded their groups to create a state of prolonged chaos in Egypt, official media reported yesterday.

International cooperation minister Fayza Abul Naga, believed to be the instigator of a judicial probe into foreign-funded civil society groups, made the accusation in testimony to the investigating judges in October.

Abul Naga, one of the few remaining ministers from president Hosni Mubarak’s era, added that the United States and Israel wanted to hijack Egypt’s uprising that toppled Mubarak a year ago to serve the interests of Washington and the Jewish state. “The United States and Israel could not create a state of chaos and work to maintain it in Egypt directly, so they used direct funding to organizations, especially American, as a means of implementing these goals,” the official MENA news agency quoted her as saying, in the first public disclosure of the claims.

The impending trials of 44 activists, including 19 Americans, have deepened a rift between the traditional allies, with the State Department hinting that the crackdown could jeopardize American aid to Egypt. Abul Naga said “the January 25 uprising came as a surprise to the United States, and it slipped from its con-

trol when it transformed into a people’s revolution.” “That was when the United States decided to use all its resources and instruments to contain the situation and push it in a direction that promotes American and also Israeli interests,” the agency quoted her as saying.

MENA reported that a judicial investigation into the funding of several civil society groups found that the United States had diverted aid promised for infrastructure to the NGOs. Cairo prosecutors backed by police in December stormed the offices of the US-funded International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute and Freedom House as part of a probe into the NGO’s alleged illegal foreign funding.

They were among 17 offices of local and international NGOs raided. The crackdown was part of a wider campaign by Egypt ’s militar y rulers to silence dissent after months of criticism of its human rights record, analysts said.

The ruling generals, who took charge of the country after an uprising forced president Hosni Mubarak to resign a year ago, traditionally had close ties with the United States, the Egyptian military’s most generous foreign benefactor.

The aid workers are accused of “setting up branches of international organizations in Egypt without a license from the Egyptian government ” and of “receiving illegal foreign funding.”—AFP

DAMASCUS: Syria ignored a new Arab initiative to end the bloodshed, with its troops pounding the protest hub of Homs yesterday as Russia said a ceasefire is needed before peacekeepers can be deployed. The pan-Arab bloc agreed on Sunday to ask the United Nations to send a joint peacekeeping force to Syria, where activists say more than 6,000 people have died in a brutal crackdown on dissent since March last year.

The embattled government of President Bashar al-Assad swiftly rejected the initiative. And hours after the Arab League decision, Assad’s troops resumed shelling Baba Amr, a rebel bastion in the beleaguered central city of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “The neighborhood of Baba Amr has been subjected to sporadic shelling since 5:00 am (0300 GMT) by the Syrian army,” the Britain-based Observatory said in a statement.

Regime forces killed eight civilians, among them three in Homs and two in nearby Rastan, including a 13-year-old girl in shelling after clashes between army defectors and soldiers. Three troops also died. The security forces also raided homes to arrest people in Daraa province in the south, cradle of the Arab Spring-inspired 11month uprising against Assad’s iron-fisted rule.

“There were fierce clashes between defectors and the army which stormed Lajat (also in Daraa province) and arrested the mothers of four dissidents,” the Observatory said.

Despite the relentless violence, protests were staged across Syria. Some denounced Assad and others supported the rebel Free Syrian Army, according to YouTube videos provided by the Local Coordination Committees, an activist network. “Arab League!!! Thank you but we need more,” said a placard students carried at a rally in Jabala, Idlib province. A government official said Syria was determined to crush such dissent, regardless of the latest Arab initiative, the official SANA news agency reported. “This decision will not prevent the Syrian government from fulfilling its responsibilities in protecting its citizens and restoring security and stability,” the unidentified official was quoted as saying.

“Syria rejects decisions that are a flagrant interference in the country’s internal affairs and a violation of its national sovereignty.” Activists say Assad’s forces have killed at least 500 people in Homs since they began attacking the central city with a barrage of tank shells, mortar rounds and

rocket-propelled grenades on February 4. The assault on Homs began on the same day Russia and China vetoed a second UN Security Council resolution on Syria. That move prompted the Arab League to ask the United Nations for a joint ArabUN peacekeeping mission to the strife-torn country.

The initiative was yesterday welcomed by European nations. Russia said it was studying the plan, but cautioned that it had questions about certain points. “We are studying this initiative and

CAIRO: The Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi (2nd R) attends a meeting with the representatives of the UN Security Council member nations on the situation in Syria yesterday at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo. —AFP expect our friends from the Arab states to provide us with a clarification of certain points,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “In order to deploy a peacekeeping mission, you need the agreement of the receiving side.

“In other words, you need to agree something resembling a ceasefire. But the problem is that the armed groups that are fighting the Syrian regime do not answer to anyone and are not controlled by anyone.” Analysts said the new Arab initiative was likely to fail, but added that it raises the stakes and further isolates the embattled regime in Damascus.

“I find it very difficult that we will find member states who will actually contribute UN troops to

avoid the death penalty if he formally repents in court, said Saudi lawyer Sulaiman al-Jomaii. “His case is dependent on his repentance. If he repents (in court) then it will be as if he has not committed a crime and there is no Saudi law that details a punishment for his offense if he repents,” Jomaii said. “(This) is a struggle between moderate, true Islam and extreme Islam.

Moderate Islam is tolerant. The young man (Kashgari) made a mistake, a big blunder and he must apologize,” said Saudi commentator Jamal Khashoggi. “I’m sure that the state is kind and it should not come under pressure. He is only 23 years old.

Young people go through these kinds of doubts.” Kashgari removed the offending Twitter comments six hours after posting them and issued a long public apology, but his family said he fled the country because he had feared for his life. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had called on Malaysia not to deport Kashgari.

Before his arrest Kashgari said in an interview with the US news website Daily Beast that he did not think he could ever go home because of the death threats, but was also defiant. “I view my actions as part of a process toward freedom. I was demanding my right to practice the most basic human rights - freedom of expression and thought - so nothing was done in vain,” Kashgari was quoted as saying. “I believe I’m just a scapegoat for a larger conflict.

There are a lot of people like me in Saudi Arabia who are fighting for their rights.”

Saudi Arabia is also one of the most conservative states in the Arab world. There is tension over the pace of gradual political, economic and social reforms in Saudi Arabia aimed at reconciling the Islamic kingdom’s conservative traditions with a young, increasingly outward looking population.

A graduate of the University of King Abdulaziz with a major in Islamic studies, Kashgari had left the Al Bilad newspaper five weeks before the incident due to disagreements over money and his writing.

“Hamza always liked being alone, he wasn’t a social person,” said a senior editor at Al Bilad. “He had a broken look in his eyes and I think that was a sign of sadness or depression. He’s a poet and had a lot of philosophical ideas.”

The editor said the young writer had learned the Koran by heart and always had good manners, noting that none of his columns had touched on controversial religious ideas. Despite a tightening of media rules after the spread of popular revolts through the Arab world over the past year, Saudis are increasingly turning to online news, social networking and satellite television for information. That has made social media an especially popular - and closely-watched - forum for exchanging views.— Reuters

ence in South Africa. And as diplomats mulled options to stop the violence, including the pros and cons of arming the rebellion, France warned that any foreign military action in Syria would only aggravate the situation. “We think that today any external intervention of a military nature would only worsen the situation, all the more given that there will not be a decision by the Security Council, which is the only body able to authorize military intervention,” said Foreign Minister Alain Juppe. Meanwhile, the opposition General Commission of the Syrian Revolution rejected AlQaeda “interference” in Syria after the extremist network’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, voiced support for their uprising in an Internet video.— AFP

Citizen seized by PKK dead: Iraqi Kurdistan

Saudi writer may face trial over tweets JEDDAH/DUBAI: A young Saudi blogger and columnist has been deported to his homeland to face trial soon after fleeing from death threats triggered by comments on the social network Twitter seen as blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad.

Hamza Kashgari, 23, fled Saudi Arabia four days ago but was arrested by police in Malaysia en route to New Zealand.

Malaysia, which has a majority Muslim population and enjoys close ties with Arab states, sent back Kashgari on Sunday.

A former columnist for the Al Bilad newspaper, Kashgari had sent a series of Twitter posts, or tweets, one week ago of an imaginary conversation with the Prophet Mohammad. In Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter and home to Islam’s two holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, such comments could be considered blasphemy and punishable by death under the kingdom’s strict interpretation of Islam.

Kashgari has apologized at length for his posts, however, and a Saudi lawyer said while he faced harsh punishment, it was unlikely to be the death penalty. Interior and foreign ministry spokesmen declined to comment on Kashgari’s status, although Saudi Information Minister Abdul-Aziz Khoja responded to the incident via Twitter.

“When I read what he posted, I wept and got very angry that someone in the country of the Two Holy Mosques attacks our Prophet in a manner that does not fit a Muslim...,” Khoja said.

“I have given instructions to ban him from writing for any Saudi newspaper or magazine, and there will be legal measures to guarantee that,” he said. Writing on the Prophet Mohammad’s birthday, Kashgari sent three tweets of a fictional conversation with the Prophet. Addressing the Prophet, Kashgari said he “loved the rebel in you” and that he “loved some aspects of you, hated others”. The reaction on the Internet was swift and vitriolic. First, there was a flurry of angry comments on Twitter estimated at more than 30,000 in 24 hours.

A Facebook page, “Saudi people want punishment for Hamza Kashgari,” has quickly grown to more than 20,000 members.

“The only choice is for Kashgari to be killed and crucified in order to be a lesson to other secularists,” an online reader of AlMadina newspaper, Abu Abdulrahman, commented on the news of Kashgari’s extradition on Sunday. A YouTube video of a tearful Saudi cleric Nasser al-Omar calling for Kashgari to be arrested and tried went viral. Kashgari will probably face trial soon, Saudi officials told Reuters. “Thank God that he has repented and we hope that Allah will accept it. If, God forbid, there is a trial, we ask for it to be a lenient one,” said a person close to Kashgari’s family.

Although Kashgari will almost certainly receive a harsh punishment, he is likely to

something like this,” said Salman Shaikh, head of the Brookings Doha Centre. “We have to redouble our efforts to try and achieve a ceasefire at least before we can get some sort of hybrid force which, in principle, is a good idea to try and keep the peace.” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was unlikely Western nations would join the force.

“I don’t see the way forward in Syria as being Western boots on the ground, in any form, including in peacekeeping form,” he told a news confer-

SANAA: Islamic scholars along with a press corps attend a meeting to encourage participation in the upcoming presidential elections, in the Yemeni capital Sanaa yesterday. The election will take place on February 21. —AFP

Five killed in clashes in southeast Libya TRIPOLI: At least five people have been killed in clashes between rival tribes over control of territory in the far southeast of Libya, officials said yesterday, highlighting the challenge of policing the country’s sparsely populated desert.

Violence broke out on Sunday in the remote city of Al Kufra and continued into yesterday.

Libya’s National Transitional Council has struggled to assert its authority across the whole of Libya as rival regional militias and tribal groups jostle for power and resources following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

Local gunmen from the Zwai tribe clashed with fighters from the Tibu ethnic group led by Isa Abdel Majid, whom they accuse of attacking Al Kufra backed by mercenaries from Chad, Abdelbari Idriss, a security official from the Zwai tribe, told Reuters.

Abdel Majid’s men, who supported the Libyan rebels during the 2011 uprising that ousted Gaddafi, had set up camp in Jalu north of Al Kufra on Sunday and were holding out there, Idriss said, but another source said fighting was still going on. Farhat Abdel Karim Bu Hareg, coordinator of Social Affairs in the local government of Al Kufra, criticised the NTC for neglecting the southeast though Al Kufra province is Libya’s largest and straddles the borders of Sudan and Chad.

He said the region would be forced to declare independence unless it received suppor t to end what he said were

attacks by mercenaries. “I would like to reiterate that if no response is made to rescue the people, we will be forced to declare our independence”. Local fighters have called for help from Benghazi and Misrata but had yet to receive any response, he said. The roads in the region are poor while some reports suggested said the airport was out of use due to the fighting, possibly holding up any aid.

Bu Hareq said Chadian and South Sudanese fighters from Darfur were involved in the fighting and the situation had deteriorated after a local militar y barracks came under attack.

“Around 40 4x4 vehicles carrying soldiers attacked a military camp known as May 5 and the wounded persons number in the hundreds,” Bu Hareg said. The Tibu are mainly found in Chad but also inhabit parts of southern Libya, Sudan and Niger often crisscrossing unmarked desert borders. It was not immediately possible to contact Abdel Majid for his comments on the origins of the clash and fighters. In Al Kufra, tribal ties are far more powerful than they are on the country’s Mediterranean seaboard. A tribal rebellion in 2009 was suppressed only after Gaddafi sent in helicopter gunships, while in 2011, Sudan sent in weapons to help Libyan rebels wrest control of the area. The remote region is also a hub for smugglers taking advantage of the lawless borders of subSaharan Africa. —Reuters

ARBIL: The interior ministry of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region said yesterday that Kurdistan Workers’ Party rebels had kidnapped three Iraqi citizens, one of whom was later found dead. It is the first time that the region’s government, which tolerates the PKK’s presence in Kurdistan despite the resulting Turkish bombardments and ground incursions, has made such an announcement.

The interior ministry said in a statement that on December 29, PKK members detained three Iraqi citizens-Mussa Yunis Abdullah, Sami Mohammed Taher and Mohammed Shahwanin the Zakho area of Dohuk province. Their fate was unknown until January 27, when the latter two were released, the statement said, while Abdullah’s body was found two days later.

“We in the interior ministry and the government of the Kurdistan region of Iraq condemn these practices by Kurdistan Workers’ Party gunmen toward civilian citizens in the border areas and consider them illegal actions that are far from the principles of human rights.”

The statement said a special committee had been formed to look into the issue “and follow the legal process against the perpetrators of this action.” “We will not permit any person or party to take the role of the courts and take decisions in detaining and carrying out orders to kill citizens,” it said. “The Kurdistan region is a secure region governed by the legal and judicial system, and the first and last decision is for the courts and the rule of law.” The PKK first took up arms for self-rule in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.

Hawlati, an independent Kurdish newspaper, said on Sunday that Abdullah, the citizen found dead, was a spy for Turkish intelligence who was obtaining information from the intelligence service of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

The newspaper said Abdullah allegedly gave Turkey images of an area on the Iraq border that it bombed in late December, killing 35 people.

The Turkish military said it was targeting PKK militants, but the vice-president of Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party then said that initial reports indicated that those killed were smugglers.

Jail term confirmed for Ahmadinejad aide TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s media adviser Ali Akbar Javanfekr has had a six-month jail term upheld on appeal on one of several charges against him, the chief prosecutor for Iran said yesterday. “He was sentenced to jail after the appeals process, and the duration of six months was confirmed for this person,” Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said, according to the Fars news agency. He did not say what charge earned the prison sentence, but added that Javanfekr had “more than one case before the judiciary.”

Investigation into the cases was “ongoing,” he said.

Javanfekr’s lawyer, Qahreman Shojaee, confirmed the jail term to the official news agency IRNA. He said the sentence had to do with “the case of the magazine,” apparently referring to an accusation that Javanfekr permitted a state magazine to run articles commenting critically on the headscarf and dress Iranian women are obliged to wear. As well as being Ahmadinejad’s adviser, Javanfekr runs IRNA and a state press group that prints several newspapers and magazines.

Last month, a court sentenced Javanfekr to a year in prison and a five-year ban on him undertaking media and political activities for allegedly insulting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on his website in April 2011. He was appealing that sentence. Javanfekr has been targeted by hardline judges and other elements in Iran’s regime who have been waging a long-running battle against Ahmadinejad and his entourage, whom they see as trying to undermine the religious principles of their Islamic administration. The intensity of the conflict has intensified ahead of March 2 legislative elections.— AFP

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

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

Republicans regroup during break in primaries WASHINGTON: The Republican presidential candidates faced a more than two-week break in the primary and caucus calendar yesterday, a breather in the frantic contest for the party’s nomination to challenge President Barack Obama in November. The race has included primary elections and caucuses in 10 states since the year began. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the favorite of the party establishment, is well out in front in the total number of delegates to the party’s national convention in August.

But a surprising challenge from former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has Romney scrambling to find a message that resonates with the deeply conservative Republican base that refuses to warm to his candidacy.

tively. Romney has been painting Santorum as a longtime Washington insider who pursued home state projects. Santorum on Sunday waved off Romney’s recent criticism.

“You reach a point where desperate people do desperate things,” said Santorum. Santorum said he was looking ahead to the next round of primaries after Maine and his second-place finish to Romney in a straw poll of conservative activists meeting in Washington last week. Santorum had his campaign fixed on the next primary contests in Michigan and Arizona.

Romney is expected to spend much of the week courting donors. Romney will be in Arizona yesterday, and his team is preparing an aggressive push against Santorum in Michigan, where Romney

Former speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, who looked to be stealing the front-runner position after winning the South Carolina primary, will be using this quiet time to raise much-needed cash.

Ron Paul, the libertarian Texas congressman with a small but devoted following and who nearly beat Romney in the latest caucuses in Maine on Saturday, plans to continue campaigning through what promises to be a long and drawn-out race for the nomination.

Romney captured 39 percent of the Maine vote, just three percentage points over Paul. Santorum and Gingrich, neither of whom campaigned hard in the state, took 18 percent and 6 percent of the vote, respec-

is a household name. Romney’s father, George, was chairman of the nowdefunct American Motor Corp. and was governor of the state before mounting a failed bid for president in 1968.

But questions about Romney’s durability as his party’s presumed front-runner persist. In Maine, 61 percent of voters selected a candidate other than Romney in a state that neighbors the one where he was governor. And Romney’s showing was down considerably from 2008, when he won 51 percent of the vote in Maine.

Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, a prominent voice among some conservatives, said Romney has work to do to convince Republican voters he’s moved beyond his “pretty moderate past ... even in some cases a

liberal past.” With Americans concerned about high unemployment, Romney has emphasized his business background to try to convince voters that he’s best prepared to turn the economy around.

Obama has been considered vulnerable in his bid for a second term because of his handling of the economic downturn spawned by the near collapse of the US financial system in the final months of the presidency of George W Bush. With tentative signs of a slight acceleration of the economic rebound, Republican candidates have started emphasizing social issues more. That plays to Santorum’s strength as a staunch cultural conservative opposed to abortion and gay marriage. — AP

Peru rebel leader captured wounded Capture dismantles well-armed outlaw band

CARACAS: Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski celebrates after winning the primary elections in Caracas on Sunday. —AFP

Youthful challenger takes on Chavez in Venezuela CARACAS: Now that Henrique Capriles has easily won Venezuela’s first-ever opposition presidential primary, he’s not just up against any other incumbent. The young governor will have to defeat a veritable political phenomenon. Even after 13 years in office, President Hugo Chavez remains a hero to many of his supporters and maintains a visceral connection to a significant segment of the poor in Venezuela. He also will likely use the full powers of his government and a bonanza of public spending to seek victory in the Oct 7 election.

In order to compete, Capriles will need to win over voters who leaned proChavez in the past, who have grown disillusioned with the government and don’t strongly identify with either side.

“We came here to unite our nation,” Capriles told thousands of supporters in a victory speech. “It isn’t the time of lefts or rights. It’s the time of all Venezuelans.”

Venezuela has grown heavily polarized, with most either admiring or despising Chavez. About one-fourth of voters are in neither political camp, though, and in that group about 10 to 15 percent are likely to cast ballots, said pollster Luis Vicente Leon. Many of the swing voters are young people who have grown up during Chavez’s presidency, Leon said. Capriles will need voters such as 21-year-old Mariangela Aguero, who

was 9 when Chavez was first elected in 1998 and remembers her father celebrating in their poor neighborhood when the former army officer won.

Since then, Aguero’s mother has benefited from a government program that provided construction supplies to build a new home, and in her neighborhood many are in Chavez’s camp.

“He has a lot of followers,” said Aguero, who works at a store selling yarn and buttons. “I think it would be tough for him to end up leaving the government.”

But when it comes to her own vote, she said neither side has given her something to believe in yet.

“There’s a lot of corruption on both sides,” Aguero said. Despite the aid her family has received, she said, governments always seem to promise a lot but usually deliver little and descend into corruption. Venezuela’s opposition is rallying around Capriles following his victory in Sunday’s vote, with a likely boost in the polls. The once-divided opposition has gained popularity in recent years, and the race could end up being the toughest re-election bid of Chavez’s career.

Opposition election chief Teresa Albanes announced the preliminary results with 95 percent of ballots counted, saying that Capriles won 62.2 percent of the vote while Zulia state Gov. — AP

LIMA: Peruvian troops captured on Sunday the wounded leader of a remnant of the once-powerful Shining Path rebel group, effectively dismantling a well-armed outlaw band that lived off the cocaine trade, President Ollanta Humala said. Humala, a former army lieutenant colonel, flew to the remote coca-growing Upper Huallaga Valley of central Peru to congratulate the police and soldiers who had snared the 50-year-old rebel, Comrade Artemio, and two of his confederates.

Artemio, whose given name is Florindo “Jose” Flores, was later flown to Lima where doctors at a police hospital operated on him to remove two bullets from his torso, said Raul Sanchez, spokesman for the chief prosecutor’s office. Artemio also had shrapnel wounds in both hands, he said. As he arrived in Lima and was wheeled from a plane, journalists saw Artemio raise his right arm and shout something indiscernible.

“The Shining Path is no longer a threat to the country. It’s capacity is limited,” Humala said from the counternarcotics base Artemio was initially airlifted. A photo released by the presidency showed him standing beside Artemio, both of the rebel’s hands bandaged along with his chest. Humala said that with the capture of Artemio and several of his top lieutenants in recent weeks the Upper Huallaga had been pacified, making agribusiness, cattle ranching and tourism now possible. The valley is currently the only region of Peru where US -financed coca eradication is occurring.

Analysts consider Artemio’s capture a crippling blow to a roughly 150-strong band that represented about half of what remains of the Shining Path, which killed thousands during the 1980s and 1990s. He was apprehended at 3 a.m., said Sanchez, near where he was wounded three days earlier under circumstances neither Humala nor other officials explained. Defense Minister Alberto Otarola said Friday that Artemio was wounded in combat with government forces early Thursday in the village of Puerto Pizana. But local journalists have reported that at least one of his own men may have turned on him.

The other remaining Shining Path faction, also involved in the drug trade, is centered further south in the valley of the Apurimac

and Ene rivers. Humala said security forces would now focus efforts on fighting that group, which was blamed for an attack on a remote police station last Monday in which two police officers were wounded. Humala expressed pride in announcing the capture of the guerrilla who was the Shining Path’s regional chief in the early 1990s when Humala commanded an army garrison in the Upper Huallaga. He said security forces had been “closely following” Artemio in recent weeks

SANTA LUCIA: In this image released by Andina Agency, surrounded by police officers, Peru’s President Ollanta Humala, right, speaks to one of the Shining Path’s top leaders, Comrade Artemio, center, whose given name is Florindo “Juan” Flores, at a police base in Santa Lucia, Peru, Sunday. —AP

and had acted at an opportune moment when civilians wouldn’t be in harm’s way.

The mayor of the La Polvora district encompassing the village, Nanci Zamora, told The Associated Press that Artemio was brought before dawn Thursday to an emergency medical technician in the nearby town of Santa Rosa de Mishoyo.

She said that after he was treated subordinates took him down the Mishoyo river, a tributary of the Huallaga. It was not immediately clear how troops located him. The United States had offered a $5 million reward for

How is Romney like 007?

Both have money offshore WASHINGTON: Movie super spies James Bond and Jason Bourne use them. So does real-life US presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who says he pays his taxes, and untold numbers of Americans who don’t.

Swiss banks and their secretive counterparts around the globe may sound like the exclusive province of the wealthy, the mysterious or the shady, but anybody can legally open an offshore account.

Here’s how to do it: Step 1: Get a million dollars. How? There are essentially two ways - legally or illegally. For those with dirty cash to launder drug traffickers, mobsters, smugglers, swindlers and such - offshore accounts hidden from the law are the obvious choice (skip to Step 5). For honest money, there’s more to consider.

Step 2: Decide whether to tell the Internal Revenue Service, the US tax agency.

US citizens are supposed to pay taxes no matter where their money is. But the IRS can’t tax what it doesn’t know about, and the odds of getting caught offshore have been slim.

But beware - that’s changing. The government has landed some big fish - notably the largest Swiss bank, UBS AG - and tax cheats are getting scooped up in the net.

In an unprecedented break from Swiss legal tradition, UBS turned over the names of more than 4,000 suspected US tax evaders in 2010 as part of a deal to settle conspiracy charges. Since then, the United States has been going after those people, charging more Swiss bankers with conspiracy, and leaning on Switzerland to name more names. Other

names came from a bank employee-turnedinformant at the LGT Bank in Liechtenstein.

And the IRS has been tracking down holders of credit cards issued from Caribbean hideaways, because the cards are a popular way to tap secret funds.

“The noose is tightening on those who want to hide money overseas,” said J. Richard Harvey, a former senior adviser to the IRS commissioner. Pressure to report Americans’ holdings will increase substantially next year under a new USlaw that imposes financial penalties on foreign banks and investment funds that don’t comply. Some tax haven banks may skirt it completely, however. If they don’t make any US investments they can avoid the penalties. When the IRS offered amnesty in 2009 and 2011, more than 33,000 tax dodgers came in from the cold, yielding $4.4 billion. A new round in the program opened in January.

Step 3: Look for legal ways to pare taxes.

Here it gets complicated. For corporations, foundations, pension funds and others, controversial offshore maneuvers can help defer or avoid some taxes. For example, a corporation transfers a lucrative chunk of its business to a foreign subsidiary in a low-tax country. Or a nonprofit group puts otherwise taxable investments offshore.

“There’s a thin line between tax avoidance and evasion,” said Rebecca Wilkins, a senior counsel at Citizens for Tax Justice, which opposes corporate loopholes. “A lot of these transactions might not stand up in court if the IRS had the resources to pursue them.”

Private equity and hedge funds flock to the Cayman Islands, which offer tax advantages

information leading to his arrest. Such rewards have proven highly effective in neighboring Colombia in persuading some rebels to turn against their leaders.

The Shining Path largely collapsed after the 1992 capture of its leader, Abimael Guzman, who is serving a life term for waging a brutal war that slaughtered peasants and citydwellers alike. Today, it is a tiny vestige of the movement that in its 1980s heyday controlled large swaths of the Peruvian countryside. In

for fund managers and some of their foreign and nonprofit investors. Setting up shop usually nothing more than a mail drop - in these freewheeling environs also allows them to escape the tighter financial regulations of the US and other nations. Some critics say that contributed to the global financial crisis.

Romney, the multimillionaire front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, has disclosed numerous offshore investments.

His financial filings included at least six Cayman-based funds, worth between $7 million and $32 million, run by Bain Capital, the private equity powerhouse he once led. More than a dozen other funds based in the Caymans and Bermuda showed up on his 2010 federal tax returns. His campaign says he pays the same taxes he would if they were based in the United States. Romney also had a UBS bank account in Switzerland, but it was closed in 2010 as he prepared to run for president.

Step 4: Consider other motives.

Some people want to hide wealth from spouses or business partners; doctors worry about malpractice suits; others think creditors or the government might try to seize their assets. Wealthy residents of oppressive countries may feel safer with their savings elsewhere. Dictators, fearing revolt, often do, too.

Step 5: Choose a country.

Switzerland’s famous “numbered accounts” aren’t as clandestine as they’re portrayed in spy movies but do cater to the rich and ensure only a few bank executives know a client’s name. Hong Kong has its own version “chop accounts,” identified by a symbol. — AP

December, Artemio told visiting journalists that his cause was lost and he was seeking a truce with the government.

The self-described Marxist said he wrote Humala twice but received no response.

Previous Peruvian governments had also refused to negotiate a truce, he said. Artemio said the only way to change the capitalist system was through a socialist government, “but at this moment that is not possible.” The chief prosecutor’s office said via Twitter that Artemio could face a life sentence for crimes including terrorism and drug trafficking. — AP

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

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

Pirates kill two in cargo ship attack near Nigeria LAGOS: Pirates off Nigeria’s coast attacked a cargo ship early yesterday, shooting dead its captain and chief engineer in the increasingly dangerous waters for shippers, an official said.

The killings come as another ship nearby was attacked this weekend and pirates hijacked a tanker ship off the coast of neighboring Benin on Thursday, the International Maritime Bureau said.

Yesterday’s attack happened about 110 nautical miles (126 miles) from the coast of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital and home to the nation’s biggest shipping port. Most of those

onboard the unidentified cargo ship fled into a secured room as a gunfight raged, while those on the bridge remained at their posts, the piracy monitoring group said. The captain and chief engineer died of their wounds as the pirates sprayed the ship with gunfire, said Cyrus Mody, an official at the bureau.

Mody said the bureau had yet to receive additional information about the ship and its crew, though they did contact authorities in Nigeria. A spokesman for Nigeria’s navy and the nation’s maritime safety agency did not immediately respond to requests

for comment yesterday. On Saturday, a cargo ship about 70 nautical miles (80 miles) from Lagos came under attack from two boats, the International Maritime Bureau said. The crew hid inside a safe room as pirates shot at the ship, though they left after about 25 minutes, the bureau said.

On Thursday, the bureau said pirates hijacked a tanker - likely one carrying crude oil from Nigeria - about 80 nautical miles (92 miles) from the capital Cotonou.

The bureau had no further information about that attack. The attacks are just the latest to target West Africa’s

Gulf of Guinea, which follows the continent’s southward curve from Liberia to Gabon. Over the last year, piracy there has escalated from low-level armed robberies to hijackings and cargo thefts.

In August, London-based Lloyd’s Market Association - an umbrella group of insurers - listed Nigeria, neighboring Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category as Somalia, where two decades of war and anarchy have allowed piracy to flourish.

Pirates in West Africa have been more willing to use violence in their robberies, as they target the cargo, not

the crew for kidnapping like off Somalia. Analysts say many of the pirates come from Nigeria, where corrupt law enforcement allows criminality to thrive.

Analysts believe the recent hijackings of tanker ships likely is the work of a single, sophisticated criminal gang with knowledge of the oil industry and oil tankers.

Those involved in the hijackings may have gotten that experience in Nigeria’s southern Niger Delta, where thieves tapping pipelines running through swamps steal hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day.— AP

‘Monsignors’ mutiny’ revealed by Vatican leaks Daily embarrassments put Vatican on defensive

AMSTERDAM: Two members of a special police team, right, enter the terminal building, while airport police block the entrance for travelers at Schiphol Airport, near Amsterdam, Netherlands yesterday. —AP

Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport evacuated after bomb threat AMSTERDAM: Airport police at Amsterdam’s busy Schiphol Airport say they have arrested a man who locked himself in a toilet and claimed to have a bomb. Parts of the airport remained evacuated yesterday afternoon.

Spokesman Rob van Kapel said the man had been arrested and did not pose any threat. “It’s good news, so that we at Schiphol will shortly go back to doing what we’re all here for.”

Airport police evacuated two terminals at Amsterdam’s busy Schiphol Airport yesterday after receiving a bomb threat, a spokesman for the force said.

Officers evacuated two departure halls as they investigated the threat, said airport police spokesman Martijn Beelen. He gave no further details of the threat.

“There was a bomb threat and as a precaution we have evacuated departure halls one and two,” Beelen said in a telephone interview.

Schiphol is one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs. Local media reported that a man had shut himself in a restroom and claimed to have a bomb, but another airport police spokesman, Robert van Kapel, said he could not comment on the

reports. A woman filmed by local AT5 television departing the airport said her flight to Geneva had been canceled and she had been told the same story about a man claiming to have a bomb in the bathroom.

AT5 also filmed an arrest team entering the building, including one officer carrying what appeared to be a heavyduty saw. Beelen said he did not know if the threat had caused planes to be diverted. An hour after the incident began, spokespeople for the airport said they could not comment. The airport’s website made no mention of the threat, but an increasing number of departures were being delayed by early afternoon.

Train traffic to and from Schiphol’s underground station was not affected by the evacuation. On Christmas Day, 2009, a Nigerian student managed to smuggle explosives onto a flight from Schiphol to Detroit after flying into Amsterdam from Lagos. He has pleaded guilty to trying to blow up the Northwest Airlines plane by injecting chemicals into a package of pentrite explosive concealed in his underwear and is due to be sentenced Thursday. He faces life imprisonment. —AP

Spanish court quashes Judge’s corruption case MADRID: Spain’s Supreme Court yesterday quashed a bribe-taking case against human rights judge Baltasar Garzon, who was last week barred from the judiciary for 11 years for abuse of power. The court ruled that a three-year statute of limitations had passed in the case, said a copy of the ruling.

Garzon was accused of soliciting sponsorship payments for lectures he gave in New York in 2005 and 2006 from banks that had faced charges in his own courtroom or other courtrooms in the National Court. The Supreme Court found there was evidence of a crime but ruled the statute of limitations had passed because the last payment was received on May 17, 2006, more than three years before he was charged.

“Opening a hearing is not pertinent. It is agreed that the facts charged against Baltasar Garzon Real are shelved because of the statute of limitations,” the ruling

said. The judgment landed just four days after Garzon, 56, was criminally convicted for ordering wiretaps in a corruption probe, a decision criticized by his supporters as a political stitch-up. Spain’s Supreme Court suspended him from the judiciary for 11 years, crushing the career of a man who championed rights cases worldwide, most famously by trying to extradite Chile’s former dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The judge is still awaiting a verdict in a more prominent trial in which he is accused of trying to investigate Francoera atrocities in an alleged breach of an amnesty. Garzon argues the acts, including thousands of forced disappearances during the Civil War and General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, were crimes against humanity and not subject to an amnesty. His defenders argue that all three cases are a form of revenge by the many enemies he has made. — AFP

Murdoch’s Sun attacks police ‘witch-hunt’ LONDON: Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloid The Sun yesterday condemned police raids against its journalists as a “witch-hunt” worthy of former communist states, and won rare support from rival newspapers. The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, both non-Murdoch papers, also questioned the scale of the police operation after another five Sun staff were arrested at the weekend in a probe into alleged bribery.

Days before Murdoch was due to fly to London to reassure staff that he would not close it down, Sun associate editor Trevor Kavanagh said the paper was “not a ‘swamp’ that needs draining”. “Nor are those other great News International titles, The Times and The Sunday Times,” he added. “Yet in what would at any other time cause uproar in parliament and among civil liberty and human rights campaigners, its

journalists are being treated like members of an organised crime gang.”

Kavanagh, who was political editor at The Sun from 1984 to 2005, said that payments to sources were sometimes necessary to uncover stories in the public interest. “Sometimes money changes hands. This has long been standard procedure as long as newspapers have existed, here and abroad,” he wrote. The police operation was now bigger than the one launched after the 1988 Lockerbie bombing of a Pan Am passenger jet, with 171 officers involved making it the largest in British criminal history, Kavanagh said.

He said it was no surprise that Britain lags in 28th place behind former communist states Poland, Estonia and Slovakia in a recent world press freedom survey by Reporters Without Borders. — AFP

VATICAN CITY: Call it Conspiracy City. Call it Scandal City. Call it Leak City. These days the holy city has been in the news for anything but holy reasons. “It is a total mess,” said one high-ranking Vatican official who spoke, like all others, on the condition of anonymity. The Machiavellian manoeuvring and machinations that have come to light in the Vatican recently are worthy of a novel about a sinister power struggle at a mediaeval court.

Senior church officials interviewed this month said almost daily embarrassments that have put the Vatican on the defensive could force Pope Benedict to act to clean up the image of its administration - at a time when the church faces a deeper crisis of authority and relevance in the wider world. Some of those sources said the outcome of a power struggle inside the Holy See may even have a longer-term effect, on the choice of the man to succeed Benedict when he dies.

From leaked letters by an archbishop who was transferred after he blew the whistle on what he saw as a web of corruption and cronyism, to a leaked poison pen memo which puts a number of cardinals in a bad light, to new suspicions about its bank, Vatican spokesmen have had their work cut out responding. The flurry of leaks has come at an embarrassing time - just before a usually joyful ceremony this week known as a consistory, when Benedict will admit more prelates into the College of Cardinals, the exclusive men’s club that will one day pick the next Roman Catholic leader from among their own ranks.

“This consistory will be taking place in an atmosphere that is certainly not very glorious or exalting,” said one bishop with direct knowledge of Vatican affairs. The sources agreed that the leaks were part of an internal campaign - a sort of “mutiny of the monsignors” - against the pope’s right-hand man, Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

Bertone, 77, has a reputation as a heavy-handed administrator and power-broker whose style has alienated many in the Curia, the bureaucracy that runs the central administration of the 1.3 billion-strong Roman Catholic Church.

He came to the job, traditionally occupied by a career diplomat, in 2006 with no experience of working in the church’s diplomatic corps, which manages its international relations. Benedict chose him, rather, because he had worked under the future pontiff, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in the Vatican’s powerful doctrinal office. “It’s all aimed at Bertone,” said a monsignor in a key Vatican department who sympathizes with the secretary of state and who sees the leakers as determined to oust him. “It’s very clear that

they want to get rid of Bertone.”

Vatican sources say the rebels have the tacit backing of a former secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, an influential powerbroker in his own right and a veteran diplomat who served under the late Pope John Paul II for 15 years. “The diplomatic wing feels that they are the rightful owners of the

taining the tiny city-state’s gardens, buildings, streets, museums and other infrastructure, which are managed separately from the Italian capital which surrounds it.

In one letter, Vigano writes of a smear campaign against him by other Vatican officials who were upset that he had taken drastic steps to clean up the purchasing procedures

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI waves to faithfuls from the window of his apartment during his Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s square at the Vatican. —AFP Vatican,” the monsignor who favors Bertone said.

Sodano and Bertone are not mutual admirers, to put it mildly. Neither has commented publicly on the reports.

The Vatican has been no stranger to controversy in recent years, when uproar over its handling of child sex abuse charges has hampered the church’s efforts to stem the erosion of congregations and priestly recruitment in the developed world. But the latest image crisis could not be closer to home. It began last month when an Italian television investigative show broadcast private letters to Bertone and the pope from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former deputy governor of the Vatican City and currently the Vatican ambassador in Washington.

The letters, which the Vatican has confirmed are authentic, showed that Vigano was transferred after he exposed what he argued was a web of corruption, nepotism and cronyism linked to the awarding of contracts to contractors at inflated prices. As deputy governor of the Vatican City for two years from 2009 to 2011, Vigano was the number two official in a department responsible for main-

and begged to stay in the job to finish what he had started. Bertone responded by removing Vigano from his position three years before the end of his tenure and sending him to the United States, despite his strong resistance.

Other leaks centre on the Vatican bank, just as it is trying to put behind it past scandals including the collapse 30 years ago of Banco Ambrosiano, which entangled it in lurid allegations about money-laundering, freemasons, mafiosi and the mysterious death of Ambrosiano chairman Roberto Calvi - “God’s banker”. Today, the Vatican bank, formally known at the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), is aiming to comply fully with international norms and has applied for the Vatican’s inclusion on the European Commission’s approved “white list” of states that meet EU standards for total financial transparency.

Bertone was instrumental in putting the bank’s current executives in place and any lingering suspicion about it reflects badly on him. The Commission will decide in June and failure to make the list would be an embarrassment for Bertone.— Reuters

Putin vows to reverse Russia population decline MOSCOW: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday vowed to reverse Russia’s demographic decline and boost its population to 154 million, as he ramped up his re-election campaign in the face of protests. In a new campaign article addressing his core constituency including employees of state companies and bluecollar workers, Putin also promised salary hikes to teachers and doctors and pledged to create a more just state.

Putin reeled off a list of social policies that he said could reverse

a demographic decline and boost Russia’s current population that has dwindled to nearly 143 million and which he said risked falling to just 107 million. “In a global sense we are facing the risk of turning into an ‘empty space’ whose fate will not be decided by us,” Putin said in an article published on his campaign website.

“If we manage to formulate and implement an effective complex people -saving strategy, Russia’s population will go up to 154 million,” he said. By contrast,

MOSCOW: People walk past a partly seen traffic light with a transparent image of Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stuck to the device apparently by the Russian strongman’s supporters in central Moscow yesterday. —AFP

he said, if the authorities do nothing to combat the demographic crisis, the country’s population would fall to 107 million by 2050.

“The historic price of the choice between action and inaction is nearly 50 million human lives over the next 40 years,” he said in the piece, his fifth campaign article since January.

After serving two presidential terms between 2000 and 2008 and a term as prime minister, Putin is seeking a third term in the Kremlin in the March 4 election. He is however facing the worst legitimacy crisis of his 12year rule, with tens of thousands taking to the streets in protests since December. Russia’s future president will have to tackle an acute demographic crisis exacerbated by unhealthy lifestyles, blatant disregard for safety protocols and traffic accidents all contributing to high death rates.

Upon his expected re-election, Putin will have to push through long-delayed pension, utilities and tax reforms whose costs will be partly shouldered by the rapidly-aging population. As part of its demographic policies, the government will combat widespread alcohol and drug abuse and entice some 300,000 migrants a year to Russia, Putin said, also

proposing monthly cash incentives for women to bear more than two children. “These measures are not enough,” said Anatoly Vishnevsky, director of the Moscow-based Demography Institute at the Higher School of Economics.

“It’s impossible to imagine how you could boost the population except through massive immigration,” he told AFP, adding that Putin’s latest proposals contradicted his earlier pledge to toughen up immigration legislation. Putin said that by 2018 the income of university teachers, professors and doctors will stand at 200 percent of the national average.

“Realisation of this task will call for significant resources-up to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product year,” he said, also promising 5,000 ruble ($167) monthly stipend hikes to students. One in eight Russians still lives below the poverty line, the prime minister wrote, adding that the gap between the rich and the poor was too wide. “ Thank you, I laughed this morning,” a reader who identified himself as Denis wrote on the website of daily Komsomolskaya Pravda which also published Putin’s article. — AFP

12

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

i n t e r n at i o n a l

Suspected Bali bomber on trial in Indonesia Prosecutors say will push for death penalty

HERAT: Taleban fighters arrive to surrender their weapons as they join Afghan government forces during a ceremony in Herat province yesterday.

Nineteen fighters including Taleban district governor, Said Zia, left the Taleban to join government forces in western Afghanistan. —AFP

Taleban announce death of ex-defense minister KABUL: The Taleban’s former defense minister died in a Pakistani jail in 2010, a spokesman for the insurgent group said yesterday. Little had been heard of Obaidullah Akhund since he was arrested by Pakistani authorities in 2007.

Taleban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said yesterday that relatives have just recently been informed that Obaidullah died of heart disease in a Karachi prison on March 5, 2010.

Obaidullah was one of the top deputies of Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar when the Islamist regime ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s.

He was arrested in early 2007 in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta. At the time, he was the highest-ranking Taleban figure to be captured since the fall of the hardline regime in 2001. The Taleban said they want Pakistani officials to provide details about his arrest, incarceration and death. Obaidullah’s name was among those floated earlier this year as possible representatives for potential peace talks with the insurgent group.

The Taleban are setting up an office in Qatar in the first step toward formal talks. The Obama administration is now considering the release of five top Taleban leaders from the US detention center in Guantanamo as a starting

point for negotiations. Republicans in Congress oppose the release of the prisoners. Fighting has continued amid talk of negotiations with the Taleban. In southern Afghanistan yesterday a NATO service member died in an insurgent attack, the international military coalition said in a statement. Further details were not provided.

The death brought to at least 36 the number of international service members who have died since the beginning of the year. Last year was the deadliest on record for civilians since the beginning of the Afghan war, with more than 3,000 killed primarily in insurgent attacks and bombings, according to a UN report released earlier in February.

Civilians have also died in NATO operations, though in lower numbers. Also yesterday, Afghan investigators said they have confirmed that 15 civilians died in two NATO operations in Kunar and Kapisa provinces earlier this year. A NATO spokesman said the coalition regrets any civilian lives lost from the operations but that the international troops followed appropriate protocol in both instances. In the more recent incident in Kapisa, German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, the spokesman, said it was not clear if all the deaths were caused by the NATO operation.—AP

JAKARTA: A Muslim militant arrested in the same Pakistani town where US commandos later killed Osama bin Laden stood trial in Indonesia yesterday on charges including murder for the 2002 Bali bombings. Umar Patek, 45, faces five other counts, including bombmaking and illegal firearms possession, and prosecutors say they will push for the death penalty.

Amid a security lockdown, with anti-terrorism units deployed in Jakarta, Patek arrived at the court in an armored police vehicle, giving a two-thumbs up gesture with his handcuffed hands, but said nothing. The Indonesian is charged with premeditated murder and assembling bombs for the October 2002 Bali nightclub attacks, which killed 202 people including 88 Australians, and strikes on churches in Jakarta on Christmas Eve of 2000.

“Defendant Umar Patek committed an evil conspiracy with others to commit a crime by bringing in, obtaining, providing or owning firearms, ammunition or explosive materials and other dangerous materials to carry out terrorism,” prosecutor Widodo Supriady said, reading part of the indictment to court. Wearing a white Muslim skull cap, white trousers, white shirt and an orange prison shirt, he smiled broadly to reporters before entering a holding cell inside the court building.

The West Jakarta district courtroom was packed with about 100 spectators, more than half of them reporters, many of whom were working for Australian media.

Patek, facing a panel of five judges, was flanked by prosecutors and defence lawyers, who say attempts are being made to paint him as a Bali bombings mastermind. He sat in a white shirt, wearing glasses and quietly reading the indictment. After the session adjourned for next yesterday, he shook hands with judges and

prosecutors and smiled as he was escorted from the courtroom.

The trial of Patek, believed to be a key member of the Al-Qaedalinked Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), is expected to last over four months as prosecutors present evidence from 86 witnesses. They will testify to Patek’s decade-long involvement in terror, prosecutor Bambang Suharyadi told AFP. Patek allegedly used simple

attended the same terrorist training camp on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan as Patek.

“Umar is an expert in demolition. He was an ordinary member of the team, not the mastermind or perpetrator of what happened in Bali,” said Farihin, a former JI member who was twice jailed in Indonesia for Islamic militancy and is now a cold drinks vendor.

He said he last saw Patek before the Bali attacks. Patek, once the

JAKARTA: Umar Patek, an Indonesian militant charged in the 2002 Bali terrorist attacks, center, smiles with state prosecutor Rini Hartaty, left, after his trial in Jakarta yesterday. —AP household tools including a rice ladle to assemble bombs, which were housed in ordinary filing cabinets, according to Suharyadi and details contained in the indictment.

The indictment states that Patek was instructed by fellow Indonesian Imam Samudra to assemble the bombs for the Bali attacks. Samudra, convicted of

not. He didn’t initiate the attack.” “ The premeditated murder charge was also inappropriate,” he added. “We don’t deny that he (Patek) was involved in the Bali bombing but his role was really small,” Hatjani told AFP after the session. Among the crowd in court yesterday was Farihin, an Indonesian who goes by a single name and who said he had

most-wanted terror suspect in Indonesia, who spent nearly a decade on the run, had a $1 million bounty on his head under the US rewards for justice program.

He was extradited to Indonesia after being arrested in January 2011 in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad, where US commandos killed Al-Qaeda chief bin Laden in May.—AFP

Pakistan PM charged with contempt over graft case

Maldives welcomes Commonwealth ‘coup’ probe MALE: New Maldives president Mohamed Waheed yesterday welcomed a Commonwealth mission to investigate the ousting of his predecessor after overnight clashes during protests in the restive capital Male. Waheed agreed to a Commonwealth ministerial probe into the dramatic fall of Mohamed Nasheed, the nation’s first democratically elected leader who came to power in 2008, spokesman Masood Imad said. “The president welcomes the Commonwealth mission,” Imad told AFP. “Please come here and see the exact situation. We want not only the Commonwealth, but others too to come and see what really happened.” The ninemember Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which deals with serious violations of the 54-nation bloc’s political values, decided on the mission after an emergency telephone conference on Sunday.

The Commonwealth Secretariat said the mission would “ascertain the facts surrounding the transfer of power, and to promote adherence to Commonwealth values and principles”. Ex-president Nasheed insists he was removed in a military-backed coup following weeks of opposition protests. On Sunday, he rejected a US call for compromise and the formation of a unity government.

His Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters clashed with police in the capital on Sunday night as MDP lawmakers complained that one of their colleagues had been arrested and tortured in the southernmost atoll of Addu. An AFP correspondent saw police use pepper spray to break up a group of about 200 people and arrest at least three demonstrators who shouted anti-government slogans.

Nasheed insists that the way out of the crisis is a quick election and he has threatened to take to the streets to protest. “We want an election and we will campaign for it,” Nasheed told large, cheering crowds at the event that started late Saturday and ran into the early hours of Sunday. His remarks came after US assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs Robert Blake spoke out against snap polls, asking both sides in the Maldives to make “compromises”.

The United States has backed the idea of a national unity government under President Waheed until elections that are due by November 2013. President Waheed appointed seven more cabinet members on Sunday, but kept five portfolios open in a sign of his willingness to have a national unity government. New Human Resources, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Mohamed Shareef warned yesterday that instability in the country was beginning to tarnish the image of the top-end holiday destination.

“It has been one drama after another in the past three months or so with street protests, the arrest of a judge and then the fall of president Nasheed,” said Shareef. “There is a lot of negative publicity abroad and it is beginning to have an impact on tourism,” he said. Blake blamed both Nasheed’s MDP party and the police for violence that swept across the nation of 330,000 Sunni Muslims on Wednesday and Thursday.

At least 35 people were wounded in a police crackdown in Male on Wednesday, while demonstrators on other islands set 18 police stations ablaze. The MDP said police were continuing to arrest their supporters. Shareef, a key aide to president Waheed, said several key slots in the new cabinet were being kept open to entice MDP senior politicians to join the government and break ranks with Nasheed. “There are ambitious people in the MDP who feel it is better to join the government rather than go back to the streets,” Shareef said.

As well as the Commonwealth delegation, diplomats from regional power India, UN special envoy Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, and an EU group are all working to help resolve the political crisis. The new government has not carried out a warrant issued for Nasheed’s arrest, following international pressure and fears such a move could spark more street protests and violence. It has also agreed to probe coup charges. —AFP

being one of the masterminds, was executed in 2008 by an Indonesian firing squad. Riduan Ismudin, also known as Hambali and widely regarded as the brain behind the attacks, was arrested in 2003 and is now held by US forces at Guantanamo Bay. But defence lawyer Asludin Hatjani told reporters yesterday: “Prosecutors are trying to suggest that Patek was the mastermind of the Bali bombings, but he was

ASHGABAT: A file picture taken on July 4, 2008 shows Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov in Ashgabat. Berdymukhamedov won a landslide victory in a presidential election with 97.14 percent, the election commission said yesterday. —AFP

Turkmen president wins 97% of vote in election ASHGABAT: Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov won 97 percent of votes in an election that cemented his absolute rule of a Central Asian state holding 4 percent of the world’s natural gas reserves, election officials said yesterday. Berdymukhamedov, 54, secured five more years as president after brushing aside seven token challengers who held no ambition of unseating the trained dentist who leads a country ranked by rights groups among the world’s most repressive.

At polling stations on Sunday, performers in national costume sang eulogies to their president, whose word is final in a former Soviet state of 5.5 million people bordering Iran and Afghanistan. His subjects call him Arkadag - the Patron. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) declined to send an observation mission after concluding its presence was unnecessary given limited freedoms and the lack of political competition.

Energy companies are vying for a share of Turkmenistan’s natural gas reserves, the world’s joint fourth-largest, as well as oilfields in the Caspian Sea. Residents benefit from heavily subsidized utilities and relatively cheap gasoline. But dissent is crushed, media is tightly controlled by the state and the only political opposition has long lived in exile. Human Rights Watch has criticized “draconian restrictions” on media and religious freedoms in the mainly Muslim country.

Turnout among 2.9 million registered voters was also just shy of 97 percent, the election commission said, while the president’s margin of victory exceeded the 89 percent he polled during the last election in February 2007. “This speaks of the nation’s cohesion,” said Orazmurad Niyazlyev,

chairman of the election commission. After the 2007 poll, Berdymukhamedov began to dismantle the cult of personality around Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan’s first post-Soviet leader, who died of a heart attack in December 2006.

Seeking investment and markets for his gas, Berdymukhamedov has taken steps to bring his country out of the isolation of the Niyazov era, engaging foreign governments and avoiding the more eccentric traits of a predecessor who banned opera and ballet. Though extraordinarily high, Berdymukhamedov’s victory fell short of the 99.5 percent polled by Niyazov when he was elected president in 1992. Niyazov later named the month of January after his adopted title of Turkmenbashi, Head of All Turkmen.

Though his absolutist tendencies pale next to those of his predecessor, Berdymukhamedov is acquiring his own cult status. Already prime minister and commander of the armed forces, he was bestowed with the title “Hero of Turkmenistan” last year. State television showed the president arriving to vote in a modest white Lada Zhiguli, accompanied by his father, son and grandson. Dressed in business suit and tie, he thrust his voting slip into a transparent ballot box. The Russian head of the monitoring mission sent by the Commonwealth of Independent States, a grouping of former Soviet states, said his “heart rejoiced” at the vote. “We don’t want the same kind of elections and democracy that we are seeing today in Libya and Egypt,” CIS Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev told a news conference. “Look at what’s happening in Syria, where the people are being thrown into the abyss of civil war, supposedly under the guise of democracy.” —Reuters

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court charged to the judges. Security was tight, with helicopPakistan’s prime minister with contempt yes- ters buzzing through the rainy, overcast sky terday for defying its order to reopen an old and hundreds of police blocking roads leadcorruption case against the president, sharp- ing to the court building in the capital, ening a political crisis that has shaken this Islamabad. One of the judges, Nasirul Mulk, already volatile country. At a separate hearing, read out the contempt charge, saying Gilani the top court also took on the country’s pow- had “willfully flouted, disregarded and diserful army, demanding that two military intel- obeyed the direction given by this court.”

The prime minister, who was surrounded ligence agencies explain why they held seven by his Cabinet members and suspected militants for 18 coalition partners, said he months in allegedly harsh conunderstood the charge and ditions without charging them. would contest it. The move was Prime Minister Yousuf Raza the formal start to a process Gilani pleaded not guilty to the that will take months or weeks contempt charge. If convicted, to conclude. The next session he could be imprisoned and will be on Feb 22. Court supwill likely lose his job. But anaporters have applauded the lysts said the premier seems judges for upholding the rule willing to sacrifice himself for of law. But government loyalthe benefit of his party and his ists accuse the chief justice of political ally, President Asif Ali pursuing a personal vendetta Zardari. against president.

Gilani’s ouster would not The case against Zardari topple the government. But Yousuf Raza Gilani relates to kickbacks he and his the case has distracted officials from dealing with a host of ills facing the late wife, former Prime Minister Benazir nuclear-armed country, including a stuttering Bhutto, allegedly received from Swiss compaeconomy and a vicious Islamist insurgency. nies when Bhutto was in power in the 1990s.

The political turmoil has also been a problem They were found guilty in absentia in a Swiss for the United States because it wants court in 2003. Zardari appealed, but Swiss Pakistan to focus on repairing troubled bilat- prosecutors dropped the case after the eral relations and help negotiate peace with Pakistani parliament passed an ordinance giving the president and others immunity from the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Gilani drove himself and his lawyer to old corruption cases that many agreed were court, an apparent attempt to show humility politically motivated.—AP

NATO admits Afghan children killed in Kapisa KABUL: The US-led NATO force in Afghanistan yesterday conceded that several children died during a bombing raid last week in the northeast province where French troops are based.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had condemned the air strikes and ordered an investigation after saying that eight children were killed on February 8. Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said that an ongoing assessment showed that troops engaged “a group of men, who were armed and engaging in unusual behavior”. “This group was engaged by coalition aircraft and that engagement followed all ISAF tactical directives. Following the engagement, additional casualties were discovered and these casualties were young Afghans of varying ages.

“At this point in our assessment, we can neither confirm nor deny, with reasonable assurance, a direct link to the engagement,” he said. But Mohammad Tahir Safi, a member of parliament for Kapisa and part of the investigation team dispatched by Karzai, disagreed.

To reporters, he narrated an account in which

the local head of Afghan intelligence told a French colonel that the area of the planned operation was “not a threat”, refusing to countenance an operation. Safi said French troops raided the homes of two former jihadi commanders before dawn, confiscating “only one mortar round, a shotgun... some AK rounds and nothing else”. About 600 metres west of the village, children gathered to start a fire when “all of a sudden a plane dropped one bomb in first round and another bomb later”, he said, showing pictures of bloodied children in shrouds. “There were eight people and all innocent children and you can see their pictures,” he said. The dead were aged between six and 14, with “another guy aged about 18 to 20” who was mentally ill, Safi said. Jacobson called any deaths of innocent people a tragedy but insisted: “We simply are not yet certain how this happened.” The Afghan president, who has a strained relationship with his Western allies, has regularly condemned NATO for civilian deaths in the decade-long war against Taliban insurgents fighting to overthrow him. —AFP

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

NEWS

UAE love guru doles advice

MANAMA: Riot police fire tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters yesterday on a highway near the capital yesterday. — AP

Protests rise as Bahrain marks uprising ’versary DUBAI: Bahraini police clashed with protesters yesterday, witnesses said, as the public security chief warned citizens not to heed calls by activists to mark the first anniversary of a Shiite-led uprising. One year after month-long pro-democracy protests, the Gulf kingdom is at a political impasse, with Shiite protesters back on the streets of Manama despite a deadly crackdown by the ruling Sunni dynasty. Police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters who broke away from an opposition demonstration and tried to head for the former Pearl Square, focal point of last year’s protests, witnesses said.

The interior ministry said a demonstration authorised for the Al-Wefaq main Shiite opposition group had become “no longer peaceful,” and that police were dealing with protesters who hurled petrol bombs at security forces. The Coalition of the Youth of February 14th Revolution had urged sympathisers to march to Manama to commemorate the first anniversary of the uprising that was brutally crushed. “Down with (King) Hamad!” protesters chanted.

In a warning to activists on the eve of today’s anniversary, public security chief Major General Tariq Al-Hassan cautioned Bahrainis “not to respond to the inciting calls on (online) social networks to demonstrate”. In a statement published on the official BNA news agency, Hassan said the security forces would not hesitate to respond to “those that want to take advantage... to carry out unlawful, irresponsible acts that threaten public order”.

He said the government “will prevent” such actions, but also appealed to citizens not to “escalate tensions,” adding

that police have already bolstered security ahead of the anniversary.

Activists had called for demonstrations yesterday and today at the former Pearl Square. But the Al-Wefaqled alliance of opposition groups said in a statement that although Pearl Square has “become a symbol” for protest, it is not the only one. “All squares and streets of the country are sites that we use to renew our vows to press ahead in our struggle to achieve our demands,” including a powerful parliament, representative government and redrawn “fair” electoral constituencies, it said. The opposition groups insisted that the peaceful aspect of the movement “is a strategy of the opposition, not a temporary tactic,” and rejected being drawn into confrontation. Thousands on Sunday heard Al-Wefaq leader cleric Ali Salman call for “a political solution” to the crisis, saying this would be possible only after the release “of all political prisoners” and major political reforms.

Fears are mounting of further unrest. “It is difficult to predict what will happen in the coming days in Bahrain because of the diversity and fragmentation of political forces and a disturbing division between Shiites and Sunnis,” Bahraini analyst Ali Fakhro told AFP. He argued that treating the problem as a security matter would not solve it, and that it needed a “political plan agreed upon by all political forces and civil organisations, for a national dialogue with the government.”

Amnesty International said the government “remains far from delivering the human rights changes” recommended by the Bahrain

Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI). Despite several announcements claiming progress, “the fact is that it has still not delivered in the most important areas,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Victims and families of victims of the serious human rights violations... are still waiting for justice,” she added.

Amnesty urged the authorities “to allow” anniversary protests to take place. It also urged action to release female protester Zainab Al-Khawaja after she was arrested on Sunday while trying to march to Pearl Square.

Khawaja was also detained for several days in December after taking part in a sit in. The death toll from last year’s unrest was 35, including five security personnel and five detainees tortured to death while in custody, the BICI report said last November. But Amnesty said “at least a further 20 have died since” in protests because of the continued use of excessive force by security personnel.

King Hamad has acknowledged the conclusions of the BICI report but the authorities “did not act with seriousness to implement the recommendations of the committee,” AlWefaq’s Salman said earlier this month. Mansour Al-Jamri, editor of the independent Bahraini daily AlWasat, lamented: ”The authorities have essentially opted for the security solution, which has led to the current impasse and the resumption of largescale protests. A year later and we’re back to square one. The crisis could escalate unless the authorities come up with a positive initiative” to revive dialogue. — AFP

Slow death by poison for strays of Kuwait Continued from Page 1 While Khaldi was not surprised by the sight of the strays, she was shocked when she learnt of their fate. “I thought they would come and collect the dogs, as pounds usually do. When I called, however, they told me that they would come and place poison in the park to ‘fix’ the problem.” Khaldi added, “I was horrified, and when I pointed out that it is inhumane to poison the strays, they completely shrugged off the comment.”

Worried about the risk of her pet eating the contaminated food, she highlighted how dangerous scattering poisoned food is. “I argued that it would not be safe for dogs to roam freely in the park anymore, but he simply told me that the poison was placed by the outer gates, and that if I was concerned, I should stop taking my dog there.” Despite her fears, Shaikha continues to take her dog to the park, but keep him on a leash. “I noticed that the strays were gone, and saw dog food scattered around the park. I called back and asked if poison had been placed in the park, and they said yes. The poison was in the middle of the park; any dog could eat it.”

John Peaveler, Managing Director at the Kuwait Society for the Protection of Animals and their Habitat (K’S PATH) said of the practice: “It’s been going on for years. The PAAAFR contract the work out. But, from a population management standpoint, it’s not effective.

Reactive population control does nothing. The population of strays is only increasing: every time you knock out a small number of animals, you are actually making the problem worse because more offspring survive to later compete for resources. Population control does not work in small quantities.”

It is effective, however, in sparking fear in pet owners as their pets try and feast on the seemingly innocent food. “I cannot let my dog run freely around the park anymore because of this. I caught him eating a pellet of poisoned food, and luckily it was not enough to harm him,” said Khaldi. “Since they are unwilling to stop placing poison in the parks, I asked that they at least put up signs to warn pet owners. They even refused that, insisting that it would be too much effort to place a sign every time they planted poison.” Unknowing pet owners have suffered the consequences as a result. “My friend’s dog ate the poisoned food and died because of it. It’s not even humane euthanasia: the dog died over the period of an hour, foaming at the mouth. It is a slow, painful death.”

However, despite many losing their pets as a result of the poisoned food, no action has been taken, “There are many cases of pets dying as a result of this, but there is no accountability,” said Peaveler. “Poisoning strays is

extremely inhumane. It can take anywhere from 20 minutes to 20 hours depending on how much poison they ingested, the size of the animal etc. It is exceptionally painful.”

The situation of animals in Kuwait is already pretty grim given that, according to Peaveler, there is a high rate of intentional animal cruelty. “The mortality rate of puppies in Kuwait is 90 percent, so only 10 percent will ever see adulthood, and the average life expectancy for dogs is only one and a half to two years. A normal street dog should reach around 6 years of age,” he said.

Khaldi commented that the issue of animal cruelty is belittled because it’s ‘just a dog’, adding, “This kind of thinking only further supports the inhumane treatment of strays, and risks now threatening pets. Even if they do not care about animals, what about toddlers and children that go to parks? They pick up random objects all the time, and it is somehow appropriate to have poison lying around.” Peaveler added: “Even if there is little regard for the inhumane element, it is still not an effective means of controlling a stray animal population. It is inefficient, and it is indiscriminate. There must be a population management strategy.”

Humane population management strategies have proven successful in Kuwait, as K’S PATH managed to implement a successful plan in Ahmadi. “We were contacted by Kuwait Oil Company, who wanted a humane and effective method for animal control. We surveyed the area and estimated that there were between 400 to 800 strays, who were causing many problems in the area,” said Peaveler. “There are three ways to manage strays once they are found. They can be sterilized, vaccinated, and re-released if in a non-residential area.

Friendly dogs can be sent to the shelter and evaluated to see if they are eligible for adoption.”

Euthanasia remains an option in bringing large populations of strays under control, but there is a vast difference between poisoning and humane euthanasia, Peaveler added. “The final option is humane euthanasia.

Sometimes we’ve found over 50 dogs at just one site.

Such numbers make sheltering impractical, especially if you consider that most of these animals are not pets.”

However, bringing stray populations under control paves the way for a better future for the animals.

“Now every dog found in Ahmadi can be taken to the shelter because the population is under control: we are down to just three of the original dogs found a year ago in the area and have caught over 600,” Peaveler stated. “The animal control teams monitor the site to keep everything under control, and complaints regarding strays have dropped from dozens a day to maybe one a month.”

DUBAI: Emirati love guru Widad Lootah is not your typical marriage counsellor. She is an ultra-conservative Muslim who wears the full veil and talks a lot about sex, often quoting the Holy Quran. On the eve of Valentine’s day, Lootah is calling on Muslim and Arab women everywhere to “embrace love and love making”. “Don’t shy away from it, don’t feel ashamed by it. Enjoy it, you’re supposed to,” she said in an interview with AFP, adding that she is trying to break common misconceptions that sex in Islam is only about conceiving children. “It’s also about having fun,” she said.

Dressed in a shroud of black revealing only her eyes - a choice, she says, that allows her to emulate the Prophet’s (PBUH) wives Lootah was frank and explicit about the importance Islam places on a healthy sex life. “It’s at the core” of a happy marriage, she said.

Lootah noted that her 11 years as a marriage counsellor at the Dubai courthouse made her realise that “what happens (or doesn’t happen) in bed” is the main source of marital problems in the United Arab Emirates.

Public, and in many cases private, discussions about sex are still taboo in much of the conservative Muslim world, a reality she says contradicts Islam’s approach to the subject. There are only two simple rules for sex in Islam: you must be married “and anal sex is strictly forbidden,” Lootah said. “Everything else, including all sexually intimate acts below the belly button, is allowed. Feel each other, touch each other, kiss each other all over... it’s OK.” The problem is, “there is so much shame and disgrace” associated with the enjoyment of sex in the Arab world.

Lootah is an adamant believer in bringing the discussion of sex out into the open, although at times doing so has proven it can be a risky business. In 2009, she published the much-debated Muslim sex guide “ Top Secret: Sexual Guidance for Married Couples.” Her book, and her comments in interviews on the subject,

DUBAI: A video grab shows Emirati ‘love guru’ Widad Lootah calling on Muslim and Arab women everywhere to ‘embrace love and love making’. — AFP initially triggered a slew of insults, riages. In about a month, Lootah condemnation and even threats plans to submit her second book, against her life. “They called me all “Top Secret Volume Two,” to the sorts of things: crazy, vile, immoral, government censors, and in tradicriminal,” she said. “Some even tional Lootah style, its pages will called me a traitor and spy for contain a lot of sex talk. But this time, the topic of discussion is forIsrael and America.”

Today, Lootah is probably the bidden sex under Islam. “It’s about UAE’s most prominent marriage homosexual and lesbian relations counsellor, known by her clients as and their effect on the institution “Mama Widad”. Lootah has also of marriage,” said Lootah, adding vigorously lobbied her home gov- that she had to tread carefully givernment to introduce sexual edu- en the sensitivity of the subject cation in Emirati schools. For older and intense emotions it stirs in the teens, “it’s very important that we Muslim world.

When asked why she has taken educate them, both males and females, about sex... we have to on the cause of love and sex in prepare them psychologically and Islam, Lootah argued that it was an emotionally for it, and we have to issue of “women’s rights”. “I can’t fix teach them about the act itself.” everything... but I can try and fix But first, we must “educate the the role of women (in sex and marteachers so they can educate the riage) in the Arab world.” As for her students,” said Lootah, adding that opinion of Valentine’s day, she says such education would also help Islam forbids the celebration of protect young children from sexual non-Muslim holidays. “But if you predators. They have to be “taught consider Valentine’s day as a mere what form of adult-child interac- reminder to show one’s love to tion is appropriate and what’s not,” another, then why not? I don’t she said. “We need to teach them object to it,” she said. But “if that’s so they know to recognise the dan- the case, then every day should be Valentine’s day.” Any last words of ger when it’s there.”

She said the taboos surround- advice? “Experience love... even ing sex have also contributed to before marriage, that’s OK. But high divorce rates in the Emirates don’t do anything forbidden by and to generally unhappy mar- Islam.” — AFP

Oppn wants 9 Cabinet posts Continued from Page 1 Nevertheless, the opposition had vowed to support the Cabinet without taking part in it as long as it implements the required reforms. It was not immediately known whether the prime minister will accept the opposition’s demands, especially that they are demanding a large number of ministerial posts which is unprecedented in Kuwait’s history. The opposition groups also decided that most of its Cabinet posts will be occupied by their members from outside the Assembly in a bid to maintain their majority in the Assembly. If the prime minister accepts the opposition’s proposal, the new Cabinet may not be formed in

time for the Assembly’s inaugural session scheduled to be held tomorrow, amid reports that the prime minister may request the session to be delayed till next week. But several legal experts have said that it is not possible under the constitution or the Assembly’s internal charter to delay convening the first session of the new Assembly.

In addition, sources revealed that the prime minister has apparently abandoned unprecedented moves to appoint the interior minister from outside the ruling family amid unconfirmed reports that the outgoing interior and defense minister Sheikh Ahmad AlHumoud Al-Sabah is insisting for the post of first deputy premier and interior minister.

Central Bank governor quits over spending Continued from Page 1 “The challenges facing the local economy amid an increase in public spending to very high levels will hinder the Central Bank from taking responsibilities in the future to achieve its objectives as defined by the law,” said Sheikh Salem. Last year’s uprisings in the Arab World emboldened workers in Kuwait to stage a string of strikes which added to upward pressure on wages of state employees. A strike at the national airline ended with a 30-percent wage hike, local media reported; oil sector workers received a wage rise after a strike threat.

“Public spending has increased to unprecedented and unsustainable high levels which directly restricts the bank’s ability to achieve fiscal and monetary stability,” Sheikh Salem said in a statement cited by the official KUNA news agency. The 61-year-old chief banker also cited “challenges to domestic economy” as another reason for his resignation. “I have exerted all efforts to highlight the urgent need to deal with major structural defects in the national economy,” he said. “Although these efforts were accepted and supported, they were never backed with tangible measures to launch fiscal reforms as a gateway for needed economic reforms,” he said. “As a result, the structural defects worsened and their risks increased,” although their real impact has been reduced by high oil prices, Sheikh Salem said.

Some top Kuwaiti economic policymakers, including Sheikh Salem and the finance minister, publicly urged the government to restrain spending and reduce waste in the

budget last year. The finance minister said public sector wages had risen to about 85 percent of the country’s oil revenues, which he called “a real danger”. “The resignation is probably linked to monetary policy. If he’s trying to keep inflation down, government policy is clearly going to work against that,” said an economist at a global bank, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

He added, however, that Kuwait’s economy did not face any major threats for the time being. Although the average inflation rate climbed to a three-year high of 4.8 percent in 2011, it remains far below levels above 10 percent hit in 2008, and many analysts expect inflation to ease this year. And while inefficient planning and tensions between the cabinet and parliament have plagued policymaking, blocking important infrastructure and economic development projects, Kuwait’s oil wealth means it is unlikely to face a fiscal crisis any time soon.

The government posted a budget surplus of $47 billion in the first nine months of 2011, nearly double the surplus in 2010. Analysts expect economic growth to stay comfortable this year at around 3.5 percent. In an October interview with Reuters, Sheikh Salem said the world’s No. 6 oil exporter needed to reform the government budget and labour market, and strengthen the private sector, to create a broader base for economic growth. “It is essential and urgent that significant reform steps are taken at this stage, because further postponement and delay will reduce the options available and further increase their cost,” he said at the

time.

Some analysts linked Sheikh Salem’s resignation to political change after the Islamist-led opposition won control of parliament in a snap election this month. The early vote was held after street protests against corruption and the storming of parliament by opposition lawmakers prompted the emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, to dissolve parliament. The election results may deepen political tensions if they embolden the opposition to push for constitutional changes and challenge the cabinet, which is appointed by a prime minister hand-picked by the ruling family.

Sheikh Salem’s resignation “is a result of the relationship between the government and the parliament”, said another economist in the Gulf.

“You have seen very little progress with the wider development program and wider investment projects such as housing and education.

Following the elections, it looks more difficult to implement reforms.” An interim Cabinet resigned last week and a new Cabinet is expected to be announced today. The current oil, public works and commerce ministers are expected to be retained in the new Cabinet.

Kuwait’s currency, the only one in the Gulf not pegged to the US dollar, was steady after news of Sheikh Salem’s resignation while the stock market rose 0.7 percent. Traders said investors were encouraged by strong fourth-quarter corporate earnings while some were also speculating that the government might boost spending further after Sheikh Salem’s departure, which could benefit the market. — Agencies

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

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Issues

Capriles faces uphill battle against Chavez

By Brian Ellsworth enezuelan opposition flagbearer Henrique Capriles could give President Hugo Chavez the closest race of his career, though the socialist leader’s charisma and deep pockets provide formidable advantages as he seeks re-election in October. With a polished smile and energetic style, the 39-year-old Capriles plans to criss-cross Venezuela from Monday galvanizing supporters and trying to win over wavering Chavez sympathizers. An accumulation of problems during 13 years of Chavez’s self-styled socialist revolution - such as crime, unemployment and inflation make 2012 the best moment yet to challenge the former soldier.

Yet Chavez retains the upper hand thanks to seemingly inexhaustible popularity among the poor and a flood of social spending financed by the OPEC member’s vast oil wealth. That means the center-left Capriles, a state governor, will have to build momentum from Sunday’s victory to win over the roughly third of Venezuelan voters who remain undecided. His aides know he needs a dynamite campaign that projects a modern political vision in contrast to Chavez’s militaristic confrontation, seemingly capricious state takeovers and involvement in far-flung diplomatic disputes. “I don’t want to be the leader of the world, I want to be the leader of Venezuela,” Capriles told a roaring crowd at his victory rally, pointedly trying to show a difference with Chavez and his fiercely anti-US global ambitions.

A priority for Capriles will be maintaining unity in a historically unruly opposition that has failed to oust Chavez via the ballot box or street protests. Public bearhugs with the four candidates he defeated at the weekend was a good start. The opposition’s ranks range from a newly-dominant young wing embodied by Capriles seeking to win over voters in Chavez strongholds, to upper-crust blue-bloods preferring to openly confront the president as a dictator.

Capriles’ strength lies in promising change from an administration that has let Venezuela become more dangerous than some war zones, spurred one of the world’s highest inflation rates, and left it suffering from shortages of basic products such as cooking oil and milk. Though Chavez appears to have recovered from cancer surgery last year, a sudden relapse in his health would probably also work in Capriles’ favor. Recent polls show Chavez, 57, would beat Capriles by more than 20 percentage points, but that lead is likely to decline as Capriles starts his presidential campaign and the four losing opposition candidates line up behind him.

Capriles has cautiously avoided direct attacks on Chavez, vowed to leave in place the social “missions” the president has created since 2003, and promised to avoid quickly removing regulations such as currency controls. “He has shown great managerial ability,” said supporter Carlos Luis Meza, 32, a lawyer, in reference to Capriles’ widely-praised governorship of Miranda state.

So far, Capriles’ campaign has relied on vague promises to improve security and create jobs: Venezuelans’ top two concerns.

If he won, his government would likely be staffed by a combination of allied opposition leaders and technocrats who would begin slowly enacting the measures that economists have been urging for a decade. But these measures are precisely the ones that are most unpopular with voters, and therefore are unlikely to form an explicit part of Capriles’ platform. His campaign, built around the slogan “There is a path,” has in fact been more defined by what it will not do than what it will. This contrasts with Chavez’s clearly defined nationalist agenda that builds on Venezuelans’ historical resentment of US influence and a predominant mistrust of free markets. “They represent the bourgeoisie, the Yankees,” Chavez said in a recent speech about the opposition. “I am the fatherland.” Chavez and his supporters have won more than 10 elections since he took office in 1999 thanks in large part to a state-backed voter mobilization machinery capable of getting supporters from hillside slums and rural towns to the polls.

State media commentators immediately went after Capriles, saying he was the candidate of a wealthy elite who did not represent Venezuelans. Capriles aides expect a dirty campaign against him, with old charges he whipped up a riot outside the Cuban Embassy in 2002 likely to surface again. “Capriles has people behind him, no doubt,” said diehard Chavez supporter Eriberto Hurtado in a poor neighborhood of Caracas. “But he has a past and we will show his dirty laundry.”—Reuters

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Greek vote a big step but crisis lives on

By Roddy Thomson deal to save Greece from default, boosted by a vote in Athens agreeing more austerity, marks a turning point in the debt crisis, but the outcome is far from clear, analysts warn. Four months after eurozone leaders pledged to ring-fence Greece’s finances, public and private partners at home and abroad look finally to have opted to keep the eurozone intact, almost two years after a first, failed bailout attempt. The new rescue package, due to be endorsed by eurozone finance ministers tomorrow, effectively “closes one crisis chapter, although the crisis is by no means be overcome,” Janis Emmanouilidis, the senior analyst with leading Brussels think tank, the European Policy Centre, told AFP. “Only time will tell whether Greek debt will in the end reach sustainable levels and whether the country will be able to push the ‘restart’ button,” he said, citing “a danger that governments might become complacent, after the crisis has moved from ‘hot’ to ‘cold’.”

Greek deputies defied 100,000 demonstrators in Athens and Thessaloniki to pass late on Sunday another round of stringent budget measures sought by Greece’s international creditors in return for a 130-billioneuro bailout ($172 billion at Monday rates).

And yet in China, an ever more visible investor in Greece and other eurozone countries sucked in by contagion as the debt crisis spread last summer, warned on Monday that the eurozone debt crisis was still at a “critical juncture”. “I’m really wondering now whether so much damage has been done that this marriage no longer can be rescued,” said Erik Nielsen, chief economist with Milan-based

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UniCredit. “Nobody can doubt that Greek society is on the edge - and nobody should doubt the profound exasperation that has developed among European policymakers,” he added, noting a “re-emergence of stereotyping among European nationals” as “possibly the single biggest casualty of this crisis.”

Nielsen worries that the new bailout will

ing only that “an orderly rather than a disorderly default has been achieved.” According to Lutz Karpowitz of Germany ’s Commerzbank, shifting political sands means the parliamentary green light can only be taken as valid for the short-term.

“Considering the explosive situation in Greece, it would hardly come as a surprise if

Protesters pass by a burning cinema in Athens late Sunday. — AP again prove too small, and concludes that “while the old ‘fear factor’ of default will be less prominent in future negotiations, the ultimate downside of Greece sliding out of the eurozone... will still be there.” Many remain concerned, Paul Donovan of UBS say-

those opposing the reforms were to take control of the country in April,” he said of a planned general election on hold while the default question is resolved. “In that case everything would start all over again,” he maintains.

Ironically, the hardest-line proponents of the European Union austerity pill are making political gains - Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party logging its best showing in German polling last week since winning a second term in 2009.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has actively played the Greek default card, saying the eurozone can withstand an event considered fatal 18 months ago. A big question is how French President Nicolas Sarkozy will fare in his re-election bid, with a shoulder-toshoulder Merkel identified by the Elysee incumbent as a winning ally despite the historic intrusion of a German leader into French politics.

Bond traders who had piled pressure on Italy and Spain after successive bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal have eased the pressures on eurozone leaders - largely thanks to central bank-led moves to “stabilise” a global economy facing renewed recession. While the impact of new, “technocratic” EU management on the ground in places like Athens fuels uncertainty among peripheral eurozone states, leaders can be seen to have assembled their jigsaw response.

All but two European Union states agreeing to bind future governments to collective fiscal discipline, which the head of the European Central Bank (ECB) saw as the birth of a transfer union as in the United States.

Britain and the Czech Republic are sitting that treaty out for the moment, but even they have supported efforts to boost a financial firewall for major emergencies, up for debate next month. “Some key pieces are falling into place,” says Holger Schmieding of Germany’s Berenberg. —AFP

Arabs set to fail with latest Syria plan

By Jocelyne Zablit n initiative calling for a joint UN-Arab League peacekeeping mission to Syria is likely to fail but raises the stakes and further isolates the embattled regime in Damascus, analysts said yesterday. “I think the political significance of the Arab League move is enormous,” said Rami Khouri, head of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut. “The practical consequences of it will take a lot longer to manifest themselves. The important thing is the Arab League is now trying to hook up with the legitimacy of the United Nations and all the countries trying to bring about peaceful political change in Syria.”

The pan-Arab bloc at the weekend severed all diplomatic and economic cooperation with the regime of Bashar al-Assad and called on the United Nations to send a joint peacekeeping force to Syria. Russia said yesterday that it was studying the plan but that a ceasefire had to be implemented before any peacekeepers could be deployed. The Arab League initiative marked the latest diplomatic effort to end 11 months of bloodshed in Syria that, according to activists, has left more than 6,000 people dead.

Analysts said that a new Arab League resolution was likely to meet the same fate as previous texts put before the UN Security Council and rejected by Russia and China, both staunch allies of the Assad regime. They also pointed out that any decision to send peacekeeping troops to Syria requires approval by Damascus as well as a ceasefire, both of them unlikely scenarios. “It’s contradictory for the Arab League to call for the UN peacekeeping force, which requires the approval of the host government, while at the same time calling for an end to diplomatic cooperation with Syria,” said Yezid Sayigh, an analyst with the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut.

“This call sadly raises the political pressure but it may have a counter-productive effect of underlining even more that the league of Arab states has run out of real options that are game changers,” he added.

Salman Shaikh, head of the Brookings Doha Centre, said that few countries would be willing to contribute any troops even in the unlikely event the Security Council reached consensus on the resolution. “I find it very difficult that we will find member states who will actually contribute UN troops to something like this,” he told AFP. “We have to redouble our efforts to try and achieve a ceasefire at least before we can get some sort of hybrid force which, in principle, is a good idea to try and keep the peace.”

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British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday said it was unlikely Western nations would join the force. “I don’t see the way forward in Syria as being Western boots on the ground, in any form, including in peacekeeping form,” he told a news conference during a visit to South Africa. “But of course if such a concept could be made viable we will be supporting it in all the usual ways.”

As for increased calls to arm the opposition, analysts said that could also be counter-productive and further inflame the situation. “Arming and militarising the uprising in Syria will

lead to further fragmentation because a lot more becomes at stake and the means to assert yourself and gain a bigger stake is by using guns,” Sayigh said. He said that while there was no quick solution to the crisis, in the end a diplomatic resolution that includes talks with the Assad regime may be the only option. “This is going to drag on so people might want to focus on developing a genuine, diplomatic outcome,” Sayigh said. “And this necessarily means some form of talking to the regime, through the Russians, with the Russians or without them.” — AFP

A Syrian girl holds her doll as a dead child with a slogan against Syrian President Bashar alAssad during a demonstration against the Syrian regime in the suburb of Daraya, Damascus on Sunday.— AP

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

sp orts Ullrich banned from races

Kostelic to have surgery

Tevez due back in City

BERLIN: The German cycling federation (BDR) has banned former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich from competing in any amateur or public races in the country after the retired athlete was found guilty of blood doping last week. Ullrich, the 1997 Tour winner who was also a five-times runner-up in the world’s biggest race, was suspended for two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for blood doping with the help of a Spanish doctor at the heart of a scandal that stretching back to 2006. “According to the anti-doping rules of the BDR the ban includes non-licence holders and so it also concerns public races,” said BDR Vice President Udo Sprenger.

“So Ullrich is banned from starting in any German public race that has been authorised by the BDR,” he told reporters. Ullrich, who had been due to enter a race in Bielefeld in August 2012, had repeatedly denied any contact with Eufemiano Fuentes, the doctor who had been investigated as part of Spain’s Operation Puerto before admitting to it a day after his ban last week.

The scandal broke in 2006 when Spanish police raids uncovered more than 200 codenamed blood bags, some of which were linked to cyclists. — Reuters

ZAGREB: World Cup champion Ivica Kostelic will have surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee, his team said yesterday after the Croatian underwent an MRI scan in Zagreb.

Kostelic limped away after winning Sunday’s World Cup super-combined race at the Russian resort of Krasnaya Polyana, which will host races at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

After a scan, he was being taken to Basel to see specialist surgeons who had operated on his knee in the past, the Croatian team said in a statement.

The surgeons were expected to remove a damaged part of the meniscus, team manager Vedran Pavlek said. Kostelic’s father Ante blamed the injury, which could threaten the skier’s season, on Sunday’s “aggressive course”.

The 32-year-old Kostelic, who clinched the super-combined title on Sunday for the fifth World Cup trophy of his career, leads this season’s overall cup race by 70 points from Swiss Beat Feuz, with 18 races still to go. He has had numerous knee injuries in his career and underwent surgery on the right knee last May. —Reuters

LONDON: Carlos Tevez is due back in England today and could be playing for Manchester City in the “next two to three weeks” following a thawing in relations between the Argentina striker and the club, an advisor to his representative said yesterday. Tevez, 28, has not played for City since his refusal to follow the instructions of coach Roberto Mancini and warm up during the Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich in September. His last appearance was in a League Cup win over Birmingham City on Sept. 21 and that looked like being the last time he ever played for City after Mancini said he was “finished” at the club. Tevez has been back in Argentina on unauthorised leave since November, but Paul McCarthy, an advisor to Tevez’s representative Kia Joorabchian, told Reuters the player was returning to England.

“He is due back in England on Tuesday and hopefully will start training this week. He has not just been playing golf in Argentina he has done a lot of fitness work too but is probably still two or three weeks away from being match-fit,” McCarthy said. “Roberto Mancini has more than opened the door for him and now it’s a case of getting his fitness back.

“There have been a lot of very productive, sensible discussions over the last 10 days or so and a thawing in relations on both sides. — Reuters

Red Wings see off Flyers DETROIT: The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday on the strength of Johan Franzen’s tiebreaking goal early in the third period.

The league mark was set by the Boston Bruins during the 1929-30 season and matched

by Philadelphia in 1976. Detroit can break the record with a win Tuesday night over the Dallas Stars at Joe Louis Arena. Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall also scored for the Red Wings. Philadelphia rookie Brayden Schenn had a career-high two goals, helping the Flyers take the first of two leads they couldn’t keep against a team that hasn’t lost at home since Nov. 3 against Calgary.

Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom played in his 1,550th game, the most by an NHL player who spent his entire career with one team. He broke the mark set by former Detroit great Alex Delvecchio. Maxime Talbot also scored for the Flyers and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots.

Penguins 4, Lightning 2 At Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin continued his torrid play, scoring his 31st and 32nd goals of the season as Pittsburgh rallied past Tampa Bay. Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang each added a goal and two assists for the Penguins, who have won six straight at home. James Neal chipped in three assists as Pittsburgh kept Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos in check.

The NHL’s leading goal scorer was held pointless and mustered just one shot against Brent Johnson, who overcame some early jit-

ters to make 21 saves. Steve Downie scored twice in an 11-second span in the first period for Tampa Bay, but the Penguins roared back from a two-goal deficit for the second time in two days behind Malkin. The Russian star pushed his league-leading point total to 69 and narrowly missed a hat trick when his shot hit the post on an empty net as the clock expired.

Rangers 3, Capitals 2 At New York, Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift New York over Washington.

Callahan, who notched his second NHL hat trick Saturday with three goals in a 5-2 win at Philadelphia, got the Eastern Conference leaders going in the first period. McDonagh gave New York a 2-1 lead with 6:39 left in the second with his fifth of the season, and Brandon Prust snapped a 48-game drought with a shorthanded tally in the third. Henrik Lundqvist did the rest, making 24 saves to earn his second win in two days and setting up New York for a showdown with the Stanley Cup champion Bruins on Tuesday at Boston.

Alexander Semin scored, defenseman John Carlson had a goal and assist, and Michal Neuvirth stopped 25 shots for the Capitals, who have lost four of six (2-3-1) and sit ninth in the East playoff race.

Blues 3, Sharks 0 At St. Louis, Alex Pietrangelo had two goals, David Perron also scored with a two-man advantage and Andy McDonald added an assist

in his return from a concussion that sidelined him for 51 games, sending St. Louis to a victory over San Jose. Jaroslav Halak earned his sixth shutout in just 10 starts, one more than All-Star teammate Brian Elliott has, as the Blues extended a franchise record by earning at least one point in 19 consecutive home games. They’re 16-0-3 at home since a 5-2 loss to Chicago on Dec. 3 and an NHL-best 24-3-4 overall, topping their total of 23 wins last season. Antti Niemi made 25 saves for the Pacific Division-leading Sharks, who came up empty in the opener of a season-long, nine-game trip. San Jose, which next plays at home Feb. 28 against the Flyers, has lost three of four overall.

Kings 4, Stars 2 At Dallas, Jordan Nolan and Dwight King each scored their first career goal as Los Angeles beat Dallas in a matchup of Western Conference playoff contenders. With the game tied at 2, Nolan skated hard to the net and fired Mike Richards’ centering pass by Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen at 11:29 of the third period.

Jonathan Quick stopped 26 shots, Andrei Loktionov had a power-play goal and Anze Kopitar added two assists for the Kings, who completed a 2-3-1 road trip. Justin Williams added an empty-netter with 2.1 seconds left for Los Angeles. Loui Eriksson and Michael Ryder scored for the Stars.

Ducks 5, Blue Jackets 3 At Columbus, Ohio, Corey Perry scored three goals for his fifth career hat trick - and second against Columbus this season - to lead

NHL results/standings NY Rangers 3, Washington 2; Florida 4, NY Islanders 1; Anaheim 5, Columbus 3; Los Angeles 4, Dallas 2; Pittsburgh 4, Tampa Bay 2; St. Louis 3, San Jose 0; Detroit 4, Philadelphia 3.

Western Conference Eastern Conference Central Division Atlantic Division Detroit 38 17 2 182 135 78 W L OTL GF GA PTS St. Louis 34 14 7 139 111 75 NY Rangers 36 13 5 153 110 77 Nashville 32 18 6 158 148 70 Pittsburgh 32 19 5 175 148 69 Chicago 29 20 7 174 171 65 Philadelphia 31 18 7 182 169 69 Columbus 16 34 6 131 185 38 New Jersey 31 20 4 154 155 66 Northwest Division NY Islanders 23 24 8 131 159 54 Vancouver 34 15 6 178 138 74 Northeast Division Calgary 26 22 8 134 151 60 Boston 34 17 2 184 120 70 Colorado 28 25 4 146 159 60 Ottawa 28 22 8 169 181 64 Minnesota 25 22 8 125 144 58 Edmonton 22 28 5 147 165 49 Toronto 28 22 6 171 166 62 Pacific Division Montreal 23 24 9 149 149 55 San Jose 30 17 6 153 127 66 Buffalo 24 25 6 136 158 54 Los Angeles 27 19 11 124 124 65 Southeast Division Phoenix 27 21 8 148 144 62 Florida 27 17 11 141 152 65 Dallas 28 24 3 145 157 59 Washington 28 22 5 153 155 61 Anaheim 22 24 9 144 163 53 Winnipeg 26 25 6 139 161 58 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one Tampa Bay 24 25 6 155 185 54 point in the standings and are not includCarolina 20 25 11 142 172 51 ed in the loss column (L) Anaheim. Bobby Ryan had a goal and an assist and Ryan Getzlaf added three assists for the Ducks. Jason Blake also scored for Anaheim, which was playing the second game of a season-long, eight-game road trip. Jonas Hiller made 24 saves in his 14th straight start. Fedor Tyutin had a goal and an assist, and Aaron Johnson and Antoine Vermette also scored for the last-place Blue Jackets, who had won three of four but were mostly sloppy in the second of back-to-back games.

Panthers 4, Islanders 1 At Uniondale, New York, Kris Versteeg, Tomas Fleischmann, Tyson Strachan and Jack Skille scored to lift Florida over New York.

Jose Theodore made 26 saves in his first appearance since Jan. 20 after sustaining a knee injury.

Fleischmann and Versteeg each finished with two points. Frans Nielsen scored for the Islanders on the team’s first shot at 3:35 of the first. —AP

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

S P ORT S

What happened to Tiger on Sunday?

PEBBLE BEACH: The pretenders were as obedient as ever and folded early, just like they always seemed to when Tiger Woods was in his prime.

Still mostly ahead of him was a course he knew well, one where he once rewrote the record books. Beside him was a player he knew well, a guy who used to always look for an excuse to blink.

It was the perfect opportunity to put more than two years of misery behind him.

The perfect time to make the statement that, yes, he was finally back. Unfortunately, there’s nothing perfect about Tiger Woods anymore.

He used to threaten to make history every time he teed off. Now he just makes excuses, and they all sound the same.

He says he’s at peace with himself, and that may well be true. Put him in a red shirt on Sunday, though, and the demons seem to all come back.

It happened last time out in Abu Dhabi, when a mop-haired Englishman who had won only one time in his career stared him down in the final round. It happened again

on Sunday at Pebble Beach, where he seemed to be trying so hard not to fail that he gave himself no chance to succeed.

Phil Mickelson blew by him like Woods was playing in the pro-am instead of teeing it up with the big boys. Things got so bad you almost wanted him to move up to the forward tees, where at least his amateur partner Tony Romo was finding some success. He walked up the 18th fairway to the cheers everyone expected when the day began. But they were for Mickelson, who had walked ahead of him after stiffing a wedge to the final green.

It got worse. Mickelson was already in the hole for his final round 64 when Woods lipped out one final short putt for a big, fat 75. He could have - make that should have putted out before Mickelson to avoid the final embarrassment, but Woods never really practiced the proper etiquette for finishing out of contention.

For what seems like forever now we’ve been asking what’s wrong with Tiger. Now the question becomes what’s wrong with Tiger on Sunday?

The record books will show he lost by nine shots in a tournament he trailed by four on the final day. Even worse, he was thrashed by Mickelson, his playing partner, by a stunning 11 shots.

Say what you will about his game getting so much better that he has been in contention in his four more recent tournaments. This would have never happened to the Tiger Woods of old.

He didn’t always win on Sundays, even if it seemed that way. But he was never blown out the way Mickelson disposed of him on a course where he was once untouchable.

“Anything I tried to do wasn’t working,” Woods said. “What was frustrating was I had a chance, all I had to do was get off to a good, solid start today and I didn’t do that.”

Actually, the start wasn’t all that bad. It was the middle, where Woods missed two short putts in a row and made three bogeys in a row that destroyed what little chance he had left. By then his body language had conceded defeat, even if he hadn’t.

To put his round in perspective, only four of the 68 players who teed off on the

final day shot worse. On a day Pebble Beach was there for the taking, Woods got taken. And then the excuses began.

“I didn’t hit it as bad as the score indicated, but I putted awful,” he said. “I just could not see my lines. I couldn’t get comfortable.”

For those keeping score at home, he hasn’t won a real tournament (I don’t count the 18-man invitational he hosts and won in December, though Woods does) in 27 months; hasn’t won on the PGA Tour in 29 months. It’s been nearly four years since he won his last major at Torrey Pines, and he’s now 36 with a history of knee issues.

That doesn’t mean he’s not going to win again. He surely will, because he’s still immensely talented. But those wins will come sporadically instead of in bunches, the way they used to.

The majors will be more problematic.

Woods might still win a Masters or two, if only because he knows where to play every shot, every putt, at Augusta National. He might pick up a stray British Open or maybe a PGA Championship, assuming that

he can get himself to believe once again that he becomes invincible when he puts on his Sunday red.

The majors are how Woods keeps score, and right now Jack Nicklaus is still ahead 18-14. It was almost a foregone conclusion after the US Open in 2008 that he would catch Nicklaus, but my guess now is he never will.

His personal issues and constant swing tinkering threw him a curve ball that will be tough to recover from. But it’s more his putting now, with his nerves betraying him on short putts that were always gimmes in his prime. That happens to golfers as they age, and it’s happening to even the great Tiger Woods.

The golf season is well underway, with Los Angeles next week the last tournament on the West Coast swing. The Masters awaits less than two months from now, and it’s entirely conceivable his winless streak will be even longer by then. Tiger Woods in red on Sunday used to mean something.

Now he’s become just another player, wearing another color. —AP

Mickelson outplays Woods to clinch Pebble Beach title PEBBLE BEACH: Phil Mickelson totally upstaged playing partner Tiger Woods while charging past overnight leader Charlie Wi to win the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in spectacular fashion by two shots on Sunday.

Six strokes behind South Korean Wi going into the final round at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Mickelson fired a flawless eightunder-par 64 to clinch his 40th victory on the PGA Tour.

The American left-hander took control of the tournament with a stunning outward nine of fiveunder 31 and holed two monster par putts after the turn on the way to a 17-under total of 269.

“It feels awesome,” a beaming Mickelson told the Golf Channel.

“Hopefully it’s just one of a few this year because I am starting to feel pretty good.”

While Mickelson won the proam celebrity event for a fourth time, Woods had to settle for joint 15th place after closing with a five-bogey 75 in his bid for a first PGA Tour win in more than two years.

Wi, hunting a maiden title on the U.S. circuit, dropped four shots in the first six holes but recovered well, a birdie-birdiebirdie finish giving him a 72 and outright second place at 15 under.

Woods had been poised for a last-day charge after shooting a 67 on Saturday but missed several putts from inside six feet to tumble out of contention at the same venue where he won the 2000 U.S. Open by a record 15 shots.

“I didn’t hit it as bad as the score indicated but I putted awful,” the former world number one said. “As good as I felt on the greens yesterday was as bad as I

felt bad today. “I just could not see my lines, I couldn’t get comfortable, I couldn’t get the blade to swing. Anything that I tried to do wasn’t working and consequently

PEBBLE BEACH: Phil Mickelson holds his trophy on the 18th green of the Pebble Beach Golf Links after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament. —AP

I made a ton of mistakes on the greens.”

Mickelson, who had previously won the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 1998, 2005 and 2007, took full advantage of a poor front nine by the pacesetting Wi. Three strokes ahead of the chasing pack overnight, the Korean made the worst possible start with a four-putt doublebogey on the opening hole.

He also stumbled with a bogey at the tricky par-three fifth after missing the green to the left off the tee, to drop back into a tie for the lead at 12 under.

Mickelson had charged to the top with birdies at the second, fourth and fifth, where he struck a superb mid-iron to just one foot.

He then rammed in a 21-footer to eagle the par-five sixth and vault two strokes clear with Woods, Kevin Streelman and Kevin Na tied for second place.

Out in 31, Mickelson did well to save par at the short 12th, where he rolled in a 30-footer and Woods holed out from a greenside bunker for birdie.

With huge galleries following the two biggest names in U.S. golf, Mickelson conjured an exquisite bouncing approach to just two feet at the par-four 13th, knocking in the birdie putt to regain a twoshot cushion.

Another birdie followed at the par-five 14th and he finished with yet another at the final hole to seal the win.As he made his way to the scorer’s tent, his wife Amy hugged him and said: “I am so happy for you. Oh my gosh! What a round.

Are you kidding me?” —Reuters

COLUMBIA: Swimmers warm up in a practice pool at the Missouri Grand Prix swim meet. —AP

Cielo, Weir win again at Missouri Grand Prix COLUMBIA: Cesar Cielo and Amanda Weir each earned a second gold medal at the Missouri Grand Prix, winning in the 100-meter freestyle one night after taking first in the 50 free.

Cielo, from Brazil, surged past Richard Hortness of Canada after the turn to finish in 49.51 seconds Sunday. American Matt Grevers was third. Cielo, who holds the world record in the 100 free with a time of 46.91 seconds set in 2009, wasn’t particularly happy with his time Sunday.

After touching the wall, he groaned loudly and lingered on his back while holding onto the lane line. “For the last 10 meters, I really felt like I wasn’t going to finish,” he said. “I was hurting a lot.” Weir had an easier time, leading throughout to win in 54.41 seconds over Hannah Wilson.

In the men’s 200 backstroke, 16-year-old American Ryan Murphy outlasted Canada’s Tobias Oriwol to win in 1 minute, 59.11 seconds. Murphy hopes to appear in his first Olympics this summer in London after a recent run of success that includes a third-place finish in the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

“This is definitely a big confidence boost,” Murphy said. “It’s the same guys I’ll be racing at

the (Olympic trials).” Other winners in the meet’s final day included Julia Wilkinson of Canada in the women’s 200 individual medley; Pereira in the men’s 200 IM; Canadian Sinead Russell in the women’s 200 backstroke; and 14-year-old Katie Ledecky in the 800 free.

Cielo, who also holds the world record in the 50 free and won Olympic gold in that event four years ago, came to Columbia after three weeks of altitude training at the La Loma training center in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, which is more than 6,200 feet above sea level. A former college swimmer at Auburn University, he continued to train in the Alabama college town after graduation but returned to Brazil in 2010.

In 2011, he tested positive for furosemide, a banned diuretic and masking agent, before the world championships in Shanghai, where he won the 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly after he was cleared to compete by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Cielo had said he consumed the drug in a contaminated batch of a food supplement he regularly used Cielo said he had put aside that controversy in hopes of winning at least one more gold medal at the London Games. —AP

Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co. organizes MercedesTrophy Golf Tournament KUWAIT: The Kuwait National Final of the prestigious MercedesTrophy Golf tournament was held at the Sahara Golf and Country Club on Friday, February 10. This year was a very special tournament as Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co. celebrated 15 years of organizing this unique tournament in Kuwait.

It was an exciting finish to the keenly contested championship with the top 3 winners getting a chance to play in the MercedesTrophy World Final in September of 2012.

Mercedes-Benz’s involvement in international golf is a key component of the brand’s international sports sponsorship activities.

The image dimensions of this sport are a perfect match for the values espoused by our premium automotive brand.

Moreover, Mercedes-Benz has been active in amateur golf since 1989. The MercedesTrophy is a dedicated tournament series for amateurs in which more than 58,000 players tee-off each year in more than 43 countries or regions. The contestants aim to reach the World Final in which the best individual players and the best team are decided in Stuttgart.

100 golfers from Kuwait participated in this year’s tournament, all of them vying for the exclusive prizes and the most coveted top three positions for the chance to compete in the World Finals in Stuttgart, Germany.

The day started off with the participants registering with the club and collecting their welcome gift packs provided by Albisher & Alkazemi, followed by a hearty breakfast at the Club House. The tournament was divided into three-handicap classes as per the official structure of the MercedesTrophy Golf tournament and there were more than ten prizes up for grabs.

The play started at 12:15 pm and already one could feel the energy and competitiveness in the air as the golfers commenced on the challenging course.

Everybody had their eyes set on Hole No. 4, for the Hole-In-One prize — a fabulous Mercedes-Benz GLK-300 Sports Utility Vehicle provided by Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Company.

The fiercely contested tournament was

A complete list of other winners follows below lWinner (Non-Mercedes-Benz Customer) — lWinner (Non-Mercedes-Benz Customer) lWinner (Non-Mercedes-Benz Customer) l2nd Place Division A l2nd Place Division B l2nd Place Division C l3rd Place Division A l3rd Place Division B -

supported this year’s competition.”

He continued to say - “A very special word of thanks to the sponsors of the tournament - Jumbo Travels, Tiffany & Co. and Magnitude Communications for helping to make this year’s event such a great success.”

“The MercedesTrophy, as most of you are aware is a way of showing our appreciation to Mercedes-Benz customers and

Albisher & Alkazemi Company has been organizing this tournament continuously for the past fourteen years and this very special fifteenth edition of the MercedesTrophy Final came to a close with a sumptuous dinner accompanied by a live jazz band at the terrace of the Sahara Golf Club.

More information about Mercedes-Benz products and services can be had from -

won by the following Mercedes-Benz customers: First Place Handicap Division A First Place Handicap Division B First Place Handicap Division C All three golfers are now eagerly awaiting the World Finals of the MercedesTrophy golf championships to be held in Stuttgart, Germany.

l3rd Place Division C -

friends of Mercedes-Benz. This is also a solid platform to promote the sport of golf in Kuwait.” concluded Tamim.

As a token of appreciation, Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Company extended to the golfers playing in this tournament a very exclusive offer of a complimentary “Two Days Test Drive” of new Mercedes-Benz cars and SUVs

www.mercedes-benz.com.kw or from our facebook page: www.facebook.com/MercedesBenzKuwait; also follow us on twitter @MercedesBenzKWT The iPhone app of Mercedes-Benz Kuwait keeps you in touch with the brand MercedesBenz always, it can be downloaded for free from the iTunes app store by searching for “MBKuwait”

lNearest To Pin (Ladies) lNearest To Pin (Men) lLongest Drive (Ladies) lLongest Drive (Men) -

Ashraf Tamim, Senior Manager Sales & Operations, Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Company (Mercedes-Benz) said “We wish to thank all the sponsors who

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

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Chisora promises 8th-round KO of Klitschko MUNICH: Dereck Chisora claims he can “smell fear” in Vitali Klitschko’s corner and promises to knock out the WBC heavyweight champion in the eighth round of their title fight on Saturday in the Olympic Hall in Munich.

At a joint news conference yesterday, Klitschko dismissed Chisora’s boast and said the British challenger didn’t stand a chance - a view shared by many. “I’m really looking forward to teaching this young gentleman a lesson. He is from Great Britain, but he’s lacking appropriate manners,” the 40-year-old champion from Ukraine said.

Chisora is 13 years younger than Klitschko but the champion has a massive advantage in weight and reach. Klitschko is 2.02 meters (6-foot-7) tall and has a reach of 2.03 meters (80 inches). Chisora is 1.87 (6foot-2) and has a reach of 1.88 meters (74 inches). “I’m looking forward to this fight,” Chisora said. “And I trained hard. And the way we’re going to be fighting will be a hundred miles an hour from the first round to round eight, which I promise you fans that he’s going down on.” For good measure, he then went on to taunt the Ukrainian.

“Right now, I can smell fear in this corner right now.

If you can’t smell it, I can. You know, right here I smell a bit of fear, to the opposite side, because they know they’re about to lose something massive,” Chisora said as he pointed at Klitschko. “I’m physically, emotionally, mentally looking forward to this fight because it’s going to be one heck of a fight, I tell you that now.”

Chisora will have to use his agility and quick hands to get inside Klitschko’s massive reach if the Briton is to stage an unlikely upset.

GERMANY: Vitali Klitschko of Ukraine (left) and challenger Dereck Chisora of Great Britain pose for the media during a news conference in Munich.—AP Klitschko has had few problems defending his title nine times since winning it back in 2004 against Corrie Sanders, and has said he is in top shape despite his age.

He is the second-oldest boxer to hold a world heavyweight title behind George Foreman, who was

45 when he knocked out Michael Moorer to reclaim the WBA belt in Las Vegas in 1994.

Klitschko, a winner of 43 of his 45 fights, and brother Wladimir have held all the heavyweight belts between them since the younger sibling defeated David Haye on points in July last year to add the

Briton’s WBA belt to his IBF and WBO crown.

Vitali uses his superior reach to jab away at his opponents until he can deliver his big right. Chisora thinks the style is boring and has dulled the heavyweight division - but it has been effective.

“You promised me, you promised to knock me out in eight rounds. Yeah, round No. 8,” Klitschko said. “And you know what, I was so impressed and I believed you.

And because of this impression I go to training camp.

And they prepared me very hard. ... This belt, I don’t give you on Saturday night. You don’t have a chance.

You have a try. You have a chance to try.”

Chisora was scheduled to fight Wladimir Klitschko last year but the Ukrainian pulled out on two occasions because of injury.

The Briton has earned another shot at a world belt despite losing the last two of his 17 fights, to compatriot Tyson Fury to lose his Commonwealth and British titles and then to Finland’s Robert Helenius in Helsinki in a European Heavyweight title bout. Klitschko’s camp was already looking beyond Chisora. Manager Bernd Boente said it was unlikely Vitali’s next fight would be against Haye. “He turned down our offer. I don’t think he is going to be the next opponent,” Boente said.

Haye has not fought since losing to Wladimir and has since retired, although he has said that a big-purse fight against Vitali could bring him back.

Wladimir is slated to fight Jean-Marc Mormeck of France on March 3 in Duesseldorf. That fight had to be postponed in December after Wladimir underwent two operations in two days to remove a kidney stone.—AP

Finn and Cook dish out England win over Pakistan ABU DHABI: Paceman Steven Finn took a career-best 4-34 and Alastair Cook hit his highest score to help England beat Pakistan in a fortune-turning 130-run win in the first day-night international here yesterday. Finn, left to serve drinks during England’s 3-0 defeat in the preceding Tests, destroyed Pakistan’s batting with four early wickets off 29 balls to dismiss them for 130 in 35 overs after Cook’s 137 helped his team to 260-7.

The win gives England a 1-0 win in the four-match series after a disastrous Test series-their first as world number one in five-day format.

Pakistan looked all at sea against Finn who used the wind to move the ball. The 22-year-old lanky paceman, who showed frustration at being sidelined in the Tests, showed his talent by trapping Mohammad Hafeez (five) and Asad Shafiq (nought) off successive balls in his second over.

He then had Younis Khan (15) in his fourth and Imran Farhat (ten) in his fifth to leave Pakistan tottering at 40-4. Leftarm spinner Samit Patel then fur ther shook Pak istan with the wickets of Misbah-ul Haq (14), Shoaib Malik (seven) and Shahid Afridi (28) to finish with 3-26.

Graeme Swann, who took 2-19, had Umar Akmal (22) and Umar Gul (two).

Earlier Cook, whose previous best of 119 came against Sri Lanka at Lord’s last year, hit 14 boundaries during a fluent 142-ball innings and shaped well against Pakistan’s spin-dominated attack.

Given out leg-before off Mohammad

Hafeez when 30, Cook successfully reviewed Australian umpire Simon Taufel’s decision and carried the batting until the 47th over when he was finally bowled by Saeed Ajmal who finished with a career-best 5-43.

Cook added an invaluable 131 runs for the third wicket with Ravi Bopara (50) to revive England after they lost two wickets in the 13th over.

England’s ploy to open with Kevin Pietersen, who managed just 67 runs in the Tests, worked well as Cook and his new partner put on 57 by the 13th over as Pakistan opened the bowling with paceman Umar Gul and Hafeez.

Pietersen though managed 14 before he became one of two Shahid Afridi victims, bowled through the gate off a googly by the leg-spinner. Next ball Afridi dismissed Jonathan Trott with a sharp turner.

Bopara notched his seventh fifty in one-day internationals off 67 delivery but two balls later jumped out to drive Ajmal and was stumped. He hit four boundaries. Cook hit Afridi for two fours to enter the 90s and then cover drove Ajmal to the boundary to reach the three-figure mark off 110 deliveries. Ajmal’s previous best of 4-33 was against New Zealand on this same ground in 2009. Patel (17) and Swann (13) put together 28 in the last 3.1 overs to propel England to a fighting total. The second match will be played here on Wednesday while the last two will be played in Dubai on February 18 and 21.—AFP

COLORADO: Rockne Brubaker and Mary Beth Marley, of the United States, perform during the pairs free skate at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.—AP

Canada’s Virtue, Moir win Four Continents ice dance COLORADO SPRINGS: For the first time since the 2010 worlds, Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir beat the American team of Meryl Davis and Charlie White in ice dancing. The Canadians overcame a .55-point deficit to Davis and White with a score of 111.24 in the free dance for a total of 182.84. The reigning world champions, Davis and White had not lost a competition since that defeat to Virtue and Moir in 2010. The Americans scored 107.25 in the free dance to earn the silver medal with 179.40.

“I think it was a great performance,” Moir said. “ We felt really strong today. It was kind of a test for us up here with the altitude, and we were definitely feeling it today.”

Davis and White, who won last year’s Four Continents title, were

ABU DHABI: Pakistan’s Misbah Ul Haq (right) plays a stroke and misses the ball to be dismissed LBW by England’s Samit Patel (not in view) during the One-Day International cricket match.—AP

SCOREBOARD ABU DHABI: Complete scores in the first day-night international between Pakistan and England played at Abu Dhabi Stadium here yesterday: England: A. Cook b Ajmal 137 K. Pietersen b Afridi 14 J. Trott b Afridi 0 R. Bopara st Umar b Ajmal 50 E. Morgan lbw b Ajmal 2 C. Kieswetter c Riaz b Ajmal 9 S. Patil not out 17 S. Broad c and b Ajmal 1 G. Swann not out 13 Extras: (lb11, nb1, w5) 17 Total: (for seven wickets) 260 Fall of wickets: 1-57 (Pietersen), 2-57 (Trott), 3-188 (Bopara), 4-196 (Morgan), 5221 (Kieswetter), 6-230 (Cook), 7-232 (Broad).

Bowling: Gul 8-0-53-0, Hafeez 10-1-30-0, Afridi 10-0-55-2 (w1), Ajmal 10-0-43-5, Riaz 7-0-47-0 (nb1, w4), Malik 5-0-21-0 Overs: 50 Pakistan Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Finn

5

Imran Farhat c Kieswetter b Finn 10 Asad Shafiq lbw b Finn 0 Younis Khan c Kieswetter b Finn 15 Misbah-ul Haq lbw b Patel 14 Umar Akmal st Kieswetter b Swann 22 Shoaib Malik c Pietersen b Patel 7 Shahid Afridi c Swann b Patel 28 Umar Gul lbw b Swann 2 Saeed Ajmal c Cook b Broad 5 Wahab Riaz not out 8 Extras: (lb2, nb5, w7) 14 Total: 130 Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Hafeez), 2-11 (Shafiq), 3-27 (Younis), 4-40 (Farhat), 5-53 (Misbah), 6-68 (Malik), 7-96 (Umar), 8-109 (Afridi), 9-113 (Gul).

Bowling: Finn 10-1-34-4 (nb1), Anderson 6-0-24-0 (w2), Broad 6-2-21-1, Patel 5-1-263 (w4), Bopara 1-0-4-0, Swann 7-3-19-2 Overs: 35 Result: England won by 130 runs

the last pair to skate and needed 110.70 to win.

“Today, I think some of the calls didn’t go our way,” White said. “Not everything is going to go your way.

I could not be prouder of the way we fought through both programs.

We really worked through it.

“We wanted to work on expression, and we did that. I felt like our elements were pretty good.”

Canada’s Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje were third at 163.26.

As the first team on the ice for the free skate in the pairs competition earlier Sunday, China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong had a chance to send a message to the other medal contenders. They did just that.

The two-time junior world champions were stellar in the free

skate, earning a season-best 135.08 points for a 201.83 total that would not be eclipsed.

“We feel very excited,” Han said.

“Maybe tonight we can’t sleep. I think later in the program there were a little nerves, but we feel we adjusted to our program. The throws were successful, and we are very pleased. “This is our first time to win a senior competition, and we are happy and excited.”

Americans Caydee Denney and John Coughlin - fresh off a title at the 2012 U.S. championships - had a season-best score of their own with 122.07 points, but settled for second at 185.42.

“I felt like we took a step in the right direction toward building for the world championships, and we’re happy with how it all turned

out,” Coughlin said.

Denney and Coughlin, who have been a team only since May, will represent the United States from March 26-April 1 in Nice, France.

“Every time you go out there, you learn something,” Denney said.

“Especially John and I being such a new pair together, we did learn a lot from this competition. We’re just going to keep pushing to grow and strengthen as a team so that we can put up a bigger score at worlds.” The American tandem of Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker took bronze with 178.89 points after a season-best 116.47 in the free skate. It marked the first time since the 2000 Four Continents event that the United States had two pairs teams on the medal stand.—AP

French clubs angry over Six Nations match dates PARIS: French club sides have weighed into the debate over when to re-programme the France versus Ireland Six Nations game, demanding that it be held after their season finishes in June, informed sources said.

Saturday night’s game at the Stade de France fell victim to the frigid conditions just minutes before referee Dave Pearson was due to whistle for it to start, leaving 80,000 fans to vent their frustrations.

The Six Nations organising committee were initially looking at playing the match in one of the two upcoming “free” weekends during the course of this year’s tournament, which were next weekend or the weekend of March 3-4.

But following a Six Nations Council meeting yesterday, the committee confirmed that the match would “not take place this weekend (February 17/18/19)”.

“A further meeting of the Council will take place today to hopefully resolve the issues of rescheduling and ticket policy,” it said.

“There are very significant logistical issues arising from this situation, and we would wish to be in a position to give a comprehensive clarification following the meeting.”

The French Rugby League has written to the

committee pointing out that 10 out of the 17 Top 14 weekends this season had already clashed with international fixtures, mainly due to the World Cup in New Zealand.

For this reason, the FRL asked that the game be held over until the Top 14 season ends on June 9 when the final is held at the Stade de France. The Six Nations committee were aware of the request and were pondering their options, the informed sources said.

Toulouse manager Guy Noves evoked the possiblity of playing before the summer tours but added that they would comply with whatever decision was made despite missing up to eight of their players to Six Nations duty.

“For me from a sporting point of view after having already played half of the championship without players the interests of rugby are the obvious priority.

“I won’t go against it (the FRL decision), that’s not my role.” Noves added: “Trying to make up what happened now is going to be complicated.

“The only victims were the 80,000 people who came to Stade de France and who have still not have their ticket reimbursed and knowing there will be a lot of expense involved in the next match.” Article Nine of the International Rugby Board rules stipulates that clubs are obliged to make their players available for international sides.—AFP

KFH leads KBC Bowling League KUWAIT: The Kuwait Finance House remained on top of KBC Bowling League championship with 26 points after defeating the Commercial Bank 70 in fourth week competitions. Al-Ahli United remained in second place with 19 points, three points ahead of Al-Ahli Bank, after defeating the National Bank of Kuwait 5-2. Burgan Bank beat

the Central Bank 3-4 while the Gulf Bank defeated Boubyan Bank 5-2 in other fourth week competitions. The KFH squares off against the Gulf Bank in week five competitions, which also feature matches between the Central Bank and AlAhli Bank, the NBK and the CBK, and Burgan Bank against Al-Ahli United.

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

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Barcelona aim to bounce back against Leverkusen

FRANCE: Lyon’s goalkeeper Hugo Lloris catches the ball during a training session in Lyon, central France. Lyon will face Apoel Nicosia in a Champions League soccer match today. —AP

APOEL dare to dream against stuttering Lyon PARIS: APOEL Nicosia caused a major shock by reaching the last 16 of the Champions League and Olympique Lyon, chastened by a domestic defeat, will take nothing for granted when they host the Cypriots in today’s first leg.

Lyon’s 2-1 loss at home to lowly Caen served as a stern reminder that the club’s policy of blooding young players needed some polishing three days before they meet the first Cypriot team to make the knockout stages.

With a new coach this season and virtually no money to recruit, Lyon have reached the League Cup final, are still in a position to win the French Cup and look capable of qualifying for next season’s Champions League through Ligue 1. However, Saturday’s performance shocked many at the club. “It is a disappointment. We’re coming down to earth with a bump,” president Jean-Michel Aulas told the Lyon website (www.olweb.fr). “ We have to look into what went wrong and use this for the Champions League on Tuesday. We have to question ourselves on all levels.”

Coach Remi Garde, who took over from Claude Puel on a one-year contract, has been blending in young players but they have been found wanting at times this term.

Maxime Gonalons, 22, lacked steel in the midfield while Clement Grenier, 21, failed to add stamina when needed against Caen. Only substitute striker Alexandre Lacazette, 20, managed to offer a threat, winning a late penalty.

French striker Bafetimbi Gomis promised they would do better on Tuesday,

saying: “It will be another story.” Lyon, who reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2010, are also likely to face defensive troubles against APOEL. Croatia centre back Dejan Lovren looks set to miss the game through injury, possibly forcing Garde to field 18year-old Samuel Umtiti although Cris could return on Tuesday.

Playmaker Yoann Gourcuff is still out of form. While Lyon needed a 7-1 thrashing of Dinamo Zagreb to seal unlikely qualification for the last 16 for a ninth straight season, APOEL topped their group having beaten heavyweights Porto and Zenit St Petersburg.

APOEL’s defensive strength could prompt another backs-to-the-wall performance at the Stade Gerland after Ivan Jovanovic’s side managed three away draws in the group stage.

They will be attempting to beat Lyon at home at this stage for the first time since AS Roma recorded a 2-0 win in 2007 but will be aided by new Portuguese utility man Helder Sousa.

APOEL’s band of Cypriots, Greeks, Brazilians, Portuguese, Macedonians, Bosnians, Argentines, Tunisians and Spanish have shown that a strong team bond can trump individual brilliance.

“I am the happiest man in the world right now,” Jovanovic said in November.

“We want to celebrate more great nights along with, not just our own fans, but all Cypriot fans back home.” Champions APOEL, in the running for the Cypriot title again, played their last league game on Friday and beat Ethnikos Achnas 2-1 with Constantinos Charalambides scoring both goals. —Reuters

Wolves sack McCarthy LONDON: Wolverhampton Wanderers sacked their manager Mick McCarthy yesterday, a day after they lost 5-1 at home to local rivals West Bromwich Albion and slipped back into the bottom three of the Premier League.

McCarthy, 53, was appointed Wolves manager in July 2006, winning promotion to the Premier League in 2009 but has lost his job following Wolves’ fourth successive home league defeat.

In a statement on their website (www.wolves.co.uk), the club said it was “a difficult decision to terminate Mick’s contract” but that assistant Terry Connor would take charge of training until a new manager is appointed.

Sunday’s defeat means Wolves have picked up only one point from their last six home matches and have won only once in their last 13 in all competitions.

McCarthy apologised afterwards to Wolves fans, many of whom protested by the statue of Billy Wright, who skippered them to three League titles in their 1950s heyday.

McCarthy said on Sunday: “I would say this is my most difficult day as a manager. I have apologised for the performance and I have never done that before.

“But I feel it is warranted - we were

awful in the last half an hour. We capitulated which is not something associated with me or my teams. It was very disappointing.” Wolves, one of England’s top clubs in the 1950s, winning the title in 1954, 1958 and 1959, later fell as low as the fourth division in the late 1980s before climbing back to the top.

They had one season in the Premier League in 2003-04 before returning to the second tier until McCarthy took them back in 2009. They started this season well, winning their opening two games but have won only three league matches since then.

Their last victory was the 2-1 win at Queens Park Rangers on Feb.4 which McCarthy described as the result to kickstart their revival, but sadly for him that optimism was crushed by West Brom, their fiercest local rivals.

McCarthy, who previously managed Millwall, Ireland and Sunderland, was the third Premier League manager to part company with his club this season following Steve Bruce at Sunderland and Neil Warnock at QPR. Bookmakers have made former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez and ex-West Ham United manager Alan Curbishley favorites to replace McCarthy. —Reuters

Ivorians to take time to digest latest setback LIBREVILLE: Ivory Coast will take time to digest their latest African Nations Cup failure before making any decision on the future of their ‘golden generation’, coach Francois Zahoui has said.

“We will go back to Abidjan and make decisions with serenity and calmness,” he said after the 8-7 defeat on penalties to Zambia in Sunday’s final in Libreville. “It will be up to the federation, staff and team members to make the decisions that are right for the team.”

The Ivorians, packed with high profile players, have been favourites at every tournament since 2006 but again came up short in their bid on Sunday to add to their only previous success 20 years ago.

A penalty miss by Didier Drogba in the final in the Gabon capital and squandered kicks in the shootout by Kolo Toure and Gervinho - all three of

whom play in the English Premier League - saw them beaten for the second time in the final since their loss in 2006 to Egypt.

In 2008 they were semi-finalists and at the last tournament in Angola in 2010 surprise losers in the quarterfinals. Eight players in Sunday’s final had been in the squad defeated six years ago and the Ivorians have turned out a consistent side that has qualified for the last two World Cups.

But key players like Drogba, Didier Zokora and Kolo Toure might now consider ending their international careers, even though the coach believes it might not yet be the time.

“If they still have the motivation they can still play an important role for the team,” added Zahoui. “But these are decision not to be made now. There is great disappointment and sadness now.” — Reuters

LEVERKUSEN: Barcelona are ready to bounce back from a shock league defeat on Saturday when they taken on Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their Champions League round-of16 clash today.

Barcelona travel to Germany smarting from only their second La Liga defeat of the campaign after they crashed to a 3-2 reverse at Osasuna on Saturday that left them 10 points behind leaders Real Madrid.

The Spanish, European, and world champions initially seemed to suffer from the subzero temperatures in Pamplona and some uncharacteristic defensive lapses left them two goals down at halftime in a domestic league match for the first time since Pep Guardiola took over as coach in 2008.

They managed to lift their game for the second half and Guardiola, who rested Spain midfielders Xavi and Andres Iniesta and introduced their international team mate Cesc Fabregas only in the second half, said he wanted more of the same today.

“We are travelling to Europe to defend our title as champions,” Guardiola told a news conference. “Our performance in the second half was the path we need to follow to defend a Champions League,” the former Barca and Spain midfielder added.

Sergio Busquets missed out in Pamplona after sustaining a deep gash to his leg the previous weekend and if he does not return in time his holding midfield role will likely be taken by Javier Mascherano.

“It was a painful defeat,” said Iniesta of the Osasuna result. “We reacted in the second half but it wasn’t enough and now we have to see things through to the end and prepare for the Champions League game.”

Leverkusen, who lost to champions

Borussia Dortmund 1-0 in the Bundesliga on Saturday, will be missing their most experienced player, Michael Ballack, after he pulled a muscle during training on Sunday.

The 35-year-old was not certain he would start anyway after having been reduced to a substitute in the last few games, with club boss Wolfgang Holzhaeuser saying the former

Right back Danny da Costa also looks also fit to play after injuring himself in training on Sunday following a clash with a team mate.

“Confidence is there, on how the team works. There is passion,” said Dutt, whose team - last season’s runners-up - are sixth in the league 15 points off the top.

“But for that last touch everyone needs to

GERMANY: Bayer Leverkusen’s Simon Rolfes, Karim Bellarabi and Stefan Kiessling (from right) exercises during the training session prior the Champions League match against Barcelona today. —AP German captain had failed to deliver since joining in 2010.

Ballack is set to leave at the end of the season and his absence on Tuesday could prove crucial for his club. Coach Robin Dutt will have defender Michal Kadlec back after his league suspension and is hoping the team’s desire to do well in the top European competition was strong.

work harder. We need to work harder up front, all of us. We won’t have many chances against them,” Dutt said.

Defender Daniel Schwaab said: “It is a highlight for us to be playing the best team in the world. Some top players were rested at the weekend but I assume they will all be back against us as they throw all their weight into this competition.” —Reuters

Nations Cup future brighter after Zambia’s poignant win LIBREVILLE: Zambia’s poignant and heart-warming triumph at the Nations Cup capped a tournament which was strong on emotion, easy on the ears and may be on the rise again after hitting a low point in Angola two years ago.

Lying 71st in the world rankings, with a squad based on little-known, Africanbased players and playing only a few kilometres from the scene of an air crash which wiped out their team in 1993, Zambian’s win left even their own coach Herve Renard lost for words. “ They found the strength, I don’t know where,” he said after they beat the Ivory Coast’s team of European-based players 8-7 on penalties on Sunday following a goalless draw.

“There is something written somewhere,” added Renard, who himself abandoned a playing career after realising he was not good enough and spent 10 years running a cleaning company.

“It just felt right but it was not because of me, I don’t know where it came from.” After winning, the Zambian team held up banners remembering their side who died in an air crash following a stopover in Gabon on the way to a World Cup qualifier in Senegal in 1993.

It was the sort of fairytale which simply could not happen in the big-money world of European club football and may help the Nations Cup to gain new appeal.

The tournament was once regarded as an exotic sideshow associated with the old cliches about colourful fans, tactically naive teams and voodoo on the pitch.

Around 10 years ago, with the influx of African players to Europe, it suddenly found itself being taken seriously, so much so that European club coaches complained at having to release their players.

As European interest grew, a new reality struck. The football was often dull and defensive and, although the fans were colorful, there were not many of them with most games played in empty stadiums. Chaotic organisation and controversial refereeing, particularly in Egypt in 2006, further lowered the outside world’s perception.

It reached a possible low point two years ago in Angola when Togo pulled out of the tournament after two members of their delegation were killed in an ambush on the team bus in the province

of Cabinda.

Although the tournament went on, the football was poor and attendances dismal while the outrageous prices, chaotic transport and visa restrictions which barred many would-be visitors all left a sour taste in the mouth.

For 2012, oil-rich co-hosts Gabon and Equatorial Guinea produced impressive infrastructure, although nagging worries over visas and hotels persisted until the last minute for many visitors.

However, once the tournament started, things ran impressively smoothly with a notable absence of heavy-handed security.

Despite the absence of big guns Nigeria, Cameroon and Egypt, the competition threw up the drama which had been palpably missing from previous editions.

There was the astonishing progress of Equatorial Guinea, ranked 151st in the world, to the quarter-finals, thanks to a stunning injury-time win over Senegal with a goal from Spanish fourth-division amateur David Alvarez.

Gabon also surpassed expectations, reaching the last eight even more dramatically by beating Morocco 3-2 with a 95th-minute free kick.

They produced arguably the player of the tournament in striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, although the Mohicanhaired player’s tournament ended in tears when he missed the decisive penalty in the quarter-final shootout defeat against Mali.

That produced more moving scenes as the inconsolable, 23-year-old was comforted by his father, himself a former Gabon player.

Didier Drogba’s two missed penalties for Ivory Coast, one in the final and one in the quarter-finals, and a first-round exit for a heavily-fancied Senegal team added to the overall drama.

The big disappointment was the failure to fill stadiums, with many games played in half- empty arenas.

Fortunately, the organised supporters groups who did turn up banged drums and played trumpets, rather than blowing vuvuzelas proving that the dreaded plastic horns, which provided the monotonous backdrop for South Africa in 2010, have failed to catch on elsewhere in the continent. —Reuters

PORTUGAL: Porto’s Givanildo ‘Hulk’ Souza (front) gets the ball past Uniao Leiria’s Elvis Araujo, both from Brazil, in a Portuguese League soccer match. —AP

Porto thrash Leiria 4-0 LISBON: FC Porto recovered from its first league loss in two years with a 4-0 win over a 10-man Leiria on Sunday to stay within five points of Portuguese leader Benfica.

Porto left it late with all four goals coming in the second half after Leiria’s Jose Alberto Shaffer was red carded in the 48th with Austria center forward Marc Janko scoring the 66th-minute opener.

Brazilian winger Hulk returned from a month long injury layoff to help set up James Rodriguez, who latched on to the rebound from Lucho Gonzalez’s shot in the 74th to make it 2-0 before Alvaro Pereira added the third in the 85th.

Maicon capped the rout with his 89th-minute header as the defending champions prepared for Thursday’s Europa League match against English leader Manchester City with a victory.

“The first goal unlocked the game and we eventually reached the fourth goal with ease,” Porto coach Vitor Pereira said after his team’s victory dropped Leiria into last place. Benfica won 4-1 against Nacional on Saturday to extend its unbeaten season ahead of its Champions League last-16 match at Zenit St-Petersburg.

Also on Sunday, Pacos Ferreira beat Feirense 3-1, Rio Ave won 2-0 against Olhanense and Guimaraes was a 10 winner over Beira Mar. —AP

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

UEFA Champions League Leverkusen v Barcelona Al Jazeera Sports +2

22:45

Lyon v Apoel Al Jazeera Sports +4

22:45

UEFA Europa League

LIBREVILLE: Zambian fans are in a jovial mood in the capital Lusaka for the final of the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament. —AP

Rubin v Olympiacos Al Jazeera Sports +7

14:00

Braga v Besiktas Al Jazeera Sports +6

20:30

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

S P ORT S

Gaza runner ready to fly Palestinian flag in London GAZA: Gaza runner Bahaa al-Farra treads carefully, braving the elements and potholed roads ravaged by years of conflict between Palestinian militants and the Israeli army, as he prepares to race at the London Olympics.

The 19-year-old trains for three hours a day in Gaza’s Yarmouk soccer stadium, along the dusty streets and on the beach in well worn trainers that were donated to the Palestine Olympic Committee by wealthy Gulf state, Qatar.

Palestinian athletes complain of a paucity of financial support at home and a lack of vital equipment and coaches that are crucial for success and to nurture talented youth, but by competing in London, a national dream will be realised.

The Gaza Strip is a narrow coastal enclave in the eastern Mediterranean that borders on Israel and Egypt and which Palestinians want as part of a future state along with the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem.

In 2007, Islamist Hamas ousted Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from the strip in a brief

and bloody civil war that split Palestinian society, but the two factions are currently trying to implement a signed reconciliation pact. Abbas, who leads the more secular Fatah faction, holds sway in the West Bank.

Israel deems the Gaza Strip hostile territory and along with Egypt strictly controls access to it, limiting imports.

Israel bans most travel through its crossings because Hamas and other militants who call for the Jewish state’s demise have launched attacks at Israeli towns from the territory.

The Palestinian flag first flew at the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 when one athlete took part, Sydney 2000 welcomed two competitors and three went to Athens in 2004. All got a roaring welcome, but it was for participation rather than achievement.

A party of four travelled to Beijing four years ago - two track athletes and two swimmers - but as in previous Games, none got there by attaining the minimum Olympic qualifying standard, they were entered under rules for fledgling nations.

Four Palestinians will also participate in London. Joining Farra will be Cairobased swimmer Ahmed Jabreel and two West Bank women, swimmer Sabeen Kharyoon from Bethlehem and runner Worood Maslaha from Nablus.

Hani al-Halabi from East Jerusalem who will head the Palestinian delegation, said the makeup of the current squad was representative of all Palestinians wherever they live.

“We want to embody the Palestinian issue by including participants from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the diaspora. Each of us represents a part of our home,” Halabi said.

Farra, a 400 metres runner, said he could not wait to get to London and dreamt of standing on the winners’ podium. “It’s going to be a beautiful feeling to represent Palestine ... like all the other athletes, I dream of winning a medal ... I hope to carry the flag and tell the world that regardless of all the difficulties, we exist”, he told Reuters.

But with a personal-best time of 49.04 seconds, almost six seconds slower than Michael Johnson’s world record of 43.18,

and more than three seconds slower than the Olympic B-standard minimum qualifying time, Farra’s medal ambitions will remain a fantasy.

His top time was achieved at last year’s IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea where he finished 34th out of 37 starters.

Farra’s coach, 48-year-old Majed Abu Maraheel, who was the first Palestinian Olympian in Atlanta where he ran in the 10,000 metres, said Farra would be a source of pride for his countrymen but that it was time to aspire to more meaningful achievements.

“Bahaa is still young and full of energy and defiance and I expect him to carry out his mission as required, but we need to rise above symbolic participation. We want to improve records but to do that we need of all the help we can get.”

Abu Maraheel treasures the trainers he wore in Atlanta and says he rescued them along with other trophies and mementos when his home was hit during Israel’s military offensive on the Gaza Strip three years ago.

“ The house was hit ... and we escaped, but I made sure I took the shoes with me”, he said. Farra needs $12,000 to finance his training and special diet in the final six-month buildup period to London but he has not seen a penny of funding, said Abu Maraheel, who will accompany him.

“Ideally, if we want to improve results we need to fund a two-year preparation plan to an Olympics or any major competition, but we don’t have a proper budget, we don’t have a track or other vital facilities. We are trying to achieve something out of nothing,” he said.

Farra said he realised the importance of what he was doing for his local community. “In my neighborhood people know how important it is for one of their own to take part in such a competition and they are happy for me,” he said.

Abu Maraheel said participation in major sporting events was no less important than political struggle. “We want to use sport as a language that everybody understands to tell the world that the Palestinian people exist,” he said.—Reuters

Ronaldo treble sends Real 10 points clear

Mauro Obolo

Racing, Velez stumble BUENOS AIRES: Racing Club and Velez Sarsfield, the clubs expected to challenge favorites Boca Juniors for the Argentine Clausura football title, both played out draws in Sunday matches.

Racing drew 0-0 against Tigre, and Velez Sarsfield drew 1-1 with Godoy Cruz. Boca Juniors got off to a winning start on Friday to open the new season, defeating Olimpo 2-0.

Also Sunday, Rafaela opened with a victory, defeating Banfield 3-0, while Argentinos Juniors and Union played out a 0-0 draw. Tigre had the edge in the match and Nelson Javier Carrasco had a chance for the winner in the 84th minute, but shot over the crossbar from close range.

Racing’s Giovanni Moreno also had an opening to win it in the 89th, but his chip at an open net missed by inches. Mauro Obolo gave Velez a 1-0 lead in the 16th, but Facundo Castillion equalized in the 25th.

Rafaela was led by Dario Gandin, who scored in the 60th and again in secondhalf injury time against Banfield. Matias Fissore score the other in the 16th for Rafaela. Boca won the Apertura title in December - the first half of Argentina’s split season - and most are picking the Buenos Aires club to win the Clausura, which opened Friday. Dario Cvitanich and Pablo Mouche scored for Boca on Friday.

On Saturday San Martin defeated Independiente 1-0, Estudiantes drew 1-1 with Newell’s Old Boys, and Belgrano and All Boys drew 0-0. Late yesterday, Colon faces Arsenal.

Hoping to return to the first division, River Plate defeated Chacarita 2-0 on Sunday to move into a share of first place in the second division. Damian Toledo conceded an own-goal and Lucas Ocampos got the second. The top two teams in the second division move up automatically to the top tier.

The Clausura season has been named the “ Tournament Crucero General Belgrano” by the Argentine government.

The government owns the rights to all first-division matches and shows them on free-to-air television.

The Argentine naval ship General Belgrano was sunk by British torpedoes during the war over the Falkland Islands 30 years ago. The anniversary of the start of the conflict is April 2.

The Argentine government was angered by the recent arrival in the Falklands - called Las Malvinas in Argentina - of Prince William, second in line to the British throne. The prince, known in the British defense forces as Flight Lt. Wales, has been deployed to the islands for six weeks as a search-andrescue pilot. The British government says it’s a routine deployment. Argentina has called it provocative.—AP

MADRID: Real Madrid opened a 10-point lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga after Cristiano Ronaldo’s sixth hat-trick of the season clinched a 4-2 comeback win at home to 10-man Levante on Sunday.

A fifth-minute Gustavo Cabral header gave Levante, the only team apart from Barca to beat Real this season, a surprise lead at the Bernabeu before midfielder Vicente Iborra handled the ball in the area after 43 minutes and was shown a second yellow card.

Ronaldo smashed the penalty into the corner of the net for the equaliser, his 21st successful spot kick in a row.

The Portuguese forward put the home side ahead when he nodded in a Gonzalo Higuain cross five minutes into the second half.

Ronaldo then completed the hat-trick, his 13th since joining Real for a world-record fee in 2009, with a dipping drive seven minutes later. It was the 27th goal of the campaign for the league’s top scorer.

Levante pulled a goal back in the 63rd minute when Arouna Kone, who netted in a 1-0 home win over Real in September, finished off a fine breakaway by heading past Iker Casillas before Karim Benzema secured victory three minutes later.

It was Real’s seventh straight league victory since they were beaten 3-1 by Barca in December. Their 17th win in 18 games also gave Jose Mourinho’s side 58 points from 22 matches.

Barca, who crashed to a shock 3-2 defeat at Osasuna on Saturday, have 48 points. The champions are eight ahead of third-placed Valencia who thumped struggling Sporting Gijon 4-0 on Sunday.

Levante are fourth on 32 points, level on points with fifth-placed Espanyol who lost 2-0 at home to bottom club Real Zaragoza.

Ronaldo said he was very happy to hear the Real fans chanting his name on Sunday after they whistled him earlier in the season following some below-par performances.

“We started the game badly but once we got the first goal we started to play well,” he told Spanish television.

“My goals come because of the success of the team. I am scoring goals and playing well and I want to continue the same way.

“There is still a lot left in the season but we are playing well and we have to keep going to the end.” Ronaldo’s treble, which put him four clear of Barca forward and World Player of the Year Lionel Messi in the league scoring chart, means he has now netted more goals for Real than for his previous club Manchester United. The 27-year-old has 119 in 122 games for the Spanish side compared with 118 in 292 matches for United. —Reuters

Liverpool sponsor disappointed by Suarez affair

Tigres go top in Mexico MEXICO CITY: Defending champion Tigres moved into first place in the Mexican Clausura championship with a 2-0 victory over San Luis.

Tigres’ victory coupled with a 3-1 loss over the weekend for Santos Laguna against Morelia leaves both clubs with 13 points after six rounds. Tigres have a better goal difference.

Pachuca has 12 points and remains unbeaten after a 2-0 victory over Estudiantes. Cruz Azul remained the only other unbeaten club after a 0-0 draw on Sunday against Club Tijuana. Cruz has 10 points.

In other matches this weekend, Chivas continued their poor start with a 2-0 loss against Monterrey, Atlas and America drew 1-1, Toluca defeated Atlante 2-0, Pumas lost 2-0 against Puebla and Jaguares won 3-0 against Queretaro.

Israel Jimenez scored the first goal for Tigres in the 34th minute after being put through on goal from a back-heeled pass from Elias Hernandez. Argentine Lucas Lobos volleyed in the second in the 57th.

In Morelia’s victory, Miguel Sabah gave his team the lead in the 23rd and added his second two minutes later. An own goal by Adrian Aldrete pulled one back for Santos Laguna in the 29th, but Gerardo Lugo completed Morelia’s scoring in the last minute of the game.

Pachuca’s Daniel Arreola scored with a low free kick from the edge of the penalty area in the 30th, with Argentine Mauro

Cejas adding the second. Rubens Sambueza was sent off for Estudiantes Tecos in second-half injury time.

Club Tijuana enjoyed more possession against Cruz Azul, but neither team could break through. Egidio Arevalo had a chance to give Club Tijuana the points in the last minute, but he shot over the crossbar from inside the penalty area.

Aldo de Nigris got Monterrey’s first in the 71st, and Angel Reyna curled in a shot into the top corner of the net in the 77th. Chivas, one of the favorites before the tournament began, have one point from six games and have only scored two goals.

Hugo Rodriguez gave Atlas the lead with a short-range header in the 34th, but America equalized five minutes later through Paul Aguilar. Two goals from Chilean striker Ivan Alonso gave Toluca the victory against Atlante.

Luis Angel Landin opened the scoring for Puebla in the sixth minute. Marco Antonio Palacios was been sent off for Pumas in the 64th after receiving his second yellow card following a late tackle, and Spaniard Luis Garcia took advantage by scoring for Puebla in the 68th.

Colombian Jackson Martinez got his first in the ninth minute and his second in the 89th for Jaguares. Fellow Colombian Franco Arizala added the team’s second in the 84th. German Alemanno had been sent off for Queretaro in the 59th.—AP

SPAIN: Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal celebrates his goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match against Levante at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.—AP

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez

LONDON: Liverpool’s biggest sponsor criticized the club yesterday for its conduct during the fractious Premier League match against Manchester United that was marred by Luis Suarez’s refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra.

The image of one of England’s most successful teams took another battering on Saturday when Suarez snubbed Evra in a pre-match handshake at Old Trafford, re-igniting the racism row that flared up when the Ururguay forward racially abused the France defender during a league game in October.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish also came under fire for his angry post-match reaction in which he refused to condemn Suarez.

Standard Chartered, which signed a four-year deal in 2009 to be the sponsor on Liverpool’s shirt, signaled its discontent to Liverpool’s American owners, the Bostonbased Fenway Sports Group.

“We were very disappointed by Saturday’s incident and have discussed our concerns with the club,” the London-based financial services company said.

Standard Chartered’s deal with Liverpool, which has won the English title 18 times, is reportedly worth 20 million pounds ($31.5 million) a season and runs through to the end of the 2013-14 season.

Suarez apologized Sunday for letting down Liverpool and “what it stands for,” with Dalglish and managing Ian Ayre saying the Uruguay striker had “misled” the club regarding his intention to shake the hand of Evra.

Dalglish also apologized for his impassioned comments in an interview with British broadcaster Sky Sports. In an ill-tempered game between England’s two most successful clubs, players from both teams reportedly clashed outside the dressing rooms at halftime. An emotional Evra also appeared to provoke Suarez with his exuberant post-match celebrations after United clinched a 2-1 win.

The Football Association said Monday it is happy with how referee Phil Dowd dealt with Evra’s actions after the match and doesn’t regard the halftime incident as serious enough to take action. However, the governing body is likely to write to both clubs to remind them of their responsibilities.—AP

Barcelona aim to bounce back against Leverkusen

Mickelson outplays Woods to clinch Pebble Beach title

18

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

Gaza runner ready to fly Palestinian flag in London

Page 19

ATLANTA: Dwyane Wade No. 3 of the Miami Heat drives around Marvin Williams No. 24 of the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena —AFP

Lakers edge Raptors, Celtics stop Bulls TORONTO: Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left as the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a sixgame road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto Bryant, who scored 27 points, took an inbound pass from Metta World Peace and shot over the outstretched arms of James Johnson to deny the Raptors, who battled back after trailing by as many as 18.

Bryant made one of two from the line to put the Lakers up by two with 3.7 seconds left. Jose Calderon, who scored a career-high 30 points, inbounded to DeMar DeRozan for the final possession, but he airballed his potential tying shot at the buzzer.

Celtics 95, Bulls 91 At Boston, Rajon Rondo recorded a triple-double with 32 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds to lead Boston over Chicago, which was without star

guard Derrick Rose. Kevin Garnett added 13 points and 12 rebounds, reserve JaJuan Johnson had 12 points and Ray Allen 11 for the Celtics, who snapped a two-game skid. Rondo had season highs in both points and assists.

C.J. Watson, who started in Rose’s spot, scored 22 points for the Bulls, whose win streak ended at five in the finale of a 6-3 road trip. Carlos Boozer also scored 22 and pulled down seven rebounds.

Wizards 98, Pistons 77 At Auburn Hills, Michigan, JaVale McGee had 22 points and eight rebounds, and John Wall dished out 14 assists as Washington routed Detroit. Detroit entered on a seasonbest four-game winning streak, but saw it end when the Wizards went on a 22-2 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters. Nick Young added 22 points for the Wizards. Greg Monroe had a game-high 27 for Detroit.

Heat 107, Hawks 87 At Atlanta, LeBron James scored 23 points and Dwyane Wade added 21 as Miami blew out Atlanta after racing to a 22-point lead at halftime.

The Heat made a big statement in the Southeast Division against the secondplace Hawks, leading by as many as 32 in what turned into nothing more than a showcase for Miami’s Big Three.

By halftime, Wade already had 21 points, James was rolling along with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Chris Bosh put a double-double in the books with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Bosh finished with 14 points and a season-high 16 rebounds. James grabbed 13 rebounds and doled out six assists. Wade had a couple of steals and blocked a shot.

Warriors 106, Rockets 97 At Oakland, California, Monta Ellis had 33 points and seven assists, and David Lee added 15 points and 13 rebounds as Golden State beat Houston for its second straight victory over a Western

Conference playoff contender. Rookie reserve Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry had 14 points apiece and each made some big shots late to help the Warriors upset another top team. Golden State also won at Denver on Thursday night. Kevin Martin started to break out of a recent shooting slump with 28 points and Luis Scola had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets, whose threegame winning streak ended.

Jazz 98, Grizzlies 88 At Memphis, Tennessee, Al Jefferson had 21 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, and Gordon Hayward added 23 points as Utah snapped a three-game losing streak.

Hayward shot 8 of 12 from the field, part of a 51 percent shooting performance by the Jazz on the night. Paul Millsap finished with 16 for Utah, shooting 7 of 11.

Raja Bell had 10 points. Rudy Gay led Memphis with 22 points, while Mike Conley (six assists) and Marc Gasol scored 17 apiece.—AP

Martinez-Sanchez 7-5, 6-3. “It took me a while to understand her game but I played well,” said the 18th ranked Russian.

“The first match is always tough but Doha is one of my favourite destinations and I like playing here,” added Kuznetsova, who won 13 titles and was runner-up in 19 tournaments on the WTA Tour.

As the top eight seeds who have been given first round byes enjoyed a rest, the first upset of the event came when Kazakhstan’s Ksenia Pervak defeated the 10th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenko of Russia 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Israeli Shahar Peer and China’s Shuai Peng also advanced, beating Arab wild cards Nadia Lalami of Morocco and Fatma al-Nabhani of Oman respectively in straight sets.

The Qatar Ladies Open is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with six of the top 10 players taking part including world number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

Meanwhile, Russian Maria Sharapova overtook Czech Petra Kvitova to take the world number two spot in the latest WTA rankings released yesterday.

Sharapova was beaten in the quarter-finals of the Paris Open last week by Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who went on to take the title, but the former world number one benefitted from the absence of last year’s Paris winner Kvitova. Kvitova drops to third while Kerber moves up five places to 22nd.—AFP

LA Lakers 94, Toronto 92; Boston 95, Chicago 91; Washington 98, Detroit 77; Miami 107, Atlanta 87; Golden State 106, Houston 97; Utah 98, Memphis 88.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Philadelphia 19 9 .679 Boston 15 12 .556 3.5 NY Knicks 13 15 .464 6 Toronto 9 20 .310 10.5 New Jersey 8 21 .276 11.5 Chicago Indiana Milwaukee Cleveland Detroit

Central Division 23 7 .767 17 10 .630 4.5 12 15 .444 9.5 10 16 .385 11 8 21 .276 14.5

Miami Atlanta Orlando Washington Charlotte

Southeast Division 21 7 .750 18 10 .643 3 17 11 .607 4 6 22 .214 15 3 24 .111 17.5

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 21 6 .778 Denver 16 12 .571 Utah 14 12 .538 Portland 15 13 .536 Minnesota 13 15 .464

5.5 6.5 6.5 8.5

Pacific Division 17 8 .680 16 12 .571 12 15 .444 10 14 .417 10 17 .370

2.5 6 6.5 8

LA Clippers LA Lakers Phoenix Golden State Sacramento

Southwest Division San Antonio 19 9 .679 Dallas 17 11 .607 2 Houston 16 12 .571 3 Memphis 14 14 .500 5 New Orleans 4 23 .148 14.5

Austria in Davis Cup quarters

Ivanovic advances in Doha DOHA: Ana Ivanovic made the second round of the Qatar Open yesterday, but she was denied a full match as rival Carla Suarez Navarro retired with a back problem in the second set.

Ivanovic, the former world number one, who has now slipped to 19th in the rankings, had won the first set 6-1 and was leading 4-1 in the second when her Spanish rival quit after receiving courtside treatment.

And the Serbian star knows she has a long way to go before she reaches the level that saw her win the French Open in 2008.

“I think it’s different in the sense that now a lot more girls can challenge top players from the early rounds,” Ivanovic said. “That’s exciting for us, because we do want challenges. But I feel like those girls that are on top at the moment, they’re playing very aggressively, and that’s the way you have to play in order to win.

“It’s a big challenge for us to raise our level.”

But despite the challenges, the Serbian beauty added that her goal was to get as higher in the rankings as possible.

“Well, that’s why I’m here,” she said when asked if she was targeting the number one status again.” she said. “If I didn’t think so, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here. But, yeah, I definitely believe so.”

Meanwhile, former US and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova survived a tough first set to beat Spaniard Maria Jose

NBA results/standings

DOHA: Ana Ivanovic of Serbia reacts after scoring a point against Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain during their Qatar Open tennis tournament.—AP

LONDON: Croatia, Serbia, Austria and France sealed places in the Davis Cup quarter-finals on Sunday after converting 2-1 overnight leads into winning margins.

While Croatia and Serbia can boast recent triumphs in the team competition, Austria were celebrating a berth in the last eight for the first time in 17 years after Jurgen Melzer secured victory over Russia in Wiener Neustadt.

Ivo Karlovic ended Japan’s hopes in Hyogo when he beat Go Soeda in the deciding fifth rubber after Kei Nishikori had dragged his side level. Serbia eased to a 4-1 win over Sweden.

Fourth seeded France overcame Canada 4-1 after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga seized an unassailable 3-1 lead when he beat Frank Dancevic 6-4 6-4 61 in the first of the reverse singles. Gael Monfils completed the win with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Vasek Pospisil in the dead rubber.

Holders Spain, Argentina, the United States and the Czech Republic all established winning 3-0 leads on Saturday. Melzer guaranteed Austria an away clash against Spain after finishing off an injury-hit Russia with an emphatic victory against Florida-based Davis Cup rookie Alex Bogomolov. The Austrian number one needed less than two hours to win the first reverse singles 6-2 6-4 6-1.

“I think it was one-way traffic,” Melzer told the Davis Cup website. “I just dominated him after the first three points when he hit three

winners. It was close to the performances I had when I was top 10 and I’m really happy for the team we made it.

“Giving Austria the chance to play a quarterfinal against Spain, that was our goal, that’s what we’ve been working for so many years.”

Spain, despite fieling a virtual B team, completed a 5-0 drubbing of Kazakhstan in Oviedo.

Serbia, winners of the title in 2010, face a quarter-final against the Czechs, after Janko Tipsarevic claimed the winning point against Sweden on Sunday with a 6-2 7-6 7-5 win over lowly-ranked Michael Ryderstedt.

Japan, back in the World Group for the first time in 26 years, trailed 2-1 overnight against Croatia but Nishikori levelled the tie with a straight-sets defeat of Ivan Dodig.

The towering Karlovic stood firm for Croatia, however, beating Soeda 7-6 6-1 6-4 to send his side through to a quarter-final in Argentina.

“I am really happy because we won and in the end that is the most important,” Karlovic, who won all his three matches over the weekend, said. “I was playing well and my serves were really good and it was a really good week for me.”

The US, who produced the performance of the weekend to beat a Swiss side including 16times grand slam champion Roger Federer, will meet France. The Americans completed a 5-0 whitewash over the Swiss.—Reuters

Iran’s iron ore trade falls as sanctions bite Page 22

EU aviation carbon tax fuels concerns Page 23 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

Kuwait stocks rally Page 24

Porsche Centre Kuwait celebrates arrival of new 911 Carrera Page 26

LAHORE: A Pakistani woman wears Indian jewelry during the Indian Expo-Trade fair in Pakistan’s cultural city of Lahore yesterday. An Indian business delegation arrived in Pakistan yesterday to attend a three-day India Expo-Trade fair. — AFP

Athens smolders after blazing protests ATHENS: A landmark Athens cinema lay in smoldering ruins yesterday as stunned Greeks contemplated the aftermath of widespread rioting that saw the destruction of dozens of buildings.

“It’s culture that has gone up in smoke,” filmmaker Nikos Kavoukidis lamented as he shot footage of the crowd gathered at the ruins of the Attikon cinema. “What do we have left? Television and football?” Officials say 45 buildings were wholly or partly destroyed by fire as violence erupted during demonstrations while parliament voted Sunday for tough new austerity measures aimed at averting national bankruptcy.

Overall, 170 businesses around the city centre sustained damage, including banks, bookstores, jewelry shops, home appliance stores and supermarkets, the Athens chamber of commerce said.

The government, neck-deep in debt, said it would seek a way to help out. “Ways will be examined to support citizens whose property was destroyed,” said government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis.

The Attikon was housed in a neoclassical building dating back to the late 19th century. The cinema was famed for its sumptuous decor, plush red seats and the sweeping curves of its main auditorium.

Until Sunday, the film on show

was “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” starring Gary Oldman.

“I am ashamed, it’s hooliganism,” lamented one of Sunday’s demonstrators, a 55-year-old security guard who gave her name only as Melpo, standing outside a ruined building.

The Attikon building was home to several other businesses, including a store whose owner fretted for the future of his four employees in a countr y where unemployment is more than 20 percent. About 80,000 people took to the streets on Sunday to protest austerity measures, according to police estimates, while media reports said the number was almost double that.

Rioters attacked “emblematic buildings, about 10 neo-classical edifices,” dating from the beginning of the 20th century, the deputy mayor in charge of maintenance Andreas Varelas said.

A few metres (yards) from the Attikon, a memorial site celebrating Greek resistance to the Nazis during World War II suffered broken windows and had been daubed in red graffiti stating: “Uprising.”

Condemnation for the violence came quickly. “Violence and destruction have no place in a democracy,” Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said late Sunday, while calling on Athenians for calm. European Union economic affairs commissioner Olli

Aldar books 2011 profit on govt sales ABU DHABI: Aldar Properties’ full-year net profit jumped to 642.5 million dirhams ($175 million) in 2011, boosted by land sales to the government and increased residential sales. Abu Dhabi’s largest developer by market value, returned to black after it posted a loss of 12.7 billion dirhams in 2010 on massive writedowns on its assets.

The company’s board has proposed a dividend for the first time since the ailing company was rescued by Abu Dhabi in 2010 with a $5.2 billion bailout. The builder of the Yas Marina Formula One circuit made a fourth-quarter profit of 182.1 million dirhams, Reuters calculated, compared with a loss of 11.14 billion dirhams during the same period in 2010.

Income was boosted by 3.9 billion dirhams secured from the sale of Central Market and the Ferrari World theme park to Abu Dhabi, the developer said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi bourse.

Impairments, provisions and fair value write downs of 3.03 billion dirhams were also recorded in the year.

Revenue for 2011 was 6.7 billion dirhams, compared with 1.8 billion during the prior-year period. Aldar generated 5.4 billion from the sale of land plots and completed residential units and project management fees.— Reuters

Rehn yesterday slammed the violence as unacceptable. “These individuals do not represent the vast majority of Greek citizens who are genuinely concerned for the future of their country,” Rehn said in a statement.

Greece’s new budget cuts were demanded by the European Union and International Monetary Fund as the price of a second 130-billion-euro ($172 billion) debt rescue to avert imminent bank ruptc y and keep Greece in the euro-zone. The new cuts include reductions in the country’s minimum wage and further layoffs in the public sector. Athenians on their way to work were shocked at the extent of the damage. “It ’s a reminder of December 2008,” a man named Varelas said, in reference to nearly a month of urban violence in Athens sparked after a youth was killed by a policeman.

The health ministry said 54 civilians had been hurt, while police said 68 members of the force had suffered injuries on Sunday.

Municipal workers were yesterday clearing up the debris of marble ripped up from the pavements and hurled by rioters. Rubbish bins smoked and everywhere near the centre, in the tourist area of Monastiraki and chic streets of the Kolonaki quarter, the ground was littered with shattered glass. — AFP

Iran oil reserves rise to near 155bn bbl DUBAI: Iran now has 154.58 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves and 33.69 trillion cubic meters of recoverable natural gas after finding significant quantities of both over the past year, Iran’s oil ministry news service said yesterday.

According to the latest BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2011, Iran’s proven oil reserves stood at 137.0 billion barrels of crude oil and gas condensate, plus 29.6 trillion cubic metres of natural gas, at the end of 2010.

According to Iranian oil ministry website Shana, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) statistics show the country has added 833 million barrels of recoverable crude oil and gas condensates and 31.70 billion cubic feet (897 million cubic metres) of recoverable natural gas reserves since March last year.

The reported increases in reserves would not change Iran’s world rankings. It would remain in third place for oil behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and in second behind Russia for natural gas. Despite its vast reserves, sanctions on Iran over its nuclear plans have limited its success in producing and exporting oil and gas.

Oil industry analysts have forecast Iranian oil output will fall by as much as 9 percent this year to an average of around 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd). — Reuters

22

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

business

Iran’s iron ore trade falls as sanctions bite Banks refuse to finance Iran businesses LONDON: Iron ore traders and dry bulk ship owners in Europe are pulling back from deals with Iran, worried they could miss out on vital future US business as Western sanctions heap pressure on the Islamic Republic, trade sources say. US financial sanctions imposed since the beginning of this year to punish Tehran over its nuclear program are playing havoc with its ability to buy imports and receive payment for its exports. European traders and owners of bulker ships are reticent to carry Iranian iron ore, even though no formal bans have been imposed on this market.

“Companies trading with Iran risk ending up on the US blacklist ... and nobody wants to end up there,” a source at a European freight broker said. “It’s a high risk, given the international nature of this business.” Iran is the world’s sixthlargest exporter of iron ore, with shipments of nearly 16 million tons last year. Almost all of them went to China, the world’s largest consumer of the steelmaking ingredient.

Companies worry that doing business with Iran now will put them in a difficult position.

“Sanction regimes are enforced against a number of countries, and in the case of Iran for example the EU and US are implementing sanctions in slightly different ways,” said Jakob Larsen, a maritime security officer with BIMCO, the world’s largest private shipowners’ association. “This is putting a burden on shipping, and especially smaller shipping companies have a challenge keeping track of the implications of

the different sanctions regimes.”

European traders have reduced their exposure to Iranian iron ore in the last couple of years, and in the past few months their involvement with the Islamic Republic has fallen to near zero. “People are afraid of getting caught doing deals with Iran even if it is legal, because the US can apply restrictions retrospectively,” a source at a steel and iron ore trading house said. “From our position, we are not going to risk it again, and nobody else will in Europe I believe.”

His company had dealt with Iran in the past but was unable to close any deals in the last few months because no bank would provide financing for such operations.

“No banks will touch Iranian business,” a second steel and iron ore trader said. “The only way would be to finance the trade yourself, but there is no company willing to do it now. The political risk is too high. There could be a war, an export ban and then your money gets held up.”

While more companies are wary of trading with Iran, others are still involved. US agribusiness giant Cargill told Reuters last week it planned to continue grain shipments to Iran using other currencies such as the Japanese yen.

Analysts said there were still likely to be waivers of sanctions to enable some trade and help with repayment of money owed to western companies. Norwegian oil firm Statoil has said Iran could continue to repay debt that is related to the development of the South Pars project and for exploration activity in the country.

Dubai’s Drake and Scull Q4 profit up

Saudi to sell extra 1.74m barrels of crude to RIL NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia, world’s top oil exporter, will supply an extra 1.74 million barrels of crude to Reliance Industries, owner of the world’s biggest refining complex, for February, a source with knowledge of the deal said. “Saudi Aramco will supply additional 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) oil to Reliance in February,” the source said. “Saudi normally meets requirements of its big customers even at short notice.”

Reliance has an annual contract to buy 235,000 bpd from Saudi Aramco for its refining complex capable of processing 1.24 million bpd of crude. It is not immediately clear why Reliance is seeking the extra barrels. Many refiners across Asia are

asking for additional Saudi crude as they seek to reduce their dependence on Iran because of tighter sanctions, but Reliance stopped buying Iranian oil last year.

Reliance Industries declined to comment.

Reliance will be the second Indian buyer to seek extra barrels from the kingdom for February, according to Reuters data. Saudi Aramco has also agreed to supply an extra 770,000 barrels of crude to Bharat Petroleum Corp. Indian refiners are seeking at least an extra 2.6 million barrels of Saudi crude in addition to their contracted monthly supplies for March, sources told Reuters last week. This is partly to reduce dependence on Iran, and in part to feed additional refinery capacity. — Reuters

Saudi Arabia renews ban on cement exports JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has renewed its ban on cement exports, after partially lifting it in 2009, due to rising demand at home where multi-billion infrastructure projects are under way, state news agency SPA reported yesterday.

“The Ministry of Commerce announced its decision to stop exporting cement and clinker in compliance with its regulations which require meeting the demands of

Shipowners fear that if records show their vessel had approached an Iranian port, US ports may refuse to grant them access and their ship would become less tradable. US lawmakers have proposed blocking ships from US ports that have recently visited Iran, although it is not clear whether the measure will be included in the final version of legislation, expected sometime this year.

“Owners would be well advised to steer clear of Iran or risk not being able to access the US dollar global banking system,” a senior ship industry source said.European shipping companies said most shipowners were avoiding Iran and that the few still willing to send their bulker ships there were charging a large premium.

They said most of the ships still going to Iran were owned by Iranian or Russian businessmen who set up companies offshore to try and escape US controls. “Iranian ship owners keep camouflaging, changing their company’s name so they don’t come under the radar of the US, but they still support trade with Iran,” a shipbroker said. “Foreign ship owners prefer not to go to Iran. They do business with other countries in the area such as Bahrain or Kuwait. People prefer to go to Iraq rather than Iran given the current state of affairs.” A few Asian players are still buying iron ore from Iran, mainly from China, Asia and South Korea. China is likely to reduce the amount of iron ore it buys from Iran from March and rely more on other suppliers such as Brazil and Australia, traders said. — Reuters

the local market, having sufficient supply, and stability in local prices,” the statement said.

Domestic prices of the building material soared in 2008 when Saudi Arabia faced a cement shortage as companies exported large quantities for higher profits, leading the government to impose an export ban which it partially lifted a year later. — Reuters

DUBAI: Contractor Drake & Scull International had higher fourth quarter profit, according to Reuters calculations yesterday, buoyed partly by cost-cutting.

The company reported full-year net profit of 220 million dirhams ($60 million). It gave no yearly comparative or quarterly figures.

Fourth-quarter profit was 65 million dirhams, Reuters calculated based on previous earnings reports, compared to 34.9 million dirhams in the prior-year period in 2010.

The quarterly profit beat the estimates of two analysts who forecast profit of 57 million dirhams and 52.3 million dirhams. Drake shares were up 1 percent at 0720 GMT. Total project awards announced in 2011 reached 4.4 billion dirhams in comparison to 3.4 billion dirhams in 2010, the company said in a statement on the Dubai bourse. Drake’s order backlog reached 7.1 billion dirhams, a year over year rise of 43 percent.

The company, which specializes in mechanical, engineering and plumbing operations, attributed top line growth to increased momentum in project execution and more contracts in the region.

“Our focus remains on cost control and collections to ensure a healthy cash flow to maintain our strong balance sheet,” Osama Hamdan, Drake’s chief financial officer, said in the statement.

He said civil contracts were a major contributor to revenues and the trend is expected to continue in 2012.

Drake signed a $96-million deal in December to build a commercial development project in Riyadh. It also won a $39-million contract in Egypt for work on an ammonium nitrate plant in Ain Sukhna. — Reuters

BEIJING: A worker delivers honeycombed briquettes used for heating along a street in Beijing yesterday. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said Beijing will “fine-tune” its economic policy this year, state media reported. — AFP

Loss of diesel-rich crude sends oil prices higher LONDON: Seasoned oil market observers have struggled to find an adequate explanation for the surge in Brent prices over the past fortnight, which has taken frontmonth futures to the highest level since July 2011.

But the conundrum becomes easier to unravel if the focus is switched from the overall crude supply-demand balance, which remains comfortable, to balances for individual fuels (especially distillates) and the types of crudes being impacted by the supply disruptions.

Dieselisation and the increasing imbalance in the global refining system (producing too much gasoline and not enough diesel) has made the crude markets particularly vulnerable to the loss of diesel-rich crudes, which is why both crude prices and European gas oil futures have been rising in recent sessions in response to the loss of exports from South Sudan.

Most analysis of the oil market still focuses on the overall supply-demand balance, implicitly treating all crudes as undifferentiated. But the price surges triggered

by Libya and North Sea outages in 2011, and now Sudan in 2012, illustrate the need for a more fine-grained approach, in which relatively small losses of key crudes (low in sulfur or rich in middle distillates) can produce an outsized response in prices.

There has been a strange disconnect between the financial (paper) markets, which appear comfortably supplied, and reports from traders of far greater tightness in the physical (crude) markets, as my colleague Javier Blas explained in the Financial Times last week (“Crude defies supply and demand forecasts”, Feb 9). After months of ignoring escalating tensions with Iran, the never-ending crisis in Europe, and first signs of a slowdown and then recovery in the United States and China, crude futures have been shaken out of their torpor by a series of apparently minor developments.

Observers have blamed the transit dispute between Sudan and South Sudan, as well as lingering problems in the North Sea, for adversely affecting crude supplies.

Cold weather across Europe has sig-

nalled the belated arrival of winter and focused attention on distillate supplies.

And signs of economic recovery and continued central bank stimulus have rekindled appetite for risk assets.

But on a global scale these supply disruptions are small. Current losses from South Sudan and the North Sea amount to perhaps 350,000 barrels per day, which is tiny compared with the 1.3 million barrels per day of exports lost from Libya plus the losses from the North Sea and Azerbaijan last year. Cold weather will make only a small and temporary addition to seasonal fuel consumption.

Economic news from the United States and China might have improved recently, but the International Energy Agency (IEA) has nonetheless cut its forecast for demand growth by 250,000 b/d to just 800,000 b/d in 2012, less than 1 percent higher than 2011, citing persistent economic weakness in Europe and worldwide.

None of these developments seem significant enough to justify the rise in oil prices to a six-month high. But not all crudes are the same. Libya’s civil war had an outsized impact on the oil market last year because the low-sulfur crudes which the country exported were difficult for refiners to replace elsewhere. The main alternative supplies were in the North Sea, Azerbaijan and Nigeria. Two of these areas were suffering production problems of their own and the third is perennially unstable.

In the case of South Sudan, the amount of crude lost is small in absolute terms (around 250,000 b/d), but the disruption is still significant because Sudan’s Nile Blend can be refined to produce large quantities of valuable middle distillates like diesel, and relatively little gasoline, which is in over-supply and currently commands lower margins.Simple distillation of Nile Blend yields relatively little naphtha (10 percent) for gasoline production but plenty of middle distillates like kerosene (9 percent) and gas oil (18 percent).

It also yields unusually large amounts of residue (62 percent). Residue would normally be undesirable. — 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 .4340000 .3630000 .3020000 .2740000 .2930000 .0040000 .0020000 .0751740 .7323940 .3830000 .0720000 .7179800 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2769000 GB Pound/KD .4362560 Euro .3653700 Swiss francs .3020780 Canadian dollars .2766100 Danish Kroner .0491610 Swedish Kroner .0415630 Australian dlr .2956460 Hong Kong dlr .0357060 Singapore dlr .2195010 Japanese yen .0035650 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

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.598 5.337 3.154 2.436 3.341 213.250 35.672 3.580 6.336 8.873 0.271 0.273

.2805000 .4440000 .3700000 .3090000 .2830000 .3010000 .0070000 .0035000 .0759290 .7397550 .4000000 .0770000 .7251960 .0072000 .0500000 .2790000 .4395650 .3681410 .3043690 .2787070 .0495340 .0418790 .2978880 .0359760 .2211650 .0035920 .0056880 .0024370 .0030880 .0033390 .0759910 .7403480 .3946250 .0744200 .7249580 .0066110

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 74.150 76.402 722.230 738.540 75.715

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

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.500 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.282 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.272 Tunisian Dinar 189.860 Jordanian Dinar 392.670 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.865 Syrian Lier 6.003 Morocco Dirham 33.814 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 277.950 Euro 370.650 Sterling Pound 431.930 Canadian dollar 268.420 Turkish lire 153.940 Swiss Franc 300.620 Australian dollar 277.000 US Dollar Buying 277.750 GOLD 315.500 159.000 81.500

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

COUNTRY

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka 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

SELL CASH

302.500 739.210 3.600 281.600 545.900 45.300 50.500 167.800 48.050 372.500 36.530 5.830 0.032 0.194 0.244 3.680 394.190 0.188 94.160 46.500 4.270 236.000 1.801 49.400 721.980

SELL DRAFT

301.000 739.210 3.305 280.100

222.000 46.119 371.000 36.380 5.645 0.032

10 Tola

75.680 277.900

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Selling Rate

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

278.050 281.855 440.310 368.060 303.905 736.310 75.680 76.320 74.105 391.395 46.106 2.416 5.616 3.073 3.309 6.570 682.045 3.675 9.095 5.855 3.600 92.280

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees 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

Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

303.33 282.74 309.62 371.74

444.00 3.70 3.550 5.800 2.650 4.250 3.200 76.15 739.25 48.20 394.20 728.00 77.25 74.50

277.900 3.058 5.645 2.410 3.310 6.595 75.765 74.260 738.800 46.012 445.400 3.190 1.550 374.100 283.800 3.690

Al Mulla Exchange

UAE Exchange Center WLL Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro

442.46 3.63 3.300 5.640 2.387 3.532 3.064 75.65 739.20 46.08 395.36 722.24 76.63 74.20

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 441.500 277.900

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Currency

721.800

306.800 4.200 9.220

Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

Currency

393.860 0.187 94.160 3.540 234.500

3.070 6.560 76.460 74.210 222.010 38.760 2.398 441.500

GOLD 1,802.310

Rate for Transfer

Bahrain Exchange Company

3.160 6.900 76.890 74.210 222.010 38.760 2.654 443.500 42.800 308.300 4.200 9.390 198.263 75.780 278.300 1.300

303.00 282.00 309.00 373.00

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 *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

277.550 370.800 441.300 279.900 3.585 5.642 46.010 2.403 3.307 6.549 3.059 739.050 75.600 74.100

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

business

EU aviation carbon tax fuels concerns Airbus CEO: Potential for trade conflict a worry

WASHINGTON: Copies of US President Barack Obama’s FY2013 Budget after it was delivered to Congress yesterday on Capitol HIll in Washington, DC. — AFP

Obama’s election-year budget to target rich WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will propose an election-year budget that raises taxes on millionaires and seeks billions of dollars for job-creating infrastructure projects, drawing a populist battle line with his Republican opponents.

Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget proposal to Congress will defer significant cuts in the deficit until the economy is securely back on track, a priority as he seeks re-election in November, while outlining measures to shrink that funding gap over time. “I think there is pretty broad agreement that the time for austerity is not today,” new White House chief of staff Jack Lew, the president’s budget director until a few weeks ago, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

Obama’s budget is likely to be declared a non-starter by Republicans, in control of the U.S. House of Representatives, who want to paint the president as a tax-and-spend liberal.

They warn that tax hikes will kill jobs while doing nothing to halt the climb in the crushing level of national debt.

“We’re taking responsibility for dealing with the drivers of our debt,” said Republican Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee. “Unfortunately, the president and his party’s leaders - they’re not a part of this conversation,” he told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.

The budget grants Obama one of his biggest platforms before the Nov. 6 presidential election to lay out his vision for America’s future, casting Republicans as the party of the rich as he tries to convince voters he would do more to protect their interests.

Polls consistently show that even as the

economy has demonstrated surprising strength in recent weeks, Americans are still unsure of Obama’s economic stewardship, a major problem for him as he seeks to persuade them to give him a second White House term.

Obama will repeat a demand for millionaires to pay a minimum tax rate of 30 percent, named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, and identify $4 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years that broadly mirrors a plan he laid out in September. The budget projects a deficit of $901 billion in 2013, representing 5.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), down from $1.33 trillion, or 8.5 percent of GDP this year, White House officials say. Obama pledged back in 2009 to have cut the deficit in half by next year, but his budget does not anticipate getting it back under 3 percent of GDP until 2018 — satisfying credit rating agencies and investors who view this as a key threshold to stabilize the growth in national debt as a proportion of output.

The White House has already declared its budget prediction of an 8.9 percent 2012 unemployment as “stale,” after an improving labor market lowered unemployment to 8.3 percent in January. That encouraging sign for the recovery implies that deficit projections could be revised lower if growth, and accompanying tax revenues, also turn out to be stronger than expected. However, Republicans say Obama uses gimmicks to massage the deficit numbers, pointing to savings from winding down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which they complain amounts to counting funds that were never going to be spent. — Reuters

SINGAPORE: Global planemaker Airbus joined a chorus of concern that a European scheme to charge airlines for carbon emissions risks triggering a full-blown trade war, with implications for plane deals and even Europe’s crippling sovereign debt crisis.

The EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), introduced on Jan 1, has drawn howls of protest from airlines around the world, with China banning its carriers from taking part. The escalating row comes on the eve of a China-EU summit in Beijing, with the EU looking to China to dip into its huge foreign exchange reserves to help the euro-zone tackle a debt build-up that threatens its economic stability.

Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders said he was increasingly concerned at the potential fallout if tensions are not defused.

“I am very worried about the consequences of that. What started out as a solution for the environment has become a source of potential trade conflict and that should be a worry for all of us,” he told an aviation conference on Monday ahead of the Singapore Airshow. China is a strategic market for the world’s two big planemakers, as it coordinates purchases centrally and regularly places orders with Airbus and Boeing in batches of 100 or more to coincide with highlevel political contacts.

Chinese domestic air traffic quadrupled in the last decade and is expected to keep growing at more than 7 percent a year up to 2030, according to Airbus research, and Boeing predicts China will be the second-biggest market for new aircraft behind the United States between 2011 and 2030.

China last year delayed the final signing of a deal for 10 A380 superjumbos worth $4 billion for Hong Kong Airlines in a signal of its displeasure over the EU plans, and in the mid-1990s, it refused to buy French products such as wheat and Airbus planes in retaliation for France selling fighters and frigates to Taiwan.

Last week, Beijing banned its airlines from joining the ETS without its permission, and threatened to take unspecified measures to defend itself against the scheme, which levies charges for carbon emissions on flights in and out of Europe. Foreign governments argue Brussels is exceeding its legal jurisdiction by calculating the carbon cost over the whole flight, not just Europe.

Non-EU airlines say the levy is discriminatory.

Increasingly, governments and the EU’s executive European Commission are looking to the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to find a global scheme that curbs airline

emissions.

Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong said opposition to the scheme was based on the way it is applied. “I was quoting the example of us flying non-stop from Singapore all the way to Europe. We get charged the whole journey, when somebody who could fly passengers to an intermediate point, and from there go to Europe, ends up paying much less,” he told the same aviation conference in Singapore.

Andrew Herdman, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, said any European policy that alienates the United States,

EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas acknowledged the growing opposition to the scheme, and said he was willing to be flexible in finding a solution, but the 27-nation bloc would not bow to pressure to suspend the scheme, which it says is part of a global fight against climate change.

Aviation accounts for around 3 percent of mankind’s greenhouse gas pollution. The ICAO predicts the number of air passengers will hit 6 billion a year on scheduled services by 2030, roughly double today’s level.

“If you think Europe will be forced to sus-

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong (right), speaks during a panel discussion on “Driving Change, Overcoming Challenges” beside Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders during the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit at the Raffles City Convention Centre yesterday.—AP China, Russia, India and three dozen other countries “is simply not going to work.”

“The risk for the airlines if this generates into a tit-for-tat trade war, is that airlines will be caught in a cross-fire from both sides,” he said.

During an industry panel discussion, Cathay Pacific CEO John Slosar took a senior European Commission official to task. “You can’t have it both ways. There’s a difference between leadership and bludgeoning. You guys applied the latter, and now you’re discovering it works both ways,” he told Matthew Baldwin of the directorate-general for mobility and transport.

pend, this is not the case. We must have a real global solution,” Kallas said in an interview in Singapore. “Europe will implement its system with difficulties, with conflicts, with court cases, whatever, the system will be introduced,” he said.

French Transport Minister Thierry Mariani said both Airbus and Air France had expressed their concerns that the dispute should not be allowed to harm French competitiveness.

Some European airlines worry the scheme could backfire on them if foreign governments retaliate by limiting traffic rights or imposing titfor-tat taxes and charges. —Reuters

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

business

Kuwait stocks rally GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) stocks picked up where they left yesterday on the back of another rise in mid and small cap stocks.

Positive announcements from the companies regarding the FY2011 also helped to lift the index. The market has remained upbeat lately, on encouraging corporate earnings specially from the banking sector, as well as improved investor interest in mid and small cap stocks.

Furthermore, investors were waiting for Zain FY2011 results.

Global General Index (GGI) ended the day up by 0.72 percent, at 180.07 point. Market capitalization was up for the day, reaching KD29.47bn. On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 5,946 point, adding 41.7 points (0.71 percent) from its previous close.

Market breadth Market breadth was positive yesterday. The market as a whole housed 59 advancers versus 24 decliners. Kuwaiti equities witnessed increased investor interest, with the advance being accompanied by increasing trading activity.

The market as a whole saw 593.50mn shares traded, up by 3.70 percent from Sunday ’s level.

210.43mn (35.46 percent) of those shares traded were attributable to investment groups. International Financial Advisors (IFA) saw 50.80mn of its shares change hands.

But it was a 1.22 percent improvement in National Investment Co’s share value that sent the Global Investment Index up by 0.31 percent. A major decliner was Al-Qurain Holding Co, releasing 7.32 percent of its value, and closing at KD0.019.

Industrial & Financial Investments Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 10.87 percent to its share value and closing at KD0.0255. Share price of Real Estate Trade Center Company retreated by

7.69 percent and closed at KD0.060, making it the biggest decliners in the market for the day in a row.

Sectors Non Kuwaiti stocks spearheaded gainers, housing 2.38 percent in gains. Ahli United Bank stock price appreciated 1.06 percent. An 8.62 percent climb posted by Gulf Finance House was sufficient enough to drive the Global Non Kuwaiti Index northward.

Global Services Index followed with a 1.30% advance. Zain and Agility appreciated 2.33 percent and

1.32 percent respectively. Al-Safat Energy Holding was the top gainer in the sector, adding 8.93 percent.

Banking scrips too were up by 0.5 percent. Ahli United Bank (AUB) was up by 2.27 percent at KD0.900. AUB gave a nod to financial statements for the FY that ended on December 31, 2011.

The statements reflected earnings of approx. KD31.54mn (31.1fils per share), rising 14.9 percent compared with KD27.44mn (27fils per share) a year earlier. The board recommended paying cash dividend at 15 percent and distributing bonus

shares at 5 percent, this recommendation is pending the approval of shareholder meeting and competent authorities.

Investors continued to shy away from insurance scrips, with only 210,000 shares changing hands. The sector index saw a 0.31 percent increased on Monday, on the back of a 1.79 percent gain in the equity price of Kuwait Insurance Company.

The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $116.41pb on Friday, compared with $116.27pb the previous day, according to OPEC secretariat calculations.

Oil gains on Greece debt deal relief LONDON: Crude oil prices rose yesterday, back towards sixmonth highs as demand sensitive assets were boosted after Greece approved an austerity bill to secure a second bailout.

Equities, commodities and the euro all rose as the Greek parliament approved the bill, lifting the threat of a default that would have jolted markets.

Front-month Brent crude was up $1 to $118.31 at 0940 GMT. The benchmark gained 2.6 percent last week, posting its third straight weekly rise. US crude was up 97 cents at $99.64 a barrel.

The dollar index fell 0.5 percent. A weaker US currency can lift dollar-denominated oil by making the commodity cheaper for consumers using other currencies.

Oil was near highs not seen since the start of August, as more encouraging data from the United States and China has improved the demand outlook.

Tension between Iran and the West, which has triggered a forthcoming European Union oil embargo, and violence in Syria have spurred a risk premium and worries about supply.

“I think it is a given that Europe will have virtually zero growth this year, but that the recovery in the US and demand from China, India, etc will keep oil prices high,” said Christopher Bellew at Jefferies Bache. He said further scares in Europe could see the price move back to around $112 per barrel. “But really there is more risk to the upside with chaos in Syria and much less oil coming out of Iran.”

Investors are also worried that tension in the Middle East will worsen after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that the Islamic

Republic would soon announce advances in its nuclear program. “ The nation is looking to showcase its nuclear capabilities to the rest of the world in the coming days, which we think could provide additional support to oil prices in the region as tensions flare,” analysts at ANZ said in a report.

There were mixed messages for the outlook on oil demand coming out of Asia. Data out of Japan that showed the economy of the world’s third-biggest oil consumer shrank in the OctoberDecember quarter, partly due to slowing global growth. Japan’s fourth contraction in five quarters pushed down economic output for the whole of 2011, marking the first for a calendar year since the global financial crisis of 2009.The numbers supported the International Energy Agency ’s (IEA) view of oil demand growth slowing because of an overall weak global economy. The IEA reduced its forecast last week, in its sixth consecutive monthly cut, by 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 800,000 bpd.

But prices were supported by comments by China’s Premier Wen Jiabao in state media yesterday that the world’s secondlargest economy will start to finetune economic policies in the first quarter, the most explicit indication yet of further easing of monetary policy.

The comments come days after data showing China’s crude imports in January reached the third highest level on record as state refiners increased processing after several new refining facilities began operations.

President Barack Obama was scheduled to submit to the US Congress his fiscal 2013 budget proposal to chart a fiscal path for the next 10 years. — Reuters

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

business

Japan economy shrinks on Thai floods, strong yen Reconstruction projects may stave off recession

SINGAPORE: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (third right) and Simon Robertson (3rd L), chairman of Rolls-Royce, officiate the opening of a Rolls-Royce manufacturing and training facility in Singapore yesterday. — AFP

Rolls-Royce opens largest Asian facility SINGAPORE: Aircraft engine giant RollsRoyce opened its largest Asian facility in Singapore yesterday as it looks to capitalize on the region’s booming aviation sector.

The Rolls-Royce Seletar Campus will be the only facility outside of the firm’s Derby plant in Britain to assemble, test and produce Trent 900 and Trent 1000 engines, the firm said.

The Trent 900 engine is widely used in the Airbus A380 superjumbo, while the Trent 1000 series can power Boeing’s latest Dreamliner series. “This part of the world has played a key role at enabling us to double the size of our business in the last decade,” Simon Robertson, chairman of Rolls-Royce, said at the plant’s opening on the eve of the Singapore Airshow.

“And it is the continued demand from the fast-growing economies in Asia which underpins our confidence that we expect to double our revenues again in the next decade.”

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong underscored the importance of the 154,000 square metre (1.66 million square foot) facility to the city-state, a regional aviation hub.

“It’s a landmark project for Rolls-Royce and Singapore. Rolls-Royce calls this its facility of the future, and we treat it so. It’s the single largest aerospace investment ever in Singapore worth Sg$700 million ($559 million),” he said at the opening. “It

enables Singapore to play a key role in supplying aircraft engines for the latest jets such as the A380 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.”

The campus includes an assembly and test unit, fan blade manufacturing, research and development as well as a regional training centre. It will be able to produce up to 250 engines per year at full capacity-double the company’s worldwide production-with the first locally assembled engine to be shipped to Toulouse, France in the third quarter.

Rolls-Royce declined to name the customer, but Airbus is based in the French city. The British firm’s “value-add contributions” in Singapore would reach about Sg$1.7 billion in three years, or about 0.5 percent of the city ’s projected gross domestic product, said Jonathan Asherson, Rolls-Royce’s regional director of Southeast Asia.

The Singapore facility would allow RollsRoyce to capitalize on the region’s growth, said Mike Terrett, the firm’s chief operating officer. “ The Asia-Middle East market together has been our strongest growth area largely because there’s been such a high demand for (wide-body aircraft),” he said. Globally, airlines will need 33,500 new planes valued at $4.0 trillion by 2030, with Asia accounting for about 35 percent of the total, US aircraft maker Boeing said yesterday.—AFP

TOKYO: Japan’s economy shrank in the final three months of 2011 as exports suffered, data showed yesterday, but analysts say disaster reconstruction projects at home are likely to stave off a new recession. On an annualized basis, the economy contracted a worse-thanexpected 2.3 percent in the October-December quar ter, a sharp drop on the previous quarter’s growth, owing to the strong yen, falling overseas demand and flooding in Thailand that hammered production. The world’s number-three economy shrank 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter, the Cabinet Office said, and 0.9 percent through 2011. It grew 4.4 percent in 2010. However, ministers and analysts tipped a rebound this year as government reconstruction programs after the March 11 disasters begin to bear fruit.

Severe flooding in Thailand in the autumn disrupted global supply chains and the production capability of Japanese manufacturers, particularly electronics suppliers and automakers, just as they were recovering from the quaketsunami disaster at home.

The floods compounded Japan Inc.’s struggles against a continually strong yen, which is sitting close to record highs against the dollar and is also putting pressure on the euro. The data came as the country ’s key export markets in the United States and Europe struggle with huge debt troubles and unemployment, struggling to get back on track after the global downturn.

The contraction was more severe than the annualized 1.6 percent drop forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.

It also sharply contrasted to a revised quarter-on-quarter growth of annualized 7.0 percent for the July-September period, which was

TOKYO: Trucks (right) carrying containers leave a port in Tokyo yesterday. Japan’s economy shrank 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter as manufacturers were battered by the strong yen, weak export demand amid the European debt crisis and flooding in Thailand. — AP in part boosted by post-March 11 reconstruction. Annualized growth rates reflect the status of the economic trend in a given period, extrapolated as if it had continued for a year. The result allows comparison of data for different time periods.

Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Motohisa Furukawa said that despite Monday’s figures, the economy continued its “upward movement” with exports and production improving month-onmonth in December.

The contraction “came after external demand was significantly reduced due to the one-off factor of the Thai flooding, which came amid the weak recover y of

economies overseas”, he said in a statement. “Having taken into account (the recovery of exports and production in December) and the overall economic situation, it is assessed that upward movement is continuing,” he said. Forthcoming public programs to rebuild tsunami-wrecked areas will help buoy the economy, which should return to growth in the July-September quar ter of 2012, said Yasunari Ueno, chief market economist at Mizuho Securities.

“Public investment is expected to increase in the April-June quarter thanks to effects of the extra budget, while exports are also expected to recover in the JulySeptember period as overseas

China’s CIC brushes aside Merkel investment plea

BAA: Heathrow losing China traffic to rivals LONDON: London’s Heathrow is falling behind rival European airports in the battle for lucrative routes to China because of the constraints on growth at Britain’s largest airport, operator BAA said yesterday.

BAA, which was prevented by the UK government from building a third runway at Heathrow because of environmental concerns, said passenger traffic at its British airports edged up last month with Heathrow enjoying its busiest ever January despite a slight fall in traffic to China. “Heathrow ’s China traffic in January, including Hong Kong, was down by 0.7 percent versus the previous year.

Through 2011 as a whole, Heathrow’s China traffic was up 3 percent versus 2010,” Chief Executive Colin Matthews said. “This growth rate was well short of the growth generated by other European hubs, with Paris and Frankfurt growing at 9 percent versus 2010 and Amsterdam growing at 6 percent.”

Matthews added that the trend showed that capacity constraints at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, were “damaging the UK economy when the country can least afford it.”

Heathrow is operating at full capacity after Britain’s Conservative-led coalition government blocked development of a third runway when it came to power in 2010 as further expansion of the west London site would mean a huge increase in the number of planes flying directly over the capital.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has instead proposed building a new London hub airport in the Thames estuary. There were 476,197 flights at Heathrow in 2011, representing 99.2 percent of the airport’s limit.

A recent study by the Frontier Economics consultancy said Paris Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt airports boast 1,000 more annual flights to the three largest cities in China than Heathrow. It added that a lack of direct flights to emerging markets was costing the UK some 1.2 billion pounds a year as trade goes to better-connected competitors.

Earlier this month a report by business group London First said Britain should consider a new runway at Heathrow and allow planes to land and take-off simultaneously on its two runways. The report, which criticized the government for ruling out expanding Heathrow for political reasons, said all options for meeting the UK’s long-term need for further airport capacity, including a new airport, should be considered.

BAA is owned by a consortium of institutional investors led by 49.9 percent shareholder Ferrovial, the Spanish transportation infrastructure group. Ferrovial’s shares in Madrid were flat at 9.48 euros by 1030 GMT, valuing the company at around 7 billion euros.

Analysts at BPI believe Heathrow has outperformed in spite of restrictions on its growth. It expects Heathrow traffic to increase by a further 1.6 percent in 2012, supported by the London Olympics.

BAA owns London’s Heathrow and Stansted as well as Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports but has been ordered by competition regulators to sell Stansted, having already sold London Gatwick in 2009.

BAA said it handled 7.5 million passengers in January, up 0.5 percent.

Heathrow served 5.2 million passengers last month, a record for January and up 2.3 percent on a year ago. — Reuters

SINGAPORE: The business class seats of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner at the Singapore Airshow in Singapore. — AFP

Airlines need 33,500 new planes by 2030: Boeing SINGAPORE: Global airlines will need 33,500 new planes valued at $4.0 trillion in less than two decades, with Asia accounting for about 35 percent of the total, US aircraft maker Boeing said yesterday.

Asia-Pacific carriers will require 11,450 new aircraft, worth $1.5 trillion, by 2030, Boeing’s vice president for commercial planes Randy Tinseth said at a news conference on the eve of the Singapore Airshow.

“This is the largest market in the world for single-aisle airplanes... for twin-aisle airplanes... for big airplanes. Any way you look at it, this is a big, big market, and this is a growth market,” he said.

Tinseth, updating earlier Boeing estimates, said the biggest demand in the region will be for single-aisle aircraft that normally seat between 90 and 200 passengers-the models most sought after in the budget-airline market. Of the 33,500 new planes needed globally, about 60 percent will be for fleet expansion, with the remainder replacing ageing stocks.

In the Asia-Pacific region, 80 percent will be for fleet growth. Boeing said the world’s passenger fleet stood at 19,410 planes in 2010, and is projected to reach more than

39,500 by 2030.

To meet demand, Tinseth said Boeing will ramp up production of models including the next-generation single-aisle 737 MAX, which will undergo the final phase of wind-tunnel testing next week. Boeing is also considering rolling out a bigger version of its mid-size 787 Dreamliner to be called the 787-10X that can seat up to 320 passengers, or 40 more than the 787-9 model. Mark Jenks, vice president of development of the 787 programme, said on Sunday that Boeing aims to ramp up production of the long-delayed Dreamliner to 10 planes a month by the end of 2013, up from the current two or three.

Tinseth meanwhile said capital markets and leasing companies will likely play an increasingly bigger role in financing aircraft deliveries as funds from European banks ease due to the continent’s debt crisis. “I think over the long term... airlines will be looking at other sources to finance aircraft (deliveries),” he said.

Boeing and its European rival Airbus have a major presence at the biennial Singapore Airshow, which runs from February 14-19. —AFP

Olympus head promises changes as firm posts loss TOKYO: The president of Olympus yesterday promised changes at the company as it seeks to start afresh after a year in which it was hit by an accounting scandal that tarnished the image of corporate Japan.

Shuichi Takayama said a new board that would be appointed at a shareholders’ meeting in April would enhance the firm’s position.

The comments came as he revealed that Olympus had a net loss of 33.08 billion yen ($426 million) for the nine months to December while also forecasting a loss of 32.0 billion yen for the full year to March owing to one-off costs unrelated to the scandal.

The forecast is the first since the scandal broke last year, with the camera and medical equipment maker previously saying it could not make a full-year projection because it did not know the ramifications of the crisis.

Olympus said earlier this month it would hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of

shareholders on April 20, at which the company is expected to select a new management board. Takayama and five other current board members-who are being sued by the company over a scandal in which $1.7 billion in investment losses dating back to the 1990s were hidden-are expected to resign at the meeting. Takayama said last month a new management team would be nominated in mid-March and selected at the meeting.

“The company’s position for sure will be enhanced” once the new management takes over, Takayama said yesterday. “When that happens, I think it will be reflected in the share price.”

Olympus’s admission that a small group of top executives used overpriced deals to cover up bad investments dating back to the 1990s has shaken confidence in Japanese corporate governance. Last month, a group of Japanese shareholders filed a lawsuit against

economies are likely to regain momentum gradually,” he said.

Slow implementation of a supplementary budget contributed to the latest contraction, said Yuichiro Nagai, an economist at Barclays Capital, who told Dow Jones Newswires: “Our view that Japan’s economy will start expanding from the first quar ter of this year remains unchanged.” The government in December downgraded growth forecasts for the year to March 2012 to a contraction of 0.1 percent but expected a 2.2 percent expansion in the year from April.

The data had little effect on Japanese markets, with the Nikkei 225 index closing 0.58 percent higher. —AFP

Olympus, demanding $2.9 million in compensation after the accounting scandal hammered the firm’s shares.

The shareholders had bought Olympus stock before November 7, 2011, prior to the firm’s admission it had hidden the investment losses, allegations that were first aired by chief executive Michael Woodford after he was ousted in October.

Following his sacking, Woodford launched aggressive international media offensives against his former bosses, questioning the firm’s past acquisition deals and the outsized consultant fees it had paid. His efforts eventually pushed Olympus to admit to the cover up. But the Briton, the firm’s first nonJapanese president, did not win the backing of Japanese institutional investors and gave up a push to get his job back. The company’s stock lost more than three-quarters of its worth in the wake of the scandal-diving to

KUWAIT: Japan’s troubled optical maker Olympus president Shuichi Takayama speaks in Tokyo yesterday.—AFP just 424 yen at one point from 2,482 yen the day before Woodford’s ouster. The shares have rebounded from those lows, closing yesterday at 1,034 yen before Olympus announced its financial results.— AFP

BEIJING: The head of China’s $410 billion sovereign wealth fund CIC brushed aside a call by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to buy European government debt, saying such investments were “difficult” for long-term investors. In comments ahead of a China-EU summit starting today, Lou Jiwei, chairman of China Investment Corp (CIC), said any fresh injection of funds into Europe would be in industrial and other real assets, not government bonds.

His comments struck a sharper tone than a commentary in the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, which sought to reassure the European Union that China had no intention to “buy up Europe”.

Speaking at a forum in Beijing, Lou said Merkel had asked CIC and other long-term investors to buy European government debt when she visited Beijing earlier this month.

“For European bonds like the government bonds of Italy and Spain, only central banks with certain responsibilities can invest,” he said. “But it’s more difficult for long-term investors like us to make (such) investments,” he told the annual meeting of China Economists 50 Forum, a club of government officials and economists.

“Investment opportunities may lie in areas like infrastructure and industrial projects, and these projects can help economic recovery,” he said.

A central bank adviser echoed Lou’s harder line on buying European government debt.

“We may be poor, but we aren’t stupid,” Xia Bin told reporters on the sideline of the forum. “We must follow commercial principles in making such investments.

That means we want returns.”

Lou, who predicted Europe will “inevitably” fall into recession, said Merkel had asked CIC to buy European government debt, including that of France and Germany.

Reflecting Lou’s comments on infrastructure, CIC recently bought a minority stake in London water supplier Thames Water. During a visit by Merkel to China this month, Premier Wen Jiabao had said Beijing was considering increasing its participation in rescue funds set up by the European Union to help ease the debt crisis, although he didn’t make any explicit commitments.

Pointing to the tone that China is more likely to adopt at its summit with senior EU officials today, the People’s Daily said in a front page commentary that the interests of the world’s second-biggest economy lay in selflessly helping Europe.

“China has no appetite or ability to ‘buy up Europe’ or ‘control Europe’ as some European commentators have said,” wrote Feng Zhongping, director of the Institute of European Studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

“China has from the beginning strongly supported the EU and the euro, in clear contrast to the ‘talking down’ of Europe in the international community,” Feng wrote in the piece, carried in the paper’s overseas edition.

With more than $3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves- dwarfing those of other countries-China is seen as having the financial firepower to help ease Europe’s debt crisis.

Chinese leaders have repeatedly expressed confidence Europe will handle the crisis, while refraining from making firm financial commitments of support.

Instead, Beijing has urged Europe first to take further steps on its own, a position reiterated yesterday by Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin.

“We have always supported the proactive measures the EU has taken to deal with the euro debt crisis. We believe that aside from taking some emergency relief steps, the EU should continue taking fiscal and financial structural and fundamental reforms to give a clearer signal to the international community,” Liu told reporters.— Reuters

26

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

business

KUWAIT: Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company, celebrates the arrival of the new 911 Carrera and Carrera S Coupe with a thrilling reveal show at Arraya Ballroom last night. Top officials of Behbehani Motors Company and Porsche attended the celebration. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

Porsche Centre Kuwait celebrates arrival of new 911 Carrera New Porsche 911 makes national debut with exclusive evening gala KUWAIT: Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company, celebrated the arrival of the new 911 Carrera and Carrera S Coupe with a thrilling reveal show at Arraya Ballroom last night. The icon, highly anticipated by sports car aficionados and now available in its seventh generation, has undergone a complete re-design.

Approximately 800 guests were invited to be part of the exclusive gala event and see live the new 911 generation reveal. With an incredible 3D show demonstrating the 48-year history of the 911 series, the involvement of regional racing heroes from the Porsche owned GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, a high-tech product presentation and a virtual tour on the famous Nordschleife of the Nurburgring, the audience’s emotions rose high before the cars appeared surprisingly from literally beneath all guests. The new 911 Carrera, many said could never be bettered, features now a flatter, stretched silhouette, exciting contours and precisely designed details. Its wheelbase is now

100 millimetres longer, sits lower to the ground and consequently offers even better handling dynamics for more driving pleasure of 911 connoisseurs.

George Wills, Managing Director of Porsche Middle East and Africa FZE, says: “This is a moment which marks a new era for our brand. The 911 Carrera is the re-definition of what a sports car should be. No fewer than 90 per cent of all components are either new or have been fundamentally revised. The aim of building ‘the best 911 ever’ has been fulfilled - proven by the new lap time of just 7 minutes 40 seconds on the famous Nurburgring’s Nordschleife circuit - 14 seconds faster than the previous model.

“With a history spanning five decades, the new 911 remains unmistakably Porsche’s iconic sports car”, added Wills. Offering a blistering top speed of 289 km/h for the standard version, it is the first passenger car in the world to feature seven-speed manual transmission.

It is also the first sports car equipped with an auto start/stop function; electro-mechanical power steering and a new ‘coasting function’, in vehicles equipped with the Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK). The new electro-mechanical power steering offers even better precision and response, while increasing efficiency and reducing general fuel consumption. The athletic 350hp 3.4-litre boxer engine on the 911 Carrera consumes a mere 8.2 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres that’s 16 per cent less over its predecessor. And with an emission level of 194 g/km CO2, it is the first Porsche sports car to make it below the 200 g/km mark.

The Carrera S, featuring a 3.8litre boxer engine, produces 400 hp and manages to accelerate from nought to 100km/h in 4.3 seconds. Pressing the ‘Sport Plus’ button on the optional Sport Chrono package cuts that to 4.1 seconds. The allnew, lightweight body is an intelligent aluminiumsteel construction, providing an overall weight reduction of up to 45 kilograms, and significantly greater rigidity. Aerodynamic optimization measures, including a wider, variably extending rear spoiler, means the lift of the new 911 Carrera is further reduced.

But not only on the outside, has the iconic sports car been transformed. Porsche’s Design team from Weissach created a completely new interior based on cues from the Porsche Carrera GT. The driver is now even more closely integrated with the cockpit thanks to the centre console rising up to the front with the high-mounted shift lever located especially close to the steering wheel

in typical motor sport fashion. Graeme Hunter, General Manager of Porsche Centre Kuwait, said: “There has been such excitement surrounding the release of this 911. We have had a great deal of

interest, and I fully expect we will be working extremely hard throughout 2012 to meet customer demand. With the nearly endless options available through Porsche Exclusive and Porsche Tequipment, each one of the Porsche 911 Carrera models you will see in our market will be as individual as its owner.” With the new 911 Carrera the span of apparently contradictory attributes that have typified the Porsche 911, such as performance and efficiency, sportiness and everyday practicality has been even further extended. First deliveries of the new Porsche 911 Carrera and Carrera S Coupe started on February 11, 2012.

Basic retail prices in Kuwait are as follows: 911 Carrera Coupe KD 26,900 and 911 Carrera S Coupe KD 31,900.

Ahli United Bank 2011 profits grow by 15% 15% cash dividend, 5% as bonus shares announced KUWAIT: Ahli United Bank announced its financial results for the year 2011 where it was able to achieve net profit amounting to KD 31.5 million compared to KD 27.4 million for the previous year 2010 recording a remarkable growth of 15% in net profit, resulted in higher earnings per share reaching 31.1 fils compared to 27.0 fils for previous year.

As for dividends distribution, the Board of Directors of the Ahli United Bank decided to recommend to the General Assembly cash dividend distribution of 15% of the share par value (15 fils per share) and 5% bonus shares (5 shares for each 100 shares) to the shareholders registered at the convention date of holding the General Assembly subject to its approval and the consent of the concerned authorities.

On this occasion, the Chairman and Managing Director of Ahli United Bank; Hamad Abdul Mohsen Al-Marzouq; mentioned in a press statement, “ With the grace of Allah, Ahli United Bank has achieved a remarkable growth in all the financial indicators as the Bank has recorded a growth of 7.1 % in total assets reaching KD 2628 million in the year 2011 as compared to KD 2454 million in year 2010. The customers’ deposits grew by 30.4 % and reached KD 1679 million in the year 2011 compared to KD 1288 million in year 2010. Shareholder’s equity has increased by 6.7%, and the Bank has achieved returns on average equity and average total assets equal to

12.7% and 1.3% respectively. Al-Marzouq added that the profits of Ahli United Bank for the year 2011 have been achieved from operating profits through the core Bank’s activities amounting to KD 77.6 million stating that all operational activities and indicators of the Bank have witnessed outstanding growth during the year 2011. The positive results were achieved despite the initiative of the Bank’s management to retain additional precautionary, voluntary and general provisions other than the provisions allocated in accordance with the instructions of the Central

AUB Chairman and MD Hamad Abdul Mohsen Al-Marzouq Bank of Kuwait and the International Accounting Standards to face the consequences of the global financial crisis. It is worth to mention that the Bank’s non-performing debt coverage percentage has exceeded 149% and increased to 196%

when collaterals are taken into consideration.

Both percentages exceed by far the coverage percentage for local and regional banks.

Al-Marzouq pointed out that the continuous improvement in Ahli United Bank’s financial indicators confirms the success of the Bank’s conversion of its operation in compliance with the principles of Islamic Sharia’a where the Bank was able to strengthen its name as one of the leading Islamic banks in Kuwait. Thus, conversion decision to become a fully fledged Islamic bank at the beginning of April 2010 was not a random decision, but on the contrary, it was based on a solid and planned strategy prepared by the Bank’s executive management and Board of Directors over the years.

Al-Marzouq added that the outstanding results would not have been possible without the efforts and dedication of its human resources and its continued determination to overcome the difficulties surrounded by the Kuwait economy; especially in 2011 where political developments in the region have been witnessed its impact on the different economies in general and Kuwait economy in particular.

Al-Marzouq confirmed that continued growth of the Bank’s results reflect its strong financial position, the high quality of its assets and ability to overcome the challenges which lead Moody’s international rating agency to enhance the Bank’s classification to Stable.

Burgan Bank announces names of daily winners of Yawmi Account KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the names of the lucky winners of its Yawmi account draw, each taking home a prize of KD 5,000.

The lucky winners for the daily draws took home a cash-prize of KD 5,000 each, and they are: 1. Saket Sauan Ajeeb Alenizi 2. Abdulmohsen Khaled Abdulmohsen Albahar 3. Abdul-latif Mohd Naser Al-hamad 4. Willem Hendrik Buiting 5. Feras Mohiuldin Alowaied Alhadidi The newly re-launched Yawmi Account is better, easier and faster than any day before.

With its new and enhanced features, the Yawmi Account has become more convenient,

easier, and faster for customers to benefit from. Now, customers will be eligible to enter the draw after 48 hours only from opening the account. Customers are also required to deposit KD 100 or equivalent only to enter the daily draw, and the coupon value to enter the draw stands at KD 10.

The newly designed Yawmi account has been launched to provide a highly innovative offering along with a higher frequency and incentive of winning for everyone. Today, the Yawmi account is a well understood product, where its popularity can be seen from the number of increasing account holders.

Burgan Bank encourages everyone to open a Yawmi account and/or increase their deposit

to maximize their chances to becoming a daily winner. The more customers deposit, the higher the chances they receive of winning the draw.

Opening a Yawmi account is simple, customers are urged to visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch and receive all the details, or simply call the bank’s Call Center at 1804080 where customer service representatives will be delighted to assist with any questions on the Yawmi account or any of the bank’s products and services. Customers can also log on to Burgan Bank’s www.burgan.com for further information.

Dr Barry with other speakers during the Kuwait Oil and Gas Summit & Exhibition

Shell delivers energy through innovation and partnerships KUWAIT: John Barry, Shell’s Vice President - Technology & Production for Middle East and North Africa yesterday outlined Shell’s view of the importance of technology and partnerships for securing the energy future in the Middle East. Dr Barry was speaking at The Kuwait Oil and Gas Summit & Exhibition, which is being held in Kuwait between 12 - 15 February 2012, sponsored by Shell for the second year running, and hosted by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC); Shell’s partner in Kuwait Speaking on technical aspects relating to gas, enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and related technology, Dr Barry said: “At Shell we invest over $1 billion a year in researching and developing new technology to improve our methods of extraction. Recognize the world’s remarkable need for various gas sources and the accelerating expansion of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market, the world needs to take note of the recent rapid increase in the estimates of natural gas sources. Thanks to Shell’s advanced technology, vast amounts of natural gas which was previously uneconomical to extract, can now be tapped profitably and safely.”

“Shell’s investment in new technology applies equally to oil extraction. In the past, oil producers typically only managed to recover about a third of a reservoir’s oil using traditional methods. By injecting steam, chemicals or gas into a reservoir - a process called enhanced oil recovery, or EOR, we can now increase recovery by an average of around 10%.

This means that EOR could unlock a further 300 billion barrels, which is equal to 10 years’ global production at today’s levels. “Although EOR production now accounts for only 4% of world oil production, it could potentially rise to 20% by

2030. This highlights the importance of choosing the right technique for the reservoir, which will often require tailormade and integrated solutions, from reservoir imaging to surveillance and smart operational execution.

“In Kuwait, Shell and its partner Kuwait Petroleum Cooperation (KPC), share a tradition as energy pioneers. In 2010 we joined forces with KPC’s subsidiary, KOC, to develop the Jurassic gas fields, with the aim to enhance domestic gas supplies and reduce the need for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports.

Because of the fields’ complexity, a high level of new technology is needed to bring them on stream. By working together, KOC and Shell have developed new strategies that utilize both companies’ technologies to support the gas growth plans.

During the conference, Ahmad Atallah, Kuwait Shell Chairman and Managing Director paid tribute to the importance of sharing technology and developing local partnerships. He said: “Shell has a long track record of successfully managing complex gas projects and is recognized as a leading gas company.

Our partnership with KOC has enabled us to find groundbreaking solutions for the challenges faced through sharing our experiences in gas, and utilizing this in the development of new technology.

Shell has been present in the region for many years and the Jurassic Gas Project is one example of the excellent relationships we have developed. The recent Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, signed by Shell and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) in 2011, forms a strong foundation for future shared projects in gas and oil extraction. “Shell is committed to the region and the long term development of its energy resources.

27

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft India retail site hit by ‘cyber attack’ NEW DELHI: Microsoft said yesterday it was investigating an attack by hackers on its Indian retail website, reportedly carried out by a Chinese group called the “Evil Shadow Team.”

The team struck at www.microsoftstore.co.in late Sunday, stealing login IDs and passwords of people who had

used the website for buying Microsoft products, the Times of India newspaper said. After hacking the site, the Evil Shadow Team posted a message saying that the “unsafe system will be baptized,” the Times of India said.

The Microsoft site was running a message yesterday saying that the

“Microsoft Store India is currently unavailable” and that the world’s largest software company was working “to restore access as quickly as possible.”

A spokesman for the group said that Microsoft was “investigating a limited compromise of the company’s online

store in India,” without elaborating.

“The store customers have already been sent guidance on the issue and suggested immediate actions,” the spokesman said, adding that Microsoft was “diligently working to remedy the issue and keep our customers protected.” Two years ago, cyber-attackers

identifying themselves as the “Pakistan Cyber Army” hacked the website of India’s top police agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Indian IT specialists have long lamented what they say is a lack of awareness about Internet security across the country. — AFP

Iran chokes Internet at politically sensitive time Internet is making life difficult for Iranians

BEIJING: In this file photo taken on Sunday, May 8, 2011, Chinese customers learn to use the iPad 2 inside Apple’s Sanlitun retail store in Beijing, China.

Authorities have seized Apple iPads from retailers in a city in northern China due to a dispute with a domestic company that says it owns the iPad name, an official said yesterday. The Chinese company said it is asking for similar action in more than 20 other cities. — AP

Chinese city seizes Apple iPads in name dispute BEIJING: Authorities have seized Apple iPads from retailers in a city in northern China due to a dispute with a domestic company that says it owns the iPad name, an official said yesterday. The Chinese company said it is asking for similar action in more than 20 other cities.

The dispute with Shenzhen Proview Technology threatens to complicate Apple’s efforts to sell its popular tablet computer in China, its fastest-growing market. Investigators started seizing iPads on Thursday in Shijiazhuang, southwest of Beijing, after receiving letters from Shenzhen Proview, said an official of the economic investigation unit of the city’s Xinhua district. He would give only his surname, Wang.

“All the Apple iPads in the big shopping malls and supermarkets have been taken off shelves in Xinhua district,” said Wang. He wouldn’t say how many devices had been seized or the number of retailers affected. An Apple Inc. spokeswoman in Beijing, Carolyn Wu, declined to comment.

Cupertino, California-based Apple has five stores in mainland China - two in Beijing and three in Shanghai - and authorized resellers in other cities. Phone calls to the Beijing and Shanghai commercial bureaus, which enforce trade-

marks, were not answered.

Shenzhen Proview registered the iPad name in China in 2001. Apple bought rights to the name from a Taiwan affiliate, Proview Taipei, that registered it in various countries as early as 2000. The mainland company says it still owns the name in China.

A Chinese court rejected Apple’s complaint in December that Shenzhen Proview was violating its rights to the iPad name. The court ruled Proview is not bound by a 2009 agreement under which Proview Taipei transferred the trademarks to Apple for 35,000 pounds ($54,700).

Shenzhen Proview says it filed a trademark violation complaint in January with the commercial bureau of Beijing. The company has asked authorities in more than 20 cities to investigate and to destroy promotional materials that violate its trademark, said its lawyer, Xie Xianghui. He declined to identify the cities, saying that might disrupt investigations.

“We haven’t made a demand for economic compensation. We will pursue it through another channel,” Xie said.

Shenzhen Proview Technology is a subsidiary of LCD screen maker Proview International Holdings Ltd., headquartered in Hong Kong. — AP

TEHRAN: Access to the Internet’s most-used sites and tools is being choked in Iran at a politically charged period, blocking communication channels for local businesses, bank clients, scientists and foreign media.

Attempts to get on Facebook, Gmail, Yahoo and foreign news pages were either met with an Iranian page saying in Farsi that “Access to this page is a violation of computer crime laws” or the connection was slowed to such an extent to make it nearly impossible.

The restrictions add to the online censorship that authorities have long imposed in the Islamic republic. Until now, sophisticated Internet users had been able to get around the blocks by using software known as a Virtual Private Network (VPN) — the sale of which is illegal in Iran.

Since last week, though, even most VPNs offered no solution. Internet service providers (ISPs), under the control of the state, seemed to be targeting the Internet’s most popular social networks and communication sites.

While authorities have given no reason publicly for the systematic curbs, the extra filtering came at a politically sensitive time for them. Iran last week celebrated the anniversary of its 1979 Islamic revolution, and in less than three weeks’ time it is to hold legislative elections.

A call has gone out-on the Internet-for “Green Movement” opposition demonstrations today, exactly a year after protests that resulted in a severe crackdown and arrests.

On top of that, the Iranian government has said for some months that it is preparing to launch a “national Internet” that reportedly would exclude almost all non-Iranian or nonMuslim websites.

However, one member of the Iranian government’s net filtering committee, Mohammad Sadegh Afrasiabi, denied the initiative was linked to the Internet problems.

“This network will only be put in place in four years’ time and the blocking of emails isn’t part of it,” he was quoted by the Hamshahri newspaper saying.

More broadly, Iran is in a worsening showdown with the West over its suspect nuclear programme.

It has accused the United States and Israel of conducting covert operations against it, including through Internet subversion and the deployment of computer viruses.

Whatever the motives, the strangulation of the Internet is making life very difficult for many Iranian businesses, especially those needing to access emails and documents online through services such as Gmail.

Importers were “angry or desperate” at being cut off from communicating with sup-

was off-line. Iranians with family living abroad were despairing. “I haven’t had any connection with the outside world for several days. I don’t have any more contact with my son who works in France,” said one mother living in Tehran.

A top conservative lawmaker in Iran,

TEHRAN: Iranian women use computers at an Internet cafe in central Tehran, Iran, yesterday. — AP pliers abroad, said one source in the trade sector. Businesses in Tehran were being forced to turn to fax machines and motorbike couriers to send or receive invoices and other documents, the source said.

“I’m waiting for urgent documents to prepare a contract with a Turkish company and my Internet is completely blocked,” said the owner of a small Iranian electronic import firm who demanded anonymity.

The Hamshahri daily said the additional restrictions were “provoking disturbances in commercial and scientific exchanges in the country, with evident consequences even for urban traffic and for banking.”

Foreign journalists and diplomats in Iran were also finding it difficult or impossible to communicate via the web, several told AFP. The few Tehran cafes offering wi-fi connections regretfully told laptop- and smartphonetoting customers that their Internet service

Ahmad Tavakoli, warned that “such annoying filtering will cost the regime dearly,” according to the Mehr news agency. “If there are justifications on security grounds, officials should explain them clearly to the people,” he said.

But the head of one ISP, Mohammad Hassan Shaneh-Saz of the company Shatel, was quoted by Mehr saying the added restrictions were “not related to the quality of service from the ISPs.” He claimed that the proposed “national Internet” would improve the situation when launched, by increasing available bandwidth.

The Internet is widely used Iran, where nearly half the 75 million strong population is connected.

It played a major role in a wave of anti-government protests that rocked the country after the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009. — AFP

NEW TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS

New Olympus recorder BERLIN: Olympus is introducing a number of new audio recorders. New devices from the WS series will come out at the end of March with built-in directional microphones ideal for speeches or lectures. The devices are the WS-811, WS-812 and WS-813 and cost between 80 and 150 euros (103 and 195 dollars) depending on technical features. The VN-711PC, VN-712PC and VN-713PC recorders will be released in mid-February. All three are equipped with a folding stand for freehand recordings. They will cost between 55 and 70 euros.

Nokia smartphone Following the Lumia 800, there will be a second Nokia smartphone with Windows Phone 7. The Lumia 710 has a 1.4 GHz processor and a 3.7 inch touchscreen. The features are especially designed for users who are quite often in social networks. In addition, the phone includes fully equipped navigation software. The battery life and internal storage are somewhat less than the Lumia 800, but the Lumia 710 is less expensive at 319 euros.

First Airplay speaker Berlin-based company Teufel has built a speaker which supports the Airplay standard from Apple. Music from iPhones or computers with iTunes can be played without a direct connection to iTeufel Air. The device can also play music from other sources thanks to its built-in WiFi adapter. The integrated speaker has an output of 210 watts, 130 of which go towards the integrated subwoofer. The iTeufel Air is available now for 499 euros.

Mobile scanner with USB The new mobile Canon scanner

imageFORMULA P-215 supports USB 3.0, allowing for 15 pages to be scanned at 600 dpi within one minute. Thanks to the automatic document feeder, even large stacks of paper can be quickly worked through. The results can be saved in PDF, JPEG or PowerPoint format. The scanner does not need an additional power cable as it draws its power through the USB cable. The scanner is available starting in mid-January in shops for 296 euros.

Mini-projector BenQ has come out with a miniature projector. The Joybee GP2 is only 14 millimetres wide and long and weighs 565 grams. Despite its size, it has a number of ports including connections for HDMI and USB as well as a component entry position. In addition, there is a docking station for iPods and a slot for SD cards.

Pictures can be projected with a resolution of 1,280 to 800 pixels and up to 160 inches in size with the maximum brightness of 200 ANSI lumens. Two integrated speakers produce 2 watts of sound.

The projector will be available at the end of February for 599 euros.

Hamad Al Selmi handing the cheque to Faraj Najeeb.

Al Selmi giving away the cheque to Huda Al Hallaq.

FASTtelco announces names of winners KUWAIT: Seven of FASTtelco’s clients won speckled prizes allocated by the company for the subscribers who benefited from the exclusive Internet services and offers, which were launched during the Info Connect exhibi-

tion held last week.

The prizes included daily draws on cash worth $1,500, in addition to a grand draw on a Nissan 370Z and other daily gifts such as free internet subscriptions, LED televisions, iPhones 4s,

Bookeen e-book reader The Cybook Odyssey e-book reader from Bookeen can turn pages faster than comparable devices thanks to a new display technology. The French manufacturers call the technology High Speed Ink System (HSIS). Despite the higher speed, it is still a so-called E ink display which allows for easy reading also in sunlight. The Cybook Odyssey supports PDF and other files as well as free ePub formats. It comes with 2 GB of internal storage. The Cybook Odyssey is already available online.

Bookeen says the device costs about 150 euros. — dpa Nizar Hasawi receiving his cheque.

laptops, and iPads.

The winners of the daily cash draw were Adel Mousa Khalil, Kholoud Al-Mahdi, Nezar Hassawi, Had Al-Halaq, Khald AlAbaid, Mahmoud Abdullah, and Farag Nageeb whom FASTtelco’s Public Relations Manager Hamad Saleh AlSelmi handed their prizes.

The winners expressed their joy and gratitude to FASTtelco for the additional advantages added to the integrated bouquet of services presented to its clients, which reflect the upscale treatment and appreciation to the loyal customers.

“Maintaining customer loyalty requires continuous efforts and a marketing strategy based on two essential elements, which include constantly providing high quality services at competitive prices, and appreciating the clients.

While the first element expresses the company’s philosophy and

strategy in convoying all that is up-to-date in the world of Information Technology, the prizes and gifts mirrors FASTtelco’s appreciation to its current clients as well as embodying the company’s image in the minds of everyone,” said Public Relations Manager Hamad Saleh Al Selmi.

It is worth noting that FASTtelco participated in Info Connect 2012 exhibition with a variety of surprising offers for personal and corporate users. It also announced the launch of Kuwait’s first second generation VDSL2 services among its bouquets.

FASTtelco is one of the leading companies in the Communications sector, and was able to prove itself in the local market throughout the past years in Information Technology by continually presenting the most recent communication solutions.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Fit people perspire too Sports myths often wrong

TURIN: Miners, bearing the slogan ‘’mass murder, eternit, justice’’ on their helmets, arrive for the trial of two-former Eternit executives, yesterday in Turin. A Swiss billionaire and a Belgian baron were found guilty and sentenced to 16 years each in prison by an Italian court in a groundbreaking trial over 3,000 alleged asbestos-related deaths. —AFP

Botox developer rues missing out on billions NEW DELHI: Botox developer Alan Scott says he rues the day he handed over rights to the best-selling wrinkle-smoothing drug to a US company for just $4.5 million, saying he might have become a billionaire.

Botox has become a front-line weapon in cosmetic medicine for erasing wrinkleswhile therapeutic applications of the drug are being used to help a wide variety of disorders from swallowing problems to muscle spasms. “If I knew (how big it would become), I would have never given it to the drug company Allergan in 1991,” Dr Alan Scott told the Times of India in an interview published yesterday. “At present Botox is being used for over 100 disorders besides aesthetic applications,” Scott said in New Delhi where he was en route to a conference in southern India.

The San Francisco opthalmologist said he got around $4.5 million for handing over the rights to the drug to the California-based company Allergan which “was then a satisfactory deal.” “But if I had held on to Botox, maybe I could have made a billion dollars a year now,” Scott said.

Botox, which makes muscles relax, is a

purified form of a nerve poison produced by a bacteria that causes a disease that paralyses muscles and can be fatal. Botox was first approved in 1989 to treat two eye muscle disorders-uncontrollable blinking and misaligned eyes.

“Initially when I developed it, I knew it could do wonders for neurological disorders. However, I had absolutely no idea it could work so well as a cosmetic agent,” said Scott, who initially called the drug Oculinum.

The big cosmetic breakthrough came when Canadian ophthalmologist Dr. Jean Carruthers noticed her patients were starting to lose their frown lines and published a study in 1992. A decade later Botox was approved as a frown fixer by the US Food and Drug Administration and now it is used in 80 countries. Does Scott worry about any side-effects from the widespread use of Botox? “It is not clear what will happen after decades of use. Maybe the facial muscles will weaken and sag. But we know that it works in reducing facial wrinkles,” he said. “Most women don’t care what will happen years later. They just want the wrinkles to disappear now.”—AFP

Back-street abortions on the rise, global report warns PARIS: A long-term fall in the global abortion rate has tapered off and the number of unsafe pregnancy terminations is rising worryingly, according to a report published by The Lancet recently. Between 1995 and 2003, the number of abortions around the world for every 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44 fell from 35 to 29. But in 2008, the rate was almost unchanged, at 28 per 1,000, due to a surge in abortions in developing countries. The Lancet report also highlighted a dramatic increase in the proportion of unsafe abortions. This rose from 44 percent of the total in 1995 to nearly one in two — 49 percent-in 2008, inflicting a traumatic toll in death and injury. “The declining abortion trend we had seen globally has stalled, and we are also seeing a growing proportion of abortions occurring in developing countries, where the procedure is often clandestine and unsafe,” said Gilda Sedgh of the Guttmacher Institute in New York. “This is cause for concern.” The UN World Health Organisation (WHO) defines unsafe abortion as a pregnancy termination performed by an individual lacking the necessary skills, or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards or both.

Around the world, unsafe abortions accounted for 220 deaths per 100,000 procedures in 2008 — 35 times the rate for legal abortions in the United States-and for nearly one in seven of all maternal deaths.

Each year, around 8.5 million women in developing countries encounter abortion complications that are so serious they need medical care. The report also sounded the alarm over widening abuse of a drug called misoprostol.

Primarily intended as a treatment for gastric ulcers, the drug is also licensed in France, Spain and half a dozen other countries for pregnancy termination. It is now increasingly being used illegally in countries where there are restrictive laws on abortion, says the investigation. Incorrect doses are leading to complications such as prolonged and heavy

bleeding and incomplete abortions.

In overall terms, there were 43.8 million abortions in 2008, up by 2.2 million from 2003, said the paper. Researchers attributed this to the continuing rise in the world’s population and to less use of contraception, especially in developing countries, which now account for more than three-quarters of all abortions.

Expressed as a percentage of the population of fertile women, the rate of abortions remained largely unchanged. “This plateau coincides with a slowdown in contraceptive uptake,” said Sedgh, whose team was partnered by the WHO in the research.

“Without greater investment in quality family planning services, we can expect this trend to persist.” Eastern Europe-where under a Communist-era legacy, terminations are freely available but contraceptive use still lags-had the most abortions of any regions, with 43 per 1,000 women in 2008.

This was followed by the Caribbean (39 per 1,000), eastern Africa (38), central Africa and Southeast Asia (36). The lowest abortion rates were in western Europe (12 per 1,000 women), southern Africa (15), Oceania (17), northern Africa (18) and North America (19).

For unsafe abortions, the riskiest regions were Central and South America and central and western Africa, where 100 percent of all pregnancy terminations fell into this category.

In western Europe and North America more than 99.5 percent of abortions were deemed safe.

In Asia, the picture was mixed. In East Asia, fewer than 0.5 percent of abortions were unsafe, but in south-central Asia, the share was 65 percent. The study is based on two sources of data, with 2008 the latest year for which complete and reliable statistics were available. Safe abortion estimates came mainly from official statistics and surveys considered to be representative of a country; unsafe abortion estimates were based on published studies, hospital records and surveys of women. — AFP

COLOGNE: Sport and keeping fit are activities which are riddled with myth, and many of them are misleading, in the view of Ingo Froboese, a health professor at a sports college in Cologne, Germany. For example, there is the idea that anyone who perspires freely cannot be fit, a myth that Froboese disposes of. “Sportsmen and women do have a better thermal regulator. Their muscles and cells can cope with more and thus actually give off more sweat when working out,” he says. Perspiration is thus a sign of fitness.

A second myth is that people who sweat a lot should drink more. This one is also false. “Our bodies are able to process just 0.8 litres an hour.

Too much liquid merely washes minerals out of the system, and ‘drowning’ can even result,” Froboese says.

A mixture of apple juice and mineral water is

sometimes said to be the best drink. This one does not impress Froboese either. “Apple juice contains a lot of sugar, and the body needs at least two hours to burn up the carbohydrates.”

Water with lemon juice or ginger is better in his view. That magnesium prevents muscular cramp is another widespread idea. Here Froboese points to a study that showed that athletes had to take between 400 and 600 milligrams to feel any effect. “The problem is that that level will certainly lead to diarrhoea.”

Playing sport damages the back. This one is simply false. “Movement promotes the circulation and thus strengthens the discs in the spine,” Froboese says. Lack of movement results in the fibrous outer skin of the disc becoming porous and prone to cracking.

A frequently heard piece of advice is to exer-

India’s sour food safety record NEW DELHI: Bhim can’t understand what he’s done wrong. Before dawn every day he joins hundreds of wholesale traders at Delhi’s Azadpur Mandi, a sprawling, chaotic market where trucks blare Bollywood music, porters haul huge brown sacks of fruit and vegetables and hawkers ply tea and cigarettes.

His own trade is in rosy red apples, laced with calcium carbide. Bhim says he’s been adding chemicals to his apples for years to artificially ripen them after a long journey from the Himalayan foothills, despite being told that it causes cancer.

As far as he knows, no-one has ever died from eating his produce. So he can’t understand why the authorities are pestering him now, and why he has to pay so many bribes to keep his business afloat.

“This is an age-old practice, trust me, I know. But suddenly doctors are claiming that it causes cancer. Come now, how is that possible?” he said, wrapped up in a woollen grey cap and anorak on a chilly Saturday morning at the Azadpur Mandi market.

“Everyone still does it. The only difference is that it’s done very surreptitiously now. And let me tell you, it will never stop. Why would anyone want to harm their sales?” An interview with a senior food safety official starkly illustrates just how far India has to go to enforce the regulations properly.

Although the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has banned the use of calcium carbide as it is carcinogenic, the senior official to whom Reuters spoke said “it is not harmful”.

“Unofficially, it happens everywhere,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“How can the ripe fruit be brought from far away areas?” During the interview, the official also had to check with someone on the phone whether calcium carbide was legal or not. Such attitudes explain why India still struggles to make its food fit for consumption. From rat poison found in vegetables and Diwali-festival sweets laced with caustic soda, to batches of moonshine liquor that kill scores of people at a time- adulteration is rife.

A report by the FSSAI in January found that most of the country’s milk was watered down or adulterated with products- including fertiliser, bleach and detergent-used to thicken the milk and help give it a white, frothy appearance.

The report caused an outcry in the world’s largest milk producer, where the drink is used for religious rituals and is a source of protein for hundreds of millions of vegetarians.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg. The same agency has also found that 13 percent of all food in the world’s second-most-populous country failed to meet its standards.

“The problem is so widespread that everything is contaminated,” said Savvy Soumya Misra of the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). “If everything has problems, there is no choice but to eat whatever is available.”

After two decades of rapid economic growth and rising living standards, millions of Indians have a richer and more varied diet than ever before. There is a growing appetite for everything from French wine to sushi among the swelling ranks of urban middle classes, products that simply weren’t available to their parents’ generation.

But safety standards have struggled to keep pace in a country that still has more poor than anywhere else in the world and where modern supermarkets remain relatively rare. A world away from the swanky

restaurants of New Delhi and Mumbai, awareness about safety only slowly trickles down to the country’s millions of small-time vendors.

Poverty tempts sellers to add dilutants such as water to products to make them go further. Cheap cooking oil is mixed with expensive oil, tea waste is mixed with new tea, and anything from urea to blotting paper is added to thicken the food sold at festivals. Poorly staffed regulatory authorities can struggle to cope. Given the scale of the problem, only a handful of people are prosecuted for flouting standards, let alone jailed, rights activists say.

“In China, those people who were found to be contaminating milk with melamine, they were given something as severe as a death sentence,” CSE’s Misra said. “But here, we’re not even giving them any kind of punishment. So how are they supposed to get scared of the authorities?”

In 2008 in China at least six children died and nearly 300,000 were made ill from drinking powdered milk laced with melamine, an industrial chemical used to give misleadingly high readings in protein tests. Two people were executed in 2009 for their role in the scandal. Food safety is often worse in poorer areas where ignorance and the temptation to make a quick buck are greater. “Poor people don’t care much about the quality. Whatever is cheaper, they’ll buy it,” said Ashok Kanchan, technical adviser at Consumer VOICE, a rights group. “They’re just worried about how to fill their stomachs somehow.”

Bhim, the apple seller, is a textbook example of what is going wrong. Delhi’s traders often source their produce from hundreds of kilometres away. In India, where highways are often potholed and jammed with traffic, and where storage facilities are primitive, up to 40 percent of perishable food rots before it can be sold.

Traders cannot buy fruit such as apples or mangoes when they are already ripe, because these would go to waste during the bumpy, un-refrigerated journey from the orchards. Instead, they buy the fruits and later ripen them with calcium carbide, a substance colloquially known as “masala”, or “spice”. Using the white powder reduces a ripening process that normally takes weeks to a matter of hours. Traders are also tempted to polish or dip fruit in artificial colours to make its appearance fresh for sale.

“The ones that shine are the rotten ones,” said Ramdular, who has sold in Delhi’s Azadpur Mandi for decades. “Looks good to the eyes, but ends up bad for the stomach.”

Some traders at the market were willing to discuss such practices openly. Others only alluded to it in winks and nods.

“He’s taken your picture, so you’re going to have to shut shop now!” one trader shouts teasingly to another as a Reuters photographer clicked away among the fruit stalls.

Authorities in Delhi and elsewhere say they are cracking down on safety violations, from fining culprits to conducting surprise raids of food outlets. Raids are especially important during festivals, when bad batches of items such as sweetened milk or flour can send hundreds of people to hospital. “The Delhi government is already working towards tackling this situation and now that we’ve picked up this report, the government will take hastier steps to tackle the situation,” A.K. Walia, the state’s health minister, said about the FSSAI’s report on milk adulteration.— Reuters

Emotional wellbeing helps prevent burnout BERLIN: Doing a job that does not correspond to your abilities generates stress that could lead to burnout as you are constantly forced to pretend to be something you are not. German burnout expert Joerg-Peter Schroeder says maintaining this facade consumes a great deal of energy. “If someone is working in an administrative function, when he or she is a creative person in reality, this causes permanent stress. They are required to be precise, which is something that doesn’t come easily to them.

They would be better off where they can come up with new ideas.”

One of the best ways to prevent burnout is to do a job that corresponds to your own abilities. “That may sound banal, but many people do jobs that they hate,” Schroeder says. School leavers need to ensure that they choose a study course that suits their aptitudes and that will lead to a job they derive satisfaction from, Schroeder says. Choosing a course purely

on grounds of financial security could in the end lead to needless stress and illness.

He also advises investigating in practice whether a career choice appeals. “If you notice that you’re not enjoying it, perhaps it’s not the right thing for you,” he says. And if you are unhappy in your job, you should look to change it. “If this is not possible for some or other reason, you have to grit your teeth. But then you have to face up to the fact that you have decided against change and must face the consequences,” Schroeder says. Nothing is as unhealthy as leading a life that you simply do not want.

Schroeder says it is also possible to counter burnout in small ways. “You should try to answer the question anew every day, ‘Why am I doing this?’” Similarly, a brief pause before a difficult meeting to take a breath and collect your thoughts is essential. “Don’t turn up somewhere in a fluster, rather stop for a moment and ask yourself: “What do I want from this?’” — dpa

SYDNEY: A new baby Fairy Penguin swims at the Sydney Aquarium in Sydney, Australia. Three juveniles were born at the aquarium and have been separated from the main group since birth to ensure a healthy growth rate and to keep them safer while they were still young.— AP

cise the back muscles to counter back pain. “It’s much more important to strengthen the abdominal muscles. They are composed of three layers.

The upper layer that lends the appearance of the ‘washboard stomach’ do not have to bear much of a load. The lower layers are much more important,” Froboese says. Froboese is sceptical of the advice to stretch before exercising to prevent muscular injury. “Stretching is great as a warmup. But it doesn’t help to prevent torn muscles that can be caused by any form of exercise.”

Stretching after exercising is also a good idea, he says. Another myth: osteoarthritis sufferers should avoid movement. This one is utter nonsense. “Movement is particularly important in cases of arthritis,” the professor says. Cartilage also needs to be moved in much the same way as the discs in the spine.—dpa

Health

in brief

Simple blood test to detect cancer early TEL AVIV: A simple blood test to detect cancer early on? Israeli researchers believe they have developed one. The test uses infrared light to detect miniscule changes in the blood of a person who has a cancerous growth somewhere, even before the disease has spread. Various molecules released into the bloodstream cause it to absorb infrared light slightly differently, compared to that of healthy people. A spectrum of infrared light is beamed through the blood, placed on a surface, and interpreted by a mathematical formula, explained Professor Joseph Kapelushnik, of BenGurion University and the Soroka Medical Centre in the desert city of Beersheba, south of Tel Aviv.

The test was tried on 200 cancer patients who had just been diagnosed and successfully detected the disease in some 90 per cent of them. It did not mistakenly detect cancer in dozens of healthy volunteers. “When does a person usually go to the doctor? When he doesn’t feel well. We want to detect it when the person still feels good,” the hemato-oncologist told dpa. Kapelushnik, who conducts the research with several other scientists from the university and hospital in Beersheba, said the team hopes to start clinical trials in 18 months to two years.

Beef removed from shelves TAIPEI: Taipei health authorities ordered two grocery chains to remove beef ribs from the United States from their shelves yesterday after random testing found traces of the drug ractopamine. The order affects one branch of international hypermarket chain Carrefour, as well as a branch of local hypermarket RT-Mar t. Taipei authorities said the ribs can from the same importer in the neighboring city of New Taipei.

Officials from both cities were trying to identify all the markets that may have been supplied by the importer. Ractopamine, marketed as Paylean

by US-based pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company, is used by the US pork and beef industries to promote muscle growth and leanness in pigs and cattle. The substance is illegal in Taiwan, although the island’s government is considering lifting the ban to placate US trade officials who have been pressuring the territory to open up to all US beef products. The recall came three days after Carrefour pledged to remove all US beef products from its shelves in response to a report by the non-profit group Greenpeace that said the chain sold beef treated with the drug. Public debate over beef has come to a head since Premier Sean Chen placed the issue at the top of his agenda when he took office in early February.

The move has launched a flurry of opposition from both industry and political groups on the island. Taiwan’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party has accused the premier and President Ma Ying-jeou of putting politics over public health. Unwilling to face a flood of US beef products, local producers announced Monday that they will stage public demonstrations if the government lifts the ractopamine ban, according to the semi-official Central New Agency.

Typhoid deaths HARARE: The Health Ministry in Zimbabwe said yesterday it has recorded two suspected typhoid deaths, as an outbreak of the disease appeared to worsen. The ministry was awaiting laboratory analysis to confirm if the deaths were the result of the bacterial disease that is spread through contaminated food and water. The two people were reported to have died in the last five days.

Since the start of the outbreak in late October, 2,716 cases have been identified, mostly in two crowded townships with limited and run-down sanitation infrastructure near the capital Harare.

According to the latest assessment from health officials, the number of new cases in other areas has increased but was expected to “taper off” as the rainy season recedes. In late 2008, Zimbabwe suffered a cholera outbreak that claimed nearly 4,000 lives. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said the typhoid outbreak was “a embarrassing sign of the state of collapse in the country.” In a statement, the group said it was “alarming for such a preventable and medieval disease to continue to incommode people in this day and age.”

Last week, the country’s largest magistrates’ court in Harare was forced to close as scores of magistrates, prosecutors and clerks were sent home exhibiting typhoid symptoms. Officials said the cour t had been without water “for weeks.”

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

H E A LT H

Europe’s first rocket blasts off successfully 12-year quest to master entire range of space launchers KOUROU: Europe yesterday successfully launched a new lightweight rocket carrying a test payload, culminating a more than 12-year quest to master the entire range of space launchers. Cheers, tears of relief and even a soccer-style chant greeted the maiden flight of Vega, a billion-dollar bid for a stake in the market to launch small satellites.

The 81-minute mission was a “qualification” flight carrying nine scientific satellites, aimed at proving a rocket incorporating several major innovations, engineers at the Kourou base in French Guiana said. Thirty metres (100 feet) long, Vega is designed to hoist multiple payloads, ranging from 300 kilos (660 pounds) to 2.5 tonnes, into orbits from 300 to 1,500 kilometres (190-940 miles) depending on mass.

The pencil-slim launcher complements the heavyweight Ariane 5, capable in its beefed-up version of lifting more than 20 tonnes, and the mid-range Soyuz, the Russian-Soviet veteran deployed to Kourou last year under a deal between Russia and the European Space Agency (ESA).

“We have Ariane, Soyuz and Vega, a very fine family,” said ESA’s director general, Jean-Jacques Dordain.

He paid tribute to Italy, which conceived and designed the project in the face of much doubt and shouldered the lion’s share of the cost.

“Fatto!” declared Dordain in Italian, meaning, “it’s done!” Jean-Yves Le Gall, head of Arianespace, which commercialises ESA’s launchers, said the outlook for Vega was good. Its main competitors are Russian ballistic missiles, transformed to carry satellites in a swords-to-ploughshares scheme, and all of these Cold War launchers will be used up in the coming years, he said in a webcast.

“Vega is going to be extremely important for Arianespace because in just a few years it’s going to be the only launcher of its capability on the market,” Le

Gall said. Vega, named after the second-brightest star in the northern hemisphere, cost 776 million euros, of which Italy has contributed nearly 60 percent. “You’ve

KOUROU SPACE CENTRE: A photo taken from the European Space Agency (ESA) yesterday shows the launch of the Vega rocket at the Kourou Space Centre, French Guiana. A new lightweight rocket, Vega, lifted off from Europe’s space base carrying nine satellites on its inaugural flight, mission control said. — AFP

all placed your money on Vega and you’ve won the bet,” Le Gall said. Although satellites are tending to get bigger, Arianespace argues there is a market for small and even tiny satellites, especially from scientific institutes, by using a flexible, low-cost launcher.

Young Italian engineers, watching the launch from a nearby building, leapt with joy. Some sang the Italian national anthem, and others pounded out a football-style chant, “ohe, ohe, ohe, ohe, Vega, Vegaaaaaaaa.” Vega uses four stages to hike a small payload into low orbit, a design unusual in a lightweight rocket. Its stages are made of wrapped bandages of carbon fibre to reduce weight.

Three of these stages use solid fuel, while the fourth and final stage, called AVUM, uses liquid fuel in a series of “burns” to slot the payloads into their various orbits. The main payload on Monday was a tungsten sphere called Lares, which is designed to study the so-called Lense-Thirring effect.

This is a component of Einstein’s theory of general relativity which says that as a large mass such as the Earth rotates, it drags space and time around with it.

The other principal satellite, AlmaSat-1, will test new civilian technologies in Earth observation.

The rest of the payload is taken up by seven socalled picosatellites, essentially cubes each weighing less than a kilo (2.2 pounds), in which European universities have each packed a separate experiment.

Headquartered in Paris, ESA groups 19 member states in the world’s biggest multinational collaboration in space. It has an avowedly geopolitical purpose, to promote access to space for Europe, but for purely scientific and civilian purposes. Its first launcher, Ariane 1, made its inaugural flight in 1979. —AFP

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N Greetings

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ishing our lovely daughter “Aisha Syed” a beautiful 1st birthday today filled with smiles and joy. On this special day we are wishing you a whole lot of happiness and blessings today and always.

Lots of love from, mommy, daddy, sister Yasmin Syed, brother Syed Danial, relatives and friends.

Sudanese celebrate independence day

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mbassy of the Republic of Sudan hosted a ceremony to celebrate Sudan’s independence day at the Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) theater. The event was attended by several ambassadors and top diplomats, and featured a cultural Sudanese celebration.

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appy birthday to Renitta Rajan Thottungal who celebrates her birthday today. Best wishes from parents and relatives & friends.

Valentine Corner at Crowne Plaza Hotel

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ringing loved ones together for a special Valentine’s Day is the theme of the Crowne Plaza Kuwait this year. With its unique style of dÈcor and innovative creations, pleasant surprises are in store for all those visiting the hotel.

This Valentine, a special Valentine Corner has been set up in the Espresso CafÈ Lobby area of the hotel where loved ones can capture their special Valentine moments and take their picture as their special Valentine gift.

Ramy Haykal, the General Manager says, it’s important for all people to feel loved all year through and with our special Valentine photograph memoir, they will always cherish their time at Crowne Plaza Kuwait.

You can also enjoy the soft music played by a pianist in the lobby, while you savor the special and exquisite global treats at the restaurant bouquet that we have to offer, from the Al Ahmadi International Buffet, to the royal delicacies at the Shabestan Iranian restaurant, the perfect spot for the best steaks at the Rib Eye Steakhouse, elite Italian menu at the Viaggio, artful dining at the Sakura Japanese restaurant, with treasures of the sea coming to you at the Al Noukhaza and traditional cuisine at the AyamZaman.

Delightful and special cuisines await you at the hotel at all our outlets, to make this Valentine’s a special one, a day to remember forever. Don’t miss it this year!

Announcements Kuwait Improv Fun lovers of Kuwait unite. A get together by people who love to surprise, be surprised and just be about at anything are welcome to Kuwait Improv, a gathering, reminiscent of the famous American TV program Whose Line is it Anyway, informally organized by American School of Kuwait teacher Brad Manker. No histrionic talent required, but a willingness to share. Please contact:mankerb@ask.edu Tulu speaking classes Here’s a great opportunity for parents who always wished their children could learn Tulu. Tulu Koota Kuwait, in its objective towards promoting Tulu language and culture, is pleased to announce the opening of Tutu Speaking Classes “Tulu Siri” at Indian Public School Salmiya @ 11:30 am. For more details kindly contact Ramesh Kidiyoor97204716/99596457,Shalini Vijay 66502369,Tharendra P. Shettigar 66757979,Jayalaxmi Karkal - 66958848, Sathyanarayana Salian - 66585077,Vanitha Dias94996459. And our Website: www.tulukootakuwait.org Email: info@tulukootakuwait.org Palpak 4th AGM Palakkad Pravasi Association of Kuwait (Palpak) is conducting its Fourth Annual General Body Meeting on February 24, Friday at Hiphop Auditorium, Fahaheel from 10 am. The main agenda include as following, annual report on the activities during the year of 2011, the audited accounts report for the year of 2011. All members of Palpak are kindly requested to treat this as an official Invitation and attend the said Annual Genera1 body meeting on time. For more details please contact President P.N.Kumar (99771830) and General Secretary Aravindha Shan (66535989).

Gulf Express & Total Lubricants meet managers during annual cooperative meet

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otal Lubricants Cooperative’s meet in Kuwait was organized by Gulf Express Co at Hotel Regency on Monday, Jan 30. The meeting involved cooperative managers from all over the Kuwait.

Hasan Ali -Division Manager Total Lubricants welcomed the guests & introduced the delegates.

The chief guest of the event Ghazi Saleh Al Babtain, highlighted the strong relationship between Al Babtain Group and Total Lubricants France, indicating that the company is keen on providing the support and development required for strengthening its relationship with the local clients; hence achieving more success in Kuwait’s markets.

“The strength of this relationship is clearly reflected on the performance level of both companies, where we were able to increase Total Lubricant’s local market sales significantly over the last year. And we promise our clients that we will push our way to become the Middle East’s number one market leader in sales,” he added.

In addition, Ghazi Saleh Al Babtain assured that the coming years will witness more development in the company’s strategic relationship with their loyal customers, with more success and prosperity waiting ahead.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Shihadeh Operations Manager, Gulf Express Co., stressed that the coming stage will mark an important point in the company’s history with its partners. Shihadeh stated that Total Lubricants will, achieve the No 1 position within the next two years in Kuwait’s local markets. He expressed his gratitude to the loyal clients, adding that the company will continue to provide support and exceptional & quality services to all its customers. He also informed

the customers about the various other products we are dealing with such as Dunlop, Maxxis & Federal tires, GS batteries, NGK spark plug, spare parts & equipment.

A S Krishnan - Vice President Sales, Total Marketing Middle East, shed light on the significant successful cooperation with Al Babtain Group, which excelled their expectations, in addition to receiving the best distributor awards in 2011 for the second consecutive time. He also added that the main element to our continuous success is our client’s trust in us.

Stephane Flambert - Vice president Sales Support, Total Marketing Middle East, said that the year 2011 witnessed many thriving achievements; he then presented a detailed explanation on the various accomplishments made within the past year.

Abdullah Siddiqi - Export Manager, Total Marketing Middle East, has made a technical presentation regarding the added value of using Total lubricants which was very well received by the customers & Gulf Express Co. got a very overwhelmed response by all.

All the cooperatives were awarded by the guest of owner by the trophy for their support & achievement throughout the years. The customers took active participation in quiz & won lots of prizes. The meeting concluded with a raffle draw for all attendees who won many valuable prizes. Sales employees who proved their outstanding performance throughout the past year were presented Gifts.

A dinner reception was presented to honour the attendees, which provided a great opportunity for networking and communication.

Week of romance at Swiss-Belhotel Plaza

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t’s the day to celebrate love, the most beautiful emotion in the world, and bring a smile to the faces of your friends and family. Swiss-Belhotel will help you express your wonderful feelings in the most extraordinary way. Sumptuous range of menus at Bait Al Kuwait awaits you and your soul mate for a romantic dinner. Have a perfect toss of welcome drink to start the night of romance with a delightful live music, cozy ambiance and perfect setting to celebrate festival of love. Capture those loving moments with a perfect surprise souvenirs that will form a bouquet of moments.

More than a day of celebration, special package at Swiss-Belhotel including one night stay with buffet breakfast and dinner for 2 persons.

Swiss-Belhotel Plaza Kuwait has 153 rooms located in the heart of city with an easy access in Al Muthana shopping mall and offers great facilities for banquet events and conferences.

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W H AT ’ S O N

Costumes and colours at ESF Year 1 extravaganza

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laborate sets costumes and talent are always expected at any show at The English School Fahaheel’s elaborate Lloyd Webber Theatre.

Recently Year 1 at ESF presented a very colourful concert for parents. There were two stories: Stella The Star Fish, a delightful tale of a star fish who has lost her family and goes on an adventure to find them. The second presentation was “Are you My Mummy?” which told the story of a lost lamb and was based on the Science curriculum unit of growing and life cycles.

The morning was full of singing, dancing and superb acting by the Year 1 classes with fantastic costumes and a colourful setting to make a memorable performance.

Information

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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 until 12:00 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 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

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he major annual activity 2012 AlAmal Indian School organised was the Exhibition that was held on 25th January in the school premises. The theme was “Towards Tomorrow”. The exhibition was proposed for students to exhibit their creative talent and the majority of students from both Junior and Senior wings participated whole heartedly in the exhibition presenting their best creative works.

Charts and models related to environmental issues, agriculture, religious harmony, science wonders and fun and recreation were displayed in the respective sections. Parents who were especially invited to witness the show appreciated the works. Music and dance added to the excitement of parents and students. Some of the exceptional exhibits were praised by the Chairman of School, who was the chief quest on the occasion. Adel the office superintendent and the Principal Baldwin Faife, accompanied the Chairman to different sections of the exhibition and congratulated teachers and students who were important part of this great show.

The principal appreciated the incharges Jayshree and Tahani who put in their best efforts in managing such a fabulous exhibition. He also encouraged the students who presented their works and announced that prizes and certificates would be distributed to those participants.

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EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed on the following dates during the month of February 2012.

National Day of Kuwait - Feb 25, - Saturday.

Liberation Day of Kuwait - Feb 26, - Sunday. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy will move 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 from 26 January, 2012. Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, e-mail:myankuwait11@gmai1.com nnnnnnn

Imprints on the sands of time!!!

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Embassy 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.

Al Amal Indian School holds 2012 exhibition

aving completed glorious 5 years, the Indian Educational School, celebrated this triumph during the academic year distinctly by holding numerous events. Enormous hard work, hours of toil, apprehensions, excitements and a multitude of emotions! But the most imperative driving force behind the scene was the unnerving excitement on seeing the primary children performing before an enormous audience for the Annual Day Programme on 8th February, 2012.

Rendezvous with the glorious past - the theme for the Annual Day of Primary Section offered a coordinated picture of world history.

Shri P.N. Santhanagopal Iyer, Joint Director, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, India, an educationist with a vision and stimulating ideas for the young generation, was the Chief Guest. In his address to the parent community he advocated the need to help children build on their strengths, nurture their talents and explore all possibilities. He spoke about the contribution of Bhavans towards building an intelligent community through its educational movement. He also informed the gathering about the numerous plans of Bhavan during the year to celebrate the 175th birth anniversary of Dr. K.M. Munshi, founder of Bhavans Family of educational institutions.

The proficiency awards to the deserving students of the primary wing were also given away by the Chief Guest.

The mammoth event continued with the Lighting of the auspicious lamp of knowledge by the honourable chairman Ramachandran Menon accompanied by the Chief Guest Shri P.N. Santhanagopal Iyer, Guest of Honour for the evening Krishna Das Menon (Director, Bhavans, Kuwait), Principal T. Premkumar and VicePrincipal Mrs Lalitha Premkumar. Principal T. Premkumar in his address to the gathering emphasized that the school not only offered the best in academics but also encouraged an overall development of the students through various extracurricular activities conducted and taught by talented and capable teachers.

Vice Principal Mrs Lalitha Premkumar presented the annual report reiterating the fact that modern education enveloping the traditional form of education in school not only supplements the learning process but also helps students to extensively acquaint themselves to a growing world ahead.

The celebrations began with the recital of verses from the Holy Quran followed by the prayer song by the school choir. The invocation dance that followed was a lovely rendition of the Ganesh Vandana. The young dancers’ agility and graceful movements and their emotive skills were apposite enough to compel celestial deities to shower their blessings on the school.

The flawless recitation of the very famous poem “The Visitor” by Ian Serraillier eerily gave goose bumps to the listeners. Adhering to the theme ‘Rendezvous with the glorious past’ students of class I paid a Tribute

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

to the land of Kuwait. They portrayed the journey of nomadic tribes across the scorching and bleak desert sand and their quest for a land where they found peace and happiness and contributed to the global economy in the most inconceivable way with the discovery of petroleum. Students of class I conveyed in a subtle manner the torments that have made Kuwait what it is today.

A French dance recital by students of class 3 and 4

A musical play adapted from the Greek myth ‘Quest For The Golden Fleece’ was enacted by students of class 3. Exquisite costumes reliving the mystic Greek era gave an aura of celestial beauty to the characters. The stage shone with larger than life props like the Argo and the fire breathing Dragon and the audience watched mesmerized as they travelled in time to arrive at the threshold of ancient Greek civilization.

The grand finale of the evening was the class 4 per-

EMBASSY OF PHILIPPINES For emergency, please contact the Consular hotline at 65184433. The Philippine Overseas Labor Office and other attached agencies shall continue to operate and hold office in Jabriya until 15 March 2012. All your passports and other consular concerns will be processed at our new location, except of course labor issues.

Regular working hours of the Embassy shall resume in Faiha. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF RUSSIA Embassy of the Russian Federation invites all the Russian residents in Kuwait to visit the Consulate for registration and updating your database. This information is necessary for prompt notice, assistance and warning in case of emergency. The consulate reception hours: 10:00 - 13:00, Sunday - Wednesday. The Embassy is located in Kuwait City, Daiya, Block 5, Diplomatic campus, Plot 17. Tel: (+965) 22560427, 22560428. Fax: (+965) 22524969, e-mail: rusposkuw@mail.ru, consdepkuw@mail.ru Information also available on the website: www.kuwait.mid.ru nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF UKRAINE We’d like to inform you that in response to the increasing number of our citizens who work in the state and the need for 24-hour operational telephone in case of emergency the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait has opened “hotline telephone number” (+ 965) 972-79-206. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF VENEZUELA Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , request Venezuelan citizens living in Kuwait to register with the Embassy. This registration service is provided so that the Embassy can update its contact list and assist Venezuelan citizens in cases of emergencies. Registration Information 25324367 or by email: embavenez@gmail.com. From Sunday to Thursday from 8.30am till 2 pm. based on a song by the famous singer Ilona Mitrecey titled “Un monde Parfait” magnetized the audience.

Class 2 came up with a unique twist in the very famous tale of “Puss in Boots” as the master cat embarks on a voyage of rich lands and immortal civilizations. Puss took the audience to China, the land of silk, the land of emperor Qin Shi Huangdi. Students displayed Kung fu the most famous form of martial arts .The peak of this segment was the very famous ‘Chinese umbrella dance and Dragon dance’. Egypt, the land of the beautiful Queen Cleopatra and pompous Pharaohs were also portrayed and the audience was enthralled with the Egyptian Dance number proficiently choreographed and coordinated.

formance titled ‘ Imprints On The Sands Of Time’ about India’s glorious past. They performed a dance ballet depicting the contribution of Indian stalwarts like, Sage Bharata, Sushrutha, Panini, Sage Bharadwaja in the fields of surgery, astronomy, mathematics, performing arts and so on and so forth. They exhibited the importance of Sanskrit language and world’s first university ‘Taksasila’ and ‘University of Nalanda’.

As Albert Einstein rightly said- “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”A show of this magnitude, was not a miracle but essentially magnified the hard work of the students and teachers alike.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

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00:20 Karina: Wild On Safari 00:50 Animal Cops Houston 01:45 Untamed & Uncut 02:40 Shark Attack File 2 03:35 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 04:00 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 04:30 Karina: Wild On Safari 05:25 Earthquake: Panda Rescue 06:20 Escape To Chimp Eden 06:45 Dolphin Days 07:10 Animal Precinct 08:00 Gorilla School 08:25 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 08:50 Talk To The Animals 09:15 The Really Wild Show 09:40 Project Puppy 10:10 Must Love Cats 11:05 Earthquake: Panda Rescue 12:00 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 12:55 SSPCA: On The Wildside 13:20 Wildlife SOS 13:50 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 14:45 Animal Cops Phoenix 15:40 Earthquake: Panda Rescue 16:30 Echo And The Elephants Of Amboseli 17:00 The Really Wild Show 17:30 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 18:00 Talk To The Animals 18:25 Cats 101 19:20 America’s Cutest...

20:15 Gorilla School 20:40 Wildlife SOS 21:10 Escape To Chimp Eden 21:35 Dolphin Days 22:05 Kingdom Of The Elephants 23:00 World Wild Vet 23:55 Venom Hunter With Donald Schultz

00:45 01:15 01:45 02:35 03:05 03:30 04:00 04:20 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:05 05:25 05:35 05:50 06:10 06:20 06:30 06:45 06:50 07:10 07:20 07:35 08:05 08:35 09:20 09:50 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:45 14:15 14:45 15:35 16:25 17:10 17:40 18:10 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:50 21:20 21:50 22:40 23:10 23:55

Eastenders Doctors Waking The Dead Last Of The Summer Wine As Time Goes By Keeping Up Appearances Balamory Charlie and Lola The Large Family Bobinogs Buzz & Tell Tweenies Little Robots Nina And The Neurons Balamory Charlie and Lola The Large Family Bobinogs Buzz & Tell Tweenies Little Robots Nina And The Neurons Last Of The Summer Wine As Time Goes By The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors Holby City Born and Bred Keeping Up Appearances Last Of The Summer Wine The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors Holby City Born and Bred The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors Holby City Last Of The Summer Wine The Old Guys Red Cap As Time Goes By Keeping Up Appearances Lark Rise to Candleford The Old Guys The Weakest Link Holby City

00:05 Antiques Roadshow 00:55 Masterchef 01:50 Masterchef

02:40 03:10 04:00 04:45 05:35 06:20 07:10 07:55 08:20 09:10 10:25 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 15:10 15:55 16:45 17:30 18:20 19:05 19:55 20:50 21:15 22:05 22:50 23:35

Masterchef 10 Years Younger Fantasy Homes By The Sea 10 Years Younger Gok’s Fashion Fix Gok’s Fashion Fix Bargain Hunt Indian Food Made Easy Gok’s Fashion Fix Masterchef Australia Bargain Hunt Antiques Roadshow Come Dine With Me 10 Years Younger Fantasy Homes Down Under Fantasy Homes By The Sea Holmes On Homes Bargain Hunt Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic USA Indian Food Made Easy What To Eat Now - Summer James Martin’s Brittany 10 Years Younger Fantasy Homes Down Under Bargain Hunt Antiques Roadshow

00:00 00:20 00:45 01:10 01:35 02:00 02:25 02:50 03:15 03:40 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:00 06:25 06:50 07:00 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:00 09:25 09:50 10:15 10:40 11:05 11:25 11:50 12:15 12:40 13:00 13:15 13:40 13:55 14:45 15:10 Doo 15:35 16:00 16:50 17:15 17:40 18:05 18:20 19:10 19:35 Doo 20:00 20:15 20:40 21:05 21:30 21:55 22:20 22:45 23:10 23:35

Wacky Races Dastardly And Muttley New Yogi Bear Show Duck Dodgers The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Tom & Jerry Kids A Pup Named Scooby-Doo The Jetsons Puppy In My Pocket Popeye Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races The Flintstones A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Popeye Classics The Garfield Show Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Jelly Jamm Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Puppy In My Pocket The Scooby Doo Show Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Flintstones Duck Dodgers Tom & Jerry Kids Pink Panther And Pals Wacky Races Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Bananas In Pyjamas The Garfield Show A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Scooby-Doo And ScrappyLooney Tunes Puppy In My Pocket Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show The Scooby Doo Show Scooby-Doo And ScrappyJelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective The Flintstones

00:40 Samurai Jack 01:05 Samurai Jack 01:30 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 02:20 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 02:45 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 03:10 Best Ed 04:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien

04:25 Adventure Time 04:50 Generator Rex 05:15 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 05:40 Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy 05:55 I Am Weasel 06:55 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 07:20 Powerpuff Girls 07:45 Angelo Rules 08:00 Casper’s Scare School 08:30 The Amazing World Of Gumball 08:45 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 09:15 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 09:40 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 10:05 Angelo Rules 10:30 Chowder 10:55 Adventure Time 11:20 Eliot Kid 11:35 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 12:00 Ben 10 12:25 Sym-Bionic Titan 12:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog 13:15 I Am Weasel 13:40 Best Ed 14:05 Cow & Chicken 14:30 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 14:50 Eliot Kid 15:15 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 15:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 16:05 Courage The Cowardly Dog 16:30 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 16:55 The Amazing World Of Gumball 17:10 Adventure Time 17:35 Regular Show 18:00 Cow & Chicken 18:25 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 18:50 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 19:15 Angelo Rules 19:30 Total Drama World Tour 19:55 Hero 108 20:25 Sym-Bionic Titan 20:50 Adventure Time 21:25 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 21:50 Courage 22:25 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 22:50 Cow And Chicken 23:00 Ben 10 23:25 Ben 10 23:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog

00:15 00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 15:30 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

Destroyed In Seconds Rampage!

Dirty Jobs Overhaulin’ Ultimate Survival Mythbusters How Does It Work?

How It’s Made Dirty Jobs Mythbusters Wreckreation Nation One Man Army How Does It Work?

Cake Boss Border Security Auction Hunters Fifth Gear Fifth Gear Overhaulin’ Ultimate Survival Mythbusters Cash Cab Us Border Security Auction Hunters How It’s Made How Does It Work?

Cake Boss Fight Quest Taking On Tyson Daredevils

00:40 Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman 01:35 When Aliens Attack 02:25 The Tech Show 02:50 Building the Future 03:40 Mighty Ships

ONG BAK 2 ON OSN ACTION HD

Ong Bak 2

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

Years

04:35 How Does That Work?

05:00 How Stuff’s Made 05:25 Kings of Construction 06:20 Prototype This 07:10 Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman 08:00 The Gadget Show 08:25 The Gadget Show 08:50 How Does That Work?

09:15 How Stuff’s Made 09:40 Building the Future 10:35 Mighty Ships 11:25 Kings of Construction 12:20 Prototype This 13:15 Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman 14:05 Weird or What?

14:55 How Does That Work?

15:20 How Stuff’s Made 15:50 The Gadget Show 16:15 The Gadget Show 16:40 The Tech Show 17:05 Prototype This 18:00 Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman 18:50 Kings of Construction 19:40 Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman 20:30 Meteorite Men 21:20 Prototype This 22:10 The Gadget Show 22:35 The Gadget Show 23:00 Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman 23:50 Meteorite Men

00:00 KIM POSSIBLE 00:25 FAIRLY ODD PARENTS 00:50 FAIRLY ODD PARENTS 01:15 STITCH 01:35 STITCH 02:00 REPLACEMENTS 02:25 REPLACEMENTS 02:50 EMPEROR’S NEW SCHOOL 03:15 EMPEROR’S NEW SCHOOL 03:35 STITCH 04:00 STITCH 04:25 REPLACEMENTS 04:50 REPLACEMENTS 05:15 FAIRLY ODD PARENTS 05:35 FAIRLY ODD PARENTS 06:00 HANNAH MONTANA 06:20 RECESS 06:45 TIMON AND PUMBAA 07:05 PHINEAS AND FERB 07:30 Good Luck Charlie 07:55 FISH HOOKS 08:10 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 08:35 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 09:00 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 09:15 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 09:25 HANDY MANNY 09:40 THE HIVE 09:47 MINI ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH 09:50 RECESS 10:15 SO RANDOM 10:40 HAVE A LAUGH 10:45 HANNAH MONTANA 11:10 SUITE LIFE ON DECK 11:35 JAKE & BLAKE 12:00 SONNY WITH A CHANCE 12:25 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 12:45 PHINEAS AND FERB 13:10 SO RANDOM 13:35 GEEK CHARMING 15:20 MY BABYSITTER’S A VAMPIRE 15:45 FISH HOOKS 16:10 SHAKE IT UP 16:40 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 17:05 TIMON AND PUMBAA 17:30 STARSTRUCK 18:55 PHINEAS AND FERB 19:10 Good Luck Charlie 19:30 HAVE A LAUGH 19:35 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 20:00 HANNAH MONTANA FOREVER 20:25 PHINEAS AND FERB 20:50 SHAKE IT UP 21:15 FISH HOOKS 21:35 RECESS 22:00 SHAKE IT UP 22:25 SHAKE IT UP 22:50 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 23:15 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 23:35 SONNY WITH A CHANCE

00:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 00:25 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 00:40 Special Agent Oso 00:55 Little Einsteins 01:20 Timmy Time 01:30 Jungle Junction 01:45 Handy Manny 01:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 02:20 Special Agent Oso 02:35 Special Agent Oso 02:50 Jungle Junction 03:05 Jungle Junction 03:15 Little Einsteins 03:40 Higglytown Heroes 03:55 Higglytown Heroes 04:10 Jo Jo’s Circus 04:30 Special Agent Oso 04:45 Special Agent Oso 05:00 Jungle Junction 05:15 Jungle Junction 05:25 Little Einsteins 05:50 Higglytown Heroes 06:05 Higglytown Heroes 06:20 Jo Jo’s Circus 06:40 Special Agent Oso 06:55 Special Agent Oso 07:10 Jungle Junction 07:25 Jungle Junction 07:35 Little Einsteins 08:00 Higglytown Heroes 08:15 Higglytown Heroes 08:30 Jo Jo’s Circus 08:50 Jungle Junction 09:00 Jungle Junction 09:15 Higglytown Heroes 09:30 Higglytown Heroes 09:45 Handy Manny 10:00 Special Agent Oso 10:15 Jungle Junction 10:30 Jungle Junction 10:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 11:10 The Hive 11:20 Handy Manny 11:35 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 11:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 12:05 The Hive 12:15 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 12:20 Mouk (Cema) 12:35 Mouk (Cema) 12:45 The Hive 12:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 13:20 Imagination Movers 13:45 Art Attack (Cema) 14:10 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 14:35 The Little Mermaid

15:00 The Hive 15:10 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 15:35 Mouk (Cema) 15:50 The Hive 16:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 16:25 The Little Mermaid 16:50 Mouk (Cema) 17:05 The Hive 17:15 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 17:40 The Little Mermaid 18:05 The Hive 18:15 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 18:40 The Little Mermaid 19:05 Mouk (Cema) 19:20 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 19:45 Art Attack (Cema) 20:10 The Hive 20:20 Special Agent Oso 20:30 Jungle Junction 20:45 Handy Manny 20:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:10 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:25 The Hive 21:35 Little Einsteins 22:00 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 22:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 22:25 101 Dalmatians 22:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 23:05 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 23:20 The Hive 23:30 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 23:35 A Poem Is...

23:40 Animated Stories 23:45 Mouk (Cema)

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Style Star 01:25 25 Celebrity Near Death Experiences 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 50 Cutest Child Stars: All Grown Up 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Scouted 10:15 40 Smokin’ On Set Hookups 12:05 E! News 13:05 Kendra 13:35 Kendra 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 Style Star 15:30 E!es 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Khloe And Lamar 17:55 E! News 18:55 E!es 19:55 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 20:25 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Kendra 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:15 Stalked: Someone’s Watching 00:40 Dr G: Medical Examiner 01:30 Ghost Lab 02:15 A Haunting 03:05 I Married A Mobster 03:30 Scorned: Crimes Of Passion 04:15 Stalked: Someone’s Watching 04:40 Dr G: Medical Examiner 05:25 Ghost Lab 06:15 A Haunting 07:10 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 08:00 FBI Files 08:50 Forensic Detectives 09:40 Murder Shift 10:25 Mystery Diagnosis 11:10 Real Emergency Calls 11:35 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

11:55 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 12:40 Disappeared 13:25 Murder Shift 14:15 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 15:00 Real Emergency Calls 15:25 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

15:50 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 16:35 Disappeared 17:20 FBI Files 18:10 Forensic Detectives 19:00 Murder Shift 19:45 Real Emergency Calls 20:10 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 20:55 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

21:20 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 22:10 Disappeared 23:00 Couples Who Kill 23:50 Deadly Women

00:00 Inside Nature’s Giants 01:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 01:55 Killer Shots 02:50 Monkey Thieves 03:15 Monkey Thieves 03:45 Sumatra’s Last Tiger 04:40 Built For The Kill 05:35 Great Migrations 06:30 Monster Jellyfish 07:25 Ultimate Shark 08:20 The Invaders 09:15 Killer Shots 10:10 Monkey Thieves 10:35 Monkey Thieves 11:05 Sumatra’s Last Tiger 12:00 Africa’s Deadliest 13:00 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 14:00 Ultimate Vipers 15:00 The Invaders 16:00 Bear Nomad 17:00 Monkey Thieves 17:30 Monkey Thieves 18:00 Lions Behaving Badly 19:00 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 20:00 Ultimate Vipers 21:00 The Invaders 22:00 Bear Nomad 23:00 Monkey Thieves 23:30 Monkey Thieves

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00

The Daisy Chain-PG15 Empire-18 RoboCop 2-PG15 Top Gun-PG15 Rocky III-PG15 The Morgue-18

GASLAND ON OSN CINEMA 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 PG15

Ong Bak 2-PG15 Rocky III-PG15 Riddles Of The Sphinx-PG15 Ong Bak 2-PG15 My Bloody Valentine-PG15 Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow-

01:00 2:22-18 03:00 Gentlemen Broncos-PG15 05:00 The Boys Are Back-PG 07:00 Love N’ Dancing-PG15 09:00 At Risk-PG15 11:00 The Boys Are Back-PG 13:00 Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star-PG15 15:00 At Risk-PG15 17:00 Gasland-PG15 19:00 Date Night-PG15 21:00 My Bloody Valentine-PG15 23:00 Blue Valentine-18

03:00 Friends 03:30 Friends 04:00 Dharma And Greg 05:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 06:00 Malcolm In The Middle 08:30 Friends 09:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 12:00 Malcolm In The Middle 12:30 Dharma And Greg 13:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 13:30 Just Shoot Me 14:00 Friends 16:30 How I Met Your Mother 18:00 Friends 18:30 Friends 19:00 Modern Family 19:30 Hot In Cleveland 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Weeds 22:30 Funny Or Die Presents 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 15:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Desperate Housewives Breaking Bad Top Gear (US) Revenge Off The Map Good Morning America Eureka Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View Desperate Housewives Revenge Eureka Live Good Morning America The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice Royal Pains Terriers Off The Map

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

Cold Case Top Gear (US) Breaking Bad Desperate Housewives Revenge The Gates Cold Case Parks And Recreation Coronation Street Parenthood Top Gear (US) Desperate Housewives Revenge Parks And Recreation Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Parenthood Cold Case Parks And Recreation Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Parenthood Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice Royal Pains Hawthorne In Plain Sight

01:00 Icarus-18 03:00 RoboCop 2-PG15 05:00 Luster-18 06:30 The Postman-PG15 09:30 Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief-PG15 11:30 Little Big Soldier-PG15 13:15 The Warlords-PG15 15:15 Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief-PG15 17:15 Legion-18 19:00 Fade To Black-18 21:00 Snake In The Eagle’s ShadowPG15 23:00 Clive Barker’s Book Of Blood18

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 PG15 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:15

Garfield-PG Love Hurts-PG15 16 To Life-PG15 Nothing Like The HolidaysFinding Lenny-PG15 Hanging Up-PG15 Charlie & Boots-PG15 The Country Bears-PG Garfield-PG Jack Goes Boating-PG15 Valentine’s Day-PG15 Next Friday-18

00:45 Guilty As Sin-PG15 02:45 Parlez-Moi De LA Pluie-PG15 04:45 Exodus-PG15 06:45 Glorious 39-PG15 09:00 Invictus-PG15 11:15 The Associate-PG15 13:15 Don’t Fade Away-PG15 15:00 A Simple Twist Of Fate-PG15 17:00 Mademoiselle ChambonPG15 19:00 The Time Traveler’s Wife-PG15 21:00 Return To Paradise-PG15 23:00 How The Grinch Stole Christmas-PG

01:15 Brighton Rock-PG15 03:15 Napoleon Dynamite-PG 05:00 Flipped-PG 07:00 Celine: Through The Eyes Of The World-PG15 09:00 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-PG15 11:15 Another Year-PG15 13:30 Inside Job-PG15 15:30 Flying By-PG15 17:15 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-PG15 19:30 Dinner For Schmucks-PG15 21:30 Super-18 23:30 Unanswered Prayers-PG15

00:00 The Nimbols: Part II-FAM 01:45 Nativity!-PG 04:00 Ulysses-PG 06:00 The Nutty Professor-FAM 08:00 Legend Of Sleeping BeautyPG 09:45 Ramona And Beezus-PG 12:00 Nativity!-PG 14:00 Turtle Hero: Part II-FAM 16:00 The Enchanted Mountain-PG 18:00 Ramona And Beezus-PG 20:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 22:00 Turtle Hero: Part II-FAM

00:00 A Soldier’s Love Story-PG15 02:00 The Nail: The Story Of Joey Nardone-18 04:00 Legendary-PG15 06:00 Bustin’ Down The Door-PG15 08:00 Citizen Jane-PG 10:00 Triassic Attack-PG15 12:00 Ways To Live Forever-PG15 14:00 Pina-PG15 16:00 Citizen Jane-PG 18:00 The Joneses-PG15 20:00 The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee-PG15 22:00 The Fighter-PG15

01:15 05:45 06:15 14:30 15:00 16:00 22:00

European PGA Tour Cricket ODI Highlights Live Cricket ODI Futbol Mundial Trans World Sports Live Snooker The Welsh Open Live Snooker The Welsh Open

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00

WWE Experience V8 Supercars V8 Supercars Speedway Intercontinental Le Mans Cup UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed WWE NXT WWE Bottom Line Speedway Intercontinental Le Mans Cup V8 Supercars V8 Supercars WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Speedway Aquabike World Power Boats UIM WWE NXT WWE Experience UFC Unleashed UFC 143

00:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 01:30 Top 14 Highlights 02:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 02:30 Pro 12 Celtic League 04:30 ODI Cricket Highlights 05:00 Trans World Sport 06:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 07:00 Snooker The Welsh Open 10:00 World Cup Of Pool 11:00 World Pool Masters 12:00 Bass Fishing 13:00 Trans World Sport 14:00 Scottish Premier League 16:00 Sevens World Series 19:00 ODI Cricket Highlights 19:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 20:30 Top 14 Highlights 21:00 Futbol Mundial 21:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 22:00 Trans World Sport 23:00 ODI Cricket Highlights 23:30 Golfing World

00:00 Top 14 Highlights 00:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 01:00 Super League 03:00 World Cup of Pool 04:00 World Pool Masters 05:00 US Bass Fishing 06:00 FIVB Beach Volley Ball 06:30 FIVB Beach Volley Ball 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 09:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 09:30 Top 14 11:30 Snooker The Welsh Open 14:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 15:30 Anglo Welsh Cup 17:30 ODI Cricket Highlights 18:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 19:00 Golfing World 20:00 Trans World Sport 21:00 Scottish Premier League 23:00 European PGA Tour

01:10 03:05 05:35 07:30 08:00 09:40 11:35 13:15 15:05 16:55 18:35 21:05 23:00

Coma The Four Horsemen Of...-PG Boom Town-PG TCM Presents Under...-U The Sisters-FAM Mogambo-PG The Two Mrs. Carrolls-PG 36 Hours-PG Beau Brummell-PG The Angel Wore Red-PG They Were Expendable-PG The Tender Trap-PG The Formula

Classifieds TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines QTR JZR RBG JZR ETH THY UAE OMA QTR DHX MSR FDB ETD RJA GFA KAC DHX FAH JZR JZR KAC BAW KAC JZR KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD FDB IRA GFA IRA JZR RKM MEA MSR MSR JZR KAC GFA KAC FDB UAL GRF QTR SVA KAC RJA KAC QTR KAC JZR JZR JZR ETD UAE GFA SVA ABY JZR RBG ALK JZR KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC JAI OMA JZR DHX MEA GFA QTR UAE JZR KLM AIC JZR UAL AXB BBC DLH

Arrival Flights on Tuesday 14/2/2012 Flt Route 138 DOHA 185 DUBAI 3564 ASSIUT 539 CAIRO 620 ADDIS ABABA 772 ISTANBUL 853 DUBAI 641 MUSCAT 148 DOHA 370 BAHRAIN 612 CAIRO 67 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 642 AMMAN 211 BAHRAIN 544 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 529 ASSIUT 416 JAKARTA 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 503 LUXOR 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 352 COCHIN 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 284 DHAKA 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI 55 DUBAI 605 ISFAHAN 213 BAHRAIN 619 LAR 165 DUBAI 310 RAS ALKHAIMAH 404 BEIRUT 623 SOHAG 610 CAIRO 201 DAMASCUS 672 DUBAI 219 BAHRAIN 512 TEHRAN 57 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 93 KANDAHAR 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH 546 ALEXANDRIA 640 AMMAN 562 AMMAN 134 DOHA 678 ABU DHABI 561 SOHAG 1535 CAIRO 213 DEIREZZOR 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 127 SHARJAH 777 JEDDAH 3561 ALEXANDRIA 227 COLOMBO 177 DUBAI 614 BAHRAIN 63 DUBAI 502 BEIRUT 542 CAIRO 744 DAMMAM 786 JEDDAH 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 166 PARIS 104 LONDON 774 RIYADH 61 DUBAI 552 DAMASCUS 572 MUMBAI 647 MUSCAT 787 RIYADH 372 BAHRAIN 402 BEIRUT 217 BAHRAIN 136 DOHA 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 443 AMSTERDAM 981 CHENNAI 239 AMMAN 981 BAHRAIN 389 KOZHIKODE 43 DHAKA 636 FRANKFURT

Departure Flights on Tuesday 14/2/2012 Time 0:20 0:20 0:40 0:50 1:45 2:15 2:35 2:50 2:55 2:55 3:00 3:05 3:10 3:10 3:15 4:40 5:15 5:30 6:00 6:20 6:25 6:40 6:45 7:25 7:40 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:15 8:30 9:00 9:05 9:15 9:20 9:45 9:55 10:50 11:20 11:45 11:55 12:30 12:55 13:00 13:20 13:25 13:40 13:50 14:05 14:15 14:20 14:30 14:30 14:40 14:45 15:25 15:30 16:10 16:25 16:45 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:40 17:45 17:50 18:10 18:15 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:55 19:10 19:15 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:40 20:00 20:05 20:10 20:15 20:20 21:00 21:20 21:25 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:05 22:05 22:45 23:00 23:35 23:45 23:50

Airlines UAL AIC BBC JZR PIA DLH RBG ETH THY FDB UAE OMA DHX MSR ETD QTR QTR JZR GFA RJA JZR KAC FDB BAW KAC KAC KAC JZR KAC JZR KAC UAE ABY ETD FDB QTR GFA IRA JZR KAC IRA KAC JZR RKM MEA KAC MSR KAC JZR MSR GFA FDB KAC KAC UAL RJA KAC SVA KAC KAC KAC QTR JZR JZR QTR ETD JZR UAE GFA ABY RBG SVA JZR JZR ALK FDB KAC KAC FDB KAC DHX JZR KAC JAI OMA KAC DHX MEA GFA FAH KAC QTR KAC JZR UAE KAC KLM JZR KAC

Flt 981 976 44 502 240 637 3562 621 773 68 854 642 371 613 306 139 149 164 212 643 200 545 54 156 677 671 511 1534 561 560 101 856 126 302 56 133 214 604 212 165 618 541 776 311 405 501 624 785 176 611 220 58 551 673 982 641 613 501 617 743 773 141 786 238 135 304 538 858 216 128 3563 511 266 134 228 64 283 361 62 343 171 184 351 571 648 543 373 403 218 102 381 137 301 554 860 205 443 528 411

Route WASHINGTON GOA DHAKA LUXOR SIALKOT FRANKFURT ALEXANDRIA ADDIS ABABA ISTANBUL DUBAI DUBAI MUSCAT BAHRAIN CAIRO ABU DHABI DOHA DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN AMMAN DAMASCUS ALEXANDRIA DUBAI LONDON ABU DHABI DUBAI IMAM KHOMEINI CAIRO AMMAN SOHAG LONDON DUBAI SHARJAH ABU DHABI DUBAI DOHA BAHRAIN ISFAHAN DEIREZZOR ROME LAR CAIRO JEDDAH RAS ALKHAIMAH BEIRUT BEIRUT SOHAG JEDDAH DUBAI CAIRO BAHRAIN DUBAI DAMASCUS DUBAI BAHRAIN AMMAN BAHRAIN JEDDAH DOHA DAMMAM RIYADH DOHA RIYADH AMMAN DOHA ABU DHABI CAIRO DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH ASSIUT RIYADH BEIRUT BAHRAIN DUBAI DUBAI DHAKA COLOMBO DUBAI CHENNAI BAHRAIN DUBAI KOCHI MUMBAI MUSCAT CAIRO BAHRAIN BEIRUT BAHRAIN DUBAI DELHI DOHA MUMBAI ALEXANDRIA DUBAI ISLAMABAD BAHRAIN ASSIUT BANGKOK

ACCOMMODATION Time 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:05 1:10 1:20 1:25 2:45 3:15 3:45 3:50 3:55 3:55 4:00 4:00 4:40 5:40 6:55 7:00 7:10 7:30 7:40 8:25 8:40 8:55 9:00 9:15 9:15 9:20 9:30 9:35 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:05 10:10 10:40 10:45 10:50 11:45 11:50 12:00 12:15 12:50 12:55 13:00 13:30 13:40 13:50 13:55 14:20 14:35 14:40 15:05 15:20 15:35 15:35 15:45 15:50 16:15 16:25 16:30 17:00 17:15 17:25 17:35 17:40 18:10 18:15 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:45 19:05 19:10 19:20 20:15 20:20 20:40 20:55 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:55 22:00 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:35 23:55

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

To let from March 1, 2012, 1 semi furnished big room with attached toilet from a 3 bed room spacious flat in B’neid Al-Ghar. Ideal for executives. Rent KD 75/- for single occupancy and KD 95/- for double occupancy.

Contact: 60914165. (C 3868) Sharing available for Christian family, C-A/C, room + bathroom, near Learners Academy, Abbassiya. Small family or two bachelors. Contact: 66265733 / 24346514.

(C 3869) 12-2-2012 Sharing accommodation available for decent executive bachelor in Abbasiya near United Indian School.

Separate toilet, bedroom & balcony with coolpex & AC, new building. Contact: 97208351. (C 3866) 9-2-2012 Immediate sharing accommodation available for a decent Indian Christian bachelor or couple near Salmiya Garden. Contact: 66884273 / 25657832.

(C 3862) Sharing accommodation available in C-A/C flat in Abbasiya for two Christian bachelors or couple from 15 Feb. Contact: 65625804.

(C 3863) 8-2-2012

FOR SALE Chevrolet Optra 2009 is on immediate sale for KD 2,350/- as expat leaving Kuwait. Showroom maintained and in excellent condition. Contact: 99754454.

(C 3867) 11-2-2012

(C 3859) Orthodox well-settled parents invite proposals for their son, 28, 180cm, fair, MBA (Finance) from a reputed institution, employed in reputed bank in Kuwait from parents of professionally qualified God-fearing girls.

Contact: dr.matt32@gmail.com 7-2-2012 Proposals invited for Keralite Orthodox Christian boy (38, 5 7” whitish), God fearing Computer Engineering diploma working in Kuwait having family visa status seeking alliance from nurses and other professionals. The boy will be coming to Kerala in the middle of March. Contact email: dilkoshy@asianetindia.com (C 3858) 5-2-2012

CHANGE OF NAME I, Vinod Kumar S/O Narinder Kumar holder of Indian Passport No. H4590145 hereby change my name to VINOD KUMAR GOGNA. (C 3871) 14-2-2012 I, Sobhana Kumari, holder of Indian Passport No. F0925460 here by change my name Sara Saad Mubarak Salman. (C 3870) 13-2-2011

SITUATION WANTED Diploma Engineer/ 16 years project sales experience (9 yrs in Kuwait) seeking suitable position from reputed companies. Contact: 55339596/ 99759183. (C 3860) 7-2-2012

SITUATION VACANT Required live-in maid for a small Indian family living in Riggae. Contact: 99694619.

(C 3861) 8-2-2012

MATRIMONIAL Proposals invited for a Keralite C.S.I. boy (31, 5ft 7”) studied B.Com, presently well employed in own business seeks alliance from God fearing Keralite girl (C.S.I / Martomite) from India or residing in Kuwait. Contact: thjo53@yahoo.com with full details.

(C 3864) Orthodox parents in Kuwait invites proposals for their daughter (26 / 165 fair) B.Tech, B/B and currently working in Kuwait, from a well qualified/ employed Orthodox/ Marthoma boys.

Contact: invitesproposal@yahoo.com (C 3865) 9-2-2012 A proposal comes from a man, an Engineer, 50 years old seeks an Asian woman, decent, working, respectful preferable, who is coming recently to Kuwait. Email: bareer_96@yahoo.com

MISCELLANEOUS Original guaranteed Palestinian virgin olive oil, large black and green olives for sale. Tel: 66517417 Whole Floor or small villa needed for rent in Shaab, Mansoriya, Nozha, Abdullah Al-Salem or Shamiya. Direct contact with owner. Tel: 9989018-99169016 A camp for rent in Kabed including five tents with all services. Complete privacy + game arcade. Tel: 97177714 Size 36 air pressure gun for sale in addition to a scope, safety lock. Shooting range 350 meters +bag+25 shots.

Price KD 70. Tel: 97790478

No: 15359

A 3700 watt, 2012 model ASTRA generator for sale.

Japanese parts assembled in China with pressure and gas meters. Price KD 85. Tel: 60066891 For rent in Hawalli a one bedroom (4x4m) and a 7x3.5 m reception+ terrace, fully equipped kitchen and bathroom. Tunis street, behind Al-Andalus pharmacy. Tel: 99683200

in between. Tel: 90001594 A 2005 Mini Cooper for sale. Tel: 99224855 A 2006 Lumina for sale with genuine factory paint.

Price KD 2100. Tel: 69945429 A 2009 Touareg for sale.

Price 6350. Tel: 96670777

A 2008 white, 1600 CC Nissan Sunny. Price KD 1700. Tel: 99553221

Senior English teacher for Pakistani, bilingual schools, T.M.A., Ielts, Toefl, IBT K.S.S., social studies and math. Tel: 99577430

A 2008 dark blue 6 cylinder Toyota Prado with Beige sued interior, low mileage, touch A/C, CD, cruise control, front and rear sensors for sale. Price KD 6650. Tel: 99275550

For sale: a 375 square meter house in Omariya, fully rented for KD 600.

Price KD 185,000. Tel: 66815590

A 2009 white, 6 cylinder Toyota Prado with 40,000 mileage touch A/C, CD, cruise control, front and rear sensors for sale. Price KD 7850. Tel: 9747750855809093 A 2009 YUKUN Suburban GMC XL with low mileage and beige sued interior, electric seats, cruise control, super headlights, rear camera, remote recording and rear sensors. Price 8550. Tel: 99301914 For rent a two storey villa and a basement in Mangaf including 8 rooms, laundry room, yard, parking. Rent value KD 1000. Tel: 97996900 A storey and half for rent in Mangaf including two 3 bedroom apartments with 2 baths, reception, kitchen, driver room each. Tel: 66989887 For rent a ground floor in Qurain comprising of four rooms, large reception, 5 baths, maid room, courtyard, parking. Rent value KD 550. Tel: 66989887

Transportation ser vice available. Payment in advanced conditioned for all areas. Tel: 66678633 The smallest and most up to date recording device (2012 model) for sale.

Finger size, voice activated, records up to 600 hrs, made in Japan. Free delivery. Tel: 99773818

TUITION Business management teacher with doctoral degree for universities, institutions, corporate & all student levels. Over 10 years experience.

Call 66495951. (C 3817) Mathematics teacher, Intermediate and secondary Exams models, Easy method, Exams from past years with solutions. 97301901 English teacher (3) years experience, looking for a job and ready to start with all educational stages.

55963993

A fully central air-conditioned two room annex in Mangaf with separate exit and shaded car parking for rent to expatriates. Tel: 67753557

Mathematics teacher for Universities, Institutions, Foreign Schools, Administrative, American, English, Australian, Bahrain, Electric and Gulf Sciences, Algbra Prel, Mathematics, intermediate, gmat, sat college, math98, 110 pre calculus geometry. 97619261

For rent in Ashbelia: two apartments with 3 bedrooms, bath, kitchen and maid room each plus a yard

A Syrian Arabic language teacher. Masters in methods of teaching and follow up of 10th grade and 11th grade students. 97934291

34

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 588

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You will probably pull away from associates who have slowed your progress. This may even mean a new job. Updating equipment or skills seems to be the focus of your growth for now. New, futuristic ideas are part of this, but it’s much more than that: putting them into practice is essential because this is much more than empty idealism. There is a break from the past and a willingness to flaunt convention. The accent this evening is on sociability, entertaining, love and affection. Any problems with personal relationships should melt away. Visiting with old friends this afternoon will prove beneficial in that someone may offer you a chance to make some money. Charisma is high and first impressions are exciting. A new love interest appears tonight.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) There is a tendency to be too strict with yourself today. You probably insist that whatever does not contribute to security and other long-term goals is trivial. Take your breaks—there is a need for the accuracy that you are so well known for, so estimate the time it will take you to complete a job in an accurate fashion. In other words, give yourself plenty of time.

Your ambition is intensified. You feel a love of order and law—an appreciation for responsibilities and duty. Business is growing and your skills are in demand. Do not settle for a second-class job when you and your skills are first-class. Demand proper pay for your work. You may be shopping this afternoon—looking for that perfect suit for your perfect job. Have faith in you.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. A long thin fluffy scarf of feathers or fur.

4. Used of certain religious orders who wear shoes.

10. (computer science) A computer that is running software that allows users to leave messages and access information of general interest.

13. The month following March and preceding May. 14. A member of the Siouan people formerly inhabiting the Black Hills of western South Dakota.

15. A former agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United States.

16. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

17. A rectangular groove made to hold two pieces together.

18. The cry made by sheep.

19. An ancient musical horn made from the horn of a ram.

21. Before noon.

23. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

26. An Indian nursemaid who looks after children.

29. A unit of dry measure used in Egypt.

33. A light strong brittle gray toxic bivalent metallic element.

34. A radioactive transuranic element.

35. The capital of Egypt and the largest city in Africa.

36. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

39. The part of the nervous system of vertebrates that controls involuntary actions of the smooth muscles and heart and glands.

40. A painful emotion resulting from an awareness of inadequacy or guilt.

43. Imperial moths.

45. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.

46. Kidney disease characterized by enlarged kidneys containing many cysts.

48. Of or relating to abasia (inability to walk).

50. Relating to or produced by ergot.

55. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter and the positron (1902-1984).

57. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

58. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

59. Wild sheep of semidesert regions in central Asia.

61. According to need (physicians use PRN in writing prescriptions).

62. An insecticide that is also toxic to animals and humans.

63. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

64. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice.

DOWN 1. South African term for `boss'.

2. Large elliptical brightly colored deep-sea fish of Atlantic and Pacific and Mediterranean.

3. A unit of weight used in some Spanish speaking countries.

4. (Greek mythology) Daughter of Zeus and Demeter.

5. Any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent.

6. A three-year law degree.

7. A small tent used as a dressing room beside the sea or a swimming pool.

8. Fragrant resin obtain from trees of the family Burseraceae and used as incense.

9. An audiotape recording of sound.

10. A small cake leavened with yeast.

11. Any of various edible seeds of plants of the family Leguminosae.

12. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

20. King of Saudi Arabia since 1982 (born in 1922).

22. Queen of the Olympian gods in ancient Greek mythology.

24. Activity involved in maintaining something in good working order.

25. Genus of tropical plants with creeping rootstocks and small umbellate flowers.

27. Not only so, but.

28. The compass point that is one point east of due south.

30. The face of a timepiece.

31. Bulky grayish-brown eagle with a short wedge-shaped white tail.

32. (of persons) Highest in rank or authority or office.

37. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

38. Tropical American trees.

39. An audiotape recording of sound.

41. The mountain peak that Noah's ark landed on as the waters of the great flood receded.

42. An independent group of closely related Chadic languages spoken in the area between the Biu-Mandara and East Chadic languages.

44. A federation of North American industrial unions that merged with the American Federation of Labor in 1955.

47. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

49. Something that hinders as if with bonds v 1.

51. Marked by lack of intellectual depth.

52. Thin fibrous bark of the paper mulberry and Pipturus albidus.

53. A United Nations agency created to assist developing nations by loans guaranteed by member governments.

54. A stick that people can lean on to help them walk.

56. Gone by.

57. A silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group.

60. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Emphasis today is on your work, profession or public image, not your private life. You may wish to reflect on long-range plans and just how well things are falling into place. This may be a good time to announce your plans or take a stand on some issue. Good questions will get a dialogue going between yourself and others. Clarification is the key. Delays, cancellations and a difference of opinions would not be unlikely today. Through the process of elimination you will find just where a problem has begun. This is where you will untangle and fix most any problem. Good choices are available this evening for whatever you want to achieve. Having and appreciating things of beauty and value plays a big role in your life: worthy investments.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Your positive thinking and graceful influence make a positive difference with many people today. There could even be an instance where others will change the wording of their sentences to a more positive content because of your presence. This is a lucky day and along with your ability to make things run smoothly, your efforts should produce some excellent results. If you are consulting others, today would be a good day to take some extra time to mull over any financial questions they may have. Encouraging others to settle old debts is a good thing. You may find a renewed enthusiasm for your personal projects and you dive into some cool creative ideas. You just intuitively know that life is going to be better for you.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Your mind is full of new ideas today—it seems as if the moment you go in one direction another group of ideas opens up to you. If you work in the advertisement industry, you will achieve quick success. This is also a great day for technical or scientific work, or any kind of task that requires cleverness or imagination. If it seems that things are moving too fast, slow down—otherwise, you could accomplish work of little value. If you think about where you were this time last year regarding finances, you will find huge improvements have begun to happen.

Lady Luck seems determined to stay on your team. You should give yourself time before signing on the dotted line for any new business. Sleep and a balanced diet are well worth the effort. This evening, relax.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) This should be one of those easy-going days when nothing is a really big deal. It might be a good time to seek a solution to any technical or emotional problem that hangs over your head. You have an open mind and are able to see all aspects of a situation. Do not compromise away anything that is important to you, though it may seem easy to do. Your good feeling may tempt you to overindulge—put off any shopping till another day. You may enjoy getting together with friends for a while after work. It is always good to have the opportunity to build on friendships. This may not be a time-consuming gathering, perhaps just a meeting of a special club or a common hobby interest. You teach others to feel valuable and needed without realizing it.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Today you would rather switch than fight. You are a pushover when it comes to a sad story. If there is some issue in progress that challenges you to think about your viewpoint, you would be wise to do a little research before making up your mind. Socializing and love interests are favored as well as overindulgence. Watch the calories and avoid the dessert table. You could feel great support from those around you. You feel healthy and natural. The home and family scene is likely to be in something of a change just now—this may mean moving, meeting a new addition to the family, or such. High tech equipment impinges on the domestic environment somehow. This could mean a new software product or a product that makes some chore easier.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You have found clever ways to improve efficiency on the job.

There may be some new software or some other technical expertise that you can introduce to others. You are learning new techniques to problem solving and may fascinate those around you. You are able to use your sense of humor around those that seem determined to have you worry! It may be comfortable for you to be reminded that, for one reason or another, you are always where you need to be.

Getting your message across to others is at a high just now. Your timing should be perfect and those around you should find you most natural. Support is available if you need it. Open communication with a loved one this evening brings about a new understanding.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Your capable mind is working well all day. You are able to quickly divide the nonessential from the essential in no time at all today. A period of intellectual creativity has dawned in your life and expressing yourself with flair comes to mean more to you. Beating the odds through cleverness is appealing and this may lead to an interest in all kinds of financial speculation. Others value you for your ability to make practical decisions concerning group issues. You have a natural sense of what the public wants at this time. Clear decisions affecting others could be made now. Plans made today should work out, no matter how far down the road they seem to be. If you are not with a significant other, this evening may be the time for introductions.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

You may prefer to be alone this morning. No big deal—you just feel like being private. If you must confer with others, you might prefer the more important issues—saving small talk for another time. If ever you needed a day for methodical or contemplative work, this is it. After the noon meal, however, your daily routine, which you normally do not think much about, should be energized.

Your closeness to your feelings allows you to put much more of yourself into everyday work. This will be perceived and appreciated by those with whom you interact. This closeness also will make you an excellent listener, as anyone who comes to you for advice will know. You could feel challenged this evening, but you will be able to handle any challenge.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You are entering a phase of emotional directness, emotional beginnings, a fresh start and perhaps the establishment of new habit patterns. Adjustments may be necessary in order to fit comfortably into this day and with your determination and positive thinking, you will be successful. This may be a time of experimenting with new concepts and putting aside the old tried and true. Again, clear communication is imperative. Ambition and achievement can be tough taskmasters at this time. You win reward, recognition and authority through hard work and knowing the score; otherwise, you may find that someone hungrier and savvier will overtake you. Now is the time to make a decision in the romance department.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

What a day to make a deal favorable for any business, financial or legal ventures! Your mind is alert, your objectives are clear and your buoyant optimism will help you win your way. Athletic energy also is high. Lunch time may be a good time to jog with a co-worker or shoot some baskets. This afternoon you could complete or at least make great headway on those ongoing projects and clean off your desk. Stick to routine tasks this evening and avoid starting any new personal projects or heading out in new directions. A liberal and tolerant attitude is a very good thing to have on those winter days when you may feel stuck indoors. You may be thinking of a move or adding on to the present home site. A roomier, more stretched out feeling is desired.

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

i n f o r m at i o n

FIRE BRIGADE STATE ST TAT TE OF KUWAIT K KUW WAIT A

112

Tel.: T e el.: 161

DIRECTORA DIRECTORATE ATE T GENE GENERAL ERAL OF CIVIL A AVIATION V VIA ATION T DEPARTMENT METEOROLOGICAL DEP D PARTMENT A DAY: DA AY: Y Monday

WWW .MET.GOV V.KW . W WWW.MET.GOV.KW

13/02/2012

Ministry of Interior

Ext.: 2627 262 27 - 2630

Fax: 24348714

Issue Time Time

07:00

Expected Weather Weather for the Next 24 4 Hours Partly cloudy with moderate becoming becom ming light gradually north westerly w wind, with speed of 15 - 35 km/h

BY Y DA DAY: AY:

website: www.moi.gov.kw wind, with speed off 06 - 20 km/h Cold with w light north westerly to northerly n

NIGHT:: BY Y NIGHT

For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

No Current Warnings Warnin a gs

WARNING W ARNING A STATION ST TATION T

MAX. EXP EXP. P.

MIN.. REC.

KUWAIT KUW WAIT A CITY

20 °C

12 °C

24812000

KUWAIT AIRPORT KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

20 °C

11 11 °C

Amiri Hospital

22450005

NUWAISEEB NUW WAISEEB A

22 °C C

11 11 °C C

Maternity Hospital

24843100

WAFRA W AFRA A

21 °C

10 °C

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

SALMI

18 °C

07 °C

Chest Hospital

24849400

ABDALY ABDAL LY

20 °C

08 °C

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

ALIYAH JAL ALIY YA AH

20 °C

08 °C

Adan Hospital

23940620

FAILAKA F AILAKA A

20 °C

11 11 °C

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

PORT AHMADI POR RT

19 °C

12 °C

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

UMM AL-MARADEM M

18 °C

14 °C

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

WARBA BUBYAN W ARBA A A - BUBY YA AN

22 °C

08 °C

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

Clinics

SFC. CHAR CHART T

13/02/2012 00:00 0 UTC

4 DA DAYS AYS Y FORECAST

4732263

Roudha

22517733

DAY DA AY

DA DATE AT TE

WEA WEATHER ATHER T

Adhaliya

22517144

Tuesday Tuesday

14/02

Khaldiya

24848075

Wednesday Wednesday e

Keifan

24849807

Thursday

Shamiya

24848913

Friday

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Fajr

05:08

MAX. Temp.

MA AX. T emp.

19 °C

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Sunrise S i

06 28 06:28

MIIN. IN Temp.

Temp.

MIN.

11 °C 11

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Zuhr

12:02

MAX. RH M

50 %

Asr

15:12

M RH MIN.

12 %

Sunset

17:36

MA AX. W ind MAX. Wind

N 60 km/h

Isha

18:53

TOT TAL AL RAI INF FA ALL L IN 24 HR. TOTAL RAINFALL

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

POLICE STATION

Rabiya

Al-Khadissiya

Al-Madena

Temperratures Temperatures MAX.

MIN.

Wind Direction Direction Wind

Wind Wind Speed

sunny + scattered clouds c

21 °C

1 1 °C 11

NW -VRB NW-VRB

06 - 20 km/h

15/02

partly cloudy

22 °C

12 °C

SE

15 - 38 km/h

16/02

raising partly cloudy + raisin ng dust

22 °C

15 °C

SE-NW

22 - 42 km/h

17/02

clouds to decrea ase decrease

19 °C

13 °C

NW

15 - 38 km/h

PRAYER PR RA AYER Y TIMES

RECORDED D YESTERDAY YESTERDA AY AT AT KUWAIT KUW WAIT A T AIRPORT AIRPORT

unless All times are local time un nless otherwise stated.

Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha’a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

00 mm

13/02/12 03:13 UTC

V1.00

T1.06

PHARMACIES

AIRLINES

ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Hawally

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Kuwait Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways FlyDubai Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines Aeroflot

171 177 22924455 22414400 22423888 22425747 22434940 22420002/9 22418064/5/6 22433388 22425635 22430224 22921555 22438184 22424444 22421578 22421516 22426306 22423073 22422493 22421044 22414427 22416474 22452977/8 22417901/ 2433141 22456700 22958787 22453820/1 22404838/9

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

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36

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

lifest yle F e a t u r e s

illoried by neighbors, laughed at in freak shows and spurned by the women he admired from afar, Chandra Bahadur Dangi has always seen his tiny stature as a curse. But the 72-year-old Nepali, who claims to stand at just 56 centimeters (22 inches), is on the brink of life change as significant as a lottery win as experts prepare to test his claim to be the shortest man in history. Until now, Junrey Balawing from the Philippines has held the title of the world’s smallest living man with a height of 59.93 cm. Guinness World Records experts confirmed last week they are to travel to Dangi’s village in the impoverished southwestern valleys of Dang district to measure the pensioner, who says he weighs just 12 kilos (26 pounds).

If his measurements prove correct, he would eclipse Balawing but would also be the shortest human adult ever documented, taking the accolade from India’s Gul Mohammed, who was measured at 57 cm before he died in 1997 aged 40. Dangi told AFP in his first interview with Western media that recognition at the end of his life would be some compensation for years of hardship he has had to endure.

“I think things will be better now. I hope that I will be famous all over the world,” Dangi said at a religious festival in Surunga, a town on the banks of the sacred Kankai river 280 kilometers (174 miles) southeast of Kathmandu.

“I want to visit foreign countries and meet people from around the world.” The pensioner, who was orphaned at 12 and has five normal-sized brothers, says he has never experienced romance and is yet to find his soul mate. “I was short since my childhood.

P

So, I couldn’t find a woman to marry when I was young. Then I just gave up on the idea of marriage. At this old age, I’m not interested in marriage anymore.”

The cause of his stunted growth remains a mystery although many holders of the “world’s shortest man” crown have suffered from primordial dwarfism, a condition which begins to show signs in the womb.

Dangi says relatives would parade him as a freak at fetes and festivals when he was younger, refusing to share with him any of the cash they earned. “They would treat me as a toy,” he told the Kathmandubased Republica newspaper. He was brought to the attention of the world last week after Nepali researchers looking into the history of the Dangi people were introduced to him. “We walked for several hours and reached his home in Purandhara village.

He was living with his 35-year-old nephew and his (nephew’s) family,” said Mohan Dangi, who led the expedition. “We invited him to take part in our weeklong religious ceremony. To us, it occurred that he could be world’s shortest man.”

Dangi, who scrapes a living weaving the “Naamlo”, a traditional jute band used for carrying heavy weights, has already become something of a celebrity in southern Nepal. At the religious festival in Surunga he was smeared in vermilion powder-which can symbolize power, love or desire in Hindu cultureas fans queued to greet him, offer him flowers and have their pictures taken with him. Dangi knows he may have to get used to the attention, as public life beckons.

Another Nepali, Khagendra Thapa Magar, held the record as the world’s shortest man for a year after

being measured in 2010 at 67 cm. Magar made television appearances in Europe and the United States and was the official face of Nepal’s tourism campaign, which featured him as the smallest man in a country that is home to the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest. “After Khagendra was awarded the title of the world’s shortest man, he got a name and fame around the world,” the former record holder’s father, Rup Bahadur Thapa Magar, told AFP. “The Nepali diaspora invited Khagendra to 32 countries around the world and honored him. I along with my son got an opportunity to travel to America, Hong Kong, London and France among others. “We will feel proud if Man Bahadur Dangi is designated the world’s shortest man because the title would be back in Nepal.” — AFP

Chandra Bahadur Dangi

t’s time for the well-heeled women who shop from New York Fashion Week runways to pull themselves up by their bootstraps - preferably Christian Louboutins - and carry off clothes rooted in strength, confidence and even toughness. Even glamorous Victoria Beckham, rarely seen without stilettos on, sent some of her models down the runway Sunday in motorcycle boots. (They were indeed Louboutins.)

The fiercer, fitted looks are a contrast to the flowing, airy silhouettes that dominated the spring season. Adam Glassman, creative director of O, The Oprah Magazine, said it likely is time for something new. Structured pieces also hang well on racks in stores - and are flattering on many figures, he noted. “The military shapes and jackets give good shape to a woman, from her shoulders to her waist,” he said. In addition to military influences and menswear looks for women, other themes emerging by Day 4, halfway through the previews for next season, include leather (Derek Lam, Thakoon Panichgul), python prints (big at Carmen Marc Valvo) and other textured fabrics. SkaistTaylor, the new brand from Juicy Couture founders Pam Skaist and Gela Taylor, used a print they called “cowhide.”

Traditional fall hues like black, loden green, wine and plum have ruled the runways, but white, an unusual choice for the season, has had a strong showing, too. Lela Rose on Sunday showed an ivory silk crepe collared sheath, an ivory silk cloque dress with embroidered shoulders and a white silver mosaic embroidered dress.

I

Algerian artist Aghiles Issiakhem, 22, poses during the exhibit ‘Urban Expression’ on November 29, 2011 in Algiers.—AFP

T

he way young Algerian artist Aghiles Issiakhem sees it, the future for many of his 20-something generation is as bleak as his charcoal portraits of them. “For a young person here, there’s nothing-you can escape abroad or flee into drugs and alcohol,” says the 22-year-old. The selftaught artist shows off a series of his portraits of friends, members of a disaffected generation who walk the streets of Algiers without training, degrees, jobs or much hope for the future. The artist-the great-nephew of one of the fathers of modern Algerian painting, the late Mohammed Issiakhem-recalls the protests and food riots of a year ago, when the Arab Spring kicked off across the region.

Amid shortages of sugar and cooking oil, people clashed with police, destroying shops. Five people were killed and hundreds wounded. “I put myself in the place of these young people because I feel concerned,” says Issiakhem, pointing at a huge charcoal portrait of a “hittiste”-Algerian street slang for a jobless young man who bides his time leaning against a wall. “Hittiste” derives from the Arabic word for wall and has become a byword for the dismal state of modern Algeria, reflected in the portrait which depicts a youth defiant in his posture but with despair in his eyes.

“I feel their emotion,” said the artist, who roams the streets for inspiration and spends long nights listening to his friends, about how they can’t find work and can’t study, about their lack of money and a place to live. Anger and disillusionment are rife among Algeria’s young. Those aged under 35 now make up two thirds of the unemployed among the 36 million people of the oil-rich but impoverished north African country. Issiakhem is a native of Azzefoune, a Mediterranean coastal village in the Kabylia region about 165 kilometers (100 miles) east of Algiers, where violent opposition to the regime has flared in the past.

“I saw the riots” in Kabylia, he said. Young people there battled the Algerian government in April 2001, when Issiakhem was a child. “I will always remember the images: the blood, the rubber bullets, the cars on fire and the burning tires.” At times, “I disappear into my room for weeks. I lock myself in solitude. I block out everything through the cardboard and canvas,” adds the young man with a goatee and intense eyes, who says he is “obsessed with the cancer” that causes havoc around him. Issiakhem is due to open a new exhibition later this month in a trendy restaurant in the old town of Algiers. He has already staged about half a dozen exhibitions-the first at the tender age of seven.

His work was included in 2010 in the culture ministry’s Salon d’Automne of Culture, whose curator, Dokman, an Algerian abstract painter who uses a single name, calls Issiakhem “a very promising talent”. “He’s not in it for the money. It comes from his gut,” said Dokman. After a decade of bloody warfare between the government and Islamist rebels in the 1990s, art struggles to exist in Algeria where there are few galleries, and many artists-as well as musicians, actors and writers-move to France, the former colonial power.—AFP

VICTORIA BECKHAM Victoria Beckham offered a no-nonsense, tough-girl fall collection: shiny python shirt-style collars on second-skin dresses with gold hardware and zip-back striped sheaths.

Interesting twists included dresses with epaulets but no sleeves to hang them on, and harness-style backs on dresses that had high necks in the front. There was a hint of a schoolgirl vibe in some looks with the collars and flaredhem skirts. Gone from this collection were the looser shapes Beckham had been experimenting with in past seasons. This was Beckham’s sexy, sophisticated look to the core. OK, the exception might be the motorcycle boots that one can’t imagine Beckham giving up her stilettos for.

VICTORIA BECKHAM

DKNY For her DKNY brand, Donna Karan wrapped up models in high-neck aviator coats and fitted blazers but gave them flirty short skirts with bouncy hemlines. She put them in cozy collars and feminine bow-neck blouses. Even more diversity came from the textures: embossed crocodile, shiny leather, cozy shearling, sexy sheers and slim twill.

When she tired of black, which Karan really never does, she switched to navy, gray or the occasional flash of red.

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG Diane von Furstenberg, who as president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America is the de facto leader of the US fashion community, used jigsaw puzzle pieces as a prominent theme of her fall collection. There was a puzzle print on a pink sleeveless dress, and laser-cut pieces on a black embellished one. A model carried a puzzle-box bag.

Von Furstenberg alternated between sophisticated, simple and sometimes smoldering jersey dresses in dark colors and fun cocktail numbers in bright, almost tropical shades of pink, lime green and bright blue. — AP

DKNY

DEREK LAM

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

lifestyle A w a r d s

Triumph, tragedy dominate

Singer Adele cries as she accepts her Grammy for Album of the Year.

Justin Vernon of Bon Iver poses with the Best Alternative Music Album “Bon Iver” award and the Best New Artist award.

Musician Adele poses with her six trophies at the 54th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, February 12, 2012. —AFP/AP photos

T

Singer Tony Bennett and parents of the late Amy Winehouse Mitch and Janis Winehouse accept the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Body and Soul” onstage.

Tony Bennett and Carrie Underwood perform.

Dave Grohl, center, and the Foo Fighters performs.

Chris Brown performs.

he splintered music world truly coalesces only one night of 365 for the Grammy Awards, and this year was united in the triumph of recovered British soul singer Adele’s trophy haul and the tragedy of Whitney Houston’s death. Adele swept the major honors of song, record and album of the year Sunday for her lost-love epic “21” and its driving single “Rolling in the Deep.” She picked up her final two awards after making her first public performance in months after being sidelined for throat surgery. Her total of six Grammys matched Beyonce for most ever by a female act. After seeming almost sheepish in picking up some of the trophies (“This is ridiculous,” she said after winning record of the year), Adele’s tears flowed upon winning best album.

“This record is inspired by something that is really normal and everyone’s been through it - just a rubbish relationship,” she said. “It’s gone on to do things that I can’t tell you how I feel about them. It’s been the most lifechanging year.” The Foo Fighters won five Grammys for music that singer Dave Grohl said was made in his garage, and ceremony no-show Kanye West won four. Indie rockers Bon Iver won best new artist. Show host LL Cool J’s neat pivot allowed the assembled industry leaders to mourn Houston while enjoying the night’s music. He offered a prayer at the outset for Houston, who died Saturday in a Beverly Hills hotel. Later Jennifer Hudson, under a portrait of the late vocalist, sang a portion of “I Will Always Love You.” Bruno Mars, Alicia Keys, Rihanna and Stevie Wonder all saluted Houston.

“This night is about something truly universal and healing,” LL Cool J said. “This night is about music.” Artists have fewer opportunities these days to reach large, diverse audiences and it has made the Grammys an increasingly important venue. Producers take advantage of the star power to pack the night with performances, deemphasizing the actual awards. Sunday’s was a sprawling variety show, occasionally historic. Bruce Springsteen sang a new populist anthem, “We Take Care of Our Own.” Rihanna dueted with Chris Martin of Coldplay. Katy Perry debuted a shiny blue haircut. Keys and Bonnie Raitt honored Etta James.

The Foo Fighters sang “Walk” and later participated in a tribute to new dance artists. Chris Brown hoofed it up a series of steps, although his voice was barely recognizable. Glen Campbell, soon to retire due to Alzheimer’s, appeared in a tribute. Maroon 5 and Foster the People played Beach Boy songs, then joined the Boys as they reunited for their 50th anniversary.

Many believed Brian Wilson and Mike Love, who looked slightly stiff going through “Good Vibrations,” would never appear on stage together again.

Paul McCartney sang a jazzy new song from his album of standards, then was joined by Springsteen, Grohl, Tom Petty and Joe Walsh on the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” closing medley.

Then there was the truly unexplainable: Nicki Minaj’s exorcism outing, ending with her levitating above the stage. Adele was the uniting force.

Her album was a critical hit and commercial powerhouse, and it would have been an upset if she hadn’t joined Eric Clapton, the Dixie Chicks, Carole King, Paul Simon and Christoper Cross among artists to sweep the three biggest awards in one night. “It’s nice to see as music keeps evolving that something as authentic as she’s putting out can still be not just relevant but dominating,” said Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum, last year’s record of the year winners. Adele said backstage that her victories hadn’t sunk in yet. She said she enjoyed the two months where a throat ailment forced her to keep quiet.

“I’m actually quite mouthy,” she said. As for the subject of “21,” she said, “I think he’ll be very happy for me.” Dan Wilson, who co-wrote Adele’s “Someone Like You” and two other tracks on the disc, said he’s excited about how well Adele has done because her songs are performed simply.

It’s all about the message and the emotion, he said. “She stands up onstage and delivers them with tons of soul and heart,” he said. “It almost seems like a trick she’s doing that. She doesn’t have any, like, elephants walking with her or, you know, fire and stuff like it. It seems like she has the most amazing trick, which is she’s doing it with almost nothing, and is still blowing us away.”

Paul Epworth, who worked with Adele on the album, won a Grammy for producer of the year.

While Adele’s vocals are powerful, the singing of best new artist winner Justin Vernon of Bon Iver is often delicate, the music atmospheric. He won a competitive and diverse category with Minaj, The Band Perry, J Cole and Skrillex. Appearing onstage in an ill-fitting suit jacket, Vernon talked about writing for the inherent reward of writing songs, not for trophies. It doesn’t mean he wasn’t honored and grateful for the award, he said backstage later. “At some point I got really nervous,” he said. “Maybe it was because I didn’t feel like I deserved to be here ... This is the biggest night in music but it’s also a very small Staples Center, and there’s so much music out there in the world and it’s so hard to feel like it’s collecting the whole thing.”

He gave an onstage shout-out to Eau Claire, Wis., probably a Grammy first. Grohl shouted “long live rock ‘n’ roll” as producers played LMFAO’s “Party Rock” over the loudspeakers to get him offstage after the Foo Fighters won for best rock performance. He made a plea for musicians to recognize that the human element is what makes their art most important.

“It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about sounding absolutely correct. It’s not about what goes on in a computer. It’s about what goes on in here and what goes on in here,” he said, pointing to his head and his heart. —AP

Lady Antebellum band members Charles Kelley , Hillary Scott , and Dave Haywood pose with trophies for the Best Country Album “ Own the Night”.

Tony Bennett poses with the trophies for Traditional Pop Vocal Album for “Duets II” and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Body and Soul”.

(From left) ) Nate Mendel, Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters accept the award for “Best Rock Performance”.

Chris Brown accepts the award for best R&B album for “F.A.M.E.”.

Recording Artist Skrillex accepts the Best Remixed Recording Award for “Cinema”.

Singer Melanie Fiona accepts the award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Fool For You” with Cee Lo Green.

Taylor Swift poses with the trophies for the Best Country Solo Performance “Mean” and Best Country Song “Mean”.

Christian McBride, of the Christian McBride Big Band, poses backstage with the award for best large jazz ensemble for “The Good Feeling”.

Joy Williams and John Paul White of the band The Civil Wars, winners of the Grammys for Best Country Duo/Group Performance in “Barton Hollow” and Best Folk Album in “Barton Hollow.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

lifestyle A w a r d s

David Guetta, left and Chris Brown perform.

(From left) Anne Garefino, Robert Lopez, Stephen Oremus and Trey Parker pose backstage with their awards for best musical theater album for “The Book of Mormon”.

Rihanna and Chris Martin of the band Coldplay.

Musician Chick Corea, co-winner of the Grammys for Best Jazz Instrumental Album with musician Stanley Clarke in “Forever”, and sole winner of Best Improvised Jazz Solo (“500 Miles High”).

(From left) Musicians Joe Walsh, Rusty Anderson, Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl perform onstage.

List of Grammy winners in select major categories

Terri Lyne Carrington poses backstage with the award for best jazz vocal album for “The Mosaic Project”.

Booker T. Jones poses backstage with the award for best pop instrumental for “The Road From Memphis”.

Eric Whitacre poses with the trophy for the Best Choral Performance in “Light and Gold”.

Producer Judith Sherman accepts the Grammy for Producer of the Year, Classical.

Susan Tedeschi of the Tedeschi Trucks Band accepts the award for Best Blues Album for “Revelator”.

Paul Epworth accepts the producer of the year non-classical award.

Composers Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein, winner of the Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition with “Aldridge, Robert: Elmer Gantry”.

Diana Ross poses with the Lifetime Achievement Award .

Album of the Year: “21,” Adele Record of the Year: “Rolling in the Deep,” Adele Song of the Year: “Rolling in the Deep,” Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth New Artist: Bon Iver Pop Solo Performance: “Someone Like You,” Adele Pop Performance by a Duo or Group: “Body and Soul,” Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse Pop Vocal Album: “21,” Adele Alternative Album: “Bon Iver,” Bon Iver Rock Song: “Walk,” Foo Fighters Rock Album: “Wasting Light,” Foo Fighters Rock Performance: “Walk,” Foo Fighters Hard Rock/Metal Performance: “White Limo,” Foo Fighters R&B Album: “F.A.M.E.,” Chris Brown R&B Song: “Fool For You,” Cee Lo Green, Melanie Hallim & Jack Splash R&B Performance: “Is This Love,” Corrine Bailey Rae Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: “Fool For You,” Cee Lo Green & Melanie Fiona Rap Album: “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” Kanye West Rap Performance: “Otis,” Jay-Z and Kanye West Rap Song: “All of the Lights,” Jeff Bhasker, Stacy Ferguson, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter & Kanye West Rap/Sung Collaboration: “All of the Lights,” Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi & Fergie Dance Recording: “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites,” Skrillex Dance/Electronica Album: “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites,” Skrillex Musical Theater Album: “The Book of Mormon,” Robert Lopez, Trey Parker & Matt Stone World Music Album: “Tassili,” Tinariwen Latin Pop Rock, Rock or Urban Album: “Drama y Luz,” Mana Tropical Latin Album: “Last Mambo,” Cachao Banda or Norteno Album: “Los Tigres Del Norte and Friends,” Los Tigres Del Norte Regional Mexican or Tejano Album: “Bicentenario,” Pepe Aguilar Country Solo Performance: “Mean,” Taylor Swift Country Album: “Own the Night,” Lady Antebellum Country Performance by a Duo or Group: “Barton Hollow,” The Civil Wars Country Song: “Mean,” Taylor Swift Jazz Vocal Album: “The Mosaic Project,” Terri Lyne Carrington & various artists Jazz Instrumental Album: “Forever,” Corea, Clark & White Improvised Jazz Solo: “500 Miles High,” Chick Corea Large Ensemble Jazz Album: “The Good Feeling,” Christian McBride Big Band Blues Album: “Revelator,” Tedeschi Trucks Band Folk Album: “Barton Hollow,” The Civil Wars Pop Instrumental Album: “The Road From Memphis,” Booker T. Jones Bluegrass Album: “Paper Airplane,” Alison Krauss & Union Station Americana Album: “Ramble at the Ryman,” Levon Helm Reggae Album: “Revelation Pt. 1: The Root of Life,” Stephen Marley New Age Album: “What’s It All About,” Pat Metheny Children’s Album: “All About Bullies... Big and Small,” various artists Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Paul Epworth Remixed Recording, Non-Classical: “Cinema (Skrillex remix),” Sonny Moore Gospel Song: “Hello Fear,” Kirk Franklin Gospel/Contemporary Christian Performance: “Jesus,” L’Andria Johnson Gospel Album: “Hello Fear,” Kirk Franklin Choral Performance: “Light & Gold,” Eric Whitacre Classical Contemporary Composition: “Elmer Gantry,” Robert Aldridge & Herschel Garfein Producer of the Year, Classical: Judith Sherman Orchestral Performance: “Brahms: Symphony No. 4,” Gustavo Dudamel Opera Recording: “Adams: Doctor Atomic,” Alan Gilbert, conductor Spoken Word Album: “If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won’t),” Betty White Comedy Album: “Hilarious,” Louis CK. Compilation Soundtrack Album For Visual Media: “Boardwalk Empire,” various artists Score Soundtrack Album For Visual Media: “ The King’s Speech,” Alexandre Desplat Song Written For Visual Media: “I See the Light,” Alan Menken & Glenn Slater Historical Album: “Band on the Run (Paul McCartney Archive Collection Deluxe Edition),” Paul McCartney Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists: “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me),” Jorge Calandrelli —AP

Singer Alison Krauss of Alison Krauss & Union Station winner of the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album for “Paper Airplane”.

Songwriter Kirk Franklin, winner of the Grammys for Best Gospel Album (“Hello Fear”) and Best Gospel Song (“Hello Fear”), poses with his wife Tammy Franklin.

Jennifer Hudson performs.

Nicki Minaj performs.

Alicia Keys performs.

‘The Artist’ named best picture at UK film awards

37 Grammys TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

fashion ranges from surreal to sublime

Carrie Underwood

T

he show must go on. Despite Whitney Houston’s shocking death a day earlier, music stars came out to celebrate Sunday’s Grammy Awards with typical red carpet flash and over-thetop fashion. Several artists exuded glamour, including Carrie Underwood, nominated for best country solo performance, who arrived shimmering in a silver Gomez-Garcia gown with a Swarovski black clutch. Other musicians raised eyebrows, including up-and-coming Russian-born singer Sasha Gradiva, who wore a soft pink mermaid shaped gown that featured a machine-gun adorned sleeve.

“I think in the last five to seven years the Grammys have become a showcase for the most outlandish look in fashion. If an artist comes in couture, it is usually accompanied with a statement,” said style expert and TV host Sam Saboura. And

Nicki Minaj

Sasha Gradiva that was exactly what Black Eyed Peas frontwoman Fergie appeared to be going for when she appeared wearing a designer gown that left little to the imagination. The 36-year-old singer wore a blood orange peek-a-boo Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture gown revealing black bra and panties beneath.

She took a page from other pop stars like nominee Katy Perry who famously arrived last year in a Giorgio Armani dress embellished with angel wings.

This year, Perry arrived wearing sky-high blue hair that complemented a full-length baby blue sparkly gown with plunging back Elie Saab haute couture.

Hip-hop rapper Nicki Minaj, nominated for best new artist and other awards, arrived sporting a red Versace couture hooded cape on the arm of an escort dressed in a pope outfit. Lady Gaga strutted into the show in a black Chanel gown adorned with

Rihanna

Paris Hilton silver chains and dramatic net over her face.

“It’s usually one-up game at the Grammys,” said Saboura. “Now artists have stylists fixing their trains on the red carpet. It’s become as dramatic as the Oscars. We expect craziness.” The death of pop singer Houston, a six-time Grammy winner, on the eve of the awards shook the world. She will be honored during the ceremony by singer Jennifer Hudson according to Grammy organizers, who scrambled to rearrange the show in response to Houston’s death.

Grammy awards favorite Adele, known for wearing 60s style dresses and hairstyles, sported a classic look in a long black beaded gown. She wore her hair swept down in a wavy bob. “Adele does big 60s hair well and always looks a little flirty,” said Saboura.—Reuters

Janina Gavankar

Katy Perry Taraji P. Henson

Adele